by Peter Jones
uēl-um ī 2n. awning
596 candid-us a um white (i.e. made of marble)
purpure-us a um*
īnficiō 3/4 *
597 notō 1*
*hospes hospit-is 3m. guest, i.e. Hippomenes
dēcurs-us a um run, completed
*mēt-a ae 1f. race, course, lap
598 fest-us a um festal, celebratory
uictrīx uictrīc-is*
corōn-a ae 1f.*
599 pendō (3) poenās pay the penalty. But it is odd that there were losers (pl.). What would happen were Atalanta to be beaten by two or more of them?
foedus foeder-is 3n. terms, conditions
600 ēuent-us ūs 4m. result
dēterreō 2*
602 quid why?
titul-us ī 2m. distinction, claim to glory
iners inert-is slow, laggard (object of superandō, RLN, W39)
603 cōnferō 3 compete
*seu or if
604 indignor 1 dep. feel aggrieved (+ inf.)
605 genitor -is 3m. father
*Megareus: Greek nom. s. of Megareus; cf. Megarēius ‘of Megareus’ (659)
Onchesti-us a um from Onchestus (in Boeotia)
606 au-us ī 2m. grandfather
pronepōs pronepōt-is great-grandson
607 citrā less than (+ acc.)
608 Hippomenē: abl. s. of Hippomenes
memorābil-is e*
609 *Schoenēi-us a um descended from Schoeneus (Atalanta’s father)
610 aspicit = adspicit
611 hunc: i.e. Hippomenes, object of perdere
inīquus: here with dat., ‘unfair, hostile to’
612 cār-us a um dear, precious
discrīmen discrīmin-is 3n. risk
613 *coniugi-um ī 2n. marriage
tantī: gen. of value, cf. 618, RLL(d)5
616 quid, quod: ‘what [should I make of] the fact that . . . ?’ , introducing a tremendous rising tricolon with anaphora in the next four lines
interrit-us a um + gen.*
lēt-um ī 2n. death
617 aequore-us a um from the sea (i.e. from Neptune)
numerō 1 count
618 nostra: i.e. mine to him
620 cruent-us a um bloody. It is hard to see how marriage to Atalanta would be ‘bloody’. It is failure to win her hand that was ‘bloody’. Atalanta puts it this way to indicate the impossibility of Hippomenes’ desire
621 nūbō 3 marry (+ dat.)
623 tot iam ante: i.e. so many previous [suitors] (abl.abs. with perēmptīs)
perimō 3 perēmī perēmptum kill, destroy
624 uīderit: 3s. jussive subj.; cf. on 9.519
625 admoneō 2*
agitur: almost ‘he is being (ignorantly and foolishly) pushed into’
taedi-um ī 2n. weariness with (+ gen.)
627 indign-us a um*
nex nec-is 3f. death
preti-um ī 2n. price (here in apposition to indignam necem)
628 nōn: take with ferendae
inuidiae: gen. describing the nature of the victory of which she is quite confident
629 dēsistō 3*
630 dēmēns dēment-is*
631 uirgine-us a um*
puerīl-is e*; cf. 615
632 Hippomenē: voc. of Hippomenes
nōllem: followed here by the subj.; translate ‘I would that [I had] not . . . ’; tibi is dat. of agent
634 importūn-us a um oppressive
635 sociō 1 share
636 utque ‘and like [one]’
rud-is e inexperienced
*cupīdō cupīdin-is 3m/f. longing, desire
638 poscō 3 demand, call for
paterque: of Atalanta, i.e. Schoeneus
639 cum: when
sollicit-us a um uneasy, anxious
*prōlēs prōl-is 3f. offspring
Neptuni-us a um*
640 inuocō 1*
*Cytherē-a ae 1f. Cytherean, i.e. Venus (cf. 529); nom., not voc., as adsit, jussive subj., makes clear
comprecor 1*
641 quōs: take in order ignēs quōs; ignēs = the flame of love Hippomenes feels
adiuuō 1 foster, encourage
642 dēferō 3*
inuid-us a um envious, grudging
643 fateor 2 dep. admit, confess
644 indigen-a ae 1m. inhabitant
Tamasēn-us ī 2m. of Tamasus (in Cyprus)
645 Cypri-us a um*
quem: picks up ager
*prīsc-us a um of old, ancient. prīscī . . . senēs are the subjects of sacrāuēre and iussēre
646 sacrō 1 make sacred, sanctify
accēdō 3 be added (inf. after iussēre)
dōtem/hanc ‘this [land] as a gift/dowry’ (dōs dōt-is 3f.)
