Sola prius furnis torrebant farra coloni, Et Fornacali sunt sua sacra deae: 315 Suppositum cineri panem focus ipse parabat Strataque erat tepido tegula quassa solo. Inde focum servat pistor dominamque focorum METAMORPHOSES [Ovid's greatest work, the fruit of the best years of the prime of his life, when his imagination had ripened and his poetic vigor was at its height, was the Metamorphoses. Unlike all his other works, this is written in Dactylic Hexameter, and approaches the epic in form and dignity of treatment. In this great poem he attempts no less a task than the linking together into one artistically harmonious whole all the stories of classical mythology. And this he accomplishes, advancing in mighty strides, until the whole range of wonders is passed in review, from the dawn of creation, when chaos became the orderly universe, down to the very age of the poet himself, when the soul of Julius Caesar was changed to a star and set in the heavens among the immortals. Every important myth is at least touched upon, and though they differ widely in place and circumstance, there is no break. The poet has seized upon every possible thread of connection as he passes on from cycle to cycle of story; and where this connection is lacking, by various ingenious and artistic devices, a connecting link is found. As a result, the poem is an unbroken account of the ancient world from the time of the creation, being a strange blending of pure myth, tradition, and actual history. The poem forms a more or less complete manual of classical mythology, and is, perhaps, the most important source of wonder stories for all writers since Ovid's time. This is the real, tangible service which he has done the world, a service which no one, who considers the immense value of these old yet ever new tales that had their origin in the childhood of the world, will be inclined to underrate. Many of these stories could be now obtained from the sources whence Ovid himself drew them from Homer, Hesiod, the Greek tragedians, and the later Alexandrine poets. And yet many, but for him, would have been entirely lost to us; and all he has so vivified by his strong poetic imagination that they come down to us with an added freshness and life. The most interesting parts of the Metamorphoses have been selected for the present edition of the poet and the omitted portions are given in outline, so that the student may not only have the substance of the whole work in hand, but may be able to see the methods by which Ovid has united and harmonized the various cycles of stories.] BOOK I [May the gods, who themselves have wrought all changes, aid me as I shall attempt to describe them.] In nova fert animus mutatas dicere formas Ad mea perpetuum deducite tempora carmen. [In the beginning Chaos reigned, a universe of warring elements in one shapeless mass.] 5 Ante mare et terras et, quod tegit omnia, caelum Unus erat toto naturae vultus in orbe, Quem dixere Chaos; rudis indigestaque moles, Nec quicquam nisi pondus iners congestaque eodem Non bene iunctarum discordia semina rerum. 10 Nullus adhuc mundo praebebat lumina Titan, Nec nova crescendo reparabat cornua Phoebe, Nec circumfuso pendebat in aëre tellus Ponderibus librata suis, nec bracchia longo Margine terrarum porrexerat Amphitrite. 15 Utque erat et tellus illic et pontus et aër, Sic erat instabilis tellus, innabilis unda, Lucis egens aër. Nulli sua forma manebat, Obstabatque aliis aliud, quia corpore in uno Frigida pugnabant calidis, umentia siccis, 20 Mollia cum duris, sine pondere habentia pondus. [These elements were at length separated and allotted to their proper places in the Cosmos, or orderly universe.] Hanc deus et melior litem natura diremit ; Nam caelo terras et terris abscidit undas, Ignea convexi vis et sine pondere caeli Densior his tellus, elementaque grandia traxit Ultima possedit solidumque coërcuit orbem. [Then was the earth itself molded into shape and its various surface features formed. The five terrestrial zones also were established, corresponding to similar divisions of the heavens.] Sic ubi dispositam, quisquis fuit ille deorum, 35 Parte foret, magni speciem glomeravit in orbis. OVID - 5 Cura dei, totidemque plagae tellure premuntur. Quarum quae media est, non est habitabilis aestu; 50 Nix tegit alta duas: totidem inter utramque locavit, Temperiemque dedit mixta cum frigore flamma. [The atmosphere, with its mists and clouds, thunders and winds; the highest spaces of pure, weightless aether.] Imminet his aër; qui, quanto est pondere terrae 55 Iussit, et humanas motura tonitrua mentes Cum sua quisque regant diverso flamina tractu, 60 Quin lanient mundum; tanta est discordia fratrum. Eurus ad auroram Nabataeaque regna recessit Persidaque et radiis iuga subdita matutinis. Vesper et occiduo quae litora sole tepescunt, Proxima sunt Zephyro; Scythiam septemque trionem 65 Horrifer invasit Boreas. Contraria tellus Nubibus assiduis pluvioque madescit ab Austro. Haec super imposuit liquidum et gravitate carentem [Then appeared the heavenly lights; and earth, water, air and sky were filled with forms of life.] Vix ita limitibus dissaepserat omnia certis, 70 Cum, quae pressa diu massa latuere sub illa, |