Some of the Single Letters:

Heroides I: Penelope to Ulysses
It has been ten years since the end of the Trojan War; Ulysses (Greek: Odysseus) has been through all the adventures recorded in the Odyssey and has almost battled his way home to Ithaca. Penelope, ignorant of her husband's imminent return, laments his long delay--and has a few sharp words to say about the possible reasons for it.

Heroides III: Briseis to Achilles
During the siege of Troy, Briseis is taken from Achilles by the leader of the Greek armies, Agamemnon. Achilles, incensed at the insult, refuses to fight for the Greeks any further. In an attempt to resolve the dispute, Agamemnon sends emissaries to Achilles, who offer to return Briseis and to give him lavish gifts in addition if he will return to the fighting. Achilles refuses--and Briseis writes to him, asking him why he will not take her back.

Heroides V: Oenone to Paris
The nymph Oenone has been abandoned by her lover, Paris, a younger son of King Priam of Troy. Following the famous "judgement," in which Paris selected Venus as the most beautiful of the goddesses on Olympus, Paris seized the opportunity to wed the beautiful Helen, daughter of Zeus and wife of Menelaus. Oenone complains of her lover's infidelity and sharply criticizes the virtue of his much-married bride, alluding as well to the havoc of the Trojan War which follows the abduction of Helen.

Heroides VI: Hypsipyle to Jason
Hypsipyle, the ruler of Lemnos, gave shelter to Jason and the Argonauts when they were on their quest for the Golden Fleece. Hypsipyle and Jason were married, and Jason promised to return when the quest was accomplished. Hypsipyle, now the mother of twins by Jason, has received news that he is safely home, and that he has brought with him a new wife--the sorceress, Medea. Hypsipyle writes to Jason, reproaching him for deserting her and questioning the character of Medea.

Heroides VII: Dido to Aeneas
Aeneas, a refugee from the fall of Troy and the future founder of Rome, was cast ashore on the coast of Africa and sought refuge in the city of Carthage. He stayed for quite some time and became romantically involved with the city's queen, Dido. Now he is about to sail from Carthage to pursue his own destiny in Italy. Dido upbraids him for leaving her, in this intriguing reprise of Book IV of Virgil's Aeneid.

Heroides X: Ariadne to Theseus
Ariadne is the daughter of King Minos of Crete. Theseus is the son of King Aegeus of Athens. Theseus came to Crete vowing to end the human tribute that Minos demanded of Athens each year--fourteen youths to be sent into the Labyrinth as food for the monstrous Minotaur. Ariadne fell in love with Theseus and helped him complete his quest. The two of them fled together, but on the way back to Athens Ariadne was abandoned on the island of Naxos. Ariadne writes from Naxos, reproaching Theseus for deserting her.

HeroidesXII: Medea to Jason
Jason was the leader of the Argonauts, who brought the Golden Fleece back from Colchis. Medea, the daughter of the king of Colchis, helped him capture the Fleece in exchange for his promise to marry her and take her back to Greece with him. Now Jason is abandoning Medea to marry the daughter of the king of Corinth; Medea is being exiled. Medea writes to Jason, reminding him of all that she has done for him, and foreshadowing the grisly revenge that she takes on him in Euripides' Medea.

Heroides XV: Sappho to Phaon
Sappho, one of the great lyric poets of the ancient world, has been abandoned by her lover, Phaon. Although she has had a number of romantic involvements with women in the past, Phaon was her only male lover. Now she remains behind, broken-hearted, on the island of Lesbos, while he has departed for Sicily. She upbraids him for his desertion of her and begs him to return; she imagines him wooing the young girls of Sicily while she remains behind. She also informs him of her plan to throw herself from the cliffs of Leucos if she cannot be with him.