THE METAMORPHOSES OF PUBLIUS OVIDIUS NASO

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224 P. OVIDII NASONIS LIBER Til.
Non tulit sethereos; donisque jugalibus arsit.
Imperiectus adhuc infans genitricis ab alvo
Eripitur, patrioque tener (si credere dignum est,)
Insuitur femori; maternaque tempera complet.
56. Arsit: she was consumed. Moore
gives a graphic account of a maid blasted,
in like manner, by the glory of her angelic
lover:
Scarce had I touched her shrinking frame,
When oh, most horrible ! I felt
That every spark of that pure flame
Pure, while among the stars I dwelt
Was now by my transgression turned
Into gross, earthly fire, which burned,
Burned all it touched, as fast us eye
Could follow the fierce ravening flashes,
Till there O God! I still ask why
Purh doom was hers? I saw her lie
Ulackening within my arms to ashes!
LOVES OF THE ANGELS.
57. Imperfectus adhuc: as yet imperfect.
Cadmean goddess, universal queen. ^
Thee, Semele, I call, of beauteous mien;
Deep-bosomed lovely flowing locks are thine,
Mother of Bacchus, joyful and divine.
The mighty offspring, whom Jove's thunder
bright
Forced immature, and frightened into fight.
HYMN OF ORPHEUS TO SEMELE.
57. Genilricis ab alvo : from the womb
of his mother. Orpheus makes Proser
pine, or the Earth, the mother of Bacchus:
Mother of Bacchus, sonorous, divine.
And many-formed the parent of the vine.
» » » * »
O vernal queen, whom grassy plains delight,
Sweet to the smell, and pleasing to the sight:
Whose holy form in budding fruits we view,
Earth's vigorous offspring of a various hue:
Espoused in aulumn, life and death alone
To wretched mortals from thy power is known.
HYMK TO PROSERPIXE.
The above -extract from Orpheus, who
introduced into Greece most of its religious
rites, and, consequently, is the best fitted
to expound them, shows that Semclc, Pro
serpine, and the Earth were identical. The
birth of Bacchus, then, is a myth of a phy
sical character. Jupiter, as the ethereal
heat, or electric power, is the impregnating
force of nature, and is, therefore, the fa
ther of Bacchus, or the grape, by Semele,
NOTJE.
58. Eripitur: is snatched; is rescued.
Him, as the pangs of child-birth came,
While all aroundher flashed the lightning's Hame.
Untimely did his mother hear,
Then in the thunder's volleyed Maze expire.
Hut favoring Jove, with all u father's care.
Snatched his loved infant from the blasting fire,
And, hid from Juno's jealous eye,
Closed the young Bacchus in his thigh.
BACCHUS OF EURIPIDES.
59. Femori. Pliny speaks of a mountain
in India named Nysa, the same that Strabo
and JElian call Meros, which signifies a
tliigh. The mountain was sacred to Jupi
ter ; and as Bacchus was brought up there,
fabulous antiquity has asserted that Bac
chus was produced from the thigh of Ju
piter. At Nysa in Bceotia, Deucalion's ark
rested. Sec note on Parnassus, p. 76.
Hear me, illustrious father, daemon famed,
Great Saturn's offspring, and Sabazius named;
Inserting Hacchus, bearer of the vine,
And sounding god. within thy thigh divine,
That when mature, he Dionysian god
Might burst the bands of his concealed abode.
1 IVMN OF ORPHEUS TO JUPITER SABAZIUS
Euripides gives a physical interpretation
of this part of the Fable, which is the true
explanation of the myth.
Ovros Scoict cnivfarat Sc
*X1. re Sia rviirov rdyaV a
Kai KtiTay£\as viv,
'
cof lyep^a^ij Aid;
, - .
ffti viv Jlprrac' IK nvpdf Ktpavviov
Zfvs £if r' olupnov flpiQot avrivayiv viov,
"Ilita mi/ ?StX' inffaMitv nw mipavov
Bpetroi rpatbijvai <
"HpO TToS* b)/jQp£t)0
fJCVOV
vtv
Aids,
cs \6yov.
1ft to the £ods, though born himself a god,
Is offered in libation, that through him
Men may enjoy the blessings of this life :
And Ihou deridest " Tide him as sewed within
The thigh of Jove; I'll teach thee what this
means.
When Jove had snatched him from the light
the earth. The mother nourishes her off- ning's flame,
He hore the newhorn infant up to heaven;
spring until .__.... blasted by . the fires of Jupiter, Hut Juno wished again to ca_st him down.
who then assumes assumes tin the part of a mother, Then Jove, a god, against this thus contrived:
and completes the maternal period; that Part of the ether which enrings the earth
is, the sap and juices go up from the earth, He burst, and lodged him as a hostage there,
nourishing the young Bacchus, or grape,
Delivering Bacchus up from Juno's rape.
