Charles Simmons, The Metamorphoses of Ovid, Books XIII and XIV

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dolor . . . matri, ‘thy mother's last sorrow.’ For the dative cf. Hor. C. I. xv. 21, Laertiaden, exitium tuae genti, with Orelli's note.

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iaces, ‘thou art fallen.’ So I. 720, Arge, iaces, Her. III. 106, “qui bene pro patria cum patriaque iacent”.

tuum . . . vulnus. Cf. for the form of expression X. 197, “videoque tuum, mea crimina, vulnus”.

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ne perdiderim, Roby, §§ 1630, 1642, R. §§ 678, 682.

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exitium Troiae, so called because he was the most formidable of its foes. So are styled also Ulysses and Paris the latter of whom Priam was warned by an oracle not to rear. Cf. 494 n., Cic. de Div. I. xxi. 42.

nostri orbator, ‘my bereaver.’

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Paridis Phoebique sagittis. Cf. 282 n.

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metuendus erat, ‘I have need to fear him.’ The tense of erat has reference to the feeling of security (‘I thought I had no need to fear him’) which has now passed away. Cf. 222 n. For dative mi cf. IX. 191.

cinis ipse sepulti, ‘his very ashes in the tomb.’ So in XII. 620 his warlike spirit lives in his shield: “ipse etiam, ut cuius fuerit dignoscere possis, bella movet clipeus, deque armis arma feruntur”.

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Aeacidae . . . fui, ‘it is for the Aeacid that I have brought forth sons.’

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soli . . . restant. Cf. Her.I. 51(of Penelope) “diruta sunt aliis, uni mihi Pergama restant”.

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in cursu, ‘in mid career,’ a metaphor of very frequent occurrence in Ovid. Cf. X. 400, “fortuna domusque sospes et in cursu est.” So it is used with vox, spes, furor, in Fast.V. 245, ib. VI. 362, Rem. Am. 119. So in the plural, cursibus in mediis Her. XVI. 320.

maxima rerum, ‘queen of the world.’ For similar uses of superlatives with rerum cf. XIV. 489, Ars Amat. i.359 “laetissima rerum” (of a lady), G. II. 534, “rerum facta est pulcherrima Roma”, Her.IX. 107“maxime rerum”, ib. IV. 125, “pulcherrime rerum”, Hor. Sat.I. ix. 4“dulcissime rerum”. An instance with the neuter is XII. 502 (of the Centaurs) “quid quod fortissima rerum in nobis natura duplex animalia iunxit?” Prof. Palmer remarks (on Hor. L. c.), ‘In such phrases rerum is used as a stronger expression than hominum, and its gender is ignored, being treated as a singular = the world.’ It seems unsatisfactory to limit the genitive thus strictly to the partitive relation: perhaps we must not follow Conington in calling it (on G. II. 15, “nemorum quae maxuma frondet aesculus” and so Aen.VII. 83) ‘a kind of local genitive,’ and comparing Aesch. Ag.509, “ὕπατος χώρας Ζεύς”. Cf. Milt. P. l. VIII. 414, ‘Supreme of things.’

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tot . . . potens, ‘rich in my many sons-in-law and sons.’ Cf. 22, XIV. 657, Virg. Aen.VII. 55, Turnus avis atavisque potens. The collocation generis natisque sounds strange in English, but cf. VI. 38, “audiat istas si qua tibi nurus est, si qua est tibi filia, voces”, Cat. LXXII. 3, “dilexi tum te non tantum ut vulgus amicum, sed pater ut gnatos diligit et generos”. (So matresque nurusque occurs III. 529, IV. 9, and nurus is very frequently used by Ovid in the sense of ‘bride,’ as in Her.VIII. 12). The relation between the gener and his wife's parents, especially her father, was at Rome peculiarly intimate, and even sacred, to a degree which was not true of the marriage tie itself. Indeed sentiment was largely transferred from the one relationship to the other. This comes out in many ways, as in the horror with which strife between those thus allied was regarded (cf. XIV. 801, Fast.III. 202, “tum primum generis attulit arma socer”), and in the praise bestowed on fidelity to this relationship. Thus in the description of the iron age, I. 144: “vivitur ex rapto; non hospes ab hospite tutus, non socer a genero; fratrum quoque gratia rara est”. So Tacitus ( Hist.I. iii. 1) recites among the redeeming features of the age: “comitatae profugos liberos matres, secutae maritos in exsilia coniuges; propinqui audentes, constantes generi”.

