THE METAMORPHOSES OF PUBLIUS OVIDIUS NASO
THE METAMORPHOSES OF PUBLIUS OVIDIUS NASO
THE METAMORPHOSES OF PUBLIUS OVIDIUS NASO
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M<br />
256<br />
OVIDII <strong>NASO</strong>NIS METAMORPHOSEON. LIBKK III.<br />
Talibus exemplis monite nova sacra frequentant,<br />
Thuraque dant, sanctasque colunt Ismenides aras.<br />
ark) was born at Thebes. The following<br />
Orphic fragment of a Hymn to Bacchus,<br />
according to the above interpretations, re<br />
fers to Noah, as born of the ark:<br />
Trrtpoytvtis Afdvutrof finjipoavvtjv n6pc Svriroiy.<br />
The ox-born Bacchus comfort brought to men.<br />
In Syriac, as we have remarked before,<br />
K'PIN signifies both a bull, and an ark or<br />
ship.<br />
But agnin, since the heathens had an in<br />
distinct tradition ol the Cherubim which<br />
was set up at the garden of Eden, and in<br />
troduced it in many of their emblems, as I<br />
have shown in the note upon Veliibra decs,<br />
p. 83, the above line from Orpheus may<br />
adumbrate Adam, as well as Noah, by<br />
considering Bacchus as born of the mys<br />
terious Cherubim, of which the form of the<br />
ox made a conspicuous part. In one place<br />
in the Scriptures, cherubim ts used for ox.<br />
See Explicatio of Fab. XIII. Lib. I.<br />
Under circumstances plainly referring<br />
to the Flood, Bacchus is also described as<br />
born of an egg, which is an apt figure of<br />
the Ark, fraught as it was with animal<br />
life :<br />
Tlpuriiyovov fraXeu liQvij, fii-yav ai3ep6ir\ayKTov,<br />
Sltiyevij, xPvat Qlolv dynMGnEVov irrtf/VYCaaiv,<br />
Taitfc/3rfu*', ycvtaiv /Jatfdpcw Svrjruv r' avSpaiirur.<br />
OKi'llEUB, Hymn v.<br />
I invoke Protogoiius, two-fold, Uie great wan-<br />
derer-under-heaven, born-of-an-egg, gloriously-<br />
represented with golden wings, bull-roarer,<br />
source of the gods and mortal men.<br />
The adornment of golden wings refers<br />
to the Dove, encircled, probably, by the<br />
rays of the rainbow. How he is born of<br />
an egg, and is the source of gods and men,<br />
will appear from what follows. We have<br />
before said, that Noah, Bacchus, and Osi<br />
ris are the same:<br />
*Oy Noie, Kai biGwaos, ital'Qoipis KaXrfrac.<br />
TZKTZES.<br />
Now, the Baris or ark of the Egyptians,<br />
NOT-iE.<br />
What does Pemheus resolve to do ?<br />
Whvther does he go ?<br />
Where was Citheeron ?<br />
What was the character of its scenery ?<br />
Does Penthcus attempt to discover what<br />
was done in the mysteries ?<br />
Who first sees him ?<br />
What does she do to him ?<br />
What animal did Agave take him to be ?<br />
membra viri sunt di-<br />
repta manibus nefan-<br />
dis.<br />
was represented by an egg, and the egg-<br />
like buildings in the Grecian Hippodrome<br />
arc called by the name of Baris, in Vitru<br />
vius. The sacred Baris is often seen con<br />
taining the eight gods of the Egyptians,<br />
who, no doubt, were the eight persons<br />
comprising Noah and his family, and who<br />
were probably regarded by their posterity<br />
as divine personages. The nocturnal con<br />
secration ol the egg was, therefore, of<br />
great account in the mysteries of Bacchus,<br />
remarking upon which, Porphyry says, it<br />
represented the world.<br />
'Ep/jqpcuciv fe TO cLuf rdf tc6cuov.<br />
APlin EUSEB. PREP. Ev.<br />
That world was Noah and his family,<br />
comprising all of human and of besiial<br />
life. In like manner, too, Arnobius de<br />
scribes the Syrian gods as sprung from<br />
eggs:<br />
Titanes, el Bocores Mauri, et ovorum proge<br />
nies, Dii Syri. LIB. i.<br />
Atargatis (Dercetis), which signifies a<br />
