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diff --git a/26073-0.txt b/26073-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..cc67d5e --- /dev/null +++ b/26073-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,14411 @@ +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 + Literally Translated into English Prose, with Copious Notes and Explanations + +Author: Publius Ovidius Naso + +Translator: Henry Thomas Riley + +Release Date: July 16, 2008 [eBook #26073] +[Most recently updated: October 28, 2023] + +Language: English + +Produced by: Louise Hope, Ted Garvin and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE METAMORPHOSES OF OVID *** + + + + +[Transcriber’s Note: + +This e-text covers the second half, Books VIII-XV, of Henry T. Riley’s +1851 translation of Ovid’s Metamorphoses. The first half, Books I-VII, +is already available from Project Gutenberg as e-text 21765. Note that +this text, unlike the earlier one, is based solely on the 1893 George +Bell reprint. + +The text includes characters that will only display in UTF-8 (Unicode) +text readers, including many single words of Greek in the Notes: + + œ, Œ (oe ligature) + κείρω, ἀκονιτὶ + +If any of these characters do not display properly, or if the +apostrophes and quotation marks in this paragraph appear as garbage, +make sure your text reader’s “character set” or “file encoding” is set +to Unicode (UTF-8). You may also need to change the default font. As a +last resort, use the latin-1 version of the file instead. + +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_. Square brackets [] in the body text are in the original. + +Line numbers from the Latin poem--not its prose translation--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. + +In Transcriber’s Notes, references to Clarke are from the third +edition (1752).] + + + + + The + + METAMORPHOSES + + of + + OVID. + + + Literally Translated into English Prose, + with Copious Notes and Explanations, + + + BY HENRY T. RILEY, B.A. + of Clare Hall, Cambridge. + + + LONDON: + + GEORGE BELL & SONS, YORK ST., COVENT GARDEN, + AND NEW YORK. + + 1893. + + + + + LONDON: + + Reprinted from the Stereotype Plates + by Wm. Clowes & Sons, Ltd., + Stamford Street and Charing Cross. + + + + +[The Introduction is included here for completeness, omitting the +Synopses of Books I-VII.] + + +INTRODUCTION. + + +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. + + [Transcriber’s Note: + + The Clarke “translation” was published as part of a student edition + of Ovid’s _Metamorphoses_, with the Latin on the top half of the page, + the English below. It was not intended as an independent text.] + +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. + + +BOOK VIII. + +In the mean time Minos besieges Megara. Scylla, becoming enamoured of +him, betrays her country, the safety of which depends upon the purple +lock of her father Nisu. Being afterwards rejected by Minos, she clings +to his ship, and is changed into a bird, while her father becomes a sea +eagle. Minos returns to Crete, and having erected the Labyrinth with the +assistance of Dædalus, he there encloses the Minotaur, the disgrace of +his family, and feeds it with his Athenian captives. Theseus being one +of these, slays the monster: and having escaped from the Labyrinth by +the aid of Ariadne, he takes her with him, but deserts her in the isle +of Dia, where Bacchus meets with her, and places her crown among the +Constellations. Dædalus being unable to escape from the island of Crete, +invents wings and flies away; while Icarus, accompanying his father, is +drowned. The partridge beholds the father celebrating his funeral rites, +and testifies his joy: Perdix, or Talus, who had been envied by Minos +for his ingenuity, and had been thrown by him from the temple of +Minerva, having been transformed into that bird. Theseus, having now +become celebrated, is invited to the chase of the Calydonian boar, which +Atalanta is the first to wound. Meleager slays the monster; and his +death is accelerated by his mother Althæa, who places in the fire the +fatal billet. Returning from the expedition, Theseus comes to Acheloüs, +and sees the islands called the Echinades, into which the Naiads have +been transformed. Pirithoüs denies the possibility of this; but Lelex +quotes, as an example, the case of Baucis and Philemon, who were changed +into trees, while their house became a temple, and the neighbouring +country a pool of water. Acheloüs then tells the story of the +transformations of Proteus and of Metra, and how Metra supported her +father Erisicthon, while afflicted with violent hunger. + + +BOOK IX. + +Acheloüs then relates his own transformations, when he was contending +with Hercules for the hand of Deïanira. Hercules wins her, and Nessus +attempts to carry her off: on which Hercules pierces him with one of his +arrows that has been dipped in the blood of the Hydra. In revenge, +Nessus, as he is dying, gives to Deïanira his garment stained with his +blood. She, distrusting her husband’s affection, sends him the garment; +he puts it on, and his vitals are consumed by the venom. As he is dying, +he hurls his attendant Lychas into the sea, where he becomes a rock. +Hercules is conveyed to heaven, and is enrolled in the number of the +Deities. Alcmena, his mother, goes to her daughter-in-law Iole, and +tells her how Galanthis was changed into a weasel; while she, in her +turn, tells the story of the transformation of her sister Dryope into +the lotus. In the meantime Iolaüs comes, whose youth has been restored +by Hebe. Jupiter shows, by the example of his sons Æacus and Minos, that +all are not so blessed. Miletus, flying from Minos, arrives in Asia, and +becomes the father of Byblis and Caunus. Byblis falls in love with her +brother, and is transformed into a fountain. This would have appeared +more surprising to all, if Iphis had not a short time before, on the day +of her nuptials, been changed into a man. + + +BOOK X. + +Hymenæus attends these nuptials, and then goes to those of Orpheus; but +with a bad omen, as Eurydice dies soon after, and cannot be brought to +life. In his sorrow, Orpheus repairs to the solitudes of the mountains, +where the trees flock around him at the sound of his lyre; and, among +others, the pine, into which Atys has been changed; and the cypress, +produced from the transformation of Cyparissus. Orpheus sings of the +rape of Ganymede; of the change of Hyacinthus, who was beloved and slain +by Apollo, into a flower; of the transformation of the Cerastæ into +bulls; of the Propœtides, who were changed into stones; and of the +statue of Pygmalion, which was changed into a living woman, who became +the mother of Paphos. He then sings, how Myrrha, for her incestuous +intercourse with her father, was changed into the myrrh tree; and how +Adonis (to whom Venus relates the transformation of Hippomenes and +Atalanta into lions) was transformed into an anemone. + + +BOOK XI. + +Orpheus is torn to pieces by the Thracian women; on which, a serpent, +which attacks his face, is changed into stone. The women are transformed +into trees by Bacchus, who deserts Thrace, and betakes himself to +Phrygia; where Midas, for his care of Silenus, receives the power of +making gold. He loathes this gift; and bathing in the river Pactolus, +its sands become golden. For his stupidity, his ears are changed by +Apollo into those of an ass. After this, that God goes to Troy, and aids +Laomedon in building its walls. Hercules rescues his daughter Hesione, +when fastened to a rock, and his companion Telamon receives her as his +wife; while his brother Peleus marries the sea Goddess, Thetis. Going to +visit Ceyx, he learns how Dædalion has been changed into a hawk, and +sees a wolf changed into a rock. Ceyx goes to consult the oracle of +Claros, and perishes by shipwreck. On this, Morpheus appears to +Halcyone, in the form of her husband, and she is changed into a +kingfisher; into which bird Ceyx is also transformed. Persons who +observe them, as they fly, call to mind how Æsacus, the son of Priam, +was changed into a sea bird, called the didapper. + + +BOOK XII. + +Priam performs the obsequies for Æsacus, believing him to be dead. The +children of Priam attend, with the exception of Paris, who, having gone +to Greece, carries off Helen, the wife of Menelaüs. The Greeks pursue +Paris, but are detained at Aulis, where they see a serpent changed into +stone, and prepare to sacrifice Iphigenia to Diana; but a hind is +substituted for her. The Trojans hearing of the approach of the Greeks, +in arms await their arrival. At the first onset, Cygnus, dashed by +Achilles against a stone, is changed by Neptune into the swan, a bird of +the same name, he having been vulnerable by no weapon. At the banquet of +the chiefs, Nestor calls to mind Cæneus, who was also invulnerable; and +who having been changed from a woman into a man, on being buried under a +heap of trees, was transformed into a bird. This Cæneus was one of the +Lapithæ, at the battle of whom with the Centaurs, Nestor was present. +Nestor also tells how his brother, Periclymenus, was changed into an +eagle. Meanwhile, Neptune laments the death of Cygnus, and entreats +Apollo to direct the arrow of Paris against the heel of Achilles, which +is done, and that hero is slain. + + +BOOK XIII. + +Ajax Telamon and Ulysses contend for the arms of Achilles. Ihe former +slays himself, on which a hyacinth springs up from his blood. Troy being +taken, Hecuba is carried to Thrace, where she tears out the eyes of +Polymnestor, and is afterwards changed into a bitch. While the Gods +deplore her misfortunes, Aurora is occupied with grief for the death of +her son Memnon, from whose ashes the birds called Memnonides arise. +Æneas flying from Troy, visits Anius, whose daughters have been changed +into doves; and after touching at other places, remarkable for various +transformations, he arrives in Sicily, where is the maiden Scylla, to +whom Galatea relates how Polyphemus courted her, and how he slew Acis. +On this, Glaucus, who has been changed into a sea Deity, makes his +appearance. + + +BOOK XIV. + +Circe changes Scylla into a monster. Æneas arrives in Africa, and is +entertained by Dido. Passing by the islands called Pithecusæ, where the +Cecropes have been transformed from men into apes, he comes to Italy; +and landing near the spot which he calls Caicta, he learns from Macareus +many particulars respecting Ulysses and the incantations of Circe, and +how king Picus was changed into a woodpecker. He afterwards wages war +with Turnus. Through Venulus, Turnus asks assistance of Diomedes, whose +companions have been transformed into birds, and he is refused. Venulus, +as he returns, sees the spot where an Apulian shepherd had been changed +into an olive tree. The ships of Æneas, when on fire, become sea Nymphs, +just as a heron formerly arose from the flames of the city of Ardea. +Æneas is now made a Deity. Other kings succeed him, and in the time of +Procas Pomona lives. She is beloved by Vertumnus, who first assumes the +form of an old woman; and having told the story of Anaxarete, who was +changed into a stone for her cruelty, he reassumes the shape of a youth, +and prevails upon the Goddess. Cold waters, by the aid of the Naiads +become warm. Romulus having succeeded Numitor, he is made a Deity under +the name of Quirinus, while his wife Hersilia becomes the Goddess Hora. + + +BOOK XV. + +Numa succeeds; who, on making inquiry respecting the origin of the city +of Crotona, learns how black pebbles were changed into white; he also +attends the lectures of Pythagoras, on the changes which all matter is +eternally undergoing. Egeria laments the death of Numa, and will not +listen to the consolations of Hippolytus, who tells her of his own +transformation, and she pines away into a fountain. This is not less +wonderful, than how Tages sprang from a clod of earth; or how the lance +of Romulus became a tree; or how Cippus became decked with horns. The +Poet concludes by passing to recent events; and after shewing how +Æsculapius was first worshipped by the Romans, in the sacred isle of the +Tiber, he relates the Deification of Julius Cæsar and his change into a +Star; and foretells imperishable fame for himself. + + + + +BOOK THE EIGHTH. + + +FABLE I. [VIII.1-151] + + Minos commences the war with the siege of Megara. The preservation + of the city depends on a lock of the hair of its king, Nisus. His + daughter, Scylla, falling in love with Minos, cuts off the fatal + lock, and gives it to him. Minos makes himself master of the place; + and, abhorring Scylla and the crime she has been guilty of, he takes + his departure. In despair, she throws herself into the sea, and + follows his fleet. Nisus, being transformed into a sea eagle, + attacks her in revenge, and she is changed into a bird called Ciris. + +Now, Lucifer unveiling the day and dispelling the season of night, the +East wind[1] fell, and the moist vapours arose. The favourable South +winds gave a passage to the sons of Æacus,[2] and Cephalus returning; +with which, being prosperously impelled, they made the port they were +bound for, before it was expected. + +In the meantime Minos is laying waste the Lelegeian coasts,[3] and +previously tries the strength of his arms against the city Alcathoë, +which Nisus had; among whose honoured hoary hairs a lock, distinguished +by its purple colour, descended from the middle of his crown, the +safeguard of his powerful kingdom. The sixth horns of the rising Phœbe +were {now} growing again, and the fortune of the war was still in +suspense, and for a long time did victory hover between them both with +uncertain wings. There was a regal tower built with vocal walls, on +which the son of Latona[4] is reported to have laid his golden harp; +{and} its sound adhered to the stone. The daughter of Nisus was wont +often to go up thither, and to strike the resounding stones with a +little pebble, when it was a time of peace. She used, likewise, often to +view the fight, and the contests of the hardy warfare, from that tower. +And now, by the continuance of the hostilities, she had become +acquainted with both the names of the chiefs, their arms, their horses, +their dresses, and the Cydonean[5] quivers. + +Before the rest, she had observed the face of the chieftain, the son of +Europa; even better than was enough for merely knowing him. In her +opinion, Minos, whether it was that he had enclosed his head in a helm +crested with feathers, was beauteous in a helmet; or whether he had +taken up a shield shining with gold, it became him to assume that +shield. Drawing his arm back, did he hurl the slender javelin; the +maiden commended his skill, joined with strength. Did he bend the wide +bow with the arrow laid upon it; she used to swear that thus Phœbus +stood, when assuming his arrows. But when he exposed his face, by taking +off the brazen {helmet}, and, arrayed in purple, pressed the back of a +white horse, beauteous with embroidered housings, and guided his foaming +mouth; the virgin daughter of Nisus was hardly mistress of herself, +hardly able to control a sound mind. She used to call the javelin happy +which he touched, and the reins happy which he was pressing with his +hand. She had an impulse (were it only possible) to direct her virgin +footsteps through the hostile ranks; she had an impulse to cast her body +from the top of the towers into the Gnossian camp, or to open the gates, +strengthened with brass, to the enemy; or, {indeed}, anything else, if +Minos should wish it. And as she was sitting, looking at the white tents +of the Dictæan king, she said, “I am in doubt whether I should rejoice, +or whether I should grieve, that this mournful war is carried on. +I grieve that Minos is the enemy of the person who loves him; but unless +there had been a war, would he have been known to me? yet, taking me for +a hostage, he might cease the war, and have me for his companion, me as +a pledge of peace. If, most beauteous of beings, she who bore thee, was +such as thou art thyself, with reason was the God {Jupiter} inflamed +with {love for} her. Oh! thrice happy were I, if, moving upon wings +through the air, I could light upon the camp of the Gnossian king, and, +owning myself and my flame, could ask him with what dowry he could wish +to be purchased; provided only, that he did not ask the city of my +father. For, perish rather the desired alliance, than that I should +prevail by treason; although the clemency of a merciful conqueror has +often made it of advantage to many, to be conquered. He certainly +carries on a just war for his slain son,[6] and is strong both in his +cause, and in the arms that defend his cause. + +“We shall be conquered, as I suppose. If this fate awaits this city, why +should his own arms, and not my love, open the walls to him? It will be +better for him to conquer without slaughter and delay, and the expense +of his own blood. How much, indeed, do I dread, Minos, lest any one +should unknowingly wound thy breast! for who is so hardened as to dare, +unless unknowingly, to direct his cruel lance against thee? The design +pleases me; and my determination is to deliver up my country as a dowry, +together with myself, and {so} to put an end to the war. But to be +willing, is too little; a guard watches the approaches, and my father +keeps the keys of the gates. Him alone, in my wretchedness, do I dread; +he alone obstructs my desires. Would that the Gods would grant I might +be without a father! Every one, indeed, is a God to himself. Fortune is +an enemy to idle prayers. Another woman, inflamed with a passion so +great, would long since have taken a pleasure in destroying whatever +stood in the way of her love. And why should any one be bolder than +myself? I could dare to go through flames, {and} amid swords. But in +this case there is no occasion for any flames or {any} swords; I {only} +want the lock of my father. That purple lock is more precious to me than +gold; it will make me happy, and mistress of my own wish.” + +As she is saying such things, the night draws on, the greatest nurse of +cares, and with the darkness her boldness increases. The first slumbers +are now come, in which sleep takes possession of the breast wearied with +the cares of the day. She silently enters the chamber of her father, and +({O abominable} crime!) the daughter despoils the father of his fatal +lock, and having got the prize of crime, carries with her the spoil of +her impiety; and issuing forth by the gate, she goes through the midst +of the enemy, (so great is her confidence in her deserts) to the king, +whom, in astonishment, she thus addresses: “’Twas love that urged the +deed. I {am} Scylla, the royal issue of Nisus; to thee do I deliver the +fortunes of my country and my own, {as well}; I ask for no reward, but +thyself. Take this purple lock, as a pledge of my love; and do not +consider that I am delivering to thee a lock of hair, but the life of my +father.” And {then}, in her right hand, she holds forth the infamous +present. Minos refuses it, {thus} held out; and shocked at the thought +of so unheard of a crime, he says, “May the Gods, O thou reproach of our +age, banish thee from their universe; and may both earth and sea be +denied to thee. At least, I will not allow so great a monster to come +into Crete, the birth-place of Jupiter, which is my realm.” He {thus} +spoke;[7] and when, {like} a most just lawgiver, he had imposed +conditions on the vanquished, he ordered the halsers of the fleet to be +loosened, and the brazen {beaked} ships to be impelled with the oars. +Scylla, when she beheld the launched ships sailing on the main, and +{saw} that the prince did not give her the {expected} reward of her +wickedness, having spent {all} her entreaties, fell into a violent rage, +and holding up her hands, with her hair dishevelled, in her frenzy she +exclaimed, + +“Whither dost thou fly, the origin of thy achievements {thus} left +behind, O thou preferred before my country, preferred before my father? +Whither dost thou fly, barbarous {man}? whose victory is both my crime +and my merit. Has neither the gift presented to thee, nor yet my +passion, moved thee? nor yet {the fact} that all my hopes were centred +in thee alone? For whither shall I return, forsaken {by thee}? To my +country? Subdued, it is ruined. But suppose it were {still} safe; by my +treachery, it is shut against me. To the face of my father, that I have +placed in thy power. My fellow-citizens hate me deservedly; the +neighbours dread my example. I have closed the whole world against me, +that Crete alone might be open {to me}. And dost thou thus forbid me +that as well? Is it thus, ungrateful one, that thou dost desert me? +Europa was not thy mother, but the inhospitable Syrtis,[8] or +Armenian[9] tigresses, or Charybdis disturbed by the South wind. Nor +wast thou the son of Jupiter; nor was thy mother beguiled by the +{assumed} form of a bull. That story of thy birth is false. He was both +a fierce bull, and one charmed with the love of no heifer, that begot +thee. Nisus, my father, take vengeance upon me. Thou city so lately +betrayed, rejoice at my misfortunes; for I have deserved them, +I confess, and I am worthy to perish. Yet let some one of those, whom I +have impiously ruined, destroy me. Why dost thou, who hast conquered by +means of my crime, chastise that crime? This, which was treason to my +country and to my father, was an act of kindness to thee. She is truly +worthy[10] of thee for a husband, who, adulterously {enclosed} in wood, +deceived the fierce-looking bull, and bore in her womb an offspring of +shape dissimilar {to herself}. And do my complaints reach thy ears? +Or do the same winds bear away my fruitless words, and thy ships, +ungrateful man? Now, {ah!} now, it is not to be wondered at that +Pasiphaë preferred the bull to thee; thou didst have the more savage +nature {of the two}. Wretch that I am! He joys in speeding onward, and +the waves resound, cleaved by his oars. Together with myself, alas! +my {native} land recedes from him. Nothing dost thou avail; oh thou! +forgetful to no purpose of my deserts. In spite of thee, will I follow +thee, and grasping thy crooked stern, I will be dragged through the long +seas.” + +Scarce has she said {this, when} she leaps into the waves, and follows +the ships, Cupid giving her strength, and she hangs, an unwelcome +companion, to the Gnossian ship. When her father beholds her, (for now +he is hovering in the air, and he has lately been made a sea eagle, with +tawny wings), he is going to tear her in pieces with his crooked beak. +Through fear she quits the stern; but the light air seems to support her +as she is falling, that she may not touch the sea. It is feathers {that +support her}. With feathers, being changed into a bird, she is called +Ciris;[11] and this name does she obtain from cutting off the lock. + + [Footnote 1: _The East wind._--Ver. 2. Eurus, or the East wind, + while blowing, would prevent the return of Cephalus from the + island of Ægina to Athens.] + + [Footnote 2: _The sons of Æacus._--Ver. 4. ‘Æacidis’ may mean + either the forces sent by Æacus, or his sons Telamon and Peleus, + in command of those troops. It has been well observed, that + ‘redeuntibus,’ ‘returning,’ is here somewhat improperly applied to + the troops of Æacus, for they were not, strictly speaking, + returning to Athens although Cephalus was.] + + [Footnote 3: _Lelegeian coasts._--Ver. 6. Of Megara, which is also + called Alcathoë, from Alcathoüs, its restorer.] + + [Footnote 4: _Of Latona._--Ver. 15. The story was, that when + Alcathoüs was rebuilding the walls of Megara, Apollo assisted him, + and laying down his lyre among the stones, its tones were + communicated to them.] + + [Footnote 5: _Cydonean._--Ver 22. From Cydon, a city of Crete.] + + [Footnote 6: _His slain son._--Ver. 58. Namely, his son Androgeus, + who had been put to death, as already mentioned.] + + [Footnote 7: _He thus spoke._--Ver. 101. The poet omits the + continuation of the siege by Minos, and how he took Megara by + storm, as not pertaining to the developement of his story.] + + [Footnote 8: _Inhospitable Syrtis._--Ver. 120. There were two + famous quicksands, or ‘Syrtes,’ in the Mediterranean Sea, near the + coast of Africa; the former near Cyrene, and the latter near + Byzacium, which were known by the name of ‘Syrtis Major’ and + ‘Syrtis Minor.’ The inhabitants of the neighbouring coasts were + savage and inhospitable, and subsisted by plundering the + shipwrecked vessels.] + + [Footnote 9: _Armenian._--Ver. 121. Armenia was a country of Asia, + lying between Mount Taurus and the Caucasian chain, and extending + from Cappadocia to the Caspian Sea. It was divided into the + greater and the less Armenia, the one to the East, the other to + the West. Its tigers were noted for their extreme fierceness.] + + [Footnote 10: _She is truly worthy._--Ver. 131. Pasiphaë, who was + the mother of the Minotaur.] + + [Footnote 11: _She is called Ciris._--Ver. 151. From the Greek + word κείρω, ‘to clip,’ or ‘cut.’ According to Virgil, who, in his + Ciris, describes this transformation, this bird was of variegated + colours, with a purple breast, and legs of a reddish hue, and + lived a solitary life in retired spots. It is uncertain what kind + of bird it was; some think it was a hawk, some a lark, and others + a partridge. It has been suggested that Ovid did not enter into + the details of this transformation, because it had been so + recently depicted in beautiful language by Virgil. Hyginus says + that the ‘Ciris’ was a fish.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + Minos, having raised an army and received auxiliary troops from his + allies, made war upon the Athenians, to revenge the death of his + son, Androgeus. Having conquered Nisea, he laid siege to Megara, + which was betrayed by the perfidy of Scylla, the daughter of its + king, Nisus. Pausanias and other historians say that the story here + related by the Poet is based on fact; and that Scylla held a secret + correspondence with Minos during the siege of Megara, and, at + length, introduced him into the town, by opening the gates to him + with the keys which she had stolen from her father, while he was + asleep. This is probably alluded to under the allegorical + description of the fatal lock of hair, though why it should be + depicted in that form especially, it is difficult to guess. The + change of Scylla into a lark, or partridge, and of her father into a + sea eagle, are poetical fictions based on the equivocal meanings of + their names, the one Greek and the other Hebrew; for the name + ‘Ciris’ resembles the Greek verb κείρω, which signifies ‘to clip,’ + or ‘cut short.’ ‘Nisus,’ too, resembles the Hebrew word ‘Netz,’ + which means a bird resembling the osprey, or sea eagle. Apollodorus + says, that Minos ordered Scylla to be thrown into the sea; and + Zenodotus, that he caused her to be hanged at the mainmast of his + ship. + + +FABLE II. [VIII.152-182] + + Minos, having overcome the Athenians, obliges them to pay a tribute + of youths and virgins of the best families, to be exposed to the + Minotaur. The lot falls on Theseus, who, by the assistance of + Ariadne, kills the monster, escapes from the labyrinth, which + Dædalus made, and carries Ariadne to the island of Naxos, where he + abandons her. Bacchus wooes her, and, to immortalize her name, he + transforms the crown which he has given her into a Constellation. + +Minos paid, as a vow to Jupiter, the bodies of a hundred bulls, as soon +as, disembarking from his ships, he reached the land of the Curetes; and +his palace was decorated with the spoils there hung up. The reproach of +his family had {now} grown up, and the shameful adultery of his mother +was notorious, from the unnatural shape of the two-formed monster. Minos +resolves to remove the disgrace from his abode, and to enclose it in a +habitation of many divisions, and an abode full of mazes. Dædalus, a man +very famed for his skill in architecture, plans the work, and confounds +the marks {of distinction}, and leads the eyes into mazy wanderings, by +the intricacy of its various passages. No otherwise than as the limpid +Mæander sports in the Phrygian fields, and flows backwards and forwards +with its varying course, and, meeting itself, beholds its waters that +are to follow, and fatigues its wandering current, now {pointing} to its +source, and now to the open sea. Just so, Dædalus fills innumerable +paths with windings; and scarcely can he himself return to the entrance, +so great are the intricacies of the place. After he has shut up here the +double figure of a bull and of a youth;[12] and the third supply, chosen +by lot each nine years, has subdued the monster twice {before} gorged +with Athenian blood; and when the difficult entrance, retraced by none +of those {who have entered it} before, has been found by the aid of the +maiden, by means of the thread gathered up again; immediately, the son +of Ægeus, carrying away the daughter of Minos, sets sail for Dia,[13] +and barbarously deserts his companion on those shores. + +Her, {thus} deserted and greatly lamenting, Liber embraces and aids; +and, that she may be famed by a lasting Constellation, he places in the +heavens the crown taken from off her head. It flies through the yielding +air, and, as it flies, its jewels are suddenly changed into fires, and +they settle in their places, the shape of the crown {still} remaining; +which is in the middle,[14] between {the Constellation} resting on his +knee,[15] and that which holds the serpents. + + [Footnote 12: _Of a youth._--Ver. 169. Clarke translates this + line, ‘In which, after he had shut the double figure of a bull and + a young fellow.’] + + [Footnote 13: _Sets sail for Dia._--Ver. 174. Dia was another name + of the island of Naxos, one of the Cyclades, where Theseus left + Ariadne. Commentators have complained, with some justice, that + Ovid has here omitted the story of Ariadne; but it should be + remembered that he has given it at length in the third book of the + Fasti, commencing at line 460.] + + [Footnote 14: _In the middle._--Ver. 182. The crown of Ariadne was + made a Constellation between those of Hercules and Ophiuchus. Some + writers say, that the crown was given by Bacchus to Ariadne as a + marriage present; while others state that it was made by Vulcan of + gold and Indian jewels, by the light of which Theseus was aided in + his escape from the labyrinth, and that he afterwards presented it + to Ariadne. Some authors, and Ovid himself, in the Fasti, + represent Ariadne herself as becoming a Constellation.] + + [Footnote 15: _Resting on his knee._--Ver. 182. Hercules, as a + Constellation, is represented in the attitude of kneeling, when + about to slay the dragon that watched the gardens of the + Hesperides.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + Oppressed with famine, and seeing the enemy at their gates, the + Athenians went to consult the oracle at Delphi; and were answered, + that to be delivered from their calamities, they must give + satisfaction to Minos. They immediately sent ambassadors to him, + humbly suing for peace, which he granted them, on condition that + each year, according to Apollodorus and Diodorus Siculus, or every + nine years, according to Plutarch and Ovid, they should send him + seven young men and as many virgins. The severity of these + conditions provoked the Athenians to render Minos as odious as + possible; whereupon, they promulgated the story, that he destined + the youths that were sent to him, to fight in the Labyrinth against + the Minotaur, which was the fruit of an intrigue of his wife + Pasiphaë with a white bull which Neptune had sent out of the sea. + They added, that Dædalus favoured this extraordinary passion of the + queen; and that Venus inspired Pasiphaë with it, to be revenged for + having been surprised with Mars by Apollo, her father. Plato, + Plutarch, and other writers acknowledge that these stories were + invented from the hatred which the Greeks bore to the king of Crete. + + As, however, these extravagant fables have generally some foundation + in fact, we are informed by Servius, Tzetzes, and Zenobius, that, + in the absence of Minos, Pasiphaë fell in love with a young noble of + the Cretan court, named Taurus, who, according to Plutarch, was the + commander of the fleet of Minos; that Dædalus, their confidant, + allowed their assignations to take place in his house, and that the + queen was afterwards delivered of twins, of which the one resembled + Minos, and the other Taurus. This, according to those authors, was + the foundation of the story as to the fate for which the young + Athenians were said to be destined. Philochorus, quoted by Plutarch, + says that Minos instituted funeral games in honour of his son + Androgeus, and that those who were vanquished became the slaves of + the conquerors. That author adds, that Taurus was the first who won + all the prizes in these games, and that he used the unfortunate + Athenians, who became his slaves, with great barbarity. Aristotle + tells us that the tribute was paid three times by the Athenians, and + that the lives of the captives were spent in the most dreadful + servitude. + + Dædalus, on returning into Crete, built a labyrinth there, in which, + very probably, these games were celebrated. Palæphatus, however, + says that Theseus fought in a cavern, where the son of Taurus had + been confined. Plutarch and Catullus say, that Theseus voluntarily + offered to go to Crete with the other Athenians, while Diodorus + Siculus says that the lot fell on him to be of the number. His + delivery by Ariadne, through her giving him the thread, is probably + a poetical method of informing us that she gave her lover the plan + of the labyrinth where he was confined, that he might know its + windings and the passage out. Eustathius, indeed, says, that Ariadne + received a thread from Dædalus; but he must mean a plan of the + labyrinth, which he himself had designed. The story of Ariadne’s + intercourse with Bacchus is most probably founded on the fact, that + on arriving at the Isle of Naxos, when she was deserted by Theseus, + she became the wife of a priest of Bacchus. + + +FABLE III. [VIII.183-259] + + Dædalus, weary of his exile, finds means, by making himself wings, + to escape out of Crete. His son Icarus, forgetting the advice of his + father, and flying too high, the Sun melts his wings, and he + perishes in the sea, which afterwards bore his name. The sister of + Dædalus commits her son Perdix to his care, for the purpose of being + educated. Dædalus, being jealous of the talent of his nephew, throws + him from a tower, with the intention of killing him; but Minerva + supports him in his fall, and transforms him into a partridge. + +In the meantime, Dædalus, abhorring Crete and his prolonged exile,[16] +and inflamed by the love of his native soil, was enclosed {there} by the +sea. “Although Minos,” said he, “may beset the land and the sea, still +the skies, at least, are open. By that way will we go: let Minos possess +everything {besides}: he does not sway the air.” {Thus} he spoke; and he +turned his thoughts to arts unknown {till then}; and varied {the course} +{of} nature. For he arranges feathers in order, beginning from the +least, the shorter one succeeding the longer; so that you might suppose +they grew on an incline. Thus does the rustic pipe sometimes rise by +degrees, with unequal straws. Then he binds those in the middle with +thread, and the lowermost ones with wax; and, thus ranged, with a gentle +curvature, he bends them, so as to imitate real {wings of} birds. His +son Icarus stands together with him; and, ignorant that he is handling +{the source of} danger to himself, with a smiling countenance, he +sometimes catches at the feathers which the shifting breeze is ruffling; +and, at other times, he softens the yellow wax with his thumb; and, by +his playfulness, he retards the wondrous work of his father. + +After the finishing hand was put to the work, the workman himself poised +his own body upon the two wings, and hung suspended in the beaten air. +He provided his son {with them} as well; and said to him, “Icarus, +I recommend thee to keep the middle tract; lest, if thou shouldst go too +low, the water should clog thy wings; if too high, the fire {of the sun} +should scorch them. Fly between both; and I bid thee neither to look at +Boötes, nor Helice,[17] nor the drawn sword of Orion. Under my guidance, +take thy way.” At the same time, he delivered him rules for flying, and +fitted the untried wings to his shoulders. Amid his work and his +admonitions, the cheeks of the old man were wet, and the hands of the +father trembled. He gives kisses to his son, never again to be repeated; +and, raised upon his wings, he flies before, and is concerned for his +companion, just as the bird which has led forth her tender young from +the lofty nest into the air. And he encourages him to follow, and +instructs him in the fatal art, and both moves his own wings himself, +and looks back on those of his son. A person while he is angling for +fish with his quivering rod, or the shepherd leaning on his crook, or +the ploughman on the plough tail, when he beholds them, is astonished, +and believes them to be Divinities, who thus can cleave the air. And now +Samos,[18] sacred to Juno, and Delos, and Paros, were left behind to the +left hand. On the right were Lebynthus,[19] and Calymne,[20] fruitful in +honey; when the boy began to be pleased with a bolder flight, and +forsook his guide; and, touched with a desire of reaching heaven, +pursued his course still higher. The vicinity of the scorching Sun +softened the fragrant wax that fastened his wings. The wax was melted; +he shook his naked arms, and, wanting his oar-like wings, he caught no +{more} air. His face, too, as he called on the name of his father, was +received in the azure water, which received its name[21] from him. + +But the unhappy father, now no more a father, said, “Icarus, where art +thou? In what spot shall I seek thee, Icarus?” did he say; {when} he +beheld his wings in the waters, and {then} he cursed his own arts; and +he buried his body in a tomb, and the land was called from the name of +him buried there. As he was laying the body of his unfortunate son in +the tomb, a prattling partridge beheld him from a branching +holm-oak,[22] and, by its notes, testified its delight. ’Twas then but a +single bird {of its kind}, and never seen in former years, and, lately +made a bird, was a grievous reproof, Dædalus, to thee. For, ignorant {of +the decrees} of fate, his sister had entrusted her son to be instructed +by him, a boy who had passed twice six birthdays, with a mind eager for +instruction. ’Twas he, too, who took the backbones observed in the +middle of the fish, for an example, and cut {a} continued {row of} teeth +in iron, with a sharp edge, and {thus} discovered the use of the saw. + +He was the first, too, that bound two arms of iron to one centre, that, +being divided {and} of equal length, the one part might stand fixed, +{and} the other might describe a circle. Dædalus was envious, and threw +him headlong from the sacred citadel of Minerva, falsely pretending that +he had fallen {by accident}. But Pallas, who favours ingenuity, received +him, and made him a bird; and, in the middle of the air, he flew upon +wings. Yet the vigour of his genius, once so active, passed into his +wings and into his feet; his name, too, remained the same as before. Yet +this bird does not raise its body aloft, nor make its nest in the +branches and the lofty tops {of trees, but} flies near the ground, and +lays its eggs in hedges: and, mindful of its former fall, it dreads the +higher regions. + + [Footnote 16: _His prolonged exile._--Ver. 184. Dædalus had been + exiled for murdering one of his scholars in a fit of jealousy; + probably Perdix, his nephew, whose story is related by Ovid.] + + [Footnote 17: _Helice._--Ver. 207. This was another name of the + Constellation called the Greater Bear, into which Calisto had been + changed.] + + [Footnote 18: _Samos._--Ver. 220. This island, off the coast of + Caria in Asia Minor, was famous as the birth-place of Juno, and + the spot where she was married to Jupiter. She had a famous temple + there.] + + [Footnote 19: _Lebynthus._--Ver. 222. This island was one of the + Cyclades, or, according to some writers, one of the Sporades, + a group that lay between the Cyclades and Crete.] + + [Footnote 20: _Calymne._--Ver. 222. This island was near Rhodes. + Its honey is praised by Strabo.] + + [Footnote 21: _Received its name._--Ver. 230. The island of Samos + being near the spot where he fell, received the name of Icaria.] + + [Footnote 22: _Branching holm oak._--Ver. 237. Ovid here forgot + that partridges do not perch in trees; a fact, which, however, + he himself remarks in line 257.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + Dædalus was a talented Athenian, of the family of Erechtheus; and he + was particularly famed for his skill in statuary and architecture. + He became jealous of the talents of his nephew, Talos, whom Ovid + here calls Perdix; and, envying his inventions of the saw, the + compasses, and the art of turning, he killed him privately. Flying + to Crete, he was favourably received by Minos, who was then at war + with the Athenians. He there built the Labyrinth, as Pliny the Elder + asserts, after the plan of that in Egypt, which is described by + Herodotus, Diodorus Siculus, and Strabo. Philochorus, however, as + quoted by Plutarch, says that it did not resemble the Labyrinth of + Egypt, and that it was only a prison in which criminals were + confined. + + Minos, being informed that Dædalus had assisted Pasiphaë in carrying + out her criminal designs, kept him in prison; but escaping thence, + by the aid of Pasiphaë, he embarked in a ship which she had prepared + for him. Using sails, which till then, according to Pausanias and + Palæphatus, were unknown, he escaped from the galleys of Minos, + which were provided with oars only. Icarus, either fell into the + sea, or, overpowered with the fatigues of the voyage, died near an + island in the Archipelago, which afterwards received his name. These + facts have been disguised by the poets under the ingenious fiction + of the wings, and the neglect of Icarus to follow his father’s + advice, as here related. + + +FABLE IV. [VIII.260-546] + + Diana, offended at the neglect of Œneus, king of Calydon, when + performing his vows to the Gods, sends a wild boar to ravage his + dominions; on which Œneus assembled the princes of the country for + its pursuit. His son Meleager leads the chase, and, having killed + the monster, presents its head to his mistress, Atalanta, the + daughter of the king of Arcadia. He afterwards kills his two uncles, + Plexippus and Toxeus, who would deprive her of this badge of his + victory. Their sister Althæa, the mother of Meleager, filled with + grief at their death, loads her son with execrations; and, + remembering the torch which she received from the Fates at his + birth, and on which the preservation of his life depends, she throws + it into the fire. As soon as it is consumed, Meleager expires in the + greatest torments. His sisters mourn over his body, until Diana + changes them into birds. + +And now the Ætnæan land received Dædalus in his fatigue; and +Cocalus,[23] taking up arms for him as he entreated, was commended for +his kindness. {And} now Athens has ceased to pay her mournful tribute, +through the exploits of Theseus. The temples are decked with garlands, +and they invoke warlike Minerva, with Jupiter and the other Gods, whom +they adore with the blood {of victims} vowed, and with presents offered, +and censers[24] of frankincense. Wandering Fame had spread the renown of +Theseus throughout the Argive cities, and the nations which rich Achaia +contained, implored his aid amid great dangers. Calydon, {too}, although +it had Meleager,[25] suppliantly addressed him with anxious entreaties. +The occasion of asking {aid} was a boar, the servant and the avenger of +Diana in her wrath. + +For they say that Œneus, for the blessings of a plenteous year, had +offered the first fruits of the corn to Ceres, to Bacchus his wine, and +the Palladian juice[26] {of olives} to the yellow-haired Minerva. These +invidious honours commencing with the rural {Deities}, were continued to +all the Gods above; they say that the altars of the daughter of Latona, +who was omitted, were alone left without frankincense. Wrath affects +even the Deities. “But {this},” says she, “I will not tamely put up +with; and I, who am thus dishonoured, will not be said to be unrevenged +{as well}:” and she sends a boar as an avenger throughout the lands of +Œneus, than which not even does verdant Epirus[27] possess bulls of +greater size; even the fields of Sicily have them of less magnitude. His +eyes shine with blood and flames, his rough neck is stiff; bristles, +too,[28] stand up, like spikes, thickly set; like palisades[29] do those +bristles project, just like high spikes. Boiling foam, with a harsh +noise, flows down his broad shoulders; his tusks rival the tusks of +India. Thunders issue from his mouth; the foliage is burnt up with the +blast. One while he tramples down the corn in the growing blade, and +crops the expectations of the husbandman, doomed to lament, as yet +unripe, and he intercepts the corn in the ear. In vain does the +threshing floor, and in vain do the barns await the promised harvest. +The heavy grapes, with the long branches of the vine, are scattered +about, and the berries with the boughs of the ever-green olive. He vents +his fury, too, upon the flocks. These, neither dogs nor shepherds {can +protect}; not {even} the fierce bulls are able to defend the herds. The +people fly in all directions, and do not consider themselves safe, but +in the walls of a city, until Meleager, and, together {with him}, +a choice body of youths, unite from a desire for fame. + +The two sons of Tyndarus,[30] the one famous for boxing, the other for +his skill in horsemanship; Jason, too, the builder of the first ship, +and Theseus, with Pirithoüs,[31] happy unison, and the two sons of +Thestius,[32] and Lynceus,[33] the son of Aphareus, and the swift Idas, +and Cæneus,[34] now no longer a woman; and the valiant Leucippus,[35] +and Acastus,[36] famous for the dart, and Hippothoüs,[37] and Dryas,[38] +and Phœnix,[39] the son of Amyntor, and the two sons of Actor,[40] and +Phyleus,[41] sent from Elis, {are there}. Nor is Telamon[42] absent; the +father, too, of the great Achilles;[43] and with the son of Pheres,[44] +and the Hyantian Iolaüs,[45] the active Eurytion,[46] and Echion,[47] +invincible in the race, and the Narycian Lelex,[48] and Panopeus,[49] +and Hyleus,[50] and bold Hippasus,[51] and Nestor,[52] now but in his +early years. Those, too, whom Hippocoön[53] sent from ancient +Amyclæ,[54] and the father-in-law of Penelope,[55] with the Parrhasian +Ancæus,[56] and the sage son of Ampycus,[57] and the descendant of +Œclus,[58] as yet safe from his wife, and Tegeæan[59] {Atalanta}, the +glory of the Lycæan groves. A polished buckle fastened the top of her +robe; her plain hair was gathered into a single knot. The ivory keeper +of her weapons rattled, hanging from her left shoulder; her left hand, +too, held a bow. Such was her dress, and her face such as you might say, +with reason, was that of a maid in a boy, that of a boy in a maid. Her +the Calydonian hero both beheld, and at the same moment sighed for her, +against the will of the God; and he caught the latent flame, and said, +“Oh, happy {will he be}, if she shall vouchsafe {to make} any one her +husband.” The occasion and propriety allow him to say no more; the +greater deeds of the mighty contest {now} engage him. + +A wood, thick with trees, which no age has cut down, rises from a plain, +and looks down upon the fields below. After the heroes are come there, +some extend the nets; some take the couples off the dogs, some follow +close the traces of his feet, and are anxious to discover their own +danger. There is a hollow channel, along which rivulets of rain water +are wont to discharge themselves. The bending willows cover the lower +parts of the cavity, and smooth sedges, and marshy rushes, and oziers, +and thin reeds with their long stalks. Aroused from this spot, the boar +rushes violently into the midst of the enemy, like lightning darted from +the bursting clouds. In his onset the grove is laid level, and the wood, +borne down, makes a crashing noise. The young men raise a shout, and +with strong right hands hold their weapons extended before them, +brandished with their broad points. Onward he rushes, and disperses the +dogs, as any one {of them} opposes his career; and scatters them, as +they bark {at him}, with sidelong wounds. The spear that was first +hurled by the arm of Echion, was unavailing, and made a slight incision +in the trunk of a maple tree. The next, if it had not employed too much +of the strength of him who threw it, seemed as if it would stick in the +back it was aimed at: it went beyond. The owner of the weapon was the +Pagasæan Jason. “Phœbus,” said the son of Ampycus,[60] “if I have +worshipped thee, and if I do worship thee, grant me {the favour} to +reach what is {now} aimed at, with unerring weapon.” The God consented +to his prayer, so far as he could. The boar was struck by him, but +without a wound; Diana took the steel head from off the flying weapon; +the shaft reached him without the point. The rage of the monster was +aroused, and not less violently was he inflamed than the lightnings; +light darted from his eyes, and flame was breathed from his breast. As +the stone flies, launched by the tightened rope, when it is aimed[61] at +either walls, or towers filled with soldiers, with the like unerring +onset is the destroying boar borne on among the youths, and lays upon +the ground Eupalamus and Pelagon,[62] who guard the right wing. {Thus} +prostrate, their companions bear them off. But Enæsimus, the son of +Hippocoön, does not escape a deadly wound. The sinews of his knee, cut +{by the boar}, fail him as he trembles, and prepares to turn his back. + +Perhaps, too, the Pylian {Nestor} would have perished[63] before the +times of the Trojan {war}: but taking a spring, by means of his lance, +planted {in the ground}, he leaped into the branches of a tree that was +standing close by, and, safe in his position, looked down upon the enemy +which he had escaped. He, having whetted his tusk on the trunk of an +oak, fiercely stood, ready for their destruction; and, trusting to his +weapons newly pointed, gored the thigh of the great Othriades[64] with +his crooked tusks. But the two brothers, not yet made Constellations of +the heavens, distinguished from the rest, were borne upon horses whiter +than the bleached snow; {and} both were brandishing the points of their +lances, poised in the air, with a tremulous motion. They would have +inflicted wounds, had not the bristly {monster} entered the shady wood, +a place penetrable by neither weapons nor horses. Telamon pursues him; +and, heedless in the heat of pursuit, falls headlong, tripped up by the +root of a tree. While Peleus[65] is lifting him up, the Tegeæan damsel +fits a swift arrow to the string, and, bending the bow, lets it fly. +Fixed under the ear of the beast, the arrow razes the surface of the +skin, and dyes the bristles red with a little blood. And not more joyful +is she at the success of her aim than Meleager is. + +He is supposed to have observed it first, and first to have pointed out +the blood to his companions, and to have said, “Thou shalt receive due +honour for thy bravery.” The heroes blush {in emulation}; and they +encourage one another, and raise their spirits with shouts, and +discharge their weapons without any order. Their {very} multitude is a +hindrance to those that are thrown, and it baffles the blow for which it +is designed. Behold! the Arcadian,[66] wielding his battle-axe, rushing +madly on to his fate, said, “Learn, O youths, how much the weapons of +men excel those of women, and give way for my achievement. Though the +daughter of Latona herself should protect him by her own arms, still, +in spite of Diana, shall my right hand destroy him.” Such words did he +boastingly utter with self-confident lips; and lifting his double-edged +axe with both hands, he stood erect upon tiptoe. The beast seized him +{thus} bold, and, where there is the nearest way to death, directed his +two tusks to the upper part of his groin. Ancæus fell; and his bowels, +twisted, rush forth, falling with plenteous blood, and the earth was +soaked with gore. Pirithoüs, the son of Ixion, was advancing straight +against the enemy, shaking his spear in his powerful right hand. To him +the son of Ægeus, at a distance, said, “O thou, dearer to me than +myself; stop, thou better part of my soul; we may be valiant at a +distance: his rash courage was the destruction of Ancæus.” {Thus} he +spoke, and he hurled his lance of cornel wood, heavy with its brazen +point; which, well poised, and likely to fulfil his desires, a leafy +branch of a beech-tree opposed. + +The son of Æson, too, hurled his javelin, which {unlucky} chance turned +away from {the beast}, to the destruction of an unoffending dog, and +running through his entrails, it was pinned through {those} entrails +into the earth. But the hand of the son of Œneus has different success; +and of two discharged by him, the first spear is fastened in the earth, +the second in the middle of his back. There is no delay; while he rages, +while he is wheeling his body round, and pouring forth foam, hissing +with the fresh blood, the giver of the wound comes up, and provokes his +adversary to fury, and buries his shining hunting spear in his opposite +shoulder. His companions attest their delight in an encouraging shout, +and in their right hands endeavour to grasp the conquering right hand; +and with wonder they behold the huge beast as he lies upon a large space +of ground, and they do not deem it safe as yet to touch him; but yet +they, each of them, stain their weapons with his blood. {Jason} himself, +placing his foot upon it, presses his frightful head, and thus he says: +“Receive, Nonacrian Nymph, the spoil that is my right; and let my glory +be shared by thee.” Immediately he gives her the skin as the spoil, +thick with the stiffening bristles, and the head remarkable for the huge +tusks. The giver of the present, as well as the present, is a {source} +of pleasure to her. The others envy her, and there is a murmuring +throughout the whole company. Of these, stretching out their arms, with +a loud voice, the sons of Thestius cry out, “Come, lay them down, and do +not thou, a woman, interfere with our honours; let not thy confidence in +thy beauty deceive thee, and let the donor, seized with this passion for +thee, keep at a distance.” And {then} from her they take the present, +{and} from him the right {of disposing} of the present. + +The warlike[67] {prince} did not brook it, and, indignant with swelling +rage, he said, “Learn, ye spoilers of the honour that belongs to +another, how much deeds differ from threats;” and, with his cruel sword, +he pierced the breast of Plexippus, dreading no such thing. Nor suffered +he Toxeus, who was doubtful what to do, and both wishful to avenge his +brother, and fearing his brother’s fate, long to be in doubt; but a +second time warmed his weapon, reeking with the former slaughter, in the +blood of the brother. + +Althæa was carrying gifts to the temples of the Gods, her son being +victorious, when she beheld her slain brothers carried off {from the +field}: uttering a shriek, she filled the city with her sad +lamentations, and assumed black garments in exchange for her golden +ones. But soon as the author of their death was made known, all grief +vanished; and from tears it was turned to a thirst for vengeance. There +was a billet, which, when the daughter of Thestius was lying in labour +{with her son}, the three Sisters, {the Fates}, placed in the flames, +and spinning the fatal threads, with their thumbs pressed upon them, +they said, “We give to thee, O new-born {babe}, and to this wood, the +same period {of existence}.” Having uttered this charm, the Goddesses +departed; {and} the mother snatched the flaming brand from the fire, and +sprinkled it with flowing water. Long had it been concealed in her most +retired apartment; and being {thus} preserved, had preserved, O youth, +thy life. This {billet} the mother {now} brings forth, and orders +torches to be heaped on broken pieces {of wood}; and when heaped, +applies to them the hostile flames. Then four times essaying to lay the +branch upon the flames, four times does she pause in the attempt. Both +the mother and the sister struggle hard, and the two different titles +influence her breast in different ways. Often is her countenance pale +with apprehension of the impending crime; often does rage, glowing in +her eyes, produce its red colour. And one while is her countenance like +that of one making some cruel threat or other; at another moment, such +as you could suppose to be full of compassion. And when the fierce heat +of her feelings has dried up her tears, still are tears found {to flow}. +Just as the ship, which the wind and a tide running contrary to the +wind, seize, is sensible of the double assault, and unsteadily obeys +them both; no otherwise does the daughter of Thestius fluctuate between +{two} varying affections, and in turn lays by her anger, and rouses it +again, {when thus} laid by. Still, the sister begins to get the better +of the parent; and that, with blood she may appease the shades of her +relations, in her unnatural conduct she proves affectionate. + +For after the pernicious flames gained strength, she said, “Let this +funeral pile consume my entrails.” And as she was holding the fatal +billet in her ruthless hand, she stood, in her wretchedness, before the +sepulchral altars,[68] and said, “Ye Eumenides,[69] the three Goddesses +of punishment, turn your faces towards these baleful rites; I am both +avenging and am committing a crime. With death must death be expiated; +crime must be added to crime, funeral to funeral; by accumulated +calamities, let this unnatural race perish. Shall Œneus, in happiness, +be blessed in his victorious son; and shall Thestius be childless? It is +better that you both should mourn. Only do ye, ghosts of my brothers, +phantoms newly made, regard this my act of affection, and receive this +funeral offering,[70] provided at a cost so great, the guilty pledge of +my womb. Ah, wretched me! Whither am I hurried away? Pardon, my +brothers, {the feelings of} a mother. My hands fail me in my purpose, +I confess that he deserves to die; but the author of his death is +repugnant to me. Shall he then go unpunished? Alive and victorious, and +flushed with his success, shall he possess the realms of Calydon? {And} +shall you lie, a little heap of ashes, and {as} lifeless phantoms? For +my part, I will not endure this. Let the guilty wretch perish, and let +him carry along with him the hopes of his father,[71] and the ruin of +his kingdom and country. {But} where are the feelings of a mother, where +are the affectionate ties of the parent? Where, too, are the pangs which +for twice five months[72] I have endured? Oh, that thou hadst been +burnt, when an infant, in that first fire! And would that I had allowed +it! By my aid hast thou lived; now, for thy own deserts, shalt thou die. +Take the reward of thy deeds; and return to me that life which was twice +given thee, first at thy birth, next when the billet was rescued; or +else place me as well in the tomb of my brothers. I both desire {to do +it}, and I am unable. What shall I do? one while the wounds of my +brothers are before my eyes, and the form of a murder so dreadful; at +another time, affection and the name of mother break my resolution. +Wretch that I am! To my sorrow, brothers, will you prevail; but {still} +prevail; so long as I myself shall follow the appeasing sacrifice that I +shall give you, and you yourselves;” she {thus} said, and turning +herself away, with trembling right hand she threw the fatal brand into +the midst of the flames. + +That billet either utters, or seems to utter, a groan, and, caught by +the reluctant flames, it is consumed. Unsuspecting, and at a distance, +Meleager is burned by that flame, and feels his entrails scorched by the +secret fires; but with fortitude he supports the mighty pain. Still, he +grieves that he dies by an inglorious death, and without {shedding his} +blood, and says that the wounds of Ancæus were a happy lot. And while, +with a sigh, he calls upon his aged father, and his brother, and his +affectionate sisters, and with his last words the companion of his +bed,[73] perhaps, too, his mother {as well}; the fire and his torments +increase; and {then} again do they diminish. Both of them are +extinguished together, and by degrees his spirit vanishes into the light +air. + +Lofty Calydon {now} lies prostrate. Young and old mourn, both people and +nobles lament; and the Calydonian matrons of Evenus,[74] tearing their +hair, bewail him. Lying along upon the ground, his father pollutes his +white hair and his aged features with dust, and chides his prolonged +existence. But her own hand, conscious to itself of the ruthless deed, +exacted punishment of the mother, the sword piercing her entrails.[75] +If a God had given me a mouth sounding with a hundred tongues, and an +enlarged genius, and the whole of Helicon {besides}; {still} I could not +enumerate the mournful expressions of his unhappy sisters. Regardless of +shame, they beat their livid bosoms, and while the body {still} exists, +they embrace it, and embrace it again; they give kisses to it, {and} +they give kisses to the bier {there} set. After {he is reduced to} +ashes, they pour them, when gathered up, to their breasts; and they lie +prostrate around the tomb, and kissing his name cut out in the stone, +they pour their tears upon his name. Them, the daughter of Latona, at +length satiated with the calamities of the house of Parthaon,[76] bears +aloft on wings springing from their bodies, except Gorge,[77] and the +daughter-in-law of noble Alcmena; and she stretches long wings over +their arms, and makes their mouths horny, and sends them, {thus} +transformed, through the air. + + [Footnote 23: _Cocalus._--Ver. 261. He was the king of Sicily, who + received Dædalus with hospitality.] + + [Footnote 24: _And censers._--Ver. 265. Acerris. The ‘acerra’ was + properly a box used for holding incense for the purposes of + sacrifice, which was taken from it, and placed on the burning + altar. According to Festus, the word meant a small altar, which + was placed before the dead, and on which perfumes were burnt. The + Law of the Twelve Tables restricted the use of ‘acerræ’ at + funerals.] + + [Footnote 25: _Meleager._--Ver. 270. He was the son of Œneus, king + of Calydon, a city of Ætolia, who had offended Diana by neglecting + her rites.] + + [Footnote 26: _Palladian juice._--Ver. 275. Oil, the extraction of + which, from the olive, Minerva had taught to mortals.] + + [Footnote 27: _Epirus._--Ver. 283. This country, sometimes also + called Chaonia, was on the north of Greece, between Macedonia, + Thessaly, and the Ionian sea, comprising the greater part of what + is now called Albania. It was famous for its oxen. According to + Pliny the Elder, Pyrrhus, its king, paid particular attention to + improving the breed.] + + [Footnote 28: _Bristles too._--Ver. 285. This line, or the + following one, is clearly an interpolation, and ought to be + omitted.] + + [Footnote 29: _Palisades._--Ver. 286. The word ‘vallum’ is found + applied either to the whole, or a portion only, of the + fortifications of a Roman camp. It is derived from ‘vallus,’ ‘a + stake;’ and properly means the palisade which ran along the outer + edge of the ‘agger,’ or ‘mound:’ but it frequently includes the + ‘agger’ also. The ‘vallum,’ in the latter sense, together with the + ‘fossa,’ or ‘ditch,’ which surrounded the camp outside of the + ‘vallum,’ formed a complete fortification.] + + [Footnote 30: _Sons of Tyndarus._--Ver. 301. These were Castor and + Pollux, the putative sons of Tyndarus, but really the sons of + Jupiter, who seduced Leda under the form of a swan. According to + some, however, Pollux only was the son of Jupiter. Castor was + skilled in horsemanship, while Pollux excelled in the use of the + cestus.] + + [Footnote 31: _Pirithoüs._--Ver. 303. He was the son of Ixion of + Larissa, and the bosom friend of Theseus.] + + [Footnote 32: _Sons of Thestius._--Ver. 304. These were Toxeus and + Plexippus, the uncles of Meleager, and the brothers of Althæa, who + avenged their death in the manner afterwards described by Ovid. + Pausanias calls them Prothoüs and Cometes. Lactantius adds a + third, Agenor.] + + [Footnote 33: _Lynceus._--Ver. 304. Lynceus and Idas were the sons + of Aphareus. From his skill in physical science, the former was + said to be able to see into the interior of the earth.] + + [Footnote 34: _Cæneus._--Ver. 305. This person was originally a + female, by name Cænis. At her request, she was changed by Neptune + into a man, and was made invulnerable. Her story is related at + length in the 12th book of the Metamorphoses.] + + [Footnote 35: _Leucippus._--Ver. 306. He was the son of Perieres, + and the brother of Aphareus. His daughters were Elaira, or Ilaira, + and Phœbe, whom Castor and Pollux attempted to carry off.] + + [Footnote 36: _Acastus._--Ver. 306. He was the son of Pelias, king + of Thessaly.] + + [Footnote 37: _Hippothoüs._--Ver. 307. According to Hyginus, + he was the son of Geryon, or rather, according to Pausanias, + of Cercyon.] + + [Footnote 38: _Dryas._--Ver. 307. The son of Mars, or, according + to some writers, of Iapetus.] + + [Footnote 39: _Phœnix._--Ver. 307. He was the son of Amyntor. + Having engaged in an intrigue, by the contrivance of his mother, + with his father’s mistress, he fled to the court of Peleus, king + of Thessaly, who entrusted to him the education of Achilles, and + the command of the Dolopians. He attended his pupil to the Trojan + war, and became blind in his latter years.] + + [Footnote 40: _Two sons of Actor._--Ver. 308. These were Eurytus + and Cteatus, the sons of Actor, of Elis. They were afterwards + slain by Hercules.] + + [Footnote 41: _Phyleus._--Ver. 308. He was the son of Augeas, king + of Elis, whose stables were cleansed by Hercules.] + + [Footnote 42: _Telamon._--Ver. 309. He was the son of Æacus. Ajax + Telamon was his son.] + + [Footnote 43: _Great Achilles._--Ver. 309. His father was Peleus, + the brother of Ajax, and the son of Æacus and Ægina. Peleus was + famed for his chastity.] + + [Footnote 44: _The son of Pheres._--Ver. 310. This was Admetus, + the son of Pheres, of Pheræ, in Thessaly.] + + [Footnote 45: _Hyantian Iolaüs._--Ver. 310. Iolaüs, the Bœotian, + the son of Iphiclus, aided Hercules in slaying the Hydra.] + + [Footnote 46: _Eurytion._--Ver. 311. He was the son of Irus, and + attended the Argonautic expedition.] + + [Footnote 47: _Echion._--Ver. 311. He was an Arcadian, the son of + Mercury and the Nymph Antianira, and was famous for his speed.] + + [Footnote 48: _Narycian Lelex._--Ver. 312. So called from Naryx, + a city of the Locrians.] + + [Footnote 49: _Panopeus._--Ver. 312. He was the son of Phocus, who + built the city of Panopæa, in Phocis, and was the father of + Epytus, who constructed the Trojan horse.] + + [Footnote 50: _Hyleus._--Ver. 312. According to Callimachus, + he was slain, together with Rhœtus, by Atalanta, for making an + attempt upon her virtue.] + + [Footnote 51: _Hippasus._--Ver. 313. He was a son of Eurytus.] + + [Footnote 52: _Nestor._--Ver. 313. He was the son of Neleus and + Chloris. He was king of Pylos, and went to the Trojan war in his + ninetieth, or, as some writers say, in his two hundredth year.] + + [Footnote 53: _Hippocoön._--Ver. 314. He was the son of Amycus. He + sent his four sons, Enæsimus, Alcon, Amycus, and Dexippus, to hunt + the Calydonian boar. The first was killed by the monster, and the + other three, with their father, were afterwards slain by + Hercules.] + + [Footnote 54: _Amyclæ._--Ver. 314. This was an ancient city of + Laconia, built by Amycla, the son of Lacedæmon.] + + [Footnote 55: _Of Penelope._--Ver. 315. This was Laërtes, the + father of Ulysses, the husband of Penelope, and king of Ithaca.] + + [Footnote 56: _Ancæus._--Ver. 315. He was an Arcadian, the son of + Lycurgus.] + + [Footnote 57: _Son of Ampycus._--Ver. 316. Ampycus was the son of + Titanor, and the father of Mopsus, a famous soothsayer.] + + [Footnote 58: _Descendant Œclus._--Ver. 317. This was Amphiaraüs, + who, having the gift of prophecy, foresaw that he would not live + to return from the Theban war; and, therefore, hid himself, that + he might not be obliged to join in the expedition. His wife, + Eriphyle, being bribed by Adrastus with a gold necklace, betrayed + his hiding-place; on which, proceeding to Thebes, he was swallowed + up in the earth, together with his chariot. Ovid refers here to + the treachery of his wife.] + + [Footnote 59: _Tegeæan._--Ver. 317. Atalanta was the daughter of + Iasius, and was a native of Tegeæa, in Arcadia. She was the mother + of Parthenopæus, by Meleager. She is thought, by some, to have + been a different person from Atalanta, the daughter of Schœneus, + famed for her swiftness in running, who is mentioned in the tenth + book of the Metamorphoses.] + + [Footnote 60: _Son of Ampycus._--Ver. 350. Mopsus was a priest of + Apollo.] + + [Footnote 61: _When it is aimed._--Ver. 357. When discharged from + the ‘balista,’ or ‘catapulta,’ or other engine of war.] + + [Footnote 62: _Eupalamus and Pelagon._--Ver. 360. They are not + previously named in the list of combatants; and nothing further is + known of them.] + + [Footnote 63: _Would have perished._--Ver. 365. What is here told + of Nestor, one of the Commentators on Homer attributes to + Thersites, who, according to him, being the son of Agrius, the + uncle of Meleager, was present on this occasion.] + + [Footnote 64: _Othriades._--Ver. 371. Nothing further is known of + him.] + + [Footnote 65: _Peleus._--Ver. 375. According to Apollodorus, + Peleus accidentally slew Eurytion on this occasion.] + + [Footnote 66: _The Arcadian._--Ver. 391. This was Ancæus, who is + mentioned before, in line 215.] + + [Footnote 67: _Warlike._--Ver. 437. ‘Mavortius’ may possibly mean + ‘the son of Mars,’ as, according to Hyginus, Mars was engaged in + an intrigue with Althæa.] + + [Footnote 68: _Sepulchral altars._--Ver. 480. The ‘sepulchralis + ara’ is the funeral pile, which was built in the form of an altar, + with four equal sides. Ovid also calls it ‘funeris ara,’ in the + Tristia, book iii. Elegy xiii. line 21.] + + [Footnote 69: _Eumenides._--Ver. 482. This name properly signifies + ‘the well-disposed,’ or ‘wellwishers,’ and was applied to the + Furies by way of euphemism, it being deemed unlucky to mention + their names.] + + [Footnote 70: _Funeral offering._--Ver. 490. The ‘inferiæ’ were + sacrifices offered to the shades of the dead. The Romans appear to + have regarded the souls of the departed as Gods; for which reason + they presented them wine, milk, and garlands, and offered them + victims in sacrifice.] + + [Footnote 71: _Hopes of his father._--Ver. 498. Œneus had other + sons besides Meleager, who were slain in the war that arose in + consequence of the death of Plexippus and Toxeus. Nicander says + they were five in number; Apollodorus names but three, Toxeus, + Tyreus, and Clymenus.] + + [Footnote 72: _Twice five months._--Ver. 500. That is, lunar + months.] + + [Footnote 73: _Of his bed._--Ver. 521. Antoninus Liberalis calls + her Cleopatra, but Hyginus says that her name was Alcyone. Homer, + however, reconciles this discrepancy, by saying that the original + name of the wife of Meleager was Cleopatra, but that she was + called Alcyone, because her mother had the same fate as Alcyone, + or Halcyone.] + + [Footnote 74: _Evenus._--Ver. 527. Evenus was a river of Ætolia.] + + [Footnote 75: _Piercing her entrails._--Ver. 531. Hyginus says + that she hanged herself.] + + [Footnote 76: _Parthaon._--Ver. 541. Parthaon was the grandfather + of Meleager and his sisters, Œneus being his son.] + + [Footnote 77: _Gorge._--Ver. 542. Gorge married Andræmon, and + Deïanira was the wife of Hercules, the son of Alcmena. The two + sisters of Meleager who were changed into birds were Eurymede and + Melanippe.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + It is generally supposed that the story of the chase of the + Calydonian boar, though embracing much of the fabulous, is still + based upon historical facts. Homer, in the 9th book of the Iliad, + alludes to it, though in somewhat different terms from the account + here given by Ovid; and from the ancient historians we learn, that + Œneus, offering the first fruits to the Gods, forgot Diana in his + sacrifices. A wild boar, the same year having ravaged some part of + his dominions, and particularly a vineyard, on the cultivation of + which he had bestowed much pains, these circumstances, combined, + gave occasion for saying that the boar had been sent by Diana. As + the wild beast had killed some country people, Meleager collected + the neighbouring nobles, for the purpose of destroying it. Plexippus + and Toxeus, having been killed, in the manner mentioned by the Poet, + Althæa, their sister, in her grief, devoted her son to the Furies; + and, perhaps, having used some magical incantations, the story of + the fatal billet was invented. + + Homer does not mention the death of Meleager; but, on the contrary, + says that his mother, Althæa, was pacified. Some writers, however, + think that he really was poisoned by his mother. The story of the + change of the sisters of Meleager into birds is only the common + poetical fiction, denoting the extent of their grief at the untimely + death of their brother. + + +FABLE V. [VIII.547-610] + + Theseus, returning from the chase of the Calydonian boar, is stopped + by an inundation of the river Acheloüs, and accepts of an invitation + from the God of that river, to come to his grotto. After the repast, + Acheloüs gives him the history of the five Naiads, who had been + changed into the islands called Echinades, and an account of his own + amour with the Nymph Perimele, whom, being thrown by her father into + the sea, Neptune had transformed into an island. + +In the meantime, Theseus having performed his part in the joint labour, +was going to the Erecthean towers of Tritonis. {But} Acheloüs, swollen +with rains, opposed his journey,[78] and caused him delay as he was +going. “Come,” said he, “famous Cecropian, beneath my roof; and do not +trust thyself to the rapid floods. They are wont to bear away strong +beams, and to roll down stones, as they lie across, with immense +roaring. I have seen high folds, contiguous to my banks, swept away, +together with the flocks; nor was it of any avail there for the herd to +be strong, nor for the horses to be swift. Many bodies, too, of young +men has this torrent overwhelmed in its whirling eddies, when the snows +of the mountains dissolved. Rest is the safer {for thee}; until the +river runs within its usual bounds, until its own channel receives the +flowing waters.” + +To {this} the son of Ægeus agreed; and replied, “I will make use of thy +dwelling and of thy advice, Acheloüs;” and both he did make use of. +He entered an abode built of pumice stone with its many holes, and the +sand-stone far from smooth. The floor was moist with soft moss, shells +with alternate {rows of} murex arched the roof. And now, Hyperion having +measured out two parts of the light, Theseus and the companions of his +labours lay down upon couches; on the one side the son of Ixion,[79] on +the other, Lelex, the hero of Trœzen, having his temples now covered +with thin grey hairs; and some others whom the river of the Acarnanians, +overjoyed with a guest so great, had graced with the like honour. +Immediately, some Nymphs, barefoot, furnished with the banquet the +tables that were set before them; and the dainties being removed, they +served up wine in {bowls adorned with} gems. Then the mighty hero, +surveying the seas that lay beneath his eyes, said, “What place is +this?” and he pointed with his finger; “and inform me what name that +island bears; although it does not seem to be one only?” In answer to +these words, the River said, “It is not, indeed, one object that we see; +five countries lie {there}; they deceive through their distance. And +that thou mayst be the less surprised at the deeds of the despised +Diana, these were Naiads; who, when they had slain twice five bullocks, +and had invited the Gods of the country to a sacrifice, kept a joyous +festival, regardless of me. {At this} I swelled, and I was as great as I +ever am, in my course, when I am the fullest; and, redoubled both in +rage and in flood, I tore away woods from woods, and fields from fields; +and together with the spot, I hurled the Nymphs[80] into the sea, who +then, at last, were mindful of me. My waves and those of the main +divided the land, {before} continuous, and separated it into as many +parts, as thou seest {islands, called} Echinades, in the midst of the +waves. + +“But yet, as thou thyself seest from afar, one island, see! was +withdrawn far off from the rest, {an island} pleasing to me. The mariner +calls it Perimele.[81] This beloved Nymph did I deprive of the name of a +virgin. This her father, Hippodamas, took amiss, and pushed the body of +his daughter, when about to bring forth, from a rock, into the sea. +I received her; and bearing her up when swimming, I said, ‘O thou bearer +of the Trident, who hast obtained, by lot, next in rank to the heavens, +the realms of the flowing waters, in which we sacred rivers end, {and} +to which we run; come hither, Neptune, and graciously listen to me, as I +pray. Her, whom I am bearing up, I have injured. If her father, +Hippodamas, had been mild and reasonable, or if he had been less +unnatural, he ought to have pitied her, and to have forgiven me. Give +thy assistance; and grant a place, Neptune, I beseech thee, to her, +plunged in the waters by the cruelty of her father; or allow her to +become a place herself. Her, even, {thus} will I embrace.’ The King of +the ocean moved his head, and shook all the waters with his assent. The +Nymph was afraid; but yet she swam. Her breast, as she was swimming, +I myself touched, as it throbbed with a tremulous motion; and while I +felt it, I perceived her whole body grow hard, and her breast become +covered with earth growing over it. While I was speaking, fresh earth +enclosed her floating limbs, and a heavy island grew upon her changed +members.” + + [Footnote 78: _Opposed his journey._--Ver. 548. It has been + objected to this passage, that the river Acheloüs, which rises in + Mount Pindus, and divides Acarnania from Ætolia, could not + possibly lie in the road of Theseus, as he returned from Calydon + to Athens.] + + [Footnote 79: _Son of Ixion._--Ver. 566. Pirithoüs lay on the one + side, and Lelex on the other; the latter is called ‘Trœzenius,’ + from the fact of his having lived with Pittheus, the king of + Trœzen.] + + [Footnote 80: _I hurled the Nymphs._--Ver. 585. Clarke translates + ‘Nymphas in freta provolvi,’ ‘I tumbled the nymphs into the sea.’] + + [Footnote 81: _Perimele._--Ver. 590. According to Apollodorus, the + name of the wife of Acheloüs was Perimede; and she bore him two + sons, Hippodamas and Orestes. The Echinades were five small + islands in the Ionian Sea, near the coast of Acarnania, which are + now called Curzolari.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + This story is simply based upon physical grounds. The river + Acheloüs, running between Acarnania and Ætolia, and flowing into the + Ionian Sea, carried with it a great quantity of sand and mud, which + probably formed the islands at its mouth, called the Echinades. The + same solution probably applies to the narrative of the fate of the + Nymph Perimele. + + +FABLE VI. [VIII.611-737] + + Jupiter and Mercury, disguised in human shape, are received by + Philemon and Baucis, after having been refused admittance by their + neighbours. The Gods, in acknowledgment of their hospitality, + transform their cottage into a temple, of which, at their own + request, they are made the priest and priestess; and, after a long + life, the worthy couple are changed into trees. The village where + they live is laid under water, on account of the impiety of the + inhabitants, and is turned into a lake. Acheloüs here relates the + surprising changes of Proteus. + +After these things the river was silent. The wondrous deed had +astonished them all. The son of Ixion laughed at them,[82] believing +{the story}; and as he was a despiser of the Gods, and of a haughty +disposition, he said, “Acheloüs, thou dost relate a fiction, and dost +deem the Gods more powerful than they are, if they both give and take +away the form {of things}.” {At this} all were amazed, and did not +approve of such language; and before all, Lelex, ripe in understanding +and age, spoke thus: “The power of heaven is immense, and has no limits; +and whatever the Gods above will, ’tis done. + +“And that thou mayst the less doubt {of this}, there is upon the +Phrygian hills, an oak near to the lime tree, enclosed by a low +wall.[83] I, myself, have seen the spot; for Pittheus sent me into the +land of Pelops, once governed by his father, {Pelops}. Not far thence is +a standing water, formerly habitable ground, but now frequented by +cormorants and coots, that delight in fens. Jupiter came hither in the +shape of a man, and together with his parent, the grandson of Atlas, +{Mercury}, the bearer of the Caduceus, having laid aside his wings. To a +thousand houses did they go, asking for lodging and for rest. A thousand +houses did the bolts fasten {against them}. Yet one received them, +a small one indeed, thatched with straw,[84] and the reeds of the marsh. +But a pious old woman {named} Baucis, and Philemon of a like age, were +united in their youthful years in that {cottage}, and in it, they grew +old together; and by owning their poverty, they rendered it light, and +not to be endured with discontented mind. It matters not, whether you +ask for the masters there, or for the servants; the whole family are but +two; the same persons both obey and command. When, therefore, the +inhabitants of heaven reached this little abode, and, bending their +necks, entered the humble door, the old man bade them rest their limbs +on a bench set {there}; upon which the attentive Baucis threw a coarse +cloth. Then she moves the warm embers on the hearth, and stirs up the +fire they had had the day before, and supplies it with leaves and dry +bark, and with her aged breath kindles it into a flame; and brings out +of the house faggots split into many pieces, and dry bits of branches, +and breaks them, and puts them beneath a small boiler. Some pot-herbs, +too, which her husband has gathered in the well-watered garden, she +strips of their leaves. + +“With a two-pronged fork {Philemon} lifts down[85] a rusty side of +bacon, that hangs from a black beam; and cuts off a small portion from +the chine that has been kept so long; and when cut, softens it in +boiling water. In the meantime, with discourse they beguile the +intervening hours; and suffer not the length of time to be perceived. +There is a beechen trough there, that hangs on a peg by its crooked +handle; this is filled with warm water, and receives their limbs to +refresh them. On the middle of the couch, its feet and frame[86] being +made of willow, is placed a cushion of soft sedge. This they cover with +cloths, which they have not been accustomed to place there but on +festive occasions; but even these cloths are coarse and old, {though} +not unfitting for a couch of willow. The Gods seat themselves. The old +woman, wearing an apron, and shaking {with palsy}, sets the table +{before them}. But the third leg of the table is too short; a potsherd, +{placed beneath}, makes it equal. After this, being placed beneath, has +taken away the inequality, green mint rubs down the table {thus} made +level. Here are set the double-tinted berries[87] of the chaste Minerva, +and cornel-berries, gathered in autumn, {and} preserved in a thin +pickle; endive, too, and radishes, and a large piece of curdled milk, +and eggs, that have been gently turned in the slow embers; all {served} +in earthenware. After this, an embossed goblet of similar clay is placed +{there}; cups, too, made of beech wood, varnished, where they are +hollowed out, with yellow wax. + +“There is {now} a short pause;[88] the fire {then} sends up the warm +repast; and wine kept no long time, is again put on; and {then}, set +aside for a little time, it gives place to the second course. Here are +nuts, {and} here are dried figs mixed with wrinkled dates, plums too, +and fragrant apples in wide baskets, and grapes gathered from the purple +vines. In the middle there is white honey-comb. Above all, there are +welcome looks, and no indifferent and niggardly feelings. In the +meanwhile, as oft as Baucis and the alarmed Philemon behold the goblet, +{when} drunk off, replenish itself of its own accord, and the wine +increase of itself, astonished at this singular event, they are +frightened, and, with hands held up, they offer their prayers, and +entreat pardon for their entertainment, and their want of preparation. +There was a single goose, the guardian of their little cottage, which +its owners were preparing to kill for the Deities, their guests. Swift +with its wings, it wearied them, {rendered} slow by age, and it escaped +them a long time, and at length seemed to fly for safety to the Gods +themselves. The immortals forbade it[89] to be killed, and said, ‘We are +Divinities, and this impious neighbourhood shall suffer deserved +punishment. To you it will be allowed to be free from this calamity; +only leave your habitation, and attend our steps, and go together to the +summit of the mountain.’ + +“They both obeyed; and, supported by staffs, they endeavoured to place +their feet {on the top} of the high hill. They were {now} as far from +the top, as an arrow discharged can go at once, {when} they turned their +eyes, and beheld the other parts sinking in a morass, {and} their own +abode alone remaining. While they were wondering at these things, {and} +while they were bewailing the fate of their {fellow countrymen}, that +old cottage of {theirs}, {too} little for even two owners, was changed +into a temple. Columns took the place of forked stakes, the thatch grew +yellow, and the earth was covered with marble; the doors appeared +carved, and the roof to be of gold. Then, the son of Saturn uttered such +words as these with benign lips: ‘Tell us, good old man, and thou, wife, +worthy of a husband {so} good, what it is you desire?’ Having spoken a +few words to Baucis, Philemon discovered their joint request to the +Gods: ‘We desire to be your priests, and to have the care of your +temple; and, since we have passed our years in harmony, let the same +hour take us off both together; and let me not ever see the tomb of my +wife, nor let me be destined to be buried by her.’ Fulfilment attended +their wishes. So long as life was granted, they were the keepers of the +temple; and when, enervated by years and old age, they were standing, by +chance, before the sacred steps, and were relating the fortunes of the +spot, Baucis beheld Philemon, and the aged Philemon saw Baucis, {too}, +shooting into leaf. And now the tops of the trees growing above their +two faces, so long as they could they exchanged words with each other, +and said together, ‘Farewell! my spouse;’ and at the same moment the +branches covered their concealed faces. The inhabitants of Tyana[90] +still shew these adjoining trees, made of their two bodies. Old men, no +romancers, (and there was no reason why they should wish to deceive me) +told me this. I, indeed, saw garlands hanging on the branches, and +placing {there} some fresh ones {myself}, I said, ‘The good are the +{peculiar} care of the Gods, and those who worshipped {the Gods}, are +{now} worshipped {themselves}.’” + +He had {now} ceased; and the thing {itself} and the relator {of it} had +astonished them all; {and} especially Theseus, whom, desiring to hear of +the wonderful actions of the Gods, the Calydonian river leaning on his +elbow, addressed in words such as these: “There are, O most valiant +{hero}, some things, whose form has been once changed, and {then} has +continued under that change. There are some whose privilege it is to +pass into many shapes, as thou, Proteus, inhabitant of the sea that +embraces the earth. For people have seen thee one while a young man, and +again a lion; at one time thou wast a furious boar, at another a +serpent, which they dreaded to touch; {and} sometimes, horns rendered +thee a bull. Ofttimes thou mightst be seen as a stone; often, too, as a +tree. Sometimes imitating the appearance of flowing water, thou wast a +river; sometimes fire, the {very} contrary of water.” + + [Footnote 82: _Laughed at them._--Ver. 612. The Centaurs, from one + of whom Pirithoüs was sprung, were famed for their contempt of, + and enmity to, the Gods.] + + [Footnote 83: _By a low wall._--Ver. 620. As a memorial of the + wonderful events here related by Lelex.] + + [Footnote 84: _Thatched with straw._--Ver. 630. It was the custom + with the ancients, when reaping, to take off only the heads of the + corn, and to leave the stubble to be reaped at another time. From + this passage, we see that straw was used for the purpose of + thatching.] + + [Footnote 85: _Lifts down._--Ver. 647. The lifting down the flitch + of bacon might induce us to believe that the account of this story + was written yesterday, and not nearly two thousand years since. + So true is it, that there is nothing new under the sun.] + + [Footnote 86: _Feet and frame._--Ver. 659. ‘Sponda.’ This was the + frame of the bedstead, and more especially the sides of it. In the + case of a bed used for two persons, the two sides were + distinguished by different names; the side at which they entered + was open, and was called ‘sponda:’ the other side, which was + protected by a board, was called ‘pluteus.’ The two sides were + also called ‘torus exterior,’ or ‘sponda exterior,’ and ‘torus + interior,’ or ‘sponda interior.’] + + [Footnote 87: _Double-tinted berries._--Ver. 664. Green on one + side, and swarthy on the other.] + + [Footnote 88: _A short pause._--Ver. 671. This was the second + course. The Roman ‘cœna,’ or chief meal, consisted of three + stages. First, the ‘promulsis,’ ‘antecœna,’ or ‘gustatio,’ when + they ate such things as served to stimulate the appetite. Then + came the first course, which formed the substantial part of the + meal; and next the second course, at which the ‘bellaria,’ + consisting of pastry and fruits, such as are now used at dessert, + were served.] + + [Footnote 89: _Immortals forbade it._--Ver. 688. This act of + humanity reflects credit on the two Deities, and contrasts + favourably with their usual cruel and revengeful disposition, in + common with their fellow Divinities of the heathen Mythology.] + + [Footnote 90: _Of Tyana._--Ver. 719. This was a city of + Cappadocia, in Asia Minor.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + The story of Baucis and Philemon, which is here so beautifully + related by the Poet, is a moral tale, which shows the merit of + hospitality, and how, in some cases at least, virtue speedily brings + its own reward. If the story is based upon any actual facts, the + history of its origin is entirely unknown. Huet, the theologian, + indeed, supposes that it is founded on the history of the reception + of the Angels by Abraham. This is a bold surmise, but entirely in + accordance with his position, that the greatest part of the fictions + of the heathen mythology were mere glosses or perversions of the + histories of the Old Testament. If derived from Scripture, the story + is just as likely to be founded on the hospitable reception of the + Prophet Elijah by the woman of Zarephath; and the miraculous + increase of the wine in the goblet, calls to mind ‘the barrel of + meal that wasted not, and the cruse of oil that did not fail.’ The + story of the wretched fate of the inhospitable neighbours of Baucis + and Philemon is thought, by some modern writers, to be founded upon + the Scriptural account of the destruction of the wicked cities of + the plain. + + Ancient writers have made many attempts to solve the wondrous story + of Proteus. Some say that he was an elegant orator, who charmed his + auditors by the force of his eloquence. Lucian says that he was an + actor of pantomime, so supple that he could assume various postures. + Herodotus, Diodorus Siculus, and Clement of Alexandria, assert that + he was an ancient king of Egypt, successor to Pheron, and that he + lived at the time, of the Trojan war. Herodotus, who represents him + as a prince of great wisdom and justice, does not make any allusion + to his powers of transformation, which was his great merit in the + eyes of the poets. Diodorus Siculus says that his alleged changes + may have had their rise in a custom which Proteus had of adorning + his helmet, sometimes with the skin of a panther, sometimes with + that of a lion, and sometimes with that of a serpent, or of some + other animal. When Lycophron states that Neptune saved Proteus from + the fury of his children, by making him go through caverns from + Pallene to Egypt, he follows the tradition which says that he + originally came from that town in Thessaly, and that he retired + thence to Egypt. Virgil, and Servius, his Commentator, assert that + Proteus returned to Thessaly after the death of his children, who + were slain by Hercules; in which assertion, however, they are not + supported by Homer or Herodotus. + + +FABLE VII. [VIII.738-884] + + Acheloüs continues his narrative with the story of Metra, the + daughter of Erisicthon, who is attacked with insatiable hunger, for + having cut down an oak, in one of the groves of Ceres. Metra begs of + Neptune, who was formerly in love with her, the power of + transforming herself into different shapes; that she may be enabled, + if possible, to satisfy the voracious appetite of her father. By + these means, Erisicthon, being obliged to expose her for sale, in + order to purchase himself food, always recovers her again; until, + by his repeated sale of her, the fraud is discovered. He at last + becomes the avenger of his own impiety, by devouring his own limbs. + +“Nor has the wife of Autolycus,[91] the daughter of Erisicthon, less +privileges {than he}. Her father was one who despised the majesty of the +Gods; and he offered them no honours on their altars. He is likewise +said to have profaned with an axe a grove of Ceres, and to have violated +her ancient woods with the iron. In these there was standing an oak with +an ancient trunk, a wood {in itself} alone, fillets and tablets, {as} +memorials,[92] and garlands, proofs of wishes that had been granted, +surrounded the middle of it. Often, beneath this {tree}, did the Dryads +lead up the festive dance; often, too, with hands joined in order, did +they go round the compass of its trunk; and the girth of the oak made up +three times five ells. The rest of the wood, too, lay as much under this +oak as the grass lay beneath the whole of the wood. Yet not on that +account {even} did the son of Triopas[93] withhold the axe from it; and +he ordered his servants to cut down the sacred oak; and when he saw them +hesitate, {thus} ordered, the wicked {wretch}, snatching from one of +them an axe, uttered these words: ‘Were it not only beloved by a +Goddess, but even were it a Goddess itself, it should now touch the +ground with its leafy top.’ {Thus} he said; and while he was poising his +weapon for a side stroke, the Deoïan oak[94] shuddered, and uttered a +groan; and at once, its green leaves, and, with them, its acorns began +to turn pale; and the long branches to be moistened with sweat. As soon +as his impious hand had made an incision in its trunk, the blood flowed +from the severed bark no otherwise than, as, at the time when the bull, +a large victim, falls before the altars, the blood pours forth from his +divided neck. All were amazed and one of the number attempted to hinder +the wicked design, and to restrain the cruel axe. The Thessalian eyes +him, and says, ‘Take the reward of thy pious intentions,’ and turns the +axe from the tree upon the man, and hews off his head; and {then} hacks +at the oak again; when such words as these are uttered from the middle +of the oak: ‘I, a Nymph,[95] most pleasing to Ceres, am beneath this +wood; I, {now} dying, foretell to thee that the punishment of thy deeds, +the solace of my death, is at hand.’ + +“He pursued his wicked design; and, at last, weakened by numberless +blows, and pulled downward with ropes, the tree fell down, and with its +weight levelled a great part of the wood. All her sisters, the Dryads, +being shocked at the loss of the grove and their own, in their grief +repaired to Ceres, in black array,[96] and requested the punishment of +Erisicthon. She assented to their {request}, and the most beauteous +Goddess, with the nodding of her head, shook the fields loaded with the +heavy crops; and contrived {for him} a kind of punishment, lamentable, +if he had not, for his crimes, been deserving of the sympathy of none, +{namely}, to torment him with deadly Famine. And since that Goddess +could not be approached by herself (for the Destinies do not allow Ceres +and Famine to come together), in such words as these she addressed +rustic Oreas, one of the mountain Deities: ‘There is an icy region in +the extreme part of Scythia, a dreary soil, a land, desolate, without +corn {and} without trees; there dwell drowsy Cold, and Paleness, and +Trembling, and famishing Hunger; order her to bury herself in the breast +of this sacrilegious {wretch}. Let no abundance of provisions overcome +her; and let her surpass my powers in the contest. And that the length +of the road may not alarm thee, take my chariot, take the dragons, which +thou mayst guide aloft with the reins;’ and {then} she gave them to her. + +“She, borne through the air on the chariot {thus} granted, arrived in +Scythia; and, on the top of a steep mountain (they call it Caucasus), +she unyoked the neck of the dragons, and beheld Famine, whom she was +seeking, in a stony field, tearing up herbs, growing here and there, +with her nails and with her teeth. Rough was her hair, her eyes hollow, +paleness on her face, her lips white with scurf,[97] her jaws rough with +rustiness; her skin hard, through which her bowels might be seen; her +dry bones were projecting beneath her crooked loins; instead of a belly, +there was {only} the place for a belly. You would think her breast was +hanging, and was only supported from the chine[98] of the back. Leanness +had, {to appearance}, increased her joints, and the caps of her knees +were stiff, and excrescences projected from her overgrown ancles. Soon +as {Oreas} beheld her at a distance (for she did not dare come near +her), she delivered the commands of the Goddess; and, staying for so +short a time, although she was at a distance from her, {and} although +she had just come thither, still did she seem to feel hunger; and, +turning the reins, she drove aloft the dragon’s back to Hæmonia. + +“Famine executes the orders of Ceres (although she is ever opposing her +operations), and is borne by the winds through the air to the assigned +abode, and immediately enters the bedchamber of the sacrilegious +{wretch}, and embraces him, sunk in a deep sleep ({for} it is +night-time), with her two wings. She breathes herself into the man, and +blows upon his jaws, and his breast, and his face; and she scatters +hunger through his empty veins. And having {thus} executed her +commission, she forsakes the fruitful world, and returns to her famished +abode, her wonted fields. Gentle sleep is still soothing[99] Erisicthon +with its balmy wings. In a vision of his sleep he craves for food, and +moves his jaws to no purpose, and tires his teeth {grinding} upon teeth, +and wearies his throat deluded with imaginary food; and, instead of +victuals, he devours in vain the yielding air. But when sleep is +banished, his desire for eating is outrageous, and holds sway over his +craving jaws, and his insatiate entrails. And no delay {is there}; he +calls what the sea, what the earth, what the air produces, and complains +of hunger with the tables set before him, and requires food in {the +midst of} food. And what might be enough for {whole} cities, and what +{might be enough} for a {whole} people, is not sufficient for one man. +The more, too, he swallows down into his stomach, the more does he +desire. And just as the ocean receives rivers from the whole earth, and +{yet} is not satiated with water, and drinks up the rivers of distant +countries, and as the devouring fire never refuses fuel, and burns up +beams of wood without number, and the greater the quantity that is given +to it, the more does it crave, and it is the more voracious through the +very abundance {of fuel}; so do the jaws of the impious Erisicthon +receive all victuals {presented}, and at the same time ask for {more}. +In him all food is {only} a ground for {more} food, and there is always +room vacant for eating {still more}. + +“And now, through his appetite, and the voracity of his capacious +stomach, he had diminished his paternal estate; but yet, even then, did +his shocking hunger remain undiminished, and the craving of his +insatiable appetite continued in full vigour. At last, after he has +swallowed down his estate into his paunch,[100] his daughter {alone} is +remaining, undeserving of him for a father; her, too, he sells, pressed +by want. Born of a noble race, she cannot brook a master; and stretching +out her hands, over the neighbouring sea, she says, ‘Deliver me from a +master, thou who dost possess the prize of my ravished virginity.’ This +{prize} Neptune had {possessed himself of}. He, not despising her +prayer, although, the moment before, she has been seen by her master in +pursuit of her, both alters her form, and gives her the appearance of a +man, and a habit befitting such as catch fish. Looking at her, her +master says, ‘O thou manager of the rod, who dost cover the brazen +{hook}, as it hangs, with tiny morsels, even so may the sea be smooth +{for thee}, even so may the fish in the water be {ever} credulous for +thee, and may they perceive no hook till caught; tell me where she is, +who this moment was standing upon this shore (for standing on the shore +I saw her), with her hair dishevelled, {and} in humble garb; for no +further do her footsteps extend.’ She perceives that the favour of the +God has turned to good purpose, and, well pleased that she is inquired +after of herself, she replies to him, as he inquires, in these words: +‘Whoever thou art, excuse me, {but} I have not turned my eyes on any +side from this water, and, busily employed, I have been attending to my +pursuit. And that thou mayst the less disbelieve {me}, may the God of +the sea so aid this employment of mine, no man has been for some time +standing on this shore, myself only excepted, nor has any woman been +standing {here}.’ Her master believed her, and, turning his feet {to go +away}, he paced the sands, and, {thus} deceived, withdrew. Her own shape +was restored to her. + +“But when her father found that his {daughter} had a body capable of +being transformed, he often sold the grand-daughter of Triopas to +{other} masters. But she used to escape, sometimes as a mare, sometimes +as a bird, now as a cow, now as a stag; and {so} provided a dishonest +maintenance for her hungry parent. Yet, after this violence of his +distemper had consumed all his provision, and had added fresh fuel to +his dreadful malady: he himself, with mangling bites, began to tear his +own limbs, and the miserable {wretch} used to feed his own body by +diminishing it. {But} why do I dwell on the instances of others? I, too, +O youths,[101] have a power of often changing my body, {though} limited +in the number {of those changes}. For, one while, I appear what I now +am, another while I am wreathed as a snake; then {as} the leader of a +herd, I receive strength in my horns. In my horns, {I say}, so long as I +could. Now, one side of my forehead is deprived of its weapons, as thou +seest thyself.” Sighs followed his words. + + [Footnote 91: _Autolycus._--Ver. 738. He was the father of + Anticlea, the mother of Ulysses, and was instructed by Mercury in + the art of thieving. His wife was Metra, whose transformations are + here described by the Poet.] + + [Footnote 92: _Tablets as memorials._--Ver. 744. That is, they had + inscribed on them the grateful thanks of the parties who placed + them there to Ceres, for having granted their wishes.] + + [Footnote 93: _Son of Triopas._--Ver. 751. Erisicthon was the son + of Triopas.] + + [Footnote 94: _Deoïan oak._--Ver. 758. Belonging to Ceres. See + Book vi. line 114.] + + [Footnote 95: _I, a Nymph._--Ver. 771. She was one of the + Hamadryads, whose lives terminated with those of the trees which + they respectively inhabited.] + + [Footnote 96: _In black array._--Ver. 778. The Romans wore + mourning for the dead; which seems, in the time of the Republic, + to have been black or dark blue for either sex. Under the Empire, + the men continued to wear black, but the women wore white. On such + occasions all ornaments were laid aside.] + + [Footnote 97: _With scurf._--Ver. 802. Clarke gives this + translation of ‘Labra incana situ:’ ‘Her lips very white with + nasty stuff.’] + + [Footnote 98: _From the chine._--Ver. 806. ‘A spinæ tantummodo + crate teneri,’ is translated by Clarke, ‘Was only supported by the + wattling of her backbone.’] + + [Footnote 99: _Is still soothing._--Ver. 823. Clarke renders the + words ‘Lenis adhuc somnus--Erisicthona pennis mulcebat;’ ‘Gentle + sleep as yet clapped Erisicthon with her wings.’] + + [Footnote 100: _Into his paunch._--Ver. 846. Clarke translates + ‘Tandem, demisso in viscera censu;’ ‘at last, after he had + swallowed down all his estate into his g--ts.’] + + [Footnote 101: _I too, O youths._--Ver. 880. Acheloüs is + addressing Theseus, Pirithoüs, and Lelex. The words, ‘Etiam mihi + sæpe novandi Corporis, O Juvenes,’ is rendered by Clarke, ‘I too, + gentlemen, have the power of changing my body.’] + + +EXPLANATION. + + The story of Metra and Erisicthon has no other foundation, in all + probability, than the diligent care which she took, as a dutiful + daughter, to support her father, when he had ruined himself by his + luxury and extravagance. She, probably, was a young woman, who, in + the hour of need, could, in common parlance, ‘turn her hand’ to any + useful employment. Some, however, suppose that, by her changes are + meant the wages she received from those whom she served in the + capacity of a slave, and which she gave to her father; and it must + be remembered that, in ancient times, as money was scarce, the wages + of domestics were often paid in kind. Other writers again suggest, + less to the credit of the damsel, that her changes denote the price + she received for her debaucheries. Ovid adds, that she married + Autolycus, the robber, who stole the oxen of Eurytus. Callimachus + also, in his Hymn to Ceres, gives the story of Erisicthon at length. + He was the great grandfather of Ulysses, and was probably a man + noted for his infidelity and impiety, as well as his riotous course + of life. The story is probably of Eastern origin, and if a little + expanded might vie with many of the interesting fictions which we + read in the Arabian Night’s Entertainments. + + + + +BOOK THE NINTH. + + +FABLE I. [IX.1-100] + + Deïanira, the daughter of Œneus, having been wooed by several + suitors, her father gives his consent that she shall marry him who + proves to be the bravest of them. Her other suitors, having given + way to Hercules and Acheloüs, they engage in single combat. + Acheloüs, to gain the advantage over his rival, transforms himself + into various shapes, and, at length, into that of a bull. These + attempts are in vain, and Hercules overcomes him, and breaks off one + of his horns. The Naiads, the daughters of Acheloüs, take it up, and + fill it with the variety of fruits which Autumn affords; on which it + obtains the name of the Horn of Plenty. + +Theseus, the Neptunian hero,[1] inquires what is the cause of his +sighing, and of his forehead being mutilated; when thus begins the +Calydonian river, having his unadorned hair crowned with reeds: + +“A mournful task thou art exacting; for who, when overcome, is desirous +to relate his own battles? yet I will relate them in order; nor was it +so disgraceful to be overcome, as it is glorious to have engaged; and a +conqueror so mighty affords me a great consolation. If, perchance, +Deïanira,[2] by her name, has at last reached thy ears, once she was a +most beautiful maiden, and the envied hope of many a wooer; together +with these, when the house of him, whom I desired as my father-in-law, +was entered by me, I said, ‘Receive me, O son of Parthaon,[3] for thy +son-in-law.’ Alcides, too, said {the same}; the others yielded to {us} +two. He alleged that he was offering {to the damsel} both Jupiter as a +father-in-law, and the glory of his labours; the orders, too, of his +step-mother, successfully executed. On the other hand (I thought it +disgraceful for a God to give way to a mortal, for then he was not a +God), I said, ‘Thou beholdest me, a king of the waters, flowing amid thy +realms,[4] with my winding course; nor {am I some} stranger sent thee +for a son-in-law, from foreign lands, but I shall be one of thy people, +and a part of thy state. Only let it not be to my prejudice, that the +royal Juno does not hate me, and that all punishment, by labours +enjoined, is afar from me. For, since thou, {Hercules}, dost boast +thyself born of Alcmena for thy mother; Jupiter is either thy pretended +sire, or thy real one through a criminal deed: by the adultery of thy +mother art thou claiming a father. Choose, {then}, whether thou wouldst +rather have Jupiter {for thy} pretended {father}, or that thou art +sprung {from him} through a disgraceful deed?’ + +“While I was saying such things as these, for some time he looked at me +with a scowling eye, and did not very successfully check his inflamed +wrath; and he returned me just as many words {as these}: ‘My right hand +is better than my tongue. If only I do but prevail in fighting, do thou +get the better in talking;’ and {then} he fiercely {attacked} me. I was +ashamed, after having so lately spoken big words, to yield. I threw on +one side my green garment from off my body, and opposed my arms {to +his}, and I held my hands bent inwards,[5] from before my breast, on +their guard, and I prepared my limbs for the combat. He sprinkled me +with dust, taken up in the hollow of his hands, and, in his turn, grew +yellow with the casting of yellow sand[6] {upon himself}. And at one +moment he aimed at my neck, at another my legs, as they shifted about, +or you would suppose he was aiming {at them}; and he assaulted me on +every side. My bulk defended me, and I was attacked in vain; no +otherwise than a mole, which the waves beat against with loud noise: +it remains {unshaken}, and by its own weight is secure. + +“We retire a little, and {then} again we rush together in conflict, and +we stand firm, determined not to yield; foot, too, is joined to foot; +and {then} I, bending forward full with my breast, press upon his +fingers with my fingers, and his forehead with my forehead. In no +different manner have I beheld the strong bulls engage, when the most +beauteous mate[7] in all the pasture is sought as the reward of the +combat; the herds look on and tremble, uncertain which the mastery of so +great a domain awaits. Thrice without effect did Alcides attempt to hurl +away from him my breast, as it bore hard against him; the fourth time, +he shook off my hold, and loosened my arms clasped around him; and, +striking me with his hand, (I am resolved to confess the truth) he +turned me quite round, and clung, a mighty load, to my back. If any +credit {is to be given me}, (and, indeed, no glory is sought by me +through an untrue narration) I seemed to myself {as though} weighed down +with a mountain placed upon me. Yet, with great difficulty, I disengaged +my arms streaming with much perspiration, {and}, with great exertion, +I unlocked his firm grasp from my body. He pressed on me as I panted for +breath, and prevented me from recovering my strength, and {then} seized +hold of my neck. Then, at last, was the earth pressed by my knee, and +with my mouth I bit the sand. Inferior in strength, I had recourse to my +arts,[8] and transformed into a long serpent, I escaped from the hero. + +“After I had twisted my body into winding folds, and darted my forked +tongue with dreadful hissings, the Tirynthian laughed, and deriding my +arts, he said, ‘It was the labour of my cradle to conquer serpents;[9] +and although, Acheloüs, thou shouldst excel other snakes, how large a +part wilt thou, {but} one serpent, be of the Lernæan Echidna? By her +{very} wounds was she multiplied, and not one head of her hundred in +number[10] was cut off {by me} without danger {to myself}; but rather so +that her neck became stronger, with two successors {to the former head}. +{Yet} her I subdued, branching with serpents springing from {each} +wound, and growing stronger by her disasters; and, {so} subdued, I slew +her. What canst thou think will become of thee, who, changed into a +fictitious serpent, art wielding arms that belong to another, and whom a +form, obtained as a favour, is {now} disguising?’ {Thus} he spoke; and +he planted the grip of his fingers on the upper part of my neck. I was +tortured, just as though my throat was squeezed with pincers; and I +struggled hard to disengage my jaws from his fingers. + +“Thus vanquished, too, there still remained for me my third form, {that} +of a furious bull; with my limbs changed into {those of} a bull I +renewed the fight. He threw his arms over my brawny neck, on the left +side, and, dragging {at me}, followed me in my onward course; and +seizing my horns, he fastened them in the hard ground, and felled me +upon the deep sand. And that was not enough; while his relentless right +hand was holding my stubborn horn, he broke it, and tore it away from my +mutilated forehead. This, heaped with fruit and odoriferous flowers, the +Naiads have consecrated, and the bounteous {Goddess}, Plenty, is +enriched by my horn.” {Thus} he said; but a Nymph, girt up after the +manner of Diana, one of his handmaids, with her hair hanging loose on +either side, came in, and brought the whole {of the produce} of Autumn +in the most plentiful horn, and choice fruit for a second course. + +Day comes on, and the rising sun striking the tops of the hills, the +young men depart; nor do they stay till the stream has quiet {restored +to it}, and a smooth course, and {till} the troubled waters subside. +Acheloüs conceals his rustic features, and his mutilated horn, in the +midst of the waves; yet the loss of this honour, taken from him, {alone} +affects him; in other respects, he is unhurt. The injury, too, which has +befallen his head, is {now} concealed with willow branches, or with +reeds placed upon it. + + [Footnote 1: _The Neptunian hero._--Ver. 1. Theseus was the + grandson of Neptune, through his father Ægeus.] + + [Footnote 2: _Deïanira._--Ver. 9. She was the daughter of Œneus, + king of Ætolia, and became the wife of Hercules.] + + [Footnote 3: _Parthaon._--Ver. 12. He was the son of Agenor and + Epicaste. Homer, however, makes Portheus, and not Parthaon, to + have been the father of Œneus.] + + [Footnote 4: _Amid thy realms._--Ver. 18. The river Acheloüs + flowed between Ætolia and Acarnania.] + + [Footnote 5: _Bent inwards._--Ver. 33. ‘Varus,’ which we here + translate ‘bent inwards,’ according to some authorities, means + ‘bent outwards.’] + + [Footnote 6: _Casting of yellow sand._--Ver. 35. It was the custom + of wrestlers, after they had anointed the body with ‘ceroma’ or + wrestler’s oil, in order to render the body supple and pliant, to + sprinkle the body with sand, or dust, to enable the antagonist to + take a firm hold. It was, however, considered more praiseworthy to + conquer in a contest which was ἀκονιτὶ ‘without the use of sand.’] + + [Footnote 7: _Most beauteous mate._--Ver. 47. Clarke translates + ‘nitidissima conjux,’ ‘the neatest cow.’] + + [Footnote 8: _Recourse to my arts._--Ver. 62. ‘Devertor ad artes,’ + is rendered by Clarke, ‘I fly to my tricks.’] + + [Footnote 9: _To conquer serpents._--Ver. 67. Hercules, while an + infant in his cradle, was said to have strangled two serpents, + which Juno sent for the purpose of destroying him.] + + [Footnote 10: _Hundred in number._--Ver. 71. The number of heads + of the Hydra varies in the accounts given by different writers. + Seven, nine, fifty, and a hundred are the numbers mentioned. This, + however, is not surprising, as we are told that where one was cut + off, two sprang up in their place, until Hercules, to prevent such + consequences, adopted the precaution of searing the neck, where + the head had been cut off, with a red hot iron.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + The river Acheloüs, which ran between Acarnania and Ætolia, often + did considerable damage to those countries by its inundations, and, + at the same time, by confounding or sweeping away the limits which + separated those nations, it engaged them in continual warfare with + each other. Hercules, who seems really to have been a person of + great scientific skill, which he was ever ready to employ for the + service of his fellow men, raised banks to it, and made its course + so uniform and straight, that he was the means of establishing + perpetual peace between these adjoining nations. + + The early authors who recorded these events have narrated them under + a thick and almost impenetrable veil of fiction. They say that + Hercules engaged in combat with the God of that river, who + immediately transformed himself into a serpent, by which was + probably meant merely the serpentine windings of its course. Next + they say, that the God changed himself into a bull, under which + allegorical form they refer to the rapid and impetuous overflowing + of its banks, ever rushing onwards, bearing down everything in its + course, and leaving traces of its ravages throughout the country in + its vicinity. This mode of description the more readily occurred to + them in the case of Acheloüs, as from the roaring noise which they + often make in their course, rivers in general were frequently + represented under the figure of a bull, and, of course, as wearing + horns, the great instruments of the havoc which they created. + + It was said, then, that Hercules at length overcame this bull, and + broke off one of his horns; by which was meant, according to Strabo, + that he brought both the branches of the river into one channel. + Again, this horn became the Horn of Plenty in that region; or, in + other words, being withdrawn from its bed, the river left a large + track of very fertile ground for agricultural purposes. As to the + Cornucopia, or Horn of Plenty of the heathen Mythology, there is + some variation in the accounts respecting it. Some writers say that + by it was meant the horn of the goat Amalthea, which suckled + Jupiter, and that the Nymphs gave it to Acheloüs, who again gave it + in exchange for that of which Hercules afterwards deprived him. + Deïanira, having given her hand to Hercules, as the recompense of + the important services which he had rendered to her father, Œneus, + it was fabled that she had been promised to Acheloüs, who was + vanquished by his rival; and on this foundation was built the + superstructure of the famous combat which the Poet here describes. + After having remained for some time at the court of his + father-in-law, Hercules was obliged to leave it, in consequence of + having killed the son of Architritilus, who was the cupbearer of + that prince. + + +FABLE II. [IX.101-272] + + Hercules, returning with Deïanira, as the prize of his victory, + entrusts her to the Centaur Nessus, to carry her over the river + Evenus. Nessus seizes the opportunity of Hercules being on the other + side of the river, and attempts to carry her off; on which Hercules, + perceiving his design, shoots him with an arrow, and thus prevents + its execution. The Centaur, when expiring, in order to gratify his + revenge, gives Deïanira his tunic dipped in his blood, assuring her + that it contains an effectual charm against all infidelity on the + part of her husband. Afterwards, on hearing that Hercules is in love + with Iole, Deïanira sends him the tunic, that it may have the + supposed effect. As soon as he puts it on, he is affected with + excruciating torments, and is seized with such violent fits of + madness, that he throws Lychas, the bearer of the garment, into the + sea, where he is changed into a rock. Hercules, then, in obedience + to a response of the oracle, which he consults, prepares a funeral + pile, and laying himself upon it, his friend Philoctetes applies the + torch to it, on which the hero, having first recounted his labours, + expires in the flames. After his body is consumed, Jupiter + translates him to the heavens, and he is placed in the number of the + Gods. + +But a passion for this same maiden proved fatal to thee, fierce +Nessus,[11] pierced through the back with a swift arrow. For the son of +Jupiter, as he was returning to his native city with his new-made wife, +had {now} come to the rapid waters of {the river} Evenus.[12] The stream +was swollen to a greater extent than usual with the winter rains, and +was full of whirlpools, and impassable. Nessus came up to him, +regardless of himself, {but} feeling anxiety for his wife, both strong +of limb,[13] and well acquainted with the fords, and said, “Alcides, she +shall be landed on yonder bank through my services, do thou employ thy +strength in swimming;” and the Aonian {hero} entrusted to Nessus the +Calydonian damsel full of alarm, and pale with apprehension, and +{equally} dreading both the river and {Nessus} himself. Immediately, +just as he was, loaded both with his quiver and the spoil of the lion, +(for he had thrown his club and his crooked bow to the opposite side), +he said, “Since I have undertaken it, the stream must be passed.” + +And he does not hesitate; nor does he seek out where the stream is the +smoothest, and he spurns to be borne over by the compliance of the +river. And now having reached the bank, and as he is taking up the bow +which he had thrown over, he recognizes the voice of his wife; and as +Nessus is preparing to rob him of what he has entrusted to his care, he +cries out, “Whither, thou ravisher, does thy vain confidence in thy feet +hurry thee? to thee am I speaking, Nessus, thou two-shaped {monster}. +Listen; and do not carry off my property. If no regard for myself +influences thee, still the wheel of thy father[14] might have restrained +thee from forbidden embraces. Thou shall not escape, however, although +thou dost confide[15] in thy powers of a horse; with a wound, {and} not +with my feet, will I overtake thee.” {These} last words he confirms by +deeds, and pierces him through the back, as he is flying, with an arrow +discharged {at him}. The barbed steel stands out from his breast; soon +as it is wrenched out, the blood gushes forth from both wounds, mingled +with the venom of the Lernæan poison. Nessus takes it out, and says to +himself, “And yet I shall not die unrevenged;” and gives his garment, +dyed in the warm blood, as a present to her whom he is carrying off, +as though an incentive to love. + +Long was the space of intervening time, and the feats of the mighty +Hercules and the hatred of his step-mother had filled the earth. +{Returning} victorious from Œchalia, he is preparing a sacrifice which +he had vowed to Cenæan Jupiter,[16] when tattling Rumour (who takes +pleasure in adding false things to the truth, and from a very little +{beginning}, swells to a great bulk by her lies) runs before to thy +ears, Deïanira, {to the effect} that the son of Amphitryon is seized +with a passion for Iole. As she loves him, she believes it; and being +alarmed with the report of this new amour, at first she indulges in +tears and in her misery gives vent to her grief in weeping. Soon, +however, she says, “But why do I weep? My rival will be delighted with +these tears; and since she is coming I must make haste, and some +contrivance must be resolved on while it is {still} possible, and while, +as yet, another has not taken possession of my bed. Shall I complain, +or shall I be silent? Shall I return to Calydon, or shall I stay here? +Shall I depart from this abode? or, if nothing more, shall I oppose +{their entrance}? What if, O Meleager, remembering that I am thy sister, +I resolve on a desperate deed, and testify, by murdering my rival, how +much, injury and a woman’s grief can effect?” + +Her mind wavers, amid various resolves. Before them all, she prefers to +send the garment dyed in the blood of Nessus, to restore strength to his +declining love. Not knowing herself what she is giving, she delivers +{the cause of} her own sorrows to the unsuspecting Lichas,[17] and bids +him, in gentle words, to deliver this most fatal gift to her husband. In +his ignorance, the hero receives it, and places upon his shoulders the +venom of the Lernæan Echidna. He is placing frankincense on the rising +flames, and {is offering} the words of prayer, and pouring wine from the +bowl upon the marble altars. The virulence of the bane waxes warm, and, +melted by the flames, it runs, widely diffused over the limbs of +Hercules. So long as he is able, he suppresses his groans with his +wonted fortitude. After his endurance is overcome by his anguish, he +pushes down the altars, and fills the woody Œta with his cries. There is +no {further} delay; he attempts to tear off the deadly garment; {but} +where it is torn off, it tears away the skin, and, shocking to relate, +it either sticks to his limbs, being tried in vain to be pulled off, +or it lays bare his mangled limbs, and his huge bones. The blood itself +hisses, just as when a red hot plate {of metal is} dipped in cold water; +and it boils with the burning poison. There is no limit {to his misery}; +the devouring flames prey upon his entrails, and a livid perspiration +flows from his whole body; his half-burnt sinews also crack; and his +marrow being {now} dissolved by the subtle poison, lifting his hands +towards the stars {of heaven}, he exclaims, “Daughter of Saturn, satiate +thyself with my anguish; satiate thyself, and look down from on high, +O cruel {Goddess}, at this {my} destruction, and glut thy relentless +heart. Or, if I am to be pitied even by an enemy (for an enemy I am to +thee), take away a life insupportable through these dreadful agonies, +hateful, too, {to myself}, and {only} destined to trouble. Death will be +a gain to me. It becomes a stepmother to grant such a favour. + +“And was it for this that I subdued Busiris, who polluted the temples +{of the Gods} with the blood of strangers? And did I {for this}, +withdraw from the savage Antæus[18] the support given him by his mother? +Did neither the triple shape of the Iberian shepherd[19], nor thy triple +form, O Cerberus, alarm me? And did you, my hands, seize the horns of +the mighty bull? Does Elis, {too}, possess {the result} of your labours, +and the Stymphalian waters, and the Parthenian[20] grove {as well}? By +your valour was it that the belt, inlaid with the gold of Thermodon[21], +was gained, the apples too, guarded in vain by the wakeful dragon? And +could neither the Centaurs resist me, nor yet the boar, the ravager of +Arcadia? And was it not of no avail to the Hydra to grow through {its +own} loss, and to recover double strength? And what besides? When I +beheld the Thracian steeds fattened with human blood, and the mangers +filled with mangled bodies, did I throw them down when {thus} beheld, +and slay both the master and {the horses} themselves? {And} does the +carcass of the Nemean {lion} lie crushed by these arms? With this neck +did I support the heavens?[22] The unrelenting wife of Jupiter[23] was +weary of commanding, {but} I was {still} unwearied with doing. But {now} +a new calamity is come upon me, to which resistance can be made neither +by valour, nor by weapons, nor by arms. A consuming flame is pervading +the inmost recesses of my lungs, and is preying on all my limbs. But +Eurystheus {still} survives. And are there,” says he, “any who can +believe that the Deities exist?” + +And {then}, racked with pain, he ranges along the lofty Œta, no +otherwise than if a tiger should chance to carry the hunting spears +fixed in his body, and the perpetrator of the deed should be taking to +flight. Often might you have beheld him uttering groans, often shrieking +aloud, often striving to tear away the whole of his garments, and +levelling trees, and venting his fury against mountains, or stretching +out his arms towards the heaven of his father. Lo! he espies Lichas, +trembling and lying concealed in a hollow rock, and, as his pain has +summoned together all his fury, he says, “Didst thou, Lichas, bring +{this} fatal present; and shalt thou be the cause of my death?” He +trembles, and {turning} pale, is alarmed, and timorously utters some +words of excuse. As he is speaking, and endeavouring to clasp his knees +with his hands, Alcides seizes hold of him, and whirling him round three +or four times, he hurls him into the Eubœan waves, with greater force +than {if sent} from an engine of war. As he soars aloft in the aerial +breeze he grows hard; and as they say that showers freeze with the cold +winds, {and} that thence snow is formed, and that from the snow, +revolving {in its descent}, the soft body is compressed, and is {then} +made round in many a hailstone,[24] so have former ages declared, that, +hurled through the air by the strong arms {of Hercules}, and bereft of +blood through fear, and having no moisture left in him, he was +transformed into hard stone. Even to this day, in the Eubœan sea, +a small rock projects to a height, and retains the traces of the human +form. This, the sailors are afraid to tread upon, as though it could +feel it; and they call it Lichas. + +But thou, the famous offspring of Jupiter, having cut down, trees which +lofty Œta bore, and having raised them for a pile, dost order the son of +Pœas[25] to take the bow and the capacious quiver, and the arrows which +are again to visit[26] the Trojan realms; by whose assistance flames are +put beneath the pile; and while the structure is being seized by the +devouring fires, thou dost cover the summit of the heap of wood with the +skin of the Nemean {lion}, and dost lie down with thy neck resting on +thy club, with no other countenance than if thou art lying as a guest +crowned with garlands, amid the full cups of wine. + +And now, the flames, prevailing and spreading on every side, roared,[27] +and reached the limbs {thus} undismayed, and him who despised them. The +Gods were alarmed for {this} protector of the earth;[28] Saturnian +Jupiter (for he perceived it) thus addressed them with joyful voice: +“This fear of yours is my own delight, O ye Gods of heaven, and, with +all my heart, I gladly congratulate myself that I am called the governor +and the father of a grateful people, and that my progeny, too, is secure +in your esteem. For, although this {concern} is given {in return} for +his mighty exploits, {still} I myself am obliged {by} it. But, however, +that your affectionate breasts may not be alarmed with vain fears, +despise these flames of Œta. He who has conquered all things, shall +conquer the fires which you behold; nor shall he be sensible of the +potency of the flame, but in the part {of him} which he derived from his +mother. {That part of him}, which he derived from me, is immortal, and +exempt and secure from death, and to be subdued by no flames. This, too, +when disengaged from earth, I will receive into the celestial regions, +and I trust that this act of mine will be agreeable to all the Deities. +Yet if any one, if any one, {I say}, perchance should grieve at Hercules +being a Divinity, {and} should be unwilling that this honour should be +conferred on him; still he shall know that he deserves it to be bestowed +{on him}, and {even} against his will, shall approve of it.” + +{To this} the Gods assented; his royal spouse, too, seemed to bear the +rest {of his remarks} with no discontented {air}, but only the last +words with a countenance of discontent, and to take it amiss that she +was {so plainly} pointed at. In the mean time, whatever was liable to be +destroyed by flame, Mulciber consumed; and the figure of Hercules +remained, not to be recognized; nor did he have anything derived from +the form of his mother, and he only retained the traces of {immortal} +Jupiter. And as when a serpent revived, by throwing off old age with his +slough, is wont to be instinct with fresh life, and to glisten in his +new-made scales; so, when the Tirynthian {hero} has put off his mortal +limbs, he flourishes in his more æthereal part, and begins to appear +more majestic, and to become venerable in his august dignity. Him the +omnipotent Father, taking up among encircling clouds, bears aloft amid +the glittering stars, in his chariot drawn by {its} four steeds. + + [Footnote 11: _Nessus._--Ver. 101. He was one of the Centaurs + which were begotten by Ixion the cloud sent by Jupiter, under the + form of Juno.] + + [Footnote 12: _Evenus._--Ver. 104. This was a river of Ætolia, + which was also called by the name of ‘Lycormas.’] + + [Footnote 13: _Strong of limb._--Ver. 108. ‘Membrisque valens,’ is + rendered by Clarke, ‘being an able-limbed fellow.’] + + [Footnote 14: _Wheel of thy father._--Ver. 124. He alludes to the + punishment of Ixion, the father of Nessus, who was fastened to a + revolving wheel in the Infernal Regions, as a punishment for his + attempt on the chastity of Juno.] + + [Footnote 15: _Thou dost confide._--Ver. 125. ‘Quamvis ope fidis + equinâ,’ is translated by Clarke, ‘Although thou trustest to the + help of thy horse part.’] + + [Footnote 16: _Cenæan Jupiter._--Ver. 136. Jupiter was called + Cenæan, from Cenæum, a promontory of Eubœa, where Hercules, after + having taken the town of Œchalia, built an altar in honour of + Jupiter. Hercules slew Eurytus, the king of Œchalia, and carried + away his daughter Iole.] + + [Footnote 17: _Lichas._--Ver. 155. This was the attendant of + Hercules, whom he sent to Deïanira for the garment which he used + to wear while performing sacrifice.] + + [Footnote 18: _The savage Antæus._--Ver. 183. He alludes to the + fresh strength which the giant Antæus gained each time he touched + the earth.] + + [Footnote 19: _Iberian shepherd._--Ver. 184. Allusion is here made + to Geryon, who had three bodies, and whom Hercules slew, and then + carried away his herds. It has been suggested that the story of + his triple form originated in the fact that he and his two + brothers reigned amicably in conjunction over some portion of + Spain, or the islands adjoining to it.] + + [Footnote 20: _Parthenian._--Ver. 188. A part of Arcadia was so + called from Parthenium, a mountain which divided it from Argolis; + there was also, according to Pliny the Elder, a town of the same + name in Arcadia.] + + [Footnote 21: _Gold of Thermodon._--Ver. 189. The Thermodon was a + river of Scythia, near which the Amazons were said to dwell. + Eurystheus ordered Hercules to bring to him the belt of Hippolyta, + the queen of the Amazons.] + + [Footnote 22: _Support the heavens._--Ver. 198. Atlas, king of + Mauritania, was said to support the heavens on his shoulders, of + which burden Hercules relieved him for a time, when he partook of + his hospitality. It has been suggested that the meaning of this + story is, that Hercules learned the study of astronomy from + Atlas.] + + [Footnote 23: _Wife of Jupiter._--Ver. 199. Juno gave her commands + to Hercules through Eurystheus, the son of Sthenelus, king of + Mycenæ, who imposed upon him his various labours.] + + [Footnote 24: _Many a hailstone._--Ver. 222. Ovid here seems to + think that snow is an intermediate state between rain and hail, + and that hail is formed by the rapid motion of the snow as it + falls.] + + [Footnote 25: _The son of Pœas._--Ver. 233. Philoctetes was the + son of Pœas.] + + [Footnote 26: _Again to visit._--Ver. 232. It was decreed by the + destinies that Troy should not be taken, unless the bow and arrows + of Hercules were present; for which reason it was necessary to + send for Philoctetes, who was the possessor of them. Troy had + already seen them, when Hercules punished Laomedon, its king, for + his perfidious conduct.] + + [Footnote 27: _Roared._--Ver. 239. ‘Diffusa sonabat--flamma’ is + translated by Clarke, ‘The flame, being diffused on all sides, + rattled.’] + + [Footnote 28: _Protector of the earth._--Ver. 241. Hercules + merited this character, for having cleared the earth of monsters, + robbers, and tyrants.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + Hercules, leaving the court of Calydon with his wife, proceeded on + the road to the city of Trachyn, in Thessaly, to atone for the + accidental death of Eunomus, and to be absolved from it by Ceyx, who + was the king of that territory. Being obliged to cross the river + Evenus, which had overflowed its banks, the adventure happened with + the Centaur Nessus, which the Poet has here related. We learn from + other writers, that after Nessus had expired, he was buried on Mount + Taphiusa; and Strabo informs us, that his tomb (in which, probably, + the ashes of other Centaurs were deposited) sent forth so offensive + a smell, that the Locrians, who were the inhabitants of the adjacent + country, were surnamed the ‘Ozolæ,’ that is, the ‘ill-smelling,’ or + ‘stinking,’ Locrians. Although the river Evenus lay in the road + between Calydon and Trachyn, still it did not run through the middle + of the latter city, as some authors have supposed; for in such case + Hercules would have been more likely to have passed it by the aid of + a bridge or of a boat, than to have recourse to the assistance of + the Centaur Nessus, and to have availed himself of his acquaintance + with the fords of the stream. + + Hercules, in lapse of time, becoming tired of Deïanira, by whom he + had one son, named Hyllus, fell in love with Iole, the daughter of + Eurytus; and that prince, refusing to give her to him, he made war + upon Œchalia, and, having slain Eurytus, he bore off his daughter. + Upon his return from that expedition, he sent Lychas for the + vestments which he had occasion to use in a sacrifice which it was + his intention to offer. Deïanira, jealous on account of his passion + for Iole, sent him either a philtre or love potion, which + unintentionally caused his death, or else a tunic smeared on the + inside with a certain kind of pitch, found near Babylon, which, when + thoroughly warmed, stuck fast to his skin; and this it is, most + probably, which has been termed by poets and historians, the tunic + of Nessus. It seems, however, pretty clear that Hercules fell into a + languishing distemper, without any hopes of recovery, and, probably, + in a fit of madness, he threw Lychas into the sea, which + circumstance was made by the poets to account for the existence + there of a rock known by that name. + + Proceeding afterwards to Trachyn, he caused Deïanira to hang herself + in despair; and, having consulted the oracle concerning his + distemper, he was ordered to go with his friends to Mount Œta, and + there to raise a funeral pile. He understood the fatal answer, and + immediately prepared to execute its commands. When the pile was + ready, Hercules ascended it, and laid himself down with an air of + resignation, on which Philoctetes kindled the fire, which consumed + him. Some, however, of the ancient authors say, with more + probability, that Hercules died at Trachyn, and that his corpse was + burned on Mount Œta. His apotheosis commenced at the ceremonial of + his funeral, and, from the moment of his death, he was worshipped as + a Demigod. Diodorus Siculus says that it was Iolus who first + introduced this worship. It was also said that, as soon as + Philoctetes had applied fire to the pile, it thundered, and the + lightnings descending from heaven immediately consumed Hercules. + A tomb was raised for him on Mount Œta, with an altar, upon which a + bull, a wild boar, and a he-goat were yearly sacrificed in his + honour, at the time of his festival. The Thebans, and, after them, + the other people of Greece, soon followed the example of the + Trachinians, and temples and altars were raised to him in various + places, where he was honoured as a Demigod. + + +FABLE III. [IX.273-323] + + Juno, to be revenged on Alcmena for her amour with Jupiter, desires + Ilithyïa, the Goddess who presides over births, not to assist her on + the occasion of the birth of Hercules. Lucina complies with her + request, and places herself on an altar at the gate of Alcmena’s + abode, where, by a magic spell, she increases her pains and impedes + her delivery. Galanthis, one of her maids, seeing the Goddess at the + door, imagines that she may possibly exercise some bad influence on + her mistress’s labour, and, to make her retire, declares that + Alcmena is already delivered. Upon Ilithyïa withdrawing, Alcmena’s + pains are assuaged, and Hercules is born. The Goddess, to punish + Galanthis for her officiousness, transforms her into a weazel, + a creature which was supposed to bring forth its young through its + mouth. + +Atlas was sensible[29] of this burden. Nor, as yet, had Eurystheus, the +son of Sthenelus, laid aside his wrath {against Hercules}; and, in his +fury, he vented his hatred for the father against his offspring. But the +Argive Alcmena, disquieted with prolonged anxieties {for her son} has +Iole, to whom to disclose the complaints of her old age, to whom to +relate the achievements of her son attested by {all} the world, or to +whom {to tell} her own misfortunes. At the command of Hercules, Hyllus +had received her both into his bed and his affections, and had filled +her womb with a noble offspring. To her, thus Alcmena began {her +story}:-- + +“May the Gods be propitious to thee at least; and may they shorten the +tedious hours, at the hour when, having accomplished thy time, thou +shalt be invoking Ilithyïa,[30] who presides over the trembling +parturient women; her whom the influence of Juno rendered inexorable to +myself. For, when now the natal hour of Hercules, destined for so many +toils, was at hand, and the tenth sign {of the Zodiac} was laden with +the {great} luminary, the heavy weight was extending my womb; and that +which I bore was so great, that you might {easily} pronounce Jupiter to +be the father of the concealed burden. And now I was no longer able to +endure my labours: even now, too, as I am speaking, a cold shudder +seizes my limbs, and a part of my pain is the remembrance of it. +Tormented for seven nights, and during as many days, tired out with +misery, and extending my arms towards heaven, with loud cries I used to +invoke Lucina and the two Nixi.[31] She came, indeed, but corrupted +beforehand, and she had the intention to give my life to the vengeful +Juno. And when she heard my groans, she seated herself upon that altar +before the door, and pressing her left knee with her right knee, her +fingers being joined together in {form of} a comb,[32] she retarded my +delivery; she uttered charms, too, in a low voice; and {those} charms +impeded the birth {now} begun. I struggled hard, and, in my frenzy, +I vainly uttered reproaches against the ungrateful Jupiter, and I +desired to die, and complained in words that would have moved {even} the +hard stones. The Cadmeian matrons attended me, and offered up vows, and +encouraged me in my pains. + +“There was present one of my hand-maids of the lower class of people, +Galanthis {by name}, with yellow hair, {and} active in the execution of +my orders; one beloved for her good services. She perceived that +something unusual[33] was being done by the resentful Juno; and, while +she was often going in and out of the door, she saw the Goddess, sitting +upon the altar, and supporting her arms upon her knees, linked by the +fingers; and {then} she said, ‘Whoever thou art, congratulate my +mistress; the Argive Alcmena is delivered, and, having brought forth, +she has gained her wishes.’ The Goddess who presides[34] over pregnancy +leaped up, and, struck with surprise, loosened her joined hands. +I, myself, on the loosening of those bonds, was delivered. The story is, +that Galanthis laughed, upon deceiving the Divinity. The cruel Goddess +dragged her along {thus} laughing and seized by her very hair, and she +hindered her as she attempted to raise her body from the earth, and +changed her arms into fore feet. + +“Her former activity {still} remains, and her back has not lost its +colour; {but} her shape is different from her former one. Because she +had assisted me in labour by a lying mouth, she brings forth from the +mouth,[35] and, just as before, she frequents my house.” + + [Footnote 29: _Atlas was sensible._--Ver. 273. By reason of his + supporting the heavens, to the inhabitants of which Hercules was + now added.] + + [Footnote 30: _Ilithyïa._--Ver. 283. This Goddess is said by some + to have been the daughter of Jupiter and Juno, while other writers + consider her to have been the same either with Diana, or Juno + Lucina.] + + [Footnote 31: _The two Nixi._--Ver. 294. Festus says, ‘the three + statues in the Capitol, before the shrine of Minerva, were called + the Gods Nixii.’ Nothing whatever is known of these Gods, who + appear to have been obstetrical Divinities. It has been suggested, + as there were three of them, that the reading should be, not + ‘Nixosque pares,’ but ‘Nixosque Lares,’ ‘and the Lares the Nixi.’] + + [Footnote 32: _Form of a comb._--Ver. 299. This charm probably was + suggestive of difficult or impeded parturition, the bones of the + pelvis being firmly knit together in manner somewhat resembling + the fingers when inserted one between the other, instead of + yielding for the passage of the infant. Pliny the Elder informs us + how parturition may be impeded by the use of charms.] + + [Footnote 33: _Something unusual._--Ver. 309. ‘Nescio quid.’ This + very indefinite phrase is repeatedly used by Ovid; and in such + cases, it expresses either actual doubt or uncertainty, as in the + present instance; or it is used to denote something remarkable or + indescribable, or to show that a thing is insignificant, mean, and + contemptible.] + + [Footnote 34: _Goddess who presides._--Ver. 315. This was + Ilithyïa, or Lucina, who was acting as the emissary of Juno.] + + [Footnote 35: _From the mouth._--Ver. 323. This notion is supposed + to have been grounded on the fact of the weasel (like many other + animals) carrying her young in her mouth from place to place.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + According to Diodorus Siculus and Apollodorus, Amphitryon was the + son of Alceus, the son of Perseus, and his wife, Alcmena, was the + daughter of Electryon, also the son of Perseus; and thus they were + cousins. When their marriage was about to take place, an unforeseen + accident prevented it. Electryon, who was king of Mycenæ, being + obliged to revenge the death of his children, whom the sons of + Taphius, king of the Teleboans, had killed in combat, returned + victorious, and brought back with him his flocks, which he had + recovered from Taphius. Amphitryon, who went to meet his uncle, to + congratulate him upon the success of his expedition, throwing his + club at a cow, which happened to stray from the herd, unfortunately + killed him. This accidental homicide lost him the kingdom of Mycenæ, + which was to have formed the dower of Alcmena. Sthenelus, the + brother of Electryon, taking advantage of the public indignation, + which was the result of the accident, drove Amphitryon out of the + country of Argos, and made himself master of his brother’s + dominions, which he left, at his death, to his son Eurystheus, the + inveterate persecutor of Hercules. + + Amphitryon, obliged to retire to Thebes, was there absolved by + Creon; but when, as he thought, he was about to receive the hand of + Alcmena, who accompanied him to the court of that prince, she + declared that, not being satisfied with the revenge which her father + had taken on the Teleboans, she would consent to be the prize of him + who would undertake to declare war against them. Amphitryon accepted + these conditions, and, forming an alliance with Creon, Cephalus, and + some other princes, made a descent upon the islands which the enemy + possessed, and, making himself master of them, bestowed one of them + on his ally, Cephalus. + + It was during this war that Hercules came into the world; and + whether Amphitryon had secretly consummated his marriage before his + departure, or whether he had returned privately to Thebes, or to + Tirynthus, where Hercules was said to have been born, it was + published, that Jupiter, to deceive Alcmena, had taken the form of + her husband, and was the father of the infant Hercules. If this is + not the true explanation of the story, it may have been invented to + conceal some intrigue in which Alcmena was detected; or, in process + of time, to account for the extraordinary strength and valour of + Hercules, it may have been said that Jupiter, and not Amphitryon, + was the father of Hercules. Indeed, we find Seneca, in one of his + Tragedies, putting these words into the mouth of Hercules:-- + ‘Whether all that has been said upon this subject be held as + undoubted truth, or whether it proves to be but a fable, and that my + father was, after all, in reality, but a mortal; my mother’s fault + is sufficiently effaced by my valour, and I have merit sufficient to + have had Jupiter for my father.’ The more readily, perhaps, to + account for the transcendent strength and prowess of Hercules, the + story was invented, that Jupiter made the night on which he was + received by Alcmena under the form of Amphitryon, as long as three, + or, according to Plautus, Hyginus, and Seneca, nine nights. Some + writers say that Alcmena brought forth twins, one of which, + Iphiclus, was the son of Amphitryon, while Hercules had Jupiter for + his father. + + With respect to the metamorphosis of Galanthis, it is but a little + episode here introduced by Ovid, to give greater plausibility to the + other part of the story. It most probably originated in the + resemblance of the names of that slave to that of the weazel, which + the Greeks called γαλῆ. Ælian, indeed, tells us that the Thebans + paid honour to that animal, because it had helped Alcmena in her + labour. The more ancient poets also added, that Juno retarded the + birth of Hercules till the mother of Eurystheus was delivered, which + was the cause of his being the subject of that king; though others + state that this came to pass by the command of the oracle of Delphi. + This king of Mycenæ having ordered him to rid Greece of the numerous + robbers and wild beasts that infested it, it is most probable that, + as we learn from Dionysius of Halicarnassus, he performed this + service at the head of the troops of Eurystheus. If this is the + case, the persecutions which the poets have ascribed to the jealousy + of Juno, really originated either in the policy or the jealousy of + the court of Mycenæ. + + As Ovid has here cursorily taken notice of the labours of Hercules, + we may observe, that it is very probable that his history is + embellished with the pretended adventures of many persons who bore + his name, and, perhaps, with those of others besides. Cicero, in his + ‘Treatise on the Nature of the Gods,’ mentions six persons who bore + the name of Hercules; and possibly, after a minute examination, + a much greater number might be reckoned, many nations of antiquity + having given the name to such great men of their own as had rendered + themselves famous by their actions. Thus, we find one in Egypt in + the time of Osiris, in Phœnicia, among the Gauls, in Spain, and in + other countries. Confining ourselves to the Grecian Hercules, + surnamed Alcides, we find that his exploits have generally been sung + of by the poets, under the name of the Twelve Labours; but, on + entering into the detail of them, we find them much more numerous. + Killing some serpents in his youth, it was published, not only that + he had done so, but that they had been sent by Juno for the purpose + of destroying him. The forest of Nemea serving as a retreat for a + great number of lions that ravaged the country, Hercules hunted + them, and, killing the most furious of them, always wore his skin. + + Several thieves, having made the neighbourhood of Lake Stymphalus, + in Arcadia, their resort, he freed the country of them; the nails + and wings which the poets gave them, in representing them as birds, + being typical of their voracity and activity. The marshes of Lerna, + near Argos, were infested by great numbers of serpents, which, as + fast as they were destroyed, were replaced by new swarms; draining + the marshes, and, probably, setting fire to the adjacent thickets or + jungles, he destroyed these pestilent reptiles, on which it was + fabled that he had destroyed the Hydra of Lerna, with its heads, + which grew as fast as they were cut off. The forest of Erymanthus + was full of wild boars, which laid waste all the neighbouring + country: he destroyed them all, and brought one with him to the + court of Eurystheus, of a size so monstrous, that the king was + alarmed on seeing it, and was obliged to run and hide himself. + + The stables of Augeas, king of Elis, were so filled with manure, + by reason of the great quantity of oxen that he kept, that Hercules + being called upon to cleanse them, employed his engineering skill in + bringing the river Alpheus through them. Having pursued a hind for a + whole year, which Eurystheus had commanded him to take, it was + circulated, probably on account of her untiring swiftness, that she + had feet of brass. The river Acheloüs having overflowed the adjacent + country, he raised banks to it, as already mentioned. Theseus was a + prisoner in Epirus, where he had been with Pirithous, to bring away + the daughter of Aidoneus. Hercules delivered him; and that was the + foundation of the Fable which said that he had gone down to Hades, + or Hell. In the cavern of Tænarus there was a monstrous serpent; + this he was ordered to kill, and, probably, this gave rise to the + story of Cerberus being chained by him. Pelias having been killed by + his daughters, his son Acastus pursued them to the court of Admetus, + who, refusing to deliver up Alcestis, of whom he was enamoured, was + taken prisoner in an engagement, and was delivered by that princess, + who herself offered to be his ransom. Hercules being then in + Thessaly, he took her away from Acastus, who was about to put her to + death, and returned her to Admetus. This, probably, was the + foundation of the fable which stated, that he had recovered her from + the Infernal Regions, after having vanquished death, and bound him + in chains. + + The Amazons were a nation of great celebrity in the time of + Hercules, and their frequent victories had rendered them very + formidable to their neighbours. Eurystheus ordered him to go and + bring away the girdle of Hippolyta, or, in other words, to make war + upon them, and to pillage their treasures. Embarking on the Euxine + Sea, Hercules arrived on the banks of the Thermodon, and, giving + battle to the female warriors, defeated them; killing some, and + putting the rest to flight. He took Antiope, or Hippolyta, prisoner, + whom he gave to Theseus; but her sister, Menalippa, redeemed herself + by giving up the famous girdle, or, in other words, by paying a + large ransom. It is very probable, that in that expedition, he slew + Diomedes, the barbarous king of Thrace, and brought away his mares, + which were said to have been fed by him on human flesh. In returning + by way of Thessaly, he embarked in the expedition of the Argonauts; + but, leaving them soon afterwards, he went to Troy, and delivered + Hesione from the monster which was to have devoured her; but not + receiving from Laomedon, the king, the recompense which had been + promised him, he killed that prince, sacked the city, and brought + away Hesione, whom he gave to Telamon, who had accompanied him on + the expedition. + + This is probably the extent of the labours of Hercules in Greece, + Thrace, and Phrygia. The poets have made him engage in many other + laborious undertakings in distant countries, which most probably + ought not to be attributed to the Grecian Hercules. Among other + stories told of him, it is said, that having set out to fight with + Geryon, the king of Spain, he was so much incommoded by the heat of + the sun, that his wrath was excited against the luminary, and he + fired his arrows at it, on which, the Sun, struck with admiration at + his spirited conduct, made him a present of a golden goblet. After + this, embarking and arriving in Spain, he defeated Geryon, a prince + who was famed for having three heads, which probably either meant + that he reigned over the three Balearic islands of Maiorca, Minorca, + and Iviza, or else that Hercules defeated three princes who were + strictly allied. Having thence passed the straits of Gibraltar to go + over to Africa, he fought with the Giant Antæus, who sought to + oppose his landing. That prince was said to be a son of the Earth, + and was reported to recover fresh strength every time he was thrown + on the ground; consequently, Hercules was obliged to hold him in his + arms, till he had squeezed him to death. The solution of this fable + is most probably that Antæus, always finding succour in a country + where he was known as a powerful monarch, Hercules took measures to + deprive him of aid, by engaging him in a sea fight, and thereby + defeated him, without much trouble, as well as the Pygmies, who were + probably some African tribes of stunted stature, who came to his + assistance. + + Hercules, returning from these two expeditions, passed through Gaul + with the herds of Geryon, and went into Italy, where Cacus, + a celebrated robber, who had made the caverns of Mount Aventine his + haunts, having stolen some of his oxen, he, with the assistance, + according to Dionysius of Halicarnassus, of Evander and Faunus, + destroyed him, and shared his spoils with his allies. In his journey + from Africa, Hercules delivered Atlas from the enmity of Busiris, + the tyrant of Egypt, whom he killed; and gave such good advice to + the Mauritanian king, that it was said that he supported the heavens + for some time on his own shoulders, to relieve those of Atlas. The + latter, by way of acknowledgment of his services, made him a present + of several fine sheep, or rather, according to Diodorus Siculus, of + some orange and lemon trees, which he carried with him into Greece. + These were represented as the golden apples watched by a dragon in + the garden of the Hesperides. As the ocean there terminated the + scene of his conquests, he was said to have raised two pillars on + those shores, to signify the fact of his having been there, and the + impossibility of proceeding any further. + + The deliverance of Prometheus, as already mentioned; the death of + the two brothers, the Cercopes, famous robbers; the defeat of the + Bull of Marathon; the death of Lygis, who disputed the passage of + the Alps with him; that of the giant Alcyaneus, who hurled at him a + stone so vast that it crushed twenty-four men to death; that of + Eryx, king of Sicily, whom he killed with a blow of the cestus, for + refusing to deliver to him the oxen which he had stolen; the combat + with Cycnus, which was terminated by a peal of thunder, which + separated the combatants; another combat against the Giants in Gaul, + during which, as it was said, Jupiter rained down vast quantities of + stones; all these are also attributed to Hercules, besides many more + stories, which, if diligently collected, would swell to a large + volume. + + The foregoing remarks on the history of Hercules, give us an insight + into the ideas which, based upon the explanations given by the + authors of antiquity, the Abbè Banier, one of the most accomplished + scholars of his age, entertained on this subject. We will conclude + with some very able and instructive remarks on this mythus, which we + extract from Mr. Keightley’s Mythology of Ancient Greece and Italy. + He says-- + + “Various theories have been formed respecting the mythus of + Hercules. It is evidently one of very remote antiquity, long + perhaps, anterior to the times of Homer. We confess that we cannot + see any very valid reason for supposing no such real personage to + have existed; for it will, perhaps, be found that mythology not + unfrequently prefers to absolute fiction, the assuming of some real + historic character, and making it the object of the marvels devised + by lively and exuberant imagination, in order thereby to obtain more + ready credence for the strange events which it creates. Such, then, + may the real Hercules have been,--a Dorian, a Theban, or an Argive + hero, whose feats of strength lived in the traditions of the people, + and whom national vanity raised to the rank of a son of Zeus + [Jupiter], and poetic fancy, as geographic knowledge extended, sent + on journies throughout the known world, and accumulated in his + person the fabled exploits of similar heroes of other regions. + + “We may perceive, by the twelve tasks, that the astronomical theory + was applied to the mythus of the hero, and that he was regarded as a + personification of the Sun, which passes through the twelve signs of + the Zodiac. This, probably, took place during the Alexandrian + period. Some resemblance between his attributes and those of the + Deity, with whom the Egyptian priests were pleased to identify him, + may have given occasion to this notion; and he also bore some + similitude to the God whom the Phœnicians chiefly worshipped, and + who, it is probable, was the Sun. But we must steadily bear in mind, + that Hercules was a hero in the popular legend long before any + intercourse was opened between Greece and Egypt; and that, however + (which is certainly not very likely) a God might be introduced from + Phœnicia, the same could hardly be the case with a popular + hero.--A very ingenious theory on the mythus of Hercules is given by + Buttmann (Mythologus, vol. i., p. 246). Though acknowledging that + Perseus, Theseus, and Hercules may have been real persons, he is + disposed, from an attentive consideration of all the circumstances + in the mythus of the last, to regard him as one of those poetical + persons or personifications, who, as he says, have obtained such + firm footing in the dark periods of antiquity, as to have acquired + the complete air of historic personages. + + “In his view of the life of Hercules, it is a mythus of extreme + antiquity and great beauty, setting forth the ideal of human + perfection, consecrated to the weal of mankind, or rather, in its + original form, to that of his own nation. This perfection, according + to the ideas of the heroic age, consists in the greatest bodily + strength, united with the advantages of mind and soul recognised by + that age. Such a hero is, he says, a man; but these noble qualities + in him are of divine origin. He is, therefore, the son of the king + of the Gods by a mortal mother. To render his perfection the more + manifest, the Poet makes him to have a twin brother, the child of a + mortal sire. As virtue is not to be learned, Hercules exhibits his + strength and courage in infancy; he strangles the snakes, which + fills his brother with terror. The character of the hero throughout + life, as that of the avenger of injustice and punisher of evil, must + exhibit itself in the boy as the wild instinct of nature; and the + mythus makes him kill his tutor Linus with a blow of the lyre. When + sent away by Amphitryon, he prepares himself, in the stillness and + solitude of the shepherd’s life, by feats of strength and courage, + for his future task of purifying the earth of violence. + + “--The number of tasks may not originally have been twelve, though + most accounts agree in that number, but they were all of a nature + agreeable to the ideas of an heroic age--the destruction of + monsters, and bringing home to his own country the valuable + productions of other regions. These are, however, regarded by + Buttmann as being chiefly allegorical. The Hydra, for instance, + he takes to have been meant to represent the evils of democratic + anarchy, with its numerous heads, against which, though one may not + be able to effect anything, yet the union of even two may suffice to + become dominant over it. + + “The toils of the hero conclude with the greatest and most rare of + all in the heroic age--the conquest over death. This is represented + by his descent into the under world, and dragging Cerberus to light + is a proof of his victory. In the old mythus, he was made to engage + with and wound Hades; and the Alcestis of Euripides exhibits him in + conflict with Death. But virtue, to be a useful example, must + occasionally succumb to human weakness in the power of the evil + principle. Hence, Hercules falls into fits of madness, sent on him + by Hera [Juno]; and hence--he becomes the willing slave of Omphale, + the fair queen of Lydia, and changes his club and lion’s skin for + the distaff and the female robe. + + “The mythus concludes most nobly with the assumption of the hero + into Olympus. His protecting Deity abandons him to the power of his + persevering enemy; his mortal part is consumed by fire, the fiercest + of elements; his shade (εἴδωλον), like those of other men, descends + to the realms of Hades, while the divine portion himself (αὐτὸς) + mounts from the pyre in a thunder-cloud, and the object of Hera’s + persecution being now accomplished, espouses youth, the daughter of + his reconciled foe. + + “Muller (Dorians, vol. i. part ii. ch. 11, 12) is also disposed to + view in Hercules a personification of the highest powers of man in + the heroic age. He regards him as having been the national hero of + the Dorian race, and appropriates to him all the exploits of the + hero in Thessaly, Ætolia, and Epirus, which last place he supposes + to have been the original scene of the Geryoneia, which was + afterwards transformed to the western stream of the ocean. He + thinks, however, that the Argives had an ancient hero of perhaps the + same name, to whom the Peloponnesus adventures belong, and whom the + Dorians combined with their own hero. The servitude to Eurystheus, + and the enmity of Hera, he looks on as inventions of the Dorians to + justify their own invasion of the Peloponnesus. This critic also + proves that the Theban Hercules had nothing to do with the Gods and + traditions of the Cadmeians; and he thinks that it was the Dorian + Heracleides who introduced the knowledge of him into Thebes, or that + he came from Delphi with the worship of Apollo, a Deity with whom, + as the tutelar God of the Dorians, he supposes their national hero + to have been closely connected.” + + +FABLE IV. [IX.324-425] + + The Nymph Lotis, pursued by Priapus, in her flight, is changed into + a tree. Dryope, going to sacrifice to the Naiads at the same spot, + and ignorant of the circumstance, breaks a branch off the tree for + her child, which she is carrying with her, and is subjected to a + similar transformation. While Iole is relating these circumstances + to Alcmena, she is surprised to see her brother Iolaüs restored to + youth. The Poet here introduces the prediction of Themis concerning + the children of Calirrhoë. + +Thus she said; and, moved by the remembrance of her old servant, she +heaved a deep sigh. Her daughter-in-law[36] addressed her, thus +grieving. “Even her form being taken away from one that was an alien to +thy blood, affects thee, O mother. What if I were to relate to thee the +wondrous fate of my own sister? although tears and sorrow hinder me, and +forbid me to speak. Dryope, the most remarkable for her beauty of the +Œchalian maids, was the only daughter of her mother ({for} my father had +me by another {wife}). Deprived of her virginity, and having suffered +violence from the God that owns Delphi and Delos, Andræmon married her, +and he was esteemed fortunate in his wife. + +“There is a lake that gives the appearance of a sloping shore, by its +shelving border; groves of myrtle crown the upper part. Hither did +Dryope come, unsuspecting of her fate; and, that thou mayst be the more +indignant {at her lot}, she was about to offer garlands to the Nymphs. +In her bosom, too, she was bearing her son, who had not yet completed +his first year, a pleasing burden; and she was nursing him, with the +help of {her} warm milk. Not far from the lake was blooming a watery +lotus that vied with the Tyrian tints, in hope of {future} berries. +Dryope had plucked thence some flowers, which she might give as +playthings to her child; and I, too, was just on the point of doing the +same; for I was present. I saw bloody drops fall from the flower, and +the boughs shake with a tremulous quivering; for, as the swains say, +now, at length, too late {in their information}, the Nymph Lotis, flying +from the lust of Priapus,[37] had transferred her changed form into this +{plant}, her name being {still} preserved. + +“Of this my sister was ignorant. When, in her alarm, she is endeavouring +to retire and to depart, having adored the Nymphs, her feet are held +fast by a root. She strives hard to tear them up, but she moves nothing +except her upper parts. From below, a bark slowly grows up, and, by +degrees, it envelopes the whole of her groin. When she sees this, +endeavouring to tear her hair with her hands, she fills her hand with +leaves, {for} leaves are covering all her head. But the boy Amphissos +(for his grandfather Eurytus gave him this name) feels his mother’s +breast growing hard; nor does the milky stream follow upon his sucking. +I was a spectator of thy cruel destiny, and I could give thee no help, +my sister; and {yet}, as long as I could, I delayed the growing trunk +and branches by embracing them; and, I confess it, I was desirous to be +hidden beneath the same bark. Behold! her husband Andræmon and her most +wretched father[38] appear, and inquire for Dryope: on their inquiring +for Dryope, I show them the lotus. They give kisses to the wood {still} +warm {with life}, and, extended {on the ground}, they cling to the roots +of their own tree. {And} now, dear sister, thou hadst nothing except thy +face, that was not tree. Tears drop upon the leaves made out of thy +changed body; and, while she can, and {while} her mouth gives passage to +her voice, she pours forth such complaints {as these} into the air:-- + +“‘If any credit {is to be given} to the wretched, I swear by the Deities +that I merited not this cruel usage. I suffer punishment without a +crime. I lived in innocence; if I am speaking false, withered away, may +I lose the leaves which I bear, and, cut down with axes, may I be burnt. +Yet take this infant away from the branches of his mother, and give him +to his nurse; and often, beneath my tree, make him drink milk, and +beneath my tree let him play; and, when he shall be able to speak, make +him salute his mother, and let him in sadness say, ‘Beneath this trunk +is my mother concealed.’ Yet let him dread the ponds, and let him not +pluck flowers from the trees; and let him think that all shrubs are the +bodies of Goddesses. Farewell, dear husband; and thou, sister; and, +{thou} my father; in whom, if there is any affection {towards me}, +protect my branches from the wounds of the sharp pruning-knife, {and} +from the bite of the cattle. And since it is not allowed me to bend down +towards you, stretch your limbs up hither, and come near for my kisses, +while they can {still} be reached, and lift up my little son. More I +cannot say. For the soft bark is now creeping along my white neck, and I +am being enveloped at the top of my head. Remove your hands from my +eyes;[39] {and}, without your help, let the bark, closing over them, +cover my dying eyes.’ Her mouth ceased at once to speak, at once to +exist; and long after her body was changed, were her newly formed +branches {still} warm.” + +And {now}, while Iole was relating the wretched fate of her sister, and +while Alcmena was drying away the tears of the daughter of Eurytus, with +her fingers applied {to her face}, and still she herself was weeping, +a novel event hushed all their sorrow; for Iolaüs[40] stood at the lofty +threshold, almost a boy {again}, and covering his cheeks with a down +almost imperceptible, having his visage changed to {that of} the first +years {of manhood}. Hebe, the daughter of Juno had granted him this +favour, overcome by the solicitations of her husband. When she was about +to swear that she would hereafter grant such favours to no one, Themis +did not allow her. “For now,” said she, “Thebes is commencing civil +warfare,[41] and Capaneus will not be able to be overcome, except by +Jupiter, and the two brothers will engage in bloody combat, and the +earth dividing, the prophet {Amphiaraüs} will see his {destined} shades, +while he still lives;[42] and the son avenging one parent, by {the death +of} the {other} parent, will be dutiful and wicked in the same action; +and confounded by his misfortunes, deprived both of his reason and of +his home, he will be persecuted both by the features of the Eumenides, +and by the ghost of his mother; until his wife shall call upon him for +the fatal gold, and the Phegeïan sword shall stab the side of their +kinsman. Then, at last, shall Calirrhoë, the daughter of Acheloüs, +suppliantly ask of mighty Jupiter these years {of youth} for her infant +sons. Jupiter, concerned {for them}, will prescribe for them the +{peculiar} gift of her who is {both} his step-daughter and his +daughter-in-law,[43] and will make them men in their years of +childhood.” + +When Themis, foreseeing the future, had said these words with prophetic +voice, the Gods above murmured in varying discourse; and the complaint +was,[44] why it might not be allowed others to grant the same gifts. +{Aurora}, the daughter of Pallas, complained of the aged years of her +husband; the gentle Ceres complained that Iäsion[45] was growing grey; +Mulciber demanded for Ericthonius a life to live over again; a concern +for the future influenced Venus, too, and she made an offer to renew the +years of Anchises. + + [Footnote 36: _Her daughter-in-law._--Ver. 325. Iole was the wife + of Hyllus, the son of Deïanira, by Hercules.] + + [Footnote 37: _Lust of Priapus._--Ver. 347. ‘Fugiens obscœna + Priapi,’ is rendered by Clarke, ‘Flying from the nasty attempts of + Priapus upon her.’] + + [Footnote 38: _Most wretched father._--Ver. 363. Eurytus was the + father of Dryope.] + + [Footnote 39: _From my eyes._--Ver. 390. This alludes to the + custom among the ancients of closing the eyes of the dying, which + duty was performed by the nearest relations, who, closing the eyes + and mouth, called upon the dying person by name, and exclaimed + ‘Vale,’ ‘farewell.’] + + [Footnote 40: _Iolaüs._--Ver. 399. He was the son of Iphiclus, the + brother of Hercules. See the Explanation in the next page.] + + [Footnote 41: _Civil warfare._--Ver. 404. This alludes to the + Theban war, carried on between Eteocles and Polynices, the sons of + Œdipus and Jocasta. Agreeing to reign in alternate years, Eteocles + refused to give place to his brother when his year had terminated, + on which Polynices fled to the court of Adrastus, king of Argos, + and raised troops against his brother.] + + [Footnote 42: _While he still lives._--Ver. 407. This was + Amphiaraüs, the son of Œcleus, and Hypermnestra, who was betrayed + by his wife Eriphyle.] + + [Footnote 43: _Daughter-in-law._--Ver. 415. Hebe, the Goddess of + Youth, was the daughter of Juno alone, without the participation + of Jupiter; and from this circumstance she is styled the + step-daughter of Jupiter. She was also his daughter-in-law on + becoming the wife of Hercules.] + + [Footnote 44: _The complaint was._--Ver. 420. ‘Murmur erat,’ is + rendered by Clarke, ‘The grumbling was, why, &c.’] + + [Footnote 45: _Iäsion._--Ver. 422. Iäsius, or Iäsion, was the son + of Jupiter and Electra, and was the father of Plutus, the God of + Riches, by the Goddess Cybele.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + The adventure of Dryope is one of those narratives which have no + connexion with the main story which the Poet is relating, and, if + really founded on fact, it would almost baffle any attempt to guess + at its origin. It is, most probably, built entirely upon the name of + the damsel who was said to have met with the untimely and unnatural + fate so well depicted by the Poet. + + The name of Dryope comes, very probably, from the Greek word Δρῦς, + ‘an oak,’ which tree has a considerable resemblance to the lotus + tree. If we seek for an historical solution, perhaps Dryope was + punished for attempting to profane a tree consecrated to the Gods, + a crime of which Erisicthon was guilty, and for which he was so + signally punished. All the particulars that we know of Dryope are, + that she was the daughter of Eurytus, and the sister of Iole; and + that she was the wife of Andræmon. + + Ovid says, that while Iole was relating this adventure to Alcmena, + Iolaüs, who, according to some, was the son of Hercules, by Hebe, + after his apotheosis, and, according to others, was the son of + Iphiclus, the brother of Hercules, became young, at the intercession + of that Goddess, who had appeased Juno. This was, probably, no other + than a method of accounting for the great age to which and + individual of the name of Iolaüs had lived. + + Ovid then passes on to the surprising change in the children of + Calirrhoë, the outline of which the story may be thus + explained:--Amphiaraüs, foreseeing, (by the aid of the prophetic + art, as we learn from Homer, Diodorus Siculus, Pliny and Statius), + that the civil wars of Thebes, his native country, would prove fatal + to him, retired from the court of Adrastus, King of Argos, whose + sister he had married, to conceal himself in some place of safety. + The Argives, to whom the oracle had declared, that Thebes could not + be taken unless they had Amphiaraüs with their troops, searched for + him in every direction; but their labour would have been in vain, if + Eriphyle, his wife, gained by a necklace of great value, which her + brother Adrastus gave her, had not discovered where he was. + Discovered in his retreat, Amphiaraüs accompanied the Argives, and + while, according to the rules of the soothsaying art, he was + observing a flight of birds, in order to derive an augury from it, + his horses fell down a precipice, and he lost his life. Statius and + other writers, to describe this event in a poetical manner, say that + the earth opened and swallowed up him and his chariot. + + Amphiaraüs had engaged his son Alcmæon, in case he lost his life in + the war, to kill Eriphyle; which injunction he performed as soon as + he heard of the death of his father. Alcmæon, going to the court of + Phegeus, to receive expiation for his crime, and to deliver himself + from the persecution of the Furies, or, in other words, by the + ceremonial of expiation, to tranquillize his troubled conscience, + that prince received him with kindness, and gave him his daughter + Alphesibæa in marriage. Alcmæon made her a present of his mother + Eriphyle’s necklace; but, having afterwards repudiated her to marry + Calirrhoë, or Arsinoë, the daughter of Acheloüs, he went to demand + the necklace from his brothers-in-law, who assassinated him. + Amphiterus and Acarnanus, who were his sons by Calirrhoë, revenged + the death of their father when they were very young; and this it is, + possibly, which is meant by the Poet when he says that the Goddess + Hebe augmented the number of their years, the purpose being, to put + them speedily in a position to enable them to avenge the death of + their father. + + Thus we see, that Iolaüs was, like Æson, who also renewed his youth, + a person who, in his old age, gave marks of unusual vigour; while in + Amphiterus and Arcananus, to whom Hebe added years, are depicted two + young men, who, by a deed of blood, exacted retribution for the + death of their father, at a time when they were in general only + looked upon as mere children. + + +FABLE V. [IX.426-665] + + Byblis falls in love with her brother Caunus, and her passion is + inflamed to such a degree, that he is obliged to leave his native + country, to avoid any encouragement of her incestuous flame. On + this, she follows him; and, in her way through Caria, she is changed + into a fountain. + +Every God has[46] some one to favour; and their jarring discord is +increasing by their {various} interests, until Jupiter opens his mouth, +and says, “O, if you have any regard for me, to what rash steps are you +proceeding? Does any one {of you} seem to himself so powerful as to +overcome even the Fates? By the Fates has Iolaüs returned to those years +which he has spent; by the Fates ought the sons of Calirrhoë to become +young men, {and} not by ambition or by dint of arms. And do you, too, +endure this as well with more contented mind, {for} even me do the Fates +govern; could I but change them, declining years should not be making my +{son} Æacus to bend {beneath them}; and Rhadamanthus should have the +everlasting flower of age, together with my {son}, Minos, who is {now} +looked down upon on account of the grievous weight of old age, and does +not reign with the dignity with which once {he did}.” + +The words of Jupiter influenced the Divinities; and no one continued to +complain when they saw Rhadamanthus and Æacus, and Minos, weary with +years; {Minos}, who, when he was in the prime of life, had alarmed great +nations with his very name. Then, {however}, he was enfeebled by age, +and was alarmed by Miletus, the son of Deione,[47] exulting in the +strength of youth, and in Phœbus as his sire; and {though} believing +that he was aiming at his kingdom, still he did not dare to drive him +away from his native home. Of thy own accord, Miletus, thou didst fly, +and in the swift ship thou didst pass over the Ægean waters, and in the +land of Asia didst build a city, bearing the name of its founder. Here +Cyane, the daughter of {the river} Mæander, that so often returns to the +same place, while she was following the windings of her father’s bank, +of a body excelling in beauty, being known by thee, brought forth a +double offspring, Byblis, with Caunus, {her brother}. + +Byblis is an example that damsels {only} ought to love what it is +allowed them {to love}; Byblis, seized with a passion for her brother, +the descendant of Apollo, loved him not as a sister {loves} a brother, +nor in such manner as she ought. At first, indeed, she understands +nothing of the flame, and she does not think[48] that she is doing wrong +in so often giving him kisses, {and} in throwing her arms round the neck +of her brother; and for a long time she {herself} is deceived, by this +resemblance of natural affection. By degrees this affection degenerates, +and decked out, she comes to see her brother, and is too anxious to +appear beautiful; and if there is any woman there more beautiful, she +envies her. But, as yet she is not fully discovered to herself, and +under that flame conceives no wishes; but still, inwardly she is +agitated. At one moment she calls him sweetheart,[49] at another, she +hates the mention of his relationship; and now she prefers that he +should call her Byblis, rather than sister. Still, while awake, she does +not dare admit any criminal hopes into her mind; {but} when dissolved in +soft sleep, she often sees the {object} which she is in love with. She +seems to be even embracing her brother, and she blushes, though she is +lying buried in sleep. Slumber departs; for a long time she is silent, +and she recalls to {memory} the appearance of her dream, and thus she +speaks with wavering mind: + +“Ah, wretched me! What means this vision of the silent night? How far am +I from wishing it real. Why have I seen this dream? He is, indeed, +beautiful, even to envious eyes. He pleases me, too; and were he not my +brother, I could love him, and he would be worthy of me. But it is my +misfortune that I am his sister. So long as I strive, while awake, +to commit no such {attempt}, let sleep often return with the like +appearance. No witness is there in sleep; and yet there is the +resemblance of the delight. O Venus and winged Cupid, together with thy +voluptuous mother, how great the joys I experienced! how substantial the +transport which affected me! How I lay dissolved {in delight} throughout +my whole marrow! How pleasing to remember it; although short-lived was +that pleasure, and the night sped onward rapidly, and was envious of my +attempts {at bliss}. Oh, could I only be united {to thee}, by changing +my name, how happily, Caunus, could I become the daughter-in-law of thy +father! how happily, Caunus, couldst thou become the son-in-law of my +father! O, that the Gods would grant that all things were in common with +us, except our ancestors. Would that thou wast more nobly born than +myself. For this reason then, most beauteous one, thou wilt make some +stranger, whom I know not, a mother; but to me, who have unhappily got +the same parents as thyself, thou wilt be nothing {more} than a brother. +That {tie} alone we shall have, which bars all else. What, then, do my +visions avail me? And what weight have dreams? And do dreams have any +weight? The Gods {fare} better; for the Gods have their own sisters {in +marriage}. Thus Saturn married Ops,[50] related to him by blood; Ocean +Tethys, the ruler of Olympus Juno. The Gods above have their privileges. +Why do I attempt to reduce human customs to the rule of divine +ordinances, and those so different? Either this forbidden flame shall be +expelled from my heart, or if I cannot effect that, I pray that I may +first perish, and that when dead I may be laid out on my bed, and that +my brother may give me kisses as I lie. And besides, this matter +requires the inclination of us both; suppose it pleases me; to him it +will seem to be a crime. But the sons of Æolus[51] did not shun the +embraces of their sisters. But whence have I known of these? Why have I +furnished myself with these precedents? Whither am I hurried onward? Far +hence begone, ye lawless flames! and let not my brother be loved by me, +but as it is lawful for a sister {to love him}. But yet, if he had been +first seized with a passion for me, perhaps I might have indulged his +desires. Am I then, myself, to court him, whom I would not have +rejected, had he courted me? And canst thou speak out? And canst thou +confess it? Love will compel me. I can. Or if shame shall restrain my +lips, a private letter shall confess the latent flame.” + +This thought pleases her, this determines her wavering mind. She raises +herself on her side, and leaning on her left elbow, she says, “He shall +see it; let me confess my frantic passion. Ah, wretched me! How am I +degrading myself! What flame is my mind {now} kindling!” And {then}, +with trembling hand, she puts together the words well weighed. Her right +hand holds the iron {pen}, the other, clean wax tablets.[52] She begins, +and {then} she hesitates; she writes, and {then} corrects what is +written; she marks, and {then} scratches out; she alters, and condemns, +and approves; and one while she throws them down when taken up, and at +another time, she takes them up again, when thrown aside. What she would +have, she knows not. Whatever she seems on the point of doing, is not to +her taste. In her features are assurance mingled with shame. {The word} +‘sister’ is written; it seems {as well} to efface {the word} ‘sister,’ +and {then} to write such words as these upon the smoothed wax: “Thy +lover wishes thee that health which she, herself, is not to enjoy, +unless thou shalt grant it. I am ashamed! Oh, I am ashamed to disclose +my name! and shouldst thou inquire what it is I wish; without my +name[53] could I wish my cause to be pleaded, and that I might not be +known as Byblis, until the hopes of {enjoying} my desires were realized. +There might have been as a proof to thee of my wounded heart, my {pale} +complexion, my falling away, my {downcast} looks, and my eyes often wet +with tears, sighs, too, fetched without any seeming cause; frequent +embraces too, and kisses, which, if perchance thou didst observe, could +not be deemed to be those of a sister. Still I, myself, though I had a +grievous wound in my soul, {and} although there was a raging fire +within, have done everything, as the Gods are my witnesses, that at last +I might be cured; and long, in my wretchedness, have I struggled to +escape the ruthless weapon of Cupid; and I have endured more hardships +than thou wouldst believe that a maiden could endure. + +“Vanquished {at length}, I am forced to own {my passion}; and with +timorous prayers, to entreat thy aid. Thou alone canst save, thou +destroy, one who loves thee. Choose which thou wilt do. She is not thy +enemy who begs this; but one who, though most nearly connected with +thee, desires to be still more closely connected, and to be united to +thee in a nearer tie. Let aged men be acquainted with ordinances, and +make inquiry what is lawful, and what is wicked, and what is proper; and +let them employ themselves in considering the laws. A passion that dares +all consequences is suited to our years. As yet, we know not what is +lawful, and we believe that all things are lawful, and {so} follow the +example of the great Gods. Neither a severe father, nor regard for +character, nor fear, shall restrain us, {if} only the cause for fearing +is removed. Under a brother’s name will we conceal our stolen joys {so} +sweet. I have the liberty of conversing with thee in private; and {even} +before others do we give embraces, and exchange kisses. How little is it +that is wanting! do have pity on the love of her who confesses it, and +who would not confess it, did not extreme passion compel her; and merit +not to be inscribed on my tomb as the cause {of my death}.” + +The filled tablets fall short for her hand, as it vainly inscribes such +words as these, and the last line is placed in the margin.[54] At once +she seals up her own condemnation, with the impress of a signet, which +she wets with her tears, {for} the moisture has deserted her tongue. +Filled with shame, she {then} calls one of her male domestics, and +gently addressing him in timorous tones, she said, “Carry these, most +trusty one, to my,” and, after a long pause, she added, “brother.” While +she was delivering them, the tablets, slipping from her hands, fell +down. She was shocked by this omen, but still she sent them. The +servant, having got a fit opportunity, goes {to her brother} and +delivers the secret writing. The Mæandrian youth,[55] seized with sudden +anger, throws away the tablets {so} received, when he has read a part; +and, with difficulty withholding his hands from the face of the +trembling servant, he says, “Fly hence, O thou accursed pander to +forbidden lust, who shouldst have given me satisfaction by thy death, +if {it was} not {that} thy destruction would bring disgrace on my +character.” Frightened, he hastens away, and reports to his mistress the +threatening expressions of Caunus. Thou, Byblis, on hearing of his +refusal, turnest pale, and thy breast, beset with an icy chill, is +struck with alarm; yet when thy senses return, so, too, does thy frantic +passion return, and thy tongue with difficulty utters such words as +these, the air being struck {by thy accents}: + +“And deservedly {am I thus treated}; for why, in my rashness, did I make +the discovery of this wound? why have I so speedily committed words to a +hasty letter, which ought {rather} to have been concealed? The feelings +of his mind ought first to have been tried beforehand by me, with +ambiguous expressions. Lest he should not follow me in my course, +I ought, with some part of my sail[56] {only}, to have observed what +kind of a breeze it was, and to have scudded over the sea in safety; +{whereas}, now, I have filled my canvass with winds {before} untried. +I am driven upon rocks in consequence; and sunk, I am buried beneath the +whole ocean, and my sails have {now} no retreat. And besides, was I not +forbidden, by unerring omens, to indulge my passion, at the time when +the waxen {tablets} fell, as I ordered him to deliver them, and made my +hopes sink to the ground? and ought not either the day to have been +changed, or else my whole intentions; but rather, {of the two},[57] the +day? {Some} God himself warned me, and gave me unerring signs, if I had +not been deranged; and yet I ought to have spoken out myself, and not to +have committed myself to writing, and personally {I ought} to have +discovered my passion; {then} he would have seen my tears, {then} he +would have seen the features of her who loved him; I might have given +utterance to more than what the letter contained. I might have thrown my +arms around his reluctant neck, and have embraced his feet, and lying +{on the ground}, I might have begged for life; and if I had been +repelled, I might have seemed on the point of death. All this, {I say}, +I might {then} have done; if each of these things could not {singly} +have softened his obdurate feelings, {yet} all of them might. + +“Perhaps, too, there may be some fault in the servant that was sent. +He did not wait on him at a convenient moment; he did not choose, +I suppose, a fitting time; nor did he request both the hour and his +attention to be disengaged. ’Tis this that has undone me; for he was not +born of a tigress, nor does he carry in his breast hard flints, or solid +iron, or adamant; nor yet did he suck the milk of a lioness. He will +{yet} be won. Again must he be attacked.[58] And no weariness will I +admit of in {the accomplishment of} my design, so long as this breath +{of mine} shall remain. For the best thing (if I could {only} recall +what has been destined) would have been, not to have made the attempt; +the next best thing is, to urge the accomplishment of what is begun; for +he cannot (suppose I were to relinquish my design) ever be unmindful of +this my attempt; and because I have desisted, I shall appear to have +desired for but an instant, or even to have been trying him, and to have +solicited him with the intention to betray; or, at least, I shall be +thought not to have been overcome by this God, who with such intensity +{now} burns, and has burnt my breast, but rather by lust. In fine, +I cannot now be guiltless of a wicked deed; I have both written {to +him}, and I have solicited {him}; my inclination has been defiled. +Though I were to add nothing more, I cannot be pronounced innocent: as +to what remains, {’twill add} much to {the gratifying of} my wishes, +{but} little to my criminality.” + +{Thus} she says; and (so great is the unsteadiness of her wavering mind) +though she is loath to try him, she has a wish to try him, and she +exceeds {all} bounds, and, to her misery, exposes herself to be often +repulsed. At length, when there is {now} no end {to this}, he flies from +his country and {the commission of} this crime, and founds a new +city[59] in a foreign land. But then, they say that the daughter of +Miletus, in her sadness, was bereft of all understanding. Then did she +tear her garments away from her breast, and in her frenzy beat her arms. +And now she is openly raving, and she proclaims the unlawful hopes of +{unnatural} lust. Deprived of these {hopes}, she deserts her native +land, and her hated home, and follows the steps of her flying brother. +And as the Ismarian[60] Bacchanals, son of Semele, aroused by thy +thyrsus, celebrate thy triennial festivals, as they return, no otherwise +did the Bubasian matrons[61] see Byblis howling over the wide fields; +leaving which, she wandered through {the country of} the Carians, and +the warlike Leleges,[62] and Lycia. + +And now she has left behind Cragos,[63] and Lymira,[64] and the waves of +Xanthus, and the mountain in which the Chimæra had fire in its middle +parts, the breast and the face of a lioness, and the tail of a serpent. +The woods {at length} fail thee; when thou, Byblis, wearied with +following him, dost fall down, and laying thy tresses upon the hard +ground, art silent, and dost press the fallen leaves with thy face. +Often, too, do the Lelegeïan Nymphs endeavour to raise her in their +tender arms; often do they advise her to curb her passion, and they +apply consolation to a mind insensible {to their advice}. Silent does +Byblis lie, and she tears the green herbs with her nails, and waters the +grass with the stream of her tears. They say that the Naiads placed +beneath these {tears} a channel which could never become dry; and what +greater gift had they to bestow? Immediately, as drops from the cut bark +of the pitch tree, or as the viscid bitumen distils from the impregnated +earth, or as water which has frozen with the cold, at the approach of +Favonius, gently blowing, melts away in the sun, so is Byblis, the +descendant of Phœbus, dissolving in her tears, changed into a fountain, +which even now, in those vallies, bears the name of its mistress, and +flows beneath a gloomy oak. + + [Footnote 46: _Every God has._--Ver. 425-6. ‘Cui studeat, Deus + omnis habet crescitque favore Turbida seditio.’ Clarke thus + renders these words, ‘Every God has somebody to stickle for, and a + turbulent sedition arises by their favours for their darlings.’] + + [Footnote 47: _Son of Deione._--Ver. 442. According to some + writers, Miletus was the son of Apollo and Deione, though others + say that Thia was the name of his mother. He was the founder of + the celebrated city of Miletus, in Caria, a country of Asia + Minor.] + + [Footnote 48: _Does not think._--Ver. 457. Clarke translates this + line, ‘Nor does she think she does amiss that she so often tips + him a kiss.’ Antoninus Liberalis says, that Eidothea, the daughter + of the king of Paria, and not Cyane, was the mother of Byblis and + Caunus.] + + [Footnote 49: _Sweetheart._--Ver. 465. The word ‘dominus’ was + often used as a term of endearment between lovers.] + + [Footnote 50: _Married Ops._--Ver. 497. Ops, the daughter of Cœlus + or Uranus, who was also called Cybele, Rhea, and ‘the great + Mother,’ was fabled to have been the wife of her brother Saturn; + while Oceanus, the son of Cœlus and Vesta, married his sister + Tethys.] + + [Footnote 51: _Sons of Æolus._--Ver. 506. Æolus had six sons, to + whom he was said to have given their sisters for wives. In the + case, however, of his daughter Canace, who was pregnant by her + brother Macareus, Æolus was more severe, as he sent her a sword, + with which to put herself to death.] + + [Footnote 52: _Clean wax tablets._--Ver. 521. Before the tablet + was written upon, the wax was ‘vacua,’ empty; or, as we say of + writing-paper, ‘clean.’ There was a blunt end to the upper part of + the ‘stylus,’ or iron pen, with which the wax was smoothed down + when any writing was erased.] + + [Footnote 53: _Without my name._--Ver. 531-2. ‘Sine nomine vellem + Posset agi mea causa meo,’ is rendered by Clarke, ‘I could wish my + business might be transacted without my name.’] + + [Footnote 54: _In the margin._--Ver. 564. Clarke translates, + ‘Summusque in margine versus adhæsit,’ ‘And the last line was + clapped into the margin.’] + + [Footnote 55: _Meandrian youth._--Ver. 573. Caunus was the + grandson of the river Mæander.] + + [Footnote 56: _Part of my sail._--Ver. 589. She borrows this + metaphor from sailors, who, before setting out, sometimes unfurl a + little portion of the sail, to see how the wind blows.] + + [Footnote 57: _Rather of the two._--Ver. 598. Willing to believe + anything in the wrong rather than herself; she is sure that the + day was an unlucky one.] + + [Footnote 58: _Be attacked._--Ver. 615. ‘Repeteudas erit,’ Clarke + translates, ‘I must at him again.’] + + [Footnote 59: _Founds a new city._--Ver. 633. This was Caunus, + a city of Caria.] + + [Footnote 60: _Ismarian._--Ver. 641. Ismarus was a mountain of + Thrace. The festival here alluded to was the ‘trieterica,’ or + triennial feast of Bacchus.] + + [Footnote 61: _Bubasian matrons._--Ver. 643. We learn from Pliny + the Elder that Bubasus was a region of Caria.] + + [Footnote 62: _Leleges._--Ver. 644. The Leleges were a warlike + people of Caria, in Asia Minor, who were supposed to have sprung + from Grecian emigrants, who first inhabited the adjacent island, + and afterwards the continent. They were said to have their name + from the Greek word λελεγμένοι ‘gathered,’ because they were + collected from various places.] + + [Footnote 63: _Cragos._--Ver. 645. Cragos was a mountain of + Lycia.] + + [Footnote 64: _Lymira._--Ver. 645. This was a city of Lycia, near + Cragos.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + This shocking story has been also recounted by Antoninus Liberalis + and both he and Ovid have embellished it with circumstances, which + are the fruit of a lively imagination. They make Byblis travel over + several countries in search of her brother, who flies from her + extravagant passion, and they both agree in tracing her to Caria. + There, according to Antoninus Liberalis, she was transformed into a + Hamadryad, just as she was on the point of throwing herself from the + summit of a mountain. Ovid, on the other hand, says that she was + changed into a fountain, which afterwards bore her name. + + It is, however, most probable, that if the story is founded on + truth, the whole of the circumstances happened in Caria; since we + learn, both from Apollodorus and Pausanias, that Miletus, her + father, went from the island of Crete to lead a colony into Caria, + when he conquered a city, to which he gave his own name. Pausanias + says, that all the men of the city being killed during the siege, + the conquerors married their wives and daughters. Cyanea, the + daughter of Mæander, fell to the share of Miletus, and Caunus and + Byblis were the offspring of that marriage. Byblis, having conceived + a criminal passion for her brother, he was obliged to leave his + father’s court, that he might avoid her importunities; upon which + she died of grief. As she often went to weep by a fountain, which + was outside of the town, those who related the adventure, magnified + it, by stating that she was changed into the fountain, which, after + her death, bore her name. We are informed by Photius, on the + authority of the historian Conon, that it was Caunus who fell in + love with Byblis, and that she hanged herself upon a walnut tree. + Ovid also, in his ‘Art of Love,’ follows the tradition that she + hanged herself. ‘Arsit et est laqueo fortiter ulta nefas.’ Miletus + lived in the time of the first Minos, and, according to some + writers, married his daughter Acallis; but, having disagreed with + his father-in-law, he was obliged to leave Crete, and retired to + Caria. + + The Persians had certain state ordinances, by which their monarchs + were enjoined to marry their own sisters; and, as Asia Minor was + overrun by them at the time when Crœsus was conquered by Cyrus, it + is possible that the story of Byblis and Caunus may have originated + in the disgust which the natives felt for their conquerors, and as a + covert reproach to them for sanctioning alliances of so incestuous a + nature. While Ovid enters into details in the story, which trench on + the rules of modesty and decorum, the moral of the tale, aided by + some of his precepts, is not uninstructive as a warning to youth to + learn betimes how to regulate the passions. + + +FABLE VI. [IX.666-797] + + Ligdus commands his wife Telethusa, who is pregnant, to destroy the + infant, should it prove to be a girl; on which, the Goddess Isis + appears to her in a dream, and, forbidding her to obey, promises her + her protection. Telethusa is delivered of a daughter, who is called + Iphis, and passes for a son. Iphis is afterwards married to Ianthe, + on which, Isis, to reward her mother’s piety, transforms her into a + man. + +The fame of this new prodigy would, perhaps, have filled the hundred +cities of Crete, if Crete had not lately produced a nearer wonder {of +her own}, in the change of Iphis. + +For once on a time the Phæstian land[65] adjoining to the Gnossian +kingdom produced one Ligdus, of obscure name, a man of the freeborn +class of common people. Nor were his means any greater than his rank, +but his life and his honour were untainted. He startled the ears of his +wife in her pregnancy, with these words, when her lying-in was near at +hand: “Two things there are which I wish for; that thou mayst be +delivered with very little pain, and that thou mayst bring forth a male +child. The other alternative is a cause of greater trouble, and +providence has denied us means {for bringing up a female}. The thing I +abominate; but if a female should, by chance, be brought forth at thy +delivery, (I command it with reluctance, forgive me, natural affection) +let it be put to death.” {Thus} he said, and they bathed their faces +with tears streaming down; both he who commanded, and she to whom the +commands were given. But yet Telethusa incessantly urged her husband, +with fruitless entreaties, not to confine his hopes within a compass so +limited. {But} Ligdus’s resolution was fixed. + +And now was she hardly {able} to bear her womb big with the burden ripe +for birth; when in the middle of the night, under the form of a vision, +the daughter of Inachus, attended by a train of her votaries, either +stood, or seemed to stand, before her bed. The horns of the moon were +upon her forehead, with ears of corn with their bright golden colour, +and the royal ornament {of the diadem}; with her was the barking +Anubis,[66] and the holy Bubastis,[67] and the particoloured Apis;[68] +he, too, who suppresses[69] his voice, and with his finger enjoins +silence. There were the sistra too, and Osiris,[70] never enough sought +for; and the foreign serpent,[71] filled with soporiferous poison. When +thus the Goddess addressed her, as though roused from her sleep, and +seeing {all} distinctly: “O Telethusa, one of my votaries, lay aside thy +grievous cares, and evade the commands of thy husband; and do not +hesitate, when Lucina shall have given thee ease by delivery, to bring +up {the child}, whatever it shall be. I am a befriending Goddess,[72] +and, when invoked, I give assistance; and thou shalt not complain that +thou hast worshipped an ungrateful Divinity.” + +{Thus} she advises her, and {then} retires from her chamber. The Cretan +matron arises joyful from her bed; and suppliantly raising her pure +hands towards the stars {of heaven}, prays that her vision may be +fulfilled. When her pains increased, and her burden forced itself into +the light, and a girl was born to the father unaware of it, the mother +ordered it to be brought up, pretending it was a boy; and the thing +gained belief, nor was any one but the nurse acquainted with the fact. +The father performed his vows, and gave {the child} the name of its +grandfather. The grandfather had been called Iphis. The mother rejoiced +in that name because it was common {to both sexes}, nor would she be +deceiving[73] any one by it. Her deception lay unperceived under this +fraud, the result of natural affection. The {child’s} dress was that of +a boy; the face such, that, whether you gave it to a girl or to a boy, +either would be beautiful. In the meantime the third year had {now} +succeeded the tenth, when her father, O Iphis, promised to thee, in +marriage, the yellow-haired Iänthe, who was a virgin the most commended +among all the women of Phæstus, for the endowments of her beauty; the +daughter of the Dictæan Telestes. Equal was their age, their beauty +equal; and they received their first instruction, the elements {suited} +to their age, from the same preceptor. + +Love, in consequence, touches the inexperienced breasts of them both, +and inflicts on each an equal wound; but {how} different are their +hopes! Iänthe awaits the time of their union, and of the ceremonial +agreed upon, and believes that she, whom she thinks to be a man, will be +{her husband}. Iphis is in love with her whom she despairs to be able to +enjoy, and this very thing increases her flame; and, {herself} a maid, +she burns with passion for a maid. And, with difficulty, suppressing her +tears, she says, “What issue {of my love} awaits me, whom the anxieties +unknown to any {before}, and {so} unnatural, of an unheard-of passion, +have seized upon? if the Gods would spare me, (they ought to have +destroyed me, and if they would not have destroyed me), at least they +should have inflicted some natural evil, and {one} common {to the human +race}. Passion for a cow does not inflame a cow, nor does that for mares +{inflame} the mares. The ram inflames the ewes; its own female follows +the buck. And so do birds couple; and among all animals, no female is +seized with passion for a female. Would that I did not exist. + +“Yet, lest Crete might not be the producer of {all kinds of} prodigies, +the daughter of the Sun loved a bull; that is to say, a female {loved} a +male. My passion, if I confess the truth, is more extravagant than that. +Still she pursued the hopes of enjoyment; still, by a subtle +contrivance, and under the form of a cow, did she couple with the bull, +and her paramour was one that might be deceived. But though the +ingenuity of the whole world were to centre here, though Dædalus himself +were to fly back again with his waxen wings, what could he do? Could he, +by his skilful arts, make me from a maiden into a youth? or could he +transform thee, Iänthe? But why dost thou not fortify thy mind, and +recover thyself, Iphis? And why not shake off this passion, void of +{all} reason, and senseless {as it is}? Consider what it was thou wast +born (unless thou art deceiving thyself as well), and pursue that which +is allowable, and love that which, as a woman, thou oughtst {to love}. +Hope it is that produces, Hope it is that nourishes love. This, the +{very} case {itself} deprives thee of. No guard is keeping thee away +from her dear embrace; no care of a watchful husband, no father’s +severity; does not she herself deny thy solicitations. And yet she +cannot be enjoyed by thee; nor, were everything possible done, couldst +thou be blessed; {not}, though Gods and men were to do their utmost. And +now, too, no portion of my desires is baffled, and the compliant Deities +have granted me whatever they were able, and what I {desire}, my father +wishes, she herself wishes, and {so does} my destined father-in-law; but +nature, more powerful than all these, wills it not; she alone is an +obstacle to me. Lo, the longed-for time approaches, and the wedding-day +is at hand, when Iänthe should be mine; and {yet} she will not fall to +my lot. In the midst of water, I shall be athirst. Why, Juno, guardian +of the marriage rites, and why, Hymenæus, do you come to this +ceremonial, where there is not the person who should marry {the wife}, +{and} where both {of us females}, we are coupled in wedlock?” + +After {saying} these words, she closes her lips. And no less does the +other maid burn, and she prays thee, Hymenæus, to come quickly. +Telethusa, dreading the same thing that she desires, at one time puts +off the time {of the wedding}, and then raises delays, by feigning +illness. Often, by way of excuse, she pretends omens and visions. But +now she has exhausted all the resources of fiction; and the time for the +marriage {so long} delayed is {now} at hand, and {only} one day remains; +whereon she takes off the fillets for the hair from her own head and +from that of her daughter,[74] and embracing the altar with dishevelled +locks, she says, “O Isis, thou who dost inhabit Parætonium,[75] and the +Mareotic fields,[76] and Pharos,[77] and the Nile divided into its seven +horns, give aid, I beseech thee, and ease me of my fears. Thee, Goddess, +thee, I once beheld, and these thy symbols; and all {of them} I +recognized; both thy attendants, and thy torches, and the sound of the +sistra, and I noted thy commands with mindful care. That this {girl}[78] +{now} sees the light, that I, myself, am not punished, is {the result +of} thy counsel, and thy admonition; pity us both, and aid us with thy +assistance.” + +Tears followed her words. The Goddess seemed to move, (and she {really} +did move) her altars; and the doors of her temple shook. Her horns, +too,[79] shone, resembling {those of} the moon, and the tinkling sistrum +sounded. The mother departs from the temple, not free from concern +indeed, still pleased with this auspicious omen. Iphis follows her, her +companion as she goes, with longer strides than she had been wont; her +fairness does not continue on her face; both her strength is increased, +and her features are more stern; and shorter is the length of her +scattered locks. There is more vigour, also, than she had {as} a female. +{And} now thou art a male, who so lately wast a female. Bring offerings +to the temple, and rejoice with no hesitating confidence. They do bring +their offerings to the temple. They add, too, an inscription; the +inscription contains {one} short line: “Iphis, a male, offers the +presents, which, as a female, he had vowed.” + +The following morn has disclosed the wide world with the rays {of the +Sun}; when Venus, and Juno, and Hymenæus, repair to the social +fires[80]; and Iphis, {now} a youth, gains his {dear} Iänthe. + + [Footnote 65: _Phæstian land._--Ver. 668. Phæstus was a city of + Crete, built by Minos.] + + [Footnote 66: _Anubis._--Ver. 689. This was an Egyptian Deity, + which had the body of a man, and the head of a dog. Some writers + say that it was Mercury who was so represented, and that this form + was given him in remembrance of the fact of Isis having used dogs + in her search for Osiris, when he was slain by his brother Typhon. + Other authors say, that Anubis was the son of Osiris, and that he + distinguished himself with an helmet, bearing the figure of a dog, + when he followed his father to battle.] + + [Footnote 67: _Bubastis._--Ver. 690. Though she is here an + attendant of Isis, Diodorus Siculus represents her to have been + the same divinity as Isis. Herodotus, however, says that Diana was + worshipped by the Egyptians under that name. There was a city of + Lower Egypt, called Bubastis, in which Isis was greatly venerated.] + + [Footnote 68: _Apis._--Ver. 690. This is supposed to have been + another name for Osiris, whose body, having been burned on the + funeral pile, the Egyptians believed that he re-appeared under the + form of a bull; the name for which animal was ‘apis.’] + + [Footnote 69: _Who suppresses._--Ver. 691. This was the Egyptian + divinity Harpocrates, the God of Secresy and Silence, who was + represented with his finger laid on his lips.] + + [Footnote 70: _Osiris._--Ver. 692. When slain by his brother + Typhon, Isis long sought him in vain, till, finding his scattered + limbs by the aid of dogs, she entombed them. As the Egyptians had + a yearly festival, at which they bewailed the loss of Osiris, and + feigned that they were seeking him, Ovid calls that God, ‘Nunquam + satis quæsitus,’ ‘Never enough sought for.’] + + [Footnote 71: _Foreign serpent._--Ver. 693. This is, most + probably, the asp, a small serpent of Egypt, which is frequently + found represented on the statues of Isis. Its bite was said to + produce a lethargic sleep, ending in death. Cleopatra ended her + life by the bite of one, which she ordered to be conveyed to her + in a basket of fruit. Some commentators have supposed that the + crocodile is here alluded to; but, as others have justly observed, + the crocodile has no poisonous sting, but rather a capacity for + devouring.] + + [Footnote 72: _A befriending Goddess._--Ver. 698. Diodorus Siculus + says, that Isis was the discoverer of numerous remedies for + disease, and that she greatly improved the healing art.] + + [Footnote 73: _Be deceiving._--Ver. 709. The name ‘Iphis’ being + equally well for a male or a female.] + + [Footnote 74: _Of her daughter._--Ver. 770. We must suppose that + Iphis wore the ‘vitta,’ which was an article of female dress, in + private only, and in presence of her mother. Of course, in public, + such an ornament would not have suited her, when appearing in the + character of a man.] + + [Footnote 75: _Parætonium._--Ver. 772. Strabo says, that + Parætonium was a city of Libya, with a capacious harbour.] + + [Footnote 76: _Mareotic fields._--Ver. 772. The Mareotic Lake was + in the neighbourhood of the city of Alexandria.] + + [Footnote 77: _Pharos._--Ver. 772. This was an island opposite to + Alexandria, famed for its light-house, which was erected to warn + sailors from off the dangerous quicksands in the neighbourhood.] + + [Footnote 78: _This girl._--Ver. 778. Pointing at Iphis, who had + attended her, Antoninus Liberalis says, that Telethusa prayed that + Iphis might be transformed into a man, and cited a number of + precedents for such a change.] + + [Footnote 79: _Her horns too._--Ver. 783. Isis was sometimes + worshipped under the form of a cow, to the horns of which + reference is here made.] + + [Footnote 80: _The social fires._--Ver. 795. On the occasion of + marriages, offerings were made on the altars of Hymenæus and the + other Deities, who were the guardians of conjugal rites.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + The story of Iphis being changed from a young woman into a man, + of which Ovid lays the scene in the isle of Crete, is one of those + facts upon which ancient history is entirely silent. Perhaps, the + origin of the story was a disguise of a damsel in male dress, + carried on, for family reasons, even to the very point of marriage; + or it may have been based upon an account of some remarkable + instance of androgynous formation. + + Ovid may possibly have invented the story himself, merely as a + vehicle for showing how the Deities recompense piety and strict + obedience to their injunctions. + + + + +BOOK THE TENTH. + + +FABLE I. [X.1-85] + + Eurydice, the wife of Orpheus, while sporting in the fields, with + other Nymphs, is bitten by a serpent, which causes her death. After + having mourned for her, Orpheus resolves to go down to the Infernal + Regions in quest of her. Pluto and the Fates consent to her return, + on condition that Orpheus shall not look on her till he is out of + their dominions. His curiosity prevailing, he neglects this + injunction, on which she is immediately snatched away from him, + beyond the possibility of recovery. Upon this occasion, the Poet + relates the story of a shepherd, who was turned into a rock by a + look of Cerberus; and that of Olenus and Lethæa, who were + transformed into stones. + +Thence Hymenæus, clad in a saffron-coloured[1] robe, passed through the +unmeasured tract of air, and directed his course to the regions of the +Ciconians[2], and, in vain, was invoked by the voice of Orpheus. He +presented himself indeed, but he brought with him neither auspicious +words, nor joyful looks, nor {yet} a happy omen. The torch, too, which +he held, was hissing with a smoke that brought tears to the eyes, and as +it was, it found no flames amid its waving. The issue was more +disastrous than the omens; for the newmade bride, while she was +strolling along the grass, attended by a train of Naiads, was killed, +having received the sting of a serpent on her ancle. + +After the Rhodopeïan bard had sufficiently bewailed her in the upper +{realms of} air, that he might try the shades below as well, he dared to +descend to Styx by the Tænarian gate, and amid the phantom inhabitants +and ghosts that had enjoyed the tomb, he went to Persephone, and him +that held these unpleasing realms, the Ruler of the shades; and touching +his strings in concert with his words, he thus said, “O ye Deities of +the world that lies beneath the earth, to which we {all} come {at last}, +each that is born to mortality; if I may be allowed, and you suffer me +to speak the truth, laying aside[3] the artful expressions of a +deceitful tongue; I have not descended hither {from curiosity} to see +dark Tartarus, nor to bind the threefold throat of the Medusæan monster, +bristling with serpents. {But} my wife was the cause of my coming; into +whom a serpent, trodden upon {by her}, diffused its poison, and cut +short her growing years. I was wishful to be able to endure {this}, and +I will not deny that I have endeavoured {to do so}. Love has proved the +stronger. That God is well known in the regions above. Whether he be so +here, too, I am uncertain; but yet I imagine that even here he is; and +if the story of the rape of former days is not untrue, ’twas love that +united you {two} together. By these places filled with horrors, by this +vast Chaos, and by the silence of these boundless realms, I entreat you, +weave over again the quick-spun thread {of the life} of Eurydice. + +“To you we all belong; and having staid but a little while {above}, +sooner or later we {all} hasten to one abode. Hither are we all +hastening. This is our last home; and you possess the most lasting +dominion over the human race. She, too, when, in due season she shall +have completed her allotted {number of} years, will be under your sway. +The enjoyment {of her} I beg as a favour. But if the Fates deny me this +privilege in behalf of my wife, I have determined that I will not +return. Triumph in the death of us both.” + +As he said such things, and touched the strings to his words, the +bloodless spirits wept. Tantalus did not catch at the retreating water, +and the wheel of Ixion stood still, {as though} in amazement; the birds +did not tear the liver {of Tityus}; and the granddaughters of Belus +paused at their urns; thou, too, Sisyphus, didst seat thyself on thy +stone. The story is, that then, for the first time, the cheeks of the +Eumenides, overcome by his music, were wet with tears; nor could the +royal consort, nor he who rules the infernal regions, endure to deny him +his request; and they called for Eurydice. She was among the shades +newly arrived, and she advanced with a slow pace, by reason of her +wound. + +The Rhodopeïan hero receives her, and, at the same time, {this} +condition, that he turn not back his eyes until he has passed the +Avernian vallies, or else that the grant will be revoked. The ascending +path is mounted in deep silence, steep, dark, and enveloped in deepening +gloom. And {now} they were not far from the verge of the upper earth. +He, enamoured, fearing lest she should flag, and impatient to behold +her, turned his eyes; and immediately she sank back again. She, hapless +one! both stretching out her arms, and struggling to be grasped, and to +grasp him, caught nothing but the fleeting air. And now, dying a second +time, she did not at all complain of her husband; for why should she +complain of being beloved? And now she pronounced the last farewell, +which scarcely did he catch with his ears; and again was she hurried +back to the same place. + +No otherwise was Orpheus amazed at this twofold death of his wife, than +he who, trembling, beheld the three necks[4] of the dog, the middle one +supporting chains; whom fear did not forsake, before his former nature +{deserted him}, as stone gathered over his body: and {than} Olenus,[5] +who took on himself the crime {of another}, and was willing to appear +guilty; and {than} thou, unhappy Lethæa, confiding in thy beauty; +breasts, once most united, now rocks, which the watery Ida supports. The +ferryman drove him away entreating, and, in vain, desiring again to +cross {the stream}. Still, for seven days, in squalid guise[6] did he +sit on the banks without the gifts of Ceres. Vexation, and sorrow of +mind, and tears were his sustenance. Complaining that the Deities of +Erebus[7] were cruel, he betook himself to lofty Rhodope, and Hæmus,[8] +buffeted by the North winds. The third Titan had {now} ended the year +bounded by the Fishes of the ocean;[9] and Orpheus had avoided all +intercourse with woman, either because it had ended in misfortune to +him, or because he had given a promise {to that effect}. Yet a passion +possessed many a female to unite herself to the bard, {and} many a one +grieved when repulsed. He also was the {first} adviser of the people of +Thrace to transfer their affections to tender youths; and, on this side +of manhood, to enjoy the short spring of life, and its early flowers. + + [Footnote 1: _Saffron-coloured._--Ver. 1. This was in order to be + dressed in a colour similar to that of the ‘flammeum,’ which was a + veil of a bright yellow colour, worn by the bride. This custom + prevailed among the Romans, among whom the shoes worn by the bride + were of the same colour with the veil.] + + [Footnote 2: _Ciconians._--Ver. 2. These were a people of Thrace, + near the river Hebrus and the Bistonian Lake.] + + [Footnote 3: _Laying aside._--Ver. 19. ‘Falsi positis ambagibus + oris,’ is rendered by Clarke, ‘Laying aside all the long-winded + fetches of a false tongue.’] + + [Footnote 4: _The three necks._--Ver. 65. There was a story among + the ancients, that when Cerberus was dragged by Hercules from the + Infernal Regions, a certain man, through fear of Hercules, hid + himself in a cave; and that on peeping out, and beholding + Cerberus, he was changed into a stone by his fright. Suidas says, + that in his time the stone was still to be seen, and that the + story gave rise to a proverb.] + + [Footnote 5: _Olenus._--Ver. 69. Olenus, who was supposed to be + the son of Vulcan, had a beautiful wife, whose name was Lethæa. + When about to be punished for comparing her own beauty to that of + the Goddesses, Olenus offered to submit to the penalty in her + stead, on which they were both changed into stones.] + + [Footnote 6: _In squalid guise._--Ver. 74. ‘Squallidus in + ripa--sedit,’ is rendered by Clarke, ‘He sat in a sorry pickle on + the bank.’] + + [Footnote 7: _Erebus._--Ver. 76. Erebus was the son of Chaos and + Darkness; but his name is often used to signify the Infernal + Regions.] + + [Footnote 8: _Hæmus._--Ver. 77. This was a mountain of Thrace, + which was much exposed to the North winds.] + + [Footnote 9: _Fishes of the ocean._--Ver. 78. ‘Pisces,’ ‘the + Fishes,’ being the last sign of the Zodiac, when the sun has + passed through it, the year is completed.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + Though Ovid has separated the adventures of Orpheus, whose death he + does not relate till the beginning of the eleventh Book, we will + here shortly enter upon an examination of some of the more important + points of his history. + + As, in his time, Poetry and Music were in a very low state of + perfection, and as he excelled in both of those arts, it was said + that he was the son of Apollo and the Muse Calliope; and it was + added, that he charmed lions and tigers, and made even the trees + sensible of the melodious tones of his lyre. These were mere + hyperbolical expressions, which signified the wondrous charms of his + eloquence and of his music combined, which he employed in + cultivating the genius of a savage and uncouth people. Some + conjecture that this personage originally came from Asia into + Thrace, and suppose that he, together with Linus and Eumolpus, + brought poetry and music into Greece, the use of which, till then, + was unknown in that country; and that they introduced, at the same + time, the worship of Ceres, Mars, and the orgies of Bacchus, which, + from him who instituted them, received their name of ‘Orphica.’ + Orpheus, too, is supposed to have united the office of high priest + with that of king. Horace styles him the interpreter of the Gods; + and he was said to have interposed with the Deities for the + deliverance of the Argonauts from a dangerous tempest. It is thought + that he passed some part of his life in Egypt, and became acquainted + with many particulars of the ancient religion of the Egyptians, + which he introduced into the theology of Greece. Some modern writers + even go so far as to suggest that he learned from the Hebrews, who + were then sojourning in Egypt, the knowledge of the true God. + + His wife, Eurydice, dying very young, he was inconsolable for her + loss. To alleviate his grief, he went to Thesprotia, in Epirus, the + natives of which region were said to possess incantations, for the + purpose of raising the ghosts of the departed. Here, according to + some accounts, being deceived by a phantom, which was made to appear + before him, he died of sorrow; but, according to other writers, + he renounced the society of mankind for ever and retired to the + mountains of Thrace. His journey to that distant country gave + occasion to say, that he descended to the Infernal Regions. This is + the more likely, as he is supposed to have there promulgated his + notions of the infernal world, which, according to Diodorus Siculus, + he had learned among the Egyptians. + + Tzetzes, however, assures us that this part of his history is + founded on the circumstance, that Orpheus cured his wife of the bite + of a serpent, which had till then been considered to be mortal; and + that the poets gave an hyperbolical version of the story, in saying + that he had rescued her from Hell. He says, too, that he had learned + in Egypt the art of magic, which was much cultivated there, and + especially the method of charming serpents. + + After the loss of his wife, he retired to mount Rhodope, to assuage + the violence of his grief. There, according to Ovid and other poets, + the Mænades, or Bacchanals, to be revenged for his contempt of them + and their rites, tore him in pieces; which story is somewhat + diversified by the writers who relate that Venus, exasperated + against Calliope, the mother of Orpheus, for having adjudged to + Proserpine the possession of Adonis, caused the women of Thrace to + become enamoured of her son, and to tear him in pieces while + disputing the possession of him. An ancient author, quoted by + Hyginus, says that Orpheus was killed by the stroke of a + thunderbolt, while he was accompanying the Argonauts; and + Apollodorus says the same. Diodorus Siculus calls him one of the + kings of Thrace; while other writers, among whom are Cicero and + Aristotle, assert that there never was such a person as Orpheus. The + learned Vossius says, that the Phœnician word ‘ariph,’ which + signifies ‘learned,’ gave rise to the story of Orpheus. Le Clerc + thinks that in consequence of the same Greek word signifying ‘an + enchanter,’ and also meaning ‘a singer,’ he acquired the reputation + of having been a most skilful magician. + + We may, perhaps, safely conclude, that Orpheus really did introduce + the worship of many Gods into Greece; and that, possibly, while he + promulgated the necessity of expiating crimes, he introduced + exorcism, and brought magic into fashion in Greece. Lucian affirms + that he was also the first to teach the elements of astronomy. + Several works were attributed to him, which are now no longer in + existence; among which were a Poem on the Expedition of the + Argonauts, one on the War of the Giants, another on the Rape of + Proserpine, and a fourth upon the Labours of Hercules. The Poem on + the Argonautic Expedition, which now exists, and is attributed to + him, is supposed to have been really written by a poet named + Onomacritus, who lived in the sixth century B.C., in the time of + Pisistratus. + + After his death, Orpheus was reckoned in the number of Heroes or + Demigods; and we are informed by Philostratus that his head was + preserved at Lesbos, where it gave oracular responses. Orpheus is + not mentioned by Homer or Hesiod. The learned scholar Lobeck, in his + Aglaophamus, has entered very deeply into an investigation of the + real nature of the discoveries and institutions ascribed to him. + + +FABLE II. [X.86-105] + + Orpheus, retiring to Mount Rhodope, by the charms of his music, + attracts to himself all kinds of creatures, rocks, and trees; among + the latter is the pine tree, only known since the transformation of + Attis. + +There was a hill, and upon the hill a most level space of a plain, which +the blades of grass made green: {all} shade was wanting in the spot. +After the bard, sprung from the Gods, had seated himself in this place, +and touched his tuneful strings, a shade came over the spot. The tree of +Chaonia[10] was not absent, nor the grove of the Heliades,[11] nor the +mast-tree with its lofty branches, nor the tender lime-trees, nor yet +the beech, and the virgin laurel,[12] and the brittle hazels, and the +oak, adapted for making spears, and the fir without knots, and the holm +bending beneath its acorns, and the genial plane-tree,[13] and the +parti-coloured maple,[14] and, together with them, the willows growing +by the rivers, and the watery lotus, and the evergreen box, and the +slender tamarisks, and the two-coloured myrtle, and the tine-tree,[15] +with its azure berries. + +You, too, the ivy-trees, with your creeping tendrils, came, and +together, the branching vines, and the elms clothed with vines; the +ashes, too, and the pitch-trees, and the arbute, laden with its blushing +fruit, and the bending palm,[16] the reward of the conqueror; the pine, +too, with its tufted foliage,[17] and bristling at the top, pleasing to +the Mother of the Gods; since for this the Cybeleïan Attis put off the +human form, and hardened into that trunk. + + [Footnote 10: _Tree of Chaonia._--Ver. 90. This was the oak, for + the growth of which Chaonia, a province of Epirus, was famous.] + + [Footnote 11: _Grove of the Heliades._--Ver. 91. He alludes to the + poplars, into which tree, as we have already seen, the Heliades, + or daughters of the sun, were changed after the death of Phaëton.] + + [Footnote 12: _Virgin laurel._--Ver. 92. The laurel is so styled + from the Virgin Daphne, who refused to listen to the solicitations + of Apollo.] + + [Footnote 13: _Genial plane-tree._--Ver. 95. The plane tree was + much valued by the ancients, as affording, by its extending + branches, a pleasant shade to festive parties. Virgil says, in the + Fourth Book of the Georgics, line 146, ‘Atque ministrantem + platanum potantibus umbram,’ ‘And the plane-tree that gives its + shade for those that carouse.’] + + [Footnote 14: _Parti-coloured maple._--Ver. 95. The grain of the + maple being of a varying colour, it was much valued by the + ancients, for the purpose of making articles of furniture.] + + [Footnote 15: _The tine tree._--Ver. 98. The ‘tinus,’ or ‘tine + tree,’ according to Pliny the Elder, was a wild laurel, with green + berries.] + + [Footnote 16: _The bending palm._--Ver. 102. The branches of the + palm were remarkable for their flexibility, while no + superincumbent weight could break them. On this account they were + considered as emblematical of victory.] + + [Footnote 17: _Tufted foliage._--Ver. 103. The pine is called + ‘succincta,’ because it sends forth its branches from the top, and + not from the sides.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + The story of Attis, or Athis, here briefly referred to, is related + by the ancient writers in many different ways; so much so, that it + is not possible to reconcile the discrepancy that exists between + them. From Diodorus Siculus we learn that Cybele, the daughter of + Mæon, King of Phrygia, falling in love with a young shepherd named + Attis, her father ordered him to be put to death. In despair, at the + loss of her lover, Cybele left her father’s abode, and, accompanied + by Marsyas, crossed the mountains of Phrygia. Apollo, (or, as + Vossius supposes, some priest of that God,) touched with the + misfortunes of the damsel, took her to the country of the + Hyperboreans in Scythia, where she died. Some time after, the plague + ravaging Phrygia, and the oracle being consulted, an answer was + returned, that, to ensure the ceasing of the contagion, they must + look for the body of Attis, and give it funeral rites, and render to + Cybele the same honour which they were wont to pay to the Gods: all + which was done with such scrupulous care, that in time she became + one of the most esteemed Divinities. + + Arnobius, says that Attis was a shepherd, with whom Cybele fell in + love in her old age. Unmoved by her rank, and repelled by her faded + charms, he despised her advances. Midas, King of Pessinus, on seeing + this, destined his own daughter, Agdistis, for the young Attis. + Fearing the resentment of Cybele, he caused the gates of the city to + be shut on the day on which the marriage was to be solemnized. + Cybele being informed of this, hastened to Pessinus, and, destroying + the gates, met with Attis, who had concealed himself behind a pine + tree, and caused him to be emasculated; on which Agdistis committed + self-destruction in a fit of sorrow. + + Servius, Lactantius, and St. Augustine, give another version of the + story, which it is not necessary here to enlarge upon, any farther + than to say, that it depicts the love of a powerful queen for a + young man who repulsed her advances. Ovid, also, gives a similar + account in the fourth Book of the Fasti, line 220. Other authors, + quoted by Arnobius, have given some additional circumstances, the + origin of which it is almost impossible to guess at. They say that a + female called Nana, by touching a pomegranate or an almond tree, + which grew from the blood of Agdistis whom Bacchus had slain, + conceived Attis, who afterwards became very dear to Cybele. + + All that we can conclude from these accounts, and more especially + from that given by Ovid in the Fasti, is, that the worship of Cybele + being established in Phrygia, Attis was one of her priests; and + that, as he led the example of mutilating himself, all her other + priests, who were called Galli, submitted to a similar operation, + to the great surprise of the uninitiated, who were not slow in + inventing some wonderful story to account for an act so + extraordinary. + + +FABLE III. [X.106-142] + + Cyparissus is about to kill himself for having slain, by accident, + a favourite deer; but, before he is able to execute his design, + Apollo transforms him into a Cypress. + +Amid this throng was present the cypress, resembling the cone,[18] now a +tree, {but} once a youth, beloved by that God who fits the lyre with the +strings, and the bow with strings. For there was a large stag, sacred to +the Nymphs who inhabit the Carthæan fields; and, with his horns +extending afar, he himself afforded an ample shade to his own head. His +horns were shining with gold, and a necklace studded with gems,[19] +falling upon his shoulders, hung down from his smooth round neck; +a silver ball,[20] fastened with little straps, played upon his +forehead; and pendants of brass,[21] of equal size, shone on either ear +around his hollow temples. He, too, void of fear, and laying aside his +natural timorousness, used to frequent the houses, and to offer his neck +to be patted by any hands, even though unknown {to him}. + +But yet, above all others, he was pleasing to thee, Cyparissus, most +beauteous of the nation of Cea.[22] Thou wast wont to lead the stag to +new pastures, and to the streams of running waters; sometimes thou didst +wreathe flowers of various colours about his horns, and at other times, +seated on his back, {like} a horseman, {first} in this direction and +{then} in that, thou didst guide his easy mouth with the purple bridle. +’Twas summer and the middle of the day, and the bending arms of the +Crab, that loves the sea-shore, were glowing with the heat of the sun; +the stag, fatigued, was reclining his body on the grassy earth, and was +enjoying the coolness from the shade of a tree. By inadvertence the boy +Cyparissus pierced him with a sharp javelin; and, when he saw him dying +from the cruel wound, he resolved to attempt to die {as well}. What +consolations did not Phœbus apply? and he advised him to grieve with +moderation, and according to the occasion. Still did he lament, and as a +last favour, he requested this of the Gods above, that he might mourn +for ever. And now, his blood quite exhausted by incessant weeping, his +limbs began to be changed into a green colour, and the hair, which but +lately hung from his snow-white forehead, to become a rough bush, and, +a stiffness being assumed, to point to the starry heavens with a +tapering top. The God {Phœbus} lamented deeply, and in his sorrow he +said, “Thou shalt be mourned by me, and shalt mourn for others, and +shalt {ever} attend upon those who are sorrowing[23] {for the dead}.” + + [Footnote 18: _Resembling the cone._--Ver. 106. In the Roman + Circus for the chariot races, a low wall ran lengthways down the + course, which, from its resemblance in position to the spinal + bone, was called by the name of ‘spina.’ At each extremity of this + ‘spina,’ there were placed upon a base, three large cones, or + pyramids of wood, in shape very much like cypress trees, to which + fact allusion is here made. They were called ‘metæ,’ ‘goals.’] + + [Footnote 19: _Studded with gems._--Ver. 113. Necklaces were much + worn in ancient times by the Indians, Persians, and Egyptians. + They were more especially used by the Greek and Roman females as + bridal ornaments. The ‘monile baccatum,’ or ‘bead necklace,’ was + the most common, being made of berries, glass, or other materials, + strung together. They were so strung with thread, silk, or wire, + and links of gold. Emeralds seem to have been much used for this + purpose, and amber was also similarly employed. Thus Ovid says, + in the second Book of the Metamorphoses, line 366, that the amber + distilled from the trees, into which the sisters of Phaëton were + changed, was sent to be worn by the Latian matrons. Horses and + favourite animals, as in the present instance, were decked with + ‘monilia,’ or necklaces.] + + [Footnote 20: _A silver ball._--Ver. 114. The ‘bulla’ was a ball + of metal, so called from its resemblance in shape to a bubble of + water. These were especially worn by the Roman children, suspended + from the neck, and were mostly made of thin plates of gold, being + of about the size of a walnut. The use of these ornaments was + derived from the people of Etruria; and though originally worn + only by the children of the Patricians, they were subsequently + used by all of free birth. The children of the Libertini, or + ‘freedmen,’ indeed wore ‘bullæ,’ but they were only made of + leather. The ‘bulla’ was laid aside at the same time as the ‘toga + prætexta,’ and was on that occasion consecrated to the Lares. The + bulls of the Popes of Rome, received their names from this word; + the ornament which was pendent from the rescript or decree being + used to signify the document itself.] + + [Footnote 21: _Pendants of brass._--Ver. 116. The ear-ring was + called among the Greeks ἐνώτιον, and by the Romans ‘inauris.’ The + Greeks also called it ἐλλόβιον, from its being inserted in the + lobe of the ear. Earrings were worn by both sexes among the + Lydians, Persians, Libyans, Carthaginians, and other nations. + Among the Greeks and Romans, the females alone were in the habit + of wearing them. As with us, the ear-ring consisted of a ring and + drop, the ring being generally of gold, though bronze was + sometimes used by the common people. Pearls, especially those of + elongated form, which were called ‘elenchi,’ were very much valued + for pendants.] + + [Footnote 22: _Nation of Cea._--Ver. 120. Cea was one of the + Cyclades, and Carthæa was one of its four cities.] + + [Footnote 23: _Who are sorrowing._--Ver. 142. The Poet in this + manner accounts for the Roman custom of placing branches of + Cypress before the doors of houses in which a dead body lay. Pliny + the Elder says, that the Cypress was sacred to Pluto, and that for + that reason it was used at funerals, and was placed upon the pile. + Varro says, that it was used for the purpose of removing, by its + own strong scent, the bad smell of the spot where the bodies were + burnt, and also of the bodies themselves. It was also said to be + so used, because, when once its bark is cut, it withers, and is + consequently emblematical of the frail tenure of human life.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + Cyparissus, who, according to Ovid was born at Carthæa, a town in + the isle of Cea, was probably a youth of considerable poetical + talent and proficiency in the polite arts, which caused him to be + deemed the favourite of Apollo. His transformation into a Cypress is + founded on the resemblance between their names, that tree being + called by the Greeks κυπάρισσος. The conclusion of the story is that + Apollo, to console himself, enjoined that the Cypress tree should be + the symbol of sorrow, or in other words that it should be used at + funerals and be planted near graves and sepulchres; which fiction + was most likely founded on the fact, that the tree was employed for + those purposes; perhaps because its branches, almost destitute of + leaves, have a somewhat melancholy aspect. + + Some ancient writers also tell us that Cyparissus was a youth + beloved by the God Sylvanus, for which reason that God is often + represented with branches of Cypress in his hand. + + +FABLE IV. [X.143-161] + + Jupiter, charmed with the beauty of the youth Ganymede, transforms + himself into an Eagle, for the purpose of carrying him off. He is + taken up into Heaven, and is made the Cup-bearer of the Divinities. + +Such a grove {of trees} had the bard attracted {round him}, and he sat +in the midst of an assembly of wild beasts, and of a multitude of birds. +When he had sufficiently tried the strings struck with his thumb, and +perceived that the various tones, though they gave different sounds, +{still} harmonize, in this song he raised his voice: “Begin, my parent +Muse, my song from Jove, all things submit to the sway of Jove. By me, +often before has the power of Jove been sung. In loftier strains have I +sung of the Giants, and the victorious thunderbolts scattered over the +Phlegræan plains.[24] Now is there occasion for a softer lyre; and let +us sing of youths beloved by the Gods above, and of girls surprised by +unlawful flames, who, by their wanton desires, have been deserving of +punishment. + +“The king of the Gods above was once inflamed with a passion for +Ganymede, and something was found that Jupiter preferred to be, rather +than what he was. Yet into no bird does he vouchsafe to be transformed, +but that which can carry his bolts.[25] And no delay {is there}. +Striking the air with his fictitious wings, he carries off the youth of +Ilium; who even now mingles his cups {for him}, and, much against the +will of Juno, serves nectar to Jove.” + + [Footnote 24: _Phlegræan plains._--Ver. 151. Some authors place + the Phlegræan {plains} near Cumæ, in Italy, and say that in a spot + near there, much impregnated with sulphur, Jupiter, aided by + Hercules and the other Deities, conquered the Giants with his + lightnings. Others say that their locality was in that part of + Macedonia which was afterwards called Pallene; others again, + in Thessaly, or Thrace.] + + [Footnote 25: _Carry his bolts._--Ver. 158. The eagle was feigned + to be the attendant bird of Jove, among other reasons, because it + was supposed to fly higher than any other bird, to be able to fix + its gaze on the sun without being dazzled, and never to receive + injury from lightning. It was also said to have been the + armour-bearer of Jupiter in his wars against the Titans, and to + have carried his thunderbolts.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + The rape of Ganymede is probably based upon an actual occurrence, + which may be thus explained. Tros, the king of Troy, having + conquered several of his neighbours, as Eusebius, Cedrenus, and + Suidas relate, sent his son Ganymede into Lydia, accompanied by + several of the nobles of his court, to offer sacrifice in the temple + dedicated to Jupiter; Tantalus, the king of that country, who was + ignorant of the designs of the Trojan king, took his people for + spies, and put Ganymede in prison. He having been arrested in a + temple of Jupiter, by order of a prince, whose ensign was an eagle, + it gave occasion for the report that he had been carried off by + Jupiter in the shape of an eagle. + + The reason why Jupiter is said to have made Ganymede his cup-bearer + is difficult to conjecture, unless we suppose that he had served his + father, in that employment at the Trojan court. The poets say that + he was placed by the Gods among the Constellations, where he shines + as Aquarius, or the Water-bearer. + + The capture of Ganymede occasioned a protracted and bloody war + between Tros and Tantalus; and after their death, Ilus, the son of + Tros, continued it against Pelops, the son of Tantalus, and obliged + him to quit his kingdom and retire to the court of Œnomaüs, king of + Pisa, whose daughter he married, and by her had a son named Atreus, + who was the father of Agamemnon and Menelaüs. Thus we see that + probably Paris, the great grandson of Tros, carried off Helen, as a + reprisal on Menelaüs, the great grandson of Tantalus, the persecutor + of Ganymede. Agamemnon did not fail to turn this fact to his own + advantage, by putting the Greeks in mind of the evils which his + family had suffered from the kings of Troy. + + +FABLE V. [X.162-219] + + As Apollo is playing at quoits with the youth Hyacinthus, one of + them, thrown by the Divinity, rebounds from the earth, and striking + Hyacinthus on the head, kills him. From his blood springs up the + flower which still bears his name. + +“Phœbus would have placed thee too, descendant of Amycla,[26] in the +heavens, if the stern Fates had given him time to place thee there. +Still, so far as is possible, thou art immortal; and as oft as the +spring drives away the winter, and the Ram succeeds the watery Fish, so +often dost thou spring up and blossom upon the green turf. Thee, beyond +{all} others, did my father love, and Delphi, situate in the middle[27] +of the earth, was without its guardian {Deity}, while the God was +frequenting the Eurotas, and the unfortified Sparta;[28] and neither his +lyre nor his arrows were {held} in esteem {by him}. + +“Unmindful of his own dignity, he did not refuse to carry the nets, or +to hold the dogs, or to go, as his companion, over the ridges of the +rugged mountains; and by lengthened intimacy he augmented his flame. And +now Titan was almost in his mid course between the approaching and the +past night, and was at an equal distance from them both; {when} they +stripped their bodies of their garments, and shone with the juice of the +oily olive, and engaged in the game of the broad quoit.[29] First, +Phœbus tossed it, well poised, into the airy breeze, and clove the +opposite clouds with its weight. After a long pause, the heavy mass fell +on the hard ground, and showed skill united with strength. Immediately +the Tænarian youth,[30] in his thoughtlessness, and urged on by +eagerness for the sport, hastened to take up the circlet; but the hard +ground sent it back into the air with a rebound against thy face, +Hyacinthus. + +“Equally as pale as the youth does the Divinity himself turn; and he +bears up thy sinking limbs; and at one moment he cherishes thee, at +another, he stanches thy sad wound; {and} now he stops the fleeting life +by the application of herbs. His skill is of no avail. The wound is +incurable. As if, in a well-watered garden, any one should break down +violets, or poppies, and lilies, as they adhere to their yellow stalks; +drooping, they would suddenly hang down their languid heads, and could +not support themselves; and would look towards the ground with their +tops. So sink his dying features; and, forsaken by its vigour, the neck +is a burden to itself, and reclines upon the shoulder. ‘Son of Œbalus,’ +says Phœbus, ‘thou fallest, deprived of thy early youth; and I look on +thy wound as my own condemnation. Thou art {the object of} my grief, and +{the cause of} my crime. With thy death is my right hand to be charged; +I am the author of thy destruction. Yet what is my fault? unless to +engage in sport can be termed a fault; unless it can be called a fault, +too, to have loved thee. And oh! that I could give my life for thee, or +together with thee; but since I am restrained by the decrees of destiny, +thou shalt ever be with me, and shalt dwell on my mindful lips. The lyre +struck with my hand, my songs, too, shall celebrate thee; and, +{becoming} a new flower, by the inscription {on thee}, thou shalt +imitate[31] my lamentations. The time, too, shall come, at which a most +valiant hero[32] shall add his {name} to this flower, and it shall be +read upon the same leaves.’ + +“While such things are being uttered by the prophetic lips of Apollo, +behold! the blood which, poured on the ground, has stained the grass, +ceases to be blood, and a flower springs up, more bright than the Tyrian +purple, and it assumes the appearance which lilies {have}, were there +not in this a purple hue, {and} in them that of silver. This was not +enough for Phœbus, for ’twas he that was the author of this honour. He +himself inscribed his own lamentations on the leaves, and the flower has +‘ai, ai,’ inscribed {thereon}; and the mournful characters[33] {there} +are traced. Nor is Sparta ashamed to have given birth to Hyacinthus; and +his honours continue to the present time; the Hyacinthian festival[34] +returns, too, each year, to be celebrated with the prescribed +ceremonials, after the manner of former {celebrations}.” + + [Footnote 26: _Descendant of Amycla._--Ver. 162. Hyacinthus is + here called Amyclides, as though being the son of Amycla, whereas, + in line 196 he is called ‘Œbalides,’ as though the son of Œbalus. + Pausamas and Apollodorus (in one instance) say that he was the son + of Amycla, the Lacedæmonian, who founded the city of Amyclæ; + though, in another place, Apollodorus says that Piërus was his + father. On the other hand, Hyginus, Lucian, and Servius say that + he was the son of Œbalus. Some explain ‘Amyclide,’ as meaning + ‘born at Amyclæ;’ and, indeed, Claudian says that he was born + there. Others, again, would have Œbalide to signify ‘born at + Œbalia.’ But, if he was the son of Amycla, this could not be the + signification, as Œbalia was founded by Œbalus, who was the + grandson of Amycla. The poet, most probably, meant to style him + the descendant of Amycla, as being his great grandson, and the son + of Œbalus. Again, in the 217th line of this Book, the Poet says + that he was born at Sparta; but, in the fifth Book of the Fasti, + line 223, he mentions Therapnæ, a town of Laconia, as having been + his birthplace. Perizonius thinks that Ovid has here inadvertently + confounded the different versions of the story of Hyacinthus.] + + [Footnote 27: _In the middle._--Ver. 168. Delphi, situated on a + ridge of Parnassus, was styled the navel of the world, as it was + supposed to be situate in the middle of the earth. The story was, + that Jupiter, having let go two eagles, or pigeons, at the + opposite extremities of the earth, with the view of ascertaining + the central spot of it, they met in their flight at this place.] + + [Footnote 28: _Unfortified Sparta._--Ver. 169. Sparta was not + fortified, because Lycurgus considered that it ought to trust for + its defence to nothing but the valour and patriotism of its + citizens.] + + [Footnote 29: _The broad quoit._--Ver. 177. The ‘discus,’ or + quoit, of the ancients, was made of brass, iron, stone, or wood, + and was about ten or twelve inches in diameter. Sometimes, a heavy + mass of iron, of spherical form, was thrown instead of the + ‘discus.’ It was perforated in the middle, and a rope or thong + being passed through, was used in throwing it.] + + [Footnote 30: _The Tænarian youth._--Ver. 183. Hyacinthus is so + called, not as having been born there, but because Tænarus was a + famous headland or promontory of Laconia, his native country.] + + [Footnote 31: _Thou shalt imitate._--Ver. 206. The blood of + Hyacinthus, changing into a flower, according to the ideas of the + poets, the words Αἰ, Αἰ, expressive, in the Greek language, of + lamentation, were said to be impressed on its leaves.] + + [Footnote 32: _Most valiant hero._--Ver. 207. He alludes to Ajax, + the son of Telamon, from whose blood, when he slew himself, + a similar flower was said to have arisen, with the letters Αἰ, Αἰ, + on its leaves, expressive either of grief, or denoting the first + two letters of his name, Αἴας. See Book xiii. line 397. The + hyacinth was the emblem of death, among the ancient Greeks.] + + [Footnote 33: _Mournful characters._--Ver. 216. The letters are + called ‘funesta,’ because the words αἰ, αἰ were the expressions of + lamentation at funerals.] + + [Footnote 34: _Hyacinthian festival._--Ver. 219. The Hyacinthia + was a festival celebrated every year at Amyclæ, in Laconia, by the + people of that town and of Sparta. Some writers say that it was + held solely in honour of Apollo; others, of Hyacinthus; but it is + much more probable, that it was intended to be in honour of both + Apollo and Hyacinthus. The festival lasted for three days, and + began on the longest day of the Spartan month, Hecatombæus. On the + first and last day, sacrifices were offered to the dead, and the + fate of Hyacinthus was lamented. Garlands were forbidden to be + worn on those days, bread was not allowed to be eaten, and no + songs were recited in praise of Apollo. On the second day, + rejoicing and amusements prevailed; the praises of Apollo were + sung, and horse races were celebrated; after which, females, + riding in chariots made of wicker-work, and splendidly adorned, + formed a beautiful procession. On this day, sacrifices were + offered, and the citizens kept open houses for their friends and + relations. Athenæus mentions a favourite meal of the Laconians on + this occasion, which was called κοπίς, and consisted of cakes, + bread, meat, broth, raw herbs, figs, and other fruits, with the + seeds of the lupine. Macrobius says, that chaplets of ivy were + worn at the Hyacinthia; but, of course, that remark can only apply + to the second day. Even when they had taken the field against an + enemy, the people of Amyclæ were in the habit of returning home on + the approach of the Hyacinthia, to celebrate that festival.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + Hyacinthus, as Pausanias relates, was a youth of Laconia. His father + educated him with so much care, that he was looked upon as the + favourite of Apollo, and of the Muses. As he was one day playing + with his companions, he unfortunately received a blow on the head + from a quoit, from the effects of which he died soon after. Some + funeral verses were probably composed on the occasion; in which it + was said, with the view of comforting his relations, that Boreas, + jealous of the affection which Apollo had evinced for the youth, had + turned aside the quoit with which they played; and thus, by degrees, + in length of time the name of Apollo became inseparably connected + with the story. + + The Lacedæmonians each year celebrated a solemn festival near his + tomb, where they offered sacrifices to him; and we are told by + Athenæus, that they instituted games in his honour, which were + called after his name. Pausanias makes mention of his tomb, upon + which he says was engraved the figure of Apollo. His alleged change + into the flower of the same name is probably solely owing to the + similarity of their names. It is not very clear what flower it is + that was known to the ancients under the name of Hyacinthus. + Dioscorides believes it to be that called ‘vaccinium’ by the Romans, + which is of a purple colour, and on which can be traced, though + imperfectly, the letters αἰ (alas!) mentioned by Ovid. The + lamentations of Apollo, on the death of Hyacinthus, formed the + subject of bitter, and, indeed, deserved raillery, for several of + the satirical writers among the ancients. + + +FABLE VI. [X.220-242] + + Venus, incensed at the Cerastæ for polluting the island of Cyprus, + which is sacred to her, with the human sacrifices which they offer + to their Gods, transforms them into bulls; and the Propœtides, as a + punishment for their dissolute conduct, are transformed into rocks. + +“But if, perchance, you were to ask of Amathus,[35] abounding in metals, +whether she would wish to have produced the Propœtides; she would deny +it, as well as those whose foreheads were of old rugged with two horns, +from which they also derived the name of Cerastæ. Before the doors of +these was standing an altar of Jupiter Hospes,[36] {a scene} of tragic +horrors; if any stranger had seen it stained with blood, he would have +supposed that sucking calves had been killed there, and Amathusian +sheep;[37] strangers were slain there. Genial Venus, offended at the +wicked sacrifices {there offered}, was preparing to abandon her own +cities and the Ophiusian lands.[38] ‘But how,’ said she, ‘have these +delightful spots, how have my cities offended? What criminality is there +in them? Let the inhuman race rather suffer punishment by exile or by +death, or if there is any middle course between death and exile; and +what can that be, but the punishment of changing their shape?’ + +“While she is hesitating into what she shall change them, she turns her +eyes towards their horns, and is put in mind that those may be left to +them; and {then} she transforms their huge limbs into {those of} fierce +bulls. + +“And yet the obscene Propœtides presumed to deny that Venus is a +Goddess; for which they are reported the first {of all women} to have +prostituted their bodies,[39] with their beauty, through the anger of +the Goddess. And when their shame was gone, and the blood of their face +was hardened, they were, by a slight transition, changed into hard +rocks.” + + [Footnote 35: _Amathus._--Ver. 220. Amathus was a city of Cyprus, + sacred to Venus, and famous for the mines in its neighbourhood.] + + [Footnote 36: _Jupiter Hospes._--Ver. 224. Jupiter, in his + character of Ζεῦς ξένιος, was the guardian and protector of + travellers and wayfarers.] + + [Footnote 37: _Amathusian sheep._--Ver. 227. Amathusia was one of + the names of the island of Cyprus.] + + [Footnote 38: _Ophiusian lands._--Ver. 229. Cyprus was anciently + called Ophiusia, on account of the number of serpents that + infested it; ὄφις being the Greek for a serpent.] + + [Footnote 39: _Their bodies._--Ver. 240. The women of Cyprus were + notorious for the levity of their character. We learn from + Herodotus that they had recourse to prostitution to raise their + marriage portions.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + The Cerastæ, a people of the island of Cyprus, were, perhaps, said + to have been changed into bulls, to show the barbarous nature and + rustic manners of those islanders, who stained their altars with the + blood of strangers, in sacrifice to the Gods. + + An equivocation of names also, probably, aided in originating the + story. The island of Cyprus is surrounded with promontories which + rise out of the sea, and whose pointed rocks appear at a distance + like horns, from which it had the name of Cerastis, the Greek word + κέρας, signifying a ‘horn.’ Thus, the inhabitants having the name of + Cerastæ, it was most easy to invent a fiction of their having been + once turned into oxen, to account the more readily for their bearing + that name. + + The Propœtides, who inhabited the same island, were females of very + dissolute character. Justin, and other writers, mention a singular + and horrible custom in that island, of prostituting young girls in + the very temple of Venus. It was most probably the utter disregard + of these women for common decency, that occasioned the poets to say + that they were transformed into rocks. + + +FABLE VII. [X.243-297] + + Pygmalion, shocked by the dissolute lives of the Propœtides, throws + off all fondness for the female sex, and resolves on leading a life + of perpetual celibacy. Falling in love with a statue which he has + made, Venus animates it; on which he marries this new object of his + affections, and has a son by her, who gives his name to the island. + +“When Pygmalion saw these women spending their lives in criminal +pursuits, shocked at the vices which Nature had {so} plentifully +imparted to the female disposition, he lived a single life without a +wife, and for a long time was without a partner of his bed. In the +meantime, he ingeniously carved {a statue of} snow-white ivory with +wondrous skill; and gave it a beauty with which no woman can be born; +and {then} conceived a passion for his own workmanship. The appearance +was that of a real virgin, whom you might suppose to be alive, and if +modesty did not hinder her, to be desirous to move; so much did art lie +concealed under his skill. Pygmalion admires it; and entertains, within +his breast, a flame for this fictitious body. + +“Often does he apply his hands to the work, to try whether it is a +{human} body, or whether it is ivory; and yet he does not own it to be +ivory. He gives it kisses, and fancies that they are returned, and +speaks to it, and takes hold of it, and thinks that his fingers make an +impression on the limbs which they touch, and is fearful lest a livid +mark should come on her limbs {when} pressed. And one while he employs +soft expressions, at another time he brings her presents that are +agreeable to maidens, {such as} shells, and smooth pebbles, and little +birds, and flowers of a thousand tints, and lilies, and painted balls, +and tears of the Heliades, that have fallen from the trees. He decks her +limbs, too, with clothing, and puts jewels on her fingers; he puts, +{too}, a long necklace on her neck. Smooth pendants hang from her ears, +and bows from her breast.[40] All things are becoming {to her}; and she +does not seem less beautiful than when naked. He places her on coverings +dyed with the Sidonian shell, and calls her the companion of his bed, +and lays down her reclining neck upon soft feathers, as though it were +sensible. + +“A festival of Venus, much celebrated throughout all Cyprus, had {now} +come; and heifers, with snow-white necks, having their spreading horns +tipped with gold, fell, struck {by the axe}. Frankincense, too, was +smoking, when, having made his offering, Pygmalion stood before the +altar, and timorously said, ‘If ye Gods can grant all things, let my +wife be, I pray,’ {and} he did not dare to say ‘this ivory maid,’ {but} +‘like to this {statue} of ivory.’ The golden Venus, as she herself was +present at her own festival, understood what that prayer meant; and as +an omen of the Divinity being favourable, thrice was the flame kindled +up, and it sent up a tapering flame into the air. Soon as he returned, +he repaired to the image of his maiden, and, lying along the couch, he +gave her kisses. She seems to grow warm. Again he applies his mouth; +with his hands, too, he feels her breast. The pressed ivory becomes +soft, and losing its hardness, yields to the fingers, and gives way, +just as Hymettian wax[41] grows soft in the sun, and being worked with +the fingers is turned into many shapes, and becomes pliable by the very +handling. While he is amazed, and is rejoicing, {though} with +apprehension, and is fearing that he is deceived; the lover again and +again touches the object of his desires with his hand. It is a {real} +body; the veins throb, when touched with the thumb. + +“Then, indeed, the Paphian hero conceives {in his mind} the most lavish +expressions, with which to give thanks to Venus, and at length presses +lips, no {longer} fictitious, with his own lips. The maiden, too, feels +the kisses given her, and blushes; and raising her timorous eyes towards +the light {of day}, she sees at once her lover and the heavens. The +Goddess was present at the marriage which she {thus} effected. And now, +the horns of the moon having been nine times gathered into a full orb, +she brought forth Paphos; from whom the island derived its name.” + + [Footnote 40: _Bows from her breast._--Ver. 265. The ‘Redimiculum’ + was a sort of fillet, or head band, worn by females. Passing over + the shoulders, it hung on each side, over the breast. In the + statues of Venus, it was often imitated in gold. Clarke translates + it by the word ‘solitaire.’] + + [Footnote 41: _Hymettian wax._--Ver. 284. Hymettus was a mountain + of Attica, much famed for its honey.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + The Pygmalion here mentioned must not be mistaken for the person of + the same name, who was the brother of Dido, and king of Tyre. The + story is most probably an allegory, which was based on the fact that + Pygmalion being a man of virtuous principles, and disgusted with the + vicious conduct of the women of Cyprus, took a great deal of care in + training the mind and conduct of a young female, whom he kept at a + distance from the contact of the prevailing vices; and whom, after + having recovered her from the obdurate and rocky state to which the + other females were reduced, he made his wife, and had a son by her + named Paphos; who was said to have been the founder of the city of + Cyprus, known by his name. + + +FABLE VIII. [X.298-518] + + Myrrha, the daughter of Cinyras and Cenchris, having conceived an + incestuous passion for her own father, and despairing of satisfying + it, attempts to hang herself. Her nurse surprises her in the act, + and prevents her death. Myrrha, after repeated entreaties and + assurances of assistance, discloses to her the cause of her despair. + The nurse, by means of a stratagem, procures her the object of her + desires, which being discovered by her father, he pursues his + daughter with the intention of killing her. Myrrha flies from her + father’s dominions and being delivered of Adonis, is transformed + into a tree. + +“Of him was that Cinyras sprung, who, if he had been without issue, +might have been reckoned among the happy. Of horrible events shall I +{now} sing. Daughters, be far hence; far hence be parents, {too}; or, if +my verse shall charm your minds, let credit not be given to me in this +part {of my song}, and do not believe that it happened; or, if you will +believe, believe as well in the punishment of the deed. + +“Yet, if Nature allows this crime to appear to have been committed, +I congratulate the Ismarian matrons, and my own {division of the} globe. +I congratulate this land, that it is afar from those regions which +produced so great an abomination. Let the Panchæan land[42] be rich in +amomum, and let it produce cinnamon, and its zedoary,[43] and +frankincense distilling from its tree, and its other flowers, so long as +it produces the myrrh-tree, as well. The new tree was not of so much +worth {as to be a recompense for the crime to which it owed its origin}. +Cupid himself denies, Myrrha, that it was his arrows that injured thee; +and he defends his torches from that imputation; one of the three +Sisters kindled {this flame} within thee, with a Stygian firebrand and +with swelling vipers. It is a crime to hate a parent; {but} this love is +a greater degree of wickedness than hatred. On every side worthy nobles +are desiring thee {in marriage}, and throughout the whole East the +youths come to the contest for thy bed. Choose out of all these one for +thyself, Myrrha, so that, in all that number, there be not one person, +{namely, thy father}. + +“She, indeed, is sensible {of her criminality}, and struggles hard +against her infamous passion, and says to herself, ‘Whither am I being +carried away by my feelings? What am I attempting? I beseech you, O ye +Gods, and natural affection, and ye sacred ties of parents, forbid this +guilt: defend me from a crime so great! if, indeed, this be a crime. But +yet the ties of parent and child are said not to forbid this {kind of} +union; and other animals couple with no distinction. It is not +considered shameful for the heifer to mate with her sire; his own +daughter becomes the mate of the horse; the he-goat, too, consorts with +the flocks of which he is the father; and the bird conceives by him, +from whose seed she herself was conceived. Happy they, to whom these +things are allowed! The care of man has provided harsh laws, and what +Nature permits, malignant ordinances forbid. {And} yet there are said to +be nations[44] in which both the mother is united to the son, and the +daughter to the father, and natural affection is increased by a twofold +passion. Ah, wretched me! that it was not my chance to be born there, +{and that} I am injured by my lot {being cast} in this place! {but} why +do I ruminate on these things? Forbidden hopes, begone! He is deserving +to be beloved, but as a father {only}. Were I not, therefore, the +daughter of the great Cinyras, with Cinyras I might be united. Now, +because he is so much mine, he is not mine, and his very nearness {of +relationship} is my misfortune. + +“‘A stranger, I were more likely to succeed. I could wish to go far away +hence, and to leave my native country, so I might {but} escape this +crime. A fatal delusion detains me {thus} in love; that being present, +I may look at Cinyras, and touch him, and talk with him, and give him +kisses, if nothing more is allowed me. But canst thou hope for anything +more, impious maid? and dost thou not perceive both how many laws, and +{how many} names thou art confounding? Wilt thou be both the rival of +thy mother, and the harlot of thy father? Wilt thou be called the sister +of thy son, and the mother of thy brother? and wilt thou not dread the +Sisters that have black snakes for their hair, whom guilty minds see +threatening their eyes and their faces with their relentless torches? +But do not thou conceive criminality in thy mind, so long as thou hast +suffered none in body, and violate not the laws of all-powerful Nature +by forbidden embraces. Suppose he were to be compliant, the action +itself forbids {thee; but} he is virtuous, and regardful of what is +right. And {yet}, O that there were a like infatuation in him!’ + +“{Thus} she says; but Cinyras, whom an honourable crowd of suitors is +causing to be in doubt what he is to do, inquires of herself, as he +repeats their names, of which husband she would wish {to be the wife}. +At first she is silent; and, fixing her eyes upon her father’s +countenance, she is in confusion, and fills her eyes with the warm +tears. Cinyras, supposing this to be {the effect} of virgin bashfulness, +bids her not weep, and dries her cheeks, and gives her kisses. On these +being given, Myrrha is too much delighted; and, being questioned what +sort of a husband she would have, she says, ‘One like thyself.’ But he +praises the answer not {really}[45] understood by him, and says, ‘Ever +be thus affectionate.’ On mention being made of affection, the maiden, +conscious of her guilt, fixed her eyes on the ground. + +“It is {now} midnight, and sleep has dispelled the cares, and {has +eased} the minds {of mortals}. But the virgin daughter of Cinyras, kept +awake, is preyed upon by an unconquerable flame, and ruminates upon her +wild desires. And one while she despairs, and at another she resolves to +try; and is both ashamed, and {yet} is desirous, and is not certain what +she is to do; and, just as a huge tree, wounded by the axe, when the +last stroke {now} remains, is in doubt, {as it were}, on which side it +is to fall, and is dreaded in each direction; so does her mind, shaken +by varying passions, waver in uncertainty, this way and that, and +receives an impulse in either direction; {and} no limit or repose is +found for her love, but death: ’tis death that pleases her. She raises +herself upright, and determines to insert her neck[46] in a halter; and +tying her girdle to the top of the door-post, she says, ‘Farewell, dear +Cinyras, and understand the cause of my death;’ and {then} fits the +noose to her pale neck. + +“They say that the sound of her words reached the attentive ears of her +nurse,[47] as she was guarding the door of her foster-child. The old +woman rises, and opens the door; and, seeing the instruments of the +death she has contemplated, at the same moment she cries aloud, and +smites herself, and rends her bosom, and snatching the girdle from her +neck, tears it to pieces. {And} then, at last, she has time to weep, +then to give her embraces, and to inquire into the occasion for the +halter. The maid is silent, {as} {though} dumb, and, without moving, +looks upon the earth; and {thus} detected, is sorry for her attempt at +death in this slow manner. The old woman {still} urges her; and laying +bare her grey hair, and her withered breasts, begs her, by her cradle +and by her first nourishment, to entrust her with that which is causing +her grief. She, turning from her as she asks, heaves a sigh. The nurse +is determined to find it out, and not to promise her fidelity only. +‘Tell me,’ says she, ‘and allow me to give thee assistance; my old age +is not an inactive one. If it is a frantic passion, I have the means of +curing it with charms and herbs; if any one has hurt thee by spells, by +magic rites shalt thou be cured; or if it is the anger of the Gods, that +anger can be appeased by sacrifice. What more {than these} can I think +of? No doubt thy fortunes and thy family are prosperous, and in the way +of continuing so; thy mother and thy father are {still} surviving.’ +Myrrha, on hearing her father’s {name}, heaves a sigh from the bottom of +her heart. Nor, even yet, does her nurse apprehend in her mind any +unlawful passion; {and} still she has a presentiment that it is +something {connected with} love. Persisting in her purpose, she entreats +her, whatever it is, to disclose it to her, and takes her, as she weeps, +in her aged lap; and so embracing her in her feeble arms, she says, +‘Daughter, I understand it; thou art in love, and in this case (lay +aside thy fears) my assiduity will be of service to thee; nor shall thy +father ever be aware of it.’ + +“Furious, she sprang away from her bosom; and pressing the bed with her +face, she said, ‘Depart, I entreat thee, and spare my wretched shame.’ +Upon the other insisting, she said, ‘Either depart, or cease to inquire +why it is I grieve; that which thou art striving to know, is impious.’ +The old woman is struck with horror, and stretches forth her hands +palsied both with years and with fear, and suppliantly falls before the +feet of her foster-child. And one while she soothes her, sometimes she +terrifies her {with the consequences}, if she is not made acquainted +with it; and {then} she threatens her with the discovery of the halter, +{and} of her attempted destruction, and promises her good offices, if +the passion is confided to her. She lifts up her head, and fills the +breast of her nurse with tears bursting forth; and often endeavouring to +confess, as often does she check her voice; and she covers her blushing +face with her garments, and says, ‘O, mother, happy in thy husband!’ +Thus much {she says}; and {then} she sighs. A trembling shoots through +the chilled limbs and the bones of her nurse, for she understands her; +and her white hoariness stands bristling with stiff hair all over her +head; and she adds many a word to drive away a passion so dreadful, if +{only} she can. But the maiden is well aware that she is not advised to +a false step; still she is resolved to die, if she does not enjoy him +whom she loves. ‘Live {then},’ says {the nurse}, ‘thou shalt enjoy +thy----’ and, not daring to say ‘parent,’ she is silent; and {then} she +confirms her promise with an oath. + +“The pious matrons were {now} celebrating the annual festival of +Ceres,[48] on which, having their bodies clothed with snow-white robes, +they offer garlands made of ears of corn, as the first fruits of the +harvest; and for nine nights they reckon embraces, and the contact of a +husband, among the things forbidden. Cenchreïs, the king’s wife, is +absent in that company, and attends the mysterious rites. Therefore, +while his bed is without his lawful wife, the nurse, wickedly +industrious, having found Cinyras overcome with wine, discloses to him a +real passion, {but} under a feigned name, and praises the beauty {of the +damsel}. On his enquiring the age of the maiden, she says, ‘She is of +the same age as Myrrha.’ After she is commanded to bring her, and as +soon as she has returned home, she says, ‘Rejoice, my fosterling, we +have prevailed.’ The unhappy maid does not feel joy throughout her +entire body, and her boding breast is sad. And still she does rejoice: +so great is the discord in her mind. + +“’Twas the time when all things are silent, and Boötes had turned his +wain with the pole obliquely directed among the Triones.[49] She +approaches to {perpetrate} her enormity. The golden moon flies from the +heavens; black clouds conceal the hiding stars; the night is deprived of +its fires. Thou, Icarus, dost conceal thy rising countenance; and +{thou}, Erigone, raised to the heavens through thy affectionate love for +thy father. Three times was she recalled by the presage of her foot +stumbling; thrice did the funereal owl give an omen by its dismal cry. +Yet {onward} she goes, and the gloom and the dark night lessen her +shame. In her left hand she holds that of her nurse, the other, by +groping, explores the secret road. {And} now she is arrived at the door +of the chamber; and now she opens the door; now she is led in; but her +knees tremble beneath her sinking hams, her colour and her blood vanish; +and her courage deserts her as she moves along. The nearer she is to +{the commission of} her crime, the more she dreads it, and she repents +of her attempt, and could wish to be able to return unknown. The old +woman leads her on by the hand as she lingers, and when she has +delivered her up on her approach to the lofty bed, she says, ‘Take her, +Cinyras, she is thy own,’ and {so} unites their doomed bodies. The +father receives his own bowels into the polluted bed, and allays her +virgin fears, and encourages her as she trembles. Perhaps, too, he may +have called her by a name {suited to} her age, and she may have called +him ‘father,’ that the {appropriate} names might not be wanting in this +deed of horror. Pregnant by her father, she departs from the chamber, +and, in her impiety, bears his seed in her incestuous womb, and carries +{with her}, criminality in her conception. The ensuing night repeats the +guilty deed; nor on that {night} is there an end. At last, Cinyras, +after so many embraces, longing to know who is his paramour, on lights +being brought in, discovers both the crime and his own daughter. + +“His words checked through grief, he draws his shining sword from the +scabbard as it hangs. Myrrha flies, rescued from death by the gloom and +the favour of a dark night; and wandering along the wide fields, she +leaves the Arabians famed for their palms, and the Panchæan fields. And +she wanders during nine horns of the returning moon; when, at length, +being weary, she rests in the Sabæan country,[50] and with difficulty +she supports the burden of her womb. Then, uncertain what to wish, and +between the fear of death and weariness of life, she uttered such a +prayer {as this}: ‘O ye Deities, if any of you favour those who are +penitent; I have deserved severe punishment, and I do not shrink from +it. But that, neither existing, I may pollute the living, nor dead, +those who are departed, expel me from both these realms; and +transforming me, deny me both life and death.’ {Some} Divinity {ever} +regards the penitent; at least, the last of her prayers found its Gods +{to execute it}. For the earth closes over her legs as she speaks, and a +root shoots forth obliquely through her bursting nails, {as} a firm +support to her tall trunk. Her bones, too, become hard wood, and her +marrow continuing in the middle, her blood changes into sap, her arms +into great branches, her fingers into smaller ones; her skin grows hard +with bark. And now the growing tree has run over her heavy womb, and has +covered her breast, and is ready to enclose her neck. She cannot endure +delay, and sinks down to meet the approaching wood, and hides her +features within the bark. Though she has lost her former senses together +with her {human} shape, she still weeps on, and warm drops distil[51] +from the tree. There is a value even in her tears, and the myrrh +distilling from the bark, retains the name of its mistress, and will be +unheard-of in no {future} age. + +“But the infant conceived in guilt grows beneath the wood, and seeks out +a passage, by which he may extricate himself, having left his mother. +Her pregnant womb swells in the middle of the tree. The burden distends +the mother, nor have her pangs words of their own {whereby to express +themselves}; nor can Lucina be invoked by her voice {while} bringing +forth. Yet she is like one struggling {to be delivered}; and the bending +tree utters frequent groans, and is moistened with falling tears. Gentle +Lucina stands by the moaning boughs, and applies her hands, and utters +words that promote delivery. The tree gapes open, in chinks, and through +the cleft bark it discharges the living burden. The child cries; the +Naiads, laying him on the soft grass, anoint him with the tears of his +mother. + +“Even Envy {herself} would have commended his face; for just as the +bodies of naked Cupids are painted in a picture, such was he. But that +their dress may not make any difference, either give to him or take away +from them, the polished quivers.” + + [Footnote 42: _The Panchæan land._--Ver. 309. Panchæa was a region + of Arabia Felix, abounding in the choicest wines and frankincense. + Here, the Phœnix was said to find the materials for making its + nest.] + + [Footnote 43: _Its zedoary._--Ver. 308. ‘Costus,’ or ‘costum,’ was + an Indian shrub, which yielded a fragrant ointment, much esteemed + by the ancients. Clarke translates it ‘Coysts,’ a word apparently + of his own coining.] + + [Footnote 44: _Said to be nations._--Ver. 331. We do not read of + any such nations, except the fabulous Troglodytes of Ethiopia, who + were supposed to live promiscuously, like the brutes. Attica, king + of the Huns, long after Ovid’s time, married his own daughter, + amid the rejoicings of his subjects.] + + [Footnote 45: _Not really._--Ver. 365. That is to say, not + understood by him in the sense in which Myrrha meant it.] + + [Footnote 46: _To insert her neck._--Ver. 378. ‘Laqueoque + innectere fauces Destinat,’ is translated by Clarke, ‘And resolves + to stitch up her neck in a halter.’] + + [Footnote 47: _Of her nurse._--Ver. 382. Antoninus Liberalis gives + this hag the name of Hippolyte.] + + [Footnote 48: _Festival of Ceres._--Ver. 431. Commentators, in + general, suppose that he here alludes to the festival of the + Thesmophoria, which was celebrated in honour of Demeter, or Ceres, + in various parts of Greece; in general, by the married women, + though the virgins joined in some of the ceremonies. Demosthenes, + Diodorus Siculus, and Plutarch, say that it was first celebrated + by Orpheus; while Herodotus states, that it was introduced from + Egypt by the daughters of Danaüs; and that, after the Dorian + conquest, it fell into disuse, being retained only by the people + of Arcadia. It was intended to commemorate the introduction of + laws and the regulations of civilized life, which were generally + ascribed to Demeter. It is not known whether the festival lasted + four or five days with the Athenians. Many days were spent by the + matrons in preparing for its celebration. The solemnity was + commenced by the women walking in procession from Athens to + Eleusis. In this procession they carried on their heads + representations of the laws which had been introduced by Ceres, + and other symbols of civilized life. They then spent the night at + Eleusis, in celebrating the mysteries of the Goddess. The second + day was one of mourning, during which the women sat on the ground + around the statues of Ceres, taking no food but cakes made of + sesame and honey. On it no meetings of the people were held. + Probably it was in the afternoon of this day that there was a + procession at Athens, in which the women walked bare-footed behind + a waggon, upon which were baskets, with sacred symbols. The third + day was one of merriment and festivity among the women, in + commemoration of Iämbe, who was said to have amused the Goddess + during her grief at the loss of Proserpine. An atoning sacrifice, + called ζήμια, was probably offered to the Goddess, at the end of + this day. It is most probable that the ceremonial lasted but three + days. The women wore white dresses during the period of its + performance, and they adopted the same colour during the + celebration of the Cerealia at Rome. Burmann thinks, that an + Eastern festival, in honour of Ceres, is here referred to. If so, + no accounts of it whatever have come down to us.] + + [Footnote 49: _Among the Triones._--Ver. 446. ‘Triones’. This + word, which is applied to the stars of the Ursa Major, or + Charles’s Wain, literally means ‘oxen;’ and is by some thought to + come from ‘tero,’ ‘to bruise,’ because oxen were used for the + purpose of threshing corn; but it is more likely to have its + origin from ‘terra,’ ‘the earth,’ because oxen were used for + ploughing. The Poet employs this periphrasis, to signify the + middle of the night.] + + [Footnote 50: _Sabæan country._--Ver. 480. Sabæa, or Saba, was a + region of Arabia Felix, now called ‘Yemen.’ It was famed for its + myrrh, frankincense, and spices. In the Scriptures it is called + Sheba, and it was the queen of this region, who came to listen to + the wisdom of Solomon.] + + [Footnote 51: _Warm drops distil._--Ver. 500. He alludes to the + manner in which frankincense is produced, it exuding from the bark + of the tree in drops; this gum, Pliny the Elder and Lucretius call + by the name of ‘stacta,’ or ‘stacte.’ The ancients flavoured their + wines with myrrh.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + Le Clerc, forming his ideas on what Lucian, Phurnutus, and other + authors have said on the subject, explains the story of Cinyras and + Myrrha in the following manner. Cynnor, or Cinyras, the grandfather + of Adonis, having one day drank to excess, fell asleep in a posture + which violated the rules of decency. Mor, or Myrrha, his + daughter-in-law, the wife of Ammon, together with her son Adonis, + seeing him in that condition, acquainted her husband with her + father’s lapse. On his repeating this to Cinyras, the latter was so + full of indignation, that he loaded Myrrha and Adonis with + imprecations. + + Loaded with the execrations of her father, Myrrha retired into + Arabia, where she remained some time; and because Adonis passed some + portion of his youth there, the poets feigned that Myrrha was + delivered of him in that country. Her transformation into a tree was + only invented on account of the equivocal character of her name, + ‘Mor,’ which meant in the Arabic language ‘Myrrh.’ It is very + probable that the story was founded on a tradition among the + Phœnicians of the history of Noah, and of the malediction which Ham + drew on himself by his undutiful conduct towards his father. + + +FABLE IX. [X.519-707] + + Adonis is educated by the Naiads. His beauty makes a strong + impression on the Goddess Venus, and, in her passion, she traverses + the same wilds in pursuit of the youth, which his mother did, when + flying from the wrath of her father. After chasing the wild beasts, + she invites Adonis to a poplar shade, where she warns him of his + danger in hunting lions, wild boars, and such formidable animals. + On this occasion, too, she relates the adventures of Hippomenes and + Atalanta. The beauty of the latter was such, that her charms daily + attracted crowds of suitors. Having consulted the oracle, whether + she shall marry, she is answered that a husband will certainly prove + her destruction. On this, to avoid marrying, she makes it a rule to + offer to run with her suitors, promising that she herself will be + the prize of the victor, but only on condition that immediate death + shall be the fate of those who are vanquished by her. As she excels + in running, her design succeeds, and several suitors die in the + attempt to win her. Hippomenes, smitten with her charms, is not + daunted at their ill success; but boldly enters the lists, after + imploring the aid of Venus. Atalanta is struck with his beauty, and + is much embarrassed, whether she shall yield to the charms of the + youth, or to the dissuasions of the oracle. Hippomenes attracts her + attention in the race, by throwing down some golden apples which + Venus has given him, and then, reaching the goal before her, he + carries off the reward of victory. Venus, to punish his subsequent + ingratitude towards her, raises his desires to such a pitch, that he + incurs the resentment of Cybele, by defiling her shrine with the + embraces of his mistress; on which they are both transformed into + lions, and thenceforth draw the chariot of the Goddess. + +“Winged time glides on insensibly and deceives us; and there is nothing +more fleeting than years. He, born of his own sister and of his +grandfather, who, so lately enclosed in a tree, was so lately born, and +but just now a most beauteous infant, is now a youth, now a man, {and} +now more beauteous than he {was before}. {And} now he pleases even +Venus,[52] and revenges the flames of his mother, {kindled by her}. For, +while the boy that wears the quiver is giving kisses to his mother, he +unconsciously grazes her breast with a protruding arrow. The Goddess, +wounded, pushed away her son with her hand. The wound was inflicted more +deeply than it seemed to be, and at first had deceived {even} herself. +Charmed with the beauty of the youth, she does not now care for the +Cytherian shores, nor does she revisit Paphos, surrounded with the deep +sea, and Cnidos,[53] abounding in fish, or Amathus, rich in metals. + +“She abandons even the skies; him she {ever} attends; and she who has +been always accustomed to indulge in the shade, and to improve her +beauty, by taking care of it, wanders over the tops of mountains, +through the woods, and over bushy rocks, bare to the knee and with her +robes tucked up after the manner of Diana, and she cheers on the dogs, +and hunts animals that are harmless prey, either the fleet hares, or the +stag with its lofty horns, or the hinds; she keeps afar from the fierce +boars, and avoids the ravening wolves, and the bears armed with claws, +and the lions glutted with the slaughter of the herds. Thee, too, +Adonis, she counsels to fear them, if she can aught avail by advising +thee. And she says, “Be brave against those {animals} that fly; boldness +is not safe against those that are bold. Forbear, youth, to be rash at +my hazard, and attack not the wild beasts to which nature has granted +arms, lest thy {thirst for} glory should cost me dear. Neither thy age, +nor thy beauty, nor {other} things which have made an impression on +Venus, make any impression on lions and bristly boars, and the eyes and +the tempers of wild beasts. The fierce boars carry lightning[54] in +their curving tusks; there is rage and fury unlimited in the tawny +lions; and the {whole} race is odious to me.” + +“Upon his asking, what is the reason, she says, ‘I will tell thee, and +thou wilt be surprised at the prodigious result of a fault long since +committed. But {this} toil to which I am unaccustomed has now fatigued +me, and see! a convenient poplar invites us, by its shade, and the turf +furnishes a couch. Here I am desirous to repose myself, together with +thee;’ and {forthwith} she rests herself on the ground, and presses at +once the grass and himself. And with her neck reclining on the bosom of +the youth, smiling, she thus says, and she mingles kisses in the midst +of her words:-- + +“Perhaps thou mayst have heard how a certain damsel excelled the +swiftest men in the contest of speed. That report was no idle tale; for +she did excel them. Nor couldst thou have said, whether she was more +distinguished in the merit of her swiftness, or in the excellence of her +beauty. Upon her consulting the oracle about a husband, the God said to +her, ‘Thou hast no need, Atalanta, of a husband; avoid obtaining a +husband. And yet thou wilt not avoid it, and, while {still} living, thou +wilt lose thyself.’ Alarmed with the response of the God, she lives a +single life in the shady woods, and determinedly repulses the pressing +multitude of her suitors with these conditions. ‘I am not,’ says she, +‘to be gained, unless first surpassed in speed. Engage with me in +running. Both a wife and a wedding shall be given as the reward of the +swift; death {shall be} the recompense of the slow. Let that be the +condition of the contest.’ She, indeed, was cruel {in this proposal}; +but (so great is the power of beauty) a rash multitude of suitors agreed +to these terms. Hippomenes had sat, as a spectator, of this unreasonable +race, and said, ‘Is a wife sought by any one, amid dangers so great?’ +And {thus} he condemned the excessive ardour of the youths. {But} when +he beheld her face, and her body with her clothes laid aside, such as +mine is, or such as thine would be, {Adonis}, if thou wast to become a +woman, he was astonished, and raising his hands, he said, ‘Pardon me, ye +whom I was just now censuring; the reward which you contended for was +not yet known to me.’ + +“In commending her, he kindles the flame, and wishes that none of the +young men may run more swiftly than she, and, in his envy, is +apprehensive of it. ‘But why,’ says he, ‘is my chance in this contest +left untried? The Divinity himself assists the daring.’ While Hippomenes +is pondering such things within himself, the virgin flies with winged +pace. Although she appears to the Aonian youth to go no less swiftly +than the Scythian arrow, he admires her still more in her beauty, and +the very speed makes her beauteous. The breeze that meets her bears back +her pinions on her swift feet, and her hair is thrown over her ivory +shoulders and the leggings which are below her knees with their +variegated border, and upon her virgin whiteness her body has contracted +a blush; no otherwise than as when purple hangings[55] over a whitened +hall tint it with a shade of a similar colour. While the stranger is +observing these things, the last course is run,[56] and the victorious +Atalanta is adorned with a festive crown. The vanquished utter sighs, +and pay the penalty, according to the stipulation. Still, not awed by +the end of these young men, he stands up in the midst; and fixing his +eyes on the maiden, he says, ‘Why dost thou seek an easy victory by +conquering the inactive? Contend {now} with me. If fortune shall render +me victorious, thou wilt not take it ill to be conquered by one so +illustrious. For my father was Megareus, Onchestius his;[57] Neptune was +his grandsire; I am the great grandson of the king of the waves. Nor is +my merit inferior to my extraction. Or if I shall be conquered, in the +conquest of Hippomenes thou wilt have a great and honourable name.’ + +“As he utters such words as these, the daughter of Schœneus regards him +with a benign countenance, and is in doubt whether she shall wish to be +overcome or to conquer; and thus she says: ‘What Deity, a foe to the +beauteous, wishes to undo this {youth}? and commands him, at the risk of +a life {so} dear, to seek this alliance? In my own opinion, I am not of +so great value. Nor {yet} am I moved by his beauty. Still, by this, too, +I could be moved. But, {’tis} because he is still a boy; ’tis not +himself that affects me, but his age. And is it not, too, because he has +courage and a mind undismayed by death? And is it not, besides, because +he is reckoned fourth in descent from the {monarch} of the sea? And is +it not, because he loves me, and thinks a marriage with me of so much +worth as to perish {for it}, if cruel fortune should deny me to him? +Stranger, while {still} thou mayst, begone, and abandon an alliance +stained with blood. A match with me is cruelly hazardous. No woman will +be unwilling to be married to thee; and thou mayst be desired {even} by +a prudent maid. But why have I any concern for thee, when so many have +already perished? Let him look to it; {and} let him die, since he is not +warned by the fate of so many of my wooers, and is impelled onwards to +weariness of life. + +“‘Shall he then die because he was desirous with me to live? And shall +he suffer an undeserved death, the reward of his love? My victory will +not be able to support the odium {of the deed}. But it is no fault of +mine. I wish thou wouldst desist! or since thou art {thus} mad, would +that thou wast more fleet {than I!} But what a feminine look[58] there +is in his youthful face! Ah, wretched Hippomenes, I would that I had not +been seen by thee! Thou wast worthy to have lived! And if I had been +more fortunate; and if the vexatious Divinities had not denied me {the +blessings of} marriage, thou wast one with whom I could have shared my +bed.’ Thus she said; and as one inexperienced, and smitten by Cupid for +the first time, not knowing what she is doing, she is in love, and {yet} +does not know that she is in love. + +“{And} now, both the people and her father, demanded the usual race, +when Hippomenes, the descendant of Neptune, invoked me with anxious +voice; ‘I entreat that Cytherea may favour my undertaking, and aid the +passion that she has inspired {in me}.’ The breeze, not envious, wafted +to me this tender prayer; I was moved, I confess it; nor was any long +delay made in {giving} aid. There is a field, the natives call it by +name the Tamasenian {field},[59] the choicest spot in the Cyprian land; +this the elders of former days consecrated to me, and ordered to be +added as an endowment for my temple. In the middle of this field a tree +flourishes, with yellow foliage, {and} with branches tinkling with +yellow gold. Hence, by chance as I was coming, I carried three golden +apples, that I had plucked, in my hand; and being visible to none but +him, I approached Hippomenes, and I showed him what {was to be} the use +of them. The trumpets have {now} given the signal, when each {of them} +darts precipitately from the starting place, and skims the surface of +the sand with nimble feet. You might have thought them able to pace the +sea with dry feet, and to run along the ears of white standing corn +{while} erect. The shouts and the applause of the populace give courage +to the youth, and the words of those who exclaim, ‘Now, now, Hippomenes, +is the moment to speed onward! make haste. Now use all thy strength! +Away with delay! thou shalt be conqueror.’ It is doubtful whether the +Megarean hero, or the virgin daughter of Schœneus rejoiced the most at +these sayings. O how often when she could have passed by him, did she +slacken her speed, and {then} unwillingly left behind the features that +long she had gazed upon. + +“A parched panting is coming from his faint mouth, and the goal is +{still} a great way off. Then, at length, the descendant of Neptune +throws one of the three products of the tree. The virgin is amazed, and +from a desire for the shining fruit, she turns from her course, and +picks up the rolling gold. Hippomenes passes her. The theatres ring[60] +with applause. She makes amends for her delay, and the time that she has +lost, with a swift pace, and again she leaves the youth behind. And, +retarded by the throwing of a second apple, again she overtakes the +{young} man, and passes by him. The last part of the race {now} +remained. ‘{And} now,’ said he, ‘O Goddess, giver of this present, aid +me;’ and {then} with youthful might, he threw the shining gold, in an +oblique direction, on one side of the plain, in order that she might +return the more slowly. The maiden seemed to be in doubt, whether she +should fetch it; I forced her to take it up, and added weight to the +apple, when she had taken it up, and I impeded her, both by the +heaviness of the burden, and the delay in reaching it. And that my +narrative may not be more tedious than that race, the virgin was outrun, +and the conqueror obtained the prize. + +“And was I not, Adonis, deserving that he should return thanks to me, +and the tribute of frankincense? but, in his ingratitude, he gave me +neither thanks nor frankincense. I was thrown into a sudden passion; and +provoked at being slighted, I provided by {making} an example, that I +should not be despised in future times, and I aroused myself against +them both. They were passing by a temple, concealed within a shady wood, +which the famous Echion had formerly built for the Mother of the Gods, +according to his vow; and the length of their journey moved them to take +rest {there}. There, an unseasonable desire of caressing {his wife} +seized Hippomenes, excited by my agency. Near the temple was a recess, +with {but} little light, like a cave, covered with native pumice stone, +{one} sacred from ancient religious observance; where the priest had +conveyed many a wooden image of the ancient Gods. This he entered, and +he defiled the sanctuary by a forbidden crime. The sacred images turned +away their eyes, and the Mother {of the Gods}, crowned with turrets,[61] +was in doubt whether she should plunge these guilty ones in the Stygian +stream. That seemed {too} light a punishment. Wherefore yellow manes +cover their necks so lately smooth; their fingers are bent into claws, +of their shoulders are made fore-legs;[62] their whole weight passes +into their breasts. The surface of the sand is swept by their tails.[63] +Their look has anger {in it}; instead of words they utter growls; +instead of chambers they haunt the woods; and dreadful to others, {as} +lions, they champ the bits of Cybele with subdued jaws. Do thou, beloved +by me, avoid these, and together with these, all kinds of wild beasts +which turn not their backs in flight, but their breasts to the fight; +lest thy courage should be fatal to us both.” + + [Footnote 52: _Pleases even Venus._--Ver. 524. According to + Apollodorus, Venus had caused Myrrha to imbibe her infamous + passion, because she had treated the worship of that Goddess with + contempt.] + + [Footnote 53: _Cnidos._--Ver. 531. This was a city of Caria, + situate on a promontory. Strangers resorted thither, to behold a + statue of Venus there, which was made by Praxiteles.] + + [Footnote 54: _Carry lightning._--Ver. 551. The lightning shock + seems to be attributed to the wild boar, from the vehemence with + which he strikes down every impediment in his way.] + + [Footnote 55: _Purple hangings._--Ver. 595. Curtains, or hangings, + called ‘aulæa,’ were used by the ancients to ornament their halls, + sitting rooms, and bed chambers. In private houses they were also + sometimes hung as coverings over doors, and in the interior, as + substitutes for them. In the palace of the Roman emperors, + a slave, called ‘velarius,’ was posted at each of the principal + doors, to raise the curtain when any one passed through. Window + curtains were also used by the Romans, while they were employed in + the temples, to veil the statue of the Divinity. Ovid here speaks + of them as being of purple colour; while Lucretius mentions them + as being of yellow, red, and rusty hue.] + + [Footnote 56: _Last course is run._--Ver. 597. Among the Romans, + the race consisted of seven rounds of the Circus, or rather + circuits of the ‘spina,’ or wall, in the midst of it, at each end + of which was the ‘meta,’ or goal. Livy and Dio Cassius speak of + seven conical balls, resembling eggs, which were called ‘ova,’ and + were placed upon the ‘spina.’ Their use was to enable the + spectators to count the number of rounds which had been run, for + which reason they were seven in number; and as each round was run, + one of the ‘ova’ was put up, or, according to Varro, taken down. + The form of the egg was adopted in honour of Castor and Pollux, + who were said to have been produced from eggs. The words + ‘novissima meta’ here mean either ‘the last part of the course,’ + or, possibly, ‘the last time round the course.’] + + [Footnote 57: _Onchestius his._--Ver. 605. But Hyginus says that + Neptune was the father of Megareus, or Macareus, as the Scholiast + of Sophocles calls him. Neptune being the father of Onchestius, + Hippomenes was the fourth from Neptune, inclusively. Onchestius + founded a city of that name in Bœotia, in honour of Neptune, who + had a temple there; in the time of Pausanias the place was in + ruins. That author tells us that Megareus aided Nisus against + Minos, and was slain in that war.] + + [Footnote 58: _A feminine look._--Ver. 631. Clarke renders this + line-- ‘But what a lady-like countenance there is in his boyish + face!’] + + [Footnote 59: _Tamasenian field._--Ver. 644. Tamasis, or Tamaseus, + is mentioned by Pliny as a city of Cyprus.] + + [Footnote 60: _The theatres ring._--Ver. 668. ‘Spectacula’ may + mean either the seats, or benches, on which the spectators sat, + or an amphitheatre. The former is most probably the meaning in the + present instance.] + + [Footnote 61: _Crowned with turrets._--Ver. 696. Cybele, the + Goddess of the Earth, was usually represented as crowned with + turrets, and drawn in a chariot by lions.] + + [Footnote 62: _Are made fore-legs._--Ver. 700. ‘Armus’ is + generally the shoulder of a brute; while ‘humerus’ is that of a + man. ‘Armus’ is sometimes used to signify the human shoulder.] + + [Footnote 63: _By their tails._--Ver. 701. Pliny the Elder remarks + that the temper of the lion is signified by his tail, in the same + way as that of the horse by his ears. When in motion, it shows + that he is angry; when quiet, that he is in a good temper.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + The Atalanta who is mentioned in this story was the daughter of + Schœneus, and the granddaughter of Athamas, whose misfortunes + obliged him to retire into Bœotia, where he built a little town, + which was called after his name, as we learn from Pausanias and + Eustathius. Ovid omits to say that it was one of the conditions of + the agreement, that the lover was to have the start in the race. + According to some writers, the golden apples were from the gardens + of the Hesperides; while, according to others, they were plucked by + Venus in the isle of Cyprus. The story seems to be founded merely on + the fact, that Hippomenes contrived by means of bribes to find the + way to the favour of his mistress. + + Apollodorus, however, relates the story in a different manner; + he says that the father of Atalanta desiring to have sons, but no + daughters, exposed her, on her birth, in a desert, that she might + perish. A she-bear found the infant, and nourished it, until it was + discovered by some hunters. As the damsel grew up, she made hunting + her favourite pursuit, and slew two Centaurs, who offered her + violence, with her arrows. On her parents pressing her to marry, she + consented to be the wife of that man only who could outrun her, on + condition that those who were conquered by her in the race should be + put to death. Several of her suitors having failed in the attempt, + one of the name of Melanion, by using a similar stratagem to that + attributed by Ovid to Hippomenes, conquered her in the race, and + became her husband. Having profaned the temple of Jupiter, they were + transformed, Melanion into a lion, and Atalanta into a lioness. + According to Apollodorus, her father’s name was Iasius, though in + his first book he says she was the daughter of Schœneus. He also + says that she was the same person that was present at the hunt of + the Calydonian boar, though other writers represent them to have + been different personages. Euripides makes Mænalus to have been the + name of her father. + + Atalanta had by Melanion, or, as some authors say, by Mars, a son + named Parthenopæus, who was present at the Theban war. Ælian gives a + long account of her history, which does not very much differ from + the narrative of Apollodorus. + + +FABLE X. [X.708-739] + + Adonis being too ardent in the pursuit of a wild boar, the beast + kills him, on which Venus changes his blood into a flower of crimson + colour. + + +“She, indeed, {thus} warned him; and, harnessing her swans, winged her +way through the air; but his courage stood in opposition to her advice. +By chance, his dogs having followed its sure track, roused a boar, and +the son of Cinyras pierced him, endeavouring to escape from the wood, +with a wound from the side. Immediately the fierce boar, with his +crooked snout, struck out the hunting-spear, stained with his blood, and +{then} pursued him, trembling and seeking a safe retreat, and lodged his +entire tusks in his groin, and stretched him expiring on the yellow +sand. + +“Cytherea, borne in her light chariot[64] through the middle of the air, +had not yet arrived at Cyprus upon the wings of her swans. She +recognized afar his groans, as he was dying, and turned her white birds +in that direction. And when, from the lofty sky, she beheld him half +dead, and bathing his body in his own blood, she rapidly descended, and +rent both her garments and her hair, and she smote her breast with her +distracted hands. And complaining of the Fates, she says, ‘But, however, +all things shall not be in your power; the memorials of my sorrow, +Adonis, shall ever remain; and the representation of thy death, repeated +yearly, shall exhibit an imitation of my mourning. But thy blood shall +be changed into a flower. Was it formerly allowed thee, Persephone, to +change the limbs[65] of a female into fragrant mint; and shall the hero, +the son of Cinyras, {if} changed, be a cause of displeasure against me?’ +Having thus said, she sprinkles his blood with odoriferous nectar, +which, touched by it, effervesces, just as the transparent bubbles are +wont to rise in rainy weather. Nor was there a pause longer than a full +hour, when a flower sprang up from the blood, of the same colour {with +it}, such as the pomegranates are wont to bear, which conceal their +seeds beneath their tough rind. Yet the enjoyment of it is but +short-lived; for the same winds[66] which give it a name, beat it down, +as it has but a slender hold, and is apt to fall by reason of its +extreme slenderness.” + + [Footnote 64: _In her light chariot._--Ver. 717. ‘Vecta levi curru + Cytherea,’ Clarke quaintly renders, ‘The Cytherean Goddess riding + in her light chair.’] + + [Footnote 65: _To change the limbs._--Ver. 729. Proserpine was + said to have changed the Nymph, ‘Mentha,’ into a plant of that + name, which we call ‘mint.’ Some writers say that she found her + intriguing with Pluto while, according to other writers, she was + the mistress of Pollux.] + + [Footnote 66: _The same winds._--Ver. 739. The flower which sprang + from the blood of Adonis was the anemone, or wind-flower, of which + Pliny the Elder says-- ‘This flower never opens but when the wind + is blowing, from which too, it receives its name, as ἄνεμος means + the wind.’ --(Book i. c. 23).] + + +EXPLANATION. + + Theocritus, Bion, Hyginus, and Antoninus Liberalis, beside several + other authors, relate the history of the loves of Venus and Adonis. + They inform us of many particulars which Ovid has here neglected to + remark. They say that Mars, jealous of the passion which Venus had + for Adonis, implored the aid of Diana, who, to gratify his revenge, + sent the boar that destroyed the youth. According to some writers, + it was Apollo himself that took the form of that animal; and they + say that Adonis descending to the Infernal Regions, Proserpine fell + in love with him, and refused to allow him to return, + notwithstanding the orders of Jupiter. On this, the king of heaven + fearing to displease both the Goddesses, referred the dispute to the + Muse Calliope, who directed that Adonis should pass one half of his + time with Venus on earth, and the other half in the Infernal + Regions. They also tell us that it took up a year before the dispute + could be determined, and that the Hours brought Adonis at last to + the upper world, on which, Venus being dissatisfied with the + decision of Calliope, instigated the women of Thrace to kill her son + Orpheus. + + The mythologists have considered this story to be based on grounds + either historical or physical. Cicero, in his Discourse on the + Nature of the Gods, says, that there were several persons who had + the name of Venus, and that the fourth, surnamed Astarte, was a + Syrian, who married Adonis, the son of Cinyras, king of Cyprus. + Hunting in the forests of Mount Libanus, or Lebanon, he was wounded + in the groin by a wild boar, which accident ultimately caused his + death. Astarte caused the city of Byblos and all Syria to mourn for + his loss; and, to keep his name and his sad fate in remembrance, + established feasts in his honour, to be celebrated each year. Going + still further, if we suppose the story to have originated in + historical facts, it seems not improbable that Adonis did not die of + his wound, and that, contrary to all expectation, he was cured; as + the Syrians, after having mourned for several days during his + festival, rejoiced as though he had been raised from the dead, at a + second festival called ‘The Return.’ The worship both of Venus and + Adonis probably originated in Syria, and was spread through Asia + Minor into Greece; while the Carthaginians, a Phœnician colony + introduced it into Sicily. The festival of Adonis is most amusingly + described by Theocritus the Sicilian poet, in his ‘Adoniazusæ.’ Some + authors have suggested that Adonis was the same with the Egyptian + God Osiris, and that the affliction of Venus represented that of + Isis at the death of her husband. According to Hesiod, Adonis was + the son of Phœnix and Alphesibœa, while Panyasis says that he was + son of Theias, the king of the Assyrians. + + In support of the view which some commentators take of the story of + Adonis having been founded on physical circumstance, we cannot do + better than quote the able remarks of Mr. Keightley on the subject. + He says (Mythology of Ancient Greece and Italy, p. 109)-- “The tale + of Adonis is apparently an Eastern mythus. His very name is Semitic + (Hebrew ‘Adon,’ ‘Lord’), and those of his parents also refer to that + part of the world. He appears to be the same with the Thammuz, + mentioned by the prophet Ezekiel, and to be a Phœnician + personification of the sun who, during a part of the year is absent, + or, as the legend expresses it, with the Goddess of the under world: + during the remainder with Astarte, the regent of heaven. It is + uncertain when the Adonia were first celebrated in Greece; but we + find Plato alluding to the gardens of Adonis, as boxes of flowers + used in them were called; and the ill fortune of the Athenian + expedition to Sicily was in part ascribed to the circumstance of the + fleet having sailed during that festival.” + + This notion of the mourning for Adonis being a testimony of grief + for the absence of the Sun during the winter, is not, however, to be + too readily acquiesced in. Lobeck (Aglaophamus, p. 691), for + example, asks, with some appearance of reason, why those nations + whose heaven was mildest, and their winter shortest, should so + bitterly bewail the regular changes of the seasons, as to feign that + the Gods themselves were carried off or slain; and he shrewdly + observes, that, in that case, the mournful and the joyful parts of + the festival should have been held at different times of the year, + and not joined together, as they were. He further inquires, whether + the ancient writers, who esteemed these Gods to be so little + superior to men, may not have believed them to have been really and + not metaphorically put to death? And, in truth, it is not easy to + give a satisfactory answer to these questions. + + + + +BOOK THE ELEVENTH. + + +FABLE I. [XI.1-84] + + While Orpheus is singing to his lyre on Mount Rhodope, the women of + Thrace celebrate their orgies. During that ceremony they take + advantage of the opportunity to punish Orpheus for his indifference + towards their sex; and, in the fury inspired by their rites, they + beat him to death. His head and lyre are carried by the stream of + the river Hebrus into the sea, and are cast on shore on the isle of + Lesbos. A serpent, about to attack the head when thrown on shore, + is changed into a stone, and the Bacchanals who have killed him are + transformed into trees. + +While with songs such as these, the Thracian poet is leading the woods +and the natures of savage beasts, and the following rocks, lo! the +matrons of the Ciconians, having their raving breasts covered with the +skins of wild beasts, from the summit of a hill, espy Orpheus adapting +his voice to the sounded strings {of his harp}. One of these, tossing +her hair along the light breeze, says, “See! see! here is our +contemner!” and hurls her spear at the melodious mouth of the bard of +Apollo: {but}, being wreathed at the end with leaves, it makes a mark +without any wound. The weapon of another is a stone, which, when thrown, +is overpowered in the very air by the harmony of his voice and his lyre, +and lies before his feet, a suppliant, as it were, for an attempt so +daring. + +But still this rash warfare increases, and {all} moderation departs, and +direful fury reigns {triumphant}. And {yet} all their weapons would have +been conquered by his music; but the vast clamour, and the Berecynthian +pipe[1] with the blown horns, and the tambourines, and the clapping of +hands, and Bacchanalian yells, prevented the sound of the lyre from +being heard. Then, at last, the stones became red with the blood of the +bard, {now} no longer heard. But first the Mænades lay hands on +innumerable birds, even yet charmed with his voice as he sang, and +serpents, and a throng of wild beasts, the glory of {this} audience of +Orpheus; and after that, they turn upon Orpheus with blood-stained right +hands; and they flock together, as the birds, if at any time they see +the bird of night strolling about by day; {and} as when the stag that is +doomed to die[2] in the morning sand in the raised amphitheatre is a +prey to the dogs; they both attack the bard, and hurl the thyrsi, +covered with green leaves, not made for such purposes as these. Some +throw clods, some branches torn from trees, others flint stones. And +that weapons may not be wanting for their fury, by chance some oxen are +turning up the earth with the depressed ploughshare; and not far from +thence, some strong-armed peasants, providing the harvest with plenteous +sweat, are digging the hard fields; they, seeing this {frantic} troop, +run away, and leave the implements of their labour; and there lie, +dispersed throughout the deserted fields, harrows and heavy rakes, and +long spades. + +After they, in their rage, have seized upon these, and have torn to +pieces the oxen with their threatening horns, they return to the +destruction of the bard; and they impiously murder him, extending his +hands, and then for the first time uttering words in vain, and making no +effect on them with his voice. And (Oh Jupiter!) through those lips +listened to by rocks, and understood by the senses of wild beasts, his +life breathed forth, departs into the breezes.[3] The mournful birds, +the crowd of wild beasts, the hard stones, the woods that oft had +followed thy song bewailed thee. Trees, {too}, shedding their foliage, +mourned thee, losing their leaves. They say, too, that rivers swelled +with their own tears; and the Naiads and Dryads had mourning garments of +dark colour, and dishevelled hair. The limbs lie scattered[4] in various +places. Thou, Hebrus, dost receive the head and the lyre; and (wondrous +{to relate}!) while it rolls down the midst of the stream, the lyre +complains in I know not what kind of mournful strain. His lifeless +tongue, {too}, utters a mournful sound, {to which} the banks mournfully +reply. And now, borne onward to the sea, they leave their native stream, +and reach the shores of Methymnæan Lesbos.[5] Here an infuriated serpent +attacks the head thrown up on the foreign sands, and the hair +besprinkled with the oozing blood. At last Phœbus comes to its aid, and +drives it away as it tries to inflict its sting, and hardens the open +jaws of the serpent into stone, and makes solid its gaping mouth just as +it is. His ghost descends under the earth, and he recognizes all the +spots which he has formerly seen; and seeking Eurydice through the +fields of the blessed, he finds her, and enfolds her in his eager arms. +Here, one while, they walk together side by side,[6] and at another time +he follows her as she goes before, and {again} at another time, walking +in front, precedes her; and now, in safety, Orpheus looks back upon his +own Eurydice. + +Yet Lyæus did not suffer this wickedness to go unpunished; and grieving +for the loss of the bard of his sacred rites, he immediately fastened +down in the woods, by a twisting root, all the Edonian matrons who had +committed this crime. For he drew out the toes of her feet, just as each +one had pursued him, and thrust them by their sharp points into the +solid earth. And, as when a bird has entangled its leg in a snare, which +the cunning fowler has concealed, and perceives that it is held fast, it +beats its wings, and, fluttering, tightens the noose with its struggles; +so, as each one of these had stuck fast, fixed in the ground, in her +alarm, she attempted flight in vain; but the pliant root held her fast, +and confined her, springing forward[7] {to escape}. And while she is +looking where her toes are, where, {too}, are her feet and her nails, +she sees wood growing up upon her well-turned legs. Endeavouring, too, +to smite her thigh, with grieving right hand, she strikes solid oak; her +breast, too, becomes oak; her shoulders are oak. You would suppose that +her extended arms are real boughs, and you would not be deceived in {so} +supposing. + + [Footnote 1: _Berecynthian pipe._--Ver. 16. This pipe, made of + box-wood, was much used in the rites of Cybele, or Berecynthia.] + + [Footnote 2: _Doomed to die._--Ver. 26. The Romans were wont to + exhibit shows of hunting in the amphitheatre in the morning; and + at mid-day the gladiatorial spectacles commenced. The ‘arena’ was + the name given to the central open space, which derived its name + from the sand with which it was covered, chiefly for the purpose + of absorbing the blood of the wild beasts and of the combatants. + Caligula, Nero, and Carus showed their extravagant disposition by + using cinnabar and borax instead of sand. In the earlier + amphitheatres there were ditches, called ‘Euripi,’ between the + open space, or arena, and the seats, to defend the spectators from + the animals. They were introduced by Julius Cæsar, but were filled + up by Nero, to gain space for the spectators. Those who fought + with the beasts (as it will be remembered St. Paul did at Ephesus) + were either condemned criminals or captives, or persons who did so + for pay, being trained for the purpose. Lucius Metellus was the + first that we read of who introduced wild beasts in the theatre + for the amusement of the public. He exhibited in the Circus one + hundred and forty-two elephants, which he brought from Sicily, + after his victory over the Carthaginians, and which are said to + have been slain, more because the Romans did not know what to do + with them, than for the amusement of the public. Lions and + panthers were first exhibited by M. Fulvius, after the Ætolian + war. In the Circensian games, exhibited by the Curule Ædiles, + P. Cornelius Scipio Nasica, and P. Lentulus, B.C. 168, there were + sixty-three African panthers and forty bears and elephants. These + latter animals were sometimes introduced to fight with bulls. + Sylla, when Prætor, exhibited one hundred lions, which were + pierced with javelins. We also read of hippopotami and crocodiles + being introduced for the same purpose, while cameleopards were + also hunted in the games given by Julius Caesar in his third + consulship. He also introduced bull fights, and Augustus first + exhibited the rhinoceros, and a serpent, fifty cubits in length. + When Titus constructed his great amphitheatre, five thousand wild + beasts and four thousand tame animals were slain; while in the + games celebrated by Trajan, after his victories over the Dacians, + eleven thousand animals are said to have been killed. For further + information on this subject, the reader is referred to the article + ‘Venatio,’ in Smith’s Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, + which valuable work contains a large quantity of interesting + matter on this barbarous practice of the Romans.] + + [Footnote 3: _Into the breezes._--Ver. 43. ‘In ventos anima + exhalata recessit’ is rendered by Clarke-- ‘his life breathed out, + marches off into the wind.’] + + [Footnote 4: _Limbs lie scattered._--Ver. 50. The limbs of Orpheus + were collected by the Muses, and, according to Pausanias, were + buried by them in Dium in Macedonia, while his head was carried to + Lesbos.] + + [Footnote 5: _Methymnæan Lesbos._--Ver. 55. Methymna was a town in + the isle of Lesbos, famed for its wines.] + + [Footnote 6: _Side by side._--Ver. 64. ‘Conjunctis passibus’ means + ‘at an equal pace, and side by side.’] + + [Footnote 7: _Springing forward._--Ver. 78. ‘Exsultantem’ is + rendered by Clarke, ‘bouncing hard to get away.’] + + +EXPLANATION. + + Some of the ancient mythologists say that the story of the serpent, + changed into stone for insulting the head of Orpheus, was founded on + the history of a certain inhabitant of the isle of Lesbos, who was + punished for attacking the reputation of Orpheus. This critic + excited contempt, as a malignant and ignorant person, who + endeavoured, as it were, to sting the character of the deceased + poet, and therefore, by way of exposing his spite and stupidity, he + was said to have been changed from a serpent into a stone. According + to Philostratus, the poet’s head was preserved in the temple of + Apollo at Lesbos; and he tells us that Diomedes, and Neoptolemus, + the son of Achilles, brought Philoctetes to Troy, after having + explained to him the oracular response which the head of Orpheus had + given to him from the bottom of a cave at Lesbos. + + The harp of Orpheus was preserved in the same temple; and so many + wonders were reported of it, that Neanthus, the son of the tyrant + Pytharus, purchased it of the priests of Apollo, believing that its + sound would be sufficient to put rocks and trees in motion; but, + according to Lucian, he succeeded so ill, that on his trying the + harp, the dogs of the neighbouring villages fell upon him and tore + him to pieces. + + The transformation of the women of Thrace into trees, for the murder + of Orpheus, is probably an allegory intended to show that these + furious and ill-conditioned females did not escape punishment for + their misdeeds; and that they were driven by society to pass the + rest of their lives in woods and caverns. + + +FABLE II. [XI.85-145] + + Bacchus, having punished the Thracian women for the murder of + Orpheus, leaves Thrace. His tutor, Silenus, having become + intoxicated, loses his companions, and is brought by some Phrygian + peasants to Midas. He sends him to Bacchus, on which the God, in + acknowledgment of his kindness, promises him whatever favour he may + desire. Midas asks to be able to turn everything that he touches + into gold. This power is granted; but, soon convinced of his folly, + Midas begs the God to deprive him of it, on which he is ordered to + bathe in the river Pactolus. He obeys the God, and communicates the + power which he possesses to the stream; from which time that river + has golden sands. + +And this is not enough for Bacchus. He resolves to forsake the country +itself, and, with a superior train, he repairs to the vineyards of his +own Tymolus, and Pactolus; although it was not golden at that time, nor +to be coveted for its precious sands. The usual throng, {both} Satyrs +and Bacchanals, surround him, but Silenus is away. The Phrygian rustics +took him, as he was staggering with age and wine, and, bound with +garlands, they led him to {their} king, Midas, to whom, together with +the Cecropian Eumolpus,[8] the Thracian Orpheus had intrusted the +{mysterious} orgies {of Bacchus}. Soon as he recognized this associate +and companion of these rites, he hospitably kept a festival on the +coming of this guest, for twice five days, and {as many} nights joined +in succession. + +“And now the eleventh Lucifer had closed the lofty host of the stars, +when the king came rejoicing to the Lydian lands, and restored Silenus +to the youth, his foster-child. To him the God, being glad at the +recovery of his foster-father, gave the choice of desiring a favour, +pleasing, {indeed}, but useless, {as it turned out}. He, destined to +make a foolish use of the favour, says, ‘Cause that whatever I shall +touch with my body shall be turned into yellow gold.’ Liber assents to +his wish, and grants him the hurtful favour, and is grieved that he has +not asked for something better. The Berecynthian hero[9] departs joyful, +and rejoices in his own misfortune, and tries the truth of his promise +by touching everything. And, hardly believing himself, he pulls down a +twig from a holm-oak, growing on a bough not lofty; the twig becomes +gold. He takes up a stone from the ground; the stone, too, turns pale +with gold. He touches a clod, also; by his potent touch the clod becomes +a mass {of gold}. He plucks some dry ears of corn, that wheat is golden. +He holds an apple taken from a tree, you would suppose that the +Hesperides had given it. If he places his fingers upon the lofty +door-posts, {then} the posts are seen to glisten. When, too, he has +washed his hands in the liquid stream, the water flowing from his hands +might have deceived Danaë. He scarcely can contain his own hopes in his +mind, imagining everything to be of gold. As he is {thus} rejoicing, his +servants set before him a table supplied with dainties, and not +deficient in parched corn. But then, whether he touches the gifts of +Ceres with his right hand, the gifts of Ceres, {as gold}, become hard; +or if he attempts to bite the dainties with hungry teeth, those +dainties, upon the application of his teeth, shine as yellow plates of +gold. {Bacchus}, the grantor of this favour, he mingles with pure water; +you could see liquid gold flowing through his jaws. + +“Astonished at the novelty of his misfortune, being both rich and +wretched, he wishes to escape from his wealth, and {now} he hates what +but so lately he has wished for; no plenty relieves his hunger, dry +thirst parches his throat, and he is deservedly tormented by the {now} +hated gold; and raising his hands towards heaven, and his shining arms, +he says, “Grant me pardon, father Lenæus; I have done wrong, but have +pity on me, I pray, and deliver me from this specious calamity!” +Bacchus, the gentle Divinity among the Gods, restored him, as he +confessed that he had done wrong, {to his former state}, and annulled +his given promise, and the favour that was granted: “And that thou mayst +not remain overlaid with thy gold, so unhappily desired, go,” said he, +“to the river adjoining to great Sardis,[10] and trace thy way, meeting +the waters as they fall from the height of the mountain, until thou +comest to the rise of the stream. And plunge thy head beneath the +bubbling spring, where it bursts forth most abundantly, and at once +purge thy body, at once thy crime.” The king placed himself beneath the +waters prescribed; the golden virtue tinged the river, and departed from +the human body into the stream. And even now, the fields, receiving the +ore of this ancient vein {of gold}, are hard, growing of pallid colour, +from their clods imbibing the gold. + + [Footnote 8: _Eumolpus._--Ver. 93. There were three celebrated + persons of antiquity named Eumolpus. The first was a Thracian, the + son of Neptune and Chione, who lived in the time of Erectheus, + king of Athens, against whom he led the people of Eleusis, and who + established the Eleusinian mysteries. Some of his posterity + settling at Athens, the Eumolpus here named was born there. He was + the son of Musæus and the disciple of Orpheus. The third Eumolpus + is supposed to have lived between the times of the two already + named.] + + [Footnote 9: _Berecynthian hero._--Ver. 106. Midas is so called + from mount Berecynthus in Phrygia.] + + [Footnote 10: _Sardis._--Ver. 137. The city of Sardis was the + capital of Lydia, where Crœsus had his palace. The river Pactolus + flowed through it.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + The ancients divided the Divinities into several classes, and in the + last class, which Ovid calls the populace, or commonalty of the + Gods, were the Satyrs and Sileni. The latter, according to + Pausanias, were no other than Satyrs of advanced age. There seems, + however, to have been one among them, to whom the name of Silenus + was especially given, and to him the present story relates. + According to Pindar and Pausanias he was born at Malea, in Laconia; + while Theopompus, quoted by Ælian, represents him as being the son + of a Nymph. He was inferior to the higher Divinities, but superior + to man, in not being subject to mortality. He was represented as + bald, flat-nosed, and red-faced, a perfect specimen of a drunken old + man. He is often introduced either sitting on an ass, or reeling + along on foot, with a thyrsus to support him. + + He was said to have tended the education of the infant Bacchus, and + indeed, according to the author whose works are quoted as those of + Orpheus, he was an especial favourite of the Gods; while some + writers represent him not as a drunken old man, but as a learned + philosopher and a skilful commander. Lucian combines the two + characters, and describes him as an aged man with large straight + ears and a huge belly, wearing yellow clothes, and generally mounted + on an ass, or supported by a staff, but, nevertheless, as being a + skilful general. Hyginus says, that the Phrygian peasants found + Midas near a fountain, into which, according to Xenophon, some one + had put wine, which had made him drunk. In his interview with Midas, + according to Theopompus, as quoted by Ælian, they had a conversation + concerning that unknown region of the earth, to which Plato refers + under the name of the New Atlantis, and which, after long employing + the speculations of the ancient philosophers, was realized to the + moderns in the discovery of America. The passage is sufficiently + curious to deserve to be quoted. He says, “Asia, Europe, and Libya, + are but three islands, surrounded by the ocean; but beyond that + ocean there is a vast continent, whose bounds are entirely unknown + to us. The men and the animals of that country are much larger, and + live much longer than those of this part of the world. Their towns + are fine and magnificent; their customs are different from ours; and + they are governed by different laws. They have two cities, one of + which is called ‘the Warlike,’ and the other ‘the Devout.’ The + inhabitants of the first city are much given to warfare, and make + continual attacks upon their neighbours, whom they bring under their + subjection. Those who inhabit the other city are peaceable, and + blessed with plenty; the earth without toil or tillage furnishing + them with abundance of the necessaries of life. Except their sick, + they all live in the midst of riches and continual festivity and + pleasure; but they are so just and righteous that the Gods + themselves delight to go frequently and pass their time among them. + + “The warlike people of the first city having extended their + conquests in their own vast continent, made an irruption into ours, + with a million of men, as far as the country of the Hyperboreans; + but when they saw their mode of living, they deemed them to be + unworthy of their notice, and returned home. These warriors rarely + die of sickness; they delight in warfare, and generally lose their + lives in battle. There is also in this new world another numerous + people called Meropes; and in their country is a place called + ‘Anostus,’ that is to say, ‘not to be repassed,’ because no one ever + comes back from thence. It is a dreadful abyss, having no other than + a reddish sort of light. There are two rivers in that place; one + called the River of Sorrow, and the other the River of Mirth. Trees + as large as planes grow about these rivers. Those who eat of the + fruit of the trees growing near the River of Sorrow, pass their + lives in affliction, weeping continually, even to their last breath; + but such as eat of the fruit of the other trees, forget the past, + and revert through the different stages of their life, and then + die.” + + Ælian regards the passage as a mere fable, and the latter part is + clearly allegorical. The mention of the two cities, ‘the Warlike’ + and ‘the Devout,’ can hardly fail to remind us of Japan, with its + spiritual and temporal capitals. + + Some writers say, that Silenus was the king of Caria, and was the + contemporary and friend of Midas, to whom his counsel proved of + considerable service, in governing his dominions. He was probably + called the foster-father or tutor, of Bacchus, because he introduced + his worship into Phrygia and the neighbouring countries. + + +FABLE III. [XI.146-193] + + Pan is so elated with the praises of some Nymphs who hear the music + of his pipe, that he presumes to challenge Apollo to play with him. + The mountain God, Tmolus, who is chosen umpire of the contest, + decides in favour of Apollo, and the whole company approve of his + judgment except Midas, who, for his stupidity in preferring Pan, + receives a pair of asses’ ears. He carefully conceals them till they + are discovered by his barber, who publishes his deformity in a very + singular manner. + +He, abhorring riches, inhabited the woods and the fields, and {followed} +Pan, who always dwells in caves of the mountains; but his obtuse +understanding[11] still remained, and the impulse of his foolish mind +was fated again, as before, to be an injury to its owner. For the lofty +Tmolus, looking far and wide over the sea, stands erect, steep with its +lofty ascent; and extending in its descent on either side, is bounded on +the one side by Sardis, on the other by the little Hypæpæ. + +While Pan is there boasting of his strains to the charming Nymphs, and +is warbling a little tune upon the reeds joined with wax, daring to +despise the playing of Apollo in comparison with his own, he comes to +the unequal contest under the arbitration of Tmolus.[12] The aged umpire +seats himself upon his own mountain, and frees his ears of the +{incumbering} trees. His azure-coloured hair is only covered with oak, +and acorns hang around his hollow temples. And looking at the God of the +flocks, he says, “there is no delay in {me}, your umpire.” He sounds his +rustic reeds, and delights Midas with his uncouth music; for he, by +chance, is present as he plays. After this the sacred Tmolus turns his +face towards the countenance of Apollo; his words follow {the direction +of} his face. He, having his yellow head wreathed with Parnassian +laurel, sweeps the ground with his robe, soaked in Tyrian purple,[13] +and supports with his left hand his lyre, adorned with gems and Indian +ivory; the other hand holds the plectrum. The very posture is that of an +artist. He then touches the strings with a skilful thumb; charmed by the +sweetness of which, Tmolus bids Pan to hold his reeds in submission to +the lyre; and the judgment and decision of the sacred mountain pleases +them all. Yet it is blamed, and is called unjust by the voice of Midas +alone. But the Delian {God} does not allow his stupid ears to retain +their human shape: but draws them out to a {great} length, and he fills +them with grey hairs, and makes them unsteady at the lower part, and +gives them the power of moving. The rest {of his body} is that of a man; +in one part alone is he condemned {to punishment}; and he assumes the +ears of the slowly moving ass. + +He, indeed, concealed them, and endeavoured to veil his temples, laden +with this foul disgrace, with a purple turban. But a servant, who was +wont to cut his hair, when long, with the steel {scissars}, saw it; who, +when he did not dare disclose the disgraceful thing he had seen, though +desirous to publish it, and yet could not keep it secret, retired, and +dug up the ground, and disclosed, in a low voice, what kind of ears he +had beheld on his master, and whispered it to the earth cast up. And +{then} he buried this discovery of his voice with the earth thrown in +again, and, having covered up the ditch, departed in silence. + +There, a grove, thick set with quivering reeds, began to rise; and as +soon as it came to maturity, after a complete year, it betrayed its +planter. For, moved by the gentle South wind, it repeated the words +{there} buried, and disclosed the ears of his master. + + [Footnote 11: _Obtuse understanding._--Ver. 148. ‘Pingue sed + ingenium mansit,’ is rendered by Clarke, ‘but he continued a + blockhead still.’] + + [Footnote 12: _Tmolus._--Ver. 156. This was the tutelary divinity + of the mountain of Tmolus, or Tymolus.] + + [Footnote 13: _Soaked in Tyrian purple._--Ver. 166. Being + saturated with Tyrian purple, the garment would be ‘dibaphus,’ or + ‘twice dipt;’ being first dyed in the grain, and again when woven. + Of course, these were the most valuable kind of cloths.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + Midas, according to Pausanias, was the son of Gordius and Cybele, + and reigned in the Greater Phrygia. Strabo says that he and his + father kept their court near the river Sangar, in cities which, in + the time of that author had become mean villages. As Midas was very + rich, and at the same time very frugal, it was reported that + whatever he touched was at once turned into gold; and Bacchus was + probably introduced into his story, because Midas had favoured the + introduction of his worship, and was consequently supposed to have + owed his success to the good offices of that Divinity. He was + probably the first who extracted gold from the sands of the river + Pactolus, and in that circumstance the story may have originated. + Strabo says that Midas found the treasures which he possessed in the + mines of Mount Bermius. It was said that in his infancy some ants + were seen to creep into his cradle, and to put grains of wheat in + his mouth, which was supposed to portend that he would be rich and + frugal. + + As he was very stupid and ignorant, the fable of his preference of + the music of Pan to that of Apollo was invented, to which was added, + perhaps, as a mark of his stupidity, that the God gave him a pair of + asses’ ears. The scholiast of Aristophanes, to explain the story, + says either it was intended to shew that Midas, like the ass, was + very quick of hearing, or in other words, had numerous spies in all + parts of his dominions; or, it was invented, because his usual place + of residence was called Onouta, ὄνου ὦτα, ‘the ears of an ass.’ + Strabo says that he took a draught of warm bullock’s blood, from the + effects of which he died; and, according to Plutarch, he did so to + deliver himself from the frightful dreams with which he was + tormented. + + Tmolus, the king of Lydia, according to Clitophon, was the son of + Mars and the Nymph Theogene, or, according to Eustathius, of Sipylus + and Eptonia. Having violated Arriphe, a Nymph of Diana, he was, as a + punishment, tossed by a bull, and falling on some sharp pointed + stakes, he lost his life, and was buried on the mountain that + afterwards bore his name. + + +FABLE IV. [XI.194-220] + + Apollo and Neptune build the walls of Troy for king Laomedon, who + refuses to give the Gods the reward which he has promised: on which + Neptune punishes his perjury by an inundation of his country. + Laomedon is then obliged to expose his daughter to a sea monster, + in order to appease the God. Hercules delivers her; and Laomedon + defrauds him likewise of the horses which he has promised him. + In revenge, Hercules plunders the city of Troy, and carries off + Hesione, whom he gives in marriage to his companion Telamon. + +The son of Latona, having {thus} revenged himself, departs from Tmolus, +and, borne through the liquid air, rests on the plains of Laomedon, on +this side of the narrow sea of Helle, the daughter of Nephele. On the +right hand of Sigæum and on the left of the lofty Rhœtæum,[14] there is +an ancient altar dedicated to the Panomphæan[15] Thunderer. Thence, he +sees Laomedon {now} first building the walls of rising Troy, and that +this great undertaking is growing up with difficult labour, and requires +no small resources. And {then}, with the trident-bearing father of the +raging deep, he assumes a mortal form, and for the Phrygian king they +build the walls,[16] a sum of gold being agreed on for the defences. + +The work is {now} finished; the king refuses the reward, and, as a +completion of his perfidy, adds perjury to his false words. “Thou shalt +not escape unpunished,” says the king of the sea; and he drives all his +waters towards the shores of covetous Troy. He turns the land, too, into +the form of the sea, and carries off the wealth of the husbandmen, and +overwhelms the fields with waves. Nor is this punishment sufficient: the +daughter of the king, is also demanded for a sea monster. Chained to the +rugged rocks, Alcides delivers her, and demands the promised reward, the +horses agreed upon; and the recompense of so great a service being +denied him, he captures the twice-perjured walls of conquered Troy. Nor +does Telamon, a sharer in the warfare, come off without honour; and he +obtains Hesione, who is given to him. + +But Peleus was distinguished by a Goddess for his wife; nor was he more +proud of the name of his grandfather than that of his father-in-law.[17] +Since, not to his lot alone did it fall to be the grandson of Jove; to +him alone, was a Goddess given for a wife. + + [Footnote 14: _Rhœtæum._--Ver. 197. Sigæum and Rhœtæum were two + promontories, near Troy, between which was an altar dedicated to + Jupiter Panomphæus.] + + [Footnote 15: _Panomphæan._--Ver. 198. Jupiter had the title + ‘Panomphæus,’ from πᾶν, ‘all,’ and ὀμφὴ, ‘the voice,’ either + because he was worshipped by the voices of all, or because he was + the author of all prophecy.] + + [Footnote 16: _Build the walls._--Ver. 204. It has been suggested + that the story of Laomedon obtaining the aid of Neptune in + building the walls of Troy, only meant that he built it of bricks + made of clay mixed with water, and dried in the sun.] + + [Footnote 17: _His father-in-law._--Ver. 219. Nereus, the father + of Thetis; was a Divinity of the sea, and was gifted with the + power of prophecy.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + Laomedon, being King of Troy, and the city being open and + defenceless, he undertook to enclose it with walls, and succeeded so + well, that the work was attributed to Apollo. The strong banks which + he was obliged to raise to keep out the sea and to prevent + inundations, were regarded as the work of Neptune. In time, these + banks being broken down by tempests, it was reported that the God of + the sea had thus revenged himself on Laomedon, for refusing him the + reward which had been agreed upon between them. This story received + the more ready credit from the circumstance mentioned by Herodotus + and Eustathius, that this king used the treasure belonging to the + temple of Neptune, in raising these embankments, and building the + walls of his city; having promised the priests to restore it when he + should be in a condition to do so; which promise he never performed. + Homer says that Neptune and Apollo tended the flocks while all the + subjects of Laomedon were engaged in building the walls. + + When these embankments were laid under water, and a plague began to + rage within the city, the Trojans were told by an oracle that to + appease the God of the sea, they must sacrifice a virgin of the + royal blood. The lot fell upon Hesione, and she was exposed to the + fury of a sea-monster. Hercules offered to deliver her for a reward + of six horses, and having succeeded, was refused his recompense by + Laomedon; whom he slew, and then plundered his city. He then gave + the kingdom to Podarces, the son of Laomedon, and Hesione to his + companion Telamon, who had assisted him. This monster was probably + an allegorical representation of the inundations of the sea; and + Hesione having been made the price of him that could succeed in + devising a remedy, she was said to have been exposed to the fury of + a monster. The six horses promised by Laomedon were perhaps so many + ships, which Hercules demanded for his recompense; and this is the + more likely, as the ancients said that these horses were so light + and swift, that they ran upon the waves, which story seems to point + at the qualities of a galley or ship under sail. + + Lycophron gives a more wonderful version of the story. He says that + the monster, to which Hesione was exposed, devoured Hercules, and + that he was three days in its belly, and came out, having lost all + his hair. This is, probably, a way of telling us that Hercules and + his assistants were obliged to work in the water, which incommoded + them very much. Palæphatus gives another explanation: he says that + Hesione was about to be delivered up to a pirate, and that Hercules, + on boarding his ship, was wounded, although afterwards victorious. + + +FABLES V. AND VI. [XI.221-409] + + Proteus foretells that Thetis shall have a son, who shall be more + powerful than his father, and shall exceed him in valour. Jupiter, + who is in love with Thetis, is alarmed at this prediction, and + yields her to Peleus. The Goddess flies from his advances by + assuming various shapes, till, by the advice of Proteus, he holds + her fast, and then having married her, she bears Achilles. Peleus + goes afterwards to Ceyx, king of Trachyn, to expiate the death of + his brother Phocus, whom he has killed. Ceyx is in a profound + melancholy, and tells him how his brother Dædalion, in the + transports of his grief for his daughter Chione, who had been slain + for vying with Diana, has been transformed into a hawk. During this + relation, Peleus is informed that a wolf which Psamathe has sent to + revenge the death of Phocus, is destroying his herds. He endeavours + to avert the wrath of the Goddess, but she is deaf to his + entreaties, till, by the intercession of Thetis, she is appeased, + and she turns the wolf into stone. + +For the aged Proteus had said to Thetis, “Goddess of the waves, +conceive; thou shalt be the mother of a youth, who by his gallant +actions shall surpass the deeds of his father, and shall be called +greater than he.” Therefore, lest the world might contain something +greater than Jove, although he had felt no gentle flame in his breast, +Jupiter avoided the embraces of Thetis,[18] {the Goddess} of the sea, +and commanded his grandson, the son of Æacus,[19] to succeed to his own +pretensions, and rush into the embraces of the ocean maid. There is a +bay of Hæmonia, curved into a bending arch; its arms project out; there, +were the water {but} deeper, there would be a harbour, {but} the sea is +{just} covering the surface of the sand. It has a firm shore, which +retains not the impression of the foot, nor delays the step {of the +traveller}, nor is covered with sea-weeds. There is a grove of myrtle at +hand, planted with particoloured berries. In the middle there is a cave, +whether formed by nature or art, it is doubtful; still, by art rather. +To this, Thetis, thou wast wont often to come naked, seated on thy +harnessed dolphin. There Peleus seized upon thee, as thou wast lying +fast bound in sleep; and because, being tried by entreaties, thou didst +resist, he resolved upon violence, clasping thy neck with both his arms. +And, unless thou hadst had recourse to thy wonted arts, by frequently +changing thy shape, he would have succeeded in his attempt. But, at one +moment, thou wast a bird (still, as a bird he held thee fast); at +another time a large tree: to {that} tree did Peleus cling. Thy third +form was that of a spotted tiger; frightened by that, the son of Æacus +loosened his arms from thy body. + +Then pouring wine upon its waters,[20] he worshipped the Gods of the +sea, both with the entrails of sheep and with the smoke of frankincense; +until the Carpathian[21] prophet said, from the middle of the waves, +“Son of Æacus, thou shalt gain the alliance desired by thee. Do thou +only, when she shall be resting fast asleep in the cool cave, bind her +unawares with cords and tenacious bonds. And let her not deceive thee, +by imitating a hundred forms; but hold her fast, whatever she shall be, +until she shall reassume the form which she had before.” Proteus said +this, and hid his face in the sea, and received his own waves at his +closing words. Titan was {now} descending, and, with the pole of his +chariot bent downward, was taking possession of the Hesperian main; when +the beautiful Nereid, leaving the deep, entered her wonted place of +repose. Hardly had Peleus well seized the virgin’s limbs, {when} she +changed her shape, until she perceived her limbs to be held fast, and +her arms to be extended different ways. Then, at last, she sighed, and +said, “Not without {the aid of} a Divinity, dost thou overcome me;” and +then she appeared {as} Thetis {again}. The hero embraced her {thus} +revealed, and enjoyed his wish, and by her was the father of great +Achilles. + +And happy was Peleus in his son, happy, too, in his wife, and one to +whose lot all {blessings} had fallen, if you except the crime of his +killing Phocus. The Trachinian land[22] received him guilty of his +brother’s blood, and banished from his native home. Here Ceyx, sprung +from Lucifer for his father, and having the comeliness of his sire in +his face, held the sway without violence and without bloodshed, who, +being sad at that time and unlike his {former} self, lamented the loss +of his brother. After the son of Æacus, wearied, both with troubles and +the length of the journey, has arrived there, and has entered the city +with a few attending him, and has left the flocks of sheep and the herds +which he has brought with him, not far from the walls, in a shady +valley; when an opportunity is first afforded him of approaching the +prince, extending the symbols of peace[23] with his suppliant hand, +he tells him who he is, and from whom descended. He only conceals his +crime, and, dissembling as to the {true} reason of his banishment, he +entreats {him} to aid him {by a reception} either in his city or in his +territory. On the other hand, the Trachinian {prince} addresses him with +gentle lips, in words such as these: “Peleus, our bounties are open even +to the lowest ranks, nor do I hold an inhospitable sway. To this my +inclination, thou bringest in addition as powerful inducements, an +illustrious name, and Jupiter as thy grandsire. And do not lose thy time +in entreaty; all that thou askest thou shalt have. Look upon all these +things, whatever thou seest, as in part thy own: would that thou couldst +behold them in better condition!” and {then} he weeps. Pelcus and his +companions enquire what it is that occasions grief so great. To them he +{thus} speaks:-- + +“Perhaps you may think that this bird, which lives upon prey, and +affrights all the birds, always had wings. It was a man; and as great is +the vigour of its courage, as he {who was} Dædalion by name was active, +and bold in war, and ready for violence; {he was} sprung from him, for +his father, who summons forth[24] Aurora, and withdraws the last from +the heavens. Peace was cherished by me; the care of maintaining peace +and my marriage contract was mine; cruel warfare pleased my brother; +that prowess of his subdued both kings and nations, which, changed, now +chases the Thisbean doves.[25] Chione was his daughter, who, highly +endowed with beauty, was pleasing to a thousand suitors, when +marriageable at the age of twice seven years. By chance Phœbus, and the +son of Maia, returning, the one from his own Delphi, the other from the +heights of Cyllene, beheld her at the same moment, and at the same +moment were inspired with passion. Apollo defers his hope of enjoyment +until the hours of night; the other brooks no delay, and with his wand, +that causes sleep, touches the maiden’s face. At the potent touch she +lies entranced, and suffers violence from the God. Night has {now} +bespangled the heavens with stars; Phœbus personates an old woman, and +takes those delights before enjoyed {in imagination}. When her mature +womb had completed the {destined} time, Autolycus was born, a crafty +offspring of the stock of the God with winged feet, ingenious at every +kind of theft, {and} who used, not degenerating from his father’s +skill,[26] to make white out of black, and black out of white. From +Phœbus was born (for she brought forth twins) Philammon, famous for his +tuneful song, and for his lyre. + +“{But} what avails it for her to have brought forth two children, and to +have been pleasing to two Gods, and to have sprung from a valiant +father, and the Thunderer as her ancestor?[27] Is even glory {thus} +prejudicial to many? To her, at least, it was a prejudice; who dared to +prefer herself to Diana, and decried the charms of the Goddess. But +violent wrath was excited in her, and she said, ‘We will please her by +our deeds.’[28] And there was no delay: she bent her bow, and let fly an +arrow from the string, and pierced with the reed the tongue that +deserved it. The tongue was silent; nor did her voice, and the words +which she attempted {to utter, now} follow; and life, with her blood, +left her, as she endeavoured to speak. Oh hapless affection! What pain +did I {then} endure in my heart, as her uncle, and what consolations did +I give to my affectionate brother? These the father received no +otherwise than rocks do the murmurs of the ocean, and he bitterly +lamented his daughter {thus} snatched from him. But when he beheld her +burning, four times had he an impulse to rush into the midst of the +pile; thence repulsed, four times did he commit his swift limbs to +flight, and, like an ox, bearing upon his galled neck the stings of +hornets, he rushed where there was no path. Already did he seem to me to +run faster than a human being, and you would have supposed that his feet +had assumed wings. Therefore he outran all; and, made swift by the +desire for death, he gained the heights of Parnassus. + +“Apollo pitying him, when Dædalion would have thrown himself from the +top of the rock, made him into a bird, and supported him, hovering {in +the air} upon {these} sudden wings; and he gave him a curved beak, and +crooked claws on his talons, his former courage, and strength greater +{in proportion} than his body; and, now {become} a hawk, sufficiently +benignant to none, he rages {equally} against all birds; and grieving +{himself}, becomes the cause of grief to others.” + +While the son of Lucifer is relating these wonders about his brother, +hastening with panting speed, Phocæan Antenor, the keeper of his herds, +runs up to him. “Alas, Peleus! Peleus!” says he, “I am the messenger to +thee of a great calamity;” and {then} Peleus bids him declare whatever +news it is that he has brought; and the Trachinian hero himself is in +suspense, and trembles through apprehension. The other tells {his +story:} “I had driven the weary bullocks to the winding shore, when the +Sun at his height, in the midst of his course, could look back on as +much of it as he could see to be {now} remaining; and a part of the oxen +had bent their knees on the yellow sands, and, as they lay, viewed the +expanse of the wide waters; some, with slow steps, were wandering here +and there; others were swimming, and appearing with their lofty necks +above the waves. A temple is hard by the sea, adorned neither with +marble nor with gold, but {made} of solid beams, and shaded with an +ancient grove; the Nereids and Nereus possess it. A sailor, while he was +drying his nets upon the shore, told us that these were the Gods of the +temple. Adjacent to this is a marsh, planted thickly with numerous +willows, which the water of the stagnating waves of the sea has made +into a swamp. From that spot, a huge monster, a wolf, roaring with a +loud bellowing, alarms the neighbouring places, and comes forth from the +thicket of the marsh, {both} having his thundering jaws covered with +foam and with clotted blood, {and} his eyes suffused with red flame. +Though he was raging both with fury and with hunger, still was he more +excited by fury; for he did not care to satisfy his hunger by the +slaughter of the oxen, and to satiate his dreadful appetite, but he +mangled the whole herd, and, like a true foe, pulled each {to the +ground}. Some, too, of ourselves, while we were defending them, wounded +with his fatal bite, were killed. The shore and the nearest waves were +red with blood, and the fens were filled with the lowings {of the herd}. +But delay is dangerous, and the case does not allow us to hesitate: +while anything is {still} left, let us all unite, and let us take up +arms, arms, {I say}, and in a body let us bear weapons.” + +{Thus} speaks the countryman. And the loss does not affect Peleus; but, +remembering his crime, he considers that the bereaved Nereid has sent +these misfortunes of his, as an offering to the departed Phocus. The +Œtæan king[29] commands his men to put on their armour, and to take up +stout weapons; together with whom, he himself is preparing to go. But +Halcyone, his wife, alarmed at the tumult, runs out, and not yet having +arranged all her hair, even that which is {arranged} she throws in +disorder; and clinging to the neck of her husband, she entreats him, +both with words and tears, to send assistance without himself, and {so} +to save two lives in one. The son of Æacus says to her, “O queen, lay +aside thy commendable and affectionate fears; the kindness of thy +proposal is {too} great {for me}. It does not please me, that arms +should be employed against this new monster. The Divinity of the sea +must be adored.” There is a lofty tower; a fire {is} upon the extreme +summit,[30] a place grateful to wearied ships. They go up there, and +with sighs they behold the bulls lying scattered upon the sea shore, and +the cruel ravager with blood-stained mouth, having his long hair stained +with gore. Peleus, thence extending his hands towards the open sea, +entreats the azure Psamathe to lay aside her wrath, and to give him her +aid. But she is not moved by the words of the son of Æacus, thus +entreating. Thetis, interceding on behalf of her husband, obtains that +favour {for him}. + +But still the wolf persists, not recalled from the furious slaughter, +{and} keenly urged by the sweetness of the blood; until she changes him +into marble, as he is fastening on the neck of a mangled heifer. His +body preserves every thing except its colour. The colour of the stone +shows that he is not now a wolf, and ought not now to be feared. Still, +the Fates do not permit the banished Peleus to settle in this land: the +wandering exile goes to the Magnetes,[31] and there receives from the +Hæmonian Acastus[32] an expiation of the murder. + + [Footnote 18: _Embraces of Thetis._--Ver. 226. Fulgentius + suggests, that the meaning of this is, that Jupiter, or fire, will + not unite with Thetis, who represents water.] + + [Footnote 19: _Son of Æacus._--Ver. 227. Peleus was the son of + Æacus, who was the son of Jupiter, by Ægina, the daughter of + Æsopus.] + + [Footnote 20: _Upon its waters._--Ver. 247. While libations were + made to the other Divinities, either on their altars, or on the + ground, the marine Deities were so honoured by pouring wine on the + waves of the sea.] + + [Footnote 21: _Carpathian._--Ver. 249. The Carpathian sea was so + called from the Isle of Carpathus, which lay between the island of + Rhodes and the Egyptian coast.] + + [Footnote 22: _Trachinian land._--Ver. 269. Apollodorus says, that + Peleus, when exiled, repaired to Phthia, and not to the city of + Trachyn.] + + [Footnote 23: _Symbols of peace._--Ver. 276. The ‘velamenta’ were + branches of olive, surrounded with bandages of wool, which were + held in the hands of those who begged for mercy or pardon. The + wool covering the hand was emblematical of peace, the hand being + thereby rendered powerless to effect mischief.] + + [Footnote 24: _Who summons forth._--Ver. 296. This is a + periphrasis for Lucifer, or the Morning Star, which precedes, and + appears to summon the dawn.] + + [Footnote 25: _Thisbean doves._--Ver. 300. Thisbe was a town of + Bœotia, so called from Thisbe, the daughter of Æsopus. It was + famous for the number of doves which it produced.] + + [Footnote 26: _Father’s skill._--Ver. 314. Being the son of + Mercury, who was noted for his thieving propensities.] + + [Footnote 27: _Her ancestor._--Ver. 319. Jupiter was the + great-grandfather of Chione, being the father of Lucifer, and the + grandfather of Dædalion.] + + [Footnote 28: _By our deeds._--Ver. 323. This is said + sarcastically, as much as to say, ‘If I do not please her by my + looks, at least I will by my actions.’] + + [Footnote 29: _The Œtæan king._--Ver. 383. Namely, Ceyx, the king + of Trachyn, which city Hercules had founded, at the foot of Mount + Œta.] + + [Footnote 30: _The extreme summit._--Ver. 393. The upper stories + of the ancient light-houses had windows looking towards the sea; + and torches, or fires (probably in cressets, or fire-pans, at the + end of poles), were kept burning on them by night, to guide + vessels. ‘Pharos,’ or ‘Pharus,’ the name given to light-houses, + is derived from the celebrated one built on the island of Pharos, + at the entrance of the port of Alexandria. It was erected by + Sostratus, of Cnidos, at the expense of one of the Ptolemies, and + cost 800 talents. It was of huge dimensions, square, and + constructed of white stone. It contained many stories, and + diminished in width from below upwards. There were ‘phari,’ or + ‘light-houses,’ at Ostia, Ravenna, Capreæ, and Brundisium.] + + [Footnote 31: _The Magnetes._--Ver. 408. The Magnetes were the + people of Magnesia, a district of Thessaly. They were famed for + their skill in horsemanship.] + + [Footnote 32: _Hæmonian Acastus._--Ver. 409. Acastus was the son + of Pelias. His wife Hippolyta, being enamoured of Peleus, and he + not encouraging her advances, she accused him of having made an + attempt on her virtue. On this, Acastus determined upon his death; + and having taken him to Mount Pelion, on the pretext of hunting, + he took away his arms, and left him there, to be torn to pieces by + the wild beasts. Mercury, or, according to some, Chiron, came to + his assistance, and gave him a sword made by Vulcan, with which he + slew Acastus and his wife.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + Thetis being a woman of extraordinary beauty, it is not improbable, + that in the Epithalamia that were composed on her marriage, it was + asserted, that the Gods had contended for her hand, and had been + forced to give way, in obedience to the superior power of destiny. + Hyginus says that Prometheus was the only person that was acquainted + with the oracle; and that he imparted it to Jupiter, on condition + that he would deliver him from the eagle that tormented him: + whereupon the God sent Hercules to Mount Caucasus, to perform his + promise. It was on the occasion of this marriage that the Goddess + Discord presented the golden apple, the dispute for which occasioned + the Trojan war. The part of the story which relates how she assumed + various forms, to avoid the advances of Peleus, is perhaps an + ingenious method of stating, that having several suitors, she was + originally disinclined to Peleus, and used every pretext to avoid + him, until, by the advice of a wise friend, he found means to remove + all the difficulties which opposed his alliance with her. + + Some writers state that Thetis was the daughter of Chiron; but + Euripides, in a fragment of his Iphigenia, tells us that Achilles, + who was the son of this marriage, took a pride in carrying the + figure of a Nereid on his shield. The three sons of Æacus were + Peleus, Telamon, and Phocus; while they were playing at quoits, the + latter accidentally received a blow from Peleus, which killed him. + Ovid, however, seems here to imply that Peleus killed his brother + purposely. + + The story of Chione most probably took its rise from the difference + between the inclinations of the two children that she bore. + Autolycus, being cunning, and addicted to theft, he was styled the + son of Mercury; while Philammon being a lover of music, Apollo was + said to be his father. According to Pausanias, Autolycus was the son + of Dædalion, and not of Chione. The story of the wolf, the minister + of the vengeance of Psamathe, for the death of Phocus, is probably + built on historical grounds. Æacus had two wives, Ægina and + Psamathe, the sister of Thetis; by the first he had Peleus and + Telamon; by the second, Phocus. Lycomedes, the king of Scyros, the + brother of Psamathe, resolved to revenge the death of his nephew, + whom Peleus had killed: and declared war against Ceyx, for receiving + him into his dominions. The troops of Lycomedes ravaged the country, + and carried away the flocks of Peleus: on which prayers and + entreaties were resorted to, with the view of pacifying him; which + object having been effected, he withdrew his troops. On this, it was + rumoured that he was changed into a rock, after having ravaged the + country like a wild beast, which comparison was perhaps suggested by + the fact of his name being partly compounded of the word λυκὸς, + ‘a wolf.’ + + +FABLE VII. [XI.410-748] + + Ceyx, going to Claros, to consult the oracle about his brother’s + fate, is shipwrecked on the voyage. Juno sends Iris to the God of + Sleep, who, at her request, dispatches Morpheus to Halcyone, in a + dream, to inform her of the death of her husband. She awakes in the + morning, full of solicitude, and goes to the shore where she finds + the body of Ceyx thrown up by the waves. She is about to cast + herself into the sea in despair, when the Gods transform them both + into king-fishers. + +In the mean time, Ceyx being disturbed in mind, both on account of the +strange fate of his brother, and {the wonders} that had succeeded his +brother, prepares to go to the Clarian God, that he may consult the +sacred oracle, the consolation of mortals: for the profane Phorbas,[33] +with his Phlegyans, renders the {oracle} of Delphi inaccessible. Yet he +first makes thee acquainted with his design, most faithful Halcyone, +whose bones receive a chill, and a paleness, much resembling boxwood, +comes over her face, and her cheeks are wet with tears gushing forth. +Three times attempting to speak, three times she moistens her face with +tears, and, sobs interrupting her affectionate complaints, she says:-- + +“What fault of mine, my dearest, has changed thy mind? Where is that +care of me, which once used to exist? Canst thou now be absent without +anxiety, thy Halcyone being left behind? Now, is a long journey pleasing +to thee? Now, am I dearer to thee when at a distance? But I suppose thy +journey is by land, and I shall only grieve, and shall not fear as well, +and my anxiety will be free from apprehension. The seas and the aspect +of the stormy ocean affright me. And lately I beheld broken planks on +the sea shore; and often have I read the names upon tombs,[34] without +bodies {there buried}. And let not any deceitful assurance influence thy +mind, that the grandson of Hippotas[35] is thy father-in-law; who +confines the strong winds in prison, and assuages the seas when he +pleases. When, once let loose, the winds have taken possession of the +deep, nothing is forbidden to them; every land and every sea is +disregarded by them. Even the clouds of heaven do they insult, and by +their bold onsets strike forth the brilliant fires.[36] The more I know +them, (for I do know them, and, when little, have often seen them in my +father’s abode,) the more I think they are to be dreaded. But if thy +resolution, my dear husband, cannot be altered by my entreaties, and if +thou art {but} too determined to go; take me, too, as well. At least, we +shall be tossed together; nor shall I fear anything, but what I shall be +{then} suffering; and together we shall endure whatever shall happen; +together we shall be carried over the wide seas.” + +By such words and the tears of the daughter of Æolus, is her husband, +son of the {Morning} Star, {much} affected; for the flame {of love} +exists no less in him. But he neither wishes to abandon his proposed +voyage, nor to admit Halcyone to a share in the danger; and he says, +in answer, many things to console her timorous breast. And yet she does +not, on that account, approve of his reasons. To them he adds this +alleviation, with which alone he influences his affectionate {wife}: +“All delay will, indeed, be tedious to me; but I swear to thee by the +fire of my sire, (if only the fates allow me to return,) that I will +come back before the moon has twice completed her orb.” When, by these +promises, a hope has been given her of his {speedy} return, he forthwith +orders a ship, drawn out of the dock, to be launched in the sea, and to +be supplied with its {proper} equipments. On seeing this, Halcyone again +shuddered, as though presaging the future, and shed her flowing tears, +and gave him embraces; and at last, in extreme misery, she said, with a +sad voice, “Farewell!” and then she sank with all her body {to the +ground}. + + +But the youths, while Ceyx is {still} seeking pretexts for delay, in +double rows,[37] draw the oars towards their hardy breasts, and cleave +the main with equal strokes. She raises her weeping eyes, and sees her +husband standing on the crooked stern, and by waving his hand making the +first signs to her; and she returns the signals. When the land has +receded further, and her eyes are unable to distinguish his countenance: +{still}, while she can, she follows the retreating ship with her sight. +When this too, borne onward, cannot be distinguished from the distance; +still she looks at the sails waving from the top of the mast. When she +no {longer} sees the sails; she anxiously seeks her deserted bed, and +lays herself on the couch. The bed, and the spot, renew the tears of +Halcyone, and remind her what part {of herself} is wanting. + +They have {now} gone out of harbour, and the breeze shakes the rigging; +the sailor urges the pendent oars towards their sides;[38] and fixes the +sailyards[39] on the top of the mast, and spreads the canvass full from +the mast, and catches the coming breezes. Either the smaller part, or, +at least, not more than half her course, had {now} been cut by the ship, +and both lands were at a great distance, when, towards night, the sea +began to grow white with swelling waves, and the boisterous East wind to +blow with greater violence. Presently the master cries, “At once, lower +the top sails, and furl the whole of the sail to the yards!” He orders, +{but} the adverse storm impedes the execution; and the roaring of the +sea does not allow any voice to be heard. + +Yet, of their own accord, some hasten to draw in the oars, some to +secure the sides, some to withdraw the sails from the winds. This one +pumps up the waves, and pours back the sea into the sea; another takes +off the yards. While these things are being done without any order, the +raging storm is increasing, and the fierce winds wage war on every side, +and stir up the furious main. The master of the ship is himself alarmed, +and himself confesses that he does not know what is their {present} +condition, nor what to order or forbid; so great is the amount of their +misfortunes, and more powerful than all his skill. For the men are +making a noise with their shouts, the cordage with its rattling, the +heavy waves with the dashing of {other} waves, the skies with the +thunder. The sea is upturned with billows, and appears to reach the +heavens, and to sprinkle the surrounding clouds with its foam. And one +while, when it turns up the yellow sands from the bottom, it is of the +same colour with them; at another time {it is} blacker than the Stygian +waves. Sometimes it is level, and is white with resounding foam. The +Trachinian ship too, is influenced by these vicissitudes; and now aloft, +as though from the summit of a mountain, it seems to look down upon the +vallies and the depths of Acheron; at another moment, when the +engulphing sea has surrounded it, sunk below, it seems to be looking at +heaven above from the infernal waters. Struck on its side by the waves, +it often sends forth a low crashing sound, and beaten against, it sounds +with no less noise, than on an occasion when the iron battering ram, or +the balista, is shaking the shattered towers. And as fierce lions are +wont, gaining strength in their career, to rush with their breasts upon +the weapons, and arms extended {against them}; so the water, when upon +the rising of the winds it had rushed onwards, advanced against the +rigging of the ship, and was much higher than it. + +And now the bolts shrink, and despoiled of their covering of wax,[40] +the seams open wide, and afford a passage to the fatal waves. Behold! +vast showers fall from the dissolving clouds, and you would believe that +the whole of the heavens is descending into the deep, and that the +swelling sea is ascending to the tracts of heaven. The sails are wet +with the rain, and the waves of the ocean are mingled with the waters of +the skies. The firmament is without its fires; {and} the gloomy night is +oppressed both with its own darkness and that of the storm. Yet the +lightnings disperse these, and give light as they flash; the waters are +on fire with the flames of the thunder-bolts. And now, too, the waves +make an inroad into the hollow texture of the ship; and as a soldier, +superior to all the rest of the number, after he has often sprung +forward against the fortifications of a defended city, at length gains +his desires; and, inflamed with the desire of glory, {though but} one +among a thousand more, he still mounts the wall, so, when the violent +waves have beaten against the lofty sides, the fury of the tenth +wave,[41] rising more impetuously {than the rest}, rushes onward; and it +ceases not to attack the wearied ship, before it descends within the +walls, as it were, of the captured bark. Part, then, of the sea is still +attempting to get into the ship, part is within it. All are now in +alarm, with no less intensity than a city is wont to be alarmed, while +some are undermining the walls without, and others within have +possession of the walls. {All} art fails them, and their courage sinks; +and as many {shapes of} death seem to rush and to break in {upon them}, +as the waves that approach. One does not refrain from tears; another is +stupefied; another calls those happy[42] whom funeral rites await; +another, in his prayers, addresses the Gods, and lifting up his hands in +vain to that heaven which he sees not, implores their aid. His brothers +and his parent recur to the mind of another; to another, his home, with +his pledges {of affection}, and {so} what has been left behind by each. + +{The remembrance of} Halcyone affects Ceyx; on the lips of Ceyx there is +nothing but Halcyone; and though her alone he regrets, still he rejoices +that she is absent. {Gladly}, too, would he look back to the shore of +his native land, and turn his last glance towards his home; but he knows +not where it is. The sea is raging in a hurricane[43] so vast, and all +the sky is concealed beneath the shade brought on by the clouds of +pitchy darkness, and the face of the night is redoubled {in gloom}. The +mast is broken by the violence of the drenching tempest; the helm, too, +is broken; and the undaunted wave, standing over its spoil, looks down +like a conqueror, upon the waves as they encircle {below}. Nor, when +precipitated, does it rush down less violently, than if any {God} were +to hurl Athos or Pindus, torn up from its foundations, into the open +sea; and with its weight and its violence together, it sinks the ship to +the bottom. With her, a great part of the crew overwhelmed in the deep +water, and not rising again to the air, meet their fate. Some seize hold +of portions and broken pieces of the ship. Ceyx himself seizes a +fragment of the wreck, with that hand with which he was wont {to wield} +the sceptre, and in vain, alas! he invokes his father, and his +father-in-law. But chiefly on his lips, as he swims, is his wife +Halcyone. Her he thinks of, and {her name} he repeats: he prays the +waves to impel his body before her eyes; and that when dead he may be +entombed by the hands of his friends. While he {still} swims, he calls +upon Halcyone far away, as often as the billows allow[44] him to open +his mouth, and in the very waves he murmurs {her name}. {When}, lo! +a darkening arch[45] of waters breaks over the middle of the waves, and +buries his head sinking beneath the bursting billow. Lucifer was +obscured that night, and such that you could not have recognized him; +and since he was not allowed to depart from the heavens,[46] he +concealed his face beneath thick clouds. + +In the meantime, the daughter of Æolus, ignorant of so great +misfortunes, reckons the nights; and now she hastens {to prepare} the +garments[47] for him to put on, and now, those which, when he comes, she +herself may wear, and vainly promises herself his return. She, indeed, +piously offers frankincense to all the Gods above; but, before all, she +pays her adorations at the temple of Juno, and comes to the altars on +behalf of her husband, who is not in existence. And she prays that her +husband may be safe, and that he may return, and may prefer no woman +before her. But this {last} alone can be her lot, out of so many of her +wishes. But the Goddess endures not any longer to be supplicated on +behalf of one who is dead; and, that she may repel her polluted +hands[48] from the altars,--she says, “Iris, most faithful messenger of +my words, hasten quickly to the soporiferous court of Sleep, and command +him, under the form of Ceyx who is dead, to send a vision to Halcyone, +to relate her real misfortune.” {Thus} she says. Iris assumes garment of +a thousand colours, and, marking the heavens with her curving arch, she +repairs to the abode of the king, {Sleep}, as bidden, concealed beneath +a rock. + +There is near the Cimmerians[49] a cave with a long recess, a hollowed +mountain, the home and the habitation of slothful Sleep, into which the +Sun, {whether} rising, or in his mid course, or setting, can never come. +Fogs mingled with darkness are exhaled from the ground, and {it is} a +twilight with a dubious light. No wakeful bird, with the notes of his +crested features, there calls forth the morn; nor do the watchful dogs, +or the geese more sagacious[50] than the dogs, break the silence with +their voices. No wild beasts, no cattle, no boughs waving with the +breeze, no {loud} outbursts of the human voice, {there} make any sound; +mute Rest has there her abode. But from the bottom of the rock runs a +stream, the waters of Lethe,[51] through which the rivulet, trickling +with a murmuring noise amid the sounding pebbles, invites sleep. Before +the doors of the cavern, poppies bloom in abundance, and innumerable +herbs, from the juice of which the humid night gathers sleep, and +spreads it over the darkened Earth. There is no door in the whole +dwelling, to make a noise by the turning of the hinges; no porter at the +entrance. But in the middle is a couch, raised high upon black ebony, +stuffed with feathers, of a dark colour, concealed by a dark coverlet; +on which the God himself lies, his limbs dissolved in sloth. Around him +lie, in every direction, imitating divers shapes, unsubstantial dreams +as many as the harvest bears ears of corn, the wood green leaves, the +shore the sands thrown up. Into this, soon as the maiden had entered, +and had put aside with her hands the visions that were in her way, the +sacred house shone with the splendour of her garment, and the God, with +difficulty lifting up his eyes sunk in languid sloth, again and again +relapsing, and striking the upper part of his breast with his nodding +chin, at last aroused himself from his {dozing}; and, raised on his +elbow, he inquired why she had come; for he knew {who she was}. + +But she {replied}, “Sleep, thou repose of all things; Sleep, thou +gentlest of the Deities; thou peace of the mind, from which care flies, +who dost soothe the hearts {of men}, wearied with the toils of the day, +and refittest them for labour, command a vision, that resembles in +similitude the real shape, to go to Halcyone, in Herculean Trachyn, in +the form of the king, and to assume the form of one that has suffered +shipwreck. Juno commands this.” After Iris had executed her commission, +she departed; for she could no longer endure the effects of the vapour; +and, as soon as she perceived sleep creeping over her limbs, she took to +flight,[52] and departed along the bow by which she had come just +before. + +But Father {Sleep}, out of the multitude of his thousand sons, raises +Morpheus,[53] a {skilful} artist, and an imitator of {any human} shape. +No one more dexterously than he mimics the gait, and the countenance, +and the mode of speaking; he adds the dress, too, and the words most +commonly used by any one. But he imitates men only; for another one +becomes a wild beast, becomes a bird, {or} becomes a serpent, with its +lengthened body: this one, the Gods above call Icelos; the tribe of +mortals, Phobetor. There is likewise a third, {master} of a different +art, {called} Phantasos: he cleverly changes {himself} into earth, and +stone, and water, and a tree, and all those things which are destitute +of life. These are wont, by night, to show their features to kings and +to generals, {while} others wander amid the people and the commonalty. +These, Sleep, the aged {God}, passes by, and selects Morpheus alone from +all his brothers, to execute the commands of the daughter of Thaumas; +and again he both drops his head, sunk in languid drowsiness, and +shrinks back within the lofty couch. + +{Morpheus} flies through the dark with wings that make no noise, and in +a short space of intervening time arrives at the Hæmonian city; and, +laying aside his wings from off his body, he assumes the form of Ceyx; +and in that form, wan, and like one without blood, without garments, +he stands before the bed of his wretched wife. The beard of the hero +appears to be dripping, and the water to be falling thickly from his +soaking hair. Then leaning on the bed, with tears running down his face, +he says these words: “My most wretched wife, dost thou recognise {thy} +Ceyx, or are my looks {so} changed with death? Observe me; thou wilt +{surely} know me: and, instead of thy husband, thou wilt find the ghost +of thy husband. Thy prayers, Halcyone, have availed me nothing; I have +perished. Do not promise thyself, {thus} deceived, my {return}. The +cloudy South wind caught my ship in the Ægean Sea,[54] and dashed it to +pieces, tossed by the mighty blasts; and the waves choked my utterance, +in vain calling upon thy name. It is no untruthful messenger that tells +thee this: thou dost not hear these things through vague rumours. +I, myself, shipwrecked, in person, am telling thee my fate. Come, arise +then, shed tears, and put on mourning; and do not send me unlamented to +the phantom {realms of} Tartarus.” + +To these words Morpheus adds a voice, which she may believe to be that +of her husband. He seems, too, to be shedding real tears, and his hands +have the gesture of Ceyx. As she weeps, Halcyone groans aloud, and moves +her arms in her sleep, and catching at his body, grasps the air; and she +cries aloud, “Stay, whither dost thou hurry? We will go together.” +Disturbed by her own voice, and by the appearance of her husband, she +shakes off sleep; and first she looks about there, to see if he, who has +been so lately seen, is there; for the servants, roused by her voice, +have brought in lights. After she has found him nowhere, she smites her +face with her hands, and tears her garments from off her breast, and +beats her breast itself. Nor cares she to loosen her hair; she tears it, +and says to her nurse, as she inquires what is the occasion of her +sorrow: “Halcyone is no more! no more! with her own Ceyx is she dead. +Away with words of comfort. He has perished by shipwreck. I have seen +him, and I knew him; and as he departed, desirous to detain him, +I extended my hands towards him. The ghost fled: but, yet it was the +undoubted and the real ghost of my husband. It had not, indeed, if thou +askest me {that}, his wonted features; nor was he looking cheerful with +his former countenance. Hapless, I beheld him, pale, and naked, and with +his hair still dripping. Lo! ill-fated {man}, he stood on this very +spot;” and she seeks the prints of his footsteps, if any are left. “This +it was, this is what I dreaded in my ill-boding mind, and I entreated +that thou wouldst not, deserting me, follow the winds. But, I could have +wished, since thou didst depart to perish, that, at least, thou hadst +taken me as well. To have gone with thee, {yes}, with thee, would have +been an advantage to me; for then neither should I have spent any part +of my life otherwise than together with thee, nor would my death have +been divided {from thee}. Now, absent {from thee}, I perish; now, +absent, I am tossed on the waves; and the sea has thee without me. + +“My heart were more cruel than the sea itself, were I to strive to +protract my life any further; and, were I to struggle to survive so +great a misfortune. But I will not struggle, nor, hapless one, will I +abandon thee; and, at least, I will {now} come to be thy companion. And, +in the tomb, if the urn {does} not, yet the inscription[55] shall unite +us: if {I touch} not thy bones with my bones, still will I unite thy +name with my name.” Grief forbids her saying more, and wailings come +between each word, and groans are heaved from her sorrow-stricken +breast. + +It is {now} morning: she goes forth from her abode to the sea-shore, +and, wretched, repairs to that place from which she had seen him go, and +says, “While he lingered, and while he was loosening the cables, at his +departure, he gave me kisses upon this sea-shore;” and while she calls +to recollection the incidents which she had observed with her eyes, and +looks out upon the sea, she observes on the flowing wave, I know not +what {object}, like a body, within a distant space: and at first she is +doubtful what it is. After the water has brought it a little nearer, +and, although it is {still} distant, it is plain that it is a corpse. +Ignorant who it may be, because it is ship-wrecked, she is moved at the +omen, and, though unknown, would fain give it a tear. “Alas! thou +wretched one!” she says, “whoever thou art; and if thou hast any wife!” +Driven by the waves, the body approaches nearer. The more she looks at +it, the less and the less is she mistress of her senses. And now she +sees it brought close to the land, that now she can well distinguish it: +it is her husband. “’Tis he!” she exclaims, and, on the instant, she +tears her face, her hair, {and} her garments; and, extending her +trembling hands towards Ceyx, she says, “And is it thus, Oh dearest +husband! is it thus, Oh ill-fated one! that thou dost return to me?” + +A mole, made by the hand of man, adjoins the waves, which breaks the +first fury of the ocean, and weakens the first shock of its waters. Upon +that she leaped, and ’tis wondrous that she could. She flew, and beating +the light air with her wings newly formed, she, a wretched bird, skimmed +the surface of the water. And, while she flew, her croaking mouth, with +its slender bill, uttered a sound like that of one in sadness, and full +of complaining. But when she touched the body, dumb, and without blood, +embracing the beloved limbs with her new-made wings, in vain she gave +him cold kisses with her hardened bill. The people were in doubt whether +Ceyx was sensible of this, or whether, by the motion of the wave, he +seemed to raise his countenance; but {really} he was sensible of it; +and, at length, through the pity of the Gods above, both were changed +into birds. Meeting with the same fate, even then their love remained. +Nor, when {now} birds, is the conjugal tie dissolved: they couple, and +they become parents; and for seven calm days,[56] in the winter-time, +does Halcyone brood upon her nest floating on the sea.[57] Then the +passage of the deep is safe; Æolus keeps the winds in, and restrains +them from sallying forth, and secures a {smooth} sea for his +descendants. + + [Footnote 33: _The profane Phorbas._--Ver. 414. The temple at + Delphi was much nearer and more convenient for Ceyx to resort to; + but at that period it was in the hands of the Phlegyans, a people + of Thessaly, of predatory and lawless habits, who had plundered + the Delphic shrine. They were destroyed by thunderbolts and + pestilence, or, according to some authors, by Neptune, who swept + them away in a flood. Phorbas, here mentioned, was one of the + Lapithæ, a savage robber, who forced strangers to box with him, + and then slew them. Having the presumption to challenge the Gods, + he was slain by Apollo.] + + [Footnote 34: _Names upon tombs._--Ver. 429. Cenotaphs, or + honorary tombs, were erected in honour of those, who having been + drowned, their bodies could not be found. One great reason for + erecting these memorials was the notion, that the souls of those + who had received no funeral honours, wandered in agony on the + banks of the Styx for the space of one hundred years.] + + [Footnote 35: _Hippotas._--Ver. 431. Æolus was the grandson of + Hippotas, through his daughter Sergesta, who bore Æolus to + Jupiter. Ovid says that he was the father of Halcyone; but, + according to Lucian, she was the daughter of Æolus the Hellenian, + the grandson of Deucalion.] + + [Footnote 36: _Brilliant fires._--Ver. 436. Ovid probably here had + in view the description given by Lucretius, commencing Book i. + line 272.] + + [Footnote 37: _In double rows._--Ver. 462. By this it is implied + that the ship of Ceyx was a ‘biremis,’ or one with two ranks of + rowers; one rank being placed above the other. Pliny the Elder + attributes the invention of the ‘biremis’ to the Erythræans. Those + with three ranks of rowers were introduced by the Corinthians; + while Dionysius, the first king of Sicily, was the inventor of the + Quadriremis, or ship with four ranks of rowers. Quinqueremes, or + those with five ranks, are said to have been the invention of the + Salaminians. The first use of those with six ranks has been + ascribed to the Syracusans. Ships were sometimes built with + twelve, twenty, and even forty ranks of rowers, but they appear to + have been intended rather for curiosity than for use. As, of + course, the labour of each ascending rank increased, through the + necessity of the higher ranks using longer oars, the pay of the + lowest rank was the lowest, their work being the easiest. Where + there were twenty ranks or more, the upper oars required more than + one man to manage them. Ptolemy Philopater had a vessel built as a + curiosity, which had no less than four thousand rowers.] + + [Footnote 38: _Towards their sides._--Ver. 475. ‘Obvertere lateri + remos’ most probably means ‘To feather the oars,’ which it is + especially necessary to do in a gale, to avoid the retarding power + of the wind against the surface of the blade of the oar.] + + [Footnote 39: _Fixes the sail-yards._--Ver. 476. ‘Cornua’ means, + literally, ‘The ends or points of the sail-yards,’ or ‘Antennæ:’ + but here the word is used to signify the sail-yards themselves.] + + [Footnote 40: _Covering of wax._--Ver. 514. The ‘Cera’ with which + the seams of the ships were stopped, was most probably a + composition of wax and pitch, or other bituminous and resinous + substances.] + + [Footnote 41: _The tenth wave._--Ver. 530. This is said in + allusion to the belief that every tenth wave exceeded the others + in violence.] + + [Footnote 42: _Calls those happy._--Ver. 540. Those who died on + shore would obtain funeral rites; while those who perished by + shipwreck might become food for the fishes, a fate which was + regarded by the ancients with peculiar horror. Another reason for + thus regarding death by shipwreck, was the general belief among + the ancients, that the soul was an emanation from æther, or fire, + and that it was contrary to the laws of nature for it to be + extinguished by water. Ovid says in his Tristia, or Lament (Book + I. El. 2, l. 51-57), ‘I fear not death: ’tis the dreadful kind of + death; Take away the shipwreck: then death will be a gain to me. + ’Tis something for one, either dying a natural death, or by the + sword, to lay his breathless corpse in the firm ground, and to + impart his wishes to his kindred, and to hope for a sepulchre, and + not to be food for the fishes of the sea.’] + + [Footnote 43: _A hurricane._--Ver. 548-9. ‘Tanta vertigine pontus + Fervet’ is transcribed by Clarke, ‘The sea is confounded with so + great a vertigo.’] + + [Footnote 44: _The billows allow._--Ver. 566. ‘Quoties sinit + hiscere fluctus’ is rendered by Clarke, ‘As oft as the waves + suffer him to gape.’] + + [Footnote 45: _A darkening arch._--Ver. 568. Possibly ‘niger + arcus’ means a sweeping wave, black with the sand which it has + swept from the depths of the ocean; or else with the reflection of + the dark clouds.] + + [Footnote 46: _From the heavens._--Ver. 571. The word Olympus is + frequently used by the poets to signify ‘the heavens;’ as the + mountain of that name in Thessaly, from its extreme height, was + supposed to be the abode of the Gods.] + + [Footnote 47: _Prepare the garments._--Ver. 575. Horace tells us + that their clients wove garments for the Roman patricians; and the + females of noble family did the same for their husbands, children, + and brothers. Ovid, in the Fasti, describes Lucretia as making a + ‘lacerna,’ or cloak, for her husband Collatinus. She says to her + hand-maidens, ‘With all speed there must be sent to your master a + cloak made with our hands.’ (Book ii. l. 746.) Suetonius tells us + that Augustus would wear no clothes but those made by his wife, + sister, or daughter.] + + [Footnote 48: _Polluted hands._--Ver. 584. All persons who had + been engaged in the burial of the dead were considered to be + polluted, and were not allowed to enter the temples of the Gods + till they had been purified. Among the Greeks, persons who had + been supposed to have died in foreign countries, and whose funeral + rites had been performed in an honorary manner by their own + relatives, if it turned out that they were not dead, and they + returned to their own country, were considered impure, and were + only purified by being dressed in swaddling clothes, and treated + like new-born infants. We shall, then, be hardly surprised at Juno + considering Halcyone to be polluted by the death of her husband + Ceyx, although at a distance, and as yet unknown to her.] + + [Footnote 49: _The Cimmerians._--Ver. 592. Ovid appropriately + places the abode of the drowsy God in the cold, damp, and foggy + regions of the Cimmerians, who are supposed, by some authors, to + have been a people of Sarmatia, or Scythia, near the Palus Mæotis, + or sea of Azof. Other writers suppose that a fabulous race of + people, said to live near Baiæ in Italy, and to inhabit dark caves + throughout the day, while they sallied forth to plunder at night, + are here referred to. This description of the abode of Sleep, and + of his appearance and attendants, is supposed to have been + borrowed by Ovid from one of the Greek poets.] + + [Footnote 50: _Geese more sagacious._--Ver. 599. This is said in + compliment to the geese, for the service they rendered, in giving + the alarm, and saving the Capitol, when in danger of being taken + by the Gauls.] + + [Footnote 51: _Waters of Lethe._--Ver. 603. After the dead had + tasted the waters of Lethe, one of the rivers of Hell, it was + supposed that they lost all recollection of the events of their + former life.] + + [Footnote 52: _Took to flight._--Ver. 632. Clarke translates this + line, ‘Away she scours, and returns through the bow through which + she had come.’] + + [Footnote 53: _Morpheus._--Ver. 635. Morpheus was so called from + the Greek μορφὴ, ‘shape,’ or ‘figure,’ because he assumed various + shapes. Icelos has his name from the Greek ἴκελος, ‘like,’ for a + similar reason. Phobetor is from the Greek φοβὸς, ‘fear,’ because + it was his office to terrify mortals. Lucian appears to mean the + same Deity, under the name of Taraxion. Phantasos is from the + Greek φάντασις, ‘fancy.’] + + [Footnote 54: _In the Ægean Sea._--Ver. 663. The Ægean Sea lay + between the city of Trachyn and the coast of Ionia, whither Ceyx + had gone.] + + [Footnote 55: _The inscription._--Ver. 706. The epitaphs on the + tombs of the ancients usually contained the name of the person, + his age, and (with the Greeks) some account of the principal + events of his life. Halcyone, in her affectionate grief, promises + her husband, at least, an honorary funeral, and a share in her own + epitaph.] + + [Footnote 56: _Seven calm days._--Ver. 745. Simonides mentions + eleven as being the number of the days; Philochorus, nine; but + Demagoras says seven, the number here adopted by Ovid.] + + [Footnote 57: _Floating on the sea._--Ver. 746. The male of the + kingfisher was said by the ancients to be so constant to his mate, + that on her death he refused to couple with any other, for which + reason the poets considered that bird as the emblem of conjugal + affection. The sea was supposed to be always calm when the female + was sitting; from which time of serenity, our proverb, which + speaks of ‘Halcyon days,’ takes its rise.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + According to the testimony of several of the ancient writers, Ceyx + was the king of Trachyn, and was a prince of great knowledge and + experience; and many had recourse to him to atone for the murders + which they had committed, whether through imprudence or otherwise. + Pausanias says that Eurystheus having summoned Ceyx to deliver up to + him the children of Hercules, that prince, who was not able to + maintain a war against so powerful a king, sent the youths to + Theseus, who took them into his protection. + + To recover from the melancholy consequent upon the death of his + brother Dædalion and his niece Chione, he went to Claros to consult + the oracle of Apollo, and was shipwrecked on his return; on which, + his wife, Halcyone, was so afflicted, that she died of grief, or + else threw herself into the sea, as Hyginus informs us. It was said + that they were changed into the birds which we call kingfishers, + a story which, probably, has no other foundation than the name of + Halcyone, which signifies that bird; which by the ancients was + considered to be the symbol of conjugal affection. + + Apollodorus, however, does not give us so favourable an idea of the + virtue of these persons as Ovid has done. According to him, it was + their pride which proved the cause of their destruction. Jupiter + enraged at Ceyx, because he had assumed his name as Halcyone had + done that of Juno, changed them both into birds, he becoming a + cormorant, and she a kingfisher. This story is remarkable for the + beautiful and affecting manner in which it is told. + + +FABLE VIII. [XI.749-795] + + The Nymph Hesperia flying from Æsacus, who is enamoured of her, + is bitten by a serpent, and instantly dies from the effects of the + wound. He is so afflicted at her death, that he throws himself into + the sea, and is transformed into a didapper. + +Some old man[58] observes them as they fly over the widely extended +seas, and commends their love, preserved to the end {of their +existence}. One, close by, or the same, if chance so orders it, says, +“This one, too, which you see, as it cuts through the sea, and having +its legs drawn up,” pointing at a didapper, with its wide throat, “was +the son of a king. And, if you want to come down to him in one +lengthened series, his ancestors are Ilus, and Assaracus, and +Ganymede,[59] snatched away by Jupiter, and the aged Laomedon, and +Priam, to whom were allotted the last days of Troy. He himself was the +brother of Hector, and had he not experienced a strange fate in his +early youth, perhaps he would have had a name not inferior to {that} of +Hector; although the daughter of Dymas bore this {last}. Alexirhoë, the +daughter of the two-horned Granicus,[60] is said secretly to have +brought forth Æsacus, under shady Ida. + +“He loathed the cities, and distant from the splendid court, frequented +the lonely mountains, and the unambitious fields; nor went but rarely +among the throngs of Ilium. Yet, not having a breast either churlish, or +impregnable to love, he espies Hesperie, the daughter of Cebrenus,[61] +on the banks of her sire, who has been often sought by him throughout +all the woods, drying her locks, thrown over her shoulders, in the sun. +The Nymph, {thus} seen, takes to flight, just as the frightened hind +from the tawny wolf; and {as} the water-duck, surprised at a distance, +having left her {wonted} stream, from the hawk. Her the Trojan hero +pursues, and, swift with love, closely follows her, made swift by fear. +Behold! a snake, lurking in the grass, with its barbed sting, wounds her +foot as she flies, and leaves its venom in her body. With her flight is +her life cut short. Frantic, he embraces her breathless, and cries +aloud,-- “I grieve, I grieve that {ever} I pursued {thee}. But I did not +apprehend this; nor was it of so much value to me to conquer. We two +have proved the destruction of wretched thee. The wound was given by the +serpent; by me was the occasion given. I should be more guilty than he, +did I not give the consolation for thy fate by my own death.” {Thus} he +said; and from a rock which the hoarse waves had undermined, he hurled +himself into the sea. Tethys, pitying him as he fell, received him +softly, and covered him with feathers as he swam through the sea; and +the power of obtaining the death he sought was not granted to him. The +lover is vexed that, against his will, he is obliged to live on, and +that opposition is made to his spirit, desirous to depart from its +wretched abode. And, as he has assumed newformed wings on his shoulders, +he flies aloft, and again he throws his body in the waves: his feathers +break the fall. Æsacus is enraged; and headlong he plunges into the +deep,[62] and incessantly tries the way of destruction. Love caused his +leanness; the spaces between the joints of his legs are long; his neck +remains long, {and} his head is far away from his body. He loves the +sea, and has his name because he plunges[63] in it. + + [Footnote 58: _Some old man._--Ver. 749-50. ‘Hos aliquis + senior--spectat;’ these words are translated by Clarke, ‘Some old + blade spies them.’] + + [Footnote 59: _Ganymede._--Ver. 756. Ovid need not have inserted + Assaracus and Ganymede, as they were only the brothers of Ilus, + and the three were the sons of Tros. Ilus was the father of + Laomedon, whose son was Priam, the father of Æsacus.] + + [Footnote 60: _Granicus._--Ver. 763. The Granicus was a river of + Mysia, near which Alexander the Great defeated Darius with immense + slaughter.] + + [Footnote 61: _Cebrenus._--Ver. 769. The Cebrenus was a little + stream of Phrygia, not far from Troy.] + + [Footnote 62: _Plunges into the deep._--Ver. 791-2. ‘Inque + profundum Pronus abit,’ Clarke renders, ‘Goes plumb down into the + deep.’ Certainly this is nearer to its French origin, ‘a plomb,’ + than the present form, ‘plump down;’ but, like many other + instances in his translation, it decidedly does not help us, as he + professes to do, to ‘the attainment of the elegancy of this great + Poet.’] + + [Footnote 63: _Because he plunges._--Ver. 795. He accounts for the + Latin name of the diver, or didapper, ‘mergus,’ by saying that it + was so called, ‘a mergendo,’ from its diving, which doubtless was + the origin of the name, though not taking its rise in the fiction + here related by the Poet.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + Ovid and Apollodorus agree that Æsacus was the son of Priam, and + that he was changed into a didapper, or diver, but they differ in + the other circumstances of his life. Instead of being the son of + Alexirhoë, Apollodorus says that he was the son of Priam and Arisbe + the daughter of Merope, his first wife; that his father made him + marry Sterope, who dying very young, he was so afflicted at her + death, that he threw himself into the sea. He also says that Priam + having repudiated Arisbe to marry Hecuba, the daughter of Cisseus, + Æsacus seeing his mother-in-law pregnant of her second son, foretold + his father that her progeny would be the cause of a bloody war, + which would end in the destruction of the kingdom of Troy; and that + upon this prediction, the infant, when born, was exposed on Mount + Ida. + + Tzetzes adds, that Æsacus told his father that it was absolutely + necessary to put to death both the mother and the infant which was + born on that same day; on which Priam being informed that Cilla, the + wife of Thymætes, being delivered on that day of a son, he ordered + them both to be killed; thinking thereby to escape the realization + of the prediction. Servius, on the authority of Euphorion, relates + the story in much the same manner; but a poet quoted by Cicero in + his first book on Divination, says that it was the oracle of Zelia, + a little town at the foot of Mount Ida, which gave that answer as an + interpretation of the dream of Hecuba. Pausanias says it was the + sibyl Herophila who interpreted the dream, while other ancient + writers state that it was Cassandra. Apollodorus says that Æsacus + learned from his grandfather Merops the art of foretelling things to + come. + + + + +BOOK THE TWELFTH. + + +FABLES I. AND II. [XII.1-145] + + The Greeks assemble their troops at Aulis, to proceed against the + city of Troy, and revenge the rape of Helen; but the fleet is + detained in port by contrary winds. Calchas, the priest, after a + prediction concerning the success of the expedition, declares that + the weather will never be favourable till Agamemnon shall have + sacrificed his daughter Iphigenia. She is immediately led to the + altar for that purpose; but Diana, appeased by this act of + obedience, carries away the maiden, and substitutes a hind in her + place, on which a fair wind arises. Upon the Greeks landing at Troy, + a battle is fought, in which Protesilaüs is killed by Hector, and + Achilles kills Cygnus, a Trojan, on which his father Neptune + transforms him into a swan. + +His father Priam mourned him, not knowing that Æsacus, having assumed +wings, was {still} living; Hector, too, with his brothers, made +unavailing offerings[1] at a tomb, that bore his name {on it}. The +presence of Paris was wanting, at this mournful office: who, soon after, +brought into his country a lengthened war, together with a ravished +wife;[2] and a thousand ships[3] uniting together, followed him, and, +together {with them}, the whole body[4] of the Pelasgian nation. Nor +would vengeance have been delayed, had not the raging winds made the +seas impassable, and the Bœotian land detained in fishy Aulis the ships +ready to depart. Here, when they had prepared a sacrifice to Jupiter, +after the manner of their country, as the ancient altar was heated with +kindled fires, the Greeks beheld an azure-coloured serpent creep into a +plane tree, which was standing near the sacrifice they had begun. There +was on the top of the tree a nest of twice four birds, which the serpent +seized[5] together, and the dam as she fluttered around {the scene of} +her loss, and he buried them in his greedy maw. All stood amazed. But +{Calchas}, the son of Thestor, a soothsayer, foreseeing the truth, says, +“Rejoice, Pelasgians, we shall conquer. Troy will fall, but the +continuance of our toil will be long;” and he allots the nine birds to +the years of the war. {The serpent}, just as he is, coiling around the +green branches in the tree, becomes a stone, and, under the form of a +serpent, retains that stone {form}. + +Nereus continued boisterous in the Ionian waves, and did not impel the +sails onwards; and there are some who think that Neptune favoured Troy, +because he made the walls of the city. But not {so} the son of Thestor. +For neither was he ignorant, nor did he conceal, that the wrath of the +virgin Goddess must be appeased by the blood of a virgin. After the +public good had prevailed over affection, and the king over the father, +and Iphigenia, ready to offer her chaste blood, stood before the altar, +while the priests were weeping; the Goddess was appeased, and cast a +mist before their eyes, and, amid the service and the hurry of the +rites, and the voices of the suppliants, is said to have changed +Iphigenia, the Mycenian maiden, for a substituted hind. Wherefore, when +the Goddess was appeased by a death which was {more} fitting, and at the +same moment the wrath of Phœbe, and of the sea was past, the thousand +ships received the winds astern, and having suffered much, they gained +the Phrygian shore. + +There is a spot in the middle of the world, between the land and the +sea, and the regions of heaven, the confines of the threefold universe, +whence is beheld whatever anywhere exists, although it may be in far +{distant} regions, and every sound pierces the hollow ears. {Of this +place} Fame is possessed, and chooses for herself a habitation on the +top[6] of a tower, and has added innumerable avenues, and a thousand +openings to her house, and has closed the entrances with no gates. Night +and day are they open. It is all of sounding brass; it is all +resounding, and it reechoes the voice, and repeats what it hears. Within +there is no rest, and silence in no part. Nor yet is there a clamour, +but the murmur of a low voice, such as is wont to arise from the waves +of the sea, if one listens at a distance, or like the sound which the +end of the thundering {makes} when Jupiter has clashed the black clouds +together. A crowd occupies the hall; the fickle vulgar come and go; and +a thousand rumours, false mixed with true, wander up and down, and +circulate confused words. Of these, some fill the empty ears with +conversation; some are carrying elsewhere what is told them; the measure +of the fiction is ever on the increase, and each fresh narrator adds +something to what he has heard. There, is Credulity, there, rash +Mistake, and empty Joy, and alarmed Fears, and sudden Sedition, and +Whispers of doubtful origin. She sees what things are done in heaven and +on the sea, and on the earth; and she pries into the whole universe. + +She has made it known that Grecian ships are on their way, with valiant +troops: nor does the enemy appear in arms unlooked for. The Trojans +oppose their landing, and defend the shore, and thou, Protesilaüs,[7] +art, by the decrees of fate, the first to fall by the spear of +Hector;[8] and the battles {now} commenced, and the courageous spirits +of {the Trojans}, and Hector, {till then} unknown, cost the Greeks dear. +Nor do the Phrygians experience at small expense of blood what the +Grecian right hand can do. And now the Sigæan shores are red {with +blood}: now Cygnus, the son of Neptune, has slain a thousand men. Now is +Achilles pressing on in his chariot, and levelling the Trojan ranks, +with the blow of his Peleian spear; and seeking through the lines either +Cygnus or Hector, he engages with Cygnus: Hector is reserved for the +tenth year. Then animating the horses, having their white necks pressed +with the yoke, he directed his chariot against the enemy, and +brandishing his quivering spear with his arm, he said, “O youth, whoever +thou art, take this consolation in thy death, that thou art slain by the +Hæmonian Achilles.” + +Thus far the grandson of Æacus. His heavy lance followed his words. But, +although there was no missing in the unerring lance, yet it availed +nothing, by the sharpness of its point, {thus} discharged; and as it +only bruised his breast with a blunt stroke, {the other} said, “Thou son +of a Goddess, (for by report have we known of thee beforehand) why art +thou surprised that wounds are warded off from me? (for {Achilles} was +surprised); not this helmet that thou seest tawny with the horse’s mane, +nor the hollowed shield, the burden of my left arm, are assistant to me; +from them ornament {alone} is sought; for this cause, too, Mars is wont +to take up arms. All the assistance of defensive armour shall be +removed, {and} yet I shall come off unhurt. It is something to be born, +not of a Nereid,[9] but {of one} who rules both Nereus and his daughter, +and the whole ocean.” + +{Thus} he spoke; and he hurled against the descendant of Æacus his dart, +destined to stick in the rim of his shield; it broke through both the +brass and the next nine folds of bull’s hide; but stopping in the tenth +circle {of the hide}, the hero wrenched it out, and again hurled the +quivering weapon with a strong hand; again his body was without a wound, +and unharmed, nor was a third spear able {even} to graze Cygnus, +unprotected, and exposing himself. Achilles raged no otherwise than as a +bull,[10] in the open Circus,[11] when with his dreadful horns he butts +against the purple-coloured garments, used as the means of provoking +him, and perceives that his wounds are evaded. Still, he examines +whether the point has chanced to fall from off the spear. It is {still} +adhering to the shaft. “My hand then is weak,” says he, “and it has +spent {all} the strength it had before, upon one man. For decidedly it +was strong enough, both when at first I overthrew the walls of +Lyrnessus, or when I filled both Tenedos and Eëtionian[12] Thebes with +their own blood. Or when Caÿcus[13] flowed empurpled with the slaughter +of its people: and Telephus[14] was twice sensible of the virtue of my +spear. Here, too, where so many have been slain, heaps of whom I both +have made along this shore, and I {now} behold, my right hand has proved +mighty, and is mighty.” + +{Thus} he spoke; and as if he distrusted what he had done before, he +hurled his spear against Menœtes, one of the Lycian multitude,[15] who +{was} standing opposite, and he tore asunder both his coat of mail, and +his breast beneath it. He beating the solid earth with his dying head, +he drew the same weapon from out of the reeking wound, and said, “This +is the hand, this the lance, with which I conquered but now. The same +will I use against him; in his {case}, I pray that the event may prove +the same.” Thus he said, and he hurled it at Cygnus, nor did the ashen +lance miss him; and, not escaped {by him}, it resounded on his left +shoulder: thence it was repelled, as though by a wall, or a solid rock. +Yet Achilles saw Cygnus marked with blood, where he had been struck, and +he rejoiced, {but in} vain. There was no wound; that was the blood of +Menœtes. + +Then indeed, raging, he leaps headlong from his lofty chariot, and hand +to hand, with his gleaming sword striking at his fearless foe, he +perceives that the shield and the helmet are pierced with his sword, and +that his weapon, too, is blunted upon his hard body. He endures it no +longer; and drawing back his shield, he three or four times strikes the +face of the hero, and his hollow temples, with the hilt of the sword; +and following, he presses onward as the other gives ground, and +confounds him, and drives him on, and gives him no respite in his +confusion. Horror seizes on him, and darkness swims before his eyes; and +as he moves backwards his retreating steps, a stone in the middle of the +field stands in his way. Impelled over this, with his breast upwards, +Achilles throws Cygnus with great violence, and dashes him[16] to the +earth. Then, pressing down his breast with his shield and his hard +knees, he draws tight the straps of his helmet; which, fastened beneath +his pressed chin, squeeze close his throat, and take away his +respiration and the passage of his breath. + +He is preparing to strip his vanquished {foe}; he sees {nothing but} his +armour, left behind. The God of the Ocean changed his body into a white +bird, of which he {so} lately bore the name. + + [Footnote 1: _Unavailing offerings._--Ver. 3. ‘Inferias inanes’ is + a poetical expression, signifying the offering sacrifices of + honey, milk, wine, blood, flowers, frankincense, and other things, + at a tomb, which was empty or honorary. The Greeks called these + kind of sacrifices by the name of χοαὶ.] + + [Footnote 2: _A ravished wife._--Ver. 5. This was Helen, the wife + of Menelaüs, whose abduction by Paris was the cause of the Trojan + war.] + + [Footnote 3: _A thousand ships._--Ver. 7. That is, a thousand in + round numbers. For Homer makes them, 1186; Dictys Cretensis, 1225; + and Dares, 1140.] + + [Footnote 4: _The whole body._--Ver. 7. The adjective ‘commune’ is + here used substantively, and signifies ‘the whole body.’] + + [Footnote 5: _Serpent seized._--Ver. 16-17. Clarke translates this + line, ‘Which the snake whipt up, as also the dam flying about her + loss, and buried them in his greedy paunch.’] + + [Footnote 6: _On the top._--Ver. 43. ‘Summaque domum sibi legit in + arce,’ is translated by Clarke, ‘And chooses there a house for + herself, on the very tip-top of it.’] + + [Footnote 7: _Protesilaüs._--Ver. 68. He was the husband of + Laodamia, the daughter of Acastus. His father was Iphiclus, who + was noted for his extreme swiftness.] + + [Footnote 8: _Spear of Hector._--Ver. 67. Some writers say that he + fell by the hand of Æneas.] + + [Footnote 9: _Of a Nereid._--Ver. 93. Cygnus says this + sarcastically, in allusion to Achilles being born of Thetis, + a daughter of Nereus.] + + [Footnote 10: _As a bull._--Ver. 103-4. Clarke translates these + lines in this comical strain: ‘Achilles was as mad as a bull in + the open Circus, when he pushes at the red coat, stuffed, used on + purpose to provoke him.’] + + [Footnote 11: _The open Circus._--Ver. 104. We learn from Seneca, + that it was the custom in the ‘venationes’ of the Circus to + irritate the bull against his antagonist, by thrusting in his path + figures stuffed with straw or hay, and covered with red cloth. + Similar means are used to provoke the bull in the Spanish + bull-fights of the present day.] + + [Footnote 12: _Eëtionian._--Ver. 110. Eëtion, the father of + Andromache, the wife of Hector, was the king of Thebes in Cilicia, + which place was ravaged by the Greeks for having sent assistance + to the Trojans.] + + [Footnote 13: _Caÿcus._--Ver. 111. The Caÿcus was a river of + Mysia, in Asia Minor, which country had incurred the resentment of + the Greeks, for having assisted the Trojans.] + + [Footnote 14: _Telephus._--Ver. 112. Telephus, the son of Hercules + and the Nymph Auge, was wounded in combat by Achilles. By the + direction of the oracle, he applied to Achilles for his cure, + which was effected by means of the rust of the weapon with which + the wound was made.] + + [Footnote 15: _Lycian multitude._--Ver. 116. The Lycians, whose + territory was in Asia Minor, between Caria and Pamphylia, were + allies of the Trojans.] + + [Footnote 16: _And dashes him._--Ver. 139. Clarke renders this + line, ‘He overset him, and thwacked him against the ground.’] + + +EXPLANATION. + + It is not improbable that the prediction of Calchas, at Aulis, that + the war against Troy would endure nine years, had no other + foundation than his desire to check an enterprise which must be + attended with much bloodshed, and difficulties of the most + formidable nature. It is not unlikely, too, that this interpretation + of the story of the serpent devouring the birds may have been + planned by some of the Grecian generals, who did not dare openly to + refuse their assistance to Agamemnon. The story of Iphigenia was, + perhaps, founded on a similar policy. The ancient poets and + historians are by no means agreed as to the fate of Iphigenia, as + some say that she really was sacrificed, while others state that she + was transformed into a she-bear, others into an old woman, and + Nicander affirms that she was changed into a heifer. + + There is no story more celebrated among the ancients than that of + the intended immolation of Iphigenia. Euripides wrote two tragedies + on the subject. Homer, however, makes no allusion to the story of + Iphigenia; but he mentions Iphianassa, the daughter of Agamemnon, + who was sent for, to be a hostage on his reconciliation with + Achilles; she is probably the same person that is meant by the later + poets, under the name of Iphigenia. + + It has been suggested by some modern commentators, that the story of + Iphigenia was founded on the sacrifice of his own daughter, by + Jeptha, the judge of Israel, which circumstance happened much about + the same time. The story of the substitution of the hind for the + damsel, when about to be slain, was possibly founded on the + substituted offering for Isaac when about to be offered by his + father; for it is not probable that the people of Greece were + entirely ignorant of the existence of the books of Moses, and that + wonderful narrative would be not unlikely to make an impression on + minds ever ready to be attracted by the marvellous. Some writers + have taken pains to show that Agamemnon did not sacrifice, or + contemplate sacrificing, his own daughter, by asserting that the + Iphigenia here mentioned was the daughter of Helen, who was educated + by Clytemnestra, the wife of Agamemnon, and the sister of Helen. + Pausanias also adopts this view, and gives for his authorities + Euphorion of Chalcis, Alexander, Stesichorus, and the people of + Argos, who preserved a tradition to the same effect. + + Lucretius, Virgil, and Diodorus Siculus are in the number of those + who assert that Iphigenia actually was immolated. According to + Dictys the Cretan, and several of the ancient scholiasts, Ulysses + having left the Grecian camp without the knowledge of Agamemnon, + went to Argos, and returned with Iphigenia, under the pretext that + her father intended to marry her to Achilles. Some writers state + that Achilles was in love with Iphigenia; and that he was greatly + enraged at Ulysses for bringing her to the camp, and opposed her + sacrifice to the utmost of his power. + + Ovid then proceeds to recount the adventures of the Greeks, after + their arrival at Troy. An oracle had warned the Greeks, that he who + should be the first to land on the Trojan shores, would inevitably + be slain. Protesilaüs seeing that this prediction damped the courage + of his companions, led the way, and sacrificed his life for the + safety of his friends, being slain by Hector immediately on his + landing. Cygnus, signalizing himself by his bravery, attracted the + attention of Achilles, who singled him out as a worthy antagonist. + It was said that this hero was the son of Neptune; perhaps because + he was powerful by sea, and the prince of some island in the + Archipelago. He was said to be invulnerable, most probably because + his shield was arrow-proof. The story of his transformation into a + swan, has evidently no other foundation than the resemblance between + his name and that of that bird. + + +FABLES III. AND IV. [XII.146-535] + + A truce ensuing, the Grecian chiefs having assembled at a feast, + express their surprise at the fact of Cygnus being invulnerable. + Nestor, by way of showing a still more surprising instance, relates + how the Nymph Cænis, the daughter of Elatus, having yielded to the + caresses of Neptune, was transformed by him into a man, and made + invulnerable. Cæneus being present at the wedding feast of + Pirithoüs, the son of Ixion, where Eurytus was a guest, the latter, + being elevated with wine, made an attempt upon Hippodamia, the + bride; on which a quarrel arose between the Centaurs and the + Lapithæ. After many on both sides had been slain, Cæneus still + remained unhurt; on which, the Centaurs having heaped up trunks of + trees upon him, he was pressed to death; Neptune then changed his + body into a bird. + +This toil[17] {and} this combat brought on a cessation for many days; +and both sides rested, laying aside their arms. And while a watchful +guard was keeping the Phrygian walls, and a watchful guard was keeping +the Argive trenches, a festive day had arrived, on which Achilles, the +conqueror of Cygnus, appeased Pallas with the blood of a heifer, adorned +with fillets. As soon as he had placed its entrails[18] upon the glowing +altars, and the smell, acceptable to the Deities, mounted up to the +skies, the sacred rites had their share, the other part was served up at +the table. The chiefs reclined on couches, and sated their bodies with +roasted flesh,[19] and banished both their cares and their thirst with +wine. No harps, no melody of voices,[20] no long pipe of boxwood pierced +with many a hole, delights them; but in discourse they pass the night, +and valour is the subject-matter of their conversation. They relate the +combats of the enemy and their own; and often do they delight to +recount, in turn, both the dangers that they have encountered and that +they have surmounted. For of what {else} should Achilles speak? or of +what, in preference, should they speak before the great Achilles? {But} +especially the recent victory over the conquered Cygnus was the subject +of discourse. It seemed wonderful to them all, that the body of the +youth was penetrable by no weapon, and was susceptible of no wounds, and +that it blunted the steel itself. This same thing, the grandson of +Æacus, this, the Greeks wondered at. + +When thus Nestor says {to them}: “Cygnus has been the only despiser of +weapons in your time, and penetrable by no blows. But I myself formerly +saw the Perrhæbean[21] Cæneus bear a thousand blows with his body +unhurt; Cæneus the Perrhæbean, {I say}, who, famous for his +achievements, inhabited Othrys. And that this, too, might be the more +wondrous in him, he was born a woman.” They are surprised, whoever are +present, at the singular nature of this prodigy, and they beg him to +tell the story. Among them, Achilles says, “Pray tell us, (for we all +have the same desire to hear it,) O eloquent old man,[22] the wisdom of +our age; who was {this} Cæneus, {and} why changed to the opposite sex? +in what war, and in the engagements of what contest was he known to +thee? by whom was he conquered, if he was conquered by any one?” + +Then the aged man {replied}: “Although tardy old age is a disadvantage +to me, and many things which I saw in my early years escape me {now}, +yet I remember most {of them}; and there is nothing, amid so many +transactions of war and peace, that is more firmly fixed in my mind than +that circumstance. And if extended age could make any one a witness of +many deeds, I have lived two hundred[23] years, {and} now my third +century is being passed {by me}. Cænis, the daughter of Elatus, was +remarkable for her charms; the most beauteous virgin among the +Thessalian maids, and one sighed for in vain by the wishes of many +wooers through the neighbouring {cities}, and through thy cities, +Achilles, for she was thy countrywoman. Perhaps, too, Peleus would have +attempted that alliance; but at that time the marriage of thy mother had +either befallen him, or had been promised him. Cænis did not enter into +any nuptial ties; and as she was walking along the lonely shore, she +suffered violence from the God of the ocean. ’Twas thus that report +stated; and when Neptune had experienced the pleasures of this new +amour, he said, ‘Be thy wishes secure from all repulse; choose whatever +thou mayst desire.’ The same report has related this too; Cænis replied, +‘This mishap makes my desire extreme, that I may not be in a condition +to suffer any such thing {in future}. Grant that I be no {longer} a +woman, {and} thou wilt have granted me all.’ She spoke these last words +with a hoarser tone, and the voice might seem to be that of a man, as +{indeed} it was. + +“For now the God of the deep ocean had consented to her wish; and had +granted moreover that he should not be able to be pierced by any wounds, +or to fall by {any} steel. Exulting in his privilege, the Atracian[24] +departed; and {now} spent his time in manly exercises, and roamed over +the Peneïan plains. {Pirithoüs}, the son of the bold Ixion, had married +Hippodame,[25] and had bidden the cloud-born monsters to sit down at the +tables ranged in order, in a cave shaded with trees. The Hæmonian nobles +were there; I, too, was there, and the festive palace resounded with the +confused rout. Lo! they sing the marriage song, and the halls smoke with +the fires;[26] the maiden, too, is there, remarkable for her beauty, +surrounded by a crowd of matrons and newly married women. We {all} +pronounce Pirithoüs fortunate in her for a wife; an omen which we had +well nigh falsified. For thy breast, Eurytus, most savage of the savage +Centaurs, is inflamed as much with wine as with seeing the maiden; and +drunkenness, redoubled by lust, holds sway {over thee}. On the sudden +the tables being overset, disturb the feast, and the bride is violently +dragged away by her seized hair. Eurytus snatches up Hippodame, {and} +the others such as each one fancies, or is able {to seize}; and there is +{all} the appearance of a captured city. The house rings with the cries +of women. Quickly we all rise; and first, Theseus says, ‘What madness, +Eurytus, is impelling thee, who, while I {still} live, dost provoke +Pirithoüs, and, in thy ignorance, in one dost injure two?’ And that the +valiant hero may not say these things in vain, he pushes them off as +they are pressing on, and takes her whom they have seized away from them +as they grow furious. + +“He says nothing in answer, nor, indeed, can he defend such actions by +words; but he attacks the face of her protector with insolent hands, and +strikes his generous breast. By chance, there is near at hand an ancient +bowl, rough with projecting figures, which, huge as it is, the son of +Ægeus, himself huger {still}, takes up and hurls full in his face. He, +vomiting both from his wounds and his mouth clots of blood,[27] and +brains and wine together, lying on his back, kicks on the soaking sand. +{The} double-limbed[28] {Centaurs} are inflamed at the death of their +brother; and all vying, with one voice exclaim, ‘To arms! to arms!’ Wine +gives them courage, and, in the first onset, cups hurled are flying +about, and shattered casks[29] and hollow cauldrons; things before +adapted for a banquet, now for war and slaughter. First, the son of +Ophion, Amycus, did not hesitate to spoil the interior of the house of +its ornaments; and first, from the shrine he tore up a chandelier,[30] +thick set with blazing lamps; and lifting it on high, like him who +attempts to break the white neck of the bull with sacrificial axe, he +dashed it against the forehead of Celadon the Lapithean, and left his +skull mashed into his face, no {longer} to be recognized. His eyes +started out, and the bones of his face being dashed to pieces, his nose +was driven back, and was fixed in the middle of his palate. Him, Belates +the Pellæan, having torn away the foot of a maple table, laid flat on +the ground, with his chin sunk upon his breast, and vomiting forth his +teeth mixed with blood; and sent him, by a twofold wound, to the shades +of Tartarus. + +“As Gryneus stood next, looking at the smoking altar with a grim look, +he said, ‘{And} why do we not make use of this?’ and {then} he raised an +immense altar, together with its fire; and hurled it into the midst of +the throng of the Lapithæ, and struck down two {of them}, Broteus and +Orius. The mother of Orius was Mycale, who was known by her incantations +to have often drawn down the horns of the struggling moon. {On this} +Exadius says, ‘Thou shalt not go unpunished, if only the opportunity of +getting a weapon is given me;’ and, as his weapon, he wields the antlers +of a votive stag,[31] which were upon a lofty pine-tree. With the double +branches of these, Gryneus is pierced through the eyes, and has those +eyes scooped out. A part of them adheres to the antlers, a part runs +down his beard, and hangs down clotted with gore. Lo! Rhœtus snatches up +an immense flaming brand, from the middle of the altar, and on the right +side breaks through the temples of Charaxus, covered with yellow hair. +His locks, seized by the violent flames, burn like dry corn, and the +blood seared in the wound emits a terrific noise in its hissing, such as +the iron glowing in the flames is often wont to emit, which, when the +smith has drawn it out with the crooked pincers, he plunges into the +trough; whereon it whizzes, and, sinking in the bubbling water, hisses. +Wounded, he shakes the devouring fire from his locks, and takes upon his +shoulders the threshold, torn up out of the ground, a {whole} +waggon-load, which its very weight hinders him from throwing full +against the foe. The stony mass, too, bears down Cometes, a friend, who +is standing at a short distance; nor does Rhœtus {then} restrain his +joy, {and} he says, ‘In such manner do I pray that the rest of the +throng of thy party may be brave;’ and {then} he increases the wound, +redoubled with the half-burnt stake, and three or four times he breaks +the sutures of his head with heavy blows, and its bones sink within the +oozing brains. + +“Victorious, he passes on to Evagrus, and Corythus, and Dryas; of which +{number}, when Corythus, having his cheeks covered[32] with their first +down, has fallen, Evagrus says, ‘What glory has been acquired by thee, +in killing a boy?’ Rhœtus permits him to say no more, and fiercely +thrusts the glowing flames into the open mouth of the hero, as he is +speaking, and through the mouth into the breast. Thee, too, cruel Dryas, +he pursues, whirling the fire around his head, but the same issue does +not await thee as well. Thou piercest him with a stake burnt at the end, +while triumphing in the success of an uninterrupted slaughter, in the +spot where the neck is united to the shoulder. Rhœtus groans aloud, and +with difficulty wrenches the stake out of the hard bone, and, drenched +in his own blood, he flies. Orneus flies, too, and Lycabas, and Medon, +wounded in his right shoulder-blade, and Thaumas with Pisenor; Mermerus, +too, who lately excelled all in speed of foot, {but} now goes more +slowly from the wound he has received; Pholus, too, and Melaneus, and +Abas a hunter of boars, and Astylos the augur, who has in vain dissuaded +his own party from this warfare. He also says to Nessus,[33] as he +dreads the wounds, ‘Fly not! {for} thou shalt be reserved for the bow of +Hercules.’ But Eurynomus and Lycidas, and Areos, and Imbreus did not +escape death, all of whom the right hand of Dryas pierced right through. +Thou, too, Crenæus, didst receive a wound in front,[34] although thou +didst turn thy back in flight; for looking back, thou didst receive the +fatal steel between thy two eyes, where the nose is joined to the lower +part of the forehead. In the midst of so much noise, Aphidas was lying +fast asleep from the wine which he had drunk incessantly, and was not +aroused, and in his languid hand was grasping the mixed bowl, stretched +at full length upon the shaggy skin of a bear of Ossa. Soon as Phorbas +beheld him from afar, wielding no arms, he inserted his fingers in the +strap of his lance,[35] and said, ‘Drink thy wine mingled with {the +water of} Styx;’ and, delaying no longer, he hurled his javelin against +the youth, and the ash pointed with steel was driven into his neck, as, +by chance, he lay {there} on his back. His death happened without his +being sensible of it; and the blood flowed from his full throat, both +upon the couch and into the bowl itself. + +“I saw Petræus endeavouring to tear up an acorn-bearing oak from the +earth; {and}, as he was grasping it in his embrace, and was shaking it +on this side and that, and was moving about the loosened tree, the lance +of Pirithoüs hurled at the ribs of Petræus, transfixed his struggling +breast together with the tough oak. They said, {too}, that Lycus fell by +the valour of Pirithoüs, {and} that Chromis fell {by the hand} of +Pirithoüs. But each of them {gave} less glory to the conqueror, than +Dictys and Helops gave. Helops was transfixed by the javelin, which +passed right through his temples, and, hurled from the right side, +penetrated to his left ear. Dictys, slipping from the steep point of a +rock, while, in his fear, he is flying from the pursuing son of Ixion, +falls down headlong, and, by the weight of his body, breaks a huge ash +tree, and spits his own entrails upon it, {thus} broken. Aphareus +advances {as} his avenger, and endeavours to hurl a stone torn away from +the mountain. As he is endeavouring {to do so}, the son of Ægeus attacks +him with an oaken club, and breaks the huge bones of his arm, and has +neither leisure, nor, {indeed}, does he care to put his useless body to +death; and he leaps upon the back of the tall Bianor, not used to +bear[36] any other than himself; and he fixes his knees in his ribs, and +holding his long hair, seized with his left hand, shatters his face, and +his threatening features, and his very hard temples, with the knotty +oak. With his oak, {too}, he levels Nedymnus, and Lycotas the darter, +and Hippasus having his breast covered with his flowing beard, and +Ripheus, who towered above the topmost woods, and Tereus, who used to +carry home the bears, caught in the Hæmonian mountains, alive and +raging. + +“Demoleon could not any longer endure Theseus enjoying this success in +the combat, and he tried with vast efforts to tear up from the thick-set +wood an aged pine; because he could not effect this, he hurled it, +broken short, against his foe. But Theseus withdrew afar from the +approaching missile, through the warning of Pallas; so {at least} he +himself wished it to be thought. Yet the tree did not fall without +effect: for it struck off from the throat of the tall Crantor, both his +breast and his left shoulder. He, Achilles, had been the armour-bearer +of thy father: him Amyntor, king of the Dolopians,[37] when conquered in +war, had given to the son of Æacus, as a pledge and confirmation of +peace. When Peleus saw him at a distance, mangled with a foul wound, he +said, ‘Accept however, Crantor, most beloved of youths, this sacrifice;’ +and, with a strong arm, and energy of intention, he hurled his ashen +lance against Demoleon, which broke through the enclosures of his ribs, +and quivered, sticking amid the bones. He draws out with his hand the +shaft without the point; even that follows, with much difficulty; the +point is retained within his lungs. The very pain gives vigour to his +resolution; {though} wounded, he rears against the enemy, and tramples +upon the hero with his horse’s feet. The other receives the re-echoing +strokes upon his helmet and his shield, and defends his shoulders, and +holds his arms extended before him, and through the shoulder-blades he +pierces two breasts[38] at one stroke. But first, from afar, he had +consigned to death Phlegræus, and Hyles; in closer combat, Hiphinoüs and +Clanis. To these is added Dorylas, who had his temples covered with a +wolf’s skin, and the real horns of oxen reddened with much blood, that +performed the duty of a cruel weapon. + +“To him I said, for courage gave me strength, ‘Behold, how much thy +horns are inferior to my steel;’ and {then} I threw my javelin. When he +could not avoid this, he held up his right hand before his forehead, +about to receive the blow; {and} to his forehead his hand was pinned. +A shout arose; but Peleus struck him delaying, and overpowered by the +painful wound, (for he was standing next to him) with his sword beneath +the middle of his belly. He leaped forth, and fiercely dragged his own +bowels on the ground, and trod on them {thus} dragged, and burst them +{thus} trodden; and he entangled his legs, as well in them, and fell +down, with his belly emptied {of its inner parts}. Nor did thy beauty, +Cyllarus,[39] save thee while fighting, if only we allow beauty to that +{monstrous} nature {of thine}. His beard was beginning {to grow}; the +colour of his beard was that of gold; and golden-coloured hair was +hanging from his shoulders to the middle of his shoulder-blades. In his +face there was a pleasing briskness; his neck, and his shoulders, and +his hands, and his breast {were} resembling the applauded statues of the +artists, and {so} in those parts in which he was a man; nor was the +shape of the horse beneath that {shape}, faulty and inferior to {that +of} the man. Give him {but} the neck and the head {of a horse, and} he +would be worthy of Castor. So fit is his back to be sat upon, so stands +his breast erect with muscle; {he is} all over blacker than black pitch; +yet his tail is white; the colour, too, of his legs is white. Many a +female of his own kind longed for him; but Hylonome alone gained him, +than whom no female more handsome lived in the lofty woods, among the +half beasts. She alone attaches Cyllarus, both by her blandishments, and +by loving, and by confessing that she loves him. Her care, too, of her +person is as great as can be in those limbs: so that her hair is +smoothed with a comb; so that she now decks herself with rosemary, now +with violets or roses, {and} sometimes she wears white lilies; and twice +a day she washes her face with streams that fall from the height of the +Pagasæan wood; {and} twice she dips her body in the stream: and she +throws over her shoulder or her left side no skins but what are +becoming, and are those of choice beasts. + +“Their love was equal: together they wandered upon the mountains; +together they entered the caves; and then, too, together had they +entered the Lapithæan house; together were they waging the fierce +warfare. The author {of the deed} is unknown: {but} a javelin came from +the left side, and pierced thee, Cyllarus, below {the spot} where the +breast is joined to the neck. The heart, being pierced with a small +wound, grew cold, together with the whole body, after the weapon was +drawn out. Immediately, Hylonome receives his dying limbs, and cherishes +the wound, by laying her hand on it, and places her mouth on his, and +strives to stop the fleeting life. When she sees him dead, having +uttered what the clamour hinders from reaching my ears, she falls upon +the weapon that has pierced him, and as she dies, embraces her husband. +He, too, {now} stands before my eyes, Phæocomes, {namely}, who had bound +six lions’ skins together with connecting knots; covered all over, both +horse and man. He, having discharged the trunk of a tree, which two +yokes of oxen joined together could hardly have moved, battered the son +of Phonolenus on the top of his head. The very broad round form of his +skull was broken; and through his mouth, and through his hollow +nostrils, and his eyes, and his ears, his softened brains poured down; +just as curdled milk is wont through the oaken twigs, or as {any} liquor +flows under the weight of a well-pierced sieve, and is squeezed out +thick through the numerous holes. But I, while he was preparing to strip +him of his arms as he lay, (this thy sire knows,) plunged my sword into +the lower part of his belly, as he was spoiling him. Chthonius, too, and +Teleboas, lay {pierced} by my sword. The former was bearing a two-forked +bough {as his weapon}, the latter a javelin; with his javelin he gave me +a wound. You see the marks; look! the old scar is still visible. + +“Then ought I[40] to have been sent to the taking of Troy; then I might, +if not have overcome, {still} have stayed the arms of the mighty Hector. +But at that time Hector was not existing, or {but} a boy; {and} now my +age is failing. Why tell thee of Periphas, the conqueror of the +two-formed Pyretus? Why of Ampyx, who fixed his cornel-wood spear, +without a point, full in the face of the four-footed Oëclus? Macareus, +struck down the Pelethronian[41] Erigdupus,[42] by driving a crowbar +into his breast. I remember, too, that a hunting spear, hurled by the +hand of Nessus, was buried in the groin of Cymelus. And do not believe +that Mopsus,[43] the son of Ampycus, only foretold things to come; +a two-formed {monster} was slain by Mopsus, darting {at him}, and Odites +in vain attempted to speak, his tongue being nailed to his chin, and his +chin to his throat. Cæneus had put five to death, Stiphelus, and Bromus, +and Antimachus, and Helimus, and Pyracmos, wielding the axe. I do not +remember {their respective} wounds, {but} I marked their numbers, and +their names. Latreus, most huge both in his limbs and his body, sallied +forth, armed with the spoils of Emathian[44] Halesus, whom he had +consigned to death. His age was between that of a youth, and an old man; +his vigour that of a youth; grey hairs variegated his temples. +Conspicuous by his buckler, and his helmet, and his Macedonian pike;[45] +and turning his face towards both sides, he brandished his arms, and +rode in one same round, and vaunting, poured forth thus many words into +the yielding air:-- + +“‘And shall I put up with thee, too, Cænis? for to me thou shalt ever be +a woman, to me always Cænis. Does not thy natal origin lower thy +{spirit}? And does it not occur to thy mind for what {foul} deed thou +didst get thy reward, and at what price the false resemblance to a man? +Consider both what thou wast born, as well as what thou hast submitted +to: go, and take up a distaff together with thy baskets, and twist the +threads[46] with thy thumb; leave warfare to men.’ As he is vaunting in +such terms, Cæneus pierces his side, stretched in running, with a lance +hurled at him, just where the man is joined to the horse. He raves with +pain, and strikes at the exposed face of the Phylleian [47] youth with +his pike. It bounds back no otherwise than hail from the roof of a +house; or than if any one were to beat a hollow drum with a little +pebble. Hand to hand he encounters him, and strives to plunge his sword +into his tough side; {but} the parts are impervious to his sword. ‘Yet,’ +says he, ‘thou shalt not escape me; with the middle of the sword shalt +thou be slain, since the point is blunt;’ and {then} he slants the sword +against his side, and grasps his stomach with his long right arm. The +blow produces an echo, as on a body of marble when struck; and the +shivered blade flies different ways, upon striking his neck. + +“After Cæneus had enough exposed his unhurt limbs to him in his +amazement, ‘Come now,’ said he, ‘let us try thy body with my steel;’ and +up to the hilt he plunged his fatal sword into his shoulder-blade, and +extended his hand unseen into his entrails, and worked it about, and in +the wound made a {fresh} wound. Lo! the double-limbed {monsters,} +enraged, rush on in an impetuous manner, and all of them hurl and thrust +their weapons at him alone. Their weapons fall blunted. Unstabbed and +bloodless the Elateïan Cæneus remains from each blow. This strange thing +makes them astonished. ‘Oh great disgrace!’ cries Monychus; ‘a {whole} +people, we are overcome by one, and that hardly a man; although, +{indeed}, he is a man; and we by our dastardly actions, are what he +{once} was. What signify our huge limbs? What our twofold strength? What +that our twofold nature has united in us the stoutest animals in +existence? I neither believe that we are born of a Goddess for our +mother, nor of Ixion, who was so great a person, that he conceived hopes +of {even} the supreme Juno. By a half male foe are we baffled. Heap upon +him stones and beams, and entire mountains, and dash out his long-lived +breath, by throwing {whole} woods {upon him}. Let a {whole} wood press +on his jaws; and weight shall be in the place of wounds.’ + +“{Thus} he said; and by chance having got a tree, thrown down by the +power of the boisterous South wind, he threw it against the powerful +foe: and he was an example {to the rest}; and in a short time, Othrys, +thou wast bare of trees, and Pelion had no shades. Overwhelmed by this +huge heap, Cæneus swelters beneath the weight of the trees, and bears on +his brawny shoulders the piled-up oaks. But after the load has increased +upon his face and his head, and his breath has no air to draw; at one +moment he faints, at another he endeavours, in vain, to raise himself +into the {open} air, and to throw off the wood cast {upon him}: and +sometimes he moves it. Just as lo! we see, if lofty Ida is convulsed +with earthquakes. The event is doubtful. Some gave out that his body was +hurled to roomy Tartarus by the weight of the wood. The son of Ampycus +denied this, and saw go forth into the liquid air, from amid the pile, +a bird with tawny wings; which then was beheld by me for the first time, +then, {too}, for the last. When Mopsus saw it with gentle flight +surveying his camp, and making a noise around it with a vast clamour, +following him both with his eyes and his feelings, he said, ‘Hail! thou +glory of the Lapithæan race, once the greatest of men, but now the only +bird {of thy kind}, Cæneus.’ This thing was credited from its assertor. +Grief added resentment, and we bore it with disgust, that one was +overpowered by foes so many. Nor did we cease to exercise our weapons, +in {shedding their} blood, before a part of them was put to death, and +flight and the night dispersed the rest.” + + [Footnote 17: _This toil._--Ver. 146. Clarke translates ‘Hic + labor,’ ‘This laborious bout.’] + + [Footnote 18: _Its entrails._--Ver. 152. The ‘prosecta,’ or + ‘prosiciæ,’ or ‘ablegamina,’ were portions of the animal which + were the first cut off, for the purpose of becoming as a sacrifice + to the Deities. The ‘prosecta,’ in general, consisted of a portion + of the entrails.] + + [Footnote 19: _Roasted flesh._--Ver. 155. We are informed by + Servius, that boiled meat was not eaten in the heroic ages.] + + [Footnote 20: _Melody of voices._--Ver. 157. Plutarch remarks, + that that entertainment is the most pleasant where no musician is + introduced; conversation, in his opinion, being preferable.] + + [Footnote 21: _Perrhæbean._--Ver. 172. The Perrhæbeans were a + people of Thessaly, who, having been conquered by the Lapithæ, + betook themselves to the mountain fortresses of Pindus.] + + [Footnote 22: _Eloquent old man._--Ver. 176-181. Clarke renders + these lines, ‘Come, tell us, O eloquent old gentleman, the wisdom + of our age, who was that Cæneus, and why he was turned into the + other sex? in which war, or what engagement, he was known to you? + by whom he was conquered, if he was conquered by any one?’ Upon + that, the old blade replied.’] + + [Footnote 23: _Two hundred._--Ver. 188. Ovid does not here follow + the more probable version, that the age of Nestor was three + generations of thirty years each.] + + [Footnote 24: _The Atracian._--Ver. 209. ‘Atracides’ is an + epithet, meaning ‘Thessalian,’ as Atrax, or Atracia, was a town of + Thessaly, situated near the banks of the river Peneus.] + + [Footnote 25: _Hippodame._--Ver. 210. She is called Ischomache by + Propertius, and Deidamia by Plutarch.] + + [Footnote 26: _With the fires._--Ver. 215. These fires would be + those of the nuptial torches, and of the altars for sacrifice to + Hymenæus and the other tutelary divinities of marriage.] + + [Footnote 27: _Clots of blood._--Ver. 238. Clarke renders + ‘Sanguinis globos,’ ‘goblets of blood.’] + + [Footnote 28: _Double-limbed._--Ver. 240. Clarke translates, + ‘Ardescunt bimembres,’ ‘The double-limbed fellows are in a + flame.’] + + [Footnote 29: _Shattered cask._--Ver. 243. ‘Cadi’ were not only + earthenware vessels, in which wine was kept, but also the vessels + used for drawing water.] + + [Footnote 30: _A chandelier._--Ver. 247. ‘Funale’ ordinarily + means, ‘a link,’ or ‘torch,’ made of fibrous substances twisted + together, and smeared with pitch or wax. In this instance the word + seems to mean a chandelier with several branches.] + + [Footnote 31: _A votive stag._--Ver. 267. It appears that the + horns of a stag were frequently offered as a votive gift to the + Deities, especially to Diana, the patroness of the chase. Thus in + the seventh Eclogue of Virgil, Mycon vows to present to Diana, + ‘Vivacis cornua cervi,’ ‘The horns of a long-lived stag.’] + + [Footnote 32: _Cheeks covered._--Ver. 291. ‘Prima tectus lanugine + malas,’ is not very elegantly rendered by Clarke, ‘Having his + chaps covered with down, then first putting out.’] + + [Footnote 33: _Nessus._--Ver. 309. We have already seen how Nessus + the Centaur met his death from the arrow of Hercules, when about + to offer violence to Deïanira.] + + [Footnote 34: _A wound in front._--Ver. 312. It has been suggested + that, perhaps Ovid here had in his mind the story of one + Pomponius, of whom Quintilian relates, that, having received a + wound in his face, he was showing it to Cæsar, on which he was + advised by the latter never to look behind him when he was running + away.] + + [Footnote 35: _Strap of his lance._--Ver. 321. The ‘amentum’ was + the thong, or strap of leather, with which the lance, or javelin, + was fastened, in order to draw it back when thrown.] + + [Footnote 36: _Not used to bear._--Ver. 346. He alludes to the + twofold nature, or ‘horse-part’ of the Centaur, as Clarke calls + it.] + + [Footnote 37: _The Dolopians._--Ver. 364. They were a people of + Phthiotis and Thessaly.] + + [Footnote 38: _Pierces two breasts._--Ver. 377. He says this by + poetical license, in allusion to the two-fold form of the + Centaurs.] + + [Footnote 39: _Cyllarus._--Ver. 393. This was also the name of the + horse which Castor tamed, to which Ovid alludes in the 401st + line.] + + [Footnote 40: _Then ought I._--Ver. 445. Nestor here shows a + little of the propensity for boasting, which distinguishes him in + the Iliad.] + + [Footnote 41: _Pelethronian._--Ver. 452. Pelethronia was a region + of Thessaly, which contained a town and a mountain of that name.] + + [Footnote 42: _Erigdupus._--Ver. 453. The signification of this + name is ‘The noise of strife.’] + + [Footnote 43: _Mopsus._--Ver. 456. He was a prophet, and one of + the Lapithæ. There are two other persons mentioned in ancient + history of the same name.] + + [Footnote 44: _Emathian._--Ver. 462. Properly, Emathia was a name + of Macedonia; but it is here applied to Thessaly, which adjoined + to that country.] + + [Footnote 45: _Macedonian pike._--Ver. 466. The ‘sarissa’ is + supposed to have been a kind of pike with which the soldiers of + the Macedonia phalanx were armed. Its ordinary length was + twenty-one feet; but those used by the phalanx were twenty-four + feet long.] + + [Footnote 46: _Twist the threads._--Ver. 475. The woof was called + ‘subtegmen,’ ‘subtemen,’ or ‘trama,’ while the warp was called + ‘stamen,’ from ‘stare,’ ‘to stand,’ on account of its erect + position in the loom.] + + [Footnote 47: _Phylleian._--Ver. 479. Phyllus was a city of + Phthiotis, in Thessaly.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + We learn from Diodorus Siculus, and other ancient authors, that the + people of Thessaly, and those especially who lived near Mount + Pelion, were the first who trained horses for riding, and used them + as a substitute for chariots. Pliny the Elder says that they + excelled all the other people of Greece in horsemanship, and that + they carried it to such perfection, that the name of ἱππεὺς, + ‘a horseman,’ and that of ‘Thessalian,’ became synonymous. Again, + the Thessalians, from their dexterity in killing the wild bulls that + infested the neighbouring mountains, sometimes with darts or spears, + and at other times in close engagement, acquired the name of + Hippocentaurs, that is, ‘horsemen that hunted bulls,’ or simply + κένταυροι, ‘Centaurs.’ + + It is not improbable that, because the Thessalians began to practise + riding in the reign of Ixion, the poets made the Centaurs his sons; + and they were said to have a cloud for their mother, which Jupiter + put in the place of Juno, to baulk the attempt of Ixion on her + virtue, because, according to Palæphatus, many of them lived in a + city called Nephele, which, in Greek, signifies a cloud. As another + method of accounting for their alleged descent from a cloud, it has + been suggested that the Centaurs were a rapacious race of men, who + ravaged the neighbouring country: that those who wrote the first + accounts of them, in the ancient dialect of Greece, gave them the + name of Nephelim, (the epithet of the giants of Scripture,) many + Phœnician words having been imported in the early language of that + country; and that in later times, finding them called by this name, + the Greek word Nephelè, signifying ‘a cloud,’ persons readily + adopted the fable that they were born of one. + + The Centaurs being the descendants of Centaurus, the son of Ixion, + and Pirithoüs being also the son of Ixion, by Dia, the former, + declared war against Pirithoüs, asserting, that, as the descendants + of Ixion, they had a right to share in the succession to his + dominions. This quarrel, however, was made up, and they continued on + friendly terms, until the attempt of Eurytus, or Eurytion, on + Hippodamia, the bride of Pirithoüs, which was followed by the + consequences here described by Ovid. The Centaurs are twice + mentioned in the Iliad as φῆρες, or ‘wild beasts,’ and once under + the name of ‘Centaurs.’ Pindar is the first writer that mentions + them as being of a twofold form, partly man, and partly horse. In + the twenty-first Book of the Odyssey, line 295, Eurytion is said to + have had his ears and nose cut off by way of punishment, and that, + from that period, ‘discord arose between the Centaurs and men.’ + + Buttman, (Mythologus, ii. p. 22, as quoted by Mr. Keightley), says + that the names of Centaurs and Lapithæ are two purely poetic names, + used to designate two opposite races of men,--the former, the rude + horse-riding tribes, which tradition records to have been spread + over the north of Greece: the latter, the more civilized race, which + founded towns, and gradually drove their wild neighbours back into + the mountains. He thinks that the explanation of the word + ‘Centaurs,’ as ‘Air-piercers,’ (from κεντεῖν τὴν αὔραν) not an + improbable one, for the idea is suggested by the figure of a Cossack + leaning forward with his protruded lance as he gallops along. But he + regards the idea of κένταυρος, having been in its origin simply + κέντωρ, as much more probable, [it meaning simply ‘the spurrer-on.’] + Lapithæ may, he thinks, have signified ‘Stone persuaders,’ from λᾶας + πείθειν, a poetic appellation for the builders of towns. He supposes + Hippodamia to have been a Centauress, married to the prince of the + Lapithæ, and thus accounts for the Centaurs having been at the + wedding. Mr. Keightley, in his ‘Mythology of Ancient Greece and + Italy,’ remarks that ‘it is certainly not a little strange that a + rude mountain race like the Centaurs should be viewed as horsemen; + and the legend which ascribes the perfecting of the art of + horsemanship to the Lapithæ, is unquestionably the more probable + one. The name Centaur, which so much resembles the Greek verb + κεντέω, ‘to spur,’ we fancy gave origin to the fiction. This + derivation of it is, however, rather dubious.’ + + After the battle here described, the Centaurs retreated to the + mountains of Arcadia. The Lapithæ pursuing them, drove them to the + Promontory of Malea in Laconia, where, according to Apollodorus, + Neptune took them into his protection. Servius and Antimachus, as + quoted by Comes Natalis, say that some of them fled to the Isle of + the Sirens (or rather to that side of Italy which those Nymphs had + made their abode); and that there they were destroyed by the + voluptuous and debauched lives they led. + + The fable of Cæneus, which Ovid has introduced, is perhaps simply + founded on the prodigious strength and the goodness of the armour of + a person of that name. The story of Halyonome killing herself on the + body of Cyllarus, may possibly have been handed down by tradition. + It is not unlikely that, if the Centaurs were horsemen, their women + were not unacquainted with horsemanship; indeed, representations of + female Centaurs are given, on ancient monuments, as drawing the + chariot of Bacchus. + + +FABLES V. AND VI. [XII.536-628] + + Periclymenus, the brother of Nestor, who has received from Neptune + the power of transforming himself, is changed into an eagle, in a + combat with Hercules; and in his flight is shot by him with an + arrow. Neptune prays Apollo to avenge the death of Cygnus: because + the Destinies will not permit him to do so himself. Apollo enters + the Trojan camp in disguise, and directs the arrow which Paris aims + at Achilles; who is mortally wounded in the heel, the only + vulnerable part of his body. + +As the Pylian related this fight between the Lapithæ and the Centaurs, +{but} half human, Tlepolemus[48] could not endure his sorrow for Alcides +being passed by with silent lips, and said, “It is strange, old man, +that thou shouldst have a forgetfulness of the exploits of Hercules; +at least, my father himself used often to relate to me, that these +cloud-begotten {monsters} were conquered by him.” The Pylian, sad at +this, said, “Why dost thou force me to call to mind my misfortunes, and +to rip up my sorrows, concealed beneath years, and to confess my hatred +of, and disgust at, thy father? He, indeed, ye Gods! performed things +beyond all belief, and filled the world with his services; which I could +rather wish could be denied; but we are in the habit of praising neither +Deiphobus nor Polydamas,[49] nor Hector himself: for who would commend +an enemy? That father of thine once overthrew the walls of Messene, and +demolished guiltless cities, Elis and Pylos, and carried the sword and +flames into my abode. And, that I may say nothing of others whom he +slew, we were twice six sons of Neleus, goodly youths; the twice six +fell by the might of Hercules, myself alone excepted. And that the +others were vanquished might have been endured; {but} the death of +Periclymenus is wonderful; to whom Neptune, the founder of the Neleian +family, had granted to be able to assume whatever shapes he might +choose, and again, when assumed, to lay them aside. He, after he had in +vain been turned into all other shapes, was turned into the form of the +bird that is wont to carry the lightnings in his crooked talons, the +most acceptable to the king of the Gods. Using the strength of {that} +bird, his wings, and his crooked bill, together with his hooked talons, +he tore the face of the hero. The Tirynthian hero aims at him his bow, +too unerring, and hits him, as he moves his limbs aloft amid the clouds, +and hovering {in the air}, just where the wing is joined to the side. + +“Nor is the wound a great one, but his sinews, cut by the wound, fail +him, and deny him motion and strength for flying. He fell down to the +earth, his weakened pinions not catching the air; and where the smooth +arrow had stuck in his wing, it was pressed {still further} by the +weight of his pierced body, and it was driven, through the upper side, +into the left part of the neck. Do I seem to be owing encomiums to the +exploits of thy {father} Hercules, most graceful leader of the Rhodian +fleet?[50] Yet I will no further avenge my brothers, than by being +silent on his brave deeds: with thyself I have a firm friendship.” After +the son[51] of Neleus had said these things with his honied tongue, the +gifts of Bacchus being resumed after the discourse of the aged man, they +arose from their couches: the rest of the night was given to sleep. + +But the God who commands the waters of the sea with his trident, +laments, with the affection of a father, the body of his son, changed +into the bird of the son of Sthenelus; and abhorring the ruthless +Achilles, pursues his resentful wrath in more than an ordinary manner. +And now, the war having been protracted for almost twice five years, +with such words as these he addresses the unshorn Smintheus:[52] +“O thou, most acceptable to me, by far, of the sons of my brother, who, +together with me, didst build the walls of Troy in vain; and dost thou +not grieve when thou lookest upon these towers so soon to fall? or dost +thou not lament that so many thousands are slain in defending these +walls? and (not to recount them all) does not the ghost of Hector, +dragged around his Pergamus, recur to thee? Though still the fierce +Achilles, more blood-stained than war itself, lives on, the destroyer of +our toil, let him but put himself in my power, I will make him feel what +I can do with my triple spear. But since it is not allowed us to +encounter the enemy in close fight, destroy him, when off his guard, +with a secret shaft.” + +He nodded his assent; and the Delian {God}, indulging together both his +own resentment and that of his uncle, veiled in a cloud, comes to the +Trojan army, and in the midst of the slaughter of the men, he sees +Paris, at intervals, scattering his darts among the ignoble Greeks; and, +discovering himself to be a Divinity, he says, “Why dost thou waste thy +arrows upon the blood of the vulgar? If thou hast any concern for thy +friends, turn upon the grandson of Æacus, and avenge thy slaughtered +brothers.” {Thus} he said; and pointing at the son of Peleus, mowing +down the bodies of the Trojans with the sword, he turned his bow towards +him, and directed his unerring arrow with a fatal right hand. This was +{the only thing} at which, after {the death of} Hector, the aged Priam +could rejoice. And art thou then, Achilles, the conqueror of men so +great, conquered by the cowardly ravisher of a Grecian wife? But if it +had been fated for thee to fall by the hand of a woman, thou wouldst +rather have fallen by the Thermodontean[53] battle-axe. + +Now that dread of the Phrygians, the glory and defence of the Pelasgian +name, the grandson of Æacus, a head invincible in war, had been burnt: +the same Divinity had armed him,[54] and had burned him. He is now {but} +ashes; and there remains of Achilles, so renowned, I know not what; that +which will not well fill a little urn. But his glory lives, which can +fill the whole world: this allowance is befitting that hero, and in this +the son of Peleus is equal to himself, and knows not the empty Tartarus. +Even his very shield gives occasion for war, that you may know to whom +it belongs; and arms are wielded for arms. The son of Tydeus does not +dare to claim them, nor Ajax, the son of Oïleus,[55] nor the younger son +of Atreus, nor he who is his superior both in war and age, nor {any} +others; the hope of so much glory exists only in him begotten by Telamon +and {the son} of Laërtes. The descendant of Tantalus[56] removes from +himself the burden and the odium {of a decision}, and orders the Argive +leaders to sit in the midst of the camp, and transfers the judgment of +the dispute to them all. + + [Footnote 48: _Tlepolemus._--Ver. 537. He was a son of Hercules, + by Astioche.] + + [Footnote 49: _Polydamas._--Ver. 547. He was a noble Trojan, of + great bravery, who had married a daughter of Priam.] + + [Footnote 50: _Rhodian fleet._--Ver. 575. Tlepolemus, when a + youth, slew his uncle, Lycimnius, the son of Mars. Flying from his + country with some followers, he retired to the Island of Rhodes, + where he gained the sovereignty. He went to the Trojan war with + nine ships, to aid the Greeks, where he fell by the hand of + Sarpedon.] + + [Footnote 51: _After the son._--Ver. 578-9. ‘A sermone senis + repetito munere Bacchi Surrexere toris.’ These words are thus + quaintly rendered in Clarke’s translation: ‘From listening to the + old gentleman’s discourse, they return again to their bottle; and + taking the other glass, they departed.’] + + [Footnote 52: _Smintheus._--Ver. 585. Apollo was so called, in + many of the cities of Asia, and was worshipped under this name, + in the Isle of Tenedos. He is said by Eustathius, to have been so + called from Smynthus, a town near Troy. But, according to other + accounts, he received the epithet from the Cretan word σμίνθος, + a mouse; being supposed to protect man against the depredations of + that kind of vermin.] + + [Footnote 53: _Thermodontean._--Ver. 611. He alludes to + Penthesilea, the Queen of the Amazons, who, aiding the Trojans + against the Greeks, was slain by Achilles. The battle-axe was the + usual weapon of the Amazons] + + [Footnote 54: _Had armed him._--Ver. 614. Vulcan, the God of Fire, + made his armour at the request of his mother, Thetis; and now his + body was burned by fire.] + + [Footnote 55: _Son of Oïleus._--Ver. 622. This was Ajax, the King + of the Locrians.] + + [Footnote 56: _Descendant of Tantalus._--Ver. 626. Agamemnon was + the son of Atreus, grandson of Pelops, and great-grandson of + Tantalus. He wisely refused to take upon himself alone the onus of + deciding the contention between Ajax and Ulysses.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + Periclymenus was the son of Neleus and Chloris, as we are told by + Homer, Apollodorus, and other authors. According to these authors, + Neleus, king of Orchomenus, was the son of Neptune, who assumed the + form of the river Enipeus, the more easily to deceive Tyro, the + daughter of Salmoneus. Neleus married Chloris, the daughter of + Amphion, king of Thebes, who bore him eleven sons and one daughter, + of which number, Homer names but three. Periclymenus, the youngest + of the family, was a warlike prince, and, according to Apollodorus, + accompanied Jason in the expedition of the Argonauts. Hercules, + after having instituted the Olympic games, marched into Messenia, + and declared war with Neleus. The ancient writers differ as to the + cause of this expedition; but they agree in stating, that Hercules + made himself master of Pylos, a town which Neleus had built, as a + refuge from the capricious humours of his brother Pelias; and that + Neleus and all his children were killed, except Nestor, who had been + brought up among the Geranians, and who afterwards reigned in Pylos. + The story which here relates how Periclymenus transformed himself + into an eagle, and was then killed by Hercules, may possibly mean, + that having long resisted the attacks of his formidable enemy, he + was at length put to flight, and slain by an arrow. It is said that + Neptune had given him the power to metamorphose himself into + different figures, very probably because his grandfather, who was a + maritime prince, had taught him the art of war and various + stratagems, which he industriously made use of, to avert the ruin of + his family. + + In relation to the story of the death of Achilles, Dictys the Cretan + tells us, that Achilles having seen Polyxena, the daughter of Priam, + along with Cassandra, as she was sacrificing to Apollo, fell in love + with her, and demanded her in marriage and that Hector would not + consent to it, except on condition of his betraying the Greeks. This + demand, so injurious to his honour, provoked Achilles so much, that + he forthwith slew Hector, and dragged his body round the walls of + the city. He further says that when Priam went to demand the body of + Hector, he took Polyxena with him, in order to soften Achilles. His + design succeeded, and Priam then agreed to give her to him in + marriage. On the day appointed for the solemnity in the temple of + Apollo, Paris, concealing himself behind the altar, while Deiphobus + pretended to embrace Achilles, wounded him in the heel, and killed + him on the spot, either because the arrow was poisoned, or because + he was wounded on the great tendon, which has since been called + ‘tendon Achillis,’ a spot where a wound might very easily be mortal. + + This story of the death of Achilles does not seem to have been known + to Homer; for he appears, in the twenty-fourth book of the Odyssey, + to insinuate that that hero died in battle, fighting for the Grecian + cause. + + After his death Achilles was honoured as a Demigod, and Strabo says + that he had a temple near the promontory of Sigæum. Pausanias and + Pliny the Elder make mention of an island in the Euxine Sea, where + the memory of Achilles was expressly honoured, from which + circumstances it had the name of Achillea. + + + + +BOOK THE THIRTEENTH. + + +FABLE I. [XIII.1-438] + + After the death of Achilles, Ajax and Ulysses contend for his + armour; the Greek chiefs having adjudged it to the last, Ajax kills + himself in despair, and his blood is changed into a flower. When + Ulysses has brought Philoctetes, who is possessed of the arrows of + Hercules, to the siege, and the destinies of Troy are thereby + accomplished, the city is taken and sacked, and Hecuba becomes the + slave of Ulysses. + +The chiefs were seated; and a ring of the common people standing +{around}, Ajax, the lord of the seven-fold shield, arose before them. +And as he was impatient in his wrath, with stern features he looked back +upon the Sigæan shores, and the fleet upon the shore, and, stretching +out his hands, he said, “We are pleading,[1] O Jupiter, our cause before +the ships, and Ulysses vies with me! But he did not hesitate to yield to +the flames of Hector, which I withstood, {and} which I drove from this +fleet. It is safer, therefore, for him to contend with artful words than +with his {right} hand. But neither does my talent lie in speaking, nor +his[2] in acting; and as great ability as I have in fierce warfare, so +much has he in talking. Nor do I think, O Pelasgians, that my deeds need +be related to you; for you have been eye-witnesses of them. Let Ulysses +recount his, which he has performed without any witness, {and} of which +night alone[3] is conscious. I own that the prize that is sought is +great; but the rival of Ajax lessens its value. It is no proud thing, +great though it may be, to possess any thing which Ulysses has hoped +for. Already has he obtained the reward of this contest, in which, when +he shall have been worsted, he will be said to have contended with me. +And I, if my prowess were to be questioned, should prevail by the +nobleness of my birth, being the son of Telamon, who took the city[4] of +Troy under the valiant Hercules, and entered the Colchian shores in the +Pagasæan ship. Æacus was his father, who there gives laws to the silent +{shades}, where the heavy stone urges {downward} Sisyphus,[5] the son of +Æolus. + +“The supreme Jupiter owns Æacus, and confesses that he is his offspring. +Thus Ajax is the third[6] from Jupiter. And yet, O Greeks, let not this +line of descent avail me in this cause, if it be not common to me with +the great Achilles. He was my cousin;[7] I ask for what belonged to my +cousin? Why does one descended from the blood of Sisyphus, and very like +him in thefts and fraud, intrude the name of a strange family among the +descendants of Æacus? Are the arms to be denied me, because I took up +arms before {him}, and through the means of no informer?[8] and shall +one seem preferable who was the last to take them up, and who, by +feigning madness, declined war, until the son of Nauplius,[9] more +cunning than he, but more unhappy for himself, discovered the +contrivance[10] of his cowardly mind, and dragged him forth to the arms +which he had avoided. Now let him take the best arms who would have +taken none. Let me be dishonoured, and stripped of the gifts that +belonged to my cousin, who presented myself in the front of danger. And +I could wish that that madness had been either real or believed {so to +be}, and that he had never attended us as a companion to the Phrygian +towers, this counsellor of evil! Then, son of Pœas,[11] Lemnos would not +have had thee exposed {there} through our guilt; who now, as they say, +concealed in sylvan caves, art moving the {very} rocks with thy groans, +and art wishing for the son of Laërtes what he has deserved; which, may +the Gods, the Gods, {I say}, grant thee not to pray in vain. + +“And now, he that was sworn upon the same arms with ourselves, one of +our leaders, alas! by whom, as his successor, the arrows of Hercules are +used, broken by disease and famine, is being clothed[12] and fed by +birds; and in shooting fowls, he is employing the shafts destined for +the destruction of Troy. Still, he lives, because he did not accompany +Ulysses. And the unhappy Palamedes would have preferred that he had been +left behind; {then} he would have been living, or, at least, he would +have had a death without any criminality. Him, {Ulysses} remembering too +well the unlucky discovery of his madness, pretended to be betraying the +Grecian interests, and proved his feigned charge, and shewed {the +Greeks} the gold, which he had previously hidden in the ground. By exile +then, or by death,[13] has he withdrawn from the Greeks their {best} +strength. Thus Ulysses fights, thus is he to be dreaded. Though he were +to excel even the faithful Nestor in eloquence, yet he would never cause +me to believe that the forsaking of Nestor[14] was not a crime; who, +when he implored {the aid of} Ulysses, retarded by the wound of his +steed, and wearied with the years of old age, was deserted by his +companion. The son of Tydeus knows full well that these charges are not +invented by me, who calling on him often by name, rebuked him, and +upbraided[15] his trembling friend with his flight. The Gods above +behold the affairs of men with just eyes. Lo! he wants help, himself, +who gave it not; and as he left {another}, so was he doomed to be left: +{such} law had he made for himself. + +“He called aloud to his companions. I came, and I saw him trembling, and +pale with fear, and shuddering at the impending death. I opposed the +mass of my shield {to the enemy}, and covered him[16] as he lay; and I +preserved (and that is the least part of my praise) his dastardly life. +If thou dost persist in vying, let us return to that place; restore the +enemy, and thy wound, and thy wonted fear; and hide behind my shield, +and under that contend with me. But, after I delivered him, he to whom +his wounds {before} gave no strength for standing, fled, retarded by no +wound {whatever}. Hector approaches, and brings the Gods along with him +to battle, and where he rushes on, not only art thou alarmed, Ulysses, +but even the valiant {are}; so great terror does he bring. Him, as he +exulted in the successes of his bloodstained slaughter, in close +conflict, I laid flat with a huge stone. Him demanding one with whom he +might engage, did I alone withstand; and you, Greeks, prayed {it might +fall} to my lot;[17] and your prayers prevailed. If you inquire into the +issue of this fight, I was not beaten by him. + +“Lo! the Trojans bring fire and sword, and Jove, {as well}, against the +Grecian fleet. Where is now the eloquent Ulysses? I, forsooth, protected +a thousand ships, the hopes of your return, with my breast. Grant me the +arms, in return for so many ships. But, if I may be allowed to speak the +truth, a greater honour is sought for them than is for me, and our glory +is united; and Ajax is sought for the arms, and not the arms by Ajax. +Let the Ithacan {Ulysses} compare with these things Rhesus,[18] and the +unwarlike Dolon,[19] and Helenus,[20] the son of Priam, made captive +with the ravished Pallas. By daylight nothing was done; nothing when +Diomedes was afar. If once you give these arms for services so mean, +divide them, and that of Diomedes would be the greater share of them. +But, why these for the Ithacan? who, by stealth and unarmed, ever does +his work, and deceives the unwary enemy by stratagem? The very +brilliancy of his helmet, as it sparkles with bright gold, will betray +his plans, and discover him as he lies hid. But neither will the +Dulichian[21] head, beneath the helm of Achilles, sustain a weight so +great; and the spear[22] from Pelion must be heavy and burdensome for +unwarlike arms. Nor will the shield, embossed with the form of the great +globe, beseem a dastard left hand, and one formed for theft. Why {then}, +caitiff, dost thou ask for a gift that will {but} weaken thee? should +the mistake of the Grecian people bestow it on thee, there would be a +cause for thee to be stripped, not for thee to be dreaded by the enemy. +Thy flight, too, (in which, alone, most dastardly {wretch}! thou dost +excel all {others},) will be retarded, when dragging a load so great. +Besides, that shield of thine, which has so rarely experienced the +conflict, is unhurt; for mine, which is gaping in a thousand wounds from +bearing the darts, a new successor must be obtained. In fine, what need +is there for words? Let us be tried in action. Let the arms of that +brave hero be thrown in the midst of the enemy: order them to be fetched +thence, and adorn him that brings them back, with them so brought off.” + +The son of Telamon had {now} ended, and a murmur among the multitude +ensued upon his closing words, until the Laërtian hero stood up, and +fixing his eyes, for a short time, on the ground, raised them towards +the chiefs, and opened his mouth in the accents that were looked for; +nor was gracefulness wanting to his eloquent words. + +“If my prayers had been of any avail together with yours, Pelasgians, +the successor to a prize so great would not {now} be in question, and +thou wouldst now be enjoying thine arms, and we thee, O Achilles. But +since the unjust Fates have denied him to me and to yourselves, (and +here he wiped his eyes with his hands as though shedding tears,) who +could better succeed the great Achilles than he through whom[23] the +great Achilles joined the Greeks? Only let it not avail him that he +seems to be as stupid as he {really} is; and let not my talents, which +ever served you, O Greeks, be a prejudice to me: and let this eloquence +of mine, if there is any, which now pleads for its possessor, and has +often {done so} for yourselves, stand clear of envy, and let each man +not disown his own advantages. For {as to} descent and ancestors, and +the things which we have not made ourselves, I scarce call these our +own. But, indeed, since Ajax boasts that he is the great grandson of +Jove, Jupiter, too, is the founder of my family, and by just as many +degrees am I distant from him. For Laërtes is my father, Arcesius his, +Jupiter his; nor was any one of these {ever} condemned[24] and banished. +Through the mother,[25] too, Cyllenian {Mercury}, another noble stock, +is added to myself. On the side of either parent there was a God. But +neither because I am more nobly born on my mother’s side, nor because my +father is innocent of his brother’s blood, do I claim the arms {now} in +question. By {personal} merit weigh the cause. So that it be no merit in +Ajax that Telamon and Peleus were brothers; and {so that} not +consanguinity, but the honour of merit, be regarded in {the disposal of} +these spoils. Or if nearness of relationship and the next heir is +sought, Peleus is his sire, and Pyrrhus is his son. What room, {then}, +is there for Ajax? Let them be taken to Phthia[26] or to Scyros. Nor is +Teucer[27] any less a cousin of Achilles than he; and yet does he sue +for, does he expect to bear away the arms? + +“Since then the contest is simply one of deeds; I, in truth, have done +more than what it is easy for me to comprise in words. Yet I shall +proceed in the order of events. {Thetis}, the Nereid mother, prescient +of coming death, conceals her son by his dress. The disguise of the +assumed dress deceived all, among whom was Ajax. Amid woman’s trinkets I +mixed arms such as would affect the mind of a man. And not yet had the +hero thrown aside the dress of a maiden, when, as he was brandishing a +shield and a spear, I said, ‘O son of a Goddess, Pergamus reserves +itself to fall through thee. Why, {then}, dost thou delay to overthrow +the mighty Troy?’ And {then} I laid my hands on him, and to brave deeds +I sent forth the brave. His deeds then are my own. ’Twas I that subdued +Telephus, as he fought with his lance; ’twas I that recovered him, +vanquished, and begging {for his life}. That Thebes has fallen, is my +doing. Believe me, that I took Lesbos, that I {took} Tenedos, Chrysa[28] +and Cylla, cities of Apollo, and Scyros {too}. Consider too, that the +Lyrnessian[29] walls were levelled with the ground, shaken by my right +hand. And, not to mention other things, ’twas I, in fact, that found one +who might slay the fierce Hector; through me the renowned Hector lies +prostrate. By those arms through which Achilles was found out, I demand +these arms. To him when living I gave them; after his death I ask them +back again. + +“After the grief of one[30] had reached all the Greeks, and a thousand +ships had filled the Eubœan Aulis, the breezes long expected were either +not existing or adverse to the fleet; and the ruthless oracles commanded +Agamemnon to slay his innocent daughter for the cruel Diana. This the +father refuses, and is enraged against the Gods themselves, and, a king, +he is still a father. By my words I swayed the gentle disposition of the +parent to the public advantage. Now, indeed, I make this confession, and +let the son of Atreus forgive me as I confess it; before a partial judge +I upheld a difficult cause. Yet the good of the people and his brother, +and the supreme power of the sceptre granted to him, influence him to +balance praise against blood. I was sent, too, to the mother, who was +not to be persuaded, but to be deceived with craft; to whom, if the son +of Telamon had gone, until even now would our sails have been without +wind. A bold envoy, too, I was sent to the towers of Ilium, and the +senate-house of lofty Troy was seen and entered by me; and still was it +filled with their heroes. Undaunted, I pleaded the cause which all +Greece had entrusted to me; and I accused Paris, and I demanded back the +plunder, and Helen {as well}; and I moved Priam and Antenor[31], related +to Priam. But Paris and his brothers, and those who, under him, had been +ravishers, scarce withheld their wicked hands; {and} this thou knowest, +Menelaüs, and that was the first day of my danger in company with thee. +It were a tedious matter to relate the things which, by my counsel and +my valour, I have successfully executed in the duration of this tedious +warfare. + +“After the first encounter, the enemy for a long time kept themselves +within the walls of the city, and there was no opportunity for open +fight. At length, in the tenth year we fought. {And} what wast thou +doing in the mean time, thou, who knowest of nothing but battles? what +was the use of thee? But if thou inquirest into my actions: I lay +ambuscades for the enemy; I surround the trenches[32] with redoubts; +I cheer our allies that they may bear with patient minds the tediousness +of a protracted war; I show, {too}, how we are to be supported, and how +to be armed; I am sent[33] whither necessity requires. Lo! by the advice +of Jove, the king, deceived by a form in his sleep, commands him to +dismiss all care of the war {thus} begun. He is enabled, through the +author of it, to defend his own cause. Ajax should not have allowed +this, and should have demanded that Troy be razed. And he should have +fought, the {only} thing he could do. Why, does he not stop them when +about to depart? Why does he not take up arms, and {why not} suggest +some course for the fickle multitude to pursue? This was not too much +for him, who never says any thing but what is grand. Well, and didst +thou take to flight? I was witness of it, and ashamed I was to see, when +thou wast turning thy back, and wast preparing the sails of disgrace. +Without delay, I exclaimed, ‘What are you doing? What madness made you, +O my friends, quit Troy, {well nigh} taken? And what, in this tenth +year, are you carrying home but disgrace?’ + +“With these and other {words}, for which grief itself had made me +eloquent, I brought back the resisting {Greeks} from the flying fleet. +The son of Atreus calls together his allies, struck with terror; nor, +even yet, does the son of Telamon dare to utter a word; yet +Thersites[34] dares to launch out against the kings with impudent +remarks, although not unpunished by myself. I am aroused, and I incite +the trembling citizens against the foe, and by my voice I reclaim their +lost courage. From that time, whatever that man, whom I drew away as he +was turning his back, may seem to have done bravely, is {all} my own. In +fine, who of the Greeks is either praising thee, or resorts to thee; but +with me the son of Tydeus shares his exploits; he praises me, and is +ever confident while Ulysses is his companion. It is something, out of +so many thousands of the Greeks, to be singled out alone by Diomedes. +Nor was it lot that ordered me to go forth; and yet, despising the +dangers of the night and of the enemy, I slew Dolon, {one} of the +Phrygian race, who dared the same things that we {dared}; though not +before I had compelled him[35] to disclose everything, and had learned +what perfidious Troy designed. Everything had I {now} discovered, and I +had nothing {further} to find out, and I might now have returned, with +my praises going before me. Not content with that, I sought the tent of +Rhesus, and in his own camp slew himself and his attendants. And thus, +as a conqueror, and having gained my own desires, I returned in the +captured chariot, resembling a joyous triumph. Deny me the arms of him +whose horses the enemy had demanded as the price for {one} night’s +service; and let Ajax be {esteemed} your greater benefactor. + +“Why should I make reference to the troops of Lycian Sarpedon,[36] mowed +down by my sword? With much bloodshed I slew Cœranos, the son of +Iphitus, and Alastor, and Chromius, and Alcander, and Halius, and +Noëmon, and Prytanis, and I put to death Thoön, with Chersidamas, and +Charops, and Ennomos, impelled by his relentless fate; five of less +renown fell by my hand beneath the city walls. I, too, fellow-citizens, +have wounds, honourable in their place.[37] Believe not {his} crafty +words; here! behold them.” And {then}, with his hand, he pulls aside his +garment, and, “this is the breast,” says he, “that has been ever +employed in your service.” + +“But the son of Telamon has spent none of his blood on his friends for +so many years, and he has a body without a {single} wound.