THE METAMORPHOSES OF PUBLIUS OVIDIUS NASO

278 P. OVIDII NASON/S LIBER IV.
Volvitur Ixion; et se sequiturque, fugitquc,
Molirique suis letuin patruelibus ausae,
Assiduae repetunt, quas perdant, Belides, undas.
Gluos omnes acie postquam Saturnia torva
Vidit, et ante omnes Ixiona: rursus ab illo
Sisyphon aspiciens; cur hie e fratribus, inquit,
Perpetuas patitur poenas; Athamanta superbum
Regia dives habet; qui me cum conjuge semper
Sprevit ? et exponit caussas odiique viaeque;
Quidque velit. Quod vellet, erat, ne regia Cadmi
Staret; et in facinus traherent Athamanta sorores.
Imperium, promissa, preces, confundit in unum,
Sollicitatque deas. Sic hsec Junone locuta,
Tisiphone canos, ut erat turbata, capillos
Movit; et obstantes rejecit ab ore colubras.
Atque ita, Non longis opus est ambagibus, infit,
Facta puta, quaecunque jubes: inamabile regnum
Defere ; teque refer coeli melioris ad auras.
NOTJE.
50
55 55. Quod vellet, erat,
n* regia Cadmi Btaret
Mento summam aquam altingens sili enectus lalicem perlusuin confrerere in vas,
.Tantalus. CICEKO, Tusc.
Quod tamen expleri nulla rutione potest.
LUCRET. Lib. iii. 1031
45. SiaypJte. Sisyphus was a son of
El Daniu proles, Veneris qu£e numina kcsit,
./Eolus and Enaretta. He was a noted In cava Lelhxas doliu pnrtat aquas.
robber, and for his crimes waa condemned
TIBULL. Lib. i. Kleg. iii. 79
in the Infernnl Regions to roll a huge stone
50. Ante omnes. Juno is described as
to the top of a mountain, which no sooner looking with aversion on Ixion, because of
came near the summit, t lian it rolled back the insult which he had oflered to her.
with accelerated rapidity. Hence, his pun
51. Car hie. Juno maliciously inquires,
ishment waa eternal. His labors are well
described by Homer:
Why is Sisyphus punished in the Infernal
Regions, while hia brother Alhamas reigns
I turned my eye. and as I turned surveyed in a palace 1
A mournful vision, tlie Sis> phian shade!
AVith many a weary step, and many a groan, 57. Imperium, promisfa, preces. There
Up llie high hill lie heaves a huge round stone; is a gradation here that forcibly expresses
The hugr. round stone, resulting with a bound, the violence of ihc hatred of Juno, and of
Thunders impetuous down, uud smokes along the degradation which it involves. First,
the ground ODYSSEY xi.
with royal digniiy, she commands; she
Nixmilcm trudere monte then attempts to bribe a compliance; and,
Saxum, quod lumen a suinmo jam verlice
rursum
lastly, like a suppliant, has recourse to
Volvitur. LUCRET. Lib. iii. 1013.
humble entreaty.
62. Facta puta: consider done. It is the
46. Ixion. He was the son of Phlegyas, duly of a servant to obey a ruler promptly.
and a king of Thessaly. Abhorred by all A French courtier, in expressing his zeal
for the treacherous murder of hia father-in- in the service of his prince, once said, "It
law, Jupiter took him up to heaven, where the thing is possible, consider it already
he sought to dishonor Juno. For this, Ju
done; if impossible, still expect that it will
piter struck him to Tartarus with light be done."
ning, and had him bound to a wheel, which 64. Roratis oquts : with sprinkled wa
revolved continually.
ter. As the Iris is produced from vapors,
Illic Jmioncm tentare Ixionis nusi
or small drops of rain, the term roratis (like
Versuiilur celeri uoxia membra rola. dew) is used.
TIBULL. Lib. i. Eleg. iii. 73.
65. Lustravit. Iris purified Juno from
48. Belidrs. The fifty daughters of Da- the pollution which she had contracted by
iiaus, son of Bclus, who all, with (he ex visiting the Shades below. The Romans
ception of Hypermnestra, on their wedding were accustomed to purify themselves with
night killed their husbands, who were ihe waier after they returned from a house in
sons of their uncle jEgyptus. For this which a dead body lay, or from a funeral.
crime they were condemned iii the Infer 65. Thaumantias. There is evident re
nal Regions to fill with water a cask which ference here to ihe Rainbow of the Flood.
waa perforated in the bottom. Hence, That the ancients had preserved tho tradi.
their labor was endless.
tion of the Bow being made a sign of the
60
FABULA III. METAMORPHOSEON. 279
Lffita redit Juno: quam coelum intrare parantem
Roratis lustravit aquis Thaumantias Iris. 65
NOTJE.
covenant between God and man, is evi
dent from frequent passages in the poets.
Iris, or ihe Rainbow, is mythologically
said to be the daughter of Thaumas. Now
T/iaum-as is a compound word (iwrawn),
and signifies Ihe abyss and Jire. It is well
known, that the rainbow is formed by the
rays of the sun falling on minute drops of
rain: ihe Rainbow seen by Noah was pro
bably produced by the sun's rays falling
on the drops of rain which were exhaled
from ihe waters of the retiring abyss; and,
hence, the propriety of the allegory. An
allegory, by Piolemy Hephestion, in which
Arke (the ark) is spoken of as the daughter
of Thaumas, and sister of Iris, refers to the
same Noachic history:
fH li 'Apifi] Qavnavros Jjv SvyaTtjp, qj TJ dSeXiJtrj
*lpis.~Nov. HIST. Lib. iii.
65. Iris. The tradition of the Rainbow
appears to have been widely diffused
amone the nations. It is designated by
God niinself as a sign, or token, of his
Covenant, or Oath. Hesiod calls it the
Great Oaih of the gods; and various other
authors call it a sign, or token.
And God said, This is the token of the cove
nant which I make between me and you, and
every living creature that ii with you, for per
petual generations. I do set my bow in the
cloud and I will remember my covenant,
which is between me and you, and every liv
ing creature of all flesh : and the waters shall
no more become a flood to destroy all fle»h.
GENESIS ix. 12, 15.
Swift-footed Iris, nymph of Tlmnmas horn,
Tukcs -with no frequenl embassy her wuy
O'er the broad main's expanse, when haply
strife
Has risen, and controversy 'midst the gods,
If there be one 'midsl those who dwell in heaven
That utlers falsehood, Jove sends Iris down
To bring from far, in golden ewer, the wave
Of multitudinous name, the mighty oath,
That from a higli rock inaccessible
Glides cold. TUEOGONY.
"Ipiaaiv ioiKOTES, 3j re Kpovtbllf
'Ei> j-ti£i trrnpitf, TEPAS tupliruv dvSpwnut.
ILIAD xi. 27.
Like to the bow, which Jove amid the clouds
Set us a token to desponding man.
'Hvrj iropQvpiijv^Ipiv ^vrjToitft Tnvvoay
Zevs if ovpav6§cv, Ttpas iutlEval- ILIAD xvii. 547.
Just as when Jove amid the heavens displays
His bow mysterious, for a lasting sign.
Tcffjiup Si fiporots KOI