Class PRESENTED BY !j P. OVIDIUS NASO. THE METAMORPHOSES OF PUBLIUS OVIDIUS NASO; ELUCIDATED BY &n &nalssis avib (Explanation of tt)e irables, TOGETHER WITH ENGLISH NOTES, HISTORICAL, MYTHOLOGICAL, AND CRITICAL, AND ILLUSTRATED BY PICTORIAL EMBELLISHMENTS: A CLAVIS, GIVING THE MEANING OF ALL THE WORDS WITH CRITICAL EXACTNESS. BY NATHAN COVINGTON BROOKS, A.M. !§0?-/?< PROFESSOR OF THE GREEK AND LATIN LANGUAGES, AND PRINCIPAL OF THE LATIN HIGH SCHOOL, BALTIMORE. PHILADELPHIA: GRIGG, ELLIOT, & CO. 1849. Entered according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1847, by NATHAN COVINGTON BROOKS, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Maryland. taift iudg 3 :,n* Mrs. I. R. H|tt June 23 l#3tj STEREOTYPED DY L. JOHNSON & CO. PHILADELPHIA. PRINTED BT T. K. & T. G. COILISS. TO THE REY. CHARLES P. KRAUTH, D.D. PRESIDENT OF PENNSYLVANIA COLLEGE, .3 A TESTIMONIAL OF REGARD FOR HIS PIETY AND TALENTS, AND FOR THE ZEAL WITH WHICH HE HAS DEVOTED THEM TO THE CAUSE OF VIRTUE AND SOUND LEARNING, Effis UMaxk IS INSCRIBED, BY HIS FRIEND, THE EDITOR. PREFACE. To the student of the Classics, an early acquaintance with My- thology is indispensable. This is more readily secured by the direct study of the fables themselves, than by any other method. As the Metamorphoses of Ovid present the mythological fictions of Greece and Rome in a connected and attractive form, their study has always appeared to me to be of the first importance. That their use may be extensive, I have therefore prepared an edition of the work, in which I have omitted the fables that were gross in their character, and have expurgated from others any lines that were objectionable on account of indelicacy. This, however, does not break the chain of connection between the stories, nor mar the narrative of the fables introduced. To render the study of the Metamorphoses profitable and pleas- ing, I have prefixed to each fable an analysis and explanation, which will be found of service to the student. Since many of the fables are corrupt traditions of Scriptural truths, I have traced them back to the great fount of purity, the Biblical record, and have given in the notes the parallel passages from the sacred volume. The extracts from modern authors, while they illustrate the text, will give the student a taste for general reading. The questions which accompany each fable, are a summary of the text and the notes thereon, and will insure a thorough understanding of the spirit of the fable. The Metamorphoses are intended to be read after Caesar's Com- mentaries ; hence, in many instances, the partial Ordo which I have a2 5 6 PREFACE. given of the text, will be found necessary to the young student. It is tolerably full in the First Book, and is gradually shortened there- after. The Scanning Table will aid him in his first efforts to obtain a knowledge of Latin metre. The pictorial embellishments of the work contribute to the illus- tration of the fables, and impress them more fully upon the memory of the student, while they tend to excite a taste for drawing. They reflect much credit upon the artists who executed them. They were designed by J. H. Manning, of New York, and engraved by Neville Johnson, of Baltimore, and Lossing and Barrett, of New York. N. C. BROOKS. Baltimore High School, May 8th, 1848. LIFE AND WEITINGS OF OVID. Publius Ovidius Naso, one of the most celebrated poets of the Augustan era, was born at Sulmo, a town on the river Pescara, in the territory of the Peligni, about 90 miles east from Rome, and 32 miles from the Gulf of Venice. His birth occurred during the celebration of the Quinquatria, games in honor of Minerva, A. U. C. 711, and B. C. 42, the memorable year in which Cicero was murdered, and the very day that the two consuls, Hirtius and Pansa, were slain in the battle of Mutina, against Antony : Heec est armiferas de festis quinque Minervas, Quae fieri pugna prima cruenta solent. Editus hinc ego sum, nee non, ut tempora noris, Cum cecidit fato consul uterque pari. — Trist. Lib. iv. Ovid was descended from an ancient and distinguished family of the eques- trian order, and enjoyed all the advantages of mental cultivation which rank and wealth could afford. At an early age, he was brought to Rome with an elder brother, for the purpose of being instructed in the arts, learning, and accomplish- ments of the capital, and was for some time under the care of Plotius Grippus. He soon discovered a fondness for poetry, and through love of the Muses, often relaxed his application to other literary studies in which he was engaged. But his father, who appears to have had but little relish for belles-lettres, and was anxious that his son should become an accomplished orator and patron, and by eminence in judicial affairs, arrive at civic distinction, induced him to devote himself for a time to the study of eloquence and Roman law. The masters of Ovid in oratory were Arellius Fuscus and Porcius Latro, who were the most eminent teachers of their time ; and under their instructions, with the readiness of conception which was natural to him, and his felicity and fluency of expression, he was fitted for distinction as an accomplished advocate. His declamations were distinguished for their ingenuity and enthusiasm, their exube- rance of fancy, and richness of language, but were somewhat deficient in solidity and method, and abounded in digressions, which, however beautiful in them- selves, were but little in accordance with the simple and severe laws of unity. In his rhetorical exercises he generally chose ethical subjects, and preferred those persuasive harangues which are called Suasorise, as they were particularly suited to his ardent and enthusiastic temperament. At seventeen years of age, Ovid put on the toga virilis, and shortly after was honored by Augustus with the latus clavus, an ornament worn only by persons of quality. On the occasion of reviewing as censor the whole body of Roman knights, the emperor further distinguished the young poet by the present of a magnificent steed. When he had completed his rhetorical studies at Rome, he accompanied Varro in his military expedition to Asia; but without remaining with him long enough to see any service, he departed for Athens, with the view of completing his studies. Here he devoted himself for some time to the study of philosophy, especially physics and ethics, and in the latter, adopted the tenets of Epicurus. Leaving Athens in company with the poet JEmilius Macer, he 7 8 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF OVID. visited some of the cities of Asia, and, on his way to Rome, passed into Sicily. He and his companion spent nearly a year in the island, during which time they visited almost every part that promised either amusement or pleasure. On his return to Rome, Ovid became a professed advocate, and often harangued with great force and elegance in the centumvir's court. He was appointed to . several minor judicial offices of the state, which he filled with success ; and often acted as arbiter in private causes, in which his decisions were judicious, and made in so conciliating a manner that they were satisfactory to the litigants. He was at length made one of the triumvirs, who were magistrates of great authority, imrusted with the administration of justice in criminal causes. In this position also he discharged the functions of his office with ability, and to the satisfaction of the state : Nee male commissa est nobis fortuna reorum, Usque decern decies inspicienda viris. Res quoque privatas statui sine crimine judex. Deque viris quondam pars tribus una fui. — Trist. Lib. ii. But all these efforts, however successful, were but a struggle against his natural inclination to literature : and as Horace and Virgil had now risen to court-favor and opulence through poetry, he entertained the idea of relinquishing the engagements of the forum for pursuits more congenial to his taste, and still affording considerable chances of distinction. The death of his brother at this time left him sole heir to an ample fortune, so that he could bestow his time and attention in a manner perfectly agreeable to his literary predilections. He be- came, therefore, a professed votary of the Muses ; but mingled with their pure worship the grosser pleasures of sensuality, by indulging in the fashionable vices of the capital. Though now possessed of an extensive farm and villa at Sulmo, he preferred to reside in Rome. He had a beautiful house on the Capitoline hill, and another between the Claudian and Flaminian Ways, with beautiful gardens adjacent. His affectionate disposition, brilliant wit and elegant manners ren- dered him an agreeable companion, and his genius, wealth, and rank, gave him access to the best society, and secured to him a grateful reception by the em- peror. At the court of Augustus, he was treated with consideration by the most polite and influential of the courtiers, among whom were Messala, Sextus Pom- peius, and Fabius Maximus ; while he enjoyed the familiar friendship of the poets Tibullus, Horace, Sabinus, Macer, Severus, and Propertius. The versatile genius of the young bard seemed adapted to every kind of poetry; but his love of ease and pleasure, joined with affluence of fortune, and his fondness for company, both of his own and the fair sex, indisposed him to attempt any labored efforts. In compliance with this temper, he first composed light articles, elegies, epigrams, and amatory verses, to which he was incited by his natural propensities and the fashionable vices in which he was engaged. Non ego, Phcebe, datas a te mentiar artes ; Nee nos aerise voce monemur avis. Nee mihi sunt visae Clio, Cliusque sorores : Vera canam. Cceptis, mater amoris, ades. — Ars Amator. Lib. i. Besides these, he composed some other poems of a more serious character. His Amores, Ars Amatoria, Remedia Amoris, Heroides, Medea, Halieutica, Giganioma- chia, Phenomena, a poem against bad poets, and one on the triumphs of Augus- tus, were the fruits of this early period. The five last-named productions are lost. Of his Medea and Halieutica, the former of which was highly praised by Quintilian, and the latter copied by Oppian, but a few fragments remain. His Amores, Lib. in., have all the freshness of feeling and the exuberant fancy of youth, and abound with ingenious thoughts and agreeable images. The Ars Amatoria, Lib. in., and the Remedium Amoris, Lib. I., have for the most part the sprightliness of our author, but the sensual inculcations and the glowing lan- guage are calculated to inflame the passions, and corrupt the heart. Ovid, like LIFE AND WRITINGS OF OVID. 9 the author of Don Juan, is supposed, in this production, to have drawn largely upon his own vicious experience. His Heroides, Epist. xxi., are amorous epis- tles from distinguished ladies of the Heroic age, abounding in passion and pathos, and are the most polished of his productions. The next work in order, and on which Ovid intended to rest his chances of immortality, was the Metamorphoses, Lib. xv. These are a series of agreeable transformations, founded upon the fictions of the Greeks, with some few Latin, Oriental and Etruscan fables. The introductory part of the work, describing Chaos, the Creation, the deterioration of morals, and the Flood, are in striking accordance with the Biblical record, so that we can hardly persuade ourselves that the author was unacquainted with the sacred writings of the Hebrews. The work is of the cyclic kind, and the different parts are connected together in the most ingenious manner, like the interfacings of network, so that the poet pro- ceeds in uninterrupted recital of the successive stories, lifting link by link in the golden chain of fiction. In some few cases where no imagination could connect the fables in a regular order, he gives the poem a dramatic form, and the inter- locutors narrate them as separate stories. In the fables of the Metamorphoses, there is an endless variety of character and incident, the gay and the grave, the amusing and the pathetic, the familiar and the wonderful, the simple and the sublime, the human and the divine, over which the poet, with a versatility of style suited to every character and passion, in all the exuberance of thought and expression, has superfused the glory of his own immortal genius. No poetic work of ancient times was so varied in the character of its subjects as the Metamorphoses, and no Greek or Latin poet, of whom we have any knowledge, could, in treating of them, have succeeded so well. The idea of the work was probably suggested to the poet by the mythic poem of Parthenius the Greek, which is now lost. The Metamorphoses of Ovid were highly esteemed by the Greeks, and were translated into their language by their countryman Planudes. The Metamorphoses may be regarded as the propylxum to the great temple of Grecian mythology ; and though that temple is now in ruins, from its majestic gateway we may form some idea of the mag- nificence of the mighty structure to which it led, and of the sublime splendors of its ceremonial pomp. In explaining the Fables of the Metamorphoses of Ovid, different theories have been adopted. Some persons, having discovered that allegory is sometimes employed by the poet, have attempted to reduce every thing to a moral allegory; some, who have found history obscured under the veil of fiction, have referred all the fables to occurrences in ancient history ; while others, finding occasional coincidences with the Scriptures, profess to see in every thing mutilated and corrupt traditions of events that are contained in the Biblical record. Thus, while each interpreter has blindly followed his favorite theory, and sought to accommodate every thing to that theory, though correct in particular instances, he has erred in the generality of his interpretations. In the elucidation of the Metamorphoses, the principles of interpretation must ever vary according to the character of the fable. As the Greeks were distinguished by their fondness for allegory, moral and physical truths, and etymological resemblances, often sup- plied subjects for ingenious allegorical narrative. Hieroglyphics, which by pic- torial representations recorded occurrences and thoughts anterior to the invention of letters, were also fruitful sources of fabulous imagining, and as they were liable to diversified interpretations, have caused much confusion in mythology. Events of ancient history, too, have furnished ample materials for fictitious nar- rative ; while many traditions of the events and personages, and imitations of ceremonies, mentioned in the Bible, obscured and confused by the lapse of time,, and altered, abridged, or amplified by circumstances, are presented to us, clothed in the particolored, and oftentimes fantastic garb of mythic story. While engaged in the revision of the Metamorphoses, and while still enjoying the confidence and favor of the emperor, Ovid committed some fault, or became witness of some transaction which deeply wounded the honor of Augustus, who 2 10 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF OVID. banished him, in consequence, to a wild and distant part of the empire. Circum- stances render the conjecture probable, that Ovid, with profane eyes, may have invaded the privacies of the empress while bathing, or may have witnessed and disclosed some great moral turpitude, either of Augustus or one of the imperial family, possibly Julia, the grand-daughter of the emperor. Cur aliquid vidi, cur conscia lumina feci ? Cur imprudenti cognita culpa mihi ? — Epist. e Ponto. Herein lies a great mystery of the court of Augustus. The fault of the poet, whatever it was, though doubtless known to many at the time, has not been stated by any writer, and still remains a great literary problem, like the impri- sonment of Tasso. Under the pretext of the licentiousness of his amatory works, which, however, had been freely circulated and read for years, the emperor, under a sentence of relegation, somewhat milder than banishment, as it did not involve confiscation of his estate, removed him to Tomi, now Temiswar, a town in Pontus, in a gloomy and inhospitable region lying on the Euxine sea. When the poet received the order to depart, in a transport of grief he burned the copy of the Metamorphoses which he was engaged in correcting, so that this inimi- table work would have been lost to the world, had it not been preserved by means of a copy which he had given to a friend some time before. While in his exile, the poet learned its preservation; but as he never had a chance of revising it, we must regard it with the allowance due to a work which has not received the finishing touches of its author. As an apology for its imperfections, •Ovid proposed the following lines as a prefix to the Metamorphoses : Orba parente suo quicumque volumina tangis ; His saltern vestra detur in urbe locus : Quoque magis faveas, non hasc sunt edita ab ipso, Sed quasi de domini funere rapta sui. Quicquid in his igitur vitii rude carmen habebit, Emendaturus, si licuisset, erat. Recommending his wife to the protection of his friend Fabius Maximus, he bade adieu to Rome, and the scenes and associates of his former pleasures, and went into his lonely and melancholy exile. Some time before this calamity, he had commenced his Fasti, Lib. xn., which may be regarded as a supplement to the Metamorphoses. The Fasti give an account of the origin and observance of the different festivals, dedications, and other ceremonies of the Roman Calendar, arranged in chronological order. A book is devoted to each month, and the holy- days are associated with the sun's place in the zodiac, and with the rising and setting of the stars. The work ends with June ; the six latter books having been lost. C. Hemina and Claudius Quadrigarius had attempted this work be- fore in prose, with indifferent success. On his voyage to Pontus, Ovid commenced his Tristia, Lib. v., of which he wrote the first book, containing ten elegies while at sea. The Tristia, and the Episiolss e Ponto, Lib. iv., which he wrote in his lonely exile, are the melancholy outpourings of a breaking heart. They are filled with complaints of the hardness of his lot, the miseries of his old age, and the mortifications and sorrows to which he was exposed. In these productions he sought, alike by flattery and the most moving appeals, to mitigate the severity of the emperor, and induce him to recal him from exile, or remove him to a milder residence. The transi- tion in the circumstances of the poet from his former condition, were distressing to one of his sensitive feelings. Around him a bleak and barren region, snows and fogs alternately deforming the sky, and the storms ever chafing the black Euxine into fury, — with no companions but barbarians clad in skins, he sighed for the vine-clad hills, the sun and sky of Italy — for the fragrance of the Collis Hortulorum, and the flowers of his own fair garden by the Flaminian Way — for the gay companions, the baths, the theatres, and the gushing fountains of impe- rial Rome. Like the unhappy Byron in his self-imposed exile, he could exclaim with him : LIFE AND WRITINGS OF OVID. H " My days are in the yellow leaf, The fruits and flowers of love are gone; The worm, the canker, and the grief Are mine alone." But nothing could move the obduracy of Augustus; and although Ovid re- garded his memory with idolatry, and consecrated a chapel to him after death, neither this, nor like flatteries lavished upon his successor Tiberius, ever pro- cured the recall of the unfortunate poet. While in exile, the feelings of Ovid were deeply wounded by the conduct of a former friend, supposed to be the poet Cornificius by some, but with more reason, the mythograph Hyginus, who soli- cited his wife Perilla, whom Ovid tenderly loved, to forget her exiled husband and accept of another. He endeavored also to induce the emperor to bestow upon him the patrimony of Ovid. Full of indignation, the unhappy poet dipped his pen in gall, and wrote a poem called Ibis, inscribed to the fictitious name of his ungrateful friend. It is in the style of the Dirae of Valerius Cato, and is full of imprecations in comparison of which ordinary curses appear as benedictions. After this, Ovid composed a poem in praise of the imperial family at Rome. It was in the barbarous language of the people where he dwelt, and w T armly attached them to him ever after. This poem has not come down to us. After living more than nine years in exile, Ovid closed his life at Tomi, in the sixtieth year of his age, and was mourned publicly by the inhabitants, who erected a stately monument to his memory, before the gates of the city. His death occurred A. U. C. 771, in the fourth year of the reign of Tiberius. Ovid's person was of a middle stature, and slender, but graceful, and his body strong and nervous, though not large-limbed. He was of a pale complexion, with features regular and agreeable, and possessed of an open and engaging countenance. He w 7 as thrice married. His first wife, whom he took in early life, was not worthy of his affections, and was soon repudiated : Paene mini puero nee digna nee utilis uxor Est data, quae tempus per breve nupta fu.it. — Trist. Lib. ii. He married a second wife, whom he also divorced shortly after, although she was virtuous and prudent : Illi successit, quamvis sine crimine, conjux ; Non tamen in nostro firma futura toro. — Trist. Lib. ii. His last wife, Perilla, was celebrated for her beauty and virtue, and as she was of congenial taste, having considerable genius for poetry, was most tenderly loved by him. She remained faithful to him to the last, and lived like a sorrow- ful widow, during the relegation of her husband. Ultima, quae mecum seros permansit in annos, Sustinuit conjux exulis esse viri. — Trist. Lib. ii. In conclusion, it must be admitted that Ovid possessed a most extensive wit, supported by just conceptions, a lively fancy, and great felicity of expression. The natural indolence of his temper and his gayety of life prevented his essaying those nobler efforts of which he was capable, while the misfortunes which clouded his latter years prevented his polishing what he had written. If he had employed the same laborious care in composition and patience in revision, for which Virgil was distinguished, he would have surpassed. in correctness, as he does in genius, all the other Latin poets. As it is, his writings generally are of the most agree- able and instructive character, so that every reader, in admiration of his produc- tions, and in sympathy for his misfortunes, will readily join in the petition for rest to his ashes, expressed in the epitaph of the poet, composed by himself: Hie ego qui jaceo, tenerorum lusor amorum, Jngenio perii Naso poeta meo : At tibi, qui transis, ne sit grave, quisquis amasti, Dicere Nasonis molliter ossa cubent. TESTIMONIA VETEKUM SCRIPTORUM DE OVIDIO. MARCUS ANNJEUS SENECA. Naso had a constant, becoming, and amiable wit. His prose appeared no other than dissolved verses. Of his words no prodigal, except in his verse, wherein he was not ignorant of the fault, but affected it, and often would say, that a mole did not misbecome a beautiful face, but made it more lovely.— Controv. x. VELLEIUS PATERCULUS. It is almost a folly to number the wits that are ever in our eyes. Amongst these, the most eminent of our age are Virgil, the prince of verse, Rabirius, Livy, imi- tating Sallust, Tibullus, and Naso, in the form of his absolute poem. — Hist. Lib. ii. LUCIUS ANN.EUS SENECA. " Existunt montes, et sparsas Cycladas augent," as saith the wittiest of all poets.— Nat. Gu^st. Lib. hi. QUINTILIANUS. Ovid's Medea seemeth to me to express how much that man could have performed, if he had restrained, rather than cherished, his invention. — Lib. x. CORNELIUS TACITUS. Neither is there any composition of Asinus, or Mes- sala, so illustrious as Ovid's Medea. — Dialog, de Obat. Thou'rt more than mad ! those whom thou seest so bare, With Ovid's self, or Virgil may compare. Lib. iii. Epig. 38. STATIUS PAMPINIUS. That honored day, the old Callimachus, Philetas, Umbrian Propertius, Prepare to celebrate with one consent; And Naso, cheerful though in banishment, With rich Tibullus.— Sylvar. Lib. i. LACTANTIUS. Ovid, in the beginning of his excellent poem, confess- ed that God, (not disguising his name,) ordained the world, who calls him the Creator thereof, and maker of all things.— In stit. Div. Lib. i. S. HIERONYMUS, Semiramis, of whom they report many wonders, erected the walls of Babylon, as testifies that renowned poet, in the Fourth Book of his Metamorphoses.— In. Ose. Cap. ii. S. AUGUSTINUS. And Naso, that excellent poet.— De Civitat. Dei. ANOELUS POLITIANUS. 'Tis doubtful, whether he, whom Sulmo bore, The world-commanding Tiber honored more Than his foul exile thee defamed, O Rome ! Whom Getic sands, alas ! but half intomb. Perhaps observed by Augustus' spies, To look on Julia with too friendly eyes. — In Nutricia. MARCUS ANTONIUS TRITONIUS. This divine work is necessary, and to be desired of all that are addicted to poetry, both for the gracefulness of speech, the admirable art of the poet, and delightful variety of the subject. Neither was there any that dili- gently collected, or learnedly, elegantly, and orderly expressed the fables, but Ovid, who composed out of Orpheus, Hesiod, Homer, and other most ancient poets, so excellent and noble a work, that therein the learning of the Latins may worthily glory. — Disputat. de Fab. 12 RAPHAEL REGIUS. There is nothing appertaining to the knowledge and glory of wars, whereof we have not famous examples in the Metamorphoses of Ovid, described with such effi- cacy and eloquence, that often in reading, you will imagine yourself embroiled in their conflicts.— Prjefat. Comment. JACOBUS MICYLLUS. Hardly shall you find a poem, which flows with greater facility. For what should I say of learning ? herein so great, so various and abstruse, that many places have neither been explained, nor yet understood ; no, not by the most knowing, requiring rather a resolution from the Delian oracle.— Princip. Addition. STEPHANUS. Naso, In his Metamorphoses, may well be called the poet of painters, in that those witty descriptions afford such lively patterns for their pencils to imitate.— Pr^fat. in Horatium. ANTONIUS MURETUS. The Metamorphoses, a divine poem, shining through- out, with all the lustres of conceit and eloquence.— Orat. iii. JULIUS CESAR SCALIGER. But now we arrive where the height of wit, and the sharpness of judgment are both to be exercised. For who can commend Ovid sufficiently? much less, who dares reprehend him ? Notwithstanding, I will say some- thing, not in way of detraction, but that we also may be able to grow with his greatness his Meta- morphoses—books deserving a more fortunate author, that from his last hand they might have had their per- fection, which he himself laments in luculent verses. Yet are there in these, well-nigh an infinite number, which the wit of another, I believe, could never have equalled.