Wheelocks latin reader, p.26
Wheelock's Latin Reader, page 26
caerulea: lit., sky-blue, mirroring the caelum (224) from which Icarus has fallen; similarly excipiuntur aqua in 230 is an ironic echo of percipit auras in 228, as the boy who cannot quite catch hold of the air through which he “sails” is himself caught up by the water in which he drowns.
231. nec iam pater: i.e., since Icarus had just perished in the sea.
Icarus’ youthful impetuosity precipitates his destruction.
“The Fall of Icarus” Carlo Saraceni, ca. 1608 Museo Nazionale di Capodimonte, Naples, Italy
Scala/Art Resource, NY.
Et iam Iunonia laeva parte Samos (fuerant Delosque Parosque relictae), dextra Lebinthos erat fecundaque melle Calymne, cum puer audaci coepit gaudere volatu deseruitque ducem caelique cupidine tractus 225 altius egit iter. Rapidi vicinia solis mollit odoratas, pennarum vincula, ceras. Tabuerant cerae; nudos quatit ille lacertos, remigioque carens non ullas percipit auras, oraque caerulea patrium clamantia nomen 230 excipiuntur aqua, quae nomen traxit ab illo. At pater infelix, nec iam pater, “Icare,” dixit; “Icare,” dixit “ubi es? Qua te regione requiram?” “Icare,” dicebat. Pennas aspexit in undis, devovitque suas artes, corpusque sepulcro 235 condidit; et tellus a nomine dicta sepulti.
233. dicebat: Ovid’s shift to the impf. here (he kept calling), after dixit…dixit, and his triple repetition of Icarus’ name add to the pathos of the passage; and the repetition also of nomen/nomen/nomine underscores the story’s point that Icarus gave his name to both the Icarian Sea (quae no-men traxit ab illo, 230) and the island of Icaria (the tellus, land, of 235).
234. devovit: devovere, lit., to vow away = curse.
sepulcro: sepulcrum, tomb, sepulcher.
235. sepulti: sepelire, to bury; set at line’s end to echo its cognate sepulcro and punctuate the narrative’s grim conclusion.
1. inde: adv., thence, from there; i.e., from Crete, where the marriage god Hymenaeus had attended a wedding (in the story preceding this one at the end of Metamorphoses 9).
croceo: saffron yellow, the color of a bride’s veil, and so a color naturally enough worn by the god of marriage.
velatus: velare, to veil, cover, cloak; the word is surrounded by croceo…
amictu, producing a WORD-PICTURE.
amictu: amictus, robe, cloak.
2. Ciconum: the Cicones, a people in Thrace, which was a district north of the Aegean Sea and the homeland of Orpheus.
oras: ora, coast, shore.
3. Orphea: adj., of Orpheus. A mythical poet, singer, and musician and son of the Muse Calliope, Orpheus was given a lyre by Apollo and instructed by the god; his skill was so great that he could charm with his music not only men and beasts but even trees and stones.
nequiquam: because of the unhappy end of the marriage.
4. sollemnia: religious, festive, customary.
6. fax: torch. An attribute of Hymenaeus, torches were carried in the wedding procession; it was a bad omen for a torch not to burn with a bright flame.
stridula: hissing, sputtering.
7. motibus: with its movement; i.e., the torch did not flame up even when waved through the air to ignite the sparks.
8. exitus: outcome, result; sc. erat.
auspicio: auspicium, omen.
nupta…nova (9): the new bride; i.e., Eurydice, who is curiously not named until line 31.
9. Naiadum: Nais, Naiad (a water nymph).
comitata: comitare, to accompany.
vagatur: vagari, to wander, roam.
10. talum: talus, ankle, heel; in…recepto seems an odd circumlocution and is taken by some readers, along with other curiosities in the narrative, as an intentional deflation of the story’s seriousness by way of parodying the grander version in Vergil’s Georgics (4.452–546).
11. quam: Eurydice.
Rhodopeius…vates (12): the Thracian bard; from Rhodope, a mountain of Thrace. Note the INTERLOCKED WORD ORDER with superas…auras.
12. deflevit: deflere, to weep for, bewail; modified by the rather unheroic satis.
ne non temptaret et: that he might not (ne) fail to (non) try even (et).
ORPHEUS AND EURYDICE: A DESCENT INTO HADES
Metamorphoses 10.1–77, 11.61–66
Inauspicious omens precede the death of Eurydice.
