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diff --git a/21765-0.txt b/21765-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..240901a --- /dev/null +++ b/21765-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,13416 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Metamorphoses of Ovid, by Publius Ovidius Naso + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and +most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions +whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms +of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at +www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you +will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before +using this eBook. + +Title: The Metamorphoses of Ovid + Vol. I, Books I-VII + +Author: Publius Ovidius Naso + +Translator: Henry Thomas Riley + +Release Date: June 8, 2007 [eBook #21765] +[Most recently updated: June 28, 2021] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +Produced by: Louise Hope, Steve Schulze and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE METAMORPHOSES OF OVID *** + + + + + [Transcriber’s Note: + + In the original text, words and phrases supplied by the translator + were printed in _italics_. In this e-text they are shown in {braces}. + Italics in the notes and commentary are shown conventionally with + _lines_, boldface by =marks=. + + Line numbers from the original Latin poem were printed as headnotes + on each page. For this e-text, only the line numbers of each complete + “Fable” are given. Line numbers used in footnotes are retained from + the original text; these, too, refer to the Latin poem and are + independent of line divisions in the translation. + + Parts of this e-text use material from another edition of the Riley + translation of the _Metamorphoses_: George Bell (London, 1893). + Details are given at the end of the text, before the Errata. Each + segment of the introductory material is individually identified.] + + + + + THE + METAMORPHOSES OF OVID + + Vol. I--Books I-VII + +LITERALLY TRANSLATED WITH NOTES AND EXPLANATIONS + + by + HENRY T. RILEY, M.A. + + With an Introduction by + EDWARD BROOKS, JR. + + + + + Copyright, 1899, By David McKay + + Press Of + Sherman & Co., Philadelphia + + + + +INTRODUCTION. + + [From Bell edition.] + +The Metamorphoses of Ovid are a compendium of the Mythological +narratives of ancient Greece and Rome, so ingeniously framed, as to +embrace a large amount of information upon almost every subject +connected with the learning, traditions, manners, and customs of +antiquity, and have afforded a fertile field of investigation to the +learned of the civilized world. To present to the public a faithful +translation of a work, universally esteemed, not only for its varied +information, but as being the masterpiece of one of the greatest Poets +of ancient Rome, is the object of the present volume. + +To render the work, which, from its nature and design, must, of +necessity, be replete with matter of obscure meaning, more inviting +to the scholar, and more intelligible to those who are unversed in +Classical literature, the translation is accompanied with Notes and +Explanations, which, it is believed, will be found to throw considerable +light upon the origin and meaning of some of the traditions of heathen +Mythology. + +In the translation, the text of the Delphin edition has been generally +adopted; and no deviation has been made from it, except in a few +instances, where the reason for such a step is stated in the notes; +at the same time, the texts of Burmann and Gierig have throughout been +carefully consulted. The several editions vary materially in respect to +punctuation; the Translator has consequently used his own discretion in +adopting that which seemed to him the most fully to convey in each +passage the intended meaning of the writer. + +The Metamorphoses of Ovid have been frequently translated into the +English language. On referring to Mr. Bohn’s excellent Catalogue of the +Greek and Latin Classics and their Translations, we find that the whole +of the work has been twice translated into English Prose, while five +translations in Verse are there enumerated. A prose version of the +Metamorphoses was published by Joseph Davidson, about the middle of +the last century, which professes to be “as near the original as the +different idioms of the Latin and English will allow;” and to be +“printed for the use of schools, as well as of private gentlemen.” A few +moments’ perusal of this work will satisfy the reader that it has not +the slightest pretension to be considered a literal translation, while, +by its departure from the strict letter of the author, it has gained +nothing in elegance of diction. It is accompanied by “critical, +historical, geographical, and classical notes in English, from the best +Commentators, both ancient and modern, beside a great number of notes, +entirely new;” but notwithstanding this announcement, these annotations +will be found to be but few in number, and, with some exceptions in the +early part of the volume, to throw very little light on the obscurities +of the text. A fifth edition of this translation was published so +recently as 1822, but without any improvement, beyond the furbishing up +of the old-fashioned language of the original preface. A far more +literal translation of the Metamorphoses is that by John Clarke, which +was first published about the year 1735, and had attained to a seventh +edition in 1779. Although this version may be pronounced very nearly to +fulfil the promise set forth in its title page, of being “as literal as +possible,” still, from the singular inelegance of its style, and the +fact of its being couched in the conversational language of the early +part of the last century, and being unaccompanied by any attempt at +explanation, it may safely be pronounced to be ill adapted to the +requirements of the present age. Indeed, it would not, perhaps, be too +much to assert, that, although the translator may, in his own words, +“have done an acceptable service to such gentlemen as are desirous of +regaining or improving the skill they acquired at school,” he has, in +many instances, burlesqued rather than translated his author. Some of +the curiosities of his version will be found set forth in the notes; +but, for the purpose of the more readily justifying this assertion, a +few of them are adduced: the word “nitidus” is always rendered “neat,” +whether applied to a fish, a cow, a chariot, a laurel, the steps of a +temple, or the art of wrestling. He renders “horridus,” “in a rude +pickle;” “virgo” is generally translated “the young lady;” “vir” is +“a gentleman;” “senex” and “senior” are indifferently “the old blade,” +“the old fellow,” or “the old gentleman;” while “summa arx” is “the very +tip-top.” “Misera” is “poor soul;” “exsilio” means “to bounce forth;” +“pellex” is “a miss;” “lumina” are “the peepers;” “turbatum fugere” is +“to scower off in a mighty bustle;” “confundor” is “to be jumbled;” and +“squalidus” is “in a sorry pickle.” “Importuna” is “a plaguy baggage;” +“adulterium” is rendered “her pranks;” “ambages” becomes either “a long +rabble of words,” “a long-winded detail,” or “a tale of a tub;” +“miserabile carmen” is “a dismal ditty;” “increpare hos” is “to rattle +these blades;” “penetralia” means “the parlour;” while “accingere,” more +literally than elegantly, is translated “buckle to.” “Situs” is “nasty +stuff;” “oscula jungere” is “to tip him a kiss;” “pingue ingenium” is a +circumlocution for “a blockhead;” “anilia instrumenta” are “his old +woman’s accoutrements;” and “repetito munere Bacchi” is conveyed to the +sense of the reader as, “they return again to their bottle, and take the +other glass.” These are but a specimen of the blemishes which disfigure +the most literal of the English translations of the Metamorphoses. + +In the year 1656, a little volume was published, by J[ohn] B[ulloker,] +entitled “Ovid’s Metamorphosis, translated grammatically, and, according +to the propriety of our English tongue, so far as grammar and the verse +will bear, written chiefly for the use of schools, to be used according +to the directions in the preface to the painfull schoolmaster, and more +fully in the book called, ‘Ludus Literarius, or the Grammar school, +chap. 8.’” Notwithstanding a title so pretentious, it contains a +translation of no more than the first 567 lines of the first Book, +executed in a fanciful and pedantic manner; and its rarity is now the +only merit of the volume. A literal interlinear translation of the first +Book “on the plan recommended by Mr. Locke,” was published in 1839, +which had been already preceded by “a selection from the Metamorphoses +of Ovid, adapted to the Hamiltonian system, by a literal and interlineal +translation,” published by James Hamilton, the author of the Hamiltonian +system. This work contains selections only from the first six books, and +consequently embraces but a very small portion of the entire work. + +For the better elucidation of the different fabulous narratives and +allusions, explanations have been added, which are principally derived +from the writings of Herodotus, Apollodorus, Pausanias, Dio Cassius, +Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Strabo, Hyginus, Nonnus, and others of the +historians, philosophers, and mythologists of antiquity. A great number +of these illustrations are collected in the elaborate edition of Ovid, +published by the Abbé Banier, one of the most learned scholars of the +last century; who has, therein, and in his “Explanations of the Fables +of Antiquity,” with indefatigable labour and research, culled from the +works of ancient authors, all such information as he considered likely +to throw any light upon the Mythology and history of Greece and Rome. + +This course has been adopted, because it was considered that a statement +of the opinions of contemporary authors would be the most likely to +enable the reader to form his own ideas upon the various subjects +presented to his notice. Indeed, except in two or three instances, space +has been found too limited to allow of more than an occasional reference +to the opinions of modern scholars. Such being the object of the +explanations, the reader will not be surprised at the absence of +critical and lengthened discussions on many of those moot points of +Mythology and early history which have occupied, with no very positive +result, the attention of Niebuhr, Lobeck, Müller, Buttmann, and many +other scholars of profound learning. + + + + + A SYNOPTICAL VIEW + of the Principal Transformations Mentioned in + THE METAMORPHOSES. + + [From Bell edition, omitting Books VIII-XV.] + + +BOOK I. + +Chaos is divided by the Deity into four Elements: to these their +respective inhabitants are assigned, and man is created from earth and +water. The four Ages follow, and in the last of these the Giants aspire +to the sovereignty of the heavens; being slain by Jupiter, a new race of +men springs up from their blood. These becoming noted for their impiety, +Jupiter not only transforms Lycaon into a wolf, but destroys the whole +race of men and animals by a Deluge, with the exception of Deucalion and +Pyrrha, who, when the waters have abated, renew the human race, by +throwing stones behind them. Other animated beings are produced by heat +and moisture: and, among them, the serpent Python. Phœbus slays him, and +institutes the Pythian games as a memorial of the event, in which the +conquerors are crowned with beech; for as yet the laurel does not exist, +into which Daphne is changed soon after, while flying from Phœbus. On +this taking place, the other rivers repair to her father Peneus, either +to congratulate or to console him; but Inachus is not there, as he is +grieving for his daughter Io, whom Jupiter, having first ravished her, +has changed into a cow. She is entrusted by Juno to the care of Argus; +Mercury having first related to him the transformation of the Nymph +Syrinx into reeds, slays him, on which his eyes are placed by Juno in +the tail of the peacock. Io, having recovered human shape, becomes the +mother of Epaphus. + + +BOOK II. + +Epaphus, having accused Phaëton of falsely asserting that Phœbus is his +father, Phaëton requests Phœbus, as a proof of his affection towards his +child, to allow him the guidance of the chariot of the Sun for one day. +This being granted, the whole earth is set on fire by him, and the +Æthiopians are turned black by the heat. Jupiter strikes Phaëton with a +thunderbolt, and while his sisters and his kinsman Cyenus are lamenting +him, the former are changed into trees, and Cyenus into a swan. On +visiting the earth, that he may repair the damage caused by the +conflagration, Jupiter sees Calisto, and, assuming the form of Diana, he +debauches her. Juno, being enraged, changes Calisto into a bear; and her +own son Arcas being about to pierce her with an arrow, Jupiter places +them both among the Constellations. Juno having complained of this to +Oceanus, is borne back to the heavens by her peacocks, who have so +lately changed their colour; a thing which has also happened to the +raven, which has been lately changed from white to black, he having +refused to listen to the warnings of the crow (who relates the story of +its own transformation, and of that of Nyctimene into an owl), and +having persisted in informing Phœbus of the intrigues of Coronis. Her +son Æsculapius being cut out of the womb of Coronis and carried to the +cave of Chiron the Centaur, Ocyrrhoë, the daughter of Chiron, is changed +into a mare, while she is prophesying. Her father in vain invokes the +assistance of Apollo, for he, in the guise of a shepherd, is tending his +oxen in the country of Elis. He neglecting his herd, Mercury takes the +opportunity of stealing it; after which he changes Battus into a +touchstone, for betraying him. Flying thence, Mercury beholds Herse, the +daughter of Cecrops, and debauches her. Her sister Aglauros, being +envious of her, is changed into a rock. Mercury returns to heaven, on +which Jupiter orders him to drive the herds of Agenor towards the shore; +and then, assuming the form of a bull, he carries Europa over the sea to +the isle of Crete. + + +BOOK III. + +Agenor commands his son Cadmus to seek his sister Europa. While he is +doing this, he slays a dragon in Bœotia; and having sowed its teeth in +the earth, men are produced, with whose assistance he builds the walls +of Thebes. His first cause of grief is the fate of his grandson Actæon, +who, being changed into a stag, is torn to pieces by his own hounds. +This, however, gives pleasure to Juno, who hates not only Semele, the +daughter of Cadmus, and the favourite of Jupiter, but all the house of +Agenor as well. Assuming the form of Beroë, she contrives the +destruction of Semele by the lightnings of Jupiter; while Bacchus, being +saved alive from his mother’s womb, is brought up on the earth. Jupiter +has a discussion with Juno on the relative pleasures of the sexes, and +they agree to refer the question to Tiresias, who has been of both +sexes. He gives his decision in favour of Jupiter, on which Juno +deprives him of sight; and, by way of recompense, Jupiter bestows on him +the gift of prophesy. His first prediction is fulfilled in the case of +Narcissus, who, despising the advances of all females (in whose number +is Echo, who has been transformed into a sound), at last pines away with +love for himself, and is changed into a flower which bears his name. +Pentheus, however, derides the prophet; who predicts his fate, and his +predictions are soon verified; for, on the celebration of the orgies, +Bacchus having assumed a disguise, is brought before him; and having +related to Pentheus the story of the transformation of the Etrurian +sailors into dolphins, he is thrown into prison. On this, Pentheus is +torn in pieces by the Bacchanals, and great respect is afterwards paid +to the rites of Bacchus. + + +BOOK IV. + +Still Alcithoë and her sisters, neglecting the rites, attend to their +spinning, during the festivities, and pass the time in telling stories; +and, among others, that of Pyramus and Thisbe, by whose blood the +mulberry is turned from white to black, and that of the discovery of the +intrigues of Mars and Venus, on the information of the Sun. They also +tell how the Sun assumed the form of Eurynome, that he might enjoy her +daughter Leucothoë; how Clytie, becoming jealous of her sister, was +transformed into a sun-flower; and how Salmacis and Hermaphroditus had +become united into one body. After this, through the agency of Bacchus, +the sisters are transformed into bats, and their webs are changed into +vines. Ino rejoicing at this, Juno, in her hatred and indignation, sends +one of the Furies to her, who causes her to be struck with insanity, on +which she leaps into the sea, with her son Melicerta in her arms; but by +the intercession of Venus, they become sea Deities, and their Sidonian +attendants, who are bewailing them as dead, are changed into rocks. +Cadmus, afflicted at this fresh calamity, retires from Thebes, and flies +to Illyria, together with his wife, where they are both transformed into +serpents. Of those who despise Bacchus, Acrisius alone remains, the +grandfather of Perseus, who, having cut off the head of the Gorgon +Medusa, serpents are produced by her blood. Perseus turns Atlas into a +mountain, and having liberated Andromeda, he changes sea-weed into +coral, and afterwards marries her. + + +BOOK V. + +A tumult arising during the celebration of the nuptials, Phineus claims +Andromeda, who has been betrothed to him; and together with Prœtus, he +and Polydectes are turned into stone. Pallas, who has aided Perseus, now +leaves him, and goes to Helicon, to see the fountain of Hippocrene. The +Muses tell her the story of Pyreneus and the Pierides, who were +transformed into magpies after they had repeated various songs on the +subjects of the transformation of the Deities into various forms of +animals; the rape of Proserpine, the wanderings of Ceres, the change of +Cyane into a fountain, of a boy into a lizard, of Ascalaphus into an +owl, of the Sirens into birds in part, of Arethusa into a spring, of +Lyncus into a lynx, and of the invention of agriculture by Triptolemus. + + +BOOK VI. + +Influenced by the example of the Muses, Pallas determines on the +destruction of Arachne. She enters with her into a contest for the +superiority in the art of weaving. Each represents various +transformations on her web, and then Arachne is changed into a spider. +Niobe, however, is not deterred thereby from preferring her own lot to +that of Latona; on account of which, all her children are slain by +Apollo and Diana, and she is changed into a rock. On learning this, +while one person relates the transformation by Latona of the Lycian +rustics into frogs, another calls to mind how Marsyas was flayed by +Apollo. Niobe is lamented by Pelops, whose shoulder is of ivory. To +console the Thebans in their afflictions, ambassadors come from the +adjacent cities. The Athenians alone are absent, as they are attacked by +hordes of barbarians, who are routed by Tereus, who marries Progne, the +daughter of Pandion. Tereus coming a second time to Athens, takes back +with him to his kingdom Philomela, his wife’s sister; and having +committed violence on her, with other enormities, he is transformed into +a hoopoe, while Philomela is changed into a nightingale, and Progne +becomes a swallow. Pandion, hearing of these wondrous events dies of +grief. Erectheus succeeds him, whose daughter, Orithyia, is ravished by +Boreas, and by him is the mother of Calais and Zethes, who are of the +number of the Argonauts on the following occasion. + + +BOOK VII. + +Jason, by the aid of Medea, having conquered the bulls that breathe +forth flames, having sowed the teeth of a serpent, from which armed men +are produced, and having lulled the dragon to sleep, recovers the Golden +Fleece. Medea, accompanying Jason to Greece, restores Æson to youth by +the aid of drugs; and promising the same to Pelias, having first, as a +specimen, changed a ram into a lamb, by stratagem she kills him. Passing +through many places made remarkable by various transformations, and +having slain her children, she marries Ægeus, when Theseus returns home, +and narrowly escapes being poisoned by her magic potions. Minos +interrupts the joy of Ægeus on the return of his son, and wages war +against him; having collected troops from all parts, even from Paros, +where Arne has been changed into a jackdaw. Minos endeavours to gain the +alliance of Æacus, who, however, refuses it, and sends the Myrmidons, +(who have been changed into ants from men after a severe pestilence), +under the command of Cephalus to assist Ægeus. Cephalus relates to +Phocus, the son of Æacus, how, being carried off by Aurora and assuming +another shape, he had induced his wife Procris to prove faithless; and +how he had received from her a dog and a javelin, the former of which, +together with a fox, was changed into stone; while the latter, by +inadvertence, caused the death of his wife. + + + + +INTRODUCTION. + + [By Edward Brooks, Jr., from McKay edition.] + +P. Ovidius Naso--commonly known as Ovid--was born at Sulmo, about, +ninety miles from Rome, in the year 43 B.C. His father belonged to an +old equestrian family, and at an early age brought his son to Rome, +where he was educated under the most distinguished masters. Very little +is known of the poet’s life, except that which is gathered from his own +writings. After finishing his education at home he visited Athens, in +company with the poet Macer, for the purpose of completing his studies, +and before returning visited the magnificent cities of Asia Minor and +spent nearly a year in Sicily. + +Although as a young man Ovid showed a natural taste and inclination for +poetical composition, he was by no means encouraged to indulge in this +pursuit. His father thought that the profession of law was much more apt +to lead to distinction and political eminence than the vocation of a +poet. He therefore dissuaded his son from writing poetry and urged him +to devote himself to the legal profession. Compliance with his father’s +wishes led him to spend much time in the forum, and for a while poetry +was abandoned. Upon attaining his majority, he held several minor +offices of state; but neither his health nor his inclinations would +permit him to perform the duties of public life. Poetry was his love, +and in spite of the strong objections of his father, he resolved to +abandon the law courts and devote himself to a more congenial +occupation. He sought the society of the most distinguished poets of the +day, and his admiration for them amounted almost to reverence. He +numbered among his intimate friends the poets Macer, Propertius, +Ponticus and Bassus, while Æmilius Macer, Virgil’s contemporary, used to +read his compositions to him, and even the fastidious Horace, it is +said, occasionally delighted the young man’s ear with the charm of his +verse. + +Ovid was married three times. His first wife he married when little more +than a boy, and the union does not seem to have been a happy one, though +it was probably due to no fault of the wife. His second wife seems also +to have been of blameless character, but his love for her was of short +duration. His third wife was a lady of the great Fabian house and a +friend of the Empress Livia. She appears to have been a woman in every +way worthy of the great and lasting love which the poet lavished upon +her to the day of his death. + +Up to the age of fifty Ovid had lived a life of prosperity and +happiness. Though not a wealthy man, his means were such as to permit +him to indulge in the luxuries of refined life, and his attainments as a +poet had surrounded him with a circle of most desirable friends and +admirers. He had even obtained the favor and patronage of the royal +family. About the year 8 A.D. he, however, incurred the great +displeasure of Augustus, and was ordered by him to withdraw from Rome +and dwell in the colony of Tomi, on the shore of the Euxine sea. Leaving +behind him a wife to whom he was devotedly attached he obeyed the edict +of his emperor and entered upon an exile from which he was destined +never to return. He died in banishment at Tomi in the year 18 A.D. + +The exact reason for Ovid’s banishment has never been clear, though +there have been many conjectures as to the cause. About two years +previous to his exile Ovid had published a composition which had greatly +displeased Augustus, on account of its immoral tendency. Almost +coincident with this publication was the discovery of the scandal +relating to Julia, daughter of the emperor. It is probable that the +proximity of these two events tended to intensify the imperial +displeasure, and when some time later there was made public the intrigue +of the emperor’s granddaughter, the indignation of Augustus gave itself +vent in the banishment of Ovid. + +The writings of Ovid consist of the _Amores_ in three books; the _Heroic +Epistles_, twenty-one in number; the _Ars Amatoria_; the _Remedia +Amoris_; the _Metamorphoses_, in fifteen books; the _Fasti_, in six +books; the _Tristia_, in five books; the _Epistles_, in four books, and +a few minor poems. In the following pages will be found a translation of +the _Metamorphoses_. + + + + + + +THE METAMORPHOSES. + + + + +BOOK THE FIRST. + + +THE ARGUMENT. [I.1-4] + +My design leads me to speak of forms changed into new bodies.[1] Ye +Gods, (for you it was who changed them,) favor my attempts,[2] and bring +down the lengthened narrative from the very beginning of the world, +{even} to my own times.[3] + + [Footnote 1: _Forms changed into new bodies._--Ver. 1. Some + commentators cite these words as an instance of Hypallage as being + used for ‘corpora mutata in novas formas,’ ‘bodies changed into + new forms;’ and they fancy that there is a certain beauty in the + circumstance that the proposition of a subject which treats of the + changes and variations of bodies should be framed with a + transposition of words. This supposition is perhaps based rather + on the exuberance of a fanciful imagination than on solid grounds, + as if it is an instance of Hypallage, it is most probably quite + accidental; while the passage may be explained without any + reference to Hypallage, as the word ‘forma’ is sometimes used to + signify the thing itself; thus the words ‘formæ deorum’ and + ‘ferarum’ are used to signify ‘the Gods,’ or ‘the wild beasts’ + themselves.] + + [Footnote 2: _Favor my attempts._--Ver. 3. This use of the word + ‘adspirate’ is a metaphor taken from the winds, which, while they + fill the ship’s sails, were properly said ‘adspirare.’ It has been + remarked, with some justice, that this invocation is not + sufficiently long or elaborate for a work of so grave and + dignified a nature as the Metamorphoses.] + + [Footnote 3: _To my own times._--Ver. 4. That is, to the days of + Augustus Cæsar.] + + +FABLE I. [I.5-31] + + God reduces Chaos into order. He separates the four elements, and + disposes the several bodies, of which the universe is formed, into + their proper situations. + +At first, the sea, the earth, and the heaven, which covers all things, +were the only face of nature throughout the whole universe, which men +have named Chaos; a rude and undigested mass,[4] and nothing {more} than +an inert weight, and the discordant atoms of things not harmonizing, +heaped together in the same spot. No Sun[5] as yet gave light to the +world; nor did the Moon,[6] by increasing, recover her horns anew. The +Earth did not {as yet} hang in the surrounding air, balanced by its own +weight, nor had Amphitrite[7] stretched out her arms along the +lengthened margin of the coasts. Wherever, too, was the land, there also +was the sea and the air; {and} thus was the earth without firmness, the +sea unnavigable, the air void of light; in no one {of them} did its +{present} form exist. And one was {ever} obstructing the other; because +in the same body the cold was striving with the hot, the moist with the +dry, the soft with the hard, things having weight with {those} devoid of +weight. + +To this discord God and bounteous Nature[8] put an end; for he separated +the earth from the heavens, and the waters from the earth, and +distinguished the clear heavens from the gross atmosphere. And after he +had unravelled these {elements}, and released them from {that} confused +heap, he combined them, {thus} disjoined, in harmonious unison, {each} +in {its proper} place. The element of the vaulted heaven,[9] fiery and +without weight, shone forth, and selected a place for itself in the +highest region; next after it, {both} in lightness and in place, was the +air; the Earth was more weighty than these, and drew {with it} the more +ponderous atoms, and was pressed together by its own gravity. The +encircling waters sank to the lowermost place,[10] and surrounded the +solid globe. + + [Footnote 4: _A rude and undigested mass._--Ver. 7. This is very + similar to the words of the Scriptures, ‘And the earth was without + form and void,’ Genesis, ch. i. ver. 2.] + + [Footnote 5: _No Sun._--Ver. 10. Titan. The Sun is so called, on + account of his supposed father, Hyperion, who was one of the + Titans. Hyperion is thought to have been the first who, by + assiduous observation, discovered the course of the Sun, Moon, and + other luminaries. By them he regulated the time for the seasons, + and imparted this knowledge to others. Being thus, as it were, the + father of astronomy, he has been feigned by the poets to have been + the father of the Sun and the Moon.] + + [Footnote 6: _The Moon._--Ver. 11. Phœbe. The Moon is so called + from the Greek φοῖβος, ‘shining,’ and as being the sister of + Phœbus, Apollo, or the Sun.] + + [Footnote 7: _Amphitrite._--Ver. 14. She was the daughter of + Oceanus and Doris, and the wife of Neptune, God of the Sea. Being + the Goddess of the Ocean, her name is here used to signify the + ocean itself.] + + [Footnote 8: _Nature._--Ver. 21. ‘Natura’ is a word often used by + the Poet without any determinate signification, and to its + operations are ascribed all those phenomena which it is found + difficult or impossible to explain upon known and established + principles. In the present instance it may be considered to mean + the invisible agency of the Deity in reducing Chaos into a form of + order and consistency. ‘Et’ is therefore here, as grammarians term + it, an expositive particle; as if the Poet had said, ‘Deus sive + natura,’ ‘God, or in other words, nature.’] + + [Footnote 9: _The element of the vaulted heaven._--Ver. 26. This + is a periphrasis, signifying the regions of the firmament or upper + air, in which the sun and stars move; which was supposed to be of + the purest fire and the source of all flame. The heavens are + called ‘convex,’ from being supposed to assume the same shape as + the terrestrial globe which they surround.] + + [Footnote 10: _The lowermost place._--Ver. 31. ‘Ultima’ must not + be here understood in the presence of ‘infima,’ or as signifying + ‘last,’ or ‘lowest,’ in a strict philosophical sense, for that + would contradict the account of the formation of the world given + by Hesiod, and which is here closely followed by Ovid; indeed, it + would contradict his own words,--‘Circumfluus humor coercuit + solidum orbem.’ The meaning seems to be, that the waters possess + the lowest place only in respect to the earth whereon we tread, + and not relatively to the terrestrial globe, the supposed centre + of the system, inasmuch as the external surface of the earth in + some places rises considerably, and leaves the water to subside in + channels.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + The ancient philosophers, unable to comprehend how something could be + produced out of nothing, supposed a matter pre-existent to the Earth + in its present shape, which afterwards received form and order from + some powerful cause. According to them, God was not the Creator, but + the Architect of the universe, in ranging and disposing the elements + in situations most suitable to their respective qualities. This is the + Chaos so often sung of by the poets, and which Hesiod was the first to + mention. + + It is clear that this system was but a confused and disfigured + tradition of the creation of the world, as mentioned by Moses; and + thus, beneath these fictions, there lies some faint glimmering of + truth. The first two chapters of the book of Genesis will be found to + throw considerable light on the foundation of this Mythological system + of the world’s formation. + + Hesiod, the most ancient of the heathen writers who have enlarged upon + this subject, seems to have derived much of his information from the + works of Sanchoniatho, who is supposed to have borrowed his ideas + concerning Chaos from that passage in the second verse of the first + Chapter of Genesis, which mentions the darkness that was spread over + the whole universe--‘and darkness was upon the face of the deep’--for + he expresses himself almost in those words. Sanchoniatho lived before + the Trojan war, and professed to have received his information + respecting the original construction of the world from a priest of + ‘Jehovah,’ named Jerombaal. He wrote in the Phœnician language; but we + have only a translation of his works, by Philo Judæus, which is by + many supposed to be spurious. It is, however, very probable, that from + him the Greeks borrowed their notions regarding Chaos, which they + mingled with fables of their own invention. + + +FABLE II. [I.32-88] + + After the separation of matter, God gives form and regularity to the + universe; and all other living creatures being produced, Prometheus + moulds earth tempered with water, into a human form, which is animated + by Minerva. + +When thus he, whoever of the Gods he was,[11] had divided the mass {so} +separated, and reduced it, so divided, into {distinct} members; in the +first place, that it might not be unequal on any side, he gathered it up +into the form of a vast globe; then he commanded the sea to be poured +around it, and to grow boisterous with the raging winds, and to surround +the shores of the Earth, encompassed {by it}; he added also springs, and +numerous pools and lakes, and he bounded the rivers as they flowed +downwards, with slanting banks. These, different in {different} places, +are some of them swallowed up[12] by {the Earth} itself; some of them +reach the ocean, and, received in the expanse of waters that take a +freer range, beat against shores instead of banks. + +He commanded the plains,[13] too, to be extended, the valleys to sink +down, the woods to be clothed with green leaves, the craggy mountains to +arise; and, as on the right-hand side,[14] two Zones intersect the +heavens, and as many on the left; {and as} there is a fifth hotter than +these, so did the care of the Deity distinguish this enclosed mass {of +the Earth} by the same number, and as many climates are marked out upon +the Earth. Of these, that which is the middle one[15] is not habitable +on account of the heat; deep snow covers two[16] {of them}. Between +either these he placed as many more,[17] and gave them a temperate +climate, heat being mingled with cold. + +Over these hangs the air, which is heavier than fire, in the same degree +that the weight of water is lighter than the weight of the earth. Here +he ordered vapors, here too, the clouds to take their station; the +thunder, too, to terrify the minds of mortals, and with the lightnings, +the winds that bring on cold. The Contriver of the World did not allow +these indiscriminately to take possession of the sky. Even now, +(although they each of them govern their own blasts in a distinct tract) +they are with great difficulty prevented from rending the world asunder, +so great is the discord of the brothers.[18] Eurus took his way[19] +towards {the rising of} Aurora and the realms of Nabath[20] and Persia, +and the mountain ridges exposed to the rays of the morning. The Evening +star, and the shores which are warm with the setting sun, are bordering +upon Zephyrus.[21] The terrible Boreas invaded Scythia,[22] and the +regions of the North. The opposite quarter is wet with continual clouds, +and the drizzling South Wind.[23] Over these he placed the firmament, +clear and devoid of gravity, and not containing anything of the dregs of +earth. + +Scarcely had he separated all these by fixed limits, when the stars, +which had long lain hid, concealed beneath that mass {of Chaos}, began +to glow through the range of the heavens. And that no region might be +destitute of its own {peculiar} animated beings, the stars and the forms +of the Gods[24] possess the tract of heaven; the waters fell to be +inhabited by the smooth fishes;[25] the Earth received the wild beasts, +{and} the yielding air the birds. + +{But} an animated being, more holy than these, more fitted to receive +higher faculties, and which could rule over the rest,[26] was still +wanting. {Then} Man was formed. Whether it was that the Artificer of all +things, the original of the world in its improved state, framed him from +divine elements;[27] or whether, the Earth, being newly made, and but +lately divided from the lofty æther, still retained some atoms of its +kindred heaven, which, tempered with the waters of the stream, the son +of Iapetus fashioned after the image of the Gods, who rule over all +things. And, whereas other animals bend their looks downwards upon the +Earth, to Man he gave a countenance to look on high and to behold the +heavens, and to raise his face erect to the stars. Thus, that which had +been lately rude earth, and without any regular shape, being changed, +assumed the form of Man, {till then} unknown. + + [Footnote 11: _Whoever of the Gods he was._--Ver. 32. By this + expression the Poet perhaps may intend to intimate that the God + who created the world was some more mighty Divinity than those who + were commonly accounted Deities.] + + [Footnote 12: _Are some of them swallowed up._--Ver. 40. He here + refers to those rivers which, at some distance from their sources, + disappear and continue their course under ground. Such was the + stream of Arethusa, the Lycus in Asia, the Erasinus in Argolis, + the Alpheus in Peloponnesus, the Arcas in Spain, and the Rhone in + France. Most of these, however, after descending into the earth, + appear again and discharge their waters into the sea.] + + [Footnote 13: _He commanded the plains._--Ver. 43. The use here of + the word ‘jussit,’ signifying ‘ordered,’ or ‘commanded,’ is + considered as being remarkably sublime and appropriate, and + serving well to express the ease wherewith an infinitely powerful + Being accomplishes the most difficult works. There is the same + beauty here that was long since remarked by Longinus, one of the + most celebrated critics among the ancients, in the words used by + Moses, ‘And God said, Let there be light, and there was light,’ + Genesis, ch. i. ver. 3.] + + [Footnote 14: _On the right-hand side._--Ver. 45. The “right hand” + here refers to the northern part of the globe, and the “left hand” + to the southern. He here speaks of the zones. Astronomers have + divided the heavens into five parallel circles. First, the + equinoctial, which lies in the middle, between the poles of the + earth, and obtains its name from the equality of days and nights + on the earth while the sun is in its plane. On each side are the + two tropics, at the distance of 23 deg. 30 min., and described by + the sun when in his greatest declination north and south, or at + the summer and winter solstices. That on the north side of the + equinoctial is called the tropic of Cancer, because the sun + describes it when in that sign of the ecliptic; and that on the + south side is, for a similar reason, called the tropic of + Capricorn. Again, at the distance of 23½ degrees from the poles + are two other parallels called the polar circles, either because + they are near to the poles, or because, if we suppose the whole + frame of the heavens to turn round on the plane of the + equinoctial, these circles are marked out by the poles of the + ecliptic. By means of these parallels, astronomers have divided + the heavens into four zones or tracks. The whole space between the + two tropics is the middle or torrid zone, which the equinoctial + divides into two equal parts. On each side of this are the + temperate zones, which extend from the tropics to the two polar + circles. And lastly, the portions enclosed by the polar circles + make up the frigid zones. As the planes of these circles produced + till they reached the earth, would also impress similar parallels + upon it, and divide it in the same manner as they divide the + heavens, astronomers have conceived five zones upon the earth, + corresponding to those in the heavens, and bounded by the same + circles.] + + [Footnote 15: _That which is the middle one._--Ver. 49. The + ecliptic in which the sun moves, cuts the equator in two opposite + points, at an angle of 23½ degrees; and runs obliquely from one + tropic to another, and returns again in a corresponding direction. + Hence, the sun, which in the space of a year, performs the + revolution of this circle, must in that time be twice vertical to + every place in the torrid zone, except directly under the tropics, + and his greatest distance from their zenith at noon, cannot exceed + 47 degrees. Thus his rays being often perpendicular, or nearly so, + and never very oblique, must strike more forcibly, and cause more + intense heat in that spot. Being little acquainted with the extent + and situation of the earth, the ancients believed it + uninhabitable. Modern discovery has shown that this is not the + case as to a considerable part of the torrid zone, though with + some parts of it our acquaintance is still very limited.] + + [Footnote 16: _Deep snow covers two._--Ver. 50. The two polar or + frigid zones. For as the sun never approaches these nearer than + the tropic on that side, and is, during one part of the year, + removed by the additional extent of the whole torrid zone, his + rays must be very oblique and faint, so as to leave these tracts + exposed to almost perpetual cold.] + + [Footnote 17: _He placed as many more._--Ver. 51. The temperate + zones, lying between the torrid and the frigid, partake of the + character of each in a modified degree, and are of a middle + temperature between hot and cold. Here, too, the distinction of + the seasons is manifest. For in either temperate zone, when the + sun is in that tropic, which borders upon it, being nearly + vertical, the heat must be considerable, and produce summer; but + when he is removed to the other tropic by a distance of 47 + degrees, his rays will strike but faintly, and winter will be the + consequence. The intermediate spaces, while he is moving from one + tropic to the other, make spring and autumn.] + + [Footnote 18: _The brothers._--Ver. 60. That is, the winds, who, + according to the Theogony of Hesiod, were the sons of Astreus, the + giant, and Aurora.] + + [Footnote 19: _Eurus took his way._--Ver. 61. The Poet, after + remarking that the air is the proper region of the winds, proceeds + to take notice that God, to prevent them from making havoc of the + creation, subjected them to particular laws, and assigned to each + the quarter whence to direct his blasts. Eurus is the east wind, + being so called from its name, because it blows from the east. As + Aurora, or the morning, was always ushered in by the sun, who + rises eastward, she was supposed to have her habitation in the + eastern quarter of the world; and often, in the language of + ancient poetry, her name signifies the east.] + + [Footnote 20: _The realms of Nabath._--Ver. 61. From Josephus we + learn that Nabath, the son of Ishmael, with his eleven brothers, + took possession of all the country from the river Euphrates to the + Red Sea, and called it Nabathæa. Pliny the Elder and Strabo speak + of the Nabatæi as situated between Babylon and Arabia Felix, and + call their capital Petra. Tacitus, in his Annals (Book ii. + ch. 57), speaks of them as having a king. Perhaps the term + ‘Nabathæa regna’ implies here, generally, the whole of Arabia.] + + [Footnote 21: _Are bordering upon Zephyrus._--Ver. 63. The region + where the sun sets, that is to say, the western part of the world, + was assigned by the ancients to the Zephyrs, or west winds, so + called by a Greek derivation because they cherish and enliven + nature.] + + [Footnote 22: _Boreas invaded Scythia._--Ver. 34. Under the name + of Scythia, the ancients generally comprehended all the countries + situate in the extreme northern regions. ‘Septem trio,’ meaning + the northern region of the world, is so called from the ‘Triones,’ + a constellation of seven stars, near the North Pole, known also as + the Ursa Major, or Greater Bear, and among the country people of + our time by the name of Charles’s Wain. Boreas, one of the names + of ‘Aquilo,’ or the ‘north wind,’ is derived from a Greek word, + signifying ‘an eddy.’ This name was probably given to it from its + causing whirlwinds occasionally by its violence.] + + [Footnote 23: _The drizzling South Wind._--Ver. 66. The South Wind + is especially called rainy, because, blowing from the + Mediterranean sea on the coast of France and Italy, it generally + brings with it clouds and rain.] + + [Footnote 24: _The forms of the Gods._--Ver. 73. There is some + doubt what the Poet here means by the ‘forms of the Gods.’ Some + think that the stars are meant, as if it were to be understood + that they are forms of the Gods. But it is most probably only a + poetical expression for the Gods themselves, and he here assigns + the heavens as the habitation of the Gods and the stars; these + last, according to the notion of the Platonic philosophers being + either intelligent beings, or guided and actuated by such.] + + [Footnote 25: _Inhabited by the smooth fishes._--Ver. 74. + ‘Cesserunt nitidis habitandæ piscibus;’ Clarke translates ‘fell + to the neat fishes to inhabit.’] + + [Footnote 26: _Could rule over the rest._--Ver. 77. This strongly + brings to mind the words of the Creator, described in the first + chapter of Genesis, ver. 28. ‘And God said unto them--_have + dominion_ over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, + and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.’] + + [Footnote 27: _Framed him from divine elements._--Ver. 78. We have + here strong grounds for contending that the ancient philosophers, + and after them the poets, in their account of the creation of the + world followed a tradition that had been copied from the Books of + Moses. The formation of man, in Ovid, as well as in the Book of + Genesis, is the last work of the Creator, and was, for the same + purpose, that man might have dominion over the other animated + works of the creation.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + According to Ovid, as in the book of Genesis, man is the last work of + the Creator. The information derived from Holy Writ is here presented + to us, in a disfigured form. Prometheus, who tempers the earth, and + Minerva, who animates his workmanship, is God, who formed man, and + ‘breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.’ + + Some writers have labored to prove that this Prometheus, of the + heathen Mythology, was a Scriptural character. Bochart believes him to + have been the same with Magog, mentioned in the book of Genesis. + Prometheus was the son of Iapetus, and Magog was the son of Japhet, + who, according to that learned writer, was identical with Iapetus. He + says, that as Magog went to settle in Scythia, so did Prometheus; as + Magog either invented, or improved, the art of founding metals, and + forging iron, so, according to the heathen poets, did Prometheus. + Diodorus Siculus asserts that Prometheus was the first to teach + mankind how to produce fire from the flint and steel. + + The fable of Prometheus being devoured by an eagle, according to some, + is founded on the name of Magog, which signifies ‘a man devoured by + sorrow.’ Le Clerc, in his notes on Hesiod, says, that Epimetheus, the + brother of Prometheus, was the same with the Gog of Scripture, the + brother of Magog. Some writers, again, have exerted their ingenuity to + prove that Prometheus is identical with the patriarch Noah. + + +FABLE III. [I.89-112] + + The formation of man is followed by a succession of the four ages of + the world. The first is the Golden Age, during which Innocence and + Justice alone govern the world. + +The Golden Age was first founded, which, without any avenger, of its own +accord, without laws, practised both faith and rectitude. Punishment, +and the fear {of it}, did not exist, and threatening decrees were not +read upon the brazen {tables},[28] fixed up {to view}, nor {yet} did the +suppliant multitude dread the countenance of its judge; but {all} were +in safety without any avenger. The pine-tree, cut from its {native} +mountains, had not yet descended to the flowing waves, that it might +visit a foreign region; and mortals were acquainted with no shores +beyond their own. Not as yet did deep ditches surround the towns; no +trumpets of straightened, or clarions of crooked brass,[29] no helmets, +no swords {then} existed. Without occasion for soldiers, the minds {of +men}, free from care, enjoyed an easy tranquillity. + +The Earth itself, too, in freedom, untouched by the harrow, and wounded +by no ploughshares, of its own accord produced everything; and men, +contented with the food created under no compulsion, gathered the fruit +of the arbute-tree, and the strawberries of the mountain, and cornels, +and blackberries adhering to the prickly bramble-bushes, and acorns +which had fallen from the wide-spreading tree of Jove. {Then} it was an +eternal spring; and the gentle Zephyrs, with their soothing breezes, +cherished the flowers produced without any seed. Soon, too, the Earth +unploughed yielded crops of grain, and the land, without being renewed, +was whitened with the heavy ears of corn. Then, rivers of milk, then, +rivers of nectar were flowing, and the yellow honey was distilled from +the green holm oak. + + [Footnote 28: _Read upon the brazen tables._--Ver. 91. It was the + custom among the Romans to engrave their laws on tables of brass, + and fix them in the Capitol, or some other conspicuous place, that + they might be open to the view of all.] + + [Footnote 29: _Clarions of crooked brass._--Ver. 98. ‘Cornu’ seems + to have been a general name for the horn or trumpet; whereas the + “tuba” was a straight trumpet, while the ‘lituus’ was bent into a + spiral shape. Lydus says that the ‘lituus’ was the sacerdotal + trumpet, and that it was employed by Romulus when he proclaimed + the title of his newly-founded city. Acro says that it was + peculiar to the cavalry, while the ‘tuba’ belonged to the + infantry. The notes of the ‘lituus’ are usually described as harsh + and shrill.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + The heathen poets had learned, most probably from tradition, that our + first parents lived for some time in peaceful innocence; that, without + tillage, the garden of Eden furnished them with fruit and food in + abundance; and that the animals were submissive to their commands: + that after the fall the ground became unfruitful, and yielded nothing + without labor; and that nature no longer spontaneously acknowledged + man for its master. The more happy days of our first parents they seem + to have styled the Golden Age, each writer being desirous to make his + own country the scene of those times of innocence. The Latin writers, + for instance, have placed in Italy, and under the reign of Saturn and + Janus, events, which, as they really happened, the Scriptures relate + in the histories of Adam and of Noah. + + +FABLE IV. [I.113-150] + + In the Silver Age, men begin not to be so just, nor, consequently, so + happy, as in the Golden Age. In the Brazen Age, which succeeds, they + become yet less virtuous; but their wickedness does not rise to its + highest pitch until the Iron Age, when it makes its appearance in all + its deformity. + +Afterwards (Saturn being driven into the shady realms of Tartarus), the +world was under the sway of Jupiter; {then} the Silver Age succeeded, +inferior to {that of} gold, but more precious than {that of} yellow +brass. Jupiter shortened the duration of the former spring, and divided +the year into four periods by means of winters, and summers, and +unsteady autumns, and short springs. Then, for the first time, did the +parched air glow with sultry heat, and the ice, bound up by the winds, +was pendant. Then, for the first time, did men enter houses; {those} +houses were caverns, and thick shrubs, and twigs fastened together with +bark. Then, for the first time, were the seeds of Ceres buried in long +furrows, and the oxen groaned, pressed by the yoke {of the ploughshare}. + +The Age of Brass succeeded, as the third {in order}, after these; +fiercer in disposition, and more prone to horrible warfare, but yet free +from impiety. The last {Age} was of hard iron. Immediately every species +of crime burst forth, in this age of degenerated tendencies;[30] +modesty, truth, and honor took flight; in their place succeeded fraud, +deceit, treachery, violence, and the cursed hankering for acquisition. +The sailor now spread his sails to the winds, and with these, as yet, he +was but little acquainted; and {the trees}, which had long stood on the +lofty mountains, now, {as} ships bounded[31] through the unknown waves. +The ground, too, hitherto common as the light of the sun and the +breezes, the cautious measurer marked out with his lengthened boundary. + +And not only was the rich soil required to furnish corn and due +sustenance, but men even descended into the entrails of the Earth; and +riches were dug up, the incentives to vice, which the Earth had hidden, +and had removed to the Stygian shades.[32] Then destructive iron came +forth, and gold, more destructive than iron; then War came forth, that +fights through the means of both,[33] and that brandishes in his +blood-stained hands the clattering arms. Men live by rapine; the guest +is not safe from his entertainer, nor the father-in-law from the +son-in-law; good feeling, too, between brothers is a rarity. The husband +is eager for the death of the wife, she {for that} of her husband. +Horrible stepmothers {then} mingle the ghastly wolfsbane; the son +prematurely makes inquiry[34] into the years of his father. Piety lies +vanquished, and the virgin Astræa[35] is the last of the heavenly +{Deities} to abandon the Earth, {now} drenched in slaughter. + + [Footnote 30: _Age of degenerated tendencies._--Ver. 128. ‘Vena’ + signifies among other things, a vein or track of metal as it lies + in the mine. Literally, ‘venæ pejoris’ signifies ‘of inferior + metal.’] + + [Footnote 31: _Now as ships bounded._--Ver. 134. ‘Insultavere + carinæ.’ This line is translated by Clarke, ‘The keel-pieces + bounced over unknown waves.’] + + [Footnote 32: _To the Stygian shades._--Ver. 139. That is, in deep + caverns, and towards the centre of the earth; for Styx was feigned + to be a river of the Infernal Regions, situate in the depths of + the earth.] + + [Footnote 33: _Through the means of both._--Ver. 142. Gold forms, + perhaps, more properly the sinews of war than iron. The history of + Philip of Macedon gives a proof of this, as he conquered Greece + more by bribes than the sword, and used to say, that he deemed no + fortress impregnable, where there was a gate large enough to admit + a camel laden with gold.] + + [Footnote 34: _Prematurely makes inquiry._--Ver. 148. Namely, by + inquiring of the magicians and astrologers, that by their skill in + casting nativities, they might inform them the time when their + parents were likely to die, and to leave them their property.] + + [Footnote 35: _Astræa._--Ver. 150. She was the daughter of Astræus + and Aurora, or of Jupiter and Themis, and was the Goddess of + Justice. On leaving the earth, she was supposed to have taken her + place among the stars as the Constellation of the Virgin.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + The Poet here informs us, that during the Golden Age, a perpetual + spring reigned on the earth, and that the division of the year into + seasons was not known until the Silver Age. This allusion to Eden is + very generally to be found in the works of the heathen poets. The + Silver Age is succeeded by the Brazen, and that is followed by the + Iron Age, which still continues. The meaning is, that man gradually + degenerated from his primeval innocence, and arrived at that state of + wickedness and impiety, of which the history of all ages, ancient and + modern, presents us with so many lamentable examples. + + The limited nature of their views, and the fact that their exuberant + fancy was the source from which they derived many of their alleged + events, naturally betrayed the ancient writers into great + inconsistencies. For in the Golden Age of Saturn, we find wars waged, + and crimes committed. Saturn expelled his father, and seized his + throne; Jupiter, his son, treated Saturn as he had done his father + Uranus; and Jupiter, in his turn, had to wage war against the Giants, + in their attempt to dispossess him of the heavens. + + +FABLE V. [I.151-162] + + The Giants having attempted to render themselves masters of heaven, + Jupiter buries them under the mountains which they have heaped + together to facilitate their assault; and the Earth, animating their + blood, forms out of it a cruel and fierce generation of men. + +And that the lofty {realms of} æther might not be more safe than the +Earth, they say that the Giants aspired to the sovereignty of Heaven, +and piled the mountains, heaped together, even to the lofty stars. Then +the omnipotent Father, hurling his lightnings, broke through +Olympus,[36] and struck Ossa away from Pelion, that lay beneath it. +While the dreadful carcasses lay overwhelmed beneath their own +structure, they say that the Earth was wet, drenched with the plenteous +blood of her sons, and that she gave life to the warm gore; and that, +lest no memorial of this ruthless race should be surviving, she shaped +them into the form of men. But that generation, too, was a despiser of +the Gods above, and most greedy of ruthless slaughter, and full of +violence: you might see that they derived their origin from blood. + + [Footnote 36: _Olympus._--Ver. 154. Olympus was a mountain between + Thessaly and Macedonia. Pelion was a mountain of Thessaly, towards + the Pelasgic gulf; and Ossa was a mountain between Olympus and + Pelion. These the Giants are said to have heaped one on another, + in order to scale heaven.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + The war of the giants, which is here mentioned, is not to be + confounded with that between Jupiter and the Titans, who were + inhabitants of heaven. The fall of the angels, as conveyed by + tradition, probably gave rise to the story of the Titans; while, + perhaps, the building of the tower of Babel may have laid the + foundation of that of the attempt by the giants to reach heaven. + Perhaps, too, the descendants of Cain, who are probably the persons + mentioned in Scripture as the children ‘of men’ and ‘giants,’ were the + race depicted under the form of the Giants, and the generation that + sprung from their blood. See Genesis, ch. vi. ver. 2, 4. + + +FABLE VI. [I.163-215] + + Jupiter, having seen the crimes of this impious race of men, calls a + council of the Gods, and determines to destroy the world. + +When the Father {of the Gods}, the son of Saturn, beheld this from his +loftiest height, he groaned aloud; and recalling to memory the polluted +banquet on the table of Lycaon, not yet publicly known, from the crime +being but lately committed, he conceives in his mind vast wrath, and +such as is worthy of Jove, and calls together a council; no delay +detains them, thus summoned. + +There is a way on high,[37] easily seen in a clear sky, and which, +remarkable for its very whiteness, receives the name of the Milky {Way}. +Along this is the way for the Gods above to the abode of the great +Thunderer and his royal palace. On the right and on the left side the +courts of the ennobled Deities[38] are thronged, with open gates. The +{Gods of} lower rank[39] inhabit various places; in front {of the Way}, +the powerful and illustrious inhabitants of Heaven have established +their residence. This is the place which, if boldness may be allowed to +my expression, I should not hesitate to style the palatial residence of +Heaven. When, therefore, the Gods above had taken their seats in the +marble hall of assembly; he himself, elevated on his seat, and leaning +on his sceptre of ivory, three or four times shook the awful locks[40] +of his head, with which he makes the Earth, the Seas, and the Stars to +tremble. Then, after such manner as this, did he open his indignant +lips:-- + +“Not {even} at that time was I more concerned for the empire of the +universe, when each of the snake-footed monsters was endeavoring to lay +his hundred arms on the captured skies. For although that was a +dangerous enemy, yet that war was with but one stock, and sprang from a +single origin. Now must the race of mortals be cut off by me, wherever +Nereus[41] roars on all sides of the earth; {this} I swear by the Rivers +of Hell, that glide in the Stygian grove beneath the earth. All methods +have been already tried; but a wound that admits of no cure, must be cut +away with the knife, that the sound parts may not be corrupted. I have +{as subjects}, Demigods, and I have the rustic Deities, the Nymphs,[42] +and the Fauns, and the Satyrs, and the Sylvans, the inhabitants of the +mountains; these, though as yet, we have not thought them worthy of the +honor of Heaven, let us, at least, permit to inhabit the earth which we +have granted them. And do you, ye Gods of Heaven, believe that they will +be in proper safety, when Lycaon remarkable for his cruelty, has formed +a plot against {even} me, who own and hold sway over the thunder and +yourselves?” + +All shouted their assent aloud, and with ardent zeal they called for +vengeance on one who dared such {crimes}. Thus, when an impious band[43] +{madly} raged to extinguish the Roman name in the blood of Cæsar, the +human race was astonished with sudden terror at ruin so universal, and +the whole earth shook with horror. Nor was the affectionate regard, +Augustus, of thy subjects less grateful to thee, than that was to +Jupiter. Who, after he had, by means of his voice and his hand, +suppressed their murmurs, all of them kept silence. Soon as the clamor +had ceased, checked by the authority of their ruler, Jupiter again broke +silence in these words: + +“He, indeed, (dismiss your cares) has suffered {dire} punishment; but +what was the offence and what the retribution, I will inform you. The +report of the iniquity of the age had reached my ears; wishing to find +this not to be the truth, I descended from the top of Olympus, and, +a God in a human shape, I surveyed the earth. ’Twere an endless task to +enumerate how great an amount of guilt was everywhere discovered; the +report itself was below the truth.” + + [Footnote 37: _There is a way on high._--Ver. 168. The Poet here + gives a description of the court of heaven; and supposing the + galaxy, or Milky Way, to be the great road to the palace of + Jupiter, places the habitations of the Gods on each side of it, + and adjoining the palace itself. The mythologists also invented a + story, that the Milky Way was a track left in the heavens by the + milk of Juno flowing from the mouth of Hercules, when suckled by + her. Aristotle, however, suspected what has been since confirmed + by the investigations of modern science, that it was formed by the + light of innumerable stars.] + + [Footnote 38: _The ennobled Deities._--Ver. 172. These were the + superior Deities, who formed the privy councillors of Jupiter, and + were called ‘Di majorum gentium,’ or, ‘Di consentes.’ Reckoning + Jupiter as one, they were twelve in number, and are enumerated by + Ennius in two limping hexameter lines:-- + + ‘Juno, Vesta, Minerva, Ceres, Diana, Venus, Mars, + Mercurius, Jovis, Neptunus, Vulcanus, Apollo.’] + + [Footnote 39: _The Gods of lower rank._--Ver. 173. These were the + ‘Dii minorum gentium,’ or inferior Deities.] + + [Footnote 40: _Shook the awful locks._--Ver. 179. This awful nod + of Jupiter, the sanction by which he confirms his decrees, is an + idea taken from Homer; by whom it is so vividly depicted at the + end of the first book of the Iliad, that Phidias, in his statue of + that God, admired for the awful majesty of its looks, is said to + have derived his conception of the features from that description. + Virgil has the same idea in the Æneid, book x; ‘Annuit, et totum + metu tremefecit Olympum.’] + + [Footnote 41: _Nereus._--Ver. 187. He was one of the most ancient + of the Deities of the sea, and was the son of Oceanus and Tethys.] + + [Footnote 42: _The Nymphs._--Ver. 192. The terrestrial Nymphs were + the Dryads and Hamadryads, who haunting the woods, and the + duration of their existence depending upon the life of particular + trees, derived their name from the Greek word δρῦς, ‘an oak.’ The + Oreades were nymphs who frequented the mountains, while the Napeæ + lived in the groves and valleys. There were also Nymphs of the sea + and of the rivers; of which, the Nereids were so called from their + father Nereus, and the Oceanitides, from Oceanus. There were also + the Naiads, or nymphs of the fountains, and many others.] + + [Footnote 43: _Thus when an impious band._--Ver. 200. It is a + matter of doubt whether he here refers to the conspiracies of + Brutus and Cassius against Julius Cæsar, or whether to that + against Augustus, which is mentioned by Suetonius, in the + nineteenth chapter of his History. As Augustus survived the latter + conspiracy, and the parallel is thereby rendered more complete, + probably this is the circumstance here alluded to.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + It is to be presumed, that Ovid here follows the prevailing tradition + of his time; and it is surprising how closely that tradition adheres + to the words of Scripture, relative to the determination of the + Almighty to punish the earth by a deluge, as disclosed in the sixth + chapter of Genesis. The Poet tells us, that the King of heaven calls + the Gods to a grand council, to deliberate upon the punishment of + mankind, in retribution for their wickedness. The words of Scripture + are, “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, + and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil + continually. And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the + earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the Lord said, ‘I will + destroy man, whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man + and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air: for it + repenteth me that I have made them.’” --Genesis, ch. vi. ver. 5, 6, 7. + + Tradition seems to have faithfully carried down the fact, that, amid + this universal corruption, there was still at least one just man, and + here it attributes to Deucalion the merit that belonged to Noah. + + +FABLE VII. [I.216-243] + + Lycaon, king of Arcadia, in order to discover if it is Jupiter himself + who has come to lodge in his palace, orders the body of an hostage, + who had been sent to him, to be dressed and served up at a feast. The + God, as a punishment, changes him into a wolf. + +I had {now} passed Mænalus, to be dreaded for its dens of beasts of +prey, and the pine-groves of cold Lycæus, together with Cyllene.[44] +After this, I entered the realms and the inhospitable abode of the +Arcadian tyrant, just as the late twilight was bringing on the night. +I gave a signal that a God had come, and the people commenced to pay +their adorations. In the first place, Lycaon derided their pious +supplications. Afterwards, he said, I will make trial, by a plain proof, +whether this is a God, or whether he is a mortal; nor shall the truth +remain a matter of doubt. He then makes preparations to destroy me, when +sunk in sleep, by an unexpected death; this mode of testing the truth +pleases him. And not content with that, with the sword he cuts the +throat of an hostage that had been sent from the nation of the +Molossians,[45] and then softens part of the quivering limbs, in boiling +water, and part he roasts with fire placed beneath. Soon as he had +placed these on the table, I, with avenging flames, overthrew the house +upon the household Gods,[46] worthy of their master. Alarmed, he himself +takes to flight, and having reached the solitude of the country, he +howls aloud, and in vain attempts to speak; his mouth gathers rage from +himself, and through its {usual} desire for slaughter, it is directed +against the sheep, and even still delights in blood. His garments are +changed into hair, his arms into legs; he becomes a wolf, and he still +retains vestiges of his ancient form. His hoariness is still the same, +the same violence {appears} in his features; his eyes are bright as +before; {he is still} the same image of ferocity. + +“Thus fell one house; but one house alone did not deserve to perish; +wherever the earth extends, the savage Erinnys[47] reigns. You would +suppose that men had conspired to be wicked; let all men speedily feel +that vengeance which they deserve to endure, for such is my +determination.” + + [Footnote 44: _Together with Cyllene._--Ver. 217. Cyllenus, or + Cyllene, was a mountain of Arcadia, sacred to Mercury, who was + hence called by the poets Cyllenius. Lycæus was also a mountain of + Arcadia, sacred to Pan, and was covered with groves of + pine-trees.] + + [Footnote 45: _Of the Molossians._--Ver. 226. The Molossi were a + people of Epirus, on the eastern side of the Ambracian gulf. Ovid + here commits a slight anachronism, as the name was derived from + Molossus, the son of Neoptolemus, long after the time of Lycaon. + Besides, as Burmann observes, who could believe that ‘wars could + be waged at such an early period between nations so distant as the + Molossi and the Arcadians?’ Apollodorus says, that it was a child + of the same country, whose flesh Lycaon set before Jupiter. Other + writers say that it was Nyctimus, the son of Lycaon, or Arcas, his + grandson, that was slain by him.] + + [Footnote 46: _Upon the household Gods._--Ver. 231. This + punishment was awarded to the Penates, or household Gods of + Lycaon, for taking such a miscreant under their protection.] + + [Footnote 47: _The savage Erinnys._--Ver. 241. Erinnys was a + general name given to the Furies by the Greeks. They were three in + number--Alecto, Tisiphone, and Megæra. These were so called, + either from the Greek ἔρις νοῦ, ‘the discord of the mind,’ or from + ἐν τῇ ἔρα ναίειν, ‘their inhabiting the earth,’ watching the + actions of men.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + If Ovid is not here committing an anachronism, and making Jupiter, + before the deluge, relate the story of a historical personage, who + existed long after it, the origin of the story of Lycaon must be + sought in the antediluvian narrative. It is just possible that the + guilty Cain may have been the original of Lycaon. The names are not + very dissimilar: they are each mentioned as the first murderer; and + the fact, that Cain murdered Abel at the moment when he was offering + sacrifice to the Almighty, may have given rise to the tradition that + Lycaon had set human flesh before the king of heaven. The Scripture, + too, tells us, that Cain was personally called to account by the + Almighty for his deed of blood. + + The punishment here inflicted on Lycaon was not very dissimilar to + that with which Cain was visited. Cain was sentenced to be a fugitive + and a wanderer on the face of the earth; and such is essentially the + character of the wolf, shunned by both men and animals. Of course, + there are many points to which it is not possible to extend the + parallel. Some of the ancient writers tell us, that there were two + Lycaons, the first of whom was the son of Phoroneus, who reigned in + Arcadia about the time of the patriarch Jacob; and the second, who + succeeded him, polluted the festivals of the Gods by the sacrifice of + the human race; for, having erected an altar to Jupiter, at the city + of Lycosura, he slew human victims on it, whence arose the story + related by the Poet. This solution is given by Pausanias, in his + Arcadica. We are also told by that historian, and by Suidas, that + Lycaon was, notwithstanding, a virtuous prince, the benefactor of his + people, and the promoter of improvement. + + +FABLE VIII. [I.244-312] + + Jupiter, not thinking the punishment of Lycaon sufficient to strike + terror into the rest of mankind, resolves, on account of the universal + corruption, to extirpate them by a universal deluge. + +Some, by their words approve the speech of Jupiter, and give spur to +him, {indignantly} exclaiming; others, by {silent} assent fulfil their +parts. Yet the {entire} destruction of the human race is a cause of +grief to them all, and they inquire what is to be the form of the earth +in future, when destitute of mankind? who is to place frankincense[48] +on the altars? and whether it is his design to give up the nations for a +prey to the wild beasts? The ruler of the Gods forbids them making these +enquiries, to be alarmed (for that the rest should be his care); and he +promises, {that} from a wondrous source {he will raise} a generation +unlike the preceding race. + +And now he was about to scatter his thunder over all lands; but he was +afraid lest, perchance, the sacred æther might catch fire, from so many +flames, and the extended sky might become inflamed. He remembers, too, +that it was in the {decrees of} Fate, that a time should come,[49] at +which the sea, the earth, and the palace of heaven, seized {by the +flames}, should be burned, and the laboriously-wrought fabric of the +universe should be in danger of perishing. The weapons forged by the +hands of the Cyclops are laid aside; a different {mode of} punishment +pleases him: to destroy mankind beneath the waves, and to let loose the +rains from the whole tract of Heaven. At once he shuts the North Wind in +the caverns of Æolus, and {all} those blasts which dispel the clouds +drawn over {the Earth}; and {then} he sends forth the South Wind. With +soaking wings the South Wind flies abroad, having his terrible face +covered with pitchy darkness; his beard {is} loaded with showers, the +water streams down from his hoary locks, clouds gather upon his +forehead, his wings and the folds of his robe[50] drip with wet; and, as +with his broad hand he squeezes the hanging clouds, a crash arises, and +thence showers are poured in torrents from the sky. Iris,[51] the +messenger of Juno, clothed in various colors, collects the waters, and +bears a supply {upwards} to the clouds. + +The standing corn is beaten down, and the expectations of the +husbandman, {now} lamented by him, are ruined, and the labors of a long +year prematurely perish. Nor is the wrath of Jove satisfied with his own +heaven; but {Neptune}, his azure brother, aids him with his auxiliary +waves. He calls together the rivers, which, soon as they had entered the +abode of their ruler, he says, “I must not now employ a lengthened +exhortation; pour forth {all} your might, so the occasion requires. Open +your abodes, and, {each} obstacle removed, give full rein to your +streams.” {Thus} he commanded; they return, and open the mouths of their +fountains,[52] and roll on into the ocean with unobstructed course. He +himself struck the Earth with his trident, {on which} it shook, and with +a tremor laid open the sources of its waters. The rivers, breaking out, +rush through the open plains, and bear away, together with the standing +corn, the groves, flocks, men, houses, and temples, together with their +sacred {utensils}. If any house remained, and, not thrown down, was able +to resist ruin so vast, yet the waves, {rising} aloft, covered the roof +of that {house}, and the towers tottered, overwhelmed beneath the +stream. And now sea and land had no mark of distinction; everything now +was ocean; and to that ocean shores were wanting. One man takes +possession of a hill, another sits in a curved boat, and plies the oars +there where he had lately ploughed; another sails over the standing +corn, or the roof of his country-house under water; another catches a +fish on the top of an elm-tree. An anchor (if chance so directs) is +fastened in a green meadow, or the curving keels come in contact with +the vineyards, {now} below them; and where of late the slender goats had +cropped the grass, there unsightly sea-calves are now reposing their +bodies. + +The Nereids wonder at the groves, the cities, and the houses under +water; dolphins get into the woods, and run against the lofty branches, +and beat against the tossed oaks. The wolf swims[53] among the sheep; +the wave carries along the tawny lions; the wave carries along the +tigers. Neither does the powers of his lightning-shock avail the wild +boar, nor his swift legs the stag, {now} borne away. The wandering bird, +too, having long sought for land, where it may be allowed to light, its +wings failing, falls down into the sea. The boundless range of the sea +had overwhelmed the hills, and the stranger waves beat against the +heights of the mountains. The greatest part is carried off by the water: +those whom the water spares, long fastings overcome, through scantiness +of food. + + [Footnote 48: _To place frankincense._--Ver. 249. In those early + ages, corn or wheaten flour, was the customary offering to the + Deities, and not frankincense, which was introduced among the + luxuries of more refined times. Ovid is consequently guilty of an + anachronism here.] + + [Footnote 49: _That a time should come._--Ver. 256. Lactantius + informs us that the Sibyls predicted that the world should perish + by fire. Seneca also, in his consolation to Marcia, and in his + Quæstiones Naturales, mentions the same destined termination of + the present state of the universe. It was a doctrine of the Stoic + philosophers, that the stars were nurtured with moisture, and that + on the cessation of this nourishment the conflagration of the + universe would ensue.] + + [Footnote 50: _The folds of his robe._--Ver. 267. ‘Rorant pennæ + sinusque,’ is quaintly translated by Clarke, ‘his wings and the + plaits of his coat drop.’] + + [Footnote 51: _Iris._--Ver. 271. The mention of Iris, the goddess + of the rainbow, in connection with the flood of Deucalion, cannot + fail to remind us of the ‘bow set in the cloud, for a token of the + covenant between God and the earth,’ on the termination of Noah’s + flood.--Gen. x. 14.] + + [Footnote 52: _The mouths of their fountains._--Ver. 281. The + expressions in this line and in line 283, are not unlike the words + of the 11th verse of the 7th chapter of Genesis, ‘The fountains of + the great deep were broken up.’] + + [Footnote 53: _The wolf swims._--Ver. 304. One commentator remarks + here, that there was nothing very wonderful in a dead wolf + swimming among the sheep without devouring them. Seneca is, + however, too severe upon our author in saying that he is trifling + here, in troubling himself on so serious an occasion with what + sheep and wolves are doing: for he gravely means to say, that the + beasts of prey are terrified to that degree that they forget their + carnivorous propensities.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + Pausanias makes mention of five deluges. The two most celebrated + happened in the time of Ogyges, and in that of Deucalion. Of the last + Ovid here speaks; and though that deluge was generally said to have + overflowed Thessaly only, he has evidently adopted in his narrative + the tradition of the universal deluge, which all nations seem to have + preserved. He says, that the sea joined its waters to those falling + from heaven. The words of Scripture are (Genesis, vii. 11), ‘All the + fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven + were opened.’ In speaking of the top of Parnassus alone being left + uncovered, the tradition here followed by Ovid probably referred to + Mount Ararat, where Noah’s ark rested. Noah and his family are + represented by Deucalion and Pyrrha. Both Noah and Deucalion were + saved for their virtuous conduct; when Noah went out of the ark, he + offered solemn sacrifices to God; and Pausanias tells us that + Deucalion, when saved, raised an altar to Jupiter the Liberator. The + Poet tells us, that Deucalion’s deluge was to be the last: God + promised the same thing to Noah. Josephus, in his Antiquities, Book + i., tells us, that the history of the universal deluge was written by + Nicolas of Damascus, Berosus, Mnaseas, and other ancient writers, from + whom the Greeks and Romans received it. + + +FABLE IX. [I.313-366] + + Neptune appeases the angry waves; and he commands Triton to sound his + shell, that the sea may retire within its shores, and the rivers + within their banks. Deucalion and Pyrrha are the only persons saved + from the deluge. + +Phocis separates the Aonian[54] from the Actæan region; a fruitful land +while it was a land; but at that time {it had become} a part of the sea, +and a wide plain of sudden waters. There a lofty mountain rises towards +the stars, with two tops, by name Parnassus,[55] and advances beyond the +clouds with its summit. When here Deucalion (for the sea had covered all +other places), borne in a little ship, with the partner of his couch, +{first} rested; they adored the Corycian Nymphs,[56] and the Deities of +the mountain, and the prophetic Themis,[57] who at that time used to +give out oracular responses. No man was there more upright than he, nor +a greater lover of justice, nor was any woman more regardful of the +Deities than she. + +Soon as Jupiter {beholds} the world overflowed by liquid waters, and +sees that but one man remains out of so many thousands of late, and sees +that but one woman remains out of so many thousands of late, both +guiltless, and both worshippers of the Gods, he disperses the clouds; +and the showers being removed by the North Wind, he both lays open the +earth to the heavens, and the heavens to the earth. The rage, too, of +the sea does not continue; and his three-forked trident {now} laid +aside, the ruler of the deep assuages the waters, and calls upon the +azure Triton standing above the deep, and having his shoulders covered +with the native purple shells;[58] and he bids him blow[59] his +resounding trumpet, and, the signal being given, to call back the waves +and the streams. The hollow-wreathed trumpet[60] is taken up by him, +which grows to a {great} width from its lowest twist; the trumpet, +which, soon as it receives the air in the middle of the sea, fills with +its notes the shores lying under either sun. Then, too, as soon as it +touched the lips of the God dripping with his wet beard, and being +blown, sounded the bidden retreat;[61] it was heard by all the waters +both of earth and sea, and stopped all those waters by which it was +heard. Now the sea[62] {again} has a shore; their channels receive the +full rivers; the rivers subside; the hills are seen to come forth. The +ground rises, places increase {in extent} as the waters decrease; and +after a length of time, the woods show their naked tops, and retain the +mud left upon their branches. + +The world was restored; which when Deucalion beheld to be empty, and how +the desolate Earth kept a profound silence, he thus addressed Pyrrha, +with tears bursting forth:--“O sister, O wife, O thou, the only woman +surviving, whom a common origin,[63] and a kindred descent, and +afterwards the marriage tie has united to me, and {whom} now dangers +themselves unite to me; we two are the whole people of the earth, +whatever {both} the East and the West behold; of all the rest, the sea +has taken possession. And even now there is no certain assurance of our +lives; even yet do the clouds terrify my mind. What would now have been +thy feelings, if without me thou hadst been rescued from destruction, +O thou deserving of compassion? In what manner couldst thou have been +able alone to support {this} terror? With whom for a consoler, {to +endure} these sorrows? For I, believe me, my wife, if the sea had only +carried thee off, should have followed thee, and the sea should have +carried me off as well. Oh that I could replace the people {that are +lost} by the arts of my father,[64] and infuse the soul into the moulded +earth! Now the mortal race exists in us two {alone}. Thus it has seemed +good to the Gods, and we remain as {mere} samples of mankind.” + + [Footnote 54: _The Aonian._--Ver. 313. Aonia was a mountainous + region of Bœotia; and Actæa was an ancient name of Attica, from + ἄκτη, the sea-shore.] + + [Footnote 55: _By name Parnassus._--Ver. 317. Mount Parnassus has + two peaks, of which the one was called ‘Tichoreum,’ and was sacred + to Bacchus; and the other ‘Hypampeum,’ and was devoted to Apollo + and the Muses.] + + [Footnote 56: _The Corycian Nymphs._--Ver. 320. The Corycian + Nymphs were so called from inhabiting the Corycian cavern in Mount + Parnassus; they were fabled to be the daughters of Plistus, + a river near Delphi. There was another Corycian cave in Cilicia, + in Asia Minor.] + + [Footnote 57: _The prophetic Themis._--Ver. 321. Themis is said to + have preceded Apollo in giving oracular responses at Delphi. She + was the daughter of Cœlus and Terra, and was the first to instruct + men to ask of the Gods that which was lawful and right, whence she + took the name of Themis, which signifies in Greek, ‘that which is + just and right.’] + + [Footnote 58: _The native purple shells._--Ver. 332. ‘Murex’ was + the name of the shell-fish from which the Tyrian purple, so much + valued by the ancients, was procured. Some suppose that the + meaning here is, that Triton had his shoulders tinted with the + purple color of the murex. It is, however, more probable that the + Poet means to say that he had his neck and shoulders studded with + the shells of the murex, perhaps as a substitute for scales.] + + [Footnote 59: _He bids him blow._--Ver. 333. There were several + Tritons, or minor sea gods. The one mentioned here, the chief + Triton, was fabled to be the son of Neptune and Amphitrite, who + always preceded Neptune in his course, and whose arrival he was + wont to proclaim by the sound of his shell. He was usually + represented as swimming, with the upper part of his body + resembling that of a human being, while his lower parts terminated + with the tail of a fish.] + + [Footnote 60: _The hollow-wreathed trumpet._--Ver. 335. The + ‘Buccina,’ or, as we call it, ‘the conch shell,’ was a kind of + horn, or trumpet, made out of a shell, called ‘buccinum.’ It was + sometimes artificially curved, and sometimes straight, retaining + the original form of the shell. The twisted form of the shell was + one of the characteristic features of the trumpet, which, in later + times, was made of horn, wood, or metal, so as to imitate the + shell. It was chiefly used among the Romans, to proclaim the + watches of the day and of the night, which watches were thence + called ‘buccina prima,’ ‘secunda,’ etc. It was also blown at + funerals, and at festive entertainments, both before sitting down + to table and after. Macrobius tells us, that Tritons holding + ‘buccinæ’ were fixed on the roof of the temple of Saturn.] + + [Footnote 61: _The bidden retreat._--Ver. 340. ‘Canere receptus’ + was ‘to sound the retreat,’ as the signal for the soldiers to + cease fighting, and to resume their march.] + + [Footnote 62: _Now the sea._--Ver. 343. This and the two following + lines are considered as entitled to much praise for their + terseness and brevity, as depicting by their short detached + sentences the instantaneous effect produced by the commands of + Neptune in reducing his dominions to a state of order.] + + [Footnote 63: _A common origin._--Ver. 352. Because Prometheus was + the father of Deucalion and Epimetheus of Pyrrha; Prometheus and + Epimetheus being the sons of Iapetus. It is in an extended sense + that he styles her ‘sister,’ she being really his cousin.] + + [Footnote 64: _The arts of my father._--Ver. 363. He alludes to + the story of his father, Prometheus, having formed men of clay, + and animated them with fire stolen from heaven.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + Jupiter, Neptune, and Pluto, were, perhaps, originally three brothers, + kings of three separate kingdoms. Having been deified each retaining + his sovereignty, they were depicted as having the world divided + between them; the empire of the sea falling to the share of Neptune. + Among his occupations, were those of raising and calming the seas; and + Ovid here represents him as being so employed. + + +FABLE X. [I.367-415] + + Deucalion and Pyrrha re-people the earth by casting stones behind + them, in the manner prescribed by the Goddess Themis, whose oracle + they had consulted. + +He {thus} spoke, and they wept. They resolved to pray to the Deities of +Heaven, and to seek relief through the sacred oracles. There is no +delay; together they repair to the waters of Cephisus,[65] though not +yet clear, yet now cutting their wonted channel. Then, when they have +sprinkled the waters poured on their clothes[66] and their heads, they +turn their steps to the temple of the sacred Goddess, the roof of which +was defiled with foul moss, and whose altars were standing without +fires. Soon as they reached the steps of the temple, each of them fell +prostrate on the ground, and, trembling, gave kisses to the cold +pavement. And thus they said: + +“If the Deities, prevailed upon by just prayers, are to be mollified, if +the wrath of the Gods is to be averted; tell us, O Themis, by what art +the loss of our race is to be repaired, and give thy assistance, O most +gentle {Goddess} to our ruined fortunes.” The Goddess was moved, and +gave this response: “Depart from my temple, and cover your heads,[67] +and loosen the garments girt {around you}, and throw behind your backs +the bones of your great mother.” For a long time they are amazed; and +Pyrrha is the first by her words to break the silence, and {then} +refuses to obey the commands of the Goddess; and begs her, with +trembling lips, to grant her pardon, and dreads to offend the shades of +her mother by casting her bones. In the meantime they reconsider the +words of the response given, {but} involved in dark obscurity, and they +ponder them among themselves. Upon that, the son of Prometheus soothes +the daughter of Epimetheus with {these} gentle words, and says, “Either +is my discernment fallacious, or the oracles are just, and advise no +sacrilege. The earth is the great mother; I suspect that the stones in +the body of the earth are the bones meant; these we are ordered to throw +behind our backs.” Although she, descended from Titan,[68] is moved by +this interpretation of her husband, still her hope is involved in doubt; +so much do they both distrust the advice of heaven; but what harm will +it do to try? + +They go down, and they veil their heads, and ungird their garments, and +cast stones, as ordered, behind their footsteps. The stones (who could +have believed it, but that antiquity is a witness {of the thing?}) began +to lay aside their hardness and their stiffness, and by degrees to +become soft; and when softened, to assume a {new} form. Presently after, +when they were grown larger, a milder nature, too, was conferred on +them, so that some shape of man might be seen {in them}, yet though but +imperfect; and as if from the marble commenced {to be wrought}, not +sufficiently distinct, and very like to rough statues. Yet that part of +them which was humid with any moisture, and earthy, was turned into +{portions adapted for} the use of the body. That which is solid, and +cannot be bent, is changed into bones; that which was just now a vein, +still remains under the same name.