THE METAMORPHOSES OF PUBLIUS OVIDIUS NASO

200 P. OVIDII NASONIS
^onsulil; et, qua sit lellus habilanda, requirit.
Bos libi, Phoebus ait, soils occurrcl in arvis,
Nullum passa jugum, curvique imraunis aralri.
Hac ducc carpe vias ; el, qua requieveril herba,
Mccnia fac condas; Bceoliaque ilia vocato.
Vix bene Caslalio Cadmus descenderat antro:
(ncustodilam lenle videt ire juvencam,
Nullum servitii signum cervice gerenlcm.
Subsequilur, pressoquc legil vestigia gressu ;
Aucloremque vias Phecbum taciturnus adorat.
Jam vada Cephisi, Panopesque evaserat arva:
Bos stetit; et, tollens spatiosam cornibus altis
Ad cesium frontem, mugitibus impulit auras.
Atquc ita, respiciens comites sua terga sequentes,
Prcicubuit; teneraque latus submisit in herba.
Cadmus agit grates ; peregrinccque oscula terra?
Figit; et ignotos monies agrosque salutal.
Sacra Jovi faclurus erat: jubet ire ministros,
Et petere e vivis libandas fontibus undas.
Sylva vetus stabat, nulla violata securi.
Est specus in niedio, virgis ac vimiin1 densus,
Efficiens huinilem lapiduni compagibus arcum,
Uberibus fcccundus aquis: hoc conditus antro
which was at Delphi. It is always proper
in any great undertaking to ask counsel of
Heaven.
10. Bos occurret : a heifer shall meet
thce.
When Cadmus from the Tyrinn strand
Arriving, trod this destined lai:il.
llravr.i-tought. the heifer led his way.
Till down to willing rest she lay
Marking his future seat. l^rmTIDES
11. Immunis aratri .* free from the
plough ; that hud never drawn the plough.
13. BtKotia. BcBottan. These walls were
to be eo called from 0uos, of Ike heifer.
Thebes, the city which Cadmus built,
had its name from T/itbe, which, in the
Syriac tongue, signifies a heifer.
14. Castalio antro: t he Cestalian rave.
It is here used hy metonomy for the Del
phic cave; for Castalius was a mountain,
and a fount between Delphi and Par
nassus.
17. Presso gressu: with slackened
speed.
19. Cephisi, Cephisus, n river that rises
at Li lie a, in Phoris, and, after passing at
the north of Delphi, enters Bceo'ia, where
it flows into the lake Copais.
I'J. Fanopfs. A city of Phocis.
22. Comitcf. Cadmue and his friends,
who were following her.
24. Apil grates. He gives thanks to
Apollo, who had been the author of his
oumey.
NOT^B.
LIBER 111
1Q tO. Phirlms nit. Bos
pa?5n nullum jiipim,
iiniiiunUgiie curvi
aratri. oct-urret tibi
6olU arvis.
14. Cadmus vil be-
- „ ne dcscL-mlrral Casl«*
lalio untro, Cllm viilet
juvencum incuslodilam,
gercntcin nultum
Ei^uum servitii cervice,
lie lenlg.
20
24. Cadmus agit
grates, hgitque oscula
peregriu.e terrru: et
Balutai monies agros-
que ignotos.
29. Specus est in
niedio, deneuB virgis
ac yimine, efficieni
humilcm arcum com-
25. Agros snlulat. It was customary for
strangers on first coming to any new place,
to adore the genius t hat presided over it.
Thus Vinjil:
Multn movens oniino Nymphas venerabar
n^restcs,
Gradi/iimquc pairem, Geiicid qui prtfisidet
nrviB ^ENEID iii.
Satan, in like manner, when he enters
Pandemonium, edluios his iuture gloomy
abode:
Hail, horrors', hail.
Internal world! and llion, proibundest llrll,
Rccrivc thy new possessor!—one who brings
A mind not to he clinngcd by place or lime.
MILTON.
27. .E vivis foul ibus. Water was neces
sary as a sign of purification in all sacri
fices, and was taken hi all cases from run
ning streams.
27. Libandas: to he offered in libation.
28. bylva vetus: an ancient forest.
Gave the tall, ancient forest to the nxe.
THOMSON.
28. T^ulla violuta: violated by no axe.
A venerable wood
Thut long exempted from the avr hud stood.
STATIUR'S 'i'iiEiy*,;D.
31. Hoc conditus: hid in thi« cavern.
A speckled eerpem. terrible, and ynsl,
Gorgt-d with blood-banquet*, trailing her huga
i I ds
Deep in the hollows of the blessed en*ih.
There in the uiterrnoai depth her cavern is
Heiieath ft vaulted rock.—MESIOD.
FiBCLA I.
METAMORPHOSE ON.
