Ovid’s Metamorphoses Book 1: Daphne & Apollo

1.474 - 1.524 (Middle)

Daphne & Apollo

protinus alter¹ amat, fugit altera¹ nomen² amantis

silvarum latebris³ captivarumque ferarum 475

exuviis³ gaudens innuptaeque aemula⁴ Phoebes⁵:

vitta coercebat positos⁶ sine lege capillos.

multi illam petiere, illa aversata petentes⁷

inpatiens expersque viri nemora avia lustrat

nec, quid⁸ Hymen⁹, quid Amor⁹, quid sint conubia curat. 480

saepe pater dixit: ‘generum mihi, filia, debes,’

saepe pater dixit: ‘debes mihi, nata, nepotes’;

illa velut crimen taedas¹⁰ exosa iugales

pulchra verecundo suffuderat ora rubore

inque patris blandis haerens cervice lacertis 485

‘da mihi perpetua, genitor carissime,’ dixit

‘virginitate frui¹¹! dedit hoc pater ante¹² Dianae.’

ille quidem obsequitur, sed te¹³ decor iste quod optas

esse vetat, votoque¹⁴ tuo tua forma repugnat:

Phoebus amat visaeque cupit conubia Daphnes¹⁵, 490

quodque¹⁶ cupit, sperat, suaque illum oracula¹⁷ fallunt,

utque¹⁸ leves stipulae demptis adolentur aristis,

ut facibus saepes¹⁹ ardent, quas forte viator

vel nimis admovit vel iam sub²⁰ luce reliquit,

sic¹⁸ deus in flammas abiit, sic pectore toto 495

uritur et sterilem sperando nutrit amorem.

spectat inornatos collo pendere capillos

et ‘quid, si comantur?’ ait. videt igne micantes

sideribus similes oculos, videt oscula²¹, quae non

est vidisse²² satis; laudat digitosque manusque 500

bracchiaque et nudos media plus parte lacertos;

si qua latent, meliora putat. fugit ocior aura²³

illa levi²³ neque ad haec revocantis verba resistit:

‘nympha, precor, Penei²⁴, mane! non insequor hostis;

nympha, mane! sic agna²⁵ lupum, sic cerva²⁵ leonem, 505

sic aquilam penna fugiunt trepidante columbae,

hostes²⁶ quaeque suos: amor est mihi causa sequendi!

me²⁷ miserum! ne prona cadas indignave²⁸ laedi

crura notent²⁹ sentes et sim³⁰ tibi causa doloris!

aspera, qua³¹ properas, loca sunt: moderatius, oro, 510

curre fugamque inhibe, moderatius insequar³² ipse.

cui³³ placeas, inquire tamen: non incola montis,

non ego sum pastor, non hic armenta gregesque

horridus³⁴ observo. nescis, temeraria, nescis,

quem fugias, ideoque fugis: mihi Delphica tellus 515

et Claros³⁵ et Tenedos³⁵ Patareaque³⁵ regia servit;

Iuppiter est genitor; per me, quod³⁶ eritque fuitque

estque, patet; per me concordant³⁷ carmina nervis.

certa quidem nostra est, nostra³⁸ tamen una sagitta

certior, in vacuo quae vulnera pectore fecit! 520

inventum³⁹ medicina meum est, opiferque⁴⁰ per orbem

dicor, et herbarum subiecta potentia nobis.

ei⁴¹ mihi, quod nullis amor est sanabilis herbis

nec prosunt domino, quae prosunt omnibus, artes!’

Commentary

alter….altera : use the gender of these to figure out which one is which ↩ ↩²
nomen amantis : the name of a lover, probably referring to Daphne rejecting love in general, not Apollo specifically ↩
latebris…. exuviis : latebra, -ae (f) are ↩ ↩²
aemula : translate as “an imitator”, rather than “a rival,” since she wants to be like Diana ↩
Phoebes : Phoebe is another name for Diana. Note the Greek genitive in -es here ↩
positos : having been arranged ↩
petentes : take this as a substantive participle, meaning that this PAP is being used as a noun. “those seeking” or just suitors ↩
quid Hymen, quid Amor, quid sint conubia curat : this is a series of indirect questions, with the interrogative quid and the subjunctive verb sint. “she did not care (nec curat) (quid Hymen [sit], quid Amor [sit]….)” ↩
Hymen…Amor : Hymen is the Greek god of marriage. Amor, when capitalized, can be identified with Cupid, or the personificaton of love. ↩ ↩²
taedas : as mentioned earlier, torches were a typical Roman symbol of marriage ↩
da…frui : dare + infinitive can be “grant me the ability to….” Frui is a deponent infinitive of fruor ↩
ante : Jupiter had granted Diana the right to remain a virgin goddess. Ante is an adverb here, not the preposition, since it would take the accusative ↩
te decor iste quod optas esse vetat : this part is tricky. Take it like this : iste decor vetat te esse quod optas, with quod optas being “what you wish” ↩
votoque tuo tua forma repugnat : compound verbs, like re+pugnare take a dative of reference, so take voto tuo as your object of repugnat ↩
Dahpnes : this is genitive, since her name is in a Greek declension ↩
quodque cupit, sperat : take quodque cupit, “what he desires,” as your direct object of sperat ↩
suaque illum oracula fallunt : recall that Apollo is the god of prophecy, but even this ability could not keep him out of trouble here! ↩
utque….sic : ut….sic is a common way to set up a simile, as is qualis…talis ↩ ↩²
saepes : saeps, -is (f) is “thorns” ↩
sub luce : in the morning, a common Latin expression ↩
oscula : here this means lips, usually it means kisses, ↩
vidisse : note the perfect infinitive with the -isse ↩
aura…levi : take these together, and as an ablative of comparison with ocior ↩ ↩²
Penei : Daphne’s father, Peneus, the river god ↩
agna lupum….cerva leonem : hmm, a subject and a direct object with no verb? Find one to borrow nearby ↩ ↩²
hostes quaeque suos : take quaeque as your subject, and resupply the same verb as above ↩
me miserum : miserable me!, this is an accusative of exclamation (just shouting in the accusative) ↩
indignave laedi crura : legs unworthy to be harmed, note laedi as a passive infinitive ↩
notent : this means to scratch here, from its usual meaning to mark ↩
sim : subjunctive of sum, after the ne ↩
qua : where, albative of location ↩
insequar : remember that even deponent verbs take -am, -es, -et in the future when they’re 3rd and 4th conjugation. insequor is the present tense, insequar is future tense ↩
cui placeas, inquire tamen : start with the inquire tamen and then go to the cui placeas, as an indirect question ↩
horridus : this literally means rough, shaggy, suggesting not being well-groomed and uncultured ↩
et Claros et Tenedos Patareaque : all of these are major centers of worship for Apollo. Claros and Tenedos are in Asia Minor, and Patras is in the Peloponnese ↩ ↩² ↩³
quod….estque : take this as what is and…. ↩
concordant carmina nervis : nervus, -i (m) is string, here as in the string of a lyre. This line is a reference to Apollo’s role as god of music ↩
nostra tamen una sagitta : scan this line to make sure you have the cases right! ↩
inventum : take this as a noun, not inventum est as a PPP + sum ↩
opiferque : opifer is a epithet of Apollo, emphasizing all the good his skills do for mankind ↩
ei mihi : woe to me!, an exclamation ↩