510. jussi potens, having fulfilled the command; the use of potens with the gen. meaning "ruling, having mastery over," etc., is not un

common.

511. recingitur auguem, unbinds from herself (i.e. takes off) the snake; see note on v. 483.

512. Aeolides, Athamas.

513. his silvis, loc. abl. with omission of in.

515. utque . conjugis, he follows the tracks of his wife like those of a wild beast.

518. rigido saxo, on the hard rock, abl. of means. - infantia ora, equivalent to infantis ora, his infant features, for the features of the infant. 520. sparsi causa veneni, a cause consisting of, etc.; veneni is an appositional genitive of material (§ 214, f; G. 361; H. 396, vi.).

521. passis, from pando. - male sana, equivalent to insana.

523. Euhoe Bacche: one of the regular shouts of the Bacchic revellers.

524. hos usus, such advantage as to increase your madness. — praestet, optative subjunctive. -alumnus: Ino was the nurse of Bacchus. 531. neptis: Harmonia (or Hermione), wife of Cadmus and mother of Ino, was daughter of Venus and Mars.

533. proxima caelo, nearest that of heaven.

535. Ionio immenso: hiatus in the fifth foot of spondaic lines is sometimes permitted.

538. Graium nomen, Aphrodite, from appós, foam.

542. Leucothee cum matre = et matrem Leucotheen; he called him the god Palamon and called his mother Leucotheë.

X. PERSEUS AND ANDROMEDA.

Acrisius, king of Argos, had been warned that he should be dethroned and slain by the child of his daughter Danaë, whom therefore, to elude the oracle, he confined in a dungeon with brazen walls. But Jupiter gained admission in the form of a shower of gold, and Danaë became the mother of Perseus. Being shut with the child-then four years of age in a chest or coffer, and cast into the sea, she drifted to the island of Seriphus, where the boy grew up, and was sent craftily by the tyrant of the island for the head of the Gorgon Medusa. In this enterprise he was helped and delivered by the friendly care of the divinities Mercury and

Minerva, who armed him for his task, gave him the power of flight, and made him invulnerable and invincible. (See, for an admirable narrative of the adventure, Kingsley's

with its two points, one straight and the other curved. (See the interpretation of the fable of the Gorgons in "Modern Painters," Vol. V. p. 150.)

617. Libycas, African: Libya was the earlier general name of Africa, the home of the Gorgons.

620. colubris, belongs with both frequens and infesta.

621. per immensum, through limitless space.

622. exemplo, in the manner.

623. seductas longe, far removed.

625. Cancri: used for the tropical region, as Arctos for the polar. 626. occasus, ortus, sc. solis, West and East.

627. jam cadente die, when day was already setting.

=

628. Hesperio far western. The gardens of the Hesperides, daughters of Atlas, were placed somewhere in the west of Africa. — regnis Atlantis: Atlas, "the unwearied," was king of Mauretania, son of Iapetus, and brother of Prometheus. After the rebellion of the Titans, he was condemned to bear the weight of heaven upon his shoulders.

630. Aurorae, se. currus. diurnos, of the day. The morning star, Lucifer, calls out the chariot of Aurora, and she, in turn, calls out that of the Sun. (Cf. Book II. vv. 112-115.)

631. hominum cunctos

sense of excel, usually takes the acc.

633. qui: the antecedent is pontus. 634. subdit: see Book II. v. 68.

635. illi: dative of reference (§ 235; G. 350, 1; H. 384, ii. 1, 2).

425.2

༦༢༢

636. vicinia nulla premebant: as Atlas inhabited the extreme end of the earth, his territory was not shut in by neighbors.

637. arboreae frondes, etc., a description of the garden of the Hesperides. Some report of oranges a fruit unknown to the ancients

may have helped in shaping the story of the golden apples.

639. seu, if on the one hand; sive, or if.

641. rerum, heroic deeds.

643. Themis see note, Book I. 321.

644. quo, at which, when, referring to tempus. separation with spoliabitur.

auro, abl. of

645. Jove natus: the son of Jupiter, who stole the golden apples of the Hesperides, was Hercules, himself a remote descendant of Perseus. 647. servanda, to keep, lit. to be kept (§ 294, d; G. 430; H. 544, 2, N.2).

649. ne longe... absit, lest the glory, etc., be far from helping thee. 650. mentiris, falsely boast. - tibi: the dat. after abesse in the sense of lack, fail (deesse), is common after Cicero, especially in poetry. 652. fortia: sc. dicta, threatening words.

654. parvi, of little worth.

