by Peter Jones
celeber celebr-is e famous
160 opus: i.e. the labyrinth
not-a ae 1f. sign, marker (to help get one’s bearings)
flex-us a um tortuous
161 ambāge-s 3f. twists and turns
162 nōn secus ac: ‘not otherwise than’, ‘just as’, introducing a simile
Phrygi-us a um in Phrygia
Maeandr-us ī 2m. Maeander, a winding river in Roman Asia (modern Turkey)
163 ambigu-us a um uncertain
lāps-us ūs 4m. course. Note the prevalence of l in this line
(re)fluō 3 flow (back)
164 occurrō 3 meet up with (+ dat.)
165 uersus: from uertor
166 exerceō 2 keep in motion, ply
167 innumer-us a um myriad
ipse: i.e. Daedalus
reuertor 3 dep. return, find one’s way back
168 līmen līmin-is 3n. entrance
fallāci-a ae 1f. deceptiveness
169 geminam . . . figūram: = the Minotaur
170 Actae-us a um to do with Attica (Athens’ territory). When Minos found that he could not take Athens, he had prayed to his father Zeus/Jupiter for revenge on the city. Athens was immediately hit by a plague, and its people were told that it would be lifted only when they had given satisfaction to Minos. Minos demanded that a sacrifice of seven men and seven girls be sent to feed the Minotaur in its labyrinth every nine years. Time has now moved on, and the Minotaur has tasted Attic blood twice (bis), but the third youth consignment (tertia sors 171) is to cause its death
bis twice
pāscō 3 pāuī pāstum feed
171 domō 3 domuī overcome. Theseus volunteered for the third group, killed the Minotaur and with the help of thread (fīlō . . . relectō 173) supplied by Minos’ daughter Ariadne (uirgineā 172) found his way out of the labyrinth. Theseus sailed off with Ariadne back to Athens but subsequently abandoned her on the island of Naxos (176)
nouēn-ī ae a every nine
172 uirgine-us a um of a virgin (Ariadne)
iterō 1 visit a second time
priōrum: i.e. the Athenians in the first two consignments; gen. after nūllīs
173 fīl-um ī 2n. thread
relect-us a um re-wound, wound up (relegō)
174 Aegīdēs: Greek nom., ‘son of Aegeus’, i.e. Theseus
Mīnōis Mīnōid-is 3f. ‘daughter of Minos’ i.e. Ariadne
Dī-a ae 1f. Naxos (a Greek island)
175 uēl-um ī 2n. sail; uēla dare set sail
lītus lītor-is 3n. shore
176 dēstituō 3 dēstituī abandon
dēsert-us a um deserted. Here it is dat. s. f., referring to Ariadne, as is also querentī
177 amplex-us ūs 4m. embrace, love. Note the syllepsis of amplexūs et opem
Līber -ī 2m. Bacchus/Dionysus
perenn-is e perennial
178 *corōn-a ae 1f. crown. Bacchus took this from Ariadne’s forehead, to turn into the constellation called the Northern Crown. Placing people or objects among the stars is called ‘catasterism’ (from the Greek prefix kata + astereō, ‘en-star’, cf. astēr ‘star’). Bacchus throws the crown up into the sky as he and Ariadne race through the air in his chariot
179 immittō 3 immīsī launch
*uolō 1 move through the air, fly
180 gemm-a ae 1f. jewel
nitid-us a um shining, glittering
ignēs: i.e. stars
181 speci-ēs speci-ēī 5f. appearance
182 quī: picks up locō
medius: here + gen., controlling Nīxī genu and Anguem tenentis, both constellations
Nīx-us (-a um) genu: ‘One-who-bends the knee’, i.e. the Kneeler
Anguem tenēns tenent-is: ‘One-who-holds the snake’, i.e. Ophiuchus
183 Crētēn: Greek acc. of Crete
longumque: at least eighteen years, to calculate from this passage alone (170–1)
perōs-us a um hating
184 nātāl-is e of one’s birth (for Daedalus, this means Athens)
185 pelag-us ī 2n. sea. Minos at this time ruled the waves
licet although (+ subj.), RLV
186 obstruō 3 close off. Minos is the subject
illāc by that route
188 ignōt-us a um unknown
189 nouō 1 innovate in, alter
190 ā . . . sequentī: ‘[feathers] beginning from the smallest, with the shorter coming behind the long’, i.e. short feathers first, then the long feathers (see Figure 3). For the problem of how the wings work, see Comment on p. 180, 4
191 crēuisse: understand pennās as the subject of this inf.
