756. alipedi, Mercury. (See Fig. 19.)

757. et... indotata, though without a dowry, a (sufficient) reward

772. Agenorides, Perseus, descended from a brother of Agenor.

775. unius luminis usum: the sisters Graiæ, daughters of Phorcys, had but one eye between them, which Perseus - made invisible by the cap of Plutocaught as it was passing from

one to the other. Thus made helpless,

they were constrained to tell him the

secrets on which the fate of the Gorgon S

depended.

775. partitas, sharing.

780. ferarumque: observe that the syllable -que is elided before the vowel at the beginning of the next verse (synapheia).

781. ex ipsis = from their proper shape.

783. aere repercusso, i.e. by the image reflected from the polished brass; limited by clipei, above (see note, v. 655).

785. caput: see Fig. 20. - pennis fugacem Pegason: the winged horse Pegasus, sacred to the Muses, and the

Fig. 20.

giant Chrysaor, wielding a golden sword, sprang from the blood of the slain Gorgon.

791. sola sororum: the accounts of the three sisters are various.

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.; 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.

756. alipedi, Mercury. (See Fig. 19.)

757. et... indotata, though without a dowry, a (sufficient) reward

772. Agenorides, Perseus, descended from a brother of Agenor.

775. unius luminis usum: the sisters Graiæ, daughters of Phorcys, had but one eye between them, which Perseus - made invisible by the cap

of Pluto caught as it was passing from

one to the other. Thus made helpless, they were constrained to tell him the secrets on which the fate of the Gorgon depended.

775. partitas, sharing.

780. ferarumque: observe that the syllable -que is elided before the vowel at the beginning of the next verse (synapheia).

781. ex ipsis = from their proper shape.

783. aere repercusso, i.e. by the image reflected from the polished brass; limited by clipei, above (see note, v. 655).

785. caput: see Fig. 20.- pennis fugacem Pegason: the winged horse Pegasus, sacred to the Muses, and the

giant Chrysaor, wielding a golden sword, sprang from the blood of the slain Gorgon.

791. sola sororum: the accounts of the three sisters are various.

591.1

According to the story here adopted by Ovid, Medusa was the only one
with snaky locks. She was also the only mortal being of the three.
794. forma, abl. of specification.

795. invidiosa, envied by other maidens.

797. referret, subj. of characteristic (§ 320; G. 631, 2; H. 503, i.). 798. vitiasse, dishonored.

Fig. 21.

803. Minerva wore a Gorgon's head upon her breastplate. (See Fig. 21.)

The tale of Perseus (like that of Hercules and many other heroes) represents the daily course of the sun, in conflict with the powers of darkness and storm. The harpe is his gleaming ray; the Graiæ are the twilight; the Gorgons are the stormcloud, which rests upon the bosom of the seawave, and is cloven by the "golden sword" of the lightning. The jagged edges of the cloud, and the crimson stream which pours from it in the glow of sunset, help out the features of the image.

Minsure an collis
Minerva.

XI. THE WANDERING OF CERES.

Ceres, in the Greek myth, is the Earth-Mother (Anunτnp), type of the productive power of the soil, who seeks her child Proserpina (Persephone, called also Kópŋ, the maiden), stolen from her sight by the king of the lower world, and only restored to her by Jupiter for six months of each year. By this parable the ancients understood the annual sowing of the grain-harvest, by which the corn is hidden in the ground through the winter months, but restored in spring to sunlight, and ripening to the harvest, in which the yearly festival of Ceres is celebrated with religious rites.

V. 341. Ceres: see Fig. 22. unco aratro: the ancient plough, still sometimes seen in Italy, was a rude wooden instrument, which broke the soil with its hooked extremity.

343. dedit leges: because agriculture first led men to an orderly life, she was called Ceres legifera (Δημήτηρ Θεσμοφόρος).

346. membris (dat. after ingesta), heaped on the giant limbs (Ty

phoeus; see Introd.). Typhoeus was not reckoned one of the giants, but represented the violent powers of nature, especially in the earthquake: hence he is placed for punishment under the volcano Etna.

347. Trinacris, "the three headlands," is the ancient name describing the triangular form of Sicily, which, on a rude map, might suggest the notion of a buried giant. - subjectum and ausum agree with Typhoea; molibus depends on subjectum, and sperare on ausum; sedes is object of spe

rare.

350. Peloro, etc.: Pelorus is the headland nearest Italy; Pachynus, the southeastern extremity of the island; Libybæum, the western. —Ausonio, Italian (an old name of Southern Italy).

352. resupinus, flat on his back.

354. remoliri, to cast off (with effort).

356. rex silentum, king of the silent realms, Pluto.

361. ambibat, surveyed, going his rounds, like a watchman.

363. Erycina, Venus, who had

a famous temple on Mt. Eryx, in the western part of Sicily, appar

Fig. 22.

Ceres.

ently of Phoenician origin. Eryx was fabled to be her son, killed by Hercules in a boxing-match, and buried on this mountain. (See Virgil, Æn. V. 392-420.)

364. natum volucrem, her winged son, Cupido (= "Epws) or Desire, son of Venus: the modern Cupid, whose attributes of bow and arrows, with wings, have come down from ancient works of art. (See Fig. 23.) 365. arma, manus, potentia: all vocative, in apposition with

nate.

366. illa tela, those shafts, pointed with gold or lead, according as they were to stir love or hate.

368. triplicis . . regni, the last lot fell of the threefold realm;