Inde per immensum, croceo velatus amictu, aethera digreditur Ciconumque Hymenaeus ad oras tendit, et Orphea nequiquam voce vocatur. Adfuit ille quidem, sed nec sollemnia verba 5 nec laetos vultus nec felix attulit omen; fax quoque quam tenuit lacrimoso stridula fumo usque fuit nullosque invenit motibus ignes. Exitus auspicio gravior. Nam nupta per herbas dum nova, Naiadum turba comitata, vagatur, 10 occidit in talum serpentis dente recepto.
Orpheus’ visits the underworld and pleas on behalf of Eurydice.
Orpheus, Eurydice, and Hermes Marble relief Roman copy of Greek original 5th century B.C. Museo Archeologico Nazionale Naples, Italy
Erich Lessing/Art Resource, NY.
“Proserpine” (Persephone) Dante Gabriel Rossetti 1874 Tate Gallery London, Great Britain
Tate Gallery, London/Art Resource, NY.
Quam satis ad superas postquam Rhodopeius auras deflevit vates, ne non temptaret et umbras, ad Styga Taenaria est ausus descendere porta, perque leves populos simulacraque functa sepulcro 15 Persephonen adiit inamoenaque regna tenentem umbrarum dominum, pulsisque ad carmina nervis sic ait: “O positi sub terra numina mundi, in quem reccidimus, quidquid mortale creamur, si licet et, falsi positis ambagibus oris, 20 vera loqui sinitis, non huc, ut opaca viderem Tartara, descendi, nec uti villosa colubris terna Medusaei vincirem guttura monstri. Causa viae est coniunx in quam calcata venenum vipera diffudit crescentesque abstulit annos. 25 Posse pati volui, nec me temptasse negabo; vicit Amor. Supera deus hic bene notus in ora est; an sit et hic, dubito. Sed et hic tamen auguror esse, famaque si veteris non est mentita rapinae, vos quoque iunxit Amor. Per ego haec loca plena timoris, 30 per Chaos hoc ingens vastique silentia regni, Eurydices, oro, properata retexite fata. Omnia debentur vobis paulumque morati serius aut citius sedem properamus ad unam. Tendimus huc omnes, haec est domus ultima, vosque 35 humani generis longissima regna tenetis. Haec quoque, cum iustos matura peregerit annos, iuris erit vestri; pro munere poscimus usum. Quod si fata negant veniam pro coniuge, certum est nolle redire mihi; leto gaudete duorum.”
13. Styga: Greek acc. of Styx, the Styx, a river in the Underworld.
Taenaria…porta: by the gate of Taenarus, a supposed entrance to Hades in the southern tip of Greece; ABL. OF ROUTE.
14. functa: fungi, + abl., to perform, experience; with simulacra (simulacrum, phantom, ghost)…sepulcro, ghosts which had experienced burial (without which they would have to wander in Limbo across the Styx outside of Hades).
15. Persephonen: Greek acc.; Persephone, daughter of the grain-goddess Ceres and wife of Pluto, lord of the dead, was queen of the Underworld.
inamoena: unpleasant.
16. umbrarum dominum: i.e., Pluto; the circumlocution is made all the more effective through ENJAMBEMENT and the booming ASSONANCE, which Ovid accentuates by positioning each of the -um syllables under the ictus.
ad carmina: i.e., to accompany his songs; Orpheus does not merely address Pluto and Persephone, but tries to charm them with his singing.
nervis: nervus, lit., sinew = string of a lyre.
17. numina: numen, divine will, divinity, god.
18. reccidimus: reccidere, to fall back, sink, descend.
quidquid: essentially = qui, looking back to the subj. of reccidimus, hence creamur not creatur.
19. positis: = depositis.
ambagibus: ambages, circumlocution, ambiguity.
20. loqui: sc. me as subj.
huc: adv., to this place, here.
opaca: shady, dark.
21. Tartara: n. pl., Tartarus, the abode of the dead, Hades.
uti: = ut.
villosa…monstri (22): the INTERLOCKED WORD ORDER of the nouns and adjs. (ABACAC) suits the image of Cerberus’ three heads bristling (villosa) with snakes (colubris, from colubra).
22. terna: = tria; the distributive numerals (e.g., ternus, three each) were sometimes used by poets instead of the cardinals, especially when a pl. Noun constituted a set, like the three heads of Cerberus, the savage hound who guarded the entrance to Hades.
Medusaei: Medusa-like; Cerberus was born of the snake-monster Echidna, one of Medusa’s sisters, and like Medusa had snakes for hair.
vincirem: vincire, to bind, tie; Hercules had bound and carried off Cerberus as one of his labors.
guttura: guttur, throat; Ovid focuses on the guttura vs. the capita because of the vb. vincire.