— Poetic Lib. v. BERNARDUS MARTINUS. I conceive the poet of Sulmo did follow the industry and advice of Zeuxis, in the composure of that admira- ble work of his Metamorphoses. For as that excellent painter, about to draw the picture of Helen, had assem- bled together the most rare and beautiful virgins of Greece, that by examining their several perfections and graces, he might express all in one with his curious pencil ; so he out of the innumerable volumes of the Grecian poets, first gathered these multiplicities of fa- bles, composing the diffused and variously dispersed into one body, and then diligently noting what in every author was elegant and beautiful, transferred the same to his own, that nothing might be wanting to the en- riching and adorning of his divine poem. — Variar. Lect. Lib. hi. Cap. 18. HERCULES CIOFANUS. A witty work, replete with solid and manifold learn- ing. Those who peruse it diligently, shall find such admirable fluency, such fulness, such gravity of words and sentences, that few or none among the Latin poets can be said to transcend him. What shall I say of that singular and well-nigh divine contexture of fable with fable ? so surpassing that nothing can be spoken or done more artificially, more excellently, or more gracefully. Who, handling such diversity of matter, so cunningly weaves them together, that all appear but one series ? Planudes, well knowing that Greece had not a poem so abounding with delight and beauty, translated it into that language. What should I say more ? All arts which antiquity knew are here so fully delineated, that a num- ber, expert in both tongues, of prime understanding and judgment, admire it beyond all expression.— PRiEFAT. OBS. IN MeIAM. INDEX METAMORPHOSEON P. OVIDII NASONIS. LIBER I. Fabttla I. Chaos changed into four elements ; the Creation of the world ... 22 II. Formation of animals ; the creation of man 32 III. The Golden Age, in which inno- cence and happiness prevail . . 38 IV. The Silver Age, in which there is a deterioration of morals ... 44 V. The Brazen and Iron Ages, in which wickedness reaches its height . 48 VI. The Battle of the Giants; their blood changed into men .... 54 VU. Council of the Gods called to deli- berate on the prevailing wicked- ness of mankind 58 Vin. Lycaon changed into a wolf ... 64 IX. The world destroyed by a flood, on account of the ungodliness of men 68 X. Restoration of the world; stones changed into men 82 XL The earth changed into animals; Python slain by Apollo .... 88 XII. Daphne changed into a laurel . . 94 XIII. ValeofTempe; Io changed into a heifer, and placed under Argus . 104 XIV. Syrinx changed into a reed; death ofArgus 114 XV. Io the heifer, changed into the hu- man form 118 LIBER II. Fabt/la I. The Palace of the Sun ; a descrip- tion of the solar chariot .... 126 II. The conflagration of the world ; the fallofPhaethon 136 HI. The sisters of Phagthon changed into poplars, and Cycnus, his cou- sin, into a swan 148 IV. Jupiter changed into the form of Diana, that he may deceive Cal- listo, the daughter of Lycaon . . 154 V. Callisto changed into a bear by Juno 158 VI. Callisto and her son Areas changed into constellations 162 VII. Coronis of Phocis changed into a crow; the raven changed from white to black ■ . . 166 Vni. Nyctimene changed to a night- owl; the death of Coronis of Larissa 172 IX. Ocyrrhoe, the daughter of Chiron, changed into a mare 176 X. Apollo becomes a shepherd ; Battus changed by Mercury into a touch- stone 180 XI. The loves of Mercury and Herse ; Agraulos changed to stone . . 184 XII. Jupiter, transformed to a bull, car- ries Europa across the sea into Crete 192 B 13 14 INDEX METAMORPHOSEON. liber ra. Fabula I. Cadmus, in search of his sister Europa, comes to Bceotia, where he slays the dragon 198 II. The teeth of the dragon, sown in the earth by the command of Mi- nerva, are changed to armed men 206 III. Actaeon changed to a stag by Diana, in consequence of surprising her when bathing, is eaten up by his own dogs 210 IW Juno changed into an old woman, procures the death of Semele . . 218 V. Echo, in love with Narcissus, pines away, and is changed to a voice . 224 VI. Narcissus, in love with himself, pines away, and is changed to a daffodil 230 VII. The triumphs of Bacchus, and rage ofPentheus 238 Vm. The Tyrrhene sailors attempt to carry off Bacchus, and are changed to dolphins 244 IX. The death of Pentheus, who is torn in pieces by Bacchanals. His mother Agave, and his aunt Au- tonoe, are the principal actors . 252 LIBER IV. Fabula. I. The Minye'ides despise the festival of Bacchus, and continue their labors, which they lighten by the recital of stories. Transforma- tion of Dercetis into a fish ; that of Semiramis into a dove . . . 258 The story of Pyramus and Thisbe ; mulberries changed from white to black ; the Minyei'des changed to bats 266 Juno descends to the infernal re- gions, and employs a Fury to de- stroy the house of Athamas . . 274 Ino and her son Melicerta changed to marine deities; their compa- nions to rocks and birds .... 280 Cadmus and Hermione changed to serpents in Illyria . 286 Atlas changed to a mountain . . . 291 Perseus slays the sea-monster to which Andromeda was exposed, and marries her 296 VIII. Medusa slain by Perseus; the winged horse Pegasus and his brother Chrysaor spring from her blood 302 II. in. IV. VI. VII. SCANNING TABLE. Hexameter verse contains dactyls and spondees, and consists of six feet. When regular, the fifth foot is always a dactyl, and the sixth a spondee. An irregular line sometimes admits a spondee, instead of a dactyl, in the fifth foot, and is therefore called spondaic. Of regular hexameter lines, there are sixteen varieties, owing to the different arrangement of the dactyls and spondees. In the references to the Scanning Table, the number opposite to each line shows the variety to which each verse belongs. Thus, Verse 1, marked 11, must be scanned according to the 11th variety in the table. Dact. j Dact. In nova fert am Spond. mus mu Spond. tatas Dact dicere Spond. formas. An asterisk [ * ] in the references, denotes a poetic license in the verse, as when a long syllable is made short, or a short syllable long, a syllable preserved from elision, or two syllables contracted into one. An obelisk [_ t ] denotes a spondaic verse. A consonant is often doubled to lengthen a preceding syllable ; as re/ligio for religio ; reftulit for retulit. I. — — — ww II. — WW — WW III. —WW —WW —WW IV. —WW —WW —WW —WW V. — ww — ww ; — WW VI. — . — —ww —WW VII. —WW —WW VIII. —WW —WW —WW IX. —ww W —WW —WW —WW X. —WW —WW —WW XL —WW —WW —WW XII. —ww —WW XIII. —ww —WW —WW XIV. —WW —WW —WW —WW XV. — ww — WW — WW XVI. —ww —WW —WW —WW 15 REFERENCES TO THE SCANNING TABLE. PROCEMIUM. 1 . . . 11 2. . . 12 3. . . 8 4. . . 16 FAB. i. 1 . . . 13 2. . . 12 3. . . 5 4. . . 5 5. . . 13 6. . . 12 7. . . 15 8. . . 2 9. . . 15 ior . . 13 n . . . 12 12. . . 11 13. . . 13 14. . . 4 15. . . 15 16. . . 14 17. . . 11 18. . . 1 19 . . 13 20. . . 1 21 . . . 11 22. . . 13 23. . . 14 24. . . 13 25. . . 14 26. . . 5 27. . . 14 28. . . 16 29 . . . 11 30. . . 12 31. . . 14 32. . . 14 33. . . 13 34. . . 13 35. . . 12 36. . . 6 38. . 39. . 40. . 41 . . 42. . 43. . 44. . 45. . 46. . 47. . 48. . 49. . 50. . 51 . . 52. . 53. . 54. . 55. . 56. . 57. . 58. . 59. . 60. . 61 . . 62. . 63. . 64. . 65. . 66. . 67. . 11 12 15 13 12 15 10 8 9 11 12 16 6 13 5 13 12 11 12 14 t9 10 10 15 9 9 12 16 8 12 FAB. II. . 11 16 1 . . 2. . 3. . 4. . 5. . 6* . 7. . 8. . 9. . 10. . 11 . . 12. . 13. . 9 15 5 14 16 15 12 13 13 15 16 10 14 14. 15. 16. 17. . 15 . 13 . 9 . 15 FAB. III. 1 . . 2. . 3. . 4. . 5. . 6. . 7. . 8. . 9. . 10. . 11 . . 12. . 13. . 14. . 15. . 16 . . 17. . 18. . 19. . 20. . 21 . . 22. . 23. . 24. . . 11 . 10 . 16 . 12 . 9 . 5 . 11 . 13 . 6 . 12 . 14 . 15 . 12 . 16 . 6 . 13 . 13 . 4 . 14 . 8 . 13 . 10 . 13 . 11 FAB. IV. 1 . 2. 3. 4. 5. 6* 7. 8. 9. 10. 11 . 12. . 15 . 10 , 8 . 12 tl5 , 11 , 1 . 15 . 4 . 6 .13 .14 FAB. V. 1 . 2. 3 . 4. 5 . 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11 . 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21 . 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 1 . . 2. . 3. . 4. . 5* . 6. . 7. . 8. . 9. . 10. . 11 . . 12. . FAB. 1 . . . 13 . 9 . 11 . 12 . 15 . 5 . 14 . 14 . 10 . 12 . 8 . 12 . 4 . 5 . 10 . 11 . 13 . 12 . 9 . 13 . 16 . 16 . 16 . 10 . 11 . 12 FAB. VI. 13 12 12 11 12 16 1 9 8 14 8 11 VII. 12 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 12 10 8 9 13 16 11 6 16 15 14 12 13 10 11 11 13 11 13 6 11 4 13 12 7 15 14 12 16 t8 12 13 16 13 16 15 13 11 15 16 10 11 14 13 16 47 ... i: 48 ... 11 FAB. VIII. 1 . . 2 . . 3 . . 4. . 5. . 6. . 7. . 8. . 9. . 10. . 11 . . 12. . 13. . 14. . 15. . 16. . 17. . 18. . 19. . 20. . 21 . . 22. . 23. . 24. . 25. . 26. . 27. . 28. . 29. . FAB. 1 . . 2. . 3. . 4. . 5. . 6. . 7. . 8. . 9 . . 10. . REFERENCES TO THE SCANNING TABLE. 17 14 I 62 . . 6 113 . . 4 33. . . 16 135. . . 8 48. . . 9 9 ! 63 . . 15 114*. . 13 34. . . 8 |36. . . 13 49. . . 8 16 64 . . 3 115 . . 15 35. . . 13 50. . .15 12 65 . . 16 116 . . 11 36. . . 13 FAI t. XII. 51 . . .10 14 66 . . 12 117 . . 12 37. . . 10 1 . . . 12 52. . .15 12 67 . . 12 118 . . 15 38. . . 4 2. . . 8 53. . . 15 14 68 . . 8 119 . . 11 39 . . . 15 3. . . 12 54. . . 14 13 69 . . 14 120 . . 10 40. . . 6 4. . . 12 55. . . 4 13 70 . . 16 121 . . 12 41 . . . 15 5. . . 15 56. . .15 14 71 . . 8 122 . . 16 42. . . 10 6 . . . 10 57. . . 13 15 72 . . 14 123 . . 13 43. . . 10 7. . . 9 58 . . . 9 12 73 . . 5 124 . . 14 44. . . 10 8. . . 16 59. . . 9 10 74 . . 11 125 . . 11 45. . . 5 9 . . . 10 60. . . 15 6 75 . . 15 125 . . 12 46 . . . 14 10. . . 11 61 . . .12 4 76 . . 15 127 . . 5 47. . . 16 11 . . . 6 62. . .13 11 77 . . 9 128 . . 15 12 . . . 16 63 . . . 9 13 78 . . 14 129 . . 11 FAB. XI. 13. . . 16 64. . . 9 11 79 . . 16 1 . . . 13 14. . . 14 65. . . 16 13 80 . . 8 FAB. X. 2 . . . 16 15. . . 12 66 . . .12 13 81 . . 13 1 . . 10 3. . . 12 16. . . 12 67. . .13 15 82 . . 11 2 . . 8 4 . . . 13 17. . . 16 68. . .16 9 83 . . 8 3 . . 12 5 . . . 7 18. . . 4 69. . . 4 6 84 . . 14 4 . . 11 6 . . . 5 19 . . . 13 70. . .13 14 85 . . 16 5 . . 6 7. . . 10 20. . . 14 71 . . .14 3 86 . . 16 6 . . 2 8* . . 14 21 . . . 13 72. . . 6 14 87 . . 16 7 . . 5 9 . . . 11 22 . . . 16 73 . . .15 12 88 . . 12 8 . . 9 10. . . 13 23 . . . 9 74. . . 1 6 89 . . 13 9 . . 11 11 . . . 16 24. . . 6 75. . .11 12 90 . . 2 10 . . 13 12. . . 6 25. . . 12 76. . . 12 10 91 . . 9 11 . . 16 13. . . 10 26 . . . 14 77. . .13 12 92 . . 15 12 . . 15 14. . . 15 27. . . 6 78. . .10 16 93 . . 6 13 . . 15 15. . . 11 28. . . 14 79. . . 9 2 94 . . 15 14 . . 8 16. . . 10 29 . . . 11 80. . .15 11 95 . . 6 15 . . 12 17. . . 16 30. . . 14 81 . . .10 14 96 . . 9 16 . . 16 18. . . 13 31 . . . 13 82. . .14 10 97 . . 13 17 . . 15 19 . . . 16 32. . . 12 83. . . 15 14 98 . . 16 18 . . 9 20 . . . 16 33. . . 13 84. . . 12 9 99 . . 9 19 . . 12 21 . . . 10 34. . . 12 85. . .11 14 100 . . 10 20 . . 11 22. . . 13 35. . . 10 86. . .16 8 101 . . 11 21 . . 12 23. . . 13 36 . . . 9 87. . .13 15 102 . . 13 22 . . 14 24. . . 10 37. . . 16 88 . . .11 12 103 . . 13 23 . . 15 25. . . 15 38. . . 14 89. . . 10 9 104 . . 16 24 . . 15 26. . . 11 39 . . . 15 90. . .12 13 105 . . 12 25 . . \& 27 . . . 14 40. . . 15 91 . . .13 1 106 . . 15 26 . . 15 28. . . 12 41 . . . 16 92. . . 11 11 107 . . 13 27 . . 11 29. . . 13 42. . . 12 93. . .16 12 108 . . 7 28 . . 10 30. . . 12 43. . . 12 94. . . 13 16 109 . . 11 29 . . 6 31 . . . 15 44. . . 15 95. . .15 6 110 . . 3 30 . . 3 32. . . 11 45. . . 11 96 . . . 1 11 Ill . . 10 31 . . 5 33 . . . 14 46 . . . 12 97. . .12 13 112 . 3 . 13 32 . . 15 34. . . 10 47. ] . . 3 b2 98 . . . 9 18 REFERENCES TO THE SCANNING TABLE. 99 . . 10 23. . . 14 62 . . 12 101 . . 14 17. . . 15 19. . . 100 . . 10 24. . . 5 63 . . 12 102 . . 15 18. . . 14 20. . . 101 . . 6 25. . . 11 64 . . 12 103 . . 13 19 . . . 13 21 . . . 102 . . 14 26 . . . 5 65 . . 10 104 . . 15 20. . . 4 22. . . 103 . . 14 27. . . 10 66 . .12 105 . . 14 21 . . . 15 23. . . 104 . . 13 28. . . 6 67 . .13 106 . . 9 22. . . 11 24. . . 105 . . 11 29 . . . 16 68 . .12 107 . . 13 23 . . . 10 25. . . 106 . . 10 30. . . 10 69 . .16 108 . . 13 24. . . 2 26. . . 107 . . 13 31 . . . 16 70 . . 6 109 . . 13 25. . . 12 27. . . 108 . . 15 32. . . 12 71 . .10 110 . . 12 26 . . . 9 28 . 109 . . 14 33 . . . 9 72 . .14 Ill . . 12 27. . . 12 29. . . 110 . . 14 34. . . 11 73 . . 15 112 . . 11 28. . . 15 30. . . Ill . . 16 35. . . 5 74 . .11 113 . . 10 29 . . . 12 31 . . . 112 . . 13 36 . . . 15 75 . .13 114 . 15 30. . . 7 32 . . . 113 . . 16 37. . . 12 76 . . 9 115 . 10 31 . . . 11 33 . . . 38 . . . 15 77 . .12 116 . . 15 32. . . 13 34. . . FAB. XJ.1I. 39 . . . 6 78 . . 8 117 . 16 33. . . 7 35 . . . 1 . . 16 40 . . . *2 79 . .14 118 . 12 34. . . 10 36. . . 2 . . 12 41 . . . 16 80 . .16 119 . 5 35. . . 12 37. . . 3 . 1 42. . . 14 81 . .15 120 . 16 38. . . 4 . 4 43. . . 13 82 . . 12 121 . 16 FAB . XV. 39 . . . 5 . 12 44. . . 13 83 . . 11 1 . . . 13 40. . . 6 . 11 45. . . 15 84 . . 14 FAB. XlV. 2 . . . 10 41 . . . 7 . 13 46 . . . 6 85 . . 11 1 . 10 3. . . 10 42. . . 8 . 11 47. . . 13 86 . . 11 2 . t9 4 . . . 11 43. . . 9 . 8 48. . . 15 87 . . 12 3 . 11 5. . . 12 44. . . 10 . 14 49 . . . 15 88 . . 10 4 . 16 6. . . 10 45. . . 11 . 12 50. . . 15 89 . . 12 5 . . 8 7. . . 10 46 . . . 12 . 4 51 . . . 15 90 . . 14 6 . . 10 8. . . 12 47. . . 13 . 11 52 . . . 8 91 . . 15 7 . : 16 9f . . 16 48. . , 14 . 8 53 . . . 14 92 . . 9 8 . . 12 10. . . 11 49. . . 15 . . 12 54. . . 15 93 . . 16 9 . 13 11 . . . 11 50. . . 16 . . 16 55 . . . 13 94 . . 8 10 . 15 12. . . 13 51 . . . 17 . 16 56 . . . 9 95 . . 16 11 . 15 13. . . 13 52. . . 18 . 12 57. . . 11 96 . . 1 12 . 11 14. . . 10 53 . . . 19 . . 11 58. . . 8 97 . . 12 13 . 13 15. . . 8 54 . . . 20 . . 15 59 . . . 10 •98 . . 6 14 . 15 16 . . . 10 55 . . . 21 . 10 60. . . 13 99 . . 11 15 . 13 17. . . 13 56. . . 22 . . 14 61 . . . 15 100 . . 16 16 . . 7 18. . . 14 P. OYIDII NASONIS METAMORPHOSEON LIBRI IV. 19 ARGUMENTUM. After a concise and elegant annunciation of his subject, the poet in- vokes the inspiration of the gods in the composition of a continuous poem, from the first origin of the world to his own times. Chaos, which was a rude and confused mass, is reduced to order, and separated into the four elements, fire, air, earth, and water, with distinct localities. Form and regularity are given to the universe. To the several divisions of nature, proper inhabitants are assigned, and lastly, man is formed. Four ages of the world follow. In the golden age, innocence and tranquillity pre- vail, and men live upon the spontaneous productions of the earth. In the silver age, the year is divided into four seasons. The earth is now cul- tivated, and houses are built. In the brazen age, the corruption of morals begins, which is consummated in the iron age. Rapine and violence now predominate, and Astrsea, the last of the gods, leaves the earth reeking with slaughter. The giants make war upon Heaven, and are destroyed by Jupiter. From their blood springs a race of men given to violence and lust. Jupiter calls a council of the Celestials, to deliberate upon the general depravity, and relates the impiety of Lycaon, and his transforma- tion into a wolf. A general deluge destroys all animate existence, except Deucalion and Pyrrha. By the admonition of Themis, they repair the human race. The other animals are produced from the moist earth, heated by the sun : among them, the serpent Python, which is slain by Apollo. In commemoration of the deed, he institutes the Pythian games. Daphne, the daughter of the river Peneus, pursued by Apollo, is changed into a laurel. Io, the daughter of Inachus, is abused by Jupiter, and changed into a heifer, to prevent the suspicion of Juno. She is assigned to the care of Argus, who has a hundred eyes. Mercury, sent by Jupiter for the destruction of Argus, entertains him with music and the story of the transformation of Syrinx into a reed, and having lulled him to sleep, slays him. Juno adorns the tails of her peacocks with his eyes. Io, restored, with Juno's consent, to the human form, gives birth to Epaphus, and is worshipped as a goddess. Phaeton, reproached by Epaphus with believing in a supposititious father, visits the palace of the sun. P. OVIDII NASONIS METAMORPHOSEON. LIBEE I. ^"7V*iS"vi *RJ PROCEMIUM. N nova fert animus mutatas dicere formas Corpora. Di, cceptis (nam vos mutastis et illas) Adspirate meis: primaque ab origine mundi Ad mea perpetuum deducite tempora carmen. NOT^E. Metamorphoseon. From fierafiopcpoxris, which signi- fies the change of one thing for another. 1. In nova. As is custom- ary, the poet begins by declaring his subject, and after invoking the aid of the gods, enters upon the narration. The exordium is brief, but comprehen- sive. 1. Fert animus: my mind inclines me : I design. 1. Mutatas formas. By hypallage for, corpora mutata in novas formas; bodies changed into new forms. See Brooks's Grammar, p. 144. The use of this figure, by which the order of construction is in- verted, is singularly beautiful in treating of the transformation of bodies. 2. Dt, cceptis. At the commencement of any labour, the invocation of the supreme power and goodness is just and proper. With especial appropriateness, the poet, on this occasion, invokes the gods whose agency had effected the different creations and transformations which he is about to describe. In sublimity, however, the fol- lowing, from Milton, is greatly superior : And chiefly thou, O Spirit, that dost prefer Before all temples, the upright heart and pure, Instruct me, for thou knowest : thou from the first Wast present, and with mighty wings outspread, Dove-like, sat'st brooding on the vast abyss, And mad'st it pregnant : what in me is dark. Illumine ! what is low, raise and support. 2. Nam vos mutastis: for you have also transformed them. The emphatic force of the conjunction et, evidently refers to their creation by the gods. 3. Adspirate jneis: favor, literally, breathe upon, my designs. A metaphor common with the poets, derived from winds impel- ling a ship. 4. Deducite: draw like a chain, extend. 4. Perpetuum carmen: a continuous, un- broken poem. The art of the poet is par- ticularly shown in the happy manner in which each fable is connected with the one succeeding it, in a regular series, like tne links of a chain. 21 FABULA I. CHAOS ET MUNDI CREATIO. God red-aces Chaos into order, and separates the Four Elements. He assigns stations to the several divisions of the -universe; and gives form and regularity to the whole. The zones of the earth. The principal winds. The stars. EXPLICATIO. However they may be involved in allegory, or disfigured by error, there is in all the ancient cosmogonies, Chaldee, Phenician, Egyptian, Persian, Indian, and Gothic, sufficient coincidence with that of Moses to attest the truth and universality of the Scriptural account of an event which has been carried, by tradition, into every part of the habitable world. Sancho- niatho, the Phenician, who compiled his antiquities from civic records and annals kept in the temples of the gods, in so many respects coincides with Moses, that he is supposed by some to have had access to the Pen- tateuch. Hesiod appears to have copied him in his Theogony, and to have furnished, in his turn, the material of which, in part, Lucretius, Diodorus Siculus, and our poet, have constructed their systems of the creation of the world. In the first place, the poet describes Chaos, dark and without form, as containing in itself all the elements of the universe in a state of commo- tion. This agrees with the Biblical account : " And the earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the abyss. And the Spirit of God moved [brooded] upon the face of the waters ;" and is in beau tiful accordance, too, with that Orphic allegory which represents a dove as brooding upon an immense egg, from which the universe is produced. The Architect of the world begins to reduce Chaos to order, and first makes two general divisions, Earth and Heaven. He then separates the earth into land and water; and divides the heaven into two portions, the upper and the lower, arranging the whole according to the gravity of the several parts. He now gives rotundity to the earth, pours out the seas, and encircles them with shores, and forms the different smaller bodies of water. He spreads out the plains, and depresses the valleys, elevates the moun- tains, and clothes the forests with trees. He distinguishes the earth by zones, assigns places to the fogs, the clouds, the lightning and the thun- der, and determines the several regions of the winds. When these things are arranged, as if to crown the excellence of the whole, and to contem- plate the new creation, the stars which had lain obscured under Chaos, begin now to glow throughout all the heavens, in happy coincidence with the close of the Scriptural creation, "when the morning stars sang to- gether, and all the sons of God shouted for joy." 22 NTE mare et tellus, et, quod tegit omnia, coelum, Unus erat toto Naturae vultus in orbe, -^ & Q.uem dixere Chaos; rudis indiges- -jJI^W^JN taque moles; Nee quicquam nisi pondus iners, con- gestaque eddem NOTtE. 1. Ante: formerly; at the first. The ac- count which Ovid gives of the creation, de- rived from tradition and the writings of the earlier poets, agrees in many respects with the Mosaic account. He begins his narra- tion with a word similar in meaning to the commencement of Genesis, " In the begin- ning, God created the heavens and the earth.' ' In the beginning of the creation of all thing?, the heavens and the earth had the same form and appearance, their natures being mixed together. — Diodorus Siculus. 1. Tellus. The earth, in all the Cosmogo- JM 1 nies of the ancients, is produced from chaos, l^p i TotJ Xdovs SlSvyarfip tan koX r) yfj. — Pkoknutitjs. ^/)M C eel am: heaven; so called from KoTXog, concave. l||J|(|f 2. ITnus vultus. It was a general idea of the ancients, jg^s- that all the elements were at first united. Thus Euripides, ~ 'O S'ovpavos T£ yaia r' r]v pop to wear away, because the motion of the sea wears away the earth. When not a wave appears at eventide, Save from the pawing of thy coursers' feet, With queenly Amphitrite by thy side, O'er the still waters glides thy chariot fleet. Pantheon 11. Pontus. Put for water, by metony- my. — See Brooks's Grammar, p. 208. 13. Lucis egens: destitute of light. The earth was at first without form and void ; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. — Genesis i. 2. 14. Obstabat. The strife arose from the commotion of the different elements com- mingled in the same body. 15. Pugnabafit. Thus, Milton, in de- scribing the Chaos that borders upon Hell. For hot, cold, moist, and dry, four champions fierce, Strive here for mastery, and to battle bring Their embryo atoms.— Paradise Lost. 16. Sine pondere : things without weight. The imponderable agents are light, heat, and electricity. Fabula I. METAMORPHOSEON. Hanc Dens et melior litem Natura diremit : Nam coelo terras, et terris abscidit undas ; Et liquid um spisso secrevitab aere coelum. Q,use postquam evolvit, caecoque exemit acervo, Dissociata locis concordi pace ligavit. 20 25 dims, habentia pon- dus cum iis sine pon- dere. Deus et melior Natura diremit hanc litem : nam abscidit terras ccelo, et undas terris; et secrevit li- quidum caelum ab not^e. 17. Deus: God. Deus is the same as the Greek Qe6 s , which comes from Se&>, to dispose, to arrange. The ancients regard- ing natter as eternal, did not consider God as the Creator of the Universe, but the Archiect. They believed in two eternal principles, the one active, the other passive; mind and matter. This doctrine, first taught dv Hermes Trismegistus, "The beginning of all things which exist is God, or mind, and nature, or matter," was adopted by the Stoics and some other sects of philosophers. How much more sublime is the idea of God presented in the Bible, who by the word of his power spoke into existence the material out of which he formed the universe. Some of the Orphic hymns describe Jupiter as omnipotent, om- nipresent, and the architect of the uni- verse. In the fragment from Proclus, on the Alcibiades of Plato, he is designated " Jupiter, the foundation of the earth and starry heavens ; Jupiter, the fountain of the sea; Jupiter, the first progenitor of all." 17. Deus et Natura. This refers to the two principles, mind and matter. We may consider the force of the particle et as ex- positive ; God and Nature — even Nature ; or by the figure hendiadys — the God of Nature. The intelligent heathens con- sidered God and Nature synonymous. Thus Strabo : Nihil autem aliud est natura quam Deus et divina qusedam ratio toti mundo et partibus ejus inserta. — Strabo. The power which fashioned the universe Aristotle denominates " Nature ;" Anax- agoras calls it "Mind;" so also Plato in his Phaedon. Thales says, " God was that Mind which formed all things out of wa- ter." Amelius, the Platonic, in perfect accordance with what St. John says of the Aoyo?, remarks, " And this is that Reason or Word, by which all things that ever were, were made." Chalcidius declares, "The Reason of God is God himself," just as St. John says, " The Word was God." Plato says, "Jupiter is a spirit which pervades all things." All Nature is but art unknown to thee. — Pope. 17. Melior. This epithet reminds us of the complacency of Deity in Genesis, on reviewing his work, he ' ' saw that it was good." Seneca, in his lxvth Epistle, has the same idea, "Bonus est: bona fecit." Plato also says, Ka\ds 6 K6ajxo it the world is good. Nam numen divinum est fons luminis, sicut et bonitatis. — Jamblichtjs. 18. Nam ccelo terras: he divided the earth from heaven. Ccelo here evidently includes the aer and cether. The descrip- tion corresponds with the first act of Deity in Genesis ; for, doubtless, when he formed the light, it was by separating the atmo- sphere from the heavier bodies, and causing the gaseous vapors to ignite, for as yet the sun was not formed. Earth first produced the Heavens. — Hesiod. 18. Abscidit undas : he divided the wa- ters from the earth. We are again re- minded of the order of the Scriptural account : And God said, let the waters under the hea- ven be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear. — Genesis. Hesiod says, after the formation of Hea- ven: Then with Heaven Consorting, Ocean from her bosom burst, With its deep eddying waters. — Theogont. 19. Liquidum coelum: the clear heaven. Ccelum is here restricted to the aether, as stated in the 10th line of the next fable. 20. Qua postquam evolvit : which after he extricated. 20. Coeco acervo: a confused mass. Lite- rally, a blind mass. Ccecum is used pas- sively by the poet, because the chaos was dark, and could not be seen distinctly. The Chaos was dark as night, in which dark- ness all things under the sky were involved. — Orpheus. 