THE METAMORPHOSES OF PUBLIUS OVIDIUS NASO

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10 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF OVID. banished him, in consequence, to a wild and distant part of the empire. Circum stances render the conjecture probable, that Ovid, with profane eyes, may have invaded the privacies of the empress while bathing, or may have witnessed and disclosed some great moral turpitude, either of Augustus or one of the imperial family, possibly Julia, the grand-daughter of the emperor. Cur aliquid vidi, cur conscia lumina fed? Cur imprudent! cognita culpa mihi !—EPIST. E PONTO. Herein lies a great mystery of the court of Augustus. The fault of the poet, whatever it was, though doubtless known to many at the time, has not been stated by any writer, and still remains a great literary problem, like the impri sonment of Tasso. Under the pretext of the licentiousness of his amatory works, which, however, had been freely circulated and read for years, the emperor, under a sentence of relegation, somewhat milder than banishment, as it did not involve confiscation of his estate, removed him to Tomi, now Temiswar, a town in Pontus, in a gloomy and inhospitable region lying on the Euxine sea. When the poet received the order to depart, in a transport of grief he burned the copy of the Metamorphoses which he was engaged in correcting, so that this inimi table work would have been lost to the woild, had it not been preserved by means of a copy which he had given to a friend some time before. While in his exile, the poet learned its preservation; but as he never had a chance of revising it, we must regard it with the allowance due to a work which has not received the finishing touches of its author. As an apology for its imperfections. Ovid proposed the following lines as a prefix to the Metamorphoses: Orba parente suo quicumque volumina tangis; His saltern vestra detur in urbe locus: Quoque magis faveas, non heec sunt edita ab ipso, Sed quasi de domini funere rapta sui. Quicquid in his igiiur yitii rude carmen habebit, Emendaturus, si licuisset, erat. Recommending his wife to the protection of his friend Fabius Maximus, he bade adieu to Rome, and the scenes and associates of his former pleasures, and went into his lonely and melancholy exile. Some time before this calamity, he had commenced his Fasti, Lib. xn., which may be regarded as a supplement to the Metamorphoses. The Fasti give an accouu't of the origin and observance of the different festivals, dedications, and other ceremonies of the Roman Calendar, arranged in chronological order. A book is devoted to each month, and the holy- days are associated with the sun's place in the zodiac, and with the rising and setting of the stars. The work euds with June; the six latter books having been lost. C. Hemina and Claudius Quadrigarius had attempted this work be fore in prose, with indifferent success. On his voyage to Pontus, Ovid commenced his Tristia, Lib. v., of which he wrote the first book, containing ten elegies while at sea. The Triitia, and the Efistulte e Ponto, Lib. iv., which he wrote in his lonely exile, are the melancholy outpourings of a breaking heart. They are filled with complaints of the hardness of his lot, the miseries of his old age, and the mortifications and sorrows to which he was exposed. In these productions he sought, alike by flattery and the most moving appeals, to mitigate the severity of the emperor, and induce him to recal him from exile, or remove him to a milder residence. The transi tion in the circumstances of the poet from his former condition, were distressing to one of his sensitive feelings. Around him a bleak and barren region, snows and fogs alternately deforming the sky, and the storms ever chafing the black Kuxine into fury, with no companions but barbarians clad in skins, he sighed for the vine-clad hills, the sun and sky of Italy for the fragrance of the Collis Hortulorum, and the flowers of his own fair garden by the Flaminian Way for the gay companions, the baths, the theatres, and the gushing fountains of impe rial Koine. Like ihe unhappy .Byron in his selt-imnosed exile, he could exclaim with him: LIFE AND WRITINGS OF OVID. \\ "My days are in the yellow leaf, The fruits and flowers of love are gone; The worm, the canker, and the grief Are mine alone." But nothing could move the obduracy of Augustus; and although Ovid re garded his memory with idolatry, and consecrated a chapel to him after death, neither this, nor like flatteries lavished upon his successor Tiberius, ever pro