Aston Cokayne’s The Tragedy of Ovid is the only English play which tells the story of the Latin poet’s exile and death in Tomis. In the final scene the focus turns to the poet’s suffering as he receives a letter from his wife, with the news that her efforts to arrange his return have failed. Ovid connects this to news in another letter:

And Ovid does indeed die then and there. His relationship with Augustus’ grand-daughter Julia is treated decorously by Cokayne, but at this point Ovid’s grief and the possibility of ambiguity in the word ‘friend’ connect his exile and the stories of unlawful love in his Roman past. In the play the traditional equation of Julia and Corinna is given credence, but the poet’s adoration for the princess is said to be an honourable thing, more or less (‘if I er’e enjoy’d her, it was through | Her craft; I taking her to be another,’ 4.3.21–2).