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trahor, ‘am haled away,’ ‘am borne to distant exile.’ The word is associated not necessarily with violence, but rather with distance and difficulty (whence it passes naturally to the sense of ‘draw out,’ ‘prolong,’ as in IX. 767, “nunc ficto languore moram trahit”). Cf. VII. 66, “nempe tenens quod amo, gremioque in Iasonis haerens, per freta longa trahar”, VIII. 141, “insequar invitum, puppimque amplexa recurvam per freta longa trahar”. So Hor. C. I. xv. 1, “pastor cum traheret per freta navibus Idaeis Helenen”.

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data . . . trahentem, ‘plying wearily the task assigned,’ or literally ‘spinning the given weight of wool,’ for such was the usual task of female slaves. Cf. Her.III. 75(Briseis Achilli) “nos humiles famulaeque tuae data pensa trahcmus, et minuent plenas stamina nostra colos”. Trahentem is in point both physically in the sense of drawing a continuous thread from the glomus or clew of wool, and metaphorically in its association just noticed with prolonged labour. A like double use is noticed by Dr. Ellis on Cat. LXIV. 310 (of the Fates spinning) “aeternumque manus carpebant rite laborem” (“carpebant, ‘were busy with,’ a word chosen here from its double use of pulling the fluff off wool, carpentes pensa, G. I. i. 390, and pursuing a way or assigned course.”）

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illa, ‘yon,’ known and observed from far and near by the whole world, and so sometimes best rendered by ‘famous.’ So it is used in retrospect of the past (i. 79, of the Demiurge, “ille opifex rerum, mundi melioris origo”), in prospect of the future ( Cic. ad Cic. Att.x. VIII. 8, “tempus est nos de illa perpetua iam, non de hac exigua vita cogitare”), of that which is matter of common knowledge and experience ( Lucr. i. 82, “saepius illa religio peperit scelerosa atque impia facta”, id. IV. 181, “ut est cycni melior canor ille gruum quam clamor”, and so often in similes, Virg. Aen.XII. 5), and especially of the gods, as we speak of ‘heaven above’ ( Virg. Aen.VII. 110, “sic Iuppiter ille monebat”, where see Henry and Conington).

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Priameĭa. For the use of adjectives in the sense of possessive genitives cf. 45, 579, XIV. 85 and 441, and see Roby, § 1277, Madv. § 300 obs. 3.

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post tot amissos, ‘after so many lost,’ ‘after all our partings.’ Cf. 64 n. The use is imitated by Milton, P.l. X. 687, ‘at that tasted fruit’; so with an adjective, ib. II. 234, ‘the former vain to hope argues as vain the latter.’

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busta need not be explained, as by Lewis and Short, as equivalent to Manes, piare and expiare being used not merely of ‘appeasing’ a deity angered, of ‘expiating’ a crime committed, and of ‘purifying’ a thing polluted (as in Livy V. 1. 2), but also, in a sense for which we have, as might be expected, no convenient English equivalent, of neutralising and rendering harmless any object or occurrence from which supernatural dangers are apprehended. Cf. Virg. Aen.VI. 379, “prodigiis acti caelestibus ossa piabunt”, Fast.III. 311, “quoque modo possit fulmen monstrate piari”, Liv.v. 1. 5, “expiandae etiam vocis nocturnae mentio inlata”.

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quo . . . resto, ‘to what end am I stubborn to abide.’ Ferrea is used of the hardihood which resists the assaults of grief, as in XIV. 721, of the hard-heartedness which shuts out the access of pity.

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servas. Cf. Milt. P.l. II. 158, ‘whom his anger saves to punish endless.’

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vivacem, proleptic, ‘so as to make me live long.’ Cf. XIV. 104.

differtis, ‘do you respite.’ For the use of a person cf. XII. 76, “decimum dilatus in annum Hector erat”, and for a similar expression in Greek, Soph. Aj. 476, “προσθεῖσα κἀναθεῖσα τοῦ γε κατθανεῖν”.

posse, ‘could ever’ at any subsequent time. The same idiom which allows the use of the indicative mood of possum where the act (as distinguished from the possibility of the act) would need hypothetical expression (Roby, § 1535, R. § 643), also enables the present (imperfect) infinitive posse to be used where the act itself would be expressed by a future infinitive. Cf. Caes. B.G. I. 3, “totius Galliae se potiri posse sperant”, Liv.i. XXII. 4, “satis sciebat negaturum Albanum; ita pie bellum indici posse”. For the expression cf. XII. 607, “quod Priamus gaudere senex post Hectora posset, hoc fuit”.