cured the recall of the unfortunate poet. While in exile, the feelings of Ovid were deeply wounded by the conduct of a former friend, supposed to be the poet Cornificius by some, but with more reason, the mythograph Hyginus, who soli cited his wife Perilla, whom Ovid tenderly loved, to forget her exiled husband and accept of another. He endeavored also to induce the emperor to bestow upon him the patrimony of Ovid. Full of indignation, the unhappy poet dipped his pen in gall, and wrote a pcem called Ibis, inscribed to the fictitious name of his ungrateful friend. It is in the style of the Dira; of Valerius Cato, and is full of imprecations in comparison of which ordinary curses appear as benedictions. After this, Ovid composed a poem in praise of the imperial family at Rome. It was in the barbarous language of the people where he dwelt, and warmly attached them to him ever after. This poem has not come down to ug. After living more than nine years in exile, Ovid closed his life at Tomi, in the sixtieth year of his age, and was mourned publicly by the inhabitants, who erected a stately monument to his memory, before the gates of the city. His death occurred A. U. C. 771, in the fourth year of the reign of Tiberius. Ovid's person was of a middle stature, and slender, but graceful, and his body strong and nervous, though not large-limbed. He was of a pale complexion, with features regular and agreeable, and possessed of an open and engaging countenance. He was thrice married. His first wife, whom he took in early life, was not worthy of his affections, and was soon repudiated: Peene mihi puero nee digna nee utilis uxor Est data, quee tempus per breve nupta fuit. TRIST. Lib. ii. He married a second wife, whom he also divorced shortly after, although she was virtuous and prudent: Illi successit, quamvis sine crimine, conjux; Non tamen in nostro firma futura toro. TRIST. Lib. ii. His last wife, Perilla, was celebrated for her beauty and virtue, and as she was of congenial taste, having considerable genius for poetry, was most tenderly loved by him. She remained faithful to him to the last, and lived like a sorrow ful widow, during the relegation of her husband. Ultima, qua? mccum seros permansit in annos, Sustinuit conjux exulis esse viri. TRIST. Lib. ii. In conclusion, it must be admitted that Ovid possessed a most extensive wit, supported by just conceptions, a lively fancy, and great felicity of expression. The natural indolence of his temper and his gayety of life prevented his essaying those nobler efforts of which he was capable, while the misfortunes which clouded his latter years prevented his polishing what he had written. If he had employed the same laborious care in composition and patience in revision, for which Virgil was distinguished, he would have surpassed in correctness, as he does in genius, all the other Latin poets. As it is, his writings generally are of the most agree able and instructive character, so that every reader, in admiration of his produc tions, and in sympathy for his misfortunes, will readily join in the petition for rest to his ashes, expressed in the epitaph of the poet, composed by himself: Hie ego quijaceo, tenerorum lusor amorum, Ingenio perii Naso poeta meo: At tibi, qui transis, ne sit grave, quisquis amasti, Dicere Nasonia molliier ossa cubent.
TESTIMONIA VETERUM SCRIPTORUM DE OVIDIO. MARCUS ANXJEUS SENECA. Kasohad a constant, becoming, and amiable wit. Ills prose appeared no other than dissolved verses. Of his words no prodigal except In his verue, wherein he was not Ignorant of the fault, but affected It, and ofien would Bay, that a mole did not misbecome a beautiful fece. but made It more lovely. CosTaov. x. VELLEIU8 PATERCULTJS. It Is almost a folly to number tiie wits that are evrr In our eyes. Amorist these, the most eminent of our ge are Virgil, the prince of verse, Rabtrius, LIvy, imi tating1 Sallu>t, Tlbiillns, and Nauo, In the form of his absolute poem. HIST. Lib. 11. LVCIUS ANN.EUS SEXECA. "Exlstunt monies, et spnrsas Cyrladas angent," a* salth the wittiest of all poets. NAT. QDJEST. Lib.lil. QUINTILIANUS. Ovid's Medea eeemeth to me to express how much that man could have performed. If he had restrained, rather than cherished, his Invention. LID. x. CORNELIUS TACITUS. Neither Is there any composition of Aslnus, or Mesala, so Illustrious as Ovlit's Medea. DIALOG. DE OB AT. MARTIALIS. Thou*rt more than rand I tliuse whom thoa seest so hare, Wltli Ovid's aclt, or Virgil may compare, LIB. 111. Eno. 38. BTATIUS PAMPINIUS. That honored day, the old Cnllimnchus, Pliiletas, Unibriiiu Projiertius, Prepare to celebrate with one consent; And NRSO, clieerful though In banishment, With ricUTlbullua.