THE METAMORPHOSES OF PUBLIUS OVIDIUS NASO
THE METAMORPHOSES OF PUBLIUS OVIDIUS NASO
THE METAMORPHOSES OF PUBLIUS OVIDIUS NASO
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76<br />
P. OVIDII N ASONIS<br />
Obruerat tumulos immensa licentia ponti,<br />
Pulsabantque novi montana cacumina fluctus,<br />
Maxima pare unda rapitur; quibus unda pcpercit,<br />
lllos longa domant inopi jejunia victu.<br />
Separat Aonios Actseis Phocis ab arvis,<br />
Terra ferax, dum terra fuit; sed tcmpore in illo<br />
Pars maris, et latus subitarum campus aquarum.<br />
Mous ibi verticibus petit arduus astra duobus^<br />
Nomine Parnassus, superatque cacumine nubes.<br />
And he sent fortli a raven, which went to and<br />
fro, until tlie waters were dried up from off the<br />
farth: also he sent fortli a dove from him. to see<br />
if the waters v* crc abated from oft" llie face of<br />
the ground. GENESIS vii. 7, 8.<br />
The mythologists maintain, that a dove was<br />
sent by IJcucahon out of the nrk, which, when<br />
it returned to him, showed thut the storm was<br />
not >ct ahateil; but when he saw it un more, he<br />
concluded that the sky was become serene<br />
aguiii. PLUTARCH.<br />
They s.iy Dencalior.'c dove, which hescntmit<br />
of the ark. discovered, at its rcl-rii. thut the<br />
storms were atiated, and the liei~/ens clear.<br />
ABYDENUS Assvmus.<br />
On the third day after the -.raters abuted, he<br />
sent out birds to try if the vvaler was gone off<br />
any part of the earth; but they, finding a vast<br />
sea. and haviug nowhere to rest, returned hack<br />
to Sis.thrus: in the same manner did others:<br />
slid again the third time, when their wings were<br />
daubed with mud. IDUM.<br />
69. Lassalis alis: w ith weary wings.<br />
And fiercest birds,<br />
Bent downwards by the ever-rushing rain,<br />
With hi nded eyes, drenched plumage, and<br />
trailing ?rt'n^«.<br />
Staggered unconscious o'er the trampled prey.<br />
UARBER.<br />
70. Licinlia ponli: the licentiousness of<br />
the sea; its extent and violence.<br />
70. Obruerat liimulos: had overspread<br />
the hills.<br />
71. Novi jluctus: the unwonted, unusual<br />
waves.<br />
71. Montana cacumma: the mountain<br />
peaks. The waves first submerge I lie<br />
smaller eminences, and continue to rise<br />
up the mountain summits. So in the Bible:<br />
And all the high hills thai were under the<br />
whole heaven were covered. Fifteen cubits np-<br />
wnrd did the waters prevail; and the?mmiira//is<br />
were covered. GENESIS vii. 10, 20.<br />
72. Maxima pars: the chief part of men<br />
and animals.<br />
73. Inapi victu: with scanty food.<br />
Those few escnped<br />
Famine and nnguish will at Inst consume,<br />
Wondering that vmlery desert. MILTOX.<br />
And all flesh died that moved upon the earth,<br />
both of fowl mid of cattle, and of beast, and of<br />
every creeping thing tliat creepeth upon the<br />
earth, mid every man. GENESIS vii. 21.<br />
74. A onios: the Aoninns. As Aonia, on<br />
1 he contrary, separates Phocis from Attica,<br />
LIBER 1.<br />
"YQ cris decidit in mare<br />
lassatis alis. Iminen-<br />
sa Uremia po.uti ob-<br />
riicrtit tumulos, novi-<br />
que fluctus<br />
73. Illos, quibus un-<br />
> u ?a PePerc'?» longa jef<br />
juiiin iiiopi victu do-<br />
Vfj n-ant. l*liocis separa;<br />
Aonios ab Acttcis arvis<br />
terra ferax, dum<br />
fuit terra; set! in illo<br />
tcrnporc pure maris.<br />
et lulus campus, su><br />
bitarutn aquarum.<br />
we must suppose that Ovid made a mistake<br />
in his geography; or, we may resolve I he<br />
difficulty, by hypallage, for<br />
Separant Aonii Actceis Fliocida ab arvis.<br />
74. Phocis. This is a country of Greece.<br />
Its eastern boundary is Breotia; its west<br />
ern boundary the summit of Parnassus; its<br />
northern boundary Thessaly; ils southern,<br />
Sinus Corinthiacus, the Giitfqf Leponto.<br />
77. Petit aslra: seeks the" stars; rises<br />
to the stars.<br />
Hoc solum fluetu merirente cncumen<br />
Eminuit, pontoqne, fuit discrimen. et astris.<br />
I.UCAN. Lib. v.<br />
78. Parnassus. A very high moumain<br />
in Phocis, now called /^Atmro, and for<br />
merly called Larnassus, from Inrnnx, an<br />
ark. because Deucalion's boat resied Ihcre:<br />
\\apvaaaor inn^tiro SI irp6rcf>ov Adpvannos Aift<br />
rft ri/v AeuKnXi'roi'Of XnpvQKa aiiroSt irpoaivtxSri-<br />
vai.— STEPH. B\ZAVT.<br />
Ii had two summits, Cyrrha, sacred to<br />