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felix . . . est. Cf. XIV. 480-2, Hom. Od.V. 306, Virg. Aen.XI. 159, “felix morte tua neque in hunc scrvata dolorem”. Priam himself, however, serves Juvenal as an example of the ills of long life; he should have died “diverso tempore, quo non coeperat audaces Paris aedificare carinas” (x. 264).

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vitam . . . reliquit, ‘left throne and life at once,’ i.e. died a king.

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at . . . virgo, ‘but, perhaps, a princess, thou wilt be dowered with funeral pomps.’ Puto is, of course, ironical.

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tibi and fletus are emphatic, in contrast with the happier fate of others. Cf. 428 n.

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haustus. Cf. 425 n.

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cur. Cf. 114 n.

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Ismario, Thracian, from a mountain on the southern coast of Thrace, west of the Hebrus, among the Cicones. Cf. Virg. Ecl.VI. 30.

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vulnera, of a single wound. Cf. 108 n., 376 n.

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anili, either ‘feeble,’ or, as Giering thinks, merely ornamental, describing the step as that of an old woman. Cf. X. 406 (of the nurse) “gremio lacrimantem tollit anili”, Virg. Aen.IV. 641, “gradum studio celerabat whilem” (where see Henry). The same use is found in 785, XIV. 117, 184, and 341, IV. 175. In Euripides it is a servant sent to fetch water, who finds the body and conveys it to Hecuba ( Hec.663-83).

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lacerata comas. For this middle or reflexive use see Roby, § 1126-7, R. § 471, and cf. 53 n.

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hauriret, ‘dip.’ Cf. 425 n.

536-7. Polymestor's crime was twofold. Cf. Eur. Hec.706: “ἔκτεινε, τύμβου δ̓, εἰ κτανεῖν ἐβούλετο, οὐκ ἠξίωσεν, ἀλλ᾽ ἀφῆκε πόντιον.”

538. Korn quotes Hipp.607, “curae leves loquuntur, ingentes stupent”. Cf. Shakespeare, Macbeth, IV. iii. 209, ‘Give sorrow words: the grief that does not speak, whispers the o'erfraught heart and bids it break.’

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lacrimas . . . devorat. Cf. Fast. iv. 845: “haec ubi rex didicit, lacrimas introrsus obortas devorat, et clausum pectore vulnus habet.”

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duro . . . saxo.. Washietl quotes the description of Hecuba's grief from Ennius (trag. 66): “quasi ferrum aut lapis durat, rarenter gemitum conatur trahens”. Cf. Keats Hyperion, I. ‘sat grey-hair's Saturn, quiet as a stone.’

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adversa terra, ‘fast upon the ground,’ with the ground directly opposite. Cf. 442 n., and for the expression, Her.VI. 26, “in opposita lumina fixus humo”, Liv.xxi. VII. 10, “adversum femur tragula graviter ictus cecidit”.

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positi, ‘prostrate,’ and so ‘fallen.’ Cf. 495 n.

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armat . . . ira. For a similar expression cf. 91 n. VI. 687 (of Boreas), “quid enim mea tela reliqui, saevitiam et vires iramque animosque minaces?”

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simul. The process by which the strictly coordinate structure of the two clauses with simul or simul ac is replaced by the subordination of one of them may be illustrated by the use of similis et in G. II. 226-7. Cf. Ellis on Cat.x. 32.

tanquam . . . maneret, ‘even as she were still a queen.’ See Roby, § 1580, R. § 660, Kennedy, P. S. L. G. § 227, where it is perhaps incorrect to suppose that si is omitted or understood, and that the clause is conceived as protasis to a suppressed apodosis. The forms of comparison without si are distinct, differing from those with the indicative in Roby, § 1581, R. § 661, only in the use of the subjunctive, which by itself gives a hypothetical character to what is stated (cf. the use of it in Roby, § 1552, R. § 650). So Dr. Abbott explains the corresponding use of ‘as’ and ‘an’ with the English subjunctive, Shakespearian Grammar, §§ 102, 107.

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poenae . . . est, ‘is rapt in the thought of vengeance.’ Cf. Fast.VI. 251, “in prece totus eram”, Hor. Epp.I. i. 11, “omnis in hoc sum”, and for similar uses of adjectives, Sall. Jug.96, “in operibus, in agmine, atque ad vigilias multus adesse”, Eun.II. i. 10, “memini, tametsi nullus moneas”, Cic. ad Att. XI. xxiv. 4, Philotimus...nullus venit.

