Reading Ovid

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Reading Ovid Page 21

by Peter Jones

400 latet: i.e. she remains hidden there (where she had taken refuge at 393)

  401 omnibus: dat. of agent (‘by everyone’, RLL(e)(iv), W24), or locative (RLL(g), W37) ‘in all [mountains]’? The latter has much to be said for it

  402 hanc: ‘her’, i.e. Echo, object (like aliās nymphās and ctūs) of lūserat, of which the subject is Narcissus

  undīs aut montibus: i.e. river- and mountain-nymphs

  403 hīc: i.e. Narcissus

  sīc . . . ante: ‘so [too as he had] previously’

  ct-us ūs 4m. crowd; sexual relations

  uirīl-is e of/with men

  404 dēspect-us a um despised (dēspiciō). Observe that it is a man who is speaking

  405 licet: + subj. (no ut, cf. RLF2) effectively expresses a wish here, ‘let him’, ‘may he’; amō here = fall in love

  potiātur: jussive subj.; sīc . . . sīc of 405 echoes the triple sīc of 402–3. Narcissus’ deceitful (403) behaviour is about to reap its own reward

  406 adsentiō 4 adsēnsī assent to (+ dat.)

  Rhamnūsi-a ae 1f. Nemesis, goddess of vengeance. She had a temple at Rhamnus (in Attica)

  Learning vocabulary

  cōpi-a ae 1f. control over, use of (X gen.) for sexual purposes

  ecquis: ‘[Is] anyone?’

  haereō 2 cling on; stay put

  hūc (to) here

  miserābil-is e pitiful

  rūrsus again

  totidem the same number of

  407 fōns erat: the typical start for the description of a locus amoenus (and therefore trouble; see Introduction, p. 8)

  illīmis slime-free

  nitid-us a um glittering

  argente-us a um silvery

  408 pāst-us a um grazing (pāscor)

  monte: abl. of place, RL100A(b)

  capell-a ae 1f. goat

  409 pecus pecor-is 3n. herd, animals

  uolucr-is is 3f. bird

  410 *turbō 1 disturb. turbā(ue)rat is plupf.

  rām-us ī 2m. branch

  411 grāmen grāmin-is 3n. grass

  ūmor -is 3m. water

  alō 3 feed, nourish

  412 passūra: ‘always ensuring that’; this is a calm, changeless world

  tepēscō 3 grow warm

  413 uēnor 1 dep. hunt

  lass-us a um tired

  414 prōcumbō 3 prōcubuī lie down

  secūtus: i.e. attracted by

  415 *sit-is is 3f. thirst

  sēdō 1 slake

  416 corrept-us a um fascinated, arrested (corripiō)

  fōrmae: i.e. his own fōrma

  418 adstupeō 2 be amazed at, enthralled by (+ dat.)

  immōt-us a um motionless. uultū . . . eōdem indicates another motionless feature

  419 Pari-us a um from Paros (an island in the Aegean, famous for its superb marble used only in the finest statues)

  marmor -is 3n. marble

  421 et Apolline: ‘of Apollo as well’ – Apollo having much more celebrated locks than Bacchus

  422 impūb-is beardless

  gen-a ae 1f. cheek

  eburne-us a um ivory

  decus decor-is 3n. glory, distinction, grace

  423 niue-us a um snowy

  *mixt-us a um mixed (misceō)

  *candor -is 3m. radiance, whiteness

  424 *mīrābil-is e admirable

  425 imprūdēns imprūdent-is ignorant, unaware

  426 *pariter equally

  accendō 3 set on fire

  427 fallāx fallāc-is deceitful, spurious

  428 *captō 1 try to get hold of

  430 quid uideat . . . quod uidet: enjoy the contrast between the (vague) subj. and (definitive) ind. here

  431 incitō 1 spur on

  432 crēdul-us a um naïve

  *simulācr-um ī 2n. image, likeness

  *fugāx fugāc-is fleeting

  433 āuertor 3 dep. turn away. āvertere is imper., virtually a conditional clause, with perdēs the main verb

  434 repercuss-us a um reflected (repercutiō)

  *cernō 3 crēuī crētum discern, perceive

  435 nīl . . . suī: lit. ‘nothing of itself/its own’, i.e. no real substance of its own; ista (i.e. umbra) is the subject

