18. ab: goes with cultu; an unusual position. 19. scelerate guilty creature. perisset: would have perished. 20. dempta forent: would have been removed. 21. ingrato meritum exprobrare: to reproach an ungrateful man with the kindness you have shown him. 22. hac sc. voluptate. Colchos: 23. Iussus: Jason was sent on this dangerous mission by his uncle Pelias, King of Iolcus in Thessaly, who, on account of an oracular warning, feared Jason and sought in this manner to compass his death. inexpertam: untried. puppim ship; by Synecdoché. towards the Colchians. In prose a preposition would be necessary. 25. Medea: I, Medea. the daughter of Creon, King of Corinth. Hoc, quod: what. 26. quam, etc.: my father was as rich as hers is. 27. Ephyren: an old name for Corinth. nova nupta: Creusa, bimarem: between the two seas; situated on the narrow isthmus; compare Met. v. 407. tenus: as far as Scythia. Scythia 28. qua: where. He holds everything on the left coast of the Black Sea up to Scythia on the north. 29. hospitio: with hospitality, hospitably. of Aeetes. Compare poeta and wo‹ntýs. 30. pictos: embroidered. Aeeta: a Latinized form toros couches, on which they were sup corpora posed to recline at the meal according to Roman custom. Graia ye, Grecian men; apposition. 31. quis esses: who thou wast. 32. Illa fuit, etc.: compare VERG. Aen. IV. 169: 33. Et vidi et perii: I both saw and was overcome. arsi compare Met. vII. 13: nec notis ignibus mirumque, nisi hoc est, aut aliquid certe simile huic, quod amare vocatur. 34. ad at the altars of. 35. Et formosus eras, etc.: compare Met. vII. 84: Et casu solito formosior Aesone natus illa luce fuit posses ignoscere amanti. trahebant: were dragging me on. 36. abstulerant lumina nostra: had captivated mine. Sed male dissimulo. Quis enim celaverit ignem, Quis enim, 39. lex: the condition, on which the golden fleece might be obtained. ut: namely, that. The clause is in apposition to lex. 40. premeres: Past Sequence after the historical Present. plow, plowshare. He was to yoke and plow the oxen. vomere: Ac 41. Martis tauri: seems to be an inaccuracy on the part of Ovid. cording to Apollonius, it was the field that bore the name of Mars; so Ov. Met. VII. 101. plus quam per cornua saevi: dreadful not alone on account of their horns, but especially on account of the flames. 42. quorum, etc.: whose breath was terrible fire. Compare APOL. RH. III. 410 : στόματι φλόγα φυσιόωντες : breathing flames from their mouths. 43. aere, etc. their feet were of solid bronze (lit. solid with bronze), with bronze were their nostrils lined. Ovid would refine a little, in this and the next line, on APOL. RH. III. 230: καί οἱ χαλκόποδας ταύρους κάμε, χάλκεα δέ σφεων ἦν στόματ' : 'and he made for him bulls with feet of bronze and their mouths were of bronze.' 45. populos: i.e. homines. 46. devota manu: with a doomed hand; as his death would naturally have followed. 47. corpora: poetic Plural. ready-armed. 49. custodis: that is, the dragon. telis natis secum: they sprang up 50. ultimus labor: this was not one of the conditions, but was rendered necessary by the refusal of Aeetes to abide by the compact. 52. deserit: deserts; that is, is removed from. 53. Quam tibi tunc longe: how far from thee then; they could not help thee. Nearer aid was needed. Compare Met. iv. 649: ‘vade procul, ne longe gloria rerum, quam mentiris,' ait, 'longe tibi Iuppiter absit.' 55. prosequor: accompany. My moist eyes were fixed on thee as thou departedst. 56. lingua: my tongue. 57. male saucia: badly wounded; with the darts of love. Compare VERG. Aen. IV. 1: At regina gravi iamdudum saucia cura. 58. nox, quanta fuit: the live-long night. was passed in tears. acta est per lacrimas: 61. Hinc amor, hinc timor est: compare Met. VII. 10 ff.; APOL. RH. III. 646 ff. Hinc...hinc: on one side... on the other. 63. Disiectam comas: with hair dishevelled. 338; A. & G. 240, c; B. 180; H. 378. comas: Acc. of Respect: adversa in ora: face down. adversa: lit. turned to the bed. 64. invenit: Perfect or Present? 65. Orat opem Minyis: she begs aid for the Minyans, i.e. the Argonauts, because she has sons in their number. altera... alter: the one (her sister)...the other (her lover). habebit shall receive. She granted the request, but not for her sister's sake. See Appendix. 67. Est nemus, etc.: there is a grove, dark with the pitch-pine and the leaves of the holm-oak. 68. radiis: Dative. 69. fuerant certe: at least there was. delubra: a shrine, temple. 70. aurea dea: a golden goddess; i.e. statue. 71. exciderunt: fallen from thy memory, been forgotten. mecum: as I have. The e is often short in the Perf. ending erunt for metrical reasons. For the heterogeneous Pl. loca, see 67, 2; A. & G. 78, 2, b; B. 60, 2; H. 141. 72. orsus: from ordior. Avoid confusing with orior. 74. tua est: pronounce tuāst, by Aphaeresis: 719, r. 76. servatus: if I am saved, or my rescue will be. Compare Met. VII. 49: perque Pelasgas servatrix urbes matrum celebrabere turba. Also APOL. RH. III. 989 ff. 78. cuncta videntis avi: i.e. the Sun. Compare HOMER, Od. XII. 323: Ηελίου, ὃς πάντ' ἐφορᾷ καὶ πάντ' ἐπακούει: ' of the Sun who seeth all things and heareth all things.' 