ΙΟ Forma decens, vestis tenuissima, vultus amantis; Et pedibus vitium causa decoris erat. Venit et ingenti violenta Tragoedia passu. Fronte comae torva, palla iacebat humi; Laeva manus sceptrum late regale movebat, Lydius alta pedum vincla cothurnus erat. 15 Et prior 'ecquis erit' dixit 'tibi finis amandi, O argumenti lente poeta tui? 20 Nequitiam vinosa tuam convivia narrant, Saepe aliquis digito vatem designat euntem, Atque ait "hic, hic est, quem ferus urit Amor." Fabula, nec sentis, tota iactaris in Urbe, Dum tua praeterito facta pudore refers. 30 Hactenus, et movit pictis innixa cothurnis Densum caesarie terque quaterque caput. Altera, si memini, limis subrisit ocellis ; (Fallor, an in dextra myrtea virga fuit?) 35 'Quid gravibus verbis, animosa Tragoedia,' dixit 'Me premis? an numquam non gravis esse potes? Imparibus tamen es numeris dignata moveri : In me pugnasti versibus usa meis. 40 Non ego contulerim sublimia carmina nostris : Sum levis, et mecum levis est, mea cura, Cupido: 45 50 Non sum materia fortior ipsa mea; Et tamen emerui plus, quam tu, posse ferendo Multa supercilio non patienda tuo. Rustica sit sine me lascivi mater Amoris : Huic ego proveni lena comesque deae; Atque impercussos nocte movere pedes. Non verita a populo praetereunte legi; 60 Quid, cum me munus natali mittis, at illa Munus habes, quod te iam petit ista, meum.' Altera me sceptro decoras altoque cothurno: Iam nunc contacto magnus in ore sonus; 65 Altera das nostro victurum nomen amori: 70 Ergo ades et longis versibus adde breves! [That the tragic Muse did win a temporary sway, and that the poet did write at least one play, on the theme of Medea, is attested by Quintilian (X. 1, 98), who speaks of the tragedy in terms of praise: Ovidii Medea videtur mihi ostendere, quantum ille vir praestare potu- . erit, si ingenio suo imperare quam indulgere maluisset. Tacitus also (Dialogus, 12) bears testimony to the popularity of this play in his time: Plures hodie reperies, qui Ciceronis gloriam quam qui Vergilii detrectent: nec ullus Asinii aut Messallae liber tam inlustris est quam Medea Ovidii aut Varii Thyestes. The play is again mentioned in the fifth century A.D. in a letter of Valerius to Rufinus, containing a caution against marriage: Lege Medeam Nasonis, et vix pauca invenies impossibilia mulieri. When we consider the masterly way in which the poet has treated this same theme in the seventh book of the Metamorphoses, we cannot but regret the almost utter loss of this tragedy. Of the whole play one line alone remains, quoted by Quintilian (VIII. 5, 6) as an example of a 'sententia': Vehementius apud Ovidium Medea dicit, Servare potui; perdere an possim, rogas? The works of the second period of Ovid's life are two in number: the Fasti and the Metamorphoses. Both were written, but neither was published before the banishment of the poet, which so suddenly interrupted his prosperous career at Rome.] TRAGIC AND COMIC MASKS (From a Mosaic preserved in the Capitoline Museum at Rome) FASTI [The Fasti, or Calendar enumerates the various religious festivals of the Romans in their chronological order, and narrates the traditional events which are connected with these holidays. The poet undertakes an explanation of the names of the various months, and accounts for the origin of many Roman customs and festivals. It is a poem of times and places, which makes the work of great value to the student of Roman antiquities. The plan of the work included twelve books, one for each month; and while there is evidence that the poet completed his first sketch of the whole work, the first six books only have come down to us. These were finished in their original form before Ovid's banishment in A.D. 9, and were addressed to Augustus; but they remained unpublished until the death of Augustus in A.D. 14. At this time the poet revised his first book, and, dedicating it to Germanicus, the adopted son of Tiberius, sent the whole to Rome in the vain hope that by this means he might gain the favor of the new Emperor. This book, like all the previous poems of Ovid, is in the elegiac measure. A selection of typical passages is here presented.] BOOK I. JANUARY [The poet dedicates his revised work to Germanicus.] Tempora cum causis Latium digesta per annum Excipe pacato, Caesar Germanice, vultu |