  Learning vocabulary

  candor -is 3m. radiance, whiteness

  captō 1 try to get hold of

  cernō 3 crēuī crētum discern, perceive

  fugāx fugāc-is fleeting

  mīrābil-is e admirable

  mixt-us a um mixed (misceō)

  pariter equally

  simulācr-um ī 2n. image, likeness

  sit-is is 3f. thirst

  turbō 1 disturb

  437 illum: i.e. Narcissus

  Cerēs Cerer-is 3f. Ceres, god of harvest, i.e. bread. Cereris, like quiētis, depends on cūra

  438 abstrahō 3 drag away

  opāc-us a um shady

  fūs-us a um spread out (fundō)

  439 inexplēt-us a um insatiable

  mendāx mendāc-is deceptive, lying

  440 paulum a little

  441 circumstō 1 stand round

  442 iō: an emotional exclamation

  443 latebr-a ae 1f. hiding-place

  opportūn-us a um convenient.

  444 ecquem: obj. of meministis (445)

  agantur: agō here is used of passing time

  saecul-um ī 2n. generation, century (subject)

  445 tābēscō 3 tabuī waste away. Why subj.?

  446 et placet et uideō: note the chiastic repetition in the second half of the line

  448 quōque magis: here + subj., ‘in order that doleam the more’; RL148, cf. on 372

  sēparō 1 keep apart

  449 moeni-a um 3n. pl. walls

  port-a ae 1f. gate

  450 *exigu-us a um narrow

  451 *porrigō 3 porrēxī offer, stretch

  lymph-a ae 1f. water

  452 totiēns so often

  resupīn-us a um turned upwards

  nītor 3 dep. reach out

  453 putēs: conditional subj.; understand ‘that he’

  obstō 1 get in the way of (+ dat.)

  454 ūnic-us a um matchless

  455 nec . . . est mea: ‘it is not mea fōrma nec aetās quam’

  456 fugiās: subj. of characteristic

  amārunt: = ama(uē)runt

  457 nescioquī/quae/quod of some sort or other, some measure of

  prōmittō 3 promise

  amīcō: here an adj., ‘friendly’

  458 cumque and whenever (note the ind. porrēxī)

  ultrō willingly, eagerly

  459 rīdeō 2 rīsī smile, laugh

  adrīdeō 2 smile/laugh back

  notō 1 observe

  460 lacrimō 1 weep

  nūt-us ūs 4m. nod (i.e. when I nod)

  461 quantum in as far as

  mōt-us ūs 4m. movement

  fōrmōs-us a um beautiful

  suspicor 1 dep. gather, conclude

  462 aur-is is 3f. ear

  463 iste: iste means ‘that (belonging to you/of yours)’

  465 faciam: deliberative subj., like roger and rogem, RL152

  anne: = an + ne = an, ‘or’

  466 inops inop-is poor

  467 ō: note the (despairing) hiatus; see on passage 1, 1.363

  sēcēdō 3 withdraw

  468 uōtum: understand est

  in amante: i.e. ‘for a lover [to make]’

  uellem: the object of Narcissus’ uōtum, ‘that I should wish’

  abesset: object of Narcissus’ wish, ‘that quod amāmus (subject) abesset’, RLL-V(a)4

  469 adimō 3 remove

  470 exstinguō 3 put out, destroy

  471 morte: abl. of means, RL100A(b), W14

  472 dīligō 3 love

  uellem: ‘I should wish that’ hīc . . . diuturnior esset diuturn-us a um long-lasting, permanent (sc. ‘than I am’)

  473 concors concord-is in harmony, together

  474 sān-us a um healthy


  475 *obscūr-us a um obscured, dark, opaque

  476 reddita . . . est: i.e. his fōrma came back to him obscūra

  lac-us ūs 4m. lake

  abīre: understand fōrmam as subject of the acc. and inf.

  478 *dēserō 3 dēseruī dēsertum desert, abandon

  nōn est: = it is not possible

  479 praebeō 2 offer

  aliment-um ī 2n. sustenance (cf. the ‘thirst’ of his love at 415)

  480 dēdūcō 3 dēdūxī remove, pull down and off (as a more dramatic gesture of grief, rip down and off)

  ōr-a ae 1f. hem, edge

  481 marmore-us a um white, marble

  palm-a ae 1f. palm. Note the emphatic alliteration of percussit pectora palmīs in this golden line; 482 is almost golden too, the repeated pectora . . . percussa preparing for the simile

  482 rose-us a um rose-coloured

  483 pōm-um ī 2n. apple

  parte . . . parte: abl. of respect, RLL(f)4(vi)

  484 rubeō 2 blush

  ūu-a ae 1f. grape (here abl. of place, ‘in’, ‘among’)

  racēm-us ī 2m. bunch, cluster

  485 purpure-us a um reddish (these grapes are not yet a fully ripened purple)

  mātūr-us a um ripe (cf. 347!)