In time, men fubled that within Jove's thigh
until the dry ethereal heats of autumn come The god was nourished; changing thus the
on, when the sap begins to return to the name.
earth, the leaves fall, the vine dies, as it They formed this myth, because the god was
were ; while the same heats that withered made
and destroyed the mother, nourish and A ho»tnge to the goddess Juno.
bring .... the .... child ....._ fo _ r-......... perfection in ... other -- In this translation, which I have made
words, ripen the grape, and produce the as literal as possible, it will be seen that
wine. I Bacchus is the grape, or wine, since
FABULA IV. METAMORPHOSE ON.
Furtim ilium primis Ino matertera cunis
Educat. Inde datum Nymphae Nysei'des antris
Occuluere suis; lactisque alimenta dedere.
NOTA..
" lie to the gods, though born himself a god,
Is offered in libation."
Euripides, who was fond of indulging in
conceits that depended on the use of terms
of similar sound, though of different im
port, has played upon the words finpoi, a
thigh, and flips, a part; and as we know
that Jupiter, and the ether, are one and the
same, he tells us, that by the thigh of Jupi
ter is to be understood n part nf the ether,
expressly stating that the myth depends
upon the change of name, or term, " uno/ia
laranTfiaovris; thus ucpos 0"jp«s) aiBepoi;, part
of the ether ; thigh of Jupiter. And, again,
as heaven is often used for the sky, or
open air, Jupiter may be said to take
Bacchus up to heaven, after the light
ning's flame has destroyed the mother;
that is, after the falling of all the leaves
of the vine, consequent upon the au
tumnal heat, has left the grape hanging
in the open air. It is a well-known fact,
that the higher grapes are in the air, the
better they are; and for this purpose the
ancients reared them as high as possible.
The grape being thus suspended between
the upper air, or Jupiter, and the air near
the earth, or Juno, may be said to be a
hostage between them. It would thus be
a division between the upper and lower
air; and, hence, optpov, a hostage, and
u/i%>£W7£, employed by Euripides, as given
Why did Juno rejoice in the destruction
of Actaeon ?
What fresh cause of dislike had she
against the house of Agenor?
Who was Semele ?
» What does Juno resolve to do f
Why is Juno said to be both the wife
and sister of Jupiter ?
What form does the goddess assume ?
What does the fictitious Beroe advise t
Does Semele make the request of her
lover ?
What were the insignia of Jupiter I
Does ho grant her request ?
Why is the Styx designated the god of
What effort does Jupiter make to lessen
his terrible majesty ?
Who was TyphcEus ?
How are we to consider this fabulous
demon ?
With what kind of thunderbolts does
Jupiter come ?
What is the effect of his awful majesty
on Semele?
What modern poet presents us with a
similar catastrophe ? 29
QTJjESTIONES.
60
225
above, may not only contain a double
meaning with reference to iuip6s , a f/nWi,
but mny further have a shadowy significa
tion that turns upon /itipoi, ta divide.
60. Ino. Though we interpret this fable
physically, it has manv mythological refer
ences to Noah. Bacchus is the son of Se
mele, or the rainbow; Ino, a goddess of the
sea, rears him in his cradle (amis) which
is the same as boat ; lie is hid in the nir or
darkness of the flood; he dwells at Nysa.
Gl. Nyscides nymplitB. The nymphs of
Nysa. It is a beautiful allegory, that after
Bacchus, or wine, has become perfected,
he is given over to the nymphs, daughters
of Ocean, who give him a portion of their
own native element, and moreover the
nutriment of milk. The custom of dilut
ing wine with water, and of making milk
punch, is no doubt as old as the deity of
the wine-cup himself.
Nymphs, who from Ocean famed derive your
birth,
Who dwell in liquid caverns of the earth;
Nurses of Bacchus, secret-causing powers,
Fructiferous goddesses, who nourish flowers.
*.****
0 Nysian nymphs, insane, whom oaks delight,
Lovers of spring, Pa-onian virgins bright:
With Bacchus and with Ceres, hear my prayer!
HYMN OF ORPIIEUS.
For a burlesque of this fable, see Lucian.
Was the infant of Semele destroyed by
the lightning ?
What disposition did Jupiter make of it I
What geographical and historical facts
will explain this fiction ?
How many Bacchuses were there .
Were the accounts of them somewhat
similar ?
What opinion would this favor ?
Who may be regarded as the original
Bacchus ?
Were Osiris and Bacchus the same ?
In the processions of Osiris was there an
evident reference to Noah ?
How did the Egyptians change the his
tory of Bacchus to the allegorical Osiris ?
How would they consider the paternity
of the vine, after this ?
Explain the fable of Bacchus, as related
by Ovid ?
Were Proserpine, Semele, and the
Earth the same ?
How do you explain Semele's death ?
How do you explain the placing of Bac
chus in the tliigh of Jove ?
What references to Noah are to be found
in this fable ?
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