[38] But what +signifies that, if he says that he bore arms for the Pelasgian fleet +against both the Trojans and Jupiter himself? I confess it, he did bear +them; nor is it any part of mine with malice to detract from the good +deeds {of others;} but let him not alone lay claim to what belongs to +all, and let him give to yourselves, as well, some of the honour. The +descendant of Actor, safe under the appearance of Achilles, repelled the +Trojans, with their defender, from the ships on the point of being +burnt. He, too, unmindful of the king, and of the chiefs, and of myself, +fancies that he alone dared to engage[39] with Hector in combat, being +the ninth in that duty, and preferred by favour of the lot. But yet, +most brave {chief}, what was the issue of thy combat? Hector came off, +injured by no wound. Ah, wretched me! with how much grief am I compelled +to recollect that time at which Achilles, the bulwark of the Greeks, was +slain: nor tears, nor grief, nor fear, hindered me from carrying his +body aloft from the ground; on these shoulders, I say, on these +shoulders I bore the body of Achilles, and his arms together {with him}, +which now, too, I am endeavouring to bear off. I have strength to +suffice for such a weight, {and}, assuredly, I have a soul that will be +sensible of your honours. + +“Was then, forsooth! his azure mother {so} anxious in her son’s behalf +that the heavenly gifts, a work of so great ingenuity, a rough soldier, +and one without any genius, should put on? For he will not understand +the engravings on the shield; the ocean, and the earth, and the stars +with the lofty heavens and the Pleïades, and the Hyades, and the Bear +that avoids the sea, and the different cities, and the blazing sword of +Orion; arms he insists on receiving, which he does not understand. What! +and does he charge that I, avoiding the duties of this laborious war, +came but late to the toil begun? and does he not perceive that {in this} +he is defaming the brave Achilles? If he calls dissembling a crime, we +have both of us dissembled. If delay {stands} for a fault, I was earlier +than he. A fond wife detained me, a fond mother Achilles. The first part +of our time was given to them, the rest to yourselves. I am not alarmed, +if now I am unable to defend myself against this accusation, in common +with so great a man. Yet he was found out by the dexterity of Ulysses, +but not Ulysses {by that} of Ajax. + +“And that we may not be surprised at his pouring out on me the +reproaches of his silly tongue, against you, too, does he make +objections worthy of shame. Is it base for me, with a false crime to +have charged Palamedes, {and} honourable for you to have condemned him? +But neither could {Palamedes}, the son of Nauplius, defend a crime so +great, and so manifest; nor did you {only} hear the charges against him, +{but} you witnessed them, and in the bribe {itself} the charge was +established. Nor have I deserved to be accused, because Lemnos, {the +isle} of Vulcan, {still} receives {Philoctetes}, the son of Pœas. +{Greeks}, defend your own acts! for you consented to it. Nor yet shall I +deny that I advised him to withdraw himself from the toils of the +warfare and the voyage, and to try by rest to assuage his cruel pains. +He consented, and {still} he lives. This advice was not only well-meant, +but {it was} fortunate as well, when ’twas enough to be well-meant. +Since our prophets demand him for the purpose of destroying Troy, +entrust not that to me. The son of Telamon will be better to go, and by +his eloquence will soften the hero, maddened by diseases and anger, or +by some wile will skilfully bring him thence. Sooner will Simoïs flow +backward, and Ida stand without foliage, and Achaia promise aid to Troy, +than, my breast being inactive in your interest, the skill of stupid +Ajax shall avail the Greeks. + +“Though thou be, relentless Philoctetes, enraged against thy friends and +the king, and myself, though thou curse and devote my head, +everlastingly, and though thou wish to have me in thy anguish thrown in +thy way perchance, and to shed my blood; and though if I meet thee, +so thou wilt have the opportunity of meeting me, still will I attempt +{thee, and} will endeavour to bring thee back with me. And, if Fortune +favours me, I will as surely be the possessor of thy arrows, as I was +the possessor of the Dardanian prophet[40] whom I took {prisoner; and +so} I revealed the answers of the Deities and the fates of Troy; {and} +as I carried off the hidden statue[41] of the Phrygian Minerva from the +midst of the enemy. And does Ajax, {then}, compare himself with me? The +Fates, in fact, would not allow Troy to be captured without that +{statue}. Where is the valiant Ajax? where are the boastful words of +that mighty man? Why art thou trembling here? Why dares Ulysses to go +through the guards, and to entrust himself to the night, and, through +fell swords, to enter not only the walls of Troy, but even its highest +towers, and to tear the Goddess from her shrine, and, {thus} torn, +to bear her off amid the enemy? + +“Had I not done these things, in vain would the son of Telamon been +bearing the seven hides of the bulls on his left arm. On that night was +the victory over Troy gained by me; then did I conquer Pergamus, when I +rendered it capable of being conquered. Forbear by thy looks,[42] and +thy muttering, to show me the son of Tydeus; a part of the glory in +these things is his own. Neither wast thou alone, when for the allied +fleet thou didst grasp thy shield: a multitude was attending thee, +{while} but one fell to me: who, did he not know that a fighting man is +of less value than a wise one, and that the reward is not the due of the +invincible right hand, would himself, too, have been suing for these +{arms}; the more discreet Ajax would have been suing, and the fierce +Eurypilus,[43] and the son of the famous Andremon;[44] no less, {too} +would Idomeneus,[45] and Meriones[46] sprung from the same land, and the +brother of the greater son of Atreus have sought them. But these, brave +in action, (nor are they second to thee in war,) have {all} yielded to +my wisdom. Thy right hand is of value in war, {but} thy temper is one +that stands in need of my direction. Thou hast strength without +intelligence; I have a care for the future. Thou art able to fight; with +me, the son of Atreus chooses the {proper} time for fighting. Thou only +art of service with thy body; I with my mind: and as much as he who +guides the bark, is superior to the capacity of the rower, as much as +the general is greater than the soldier, so much do I excel thee; and in +my body there is an intellect that is superior to hands: in that {lies} +all my vigour. + +“But you, ye chieftains, give the reward to your watchful {servant;} and +for the cares of so many years which I have passed in anxiety, grant +this honour as a compensation for my services. Our toil is now at its +close; I have removed the opposing Fates, and by rendering it capable of +being taken, {in effect} I have taken the lofty Pergamus. Now, by our +common hopes, and the walls of the Trojans doomed to fall, and by those +Gods whom lately I took from the enemy, by anything that remains, +through wisdom to be done; if, too, anything {remains} of bold +enterprize, and to be recovered from a dangerous spot; if you think that +anything is still wanting for the downfall of Troy; {then} remember me; +or if you give not me the arms, concede them to this;” and {then} he +discovers the fatal statue of Minerva. + +The body of the chiefs is moved, and {then}, in fact appears what +eloquence can do; and the fluent man receives the arms of a brave one. +He, who so often has alone withstood both Hector, and the sword, and +flames, and Jove {himself}, cannot {now} withstand his wrath alone, and +grief conquers the man that is invincible. He seizes his sword, and he +says:-- “This, at least, is my own; or will Ulysses claim this, too, for +himself. This must I use against myself; and {the blade}, which has +often been wet with the blood of the Phrygians, will now be wet with the +slaughter of its owner: that no one but Ajax {himself}, may be enabled +to conquer Ajax.” + +{Thus} he said; and he plunged the fatal sword into his breast, then for +the first time suffering a wound, where it lay exposed to the steel. Nor +were his hands able to draw out the weapon there fixed: the blood itself +forced it out. And the earth, made red by the blood, produced a purple +flower from the green turf, {the same} which had formerly been produced +from the Œbalian wound. Letters common to {that} youth and to the hero, +were inscribed in the middle of the leaves; the latter {belonging to} +the name,[47] the former to the lamentation. + +The conqueror, Ulysses, set sail for the country of Hypsipyle,[48] and +of the illustrious Thoas, and the regions infamous for the slaughter +{there} of the husbands of old; that he might bring back the arrows, the +weapons of the Tirynthian {hero}. After he had carried them back to the +Greeks, their owner attending too, the concluding hand was put, at +length, to this protracted war. Troy and Priam fell together; the +wretched wife of Priam lost after every thing {else} her human form, and +alarmed a foreign air[49] with her barkings. Where the long Hellespont +is reduced into a narrow compass, Ilion was in flames; nor had the +flames yet ceased; and the altar of Jove had drank up the scanty blood +of the aged Priam. The priestess of Apollo[50] dragged by the hair, +extends her unavailing hands towards the heavens. The victorious Greeks +drag along the Dardanian matrons, embracing, while they may, the statues +of their country’s Gods, and clinging to the burning temples, an envied +spoil. Astyanax[51] is hurled from those towers from which he was often +wont, when shown by his mother, to behold his father, fighting for +himself, and defending the kingdom of his ancestors. + +And now Boreas bids them depart, and with a favourable breeze, the +sails, as they wave, resound, {and} the sailors bid them take advantage +of the winds. “Troy, farewell!” the Trojan women cry;-- “We are torn +away!” and they give kisses to the soil, and leave the smoking roofs of +their country. The last that goes on board the fleet, a dreadful sight, +is Hecuba, found amid the sepulchres of her children. Dulichian hands +have dragged her away, while clinging to their tombs and giving kisses +to their bones; yet the ashes of one has she taken out, and, {so} taken +out, has carried with her in her bosom the ashes of Hector. On the tomb +of Hector she leaves the grey hair of her head, an humble offering, her +hair and her tears. There is opposite to Phrygia, where Troy stood, +a land inhabited by the men of Bistonia. There, was the rich palace of +Polymnestor, to whom thy father, Polydorus, entrusted thee, to be +brought up privately, and removed thee {afar} from the Phrygian arms. +A wise resolution; had he not added, {as well}, great riches, the reward +of crime, the incentive of an avaricious disposition. When the fortunes +of the Phrygians were ruined, the wicked king of the Phrygians took a +sword, and plunged it in the throat of his fosterchild; and, as though +the crime could be removed with the body, he hurled him lifeless from a +rock into the waters below. + + [Footnote 1: _We are pleading._--Ver. 5. The skill of the Poet is + perceptible in the abrupt commencement of the speech of the + impetuous Ajax.] + + [Footnote 2: _Nor his._--Ver. 11. Ajax often uses the pronoun + ‘iste’ as a term of reproach.] + + [Footnote 3: _Night alone._--Ver. 15. By this he means that the + alleged exploits of Ulysses were altogether fictitious; or that + they were done in the dark to conceal his fear.] + + [Footnote 4: _Took the city._--Ver. 23. Telamon, was the companion + of Hercules when he sacked Troy, as a punishment for the perfidy + of Laomedon.] + + [Footnote 5: _Sisyphus._--Ver. 26. This is intended as a + reproachful hint against Ulysses, whose mother, Anticlea, was said + to have been seduced by Sisyphus before her marriage to Laërtes.] + + [Footnote 6: _Ajax is the third._--Ver. 28. That is the third, + exclusive of Jupiter; for Ajax was the grandson of Æacus, and the + great grandson of Jupiter.] + + [Footnote 7: _My cousin._--Ver. 31. ‘Frater’ here means, not + ‘brother,’ but ‘cousin,’ as Peleus and Telamon, the fathers of + Achilles and Ajax, were brothers.] + + [Footnote 8: _No informer._--Ver. 34. He alludes to the means + which Ulysses adopted to avoid going to the Trojan war. Pretending + to be seized with madness, he ploughed the sea-shore, and sowed it + with salt. To ascertain the truth, Palamedes placed his infant + son, Telemachus, before the plough; on which Ulysses turned on one + side, to avoid hurting the child, which was considered a proof + that his madness was not real.] + + [Footnote 9: _Son of Nauplius._--Ver. 39. Palamedes was the son of + Nauplius, the king of Eubœa, and a son of Neptune.] + + [Footnote 10: _The contrivance._--Ver. 38. Ulysses forged a letter + from Priam, in which the king thanked Palamedes for his intended + assistance to the Trojan cause, and begged to present him a sum of + money. By bribing the servants of Palamedes, he caused a large + quantity of gold to be buried in the ground, under his tent. He + then caused the letter to be intercepted, and to be carried to + Agamemnon. On the appearance of Palamedes to answer the charge, + Ulysses appeared seemingly as his friend, and suggested, that if + no gold should be found in his possession, he must be innocent. + The gold, however, being found, Palamedes was stoned to death.] + + [Footnote 11: _Son of Pœas._--Ver. 45. Philoctetes was the + possessor of the arrows of Hercules, without the presence of which + Troy could not be taken. Accompanying the Greeks to the Trojan + war, he was wounded in the foot by one of the arrows; and the + smell arising from the wound was so offensive, that, by the advice + of Ulysses, he was left behind, in the island of Lemnos, one of + the Cyclades.] + + [Footnote 12: _Is being clothed._--Ver. 53. The Poet Attius, as + quoted by Cicero, says that Philoctetes, while in Lemnos, made + himself clothing out of the feathers of birds.] + + [Footnote 13: _Or by death._--Ver. 61. Exile in the case of + Philoctetes; death, in that of Palamedes.] + + [Footnote 14: _Forsaking of Nestor._--Ver. 64. Nestor having been + wounded by Paris, and being overtaken by Hector, was on the point + of perishing, when Diomedes came to his rescue, Ulysses having + taken to flight. See the Iliad, Book iii.] + + [Footnote 15: _And upbraided._--Ver. 69. He alludes to the words + in the Iliad, which Homer puts in the mouth of Diomedes.] + + [Footnote 16: _And covered him._--Ver. 75. Ajax, at the request of + Menelaüs, protected Ulysses with his shield, when he was wounded.] + + [Footnote 17: _Fall to my lot._--Ver. 85. He alludes to the + occasion when some of the bravest of the Greeks drew lots which + should accept the challenge of Hector: the Greeks wishing, + according to Homer, that the lot might fall to Ajax Telamon, Ajax + Oïleus, or Agamemnon.] + + [Footnote 18: _Rhesus._--Ver. 98. He was slain by Ulysses and + Diomedes on the night on which he arrived, Iliad, Book x.] + + [Footnote 19: _Dolon._--Ver. 98. Being sent out by Hector to spy, + he was intercepted by Ulysses and Diomedes, and slain at Troy. + Iliad, Book x.] + + [Footnote 20: _Helenus._--Ver. 99. Being skilled in prophesy, + after he was taken prisoner by Diomedes and Ulysses, his life was + saved; and marrying Andromache, after the death of Pyrrhus, he + succeeded to the throne of part of the kingdom of Chaonia.] + + [Footnote 21: _Dulichian._--Ver. 107. Dulichium was an island of + the Ionian Sea, near Ithaca, and part of the realms of Ulysses.] + + [Footnote 22: _The spear._--Ver. 109. The spear of Achilles had + been cut from the wood on Mount Pelion, and given by the Centaur + Chiron to his father Peleus.] + + [Footnote 23: _He through whom._--Ver. 134. Through whom Achilles + had been discovered, concealed among the daughters of Lycomedes, + king of Seyros.] + + [Footnote 24: _Ever condemned._--Ver. 145. He alludes to the joint + crime of Peleus the uncle, and Telamon, the father of Ajax, who + were banished for the murder of their brother Phocus.] + + [Footnote 25: _Through the mother._--Ver. 146. Anticlea, the + mother of Ulysses, was the daughter of Autolycus, of whom Mercury + was the father by Chione, the daughter of Dædalion.] + + [Footnote 26: _Phthia._--Ver. 156. Phthia was the city of + Thessaly, where Peleus, the father of Achilles, was residing; + while Pyrrhus, his son, was living with his mother Deidamia, + in the isle of Scyros, one of the Cyclades.] + + [Footnote 27: _Teucer._--Ver. 157. Teucer was the cousin of + Achilles, being the son of Telamon, and the half-brother of Ajax; + Hesione being the mother of Teucer, while Ajax was the son of + Eubœa.] + + [Footnote 28: _Chrysa._--Ver. 174. Chrysa and Cylla were cities in + the vicinity of Troy. This Scyros was, probably, not the island of + that name, but some place near Troy.] + + [Footnote 29: _Lyrnessian._--Ver. 176. This was a city of the + Troad, on the taking of which by Achilles, Hippodamia, or Briseïs, + the daughter of Bryses, was made captive by Achilles.] + + [Footnote 30: _Grief of one._--Ver. 181. He alludes to the + misfortune of Menelaüs in losing his wife, if, indeed, it could be + deemed a misfortune.] + + [Footnote 31: _Antenor._--Ver. 201. Antenor, who was related to + Priam, always advocated peace with the Greeks; for which reason, + according to Livy, the Greeks did not treat him as an enemy.] + + [Footnote 32: _Surround the trenches._--Ver. 212. He probably + alludes to the trenches thrown up before the ships of the Greeks, + and defended by embankments, which were afterwards destroyed by + Neptune.] + + [Footnote 33: _I am sent._--Ver. 215. As on the occasion when he + was sent to restore Chryseis to her father Chryses, the priest of + Apollo, that the pestilence might be stayed, which had been sent + by the offended God.] + + [Footnote 34: _Thersites._--Ver. 233. He was the most deformed, + cowardly, and impudent of the Greeks, who, always abusing his + betters, was beaten by Ulysses, and was at last killed by Achilles + with a blow of his fist.] + + [Footnote 35: _Compelled him._--Ver. 245. When he was taken + prisoner by them, Ulysses and Diomedes compelled Dolon to disclose + what was going on in the Trojan camp, and learned from him the + recent arrival of Rhesus, the son of either Mars or Strymon, and + the king of Thrace.] + + [Footnote 36: _Sarpedon._--Ver. 255. He was the son of Jupiter and + Europa, and was king of Lycia. Aiding the Trojans, he was slain by + Patroclus.] + + [Footnote 37: _In their place._--Ver. 263. That is, inflicted on + the breast, and not on the back.] + + [Footnote 38: _A single wound._--Ver. 267. He alludes to his being + invulnerable, from having been wrapped in the lion’s skin of + Hercules.] + + [Footnote 39: _Dared to engage._--Ver. 275. Hector and Ajax + Telamon meeting in single combat, neither was the conqueror; but + on parting they exchanged gifts, which were fatal to them both. + Hector was dragged round the walls of Troy by the belt which he + received from Ajax; while the latter committed suicide with the + sword which was given to him by Hector.] + + [Footnote 40: _Dardanian prophet._--Ver. 335. Helenus, the son of + Priam.] + + [Footnote 41: _The hidden statue._--Ver. 337. This was the + Palladium, or statue of Minerva, which was destined to be the + guardian of the safety of Troy, so long as it was in the + possession of the Trojans.] + + [Footnote 42: _By thy looks._--Ver. 350. We are to suppose, that + here Ajax is nodding at, or pointing towards Diomedes, as having + helped Ulysses on all the occasions which he names, he having been + his constant companion in his exploits.] + + [Footnote 43: _Eurypilus._--Ver. 357. He was the son of Evæmon, + and came with forty ships to aid the Greeks. He was from Ormenius, + a city of Thessaly.] + + [Footnote 44: _Andremon._--Ver. 357. Thoas, the son of Andremon, + was the leader of the Ætolians; he came with forty ships to the + Trojan war.] + + [Footnote 45: _Idomeneus._--Ver. 358. He was the son of Deucalion, + king of Crete. After the siege of Troy, he settled at Salentinum, + a promontory of Calabria, in Italy.] + + [Footnote 46: _Meriones._--Ver. 359. He was the nephew and + charioteer of Idomeneus.] + + [Footnote 47: _To the name._--Ver. 398. See note to Book x., line + 207.] + + [Footnote 48: _Country of Hypsipyle._--Ver. 399. The island of + Lemnos is here called the country of Hypsipyle, who saved the life + of her father Thoas, when the other women of the island slew the + males.] + + [Footnote 49: _A foreign air._--Ver. 406. Namely, Thrace, which + was far away from her native country.] + + [Footnote 50: _Priestess of Apollo._--Ver. 410. Cassandra was the + priestess of Apollo. Being ravished by Ajax Oïleus, she became the + captive of Agamemnon, and was slain by Clytemnestra.] + + [Footnote 51: _Astyanax._--Ver. 415. He was the only child of + Hector and Andromache. Ulysses threw him from the top of a high + tower, that none of the royal blood might survive.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + It may with justice be said, that in the speeches of Ajax Telamon, + and Ulysses, here given, the Poet has presented us with a + masterpiece of genius; both in the lively colours in which he has + described the two rivals, and the ingenious manner in which he has + throughout sustained the contrast between their respective + characters. + + The ancient writers are not agreed upon the question, who was the + mother of Ajax Telamon; Dares says that it was Hesione; while + Apollodorus, Plutarch, Tzetzes and others, allege that it was + Peribœa, the daughter of Alcathoüs, the son of Pelops. Pindar and + Apollodorus say, that Hercules, on going to visit his friend + Telamon, prayed to Jupiter that Telamon might have a son, whose skin + should be as impenetrable as that of the Nemæan lion, which he then + wore. As he prayed, he espied an eagle; upon which, he informed his + friend that a favourable event awaited his prayer, and desired him + to call his son after the name of an eagle, which in the Greek is + αἰετὸς. The Scholiast on Sophocles, Suidas and Tzetzes, say further, + that when Hercules returned to see Telamon, after the birth of Ajax, + he covered him with the lion’s skin, and that by this means Ajax + became invulnerable except in that spot of his body, which was + beneath the hole which the arrow of Hercules had made in the skin of + the beast. + + Dictys, Suidas, and Cedrenus affirm, that the dispute of Ulysses and + Ajax Telamon was about the Palladium, to which each of them laid + claim. They add, that the Grecian nobles, having adjudged it to + Ulysses, Ajax threatened to slay them, and was found dead in his + tent the next morning; but it is more generally stated to the effect + here related by Ovid, that he killed himself, because he could not + obtain the armour of Achilles. Filled with grief and anger combined, + he became distracted; and after falling on some flocks, which in his + madness he took for enemies, he at last stabbed himself with the + sword which he had received from Hector. This account has been + followed by Euripides, in his tragedy on the subject of the death of + Ajax; and Homer seems to allude to this story, when he makes Ulysses + say, that on his descent to the Infernal Regions, the shades of all + the Grecian heroes immediately met him, except that of Ajax, whose + resentment at their former dispute about the armour of Achilles was + still so warm, that he would not come near him. The Scholiast on + Homer, and Eustathius, say that Agamemnon being much embarrassed how + to behave in a dispute which might have proved fatal to the Grecian + cause, ordered the Trojan prisoners to come before the council to + give their opinion, as to which of them had done the most mischief; + and that they answered in favour of Ulysses. The Scholiast on + Aristophanes also adds, that Agamemnon, not satisfied with this + enquiry, sent out spies to know what was the opinion of the Trojans + on the relative merits of Ulysses and Ajax; and that upon their + report, he decided in favour of Ulysses. + + According to Pliny and Pausanias, Ajax was buried near the + promontory of Sigæum, where a tomb was erected for him; though other + writers, on the authority of Dictys, place his tomb on the + promontory of Rhœtæum. Horace speaks of him as being denied the + honour of a funeral; but he evidently alludes to a passage in the + tragedy of Sophocles, where the poet introduces Agamemnon as + obstinately refusing to allow him burial, till he is softened by the + entreaties of Teucer. + + It is probable that Homer knew nothing of the story here mentioned + relative to the concealment of Achilles, disguised in female + apparel, by Thetis, in the court of Lycomedes, her brother; for + speaking of the manner in which Achilles engaged in the war, he says + that Nestor and Ulysses went to visit Peleus and Menœtius, and + easily prevailed with them that Achilles and Patroclus should + accompany them to the war. It was, however, at the court of + Lycomedes that Achilles fell in love with and married Deidamia, by + whom he had Pyrrhus, or Neoptolemus, who was present at the taking + of Troy, at a very early age. + + The story of Polydorus is related in the third Book of the Æneid, + and is also told by Hyginus, with some variations. He says that + Polydorus was sent by Priam to Polymnestor, king of Thrace, while he + was yet in his cradle; and that Ilione, the daughter of Priam, + distrusting the cruelty and avarice of Polymnestor, who was her + husband, educated the child as her own son, and made their own son + Deiphylus pass for Polydorus, the two infants being of the same age. + He also says that the Greeks, after the taking of Troy, offered + Electra to Polymnestor in marriage, on condition that he should + divorce Ilione, and slay Polydorus, and that Polymnestor, having + acceded to their proposal, unconsciously killed his own son + Deiphylus. Polydorus going to consult the oracle concerning his + future fortune, was told, that his father was dead, and his native + city reduced to ashes; on which he imagined that the oracle had + deceived him; but returning to Thrace, his sister informed him of + the secret, on which he deprived Polymnestor of his sight. + + +FABLES III. AND IV. [XIII.439-622] + + In returning from Troy, the Greeks are stopped in Thrace by the + shade of Achilles, who requests that Polyxena shall be sacrificed to + his manes. While Hecuba is fetching water with which to bathe the + body of her daughter, she espies the corpse of her son Polydorus. + In her exasperations she repairs to the court of Polymnestor; and + having torn out his eyes, is transformed into a bitch. Memnon, who + has been slain by Achilles, is honoured with a magnificent funeral, + and, at the prayer of Aurora, his ashes are transformed by Jupiter + into birds, since called Memnonides. + +On the Thracian shore the son of Atreus had moored his fleet, until the +sea was calm, {and} until the wind was more propitious. Here, on a +sudden, Achilles, as great as he was wont to be when alive, rises from +the ground, bursting far and wide, and, like to one threatening, revives +the countenance of that time when he fiercely attacked Agamemnon with +his lawless sword. “And are you departing, unmindful of me, ye Greeks?” +he says; “and is all grateful remembrance of my valour buried together +with me? Do not so. And that my sepulchre may not be without honour, let +Polyxena slain appease the ghost of Achilles.” {Thus} he said; and his +companions obeying the implacable shade, the noble and unfortunate maid, +and more than {an ordinary} woman, torn from the bosom of her mother, +which she now cherished almost alone, was led to the tomb, and became a +sacrifice at his ruthless pile. + +She, mindful of herself, after she was brought to the cruel altar, and +had perceived that the savage rites were preparing for her; and when she +saw Neoptolemus standing {by}, and wielding his sword, and fixing his +eyes upon her countenance, said-- “Quickly make use of this noble blood: +{in me} there is no resistance: and do thou bury thy weapons either in +my throat or in my breast!” and, at the same time she laid bare her +throat and her breast; “should I, Polyxena, forsooth,[52] either endure +to be the slave of any person, or will any sacred Deity be appeased by +such a sacrifice. I only wish that my death could be concealed from my +mother. My mother is the impediment; and she lessens my joys at death. +Yet it is not my death, but her own life, that should be lamented by +her. Only, stand ye off, lest I should go to the Stygian shades not a +free woman: if {in this} I demand what is just; and withhold the hands +of males from the contact of a virgin. My blood will be the more +acceptable to him, whoever it is that you are preparing to appease by my +slaughter. Yet, if the last prayers of my lips move any of you,--’tis +the daughter of king Priam, {and} not a captive that entreats--return my +body unconsumed to my mother, and let her not purchase for me with gold, +but with tears, the sad privilege of a sepulchre. When {in former times} +she could, then used she to purchase with gold.” + +{Thus} she said; but the people did not restrain those tears which she +restrained. Even the priest himself, weeping and reluctant, divided her +presented breast with the piercing steel. She, sinking to the earth on +her failing knees, maintained an undaunted countenance to the last +moment of her life. Even then was it her care, when she fell, to cover +the features that ought to be concealed, and to preserve the honour of +her chaste modesty. The Trojan matrons received her, and reckoned the +children of Priam whom they had had to deplore; and how much blood one +house had expended. And they lament thee, Oh virgin! and thee, Oh thou! +so lately called a royal wife {and} a royal mother, {once} the +resemblance of flourishing Asia, but now a worthless prey amid the +plunder {of Troy}; which the conquering Ulysses would have declined as +his, but that thou hadst brought Hector forth. {And} scarce did Hector +find an owner for his mother. She, embracing the body bereft of a soul +so brave, gave to that as well, those tears which so oft she had given +for her country, her children, and her husband; {and} her tears she +poured in his wounds. And she impressed kisses with her lips, and beat +her breast {now} accustomed to it; and trailing her grey hairs in the +clotted blood, many things indeed did she say, but these as well, as she +tore her breast: + +“My daughter, the last affliction (for what now remains?) to thy mother: +my daughter, thou liest prostrate, and I behold thy wound {as} my own +wounds. Lo! lest I should have lost any one of my children without +bloodshed, thou, too, dost receive thy wound. Still, because {thou wast} +a woman, I supposed thee safe from the sword; and {yet}, a woman, thou +hast fallen by the sword. The same Achilles, the ruin of Troy, and the +bereaver of myself, the same has destroyed thus many of thy brothers, +{and} thyself. But, after he had fallen by the arrows of Paris and of +Phœbus, ‘Now, at least,’ I said, ‘Achilles is no {longer} to be +dreaded;’ and yet even now, was he to be dreaded by me. The very ashes +of him, as he lies buried, rage against this family; and {even} in the +tomb have we found him an enemy. For the descendant of Æacus have I been +{thus} prolific. Great Ilion lies prostrate, and the public calamity is +completed by a dreadful catastrophe; if indeed, it is completed. +Pergamus alone remains for me: and my sorrow is still in its career. So +lately the greatest woman in the world, powerful in so many sons-in-law, +and children[53], and daughters-in-law, and in my husband, now I am +dragged into exile, destitute, {and} torn away from the tombs of my +kindred, as a present to Penelope. She, pointing me out to the matrons +of Ithaca, as I tease my allotted task, will say, ‘This is that famous +mother of Hector; this is the wife of Priam.’ And, now thou, who after +the loss of so many {children}, alone didst alleviate the sorrows of thy +mother, hast made the atonement at the tomb of the enemy. Atoning +sacrifices for an enemy have I brought forth. For what purpose, lasting +like iron, am I reserved? and why do I linger {here}? To what end dost +thou, pernicious age, detain me? Why, ye cruel Deities, unless to the +end that I may see fresh deaths, do ye reprieve an aged woman of years +so prolonged? Who could have supposed, that after the fall of Troy, +Priam could have been pronounced happy? Blessed in his death, he has not +beheld thee, my daughter, {thus} cut off; and at the same moment, he +lost his life and his kingdom. + +“But, I suppose, thou, a maiden of royal birth, wilt be honoured with +funeral rites, and thy body will be deposited in the tombs of thy +ancestors. This is not the fortune of thy house; tears and a handful of +foreign sand will be thy lot, the {only} gifts of a mother. We have lost +all; a child most dear to his mother, now alone remains as a reason for +me to endure to live yet for a short time, once the youngest of {all} my +male issue, Polydorus, entrusted on these coasts to the Ismarian king. +Why, in the mean time, am I delaying to bathe her cruel wounds with the +stream, her features, too, besmeared with dreadful blood?” + +{Thus} she spoke; and with aged step she proceeded towards the shore, +tearing her grey locks. “Give me an urn, ye Trojan women,” the unhappy +{mother} had just said, in order that she might take up the flowing +waters, {when} she beheld[54] the body of Polydorus thrown up on the +shore, and the great wounds made by the Thracian weapons. The Trojan +women cried out aloud; with grief she was struck dumb; and very grief +consumed both her voice and the tears that arose within; and much +resembling a hard rock she became benumbed. And at one moment she fixed +her eyes on the ground before her; {and} sometimes she raised her +haggard features towards the skies; {and} now she viewed the features, +now the wounds of her son, as he lay; the wounds especially; and she +armed and prepared herself for vengeance by rage. Soon as she was +inflamed by it, as though she {still} remained a queen, she determined +to be revenged, and was wholly {employed} in {devising} a {fitting} form +of punishment. And as the lioness rages when bereft of her sucking +whelp, and having found the tracks of his feet, follows the enemy that +she sees not; so Hecuba, after she had mingled rage with mourning, not +forgetful of her spirit, {but} forgetful of her years, went to +Polymnestor, the contriver of this dreadful murder, and demanded an +interview; for that it was her wish to show him a concealed treasure +left for him to give to her son. + +The Odrysian {king} believes her, and, inured to the love of gain, comes +to a secret spot. Then with soothing lips, he craftily says, “Away with +delays, Hecuba, {and} give the present to thy son; all that thou givest, +and what thou hast already given, I swear by the Gods above, shall be +his.” Sternly she eyes him as he speaks, and falsely swears; and she +boils with heaving rage; and so flies on him, seized by a throng of the +captive matrons, and thrusts her fingers into his perfidious eyes; and +of their sight she despoils his cheeks, and plunges her hands {into the +sockets}, (’tis rage that makes her strong); and, defiled with his +guilty blood, she tears not his eyes, for they are not left, {but} the +places for his eyes. + +Provoked by the death of their king, the Thracian people begin to attack +the Trojan {matron} with the hurling of darts and of stones. But she +attacks the stones thrown at her with a hoarse noise, and with bites; +and attempting to speak, her mouth just ready for the words, she barks +aloud. The place {still} exists, and derives its name[55] from the +circumstance; and long remembering her ancient misfortunes, even then +did she howl dismally through the Sithonian plains. Her {sad} fortune +moved both her own Trojans, and her Pelasgian foes, and all the Gods as +well; so much so, that even the wife and sister of Jove herself denied +that Hecuba had deserved that fate. + +Although she has favoured those same arms, there is not leisure for +Aurora to be moved by the calamities and the fall of Troy. A nearer care +and grief at home for her lost Memnon is afflicting her. Him his +rosy-coloured mother saw perish by the spear of Achilles on the Phrygian +plains. {This} she saw; and that colour with which the hours of the +morning grow ruddy, turned pale, and the æther lay hid in clouds. But +the parent could not endure to behold his limbs laid on the closing +flames. But with loose hair, just as she was, she disdained not to fall +down at the knees of great Jove, and to add these words to her tears: +“Inferior to all {the Goddesses} which the golden æther does sustain, +(for throughout all the world are my temples the fewest), still, +a Goddess, I am come; not that thou shouldst grant me temples and days +of sacrifice, and altars to be heated with fires. But if thou +considerest how much I, a female, perform for thee, at the time when, +with the early dawn, I keep the confines of the night, thou wouldst +think that some reward ought to be given to me. But that is not my care, +nor is such now the condition of Aurora such that she should demand the +honours deserved by her. Bereft of my Memnon am I come; {of him} who, +in vain, wielded valiant arms for his uncle, and who in his early years +(’twas thus ye willed it,) was slain by the brave Achilles. Give him, +I pray, supreme ruler of the Gods, some honour, as a solace for his +death, and ease the wounds of a mother.” + +Jove nods his assent; when {suddenly} the lofty pile of Memnon sinks +with its towering fires, and volumes of black smoke darken the {light +of} day. Just as when the rivers exhale the rising fogs, and the sun is +not admitted below them. The black embers fly, and rolling into one +body, they thicken, and take a form, and assume heat and life from the +flames. Their own lightness gives them wings; and first, like birds, +{and} then real birds, they flutter with their wings. At once +innumerable sisters are fluttering, whose natal origin is the same. And +thrice do they go around the pile, and thrice does their clamour rise in +concert into the air. In the fourth flight they separate their company. +Then two fierce tribes wage war from opposite sides, and with their +beaks and crooked claws expend their rage, and weary their wings and +opposing breasts; and down their kindred bodies fall, a sacrifice to the +entombed ashes, and they remember that from a great man they have +received their birth. Their progenitor gives a name to these birds so +suddenly formed, called Memnonides after him; when the Sun has run +through the twelve signs {of the Zodiac}, they fight, doomed to perish +in battle, in honour of their parent.[56] + +To others, therefore, it seemed a sad thing, that the daughter of Dymas +was {now} barking; {but} Aurora was intent on her own sorrows; and even +now she sheds the tears of affection, and sprinkles them in dew over all +the world. + + [Footnote 52: _Forsooth._--460. Clarke translates ‘scilicet,’ + ‘I warrant ye.’] + + [Footnote 53: _And children._--Ver. 509. Hyginus names fifty-four + children of Priam, of whom seventeen were by Hecuba.] + + [Footnote 54: _She beheld._--Ver. 536. Euripides represents, in + his tragedy of Hecuba, that a female servant, sent by Hecuba to + bring water from the sea shore for the purpose of washing the body + of Polyxena, was the first to see the corpse of Polydorus.] + + [Footnote 55: _Derives its name._--Ver. 569. Strabo places it near + Sestos, in the Thracian Chersonesus, and calls it κυνὸς σῆμα, ‘The + bitches’ tomb.’] + + [Footnote 56: _Of their parent._--Ver. 619. He perhaps alludes to + the fights of the Gladiators, on the occasion of the funerals of + the Roman patricians. ‘Parentali perituræ Marte,’ is rendered by + Clarke, ‘to fall in the fight of parentation.’] + + +EXPLANATION. + + The particulars which Ovid here gives of the misfortunes that befell + the family of Priam, with the exception of a few circumstances, + agree perfectly with the narratives of the ancient historians. + + According to Dictys, Philostratus, and Hyginus, after Achilles was + slain by the treachery of Paris, on the eve of his marriage with + Polyxena, she became inconsolable at his death, and returning to the + Grecian camp, she was kindly received by Agamemnon; but being unable + to get the better of her despair, she stole out of the camp at + night, and stabbed herself at the tomb of Achilles. Philostratus + adds, that the ghost of Achilles appeared to Apollonius Tyanæus, the + hero of his story, and gave him permission to ask him any questions + he pleased, assuring him, that he would give him full information on + the subject of them. Among other things, Apollonius desired to know + if it was the truth that the Greeks had sacrificed Polyxena on his + tomb; to which the ghost replied, that her grief made her take the + resolution not to survive her intended husband, and that she had + killed herself. + + Other writers, agreeing with Ovid as to the manner of her death, + tell us that it was Pyrrhus who sacrificed Polyxena to his father’s + shade, to revenge his death, of which, though innocently, she had + been the cause. Pausanias, who says that this was the general + opinion, avers, on what ground it is difficult to conceive, that + Homer designedly omitted this fact, because it was so dishonourable + to the Greeks; and in his description of the paintings at Delphi, + by Polygnotus, of the destruction of Troy, he says that Polyxena was + there represented as being led out to the tomb of Achilles, where + she was sacrificed by the Greeks. He also says, that he had seen her + story painted in the same manner at Pergamus, Athens, and other + places. Many of the poets, and Virgil in the number, affirm that + Polyxena was sacrificed in Phrygia, near Troy, on the tomb of + Achilles, he having desired it at his death; while Euripides says + that it was in the Thracian Chersonesus, on a cenotaph, which was + erected there in honour of Achilles: and that his ghost appearing, + Calchas was consulted, who answered, that it was necessary to + sacrifice Polyxena, which was accordingly done by Pyrrhus. + + The ancient writers are divided as to the descent of Hecuba. Homer, + who has been followed by his Scholiast, and by Ovid and Suidas, says + that she was the daughter of Dymas, King of Phrygia. Euripides says + that she was the daughter of Cisscus, and with him Virgil and + Servius agree. Apollodorus, again, makes her to be descended from + Sangar and Merope. In the distribution of spoil after the siege of + Troy, Hecuba fell to the share of Ulysses, and became his slave; but + died soon after, in Thrace. Plautus and Servius allege that the + Greeks themselves circulated the story of her transformation into a + bitch, because she was perpetually railing at them, to provoke them + to put her to death, rather than condemn her to pass her life as a + slave. According to Strabo and Pomponius Mela, in their time, the + place of her burial was still to be seen in Thrace. Euripides, in + his Hecuba, has not followed this tradition, but represents her as + complaining that the Greeks had chained her to the door of Agamemnon + like a dog. Perhaps she became the slave of Agamemnon after Ulysses + had left the army, on his return to Ithaca; and it is possible that + the story of her transformation may have been solely founded on this + tradition. She bore to Priam ten sons and seven daughters, and + survived them all except Helenus; most of her sons having fallen by + the hand of Achilles. + + Many ancient writers, with whom Ovid here agrees, affirm that Memnon + was the son of Tithonus, the brother of Priam, and Aurora, or Eos, + the Goddess of the morn. They also say that he came to assist the + Trojans with ten thousand Persians, and as many Æthiopians. Diodorus + Siculus asserts that Memnon was said to have been the son of Aurora, + because he left Phrygia, and went to settle in the East. It is not + clear in what country he fixed his residence. Some say that it was + at Susa, in Persia; others that it was in Egypt, or in Æthiopia, + which perhaps amounts to the same, as Æthiopia was not in general + distinguished from the Higher or Upper Egypt. Marsham is of opinion + that Memnon was the same with Amenophis, one of the kings of Egypt: + while Le Clerc considers him to have been the same person as Ham, + the son of Noah; and Vossius identifies him with Boalcis, a God of + the Syrians. It seems probable that he was an Egyptian, who had + perhaps formed an alliance with the reigning family of Troy. + + +FABLES V. AND VI. [XIII.623-718] + + After the taking of Troy, Æneas escapes with his father and his son, + and goes to Delos. Anius, the priest of Apollo, recounts to him how + his daughters have been transformed into doves, and at parting they + exchange presents. The Poet here introduces the story of the + daughters of Orion, who, having sacrificed their lives for the + safety of Thebes, when ravaged by a plague, two young men arise out + of their ashes. + +But yet the Fates do not allow the hope of Troy to be ruined even with +its walls. The Cytherean hero bears on his shoulders the sacred relics +and his father, another sacred relic, a venerable burden. In his +affection, out of wealth so great, he selects that prize, and his own +Ascanius, and with his flying fleet is borne through the seas from +Antandros,[57] and leaves the accursed thresholds of the Thracians, and +the earth streaming with the blood of Polydorus; and, with good winds +and favouring tide, he enters the city of Apollo, his companions +attending him. + +Anius, by whom, as king, men were, {and} by whom, as priest, Phœbus was +duly provided for, received him both into his temple and his house, and +showed him the city and the dedicated temples, and the two trunks of +trees once grasped[58] by Latona in her labour. Frankincense being given +to the flames, and wine poured forth on the frankincense, and the +entrails of slain oxen[59] being duly burnt, they repair to the royal +palace, and reclining on lofty couches, with flowing wine, they take the +gifts of Ceres. Then the pious Anchises {says}, “O chosen priest of +Phœbus, am I deceived? or didst thou not have a son, also, when first I +beheld these walls, and twice two daughters, so far as I remember?” To +him Anius replies, shaking his temples wreathed with snow-white fillets, +and says, “Thou art not mistaken, greatest hero; thou didst see me the +parent of five children, whom now (so great a vicissitude of fortune +affects mankind) thou seest almost bereft {of all}. For what assistance +is my absent son to me, whom Andros, a land {so} called after his name, +possesses, holding that place and kingdom on behalf of his father? + +“The Delian {God} granted him {the art of} augury; to my female progeny +Liber gave other gifts, exceeding {both} wishes and belief. For, at the +touch of my daughters, all things were transformed into corn, and the +stream of wine, and the berry of Minerva; and in these were there rich +advantages. When the son of Atreus, the destroyer of Troy, learned this +(that thou mayst not suppose that we, too, did not in some degree feel +your storms) using the force of arms, he dragged them reluctantly from +the bosom of their father, and commanded them to feed, with their +heavenly gifts, the Argive fleet. Whither each of them could, they made +their escape. Eubœa was sought by two; and by as many of my daughters, +was Andros, their brother’s {island}, sought. The forces came, and +threatened war if they were not given up. Natural affection, subdued by +fear, surrendered to punishment those kindred breasts; and, that thou +mayst be able to forgive a timid brother, there was no Æneas, no Hector +to defend Andros, through whom you {Trojans} held out to the tenth year. +And now chains were being provided for their captive arms. Lifting up +towards heaven their arms still free, they said, ‘Father Bacchus, give +us thy aid!’ and the author of their gift did give them aid; if +destroying them, in a wondrous manner, be called giving aid. By what +means they lost their shape, neither could I learn, nor can I now tell. +The sum of their calamity is known {to me}: they assumed wings, and were +changed into birds of thy consort,[60] the snow-white doves.” + +With such and other discourse, after they have passed the {time of} +feasting, the table being removed, they seek sleep. And they rise with +the day, and repair to the oracle of Phœbus, who bids them seek the +ancient mother and the kindred shores. The king attends, and presents +them with gifts when about to depart; a sceptre to Anchises, a scarf and +a quiver to his grandson, {and} a goblet to Æneas, which formerly +Therses, his Ismenian guest, had sent him from the Aonian shores; this +Therses had sent to him, {but} the Mylean Alcon had made it, and had +carved it with this long device: + +There was a city, and you might point out {its} seven gates: these were +in place of[61] a name, and showed what {city} it was. Before the city +was a funeral, and tombs, and fires, and funeral piles; and matrons, +with hair dishevelled and naked breasts, expressed their grief; the +Nymphs, too, seem to be weeping, and to mourn their springs dried up. +Without foliage the bared tree runs straight up; the goats are gnawing +the dried stones. Lo! he represents the daughters of Orion in the middle +of Thebes; the one, as presenting her breast, more than woman’s, with +her bared throat; the other, thrusting a sword in her valorous wounds, +as dying for her people, and as being borne, with an honoured funeral, +through the city, and as being burnt in a conspicuous part {of it}; +{and} then from the virgin embers, lest the race should fail, twin +youths arising, whom Fame calls ‘Coronæ,’[62] and for their mothers’ +ashes leading the {funeral} procession. + +Thus far for the figures that shine on the ancient brass; the summit of +the goblet is rough with gilded acanthus. Nor do the Trojans return +gifts of less value than those given; and to the priest they give an +incense-box, to keep the frankincense; they give a bowl, {too}, and a +crown, brilliant with gold and gems. Then recollecting that the +{Trojans}, {as} Teucrians, derived their origin from the blood of +Teucer, they make for Crete, and cannot long endure the air of that +place;[63] and, having left behind the hundred cities, they desire to +reach the Ausonian harbours. A storm rages, and tosses the men to and +fro; and winged Aëllo frightens them, when received in the unsafe +harbours of the Strophades.[64] And now, borne along, they have passed +the Dulichian harbours, and Ithaca, and Same,[65] and the Neritian +abodes, the kingdom of the deceitful Ulysses; and they behold +Ambracia,[66] contended for in a dispute of the Deities, which now is +renowned for the Actian Apollo,[67] and the stone in the shape of the +transformed judge, and the land of Dodona, vocal with its oaks; and the +Chaonian bays, where the sons of the Molossian king escaped the +unavailing flames, with wings attached {to them}. + + [Footnote 57: _Antandros._--Ver. 628. This was a city of Phrygia, + at the foot of Mount Ida, where the fleet of Æneas was built.] + + [Footnote 58: _Trees once grasped._--Ver. 635. These were a palm + and an olive tree, which were pointed out by the people of Delos, + as having been held by Latona, when in the pangs of labour.] + + [Footnote 59: _Of slain oxen._--Ver. 637. This, however, was + contrary to the usual practice; for if we credit Macrobius, no + victim was slain on the altars of Apollo, in the island of Delos.] + + [Footnote 60: _Of thy consort._--Ver. 673. It must be remembered, + that he is addressing Anchises, who was said to have enjoyed the + favour of Venus; to which Goddess the dove was consecrated.] + + [Footnote 61: _In place of._--Ver. 686. For the seven gates, would + at once lead to the conclusion that it represented the city of + Thebes, in Bœotia. Myla, before referred to, was a town of + Sicily.] + + [Footnote 62: _Calls ‘Coronæ’._--Ver. 698. The word ‘Coronas’ is + here employed as the plural of a female name ‘Corona;’ in Greek + Κώρωνις.] + + [Footnote 63: _Of that place._--Ver. 707. Æneas and his followers + founded in Crete the city of Pergamea; but the pestilence which + raged there, and a continued drought, combined with the density of + the atmosphere, obliged them to leave the island.] + + [Footnote 64: _The Strophades._--Ver. 709. These were two islands + in the Ionian Sea, on the western side of Peloponnesus. They + received their name from the Greek work στροφὴ, ‘a return,’ + because Calais and Zethes pursued the Harpies, which persecuted + Phineus so far, and then returned home by the command of Jupiter.] + + [Footnote 65: _Same._--Ver. 711. This island was also called + Cephalenia. It was in the Ionian Sea, and formed part of the + kingdom of Ulysses.] + + [Footnote 66: _Ambracia._--Ver. 714. This was a famous city of + Epirus, which gave its name to the gulf of Ambracia.] + + [Footnote 67: _Actian Apollo._--Ver. 715. Augustus built a temple + to Apollo, at Actium, in Epirus, near which he had defeated the + fleet of Antony and Cleopatra. He also instituted games, to be + celebrated there every fifth year in honour of his victory.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + Virgil describes Anius as the king of Delos, and the priest of + Apollo at the same time. ‘Rex Anius, rex idem hominum Phœbique + sacerdos.’ Æneid, Book III. He was descended from Cadmus, through + his mother Rhea, the daughter of Staphilus. Having engaged in some + intrigue, as Diodorus Siculus conjectures, her father exposed her on + the sea in an open boat, which drove to Delos, and she was there + delivered of Anius, who afterwards became the king of the island. By + his wife Dorippe he had three daughters, who were extremely frugal, + and by means of the offerings and presents that were brought to the + temple of Apollo, amassed a large store of provisions. During the + siege of Troy, the Greeks sent Palamedes to Delos, to demand food + for the army; and, as a security for his compliance with these + demands, they exacted the daughters of Anius as hostages. The + damsels soon afterwards finding means to escape, it was said that + Bacchus, who was their kinsman through Cadmus, had transformed them + into doves. Probably the story of their transforming every thing + they touched, into wine, corn, and oil, was founded solely on their + thriftiness and parsimony. Bochart, however, explains the story from + the circumstance of their names being, as he conjectures, Oëno, + Spermo, and Elaï, which, in the old Phœnician dialect, signified + wine, corn, and oil; and he thinks that the story was confirmed in + general belief by the fact that large quantities of corn, wine, and + oil were supplied from Delos to the Grecian army when before Troy. + + In the reign of Orion, Thebes being devastated by a plague, the + oracles were consulted, and the Thebans were told that the contagion + would cease as soon as the daughters of the king should be + sacrificed to the wrath of heaven. The two maidens immediately + presented themselves at the altar; and on their immolation, the Gods + were appeased, and the plague ceased. This example of patriotism and + fortitude filled the more youthful Thebans with so much emulation, + that they shook off their former inactivity, and soon became + conspicuous for their bravery: which sudden change gave occasion to + the saying, that the ashes of these maidens had been transformed + into men. + + The Poet follows Æneas on his voyage, to gain an opportunity of + referring to several other current stories. Among other places, he + passes the city of Ambracia, about which the Gods had contended, and + sees the rock into which the umpire of their dispute, who had + decided in favour of Hercules, was changed. Ambracia was on the + coast of Epirus, and gave its name to an adjacent inlet of the sea, + called the Ambracian Gulf. Antoninus Liberalis tells us, on the + authority of Nicander, that Apollo, Diana, and Hercules disputed + about this city, and left the decision to Cragaleus, who gave it in + favour of Hercules; on which, Apollo transformed him into a rock. + Very possibly the meaning of this may be, that when the people of + Ambracia were considering to which of these Deities they should + dedicate their city, Cragaleus preferred Hercules to the other two, + or, in other words, the feats of war to the cultivation of the arts + and sciences. Apollo was said to have turned him into a stone, + either because he met with his death near the promontory where a + temple of Apollo stood, or to show the stupidity of his decision. + Antoninus Liberalis is the only writer besides Ovid that makes + mention of the adventure of the sons of the Molossian king; he tells + us that Munychus, king of the Molossi, had three sons, Alcander, + Megaletor, and Philæus, and a daughter named Hyperippe. Some robbers + setting fire to their father’s house, they were transformed by + Jupiter into birds. This, in all probability, is a poetical way of + saying that the youths escaped from the flames, contrary to + universal expectation. + + The opinions of writers have been very conflicting as to the origin + of the oracle of Dodona. Silius Italicus says that two pigeons flew + from Thebes in Egypt, one of which went to Libya, and occasioned the + founding of the oracle of Jupiter Ammon; while the other settled + upon an oak in Chaonia, and signified thereby to the inhabitants, + that it was the will of heaven that there should be an oracle in + that place. Herodotus says that two priestesses of Egyptian Thebes + being carried off by some Phœnician merchants, one of them was sold + to the Greeks, after which she settled in the forest of Dodona, + where a little chapel was founded by her in honour of Jupiter, in + which she gave responses. He adds, that they called her ‘the dove,’ + because being a foreigner they did not understand her language. At + length, having learned the language of the Pelasgians, it was said + that the dove had spoken. On that foundation grew the tradition that + the oaks themselves uttered oracular responses. + + Notwithstanding this plausible account of Herodotus, it is not + impossible that some equivocal expressions in the Hebrew and Arabian + languages may have given rise to the story. ‘Himan,’ in the one + language, signified ‘a priest;’ and ‘Heman,’ in the other, was the + name for ‘a pigeon.’ Possibly those who found the former word in the + history of ancient Greece, written in the dialect of the original + Phœnician settlers, did not understand it, and by their mistake, + caused it to be asserted that a dove had founded the oracle of + Dodona. Bochart tells us that the same word, in the Phœnician + tongue, signifies either ‘pigeons,’ or ‘women;’ but the Abbè Sallier + has gone still further, and has shown that, in the language of the + ancient inhabitants of Epirus, the same word had the two + significations mentioned by Bochart. + + This oracle afterwards grew famous for its responses, and the + priests used considerable ingenuity in the delivery of their + answers. They cautiously kept all who came to consult them at a + distance from the dark recess where the shrine was situated; and + took care to deliver their responses in a manner so ambiguous, as to + make people believe whatever they pleased. In this circumstance + originates the variation in the descriptions of the oracle which the + ancients have left us. According to some, it was the oaks that + spoke; according to others, the beeches; while a third account was + that pigeons gave the answers; and, lastly, it was said that the + ringing of certain cauldrons there suspended, divulged the will of + heaven. Stephanus Byzantinus has left a curious account of this + contrivance of the cauldrons; he says that in that part of the + forest of Dodona, where the oracle stood, there were two pillars + erected, at a small distance from each other. On one there was + placed a brazen vessel, about the size of an ordinary cauldron: and + on the other a little boy, which was most probably a piece of + mechanism, who held a brazen whip with several thongs which hung + loose, and were easily moved. When the wind blew, the lashes struck + against the vessel, and occasioned a noise while the wind continued. + It was from them, he says, that the forest took the name of Dodona; + ‘dodo,’ in the ancient language, signifying ‘a cauldron.’ + + Strabo says that the responses were originally given by three + priestesses: and he gives the reason why two priests were afterwards + added to them. The Bœotians having been treacherously attacked by + the people of Thrace during a truce which they had made, went to + consult the oracle of Dodona; and the priestess answering them that + if they would act impiously their design would succeed to their + wish, the envoys suspected that this response had been suggested by + the enemy, and burned her in revenge; after which they vindicated + their cruelty by saying that if the priestess designed to deceive + them, she well deserved her punishment; and that if she spoke with + truthfulness, they had only followed the advice of the oracle. This + argument not satisfying the people of the district, the Bœotian + envoys were seized; but as they pleaded that it was unjust that two + women already prejudiced against them should be their judges, two + priests were added to decide the matter. These, in return for their + being the occasion of putting them in an office so honourable and + lucrative, acquitted the Bœotians; whose fellow countrymen were + always in the habit from that time of addressing the priests when + they consulted the oracle. These priests were called by the name of + ‘Selli.’ + + +FABLE VII. [XIII.719-897] + + Polyphemus, one of the Cyclops, jealous of Acis, who is in love with + Galatea, kills the youth with a rock which he hurls at him; on + which, his blood is changed into a river which bears his name. + +They make for the neighbouring land of the Phæacians,[68] planted with +beauteous fruit. After this, Epirus and Buthrotos,[69] ruled over by the +Phrygian prophet, and a fictitious Troy, are reached. Thence, acquainted +with the future, all which, Helenus, the son of Priam, in his faithful +instructions has forewarned them of, they enter Sicania. With three +points this projects into the sea. Of these, Pachynos is turned towards +the showery South: Lilybæum is exposed to the soft Zephyrs: but Peloros +looks towards the Bear, free from the sea, and towards Boreas. By this +{part} the Trojans enter; and with oars and favouring tide, at nightfall +the fleet makes the Zanclæan sands. Scylla infests the right hand side, +the restless Charybdis the left. This swallows and vomits forth again +ships taken down; the other, having the face of a maiden, has her +swarthy stomach surrounded with fierce dogs; and (if the poets have not +left the whole a fiction) once on a time, too, {she was} a maiden. Many +suitors courted her; who being repulsed, she, most beloved by the Nymphs +of the ocean, went to the ocean Nymphs, and used to relate the eluded +loves of the youths. + +While Galatea[70] was giving her hair be to combed, heaving sighs, she +addressed her in such words as these: “{And} yet, O maiden, no ungentle +race of men does woo thee; and as thou dost, thou art able to deny them +with impunity. But I, whose sire is Nereus, whom the azure Doris bore, +who am guarded, too, by a crowd of sisters, was not able, but through +the waves, to escape the passion of the Cyclop;” and as she spoke, the +tears choked her utterance. When, with her fingers like marble, the +maiden had wiped these away, and had comforted the Goddess, “Tell me, +dearest,” said she, “and conceal not {from me} ({for} I am true to thee) +the cause of thy grief.” In these words did the Nereid reply to the +daughter of Cratæis:[71] “Acis was the son of Faunus and of the Nymph +Symæthis, a great delight, indeed, to his father and his mother, yet a +still greater to me. For the charming {youth} had attached me to himself +alone, and eight birth-days having a second time been passed, he had +{now} marked his tender cheeks with the dubious down. Him I {pursued}; +incessantly did the Cyclop me pursue. Nor can I, shouldst thou enquire, +declare whether the hatred of the Cylops, or the love of Acis, was the +stronger in me. They were equal. O genial Venus! how great is the power +of thy sway. For that savage, and one to be dreaded by the very woods, +and beheld with impunity by no stranger, the contemner of great Olympus +with the Gods {themselves}, {now} feels what love is; and, captivated +with passion for me, he burns, forgetting his cattle and his caves. + +“And now, Polyphemus, thou hast a care for thy looks, and now for {the +art of} pleasing; now thou combest out thy stiffened hair with rakes, +{and} now it pleases thee to cut thy shaggy beard with the sickle, and +to look at thy fierce features in the water, and {so} to compose them. +Thy love for carnage, and thy fierceness, and thy insatiate thirst for +blood, {now} cease; and the ships both come and go in safety. Telemus, +in the mean time arriving at the Sicilian Ætna, Telemus, the son of +Eurymus, whom no omen had {ever} deceived, accosts the dreadful +Polyphemus, and says, ‘The single eye that thou dost carry in the midst +of thy forehead, Ulysses shall take away from thee.’ He laughed, and +said, ‘O most silly of the prophets, thou art mistaken, {for} another +has already taken it away.’ Thus does he slight him, in vain warning him +of the truth; and he either burdens the shore, stalking along with huge +strides, or, wearied, he returns to his shaded cave. + +“A hill, in form of a wedge, runs out with a long projection into the +sea: {and} the waves of the ocean flow round either side. Hither the +fierce Cyclop ascended, and sat down in the middle. His woolly flocks +followed, there being no one to guide them. After the pine tree,[72] +which afforded him the service of a staff, {but more} fitted for +sail-yards, was laid before his feet, and his pipe was taken up, formed +of a hundred reeds; all the mountains were sensible of the piping of the +shepherd: the waves, {too}, were sensible. I, lying hid within a rock, +and reclining on the bosom of my own Acis, from afar caught such words +as these with my ears, and marked them {so} heard in my mind: +‘O Galatea, fairer than[73] the leaf of the snow-white privet,[74] more +blooming than the meadows, more slender than the tall alder, brighter +than glass, more wanton than the tender kid, smoother than the shells +worn by continual floods, more pleasing than the winter’s sun, {or} than +the summer’s shade, more beauteous than the apples, more sightly than +the lofty plane tree, clearer than ice, sweeter than the ripened grape, +softer than both the down of the swan, and than curdled milk, and, didst +thou not fly me, more beauteous than a watered garden. {And yet} thou, +the same Galatea, {art} wilder than the untamed bullocks, harder than +the aged oak, more unstable than the waters, tougher than both the twigs +of osier and than the white vines, more immoveable than these rocks, +more violent than the torrent, prouder than the bepraised peacock, +fiercer than the fire, rougher than the thistles, more cruel than the +pregnant she-bear, more deaf than the ocean waves, more savage than the +trodden water-snake: and, what I could especially wish to deprive thee +of, fleeter not only than the deer when pursued by the loud barkings, +but even than the winds and the fleeting air. + +“‘But didst thou {but} know me well, thou wouldst repine at having fled, +and thou thyself wouldst blame thy own hesitation, and wouldst strive to +retain me. I have a part of the mountain for my cave, pendent with the +native rock; in which the sun is not felt in the middle of the heat, nor +is the winter felt: there are apples that load the boughs; there are +grapes on the lengthening vines, resembling gold; and there are purple +ones {as well}; both the one and the other do I reserve for thee. With +thine own hands thou shalt thyself gather the soft strawberries growing +beneath the woodland shade; thou thyself {shalt pluck} the cornels of +autumn, and plums not only darkened with their black juice, but even of +the choicest kinds, and resembling new wax. Nor, I being thy husband, +will there be wanting to thee chesnuts, nor the fruit of the arbute +tree:[75] every tree shall be at thy service. All this cattle is my own: +many, too, are wandering in the valleys: many the wood conceals: many +{more} are penned in my caves. Nor, shouldst thou ask me perchance, +could I tell thee, how many there are; ’tis for the poor man to count +his cattle. For the praises of these trust not me at all; in person thou +thyself mayst see how they can hardly support with their legs their +distended udders. Lambs, too, a smaller breed, are in the warm folds: +there are kids, too, of equal age {to them} in other folds. Snow-white +milk I always have: a part of it is kept for drinking, {another} part +the liquified rennet hardens. Nor will common delights, and ordinary +enjoyments alone fall to thy lot, {such as} does, and hares, and +she-goats, or a pair of doves, or a nest taken from the tree top. I have +found on the mountain summit the twin cubs of a shaggy she-bear, which +can play with thee, so like each other that thou couldst scarce +distinguish them. {These} I found, and I said, ‘These for my mistress +will I keep.’ + +“‘Do now but raise thy beauteous head from out of the azure sea; now, +Galatea, come, and do not scorn my presents. Surely I know myself, and +myself but lately I beheld in the reflection of the limpid water; and my +figure[76] pleased me as I saw it. See how huge I am. Not Jove, in +heaven, is greater than this body; for thou art wont to tell how one +Jupiter reigns, who he is I know not. Plenty of hair hangs over my +grisly features, and, like a grove, overshadows my shoulders; nor think +it uncomely that my body is rough, thick set with stiff bristles. A tree +without leaves is unseemly; a horse is unseemly, unless a mane covers +his tawny neck. Feathers cover the birds; their wool is an ornament to +the sheep; a beard and rough hair upon their body is becoming to men. +I have but one eye in the middle of my forehead, but it is like a large +buckler. Well! and does not the Sun from the heavens behold all these +things? and yet the Sun has but one eye. And, besides, in your seas does +my father reign. Him do I offer thee for a father-in-law; only do take +pity on a suppliant, and hear his prayer, for to thee alone do I give +way. And I, who despise Jove, and the heavens, and the piercing +lightnings, dread thee, daughter of Nereus; than the lightnings is thy +wrath more dreadful to me. But I should be more patient under these +slights, if thou didst avoid all men. For why, rejecting the Cyclop, +dost thou love Acis? And why prefer Acis to my embraces? Yet, let him +please himself, and let him please thee, too, Galatea, {though} I wish +he could not; if only the opportunity is given, he shall find that I +have strength proportioned to a body so vast. I will pull out his +palpitating entrails; and I will scatter his torn limbs about the +fields, and throughout thy waves, {and} thus let him be united to thee. +For I burn: and my passion, {thus} slighted, rages with the greater +fury; and I seem to be carrying in my breast Ætna, transferred there +with {all} its flames; and yet, Galatea, thou art unmoved.’ + +“Having in vain uttered such complaints (for all this I saw), he rises; +and like an enraged bull, when the heifer is taken away from him, he +could not stand still, and he wandered in the wood, and the well known +forests. When the savage {monster} espied me, and Acis unsuspecting and +apprehensive of no such thing; and he exclaimed:-- ‘I see you, and I +shall cause this to be the last union for your affection.’ And that +voice was as loud as an enraged Cyclop ought, {for his size}, to have. +Ætna trembled at the noise; but I, struck with horror, plunged into the +adjoining sea. The hero, son of Symæthis, turned his back and fled, and +cried,-- ‘Help me, Galatea, I entreat thee; help me, ye parents {of +hers}; and admit me, {now} on the point of destruction, within your +realms.’ The Cyclop pursued, and hurled a fragment, torn from the +mountain; and though the extreme angle only of the rock reached him, yet +it entirely crushed Acis. But I did the only thing that was allowed by +the Fates to be done, that Acis might assume the properties of his +grandsire. The purple blood flowed from beneath the rock, and in a +little time the redness began to vanish; and at first it became the +colour of a stream muddied by a shower; and, in time, it became clear. +Then the rock, that had been thrown, opened, and through the chinks, +a reed vigorous and stately arose, and the hollow mouth of the rock +resounded with the waters gushing forth. And, wondrous event! a youth +suddenly emerged, as far as the midriff, having his new-made horns +encircled with twining reeds. And he, but that he was of larger stature, +and azure in all his features, was Acis {still}. But, even then, still +it was Acis, changed into a river; and the stream has since retained +that ancient name.” + + [Footnote 68: _The Phæacians._--Ver. 719. The Phæacians were the + people of the Island of Corcyra (now Corfu), who were so called + from Phæax, the son of Neptune. This island was famous for the + gardens of Alcinoüs, which are mentioned in the Odyssey. The + Corcyrans were the originators of the disastrous Peloponnesian + war.] + + [Footnote 69: _Buthrotos._--Ver. 721. This was a city of Epirus, + not far from Corcyra. It received its name from its founder.] + + [Footnote 70: _Galatea._--Ver. 738. She was a sea Nymph, the + daughter of Nereus and Doris.] + + [Footnote 71: _Daughter of Cratæis._--Ver. 749. Cratæis was a + river of Calabria, in Italy. Symæthis was a stream of Sicily, + opposite to Calabria.] + + [Footnote 72: _The pine tree._--Ver. 782. By way of corroborating + this assertion, Boccaccio tells us, that the body of Polyphemus + was found in Sicily, his left hand grasping a walking-stick longer + than the mast of a ship.] + + [Footnote 73: _Fairer than._--Ver. 789. This song of Polyphemus + is, in some measure, imitated from that of the Cyclop, in the + Eleventh Idyll of Theocritus.] + + [Footnote 74: _Snow-white privet._--Ver. 789. Hesiod says, that + Galatea had her name from her extreme fairness; γάλα being the + Greek word for milk. To this the Poet here alludes.] + + [Footnote 75: _Arbute tree._--Ver. 820. The fruit of the arbutus, + or strawberry tree, were so extremely sour, that they were called, + as Pliny the Elder tells us, ‘unedones;’ because people could not + eat more than one. The tree itself was valued for the beauty and + pleasing shade of its foliage.] + + [Footnote 76: _My figure._--Ver. 841. Virgil and Theocritus also + represent Polyphemus as boasting of his good looks.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + Homer, who, in the ninth Book of the Odyssey, has entered fully into + the subject of Polyphemus and the other Cyclops, does not recount + this adventure, which Ovid has borrowed from Theocritus, the + Sicilian poet. Some writers have suggested that Acis was a Sicilian + youth, who, having met with a repulse from Galatea, threw himself + into the river, which was afterwards called by his name. It is, + however, more probable that this river was so called from the + rapidity of its course. Indeed, the scholiast on Theocritus and + Eustathius distinctly say that the stream was called Acis, because + the swiftness of its course resembled that of an arrow, which was + called ἀκὶς, in the Greek language. + + Homer, in describing the Cyclops, informs us that they were a + lawless race, who, neglecting husbandry, lived on the spontaneous + produce of a rich soil, and dwelling in mountain caves, devoted + themselves entirely to the pleasures of a pastoral life. He says + that they were men of monstrous stature, and had but one eye, in the + middle of their forehead. Thucydides supposes them to have been the + original inhabitants of Sicily. As their origin was unknown, it was + said that they were the offspring of Neptune, or, in other words, + that they had come by sea, to settle in Sicily. According to Justin, + they retained possession of the island till the time of Cocalus; but + in that point he disagrees with Homer, who represents them as being + in the island after the time of Cocalus, who was a contemporary of + Minos, and lived long before the Trojan war. + + They inhabited the western parts of Sicily, near the promontories of + Lilybæum and Drepanum; and from that circumstance, according to + Bochart, they received their name. He supposes that the Cyclopes + were so called from the Phœnician compound word Chek-lub, contracted + for Chek-le-lub, which, according to him, was the name of the Gulf + of Lilybæum. Because, in the Greek language κυκλὸς signified ‘a + circle,’ and ὤπς, ‘an eye,’ it was given out that the name of + Cyclops was given to them, because they had but one round eye in the + middle of the forehead. It is possible that they may have acquired + their character of being cannibals on true grounds, or, perhaps, + only because they were noted for their extreme cruelty. Living near + the volcanic mountain of Ætna, they were called the workmen of + Vulcan; and Virgil describes them as forging the thunderbolts of + Jupiter. Some writers represent them as having armed the three + Deities, who divided the empire of the world: Jupiter with thunder; + Pluto with his helmet; and Neptune with his trident. Statius + represents them as the builders of the walls of Argos and Virgil as + the founders of the gates of the Elysian fields. Aristotle supposes + that they were the first builders of towers. + + Diodorus Siculus and Tzetzes say that Polyphemus was king of a part + of Sicily, when Ulysses landed there; who, falling in love with + Elpe, the daughter of the king, carried her off. The Læstrygons, the + neighbours of Polyphemus, pursued him, and obliged him to give up + the damsel, who was brought back to her father. Ulysses, in relating + the story to the Phæacians, artfully concealed circumstances so + little to his credit, and with impunity invented the absurdities + which he related concerning a country to which his audience were + utter strangers. + + +FABLE VIII. [XIII.898-968] + + Glaucus having observed some fishes which he has laid upon the grass + revive and leap again into the water, is desirous to try the + influence of the grass on himself. Putting some of it into his + mouth, he immediately becomes mad, and leaping into the sea, is + transformed into a sea God. + +Galatea ceases[77] speaking, and the company breaking up, they depart; +and the Nereids swim in the becalmed waves. Scylla returns, (for, in +truth, she does not trust herself in the midst of the ocean) and either +wanders about without garments on the thirsty sand, or, when she is +tired, having lighted upon some lonely recess of the sea, cools her +limbs in the enclosed waves. {When}, lo! cleaving the deep, Glaucus +comes, a new-made inhabitant of the deep sea, his limbs having been +lately transformed at Anthedon,[78] near Eubœa; and he lingers from +passion for the maiden {now} seen, and utters whatever words he thinks +may detain her as she flies. Yet still she flies, and, swift through +fear, she arrives at the top of a mountain, situate near the shore. + +In front of the sea, there is a huge ridge, terminating in one summit, +bending for a long distance over the waves, {and} without trees. Here +she stands, and secured by the place, ignorant whether he is a monster +or a God, she both admires his colour, and his flowing hair that covers +his shoulders and his back, and how a wreathed fish closes the extremity +of his groin. {This} he perceives; and leaning upon a rock that stands +hard by, he says, “Maiden, I am no monster, no savage beast; I am a God +of the waters: nor have Proteus, and Triton, and Palæmon, the son of +Athamas, a more uncontrolled reign over the deep. Yet formerly I was a +mortal; but, still, devoted to the deep sea, even then was I employed in +it. For, at one time, I used to drag the nets that swept up the fish; +at another time, seated on a rock, I managed the line with the rod. The +shore was adjacent to a verdant meadow, one part of which was surrounded +with water, the other with grass, which, neither the horned heifers had +hurt with their browsing, nor had you, ye harmless sheep, nor {you}, ye +shaggy goats, {ever} cropped it. No industrious bee took {thence} the +collected blossoms, no festive garlands were gathered thence for the +head; and no mower’s hands had ever cut it. I was the first to be seated +on that turf, while I was drying the dripping nets. And that I might +count in their order the fish that I had taken; I laid out those upon it +which either chance had driven to my nets, or their own credulity to my +barbed hooks. + +“The thing is like a fiction (but of what use is it to me to coin +fictions?); on touching the grass my prey began to move, and to shift +their sides, and to skip about on the land, as though in the sea. And +while I both paused and wondered, the whole batch flew off to the waves, +and left behind their new master and the shore. I was amazed, and, in +doubt for a long time, I considered what could be the cause; whether +some Divinity had done this, or whether the juice of {some} herb. ‘And +yet,’ said I, ‘what herb has these properties?’ and with my hand I +plucked the grass, and I chewed it, {so} plucked, with my teeth. Hardly +had my throat well swallowed the unknown juices, when I suddenly felt my +entrails inwardly throb, and my mind taken possession of by the passions +of another nature. Nor could I stay in {that} place; and I exclaimed, +‘Farewell, land, never more to be revisited;’ and plunged my body +beneath the deep. The Gods of the sea vouchsafed me, on being received +by them, kindred honours, and they entreated Oceanus and Tethys to take +away from me whatever mortality I bore. By them was I purified; and a +charm being repeated over me nine times, that washes away {all} guilt, +I was commanded to put my breast beneath a hundred streams. + +“There was no delay; rivers issuing from different springs, and whole +seas, were poured over my head. Thus far I can relate to thee what +happened worthy to be related, and thus far do I remember; but my +understanding was not conscious of the rest. When it returned {to me}, +I found myself different throughout all my body from what I was before, +and not the same in mind. Then, for the first time, did I behold this +beard, green with its deep colour, and my flowing hair, which I sweep +along the spacious seas, and my huge shoulders, and my azurecoloured +arms, and the extremities of my legs tapering in {the form of} a finny +fish. But still, what does this form avail me, what to have pleased the +ocean Deities, {and} what to be a God, if thou art not moved by these +things?” + +As he was saying such things as these, and about to say still more, +Scylla left the God. He was enraged, and, provoked at the repulse, he +repaired to the marvellous court of Circe, the daughter of Titan. + + [Footnote 77: _Ceases._--Ver. 898. ‘Desierat Galatea loqui,’ is + translated by Clarke, ‘Galatea gave over talking.’] + + [Footnote 78: _Anthedon._--Ver. 905. Anthedon was a maritime city + of Bœotia, only separated from the Island of Eubœa, by the narrow + strait of the Euripus.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + The ancient writers mention three persons of the name of Glaucus: + one was the son of Minos, the second of Hippolochus, and the third + is the one here mentioned. Strabo calls him the son of Polybus, + while other writers make him to have been the son of Phorbas, and + others of Neptune. Being drowned, perhaps by accident, to do honour + to his memory, it was promulgated that he had become a sea God, and + the city of Anthedon, of which he was a native, worshipped him as + such. + + Athenæus says that he carried off Ariadne from the isle of Naxos, + where Theseus had left her; on which Bacchus punished him by binding + him to a vine. According to Diodorus Siculus, he appeared to the + Argonauts, when overtaken by a storm. From Apollonius Rhodius we + learn that he foretold to them that Hercules, and Castor and Pollux, + would be received into the number of the Gods. It was also said, + that in the battle which took place between Jason and the + Tyrrhenians, he was the only person that escaped unwounded. + Euripides, who is followed by Pausanias, says that he was the + interpreter of Nereus, and was skilled in prophecy; and Nicander + even says that it was from him that Apollo learned the art of + prediction. Strabo and Philostratus say that he was metamorphosed + into a Triton, which is a-kin to the description of his appearance + here given by Ovid. + + The place where he leaped into the sea was long remembered; and in + the days of Pausanias ‘Glaucus’ Leap’ was still pointed out by the + people of Anthedon. It is not improbable that he drowned himself for + some reason which tradition failed to hand down to posterity. + + + + +BOOK THE FOURTEENTH. + + +FABLE I. [XIV.1-74] + + Circe becomes enamoured of Glaucus, who complains to her of his + repulse by Scylla. She endeavours, without success, to make him + desert Scylla for herself. In revenge, she poisons the fountain + where the Nymph is wont to bathe, and communicates to her a hideous + form; which is so insupportable to Scylla, that she throws herself + into the sea, and is transformed into a rock. + +And now {Glaucus}, the Eubœan plougher of the swelling waves, had left +behind Ætna, placed upon the jaws of the Giant, and the fields of the +Cyclops, that had never experienced the harrow or the use of the plough, +and that were never indebted to the yoked oxen; he had left Zancle, too, +behind, and the opposite walls of Rhegium,[1] and the sea, abundant +cause of shipwreck, which, confined by the two shores, bounds the +Ausonian and the Sicilian lands. Thence, swimming with his huge hands +through the Etrurian seas, Glaucus arrived at the grass-clad hills, and +the halls of Circe, the daughter of the Sun, filled with various wild +beasts. Soon as he beheld her, after salutations were given and +received, he said, “Do thou, a Goddess, have compassion on me a God; for +thou alone (should I only seem deserving of it,) art able to relieve +this passion {of mine}. Daughter of Titan, by none is it better known +how great is the power of herbs, than by me, who have been transformed +by their agency; and, that the cause of my passion may not be unknown to +thee, Scylla has been beheld by me on the Italian shores, opposite the +Messenian walls. I am ashamed to recount my promises, my entreaties, my +caresses, and my rejected suit. But, do thou, if there is any power in +incantations, utter the incantation with thy holy lips; or, if {any} +herb is more efficacious, make use of the proved virtues of powerful +herbs. But I do not request thee to cure me, and to heal these wounds; +and there is no necessity for an end {to them; but} let her share in the +flame.” But Circe, (for no one has a temper more susceptible of such a +passion, whether it is that the cause of it originates in herself, or +whether it is that Venus, offended[2] by her father’s discovery, causes +this,) utters such words as these:-- + +“Thou wilt more successfully court her who is willing, and who +entertains similar desires, and who is captivated with an equal passion. +Thou art worthy of it, and assuredly thou oughtst to be courted +spontaneously; and, if thou givest any hopes, believe me, thou shalt be +courted[3] spontaneously. That thou mayst entertain no doubts, or lest +confidence in thy own beauty may not exist, behold! I who am both a +Goddess, and the daughter of the radiant Sun, and am so potent with my +charms, and so potent with my herbs, wish to be thine. Despise her who +despises thee; her, who is attached to thee, repay by like attachment, +and, by one act, take vengeance on two individuals.” + +Glaucus answered her, making such attempts as these,-- “Sooner shall +foliage grow in the ocean, and {sooner} shall sea-weed spring up on the +tops of the mountains, than my affections shall change, while Scylla is +alive.” The Goddess is indignant; and since she is not able to injure +him, and as she loves him she does not wish {to do so}, she is enraged +against her, who has been preferred to herself; and, offended with these +crosses in love, she immediately bruises herbs, infamous for their +horrid juices, and, when bruised, she mingles with them the incantations +of Hecate. She puts on azure vestments too, and through the troop of +fawning wild beasts she issues from the midst of her hall; and making +for Rhegium, opposite to the rocks of Zancle, she enters the waves +boiling with the tides; on these, as though on the firm shore, she +impresses her footsteps, and with dry feet she skims along the surface +of the waves. + +There was a little bay, curving in {the shape of} a bent bow, +a favourite retreat of Scylla, whither she used to retire from the +influence both of the sea and of the weather, when the sun was at its +height in his mid career, and made the smallest shadow from the head +{downwards}. This the Goddess infects beforehand, and pollutes it with +monster-breeding drugs; on it she sprinkles the juices distilled from +the noxious root, and thrice nine times, with her magic lips, she +mutters over the mysterious charm, {enwrapt} in the dubious language of +strange words.[4] Scylla comes; and she has {now} gone in up to the +middle of her stomach, when she beholds her loins grow hideous with +barking monsters; and, at first believing that they are no part of her +own body, she flies from them and drives them off, and is in dread of +the annoying mouths of the dogs; but those that she flies from, she +carries along with {herself}; and as she examines the substance of her +thighs, her legs, and her feet, she meets with Cerberean jaws in place +of those parts. The fury of the dogs {still} continues, and the backs of +savage {monsters} lying beneath her groin, cut short, and her prominent +stomach, {still} adhere to them. + +Glaucus, {still} in love, bewailed {her}, and fled from an alliance with +Circe, who had {thus} too hostilely employed the potency of herbs. +Scylla remained on that spot; and, at the first moment that an +opportunity was given, in her hatred of Circe, she deprived Ulysses of +his companions. Soon after, the same {Scylla} would have overwhelmed the +Trojan ships, had she not been first transformed into a rock, which even +now is prominent with its crags; {this} rock the sailor, too, avoids. + + [Footnote 1: _Rhegium._--Ver. 5. Rhegium was a city of Calabria, + opposite to the coast of Sicily.] + + [Footnote 2: _Venus offended._--Ver. 27. The Sun, or Apollo, the + father of Circe, as the Poet has already related in his fourth + Book, betrayed the intrigues of Mars with Venus.] + + [Footnote 3: _Shalt be courted._--Ver. 31. She means that he shall + be courted, but by herself.] + + [Footnote 4: _Of strange words._--Ver. 57. ‘Obscurum verborum + ambage novorum’ is rendered by Clarke, ‘Darkened with a long + rabble of new words.’] + + +EXPLANATION. + + According to Hesiod, Circe was the daughter of the Sun and of the + Nymph Perse, and the sister of Pasiphaë, the wife of Minos. Homer + makes her the sister of Æetes, the king of Colchis, while other + authors represent her as the daughter of that monarch, and the + sister of Medea. Being acquainted with the properties of simples, + and having used her art in mixing poisonous draughts, she was + generally looked upon as a sorceress. Apollonius Rhodius says that + she poisoned her husband, the king of the Sarmatians, and that her + father Apollo rescued her from the rage of her subjects, by + transporting her in his chariot into Italy. Virgil and Ovid say that + she inhabited one of the promontories of Italy, which afterwards + bore her name, and which at the present day is known by the name of + Monte Circello. + + It is not improbable that the person who went by the name of Circe + was never in Colchis or Thrace, and that she was styled the sister + of Medea, merely on account of the similarity of their characters; + that they both were called daughters of the Sun, because they + understood the properties of simples; and that their pretended + enchantments were only a poetical mode of describing the effect of + their beauty, which drew many suitors after them, who lost + themselves in the dissipation of a voluptuous life. Indeed, Strabo + says, and very judiciously, as it would seem, that Homer having + heard persons mention the expedition of Jason to Colchis, and + hearing the stories of Medea and Circe, he took occasion to say, + from the resemblance of their characters, that they were sisters. + + According to some authors, Scylla was the daughter of Phorcys and + Hecate; but as other writers say, of Typhon. Homer describes her in + the following terms:-- ‘She had a voice like that of a young whelp; + no man, not even a God, could behold her without horror. She had + twelve feet, six long necks, and at the end of each a monstrous + head, whose mouth was provided with a triple row of teeth.’ Another + ancient writer says, that these heads were those of an insect, + a dog, a lion, a whale, a Gorgon, and a human being. Virgil has in a + great measure followed the description given by Homer. Between + Messina and Reggio there is a narrow strait, where high crags + project into the sea on each side. The part on the Sicilian side was + called Charybdis, and that on the Italian shore was named Scylla. + This spot has ever been famous for its dangerous whirlpools, and the + extreme difficulty of its navigation. Several rapid currents meeting + there, and the tide running through the strait with great + impetuosity, the sea sends forth a dismal noise, not unlike that of + the howling or barking of dogs, as Virgil has expressed it, in the + words, ‘Multis circum latrantibus undis.’ + + Palæphatus and Fusebius, not satisfied with the story being based on + such simple facts, assert that Scylla was a ship that belonged to + certain Etrurian pirates, who used to infest the coasts of Sicily, + and that it had the figure of a woman carved on its head, whose + lower parts were surrounded with dogs. According to these writers, + Ulysses escaped them; and then, using the privileges of a traveller, + told the story to the credulous Phæacians in the marvellous terms in + which Homer has related it. Bochart, however, says that the two + names were derived from the Phœnician language, in which ‘Scol,’ the + root of Scylla, signified ‘a ruin,’ and Charybdis, ‘a gulf.’ + + +FABLE II. [XIV.75-100] + + Dido entertains Æneas in her palace, and falls in love with him. + He afterwards abandons her, on which she stabs herself in despair. + Jupiter transforms the Cercopes into apes; and the islands which + they inhabit are afterwards called ‘Pithecusæ,’ from the Greek word + signifying ‘an ape.’ + +After the Trojan ships, with their oars, had passed by her and the +ravening Charybdis; when now they had approached near the Ausonian +shores, they were carried back by the winds[5] to the Libyan coasts. The +Sidonian {Dido}, she who was doomed not easily to endure the loss of her +Phrygian husband, received Æneas, both in her home and her affection; on +the pile, too, erected under the pretext of sacred rites, she fell upon +the sword; and, {herself} deceived, she deceived all. Again, flying from +the newly erected walls of the sandy regions, and being carried back to +the seat of Eryx and the attached Acestes, he performs sacrifice, and +pays honour[6] to the tomb of his father. He now loosens {from shore} +the ships which Iris, the minister of Juno, has almost burned; and +passes by the realms of the son of Hippotas, and the regions that smoke +with the heated sulphur, and leaves behind him the rocks of the +Sirens,[7] daughters of Acheloüs; and the ship, deprived of its +pilot,[8] coasts along Inarime[9] and Prochyta,[10] and Pithecusæ, +situate on a barren hill, so called from the name of its inhabitants. + +For the father of the Gods, once abhorring the frauds and perjuries of +the Cercopians, and the crimes of the fraudulent race, changed these men +into ugly animals; that these same beings might be able to appear unlike +men, and yet like them. He both contracted their limbs, and flattened +their noses; bent back from their foreheads; and he furrowed their faces +with the wrinkles of old age. And he sent them into this spot, with the +whole of their bodies covered with long yellow hair. Moreover, he first +took away from them the use of language, and of their tongues, made for +dreadful perjury; he only allowed them to be able to complain with a +harsh jabbering. + + [Footnote 5: _By the winds._--Ver. 77. The storm in which Æneas is + cast upon the shores of Africa forms the subject of part of the + first Book of the Æneid.] + + [Footnote 6: _And pays honour._--Ver. 84. The annual games which + Æneas instituted at the tomb of his father, in Sicily, are fully + described in the fifth Book of the Æneid.] + + [Footnote 7: _The Sirens._--Ver. 87. The Sirens were said to have + been the daughters of the river Acheloüs. Their names are + Parthenope, Lysia, and Leucosia.] + + [Footnote 8: _Deprived of its pilot._--Ver. 88. This was + Palinurus, who, when asleep, fell overboard, and was drowned. See + the end of the fifth Book of the Æneid.] + + [Footnote 9: _Inarime._--Ver. 89. This was an island not far from + the coast of Campania, which was also called Ischia and Ænaria. + The word ‘Inarime’ is thought to have been coined by Virgil, from + the expression of Homer, εῖν Ἀρίμοις, when speaking of it, as that + writer is the first who is found to use it, and is followed by + Ovid, Lucan, and others. Strabo tells us, that ‘aremus’ was the + Etrurian name for an ape; if so, the name of this spot may account + for the name of Pithecusæ, the adjoining islands, if the tradition + here related by the Poet really existed. Pliny the Elder, however, + says that Pithecusæ were so called from πίθος, an earthern cask, + or vessel, as there were many potteries there.] + + [Footnote 10: _Prochyta._--Ver. 89. This island was said to have + been torn away from the isle of Inarime by an earthquake; for + which reason it received its name from the Greek verb προχέω, + which means ‘to pour forth.’] + + +EXPLANATION. + + Although Ovid passes over the particulars of the visit of Æneas to + Dido, and only mentions her death incidentally, we may give a few + words to a story which has been rendered memorable by the beautiful + poem of Virgil. Elisa, or Dido, was the daughter of Belus, king of + Tyre. According to Justin, at his death he left his crown to his son + Pygmalion jointly with Dido, who was a woman of extraordinary + beauty. She was afterwards married to her uncle Sicharbas, who is + called Sichæus by Virgil. Being priest of Hercules, an office next + in rank to that of king, he was possessed of immense treasures, + which the known avarice of Pygmalion caused him to conceal in the + earth. Pygmalion having caused him to be assassinated, at which Dido + first expressed great resentment, she afterwards pretended a + reconciliation, the better to cover the design which she had formed + to escape from the kingdom. + + Having secured the cooperation of several of the discontented + Tyrians, she requested permission to visit Tyre, and to leave her + melancholy retreat, where every thing contributed to increase her + misery by recalling the remembrance of her deceased husband. Hoping + to seize her treasures, Pygmalion granted her request. Putting her + wealth on board ship, she mixed some bags filled with sand among + those that contained gold, for the purpose of deceiving those whom + the king had sent to observe her and to escort her to Tyre. When out + at sea, she threw the bags overboard, to appease the spirit of her + husband, as she pretended, by sacrificing those treasures that had + cost him his life. Then addressing the officers that accompanied + her, she assured them that they would meet with but a bad reception + from the king for having permitted so much wealth to be wasted, and + that it would be more advantageous for them to fly from his + resentment. The officers embarking in her design, after they had + taken on board some Tyrian nobles, who were privy to the plan, she + offered sacrifice to Hercules, and again set sail. Landing in + Cyprus, they carried off eighty young women, who were married to her + companions. On discovering her flight, Pygmalion at first intended + to pursue her; but the intreaties of his mother, and the + remonstrances of the priests, caused him to abandon his design. + + Having arrived on the coast of Africa, Dido bargained with the + inhabitants of the coast for as much ground as she could encompass + with a bull’s hide. This being granted, she cut the hide into as + many thongs as enclosed ground sufficient to build a fort upon; + which was in consequence called ‘Byrsa.’ In making the foundation, + an ox’s head was dug up, which being supposed to portend slavery to + the city, if built there, they removed to another spot, where, in + digging, they found a horse’s head, which was considered to be a + more favourable omen. The story of the citadel being named from the + bull’s hide was very probably invented by the Greeks; who, finding + in the Phœnician narrative of the foundation of Carthage, the + citadel mentioned by the Tyrian name of ‘Bostra,’ which had that + signification, and fancying, from its resemblance to their word + βυρσὰ, that it was derived from it, invented the fable of the hide. + + Being pressed by Iarbas, king of Mauritania, to marry him, she asked + for three months to come to a determination. The time expiring, she + ordered a sacrifice to be made as an expiation to her husband’s + shade, and caused a pile to be erected, avowedly for the purpose of + burning all that belonged to him. Ascending it, she pretended to + expedite the sacrifice, and then despatched herself with a poniard. + Virgil, wishing to deduce the hatred of the Romans and Carthaginians + from the very time of Æneas, invented the story of the visit of + Æneas to Dido; though he was perhaps guilty of a great anachronism + in so doing, as the taking of Troy most probably preceded the + foundation of Carthage by at least two centuries. Ovid has also + related her story at length in the third book of the Fasti, and has + followed Virgil’s account of the treacherous conduct of Æneas, while + he represents Iarbas as capturing her city after her death, and + driving her sister Anna into exile. In the Phœnician language the + word ‘Dido’ signified ‘the bold woman,’ and it is probable that + Elisa only received that name after her death. Bochart has taken + considerable pains to prove that she was the aunt of Jezebel, the + famous, or rather infamous, wife of King Ahab. + + The Poet then proceeds to say that Æneas saw the islands of the + Cercopians on his way, whom Jupiter had transformed into apes. + Æschines and Suidas say that there were two notorious robbers, + inhabitants of an island adjacent to Sicily, named Candulus and + Atlas, who committed outrages on all who approached the island. + Being about to insult Jupiter himself, he transformed them into + apes, from which circumstance the island received its name of + Pithecusa. Sabinus says that they were called Cercopes, because in + their treachery they were like monkeys, who fawn with their tails, + when they design nothing but mischief. Zenobius places the Cercopes + in Libya; and says that they were changed into rocks, for having + offered to fight with Hercules. + + +FABLE III. [XIV.101-153] + + Apollo is enamoured of the Sibyl, and, to engage her affection, + offers her as many years as she can grasp grains of sand. She + forgets to ask that she may always continue in the bloom of youth, + and consequently becomes gray and decrepit. + +After he has passed by these, and has left the walls of Parthenope[11] +on the right hand, on the left side he {approaches} the tomb of the +tuneful son of Æolus[12]; and he enters the shores of Cumæ, regions +abounding in the sedge of the swamp, and the cavern of the long-lived +Sibyl[13], and entreats {her}, that through Avernus, he may visit the +shade of his father. But she raises her countenance, a long time fixed +on the ground; and at length, inspired by the influence of the God, she +says, “Thou dost request a great thing, O hero, most renowned by thy +achievements, whose right hand has been proved by the sword, whose +affection {has been proved} by the flames. Yet, Trojan, lay aside {all} +apprehension, thou shalt obtain thy request; and under my guidance thou +shalt visit the abodes of Elysium, the most distant realms of the +universe, and the beloved shade of thy parent. To virtue, no path is +inaccessible.” + +{Thus} she spoke, and she pointed out a branch refulgent with gold, in +the woods of the Juno of Avernus[14], and commanded him to pluck it from +its stem. Æneas obeyed; and he beheld the power of the dread Orcus, and +his own ancestors, and the aged ghost of the magnanimous Anchises; he +learned, too, the ordinances of {those} regions, and what dangers would +have to be undergone by him in his future wars. Tracing back thence his +weary steps along the path, he beguiled his labour in discourse with his +Cumæan guide. And while he was pursuing his frightful journey along +darkening shades, he said, “Whether thou art a Goddess personally, or +whether {thou art but a woman} most favoured by the Deities, to me shalt +thou always be equal to a Divinity; I will confess, too, that I exist +through thy kindness, who hast willed that I should visit the abodes of +death, and that I should escape those abodes of death {when} beheld {by +me}. For this kindness, when I have emerged into the breezes of the air, +I will erect a temple to thee, {and} I will give thee the honours of +frankincense.” + +The prophetess looks upon him, and, with heaving sighs, she says, +“Neither am I a Goddess, nor do thou honour a human being with the +tribute of the holy frankincense. And, that thou mayst not err in +ignorance, life eternal and without end was offered me, had my virginity +but yielded to Phœbus, in love {with me}. But while he was hoping for +this, while he was desiring to bribe me beforehand with gifts, he said: +‘Maiden of Cumæ, choose whatever thou mayst wish, thou shalt gain thy +wish.’ I, pointing to a heap of collected dust, inconsiderately asked +that as many birth-days might be my lot, as the dust contained +particles. It escaped me to desire as well, at the same time, years +vigorous with youth. But yet he offered me these, and eternal youth, had +I submitted to his desires. Having rejected the offers of Phœbus, +I remain unmarried. But now my more vigorous years have passed by, and +crazy old age approaches with its trembling step, and this must I long +endure. + +“For thou beholdest me, having now lived seven ages; it remains for me +to equal the number of particles of the dust; {yet} to behold three +hundred harvests, {and} three hundred vintages. The time will come, when +length of days will make me diminutive from a person so large; and when +my limbs, wasted by old age, will be reduced to the most trifling +weight. {Then} I shall not seem to have {once} been beloved, nor {once} +to have pleased a God. Even Phœbus himself will, perhaps, not recognize +me; or, {perhaps}, he will deny that he loved me. To that degree shall I +be said to be changed; and though perceived by none, I shall still be +recognized by my voice. My voice the Destinies will leave me.” + + [Footnote 11: _Parthenope._--Ver. 101. The city of Naples, or + Neapolis, was called Parthenope from the Siren of that name, who + was said to have been buried there.] + + [Footnote 12: _Son of Æolus._--Ver. 103. Misenus, the trumpeter, + was said to have been the son of Æolus. From him the promontory + Misenum received its name.] + + [Footnote 13: _Long-lived Sibyl._--Ver. 104. The Sibyls were said + by some to have their name from the fact of their revealing the + will of the Deities, as in the Æolian dialect, Σιὸς was ‘a God,’ + and βουλὴ was the Greek for ‘will.’ According to other writers, + they were so called from Σίου βύλλη, ‘full of the Deity.’] + + [Footnote 14: _Juno of Avernus._--Ver. 114. The Infernal, or + Avernian Juno, is a title sometimes given by the poets to + Proserpine.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + The early fathers of the church, and particularly Justin, in their + works in defence of Christianity, made use of the Sibylline verses + of the ancients. The Emperor Constantine, too, in his harangue + before the Nicene Council, quoted them, as redounding to the + advantage of Christianity; although he then stated that many persons + did not believe that the Sibyls were the authors of them. St. + Augustin, too, employs several of their alleged predictions to + enforce the truths of the Christian religion. + + Sebastian Castalio has warmly maintained the truth of the oracles + contained in these verses, though he admits that they have been very + much interpolated. Other writers, however, having carefully examined + them, have pronounced them to be spurious, and so many pious frauds; + which, perhaps, may be pronounced to be the general opinion at the + present day. We will, however, shortly enquire how many Sibyls of + antiquity there were, and when they lived; whether any of their + works were ever promulgated for the perusal of the public, and + whether the verses which still exist under their name have any + ground to be considered genuine. + + There is no doubt but that in ancient times there existed certain + women, who, led by a frenzied enthusiasm, uttered obscure sentences, + which passed for predictions with the credulous people who went to + consult them. Virgil and Ovid represent Æneas as going to the cave + of the Cumæan Sibyl, to learn from her the success of the wars he + should be engaged in. Plato, Strabo, Plutarch, Pliny, Solinus, and + Pausanias, with many other writers, have mentioned the Sibyls; and + it would be absurd, with Faustus Socinus, to affirm that no Sibyls + ever existed. Indeed, Plato and other authors of antiquity go so far + as to say, that by their productions they were essentially the + benefactors of mankind. Some mention but one Sibyl, who was born + either at Babylon or at Erythræ, in Phrygia. Diodorus Siculus + mentions one only, and assigns Delphi as her locality, calling her + by the name of Daphne. Strabo and Stephanus Byzantinus mention two, + the one of Gergæ, a little town near Troy, and the other of + Mermessus, in the same country. Solinus reckons three; the Delphian, + named Herophile, the Erythræan, and the Cumæan. According to Varro, + their number amounted to ten, whose names, in the order of time + which Pausanias assigns them, were as follows: + + The first and the most ancient was the Delphian, who lived before + the Trojan war. The second was the Erythræan, who was said to have + been the first composer of acrostic verses, and who also lived + before the Trojan war. The third was the Cumæan, who was mentioned + by Nævius in his book on the first Punic war, and by Piso in his + annals. She is the Sibyl spoken of in the Æneid, and her name was + Deïphobe. The fourth was the Samian, called Pitho, though Eusebius + calls her Herophile, and he makes her to have lived about the time + of Numa Pompilius. The fifth, whose name was Amalthea, or Demophile, + lived at Cumæ, in Asia Minor. The sixth was the Hellespontine Sibyl, + born at Mermessus, near Troy. The seventh was the Libyan, mentioned + by Euripides. Some suppose that she was the first who had the name + of Sibyl, which was given to her by the people of Africa. The eighth + was the Persian or Babylonian Sibyl, whom Suidas names Sambetha. The + ninth was the Phrygian, who delivered her oracles at Ancyra, in + Phrygia. The tenth was the Tiburtine, who was called Albunea, and + prophesied near Tibur, or Tivoli, on the banks of the Anio. In the + present story Ovid evidently intends to represent these various + Sibyls as being the same person; and to account for her prolonged + existence, by representing that Apollo had granted her a life to + last for many ages. + + Several ages before the Christian era, the Romans had a collection + of verses, which were commonly attributed to the Sibyls. These they + often consulted; and in the time of Tarquinius Superbus, two + officers were appointed for the purpose of keeping the Sibylline + books, whose business it was to look in them on the occasion of any + public calamity, in order to see whether it had been foretold and to + make their report to the Senate. The books were kept in a stone + chest, beneath the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus. These Duumvirs + continued until the year of Rome 388, when eight others being added, + they formed the College of the Decemvirs. About eighty-three years + before the Christian era five other keepers of these books were + added, who thus formed the body called the Quindecimvirs. + + Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Aulus Gellius, Servius, and many other + writers, state the following as the origin of the Sibylline books. + An aged woman presented to Tarquinius Superbus three books that + contained the oracles of the Sibyls, and demanded a large sum for + them. The king refusing to buy them, she went and burned them; and + returning, asked the same price for the remaining six, as she had + done for the original number. Being again repulsed, she burnt three + more, and coming back again, demanded the original price for the + three that remained. Astonished at the circumstance, the king bought + the books. Pliny and Solinus vary the story a little, in saying that + the woman at first presented but three books, and that she destroyed + two of them. + + It is generally supposed, that on the burning of the Capitol, about + eighty-three years before the Christian era, the Sibylline books of + Tarquinius Superbus were destroyed in the flames. To repair the + loss, the Romans despatched officers to various cities of Italy, and + even to Asia and Africa, to collect whatever they could find, under + the name of Sibylline oracles. P. Gabinius, M. Ottacilius, and L. + Valerius brought back a large collection, of which the greater part + was rejected, and the rest committed to the care of the + Quindecimvirs. Augustus ordered a second revision of them; and, + after a severe scrutiny, those which were deemed to be genuine, were + deposited in a box, under a statue of Apollo Palatinus. Tiberius + again had them examined, and some portion of them was then rejected. + Finally, about the year A.D. 399, Stilcho, according to Rutilius + Numatianus, or rather, the Emperor Honorius himself, ordered them to + be burnt. + + The so-called collection of Sibylline verses which now exists is + generally looked upon as spurious; or if any part is genuine, it + bears so small a proportion to the fictitious portion, that it has + shared in the condemnation. Indeed, their very distinctness stamps + them as forgeries; for they speak of the mysteries of Christianity + in undisguised language, and the names of our Saviour and the Virgin + Mary occur as openly as they do in the Holy Scriptures. + + It is a singular assertion of St. Jerome, that the gift of prophecy + was a reward to the Sibyls for their chastity. If such was the + condition, we have a right to consider that the Deities were very + partial in the distribution of their rewards, and in withholding + them from the multitudes who, we are bound in charity to believe, + were as deserving as the Sibyls themselves of the gift of + vaticination. + + +FABLE IV. [XIV.154-247] + + Æneas arrives at Caieta, in Italy. Achæmenides, an Ithacan, who is + on board his ship, meets his former companion Macareus there; and + relates to him his escape from being devoured by Polyphemus. + Macareus afterwards tells him how Ulysses had received winds from + Æolus in a hide, and by that means had a prosperous voyage; till, + on the bag being opened by the sailors in their curiosity, the winds + rushed out, and raised a storm that drove them back to Æolia, and + afterwards upon the coast of the Læstrygons. + +While the Sibyl was relating such things as these, during the steep +ascent, the Trojan Æneas emerged from the Stygian abodes to the Eubœan +city,[15] and the sacrifice being performed, after the usual manner, he +approached the shores that not yet bore the name of his nurse;[16] here, +too, Macareus of Neritos, the companion of the experienced Ulysses, had +rested, after the prolonged weariness of his toils. He recognized +Achæmenides, once deserted in the midst of the crags of Ætna; and +astonished that, thus unexpectedly found again, he was yet alive, he +said, “What chance, or what God, Achæmenides, preserves thee? why is a +barbarian[17] vessel carrying {thee}, a Greek? What land is sought by +thy bark?” + +No longer ragged in his clothing, {but} now his own {master},[18] and +wearing clothes tacked together with no thorns, Achæmenides says, “Again +may I behold Polyphemus, and those jaws streaming with human blood, +if my home and Ithaca be more delightful to me than this bark; if I +venerate Æneas any less than my own father. And, though I were to do +everything {possible}, I could never be sufficiently grateful. ’Tis he +that has caused that I speak, and breathe, and behold the heavens and +the luminary of the sun; and can I be ungrateful, and forgetful of this? +{’Tis through him} that this life of mine did not fall into the jaws of +the Cyclop; and though I were, even now, to leave the light of life, +I should either be buried in a tomb, or, at least, not in that paunch +{of his}. What were my feelings at that moment (unless, indeed, terror +deprived me of all sense and feeling), when, left behind, I saw you +making for the open sea? I wished to shout aloud, but I was fearful of +betraying myself to the enemy; the shouts of Ulysses were very nearly +causing[19] the destruction of even your ship. I beheld him when, having +torn up a mountain, he hurled the immense rock in the midst of the +waves; again I beheld him hurling huge stones, with his giant arms, just +as though impelled by the powers of the engine of war. And, forgetful +that I was not in it, I was now struck with horror lest the waves or the +stones might overwhelm the ship. + +“But when your flight had saved you from a cruel death, he, indeed, +roaring with rage, paced about all Ætna, and groped out the woods with +his hands, and, deprived of his eye, stumbled against the rocks; and +stretching out his arms, stained with gore, into the sea, he cursed the +Grecian race, and he said, ‘Oh! that any accident would bring back +Ulysses to me, or any one of his companions, against whom my anger might +find vent, whose entrails I might devour, whose living limbs I might +mangle with my right hand, whose blood might drench my throat, whose +crushed members might quiver beneath my teeth: how insignificant, or how +trifling, {then}, would be the loss of my sight, that has been taken +from me!’ This, and more, he said in his rage. Ghastly horror took +possession of me, as I beheld his features, streaming even yet with +blood, and the ruthless hands, and the round space deprived of the eye, +and his limbs, and his beard matted with human blood. Death was before +my eyes, {and} yet that was the least of my woes. I imagined that[20] +now he was about to seize hold of me, and that now he was on the very +point of swallowing my vitals within his own; in my mind was fixed the +impress of that time when I beheld two bodies of my companions three or +four times dashed against the ground. Throwing himself on the top of +them, just like a shaggy lion, he stowed away their entrails, their +flesh, their bones with the white marrow, and their quivering limbs, in +his ravenous paunch. A trembling seized me; in my alarm I stood without +blood {in my features}, as I beheld him both chewing and belching out +his bloody banquet from his mouth, and vomiting pieces mingled with +wine; {and} I fancied that such a doom was in readiness for wretched me. + +“Concealing myself for many a day, and trembling at every sound, and +both fearing death and {yet} desirous to die, satisfying hunger with +acorns, and with grass mixed with leaves, alone, destitute, desponding, +abandoned to death and destruction, after a length of time, I beheld a +ship not far off; by signs I prayed for deliverance, and I ran down to +the shore; I prevailed; and a Trojan ship received me, a Greek. Do thou +too, dearest of my companions, relate thy adventures, and those of thy +chief, and of the company, which, together with thee, entrusted +{themselves} to the ocean.” + +The other relates how that Æolus rules over the Etrurian seas; Æolus, +the grandson of Hippotas, who confines the winds in their prison, which +the Dulichean chief had received, shut up in a leather {bag}, a wondrous +gift; how, with a favouring breeze, he had proceeded for nine days, and +had beheld the land he was bound for; {and how}, when the first morning +after the ninth had arrived, his companions, influenced by envy and a +desire for booty, supposing it to be gold, had cut the fastenings of the +winds; {and how}, through these, the ship had gone back along the waves +through which it had just come, and had returned to the harbour of the +Æolian king. + +“Thence,” said he, “we came to the ancient city[21] of Lamus, the +Læstrygon. Antiphates was reigning in that land. I was sent to him, two +in number accompanying me; and with difficulty was safety procured by me +and one companion, by flight; the third of us stained the accursed jaws +of the Læstrygon with his blood. Antiphates pursued us as we fled, and +called together his followers; they flocked together, and, without +intermission, they showered both stones and beams, and they overwhelmed +men, and ships, too, did they overwhelm; yet one, which carried us and +Ulysses himself, escaped. A part of our companions {thus} lost, grieving +and lamenting much we arrived at those regions which thou perceivest +afar hence. Look! afar hence thou mayst perceive an island,[22] that has +been seen by me; and do thou, most righteous of the Trojans, thou son of +a Goddess, (for, since the war is ended, thou art not, Æneas, to be +called an enemy) I warn thee--avoid the shores of Circe.” + + [Footnote 15: _Eubœan city._--Ver. 155. ‘Cumæ’ was said to have + been founded by a colony from Chalcis, in Eubœa.] + + [Footnote 16: _Of his nurse._--Ver. 157. Caieta was the name of + the nurse of Æneas, who was said to have been buried there by + him.] + + [Footnote 17: _Barbarian._--Ver. 163. That is, Trojan; to the + Greeks all people but themselves were βαρβαροὶ.] + + [Footnote 18: _His own master._--Ver. 166. ‘Now his own master,’ + in contradistinction to the time when Macareus looked on himself + as the devoted victim of Polyphemus.] + + [Footnote 19: _Nearly causing._--Ver. 181. Homer, in the Ninth + Book of the Odyssey, recounts how Ulysses, after having put out + the eye of Polyphemus, fled to his own ship, and when the Giant + followed, called out to him, disclosing his real name; whereas, he + had before told the Cyclop that his name was οὔτις, ‘nobody.’ By + this indiscreet action, the Cyclop was able to ascertain the + locality of the ship, and nearly sank it with a mass of rock which + he hurled in that direction.] + + [Footnote 20: _I imagined that._--Ver. 203-4. ‘Et jam prensurum, + jam, jam mea viscera rebar In sua mersurum.’ Clarke thus renders + these words; ‘And now I thought he would presently whip me up, and + cram my bowels within his own.’] + + [Footnote 21: _The ancient city._--Ver. 233. This city was + afterwards known as Formiæ, in Campania.] + + [Footnote 22: _An island._--Ver. 245. Macareus here points towards + the promontory of Circæum, which was supposed to have formerly + been an island.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + Æolus, according to Servius and Varro, was the son of Hippotas, and + about the time of the Trojan war reigned in those islands, which + were formerly called ‘Vulcaniæ,’ but were afterwards entitled + ‘Æoliæ,’ and are now known as the Lipari Islands. Homer mentions + only one of these islands, which were seven in number. He calls it + by the name of Æolia, and probably means the one which was called + Lipara, and gave its name to the group, and which is now known as + Strombolo. Æolus seems to have been a humane prince, who received + with hospitality those who had the misfortune to be cast on his + island. Diodorus Siculus says that he was especially careful to warn + strangers of the shoals and dangerous places in the neighbouring + seas. Pliny adds, that he applied himself to the study of the winds, + by observing the direction of the smoke of the volcanos, with which + the isles abounded. + + Being considered as an authority on that subject, at a time when + navigation was so little reduced to an art, the poets readily + feigned that he was the master of the winds, and kept them pent up + in caverns, under his control. The story of the winds being + entrusted to Ulysses, which Ovid here copies from Homer, is merely a + poetical method of saying, that Ulysses disregarded the advice of + Æolus, and staying out at sea beyond the time he had been + recommended, was caught in a violent tempest. It is possible that + Homer may allude to some custom which prevailed among the ancients, + similar to that of the Lapland witches in modern times, who pretend + to sell a favourable wind, enclosed in a bag, to mariners. Homer + speaks of the six sons and six daughters of Æolus; perhaps they were + the twelve principal winds, upon which he had expended much pains in + making accurate observations. + + Bochart suggests that the isle of Lipara was called by the + Phœnicians ‘Nibara,’ on account of its volcano, (that word + signifying ‘a torch,’) which name was afterwards corrupted to + Lipara. + + +FABLE V. [XIV.248-319] + + Achæmenides lands in the isle of Circe, and is sent to her palace + with some of his companions. Giving them a favourable reception, she + makes them drink of a certain liquor; and, on her touching them with + a wand, they are immediately transformed into swine. Eurylochus, who + has refused to drink, informs Ulysses, who immediately repairs to + the palace, and obliges Circe to restore to his companions their + former shape. + +“We, too, having fastened our ships to the shores of Circe, remembering +Antiphates and the cruel Cyclop, refused to go and enter her unknown +abode. By lot were we chosen; that lot sent both me and the faithful +Polytes, and Eurylochus, and Elpenor, too much addicted[23] to wine, and +twice nine[24] companions, to the walls of Circe. Soon as we reached +them, and stood at the threshold of her abode; a thousand wolves, and +bears and lionesses mixed with the wolves, created fear through meeting +them; but not one {of them} needed to be feared, and not one was there +to make a wound on our bodies. They wagged their caressing tails in the +air, and fawning, they attended our footsteps, until the female servants +received us, and led us, through halls roofed with marble, to their +mistress. + +“She is sitting in a beautiful alcove, on her wonted throne, and clad in +a splendid robe; over it she is arrayed in a garment of gold tissue. The +Nereids and the Nymphs, together, who tease no fleeces with the motion +of their fingers nor draw out the ductile threads, are placing the +plants in due order, and arranging in baskets the flowers confusedly +scattered, and the shrubs variegated in their hues. She herself +prescribes the tasks that they perform; she herself is aware what is the +use of every leaf; what combined virtue there is in them when mixed; and +giving attention, she examines {each} herb as weighed.[25] When she +beheld us, having given and received a salutation, she gladdened her +countenance, and granted every thing to our wishes. And without delay, +she ordered the grains of parched barley to be mingled, and honey, and +the strength of wine, and curds with pressed milk. Secretly, she added +drugs to be concealed beneath this sweetness. We received the cups +presented by her sacred right hand. Soon as, in our thirst, we quaffed +them with parching mouth, and the ruthless Goddess, with her wand, +touched the extremity of our hair (I am both ashamed, and {yet} I will +tell of it), I began to grow rough with bristles, and no longer to be +able to speak; and, instead of words, to utter a harsh noise, and to +grovel on the ground with all my face. I felt, too, my mouth receive a +hard skin, with its crooked snout, and my neck swell with muscles; and +with the member with which, the moment before, I had received the cup, +with the same did I impress my footsteps. + +“With the rest who had suffered the same treatment (so powerful are +enchanted potions) I was shut up in a pig-sty; and we perceived that +Eurylochus, alone, had not the form of a swine; he, alone, escaped the +proffered draught. And had he not escaped it, I should even, at this +moment, have still been one of the bristle-clad animals; nor would +Ulysses, having been informed by him of so direful a disaster, have come +to Circe as {our} avenger. The Cyllenian peace-bearer had given him a +white flower; the Gods above call it ‘Moly;’[26] it is supported by a +black root. Protected by that, and at the same time by the instruction +of the inhabitants of heaven, he entered the dwelling of Circe, and +being invited to the treacherous draughts, he repelled her, while +endeavouring to stroke his hair with her wand, and prevented her, in her +terror, with his drawn sword. Upon that, her promise {was given}, and +right hands were exchanged; and, being received into her couch, he +required the bodies of his companions as his marriage gift. + +“We are {then} sprinkled with the more favouring juices of harmless +plants, and are smitten on the head with a blow from her inverted wand; +and charms are repeated, the converse of the charms that had been +uttered. The longer she chaunts them, the more erect are we raised from +the ground; and the bristles fall off, and the fissure leaves our cloven +feet; our shoulders return; our arms become attached[27] to their upper +parts. In tears, we embrace him {also} in tears; and we cling to the +neck of our chief; nor do we utter any words before those that testify +that we are grateful. + +“The space of a year detained us there; and, as {I was} present for such +a length of time, I saw many things; and many things I heard with my +ears. This, too, among many other things {I heard}, which one of the +four handmaids appointed for such rites, privately informed me of. For +while Circe was passing her time apart with my chief, she pointed out to +me a youthful statue made of snow-white marble, carrying a woodpecker on +its head, erected in the hallowed temple, and bedecked with many a +chaplet. When I asked, and desired to know who he was, and why he was +venerated in the sacred temple, and why he carried that bird; she +said:-- ‘Listen, Macareus, learn hence, too, what is the power of my +mistress, and give attention to what I say.’” + + [Footnote 23: _Too much addicted._--Ver. 252. He alludes to the + fate of Elpenor, who afterwards, in a fit of intoxication, fell + down stairs, and broke his neck.] + + [Footnote 24: _Twice nine._--Ver. 253. Homer mentions Eurylochus + and twenty-two others as the number, being one more than the + number here given by Ovid.] + + [Footnote 25: _As weighed._--Ver. 270. Of course drugs and simples + would require to be weighed before being mixed in their due + proportions.] + + [Footnote 26: _Call it ‘Moly.’_--Ver. 292. Homer, in the tenth + Book of the Odyssey, says that this plant had a black root, and a + flower like milk.] + + [Footnote 27: _Become attached._--Ver. 304-5. ‘Subjecta lacertis + Brachia sunt,’ Clarke has not a very lucid translation of these + words. His version is, ‘Brachia are put under our lacerti.’ The + ‘brachium’ was the forearm, or part, from the wrist to the elbow; + while the ‘lacertus’ was the muscular part, between the elbow and + the shoulder.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + Ulysses having stayed some time at the court of Circe, where all + were immersed in luxury and indolence, begins to reflect on the + degraded state to which he is reduced, and resolutely abandons so + unworthy a mode of life. This resolution is here typified by the + herb moly, the symbol of wisdom. His companions, changed into swine, + are emblems of the condition to which a life of sensuality reduces + its votaries; while the wolves, lions, and horses show that man in + such a condition fails not to exhibit the various bad propensities + of the brute creation. Thus was the prodigal son, mentioned in the + New Testament, reduced to a level with the brutes, ‘and fain would + have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat.’ + + It is not improbable that Circe was the original from which the + Eastern romancer depicted the enchantress queen Labè in the story of + Beder and Giauhare in the Arabian Nights’ Entertainments. They were + both ladies of light reputation, both fond of exercising their + magical power on strangers, and in exactly the same manner: and as + Ulysses successfully resisted the charms of Circe, so Beder thwarted + the designs of Labè; but here the parallel ends. + + +FABLE VI. [XIV.320-440] + + Circe, being enamoured of Picus, and being unable to shake his + constancy to his wife Canens, transforms him into a woodpecker, and + his retinue into various kinds of animals. Canens pines away with + grief at the loss of her husband, and the place where she disappears + afterwards bears her name. + +“‘Picus, the son of Saturn, was a king in the regions of Ausonia, an +admirer of horses useful in warfare. The form of this person was such as +thou beholdest. Thou thyself {here} mayst view his comeliness, and thou +mayst approve of his real form from this feigned resemblance of it. His +disposition was equal to his beauty; and not yet, in his age, could he +have beheld four times the {Olympic} contest celebrated each fifth year +in the Grecian Elis. He had attracted, by his {good} looks, the Dryads, +born in the hills of Latium; the Naiads, the fountain Deities, wooed +him; {Nymphs}, which Albula,[28] and which the waters of Numicus, and +which those of Anio, and Almo but very short[29] in its course, and the +rapid Nar,[30] and Farfarus,[31] with its delightful shades, produced, +and those which haunt the forest realms of the Scythian[32] Diana, and +the neighbouring streams. + +“‘Yet, slighting all these, he was attached to one Nymph, whom, on the +Palatine hill, Venilia is said once to have borne to the Ionian +Janus.[33] Soon as she was ripe with marriageable years, she was +presented to Laurentine Picus, preferred {by her} before all others; +wondrous, indeed, was she in her beauty, but more wondrous still, +through her skill in singing; thence she was called Canens.[34] She was +wont, with her voice, to move the woods and the rocks, and to tame the +wild beasts, and to stop {the course of} the long rivers, and to detain +the fleeting birds. While she was singing her songs with her feminine +voice, Picus had gone from his dwelling into the Laurentine fields, to +pierce the wild boars there bred; and he was pressing the back of his +spirited horse, and was carrying two javelins in his left hand, having a +purple cloak fastened with yellow gold. The daughter of the Sun, too, +had come into the same wood; and that she might pluck fresh plants on +the fruitful hills, she had left behind the Circæan fields, {so} called +after her own name. + +“‘Hidden by the shrubs, soon as she beheld the youth, she was astounded; +the plants which she had gathered fell from her bosom, and a flame +seemed to pervade her entire marrow. As soon as she regained her +presence of mind from {so} powerful a shock, she was about to confess +what she desired; the speed of his horse, and the surrounding guards, +caused that she could not approach. ‘And yet thou shalt not escape me,’ +she said, ‘even shouldst thou be borne on the winds, if I only know +myself, if all potency in herbs has not vanished, and if my charms do +not deceive me.’ {Thus} she said; and she formed the phantom of a +fictitious wild boar, with no substance, and commanded it to run past +the eyes of the king, and to seem to go into a forest, thick set with +trees, where the wood is most dense, and where the spot is inaccessible +to a horse. There is no delay; Picus, forthwith, unconsciously follows +the phantom of the prey; hastily too, he leaves the reeking back of his +steed, and, in pursuit of a vain hope, wanders on foot in the lofty +forest. She repeats prayers to herself, and utters magical incantations, +and adores strange Gods in strange verses, with which she is wont both +to darken the disk of the snow-white moon, and to draw the clouds that +suck up the moisture, over the head of her father. Then does the sky +become lowering at the repeating of the incantation, and the ground +exhales its vapours; and his companions wander along the darkened paths, +and his guards are separated from the king. + +“‘She, having now gained a {favourable} place and opportunity, says, ‘O, +most beauteous {youth}! by thy eyes, which have captivated mine, and by +this graceful person, which makes me, though a Goddess, to be thy +suppliant, favour my passion, and receive the Sun, that beholds all +things, as thy father-in-law, and do not in thy cruelty despise Circe, +the daughter of Titan.’ {Thus} she says. He roughly repels her and her +entreaties: and he says, ‘Whoever thou art, I am not for thee; another +female holds me enthralled, and for a long space of time, I pray, may +she so hold me. I will not pollute the conjugal ties with the love of a +stranger, while the Fates shall preserve for me Canens, the daughter of +Janus.’ The daughter of Titan, having often repeated her entreaties in +vain, says, ‘Thou shalt not depart with impunity, nor shalt thou return +to Canens; and by experience shalt thou learn what one slighted, what +one in love, what a woman, can do; but that one in love, and slighted, +and a woman, is Circe.’ + +“‘Then twice did she turn herself to the West, and twice to the East; +thrice did she touch the youth with her wand; three charms did she +repeat. He fled; wondering that he sped more swiftly than usual, he +beheld wings on his body; and indignant that he was added suddenly as a +strange bird to the Latian woods, he struck the wild oaks with his hard +beak, and, in his anger, inflicted wounds[35] on the long branches. His +wings took the purple colour of his robe. The piece of gold that had +formed a buckle, and had fastened his garment, became feathers, and his +neck was encompassed with {the colour of} yellow gold; and nothing {now} +remained to Picus of his former {self}, beyond the name. + +“‘In the meantime his attendants, having, often in vain, called on Picus +throughout the fields, and, having found him in no direction, meet with +Circe, (for now she has cleared the air, and has allowed the clouds to +be dispersed by the woods and the sun); and they charge her with just +accusations, and demand back their king, and are using violence, and are +preparing to attack her with ruthless weapons. She scatters noxious +venom and poisonous extracts; and she summons together Night, and the +Gods of Night, from Erebus and from Chaos, and she invokes Hecate in +magic howlings. Wondrous to tell, the woods leap from their spot; the +ground utters groans, the neighbouring trees become pallid, the grass +becomes moist, besprinkled with drops of blood; the stones seem to send +forth harsh lowings, the dogs {seem} to bark, and the ground to grow +loathsome with black serpents, and unsubstantial ghosts of the departed +{appear} to flit about. The multitude trembles, astonished at these +prodigies; she touches their astonished faces, as they tremble, with her +enchanted wand. From the touch of this, the monstrous forms of various +wild beasts come upon the young men; his own form remains to no one of +them. + +“‘The setting Sun has {now} borne down upon the Tartessian shores;[36] +and in vain is her husband expected, both by the eyes and the longings +of Canens. Her servants and the people run about through all the woods, +and carry lights to meet him. Nor is it enough for the Nymph to weep, +and to tear her hair, and to beat her breast; though all this she does, +she rushes forth, and, in her distraction, she wanders through the +Latian fields. Six nights, and as many returning lights of the Sun, +beheld her, destitute of sleep and of food, going over hills and +valleys, wherever chance led her. Tiber, last {of all}, beheld her, worn +out with weeping and wandering, and reposing her body on his cold banks. +There, with tears, she poured forth words attuned, lamenting, in a low +voice, her very woes, as when the swan, now about to die, sings his own +funereal dirge. + +“‘At last, melting with grief, {even} to her thin marrow, she pined +away, and by degrees vanished into light air. Yet the Fame of it became +attached to the spot, which the ancient Muses have properly called +Canens, after the name of the Nymph.’ During that long year, many such +things as these were told me and were seen {by me}. Sluggish and +inactive through idleness, we were ordered again to embark on the deep, +again to set our sails. The daughter of Titan had said that dangerous +paths, and a protracted voyage, and the perils of the raging sea were +awaiting us. I was alarmed, I confess; and having reached these shores, +{here} I remained.” + + [Footnote 28: _Albula._--Ver. 328. The ancient name of the river + Tiber was Albula. It was so called from the whiteness of its + water.] + + [Footnote 29: _But very short._--Ver. 329. The Almo falls in the + Tiber, close to its own source, whence its present epithet.] + + [Footnote 30: _Rapid Nar._--Ver. 330. The ‘Nar’ was a river of + Umbria, which fell into the Tiber.] + + [Footnote 31: _Farfarus._--Ver. 330. This river, flowing slowly + through the valleys of the country of the Sabines, received a + pleasant shade from the trees with which its banks were lined.] + + [Footnote 32: _Scythian._--Ver. 331. He alludes to the statue of + the Goddess Diana, which, with her worship, Orestes was said to + have brought from the Tauric Chersonesus, and to have established + at Aricia, in Latium. See the Fasti, Book III. l. 263, and Note.] + + [Footnote 33: _Ionian Janus._--Ver. 334. Janus was so called + because he was thought to have come from Thessaly, and to have + crossed the Ionian Sea.] + + [Footnote 34: _Canens._--Ver. 338. This name literally means + ‘singing,’ being the present participle of the Latin verb ‘cano,’ + ‘to sing.’] + + [Footnote 35: _Inflicted wounds._--Ver. 392. The woodpecker is + supposed to tap the bark of the tree with his beak, to ascertain, + from the sound, if it is hollow, and if there are any insects + beneath it.] + + [Footnote 36: _Tartessian shores._--Ver. 416. ‘Tartessia’ is here + used as a general term for Western, as Tartessus was a city of the + Western coast of Spain. It afterwards had the name of Carteia, and + is thought to have been situated not far from the site of the + present Cadiz, at the mouth of the Bætis, now called the + Guadalquivir. Some suppose this name to be the same with the + Tarshish of Scripture.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + When names occur in the ancient Mythology, of Oriental origin, we + may conclude that they were imported into Greece and Italy from + Egypt or Phœnicia; and that their stories were derived from the same + sources; such as those of Adonis, Arethusa, Arachne, and Isis. Those + that are derived from the Greek languages are attached to fictions + of purely Greek origin, such as the fables of Daphne, Galantis, + Cygnus, and the Myrmidons; and where the names are of Latin + original, we may conclude that their stories originated in Italy: + such, for instance, as those of Canens, Picus, Anna Perenna, Flora, + Quirinus, and others. + + To this rule there are certain exceptions; for both Greece and Italy + occasionally appropriated each other’s traditions, by substituting + the names of one language for those of the other. Thus it would not + be safe to affirm positively that the story of Portumnus and Matuta + is of Latin origin, since Greece lays an equal claim to it under the + names of Leucothoë and Palæmon, while, probably, Cadmus originally + introduced it from Phœnicia, under the names of Ino and Melicerta. + + Dionysius of Halicarnassus, on the authority of Cato the Censor and + Asellius Sempronius, says that the original inhabitants of Italy + were a Greek colony. Cato and Sempronius state that they were from + Achaia, while Dionysius says that they came from Arcadia, under the + command of Œnotrius. Picus is generally supposed to have been one of + the aboriginal kings of Italy, who was afterwards Deified. Servius, + in his Commentary on the seventh Book of the Æneid, informs us that + Picus pretended to know future events, and made use of a woodpecker, + which he had tamed, for the purpose of his auguries. On this ground, + after his death, it was generally reported that he had been + transformed into that bird, and he was ranked among the Dii + Indigetes of Latium. Dying in his youth, his wife Canens retired to + a solitary spot, where she ended her life, and the intensity of her + grief gave rise to the fable that she had pined away into a sound. + + It has been suggested that the story took its rise from the oracles + of Mars among the Sabines, when a woodpecker was said to give the + responses. According to Bochart, it arose from the confusion of the + meaning of the Phœnician word ‘picea,’ which signified a ‘diviner.’ + It is the exuberant fancy of Ovid alone which connects Picus with + the story of Circe. + + +FABLES VII. AND VIII. [XIV.441-526] + + Turnus having demanded succour from Diomedes against Æneas, the + Grecian prince, fearing the resentment of Venus, refuses to send him + assistance; and relates how some of his followers have been + transformed by Venus into birds. An Apulian shepherd surprising some + Nymphs, insults them, on which he is changed into a wild olive tree. + +Macareus had concluded. And the nurse of Æneas, {now} buried in a marble +urn, had {this} short inscription on her tomb:-- “My foster-child, of +proved piety, here burned me, Caieta, preserved from the Argive flames, +with that fire which was my due.” The fastened cable is loosened from +the grassy bank, and they leave far behind the wiles and the dwelling of +the Goddess, of whom so ill a report has been given, and seek the groves +where the Tiber, darkened with the shade {of trees}, breaks into the sea +with his yellow sands. {Æneas}, too, gains the house and the daughter of +Latinus, the {son of} Faunus;[37] but not without warfare. A war is +waged with a fierce nation, and Turnus is indignant on account of the +wife that had been betrothed to him.[38] All Etruria meets {in battle} +with Latium, and long is doubtful victory struggled for with ardent +arms. Each side increases his strength with foreign forces, and many +take the part of the Rutulians, many that of the Trojan side. Nor {had} +Æneas {arrived} in vain at the thresholds of Evander,[39] but Venulus +came {in vain} to the great city, of the exiled Diomedes. He, indeed, +had founded a very great city under the Iapygian Daunus, and held the +lands given to him in dower. + +But after Venulus had executed the commands of Turnus, and had asked for +aid, the Ætolian hero pleaded his resources as an excuse: that he was +not wishful to commit the subjects of his father-in-law to a war, and +that he had no men to arm of the nation of his own countrymen; “And that +ye may not think this a pretext, although my grief be renewed at the +bitter recollection, yet I will endure the recital {of it}. After lofty +Ilion was burnt, and Pergamus had fed the Grecian flames, and the +Narycian hero,[40] having ravished the virgin, distributed that +vengeance upon all, which he alone merited, on account of the virgin; we +were dispersed and driven by the winds over the hostile seas; we Greeks +had to endure lightning, darkness, rain, and the wrath both of the +heavens and of the sea, and Caphareus, the completion of our misery. And +not to detain you by relating these sad events in their order, Greece +might then have appeared even to Priam, worthy of a tear. Yet the care +of the armed universe preserved me, rescued from the waves. + +“But again was I driven from Argos, {the land} of my fathers; and genial +Venus exacted satisfaction in vengeance for her former wound: and so +great hardships did I endure on the deep ocean, so great amid arms on +shore, that many a time were they pronounced {happy} by me, whom the +storm, common {to all}, and Caphareus, swallowed up in the +threatening[41] waves; and I wished that I had been one of them. My +companions having now endured the utmost extremities, both in war and on +the ocean, lost courage, and demanded an end of their wanderings. But +Agmon, of impetuous temper, and then embittered as well by misfortunes, +said, ‘What does there remain now, ye men, for your patience to refuse +to endure? What has Cytherea, (supposing her to desire it), that she can +do beyond this? For so long as greater evils are dreaded, there is room +for prayers; but where one’s lot is the most wretched possible, fear is +{trampled} under foot, and the extremity {of misfortune} is free from +apprehensions. Let {Venus} herself hear it, if she likes; let her hate, +as she does {hate}, all the men under the rule of Diomedes. Yet all of +us despise her hate, and this our great power is bought by us at great +price.’ + +“With such expressions does the Pleuronian[42] Agmon provoke Venus +against her will, and revive her former anger. His words are approved of +by a few. We, the greater number of his friends, rebuke Agmon: and as he +is preparing to answer, his voice and the passage of his voice together +become diminished; his hair changes into feathers; his neck newly +formed, his breast and his back are covered with down; his arms assume +longer feathers; and his elbows curve out into light wings. A great part +of his foot receives toes; his mouth becomes stiff and hardened with +horn, and has its end in a point. Lycus and Idas, and Nycteus, together +with Rhetenor, and Abas, are {all} astounded at him; and while they are +astounded, they assume a similar form; and the greater portion of my +company fly off, and resound around the oars with the flapping of their +wings. Shouldst thou inquire what was the form of these birds so +suddenly made; although it was not that of swans, yet it was approaching +to that of white swans. With difficulty, for my part, do I, the +son-in-law of the Iapygian Daunus, possess these abodes and the parched +fields with a very small remnant of my companions.” + +Thus far the grandson of Œneus. Venulus leaves the Calydonian[43] realms +and the Peucetian[44] bays, and the Messapian[45] fields. In these he +beholds a cavern, which, overshadowed by a dense grove, and trickling +with a smooth stream, the God Pan, the half goat, occupies; but once on +a time the Nymphs possessed it. An Apulian shepherd alarmed them, scared +away from that spot; and, at first, he terrified them with a sudden +fear; afterwards, when their presence of mind returned, and they +despised him as he followed, they formed dances, moving their feet to +time. The shepherd abused them; and imitating them with grotesque +capers, he added rustic abuse in filthy language. Nor was he silent, +before the {growing} tree closed his throat. But from this tree and its +sap you may understand {what} were his manners. For the wild olive, by +its bitter berries, indicates the infamy of his tongue; the coarseness +of his words passed into them. + + [Footnote 37: _Son of Faunus._--Ver. 449. The parents of Latinus + were Faunus and Marica.] + + [Footnote 38: _Betrothed to him._--Ver. 451. Amata, the mother of + Lavinia, had promised her to Turnus, in spite of the oracle of + Faunus, which had declared that she was destined for a foreign + husband.] + + [Footnote 39: _Evander._--Ver. 456. His history is given by Ovid + in the first Book of the Fasti.] + + [Footnote 40: _Narycian hero._--Ver. 468. Naryx, which was also + called Narycium and Naryce, was a city of Locris. He alludes to + the divine vengeance which punished Ajax Oïleus, who had ravished + Cassandra in the temple of Minerva. For this reason the Greeks + were said to have been afflicted with shipwreck, on their return + after the destruction of Troy.] + + [Footnote 41: _Threatening._--Ver. 481. ‘Importunis’ is translated + by Clarke, ‘plaguy.’ For some account of Caphareus, see the + Tristia, or Lament, Book I. El. 1. l. 83. and note.] + + [Footnote 42: _Pleuronian._--Ver. 494. Pleuron was a town of + Ætolia, adjoining to Epirus.] + + [Footnote 43: _Calydonian._--Ver. 512. That part of Apulia, which + Diomedes received from Daunus, as a dower with his wife, was + called Calydon, from the city of Calydon, in his native Ætolia.] + + [Footnote 44: _Peucetian._--Ver. 513. Apulia was divided by the + river Aufidus into two parts, Peucetia and Daunia. Peucetia was to + the East, and Daunia lay to the West. According to Antoninus + Liberalis, Daunus, Iapyx, and Peucetius, the sons of Lycaon, were + the first to colonize these parts.] + + [Footnote 45: _Messapian._--Ver. 513. Messapia was a name given to + a part of Calabria, from its king Messapus, who aided Turnus + against Æneas.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + Latinus having been told by an oracle that a foreign prince should + come into his country and marry his daughter Lavinia, received Æneas + hospitably, and formed an alliance with him, promising him his + daughter in marriage; on which Turnus, who was the nephew of Amata, + his wife, and to whom Lavinia was betrothed, declared war against + Æneas. + + The ancient historians tell us, that, on returning from the siege of + Troy, Diomedes found that his throne had been usurped by Cyllabarus, + who had married his wife Ægiale. Not having sufficient forces to + dispossess the intruder, he sought a retreat in Italy, where he + built the city of Argyripa, or Argos Hippium. Diomedes having + married the daughter of Daunus, quarrelled with his father-in-law, + and was killed in fight; on which his companions fled to an adjacent + island, which, from his name, was called Diomedea. It was afterwards + reported, that on their flight they were changed into birds, and + that Venus inflicted this punishment, in consequence of Diomedes + having wounded her at the siege of Troy. Of this story a confused + version is here presented by Ovid, who makes the transformation to + take place in the lifetime of Diomedes. It is supposed that the fact + of the island being the favourite resort of swans and herons, + facilitated this story of their transformation. Pliny and Solinus + add to this marvellous account by stating, that these birds fawned + upon all Greeks who entered the island, and fled from the people of + all other nations. Ovid says that the birds resembled swans, while + other writers thought them to be herons, storks, or falcons. + + The ancient authors are utterly silent as to the rude shepherd who + was changed into a wild olive, but the story was probably derived by + Ovid from some local tradition. + + +FABLES IX. AND X. [XIV.527-608] + + Turnus sets fire to the fleet of Æneas: but Cybele transforms the + ships into sea Nymphs. After the death of Turnus, his capital, + Ardea, is burnt, and a bird arises out of the flames. Venus obtains + of Jupiter that her son, after so many heroic deeds, shall be + received into the number of the Gods. + +When the ambassador had returned thence, bringing word that the Ætolian +arms had been refused them, the Rutulians carried on the warfare +prepared for, without their forces; and much blood was shed on either +side. Lo! Turnus bears the devouring torches against the {ships}, +fabrics of pine; and those, whom the waves have spared, are {now} in +dread of fire. And now the flames were burning the pitch and the wax, +and the other elements of flame, and were mounting the lofty mast to the +sails, and the benches of the curved ships were smoking; when the holy +Mother of the Gods, remembering that these pines were cut down on the +heights of Ida, filled the air with the tinkling of the clashing cymbal, +and with the noise of the blown boxwood {pipe}. Borne through the +yielding air by her harnessed lions, she said: “Turnus, in vain dost +thou hurl the flames with thy sacrilegious right hand; I will save {the +ships}, and the devouring flames shall not, with my permission, burn a +portion, and the {very} limbs of my groves.” + +As the Goddess speaks, it thunders; and following the thunder, heavy +showers fall, together with bounding hailstones; the brothers, sons of +Astræus, arouse both the air and the swelling waves with sudden +conflicts, and rush to the battle. The genial Mother, using the strength +of one of these, first bursts the hempen cables of the Phrygian fleet, +and carries the ships headlong, and buries them beneath the ocean. Their +hardness being now softened, and their wood being changed into flesh, +the crooked sterns are changed into the features of the head; the oars +taper off in fingers and swimming feet; that which has been so before, +is {still} the side; and the keel, laid below in the middle of the ship, +is changed, for the purposes of the back bone. The cordage becomes soft +hair, the yards {become} arms. Their colour is azure, as it was before. +As Naiads of the ocean, with their virgin sports they agitate those +waves, which before they dreaded; and, born on the rugged mountains, +they inhabit the flowing sea; their origin influences them not. And yet, +not forgetting how many dangers they endured on the boisterous ocean, +often do they give a helping hand to the tossed ships; unless any one is +carrying men of the Grecian race. + +Still keeping in mind the Phrygian catastrophe, they hated the +Pelasgians; and, with joyful countenances, they looked upon the +fragments of the ship of him of Neritos; and with pleasure did they see +the ship of Alcinoüs[46] become hard upon the breakers, and stone +growing over the wood. + +There is a hope that, the fleet having received life in the form of sea +Nymphs, the Rutulian may desist from the war through fear, on account of +this prodigy. He persists, {however}, and each side has {its own} +Deities;[47] and they have courage, equal to the Gods. And now they do +not seek kingdoms as a dower, nor the sceptre of a father-in-law, nor +thee, virgin Lavinia, but {only} to conquer; and they wage the war +through shame at desisting. At length, Venus sees the arms of her son +victorious, and Turnus falls; Ardea falls, which, while Turnus lived, +was called ‘the mighty.’ After ruthless flames consumed it, and its +houses sank down amid the heated embers, a bird, then known for the +first time, flew aloft from the midst of the heap, and beat the ashes +with the flapping of its wings. The voice, the leanness, the paleness, +and every thing that befits a captured city, and the very name of the +city, remain in that {bird}; and Ardea itself is bewailed by {the +beating of} its wings. + +And now the merit of Æneas had obliged all the Deities, and Juno +herself, to put an end to their former resentment; when, the power of +the rising Iülus being now well established, the hero, the son of +Cytherea, was ripe for heaven, Venus, too, had solicited the Gods above; +and hanging round the neck of her parent had said: “My father, {who +hast} never {proved} unkind to me at any time, I beseech thee now to be +most indulgent {to me}; and to grant, dearest {father}, to my Æneas, +who, {born} of my blood, has made thee a grandsire, a godhead, {even} +though of the lowest class; so that thou only grant him one. It is +enough to have once beheld the unsightly realms, {enough} to have once +passed over the Stygian streams.” The Gods assented; nor did his royal +wife keep her countenance unmoved; {but}, with pleased countenance, she +nodded assent. Then her father said; “You are worthy of the gift of +heaven; both thou who askest, and he, for whom thou askest: receive, my +daughter, what thou dost desire.” {Thus} he decrees. She rejoices, and +gives thanks to her parent; and, borne by her harnessed doves through +the light air, she arrives at the Laurentine shores; where Numicius,[48] +covered with reeds, winds to the neighbouring sea with the waters of his +stream. Him she bids to wash off from Æneas whatever is subject to +death, and to bear it beneath the ocean in his silent course. + +The horned {river} performed the commands of Venus; and with his waters +washed away from Æneas whatever was mortal, and sprinkled him. His +superior essence remained. His mother anointed his body {thus} purified +with divine odours, and touched his face with ambrosia, mingled with +sweet nectar, and made him a God. Him the people of Quirinus, called +Indiges,[49] and endowed with a temple and with altars. + + [Footnote 46: _Ship of Alcinoüs._--Ver. 565. Alcinoüs, the king of + the Phæacians, having saved Ulysses from shipwreck, gave him a + ship in which to return to Ithaca. Neptune, to revenge the + injuries of his son Polyphemus, changed the ship into a rock.] + + [Footnote 47: _Its own Deities._--Ver. 568. The Trojans were aided + by Venus, while Juno favoured the Rutulians.] + + [Footnote 48: _Numicius._--Ver. 599. Livy, in the first Book of + his History, seems to say that Æneas lost his life in a battle, + fought near the Numicius, a river of Latium. He is generally + supposed to have been drowned there.] + + [Footnote 49: _Indiges._--Ver. 608. Cicero says, that ‘those, who + for their merits were reckoned in the number of the Gods, and who + formerly living on earth, and afterwards lived among the Gods (in + Diis agerent), were called Indigetes;’ thus implying that the word + ‘Indiges’ came from ‘in Diis ago;’ ‘to live among the Gods.’ This + seems a rather far-fetched derivation. The true meaning of the + word seems to be ‘native,’ or ‘indigenous;’ and it applies to a + person Deified, and considered as a tutelary Deity of his native + country. Most probably, it is derived from ‘in,’ or ‘indu,’ the + old Latin form of ‘in,’ and γείνω (for γίνομαι), ‘to be born.’ + Some would derive the word from ‘in,’ negative, and ‘ago,’ to + speak, as signifying Deities, whose names were not be mentioned.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + It is asserted by some writers, that when the ships of Æneas were + set on fire by Turnus, a tempest arose, which extinguished the + flames; on which circumstance the story here related by Ovid was + founded. Perhaps Virgil was the author of the fiction, as he is the + first known to have related it, and is closely followed by Ovid in + the account of the delivery of the ships. + + The story of the heron arising out of the flames of Ardea seems to + be founded on a very simple fact. It is merely a poetical method of + accounting for the Latin name of that bird, which was very plentiful + in the vicinity of the city of Ardea, and, perhaps, thence derived + its name of ‘ardea.’ The story may have been the more readily + suggested to the punning mind of Ovid, from the resemblance of the + Latin verb ‘ardeo,’ signifying ‘to burn,’ to that name. + + Some of the ancient authors say, that after killing Turnus and + marrying Lavinia, Æneas was killed in battle with Mezentius, after a + reign of three years, leaving his wife pregnant with a son, + afterwards known by the name of Sylvius. His body not being found + after the battle, it was given out that his Goddess mother had + translated him to heaven, and he was thenceforth honoured by the + name of Jupiter Indiges. + + +FABLE XI. [XIV.609-697] + + Vertumnus, enamoured of Pomona, assumes several shapes for the + purpose of gaining her favour; and having transformed himself into + an old woman, succeeds in effecting his object. + +From that time Alba and the Latin state were under the sway of Ascanius +with the two names;[50] Sylvius[51] succeeded him; sprung of whom, +Latinus had a renewed name, together with the ancient sceptre. Alba +succeeded the illustrious Latinus; Epitos {sprang} from him; {and} next +to him {were} Capetus, and Capys; but Capys was the first {of these}. +Tiberinus received the sovereignty after them; and, drowned in the waves +of the Etrurian river, he gave his name to the stream. By him Remulus +and the fierce Acrota were begotten; Remulus, {who was} the elder, +an imitator of the lightnings, perished by the stroke[52] of a +thunder-bolt. Acrota, more moderate than his brother {in his views}, +handed down the sceptre to the valiant Aventinus, who lies buried on the +same mount over which he had reigned; and to that mountain he gave his +name. And now Proca held sway over the Palatine nation. + +Under this king Pomona lived; than her, no one among the Hamadryads of +Latium more skilfully tended her gardens, and no one was more attentive +to the produce of the trees; thence she derives her name. She {cares} +not {for} woods, or streams; {but} she loves the country, and the boughs +that bear the thriving fruit. Her right hand is not weighed down with a +javelin, but with a curved pruning-knife, with which, at one time she +crops the {too} luxuriant shoots, and reduces the branches that straggle +without order; at another time, she is engrafting the sucker in the +divided bark, and is {so} finding nourishment for a stranger nursling. +Nor does she suffer them to endure thirst; she waters, too, the winding +fibres of the twisting root with the flowing waters. This is her +delight, this her pursuit; and no desire has she for love. But fearing +the violence of the rustics, she closes her orchard within {a wall}, and +both forbids and flies from the approach of males. + +What did not the Satyrs do, a youthful crew expert at the dance, and the +Pans with their brows wreathed with pine, and Sylvanus, ever more +youthful than his years, and the God who scares the thieves either with +his pruning-hook or with his groin, in order that they might gain her? +But yet Vertumnus exceeded even these in his love, nor was he more +fortunate than the rest. O! how often did he carry the ears of corn in a +basket, under the guise of a hardy reaper; and he was the very picture +of a reaper! Many a time, having his temples bound with fresh bay, he +would appear to have been turning over the mowed grass. He often bore a +whip in his sturdy hand, so that you would have sworn that he had that +instant been unyoking the wearied oxen. A pruning-knife being given him, +he was a woodman, and the pruner of the vine. {Now} he was carrying a +ladder, {and} you would suppose he was going to gather fruit. +{Sometimes} he was a soldier, with a sword, {and sometimes} a fisherman, +taking up the rod; in fact, by means of many a shape, he often obtained +access for himself, that he might enjoy the pleasure of gazing on her +beauty. + +He, too, having bound his brows with a coloured cap,[53] leaning on a +stick, with white hair placed around his temples, assumed the shape of +an old woman, and entered the well-cultivated gardens, and admired the +fruit; and he said, “So much better off {art thou}!” and {then} he gave +her, thus commended, a few kisses, such as no real old woman {ever} +could have given; and stooping, seated himself upon the grass, looking +up at the branches bending under the load of autumn. There was an elm +opposite, widely spread with swelling grapes; after he had praised it, +together with the vine united {to it}, he said, “{Aye}, but if this +trunk stood unwedded,[54] without the vine, it would have nothing to +attract beyond its leaves; this vine, too, while it finds rest against +the elm, joined to it, if it were not united to it, would lie prostrate +on the ground; {and} yet thou art not influenced by the example of this +tree, and thou dost avoid marriage, and dost not care to be united. +I {only} wish that thou wouldst desire it: Helen would not {then} be +wooed by more suitors, nor she who caused the battles of the Lapithæ, +nor the wife of Ulysses, {so} bold against the cowards. Even now, while +thou dost avoid them courting thee, and dost turn away in disgust, +a thousand suitors desire thee; both Demigod and Gods, and the Deities +which inhabit the mountains of Alba. + +“But thou, if thou art wise, {and} if thou dost wish to make a good +match, and to listen to an old woman, (who loves thee more than them +all, and more than thou dost believe) despise a common alliance, and +choose for thyself Vertumnus, as the partner of thy couch; and take me +as a surety {for him}. He is not better known, even to himself, than he +is to me. He is not wandering about, straying here and there, throughout +all the world; these spots only does he frequent; and he does not, like +a great part of thy wooers, fall in love with her whom he sees last. +Thou wilt be his first and his last love, and to thee alone does he +devote his life. Besides, he is young, he has naturally the gift of +gracefulness, he can readily change himself into every shape, and he +will become whatever he shall be bidden, even shouldst thou bid him be +everything. {And} besides, have you {not both} the same tastes? Is {not} +he the first to have the fruits which are thy delight? and does he {not} +hold thy gifts in his joyous right hand? But now he neither longs for +the fruit plucked from the tree, nor the herbs that the garden produces, +with their pleasant juices, nor anything else, but thyself. Have pity on +his passion! and fancy that he who wooes thee is here present, pleading +with my lips; fear, too, the avenging Deities, and the Idalian +{Goddess}, who abhors cruel hearts, and the vengeful anger of her of +Rhamnus.[55] + +“And that thou mayst the more stand in awe of them, (for old age has +given me the opportunity of knowing many things) I will relate some +facts very well known throughout all Cyprus, by which thou mayst the +more easily be persuaded and relent.” + + [Footnote 50: _The two names._--Ver. 609. The other name of + Ascanius was Iülus. Alba Longa was built by Ascanius.] + + [Footnote 51: _Sylvius._--Ver. 610. See the lists of the Alban + kings, as given by Ovid, Livy, Dionysius of Halicarnassus, and + Eusebius, compared in the notes to the Translation of the Fasti, + Book IV. line 43.] + + [Footnote 52: _By the stroke._--Ver. 618. Possibly both Remulus + (if there ever was such a person) and Tullus Hostilius may have + fallen victims to some electrical experiments which they were + making; this may have given rise to the story that they had been + struck with lightning for imitating the prerogative of Jupiter.] + + [Footnote 53: _A coloured cap._--Ver. 654. ‘Pictâ redimitus + tempora mitrâ,’ is rendered by Clarke, ‘Having his temples wrapped + up in a painted bonnet.’ The ‘mitra,’ which was worn on the head + by females, was a broad cloth band of various colours. The use of + it was derived from the Eastern nations, and, probably, it was + very similar to our turban. It was much used by the Phrygians, and + in later times among the Greeks and Romans. It is supposed that it + was worn in a broad fillet round the head, and was tied under the + chin with bands. When Clodius went disguised in female apparel to + the rites of Bona Dea, he wore a ‘mitra.’] + + [Footnote 54: _Stood unwedded._--Ver. 663. Ovid probably derived + this notion from the language of the Roman husbandmen. Columella + and other writers on agricultural matters often make mention of a + ‘maritus ulmus,’ and a ‘nupta vitis,’ in contradistinction to + those trees which stood by themselves.] + + [Footnote 55: _Her of Rhamnus._--Ver. 694. See Book III. l. 406.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + Among the Deities borrowed by the Romans from the people of Etruria, + were Vertumnus and Pomona, who presided over gardens and fruits. + Propertius represents Vertumnus as rejoicing at having left Tusculum + for the Roman Forum. According to Varro and Festus, the Romans + offered sacrifices to these Deities, and they had their respective + temples and altars at Rome, the priest of Pomona being called + ‘Flamen Pomonalis.’ It is probable that this story originated in the + fancy of the Poet. + + The name of Vertumnus, from ‘verto,’ ‘to change,’ perhaps relates to + the vicissitudes of the seasons; and if this story refers to any + tradition, its meaning may have been, that in his taking various + forms, to please Pomona, the change of seasons requisite for + bringing the fruits to ripeness was symbolized. It is possible that + in the disguises of a labourer, a reaper, and an old woman, the Poet + may intend to pourtray the spring, the harvest, and the winter. + + There was a market at Rome, near the temple of this God, who was + regarded as one of the tutelary Deities of the traders. Horace + alludes to his temple which was in the Vicus Tuscus, or Etrurian + Street, which led to the Circus Maximus. According to some authors, + he was an ancient king of Etruria, who paid great attention to his + gardens, and, after his death, was considered to have the tutelage + of them. + + +FABLES XII. AND XIII. [XIV.698-851] + + Vertumnus relates to Pomona how Anaxarete was changed into a rock + after her disdain of his advances had forced her lover Iphis to hang + himself. After the death of Amulius and Numitor, Romulus builds + Rome, and becomes the first king of it. Tatius declares war against + him, and is favoured by Juno, while Venus protects the Romans. + Romulus and Hersilia are added to the number of the Deities, under + the names of Quirinus and Ora. + +Iphis, born of an humble family, had beheld the noble Anaxarete, sprung +from the race of the ancient Teucer;[56] he had seen her, and had felt +the flame in all his bones; and struggling a long time, when he could +not subdue his passion by reason, he came suppliantly to her doors. And +now having confessed to her nurse his unfortunate passion, he besought +her, by the hopes {she reposed} in her nursling, not to be hard-hearted +to him; and at another time, complimenting each of the numerous +servants, he besought their kind interest with an anxious voice. He +often gave his words to be borne on the flattering tablets; sometimes he +fastened garlands, wet with the dew of his tears, upon the door-posts, +and laid his tender side upon the hard threshold, and uttered reproaches +against the obdurate bolt. + +She, more deaf than the sea, swelling when {the Constellation of} the +Kids is setting, and harder than the iron which the Norican fire[57] +refines, and than the rock which in its native state is yet held fast by +the firm roots, despises, and laughs at him; and to her cruel deeds, in +her pride, she adds boastful words, and deprives her lover of even hope. +Iphis, unable to endure this prolonged pain, endured his torments no +{longer}; and before her doors he spoke these words as his last: “Thou +art the conquerer, Anaxarete; and no more annoyances wilt thou have to +bear from me. Prepare the joyous triumph, invoke the God Pæan, and crown +thyself with the shining laurel. For thou art the conqueror, and of my +own will I die; do thou, {woman} of iron, rejoice. At least, thou wilt +be obliged to commend something in me, and there will be one point in +which I shall be pleasing to thee, and thou wilt confess my merits. Yet +remember that my affection for thee has not ended sooner than my life; +and that at the same moment I am about to be deprived of a twofold +light. And report shall not come to thee as the messenger of my death; +I myself will come, doubt it not; and I myself will be seen in person, +that thou mayst satiate thy cruel eyes with my lifeless body. But if, ye +Gods above, you take cognizance of the fortunes of mortals, be mindful +of me; beyond this, my tongue is unable to pray; and cause me to be +remembered in times far distant; and give those hours to Fame which you +have taken away from my existence.” + +{Thus} he said; and raising his swimming eyes and his pallid arms to the +door-posts, so often adorned by him with wreaths, when he had fastened a +noose at the end of a halter upon the door; he said,-- “Are these the +garlands that delight thee, cruel and unnatural {woman}?” And he placed +his head within it; but even then he was turned towards her; and he hung +a hapless burden, by his strangled throat. The door, struck by the +motion of his feet as they quivered, seemed to utter a sound, as {of +one} groaning much, and flying open, it discovered the deed; the +servants cried aloud, and after lifting him up in vain, they carried him +to the house of his mother (for his father was dead). She received him +into her bosom; and embracing the cold limbs of her child, after she had +uttered the words that are {natural} to wretched mothers, and had +performed the {usual} actions of wretched mothers, she was preceding[58] +the tearful funeral through the midst of the city, and was carrying his +ghastly corpse on the bier, to be committed to the flames. + +By chance, her house was near the road where the mournful procession was +passing, and the sound of lamentation came to the ears of the +hardhearted Anaxarete, whom now an avenging Deity pursued. Moved, +however, she said:-- “Let us behold these sad obsequies;” and she +ascended to an upper room[59] with wide windows. And scarce had she well +seen Iphis laid out on the bier, {when} her eyes became stiffened, and a +paleness coming on, the warm blood fled from her body. And as she +endeavoured to turn her steps back again, she stood fixed {there}; and +as she endeavoured to turn away her face, this too she was unable to do; +and by degrees the stone, which already existed in her cruel breast, +took possession of her limbs. + +“And, that thou mayst not think this a fiction, Salamis still keeps the +statue under the form of the maiden; it has also a temple under the name +of ‘Venus, the looker-out.’ Remembering these things, O Nymph, lay aside +this prolonged disdain, and unite thyself to one who loves thee. Then, +may neither cold in the spring nip thy fruit in the bud, nor may the +rude winds strike them off in blossom.” When the God, fitted for every +shape, had in vain uttered these words, he returned to his youthful +form,[60] and took off from himself the garb of the old woman. And such +did he appear to her, as, when the form of the sun, in all his +brilliancy, has dispelled the opposing clouds, and has shone forth, no +cloud intercepting {his rays}. And he {now} purposed violence, but there +was no need for force, and the Nymph was captivated by the form of the +God, and was sensible of a reciprocal wound. + +Next, the soldiery of the wicked Amulius held sway over the realms of +Ausonia; and by the aid of his grandsons, the aged Numitor gained the +kingdom that he had lost; and on the festival of Pales, the walls of the +City were founded. Tatius and the Sabine fathers waged war; and {then}, +the way to the citadel being laid open, by a just retribution, Tarpeia +lost her life, the arms being heaped {upon her}. On this, they, sprung +from {the town of} Cures, just like silent wolves, suppressed their +voices with their lips, and fell upon the bodies {now} overpowered by +sleep, and rushed to the gates, which the son of Ilia had shut with a +strong bolt. But {Juno}, the daughter of Saturn, herself opened one, and +made not a sound at the turning of the hinge. Venus alone perceived that +the bars of the gate had fallen down; and she would have shut it, were +it not, that it is never allowed for a Deity to annul the acts of the +{other} Gods. The Naiads of Ausonia occupied a spot near {the temple of} +Janus, {a place} besprinkled by a cold fountain; of these she implored +aid. Nor did the Nymphs resist, the Goddess making so fair a request; +and they gave vent to the springs and the streams of the fountain. But +not yet were the paths closed to the open {temple of} Janus, and the +water had not stopped the way. They placed sulphur, with its faint blue +light, beneath the plenteous fountain, and they applied fire to the +hollowed channels, with smoking pitch. + +By these and other violent means, the vapour penetrated to the very +sources of the fountain; and {you}, ye waters, which, so lately, were +able to rival the coldness of the Alps, yielded not {in heat} to the +flames themselves. The two door-posts smoked with the flaming spray; and +the gate, which was in vain left open for the fierce Sabines, was +rendered impassable by this new-made fountain, until the warlike +soldiers had assumed their arms. After Romulus had readily led them +onward, and the Roman ground was covered with Sabine bodies, and was +covered with its own {people,} and the accursed sword had mingled the +blood of the son-in-law with the gore of the father-in-law; they +determined that the war should end in peace, and that they would not +contend with weapons to the last extremity, and that Tatius should share +in the sovereignty. + +Tatius was {now} dead, and thou, Romulus, wast giving laws in common to +both peoples; when Mavors,[61] his helmet laid aside, in such words as +these addressed the Parent of both Gods and men: “The time is {now} +come, O father, (since the Roman state is established on a strong +foundation, and is no longer dependent on the guardianship of but one), +for thee to give the reward which was promised to me, and to thy +grandson {so} deserving of it, and, removed from earth, to admit him to +heaven. Thou saidst to me once, a council of the Gods being present, +(for I remember it, and with grateful mind I remarked the affectionate +speech), he shall be one, whom thou shalt raise to the azure heaven. Let +the tenor of thy words be {now} performed.” + +The all-powerful {God} nodded in assent, and he obscured the air with +thick clouds, and alarmed the City with thunder and lightning. Gradivus +knew that this was a signal given to him for the promised removal; and, +leaning on his lance, he boldly mounted {behind} his steeds, laden with +the blood-stained pole {of the chariot}, and urged them on with the lash +of the whip; and descending along the steep air, he stood on the summit +of the hill of the woody Palatium; and he took away the son of Ilia, +that moment giving out his royal ordinances to his own Quirites. His +mortal body glided through the yielding air; just as the leaden plummet, +discharged from the broad sling, is wont to dissolve itself[62] in mid +air. A beauteous appearance succeeded, one more suitable to the lofty +couches[63] of heaven, and a form, such as that of Quirinus arrayed in +his regal robe. His wife was lamenting him as lost; when the royal Juno +commanded Iris to descend to Hersilia, along her bending path; and thus +to convey to the bereft {wife} her commands:-- + +“O matron, the especial glory of the Latian and of the Sabine race; thou +woman, most worthy to have been before the wife of a hero so great, +{and} now of Quirinus; cease thy weeping, and if thou hast a wish to see +thy husband, under my guidance repair to the grove which flourishes on +the hill of Quirinus, and overshadows the temple of the Roman king.” +Iris obeys, and gliding down to earth along her tinted bow, she +addressed Hersilia in the words enjoined. She, with a modest +countenance, hardly raising her eyes, replies, “O Goddess, (for {though} +it is not in my power to say who thou art, {yet}, still it is clear that +thou art a Goddess), lead me, O lead me on, and present to me the +features of my husband. If the Fates should but allow me to be enabled +once to behold these, I will confess that I have beheld Heaven.” + +There was no delay; with the virgin daughter of Thaumas she ascended the +hill of Romulus. There, a star falling from the skies, fell upon the +earth; the hair of Hersilia set on fire from the blaze of this, ascended +with the star to the skies. The founder of the Roman city received her +with his well-known hands; and, together with her body, he changed her +former name; and he called her Ora; which Goddess is still united to +Quirmus. + + [Footnote 56: _Ancient Teucer._--Ver. 698. When Teucer returned + home after the Trojan war, his father Telamon banished him, for + not having revenged the death of his brother Ajax, which was + imputed to Ulysses, as having been the occasion of it, by + depriving him of the armour of Achilles. Thus exiled, he fled to + Cyprus, where he founded the city of Salamis.] + + [Footnote 57: _Norican fire._--Ver. 712. Noricum was a district of + Germany, between the Danube and the Alps. It is still famous for + its excellent steel; the goodness of which, Pliny attributes + partly to the superior quality of the ore, and partly to the + temperature of the climate.] + + [Footnote 58: _She was preceding._--Ver. 746. It was customary for + the relations, both male and female, to attend the body to the + tomb or the funeral pile. Among the Greeks, the male relatives + walked in front of the body, preceded by the head mourners, while + the female relations walked behind. Among the Romans, all the + relations walked behind the corpse; the males having their heads + veiled, and the females with their heads bare and hair + dishevelled, contrary to the usual practice of each sex.] + + [Footnote 59: _An upper room._--Ver. 752. Anaxarete went to an + upper room, to look out into the street, as the apartments on the + ground floor were rarely lighted with windows. The principal + apartments on the ground floor received their light from above, + and the smaller rooms there, usually derived their light from the + larger ones; while on the other hand, the rooms on the upper floor + were usually lighted with windows. The conduct of Anaxarete + reminds us of that of Marcella, the hardhearted shepherdess, which + so aroused the indignation of the amiable, but unfortunate, Don + Quixotte.] + + [Footnote 60: _His youthful form._--Ver. 766-7. ‘In juvenem + rediit: et anilia demit Instrumenta sibi.’ These words are thus + translated by Clarke: ‘He returned into a young fellow, and takes + off his old woman’s accoutrements from him.’ We hear of the + accoutrements of a cavalry officer much more frequently than we do + those of an old woman.] + + [Footnote 61: _Mavors._--Ver. 806. Mavors, which is often used by + the poets as a name of Mars, probably gave rise to the latter name + as a contracted form of it.] + + [Footnote 62: _To dissolve itself._--Ver. 826. Not only, as we + have already remarked, was it a notion among the ancients that the + leaden plummet thrown from the sling grew red hot; but they + occasionally went still further, and asserted that, from the + rapidity of the motion, it melted and disappeared altogether. See + note to Book II. l. 727.] + + [Footnote 63: _Lofty couches._--Ver. 827. The ‘pulvinaria’ were + the cushions, or couches, placed in the temples of the Gods, for + the use of the Divinities; which probably their priests (like + their brethren who administered to Bel) did not omit to enjoy. At + the festivals of the ‘lectisternia,’ the statues of the Gods were + placed upon these cushions. The images of the Deities in the Roman + Circus, were also placed on a ‘pulvinar.’] + + +EXPLANATION. + + We are not informed that the story of Iphis, hanging himself for + love of Anaxarete, is based upon any actual occurrence, though + probably it was, as Salamis is mentioned as the scene of it. The + transformation of Anaxarete into a stone, seems only to be the usual + metaphor employed by the poets to denote extreme insensibility. + + Following the example of Homer, who represents the Gods as divided + into the favourers of the Greeks and of the Trojans, he represents + the Sabines as entering Rome, while Juno opens the gates for them; + on which the Nymphs of the spot pour forth streams of flame, which + oblige them to return. He tells the same story in the first Book of + the Fasti, where Janus is introduced as taking credit to himself for + doing what the Nymphs are here said to have effected. + + As Dionysius of Halicarnassus gives some account of these + transactions, on the authority of the ancient Roman historians, it + will be sufficient here to give the substance thereof. Jealous of + the increasing power of Romulus, the Sabines collected an army, and + marched to attack his city. A virgin named Tarpeia, whose father + commanded the guard, perceiving the golden bracelets which the + Sabines wore on their arms, offered Tatius to open the gate to him, + if he would give her these jewels. This condition being assented to, + the enemy was admitted into the town; and Tarpeia, who is said by + some writers only to have intended to disarm the Sabines, by + demanding their bucklers, which she pretended were included in the + original agreement, was killed on the spot, by the violence of the + blows; Tatius having ordered that they should be thrown on her head. + + The same historian says, that opinions were divided as to the death + of Romulus, and that many writers had written, that as he was + haranguing his army, the sky became overcast, and a thick darkness + coming on, it was followed by a violent tempest, in which he + disappeared; on which it was believed that Mars had taken him up to + heaven. Others assert that he was killed by the citizens, for having + sent back the hostages of the Veientes without their consent, and + for assuming an air of superiority, which their lawless spirits + could ill brook. For these reasons, his officers assassinated him, + and cut his body in pieces; each of them carrying off some portion, + that it might be privately interred. According to Livy, great + consternation was the consequence of his death; and the people + beginning to suspect that the senators had committed the crime, + Julius Proculus asserted that Romulus had appeared to him, and + assured him of the fact of his having been Deified. His speech on + the occasion is given by Livy, and Ovid relates the same story in + the second Book of the Fasti. On this, the Roman people paid him + divine honours as a God, under the name of Quirinus, one of the + epithets of Mars. He had a chief priest, who was called ‘Flamen + Quirinalis.’ + + His wife, Hersilia, also had divine honours paid to her, jointly + with him, under the name of Ora, or ‘Horta.’ According to Plutarch, + she had the latter name from the exhortation which she had given to + the youths to distinguish themselves by courage. + + + + +BOOK THE FIFTEENTH. + + +FABLE I. [XV.1-59] + + Myscelos is warned, in a dream, to leave Argos, and to settle in + Italy. When on the point of departing, he is seized under a law + which forbids the Argives to leave the city without the permission + of the magistrates. Being brought up for judgment, through a miracle + he is acquitted. He retires to Italy, where he builds the city of + Crotona. + +Meanwhile, one is being sought who can bear a weight of such magnitude, +and can succeed a king so great. Fame, the harbinger of truth, destines +the illustrious Numa for the sovereign power. He does not deem it +sufficient to be acquainted with the ceremonials of the Sabine nation; +in his expansive mind he conceives greater views, and inquires into the +nature of things. ’Twas love of this pursuit, his country and cares left +behind, that caused him to penetrate to the city of the stranger +Hercules. To him, making the inquiry what founder it was that had +erected a Grecian city on the Italian shores, one of the more aged +natives, who was not unacquainted with {the history of} the past, thus +replied: + +“The son of Jove, enriched with the oxen of Iberia, is said to have +reached the Lacinian shores,[1] from the ocean, after a prosperous +voyage, and, while his herd was straying along the soft pastures, +himself to have entered the abode of the great Croton, no inhospitable +dwelling, and to have rested in repose after his prolonged labours, and +to have said thus at departing: ‘In the time of thy grandsons this shall +be the site of a city;’ and his promise was fulfilled. For there was a +certain Myscelos, the son of Alemon, an Argive, most favoured by the +Gods in those times. Lying upon him, as he is overwhelmed with the +drowsiness of sleep, the club-bearer, {Hercules}, addresses him: ‘Come, +{now}, desert thy native abodes; go, {and} repair to the pebbly streams +of the distant Æsar.’[2] And he utters threats, many and fearful, if he +does not obey: after that, at once both sleep and the God depart. The +son of Alemon arises, and ponders his recent vision in his thoughtful +mind; and for a long time his opinions are divided among themselves. The +Deity orders him to depart; the laws forbid his going; and death has +been awarded as the punishment of him who attempts to leave his country. + +“The brilliant Sun had {now} hidden his shining head in the ocean, and +darkest Night had put forth her starry face, {when} the same God seemed +to be present, and to give the same commands, and to utter threats, more +numerous and more severe, if he does not obey. He was alarmed; and {now} +he was also preparing to transfer his country’s home to a new +settlement, {when} a rumour arose in the city, and he was accused of +holding the laws in contempt. And, when the accusation had first been +made, and his crime was evident, proved without a witness, the accused, +in neglected garb, raising his face and his hands towards the Gods +above, says, ‘Oh thou! for whom the twice six labours have created the +privilege of the heavens, aid me, I pray; for thou wast the cause of my +offence.’ It was the ancient custom, by means of white and black +pebbles, with the one to condemn the accused, with the other to acquit +them of the charge; and on this occasion thus was the sad sentence +passed, and every black pebble was cast into the ruthless urn. Soon as +it, being inverted, poured forth the pebbles to be counted, the colour +of them all was changed from black to white, and the sentence, changed +to a favourable one by the aid of Hercules, acquitted the son of Alemon. + +“He gives thanks to the parent, the son of Amphitryon,[3] and with +favouring gales sails over the Ionian sea, and passes by the +Lacedæmonian Tarentum,[4] and Sybaris, and the Salentine Neæthus,[5] and +the bay of Thurium,[6] and Temesa, and the fields of Iapyx;[7] and +having with difficulty coasted along the spots which skirt these shores, +he finds the destined mouth of the river Æsar; and, not far thence, +a mound, beneath which the ground was covering the sacred bones of +Croton. And there, on the appointed land, did he found his walls, and he +transferred the name of him that was {there} entombed to his city. By +established tradition, it was known that such was the original of that +place, and of the city built on the Italian coasts.” + + [Footnote 1: _Lacinian shores._--Ver. 13. Lacinium was a + promontory of Italy, not far from Crotona.] + + [Footnote 2: _Distant Æsar._--Ver. 23. The Æsar was a little + stream of Calabria, which flowed into the sea, near the city of + Crotona.] + + [Footnote 3: _Son of Amphitryon._--Ver. 49. Hercules was the + putative son of Amphitryon, king of Thebes, who was the husband of + his mother Alcmena.] + + [Footnote 4: _Tarentum._--Ver. 50. Tarentum was a famous city of + Calabria, said to have been founded by Taras, the son of Neptune. + It was afterwards enlarged by Phalanthus, a Lacedæmonian, whence + its present epithet.] + + [Footnote 5: _Neæthus._--Ver. 51. This was a river of the + Salentine territory, near Crotona.] + + [Footnote 6: _Thurium._--Ver. 52. Thurium was a city of Calabria, + which received its name from a fountain in its vicinity. It was + also called Thuria and Thurion.] + + [Footnote 7: _Fields of Iapyx._--Ver. 52. Iapygia was a name which + Calabria received from Iapyx, the son of Dædalus. There was also a + city of Calabria, named Iapygia, and a promontory, called + Iapygium.