THE METAMORPHOSES OF PUBLIUS OVIDIUS NASO
THE METAMORPHOSES OF PUBLIUS OVIDIUS NASO
THE METAMORPHOSES OF PUBLIUS OVIDIUS NASO
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70 P. OV1DII <strong>NASO</strong>NIS<br />
Est tamen humani generis jactura dolori<br />
Omnibus: et, quae sit terra; mortalibus orbse<br />
Forma futura, rogant: quis sit laturus in aras<br />
Thura ? ferisne paret populandas tradere terras ?<br />
Talia quffireutes, sibi enim fore castera curas,<br />
Rex Superflm trepidare vetat; sobolemque priori<br />
Dissimilem populo promittit origine mira.<br />
Jamque erat in tolas sparsurus fulmina terras;<br />
Sed timuit, no forte sacer tot ab ignibus ffither<br />
Conciperet flammas, longusque ardesceret axis.<br />
Esse quoque in fatis rcminiscitur, aflbre tempus,<br />
Quo mare, quo tellus, correptaque regia cceli<br />
Ardeat; et mundi moles operosa laboret.<br />
voted, signified their assent by leaving<br />
their seats, and joining the party whose<br />
views they espoused.<br />
7. Dolori omnibus: a grief to all. The<br />
love of God to man is boundless; he de<br />
lights not in his dcstmction.<br />
As I live, saith the I ord, I have no pleasure<br />
1 in the death of him Hint dies.<br />
IToW shall I give thee up, O TCphraim! how<br />
shall I deliver thec up, O Israel \ l lovv shall I<br />
resign thee as Ailrnah! How shall I make thee<br />
as Zeboim ! HOSEA.<br />
Oh that my hend wrre \var,T«, and mine eyes<br />
a fountain of tears, that I might weep, day and<br />
night, for the slain of the daughters of my peo<br />
ple. LAMENTATIONS.<br />
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem' thou that killest<br />
the prophets, and sionest them that arc sent unto<br />
thee, hovvoft would I bnve gathered thy v-hiltlren<br />
as a hen g.ithereth her chickens u'ncler her<br />
wings, und they would not! ST. MAT<strong>THE</strong>W.<br />
8. Omnibus: to all. See Grammar, Rule<br />
XXIII. of Syntax.<br />
8. Orbas : deprived of men; without in<br />
habitants.<br />
9. Quiii sit faturns: who will hring<br />
frankincense to the nllara ? The sods nre<br />
here solicitous about the rites of public<br />
worship. The adoration of his intelligent<br />
creatures is pleasing to the Creator him<br />
self. If savage bcists should become the<br />
only inhabitants, the declarative glory of<br />
the gods would be unknown ; for.<br />
Animal niillnm cat pr;eter hominem, qnod ha-<br />
beat notitiam alicjuam Dei. CICERO.<br />
10. Ferisne populaHrfns. Pnjmfo and de-<br />
popttJo, in tile same manner as print and<br />
drpono, are often rendered alike. In both<br />
cases however, etymology would seem to<br />
require a positive meaning of the former of<br />
the words, and a uecnlive meaning of the<br />
latter. Popn.1unrJ.ns here appeal's to be u*»cd<br />
in the sense of peopling or iiilKibitim*. The<br />
following, from Horace, is similar:<br />
Velut profugit exeerata civitas,<br />
Apros atijiie litres propnos.habitandaque fana,<br />
Apris reliquit el rnpaeibus lupis. Ei'ouo\ xvi.<br />
NOT^E.<br />
LIBER I.<br />
7. Tamen jactura<br />
hnmani generis est<br />
dolor) omnibus: que<br />
rogant qua; sit fctnra<br />
forma terrji orhoe<br />
]Q luortalibnS: qnis Bit<br />
latuTListliLiTain aras?<br />
parelne tradere ter<br />
ms populandas fcris?<br />
Rex Superuin -vetal<br />
qnaircmes talia tre<br />
pidare, enim crrtera<br />
fore curse sibi, que<br />
15 promittit soholem dis-<br />
similem priori populo<br />
mira engine Que<br />
jam erat sparsurus<br />
17. Quoque rernln-<br />
iscitur esse in fatis,<br />
lempus allbre, quo<br />
10. Paret •• does he prepare ? is he about ?<br />
12. Hex Superum: the king of the gods;<br />
Jupiter.<br />
12. Trepidare vctal; forbids them to be<br />
solicitous.<br />
13. Dissimilem pnpitlo: unlike the former<br />