[69] And in a little time, by the +interposition of the Gods above, the stones thrown by the hands of the +man, took the shape of a man, and the female {race} was renewed by the +throwing of the woman. Thence are we a hardy generation, and able to +endure fatigue, and we give proofs from what original we are sprung. + + [Footnote 65: _The waters of Cephisus._--Ver. 369. The river + Cephisus rises on Mount Parnassus, and flows near Delphi.] + + [Footnote 66: _Poured on their clothes._--Ver. 371. It was the + custom of the ancients, before entering a temple, either to + sprinkle themselves with water, or to wash the body all over.] + + [Footnote 67: _Cover your heads._--Ver. 382. It was a custom among + the ancients to cover their heads in sacrifice and other acts of + worship, either as a mark of humility, or, according to Plutarch, + that nothing of ill omen might meet their sight, and thereby + interrupt the performance of the rites.] + + [Footnote 68: _Descended from Titan._--Ver. 395. Pyrrha was of the + race of the Titans; for Iapetus, her grandfather, was the son of + Titan and Terra.] + + [Footnote 69: _Under the same name._--Ver. 410. With his usual + propensity for punning, he alludes to the use of the word ‘vena,’ + as signifying either ‘a vein’ of the body, or a ‘streak’ or ‘vein’ + in stone, according to the context.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + In the reign of Deucalion, king of Thessaly, the course of the river + Peneus was stopped, probably by an earthquake. In the same year so + great a quantity of rain fell, that all Thessaly was overflowed. + Deucalion and some of his subjects fled to Mount Parnassus; where they + remained until the waters abated. The children of those who were + preserved are the stones of which the Poet here speaks. The Fable, + probably, has for its foundation the double meaning of the word + ‘Eben,’ or ‘Aben,’ which signifies either ‘a stone,’ or ‘a child.’ The + Scholiast on Pindar tells us, too, that the word λάος, which means + people, formerly also signified ‘a stone.’ + + The brutal and savage nature of the early races of men may also have + added strength to the tradition that they derived their original from + stones. After the inundation, Deucalion is said to have repaired to + Athens, where he built a temple to Jupiter, and instituted sacrifices + in his honor. Some suppose that Cranaus reigned at Athens when + Deucalion retired thither; though Eusebius informs us it was under the + reign of Cecrops. Deucalion was the son of Prometheus, and his wife + Pyrrha was the daughter of his uncle, Epimetheus. After his death, he + received the honor of a temple, and was worshipped as a Divinity. + + +FABLE XI. [I.416-451] + + The Earth, being warmed by the heat of the sun, produces many + monsters: among others, the serpent Python, which Apollo kills with + his arrows. To establish a memorial of this event, he institutes the + Pythian games, and adopts the surname of Pythius. + +The Earth of her own accord brought forth other animals of different +forms; after that the former moisture was thoroughly heated by the rays +of the sun, and the mud and the wet fens fermented with the heat; and +the fruitful seeds of things nourished by the enlivening soil, as in the +womb of a mother, grew, and, in lapse of time, assumed some {regular} +shape. Thus, when the seven-streamed Nile[70] has forsaken the oozy +fields, and has returned its waters to their ancient channel, and the +fresh mud has been heated with the æthereal sun, the laborers, on +turning up the clods, meet with very many animals, and among them, some +just begun at the very moment of their formation, and some they see +{still} imperfect, and {as yet} destitute of {some} of their limbs; and +often, in the same body, is one part animated, the other part is coarse +earth. For when moisture and heat have been subjected to a due mixture, +they conceive; and all things arise from these two. + +And although fire is the antagonist of heat, {yet} a moist vapor creates +all things, and this discordant concord is suited for generation; when, +therefore, the Earth, covered with mud by the late deluge, was +thoroughly heated by the æthereal sunshine and a penetrating warmth, it +produced species {of creatures} innumerable; and partly restored the +former shapes, and partly gave birth to new monsters. She, indeed, might +have been unwilling, but then she produced thee as well, thou enormous +Python; and thou, unheard-of serpent, wast a {source of} terror to this +new race of men, so vast a part of a mountain didst thou occupy. + +The God that bears the bow, and that had never before used such arms, +but against the deer and the timorous goats, destroyed him, overwhelmed +with a thousand arrows, his quiver being well-nigh exhausted, {as} the +venom oozed forth through the black wounds; and that length of time +might not efface the fame of the deed, he instituted sacred games,[71] +with contests famed {in story}, called “Pythia,” from the name of the +serpent {so} conquered. In these, whosoever of the young men conquered +in boxing, in running, or in chariot-racing, received the honor of a +crown of beechen leaves.[72] As yet the laurel existed not, and Phœbus +used to bind his temples, graceful with long hair, with {garlands from} +any tree. + + [Footnote 70: _The seven-streamed Nile._--Ver. 423. The river Nile + discharges itself into the sea by seven mouths. It is remarkable + for its inundations, which happen regularly every year, and + overflow the whole country of Egypt. To this is chiefly owing the + extraordinary fertility of the soil of that country; for when the + waters subside, they leave behind them great quantities of mud, + which, settling upon the land, enrich it, and continually + reinvigorate it.] + + [Footnote 71: _Instituted sacred games._--Ver. 446. Yet Pausanias, + in his Corinthiaca, tells us that they were instituted by + Diomedes; others, again, say by Eurylochus the Thessalian; and + others, by Amphictyon, or Adrastus. The Pythian games were + celebrated near Delphi, on the Crissæan plain, which contained a + race-course, a stadium of 1000 feet in length, and a theatre, in + which the musical contests took place. They were once held at + Athens, by the advice of Demetrius Poliorcetes, because the + Ætolians were in possession of the passes round Delphi. They + were most probably originally a religious ceremonial, and were + perhaps only a musical contest, which consisted in singing a hymn + in honor of the Pythian God, accompanied by the music of the + cithara. In later times, gymnastic and equestrian games and + exercises were introduced there. Previously to the 48th Olympiad, + the Pythian games had been celebrated at the end of every eighth + year; after that period they were held at the end of every fourth + year. When they ceased to be solemnized is unknown; but in the + time of the Emperor Julian they still continued to be held.] + + [Footnote 72: _Crown of beechen leaves._--Ver. 449. This was the + prize which was originally given to the conquerors in the Pythian + games. In later times, as Ovid tells us, the prize of the victor + was a laurel chaplet, together with the palm branch, symbolical of + his victory.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + The story of the serpent Python, being explained on philosophical + principles, seems to mean, that the heat of the sun, having dissipated + the noxious exhalations emitted by the receding waters, the reptiles, + which had been produced from the slime left by the flood, immediately + disappeared. + + If, however, we treat this narrative as based on historical facts, it + is probable that the serpent represented some robber who infested the + neighborhood of Parnassus, and molested those who passed that way for + the purpose of offering sacrifice. A prince, either bearing the name + of Apollo, or being a priest of that God, by his destruction liberated + that region from this annoyance. This event gave rise to the + institution of the Pythian games, which were celebrated near Delphi. + Besides the several contests mentioned by Ovid, singing, dancing, and + instrumental music, formed part of the exercises of these games. The + event which Ovid here places soon after the deluge, must have happened + much later, since in the time of Deucalion, the worship of Apollo was + not known at Delphi. The Goddess Themis then delivered oracles there, + which, previously to her time, had been delivered by the Earth. + + +FABLE XII. [I.452-567] + + Apollo, falling in love with Daphne, the daughter of the river Peneus, + she flies from him. He pursues her; on which, the Nymph, imploring the + aid of her father, is changed into a laurel. + +Daphne, the daughter of Peneus, was the first love of Phœbus; whom, not +blind chance, but the vengeful anger of Cupid assigned to him. + +The Delian {God},[73] proud of having lately subdued the serpent, had +seen him bending the bow and drawing the string, and had said, “What +hast thou to do, wanton boy, with gallant arms? Such a burden as that +{better} befits my shoulders; I, who am able to give unerring wounds to +the wild beasts, {wounds} to the enemy, who lately slew with arrows +innumerable the swelling Python, that covered so many acres {of land} +with his pestilential belly. Do thou be contented to excite I know not +what flames with thy torch; and do not lay claim to praises {properly} +my own.” + +To him the son of Venus replies, “Let thy bow shoot all things, Phœbus; +my bow {shall shoot} thee; and as much as all animals fall short of +thee, so much is thy glory less than mine.” He {thus} said; and cleaving +the air with his beating wings, with activity he stood upon the shady +heights of Parnassus, and drew two weapons out of his arrow-bearing +quiver, of different workmanship; the one repels, the other excites +desire. That which causes {love} is of gold, and is brilliant, with a +sharp point; that which repels it is blunt, and contains lead beneath +the reed. This one the God fixed in the Nymph, the daughter of Peneus, +but with the other he wounded the {very} marrow of Apollo, through his +bones pierced {by the arrow}. Immediately the one is in love; the other +flies from the {very} name of a lover, rejoicing in the recesses of the +woods, and in the spoils of wild beasts taken {in hunting}, and becomes +a rival of the virgin Phœbe. A fillet tied together[74] her hair, put up +without any order. Many a one courted her; she hated all wooers; not +able to endure, and quite unacquainted with man, she traverses the +solitary parts of the woods, and she cares not what Hymen,[75] what +love, {or} what marriage means. Many a time did her father say, “My +daughter, thou owest me a son-in-law;” many a time did her father say, +“My daughter, thou owest me grandchildren.” She, utterly abhorring the +nuptial torch,[76] as though a crime, has her beauteous face covered +with the blush of modesty; and clinging to her father’s neck, with +caressing arms, she says, “Allow me, my dearest father, to enjoy +perpetual virginity; her father, in times, bygone, granted this to +Diana.” + +He indeed complied. But that very beauty forbids thee to be what thou +wishest, and the charms of thy person are an impediment to thy desires. +Phœbus falls in love, and he covets an alliance with Daphne, {now} seen +by him, and what he covets he hopes for, and his own oracles deceive +him; and as the light stubble is burned, when the ears of corn are taken +off, and as hedges are set on fire by the torches, which perchance a +traveller has either held too near them, or has left {there}, now about +the break of day, thus did the God burst into a flame; thus did he burn +throughout his breast, and cherish a fruitless passion with his hopes. +He beholds her hair hanging unadorned upon her neck, and he says, “And +what would {it be} if it were arranged?” He sees her eyes, like stars, +sparkling with fire; he sees her lips, which it is not enough to have +{merely} seen; he praises both her fingers and her hands, and her arms +and her shoulders naked, from beyond the middle; whatever is hidden from +view, he thinks to be still more beauteous. Swifter than the light wind +she flies, and she stops not at these words of his, as he calls her +back: + +“O Nymph, daughter of Peneus, stay, I entreat thee! I am not an enemy +following thee. In this way the lamb {flies} from the wolf; thus the +deer {flies} from the lion; thus the dove flies from the eagle with +trembling wing; {in this way} each {creature flies from} its enemy: love +is the cause of my following thee. Ah! wretched me! shouldst thou fall +on thy face, or should the brambles tear thy legs, that deserve not to +be injured, and should I prove the cause of pain to thee. The places are +rugged, through which thou art {thus} hastening; run more leisurely, +I entreat thee, and restrain thy flight; I myself will follow more +leisurely. And yet, inquire whom thou dost please; I am not an +inhabitant of the mountains, I am not a shepherd; I am not here, in rude +guise,[77] watching the herds or the flocks. Thou knowest not, rash +girl, thou knowest not from whom thou art flying, and therefore it is +that thou dost fly. The Delphian land, Claros and Tenedos,[78] and the +Pataræan palace pays service to me. Jupiter is my sire; by me, what +shall be, what has been, and what is, is disclosed; through me, songs +harmonize with the strings. My own {arrow}, indeed, is unerring; yet one +there is still more unerring than my own, which has made this wound in +my heart, {before} unscathed. The healing art is my discovery, and +throughout the world I am honored as the bearer of help, and the +properties of simples are[79] subjected to me. Ah, wretched me![80] that +love is not to be cured by any herbs; and that those arts which afford +relief to all, are of no avail for their master.” + +The daughter of Peneus flies from him, about to say still more, with +timid step, and together with him she leaves his unfinished address. +Then, too, she appeared lovely; the winds exposed her form to view, and +the gusts meeting her fluttered about her garments, as they came in +contact, and the light breeze spread behind her her careless locks; +and {thus}, by her flight, was her beauty increased. But the youthful +God[81] has not patience any longer to waste his blandishments; and as +love urges him on, he follows her steps with hastening pace. As when the +greyhound[82] has seen the hare in the open field, and the one by {the +speed of} his legs pursues his prey, the other {seeks} her safety; the +one is like as if just about to fasten {on the other}, and now, even +now, hopes to catch her, and with nose outstretched plies upon the +footsteps {of the hare}. The other is in doubt whether she is caught +{already}, and is delivered from his very bite, and leaves behind the +mouth {just} touching her. {And} so is the God, and {so} is the +virgin;[83] he swift with hopes, she with fear. + +Yet he that follows, aided by the wings of love, is the swifter, and +denies her {any} rest; and is {now} just at her back as she flies, and +is breathing upon her hair scattered upon her neck. Her strength being +{now} spent, she grows pale, and being quite faint, with the fatigue of +so swift a flight, looking upon the waters of Peneus, she says, “Give +me, my father, thy aid, if you rivers have divine power. Oh Earth, +either yawn {to swallow me}, or by changing it, destroy that form, by +which I have pleased too much, and which causes me to be injured.” + +Hardly had she ended her prayer, {when} a heavy torpor seizes her limbs; +{and} her soft breasts are covered with a thin bark. Her hair grows into +green leaves, her arms into branches; her feet, the moment before so +swift, adhere by sluggish roots; a {leafy} canopy overspreads her +features; her elegance alone[84] remains in her. This, too, Phœbus +admires, and placing his right hand upon the stock, he perceives that +the breast still throbs beneath the new bark; and {then}, embracing the +branches as though limbs in his arms, he gives kisses to the wood, {and} +yet the wood shrinks from his kisses. To her the God said: “But since +thou canst not be my wife, at least thou shalt be my tree; my hair, my +lyre,[85] my quiver shall always have thee, oh laurel! Thou shalt be +presented to the Latian chieftains, when the joyous voice of the +soldiers shall sing the song of triumph,[86] and the long procession +shall resort to the Capitol. Thou, the same, shalt stand as a most +faithful guardian at the gate-posts of Augustus before his doors,[87] +and shalt protect the oak placed in the centre; and as my head is {ever} +youthful with unshorn locks, do thou, too, always wear the lasting +honors of thy foliage.” + +Pæan had ended {his speech}; the laurel nodded assent with its new-made +boughs, and seemed to shake its top just like a head. + + [Footnote 73: _The Delian God._--Ver. 454. Apollo is so called, + from having been born in the Isle of Delos, in the Ægean Sea. The + Peneus was a river of Thessaly.] + + [Footnote 74: _A fillet tied together._--Ver. 477. The ‘vitta’ was + a band encircling the head, and served to confine the tresses of + the hair. It was worn by maidens and by married women also; but + the ‘vitta’ assumed on the day of marriage was of a different form + from that used by virgins. It was not worn by women of light + character, or even by the ‘libertinæ,’ or female slaves who had + been liberated; so that it was not only deemed an emblem of + chastity, but of freedom also. It was of various colors: white and + purple are mentioned. In the later ages the ‘vitta’ was sometimes + set with pearls.] + + [Footnote 75: _Hymen._--Ver. 480. Hymen, or Hymenæus, was one of + the Gods of Marriage; hence the name ‘Hymen’ was given to the + union of two persons in marriage.] + + [Footnote 76: _The nuptial torch._--Ver. 483. Plutarch tells us, + that it was the custom in the bridal procession to carry five + torches before the bride, on her way to the house of her husband. + Among the Romans, the nuptial torch was lighted at the parental + hearth of the bride, and was borne before her by a boy, whose + parents were alive. The torch was also used at funerals, for the + purpose of lighting the pile, and because funerals were often + nocturnal ceremonies. Hence the expression of Propertius,-- + ‘Vivimus inter utramque facem,’ ‘We are living between the two + torches.’ Originally, the ‘tædæ’ seem to have been slips or + lengths of resinous pine wood: while the ‘fax’ was formed of a + bundle of wooden staves, either bound by a rope drawn round them + in a spiral form, or surrounded by circular bands at equal + distances. They were used by travellers and others, who were + forced to be abroad after sunset; whence the reference in line 493 + to the hedge ignited through the carelessness of the traveller, + who has thrown his torch there on the approach of morning.] + + [Footnote 77: _Here in rude guise._--Ver. 514. ‘Non hic armenta + gregesve Horridus observo’ is quaintly translated by Clarke, ‘I do + not here in a rude pickle watch herds or flocks.’] + + [Footnote 78: _Claros and Tenedos._--Ver. 516. Claros was a city + of Ionia, famed for a temple and oracle of Apollo, and near which + there was a mountain and a grove sacred to him. There was an + island in the Myrtoan Sea of that name, to which some suppose that + reference is here made. Tenedos was an island of the Ægean Sea, in + the neighborhood of Troy. Patara was a city of Lycia, where Apollo + gave oracular responses during six months of the year. It was from + Patara that St. Paul took ship for Phœnicia, Acts, xxi. 1, 2.] + + [Footnote 79: _The properties of simples._--Ver. 522. The first + cultivators of the medical art pretended to nothing beyond an + acquaintance with the medicinal qualities of herbs and simples; it + is not improbable that inasmuch as the vegetable world is + nourished and raised to the surface of the earth in a great degree + by the heat of the sun, a ground was thereby afforded for + allegorically saying that Apollo, or the Sun, was the discoverer + of the healing art.] + + [Footnote 80: _Ah! wretched me!_--Ver. 523. A similar expression + occurs in the Heroides, v. 149, ‘Me miseram, quod amor non est + medicabilis herbis.’] + + [Footnote 81: _The youthful God._--Ver. 531. Apollo was always + represented as a youth, and was supposed never to grow old. The + Scholiast on the Thebais of Statius, b. i., v. 694, says, ‘The + reason is, because Apollo is the Sun; and because the Sun is fire, + which never grows old.’ Perhaps the youthfulness of the Deity is + here mentioned, to account for his ardent pursuit of the flying + damsel.] + + [Footnote 82: _As when the greyhound._--Ver. 533. The comparison + here of the flight of Apollo after Daphne, to that of the + greyhound after the hare, is considered to be very beautifully + drawn, and to give an admirable illustration of the eagerness with + which the God pursues on the one hand, and the anxiety with which + the Nymph endeavors to escape on the other. Pope, in his Windsor + Forest, has evidently imitated this passage, where he describes + the Nymph Lodona pursued by Pan, and transformed into a river. His + words are-- + + ‘Not half so swift the trembling doves can fly, + When the fierce eagle cleaves the liquid sky; + Not half so swiftly the fierce eagle moves, + When through the clouds he drives the trembling doves; + As from the God she flew with furious pace, + Or as the God more furious urged the chase. + Now fainting, sinking, pale, the nymph appears; + Now close behind, his sounding steps she hears; + And now his shadow reach’d her as she run, + His shadow lengthened by the setting sun; + And now his shorter breath, with sultry air, + Pants on her neck, and fans her parting hair.’ + + The greyhound was probably called ‘canis Gallicus,’ from having + been originally introduced into Italy from Gaul. ‘Vertagus’ was + their Gallic name, which we find used by Martial, and Gratian in + his Cynegeticon, ver. 203.] + + [Footnote 83: _And so is the virgin._--Ver. 539. ‘Sic Deus et + virgo est’ is translated by Clarke, ‘So is the God and the young + lady;’ indeed, he mostly translates ‘virgo,’ ‘young lady.’] + + [Footnote 84: _Her elegance alone._--Ver. 552. Clarke translates + ‘Remanet nitor unus in illa,’ ‘her neatness alone continues in + her.’] + + [Footnote 85: _My lyre._--Ver. 559. The players of the cithara, + the instrument of Apollo, were crowned with laurel, in the scenic + representations of the stage.] + + [Footnote 86: _The song of triumph._--Ver. 560. The Poet here pays + a compliment to Augustus and the Roman people. The laurel was the + emblem of victory among the Romans. On such occasions the ‘fasces’ + of the general and the spears and javelins of the soldiers were + wreathed with laurel; and after the time of Julius Cæsar, the + Roman general, when triumphing, wore a laurel wreath on his head, + and held a branch of laurel in his hand.] + + [Footnote 87: _Before his doors._--Ver. 562. He here alludes to + the civic crown of oak leaves which, by order of the Senate, was + placed before the gate of the Palatium, where Augustus Cæsar + resided, with branches of laurel on either side of it.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + To explain this Fable, it must be laid down as a principle that there + were originally many Jupiters, and Apollos, and Mercuries, whose + intrigues being, in lapse of time, attributed to but one individual, + that fact accounts for the great number of children which claimed + those respective Gods for their fathers. + + Some prince probably, for whom his love of learning had acquired the + name of Apollo, falling in love with Daphne, pursued her to the brink + of the river Peneus, into which, being accidentally precipitated, she + perished in her lover’s sight. Some laurels growing near the spot, + perhaps gave rise to the story of her transformation; or possibly the + etymology of the word ‘Daphne,’ which in Greek signifies a laurel, was + the foundation of the Fable. Pausanias, however, in his Arcadia, gives + another version of this story. He says that Leucippus, son of Œnomaus, + king of Pisa, falling in love with Daphne, disguised himself in female + apparel, and devoted himself to her service. He soon procured her + friendship and confidence; but Apollo, who was his rival, having + discovered his fraud, one day redoubled the heat of the sun. Daphne + and her companions going to bathe, obliged Leucippus to follow their + example, on which, having discovered his stratagem, they killed him + with the arrows which they carried for the purposes of hunting. + + Diodorus Siculus tells us that Daphne was the same with Manto, the + daughter of Tiresias, who was banished to Delphi, where she delivered + oracles, of the language of which Homer availed himself in the + composition of his poems. The inhabitants of Antioch asserted that the + adventure here narrated happened in the suburbs of their city, which + thence derived its name of Daphne. + + +FABLE XIII. [I.568-600] + + Jupiter, pursuing Io, the daughter of Inachus, covers the earth with + darkness, and ravishes the Nymph. + +There is a grove of Hæmonia,[88] which a wood, placed on a craggy rock, +encloses on every side. They call it Tempe;[89] through this the river +Peneus, flowing from the bottom of {mount} Pindus,[90] rolls along with +its foaming waves, and in its mighty fall, gathers clouds that scatter +{a vapor like} thin smoke,[91] and with its spray besprinkles the tops +of the woods, and wearies places, far from near to it, with its noise. +This is the home, this the abode, these are the retreats of the great +river; residing here in a cavern formed by rocks, he gives law to the +waters, and to the Nymphs that inhabit those waters. The rivers of that +country first repair thither, not knowing whether they should +congratulate, or whether console the parent; the poplar-bearing +Spercheus,[92] and the restless Enipeus,[93] the aged Apidanus,[94] the +gentle Amphrysus,[95] and Æas,[96] and, soon after, the other rivers, +which, as their current leads them, carry down into the sea their waves, +wearied by wanderings. Inachus[97] alone is absent, and, hidden in his +deepest cavern, increases his waters with his tears, and in extreme +wretchedness bewails his daughter Io as lost; he knows not whether she +{now} enjoys life, or whether she is among the shades below; but her, +whom he does not find anywhere, he believes to be nowhere, and in his +mind he dreads the worst. + +Jupiter had seen Io as she was returning from her father’s stream, and +had said, “O maid, worthy of Jove, and destined to make I know not whom +happy in thy marriage, repair to the shades of this lofty grove (and he +pointed at the shade of the grove) while it is warm, and {while} the Sun +is at his height, in the midst of his course. But if thou art afraid to +enter the lonely abodes of the wild beasts alone, thou shalt enter the +recesses of the groves, safe under the protection of a God, and {that} a +God of no common sort; but {with me}, who hold the sceptre of heaven in +my powerful hand; {me}, who hurl the wandering lightnings--Do not fly +from me;” for {now} she was flying. And now she had left behind the +pastures of Lerna,[98] and the Lircæan plains planted with trees, when +the God covered the earth far and wide with darkness overspreading, and +arrested her flight, and forced her modesty. + + [Footnote 88: _A grove of Hæmonia._--Ver. 568. Hæmonia was an + ancient name of Thessaly, so called from its king, Hæmon, a son of + Pelasgus, and father of Thessalus, from which it received its + later name.] + + [Footnote 89: _Call it Tempe._--Ver. 569. Tempe was a valley of + Thessaly, proverbial for its pleasantness and the beauty of its + scenery. The river Peneus ran through it, but not with the + violence which Ovid here depicts; for Ælian tells us that it runs + with a gentle sluggish stream, more like oil than water.] + + [Footnote 90: _Mount Pindus._--Ver. 570. Pindus was a mountain + situate on the confines of Thessaly.] + + [Footnote 91: _Like thin smoke._--Ver. 571. He speaks of the + spray, which in the fineness of its particles resembles smoke.] + + [Footnote 92: _Spercheus._--Ver. 579. The Spercheus was a rapid + stream, flowing at the foot of Mount Æta into the Malian Gulf, + and on whose banks many poplars grew.] + + [Footnote 93: _Enipeus._--Ver. 579. The Enipeus rises in Mount + Othrys, and runs through Thessaly. Virgil (Georgics, iv. 468) + calls it ‘Altus Enipeus,’ the deep Enipeus.] + + [Footnote 94: _Apidanus._--Ver. 580. The Apidanus, receiving the + stream of the Enipeus at Pharsalia, flows into the Peneus. It is + supposed by some commentators to be here called ‘senex,’ aged, + from the slowness of its tide. But where it unites the Enipeus it + flows with violence, so that it is probably called ‘senex,’ as + having been known and celebrated by the poets from of old.] + + [Footnote 95: _Amphrysus._--Ver. 580. This river ran through that + part of Thessaly known by the name of Phthiotis.] + + [Footnote 96: _Æas._--Ver. 580. Pliny the Elder (Book iii, ch. 23) + calls this river Aous. It was a small limpid stream, running + through Epirus and Thessaly, and discharging itself into the + Ionian sea.] + + [Footnote 97: _Inachus._--Ver. 583. This was a river of Argolis, + now known as the Naio. It took its rise either in Lycæus or + Artemisium, mountains of Arcadia. Stephens, however, thinks that + Lycæus was a mountain of Argolis.] + + [Footnote 98: _Lerna._--Ver. 597. This was a swampy spot on the + Argive territory, where the poets say that the dragon with seven + heads, called Hydra, which was slain by Hercules, had made his + haunt. It is not improbable that the pestilential vapors of this + spot were got rid of by means of its being drained under the + superintendence of Hercules, on which fact the story was founded. + Some commentators, however, suppose the Lerna to have been a + flowing stream.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + The Greeks frequently embellished their mythology with narratives of + Phœnician or Egyptian origin. The story of Io probably came from + Egypt. Isis was one of the chief divinities of that country, and her + worship naturally passed, with their colonies, into foreign countries. + Greece received it when Inachus went to settle there, and in lapse of + time Isis, under the name of Io, was supposed to have been his + daughter, and the fable was invented which is here narrated by Ovid. + + The Greek authors, Apollodorus, Strabo, Diodorus Siculus, and + Pausanias, say that Io was the daughter of Inachus, the first king of + Argos; that Jupiter carried her away to Crete; and that by her he had + a son named Epaphus, who went to reign in Egypt, whither his mother + accompanied him. They also tell us that she married Apis, or Osiris, + who, after his death, was numbered among the Deities of Egypt by the + name of Serapis. From them we also learn that Juno, being actuated by + jealousy, on the discovery of the intrigue, put Io under the care of + her uncle Argus, a man of great vigilance, but that Jupiter having + slain him, placed his mistress on board of a vessel which had the + figure of a cow at its head; from which circumstance arose the story + of the transformation of Io. The Greek writers also state, that the + Bosphorus, a part of the Ægean sea, derived its name from the passage + of Io in the shape of a cow. + + +FABLE XIV. [I.601-688] + + Jupiter, having changed Io into a cow, to conceal her from the + jealousy of Juno, is obliged to give her to that Goddess, who commits + her to the charge of the watchful Argus. Jupiter sends Mercury with an + injunction to cast Argus into a deep sleep, and to take away his life. + +In the meantime Juno looked down upon the midst of the fields, and +wondering that the fleeting clouds had made the appearance of night +under bright day, she perceived that they were not {the vapors} from a +river, nor were they raised from the moist earth, and {then} she looked +around {to see} where her husband was, as being one who by this time was +full well acquainted with the intrigues of a husband {who had been} so +often detected.[99] After she had found him not in heaven, she said, +“I am either deceived, or I am injured;” and having descended from the +height of heaven, she alighted upon the earth, and commanded the mists +to retire. He had foreseen the approach of his wife, and had changed the +features of the daughter of Inachus into a sleek heifer.[100] As a cow, +too, {she} is beautiful. The daughter of Saturn, though unwillingly, +extols the appearance of the cow; and likewise inquires, whose it is, +and whence, or of what herd it is, as though ignorant of the truth. +Jupiter falsely asserts that it was produced out of the earth, that the +owner may cease to be inquired after. The daughter of Saturn begs her of +him as a gift. What can {he} do? It is a cruel thing to deliver up his +{own} mistress, {and} not to give her up is a cause of suspicion. It is +shame which persuades him on the one hand, love dissuades him on the +other. His shame would have been subdued by his love; but if so trifling +a gift as a cow should be refused to the sharer of his descent and his +couch, she might {well} seem not to be a cow. + +The rival now being given up {to her}, the Goddess did not immediately +lay aside all apprehension; and she was {still} afraid of Jupiter, and +was fearful of her being stolen, until she gave her to Argus, the son of +Aristor, to be kept {by him}. Argus had his head encircled with a +hundred eyes. Two of them used to take rest in their turns, the rest +watched, and used to keep on duty.[101] In whatever manner he stood, he +looked towards Io; although turned away, he {still} used to have Io +before his eyes. In the daytime he suffers her to feed; but when the sun +is below the deep earth, he shuts her up, and ties a cord round her neck +undeserving {of such treatment}. She feeds upon the leaves of the arbute +tree, and bitter herbs, and instead of a bed the unfortunate {animal} +lies upon the earth, that does not always have grass {on it}, and drinks +of muddy streams. And when, too, she was desirous, as a suppliant, to +stretch out her arms to Argus, she had no arms to stretch out to Argus; +and she uttered lowings from her mouth, {when} endeavoring to complain. +And at {this} sound she was terrified, and was affrighted at her own +voice. + +She came, too, to the banks, where she was often wont to sport, the +banks of {her father}, Inachus; and soon as she beheld her new horns in +the water, she was terrified, and, astonished, she recoiled from +herself. The Naiads knew her not, and Inachus himself knew her not, who +she was; but she follows her father, and follows her sisters, and +suffers herself to be touched, and presents herself to them, as they +admire {her}. The aged Inachus held her some grass he had plucked; she +licks his hand, and gives kisses to the palms of her father. Nor does +she restrain her tears; and if only words would follow, she would +implore his aid, and would declare her name and misfortunes. Instead of +words, letters, which her foot traced in the dust, completed the sad +discovery of the transformation of her body. “Ah, wretched me!” exclaims +her father Inachus; and clinging to the horns and the neck of the +snow-white cow, as she wept, he repeats, “Ah, wretched me! and art thou +my daughter, that hast been sought for by me throughout all lands? While +undiscovered, thou wast a lighter grief {to me}, than {now, when} thou +art found. Thou art silent, and no words dost thou return in answer to +mine; thou only heavest sighs from the depth of thy breast, and what +alone thou art able to do, thou answerest in lowings to my words. But I, +in ignorance {of this}, was preparing the bridal chamber, and the +{nuptial} torches for thee; and my chief hope was that of a son-in-law, +my next was that of grandchildren. But now must thou have a mate from +the herd, now, {too}, an offspring of the herd. Nor is it possible for +me to end grief so great by death; but it is a detriment to be a God; +and the gate of death being shut against me, extends my grief to eternal +ages.” + +While thus he lamented, the starry Argus removed her away, and carried +the daughter, {thus} taken from her father, to distant pastures. He +himself, at a distance, occupies the lofty top of a mountain, whence, as +he sits, he may look about on all sides. + +Nor can the ruler of the Gods above, any longer endure so great miseries +of the granddaughter of Phoroneus;[102] and he calls his son {Mercury}, +whom the bright Pleiad, {Maia},[103] brought forth, and orders him to +put Argus to death. There is {but} little delay to take wings upon his +feet, and his soporiferous wand[104] in his hand, and a cap for his +hair.[105] After he had put these things in order, the son of Jupiter +leaps down from his father’s high abode upon the earth, and there he +takes off his cap, and lays aside his wings; his wand alone was +retained. With this, as a shepherd, he drives some she-goats through the +pathless country, taken up as he passed along, and plays upon oaten +straws joined together. + +The keeper appointed by Juno, charmed by the sound of this new +contrivance, says, “Whoever thou art, thou mayst be seated with me upon +this stone; for, indeed, in no {other} place is the herbage more +abundant for thy flock; and thou seest, too, that the shade is +convenient for the shepherds.” The son of Atlas sat down, and with much +talking he occupied the passing day with his discourse, and by playing +upon his joined reeds he tried to overpower his watchful eyes. Yet {the +other} strives hard to overcome soft sleep; and although sleep was +received by a part of his eyes, yet with a part he still keeps watch. He +inquires also (for the pipe had been {but} lately invented) by what +method it had been found out. + + [Footnote 99: _So often detected._--Ver. 606. Clarke translates + ‘deprensi toties mariti’ by the expression, ‘who had been so often + catched in his roguery.’] + + [Footnote 100: _Into a sleek heifer._--Ver. 611. Clarke renders + the words, ‘nitentem juvencam,’ a neat heifer.] + + [Footnote 101: _To keep on duty._--Ver. 627. ‘In statione + manebant.’ This is a metaphorical expression, taken from military + affairs, as soldiers in turns relieve each other, and take their + station, when they keep watch and ward.] + + [Footnote 102: _Phoroneus._--Ver. 668. He was the father of Jasius + and of Inachus, the parent of Io. Some accounts, however, say that + Inachus was the father of Phoroneus, and the son of Oceanus.] + + [Footnote 103: _Pleiad Maia._--Ver. 670. Maia was one of the seven + daughters of Atlas, who were styled Pleiädes after they were + received among the constellations.] + + [Footnote 104: _Soporiferous wand._--Ver. 671. This was the + ‘caduceus,’ or staff, with which Mercury summoned the souls of the + departed from the shades, induced slumber, and did other offices + pertaining to his capacity as the herald and messenger of Jupiter. + It was represented as an olive branch, wreathed with two snakes. + In time of war, heralds and ambassadors, among the Greeks, carried + a ‘caduceus.’ It was not used by the Romans.] + + [Footnote 105: _A cap for his hair._--Ver. 672. This was a cap + called ‘Petasus.’ It had broad brims, and was not unlike the + ‘causia,’ or Macedonian hat, except that the brims of the latter + were turned up at the sides.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + The story of the Metamorphosis of Io has been already enlarged upon in + the Explanation of the preceding Fable. It may, however, not be + irrelevant to observe, that myths, or mythological stories or fables, + are frequently based upon some true history, corrupted by tradition in + lapse of time. The poets, too, giving loose to their fancy in their + love of the marvellous, have still further disfigured the original + story; so that it is in most instances extremely difficult to trace + back the facts to their primitive simplicity, by a satisfactory + explanation of each circumstance attending them, either upon a + philosophical, or an historical principle of solution. + + +FABLE XV. [I.689-712] + + Pan, falling in love with the Nymph Syrinx, she flies from him; on + which he pursues her. Syrinx, arrested in her flight by the waves of + the river Ladon, invokes the aid of her sisters, the Naiads, who + change her into reeds. Pan unites them into an instrument with seven + pipes, which bears the name of the Nymph. + +Then the God says, “In the cold mountains of Arcadia, among the +Hamadryads of Nonacris,[106] there was one Naiad very famous; the Nymphs +called her Syrinx. And not once {alone} had she escaped the Satyrs as +they pursued, and whatever Gods either the shady grove or the fruitful +fields have {in them}. In her pursuits and her virginity itself she used +to devote herself to the Ortygian Goddess;[107] and being clothed after +the fashion of Diana, she might have deceived one, and might have been +supposed to be the daughter of Latona, if she had not had a bow of +cornel wood, the other, {a bow} of gold; and even then did she +{sometimes} deceive {people}. Pan spies her as she is returning from the +hill of Lycæus, and having his head crowned with sharp pine leaves, he +utters such words as these;” it remained {for Mercury} to repeat the +words, and how that the Nymph, slighting his suit, fled through pathless +spots, until she came to the gentle stream of sandy Ladon;[108] and that +here, the waters stopping her course, she prayed to her watery sisters, +that they would change her; and {how} that Pan, when he was thinking +that Syrinx was now caught by him, had seized hold of some reeds of the +marsh, instead of the body of the Nymph; and {how}, while he was sighing +there, the winds moving amid the reeds had made a murmuring noise, and +like one complaining; and {how} that, charmed by this new discovery and +the sweetness of the sound, he had said, “This mode of converse with +thee shall ever remain with me;” and that accordingly, unequal reeds +being stuck together among themselves by a cement of wax, had {since} +retained the name of the damsel. + + [Footnote 106: _Nonacris._--Ver. 690. Nonacris was the name of + both a mountain and a city of Arcadia, in the Peloponnesus.] + + [Footnote 107: _The Ortygian Goddess._--Ver. 694. Diana is called + “Ortygian,” from the isle of Delos, where she was born, one of + whose names was Ortygia, from the quantity of quails, ὄρτυγες, + there found.] + + [Footnote 108: _Ladon._--Ver. 702. This was a beautiful river of + Arcadia, flowing into the Alpheus: its banks were covered with + vast quantities of reeds. Ovid here calls its stream ‘placidum;’ + whereas in the fifth book of the Fasti, l. 89, he calls it + ‘rapax,’ ‘violent;’ and in the second book of the Fasti, l. 274, + its waters are said to be ‘citæ aquæ,’ swift waters. Some + commentators have endeavored to reconcile these discrepancies; but + the probability is, that Ovid, like many other poets, used his + epithets at random, or rather according to the requirements of the + measure for the occasion.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + This appears to have been an Egyptian fable, imported into the works + of the Grecian poets. Pan was probably a Divinity of the Egyptians, + who worshipped nature under that name, as we are told by Herodotus and + Diodorus Siculus. As, however, according to Nonnus, there were not + less than twelve Pans, it is possible that the adventure here related + may have been supposed to have happened to one of them who was a + native of Greece. He was most probably the inventor of the Syrinx, or + Pandæan pipe, and, perhaps, formed his first instrument from the + produce of the banks of the River Ladon, from which circumstance + Syrinx may have been styled the daughter of that river. + + +FABLE XVI. [I.713-723] + + Mercury, having lulled Argus to sleep, cuts off his head, and Juno + places his eyes in the peacock’s tail. + +The Cyllenian God[109] being about to say such things, perceived that +all his eyes were sunk in sleep, and that his sight was wrapped[110] in +slumber. At once he puts an end to his song, and strengthens his +slumbers, stroking his languid eyes with his magic wand. There is no +delay; he wounds him, as he nods, with his crooked sword, where the head +is joined to the neck; and casts him, all blood-stained, from the rock, +and stains the craggy cliff with his gore. + +Argus, thou liest low, and the light which thou hadst in so many eyes is +{now} extinguished; and one night takes possession of a {whole} hundred +eyes. The daughter of Saturn takes them, and places them on the feathers +of her own bird, and she fills its tail with starry gems. + + [Footnote 109: _The Cyllenian God._--Ver. 713. Mercury is so + called from Cyllene, in Arcadia, where he was born.] + + [Footnote 110: _That his sight was wrapped._--Ver. 714. Clarke + translates ‘Adopertaque lumina somno,’ ‘and his peepers covered + with sleep.’] + + +EXPLANATION. + + The ancient writers, Asclepiades and Pherecydes, tell us, that Argus + was the son of Arestor. He is supposed by some to have been the fourth + king of Argos after Inachus, and to have been a person of great wisdom + and penetration, on account of which he was said to have a hundred + eyes. Io most probably was committed to his charge, and he watched + over her with the greatest care. + + It is impossible to divine the reason why his eyes were said to have + been set by Juno in the tail of the peacock; though, perhaps, the + circumstance has no other foundation than the resemblance of the human + eye to the spots in the tail of that bird, which was consecrated to + Juno. Besides, if Juno is to be considered the symbol of Air, or + Æther, through which light is transmitted to us, it is not surprising + that the ancients bestowed so many eyes upon the bird which was + consecrated to her. + + +FABLE XVII. [I.724-779] + + Io, terrified and maddened with dreadful visions, runs over many + regions, and stops in Egypt, when Juno, at length, being pacified, + restores her to her former shape, and permits her to be worshipped + there, under the name of Isis. + +Immediately, she was inflamed with rage, and deferred not the time of +{expressing} her wrath; and she presented a dreadful Fury before the +eyes and thoughts of the Argive mistress,[111] and buried in her bosom +invisible stings, and drove her, in her fright, a wanderer through the +whole earth. Thou, O Nile, didst remain, as the utmost boundary of her +long wanderings. Soon as she arrived there, she fell upon her knees, +placed on the edge of the bank, and raising herself up, with her neck +thrown back, and casting to Heaven those looks which then alone she +could, by her groans, and her tears, and her mournful lowing, she seemed +to be complaining of Jupiter, and to be begging an end of her sorrows. + +He, embracing the neck of his wife with his arms, entreats her, at +length, to put an end to her punishment; and he says, “Lay aside thy +fears for the future; she shall never {more} be the occasion of any +trouble to thee;” and {then} he bids the Stygian waters to hear this +{oath}. As soon as the Goddess is pacified, {Io} receives her former +shape, and she becomes what she was before; the hairs flee from off of +her body, her horns decrease, and the orb of her eye becomes less; the +opening of her jaw is contracted; her shoulders and her hands return, +and her hoof, vanishing, is disposed of into five nails; nothing of the +cow remains to her, but the whiteness of her appearance; and the Nymph, +contented with the service of two feet, is raised erect {on them}; and +{yet} she is afraid to speak, lest she should low like a cow, and +timorously tries again the words {so long} interrupted. Now, as a +Goddess, she is worshipped by the linen-wearing throng[112] {of Egypt}. + +To her, at length, Epaphus[113] is believed to have been born from the +seed of great Jove, and throughout the cities he possesses temples +joined to {those of} his parent. Phaëton, sprung from the Sun, was equal +to him in spirit and in years; whom formerly, as he uttered great +boasts, and yielded not {at all} to him, and proud of his father, +Phœbus, the grandson of Inachus could not endure; and said, “Thou, +{like} a madman, believest thy mother in all things, and art puffed up +with the conceit of an imaginary father.” + +Phaëton blushed, and in shame repressed his resentment; and he reported +to his mother, Clymene,[114] the reproaches of Epaphus; and said, +“Mother, to grieve thee still more, I, the free, the bold {youth}, was +silent; I am ashamed both that these reproaches can be uttered against +us, and that they cannot be refuted; but do thou, if only I am born of a +divine race, give me some proof of so great a descent, and claim me for +heaven.” {Thus} he spoke, and threw his arms around the neck of his +mother; and besought her, by his own head and by that of Merops,[115] +and by the nuptial torches of his sisters, that she would give him some +token of his real father. + +It is a matter of doubt whether Clymene was more moved by the entreaties +of Phaëton, or by resentment at the charge made against her; and she +raised both her arms to heaven, and, looking up to the light of the Sun, +she said, “Son, I swear to thee, by this beam, bright with shining rays, +which both hears and sees us, that thou, that thou, {I say}, wast +begotten by this Sun, which thou beholdest; by this {Sun}, which governs +the world. If I utter an untruth, let him deny himself to be seen by me, +and let this light prove the last for my eyes. Nor will it be any +prolonged trouble for thee to visit thy father’s dwelling; the abode +where he arises is contiguous to our regions.[116] If only thy +inclination disposes thee, go forth, and thou shalt inquire of himself.” + +Phaëton immediately springs forth, overjoyed, upon these words of his +mother, and reaches the skies in imagination; and he passes by his own +Æthiopians, and the Indians situate beneath the rays of the Sun,[117] +and briskly wends his way to the rising of his sire. + + [Footnote 111: _The Argive mistress._--Ver. 726. Clarke renders + ‘Pellicis Argolicæ,’ ‘of the Grecian miss.’] + + [Footnote 112: _The linen-wearing throng._--Ver. 747. The priests, + and worshippers of Isis, with whom Io is here said to be + identical, paid their adoration to her clothed in linen vestments. + Probably, Isis was the first to teach the Egyptians the + cultivation of flax.] + + [Footnote 113: _Epaphus._--Ver. 748. Herodotus, in his second + book, tells us, that this son of Jupiter, by Io, was the same as + the Egyptian God, Apis. Eusebius, quoting from Apollodorus, says + that Epaphus was the son of Io, by Telegonus, who married her.] + + [Footnote 114: _Clymene._--Ver. 756. She was a Nymph of the sea, + the daughter of Oceanus and Tethys.] + + [Footnote 115: _Merops._--Ver. 763. He was king of Ethiopia, and + marrying the Nymph Clymene, was either the stepfather of Phaëton, + or, as some writers say, his putative father.] + + [Footnote 116: _To our regions._--Ver. 773. Ethiopia, which, in + the time of Ovid, was generally looked upon as one of the regions + of the East.] + + [Footnote 117: _The rays of the Sun._--Ver. 778. ‘Ignibus + sidereis,’ means here the ‘heat,’ or ‘fire of the sun,’ the sun + being considered as a ‘sidus,’ or ‘luminous heavenly body.’] + + +EXPLANATION. + + To the elucidation of this narrative, already given, we will only add, + that some of the mythologists inform us, that when Mercury had lulled + Argus to sleep, a youth named Hierax awoke him; on which Mercury + killed Argus with a stone, and turned Hierax into a spar-hawk. + + + + +BOOK THE SECOND. + + +FABLE I. [II.1-303] + + Phaëton, insulted by Epaphus, goes to the Palace of Apollo, to beseech + him to give some token that he is his son. Apollo, having sworn, by + the river Styx, to refuse him nothing that he should desire, he + immediately asks to guide his chariot for one day. He is unsuccessful + in the attempt, and, the horses running away, the world is in danger + of being consumed. + +The palace of the Sun was raised high, on stately columns, bright with +radiant gold, and carbuncle that rivals the flames; polished ivory +covered its highest top, {and} double folding doors shone with the +brightness of silver. The workmanship {even} exceeded the material; for +there Mulciber had carved the sea circling round the encompassed Earth; +and the orb of the Earth, and the Heavens which hang over that orb. +{There} the waves have {in them} the azure Deities, both Triton, +sounding {with his shell}, and the changing Proteus, and Ægeon,[1] +pressing the huge backs of whales with his arms; Doris,[2] too, and her +daughters, part of whom appear to be swimming, part, sitting on the +bank, to be drying their green hair; some {are seen} borne upon fishes. +The features in all are not the same, nor, however, {remarkably} +different: {they are} such as those of sisters ought to be. The Earth +has {upon it} men and cities, and woods, and wild beasts, and rivers, +and Nymphs, and other Deities of the country. Over these is placed the +figure of the shining Heaven, and there are six Signs {of the Zodiac} on +the right door, and as many on the left. + +Soon as the son of Clymene had arrived thither by an ascending path, +and entered the house of his parent, {thus} doubted of; he immediately +turned his steps to the presence of his father, and stood at a distance, +for he could not bear the refulgence nearer. Arrayed in a purple +garment, Phœbus was seated on a throne sparkling with brilliant +emeralds. On his right hand, and on his left, the Days, the Months, +the Years, the Ages, and the Hours were arranged, at corresponding +distances, and the fresh Spring was standing, crowned with a chaplet of +blossoms; Summer was standing naked, and wearing garlands made of ears +of corn; Autumn, too, was standing besmeared with the trodden-out +grapes; and icy Winter, rough with his hoary hair. + +Then the Sun, from the midst of this place, with those eyes with which +he beholds all things, sees the young man struck with fear at the +novelty of {these} things, and says, “What is the occasion of thy +journey {hither}? What dost thou seek, Phaëton, in this {my} palace, +a son not to be denied by his parent?” + +He answers, “O thou universal Light of the unbounded World, Phœbus, my +father, if thou grantest me the use of that name; and if Clymene is not +concealing an error under a {false} pretext, give me, my parent, some +token, by which I may be believed to be really thy progeny; and remove +this uncertainty from my mind.” Thus he spoke; but his parent took off +the rays shining all around his head, and commanded him to come nearer; +and, having embraced him, he says, “{And} neither art thou deserving to +be denied to be mine, and Clymene has told thee thy true origin; and +that thou mayst have the less doubt, ask any gift thou mayst please, +that thou mayst receive it from me bestowing it. Let the lake, by which +the Gods are wont to swear, and which is unseen, {even} by my eyes, be +as a witness of my promise.” + +Hardly had he well finished, when he asks for his father’s chariot, and +for the command and guidance of the wing-footed horses for one day. His +father repented that he had {so} sworn, and shaking his splendid head +three or four times, he said, “By thine have my words been made rash. +I wish I were allowed not to grant what I have promised! I confess, my +son, that this alone I would deny thee. {Still}, I may dissuade thee: +thy desire is not attended with safety. Thou desirest, Phaëton, a gift +{too} great, and {one} which is suited neither to thy strength, nor to +such youthful years. Thy lot is that of a mortal; that which thou +desirest, belongs not to mortals. {Nay}, thou aimest, in thy ignorance, +at even more than it is allowed the Gods above to obtain. Let every one +be self-satisfied, {if he likes}; still, with the exception of myself, +no one is able to take his stand upon the fire-bearing axle-tree. Even +the Ruler of vast Olympus, who hurls the ruthless bolts with his +terrific right hand, cannot guide this chariot; and {yet}, what have we +greater than Jupiter? The first {part of the} road is steep, and such as +the horses, {though} fresh in the morning, can hardly climb. In the +middle of the heavens it is high aloft, from whence it is often a +{source of} fear, {even} to myself, to look {down} upon the sea and the +earth, and my breast trembles with fearful apprehensions. The last stage +is a steep descent, and requires a sure command {of the horses}. Then, +too, Tethys[3] herself, who receives me in her waves, extended below, is +often wont to fear, lest I should be borne headlong {from above}. +Besides, the heavens are carried round[4] with a constant rotation, and +carry {with them} the lofty stars, and whirl them with rapid revolution. +Against this I have to contend; and that force which overcomes {all} +other things, {does} not {overcome} me; and I am carried in a contrary +direction to the rapid world. Suppose the chariot given {to thee}; what +couldst thou do? Couldst thou proceed, opposed to the whirling poles, so +that the rapid heavens should not carry thee away? Perhaps, too, thou +dost fancy in thy mind that there are groves, and cities of the Gods, +and temples enriched with gifts; {whereas}, the way is through dangers, +and the forms of wild beasts;[5] and though thou shouldst keep on thy +road, and be drawn aside by no wanderings, still thou must pass amid the +horns of the threatening Bull, and the Hæmonian[6] bow, and {before} the +visage of the raging Lion, and the Scorpion, bending his cruel claws +with a wide compass, and the Crab, that bends his claws in a different +manner; nor is it easy for thee to govern the steeds spirited by those +fires which they have in their breasts, and which they breathe forth +from their mouths and their nostrils. Hardly are they restrained by me, +when their high-mettled spirit is {once} heated, and their necks +struggle against the reins. But do thou have a care, my son, that I be +not the occasion of a gift fatal to thee, and while the matter {still} +permits, alter thy intentions. Thou askest, forsooth, a sure proof that +thou mayst believe thyself sprung from my blood? I give thee a sure +proof in {thus} being alarmed {for thee}; and by my paternal +apprehensions, I am shown to be thy father. Lo, behold my countenance! +I wish, too, that thou couldst direct thy eyes into my breast, and +discover my fatherly concern within! Finally, look around thee, upon +whatever the rich world contains, and ask for anything out of the +blessings, so many and so great, of heaven, of earth, and of sea; {and} +thou shalt suffer no denial. In this one thing alone I beg to be +excused, which, {called} by its right name, is a penalty, and not an +honor; thou art asking, Phaëton, a punishment instead of a gift. Why, in +thy ignorance, art thou embracing my neck with caressing arms? Doubt +not; whatever thou shalt desire shall be granted thee (by the Stygian +waves I have sworn it); but do thou make thy desire more considerately.” + +He had finished his admonitions; and yet {Phaëton} resists his advice, +and presses his point, and burns with eagerness for the chariot. +Wherefore, his parent having delayed as long as he could, leads the +young man to the lofty chariot, the gift of Vulcan. The axle-tree was of +gold, the poles were of gold; the circumference of the exterior of the +wheel was of gold; the range of the spokes was of silver. Chrysolites +and gems placed along the yoke in order, gave a bright light from the +reflected sun. And while the aspiring Phaëton is admiring these things, +and is examining the workmanship, behold! the watchful Aurora opened her +purple doors in the ruddy east, and her halls filled with roses. The +stars disappear, the troops whereof Lucifer gathers, and moves the last +from his station in the heavens. But the father Titan, when he beheld +the earth and the universe growing red, and the horns of the far-distant +Moon, as if about to vanish, orders the swift Hours to yoke the horses. +The Goddesses speedily perform his commands, and lead forth the steeds +from the lofty stalls, snorting forth flames, and filled with the juice +of Ambrosia; and {then} they put on the sounding bits. + +Then the father touched the face of his son with a hallowed drug, and +made it able to endure the burning flames, and placed the rays upon his +locks, and fetching from his troubled heart sighs presaging his sorrow, +he said: “If thou canst here at least, my boy, obey the advice of thy +father, be sparing of the whip, and use the bridle with nerve. Of their +own accord they are wont to hasten on; the difficulty is to check them +in their full career. And let not the way attract thee through the five +direct circles.[7] There is a track cut obliquely, with a broad +curvature, and bounded by the extremities of three zones, and {so} it +shuns the South pole, and the Bear united to the North. Let thy way be +here; thou wilt perceive distinct traces of the wheels. And that heaven +and earth may endure equal heat, neither drive too low, nor urge the +chariot along the summit of the sky. Going forth too high, thou wilt set +on fire the signs of the heavens; too low, the earth; in the middle +course thou will go most safely. Neither let the right wheel bear thee +off towards the twisted Serpent, nor let the left lead thee to the low +Altar; hold thy course between them. The rest I leave to Fortune, who, +I pray, may aid thee, and take more care of thee, than thou dost of +thyself. Whilst I am speaking, the moist Night has touched the goals +placed on the Western shores; delay is not allowed me. I am required; +the Morning is shining forth, the darkness being dispersed. Seize the +reins with thy hands; or if thou hast a mind capable of change, make use +of my advice, {and} not my chariot, while thou art {still} able, and art +even yet standing upon solid ground; and while thou art not yet in thy +ignorance filling the chariot that thou didst so unfortunately covet.” + +The other leaps into the light chariot with his youthful body, and +stands aloft, and rejoices to take in his hand the reins presented {to +him}, and then gives thanks to his reluctant parent. In the meantime the +swift Pyroeis, and Eoüs and Æthon, the horses of the sun, and Phlegon, +{making} the fourth, fill the air with neighings, sending forth flames, +and beat the barriers with their feet. After Tethys, ignorant of the +destiny of her grandson, had removed these, and the scope of the +boundless universe was given them, they take the road, and moving their +feet through the air, they cleave the resisting clouds, and raised aloft +by their wings, they pass by the East winds that had arisen from the +same parts. But the weight was light; and such as the horses of the sun +could not feel; and the yoke was deficient of its wonted weight. And as +the curving ships, without proper ballast, are tossed about, and +unsteady, through their too great lightness, are borne through the sea, +so does the chariot give bounds[8] in the air, unimpeded by its usual +burden, and is tossed on high, and is just like an empty one. + +Soon as the steeds have perceived this, they rush on, and leave the +beaten track, and run not in the order in which {they did} before. He +himself becomes alarmed; and knows not which way to turn the reins +entrusted {to him}, nor does he know where the way is, nor, if he did +know, could he control them. Then, for the first time, did the cold +Triones grow warm with sunbeams, and attempt, in vain, to be dipped in +the sea that was forbidden {to them}. And the Serpent which is situate +next to the icy pole, being before torpid with cold, and formidable to +no one, grew warm, and regained new rage from the heat. They say, +too,[9] that thou, Boötes, being disturbed, took to flight; although +thou wast {but} slow, and thy wain impeded thee. But when, from the +height of the skies, the unhappy Phaëton looked down upon the earth, +lying far, very far beneath, he grew pale, and his knees shook with a +sudden terror; and in a light so great, darkness overspread his eyes. +And now he could wish that he had never touched the horses of his +father; and now he is sorry that he knew his descent, and that he +prevailed in his request; now desiring to be called the son of Merops. +He is borne along, just as a ship driven by the furious Boreas, to which +its pilot has given up the overpowered helm, {and} which he has resigned +to the Gods and {the effect of} his supplications. What can he do? much +of heaven is left behind his back; still more is before his eyes. Either +{space} he measures in his mind; and at one moment he is looking forward +to the West, which it is not allowed him by fate to reach; {and} +sometimes he looks back upon the East. Ignorant what to do, he is +stupefied; and he neither lets go the reins, nor is he able to retain +them; nor does he know the names of the horses. In his fright, too, he +sees strange objects scattered everywhere in various parts of the +heavens, and the forms of huge wild beasts. There is a spot where the +Scorpion bends his arms into two curves, and with his tail and claws +bending on either side, he extends his limbs through the space of two +signs {of the Zodiac}. As soon as the youth beheld him wet with the +sweat of black venom, and threatening wounds with the barbed point {of +his tail}, bereft of sense, he let go the reins, in a chill of horror. +Soon as they, falling down, have touched the top of their backs, the +horses range at large: and no one restraining them, they go through the +air of an unknown region; and where their fury drives them thither, +without check, do they hurry along, and they rush on to the stars fixed +in the sky, and drag the chariot through pathless places. One while they +are mounting aloft, and now they are borne through steep places, and +{along} headlong paths in a tract nearer to the earth. + +The Moon, too, wonders that her brother’s horses run lower than her own, +and the scorched clouds send forth smoke. As each region is most +elevated, it is caught by the flames, and cleft, it makes {vast} chasms, +and becomes dry, its moisture being carried away. The grass grows pale; +the trees, with their foliage, are burnt up; and the dry standing corn +affords fuel for its own destruction. {But} I am complaining of trifling +{ills}. Great cities perish, together with their fortifications, and the +flames turn whole nations, with their populations, into ashes; woods, +together with mountains, are on fire. Athos[10] burns, and the Cilician +Taurus,[11] and Tmolus,[12] and Œta,[13] and Ida,[14] now dry, {but} +once most famed for its springs; and Helicon,[15] the resort of the +Virgin {Muses}, and Hæmus,[16] not yet {called} Œagrian. Ætna[17] burns +intensely with redoubled flames, and Parnassus, with its two summits, +and Eryx,[18] and Cynthus,[19] and Othrys, and Rhodope,[20] at length to +be despoiled of its snows, and Mimas,[21] and Dindyma,[22] and +Mycale,[23] and Cithæron,[24] created for {the performance of} sacred +rites. Nor does its cold avail {even} Scythia; Caucasus[25] is on fire, +and Ossa with Pindus, and Olympus, greater than them both, and the lofty +Alps,[26] and the cloud-bearing Apennines.[27] + +Then, indeed, Phaëton beholds the world set on fire on all sides, and he +cannot endure heat so great, and he inhales with his mouth scorching +air, as though from a deep furnace, and perceives his own chariot to be +on fire. And neither is he able now to bear the ashes and the emitted +embers; and, on every side, he is involved in heated smoke. Covered with +a pitchy darkness, he knows not whither he is going, nor where he is, +and is hurried away at the pleasure of the winged steeds. They believe +that it was then that the nations of the Æthiopians contracted their +black hue,[28] the blood being attracted into the surface of the body. +Then was Libya[29] made dry by the heat, the moisture being carried off; +then, with dishevelled hair, the Nymphs lamented the springs and the +lakes. Bœotia bewails Dirce,[30] Argos Amymone,[31] and Ephyre[32] the +waters of Pirene. Nor do rivers that have got banks distant in +situation, remain {secure}; Tanais[33] smokes in the midst of its +waters, and the aged Peneus, and Teuthrantian Caïcus,[34] and rapid +Ismenus,[35] with Phocean Erymanthus,[36] and Xanthus[37] again to burn, +and yellow Lycormas,[38] and Mæander,[39] which sports with winding +streams, and the Mygdonian Melas,[40] and the Tænarian Eurotas.[41] The +Babylonian Euphrates, too, was on fire, Orontes[42] was in flames, and +the swift Thermodon[43] and Ganges,[44] and Phasis,[45] and Ister.[46] +Alpheus[47] boils; the banks of Spercheus burn; and the gold which +Tagus[48] carries with its stream, melts in the flames. The river birds +too, which made famous the Mæonian[49] banks {of the river} with their +song, grew hot in the middle of Caÿster. The Nile, affrighted, fled to +the remotest parts of the earth, and concealed his head, which still +lies hid; his seven last mouths are empty, {become} seven {mere} +channels, without any stream. The same fate dries up the Ismarian +{rivers}, Hebrus together with Strymon,[50] and the Hesperian[51] +streams, the Rhine, and the Rhone, and the Po, and the Tiber, to which +was promised the sovereignty of the world. + +All the ground bursts asunder; and through the chinks, the light +penetrates into Tartarus, and startles the Infernal King with his +spouse. The Ocean too, is contracted, and that which lately was sea, is +a surface of parched sand; and the mountains which the deep sea had +covered, start up and increase {the number of} the scattered +Cyclades.[52] The fishes sink to the bottom, and the crooked Dolphins do +not care to raise themselves on the surface into the air, as usual. The +bodies of sea calves float lifeless on their backs, on the top of the +water. The story, too, is, that {even} Nereus himself, and Doris and +their daughters, lay hid in the heated caverns. Three times had Neptune +ventured, with a stern countenance, to thrust his arms out of the water; +three times he was unable to endure the scorching heat of the air. +However, the genial Earth, as she was surrounded with sea, amid the +waters of the main, and the springs, dried up on every side, which had +hidden themselves in the bowels of their cavernous parent, burnt-up, +lifted up her all-productive face[53] as far as her neck, and placed her +hands to her forehead, and shaking all things with a vast trembling, she +sank down a little, and retired below the spot where she is wont to be, +and thus she spoke, with a parched voice: “O sovereign of the Gods, if +thou approvest of this, if I have deserved it, why do thy lightnings +linger? Let me, {if} doomed to perish by the force of fire, perish by +thy flames; and alleviate my misfortune, by being the author {of it}. +With difficulty, indeed, do I open my mouth for these very words;” (the +vapor had oppressed her utterance.) “Behold my scorched hair, and such a +quantity of ashes over my eyes, so much {too}, over my features. And +dost thou give this as my recompense? this, as the reward of my +fertility and of my duty, in that I endure wounds from the crooked +plough and harrows, and am harassed all the year through? In that I +supply green leaves for the cattle, and corn, a wholesome food for +mankind, and frankincense for yourselves? But still, suppose that I am +deserving of destruction, why have the waves {deserved this}? Why has +thy brother deserved it? Why do the seas, delivered to him by lot, +decrease, and why do they recede still further from the sky? But if +regard for neither thy brother nor for myself influences thee, still +have consideration for thy own skies; look around, on either side, {how} +each pole is smoking; if the fire shall injure them, thy palace will +fall in ruins. See! Atlas[54] himself is struggling, and hardly can he +bear the glowing heavens on his shoulders. If the sea, if the earth +perishes, if the palace of heaven, we are thrown[55] into the confused +state of ancient chaos. Save it from the flames, if aught still +survives, and provide for the preservation of the universe.” + +Thus spoke the Earth; nor, indeed, could she any longer endure the +vapor, nor say more; and she withdrew her face within herself, and the +caverns neighboring to the shades below. + + [Footnote 1: _Ægeon._--Ver. 10. Homer makes him to be the same + with Briareus. According to another account, which Ovid here + follows, he was a sea God, the son of Oceanus and Terra.] + + [Footnote 2: _Doris._--Ver. 11. She was the daughter of Oceanus, + the wife of Nereus, and the mother of the fifty Nereids.] + + [Footnote 3: _Tethys._--Ver. 69. She was the daughter of Cœlus and + Terra, and the wife of Oceanus. Her name is here used to signify + the ocean itself.] + + [Footnote 4: _Are carried round._--Ver. 70. Clarke thus renders + this line,--“Add, too, that the heaven was whisked round with a + continual rolling.”] + + [Footnote 5: _Wild beasts._--Ver. 78. The signs of the Zodiac.] + + [Footnote 6: _Hæmonian._--Ver. 81. Or Thessalian. He here alludes + to the Thessalian Chiron, the Centaur, who, according to Ovid and + other writers, was placed in the Zodiac as the Constellation + Sagittarius: while others say that Crotus, or Croto, the son of + Eupheme, the nurse of the Muses, was thus honored.] + + [Footnote 7: _Through the five direct circles._--Ver. 129. There + is some obscurity in this passage, arising from the mode of + expression. Phœbus here counsels Phaëton what track to follow, and + tells him to pursue his way by an oblique path, and not directly + in the plane of the equator. This last is what he calls ‘directos + via quinque per arcus.’ These five arcs, or circles, are the five + parallel circles by which astronomers distinguish the heavens, + namely, the two polar circles, the two tropics, and the + equinoctial. The latter runs exactly in the middle, between the + other two circles, so that the expression must be understood to + mean, ‘pursue not your way directly through that circle which is + the middlemost of the five, but observe the track that cuts it + obliquely.’] + + [Footnote 8: _The chariot give bounds._--Ver. 165-6. Clarke thus + renders these lines.--‘Thus does the chariot give jumps into the + air without its usual weight, and is kicked up on high, and is + like one empty.’] + + [Footnote 9: _They say, too._--Ver. 176-7. The following is + Clarke’s translation of these two lines,--‘They say, too, that + you, Boötes, scowered off in a mighty bustle, although you were + but slow, and thy cart hindered thee.’] + + [Footnote 10: _Athos._--Ver. 217. Athos (now Monte Santo) was a + mountain of Macedonia, so lofty that its shadow was said to extend + even to the Isle of Lemnos, which was eighty-seven miles distant.] + + [Footnote 11: _Taurus._--Ver. 217. This was an immense mountain + range which ran through the middle of Cilicia, in Asia Minor.] + + [Footnote 12: _Tmolus._--Ver. 217. Tmolus (now Bozdaz) was a + mountain of Lydia, famed for its wines and saffron. Pactolus, + a stream with sands reputed to be golden, took its rise there.] + + [Footnote 13: _Œta._--Ver. 217. This was a mountain chain, which + divided Thessaly from Doris and Phocis; famed for the death of + Hercules on one of its ridges.] + + [Footnote 14: _Ida._--Ver. 218. There were two mountains of the + name of Ide, or Ida; one in Crete, the other near Troy. The latter + is here referred to, as being famed for its springs.] + + [Footnote 15: _Helicon._--Ver. 219. This was a mountain of Bœotia, + sacred to the Virgin Muses.] + + [Footnote 16: _Hæmus._--Ver. 219. This, which is now called the + Balkan range, was a lofty chain of mountains running through + Thrace. Orpheus, the son of Œagrus and Calliope, was there torn in + pieces by the Mænades, or Bacchanalian women, whence the mountain + obtained the epithet of ‘Œagrian.’] + + [Footnote 17: _Ætna._--Ver. 220. This is the volcanic mountain of + Sicily; the flames caused by the fall of Phaëton, added to its + own, caused them to be redoubled.] + + [Footnote 18: _Eryx._--Ver. 221. This was a mountain of Sicily, + now called San Juliano. On it, a magnificent temple was erected, + in honor of Venus.] + + [Footnote 19: _Cynthus._--Ver. 221. This was a mountain of Delos, + on which Apollo and Diana were said to have been born.] + + [Footnote 20: _Rhodope._--Ver. 222. It was a high mountain, capped + with perpetual snows, in the northern part of Thrace.] + + [Footnote 21: _Mimas._--Ver. 222. A mountain of Ionia, near the + Ionian Sea. It was of very great height; whence Homer calls it + ὑψίκρημνος.] + + [Footnote 22: _Dindyma._--Ver. 223. This was a mountain of + Phrygia, near Troy, sacred to Cybele, the mother of the Gods.] + + [Footnote 23: _Mycale._--Ver. 223. A mountain of Caria, opposite + to the Isle of Samos.] + + [Footnote 24: _Cithæron._--Ver. 223. This was a mountain of + Bœotia, famous for the orgies of Bacchus, there celebrated. In its + neighborhood, Pentheus was torn to pieces by the Mænades, for + slighting the worship of Bacchus.] + + [Footnote 25: _Caucasus._--Ver. 224. This was a mountain chain in + Asia, between the Euxine and Caspian Seas.] + + [Footnote 26: _Alps._--Ver. 226. This mountain range divides + France from Italy.] + + [Footnote 27: _Apennines._--Ver. 226. This range of mountains runs + down the centre of Italy.] + + [Footnote 28: _Their black hue._--Ver. 235. The notion that the + blackness of the African tribes was produced by the heat of the + sun, is borrowed by the Poet from Hesiod. Hyginus, too, says, ‘the + Indians, because, by the proximity of the fire, their blood was + turned black by the heat thereof, became of black appearance + themselves.’ Notwithstanding the learned and minute investigations + of physiologists on the subject, this question is still involved + in considerable obscurity.] + + [Footnote 29: _Libya._--Ver. 237. This was a region between + Mauritania and Cyrene. The Greek writers, however, often use the + word to signify the whole of Africa. Servius gives a trifling + derivation for the name, in saying that Libya was so called, + because λείπει ὁ ὕετος, ‘it is without rain.’] + + [Footnote 30: _Dirce._--Ver. 239. Dirce was a celebrated fountain + of Bœotia, into which it was said that Dirce, the wife of Lycus, + king of Thebes, was transformed.] + + [Footnote 31: _Amymone._--Ver. 240. It was a fountain of Argos, + near Lerna, into which the Nymph, Amymone, the daughter of Lycus, + king of the Argives, was said to have been transformed.] + + [Footnote 32: _Ephyre._--Ver. 240. It was the most ancient name of + Corinth, in the citadel of which, or the Acrocorinthus, was the + spring Pyrene, of extreme brightness and purity and sacred to the + Muses.] + + [Footnote 33: _Tanais._--Ver. 242. This river, now the Don, after + a long winding course, discharges itself into the ‘Palus Mæotis,’ + now the sea of ‘Azof.’] + + [Footnote 34: _Caïcus._--Ver. 243. This is a river of Mysia, here + called ‘Teuthrantian,’ from Mount Teuthras, in its vicinity.] + + [Footnote 35: _Ismenus._--Ver. 244. Ismenus was a river of Bœotia, + that flowed past Thebes into the Euripus.] + + [Footnote 36: _Erymanthus._--Ver. 245. This was a river of + Arcadia, which, rising in a mountain of that name, fell into the + Alpheus.] + + [Footnote 37: _Xanthus._--Ver. 245. This was a river of Troy; here + spoken of as destined to behold flames a second time, in the + conflagration of that city.] + + [Footnote 38: _Lycormas._--Ver. 245. This was a rapid river of + Ætolia, which was afterwards known by the name of Evenus.] + + [Footnote 39: _Mæander._--Ver. 246. This was a river of Phrygia, + flowing between Lydia and Caria; it was said to have 600 windings + in its course.] + + [Footnote 40: _Melas._--Ver. 247. This name was given to many + rivers of Thrace, Thessaly, and Asia, on account of the darkness + of the color of their waters; the name was derived from the Greek + word μέλας, ‘black.’] + + [Footnote 41: _Tænarian Eurotas._--Ver. 247. The Eurotas was a + river of Laconia, which flowed under the walls of the city of + Sparta, and discharged itself into the sea near the promontory of + Tænarus, now called Cape Matapan. The Eurotas is now called + ‘Basilipotamo,’ or ‘king of streams.’] + + [Footnote 42: _Orontes._--Ver. 248. The Orontes was a river of + Asia Minor, which flowed near Antioch.] + + [Footnote 43: _Thermodon._--Ver. 249. This was a river of + Cappadocia, near which the Amazons were said to dwell.] + + [Footnote 44: _Ganges._--Ver. 249. This is one of the largest + rivers in Asia, and discharges itself into the Persian Gulf; and + not, as Gierig says, in his note on this passage, in the Red Sea.] + + [Footnote 45: _Phasis._--Ver. 249. This was a river of Colchis, + falling into the Euxine Sea.] + + [Footnote 46: _Ister._--Ver. 249. The Danube had that name from + its source to the confines of Germany; and thence, in its course + through Scythia to the sea, it was called by the name of ‘Ister.’] + + [Footnote 47: _Alpheus._--Ver. 250. It was a river of Arcadia, in + Peloponnesus.] + + [Footnote 48: _Tagus._--Ver. 251. This was a river of Spain, which + was said to bring down from the mountains great quantities of + golden sand. The Poet here feigns this to be melted by the heat of + the sun, and in that manner to be carried along by the current of + the river.] + + [Footnote 49: _Mæonian._--Ver. 252. Mæonia was so called from the + river Mæon, and was another name of Lydia. The Caÿster, famous for + its swans, flowed through Lydia.] + + [Footnote 50: _Strymon._--Ver. 257. The Hebrus and the Strymon + were rivers of Thrace. Ismarus was a mountain of that country, + famous for its vines.] + + [Footnote 51: _Hesperian._--Ver. 258. Hesperia, or ‘the western + country,’ was a general name of not only Spain and Gaul, but even + Italy. The Rhine is a river of France and Germany, the Rhone of + France. The Padus, or Po, and the Tiber, are rivers of Italy.] + + [Footnote 52: _Cyclades._--Ver. 264. The Cyclades were a cluster + of islands in the Ægean Sea, surrounding Delos as though with a + circle, whence their name.] + + [Footnote 53: _Her all-productive face._--Ver. 275. The earth was + similarly called by the Greeks παμμήτωρ, ‘the mother of all + things.’ So Virgil calls it ‘omniparens.’] + + [Footnote 54: _Atlas._--Ver. 296. This was a mountain of + Mauritania, which, by reason of its height, was said to support + the heavens.] + + [Footnote 55: _We are thrown._--Ver. 299. Clarke translates, ‘In + chaos antiquum confundimur,’ ‘We are then jumbled into the old + chaos again.’] + + +EXPLANATION. + + If we were to regard this fable solely as an allegory intended to + convey a moral, we should at once perceive that the adventure of + Phaëton represents the wilful folly of a rash young man, who consults + his own inclination, rather than the dictates of wisdom and prudence. + Some ancient writers tell us that Phaëton was the son of Phœbus and + Clymene, while others make the nymph Rhoda to have been his mother. + Apollodorus, following Hesiod, says that Herse, the daughter of + Cecrops, king of Athens, was the mother of Cephalus, who was carried + away by Aurora; which probably means that he left Greece for the + purpose of settling in the East. Cephalus had a son named Tithonus, + the father of Phaëton. Thus Phaëton was the fourth in lineal descent + from Cecrops, who reigned at Athens about 1580, B.C. The story is most + probably based upon the fact of some excessive heat that happened in + his time. Aristotle supposes that at that period flames fell from + heaven, which ravaged several countries. Possibly the burning of the + cities of the plain, or the stay of the sun in his course at the + command of Joshua, may have been the foundation of the story. St. + Chrysostom suggests that it is based upon an imperfect version of the + ascent of Elijah in a chariot of fire; that name, or rather ‘Elias,’ + the Greek form of it, bearing a strong resemblance to Ἥλιος, the Greek + name of the sun. Vossius suggests that this is an Egyptian history, + and considers the story of the grief of Phœbus for the loss of his son + to be another version of the sorrows of the Egyptians for the death of + Osiris. The tears of the Heliades, or sisters of Phaëton, he conceives + to be identical with the lamentations of the women who wept for the + death of Thammuz. The Poet, when he tells us that Phaëton abandoned + his chariot on seeing The Scorpion, probably intends to show that the + event of which he treats happened in the month in which the sun enters + that sign. + + Plutarch and Tzetzes tell us that Phaëton was a king of the + Molossians, who drowned himself in the Po; that he was a student of + astronomy, and foretold an excessive heat which happened in his reign, + and laid waste his kingdom. Lucian, also, in his Discourse on + Astronomy, gives a similar explanation of the story, and says that + this prince dying very young, left his observations imperfect, which + gave rise to the fable that he did not know how to drive the chariot + of the sun to the end of its course. + + +FABLE II. [II.305-324] + + Jupiter, to save the universe from being consumed, hurls his thunder + at Phaëton, on which he falls headlong into the river Eridanus. + +But the omnipotent father, having called the Gods above to witness, and +him, too, who had given the chariot {to Phaëton}, that unless he gives +assistance, all things will perish in direful ruin, mounts aloft to the +highest eminence, from which he is wont to spread the clouds over the +spacious earth; from which he moves his thunders, and hurls the +brandished lightnings. But then, he had neither clouds that he could +draw over the earth, nor showers that he could pour down from the sky. +He thundered aloud, and darted the poised lightning from his right ear +against the charioteer, and at the same moment deprived him both of his +life and his seat, and by his ruthless fires restrained the flames. The +horses are affrighted, and, making a bound in an opposite direction, +they shake the yoke from off their necks, and disengage themselves from +the torn harness. In one place lie the reins; in another, the axle-tree +wrenched away from the pole; in another part {are} the spokes of the +broken wheels; and the fragments of the chariot torn in pieces are +scattered far and wide. But Phaëton, the flames consuming his yellow +hair, is hurled headlong, and is borne in a long tract through the air; +as sometimes a star from the serene sky may appear to fall, although it +{really} has not fallen. Him the great Eridanus receives, in a part of +the world far distant from his country, and bathes his foaming face. + + +FABLE III. [II.325-366] + + The sisters of Phaëton are changed into poplars, and their tears + become amber distilling from those trees. + +The Hesperian Naiads[56] commit his body, smoking from the three-forked +flames, to the tomb, and inscribe these verses on the stone:--“Here is +Phaëton buried, the driver of his father’s chariot, which if he did not +manage, still he miscarried in a great attempt.” But his wretched father +had hidden his face, overcast with bitter sorrow, and, if only we can +believe it, they say that one day passed without the sun.[57] The flames +afforded light; and {so far}, there was some advantage in that disaster. +But Clymene, after she had said whatever things were to be said amid +misfortunes so great, traversed the whole earth, full of woe, and +distracted, and tearing her bosom. And first seeking his lifeless limbs, +{and} then his bones, she found his bones, however, buried on a foreign +bank. She laid herself down on the spot; and bathed with tears the name +she read on the marble, and warmed it with her open breast. The +daughters of the Sun mourn no less, and give tears, an unavailing gift, +to his death; and beating their breasts with their hands, they call +Phaëton both night and day, who is doomed not to hear their sad +complaints; and they lie scattered about the tomb. + +The Moon had four times filled her disk, by joining her horns; they, +according to their custom (for use had made custom), uttered +lamentations; among whom Phaëthusa, the eldest of the sisters, when she +was desirous to lie on the ground, complained that her feet had grown +stiff; to whom the fair Lampetie attempting to come, was detained by a +root suddenly formed. A third, when she is endeavoring to tear her hair +with her hands, tears off leaves; one complains that her legs are held +fast by the trunk of a tree, another that her arms are become long +branches. And while they are wondering at these things, bark closes upon +their loins; and by degrees, it encompasses their stomachs, their +breasts, their shoulders, and their hands; and only their mouths are +left uncovered, calling upon their mother. What is their mother to do? +but run here and there, whither frenzy leads her, and join her lips +{with theirs}, while {yet} she may? That is not enough; she tries to +pull their bodies out of the trunks {of the trees}, and with her hands +to tear away the tender branches; but from thence drops of blood flow as +from a wound. Whichever {of them} is wounded, cries out, “Spare me, +mother, O spare me, I pray; in the tree my body is being torn. And now +farewell.” The bark came over the last words. + +Thence tears flow forth; and amber distilling from the new-formed +branches, hardens in the sun; which the clear river receives and sends +to be worn by the Latian matrons. + + [Footnote 56: _The Hesperian Naiads._--Ver. 325. These were the + Naiads of Italy. They were by name Phaëthusa, Lampetie, and + Phœbe.] + + [Footnote 57: _Passed without the sun._--Ver. 331. There is, + perhaps, in this line some faint reference to a tradition of the + sun having, in the language of Scripture, ‘stood still upon + Gibeon, in his course, by the command of Joshua, when dispensing + the divine vengeance upon the Amorites,’ Joshua, x. 13. Or of the + time when ‘the shadow returned ten degrees backward’, by the + sun-dial of Ahaz, 2 Kings, xx. 11.] + + +FABLE IV. [II.367-400] + + Cycnus, king of Liguria, inconsolable for the death of Phaëton, is + transformed into a swan. + +Cycnus, the son of Sthenelus,[58] was present at this strange event; +who, although he was related to thee, Phaëton, on his mother’s side, was +yet more nearly allied in affection. He having left his kingdom (for he +reigned over the people and the great cities of the Ligurians[59]) was +filling the verdant banks and the river Eridanus, and the wood, {now} +augmented by the sisters, with his complaints; when the man’s voice +became shrill, and gray feathers concealed his hair. A long neck, too, +extends from his breast, and a membrane joins his reddening toes; +feathers clothe his sides, {and} his mouth holds a bill without a point. +Cycnus becomes a new bird; but he trusts himself not to the heavens or +the air, as being mindful of the fire unjustly sent from thence. He +frequents the pools and the wide lakes, and abhorring fire, he chooses +the streams, the {very} contrary of flames. + +Meanwhile, the father of Phaëton, in squalid garb, and destitute of his +comeliness, just as he is wont to be when he suffers an eclipse of his +disk, abhors both the light, himself, and the day; and gives his mind up +to grief, and adds resentment to his sorrow, and denies his services to +the world. “My lot,” says he, “has been restless enough from the {very} +beginning of time, and I am tired of labors endured by me, without end +and without honor. Let any one else drive the chariot that carries the +light. If there is no one, and all the Gods confess that they cannot do +it, let {Jupiter} himself drive it; that, at least, while he is trying +my reins, he may for a time lay aside the lightnings that bereave +fathers. Then he will know, having made trial of the strength of the +flame-footed steeds, that he who did not successfully guide them, did +not deserve death.” + +All the Deities stand around the Sun, as he says such things; and they +entreat him, with suppliant voice, not to determine to bring darkness +over the world. Jupiter, as well, excuses the hurling of his lightnings, +and imperiously adds threats to entreaties. Phœbus calls together his +steeds, maddened and still trembling with terror, and, subduing them, +vents his fury both with whip and lash; for he is furious, and upbraids +them with his son, and charges {his death} upon them. + + [Footnote 58: _Sthenelus._--Ver. 367. He was a king of Liguria. + Commentators have justly remarked that it was not very likely that + a king of Liguria should be related to Clymene, a queen of the + Ethiopians, as Ovid, in the next line, says was the case. This + story was probably invented by some writer, who fancied that there + were two persons of the name of Phaëton; one the subject of eastern + tradition, and the other a personage of the Latin mythology.] + + [Footnote 59: _The Ligurians._--Ver. 370. These were a people + situate on the eastern side of Etruria, between the rivers Var and + Macra. The Grecian writers were in the habit of styling the whole + of the north of Italy Liguria.