200 Inscribenda tuo est; ego sum tibi funeris auctor. Quæ mea culpa tamen? nisi si lusisse vocari Culpa potest, nisi culpa potest et amasse vocari ? Atque utinam pro te vitam tecumve liceret 30 Reddere! Sed quoniam fatali lege tenemur, Semper eris mecum memorique hærebis in ore. Te lyra pulsa manu, te carmina nostra sonabunt, 205 Flosque novus scripto gemitus imitabere nostros. Tempus et illud erit, quo se fortissimus heros 35 Addat in hunc florem, folioque legatur eodem.” Talia dum vero memorantur Apollinis ore, Ecce cruor, qui fusus humi signaverat herbam, Desinit esse cruor, Tyrioque nitentior ostro, Flos oritur, formamque capit, quam lilia,—si non 40 Purpureus color his, argenteus esset in illis. 210 Non satis hoc Phœbo est ;-is enim fuit auctor honoris ; Ipse suos gemitus foliis inscribit, et AI AI 215 Flos habet inscriptum, funestaque litera ducta est. Nec genuisse pudet Sparten Hyacinthon, honorque 45 Durat in hoc ævi, celebrandaque more priorum Annua prælata redeunt Hyacinthia pompa. XL. VENUS AND ADONIS. (X. 529-739.) Adônis, according to the Grecian legend, was the son of the king and priest Cinyras in the island of Cyprus. Venus, won by his extraordinary beauty, often passed her time in his company, and, as Ovid says, foreign to her nature as was the toil of the chase, yet, by the side of Adōnis, she delighted in threading the woods as a huntress. But, as if foreboding the death of her favorite, she warned him against the dangerous wild beasts, such as boars and lions: and on one occasion she related to him the inserted story of Atalanta (see below). In spite, however, of the goddess's warning, Adōnis in her absence chased a boar, which, turning upon its pursuer, gored him to death with its terrible tusk. Great was the grief of Venus, who by way of consolation caused flowers to spring from the blood of her favorite (viz. Anemonies or Wind-roses, from the Greek aveμos, whence venti præstant nomina, v. 154), and by the image of her lamentation (plangoris simulamina, v. 142) represented in the yearly recurring festival of the so-called Adonia. The whole legend, being thus remodelled after the Greek fashion, has taken such a shape as corresponds with the anthropomorphic (man-resembling) gods of the Greek Olympus. But the proper origin of the legend was certainly in the East, where Adonis, transformed by the Greeks to a beautiful youth, symbolically signified a higher deity or power of nature, which moves in an alternation of existence and extinction. Hence also the festivals of Adonis (Adonia) celebrated by the Greeks, presented two sides, inasmuch as they partly exhibited, in processions and the wailings of women, the power of dissolution and the mourning for the lost Adonis, whose funeral obsequies were conducted with all solemnity; and partly at another moment of the festival showed, by gay pageantry, the joy of Venus in the company, or in her recovery of her beloved Adōnis. For in some places the funeral rites preceded the merry pageant, and at others followed it. Incendit Veneris pectus formosus Adonis. Capta viri forma non jam Cythereïa curat Litora, non alto repetit Paphon æquore cinctam, 530 Piscosamque Gnidon gravidamque Amathunta metallis ; 5 Abstinet et cœlo: cœlo præfertur Adonis. Hunc tenet, huic comes est; assuetaque semper in umbra Indulgere sibi, formamque augere colendo, Per juga, per silvas dumosaque saxa vagatur Nuda genu, vestem ritu succincta Dianæ, 10 Hortaturque canes; tutæque animalia prædæ, Aut pronos lepores, aut celsum in cornua cervum, Aut agitat damas; a fortibus abstinet apris, Raptoresque lupos armatosque unguibus ursos Vitat, et armenti saturatos cæde leones. 15 535 540 Te quoque, ut hos timeas,-si quid prodesse monendo 545 Posset-Adoni, monet, "Fortisque fugacibus esto:" Inquit, "in audaces non est audacia tuta. Parce meo, juvenis, temerarius esse periclo; Neve feras, quibus arma dedit natura, lacesse,20 Stet mihi ne magno tua gloria. Non movet ætas Nec facies, nec quæ Venerem movere, leones Setigerosque sues, oculosque animosque ferarum. Fulmen habent acres in aduncis dentibus apri; 550 25 Invisumque mihi genus est." Quæ causa, roganti "Dicam," ait, "et veteris monstrum mirabere culpæ." (Venus here relates to Adonis the legend of Atalanta.