clīu-us ī 2m. slope (here, ablative of place)
rūstic-us a um rustic, country
192 fistul-a ae 1f. pan-pipe (see 1.709–12)
dispar -is unequal
paulātim gradually
auēn-a ae 1f. reed
193 mediās: i.e. the pennās in the mediās and īmās
alligō 1 bind
īm-us a um at the bottom
194 compōnō 3 composuī compositum put together, construct
curuāmen curuāmin-is 3n. curve
195 Īcar-us ī 2m. Icarus, Daedalus’ son
ūnā alongside
196 tractō 1 handle
perīcla = perīcula
197 renīdeō 2 smile
modo . . . modo . . . now . . . now . . .
quās: take in order captābat plūmās quās
uag-us a um wandering
198 plūm-a ae 1f. feather
pollex pollici-is 3m. thumb
199 mollībat: = archaic form of molliēbat
lūs-us ūs 4m. play
201 impōnō 3 imposuī impositum place, put on
opifex opific-is 3m. craftsman
lībrō 1 balance, suspend
203 īnstruō 3 instruct
līmes līmit-is 3m. track, route
204 dēmiss-us a um low (note the comparative here meaning ‘too’)
205 grauō 1 weigh down
cels-us a um high
adūrō 3 scorch
206 Boōtēn: Greek acc. of Bootes, a constellation (the Ox-driver)
207 Helicēn: Greek acc. of Helice, a constellation (the Great Bear); Bootes and Helice together indicate the North, Orion the South
strict-us a um drawn (stringō)
Ōrīōn -is 3m. Orion, a constellation
ēns-is is 3m. sword
208 pariter . . . et at the same time as
praecept-um ī 2n. instruction
209 ignōt-us a um unfamiliar
accommodō 1 fit
210 monit-us ūs 4m. advice, warning
gen-a ae 1f. cheek
madeō 2 maduī be wet
senīl-is e of the old man
211 tremō 3 tremuī tremble
213 ālēs ālit-is 3m./f. bird
214 prōl-ēs is 3f. offspring, race
prōdūcō 3 prōdūxī lead out
nīd-us ī 2m. nest
215 damnōs-us a um ruinous, pernicious
ērudiō 4 teach, train in
216 respiciō 3/4 look back at
217 tremul-us a um trembling
harundō harundin-is 3f. reed, rod
*pisc-is is 3m. fish
218 bacul-um ī 2n. stick, crook
stīu-a ae 1f. shaft of a plough-handle
innīx-us a um leaning on (innītor)
arātor -is 3m. ploughman
219 obstupēscō 2 obstipuī be amazed
quīque . . . possent: translate after crēdidit . . . deōs
220 Iūnōni-us a um belonging to Juno
laeu-us a um left
221 Samos . . . Dēlos . . . Parosque: all nom. s. of the Greek islands Delos, Paros, Samos. One would have expected Daedalus, whose native land was Athens (cf. 184), to be flying north-west from Minos’ palace in Knossos, but now they turn north-east to Lebinthos and Calymne – though Ovid has little option because that is the area where the isle of Icaros and the Icarian sea, named afte
r Icarus, actually are. How come? We know that there was an Attic deme called Icaria – perhaps because in the ‘original’ version of the myth Icarus fell into the sea near it. If so, was the name then somehow transferred (by colonists?) to the present island, and later tradition gradually forgot about the obscure Attic connection? See Rudd in Martindale (1988, 24).