Apollo and ilie Musee, and Nysa, sacred<br />
to Bacchus, who is said by T/.etzes to lie<br />
t'ie same as Osiris and Noc. Bacchus and<br />
Osiris were lioih enclosed in an nrk, and<br />
both taught agriculture and the raising of<br />
ilie vine. Now, we arc told, Ihnt "Noah<br />
began to he a husbandman, and he planted<br />
a vineyard." Besides, there is a similarity<br />
of names Noarhus. Boaohiic. Bacchus.<br />
Dionnsos, an appellative of Bncchus. means<br />
ihe sacred Nous (Nvs), or ihe sacred ius-<br />
latidman. Hence, the place of descent is<br />
called Nysa.<br />
Different nations fable the ark to have<br />
rested upon some eminence in their coun<br />
try. Even the ancient Welsh dc.-cribe it<br />
as resting upon one of their mountains.<br />
The following heal hen account is con<br />
firmatory of the Biblical:<br />
There is a great mountain in Armenia, situated<br />
above.Minyas, which is called Buns. A report<br />
prevails, that, nt the time of tin* deluge, many<br />
persons fled here, and were preserved One, in<br />
particular, was conveyed in an ark to the very<br />
summit of the mountain. He. perhaps, may be<br />
the man concerning whom Moses, the .kwish<br />
lawgiver, wrote. NICOLAUS DAIVUSCEM-S.<br />
As Larnassus, the mountain, was de<br />
rived from laniax, an ark, so ihe, moun<br />
tain, Baris, was derived from Baris, the<br />
sacred boat of Osiris.<br />
iS7<br />
KJIBULA IX. MET AMO RPHOSEO N.<br />
Hie ubi Deucalion, (nam ccetera texerat asquor)<br />
Cum consJrte tori parva rate vectus adhassit;<br />
Corycidas nymphas, et numina mentis adorant,<br />
Fatidicainque Themin, quse tune orac'la tenebat.<br />
Non illo melior quisquam, nee amantior asqui<br />
Vir fuit, aut ilia metuentior ulla deorum.<br />
Jupiter ut liquidis stagnate paludibus orbem,<br />
Et superesse videt do tot modo millibus unum,<br />
79. Deucalion. Deucalion was the son<br />
of Prometheus, and ihe husband of" Pyrrha.<br />
He and his wife were the only persons that<br />
survive'! the great deluge. Noah was the<br />
original if ihe names j^foach, Sisithrus,<br />
Xisithrus, Ogyges, Osiris, and Deucalion.<br />
NOTJE.<br />
It may be necessary to premise the reason, lest<br />
you be surprised, when you hear the names of<br />
itarbarians in (iievk. . . . The Egjptians, who<br />
vvrote of these matters, translated them into<br />
their own language, and he likewise, searching<br />
out their true meaning, turned them into our<br />
language PLATO'S CHITIAS.<br />
Sisithrus, Og>ges, and Deucalion, are all<br />
names signilying the same thing in other lan<br />
guages as Noah does in Hebrew. OBOTIUS.<br />
The Greeks call him Deucalion, the Chaldeans,<br />
Noach, in whose time the great flood happened.<br />
lJniLO BYBLILS.<br />
The same Deucal-on under whom the famous<br />
great flood broke in. LVCIAN.<br />
*O N(5e "E-icovSpos irapa XaX^aFuv?. CEDHE3TUS.<br />
79. Cat*x&l£X£Xffl: had covered the rest.<br />
The mountains were submerged, the barrier<br />
chains<br />
That mapped out nations sank; until at length<br />
One Titan peak alone o'ertopped the wnves,<br />
Beaconing a sunken world. And of the tribes<br />
That blackened every alp, one man survived.<br />
I3ARBER.<br />
80. Consortetori: the consort of his bed ;<br />
a periphrasis for uxor.<br />
80. Parva rate: his little boat; a rude<br />
boat, like an arh. The ark of Noah, the<br />
Argoof the Greeks, and the Baris of Osiris<br />
are all one. The time when Osiris entered<br />
the Baris, as given by Plutarch, corresponds<br />
to the very day when Nonh entered the ark.<br />
The constellation Argo was placed in the hea<br />
vens by divine wisdom, for the Argo was the<br />
first ship that ever » as built: it was, moreover,<br />
built at the very beginning, end was an oracular<br />
vessel. ERATOS<strong>THE</strong>NES.<br />
The constellation which the Greeks called the<br />
Argo, was a representation of the sacred ship<br />
of Chin's. PMJTARCII.<br />
This dehigt-, mid the ark, is mentioned by all<br />
those persons who have written Uarbaric his<br />
tories. Jc-SEPHLS.<br />
On the southern part of the celestial<br />
sphere, the ancient astronomers have, given<br />
a pictorial history of the Deluge. Aquatic<br />
animals occupy a large portion; water<br />
streams upon it in all parts; the ship Argo,<br />
l.bc ark) is in the midst of the waves; the<br />
G<br />
77<br />
79. Ubi r>euc»l:on,<br />
cn 11Bm IE