people; pure and holy.<br />
13. Onaine mira: by a miraculous ori<br />
gin. Stones were to he changed into men<br />
and women, as related in the succeeding<br />
fable.<br />
14. Sparsurus falminn: about to hurl the<br />
thunder over all the earth. When he was<br />
about to scatter the thunder, and thus de<br />
stroy the world, he recollects that it is fated<br />
that the earth shall be destroyed by fire<br />
hereafter, and chooses a different mode of<br />
destruction.<br />
16. Longus axis: the long axis on which<br />
the heavens were believed to revolve.<br />
17. Esse in falls: is in the decrees of the<br />
Fates. The Fates, or Destinies, were the<br />
dispensers of the will of Jupiter. In the<br />
heathen mythology, they "ore put for Pro<br />
vidence.<br />
17. -Affore tempus: that there would be a<br />
time; that a time would come.<br />
18. Correptas: enveloped in flames. Sup<br />
ply flammis.<br />
Dies ira\ dies ilia<br />
Polvet s.rclum in favilla<br />
Teste David cum Sibylla. CCELAKO.<br />
19. Ardml: shall be burned up. The<br />
final destruction of the world by fire, ap<br />
pears to have been known to most of the<br />
pagans. They got the idea from the Sibyl<br />
line verses, or from some ancient tradition<br />
committed probably to Adam or Noah.<br />
Knl TTOTE T'IV Aftytjv 3eoy, oi>n ?n Trpavvoiraj<br />
AAV c(cii$lt($ovTa, Kai etyyvuvra re yivvav<br />
AvSpuniov awauav i'V i^itftrjaiJHiv TrtpSwTa.<br />
Sunn,. AI'UD LACTAMTFM<br />
Cum tenipns advencrit, quo se mundus rcno-<br />
vatnrus extinguat . . . . et omni flagrante ma-<br />
teria nno igni quidquid nunc ex disposito luccl,<br />
ardebit. SESECA.<br />
L<br />
V ABUTA IX.<br />
METAMORPHOSED N.<br />
Tt-la reponuntur manibus fabricata Cyclopum.<br />
Po;ua placet diversa; genus mortale sub undis<br />
Perdcre, et ex omni niinbos dimittere ccelo.<br />
Protinus -iEoliis Aquilonem claudit in antris,<br />
Aq Ja et ignis terrenis dominantur: ex his or-<br />
lus, et ex his interims est. SENECA NAT. QU^ES.<br />
The Egyptians supposed the worhl had a great<br />
year, when the tun. moon, and planets all re<br />
turned to the snme sign whence they started,<br />
tin' winter of which year was the Delude, and<br />
the summer the conflagration of the world.<br />
PiATO.<br />
Hence we Stoics conclude, that the whole<br />
world, at last, wonld be in a general conflagra<br />
tion j vt lien, all moisture being exhausted, neither<br />
the eurtii could have any nourishment, nor the<br />
air return again, since water, of which it is<br />
formed, would then 'he all consumed; so t hat<br />
only fire would subsist, and from this fire, which<br />
U an animating power*and a deity, a new world<br />
would arise, and be re-cslabhshcd in the same<br />
beauty. CICERO o¥ <strong>THE</strong> Gous.<br />
Cerlain dispositions of the air, ami powers of<br />
wnter and fire, infused and mixed within, which<br />
arise nnd spring up with, together wilh the<br />
world, and to be burnt in time, and end with it.—<br />
1'LLTAKCIl'S M OUALS.<br />
For the ind'gnation of the Lord is upon all the<br />
nations; Jiul all the host of heaven shall be dia>-<br />
ohed, and the he.ivens shall be rolled together<br />
as a scroll. ISAIAH.<br />
But tlie heavens and the earth, which are<br />
now, by the same w;ord are kept in store, re<br />
served unto fire, against the day of judgment<br />
and perdition of ungodly men. ST. I'ETEK.<br />
19. Operofa moles: the well-wrought,<br />
Stupendous mass of the universe.<br />
19. /Mlorrt: shall labor; shall be ex<br />
posed to destruction.<br />
20. Tela: t he "weapons, viz.: the thun<br />
derbolts. Modern science furnishes n beau<br />
tiful illustration of this fabled forging of<br />
Jupiter's thunderbolts. Metals rendered<br />