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + To the story here told of Micylus, or Myscelus, as most of the + ancient writers call him, another one was superadded. Suidas, on the + authority of the Scholiast of Aristophanes, says that Myscelus, + having consulted the oracle, concerning the colony which he was + about to lead into a foreign country, was told that he must settle + at the place where he should meet with rain in a clear sky, ἐξ + αἰθρίας. His faith surmounting the apparent impossibility of having + both fair and foul weather at the same moment, he obeyed the oracle, + and put to sea; and, after experiencing many dangers, he landed in + Italy. Being full of uncertainty where to fix his colony, he was + reduced to great distress; on which his wife, whose name was + Aithrias, with the view of comforting him, embraced him, and bedewed + his face with her tears. He immediately adopted the presage, and + understood the spot where he then was to be the site of his intended + city. + + Strabo says that Myscelus, who was so called from the smallness of + his legs, designing to found a colony in a foreign land, arrived on + the coast of Italy. Observing that the spot which the oracle had + pointed out enjoyed a healthy climate, though the soil was not so + fertile as in the adjacent plains, he went once more to consult the + oracle; but was answered that he must not refuse what was offered + him; an answer which was afterwards turned into a proverb. On this, + he founded the city of Crotona, and another colony founded the city + of Sybaris on the spot which he had preferred; a place which + afterwards became infamous for its voluptuousness and profligacy. + + +FABLES II. AND III. [XV.60-478] + + Pythagoras comes to the city of Crotona, and teaches the principles + of his philosophy. His reputation draws Numa Pompilius to hear his + discourses; on which he expounds his principles, and, more + especially, enlarges on the transmigration of the soul, and the + practice of eating animal food. + +There was a man, a Samian by birth; but he had fled from both Samos and +its rulers,[8] and, through hatred of tyranny, he was a voluntary exile. +He too, mentally, held converse with the Gods, although far distant in +the region of the heavens; and what nature refused to human vision, he +viewed with the eyes of his mind. And when he had examined all things +with his mind, and with watchful study, he gave them to be learned by +the public; and he sought the crowds of people {as they sat} in silence, +and wondered at the revealed origin of the vast universe, and the cause +of things, and what nature {meant}, and what was God; whence {came} the +snow, what was the cause of lightning; {whether it was} Jupiter, or +whether the winds that thundered when the cloud was rent asunder; what +it was that shook the earth; by what laws the stars took their course; +and whatever {besides} lay concealed {from mortals}. + +He, too, was the first to forbid animals to be served up at table, and +he was the first that opened his lips, learned indeed, but still not +obtaining credit, in such words as these: “Forbear, mortals, to pollute +your bodies with {such} abominable food. There is the corn; there are +the apples that bear down the branches by their weight, and {there are} +the grapes swelling upon the vines; there are the herbs that are +pleasant; there are some that can become tender, and be softened by {the +action of} fire. The flowing milk, too, is not denied you, nor honey +redolent of the bloom of the thyme. The lavish Earth yields her riches, +and her agreable food, and affords dainties without slaughter and +bloodshed. The beasts satisfy their hunger with flesh; and yet not all +of them; for the horse, and the sheep, and the herds subsist on grass. +But those whose disposition is cruel and fierce, the Armenian tigers, +and the raging lions, and the bears together with the wolves, revel in +their diet with blood. Alas! what a crime is it, for entrails to be +buried in entrails, and for one ravening body to grow fat on {other} +carcases crammed {into} it; and for one living creature to exist through +the death of another living creature! And does, forsooth! amid so great +an abundance, which the earth, that best of mothers, produces, nothing +delight you but to gnaw with savage teeth the sad {produce of your} +wounds, and to revive the habits of the Cyclops? And can you not appease +the hunger of a voracious and ill-regulated stomach unless you first +destroy another? But that age of old, to which we have given the name of +‘Golden,’ was blest in the produce of the trees, and in the herbs which +the earth produces, and it did not pollute the mouth with blood. + +“Then, both did the birds move their wings in safety in the air, and the +hare without fear wander in the midst of the fields; then its own +credulity had not suspended the fish from the hook; every place was +without treachery, and in dread of no injury, and was full of peace. +Afterwards, {some one}, no good adviser[9] (whoever among mortals he +might have been), envied this simple food, and engulphed in his greedy +paunch victuals made from a carcase; ’twas he that opened the path to +wickedness; and I can believe that the steel, {since} stained with +blood, first grew warm from the slaughter of wild beasts. And that had +been sufficient. I confess that the bodies {of animals} that seek our +destruction are put to death with no breach of the sacred laws; but, +although they might be put to death, yet they were not to be eaten as +well. Then this wickedness proceeded still further; and the swine is +believed to have deserved death as the first victim, because it grubbed +up the seeds with its turned-up snout, and cut short the hopes of the +year. Having gnawed the vine, the goat was led[10] for slaughter to the +altars of the avenging Bacchus. Their own faults were the ruin of the +two. But why have you deserved this, ye sheep? a harmless breed, and +born for the service of man; who carry the nectar in your full udders; +who afford your wool as soft coverings for us, and who assist us more by +your life than by your death. Why have the oxen deserved this, an animal +without guile and deceit, innocent, harmless, born to endure labour? In +fact, the man is ungrateful, and not worthy of the gifts of the harvest, +who could, just after taking off the weight of the curving plough, +slaughter the tiller of his fields; who could strike, with the axe, that +neck worn bare with labour, through which he had so oft turned up the +hard ground, {and} had afforded so many a harvest. + +“And it is not enough for such wickedness to be committed; they have +imputed to the Gods themselves this abomination; and they believe that a +Deity in the heavens can rejoice in the slaughter of the laborious ox. +A victim free from a blemish, and most beauteous in form (for ’tis being +sightly that brings destruction), adorned with garlands and gold, is +placed upon the altars, and, in its ignorance, it hears one praying, and +sees the corn, which it has helped to produce, placed on its forehead +between its horns; and, felled, it stains with its blood the knives +perhaps before seen by it in the limpid water. Immediately, they examine +the entrails snatched from its throbbing breast, and in them they seek +out the intentions of the Deities. Whence comes it that men have so +great a hankering for forbidden food? Do you presume to feed {on flesh}, +O race of mortals? Do it not, I beseech you; and give attention to my +exhortations. And when you shall be presenting the limbs of slaughtered +oxen to your palates, know and consider that you are devouring your +{tillers of the ground}. And since a God impels me to speak, I will duly +obey the God that {so} prompts me to speak; and I will pronounce my own +Delphic {warnings}, and disclose the heavens themselves; and I will +reveal the oracles of the Divine will. I will sing of wondrous things, +never investigated by the intellects of the ancients, and {things} which +have long lain concealed. It delights me to range among the lofty stars; +it delights me, having left the earth and this sluggish spot {far +behind}, to be borne amid the clouds, and to be supported on the +shoulders of the mighty Atlas; and to look down from afar on minds +wandering {in uncertainty}, and devoid of reason; and so to advise them +alarmed and dreading extinction, and to unfold the range of things +ordained by fate. + +“O race! stricken by the alarms of icy death, why do you dread Styx? why +the shades, why empty names, the stock subjects of the poets, and the +atonements of an imaginary world? Whether the funeral pile consumes your +bodies with flames, or old age with gradual dissolution, believe that +they cannot suffer any injury. Souls are not subject to death; and +having left their former abode, they ever inhabit new dwellings, and, +{there} received, live on. + +“I, myself, for I remember it, in the days of the Trojan war, was +Euphorbus,[11] the son of Panthoüs, in whose opposing breast once was +planted the heavy spear of the younger son of Atreus. I lately +recognised the shield, {once} the burden of my left arm, in the temple +of Juno, at Argos, the realm of Abas. All things are {ever} changing; +nothing perishes. The soul wanders about and comes from that spot to +this, from this to that, and takes possession of any limbs whatever; it +both passes from the beasts to human bodies, and {so does} our {soul} +into the beasts; and in no {lapse} of time does it perish. And as the +pliable wax is moulded into new forms, and no {longer} abides as it was +{before}, nor preserves the same shape, but yet is still the same {wax}, +so I tell you that the soul is ever the same, but passes into different +forms. Therefore, that natural affection may not be vanquished by the +craving of the appetite, cease, I warn you, to expel the souls of your +kindred {from their bodies} by this dreadful slaughter; and let not +blood be nourished with blood. + +“And, since I am {now} borne over the wide ocean, and I have given my +full sails to the winds, there is nothing in all the world that +continues in the same state. All things are flowing {onward},[12] and +every shape is assumed in a fleeting course. Even time itself glides on +with a constant progress, no otherwise than a river. For neither can the +river, nor the fleeting hour stop in its course; but, as wave is +impelled by wave, and the one before is pressed on by that which +follows, and {itself} presses on that before it; so do the moments +similarly fly on, and similarly do they follow, and they are ever +renewed. For the moment which was before, is past; and that which was +not, {now} exists; and every minute is replaced. You see, too, the night +emerge and proceed onward to the dawn, and this brilliant light of the +day succeed the dark night. Nor is there the same appearance in the +heavens, when all things in their weariness lie in the midst of repose, +and when Lucifer is coming forth on his white steed; and, again, there +is another appearance, when {Aurora}, the daughter of Pallas, preceding +the day, tints the world about to be delivered to Phœbus. The disk +itself of {that} God, when it is rising from beneath the earth, is of +ruddy colour in the morning, and when it is hiding beneath the earth it +is of a ruddy colour. At its height it is of brilliant whiteness, +because there the nature of the æther is purer, and far away, he avoids +{all} infection from the earth. Nor can there ever be the same or a +similar appearance of the nocturnal Diana; and always that of the +present day is less than on the morrow, if she is on the increase; {but} +greater if she is contracting her orb. + +“And further. Do you not see the year, affording a resemblance of our +life, assume four {different} appearances? for, in early Spring, it is +mild, and {like} a nursling, and greatly resembling the age of youth. +Then, the blade is shooting, and void of strength, it swells, and is +flaccid, and delights the husbandman in his expectations. Then, all +things are in blossom, and the genial meadow smiles with the tints of +its flowers; and not as yet is there any vigour in the leaves. The year +{now} waxing stronger, after the Spring, passes into the Summer; and in +its youth it becomes robust. And indeed no season is there more +vigorous, or more fruitful, or which glows with greater warmth. Autumn +follows, the ardour of youth {now} removed, ripe, and placed between +youth and old age, moderate in his temperature, with a {few} white hairs +sprinkled over his temples. Then comes aged Winter, repulsive with his +tremulous steps, either stript of his locks, or white with those which +he has. + +“Our own bodies too are changing always and without any intermission, +and to-morrow we shall not be what we were or what we {now} are. The +time was, when only as embryos, and the earliest hope of human beings, +we lived in the womb of the mother. Nature applied her skilful hands, +and willed not that our bodies should be tortured {by} being shut up +within the entrails of the distended parent, and brought us forth from +our dwelling into the vacant air. Brought to light, the infant lies +without {any} strength; soon, {like} a quadruped, it uses its limbs +after the manner of the brutes; and by degrees it stands upright, +shaking, and with knees still unsteady, the sinews being supported by +some assistance. Then he becomes strong and swift, and passes over the +hours of youth; and the years of middle age, too, now past, he glides +adown the steep path of declining age. This undermines and destroys the +robustness of former years; and Milo,[13] {now} grown old, weeps when he +sees the arms, which equalled those of Hercules in the massiveness of +the solid muscles, hang weak and exhausted. The daughter of Tyndarus +weeps, too, as she beholds in her mirror the wrinkles of old age, and +enquires of herself why it is that she was twice ravished. Thou, Time, +the consumer of {all} things, and thou, hateful Old Age, {together} +destroy all things; and, by degrees ye consume each thing, decayed by +the teeth of age, with a slow death. + +“These things too, which we call elements, are not of unchanging +duration; pay attention, and I will teach you what changes they undergo. + +“The everlasting universe contains four elementary bodies. Two of these, +{namely}, earth and water, are heavy, and are borne downwards by their +weight; and as many are devoid of weight, and air, and fire still purer +than air, nothing pressing them, seek the higher regions. Although these +are separated in space, yet all things are made from them, and are +resolved into them. Both the earth dissolving distils into flowing +water; the water, too, evaporating, departs in the breezes and the air; +its weight being removed again, the most subtle air shoots upwards into +the fires {of the æther} on high. Thence do they return back again, and +the same order is unravelled; for fire becoming gross, passes into dense +air; this {changes} into water, and earth is formed of the water made +dense. Nor does its own form remain to each; and nature, the renewer of +{all} things, re-forms one shape from another. And, believe me, in this +universe so vast, nothing perishes; but it varies and changes its +appearance; and to begin to be something different from what it was +before, is called being born; and to cease to be the same thing, {is to +be said} to die. Whereas, perhaps, those things are transferred hither, +and these things thither; yet, in the whole, all things {ever} exist. + +“For my part, I cannot believe that anything lasts long under the same +form. ’Twas thus, ye ages, that ye came down to the iron from the gold; +’tis thus, that thou hast so often changed the lot of {various} places. +I have beheld that {as} sea, which once had been the most solid earth. +I have seen land made from the sea; and far away from the ocean the +sea-shells lay, and old anchors were found {there} on the tops of the +mountains. That which was a plain, a current of water has made into a +valley, and by a flood the mountain has been levelled into a plain; the +ground that was swampy is parched with dry sand; and places which have +endured drought, are wet with standing pools. Here nature has opened +fresh springs, but there she has shut them up; and rivers have burst +forth, aroused by ancient earthquakes; or, vanishing, they have +subsided. + +“Thus, after the Lycus[14] has been swallowed up by a chasm in the +earth, it burst forth far thence, and springs up afresh at another +mouth. Thus the great Erasinus[15] is at one time swallowed up, and then +flowing with its stream concealed, is cast up again on the Argive +plains. They say, too, that the Mysus, tired of its spring and of its +former banks, now flows in another direction, {as} the Caicus. The +Amenanus,[16] too, at one time flows, rolling along the Sicilian sands, +{and} at another is dry, its springs being stopped up. Formerly, {the +water of} the Anigros[17] was used for drinking; it now pours out water +which you would decline to touch; since, (unless all credit must be +denied to the poets), the {Centaurs}, the double-limbed mortals, there +washed the wounds which the bow of the club-bearing Hercules had made. +And what besides? Does not the Hypanis[18] too, which before was sweet, +rising from the Scythian mountains, become impregnated with bitter +salts? Antissa,[19] Pharos,[20] and Phœnician Tyre,[21] were once +surrounded by waves; no one of these is now an island. The ancient +inhabitants had Leucas[22] annexed to the continent; now the sea +surrounds it. Zancle,[23] too, is said to have been united to Italy, +until the sea cut off the neighbouring region, and repelled the land +with its waves {flowing} between. + +“Should you seek Helice and Buris,[24] cities of Achaia, you will find +them beneath the waves, and the sailors are still wont to point out +{these} levelled towns, with their walls buried under water. + +“There is a high hill near Trœzen of Pittheus, without any trees, once a +very level surface of a plain, {but} now a hill; for (frightful to tell) +the raging power[25] of the winds, pent up in dark caverns, desiring to +find some vent and having long struggled in vain to enjoy a freer air, +as there was no opening in all their prison and it was not pervious to +their blasts, swelled out the extended earth, just as the breath of the +mouth is wont to inflate a bladder, or the hide[26] stripped from the +two-horned goat. That swelling remained on the spot, and {still} +preserves the appearance of a high hill, and has grown hard in length of +time. Though many other {instances} may occur, either heard of by, or +known to, yourselves, {yet} I will mention a few more. And besides, does +not water, as well, both produce and receive new forms? In the middle of +the day, thy waters, horned Ammon,[27] are frozen, at the rising and at +the setting {of the sun} they are warm. On applying its waters, +Athamanis[28] is said to kindle wood when the waning moon has shrunk +into her smallest orb. The Ciconians have a river,[29] which when drunk +of, turns the entrails into stone, and lays {a covering of} marble on +things that are touched by it. The Crathis[30] and the Sybaris adjacent +to it, in our own country, make the hair similar {in hue} to amber and +gold. + +“And, what is still more wonderful, there are some streams which are +able to change, not only bodies, but even the mind. By whom has not +Salmacis,[31] with its obscene waters, been heard of? {Who has not +heard}, too, of that lake of Æthiopia,[32] of which, if any body drinks +with his mouth, he either becomes mad, or falls into a sleep wondrous +for its heaviness? Whoever quenches his thirst from the Clitorian +spring[33] hates wine, and in his sobriety takes pleasure in pure water. +Whether it is that there is a virtue in the water, the opposite of +heating wine, or whether, as the natives tell us, after the son of +Amithaon,[34] by his charms and his herbs, had delivered the raving +daughters of Prœtus from the Furies, he threw the medicines for the mind +in that stream; and a hatred of wine remained in those waters. + +“The river Lyncestis[35] flows unlike that {stream} in its effect; for +as soon as any one has drunk of it with immoderate throat, he reels, +just as if he had been drinking unmixed wine. There is a place in +Arcadia, (the ancients called it Pheneos,)[36] suspicious for the +twofold nature of its water. Stand in dread of it at night; if drunk of +in the night time, it is injurious; in the daytime, it is drunk of +without any ill effects. So lakes and rivers have, some, one property, +and some another. There was a time when Ortygia[37] was floating on the +waves, now it is fixed. The Argo dreaded the Symplegades tossed by the +assaults of the waves dashing against them; they now stand immoveable, +and resist {the attacks of} the winds. + +“Nor will Ætna, which burns with its sulphureous furnaces, always be a +fiery {mountain}; nor yet was it always fiery. For, if the earth is an +animal, and is alive, and has lungs that breathe forth flames in many a +place, it may change the passages for its breathing, and oft as it is +moved, may close these caverns {and} open others; or if the light winds +are shut up in its lowermost caverns, and strike rocks against rocks, +and matter that contains the elements of flame, {and} it takes fire at +the concussion, the winds {once} calmed, the caverns will become cool; +or, if the bituminous qualities take fire, or yellow sulphur is being +dried up with a smouldering smoke, still, when the earth shall no longer +give food and unctuous fuel to the flame, its energies being exhausted +in length of time, and when nutriment shall be wanting to its devouring +nature, it will not {be able to} endure hunger, and left destitute, it +will desert its flames. + +“The story is, that in the far Northern Pallene[38] there are persons, +who are wont to have their bodies covered with light feathers, when they +have nine times entered the Tritonian lake. For my part I do not believe +it; {but} the Scythian women, as well, having their limbs sprinkled with +poison, are said to employ the same arts. But if we are to give any +credit[39] to things proved {by experience}, do you not see that +whatever bodies are consumed by length of time, or by dissolving heat, +are changed into small animals? Come too, bury some choice bullocks +{just} slain, it is a thing well ascertained by experience, {that} +flower-gathering bees are produced promiscuously from the putrefying +entrails. These, after the manner of their producers, inhabit the +fields, delight in toil, and labour in hope. The warlike steed,[40] +buried in the ground, is the source of the hornet. If you take off the +bending claws from the crab of the sea-shore, {and} bury the rest in the +earth, a scorpion will come forth from the part {so} buried, and will +threaten with its crooked tail. + +“The silkworms, too, that are wont to cover the leaves with their white +threads, a thing observable by husbandmen, change their forms into that +of the deadly moth.[41] Mud contains seed that generate green frogs; and +it produces them deprived of feet;[42] soon it gives them legs adapted +for swimming; and that the same may be fitted for long leaps, the length +of the hinder ones exceeds {that of} the fore legs. And it is not a +cub[43] which the bear produces at the moment of birth, but a mass of +flesh hardly alive. By licking, the mother forms it into limbs, and +brings it into a shape, such as she herself has. Do you not see, that +the offspring of the honey bees, which the hexagonal cell conceals, are +produced without limbs, and that they assume both feet and wings {only} +after a time. Unless he knew it was the case, could any one suppose it +possible that the bird of Juno, which carries stars on its tail, and the +{eagle}, the armour-bearer of Jove, and the doves of Cytherea, and all +the race of birds, are produced from the middle portion of an egg? There +are some who believe that human marrow changes into a serpent,[44] when +the spine has putrefied in the enclosed sepulchre. + +“But these {which I have named} derive their origin from other +particulars; there is one bird which renews and reproduces itself. The +Assyrians call it the Phœnix. It lives not on corn or grass, but on +drops of frankincense, and the juices of the amomum. This {bird}, when +it has completed the five ages of its life, with its talons and its +crooked beak constructs for itself a nest in the branches of a holm-oak, +or on the top of a quivering palm. As soon as it has strewed in this +cassia and ears of sweet spikenard and bruised cinnamon with yellow +myrrh, it lays itself down on it, and finishes its life in the midst of +odours. They say that thence, from the body of its parent, is reproduced +a little Phœnix, which is destined to live as many years. When time has +given it strength, and it is able to bear the weight, it lightens the +branches of the lofty tree of the burden of the nest, and dutifully +carries both its own cradle and the sepulchre of its parent; and, having +reached the city of Hyperion through the yielding air, it lays it down +before the sacred doors in the temple of Hyperion. + +“And if there is any wondrous novelty in these things, {still more} may +we be surprised that the hyæna changes its sex,[45] and that the one +which has just now, as a female, submitted to the embrace of the male, +is now become a male itself. That animal, too, which feeds upon[46] the +winds and the air, immediately assumes, from its contact, any colour +whatever. Conquered India presented her lynxes to Bacchus crowned with +clusters; {and}, as they tell, whatever the bladder of these discharges +is changed into stone,[47] and hardens by contact with the air. So +coral, too, as soon as it has come up to the air becomes hard; beneath +the waves it was a soft plant.[48] “The day will fail me, and Phœbus +will bathe his panting steeds in the deep sea, before I can embrace in +my discourse all things that are changed into new forms. So in lapse of +time, we see nations change, and these gaining strength, {while} those +are falling. So Troy was great, both in her riches and her men, and for +ten years could afford so much blood; {whereas}, now laid low, she only +shows her ancient ruins, and, instead of her wealth, {she points at} the +tombs of her ancestors. Sparta was famed;[49] great Mycenæ flourished; +so, too, the citadel of Cecrops, and that of Amphion. {Now} Sparta is a +contemptible spot; lofty Mycenæ is laid low. What now is Thebes, the +city of Œdipus, but a {mere} story? What remains of Athens, the city of +Pandion, but its name? + +“Now, too, there is a report that Dardanian Rome is rising; which, close +to the waters of Tiber that rises in the Apennines, is laying the +foundations of her greatness beneath a vast structure. She then, in her +growth, is changing her form, and will one day be the mistress of the +boundless earth. So they say that the soothsayers, and the oracles, +revealers of destiny, declare; and, so far as I recollect, Helenus, the +son of Priam, said to Æneas, as he was lamenting, and in doubt as to his +safety, when {now} the Trojan state was sinking, ‘Son of a Goddess, if +thou dost thyself well understand the presentiment of my mind, Troy +shall not, thou being preserved, entirely fall. The flames and the sword +shall afford thee a passage. Thou shalt go, and, together with thee, +thou shalt bear ruined Pergamus; until a foreign soil, more friendly +than thy native land, shall be the lot of Troy and thyself. Even now do +I see that our Phrygian posterity are destined {to build} a city, so +great as neither now exists, nor will exist, nor has been seen in former +times. Through a long lapse of ages, other distinguished men shall make +it powerful, but one born[50] of the blood of Iülus shall make it the +mistress of the world. After the earth shall have enjoyed his presence, +the æthereal abodes shall gain him, and heaven shall be his +destination.’ Remembering it, I call to mind that Helenus prophesied +this to Æneas, who bore the Penates {from Troy}; and I rejoice that my +kindred walls are rising apace, and that to such good purpose for the +Phrygians the Pelasgians conquered. + +“But that we may not range afar with steeds that forget to hasten to the +goal; the heavens, and whatever there is beneath them, and the earth, +and whatever is upon it, change their form. We too, {who are} a portion +of the universe, (since we are not only bodies, but are fleeting souls +as well, and can enter into beasts {as our} abode, and be hidden within +the breasts of the cattle), should allow those bodies which may contain +the souls of our parents, or of our brothers, or of those allied with us +by some tie, or of men at all events, to be safe and unmolested; and we +ought not to fill[51] our entrails with victuals fit for Thyestes. How +greatly he disgraces himself, how in his impiety does he prepare himself +for shedding human blood, who cuts the throat of the calf with the +knife, and gives a deaf ear to its lowings! or who can kill the kid as +it sends forth cries like those of a child; or who can feed upon the +bird to which he himself has given food. How much is there wanting in +these instances for downright criminality? A {short} step {only} is +there thence {to it}! + +“Let the bull plough, or let it owe its death to aged years; let the +sheep furnish us a defence against the shivering Boreas; let the +well-fed she-goats afford their udders to be pressed by the hand. Away +with your nets, and your springes and snares and treacherous +contrivances; deceive not the bird with the bird-limed twig; deceive not +the deer with the dreaded feather foils;[52] and do not conceal the +barbed hooks in the deceitful bait. If any thing is noxious, destroy it, +but even then only destroy it. Let your appetites abstain from it for +food, and let them consume {a more} befitting sustenance.” + + [Footnote 8: _And its rulers._--Ver. 61. Pythagoras is said to + have fled from the tyranny of Polycrates, the king of Samos.] + + [Footnote 9: _No good adviser._--Ver. 103. Clarke translates ‘Non + utilis auctor,’ ‘Some good-for-nothing introducer.’] + + [Footnote 10: _The goat is led._--Ver 114. See the Fasti, Book I. + l. 361.] + + [Footnote 11: _Was Euphorbus._--Ver. 161. Diogenes Laërtius, in + the life of Pythagoras, says that Pythagoras affirmed, that he + was, first, Æthalides; secondly, Euphorbus, which he proved by + recognizing his shield hung up among the spoil in the temple of + Juno, at Argos; next, Hermotimus; then, Pyrrhus and fifthly, + Pythagoras.] + + [Footnote 12: _Flowing onward._--Ver. 178. ‘Cuncta fluunt’ is + translated by Clarke, ‘All things are in a flux.’] + + [Footnote 13: _Milo._--Ver. 229. Milo, of Crotona, was an athlete + of such strength that he was said to be able to kill a bull with a + blow of his fist, and then to carry it with ease on his shoulders, + and afterwards to devour it. His hands being caught within the + portions of the trunk of a tree, which he was trying to cleave + asunder, he became a prey to wild beasts.] + + [Footnote 14: _Lycus._--Ver. 273. There were several rivers of + this name. The one here referred to was also called by the name of + Marsyas, and flowed past the city of Laodicea, in Lydia.] + + [Footnote 15: _Erasinus._--Ver. 276. This was a river of Arcadia, + which running out of the Stymphalian marsh, under the name of + Stymphalus, disappeared in the earth, and rose again in the Argive + territory, under the name of Erasinus.] + + [Footnote 16: _Amenanus._--Ver. 279. This was a little river of + Sicily, rising in Mount Ætna, and falling into the sea near the + city of Catania.] + + [Footnote 17: _Anigros._--Ver. 282. The Anigros, flowing from the + mountain of Lapitha, in Arcadia, had waters of a fetid smell, in + which no fish could exist. Pausanias thinks that this smell + proceeded from the soil, and not the water. He adds, that some + said that Chiron, others that Polenor, when wounded by the arrow + of Hercules, washed the wound in the water of this river, which + became impure from its contact with the venom of the Hydra.] + + [Footnote 18: _Hypanis._--Ver. 285. Now the Bog. It falls into the + Black Sea.] + + [Footnote 19: _Antissa._--Ver. 287. This island, in the Ægean Sea, + was said to have been formerly united to Lesbos.] + + [Footnote 20: _Pharos._--Ver. 287. According to Herodotus, this + island was once a whole day’s sail from the main land of Egypt. + In later times, having been increased by the mud discharged by the + Nile, it was united to the shore by a bridge.] + + [Footnote 21: _Tyre._--Ver. 288. Tyre once stood on an island, + separated from the shore by a strait, seven hundred paces in + width. Alexander the Great, when besieging it, united it to the + main land by a causeway. This, however, does not aid the argument + of Pythagoras, who intends to recount the changes wrought by + nature, and not by the hand of man. Besides, it is not easy to see + how Pythagoras could refer to a fact which took place several + hundred years after his death.] + + [Footnote 22: _Leucas._--Ver. 289. The island of Leucas was + formerly a peninsula, on the coast of Acarnania.] + + [Footnote 23: _Zancle._--Ver. 290. Under this name he means the + whole of the isle of Sicily, which was supposed to have once + joined the shores of Italy.] + + [Footnote 24: _Helice and Buris._--Ver. 293. We learn from Pliny + the Elder and Orosius, that Helice and Buris, cities of Achaia at + the mouth of the Corinthian gulf, were swallowed up by an + earthquake, and that their remains could be seen in the sea. + A similar fate attended Port Royal, in the island of Jamaica, in + the year 1692. Its houses are said to be still visible beneath the + waves.] + + [Footnote 25: _The raging power._--Ver. 299. Pausanias tells us, + that in the time of Antigonus, king of Macedonia, warm waters + burst from the earth, through the action of subterranean fires, + near the city of Trœzen. Perhaps the ‘tumulus’ here mentioned + sprang up at the same time.] + + [Footnote 26: _Or the hide._--Ver. 305. He alludes to the + goat-skins, which formed the ‘utres,’ or leathern bottles, for + wine and oil.] + + [Footnote 27: _Horned Ammon._--Ver. 309. The lake of Ammon, in + Libya, which is here referred to, is thus described by Quintius + Curtius (Book IV. c. 7)-- ‘There is also another grove at Ammon; + in the middle it contains a fountain, which they call ‘the water + of the Sun.’ At daybreak it is tepid; at mid-day, when the heat is + intense, it is ice cold. As the evening approaches, it grows + warmer; at midnight, it boils and bubbles; and as the morning + approaches, its midnight heat goes off.’ Jupiter was worshipped in + its vicinity, under the form of a ram.] + + [Footnote 28: _Athamanis._--Ver. 311. This wonderful fountain was + said to be in Dodona, the grove sacred to Jupiter.] + + [Footnote 29: _Have a river._--Ver. 313. Possibly the Hebrus is + here meant. The petrifying qualities of some streams is a fact + well known to naturalists.] + + [Footnote 30: _The Crathis._--Ver. 315. Crathis and Sybaris were + streams of Calabria, flowing into the sea, near Crotona. Euripides + and Strabo tell the same story of the river Crathis. Pliny the + Elder, in his thirty-second Book, says-- ‘Theophrastus tells us + that Crathis, a river of the Thurians, produces whiteness, whereas + the Sybaris causes blackness, in sheep and cattle. Men, too, are + sensible of this difference; for those who drink of the Sybaris, + become more swarthy and hardy, with the hair curling; while those + who drink of the Crathis become fairer, and more effeminate with + the hair straight.’] + + [Footnote 31: _Salmacis._--Ver. 319. See Book IV. l. 285.] + + [Footnote 32: _Lake of Æthiopia._--Ver. 320. Possibly these may be + the waters of trial, mentioned by Porphyry, as being used among + the Indians. He says, that, according to their influence on the + person accused, when drunk of by him, he was acquitted or + condemned.] + + [Footnote 33: _Clitorian spring._--Ver. 322. Clitorium was a town + of Arcadia. Pliny the Elder, quoting from Varro, mentions the + quality here referred to.] + + [Footnote 34: _Son of Amithaon._--Ver. 325. Melampus, the + physician, the son of Amithaon, cured Mera, Euryale, Lysippe, and + Iphianassa, the daughters of Prœtus, king of Argos, of madness, + which Venus was said to have inflicted on them for boasting of + their superior beauty. Their derangement consisted in the fancy + that they were changed into cows. Melampus afterwards married + Iphianassa. He was said to have employed the herb hellebore in the + cure, which thence obtained the name of ‘melampodium.’] + + [Footnote 35: _Lyncestis._--Ver. 329. The Lyncesti were the people + of the town of Lyncus, in Epirus. This stream flowed past that + place.] + + [Footnote 36: _Pheneos._--Ver. 332. Pheneos was the name of a town + of Arcadia, afterwards called ‘Nonacris.’ In its neighbourhood, + according to Pausanias, was a rock, from which water oozed drop by + drop, which the Greeks called ‘the water of Styx.’ At certain + periods it was said to be fatal to men and cattle, to break + vessels with which it came in contact, and to melt all metals. + Ovid is the only author that mentions the difference in its + qualities by day and by night.] + + [Footnote 37: _Ortygia._--Ver. 337. Ortygia, or Deloe, was said to + have floated till it was made fast by Jupiter as a resting-place + for Latona, when pregnant with Apollo and Diana. The Symplegades, + or Cyanean Islands, were also said to have formerly floated.] + + [Footnote 38: _Far Northern Pallene._--Ver. 356. Pallene was the + name of a mountain and a city of Thrace. Tritonis was a lake in + the neighbourhood. Vibius Sequester says, ‘When a person has nine + times bathed himself in the Tritonian lake, in Thrace, he is + changed into a bird.’ The continuous fall of fleecy snow in that + neighbourhood is supposed by some to have given rise to the + story.] + + [Footnote 39: _Give any credit._--Ver. 361. This was a very common + notion among the ancients. See the story of Aristæus and the + recovery of his bees, in the Fourth Book of Virgil’s Georgics, + I. 281-314. It is also told by Ovid in the Fasti, Book I. l. 377.] + + [Footnote 40: _The warlike steed._--Ver. 368. Pliny the Elder, + Nicander, and Varro state that bees and hornets are produced from + the carcase of the horse. Pliny also says, that beetles are + generated by the putrefying carcase of the ass.] + + [Footnote 41: _Deadly moth._--Ver. 374. Pliny, in the + twenty-eighth Book of his History, says, ‘The moth, too, that + flies at the flame of the lamp, is numbered among the bad + potions,’ evidently alluding to their being used in philtres or + incantations. There is a kind called the death’s head moth; but it + is so called simply from the figure of a skull, which appears very + exactly represented on its body, and not on account of any noxious + qualities known to be inherent in it.] + + [Footnote 42: _Deprived of feet._--Ver. 376. He alludes to frogs + when in the tadpole state.] + + [Footnote 43: _Not a cub._--Ver. 379. This was long the common + belief. Pliny says, speaking of the cub of the bear, ‘These are + white and shapeless lumps of flesh, a little bigger than mice, + without eyes, and without hair; the claws, however, are prominent. + These the dams by degrees reduce to shape.’] + + [Footnote 44: _Into a serpent._--Ver. 390. Pliny tells the same + story; and Antigonus (on Miracles, ch. 96) goes still further, and + says, that the persons to whom this happens, after death, are able + to smell the snakes while they are yet alive. The fiction, very + probably, was invented with the praiseworthy object of securing + freedom from molestation for the bones of the dead.] + + [Footnote 45: _Changes its sex._--Ver. 408. Pliny mentions it as a + vulgar belief that the hyæna is male and female in alternate + years. Aristotle took the pains to confute this silly notion.] + + [Footnote 46: _Which feeds upon._--Ver. 411. The idea that the + chameleon subsists on wind and air, arose from the circumstance of + its sitting with its mouth continually open, that it may catch + flies and small insects, its prey. That it changes colour + according to the hue of the surrounding objects, is a fact well + known. It receives its name from the Greek χάμαι λέων, ‘The lion + on the ground.’] + + [Footnote 47: _Changed into stone._--Ver. 415. Pliny says, that + this becomes hard, and turns into gems, like the carbuncle, being + of a fiery tint, and that the stone has the name of ‘lyncurium.’ + Beckmann (Hist. Inventions) thinks that this was probably the + jacinth, or hyacinth, while others suppose it to have been the + tourmaline, or transparent amber.] + + [Footnote 48: _A soft plant._--Ver. 417. Modern improvement in + knowledge has shown that coral is not a plant, but an animal + substance.] + + [Footnote 49: _Sparta was famed._--Ver. 426-30. These lines are + looked upon by many Commentators as spurious, as they are omitted + in most MSS. Besides, all these cities were flourishing in the + time of Pythagoras. If they are genuine, Ovid is here guilty of a + series of anachronisms.] + + [Footnote 50: _But one born._--Ver. 447. This was Octavius, the + adopted son of Julius Cæsar. According to Suetonius, he traced his + descent, through his mother, from Ascanius or Iülus.] + + [Footnote 51: _Ought not to fill._--Ver. 462. Clarke’s quaint + translation is, ‘And let us not cram our g--ts with Thyestian + victuals.’] + + [Footnote 52: _Feather foils._--Ver. 475. He alludes to the + ‘formido;’ which was made of coloured feathers, and was used to + scare the deer into the toils.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + The Poet having now exhausted nearly all the transformations which + ancient history afforded him, proceeds to enlist in the number some + of the real phenomena of nature, together with some imaginary ones. + As Pythagoras was considered to have pursued metaphysical studies + more deeply, perhaps, than any other of the ancient philosophers, + Ovid could not have introduced a personage more fitted to discuss + these subjects. Having travelled through Asia, it is supposed that + Pythagoras passed into Italy, and settled at Crotona, to promulgate + there the philosophical principles which he had acquired in his + travels through Egypt and Asia Minor. + + The Pythagorean philosophy was well-suited for the purpose of + mingling its doctrines with the fabulous narratives of the Poet, as + it consisted, in great part, of the doctrine of an endless series of + transformations. Its main features may be reduced to two general + heads; the first of which was the doctrine of the Metempsychosis, + or continual transmigration of souls from one body into another. + Pythagoras is supposed not to have originated this doctrine, but to + have received it from the Egyptians, by whose priesthood there is + little doubt that it was generally promulgated. Some writers have + suggested that this transmigration was only taught by Pythagoras in + a metaphorical sense; as, for instance, when he said that the souls + of men were transferred to beasts, it was only to teach us that + irregular passions render us brutes; on examination, however, we + shall find that there is no ground to doubt that he intended his + doctrines to be understood according to the literal meaning of his + words; indeed, the more strongly to enforce his doctrine by a + personal illustration, he was in the habit of promulgating that he + remembered to have been Euphorbus, at the time of the siege of Troy, + and that his soul, after several other transmigrations, had at last + entered the body which it then inhabited, under the name of + Pythagoras. In consequence of this doctrine, it was a favourite + tenet of his followers to abstain from eating the flesh of animals, + for fear of unconsciously devouring some friend or kinsman. + + The second feature of this philosophy consisted in the elucidation + of the changes that happen in the physical world, a long series of + which is here set forth by the Poet; truth being mingled at random + with fiction. While some of his facts are based upon truth, others + seem to have only emanated from the fertile invention of the + travellers of those days; of the latter kind are the stories of the + river of Thrace, whose waters petrified those who drank of it; the + fountains that kindled wood, that caused a change of sex, that + created an aversion to wine, that transformed men into birds, and + fables of a similar nature; such, too, are those stories which were + generally believed by even the educated men of antiquity, but which + the wisdom of modern times has long since shown to be utterly + baseless, as, for instance, that bees grew from the entrails of the + ox, and hornets from those of the horse. The principle of + Pythagoras, that everything is continually changing and that nothing + perishes, is true to a certain extent; but in his times, and even in + those of Ovid, philosophy was not sufficiently advanced to speak + with precision on the subject, and to discover the true boundary + between truth and fiction. + + +FABLES IV. V. AND VI. [XV.479-621] + + Egeria, the wife of Numa, is inconsolable after his death, and is + changed into a fountain. The horses of Hippolytus being frightened + by a sea-monster, he is killed by being thrown from his chariot, and + becomes a God, under the name of Virbius. Tages, the Diviner, arises + out of a clod of earth. The lance of Romulus is changed into a + cornel-tree. Cippus becomes horned, and goes into voluntary + banishment, rather than his country should be deprived of its + liberty by his means. + +With his mind cultivated with precepts such as these and others, they +say that Numa returned to his country, and, being voluntarily +invited,[53] received the sovereignty of the Roman people. Blest with a +Nymph for his wife, and the Muses for his guides, he taught the rites of +sacrifice, and brought over to the arts of peace a race inured to savage +warfare. After, full of years, he had finished his reign and his life, +the Latian matrons and the people and the Senators lamented Numa at his +death. But his wife, leaving the city, lay hid, concealed in the thick +groves of the valley of Aricia, and by her groans and lamentations +disturbed the sacred rites of Diana, brought thither by Orestes. Ah! how +oft did the Nymphs of the grove and of the lake entreat her not to do +so, and utter soothing words. Ah! how often did the hero, the son of +Theseus, say to her as she wept, “Put an end to it; for thy lot is not +the only one to be lamented. Consider the like calamities of others, +thou wilt {then} bear thine own better. And would that an example, not +my own, could lighten thy grief! yet even my own can do so.” + +“I suppose, in discourse it has reached thy ears that a certain +Hippolytus met with his death through the credulity of his father, by +the deceit of his wicked step-mother. Thou wilt wonder, and I shall +hardly be able to prove it; but yet I am he. In former times, the +daughter of Pasiphaë, having tempted me in vain, pretended that I wished +to defile the couch of my father, a thing that she herself wished to do; +and having turned the accusation {against me}, (whether it was more +through dread of discovery, or through mortification at her repulse) she +charged me. And my father expelled me, {thus} innocent, from the city, +and as I went he uttered imprecations against my head, with ruthless +prayers. I was going to Trœzen, {the city} of Pittheus,[54] in my flying +chariot, and I was now proceeding along the shores of the Corinthian +gulf, when the sea was aroused, and an enormous mass of waters seemed to +bend and to grow in the form of a mountain, and to send forth a roaring +noise, and to burst asunder at its very summit. Thence, the waves being +divided, a horned bull was sent forth, and erect in the light air as far +as his breast, he vomited forth a quantity of sea-water from his +nostrils and his open mouth. The hearts of my attendants quailed; my +mind remained without fear, intent {only} on my exile, when the fierce +horses turned their necks towards the sea, and were terrified, with ears +erect; and they were alarmed with dread of the monster, and precipitated +the chariot over the lofty rocks. I struggled, with unavailing hand, +to guide the bridle covered with white foam, and, throwing myself +backwards, I pulled back the loosened reins. And, indeed, the madness of +my steeds would not have exceeded that strength {of mine}, had not the +wheel, by running against a stump, been broken and disjoined just where +it turns round on the long axle-tree. + +“I was hurled from my chariot; and, the reins entwined around my limbs, +you might have seen my palpitating entrails dragged, my sinews fasten +upon the stump, my limbs partly torn to pieces and partly left behind, +being caught by {various obstacles}, my bones in their breaking emit a +loud noise, and my exhausted breath become exhaled, and not a part in my +body which you could recognize; and the whole of {me} formed {but} one +{continued} wound. And canst thou, Nymph, or dost thou venture to +compare thy misfortune to mine? I have visited, too, the realms deprived +of light, and I have bathed my lacerated body in the waves of +Phlegethon.[55] Nor could life have been restored me, but through the +powerful remedies of the son of Apollo. After I had received it, through +potent herbs and the Pæonian aid,[56] much against the will of Pluto, +then Cynthia threw around me thick clouds, that I might not, by my +presence, increase his anger at this favour; and that I might be safe, +and be seen in security, she gave me a {more} aged appearance, and left +me no features that could be recognized. For a long time she was +doubtful whether she should give me Crete or Delos for me to possess. +Delos and Crete being abandoned, she placed me here, and, at the same +time, she ordered me to lay aside my name, which might have reminded me +of my steeds, and she said, ‘Thou, the same who wast Hippolytus, be thou +now Virbius.’[57] From that time I have inhabited this grove; and, +as one of the lower Gods, I lie concealed under the protection of my +mistress, and to her am I devoted.”[58] + +But yet the misfortunes of others were not able to alleviate the grief +of Egeria; and, throwing herself down at the base of the hill, she +dissolved into tears; until, moved by her affection as she grieved, the +sister of Phœbus formed a cool fountain from her body, and dissolved her +limbs in ever-flowing waters. + +But this new circumstance surprised the Nymphs; and the son of the +Amazon[59] was astonished, in no other manner than as when the Etrurian +ploughman beheld the fate-revealing clod in the midst of the fields move +at first of its own accord and no one touching it, and afterwards assume +a human form, and lose {that} of earth, and open its new-made mouth with +{the decrees of} future destiny. The natives called him Tages. He was +the first to teach the Etrurian nation to foretell future events. + +Or, as when Romulus once saw his lance, fixed in the Palatine hill, +suddenly shoot forth; which {now} stood there with a root newly-formed, +{and} not with the iron {point} driven in; and, now no longer as a dart, +but as a tree with limber twigs, it sent forth, for the admiring +{spectators}, a shade that was not looked for. + +Or, {as} when Cippus beheld his horns in the water of the stream, (for +he did see them) and, believing that there was a false representation in +the reflection, often returning his fingers to his forehead, he touched +what he saw. And now, no {longer} condemning his own eyesight, he stood +still, as he was returning victorious from the conquest of the enemy; +and raising his eyes towards heaven, and his hands in the same +direction, he exclaimed, “Ye Gods above! whatever is portended by this +prodigy, if it is auspicious, then be it auspicious to my country and to +the people of Quirinus; but if unfortunate, be it {so} for myself.” And +{then} he made atonement at the grassy altars built of green turf, with +odoriferous fires, and presented wine in bowls, and consulted the +panting entrails of slaughtered sheep what the meaning of it was. Soon +as the soothsayer of the Etrurian nation had inspected them, he beheld +in them the great beginnings of {future} events, but still not clearly. +But when he raised his searching eyes from the entrails of the sheep, to +the horns of Cippus, he said, “Hail, O king! for thee, Cippus, thee and +thy horns shall this place and the Latian towers obey. Only do thou lay +aside all delay; hasten to enter the gates wide open; thus the fates +command thee. For, {once} received within the City, thou shalt be king, +and thou shalt safely enjoy a lasting sceptre.” He retreated backwards, +and turning his stern visage away from the walls of the City, he +exclaimed, “Far, O far away may the Gods drive such omens! Much more +righteously shall I pass my life in exile, than if the Capitol were to +see me a king.” + +{Thus} he says; and forthwith he convokes the people and the dignified +Senate; but first, he veils his horns with laurel that betokens peace, +and he stands upon a mound raised by his brave soldiers; and praying to +the Gods after the ancient manner, “Behold!” says he, “one is here who +will be king, if you do not expel him from the City. I will tell you who +he is by a sign, {and} not by name. He wears horns on his forehead; the +augur predicts to you, that if he enters the City, he shall give you +laws as his slaves. He, indeed, was able to enter the open gates, but I +have opposed him; although no one is more nearly allied with him than +myself. Forbid your City to this man, ye Romans, or, if he shall deserve +it, bind him with heavy fetters; or else end your fears by the death of +the destined tyrant.” + +As the murmur which arises among the groves of the slender pine,[60] +when the furious East wind whistles among them, or as that which the +waves of the ocean produce, if any one hears them from afar, such is the +noise of the crowd. But yet amid the confused words of the shouting +multitude, one cry is distinguished, “Which is he?” And then they +examine the foreheads, and seek the predicted horns. Cippus again +addresses them: “Him whom you require, ye {now} have;” and, despite of +the people, throwing the chaplet from his head, he exhibits his temples, +remarkable for two horns. All cast down their eyes, and utter groans, +and (who would have supposed it?) they unwillingly look upon that head +famed for its merits. And no longer suffering it to be deprived of its +honours, they place upon it the festive chaplet. But the nobles, Cippus, +since thou art forbidden to enter the city, give thee as much land, as a +mark of honour, as thou canst, with the oxen yoked to the pressed +plough, make the circuit of from the rising of the sun to its setting. +They carve, too, the horns, imitating their wondrous form, on the +door-posts adorned with brass, {there} to remain for long ages. + + [Footnote 53: _Voluntarily invited._--Ver. 481. He was living at + the Sabine town of Cures, when the throne was pressed upon him by + the desire of both the Roman and the Sabine nations.] + + [Footnote 54: _City of Pittheus._--Ver. 506. Pittheus was the son + of Pelops, and the father of Æthra, the mother of Theseus; + consequently he was the great-grandfather of Hippolytus.] + + [Footnote 55: _Phlegethon._--Ver. 532. This was said to be one of + the rivers of the Infernal Regions, and to be flowing with fire + and brimstone.] + + [Footnote 56: _Pæonian aid._--Ver. 536. Pæon was a skilful + physician, mentioned by Homer, in the Fifth Book of the Iliad. + Eustathius thinks that Apollo is meant under that name.] + + [Footnote 57: _Virbius._--Ver. 544. This name is formed from the + words ‘vir’ and ‘bis,’ twice a man.] + + [Footnote 58: _Am I devoted._--Ver. 546. In the same relation to + her as Adonis was to Venus, Ericthonius to Minerva, and Atys to + Cybele.] + + [Footnote 59: _Son of the Amazon._--Ver. 552. Hippolytus was the + son either of the Amazon Hippolyta, or Antiope.] + + [Footnote 60: _Slender pine._--Ver. 603-4. The words ‘succinctis + pinetis’ are rendered by Clarke, ‘the neat pine-groves.’] + + +EXPLANATION. + + Ovid, following the notion that was generally entertained of the + wisdom of Numa, pretends that before he was elected to the + sovereignty he went to Crotona, for the purpose of studying under + Pythagoras; but he is guilty of a considerable anachronism in this + instance, as Pythagoras was not born till very many years after the + time of Numa. According to Livy, Pythagoras flourished in the time + of Servius Tullius, the sixth Roman king, about one hundred and + fifty years after Numa. Modern authors are of opinion that upwards + of two hundred years intervened between the days of Numa and + Pythagoras. Besides, Dionysius of Halicarnassus distinctly asserts + that the city of Crotona was only built in the fourth year of the + reign of Numa Pompilius. + + Numa is said to have been in the habit of retiring to the Arician + grove, to consult the Nymph Egeria upon the laws which he was about + to promulgate for the benefit of his subjects. It is probable, that + to ensure their observance the more effectually, he wished the + people to believe that his enactments were compiled under the + inspection of one who partook of the immortal nature, and that in so + doing he followed the example of previous lawgivers. Zamolxis + pretended that the laws which he gave to the Scythians were dictated + to him by his attendant genius or spirit. The first Minos affirmed + that Jupiter was the author of the ordinances which he gave to the + people of Crete, while Lycurgus attributed his to Apollo. It is not + improbable that in this they imitated the example of Moses, + a tradition of whose reception of the laws on Mount Sinai they may + have received from the people of Phœnicia. + + Dionysius of Halicarnassus has an interesting passage relative to + Numa, which throws some light upon his alleged intercourse with the + Nymph Egeria. His words are-- ‘The Romans affirm that Numa was never + engaged in any warlike expedition; but that he passed his whole + reign in profound peace: that his first care was to encourage piety + and justice in his dominions, and to civilize his people by good and + wholesome laws. His profound skill in governing made him pass for + being inspired, and gave rise to many fabulous stories. Some have + said that he had secret interviews with the Nymph Egeria; others, + that he frequently consulted one of the Muses, and was instructed by + her in the art of government. Numa was desirous to confirm the + people in this opinion; but because some hesitated to believe his + bare affirmation, and others went so far as to call his alleged + converse with the Deities a fiction, he took an opportunity to give + them such proofs of it, that the most sceptical among them should + have no room left for suspicion. This he effected in the following + manner. He one day invited several of the nobles to his palace, and + showed them the plainness of the apartments, where no rich furniture + was to be seen, nor any thing like an attempt at splendour; and how + even the most ordinary necessaries were wanting for anything like a + great entertainment; after which, he dismissed them with an + invitation to come to sup with him on the same night. At the + appointed hour his guests arrived; they were received on stately + couches; the tables were decked with a variety of plate, and were + loaded with the most exquisite dainties. The guests were struck with + the sumptuousness and profusion of the entertainment, and + considering how impossible it was for any man to have made such + preparations in so short a time, were persuaded that his + communication with heaven was not a fiction, and that he must have + had the aid of the celestial powers to do things of a nature so + extraordinary. ‘But,’ as the same author says, ‘those who were not + so ready at adopting fabulous narratives as a part of history, say + that it was the policy of Numa which led him to feign a conversation + with the Nymph Egeria, to make his laws respected by his people, and + that he thence followed the example of the Greek sages, who adopted + the same method of enforcing the authority of their laws with the + people.’ + + The Romans were so persuaded of the fact of Numa’s conferences with + the Nymph Egeria, that they went into the grove of Aricia to seek + her; but finding nothing but a fountain in the spot which he used to + frequent, they promulgated the story of the transformation of the + Nymph. St. Augustin, speaking on this subject, says that Numa made + use of the waters of that fountain in the divination which was + performed by the aid of water, and was called Hydromancy. + + Theseus having left Ariadne in the isle of Naxos, flattered himself + with the hopes of marrying her sister Phædra. Deucalion, succeeding + Minos in Crete immediately after his death, sent Phædra to Athens. + On arriving there, she fell in love with Hippolytus, the son of + Theseus, who had been brought up at Trœzen by Pittheus. As she did + not dare to request of Theseus that his son might be brought from + the court of Pittheus, she built a temple to Venus near Trœzen, that + she might the more frequently have the opportunity of seeing + Hippolytus, and called it by the name of Hippolyteum. According to + Euripides, this youth was wise, chaste, and an enemy to all + voluptuousness. He spent his time in hunting and chariot racing, + with other exercises which formed the pursuits of youths of high + station. According to Plutarch, it was at the time when Theseus was + a prisoner in Epirus, that Phædra took the opportunity of disclosing + to Hippolytus the violence of her passion for him. Her declaration + being but ill received, she grew desperate on his refusal to comply + with her desires, and was about to commit self-destruction, when her + nurse suggested the necessity of revenging the virtuous disdain of + the youth. + + Theseus having been liberated by Hercules, Phædra, being fearful + lest the intrigue should come to his knowledge, hanged herself, + having first written a letter to inform him that she could not + survive an attempt which Hippolytus had made on her virtue. + Plutarch, Servius and Hyginus, following Euripides, give this + account of her death. But Seneca, in his Hippolytus, says that she + only appeared before her husband in extreme grief, holding a sword + in her hand to signify the violence which Hippolytus had offered + her. On this, Theseus implored the assistance of Neptune, who sent a + monster out of the sea, to frighten his horses, as he was driving + along the sea-shore: on which, they took fright, and throwing him + from his chariot, he was killed. It has been suggested that the true + meaning of this is, that Theseus having ordered his son to come and + justify himself, he made so much haste that his horses ran away with + him; and his chariot being dashed over the rocks, he was killed. + + Seneca also differs from the other writers, in saying that Phædra + did not put herself to death till she had heard of the catastrophe + of Hippolytus, on which she stabbed herself. The people of Trœzen, + regretting his loss, decreed him divine honours, built a temple, and + appointed a priest to offer yearly sacrifices to him. Euripides + says, that the young women of Trœzen, when about to be married, cut + off their hair and carried it to the temple of Hippolytus. It was + also promulgated that the Gods had translated him to the heavens, + where he was changed into the Constellation, called by the Latins + ‘Auriga,’ or ‘the Charioteer.’ Later authors, whom Ovid here + follows, added, that Æsculapius restored him to life, and that he + afterwards appeared in Italy under the name of Virbius. This story + was probably invented as a source of profit by the priesthood, who + were desirous to find some good reason for introducing his worship + into the Arician grove near Rome. This story is mentioned by + Apollodorus, who quotes the author of the Naupactan verses in favour + of it, and by the Scholiasts of Euripides and Pindar. + + The ancient Etrurians were great adepts in the art of divination; + their favourite method of exercising which was by the inspection of + the entrails of beasts, and the observation of the flight of birds; + and from them, as we learn from Cicero in his book on Divination, + the system spread over the whole of Italy. Tages is supposed to have + been the first who taught this art, and he wrote treatises upon it, + which, according to Plutarch, were quoted by ancient authors. It not + being known whence he came, or who were his parents, he was called, + in the language of the poets, a son of the earth. Ammianus + Marcellinus speaks of him as being said to have sprung out of the + earth in Etruria. + + Ovid next makes a passing allusion to the spear of Romulus, which, + when thrown by him from the Mount Aventine towards the Capitol, + sticking in the ground was converted into a tree, which immediately + put forth leaves. This prodigy was taken for a presage of the future + greatness of Rome: and Plutarch, in his life of Romulus, says that + so long as this tree stood, the Republic flourished. It began to + wither in the time of the first civil war; and Julius Cæsar having + afterwards ordered a building to be erected near where it stood, the + workmen cutting some of its roots in sinking the foundations, it + soon after died. It is hardly probable that a cornel tree would + stand in a thronged city for nearly seven hundred years; and it is, + therefore, most likely, that care was taken to renovate it from time + to time, by planting slips from the former tree. + + The story of Genucius Cippus is one of those strange fables with + which the Roman history is diversified. Valerius Maximus gives the + following account of it. He says that Cippus, going one day out of + Rome, suddenly found that something which resembled horns was + growing out of his forehead. Surprised at an event so extraordinary, + he consulted the augurs, who said that he would be chosen king, if + he ever entered the city again. As the royal power was abhorred in + Rome, he preferred a voluntary banishment to revisiting Rome on + those terms. Struck with this heroism, the Romans erected a brazen + statue with horns over the gate by which he departed, and it was + afterwards called ‘Porta raudusculana,’ because the ancient Latin + name of brass was ‘raudus,’ ‘rodus,’ or ‘rudus.’ The fact is, + however, as Ovid represents it, that Cippus was not going out of + Rome, but returning to it, when the prodigy happened; he having been + to convey assistance to the Consul Valerius. The Senate also + conferred certain lands on Cippus, as a reward for his patriotism. + He lived about two hundred and forty years before the Christian era. + Pliny the Elder considers the story of the horns of Cippus as much a + fable as that of Actæon. It appears, however, that the account of + the horns may have possibly been founded on fact, as excrescences + resembling them have appeared on the bodies of individuals. Bayle + makes mention of a girl of Palermo, who had little horns all over + her body, like those of a young calf. In the Ashmolean museum at + Oxford, a substance much resembling the horn of a goat is shown, + which is said to have sprung from the forehead of a female named + Mary Davis, whose likeness is there shown. The excrescence was most + probably produced by a deranged secretion of the hair, and something + of a similar nature may perhaps have befallen Genucius Cippus, + which, of course, would be made the most of in those ages of + superstition. Valerius Maximus, with all his credulity, does not say + that they were real horns that made their appearance, but that they + were ‘just like horns.’ + + It is not improbable that the story originally was, that Cippus, on + his return to Rome, dreamt that he had horns on his head, and that + having consulted the augurs, and received the answer mentioned by + Ovid, he preferred to suffer exile, rather than enslave his country; + and that, in length of time, the more wonderful part of the story + was added to it. + + +FABLE VII. [XV.622-744] + + Rome being wasted by a pestilence, the Delphian oracle is consulted; + and the answer is given, that to cause it to cease Æsculapius must + be brought to Rome. On this, ambassadors are sent to Epidaurus to + demand the God. The people refuse to part with him; but he appears + to one of the Romans in a dream, and consents to go. On his arrival + at Rome the contagion ceases, and a Temple is built in his honour. + +Relate, now, ye Muses, the guardian Deities of poets (for you know, and +remote antiquity conceals it not from you), whence {it is that} the +Island surrounded by the channel of the Tiber introduced the son of +Coronis into the sacred rites of the City of Romulus. A dire contagion +had once infected the Latian air, and the pale bodies were deformed by a +consumption that dried up the blood. When, wearied with {so many} +deaths, they found that mortal endeavours availed nothing, and that the +skill of physicians had no effect, they sought the aid of heaven, and +they repaired to Delphi which occupies the centre spot of the world, the +oracle of Phœbus, and entreated that he would aid their distressed +circumstances by a response productive of health, and put an end to the +woes of a City so great. Both the spot, and the laurels, and the quivers +which it has, shook at the same moment, and the tripod[61] gave this +answer from the recesses of the shrine, and struck {with awe} their +astonished breasts:-- “What here thou dost seek, O Roman, thou mightst +have sought in a nearer spot: and now seek it in a nearer spot; thou +hast no need of Apollo to diminish thy grief, but of the son of Apollo. +Go with a good omen, and invite my son.” + +After the prudent Senate had received the commands of the Deity, they +enquired what city the youthful son of Phœbus inhabited; and they sent +some to reach the coasts of Epidaurus[62] with the winds. Soon as those +sent had reached them in the curving ship, they repaired to the council +and the Grecian elders, and besought them to grant them the Divinity, +who by his presence could put an end to the mortality of the Ausonian +nation; {for} that so the unerring response had directed. Their opinions +were divided, and differed; and some thought that aid ought not to be +refused. Many refused it, and advised them not to part with their own +protector, and to give up their own guardian Deity. While they were +deliberating, twilight had {now} expelled the waning day, and the shadow +of the earth had brought darkness over the world; when, in thy sleep, +the saving God seemed, O Roman, to be standing before thy couch; but +just as he is wont to be in his temple; and, holding a rustic staff in +his left hand, {he seemed} to be stroking the long hair of his beard +with his right, and to utter such words as these from his kindly +breast-- “Lay aside thy fears; I will come, and I will leave these {my} +statues. Only observe {now} this serpent, which with its folds entwines +around this staff, and accurately mark it with thine eyes, that thou +mayst be able to know it again. Into this shall I be changed; but I +shall be greater, and I shall appear to be of a size as great as that +into which heavenly bodies ought to be transformed.” + +Forthwith, with {these} words, the God departs; and with his words and +the God sleep {departs}, and genial light follows upon the departure of +sleep. The following morn has {now} dispersed the starry fires; +uncertain what to do, the nobles meet together in the sumptuous temple +of the God {then} sought, and beseech him to indicate, by celestial +tokens, in what spot he would wish to abide. Hardly have they well +ceased, when the God, all glittering with gold, in {the form of} a +serpent, with crest erect, sends forth a hissing, as a notice of his +approach; and in his coming, he shakes both his statue, the altars, the +doors, the marble pavement, and the gilded roof, and as far as the +breast he stands erect in the midst of the temple, and rolls around his +eyes that sparkle with fire. The frightened multitude is alarmed; the +priest, having his chaste hair bound with a white fillet, recognizes the +Deity and exclaims, “The God! Behold the God! Whoever you are that are +present, be of good omen, both with your words and your feelings. Mayst +thou, most beauteous one, be beheld to our advantage; and mayst thou aid +the nations that perform thy sacred rites.” Whoever are present, adore +the Deity as bidden; and all repeat the words of the priest over again; +and the descendants of Æneas give a pious omen, both with their +feelings, and in their words. To these the God shows favour; and with +crest erected, he gives a hiss, a sure token, repeated thrice with his +vibrating tongue. Then he glides down the polished steps,[63] and turns +back his head, and, about to depart, he looks back upon his ancient +altars, and salutes his wonted abode and the temple that {so long} he +has inhabited. Then, with his vast bulk, he glides along the ground +covered with the strewn flowers, and coils his folds, and through the +midst of the city repairs to the harbour protected by its winding quay. + +Here he stops; and seeming to dismiss his train, and the dutiful +attendance of the accompanying crowd, with a placid countenance, he +places his body in the Ausonian ship. It is sensible of the weight of +the God; and the ship {now} laden with the Divinity for its freight, the +descendants of Æneas rejoice; and a bull having first been slain on the +sea-shore, they loosen the twisted cables of the bark bedecked with +garlands. A gentle breeze has {now} impelled the ship. The God is +conspicuous aloft,[64] and pressing upon the crooked stern with his neck +laid upon it, he looks down upon the azure waters; and with the gentle +Zephyrs along the Ionian sea, on the sixth rising of the daughter of +Pallas, he makes Italy, and is borne along the Lacinian shores, ennobled +by the temple of the Goddess {Juno}, and the Scylacean[65] coasts. He +leaves Iapygia behind, and flies from the Amphissian[66] rocks with the +oars on the left side; on the right side he passes by the steep +Ceraunia, and Romechium, and Caulon,[67] and Narycia, and he crosses the +sea and the straits of the Sicilian Pelorus, and the abodes of the king +the grandson of Hippotas, and the mines of Temesa; and then he makes for +Leucosia,[68] and the rose-beds of the warm Pæstum. Then he coasts by +Capreæ,[69] and the promontory of Minerva, and the hills ennobled with +the Surrentine[70] vines, and the city of Hercules,[71] and Stabiæ,[72] +and Parthenope made for retirement, and after it the temple of the +Cumæan Sibyl. Next, the warm springs[73] are passed by, and +Linternum,[74] that bears mastick trees; and {then} Vulturnus,[75] that +carries much sand along with its tide, and Sinuessa, that abounds with +snow-white snakes,[76] and the pestilential Minturnæ,[77] and she for +whom[78] her foster-child erected the tomb, and the abode of +Antiphates,[79] and Trachas,[80] surrounded by the marsh, and the land +of Circe, and Antium,[81] with its rocky coast. + +After the sailors have steered the sail-bearing ship hither (for now the +sea is aroused), the Deity unfolds his coils, and gliding with many a +fold and in vast coils, he enters the temple of his parent, that skirts +the yellow shore. The sea {now} becalmed, the {God} of Epidaurus leaves +the altars of his sire; and having enjoyed the hospitality of the Deity, +{thus} related to him, he furrows the sands of the sea-shore with the +dragging of his rattling scales, and reclining against the helm of the +ship, he places his head upon the lofty stern; until he comes to +Castrum,[82] and the sacred abodes of Lavinium, and the mouths of the +Tiber. Hither, all the people indiscriminately, a crowd both of matrons +and of men, rush to meet him; they, too, Vesta! who tend thy fires; and +with joyous shouts they welcome the God. And where the swift ship is +steered through the tide running out, altars being erected in a line, +the frankincense crackles along {the banks} on either side, and perfumes +the air with its smoke; the felled victim too, {with its blood} makes +warm the knives thrust {into it}. + +And now he has entered Rome, the sovereign of the world. The serpent +rises erect, and lifts his neck that reclines against the top of the +mast, and looks around for a habitation suited for himself. {There is a +spot, where} the river flowing around, is divided into two parts; it is +called “the Island.” {The river} in the direction of each side extends +its arms of equal length, the dry land {lying} in the middle. Hither, +the serpent, son of Phœbus, betakes himself from the Latian ship; and he +puts an end to the mourning, having resumed his celestial form. And +{thus} did he come, the restorer of health, to the City. + + [Footnote 61: _The tripod._--Ver. 635. The tripod on which the + priestess of Apollo or ‘Pythia,’ sat when inspired, was called + ‘Cortina,’ from the skin, ‘corium,’ of the serpent Python, which, + when it had been killed by Apollo was used to cover it.] + + [Footnote 62: _Epidaurus._--Ver. 643. There were several towns of + this name. The one here mentioned was in the state of Argolis.] + + [Footnote 63: _Polished steps._--Ver. 685. Clarke translates + ‘Gradibus nitidis,’ ‘the neat steps.’] + + [Footnote 64: _Is conspicuous aloft._--Ver. 697. ‘Deus eminet + alte.’ This is rendered by Clarke, ‘The God rears up to a good + height.’] + + [Footnote 65: _Scylacean._--Ver. 702. Scylace was a town on the + Calabrian coast; it was said to have been founded by an Athenian + colony.] + + [Footnote 66: _Amphissian._--Ver. 703. Amphissia was the name of a + city of Locris; but that cannot be the place here alluded to on + the coast of Italy. It is most probably a corrupt reading.] + + [Footnote 67: _Caulon._--Ver. 705. Caulon was a colony of the + Achæa on the coast of Calabria. Narycia, or Naritium, or Naricia, + was also a town on the Calabrian coast. The localities of Ceraunia + and Romechium are not known.] + + [Footnote 68: _Leucosia._--Ver. 708. Leucosia was a little island + off the town of Pæstum, which was in Lucania; it was famous for + its mild climate, and the beauty of its roses, which are + celebrated by Virgil.] + + [Footnote 69: _Capreæ._--Ver. 709. Capreæ was an island near the + coast of Naples.] + + [Footnote 70: _Surrentine._--Ver. 710. Surrentum was a city of + Campania, famed for its wines.] + + [Footnote 71: _City of Hercules._--Ver. 711. This was Herculaneum, + at the foot of Vesuvius; the place which shared so disastrous a + fate from the eruption of that mountain.] + + [Footnote 72: _Stabiæ._--Ver. 711. This was a town of Campania, + which was destroyed by Sylla in the Social war. It was afterwards + rebuilt.] + + [Footnote 73: _The warm springs._--Ver. 711. He alludes to the + city of Baiæ, famed for its warm springs and baths.] + + [Footnote 74: _Linternum._--Ver. 714. This place was in Campania. + It was famous as the place of retirement of the elder Scipio; he + was buried there.] + + [Footnote 75: _Vulturnus._--Ver. 715. This was a river of + Campania, which flowed past the city of Capua.] + + [Footnote 76: _Snow-white snakes._--Ver. 715. Sinuessa was a town + of Campania; Heinsius very properly suggests ‘columbis,’ ‘doves;’ + for ‘colubris,’ ‘snakes.’ We are told by Pliny the Elder, that + Campania was famed for its doves.] + + [Footnote 77: _Minturnæ._--Ver. 716. This was a town of Latium; + the marshes in its neighbourhood produced pestilential + exhalations.] + + [Footnote 78: _She for whom._--Ver. 716. This was Caieta, who, + being buried there by her foster-child Æneas, gave her name to the + spot.] + + [Footnote 79: _Abode of Antiphates._--Ver. 717. Formiæ.] + + [Footnote 80: _Trachas._--Ver. 717. This place was also called + ‘Anxur.’ Its present name is Terracina. Livy mentions it as lying + in the marshes.] + + [Footnote 81: _Antium._--Ver. 718. This was the capital of the + ancient Volscians.] + + [Footnote 82: _Castrum._--Ver. 727. This was ‘Castrum Inui,’ or + ‘the tents of Pan;’ an old town of the Rutulians.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + The story here narrated by Ovid is derived from the Roman history, + to which we will shortly refer for an explanation. + + Under the consulate of Quintus Fabius Gurges, and Decimus Junius + Brutus Scæva, Rome was ravaged by a frightful pestilence. The + resources of physic having been exhausted, the Sibylline books were + consulted to ascertain by what expedient the calamity might be put + an end to, and they found that the plague would not cease till they + had brought Æsculapius from Epidaurus to Rome. Being then engaged in + war, they postponed their application to the Epidaurians for a year, + at the end of which time they despatched an embassy to Epidaurus; + on which a serpent was delivered to them, which the priests of the + Deity assured them was the God himself. Taking it on board their + ship, the delegates set sail. When near Antium, they were obliged to + put in there by stress of weather, and the serpent, escaping from + the ship, remained three days on shore; after which it came on board + of its own accord, and they continued their voyage. On arriving at + the Island of the Tiber the serpent escaped, and concealed itself + amid the reeds; and as they, in their credulity, fancied that the + God had chosen the place for his habitation, they built a temple + there in his honour. From this period, which was about the year of + Rome 462, the worship of Æsculapius was introduced in the city, and + to him recourse was had in cases of disease, and especially in times + of pestilence. + + +FABLE VIII. [XV.745-879] + + Julius Cæsar is assassinated in the Senate-house, and by the + intercession of Venus, his ancestor, he is changed into a star. The + Poet concludes his work with a compliment to Augustus, and a promise + of immortality to himself. + +And still, he came a stranger to our temples; Cæsar is a Deity in his +own city; whom, {alike} distinguished both in war and peace, wars ending +with triumphs, his government at home, and the rapid glory of his +exploits, did not more {tend to} change into a new planet, and a star +with brilliant train, than did his own progeny. For of {all} the acts of +Cæsar, there is not one more ennobling than that he was the father of +this {our Cæsar}. Was it, forsooth, a greater thing to have conquered +the Britons surrounded by the ocean, and to have steered his victorious +ships along the seven-mouthed streams of the Nile that bears the +papyrus, and to have added to the people of Quirinus the rebellious +Numidians[83] and the Cinyphian Juba, and Pontus[84] proud of the fame +of Mithridates, and to have deserved many a triumph, {and} to have +enjoyed some, than it was to have been the father of a personage so +great, under whose tutelage over the world, you, ye Gods above, have +shewn excessive care for the human race? That he {then} might not be +sprung from mortal seed, {’twas fit that Julius} should be made a +Divinity. When the resplendent mother of Æneas was sensible of this; and +{when} she saw that a sad death was in preparation for the Pontiff, and +that the arms of the conspirators were brandished; she turned pale, and +said to each of the Deities, as she met them:-- + +“Behold, on how vast a scale treason is plotted against me, and with how +great perfidy that life is sought, which alone remains for me from the +Dardanian Iülus. Shall I alone be everlastingly harassed by justified +anxieties? I, whom one while the Calydonian lance of the son of Tydeus +is wounding, {and} at another time the walls of Troy, defended in vain, +are grieving? I, who have seen my son driven about in protracted +wanderings, tossed on the ocean, entering the abodes of the departed, +and waging war with Turnus; or, if we confess the truth, with Juno +rather? {But}, why am I now calling to mind the ancient misfortunes of +my own offspring? Present apprehensions do not allow me to remember +things of former days. Against me, you behold how the impious swords are +{now} being whetted. Avert them, I entreat; hinder this crime, and do +not, by the murder of the priest, extinguish the flames of Vesta.” + +Such expressions as these did Venus, full of anxiety, vainly let fall +throughout the heavens, and she moved the Gods above. Although they were +not able to frustrate the iron decrees of the aged sisters, yet they +afforded no unerring tokens of approaching woe. They say, that arms +resounding amid the black clouds, and dreadful {blasts of} the trumpet, +and clarions heard through the heavens, forewarned men of the crime. The +sad face too of the sun gave a livid light to the alarmed earth. Often +did torches seem to be burning in the midst of the stars; often did +drops of blood fall in the showers. The azure-coloured Lucifer had his +light tinted with a dark iron colour; the chariot of the moon was +besprinkled with blood. The Stygian owl gave omens of ill in a thousand +places; in a thousand places did the ivory statues shed tears; dirges, +too, are said to have been heard, and threatening expressions in the +sacred groves. No victim gave an omen of good; the entrails, too, showed +that great tumults were imminent; and the extremity {of the liver} was +found cut off among the entrails. They say, too, that in the Forum, and +around the houses and the temples of the Gods, the dogs were howling by +night; and that the ghosts of the departed were walking, and that the +City was shaken by earthquakes. But still the warnings of the Gods could +not avert treachery and the approach of Fate, and drawn swords were +carried into a temple; and no other place in the {whole} City than the +Senate-house pleased them for this crime and this atrocious murder. + +But then did Cytherea beat her breast with both her hands, and attempt +to hide the descendant of Æneas in a cloud, in which, long since, Paris +was conveyed from the hostile son of Atreus,[85] and Æneas had escaped +from the sword of Diomedes. In such words as these {did} her father +{Jove address her}: “Dost thou, my daughter, unaided, attempt to change +the insuperable {decrees} of Fate? Thou, thyself, mayst enter the abode +of the three sisters, {and} there thou wilt behold the register of +{future} events, {wrought} with vast labour, of brass and of solid iron; +these, safe and destined for eternity, fear neither the {thundering} +shock of the heavens, nor the rage of the lightnings, nor any {source +of} destruction. There wilt thou find the destinies of thy descendants +engraved in everlasting adamant. I myself have read them, and I have +marked them in my mind; I will repeat them, that thou mayst not still be +ignorant of the future. He (on whose account, Cytherea, thou art {thus} +anxious), has completed his time, those years being ended which he owed +to the earth. Thou, with his son, who, as the heir to his glory, will +bear the burden of government devolving {on him}, wilt cause him, as a +Deity, to reach the heavens, and to be worshipped in temples; and he, as +a most valiant avenger of his murdered parent, will have us to aid him +in his battles. The conquered walls of Mutina,[86] besieged under his +auspices, shall sue for peace; Pharsalia shall be sensible of him, and +Philippi,[87] again drenched with Emathian gore; and the name {of one +renowned as} Great, shall be subdued in the Sicilian waves; the Egyptian +dame too, the wife[88] of the Roman general, shall fall, vainly trusting +in that alliance; and in vain shall she threaten, that our own Capitol +shall be obedient to her Canopus.[89] Why should I recount to thee the +regions of barbarism, {and} nations situate in either ocean? Whatever +the habitable world contains, shall be his; the sea, too, shall be +subject to him. Peace being granted to the earth, he will turn his +attention to civil rights, and, as a most upright legislator, he will +enact laws. After his own example, too, will he regulate manners; and, +looking forward to the days of future time, and of his coming posterity, +he will order the offspring born of his hallowed wife[90] to assume both +his own name and his cares. Nor shall he, until as an aged man he shall +have equalled {his glories with} like years,[91] arrive at the abodes of +heaven and his kindred stars. Meanwhile, change this soul, snatched from +the murdered body, into a beam of light, that eternally the Deified +Julius may look down from his lofty abode upon our Capitol and Forum.” + +Hardly had he uttered these words, when the genial Venus, perceived by +none, stood in the very midst of the Senate-house, and snatched the +soul, just liberated {from the body}, away from the limbs of her own +Cæsar, and, not suffering it to dissolve in air, she bore it amid the +stars of heaven. And as she bore it, she perceived it assume a {train +of} light and become inflamed; and she dropped it from her bosom. Above +the moon it takes its flight, and, as a star, it glitters, carrying a +flaming train with a lengthened track; and, as he beholds the +illustrious deeds of his son, he confesses that they are superior to his +own, and rejoices that he is surpassed by him. Although {Augustus} +forbids his own actions to be lauded before those of his father, still +Fame, in her freedom and subject to no commands, prefers him against his +will; and, in {this} one point, she disobeys him. Thus does Atreus yield +to the glories of the great Agamemnon; thus does Theseus excel Ægeus, +{and} thus Achilles Peleus. In fine, that I may use examples that equal +themselves, thus too, is Saturn inferior to Jove. Jupiter rules the +abodes of heaven and the realms of the threefold world:[92] the earth is +under Augustus: each of them is a father and a ruler. Ye Gods, the +companions of Æneas,[93] for whom both the sword and the flames made a +way; and you, ye native Deities, and thou, Quirinus, the father of the +City, and thou, Gradivus, the son of the invincible Quirinus, and thou, +Vesta, held sacred among the Penates of Cæsar; and, with the Vesta of +Cæsar, thou, Phœbus, enshrined in thy abode, and thou, Jupiter, who +aloft dost possess the Tarpeian heights, and whatever other {Deities} it +is lawful and righteous for a Poet to invoke; late, I pray, may be that +day, and protracted beyond my life, on which the person of Augustus, +leaving that world which he rules, shall approach the heavens: and +{when} gone, may he propitiously listen to those who invoke him. + + +And now I have completed a work, which neither the anger of Jove, nor +fire, nor steel, nor consuming time will be able to destroy! Let that +day, which has no power but over this body {of mine}, put an end to the +term of my uncertain life, when it will. Yet, in my better part, I shall +be raised immortal above the lofty stars, and indelible shall be my +name. And wherever the Roman power is extended throughout the vanquished +earth, I shall be read by the lips of nations, and (if the presages of +Poets have aught of truth) throughout all ages shall I survive in fame. + + [Footnote 83: _Numidians._--Ver. 754. The Numidians under Syphax, + together with Juba, King of Mauritania, aided Cato, Scipio, and + Petreius, who had been partizans of Pompey, against Julius Cæsar, + and were conquered by him.] + + [Footnote 84: _Pontus._--Ver. 756. Cæsar conquered Pharnaces, the + son of Mithridates, king of Pontus, in one battle. It was on this + occasion, according to Suetonius, that his despatch was in the + words, ‘Veni, Vidi, Vici,’ ‘I came, I saw, I conquered.’] + + [Footnote 85: _Son of Atreus._--Ver. 805. This was Menelaüs, from + whom Paris was saved by Venus. See the Iliad, book III.] + + [Footnote 86: _Mutina._--Ver. 823. This was a place in Cisalpine + Gaul, where Augustus defeated Antony, and took his camp.] + + [Footnote 87: _Philippi._--Ver. 824. Pharsalia was in Thessaly, + and Philippi was in Thrace. He uses a poet’s license, in treating + them as being the same battle-field, as they both formed part of + the former kingdom of Macedonia. Pompey was defeated by Julius + Cæsar at Pharsalia, while Brutus and Cassius were defeated by + Augustus and Antony at Philippi. The fleet of the younger Pompey + was totally destroyed off the Sicilian coast.] + + [Footnote 88: _The wife._--Ver. 826. Mark Antony was so + infatuated as to divorce his wife, Octavia, that he might be + enabled to marry Cleopatra.] + + [Footnote 89: _Canopus._--Ver. 828. This was a city of Egypt, + situate on the Western mouth of the river Nile.] + + [Footnote 90: _His hallowed wife._--Ver. 836. Augustus took Livia + Drusilla, while pregnant, from her husband, Tiberius Nero, and + married her. He adopted her son Tiberius, and constituted him his + successor.] + + [Footnote 91: _With like years._--Ver. 838. Julius Cæsar was + slain when he was fifty-six years old. Augustus died in his + seventy-sixth year.] + + [Footnote 92: _Threefold world._--Ver. 859. This is explained as + meaning the realms of the heavens, the æther and the air; but it + is difficult to guess exactly what is the Poet’s meaning here.] + + [Footnote 93: _Companions of Æneas._--Ver. 861. He probably + refers to the Penates which Æneas brought into Latium. Dionysius + of Halicarnassus says that he had seen them in a temple at Rome, + and that they bore the figures of two youths seated and holding + spears.] + + +EXPLANATION. + + The Poet having fulfilled his promise, and having brought down his + work from the beginning of the world to his own times, concludes it + with the apotheosis of Julius Cæsar. He here takes an opportunity of + complimenting Augustus, as being more worthy of divine honours than + even his predecessor, while he promises him a long and glorious + reign. Augustus, however, had not to wait for death to receive + divine honours, as he enjoyed the glory of seeing himself worshipped + as a Deity and adored at altars erected to him, even in his + lifetime. According to Appian, he was but twenty-eight years of age + when he was ranked among the tutelar Divinities by all the cities of + the empire. + + The Romans, who deduced their origin from Æneas, were flattered at + the idea of Venus interesting herself in behalf of her posterity, + and securing the honours of an apotheosis for Julius Cæsar. The + historical circumstances which Ovid here refers to were the + following:--After Julius Cæsar had been murdered in the Senate + house, Augustus ordered public games to be instituted in his honour. + We learn from Suetonius, that during their celebration a new star, + or rather a comet, made its appearance, on which it was promulgated + that the soul of the deified Julius had taken its place among the + stars, and that Venus had procured him that honour. It was then + remembered, that the light of the Sun had been unusually pallid the + whole year following the death of Cæsar; this which is generally + supposed to have been caused by some spots which then appeared on + the disk of the sun, was ascribed to the grief of Apollo. Various + persons were found to assert various prodigies. Some said that it + had rained blood, others that the moon and stars had been obscured; + while others, still more imaginative, asserted that beasts had + uttered words, and that the dead had risen from their graves. + + The sorrow of the Gods and of nature at the untimely death of Julius + being thus manifested, Augustus proceeded to found a temple in his + honour, established priests for his service, and erected a statue of + him with a star on its forehead. He was afterwards represented in + the attitude of ascending to the heavens, and wielding a sceptre in + his hand. While flatterers complimented Augustus upon the care which + he had taken to enrol his predecessor among the Deities, there were + some, the poet Manilius being of the number, who considered that + heaven was almost over-peopled by him. Augustus, however, was not + the sole author of the story of the apotheosis of Julius Cæsar. The + people had previously attempted to deify him, though opposed by + Cicero and Dolabella. In the funeral oration which was delivered + over Julius Cæsar by Antony, he spoke of him as a God, and the + populace, moved by his eloquence, and struck at his blood-stained + garments and his body covered with wounds, were filled with + indignation against the conspirators, and were about to take the + corpse to the Capitol, there to be buried; but the priests would not + permit it, and had it brought back to the Forum, where it was burnt. + Dio Cassius says, that the Roman people raised an altar on the spot + where the body had been burnt, and endeavoured to make libations and + to offer sacrifices there, as to a Divinity, but that the Consuls + overthrew the altar. Suetonius says, that a pillar was also erected + to him, of about twenty feet in height, with the inscription, + ‘parenti patriæ,’ ‘To the father of his country,’ and that for some + time persons resorted to that spot to offer sacrifices and to make + vows. He adds, that he was made a Divinity by a public decree, but + he does not say at what time. + + +THE END. + + + + + London: Printed by William Clowes and Sons, Limited, + Stamford Street and Charing Cross. + + + * * * * * + * * * * + * * * * * + +_Errors and Anomalies noted by transcriber_ + +Abbreviations in the form “II.XIV Exp.” mean “Book II, Fable XIV, +Explanation” (appended to most Fables). + +Hyphenization is inconsistent--for example, the forms “sea monster” +and “sea-monster” both occur--and is not marked unless one form is +clearly anomalous. Errors and omissions in Greek diacritical marks +have been silently corrected. + + VIII.I + he ordered the halsers of the fleet to be loosened + [_variant spelling of “hawsers”_] + VIII.II + FABLE II. [FABLE VI.] + They immediately sent ambassadors [ambasssadors] + VIII.V + and do not trust thyself [_invisible h_] + IX.II + Fn. 22: _Branching holm oak._ [_body text has “holm-oak”_] + IX.V + (if I could {only} recall what has been destined) [recal] + X.I + for the newmade bride [_elsewhere “new-made” with hyphen_] + Exp.: Orpheus, too, is supposed to have [to] + X.VIII + Fn. 43: Clarke translates it ‘Coysts,’ + [_Clarke (1752) has “costys”, but this is hardly less obscure._] + Fn. 48: whether the festival [_invisible e in “the”_] + X.IX + FABLE IX. [FABLE VI.] + XI.III + with the steel {scissars}, [_attested variant spelling_] + XI.VI + Fn. 31: _The Magnetes._ [Magnete] + XII.III, IV + Fn. 38: the two-fold form of the Centaurs + [_elsewhere “twofold” without hyphen_] + XII.V, VI + thou shouldst have a forgetfulness [forgetfuless] + XIII.I + FABLE I. [_error for “FABLES I. AND II.”?_] + who could better succeed the great Achilles [succed] + XIII.III, IV Exp. + Le Clerc considers him [consideres] + XIII.V, VII + Fn. 64: from the Greek word [work] + XIII.VII + the hatred of the Cyclop [Cylop] + XIV.II Exp. + An aged woman presented to Tarquinius Superbus three books + [_text unchanged: error for “nine books”_] + XIV.V + they attended our footsteps [foosteps] + XIV.VI + Fn. 28: so called from the whiteness [ths] + XIV.X Exp. + The story of the heron [_invisible y_] + XIV.XII, XIII + Fn. 59: the apartments on the ground floor [grouud] + XV.II, III + If any thing is noxious, + [_word “If” missing at line-beginning (Latin “siqua nocent”)_] + XV.II, III + and her agreable food [_spelling unchanged_] + Fn. 10: _The goat is led._ [_body text has “was led”_] + Fn. 13: + _The line-endings of this footnote are missing, apparently through + printing error. Reconstructed words are shown in {braces}. The word + given as “then” might be “also” or any word of similar length:_ + ... was an athlete of such stren{gth} + ... with a blow of his fist, and {then} + ... and afterwards to devour it. {His} + [_page break in footnote: remainder is clear_] + Fn. 31: ... See Book IV. l. 285 [_invisible l_] + Fn. 49: flourishing in the time of Pythagoras + [_invisible t in “time”_] + XV.IV, V, VI Exp + According to Euripides [Acccording] + + +_Variant Names_ + +This is not intended to be a complete list. + +Dieresis is unpredictable; forms such as “Alcathöe” and “Pirithöus” +are common, and have been silently corrected. Since the ligatures “æ” +and “œ” are used consistently, dieresis in “oe” and “ae” can be assumed +even when not explicitly indicated. + +Treatment of names in Ia- (pronounced as two syllables) is inconsistent. +“Iäsion” and “Iänthe” are regularly written with dieresis, while +“Iarbas”, “Iapyx”, “Iapygia” are written without. + +The forms “Lapithean” and “Lapithæan” both occur. + +The “Lilybœus” of Books I-VII is now correctly written “Lilybæus”, +but Erysichthon (with y or upsilon) is written “Erisicthon”. + +As in Books I-VII, spellings in “-cth-” (Erisicthon, Erectheus) are +used consistently in place of “-chth-” (-χθ-). Similarly, Phaëthon +is written “Phaëton”. + + +_Punctuation_ + +_Invisible periods (full stops) at line-end have been silently supplied. +Unless otherwise noted, items in the following list were missing the +closing quotation mark, either single or double._ + + Introduction: + published by Joseph Davidson, [. for ,] + VIII.II Exp. + ...the one resembled Minos, and the other Taurus. [invisible .] + VIII.IV + brandished with their broad points. [, for .] + Fn. 33: ... the sons of Aphareus. [invisible .] + VIII.V + “Come,” said he, “famous Cecropian [second , invisible] + VIII.VII + nor has any woman been standing {here}.’ [” for ’] + Fn. 100: Ver. 846. [invisible . in “Ver.”] + ----: ‘Tandem, demisso in viscera censu;’ [invisible ;] + ----: swallowed down all his estate into his g--ts.’ + [_Clarke writes out “guts”_] + X.IV + serves nectar to Jove.” + X.VI + changed into hard rocks.” + X.VIII + or take away from them, the polished quivers.” + X.IX + Fn. 58: ‘... in his boyish face!’ + X.X + Fn. 64: ‘... riding in her light chair. [missing ’] + Exp.: during that festival.” / This notion of the mourning + [_open quote at beginning of final paragraph instead of close + quote at end of previous paragraph_] + XI.I + After they, in their rage [superfluous “ at beginning] + XI.VII + Fn. 39: ... ‘The ends or points of the sail-yards, [missing ‘] + Fn. 42: ’tis the dreadful kind of death [invisible ’ in ’tis] + Fn. 51: they lost all recollection [invisible -coll-] + Fn. 54: ... Ver. 663. [, for . in “Ver.”] + XII.I, II + Fn. 16: ‘He overset him ...’ [invisible ‘] + XII.III, IV + Fn. 21: a people of Thessaly, who, [invisible ,] + Fn. 22: Clarke renders these lines, ‘Come, tell us... by any one?’ + ... the old blade replied.’ [_mismatched quotes as shown_] + Fn. 27: Clarke renders ... ‘goblets of blood.’ + [_if this is an error for “gobbets”, it is Clarke’s error_] + XII.V, VI + of the dispute to them all. [superfluous ” at end] + XIII.I + Fn. 40: ... Helenus, the son of Priam. [invisible ,] + XIII.VII + “‘But didst thou {but} know me well [missing inner ‘] + ... retained that ancient name.” + Exp.: Elpe, the daughter of the king, carried her off. [, for .] + XIV.II + Exp.: which was in consequence called ‘Byrsa.’ [missing ‘] + XIV.VI + ‘And yet thou shalt not escape me,’ she said + he sped more swiftly than usual, [invisible ,] + “‘The setting Sun [missing inner ‘] + XV.II, III + Fn. 9: Clarke translates ‘Non utilis auctor,’ + XV.IV, V, VI Exp + ‘But,’ as the same author says [missing ‘] + XV.VII + Fn. 76: for ‘colubris,’ ‘snakes.’ [missing ‘ in “‘snakes’”] + XV.VIII + Fn. 84: ‘Veni, Vidi, Vici,’ [invisible ,’] + + +_Footnote Numbers_ + +Numbers begin from 1 in each Book. Almost all Books had duplications in +the sequence, usually in the form “17*”; some had omissions. In this +e-text, footnotes have been renumbered consecutively within each Book, +without duplication. + + Bk. VIII: + Note 6: tag missing in text + ... that thou dost desert me?: extraneous footnote tag 7, no note + Notes 39-79: printed as 38*, 39-78 + Notes 80-101: printed as 78*, 79-99 + Bk. IX: + Notes 49-80: printed as 48*, 49-79 + Bk. X: + Note 47: tag misprinted as 74 + Note 50-65: 50 omitted, printed as 51-66 + Note 66: 67 omitted, printed as 68 + Bk. XI: + Notes 36-63: printed as 35*, 36-62 + Note 51: tag (50) missing in text + Bk. XII: + Notes 49-55: 49 omitted, printed as 50-56 + Note 56: misprinted as 59 (for 57) + Bk. XIII: + Notes 31-41: 31 omitted, printed as 32-42 + Notes 42-51: printed as 42*, 43-51 + Notes 52-78: 52 omitted, printed as 53-79 + Bk. XIV: + Note 6: tag missing in text + Note 19: footnote and tag misprinted as 17 + Notes 20-27: printed as 18-25 + Notes 28-32: 26 omitted, printed as 27-31 + Notes 33-41: 32 omitted, printed as 33-41 + Notes 42-63: 42 omitted, printed as 43-64 + Bk. XV: + Notes 9-11: 9 omitted, printed as 10-12 + Note 10: tag (11) missing in text + Notes 12-33: 13 omitted, printed as 14-35 + Notes 34-63: printed as 35*, 36-64 + Notes 64-84: printed as 64*, 65-84 + Notes 85-93: 85 omitted, printed as 86-94 + + + + +*** 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™ electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG™ +concept and trademark. 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