21. Dissociata locis. The elements were now disunited in place, but concordant in spirit. The antithesis of the words dis- sociata and concordi, arising from the in- separable particles dis and con, is very beautiful. 21. Concordi pace. This state of con- cord is an agreeable change from the strife ■>f the pristine chaos. In some of the an- cient cosmogonies, the birth of Love, or Harmony, is represented as one of the first occurrences. Kind Concord, heavenly born ! whose blissful reign Holds this vast globe in one surrounding chain. Tickel. Where order in variety we see, And where, though all things differ,they agree. Pope. 26 P. OVIDII NASONIS Ignea convexi vis et sine pondere cceli Emicuit, summaque locum sibi legit in arce. Proximus est aer illi levitate, locoque : Densior his telius, elementaque grandia traxit, Et pressa est gravitate sui. Circumfluus humor Ultima possedit, solid umquecoercuit orbem. 'Sic ubi dispositam quisquis fuit ille Deorum, 25 Liber 1. spisso ae're. Qu» postquam evolvit, que exemit caeco acervo, ligavit dissociata lo- cis concordi pace. Ig- nea vis cceli convex ; et sine pondere emi- cuit, que legit si'i locum in sunuia arce. 28. Ubi quisquis ")e- NOTJE. 22. Ignea vis coeli: the fiery force of the heaven. This means the aether, to which Hesiod, in like manner, assigns the highest place. The poet probably includes the sun, regarding it as a body of liquid flame, immense and imponderable. Hail, holy Light! offspring of heaven's first born! Whose fountain who shall tell ? before the sun, Before the heavens thou wert ; and at the voice Of God, as with a mantle, didst invest The rising world of waters.dark and deep. Milton. 23. Emicuit: sprung forth or shone forth. This expression conveys the idea of great celerity, and is somewhat similar to the account of the creation of light given in the Bible : u Let there be light, and there was light." And forthwith light Ethereal — fivstof things — quintessence pure, Sprung from the deep. — Milton. 23. Summa in arce. It is a law in phi- losophy, that the heavier bodies descend, while the lighter bodies ascend till they reach a region of their own density. The .aether being lightest, will ascend to the highest place. Even inanimates have their proper stations assigned ; the earth is the lowest, water is higher than the earth, the air is above the wa- ter, and fire has the highest situation. — De Na- tura Deorum. The fiery part ascended highest, because the lightness of its nature caused it to tend up- wards. — DlODORUS SlCULUS. 24. Levitate. The air is next to the ether in lightness, and necessarily so in lo- cation. It is proper to say lightness here instead of weight, for the ether has just been spoken of as a light body. 25. Densior: more dense, and conse- quently heavier. 25. Eleme?ita. Elements are the first principles of which bodies are formed. The ancients recognised four elements, fire, air, earth, and water. Fire is still regarded as a simple, but the others are known to be compounds. Air consists of oxygen and nitrogen, in the proportion of 21 parts of the former to 79 of the latter, or, as some think, of 20 and 80, in accordance with the atomic theory. The compositions of earth are varied. Water consists of hydrogen and oxygen, in the proportions, by weight, of 1 to 8, or by volume, of 2 to 1. 25. Traxit. The earth, agreeably to the aw of gravity, drew down with it the heavier elements. There is mud 7 ex- pressiveness in the word Iraxit. The muddy and grosser parts, together with the fluid, sunk down, by reason of th&r heavi- ness. — DlODORUS SlCULUS. 26. Pressa est: was pressed together. The earth is kept together by the power of attraction. 26. Circumfluus humor. The water flow- ing around possessed the last place, or lowest place, for the surface of the water is lower than the surface of the earth. Providence has caused many eminences and cavities in the earth, that in these, the water, or the greatest part of it, might be received. — Strabo. He the world Built on circumfluous waters calm, in wide Crystalline ocean. — Paradise Lost. And, poured round all, Old Ocean's gray and melancholy waste. Bryant. 27. Solidum orbem. The ancient philoso- phers generally considered the earth as a globe. The cone, you say, the cylinder, and the pyr- amid, are more beautiful to you than the sphere. Would not physics inform you, that this equality of motion and invariable order could not be pre- served in any other figure? Nothing, therefore, can be more illiterate than to assert, as you do, that it is doubtful whether the world is round or not. — Cicero on tiie Gods. It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers. — Isaiah xl. 22. How heaven on high was formed, The earth established, -axvAbegirt with sea. Orpheus. 28. Quisquis deorum. The Architect of the Universe appears to be rather an "unknown god" to the poet. He evidently considers him of a more exalted character than the others. The heathens in general acknowledged one supreme god. The whole, world agree in this one constant law and opinion, that God is the sole King and Father of all.— Maximus Tyeius. There are many vulgar gods, but there is but one natural god. — Antisthenes. There is really but one God, The maker of heaven and earth, And sea and winds. — Sophocles. In the fragment of Orpheus, quoted by Justin Martyr, and by Clemens Alexandri- nus, on the Unity of God, it is said : He is one, self-begotten ; by him alone are all things that have been made. Fabtjla I. METAMORPHOSEON. Congeriem secuit, sectamque in membra redegit. Principio terram, ne non aequalis ab omni Parte foret, magni speciem glomeravit in orbis. Turn freta diffundi, rapidisque tumescere ventis Jussit, et ambitse circumdare littora terras. Addidit et fontes, immensaque stagna, lacusque ; Fluminaque obliquis cinxit declivia ripis : Quae diversa locis partim sorbentur ab ipsa ; 30 27 orum ille fuit, secuit congeriem sic dispo- sitam que redegit sectam in membrn. Principio glomeravit terram in speciem magni orbis, ne foret non aequalis ab omni 34. Et addidit fontes, oc que immensa stagna, que lacus ; que cinxit declivia flumina ob- NOTJ3. 29. Congeriem secuit: cut the mass, viz. chaos. Thus abscidit, a similar term, is employed in the 17th line to express great violence in the separation of the bodies. 29. I?i membra: into members or parts ; that is, into separate elements. 30. Principio: in the beginning. Having stated the fact of the formation of the uni- verse, the poet enters more particularly into the specifications of the several acts. In doing this, he uses the identical ex- pression which occurs in the first verse of Genesis. 30. JEqualis ab omni. The earth is not exactly equal in every part, as the eleva- tions and depressions show. The equa- torial diameter, too, is 26 miles greater than the polar. Owing to this spheroidal figure, the earth may be considered as con- taining a sphere, the radius of which is half the polar axis, and a quantity of redund- ant matter distributed over it, so as to swell out the equatorial regions. The precession of the equinoxes, and the nutation of the earth's axis, is occasioned by the attraction of the sun and moon on this redundant matter. 31. Glomeravit : he rounded the earth. Glomero signifies to wind into a ball like thread. The expression is not inapt, es- pecially when we consider that the earth consists of successive layers. 31. Magni orbis: a great globe. A glorious orb from its Creator's hands It came, in light and loveliness arrayed, Crowned with green emerald mounts tinted with gold. — Scriptural Anthology. 32. Freta. Narrow seas between two portions of land, so called from fervendo; here put by synechdoche for seas in general. He ordered the seas to be poured forth. And from the hollow of his hand Poured out the immeasurable sea. Bower of Paphos. 32. Tumescere: to swell; to be puffed up. Have I not seen the seas puffed up with winds, Pi.age like an angry boar chafed with sweat. Shakspeare. 33. Jussif : he commanded. This con- veys the idea of great power, and is similar to the " Deus dixit" of Moses. He spoke, and it was done ; he commanded, uul it stood fast. — Psalm xxxiii. 9. 33. Ambila terra?. Not on all sides sur- rounded as the earth is by the air, but en- compassed or encircled by it. And wearing as a robe the silver sea, Seeded with jewels of resplendent isles. Scriptural Anthology. 33. Circumdare. In the use of circum- dare with ambito?, there is a pleonasm. This figure is of frequent occurrence in Ovid. 34. Fontes, stagna, lacusque. In the enumeration of the different bodies of wa- ter, there is an agreeable variety. Dim grottoes, gleaming lakes, and fountains clear. — Thomson. 34. Fontes. Fountains or springs are formed by water that issues from crevices in the earth. The water falls on higher ground, and descending into the earth, is received in subterranean cavities, and fil- trates towards the springs. Springs are distinguished as perennial, periodical, in- termitting, and spouting. An intermitting fountain at Como, in Italy, rises and falls every hour ; one at Colmaris, in Provence, eight times in an hour. 34. Stagna. Pools are bodies of water that receive no running water, and have no visible outlet. They are situated in low marshy ground. 34. Lacusque. Lakes are large bodies of water that do not communicate with the ocean. They are distinguished as follows : those that receive streams of water, and have a visible outlet ; those that receive streams of water, and have no visible out- let ; and those that are supplied, not by running streams, but internal springs, and have a visible outlet. The first class of lakes is fresh, the second salt, and the third saline, or alkaline, or both. 35. Flumina declivia. Rivers always occupy the lowest portions of the districts from which they derive their waters. These districts are called basins. Rivers will not flow, except on declivity, nnd their sources be raised above the earth's on'.. - nary surface, so that they may run upon a descent.— Woodward. 36. Cinxit obliquis ripis; he bound the rivers with winding banks. He hath compassed the waters with bounds, until day and night come to an end. — Job xxv : 10. 28 P. OVIDII NASONIS In mare perveniunt partim, campoque recepta Liberioris aquae, pro ripis littofa pulsant. Jussit et extendi campos, subsidere valles, Fronde tegi sylvas, lapidosos surgere montes. Utque du33 dextra ccelum, totidemque sinistra Parte secant Zona?, quinta est ardentior illis ; Sic onus inclusum numero distinxit eodem Cura Dei : totidemque plagae tellure premuntur : Quarum qua? media est, non est habitabilis aestu ; Nix tegit alta duas ; totidem inter utramque locavit ; Liber I. liquis ripis : quae di- versa locis partim sorbentur ab terra ipsa ; partim perve- niunt in mare, que 40 recepta campo liberi- oris aquas pulsant Utque duoe zona? se- cant ccelum dextra parte, que totidem si- nistra, quinta est ar- dentior illis ; sic cura Dei distinxit inclusum 45 onus eodem numero : quetotidem plagae pre- muntur tellure. NOT.E. How many spacious countries does the Rhine, In winding banks, and mazes serpentine Traverse. — Blackmore. 36. Sorbentur. Some rivers disappear, and continue their course for a distance, under the earth. Such are the Alpheus, in Peloponnesus, the Anas, in Spain, the Rhone, in France, the Lycus, the Erasinus, and Mysus. 37. In mare perveniunt. Some ancient philosophers regarded the earth as a great animal, and the ocean as the great fountain and receptacle of all the other waters. It was thus the heart of the world. The deep pulsations of his mighty heart, That bids the blood-like fluid circulate Through every fibre of the earth, shall cease. Scriptural Anthology. The rivers run into the sea. — Carew. All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full : into the place whence the rivers come, thither they return again. — Ecclesiastes i. 7. 37. Campo; in a plain of freer water. The sea or ocean. 38. Liberioris aquce. The expanse being greater, the waters are less confined. 38. Fro ripis littora. A distinction is made between banks and shores. The former belong to rivers, the latter to the sea. 39. Subsidere valles. The plains to be extended, the valleys to sink down. So high as heaved the tumid hills, so low Down sunk a hollow bottom, broad and deep. Milton. 40. Fronde tegi: the woods to be clothed with leaves. Last, Rose, as in dance, the stately trees, and spread Their branches hung with copious fruit. Milton. 40. Lapidosos montes; the stony moun- tains to rise. She brought The lofty mountains forth, the pleasant haunts Of nymphs, who dwell midst thickets of the hills. Hestod. He gave being to time, and the divisions of time, to the stars also, and to the planets, to rivers, oceans, and mountains ; to level plains and uneven valleys. — Institutes of Menu. 41. Dextra, sinistra. The northern por- tion was considered, by the Romans the right, the southern the left. 42. Secant zones. The noun zona is de- rived from the Greek &vri, a girdle. There are five parallel circles in the heavens ; the equator or equinoctial, equidistant from the north and south poles ; the two tropics, at a distance of 23° 28' from the equator on either side; and the two polar circles, at a distance of 23° 28' from the poles. These circles divide the heavens into five zones ; the two frigid zones enclosed between the polar circles and the poles ; the two tem- perate zones lying between the tropics and polar circles, and the torrid zone lying be- tween the tropics. 43. Inclusum onus; the included mass of earth. 44. Totidem plage,: as many regions are impressed upon the earth. As the planes of the five celestial circles, described in a former note, produced till they reach the earth, impress similar parallels upon it, as- tronomers with propriety divide the earth into zones, in the same manner as they distinguish the heavens. 45. Non est habitabilis. The sun in the torrid zone being twice vertical, and often nearly perpendicular, darts down his rays with great power. Unacquainted with the situation of the earth, the course of the winds, and the effect of frequent, rains, and of the ocean, in tempering the solar heat, the ancients generally considered the torrid zone uninhabitable. Lucan, however, in the army of Pompey, speaks of Ethiopians from the torrid zone. Eratosthenes de- scribes Taprobana under the line, and Ptolemy, in his Geography, speaks of Agisymban Ethiopians south of the equi- noctial. Columbus first Found a temperate in a torrid zone ; The feverish air fanned by a cooling breeze. Dryden. 46. Nix tegit. The two frigid zones, ly- ing between latitude 66° 32' and the poles, are covered with ice and snow, a great part of the year. He giveth snow like wool : he scattereth the hoar-frost like ashes. He casteth forth his ice like, morseis: who can stand before his cold?— rsALM cxlvii. Fabula I. METAMORPHOSEON. Temperiemque dedit, mista cum frigore flamma. Imminet his aer ; qui, quanto est pondere terree Pondus aquas levius, tanto est onerosior igni. Illic et nebulas, illic consistere nubes Jussit, et humanas motura tonitrua mentes, Et cum fulminibus facientes frigora ventos. His quoque non passim mundi fabricator habendum A era permisit. Vix nunc obsistitur illis, Cum sua quisque regant diverso flamina tractu, Q,uin lanient mundum ; tanta est discordia fratrum. 50 29 48. Aer imminet his, qui, quanto pondus aquae est levius pon- dere terrse, tanto est 50. Et jussit nebulas consistere illic, nubes illic, et tonitrua mo- tura humanas mentes, et ventos facientes frigora cum fulmini- bus. Quoque fabri- KK cator mundi non per- misit aera habendum passim his. Nunc NOT^. Quam circum extremae dextra laevaque tra- huntur Caerulea glacie concretae, atque imbribus atris. Virgil. 46. Totidem. The two temperate zones, between the torrid and the frigid zones, are free from the severe extremes of heat and cold, and are more agreeable and salubrious than any other portions of the earth. Has inter medidumque'duae mortalibus segris Munere concessae divum. — Virgil. 47. Temperiem: temperateness ; the heat being blended with cold. 48. Aer imminet : the air rests upon these. 48. Quanto est pondere. The poet ar- ranges the different elements according to their gravity : first, fire ; then air ; then water, and lastly, earth. His proportions, however, do not accord with modern phi- losophy, for heat is considered imponder- able; atmospheric air is '00121; water 1, and earthy matter varies in weight accord- ing to its component particles. 50. Illic nebulas. Fogs consist of dense vapors near the surface of the land or wa- ter. During the night, the air, by cooling rapidly, becomes surcharged with moisture. A part of this moisture, precipitated in the form of cloud, gives rise to the ordinary fog. The heat of the sun disperses the fogs by elevating the temperature of the air, and enabling it to reabsorb and hold in solution the moisture. 50. Illic nubes. Clouds are vapors, which, on ascending to the higher and colder regions, are condensed and rendered visible. They are less dense than fogs, and consequently more elevated. Their ave- rage elevation is from two to three miles. Clouds are divided into three primary for- mations ; the cirrus, or curl-cloud, which occupies the highest region, and consists of curls or fibres diverging in every direc- tion ; the cumulus, orstacken-cloud, which is next in position, which, from a horizontal base, assumes a conical figure; and the stratus, or fall-cloud, which consists of horizontal layers. It is lowest in place, and comprehends fogs and mists. The modi- fications of the above are the cirro-cumulus, the cirro-stratus, and the cumulo- stratus, 60 called from their having the blended ap- | pearance of their respective primaries. The nimbus is the rain-cloud, into which the different clouds resolve themselves when it rains. 51. Tonitrua. The poet speaks of thun- der as if it were a real entity, whereas it is a mere sound, "Vox et nihil prasterea." It is the noise which follows the passage of lightning through the air from one cloud to another, or from a cloud to the ground. It is produced by the vibration of the air, which is agitated by the electric discharge. 51. Motura mentes: to disturb the minds of men. The thunder rolls : be hushed the prostrate world, While cloud to cloud returns the solemn hymn. Thomson. 52. Fulminibtis. Lightning is the rapid motion of vast masses of electric matter. When two clouds, or a cloud and the earth are in different electric states, the one be- ing positively electrified, the other nega- tively, the electric equilibrium is restored by a union of the two electricities, accom- panied by the usual phenomena, flashes of light, and a loud report. 52. Frigora ventos. Winds are currents of air formed by a disturbance of the equi- librium of the atmosphere. The heated air expands and ascends, while the cold air rushes in to occupy its place. Winds may thus be said to cause cold. A gentle breeze moves about five miles per hour ; a brisk gale from ten to fifteen miles ; a high wind about thirty-five miles ; a storm sixty miles ; a hurricane one hundred. 53. Non passim. The architect of the world did not permit the winds, at their pleasure, to possess the world, lest, uniting their forces, they might destroy it. Maria ac terras ccelumque profundum Quippe ferant rapidi secum, verrantquc per auras. — Virgil. 54. Obsistitur. This is an impersonal verb, from obsisto. Scarcely now are they prevented from tearing the world to pieces, when they govern their blasts, each one in a different region. 56. Fratrum. The winds are fabled to be the son of the giant Astraeus and Aurora. c2 30 P. OVIDII NASONIS Liber 1. Eurus ad Auroram, Nabatbeeaque regna recessit, Persidaque, et radiis juga subdita matutinis; Vesper, et occiduo quee littora Sole tepescunt, Proxima sunt Zephyro: Scythiam septemque Trionem 60 Horrifer invasit Boreas ; contraria tellus Nubibus assiduis, pluvioque madescit ab Austro. Hsec super imposuit liquid um et gravitate carentem viz obsistitur illis, cum regant sua fla- mina quisque diverso tractu, quin lanient mundum ; discordia fratrumesttanta. Eu- rus recessit ad Auro- ram, Nabathaeaque 62. Madescit assid- uis nubibus ab pluvio Austro. Imposuit not^:. Aurora to Astraeus bare the winds, Of spirit untamed; east, west, and south, and north, Cleaving his rapid course. — Hesiod. Astrseus is derived from ao-rep, a slar, and firobably means the sun, "the greater ight." As the sun's rays disturb the tem- perature of the air in the morning, and A cause the winds to rise, they are said, with poetic beauty, to be born of the sun and the morning. 57. Eurus. The poet describes the four cardinal winds, east, west, north and south, and begins with Eurus. This blows from the equinoctial east, and to the Italians was dry, serene, pleasant, and healthy. 57. Ad Auroram: to the east, where the morning rises. By metonymy. 57. Nabathcea. The Nabathsean king- doms, according to Josephus, comprised that portion of country lying between the Euphrates and the Red Sea, and were reigned over by twelve princes, the sons of Ishmael, of whom Nabath was the eldest. Pliny mentions the Nabathaei in Arabia Felix. 58. Persida. This is a Greek name of Persia, a celebrated country of the east. It was at first a small country, bounded on the north by Media, on the east by Caro- mania, on the south by Sinus Persicus, and on the west by Susiana. It is thought to have derived its name from Perses, the son of Perseus. 58. Radiis juga: the hills lying under the rays of the morning ; a beautiful peri- phrasis for the eastern mountains. Where first the sun Gilds Indian mountains. — Thomson. 59. Vesper. As Aurora was put for the east, vesper is here put for the west. 59. Quce littora tepescunt. This is an- other beautiful periphrasis for the shores of the west. Or his setting beams Flames on the Atlantic isles. — Thomson. 60. Proxima. Are next to Zephyrus, the west wind. This wind is from the equi- noctial west, and with its side winds, is cloudy and moist, and less healthful. Ze- phyrus presides over fruits and flowers, and is represented under the form of a youth, with wings like those of a butterfly, and having his head crowned with flowers. 60. Scythia. A country in the north of Asia, remarkable for the coldness of its climate, and the rude character of its in- habitants. Scythiaeque hyemes atque arida differt Nubila. — Georgic iii. 197. 60. — Septemtrionem. From seplem, seven, and triones, ploughing oxen. A constella- tion near the north pole, consisting of seven stars in the form of a plough. It is here put for the north. Sometimes it is called Charles's Wain, from a fancied resem- blance to a wagon. 61. Horrifer Boreas. Boreas is derived from (iopov, a vortex; as this wind often blows with such violence as to cause whirl- winds, it probably had its name from this circumstance. It produces cold, hail, and snow. As this wind causes shivering, it has the epithet horrifer. Boreas, and Caecas, and Argestas loud, And Thrascias, rend the woods,and seas upturn. Milton. 62. Pluvio ab Austro. The south wind passing over the sea is warm and moist, and often brings rain. The effusive south Warms the wide air. and o'er the void of heaven Breathes the big clouds, with vernal showers distent. — Thomson. Besides the cardinal winds, there are others which are collateral. They are com- prised in the following lines : Flat Subsolanus, Vulturnus et Eurus ab ortu : Circius occasum. Zephyrusque Favonius affiant, Et media de parte die Notus, Africus, Auster : Conveniunt Aquilo, Boreas, et Corus ab Arcto. 63. Super haze : above these ; that is, above the atmosphere and the winds. 64. JEthera: the ether, or fire. It is de- scribed by Cicero as the heaven in which the fiery bodies run their courses. The upper air or ether is mythologically called Jupiter ; the atmospheric or lower air, Juno. Hence Juno has been styled, by the Stoics, both the sister and wife of Jupiter. As heat and moisture are the radical prin- ciples of all things, the union of Jupiter and Juno are said to produce every thing in nature. Turn pater ornnipotens faecundis imbribus rether Conjugis ingremium ketas descendit, et omnes Magnus alit, magno commixtus corpore, fetus. Virgil, Lastly, when father Ether kindly pours On ferule mother Earth his seminal showers. — Creech's Lucretius. Fabtjla I. METAMORPHOSEON. 31 iEthera, nee quicquam terrenag fsecis habentem. Vix ea limitibus dissepserat omnia certis : Cum, quas pressa din massa latuere sub ilia, Sidera cceperunt toto effervescere coelo. 65 liquidum JSthera, et carentem gravitate, nee habentem quic- quam terrenee fsecis, super hsec. Vix dis- sepserat omnia ea NOTiE. 65. Certis limitibus: fixed boundaries. 66. Massa : that mass. Chaos under which the stars lay. 67. Sidera. Sidus is a constellation con- sisting of many stars. The poet here is speaking of stars in general. A constellation is but one, Though 'tis a train of stars. — Dryden. 