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + Plutarch places the tomb of Phaëton on the banks of the river Po; and + it is not improbable that his mother and sisters, grieving at his + fate, ended their lives in the neighborhood of his tomb, being + overcome with grief, which gave rise to the story that they were + changed into the poplars on its banks, which distilled amber. Some + writers say, that they were changed into larch trees, and not poplars. + Hesiod and Pindar also make mention of this tradition. Possibly, + Cycnus, being a friend of Phaëton, may have died from grief at his + loss, on which the poets graced his attachment with the story that he + was changed into a swan. Apollodorus mentions two other persons of the + name of Cycnus. One was the son of Mars, and was killed before Troy; + the other, as Hesiod tells us, was killed by Hercules. Lucian, in his + satirical vein, tells us, that inquiring on the banks of the Po for + the swans, and the poplars distilling amber, he was told that no such + things had ever been seen there; and that even the tradition of + Phaëton and his sisters was utterly unknown to the inhabitants of + those parts. + + +FABLE V. [II.401-465] + + Jupiter, while taking a survey of the world, to extinguish the remains + of the fire, falls in love with Calisto, whom he sees in Arcadia; and, + in order to seduce that Nymph, he assumes the form of Diana. Her + sister Nymphs disclose her misfortune before the Goddess, who drives + her from her company, on account of the violation of her vow of + chastity. + +But the omnipotent father surveys the vast walls of heaven, and +carefully searches, that no part, impaired by the violence of the fire, +may fall to ruin. After he has seen them to be secure and in their own +{full} strength, he examines the earth, and the works of man; yet a care +for his own Arcadia is more particularly his object. He restores, too, +the springs and the rivers, that had not yet dared to flow, he gives +grass to the earth: green leaves to the trees; and orders the injured +forests again to be green. While {thus} he often went to and fro, he +stopped short on {seeing} a virgin of Nonacris, and the fires engendered +within his bones received {fresh} heat. It was not her employment to +soften the wool by teasing, nor to vary her tresses in their +arrangement; while a buckle fastened her garment, and a white fillet her +hair, carelessly flowing; and at one time she bore in her hand a light +javelin, at another, a bow. She was a warrior of Phœbe; nor did any +{Nymph} frequent Mænalus, more beloved by Trivia,[60] than she; but no +influence is of long duration. The lofty Sun had {now} obtained a +position beyond the mid course, when she enters a grove which no +generation had {ever} cut. Here she puts her quiver off from her +shoulders, and unbends her pliant bow, and lies down on the ground, +which the grass had covered, and presses her painted quiver, with her +neck laid on it. When Jupiter saw her {thus} weary, and without a +protector, he said, “For certain, my wife will know nothing of this +stolen embrace; or, if she should chance to know, is her scolding, is +it, {I say}, of such great consequence?” + +Immediately he puts on the form and dress of Diana, and says, “O Virgin! +one portion of my train, upon what mountains hast thou been hunting?” +The virgin raises herself from the turf, and says, “Hail, Goddess! {that +art}, in my opinion, greater than Jove, even if he himself should hear +it.” He both smiles and he hears it, and is pleased at being preferred +to himself; and he gives her kisses, not very moderate, nor such as +would be given by a virgin. He stops her as she is preparing to tell him +in what wood she has been hunting, by an embrace, and he does not betray +himself without the commission {of violence}. She, indeed, on the other +hand, as far as a woman could do (would that thou hadst seen her, +daughter of Saturn, {then} thou wouldst have been more merciful), she, +indeed, {I say}, resists; but what damsel, or who {besides}, could +prevail against Jupiter? Jove, {now} the conqueror, seeks the heavens +above; the grove and the conscious wood is {now} her aversion. Making +her retreat thence, she is almost forgetting to take away her quiver +with her arrows, and the bow which she had hung up. + +Behold, Dictynna,[61] attended by her train, as she goes along the lofty +Mænalus, and exulting in the slaughter of the wild beasts, beholds her, +and calls her, thus seen. Being so called, she drew back, and at first +was afraid lest Jupiter might be under her {shape}; but after she saw +the Nymphs walking along with her, she perceived that there was no +deceit,[62] and she approached their train. Alas! how difficult it is +not to betray a crime by one’s looks! She scarce raises her eyes from +the ground, nor, as she used to do, does she walk by the side of the +Goddess, nor is she the foremost in the whole company; but she is +silent, and by her blushes she gives signs of her injured honor. And +Diana, but {for the fact}, that she is a virgin, might have perceived +her fault by a thousand indications; the Nymphs are said to have +perceived it. + +The horns of the Moon were {now} rising again in her ninth course, when +the hunting Goddess, faint from her brother’s flames, lighted on a cool +grove, out of which a stream ran, flowing with its murmuring noise, and +borne along the sand worn fine {by its action}. When she had approved of +the spot, she touched the surface of the water with her foot; and +commending it as well, she says, “All overlookers are far off; let us +bathe our bodies, with the stream poured over them.” She of +Parrhasia[63] blushed; they all put off their clothes; she alone sought +{an excuse for} delay. Her garment was removed as she hesitated, which +being put off, her fault was exposed with her naked body. Cynthia said +to her, in confusion, and endeavoring to conceal her stomach with her +hands, “Begone afar hence! and pollute not the sacred springs;” and she +ordered her to leave her train. + + [Footnote 60: _Trivia._--Ver. 416. This was an epithet of Diana, + as presiding over and worshipped in the places where three roads + met, which were called ‘trivia.’ Being known as Diana on earth, + the Moon in the heavens, and Proserpine in the infernal regions, + she was represented at these places with three faces; those of a + horse, a dog, and a female; the latter being in the middle.] + + [Footnote 61: _Dictynna._--Ver. 441. Diana was so called from the + Greek word δικτὺς, ‘a net,’ which was used by her for the purposes + of hunting.] + + [Footnote 62: _There was no deceit._--Ver. 446. Clarke translates + ‘sensit abesse dolos,’ ‘she was convinced there was no roguery in + the case.’] + + [Footnote 63: _She of Parrhasia._--Ver. 460. Calisto is so called + from Parrhasia, a region of Arcadia. Parrhasius was the name of a + mountain, a grove, and a city of that country and was derived from + the name of Parrhasus, a son of Lycaon.] + + +FABLES VI AND VII. [II.466-550] + + Juno, being jealous that Calisto has attracted Jupiter, transforms her + into a Bear. Her son, Arcas, not recognizing his mother in that shape, + is about to kill her; but Jupiter removes them both to the skies, + where they form the Constellations of the Great and the Little Bear. + The raven, as a punishment for his garrulity, is changed from white to + black. + +The spouse of the great Thunderer had perceived this some time before, +and had put off the severe punishment {designed for her}, to a proper +time. There is {now} no reason for delay; and now the boy Arcas (that, +too, was a grief to Juno) was born of the mistress {of her husband}. +Wherefore, she turned her thoughts, full of resentment, and her eyes +{upon her}, and said, “This thing, forsooth, alone was wanting, thou +adulteress, that thou shouldst be pregnant, and that my injury should +become notorious by thy labors, and that {thereby} the disgraceful +conduct of my {husband}, Jupiter, should be openly declared. Thou shalt +not go unpunished; for I will spoil that shape of thine, on which thou +pridest thyself, and by which thou, mischievous one,[64] dost charm my +husband.” + +{Thus} she spoke; and seizing her straight in front by the hair,[65] +threw her on her face to the ground. She suppliantly stretched forth her +arms; those arms began to grow rough with black hair,[66] and her hands +to be bent, and to increase to hooked claws, and to do the duty of feet, +and the mouth, that was once admired by Jupiter, to become deformed with +a wide opening; and lest her prayers, and words not needed, should +influence her feelings, the power of speech is taken from her; an angry +and threatening voice, and full of terror, is uttered from her hoarse +throat. Still, her former understanding remains in her, even thus become +a bear; and expressing her sorrows by her repeated groans, she lifts up +her hands, such as they are, to heaven and to the stars, and she deems +Jove ungrateful, though she cannot call him so. Ah! how often, not +daring to rest in the lonely wood, did she wander about before her own +house, and in the fields once her own. Ah! how often was she driven over +the crags by the cry of the hounds; and, a huntress herself, she fled in +alarm, through fear of the hunters! Often, seeing the wild beasts, did +she lie concealed, forgetting what she was; and, a bear herself, dreaded +the he-bears seen on the mountains, and was alarmed at the wolves, +though her father was among them. + +Behold! Arcas, the offspring of the daughter of Lycaon, ignorant of who +is his parent, approaches her, thrice five birthdays being now nearly +past; and while he is following the wild beasts, while he is choosing +the proper woods, and is enclosing the Erymanthian forests[67] with his +platted nets, he meets with his mother. She stood still, upon seeing +Arcas, and was like one recognizing {another}. He drew back, and, in his +ignorance, was alarmed at her keeping her eyes fixed upon him without +ceasing; and, as she was desirous to approach still nearer, he would +have pierced her breast with the wounding spear. Omnipotent {Jove} +averted this, and removed both them and {such} wickedness; and placed +them, carried through vacant space with a rapid wind, in the heavens, +and made them neighboring Constellations. + +Juno swelled with rage after the mistress shone amid the stars, and +descended on the sea to the hoary Tethys, and the aged Ocean, a regard +for whom has often influenced the Gods; and said to them, inquiring the +reason of her coming, “Do you inquire why I, the queen of the Gods, am +come hither from the æthereal abodes? Another has possession of heaven +in my stead. May I be deemed untruthful, if, when the night has made the +world dark, you see not in the highest part of heaven stars but lately +{thus} honored to my affliction; there, where the last and most limited +circle surrounds the extreme part of the axis {of the world}. Is there, +then, {any ground} why one should hesitate to affront Juno, and dread my +being offended, who only benefit them by my resentment? See what a great +thing I have done! How vast is my power! I forbade her to be of human +shape; she has been made a Goddess; ’tis thus that I inflict punishment +on offenders; such is my mighty power! Let him obtain {for her} her +former shape, and let him remove this form of a wild beast; as he +formerly did for the Argive Phoronis. Why does he not marry her as well, +divorcing Juno, and place her in my couch, and take Lycaon for his +father-in-law? But if the wrong done to your injured foster-child +affects you, drive the seven Triones away from your azure waters, and +expel the stars received into heaven as the reward of adultery, that a +concubine may not be received into your pure waves.” + +The Gods of the sea granted her request. The daughter of Saturn enters +the liquid air in her graceful chariot,[68] with her variegated +peacocks; peacocks just as lately tinted, upon the killing of Argus, as +thou, garrulous raven, hadst been suddenly transformed into {a bird +having} black wings, whereas thou hadst been white before. For this bird +was formerly of a silver hue, with snow-white feathers, so that he +equalled the doves entirely without spot; nor would he give place to the +geese that were to save the Capitol by their watchful voice, nor to the +swan haunting the streams. His tongue was the cause of his disgrace; his +chattering tongue being the cause, that the color which was white is now +the reverse of white. + +There was no one more beauteous in all Hæmonia than Larissæan[69] +Coronis. At least, she pleased thee, Delphian {God}, as long as she +continued chaste, or was not the object of remark. But the bird of +Phœbus found out her infidelity;[70] and the inexorable informer winged +his way to his master, that he might disclose the hidden offence. Him +the prattling crow follows, with flapping wings, to make all inquiries +of him. And having heard the occasion of his journey, she says, “Thou +art going on a fruitless errand; do not despise the presages of my +voice.” + + [Footnote 64: _Thou, mischievous one._--Ver. 475. Clarke, rather + too familiarly, renders ‘importuna,’ ‘plaguy baggage.’] + + [Footnote 65: _In front by the hair._--Ver. 476. ‘Adversâ prensis + a fronte capillis,’ is rendered by Clarke, ‘seizing her fore-top.’ + Had he been describing the combats of two fish-wives, such a + version would have been, perhaps, more appropriate than in the + present instance.] + + [Footnote 66: _With black hair._--Ver. 478. To the explanation + given at the end of the story, we may here add the curious one + offered by Palæphatus. He says that Calisto was a huntress who + entered the den of a bear, by which she was devoured; and that the + bear coming out, and Calisto being no more seen, it was reported + that she had been transformed into a bear.] + + [Footnote 67: _Erymanthian forests._--Ver. 499. Erymanthus was a + mountain of Arcadia, which was afterwards famous for the slaughter + there, by Hercules, of the wild boar, which made it his haunt.] + + [Footnote 68: _Graceful chariot._--Ver. 531. Clarke translates + ‘habili curru,’ ‘her neat chariot.’] + + [Footnote 69: _Larissæan._--Ver. 542. Larissa was the chief city + of Thessaly, and was situate on the river Peneus.] + + [Footnote 70: _Her infidelity._--Ver. 545. ‘Sed ales sensit + adulterium Phœbeius,’ is translated by Clarke, ‘but the Phœban + bird found out her pranks.’] + + +EXPLANATION. + + Cicero (On the Nature of the Gods, Book iii.) tells us, that Lycaon + had a daughter who delighted in the chase, and that Jupiter, the + second of that name, the king of Arcadia, fell in love with her. This + was the ground on which she was said to have been a favorite of Diana. + The story of Calisto having been received into Heaven, and forming the + Constellation of the Bear, was perhaps grounded on the fact of Lycaon, + her father, having been the first known to take particular notice of + this Constellation. The story of the request of Juno, that Tethys will + not receive this new Constellation into the Ocean, is probably derived + from the circumstance, that the Bear, as well as the other stars + within the Arctic Circle, never sets. + + Possibly, Arcas, the son of Calisto, dying at a youthful age, may have + been the origin of the Constellation of the Lesser Bear. + + +FABLE VIII. [II.551-590] + + A virgin, the favorite of Apollo, of the same name with Coronis, is + changed into a crow, for a story which she tells Minerva, concerning + the basket in which Ericthonius was enclosed. + +“Consider what I was, and what I am, and inquire into my deserts. Thou +wilt find that my fidelity was my ruin. For once upon a time, Pallas had +enclosed Ericthonius, an offspring born without a mother, in a basket +made of Actæan twigs; and had given it to keep to the three virgins born +of the two-shaped[71] Cecrops, and had given them this injunction, that +they should not inquire into her secrets. I, being hidden among the +light foliage, was watching from a thick elm what they were doing. Two +{of them}, Pandrosos and Herse, observe their charge without {any} +treachery; Aglauros alone calls her sisters cowards, and unties the +knots with her hand; but within they behold a child, and a dragon +extended by him. I told the Goddess what was done; for which such a +return as this is made to me, that I am said to have been banished from +the protection of Minerva, and am placed after the bird of the night. My +punishment may warn birds not to incur dangers, by their chattering. But +I consider {that} she courted me with no inclination of my own, nor +asking for any such {favors}. This thou mayst ask of Pallas thyself; +although she is angry, she will not, with all her anger, deny this. For +Coroneus, one famous in the land of Phocis (I mention what is well +known) begot me: and {so} I was a virgin of royal birth, and was courted +by rich suitors ({so} despise me not). My beauty was the cause of my +misfortune; for while I was passing with slow steps along the sea-shore, +on the surface of the sand, as I was wont {to do}, the God of the Ocean +beheld me, and was inflamed; and when he had consumed his time to no +purpose, in entreating me with soft words, he prepared {to use} +violence, and followed me. I fled, and I left the firm shore, and +wearied myself in vain on the yielding sand. Then I invoked both Gods +and men; but my voice did not reach any mortal. A virgin was moved for a +virgin, and gave me assistance. I was extending my arms toward heaven; +{when those} arms began to grow black with light feathers. I struggled +to throw my garments from off my shoulders, but they were feathers, and +had taken deep root in my skin. I tried to beat my naked breast with my +hands, but I had now neither hands nor naked breast. I ran; and the sand +did not retard my feet as before, and I was lifted up from the surface +of the ground. After that, being lifted up, I was carried through the +air, and was assigned, as a faultless companion, to Minerva. Yet what +does this avail me, if Nyctimene, made a bird for a horrid crime, has +succeeded me in my honor?” + + [Footnote 71: _Two-shaped._--Ver. 555. Cecrops is here so called, + and in the Greek, διφυὴς from the fact of his having been born in + Egypt, and having settled in Greece, and was thus to be reckoned + both as an Egyptian, and in the number of the Greeks.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + Ericthonius was fabled to be the son, or foster-child, of Athene, or + Minerva, perhaps because he was the son of the daughter of Cranaus, + who had the name of Athene, by a priest of Vulcan, which Divinity was + said to have been his progenitor. St. Augustine alleges that he was + exposed, and found in a temple dedicated to Minerva and Vulcan. His + name being composed of two words, ἔρις and χθὼν, signifying + ‘contention,’ and ‘earth,’ Strabo imagines that he was the son of + Vulcan and the Earth. But it seems that the real ground on which he + was called by that name was, that he disputed the right to the crown + of Athens with Amphictyon, on the death of Cranaus, the second king. + Amphictyon prevailed, but Ericthonius succeeded him. To hide his legs, + which were deformed, he is said to have invented chariots; though that + is not likely, as Egypt, from which Greece had received many colonies, + was acquainted with the use of them from the earliest times. He is + also said to have instituted the festival of the Panathenæa, at + Athens, whence, in process of time, it was adopted by the whole of + Greece. + + Hyginus tells us, that after his death he was received into heaven as + the constellation ‘Auriga,’ or ‘the Charioteer;’ and he further + informs us, that the deformity of his legs gave occasion to the + saying, that he was half man and half a serpent. Apollodorus says that + he was born in Attica; that he was the son of Cranaë, the daughter of + Attis; and that he dethroned Amphictyon, and became the fourth king of + Athens. + + +FABLE IX. [II.591-632] + + Nyctimene having entertained a criminal passion for her father, + Nycteus, the Gods, to punish her incest, transform her into an owl. + Apollo pierces the breast of Coronis with an arrow, on the raven + informing him of the infidelity of his mistress. + +“Has not the thing, which is very well known throughout the whole of +Lesbos,[72] been heard of by thee, that Nyctimene defiled the bed of her +father? She is a bird indeed; but being conscious of her crime, she +avoids {the human} gaze and the light, and conceals her shame in the +darkness; and by all {the birds} she is expelled entirely from the sky.” + +The raven says to him, saying such things, “May this, thy calling of me +back, prove a mischief to thee, I pray; I despise the worthless omen.” +Nor does he drop his intended journey; and he tells his master, that he +has seen Coronis lying down with a youth of Hæmonia. On hearing the +crime of his mistress, his laurel fell down; and at the same moment his +usual looks, his plectrum,[73] and his color, forsook the God. And as +his mind was {now} burning with swelling rage, he took up his wonted +arms, and levelled his bow bent from the extremities, and pierced, with +an unerring shaft, that bosom, that had been so oft pressed to his own +breast. Wounded, she uttered a groan, and, drawing the steel from out of +the wound, she bathed her white limbs with purple blood; and she said, +“I might {justly}, Phœbus, have been punished by thee, but {still I +might} have first brought forth; now we two shall die in one.” Thus far +{she spoke}; and she poured forth her life, together with her blood. +A deadly coldness took possession of her body deprived of life. + +The lover, too late, alas! repents of his cruel vengeance, and blames +himself that he listened {to the bird, and} that he was so infuriated. +He hates the bird, through which he was forced to know of the crime and +the cause of his sorrow; he hates, too, the string, the bow, and his +hand; and together with his hand, {those} rash weapons, the arrows. He +cherishes her fallen to the ground, and by late resources endeavors to +conquer her destiny; and in vain he practices his physical arts. + +When he found that these attempts were made in vain, and that the +funeral pile was being prepared, and that her limbs were about to be +burnt in the closing flames, then, in truth, he gave utterance to sighs +fetched from the bottom of his heart (for it is not allowed the +celestial features to be bathed with tears). No otherwise than, as when +an axe, poised from the right ear {of the butcher}, dashes to pieces, +with a clean stroke, the hollow temples of the sucking calf, while the +dam looks on. Yet after Phœbus had poured the unavailing perfumes on her +breast, when he had given the {last} embrace and had performed the due +obsequies prematurely hastened, he did not suffer his own offspring to +sink into the same ashes; but he snatched the child from the flames and +from the womb of his mother, and carried him into the cave of the +two-formed Chiron. And he forbade the raven, expecting for himself the +reward of his tongue that told no untruth, to perch any longer among the +white birds. + + [Footnote 72: _Lesbos._--Ver. 591. This was an island in the Ægean + sea, lying to the south of Troy.] + + [Footnote 73: _Plectrum._--Ver. 601. This was a little rod, or + staff, with which the player used to strike the strings of the + lyre, or cithara, on which he was playing.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + History does not afford us the least insight into the foundation of + the story of Coronis transformed into a crow, for making too faithful + a report, nor that of the raven changed from white to black, for + talking too much. If they are based upon some events which really + happened, we must be content to acknowledge that these Fables refer to + the history of two persons entirely unknown to us, and who, perhaps, + lived as far back as the time of the daughters of Cecrops, to whom the + story seems to bear some relation. Coronis being the name of a crow as + well as of a Nymph, Lucian and other writers have fabled that her son, + Æsculapius, was produced from the egg of that bird, and was born in + the shape of a serpent, under which form he was very generally + worshipped. + + +FABLE X. [II.633-675] + + Ocyrrhoe, the daughter of the Centaur Chiron, attempting to predict + future events, tells her father the fate of the child Æsculapius, on + which the Gods transform her into a mare. + +In the meantime the half-beast {Chiron} was proud of a pupil of Divine +origin, and rejoiced in the honor annexed to the responsibility. Behold! +the daughter of the Centaur comes, having her shoulders covered with her +yellow hair; whom once the nymph Chariclo,[74] having borne her on the +banks of a rapid stream, called Ocyrrhoë. She was not contented to learn +her father’s arts {only; but} she sang the secrets of the Fates. +Therefore, when she had conceived in her mind the prophetic transports, +and grew warm with the God, whom she held confined within her breast, +she beheld the infant, and she said, “Grow on, child, the giver of +health to the whole world; the bodies of mortals shall often owe their +{own existence} to thee. To thee will it be allowed to restore life when +taken away; and daring to do that once against the will of the Gods, +thou wilt be hindered by the bolts of thy grandsire from being able any +more to grant that {boon}. And from a God thou shalt become a lifeless +carcase; and a God {again}, who lately wast a carcase; and twice shalt +thou renew thy destiny. Thou likewise, dear father, now immortal, and +produced at thy nativity, on the condition of enduring for ever, wilt +then wish that thou couldst die, when thou shalt be tormented on +receiving the blood of a baneful serpent[75] in thy wounded limbs; and +the Gods shall make thee from an immortal {being}, subject to death, and +the three Goddesses[76] shall cut thy threads.” + +Something still remained in addition to what she had said. She heaved a +sigh from the bottom of her breast, and the tears bursting forth, +trickled down her cheeks, and thus she said: “The Fates prevent me, and +I am forbidden to say any more, and the use of my voice is precluded. My +arts, which have brought the wrath of a Divinity upon me, were not of so +much value; I wish that I had not been acquainted with the future. Now +the human shape seems to be withdrawing from me; now grass pleases {me} +for my food; now I have a desire to range over the extended plains; I am +turned into a mare, and into a shape kindred {to that of my father}. But +yet, why entirely? For my father partakes of both forms.” + +As she was uttering such words as these, the last part of her complaint +was but little understood; and her words were confused. And presently +neither {were} they words indeed, nor did it appear to be the voice of a +mare, but of one imitating a mare. And in a little time she uttered +perfect neighing, and stretched her arms upon the grass. Then did her +fingers grow together, and a smooth hoof united five nails in one +continued piece of horn. The length of her face and of her neck +increased; the greatest part of her long hair became a tail. And as the +hairs lay scattered about her neck, they were transformed into a mane +{lying} upon the right side; at once both her voice and her shape were +changed. And this wondrous change gave her the {new} name {of Enippe}. + + [Footnote 74: _Chariclo._--Ver. 636. She was the daughter of + Apollo, or of Oceanus, but is supposed not to have been the same + person that is mentioned by Apollodorus as the mother of the + prophet Tiresias.] + + [Footnote 75: _A baneful serpent._--Ver. 652. This happened when + one of the arrows of Hercules, dipped in the poison of the Lernæan + Hydra, pierced the foot of Chiron while he was examining it.] + + [Footnote 76: _The three Goddesses._--Ver. 654. Namely, Clotho, + Lachesis, and Atropos, the ‘Parcæ,’ or ‘Destinies.’] + + +FABLE XI. [II.676-707] + + Mercury, having stolen the oxen of Apollo, and Battus having perceived + the theft, he engages him, by a present, to keep the matter secret. + Mistrusting, however, his fidelity, he assumes another shape, and + tempting him with presents, he succeeds in corrupting him. To punish + his treachery, the God changes him into a touchstone. + +The Philyrean[77] hero wept, and in vain, {God} of Delphi, implored thy +assistance; but neither couldst thou reverse the orders of great +Jupiter, nor, if thou couldst have reversed them wast thou then present; +{for then} thou wast dwelling in Elis and the Messenian[78] fields. This +was the time when a shepherd’s skin garment was covering thee, and a +stick cut out of the wood was the burden of thy left hand, {and} of the +other, a pipe unequal with its seven reeds. And while love is thy +concern, while thy pipe is soothing thee, some cows are said to have +strayed unobserved into the plains of Pylos.[79] The son of Maia the +daughter of Atlas, observes them, and with his {usual} skill hides them, +driven off, in the woods. Nobody but an old man, well-known in that +country, had noticed the theft: all the neighborhood called him Battus. +He was keeping the forests and the grassy pastures, and the set of +fine-bred mares of the rich Neleus.[80] + +{Mercury} was afraid of him, and took him aside with a gentle hand, and +said to him, “Come, stranger, whoever thou art, if, perchance any one +should ask after these herds, deny that thou hast seen them; and, lest +no requital be paid thee for so doing, take a handsome cow as thy +reward;” and {thereupon} he gave {him one}. On receiving it, the +stranger returned this answer: “Thou mayst go in safety. May that stone +first make mention of thy theft;” and he pointed to a stone. The son of +Jupiter feigned to go away. {But} soon he returned, and changing his +form, together with his voice, he said, “Countryman, if thou hast seen +any cows pass along this way, give me thy help, and break silence about +the theft; a female, coupled together with its bull shall be presented +thee as a reward.” But the old man,[81] after his reward was {thus} +doubled, said, “They will be beneath those hills;” and beneath those +hills they {really} were. The son of Atlas laughed and said, “Dost thou, +treacherous man, betray me to my own self? Dost betray me to myself?” +and {then} he turned his perjured breast into a hard stone, which even +now is called the “Touchstone;”[82] and this old disgrace is {attached} +to the stone that {really} deserves it not. + + [Footnote 77: _Philyrean._--Ver. 676. Chiron was the son of + Philyra, by Saturn.] + + [Footnote 78: _Messenian._--Ver. 679. Elis and Messenia were + countries of Peloponnesus; the former was on the northwest, and + the latter on the southwest side of it.] + + [Footnote 79: _Plains of Pylos._--Ver. 684. There were three + cities named Pylos in Peloponnesus. One was in Elis, another in + Messenia, and the third was situate between the other two. The + latter is supposed to have been the native place of Nestor, though + they all laid claim to that honor.] + + [Footnote 80: _Neleus._--Ver. 689. He was the king of Pylos, and + the father of Nestor.] + + [Footnote 81: _The old man._--Ver. 702. Clarke quaintly translates + ‘at senior,’ ‘but then the old blade.’] + + [Footnote 82: _The ‘Touchstone.’_--Ver. 706. It is a matter of + doubt among commentators whether ‘index’ here means a general term + for the touchstone, by which metals are tested; or whether it + means that Battus was changed into one individual stone, which + afterwards was called ‘index.’ Lactantius, by his words, seems to + imply that the latter was the case. He says, ‘He changed him into + a stone, which, from this circumstance, is called “index” about + Pylos.’ ‘Index’ was a name of infamy, corresponding with the Greek + word συκοφάντης, and with our term ‘spy.’] + + +EXPLANATION. + + The Centaurs, fabulous monsters, half men and half horses, were + perhaps the first horsemen in Thessaly and its neighborhood. It is + also probable that Chiron, who was one of these, acquired great fame + by the knowledge he had acquired at a time and in a country where + learning was little cultivated. The ancients regarded him as the first + promulgator of the utility of medicines, in which he was said to have + instructed his pupil Æsculapius. He was also considered to be an + excellent musician and a good astronomer, as we learn from Homer, + Diodorus Siculus, and other authors. Most of the heroes of that age, + and among them Hercules and Jason, studied under him. Very probably, + the only foundation for the story of the transformation of Ocyrrhoë, + was the skill and address which, under her father’s instruction, she + acquired in riding and the management of horses. For if, as it seems + really was the case, the horsemen of that age were taken for monsters, + half men and half horses, it is not surprising to find the story that + the daughter of a Centaur was transformed into a mare. + + Chiron is generally supposed to have marked out the Constellations, + for the purpose of directing the Argonauts in their voyage for the + recovery of the Golden Fleece. + + +FABLE XII. [II.708-764] + + Mercury, falling in love with Herse, the daughter of Cecrops, + endeavors to engage Aglauros in his interest, and by her means, to + obtain access to her sister. She refuses to assist him, unless he + promises to present her with a large sum of money. + +Hence, the bearer of the caduceus raised himself upon equal wings; and +as he flew, he looked down upon the fields of Munychia,[83] and the land +pleasing to Minerva, and the groves of the well-planted Lycæus. On that +day, by chance, the chaste virgins were, in their purity, carrying the +sacred offerings in baskets crowned with flowers, upon their heads to +the joyful citadel of Pallas. The winged God beholds them returning +thence; and he does not shape his course directly forward, but wheels +round in the {same} circle. As that bird swiftest in speed, the kite, on +espying the entrails, while he is afraid, and the priests stand in +numbers around the sacrifice, wings his flight in circles, and yet +ventures not to go far away, and greedily hovers around {the object of} +his hopes with waving wings, so does the active Cyllenian {God} bend his +course over the Actæan towers, and circles round in the same air. As +much as Lucifer shines more brightly than the other stars, and as much +as the golden Phœbe {shines more brightly} than thee, O Lucifer, so much +superior was Herse, as she went, to all the {other} virgins, and was the +ornament of the solemnity and of her companions. The son of Jupiter was +astonished at her beauty; and as he hung in the air, he burned no +otherwise than as when the Balearic[84] sling throws forth the plummet +of lead; it flies and becomes red hot in its course, and finds beneath +the clouds the fires which it had not {before}. + +He alters his course, and, having left heaven, goes a different way; nor +does he disguise himself; so great is his confidence in his beauty. +This, though it is {every way} complete, still he improves by care, and +smooths his hair and {adjusts} his mantle,[85] that it may hang +properly, so that the fringe and all the gold may be seen; {and minds} +that his long smooth wand, with which he induces and drives away sleep, +is in his right hand, and that his wings[86] shine upon his beauteous +feet. + +A private part of the house had three bed-chambers, adorned with ivory +and with tortoiseshell, of which thou, Pandrosos, hadst the right-hand +one, Aglauros the left-hand, and Herse had the one in the middle. She +that occupied the left-hand one was the first to remark Mercury +approaching, and she ventured to ask the name of the God, and the +occasion of his coming. To her thus answered the grandson of Atlas and +of Pleione: “I am he who carries the commands of my father through the +air. Jupiter himself is my father. Nor will I invent pretences; do thou +only be willing to be attached to thy sister, and to be called the aunt +of my offspring. Herse is the cause of my coming; I pray thee to favor +one in love.” Aglauros looks upon him with the same eyes with which she +had lately looked upon the hidden mysteries of the yellow-haired +Minerva, and demands for her agency gold of great weight; {and}, in the +meantime, obliges him to go out of the house. The warlike Goddess turned +upon her the orbs of her stern eyes, and drew a sigh from the bottom {of +her heart}, with so great a motion, that she heaved both her breast and +the Ægis placed before her valiant breast. It occurred {to her} that she +had laid open her secrets with a profane hand, at the time when she +beheld progeny created for {the God} who inhabits Lemnos,[87] without a +mother, {and} contrary to the assigned laws; and that she could now be +agreeable both to the God and to the sister {of Aglauros}, and that she +would be enriched by taking the gold, which she, in her avarice, had +demanded. Forthwith she repairs to the abode of Envy, hideous with black +gore. Her abode is concealed in the lowest recesses of a cave, wanting +sun, {and} not pervious to any wind, dismal and filled with benumbing +cold; and which is ever without fire, and ever abounding with darkness. + + [Footnote 83: _Munychia._--Ver. 709. Munychia was the name of a + promontory and harbor of Attica, between the Piræus and the + promontory of ‘Sunium.’ The spot was so called from Munychius, who + there built a temple in honor of Diana.] + + [Footnote 84: _Balearic._--Ver. 727. The Baleares were the islands + of Majorca, Minorca, and Iviza, in the Mediterranean, near the + coast of Spain. The natives of these islands were famous for their + skill in the use of the sling. That weapon does not appear to have + been used in the earliest times among the Greeks, as Homer does + not mention it; it had, however, been introduced by the time of + the war with Xerxes, though even then the sling was, perhaps, + rarely used as a weapon. The Acarnanians and the Achæans of Agium, + Patræ, and Dymæ were very expert in the use of the sling. That + used by the Achæans was made of three thongs of leather, and not + of one only, like those of other nations. The natives of the + Balearic isles are said to have attained their skill from the + circumstance of their mothers, when they were children, obliging + them to obtain their food by striking it, from a tree, with a + sling. While other slings were made of leather, theirs were made + of rushes. Besides stones, plummets of lead, called ‘glandes,’ + (as in the present instance), and μολύβδιδες, of a form between + acorns and almonds, were cast in moulds, to be thrown from slings. + They have been frequently dug up in various parts of Greece, and + particularly on the plains of Marathon. Some have the device of a + thunderbolt; while others are inscribed with δέξαι, ‘take this.’ + It was a prevalent idea with the ancients that the stone + discharged from the sling became red hot in its course, from the + swiftness of its motion.] + + [Footnote 85: _Adjusts his mantle._--Ver. 733. ‘Chlamydemque ut + pendeat apte, Collocat,’ etc., is translated by Clarke--‘And he + places his coat that it might hang agreeably, that the border and + all its gold might appear.’] + + [Footnote 86: _That his wings._--Ver. 736. Clarke renders ‘ut + tersis niteant talaria plantis,’ ‘that his wings shine upon his + spruce feet.’] + + [Footnote 87: _God who inhabits Lemnos._--Ver. 757. Being + precipitated from heaven for his deformity, Vulcan fell upon the + Isle of Lemnos, in the Ægean Sea, where he exercised the craft of + a blacksmith, according to the mythologists. The birth of + Ericthonius, by the aid of Minerva, is here referred to.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + Cicero tells us, that there were several persons in ancient times + named Mercury. The probability is, that one of them fell in love with + Herse, one of the daughters of Cecrops, king of Athens; and that + Aglauros becoming jealous of her, this tradition was built upon facts + of so ordinary a nature. + + +FABLE XIII. [II.765-832] + + Pallas commands Envy to make Aglauros jealous of her sister Herse. + Envy obeys the request of the Goddess; and Aglauros, stung with that + passion, continues obstinate in opposing Mercury’s passage to her + sister’s apartment, for which the God changes her into a statue. + +When the female warrior, to be dreaded in battle, came hither, she stood +before the abode (for she did not consider it lawful to go under the +roof), and she struck the door-posts with the end of the spear. The +doors, being shaken, flew open; she sees Envy within, eating the flesh +of vipers, the nutriment of her own bad propensities; and when she sees +her, she turns away her eyes. But the other rises sluggishly from the +ground, and leaves the bodies of the serpents half devoured, and stalks +along with sullen pace. And when she sees the Goddess graced with beauty +and with {splendid} arms, she groans, and fetches a deep sigh at her +appearance. A paleness rests on her face, {and} leanness in all her +body; she never looks direct on you; her teeth are black with rust; her +breast is green with gall; her tongue is dripping with venom. Smiles +there are none, except such as the sight of grief has excited. Nor does +she enjoy sleep, being kept awake with watchful cares; but sees with +sorrow the successes of men, and pines away at seeing them. She both +torments and is tormented at the same moment, and is {ever} her own +punishment. Yet, though Tritonia[88] hated her, she spoke to her briefly +in such words as these: “Infect one of the daughters of Cecrops with thy +poison; there is occasion so {to do}; Aglauros is she.” + +Saying no more, she departed, and spurned the ground with her spear +impressed on it. She, beholding the Goddess as she departed, with a look +askance, uttered a few murmurs, and grieved at the success of Minerva; +and took her staff, which wreaths of thorns entirely surrounded; and +veiled in black clouds, wherever she goes she tramples down the blooming +fields, and burns up the grass, and crops the tops {of the flowers}. +With her breath, too, she pollutes both nations and cities, and houses; +and at last she descries the Tritonian[89] citadel, flourishing in arts +and riches, and cheerful peace. Hardly does she restrain her tears, +because she sees nothing to weep at. But after she has entered the +chamber of the daughter of Cecrops, she executes her orders; and touches +her breast with her hand stained with rust, and fills her heart with +jagged thorns. She breathes into her as well the noxious venom, and +spreads the poison black as pitch throughout her bones, and lodges it in +the midst of her lungs. + +And that these causes of mischief may not wander through too wide a +space, she places her sister before her eyes, and the fortunate marriage +of {that} sister, and the God under his beauteous appearance, and +aggravates each particular. By this, the daughter of Cecrops being +irritated, is gnawed by a secret grief, and groans, tormented by night, +tormented by day, and wastes away in extreme wretchedness, with a slow +consumption, as ice smitten upon by a sun often clouded. She burns at +the good fortune of the happy Herse, no otherwise than as when fire is +placed beneath thorny reeds, which do not send forth flames, and burn +with a gentle heat. Often does she wish to die, that she may not be a +witness to any such thing; often, to tell the matters, as criminal, to +her severe father. At last, she sat herself down in the front of the +threshold, in order to exclude the God when he came; to whom, as he +proffered blandishments and entreaties, and words of extreme kindness, +she said, “Cease {all this}; I shall not remove myself hence, until thou +art repulsed.” “Let us stand to that agreement,” says the active +Cyllenian {God}; and he opens the carved door with his wand. But in her, +as she endeavors to arise, the parts which we bend in sitting cannot be +moved, through their numbing weight. She, indeed, struggles to raise +herself, with her body, upright; but the joints of her knees are stiff, +and a chill runs through her nails, and her veins are pallid, through +the loss of blood. + +And as the disease {of} an incurable cancer is wont to spread in all +directions, and to add the uninjured parts to the tainted; so, by +degrees, did a deadly chill enter her breast, and stop the passages of +life, and her respiration. She did not endeavor to speak; but if she had +endeavored, she had no passage for her voice. Stone had now possession +of her neck; her face was grown hard, and she sat, a bloodless statue. +Nor was the stone white; her mind had stained it. + + [Footnote 88: _Tritonia._--Ver. 783. Minerva is said to have been + called Tritonia, either from the Cretan word τριτω, signifying ‘a + head,’ as she sprang from the head of Jupiter; or from Trito, a + lake of Libya, near which she was said to have been born.] + + [Footnote 89: _Tritonian._--Ver. 794. Athens, namely, which was + sacred to Pallas, or Minerva, its tutelary divinity.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + Pausanias, in his Attica, somewhat varies this story, and says that + the daughters of Cecrops, running mad, threw themselves from the top + of a tower. It is very probable that on the introduction of the + worship of Pallas, or Minerva, into Attica, these daughters of Cecrops + may have hesitated to encourage the innovation, and the story was + promulgated that the Goddess had in that manner punished their + impiety. This seems the more likely, from the fact mentioned by + Pausanias that Pandrosos, the third daughter of Cecrops, had, after + her death, a temple built in honor of her, near that of Minerva, + because she had continued faithful to that Goddess, and had not + disobeyed her, as her sisters had done. The reputation and good fame + of Herse and Aglauros had, however, been restored by the time of + Herodotus, since he informs us that they both had their temples at + Athens. + + +FABLE XIV. [II.833-875] + + Jupiter assumes the shape of a Bull, and carrying off Europa, swims + with her on his back to the isle of Crete. + +When the grandson of Atlas had inflicted this punishment upon her words +and her profane disposition, he left the lands named after Pallas, and +entered the skies with his waving wings. His father calls him on one +side; and, not owning the cause of his love, he says, “My son, the +trusty minister of my commands, banish delay, and swiftly descend with +thy usual speed, and repair to the region which looks towards thy +{Constellation} mother on the left side, (the natives call it +Sidonis[90] by name) and drive towards the sea-shore, the herd belonging +to the king, which thou seest feeding afar upon the grass of the +mountain.” + +{Thus} he spoke; and already were the bullocks, driven from the +mountain, making for the shore named, where the daughter of the great +king, attended by Tyrian virgins, was wont to amuse herself. Majesty and +love but ill accord, nor can they continue in the same abode. The father +and the ruler of the Gods, whose right hand is armed with the +three-forked flames, who shakes the world with his nod, laying aside the +dignity of empire, assumes the appearance of a bull; and mixing with the +oxen, he lows, and, in all his beauty, walks about upon the shooting +grass. For his color is that of snow, which neither the soles of hard +feet have trodden upon, nor the watery South wind melted. His neck +swells with muscles; dewlaps hang from {between} his shoulders. His +horns are small indeed, but such as you might maintain were made with +the hand, and more transparent than a bright gem. There is nothing +threatening in his forehead; nor is his eye formidable; his countenance +expresses peace. + +The daughter of Agenor is surprised that he is so beautiful, and that he +threatens no attack; but although so gentle, she is at first afraid to +touch him. By and by she approaches him, and holds out flowers to his +white mouth. The lover rejoices, and till his hoped-for pleasure comes, +he gives kisses to her hands; scarcely, oh, scarcely, does he defer the +rest. And now he plays with her, and skips upon the green grass; {and} +now he lays his snow-white side upon the yellow sand. And, her fear +{now} removed by degrees, at one moment he gives his breast to be patted +by the hand of the virgin; at another, his horns to be wreathed with +new-made garlands. The virgin of royal birth even ventured to sit down +upon the back of the bull, not knowing upon whom she was pressing. Then +the God, by degrees {moving} from the land, and from the dry shore, +places the fictitious hoofs of his feet in the waves near the brink. +Then he goes still further, and carries his prize over the expanse of +the midst of the ocean. She is affrighted, and, borne off, looks back on +the shore she has left; and with her right hand she grasps his horn, +{while} the other is placed on his back; her waving garments are ruffled +by the breeze. + + [Footnote 90: _Sidonis._--Ver. 840. Sidon, or Sidonis, was a + maritime city of Phœnicia, near Tyre, of whose greatness it was + not an unworthy rival.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + This Fable depicts one of the most famous events in the ancient + Mythology. As we have already remarked, it is supposed that there were + several persons of the name of Zeus, or Jupiter; though there is great + difficulty in assigning to each individual his own peculiar + adventures. Vossius refers the adventure of Niobe, the daughter of + Phoroneus, to Jupiter Apis, the king of Argos, who reigned about B.C. + 1770; and that of Danaë to Jupiter Prœtus, who lived about 1350 years + before the Christian era. It was Jupiter Tantalus, according to him, + that carried off Ganymede; and it was Jupiter, the father of Hercules, + that deceived Leda. He says that the subject of the present Fable was + Jupiter Asterius, who reigned about B.C. 1400. Diodorus Siculus tells + us that he was the son of Teutamus, who, having married the daughter + of Creteus, went with some Pelasgians to settle in the island of + Crete, of which he was the first king. We may then conclude, that + Jupiter Asterius, having heard of the beauty of Europa, the daughter + of Agenor, King of Tyre, fitted out a ship, for the purpose of + carrying her off by force. This is the less improbable, as we learn + from Herodotus, that the custom of carrying those away by force, who + could not be obtained by fair means, was very common in these rude + ages. + + The ship in which Asterius made his voyage, had, very probably, the + form of a bull for its figure-head; which, in time, occasioned those + who related the adventure, to say, that Jupiter concealed himself + under the shape of that animal, to carry off his mistress. Palæphatus + and Tzetzes suggest, that the story took its rise from the name of + the general of Asterius, who was called Taurus, which is also the + Greek name for a bull. Bochart has an ingenious suggestion, based upon + etymological grounds. He thinks that the twofold meaning of the word + ‘Alpha,’ or ‘Ilpha,’ which, in the Phœnician dialect, meant either a + ship or a bull, gave occasion to the fable; and that the Greeks, on + reading the annals of the Phœnicians, by mistake, took the word in the + latter sense. + + Europa was honored as a Divinity after her death, and a festival was + instituted in her memory, which Hesychius calls ‘Hellotia,’ from + Ἑλλωτὶς, the name she received after her death. + + + + +BOOK THE THIRD. + + +FABLE I. [III.1-34] + + Jupiter, having carried away Europa, her father, Agenor, commands his + son Cadmus to go immediately in search of her, and either to bring + back his sister with him, or never to return to Phœnicia. Cadmus, + wearied with his toils and fruitless inquiries, goes to consult the + oracle at Delphi, which bids him observe the spot where he should see + a cow lie down, and build a city there, and give the name of Bœotia to + the country. + +And now the God, having laid aside the shape of the deceiving Bull, had +discovered himself, and reached the Dictæan land; when her father, +ignorant {of her fate}, commands Cadmus to seek her {thus} ravished, and +adds exile as the punishment, if he does not find her; being {both} +affectionate and unnatural in the self-same act. The son of Agenor, +having wandered over the whole world,[1] as an exile flies from his +country and the wrath of his father, for who is there that can discover +the intrigues of Jupiter? A suppliant, he consults the oracle of Phœbus, +and inquires in what land he must dwell. “A heifer,” Phœbus says, “will +meet thee in the lonely fields, one that has never borne the yoke, and +free from the crooked plough. Under her guidance, go on thy way; and +where she shall lie down on the grass, there cause a city to be built, +and call it the Bœotian[2] {city}.” + +Scarcely had Cadmus well got down from the Castalian cave,[3] {when} he +saw a heifer, without a keeper, slowly going along, bearing no mark of +servitude upon her neck. He follows, and pursues her steps with +leisurely pace, and silently adores Phœbus, the adviser of his way. +{And} now he had passed the fords of the Cephisus, and the fields of +Panope, {when} the cow stood still and raising her forehead, expansive +with lofty horns, towards heaven, she made the air reverberate with her +lowings. And so, looking back on her companions that followed behind, +she lay down, and reposed her side upon the tender grass. Cadmus +returned thanks, and imprinted kisses upon the stranger land, and +saluted the unknown mountains and fields. He was {now} going to offer +sacrifice to Jupiter, and commanded his servants to go and fetch some +water for the libation from the running springs. An ancient grove was +standing {there, as yet} profaned by no axe. There was a cavern in the +middle {of it}, thick covered with twigs and osiers, forming a low arch +by the junction of the rocks; abounding with plenty of water. Hid in +this cavern, there was a dragon sacred to Mars,[4] adorned with crests +and a golden {color}. His eyes sparkle with fire, {and} all his body is +puffed out with poison; three tongues, {too}, are brandished, and his +teeth stand in a triple row. + + [Footnote 1: _Over the whole world._--Ver. 6. Apollodorus tells us + that Cadmus lived in Thrace until the death of his mother, + Telephassa, who accompanied him; and that, after her decease, he + proceeded to Delphi to make inquiries of the oracle.] + + [Footnote 2: _Bœotian._--Ver. 13. He implies here that Bœotia + received its name from the Greek word βοῦς, ‘an ox’ or ‘cow.’ + Other writers say that it was so called from Bœotus, the son of + Neptune and Arne. Some authors also say that Thebes received its + name from the Syrian word ‘Thebe,’ which signified ‘an ox.’] + + [Footnote 3: _Castalian cave._--Ver. 14. Castalius was a fountain + at the foot of Mount Parnassus, and in the vicinity of Delphi. It + was sacred to the Muses.] + + [Footnote 4: _Sacred to Mars._--Ver. 32. Euripides says, that the + dragon had been set there by Mars to watch the spot and the + neighboring stream. Other writers say that it was a son of Mars, + Dercyllus by name, and that a Fury, named Tilphosa, was its + mother. Ancient history abounds with stories of enormous serpents. + The army of Regulus is said by Pliny the Elder, to have killed a + serpent of enormous size, which obstructed the passage of the + river Bagrada, in Africa. It was 120 feet in length.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + Reverting to the history of Europa, it may be here remarked, that + Apollodorus has preserved her genealogy. Libya, according to that + author, had two sons by Neptune, Belus and Agenor. The latter married + Telephassa, by whom he had Cadmus, Phœnix, and Cilix, and a daughter + named Europa. Some ancient writers, however, say, that Europa was the + daughter of Phœnix, and the grandchild of Agenor. + + Some authors, and Ovid among the rest, have supposed that Europe + received its name from Europa. Bochart has, with considerable + probability, suggested that it was originally so called from the fair + complexion of the people who inhabited it. Europa herself may have + received her name also from the fairness of her complexion: hence, the + poets, as the Scholiast on Theocritus tells us, invented a fable, that + a daughter of Juno stole her mother’s paint, to give it to Europa, who + used it with so much success as to ensure, by its use, an extremely + fair and beautiful complexion. + + +FABLE II. [III.35-130] + + The companions of Cadmus, fetching water from the fountain of Mars, + are devoured by the Dragon that guards it. Cadmus, on discovering + their destruction, slays the monster, and, by the advice of Minerva, + sows the teeth, which immediately produce a crop of armed men. They + forthwith quarrel among themselves, and kill each other, with the + exception of five who assist Cadmus in building the city of Thebes. + +After the men who came from the Tyrian nation had touched this grove +with ill-fated steps, and the urn let down into the water made a splash; +the azure dragon stretched forth his head from the deep cave, and +uttered dreadful hissings. The urns dropped from their hands; and the +blood left their bodies, and a sudden trembling seized their astonished +limbs. He wreathes his scaly orbs in rolling spires, and with a spring +becomes twisted into mighty folds; and uprearing himself from below the +middle into the light air, he looks down upon all the grove, and is of +as large a size,[5] as, if you were to look on him entire, {the serpent} +which separates the two Bears. + +There is no delay; he seizes the Phœnicians (whether they are resorting +to their arms or to flight, or whether fear itself is preventing either +{step}); some he kills with his sting,[6] some with his long folds, some +breathed upon[7] by the venom of his baneful poison. + +The sun, now at its height, had made the shadows {but} small: the son of +Agenor wonders what has detained his companion and goes to seek his men. +His garment was a skin torn from a lion; his weapon was a lance with +shining steel, and a javelin; and a courage superior to any weapon. When +he entered the grove, and beheld the lifeless bodies, and the victorious +enemy of immense size upon them, licking the horrid wounds with +bloodstained tongue, he said, “Either I will be the avenger of your +death, bodies {of my} faithful {companions}, or {I will be} a sharer {in +it}.” {Thus} he said; and with his right hand he raised a huge stone,[8] +and hurled the vast {weight} with a tremendous effort. {And} although +high walls with lofty towers would have been shaken with the shock of +it, {yet} the dragon remained without a wound; and, being defended by +his scales as though with a coat of mail, and the hardness of his black +hide, he repelled the mighty stroke with his skin. But he did not +overcome the javelin as well with the same hardness; which stood fast, +fixed in the middle joint of his yielding spine, and sank with the +entire {point of} steel into his entrails. Fierce with pain, he turned +his head towards his back, and beheld his wounds, and bit the javelin +fixed there. And after he had twisted it on every side with all his +might, with difficulty he wrenched it from his back; yet the steel stuck +fast in his bones. But then, when this newly inflicted wound has +increased his wonted fury, his throat swelled with gorged veins, and +white foam flowed around his pestilential jaws. The Earth, too, scraped +with the scales, sounds again, and the livid steam that issues from his +infernal mouth,[9] infects the tainted air. One while he is enrolled in +spires making enormous rings; sometimes he unfolds himself straighter +than a long beam. Now with a vast impulse, like a torrent swelled with +rain, he is borne along, and bears down the obstructing forests with his +breast. The son of Agenor gives way a little; and by the spoil of the +lion he sustains the shock, and with his lance extended before him, +pushes back his mouth, as it advances. The dragon rages, and vainly +inflicts wounds on the hard steel, and fixes his teeth upon the point. +And now the blood began to flow from his poisonous palate, and had dyed +the green grass with its spray. But the wound was slight; because he +recoiled from the stroke, and drew back his wounded throat, and by +shrinking prevented the blow from sinking deep, and did not suffer it to +go very far. At length, the son of Agenor, still pursuing, pressed the +spear lodged in his throat, until an oak stood in his way as he +retreated, and his neck was pierced, together with the trunk. The tree +was bent with the weight of the serpent, and groaned at having its trunk +lashed with the extremity of its tail. + +While the conqueror was surveying the vast size of his vanquished enemy, +a voice was suddenly heard (nor was it easy to understand whence {it +was}, but heard it was). “Why, son of Agenor, art thou {thus} +contemplating the dragon slain {by thee}? Even thou {thyself} shalt be +seen {in the form of} a dragon.”[10] He, for a long time in alarm, lost +his color together with his presence of mind, and his hair stood on end +with a chill of terror. Lo! Pallas, the favorer of the hero, descending +through the upper region of the air, comes to him, and bids him sow the +dragon’s teeth under the earth turned up, as the seeds of a future +people. He obeyed; and when he had opened a furrow with the pressed +plough, he scattered the teeth on the ground as ordered, the seed of a +race of men. Afterwards (’tis beyond belief) the turf began to move, and +first appeared a point of a spear out of the furrows, next the coverings +of heads nodding with painted cones;[11] then the shoulders and the +breast, and the arms laden with weapons start up, and a crop of men +armed with shields grows apace. So, when the curtains[12] are drawn up +in the joyful theaters, figures are wont to rise, and first to show +their countenances; by degrees the rest; and being drawn out in a +gradual continuation, the whole appear, and place their feet on the +lowest edge {of the stage}. Alarmed with this new enemy, Cadmus is +preparing to take arms, when one of the people that the earth had +produced cries out, “Do not take up {arms}, nor engage thyself in civil +war.” And then, engaged hand to hand, he strikes one of his earth-born +brothers with the cruel sword, {while} he himself falls by a dart sent +from a distance. He, also, who had put him to death, lives no longer +than the other, and breathes forth the air which he has so lately +received. In a similar manner, too, the whole troop becomes maddened, +and the brothers {so} newly sprung up, fall in fight with each other, by +mutual wounds. And now the youths that had the space of {so} short an +existence allotted them, beat with throbbing breast their blood-stained +mother, five {only} remaining, of whom Echion[13] was one. He, by the +advice of Tritonia, threw his arms upon the ground, and both asked and +gave the assurance of brotherly concord. + +The Sidonian stranger had these as associates in his task, when he built +the city that was ordered by the oracle of Phœbus. + + [Footnote 5: _As large a size._--Ver. 44. This description of the + enormous size of the dragon or serpent is inconsistent with what + the Poet says in line 91, where we find Cadmus enabled to pin his + enemy against an oak.] + + [Footnote 6: _With his sting._--Ver. 48. He enumerates in this one + instance the various modes by which serpents put their prey to + death, either by means of their sting, or, in the case of the + larger kinds of serpent, by twisting round it, and suffocating it + in their folds.] + + [Footnote 7: _Some breathed upon._--Ver. 49. It was a prevalent + notion among the ancients, that some serpents had the power of + killing their prey by their poisonous breath. Though some modern + commentators on this passage may be found to affirm the same thing, + it is extremely doubtful if such is the fact. The notion was, + perhaps, founded on the power which certain serpents have of + fascinating their prey by the agency of the eye, and thus + depriving it of the means of escape.] + + [Footnote 8: _A huge stone._--Ver. 59. ‘Molaris’ here means a + stone as large as a mill-stone, and not a mill-stone itself, for + we must remember that this was an uninhabited country, and + consequently a stranger to the industry of man.] + + [Footnote 9: _His infernal mouth._--Ver. 76. ‘Stygio’ means + ‘pestilential as the exhalations of the marshes of Styx.’] + + [Footnote 10: _Form of a dragon._--Ver. 98. This came to pass + when, having been expelled from his dominions by Zethus and + Amphion, he retired to Illyria, and was there transformed into a + serpent, a fate which was shared by his wife Hermione.] + + [Footnote 11: _With painted cones._--Ver. 108. The ‘conus’ was the + conical part of the helmet into which the crest of variegated + feathers was inserted.] + + [Footnote 12: _When the curtains._--Ver. 111. The ‘Siparium’ was a + piece of tapestry stretched on a frame, and, rising before the + stage, answered the same purpose as the curtain or drop-scene with + us, in concealing the stage till the actors appeared. Instead of + drawing up this curtain to discover the stage and actors, + according to our present practice, it was depressed when the play + began, and fell beneath the level of the stage; whence ‘aulæa + premuntur,’ ‘the curtain is dropped,’ meant that the play had + commenced. When the performance was finished, this was raised + again gradually from the foot of the stage; therefore ‘aulæa + tolluntur,’ ‘the curtain is raised,’ would mean that the play had + finished. From the present passage we learn, that in drawing it up + from the stage, the curtain was gradually displayed, the unfolding + taking place, perhaps, below the boards, so that the heads of the + figures rose first, until the whole form appeared in full with the + feet resting on the stage, when the ‘siparium’ was fully drawn up. + From a passage in Virgil’s Georgics (book iii. l. 25), we learn + that the figures of Britons (whose country had then lately been + the scene of new conquests) were woven on the canvas of the + ‘siparium,’ having their arms in the attitude of lifting the + curtain.] + + [Footnote 13: _Echion._--Ver. 126. The names of the others were + Udeus, Chthonius, Hyperenor, and Pelor, according to Apollodorus. + To these some added Creon, as a sixth.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + Agenor, on losing his daughter, commands his sons to go in search of + her, and not to return till they have found her. The young princes, + either unable to learn what was become of her, or, perhaps, being too + weak to recover her out of the hands of the king of Crete, did not + return to their father, but established themselves in different + countries; Cadmus settling in Bœotia, Cilix in Cilicia, to which he + gave his name, and Phœnix, as Hyginus tells us, remaining in Africa. + Photius, quoting from Conon, the historian, informs us, that the hope + of conquering some country in Europe, and establishing a colony there, + was the true ground of the voyage of Cadmus. + + Palæphatus, and other writers, say, that the Dragon which was killed + by Cadmus was a king of the country, who was named Draco, and was a + son of Mars: that his teeth were his subjects, who rallied again after + their defeat, and that Cadmus put them all to the sword, except + Chthonius, Udeus, Hyperenor, Pelor, and Echion, who became reconciled + to him. Heraclitus, however, assures us, that Cadmus really did slay a + serpent, which was very annoying to the Bœotian territory. Bochart and + LeClerc are of opinion that the Fable has the following + foundation:--They say, that in the Phœnician language, the same word + signifies either the teeth of a serpent, or short javelins, pointed + with brass; that the word which signifies the number five likewise + means an army; and that probably, from these circumstances, the Fable + may have taken its rise. For the Greeks, in following the annals + written in the Phœnician language, while writing the history of the + founder of Thebes, instead of describing his soldiers as wearing + helmets on their heads, with back and breast-plates, and with darts in + their hands pointed with brass, which equipment was then entirely + novel in Greece, chose rather to follow the more wonderful version, + and to say, that Cadmus had five companions produced from the teeth of + a serpent; as, according to Bochart’s suggestion, the same Phœnician + phrase may either signify a company of men sprung from the teeth of a + serpent, or a company of men armed with brazen darts. + + This conjecture is, perhaps, confirmed by a story related by Herodotus + (book ii.), which resembles it very much. He tells us, that + Psammeticus, king of Egypt, being driven to the marshy parts of his + kingdom, sent to consult the oracle of Latona, which answered that he + should be restored by brass men coming from the sea. At the time, this + answer appeared to him entirely frivolous; but certain Ionian + soldiers, being obliged, some years after, to retire to Egypt, and + appearing on the shore with their weapons and armor, all of brass, + those who perceived them ran immediately to inform the king, that men + clad in brass were plundering the country. The prince then fully + comprehended the meaning of the oracle, and making an alliance with + them, recovered his throne by the assistance they gave him. These + brass men come from the sea, and those sprung from the earth were + soldiers who assisted Psammeticus and Cadmus in carrying out their + objects. Bochart’s conjecture is strengthened by the fact, that Cadmus + was either the inventor of the cuirass and javelin, or the first that + brought them into Greece. Without inquiring further into the subject, + we may conclude, that the men sprung from the earth, or the dragon’s + teeth which were sown, were the people of the country, whom Cadmus + found means to bring over to his interest; and that they first helped + him to conquer his enemies, and then to build the citadel of Thebes, + to ensure his future security. Apollodorus says that Cadmus, to + expiate the slaughter of the dragon, was obliged to serve Mars a whole + year; which year, containing eight of our years, it is not improbable + that Cadmus rendered services for a long time to his new allies before + he received any assistance from them. + + +FABLE III. [III.131-252] + + Actæon, the grandson of Cadmus, fatigued with hunting and excessive + heat, inadvertently wanders to the cool valley of Gargaphie, the usual + retreat of Diana, when tired with the same exercise. There, to his + misfortune, he surprises the Goddess and her Nymphs while bathing, for + which she transforms him into a stag, and his own hounds tear him to + pieces. + +And now Thebes was standing; now Cadmus, thou mightst seem happy in thy +exile. Both Mars and Venus[14] had become thy father-in-law and +mother-in-law; add to this, issue by a wife so illustrious, so many +sons[15] and daughters, and grandchildren, dear pledges {of love}; +these, too, now of a youthful age. But, forsooth, the last day {of life} +must always be awaited by man, and no one ought to be pronounced happy +before his death,[16] and his last obsequies. Thy grandson, Cadmus, was +the first occasion of sorrow to thee, among so much prosperity, the +horns, too, not his own, placed upon his forehead, and you, O dogs, +glutted with the blood of your master. But, if you diligently inquire +into his {case}, you will find the fault of an accident, and not +criminality in him; for what criminality did mistake embrace? + +There was a mountain stained with the blood of various wild beasts; and +now the day had contracted the meridian shadow of things, and the sun +was equally distant from each extremity {of the heavens}; when the +Hyantian youth[17] {thus} addressed the partakers of his toils, as they +wandered along the lonely haunts {of the wild beasts}, with gentle +accent: “Our nets are moistened, my friends, and our spears, too, with +the blood of wild beasts; and the day has yielded sufficient sport; when +the next morn, borne upon her rosy chariot, shall bring back the light, +let us seek again our proposed task. Now Phœbus is at the same distance +from both lands, {the Eastern and the Western}, and is cleaving the +fields with his heat. Cease your present toils, and take away the +knotted nets.” The men execute his orders, and cease their labors. There +was a valley, thick set with pitch-trees and the sharp-pointed cypress; +by name Gargaphie,[18] sacred to the active Diana. In the extreme recess +of this, there was a grotto in a grove, formed by no art; nature, by her +ingenuity, had counterfeited art; for she had formed a natural arch, in +the native pumice and the light sand-stones. A limpid fountain ran +murmuring on the right hand with its little stream, having its spreading +channels edged with a border of grass. Here, {when} wearied with +hunting, the Goddess of the woods was wont to bathe her virgin limbs in +clear water. + +After she had entered there, she handed to one of the Nymphs, her +armor-bearer, her javelin, her quiver, and her unstrung bow. Another +Nymph put her arms under her mantle, when taken off: two removed the +sandals from her feet. But Crocale,[19] the daughter of Ismenus, more +skilled than they, gathered her hair, which lay scattered over her neck, +into a knot, although she herself was with {her hair} loose. +Nephele,[20] and Hyale,[21] and Rhanis,[22] fetch water, Psecas[23] and +Phyale[24] {do the same}, and pour it from their large urns. And while +the Titanian {Goddess} was there bathing in the wonted stream, behold! +the grandson of Cadmus, having deferred the remainder of his sport till +{next day}, came into the grove, wandering through the unknown wood, +with uncertain steps; thus did his fate direct him. + +Soon as he entered the grotto, dropping with its springs, the Nymphs, +naked as they were, on seeing a man, smote their breasts, and filled all +the woods with sudden shrieks, and gathering round Diana, covered her +with their bodies. Yet the Goddess herself was higher than they, and was +taller than them all by the neck. The color that is wont to be in +clouds, tinted by the rays of the sun {when} opposite, or that of the +ruddy morning, was on the features of Diana, when seen without her +garments. She, although surrounded with the crowd of her attendants, +stood sideways, and turned her face back; and how did she wish that she +had her arrows at hand; {and} so she took up water,[25] which she did +have {at hand}, and threw it over the face of the man, and sprinkling +his hair with the avenging stream, she added these words, the presages +of his future woe: “Now thou mayst tell, if tell thou canst, how that I +was seen by thee without my garments.” Threatening no more, she places +on his sprinkled head the horns of a lively stag; she adds length to his +neck, and sharpens the tops of his ears; and she changes his hands into +feet, and his arms into long legs, and covers his body with a spotted +coat of hair; fear, too is added. The Autonoëian[26] hero took to +flight, and wondered that he was so swift in his speed; but when he +beheld his own horns in the wonted stream, he was about to say, “Ah, +wretched me!” {when} no voice followed. He groaned; that was {all} his +voice, and his tears trickled down a face not his own, {but that of a +stag}. His former understanding alone remained. What should he do? +Should he return home, and to the royal abode? or should he lie hid in +the woods? Fear hinders the one {step}, shame the other. While he was +hesitating, the dogs espied him, and first Melampus,[27] and the +good-nosed Ichnobates gave the signal, in full cry. Ichnobates,[28] was +a Gnossian {dog}; Melampus was of Spartan breed. Then the rest rush on, +swifter than the rapid winds; Pamphagus,[29] and Dorcæus,[30] and +Oribasus,[31] all Arcadian {dogs}; and able Nebrophonus,[32] and with +Lælaps,[33] fierce Theron,[34] and Pterelas,[35] excelling in speed, +Agre[36] in her scent, and Hylæus,[37] lately wounded by a fierce boar, +and Nape,[38] begotten by a wolf, and Pœmenis,[39] that had tended +cattle, and Harpyia,[40] followed by her two whelps, and the Sicyonian +Ladon,[41] having a slender girth; Dromas,[42] too, and Canace,[43] +Sticte,[44] and Tigris, and Alce,[45] and Leucon,[46] with snow-white +hair, and Asbolus,[47] with black, and the able-bodied Lacon,[48] and +Aëllo,[49] good at running, and Thoüs,[50] and swift Lycisca,[51] with +her Cyprian brother, Harpalus,[52] too, having his black face marked +with white down the middle, and Melaneus,[53] and Lachne,[54] with a +wire-haired body, and Labros,[55] and Agriodos,[56] bred of a Dictæan +sire, but of a Laconian dam, and Hylactor,[57] with his shrill note; and +others which it were tedious to recount. + +This pack, in eagerness for their prey, are borne over rocks and cliffs, +and crags difficult of approach, where the path is steep, and where +there is no road. He flies along the routes by which he has so often +pursued; alas! he is {now} flying from his own servants. Fain would he +have cried, “I am Actæon, recognize your own master.” Words are wanting +to his wishes; the air resounds with their barking. Melanchætes[58] was +the first to make a wound on his back, Theridamas[59] the next; +Oresitrophus[60] fastened upon his shoulder. These had gone out later, +but their course was shortened by a near cut through the hill. While +they hold their master, the rest of the pack come up, and fasten their +teeth in his body. Now room is wanting for {more} wounds. He groans, and +utters a noise, though not that of a man, {still}, such as a stag cannot +make; and he fills the well-known mountains with dismal moans, and +suppliant on his bended knees, and like one in entreaty, he turns round +his silent looks as though {they were} his arms. + +But his companions, in their ignorance, urge on the eager pack with +their usual cries, and seek Actæon with their eyes; and cry out “Actæon” +aloud, as though he were absent. At his name he turns his head, as they +complain that he is not there, and in his indolence, is not enjoying a +sight of the sport afforded them. He wished, indeed, he had been away, +but there he was; and he wished to see, not to feel as well, the cruel +feats of his own dogs. They gather round him on all sides, and burying +their jaws in his body, tear their master in pieces under the form of an +imaginary stag. And the rage of the quiver-bearing Diana is said not to +have been satiated, until his life was ended by many a wound. + + [Footnote 14: _Mars and Venus._--Ver. 132. The wife of Cadmus was + Hermione, or Harmonia, who was said to have been the daughter of + Mars and Venus. The Deities honored the nuptials with their + presence, and presented marriage gifts, while the Muses and the + Graces celebrated the festivity with hymns of their own + composition.] + + [Footnote 15: _So many sons._--Ver. 134. Apollodorus, Hyginus, and + others, say that Cadmus had but one son, Polydorus. If so, ‘tot,’ + ‘so many,’ must here refer to the number of his daughters and + grandchildren. His daughters were four in number, Autonoë, Ino, + Semele, and Agave. Ino married Athamas, Autonoë Aristæus, Agave + Echion, while Semele captivated Jupiter. The most famous of the + grandsons of Cadmus were Bacchus, Melicerta, Pentheus, and Actæon.] + + [Footnote 16: _Before his death._--Ver. 135. This was the famous + remark of Solon to Crœsus, when he was the master of the opulent + and flourishing kingdom of Lydia, and seemed so firmly settled on + his throne, that there was no probability of any interruption of + his happiness. Falling into the hands of Cyrus the Persian, and + being condemned to be burnt alive, he recollected this wise saying + of Solon, and by that means saved his life, as we are told by + Herodotus, who relates the story at length. Euripides has a + similar passage in his Troades, line 510.] + + [Footnote 17: _The Hyantian youth._--Ver. 147. Actæon is thus + called, as being a Bœotian. The Hyantes were the ancient or + aboriginal inhabitants of Bœotia.] + + [Footnote 18: _Gargaphie._--Ver. 156. Gargaphie, or Gargaphia, was + a valley situate near Platæa, having a fountain of the same name.] + + [Footnote 19: _Crocale._--Ver. 169. So called, perhaps, from + κεκρύφαλος, an ornament for the head, being a coif, band, or + fillet of network for the hair called in Latin ‘reticulum,’ by + which name her office is denoted. The handmaid, whose duty it was + to attend to the hair, held the highest rank in ancient times + among the domestics.] + + [Footnote 20: _Nephele._--Ver. 171. From the Greek word νεφέλη, + ‘a cloud.’] + + [Footnote 21: _Hyale._--Ver. 171. This is from ὕαλος, ‘glass,’ the + name signifying ‘glassy,’ ‘pellucid.’ The very name calls to mind + Milton’s line in his Comus-- + ‘Under the glassy, cool, translucent wave.’] + + [Footnote 22: _Rhanis._--Ver. 171. This name is adapted from the + Greek verb ῥαίνω, ‘to sprinkle.’] + + [Footnote 23: _Psecas._--Ver. 172. From the Greek ψεκὰς, ‘a + dew-drop.’] + + [Footnote 24: _Phyale._--Ver. 172. This is from the Greek φιαλὴ, + ‘an urn.’] + + [Footnote 25: _Took up water._--Ver. 189. The ceremonial of + sprinkling previous to the transformation seems not to have been + neglected any more by the offended Goddesses of the classical + Mythology, than by the intriguing enchantresses of the Arabian + Nights’ Entertainments; as the unfortunate Beder, when under the + displeasure of the vicious queen Labè, experienced to his great + inconvenience. The love for the supernatural, combined with an + anxious desire to attribute its operations to material and visible + agencies, forms one of the most singular features of the human + character.] + + [Footnote 26: _Autonoëian._--Ver. 198. Autonoë was the daughter of + Cadmus and Hermione, or Harmonia, and the wife of Aristæus, by + whom she was the mother of Actæon. We may here remark, that in one + of his satires, Lucian introduces Juno as saying to Diana, that + she had let loose his dogs on Actæon, for fear lest, having seen + her naked, he should divulge the deformity of her person.] + + [Footnote 27: _Melampus._--Ver. 206. These names are all from the + Greek, and are interesting, as showing the epithets by which the + ancients called their dogs. The pack of Actæon is said to have + consisted of fifty dogs. Their names were preserved by several + Greek poets, from whom Apollodorus copied them; but the greater + part of his list has perished, and what remains is in a very + corrupt state. Hyginus has preserved two lists, the first of which + contains thirty-nine names, most of which are similar to those + here given by Ovid, and in almost the same order; while the second + contains thirty-six names, different from those here given. + Æschylus has named but four of them, and Ovid here names + thirty-six. Crete, Arcadia, and Laconia produced the most valuable + hounds. Melampus, ‘Black-foot,’ is from the Greek words μέλας, + ‘black,’ and ποῦς, ‘a foot.’] + + [Footnote 28: _Ichnobates._--Ver. 207. ‘Tracer.’ From the Greek + ἰχνὸς, ‘a footstep,’ and βαίνω, ‘to go.’] + + [Footnote 29: _Pamphagus._--Ver. 210. ‘Glutton.’ From πᾶν, ‘all,’ + and φάγω, ‘to eat.’] + + [Footnote 30: _Dorcæus._--Ver. 210. ‘Quicksight.’ From δέρκω, ‘to + see.’] + + [Footnote 31: _Oribasus._--Ver. 210. ‘Ranger.’ From ὄρος, ‘a + mountain,’ and βαίνω, ‘to go.’] + + [Footnote 32: _Nebrophonus._--Ver. 211. ‘Kill-buck.’ From νεβρὸς, + ‘a fawn,’ and φονέω, ‘to kill.’] + + [Footnote 33: _Lælaps._--Ver. 211. ‘Tempest.’ So called from its + swiftness and power, λαίλαψ, signifying ‘a whirlwind.’] + + [Footnote 34: _Theron._--Ver. 211. ‘Hunter.’ From the Greek, + θερεύω, ‘to trace,’ or ‘hunt.’] + + [Footnote 35: _Pterelas._--Ver. 212. ‘Wing.’ ‘Swift-footed,’ from + πτερὸν, ‘a wing,’ and ἐλαύνω, ‘to drive onward.’] + + [Footnote 36: _Agre._--Ver. 212. ‘Catcher.’ ‘Quick-scented,’ from + ἄγρα, ‘hunting,’ or ‘the chase.’] + + [Footnote 37: _Hylæus._--Ver. 213. ‘Woodger,’ or ‘Wood-ranger;’ + the Greek ὕλη, signifying ‘a wood.’] + + [Footnote 38: _Nape._--Ver. 214. ‘Forester.’ A ‘forest,’ or + ‘wood,’ being in Greek, νάπη.] + + [Footnote 39: _Pœmenis._--Ver. 215. ‘Shepherdess,’ From the Greek + ποίμενις, ‘a shepherdess.’] + + [Footnote 40: _Harpyia._--Ver. 215. ‘Ravener.’ From the Greek word + ἅρπυια, ‘a harpy,’ or ‘ravenous bird.’] + + [Footnote 41: _Ladon._--Ver. 216. This dog takes its name from + Ladon, a river of Sicyon, a territory on the shores of the gulf of + Corinth.] + + [Footnote 42: _Dromas._--Ver. 217. ‘Runner.’ From the Greek + δρόμος, ‘a race.’] + + [Footnote 43: _Canace._--Ver. 217. ‘Barker.’ The word καναχὴ, + signifies ‘a noise,’ or ‘din.’] + + [Footnote 44: _Sticte._--Ver. 217. ‘Spot.’ So called from the + variety of her colors, as στικτὸς, signifies ‘diversified with + various spots,’ from στίζω, ‘to vary with spots.’ ‘Tigris’ means + ‘Tiger.’] + + [Footnote 45: _Alce._--Ver. 217. ‘Strong.’ From the Greek ἀλκὴ + ‘strength.’] + + [Footnote 46: _Leucon._--Ver. 218. ‘White.’ From λευκὸς, ‘white.’] + + [Footnote 47: _Asbolus._--Ver. 218. ‘Soot,’ or ‘Smut.’ From the + Greek ἄσβολος, ‘soot.’] + + [Footnote 48: _Lacon._--Ver. 219. From his native country, + Laconia.] + + [Footnote 49: _Aëllo._--Ver. 219. ‘Storm.’ From ἄελλα, ‘a + tempest.’] + + [Footnote 50: _Thoüs._--Ver. 220. ‘Swift.’ From θοὸς, ‘swift.’ + Pliny the Elder states, that ‘thos’ was the name of a kind of + wolf, of larger make, and more active in springing than the common + wolf. He says that it is of inoffensive habits towards man; but + that it lives by prey, and is hairy in winter, but without hair in + summer. It is supposed by some that he alludes to the jackal. + Perhaps, from this animal, the dog here mentioned derived his + name.] + + [Footnote 51: _Lycisca._--Ver. 220. ‘Wolf.’ From the diminutive of + the Greek word λύκος, ‘a wolf.’ Virgil uses ‘Lycisca’ as the name + of a dog, in his Eclogues.] + + [Footnote 52: _Harpalus._--Ver. 222. ‘Snap.’ From ἁρπάζω, ‘to + snatch,’ or ‘plunder.’] + + [Footnote 53: _Melaneus._--Ver. 222. ‘Black-coat.’ From the Greek, + μέλας, ‘black.’] + + [Footnote 54: _Lachne._--Ver. 222. ‘Stickle.’ From the Greek work + λαχνὴ, signifying ‘thickness of the hair.’] + + [Footnote 55: _Labros._--Ver. 224. ‘Worrier.’ From the Greek + λάβρος ‘greedy.’ Dicte was a mountain of Crete; whence the word + ‘Dictæan’ is often employed to signify ‘Cretan.’] + + [Footnote 56: _Agriodos._--Ver. 224. ‘Wild-tooth.’ From ἄγριος + ‘wild,’ and ὀδοῦς, ‘a tooth.’] + + [Footnote 57: _Hylactor._--Ver. 224. ‘Babbler.’ From the Greek + word ὑλακτέω, signifying ‘to bark.’] + + [Footnote 58: _Melanchætes._--Ver. 232. ‘Black-hair.’ From the + μέλας, ‘black,’ and χαιτὴ, ‘mane.’] + + [Footnote 59: _Theridamas._--Ver. 233. ‘Kilham.’ From θὴρ, ‘a wild + beast,’ and δαμάω, ‘to subdue.’] + + [Footnote 60: _Oresitrophus._--Ver. 223. ‘Rover.’ From ὄρος ‘a + mountain,’ and τρέφω ‘to nourish.’] + + +EXPLANATION. + + If the maxim of Horace, ‘Nec Deus intersit, nisi dignus vindice + nodus,’ had been a little more frequently observed by the ancient + poets, their Deities would not have been so often placed in a + degrading or disgusting light before posterity. There cannot be a + better illustration of the truth of this than the present Fable, where + Ovid represents the chaste and prudent Diana as revenging herself in a + cruel and barbarous manner for the indiscretion, or rather misfortune, + of an innocent young man. + + Cicero mentions several Goddesses of the name of Diana. The first was + the daughter of Jupiter and Proserpine; the second of Jupiter and + Latona; and the third of Upis and Glauce. Strabo mentions another + Diana, named Britomartis, the daughter of Eubalus. The worship, + however, of Diana as the Goddess of the Moon, was, most probably, + derived from Egypt, with the Isis of whom she is perhaps identical. + The adventure narrated in this Fable is most probably to be attributed + to Diana Britomartis, as Strabo tells us, that she was particularly + fond of the chase. Pausanias, in his Attica, tells the story in much + the same terms, but he adds, that on seeing Diana bathing, the novelty + of the sight excited Actæon’s curiosity, and prompted him to approach + nearer. To explain this fable, some authors suggest, that Actæon’s + dogs becoming mad, devoured him; while others suppose, that having + ruined himself by the expense of supporting a large pack of hounds, + and a hunting establishment, it was reported that he had been devoured + by his dogs. Diodorus Siculus, and Euripides, tell us, that Actæon + showed contempt to Diana, and was about to eat of the sacrifice that + had been offered to her; and of course, in such a case, punishment at + the hands of the Goddess would be deemed a just retribution. + Apollodorus says, that Actæon was brought up by Chiron, and that he + was put to death on Mount Cithæron, for having seen Diana bathing; + though, according to one ancient authority, he was punished for having + made improper overtures to Semele. Apollodorus also says, that his + dogs died of grief, on the loss of their master, and he has preserved + some of their names. + + +FABLE IV. [III.253-301] + + Juno, incensed against Semele for her intrigue with Jupiter, takes the + form of Beroë, the more easily to ensure her revenge. Having first + infused in Semele suspicions of her lover, she then recommends her to + adopt a certain method of proving his constancy. Semele, thus + deceived, obtains a reluctant promise from Jupiter, to make his next + visit to her in the splendor and majesty in which he usually + approached his wife. + +They speak in various ways {of this matter}. To some, the Goddess seems +more severe than is proper; others praise her, and call her deserving +{of her state} of strict virginity: both sides find their reasons. The +wife of Jupiter alone does not so much declare whether she blames or +whether she approves, as she rejoices at the calamity of a family sprung +from Agenor, and transfers the hatred that she has conceived from the +Tyrian mistress to the partners of her race. Lo! a fresh occasion is +{now} added to the former one; and she grieves that Semele is pregnant +from the seed of great Jupiter. She then lets loose her tongue to abuse. + +“And what good have I done by railing so often?” said she. “She herself +must be attacked {by me}. If I am properly called the supreme Juno, +I will destroy her; if it becomes me to hold the sparkling sceptre in my +right hand; if I am the queen, and both the sister and wife of Jupiter. +The sister {I am}, no doubt. But I suppose she is content with a stolen +embrace, and the injury to my bed is but trifling. She is {now} +pregnant; that {alone} was wanting; and she bears the evidence of his +crime in her swelling womb, and wishes to be made a mother by Jupiter, +a thing which hardly fell to my lot alone. So great is her confidence in +her beauty. I will take care[61] he shall deceive her; and may I be no +daughter of Saturn, if she does not descend to the Stygian waves, sunk +{there} by her own {dear} Jupiter.” + +Upon this she rises from her throne, and, hidden in a cloud of fiery +hue, she approaches the threshold of Semele. Nor did she remove the +clouds before she counterfeited an old woman, and planted gray hair on +her temples; and furrowed her skin with wrinkles, and moved her bending +limbs with palsied step, and made her voice that of an old woman. She +became Beroë[62] herself, the Epidaurian[63] nurse of Semele. When, +therefore, upon engaging in discourse with her, and {after} long +talking, they came to the name of Jupiter, she sighed, and said, +“I {only} wish it may be Jupiter; yet I {am apt to} fear everything. +Many a one under the name of a God has invaded a chaste bed. Nor yet is +it enough that he is Jupiter; let him, if, indeed, he is the real one, +give some pledge of his affection; and beg of him to bestow his caresses +on thee, just in the greatness and form in which he is received by the +stately Juno; and let him first assume his ensigns {of royalty}.” With +such words did Juno tutor the unsuspecting daughter of Cadmus. She +requested of Jupiter a favor, without naming it. To her the God said, +“Make thy choice, thou shalt suffer no denial; and that thou mayst +believe it the more, let the majesty of the Stygian stream bear witness. +He {is} the dread and the God of the Gods.” + +Overjoyed at {what was} her misfortune, and too {easily} prevailing, as +now about to perish by the complaisance of her lover, Semele said, +“Present thyself to me, just such as the daughter of Saturn is wont to +embrace thee, when ye honor the ties of Venus.” The God wished to shut +her mouth as she spoke, {but} the hasty words had now escaped into air. +He groaned; for neither was it {now} possible for her not to have +wished, nor for him not to have sworn. Therefore, in extreme sadness, he +mounted the lofty skies, and with his nod drew along the attendant +clouds; to which he added showers and lightnings mingled with winds, and +thunders, and the inevitable thunderbolt. + + [Footnote 61: _I will take care._--Ver. 271. ‘Faxo,’ ‘I will + make,’ is sometimes used by the best authors for ‘fecero;’ and + ‘faxim’ for ‘faciam,’ or ‘fecerim.’] + + [Footnote 62: _Beroë._--Ver. 278. Iris, in the fifth book of the + Æneid (l. 620), assumes the form of another Beroë; and a third + person of that name is mentioned in the fourth book of the + Georgics, l. 34.] + + [Footnote 63: _Epidaurian._--Ver. 278. Epidaurus was a famous city + of Argolis, in Peloponnesus, famous for its temple, dedicated to + the worship of Æsculapius, who was the tutelary Divinity of that + city.