THE METAMORPHOSES OF PUBLIUS OVIDIUS NASO

Mi
60 P. OVIDII N ASONIS
Hac iter est Superis ad magni tecta Tonantis,
Regalemque domum. Dextra loevaque Deorum
Atria nobilium valvis celebrantur apertis.
Plebs habitant diversa locis. A fronte potentes
Coslicoloe, clarique sues posuere. penates.
Hie locus est, quern, si vcrbis audacia detur,
Haud timeam inagni dixisse Palatia cosli.
Ergo ubi marmoreo Superi sedere recessu,
Celsioripse loco, sceptroque innixus eburno,
Terrificam capitis concussit terquc quaterque
Csesariem ; cum qua terram, mare, sidera, movit.
NOTJE.
8. Hac •• through this. Via is understood.
8. Tecta: the house; t ccla, the roof of
the house being put, by synecdoche, for
the house ttseH.
8. Tonaniis; the thundercr. This is an
epithet of great dignity, nrid is used by
several different nations. Tho Greeks had
their Jlrontttes, and the Goths their Tlior.
Pliny, who attempts to explain, in a na
tural way, many of the mylhi of the an
cients, says:
The thunder is assigned to Jupiter, because,
being placed between the planets Saturn and
Mars, the former of which is too cold, the fatter
too fiery, a conflict of the n\ o takes plnce in the
region ot Jupiter, and the thunder and lightning
arc em ttcd. just as a coal leaps with a iLoise
from u burning brand.
9. Dixtra lavnque: on the right and left
of the Milky Way."
9. Diorum nvbilium: of the principal
gods. The Romans reckoned two classes
of gods the dii mnjorum gentium, and the
dii mnijrum gentium. The former, or
principal, were twelve in number, six
males and six females, and were some
times called coasentes, because admitted to
the councils of Jupiter; they were:
Juno, Vesta, Minerva,Ceres, Diaaa, Venus. Mars,
Mercurius, Neptunus, Jupiter,Vulunnus, Apollo
ENMUS.
10. Celthranlur: are thronged.
10. Valaif aperlis: with open doors.
PaZixg are folding doors that meet in the
centre, and open inwards. Fores are doors
that open outwards.
11. Plebs. The inferior deities, gene
rally called the dii minornm gentium, nrid
dividcdintora/xcriprf'd'iond iudigrtes. The
former were deified heroes, received into
heaven ; the latter were tutelary deities of
the country.
11. A frame. In front, the principal of
the dii majores have placed their resi
dences, as Jupiter, Neptune, Miiiervn.
12. Posuere pennies : have placed their
residences; literally, their household gods.
Penates is put, by metonymy, for cJomo«.
14. Palatia: the court of heaven; the
palace; so called from the Palatium at
Rome, which was sitaated at the chief
LIBER I,
6. Est sublimis via,
manifesto screno eoi-
lo, ilia liabel nomen
Lactea; notabilis ipso
candore. Hue est iter
Superis lid tecta mag
ni Tonantis, regalem
que domum. PJebs
habitant divorsa locis.
Polenles clarique ece-
licoLu posuerc suol
penates a trunte.
15. Ergo ubi Super!
sedere marmoreo re-
cessu, ipse cclsior
loco, quo innixua
eburno eceptro,
eminence of the Palatine bill, and con
tained the houses of the emperor. It is an
indirect and delicate compliment to Au
gustus. He flatters also, with adroitness,
the two great parties at Rome, the patri
cians and plebeians, by designating the two
classes of gods under the titles ot nohtlcs,
and plclis, the celestial populace.
15. Marmono recessu ; marble recess.
In the inwnrd part of the palace paved with
marble. How inferior in majesty is this
picture of the gods assembling, and taking
their scats in the marble recess, to the ad
vent of Jehovah to fill his temple, as de
scribed by the sacred penman !
Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye
lifted up, ye everlasting doors ; and the King o(
glory shall come in. PSALM xxiv.
16. Celsior loco: higher in place. Kings
are accustomed to sit higher than those
around them.
High on a throne of royal state, which far
Outshone the wealth of Ormus, and of Ind ;
Or where the gorgeous East, with richest hand,
Showers on her kings' barbaric pearl and gold,
Satan exalted sat. MILTON.
1C. Sceptro. The sceptre was an ensign
of royalty borne by kings. It was pecu
liarly applicable to Jupiter, as sovereign,
both of Heaven and Earth.
17. Cancussil. In describing the indig
nation of Jove, the poet appears to have
copied after Homer, in the first Iliad. Vir
gil has a similar picture in the JEnciil, but
they arc all greatly inferior in majesty to
the descent of Legislative Deity, upon the
summits of Sinai.
Annuit ct totuin uutu tremefecit Olympum.
Then the earth shook and trembled : the foun
dations also of the hills moved, and were
shaken, because he was wroth. Thrrc -went
up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out ol
his month devoured : coals -were kindled by it.
He howed the heavens also, and c.inie down;
and darkness was under his feet. And he rode
upon a cherub and did fly : yea, he did fly upon
the wings of the "wind I*SALM xviii.
18. Movit. By which he shook the earth,
the sea, and the stars.
The pillars of heaven tremble, and ara as
tonished at his reproof. JOB ixvi. 11
METAMORPHOSEON.
Talibus inde modis ora indignantia solvit.
Non ego pro mundi regno magis anxius ilia 20
Tempi-state'fui, qua centum quisque parabat
Injicere anguipedum captive brachia coslo ;
Nam, quanqunm ferus hostis erat, tamen illud ab uno
Corpore, et ex Una pendebat origine bellum.
Nunc mihi, qua totuin Nereus circumtonat orbem, 25
Perdendum mortale genus. Per flumina jaro
Infera, sub terras Stygio labentia luco,
i9. Solvit : he opened his indignant
mouth.
21. Tempeitale: at that time.
22. Anguipedum ; the genitive plural of
anguipes, snake-looted. Macrobius says,
they were called snake-footed, because
they thought of nothing upright or sublime,
but were always grovelling, and that every
etep they took seemed to incline to hell.
There is probably some reference to the
serpent, by which sin entered the world.
On thy belly shall thou crawl, and dust shall
thou eal all the dayp of thy life. GENESIS iii.
22. Caplivo ccelo: captive heaven; which
they wished to render captive.
22. Cenlitmlrachia: their hundred hands.
Arms of hundred-handed gripe
Burst from their shoulders ; filly heads upgrevv.
ELTOVS HESIOD.
23. Ferus Jiostis: a cruel enemy. Horace
describes them as causing great terror to
Jupiter.
Magnum ilia terrorem intulerat Jovt
Fidcns juvcntus horridabrachiis.
Lib. iii. Ode iv.
24. Corpore : from one body; the com
munity of giants.
21. Una origine: from one origin; one
cause the ambition and pride oi the giants.
25. Nereus. Nereus is a god of the sea,
but is here put, by metonymy, for the sea
itself.
The sea gave Nereus life, unerring serr,
And true : most ancient of his race, whom all
Mail as the sage. HESIOE.
25. Circumtoitat. A forcible metaphor
to express the extent and power ot the
Ocean.
Let the djre Andes, from tlie radiant line
Stretched to the stormy seas that thunder round
Tlie southern pole, their hideous deeps nnfuld !
THOMSON.
26. Perdendum. The human race must
be destroyed. The agreement is wonder
ful, between the Biblical and the heathen
account:
And the I