23. coniunx: wife.
calcata: trodden upon, stepped on.
venenum: poison.
24. crescentes: here, burgeoning, budding.
25. pati: sc. mortem coniugis.
temptasse: = temptavisse.
27. et: = etiam; with hic (adv.).
auguror: augurari, to divine, surmise.
esse: sc. eum (Amorem) as subj.
28. est mentita: mentiri, to lie, speak falsely.
rapinae: rapina, abduction, rape; Pluto had abducted Persephone and carried her off to Hades to be his queen.
29. per ego…loca: when ego is used in an oath it regularly stands between per (by) and its object.
30. Chaos: n. sg., Chaos, the Abyss, the Underworld; modified by hoc, which in poetry is often scanned as a long syllable in both the nom. and acc. cases.
31. Eurydices: Greek gen. sg.
properata: hurried, premature, from properare, to hurry, rush, hasten.
retexite: retexere, to unweave, reverse; an allusion to the Fates, who in classical myth weave the tapestry of one’s life.
32. paulum: adv., a little, a while.
morati: morari, to linger, delay.
33. serius aut citius: Eng. uses the reverse order, sooner or later.
sedem: sedes, seat, abode, home, place.
34. vosque: emphatically positioned, to strengthen his appeal (and cp. vos in 29).
35. regna: pl. for sg., rule (over) + OBJ. GEN.
36. peregerit: peragere, to finish, live out.
37. iuris erit vestri: lit., will be of your law = will be under your jurisdiction.
pro munere: as a favor.
poscimus: poscere, to request, demand.
usum: loan; a technical term for temporary use of another’s property. This word, together with iustos and iuris, gives Orpheus’ plea a legalistic tone.
38. quod si: but if.
veniam: venia, kindness, favor, pardon.
certum est…mihi (39): i.e., I am resolved (to); the delay of mihi is meant to parallel that of pro coniuge.
40. dicentem…moventem: positioning the first partic. at the caesura emphasizes the internal rhyme, lending a musicality to the verse that suits its meaning.
41. exsangues: bloodless, lifeless, pale.
Tantalus: for his sins, Tantalus was placed near food and water which always withdrew just beyond his grasp when he reached for it; but for a moment, under the spell of Orpheus’ music, he forgot this “tantalizing” torture.
42. stupuit: stupere, to be amazed, stupefied; with Ixionis orbis, Ixion’s wheel, = halted in amazement. Like Tantalus and the others mentioned here, Ixion had committed a crime (the attempted seduction of Juno) for which he was condemned to eternal torment in Hades; Ixion’s punishment was to be spread-eagled on a wheel that perpetually turned, but here even the wheel was mesmerized by Orpheus’ song and ceased to revolve.
Through the charm of his music Orpheus wins his request for Eurydice’s return, only to lose her again as they near the upper world.
“Orpheus before Pluto and Proserpina” François Perrier, 1650 Louvre, Paris, France
Erich Lessing/Art Resource, NY.
40 Talia dicentem nervosque ad verba moventem exsangues flebant animae; nec Tantalus undam captavit refugam, stupuitque Ixionis orbis, nec carpsere iecur volucres, urnisque vacarunt Belides, inque tuo sedisti, Sisyphe, saxo. 45 Tunc primum lacrimis victarum carmine fama est Eumenidum maduisse genas. Nec regia coniunx sustinet oranti, nec qui regit ima, negare, Eurydicenque vocant. Umbras erat illa recentes inter, et incessit passu de vulnere tardo. 50 Hanc simul et legem Rhodopeius accipit Orpheus, ne flectat retro sua lumina, donec Avernas exierit valles, aut irrita dona futura.
43. iecur: liver.
volucres: volucris, winged creature, bird. The giant Tityus attempted to rape Leto, mother of Diana and Apollo, and was tied to the ground in Hades and exposed to vultures that plucked constantly at his liver.
vacarunt: vacare, to be free from.
44. Belides: Danaids, the 50 daughters of Danaus, king of Libya and son of Belus; 49 of them murdered their husbands on their wedding night, at their father’s bidding, and were punished in the Underworld by forever trying to fill water urns that had holes in the bottom.
Sisyphe: in an abrupt APOSTROPHE the narrator addresses the Corinthian king Sisyphus, who for his deceit and avarice had been condemned in Hades to the unending task of pushing up a hill a huge stone that always rolled back down again when he neared the top.
45. lacrimis: with genas maduisse, IND. STATE. depending on fama est.
carmine: with victarum.