222 Lebinthos: nom. s. of the Greek island Lebinthos
fēcund-us a um fertile
mel mell-is 3n. honey
Calymnē: nom. s. of the Greek island Calymne
223 uolāt-us ūs 4m. flight
224 cupīdō cupīdin-is 3f. desire
225 rapid-us a um scorching, consuming
uīcīni-a ae 1f. proximity
226 odōrāt-us a um sweet-smelling
uincul-um ī 2n. binding
227 tābēscō 3 tābuī melt
quatiō 3/4 beat
228 rēmigi-um ī 2n. oarage
percipiō 3/4 acquire, catch
229 caerule-us a um blue
231 Īcare: Daedalus repeats his son’s name three times. It was traditional at Roman funerals to call out the name of the dead person three times
232 regiō regiōn-is 3f. area
233 aspiciō = adspiciō
234 dēuoueō 2 dēuōuī abjure
235 sepult-us a um buried (sepeliō) – on the island named after Icarus (another Ovidian aetiology)
Notes
152–68: Minos returns home to Crete, remembers his vows to his father Zeus/Jupiter (a hecatomb is a gigantic offering) and commemorates his local successes in the war against Athens (152–4). But he needs to do something about the Minotaur. crēuerat indicates how the problem had grown (one could, as it were, keep such a monster swaddled in baby-clothes only for so long); patēbat indicates what the situation now was (155), with opprobrium, foedum (155) and mōnstrī (156) all emphasising the shame Minos feels for his family. Daedalus, then, is summoned to get rid of this pudor (157), and Minos tells him what to do – construct a treacherous, complex building in which the monster can be hidden away (158). One would have thought killing it, or locking it up in a perfectly simple building, would have done the trick: but this is myth. The result is the labyrinth, a building after Ovid’s heart – all sign(-post)s confused (160, cf. 167), eyes deceived, and routes full of twists and turns (160–1, cf. 167). A brilliant simile likens the labyrinth to the river Maeander (no less meandering today) and its god at the same time: that too deceives and is uncertain in its course (163, 166, cf. 167), turning back on itself (164, cf. 167), going now one way, now another (165, cf. 167) – the whole thing such a masterpiece of deception (168, cf. 160–1, 166) that even Daedalus could hardly find his way out (167–8). The simile is as complex in its tortuous, sinuous twists and turns as the labyrinth it describes.
169–82: And so the Minotaur is led into the labyrinth. It has its first taste of human flesh with the first consigment of Athenian youth, and nine years later its second (169–70). Nine years after that comes Theseus. Ovid, for some reason, compresses the whole story into a few lines. If one did not know about Minos’ daughter Ariadne falling in love with Theseus and giving him the thread with which to mark his trail into and out of the labyrinth where he killed the Minotaur, it would be very hard to see what was behind 172–3. Ovid further compounds the problem by naming the couple by their father’s names (patronymic) in 174; Theseus’ desertion of Ariadne on Naxos (175–6) is called crūdēlis, but is otherwise unexplained, though 176 makes Ariadne’s distress clear enough; and why did Dionysus come to her rescue? There was a sexual motive (amplexūs), but, given Dionysus’ elevation of her, or at least her crown, to stardom (in another tradition, Ariadne herself was placed among the stars), one would have appreciated a little more detail. Since Ovid gives nearly six lines to the transformation of Ariadne’s crown into a constellation (177–82) – and the same number to the whole of the rest of the story (172–7) – it is clearly this metamorphosis which interests him: but even so, it does not interest him much. This episode, though a masterpiece of compression, does not show Ovid at his imaginative best; but if nothing else, it serves to highlight the brilliance with which he develops character and plot elsewhere. Had he revised Metamorphōsēs, perhaps this passage would have attracted his attention. (Ovid’s Heroides 10 is a letter from Ariadne to Theseus.)
183–7: Daedalus is doubly motivated to leave Crete (183–4), but 185–7 make it clear that Minos rules earth and sea. That leaves only the air – but also (the fourth element) fire . . .
188–202: The transformation which forms the centre-piece of the Daedalus story, then, is ornithological: Daedalus is to use his brilliance as an inventor to turn himself and his son Icarus into birds. Normally, only gods can engineer metamorphosis: here a human will try to. Ovid emphasises the daring and novelty of what this entails – the equivalent of interfering with nature itself (188–9) – and turns his own inventive capacities to describing first how he built the wings.
203–9: Time to lecture his son (Ovid is very good on the ‘generation gap’ in this episode). Daedalus imagines Icarus running ahead (203) – he knows what small boys are like, always rushing about – and urges on him the middle way no less than three times: mediō līmite (203) . . . not dēmissior or celsior (204–5) . . . inter utrumque (206). He warns his son not even to look at the constellations (206–7: Icarus, like Phaethon, may regard them as real horrors in the sky, 2.198–200), but to follow his lead (208). As he speaks, he fits the ignōtās wings on him. The warning signs are already out.