79. triplicis vultus: the three faces. Compare VERG. Aen. IV. 511: Tergeminamque Hecaten, tria virginis ora Dianae. and Ov. Fast. I. 141: Ora vides Hecates in tres vertentia partes, servet ut in ternas compita secta vias. Medea was a priestess of Diana. 80. ista: thy. aliquos: any special. 81. miserere: have pity. 82. tempus in omne: for all time. 83. Quodsi, etc.: but if perchance thou dost not disdain a Pelasgian husband, dost not deem a Greek unworthy to be thy husband. 84. tam faciles meosque: so propitious and friendly to me. Compare : Her. XVI. 23: faciles auras ventosque secundos; xv. 3: Si mihi di faciles et sunt in amore secundi. unde: translate, what could make; for the case of deos, compare HOR. Sat. II. 7, 116: Unde mihi lapidem ? Quorsum est opus? Unde sagittas ? 85. vanescat: a Wish. 87. conscia: a witness. ante... quam: before. sacris praefecta maritis: the goddess who presides over the marriage rites. maritis is an adjective; compare Her. II. 41: Iunonemque, toris quae praesidet alma maritis. 89-92. Haec, etc.: compare Her. II. 49: Credidimus blandis, quorum tibi copia, verbis: credidimus generi numinibusque tuis: credidimus lacrimis; an et hae similare docentur ? 89. quota pars: what part, implying that they are a very small part. 91. pars fraudis: some deception. Were they genuine tears, or art thou able to feign them to suit thy purpose? 93. inadusto corpore: with unburnt body, unharmed by the flames. 94. iusso vomere: with the ordered plowshare, with the plowshare as ordered. 95. pro: instead of. 96. miles: soldiers; Singular used collectively. rior MSS. have habens, which makes a smoother reading. 97-98. Ipsa ego, etc.: compare Met. vII. 134: habet: the infe Ipsa quoque extimuit, quae tutum fecerat illum, 100. inter se, etc.: according to Medea's instructions, Jason threw a stone into their midst, whereupon they began to slay one another. strictas: drawn back; ready to inflict blows. The word is commonly used of swords. 101. squamis crepitantibus horrens: bristling with his rattling scales. 102. verrit: sweeps. 104. maris gemini: of the two seas. 105. Illa ego: I, the one. have become. 106. sum: sc. visa. distinet: holds apart, separates. tibi: in thy estimation. sum facta: nocens: a guilty creature; notice the repeti medicato: enchanted, produced by enchant tion of this word at the end of lines 118, 129, and 132. 107. subduxi: subdued. ment. 108. et tibi, etc.: and gave thee the fleece to carry off safely. tuta is a kind of predicate to vellera: I made it safe. of Design. 109. Proditus est, etc.: compare EUR. Med. 1332: raperes: Subjunctive πατρός τε καὶ γῆς προδότιν ἥ σ' ἐθρέψατο : 'betrayer of thy father and of the land which brought thee up.' 112. optima, etc.: compare Her. XVII. 231: Non erat Aeetes, ad quem despecta rediret, non Idyia parens, Chalciopeque soror. 113. te: object of reliqui. sine me without me, behind. ger mane: Absyrtus. The story is that when Medea was being closely pursued by her father, she killed her brother and scattered his limbs that her father might lose time in collecting them. 114. hoc uno loco: in this one place. Ovid like epistula. In prose, use litterae. 116. tecum: that is, Jason. 117. timerem: was I to fear. littera is used frequently by 118. credere me pelago: it was a common notion among the ancients that the guilty were peculiarly liable to shipwreck. Compare Her. VII. 57: Nec violasse fidem temptantibus aequora prodest: perfidiae poenas exigit ille locus. femina, iamque nocens: though a woman, and now a guilty one. 121. Compressos: sc. nos. crushed us. 122. nostra: my. Compressos elisissent: had closed and 123. canibus: compare Met. XIV. 52: Illa feris atram canibus succingitur alvum, virginis ora gerens. Compare also A. A. I. 331. 124. ingratis nocere viris: because Minos, for whose sake she had cut the fateful purple hair from the head of her father Nisus, proved ungrateful to her. 125. Quaeque: that is, Charybdis. 127. Haemonias: that is, Thessalian. IIaemus was a mountain in Thessaly. 128. ponitur ad: compare Her. 1. 26. 129. Peliae natas: the daughters of Pelias, trusting in the magic arts of Medea, cut their father to pieces and boiled him in a pot to make him young again. pietate nocentes: injuring by intended kindness. 131. Ut: though; compare Her. I. 116. 133. sua: suitable. 134. Aesonia cede domo: go forth from the house of Jason. 135. natis: Abl. of Agent with ab omitted; compare. Fast. III. 602: Solo comitatus Achate. 136. amore tui: love of thee. tui: Objective Genitive. 137. Hymen cantatus: the marriage song. Hymen was the god of marriage and his name was repeated frequently in these hymns. 138. lampades: torches; a Greek word, here 139. socialia carmina: wedding hymns. and thy bride. taedae. vobis: that is, for thee 140. at, etc. but to me they were sadder than the funeral trumpet; compare PROP. II. 7, 12: Tibia, funesta tristior illa tuba. 141. pertimui, etc.: I was thoroughly alarmed but did not yet think there was so great a crime; did not believe that Jason was marrying again. 143. frequenter: repeatedly. There is a variant reading: frequentant, repeat; see Appendix. For Hymen and Hymenaee, compare the refrain in CAT. LXI.: O Hymen Hymenaee io, O Hymen Hymenaee. 144. quo, hoc: Abl. of Degree of Difference: the nearer this sound came, the worse off was I. peius is an adverb, comparative of male. |