fluid and volatilised by the excessive heat<br />
of volcanoes, are dissipated and carried into<br />
the air, and after being united by some<br />
combination of chemical and electric at<br />
traction, form the metallic masses and<br />
aerolites which often fall to the earth with<br />
a great noise. The Cyclops of the volcano<br />
are thu« said to forge them.<br />
20. Ci/clopiim: of the Cyclops. They<br />
were the workmen of Vulcan, and had<br />
their shop in Mount JEtna, where they<br />
made the thunderbolts of Jupiter.' The<br />
etymology of the word is *JJ^Aos, a riVf/e,<br />
and oV/, u n tiff, because they had but one<br />
eye, of a circular form, in the middle of<br />
the forehead. Their mimes were Brontes,<br />
Steropen. and Argcs ; the latter, however,<br />
was called Hurpcs, Arges, and Pjraemon.<br />
Homer and '1 hcocritus consider them the<br />
primitive inhabitants of Sicily, giants and<br />
cannibals.<br />
NOT-flE.<br />
71<br />
20 mare, qivo tclh»,qtte<br />
regia cceh corrt-pta<br />
ardeat; et operosa<br />
moles inuiuli laboret.<br />
Tela fabricata<br />
S3. ProtiuuB claudil<br />
Then brought she forth<br />
The Cyclops, brethren of lu'gh daring heart,<br />
Prontes, and Steropes nnd Arges fierce,<br />
AVho forged the lightning shaft, and pave to Jove<br />
His thunder. They were like nnlo Ihe gods,<br />
Save thai a single hall of s'ght was fixed<br />
Tn the mid forehead. Cyclops was their name,<br />
For that one circulur e> e w IIP broad infixed<br />
III the mid forehead. IIESIOD'S TIIEOGONY.<br />
21. Ptfna iJiversa: a different kind of<br />
punishment, viz. by water.<br />
21. Plarel: pleases him; is resolved<br />
upon.<br />
21. Genus mortale: the mortal race ; the<br />
human race.<br />
The present race of men is nol the same as at<br />
the beginning, hut those of the first race all<br />
perished. Mankind, as they now are, arc a new<br />
and second race, that w ere spread abroad again<br />
by Deucalion in these vast numbers. Of those<br />
first men it is reported, that they were haughty,<br />
fierce people, who com milted heinous iniquities;<br />
for they neither kept their oath, nor exercised<br />
hospitality, nor spared ihe vanquished, though<br />
imploring inercy. For all this, however, a hor<br />
rible calamity came upon them. LUCIAN IHE<br />
S\KIA DEA.<br />
21. Sub undis: under water; by immer<br />
sion.<br />
22. Perdere. The phrase genus mortale<br />
s«n uudis perdere, is put in apposition with<br />
prena.<br />
22. Nmibo*: rain ; storms of rain.<br />
22. Ex omni carlo: from the whole hea<br />
ven.<br />
Anil the windows of liceven were opened;<br />
and the ruin was upon the earth forty days and<br />
forty nights. GENESIS vii. 11,12.<br />
After whom reigned many others, and then<br />
Sisithrus, to whom £utnrn signified there should<br />
be an abundance of rain on the fifteenth day jof<br />
the month Pesins, and commanded him to lay<br />
up all his writings in Heliopolis; which, when<br />
Sisilhrus had done, he sailed immediately into<br />
Armenia, and found it true as the god had de<br />
clared to him. ABYDENUS.<br />
5:3. Protinus: forthwith. As soon as he<br />
determines to destroy the world, he sets<br />
about its destruction.<br />
23. JEoliis in antris: in the ^Eolian<br />
caves, -ffiolus, the son of Hippotas, was<br />
king of the islands which lie between Italy<br />
and Sicily. From his knowledge of astro<br />
nomy, and his predictions of the changes<br />
in the winds, he was thought to control<br />
the w inds ill a cave, where the}' murmured<br />
against their rocky barriers. The islands<br />
were volcanic, and gave rise to the subter<br />
ranean noise, and the fable connected there<br />
with.<br />
2:t. A (/iii?vnemcJiinilil- He shuts up the<br />
north wind, because i* v»as accustomed to<br />
I