210–35: It is clear that Daedalus is full of fear for his exuberant young son. Ovid again realises Daedalus’ inner terror (210–12) by movingly describing Daedalus’ physical reactions as he fits on the wings – tears, trembling hands, kisses (nōn repetenda – the last he will ever give him, another moving narratorial shift), and fear (timet) as he flies ahead, leading the way (213, cf. 208). A simile decorates the moment: a mother bird leads its teneram young from its altō (and therefore dangerous) nest into the air, presumably for the first time (214–15). Daedalus is taking his ‘young’ high up into the air, for the first time. Clearly young Icarus is not obeying orders, so Daedalus has to urge him to stay close, teaching him (215: that damnōsās is telling: in whose eyes? A regretful Daedalus’, or is it Ovid’s comment? Cf. 188–9), and watching him closely (216). Now a brilliant change of focus: we move from the feelings and actions of the fliers to spectators on the ground – a fisherman, shepherd, ploughman (217–18) – suddenly freezing, amazed at what they see (219) and imagining them to be gods (219–20). What an achievement! But they are human – damnōsās artēs? Since gods do not career incompetently across the sky, Daedalus and his son must by now have learned the skill; indeed, they have made rather good progress (about 200 miles if they are passing Samos, 221). But now young Icarus lets this flying/gliding business go to his head (note audācī 223), regarding it as fun (gaudēre, as boys will, cf. 195–200). He wants to explore, like all boys, to reach for the skies (224–5). He abandons his father and starts to climb. As for Daedalus, one can imagine him still plodding boringly on, ignorant of what is now unfolding above him, assuming his son is following (cf. 196: damnōsās artēs?). What if . . . ? The sun (= fire) is scorching (225); the softened wax (cf. 199), releasing its perfumes (226: odōrātās is an exquisite change of focus – does Icarus smell it?), loosens the feathers and melts. Vainly Icarus tries to grip the air – but there is nothing to grip it with (228), his arms being useless (227). Ovid, true artist, spares imposing on us his emotionalising insights into the boy’s thoughts as he plunges to the sea (no modern novelist could possibly resist); the boy merely, uselessly, poignantly calls out pater! But even Daedalus cannot save him now (229–30). Indeed, Daedalus (no longer a father, as Ovid poignantly reminds us, 231) has no idea where Icarus is. How could he? His own panic-stricken cries (232–3) reflect his frantic searching (note the contrast between single cries, dīxit, and continued cries, dīcēbat) – and then he sees the feathers. A
gain, Ovid appends no narratorial comment to that bald statement: but Daedalus’ instant disavowal of his (damnōsās?) artēs – trying to alter nature and challenge the gods (188–9, 220)? – tells us everything we need to know about what Daedalus thinks of his invention.
14 Baucis and Philemon, Metamorphōsēs 8.626–724
Background
Theseus’ conquest of the Minotaur brings him fame throughout Greece, and he is invited to join the expedition to kill the Calydonian boar. Mission accomplished, he is on his way back to Athens when he accepts an invitation from the river-god Achelous to stay for a while, Achelous’ river being in flood. Over dinner, one of the guests invited by Achelous suggests that the gods do not have the power to transform the shapes of Nature. The company is shocked, and one of them, the hero Lelex (described as ‘ripe in years and wisdom’), tells the story of Baucis and Philemon (who apparently lived in ‘Hellespontine’ Phrygia, northern Turkey: see on 719) to refute the idea. As often in Ovid, this mythical couple are thoroughly Romanised.
8.626–36: Jupiter and Mercury find a humble cottage to stay in
‘Iuppiter †hūc speciē mortālī cumque parente
uēnit †Atlantiadēs positīs cādūcifer ālīs.
mīlle domōs adiēre, locum †requiemque petentēs,
mīlle domōs clausēre †serae. tamen ūna^ recēpit,
^parua quidem, †stipulīs et cannā ^tēcta palūstrī,
630
sed ^pia. Baucis †anus parilīque aetāte Philēmōn
†illā^ sunt annīs iūnctī iuuenālibus, ^illā
†cōnsenuēre ^casā, paupertātemque fatendō
effēcēre †leuem nec inīquā mente ferendō.
nec †rēfert, dominōs illīc famulōsne requīrās:
635
tōta domus duo sunt, īdem †pārentque iubentque.’
8.637–50: The old couple make the gods comfy and prepare food
‘ergo ubi †caelicolae paruōs tetigēre penātēs,
†submissōque humilēs intrārunt uertice postēs,
membra senex positō iussit †releuāre sedīlī,
c †superiniēcit textum rude sēdula Baucis.
