Ovid (43 BCE–17/18 CE), born Publius Ovidius Naso in Sulmo, in central Italy, was one of the most prolific and influential poets of ancient Rome. Educated in Rome and Athens in rhetoric and philosophy, he became a celebrated poet before being banished by the Emperor Augustus in 8 CE to Tomis on the Black Sea, where he spent the rest of his life. His major works include Metamorphoses, a mythological epic in fifteen books exploring transformation from creation to Julius Caesar; Ars Amatoria, an ironic guide to love; and Tristia, poems of exile. The Metamorphoses has been among the most influential texts in Western literature, shaping art and poetry from Chaucer to Shakespeare to Ted Hughes.