Abstract
This paper is devoted to the analysis of excerpts from Tristia by Ovid, highlighting the intersection between interculturality and translation within the scope of Latin elegiac poetry. The paper first examines the formal configuration of the genre, elegiac couplets composed of hexameter and pentameter, placing the work within the Roman elegiac tradition and positioning Ovid as the successor and continuator of figures such as Mimnermus, Catullus, Propertius, and Tibullus. The investigation focuses particularly on the challenges of translation arising from rhetorical figures, multiple semantic layers, and the complex morphosyntactic structures of Latin, which demand from the translator an interpretive approach attentive to the cultural particularities of the Roman world. Expressive elements such as hypallage, the frequent use of present participles, gerundives, and set phrases are emphasized, along with the alternation between narration and lyricism, especially in moments when the voice of the lyrical “I” manifests itself through the figure of the wife. Translation is conceived as an intercultural act, in which not only the language is transferred but also the historical experience of exile, sorrow, and loss (universal aspects that enable the reinterpretation of the ancient text within the context of the modern reader). Thus, it is argued that the Tristia’s enduring relevance over time stems from the translation’s ability to mediate between different cultures while preserving the aesthetic, semantic, and emotional value of Ovidian poetry, in accordance with the Italian literary theory maxim traduttore, interpres culturae.