547. The simile is from Homer, Il.XVIII. 318: “ὥστε λὶς ἠϋγένειος ᾧ ῥά θ᾽ ὑπὸ σκύμνους ἐλαφηβόλος ἁρπάσῃ ἀνὴρ ὕλης ἐκ πυκινῆς ˙ ὁ δέ τ᾽ ἄχνυται ὕστερος ἐλθών, πολλὰ δέ τ᾽ ἄγκἐ ἐπῆλθε μετ᾽ ἀνέρος ἴχνἰ ἐρευνῶν, εἴ ποθεν ἐξεύροι ˙ μάλα γὰρ δριμὺς χόλος αἱρεῖ.”

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Hecuba. Cf. 423 n.

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animorum . . . annorum, ‘forgetting her age but not her rage.’ For the play of sound, here perhaps not very effective (Merkel rejects the line, which is a leonine hexameter), cf. V. 581, “quamvis fortis eram, formosae nomen habebam”, Milton, P.l. V. 868, ‘and to begirt th’ Almighty throne beseeching or besieging,’ ib. VI. 656, ‘their armour helped their harm,’ ib. IV. 181, ‘at one slight bound high overleaped all bound.’

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nam se . . . velle, in oratio obliqua, loosely depending on colloquium petit. Cf. Liv. I. ix. 2, “legatos circa vicinas gentes misit, qui societatem conubiumque novo populo peterent: urbes quoque ut cetera ex infimo nasci”. In Euripides ( Hec.889) a Trojan girl is sent by permission of Agamemnon to fetch Polymestor on business which concerns himself as much as Hecuba. His children are to come too (“ὡς δεῖ καὶ τέκν᾽ εἰδέναι λόγους τοὺς ἐξ ἐκείνης”, in order that, in case of his death, the secret may survive with them), and are killed before Polymestor himself is blinded.

relictum, ‘abandoned,’ left behind in the Troad, “χρυσοῦ παλαιαὶ Πριαμιδῶν κατώρυχες”, so that monstrare is ‘to reveal,’ ‘tell of.’ The treasure is described as buried by the temple of Athena Ilia, the spot being indicated by “μέλαινα πέτρα γῆς ὑπερτέλλουσ᾽ ἄνω”.

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redderet. For the force of purpose cf. 440 n., and observe that the transition to oratio obliqua only affects the tense (R. § 768).

554. The Odrysae were a people occupying the central and north-western parts of Thrace.

adsuetus amore. For the ablative see Roby, §§ 1215-6, and cf. Liv.xxxi. XXXV. 3, “credidere regii genus pugnae quo adsuerant fore”, B. G. I. 44, “genere eodem pugnae assuefacti”.

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in secreta, ‘aside.’ Two other uses of the same neuter plural may be cited, II. 748, “oculis isdem quibus abdita nuper viderat Aglaurus flavae secreta Minervae”, IX. 559, “est mihi libertas tecum secreta loquendi”. See Roby, § 1061, R. § 443, but this use, especially of the plural, is much more fully treated by Kennedy, P. S. Lat. Gr. § 63, In Euripides the necessary withdrawal for the catastrophe is managed by the device of another treasure hidden within the tents of Hecuba. Polymestor has some misgivings, which are overcome by his greed when Hecuba reminds him that the Greeks are eager to set sail, and she leads him in with the ominous words ( Hec.1021): “ὡς πάντα πράξας ὧν σε δεῖ στείχῃς πάλιν ξὺν παισὶν οὗπερ τὸν ἐμὸν ὤκισας γόνον.” This is preceded by a scene in which Hecuba questions him as to the welfare of Polydorus, and his treachery, timidity and avarice are finely exhibited.

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truculenta . . . Notice the different construction of falsa.

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ita, ‘then,’ ‘straightway,’ while the circumstances remained the same. For this sense, which is not noticed by Lewis and Short, cf. I. 228, III. 22, and 118, X. 407, Liv.i. V. 7, “ita regem obtruncat”, Cic. pro Cic. Clu.§ 168 (the passage quoted by Tursellinus for this sense), “aliquot dies aegrotasse, et ita esse mortuum”. See also Virg. Georg.I. 320, where Wagner removes the difficulty of construction by giving ita this sense of transition. For the similar use of “οὕτω” cf. Thuc.ii. XIX. 1, “ἐπειδὴ μέντοι προσβαλόντες τῇ Οἰνόῃ...οὐκ ἐδύναντο ἑλεῖν, οὕτω δὴ ὁρμήσαντες ἀπ᾽ αὐτῆς ἐσέβαλον ἐς τὴν Ἀττικήν”, and see Abbott, Shakespearian Grammar, § 66.

correpto, dat. with invocat, R. § 474 (b). Euripides has first to inflict the horror of seeing his children killed while powerless to help them. Some of the Trojan women examine the texture of his royal robe by holding it against the light, others take his spear to look at, others fondle his children and hand them from one to another, so as to remove them to a convenient distance from him ( Hec.1150-67).

agmina. Cf. 108 n.

