25 30 35 40 formaque non taciti funeris intus erat. femina virque meo, pueri quoque, funere maerent: si licet exemplis in parvo grandibus uti: haec facies Troiae, cum caperetur, erat. hanc ego suspiciens et ad hanc Capitolia cernens, iamque oculis numquam templa videnda meis, et quamquam sero clipeum post vulnera sumo, ut quod vos scitis, poenae quoque sentiat auctor: 3. 25. parvo A parvis GHPV. 22. non taciti funeris: cf. Hor. Sat. 1, 6, 42: hic, si plostra ducenta concurrantque foro tria funera magna, sonabit cornua quod vincatque tubas. 26. Cf. Verg. Aen. 2, 486 sqq.: at domus interior gemitu miseroque tumultu miscetur, etc. 27. iamque quiescebant: i.e. it was bedtime in Rome. 28. equos: Luna drove a biga ; cf. Preller, Vol. 1, p. 328. 29. ad hanc: 'by her light.' Cf. Verg. Aen. 4, 513: ad lunam quaeruntur herbae. Capi 45 50 55 60 hac prece adoravi superos ego: pluribus uxor, iamque morae spatium nox praecipitata negabat, ah! quotiens aliquo dixi properante 'quid urges? 43. adstrata G attracta HP attacta V intracta A prostrata w. 42. sonos = verba. 44. extinctos . . . focos: a sign of mourning over the desperate condition of the family; cf. Tib. I, I, 6, n. 45. adversos: 'before her.' 48. Arctos = Callisto: cf. Cat. 66, 66, n. The revolution of the Great Bear is a nightly phe nomenon. 51. urges sc. me. 52. quo ie. Tomi. - festinas: the subjunctive is more usual in this form of question; but vide may best be considered paratactic. 55. ter: cf. Tib. 1, 3, 11. 3, 20. 59. meque ipse fefelli: 'lost my self-control.' 60. pignora here seems to include other friends besides his immediate family. 65 70 75 80 85 denique 'quid propero? Scythia est, quo mittimur,' inquam : 'Roma relinquenda est. utraque iusta morast. uxor in aeternum vivo mihi viva negatur, o mihi Thesea pectora iuncta fide! dum licet, amplectar- numquam fortasse licebit dividor haud aliter, quam si mea membra relinquam, sic doluit Mettus tunc, cum in contraria versos tunc vero exoritur clamor gemitusque meorum, tunc vero coniunx, umeris abeuntis inhaerens, miscuit haec lacrimis tristia verba suis : non potes avelli: simul hinc, simul ibimus' inquit: et mihi facta via est: et me capit ultima terra: te iubet a patria discedere Caesaris ira, 62. mora: 'cause for delay.' 66. Thesea. . . fide: the proverbial friendship between Theseus and Pirithous. 68. in lucro clear gain.' 75. Mettus: Mettius Fufetius, who, for treachery against his Roman allies, was condemned to be torn asunder by two quadrigae driven in opposite directions. 90 95 100 vixque dedit victas utilitate manus. sive illud erat sine funere ferri — nec gemuisse minus, quam si nataeque meumque et voluisse mori, moriendo ponere sensus, respectuque tamen non voluisse mei. vivat! et absentem- quoniam sic fata tulerunt- LIBER QVARTVS IO Ille ego qui fuerim, tenerorum lusor amorum, 97. meumque A virique GHV. 88. dedit. . . manus: 'gave in'; a gladiatorial expression; cf. Cic. De Am. 99: ad extremum det manus vincique se patiatur. 89. sine funere ferri: my funeral without my corpse,' and of course largely, if not entirely, lacking in mourners. 90. 'In mourning garments, with unkempt hair and unshaven face'; all signs of mourning. 97. nataeque: her daughter by a former marriage (cf. 4, 10, 73, n.); wife of P. Suillius Rufus, a man of good rank and various honors, who subsequently himself suffered banishment. 99. ponere sensus: i.e. to drown her sorrows. IOI. tulerunt: 'have decreed.' 102. Cf. 4, 10, 73, n. 4, 10 Autobiography of Ovid. The custom of the Augustan poets was 5 ΤΟ 15 Sulmo mihi patria est, gelidis uberrimus undis, siquid id est, usque a proavis vetus ordinis heres, una celebrata est per duo liba dies. haec est armiferae festis de quinque Minervae, imus ad insignes urbis ab arte viros. 10. 7. siquid id vulg. si quis et Postgate. 8. modo vulg. sum Riese. to put such poems at the close of some work (cf. Am. 3, 15, Intr.). Here Ovid at the end of Bk. 4 of his Tristia gives the most complete account of his life, though it is supplemented by many other passages in other Tristia and other groups of poems. Written in the spring of the year 11 A.D. at Tomi. 1. Ille ego 'the well-known writer that I am.' — qui( = qualis) fuerim indirect question. — tenerorum. . . amorum: probably intended to include the Heroides as well as the three books of the Amores.-lusor: cf. Cat. 68, 17. 3. Sulmo: cf. Am. 2, 16, 1, n. - gelidis . . . undis: cf. 3, 15, 11. 6. Cf. Tib. 3, 5, 18, n. 7. Cf. Am. 3, 15, 5. description of the opposite type of equestrian nobility, referred to in verse 8, cf. Hor. Epod. 4. 10. Ovid's older brother, Lucius, was exactly a year older than he. He died at the age of twenty (cf. v. 31). 12. liba for the offerings on birthdays cf. Tib. 2, 2, 7-8. 13. festis de quinque : sc. diebus. The festival of Quinquatrus or Quinquatria was sacred to Minerva, and was originally celebrated on the fifth day after the Ides of March. After 168 B.C., however, the original significance of the name being forgotten, the festival was extended to include five days. Ovid was born on the second of these, March 20. For a 16. Cf. Intr. § 38. |