647 iussēre = iussērunt
niteō 2 shine
648 crepitō 1 clatter, tinkle
649 dēcerpt-us a um plucked
650 aure-us a um*
*pōm-um ī 2n. apple
nūllīque . . . ipsī: dat. of agent
651 *Hippomenēn: Greek acc. of Hippomenes
doceō 2 teach
652 tub-a ae 1f. bugle. Ovid ‘romanises’ the race
carcer -ris 3m. starting-gate
prōnus: both runners were crouched for the ‘off’
653 ēmicō 1 flash out
lībō 1 skim
*harēn-a ae 1f. sand
654 putēs: Venus draws Adonis into the story
sicc-us a um dry
fret-um ī 2n. sea
rādō 3 graze
655 seges seget-is 3f. corn(field)
cān-us a um grey
percurrō 3*
arist-a ae 1f. ear (of corn)
*adiciō 3/4 add
656 clāmor -is 3m.*
fauor -is 3m.*
657 incumbō 3 forge ahead
658 Hippomenē: voc. of Hippomenes
659 pellō 3 banish
dubium: understand ‘whether’, RLS2(e)
*hērōs: nom. s.
661 *trānseō trānsīre overtake, cross
*moror 1 dep. delay
663 lass-us a um exhausted
anhēlit-us ūs 4m. (Hippomenes’) panting
665 fēt-us ūs 4m. fruit
arbore-us a um*
666 *nitid-us a um shining
667 dēclīnō 1 turn away from
uolūbil-is e rolling
668 resonō 1 resound
spectācul-um ī 2n. stand
plaus-us ūs 4m. applause
669 cessō 1 waste
670 corrigō 3 put right
671 iact-us ūs 4m. throw
remoror 1 delay, be held up
672 cōnsequor 3 dep. catch up with
673 restō 1 remain
adēs: imper. of adsum
auctor -is 3m/f. provider, source
674 latus later-is 3n. side
camp-us ī 2m. plain
quō tardius: + subj. = purpose, RL148
675 ab oblīquō off to one side
iuuenāliter with a young man’s strength
676 coēgī: Venus intervenes to help Hippomenes
677 māl-um ī 2n. apple
678 grauitās grauitāt-is 3f. weight
679 meus sermō: Venus decides to cut the speech short
680 uictor -is 3m.*
681digna c: lit. ‘worthy to whom [Hippomenes] should . . . ?’, i.e. ‘did I deserve that Hippomenes should . . .?’, RLQ2(1)
*tūs tūr-is 3n. incense. For offering incense on the altar, see 10.273
683 conuertor 3 pass.*
684 contempt-us ūs 4m.*
nē: dependent on caueō, RLS2(d), W40
spernō 3 despise, scorn
futūrīs: dat. of agent (presumably ‘men’ or ‘ages’)
685 exempl-um ī 2n. example (‘by [making them both] an example’)
in ambōs: i.e. against both of them
686 deum (= deōrum) Mātrī: the goddess in question is Cybele, also called Magna Mater, known in Greece by the fif
th century BC and brought to Rome from Phrygia (modern Turkey) in 204 BC. She was (among things) a goddess associated with fertility, wild nature and ecstasy
Echīōn: Greek nom. s., one of the founders of Thebes in Boeotia. Hippomenes is presumably crossing Boeotia with his new bride (iter longum 688), taking her home from where her father Schoeneus was king (near Thebes) to Onchestus (605)
687 ex (uōtō): ‘as a result of’, ‘to fulfil’
nemorōs-us a um wooded
*abdō 3 abdidī abditum hide (away), bury
688 iter longum: Venus was equally exhausted after hunting (554) and persuaded Adonis to lie down with her – a hint?