  *color -is 3m. colour, tinge, hue

  486 quae: i.e. his pectora

  liquefact-us a um clear, calm

  487 ulterius any longer

  intābēscō 3 melt (inf. after solent, 489)

  *flāu-us a um yellow

  488 *cēr-a ae 1f. wax

  mātūtīn-us a um early-morning

  pruīn-a ae 1f. frost

  489 tepeō 2 grow warm

  attenuāt-us a um weakened, made thin (attenuō)

  490 līquō 3 melt away

  paulātim slowly, gradually

  *carpō 3 carpsī carptum pick, harvest; plunder, devour; weaken, consume

  491 mixtō candōre: abl. of description (his previous color is being described, in comparison with its colourlessness now – the first sign that he is fading away)

  492 uigor -is 3m. energy, vigour

  494 quae: i.e. Echo (subject); understand ‘him’ after uīdit

  495 indoleō 2 grieve

  *ēh (cf. h): a cry of anguish

  496 reson-us a um echoing

  iterō 1 repeat

  498 sonit-us ūs 4m. sound

  plangor -is 3m. grief, distress

  499 spectantis: refers to Narcissus, ‘of him gazing’

  500 dīlect-us a um beloved

  501 ualē, uale: the second uale is in hiatus with inquit and its e scans light; it is permitted (though very rare) for a vowel to be lightened in such instances. Here, the effect is of uale fading away . . .

  502 uiridī: the fresh, lively green contrasts with Narcissus’ deathly pallor

  submittō 3 submīsī lower

  503 dominum: Narcissus is enslaved to the beauty of his ‘master’

  504 īnfern-us a um in the underworld

  sēd-ēs is 3f. seat, home, residence

  505 *plangō 3 planxī mourn. The Naides are water-nymphs, presumably daughters of the river-god Cephisus; the repetition of the word in different forms in 505–7 (polyptoton) gives a sense of the repeated cries of grief

  506 sect-us a um cut. Cutting the hair was a common sign of mourning

  Dryas Dryad-is 3f. wood-nymph

  adsonō 1 sound along with (+ dat.). Echo responds to the Dryades because she can no longer respond to Narcissus

  508 rog-us ī 2m. funeral-pyre

  quass-us a um for brandishing (quatiō) (lit. ‘brandished’, used here proleptically, i.e. they were going to be brandished)

  fax fac-is 3f. torch

  feretr-um ī 2n. bier

  509 nūsquam nowhere. The absence of e.g. sed (asyndeton) creates a sense of surprise

  *croce-us a um yellow

  *flōs flōr-is 3m. flower

  510 foli-um ī 2n. leaf

  alb-us a um white

  Learning vocabulary

  carpō 3 carpsī carptum pick, harvest; plunder,

  devour; weaken, consume

  cēr-a ae 1f. wax

  color -is 3m. colour, tinge, hue

  croce-us a um yellow

  dēserō 3dēseruī dēsertum desert, abandon

  ēh (cf. h) a cry of anguish

  exigu-us a um narrow

  flāu-us a um yellow

  flōs flōr-is 3m. flower

  obscūr-us a um obscured, dark

  plangō 3 planxī mourn

  porrigō 3 porrēxī porrēctum offer, stretch

  Notes

  339–50: Ovid makes the transition to the story of Narcissus by stating that Teiresias’ new-found prophetic powers brought him tremendous fame (339–40), and giving an example. Liriope, Ovid says, was the first to put Tiresias to the test (341–2) after she had been raped by a river-god (341–4) and borne Narcissus. Even as a tiny baby, he was lovable (345; note that Liriope is pulcherrima herself, 344) – and it is that capacity to be loved which will undo him, because of his unwillingness to love in return. Teiresias’ reply to Liriope’s understandably infatuated maternal request (346–7) is incomprehensible as it stands (often the nature of prophecy) (348–9), since, usually, it is not knowing oneself that leads to disaster (cf. Oedipus; does ‘know’ here have a sexual sense too? It can carry that meaning in Latin). But in this case it is the only thing that will save Narcissus. Ovid teases us further: Narcissus’ death will be of an especially strange and novel type (349–50). In both these ways, Ovid whets the reader’s appetite for the story ahead. Observe that, if Ovid has wandered somewhat off-theme here – Narcissus is not a member of Cadmus’ family – his subject-matter (disastrous sexual engagements) will remain broadly on-theme, even if avenging deities feature only marginally (406).