46. Eumenidum: Eumenides, Eumenides, Furies, three winged demons with snaky hair who relentlessly harassed men for their crimes, both in life and beyond the grave; this was the first time they had ever wept.
47. sustinet…negare: endure to deny = have the power to say no (to).
oranti: sc. Orpheo (dat.).
ima: sc. loca.
48. Eurydicen: acc. sg.
recentes: with umbras, obj. of inter; ANASTROPHE, reversal of the normal word order, especially in a prep. phrase, was common in poetry.
49. passu: passus, step, pace.
50. simul et: at the same time as = together with.
51. ne flectat: JUSSIVE NOUN CL. dependent on legem, the stipulation (that).
lumina: lumen, light, eye.
donec: conj., until, + subjunct. denoting anticipation or purpose.
Avernas: of Avernus (Hades).
52. exierit: here transitive with a dir. obj.
valles: vallis, valley.
irrita: void, invalid, in vain.
futura: sc. esse, IND. STATE. depending on the idea of speech in legem.
53. acclivis: ascending, sloping upward.
trames: path, trail.
54. caligine: caligo, fog.
55. afuerunt: vowels normally long, like the -e- here, are sometimes shortened in poetry (SYSTOLE), when the syllable was not under the ictus.
telluris…summae: the highest part of the earth = the upper world.
56. hic: adv.
deficeret: sc. Eurydice.
avidus videndi: eager for seeing, eager to see.
58. bracchia: bracchium, arm.
prendi: prendere, to grasp, seize.
certans: certare, to struggle, strive.
59. cedentes: yielding, retreating.
“Orpheus and Eurydice” Peter Paul Rubens, 17th century Museo del Prado, Madrid, Spain
Art Resource, NY.
Carpitur acclivis per muta silentia trames, arduus, obscurus, caligine densus opaca. 55 Nec procul afuerunt telluris margine summae; hic, ne deficeret metuens avidusque videndi, flexit amans oculos, et protinus illa relapsa est; bracchiaque intendens, prendique et prendere certans, nil nisi cedentes infelix arripit auras. 60 Iamque iterum moriens, non est de coniuge quicquam questa suo (quid enim nisi se quereretur amatam?), supremumque “Vale,” quod iam vix auribus ille acciperet, dixit revolutaque rursus eodem est.
61. se…amatam: sc. esse; IND. STATE. with the POTENTIAL SUBJUNCT. quereretur, what complaint was she to make except that….
62. supremum…“Vale”: a last farewell.
63. quod…acciperet: REL. CL. OF CHARACTERISTIC.
revoluta…est: revolvere, to roll back.
rursus: adv., again.
eodem: adv., to the same place.
64. non aliter…quam…qui…quam qui (68): the tables are turned, and now it is Orpheus who is dumbstruck (stupuit, echoing the same vb. in 42); just as his song had momentarily halted the actions of the criminals in the Underworld, and even the turning of Ixion’s wheel, so here he is stunned at the sight of Eurydice plummeting backwards into Hades, and his temporary paralysis is compared, in this double simile, with that of two otherwise unknown mythic characters who were transformed into stone. The dactyls in 64–65 help suggest the suddeness of Orpheus’ response.
65. tria: with colla (collum, neck); though he had not descended into Hades to see Cerberus (21–22), he is stunned as if he had gazed upon the beast.
medio: sc. collo; his neck had been chained by Hercules.
66. quem…oborto (67): i.e., he was transformed from his human state into stone even before he had stopped trembling in fear at the sight of the dog.
pavor: trembling, terror.
ante…quam (67): conj., before.
67. oborto: oboriri, to rise up, spring up.
68. quam qui…Olenos (69): = quam Olenos qui. Apparently Lethaea had committed some offense (crimen), perhaps in boasting about her beauty (figurae), and when her spouse or lover Olenos tried to take the blame himself, both were turned to stone.
69. confisa: trusting in, + dat.
71. lapides: lapis, stone.
umida: wet, moist, rainy.
sustinet: i.e., the rocks or boulders were on Mt. Ida (Ide—there were mountains of this name in Troy and Crete); the myth was perhaps based on some anthropomorphic rock formations.
72. orantem: i.e., Orpheus, who had returned towards Hades as far as the Styx.
73. portitor: ferryman, i.e., Charon, who ferried the dead, and rarely the living, across the Styx.
arcuerat: arcere, to keep out, debar, prevent.
septem…diebus: ABL. OF DURATION OF TIME, instead of the usual acc.
74. ripa: bank (of a river).
Cereris sine munere: without the gift of Ceres (Ceres), i.e., without food.
75. alimenta: alimentum, food.