sea-monster, and was an emblem of the<br />
Ark, represented half man and half fish,<br />
is described by Simplieius, in his comment<br />
upon Aristotle, as a receptacle of the gods:<br />
fijtf ^vpiav 'ATapyaTlv rS-nov SEUV Ka\iovat.<br />
SIMPLICIUS IN ARISTOT.<br />
Macrobius also makes Atargatis the mo<br />
ther of the gods, giving her the same<br />
character as is given to Khca or Cybclc;<br />
and the Genius of the Ark, under the<br />
character of Rhea and Cybcle, is styled<br />
by Lucretius:<br />
Magnn deum rnater, materque ferarum.<br />
I.IB. ii. 583.<br />
The pomegranate itself. Two (Rhea),<br />
from which the goddess Rhca is named, is<br />
a fit representation of the Ark, for its<br />
shape is egg-like, and it contains abundant<br />
seeds disposed within it.<br />
33. Ismcnides. The Theban women, so<br />
called from Israenus, a river of Bceotia.<br />
QU^ESTIONES.<br />
Whom did she call to her aid ?<br />
What moving appeal did Pentheus make<br />
to his aunt, Autonoii ?<br />
What did Autonoe do to him ?<br />
What was the fate of Arisen ?<br />
Who tore off the head of Pentheus ?<br />
What did she do with it ?<br />
What effect had this destruction of Pen-<br />
theus upon the Thebans ?<br />
P. OVIDII <strong>NASO</strong>NIS<br />
METAMO1IPHOSEON.<br />
LIBER IV.<br />
ARGUMENTUM.<br />
.NOTWITHSTANDING the example afforded by the fate of Pentheus,<br />
Alcithoe and her sisters will not admit the divinity of Bacchus. When<br />
all the other Theban women lay aside their engagements, to join in the<br />
festival of the god, they continue their spinning and weaving, while they<br />
lighten their labors by the recital of various stories. The principal 6f<br />
these was the story of Pyramus and Thisbe, upon whose tragical death,<br />
the fruit of the mulberry tree, under which they lay, was changed from<br />
white to black. At the conclusion of their stories, strange noises are<br />
heard, apparitions and lights are seen in the house, and the sisters are<br />
changed into bats. Still cherishing implacable hatred against the house<br />
of Cadmus, Juno visits the Infernal regions, and employs Tisiphone, one<br />
of the Furies, to affect with madness, Ino, the daughter of Cadmus, and<br />
Athamas, her husband. Under this influence, Athamas slays Learchus,<br />
while Ino, with Melicerta in her arms, leaps into the sea, of which they<br />
become deities. The attendants who had followed Ino are changed into<br />
rocks and birds. Overcome with the accumulated miseries of their<br />
descendants, Cadmus and Hermione abandon Thebes, arid going into<br />
Illyria, are changed into serpents. Their principal solace is the thought<br />
that the powerful deity, Bacchus, is descended from them. Acrisius of<br />
Argos is now the only one that denies the divine character of the god.<br />
He refuses to believe that Bacchus is the son of Jupiter, and in like man<br />
ner does not cre'dit that his own grandson, Perseus, is born of Jupiter, by<br />
Danae. The valorous deeds of the latter are a proof of his descent.<br />
After the slaughter of the Gorgon, he now stopped to claim the hospi<br />
tality of Atlas, and on being repulsed by him, changes him into a moun<br />
tain. Afterwards, in his passage through the air, Perseus beholds An<br />
dromeda chained to a rock, and slays the monster who is advancing from<br />
the sea to devour her. Perseus marries Andromeda, and at the bridal<br />
feast relates the manner in which he had slain the Gorgon, and cut off"<br />
her head. Many serpents spring up from the drops of blood that fell;<br />
the winged horse, Pegasus, also, and his brother Chrysaor.<br />
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