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + It is most probable, that an intrigue between a female named Semele + and one of the princes called Jupiter having had a tragical end, gave + occasion to this Fable. Pausanias, in his Laconica, tells us, that + Cadmus, exasperated against his daughter Semele, caused her and her + son to be thrown into the sea; and that being thrown ashore at Oreate, + an ancient town of Laconia, Semele was buried there. + + Semele, according to Apollodorus, was, after her death, ranked among + the Goddesses by the name of Thyone. He says that her son Bacchus + going down to hell, brought her thence, and carried her up to heaven; + where, according to Nonnus, she conversed with Pallas and Diana, and + ate at the same table with Jupiter, Mercury, Mars, and Venus. The + author, known by the name of Orpheus, gives Semele the title of + Goddess, and Πανβασίλεια, or ‘Queen of the Universe.’ + + + +FABLE V. [III.302-338] + + Semele is visited by Jupiter, according to the promise she had obliged + him to make; but, being unable to support the effulgence of his + lightning, she is burnt to ashes in his presence. Bacchus, with whom + she is pregnant, is preserved; and Tiresias decided the dispute + between Jupiter and Juno, concerning the sexes. + +And yet, as much as possible, he tries to mitigate his powers. Nor is he +now armed with those flames with which he had overthrown the +hundred-handed Typhœus; in those, {there is} too much fury. There is +another thunder, less baneful, to which the right hand of the Cyclops +gave less ferocity and flames, {and} less anger. The Gods above call +this second-rate thunder; it he assumes, and he enters the house of +Agenor. Her mortal body could not endure[64] the æthereal shock, and she +was burned amid her nuptial presents. The infant, as yet unformed, is +taken out of the womb of his mother, and prematurely (if we can believe +it) is inserted in the thigh of the father, and completes the time that +he should have spent in the womb. His aunt, Ino, nurses him privately in +his early cradle. After that, the Nyseian Nymphs[65] conceal him, +entrusted {to them}, in their caves, and give him the nourishment of +milk. + +And while these things are transacted on earth by the law of destiny, +and the cradle of Bacchus, twice born,[66] is secured; they tell that +Jupiter, by chance, well drenched with nectar, laid aside {all} weighty +cares, and engaged in some free jokes with Juno, in her idle moments, +and said: “Decidedly the pleasure of you, {females}, is greater than +that which falls to the lot of {us} males.” She denied it. It was agreed +{between them}, to ask what was the opinion of the experienced Tiresias. +To him both pleasures were well known. For he had separated with a blow +of his staff two bodies of large serpents, as they were coupling in a +green wood; and (passing strange) become a woman from a man, he had +spent seven autumns. In the eighth, he again saw the same {serpents}, +and said, “If the power of a stroke given you is so great as to change +the condition of the giver into the opposite one, I will now strike you +again.” Having struck the same snakes, his former sex returned, and his +original shape came {again}. He, therefore, being chosen as umpire in +this sportive contest, confirmed the words of Jove. The daughter of +Saturn is said to have grieved more than was fit, and not in proportion +to the subject; and she condemned the eyes of the umpire to eternal +darkness. + +But the omnipotent father (for it is not allowed any God to cancel the +acts of {another} Deity) gave him the knowledge of things to come, in +recompense for his loss of sight, and alleviated his punishment by this +honor. + + [Footnote 64: _Could not endure._--Ver. 308. ‘Corpus mortale + tumultus Non tulit æthereos,’ is rendered by Clarke, ‘her mortal + body could not bear this æthereal bustle.’] + + [Footnote 65: _The Nyseian Nymphs._--Ver. 314. Nysa was the name + of a city and mountain of Arabia, or India. The tradition was, + that there the Nyseian Nymphs, whose names were Cysseis, Nysa, + Erato, Eryphia, Bromia, and Polyhymnia, brought up Bacchus. The + cave where he was concealed from the fury of Juno, was said to + have had two entrances, from which circumstance Bacchus received + the epithet of Dithyrites. Servius, in his commentary on the sixth + Eclogue of Virgil (l. 15), says that Nysa was the name of the + female that nursed Bacchus. Hyginus also speaks of her as being + the daughter of Oceanus. From the name ‘Nysa,’ Bacchus received, + in part, his Greek name ‘Dionysus.’] + + [Footnote 66: _Twice born._--Ver. 318. Clarke thus translates and + explains this line--‘They tell you, that Jupiter well drenched;’ + _i.e._ ‘fuddled with nectar,’ etc.] + + +FABLE VI. [III.339-401] + + Echo, having often amused Juno with her stories, to give time to + Jupiter’s mistresses to make their escape, the Goddess, at last, + punishes her for the deception. She is slighted and despised by + Narcissus, with whom she falls in love. + +He, much celebrated by fame throughout the cities of Aonia,[67] gave +unerring answers to the people consulting him. The azure Liriope[68] was +the first to make essay and experiment of his infallible voice; whom +once Cephisus encircled in his winding stream, and offered violence to, +{when} enclosed by his waters. The most beauteous Nymph produced an +infant from her teeming womb, which even then might have been beloved, +and she called him Narcissus. Being consulted concerning him, whether he +was destined to see the distant season of mature old age; the prophet, +expounding destiny, said, “If he never recognizes himself.” Long did the +words of the soothsayer appear frivolous; {but} the event, the thing +{itself}, the manner of his death, and the novel nature of his frenzy, +confirmed it. + +And now the son of Cephisus had added one to three times five years, and +he might seem to be a boy and a young man as well. Many a youth,[69] and +many a damsel, courted him; but there was so stubborn a pride in his +youthful beauty, {that} no youths, no damsels made any impression on +him. The noisy Nymph, who has neither learned to hold her tongue after +another speaking, nor to speak first herself, resounding Echo, espied +him, as he was driving the timid stags into his nets. Echo was then a +body, not a voice; and yet the babbler had no other use of her speech +than she now has, to be able to repeat the last words out of many. Juno +had done this; because when often she might have been able to detect the +Nymphs in the mountains in the embrace of her {husband}, Jupiter, she +purposely used to detain[70] the Goddess with a long story, until the +Nymphs had escaped. After the daughter of Saturn perceived {this}, she +said, “But small exercise of this tongue, with which I have been +deluded, shall be allowed thee, and a very short use of thy voice.” And +she confirmed her threats by the event. Still, in the end of one’s +speaking she redoubles the voice, and returns the words she hears. When, +therefore, she beheld Narcissus[71] wandering through the pathless +forests, and fell in love with him, she stealthily followed his steps; +and the more she followed him, with the nearer flame did she burn. In no +other manner than as when the native sulphur, spread around[72] the tops +of torches, catches the flame applied {to it}. Ah! how often did she +desire to accost him in soft accents, and to employ soft entreaties! +Nature resists, and suffers her not to begin; but what {Nature} does +permit, that she is ready for; to await his voice, to which to return +her own words. + +By chance, the youth, being separated from the trusty company of his +attendants, cries out, “Is there any one here?” and Echo answers “Here!” +He is amazed; and when he has cast his eyes on every side, he cries out +with a loud voice, “Come!” {Whereon} she calls {the youth} who calls. He +looks back; and again, as no one comes, he says, “Why dost thou avoid +me?” and just as many words as he spoke, he receives. He persists; and +being deceived by the imitation of an alternate voice, he says, “Let us +come together here;” and Echo, that could never more willingly answer +any sound whatever, replies, “Let us come together here!” and she +follows up her own words, and rushing from the woods,[73] is going to +throw her arms around the neck she has {so} longed for. He flies; and as +he flies, he exclaims, “Remove thy hands from thus embracing me; I will +die first, before thou shalt have the enjoyment of me.” She answers +nothing but “Have the enjoyment of me.” {Thus} rejected, she lies hid in +the woods, and hides her blushing face with green leaves, and from that +time lives in lonely caves; but yet her love remains, and increases from +the mortification of her refusal. Watchful cares waste away her +miserable body; leanness shrivels her skin, and all the juices of her +body fly off in air. Her voice and her bones alone are left. + +Her voice {still} continues, {but} they say that her bones received the +form of stones. Since then, she lies concealed in the woods, and is +never seen on the mountains: {but} is heard in all {of them}. It is her +voice {alone} which remains alive in her. + + [Footnote 67: _Aonia._--Ver. 339. Aonia was a mountainous district + of Bœotia, so called from Aon, the son of Neptune, who reigned + there. The name is often used to signify the whole of Bœotia.] + + [Footnote 68: _Liriope._--Ver. 342. She was the daughter of + Oceanus and Tethys, and was the mother of the youth Narcissus, by + the river Cephisus. Her name is derived from the Greek λείριον, + ‘a lily.’] + + [Footnote 69: _Many a youth._--Ver. 353. Clarke translates ‘multi + juvenes,’ ‘many young fellows.’] + + [Footnote 70: _Used to detain._--Ver. 364. Clarke translates ‘Illa + Deam longo prudens sermone tenebat Dum fugerent Nymphæ,’ ‘She + designedly detained the Goddess with some long-winded discourse or + other till the Nymphs ran away.’ He translates ‘garrula,’ in line + 360, ‘the prattling hussy.’] + + [Footnote 71: _Narcissus._--Ver. 370. This name is from the Greek + word ναρκᾷν, ‘to fade away,’ which was characteristic of the + youth’s career, and of the duration of the flower.] + + [Footnote 72: _Sulphur spread around._--Ver. 372. These lines + show, that it was the custom of the ancients to place sulphur on + the ends of their torches, to make them ignite the more readily, + in the same manner as the matches of the present day are tipped + with that mineral.] + + [Footnote 73: _Rushing from the woods._--Ver. 388. ‘Egressaque + sylvis.’ Clarke renders, ‘and bouncing out of the wood.’] + + +EXPLANATION. + + It appears much more reasonable to attempt the explanation of this + story on the grounds of natural philosophy than of history. The poets, + in their fondness for basing every subject upon fiction, probably + invented the fable, to explain what to them appeared an extraordinary + phenomenon. By way of embellishing their story, they tell us that Echo + was the daughter of the Air and the Tongue, and that the God Pan fell + in love with her; by which, probably, the simple fact is meant, that + some person, represented under the name of that god, endeavored to + trace the cause of this phenomenon. + + If, however, we should endeavor to base the story upon purely + historical grounds, we may suppose that it took its rise from some + Nymph, who wandered so far into the woods as to be unable to find her + way out again; and from the fact that those who went to seek her, + hearing nothing but the echo of their own voices, brought back the + strange but unsatisfactory intelligence that the Nymph had been + changed into a voice. + + +FABLE VII. [III.402-510] + + Narcissus falls in love with his own shadow, which he sees in a + fountain; and, pining to death, the Gods change him into a flower, + which still bears his name. + +Thus had he deceived her, thus, too, other Nymphs that sprung from the +water or the mountains, thus the throng of youths before {them}. +Some one, therefore, who had been despised {by him}, lifting up his +hands towards heaven, said, “Thus, though he should love, let him not +enjoy what he loves!” Rhamnusia[74] assented to a prayer so reasonable. +There was a clear spring, like silver, with its unsullied waters, which +neither shepherds, nor she-goats feeding on the mountains, nor any other +cattle, had touched; which neither bird nor wild beast had disturbed, +nor bough falling from a tree. There was grass around it, which the +neighboring water nourished, and a wood, that suffered the stream to +become warm with no {rays of the} sun. Here the youth, fatigued both +with the labor of hunting and the heat, lay down, attracted by the +appearance of the spot, and the spring; and, while he was endeavoring to +quench his thirst, another thirst grew {upon him}. + +While he is drinking, being attracted with the reflection of his own +form, seen {in the water}, he falls in love with a thing that has no +substance; {and} he thinks that to be a body, which is {but} a shadow. +He is astonished at himself, and remains unmoved with the same +countenance, like a statue formed of Parian marble.[75] Lying on the +ground, he gazes on his eyes {like} two stars, and fingers worthy of +Bacchus, and hair worthy of Apollo, and his youthful cheeks and ivory +neck, and the comeliness of his mouth, and his blushing complexion +mingled with the whiteness of snow; and everything he admires, for which +he himself is worthy to be admired. In his ignorance, he covets himself; +and he that approves, is himself {the thing} approved. While he pursues +he is pursued, and at the same moment he inflames and burns. How often +does he give vain kisses to the deceitful spring; how often does he +thrust his arms, catching at the neck he sees, into the middle of the +water, and yet he does not catch himself in them. He knows not what he +sees, but what he sees, by it is he inflamed; and the same mistake that +deceives his eyes, provokes them. Why, credulous {youth}, dost thou +vainly catch at the flying image? What thou art seeking is nowhere; what +thou art in love with, turn but away {and} thou shalt lose it; what thou +seest, the same is {but} the shadow of a reflected form; it has nothing +of its own. It comes and stays with thee; with thee it will depart, if +thou canst {but} depart thence. + +No regard for food,[76] no regard for repose, can draw him away thence; +but, lying along upon the overshadowed grass, he gazes upon the +fallacious image with unsatiated eyes, and by his own sight he himself +is undone. Raising himself a little {while}, extending his arms to the +woods that stand around him, he says, “Was ever, O, ye woods! any one +more fatally in love? For {this} ye know, and have been a convenient +shelter for many a one. And do you remember any one, who {ever} thus +pined away, during so long a time, though so many ages of your life has +been spent? It both pleases me and I see it; but what I see, and what +pleases me, yet I cannot obtain; so great a mistake possesses one in +love; and to make me grieve the more, neither a vast sea separates us, +nor a {long} way, nor mountains, nor a city with its gates closed; we +are kept asunder by a little water. He himself wishes to be embraced; +for as often as I extend my lips to the limpid stream, so often does he +struggle towards me with his face held up; you would think he might be +touched. It is a very little that stands in the way of lovers. Whoever +thou art, come up hither. Why, {dear} boy, the choice one, dost thou +deceive me? or whither dost thou retire, when pursued? Surely, neither +my form nor my age is such as thou shouldst shun; the Nymphs, too, have +courted me. Thou encouragest I know not what hopes in me with that +friendly look, and when I extend my arms to thee, thou willingly +extendest thine; when I smile, thou smilest in return; often, too, have +I observed thy tears, when I was weeping; my signs, too, thou returnest +by thy nods, and, as I guess by the motion of thy beauteous mouth, thou +returnest words that come not to my ears. In thee ’tis I, I {now} +perceive; nor does my form deceive me. I burn with the love of myself, +and both raise the flames and endure them. What shall I do? Should I be +entreated, or should I entreat? What, then, shall I entreat? What I +desire is in my power; plenty has made me poor. Oh! would that I could +depart from my own body! a new wish, {indeed}, in a lover; I could wish +that what I am in love with was away. And now grief is taking away my +strength, and no long period of my life remains; and in my early days am +I cut off; nor is death grievous to me, now about to get rid of my +sorrows by death. I wish that he who is beloved could enjoy a longer +life. Now we two, of one mind, shall die in {the extinction of} one +life.” + +{Thus} he said, and, with his mind {but} ill at ease, he returned to the +same reflection, and disturbed the water with his tears; and the form +was rendered defaced by the moving of the stream; when he saw it +{beginning} to disappear, he cried aloud, “Whither dost thou fly? Stay, +I beseech thee! and do not in thy cruelty abandon thy lover; let it be +allowed me to behold that which I may not touch, and to give nourishment +to my wretched frenzy.” And, while he was grieving, he tore his garment +from the upper border, and beat his naked breast with his palms, white +as marble. His breast, when struck, received a little redness, no +otherwise than as apples are wont, which are partly white {and} partly +red; or as a grape, not yet ripe, in the parti-colored clusters, is wont +to assume a purple tint. Soon as he beheld this again in the water, when +clear, he could not endure it any longer; but, as yellow wax with the +fire, or the hoar frost of the morning, is wont to waste away with the +warmth of the sun, so he, consumed by love, pined away, and wasted by +degrees with a hidden flame. And now, no longer was his complexion of +white mixed with red; neither his vigor nor his strength, nor {the +points} which had charmed when seen so lately, nor {even} his body, +which formerly Echo had been in love with, now remained. Yet, when she +saw these things, although angry, and mindful {of his usage of her}, she +was grieved, and, as often as the unhappy youth said, “Alas!” she +repeated, “Alas!” with re-echoing voice; and when he struck his arms +with his hands, she, too, returned the like sound of a blow. + +His last accents, as he looked into the water, as usual, were these: +“Ah, youth, beloved in vain!” and the spot returned just as many words; +and after he had said, “Farewell!” Echo, too, said, “Farewell!” He laid +down his wearied head upon the green grass, {when} night closed the eyes +that admired the beauty of their master; and even then, after he had +been received into the infernal abodes, he used to look at himself in +the Stygian waters. His Naiad sisters lamented him, and laid their +hair,[77] cut off, over their brother; the Dryads, too, lamented him, +{and} Echo resounded to their lamentations. And now they were preparing +the funeral pile, and the shaken torches, and the bier. The body was +nowhere {to be found}. Instead of his body, they found a yellow flower, +with white leaves encompassing it in the middle. + + [Footnote 74: _Rhamnusia._--Ver. 406. Nemesis, the Goddess of + Retribution, and the avenger of crime, was the daughter of + Jupiter. She had a famous temple at Rhamnus, one of the ‘pagi,’ or + boroughs of Athens. Her statue was there, carved by Phidias out of + the marble which the Persians brought into Greece for the purpose + of making a statue of Victory out of it, and which was thus + appropriately devoted to the Goddess of Retribution. This statue + wore a crown, and had wings, and holding a spear of ash in the + right hand, it was seated on a stag.] + + [Footnote 75: _Parian marble._--Ver. 419. Paros was an island in + the Ægean sea, one of the Cyclades; it was famous for the valuable + quality of its marble, which was especially used for the purpose + of making statues of the Gods.] + + [Footnote 76: _Regard for food._--Ver. 437. ‘Cereris.’ The name of + the Goddess of corn is here used instead of bread itself.] + + [Footnote 77: _Laid their hair._--Ver. 506. It was the custom + among the ancients for females, when lamenting the dead, not only + to cut off their hair, but to lay it on the body, when extended + upon the funeral pile.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + If this story is based upon any historical facts, they are entirely + lost to us; as all we learn from history concerning Narcissus, is the + fact that he was a Thespian by birth. The Fable seems rather to be + intended as a useful moral lesson, disclosing the fatal effects of + self-love. His pursuit, too, of his own image, ever retiring from his + embrace, strongly resembles the little reality that exists in many of + those pleasures which mankind so eagerly pursue. + + Pausanias, in his Bœotica, somewhat varies the story. He tells us that + Narcissus having lost his sister, whom he tenderly loved, and who + resembled him very much, and was his constant companion in the chase, + thought, on seeing himself one day in a fountain, that it was the + shade of his lost sister, and, thereupon, pined away and died of + grief. According to him, the fountain was near a village called + Donacon, in the country of the Thespians. Pausanias regards the + account of his change into the flower which bears his name as a mere + fiction, since Pamphus says that Proserpina, when carried away, long + before the time of Narcissus, gathered that flower in the fields of + Enna; and that the same flower was sacred to her. Persons sacrificing + to the Furies, or Eumenides, used to wear chaplets made of the + Narcissus, because that flower commonly grew about graves and + sepulchres. + + Tiresias, who predicted the untoward fate of Narcissus, was, as we are + informed by Apollodorus, the son of Evenus and Chariclo, and was the + most renowned soothsayer of his time. He lost his life by drinking of + the fountain of Telphusa when he was overheated; or, as some suppose, + through the unwholesome quality of the water. As he lived to a great + age, and became blind towards the end of his life, the story, which + Ovid mentions, was invented respecting him. Another version of it was, + that he lost his sight, by reason of his having seen Minerva while + bathing. This story was very probably based either upon the fact that + he had composed a Treatise upon the Animal Functions of the Sexes, or + that he had promulgated the doctrine that the stars had not only souls + (a common opinion in those times), but also that they were of + different sexes. He is supposed to have lived about 1200 years before + the Christian era. + + +FABLE VIII. [III.511-733] + + Pentheus ridicules the predictions of Tiresias; and not only forbids + his people to worship Bacchus, who had just entered Greece in triumph, + but even commands them to capture him, and to bring him into his + presence. Under the form of Acœtes, one of his companions, Bacchus + suffers that indignity, and relates to Pentheus the wonders which the + God had wrought. The recital enrages Pentheus still more, who + thereupon goes to Mount Cithæron, to disturb the orgies then + celebrating there; on which his own mother and the other Bacchantes + tear him to pieces. + +This thing, when known, brought deserved fame to the prophet through the +cities of Achaia;[78] and great was the reputation of the soothsayer. +Yet Pentheus,[79] the son of Echion, a contemner of the Gods above, +alone, of all men, despises him, and derides the predicting words of the +old man, and upbraids him with his darkened state, and the misfortune of +{having lost} his sight. He, shaking his temples, white with hoary hair, +says: “How fortunate wouldst thou be, if thou as well couldst become +deprived of this light, that thou mightst not behold the rites of +Bacchus. For soon the day will come, and even now I predict that it is +not far off, when the new {God} Liber, the son of Semele, shall come +hither. Unless thou shalt vouchsafe him the honor of a temple, thou +shalt be scattered, torn in pieces, in a thousand places, and with thy +blood thou shalt pollute both the woods, and thy mother and the sisters +of thy mother. {These things} will come to pass; for thou wilt not +vouchsafe honor to the Divinity; and thou wilt complain that under this +darkness I have seen too much.” + +The son of Echion drives him away as he says such things as these. +Confirmation follows his words, and the predictions of the prophet are +fulfilled. Liber comes, and the fields resound with festive howlings. +The crowd runs out; both matrons and new-married women mixed with the +men, both high and low, are borne along to the {celebration of} rites +{till then} unknown. “What madness,” says Pentheus, “has confounded your +minds, O ye warlike men,[80] descendants of the Dragon? Can brass +knocked against brass prevail so much with you? And the pipe with the +bending horn, and these magical delusions? And shall the yells of women, +and madness produced by wine, and troops of effeminate {wretches}, and +empty tambourines[81] prevail over you, whom neither the warrior’s sword +nor the trumpet could affright, nor troops with weapons prepared {for +fight}? Am I to wonder at you, old men, who, carried over distant seas, +have fixed in these abodes a {new} Tyre, and your banished household +Gods, {but who} now allow them to be taken without a struggle? Or you, +of more vigorous age and nearer to my own, ye youths; whom it was +befitting to be brandishing arms, and not the thyrsus,[82] and to be +covered with helmets, not green leaves? Do be mindful, I entreat you, of +what race you are sprung, and assume the courage of that dragon, who +{though but} one, destroyed many. He died for his springs and his +stream; but do you conquer for your own fame. He put the valiant to +death; do you expel the feeble {foe}, and regain your country’s honor. +If the fates forbid Thebes to stand long, I wish that engines of war[83] +and men should demolish the walls, and that fire and sword should +resound. {Then} should we be wretched without {any} fault {of our own}, +and our fate were to be lamented, {but} not concealed, and our tears +would be free from shame. But now Thebes will be taken by an unarmed +boy, whom neither wars delight, nor weapons, nor the employment of +horses, but hair wet with myrrh, and effeminate chaplets, and purple, +and gold interwoven with embroidered garments; whom I, indeed, (do you +only stand aside) will presently compel to own that his father is +assumed, and that his sacred rites are fictitious. Has Acrisius[84] +courage enough to despise the vain Deity, and to shut the gates of Argos +against his approach; and shall this stranger affright Pentheus with all +Thebes? Go quickly, (this order he gives to his servants), go, and bring +hither in chains the ringleader. Let there be no slothful delay in +{executing} my commands.” + +His grandfather,[85] {Cadmus}, Athamas, and the rest of the company of +his friends rebuke him with expostulations, and in vain try to restrain +him. By their admonition he becomes more violent, and by being curbed +his fury is irritated, and is on the increase, and the very restraint +did him injury. So have I beheld a torrent, where nothing obstructed it +in its course, run gently and with moderate noise; but wherever beams +and stones in its way withheld it, it ran foaming and raging, and more +violent from its obstruction. Behold! {the servants} return, all stained +with blood; and when their master inquires where Bacchus is, they deny +that they have seen Bacchus. “But this one,” say they, “we have taken, +who was his attendant and minister in his sacred rites.” And {then} they +deliver one, who, from the Etrurian nation, had followed the sacred +rites of the Deity, with his hands bound behind his back. + +Pentheus looks at him with eyes that anger has made terrible, and +although he can scarcely defer the time of his punishment, he says, +“O {wretch}, doomed to destruction, and about, by thy death, to set an +example to others, tell me thy name, and the name of thy parents, and +thy country, and why thou dost attend the sacred rites of a new +fashion.” He, void of fear, says, “My name is Acœtes; Mæonia[86] is my +country; my parents were of humble station. My father left me no fields +for the hardy oxen to till, no wool-bearing flocks, nor any herds. He +himself was {but} poor, and he was wont with line, and hooks, to deceive +the leaping fishes, and to take them with the rod. His trade was his +{only} possession. When he gave that calling over {to me}, he said, +‘Receive, as the successor and heir of my employment, those riches which +I possess;’ and at his death he left me nothing but the streams. This +one thing alone can I call my patrimony. {But} soon, that I might not +always be confined to the same rocks, I learned with a steadying right +hand to guide the helm of the ship, and I made observations with my eyes +of the showery Constellation of the Olenian she-goat,[87] and +Taygete,[88] and the Hyades,[89] and the Bear, and the quarters of the +winds, and the harbors fit for ships. By chance, as I was making for +Delos, I touched at the coast of the land of Dia,[90] and came up to the +shore by {plying} the oars on the right side; and I gave a nimble leap, +and lighted upon the wet sand. When the night was past, and the dawn +first began to grow red, I arose and ordered {my men} to take in fresh +water, and I pointed out the way which led to the stream. I myself, from +a lofty eminence, looked around {to see} what the breeze promised me; +and {then} I called my companions, and returned to the vessel. ‘Lo! we +are here,’ says Opheltes, my chief mate; and having found, as he +thought, a prize in the lonely fields, he was leading along the shore, +a boy with {all} the beauty of a girl. He, heavy with wine and sleep, +seemed to stagger, and to follow with difficulty. I examined his dress, +his looks, and his gait, {and} I saw nothing there which could be taken +to be mortal. I both was sensible of it, and I said to my companions, ‘I +am in doubt what Deity is in that body; but in that body a Deity there +is. Whoever thou art, O be propitious and assist our toils; and pardon +these as well.’ ‘Cease praying for us,’ said Dictys, than whom there was +not another more nimble at climbing to the main-top-yards, and at +sliding down by catching hold of a rope. This Libys, this the +yellow-haired Melanthus, the guardian of the prow, and this Alcimedon +approved of; and Epopeus[91] as well, the cheerer of their spirits, who +by his voice gave both rest and time to the oars; {and} so did all the +rest; so blind is the greed for booty. ‘However,’ I said, ‘I will not +allow this ship to be damaged by this sacred freight. Here I have the +greatest share of right.’ and I opposed them at the entrance. + +“Lycabas, the boldest of all the number, was enraged, who, expelled from +a city of Etruria, was suffering exile as the punishment for a dreadful +murder.[92] He, while I was resisting, seized hold of my throat with his +youthful fist, and shaking me, had thrown me overboard into the sea, if +I had not, although stunned, held fast by grasping a rope. The impious +crew approved of the deed. Then at last Bacchus (for Bacchus it was), as +though his sleep had been broken by the noise, and his sense was +returning into his breast after {much} wine, said: ‘What are you doing? +What is this noise? Tell me, sailors, by what means have I come hither? +Whither do you intend to carry me?’ ‘Lay aside thy fears,’ said Proreus, +‘and tell us what port thou wouldst wish to reach. Thou shalt stop at +the land that thou desirest.’ ‘Direct your course then to Naxos,’[93] +says Liber, ‘that is my home; it shall prove a hospitable land for you.’ + +“In their deceit they swore by the ocean and by all the Deities, that so +it should be; and bade me give sail to the painted ship. Naxos was to +our right; {and} as I was {accordingly} setting sail for the right hand, +every one said for himself, ‘What art thou about, madman? What insanity +possesses thee, Acœtes? Stand away to the left.’ The greater part +signified {their meaning} to me by signs; some whispered in my ear what +they wanted. I was at a loss, and I said, ‘Let some one else take the +helm;’ and I withdrew myself from the execution both of their +wickedness, and of my own calling. I was reviled by them all, and the +whole crew muttered {reproaches} against me. Æthalion, among them, says, +‘As if, forsooth, all our safety is centred in thee,’ and he himself +comes up, and takes my duty; and leaving Naxos, he steers a different +course. Then the God, mocking them as if he had at last but that moment +discovered their knavery, looks down upon the sea from the crooked +stern; and, like one weeping, he says: ‘These are not the shores, +sailors, that you have promised me; this is not the land desired by me. +By what act have I deserved this treatment? What honor is it to you, if +you {that are} young men, deceive a {mere} boy? if you {that are} many, +deceive me, {who am but} one?’ I had been weeping for some time. The +impious gang laughed at my tears, and beat the sea with hastening oars. +Now by himself do I swear to thee (and no God is there more powerful +than he), that I am relating things to thee as true, as they are beyond +all belief. The ship stood still upon the ocean, no otherwise than if it +was occupying a dry dock. They, wondering at it, persisted in the plying +of their oars; they unfurled their sails, and endeavored to speed onward +with this twofold aid. Ivy impeded the oars,[94] and twined {around +them} in encircling wreaths; and clung to the sails with heavy clusters +of berries. He himself, having his head encircled with bunches of +grapes, brandished a lance covered with vine leaves. Around him, tigers +and visionary forms of lynxes, and savage bodies of spotted panthers, +were extended. + +“The men leaped overboard, whether it was madness or fear that caused +this; and first {of all}, Medon began to grow black with fins, with a +flattened body, and to bend in the curvature of the back-bone. To him +Lycabas said, ‘Into what prodigy art thou changing?’ and, as he spoke, +the opening of his mouth was wide, his nose became crooked, and his +hardened skin received scales upon it. But Libys, while he was +attempting to urge on the resisting oars, saw his hands shrink into a +small compass, and now to be hands no longer, {and} that now, {in fact}, +they may be pronounced fins. Another, desirous to extend his arms to the +twisting ropes, had no arms, and becoming crooked, with a body deprived +of limbs, he leaped into the waves; the end of his tail was hooked, just +as the horns of the half-moon are curved. They flounce about on every +side, and bedew {the ship} with plenteous spray, and again they emerge, +and once more they return beneath the waves. They sport with {all} the +appearance of a dance, and toss their sportive bodies, and blow forth +the sea, received within their wide nostrils. Of twenty the moment +before (for so many did that ship carry), I was the only one remaining. +The God encouraged me, frightened and chilled with my body all +trembling, and scarcely myself, saying, ‘Shake off thy fear, and make +for Dia.’ Arriving there, I attended upon the sacred rites of Bacchus, +at the kindled altars.” + +“We have lent ear to a long story,”[95] says Pentheus, “that our anger +might consume its strength in its tediousness. Servants! drag him +headlong, and send to Stygian night his body, racked with dreadful +tortures.” At once the Etrurian Acœtes, dragged away, is shut up in a +strong prison; and while the cruel instruments of the death that is +ordered, and the iron and the fire are being made ready, the report is +that the doors opened of their own accord, and that the chains, of their +own accord, slipped from off his arms, no one loosening them. + +The son of Echion persists: and now he does not command others to go, +but goes himself to where Cithæron,[96] chosen for the celebration of +these sacred rites, was resounding with singing, and the shrill voices +of the votaries of Bacchus. Just as the high-mettled steed neighs, when +the warlike trumpeter gives the alarm with the sounding brass, and +conceives a desire for battle, so did the sky, struck with the +long-drawn howlings, excite Pentheus, and his wrath was rekindled on +hearing the clamor. There was, about the middle of the mountain, the +woods skirting its extremity, a plain free from trees, {and} visible on +every side. Here his mother was the first to see him looking on the +sacred rites with profane eyes; she first was moved by a frantic +impulse, {and} she first wounded her {son}, Pentheus, by hurling her +thyrsus, {and} cried out, “Ho! come, my two sisters;[97] that boar +which, of enormous size, is roaming amid our fields, that boar I must +strike.” All the raging multitude rushes upon him alone; all collect +together, and all follow him, now trembling, now uttering words less +atrocious {than before}, now blaming himself, now confessing that he has +offended. + +However, on being wounded, he says, “Give me thy aid, Autonoë, my aunt; +let the ghost of Actæon[98] influence thy feelings.” She knows not what +Actæon {means}, and tears away his right hand as he is praying; the +other is dragged off by the violence of Ino. The wretched {man} has +{now} no arms to extend to his mother; but showing his maimed body, with +the limbs torn off, he says, “Look at this, my mother!” At the sight +Agave howls aloud, and tosses her neck, and shakes her locks in the air; +and seizing his head, torn off, with her blood-stained fingers, she +cries out, “Ho! my companions, this victory is our work!” + +The wind does not more speedily bear off, from a lofty tree, the leaves +nipped by the cold of autumn, and now adhering with difficulty, than +were the limbs of the man, torn asunder by their accursed hands. +Admonished by such examples, the Ismenian matrons frequent the new +worship, and offer frankincense, and reverence the sacred altars. + + [Footnote 78: _Cities of Achaia._--Ver. 511. Achaia was properly + the name of a part of Peloponnesus, on the gulf of Corinth; but + the name is very frequently applied to the whole of Greece.] + + [Footnote 79: _Pentheus._--Ver. 513. He was the son of Echion and + Agave, the daughter of Cadmus.] + + [Footnote 80: _Warlike men._--Ver. 531. ‘Mavortia.’ Mavors was a + name of Mars, frequently used by the poets. The Thebans were + ‘proles Mavortia,’ as being sprung from the teeth of the dragon, + who was said to be a son of Mars.] + + [Footnote 81: _Tambourines._--Ver. 537. ‘Tympana.’ These + instruments, among the ancients, were of various kinds. Some + resembled the modern tambourine; while others presented a flat + circular disk on the upper surface, and swelled out beneath, like + the kettle-drum of the present day. They were covered with the + hides of oxen, or of asses, and were beaten either with a stick or + the hand. They were especially used in the rites of Bacchus, and + of Cybele.] + + [Footnote 82: _The thyrsus._--Ver. 542. The thyrsus was a long + staff, carried by Bacchus, and by the Satyrs and Bacchanalians + engaged in the worship of the God of the grape. It was sometimes + terminated by the apple of the pine, or fir-cone, the fir-tree + being esteemed sacred to Bacchus, from the turpentine flowing + therefrom and its apples being used in making wine. It is, + however, frequently represented as terminating in a knot of ivy, + or vine leaves, with grapes or berries arranged in a conical form. + Sometimes, also, a white fillet was tied to the pole just below + the head. We learn from Diodorus Siculus, and Macrobius, that + Bacchus converted the thyrsi carried by himself and his followers + into weapons, by concealing an iron point in the head of leaves. + A wound with its point was supposed to produce madness.] + + [Footnote 83: _Engines of war._--Ver. 549. ‘Tormenta.’ These were + the larger engines of destruction used in ancient warfare. They + were so called from the verb ‘torqueo,’ ‘to twist,’ from their + being formed by the twisting of hair, fibre, or strips of leather. + The different sorts were called ‘balistæ’ and ‘catapultæ.’ The + former were used to impel stones; the latter, darts and arrows. In + sieges, the ‘Aries,’ or ‘battering ram,’ which received its name + from having an iron head resembling that of a ram, was employed in + destroying the lower part of the wall, while the ‘balista’ was + overthrowing the battlements, and the ‘catapulta’ was employed to + shoot any of the besieged who appeared between them. The ‘balistæ’ + and ‘catapultæ’ were divided into the ‘greater’ and the ‘less.’ + When New Carthage, the arsenal of the Carthaginians, was taken, + according to Livy (b. xxvi. c. 47), there were found in it 120 + large and 281 small catapultæ, and twenty-three large and fifty-two + small balistæ. The various kinds of ‘tormenta’ are said to have + been introduced about the time of Alexander the Great. If so, + Ovid must here be committing an anachronism, in making Pentheus + speak of ‘tormenta,’ who lived so many ages before that time. To + commit anachronisms with impunity seems, however, to be the poet’s + privilege, from Ovid downwards to our Shakspere, where he makes + Falstaff talk familiarly of the West Indies. We find the + dictionaries giving ‘tormentum’ as the Latin word for ‘cannon;’ so + that in this case we may say not that ‘necessity is the mother of + invention,’ but rather that she is ‘the parent of anachronism.’] + + [Footnote 84: _Acrisius._--Ver. 559. He was a king of Argos, the + son of Abas, and the father of Danaë. He refused, and probably + with justice, to admit Bacchus or his rites within the gates of + his city.] + + [Footnote 85: _His grandfather._--Ver. 563. Athamas was the son of + Æolus, and being the husband of Ino, was the son-in-law of Cadmus; + who being the father of Agave, the mother of Pentheus, is the + grandfather mentioned in the present line.] + + [Footnote 86: _Mæonia._--Ver. 583. Colonists were said to have + proceeded from Lydia, or Mæonia, to the coasts of Etruria. Bacchus + assumes the name of Acœtes, as corresponding to the Greek epithet + ἀκοίτης, ‘watchful,’ or ‘sleepless;’ which ought to be the + characteristic of the careful ‘pilot,’ or ‘helmsman.’] + + [Footnote 87: _Olenian she-goat._--Ver. 594. Amalthea, the goat + that suckled Jupiter, is called Olenian, either because she was + reared in Olenus, a city of Bœotia, or because she was placed as a + Constellation between the arms, ὠλέναι, of the Constellation + Auriga, or the Charioteer. The rising and setting of this + Constellation were supposed to produce showers.] + + [Footnote 88: _Taygete._--Ver. 594. She was one of the Pleiades, + the daughters of Atlas, who were placed among the Constellations.] + + [Footnote 89: _Hyades._--Ver. 594. These were the Dodonides, or + nurses of Bacchus, whom Jupiter, as a mark of his favor, placed in + the number of the Constellations. Their name is derived from ὕειν, + ‘to rain.’] + + [Footnote 90: _Dia._--Ver. 596. This was another name of the Isle + of Naxos. Gierig thinks that the reading here is neither ‘Diæ’ nor + ‘Chiæ,’ which are the two common readings; as the situation of + neither the Isle of Naxos nor that of Chios, would suit the course + of the ship, as stated in the text. He thinks that the Isle of + Ceos, or Cea, is meant, which Ptolemy calls Κια, and which he + thinks ought here to be written ‘Ciæ.’] + + [Footnote 91: _Epopeus._--Ver. 619. He was the κελεύστης, + ‘pausarius,’ or keeper of time for the rowers.] + + [Footnote 92: _A dreadful murder._--Ver. 626. They seem to have + been composed of much the same kind of lawless materials that + formed the daring crews of the buccanier Morgan and Captain Kydd + in more recent times.] + + [Footnote 93: _Naxos._--Ver. 636. This was the most famous island + of the group of the Cyclades.] + + [Footnote 94: _Ivy impeded the oars._--Ver. 664. Hyginus tells us, + that Bacchus changed the oars into thyrsi, the sails into clusters + of grapes, and the rigging into ivy branches. In the Homeric hymn + on this subject we find the ship flowing with wine, vines growing + on the sails, ivy twining round the mast, and the benches wreathed + with chaplets.] + + [Footnote 95: _To a long story._--Ver. 692. Clarke renders this + line, ‘We have lent our ears to a long tale of a tub.’] + + [Footnote 96: _Cithæron._--Ver. 702. This was a mountain of + Bœotia, famous for the orgies of Bacchus there celebrated.] + + [Footnote 97: _My two sisters._--Ver. 713. These were Ino and + Autonoë.] + + [Footnote 98: _Ghost of Actæon._--Ver. 720. He appeals to Autonoë, + the mother of Actæon, to remember the sad fate of her own son, and + to show him some mercy; but in vain: for, as one commentator on + the passage says, ‘Drunkenness had taken away both her reason and + her memory.’] + + +EXPLANATION. + + Cicero mentions two Deities of the name of Bacchus; while other + authors speak of several of that name. The first was the son of + Jupiter and Proserpina; the second was the son of the Nile, and the + founder of the city of Nysa, in Arabia; Caprius was the father of the + third. The fourth was the son of the Moon and Jupiter, in honor of + whom the Orphic ceremonies were performed. The fifth was the son of + Nisus and Thione, and the instituter of the Trieterica. Diodorus + Siculus mentions but three of the name of Bacchus; namely, the Indian, + surnamed the bearded Bacchus, who conquered India; the son of Jupiter + and Ceres, who was represented with horns; and the son of Jupiter and + Semele, who was called the Theban Bacchus. + + The most reasonable opinion seems to be that of Herodotus and + Plutarch, who inform us, that the true Bacchus, and the most ancient + of them all, was born in Egypt, and was originally called Osiris. The + worship of that Divinity passed from Egypt to Greece, where it + received great alterations; and, according to Diodorus Siculus, it was + Orpheus who introduced it, and made those innovations. In gratitude to + the family of Cadmus, from which he had received many favors, he + dedicated to Bacchus, the grandson of Cadmus, those mysteries which + had been instituted in honor of Osiris, whose worship was then but + little known in Greece. Diodorus Siculus says, that as Semele was + delivered of Bacchus in the seventh month, it was reported that + Jupiter shut him up in his thigh, to carry him there the remaining + time of gestation. This Fable was probably founded on the meaning of + an equivocal word. The Greek word μηρὸς signifies either ‘a thigh,’ or + ‘the hollow of a mountain.’ Thus the Greeks, instead of saying that + Bacchus had been nursed on Mount Nysa, in Arabia, according to the + Egyptian version of the story, published that he had been carried in + the thigh of Jupiter. + + As Bacchus applied himself to the cultivation of the vine, and taught + his subjects several profitable and necessary arts, he was honored as + a Divinity; and having won the esteem of many neighboring countries, + his worship soon spread. Among his several festivals there was one + called the Trieterica, which was celebrated every three years. In that + feast the Bacchantes carried the figure of the God in a chariot drawn + by two tigers, or panthers; and, crowned with vine leaves, and holding + thyrsi in their hands, they ran in a frantic manner around the + chariot, filling the air with the noise of tambourines and brazen + instruments, shouting ‘Evoë. Bacche!’ and calling the God by his + several names of Bromius, Lyæus, Evan, Lenæus, and Sabazius. To this + ceremonial, received from the Egyptians, the Greeks added other + ceremonies replete with abominable licentiousness, and repulsive to + common decency. These were often suppressed by public enactment, but + were as often re-established by the votaries of lewdness and + immodesty, and such as found in these festivals a pretext and + opportunity for the commission of the most horrible offences. + + The story of the unfortunate fate of Pentheus is supposed by the + ancient writers to have been strictly true. Pentheus, the son of + Echion and Agave, the daughter of Cadmus, having succeeded his + grandfather in his kingdom, is supposed, like him, to have opposed + those abuses that had crept into the mysteries of Bacchus, and went to + Mount Cithæron for the purpose of chastising the Bacchantes, who were + celebrating his festival; whereupon, in their frantic madness, the + worshippers, among whom were his mother and his aunt, tore him in + pieces. Pausanias, however, says that Pentheus really was a wicked + prince; and he somewhat varies his story, as he tells us that having + got into a tree to overlook the secret ceremonies of the orgies, + Pentheus was discovered by the Bacchantes, who punished his curiosity + by putting him to death. The story of the transformation of the + mariners is supposed by Bochart to have been founded on the adventure + of certain merchants from the coast of Etruria, whose vessel had the + figure of a dolphin at the prow, or rather of the fish called + ‘tursio,’ probably the porpoise, or sea-hog. They were probably + shipwrecked near the Isle of Naxos, which was sacred to Bacchus, whose + mysteries they had perhaps neglected, or even despised. On this + slender ground, perhaps, the report spread, that the God himself had + destroyed them, as a punishment for their impiety. + + + + +BOOK THE FOURTH. + + +FABLE I. [IV.1-166] + + The daughters of Minyas, instead of celebrating the festival of + Bacchus, apply themselves to other pursuits during the ceremonies; and + among several narratives which they relate to pass away the time, they + divert themselves with the story of the adventures of Pyramus and + Thisbe. These lovers having made an appointment to meet without the + walls of Babylon, Thisbe arrives first; but at the sight of a lioness, + she runs to hide herself in a cave, and in her alarm, drops her veil. + Pyramus, arriving soon after, finds the veil of his mistress stained + with blood; and believing her to be dead, kills himself with his own + sword. Thisbe returns from the cave; and finding Pyramus weltering in + his blood, she plunges the same fatal weapon into her own breast. + +But Alcithoë, the daughter of Minyas,[1] does not think that the +rites[2] of the God ought to be received; but still, in her rashness, +denies that Bacchus is the progeny of Jupiter; and she has her +sisters[3] as partners in her impiety. + +The priest had ordered both mistresses and maids, laying aside their +employments, to have their breasts covered with skins, and to loosen the +fillets of their hair, and {to put} garlands on their locks, and to take +the verdant thyrsi in their hands; and had prophesied that severe would +be the resentment of the Deity, {if} affronted. Both matrons and +new-married women obey, and lay aside their webs and work-baskets,[4] +and their tasks unfinished; and offer frankincense, and invoke both +Bacchus and Bromius,[5] and Lyæus,[6] and the son of the Flames, and the +Twice-Born, and the only one that had two mothers.[7] To these is added +{the name of} Nyseus, and the unshorn Thyoneus,[8] and with Lenæus,[9] +the planter of the genial grape, and Nyctelius,[10] and father Eleleus, +and Iacchus,[11] and Evan,[12] and a great many other names, which thou, +Liber, hast besides, throughout the nations of Greece. For thine is +youth everlasting; thou art a boy to all time, thou art beheld {as} the +most beauteous {of all} in high heaven; thou hast the features of a +virgin, when thou standest without thy horns. By thee the East was +conquered, as far as where swarthy India is bounded by the remote +Ganges. Thou {God}, worthy of our veneration, didst smite Pentheus, and +the axe-bearing Lycurgus,[13] sacrilegious {mortals}; thou didst hurl +the bodies of the Etrurians into the sea. Thou controllest the neck of +the lynxes yoked to thy chariot, graced with the painted reins. The +Bacchanals and the Satyrs follow {thee}; the drunken old man, too, +{Silenus}, who supports his reeling limbs with a staff, and sticks by no +means very fast to his bending ass. And wherever thou goest, the shouts +of youths, and together the voices of women, and tambourines beaten with +the hands, and hollow cymbals resound, and the box-wood {pipe}, with its +long bore. The Ismenian matrons ask thee to show thyself mild and +propitious, and celebrate thy sacred rites as prescribed. + +The daughters of Minyas alone, within doors, interrupting the festival +with unseasonable labor,[14] are either carding wool, or twirling the +threads with their fingers, or are plying at the web, and keeping the +handmaids to their work. One of them, {as she is} drawing the thread +with her smooth thumb, says, “While others are idling, and thronging to +{these} fanciful rites, let us, whom Pallas, a better Deity, occupies, +alleviate the useful toil of our hands with varying discourse; and let +us relate by turns to our disengaged ears, for the general {amusement}, +something each in our turn, that will not permit the time to seem long.” +They approve of what she says, and her sisters bid her to be the first +to tell her story. + +She considers which of many she shall tell (for she knows many a one), +and she is in doubt whether she shall tell of thee, Babylonian +Dercetis,[15] whom the people of Palestine[16] believe to inhabit the +pools, with thy changed form, scales covering thy limbs; or rather how +her daughter, taking wings, passed her latter years in whitened turrets; +or how a Naiad,[17] by charms and too potent herbs, changed the bodies +of the young men into silent fishes, until she suffered the same +herself. Or how the tree which bore white fruit {formerly}, now bears it +of purple hue, from the contact of blood. This {story} pleases her; +this, because it was no common tale, she began in manner such as this, +while the wool followed the thread:-- + +“Pyramus and Thisbe, the one the most beauteous of youths,[18] the other +preferred before {all} the damsels that the East contained, lived in +adjoining houses; where Semiramis is said to have surrounded her lofty +city[19] with walls of brick.[20] The nearness caused their first +acquaintance, and their first advances {in love}; with time their +affection increased. They would have united themselves, too, by the tie +of marriage, but their fathers forbade it. A thing which they could not +forbid, they were both inflamed, with minds equally captivated. There is +no one acquainted with it; by nods and signs, they hold converse. And +the more the fire is smothered, the more, when {so} smothered, does it +burn. The party-wall, common to the two houses, was cleft by a small +chink, which it had got formerly, when it was built. This defect, +remarked by no one for so many ages, you lovers (what does not love +perceive?) first found one, and you made it a passage for your voices, +and the accents of love used to pass through it in safety, with the +gentlest murmur. Oftentimes, after they had taken their stations, Thisbe +on one side, {and} Pyramus on the other, and the breath of their mouths +had been {mutually} caught by turns, they used to say, ‘Envious wall, +why dost thou stand in the way of lovers? what great matter were it, for +thee to suffer us to be joined with our entire bodies? Or if that is too +much, that, at least, thou shouldst open, for the exchange of kisses. +Nor are we ungrateful; we confess that we are indebted to thee, that a +passage has been given for our words to our loving ears.’ Having said +this much, in vain, on their respective sides, about night they said, +‘Farewell’; and gave those kisses each on their own side, which did not +reach the other side. + +“The following morning had removed the fires of the night, and the Sun, +with its rays, had dried the grass wet with rime, {when} they met +together at the wonted spot. Then, first complaining much in low +murmurs, they determine, in the silent night, to try to deceive their +keepers, and to steal out of doors; and when they have left the house, +to quit the buildings of the city as well: but that they may not have to +wander, roaming in the open fields, to meet at the tomb of Ninus,[21] +and to conceal themselves beneath the shade of a tree. There was there a +lofty mulberry tree, very full of snow-white fruit, quite close to a +cold spring. The arrangement suits them; and the light, seeming to +depart {but} slowly, is buried in the waters, and from the same waters +the night arises. The clever Thisbe, turning the hinge, gets out in the +dark, and deceives her {attendants}, and, having covered her face, +arrives at the tomb, and sits down under the tree agreed upon; love made +her bold. Lo! a lioness approaches, having her foaming jaws besmeared +with the recent slaughter of oxen, about to quench her thirst with the +water of the neighboring spring. The Babylonian Thisbe sees her at a +distance, by the rays of the moon, and with a trembling foot she flies +to a dark cave; and, while she flies, her veil falling from her back, +she leaves it behind. When the savage lioness has quenched her thirst +with plenteous water, as she is returning into the woods, she tears the +thin covering, found by chance without Thisbe herself, with her +blood-stained mouth. + +“Pyramus, going out later {than Thisbe}, saw the evident footmarks of a +wild beast, in the deep dust, and grew pale all over his face. But, as +soon as he found her veil, as well, dyed with blood, he said: ‘One night +will be the ruin of two lovers, of whom she was the most deserving of a +long life. My soul is guilty; ’tis I that have destroyed thee, much to +be lamented; who bade thee to come by night to places full of terror, +and came not hither first. O, whatever lions are lurking beneath this +rock, tear my body in pieces, and devour my accursed entrails with +ruthless jaws. But it is the part of a coward to wish for death.’ He +takes up the veil of Thisbe, and he takes it with himself to the shade +of the tree agreed on, and, after he has bestowed tears on the +well-known garment, he gives kisses {to the same}, and he says, +‘Receive, now, a draught of my blood as well!’ and then plunges the +sword, with which he is girt, into his bowels; and without delay, as he +is dying, he draws it out of the warm wound. As he falls on his back +upon the ground, the blood spurts forth on high, not otherwise than as +when a pipe is burst on the lead decaying,[22] and shoots out afar the +liquid water from the hissing flaw, and cleaves the air with its jet. +The fruit of the tree, by the sprinkling of the blood, are changed to a +dark tint, and the root, soaked with the gore, tints the hanging +mulberries with a purple hue. Behold! not yet having banished her fear, +{Thisbe} returns, that she may not disappoint her lover, and seeks for +the youth both with her eyes and her affection, and longs to tell him +how great dangers she has escaped. And when she observes the spot, and +the altered appearance of the tree, she doubts if it is the same, so +uncertain does the color of the fruit make her. While she is in doubt, +she sees palpitating limbs throbbing upon the bloody ground; she draws +back her foot, and having her face paler than box-wood,[23] she shudders +like the sea, which trembles[24] when its surface is skimmed by a gentle +breeze. But, after pausing a time, she had recognized her own lover, she +smote her arms, undeserving {of such usage}, and tearing her hair, and +embracing the much-loved body, she filled the gashes with her tears, and +mingled her {tokens of} sorrow with his blood; and imprinting kisses on +his cold features, she exclaimed, ‘Pyramus! what disaster has taken thee +away from me? Pyramus! answer me; ’tis thy own Thisbe, dearest, that +calls thee; hear me, and raise thy prostrate features.’ + +“At the name of Thisbe, Pyramus raised his eyes, now heavy with death, +and, after he had seen her, he closed them again. After she had +perceived her own garment, and beheld, too, the ivory {sheath}[25] +without its sword, she said, ‘’Tis thy own hand, and love, that has +destroyed thee, ill-fated {youth}! I, too, have a hand bold {enough} for +this one purpose; I have love as well; this shall give me strength for +the wound. I will follow thee in thy death, and I shall be called the +most unhappy cause and companion of thy fate, and thou who, alas! +couldst be torn from me by death alone, shalt not be able, even by +death, to be torn from me. And you, O most wretched parents of mine and +his, be but prevailed upon, in this one thing, by the entreaties of us +both, that you will not deny those whom their constant love {and} whom +their last moments have joined, to be buried in the same tomb. But thou, +O tree, which now with thy boughs dost overshadow the luckless body of +{but} one, art fated soon to cover {those} of two. Retain a token of +{this our} fate, and ever bear fruit black and suited for mourning, as a +memorial of the blood of us two.’ {Thus} she said; and having fixed the +point under the lower part of her breast, she fell upon the sword, which +still was reeking with his blood. + +“Her prayers, however, moved the Gods, {and} moved their parents. For +the color of the fruit, when it has fully ripened, is black;[26] and +what was left of them, from the funeral pile, reposed in the same urn.” + + [Footnote 1: _Minyas._--Ver. 1. Alcithoë was the daughter of + Minyas, who, according to some, was the son of Orchomenus, + according to others, his father. Pausanias says that the Bœotians, + over whom he reigned, were called ‘Minyæ’ from him; but he makes + no allusion to the females who are here mentioned by Ovid.] + + [Footnote 2: _Rites._--Ver. 1. ‘Orgia:’ this was the original name + of the Dionysia, or festival of Bacchus; but in time the word came + to be applied to any occasion of festivity.] + + [Footnote 3: _Her sisters._--Ver. 3. The names of the sisters of + Alcithoë, according to Plutarch, were Aristippe and Leucippe. The + names of the three, according to Ælian, were Alcathoë, Leucippe, + and Aristippe, who is sometimes called Arsinoë. The latter author + says, that the truth of the case was, that they were decent women, + fond of their husbands and families, who preferred staying at + home, and attending to their domestic concerns, to running after + the new rites; on which it was said, by their enemies, that + Bacchus had punished them.] + + [Footnote 4: _Work-baskets._--Ver. 10. The ‘calathus,’ which was + called by the Greeks κάλαθος, καλαθίσκος, and τάλαρος, generally + signifies the basket in which women placed their work, and + especially the materials used for spinning. They were generally + made of osiers and reeds, but sometimes of more valuable + materials, such as silver, perhaps in filagree work. ‘Calathi’ + were also used for carrying fruits and flowers. Virgil (Ecl. v. l. + 71) speaks of cups for holding wine, under the name of ‘Calathi.’] + + [Footnote 5: _Bromius._--Ver. 11. Bacchus was called Bromius, from + βρέμω, ‘to cry out,’ or ‘shout,’ from the yells and noise made by + his worshippers, whose peculiar cries were, Εὐοῖ Βάκχε, ὦ Ἰακχε, + Ιώ Βάκχε, Εὐοῖ σαβοῖ. ‘Evoë, Bacche! O, Iacche! Io, Bacche! Evoë + sabæ!’] + + [Footnote 6: _Lyæus._--Ver. 11. Bacchus was called Lyæus, from the + Greek word, λύειν, ‘to loosen,’ or ‘relax,’ because wine dispels + care.] + + [Footnote 7: _That had two mothers._--Ver. 12. The word ‘bimater’ + seems to have been fancied by Ovid as an appropriate epithet for + Bacchus, Jupiter having undertaken the duties of a mother for him, + in the latter months of gestation.] + + [Footnote 8: _Thyoneus._--Ver. 13. Bacchus was called Thyoneus, + either from Semele, his mother, one of whose names was Thyone, or + from the Greek, θύειν, ‘to be frantic,’ from which origin the + Bacchanals also received their name of Thyades.] + + [Footnote 9: _Lenæus._--Ver. 14. From the Greek word λῆνος, ‘a + wine-press.’] + + [Footnote 10: _Nyctelius._--Ver. 15. From the Greek word νὺξ, + ‘night,’ because his orgies were celebrated by night. Eleleus is + from the shout, or ‘huzza’ of the Greeks, which was ελελεῦ.] + + [Footnote 11: _Iacchus._--Ver. 15. From the Greek ἰαχὴ, ‘clamor,’ + or ‘noise.’] + + [Footnote 12: _Evan._--Ver. 15. From the exclamation, Εὐοῖ, or + ‘Evoë’ which the Bacchanals used in performing his orgies.] + + [Footnote 13: _Lycurgus._--Ver. 22. He was a king of Thrace, who + having slighted the worship of Bacchus, was afflicted with + madness, and hewed off his own legs with a hatchet, and, according + to Apollodorus, mistaking his own son Dryas for a vine, destroyed + him with the same weapon.] + + [Footnote 14: _Unseasonable labor._--Ver. 32. ‘Minerva;’ the name + of the Goddess Minerva is here used for the exercise of the art of + spinning, of which she was the patroness. The term ‘intempestiva’ + is appropriately applied, as the arts of industry and frugality, + which were first invented by Minerva, but ill accorded with the + idle and vicious mode of celebrating the festival of Bacchus.] + + [Footnote 15: _Dercetis._--Ver. 45. Lucian, speaking of Dercetis, + or Derceto, says, ‘I have seen in Phœnicia a statue of this + goddess, of a very singular kind. From the middle upwards, it + represents a woman, but below it terminates in a fish. The statue + of her, which is shown at Hieropolis, represents her wholly as a + woman.’ He further says, that the temple of this last city was + thought by some to have been built by Semiramis, who consecrated + it not to Juno, as is generally believed, but to her own mother, + Derceto. Atergatis was another name of this Goddess. She was said, + by an illicit amour, to have been the mother of Semiramis, and in + despair, to have thrown herself into a lake near Ascalon, on which + she was changed into a fish.] + + [Footnote 16: _Palestine._--Ver. 46. Palæstina, or Philistia, + in which Ascalon was situate, was a part of Syria, lying in its + south-western extremity.] + + [Footnote 17: _How a Naiad._--Ver. 49. The Naiad here mentioned is + supposed to have been a Nymph of the Island of the Sun, called + also Nosola, between Taprobana (the modern Ceylon) and the coast + of Carmania (perhaps Coromandel), who was in the habit of changing + such youths as fell into her hands into fishes. As a reward for + her cruelty, she herself was changed into a fish by the Sun.] + + [Footnote 18: _Most beauteous of youths._--Ver. 55. Clarke + translates ‘juvenum pulcherrimus alter,’ ‘one of the most handsome + of all the young fellows.’] + + [Footnote 19: _Her lofty city._--Ver. 57. The magnificence of + ancient Babylon has been remarked by many ancient writers, from + Herodotus downwards. Its walls are said to have been 60 miles in + compass, 87 feet in thickness, and 350 feet in height.] + + [Footnote 20: _Walls of brick._--Ver. 58. The walls were built by + Semiramis of bricks dried in the sun, cemented together with + layers of bitumen.] + + [Footnote 21: _The tomb of Ninus._--Ver. 88. According to Diodorus + Siculus, the sepulchre of Ninus, the first king of Babylon, was + ten stadia in length, and nine in depth; it had the appearance of + a vast citadel, and was at a considerable distance from the city + of Babylon. Commentators have expressed some surprise that Ovid + here uses the word ‘busta,’ for ‘tomb,’ as the place of meeting + for these chaste lovers, as the prostitutes of Rome used to haunt + the ‘busta,’ or ‘tombs;’ whence they obtained the epithet of + ‘bustuariæ.’] + + [Footnote 22: _The lead decaying._--Ver. 122. ‘Fistula’ here means + ‘a water-pipe.’ Vitruvius speaks of three methods of conveying + water; by channels of masonry, earthen pipes, and leaden pipes. + The latter were smaller, and more generally used; to them + reference is here made. They were formed by bending plates of lead + into a form, not cylindrical, but the section of which was oblong, + and tapering towards the top like a pear. The description here + given, though somewhat homely, is extremely natural, and, as + frequent experience shows us, depicts the results when the + soldering of a water-pipe has become decayed.] + + [Footnote 23: _Paler than box-wood._--Ver. 134. From the light + color of boxwood, the words ‘buxo pallidiora,’ ‘paler than + boxwood,’ became a proverbial expression among the Romans.] + + [Footnote 24: _The sea which trembles._--Ver. 136. The ripple, or + shudder, which runs along the surface of the sea, when a breath of + wind is stirring in a calm, is very beautifully described here, + and is worthy of notice.] + + [Footnote 25: _The ivory sheath._--Ver. 148. The ‘vagina,’ or + ‘sheath’ of the sword, was often highly decorated; and we learn + from Homer and Virgil, as well as Ovid, that ivory was much used + for that purpose. The sheath was worn by the Greeks and Romans on + the left side of the body, so as to enable them to draw the sword + from it, by passing the right hand in front of the body, to take + hold of the hilt, with the thumb next to the blade.] + + [Footnote 26: _Is black._--Ver. 165. He thus accounts for the deep + purple hue of the mulberry which, before the event mentioned here, + he says was white.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + It is pretty clear, as we have already seen, that the establishment of + the worship of Bacchus in Greece met with great opposition, and that + his priests and devotees published several miracles and prodigies, the + more easily to influence the minds of their fellow-men. Thus, the + daughters of Minyas are said to have been changed into bats, solely + because they neglected to join in the orgies of that God; when, + probably, the fact was, that they were either secretly despatched, or + were forced to fly for their lives; and their absence was accounted + for to the ignorant and credulous, by the invention of this Fable. The + story of Dercetis, as related by Diodorus Siculus, Pliny, and + Herodotus, is, that having offended Venus, that Goddess caused her to + fall in love with a young man, by whom she had a daughter. In despair + at her misfortune, she killed her lover, and exposed her child, and + afterwards drowned herself. The Syrians, lamenting her fate, built a + temple near where she was drowned, and honored her as a Goddess. They + stated that she was turned into a fish, and they there represented her + under the figure of a woman down to the waist, and of a fish thence + downwards. They also abstained from eating fish; though they offered + them to her in sacrifice, and suspended gilded ones in her temple. + Selden, in his Treatise on the Syrian Gods, suggests that the story of + Dercetis, or Atergatis, was founded on the figure and worship of + Dagon, the God of the Philistines, who was represented under the + figure of a fish; and that the name of Atergatis is a corruption of + ‘Adir Dagon,’ ‘a great fish,’ which is not at all improbable. The same + author supposes that Dercetis was originally the same Deity with + Venus, Astarte, Minerva, Juno, Isis, and the Moon; and that she was + worshipped under the name of Mylitta by the Assyrians, and as Alilac + by the Arabians. Lucian tells us, that Dercetis was reported to have + been the mother of Semiramis. + + Ovid and Hyginus are the only authors that make mention of the story + of Pyramus and Thisbe, and both agree in making Babylon the scene of + it. It seems to be rather intended as a moral tale, than to have been + built upon any actual circumstance. It affords a lesson to youth not + to enter rashly into engagements: and to parents not to pursue, too + rigorously, the gratification of their own resentment, but rather to + consult the inclination of their children, when not likely to be + productive of unhappiness at a future period. + + The reader cannot fail to call to mind the admirable travesty of this + story by Shakspere, in the ‘Midsummer Night’s Dream.’ + + +FABLE II. [IV.167-233] + + The Sun discovers to Vulcan the intrigue between Mars and Venus, and + then, himself, falls in love with Leucothoë. Venus, in revenge for the + discovery, resolves to make his amours unfortunate. + +Here she ended; and there was {but} a short time betwixt, and {then} +Leuconoë began[27] to speak. Her sisters held their peace. “Love has +captivated even this Sun, who rules all things by his æthereal light. +I will relate the loves of the Sun. This God is supposed to have been +the first to see the adultery of Venus with Mars; this God is the first +to see everything. He was grieved at what was done, and showed to the +husband, the son of Juno,[28] the wrong done to his bed, and the place +of the intrigue. Both his senses, and the work which his skilful right +hand was {then} holding, quitted him {on the instant}. Immediately, he +files out some slender chains of brass, and nets, and meshes, which can +escape the eye. The finest threads cannot surpass that work, nor yet the +cobweb that hangs from the top of the beam. He makes it so, too, as to +yield to a slight touch, and a gentle movement, and skilfully arranges +it drawn around the bed. When the wife and the gallant come into the +same bed, being both caught through the artifice of the husband, and +chains prepared by this new contrivance, they are held fast in the +{very} midst of their embraces. + +“The Lemnian {God} immediately threw open the folding doors[29] of +ivory, and admitted the Deities. {There} they lay disgracefully bound. +And yet many a one of the Gods, not the serious ones, could fain wish +thus to become disgraced. The Gods of heaven laughed, and for a long +time was this the most noted story in all heaven. The Cytherean[30] +goddess exacts satisfaction of the Sun, in remembrance of this betrayal; +and, in her turn, disturbs him with the like passion, who had disturbed +her secret amours. What now, son of Hyperion,[31] does thy beauty, thy +heat, and thy radiant light avail thee? For thou, who dost burn all +lands with thy flames, art {now} burnt with a new flame; and thou, who +oughtst to be looking at everything, art gazing on Leucothoë, and on one +maiden art fixing those eyes which thou oughtst {to be fixing} on the +universe. At one time thou art rising earlier in the Eastern sky; at +another thou art setting late in the waves; and in taking time to gaze +{on her}, thou art lengthening the hours of mid-winter. Sometimes thou +art eclipsed, and the trouble of thy mind affects thy light, and, +darkened, thou fillest with terror the breasts of mortals. Nor art thou +pale, because the form of the moon, nearer to the earth, stands in thy +way. It is that passion which occasions this complexion. Thou lovest her +alone, neither does Clymene, nor Rhodos,[32] nor the most beauteous +mother[33] of the Ææan Circe engage thee, nor {yet} Clytie, who, though +despised, was longing for thy embraces; at that very time thou wast +suffering these grievous pangs. Leucothoë occasioned the forgetting of +many a damsel; she, whom Eurynome, the most beauteous of the +perfume-bearing[34] nation produced.[35] But after her daughter grew up, +as much as the mother excelled all {other Nymphs}, so much did the +daughter {excel} the mother. Her father, Orchamus, ruled over the +Achæmenian[36] cities, and he is reckoned the seventh in descent from +the ancient Belus.[37] + +“The pastures of the horses of the Sun are under the Western sky; +instead of grass, they have ambrosia.[38] That nourishes their limbs +wearied with their daily service, and refits them for labor. And while +the coursers are there eating their heavenly food, and night is taking +her turn; the God enters the beloved chamber, changed into the shape of +her mother Eurynome, and beholds Leucothoë among twice six handmaids, +near the threshold, drawing out the smooth threads with her twirling +spindle. When, therefore, as though her mother, he has given kisses to +her dear daughter, he says, “There is a secret matter, {which I have to +mention}; maids, withdraw, and take not from a mother the privilege of +speaking in private {with her daughter}.” They obey; and the God being +left in the chamber without any witness, he says, ‘I am he, who measures +out the long year, who beholds all things, {and} through whom the earth +sees all things; the eye, {in fact}, of the universe. Believe me, thou +art pleasing to me.’ She is affrighted; and in her alarm, both her +distaff and her spindle fall from her relaxed fingers. Her very fear +becomes her; and, he, no longer delaying, returns to his true shape, and +his wonted beauty. But the maiden, although startled at the unexpected +sight, overcome by the beauty of the God,[39] {and} dismissing {all} +complaints, submits to his embrace. + + [Footnote 27: _Leuconoë began._--Ver. 168. It is worthy of remark, + how strongly the affecting tale of Pyramus and Thisbe contrasts + with the loose story of the loves of Mars and Venus.] + + [Footnote 28: _The son of Juno._--Ver. 173. Vulcan is called + ‘Junonigena,’ because, according to some, he was the son of Juno + alone. Other writers, however, say that he was the only son of + Jupiter and Juno.] + + [Footnote 29: _The folding doors._--Ver. 185. The plural word + ‘valvæ’ is often used to signify a door, or entrance, because + among the ancients each doorway generally contained two doors + folding together. The internal doors even of private houses were + bivalve; hence, as in the present case, we often read of the + folding doors of a bed-chamber. Each of these doors or valves was + usually wide enough to permit persons to pass each other in egress + and ingress without opening the other door as well. Sometimes each + valve was double, folding like our window-shutters.] + + [Footnote 30: _Cytherean._--Ver. 190. Cythera was an island on the + southern coast of Laconia; where Venus was supposed to have + landed, after she had risen from the sea. It was dedicated to her + worship.] + + [Footnote 31: _Hyperion._--Ver. 192. He was the son of Cœlus, or + Uranus, and the father of the Sun. The name of Hyperion is, + however, often given by the poets to the Sun himself.] + + [Footnote 32: _Rhodos._--Ver. 204. She was a damsel of the Isle of + Rhodes, the daughter of Neptune, and, according to some, of Venus. + She was greatly beloved by Apollo, to whom she bore seven + children.] + + [Footnote 33: _Beauteous mother._--Ver. 205. This was Persa, the + daughter of Oceanus, and the mother of the enchantress Circe, who + is here called ‘Ææa,’ from Ææa, a city and peninsula of Colchis. + Circe is referred to more at length in the 14th Book of the + Metamorphoses.] + + [Footnote 34: _Perfume-bearing._--Ver. 209. Being born in Arabia, + the producer of all kinds of spices and perfumes, which were much + in request among the ancients, for the purposes of sacrifice.] + + [Footnote 35: _Produced._--Ver. 210. Eurynome was the wife of + Orchamus, and was the daughter of Oceanus and Tethys.] + + [Footnote 36: _Achæmenian._--Ver. 212. Persia is called + Achæmenian, from Achæmenes, one of its former kings.] + + [Footnote 37: _Ancient Belus._--Ver. 213. The order of descent is + thus reckoned from Belus; Abas, Acrisius, Danaë, Perseus, Bachæmon, + Achæmenes, and Orchamus.] + + [Footnote 38: _Ambrosia._--Ver. 215. Ambrosia was said to be the + food of the Deities, and nectar their drink.] + + [Footnote 39: _Beauty of the God._--Ver. 233. Clarke translates, + ‘Virgo victa nitore Dei.’ ‘The young lady--charmed with the + spruceness of the God.’] + + +EXPLANATION. + + Plutarch, in his Treatise ‘How to read the Poets,’ suggests a curious + explanation of the discovery by the Sun of the intrigue of Mars and + Venus. He says that such persons as are born under the conjunction of + the planets Mars and Venus, are naturally of an amorous temperament; + but that if the Sun does not happen then to be at a distance, their + indiscretions will be very soon discovered. + + Palæphatus gives a historical solution to the story. He says that + Helius, the son of Vulcan, king of Egypt, resolving to cause his + father’s laws against adultery to be strictly observed, and having + been informed that a lady of the court had an intrigue with one of the + courtiers, entered her apartment in the night, and obtaining ocular + proof of the courtier’s guilt, caused him to be severely punished. He + also tells us that the similarity of the name gave birth to the Fable + which Homer was the first to relate, with a small variation, and which + is here copied by Ovid. Libanius, deploring the burning of the Temple + of Apollo near Antioch, complains of the ingratitude of Vulcan to that + God, who had formerly discovered to him the infidelity of his wife; + a subject upon which St. Chrysostom seems to think that the + rhetorician would have done better to have been silent. + + +FABLE III. [IV.234-270] + + Clytie, in a fit of revenge, discovers the adventure of Leucothoë to + her father, who orders her to be buried alive. The Sun, grieved at her + misfortune, changed her into the frankincense tree; he also despises + the informer, who pines away for love of him, and is at last changed + into the sunflower. + +Clytie envied her, (for the love of the Sun[40] for her had not been +moderate), and, urged on by resentment at a rival, she published the +intrigue, and, when spread abroad, brought it to the notice of her +father. He, fierce and unrelenting, cruelly buried her alive deep in the +ground, as she entreated and stretched out her hands towards the light +of the Sun, and cried, “’Twas he that offered violence to me against my +will;” and upon her he placed a heap of heavy sand. The son of Hyperion +scattered it with his rays, and gave a passage to thee, by which thou +mightst be able to put forth thy buried features. + +But thou, Nymph, couldst not now raise thy head smothered with the +weight of the earth; and {there} thou didst lie, a lifeless body. The +governor of the winged steeds is said to have beheld nothing more +afflicting than that, since the lightnings that caused the death of +Phaëton. He, indeed, endeavors, if he can, to recall her cold limbs to +an enlivening heat, by the strength of his rays. But, since fate opposes +attempts so great, he sprinkles both her body and the place with +odoriferous nectar, and having first uttered many a complaint he says, +“Still shalt thou reach the skies.”[41] Immediately, the body, steeped +in the heavenly nectar, dissolves, and moistens the earth with its +odoriferous juices; and a shoot of frankincense having taken root by +degrees through the clods, rises up and bursts the hillock with its top. + +But the author of light came no more to Clytie (although love might have +excused her grief, and her grief the betrayal); and he put an end to his +intercourse with her. From that time she, who had made so mad a use of +her passion, pined away, loathing the {other} Nymphs; and in the open +air, night and day, she sat on the bare ground, with her hair +dishevelled and unadorned. And for nine days, without water or food, she +subsisted in her fast, merely on dew and her own tears; and she did not +raise herself from the ground. She only used to look towards the face of +the God as he moved along, and to turn her own features towards him. +They say that her limbs became rooted fast in the ground; and a livid +paleness turned part of her color into {that of} a bloodless plant. +There is a redness in some part; and a flower, very like a violet,[42] +conceals her face. Though she is held fast by a root, she turns towards +the Sun, and {though} changed, she {still} retains her passion. + + [Footnote 40: _For the love of the Sun._--Ver. 234. This remark is + added, to show that the God had not been sufficiently cautious in + his courtship of her sister to conceal it from the observation of + Clytie.] + + [Footnote 41: _Reach the skies._--Ver. 251. That is to say, ‘You + shall arise from the earth as a tree bearing frankincense: the + gums of which, burnt in sacrifice to the Gods, shall reach the + heavens with their sweet odors.’ Persia and Arabia have been + celebrated by the poets, ancient and modern, for their great + fertility in frankincense and other aromatic plants.] + + [Footnote 42: _Like a violet._--Ver. 268. This cannot mean the + large yellow plant which is called the sunflower. The small + aromatic flower which we call heliotrope, with its violet hue and + delightful perfume, more nearly answers the description. The + larger flower probably derived its name from the resemblance which + it bears to the sun, surrounded with rays, as depicted by the + ancient painters.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + No ascertained historical fact can be found as the basis of the story + of Leucothoë being buried alive by her father Orchamus, or of her + rival Clytie being metamorphosed into a sunflower. The story seems to + have been most probably simply founded on principles of natural + philosophy. Leucothoë, it is not unreasonable to suppose, may have + been styled the daughter of Orchamus, king of Persia, for no other + reason but because that Prince was the first to introduce the + frankincense tree, which was called Leucothoë, into his kingdom; and + it was added that she fell in love with Apollo, because the tree + produces an aromatic drug much used in physic, of which that God was + fabled to have been the inventor. The jealousy of Clytie was, perhaps, + founded upon a fact, stated by some naturalists, that the sunflower is + a plant which kills the frankincense tree, when growing near it. + Pliny, however, who ascribes several properties to the sunflower, does + not mention this among them. + + Orchamus is nowhere mentioned by the ancient writers, except in the + present instance. + + +FABLE IV. [IV.271-284] + + Daphnis is turned into a stone. Scython is changed from a man into a + woman. Celmus is changed into adamant. Crocus and Smilax are made into + flowers. The Curetes are produced from a shower. + +{Thus} she spoke; and the wondrous deed charms their ears. Some deny +that it was possible to be done, some say that real Gods can do all +things; but Bacchus is not one of them. When her sisters have become +silent, Alcithoë is called upon; who running with her shuttle through +the warp of the hanging web, says, “I keep silence upon the well-known +amours of Daphnis, the shepherd of Ida,[43] whom the resentment of the +Nymph, his paramour, turned into a stone. Such mighty grief inflames +those who are in love. Nor do I relate how once Scython, the law of +nature being altered, was of both sexes first a man, then a woman. Thee +too, I pass by, O Celmus, now adamant, formerly most attached to Jupiter +{when} little; and the Curetes,[44] sprung from a plenteous shower of +rain; Crocus, too, changed, together with Smilax,[45] into little +flowers; and I will entertain your minds with a pleasing novelty.” + + [Footnote 43: _Shepherd of Ida._--Ver. 277. This may mean either + Daphnis of Crete, or of Phrygia; for in both those countries there + was a mountain named Ida.] + + [Footnote 44: _The Curetes._--Ver. 282. According to Dionysius of + Halicarnassus, the Curetes were the ancient inhabitants of Crete. + We may here remark, that the story of their springing from the + earth after a shower of rain, seems to have no other foundation + than the fact of their having been of the race of the Titans; that + is, they were descended from Uranus, or Cœlus and Tita, by which + names were meant the heaven and the earth.] + + [Footnote 45: _Smilax._--Ver. 283. The dictionary meanings given + for this word are--1. Withwind, a kind of herb. 2. The yew tree. + 3. A kind of oak. The Nymph was probably supposed to have been + changed into the first.