THE METAMORPHOSES OF PUBLIUS OVIDIUS NASO

42 P. OVIDII NASONIS
Ver erat seternum; placidique tepentibus auris
Mulcebant Zephyri natos sine seinine flores.
Mox etiam fruges tellus inarata ferebat :
Nee renovatus ager gravidis canebat aristis.
Flumina jam lactis, jam flumina nectaris ibant:
Flavaque de viridi stillabant ilice mella.
LIBER I.
19. Ver erat ester-
num, placidique Ze-
phyri tepentibus aun»
21. Etiam telliii ina
rata mox ferebat
fruges: nee ager re-
novatus canebat gra
vidis aristis. Jam
flumina lactis, jam
flumina nectnris
NOTjE.
19. Ver erat: there was eternal spring. 22. lienovatus ager. The field that had
Many learned men have conjectured that become renewed by lying fallow. The
this was really the case at the first creation fields did not produce on alternate years
of the world. If we suppose the poles and merely, but every year.
axis of our globe to have been perpendicu 22. Canebat: became white with the ears
lar to ihe equator, and the centre of gravity of corn. The fields of grain are first green,
to have been in the centre of the earth, the then white, just before ripening, and when
attraction of the sun would be equal on all fully ripe they become yellow.
ihe pans of the earth, and its course would Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields, for
be regular in the track of the equator. they are white already to harvest. ST. JOHN.
There would be no disturbances of the at The crops are green, and wave o'er all the plain,
mosphere, nor changes of temperature, and In billows like the storm-excited main. MASON.
the days and nights would be always equal. MolUpaulatim JJavescct campus arista. VIKGIL.
It would move through one degree in ex 22. Arittis. Arista, the beard of the
actly 24 hours, and make its annual revo corn, is of common use, by synecdoche,
lution in 3GO days. The moon would make for the ear of com itself.
her revolution in just 30 days. This would
Of old we met everywhere with bnrley,
agree exactly with the ancient computa wheat, and meal, as we do now-a-days with
tions, the universality of which is no small dust. The fountains flowed, some with water,
evidence of its existence at the first. When some with milk, and likewise some with honey,
God cursed the ground for man's trans some with wine, and some with oil. CALAMUS
gression, or at the deluge, by a sinking of IN STRABO.
the continents, the centre of the earth's 23. Flumina lactis: streams of milk.
gravity must have been changed, in conse Traditional accounts of Paradise, and of
quence of which the poles of the earth di the Promised Land, probably furnished the
verged, causing its orbit to become oblique heathen poets with their ideas of streams
to the equator. The motions of the earth of milk, honey, and nectar.
and moon would, of necessity, become From the taunts of the proud and the vile wego
tremulous and irregular, causing altera To the land where rich honey and milk will
tions in the time of their revolutions, and flow. W. G. CLARK.
introducing a variety of seasons.
23. Nectaris: nectar; the fabled drink of
Great Spring, before, the gods. Athenseus says, that on Mount
Greened all the year ; and fruits and blossoms Olympus and its environs, the people use
blushed
a drink which they call nectar; composed
In social sweetness, on the self-same bough.
THOMSON. of honey, wine, and odoriferous herbs. As
20. Placidi zephyri: the mild zephyrs. the gods were supposed to hold their court
The sweetness of the breath of Zcphyrns on Olympus, hence arose the idea of nec
was said to produce flowers. Hence he tar being their drink. Nectar signifies a
was said to be the husband of Flora. preserver of youth, and was, therefore,
appropriately considered the drink of men
Pure was the temperate air ; aujeven calm
Perpetual reigned, save what the zephyrs Llaud who led long and flourishing" lives.
Breathed o'er the blue expanse. THOMSON. D' ambroisie bene choisie
21. Fruqes. At first they lived upon the Hebe la iiourrit a pnrt;
fruits of the trees, but now, it is said, the Et sa bouche, quand j'y louche,
Me parfume de nectar. HENRI IV
unploughed earth bore grain also. How
well this agrees with the scriptural ac 24. Stillabant: distilled; trickled down.
count !
Durae quercus sudabunt roscida mella.
Dchdjl I Imve given you every herb bearing
ECLOGUE iv.
ecd (y grain), which is upon the face of all Feasts strewn by earth, employ their easy day,
the earth, and every tree in the which is the The oak is on their hills ; the topmost tree
fruit of a tree yielding seed; Ic you it f ball be Bears the rich acorn, and the trunk the bee.
for meat -GENESIS i 39.
FimrlA HI.
What is the subject of this Fable ?
What poet, before Ovid, had spoken
of different ages under the name of me
tals?
What additional ago does he mention ?
Why was the first age called golden ?
To what period of the world's history
does the golden age probably refer 7
What are the coincidences between these
times ?
What institution among the Jews re
called the residence in Paradise ?
What similar institution among the
Greeks and Romans recalled the golden
ge under Saturn ?
METAMORPHOSEON.
QUjESTIONES.
45
Upon what were the laws of the Roman*
written ?
Where were these tablets set up ?
What was the state of morals in the
golden age ?
Was there agriculture or commerce ?
By what figure is pinus put for a ship ?
Were taere cities or houses in the gold
en age ?
Were there any wars ?
Upon what did men subsist ?
Did they live upon flesh, or wear cloth
With what account does this agree ?
When was permission given by God to
eat flesh ?