THE METAMORPHOSES OF PUBLIUS OVIDIUS NASO

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