THE METAMORPHOSES OF PUBLIUS OVIDIUS NASO

208
P. OVID1I NASONIS
Existunt, crescitque seges clypeata virorum. 10
Sic, ubi tolluntur festis aulsea theatris,
Surgere, signa solent; primumque ostendere vultum
Csetera paulatim: placidoque educta tenore
Tola patent; imoque pedes in margine ponunt.
Territus hoste novo Cadmus capere arma parabat:
Ne cape, de populo, quern terra creaverat, unus
Exclamat; nee te civilibus insere bellis.
Atque ita tcrrigenis rigido dc fratribus unum
Cominus ense ferit: jaculo cadit eminus ipse.
Hie quoque, qui leto dederat, non longius illo
Vivit, et exspirat, mod6 quas acceperat, auras:
E\emploque pari furit omnis turba; suoque
Marte cadunt subiti per mutua vulncra fratres.
Jamque brcvis spatium vitae sortita juventus
Sanguineam trepido plangebant pectore matrem;
Gluinque superstitibus: quorum fuit unus Echion:
Is sua jecit humi, monitu Tritonidis, arma;
Frateriiffique fidem pacis petiitque deditque.
Hos operis comites habuit Sidorius hospes,
Cum posuit jussam Phccbeis sortibus urbem. , 30
NOTJE.
10. Sfges clypeata: a shielded crop of
men; a crop ot shielded men.
Enrth. which from the seed produced a crop
Waving with golden helms. EUBIPIDES.
11. Tollunturaultea: the curtain is raised.
On the Roman stage it was customary to
let the curtain fall upon the floor (premere
aulcfa) at the beginning of a play, and to
raise it up (tollere aulcEu) at the close of the
different acts. In lifting up the curtain
from the floor, the figures pointed on it
would appear as they are here described.
11. Festis theatris: in the festal'theatres;
the theatres on festal days.
12. Signa: the figures. The represen
tations of men woven in the curtain.
Vet scena ut versis fromibus, utque
Furpurea imexti tollant auleea Britanni.
VIRGIL, Georgic iii.
13. Florida tenore: by a gentle tenor.
15. Hoste now. With the men just
produced from the soil.
17, Nee te insere: nor meddle yourself.
17. Cimlibus bellis. Of all calamities,
civil wars are the most distressing, in
which the bonds of a common nationality,
and even of friendship and brotherhood,
are rent asunder.
18. Terrigenia fratribus: earthborn
brothers. The people just sprung from
the earth.
21. Auras: the breath of life.
22. Suoque marte: by their own slaugh
ter. Mars is here put for bellum by meto
nymy.
Hi
II. Sic ubi auloea
tollunlur festis thea-
tris, signa solent sur-
gere; primumque on-
lendere vultum, pau-
Inlim cetera: totaque
eduna placido tenore
patent.
24. Jamque juventus
sorlita spulium brevii
1 vilpe. plaagebant san-
guineam malrcm tre
pido peclore.
But Slaughter's iron arm again
Consigns them to their native plain ;
And their loved earth, that to the day
Show'd them in heaven's ethereal ray,
With streaming crimson dies
25. Planifebant matrem : beat their
mother. They lay palpitating on the
earth.
26. Quinq-ue superstitibus. In the Phoe
nician language, the same word that means
five also means a rmy. In this latter sense
we must regard it.
26. Echion. A pollodorus gives the names
of the five persons. They must either be
regarded as leaders of the Bceotian army,
or as divisions of it. Their names were
Echion, viper : Udaeus, watery ; Hypore-
nor, mighty; and Pelorus, vast. Taking
the latter view, we might consider Ecliiou
as representing that part of the army which
had belonged to the chieftain; Udaeus as
that part bordering upon the sea, or Copaic
lake: Hyperenor as a division noted for ils
bravery ; and Pelorus one distinguished for
stature, or for numbers.
28. Fraternal pads: of fraternal peace.
Oh sheathe your swords, my friends, contend
no more,
Nor slain your impious arms with kindred gore.
STATIUS.
29. Sidonius hospesi the Sidonian stran
ger, viz. Cadmus.
30. Pltaibeis sortibus. By the oracle ot
Apollo, which was given by lots
FiBULA II. METAMORPHOSEON.
QU.ESTIONES.
Why was Minerva said to advise Cad
mus to sow the serpent's teeth ?
What do we understand by the serpent?
How are we to consider his teeth ?
What ig the meaning of raising a crop of
armed men from the earth ?
How might the burial of the Bojotian
soldiers by Cadmus be considered ?
How might he be said to raise armed
men from them ?
What might give rise to the account of
their gradual emergence from the earth ?
How are we to interpret the battle of the
earthborn brothers ?
209
Rn^nW TSt wu interPret the stone thrown
among them by Cadmus, as related by
some mythologists ? '
interPretation is the Fa-
How many men, of the soldiers sprung
from the serpent's teeth, are said to sur
vive the battle ?
Are we to consider this literally?
How are we to interpret it ?
What assistance did they render Cad-
mue?
I