67. Effervescere: to glow through all the heavens. The myriad stars Glow in the deep blue heaven, and the moon Pours from her beamy urn a silver tide Of living rays upon the slumbering earth. Scriptural Anthology. The stars which lay obscured under Chaos, now begin to shine forth. Hesiod, in like manner, speaks of the stars as last formed. Last Lucifer Sprang radiant from the dawn-appearing morn, And all the glittering stars that gird the heaven, Hesiod. How shall I then attempt to sing of Him Whose single smile has, from the first of time, Filled, overflowing, all those lamps of heaven That beam for ever through the boundless sky. Thomson. Aratus, in speaking of the formation of the stars, uses language very similar to that of Moses. Avrdi yap rdye afjfia r' ev ovpavut laTrjpi%£. Aratus. Urtiiaivetv iiciXevaev tTrepxontvov r' dporoio. Idem. And God said, let there be lights in the firma- ment ; and let them be for signs, and for seasons. — Genesis. Nothing in creation is so well calculated to fill the mind with sublime ideas, and lift the soul to God, as the contemplation of the. starry heavens ; truly, the heavens de- clare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth his handiwork. With radiant finger Contemplation points To yon blue concave, swelled by breath divine, Where, one by one, the living eyes of heav'n Awake, quick kindling o'er the face of ether One boundless blaze j ten thousand trembling fires, And dancing lustres, where th' unsteady eye, Restless and dazzled, wanders unconfined O'er all this field of glories : spacious field, And worthy of the Master ! he whose hand, With hieroglyphics elder than the Nile Inscribed the mystic tablet, hung on high To public gaze ; and said, Adore, O man, The finger of thy God ! From what pure wells Of milky light, what soft o'er flowing urn, Are all these lamps so filled? these friendly lamps, For ever streaming o'er the azure deep, To point our path, and light us to our home. How soft they slide along their lucid spheres ! And, silent as the foot of time, fulfil Their destined courses. Nature's self is hushed, And, but a scattered leaf, which rustles thro' The thick-wove foliage, not a sound is heard To break the midnight air : tho' the rais'd ear, Intensely list'ning, drinks in ev'ry breath. How deep the silence, yet how loud the praise ! But are they silent all? or is there not A tongue in ev'ry star that talks with man, And woos him to be wise? nor woos in vain: This dead of midnight is the noon of thought. And wisdom mounts her zenith with the stars. At this still hour the self-collected soul Turns inward, and beholds a stranger there Of high descent, and more than mortal rank ; An embryo God; a spark of fire divine, Which must burn on for ages, when the sun (Fair transitory creature of a day!) Has closed his golden eye, and, wrapt in shades, Forgets his wonted journey thro' the east. Barbauld. QUiESTIONES. What is the subject of Fable I ? What is said of the account of the crea- tion given by Ovid ? What was Chaos? Who was Titan ? who were the Titans ? Who was Phoebe ? Who was Amphitrite ? In what state were the elements in Chaos ? In reducing the elements to order, what was the first act of the deity ? what the second ? the third ? What place did the fiery principle, or aether occupy? What is next to the cether? What figure was given to the earth ? How many zones are there, and how disposed ? What is said of the torrid zone ? Did all the ancients hold this opinion ? How many winds are mentioned ? Why are they called the sons of Astraeus and Aurora? What are their names, and their re- gions ? Who was Aurora ? why does it signify the east ? Where is Nabathsea ? why so called ? By what figure is Septemtrionem di- vided ? What part of the material creation waa last formed ? FABULA II. ANIMALIUM HOMINISQUE CREATIO. Inhabitants are assigned to the several divisions of the earth. The heavens receive the stars and the gods ; the waters receive the fish; the earth the wild beasts, and the air the birds. The creation of man. EXPLICATIO. The world having been prepared for the reception and sustentation of inhabitants, the celestial Architect now peoples each region with its ap- propriate class. The gods, and the stars, which the ancients supposed to partake of the nature of the gods, occupy the celestial space. The first act of animal creation takes place, and the waters are stocked with their infinite multitudes. As the lowest organization of animals is formed in the waters, this is agreeable to philosophy, and to the account of the first act of animal creation in Genesis, the bringing forth of the waters. In Genesis, however, the waters bring forth not only the cold-blooded animals, fishes, and reptiles, but the lower orders of warm-blooded animals also, the birds. This is agreeable to the soundest philosophy, for birds are next in order to fishes, live in the same, or a similar element, and like fishes, move through the water or the air by a similar resistance of those elements to the organs with which they respectively strike them. Our poet speaks next of the beasts, and then of the birds. The Biblical account places the formation of beasts last. Their organization is the most perfect of all animals. To be lord of the creation just finished, man is formed by Prometheus, the son of Iapetus or Japhet. In the account there appears to be a mingling of allegory and history. Iapetus, the son of Ccelus and Terra, and the brother of the Ocean, as described by Hesiod, is no doubt Japhet, the son of Noah, called the brother of the Ocean, from his surviving the flood. As the sons of Japhet peopled " the isles of the Gentiles," according to Scripture, it is possible he was ranked among the gods, and that to him, or to his son, Prometheus, may have thus been attributed the formation of man. It is most probable that the fable of Prometheus's stealing fire from heaven to animate man, and the intro- duction of disease and death by Pandora, sent for his punishment, is a confused account of the Creation and Fall of man. Prometheus may be regarded as a personification of *:po/M£«a, the divine wisdom, which formed man, as he is the chief work of creation. Thus Hesiod repre- sents Mulciber, or the plastic power of the deity, as forming man. Again, as the fall, which brought "sin and all our wo," was in consequence of man's coveting knowledge, " ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil," nence diseases and death are said to follow in consequence of fire, which typifies knowledge, being stolen from heaven. Disease and death were introduced, moreover, by Pandora, who is plainly the Eve of Scripture See the story of Prometheus in Lempriere's Dictionary. 32 EU regio foret ulla suis animantibus orba ; 1 Astra tenent coeleste solum, formaeque deorum : H^y 'Cesserunt nitidis habitandae piscibus undse : Terra feras cepit : volucres agitabilis aer. 1. Neu ulla regio foret or- ba suis ani- mantibus; as- traqueformse Deorum, ten- NOTiE. 1. ISeu regio: nor might any region be destitute of proper ani- mals. The earth was at first "without form and void:" it was now the purpose of the deity to fill it. Heaven and earth at first were of one form, But when their different parts were separate, Thence sprung beasts, fowls, and all the shoals of fish, Nay. even men themselves. — Euripides. 2. Astra. The constellations are here spoken of as real animals inhabiting the heavens. The Platonists regarded the stars as intelli- gent beings. Anaximander affirmed the stars to be the eternal gods.— Plutarch. The stars being generated in the ethereal space, it is a natural inference to suppose them endued with such a degree of sense and understanding as places them in the rank of gods. — De Natura Deorum. It hath been delivered down to us, by the ancients, and those of old times, both that the stars are gods, and that the Divinity comprehended the whole, or universal nature. — Aristotle. The first inhabitants of Greece appear to me to have esteemed these only to be gods, as many of the barbarians now do, the sun, and moon, and the earth and stars, and heaven. — Plato's Cratylcs. The first natural philosophers looked upon the sun and moon, and other wandering stars, and the elements, and the things that were connected with these, to be the only gods. — Eusebius. The most ancient people of Egypt, looking up to the world above them, and the nature of the universe, and being struck with astonishment and admiration, supposed the sun and moon to be the eternal and first, or principal gods, and that ihese gods govern the whole world. — DlODORUS SlCULUS. The Sabians hold that there is no God besides the stars ; that they are all deities, but that the sun is the great, or chief god. — Maimomdes. A modern poet, with the enthusiasm of a true Sabian, speaks of the stars as ani- mated, and enshrining an intelligent soul, in the following beautiful language : Ye visible spirits ! bright as erst Young Eden's birthnight saw ye shine On all her flowers and fountains first, Yet sparkling from the hand divine ; Yes, bright as then ye smiled, to catch The music of a sphere so fair, Ye hold your high, immortal watch, And gird your God's pavilion there. 33 34 P. OVIDII NASONIS Liber I. Sanctius his animal, mentisque capacius altae, Deerat adhuc, et quod dominari in castera posset. Natus homo est. Sive hunc divino semine fecit Ille opifex rerum, mundi melioris origo ; Sive recens tellus, seductaque nuper ab alto iEthere, cognati retinebat semina cceli; Gtuam satus Iapeto, mistam, fluvialibus undis, 5 ent coeleste solum: undae cesserunt habi- tandee nitidis pisci- bus: Terra cepit 7. Homo est natus. ' Sive ille opifex re- rum, origo melioris mundi, fecit hunc di- 10 vino semine ; sive re- cens tellus, que se- ducta nuper ab alto NOT^E. Gold frets to dust, — yet there ye are J Time rots the diamond, — there ye roll In primal light, as if each star Enshrined an everlasting soul ! And does it not — since your bright throngs One all-enlightening Spirit own, Praised there by pure, sidereal tongues, Eternal, glorious, blest, alone ? — Repository. These are the stars, But raise thy thought from sense, nor think to find Such figures as upon globes are designed. Creech. 2. Forma deorum : the forms of the gods ; not mere images, but the gods themselves. The heavens are the Lord's, but the earth hath he given to the children of men. — Psalms. 2. Solum. That which sustains any- thing, applied equally to heaven, the earth, the air, and the water. Quadrupedante solum quatit. — "Virgil, Vastis tremit ictibus aerea puppis, Subtrahiturque solum. — Virgil. And sowed with stars the heavens, thick as a field. — Milton. 3. Cesserunt: the waters fell to the shin- ing fish ; were assigned as their place. Forthwith the sounds and seas, each creek and bay, With fry innumerable swarm, and shoals Of fish, that with their fins and shining scales, Glide under the green wave. — Milton. 4. Terra /eras : the earth received the wild beasts. It is not a little remarkable that many of the ancients believed that animals were produced from the earth, as stated in Genesis. It would not be a foolish conjecture, concern- ing the first rise of men and .beasts, if any one should imagine that of old they sprung out of the earth, one of these two ways, either after the manner of maggots, or to have come from eggs. — Aristotle. 4. Agilabilis: mobile. The surging air receives Its plumy burden ; and their self-taught wings Winnow the waving element.— Thomson. The air Floats as they pass, fanned with unnumbered plumes. From branch to branch, the smaller birds, with songs, Solaced the woods, and spread their painted wings.— Milton. 5. Sanctius animal : a more divine ani- mal. Animal hoc providum, sagax, memor, plenum consilii, quern vocamus hominem, generatum est a supremo Deo prseclara quadam condi- tione.— Cicero. Though but an atom in immensity, Still I am something fashioned by thy hand ! I hold a middle rank 'twixt heaven and earth, On the last verge of mortal being stand, Upon the realms where angels have their birth, Close to the boundaries of the spirit-land ! The chain of being is complete in me, In me is matter's last gradation lost, And the next step is spirit — Deity ! I can command the lightning, and am dust! A monarch, and a slave ; a worm, a god ! Derzhavin. 5. Mentis capacius: more capable of pro- found understanding. The opinions of the ancients agreed in many respects with the account of Moses : And breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and he became a living soul. — Genesis. To this the Hebrews agree, when they say, that God gave to man a soul by a divine breath, which they call reason, or a rational soul ; but to dumb creatures, and wild beasts of the forest, one void of reason ; the living creatures and beasts being, by the command of God, scattered over the face of the earth. — Chalcidius. As capable of things divine, and fit For arts ; which sense we men from heaven derive, For he that formed us both, did only give To beasts the breath of life, to us a soul. Juvenal. A particle of breath divine. — Horace. An ethereal sense. — Virgil. 6. Adhuc deerat: was yet wanting. How like the phrase, "There was not a man to till the ground." Man is here, as in the Bible, the last work of creation. 6. Quod dominari : that might have do- minion over the rest. This is in virtue of mental excellence. "Knowledge is power." And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. — Genesis. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands. — Psalm viii. Bpa\v rot cStvos avipos, AAX6 noiKtXiais irpani6u>v Aan& v vc£i HKw/zcSa-ANTiPnoN. 7. Natus homo est. It is remarkable that nothing is said of the formation of woman. Aristophanes, in Plato, tells a fable that man at the first was double, but afterwards cut into two, which were distinguished by Fabula II. METAMORPHOSEON. Finxit in effigiem moderantum cuncta Deorum. Pronaque cum spectent animalia caetera terram, Os homini sublime dedit, coelumque tueri Jussit, et erectos ad sidera tollere vultus. 35 .adhere, retinebat se- mina cognati cceli : quam, mistam, fluvi- alibus undis, satus Iapeto finxit in effi- 15 giem deorum mode- NOTJE. sexes. In the chronicles of Hindostan, the two first creatures are called, in Sanscrit, Adim and Iva. The Fall is evidently alluded to in the following : The two first mortals were Protogonus (first- born), and Eon. The latter found out the way of taking food from trees. Their descendants were Genus (Cain), and Genea, who first began to worship the sun. — Sanchoniatho. Orpheus, in his hymn to Protogonus, who was certainly Adam, by calling him two-fold, seems to refer to his containing Eve in his person : O mighty first-begotten, hear my prayer, Two-fold. — Taylor's Orpheus. 7. Divino semine: of divine seed or origin. Are we to suppose the divine seed fell from heaven upon the earth, and that men sprang up in the likeness of their celestial sires ? — Cicero. Tov yap ical yevos laytev. — Aratus. Denique coelesti sumus omnes semine oriundi. Lucretius. Qui se ipse noverit, intelliget se habere ali- quid divinum, semperque et .faciet et sentiet aliquid dignum lanto munere deorum. — Cicero. 8. Hie opifex rerum. The artificer of the universe is represented also by Eurysus, the Pythagorean, as forming man in his own image. The human race was formed by an immediate act of the deity, and received from him a rea- sonable soul. — Cedrenus in Orpheus. Creator, yes ! Thy wisdom and thy word Created me! Thou source of life and good ! Thou spirit of my spirit, and my Lord ! Thy light, Thy love, in their bright plenitude Filled me with an immortal soul, to spring Over the abyss of death, and bade it wear The garments of eternal day, and wing Its heavenly flight beyond this little sphere, Even to its source — to Thee— its author there. Derzhavin. 8. Mundi melioris : of a better world ; better than it now is, when it bears the curse of God. Heathens agree with the sacred historian, in attributing to the world, and to the elements, a better state of af- fairs than now exists. Thus Virgil says of Jupiter, after the first age had passed : Ille malum virus serpentibus addidit atris Praedarique lupos jussit, pontumque moveri, Mellaque decussit foliis. ignemque removit, Et passim rivis currentia vina repressit. After man's transgression, God cursed the ground, and the earth and the elements were changed : And now the direful reign of wo began, And ruin through all nature's pulses ran ; The odors that exhaled life-giving breath, To poisons turned, were drugged with scented death ; Beasts, birds, fish, insects ? now dissolve in rage The bonds of peace, and in wild strife engage ; The elements in placid beauty blent, Together war by ruffian discord rent ; The maddened winds their wildest fury wake ; The tempest storms firm earth's foundations shake ; Involving gloom the blackening heaven en- shrouds, And lurid lightnings cleave the solid clouds ; Sphere-shapen comets through the tracts of air Rush wild, and toss their long dishevelled hair ; Seas roar, earth trembles, and volcanic fire The mountains light as if for Nature's funeral pyre. — History of the Church. 10. Cognati corti. Not merely produced at the same time, as cognatus would im- port, but rather kindred heaven, intimating that, as celestial nature had the power of creation, the earth, just separated from heaven, retained seminal powers also. It may refer also to the pre-existence of the soul, a doctrine which the ancients held. The heavens to which he is related, as being his former habitation. — Cicero De N atura Deorum. 11. Satus Iapeto. Prometheus, the son of Iapetus, by one of the Oceanides ; hav- ing reference, no doubt, to Japhet, the son of Noah, and his wife, who were in the ark. Offspring by her might be poetically re- garded as by one of the daughters of the Ocean. Prometheus is mentioned, by Pliny, as the first that slaughtered an ox. Hesiod states, that Jupiter punished him for offering, in sacrifice, the bones and part of the flesh of an ox, so concealed in the skin as to appear entire. This probably has reference to the sacrifice after the flood, when the eating of flesh was permitted to man. Before the flood, when flesh was not eaten, the entire victim was offered to God ; after the use of flesh was permitted, a part was probably eaten, and the rest offered to the Deity. Hence the fable may have arisen. Orpheus, in his hymn to Saturn, makes that deity the creator of gods and men, and the same as Prometheus. Great sire of gods and men, whom all revere ; Father of vast eternity, divine, Husband of Rhea and Prometheus wise. Taylor's Orpheus. 11. Quam mistam. The earth mixed with river water. It is remarkable that all the heathen writers speak of men as formed of the earth. Democritus was of opinion, that men were first formed of clay and water: Epicurus was much of the same mind. — Censorinus. 36 P. OVIDII NASONIS Sic, modo quae fuerat rudis et sin& imagine, tellus Induit ignotas hominum conversa figuras. LlBEB T. rantum cuncta. 16. Sic tellus, quae modo fuerat. rudis et NOTjE. Then ordered Rlulciber, without delay, To mix the earth and water, and infuse A human voice. — Hesiod. Callimachus speaks of men as sons of clay: so, Martial, Juvenal, and others. Avt6x$ovcl Kal liriyelov. — Sanchoniatho. Dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return. — Genesis. Earth must return to earth; for fate ordains That life, like corn, must be cut off in all. Euripides. You all to earth and water must return. Iliad viii. Neque enim naturapateretur,ut id quod esset de terra, nisi in terra maneret. — Cicero. Cedit idem retro de terra quod fuit ante. Lucretius. 'Ejj yrjv (frepovres yfjv. — Euripides. How perfectly the two following agree, one from the volume of inspiration, the other from heathen poetry : Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was; and the spirit shall return to God, who gave it. — Ecclesiastes xii. 7. TivEV/xa piv rrods ai§ipa, To ne Nondum caesa suis, peregrinum ut viseret orbem, 6. Pinus, NOTiE. 1. Aurea. The epithet of golden is given to any thing pure and es- timable. Among the northern and middle nations of Europe, it is in very common use. O thou, my golden, golden dove. — Bohemian Song. My golden father ! give me not. — Idem. O no ! my golden mother. — Snaidr, 2. Sponte sua: practised faith and justice from principle, without the compulsory force of the law. In the state of the first heaven, man was united inwardly to the supreme rea- son, and outwardly practised all the works of justice. The heart rejoiced in truth, and there was no mixture of falsehood. — Tchonangse. The ancients, who were nearest to the gods, were of an excellent dispositio and led so good lives, that they were called a golden race. — Dic^earchus. and known as the Laws of the Twelve Tables. Fixit leges pretio atque refixit^^NEiD vi. 622 4. Supplex turba : the suppliant crowd did not tear the face of the judge ; for, conscious of no crime, they dreaded no punishment. 5. Sine vindice : without an avenger. The prosecutor, the judge, and the lictor with his rod and axe, were unknown. The first men, before appetite and passion swayed them, lived without bribes, and without iniquity ; and needed not to be restrained from evil by punishment. — Tacitus's Annals iii. 6. Nondum. No one had yet built a ship for sailing : every one was content with his own place of residence. 39 3. Poena metusque. As the age was one of innocence, peace, and brotherly love, there was no punishment, nor the fear of punishment. For love casteth out all fear. — St. John. Why I should fear, I know not, Since guiltiness I know not. — Shakspeare. 3. Verba minacia : threatening words, setting forth the penalties of violated laws, were not read. 4. Fixo a>re: on the brass set up to view. It was customary to have the laws en- graved on tablets, and hung up in the forum, or other conspicuous place for the information of the people. The Roman decemvirs, A. U. C. 303, digested the laws brought from Greece, which were set up 40 P. OVIDII NASONIS Liber I. Montibus in liquidas pinus descenderat undas : Nullaque mortales, praeter sua, littora norant. Nondum praecipites cingebant oppida fossae ; Non tuba directi, non aeris cornua flexi, Non galeae, non ensis erant : sine militis usu caesa suis montibus, nondum descenderat in liquidas undas, ut viseret peregrinum 9. Praecipites fossai 10 nondum cingebant op- pida; non tuba di- recti saris, non cornua NOTJE. 6. Peregrinum orbem : a foreign orb. The whole is here put, by synecdoche, for a part of the world. 7. Pinus. The pine is a mountain tree used for ship-building. It is here put, by a figure, for a ship. Virgil, speaking of the return of the golden age, says, commerce will cease : Nee nautica pinus Mutabit merces. — Eclogue iv. Dant utile lignum Navigiis pinos. — Georgicon ii. 7. Descenderat undas. The first attempt at ship-building was, doubtless, the linter or canoe, hollowed out of a single tree. It is thought that the first hint of navigation may have been afforded by the falling of an alder tree, decayed and hollowed with age, from the river side into the water. Tunc alnos primum fluvii sensere cavatas. Georgic i. The first rude plough man made to turn the soil ; the first rude axe of stone with which he felled the stalwart pine ; the first rude canoe he scooped from its trunk to cross the river, which kept him from greener fields, were each a hu- man faculty, that brought within his reach a physical comfort he never enjoyed before. — Elihu Burritt. 8. Mortales: mortals; men. Norant for noverant, by syncope. See Gram. p. 195. 9. Praecipites fossa : steep ditches did not as yet enclose towns. A periphrasis to express the fact that there were no towns, for even houses were not built till the Silver age. It is remarkable that Hy- ginus, referring to this period, and that of the succeeding age, speaks of one univer- sal language, and of its after-confusion, and the consequent division of the people. The confusion of tongues was consequent on the building of one of the first cities. Go to, let us build us a city, and a tower whose top may reach unto heaven. — Genesis Xt 4. Homines ante secula multa sine oppidis legi- busque vitam exegerunt sub imperio Jovis, sed una lingua loquentes. — Hygini, Fab. 143. 10. Non tuba. There were no instru- ments of martial music to stir the courage of the soldiers. At tuba terribili sonitu taratantara dixit. Ennius. JEre ciere viros, Martemque accendere cantu. — Virgil. The shrill trump, The spirit-stirring drum, the ear-piercing fife. Shakspeare. 10. Directi. The tuba, or trumpet, was employed in war for signals of every kind ; also at games, festivals, and at funeral rites. It was a long, straight tube, increas- ing in diameter, and terminating in a bell- . shaped mouth, which was often ornamented with the figure of some animal. The lit- ems, or clarion, differed from the tuba, in being bent into a spiral shape at the mouth. It was generally used by cavalry, and emitted a harsh, shrill sound. 10. Cornua flexi. The horn, anciently made of horn, but afterwards of brass, was curved in the shape of a C, with a cross- piece. It was an octave lower than the tuba, and was generally used to sound the classicum. Sonuit reflexo classicum cornu.— Seneca. 11. Sine militis: without the use of sol- diery. There were no wars nor battles. To a reflecting and humane mind, and es- pecially to one influenced by Christian principles, few things can be more revolt- ing than standing armies ; men kept for the very purpose of destroying life. O who are these ? Death's ministers, not men ! who thus deal death Inhumanly to men, and multiply Ten thousand-fold the sin of him who slew His brother. — Milton. 11. No?i galea. Helmets were at first formed of the skins of beasts, as is now the case among the American Indians. The hair was generally left on, and the teeth of Fabula III. METAMORPHOSE ON. Mollia securae peragebant otia gentes. Ipsa quoque immunis rastroque intacta, nee ullis Saucia vomeribus, per se dabat omnia tellus ; Contentique cibis, nullo cogente, creatis, Arbuteos fcetus, montanaque fragra legebant, Cornaque, et in duris haerentia mora rubetis ; Et, quae deciderant patula Jovis arbore, glandes. 15 41 flexi, non galeae, non ensis erant: securse gentes peragebant mollia otia sine usu militis. 15. Contenti scibis creatis, nullo cogente legebant arbuteos fe- tus, que montana fragra, que coma, et mora haerentia in NOTJE. the animal were generally turned so as to threaten the enemy. See plate, Fab. I., Lib. III. Afterwards, they were made of brass and iron. The principal parts of the helmet are the circular portion, the cone, or central part, which receives the plume, and the cheek-pieces, attached to the hel- met by hinges. See plate, Fab. VI., Lib. I. 11. Non ensis. The ancient sword had a broad two-edged blade, which was nearly of equal width from hilt to point. The first swords were made of bronze ; after- wards, they were made of iron. The Ro- man sword was generally much larger than the Greek. They were worn around the body by a belt, generally on the left side, but sometimes on the right. 12. Peragebant: passed, or enjoyed soft tranquillity. Nor yet injurious act. nor surly deed, Was known among those happy sons of heaven ; For reason and benevolence were law. Thomson. 13. Immunis : the free earth ; without tillage, or the gift of seed. 13. Rastro: untouched by the harrow, an instrument used to break clods, and pul- verize them after ploughing. 14. Saucia: wounded. The bosom of the earth opened by the ploughshare, is figura- tively said to be wounded. Adunci vulnera aratri Rastrorumque fero. — Ovid, Lib. ii. On the return of the golden age, as de- scribed by Virgil, the earth will not require tillage. Non rastros patietur humus, non vinea falcem. Eclogue iv. 14. Per se: of itself; spontaneously. 'Esaid to glow. 8. Glacies : ice, icicles. 8. Adstricta: astricted, congealed by the winds ; by the cold atmosphere. Astriction is in a substance that hath a vir- tual cold. — Bacon. Facientes frigora ventos. — Fab. I. 8. Pependit : depended ; hung down. From the frozen beard Long icicles depend, and crackling sounds are heard, Prone from the dripping eave, and dumb cas- cade. Whose idle torrents only seem to roar. — Dryden. The pendent icicle. — Thomson. 9. Turn primum domos. Men had been accustomed to sleep in the open air, during the golden age, because there was per- petual spring, and a mild temperature of air. The inclemency of the atmosphere now compelled. them to build houses. The lightsome wall Of finer masonry, the raftered roof They knew not; but, like ants, still buried, delved Deep in the earth, and scooped their sunless caves. — jEschylus. 9. Domus antra. Their first habitations were caves, then thick bushes formed a co- vert, and lastly, poles joined together with bark, something like the kralleoi the mo- dern Hottentot. Wherein of antres vast, and deserts wild, It was my bent to speak. — Shakspeare. 