THE METAMORPHOSES OF PUBLIUS OVIDIUS NASO

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P. OVIDII NASONIS
Bic, modo qua fuerat rudis et sine imagine, tellus
[nduit ignolas hominum conversa figuras.
Then ordered Mulciber, without delay,
To mix the earth and water, and infuse
A human voice. HESIOD.
NOT^E.
Callimachus speaks of men as sons of
clay: so, Martial, Juvenal, and others.
AvroxSova KOI iiri)£iov.—SAXCHONIATIIO.
Dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return.
. GKNXSIS.
Farth must return to earth; for fole ordains
That hfe, like corn, must be cut off in all.
ETJRITIDES.
You all to earth and water must return.
ILIAD viii.
Neque enim naturapaterctur,ut id quod esset
de terra, nisi in terra manerct. CICERO.
Cedit idem retro de terra quod fuit ante.
LUCRETIUS.
'Ei j yr,v ^cpovrej j i\v. EURIPIDES^
How perfectly the two following agree,
one from the volume of inspiration, the
other from heathen poetry:
Then shall the dust return to the earth as it
was; and the spirit shall return to God, who
gave it. ECCLESIASTES xii. 7.
Tlvcvua ply rpfij ai'$£pa,
Tfi truiia 6' ci'f yfiv —KURTPIDES.
12. Efligiem: in the likeness of the gods.
Inspiration represents Jehovah impressed
wiih the importance of the work of man's
creation, as taking counsel, " Let us make
man incur image, and after our likeness."
Seneca, in lib. vi., cap. 23, De Beneficiis,
has much the same idea:
Non est homo tumultuarium et incogilatum
opus. Cogitavit nos ante Natura, quam fecit.
Thou madest him a little lower than the an
gels. PSALM viii.
Propler ingeneratam homini a Deo rationem,
est nliqua ei cum Deo 6imilitudo, cognatio, so-
cietas. CICERO.
Eauem natura hominem non solum mente or-
navit, sed etinm dcdit ei figuram corporis ha-
bilem et aptam ingenio humano CICERO.
Man, the lord of the creation, partakes of the
nature of the gods. PYTHAGORAS.
Man's reason 18 derived from that of God.
EncilAiMUs.
And that you put on the new man, which,
after God, is created in righteousness and true
holiness. EPHESIANS iv. 24.
Human virtue rather approaches nearer the
divinity than human form. CICEKO.
In an Egyptian fragment of the Hermetic
creed, of great antiquity, preserved by
Jamblichus, the one true God is evidently
referred to, in whose likeness man was
created:
The Supreme is a monad prior to the first pod
and king, immovable in the solitudeof his unity,
the fountain of nil things, and the root of all
primary intelligible forms, the indivisible ONE,
*e first Effigies.—JAMBLICUUS. ,
LIBER I.
rantum cuncta.
10. Sic tellus, qun
modo fueiat rudis et
12. Modcrantum cuncta: that govern all
things.
Terrarum Jominos evehit ad decs. HOBAO.
13. Prona : prone; with face to the
earth.
Like the beasts, which Nature has made
prone, and slaves to their bellies. SALLTJST.
There wanted yet a creature not prone,
Aiul brute, as other creatures, but indued
"With sanctity of reaeoa. MILTON.
14. Os s ublime: a lofty countenance. The
etymology of man, in Greek, "avSpams, is,
to direct till counUnance upwards.
Nonnevitles hominum lit celsos ad sidera vultus
Sustulerit ileus, ac sublimia finxcrit ora.
SILITJS ITALICUS.
For when he leA all other creatures to feed on
the ground, he made man upright, to excite him
to view the hea\ ens. CICERO.
Who knoweth the spirit of man, that goeth
vpiuard, and the spirit of the beast, that goeth
downward to the earth. ECCLESIASTES.
14. Ccelum tueri: to look upon heaven.
Shall he, fair form.
Who wears sweet smiles, and looks erect on
heaven,
E'er stoop to mingle with the prowling herd,
And dip his tongue in gore ? THOMSON.
The heavens declare the glory of God; and the
firmament showelh his handiwork. PSALM xix
Quis est tam yecors, qui, cum suspexent in
ccelum, non scntiat Deum esse. CICERO.
Nor is one scene to mortals given,
That more divides the soul and sod,
Than yon proud heraldry of heaven
You burning blazonry of God!
16. Sine imagine: without form; shape
less.
He hath no form, nor comeliness. ISAIAH.
17. Induit: put on; was clothed with the
forms of men.
17. Conversa; being changed.
For thou wert present ere our life began,
Ere the warm dust shot up in breathing man.
GAT.
17. Ignatns: till then unknown.
What is not a little remarkable, and con
firmatory of the account of the first sab
bath, after creation, Hesiod, Homer, Lu-
cian, and the Scholiast on Pindar, ascribe
great sanctity to the seventh day; Linus
and Callimachus mentioned it as the day
upon which " all things were finished."
There is no city. Greek or Barbarian, in which
the custom of resting on the seventh day is not
preserved as it is among the Jews. JosEPlltif
AGAINST AKPION.
It is a festival celebrated not only in one city
or country, but throughout the whole world.
PHILO.
FAEULA II. METAMORPHOSED N.
QUJESTIONES.
What is the subject of this Fable ?
What were the stars supposed to be, by
the heathens ?
What is the proper meaning of the word
lolum ? to what is it equally applied ?
What was the first act of animal crea
tion?
Is there any philosophic reason why
fishes should be first created ?
What animals, in perfection of organiza
tion, are next to fishes ?
What similarity between fishes and
birds ?
Does Ovid observe this order ?
What animals does he mention after
fishes ?
What animals have the most perfect or
ganization? '
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When was man created ? by whom ?
Who was lapetus ? why was he probably
called the brother of the Ocean?
Who waa Prometheus ?
How may Prometheus be regarded ?
How was man formed? in whose like
ness?
In what respect does he differ from ani.
mats?
What does man, in Greek, signify ?
Why is he commanded to look upon
heaven ?
Had the ancients any idea of the peculiar
sanctity of the seventh day, which wa»
made a day of rest after the creation ?
How did they obtain an idea of the Sab
bath ?
What is tradition ?