-Atalanta, with whom none of the other sex could compete in running, had received an oracle which told her to avoid marriage, but at the same time foretold, that she could not do so; and, still stranger, that she should live on without herself [Nec tamen effugies (sc. conjugem), teque ipsa viva carebis]. Alarmed by this response of the oracle, she laid down a law, that none should obtain her hand in marriage who had not first defeated her in the race. After many suitors had failed, one, whose stratagem is described below, by the assistance of Venus, prevailed, but, forgetting to show his gratitude to the goddess, was severely punished, both in his own person and in that of Atalanta.) Non tamen eventu juvenis deterritus horum 600 Constitit in medio, vultuque in virgine fixo, 'Quid facilem titulum superando quæris inertes ? 30 Mecum confer!" ait. Seu me fortuna potentem Fecerit a tanto non indignabere vinci ; Namque mihi genitor Megareus Onchestius, illi 605 Est Neptunus avus: pronepos ego regis aquarum ; Nec virtus citra genus est.-Seu vincar: habebis 35 Hippomene victo magnum et memorabile nomen." Talia dicentem molli Schoeneïa vultu Adspicit, et dubitat, superari an vincere malit; 610 Atque ita, "Quis Deus hunc formosis," inquit, "iniquus Perdere vult, caræque jubet discrimine vitæ 40 Conjugium petere hoc? Non sum me judice tanti. Nec forma tangor;-poteram tamen hac quoque tangi; Sed quod adhuc puer est. Non me movet ipse, sed ætas. 615 Quid, quod inest virtus et mens interrita leti ? Quid, quod ab æquorea numeratur origine quartus ? 45 Quid, quod amat, tantique putat connubia nostra, Ut pereat, si me fors illi dura negarit? Dum licet, hospes, abi, thalamosque relinque cruen tos: Conjugium crudele meum est. Tibi nubere nulla 620 Nolet, et optari potes a sapiente puella.— 50 Cur tamen est mihi cura tui tot jam ante peremtis? Dixerat, utque rudis primoque Cupidine tacta, 635 Invocat Hippomenes: "Cythereïa, comprecor, ausis Adsit," ait, "nostris et, quos dedit, adjuvet ignes!" Detulit aura preces ad me non invida blandas, 70 Motaque sum-fateor;-nec opis mora longa da batur. 642 Est ager,-indigenæ Tamaseum nomine dicunt— Telluris Cypriæ pars optima: quam mihi prisci 645 Sacravere senes, templisque accedere dotem 650 Hanc jussere meis; medio nitet arbor in arvo, 75 Fulva comam, fulvo ramis crepitantibus auro. Hinc tria forte mea veniens decerpta ferebam Aurea poma manu; nullique videnda nisi ipsi Hippomenen adii, docuique quis usus in illis. Signa tubæ dederant; cum carcere pronus uterque 80 Emicat et summam celeri pede libat arenam. Posse putes illos sicco freta radere passu Et segetis canæ stantes percurrere aristas. Adjiciunt animos juveni clamorque favorque Verbaque dicentum, "Nunc, nunc incumbere tempus, 85 Hippomene: propera! Nunc viribus utere totis ! Pelle moram: vinces!" Dubium, Megareïus heros Gaudeat an virgo magis his Schoeneïa dictis. O quoties, cum jam posset transire, morata est, 655 660 Spectatosque diu vultus invita reliquit ! 90 Aridus e lasso veniebat anhelitus ore, 665 Metaque erat longe: tum denique de tribus unum 95 Præterit Hippomenes: resonant spectacula plausu Illa moram celeri cessataque tempora cursu Corrigit, atque iterum juvenem post terga relinquit. Et rursus pomi jactu remorata secundi, 670 Consequitur transitque virum. Pars ultima cursus 100 Restabat: "Nunc," inquit, "ades, dea muneris auctor!" Inque latus campi, quo tardius illa rediret, 675 Præterita est virgo; duxit sua præmia victor. 680 Dignane, cui grates ageret, cui turis honorem Ferret, Adoni, fui? Nec grates immemor egit, 110 Nec mihi tura dedit. Subitam convertor in iram, Contemtuque dolens, ne sim spernenda futuris, Exemplo caveo, meque ipsa exhortor in ambos. 685 Pœna gravis placuit: ergo modo lævia fulvæ Colla jubæ velant, digiti curvantur in ungues, 115 Ex humeris armi fiunt, in pectora totum 700 Pondus abit, summæ cauda verruntur arenæ ; Iram vultus habet, pro verbis murmura reddunt; Pro thalamis celebrant silvas, aliisque timendi Dente premunt domito Cybeleïa frena leones. 120 Hos tu, care mihi, cumque his genus omne fe rarum, 705 Quæ non terga fugæ, sed pugnæ pectora præbent, Illa quidem monuit, junctisque per aera cygnis Carpit iter; sed stat monitis contraria virtus. 125 Forte suem latebris, vestigia certa secuti, R 710 |