11. Semina Cerealia : corn, called the seed of Ceres, as she first taught mankind to sow grain, and use it for food. Great nurse, all bounteous, blessed, and divine, Who joy'st in peace ; to nourish corn is thine, Goddess of seed, of fruits abundant, fair Harvest and threshing are thy constant care. H tmns of Orpheus. Prima Ceres ferro mortales vertere terrain Instituit.— Georgic i. 11. Sulcis obruta : was covered in the furrow. Et sulcis frumenti qusereret herbam. — Virgil. 12. Pressi juso: pressed under the yoke. After man had lost his innocence, he was forced to till the soil. The beasts, also, were subjected to labor, in consequence of Fabula IV. METAMORPHOSEON. 47 Turn primum subiere doraos. Domus antra fuerunt, Et densi frutices et vinctse cortice virgae. 10 Semina turn primum longis Cerealia sulcis Obruta sunt, pressique jugo gemuere juvenci. bus canduit ; et glacies pependit ad- stricta ventis. Turn primum subiere 11. Turn primum Cerealia semina sunt NOTjE. the earth refusing to afford its spontaneous fruits. Ante Jovem nulli subigebant arva coloni. Virgil. 12. Gemuere juvenci : the bullocks groaned. M / Depresso incipiat jam turn mihi taurus aratro Ingemere. — Virgil. He whose toil, Patient, and ever ready, clothes the land With all the pomp of harvest ; shall he bleed, And struggling groan beneath the cruel hands Even of the clown he feeds. — Thomson. The heathen account of the change upon the soil, agrees well with the Biblical : Cursed is the ground for thy sake ; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it, all the days of thy life. Thorns, also, and thistles, shall it bring forth to thee.— Genesis. Mox et frumentis labor additus ; et mala culmos Esset rubigo, segnisque horreret in arvis Carduus. Intereunt segetes ; subit aspera silva. Virgil. Jupiter, also, in the heathen account, re- quires the same severe labor for bread, which Jehovah does in the Biblical : In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread. Genesis. Pater ipse colendi Haud facilem esse viam voluit, primusque per artem Movit agros, curis acuens mortalia corda. Virgtl. But men, through fulness and plenty, fell into wickedness ; which condition Jupiter abhorring, altered the state of things, and ordered them to a life of labor.— Calanus in Strabo. Never shall they cease from toil and suffering by day nor night coming on ; but the gods shall give harassing disquietudes. — Hesiod. QU^STIONES. Who was Saturn ? When did he reign ? On what condition did he obtain the em- pire of the world ? What did he do with his children ? How was Jupiter preserved ? What was this stone called, and what is the probable meaning of the fable ? What is the meaning of Beth-el ? Is the Syrian il or ul the same as the Hebrew el, God ? Are Baith-ul and Bethel words of the same import ? Where was Saturn confined ? What is to be understood by Tartarus, in this place ? What was Lucian's opinion ? Who is probably meant by Jupiter, in this fable ? What is said of the Gothic Jupiter, Thor? What is said of the shortening of spring ? Into what was the year divided ? What is said of the earth, and of the cultivation of the ground ? What is said of labor ? With what do these accounts agree ? FABULA V. AHENEA iETAS, ET FERREA. % The Brazen age is distinguished for the rise of various arts and inventions and for the incipient deterioration of morals. In the Iron age, corruption reaches its height, the peaceful virtues retire, and ambition and avarice succeed, till the whole earth is full of violence and blood. EXPLICATIO. In the Bible, we find that the rise of the different arts, and the corrup- tion of morals, took place at the same time. " Tubal-Cain, an instructor of every artificer in brass and iron," was a son of that Lamech, who, by in- troducing polygamy, poisoned the stream of life at its fountain-head, and laid the foundation of that degeneracy which was consummated, when the "sons of God," (the descendants of pious Seth), intermarried with " the daughters of men" (the progeny of Cain), who, like him that " went out from the presence of the Lord," were equally godless and wicked. The flourishing state of the arts ministered, not only to the necessities of man, but gave rise to wealth, luxury, and pride ; polygamy gave loose rein to licentiousness; and thus avarice, ambition, and lust, held joint empire over the world. Nothing can be more consistent with reason and sound philosophy than the account of man's degeneracy, presented in the book of Genesis. The mythology of many nations makes allusion to these things, in an obscure manner. In the mythology of the Goths, which in many respects agrees with the Bible, it is expressly stated, that women corrupted the purity of the early ages of perfection. Although our poet makes no mention of women, in causing the degeneracy of the brazen and iron ages, yet the account which he gives is consistent with the Scriptural relation, both in regard to the time, and many of the circumstances. The ambition, the impiety, the corruption, the public treachery, the pri- vate fraud, the violence and blood, are the same in both. The departure from earth, of the goddess of Justice, because of the prevailing wicked- ness, may be a confused traditional recollection of the translation of the patriarch Enoch. That they had some knowledge of him, is evident from Suidas, who appears, however, to confound his actions with those of Enos, and the preaching of Noah : " Nannac (Enoch), a king before Deucalion (Noah), congregated all the people in temples, and besought them relative to the flood which took place." Upon the whole, it may be safely stated, that the account given in this fable is a traditional history of the antediluvian degeneracy mentioned in the sacred volume. 48 ERTIA post illas successit ahenea proles, 1 l Saevior ingeniis, et ad horrida promptior arma ; Nee scelerata tamen. De duro est ultima ferro. Protinus irrupit venae pejoris in aevum NOT.E. 1. Post illas; after these, a third age, the Brazen, suc- ceeded. 2. Savior ingeniis: more cruel in temper. Where the disposition — the heart, is cruel, deeds of cruelty will not be long wanting. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adul- teries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. — Max- THEW XV. 19. 2. Promptior: more inclined to horrid arms. And he whose skill, with life-preserving care, lor stubborn earth formed pruning-hook and spear, Preferred to forge the morion and the shield, And sword and spear, to strew with dead the battle-field. History of the Church. 2. Horrida arma; horrid arms. In the Thebaid, the arts of forging brass and gold being in- vented, arms were made, with which, by slaying wild beasts, and tilling the earth, they might render it more fruitful. — Dio- dorus Siculus. Arma antiqua, manus, ungues dentesque fuerunt, Et lapides, et item silvarum fragmina rami.— Lucretius. Perque horrida castra secuta est. — Virgil. 3. Nee scelerata: nor yet villanous. 4. Irrupit: burst upon; rushed in like a deluge. 4. Venae pejoris: of worse vein; by metonymy, to signify worse metal. Metals are generally disseminated in veins through the earth. 50 P- OVIDII NASONIS Omne nefas : fugere pudor, verumque, fidesque : In quorum subiere locum fraudesque dolique Insidiaeque, et vis, et amor sceleratus habendi. Vela dabat ventis, nee adhuc bene noverat illos, Navita ; quseque diu steterant in montibus altis, Fluctibus ignotis insultavere carinse. Communemque priiis, ceu lumina solis et auras, Cautus humum longo signavit limite mensor. Liber 1. g 5. Pudor, verumque, fidesque fugere ; in quorum locum frau- desque dolique insi- diaeque subiere, et vis, et sceleratus amor ha- bendi. 9. Navita dabat ve- J0 la ventis, nee adhuc bene noverat illos : que carinae, quae diu fleterant in altis mon- tibus, insultavere NOTjE. 5. Fugere: shame, truth, and faith fled away. Truth and fidelity are the attrac- tive forces that bind the elements of the moral world together. Nothing can be more deplorable than that polity where these are wanting. There is a nice gra- dation observed by the poet. Shame would restrain many a man from evil; where shame would not, a regard for his word would, and where a regard for his word would not, plighted faith would withhold him. How depraved must his condition be, who is not influenced by any, or all of these. 6. Fraudesque, dolique. There is a like beautiful gradation in the vices. To injure another by fraud, is flagitious ; it is more eo, to do it treacherously; still worse, to call in the aid of others, and frame a plot to ac- complish it ; and the worst of all, to con- summate the whole by violence. Love, spotless Truth, and dove-eyed Mercy fled, Hate, Fraud, and dark-browed Vengeance came instead. — History of the Church. 7. Amor scelfralus. Covetousness is called wicked, because it incites men to ■every wickedness. Quid non mortalia pectora cogis Auri sacra fames ? — Virgtl. 7. Habendi : of having more ; of grow- ing rich. Quamvis in ipsa natus sim psene schola Curamque habendi penitus corde eraserim. Pbleidrus. 8. Dabat vela: gave sail; spread the sail to the winds. Ausus Tiphys Pandere vasto carbasa ponto. — Seneca. •8. Nee adhuc: nor as yet had well known them. The Temple of the Winds, built at Athens, by Andronicus Cyrrhestes, is the first anemoscope of which we have any knowledge. It was an octagonal tower, with an allegorical representation and name on each side, of the wind to which it was opposed. A copper Triton, on the summit, pointed with a rod to the point from which the wind blew. Impelled by avarice, the sailor committed himself to the mercy of winds and waves. Qui fragilem truci Commisit pelago ratem Primus, nee timuit praecipitem Africum Decertantem Aquilonibus Nee tristes Hyadas, nee rabiem Noti. — Horace. Dubioque secans aequora cursu.— Seneca. 9. Steterant. The trees had stood a long time, of which the keels were made. He rends the oak, and bids it ride, To guard the shores its beauty graced. Charles Sprague. 10. Carince : the keels ; a part of the ship, put for the ship itself. The heaven-directed prow Of navigation bold, that fearless braves The burning line, or dares the wintry pole. Thomson. 10. Fluctibus ignotis : the unknown waves ; distant, unexplored seas. 10. Insultavere : leaped over them ; bounded over them, regardless of danger and shipwreck. Insulto is often used as a mark of derision. Dnm Priami Paridisque busto Insultet armentum. — Horace. The tall bark bounding lightly o'er the waves, I taught its course, and winged its flying sail. JEschylus. 11. Communem. The earth common to all, as the light of the sun and the breezes. Nothing could be more common than these. Koivos yap iarXv ovpavos iracn fipordif Rat yaia. — Euripides. Cunctis undoeque aurceque patentes.— Virgil. All Nature's common blessings were their own. Hesiod. 12. Cautus: the careful measurer. Care- ful not to make the slightest error. This shows the avaricious character of his em- ployers. 12. Signavit : marked out the ground. 12. Mensor: measurer; surveyor. 12. Longo limite : with a long boundary. Fabtjla V. METAMORPHOSEON. Nee tantum segetes alimentaque debita dives Poscebatur humus ; sed itum est in viscera terrse ; Quasque recondiderat, Stygiisque admoverat umbris, 15 Effodiuntur opes irritamenta malorum. Jamque nocens ferrum, ferroque nocentius aurum Prodierat : prodit bellum, quod pugnat utroque ; Sanguineaque manu crepitantia concutit arma. Vivitur ex rapto. Non hospes ab hospite tutus, 20 51 13. Nee tantum dives humus posceba- tur segetes que debita aliraenta ; sed itum est in viscera terras ; que opes, irritamenta malorum, quas ilia recondiderat que ad- moverat Stygiis um- bris, effodiuntur. 20. Vivitur ex rap- to. Hospes non tutus NOTjE. Before, landmarks were unknown ; No fences parted fields, nor marks, nor bounds, Distinguished acres of litigious grounds. Dryden. 13. Alimenta : aliment ; nutriment ; a term used often to denote the sustenance derived from nurses, and very applicable to nature, the general nurse of all. She is our nurse, as inspiring our lives from her own proper life. — Procltjs. 14. Poscebatur : was asked for corn and due aliment. Earth, yield me roots ! Who seeks for better of thee, sauce his palate With thy most operant poison ! what is here ? Gold, yellow, glittering, precious gold? No, gods, I am no idle votarist. Koots, you clear heavens ! Shakspeare. 14. Itum est : they went ; an impersonal verb. They went into the very bowels of the earth, by digging. Video ferrum ex iisdem tenebris prolatum, quibus argentum et aurum ; ne aut instru- mentum in csedes mutuas deesset, aut pretium — Seneca. And all the secret treasures Deep buried in the bowels of the earth, Brass, iron, silver, gold, their use to man Are my inventions all. — _ Kai rcavra Kpari\ot*%. Oracle, to Philip. 19. Sanguinea manu. The personifica- tion of war here is very spirited. He stands forth like a champion challenging to the fight. Saevit amor ferri, et scelerata insania belli, Ira super. — Virgil. 19. Crevitantia : the clattering arms. The sound of crepitantia is finely adapted to the sense. It was the custom of the ancient Greeks, when about to engage, to rattle with the spear upon their bucklers. And fierce, with grasped arms Clashed on their sounding shields the din of war, Hurling defiance toward the vault of heaven. Paradise Lobt. Arms on armor clashing, brayed Horrible discord. — Milton. 20. Vivitur; it is lived by them ; they live ; an impersonal verb. 20. Ex rapto: upon rapine ; by spoiling. 52 P. OVIDII NASONIS Non socer a genero : fratrum quoque gratia rara est. Imminet exitio vir conjugis, ilia raariti : Lurida terribiles miscent aconita novercae : Filius ante diem patrios inquirit in annos : Victa jacet Pietas : et virgo csede madentes Ultima coelestum terras Astraea reliquit. 25 Liber I. ab hospite, non socer a genero : quoque gratia fratrum est rara. Vir imminet exitio conjugis, ilia imminet exitio manti; terribiles novercae miscent lurida acon- ita : filius inquirit in NOTiE. Now man's right hand is law ; for spoil they wait, And lay their mutual cities desolate. — Hesiod. 20. Nonhospes. The rites of hospitality, deemed sacred, even by barbarians, are ex- tended merely to entrap the unwary guest. The host with kindness greets his guest no more, And friends and brethren love not as of yore. Hesiod. A nice gradation is exhibited in the fol- lowing scale of crime : Deeds of violence and blood are done, first, by those bound to each other by casual ties of hospitality; secondly, by those united by affinity ; thirdly, by those related by blood ; then by those united by that mysterious bond which makes two beings one ; then infant helplessness and innocence appeals for mercy to those from whom it merits protection ; and lastly, and worst of all, impious youth indulges mur- derous designs against the life of the au- thor of its own life. 21. Fratrum gratia : the love of bro- thers is rare. How unnatural is the va- riance of the members of a common origin, and a common heritage. How strongly are we reminded, by this sentence, that the first blood shed was that of a brother, by a brother's hand. - Behold, how good, and how pleasant it is, for brethren to dwell together in unity. — Psalm cxxxiii. 1. But when the earth was stained with wicked- ness, And lust, and justice fled from every breast, Then brethren vilely shed each other's blood. Catullus. 22. Imminet : watches for the destruction of his wife. Some of the most fearful tragedies that the world has seen, have been of this kind. 23. Lurida aconita: the lurid wolfs- bane. The color of persons, after death, is lurid ; hence, the effect being put for the cause, the poison is called lurid. By aco- nita is meant any poison, the species being put for the genus. 24. Ante diem: before his father's time is come ; the day of his death. Dies here has a peculiar signification, having refe- rence to the natural term of life, or its ciose. Thus : Stat sua cuique dies.— Virgil. Sed cadat ante diem.— Id. 24. Patrios annos : inquires into his fa- ther's years ; consults the astrologers whether his father will live a long time or not. The astrologers were generally Ba- bylonians. Hence Horace : Nee Babylonios tentaris numeros. Lib. i. Ode xi. And the soul that turneth after such as have familiar spirits, and after wizards, I will even set my face against that soul, and I will cut him off" from among his people. — Leviticus. Astrologers assure long life, you say, Your son can tell you better much than they, Your son, whose hopes your life doth now delay. Poison will work against the stars ; beware ! For every meal an antidote prepare. Dryden's Juvenal. The father wished the funeral of his son ; The son to enjoy the father's relic wished. Catullus. 25. Jacet pietas ' piety lies neglected. Piety is the duty and affection which we owe to God, to our country, our parents, and other relatives. 25. Ccede madentes ' reeking with slaughter. For the earth is filled with violence, through them. — Genesis vi. 13. How abhorrent ought war and murder to be to the human mind, when we consider that even wild beasts do not prey upon their own kind ! Sed jam serpentum major concordia : parcit Cognatis maculis, similis fera : quando ieoni Fortior eripuit vitam leo? quo nemore unquam* Expiravit aper majoris dentibus apri ? Indica tigris agit rabida cum tigride pacem Perpetuam : saevis inter 6e convenit ursis. Ast homini ferrum lethale incude nefanda Produxisse parum est. — Juvenal. 26. Ultima coelestum: the last of the ce- lestials. Hesiod represents Modesty as leaving the earth, simultaneously with Justice. This is with great propriety; for, nothing tends more to the corrup- tion of public morals than indifference to female virtue, and the sacredness of the marriage tie. The history of antedi- luvian times proves this, when polygamy was introduced. Ancient and modern writers have noticed the fact. Fruitful of crimes, the Age profaned, At first, the nuptial bed, and stained Their hapless offspring, whence the woes, Both various and unnumbered rose From this polluted fountain-head. Francis's Horace. Yes, I believe that Chastity was known, And prized on earth, while Saturn filled the throne.— Gifford's Juvenal. Fabula V. METAMORPHOSE ON. 53 Till those fair forms, in snowy raiment bright, Abandon earth.and heavenward soar from sight: Justice and Modesty, from mortals driven, Rise to the immortal family of heaven. — Hesiod. 26. Astrcea. She was the daughter of Astraeus and Aurora, or of Jupiter and Themis, according to some, and was the goddess of Justice. She is sometimes put, by metonymy, for justice itself. After abandoning earth, on account of its im- piety, she was translated into the sign Virgo. A virgin pure is Justice, and her birth From Jove himself; a creature of much worth. Hesiod. 26. Terras reliquit: abandoned the earth. It was a general opinion, that the deities once inhabited earth, and forsook it be- cause of the wickedness of mankind. Thus right and wrong, by furious passion mixed, Drove from us the divine propitious mind. CATTJLLrS. QUiESTIONES. What was the third age of the world ? What was the character of the Brazen Age? What age succeeded the Brazen Age ? What was the state of morals in this age? What virtues ceased to be exercised ? By what vices were they succeeded ? What art arose about this period ? By what figure is carina put for navis ? What shows the eager spirit of avarice that actuated the mariner ? What took place at this period, with re- ference to the ground ? Did men exact more than sustenance from the earth ? Why had the earth removed her trea- sures far from men ? Why is gold more pernicious than the sword ? What was the state of piety in this age ? What do you understand by piety ? Which one of the gods was the last to leave the earth ? To what may this have an obscure re- ference ? Had the ancients any knowledge of Enoch ? Under what name ? What probably gave rise to the corrup- tion of the Brazen and Iron Ages ? To what Biblical period does it corre- spond ? Are the characteristics of this period, and of the Iron Age, similar ? e2 FABULA VI. GIGANTOMACHIA. The G-iants make war upon Heaven ; and piling up mountains; attempt to scale its ramparts. Jupiter destroys them with thunderbolts. Their blood is changed into men, who are noted for violence and impiety. EXPLICATIO. This Fable will admit of different interpretations, according as it is considered in an allegorical, philosophical, or historical point of view. Regarding the Giants as physical forces employed when God cursed the ground, to produce those convulsions of which we see traces all over our planet, they may be considered as making war against Jupiter, who cor- responds to the Saviour, whose mediatorial reign commenced after the golden age, as I have shown in Fable V. Since mountains are formed by subterranean fires and forces which press the crust of the earth upwards, the Giants may be fabled thus to threaten Heaven, by piling Ossa upon Pelion. A strong force may, at some time, have thrown down a part of these mountains, and separated them, as Hesiod would seem to intimate, or their appearance may have caused the fiction of their former superin- cumbency. Considered historically, the fable may refer to the Fall of the Angels, to a tradition of some important occurrence at the garden of Eden, in which the Giants of Scripture were discomfited ; or to the Tower of Babel. The Fall of the Angels was known to the ancients. Porphyry states, there was a common belief in the existence of evil demons, hostile to God and man. Hesiod gives an account of similar demons. Plutarch men- tions, on the authority of Empedocles, impure spirits, banished by the gods from Heaven ; and Pherecydes, the Syrian, styles the prince of cer- tain evil spirits that contended with Saturn (Jehovah), Ophioneus, the serpent-deity, evidently " that old serpent, which is called the devil." " The presence of God," spoken of in the 4th chapter of Genesis, was the Schechinah of the first altar at the gate of Eden, and rested after- wards in the tabernacle, and subsequently dwelt between the cherubim of the Temple. Traditional accounts would indicate that the wicked had offered some impious violence to it, which God signally punished by fire, like that which struck Heliodorus in the temple, or the workmen who were sent by Julian impiously to rebuild Jerusalem. Montgomery has introduced the tradition in his "World before the Flood." The destruction of the Giants may refer to this event ; or it may adum- brate the Tower of Babel, of which they had some knowledge. The confusion of tongues, and the consequent division of the nations, in con- junction with the building of a city, is mentioned by Hyginus. Josephus quotes the same from one of the Sibyls; and Abydenus, speaking of it, says : " When its top nearly reached the heavens, the winds, assisting the gods, overturned the immense fabric upon the heads of the builders." The anachronism of the event, as it occurred after the flood, and its con- nection with Olympus, are attributable to the chronological errors of tra- dition, and the natural pride of the Greeks, who would make their coun- try the theatre of all great events. 54 ijEYE foret terris securior arduus aether, 1 BAffectasse ferunt regnum coeleste Gigantas, ■ Altaque congestos struxisse ad sidera montes. um pater omnipotens misso perfregit Olympum. NOT.E. 1. Neve. As the poet has been detailing the wicked- ness of men, the transition is easy and natural to the attempt of the giants upon heaven. 1. Arduus cether: the lofty sky. 2. Affectasse. By syncope for affectavisse, affected ; aimed at. "Wise are thy words, and glad I would obey, But this proud man affects imperial sway. 2. Ferunt: they report ; they say. 2. Eegnum coeleste: the celestial empire. Ccelum ipsum petimus stultitia.— Horace. 2. Gigantas. The giants were the sons of Tartarus and Terra, or of Ccelus and Terra, according to others. They were said to be of frightful appearance, of prodi- gious stature, and of inconceivable strength. They were represented as having many heads and arms, and the feet of serpents. Grim forms, and strong with force Resistless : arms of hundred-handed gripe. Burst from their shoulders ; fifty heads upgrew From all their shoulders o'er their nervy limbs. — Hesiod. When cast down by Jupiter, many of them were re- ported to be buried under mountains, and by their writhing to cause earthquakes. As Tartarus has been located in the centre of the earth, where every thing is supposed to be in a liquid state, on account of the heat, their being the sons of Tartarus and Terra would seem to designate them as the powerful forces of nature, which give rise to earthquakes and volcanoes. 56 P. OVIDII NASONIS Fulmine, et excussit subjecto Pelio Ossam. Obruta mole sua cum corpora dira jacerent, Perfusam multo natorum sanguine terram Immaduisse ferunt, calidumque animasse cruorem Et, ne nulla feres stirpis monumenta manerent, Liber I. 6. Cum dira cor- pora jacerent obruta sua mole, ferunt ter- ram perfusam multo sanguine natorum im- maduisse 9. Et, ne nulla mo- numenta manerent not^:. 3. Ad sidera: to the stars. This is a common hyperbole, when any thing very high is spoken of. Go to, let us build a city and tower, whose top may reach unto heaven.— Genesis xix. 4. Turrim in prsecipiti stantem sumisque sub astra Eductam tectis. — JEneid ii. 460. 3. Struxisse montes : had piled up the mountains. 