-STi.vAit. Lib. U LACTAXTIUS. Ovid, In the beginning of hla excellent poem, confess* eth that God, (not disguising his name,) ordained the world, who calls him the Creator thereof; and maker of all tilings. INITIT. Div. Lib. I. 8. HIEROXTMUS. Semlramls, of whom they report many wonders, erected the walis of Babylon, as testifies tiiat renowned poet, in tiie Fourth Book of hla Metamorphoses. IN. OIK. Cap. 11. S. AUGUSITNUS. And Naao, that excellent poet, DE CIVITAT. DEI. ANGELUS POLITIANUS. *TIs doubtful, whether he. whom Sulmo bore, The world-comman ling Tiber honored more Than hla foul exile tlice d fumed, O Home I Whom Getlc sands, alas I but half Intonib. Perhaps observed by Augustus' spies. To look on Julia with too fricudly eyes. Is NUTHICIA. MAHCUS AKTONIUS TIUTONIUS. Tills divine work t* necessary, and to be desired of all that are addicted to poetry, both for the gracefulness of speech, the admirable art of tbe poet, and delightful variety of *he subject. Neither was there any tliat dili gently collected, or learnedly, elegantly, and orderly expressed tiie fables, but Ovid, who composed out of Orpheus, Heslod, Homer, and other most ancient poets, BO excellent and noble a work, that therein the learning of the l8,tiiis may worthily glory. DISPUTAT. DE FAD. 12 RAPHAEL REGIUS. There Is nothing appertaining to the knowledge and glory of wars, whereofwe have i ot f unous example* In the Metamorpi o s of Ovid descr b »d with such effi cacy and eloquence, that often In reading, you will Imagine yourself embroiled In their conflicts. Pn^* AT. JACOBUS MICTLLUS. Hardly shall yon find a poem, which Hows wlih greater facility. For what should I say of learning t herein so great, so various and abstruse, that many pinees have neither been explained, nor yet understood ; no, not by the most knowing, requiring rather a resolution from the Delian oracle. PRINCIP. Algernon. STEPHANUS. Naso, In his Metamorphoses, may well be called the poet of painters, In that those witty descriptions afford such lively patterns for their pencils to Imitate. PKjepAT. 1W HORATIUM. ANTOMUS MURETUS. The Metamorphose , a divine poem, shining through out, with all the lustres of conceit and eloquence. OKAT. ill. JULIUS OffiSAR SCAL1GER. But now we arrive wi ere the height of wit, and the Sharpness of judgment are belli to be exercised. For who c;tn coiiimeiid OvI sufficiently! much less, who dares reprehend him ? Notw th anding, I wiitsay tome- thing, not In way of detraction, but that we also may be abie to grow with his greatness ..... his Meta morphoses books deserving a more fortunate author, that from his last hand they might have had their per fection, which he himself laments in lucuk-nt verses. Yet are there In tiiesr, weli-ni^h an infinite number, which the wit of another, I believe, could never have equalled. POETIC. Lib. v. BERXARDUS MARTINUS. I conceive the poet of Sulmo did follow the industry and advice of Zcnxls, In the composure of that admira ble work of his Metamorphoses. For au that excellent painter, about to draw tiie picture of Helen, had assem bled together the most rare and beautiful virgins of Greece, that by examining their several perfections and graces, he might express all In one wiLh his curious pencil ; so he out of tbe innumerable voiumes of the Grecian poets, flrt>t gathered these multiplicities of l\- bleu, composing the diffused and variously dispersed Into one body, and then diligently noting what In every author was elegant and beautiful, transferred the same to his own, that notiiing might be wanting to the en riching and adorning of his divine poem. VAHJAR. Lacx. Lib. lii. Cap. 18. HERCULES CIOF4.NUS. A witty work, repute with solid and manifold learn ing. Those who peruse it diligently, bhnll find. ouch admirable Ihieucy, such fulness, such gravity of words and sentences, tlmt tew or nouu among the Lutin pools can be said to traiiscerd him. Wbat shall I say of that uiiigular and weli-ni^h di\ine coutexturu of fable with fabie t so surpassing that nothing can be spoken or done more artificially, more excellently, or more gracefully. \Vho, handling such diversity of matter, so cunningly weaves them together, that ali nin»ear hut one series f Planudcs, well knowing that Grn.ve had not a poem sc abounding with delight and beauty, tr.insLittd It tntc that language. What should I say mure f All arts which antiquity knew art; here t>o fully dehiK-atcd, that a num ber, expert in both tongues, of prime underbuilding and judgment, ndimrc it beyond all expression. PKJEFAT. OBS. IN MET AM. INDEX METAMORPHOSEON LIBER L FABCU L Chaos changed into four elements; the Creation or the world ... 