Martius anguis erat, cristis prcftsignis et auro ;
Igne micant oculi; corpus tumet omne veneno:
Tresque vibrant lingua?; triplici slant ordine denies.
Quern poslquam Tyria lucum de genie profecti
Infausto tetigere gradu ; demissaque in undas
Urna dedit sonitum ; longo caput extulit antro
Cceruleus serpens; horrendaque sibila misit
Effluxere urna? manibus : sanguisque reliquit
Corpus, et attonitos subilus tremor occupat artus.
Ille volubilibus squamosos nexibus orbes
Torquet, et immensos saltu sinuatur in arcus :
Ac, media plus parte leves erectus in auras,
Despicit omne nemus; tantoque est corpore, quanta
Si totum species, geminas qui separat Arctos.
Nee mora : Phoenicas, (sive illi tela parabant,
Sive fugam ; sive ipse timer prohibebat utrumque)
Occupat; hos morsu, longis complexibus illos,
Hos necat afflatos funesti tabe veneni.
Fecerat exiguas jam Sol altissimus. umbras:
Q,UB3 rnora sit sociis miratur Agenore natus,
Vestigalque viros. Tegimen direpla leoni
NOT-ffi.
32. Martius anguis: a serpent sacred to
Mars.
32. Cristis prassignis: remarkable for
hie crest.
Three rows of teeih his moutb expanded shows,
And from his crest terrific glories rose.
STATIUS'S THEBAID.
33. Tumet veneno: is swollen with pot-
son. So Spenser, in describing the dragon:
Approaching nigh. >ie renred high afore
His body monstrous, horrible, nuil vuste;
Which, to increase his wondrous grentnes
more.
"Was swolen with wrnth and poyson, and with
bloody gore FAERIE QUEE\E.
A drngnn thrre in scales of gold
Around hi« fiery t-yebnlls rolled,
E^y JNlnrs assigned that humiil shade,
To gu.irtl ilie green exii-nderl glade,
And silvcr-ftlrL-nrnmjr tide Ki EIPIDES.
34. Tres linguer. The serpent hod not
three tongues; but the vibrations of its
tongue were eo quick, that it appeared to
be three tongues.
And while, with threatening longuc,
And tlcnthfnl jnws erect, the monster curls
His flaming crest, nil other thirst uppalled,
Or shivering flies, or check'tl, at distance stonds.
THOMSON.
34. Triplici in ordine: i n a triple row.
And. thni more wondrous was, in either jaw
Three mnckes of yron leelli. enniunged were.
In which yt-ri trickling blood, and gobbets raw,
Of laic devoured bodies did appcare.
SpE\fiEa>& FAERIE QUEEXE.
33. Tyria. The companions of Cad
mus from Tyre, a city of Phcenicia.
39. Effluxere unite. The urns which
26
201
ringibus lapidum, et
fecundua uberibui
aquia.
35 35. Quern lucum
postquam iUi profecti
de genie Tyria teti-
g&re infausto gradu j
urnaque demissa m
undas dedit sonitum.
40 40. Urnse efflux«re
manibus, sanguisque
reliquit corpus, et eu-
bttus tremor occupat
attonitoB artus.
45
50
46. Noc est mora *
occupat PlicEnieas;
(sive illi pnrabant te
la, &ive fugam. sive
ipse timer protiibebat
utrumque) necatgue
bos morsu, itlos longis
complexibus; bos af
flatos tabe funesti ve
neni.
they had taken to bring water in, fell from
their hande with fear.
39. Sanguii reliquil. In cases of great
fright, it ie usual for the blood to forsake
the extremitiee of the body and rush to
the heart.
40. Attonitos artus: their affrighted
limbs.
41. Squamosos orbes: scaly orbs. Ser
pents wreathe their tail into spires. Thus
in Virgil:
Immensis orbibus angues
Incunibunt pelago, parilerque ad lilora tendunt.
A;NEID ii. 204.
Ijo! the green serpent, from his dark abode,
\Vliicli even Imngirmlion fears to ircml,
At iiuou forth issuiiif?, gathers Up his train
In orbs immense.—THOMSON".
42. Sinuatur: is bent.
44. Despicil nemus: overlooks the grove.
45. Qui srparat. He is as large as the
serpent whien lies between the ronstclla*
tions of the Greater Bear and Lesser Bear.
Vast OB tlie starry Serpent, tbat on high
Tracks the elear etlier. and diviiles the sky;
And soiithwurd winding from the Northern
Wnin.
Shoots to remoter spheres its glittering trnin.
STATIUS.
Here the VOPI Dragon twines
Between the Hears, and like :i ri\ cr winds.
VIRGIL. Georgic i.
46. Proliibtbnt utrumi/ue: prevented
both; viz. flight, and the use of weapons.
50. Exipuas utnbras. As the sun ia
nearly vertical at noon, the shades are, in
consequence very small.
52. Tesfimen. The different heroes of
c Ik
M
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