4. Pater omnipotent : the omnipotent father ; Jupiter, who is styled the father of gods and men. The account given here of the bittle of the giants and the gods, is very feeble when compared with the following descrip- tion of the battle of the Titans and gods, as given by another poet : On the other side, alert The Titan phalanx closed; then hands of strength Joined prowess, and displayed the work of war. Tremendous then th' immeasurable sea Roared ; earth re-echoed ; heaven's wide arch above Groaned shattering; broad Olympus reeled throughout Down to its rooted base, beneath the rush Of those immortals : the dark chasm of hell Was shaken with the trembling, with the tramp Of hollow footsteps and strong battle-strokes, And measureless uproar of wild pursuit. So they against each other, through the air Hurled intermixed their weapons, scattering groans Where'er they fell. The voice of armies rose With rallying shout through the starred firma- ment, And with a mighiy war-cry, both their hosts Encountering closed. Nor longer then did Jove Curb down his force ; but sudden in his soul There grew dilated strength, and it was filled With his omnipotence. His whole of might Broke from him. and the godhead rushed abroad. The vaulted sky, the mount Olympus flashed With his continual presence, for he passed Incessant forth, and lightened where he trod. Hurled from his nervous grasp,the lightnings flew Reiterated swift, tlie whirling flash Cast sac-red splendor, and the thunderbolt Fell. Then on every side the foodful earth Roared in the burning flame, and far and near The trackless depth of forests crashed with fire. Yea, ihe broad earth burned red, the streams of Nile Glowed, and the desert waters of the sea. Round and around the Titans' earthy forms Rolled the hot vapor on its fiery surge ; Streamed upward, and in one unbounded bla/e Swathed the celestial air. Keen rushed the light, Quivering from thunder's wrilhen flash, each orb. Strong though they were, intolerable smote And scorched their blasted vision. Through the void Without, th' enormous conflagration burst, And snatched the dark of Chaos. But to see With human eye, and hear with ear of man Had been, as on a time the heaven and earth Met hurtling in mid-air : as nether earth Crashed from the centre, and the wreck of heaven Fell ruining from high. Not less, when gods Grappled with gods, the shout and clang of arms Commingled, and the tumult roared from heaven. Shrill rushed the hollow winds, and roused throughout A shaking and a gathering dark of dust, With crashing; and the livid lightning's gleam, And thunder and its bolt, the enginery Of Jove; and in the midst of either host They bore upon their blast the cry confused Of battle and the shouting. For the din Of sight-appalling strife immense uprose ; And there the might of deeds was shown, till now The fight declined. But first with grappling front Steadfast they stood, and bore the brunt of war. Amid the foremost, towering in the van, The war-unsated Gyges, Briareus, And Cottus, bitterest conflict waged ; for they, Thick following thrice a hundred rocks in air Flung from their sinewy hold; with missile storm The Titan host o'ershadowing, them they drove, Vainglorious as they were, with hands of strength O'ercoming them, beneath the expanse of earth, And bound with galling chains ; so far beneath This earth, as earth is distant from the sky. Hesioi?. 4. Olympum. A range of mountains in Thessaly, forming the eastern boundary of the vale of Tempe. Its greatest elevation is about 6000 feet. It is shaded with groves of oaks, and forests of pines. As its sum- mit was often enveloped in mists, the an- cients supposed it reached the heavens, and therefore made it the residence of the gods. The poets use Olympus, therefore, as synonymous with Heaven. Olympus echoes from its snow-topt heads, The dwellings of immortals. — Hesiod. 5. Excussit: struck off Ossafrom Pelion, lying under it. Ter sunt conati imponere Pelio 0?sam. Georgic i. 280. 5. Pelio. A mountain in Thessaly, united with Ossa, which terminates at the vale of Tempe. It has a broad summit, like a table mountain, and hence fiction reports it to have supported Ossa, which is smaller, and runs up to a point. 5. Ossam. A mountain in Thessaly, of a conical shape, with a single top. Its height is about 4000 feet. Fratresque tendentes opaco Pelion imposuisse Olympo. — Horace. 6. Dira corpora : the dread bodies of the giants. Alexander Polyhistor states that the gods overthrew the immense tower in the plains of Babylon, upon those who Fabula VI. METAMORPHOSEON. In faciem vertisse hominum. Sed et ilia propago Contemptrix Superum, sasvaeque avidissima caedis, Et violenta fuit. Scires e sanguine natos. 10 57 feras stirpis, vertisse in faciem hominum. Sed et ilia propago fuit contemptrix NOT^. constructed it. Syncellussays, that Nim- rod, who was the first open apostate from the true God, and the leader of the rebel- lious Cuthites, was destroyed at the fall of that huge fabric. 6. Obruta mole: overwhelmed by their own mass. Vis consilii expers mole ruit sua. — Horace. 7. Perfusam: sprinkled ; bedewed with the blood. 7. Natorum: of her sons ; the giants. I saw, with pity saw, Earth's monstrous son, With all his hundred heads subdued by force, But him the vengeful bolt, instinct with fire, Smote sore, and dashed him from his haughty vaunts ; Pierced through his soul, and withered all his strength. — yEschylus. 8. Immaduisse : became wet. 8. Animasse: for animavisse, by syncope ; animated the warm gore. 9. Mouumenta: monuments; vestiges. 11. Contemptrix: a despiser of the gods. 11. Superum: of the gods above; de- rived from super, above. 11. Avidissima cadis: most greedy of slaughter. Impious both to gods and men. 12. Natos e sanguine: born of blood. Having given before the destruction of the Titans by Jupiter, I will close, for the sake of comparison, with the expulsion of the rebel-angels by the Son of God : So spake the Son, and into terror changed His countenance, too severe to be beheld, And full of wrath bent on his enemies. At once the four spread out their starry wings With dreadful shade contiguous; and the orbs Of his fierce chariot rolled, as with the sound Of torrent floods, or of a numerous host. He on his impious foes right onward drove, Gloomy as night: under his burning wheels The steadfast empyrean shook throughout; All but the throne itself, of God. Full soon Among them he arrived, in his right hand Grasping ten thousand thunders, which he sent Before him, such as in their souls infixed Plagues : they, astonished, all resistance lost, All courage : down their idle weapons dropt : O'er shields, and he! ms.and helmed heads he rode, Of thrones and mighty Seraphim prostrate, That wished the mountains now might be again Thrown on them as a shelter from his ire. Nor less on either side tempestuous fell His arrows, from the fourfold-visaged four, Distinct with eyes, and from the living wheels Distinct alike with multitude of eyes: One spirit in them ruled ; and every eye Glared lightning, and shot forth pernicious fire Among the accursed, that withered all their strength, And of their wonted vigor left them drained — Exhausted — spiritless— afflicted— fallen ! Yet half his strength he put not forth, but checked His thunder in mid volley ; for he meant Not to destroy, but root them out of heaven : The overthrown he raised, and as a herd Of goats, or timorous flock together thronged, Drove them before him thunderstruck, pursued With terrors and with furies, to the bounds And crystal wall of heaven ; which, opening wide, Rolled inward, and a spacious gap disclosed Into the wasteful deep : the monstrous sight Struck them with horror backward; but far worse Urged them behind : headlong themselves they threw Down from the verge of heaven: eternal wrath Burnt after them to the bottomless pit. Paradise Lost. QU^STIONES. What is the subject of this Fable ? Who were the giants ? Whose sons were they ? How may this be interpreted ? Of how many different interpretations is the fable susceptible ? Mention the historical events to which it may have allusion ? How may it allude to the changes that took place after the Fall of Man ? Was the Fall of the Angels known to the ancients ? Who mention it among the ancients ? Was the confusion of tongues known to the ancient Greeks and Romans ? What author speaks of it in particular ? How would you account for the ana- chronism, as the confusion took place after the flood ? How would you account for the connec- tion of Olympus with the events ? Where is Olympus ? Why was it supposed the residence of the gods ? Where is Ossa ? Pelion ? What appearance of these mountains might justify the fiction of their being placed upon each other ? What became of the blood of the giants ? What was their character ? TABULA VII. CONCILIUM DEORUM. In consequence of the wickedness of men, Jupiter calls an assembly of the Celestials, in which, after giving an account of the state of morals upon earth, he resolves upon^the destruction of the human race. EXPLICATIO. The general depravity of mankind had cried to heaven for vengeance, and Jupiter, as Jehovah did, in the case of Sodom and Gomorrah, went down to earth to observe the character and conduct of men, and "see whether they had done according to the cry of it." In his sojourn, the corruption of morals was found to be universal, his own life was at- tempted by violence, and with horrid impiety, human flesh was served up to him, at a banquet. Returning to heaven, with divine indignation, he convenes an assembly of the gods, to deliberate upon a general destruc- tion of mankind. In the heathen authors, we have several accounts of conventions of the gods, upon occasions of interest ; in the Iliad of Homer, to declare for the Greeks or the Trojans, in the war at Troy ; in the Odyssey, to favor the return of the wandering Ulysses ; and in the iEneid of Virgil, to provide for the safety of a fugitive prince ; but all of them, in dignity and importance, are infinitely below the present occasion, when the destruction of a world is the subject of consideration. Having taken his seat, in terrible majesty, with the gods assembled around him, Jupiter opens his indignant mouth, and, reverting to the attempt of the giants upon heaven, says that war was less grievous to him than the prevailing wickedness ; that it was from one race, but that now all flesh is corrupt, and must be destroyed ; he had tried every effort to reclaim them, but in vain. He expresses his solicitude for the purity and safety of the semigods, who are inhabitants of the earth, since Ly- caon, noted for cruelty and audacity, had not scrupled to attempt his destruction, though he was armed with the lightning,, and was sovereign of heaven. The gods, affected with indignation at the wicked insult to their sovereign, demand Lycaon for vengeance, when Jupiter informs them that he is already punished, and goes on to relate his crime, and the kind of punishment. These form the subject of the next fable, which is a part of Jupiter's narrative. The striking conformity of what passes in this assembly of the gods, to what is recorded in the sixth chapter of Genesis, will be apparent to the most casual reader, in which it is stated, " there were giants in the earth in those days," and that God, having en- deavored to reclaim man, says : "My spirit shall not always strive with man," and repenting that " he had made man," declares, " I will destroy man whom I have created, from the face of the earth." 58 .,,/''#(?■&- TJ2E pater ut summa vidit Saturnius arce, 1 Ingemit: et, facto nondum vuJgata recenti Fceda Lycaoniae referens convivia mensae Ingentes animo et dignas Jove concipit iras ; Conciliumque vocat. Tenuit mora nulla vocatos. 5 Est via sublimis, coelo manifesta sereno, Lactea nomen habet ; candore notabilis ipso. NOTtE. 1. Qua: which things ; the general impiety and violence. 1. Saturnius pater. Jupiter, the son of Saturn. 1. Summa arce : from the highest citadel of heaven. 2. Facto recenti : the deed being recent. 3. Referens : recalling to his mind ; recollecting. 3. Fceda convivia : the abominable feasts, in which human flesh was served up to the guests. 3. Lycaonice menses : of the table of Lycaon. 4. Ingentes iras : great wrath, and worthy of Jupiter. 5. Mora nulla : no delay detained them when called. When God calls, obedience should be prompt. 6. Via. The Milky Way is formed, according to the poets, by the milk which fell on the sky when Jupiter put Hercules to the breast of stars, scattered by millions, like glittering dust, on the black ground of the general hea- vens. — Sir John Herschel. of Juno, while asleep. The true nature of the Milky Way was known to Aristotle, Manilius, and others. Aristotle described it as the splendor of innumerable distant stars. It is a great zone encircling the whole sphere of the heavens, in a direction from north-east to south-west. It con- sists of an infinite number of stars. This remarkable belt, when examined through powerful telescopes is found to consist entirely A broad and ample road, whose dust is gold, And pavement stars, as stars to us appear ; Seen in the galaxy, that Milky Way, Like to a circling zone, powdered with stars. Milton 7. Lactea. This word being a name, is here taken as a noun, and put in apposi- tion with nomen. 59 60 P. OVIDII NASONIS Liber L Hac iter est Superis ad magni tecta Tonantis, Regalemque domum. Dextra Isevaque Deorum. Atria nobilium valvis celebrantur apertis. Plebs habitant di versa locis. A fronte pctentes Qoelicolse, clarique suos posuere penates. Hie locus est, quern, si verbis audacia detur, Haud timeam magni dixisse Palatia coeli. Ergo ubi marmoreo Superi sedere recessu, Celsioripse loco, sceptroque innixus eburno, Terrificam capitis concussit terque quaterque Ceesariem ; cum qua terram, mare, sidera, movit. 6. Est sublimis via, manifesta sereuo cce- lo, ilia habet nomen 1 r\ Lactea ; notabilis ipso 1U candore. Hac est iter Superis ad tecta mag- ni Tonantis, regalem que domum. Plebs habitant di versa locis. Potentes clarique cce- licolae posufcre suos 1 K penates a fronte. 15. Ergo ubi Superi sedere marmoreo re- cessu, ipse celsior loco, que innixus eburno sceptro, NOT.E. 8. Hac : through this. Via is understood, t 8. Tecla : the house ; tecta, the roof of the house being put, by synecdoche, for the house itself. 8. Tonantis : the thunderer. This is an epithet of great dignity, and is used by several different nations. The Greeks had their Brontetes, and the Goths their Thor. Pliny, who attempts to explain, in a na- tural way, many of the mythi of the an- cients, says : The thunder is assigned to Jupiter, because, being placed between the planets Saturn and Mars, the former of which is too cold, the latter too fiery, a conflict of the two takes place in the region of Jupiter, and the thunder and lightning are emitted, just as a coal leaps with a noise from a burning brand. 9. Dextra Icevaque: on the right and left of the Milky Way. 9. Deorum nobilium: of the principal gods. The Romans reckoned two classes of gods che dii majorum geiitium, and the dii minarum gentium. The former, or principal, were twelve in number, six males and six females, and were some- times called consentes, because admitted to the councils of Jupiter ; they were : Juno,Vesta, Minerva, Ceres, Diana,Venus,Mars, Mercurius, Neptunus, Jupiter,Vulcanus, Apollo. Ennius. 10. Celebrantur : are thronged. 10. Valvis apertis : with open doors. Valves are folding doors that meet in the centre, and open inwards. Fores are doors that open outwards. 11. Plebs. The inferior deities, gene- rally called the dii minorum gentium, and divided into adscript.itii and indigetes. The former were deified heroes, received into heaven ; the latter were tutelary deities of the country. 11. A fronte. In front, the principal of the dii majores have placed their resi- dences, as Jupiter, Neptune, Minerva. 12. Posuere penates : have placed their residences ; literally, their household gods. Penates is put, by metonymy, for domos. 14. Palatia: the court of heaven; the palace ; so called from the Palatium at Rome, which was situated at the chief eminence of the Palatine hill, and con- tained the houses of the emperor. It is an indirect and delicate compliment to Au- gustus. He flatters also, with adroitness, the two great parties at Rome, the patri- cians and plebeians, by designating the two classes of gods under the titles of nobiles, and plebs, the celestial populace. 15. Marmoreo recessu : marble recess. In the inward part of the palace paved with marble. How inferior in majesty is this picture of the gods assembling, and taking their seats in the marble recess, to the ad- vent of Jehovah to fill his temple, as de- scribed by the sacred penman ! Lift up your heads, O ye gates ; and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors ; and the King of glory shall come in. — Psalm xxiv. 16. Celsior loco: higher in place. Kings are accustomed to sit higher than those around them. High on a throne of royal state, which far Outshone the wealth of Ormus, and of Ind ; Or where the gorgeous East, with richest hand, Showers on her kings barbaric pearl and gold, Satan exalted sat. — Milton. 16. Sceptro. The sceptre was an ensign of royalty borne by kings. It was pecu- liarly applicable to Jupiter, as sovereign, both of Heaven and Earth. 17. Concussit. In describing the indig- nation of Jove, the poet appears to have copied after Homer, in the first Iliad. Vir- gil has a similar picture in the iEneid, but they are all greatly inferior in majesty to the descent of Legislative Deity, upon the summits of Sinai. Annuit et totum nutu tremefecit Olympum. ^Eneid x. Then the earth shook and trembled ; the foun- dations also of the hills mcved, and were shaken, because he was wroth. There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured : coals were kindled by it. He bowed the heavens also, and came down ; and darkness was under his feet. And he rode upon a cherub and did fly : yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind. — Psalm xviii. 18. Movit. By which he shook the earth, the sea, and the stars. The pillars of heaven tremble, and are as- tonished at bis reproof.— Job xxvi. 11. Fabula VII. METAMORPHOSEON. Talibus inde modis ora indignantia solvit. _^ Non ego pro mundi regno magis anxius ilia 20 Tempestate fui, qua centum quisque parabat Injicere anguipedum captivo brachia coelo ; Nam, quanquam ferus hostis erat, tamen illud ab uno Corpore, et ex una pendebat origine bellum. Nunc mihi, qua totum Nereus circumtonat orbem, 25 Perdendum mortale genus. Per rlumina juro Infera, sub terras Stygio labentia luco, 61 19. Inde solvit indig- nantia ora talibus modis: ego non fui magis anxius pro reg- no mundi ilia tempes- tate, qua quisque an- guipedum parabat in- jicere centum brachia captivo coelo ; Nam, quanquam hostis erat 25. Nunc mortale genus perdendum mi- ni, qua Nereus cir- cumtonat totum orb- NOTJE. 19. Solvit : he opened his indignant mouth. 21. Tempestate: at that time. 22. Anguipedum ; the genitive plural of anguipes, snake -footed. Macrobius says, they were called snake-footed, because they thought of nothing upright or sublime, but were always grovelling, and that every step they took seemed to incline to hell. There is probably some reference to the serpent, by which sin entered the world. On tby belly shalt thou crawl, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life.— Genesis iii. 22. Captivo coelo: captive heaven ; which they wished to render captive. 22. Centum brachia: their hundred hands. Arms of hundred-handed gripe Burst from their shoulders ; fifty heads upgrew. Elton's Hesiod. 23. Ferus hostis: a cruel enemy. Horace describes them as causing great terror to Jupiter. Magnum ilia terrorem intulerat Jovi Fidens juventus horridabrachiis. Lib. iii. Ode iv. 24. Corpore : from one body ; the com- munity of giants. 24. Una origine: from one origin; one cause — the ambition and pride of the giants. 25. Nereus. Nereus is a god of the sea, but is here put, by metonymy, for the sea itself. The sea gave Nerens life, unerring seer, And true : most ancient of his race, whom all Hail as the sage. — Hesiod. 25. Circumtonat. A forcible metaphor to express the extent and power of the Ocean. Let the dire Andes, from the radiant line Stretched to the stormy seas that thunder round The southern pole, their hideous deeps unfold ! Thomson. 2G. Perdendum. The human race must be destroyed. The agreement is wonder- ful, between the Biblical and the heathen account : And the Lord said, I will destroy man. whom I have created, from the face of the earth ; both man and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air ; for itrepenteth me that I have made them. — Genesis vi. 7. Sed post eorum obitum qui sint nati. homines minus oihciosos magis avaros ccepisse fieri; quare minus justitiam inter homines fuisse con- versatam. Denique earn pervenisse usque eo diceret : Heu ! Heu genus hominum esse natum. — Hyginus. 26. Flumina. The rivers flowing in the Stygian grove ; the Styx, Acheron, Co- cytus, and Phlegethon. The whole of the rivers is here put, by synecdoche, for the part — the Styx, by which the gods were accustomed to swear. Di cujus jurare timent et fallere numen. Virgil. Apollodorus accounts for the Styx being the oath of the gods, as follows : Jupiter appointed an oath to be taken by the waters of the Styx, on account of her having assisted him with all her children, in his war against the Titans. — Apollodorcjs. Hesiod describes Iris, or the rainbow, as ho- vering over the ocean, and as being the messen- i ger of Jupiter, whenever he is about to take a j solemn oath by the waters of the Styx. — W. Adams. Learned men agree in regarding the war of the Titans as some great convulsion, and generally consider it the Deluge. As great internal fires are placed in the centre of the earth, nothing can be more probable than that fire was the agent employed by God to force out, by expansion, the waters of the internal abyss, "when the foun- tains of the great deep were broken up" at the Flood. As the ancients located Hell in the centre, Styx may thus be fabled to assist in the war of the Titans ; and Ju- piter, ordaining Styx as the oath of the gods, while the rainbow rested upon the ocean, is plainly God himself swearing that there shall not be a flood again, while his bow of promise lights up heaven and earth with its smile. Ovid, knowing the Styx to be ordained as the oath of the gods, without knowing the time or circum- stances of its adoption, makes an ana- chronism in introducing it before the Flood. In taking the oath, it was a solemn form to touch the earth and the sea, intimating that the gods beneath them were witnesses. Is any reference made to this in Revela- tions, where the angel stands with one foot upon the land, and the other upon the sea, and swears that time shall be no longer? 62 P. OVIDII NASONIS Cuncta prius tentata : sed immedicabile vulnus Ense recidendum, ne pars sincera trahatur. Sunt mihi Semidei, sunt rustica numina, Nymphse, Faunique, Satyrique, et monticolae Sylvani : duos quoniam cobH nondum dignamur honore ; Q,uas dedimus, certe terras habitare sinamus. An satis, O Superi, tutos fore creditis illos, Cum mihi, qui fulmen, qui vos habeoque, regoque, Struxerit insidias, notus feritate Lycaon ? Confremuere omnes, studiisque ardentibus ausum Talia deposcunt. Sic, cum manus impia saevit Liber I. em. Juro per infera flumina, labentia sub terras Stygio luco, on cuncta prius tentata: sed immedicabile vul- nus est recidendum ense, ne sincera pars trahatur. Sunt mihi Semidei, sunt rustica numina, Nymphae, 34. O Superi, an 35 creditis illos fore satis tutos, cum Lycaon, notus feritate, strux- erit insidias mihi, qui habeo fulmen, qui habeo que, rego que NOTtE. 28. Cuncta prius tentata: that every thing has been first tried. Esse is understood. The benevolence of the deity has tried every expedient to reclaim man from the error of his ways, but long- suffering has at length an end. And the Lord said, my spirit shall not always strive with man.— Genesis vi. 3. 28. Immedicabile vulnus. An incurable wound is to be inflicted with the sword. The human race, entirely corrupt, is to be destroyed, lest the demigods, nymphs, fauns, satyrs, and sylvans may become like them. The Fasces, the emblem of civil power with the Romans, consisted of axes bound with rods, to signify that vices which could be remedied were to be chastised, while those incorrigible were to be punished with death. Physicians re- move the mortified flesh, to prevent the in- fection of the whole body. Etenim ut membra qua^dam amputantur si et ipsa sanguine et tanquam spiritu carere eepe- rint et noceant reliquis : sic ista in figura ho- minis feritas et immanitas belluae, a communi tanquam humanitate corporis segreganda est. — Cicero. Ulcera possessis alta suffura medullis Non leviore manu, ferro sanantur et igni. Claudian in Eutropium. 29. Ne pars sincera: lest the uncorrupted part be drawn aside, viz. :, the semigods, nymphs, fauns, satyrs, and sylvans. 30. Semidei. Semigods were either dii minores, endued, generally, with immor- tality, but not permitted to live in heaven, as Pan and Sylvanus ; or were heroes, of whose parents one was a god, the other a mortal. 30. Nymphce. The nymphs were named according to what they presided over. Those of the ocean were called Ocean- itides ; those of the sea, Nereides ; those of fountains, Naides ; those of the moun- tains were called Oreades ; those of the groves, Napeae ; and those born with, or presiding over oaks, were called Dryades and Hamadryades. The etymology of all these names is Greek. 31. Fauni. The fauns were rural deities, with the form of a goat from the middle downwards, and the horns and ears of the same animal. The rest of the body was human. They were inoffensive, and lived to a great age, but were not immortal. They were probably young apes. 31. Satyri. The satyrs were rural deities, said by some to be the offspring of Bacchus and Nice. They had the horns, ears, legs, and feet of goats, and were human as to the rest of their body. Pliny supposes them to have been apes. Dr. Tyson, in a singular treatise, published in 1699, proves they were a species of ourang-outang, or ape. They were cunning, lascivious, and vicious. 31. Sylvani. The sylvans were gods of the woods. They united the human form with that of the goat, and were more in- offensive than the satyrs. Their name is derived from sylva, and of course does not occur in Greek mythology. 33. Quas dedimus: which we have given them. 34. Tutos fore: that they would be safe. This is an argument a majore, that if he, Jupiter, was not safe from the machina- tions of men, the semigods would not be. 35. Qui fulmen, qtii vos habeo: who have the lightning, and govern you. He in heaven Reigns : the red lightning and the bolt are his. Hesiod 36. Struxerit insidias t laid a plot. The wicked plotteth against the just. — Psalms. 36. Lycaon. A prince of Arcadia, in Greece. The country was called Lycaonia, from him. 37. Omnes confremuere: all murmured. The indignation of all was excited at the wickedness of Lycaon. Talibus orabat Juno ; cunctique fremebant Ccelicolae assensu vario. — Virgil. , 37. Studiis ardentibus: with burning zeal. Abdiel, than whom none with more zeal adored The Deity, and divine commands obeyed, Stood up, and in a fame of zeal severe. The current of his fury thus opposed. — Milton. 37. Ausum talia: him that had attempted such things; viz. : to lay a plot for Jupiter. 38. Deposcunt : demand ; viz. : for the purpose of punishment. 38. Impia manus : the impious band of conspirators. 38. Scevit . By syncope for saviit. Fabula VII. METAMORPHOSEON. Sanguine Caesareo Romanum extinguere nomen, Attonitum tanto subitse terrore ruinse Humanum genus est ; totusque perhorruit orbis. Nee tibi grata minus pietas, Auguste, tuorum, Q,uam fuit ilia Jovi. Qui postquam voce manuque Murmura compressit ; tenuere silentia cuncti. Substitit ut clamor pressus gravitate regentis ; Jupiter hoc iterum sermone silentia rumpit : IUe quidem pcenas (curam dimittite) solvit ; Q,uod tamen admissum, quae sit vindicta, docebo. NOT^. 