ABSTRACT
The Heroides have been accused of being repetitious, and to a lazy reader taking a superficial view they may seem to be just a series of complaints by abandoned females. But in fact Ovid is careful to ensure a lively variety, and there is even a tour-de-force aspect, as he constantly rings the changes (as well as forging links between some letters) in a typically clever and complex display. So there are marked differences between this poem and the last one, with regard to the writer’s character (Phyllis is a naive young woman of Thrace, a land to the north of Greece) and her situation (she has been deceived, used and deserted by her man, who will not come back to her), and the epistle’s tone, which is consistently sad, and its purpose (on which see below).