689 concubit-us ūs 4m. sexual intercourse
intempestīu-us a um untimely
690 concit-us a um urged on
nostrō: i.e. Venus’s
691 recess-us ūs 4m. secluded spot
692 spēlunc-a ae 1f. cave
nātīu-us a um natural. This gives the place an ancient air, as if priests had been using it long before human ingenuity enabled temples to be built
pūmex pūmic-is 3m. pumice stone
693 rēligiō rēligiōn-is 3f. ritual, worship
quō to where
sacerdōs sacerdōt-is 3m. priest
694 ligne-us a um wooden (such statues were thought to be of great antiquity)
cōnferō 3*
695 temerō 1 profane, violate
sacrāri-um ī 2n. shrine
probr-um ī 2n. offence. Sexual intercourse was felt by Greeks to be incompatible with the sacred (perhaps because gods, being immortal, required insulation from processes to do with life and death). So intercourse in a sacred place, let alone in the presence of the gods’ statues, was felt to be a great sacrilege
696 sacra: i.e. the sacred statues there
retorqueō 2 retorsī avert
turrīt-us a um towered (Cybele is often depicted wearing a crown like a tower; one of her functions was to protect her people in war)
697 an: take in order turrītaque Māter dubitāuit an . . .
Stygiā: the dead usually cross the river Styx to reach the far bank. Here the lovers are (dramatically) to be plunged into it, such is the goddess’ fury at what they have done
sōns sont-is (the) guilty
698 lēu-is e smooth (note the long ē and compare leuis)
699 iub-a ae 1f. mane
curuō 1*
ungu-is is 3m. claw
700 arm-us ī 2m. forequarter
701 uerrō 3 sweep
702 murmur -is 3n. growl. 702–3 make a tremendous tricolon with asyndeton
703 prō thalamīs: Ovid’s point is that these animals copulate in woods (as Hippomenes and Atalanta had just done), not bedrooms
celebrō 1 throng, crowd
704 domit-us a um tamed
Cybelēi-us a um of Cybele
frēn-um ī 2n. bit. Cybele, as goddess of wild nature, can tame wild animals to serve her
leōnēs: in apposition, ‘as lions’. Cybele reckoned death was too light a penalty (poena leuis, 698). Would eternal life as a domesticated lion pulling a chariot have appealed to ancient mythic heroes and heroines?
705 hōs: ‘these [animals]’ – object of tū . . . effuge (707); Venus now turns to Adonis to remind him of the lesson of her story – steer clear of wild beasts (543 ff.)
cār-us a um dear, precious
706 terga . . . pectora: neat chiasmus
707 damnōs-us a um ruinous
708 cycn-us ī 2m. swan. Venus is typically trans-ported by birds: swans and sparrows (said to have aphrodisiac qualities) are especially popular. When the Greek poetess Sappho (c. 600 BC) in a famous poem remembers calling on Aphrodite to help her, Aphrodite arrives ‘in a golden chariot, with pretty sparrows bringing you swiftly from heaven through the air across the black earth, wings whirring madly’ – as they would have to if you were sparrows pulling a goddess in a chariot
709 contrāri-us a um*
710 latebr-a ae 1f. hiding place, cover
cert-us a um unmistakable
711 exciō 4 rouse, start
parantem: refers to the boar, object of fīxerat
712 oblīqu-us a um from the side
*Cinyrēi-us a um of Cinyras (father of Adonis)
ict-us ūs 4m. blow, thrust
713 *excutiō 3/4 excussī shake/knock X (acc.) out/off
pand-us a um wide
uēnābul-um ī 2n. spear
rōstr-um ī 2n. snout. The boar uses his snout to knock the spears out
714 trepidum* . . . petentem: refers to Adonis
715 trux truc-is savage
inguen inguin-is 3n. groin
716 moribund-us a um*
sternō 3 strāuī lay low
717 uehor 3 pass. uectus be carried, borne; travel
718 Cypron: Greek acc. of Cyprus
olōrīn-us a um of a swan
719 agnōscō 3 agnōuī recognise
alb-us a um white
721 exanim-is e dead
iactō 1 shake, make X (acc.) writhe
722 dēsiliō 4 dēsiluī jump down
sin-us ūs 4m. breast
723 rumpō 3 rūpī tear at
indign-us a um guiltless
palm-a ae 1f.*
724 uestrī iūris: ‘under your control’
725 moniment-um ī 2n.*
726 mortis: i.e. of Adonis’ death
727 annu-us a um*: this is a golden line
plangor -is 3m.*
peragō 3 bring about (i.e. there will be an annual, ritual enactment of your death). The Adonia was a cult, celebrated by women, that originated in Cyprus and Byblos (in modern Lebanon) and was well established in Greece by the seventh century BC. Evidence for it is known from only three cities – Athens, Alexandria (Egypt) and Byblos itself. The ritual combined both mourning and rejoicing on behalf of Aphrodite and Adonis
simulāmen simulāmin-is 3n. imitation
728 an: the force here is ‘or is it the case that it was possible for you, Persephone, to . . . but it will not be for us?’