40 45 63 vos ? Omnes confre- muere, que deposcunt ilium ausum talia, ar- dentibus studiis. Sic cum impia manus 42. Nee, Auguste, pietas, fuit quam ilia fuit Jovi. Qui post- quamcompressit mur- mura voce manuque, cuncti tenuere silen- tia. Ut clamor sub- stitit pressus gravi- tate regentis : Jupiter iterum rumpit silentia 39. Sanguine Ccesareo : in the blood of Caesar. Many conspiracies were made against Augustus, the principal of which Suetonius mentions in Caput xix. of his life of the Cassars. Lepidus, the younger, Varro, Muraena, Fannius, and Cepio, were engaged in a conspiracy against him. This is probably the one referred to here. One Telephus was engaged to slay him in the senate ; and a slave from the Illyrian army secreted a wood-knife for the purpose, and crept into his bedchamber. 39. Extinguere : to extinguish the Ro- man name. This is a beautiful metaphor, which represents the Roman name as the light of the nations, and is similar to one used by Cicero : Videor enim mihi hanc urbem videre, lucem orbis terrarum, atque arcem omnium gentium, subito uno incendio concidentem. — Oratio iv. xn Catilinam. 39. Romanum nomen : the Roman name ; fame, glory. 41. Humanum genus : the human race ; mankind. 41. Totusque orbis perhorruit : the whole world stood aghast ; all the nations of the earth. The aged earth aghast With terror of that blast. — Milton. 42. Pietas tuorum: the piety (or loyalty) of thy friends. 42. Auguste. Some have erroneously supposed that the conspiracy against Julius Caesar was referred to, above, but as Ju- lius Caesar did not survive the attempt on his life, there would have been no rele- vancy between that event and the strata- gem against the life of Jupiter. 44. Tenuere silentia cuncti : all held si- lence. When God speaks, let all the earth keep si- lence. — Psalms. » Unto me men gave ear, and waited, and kept silence, at my counsel. — Job. 45. Pressus gravitate regentis : restrained by the gravity of the king. The participle regentis is here used instead of the noun. Turn, pietate gravem ac meritis si forte virum quern Conspexerc, silent, arrectisque auribus adstant. JEneid i. 46. Silentia rupit : broke the silence. They had been bound by silence, as if by a chain. This is a forcible metaphor. Quid me aha silentia cogis rumpere. — Virgil. First to himself he inward silence broke. — Milton. 47. Ille quidem. Lycaon has suffered the punishment that was due to him. 48. Quod tamen admissum : what was the crime. QU^STIONES. What is the subject of this Fable ? Why were the gods convened ? Where ? By what way did they come ? What is the Milky Way ? Did the an- cients know what it was ? How did the poets account for it ? By what figure is tecta put for domus ? To whom is the epithet Tonans applied ? In what natural way does Pliny assign the thunder to Jupiter ? In speaking of the houses of the gods, and the palace of Jupiter, what compli- ment is paid to Augustus, and the Roman nobles ? By what figure ispenat.es put for domus ? In describing the indignation of Jupiter, whom does Ovid imitate? How will these descriptions of Jupiter compare with the sublimity of Moses's de- scription of the descent at Sinai ? Why is the term snake-footed applied to the giants ? Who was .N ereus ? How used in this place? What were the rivers of Hell ? For what one river are the infernal rivers employed in this place, and by what figure ? By what did the gods swear ? Why ? How is this to be explained ? Who were semigods ? Who were nymphs ? Mention the dif- ferent kinds. Who were fauns ? Satyrs ? Sylvans .' By what figure is extinguere used ? To which one of the Caesars does the poet refer by CcBsareo sanguine ? Does this fable conclude the council of the gods ? FABULA VIII. LYCAON MUTATUS IN LUPUM. In a circuit which he is making through the earth, Jupiter comes to Arcadia, and enters the palace of Lycaon, who attempts to murder him, and after- wards serves up before him human flesh, at a banquet. Jupiter punishes this impiety, by setting the palace on fire, and changing Lycaon into a wolf. EXPLICATIO. Lycaon, the son of Pelasgus and Melibosa, was contemporary with the patriarch Jacob. He built a temple and city, called Lycosura, on the top of Mount Lycaeus, in honor of Jupiter, and instituted the festivals called Lycaea. He polluted the sacrifices of the Lupercalia, of which the Arundelian marbles show him to be the founder, by offering up prisoners taken in war, and hostages. The words Lycasus, Lycaon, Lycosura, and Lycaea, are all of Greek etymology, derived from ivxos, a wolf. The mountain abounded in wolves, as we are informed, and hence was called Lycseus (of the wolf). The king of Arcadia, whoever he was, in con- sequence of nis efforts to extirpate the wolves, received the epithet of Lycaon (wolf -man), and, in time, the cognomen being used instead of the real name, the myth may have arisen, of his being changed into a wolf. Owing probably to some signal deliverance, in an encounter with a wolf, he may have offered 'to Jupiter, as a sacrifice, the brush or tail of the animal, or many such trophies, and thus set up a chapel, where, in after time, was built the temple and city of Lycosura (hvxo$ ovpa), the tail of the wolf Mycon, in like manner, in Virgil's seventh Eclogue, offers to Diana the head of a wild boar, and the antlers of a stag. Thus, sacri- fices called Lycsea (of the wolf), were instituted to Jupiter, in Arcadia, and to Apollo, at Argos, because they freed the inhabitants from wolves. The Lupercalia (lupus, arceo), were identical,with the Lycaea, except that the latter were offered to Pan, in common with Jupiter and Apollo, while the Lupercalia were offered to Pan alone. While Arcadia was waste, or valued for hunting only, the Lycaea were in honor of Jupiter, the common protector in all places, or of Apollo, to whose bow wild beasts were sub- ject ; but when it became a grazing country, inhabited by shepherds, the protection of their flocks fell to Pan, and the Lycaea or Lupercalia were in his honor. The destruction of Lycaon's house, by lightning, after offering up human victims, may have given rise to the fable. But as the event is placed in the earliest ages of the world, it may refer to Nimrod, whose name (rebel) implies apostacy from God, and who, as a " giant hunter," is believed to have tyrannized over man. Babel is thought to have been a fire-temple, for human sacrifice, and his destruction beneath its ruins may be adumbrated in the overturning of Lycaon's palace ; or, what is more probable, the fable may be a confusion of Grecian history and of tradition, in which reference is made to Cain. The resemblances are many and striking. Lycaon was the son of Pelasgus, who was born of the earth; Cain was the son of Adam, who was formed of the earth. Both were impious ; both offered sacrifices displeasing to God, and both fled his presence. Cain built the first city upon earth, and Lycosura, which Lycaon built, was said, by Pausanias, to be the oldest city in the world. Lastly, God set a mark of blood upon Cain, and in the Lupercalia instituted by Lycaon, the foreheads of two illustrious youths were marked with a knife dipped in blood. 64 ONTIGERAT nostras infamia temporis aures : Gluam cupiens falsam, summo delabor Olympo, Et Deus humana lustro sub imagine terras. Longa mora est, quantum noxae sit ubique repertum, NOT.E. 1. Infamia temporis. The wickedness of the time was such that it cried to heaven for vengeance. The same is said, in Genesis, of the wickedness of Sodom and Gomorrah, and in the Odyssey, of the crimes of the suitors. Twf vppis re (iir\ rt ailr\ptav ovpavov tjkci — Odyssey xvii. And the Lord said, because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great,' and because their sin is very grievous. — Genesis xviii. 20. 2. Quam cupiens falsam. The benevolence of the deity is mani- fest in this, that he is slow to believe the evil report, and unwilling to judge until after investigation. In judicando criminosa est celeritas. — P. Syrus. Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right ? — Genesis xviii. 25. 2. Summo Olympo: from highest Olympus; poetically for Heaven. See note on Olympus, page 56. Bow thy heavens. O Lord, and come down : touch the mountains, and they shall smoke. — 1 J SALM CXliv. 5. 2. Delabor : I glide down ; I descend. Jupiter determines to go down and observe the morals of men. Thus Jehovah, in the case of Sodom and Gomorrah : I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me ; and if not, I will know. —Genesis xviii. 21. The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God.— Psalm xiv. 2. 9 3. Et Deus humana sub imagine : and a god in human form. This veiling of di- vinity in human flesh, is to be found in the mythology of all nations, and is, no doubt, a wide-spread tradition of God's holding communion with man, in his state of in- nocence. Thus Homer : KatTE Scol Icivoioiv cqikStcs dXXoSairoiat IlavToiot reXftovres eniaTpuQuxri nuXfiag. Odyssey xvii. 4. Longa mora est : the delay is great ; it is tedious. 4. Quantum noxa: how much crime. F2 65 66 P. OVIDII NASONIS Liber I. Enumerare : minor fuit ipsa infamia vero. Msenala transieram- latebris horrenda ferarum, Et cum Cylleno gelidi pineta Lycaei. Arcados bine sedes et inhospita tecta tyranni Ingredior, traherent cum sera crepuscula noctem. Signa dedi venisse Deum ; vulgusque precari Cceperat. Irr.idet primo pia vota Lycaon. Mox, ait, Experiar, Deus hie, discrimine aperto, An sit mortaiis ; nee erit dubitabile verum. Nocte gravem somno nee opina perdere morte Me parat. Hasc illi placet experientia veri. Nee contentus eo, missi de gente Molossa Obsidis unius jugulum mucrone resolvit ; Atque ita semineces partim ferventibus artus K 5. Ipsa infamfa fuit minor vero. Transie- ram Msenala horren- da latebris ferarum, et pineta gelidi 8. Hinc ingredior sedes et inhospita tec- ta Arcados tyranni, 10 cum sera crepuscula traherent noctem. Dedi signa Deum ve- nisse ; vulgusque cce- perat precari. Primo Lycaon irridet pia vota. Mox, ait, Ex- periar, discrimine 15 aperto, an hie Deus sit mortaliso. Atque ita partim mollit semi- neces artus fervenn- bus aquis. partim tor- ruit subjecto igni NOTiE. And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagina- tion of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. — Genesis vi. 5. They are gone aside, they are all together be- come filthy : there is none that doeth good, no not one. — Psalm xiv. 5. Minor fuit vero : was less than the reality. The report of the wickedness of mankind fell short of the actual truth. 6. Mamala. A mountain and city in Ar- cadia, Greece, named from Maenalus, son of Areas ; masculine in the singular, and neuter in the plural. See Grammar, p. 19. 6. Latebris hdr rendu: terrible on account of the dens of wild beasts. 7. Cylleno. A mountain in Arcadia, where Mercury was born, whence he is called Cyllenius. 7. Pineta Lyccei: the pine-groves of Ly- caeus. Derivative nouns ending in etum, denote the place where their primitives abound, as pinus, a pine ; pinetum, a pine- grove. Lycaeus is a mountain of Arcadia, sacred to Pan. Hence he is named Lycaeus. 8. Arcados: Arcadian, a Greek adjec- tive in the genitive case, agreeing with tyranni. Lycaon, who is here meant, is called Areas, by anticipation, for it was his grandson after whom the country was called Arcadia. Before his time, it was called Parrhasia. 8. Inhospita tecla : the inhospitable house ; the part being put for the whole. As Jupiter was the deity who presided over hospitality, how expressive the epithet ap- plied to tecta. The acts that transpired, of impiety, perfidy, murder, and inhospitality, show it was very appropriate. 9. Sera crepuscula : late twilight. In the decline of day, when there is a sabbath- like stillness upon the air, the soul natu- rally aspires to heaven. What time more appropriate for the Deity to manifest him- self to man ? It was in the coolness of evening that God visited his erring chil- dren in Paradise. And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day. — Genesis iii. 8. 10. Signa dedi venisse Deum : I gave a sign that a god had come ; some manifest- ation of divinity. 10. Vulgusque precari cceperat : the com- mon people had begun to worship. The simple in heart are more willing to yield to God's will, and pay him adoration. Hence : Not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called : but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty. — 1 Corinthians i. 26, 27. 11. Irridet pia vota : derides their pious prayers. It is sinful enough to be irreli- gious, but infinitely worse to make light of piety in others, and endeavor to obstruct their devotion. But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea. — Matt, xviii. 0. Ne'er let the mystic sacrifices move Deriding scorn ; but dread indignant Jove. Hesiod. 12. Experiar. He would try whether he was a god or not, by an attempt upon his life. Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. St. Matthew. 13. Nee erit verum : nor shall the truth be doubtful. If a god, he could not be slain ; if a mortal, he would be destroyed. 14. Nee opina morte : by an unexpected death. 16. Nee contentus eo. Not content with having attempted to kill him, he offers hu- man food to him. 17. Jugulum resolvit : he cuts the throat. 18. Semineces artus: the half-dead, qui- vering limbs. With what a spring his furious soul broke loose, And left the limbs still quivering on the ground. Addisox Fabula VIII. METAMORPHOSEON. Mollit aquis, partim subjecto torruit igni. duos simul imposuit mensis, ego vindice flamma 20 In domino dignos everti tecta Penates. Territus ille fugit, nactusque silentia run's Exululat, frustraque loqui conatur: ab ipso ColJigit os rabiem, solitseque cupidine caedis Vertitur in pecudes : etnunc cjuoque sanguine gaudet. 25 In villos abeunt vestes, in crura lacerti, Fit lupus, et veteris servat vestigia forma?. Canities eadem est, eadem violentia vultu : Idem oculi lucent : eadem feritatis imago. 67 Quos simul imposuit mensis, ego vindice flarami everti tecta in Penates dignos do- mino. 22. Ille territus fu- git, que nactus si- lentia ruris exululat, que frustra conatur loqui : os colligit ra- biem al> ipso, que 26. Vestes abeunt in villos. lacerti in crura. Fit lupus, et servat vestigia ve- teris formsEJ. Canities est eadem, violentia NOTVE. 19. Subjecto igni: with fire placed be- neath ; over the fire. 20. Imposuit mensis : set upon the table ; served up to be eaten. 20. Vindice flamma : with avenging flames ; with lightning. Rejoice, O ye nations, with his people ; for he will avenge the blood of his servants.— Deut. xxii. 43. Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.— Romans xii. 19. Our God is a consuming fire. — Heb. xii. 29. 21. Domino : the master ; the owner. 21. Tecta. The roof of the house is here put, by metonymy, for the house itself. 22. Territus : affrighted he fled. The wicked flee from the presence of God ; thus Adam fled from the presence of Je- hovah ; thus Cain fled after the slaughter of his brother. 23. Silentia ruris : the silence of the country ; the lonely parts of the country. Silentia is here used, poetically, for the plural. 23. Exululat : he howls. He is already a wolf in propensities. 23. Ah ipso : itself; from his own rave- nous disposition. 24. Rabiem : rage ; foam. 24. Cupidine cadis : with the desire of wonted slaughter. 25. Vertitur: he is turned; he turns. Vertitur has the force of a verb in the mid- dle voice. 26. In villos abeunt : pass ; are changed into hair. 27. Fit lupus : he becomes a wolf. The foolish stories told among the northern na- tions, of men changed to wolves, have had their origin from a disease called lycan- thropy, a species of madness, which causes men to rage and foam at the mouth, and cry like wolves. 27. Vestigia forma : traces of his former appearance ; his hoariness and fierceness of countenance. 28. Canities. The hoariness of the wolf, and the brightness of his eyes, are noted by all naturalists, from Pliny to the present time. 28. Eadem. The repetition in the two last lines of the fable, by means of the figure, anaphora, is beautiful and forcible. See Grammar, p. 209. QU^STIONES. What is the subject of this Fable ? What induced Jupiter to visit the earth ? Under what form did he appear ? In what state did he find the morals of men ? What reception did Lycaon give him ? What attempt did he make against his life? What indignity did he offer him after- wards ? What did Jupiter do to his palace ? How did he treat Lycaon himself? Where was Mount Lycseus situated ? What gave the mountain its name ? Was Lycaon the nomen or cognomen of the king of Arcadia ? What were the Lycsea ? To what dif- ferent gods offered ? What were the Lupercalia? What is the etymology of the word ? Who is said to have founded the Luper- calia ? Under what circumstances may the Ly csea, in Arcadia, have become the Luper calia, and been offered to Pan? What is the first interpretation of the change of Lycaon into a wolf? What is the second interpretation ? What makes it possible that reference is had to Nimrod ? Why may the fable have reference to the history of Cain ? Repeat the points of resemblance be- tween the history of Cain and the story of Lycaon ? What figure is used in the concluding lines of the fable ? What is anaphora ? FABULA IX. DILUVIUM. Having resolved to destroy the race of men by a deluge, Jupiter sends down the rain in torrents, from all the heavens. The sea assists with its auxiliar waters ; the inundation spreads, and the works of men perish, till the whole surface of the earth is '-submerged, and every living thing is destroyed, ex- cept Deucalion and Pyrrha. EXPLICATIO. The ancients give accounts of several floods that happened, some of which have been confounded with the great Noachic deluge. The flood described as that of Deucalion, took place in Thessaly, according to the Arundelian marbles, B. C. 1503, and was occasioned by the choking up cf the channels of the Peneus and other rivers, and the bursting of the sea through the Cyanean Straits and the Hellespont. The flood of Ogyges, another king of Thessaly, is described as still more ancient, and sub- merged all Greece. But as Deucalion was the son of Prometheus, who is said to have created the first man, and as Ogyges was the son of Terra, or the Earth, it is very easy to perceive that Noah is the personage represented by these different princes, and that accounts of partial inun- dations of the Grecian territory have been blended with the great diluvian catastrophe of the world. The name Ogygian, as applied to the deluge, would indicate Noah's flood, for it means the ancient. It is thus used by Hesiod in his Theogony, when speaking of the Ogygian water of the Styx, which is believed to be the waters of the internal abyss that assisted in the destruction of the world, " when the fountains of the great deep were broken up." But it is expressly stated by the Greeks themselves, that the names of Barbarians were rendered in their language and in others, so as to pre- serve their original meaning, and that Noah was the original of the names Noach, Sisithrus, Xisithrus, Ogyges, and Deucalion. Besides this, there are so many striking coincidences between the description of Noah's flood, as given by Moses, and the different heathen accounts of a general inundation, that no doubt can exist that they all relate to the same occur- rence. In the first place, it was designed as a punishment of the world for its wickedness, and was general. The waters of heaven, of the sea, and of the internal abyss, united to effect its destruction. The only man preserved, with his family, was noted for justice, and had been warned by Saturn (Jehovah) to prepare an ark for the preservation of himself, and the beasts, and birds, and creeping things. He entered the ark with these, and was borne in safety over the waters, and in time sent forth dif- ferent birds, and at length the dove, to ascertain if the waters were dried up from the face of the earth. He learned, by these, that the flood had abated. He was carried to a mountain, disembarked in safety, and wor- shipped the gods. These different heathen accounts, which, in illustra- tion of the text of the poet, I have given with the Biblical parallelisms, will show they all relate to a common catastrophe, and are the traditions of the great Flood that occurred in the days of Noah. 68 CCID1T una domus ; sed non domus una penre JL Digna fuit : qua terra patet, fera regnat Erirmys. y_i In facinus jurasse putes. Dent ocii;s omnes, \ Q.uas meruere pati, sic stat sententia pcenas. Dicta Jovis pars voce probant, stimulosque frementi Adjiciunt : alii partes assensibus implent. NOTjE. 1. Occidit una : one house has fallen, viz.: the house of Lycaon.. 1. Non domus una ; not one house only, but every house. 2. Digna fuit : deserved to perish ; to fall. And manifold in sin deserved to fall. — Milton. 2. Erinnys. A common name of the Furies, who were three in number, Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone. They were said to be daughters of Acheron and Nox, or as some say, of Pluto and Proser- pine. They punished the guilty on earth by war and pestilence, and in bell by torment and flagellation. Their head and arms were en- circled by serpents. They held in one hand a whip, and a torch in the other. Erinnys, fury, is here put for the wickedness which they excite. 2. Qua terra patet : wherever earth extends, fierce fury reigns. And God saw that the wickedness of man , the words of Jupiter ; speak in approbation was great in the earth, and that every imagina- tion of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. — Genesis vi. 5. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.— Psalm xiv. 1. 3. In facinus jurasse : that they had sworn to commit sin. Jurasse is put, by syncope, for juravisse. 4. Sic stat sr7itentia ; so stands my reso- lution. My determination is unalterably fixed. 5. Pars voce : a part with voice applaud of what he has said. 6. Alii partes implent : others perform their part by assent. Thus, in Juvenal, Sat. vi., omnes implet numeros, performs all her parts. The poet evidently makes reference to the Roman senate, in which the principal senators, those elected by the censor or other magistrate, had the privi- lege of speaking and of voting, while the Pedarii, or those occupying seats by right of former offices among the people, after the senators of the majorum gentium had 69 70 P. OVIDII NASONIS Est tamen humani generis jactura dolori Omnibus : et, quse sit terras mortalibus orbae Forma futura, rogant : quis sit laturus in aras Thura ? ferisne paret populandas tradere terras ? Talia quserentes, sibi enim fore castera curae, Rex Superum trepidare vetat ; sobolemque priori Dissimilem populo promittit origine mira. Jamque erat in totas sparsurus fulmina terras ; Sed timuit, ne forte sacer tot ab ignibus aether Conciperet flammas, longusque ardesceret axis. Esse quoque in fatis reminiscitur, affore tempus, Quo mare, quo tellus, correptaque regia coeli Ardeat ; et mundi moles operosa laboret. , Liber I. 7. Tamen jactura humani generis est dolori omnibus : que rogant qua? sit futura forma terrae orbse 10 mortalibus: quis sit laturus thura in aras ? paretne tradere ter- ras populandas feris? Rex Superum vetat quserentes talia tre- pidare, enim castera fore curae sibi, que 15 promittit sobolem dis- similem priori populo mir§. origine. Que jam erat sparsurus 17. Quoque remin- iscitur esse in fatis, tempus affore, quo NOT^E. voted, signified their assent by leaving their seats, and joining the party whose views they espoused. 7. Dolori omnibus: a grief to all. The love of God to man is boundless ; he de- lights not in his destruction. As I live, saith the Lord, I have no pleasure in the death of him that dies. How shall I give thee up, O Ephraim! how shall I deliver thee up, O Israel ! How shall I resign thee as Admah ! How shall I make thee as Zeboim ! — Hosea. Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep, day and night, for the slain of the daughters of my peo- ple. — Lamentations. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem ! thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee, how oft would 1 have gathered thy children as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and they would not '. — St. Matthew. 8. Omnibus: to alL See Grammar, Rule XXIII. of Syntax. 8. Orbce : deprived of men ; without in- habitants. 9. Quis sit laturus : who will bring frankincense to the altars ? The gods are here solicitous about the rites of public worship. The adoration of his intelligent creatures is pleasing to the Creator him- self. If savage beasts should become the only inhabitants, the declarative glory of the gods would be unknown ; for, Animal nullum est praiter hominem, quod ha- beat notitiam aliquam Dei. — Cicero. 10. Ferisne populandas. Populo and de- populo, in the same manner as pono and depono, are often rendered alike. In both cases, however, etymology would seem to require a positive meaning of the former of the words, and a negative meaning of the latter. Populandas here appears to be used in the sense of peopling or inhabiting. The following, from Horace, is similar: Velut profugit execrata civitas, Agros atque Lares proprios, habitandaque fana, Apris reliquil et rapacibus lupis.— Epodon xvi. 10. Paret : does he prepare ? is he about ? 12. Rex Superum: the king of the gods; Jupiter. 12. Trepidare vetat : forbids them to be solicitous. 13. Dissimilem populo: unlike the former people ; pure and holy. 13. Origine mira: by a miraculous ori- gin. Stones were to be changed into men and women, as related in the succeeding fable. 14. Sparsurus fulmina: about to hurl the thunder over all the earth. When he was about to scatter the thunder, and thus de- stroy the world, he recollects that it is fated that the earth shall be destroyed by fire hereafter, and chooses a different mode of destruction. 16. Lo?igus axis: the long axis on which the heavens were believed to revolve. 17. Esse in fatis: is in the decrees of the Fates. The Fates, or Destinies, were the dispensers of the will of Jupiter. In the heathen mythology, they are put for Pro- vidence. 17. Afore tempus: that there would be a time ; that a time would come. 18. Correpta: enveloped in flames. Sup- ply jlammis. Dies ira?, dies ilia Solvet sarclum in favilla Teste David cum Sibylla. — Ccelano. 19. Ardeat: shall be burned up. The final destruction of the world by fire, ap- pears to have been known to most of the pagans. They got the idea from the Sibyl- line verses, or from some ancient tradition committed probably to Adam or Noah. Kal irore rf/v dnyijv Seov, oix in irpavvovra, AAA' elepSpiSovra, Kai e^uyvovTii re yivvav AvSpcjjrrcov vnraaav in' iprrpriixpov ircpSovra. SlBYLL. APUD LaCTANTICM. Cum tempus advenerit, quo se mundus renc- vaturus extinguat . . . . et omni flagrante ma- teria uno igni quidquid nunc ex disposito lucet, ardebit.— Seneca. Fabula IX. METAMORPHOSEON. 