THE METAMORPHOSES OF PUBLIUS OVIDIUS NASO

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P. OVIDII NASONIS
LIBER III.
Ille caput viridi fessum submissit in herba:
Lumina nox claudit domini mirantia formam.
Turn quoque se, postquam est inferna sede receptus, 103. Turn quoque,
postquam recepius
In Stygia spectabat aqua. Planxere sorores
est, infernft sede,
spectabat se in Stygia
Nai'des; et sectos fratri posuere capillos. 105 aqua.
Planxire et Dryades, plangentibus assonat Echo.
Jamque rogum, quassasque faces, feretrumque parabant:
Nusquam corpus erat: croceum pro corpore florem
Inveniunt, foliis medium cingentibus albis.
102. Nox claudit: darkness closes his
eyes. Figuratively, nox is often used for
death, as lux is for life.
Nobis, cum semel occidit brevis lux
Nox est perpetua una dormiendo.
CATULLUS, v. 5.
Swift roll the years, and rise, the expected morn,
O spring to light, auspicious babe be born! TOPK.
Sed omnes una manet nox.
HORACE, Lib. i. Od. xxviii.
She closed her eyes in everlasting night.
DHYDEX.
104. In Stygia. We hear of the ruling
passion being strong in death, but in this
instance it is continued after death. This
was in accordance with the philosophy of
the ancients. Hence Virgil:
Curffi non ipsa in morte relinquunt. ^NEID, vi.
105. If aides. The daughters of the river
Cephisus, and sisters of Narcissus.
105. Posuere capillos. The cutting of
the hair was a sign of groat grief among
the ancients. Tims Homer describes the
custom at the funeral of Patroclus:
There lay the hero's corse with curls o'erspread
Ltue shorn from every mourning prince's head.
ILIAD, xxiii.
Their curls are shorn: one breaks his bow ;
another
His arrows and the quiver.
BKW'S LAMENT FOB ADONIS.
Who was Narcissus ?
How did he treat the nymphs ?
Who was Nemesis ?
What prayer did she grant ?
What infatuation possessed Narcissus in
consequence ?
Had he power to control this strange
passion ?
NOTjE.
QU^STIONES.
106. Dryades. The Dryads were nymphs
that presided over woods. Their name is
derived from Ifa, an oak.
107. Quassas faces : split torches.
Torches were carried before the_ dead at
funerals, and were used lo set fire to the
funeral pyre. They were pointed, and
sometimes shattered at the point, to make
them ignite more readily.
108 Croceum florem: a saffron flower.
This flower grows, for the most part, near
the water, which has contributed much to
the fiction. Hence an ancient poet says :
Hie est ille suis nimium qui credidit undis
Narcissus, vero dignus atnore puer.
Cernis ab irriguo repetenlem gramme ripam
Utper quas periet crescere possit aquas.
And again, Thomson :
Narcissus fair.
As o'er the fabled fountain hanging still.
SEASONS.
109. Cingentibus albis : with white
leaves enfolding the centre. The blood of
Adonis was changed into the anemone, in
a similar manner.
By this the hoy that by her side lay killed
Was melted like a vapor from her sight ;
And in his lilood, that on the ground lay spilled,
A purple flower sprung up, chequered wilh
white. SHAKSFEABE.
What became of him finally ?
What metamorphosis did his body un-
derpro ?
What does Pnusanias say in relation to
the story of Narcissus ?
How does Pausonios explain the story ?
Is this explanation a veritable account,
or merely an allegory ?
.FABULA VI.
ThHeoTmight Narcissus be fabled to be
METAMORPHOSE ON.
he be said to fall in love
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Why is he said to oie m j""'
Who mourned his death ? ..
What modern writer has imitated the
description of Narcissus at the fountain'
What useful moral does the story 01
Narcissus teach ?
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