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + Most probably, the story of the shepherd Daphnis being turned into a + stone, was no other than an allegorical method of expressing the + insensibility of an individual. Thalia was the name of the Nymph who + was thus affronted by Daphnis. + + The story of Scython changing his sex, is perhaps based upon the fact, + that the country of Thrace, which took the name of Thracia from a + famous sorceress, was before called Scython; and that as it lost a + name of the masculine gender for one of the feminine, in after times + it became reported that Scython had changed sexes. + + Pliny tells us that Celmus was a young man of remarkable wisdom and + moderation, and that the passions making no impression on him, he was + changed into adamant. Some, however, assert that he was foster-father + to Jupiter, by whom he was enclosed in an impenetrable tower, for + revealing the immortality of the Gods. + + According to one account, Crocus and Smilax were a constant and happy + married couple, who for their chaste and innocent life were said to + have been changed into flowers; but another story is, that Crocus was + a youth beloved by Smilax, and that on his rejecting the Nymph’s + advances, they were both turned into flowers. + + The story of the Curetes being sprung from rain, is possibly founded + on the report that they were descended from Uranus and Tita, the + Heaven and the Earth. Some suppose them to have been the original + inhabitants of the isle of Crete; and they are said to have watched + over the infancy of Jupiter, by whom they were afterwards slain, for + having concealed Epaphus from his wrath. + + +FABLE V. [IV.285-388] + + The Naiad Salmacis falls in love with the youth Hermaphroditus, who + rejects her advances. While he is bathing, she leaps into the water, + and seizing the youth in her arms, they become one body, retaining + their different sexes. + +Learn how Salmacis became infamous, {and} why it enervates, with its +enfeebling waters, and softens the limbs bathed {in it}. The cause is +unknown; {but} the properties of the fountain are very well known. The +Naiads nursed a boy, born to Mercury of the Cytherean Goddess in the +caves of Ida; whose face was such that therein both mother and father +could be discerned; he likewise took his name from them. As soon as he +had completed thrice five years, he forsook his native mountains, and +leaving Ida, the place of his nursing, he loved to wander over unknown +spots, {and} to see unknown rivers, his curiosity lessening the fatigue. +He went, too, to the Lycian[46] cities, and the Carians, that border +upon Lycia. Here he sees a pool of water, clear to the {very} ground at +the bottom; here there are no fenny reeds, no barren sedge, no rushes +with their sharp points. The water is translucent; but the edges of the +pool are enclosed with green turf, and with grass ever verdant. A Nymph +dwells {there}; but one neither skilled in hunting, nor accustomed to +bend the bow, nor to contend in speed; the only one, too, of {all} the +Naiads not known to the swift Diana. The report is, that her sisters +often said to her, “Salmacis, do take either the javelin, or the painted +quiver, and unite thy leisure with the toils of the chase.” She takes +neither the javelin, nor the painted quiver, nor does she unite her +leisure with the toils of the chase. But sometimes she is bathing her +beauteous limbs in her own spring; {and} often is she straitening her +hair with a comb of Citorian boxwood,[47] and consulting the waters, +into which she looks, what is befitting her. At other times, covering +her body with a transparent garment, she reposes either on the soft +leaves or on the soft grass. Ofttimes is she gathering flowers. And +then, too, by chance was she gathering them when she beheld the youth, +and wished to possess him, {thus} seen. + +But though she hastened to approach {the youth}, still she did not +approach him before she had put herself in order, and before she had +surveyed her garments, and put on her {best} looks, and deserved to be +thought beautiful. Then thus did she begin to speak: “O youth, most +worthy to be thought to be a God! if thou art a God, thou mayst {well} +be Cupid; but, if thou art a mortal, happy are they who begot thee, and +blessed is thy brother, and fortunate indeed thy sister, if thou hast +one, and the nurse {as well} who gave thee the breast. But far, far more +fortunate than all these {is she}; if thou hast any wife, if thou +shouldst vouchsafe any one {the honor of} marriage. And if any one is +thy {wife, then} let my pleasure be stolen; but, if thou hast none, let +me be {thy wife}, and let us unite in one tie.” After these things +{said}, the Naiad is silent; a blush tinges the face of the youth: he +knows not what love is, but even to blush becomes him. Such is the color +of apples, hanging on a tree exposed to the sun, or of painted ivory, or +of the moon blushing beneath her brightness when the aiding +{cymbals}[48] {of} brass are resounding in vain. Upon the Nymph +desiring, without ceasing, such kisses at least as he might give to his +sister, and now laying her hands upon his neck, white as ivory, he says, +“Wilt thou desist, or am I to fly, and to leave this place, together +with thee?” + +Salmacis is affrighted, and says, “I freely give up this spot to thee, +stranger,” and, with a retiring step, she pretends to go away. But then +looking back, and hid in a covert of shrubs, she lies concealed, and +puts her bended knees down to the ground. But he, just like a boy, and +as though unobserved on the retired sward, goes here and there, and in +the sportive waves dips the soles of his feet, and {then} his feet as +far as his ankles. Nor is there any delay; being charmed with the +temperature of the pleasant waters, he throws off his soft garments from +his tender body. Then, indeed, Salmacis is astonished, and burns with +desire for his naked beauty. The eyes, too, of the Nymph are on fire, no +otherwise than as when the Sun,[49] most brilliant with his clear orb, +is reflected from the opposite image of a mirror. With difficulty does +she endure delay; hardly does she now defer her joy. Now she longs to +embrace him; and now, distracted, she can hardly contain herself. He, +clapping his body with his hollow palms, swiftly leaps into the stream, +and throwing out his arms alternately, shines in the limpid water, as if +any one were to cover statues of ivory, or white lilies, with clear +glass. + +“I have gained my point,” says the Naiad; “see, he is mine!” and, all +her garments thrown aside, she plunges in the midst of the waters, and +seizes him resisting her, and snatches reluctant kisses, and thrusts +down her hands, and touches his breast against his will, and clings +about the youth, now one way, and now another. Finally, as he is +struggling against her, and desiring to escape, she entwines herself +about him, like a serpent which the royal bird takes up and is bearing +aloft; and as it hangs, it holds fast his head and feet, and enfolds his +spreading wings with its tail. Or, as the ivy is wont to wind itself +along the tall trunks {of trees}; and as the polypus[50] holds fast its +enemy, caught beneath the waves, by letting down his suckers on all +sides; {so} does the descendant of Atlas[51] {still} persist, and deny +the Nymph the hoped-for joy. She presses him hard; and clinging to him +with every limb, as she holds fast, she says, “Struggle as thou mayst, +perverse one, still thou shalt not escape. So ordain it, ye Gods, and +let no time separate him from me, nor me from him.” Her prayers find +propitious Deities, for the mingled bodies of the two are united,[52] +and one human shape is put upon them; just as if any one should see +branches beneath a common bark join in growing, and spring up together. +So, when their bodies meet together in the firm embrace, they are no +more two, and their form is twofold, so that they can neither be styled +woman nor boy; they seem {to be} neither and both. + +Therefore, when Hermaphroditus sees that the limpid waters, into which +he had descended as a man, have made him but half a male, and that his +limbs are softened in them, holding up his hands, he says, but now no +longer with the voice of a male, “O, both father and mother, grant this +favor to your son, who has the name of you both, that whoever enters +these streams a man, may go out thence {but} half a man, and that he may +suddenly become effeminate in the waters when touched.” Both parents, +moved, give their assent to the words of their two-shaped son, and taint +the fountain with drugs of ambiguous quality. + + [Footnote 46: _Lycian._--Ver. 296. Lycia was a province of Asia + Minor, on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. Caria was another + province, adjoining to Lycia.] + + [Footnote 47: _Citorian boxwood._--Ver. 311. Citorus, or Cythorus, + was a mountain of Paphlagonia, famous for the excellence of the + wood of the box trees that grow there. The Greeks and Romans made + their combs of it. The Egyptians used them made of ivory and wood, + and toothed on one side only; those of the Greeks had teeth on + both sides. Great care was usually taken of the hair; to go with + it uncombed was a sign of affliction.] + + [Footnote 48: _The aiding cymbals._--Ver. 333. The witches and + magicians, in ancient times, and especially those of Thessaly, + professed to be able, with their charms and incantations, to bring + the moon down from heaven. The truth of these assertions being + commonly believed, at the period of an eclipse it was supposed by + the multitude that the moon was being subjected to the spells of + these magicians, and that she was struggling (laborabat) against + them, on which the sound of drums, trumpets, and cymbals was + resorted to, to distract the attention of the moon, and to drown + the charms repeated by the enchanters, for which reason, the + instruments employed for the purpose were styled ‘auxiliares.’] + + [Footnote 49: _As when the Sun._--Ver. 349. Bailey gives this + explanation of the passage,-- ‘The eyes of the Nymph seemed to + sparkle and shine, just as the rays of the sun in a clear sky when + a looking-glass is placed against them, for then they seem most + splendid, and contract the fire.’ From the mention of the eyes of + the Nymph burning ‘flagrant,’ we might be almost justified in + concluding that ‘speculum’ means here not a mirror, but a + burning-glass. The ‘specula,’ or looking-glasses, of the ancients + were usually made of metal, either a composition of tin and + copper, or silver; but in later times, alloy was mixed with the + silver. Pliny mentions the obsidian stone, or, as it is now + called, the Icelandic agate, as being used for this purpose. Nero + is said to have used emeralds for mirrors. Pliny the Elder says + that mirrors were made in the glass-houses of Sidon, which + consisted of glass plates, with leaves of metal at the back; they + were probably of an inferior character. Those of copper and tin + were made chiefly at Brundisium. The white metal formed from this + mixture soon becoming dim, a sponge with powdered pumice stone was + usually fastened to the mirrors made of that composition. They + were generally small, of a round or oval shape, and having a + handle; and female slaves usually held them, while their + mistresses were performing the duties of the toilet. Sometimes + they were fastened to the walls, and they were occasionally of the + length of a person’s body. Venus was supposed often to use the + mirror; but Minerva repudiated the use of it.] + + [Footnote 50: _Polypus._--Ver. 366. This is a fish which entangles + its prey, mostly consisting of shell fish, in its great number of + feet or feelers. Ovid here calls them ‘flagella;’ but in the + Halieuticon he styles them ‘brachia’ and ‘crines.’ Pliny the Elder + calls them ‘crines’ and ‘cirri.’] + + [Footnote 51: _Descendant of Atlas._--Ver. 368. Hermaphroditus was + the great-grandson of Atlas; as the latter was the father of Maia, + the mother of Mercury, who begot Hermaphroditus.] + + [Footnote 52: _The two are united._--Ver. 374. Clarke translates, + ‘nam mixta duorum corpora junguntur,’ ‘for the bodies of both, + being jumbled together, are united.’] + + +EXPLANATION. + + The only probable solution of this story seems to have been the fact + that there was in Caria, near the town of Halicarnassus, as we read in + Vitruvius, a fountain which was instrumental in civilizing certain + barbarians who had been driven from that neighborhood by the Argive + colony established there. These men being obliged to repair to the + fountain for water, and meeting the Greek colonists there, their + intercourse not only polished them, but in course of time corrupted + them, by the introduction of the luxurious manners of Greece. Hence + the fountain had the reputation of changing men into women. + + Possibly the water of that fountain, by some peculiar chemical + quality, made those who drank of it become soft and effeminate, as + waters are to be occasionally found with extraordinary qualities. + Lylius Gyraldus suggests, that several disgraceful adventures happened + near this fountain (which was enclosed by walls), which in time gave + it a bad name. + + +FABLE VI. [IV.389-415] + + Bacchus, to punish the daughters of Minyas for their contempt of his + worship, changes them into bats, and their work into ivy and vine + leaves. + +There was {now} an end of their stories; and still do the daughters of +Minyas go on with their work, and despise the God, and desecrate his +festival; when, on a sudden, tambourines unseen resound with their +jarring noise; the pipe, too, with the crooked horn, and the tinkling +brass, re-echo; myrrh and saffron shed their fragrant odors; and, +a thing past all belief, their webs begin to grow green, and the cloth +hanging {in the loom} to put forth foliage like ivy. Part changes into +vines, and what were threads before, are {now} turned into vine shoots. +Vine branches spring from the warp, and the purple lends its splendor to +the tinted grapes. + +And now the day was past, and the time came on, which you could neither +call darkness nor light, but yet the {very} commencement of the dubious +night along with the light. The house seemed suddenly to shake, and +unctuous torches to burn, and the building to shine with glowing fires, +and the fictitious phantoms of savage wild beasts to howl. Presently, +the sisters are hiding themselves throughout the smoking house, and in +different places are avoiding the fires and the light. While they are +seeking a hiding-place, a membrane is stretched over their small limbs, +and covers their arms with light wings; nor does the darkness suffer +them to know by what means they have lost their former shape. No +feathers bear them up; yet they support themselves on pellucid wings; +and, endeavoring to speak, they utter a voice very diminutive {even} in +proportion to their bodies, and express their low complaints with a +squeaking sound. They frequent houses, not woods; and, abhorring the +light, they fly {abroad} by night. And from the late evening do they +derive their name.[53] + + [Footnote 53: _Derive their name._--Ver. 415. In Greek they + are called νυκτερίδες, from νυξ, ‘night;’ and in Latin, + ‘vespertiliones,’ from ‘vesper,’ ‘evening,’ on account of their + habits.] + + +FABLE VII. [IV.416-562] + + Tisiphone, being sent by Juno to the Palace of Athamas, causes him to + become mad; on which he dashes his son Learchus to pieces against a + wall. He then pursues his wife Ino, who throws herself headlong from + the top of a rock into the sea, with her other son Melicerta in her + arms: when Neptune, at the intercession of Venus, changes them into + Sea Deities. The attendants of Ino, who have followed her in her + flight, are changed, some into stone, and others into birds, as they + are about to throw themselves into the sea after their mistress. + +But then the Divine power of Bacchus is famed throughout all Thebes; and +his aunt is everywhere telling of the great might of the new Divinity; +she alone,[54] out of so many sisters, is free from sorrow, except that +which her sisters have occasioned. Juno beholds her, having her soul +elevated with her {children}, and her alliance with Athamas, and the God +her foster-child. She cannot brook this, and says to herself, “Was the +child of a concubine able to transform the Mæonian sailors, and to +overwhelm them in the sea, and to give the entrails of the son to be +torn to pieces by his mother, and to cover the three daughters of Minyas +with newly formed wings? Shall Juno be able to do nothing but lament +these griefs unrevenged? And is that sufficient for me? Is this my only +power? He himself instructs me what to do. It is right to be taught even +by an enemy. And what madness can do, he shows enough, and more than +enough, by the slaughter of Pentheus. Why should not Ino, {too}, be +goaded by madness, and submit to an example kindred to those of her +sisters?” + +There is a shelving path, shaded with dismal yew, which leads through +profound silence to the infernal abodes. {Here} languid Styx exhales +vapors; and the new-made ghosts descend this way, and phantoms when they +have enjoyed[55] funeral rites. Horror and winter possess these dreary +regions far and wide, and the ghosts newly arrived know not where the +way is that leads to the Stygian city, {or} where is the dismal palace +of the black Pluto. The wide city has a thousand passages, and gates +open on every side. And as the sea {receives} the rivers for the whole +earth, so does that spot[56] receive all the souls; nor is it {too} +little for any {amount of} people, nor does it perceive the crowd to +increase. The shades wander about, bloodless, without body and bones; +and some throng the place of judgment; some the abode of the infernal +prince. Some pursue various callings, in imitation of their former life; +their own punishment confines others. + +Juno, the daughter of Saturn, leaving her celestial habitation, submits +to go thither, so much does she give way to hatred and to anger. Soon as +she has entered there, and the threshold groans, pressed by her sacred +body, Cerberus raises his threefold mouth, and utters triple barkings at +the same moment. She summons the Sisters,[57] begotten of Night, +terrible and implacable Goddesses. They are sitting before the doors of +the prison shut close with adamant, and are combing black vipers from +their hair. Soon as they recognize her amid the shades of darkness, +{these} Deities arise. This place is called “the accursed.” Tityus[58] +is giving his entrails to be mangled, and is stretched over nine acres. +By thee, Tantalus,[59] no waters are reached, and the tree which +overhangs thee, starts away. Sisyphus,[60] thou art either catching or +thou art pushing on the stone destined to fall again. Ixion[61] is +whirled round, and both follows and flies from himself. The +granddaughters, too, of Belus, who dared to plot the destruction of +their cousins, are everlastingly taking up the water which they lose. +After the daughter of Saturn has beheld all these with a stern look, and +Ixion before all; again, after him, looking upon Sisyphus, she says, + +“Why does he alone, of {all} the brothers, suffer eternal punishment? +and why does a rich palace contain the proud Athamas, who, with his +wife, has ever despised me?” And {then} she explains the cause of her +hatred and of her coming, and what it is she desires. What she desires +is, that the palace of Cadmus shall not stand, and that the Sister +{Furies} shall involve Athamas in crime. She mingles together promises, +commands, and entreaties, and solicits the Goddesses. When Juno has thus +spoken, Tisiphone, with her locks dishevelled as they are, shakes them, +and throws back from her face the snakes crawling over it; and thus she +says: “There is no need of a long preamble; whatever thou commandest, +consider it as done: leave these hateful realms, and betake thyself to +the air of a better heaven.” + +Juno returns, overjoyed; and, preparing to enter heaven, Iris,[62] the +daughter of Thaumas, purifies her by sprinkling water. Nor is there any +delay; the persecuting Tisiphone[63] takes a torch reeking with gore, +and puts on a cloak red with fluid blood, and is girt with twisted +snakes, and {then} goes forth from her abode. Mourning attends her as +she goes, and Fright, and Terror, and Madness with quivering features. +She {now} reaches the threshold; the Æolian door-posts are said to have +shaken, and paleness tints the maple door; the Sun, too, flies from the +place. His wife is terrified at these prodigies; Athamas, {too}, is +alarmed, and they are {both} preparing to leave the house. The baneful +Erinnys stands in the way, and blocks up the passage; and extending her +arms twisted round with folds of vipers, she shakes her locks; the +snakes {thus} moved, emit a sound. Some lying about her shoulders, some +gliding around her temples, send forth hissings and vomit forth +corruption, and dart forth their tongues. Then she tears away two snakes +from the middle of her hair, which, with pestilential hand, she throws +against them. But these creep along the breasts of Ino and Athamas, and +inspire them with direful intent. Nor do they inflict any wounds upon +their limbs; it is the mind that feels the direful stroke. She had +brought, too, with her a monstrous composition of liquid poison, the +foam of the mouth of Cerberus, and the venom of Echidna;[64] and +purposeless aberrations, and the forgetfulness of a darkened +understanding, and crime, and tears, and rage, and the love of murder. +All these were blended together; and, mingled with fresh blood she had +boiled them in a hollow vessel of brass, stirred about with {a stalk of} +green hemlock. And while they are trembling, she throws the maddening +poison into the breasts of them both, and moves their inmost vitals. +Then repeatedly waving her torch in the same circle, she swiftly follows +up the flames {thus} excited with {fresh} flames. Thus triumphant, and +having executed her commands, she returns to the empty realms of the +great Pluto; and she ungirds the snakes which she had put on. +Immediately the son of Æolus, filled with rage, cries out, in the midst +of his palace, “Ho! companions, spread your nets in this wood; for here +a lioness was just now beheld by me with two young ones.” And, in his +madness, he follows the footsteps of his wife, as though of a wild +beast; and he snatches Learchus, smiling and stretching forth his little +arms from the bosom of his mother, and three or four times he whirls him +round in the air like a sling, and, frenzied, he dashes in pieces[65] +the bones of the infant against the hard stones. Then, at last, the +mother being roused (whether it was grief that caused it, or whether the +power of the poison spread {over her}), yells aloud, and runs away +distracted, with dishevelled hair; and carrying thee, Melicerta, +a little {child}, in her bare arms, she cries aloud “Evoë, Bacche.” At +the name of Bacchus, Juno smiles, and says, “May thy foster-child[66] do +thee this service.” + +There is a rock[67] that hangs over the sea; the lowest part is worn +hollow by the waves, and defends the waters covered {thereby} from the +rain. The summit is rugged, and stretches out its brow over the open +sea. This Ino climbs (madness gives her strength), and, restrained by no +fear, she casts herself and her burden[68] into the deep; the water, +struck {by her fall}, is white with foam. But Venus, pitying the +misfortunes of her guiltless granddaughter,[69] in soothing words thus +addresses her uncle: “O Neptune, thou God of the waters, to whom fell a +power next after the {empire of} heaven, great things indeed do I +request; but do thou take compassion on my kindred, whom thou seest +being tossed upon the boundless Ionian sea;[70] and add them to thy +Deities. I have {surely} some interest with the sea, if, indeed, I once +was foam formed in the hollowed deep, and my Grecian name is derived[71] +from that.” Neptune yields to her request; and takes away from them +{all} that is mortal, and gives them a venerable majesty; and alters +both their name and their shape, and calls Palæmon a Divinity,[72] +together with his mother Leucothoë. + +Her Sidonian attendants,[73] so far as they could, tracing the prints of +their feet, saw the last of them on the edge of the rock; and thinking +that there was no doubt of their death, they lamented the house of +Cadmus, with their hands tearing their hair and their garments; and they +threw the odium on the Goddess, as being unjust and too severe against +the concubine. Juno could not endure their reproaches, and said, “I will +make you yourselves tremendous memorials of my displeasure.” +Confirmation followed her words. For the one who had been especially +attached, said, “I will follow the queen into the sea;” and about to +give the leap, she could not be moved any way, and adhering to the rock, +{there} she stuck fast. Another, while she was attempting to beat her +breast with the accustomed blows, perceived in the attempt that her arms +had become stiff. One, as by chance she had extended her hands over the +waters of the sea, becoming a rock, held out her hands in those same +waters. You might see the fingers of another suddenly hardened in her +hair, as she was tearing her locks seized on the top of her head. In +whatever posture each was found {at the beginning of the change}, in the +same she remained. Some became birds; which, sprung from Ismenus, skim +along the surface of the waves in those seas, with the wings which they +have assumed. + + [Footnote 54: _She alone._--Ver. 419. This was Ino, whose only + sorrows hitherto had been caused by the calamities which befell + her sisters and their offspring: Semele having died a shocking + death, Autonoë having seen her son Actæon changed into a stag, and + then devoured by his dogs, and Agave having assisted in tearing to + pieces her own son Pentheus.] + + [Footnote 55: _When they have enjoyed._--Ver. 435. The spirits + whose bodies had not received the rites of burial, we learn from + Homer and Virgil, were not allowed to pass the river Styx, but + wandered on its banks for a hundred years.] + + [Footnote 56: _So does that spot._--Ver. 441. That is to say, + whatever number of ghosts arrives there, it receives them all with + ease, and is not sensible of the increase of number; either + because the place itself is of such immense extent, or because the + souls of the dead do not occupy space.] + + [Footnote 57: _The Sisters._--Ver. 450. These were the Furies, + fabled to be the daughters of Night and Acheron. They were three + in number, Tisiphone, Alecto, and Megæra, and were supposed to be + the avengers of crime and wickedness.] + + [Footnote 58: _Tityus._--Ver. 456. Tityus was the son of Jupiter + and Elara. On account of his enormous size, the poets sometimes + style him a son of the earth. Attempting to commit violence upon + Latona, he was slain by the arrows of Apollo, and precipitated to + the infernal regions, where he was condemned to have his liver + constantly devoured by a vulture, and then renewed, to perpetuate + his torments.] + + [Footnote 59: _Tantalus._--Ver. 457. He was the son of Jupiter, by + the Nymph Plote. The crime for which he was punished is + differently related by the poets. Some say, that he divulged the + secrets of the Gods, that had been entrusted to him; while others + relate, that at an entertainment which he gave to the Deities, he + caused his own son, Pelops, to be served up, on which Ceres + inadvertently ate his shoulder. He was doomed to suffer intense + hunger and thirst, amid provisions of all kinds within his reach, + which perpetually receded from him.] + + [Footnote 60: _Sisyphus._--Ver. 459. Sisyphus, the son of Æolus, + was a daring robber, who infested Attica. He was slain by Theseus; + and being sent to the infernal regions, was condemned to the + punishment of rolling a great stone to the top of a mountain, + which it had no sooner reached than it fell down again, and + renewed his labor.] + + [Footnote 61: _Ixion._--Ver. 461. Being advanced by Jupiter to + heaven, he presumed to make an attempt on Juno. Jupiter, to + deceive him, formed a cloud in her shape, on which Ixion begot the + Centaurs. He was cast into Tartarus, and was there fastened to a + wheel, which turned round incessantly.] + + [Footnote 62: _Iris._--Ver. 480. Iris was the daughter of Thaumas + and Electra, and the messenger of Juno. She was the Goddess of the + Rainbow.] + + [Footnote 63: _Tisiphone._--Ver. 481. Clarke translates ‘Tisiphone + importuna,’ ‘the plaguy Tisiphone.’] + + [Footnote 64: _Echidna._--Ver. 501. This word properly means, + ‘a female viper;’ but it here refers to the Hydra, or dragon of + the marsh of Lerna, which Hercules slew. It was fabled to be + partly a woman, and partly a serpent, and to have been begotten by + Typhon. According to some accounts, this monster had seven heads.] + + [Footnote 65: _Dashes in pieces._--Ver. 519. Euripides and Hyginus + relate, that Athamas slew his son while hunting; and Apollodorus + says, that he mistook him for a stag.] + + [Footnote 66: _Thy foster-child._--Ver. 524. Bacchus was the + foster-child of Ino, who was the sister of his mother Semele. The + remaining portion of the story of Ino and Melicerta is again + related by Ovid in the sixth book of the Fasti.] + + [Footnote 67: _There is a rock._--Ver. 525. Pausanias calls this + the Molarian rock, and says, that it was one of the Scironian + rocks, near Megara, in Attica. It was a branch of the Geranian + mountain.] + + [Footnote 68: _And her burden._--Ver. 530. This was her son + Melicerta, who, according to Pausanias, was received by dolphins, + and was landed by them on the isthmus of Corinth.] + + [Footnote 69: _Guiltless granddaughter._--Ver. 531. Venus was the + grandmother of Ino, inasmuch as Hermione, or Harmonia, the wife of + Cadmus, was the daughter of Mars and Venus.] + + [Footnote 70: _Boundless Ionian sea._--Ver. 535. The Ionian sea + must be merely mentioned here as a general name for the broad + expanse of waters, of which the Saronic gulf, into which the + Molarian rock projected, formed part. Ovid may, however, mean to + say that Ino threw herself from some rock in the Ionian sea, and + not from the Molarian rock; following, probably, the account of + some other writer, whose works are lost.] + + [Footnote 71: _Grecian name is derived._--Ver. 538. Venus was + called Aphrodite, by the Greeks, from ἄφρος, ‘the foam of the + sea,’ from which she was said to have sprung.] + + [Footnote 72: _A Divinity._--Ver. 542. Ino and Melicerta were + worshipped as Divinities both in Greece and at Rome.] + + [Footnote 73: _Sidonian attendants._--Ver. 543. The Theban matrons + are meant, who had married the companions of Cadmus that + accompanied him from Phœnices.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + The story of Ino, Athamas, and Melicerta appears to have been based + upon historical facts, as we are informed by Herodotus, Diodorus + Siculus, and Pausanias. + + Athamas, the son of Æolus, and great-grandson of Deucalion, having, on + the death of Themisto, his first wife, married Ino, the daughter of + Cadmus, divorced her soon afterwards, to marry Nephele, by whom he had + Helle and Phryxus. She having been divorced in her turn, he took Ino + back again, and by her had Learchus and Melicerta. Ino, not being able + to endure the presence of the children of Nephele, endeavored to + destroy them. The city of Thebes being at that time afflicted with + famine, which was said to have been caused by Ino, who ordered the + seed to be parched before it was sown, Athamas ordered the oracle of + Delphi to be consulted. The priests, either having been bribed, or the + messengers having been corrupted, word was brought, that, to remove + this affliction, the children of Nephele must be sacrificed. + + Phryxus being warned of the designs of his stepmother, embarked in a + ship, with his sister Helle, and sailed for Colchis, where he met with + a kind reception from his kinsman Æetes. The young princess, however, + either becoming sea-sick, and leaning over the bulwarks of the vessel, + fell overboard and was drowned, or died a natural death in the passage + of the Hellespont, to which she gave its name from that circumstance. + Athamas, having discovered the deceitful conduct of Ino, in his rage + killed her son Learchus, and sought her, for the purpose of + sacrificing her to his vengeance. To avoid his fury, she fled with her + son Melicerta, and, being pursued, threw herself from a rock into the + sea. To console her relatives, the story was probably invented, that + the Gods had changed Ino and Melicerta into Sea Deities, under the + names of Leucothoë and Palæmon. Melicerta was afterwards worshipped in + the Isle of Tenedos, where children were offered to him in sacrifice. + In his honor, Glaucus established the Isthmian games, which were + celebrated for many ages at Corinth; and, being interrupted for a + time, were revived by Theseus, in honor of Neptune. Leucothoë was also + worshipped at Rome, and the Roman women used to offer up their vows to + her for their brothers’ children, not daring to supplicate the Goddess + for their own, because she had been unfortunate in hers. This Ovid + tells us in the Sixth Book of the Fasti. The Romans gave the name of + Matuta to Ino, and Melicerta, or Palæmon, was called Portunus. + + The circumstance mentioned by Ovid, that some of Ino’s attendants were + changed into birds, and others into rocks, is, perhaps, only a + poetical method of saying that some of her attendants escaped, while + others perished with her. + + +FABLE VIII. [IV.563-603] + + The misfortunes of his family oblige Cadmus to leave Thebes, and to + retire with his wife Hermione to Illyria, where they are changed into + serpents. + +The son of Agenor knows not that his daughter and his little grandson +are {now} Deities of the sea. Forced by sorrow, and a succession of +calamities, and the prodigies which, many in number, he had beheld, the +founder flies from his city, as though the {ill}-luck of the spot, and +not his own, pressed {hard} upon him, and driven, in a long series of +wandering, he reaches the coast of Illyria, with his exiled wife. And +now, loaded with woes and with years, while they are reflecting on the +first disasters of their house, and in their discourse are recounting +their misfortunes, Cadmus says, “Was that dragon a sacred one, that was +pierced by my spear, at the time when, setting out from Sidon, I sowed +the teeth of the dragon in the ground, a seed {till then} unknown? If +the care of the Gods avenges this with resentment so unerring, I pray +that I myself, as a serpent, may be lengthened out into an extended +belly.” {Thus} he says; and, as a serpent, he is lengthened out into an +extended belly, and perceives scales growing on his hardened skin, and +his black body become speckled with azure spots; and he falls flat on +his breast, and his legs, joined into one, taper out by degrees into a +thin round point. His arms are still remaining; those arms which remain +he stretches out; and, as the tears are flowing down his face, still +that of a man, he says, “Come hither, wife, come hither, most unhappy +one, and, while something of me yet remains, touch me; and take my hand, +while it is {still} a hand, {and} while I am not a serpent all over.” +He, indeed, desires to say more, but, on a sudden, his tongue is divided +into two parts. Nor are words in his power when he offers {to speak}; +and as often as he attempts to utter any complaints, he makes a hissing: +this is the voice that Nature leaves him. His wife, smiting her naked +breast with her hand, cries aloud, “Stay, Cadmus! and deliver thyself, +unhappy one, from this monstrous form. Cadmus, what means this? Where +are thy feet? where are both thy shoulders and thy hands? where is thy +color and thy form, and, while I speak, {where} all else {besides}? Why +do ye not, celestial Gods, turn me as well into a similar serpent?” +{Thus} she spoke; he licked the face of his wife, and crept into her +dear bosom, as though he recognized her; and gave her embraces, and +reached her well-known neck. + +Whoever is by, (some attendants are present), is alarmed; but the +crested snakes soothe them with their slippery necks, and suddenly they +are two {serpents}, and in joined folds they creep along, until they +enter the covert of an adjacent grove. Now, too, do they neither shun +mankind, nor hurt them with wounds, and the gentle serpents keep in mind +what once they were. + + +EXPLANATION. + + After Cadmus had reigned at Thebes many years, a conspiracy was formed + against him. Being driven from the throne, and his grandson Pentheus + assuming the crown, he and his wife Hermione retired into Illyria, + where, as Apollodorus says, he commanded the Illyrian army, and at + length was chosen king: on his death, the story here related by Ovid + was invented. It is possible that it may have been based on the + following grounds:-- + + The Phœnicians were anciently called ‘Achivi,’ which name they still + retained after their establishment in Greece. ‘Chiva’ being also the + Hebrew, and perhaps Phœnician word for ‘a serpent,’ the Greeks, + probably in reference to the Phœnician origin of Cadmus, reported + after his death, that he and his wife were serpents; and in time, that + transformation may have been stated to have happened at the end of his + life. According to Aulus Gellius, the ancient inhabitants of Illyria + had two eyelids to each eye, and with their looks, when angered, they + were able to kill those whom they beheld stedfastly. The Greeks hence + called them serpents and basilisks; and, it is not unlikely, that when + Cadmus retired among them, they said that he had become one of the + Illyrians, otherwise a dragon, or a serpent. All the ancient writers + who mention his history agree that Cadmus really did retire into + Illyria, where he first assisted the Enchelians in their war against + the Illyrians. The latter were defeated, and, to obtain a peace from + the Enchelians, they gave the crown to Cadmus; to which, on his death, + his son Illyrus succeeded. The historian Christodorus, quoted by + Pausanias, says that he built the city of Nygnis, in the country of + the Enchelians. + + Some writers have supposed, upon the authority of Euhemerus as quoted + by Eusebius that Cadmus was not the son of Agenor, but was one of his + officers, who eloped thence with Hermione, a singing girl. Others + suppose that Cadmus is not really a proper name, but that it signifies + a ‘leader,’ or ‘conductor;’ and that he received the name from leading + a colony into Greece. Bochart says that he was called Cadmus, because + he came from the eastern part of Phœnicia, which is called in + Scripture ‘Cadmonia,’ or ‘oriental;’ and that Hermione probably + received her name from Mount Hermon. + + +FABLE IX. [IV.604-662] + + Perseus, the son of Jupiter and Danaë, having killed Medusa, carries + her head into Africa, where the blood that runs from it produces + serpents. Atlas, king of that country, terrified at the remembrance of + an oracle, which had foretold that his golden fruit should be taken by + one of the sons of Jupiter, not only orders him to depart, but even + resorts to violence to drive him away, on which Perseus shows him the + Gorgon’s head, and changes him into a mountain. + +But yet their grandson, {Bacchus} gave them both a great consolation, +under this change of form; whom India, subdued {by him}, worshipped {as +a} God, {and} whom Achaia honored with erected temples. Acrisius the son +of Abas,[74] descended of the same race,[75] alone remained, to drive +him from the walls of the Argive city, and to bear arms against the God, +and to believe him not to be the offspring of Jove. Neither did he think +Perseus to be the offspring of Jupiter, whom Danaë had conceived in a +shower of gold; but soon (so great is the power of truth) Acrisius was +sorry, both that he had insulted the God, and that he had not +acknowledged his grandson. The one was now placed in heaven, while the +other, bearing the memorable spoil of the viperous monster, cut the +yielding air with hissing wings; and while the conqueror was hovering +over the Libyan sands, bloody drops, from the Gorgon’s head, fell down, +upon receiving {which, the} ground quickened them into various serpents. +For this cause, that region is filled and infested with snakes. + +Carried thence, by the fitful winds, through boundless space, he is +borne now here, now there, just like a watery cloud, and, from the lofty +sky, looks down upon the earth, removed afar; and he flies over the +whole world. Three times he saw the cold Bears, thrice did he see the +claws of the Crab; ofttimes he was borne to the West, many a time to the +East. And now, the day declining, afraid to trust himself to the night, +he stopped in the Western part of the world, in the kingdom of Atlas; +and {there} he sought a little rest, until Lucifer should usher forth +the fires of Aurora, Aurora, the chariot of the day. Here was Atlas, the +son of Iapetus, surpassing all men in the vastness of his body. Under +this king was the extremity of the earth, and the sea which holds its +waters under the panting horses of the Sun, and receives the wearied +chariot. For him, a thousand flocks, and as many herds, wandered over +the pastures, and no neighboring places disturbed the land. Leaves of +the trees, shining with radiant gold, covered branches of gold, {and} +apples of gold. “My friend,” said Perseus to him, “if the glory of a +noble race influences thee, Jupiter is the author of my descent; or if +thou art an admirer of exploits, thou wilt admire mine. I beg of thee +hospitality, and a resting place.” The other was mindful of an ancient +oracle. The Parnassian Themis had given this response: “A time will +come, Atlas, when thy tree shall be stripped of its gold, and a son of +Jove shall have the honor of the prize.” Dreading this, Atlas had +enclosed his orchard with solid walls, and had given it to be kept by a +huge dragon;[76] and expelled all strangers from his territories. {To +Perseus}, too, he says, “Far hence begone, lest the glory of the +exploits, to which thou falsely pretendest, and Jupiter as well, be far +from protecting thee.” He adds violence as well to his threats, and +tries to drive him from his doors, as he hesitates and mingles resolute +words with persuasive ones. Inferior in strength (for who could be a +match for Atlas in strength?), he says “Since my friendship is of so +little value to thee, accept {this} present;” and then, turning his face +away, he exposes on the left side the horrible features of Medusa. +Atlas, great as he is, becomes a mountain. Now his beard and his hair +are changed into woods; his shoulders and his hands become mountain +ridges, and what was formerly his head, is the summit on the top of the +mountain. His bones become stones; then, enlarged on every side, he +grows to an immense height (so you willed it, ye Gods), and the whole +heaven, with so many stars, rests upon him. + + [Footnote 74: _Son of Abas._--Ver. 608. Acrisius was the son of + Abas, king of Argos. He was the father of Danaë, by whom Jupiter + was the father of Perseus.] + + [Footnote 75: _Of the same race._--Ver. 607. Some suppose that by + this it is meant that as Belus, the father of Abas, and + grandfather of Acrisius, was the son of Jupiter, who was also the + father of Bacchus, the latter and Acrisius were consequently + related.] + + [Footnote 76: _A huge dragon._--Ver. 647. The name of the dragon + was Ladon.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + The story of the seduction of Danaë, the mother of Perseus, by + Jupiter, in the form of a shower of gold, has been thus explained by + some of the ancient writers. Acrisius, hearing of a prediction that + Danaë, his daughter, should bring forth a child that would kill him, + caused her to be shut in a tower with brazen gates, or, according to + some, in a subterraneous chamber, covered with plates of that metal; + which place, according to Pausanias, remained till the time of + Perilaus, the king of Argos, by whom it was destroyed. The precautions + of Acrisius were, however, made unavailing by his brother Prœtus; who, + falling in love with his niece, corrupted the guards with gold, and + gained admission into the tower. Danaë, being delivered of Perseus, + her father caused them to be exposed in a boat to the mercy of the + waves. Being cast on shore near Seriphus, the king, Polydectes, gave + them a hospitable reception, and took care of the education of + Perseus. + + Diodorus Siculus says that the Gorgons were female warriors, who + inhabited the neighborhood of Lake Tritonis, in Libya. Pausanias + explains the story of Medusa, by saying that she ruled the people in + that neighborhood, and laid waste the lands of the nations in her + vicinity. Perseus, having fled, with some companions, from + Peloponnesus, surprised her by night, and killed her, together with + her escort. The next morning, the beauty of her face appeared so + remarkable that he cut it off, and afterwards took it with him to + Greece, to show it to the people, who could not look on it without + being struck with astonishment. On this explanation we may remark, + that if it is true, Perseus must have had more skill than the surgeons + of our day, in being able to preserve the beauty of the features so + long after death. + + Again, many of the ancient historians, with Pliny, Athenæus, and + Solinus, think that the Gorgons were wild women of a savage nature, + living in caves and forests, who, falling on wayfarers, committed + dreadful atrocities. Palæphatus and Fulgentius think that the Gorgons + really were three young women, possessed of great wealth, which they + employed in a very careful manner; Phorcus, their father, having left + them three islands, and a golden statue of Minerva, which they placed + in their common treasury. They had one minister in common for the + management of their affairs, who used to go for that purpose from one + island to another, whence arose the story that they had but one eye, + and that they lent it to one another alternately. Perseus, a fugitive + from Argos, hearing of the golden statue, determined to obtain it; and + with that view, seized their minister, or, in the allegorical language + of the poets, took their eye away from them. He then sent them word, + that if they would give him the statue, he would deliver up his + captive, and threatened, in case of refusal, to put him to death. + Stheno and Euryale consented to this; but Medusa resisting, she was + killed by Perseus. Upon his obtaining the statue, which was called the + Gorgon, or Gorgonian, he broke it in pieces, and placed the head on + the prow of his ship. As the sight of this, and the fame of the + exploits of Perseus, spread terror everywhere, and caused passive + submission to him, the fable originated, that with Medusa’s head he + turned his enemies into stone. Landing in the Isle of Seriphus, the + king fled, with all his subjects; and, on entering the chief city, + finding nothing but the bare stones there, he caused the report to be + spread, that he had petrified the inhabitants. + + Servius, in his Commentary on the Æneid, quotes an opinion of Ammonius + Serenus, that the Gorgons were young women of such beauty as to make a + great impression on all that saw them; for which reason they were said + to turn them into statues. Le Clerc thinks that the story bears + reference to a voyage which the Phœnicians had made in ancient times + to the coast of Africa, whence they brought a great number of horses; + and that the name ‘Perseus’ comes from the Phœnician word ‘pharscha,’ + ‘a horseman;’ while the horse Pegasus was so called from the Phœnician + ‘pagsous,’ ‘a bridled horse,’ according to the conjecture of Bochart. + Alexander of Myndus, a historian quoted by Athenæus, says that Libya + had an animal which the natives called ‘gorgon;’ that it resembled a + sheep, and with its breath killed all those who approached it; that a + tuft of hair fell over its eyes, which was so heavy as to be removed + with difficulty, for the purpose of seeing the objects around it; but + that when it was removed, by its looks it struck dead any person whom + it gazed upon. He says, that in the war with Jugurtha, some of the + soldiers of Marius were thus slain by it, and that it was at last + killed by means of arrows discharged from a great distance. + + The Gorgons are said to have inhabited the Gorgades, islands in the + Æthiopian Sea, the chief of which was called Cerna, according to + Diodorus and Palæphatus. It is not improbable that the Cape Verde + Islands were called by this name. The fable of the transformation of + Atlas into the mountain of that name may possibly have been based upon + the simple fact, that Perseus killed him in the neighborhood of that + range, from which circumstance it derived the name which it has borne + ever since. The golden apples, which Atlas guarded with so much care, + were probably either gold mines, which Atlas had discovered in the + mountains of his country, and had secured with armed men and watchful + dogs; or sheep, whose fleeces were extremely valuable for their + fineness; or else oranges and lemons, and other fruits peculiar to + very hot climates, for the production of which the poets especially + remarked the country of Tingitana (the modern Tangier), as being very + celebrated. + + +FABLE X. [IV.663-803] + + Perseus, after his victory over Atlas, and his change into a mountain, + arrives in Æthiopia, at the time when Andromeda is exposed to be + devoured by a monster. He kills it, and hides the Gorgon’s head under + the sand, covered with sea-weed and plants; which are immediately + turned into coral. He then renders thanks to the Gods for his victory, + and marries Andromeda. At the marriage feast he relates the manner in + which he had killed Medusa; and the reason why Minerva had changed her + hair into serpents. + +The grandson of Hippotas[77] had shut up the winds in their eternal +prison; and Lucifer, who reminds {men} of their work, was risen in the +lofty sky, in all his splendor. Resuming his wings, {Perseus} binds his +feet with them on either side, and is girt with his crooked weapon, and +cleaves the liquid air with his winged ankles. Nations innumerable being +left behind, around and below, he beholds the people of the Æthiopians +and the lands of Cepheus. There the unjust Ammon[78] had ordered the +innocent Andromeda to suffer punishment for her mother’s tongue.[79] + +Soon as the descendant of Abas beheld her, with her arms bound to the +hard rock, but that the light breeze was moving her hair, and her eyes +were running with warm[80] tears, he would have thought her to be a work +of marble. Unconsciously he takes fire, and is astonished; captivated +with the appearance of her beauty, {thus} beheld, he almost forgets to +wave his wings in the air. When he has lighted {on the ground}, he says, +“O thou, undeserving of these chains, but {rather} of those by which +anxious lovers are mutually united, disclose to me, inquiring both the +name of this land and of thyself, and why thou wearest {these} chains.” +At first she is silent, and, a virgin, she does not dare address[81] a +man; and with her hands she would have concealed her blushing features, +if she had not been bound; her eyes, ’twas {all} she could do, she +filled with gushing tears. Upon his often urging her, lest she should +seem unwilling to confess her offence, she told the name both of her +country and herself, and how great had been the confidence of her mother +in her beauty. All not yet being told, the waves roared, and a monster +approaching,[82] appeared with its head raised out of the boundless +ocean, and covered the wide expanse with its breast. The virgin shrieks +aloud; her mournful father, and her distracted mother, are there, both +wretched, but the latter more justly so. Nor do they bring her any help +with them, but tears suitable to the occasion, and lamentations, and +they cling round her body, bound {to the rock}. + +Then thus the stranger says: “Plenty of time will be left for your tears +{hereafter}, the season for giving aid is {but} short. If I were to +demand her {in marriage}, I, Perseus, the son of Jove, and of her whom, +in prison, Jove embraced in the impregnating {shower of} gold, Perseus, +the conqueror of the Gorgon with her serpent locks, and who has dared, +on waving wings, to move through the ætherial air, I should surely be +preferred before all as your son-in-law. To so many recommendations I +endeavor to add merit (if only the Deities favor me). I {only} stipulate +that she may be mine, {if} preserved by my valor.” Her parents embrace +the condition, (for who could hesitate?) and they entreat {his aid}, and +promise as well, the kingdom as a dowry. Behold! as a ship onward +speeding, with the beak fixed {in its prow}, plows the waters, impelled +by the perspiring arms[83] of youths; so the monster, moving the waves +by the impulse of its breast, was as far distant from the rocks, as +{that distance} in the mid space of air, which a Balearic string can +pass with the whirled plummet of lead; when suddenly the youth, spurning +the earth with his feet, rose on high into the clouds. As the shadow of +the hero was seen on the surface of the sea, the monster vented its fury +on the shadow {so} beheld. And as the bird of Jupiter,[84] when he has +espied on the silent plain a serpent exposing its livid back to the +sun, seizes it behind; and lest it should turn upon him its raging +mouth, fixes his greedy talons in its scaly neck; so did the winged +{hero}, in his rapid flight through the yielding {air}, press the back +of the monster, and the descendant of Inachus thrust his sword up to the +very hilt in its right shoulder, as it roared aloud. + +Tortured by the grievous wound, it sometimes raises itself aloft in the +air, sometimes it plunges beneath the waves, sometimes it wheels about, +just like a savage boar, which a pack of hounds in full cry around him +affrights. With swift wings he avoids the eager bites[85] {of the +monster}, and, with his crooked sword, one while wounds its back covered +with hollow shells, where it is exposed, at another time the ribs of its +sides, and now, where its tapering tail terminates in {that of} a fish. +The monster vomits forth from its mouth streams mingled with red blood; +its wings, {made} heavy {by it}, are wet with the spray. Perseus, not +daring any longer to trust himself on his dripping pinions,[86] beholds +a rock, which with its highest top projects from the waters {when} +becalmed, {but is now} covered by the troubled sea. Resting on that, and +clinging to the upper ridge[87] of the rock with his left hand, three or +four times he thrusts his sword through its entrails aimed at {by him}. +A shout, with applause, fills the shores and the lofty abodes of the +Gods. Cassiope and Cepheus, the father, rejoice, and salute him as their +son-in-law, and confess that he is the support and the preserver of +their house. + +Released from her chains, the virgin walks along, both the reward and +the cause of his labors. He himself washes his victorious hands in water +taken {from the sea}; and that it may not injure the snake-bearing head +with the bare sand, he softens the ground with leaves; and strews some +weeds produced beneath the sea, and lays upon them the face of Medusa, +the daughter of Phorcys. The fresh weeds, being still alive, imbibed the +poison of the monster in their spongy pith, and hardened by its touch; +and felt an unwonted stiffness in their branches and their leaves. But +the Nymphs of the sea attempt the wondrous feat on many {other} weeds, +and are pleased at the same result; and raise seed again from them +scattered on the waves. Even now the same nature remains in the coral, +that it receives hardness from contact with the air; and what was a +plant in the sea, out of the sea becomes stone. + +To three Deities he erects as many altars of turf; the left one to +Mercury; the right to thee, warlike Virgin; the altar of Jove is in the +middle. A cow is sacrificed to Minerva; a calf to the wing-footed {God, +and} a bull to thee, greatest of the Deities. Forthwith he takes +Andromeda, and the reward of an achievement so great, without any dowry. +Hymenæus and Cupid wave their torches before them; the fires are heaped +with abundant perfumes. Garlands, too, are hanging from the houses: +flageolets and lyres, and pipes, and songs resound, the happy tokens of +a joyous mind. The folding-doors thrown open, the entire gilded halls +are displayed, and the nobles of king Cepheus sit down at a feast +furnished with splendid preparations. After they have done the feast, +and have cheered their minds with the gifts of the generous Bacchus, the +grandson of Abas inquires the customs and habits of the country. +Immediately one {of them}, Lyncides, tells him, on his inquiring, the +manners and habits of the inhabitants. Soon as he had told him these +things, he said, “Now, most valiant Perseus, tell us, I beseech thee, +with how great valor and by what arts thou didst cut off the head all +hairy with serpents.” The descendant of Abas tells them that there is a +spot situate beneath cold Atlas, safe in its bulwark of a solid mass; +that, in the entrance of this, dwelt the two sisters, the daughters of +Phorcys, who shared the use of a single eye; that he stealthily, by sly +craft, while it was being handed over,[88] obtained possession of this +by putting his hand in the way; and that through rocks far remote, and +pathless, and bristling with woods on their craggy sides, he had arrived +at the abodes of the Gorgons, and saw everywhere, along the fields and +the roads, statues of men and wild beasts turned into stone, from their +{natural form}, at the sight of Medusa; yet that he himself, from the +reflection on the brass of the shield[89] which his left hand bore, +beheld the visage of the horrible Medusa; and that, while a sound sleep +held her and her serpents {entranced}, he took the head from off the +neck; and that Pegasus and his brother,[90] fleet with wings, were +produced from the blood of {her}, their mother. He added, too, the +dangers of his lengthened journey, {themselves} no fiction;[91] what +seas, what lands he had seen beneath him from on high, and what stars he +had reached with his waving wings. + +Yet, before it was expected,[92] he was silent; {whereupon} one of the +nobles rejoined, inquiring why she alone, of the sisters, wore snakes +mingled alternately with her hair. “Stranger,” said he, “since thou +inquirest on a matter worthy to be related, hear the cause of the thing +thou inquirest after. She was the most famed for her beauty, and the +coveted hope of many wooers; nor, in the whole of her person, was any +part more worthy of notice than her hair: I have met {with some} who +said they had seen it. The sovereign of the sea is said to have +deflowered her in the Temple of Minerva. The daughter of Jove turned +away, and covered her chaste eyes with her shield. And that this might +not be unpunished, she changed the hair of the Gorgon into hideous +snakes. Now, too, that she may alarm her surprised foes with terror, she +bears in front upon her breast, those snakes which she {thus} produced.” + + [Footnote 77: _Hippotas._--Ver. 663. Æolus, the God of the Winds, + was the son of Jupiter, by Acesta, the daughter of Hippotas.] + + [Footnote 78: _Ammon._--Ver. 671. Jupiter, with the surname of + Ammon, had a temple in the deserts of Libya, where he was + worshipped under the shape of a ram; a form which he was supposed + to have assumed, when, in common with the other Deities, he fled + from the attacks of the Giants. The oracle of Jupiter Ammon being + consulted relative to the sea monster, which Neptune, at the + request of the Nereids, had sent against the Ethiopians, answered + that Andromeda must be exposed to be devoured by it; which Ovid + here, not without reason, calls an unjust demand.] + + [Footnote 79: _Mother’s tongue._--Ver. 670. Cassiope, the mother + of Andromeda, had dared to compare her own beauty with that of the + Nereids. Cepheus, the son of Phœnix, was the father of Andromeda.] + + [Footnote 80: _Warm._--Ver. 674. ‘Tepido,’ ‘warm,’ is decidedly + preferable here to ‘trepido,’ ‘trembling.’] + + [Footnote 81: _Dare address._--Ver. 682. Heinsius thinks that + ‘appellare’ here is not the correct reading; and suggests + ‘aspectare,’ which seems to be more consistent with the sense of + the passage, which would then be, ‘and does not dare to look down + upon the hero.’] + + [Footnote 82: _Monster approaching._--Ver. 689. Pliny the Elder + and Solinus tell us that the bones of this monster were afterwards + brought from Joppa, a seaport of Judæa, to Rome, and that the + skeleton was forty feet in length, and the spinal bone was six + feet in circumference.] + + [Footnote 83: _The perspiring arms._--Ver. 707. ‘Juvenum + sudantibus acta lacertis’ is translated by Clarke, ‘forced forward + by the arms of sweating young fellows.’] + + [Footnote 84: _Bird of Jupiter._--Ver. 714. The eagle was the bird + sacred to Jove. The larger kinds of birds which afforded auguries + from their mode of flight, were called ‘præpetes.’] + + [Footnote 85: _Avoids the eager bites._--Ver. 723. Clarke + translates this line, ‘He avoids the monster’s eager snaps with + his swift wings.’] + + [Footnote 86: _His dripping pinions._--Ver. 730. ‘Talaria’ were + either wings fitted to the ankles, or shoes having such wings + fastened to them; they were supposed to be usually worn by + Mercury.] + + [Footnote 87: _Clinging to the upper ridge._--Ver. 733. ‘Tenens + juga prima sinistra’ is rendered by Clarke, ‘seizing the tip-top + of it with his left hand.’] + + [Footnote 88: _Being handed over._--Ver. 766. Of course, as they + had but one eye between them, they must have both been blind while + it was passing from one hand to another, so that Perseus could + have had but little difficulty in effecting the theft here + mentioned.] + + [Footnote 89: _Brass of the shield._--Ver. 783. This reflecting + shield Perseus is said to have received from Minerva, and by + virtue of it he was enabled to see without being seen. Lucian says + that Minerva herself held this reflecting shield before him, and + by that means afforded him the opportunity of seeing the + reflection of Medusa’s figure; and that Perseus, seizing her by + the hair with his left hand, and keeping his eye fixed on the + image reflected in the shield, took his sword in his right, and + cut off her head, and then, by the aid of his wings, flew away + before the other Gorgon sisters were aware of what he had done.] + + [Footnote 90: _Pegasus and his brother._--Ver. 786. Pegasus and + Chrysaor were two winged horses, which were fabled to have sprung + up from the blood of Medusa, when slain by Perseus.] + + [Footnote 91: _Themselves no fiction._--Ver. 787. His dangers were + not false or imaginary, inasmuch as he was pursued by Sthenyo and + Euryale, the sisters of Medusa, who were fabled to have wings, and + claws of iron on their hands. Ovid deals a sly hit in the words + ‘non falsa pericula cursus,’ at the tales of travellers, who, even + in his day, seem to have commenced dealing in the marvellous; as, + indeed, we may learn for ourselves, on turning to the pages of + Herodotus, who seems to have been often imposed upon.] + + [Footnote 92: _Before it was expected._--Ver. 790. Showing thereby + how delighted his audience was with his narrative.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + It is extremely difficult to surmise what may have given rise to many + of the fabulous circumstances here narrated. It has been conjectured + by some, that Pegasus and his brother Chrysaor, the two horses + produced from the blood of Medusa, were really two ships in the harbor + of the island where that princess was residing at the time when she + was slain by Perseus; and that, on that event, they were seized by + him. Perhaps they had the figure of a winged horse on the prow; from + which circumstance the fable had its origin. Possibly, the story of + the production of coral from the blood of Medusa may have originated + in the fact, that on the defeat of the Gorgons, navigation became more + safe, and, consequently, the fishing for coral more common than it had + been before. + + The story of the exposure of Andromeda may be founded on the fact, + that she was contracted by her parents against her will to some + fierce, piratical prince, who infested the adjacent seas with his + depredations; and that the betrothal was made, on condition that he + should allow the realms of her father, Cepheus, to be free and + undisturbed; Perseus, being informed of this, slew the pirate, and + Phineus having been kept in a state of inactivity through dread of the + valor of Perseus, it was fabled that he had been changed into a stone. + This interpretation of the story is the one suggested by Vossius. + + Some writers think, that Phineus, the uncle of Andromeda, was the + enemy from which she was rescued by Perseus, and who is here + represented under the form of a monster; while others suggest that + this monster was the name of the ship in which the pirate before + mentioned was to have carried away Andromeda. + + + + +BOOK THE FIFTH. + + +FABLE I. [V.1-242] + + While Perseus is continuing the relation of the adventures of Medusa, + Phineus, to whom Andromeda has been previously promised in marriage, + rushes into the palace, with his adherents, and attacks his rival. + A furious combat is the consequence, in which Perseus gives signal + proofs of his valor. At length, perceiving himself likely to be + overpowered by the number of his enemies, he shows them the head of + the Gorgon; on which Phineus and his followers are turned into statues + of stone. After this victory, he takes Andromeda with him to Argos, + his native city, where he turns the usurper Prœtus into stone, and + re-establishes his grandfather Acrisius on the throne. + +And while the hero, the son of Danaë, is relating these things in the +midst of the company of the subjects of Cepheus, the royal courts are +filled with a raging multitude; nor is the clamor such as celebrates a +marriage-feast, but one which portends dreadful warfare. You might +compare the banquet, changed into a sudden tumult, to the sea, which, +when calm, the boisterous rage of the winds disturbs by raising its +waves. + +Foremost among these, Phineus,[1] the rash projector of the onslaught, +shaking an ashen spear with a brazen point, cries, “Behold! {now}, +behold! I am come, the avenger of my wife, ravished from me; neither +shall thy wings nor Jupiter turned into fictitious gold, deliver thee +from me.” As he is endeavoring to hurl {his lance}, Cepheus cries out, +“What art thou doing? What fancy, my brother, impels thee, in thy +madness, to this crime? Is this the due acknowledgment to return +for deserts so great? Dost thou repay the life of her {thus} preserved, +with this reward? ’Twas not Perseus, if thou wouldst know the truth, +that took her away from thee; but the incensed majesty of the Nereids, +and horned Ammon, and the monster of the sea, which came to be glutted +with my bowels. She was snatched from thee at that moment, at which she +was to have perished; unless it is that thou dost, in thy cruelty, +insist upon that very thing, that she should perish, and wilt be +appeased only by my affliction. It is not enough, forsooth, that in thy +presence she was bound and that thou, both her uncle and her betrothed, +didst give no assistance; wilt thou be grieving, besides, that she was +saved by another, and wilt thou deprive him of his reward? If this +appears great to thee, thou shouldst have recovered it from the rock to +which it was fastened. Now, let him who has recovered it, through whom +my old age is not childless, have what he stipulated for, both by his +merits and his words; and know that he was preferred not before thee, +but before certain death.” + +{Phineus said} nothing, on the other hand; but viewing both him and +Perseus, with alternate looks, he was uncertain whether he should +{first} attack the one or the other; and, having paused a short time, he +vainly threw his spear, hurled with all the force that rage afforded. As +it stood fixed in the cushion,[2] then, at length, Perseus leapt off +from the couch, and in his rage would have pierced the breast of his +enemy with the weapon, thrown back, had not Phineus gone behind an +altar, and {thus} (how unworthily!) an altar[3] protected a miscreant. +However, the spear, not thrown in vain, stuck in the forehead of Rhœtus; +who, after he fell, and the steel was wrenched from the skull, he +{still} struggled, and besprinkled the laid tables with his blood. But +then does the multitude burst forth into ungovernable rage, and hurl +their weapons. Some there are, who say that Cepheus ought to die with +his son-in-law; but Cepheus has gone out by the entrance of the house, +calling right and good faith to witness, and the Gods of hospitality,[4] +that this disturbance is made contrary to his will. The warlike Pallas +comes; and with her shield protects her brother {Perseus}, and gives him +courage. There was an Indian, Athis {by name},[5] whom Limnate, the +daughter of the river Ganges, is believed to have brought forth beneath +the glassy waters; excelling in beauty, which he improved by his rich +dress; in his prime, as yet but twice eight years of age, dressed in a +purple tunic, which a golden fringe bordered; a gilded necklace graced +his neck, and a curved hair-pin his hair wet with myrrh. He, indeed, had +been taught to hit things, although at a distance, with his hurled +javelin, but {he was} more skilled at bending the bow. {Perseus} struck +him even then, as he was bending with his hands the flexible horns {of a +bow}, with a billet, which, placed in the middle of the altar, was +smoking, and he crushed his face into his broken skull. + +When the Assyrian Lycabas, who was a most attached friend of his, and no +concealer of his real affection, saw him rolling his features, the +objects of such praises, in his blood; after he had bewailed Athis, +breathing forth his life from this cruel wound, he seized the bow which +he had bent, and said, “And {now} let the contest against thee be with +me; not long shalt thou exult in the fate of the youth, by which thou +acquirest more hatred than praise.” All this he had not yet said, {when} +the piercing weapon darted from the string, and {though} avoided, still +it hung in the folds of his garment. The grandson of Acrisius turned +against him his falchion,[6] {already} proved in the slaughter of +Medusa, and thrust it into his breast. But he, now dying, with his eyes +swimming in black night, looked around for Athis, and sank upon him, and +carried to the shades the consolation of a united death. Lo! Phorbas of +Syene,[7] the son of Methion, and Amphimedon, the Libyan, eager to +engage in the fight, fell down, slipping in the blood with which the +earth was warm, soaked on every side; as they arose the sword met them, +being thrust in the ribs of the one, {and} in the throat of Phorbas. But +Perseus does not attack Erithus, the son of Actor, whose weapon is a +broad battle-axe, by using his sword, but he takes up, with both hands, +a huge bowl,[8] standing out with figures deeply embossed, and of vast +mass in its weight, and hurls it against the man. The other vomits forth +red blood, and, falling on his back, beats the ground with his dying +head. Then he slays Polydæmon, sprung from the blood of Semiramis, and +the Caucasian Abaris, and Lycetus, the son of Sperchius,[9] and Elyces, +with unshorn locks, and Phlegias, and Clytus; and he tramples upon the +heaps of the dying, which he has piled up. + +But Phineus, not daring to engage hand to hand with his enemy, hurls his +javelin, which accident carries against Idas, who, in vain, has declined +the warfare[10] and has followed the arms of neither. He, looking at the +cruel Phineus with stern eyes, says, “Since I am {thus} forced to take a +side, take the enemy, Phineus, that thou hast made, and make amends for +my wound with this wound.” And now, just about to return the dart drawn +from his body, he falls sinking down upon his limbs void of blood. Here, +too, Odytes, the next in rank among the followers of Cepheus, after the +king, lies prostrate under the sword of Clymenus; Hypseus kills +Protenor, {and} Lyncides Hypseus. There is, too, among them the aged +Emathion, an observer of justice, and a fearer of the Gods; as his years +prevent him from fighting, he engages by talking, and he condemns and +utters imprecations against their accursed arms. As he clings to the +altars[11] with trembling hands, Chromis cuts off his head with his +sword, which straightway falls upon the altar, and there, with his dying +tongue he utters words of execration, and breathes forth his soul in the +midst of the fires. Upon this, two brothers, Broteas and Ammon +invincible at boxing, if swords could only be conquered by boxing, fell +by the hand of Phineus; Ampycus, too, the priest of Ceres, having his +temples wreathed with a white fillet. Thou too, son of Iapetus, not to +be employed for these services; but one who tuned the lyre, the work of +peace, to thy voice, hadst been ordered to attend the banquet and +festival with thy music. As thou art standing afar, and holding the +unwarlike plectrum, Pettalus says, laughing, “Go sing the rest to the +Stygian ghosts,” and fixes the point of the sword in his left temple. He +falls, and with his dying fingers he touches once again the strings of +the lyre; and in his fall he plays a mournful dirge.[12] The fierce +Lycormas does not suffer him to fall unpunished; and tearing away a +massive bar from the doorpost on the right, he dashes it against the +bones of the middle of the neck {of Pettalus}; struck, he falls to the +ground, just like a slaughtered bullock. + +The Cinyphian[13] Pelates, too, was trying to tear away the oaken bar of +the doorpost on the left; as he was trying, his right hand was fastened +{thereto} by the spear of Corythus, the son of Marmarus, and it stood +riveted to the wood. {Thus} riveted, Abas pierced his side; he did not +fall, however, but dying, hung from the post, which still held fast his +hand. Melaneus, too, was slain, who had followed the camp of Perseus, +and Dorylas, very rich in Nasamonian land.[14] Dorylas, rich in land, +than whom no one possessed it of wider extent, or received {thence} so +many heaps of corn. The hurled steel stood fixed obliquely in his groin; +the hurt was mortal. When the Bactrian[15] Halcyoneus, the author of the +wound, beheld him sobbing forth his soul, and rolling his eyes, he said, +“Take {for thine own} this {spot} of earth which thou dost press, out of +so many fields,” and he left his lifeless body. The descendant of Abas, +as his avenger, hurls against {Halcyoneus} the spear torn from his wound +{yet} warm, which, received in the middle of the nostrils, pierced +through his neck, and projected on both sides. And while fortune is +aiding his hand, he slays, with different wounds, Clytius and Clanis, +born of one mother. For an ashen spear poised with a strong arm is +driven through both the thighs of Clytius; with his mouth does Clanis +bite the javelin. Celadon, the Mendesian,[16] falls, too; Astreus falls, +born of a mother of Palestine, {but} of an uncertain father. Æthion, +too, once sagacious at foreseeing things to come, {but} now deceived[17] +by a false omen; and Thoactes, the armor-bearer of the king, and +Agyrtes, infamous for slaying his father. + +More work still remains, than what is {already} done; for it is the +intention of all to overwhelm one. The conspiring troops fight on all +sides, for a cause that attacks both merit and good faith. The one side, +the father-in-law, attached in vain, and the new-made wife, together +with her mother, encourage; and {these} fill the halls with their +shrieks. But the din of arms, and the groans of those that fall, +prevail; and for once, Bellona[18] is deluging the household Gods +polluted with plenteous blood, and is kindling the combat anew. Phineus, +and a thousand that follow Phineus, surround Perseus {alone}; darts are +flying thicker than the hail of winter, on both his sides, past his +eyes, and past his ears. On this, he places his shoulders against the +stone of a large pillar, and, having his back secure, and facing the +adverse throng, he withstands their attack. Chaonian[19] Molpeus presses +on the left, Nabathæan Ethemon on the right. As a tiger, urged on by +hunger, when it hears the lowings of two herds, in different valleys, +knows not on which side in preference to rush out, and {yet} is eager to +rush out on both; so Perseus, being in doubt whether to bear onward to +the right or to the left, repulses Molpeus by a wound in the leg, which +he runs through, and is contented with his flight. Nor, indeed, does +Ethemon give him time, but fiercely attacks him; and, desirous to +inflict a wound deep in his neck, he breaks his sword, wielded with +incautious force; and against the extremity of a column which he has +struck, the blade flies to pieces, and sticks in the throat of its +owner; yet that blow has not power sufficient to {effect} his death. +Perseus stabs him with his Cyllenian[20] falchion, trembling, and vainly +extending his unarmed hands. + +But when Perseus saw his valor {likely} to yield to such numbers, he +said, “Since you yourselves force me to do it, I will seek assistance +from an enemy: turn away your faces, if any of my friends are here;” and +{then} he produced the head of the Gorgon. “{Go}, seek some one else,” +said Thescelus, “for thy miracles to affect;” and, as he was preparing +to hurl his deadly javelin with his hand, he stood fast in that posture, +a statue of marble. Ampyx, being next him, made a pass with his sword at +the breast of Lyncidas, full of daring spirit, and, while making it, his +right hand became stiff, moving neither to one side nor the other. But +Nileus, who had falsely boasted that he was begotten by the +seven-mouthed Nile, and who had engraved on his shield its seven +channels, partly in silver, partly in gold, said, “Behold, Perseus, the +origin of my race; thou shalt carry to the silent shades a great +consolation for thy death, that thou wast killed by one so great.” The +last part of his address was suppressed in the midst of the utterance; +and you would think his half-open mouth was attempting to speak, but it +gave no passage for his words. Eryx rebuked them,[21] and said, “Ye are +benumbed by the cowardice of your minds, not by the locks of the Gorgon; +rush on with me, and strike to the ground {this} youth that wields his +magic arms.” He was about to rush on, {when} the earth arrested his +steps, and he remained an immovable stone, and an armed statue. But all +these met with the punishment they had deserved: there was one man, +however, Aconteus {by name}, a soldier of Perseus, for whom while he was +fighting, on beholding the Gorgon, he grew hard with stone rising upon +him. Astyages, thinking him still alive, struck him with his long sword; +the sword resounded with a shrill ringing. While Astyages was in +amazement, he took on himself the same nature: and the look of one in +surprise remained on his marble features. It is a tedious task to +recount the names of the men of the lower rank. Two hundred bodies were +{yet} remaining for the fight: two hundred bodies, on beholding the +Gorgon, grew stiff. + +Now at length Phineus repents of this unjust warfare. But what can he +do? He sees statues varying in form, and he recognizes his friends, and +demands help of them each, called by name; and not {yet} persuaded, he +touches the bodies next him; they are marble. He turns away {his eyes}; +and thus suppliant, and stretching forth his hands, that confessed {his +fault}, and his arms obliquely extended, he says, “Perseus, thou hast +conquered; remove the direful monster, and take away that stone-making +face of thy Medusa, whatever she may be; take it away, I pray. It is not +hatred, or the desire of a kingdom, that has urged me to war: for a wife +I wielded arms. Thy cause was the better in point of merit, mine in +point of time. I am not sorry to yield. Grant me nothing, most valiant +man, beyond this life; the rest be thine.” Upon his saying such things, +and not daring to look upon him, whom he is entreating with his voice, +{Perseus} says, “What am I able to give thee, most cowardly Phineus, +and, a great boon to a craven, that will I give; lay aside thy fears; +thou shalt be hurt by no weapon. Moreover, I will give thee a monument +to last forever, and in the house of my father-in-law thou shalt always +be seen, that my wife may comfort herself with the form of her +betrothed.” {Thus} he said, and he turned the daughter of Phorcys to +that side, towards which Phineus had turned himself with trembling face. +Then, even as he endeavored to turn away his eyes, his neck grew stiff, +and the moisture of his eyes hardened in stone. But yet his timid +features, and his suppliant countenance, and his hands hanging down, and +his guilty attitude, still remained. + +The descendant of Abas, together with his wife, enters the walls of his +native city; and as the defender and avenger of his innocent mother, he +attacks Prœtus.[22] For, his brother being expelled by force of arms, +Prœtus had taken possession of the citadel of Acrisius; but neither by +the help of arms, nor the citadel which he had unjustly seized, did he +prevail against the stern eyes of the snake-bearing monster. + + [Footnote 1: _Phineus._--Ver. 8. He was the brother of Cepheus, to + whom Andromeda had been betrothed. There was another person of the + same name, who entertained the Argonauts, and who is also + mentioned in the Metamorphoses.] + + [Footnote 2: _In the cushion._--Ver. 34. This was probably the + mattress or covering of the couch on which the ancients reclined + during meals. It was frequently stuffed with wool; but among the + poorer classes, with straw and dried weeds.] + + [Footnote 3: _An altar._--Ver. 36. This was either the altar + devoted to the worship of the Penates; or, more probably, perhaps, + in this instance, that erected for sacrifice to the Gods on the + occasion of the nuptials of Perseus and Andromeda.] + + [Footnote 4: _Gods of hospitality._--Ver. 45. Jupiter was + especially considered to be the avenger of a violation of the laws + of hospitality.] + + [Footnote 5: _Athis by name._--Ver. 47. Athis, or Atys, is here + described as of Indian birth, to distinguish him from the Phrygian + youth of the same name, beloved by Cybele, whose story is told by + Ovid in the Fasti.] + + [Footnote 6: _His falchion._--Ver. 69. The “Harpe” was a short, + crooked sword, or falchion: such as we call a “scimitar.”] + + [Footnote 7: _Syene._--Ver. 74. This was a city on the confines of + Æthiopia, bordering upon Egypt. Ovid tells us in the Pontic + Epistles (Book i. Ep. 5, l. 79), that “there, at the time of the + summer solstice, bodies as they stand, have no shadow.”] + + [Footnote 8: _A huge bowl._--Ver. 82. Clarke calls “ingentem + cratera” “a swingeing bowl.”] + + [Footnote 9: _Sperchius._--Ver. 86. This was probably a person, + and not the river of Thessaly, flowing into the Malian Gulf.] + + [Footnote 10: _Has declined the warfare._--Ver. 91. This is an + illustration of the danger of neutrality, when the necessity of + the times requires a man to adopt the side which he deems to be in + the right.] + + [Footnote 11: _Clings to the altars._--Ver. 103. In cases of + extreme danger, it was usual to fly to the temples of the Deities, + and to take refuge behind the altar or statue of the God, and even + to cling to it, if necessity required.] + + [Footnote 12: _A mournful dirge._--Ver. 118. Clarke translates + ‘Casuque canit miserabile carmen;’ ‘and in his fall plays but a + dismal ditty.’] + + [Footnote 13: _Cinyphian._--Ver. 124. Cinyps, or Cinyphus, was the + name of a river situate in the north of Africa.] + + [Footnote 14: _Nasamonian land._--Ver. 129. The Nasamones were a + people of Libya, near the Syrtes, or quicksands, who subsisted by + plundering the numerous wrecks on their coasts.] + + [Footnote 15: _Bactrian._--Ver. 135. Bactris was the chief city of + Bactria, a region bordering on the western confines of India.] + + [Footnote 16: _The Mendesian._--Ver. 144. Mendes was a city of + Egypt, near the mouth of the Nile, where Pan was worshipped, + according to Pliny. Celadon was a native of either this place, or + of the city of Myndes, in Syria.] + + [Footnote 17: _Now deceived._--Ver. 147. Because he had not + foreseen his own approaching fate.] + + [Footnote 18: _Bellona._--Ver. 155. She was the sister of Mars, + and was the Goddess of War.] + + [Footnote 19: _Chaonian._--Ver. 163. Chaonia was a mountainous + part of Epirus, so called from Chaon, who was accidentally killed, + while hunting, by Helenus, the son of Priam. It has been, however, + suggested that the reading ought to be ‘Choanius;’ as the Choanii + were a people bordering on Arabia; and very justly, for how should + the Chaonians and Nabathæans, or Epirotes, and Arabians become + united in the same sentence, as meeting in a region so distant as + Æthiopia?] + + [Footnote 20: _Cyllenian._--Ver. 176. His falchion had been given + to him by Mercury, who was born on Mount Cyllene, in Arcadia.] + + [Footnote 21: _Eryx rebuked them._--Ver. 195. ‘Increpat hos Eryx’ + is translated by Clarke, ‘Eryx rattles these blades.’] + + [Footnote 22: _Prœtus._--Ver. 238. He was the brother of Acrisius, + the grandfather of Perseus.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + The scene of this story is supposed by some to have been in Æthiopia, + but it is more probably on the coast of Africa. Josephus and Strabo + assert that this event happened near the city of Joppa, or Jaffa: + indeed, Josephus says that the marks of the chains with which + Andromeda was fastened, were remaining on the rock in his time. + Pomponius Mela says, that Cepheus, the father of Andromeda, was king + of Joppa, and that the memory of that prince and of his brother + Phineus was honored there with religious services. He says, too, that + the inhabitants used to show the bones of the monster which was to + have devoured Andromeda. Pliny tells us the same, and that Scaurus + carried these bones with him to Rome. He calls the monster ‘a + Goddess,’ ‘Dea Cete.’ Vossius believes that he means the God Dagon, + worshipped among the Syrians under the figure of a fish, or + sea-monster. Some authors have suggested that the story of the + creature which was to have devoured Andromeda, was a confused version + of that of the prophet Jonah. + + The alleged power of Perseus, to turn his enemies into stone, was + probably, a metaphorical mode of describing his heroism, and the + terror which everywhere followed the fame of his victory over the + Gorgons. This probably caused such consternation, that it was reported + that he petrified his enemies by showing them the head of Medusa. + Bochart supposes that the rocky nature of the island of Seriphus, + where Polydectes reigned, was the ground of the various stories of the + alleged metamorphoses into stone, effected by means of the Gorgon’s + head. + + +FABLE II. [V.243-340] + + Polydectes continues his hatred against Perseus, and treats his + victories and triumphs over Medusa as mere fictions, on which Perseus + turns him into stone. Minerva leaves her brother, and goes to Mount + Helicon to visit the Muses, who show the Goddess the beauties of their + habitation, and entertain her with their adventure at the court of + Pyreneus, and the death of that prince. They also repeat to her the + song of the Pierides, who challenged them to sing. + +Yet, O Polydectes,[23] the ruler of little Seriphus, neither the valor +of the youth proved by so many toils, nor his sorrows have softened +thee; but thou obstinately dost exert an inexorable hatred, nor is there +any limit to thy unjust resentment. Thou also detractest from his +praises, and dost allege that the death of Medusa is {but} a fiction. +“We will give thee a proof of the truth,” says Perseus; “have a regard +for your eyes, {all besides};” and he makes the face of the king +{become} stone, without blood, by means of the face of Medusa. + +Hitherto Tritonia had presented herself as a companion to her +brother,[24] begotten in the golden shower. Now, enwrapped in an +encircling cloud, she abandons Seriphus, Cythnus and Gyarus[25] being +left on the right. And where the way seems the shortest over the sea, +she makes for Thebes and Helicon, frequented by the virgin {Muses}; +having reached which mountain she stops, and thus addresses the learned +sisters: “The fame of the new fountain[26] has reached my ears, which +the hard hoof of the winged steed sprung from the blood of Medusa has +opened. That is the cause of my coming. I wished to see this wondrous +prodigy; I saw him spring from the blood of his mother.” Urania[27] +replies, “Whatever, Goddess, is the cause of thy visiting these abodes, +thou art most acceptable to our feelings. However, the report is true, +and Pegasus is the originator of this spring;” and {then} she conducts +Pallas to the sacred streams. She, long admiring the waters produced by +the stroke of his foot, looks around upon the groves of the ancient +wood, and the caves and the grass studded with flowers innumerable; and +she pronounces the Mnemonian[28] maids happy both in their pursuits and +in their retreat; when one of the sisters {thus} addresses her: + +“O Tritonia, thou who wouldst have come to make one of our number, had +not thy valor inclined thee to greater deeds, thou sayest the truth, and +with justice thou dost approve both our pursuits and our retreat; and if +we are but safe, happy do we reckon our lot. But (to such a degree is no +denial borne by villany) all things affright our virgin minds, and the +dreadful Pyreneus is placed before our eyes; and not yet have I wholly +recovered my presence of mind. He, in his insolence, had taken the +Daulian and Phocean[29] land with his Thracian troops, and unjustly held +the government. We were making for the temple of Parnassus; he beheld us +going, and adoring our Divinities[30] in a feigned worship he said (for +he had recognized us), ‘O Mnemonian maids, stop, and do not scruple, +I pray, under my roof to avoid the bad weather and the showers (for it +was raining); oft have the Gods above entered more humble cottages.’ +Moved by his invitation and the weather, we assented to the man, and +entered the front part of his house. The rain had {now} ceased, and the +South Wind {now} subdued by the North, the black clouds were flying from +the cleared sky. It was our wish to depart. Pyreneus closed his house, +and prepared for violence, which we escaped by taking wing. He himself +stood aloft on the top {of his abode}, as though about to follow us, and +said ‘Wherever there is a way for you, by the same road there will be +{one} for me.’ And then, in his insanity, he threw himself from the +height of the summit of the tower, and fell upon his face, and with the +bones of his skull thus broken, he struck the ground stained with his +accursed blood.” + +{Thus} spoke the Muse. Wings resounded through the air, and a voice of +some saluting them[31] came from the lofty boughs. The daughter of +Jupiter looked up, and asked whence tongues that speak so distinctly +made that noise, and thought that a human being had spoken. They were +birds; and magpies that imitate everything, lamenting their fate, they +stood perched on the boughs, nine in number. As the Goddess wondered, +thus did the Goddess {Urania} commence: “Lately, too, did these being +overcome in a dispute, increase the number of the birds. Pierus, rich in +the lands of Pella,[32] begot them; the Pæonian[33] Evippe[34] was their +mother. Nine times did she invoke the powerful Lucina, being nine times +in labor. This set of foolish sisters were proud of their number, and +came hither through so many cities of Hæmonia, {and} through so many of +Achaia,[35] and engaged in a contest in words such as these: “Cease +imposing upon the vulgar with your empty melody. If you have any +confidence {in your skill}, ye Thespian Goddesses, contend with us; we +will not be outdone in voice or skill; and we are as many in number. +Either, if vanquished, withdraw from the spring formed by the steed of +Medusa, and the Hyantean Aganippe,[36] or we will retire from the +Emathian plains, as far as the snowy Pæonians. Let the Nymphs decide the +contest.” It was, indeed, disgraceful to engage, but to yield seemed +{even} more disgraceful. The Nymphs that are chosen swear by the rivers, +and they sit on seats made out of the natural rock. Then, without +casting lots, she who had been the first to propose the contest, sings +the wars of the Gods above, and gives the Giants honor not their due, +and detracts from the actions of the great Divinities; and {sings} how +that Typhœus, sent forth from the lowest realms of the earth, had struck +terror into the inhabitants of Heaven; and {how} they had all turned +their backs in flight, until the land of Egypt had received them in +their weariness, and the Nile, divided into its seven mouths. She tells, +how that Typhœus had come there, too, and the Gods above had concealed +themselves under assumed shapes; and ‘Jupiter,’ she says, ‘becomes the +leader of the flock, whence, even at the present day, the Libyan Ammon +is figured with horns. {Apollo}, the Delian {God}, lies concealed as a +crow, the son of Semele as a he-goat, the sister of Phœbus as a cat, +{Juno}, the daughter of Saturn, as a snow-white cow, Venus as a +fish,[37] {Mercury}, the Cyllenian {God}, beneath the wings of an +Ibis.’