71 Tela reponuntur manibus fabricata Cyclopum. Poena placet diversa ; genus mortale sub undis Perdere, et ex omni nimbos dimittere ccelo. Protinus iEoliis Aquilonem claudit in antris, 20 mare, quo tellus, que regia cceli correpta ardeat; et operosa moles mundi laboret. Tela fabricata 23. Protinus claudit NOT.E. Aqua et ignis terrenis dominantur : ex his or- I tus, et ex his interitus est. — Seneca Nat. Qujes. The Egyptians supposed the world had a great I year, when the sun. moon, and planets all re- I turned to the same sign whence they started, the winter of which year was the Deluge, and the summer the conflagration of the world. — Plato. Hence we Stoics conclude, that the whole world, at last, would be in a general conflagra- tion ; when, all moisture being exhausted, neither the earth could have any nourishment, nor the air return again, since water, of which it is formed, would then be all consumed ; so that only fire would subsist, and from this fire, which is an animating power and a deity, a new world would arise, and be re-established in the same beauty. — Cicero on the Gods. Certain dispositions of the air, and powers of water and fire, infused and mixed within, which arise and spring up with, together with the world, and to be burnt in time, and end with it. — Plutarch's Morals. For the indignation of the Lord is upon all the nations ; and all the host of heaven shall be dis- solved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll. — Isaiah. But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, re- served unto fire, against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. — St. Peter. 19. Operosa moles: the well- wrought, stupendous mass of the universe. 19. Laboret: shall labor; shall be ex- posed to destruction. 20. Tela: the weapons, viz. : the thun- derbolts. Modern science furnishes a beau- tiful illustration of this fabled forging of Jupiter's thunderbolts. Metals rendered fluid and volatilized by the excessive heat of volcanoes, are dissipated and carried into the air, and after being united by some combination of chemical and electric at- traction, form the metallic masses and aerolites which often fall to the earth with a great noise. The Cyclops of the volcano are thus said to forge them. 20. Cyclopum: of the Cyclops. They were the workmen of Vulcan, and had their shop in Mount JEtna, where they made the thunderbolts of Jupiter. The erymology of the word is kvkXos, a circle, and oip, an eye, because they had but one eye, of a circular form, in the middle of the forehead. Their names were Brontes, Steropes, and Arges ; the latter, however, was called Harpes, Arges, and Pyracmon. Homer and Theocritus consider them the primitive inhabitants of Sicily, giants and cannibals. Then brought she forth The Cyclops, brethren of high daring heart, Brontes, and Steropes, and Arges fierce, Who forged the lightning shaft, and gave to Jove His thunder. They were like unto the gods, Save that a single ball of sight was fixed In the mid forehead. Cyclops was their name, For that one circular eye was broad infixed In the mid forehead. — Hesiod's Theogony. 21. Poena diversa: a different kind of punishment, viz. by water. 21. Placet: pleases him; is resolved upon. 21. Genus mortale: the mortal race ; the human race. The present race of men is not the same as at the beginning, but those of the first race all perished. Mankind, as they now are, are a new and second race, that were spread abroad again by Deucalion in these vast numbers. Of those first men it is reported, that they were haughty, fierce people, who committed heinous iniquities ; for they neither kept their oath, nor exercised hospitality, nor spared the vanquished, though imploring mercy. For all this, however, a hor- rible cafamity came upon them.— Lucian de Stria Dea. 21. Sub undis: under water; by immer- sion. 22. Perdere. The phrase gemts mortale sub undis perdere, is put in apposition with poena. 22. Nimbos: rain; storms of rain. 22. Ex omni ccelo: from the whole hea- And the windows of heaven were opened ; and the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights. — Genesis vii. 11, 12. After whom reigned many others, and then Sisithrus, to whom Saturn signified there should be an abundance of rain on the fifteenth day of the month Desius, and commanded him to lay up all his writings in Heliopolis; which, when Sisithrus had done, he sailed immediately into Armenia, and found it true as the god had de- clared to him. — Abydenus. 23. Protinus: forthwith. As soon as he determines to destroy the world, he sets about its destruction. 23. JEoliis in antris: in the iEolian caves. JEolus, the son of Hippotas, was king of the islands which lie between Italy and Sicily. From his knowledge of astro- nomy, and his predictions of the changes in the winds, he was thought to control the winds in a cave, where they murmured against their rocky barriers. The islands were volcanic, and gave rise to the subter- ranean noise, and the fable connected there- with. 23. Aauilonem claudit. He shuts up the north wind, because it was accustomed to 72 P. OVIDII NASONIS Et quascunque fugant inductas flamina nubes : Emittitque Notum. Madidis Notus evolat alis Terribilem picea tectus caligine vultum. Barba gravis nimbis ; canis fluit unda capillis ; Fronte sedent nebulae ; rorant pennseque, sinusque. CJtque manu lata pendentia nubila pressit, Fit fragor : hinc densi funduntur ab sethere nimbi. Nuntia Junonis, varies induta colores, Concipit Iris aquas, alimentaque nubibus adfert. Sternuntur segetes, et deplorata coloni Liber I. Aquilonem in iEoliis _ K antris, et quascunque U canis capillis ; nebulae sedent fronte ; que 31. Iris, nuntia Ju- nonis, induta varios colores, concipit aquas, que adfert ali- not^:. disperse the clouds, and bring on fair wea- ther. 24. Inductas nubes: the clouds spread over the face of heaven. 25. Emittit Notum. He lets out the south wind, which brings rain. The personifica- tion of the south wind, by the poet, is at once sublime and beautiful, and the whole allegory well sustained. This wind bears the treasured rain; a modern poet, with this passage probably in his eye, personi- fies the wind, and arms it with lightning and the tempest. The wrathful Angel of the wind Had all the horrors of the skies combined; And lo ! tremendous o'er the deep he springs, The inflaming sulphur flashing from his wings ! Hark, his strong voice the dismal silence breaks! Mad chaos from the chains of death awakes ! Now in a deluge bursts the living flame, And dread concussion rends the ethereal frame : Sick earth convulsive groans from shore to shore, And nature, shuddering, feels the horrid roar. Falconer's Shipwreck. 25. Madidis alis: with dripping wings. The poets generally attribute wings to the winds, on account of their swiftness. Dum se continet Auster, Dura sedet et siccat madidas in carcere pennas. Juvenal. He spake, the god that mounts the winged winds. Pope's Homer. He rode upon a cherub, and did fly : yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind. — Psalm xviii. 10. 26. Tectus vultum. See Grammar ; Syn- tax, Rule XXV., n. 9. Meanwhile the south wind rose, and with black wings Wide hovering, all the clouds together drove. Milton. 29. Nubila pressit: pressed the hanging clouds; crushed them. 30. Fit fragor: there comes a crashing. The peculiar sound of the rain, when a shower commences, is known to every one. 30. Funduntur: are poured down ; pour down. This verb has the force of the Greek middle voice. Fierce and fast Shot down the ponderous rain, a sheeted flood, That slanted not before the baffled winds, But, with an arrowy and unwavering rush Dashed hissing earthward. — Barber. 31. Varios induta colores: clothed with various colors. The rainbow contains the seven primitive colors, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet ; the blend- ing of their dyes appears to multiply the number ; the poets gave her a thousand. The bow is formed by the rays of the sun falling upon the drops of water in a cloud, when that luminary has an elevation of not more than 54 degrees. Mille trahens varios adverso sole colores. Virgil. 32. Iris. Iris was the daughter of Thau- mas and Electra. She was clothed in a particolored robe, and was ever seated by the throne of Juno to execute her orders. As the rainbow, for which Iris is often put, is formed in the lower air, which is, my- thologically, Juno, hence she is said always to attend that goddess. See note on p. 279. 32. Concipit aquas: draws up water. The poet here evidently refers to that meteoro- logical phenomenon observed at sea, when water is carried up to the clouds, by the formation of a great hollow cone of con- densed vapor. It has the colors of the bow. Tall Ida's summit now more distant grew, And Jove's high hill was rising on the view, When from the left approaching, they descry A liquid column towering shoot on high. The foaming base an angry whirlwind sweeps, Where curling billows rouse the fearful deeps. Still round and round the fluid vortex flies, Scattering dun night and horror thro' the skies, The swift volution and the enormous train Let sages versed in nature's lore explain ! The horrid apparition still draws nigh, And white with foam the whirling surges fly ! The guns were primed, the vessel northward veers, Till her black battery on the column bears. The nitre fired ; and while the dreadful sound, Convulsive, shook the slumbering air around, The watery volume, trembling to the sky, Burst down a dreadful deluge from on high! The affrighted surge, recoiling as it fell. Rolling in hills, disclosed the abyss of hell. Falconer's Shipwreck. Et bibit ingens Arcus. — Virgil. 32. Alimenta nubibus: brings supplies to the clouds. 33. Sternuntur segetes: the corn is laid prostrate. Fabula IX. METAMORPHOSEON. 73 Yota jacent ; longique labor perit irritus anni. Nee coelo contenta suo Jovis ira : sed ilium Caeruleus frater juvat auxiliaribus undis. Convocat hie amnes : qui postquam tecta tyranni Intravere sui, Non est hortamine longo Nunc, ait, utendum : vires effundite vestras. Sic opus est. Aperite domus, ac mole remota Flumiriibus vestris totas immittite habenas. Jusserat. Hi redeunt, ac fontibus ora relaxant, Et defrasnato volvuntur in sequora cursu. Ipse tridente suo terram percussit : at ilia Intremuit. motuque sinus patefecit aquarum. Exspatiata ruunt per apertos rlumina campos ; menta nubibus. Se- Q getes sternuntur, et ijD vota coloni jacent de- plorata; que labor longi anni perit irri- tus. Nee est ira Jovis contenta suo ccelo : 38. Non nunc ulen- dum est longo horta- .„ mine: effundite ves- 40 tras vires. Sic opus est. Aperite domus, ac mole remota, immit- tite totas habenas 42. Jusserat. Hi re- deunt ac relaxant ora fontibus, et volvuntur -_ in sequora defrasnato 45 cursu. Ipse percussit terram suo tridente : at ilia intremuit, que NOTiE. 33. Coloni vota: the hopes of the hus- bandman; his crops sought with many prayers. All that the winds had spared In one wild moment ruined ; the big hopes And well-earned treasures of the painful year. Thomson. 34. Perit: is lost. The ox hath therefore stretched his yoke in vain. The ploughman lost his sweat; and the green corn Hath rotted ere his youth attained a beard : The fold stands empty in the drowned field. Shakspeare. 35. Nee ccelo contenta : the wrath of Ju- piter is not content with his heaven, viz. : with the stores of water in the clouds. 35. Ilium: him ; assists Jupiter. 36. Creruleus frater: his cerulean bro- ther. This is a beautiful periphrasis for Neptune. 36. Auxiliaribus undis : with his auxil- iary waves. That the sea assisted in the submersion of mankind, and the earth also, by giving out its internal waters, is agree- able not only to the Bible, but to the ge- neral accounts derived from tradition. 37. Convocat hie omnes : he assembles the rivers ; the gods of the rivers. The images here presented to the mind are all of a grave and sublime character. 37. Tecta tyranni: the palace of their ruler, Neptune. This was placed, by the poets, in or near the centre of the earth. Then the channels of waters were seen, and he foundations of the world were discovered at ,liy rebuke. — Psalm xviii. 15. 38. Non est utendum: there is not to be used by me ; I must not use. Supply mi hi. 40. Domos: your houses. The fountains of the rivers were called the habitations of the river gods. 40. Mole remota : the barrier being re- moved ; the banks of the river. 41. Totas immittite habenas: give all reins to your streams. This is a beautiful metaphor derived from the chariot-race. 10 G 42. Jusserat: he had spoken. As soon as he commanded, it was done. He spake, and it was done. 42. Hi redeunt : these return. The river gods return to their respective rivers. 43. Volvuntur: are rolled ; roll them- selves. This verb has the force of the Greek middle voice. . 43. Deframato cursu: with unbridled course. The same metaphor employed above. Thither they Hasted with glad precipitance, uprolled As drops on dust conglobing from the dry : Part rise in crystal wall, or ridge direct For haste; such flight the great command im- pressed On the swift floods. — Milton. 44. Tridente. The trident was a triple- pronged mace which Neptune used as a sceptre. It derives its name from its form, tres, three, and dens, a tine. The fiction of Neptune's striking the earth and causing it to tremble, is derived from a natural cause, being taken from the earthquake, which is the result of the action of the in- ternal heat and internal waters. The trident of Neptune is a symbol of the third region of the world, which the sea pos- sesses, situated below that of the heaven and the air. — Plutarch. From Neptune's hand Dash his trined mace, that from the bottom stirs The troubled sea, and shakes the solid earth. JEschylus. 45. Motu: by the concussion. 45. Sinus patefecit aquarum: disclosed its reservoirs of waters. How strikingly this and other heathen descriptions agree with the Scriptural account. The same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of hea- ven were opened. And the rain was upon the, earth forty days and forty nights. — Genesis vii. 11, 12. For on a sudden the earth sent forth abun- dance of water, great showers of rain fell, the rivers overflowed exceedingly, and the sea overspread the earth, so that all was turned into water, and every man perished.— Lucian t>& Syria Dea. 74 P. OVIDII NASONIS Liber I. Cumque satis arbusta simul, pecudesque, virosque, Tectaque, cumque suis rapiunt penetralia sacris. Si qua domus mansit, potuitque resistere tan to Indejecta malo ; culmen tamen altior hujus Unda tegit, presseeque labant sub gurgite turres. Jamque mare et tellus nullum discrimen habebant. Omnia pontus erant ; deerant quoque littora ponto. patefecit sinus aqua- rum motu. Flumina exspatiata ruunt per 49. Si qua domus mansit, potuitque ma- 50 lo indejecta; tamer unda altior tegit hujus culmen, pressaeque lurres labant sub gur- gite. NOT.E. There could not be one cause for so great a calamity, but all reason consents that at the same time the rains should fall, the rivers swell, the seas, stirred from their foundations, rush along, and all in uniled phalanx move on to the destruction of the human race. — Seneca. Lib. iii. cap. 27. The pillars of heaven were broken; the earth shook to its very foundations : the heavens sunk lower to the north ; the earth fell to pieces, and the waters enclosed within its bosom burst forth with violence, and overflowed it. — Chinese Sa- cred Books. 47. Cum satis: with the crops. After the corn has put forth the ear, it is then called a crop. Red from the hills, innumerable streams Tumultuous roar ; and high above its banks . The rivers lift, before whose rushing tide. Herds, flocks, and harvests, cottages and swains, Roll mingled down. — Thomson. 47. Pecudesque. The different animals were all borne away and destroyed by the flood, according to our poet. Other hea- then writers speak of their preservation, as in the Bible. Of clean beasts, and of beasts that are un- clean, and of fowls, and of every thing that creepeth upon the earth, there went in two and two unto Noah in the ark, the male and the fe- male, as God commanded Noah. — Genesis vii. 8, 9. It is reported that Xisuthrus was preserved by Saturn's foretelling him what was to come, and that it was convenient for him to build an ark, that birds, and creeping things, and beasts might sail with him in it. — Alexander Polyiiistor. He, (Deucalion,) and his wives and his chil- dren, entered into a large ark, which lie had prepared ; and after them went in bears, and horses, and lions, and serpents, and all other kinds of living creatures that feed upon the earth, two and two ; he received them all in, neither did they hurt him, but were very familiar with him, by a divine influence. — Lucian de Syria Dea. In seven days, all creatures who have offended me shall be destroyed by a deluge, but thou shalt be secured in a capacious vessel, miraculously formed : take, therefore, all kinds of medicinal herbs, and esculent grain for food, and, together with the seven holy men, your respective wives, and pairs of all animals, enter the ark without fear. — Hindostanee Bhagavat. 48. Penetralia. The gods had abandoned to destruction the altars, upon which the impious had long ceased to offer sacrifice. Moreover, at that feast, which we call Fente- cost ; as the priests were going by night into the inner temple, as their custom was, to perform their sacred ministrations, they said, that in the first place, they felt a quaking, and heard a great noise, and after that the sound as of a multitude, saying, "Let us depart hence !" — Josephus. The passive gods behold the Greeks defile Their temples, and abandon to the spoil Their own abodes. — Dryden's Virgil. Over prostrate pillar and crumbling dome The stormy billows arise and foam ; Where thy swelling temples were wont to stand, The sea-bird screams by the lonely strand. W. G. Clark. 49. Tanto malo: so great a calamity, viz. : the deluge. 50. Culmen: the top of the roof of a house. It is so called from culmus, a stalk, because, anciently, houses were covered with straw. All dwellings else Flood overwhelmed, and them, with all their pomp, Deep under water rolled. — Milton. 51. Pressceque Ucrres: and the towers borne down. Struck on the castled cliff, The venerable tower, and piry fine Resign their aged pride. — Thomson. 51. Gurgite: in the vortex. It is not to be supposed that there was a gentle rising of the waters, at the deluge, but the most fearful commotion, when the internal wa- ters of the earth were forced out in cata- racts, the solid crust of the earth broken through, and the water resorbed again in the chasm. Some convulsion of the kind was necessary to destroy the vessels and other means of safety employed by the in- habitants. 51. Nullum discrimen: sea and earth had no distinction. Hence, in old dusky time, a deluge came : When the deep-cleft disparting orb that arched The central waters round impetuous rushed With universal burst into the gulf, And o'er the high-piled hills of fractured earth Wide dashed the waves in undulations vast ; Till from the centre to the straining clouds, A shoreless ocean tumbled round the globe. Thomson. 53. Omnia pontus erant: all things were sea. There is a majestic brevity in the first part of this line, but in the latter clause a redundancy called polyptoton, which di- minishes its force. In the description of the Indian Hades, a modern poet introduces the same form of expression. Fabtjla IX. METAMORPHOSEON. Occupat hie collem : cymba sedet alter adunca, Et ducit remos illic, ubi nuper ararat. Ille supra segetes, aut mersae culmina villas, Navigat : hie summa piscem deprendit in ulmo. Figitur in viridi (si Fors tulit) anchora prato : Aut subjecta terunt curvae vineta carinas. Et, modo qua graciles gramen carpsere capellse, Nunc ibi deformes ponunt sua corpora phocas. Mirantur sub aqua lucos, urbesque, domosque, Nereides : silvasque tenent delphines, et altis Icursant ramis, agitataque robora pulsant. Nat lupus inter oves : fulvos vehit unda leones : Unda vehit tigres. Nee vires fulminis apro, Crura nee ablato prosunt velocia cervo. Quassitisque diu terris, ubi sidere detur, In mare lassatis volucris vaira decidit alis. 55 75 54. Hie occupat r- 1 - lem: alter sedet ad>-.»- ca cymba et ducit 56. Ille navigat su- pra segetes, aut cul- mina mersse villse : hie deprehendit pis- cem in summa ulmo. Anchora, si fors tulit, r»n figitur in viridi prato : ^^ aut curvae carinas te- runt vineta subjecta. 62. Nereides miran- tur lucos, urbesque domosque sub aqua: delphinesque tenent silvas, et incursant altis ramis, pulsant- que agitata robora. 66. Nee vires ful- minis prosunt apro, nee velocia crura ab- lato cervo. Terrisque diu quaesitis ubi detur illi sidere, vaga volu- 65 NOT.E. And lo. the regions dread — The world of wo before them opening wide. There rolls the fiery flood. Girding the realms of Padcelon around, A sea of flame it seemed to be — Sea without bound. — Southet. Sea covered sea — Sea without shore. — Milton. 54. Occupat hie collem. There is a beau- tiful variety in the description of the efforts of the different inhabitants to save them- selves. 55. Ubi nuper ararat: where he had lately ploughed. What a melancholy change is here presented ! Ararat for araverat, by syncope. 57. Summa in ulmo: in the highest part of the elm ; the species being put for the genus, by svnecdoche. See Grammar, Rule I., n. 8.' Pisciumet summa genus haesit ulmo. — Horace. 58. Si Fors tulit: if chance has borne it ; has directed it. 61. Deformes phocce : the unsightly sea- calves. The seal is called the sea-calf, from the noise it makes like a calf. He is an animal with a head like an otter's, with teeth like a dog's, and moustaches like a cat ; his body is long and hairy ; his fore feet has fingers, clawed, but not divided ; his hinder ieet are more like fins. He is thus fitted for crawling and swimming, and is amphibious. Huge monsters from the plains, whose skeletons The mildew of succeeding centurips Has failed to crumble, with unwieldy strength Crushed through the solid crowds. — Barber. Where luxury late reigned, sea-monsters whelped, And stabled.— Milton. 63. Nereides. These nymphs of the sea were daughters of Nerens and Doris. They were fifty in number. Their duty was to attend on the more powerful gods of the sea. When on the sea-shore, they resided in grottoes and caves adorned with shells. 64. Robora: the trees ; oaks. The species is here put for the genus. 64. Pulsant: strike with their bodies the agitated oaks. Oceans were blent, and the leviathan Was borne aloft on the ascending se To where the eagle nested. — Barber. 65. Nat lupus: the wolf swims among the sheep. The general calamity has re- pressed the predaceous disposition of the wild beasts, and the timidity of the tame. Virgil, in speaking of the plague, refers to the same. Non lupus insidias explorat ovilia circum, Non gregibusnocturnas obambulat; acrior ilium Cura^domat : timidi damse cervique fugaces Nunc interque canes et circum tectavaguntur. Virgil. 66. Vires fulminis: the strength of his tusk. Fulmen is used in this sense, either because the tusks are cuspidated, or be- cause of their oblique stroke, or irresistible power. 67. Ablato: borne away by the waters. 67. Prosunt: avail; defend. The force of the water is too great for him. Nor can the bull his awful front defend, Or shake the murdering savages away. Thomson. 68. Ubi sidere detur: where it may be permitted her to rest ; to settle. The same form of expression is used in reference to the Trojan exiles wandering over all the seas. Incerti quo fata ferant, ubi sistere detur. Virgil. But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark. — Gexesis vii. 9. 69. Volucris vaga: the wandering bird. 76 P. OVIDII NASONIS Obruerat tumulos immensa licentia ponti, Pulsabantque novi montana cacumina fluctus, Maxima pars unda rapitur ; quibus unda pepercit, tllos longa domant inopi jejunia victu. Separat Aonios Actaeis Phocis ab arvis, Terra ferax, dum terra fuit ; sed tempore in illo Pars maris, et latus subitarum campus aquarum. Mons ibi verticibus petit arduus astra duobus, Nomine Parnassus, superatque cacumine nubes. Liber 1. yQ cris decidit in mare lassatis alis. Immen- sa licentia ponti ob- ruerat tumulos, novi- que fluctus 73. Illos, quibus un- da pepercit, longa je- junia inopi victu do- 75 mant. Phocis separat Aonios ab Actaeis ar- vis terra ferax, dum fuit terra; sed in illo tempore pars maris, et latus campus, su- bitarum aquarum. NOT.E. And he sent forth a raven, which went to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth: also he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground. — Genesis vii. 7, 8. The mycologists maintain, that a dove was sent by Deucalion out of the ark, which, when it returned to him, showed that the storm was not yet abated; but when he saw it no more, he concluded that the sky was become serene again. — Plutarch. They say Deucalion's dove, which he sent out of the ark, discovered, at its ref"rn, that the storms were abated, and the heuvens clear. — Abydenus Assyrius. On the third day after the waters abated, he sent out birds to try if the water was gone off any part of the earth ; but they, finding a vast sea. and having nowhere to rest, returned back to Sisithrus ; in the same manner did others : and again the third time, when their wings were daubed with mud. — Idem. 69. Lassatis alis: with weary wings. And fiercest birds, Beat downwards by the ever-rushing rain, With blinded eyes, drenched plumage, and trailing wings, Staggered unconscious o'er the trampled prey. Barber. 70. Licentia ponti: the licentiousness of the sea ; its extent and violence. 70. Obruerat tumulos: had overspread the hills. 71. Novi fluctus: the unwonted, unusual waves. 71. Montana cacumina: the mountain peaks. The waves first submerge the smaller eminences, and continue to rise up the mountain summits. So in the Bible : And all the high hills that were under the whole heaven were covered. Fifteen cubits up- ward did the waters prevail ; and the mountains were covered. — Genesis vii. 1.9, 20. 72. Maxima pars: the chief part of men and animals. 73. Inopi victu: with scanty food. Those few escaped Famine and anguish will at last consume, Wandering that watery desert. — Milton. And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man. — Genesis vii. 21. 74. Aonios: the Aonians. As Aonia, on he contrary, separates Phocis from Attica, we must suppose that Ovid made a mistake in his geography ; or, we may resolve the difficulty, by hypallage, for Separant Aonii Actaeis Phocida ab arvis. 74. Phocis. This is a country of Greece. Its eastern boundary is Bceotia; its west- ern boundary the summit of Parnassus ; its northern boundary Thessaly ; its southern, Sinus Corinthiacus, the Gulf of Lepanto. 77. Petit astra: seeks the stars; rises to the stars. Hoc solum fluctu mergente cacumen Eminuit, pontoque, fuit discrimen, et astris. Lucan. Lib. v. 78. Parnassus. A very high mountain in Phocis, now called Lakoura, and for- merly called Larnassus, from larnax, an ark, because Deucalion's boat rested there : Wapvaaaog- e