The Double Heroides are a set of six epistolary poems allegedly composed by Ovid in Latinelegiac couplets, following the fifteen poems of his Heroides, and numbered 16 to 21 in modern scholarly editions. These six poems present three separate exchanges of paired epistles: one each from a heroic lover from Greek or Roman mythology to his absent beloved, and one from the heroine in return. Ovid's authorship is uncertain.
Front matter of Boswell's copy of the 1732 edition of the Heroides, edited by Peter Burmann. Note the title HeroidessiveEpistolae, "The Heroidesor the Letters".
The collection
The single Heroides (1–15) are not listed here: see the relevant section of that article for the single epistles. The paired epistles are written as exchanges between the following heroes and heroines:
XVI. Paris to Helen, trying to persuade her to leave her husband, Menelaus, and go with him to Troy
XVII. Helen's reply to Paris, revealing her readiness to leave Menelaus for him
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