22 II. Formation of animals; the creation of man .......... 33 in. The Golden Age, in which inno cence and hnppiness prevail . . 38 IV. The Silver Age, in which there i» a deterioration of morals ... 44 V. TheBrazenandlronAges.inwhich wickedness reaches its height . 48 VI. The Battle of the Gianls; their blood changed into men . . . ffi Vn. Council of the Gods called to deli berate on the prevailing wicked ness of mankind . ...... 58 VITI. Lycaon changed into a wolf ... 64 IX. The world destroyed by a flood, on account of the ungodliness of men . . ........ 68 X. Restoration of the world; stones changed into men ...... 88 . XL The earth changed into animals; Python slain by Apollo .... 88 XII. Daphne changed into a laurel . . 94 XIIL Vale ofTempe; lo changed into a P. OVIDII NASONIS. heifer, and placed under Argus . 104 XIV. Syrinx changed into a reed; death of Argus ......... 114' XV Io the heifer, changed into the hu man form ........ 118 LIBER II. FABULA. L The Palace of the Sun; a descrip tion of the solar chariot . . . . 12* II. The conflagration of Ihe world; the fallofFhaelhon. ...... 138 in. The sisters of Fhaelhon changed into poplars, and Cycnus, his cou sin, into a swan ....... 148 IV Jupiter changed inlo the form of Diana, that he may deceive Cal- listo, the daughter of Lycaon . . 154 V. CallUto changed into a bear by Juno ........... 158 VI. Callisto and her son Areas changed into constellations ...... 101 VII. Coronis of Fhocis changed inlo a crow; the raven changed from white to black ....... 166 VIII. Nyclimene changed to a night- owl; the death of Coronis of Larissa ....... . . ITS IX. Ocyrrhoe, the daughter of Cniron, changed into a mare ..... 170 X. Apollo becomes a shepherd; Battus changed by Mercury into a touch stone ........... 189 XI. The loves of Mercury and Ilerse; Agraulos changed lo stone . . 184 XII. Jupiter, transformed to a bull, car ries Europa across the sea into Crete ......... .191 B 13
Page 1 and 2: If P. OV1DIUS NASO.
Page 3 and 4: «' < V THE METAMUKPHOSES PUBLIUS O
Page 5 and 6: PREFACE. To the student of the Clas
Page 7: 8 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF OVID. visite
Page 11 and 12: I FROCEMIUM. 1 ... 11 2 ... 12 3. .
Page 13 and 14: AKGUMENTUM. AFTER a concise and ele
Page 15 and 16: 24 P. OVIDII NASONIS Non bene junct
Page 17 and 18: I 28 P. OV1DII NASONIS In mare perv
Page 19 and 20: ill FABULA II. ANIMALIUM HOMINISQUE
Page 21 and 22: 36 P. OVIDII NASONIS Bic, modo qua
Page 23 and 24: 40 P. OVIDII N ASONIS Montibus in l
Page 25 and 26: FABULA IV. ARGENTEA In the second,
Page 27 and 28: "ll •11, FABULA V. AIIENEA .ETAS,
Page 29 and 30: §2 P- OVIDII NASONIS Non socer a g
Page 31 and 32: 56 P. OVIDII NASONIS Fulmine, et ex
Page 33 and 34: Mi 60 P. OVIDII N ASONIS Hac iter e
Page 35 and 36: TABULA. VIII. LYCAON MUTATUS IN LUP
Page 37 and 38: TABULA IX. DILUVIUM. Having res'.ve
Page 39 and 40: [ ' IH f 72 P. OVIDII NASONIS Et qu
Page 41 and 42: 76 P. OVIDII N ASONIS Obruerat tumu
Page 43 and 44: 80 P. OVIDII N ASONIS Nunc quoque a
Page 45 and 46: 84 P. OVIDII N ASONIS Squallebant m
Page 47 and 48: FABULA XL REPARATIO ANIMALIUM: PYTH
Page 49 and 50: 92 P. OVIDII NASONIS Perdidit effus
Page 51 and 52: 96 P. OVIDII N ASONIS Dixerat: ista
Page 53 and 54: d 100 P. OVIDII N ASONIS Ncc prosun
Page 55 and 56: I \\ fcl ' II FABULA XIII. IO MUTAT
Page 57 and 58: 108 P. OVIDII NASONIS Bos quoquc Fo
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112 P. OVIDII 1SASONIS Argus ait; n
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116 P. OVIDII NASONIS Virginitate D
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120 P. OVIDII NASONIS Ultimus immen
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P. OVIDII NASONIS METAMORPHOSEON. L
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I' ft! 128 P. OVIDII NASONIS Caerul
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132 P. OVIDII NASONIS In promptu re
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FABULA 11. TERR.EJ INCENDIUM; PHAKT
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140 P. OVIDII NASON1S Hunc puer ut
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144 P. OV1DII NASONIS Cuique fuit r
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I FABULA ill III. SORORES PHAETHONT
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severe a fate. NOTJE. LIBER II. 55.
