THE METAMORPHOSES OF PUBLIUS OVIDIUS NASO

TABULA VII.
ANDROMEDA A PERSEO LIBERATA: VIRG./E IN CORAL1A.
Perseus, passing through. Ethiopia, sees Andromeda bound to a rock, and ex
posed to a sea-monster, on account of her mother's pride. Captivated with
her beauty, and stipulating that she shall be the reward of the victory, ha
slays the monster. While he washes his hands, he lays the head of Medusa
on twigs, which become coral.
EXPLICATION
THERE was probably some historical basis for this Fable. The beauty
and richness of the kingdom of Cepheus the Ethiopian prince, may have
presented strong temptations for piratical emprize, and possibly the car
rying1 off some maidens of the country. Hence, it would be easy, in the
language of metaphor to say, that the pride of Cassiope, in preferring
herself to the Nereides, had caused a monster to be sent by Neptune to
ravage the coast. The piratical expedition itself, its leader, or the ship
which bore the buccaneers, may, then, be appropriately regarded as a
sea-monster. A piratical ship may be adumbrated in the very compari
son of the form and advance of the monster to the size and force of a ship:
Ecce velut nayis praefixo concita rostro
Sulcat aquas, juyenum sudamibus acta lacertis:
Sic fera dimotis impulsu pectoris undis.
Andromeda may be considered as a personification of the virgins of the
country, or may have been the daughter of the prince of the country, and
have been promised in marriage to appease the cupidity of the pirate
leader. Others have regarded the account of the exposure and of the
monster in a sense purely literal, and we are accordingly told by Pliny
and Mela, that the occurrence took place at Joppa, in Palestine. Pliny
(Lib. ix. Cap. v.) gravely tells us, that M. Scaurus, in his edileship,
brought the identical bones of this monster to Rome, which were more
than forty feet long, the ribs larger than an elephant's, and the backbone
a foot and a half thick.
In the sea-weeds turned into coral, allusion is made to the nature of that
zoophyte which becomes hardened by exposure to the air. Coral abounds
in the sea near the place where the Qorgons were said to reside. There
are several good morals contained in this Fable. In the exposure of An
dromeda, we see that the errors of princes fall upon their subjects. In
the ready compliance of Cepheus with the demands of the oracle, we see
that a cheerful obedience to the will of heaven, as in the case of Abra
ham, has its reward from heaven, and exemption from punishment. In
the rescue of Andromeda by Perseus, we learn that heaven will provide
a way of escape to the innocent.
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LAUSERAT Hippotades astemo carcere ventos:
Admonitorque operum ccelo clarissimus alto
Lucifer ortus erat. Pennis ligat ille resumplis
Parte ab utraque pcdcs; tcloque accingilur unco;
Et liquidum motis talaribus aera findit. 5
Gentibus innumeris circunique infraque relictis,
TEthiopum populos, Cephei'a conspicit arva.
NOTVE.
1. Clauseml. • lie hnd shut up the winds; it was calm and still.
1. Hippotades. JEolus, the god of the winds. He was the son of
Jupiter by Arcesta, and the grandson of Hippotas.
And sage Hippotades their answer brings,
That not a Mast wus from his dungeon strayed;
The air was calm, and on the level brine
Sleek Panope with all her sitters played. MILTON'S LYCIDA».
1. JEterno carcere; i n their eternal prison. It was firm and strong
and could not decay with time, nor be broken by force. The prison
of the winds is described by Virgil as formed of huge rocks:
tenet ille immania saxa, | Swift e'en as thought lie fle_w; the visage grim
Vestras. Euro, domes: ilia se jactet in aula Of monstrous fiorgon all his hack overspread,
JEolus, ctclauso ventorum carcere regnet. Ami wrought in silver, wondrous to behold,
. Lib. i. 139. A veil wns rlrawn urouud it. whence in gold
Hung glittering fringes ; and the dreadful heloi
3. Pennis ligat pedrs: he binds his feet Of Pluto clasped the temples or the prince,
with wings. So Hesiod:
Shedding a ni^hl of darkness.
There w as the horseman, fair-haired Dana^'s son
SHIELD OF HERCULBS.
Pejsens: nor j et the buckler w^th his feet
Touched, nor yet distant hovered: strange to 4. Telo unco: with Ins crooked weapon,
think!
v'z. the faulchion, called Harpe, which was
» * *
formed of diamonds, and given to him by
Bound to his feet were sandals winged ; a sword Mercury.
Of brass, with hilt of sable ebony, c
7. Cepli t'a: of Cepheus, the son of Pho-
:_ _ i r . 1 r « *
Hung round him from the shoulders by f thong: nix, and father of Andromeda.
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