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expellit. In Euripides it is done by stabbing them with brooch-pins ( Hec.1169-71, “ἐμῶν γὰρ ὀμμάτων πόρπας λαβοῦσαι τὰς ταλαιπώρους κόρας κεντοῦσιν, αἱμάσσουσιν”). Expellit is supported by Seneca's imitation, Oed.954, “hactenus fundent levem oculi liquorem. sedibus pulsi suis lacrimas sequantur”.

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foedata. Cf. XIV. 60 n.

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lumen, ‘the sight.’ This sense, which is not noticed by Lewis and Short, but is, I think, established by Dr. Henry, Aeneidea, vol. II. pp. 507-12 (on Aen.III. 658), is appropriate here not only because the singular is used, but because it suits better 562, in which the eyeballs are already destroyed. Hecuba's fury is not assuaged by success, and she attacks the sightless eye-sockets. The word is found of the eye and eyesight in I. 720 (of Argus), “quodque in tot lumina lumen habebas, exstinctum est”. In Euripides the women immediately flee to escape the frenzied rush which brings Polymestor on the stage again.

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missum . . . insequitur, ‘with hoarse growls runs snapping after the stones they throw.’

Saxum is perhaps collective, like arbor, 690, where see note. Hecuba's metamorphosis was foretold by Polymestor ( Eur. Hec.1265): “κύων γενήσει πύρσ᾽ ἔχουσα δέργματα”. Previously in his agony he called the Trojan women “τὰς μιαιφόνους κύνας”. Hecuba's fate was explained as an appropriate punishment, “propter animi acerbitatem quandam et rabiem” ( Tusc. Disp. III. 26, § 63.) Cf. “Plaut. Men.omnia mala ingerebat quemquam aspexerat: itaque adeo iure coepta appellarist canis.” But this explanation properly belongs to another version of the story given by Dictys Cretensis (v. 16): Hecuba, quo servitium morte solveret, multa ingerere maledicta, imprecarique infausta omina in exercitum: quare motus miles lapidibus obrutam necat. According to a third version she leaped into the sea from the ship of Ulysses, and this forms part of the prophecy of Polymestor ( Eur. Hec.1261-3).

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conata. Cf. 412 n. Such frustration of effort, and especially of the effort to speak, is a frequent incident in the process of metamorphosis. Cf. XIV. 280 and 497, I. 233 (Lycaon to a wolf), “exululat, frustraque loqui conatur”, ib. 637 (Io to a cow), “conatoque queri mugitus edidit ore”, II. 363 (the sisters of Phaethon to trees), “cortex in verba novissima venit”, III. 201 (Actaeon to a stag), “me miserum dicturus erat; vox nulla secuta est. ingemuit; vox illa fuit”, IV. 412 (the Minyeides to bats), “conataeque loqui minimam et pro corpore vocem emittunt, peraguntque levi stridere querelas”, ib. 586: “ille quidem vult plura loqui; sed lingua repente in partes est fissa duas, nec verba volenti sufficiunt; quotiesque aliquos parat edere questus sibilat: hanc illi vocem natura relinquit.” The last instance is imitated by Milton, P.l. X. 504-47. Conversely when Io is restored to human shape, I. 745, “metuit loqui, ne more iuvencae mugiat, et timide verba intermissa retentat”.

locus, “Κυνὸς Σῆμα” ( Eur. Hec.1273, “ναυτίλοις τέκμαρ”), a headland in the Thracian Chersonese, mentioned as the burialplace of Hecuba by Strabo (xiii. p. 595).

extat. Cf. XIV. 73.

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Sithonios. Sithonia was the central peninsula of Chalcidice, but the name is loosely used here for Thracian.

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illius. For the quantity see Roby, § 372.

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Iovis . . . sororque. Cf. Virg. Aen.I. 46.In the Iliadthe hatred of Juno for Troy is ascribed to the judgment of Paris (xxiv. 27-30). Virgil ( Aen.I. 19-24) supplies other motives in her love first for Argos, and subsequently for Carthage.

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eventus, the doom of living in her new shape, for Ovid does not relate her death. So the word is used, and again in the plural, in VII. 97 of the ‘future’ of Jason, by which and his present perils he swears to be true to Medea.