729 olēns olent-is fragrant
ment-a ae 1f. mint
730 Persephonē: the story was that the nymph Minthe, a concubine of Persephone’s husband Hades, was turned by Persephone into garden mint (menta)
inuidiae: predicative dative: ‘[A changed Adonis] will be for [an object of] envy [to us]’, i.e. will be refused us, RL88.6, WSuppl.syntax
731 fāta: participle from for fārī fātus 1 dep. speak
732 nectar -is 3n. nectar, the drink of the gods
odōrāt-us a um*
spargō 3 sparsī scatter
quī: picks up cruōrem
733 intumēscō 2 intumuī swell up
ut: introduces a simile
perlūcid-us a um clear, translucent
caen-um ī 2n. mud (see Study section)
734 bull-a ae 1f. bubble
735 concolor -is of the same colour
736 quālem: object of pūnica ferre solent; quae picks up pūnica
lent-us a um tough
cēlō 1 hide
cortex cortic-is 3m. rind
grān-um ī 2n. seed
737 pūnic-um (pōmum) bright-red (apple), i.e pomegranate
illō: i.e. the flower emerging from Adonis’ blood
738 leuitās leuitāt-is 3f. lightness
cadūc-us a um fragile, likely to fall
739 īdem: refers forward to uentī; the flower is the anemone, ‘wind-flower’ (Greek anemos, ‘wind’)
praestō 1 provide, produce
Notes
519–28: Being the offspring of his sister and father, not to mention born from a tree (520–2), Adonis might be expected to have experienced a challenging childhood. Its details, however, Ovid elides by talking about the deceptively fleeting passage of time (519–20) which sees Adonis progress from a beautiful baby through childhood and youth to become an even more handsome adult (522–3); and Ovid then connects Adonis’ story to his mother Myrrha’s (
which he had just told) by claiming that, when Venus falls in love with Adonis, Adonis somehow avenges his mother’s unfortunate passion for her father (524). Not that Venus set out to fall in love with him, Ovid emphasises: it was all down to her being accidentally scratched by her son Cupid’s arrow (525–8). Like Apollo before her (see e.g. passage 2, 1.452–74), no divinity is immune to Cupid’s darts, even his mother, mistress of sexual passion. Observe how the depth of the wound had deceived even her (528).
529–41: Adonis is a young man, and therefore a hunter. This, then, is what Venus must become if she is to be with her lover all the time (529, 533). So she abandons not only her natural sanctuaries but even Olympus itself (530–2). She puts on unfetching hunter’s gear like Diana’s and roams the hills (535–6): no more staying out of the sun to avoid a tan, or keeping herself fat, either (533–4). Nevertheless, there are fierce animals out there, and on these she is not keen (539–41; the epithets attached to them suggest her fears about them). So she confines herself to urging on the dogs and hunting the tamer beasts – note the neat contrast in height between hares and stags (537–9).
542–59: With a sympathetic apostrophe towards Adonis (tē . . . Adōni, 542–3), Ovid relates Venus’ orders to him: he is to be as worried about fierce animals as she is (543–4). Her motives, naturally, are governed by pure self-interest (545–7); she has no idea what glōria means to a young male. Her lecture on the implacable ferocity of wild beasts reads pretty richly coming from her (547–52) – as if Adonis did not know anyway – and it is no surprise when he wonders what on earth she is talking about (552). So she prepares to tell him a story involving culpa (553 – this prompts our curiosity); not before time either, judging by her exhaustion from the chase (554) and her eagerness to take advantage of the convenient locus amoenus, complete with torus (555–6). She wastes no time in placing herself in prime position on the ground (556–7), dragging him down at the same time (lovely syllepsis at 557 pressitque . . . ipsum), placing her head on his breast (558) and taking full advantage (559). We are not told what Adonis made of all this – but then, Adonis is notably speechless throughout, as a young man probably would be with the goddess of sexual passion running the relationship (and telling the story). On the other hand, a young man making his way in the mythic world does not willingly abandon the hunt – one of the main arenas where a man can show he is a man – in favour of lounging on the turf with a woman, even if that woman happens to be Venus. Will Adonis allow himself, like Venus, to be transformed for ‘love’?