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156 P. OVIDII NASONIS Nee positu va
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160 P. OVIDII NASONIS I procul hinc
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164 P. OVIDII NASONIS Imposuit coel
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168 P. OVIDII NASONIS Pulchrior in
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FABULA VIII. NYCTIMENE IN NOCTUAM M
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FABULA IX. OCYRRHOE IN EQUAM MUTATI
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FABULA X. BATTUS IN INDICEM MU TATU
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FABULA XI. AGRAULOSIN SAXUM MUTATA.
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III' P. OVIDII NASONIS Concussse pa
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FABULA XII. JUPITER IN TAUIIUM MUTA
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* .1 « 196 P. OVIDII NASONIS METAM
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200 P. OVIDII NASONIS ^onsulil; et,
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204 P. OVIDII NASONIS LIBER III. Pa
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208 P. OVID1I NASONIS Existunt, cre
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I ! 212 P. OVIDII NASON1S Prima nep
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216 P. OVIDII NASONIS Et patre Dict
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220 P. OVIDII NASON1S LIBER III. FA
Page 115 and 116:
. 224 P. OVIDII NASONIS LIBER Til.
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228 P. OVIDII NASONIS Tempera matur
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II 232 P. OVIDII NASONIS LIBER 111
Page 121 and 122:
236 P. OVIDII NASONIS LIBER III. Il
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II lilt 24(5 P- OVIDII N ASONIS Jam
Page 125 and 126:
FABULA VIII. TYRRHENI NAUTjE IN DEL
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248 P..OVIDII N ASONIS LIBER 1 11.
Page 129 and 130:
Illl 8" fr FABULA IX. PENTHEUS A BA
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M 256 OVIDII NASONIS METAMORPHOSEON
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II 260 P. OVIDII NASONIS LIBER IV.
Page 135 and 136:
264 F. OVIDII N ASONIS LIBER IV Sta
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268 P. OVIDll NASONIS Ex aequo capt
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272 P. OVIDII NASONIS Lisa* IV. Pal
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276 P. OVIDII HASONIS LIBER IV. Ac
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FABULA IV. INO ET MELICERTA IN DEOS
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if', 284 P. OVIDII N ASONIS LIBIA I
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288 P. OVIDII N ASONIS Nigraque cas
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i 292 P. OVIDII NASONIS LlBEE I?. M
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TABULA VII. ANDROMEDA A PERSEO LIBE
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i 300 P. OVIDII N ASONIS LlBEB IV.
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304 P. OVIDII NASONIS LIBER IV, Prs
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SIAV10
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ACIES. ADSUM. "Acics, ei, f. (fids,
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"ini \ ANTRUM. ARCTOS. ifformer tim
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C-iELICOLJE. CAUSA. CcelTcola?, aru
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unj m CONFITEOR. CONVENIO. . Conf t
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DEPOSCO. DILUVIUM. Deposco, ere, pu
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'1 ERECTUS. EXHALO. "Erectus, a, um
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FORMOSUS. Formosus, a, um, adj. (fo
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ICHNOBATES. IMPATIENS. fchnobates,
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INSCIUS. INVIDIOSUS. crazy, fejlish
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I ' ll Lib AT US. ire, ayi, a. (Xci
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•j B^ MINYEIUS. progenitor of the
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NUTRIO. totter, shake, tremble, wav
Page 183 and 184:
PAX. PERLUO. trepidation, leafing o
Page 185 and 186:
PRjESENTIA. PROFUNDUS. erful; manif
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REDEO. REdeo, ire, ii, and Ivi, ttu
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8CORPIOS. SERIES. any large stone:
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STO. SULFUR. ing the roots; the roo
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THYONEUS. Thyoneus, ei and eos, m.
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VENIO. VIMEN. lion; permission, lea
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i RECOMMENDATIONS. From the Rev. J.
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I: 1. NATIONAL SERIES OF STANDARD S
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