[38] + +“Thus far she had exerted her noisy mouth to {the sound of} the lyre; we +of Aonia[39] were {then} called upon; but perhaps thou hast not the +leisure, nor the time to lend an ear to our strains.” Pallas says, “Do +not hesitate, and repeat your song to me in its order;” and she takes +her seat under the pleasant shade of the grove. The Muse {then} tells +her story. “We assigned the management of the contest to one {of our +number}. Calliope rises, and, having her long hair gathered up with ivy, +tunes with her thumb the sounding chords; and {then} sings these lines +in concert with the strings when struck.” + + [Footnote 23: _Polydectes._--Ver. 242. Polydectes was king of the + little island of Seriphus, one of the Cyclades. His brother Dictys + had removed Perseus, with his mother Danaë, to the kingdom of + Polydectes. The latter became smitten with love for Danaë, though + he was about to marry Hippodamia. On this occasion he exacted a + promise from Perseus, of the head of the Gorgon Medusa. When + Perseus returned victorious, he found that his mother, with her + protector Dictys, had taken refuge at the altars of the Deities, + against the violence of Polydectes; on which Perseus changed him + into stone. The story of Perseus afforded abundant materials to + the ancient poets. Æschylus wrote a Tragedy called Polydectes, + Sophocles one called Danaë, while Euripides composed two, called + respectively Danaë and Dictys. Pherecydes also wrote on this + subject, and his work seems to have been a text book for + succeeding poets. Polygnotus painted the return of Perseus with + the head of Medusa, to the island of Seriphus.] + + [Footnote 24: _To her brother._--Ver. 250. As both Tritonia, or + Minerva, and Perseus had Jupiter for their father.] + + [Footnote 25: _Gyarus._--Ver. 252. Cythnus and Gyarus were two + islands of the Cyclades.] + + [Footnote 26: _The new fountain._--Ver. 256. This was Helicon, + which was produced by a blow from the hoof of Pegasus.] + + [Footnote 27: _Urania._--Ver. 260. One of the Muses, who presided + over Astronomy.] + + [Footnote 28: _Mnemonian._--Ver. 268. The Muses are called + ‘Mnemonides,’ from the Greek word μνήμων ‘remembering,’ or + ‘mindful,’ because they were said to be the daughters, by Jupiter, + of Mnemosyne, or Memory.] + + [Footnote 29: _Phocean._--Ver. 276. Daulis was a city of Phocis; + a district between Bœotia and Ætolia, in which the city of Delphi + and Mount Parnassus were situate.] + + [Footnote 30: _Our Divinities._--Ver. 279. ‘Nostra veneratus + numina,’ is translated by Clarke, ‘and worshipping our + Goddessships.’] + + [Footnote 31: _Some saluting them._--Ver. 295. That is, crying out + χαῖρε, χαῖρε, the usual salutation among the Greeks, equivalent to + our ‘How d’ye do?’ From two lines of Persius, it seems to have + been a common thing to teach parrots and magpies to repeat these + words.] + + [Footnote 32: _Lands of Pella._--Ver. 302. Pella was a city of + Macedonia, in that part of it which was called Emathia. It was + famed for being the birthplace of Philip, and Alexander the + Great.] + + [Footnote 33: _Pæonian._--Ver. 303. Pæonia was a mountainous + region of Macedonia, adjacent to Emathia.] + + [Footnote 34: _Evippe._--Ver. 303. Evippe was the wife of Pierus, + and the mother of the Pierides.] + + [Footnote 35: _Achaia._--Ver. 306. The Achaia here mentioned was + the Hæmonian, or Thessalian Achaia. The other parts of Thessaly + were Phthiotis and Pelasgiotis.] + + [Footnote 36: _Aganippe._--Ver. 312. Aganippe was the name of a + fountain in Bœotia, near Helicon, sacred to the Muses. It is + called Hyantean, from the ancient name of the inhabitants of the + country.] + + [Footnote 37: _Venus as a fish._--Ver. 331. The story of the + transformation of Venus into a fish, to escape the fury of the + Giants, is told, at length, in the second Book of the Fasti.] + + [Footnote 38: _Wings of an Ibis._--Ver. 331. The Ibis was a bird + of Egypt, much resembling a crane, or stork. It was said to be of + peculiarly unclean habits, and to subsist upon serpents.] + + [Footnote 39: _We of Aonia._--Ver. 333. The Muses obtained the + name of Aonides from Aonia, a mountainous district of Bœotia.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + According to Plutarch, the adventure of the Muses with Pyreneus, and + of their asking wings of the Gods to save themselves, is a metaphor, + which shows that he, when reigning in Phocis, was no friend to + learning. As he had caused all the institutions in which it was taught + to be destroyed, it was currently reported, that he had offered + violence to the Muses, and that he lost his life in pursuing them. + Ovid is the only writer that mentions him by name. + + The challenge given by the Pierides to the Muses is not mentioned by + any writer before the time of Ovid. By way of explaining it, it is + said, that Pierus was a very bad poet, whose works were full of + stories injurious to the credit of the Gods. Hence, in time, it became + circulated, that his daughters, otherwise his works, were changed into + magpies, thereby meaning that they were full of idle narratives, + tiresome and unmeaning. It is not improbable that the story of + Typhœus, who forces the Gods to conceal themselves in Egypt, under the + forms of various animals, was a poem which Pierus composed on the war + of the Gods with the Giants. + + +FABLE III. [V.341-384] + + One of the Muses repeats to Minerva the song of Calliope, in answer to + the Pierides; in which she describes the defeat of the Giant Typhœus, + and Pluto viewing the mountains of Sicily, where Venus persuades her + son Cupid to pierce his heart with one of his arrows. + +“Ceres was the first to turn up the clods with the crooked plough; she +first gave corn and wholesome food to the earth; she first gave laws; +everything is the gift of Ceres. She is to be sung by me; I only wish +that I could utter verses worthy of the Goddess, {for} doubtless she is +a Goddess worthy of my song. The vast island of Trinacria[40] is heaped +up on the limbs of the Giant, and keeps down Typhœus, that dared to hope +for the abodes of Heaven, placed beneath its heavy mass. He, indeed, +struggles, and attempts often to rise, but his right hand is placed +beneath the Ausonian Pelorus,[41] his left under thee, Pachynus;[42] his +legs are pressed down by Lilybœum;[43] Ætna bears down his head; under +it Typhœus, on his back, casts forth sand, and vomits flame from his +raging mouth; often does he struggle to throw off the load of earth, and +to roll away cities and huge mountains from his body. Then does the +earth tremble, and the King of the shades himself is in dread, lest it +may open, and the ground be parted with a wide chasm, and, the day being +let in, may affright the trembling ghosts. + +“Fearing this ruin, the Ruler had gone out from his dark abode; and, +carried in his chariot by black horses, he cautiously surveyed the +foundations of the Sicilian land. After it was sufficiently ascertained +that no place was insecure, and fear was laid aside, Erycina,[44] +sitting down upon her mountain, saw him wandering; and, embracing her +winged son, she said, Cupid, my son, my arms, my hands, and my might, +take up those darts by which thou conquerest all, and direct the swift +arrows against the breast of the God, to whom fell the last lot of the +triple kingdom.[45] Thou subduest the Gods above, and Jupiter himself; +thou {subduest} the conquered Deities of the deep, and him who rules +over the Deities of the deep. Why is Tartarus exempt? Why dost thou not +extend the Empire of thy mother and thine own? A third part of the world +is {now} at stake. And yet so great power is despised even in our own +heaven, and, together with myself, the influence of Love becomes but a +trifling matter. Dost thou not see how that Pallas, and Diana, who +throws the javelin, have renounced me? The daughter of Ceres, too, will +be a virgin, if we shall permit it, for she inclines to similar hopes. +But do thou join the Goddess to her uncle, if I have any interest with +thee in favor of our joint sway. + +“Venus {thus} spoke. He opened his quiver, and, by the direction of his +mother, set apart one out of his thousand arrows; but one, than which +there is not any more sharp or less unerring, or which is more true to +the bow. And he bent the flexible horn, by pressing his knee against it, +and struck Pluto in the breast with the barbed arrow.” + + [Footnote 40: _Trinacria._--Ver. 347. Sicily was called Trinacris, + or Trinacria, from its three corners or promontories, which are + here named by the Poet.] + + [Footnote 41: _Pelorus._--Ver. 350. This cape, or promontory, now + called Capo di Faro, is on the east of Sicily, looking towards + Italy, whence its present epithet, ‘Ausonian.’ It was so named + from Pelorus, the pilot of Hannibal, who, suspecting him of + treachery, had put him to death, and buried him on that spot.] + + [Footnote 42: _Pachynus._--Ver. 351. This Cape, now Capo Passaro, + looks towards Greece, from the south of Sicily.] + + [Footnote 43: _Lilybæum._--Ver. 351. Now called Capo Marsala. It + is on the west of Sicily, looking towards the African coast.] + + [Footnote 44: _Erycina._--Ver. 363. Venus is so called from Eryx, + the mountain of Sicily, on which her son Eryx, one of the early + Sicilian kings, erected a magnificent temple in her honor.] + + [Footnote 45: _The triple kingdom._--Ver. 368. In the partition of + the dominion of the universe the heavens fell to the lot of + Jupiter, the seas to that of Neptune; while the infernal regions, + or, as some say, the earth, were awarded to Pluto.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + The ancients frequently accounted for natural phænomena on fabulous + grounds: and whatever they found difficult to explain, from their + ignorance of the principles of natural philosophy, they immediately + attributed to the agency of a supernatural cause. Ætna was often seen + to emit flames, and the earth was subjected to violent shocks from the + forces of its internal fires when struggling for a vent. Instead of + looking for the source of these eruptions in the sulphur and + bituminous matter in which the mountain abounds, they fabled, that the + Gods, having vanquished the Giant Typhœus, or, according to some + authors, Enceladus, threw Mount Ætna on his body; and that the + attempts he made to free himself from the superincumbent weight were + the cause of those fires and earthquakes. + + +FABLE IV. [V.385-461] + + Pluto surprises Proserpina in the fields of Henna, and carries her + away by force. The Nymph Cyane endeavors, in vain, to stop him in his + passage, and through grief and anguish, dissolves into a fountain. + Ceres goes everywhere in search of her daughter, and, in her journey, + turns the boy Stellio into a newt. + +“Not far from the walls of Henna[46] there is a lake of deep water, +Pergus by name; Cayster does not hear more songs of swans, in his +running streams, than that. A wood skirts the lake, surrounding it on +every side, and with its foliage, as though with an awning, keeps out +the rays of the sun. The boughs produce a coolness, the moist ground +flowers of Tyrian hue. {There} the spring is perpetual. In this grove, +while Proserpina is amusing herself, and is plucking either violets or +white lilies, and while, with childlike eagerness, she is filling her +baskets and her bosom, and is striving to outdo {her companions} of the +same age in gathering, almost at the same instant she is beheld, +beloved, and seized by Pluto;[47] in such great haste is love. The +Goddess, affrighted, with lamenting lips calls both her mother and her +companions,[48] but more frequently her mother;[49] and as she has torn +her garment from the upper edge, the collected flowers fall from her +loosened robes. So great, too, is the innocence of her childish years, +this loss excites the maiden’s grief as well. The ravisher drives on his +chariot, and encourages his horses, called, each by his name, along +whose necks and manes he shakes the reins, dyed with swarthy rust. He is +borne through deep lakes, and the pools of the Palici,[50] smelling +strong of sulphur, {and} boiling fresh from out of the burst earth; and +where the Bacchiadæ,[51] a race sprung from Corinth, with its two +seas,[52] built a city[53] between unequal harbors. + +“There is a stream in the middle, between Cyane and the Pisæan Arethusa, +which is confined within itself, being enclosed by mountain ridges at a +short distance {from each other}. Here was Cyane,[54] the most +celebrated among the Sicilian Nymphs, from whose name the pool also was +called, who stood up from out of the midst of the water, as far as the +higher part of her stomach, and recognized the God, and said, ‘No +further shall you go. Thou mayst not be the son-in-law of Ceres against +her will. {The girl} should have been asked {of her mother}, not carried +away. But if I may be allowed to compare little matters with great ones, +Anapis[55] also loved me. Yet I married him, courted, and not frightened +{into it}, like her.’ She {thus} said, and stretching her arms on +different sides, she stood in his way. The son of Saturn no longer +restrained his rage; and encouraging his terrible steeds, he threw his +royal sceptre, hurled with a strong arm, into the lowest depths of the +stream. The earth, {thus} struck, made a way down to Tartarus, and +received the descending chariot in the middle of the yawning space. But +Cyane, lamenting both the ravished Goddess, and the slighted privileges +of her spring, carries in her silent mind an inconsolable wound, and is +entirely dissolved into tears, and melts away into those waters, of +which she had been but lately the great guardian Divinity. You might see +her limbs soften, her bones become subjected to bending, her nails lay +aside their hardness: each, too, of the smaller extremities of the whole +of her body melts away; both her azure hair, her fingers, her legs, and +her feet; for easy is the change of those small members into a cold +stream. After that, her back, her shoulders, her side, and her breast +dissolve, vanishing into thin rivulets. Lastly, pure water, instead of +live blood, enters her corrupted veins, and nothing remains which you +can grasp {in your hand}. + +“In the mean time, throughout all lands and in every sea, the daughter +is sought in vain by her anxious mother. Aurora, coming with her ruddy +locks does not behold her taking any rest, neither does Hesperus. She, +with her two hands, sets light to some pines at the flaming Ætna, and +giving herself no rest, bears them through the frosty darkness. Again, +when the genial day has dulled the light of the stars, she seeks her +daughter from the rising of the sun to the setting thereof. Fatigued by +the labor, she has {now} contracted thirst, and no streams have washed +her mouth, when by chance she beholds a cottage covered with thatch, and +knocks at its humble door, upon which an old woman[56] comes out and +sees the Goddess, and gives her, asking for water, a sweet drink which +she has lately distilled[57] from parched pearled barley. While she is +drinking it {thus} presented, a boy[58] of impudent countenance and +bold, stands before the Goddess, and laughs, and calls her greedy. She +is offended; and a part being not yet quaffed, the Goddess sprinkles +him, as he is {thus} talking, with the barley mixed with the liquor. + +“His face contracts the stains, and he bears legs where just now he was +bearing arms; a tail is added to his changed limbs; and he is contracted +into a diminutive form, that no great power of doing injury may exist; +his size is less than {that of} a small lizard. He flies from the old +woman, astounded and weeping, and trying to touch the monstrosity; and +he seeks a lurking place, and has a name suited to his color, having his +body speckled with various spots.” + + [Footnote 46: _Henna._--Ver. 385. Henna, or Enna, was a city so + exactly situated in the middle of Sicily that it was called the + navel of that island. The worship of Ceres there was so highly + esteemed, that ancient writers remarked, that you might easily + take the whole place for one vast temple of that Goddess, and all + the inhabitants for her priests. Proserpine is said by many + authors, besides Ovid, to have been carried away by Pluto in the + vicinity of Henna; though some writers say that it took place in + Attica, and others again in Asia, while the Hymn of Orpheus + mentions the western coast of Spain. Cicero describes this spot in + his Oration against Verres: his words are, ‘It is said that + Libera, who is the Deity that we call Proserpine, was carried away + from the Grove of Enna. Enna, where these events took place to + which I now refer, is in a lofty and exposed situation; but on the + summit the ground presents a level surface, and there are springs + of everflowing water. The spot is entirely cut off and separated + from all [ordinary] means of approach. Around it are many lakes + and groves, and flowers in bloom at all seasons of the year; so + that the very spot seems to portray the rape of the damsel, with + which story, from our very infancy, we have been familiar. Close + by, there is a cavern with its face towards the north, of an + immense depth, from which they say that father Pluto, in his + chariot, suddenly emerged, and carrying off the maiden, bore her + away from that spot, and then, not far from Syracuse, descended + into the earth, from which place a lake suddenly arose; where, at + the present day, the inhabitants of Syracuse celebrate a yearly + festival.’] + + [Footnote 47: _Seized by Pluto._--Ver. 395. Pluto is here called + ‘Dis.’ This name was given to him as the God of the Earth, from + the bowels of which riches are dug up.] + + [Footnote 48: _Her companions._--Ver. 397. Pausanias, in his + Messeniaca, has preserved the names of the companions of Ceres, + having copied them from the works of Homer.] + + [Footnote 49: _Her mother._--Ver. 397. Homer, in his poem on the + subject, represents that Ceres heard the cries of her daughter, + when calling upon her mother for assistance. Ovid recounts this + tale much more at length in the fourth Book of the Fasti.] + + [Footnote 50: _The Palici._--Ver. 406. The Palici were two + brothers, sons of Jupiter and the Nymph Thalea, and, according to + some, received their name from the Greek words πάλιν ἱκέσθαι, ‘to + come again [to life].’ Their mother, when pregnant, prayed the + earth to open, and to hide her from the vengeful wrath of Juno. + This was done; and when they had arrived at maturity, the Palici + burst from the ground in the island of Sicily. They were Deities + much venerated there, but their worship did not extend to any + other countries. We learn from Macrobius that the natives of + Sicily pointed out two small lakes, from which the brothers were + said to have emerged, and that the veneration attached to them was + such, that by their means they decided disputes, as they imagined + that perjurers would meet their death in these waters, while the + guiltless would be able to come forth from them unharmed. They + were fetid, sulphureous pools of water, probably affected by the + volcanic action of Mount Ætna.] + + [Footnote 51: _The Bacchiadæ._--Ver. 407. Archias, one of the race + of the Bacchiadæ, a powerful Corinthian family, being expelled + from Corinth, was said to have founded Syracuse, the capital of + Sicily. The family sprang either from Bacchius, a son of + Dionysus, or Bacchus, or from the fifth king of Corinth, who was + named Bacchis. The family was expelled from Corinth by Cypselus, + either on account of their luxury and extravagant mode of life, or + because they were supposed to aim at the sovereignty.] + + [Footnote 52: _With its two seas._--Ver. 407. Corinth is called + ‘Bimaris’ by the Latin poets, from its having the Ægean sea on one + side of it, and the Ionian sea on the other.] + + [Footnote 53: _Built a city._--Ver. 408. Syracuse had two harbors, + one of which was much larger than the other.] + + [Footnote 54: _Cyane._--Ver. 412. According to Claudian, Cyane was + one of the companions of Proserpine, when she was carried off by + Pluto.] + + [Footnote 55: _Anapis._--Ver. 417. This was a river of Sicily, + which, mingling with the waters of the fountain Cyane, falls into + the sea at Syracuse, opposite to the island of Ortygia. This + island, in which the fountain of Arethusa was situate, was + separated from the isle of Sicily by a narrow strait of the sea, + and communicating with the city of Syracuse by a bridge, was + considered as part of it.] + + [Footnote 56: _An old woman._--Ver. 449. Arnobius calls this old + woman here mentioned by the name of Baubo. Nicander, in his + Theriaca, calls her Metaneira. Antoninus Liberalis calls her + Misma, and Ovid, in the fourth Book of the Fasti, Melanina.] + + [Footnote 57: _Lately distilled._--Ver. 450. Orpheus, in his Hymn, + calls the drink given by the old woman to Ceres κυκεὼν. According + to Arnobius, it was a mixed liquor, called by the Romans ‘cinnus;’ + made of parched pearled barley, honey, and wine, with flowers and + various herbs floating in it. Antoninus Liberalis says, that Ceres + drank it off, ἀθρόως, ‘at one draught.’] + + [Footnote 58: _A boy._--Ver. 451. According to Nicander, the boy + was the son of the old woman. If so, the Goddess made her but a + poor return for her hospitality.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + The story of the rape of Proserpine has caused much inquiry among + writers, both ancient and modern, as to the facts on which it was + founded. Some have grounded it on principles of natural philosophy; + while others have supposed it to contain some portion of ancient + history, defaced and blemished in lapse of time. + + The antiquarian Pezeron is of opinion, that in the partition of the + world among the Titan kings, Pluto had the west for his share; and + that he carried a colony to the further end of Spain, where he caused + the gold and silver mines of that region to be worked. The situation + of his kingdom, which lay very low, comparatively with Greece, and + which the ancients believed to be covered with eternal darkness, gave + rise to the fable, that Pluto had got Hell for his share; and this + notion was much encouraged by the subterranean nature of the mines + which he caused to be worked. He thinks that the river Tartarus, so + famed in the realms of Pluto, was no other than the Tartessa, or + Guadalquivir of the present day, which runs through the centre of + Spain. Lethe, too, he thinks to have been the Guadalaviar, in the same + country. Pluto, he suggests, had heard of the beauty of Proserpine, + the daughter of Ceres, queen of Sicily, and carried her thence, which + gave rise to the tradition that she had been carried to the Infernal + Regions. + + Le Clerc, on the other hand, thinks that it was not Pluto that carried + away Proserpine, but Aidoneus, king of Epirus, or Orcus king of the + Molossians. Aidoneus is supposed to have wrought mines in his kingdom, + and, as the entrance into it was over a river called Acheron, that + prince has often been confounded with Pluto; Epirus too, which was + situate very low, may have been figuratively described as the Infernal + Regions; for which reason, the journeys of Theseus and Hercules into + Epirus may have been spoken of as descents into the Stygian abodes. + Le Clerc supposes that Ceres was reigning in Sicily at the time when + Aidoneus was king of Epirus, and that she took great care to instruct + her subjects in the art of tilling the ground and sowing corn, and + established laws for regulating civil government and the preservation + of private property; for which reasons she was afterward deemed to be + the Goddess of the Earth, and of Corn. Cicero and Diodorus Siculus + tell us that Ceres made her residence at Enna, or Henna, in Sicily, + which name, according to Bochart, signifies ‘agreeable fountain.’ + Cicero and Strabo agree with Ovid in telling us that Proserpine, the + only daughter of Ceres, whom other writers name Pherephata, was + walking in the adjacent meadows, and gathering flowers with her + companions; upon which, certain pirates seized her, and, placing her + in a chariot, carried her to the seaside, whence they embarked for + Epirus. As Pausanias tells us, it was immediately spread abroad, that + Aidoneus, or Pluto, as he was called, had done it, the act having been + really committed by others, according to his orders. As those who + carried her off concealed themselves in the caverns of Mount Ætna, + awaiting their opportunity to escape, it was afterwards fabled that + Pluto came out of the Infernal Regions at that place; as that + mountain, from its nature, was always deemed one of the outlets of + Hell. Upon this, Ceres went to Greece, in search of her daughter; and, + resting at Eleusis, in Attica, she heard that the ship in which her + daughter was carried away had sailed westward. On this, she complained + to Jupiter, one of the Titan kings, but could obtain no further + satisfaction than that her daughter should be permitted to visit her + occasionally, whereby, at length, her grief was mitigated. + + Banier does not agree with these suggestions of Pezeron and Le Clerc, + and thinks that Ceres is no other personage than the Isis of the + Egyptians, supposing that the story is founded on the following + circumstance:--Greece, he says, was afflicted with famine in the + reign of Erectheus, who was obliged to send to Egypt for corn, when + those who went for it brought back the worship of the Deity who + presided over agriculture. The evils which the Athenians had suffered + by the famine, and the dread of again incurring the same calamity, + made them willingly embrace the rites of a Goddess whom they believed + able to protect them from it. Triptolemus established her worship in + Eleusis, and there instituted the mysteries which he had brought over + from Egypt. These had been previously introduced into Sicily, which + was the reason why it was said that Ceres came from Sicily to Athens. + Her daughter was said to have been taken away, because corn and fruit + had not been produced in sufficient quantities, for some time, to + furnish food for the people. Pluto was said to have carried her to the + Infernal regions, because the grain and seeds at that time remained + buried, as it were, at the very center of the earth. Jupiter was said + to have decided the difference between Ceres and Pluto, because the + earth again became covered with crops. + + This appears to be an ingenious allegorical explanation of the story; + but it is not at all improbable that it may have been founded upon + actual facts, and that, having lost her daughter, and going to Attica + to seek her, Ceres taught Triptolemus the mysteries of Isis; and that, + in process of time, Ceres, having become enrolled among the Divinities + of Greece, her worship became confounded with that of Isis. + + It is very possible that the story of the transformation of Stellio + into a newt may have had no other foundation than the Poet’s fancy. + + +FABLE V. +[V. 462-563] + + Ceres proceeds in a fruitless search for her daughter over the whole + earth, until the Nymph Arethusa acquaints her with the place of her + ravisher’s abode. The Goddess makes her complaint to Jupiter, and + obtains his consent for her daughter’s return to the upper world, + provided she has not eaten anything since her arrival in Pluto’s + dominions. Ascalaphus, however, having informed that she has eaten + some seeds of a pomegranate, Ceres is disappointed, and Proserpine, in + her wrath, metamorphoses the informer into an owl. The Sirens have + wings given them by the Gods, to enable them to be more expeditious in + seeking for Proserpine. Jupiter, to console Ceres for her loss, + decides that her daughter shall remain six months each year with her + mother upon earth, and the other six with her husband, in the Infernal + Regions. + +“It were a tedious task[59] to relate through what lands and what seas +the Goddess wandered; for her search the world was too limited. She +returns to Sicily; and while, in her passage, she views all {places}, +she comes, too, to Cyane; she, had she not been transformed, would have +told her everything. But both mouth and tongue were wanting to her, +{thus} desirous to tell, and she had no means whereby to speak. Still, +she gave unmistakable tokens, and pointed out, on the top of the water, +the girdle[60] of Proserpine, well known to her parent, which by chance +had fallen off in that place into the sacred stream. + +“Soon as she recognized this, as if then, at last, she fully understood +that her daughter had been carried away[61] the Goddess tore her +unadorned hair, and struck her breast again and again with her hands. +Not as yet does she know where she is, yet she exclaims against all +countries, and calls them ungrateful, and not worthy of the gifts of +corn; {and} Trinacria before {all} others, in which she has found the +proofs of her loss. Wherefore, with vengeful hand, she there broke the +ploughs that were turning up the clods, and, in her anger, consigned to +a similar death both the husbandmen and the oxen that cultivated the +fields, and ordered the land to deny a return of what had been deposited +{therein}, and rendered the seed corrupted. The fertility of the soil, +famed over the wide world, lies in ruin, the corn dies in the early +blade, and sometimes excessive heat of the sun, sometimes excessive +showers, spoil it. Both the Constellations and the winds injure it, and +the greedy birds pick up the seed as it is sown; darnel, and thistles, +and unconquerable weeds, choke the crops of wheat. + +“Then the Alpheian Nymph[62] raised her head from out of the Elean +waters, and drew back her dripping hair from her forehead to her ears, +and said, “O thou mother of the virgin sought over the whole world, and +of the crops {as well}, cease {at length} thy boundless toil, and in thy +wrath be not angered with a region that is faithful to thee. This land +does not deserve it; and against its will it gave a path for {the +commission of} the outrage. Nor am I {now} a suppliant for {my own} +country; a stranger I am come hither. Pisa is my native place, and from +Elis do I derive my birth. As a stranger do I inhabit Sicily, but this +land is more pleasing to me than any other soil. I, Arethusa, now have +this for my abode, this for my habitation; which, do thou, most kindly +{Goddess}, preserve. Why I have been removed from my {native} place, and +have been carried to Ortygia, through the waters of seas so spacious, +a seasonable time will come for my telling thee, when thou shalt be +eased of thy cares, and {wilt be} of more cheerful aspect. The pervious +earth affords me a passage, and, carried beneath its lowest caverns, +here I lift my head {again}, and behold the stars which I have not been +used {to see}. While, then, I was running under the earth, along the +Stygian stream, thy Proserpine was there beheld by my eyes.[63] {She} +indeed {was} sad, and not as yet without alarm in her countenance, but +still {she is} a queen, and the most ennobled {female} in the world of +darkness; still, too, is she the powerful spouse of the Infernal King.” + +“The mother, on hearing these words, stood amazed, as though she {had +been made} of stone, and for a long time was like one stupefied; and +when her intense bewilderment was dispelled by the weight of her grief, +she departed in her chariot into the ætherial air, and there, with her +countenance all clouded, she stood before Jupiter, much to his +discredit, with her hair dishevelled; and she said, “I have come, +Jupiter, as a suppliant to thee, both for my own offspring and for +thine. If thou hast no respect for the mother, {still} let the daughter +move her father; and I pray thee not to have the less regard for her, +because she was brought forth by my travail. Lo! my daughter, so long +sought for, has been found by me at last; if you call it finding[64] to +be more certain of one’s loss; or if you call it finding, to know where +she is. I will endure {the fact}, that she has been carried off, if he +will only restore her. For, indeed, a daughter of thine is not deserving +of a ravisher for a husband, if now my own daughter is.” Jupiter +replied, “Thy daughter is a pledge and charge, in common to me and thee; +but, should it please thee only to give right names to things, this deed +is not an injury, but it is {a mark of} affection, nor will he, as a +son-in-law, be any disgrace to us, if thou only, Goddess, shouldst give +thy consent. Although other {recommendations} were wanting, how great a +thing is it to be the brother of Jupiter! and besides, is it not because +other points are not wanting, and because he is not my inferior, except +by the accident {of his allotment of the Stygian abodes}? But if thy +eagerness is so great for their separation, let Proserpine return to +heaven; still upon this fixed condition, if she has touched no food +there with her lips; for thus has it been provided by the law of the +Destinies.” + +“{Thus} he spoke; still Ceres is {now} resolved to fetch away her +daughter; but not so do the Fates permit. For the damsel had broke her +fast; and, while in her innocence she was walking about the +finely-cultivated garden, she had plucked a pomegranate[65] from the +bending tree, and had chewed in her mouth seven grains[66] taken from +the pale rind. Ascalaphus[67] alone, of all persons, had seen this, whom +Orphne, by no means the most obscure among the Nymphs of Avernus,[68] is +said once to have borne to her own Acheron within {his} dusky caves. He +beheld {this}, and cruelly prevented her return by his discovery. The +Queen of Erebus grieved, and changed the informer into an accursed bird, +and turned his head, sprinkled with the waters of Phlegethon,[69] into a +beak, and feathers, and great eyes. He, {thus} robbed of his own +{shape}, is clothed with tawny wings, his head becomes larger, his long +nails bend inwards, and with difficulty can he move the wings that +spring through his sluggish arms. He becomes an obscene bird, the +foreboder of approaching woe, a lazy owl, a direful omen to mortals. + +“But he, by his discovery, and his talkativeness, may seem to have +merited punishment. Whence have you, daughters of Acheloüs,[70] feathers +and the feet of birds, since you have the faces of maidens? Is it +because, when Proserpine was gathering the flowers of spring, you were +mingled in the number of her companions? After you had sought her in +vain throughout the whole world, immediately, that the waters might be +sensible of your concern, you wished to be able, on the support of your +wings, to hover over the waves, and you found the Gods propitious, and +saw your limbs grow yellow with feathers suddenly formed. But lest the +sweetness of your voice, formed for charming the ear, and so great +endowments of speech, should lose the gift of a tongue, your virgin +countenance and your human voice {still} remained.” + + [Footnote 59: _A tedious task._--Ver. 463. ‘Dicere longa mora + est,’ is rendered by Clarke, ‘It is a tedious business to tell.’] + + [Footnote 60: _The girdle._--Ver. 470. The zone, or girdle, + a fastening round the loins, was much worn by both sexes among + the ancients. It was sometimes made of netted work, and the chief + use of it was for holding up the tunic, and keeping it from + dragging on the ground. Among the Romans, the Magister Equitum, or + ‘Master of the Horse,’ wore a girdle of red leather, embroidered + by the needle, and having its extremities joined by a gold buckle. + It also formed part of the cuirass of the warrior. The girdle was + used sometimes by men to hold money instead of a purse; and the + ‘pera,’ ‘wallet,’ or ‘purse,’ was generally fastened to the + girdle. As this article of dress was used to hold up the garments + for the sake of expedition, it was loosened when people were + supposed to be abstracted from the cares of the world, as in + performing sacrifice or attending at funeral rites. A girdle was + also worn by the young women, even when the tunic was not girt up; + and it was only discontinued by them on the day of marriage. To + that circumstance, allusion is made in the present instance, as a + proof of the violence that had been committed on Proserpine.] + + [Footnote 61: _Had been carried away._--Ver. 471. Clarke + translates ‘tunc denique raptam Scisset,’ ‘knew that she had been + kidnapped.’] + + [Footnote 62: _Alpheian Nymph._--Ver. 487. Alpheus was a river of + Elis, in the northwestern part of Peloponnesus. Its present name + is ‘Carbon.’] + + [Footnote 63: _Beheld by my eyes._--Ver. 505. Ovid here makes + Arethusa the discoverer to Ceres of the fate of her daughter. In + the Fourth Book of the Fasti, he represents the Sun as giving her + that information, in which he follows the account given by Homer. + Apollodorus describes the descent of Pluto as taking place at + Hermione, a town of Argolis, in Peloponnesus, and the people of + that place as informing Ceres of what had happened to her + daughter.] + + [Footnote 64: _If you call it finding._--Ver. 520. This remark of + the Goddess is very like that of the Irish sailor, who vowed that + a thing could not be said to be lost when one knows where it is; + and that his master’s kettle was quite safe, for he knew it to be + at the bottom of the sea.] + + [Footnote 65: _Plucked a pomegranate._--Ver. 535. It was for this + reason that the Thesmophoriazusæ, in the performance of the rites + of Ceres, were especially careful not to taste the pomegranate. + This fruit was most probably called ‘malum,’ or ‘pomum punicum,’ + or ‘puniceum,’ from the deep red or purple color of the inside, + and not as having been first introduced from Phœnicia.] + + [Footnote 66: _Seven grains._--Ver. 537. He says here ‘seven,’ but + in the Fourth Book of the Fasti, only ‘three’ grains.] + + [Footnote 67: _Ascalaphus._--Ver. 539. He was the son of Acheron, + by the Nymph Orphne, or Gorgyra, according to Apollodorus. The + latter author says, that for his unseasonable discovery, Ceres + placed a rock upon him; but that, having been liberated by + Hercules, she changed him into an owl, called ὦτον. The Greek name + of a lizard being ἀσκάλαβος, Mellman thinks that the + transformation of the boy into a newt, or kind of lizard, which + has just been related by the Poet, may have possibly originated in + a confused version of the story of Ascalaphus.] + + [Footnote 68: _Avernus._--Ver. 540. Avernus was a lake of + Campania, near Baiæ, of a fetid smell and gloomy aspect. Being + feigned to be the mouth, or threshold, of the Infernal Regions, + its name became generally used to signify Tartarus, or the + Infernal Regions. The name is said to have been derived from the + Greek word ἄορνος, ‘without birds,’ or ‘unfrequented by birds,’ as + they could not endure the exhalations that were emitted by it.] + + [Footnote 69: _Phlegethon._--Ver. 544. This was a burning river of + the Infernal Regions; which received its name from the Greek word + φλέγω, ‘to burn.’] + + [Footnote 70: _Acheloüs._--Ver. 552. The Sirens were said to be + the daughters of the river Acheloüs and of one of the Muses, + either Calliope, Melpomene, or Terpsichore.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + Apollodorus says, that the terms of the treaty respecting Proserpine + were, that she should stay on earth nine months with Ceres, and three + with Pluto, in the Infernal Regions. Other writers divide the time + equally; six months to Ceres, and six to Pluto. They also tell us that + the story of Ascalaphus is founded on the fact, that he was one of the + courtiers of Pluto, who, having advised his master to carry away + Proserpine, did all that lay in his power to obstruct the endeavors of + Ceres, and hinder the restoration of her daughter, on which Proserpine + had him privately destroyed; to screen which deed the Fable was + invented; the pernicious counsels which he gave his master being + signified by the seeds of the pomegranate. It has also been suggested + that the story of his change into an owl was based on the circumstance + that he was the overseer of the mines of Pluto, in which he perished, + removed from the light of day. Perhaps he was there crushed to death + by the fall of a rock, which caused the poets to say that Proserpine + had covered him with a large stone, as Apollodorus informs us, who + also says that it was Ceres who inflicted the punishment upon him. The + name ‘Ascalaphus’ signifies, ‘one that breaks stones,’ and, very + probably, that name was only given him to denote his employment. Some + writers state that he was changed into a lizard, which the Greeks call + ‘Ascalabos,’ and, probably, the resemblance between the names gave + rise to this version of the story. + + Probably, the story of the Nymph Cyane reproaching Pluto with his + treatment of Proserpine, and being thereupon changed by him into a + fountain, has no other foundation than the propinquity of the place + where Pluto’s emissaries embarked to a stream of that name near the + city of Syracuse; which was, perhaps, overflowing at that time, and + may have impeded their passage. + + Ovid, probably, feigned that the Sirens begged the Gods to change them + into birds, that they might seek for Proserpine, on the ground of some + existing tradition, that living on the coast of Italy, near the island + of Sicily, and having heard of the misfortune that had befallen her, + they ordered a ship with sails to be equipped to go in search of her. + Further reference to the Sirens will be made, on treating of the + adventures of Ulysses. + + +FABLE VI. [V.564-641] + + The Muse continues her song, in which Ceres, being satisfied with the + decision of Jupiter relative to her daughter, returns to Arethusa, to + learn the history of her adventures. The Nymph entertains the Goddess + with the Story of the passion of Alpheus, and his pursuit of her; to + avoid which, she implores the assistance of Diana, who changes her + into a fountain. + +“But Jupiter being the mediator between his brother and his disconsolate +sister, divides the rolling year equally {between them}. For {now}, the +Goddess, a common Divinity of two kingdoms, is so many months with her +mother, and just as many with her husband. Immediately the appearance of +both her mind and her countenance is changed; for the brow of the +Goddess, which, of late, might appear sad, even to Pluto, himself, is +full of gladness; as the Sun, which has lately been covered with watery +clouds, when he comes forth from the clouds, {now} dispersed. The genial +Ceres, {now} at ease on the recovery of her daughter, {thus} asks, ‘What +was the cause of thy wanderings? Why art thou, Arethusa, a sacred +spring?’ The waters are silent, {and}, the Goddess raises her head from +the deep fountain; and, having dried her green tresses with her hand, +she relates the old amours of the stream of Elis.[71] + +“‘I was,’ says she, ‘one of the Nymphs which exist in Achaia, nor did +any one more eagerly skim along the glades than myself, nor with more +industry set the nets. But though the reputation for beauty was never +sought by me, although, {too}, I was of robust make, {still} I had the +name of being beautiful. But my appearance, when so much commended, did +not please me; and I, like a country lass, blushed at those endowments +of person in which other females are wont to take a pride, and I deemed +it a crime to please. I remember, I was returning weary from the +Stymphalian[72] wood; the weather was hot, and my toil had redoubled the +intense heat. I found a stream gliding on without any eddies, without +any noise, {and} clear to the bottom; through which every pebble, at so +great a depth, might be counted, {and} which you could hardly suppose to +be in motion. The hoary willows[73] and poplars, nourished by the water, +furnished a shade, spontaneously produced, along the shelving banks. +I approached, and, at first, I dipped the soles of my feet, and then, as +far as the knee. Not content with that, I undressed, and I laid my soft +garments upon a bending willow; and, naked, I plunged into the waters. + +“‘While I was striking them, and drawing them {towards me}, moving in a +thousand ways, and was sending forth my extended arms, I perceived a +most unusual murmuring noise beneath the middle of the stream; and, +alarmed, I stood on the edge of the nearer bank. ‘Whither dost thou +hasten, Arethusa?’ said Alpheus from his waves. ‘Whither dost thou +hasten?’ again he said to me, in a hollow tone. Just as I was, I fled +without my clothes; {for} the other side had my garments. So much the +more swiftly did he pursue, and become inflamed; and, because I was +naked, the more tempting to him did I appear. Thus was I running; thus +unrelentingly was he pursuing me; as the doves are wont to fly from the +hawk with trembling wings, and as the hawk is wont to pursue the +trembling doves, I held out in my course even as far as Orchomenus,[74] +and Psophis,[75] and Cyllene, and the Mænalian valleys, and cold +Erymanthus and Elis. Nor was he swifter than I, but unequal to {him} in +strength, I was unable, any longer, to keep up the chase; for he was +able to endure prolonged fatigue. However, I ran over fields {and} over +mountains covered with trees, rocks too, and crags, and where there was +no path. The sun was upon my back; I saw a long shadow advancing before +my feet, unless, perhaps, it was my fear that saw it. But, at all +events, I was alarmed at the sound of his feet, and his increased +hardness of breathing was {now} fanning the fillets of my hair. Wearied +with the exertion of my flight, I said, ‘Give aid, Dictynna, to thy +armor-bearer, {or} I am overtaken; {I}, to whom thou hast so often given +thy bow to carry, and thy darts enclosed in a quiver.’ The Goddess was +moved, and, taking one of the dense clouds, she threw it over me. The +river looked about for me, concealed in the darkness, and, in his +ignorance sought about the encircling cloud and twice, unconsciously did +he go around the place where the Goddess had concealed me, and twice did +he cry, ‘Ho, Arethusa![76] Ho, Arethusa!’ What, then, were my feelings +in my wretchedness? Were they not just those of the lamb, as it hears +the wolves howling around the high sheep-folds? Or of the hare, which, +lurking in the bush, beholds the hostile noses of the dogs, and dares +not make a single movement with her body? Yet he does not depart; for no +{further} does he trace any prints of my feet. He watches the cloud and +the spot. A cold perspiration takes possession of my limbs {thus} +besieged, and azure colored drops distil from all my body. Wherever I +move my foot, {there} flows a lake; drops trickle from my hair, and, in +less time than I take in acquainting thee with my fate, I was changed +into a stream. But still the river recognized the waters, the objects of +his love; and, having laid aside the shape of a mortal, which he had +assumed, he was changed into his own waters, that he might mingle with +me. {Thereupon}, the Delian Goddess cleaved the ground. Sinking, I was +carried through dark caverns to Ortygia,[77] which, being dear to me, +from the surname of my own Goddess, was the first to introduce me to the +upper air.’” + + [Footnote 71: _Stream of Elis._--Ver. 576. The Alpheus really rose + in Arcadia; but, as it ran through the territory of the Eleans, + and discharged itself into the sea, near Cyllene, the seaport of + that people, they worshipped it with divine honors.] + + [Footnote 72: _Stymphalian._--Ver. 585. Stymphalus was the name of + a city, mountain, and river of Arcadia, near the territory of + Elis.] + + [Footnote 73: _Hoary willows._--Ver. 590. The leaf of the willow + has a whitish hue, especially on one side of it.] + + [Footnote 74: _Orchomenus._--Ver. 607. This was a city of Arcadia, + in a marshy district, near to Mantinea. There was another place of + the same name, in Bœotia, between Elatea and Coronea, famous for a + splendid temple to the Graces, there erected.] + + [Footnote 75: _Psophis._--Ver. 607. This was a city of Arcadia + also, adjoining to the Elean territory, which received its name + from Psophis, the daughter of Lycaon, or of Eryx, according to + some writers. There were several other towns of the same name. + The other places here mentioned, with the exception of Elis, were + mountains of Arcadia.] + + [Footnote 76: _Ho, Arethusa!_--Ver. 625-6. Clarke thus translates + these lines:--‘And twice called out Soho, Arethusa! Soho, + Arethusa! What thought had I then, poor soul!’] + + [Footnote 77: _To Ortygia._--Ver. 640. From the similarity of its + name to that of the Goddess Diana, who was called Ortygia, from + the Isle of Delos, where she was born.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + Bochart tells us that the story of the fountain Arethusa and the river + Alpheus, her lover, who traversed so many countries in pursuit of her, + has no other foundation than an equivocal expression in the language + of the first inhabitants of Sicily. The Phœnicians, who went to settle + in that island, finding the fountain surrounded with willows, gave it + the name of ‘Alphaga,’ or ‘the fountain of the willows.’ Others, + again, gave it the name of ‘Arith,’ signifying ‘a stream.’ The Greeks, + arriving there in after ages, not understanding the signification of + these words, and remembering their own river Alpheus, in Elis, + imagined that since the river and the fountain had nearly the same + name, Alpheus had crossed the sea, to arrive in Sicily. + + This notion appearing, probably, to the poets not devoid of ingenuity, + they accordingly founded on it the romantic story of the passion of + the river God Alpheus for the Nymph Arethusa. Some of the ancient + historians appear, however, in their credulity, really to have + believed, at least, a part of the story, as they seriously tell us, + that the river Alpheus passes under the bed of the sea, and rises + again in Sicily, near the fountain of Arethusa. Even among the more + learned, this fable gained credit; for we find the oracle of Delphi + ordering Archias to conduct a colony of Corinthians to Syracuse, and + the priestess giving the following directions:--‘Go into that island + where the river Alpheus mixes his waters with the fair Arethusa.’ + + Pausanias avows, that he regards the story of Alpheus and Arethusa as + a mere fable; but, not daring to dispute a fact established by the + response of an oracle, he does not contradict the fact of the river + running through the sea, though he is at a loss to understand how it + can happen. + + +FABLE VII. [V.642-678] + + Ceres entrusts her chariot to Triptolemus, and orders him to go + everywhere, and cultivate the earth. He obeys her, and, at length, + arrives in Scythia, where Lyncus, designing to kill him, is changed + into a lynx. The Muse then finishes her song, on which the daughters + of Pierus are changed into magpies. + +“Thus far Arethusa. The fertile Goddess yoked[78] two dragons to her +chariot, and curbed their mouths with bridles; and was borne through the +mid air of heaven and of earth, and guided her light chariot to the +Tritonian citadel, to Triptolemus; and she ordered him to scatter the +seeds that were entrusted {to him} partly in the fallow ground, {and} +partly {in the ground} restored to cultivation after so long a time. Now +had the youth been borne on high over Europe and the lands of Asia,[79] +and he arrived at the coast of Scythia: Lyncus was the king there. He +entered the house of the king. Being asked whence he came, and the +occasion of his coming, and his name, and his country, he said, ‘My +country is the famous Athens, my name is Triptolemus. I came neither in +a ship through the waves, nor on foot by land; the pervious sky made a +way for me. I bring the gifts of Ceres, which, scattered over the wide +fields, are to yield {you} the fruitful harvests, and wholesome food.’ +The barbarian envies him; and that he himself may be {deemed} the author +of so great a benefit, he receives him with hospitality, and, when +overpowered with sleep, he attacks him with the sword. {But}, while +attempting to pierce his breast, Ceres made him a lynx; and again sent +the Mopsopian[80] youth to drive the sacred drawers of her chariot +through the air. + +“The greatest of us[81] had {now} finished her learned song. But the +Nymphs, with unanimous voice, pronounced that the Goddesses who inhabit +Helicon had proved the conquerors. Then the others, {thus} vanquished, +began to scatter their abuse: ‘Since,’ said she, ‘it is a trifling +matter for you to have merited punishment by this contest, you add +abuse, too, to your fault, and endurance is not permitted us: we shall +proceed to punishment, and whither our resentment calls, we shall +follow.’ The Emathian sisters smiled, and despised our threatening +language; and endeavoring to speak, and to menace with their insolent +hands amid great clamor, they beheld quills growing out of their nails, +and their arms covered with feathers. And they each see the face of the +other shooting out into a hard beak, and new birds being added to the +woods. And while they strive to beat their breasts elevated by the +motion of their arms, they hang poised in the air, {as} magpies, the +scandal of the groves. Even then their original talkativeness remains in +{them} as birds, and their jarring garrulity, and their enormous love of +chattering.” + + [Footnote 78: _Goddess yoked._--Ver. 642. Clarke renders ‘geminos + Dea fertilis angues curribus admovit,’ ‘the fertile Goddess + clapped two snakes to her chariot.’] + + [Footnote 79: _Lands of Asia._--Ver. 648. Asia Minor is here + meant; the other parts of Asia being included under the term + ‘Scythicas oras.’] + + [Footnote 80: _Mopsopian._--Ver. 661. This very uneuphonious name + is derived from Mopsopus, one of the ancient kings of Attica. It + here means ‘Athenian.’] + + [Footnote 81: _The greatest of us._--Ver. 662. Namely, Calliope, + who had commenced her song as the representative of the Muses, at + line 341.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + Triptolemus reigned at Eleusis at the time when the mysteries of Ceres + were established there. As we are told by Philochorus, he went with a + ship, to carry corn into different countries, and introduced there the + worship of Ceres, whose priest he was. This is, doubtless, the key for + the explanation of the story, that Ceres nursed him on her own milk, + and purified him by fire. Some have supposed that the fable refers to + the epoch when agriculture was introduced into Greece: but it is much + more probable that it relates simply to the introduction there of the + mysterious worship of Ceres, which was probably imported from Egypt. + It is possible that, at the same period, the Greeks may have learned + some improved method of tilling the ground, acquired by their + intercourse with Egypt. + + Probably, the dangers which Triptolemus experienced in his voyages and + travels, gave rise to the story of Lyncus, whose cruelty caused him to + be changed into a lynx. Bochart and Le Clerc think that the fable of + Triptolemus being drawn by winged dragons, is based upon the equivocal + meaning of a Phœnician word, which signified either ‘a winged dragon,’ + or ‘a ship fastened with iron nails or bolts.’ Philochorus, however, + as cited by Eusebius, says that his ship was called a flying dragon, + from its carrying the figure of a dragon on its prow. We learn from a + fragment of Stobæus, that Erectheus, when engaged in a war against the + Eleusinians, was told by the oracle that he would be victorious, if he + sacrificed his daughter Proserpine. This, perhaps, may have given + rise, or added somewhat, to the story of the rape of Proserpine by + Pluto. + + According to a fragment of Homer, cited by Pausanias, the names of the + first Greeks, who were initiated into the mysteries of Ceres, + were,--Celeus, Triptolemus, Eumolpus, and Diocles. Clement of + Alexandria calls them Baubon, Dysaulus, Eubuleüs, Eumolpus, and + Triptolemus. Eumolpus being the Hierophant, or explainer of the + mysteries of Eleusis, made war against Erectheus, king of Athens. They + were both killed in battle, and it was thereupon agreed that the + posterity of Erectheus should be kings of Athens, and the descendants + of Eumolpus should, in future, retain the office of Hierophant. + + + + +BOOK THE SIXTH. + + +FABLE I. [VI.1-145] + + Arachne, vain-glorious of her ingenuity, challenges Minerva to a + contest of skill in her art. The Goddess accepts the challenge, and, + being enraged to see herself outdone, strikes her rival with her + shuttle; upon which, Arachne, in her distress, hangs herself. Minerva, + touched with compassion, transforms her into a spider. + +Tritonia had {meanwhile} lent an ear to such recitals as these, and she +approved of the songs of the Aonian maids, and their just resentment. +Then {thus she says} to herself: “To commend is but a trifling matter; +let us, too, deserve commendation, and let us not permit our divine +majesty to be slighted without {due} punishment.” And {then} she turns +her mind to the fate of the Mæonian Arachne; who, as she had heard, did +not yield to her in the praises of the art of working in wool. She was +renowned not for the place {of her birth}, nor for the origin of her +family, but for her skill {alone}. Idmon, of Colophon,[1] her father, +used to dye the soaking wool in Phocæan[2] purple.[3] Her mother was +dead; but she, too, was of the lower rank, and of the same condition +with her husband. Yet {Arachne}, by her skill, had acquired a memorable +name throughout the cities of Lydia; although, born of a humble family, +she used to live in the little {town} of Hypæpæ.[4] Often did the Nymphs +desert the vineyards of their own Tymolus, that they might look at her +admirable workmanship; {often} did the Nymphs of the {river} Pactolus[5] +forsake their streams. And not only did it give them pleasure to look at +the garments when made, but even, too, while they were being made, so +much grace was there in her working. Whether it was that she was rolling +the rough wool into its first balls, or whether she was unravelling the +work with her fingers, and was softening the fleeces worked over again +with long drawings out, equalling the mists {in their fineness}; or +whether she was moving the {smooth} round spindle with her nimble thumb, +or was embroidering with the needle, you might perceive that she had +been instructed by Pallas. + +This, however, she used to deny; and, being displeased with a mistress +so famed, she said, “Let her contend with me. There is nothing which, if +conquered, I should refuse {to endure}.” Pallas personates an old woman; +she both places false gray hair on her temples, and supports as well her +infirm limbs by a staff. Then thus she begins to speak: “Old age has not +everything which we should avoid; experience comes from lengthened +years. Do not despise my advice; let the greatest fame for working wool +be sought by thee among mortals. {But} yield to the Goddess, and, rash +woman, ask pardon for thy speeches with suppliant voice. She will grant +pardon at my entreaty.” {The other} beholds her with scowling {eyes}, +and leaves the threads she has begun; and scarcely restraining her hand, +and discovering her anger by her looks, with such words as these does +she reply to the disguised Pallas: “Thou comest {here} bereft of thy +understanding, and worn out with prolonged old age; and it is thy +misfortune to have lived too long. If thou hast any daughter-in-law, if +thou hast any daughter {of thy own}, let her listen to these remarks. +I have sufficient knowledge for myself in myself, and do not imagine +that thou hast availed anything by thy advice; my opinion is {still} the +same. Why does not she come herself? why does she decline this contest?” + +Then the Goddess says, “Lo! she is come;” and she casts aside the figure +of an old woman, and shows herself {as} Pallas. The Nymphs and the +Mygdonian[6] matrons venerate the Goddess. The virgin alone is not +daunted. But still she blushes, and a sudden flush marks her reluctant +features, and again it vanishes; {just} as the sky is wont to become +tinted with purple, when Aurora is first stirring, and after a short +time to grow white from the influence of the Sun. She persists in her +determination, and, from a desire for a foolish victory, she rushes upon +her own destruction. Nor, indeed, does the daughter of Jupiter decline +{it}, or advise her any further, nor does she now put off the contest. +There is no delay; they both take their stand in different places, and +stretch out two webs {on the loom} with a fine warp. The web is tied +around the beam; the sley separates the warp; the woof is inserted in +the middle with sharp shuttles, which the fingers hurry along, and being +drawn within the warp, the teeth notched in the moving sley strike it. +Both hasten on, and girding up their garments to their breasts, they +move their skilful arms, their eagerness beguiling their fatigue. There +both the purple is being woven, which is subjected to the Tyrian brazen +vessel,[7] and fine shades of minute difference; just as the rainbow, +with its mighty arch, is wont to tint a long tract of the sky by means +of the rays reflected by the shower: in which, though a thousand +different colors are shining, yet the very transition eludes the eyes +that look upon it; to such a degree is that which is adjacent the same; +and yet the extremes are different. There, too, the pliant gold is mixed +with the threads, and ancient subjects are represented on the webs. + +Pallas embroiders the rock of Mars[8] in {Athens}, the citadel of +Cecrops, and the old dispute about the name of the country. Twice six[9] +celestial Gods are sitting on lofty seats in august state, with Jupiter +in the midst. His own proper likeness distinguishes each of the Gods. +The form of Jupiter is that of a monarch. She makes the God of the sea +to be standing {there}, and to be striking the rugged rocks with his +long trident, and a wild {horse} to be springing forth[10] out of the +midst of the opening of the rock; by which pledge {of his favor} he lays +claim to the city. But to herself she gives the shield, she gives the +lance with its sharp point; she gives the helmet to her head, {and} her +breast is protected by the Ægis. She {there} represents, too, the earth +struck by her spear, producing a shoot of pale olive with its berries, +and the Gods admiring it. Victory is the end of her work. But that the +rival of her fame may learn from precedents what reward to expect for an +attempt so mad, she adds, in four {different} parts, four contests +bright in their coloring, and distinguished by diminutive figures. One +corner contains Thracian Rhodope and Hæmus, now cold mountains, formerly +human bodies, who assumed to themselves the names of the supreme Gods. +Another part contains the wretched fate of the Pygmæan matron.[11] Her, +overcome in a contest, Juno commanded to be a crane, and to wage war +against her own people. She depicts, too, Antigone,[12] who once dared +to contend with the wife of the great Jupiter; {and} whom the royal Juno +changed into a bird; nor did Ilion protect her, or her father Laomedon, +from assuming wings, and {as} a white crane, from commending herself +with her chattering beak. The only corner that remains, represents the +bereft Cinyras;[13] and he, embracing the steps of a temple, {once} the +limbs of his own daughters, and lying upon the stone, appears to be +weeping. She surrounds the exterior borders with peaceful olive. That is +the close; and with her own tree she puts an end to the work. + +The Mæonian Nymph delineates Europa, deceived by the form of the bull; +and you would think it a real bull, and real sea. She herself seems to +be looking upon the land which she has left, and to be crying out to her +companions, and to be in dread of the touch of the dashing waters, and +to be drawing up her timid feet. She drew also Asterie,[14] seized by +the struggling eagle; and made Leda, reclining beneath the wings of the +swan. She added, how Jupiter, concealed under the form of a Satyr, +impregnated {Antiope},[15] the beauteous daughter of Nycteus, with a +twin offspring; {how} he was Amphitryon, when he beguiled thee, +Tirynthian[16] dame; how, turned to gold, he deceived Danaë; {how}, +changed into fire, the daughter of Asopus;[17] {how}, as a shepherd, +Mnemosyne;[18] and as a speckled serpent, Deois.[19] She depicted thee +too, Neptune, changed into a fierce bull, with the virgin daughter[20] +of Æolus. Thou, seeming to be Enipeus,[21] didst beget the Aloïdæ; as a +ram, thou didst delude {Theophane}, the daughter of Bisaltis.[22] Thee +too the most bounteous mother of corn, with her yellow hair, +experienced[23] as a steed; thee, the mother[24] of the winged horse, +with her snaky locks, received as a bird; Melantho,[25] as a dolphin. To +all these did she give their own likeness, and the {real} appearance of +the {various} localities. There was Phœbus, under the form of a rustic; +and how, {besides}, he was wearing the wings of a hawk at one time, at +another the skin of a lion; how, too, as a shepherd, he deceived +Isse,[26] the daughter of Macareus. How Liber deceived Erigone,[27] in a +fictitious bunch of grapes; {and} how Saturn[28] begot the two-formed +Chiron, in {the form of} a horse. The extreme part of the web, being +enclosed in a fine border, had flowers interwoven with the twining ivy. + +Pallas could not blame that work, nor could Envy {censure} it. The +yellow-haired Virgin grieved at her success, and tore the web +embroidered with the criminal acts of the Gods of heaven. And as she was +holding her shuttle {made of boxwood} from Mount Cytorus, three or four +times did she strike the forehead of Arachne, the daughter of Idmon. The +unhappy creature could not endure it; and being of a high spirit, she +tied up her throat in a halter. Pallas, taking compassion, bore her up +as she hung; and thus she said: “Live on indeed, wicked one,[29] but +still hang; and let the same decree of punishment be pronounced against +thy race, and against thy latest posterity, that thou mayst not be free +from care in time to come.” After that, as she departed, she sprinkled +her with the juices of an Hecatean herb;[30] and immediately her hair, +touched by the noxious drug, fell off, and together with it her nose and +ears. The head of herself, {now} small as well throughout her whole +body, becomes very small. Her slender fingers cleave to her sides as +legs; her belly takes possession of the rest {of her}; but out of this +she gives forth a thread; and {as} a spider, she works at her web as +formerly. + + [Footnote 1: _Colophon._--Ver. 8. Colophon was an opulent city of + Lydia, famous for an oracle of Apollo there.] + + [Footnote 2: _Phocæan._--Ver. 9. Phocæa was a city of Æolia, in + Ionia, on the shores of the Mediterranean, famous for its purple + dye.] + + [Footnote 3: _Purple._--Ver. 9. ‘Murex’ was a shell-fish, now + called ‘the purple,’ the juices of which were much used by the + ancients for dyeing a deep purple color. The most valuable kinds + were found near Tyre and Phocæa, mentioned in the text.] + + [Footnote 4: _Hypæpæ._--Ver. 13. This was a little town of Lydia, + near the banks of the river Cayster. It was situate on the descent + of Mount Tymolus, or Tmolus, famed for its wines and saffron.] + + [Footnote 5: _Pactolus._--Ver. 16. This was a river of Lydia, + which was said to have sands of gold.] + + [Footnote 6: _Mygdonian._--Ver. 45. Mygdonia was a small territory + of Phrygia, bordering upon Lydia, and colonized by a people from + Thrace. Probably these persons had come from the neighboring + country, to see the exquisite works of Arachne. As the Poet tells + us, many were present when the Goddess discovered herself, and + professed their respect and veneration, while Arachne alone + remained unmoved.] + + [Footnote 7: _Brazen vessel._--Ver. 60. It seems that brazen + cauldrons were used for the purposes of dyeing, in preference to + those of iron.] + + [Footnote 8: _Rock of Mars._--Ver. 70. This was the spot called + Areiopagus, which was said to have received its name from the + trial there of Mars, when he was accused by Neptune of having + slain his son Halirrothius.] + + [Footnote 9: _Twice six._--Ver. 72. These were the ‘Dii + consentes,’ mentioned before, in the note to Book i., l. 172. They + are thus enumerated in an Elegiac couplet, more consistent with + the rules of prosody than the two lines there quoted:-- + + ‘Vulcanus, Mars, Sol, Neptunus, Jupiter, Hermes, + Vesta, Diana, Ceres, Juno, Minerva, Venus.’] + + [Footnote 10: _To be springing forth._--Ver. 76-7. Clarke renders + ‘facit--e vulnere saxi Exsiluisse ferum,’ ‘she makes a wild horse + bounce out of the opening in the rock.’] + + [Footnote 11: _Pygmæan matron._--Ver. 90. According to Ælian, the + name of this queen of the Pigmies was Gerane, while other writers + call her Pygas. She was worshipped by her subjects as a Goddess, + which raised her to such a degree of conceit, that she despised + the worship of the Deities, especially of Juno and Diana, on which + in their indignation, they changed her into a crane, the most + active enemy of the Pygmies. These people were dwarfs, living + either in India, Arabia, or Thrace, and they were said not to + exceed a cubit in height.] + + [Footnote 12: _Antigone._--Ver. 93. She was the daughter of + Laomedon, king of Troy, and was remarkable for the extreme beauty + of her hair. Proud of this, she used to boast that she resembled + Juno; on which the Goddess, offended at her presumption, changed + her hair into serpents. In compassion, the Deities afterwards + transformed her into a stork.] + + [Footnote 13: _Cinyras._--Ver. 98. Cinyras had several daughters + (besides Myrrha), remarkable for their extreme beauty. Growing + insolent upon the strength of their good looks, and pretending to + surpass even Juno herself in beauty, they incurred the resentment + of that Goddess, who changed them into the steps of a temple, and + transformed their father into a stone, as he was embracing the + steps.] + + [Footnote 14: _Asterie._--Ver. 108. She was the daughter of Cæus, + the Titan, and of Phœbe, and was ravished by Jupiter under the + form of an eagle. She was the wife of Perses, and the mother of + Hecate. Flying from the wrath of Jupiter, she was first changed by + him into a quail; and afterwards into a stone.] + + [Footnote 15: _Antiope._--Ver. 110. Antiope was the daughter of + Nycteus, a king of Bœotia. Being seduced by Jupiter under the form + of a Satyr, she bore two sons, Zethus and Amphion. On being + insulted by Dirce, she was seized with madness, and was cured by + Phocus, whom she is said to have afterwards married.] + + [Footnote 16: _Tirynthian._--Ver. 112. Tirynthus was a city near + Argos, where Hercules was born and educated, and from which place + his mother, Alcmene, derived her present appellation.] + + [Footnote 17: _Daughter of Asopus._--Ver. 113. Jupiter changed + himself into fire, or, according to some, into an eagle, to seduce + Ægina, the daughter of Asopus, king of Bœotia. By her he was the + father of Æacus.] + + [Footnote 18: _Mnemosyne._--Ver. 114. This Nymph, as already + mentioned, became the mother of the Nine Muses, having been + seduced by Jupiter.] + + [Footnote 19: _Deois._--Ver. 114. Proserpine was called Deois, or + Dêous Δηοῦς κόρη, from her mother Ceres, who was called Δηὼ by the + Greeks, from the verb δήω, ‘to find;’ because as it was said, when + seeking for her daughter, the universal answer of those who wished + her success in her search, was, δήεις, ‘You will find her.’] + + [Footnote 20: _Virgin daughter._--Ver. 116. This was Canace, or + Arne, the daughter of Æolus, whom Neptune seduced under the form + of a bull.] + + [Footnote 21: _Enipeus._--Ver. 116. Under the form of Enipeus, + a river of Thessaly, Neptune committed violence upon Iphimedeia, + the wife of the giant Aloëus, and by her was the father of the + giants Otus and Ephialtes.] + + [Footnote 22: _Bisaltis._--Ver. 117. Theophane was the daughter of + Bisaltis. Changing her into a sheep, and himself into a ram, + Neptune begot the Ram with the golden fleece, that bore Phryxus to + Colchis.] + + [Footnote 23: _Experienced._--Ver. 119. ‘Te sensit,’ repeated + twice in this line, Clarke translates, not in a very elegant + manner, ‘had a bout with thee,’ and ‘had a touch from thee.’ By + Neptune, Ceres became the mother of the horse Arion; or, according + to some, of a daughter, whose name it was not deemed lawful to + mention.] + + [Footnote 24: _Thee the mother._--Ver. 119. This was Medusa, who, + according to some, was the mother of the horse Pegasus, by + Neptune, though it is more generally said that it sprang from her + blood, when she was slain by Perseus.] + + [Footnote 25: _Melantho._--Ver. 120. Melantho was the daughter + either of Proteus, or of Deucalion, and was the mother of Delphus, + by Neptune.] + + [Footnote 26: _Isse._--Ver. 124. She was a native of either + Lesbos, or Eubœa. Her father, Macareus, was the son of Jupiter and + Cyrene.] + + [Footnote 27: _Erigone._--Ver. 125. She was the daughter of + Icarus, and was placed among the Constellations.] + + [Footnote 28: _How Saturn._--Ver. 126. By Phillyra, Saturn was the + father of the Centaur Chiron. We may here remark, that Arachne was + not very complimentary to the Gods, in the choice of her subjects; + probably it was not her intention or wish to be so.] + + [Footnote 29: _Wicked one._--Ver. 136. Clarke translates + ‘improba,’ ‘thou wicked jade.’] + + [Footnote 30: _An Hecatean Herb._--Ver. 139. This was aconite, or + wolfsbane, said to have been discovered by Hecate, the mother of + Medea. She was the first who sought after, and taught the + properties of poisonous herbs. Some accounts say, that the aconite + was produced from the foam of Cerberus, when dragged by Hercules + from the infernal regions.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + The story of Arachne is most probably based upon the simple fact, that + she was the most skilful artist of her time, at working in silk and + wool. Pliny the Elder tells us, that Arachne, the daughter of Idmon, + a Lydian by birth, and of low extraction, invented the art of making + linen cloths and nets; which invention was also by some attributed to + Minerva. This competition, then, for the merit of the invention, is + the foundation of the challenge here described by the Poet. As, + however, Arachne is said to have hanged herself in despair, she + probably fell a prey to some cause of grief or discontent, the + particulars of which, in their simple form, have not come down to us. + Perhaps the similarity of her name and employment with those of the + spider, as known among the Greeks, gave rise to the story of her + alleged transformation; unless we should prefer to attribute the story + to the fact of the Hebrew word “arag,” signifying to spin, and, in + some degree, resembling her name. + + In this story, Ovid takes the opportunity of touching upon several + fables, the subjects whereof he states to have been represented in the + works of Minerva and Arachne. He alludes, among other matters, to the + dispute between Neptune and Minerva, about giving a name to the city + of Athens. St. Augustine, on the authority of Varro, says, that + Cecrops, in building that city, found an olive tree and a fountain, + and that the oracle at Delphi, on being consulted, stating that both + Minerva and Neptune had a right to name the city, the Senate decided + in favor of the Goddess; and this circumstance, he says, gave rise to + the story. According to some writers, it was based on the fact, that + Cranaüs changed the name of the city from Poseidonius, which it was + called after Neptune, to Athenæ, after his own daughter Athena: and as + the Areiopagus sanctioned this change, it was fabled that Neptune had + been overcome by the judgment of the Gods. + + The Jesuit Tournemine suggests the following explanation of the + story:--He says, that the aborigines of Attica, being conquered by the + Pelasgians, learned from them the art of navigation, which they turned + to account by becoming pirates. Cecrops, bringing a colony from Saïs, + in Egypt, tried to abolish this barbarous custom, and taught them a + more civilized mode of life; and, among other things, he showed them + how to till the earth, and to raise the olive, for the cultivation of + which he found the soil very favorable. He also introduced the worship + of Minerva, or Athena, as she was called, a Goddess highly honored at + Saïs, and to whom the olive tree was dedicated. Her the Athenians + afterwards regarded as the patroness of their city, which they called + after her name. Athens becoming famous for its olives, and, + considerable profit arising from their cultivation, the new settlers + attempted to wean the natives from piracy, by calling their attention + to agricultural pursuits. To succeed in this, they composed a fable, + in which Neptune was said to be overcome by Minerva; who, even in the + judgment of the twelve greater deities, had found out something of + more utility than he. This fable Tournemine supposes to have been + composed in the ancient language of the country, which was the + Phrygian, mingled with many Phœnician words; and, as in those + languages the same word signifies either a ship or a horse, those who + afterwards interpreted the fable, took the word in the latter + signification, and spoke of a horse instead of a ship, which was + really the original emblem employed in the fiction. + + Vossius thinks that the fable originated in a dispute between the + sailors of Athens, who acknowledged Neptune for their chief, and the + people, who followed the Senate, governed by Minerva. The people + prevailed, and a life of civilization, marked by attention to the + pursuits of agriculture, was substituted for one of piracy; which gave + occasion for the saying, that Minerva had overcome Neptune. + + With reference to the intrigues and lustful actions attributed to the + various Deities by Arachne in the delineations on her embroidery, we + may here remark, by way of elucidating the origin of these stories in + general, that, in early times, when the earth was sunk in ignorance + and superstition, and might formed the only right in the heathen + world, where a king or petty chieftain demanded the daughter of a + neighbor in marriage, and met with a refusal, he immediately had + recourse to arms, to obtain her by force. Their standards and ships, + on these expeditions, carrying their ensigns, consisting of birds, + beasts, or fabulous monsters, gave occasion to those who described + their feats of prowess to say, that the ravisher had changed himself + into a bull, an eagle, or a lion, for the purpose of effecting his + object. The kings and potentates of those days, being frequently + called Jupiter, Apollo, Neptune, etc., and the priests of the Gods so + named often obtaining their ends by assuming the names of the + Divinities they served, we can account the more easily for the number + of intrigues and abominable actions, attended by changes and + transformations, which the poets and mythologists attribute to many of + the Deities. + + Palæphatus suggests a very ingenious method of accounting for these + stories; founded, however, it must be owned, on a very low estimate of + female virtue in those times. He says, that these fabulous narratives + originate in the figures of different animals which were engraved on + the coins of those times; and that, when money was given to buy over + or to procure the seduction of a female, it was afterward said that + the lover had himself taken the figure which was represented on the + coin, by means of which his object had been effected. + + Ovid, in common with many of the ancient historians, geographers, and + naturalists, mentions the Pygmies, of which, from the time of Homer + downwards, a nation was supposed to exist, in a state of continual + warfare with the Cranes. Aristotle, who believed in their existence, + placed them in Æthiopia; Pliny, Solinus, and Philostratus in India, + near the source of the Ganges; others again, in Scythia, on the banks + of the Danube. Some of the moderns have attempted to explain the + origin of this prevalent notion. Olaüs Magnus thinks the Samoeids and + Laplanders to have been the Pygmies of Homer. Gesner and others fancy + that they have found their originals in Thuringia; while Albertus + Magnus supposed that the Pygmies were the monkeys, which are so + numerous in the interior of Africa, and which were taken for human + beings of diminutive stature. Vander Hart, who has written a most + ingenious treatise on the subject, suggests that the fable originated + in a war between two cities in Greece, Pagæ and Gerania, the + similarity of whose names to those of the Pygmies and the Cranes, gave + occasion to their neighbors, the Corinthians, to confer on them those + nicknames. It is most probable, however, that the story was founded + upon the diminutive stature of some of the native tribes of the + interior of Africa. + + As to the fable of Pygas being changed into a crane, Banier suggests, + that the origin of it may be found in the work of Antoninus Liberalis, + quoting from the Theogony of Bœus. That poet, whose works are lost, + says, that among the Pygmies there was a very beautiful princess, + named Œnoë, who greatly oppressed her subjects. Having married + Nicodamas, she had by him a son, named Mopsus, whom her subjects + seized upon, to educate him in their own way. She accordingly raised + levies against her own subjects; and that circumstance, together with + the name of Gerane, which, according to Ælian, she also bore, gave + rise to the fable, which said that she was changed into a crane; the + resemblance which it bore to ‘geranos,’ the Greek for ‘a crane,’ + suggesting the foundation of the story. + + +FABLE II. [VI.146-312] + + The Theban matrons, forming a solemn procession in honor of Latona, + Niobe esteems herself superior to the Goddess, and treats her and her + offspring with contempt; on which, Apollo and Diana, to avenge the + affront offered to their mother, destroy all the children of Niobe; + and she, herself, is changed into a statue. + +All Lydia is in an uproar, and the rumor of the fact goes through the +town of Phrygia, and fills the wide world with discourse {thereon}. +Before her own marriage Niobe had known her,[31] at the time, when still +single, she was inhabiting Mæonia and Sipylus.[32] And yet by the +punishment of her countrywoman, Arachne, she was not warned to yield to +the inhabitants of Heaven, and to use less boastful words. Many things +augmented her pride; but yet, neither the skill of her husband, nor the +descent of them both, nor the sovereignty of a mighty kingdom, pleased +her so much (although all of them did please her) as her own progeny; +and Niobe might have been pronounced the happiest of mothers, if she had +not so seemed to herself. + +For Manto, the daughter of Tiresias, foreknowing the future, urged by a +divine impulse, had proclaimed through the middle of the streets, “Ye +women of Ismenus, go all of you,[33] and give to Latona, and the two +children of Latona, the pious frankincense, together with prayers, and +wreathe your hair with laurel; by my mouth does Latona command {this}.” +Obedience is paid; and all the Theban women adorn their temples with +leaves {of laurel}, as commanded, and offer frankincense on the sacred +fires, and words of supplication. Lo! Niobe comes, surrounded with a +crowd of attendants, conspicuous for the gold interwoven in her Phrygian +garments, and beautiful, so far as anger will allow; and tossing her +hair, hanging down on both shoulders, with her graceful head, she stands +still; and as she loftily casts around her haughty eyes, she says, “What +madness is this to prefer the inhabitants of Heaven, that you have +{only} heard of, to those who are seen? or why is Latona worshipped at +the altars, {and} my Godhead is still without its {due} frankincense? +Tantalus was my father, who alone was allowed to approach the tables of +the Gods above. The sister of the Pleiades[34] is my mother; the most +mighty Atlas is my grandsire, who bears the æthereal skies upon his +neck. Jupiter is my other grandsire; of him, too, I boast as my +father-in-law.[35] The Phrygian nations dread me; the palace of Cadmus +is subject to me as its mistress; and the walls that were formed by the +strings of my husband’s {lyre}, together with their people, are governed +by me and my husband; to whatever part of the house I turn my eyes, +immense wealth is seen. To this is added a face worthy of a Goddess. Add +to this my seven daughters,[36] and as many sons, and, at a future day, +sons-in-law and daughters-in-law. Now inquire what ground my pride has +{for its existence}; and presume to prefer Latona the Titaness, the +daughter of some obscure Cæus, to whom, when in travail,[37] the great +earth once refused a little spot, to myself. Neither by heaven, nor by +earth, nor by water, was your Goddess received; she was banished the +world, till Delos, pitying the wanderer, said, “Thou dost roam a +stranger on the land, I in the waves;” and gave her an unstable place +{of rest}. She was made the mother of two children, that is {but} the +seventh part of my issue. I am fortunate, and who shall deny it? and +fortunate I shall remain; who, too, can doubt of that? Plenty has made +me secure; I am too great for Fortune possibly to hurt; and, though she +should take away many things from me, {even then} much more will she +leave me: my {many} blessings have now risen superior to apprehensions. +Suppose it possible for some part of this multitude of my children to be +taken away {from me}; still, thus stripped, I shall not be reduced to +two, the number of Latona; an amount, by the number of which, how far, +{I pray}, is she removed from one that is childless? Go from the +sacrifice; hasten away from the sacrifice, and remove the laurel from +your hair!” + +They remove it, and the sacrifice they leave unperformed; and what they +can do, they adore the Divinity in gentle murmurs. The Goddess was +indignant; and on the highest top of {Mount} Cynthus, she spoke to her +two children in such words as these: “Behold! I, your mother, proud of +having borne you, and who shall yield to no one of the Goddesses, except +to Juno {alone}, am called in question whether I am a Goddess, and, for +all future ages, I am driven from the altars devoted {to me}, unless you +give me aid. Nor is this my only grief; the daughter of Tantalus has +added abusive language to her shocking deeds, and has dared to postpone +you to her own children, and (what {I wish} may fall upon herself), she +has called me childless; and the profane {wretch} has discovered a +tongue like her father’s.”[38] To this relation Latona was going to add +entreaties, when Phœbus said, “Cease thy complaints, ’tis prolonging the +delay of her punishment.” Phœbe said the same; and, by a speedy descent +through the air, they arrived, covered with clouds, at the citadel of +Cadmus. + +There was near the walls a plain, level, and extending far and wide, +trampled continually by horses, where multitudes of wheels and hard +hoofs had softened the clods placed beneath them. There, part of the +seven sons of Amphion are mounting upon their spirited steeds, and press +their backs, red with the Tyrian dye, and wield the reins heavy with +gold; of these, Ismenus, who had formerly been the first burden of his +mother, while he is guiding the steps of the horses in a perfect circle, +and is curbing their foaming mouths, cries aloud, “Ah, wretched me!” +and, pierced through the middle of his breast, bears a dart {therein}; +and the reins dropping from his dying hand, by degrees he falls on his +side, over {the horse’s} shoulder. The next {to him}, Sipylus, on +hearing the sound of a quiver in the air, gives rein[39] {to his horse}; +as when the pilot, sensible of the storm {approaching}, flies on seeing +a cloud, and unfurls the hanging sails on every side, that the light +breeze may by no means escape them. He gives rein, {I said}; while thus +giving it, the unerring dart overtakes him, and an arrow sticks +quivering in the top of his neck, and the bare steel protrudes from his +throat. He, as he is bending forward, rolls over the neck, {now} let +loose, and {over} the mane, and stains the ground with his warm blood. +The unhappy Phædimus, and Tantalus, the heir to the name of his +grandsire, when they had put an end to their wonted exercise {of +riding}, had turned to the youthful exercises of the palæstra, glowing +with oil;[40] and now had they brought[41] breast to breast, struggling +in a close grapple, when an arrow, sped onward from the stretched bow, +pierced them both, just as they were united together. At the same +instant they groaned aloud, and together they laid their limbs on the +ground, writhing with pain; together as they lay, for the last time, +they rolled their eyeballs, and together they breathed forth their life. + +Alphenor sees this, and, beating his torn breast, flies to them, to lift +up their cold limbs in his embrace, and falls in this affectionate duty. +For the Delian God pierces the inner part of his midriff with the fatal +steel. Soon as it is pulled out, a part of his lungs is dragged forth on +the barbs, and his blood is poured forth, with his life, into the air; +but no single wound reaches the unshaven Damasicthon. He is struck where +the leg commences, and where the sinewy ham makes the space between the +joints soft; and while he is trying with his hand to draw out the fatal +weapon, another arrow is driven through his neck, up to the feathers. +The blood drives this out, and itself starting forth, springs up on +high, and, piercing the air, spouts forth afar. The last {of them}, +Ilioneus, had raised his unavailing arms in prayer, and had said, +“O, all ye Gods, in common, (not knowing that all were not to be +addressed) spare me!” The {God}, the bearer of the bow, was moved, when +now his arrow could not be recalled; yet he died with the slightest +wound {of all}, his heart not being struck deep by the arrow. + +The report of this calamity, and the grief of the people, and the tears +of her family, made the mother acquainted with a calamity so sudden, +wondering that it could have happened, and enraged that the Gods above +had dared this, {and} that they enjoyed a privilege so great. For +Amphion the father, thrusting his sword through his breast, dying, had +ended his grief together with his life. Alas! how different is this +Niobe from that Niobe who had lately driven the people from the altars +of Latona, and, with lofty head, had directed her steps through the +midst of the city, envied by her own people, but now to be pitied even +by an enemy! She falls down upon the cold bodies, and with no +distinction she distributes her last kisses among all her sons. Raising +her livid arms from these towards heaven, she says, “Glut thyself, cruel +Latona, with my sorrow; glut thyself, and satiate thy breast with my +mourning; satiate, too, thy relentless heart with seven deaths. I have +received my death-blow;[42] exult and triumph, my victorious enemy. But +why victorious? More remains to me, in my misery, than to thee, in thy +happiness. Even after so many deaths, I am the conqueror.” {Thus} she +spoke; {when} the string twanged from the bent bow, which affrighted all +but Niobe alone; she {became} bold by her misfortunes. + +The sisters were standing in black array, with their hair dishevelled, +before the biers[43] of their brothers. One of these, drawing out the +weapon sticking in her entrails, about to die, swooned away, with her +face placed upon her brother. Another, endeavoring to console her +wretched parent, was suddenly silent, and was doubled together with an +invisible wound; and did not close her mouth, until after the breath had +departed. Another, vainly flying, falls down; another dies upon her +sister; another lies hid; another you might see trembling. And {now} six +being put to death, and having received different wounds, the last +{only} remains; her mother covering her with all her body, {and} with +all her garments, cries, “Leave me but one, and that the youngest; the +youngest only do I ask out of so many, and {that but} one.” And while +she was entreating, she, for whom she was entreating, was slain. +Childless, she sat down among her dead sons and daughters and husband, +and became hardened by her woes. The breeze moves no hair {of hers}; in +her features is a color without blood; her eyes stand unmoved in her sad +cheeks; in her form there is no {appearance} of life. Her tongue itself, +too, congeals within, together with her hardened palate, and the veins +cease to be able to be moved. Her neck can neither be bent, nor can her +arms give any motion, nor her feet move. Within her entrails, too, it is +stone. + +Still did she weep on; and, enveloped in a hurricane of mighty wind, she +was borne away to her native land. There, fixed on the top of a +mountain,[44] she dissolves; and even yet does the marble distil tears. + + [Footnote 31: _Had known her._--Ver. 148. This was the more + likely, as Tantalus, the father of Niobe, was king of both Phrygia + and Lydia.] + + [Footnote 32: _Sipylus._--Ver. 149. This was the name of both a + city and a mountain of Lydia.] + + [Footnote 33: _Go all of you._--Ver. 159. Clarke renders the words + ‘Ismenides, ite frequentes,’ ‘Go, ye Theban ladies in general.’] + + [Footnote 34: _Sister of the Pleiades._--Ver. 174. Taygete, one of + the Pleiades, was the mother of Niobe.] + + [Footnote 35: _As my father-in-law._--Ver. 176. Because Jupiter + was the father of her husband, Amphion.] + + [Footnote 36: _Seven daughters._--Ver. 182. Tzetzes enumerates + fourteen daughters of Niobe, and gives their names.] + + [Footnote 37: _When in travail._--Ver. 187. She alludes to the + occasion on which Latona fled from the serpent Python, which Juno, + in her jealousy, had sent against her; and when Delos, which had + hitherto been a floating island, became immovable, for the + convenience of Latona, in labor with Apollo and Diana. That island + was said to have received its name from the Greek, δῆλος, + ‘manifest,’ or ‘appearing,’ from having risen to the surface of + the sea on that occasion.] + + [Footnote 38: _Like her father’s._--Ver. 213. Latona alludes to + one of the crimes of Tantalus, the father of Niobe, who was + accused of having indiscreetly divulged the secrets of the Gods.] + + [Footnote 39: _Gives rein._--Ver. 230. This was done with the + intention of making his escape.] + + [Footnote 40: _Glowing with oil._--Ver. 241. Clarke renders this + line, ‘Were gone to the juvenile work of neat wrestling.’ It would + be hard to say what ‘neat’ wrestling is. He seems not to have + known, that the ‘Palæstra’ was called ‘nitida,’ as shining with + the oil which the wrestlers used for making their limbs supple, + and the more difficult for their antagonist to grasp. Juvenal + gives the epithet ‘ceromaticum’ to the neck of the athlete, or + wrestler, which word means ‘rubbed with wrestler’s oil.’] + + [Footnote 41: _Now had they brought._--Ver. 243-4. Clarke thus + translates ‘Et jam contulerant arcto luctantia nexu Pectora + pectoribus;’ ‘And now they had clapped breast to breast, + struggling in a close hug.’] + + [Footnote 42: _I have received my death-blow._--Ver. 283. + ‘Efferor’ literally means, ‘I am carried out.’ ‘Effero’ was the + term used to signify the carrying of the body out of the city + walls, for the purposes of burial.] + + [Footnote 43: _Before the biers._--Ver. 289. The body of the + deceased person was in ancient times laid out on a bed of the + ordinary kind, with a pillow for supporting the head and back; + among the Romans, it was placed in the vestibule of the house, + with its feet towards the door, and was dressed in the best robe + which the deceased had worn when alive. Among the better classes, + the body was borne to the place of burial, or the funeral pile, on + a couch, which was called ‘feretrum,’ or ‘capulus.’ This was + sometimes made of ivory, and covered with gold and purple.] + + [Footnote 44: _Top of a mountain._--Ver. 311. This was Mount + Sipylus, in Bœotia, which, as we learn from Pausanias, had on its + summit a rock, which, at a distance, strongly resembled a female + in an attitude of sorrow. This resemblance is said to exist even + at the present day.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + All the ancient historians agree with Diodorus Siculus and + Apollodorus, that Niobe was the daughter of Tantalus, and the sister + of Pelops; but she must not be confounded with a second Niobe, who was + the daughter of Phoroneus, and the first mortal (Homer tells us) with + whom Jupiter fell in love. Homer says that she was the mother of + twelve children, six sons and six daughters. Herodotus says, that she + had but two sons and three daughters. Diodorus Siculus makes her the + mother of fourteen children, seven of each sex. Apollodorus, on the + authority of Hesiod, says, that she had ten sons and as many + daughters; but gives the names of fourteen only. The story of the + destruction of her children is most likely based upon truth, and bears + reference to a historical fact. The plague, which ravaged the city of + Thebes, destroyed all the children of Niobe; and contagious distempers + being attributed to the excessive heat of the sun, it was fabled that + Apollo had killed them with his arrows; while women, who died of the + plague, were said to owe their death to the anger of Diana. Thus, + Homer says, that Laodamia and the mother of Andromache were killed by + Diana. Valerius Flaccus relates the sorrow of Clytie, the wife of + Cyzicus, on the death of her mother, killed by the same Goddess; so + the Scholiast on Pindar (Pythia, ode iii.) says, on the authority of + Pherecydes, that Apollo sent Diana to kill Coronis and several other + women. Eustathius distinctly asserts, that the poets attributed the + deaths of men, who died of the plague, to Apollo; and those of women, + dying a similar death, to Diana. + + This supposition is based upon rational and just grounds; since many + contagious distempers may be clearly traced to the exhalations of the + earth, acted on by the intense heat of the sun. Homer, most probably, + means this, when he says that the plague came upon the Grecian camp, + on the God, in his anger, discharging his arrows against it; or, in + other words, when the extreme heat of his rays had caused a corruption + of the atmosphere. It may be here observed, that arrows were the + symbol of Apollo, when angry, and the harp when he was propitious. + Diogenes Laertius tells us, that, during the prevalence of the plague, + it was the custom to place branches of laurel on the doors of the + houses, in the hope that the God, being reminded of Daphne, would + spare the places which thereby claimed his protection. + + Ovid says, that the sons of Niobe were killed while managing their + horses; but Pausanias tells us that they died on Mount Cithæron, while + engaged in hunting, and that her daughters died at Thebes. Homer says, + that her children remained nine days without burial, because the Gods + changed the Thebans into stones, and that the offended Divinities + themselves performed the funeral rites on the tenth day; the meaning + probably, is, that, they dying of the plague, no one ventured to bury + them, and all seemed insensible to the sorrows of Niobe, as each + consulted his own safety. Ismenus, her eldest son, not being able to + endure the pain of his malady, is said to have thrown himself into a + river of Bœotia, which, from that circumstance, received his name. + After the death of her husband and children, Niobe is said to have + retired to Mount Sipylus, in Lydia, where she died. Here, as Pausanias + informs us, was a rock, resembling, at a distance, a woman overwhelmed + with grief; though according to the same author, who had visited it, + the resemblance could not be traced on approaching it. On this ground, + Ovid relates, that she was borne on a whirlwind to the top of a Lydian + mountain, where she was changed into a rock. + + Pausanias tells us, that Melibœa, or Chloris, and Amycle, two of her + daughters, appeased Diana, who preserved their lives; or that, in + other words, they recovered from the plague; though he inclines to + credit the version of Homer, who says that all of her children died by + the hands of Apollo and Diana. Melibœa received the surname of + Chloris, from the paleness which ensued on her alarm at the sudden + death of her sisters. + + +FABLE III. [VI.313-381] + + Latona, fatigued with the burden of her two children, during a long + journey, and parched with thirst, goes to drink at a pond, near which + some countrymen are at work. These clowns, in a brutal manner, not + only hinder her from drinking, but trouble the water to make it muddy; + on which, the Goddess, to punish their brutality, transforms them into + frogs. + +But then, all, both women and men, dread the wrath of the divinity, +{thus} manifested, and with more zeal {than ever} all venerate with +{divine} worship the great godhead of the Deity who produced the twins; +and, as {commonly} happens, from a recent fact they recur to the +narration of former events. + +One of them says, “Some countrymen of old, in the fields of fertile +Lycia, {once} insulted the Goddess, {but} not with impunity. The thing, +indeed, is but little known, through the obscure station of the +individuals, still it is wonderful. I have seen upon the spot, the pool +and the lake noted for the miracle. For my father being now advanced in +years, and incapable of travel, ordered me to bring thence some choice +oxen, and on my setting out, had given me a guide of that nation: with +whom, while I was traversing the pastures, behold! an ancient altar, +black with the ashes of sacrifices, was standing in the middle of a +lake, surrounded with quivering reeds. My guide stood still, and said in +a timid whisper, ‘Be propitious to me;’ and with a like whisper, I said, +‘Be propitious.’ However, I asked him whether it was an altar of the +Naiads, or of Faunus, or of some native God; when the stranger answered +me in such words; ‘Young man, there is no mountain Divinity for this +altar. She calls this her own, whom once the royal Juno banished from +the world; whom the wandering Delos, at the time when it was swimming as +a light island, hardly received at her entreaties. There Latona, leaning +against a palm, together with the tree of Pallas, brought forth twins, +in spite of their stepmother {Juno}. Hence, too, the newly delivered +{Goddess} is said to have fled from Juno, and in her bosom to have +carried the two divinities, her children. And now the Goddess, wearied +with her prolonged toil, being parched with the heat of the season, +contracted thirst in the country of Lycia, which bred the Chimæra[45] +when the intense sun was scorching the fields; the craving children, +too, had exhausted her suckling breasts. By chance she beheld a lake[46] +of fine water, in the bottom of a valley; some countrymen were there, +gathering bushy osiers, together with bulrushes, and sedge natural to +fenny spots. The Titaness approached, and bending her knee, she pressed +the ground, that she might take up the cool water to drink; the company +of rustics forbade it. The Goddess thus addressed them, as they forbade +her: ‘Why do you deny me water? The use of water is common {to all}. +Nature has made neither sun, nor air, nor the running stream, the +property of any one. To her public bounty have I come, which yet I +humbly beg of you to grant me. I was not intending to bathe my limbs +here, and my wearied joints, but to relieve my thirst. My mouth, as I +speak, lacks moisture, and my jaws are parched, and scarce is there a +passage for my voice therein; a draught of water will be nectar to me, +and I shall own, that, together with it, I have received my life {at +your hands}. In {that} water you will be giving me life. Let these, too, +move you, who hold out their little arms from my bosom’; and by chance +the children were holding out their arms. + +“What person might not these kindly words of the Goddess have been able +to influence? Still, they persist in hindering {the Goddess thus} +entreating them; and moreover add threats and abusive language, if she +does not retire to a distance. Nor is this enough. They likewise muddy +the lake itself {with} their feet and hands; and they raise the soft mud +from the very bottom of the water, by spitefully jumping to and fro. +Resentment removes her thirst. For now no longer does the daughter of +Cæus supplicate the unworthy {wretches}, nor does she any longer endure +to utter words below {the majesty of} a Goddess; and raising her hands +to heaven, she says, ‘For ever may you live in that pool.’ The wish of +the Goddess comes to pass. They delight to go beneath the water, and +sometimes to plunge the whole of their limbs in the deep pool; now to +raise their heads, and now to swim on the top of the water; oft to sit +on the bank of the pool, {and} often to leap back again into the cold +stream. And even now do they exercise their offensive tongues in strife: +and banishing {all} shame, although they are beneath the water, {still} +beneath the water,[47] do they try to keep up their abuse. Their voice, +too, is now hoarse, and their bloated necks swell out; and their very +abuse dilates their extended jaws. Their backs are united to their +heads: their necks seem as though cut off; their backbone is green; +their belly, the greatest part of their body, is white; and {as} +new-made frogs, they leap about in the muddy stream.” + + [Footnote 45: _The Chimæra._--Ver. 339. The Chimæra, according to + the poets, was a monster having the head of a lion, the body of a + goat, and the tail of a dragon. It seems, however, that it was + nothing more than a volcanic mountain of Lycia, in Asia Minor, + whence there were occasional eruptions of flame. The top of it was + frequented by lions; the middle afforded plentiful pasture for + goats; and towards the bottom, being rocky, and full of caverns, + it was infested by vast numbers of serpents, that harbored there.] + + [Footnote 46: _Beheld a lake._--Ver. 343. Probus, in his + Commentary on the Second Book of the Georgics, says that the name + of the spring was Mela, and that of the shepherd who so churlishly + repulsed Latona, was Neocles. Antoninus Liberalis says, that the + name of the stream was Melites, and that Latona required the water + for the purpose of bathing her children. He further tells us, that + on being repulsed, she carried her children to the river Xanthus, + and returning thence, hurled stones at the peasants, and changed + them into frogs.] + + [Footnote 47: _Beneath the water._--Ver. 376. Some commentators + are so fanciful as to say, that the repetition of the words ‘sub + aqua,’ in the line ‘Quamvis sint sub aquâ, sub aquâ, maledicere + tentant,’ not inelegantly [non ineleganter] expresses the croaking + noise of the frogs. A man’s fancy must, indeed, be exuberant to + find any such resemblance; more so, indeed, than that of + Aristophanes, who makes his frogs say, by way of chorus, + ‘brekekekekex koäx koäx.’ Possibly, however, that might have been + the Attic dialect among frogs.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + This story may possibly be based upon some current tradition of Latona + having been subjected to such cruel treatment from some country + clowns; or, which is more probable, it may have been originally + invented as a satire on the rude manners and uncouth conduct of the + peasantry of ancient times. The story may also have been framed, to + account, in a poetical manner, for the origin of frogs. + + +FABLE IV. [VI.382-411] + + The Satyr Marsyas, having challenged Apollo to a trial of skill on the + flute, the God overcomes him, and then flays him alive for his + presumption. The tears that are shed on the occasion of his death + produce the river that bears his name. + +When thus one, who, it is uncertain, had related the destruction of +{these} men of the Lycian race, another remembers {that of} the +Satyr;[48] whom, overcome {in playing} on the Tritonian reed, the son of +Latona visited with punishment. “Why,” said he, “art thou tearing me +from myself? Alas! I {now} repent; alas,” cried he, “the flute is not of +so much value!” As he shrieked aloud, his skin was stript[49] off from +the surface of his limbs, nor was he aught but {one entire} wound. Blood +is flowing on every side; the nerves, exposed, appear, and the quivering +veins throb without any skin. You might have numbered his palpitating +bowels, and the transparent lungs within his breast. The inhabitants of +the country, the Fauns, Deities of the woods, and his brothers the +Satyrs, and Olympus,[50] even then renowned, and the Nymphs lamented +him; and whoever {besides} on those mountains was feeding the +wool-bearing flocks, and the horned herds. + +The fruitful earth was moistened, and being moistened received the +falling tears, and drank them up in her lowest veins, which, when she +had turned into a stream, she sent forth into the vacant air. And then, +as the clearest river in Phrygia, running towards the rapid sea within +steep banks, it bears the name of Marsyas. + +From narratives such as these the people return at once to the present +events, and mourn Amphion extinct together with {all} his race. The +mother is {an object} of hatred. Yet {her brother} Pelops is said alone +to have mourned for her as well; and after he had drawn his clothes from +his shoulder towards his breast, he discovered the ivory on his left +shoulder. This shoulder, at the time of his birth, was of the same color +with the right one, and {was} formed of flesh. They say that the Gods +afterwards joined his limbs cut asunder by the hands of his father; and +the rest of them being found, that part which is midway between the +throat and the top of the arm, was wanting. Ivory was inserted there, in +the place of the part that did not appear; and so by that means Pelops +was made entire. + + [Footnote 48: _The Satyr._--Ver. 382. Herodotus tells this story + of the Satyr Marsyas, under the name of Silenus. Fulgentius + informs us, that in paintings, Marsyas was represented with the + tail of a pig.] + + [Footnote 49: _His skin was stript._--Ver. 387. Apollo fastened + him to a pine-tree, or, according to Pliny the Elder, + a plane-tree, which was to be seen even in his day. The skin was + afterwards suspended by Apollo in the city of Celenæ. Hyginus + says, that Apollo hewed Marsyas to pieces. The description here of + the flaying is, perhaps, very natural; but it is all the more + disgusting for being so. A commentator justly says, that it might + suit a Roman, whose eyes were familiar with bloodshed, much better + than the taste of the reader of modern times.] + + [Footnote 50: _Olympus._--Ver. 393. He was a Satyr, the brother + and pupil of Marsyas. Pausanias describes a picture, painted by + Polygnotus, in which Olympus was represented as sitting by + Marsyas, clad as a youth, and learning to play on the flute. + Euripides, in the Iphigenia in Aulis (l. 576) says that Olympus + discovered some new measures for the ‘tibia,’ or flute. From + Hyginus we learn, that Apollo delivered to him the body of Marsyas + for burial.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + Marsyas was the son of Hyagnis, the inventor of a peculiar kind of + flute, and of the Phrygian measure. Livy and Quintus Curtius tell us, + that the story of Apollo and Marsyas is an allegory; and that the + river Marsyas gave rise to it. They say that the river, falling from a + precipice, in the neighborhood of the town of Celenæ, in Phrygia, made + a very stunning and unpleasant noise; but that the smoothness of its + course afterwards gave occasion for the saying, that the vengeance of + Apollo had rendered it more tractable. + + It is, however, not improbable that the story may have been based on + historical facts. Having learned from his father, Hyagnis, the art of + playing on the flute, and, proud of his skill, at a time when the + musical art was yet in its infancy, Marsyas may have been rash enough + to challenge either a priest of Apollo, or some prince who bore that + name, and, for his presumption, to have received the punishment + described by Ovid. Herodotus certainly credited the story; for he says + that the skin of the unfortunate musician was to be seen, in his time, + in the town of Celenæ. Strabo, Pausanias, and Aulus Gellius also + believe its truth. Suidas tells us, that Marsyas, mortified at his + defeat, threw himself into the river that runs near Celenæ, which, + from that time, bore his name. Strabo says, that Marsyas had stolen + the flute from Minerva, which proved so fatal to him, and had thereby + drawn upon himself the indignation of that Divinity. Ovid, in the + Sixth Book of the Fasti, and Pausanias, quoting from Apollodorus, tell + us, that Minerva, having observed, by seeing herself in the river + Meander, that, when she played on the flute, her cheeks were swelled + out in an unseemly manner, threw aside the flute in her disgust, and + Marsyas finding it, learned to play on it so skilfully, that he + challenged Apollo to a trial of proficiency. Hyginus, in his 165th + Fable, says that Marsyas was the son of Œagrius, and not Hyagnis; + perhaps, however, this is a corrupt reading. + + +FABLE V. [VI.412-586] + + Tereus, king of Thrace, having married Progne, the daughter of + Pandion, king of Athens, falls in love with her sister Philomela, whom + he ravishes, and then, having cut out her tongue, he shuts her up in a + strong place in a forest, to prevent a discovery. The unfortunate + Philomela finds means to acquaint her sister with her misfortunes; + for, weaving her story on a piece of cloth, she sends it to Progne by + the hands of one of her keepers. + +The neighboring princes met together; and the cities that were near, +entreated their kings to go to console {Pelops, namely}, Argos and +Sparta, and the Pelopean Mycenæ, and Calydon,[51] not yet odious to the +stern Diana, and fierce Orchomeneus, and Corinth famous for its +brass,[52] and fertile Messene, and Patræ, and humble Cleonæ,[53] and +the Neleian Pylos, and Trœzen not yet named from Pittheus;[54] and other +cities which are enclosed by the Isthmus between the two seas, and those +which, situated beyond, are seen from the Isthmus between the two seas. +Who could have believed it? You, Athens, alone omitted it. A war +prevented this act of humanity; and barbarous troops[55] brought +{thither} by sea, were alarming the Mopsopian walls. The Thracian Tereus +had routed these by his auxiliary forces, and by his conquest had +acquired an illustrious name. Him, powerful both in riches and men, and, +as it happened, deriving his descent from the mighty Gradivus, Pandion +united to himself, by the marriage of {his daughter} Progne. + +Neither Juno, the guardian of marriage rites, nor yet Hymeneus, nor the +Graces,[56] attended those nuptials. {On that occasion}, the Furies +brandished torches, snatched from the funeral pile. The Furies prepared +the nuptial couch, and the ill-boding owl hovered over the abode, and +sat on the roof of the bridal chamber. With these omens were Progne and +Tereus wedded; with these omens were they made parents. Thrace, indeed, +congratulated them, and they themselves returned thanks to the Gods, and +they commanded the day, upon which the daughter of Pandion was given to +the renowned prince, and that upon which Itys was born, to be considered +as festivals. So much does our true interest lie concealed {from us}. +Now Titan had drawn the seasons of the repeated year through five +autumns, when Progne, in gentle accents, said to her husband, “If I have +any influence {with thee}, either send me to see my sister, or let my +sister come hither. Thou shalt promise thy father-in-law that she shall +return in a short time. As good as a mighty God {wilt thou be} to me, if +thou shalt allow me to see my sister.” + +He {thereupon} ordered ships to be launched;[57] and with sails and oars +he entered the Cecropian harbor, and landed upon the shores of the +Piræus.[58] As soon as ever an opportunity was given of {addressing} his +father-in-law, and right hand was joined to right hand, with evil omen +their discourse began. He had commenced to relate the occasion of his +coming, {and} the request of his wife, and to promise a speedy return +for {Philomela, if} sent. {When} lo! Philomela comes, richly adorned in +costly apparel; richer {by far} in her charms; such as we hear {of} the +Naiads and Dryads {as they} haunt the middle of the forests, if you were +only to give them the like ornaments and dress. Tereus was inflamed upon +seeing the virgin, no otherwise than if one were to put fire beneath the +whitening ears of corn, or were to burn leaves and {dry} grass laid up +in stacks. Her beauty, indeed, is worthy {of love}; but inbred lust, as +well, urges him on, and the people in those regions are {naturally} much +inclined to lustfulness. He burns, both by his own frailty and that of +his nation. He has a desire to corrupt the care of her attendants, and +the fidelity of her nurse, and {besides}, to tempt herself with large +presents, and to spend his whole kingdom {in so doing}; or else, to +seize her, and, when seized, to secure her by a cruel war. And there is +nothing which, being seized by an unbridled passion, he may not dare; +nor does his breast contain the internal flame. And now he ill bears +with delay; and with eager mouth returns to {urge} the request of +Progne, and under it he pleads his own wishes; passion makes him +eloquent. As oft as he presses beyond what is becoming, he pretends +that Progne has thus desired. He adds tears as well, as though she had +enjoined them too. O ye Gods above, how much of dark night do the +breasts of mortals contain! Through his very attempt at villany, Tereus +is thought to be affectionate, and from his crime does he gather praise. + +And how is it, too, that Philomela desires the same thing? and fondly +embracing the shoulders of her father with her arms, she begs, even by +her own safety (and against it too), that she may visit her sister. +Tereus views her, and, while viewing her, is embracing her beforehand in +imagination; and, as he beholds her kisses, and her arms around {her +father’s} neck, he receives them all as incentives, and fuel, and the +food of his furious passion; and, as often as she embraces her father, +he could wish to be {that} father, and, even then, he would have been +not the less impious. The father is overcome by the entreaties of them +both. She rejoices, and returns thanks to her parent, and, to her +misfortune, deems that the success of both, which will be the cause of +sorrow to them both. Now but little of his toil was remaining for +Phœbus, and his steeds were beating with their feet the descending track +of Olympus; a regal banquet was set on the tables, and wine in golden +{vessels}; after this, their bodies were given up to gentle sleep. But +the Odrysian king,[59] though he was withdrawn, still burned for her; +and, recalling her form, her movements, her hands, fancies that which he +has not yet seen, to be such as he wishes; and he himself feeds his own +flames, his anxiety preventing sleep. + +It was {now} day; and Pandion, grasping the right hand of his +son-in-law, about to depart, with tears bursting forth, recommended his +companion {to his care}. “I commit her, my dear son-in-law, to thee, +because reasons, grounded on affection, have compelled me, and both {my +daughters} have desired it, and thou as well, Tereus, hast wished it; +and I entreat thee, begging by thy honor, by thy breast {thus} allied to +us, {and} by the Gods above, to protect her with the love of a father; +and do send back to me, as soon as possible, this sweet comfort of my +anxious old age, {for} all delay will be tedious to me, and do thou, +too, Philomela, if thou hast any affection for me, return as soon as +possible: ’tis enough that thy sister is so far away.” {Thus} did he +enjoin, and at the same time he gave kisses to his daughter, and his +affectionate tears fell amid his instructions. He {then} demanded the +right hands of them both, as a pledge of their fidelity, and joined them +together when given, and bade them, with mindful lips, to salute for him +his absent daughter and grandson, and with difficulty[60] uttered the +last farewell, his mouth being filled with sobs; and he shuddered at the +presages of his own mind. But as soon as Philomela was put on board of +the painted ship, and the sea was urged by the oars, and the land was +left behind, he exclaimed, “I have gained my point; the object of my +desires is borne along with me.” The barbarian exults, too, and with +difficulty defers his joy in his intention, and turns not his eyes +anywhere away from her. No otherwise than when the ravenous bird of +Jupiter, with crooked talons, has placed a hare in his lofty nest; there +is no escape for the captive; the plunderer keeps his eye on his prey. +And now the voyage is ended, and now they have gone forth from the +wearied ship, upon his own shore; when the king drags the daughter of +Pandion into a lofty dwelling, concealed in an ancient wood, and there +he shuts her up, pale and trembling, and dreading everything, and now +with tears inquiring where her sister is; and confessing his baseness, +he masters by force her a maiden, and but one, while she often vainly +calls on her father, often on her sister, and on the great Gods above +all. She trembles like a frightened lamb, which, wounded, being snatched +from the mouth of a hoary wolf, does not as yet seem to itself in +safety; and as a dove, its feathers soaked with its own blood, still +trembles, and dreads the ravening talons wherein it has been {lately} +held. {But} soon, when consciousness returned, tearing her dishevelled +hair like one mourning, and beating her arms in lamentation, stretching +out her hands, she said, “Oh, barbarous {wretch}, for thy dreadful +deeds; oh, cruel {monster}! have neither the requests of my father, with +his affectionate tears, moved thee, nor a regard for my sister, nor my +virgin state, nor the laws of marriage? Thou hast confounded all. I am +become the supplanter of my sister; thou, the husband of both of us. +This punishment was not my due. Why dost thou not take away this life, +that no villany, perfidious {wretch}, may remain {unperpetrated} by +thee? and would that thou hadst done it before thy criminal embraces! +{then} I might have had a shade void of {all} crime. Yet, if the Gods +above behold these things, if the majesty of the Gods be anything; if, +with myself, all things are not come to ruin; one time or other thou +shalt give me satisfaction. I myself, having cast shame aside, will +declare thy deeds. If opportunity is granted me, I will come among the +people; if I shall be kept imprisoned in the woods, I will fill the +woods, and will move the conscious rocks. Let Heaven hear these things, +and the Gods, if there are any in it.” + +After the wrath of the cruel tyrant was aroused by such words, and his +fear was not less than it, urged on by either cause, he drew the sword, +with which he was girt, from the sheath, and seizing her by the hair, +her arms being bent behind her back, he compelled her to submit to +chains. Philomela was preparing her throat, and, on seeing the sword, +had conceived hopes of her death. He cut away, with his cruel weapon, +her tongue seized with pincers, while giving vent to her indignation, +and constantly calling on the name of her father, and struggling to +speak. The extreme root of the tongue {still} quivers. {The tongue} +itself lies, and faintly murmurs, quivering upon the black earth; and as +the tail of a mangled snake is wont to writhe about, {so} does it throb, +and, as it dies, seeks the feet of its owner. It is said, too, that +often after this crime (I could hardly dare believe it) he satisfied his +lust upon her mutilated body. + +He has the effrontery, after such deeds, to return to Progne, who, on +seeing her husband, inquires for her sister; but he heaves feigned +sighs, and tells a fictitious story of her death; and his tears procure +him credit. Progne tears from her shoulders her robes, shining with +broad gold, and puts on black garments, and erects an honorary +sepulchre, and offers expiation to an imaginary shade; and laments the +death of a sister not thus to be lamented. + +The God {Apollo}, the year being completed, had run through the twice +six signs {of the Zodiac}. What can Philomela do? A guard prevents her +flight; the walls of the house are hard, built of solid stone: her +speechless mouth is deprived of the means of discovering the crime. But +in grief there is extreme ingenuity, and inventive skill arises in +misfortunes. She skilfully suspends the warp in a web of Barbarian +design,[61] and interweaves purple marks with white, as a mode of +discovering the villany {of Tereus}; and delivers it, when finished, to +one {of her attendants}, and begs her, by signs, to carry it to her +mistress. As desired, she carries it to Progne, and does not know what +she is delivering in it. The wife of the savage tyrant unfolds the web, +and reads the mournful tale[62] of her sister, and (wondrous that she +can be so!) she is silent. ’Tis grief that stops her utterance, and +words sufficiently indignant fail her tongue, in want of them; nor is +there room for weeping. But she rushes onward, about to confound both +right and wrong, and is wholly {occupied} in the contrivance of revenge. + + [Footnote 51: _Calydon._--Ver. 415. This was a city of Ætolia, + which derived its name from Calydon, the son of Endymion. Diana, + being incensed against Œneus, its king, because he omitted her + when offering the first fruits to the other Deities, sent an + immense boar to ravage its fields, which was slain by Meleager. + Ovid recounts these circumstances in the eighth book of the + Metamorphoses. Argos, Sparta, and Mycenæ, are also included in one + line, by Homer, as having been under the particular tutelage of + Juno.] + + [Footnote 52: _Famous for its brass._--Ver. 416. According to some + writers, the Corinthian brass became famous after the fall of + Corinth, when it was taken and burnt by the Consul Mummius. On + that occasion, they say, that from the immense number of statues + melted in the conflagration, a stream of metal poured through the + streets, consisting of melted gold, silver, and copper; in which, + of course, the latter would be predominant. If that was the ground + on which the Corinthian brass was so much commended, Ovid is here + guilty of an anachronism.] + + [Footnote 53: _Cleonæ._--Ver. 417. This was a little town, situate + between Argos and Corinth. It is called ‘humilis,’ not from its + situation, but from the small number of its inhabitants. Patræ was + a city of Achaia.] + + [Footnote 54: _Pittheus._--Ver. 418. He was the uncle of Theseus; + and was (after the time here mentioned) the king of Trœzen, in + Peloponnesus.] + + [Footnote 55: _Barbarous troops._--Ver. 423. Some suggest that it + is here meant that Attica was invaded by the Amazons at this time; + and they rely on a passage of Justin in support of the position. + The story is, however, very improbable.] + + [Footnote 56: _The Graces._--Ver. 429. The Graces, who were the + attendants of Venus, were three in number, Aglaia, Thalia, and + Euphrosyne.] + + [Footnote 57: _To be launched._--Ver. 445. The ships were launched + into the sea by means of rollers placed beneath them, from which + circumstance they were said ‘deduci,’ ‘to be led down.’] + + [Footnote 58: _Shores of the Piræus._--Ver. 446. The Piræus was + the arsenal and the harbor of the Athenians, and owed its + magnificence to the vast conceptions of Themistocles.] + + [Footnote 59: _The Odrysian king._--Ver. 490. Tereus is thus + called, from the Odrysæ, a people of Thrace.] + + [Footnote 60: _With difficulty._--Ver. 510. Clarke translates + ‘vix,’ ‘with much ado.’] + + [Footnote 61: _Barbarian design._--Ver. 576. Probably of a + Phrygian design.] + + [Footnote 62: _The mournful tale._--Ver. 582. This line is + translated by Clarke, ‘And reads the miserable ditty of her + sister.’] + + +EXPLANATION. + + The gravest authors among the ancients, such as Strabo and Pausanias, + speaking of this tragical story, agree that the narrative, divested of + its poetical ornaments, is strictly conformable to truth; though, of + course, the sequel bears evident marks of embellishment either by the + fancy of the Poet, or the superstition of the vulgar. + + +FABLE VI. [VI.587-676] + + Progne delivers her sister Philomela from captivity, and brings her to + the court of Tereus, where she revolves in her mind her different + projects of revenge. Her son Itys, in the meantime, comes into her + apartment, and is murdered by his mother and aunt. Progne afterwards + serves him up at a feast, which she prepares for her husband; on + which, being obliged to fly from the fury of the enraged king, she is + changed into a swallow, Philomela into a nightingale, and Tereus + himself into a lapwing. + +It is {now} the time[63] when the Sithonian[64] matrons are wont to +celebrate the triennial festival of Bacchus. Night is conscious of their +rites; by night Rhodope resounds with the tinklings of the shrill +cymbal. By night the queen goes out of her house, and is arrayed +according to the rites of the God, and carries the arms of the frantic +solemnity. Her head is covered with vine leaves; from her left side hang +down the skins of a deer;[65] upon her shoulder rests a light spear. +{Then} the terrible Progne rushing through the woods, a multitude of her +followers attending her, and agitated by the fury of her resentment, +pretends, Bacchus, that it is {inspired} by thee. + +She comes at length to the lonely dwelling, and howls aloud, and cries +“Evoë!” and breaks open the gates, and seizes her sister, and puts upon +her, {so} seized, the badges of Bacchus, and conceals her countenance +under the foliage of ivy; and dragging her along, full of amazement, +leads her within her threshold. When Philomela perceives that she has +arrived at that accursed house,[66] the wretched woman shudders, and +paleness spreads over her whole face. Progne having {now} got a +{fitting} place {for so doing}, takes away the symbols of the rites,[67] +and unveils the blushing face of her wretched sister; and holds her in +her embraces. But she, on the other hand, cannot endure to lift up her +eyes; seeming to herself the supplanter of her sister, and fixing her +looks on the ground, her hand is in the place of voice to her, as she +desires to swear and to call the Gods to witness that this disgrace has +been brought upon her by violence. Progne burns {with rage}, and +contains not her anger; and checking the grief of her sister, she says, +“We must not act in this matter with tears, but with the sword, {and +even} with anything, if {such} thou hast, that can possibly outdo the +sword. I have, sister, prepared myself for every crime! Either, when I +shall have set fire to the royal palace with torches, I will throw the +artful Tereus into the midst of the flames, or with the steel will I cut +away his tongue or his eyes, or the members that have deprived thee of +thy chastity, or by a thousand wounds will I expel his guilty soul {from +his body}. Something tremendous am I prepared for; what it is, I am +still in doubt.” + +While Progne was uttering such expressions, Itys came to his mother. By +him she was put in mind of what she might do; and looking at him with +vengeful eyes, she said, “Ah! how like thou art to thy father!” And +saying no more, she prepared for a horrible deed, and burned with silent +rage. Yet when her son came to her, and saluted his mother and drew her +neck {towards him} with his little arms, and added kisses mingled with +childish endearments, the mother, in truth, was moved, and her anger +abated, and her eyes, in spite of her, became wet with tears {thus} +forced {from her}. But soon as she found the mother {in her} shrinking +from excess of affection, from him again did she turn towards the +features of her sister; and looking at them both by turns, she said, +“Why does the one employ endearments, {while} the other is silent with +her tongue torn from her? Why does she not call her sister, whom he +calls mother? Consider to what kind of husband thou art married, +daughter of Pandion. Thou dost grow degenerate. Tenderness in the wife +of Tereus is criminality.” No {more} delay {is there}; she drags Itys +along, just as the tigress of the banks of the Ganges {does} the +suckling offspring of the hind, through the shady forests. And when they +are come to a remote part of the lofty house, Progne strikes[68] him +with the sword, extending his hands, and as he beholds his fate, crying +now “Alas!” and now “My mother!” and clinging to her neck, where his +breast joins his side; nor does she turn away her face. Even one wound +{alone} is sufficient for his death; Philomela cuts his throat with the +sword; and they mangle his limbs, still quivering and retaining somewhat +of life. Part of them boils,[69] in the hollow cauldrons; part hisses on +spits; the inmost recesses stream with gore. His wife sets Tereus, in +his unconsciousness, before this banquet; and falsely pretending rites +after the manner of her country, at which it is allowed one man only to +be present, she removes his attendants and servants. Tereus himself, +sitting aloft on the throne of his forefathers, eats and heaps his own +entrails into his own stomach. And so great is the blindness of his +mind, {that} he says, “Send for Itys.” Progne is unable to conceal her +cruel joy; and now, desirous to be the discoverer of her having murdered +him, she says, “Thou hast within {thee}, that for which thou art +asking.” He looks around, and inquires where he is; as he inquires, and +calls him again, Philomela springs forth, just as she is, with her hair +disordered by the infernal murder, and throws the bloody head of Itys in +the face of his father; nor at any time has she more longed to be able +to speak, and to testify her joy by words such as are deserved. + +The Thracian pushes from him the table with a loud cry, and summons the +Viperous sisters[70] from the Stygian valley; and at one moment he +desires, if he {only} can, by opening his breast to discharge thence the +horrid repast, and the half-digested entrails. And then he weeps, and +pronounces himself the wretched sepulchre of his own son; and then he +follows the daughters of Pandion with his drawn sword. You would have +thought the bodies of the Cecropian[71] Nymphs were supported by wings; +{and} they were supported by wings. The one of them makes for the woods, +the other takes her place beneath the roofs {of houses}. Nor {even} as +yet have the marks of murder withdrawn from her breast; and her feathers +are {still} stained with blood. He, made swift by his grief, and his +desire for revenge, is turned into a bird, upon whose head stands a +crested {plume}; a prolonged bill projects in place of the long spear. +The name of the bird is ‘epops’ [{lapwing}]; its face appears to be +armed. This affliction dispatched Pandion to the shades of Tartarus +before his day, and the late period of protracted old age. + + [Footnote 63: _Now the time._--Ver. 587. This was the festival of + Bacchus, before mentioned as being celebrated every three years, + in memory of his Indian expedition.] + + [Footnote 64: _Sithonian._--Ver. 588. Sithonia was a region of + Thrace, which lay between Mount Hæmus and the Euxine sea. The + word, however, is often used to signify the whole of Thrace.] + + [Footnote 65: _Skins of a deer._--Ver. 593. These were the + ‘nebrides,’ or skins of fawns and deer, which the Bacchanals wore + when celebrating the orgies. The lance mentioned here was, no + doubt, the thyrsus.] + + [Footnote 66: _That accursed house._--Ver. 601. Clarke translates + this line, ‘As soon as Philomela perceived she had got into the + wicked rogue’s house.’] + + [Footnote 67: _Symbols of the rites._--Ver. 603. These were the + ivy, the deer-skins, and the thyrsus.] + + [Footnote 68: _Progne strikes._--Ver. 641. ‘Ense ferit Progne’ is + translated by Clarke, ‘Progne strikes with the sword poor Itys.’] + + [Footnote 69: _Part of them boils._--Ver. 645-6. Clarke gives this + comical translation: ‘Then part of them bounces about in hollow + kettles; part hisses upon spits; the parlor runs down with gore.’] + + [Footnote 70: _Viperous sisters._--Ver. 662. Tereus invokes the + Furies, who are thus called from having their hair wreathed with + serpents. Clarke translates, ‘ingenti clamore,’ in line 661, ‘with + a huge cry.’] + + [Footnote 71: _Cecropian._--Ver. 667. The Cecropian or Athenian + Nymphs are Progne and Philomela, the daughters of Pandion, king of + Athens.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + By the symbolical changes of Philomela, Progne, and Tereus, those who + framed this termination of the story intended to depict the different + characters of the persons whose actions are there represented. As the + lapwing delights in filth and impurity, the ancients thereby portrayed + the unscrupulous character of Tereus; and, as the flight of that bird + is but slow, it shows that he was not able to overtake his wife and + her sister. The nightingale, concealed in the woods and thickets, + seems there to be concealing her misfortunes and sorrows; and the + swallow, which frequents the abodes of man, shows the restlessness of + Progne, who seeks in vain for her son, whom, in her frantic fit, she + has so barbarously murdered. + + Anacreon and Apollodorus, however, reverse the story, saying that + Philomela was changed into a swallow, and Progne into a nightingale. + This event is said by some writers to have happened not in Thrace, but + at Daulis, a town of Phocis, where Tereus is supposed to have gone to + settle. Pausanias tells us, that the tomb of Tereus was to be seen + near Athens, so that it is probable that he died at a distance from + Thrace, his native country. Homer alludes to the story of Philomela in + somewhat different terms; speaking of the grounds of the grief of + Penelope, he says, that ‘she made her complaints to be heard like the + inconsolable Philomela, the daughter of Pandarus, always hidden among + the leaves and branches of trees. When the Spring arrives, she makes + her voice echo through the woods, and laments her dear Itylus, whom + she killed by an unhappy mistake; varying, in her continued plaints, + the mournful melody of her notes.’ By this, Homer seems to have known + nothing of Tereus or of Progne, and to have followed a tradition, + which was to the following effect:--Pandarus had three daughters, + Ædon, Mecrope, and Cleothera. Ædon, the eldest, was married to Zethus, + the brother of Amphion, by whom she had one son, who was named Itylus. + Envying the more numerous family of Niobe, her sister-in-law, she + resolved to despatch the eldest of her nephews; and, as her son was + brought up with his cousin, and was his bedfellow, she bade him change + his place in the bed, on the night on which she intended to commit the + crime. Itylus forgot her commands, and consequently his mother killed + him by mistake for her nephew. + + +FABLE VII. [VI.677-721] + + Boreas, not obtaining the consent of Erectheus, king of Athens, for + the marriage of his daughter, Orithyïa, takes that princess in his + arms, and carries her away into Thrace. By her he has two sons, Calaïs + and Zethes, who have wings, like their father, and afterwards embark + with Jason in search of the Golden Fleece. + +Erectheus[72] received the sceptre of {that} country, and the government +of the state; it is a matter of doubt whether he was more powerful +through his justice, or by his mighty arms. He had, indeed, begotten +four sons, and as many of the female sex: but the beauty of two {of +them} was equal. Of these, Cephalus,[73] the son of Æolus, was blessed +with thee, Procris, for his wife; Tereus and the Thracians were an +obstacle to Boreas; and long was {that} God without his much-loved +Orithyïa, while he was entreating, and choosing rather to use prayers +than force. But when nothing was effected by blandishments, terrible +with that rage which is his wont, and but too natural with that wind, he +said, “And {this is} deservedly {done}; for why did I relinquish my own +weapons, my violence, my strength, my anger, and my threatening spirit, +and turn to prayers, the employment of which ill becomes me? Violence is +suitable for me; by violence do I dispel the lowering clouds, by +violence do I arouse the seas, and overthrow the knotted oaks, and +harden the snow, and beat the earth with hail. I too, when I have met +with my brothers in the open air (for that is {peculiarly} my field), +struggle with efforts so great, that the intermediate sky thunders again +with our onset, and fires flash, struck forth from the hollow clouds. +I too, when I have descended into the hollow recesses of the earth, and +in my rage have placed my back against its lowest depths, disturb the +shades below, and the whole globe with earthquakes. By these means +should I have sought this alliance; and Erectheus ought not to have been +entreated {to be} my father-in-law, but made so by force.” + +Boreas, having said these words, or some not less high-sounding than +these, shakes his wings, by the motion of which all the earth is fanned, +and the wide sea becomes ruffled; and the lover, drawing his dusty +mantle over the high tops {of mountains}, sweeps the ground, and, wrapt +in darkness, embraces with his tawny wings Orithyïa, as she trembles +with fear. As she flies, his flame, being agitated, burns more fiercely. +Nor does the ravisher check the reins of his airy course, before he +reaches the people and the walls of the Ciconians.[74] There, too, is +the Actæan damsel made the wife of the cold sovereign, and {afterwards} +a mother, bringing forth twins at a birth, who have the wings of their +father, the rest {like} their mother. Yet they say that these {wings} +were not produced together with their bodies; and while their long +beard, with its yellow hair, was away, the boys Calaïs and Zethes were +without feathers. {But} soon after, at once wings began to enclose both +their sides, after the manner of birds, and at once their cheeks {began} +to grow yellow {with down}. When, therefore, the boyish season of youth +was passed, they sought,[75] with the Minyæ, along the sea {before} +unmoved,[76] in the first ship {that existed}, the fleece that glittered +with shining hair {of gold}. + + [Footnote 72: _Erectheus._--Ver. 677. This personage really was + king of Athens before Pandion, the father of Progne and Philomela, + and not after him, as Ovid here states; at least, such is the + account given by Pausanias and Eusebius: the order of succession + being Actæus, Cecrops, Cranaüs, Amphictyon, Erecthonius, Pandion, + Erectheus, Cecrops II., Pandion II., Ægeus, Theseus.] + + [Footnote 73: _Cephalus._--Ver. 681. He was the son of Deioneus, + and the grandson of Æolus. According to some writers, he was the + son of Mercury; in and the Art of Love (Book iii. l. 725) he is + called ‘Cyllenia proles.’ Strabo says that he was the son-in-law + of Deioneus. His story is related at length in the next Book.] + + [Footnote 74: _The Ciconians._--Ver. 710. The Cicones were a + people of Thrace, living near Mount Ismarus, and the Bistonian + lake.] + + [Footnote 75: _They sought._--Ver. 720. This was the fleece of the + ram that carried Phryxus along the Hellespont to Colchis, which is + mentioned again in the next Book.] + + [Footnote 76: _Before unmoved._--Ver. 721. This passage may mean + that that part of the sea had not been navigated before; though + many of the poets assert that the Argo was the first ship that was + ever built. It is more probable that it was the first vessel that + was ever fitted out as a ship of war.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + Plato tells us that the story of the rape of Orithyïa is but an + allegory, which signifies that, by accident, she was blown by the wind + into the sea, where she was drowned. Apollodorus and Pausanias, + however, assert that this story is based on historical facts, and that + Boreas, king of Thrace, seized Orithyïa, the daughter of Erectheus, + king of Athens, and sister of Procris, as she was passing the river + Ilissus, and carried her into his dominions, where she became the + mother of twins, Calaïs and Zethes. In the Argonautic expedition, + these chiefs delivered Phineus, the king of Bithynia, from the + persecution of the Harpies, which were in the habit of snatching away + the victuals served up at his table. + + + + +BOOK THE SEVENTH. + + +FABLE I. [VII.1-158] + + Jason, after having met with various adventures, arrives with the + Argonauts in Colchis, and demands the Golden Fleece. Medea falls in + love with Jason, and by the power of her enchantments preserves him + from the dangers he has to encounter in obtaining it. He obtains the + prize, and carrying off Medea, returns in triumph to Thessaly. + +And now the Minyæ[1] were ploughing the sea in the Pagasæan ship;[2] and +Phineus prolonging a needy old age under perpetual night, had been +visited, and the youthful sons of the North wind had driven the birds +with the faces of virgins from {before} the mouth of the distressed old +man;[3] and having suffered many things under the famous Jason, had +reached at length the rapid waters of the muddy Phasis. + +And while they go to the king, and ask the fleece that once belonged to +Phryxus, and conditions are offered them, dreadful for the number of +mighty labors; in the meantime, the daughter of Æetes[4] conceives a +violent flame; and having long struggled {against it}, after she is +unable to conquer her frenzy by reason, she says: “In vain, Medea, dost +thou resist; some God, who, I know not, is opposing thee. It is a wonder +too, if it is not this, or at least something like this, which is called +‘love.’ For why do the commands of my father appear too rigid for me? +and yet too rigid they are. Why am I in dread, lest he whom I have seen +{but} so lately, should perish? What is the cause of alarm so great? +Banish the flames conceived in thy virgin breast, if thou canst, unhappy +{creature}. If I could, I would be more rational. But a new power draws +me on, against my will; and Cupid persuades one thing, reason another. +I see which is the more proper {course}, and I approve of it, {while} I +follow the wrong one. Why, royal maiden, art thou burning for a +stranger, and why coveting the nuptial ties of a strange country? This +land, too, may give thee something which thou mayst love. Whether he +shall live, or whether die, is in {the disposal of} the Gods. Yet he may +survive; and that I may pray for, even without love. For what {fault} +has Jason committed? Whom, but one of hard heart, would not the +{youthful} age of Jason affect? his descent too, and his valor? Whom, +though these other points were wanting, would not his beauty move? at +least, he has moved my breast. But unless I shall give him aid, he will +be breathed upon by the mouths of the bulls; and will engage with his +own {kindred} crops, an enemy sprung from the earth; or he will be given +as a cruel prey to the ravenous dragon. If I allow this, then I will +confess that I was born of a tigress; then, {too}, that I carry steel +and stone in my heart. Why do I not as well behold him perish? Why not, +too, profane my eyes by seeing it? Why do I not stimulate the bulls +against him, and the fierce sons of the earth, and the never-sleeping +dragon? May the Gods award better things. And yet these things are not +to be prayed for, but must be effected by myself. Shall I {then} betray +the kingdom of my father? and by my aid shall some stranger, I know not +who, be saved; that being delivered by my means, he may spread his sails +to the winds without me, and be the husband of another; and I, Medea, be +left for punishment? If he can do this, and if he is capable of +preferring another to me, let him perish in his ingratitude. But not +such is his countenance, not such that nobleness of soul, that +gracefulness of person, that I should fear treachery, and forgetfulness +of what I deserve. Besides, he shall first pledge his faith, and I will +oblige the Gods to be witnesses of our compact. What then dost thou +dread, {thus} secure? Haste {then},[5] and banish {all} delay. Jason +will ever be indebted to thee for his preservation; thee will he unite +to himself in the rites of marriage, and throughout the Pelasgian +cities[6] thou wilt be celebrated by crowds of matrons, as the preserver +{of their sons}. And shall I then, borne away by the winds, leave my +sister[7] and my brother,[8] and my father, and my Gods, and my native +soil? My father is cruel, forsooth; my country, too, is barbarous;[9] my +brother is still {but} an infant; the wishes of my sister are in my +favor. The greatest of the Gods is in possession of me. I shall not be +relinquishing anything great; I shall be pursuing what is great; the +credit of saving the youth of Greece,[10] acquaintance with a better +country, and cities, whose fame is flourishing even here, and the +politeness and the arts of their inhabitants; and the son of Æson, whom +I could be ready to take in exchange for {all} the things that the whole +world contains; with whom for my husband I shall both be deemed dear to +the Gods, and shall reach the stars with my head. Why say that I know +not what mountains[11] are reported to arise in the midst of the waves, +and that Charybdis, an enemy to ships, one while sucks in the sea, at +another discharges it; and how that Scylla, begirt with furious dogs, is +said to bark in the Sicilian deep? Yet holding him whom I love, and +clinging to the bosom of Jason, I shall be borne over the wide seas; +embracing him, naught will I dread; or if I fear anything, for my +husband alone will I fear. And dost thou, Medea, call this a marriage, +and dost thou give a plausible name to thy criminality? Do but consider +how great an offence thou art meditating, and, while {still} thou mayst, +fly from guilt.” + +{Thus} she said, and before her eyes stood Virtue, Affection, and +Modesty; and now Cupid turned his vanquished back. She was going to the +ancient altars of Hecate,[12] the daughter of Perses, which a shady +grove and the recesses of a wood concealed. And now she was resolved, +and her passion being checked, had subsided; when she beheld the son of +Æson, and the extinguished flame revived. Her cheeks were covered with +blushes, and her whole face was suffused with a glow. As a spark is wont +to derive nourishment from the winds, which, but small when it lay +concealed beneath the ashes cast over it, {is wont} to increase, and +aroused, to rise again to its original strength, so her love, now +declining, which you would suppose was now growing languid, when she +beheld the youth, was rekindled with the appearance of him before her +eyes. And by chance, on that day, the son of Æson was more beauteous +than usual. You might forgive her loving him. She gazes; and keeps her +eyes fixed upon his countenance, as though but now seen for the first +time; and in her frenzy she thinks she does not behold the face of a +mortal; nor does she turn away from him. But when the stranger began to +speak, and seized her right hand, and begged her assistance with a +humble voice, and promised her marriage; she said, with tears running +down, “I see what I ought to do; and it will not be ignorance of the +truth, but love that beguiles me. By my agency thou shalt be saved; when +saved, grant what thou hast promised.” + +He swears by the rites of the Goddess of the triple form, and the Deity +which is in that grove, and by the sire[13] of his future father-in-law, +who beholds all things, and by his own adventures, and by dangers so +great. Being believed {by her}, he immediately received some enchanted +herbs, and thoroughly learned the use of them, and went away rejoicing +to his abode. The next morning had {now} dispersed the twinkling stars, +{when} the people repaired to the sacred field of Mavors, and ranged +themselves on the hills. In the midst of the assembly sat the king +himself, arrayed in purple, and distinguished by a sceptre of ivory. +Behold! the brazen-footed bulls breathe forth flames[14] from their +adamantine nostrils; and the grass touched by the vapors is on fire. And +as the forges filled {with fire} are wont to roar, or when flints[15] +dissolved in an earthen furnace receive intense heat by the sprinkling +of flowing water; so do their breasts rolling forth the flames enclosed +within, and their scorched throats, resound. Yet the son of Æson goes +forth to meet them. The fierce {bulls} turn their terrible features, and +their horns pointed with iron, towards his face as he advances, and with +cloven hoofs they spurn the dusty ground, and fill the place with +lowings, that send forth clouds of smoke. The Minyæ are frozen with +horror. He comes up, and feels not the flames breathed forth by them, so +great is the power of the incantations. He even strokes their hanging +dewlaps with a bold right hand, and, subjected to the yoke, he obliges +them to draw the heavy weight of a plough, and to turn up with the share +the plain {till now} unused to it.[16] + +The Colchians are astonished; the Minyæ fill {the air} with their +shouts, and give him {fresh} courage. Then in a brazen helmet he takes +the dragon’s teeth,[17] and strews them over the ploughed up fields. The +ground, impregnated beforehand with a potent drug, softens the seed; and +the teeth that were sown grow up, and become new bodies. And as the +infant receives the human form in the womb of the mother, and is there +formed in all its parts, and comes not forth into the common air until +at maturity, so when the figure of man is ripened in the bowels of the +pregnant earth, it arises in the fruitful plain; and, what is still more +surprising, it brandishes arms produced at the same time. When the +Pelasgians saw them preparing to hurl their spears with sharp points at +the head of the Hæmonian youth, they lowered their countenances and +their courage, {quailing} with fear. She, too, became alarmed, who had +rendered him secure; and when she saw the youth, being but one, attacked +by so many enemies, she turned pale, and suddenly chilled {with fear}, +sat down without blood {in her cheeks}. And, lest the herbs that had +been given by her, should avail him but little, she repeats an auxiliary +charm, and summons {to her aid} her secret arts. He, hurling a heavy +stone into the midst of his enemies, turns the warfare, now averted from +himself, upon themselves. The Earth-born brothers perish by mutual +wounds, and fall in civil fight. The Greeks congratulate him, and caress +the conqueror, and cling to him in hearty embraces. And thou too, +barbarian maiden, wouldst fain have embraced him; ’twas modesty that +opposed the design; otherwise thou wouldst have embraced him; but regard +for thy reputation restrained thee from doing so. What thou mayst do, +{thou dost do}; thou rejoicest with a silent affection, and thou givest +thanks to thy charms, and to the Gods, the authors of them. + +It {still} remains to lay asleep with herbs the watchful dragon, who, +distinguished by his crest and his three tongues, and terrible with his +hooked teeth, is the keeper of the Golden Fleece. After he has sprinkled +him with herbs of Lethæan juice,[18] and has thrice repeated words that +cause placid slumbers, which {would even calm} the boisterous ocean, +{and} which would stop the rapid rivers, sleep creeps upon the eyes that +were strangers to it, and the hero, the son of Æson, gains the gold; and +proud of the spoil and bearing with him the giver of the prize as a +second spoil, he arrives victorious, with his wife, at the port of +Iolcos.[19] + + [Footnote 1: _The Minyæ._--Ver. 1. The Argonauts. The Minyæ were a + people of Thessaly, so called from Minyas, the son of Orchomenus.] + + [Footnote 2: _Pagasæan ship._--Ver. 1. Pagasæ was a seaport of + Thessaly, at the foot of Mount Pelion, where the ship Argo was + built.] + + [Footnote 3: _Distressed old man._--Ver. 4. Clarke translates + ‘miseri senis ore,’ ‘from the mouth of the miserable old fellow.’] + + [Footnote 4: _Daughter of Æetes._--Ver. 9. Medea was the daughter + of Æetes, the king of Colchis. Juno, favoring Jason, had persuaded + Venus to inspire Medea with love for him.] + + [Footnote 5: _Haste then._--Ver. 47. Clarke translates + ‘accingere,’ more literally than elegantly, ‘buckle to.’] + + [Footnote 6: _Pelasgian cities._--Ver. 49. Pelasgia was properly + that part of Greece which was afterwards called Thessaly. The + province of Pelasgiotis, in Thessaly, afterwards retained its + name, which was derived from the Pelasgi, an early people of + Greece. Pliny informs us that Peloponnesus at first had the names + of ‘Apia’ and ‘Pelasgia.’ Some suppose that the Pelasgi derived + their name from Pelasgus, the son of Jupiter; while other writers + assert that they were so called from πελαργοὶ, ‘storks,’ from + their wandering habits. The name is frequently used, as in the + present instance, to signify the whole of the Greeks.] + + [Footnote 7: _My sister._--Ver. 51. Her sister was Chalciope, who + had married Phryxus, after his arrival in Colchis. Her children + being found by Jason, in the isle of Dia, they came with him to + Colchis, and presented him to their mother, who afterwards + commended him to the care of Medea.] + + [Footnote 8: _And my brother._--Ver. 51. Her brother was Absyrtus, + whose tragical death is afterwards mentioned.] + + [Footnote 9: _Is barbarous._--Ver. 53. It was certainly ‘barbara’ + in the eyes of a Greek; but the argument sounds rather oddly in + the mouth of Medea, herself a native of the country.] + + [Footnote 10: _The youth of Greece._--Ver. 56. These were the + Argonauts, who were selected from the most noble youths of + Greece.] + + [Footnote 11: _What mountains._--Ver. 63. These were the Cyanean + rocks, or Symplegades, at the mouth of the Euxine sea.] + + [Footnote 12: _Hecate._--Ver. 74. Ancient writers seem to have + been much divided in opinion who Hecate was. Ovid here follows the + account which made her to be the daughter of Perses, who, + according to Diodorus Siculus, was the son of Phœbus, and the + brother of Æetes. Marrying her uncle Æetes, she is said to have + been the mother of Circe, Medea, and Absyrtus. By some writers she + is confounded with the Moon and with Proserpine; as identical with + the Moon, she has the epithets ‘Triceps’ and ‘Triformis,’ often + given to her by the poets, because the Moon sometimes is full, + sometimes disappears, and often shows but part of her disk.] + + [Footnote 13: _And by the sire._--Ver. 96. Allusion is made to the + Sun, who was said to be the father of Æetes, the destined + father-in-law of Jason.] + + [Footnote 14: _Breathe forth flames._--Ver. 104. The name of the + God of fire is here used to signify that element. Apollodorus + says, that Medea gave Jason a drug (φάρμακον) to rub over himself + and his armor.] + + [Footnote 15: _Or when flints._--Ver. 107. It is difficult to + determine whether ‘silices’ here means ‘flint-stones,’ or + ‘lime-stone;’ probably the latter, from the mention of water + sprinkled over them. If the meaning is ‘flint-stones,’ the passage + may refer to the manufacture of glass, with the art of making + which the ancients were perfectly acquainted.] + + [Footnote 16: _Unused to it._--Ver. 119. Because, being sacred to + Mars, it was not permitted to be ploughed.] + + [Footnote 17: _Dragon’s teeth._--Ver. 122. These were a portion of + the teeth of the dragon slain by Cadmus, which Mars and Minerva + had sent to Æetes.] + + [Footnote 18: _Lethæan juice._--Ver. 152. Lethe was a river of the + infernal regions, whose waters were said to produce sleep and + forgetfulness.] + + [Footnote 19: _Port of Iolcos._--Ver. 158. Iolcos was a city of + Thessaly, of which country Jason was a native.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + To understand this story, one of the most famous in the early history + of Greece, we must go back to the origin of it, and examine the + fictions which the poets have mingled with the history of the + expedition of the Argonauts, one of the most remarkable events of the + fabulous ages. + + Athamas, the son of Æolus, grandson of Hellen, and great-grandson of + Deucalion, having married Ino, the daughter of Cadmus, was obliged to + divorce her, on account of the madness with which she was attacked. He + afterwards married Nephele, by whom he had a son and daughter, Phryxus + and Helle; but on his taking his first wife again, she brought him two + sons, Learchus and Melicerta. Ino, hating the children of Nephele, + sought to destroy them. Phryxus being informed thereof, ordered a ship + to be privately prepared; and taking his father’s treasures, sailed + with his sister Helle, to seek a retreat in the court of Æetes, his + kinsman. Helle died on the voyage, but Phryxus arrived in Colchis, + where he dedicated the prow of his ship to Neptune, or Jupiter. He + there married Chalciope, by whom he had four sons, Argos, Phrontes, + Molas, and Cylindus. Some years after, Æetes caused him to be + assassinated; and his sons fleeing to the court of their grandfather, + Athamas, were shipwrecked on an island, where they remained until + found there by Jason, who took them back to their mother. Having + mourned them as dead, she was transported with joy on finding them, + and used every exertion to aid Jason in promoting his addresses to + Medea. Æetes having seized the treasures of Athamas on the death of + Phryxus, the Greeks prepared an expedition to recover them, and to + avenge his death. Pelias, who had driven his brother Æson from the + throne of Iolcos, desiring to procure the absence of his son Jason, + took this opportunity of engaging him in an enterprise, which promised + both glory, profit, and a large amount of personal exertion. The + uneasiness which Pelias felt was caused by the prediction of an + oracle, that he should be killed by a prince of the family of Æolus, + and which warned him to beware of a person who should have but one + shoe. Just at that period, Jason, returning from the school of Chiron, + lost one of his shoes in crossing a river. On this, his uncle was + desirous to destroy him; but not daring to do so publicly, he induced + him to embark with the Argonauts, expecting that he would perish in an + undertaking of so perilous a nature. Many young nobles of Greece + repaired to the court of Iolcos, and joined in the undertaking, when + they chose Jason for their leader, and embarked in a ship, the name of + which was Argo, and from which the adventurers received the name of + Argonauts. + + Diodorus Siculus says, that the ship was so named from its swiftness; + while others say, that it was so called from Argus, the name of its + builder, or from the Argives, or Greeks, on board of it. Bochart, + however, supposes, that the name is derived from the Phœnician word + ‘arco,’ which signifies ‘long,’ and suggests, that before that time + the Greeks sailed in vessels of a rounder form, Jason being the first + who sailed in a ship built in the form of a galley. After many + adventures, on arriving at the Isle of Lemnos, they found that the + women had killed their husbands in a fit of jealousy, on which the + Argonauts took wives from their number, and Jason received for his + companion Hypsipyle, the daughter of Thoas. Putting to sea again, they + were driven on the coast of Bithynia, where they delivered Phineus, + its king, from the persecution of the Harpies, who were in the habit + of snatching away the victuals from his table. These monsters, of + hideous form, with crooked beaks and talons, huge wings, and the faces + of women, the Argonauts, and especially Calais and Zethes, pursued as + far as the islands called Strophades, in the Ionian sea, where Iris + appearing to them, enjoined them to pursue the Harpies no further, + promising that Phineus should no longer be persecuted by them. To + explain this story, some suppose that the Harpies were the daughters + of Phineus, who by their dissipation and extravagance, had ruined him + in his old age, which occasioned the saying, that they snatched the + victuals out of his mouth. Le Clerc thinks, that the Harpies were vast + swarms of grasshoppers, which ravaged all Paphlagonia, and caused a + famine in the dominions of Phineus; the word ‘arbati,’ whence the term + ‘Harpy’ is derived, signifying ‘a grasshopper;’ and that the North + wind blowing them into the Ionian sea, it gave rise to the saying, + that the sons of Boreas pursued them so far. Diodorus Siculus does not + mention the Harpies, though he speaks of the arrival of the Argonauts + at the court of Phineus. + + After some other adventures, the Argonauts arrived at Colchis. Æetes, + or Æeta, the king, having been forewarned by an oracle, that a + stranger should deprive him of his crown and life, had established a + custom of sacrificing all strangers found in his dominions. His + daughter Medea, falling in love with Jason, promised him her + assistance in preserving them from the dangers to which they were + exposed, on the condition of his marrying her. Having engaged to do + so, she conducted him by night to the royal palace, and gave him a + false key, by means whereof he found the royal treasures, and carrying + them off, embarked with Medea and his companions. By way of explaining + the miraculous portion of the story, we may, perhaps, not err in + supposing, that the account of it was originally written in the + Phœnician language; and through not understanding it, the Greeks + invented the fiction of the Fleece, the Dragon, and the Fiery Bulls. + Bochart and Le Clerc have observed, that the Syriac word ‘gaza,’ + signifies either ‘a treasure,’ or ‘a fleece.’ ‘Saur,’ which means ‘a + wall,’ also means ‘a bull;’ and in the same language the same word, + ‘nachas,’ signifies both ‘brass,’ ‘iron,’ and ‘a dragon.’ Hence, + instead of the simple narrative, that Jason, by the aid of Medea, + carried away the treasures which Æetes kept within walls, with bolts, + or locks of metal, and which Phryxus had carried to Colchis in a ship + with the figure of a ram at the prow, it was published, and circulated + by the ignorant, that the Gods, to save Phryxus from his stepmother, + sent him a sheep with a golden fleece, which bore him to Colchis; that + its fleece became the object of the ambition of the leading men of + Greece; and that whoever wished to bear it away was obliged to contend + with bulls and dragons. Some historians, by way of interpreting the + story, affirm, that the keeper of the treasures was named ‘Draco,’ or + ‘Dragon,’ and that the garrison of the stronghold of Æetes was brought + from the ‘Tauric’ Chersonesus. They say also, that the fleece was the + skin of the sheep which Phryxus had sacrificed to Neptune, which he + had caused to be gilt. It is not, however, very likely, that an object + so trifling could have excited the avarice of the Greeks, and caused + them to undertake an expedition accompanied with so many dangers. The + dragon’s teeth most probably bear reference to some foreign troops + which Jason, in the same way as Cadmus had done, found means to + alienate from Æetes, and to bring over to his own side. Homer makes + but very slight allusion to the adventures of the Argonauts. + + +FABLE II. [VII.159-349] + + Jason, after his return home, requests Medea to restore his father + Æson to youth, which she performs; then, going to the court of Pelias, + she avenges the injuries which he had done to the family of Jason, by + making him the victim of the credulity of his own daughters, who, in + compliance with her pretended regard for them, stab him to death. + Medea, having executed her design, makes her escape in her chariot. + +The Hæmonian mothers and aged fathers bring presents, for receiving +their sons {safe home}; and frankincense dissolves, piled on the flames, +and the devoted victim falls, having its horns gilded. But Æson is not +among those congratulating, being now near death, and worn out with the +years of old age; when thus the son of Æson {addresses Medea}: “O wife, +to whom I confess that I owe my safety, although thou hast granted me +everything, and the sum of thy favors exceeds {all} belief; {still}, if +{thy enchantments} can effect this (and what can enchantments not +effect?), take away from my own years, and, when taken, add them to +{those of} my father.” + +And {thus saying}, he could not check his tears. She was moved with the +affection of the petitioner; and {her father}, Æetes, left behind, +recurred to her mind, unlike {that of Jason}; yet she did not confess +any such feelings. “What a piece of wickedness, husband,” said she, “has +escaped thy affectionate lips! Can I, then, seem capable of transferring +to any one a portion of thy life? May Hecate not allow of this; nor dost +thou ask what is reasonable; but, Jason, I will endeavor to grant thee a +favor {still} greater than that which thou art asking. By my arts we +will endeavor to bring back the long years of my father-in-law, and not +by means of thy years; if the Goddess of the triple form[20] do but +assist, and propitiously aid {so} vast an undertaking.” Three nights +were {now} wanting that the horns {of the Moon} might meet entirely, and +might form a {perfect} orb. After the Moon shone in her full, and looked +down upon the Earth, with her disk complete, {Medea} went forth from the +house, clothed in garments flowing loose, with bare feet,[21] and having +her unadorned hair hanging over her shoulders, and unattended, directed +her wandering steps through the still silence of midnight. Sound sleep +has {now} relaxed {the nerves of both} men, and birds, and beasts; the +hedges and the motionless foliage are still, without any noise, the dewy +air is still; the stars alone are twinkling; towards which, holding up +her arms, three times she turns herself about, three times she +besprinkles her hair with water taken from the stream; with three yells +she opens her mouth, and, her knee bending upon the hard ground, she +says, “O Night, most faithful to these my mysteries, and ye golden +Stars, who, with the Moon, succeed the fires of the day, and thou, +three-faced Hecate,[22] who comest conscious of my design, and ye charms +and arts of the enchanters, and thou, too, Earth, that dost furnish the +enchanters with powerful herbs; ye breezes, too, and winds, mountains, +rivers, and lakes, and all ye Deities of the groves, and all ye Gods of +night, attend here; through whose aid, whenever I will, the rivers run +back from their astonished banks to their sources, {and} by my charms I +calm the troubled sea, and rouse it when calm; I disperse the clouds, +and I bring clouds {upon the Earth}; I both allay the winds, and I raise +them; and I break the jaws of serpents with my words and my spells; +I move, too, the solid rocks, and the oaks torn up with their own +{native} earth, and the forests {as well}. I command the mountains, too, +to quake, and the Earth to groan, and the ghosts to come forth from +their tombs. Thee, too, O Moon, do I draw down, although the +Temesæan[23] brass relieves thy pangs. By my spells, also, the chariot +of my grandsire is rendered pale; Aurora, too, is pale through my +enchantments. For me did ye blunt the flames of the bulls, and with the +curving plough you pressed the necks that never before bore the yoke. +You raised a cruel warfare for those born of the dragon among +themselves, and you lulled to sleep the keeper {of the golden fleece}, +that had never known sleep; and {thus}, deceiving the guardian, you sent +the treasure into the Grecian cities. Now there is need of juices, by +means of which, old age, being renewed, may return to the bloom {of +life}, and may receive back again its early years; and {this} ye will +give me; for not in vain did the stars {just now} sparkle; nor yet in +vain is the chariot come, drawn by the necks of winged dragons.” + +A chariot sent down from heaven was come; which, soon as she had +mounted, and had stroked the harnessed necks of the dragons, and had +shaken the light reins with her hands, she was borne aloft, and looked +down upon Thessalian Tempe below her, and guided her dragons towards the +chalky regions;[24] and observed the herbs which Ossa, and which the +lofty Pelion bore, Othrys, too, and Pindus, and Olympus {still} greater +than Pindus; and part she tore up by the root gently worked, part she +cut down with the bend of a brazen sickle.[25] Many a herb, too, that +grew on the banks of Apidanus[26] pleased her; many, too, {on the banks} +of Amphrysus; nor, Enipeus, didst thou escape. The Peneian waters, and +the Spercheian as well, contributed something, and the rushy shores of +Bœbe.[27] She plucks, too, enlivening herbs by the Eubœan Anthedon,[28] +not yet commonly known by the change of the body of Glaucus.[29] And now +the ninth day,[30] and the ninth night had seen her visiting all the +fields in her chariot, and upon the wings of the dragons, when she +returned; nor had the dragons been fed, but with the odors {of the +plants}: and yet they cast the skin of old age full of years. On her +arrival she stood without the threshold and the gates, and was canopied +by the heavens alone, and avoided the contact of her husband, and +erected two altars of turf; on the right hand, one to Hecate, but on the +left side one to Youth.[31] After she had hung them round with vervain +and forest boughs, throwing up the earth from two trenches not far off, +she performed the rites, and plunged a knife into the throat of a black +ram, and besprinkled the wide trenches with blood. Then pouring thereon +goblets[32] of flowing wine, and pouring brazen goblets of warm milk; +she at the same time utters words, and calls upon the Deities of the +earth, and entreats the king of the shades[33] below, together with his +ravished wife, that they will not hasten to deprive the aged limbs of +life. When she had rendered them propitious both by prayers and +prolonged mutterings, she commanded the exhausted body of Æson to be +brought out to the altars, and stretched it cast into a deep sleep by +her charms, {and} resembling one dead, upon the herbs laid beneath him. + +She orders the son of Æson to go far thence, and the attendants, too, to +go afar; and warns them to withdraw their profane eyes from her +mysteries. At her order, they retire. Medea, with dishevelled hair, goes +round the blazing altars like a worshipper of Bacchus, and dips her +torches, split into many parts, in the trench, black with blood, and +lights them, {thus} dipt, at the two altars. And thrice does she[34] +purify the aged man with flames, thrice with water, and thrice with +sulphur. In the meantime the potent mixture[35] is boiling and heaving +in the brazen cauldron, placed {on the flames}, and whitens with +swelling froth. There she boils roots cut up in the Hæmonian valleys, +and seeds and flowers and acrid juices. She adds stones fetched from the +most distant East, and sand, which the ebbing tide of the ocean has +washed. She adds, too, hoar-frost gathered at night by the light of the +moon, and the ill-boding wings of a screech owl,[36] together with its +flesh; and the entrails of an ambiguous wolf, that was wont to change +its appearance of a wild beast into {that of} a man. Nor is there +wanting there the thin scaly slough of the Cinyphian water-snake,[37] +and the liver of the long-lived stag;[38] to which, besides, she adds +the bill and head of a crow that had sustained {an existence of} nine +ages. When, with these and a thousand other things without a name, the +barbarian {princess} has completed the medicine prepared for the mortal +{body}, with a branch of the peaceful olive long since dried up, she +stirs them all up, and blends the lowest {ingredients} with the highest. +Behold! the old branch, turned about in the heated cauldron, at first +becomes green; and after no long time assumes foliage, and is suddenly +loaded with heavy olives. Besides, wherever the fire throws the froth +from out of the hollow cauldron, and the boiling drops fall upon the +earth, the ground becomes green, and flowers and soft grass spring up. + +Soon as Medea sees this, she opens the throat[39] of the old man with a +drawn sword; and allowing the former blood to escape, replenishes {his +veins} with juices. Soon as Æson has drunk them in, either received in +his mouth or in his wound, his beard and his hair[40] laying aside their +hoariness, assume a black hue. His leanness flies, being expelled; his +paleness and squalor are gone. His hollow veins are supplied with +additional blood, and his limbs become instinct with vigor. Æson is +astonished, and calls to recollection that he was such four times ten +years before. + +Liber had beheld from on high the miraculous operations of so great a +prodigy; and taught {thereby} that youthful years can be restored to his +nurses,[41] he requests this present from the daughter of Æetes.[42] + +And that her arts[43] may not cease, the Phasian feigns a counterfeited +quarrel with her husband, and flies as a suppliant to the threshold of +Pelias[44] and (as he himself is oppressed with old age) his daughters +receive her; whom, after a short time, the crafty Colchian engages to +herself by the appearance of a pretended friendship. And while among the +greatest of her merits, she relates that the infirmities of Æson have +been removed, and is dwelling upon that part {of the story}, a hope is +suggested to the damsels, the daughters of Pelias, that by the like art +their parent may become young again; and this they request {of her}, and +repeatedly entreat her to name her own price. For a short time she is +silent, and appears to be hesitating, and keeps their mind in suspense, +as they ask, with an affected gravity. + +Afterwards, when she has promised them, she says, “That there may be the +greater confidence in this my skill, the leader of the flock among your +sheep, which is the most advanced in age, shall become a lamb by this +preparation.” Immediately, a fleecy {ram}, enfeebled by innumerable +years, is brought, with his horns bending around his hollow temples; +whose withered throat, when she has cut with the Hæmonian knife, and +stained the steel with its scanty blood, the enchantress plunges the +limbs of the sheep, and her potent juices together, into the hollow +copper. The limbs of his body are lessened, and he puts off his horns, +and his years together with his horns; and in the midst of the kettle a +low bleating is heard. And without any delay, while they are wondering +at the bleating, a lamb springs forth, and gambols in its course, and +seeks the suckling dugs. The daughters of Pelias are amazed; and after +her promises have obtained her credit, then, indeed, they urge her still +more strongly. Phœbus had thrice taken the yoke off his horses sinking +in the Iberian sea;[45] and upon the fourth night the radiant stars were +twinkling, when the deceitful daughter of Æetes set pure water upon a +blazing fire, and herbs without any virtue. And now sleep like to death, +their bodies being relaxed, had seized the king, and the guards together +with their king, which her charms and the influence of her enchanting +tongue had caused. The daughters {of the king}, {as} ordered, had +entered the threshold, together with the Colchian, and had surrounded +the bed; “Why do you hesitate now, in your indolence? Unsheathe your +swords,” says she, “and exhaust the ancient gore, that I may replenish +his empty veins with youthful blood. The life and the age of your father +is now in your power. If you have any affection and cherish not vain +hopes, perform your duty to your father, and drive away old age with +your weapons, and, thrusting in the steel, let out his corrupted blood.” + +Upon this exhortation, as each of them is affectionate, she becomes +especially undutiful, and that she may not be wicked, she commits +wickedness. Yet not one is able to look upon her own blow; and they +turn away their eyes, and turning away their faces, they deal chance +blows with their cruel right hands. He, streaming with gore, yet raises +his limbs on his elbows, and, half-mangled, attempts to rise from the +couch; and in the midst of so many swords stretching forth his pale +arms, he says, “What are you doing, my daughters? What arms you against +the life of your parent?” Their courage and their hands fail {them}. As +he is about to say more, the Colchian severs his throat, together with +his words, and plunges him, {thus} mangled, in the boiling cauldron. + + [Footnote 20: _Of the triple form._--Ver. 177. Hecate, the Goddess + of enchantment.] + + [Footnote 21: _With bare feet._--Ver. 183. To have the feet bare + was esteemed requisite for the due performance of magic rites, + though sometimes on such occasions, and probably in the present + instance, only one foot was left unshod. In times of drought, + according to Tertullian, a procession and ceremonial, called + ‘nudipedalia,’ were resorted to, with a view to propitiate the + Gods by this token of grief and humiliation.] + + [Footnote 22: _Three-faced Hecate._--Ver. 194. Though Hecate and + the Moon are here mentioned as distinct, they are frequently + considered to have been the same Deity, with different attributes. + The three heads with which Hecate was represented were those of a + horse, a dog, and a pig, or sometimes, in the place of the latter, + a human head.] + + [Footnote 23: _Temesæan._--Ver. 207. Temesa was a town of the + Brutii, on the coast of Etruria, famous for its copper mines. It + was also sometimes called Tempsa. There was also another Temesa, + a city of Cyprus, also famous for its copper.] + + [Footnote 24: _Chalky regions._--Ver. 223. Such was the + characteristic of the mountainous country of Thessaly, where she + now alighted.] + + [Footnote 25: _Brazen sickle._--Ver. 227. We learn from Macrobius + and Cælius Rhodiginus that copper was preferred to iron in cutting + herbs for the purposes of enchantment, in exorcising spirits, and + in aiding the moon in eclipses against the supposed charms of the + witches, because it was supposed to be a purer metal.] + + [Footnote 26: _Apidanus._--Ver. 228. This and Amphrysus were + rivers of Thessaly.] + + [Footnote 27: _Shores of Bœbe._--Ver. 231. Strabo makes mention of + lake Bœbeis, near the town of Bœbe, in Thessaly. It was not far + from the mouth of the river Peneus.] + + [Footnote 28: _Anthedon._--Ver. 232. This was a town of Bœotia, + opposite to Eubœa, being situated on the Euripus, now called the + straits of Negropont.] + + [Footnote 29: _Glaucus._--Ver. 233. He was a fisherman, who was + changed into a sea God, on tasting a certain herb. His story is + related at the end of the 13th Book.] + + [Footnote 30: _Ninth day._--Ver. 234. The numbers three and nine + seem to have been deemed of especial virtue in incantations.] + + [Footnote 31: _One to youth._--Ver. 241. This goddess was also + called Hebe, from the Greek word signifying youth. She was the + daughter of Juno, and the wife of Hercules. She was also the + cup-bearer of the Gods, until she was supplanted by Ganymede.] + + [Footnote 32: _Goblets._--Ver. 246. ‘Carchesia.’ The ‘carchesium’ + was a kind of drinking cup, used by the Greeks from very early + times. It was slightly contracted in the middle, and its two + handles extended from the top to the bottom. It was employed in + the worship of the Deities, and was used for libations of blood, + wine, milk, and honey. Macrobius says that it was only used by the + Greeks. Virgil makes mention of it as used to hold wine.] + + [Footnote 33: _King of the shades._--Ver. 249. Pluto and + Proserpine. Clarke translates this line and the next, ‘And prays + to the king of shades with his kidnapped wife, that they would not + be too forward to deprive the limbs of the old gentleman of + life.’] + + [Footnote 34: _Thrice does she._--Ver. 261. Clarke thus renders + this and the two following lines: ‘And purifies the old gentleman + three times with flame, three times with water, and three times + with sulphur. In the meantime the strong medicine boils, and + bounces about in a brazen kettle set on the fire.’] + + [Footnote 35: _The potent mixture._--Ver. 262. This reminds us of + the line of Shakespeare in Macbeth, ‘Make the hell-broth thick and + slab.’] + + [Footnote 36: _A screech owl._--Ver. 269. ‘Strigis.’ The ‘strix’ + is supposed to have been the screech owl, and was a favorite bird + with the enchanters, who were supposed to have the power of + assuming that form. From the description given of the ‘striges’ in + the Sixth Book of the Fasti, it would almost appear that the + qualities of the vampyre bat were attributed to them.] + + [Footnote 37: _Water snake._--Ver. 272. The ‘chelydrus’ was a + venomous water-snake of a powerful and offensive smell. The + Delphin Commentator seems to think that a kind of turtle is here + meant.] + + [Footnote 38: _Long-lived stag._--Ver. 273. The stag was said to + live four times, and the crow nine times, as long as man.] + + [Footnote 39: _Opened the throat._--Ver. 285-6. Clarke translates + the words ‘quod simul ac vidit, stricto Medea recludit Ense senis + jugulum,’ ‘which as soon as Medea saw, she opens the throat of the + old gentleman with a drawn sword.’] + + [Footnote 40: _And his hair._--Ver. 288. Medea is thought by some + writers not only to have discovered a dye for giving a dark color + to grey hair, but to have found out the invigorating properties of + the warm bath.] + + [Footnote 41: _To his nurses._--Ver. 295. These (in Book iii. + l. 314.) he calls by the name of Nyseïdes; but in the Fifth Book + of the Fasti they are styled Hyades, and are placed in the number + of the Constellations. A commentator on Homer, quoting from + Pherecydes, calls them ‘Dodonides.’] + + [Footnote 42: _Daughter of Æetes._--Ver. 296. The reading in most + of the MSS. here is Tetheiâ, or ‘Thetide;’ but Burmann has + replaced it by Æetide, ‘the daughter of Æetes.’ It has been justly + remarked, why should Bacchus apply to Tethys to have the age of + the Nymphs, who had nursed him, renewed, when he had just beheld + Medea, and not Tethys, do it in favor of Æson?] + + [Footnote 43: _That her arts._--Ver. 297. ‘Neve doli cessent’ is + translated by Clarke, ‘and that her tricks might not cease.’] + + [Footnote 44: _Pelias._--Ver. 298. He was the brother of Æson, and + had dethroned him, and usurped his kingdom.] + + [Footnote 45: _The Iberian sea._--Ver. 324. The Atlantic, or + Western Ocean, is thus called from Iberia, the ancient name of + Spain; which country, perhaps, was so called from the river + Iberus, or Ebro, flowing through it.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + The authors who have endeavored to explain the true meaning and origin + of the story of the restitution of Æson to youth, are much divided in + their opinions concerning it. Some think it refers to the mystery of + reviving the decrepit and aged by the transfusion of youthful blood. + It is, however, not improbable, that Medea obtained the reputation of + being a sorceress, only because she had been taught by her mother the + virtues of various plants: and that she administered a potion to Æson, + which furnished him with new spirits and strength. + + The daughters of Pelias being desirous to obtain the same favor of + Medea for their father, she, to revenge the evils which he had brought + upon her husband and his family, may possibly have mixed some venomous + herbs in his drink, which immediately killed him. + + +FABLE III. [VII.350-401] + + Medea, after having killed Pelias, goes through several countries to + Corinth, where, finding that Jason, in her absence, has married the + daughter of king Creon, she sets fire to the palace, whereby the + princess and her father are consumed. She then murders the two + children which she had by Jason, before his face, and takes to flight. + +And unless she had mounted into the air with winged dragons, she would +not have been exempt from punishment; she flies aloft, over both shady +Pelion, the lofty habitation[46] of the son of Phillyra, and over +Othrys, and the places noted for the fate of the ancient Cerambus.[47] +He, by the aid of Nymphs, being lifted on wings into the air, when the +ponderous earth was covered by the sea pouring over it, not being +overwhelmed, escaped the flood of Deucalion. On the left side, she +leaves the Æolian Pitane,[48] and the image of the long Dragon[49] made +out of stone, and the wood of Ida,[50] in which Bacchus hid a stolen +bullock beneath the appearance of a fictitious stag; {the spot} too, +where the father of Corythus[51] lies buried beneath a little sand, and +the fields which Mæra[52] alarmed by her unusual barking. + +The city, too, of Eurypylus,[53] in which the Coan matrons[54] wore +horns, at the time when the herd of Hercules[55] departed {thence}; +Phœbean Rhodes[56] also, and the Ialysian Telchines,[57] whose eyes[58] +corrupting all things by the very looking upon them, Jupiter utterly +hating, thrust beneath the waves of his brother. She passed, too, over +the Cartheian walls of ancient Cea,[59] where her father Alcidamas[60] +was destined to wonder that a gentle dove could arise from the body of +his daughter. + +After that, she beholds the lakes of Hyrie,[61] and Cycneian Tempe,[62] +which the swan that had suddenly become such, frequented. For there +Phyllius, at the request of the boy, had given him birds, and a fierce +lion tamed; being ordered, too, to subdue a bull, he had subdued him; +and being angry at his despising his love so often, he denied him, +{when} begging the bull as his last reward. The other, indignant, said, +“Thou shalt wish that thou hadst given it;” and {then} leaped from a +high rock. All imagined he had fallen; but, transformed into a swan, he +hovered in the air on snow-white wings. But his mother, Hyrie, not +knowing that he was saved, dissolved in tears, and formed a lake +{called} after her own name. + +Adjacent to these {places} is Pleuron;[63] in which Combe,[64] the +daughter of Ophis, escaped the wounds of her sons with trembling wings. +After that, she sees the fields of Calaurea,[65] sacred to Latona, +conscious of the transformation of their king, together with his wife, +into birds. Cyllene is on the right hand, on which Menephron[66] was +{one day} to lie with his mother, after the manner of savage beasts. Far +hence she beholds Cephisus,[67] lamenting the fate of his grandson, +changed by Apollo into a bloated sea-calf; and the house of Eumelus,[68] +lamenting his son in the air. + +At length, borne on the wings of her dragons, she reached the Pirenian +Ephyre.[69] Here, those of ancient times promulgated that in the early +ages mortal bodies were produced from mushrooms springing from rain. But +after the new-made bride was consumed, through the Colchian drugs, and +both seas beheld the king’s house on fire, her wicked sword was bathed +in the blood of her sons; and the mother, having {thus} barbarously +revenged herself, fled from the arms of Jason. Being borne hence by her +Titanian dragons,[70] she entered the city of Pallas, which saw thee, +most righteous Phineus,[71] and thee, aged Periphas,[72] flying +together, and the granddaughter of Polypemon[73] resting upon new-formed +wings. + + [Footnote 46: _Lofty habitation._--Ver. 352. The mountains of + Thessaly are so called, because Chiron, the son of the Nymph + Phillyra, lived there.] + + [Footnote 47: _Cerambus._--Ver. 353. Antoninus Liberalis, quoting + from Nicander, calls him Terambus, and says that he lived at the + foot of Mount Pelion; he incurred the resentment of the Nymphs, + who changed him into a scarabæus, or winged beetle. Flying to the + heights of Parnassus, at the time of the flood of Deucalion, he + thereby made his escape. Some writers say that he was changed into + a bird.] + + [Footnote 48: _Pitane._--Ver. 357. This was a town of Ætolia, in + Asia Minor, near the mouth of the river Caicus.] + + [Footnote 49: _The long dragon._--Ver. 358. He alludes, most + probably, to the story of the Lesbian changed into a dragon or + serpent, which is mentioned in the Eleventh book, line 58.] + + [Footnote 50: _Wood of Ida._--Ver. 359. This was the grove of Ida, + in Phrygia. It is supposed that he refers to the story of + Thyoneus, the son of Bacchus, who, having stolen an ox from some + Phrygian shepherds, was pursued by them; on which Bacchus, to + screen his son, changed the ox into a stag, and invested Thyoneus + with the garb of a hunter.] + + [Footnote 51: _Father of Corythus._--Ver. 361. Paris was the + father of Corythus, by Œnone. He was said to have been buried at + Cebrena, a little town of Phrygia, near Troy.] + + [Footnote 52: _Mæra._--Ver. 362. This was the name of the dog of + Icarius, the father of Erigone, who discovered the murder of his + master by the shepherds of Attica, and was made a Constellation, + under the name of the Dog-star. As, however, the flight of Medea + was now far distant from Attica, it is more likely that the Poet + refers to the transformation of some female, named Mæra, into a + dog, whose story has not come down to us; indeed, Lactantius + expresses this as his opinion. Burmann thinks that it refers to + the transformation of Hecuba, mentioned in the 13th book, line + 406; and that ‘Mæra’ is a corruption for some other name of + Hecuba.] + + [Footnote 53: _Eurypylus._--Ver. 363. He was a former king of the + Isle of Cos, in the Ægean Sea, and was much famed for his skill as + an augur.] + + [Footnote 54: _The Coan matrons._--Ver. 363. Lactantius says that + the women of Cos, extolling their own beauty as superior to that + of Venus, incurred the resentment of that Goddess, and were + changed by her into cows. Another version of the story is, that + these women, being offended at Hercules for driving the oxen of + Ægeon through their island, were very abusive, on which Juno + transformed them into cows: to this latter version reference is + made in the present passage.] + + [Footnote 55: _Hercules._--Ver. 364. He besieged and took the + chief city of the island, which was also called Cos; and having + slain Eurypylus, carried off his daughter Chalciope.] + + [Footnote 56: _Phœbean Rhodes._--Ver. 365. The island of Rhodes, + in the Mediterranean, off the coast of Asia Minor, was sacred to + the Sun, and was said never to be deserted by his rays.] + + [Footnote 57: _Ialysian Telchines._--Ver. 365. Ialysus was one of + the three most ancient cities of Rhodes, and was said to have been + founded by Ialysus, whose parent was the Sun. The Telchines, or + Thelchines, were a race supposed to have migrated thither from + Crete. They were persons of great artistic skill, on which account + they may, possibly, have obtained the character of being + magicians; such was the belief of Strabo.] + + [Footnote 58: _Whose eyes._--Ver. 366. The evil eye was supposed + by the ancients not only to have certain fascinating powers, but + to be able to destroy the beauty of any object on which it was + turned.] + + [Footnote 59: _Cea._--Ver. 368. This island, now Zia, is in the + Ægean sea, near Eubœa. Carthæa was a city there, the ruins of + which are still in existence.] + + [Footnote 60: _Alcidamas._--Ver. 369. Antoninus Liberalis says, + that Alcidamas lived not at Carthæa, but at Iülis, another city in + the Isle of Cea.] + + [Footnote 61: _Lakes of Hyrie._--Ver. 371. Hyrie was the mother of + Cycnus; and pining away with grief on the transformation of her + son, she was changed into a lake, called by her name.] + + [Footnote 62: _Cycneian Tempe._--Ver. 371. This was not Thessalian + Tempe, but a valley of Teumesia, or Teumesus, a mountain of + Bœotia.] + + [Footnote 63: _Pleuron._--Ver. 382. This was a city of Ætolia, + near Mount Curius. It was far distant from Bœotia and Lake Hyrie. + Some commentators, therefore, suggest that the reading should be + Brauron, a village of Attica, near the confines of Bœotia.] + + [Footnote 64: _Combe._--Ver. 383. She was the mother of the + Curetes of Ætolia, who, perhaps, received that name from Mount + Curius. There was another Combe, the daughter of Asopus, who + discovered the use of brazen arms, and was called Chalcis, from + that circumstance. She was said to have borne a hundred daughters + to her husband.] + + [Footnote 65: _Calaurea._--Ver. 384. This was an island between + Crete and the Peloponnesus, in the Saronic gulf, which was sacred + to Apollo. Latona resided there, having given Delos to Neptune in + exchange for it. Demosthenes died there.] + + [Footnote 66: _Menephron._--Ver. 386. Hyginus says, that he + committed incest both with his mother Blias, and with Cyllene, his + daughter.] + + [Footnote 67: _Cephisus._--Ver. 388. The river Cephisus, in + Bœotia, had a daughter, Praxithea. She was the wife of Erectheus, + and bore him eight sons, the fate of one of whom is perhaps here + referred to.] + + [Footnote 68: _Eumelus._--Ver. 390. He was the king of Patræ, on + the sea-coast of Achaia. Triptolemus visited him with his winged + chariot; on which, Antheas, the son of Eumelus, ascended it while + his father was sleeping, and falling from it, he was killed. He + is, probably, here referred to; and the reading should be ‘natum,’ + and not ‘natam.’ Some writers, however, suppose that his daughter + was changed into a bird.] + + [Footnote 69: _Pirenian Ephyre._--Ver. 391. Corinth was so called + from Ephyre, the daughter of Neptune, who was said to have lived + there. Its inhabitants were fabled to have sprung from mushrooms.] + + [Footnote 70: _Titanian dragons._--Ver. 398. Her dragons are so + called, either because, as Pindar says, they had sprung from the + blood of the Titans, or because, according to the Greek tradition, + the chariot and winged dragons had been sent to Medea by the Sun, + one of whose names was Titan.] + + [Footnote 71: _Phineus._--Ver. 399. Any further particulars of the + person here named are unknown. Some commentators suggest ‘Phini,’ + and that some female of the name of Phinis is alluded to, making + the adjective ‘justissime’ of the feminine gender.] + + [Footnote 72: _Periphas._--Ver. 400. He was a very ancient king of + Attica, before the time of Cecrops, and was said to have been + changed into an eagle by Jupiter, while his wife was transformed + into an osprey.] + + [Footnote 73: _Polypemon._--Ver. 401. This was a name of the + robber Procrustes, who was slain by Theseus. Halcyone, the + daughter of his son Scyron, having been guilty of incontinence, + was thrown into the sea by her father, on which she was changed + into a kingfisher, which bore her name.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + Jason being reconciled to the children of Pelias, gave the crown to + his son Acastus. Becoming tired of Medea, he married Glauce, or + Creüsa, the daughter of Creon, king of Corinth. Medea, hastening to + that place, left her two sons in the temple of Juno, and set fire to + Creon’s palace, where he and his daughter were consumed to ashes, + after which she killed her own children. Euripides, in his tragedy of + Medea, makes a chorus of Corinthian women say, that the Corinthians + themselves committed the murder, and that the Gods sent a plague on + the city, as a punishment for the deed. Pausanias also says, that the + tomb of Medea’s children, whom the Corinthians stoned to death, was + still to be seen in his time; and that the Corinthians offered + sacrifices there every year, to appease their ghosts, as the oracle + had commanded them. + + Apollodorus relates this story in a different manner. He says, that + Medea sent her rival a crown, dipped in a sort of gum of a combustible + nature; and that when Glauce had put it on her head, it began to burn + so furiously, that the young princess perished in the greatest misery. + Medea afterwards retired to Thebes, where Hercules engaged to give her + assistance against Jason, which promise, however, he failed to + perform. Going thence to Athens, she married Ægeus. + + The story of her winged dragons may, perhaps, be based on the fact, + that her ship was called ‘the Dragon.’ In recounting the particulars + of her flight, Ovid makes allusion to several stories by the way, the + most of which are entirely unknown to us. With regard to these + fictions, it may not be out of place to remark here, as affording a + key to many of them, that where a person escaped from any imminent + danger, it was published that he had been changed into a bird. If, to + avoid pursuit, a person hid himself in a cave, he was said to be + transformed into a serpent; and if he burst into tears, from excess of + grief, he was reported to have changed into a fountain; while, if a + damsel lost herself in a wood, she became a Nymph, or a Dryad. The + resemblance of names, also, gave rise to several fictions: thus, + Alopis was changed into a fox; Cygnus into a swan; Coronis into a + crow; and Cerambus into a horned beetle. As some few of the stories + here alluded to by Ovid, refer to historical events, it may be + remarked, that the account of the women of Cos being changed into + cows, is thought by some to have been founded on the cruel act of the + companions of Hercules, who sacrificed some of them to the Gods of the + country. The inhabitants of the Isle of Rhodes were said to have been + changed into rocks, because they perished in an inundation, which laid + a part of that island under water, and particularly the town of + Ialysus. The fruitfulness of the daughter of Alcidamas occasioned it + to be said, that she was changed into a dove. The rage of Mæra is + shown by her transformation into a bitch; and Arne was changed into a + daw, because, having sold her country, her avarice was well depicted + under the symbol of that bird, which, according to the popular + opinion, is fond of money. Phillyra, the mother of the Centaur Chiron, + was said to be changed into a linden-tree, probably because she + happened to bear the name of that tree, which in the Greek language is + called φιλύρα. + + +FABLE IV. [VII.402-468] + + Hercules chains the dog Cerberus, the guardian of the gates of the + Infernal Regions. Theseus, after his exploits at Corinth, arrives at + Athens, where Medea prepares a cup of poison for him. The king, + however, recognizing his son, just as he is about to drink, snatches + away the cup from him, while Medea flies in her chariot. Ægeus then + makes a festival, to celebrate the arrival and preservation of + Theseus. In the mean time, Minos, the king of Crete, solicits several + princes to assist him in a war against Athens, to revenge the death of + his son Androgeus, who had been murdered there. + +Ægeus, to be blamed for this deed alone, shelters her; and hospitality +is not enough, he also joins her {to himself} by the ties of marriage. +And now was Theseus, his son, arrived, unknown to his father, who, by +his valor, had established peace in the Isthmus between the two seas. +For his destruction Medea mingles the wolfsbane, which she once brought +with her from the shores of Scythia. This, they say, sprang from the +teeth of the Echidnean dog. There is a gloomy cave,[74] with a dark +entrance, {wherein} there is a descending path, along which the +Tirynthian hero dragged away Cerberus resisting, and turning his eyes +sideways from the day and the shining rays {of the Sun}, in chains +formed of adamant; he, filled with furious rage, filled the air with +triple barkings at the same moment, and sprinkled the verdant fields +with white foam. This, they suppose, grew solid, and, receiving the +nourishment of a fruitful and productive soil, acquired the power of +being noxious. Because, full of life, it springs up on the hard rock, +the rustics call it aconite.[75] + +This, by the contrivance of his wife, the father Ægeus himself presented +to his son,[76] as though to an enemy. Theseus had received the +presented cup with unsuspecting right hand, when his father perceived +upon the ivory hilt of his sword the tokens of his race,[77] and struck +the guilty {draught} from his mouth. She escaped death, having raised +clouds by her enchantments. + +But the father, although he rejoices at his son’s being safe, astonished +that so great a wickedness can be committed with so narrow an escape +from death, heats the altars with fires, and loads the Gods with gifts; +and the axes strike the muscular necks of the oxen having their horns +bound with wreaths. No day is said {ever} to have shone upon the people +of Erectheus more famous than that--the senators and the common people +keep up the festivity; songs, too, they sing, wine inspiring wit. “Thee, +greatest Theseus,” said they, “Marathon[78] admired for {shedding} the +blood of the Cretan bull; and that the husbandman ploughs Cromyon[79] in +safety from the boar, is thy procurement and thy work. By thy means the +country of Epidaurus saw the club-bearing son of Vulcan[80] fall; {and} +the banks of the river Cephisus[81] saw the cruel Procrustes {fall by +thee}. Eleusis, sacred to Ceres, beheld the death of Cercyon.[82] +Sinnis[83] fell too, who barbarously used his great powers; who was able +to bend {huge} beams, and used to pull pine trees from aloft to the +earth, destined to scatter {human} bodies far and wide. The road to +Alcathoë,[84] the Lelegeïan city, is now open in safety, Scyron[85] +being laid low {in death}: {and} the earth denies a resting-place, the +water, {too}, denies a resting-place to the bones of the robber +scattered piecemeal; these, long tossed about, length of time is +reported to have hardened into rocks. To {these} rocks the name of +Scyron adheres. If we should reckon up thy glorious deeds, and thy +years, thy actions would exceed thy years {in number}. For thee, bravest +{hero}, we make public vows: in thy honor do we quaff the draughts of +wine.” The palace rings with the acclamations of the populace, and the +prayers of those applauding; and there is no place sorrowing throughout +the whole city. + +And yet (so surely is the pleasure of no one unalloyed, and some anxiety +is {ever} interposing amid joyous circumstances), Ægeus does not have +his joy undisturbed, on receiving back his son. Minos prepares for war; +who, though he is strong in soldiers, strong in shipping, is still +strongest of all in the resentment of a parent, and, with retributive +arms, avenges the death of {his son} Androgeus. Yet, before the war, he +obtains auxiliary forces, and crosses the sea with a swift fleet, in +which he is accounted strong. On the one side, he joins Anaphe[86] to +himself; and the realms of Astypale; Anaphe by treaty, the realms of +Astypale by conquest; on the other side, the low Myconos, and the chalky +lands of Cimolus,[87] and the flourishing Cythnos, Scyros, and the level +Seriphos;[88] Paros, too, abounding in marble, and {the island} wherein +the treacherous Sithonian[89] betrayed the citadel, on receiving the +gold, which, in her covetousness, she had demanded. She was changed into +a bird, which even now has a passion for gold, the jackdaw {namely}, +black-footed, and covered with black feathers. + + [Footnote 74: _A gloomy cave._--Ver. 409. This cavern was called + Acherusia. It was situate in the country of the Mariandyni, near + the city of Heraclea, in Pontus, and was said to be the entrance + of the Infernal Regions. Cerberus was said to have been dragged + from Tartarus by Hercules, through this cave, which circumstance + was supposed to account for the quantity of aconite, or wolfsbane, + that grew there.] + + [Footnote 75: _Call it aconite._--Ver. 419. From the Greek ακόνη, + ‘a whetstone.’] + + [Footnote 76: _Presented to his son._--Ver. 420. Medea was anxious + to secure the succession to the throne of Athens to her son Medus, + and was therefore desirous to remove Theseus out of the way.] + + [Footnote 77: _Tokens of his race._--Ver. 423. Ægeus, leaving + Æthra at Trœzen, in a state of pregnancy, charged her, if she bore + a son, to rear him, but to tell no one whose son he was. He placed + his own sword and shoes under a large stone, and directed her to + send his son to him when he was able to lift the stone, and to + take them from under it; and he then returned to Athens, where he + married Medea. When Theseus had grown to the proper age, his + mother led him to the stone under which his father had deposited + his sword and shoes, which he raised with ease, and took them out. + It was, probably, by means of this sword that Ægeus recognized his + son in the manner mentioned in the text.] + + [Footnote 78: _Marathon._--Ver. 434. This was a town of Attica, + adjoining a plain of the same name, where the Athenians, under the + command of Miltiades, overthrew the Persians with immense + slaughter. The bull which Theseus slew there was presented by + Neptune to Minos. Being brought into Attica by Hercules, it laid + waste that territory until it was slain by Theseus.] + + [Footnote 79: _Cromyon._--Ver. 435. This was a village of the + Corinthian territory, which was infested by a wild boar of + enormous size, that slew both men and animals. It was put to death + by Theseus.] + + [Footnote 80: _Vulcan._--Ver. 437. By Antilia, Vulcan was the + father of Periphetes, a robber who infested Epidaurus, in the + Peloponnesus. He was so formidable with his club, that he was + called Corynetas, from κορύνη, the Greek for ‘a club.’] + + [Footnote 81: _Cephisus._--Ver. 438. Procrustes was a robber of + such extreme cruelty that he used to stretch out, or lop off, the + extremities of his captives, according as they were shorter or + longer than his bedstead. He infested the neighborhood of Eleusis, + in Attica, which was watered by the Cephisus. He was put to death + by Theseus.] + + [Footnote 82: _Cercyon._--Ver. 439. It was his custom to challenge + travellers to wrestle, and to kill them, if they declined the + contest, or were beaten in it. Theseus accepted his challenge; and + having overcome him, put him to death. Eleusis was especially + dedicated to Ceres; there the famous Eleusinian mysteries of that + Goddess were held.] + + [Footnote 83: _Sinnis._--Ver. 440. He was a robber of Attica, to + whom reference is made in the Ibis, line 409.] + + [Footnote 84: _Alcathoë._--Ver. 443. Megara, or Alcathoë, which + was founded by Lelex, was almost destroyed by Minos, and was + rebuilt by Alcathoüs, the son of Pelops. He, flying from his + father, on being accused of the murder of his brother Chrysippus, + retired to the city of Megara, where, having slain a lion which + was then laying waste that territory, he was held in the highest + veneration by the inhabitants.] + + [Footnote 85: _Scyron._--Ver. 443. This robber haunted the rocks + in the neighborhood of Megara, and used to insist on those who + became his guests washing his feet. This being done upon the + rocks, Scyron used to kick the strangers into the sea while so + occupied, where a tortoise lay ready to devour the bodies. Theseus + killed him, and threw his body down the same rocks, which derived + their name of Saronic, or Scyronic, from this robber.] + + [Footnote 86: _Anaphe._--Ver. 461. This, and the other islands + here named, were near the isle of Crete, and perhaps in those + times were subject to the sway of Minos.] + + [Footnote 87: _Cimolus._--Ver. 463. Pliny the Elder tells us, that + this island was famous for producing a clay which seems to have + had much the properties of soap. It was of a grayish white color, + and was also employed for medicinal purposes.] + + [Footnote 88: _Seriphos._--Ver. 464. Commentators are at a loss to + know why Seriphos should here have the epithet ‘plana,’ ‘level,’ + inasmuch as it was a very craggy island. It is probably a corrupt + reading.] + + [Footnote 89: _Sithonian._--Ver. 466. This was Arne, whose story + is referred to in the Explanation, p. 242 / p. 270.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + If it is the fact, as many antiquarians suppose, that much of the + Grecian mythology was derived from that of the Egyptians, there can be + but little doubt that their system of the Elysian Fields and the + Infernal Regions was derived from the Egyptian notions on the future + state of man. The story too, of Cerberus is, perhaps, based upon the + custom of the Egyptians, who kept dogs to guard the fields or caverns + in which they kept their mummies. + + It is, however, very possible that the story of Cerberus may have been + founded upon a fact, or what was believed to be such. There was a + serpent which haunted the cavern of Tænarus, in Laconia, and ravaged + the districts adjacent to that promontory. This cave, being generally + considered to be one of the avenues to the kingdom of Pluto, the poets + thence derived the notion that this serpent was the guardian of its + portals. Pausanias observes, that Homer was the first who said that + Cerberus was a dog; though, in reality, he was a serpent, whose name + in the Greek language signified ‘one that devours flesh.’ The story + that Cerberus, with his foam, poisoned the herbs that grew in + Thessaly, and that the aconite and other poisonous plants were ever + after common there, is probably based on the simple fact, that those + herbs were found in great quantities in that region. + + Women, using these herbs in their pretended enchantments, gave ground + for the stories of the witches of Thessaly, and of their ability to + bring the moon down to the earth by their spells and incantations; + which latter notion was probably based on the circumstance, that these + women used to invoke the Night and the Moon as witnesses of their + magical operations. + + +FABLE V. [VII.469-613] + + Minos, having engaged several powers in his interest, and having been + refused by others, goes to the island of Ægina, where Æacus reigns, + to endeavor to secure an alliance with that prince; but without + success. Upon his departure, Cephalus arrives, as ambassador, from + Athens, and obtains succors from the king; who gives him an account of + the desolation which a pestilence had formerly made in his country, + and of the surprising manner in which it had been re-peopled. + +But Oliaros,[90] and Didyme, and Tenos,[91] and Andros,[92] and +Gyaros,[93] and Peparethos, fruitful in the smooth olive,[94] do not aid +the Gnossian ships. Then Minos makes for Œnopia,[95] the kingdom of +Æacus, lying to the left. The ancients called it Œnopia, but Æacus +himself called it Ægina, from the name of his mother. The multitude +rushes forth, and desires greatly to know a man of so great celebrity. +Both Telamon,[96] and Peleus, younger than Telamon, and Phocus, the +{king’s} third son, go to meet him. Æacus himself, too, {though} slow +through the infirmity of old age, goes forth, and asks him what is the +reason of his coming? The ruler of a hundred cities, being put in mind +of his fatherly sorrow {for his son}, sighs, and gives him this answer: +“I beg thee to assist arms taken up on account of my son; and be a party +in a war of affection. For his shades do I demand satisfaction.” To him +the grandson of Asopus says, “Thou askest in vain, and for a thing not +to be done by my city; for, indeed, there is no land more closely allied +to the people of Cecropia. Such are {the terms of} our compact.” {Minos} +goes away in sadness, and says, “This compact of thine will cost thee a +dear price;” and he thinks it more expedient to threaten war than to +wage it, and to waste his forces there prematurely. + +Even yet may the Lyctian[97] fleet be beheld from the Œnopian walls, +when an Attic ship, speeding onward with full sail, appears, and enters +the friendly harbor, which is carrying Cephalus, and together {with him} +the request of his native country. The youthful sons of Æacus recognize +Cephalus, although seen but after a long period, and give their right +hands, and lead him into the house of their father. The graceful hero, +even still retaining some traces of his former beauty, enters; and, +holding a branch of his country’s olive, being the elder, he has on his +right and left hand the two younger in age, Clytus and Butes, the sons +of Pallas.[98] After their first meeting has had words suitable +{thereto}, Cephalus relates the request of the people of Cecrops, and +begs assistance, and recounts the treaties and alliances of their +forefathers; and he adds, that the subjection of the whole of Achaia is +aimed at. After the eloquence {of Cephalus} has thus promoted the cause +entrusted to him, Æacus, leaning with his left hand on the handle of his +sceptre, says-- + +“Ask not for assistance, O Athens, but take it, and consider, beyond +doubt, the resources which this island possesses, as thy own, and let +all the forces of my kingdom go {along with thee}. Strength is not +wanting. I have soldiers enough both for my defence, and for {opposing} +the enemy. Thanks to the Gods; this is a prosperous time, and one that +can excuse no refusal of mine.” “Yes, {and} be it so,” says +Cephalus:[99] “and I pray that thy power may increase along with thy +citizens. Indeed, as I came along just now, I received {much} pleasure, +when a number of youths, so comely and so equal in their ages, came +forward to meet me. Yet I miss many from among them, whom I once saw +when I was formerly entertained in this city.” Æacus heaves a sigh, and +thus he says, with mournful voice: “A better fortune will be following a +lamentable beginning; I {only} wish I could relate this to you. I will +now tell it you without any order, that I may not be detaining you by +any long preamble.[100] They are {now} lying as bones and ashes, for +whom thou art inquiring with tenacious memory. And how great a part were +they of my resources that perished! A dreadful pestilence fell upon my +people, through the anger of the vengeful Juno, who hated a country +named[101] from her rival. While the calamity seemed natural, and the +baneful cause of so great destruction was unknown, it was opposed by the +resources of medicine. {But} the havoc exceeded {all} help, which {now} +lay baffled. At first the heaven encompassed the earth with a thick +darkness, and enclosed within its clouds a drowsy heat. And while the +Moon was four times filling her orb by joining her horns, {and}, four +times decreasing, was diminishing her full orb, the hot South winds were +blowing with their deadly blasts. It is known for a fact that the +infection came even into fountains and lakes, and that many thousands of +serpents were wandering over the uncultivated fields, and were tainting +the rivers with their venom. The violence of this sudden distemper was +first discovered by the destruction of dogs, and birds, and sheep, and +oxen, and among the wild beasts. The unfortunate ploughman wonders that +strong oxen fall down at their work, and lie stretched in the middle of +the furrow. {And} while the wool-bearing flocks utter weakly bleatings, +both their wool falls off spontaneously, and their bodies pine away. The +horse, once of high mettle, and of great fame on the course, degenerates +for the {purposes of} victory; and, forgetting his ancient honors, he +groans at the manger, doomed to perish by an inglorious distemper. The +boar remembers not to be angry, nor the hind to trust to her speed, nor +the bears to rush upon the powerful herds. + +“A faintness seizes all {animals}; both in the woods, in the fields, and +in the roads, loathsome carcases lie strewed. The air is corrupted with +the smell {of them}. I am relating strange events. The dogs, and the +ravenous birds, and the hoary wolves, touch them not; falling away, they +rot, and, by their exhalations, produce baneful effects, and spread the +contagion far and wide. With more dreadful destruction the pestilence +reaches the wretched husbandmen, and riots within the walls of the +extensive city. At first, the bowels are scorched,[102] and a redness, +and the breath drawn with difficulty, is a sign of the latent flame. The +tongue, {grown} rough, swells; and the parched mouth gapes, with its +throbbing veins; the noxious air, too, is inhaled by the breathing. {The +infected} cannot endure a bed, or any coverings; but they lay their +hardened breasts upon the earth, and their bodies are not made cool by +the ground, but the ground is made hot by their bodies. There is no +physician at hand; the cruel malady breaks out upon even those who +administer remedies; and {their own} arts become an injury to their +owners. The nearer at hand any one is, and the more faithfully he +attends on the sick, the sooner does he come in for his share of the +fatality. And when the hope of recovery is departed, and they see the +end of their malady {only} in death, they indulge their humors, and +there is no concern as to what is to their advantage; for, {indeed}, +nothing is to their advantage. All sense, too, of shame being banished, +they lie {promiscuously} close to the fountains and rivers, and deep +wells; and their thirst is not extinguished by drinking, before their +life {is}. Many, overpowered {with the disease}, are unable to arise +thence, and die amid the very water; and yet another even drinks that +{water}. So great, too, is the irksomeness for the wretched {creatures} +of their hated beds, {that} they leap out, or, if their strength forbids +them standing, they roll their bodies upon the ground, and every man +flies from his own dwelling; each one’s house seems fatal to him: and +since the cause of the calamity is unknown, the place that is known is +blamed. You might see persons, half dead, wandering about the roads, as +long as they were able to stand; others, weeping and lying about on the +ground, and rolling their wearied eyes with the dying movement. They +stretch, too, their limbs towards the stars of the overhanging heavens, +breathing forth their lives here and there, where death has overtaken +them. + +“What were my feelings then? Were they not such as they ought to be, to +hate life, and to desire to be a sharer with my people? On whichever +side my eyes were turned, there was the multitude strewed {on the +earth}, just as when rotten apples fall from the moved branches, and +acorns from the shaken holm-oak. Thou seest[103] a lofty temple, +opposite {thee}, raised on high with long steps: Jupiter has it {as his +own}. Who did not offer incense at those altars in vain? how often did +the husband, while he was uttering words of entreaty for his wife, {or} +the father for his son, end his life at the altars without prevailing? +in his hand, too, was part of the frankincense found unconsumed! How +often did the bulls, when brought to the temples, while the priest was +making his supplications, and pouring the pure wine between their horns, +fall without waiting for the wound! While I myself was offering +sacrifice to Jupiter, for myself, and my country, and my three sons, the +victim sent forth dismal lowings, and suddenly falling down without any +blow, stained the knives thrust into it, with its scanty blood; the +diseased entrails, too, had lost {all} marks of truth, and the warnings +of the Gods. The baneful malady penetrated to the entrails. I have seen +the carcases lying, thrown out before the sacred doors; before the very +altars, {too}, that death might become more odious[104] {to the Gods}. +Some finish their lives with the halter, and by death dispel the +apprehension of death, and voluntarily invite approaching fate. The +bodies of the dead are not borne out with any funeral rites, according +to the custom; for the {city} gates cannot receive {the multitude of} +the processions. Either unburied they lie upon the ground, or they are +laid on the lofty pyres without the usual honors. And now there is no +distinction, and they struggle for the piles; and they are burnt on +fires that belong to others. They who should weep are wanting; and the +souls of sons, and of husbands, of old and of young, wander about +unlamented: there is not room sufficient for the tombs, nor trees for +the fires.” + + [Footnote 90: _Oliaros._--Ver. 469. This was one of the Cyclades, + in the Ægean sea; it was colonized by the Sidonians.] + + [Footnote 91: _Tenos._--Ver. 469. This island was famous for a + temple there, sacred to Neptune.] + + [Footnote 92: _Andros._--Ver. 469. This was an island in the Ægean + Sea, near Eubœa. It received its name from Andros, the son of + Anius. The Andrian slave, who gives his name to one of the + comedies of Terence, was supposed to be a native of this island.] + + [Footnote 93: _Gyaros._--Ver. 470. This was a sterile island among + the Cyclades; in later times, the Romans made it a penal + settlement for their criminals. The mice of this island were said + to be able to gnaw iron; perhaps, because they were starved by + reason of its unfruitfulness.] + + [Footnote 94: _Smooth olive._--Ver. 470. Clarke translates ‘nitidæ + olivæ’ ‘the neat olive.’ ‘Nitidus’ here means ‘smooth and + shining.’] + + [Footnote 95: _Œnopia._--Ver. 473. This was the ancient name of + the isle of Ægina, in the Saronic Gulf, famous as being the native + place of the family of the Æacidæ. It obtained its later name from + Ægina, the daughter of Asopus, and the mother of Æacus, whom + Jupiter carried thither.] + + [Footnote 96: _Telamon._--Ver. 476. Telamon, Peleus, and Phocus, + were the three sons of Æacus.] + + [Footnote 97: _Lyctian._--Ver. 490. Lyctus was the name of one of + the cities of Crete.] + + [Footnote 98: _Pallas._--Ver. 500. This was either Pallas the son + of Pandion, king of Athens, or of Neleus, the brother of Theseus. + This Pallas, together with his sons, was afterwards slain by + Theseus.] + + [Footnote 99: _Cephalus._--Ver. 512. He was the son of Deioneus, + or according to some writers, of Mercury and Herse, the daughter + of Cecrops.] + + [Footnote 100: _Long preamble._--Ver. 520. Clarke translates ‘neu + longâ ambage morer vos,’ ‘that I may not detain you with a + long-winded detail of it.’] + + [Footnote 101: _Country named._--Ver. 524. This was the island of + Ægina, so called from the Nymph who was carried thither by + Jupiter.] + + [Footnote 102: _Bowels are scorched._--Ver. 554. Clarke quaintly + renders the words ‘viscera torrentur primo.’ ‘first people’s + bowels are searched;’ perhaps, however, the latter word is a + misprint for ‘scorched.’] + + [Footnote 103: _Thou seest._--Ver. 587. As Æacus says this, he + must be supposed to point with his finger towards the temple.] + + [Footnote 104: _More odious._--Ver. 603. Dead bodies were supposed + to be particularly offensive to the Gods.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + Minos (most probably the second prince that bore that name), upon his + accession to the throne, after the death of his father, Lycastus, made + several conquests in the islands adjoining Crete, where he reigned, + and, at last, became master of those seas. The strength of his fleet + is particularly remarked by Thucydides, Apollodorus, and Diodorus + Siculus. + + The Feast of the Panathenæa being celebrated at Athens, Minos sent his + son Androgeus to it, who joined as a combatant in the games, and was + sufficiently skilful to win all the prizes. The glory which he thereby + acquired, combined with his polished manners, obtained him the + friendship of the sons of Pallas, the brother of Ægeus. This + circumstance caused Ægeus to entertain jealous feelings, the more + especially as he knew that his nephews were conspiring against him. + Being informed that Androgeus was about to take a journey to Thebes, + he caused him to be assassinated near Œnoë, a town on the confines of + Attica. Apollodorus, indeed, says that he was killed by the Bull of + Marathon, which was then making great ravages in Greece; but it is + very possible that the Athenians encouraged this belief, with the view + of screening their king from the infamy of an action so inhuman and + unjust. Diodorus Siculus and Plutarch agree in stating that Ægeus + himself caused Androgeus to be murdered. + + On hearing the news of his son’s death, Minos resolved on revenge. He + ordered a strong fleet to be fitted out, and went in person to several + courts, to contract alliances, and engage other powers to assist him; + and this, with the history of the plague at Ægina, forms the subject + of the present narrative. + + +FABLE VI. [VII.614-660] + + Jupiter, at the prayer of his son Æacus, transforms the ants that are + in the hollow of an old oak into men; these, from the Greek name of + those insects, are called Myrmidons. + +“Stupefied by so great an outburst of misery, I said, ‘O Jupiter! if +stories do not falsely say that thou didst come into the embraces of +Ægina, the daughter of Asopus, and thou art not ashamed, great Father, +to be the parent of myself; either restore my people to me, or else bury +me, as well, in the sepulchre.’ He gave a signal by lightnings, and by +propitious thunders. I accepted {the omen}, and I said, ‘I pray that +these may be happy signs of thy intentions: the omen which thou givest +me, I accept as a pledge.’ By chance there was close by, an oak sacred +to Jupiter, of seed from Dodona,[105] but thinly covered with +wide-spreading boughs. Here we beheld some ants, the gatherers of corn, +in a long train, carrying a heavy burden in their little mouths, and +keeping their track in the wrinkled bark. While I was wondering at their +numbers, I said, ‘Do thou, most gracious Father, give me citizens as +many in number, and replenish my empty walls.’ The lofty oak trembled, +and made a noise in its boughs, moving without a breeze. My limbs +quivered, with trembling fear, and my hair stood on an end; yet I gave +kisses to the earth and to the oak, nor did I confess that I had any +hopes; {and} yet I did hope, and I cherished my own wishes in my mind. +Night came on, and sleep seized my body wearied with anxiety. Before my +eyes the same oak seemed to be present, and to bear as many branches, +and as many animals in its branches, and to be trembling with a similar +motion, and to be scattering the grain-bearing troop on the fields +below. These suddenly grew, and seemed greater and greater, and raised +themselves from the ground, and stood with their bodies upright; and +laid aside their leanness, and the {former} number of their feet, and +their sable hue, and assumed in their limbs the human shape. + +“Sleep departs. When {now} awake, I censured the vision, and complained +that there was no help for me from the Gods above. But within my palace +there was a great murmur, and I seemed to be hearing the voices of men, +to which I had now become unaccustomed. While I was supposing that +these, too, were {a part} of my dream, lo! Telamon came in haste, and, +opening the door, said, ‘Father, thou wilt see things beyond thy hopes +or expectations. Do come out.’ I did go out, and I beheld and recognized +such men, each in his turn, as I had seemed to behold in the vision of +my sleep. They approached, and saluted me as their king. I offered up +vows to Jupiter, and divided the city and the lands void of their former +tillers, among this new-made people, and I called them Myrmidons,[106] +and did not deprive their name {of the marks} of their origin. Thou hast +beheld their persons. Even still do they retain the manners which they +formerly had; and they are a thrifty race, patient of toil, tenacious of +what they get, and what they get they lay up. These, alike in years and +in courage, will attend thee to the war, as soon as the East wind, which +brought thee prosperously hither (for the East wind had brought him), +shall have changed to the South.” + + [Footnote 105: _From Dodona._--Ver. 623. Dodona was a town of + Chaonia, in Epirus, so called from Dodone, the daughter of Jupiter + and Europa. Near it was a temple and a wood sacred to Jupiter, + which was famous for the number and magnitude of its oaks. Doves + were said to give oracular responses there, probably from the + circumstance that the female soothsayers of Thessaly were called + πελειαδαι. Some writers, however, say that the oaks had the gift + of speech, combined with that of prophesying.] + + [Footnote 106: _Myrmidons._--Ver. 654. From the Greek word μύρμηξ, + ‘an ant;’ according to this version of the story.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + This fable, perhaps, has no other foundation than the retreat of the + subjects of Æacus into woods and caverns, whence they returned, when + the contagion had ceased with which their country had been afflicted, + and when he had nearly lost all hopes of seeing them again. It is + probable that the old men were carried off by the plague, while the + young, who had more strength, resisted its power, which circumstance + would fully account for the active habits of the remaining subjects of + Æacus. Some writers, however, suppose that the Myrmidons were a + barbarous, but industrious people of Thessaly, who usually dwelt in + caves, and who were brought thence by Æacus to people his island, + which had been made desolate by a pestilence. The similarity of their + name to the Greek word μύρμηξ, signifying ‘an ant,’ most probably + gave occasion to the report that Jupiter had changed ants into men. + + +FABLE VII. [VII.661-793] + + Cephalus, having resisted the advances of Aurora, who has become + enamoured of him while hunting, returns in disguise to his wife, + Procris, to try if her affection for him is sincere. She, discovering + his suspicions, flies to the woods, and becomes a huntress, with the + determination not to see him again. Afterwards, on becoming reconciled + to him, she bestows on him a dog and a dart, which Diana had once + given her. The dog is turned into stone, while hunting a wild beast, + which Themis has sent to ravage the territories of Thebes, after the + interpretation of the riddle of the Sphinx, by Œdipus. + +In these and other narratives they passed the day. The last part of the +day was spent in feasting, and the night in sleep. The golden Sun had +{now} shed his beams, {when} the East wind was still blowing, and +detained the sails about to return. The sons of Pallas repair to +Cephalus, who was stricken in years. Cephalus and the sons of Pallas, +together {with him}, {come} to the king; but a sound sleep still +possessed the monarch. Phocus, the son of Æacus, received them at the +threshold; for Telamon and his brother were levying men for the war. +Phocus conducted the citizens of Cecrops into an inner room, and a +handsome apartment. Soon as he had sat down with them, he observed that +the grandson of Æolus[107] was holding in his hand a javelin made of an +unknown wood, the point of which was of gold. + +Having first spoken a few words in promiscuous conversation, he said, +“I am fond of the forests, and of the chase of wild beasts; still, from +what wood the shaft of the javelin, which thou art holding, is cut, +I have been for some time in doubt; certainly, if it were of wild ash, +it would be of brown color; if of cornel-wood, there would be knots in +it. Whence it comes I am ignorant, but my eyes have not looked upon a +weapon used for a javelin, more beautiful than this.” One of the +Athenian brothers replied, and said, “In it, thou wilt admire its +utility, {even} more than its beauty. Whatever it is aimed at, it +strikes; chance does not guide it when thrown, and it flies back stained +with blood, no one returning it.” Then, indeed, does the Nereian +youth[108] inquire into all particulars, why it was given, and whence +{it came}? who was the author of a present of so great value? What he +asks, {Cephalus} tells him; but as to what he is ashamed to tell, {and} +on what condition he received it, he is silent; and, being touched with +sorrow for the loss of his wife, he thus speaks, with tears bursting +forth: “Son of a Goddess, this weapon (who could have believed it?) +makes me weep, and long will make me do so, if the Fates shall grant me +long to live. ’Twas this that proved the destruction of me and of my +dear wife. Would that I had ever been without this present! Procris was +(if perchance {the fame of} Orithyïa[109] may have more probably reached +thy ears) the sister of Orithyïa, the victim of violence. If you should +choose to compare the face and the manners of the two, she was the more +worthy to be carried off. Her father Erectheus united her to me; love, +{too}, united her to me. I was pronounced happy, and {so} I was. Not +thus did it seem {good} to the Gods; or even now, perhaps, I should be +{so}. The second month was now passing, after the marriage rites, when +the saffron-colored Aurora, dispelling the darkness in the morn, beheld +me, as I was planting nets for the horned deer, from the highest summit +of the ever-blooming Hymettus,[110] and carried me off against my will. +By the permission of the Goddess, let me relate what is true; though she +is comely with her rosy face, {and} though she possesses the confines of +light, and possesses {the confines} of darkness, though she is nourished +with the draughts of nectar, {still} I loved Procris; Procris was {ever} +in my thoughts, Procris was ever on my lips. I alleged the sacred ties +of marriage, our late embraces, and our recent union, and the prior +engagements of my forsaken bed. The Goddess was provoked, and said, +‘Cease thy complaints, ungrateful man; keep thy Procris; but, if my mind +is gifted with foresight, thou wilt wish that thou hadst not had her;’” +and {thus}, in anger, she sent me back to her. + +“While I was returning, and was revolving the sayings of the Goddess +within myself, there began to be apprehensions that my wife had not duly +observed the laws of wedlock. Both her beauty and her age bade me be +apprehensive of her infidelity; {yet} her virtue forbade me to believe +it. But yet, I had been absent; and besides, she, from whom I was {just} +returning, was an example of {such} criminality: but we that are in +love, apprehend all {mishaps}. I {then} endeavored to discover that, by +reason of which I must feel anguish, and by bribes to make attempts[111] +upon her chaste constancy. Aurora encouraged this apprehension, and +changed my shape, {as} I seemed {then} to perceive. I entered Athens, +the city of Pallas, unknown {to any one}, and I went into my own house. +The house itself was without fault, and gave indications of chastity, +and was in concern for the carrying off of its master. + +“Having, with difficulty, made my way to the daughter of Erectheus by +means of a thousand artifices, soon as I beheld her, I was amazed, and +was nearly abandoning my projected trial of her constancy; with +difficulty did I restrain myself from telling the truth, with difficulty +from giving her the kisses which I ought. She was in sorrow; but yet no +one could be more beautiful than she, {even} in her sadness; and she was +consuming with regret for her husband, torn from her. {Only} think, +Phocus, how great was the beauty of her, whom even sorrow did so much +become. Why should I tell how often her chaste manners repulsed {all} my +attempts? How often she said, ‘I am reserved for {but} one, wherever he +is; for that one do I reserve my joys.’ For whom, in his senses, would +not that trial of her fidelity have been sufficiently great? {Yet} I was +not content; and I strove to wound myself, while I was promising to give +vast sums for {but one} night, and forced her at last to waver, by +increasing the reward. {On this} I cried out, ‘Lo! I, the gallant in +disguise, to my sorrow, {and} lavish in promises, to my misery, am thy +real husband; thou treacherous woman! thou art caught, {and} I the +witness.’ She said nothing: only, overwhelmed with silent shame, she +fled from the house of treachery, together with her wicked husband; and +from her resentment against me, abhorring the whole race of men, she +used to wander[112] on the mountains, employed in the pursuits of Diana. +Then, a more violent flame penetrated to my bones, thus deserted. +I begged forgiveness, and owned myself in fault; and that I too might +have yielded to a similar fault, on presents being made; if presents so +large had been offered. Upon my confessing this, having first revenged +her offended modesty, she was restored to me, and passed the pleasant +years in harmony with me. She gave me, besides, as though in herself she +had given me but a small present, a dog as a gift, which when her own +Cynthia had presented to her, she had said, ‘He will excel all dogs in +running.’ She gave her, too, a javelin, which, as thou seest, I am +carrying in my hand. + +“Dost thou inquire what was the fortune of the other present--hear +{then}. Thou wilt be astonished at the novelty of the wondrous fact. The +son of Laius[113] had solved the verses not understood by the wit of +others before him; and the mysterious propounder lay precipitated, +forgetful of her riddle. But the genial Themis,[114] forsooth, did not +leave such things unrevenged. Immediately another plague was sent forth +against Aonian Thebes; and many of the peasants fed the savage monster, +both by the destruction of their cattle, and their own as well. We, the +neighboring youth, came together, and enclosed the extensive fields with +toils. With a light bound it leaped over the nets, and passed over the +topmost barriers of the toils that were set. The couples were taken off +the dogs, from which, as they followed, it fled, and eluded them, no +otherwise than as a winged bird. I myself, too, was requested, with +eager demands, for my {dog} Lælaps [{Tempest}]; that was the name of {my +wife’s} present. For some time already had he been struggling to get +free from the couples, and strained them with his neck, as they detained +him. Scarce was he well let loose; and {yet} we could not now tell where +he was; the warm dust had the prints of his feet, {but} he himself was +snatched from our eyes. A spear does not fly swifter than he {did}, nor +pellets whirled from the twisted sling, nor the light arrow from the +Gortynian bow.[115] The top of a hill, {standing} in the middle, looks +down upon the plains below. Thither I mount, and I enjoy the sight of an +unusual chase; wherein the wild beast[116] one while seemed to be +caught, at another to elude his very bite; and it does not fly in a +direct course, and straight onward, but deceives his mouth, as he +pursues it, and returns in circles, that its enemy may not have his full +career against it. He keeps close to it, and pursues it, a match for +him; and {though} like as if he has caught it, {still} he fails to catch +it, and vainly snaps at the air. I was {now} turning to the resources of +my javelin; while my right hand was poising it, {and} while I was +attempting to insert my fingers in the thongs {of it}, I turned away my +eyes; and again I had directed them, recalled to the same spot, when, +{most} wondrous, I beheld two marble statues in the middle of the plain; +you would think the one was flying, the other barking {in pursuit}. Some +God undoubtedly, if any God {really} did attend to them, desired them +both to remain unconquered in this contest of speed.” + + [Footnote 107: _Æolus._--Ver. 672. Apollodorus reckons Deioneus, + the parent of Cephalus, among the children of Apollo.] + + [Footnote 108: _Nereian youth._--Ver. 685. Phocus, who was the son + of Æacus, by Psamathe, the daughter of Nereus.] + + [Footnote 109: _Orithyïa._--Ver. 695. She was the daughter of + Erectheus, king of Athens, and was carried off by Boreas, as + already stated.] + + [Footnote 110: _Hymettus._--Ver. 702. This was a mountain of + Attica, famous for its honey and its marble.] + + [Footnote 111: _To make attempts._--Ver. 721. Tzetzes informs us + that she was found by her husband in company with a young man + named Pteleon, who had made her a present of a golden wreath. + Antoninus Liberalis says, that her husband tried her fidelity by + offering her a bribe, through the medium of a slave.] + + [Footnote 112: _Used to wander._--Ver. 746. Some writers say that + she fled to Crete, on which, Diana, who was aware of the + attachment of Aurora for her husband, made her a present of a + javelin, which no person could escape; and gave her the dog + Lælaps, which no wild beast could outrun. Such is the version + given by Hyginus. But Apollodorus and Antoninus Liberalis say, + that she fled to Minos, who, prevailing over her virtue, made her + a present of the dog and the javelin. Afterwards, presenting + herself before her husband, disguised as a huntress, she gave him + proofs of the efficacy of them; and upon his requesting her to + give them to him, she exacted, as a condition, what must, + apparently, have resulted in a breach of the laws of conjugal + fidelity. On his assenting to the proposal, she discovered + herself, and afterwards made him the presents which he desired.] + + [Footnote 113: _The son of Laius._--Ver. 759. Œdipus was the son + of Laius, king of Thebes. The Sphinx was a monster, the offspring + of Typhon and Echidna, which haunted a mountain near Thebes. Œdipus + solved the riddle which it proposed for solution, on which the + monster precipitated itself from a rock. It had the face of a + woman, the wings of a bird, and the extremities of a lion.] + + [Footnote 114: _Genial Themis._--Ver. 762. Themis had a very + ancient oracle in Bœotia.] + + [Footnote 115: _Gortynian bow._--Ver. 778. Crete was called + Gortynian, from Gortys or Gortyna, one of its cities, which was + famous for the skill of its inhabitants in archery.] + + [Footnote 116: _The wild beast._--Ver. 782. Antoninus Liberalis + and Apollodorus say that this was a fox, which was called ‘the + Teumesian,’ from Teumesus, a mountain of Bœotia, and that the + Thebans, to appease its voracity, were wont to give it a child to + devour every month. Palæphatus says that it was not a wild beast, + but a man called Alopis.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + There were two princes of the name of Cephalus; one, the son of + Mercury and Herse, the daughter of Cecrops; the other, the son of + Deïoneus, king of Phocis, and Diomeda, the daughter of Xuthus. The + first was carried off by Aurora, and went to live with her in Syria; + the second married Procris, the daughter of Erectheus, king of Athens. + Though Apollodorus seems, in the first instance, to follow this + genealogy, in his third book he confounds the actions of those two + princes. Ovid and other writers have spoken only of the son of + Deïoneus, who was carried off by Aurora, and having left her, + according to them, returned to Procris. + + +FABLE VIII. [VII.794-865] + + Procris, jealous of Cephalus, in her turn, goes to the forest, which + she supposes to be the scene of his infidelity, to surprise him. + Hearing the rustling noise which she makes in the thicket, where she + lies concealed, he imagines it is a wild beast, and, hurling the + javelin, which she has formerly given to him, he kills her. + +Thus far {did he speak}; and {then} he was silent. “But,” said Phocus, +“what fault is there in that javelin?” {whereupon} he thus informed him +of the demerits of the javelin. “Let my joys, Phocus, be the first +portion of my sorrowful story. These will I first relate. O son of +Æacus, I delight to remember the happy time, during which, for the first +years {after my marriage}, I was completely blessed in my wife, {and} +she was happy in her husband. A mutual kindness and social love +possessed us both. Neither would she have preferred the bed of Jupiter +before my love; nor was there any woman that could have captivated me, +not {even} if Venus herself had come. Equal flames fired the breasts {of +us both}. The Sun striking the tops of the mountains with his early +rays, I was wont generally to go with youthful ardor into the woods, to +hunt; but I neither suffered my servants, nor my horses, nor my +quick-scented hounds to go {with me}, nor the knotty nets to attend me; +I was safe with my javelin. But when my right hand was satiated with the +slaughter of wild beasts, I betook myself to the cool spots and the +shade, and the breeze which was breathing forth from the cool valleys. +The gentle breeze was sought by me, in the midst of the heat. For the +breeze was I awaiting; that was a refreshment after my toils: ‘Come, +breeze,’ I was wont to sing, for I remember it {full well}, ‘and, most +grateful, refresh me, and enter my breast; and, as thou art wont, be +willing to assuage the heat with which I am parched.’ Perhaps I may have +added ({for} so my destiny prompted me) many words of endearment, and I +may have been accustomed to say, ‘Thou art my great delight; thou dost +refresh and cherish me; thou makest me to love the woods and lonely +haunts, and thy breath is ever courted by my face.’ I was not aware that +some one was giving an ear, deceived by these ambiguous words; and +thinking the name of the breeze, so often called upon by me, to be that +of a Nymph, he believed some Nymph was beloved by me. + +“The rash informer of an imaginary crime immediately went to Procris, +and with his whispering tongue related what he had heard. Love is a +credulous thing. When it was told her, she fell down fainting, with +sudden grief; and coming to, after a long time, she declared that she +was wretched, and {born} to a cruel destiny; and she complained about my +constancy. Excited by a groundless charge,[117] she dreads that which, +{indeed}, is nothing; {and} fears a name without a body; and, in her +wretchedness, grieves as though about a real rival. Yet she is often in +doubt, and, in her extreme wretchedness, hopes she may be deceived, and +denies credit to the information; and unless she beholds it herself, +will not pass sentence upon the criminality of her husband. The +following light of the morning had banished the night, when I sallied +forth, and sought the woods; and being victorious in the fields, I said, +‘Come, breeze, and relieve my pain;’ and suddenly I seemed to hear I +know not what groans in the midst of my words; yet I said, ‘Come hither, +most delightful {breeze}.’ Again, the falling leaves making a gentle +noise, I thought it was a wild beast, and I discharged my flying weapon. +It was Procris; and receiving the wound in the middle of her breast, she +cried out, ‘Ah, wretched me!’ When the voice of my attached wife was +heard, headlong and distracted, I ran towards {that} voice. I found her +dying, and staining her scattered vestments with blood, and drawing her +own present (ah, wretched me!) from out of her wound; I lifted up her +body, dearer to me than my own, in my guilty arms, and I bound up her +cruel wounds with the garments torn from my bosom; and I endeavored to +stanch the blood, and besought her that she would not forsake me, {thus} +criminal, by her death. She, wanting strength, and now expiring, forced +herself to utter these few words: + +“‘I suppliantly beseech thee, by the ties of our marriage, and by the +Gods above, and my own Gods, and if I have deserved anything well of +thee, by that {as well}, and by the cause of my death, my love even now +enduring, while I am perishing, do not allow the Nymph Aura [{breeze}] +to share with thee my marriage ties.’ She {thus} spoke; and then, at +last, I perceived the mistake of the name, and informed her of it. But +what avails informing her? She sinks; and her little strength flies, +together with her blood. And so long as she can look on anything, she +gazes on me, and breathes out upon me, on my face,[118] her unhappy +life; but she seems to die free from care, and with a more contented +look.” + +In tears, the hero is relating these things to them, as they weep, and, +lo! Æacus enters, with his two sons,[119] and his soldiers newly levied; +which Cephalus received, {furnished} with valorous arms. + + [Footnote 117: _Groundless charge._--Ver. 829. Possibly, Ovid may + intend to imply that her jealousy received an additional stimulus + from the similarity of the name ‘Aura’ to that of her former + rival, Aurora.] + + [Footnote 118: _On my face._--Ver. 861. He alludes to the + prevalent custom of catching the breath of the dying person in the + mouth.] + + [Footnote 119: _His two sons._--Ver. 864. These were Telamon and + Peleus, who had levied these troops.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + The love which Cephalus, the son of Deïoneus, bore for the chase, + causing him to rise early in the morning for the enjoyment of his + sport, was the origin of the story of his love for Aurora. His wife, + Procris, as Apollodorus tells us, carried on an amour with Pteleon, + and, probably, caused that report to be spread abroad, to divert + attention from her own intrigue. Cephalus, suspecting his wife’s + infidelity, she fled to the court of the second Minos, king of Crete, + who fell in love with her. Having, thereby, incurred the resentment of + Pasiphaë, who adopted several methods to destroy her rival, and, among + others, spread poison in her bed, she left Crete, and returned to + Thoricus, the place of her former residence, where she was reconciled + to Cephalus, and gave him the celebrated dog and javelin mentioned by + Ovid. + + The poets tell us, that this dog was made by Vulcan, and presented by + him to Jupiter, who gave him to Europa; and that coming to the hands + of her son Minos, he presented it to Procris. The wild beast, which + ravaged the country, and was pursued by the dog of Procris, and which + some writers tell us was a monstrous fox, was probably a pirate or sea + robber; and being, perhaps, pursued by some Cretan officer of Minos, + who escorted Procris back to her country, on their vessels being + shipwrecked near some rocks, it gave occasion to the story that the + dog and the monster had been changed into stone. Indeed, Tzetzes says + distinctly, that the dog was called Cyon, and the monster, or fox, + Alopis; and he also says that Cyon was the captain who brought Procris + back from Crete. It being believed that resentment had some share in + causing the death of Procris, the court of the Areiopagus condemned + Cephalus to perpetual banishment. The island of Cephalenia, which + received its name from him, having been given to him by Amphitryon, he + retired to it, where his son Celeus afterwards succeeded him. + + + + +The Hamilton, Locke and Clark + +SERIES OF + +Interlinear Translations + +Have long been the Standard and are now the _Best Translated_ and _Most +Complete_ Series of Interlinears published. + +=12mo., well bound in Half Leather.= + +=Price reduced to $1.50 each. Postpaid to any address.= + +_Latin Interlinear Translations:_ + + VIRGIL--By Hart and Osborne. + CÆSAR--By Hamilton and Clark. + HORACE--By Stirling, Nuttall and Clark. + CICERO--By Hamilton and Clark. + SALLUST--By Hamilton and Clark. + OVID--By George W. Heilig. + JUVENAL--By Hamilton and Clark. + LIVY--By Hamilton and Clark. + CORNELIUS NEPOS--By Hamilton and Underwood. + +_Greek Interlinear Translations:_ + + HOMER’S ILIAD--By Thomas Clark. + XENOPHON’S ANABASIS--By Hamilton and Clark. + GOSPEL OF ST. JOHN--By George W. Heilig. + +=S. Austin Allibone, the distinguished author, writes:= + +“There is a growing disapprobation, both in Great Britain and America, +of the disproportionate length of time devoted by the youthful student +to the acquisition of the dead languages; and therefore nothing will +tend so effectually to the preservation of the Greek and Latin grammars +as their judicious union (the fruit of an intelligent compromise) with +the Interlinear Classics.” + +=DAVID McKAY, Publisher, Philadelphia,= + +Formerly published by Charles De Silver & Sons. + + + * * * * * + * * * * + * * * * * + +Transcriber’s Note on the Text: + +Ovid’s _Metamorphoses_, translated by Henry Thomas Riley (1816-1878, +B.A. 1840, M.A. 1859), was originally published in 1851 as part of +Bohn’s Classical Library. This e-text, covering Books I-VII, uses +material from two reprints: + +George Bell (London, 1893, one volume). This edition is described on +its title page as “reprinted from the stereotype plates”. These may have +been the original 1851 plates, since the entire _Classical Library_ had +been sold by Bohn to Bell & Daldy, later George Bell. + +David McKay (Philadelphia, 1899, two volumes), with introduction by +Edward Brooks. The introductory material from the Bell/Bohn edition is +absent. This edition was freshly typeset, correcting a few errors in the +Bell/Bohn edition but also introducing a number of new errors. + +The McKay edition was the “base” of the e-text. The scanned, proofread +text was computer-checked against the text of the Bell edition, and +differences were in turn checked against page images of the printed +books. Where appropriate, the text was checked against one or more +versions of the Latin original. Most differences are trivial. McKay uses +American spelling such as “honor” for “honour”, and compound forms such +as “northwest” for “north-west”; punctuation is often changed, though +some apparent variations may be due to the quality of printing and +reproduction. Non-trivial differences are listed in the Errata, below. + +Note that the title page of the Bell edition lists the translator as +“Henry T. Riley, B.A.”, while the McKay edition has “M.A.” The sequence +of dates-- original publication 1851, Riley M.A. 1859, reprint 1893-- +supports the idea that the Bell edition is a strict facsimile. + + * * * * * + * * * * + +_Errors and Anomalies noted by transcriber_ + +Errors are grouped thematically: + significant errors and inconsistencies; + variant spellings, including name forms; + Greek; + punctuation; + line and footnote numbering. +Abbreviations in the form “II.XIV Exp” mean “Book II, Fable XIV, +Explanation” (appended to most Fables); “Syn” means Synopsis (prefaced +to each Fable). + + +_Shared errors and irregularities (present in both McKay and Bell +editions), with original text in brackets []_ + +I.XII: the light breeze spread behind her her careless locks + _read as “spread her careless locks behind her”_ + _in McKay, “her her” is printed at a line break and can easily be + mistaken for an error_ +I.XII Footnote 82, Pope quotation + _McKay reads “trembling dove” and “reached her”; other + modernizations in spelling are shared by both editions_ +I.V: the dreadful carcasses + _anomalous spelling: both editions normally use “carcase(s)”_ +II.I _and_ Footnote 16: Hæmus [Hœmus] +II.I Exp: Herse, the daughter of Cecrops (Hersa) +II.III Footnote 57: 2 Kings, xx. 11 [xx. 7] +II.XIV Exp: which Hesychius calls ... [Hesychus] +III.IV Footnote 62: ... Æneid (l. 620) [l. 260] +IV.I Footnote 3: Alcathoë, Leucippe, and Aristippe + _text unchanged; may be error for “Alcithoë”_ +IV.II Footnote 39: ‘Virgo victa nitore Dei.’ [uitore] +V.V Footnote 60: The zone, or girdle ... was much worn + _Bell has “was much wore“; McKay has “were much worn”_ +V.VI Footnote 75: adjoining to the Elean territory [Eleon] +VI.I: the sley separates the warp + _this technical term is missing from many dictionaries_ +VI.III Footnote 47: ‘brekekekekex koäx koäx.’ + _text unchanged (one syllable too many)_ +VII.IV Footnote 89: the Explanation, p. 242 / p. 270 + _final paragraph of the Explanation of Fable VII.III_ +VII.V Footnote 92: The Andrian slave, who gives his name [its name] + + +_Errors or variations introduced by McKay, with original text in +brackets []. Unless otherwise noted, the Bell version was treated as +the correct form. Italics in the translation (here shown in braces {}) +are considered non-trivial because they indicate text added by the +translator, not present in the Latin original._ + +I.II Footnote 19: she was supposed to have her habitation + [habitations] +I.II Footnote 22: Ver. 64. [34] +I.III Exp: the ground became unfruitful [become] +--: as they really happened [happen] +I. VI Footnote 38: Di majorum gentium [Di imajorum] + _intended text may have been “Dii majorum”_ +I.VIII Exp: ... that the sea joined its waters + [... the sea joined in its waters] +--: the tradition here followed by Ovid [that tradition] +I.IX: {to endure} these sorrows [to {endure}] +I.X Exp: where he built a temple to Jupiter [when] +I.XII Footnotes 83, 84: Clarke [Clark] +I.XII: Thou, the same, shalt stand [shall] +I.XIII Footnote 92: mount Æta [Ætna] + _the reference is to the Greek mountain now spelled “Eta”_ +I.XIII Footnote 96: Pliny the Elder (Book iii. ch. 23) + ... Aous [Aeus] + _editions of Pliny vary; the cited passage may also be found as + iii.58 or iii.145_ +I.XIII: the wild beasts alone [beast] +I.XVI Exp: Argus was the son of Arestor [Argos] +I.XVII: Thou ... believest thy mother in all things [believes] +I.XVII Footnote 115: He was king of Ethiopia [Ethiopa] + +II.I: Ignorant what to do, he is stupefied + _McKay reads “stupei/fied” at page break_ + _Bell has “stupified” here, “stupefied” elsewhere_ +II.I Footnote 13: Thessaly [Thessalis] +II.I Footnote 18: This was a mountain [A mountain] +II.I Footnote 24: _Cithæron._ [Cithœron] +II.I Footnote 41: Cape Matapan [Metapan] +II.I Exp: the Greek form of it [from] +II.II: a long tract through the air [track] + _Latin: longo ... tractu_ +II.VII: Larissæan[69] Coronis [Larissæn] +II.IX: the womb of his mother [the wound] +II.XI: The son of Atlas laughed [sun] +II.XIII Syn: her sister’s apartment [apartments] + _both editions consistently use “apartment”_ +II.XIV: which thou seest [seeest] + _this spelling is normal in Bell, but McKay uses “seest” elsewhere_ +II.XIV Exp: Palæphatus and Tzetzes suggest [suggests] + +III.I Footnote 1: ‘Thebe,’ which signified ‘an ox.’ [signifies] +III.II: the victorious enemy of immense size [in immense size] +III.II Exp: sows the teeth [their] +III.III Footnote 24: _Phyale._ [Phyule] +III.III: Now thou mayst tell [mayest] +III.III Footnote 39: _Pœmenis._ [Parmenis] +III.III: Leucon,[46] with snow-white hair [Luecon] +--: her Cyprian brother, Harpalus,[52] [Harpaulus] +--: Lachne,[54] with a wire-haired body [white-haired] + _Bell text was substituted, but Latin simply has “hirsuta”_ +--: and Hylactor,[57] [Hylector] +III.III, Footnote 56: Ver. 224. [254] +III.V: become a woman from a man [became] + _participle: “having become”_ +III.VI: with the nearer flame did she burn + _word “did” illegible_ +III.VII: grief is taking away [has taken] + _reading “has taken” would require a metrically impossible Latin + “adēmit” for “adĭmit”_ +III.VIII, Footnote 89: placed in the number of the Constellations + [the number of Constellations] +III.VIII: ‘Lo! we are here,’ says Opheltes, my chief mate [Ophletes] +--: this Alcimedon approved of [Alcemedon] +--: now confessing that he has offended [had offended] +III.VIII Exp: ... tore him in pieces. Pausanias, however ... + [to pieces, Pausanius] +--: The story ... is supposed by Bochart [Bochârt] + +IV.I Footnote 1: ... Pausanias says that the Bœotians + [Pausanius] +IV.I Footnote 8: _Thyoneus._ [Phyoneus] +IV.I: the grass wet with rime [went] +--: they determine, in the silent night [determined] +--: The arrangement suits them [arrangements] +--: the most unhappy cause and companion [anhappy] +IV.I Footnote 22: _The lead decaying._ + _footnote marker missing_ +IV.II Syn: the intrigue between Mars and Venus [betwen] +IV.II: nor {yet} Clytie [not] +IV.II Footnote 37: Abas, Acrisius, Danaë, Perseus [Danae, Persus] +IV.II: with her twirling spindle [with twirling spindle] +IV.V Footnote 48: (laborabat) ... ‘auxiliares.’ + [(laborat) ... ‘auxiliaries.’] +IV.VII: And what madness can do [what madness man can do] + _“madness” is the grammatical subject: “quidque furor valeat”_ +IV.VII Footnote 57: These were the Furies [furies] +IV.VII Footnote 63: Tisiphone importuna [importune] +IV.VII Exp: by whom he had Helle and Phryxus [Phrysus] +IV.VIII Exp: Bochart says [Bochard] + _last letter of “Bochart” illegible in Bell_ +IV.X: Soon as the descendant of Abas beheld her [So soon as] + _Bell wording adopted for consistency_ +--: When he has lighted {on the ground} + _“on the ground” not italicized_ +IV.X Footnote 84: præpetes [præptes] +IV.X: on the silent plain [on the salient plain] + _“salient” is clearly wrong, but “silent plain” is also an odd + translation of “vacuo ... arvo”_ +IV.X Exp: more common than it had been before [more common that] + +V.I: both by his merits and his words [its merits] +V.I Footnote 7: _Syene._ ... (Book i. Ep. 5, l. 79) + _text reads “Book i. Ep. i. 79”; in the Bell printing the letter + “l” is damaged and could be misread as “i”_ +V.I: thou, both her uncle and her betrothed [though, both] +V.I Footnote 8: a swingeing bowl [swinging] +V.I: the middle of the neck {of Pettalus} [Pattalus] +V.II Footnote 32: Ver. 302. [303] +V.III Footnote 43: pressed down by Lilybœum [Lilybæum] +V.IV: both her mother and her companions,[48] [and companions] +V.IV Footnote 50: _The Palici._ [Palaci] +V.IV Footnote 51: Dionysus [Dionysius] + _the names “Bacchius” and “Bacchus” in the same footnote are each + correct as printed_ +V.IV Footnote 57: Cinnus [Cinus] +V.IV Footnote 61: tunc denique raptam Scisset [raptum] + _Bell also has “tum” for “tunc”; both words are valid_ +V.IV Exp: the Isis of the Egyptians [the Isis of Egyptians] +--: the following circumstance: [circumstances:] +V.V Syn: Ceres proceeds in a fruitless search [the fruitless] +--: The Sirens have wings [rings] +V.V: it is {a mark of} affection [a {mark of}] +V.V: Footnote 67: The Greek name of a lizard being ἀσκάλαβος + [a lizard ἀσκάλαβος] +V.VI: Erymanthus and Elis [Eyramanthus] +--: Ho, Arethusa! Ho, Arethusa! + _text reads “Ho, Arethusa! Ho, Ar-/thusa!” at line break_ +V.VI Exp: the oracle of Delphi [at Delphi] +V.VII: entrusted {to him} [to {him}] +V.VII Exp: which signified either ‘a winged dragon,’ or ‘a ship fastened + with iron nails or bolts.’ [signifies ... nails and bolts] +--: explainer of the mysteries of Eleusis [Eleusi] + +VI.I Footnote 3: the purple [purples] +VI.I Exp: unless we should prefer [he] +--: St. Augustine [Augustin] +--: calling their attention to agricultural pursuits [agricultual] +--: had himself taken the figure + _text has “the // the” at page break_ +--: numerous in the interior of Africa [is the] +VI.II: what {I wish} may fall upon herself [what I {wish}] +--: their wonted exercise {of riding} [of {riding}] +VI.III: her suckling breasts [sucking] +VI.IV: after he had drawn his clothes from his shoulder towards his + breast [shoulders] + _The Latin reads “... umeroque suas a pectore [or: ad pectora] + postquam / deduxit [or: diduxit] vestes ebur ostendisse sinistro”. It + is possible to construct a Latin variation that would translate as + “from his shoulders”, but editorial or typographic error is a much + likelier explanation._ +VI.IV Exp: Livy and Quintus Curtius [Quintius] +--: Marsyas may have been rash enough [Maryas] +VI.V: beyond what is becoming [his] +VI.VI: forced {from her} [{from} her] +--: from excess of affection [from the excess] +VI.VII Footnote 73: and in the Art of Love [and the Art ...] + +VII.I: {is wont} to increase [is {wont}] +VII.II: a counterfeited quarrel [counterfeit] +--: the guards together with their king [with the king] + _Latin “rege suo”_ +--: they turn away their eyes [they, turning away their eyes] + _Latin “oculosque reflectunt”_ +VII.III Footnote 62: ... This was not Thessalian Tempe + _“w” in “was” invisible_ +VII.III Footnote 69: who was said to have lived there + [who was to have] +VII.III Exp: the young princess perished in the greatest misery + _text has “in / in” at line break_ +--: the account of the women of Cos being changed [accounts] +VII.IV Footnote 75: dragged from Tartarus by Hercules [Herculea] +VII.IV Footnote 86: Anaphe [Anophe] +VII.V Syn: the island of Ægina [islands] +VII.V: the grandson of Asopus says, “Thou askest in vain [asketh] +--: the souls of sons, and of husbands [the souls of the sons] +VII.VI Exp: gave occasion to the report [of the report] +VII.VII Syn: discovering his suspicions [suspicion] +VII.VII: {standing} in the middle [{standiny}] +VII.VIII Exp: as Apollodorus tells us [tell] + + +_Corrections made by McKay, with Bell/Bohn text shown in brackets_ + +III.VI Exp: phenomenon (_two occurrences_) + _Bell spells “phœnomenon” (error for “phænomenon”)_ +IV.IV Exp: beloved by Smilax [Simlax] +IV.V heading: + _Bell misprints “Fable IV”_ +IV.VII Exp: Learchus and Melicerta [Melacerta] +V.I Footnote 17: _Now deceived._ [How deceived] + _footnote marker missing in Bell_ +VI.II Exp: Valerius Flaccus relates the sorrow of Clytie [Clyte] +VI.VI Exp: the ancients thereby portrayed [pourtrayed] +VI.VII Footnote 74: _The Ciconians._ + _footnote marker missing in Bell_ +VII.II Footnote 40: _And his hair._ + _footnote marker missing in Bell_ + + +_Variations_ + +The readings listed here are “wrong” in the sense that they are +different from what is found in the Bell/Bohn text, but they are +acceptable translations of the Latin. The Bell text is shown in +brackets. + +III.II: The Earth, too, scraped with the scales [his scales] +--: nor engage thyself in civil war [a civil war] +--: the youths ... beat with throbbing breast [breasts] +III.III: to bathe her virgin limbs in clear water [the clear water] +III.VIII: in vain try to restrain him [strive] +--: I made observations with my eyes [observation] +IV.I: the Sun, with its rays [his rays] +IV.VII: foam formed in the hollowed deep [hallowed] + _The Latin has at least three variant readings: “in medio ... + profundo”, “immenso ... profundo” and “dīo profundo”. Riley’s + translation must have been based on the “dio” reading._ +IV.X: the name both of her country and herself + [... of the country and of herself] +V.IV: grasp {in your hand} [{in your hands}] + _the Latin has only the verb “prendere” (grasp)_ +V.VI: thy darts enclosed in a quiver [the quiver] +VI.III: oft to sit on the bank of the pool [often] +VI.V: delay will be tedious to me, and [to me. And] +VI.VI: she prepared for a horrible deed [horrid] +VII.II: to go far thence [afar] + + +_Unusual or Inconsistent Spellings and Name Forms_ + +Dieresis is unpredictable in both editions; forms such as “Phaeton”, +“Ocyrrhöe” and “Danäe” are common, and have been silently corrected. +Since the ligatures “æ” and “œ” are used consistently, dieresis can be +assumed even when not explicitly indicated. + +_Unless otherwise noted, comments apply to both texts._ + +III.VIII Footnote 92: the buccanier Morgan +IV.VIII Exp: they beheld stedfastly +V.II, VI.V: villany + +Cæus, Calisto, Lilybœus, Phyale, Phryxus, Progne + _these forms are used consistently; the original forms are Cœus + (Κοιος), Callisto (Καλλιστω), Lilybæus (Λιλυβαιος), Phiale (Φιαλη), + Phrixus (Φριξος), Procne (Προκνη). Note that in the main text, the + name “Callisto” is never used, probably on metrical grounds._ +Damasicthon, Erectheus _and similar_ + _spellings in “-cth-” used consistently in place of “-chth-” (-χθ-). +Achæa/Achaia; Ethiopia/Æthiopia; Phocea/Phocæa; Proserpine/Proserpina + _both forms occur, with McKay text following Bell in all cases_ + + +_Greek_ + +_Most errors in Greek words can be attributed to a typesetter who did +not know Greek. Errors and omissions in diacritical marks have been +silently corrected; only the more significant errors are listed._ + +I.VII Footnote 47: ἐν τῇ ἔρα ναίειν [ἵρα ναιειν (McKay)] +II.XII Footnote 84: δέξαι [δεζαί (McKay)] +II.XIV Exp: Ἑλλωτὶς + _both texts read Ἐλλωτὶς with smooth breathing_ +III.III Footnote 50: θοὸς + _both texts read θοὺς_ +III.IV Exp: Πανβασίλεια [Πανβασιγεια (McKay)] +III.VI Footnote 68: Λείριον [Λείοιον (McKay)] +III.VIII Footnote 86: ἀκοίτης + _McKay reads ἁκόιτης with rough breathing; both have misplaced accent_ +III.VIII Footnote 87: ὠλέναι + _both texts read ωλήναι; McKay has initial ώ for ὠ_ +IV.I Footnote 5: Εὐοῖ Βάκχε, ὦ Ἰακχε, Ιώ Βάκχε, Εὐοῖ σαβοῖ + _text given as printed; exact form (with consistent capitalization) + is probably Εὐοῖ Βάκχε, Ὦ Ἴακχε, Ἰώ Βάκχε, Εὐοῖ σαβαῖ_ +IV.I Footnote 6: λύειν [κύειν (McKay)] +V.II Footnote 31: χαῖρε, χαῖρε [χαῖρε, χσἴρε (McKay)] +VII.VI Footnote 105: πελειαδαι + _text unchanged, but intended form is probably πελειάδες_ +VII.VI Exp: μύρμηξ [μύρμης (McKay)] + + +_Punctuation_ + +_The McKay (Philadelphia) edition sometimes uses double quotes where the +Bell (London) edition used single quotes. These are not individually +noted; neither is variation between colons and semicolons, and random +use of commas. Invisible punctuation at line-end has been supplied from +Bell._ + +_Shared errors and irregularities in punctuation_ + +IV.VII Footnote 69: _Guiltless granddaughter._ + _both print “grand-daughter” with anomalous hyphen_ +VI.III: ‘Young man, there is no mountain Divinity for this altar.... + _This embedded single quote was apparently abandoned by the editor; + each double quote for the remainder of the Fable should be accompanied + by a single quote._ + +I.XII Footnote 80: quod amor non est / medicabilis herbis.’ +IV.I: our words to our loving ears.’ +IV.IV: I will entertain your minds with a pleasing novelty.” +IV.X: {if} preserved by my valor.” +IV.X: those snakes which she {thus} produced.” +V.II: oft have the Gods above entered more humble cottages.’ +V.II: Let the Nymphs decide the contest.” + _close quote missing in all_ + +_Punctuation errors introduced in McKay edition_ + +[Verso of title page] Sherman & Co., Philadelphia + _period invisible_ +[General Introduction] about, ninety miles from Rome + _here and elsewhere, commas are as in the original_ +I.VI Exp: for it repenteth me that I have made them.’” [made them’] + _Bell omits quotes for Biblical citation_ +III.III: Thoüs,[50] [Thoüs,[50],] +IV.II: and he, no longer delaying [and, he,] +--: ‘I am he .... thou art pleasing to me.’ [‘I am .... to me.”] +IV.VII: with newly formed wings? [wings!] +V.VI: Why art thou, Arethusa, a sacred spring?’ + _missing close quote_ +V.VI Exp: a mere fable; [fable!] +VI.II: she says, “What madness is this + _missing open quote_ +--: exult and triumph, my victorious enemy. But why victorious? + [enemy, But why v’ctorious?] +VI.III: hold out their little arms from my bosom’ + _missing close quote_ +VII.IV Exp: Egyptian notions on the future state of man. [of man,] +VII.V Syn: the surprising manner in which it had been re-peopled. + _invisible hyphen_ +VII.V: says Cephalus:[99] “and I pray + _missing open quote_ +--: not room sufficient for the tombs, nor trees for the fires.” + _missing close quote_ +VII.VI: shall have changed to the South.” + _missing close quote_ + + +_Footnote Numbers_ + +_Errors in McKay edition_ + +Bk. I, ll. 516-531 (Fable I.XII) + Footnotes on this page were printed as 66-69 instead of 76-79 + (e-text note numbers 78-81); other pages were not affected. +Bk. IV, note 17*. + The footnote tag was numbered as a second 17; the note itself was + numbered the first of two 18. + +_Adjustments_ + +In the original text-- both editions-- footnote numbers began from 1 in +each Book, and started over when the count passed 99. Almost all Books +had duplications in the sequence, usually in the form “17*”. In this +e-text, footnotes have been renumbered consecutively within each Book, +without duplication; Books I and VII continue past 100. + + Interpolations: + Bk. I: 51*, 67* + Bk. II: 4*, 71* + Bk. III: 72*, 88* + Bk. IV: 17*, 37*, 77* + Bk. V: 46*, 76* + Bk. VI: (no change from original sequence) + Bk. VII: 4*, 73*, 2* (second series) + + +_Line Numbers (printed as page headers)_ + +Line numbers in the McKay edition were generally correct, although +different from those in Bell due to changes in pagination. Some book +numbers in the McKay edition were misprinted: + + [II. 550-564] _printed as Bk. XV_ + [II. 605-632] _printed as Bk. XV_ + [II. 632-651] _printed as Bk. XIV_ + [II. 652-675] _printed as Bk. XV_ + [II. 676-693] _printed as Bk. XV_ + [IV. 233-237] _printed as Bk. I_ + [V. 95-123] _printed as Bk. IV_ + [V. 123-151] _printed as Bk. IV_ + [V. 350-373] _printed as Bk. IV_ + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE METAMORPHOSES OF OVID *** + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will +be renamed. + +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the +United States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part +of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm +concept and trademark. 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