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