  351–61: To be attractive to both men and women, Narcissus needs to be poised on the edge of manhood: aged sixteen (351), he is man enough for the females, but still boy enough for the males (the pattern of attraction that holds in the ancient world). So, as puer and iuuenis (352) Narcissus attracts both sexes equally (note the equal balance of 353), but because of the pride and hardness (dūra) of character that goes with his tenerā form (354) – a typically sharp Ovidian antithesis – he also keeps them at bay equally (355). superbia has strong overtones of Greek hubris, that proud, self-willed arrogance that always leads to disaster: Narcissus is his own worst enemy, and his superbia will be his undoing. All this is highly reminiscent of the erotic love-poetry Ovid had written in his early career, when obstinacy and jealousy were always making ‘true love’ impossible to find. Note the balance of 353 and 355, a sort of linguistic ‘mirror image’ of what Narcissus will see in the water, while cupiēre and tetigēre foreshadow precisely the conflict Narcissus will himself experience. Like most young men in Metamorphōsēs, Narcissus spends his days in hunting (356, though Narcissus will turn out to be strangely pale for a hunter, 419, 423), and this is how the nymph Echo spots him (356–7). Ovid at once indicates her disability – she can only reply to what others say – and points out that at this stage she has a body (357–61). Ovid here lays the ground for future developments. She will act in one respect as a sort of alter-Narcissus, since they both have a limited capacity to respond (she only to what she has heard, he only to himself); but sexually her outlook is quite different.

  362–9: How did Echo’s plight come about? At 362–9, Ovid tells her story, cleverly insert-ing another transformation. When Jupiter was seducing nymphs in the mountains, she would delay Juno by engaging her in lengthy conversations (362–5). When Juno realised what was going on, she reduced her speech to the ability only to repeat the last words of anything she heard another person say (366–9). We have already met Juno vengefully exacting cruel punishments on those who cross her (e.g. Io, Semele and Tiresias).

  370–92: What if a nymph, falling madly in love with a human (370–2 + fire simile 373–4), wanted to make her feelings felt but could only repeat
what he said? She would feel dreadfully frustrated, obviously (375–6), but all she could do would be to wait for him to speak (377–8), and try to turn it to her advantage. And so it happens. Ovid constructs a situation in which Narcissus has become separated from his companions and calls out if there is anyone present (ecquis adest?). The nymph replies adest (‘There is [someone] present’, 380). This initial exchange is conducted in the pluperfect dīxerat . . . responderat (379–80), but now Ovid zooms us right into the present (381 stupet). And so the play on words goes on (note how 385 dēceptus imāgine uōcis foreshadows Narcissus’ own fate, ‘looks’ replacing ‘voice’), till the double entendre of coeāmus (386) meets with a joyous coeāmus! from Echo (387), who launches herself at him (388–9). Even his verbal efforts to shake her off only encourage her the more (391–2). Poor Echo! She thinks they are speaking the same language, and so they are, but not in the sense she imagines. Note that Narcissus says he will die before he has sex (391). Ironically, he will indeed.

  393–401: Which leads to another transformation: Echo now fades away, leaving only sound and rocks behind. Ovid tracks the emotional and physical stages. Emotionally Echo feels the rejection and the shame and hides in caves (393–4), but her love for Narcissus merely grows because of her rejection (395, a typical Ovidian paradox). Physically, she seems to be decomposing, like a dead body: sleepless, she becomes emaci-ated (397); her flesh shrivels as its moisture dissipates into the air, leaving only a voice and bones (397–8), and even then her bones turn into what looks like stone (399, cf.1.409). The bones do this, presumably, not in skeleton form but as a rock formation, it being in rocky territory particularly that one hears echoes. In this form, sound + rocks, she stays hidden in the woods where she had earlier taken refuge (393), and that is why, Ovid explains, you never see her in the mountains; you only hear her (400–1). All that (paradoxically) ‘lives’ in her is sonus.

  402–6: Narcissus, who treats everyone like this (402–3), is riding for a fall, and eventually one of his would-be male lovers despairingly curses him, praying that he may experience what he inflicts on others (404–5: the five repeated sīcs of 402–5 is especially effective). The goddess of vengeance, Nemesis, is listening to these iūstīs prayers (406). We may ask – iūstīs in whose eyes? Nemesis’? (Yes, surely); Ovid’s as well? Anyway, Nemesis now has all that she needs in order to act, and is never mentioned again. But this throws up a serious challenge for the poet: given that Narcissus automatically rejects all advances, how can he possibly suffer at the hands of others in the way others have suffered because of him?

 

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