655. Medusae ora: the horror of the countenance of Medusa, with its snaky locks, chilled the beholder into stone. Perseus himself had approached the monster averted, ipse retroversus, gazing at her reflection in the polished shield; and had borne the bleeding head in an enchanted sack, given him by the sea-nymphs.

657. quantus erat: sc. tantus

of just his size.

658. abeunt, pass, or are converted.

661. di: vocative.

663. Hippotades, Æolus, son of Hippotas, god of the winds.

664. admonitor operum, summoner to toil.

665. ille, Perseus.

666. parte ab utraque pedes

utrumque pedem, both feet.

669. Cephea (adj.), of Cepheus, king of Ethiopia, brother of Ægyptus and Danaus.

670. maternae linguae: Cassiopeia, mother of Andromeda, was

"That starred Ethiop queen that strove

To set her beauty's praise above

The sea-nymphs, and their powers offended."

Cepheus, Cassiopeia, Andromeda, and Perseus are among the most striking constellations in the northern heavens.

671. Ammon, the chief divinity of Egypt, identified with the Greek

Zeus (Jupiter); represented with the horns of a ram (see Fig. 17). He had an oracle in the Libyan desert.

672. quam: the relative where in English the demonstrative is used.—simul, for simul atque, as soon as.— bracchia, acc. of specification (§ 240, c; G. 338; H. 378).

673. Abantiades: Abas, king of Argos, descended from Danaus, was father of Acrisius, and great-grandfather of Perseus. — nisi quod, except that.

675. ignes, the flames of love.

679. quibus: sc. eis catenis:

680. requirenti: sc. mihi.

683. religata, i.e. her hands bound behind.

o

༠༠༠༦༠༠

Fig. 17.

Ammon.

AMMON

684. quod potuit, i.e. the only thing she could; its antecedent is the sentence lumina, etc.

...

685. saepius instanti, to him as he urged her again and again.— sua . . . videretur, that she might not seem to be unwilling to confess (i.e. to be trying to conceal) her own guilt; the clause depends upon indicat. Notice the emphatic position of sua; the real fault was her mother's, but she was afraid Perseus might think it was her own.

688. nondum . . . omnibus, before all was told.

690. imminet: he raises his head and neck above the water, and so overhangs a vast extent of sea (immenso ponto, dat.), while with his breast he occupies (possidet) a broad stretch of water.

692. illa: the mother had more reason for grief, by reason of her offence, which incurred this penalty.

695. lacrimarum limits tempora; manere governs vos.

697. peterem, seek in marriage; the imperfect subjunctive, although not implying that the condition is contrary to fact (§ 307, f; G. 596, 2). - Perseus: in appos. with ego; so also in v. 699. — illa, Danaë. (See introductory note.)

416

702. meritum: i.e. that the boon should be my own earning. dotibus, endowments. faveant, subj. in proviso (§ 314; G. 573; H. 587 513, i.).—tempto: the present is sometimes used instead of the future for the sake of liveliness.

703. ut mea sit, that she be mine.

704. legem, condition.

=

705. super insuper. — dotale, a bridal gift. In Ovid's time the wife brought a dowry to the husband. This usage he has transferred to the heroic times, when the husband purchased the wife from her parents.

497

389.4

706. rostro: construe with sulcat.

709. Balearica: the people of these islands were famous slingers. 710. plumbo, i.e. the leaden slug thrown by the sling. — caeli, space: partitive genitive with quantum.

714. Jovis praepes, the eagle.

715. praebentem Phoebo, turning to the sun.

716. neu retorqueat, and lest he turn back; the snake, being seized by the neck, cannot turn his head to bite his assailant.

718. inane, the void (i.e. air).

720. Inachides: Inachos, son of Oceanus, was the first king of Argos. -hamo: see note, v. 616.

721. se sublimis . . . attolit, raises himself high in the air; sublimis agrees with the subject. In English we use an adverb (see § 191; G. 325, R.6; H. 443).

725. qua patent, where they are exposed.

727. desinit in piscem, goes off into a fish, i.e. ends in the form of a fish-tail.

729. graves, made heavy.

730. bibulis, soaked with blood.

732. stantibus, quiet; abl. abs.

734. exegit, thrust through; repetita, attacked repeatedly.

Fig. 18.

Andromeda.

tory consecutive clause.

735. implevere: the plural subject is cum plausu clamor (§ 205, N.; G. 285, N.2; H. 461, 4).

754. bellica Virgo, Minerva. She had given Perseus his helmet, shield, and spear; Mercury had given him wings and curved sword; Jupiter was his grandfather: hence the sacrifices to these three deities.