THE METAMORPHOSES OF PUBLIUS OVIDIUS NASO

FABULA X.
BATTUS IN INDICEM MU TATUS.
Apollo, whilo tending the herds of Admetus, and singing on h'a pipe the love
of his mistress, forgets his cattle, and a part of them are stolen by Mercury
Battus witnesses the theft, but on receiving from Mercury the present of a
cow, ho promises silence. Mercury i.: sumes a different form, and returns to
Battus, and inquires if he had seen any stray cattle; and promises him a
greater reward if he would tell him where they are. Battus directs Mer
cury to the place where they are to bo found, when the gcd makes himself
known, and, for his perfidy, changes him into a touchstone.
EXPLICATIO.
APOLLO, according to Homer, is sometimes fabled to be a herdsman,
because the solar influence is the chief cause of the nutriment and
growth of all things upon earth. As the country of Pherce was particu
larly noted for its fine pastures, he is therefore said to have fed flocks in
that fine pastoral country. The theft which Mercury practised upon
Apollo, is related by Homer in his Hymn to Mercury ; and by Horace,
in his Hymn to the same deity, in Lib. i. Ode x. The great point of
difference between them is, that Homer describes the theft as committed
by Mercury when an infant, not yet done with the cradle; Horace
represents it as committed when the god was a boy ; while Ovid places
it at a more advanced period, when he had grown up and become the
messenger of his father, Jupiter. The story, as related by Homer, ex
tends through four or five hundred lines, and although related in polished
language, is protracted and tedious.
The story of Battus contains a good moral, as it shows the baneful
effects of avarice. When the love of gain comes to be an absorbing pas
sion, it shakes the foundation of all the virtues, and involves the ruin of
truth, fidelity, and integrity. The breast is hardened agajnst all the
finer feelings of humanity; pity, benevolence, generosity, and charity
plead in vain for the unfortunate ; while on the footsteps of unhallowed
cupidity follow not unfrequently treachery, perjury, theft, robbery, and
even murder itself. When Battus had consented to lie for a bribe, he
was fitted for the treachery which he afterwards committed, when a
larger bribe tempted his avarice.
The petrifying effect which it has upon the soul, may be adumbrated
by the metamorphosis of Battus into stone; or as the Index, or touch
stone, is used to test the qualities of gold, and is therefore a discoverer,
Battus may be fabled to be changed into that stone, because he perfidi
ously discovered the place where Mercury had hidden the cattle, con
trary to an espress promise, extracted too by a reward.
180
LEBAT opemquc tuam frustru Philyrri'us heros,
Delphice, poscebat: sed nee rescindere magni
Jussa Jovis poteras; nee, si rescindere posses,
Tune aderas; Elin Messeniaque arva colebas.
Illud erat tempus, quo te pastoria pellis 5
Texit; onusquc fuit baculum sylvestre sinistrtE ;
Alterius, dispar septenis fistula cannis.
Dumque amor est curce, dum te tua fistula mulcet;
NOTjE. f
1. Pliilyrems hens. Chiron, the son of Saturn by Philyra.
2. Rescindere: to rescind; to moke void.
4. Elin. A principal division of Peloponnesus, the Morea, lying
west of Arcadia, bounded on the north by the Larissus, which sepa
rated it from Achaia; on the south by the Neda, and on the west by
the /Egean sea. It was fertile, and used for agriculture and grazing.
The city of Elis was in the north.
4. Messcnia arva. Messenia, a district of Peloponnesus, the Morea
bounded on the north by Elis and Arcadia, on the east by Laronia,
and on the south and west by the Ionian sea. It is a mountainous
country, with rich and well-watered plains, suitable for pasturage.
5. Paxloria pellis : the pastoral skin.
The shepherd's coat, made of skins. When
Apollo killed the Cyclops for making the
thunderbolts with which his son TEscula-
pius was destroyed, he was driven from
heaven, and compelled to tend the flocks
of Ailmetus.
8. Imor eat curce: love is your care;
while your thoughts are turned to love.
While in Messenia, Apollo fell in love
with the daughter of Admetus.
8. Fistula muled.: your pipe solaces you.
Ea sola voluplos,
Solamenquc mail: du collo fistula pendet.
Chnrming shell. Apollo's love, ViEon.
And pleasing 10 the priests of Jove!
Hear tliy poet's solemn praj er,
Thou solace of each anxious care.— HORACE.
Q, 181