Ovid - Metamorphoses Book 3

Actaeon & Diana

Met. 3.200 - 3.252

ut¹ vero vultus et cornua vidit in unda, 200

‘me² miserum!’ dicturus³ erat: vox nulla secuta est!

ingemuit: vox illa fuit, lacrimaeque per ora

non sua fluxerunt; mens⁴ tantum pristina mansit.

quid⁵ faciat? repetatne⁶ domum et regalia tecta

an lateat silvis? pudor⁷ hoc, timor inpedit illud. 205

Dum dubitat, videre canes⁸…….

………… [catalog of dogs]

quosque⁹ referre mora est: ea turba cupidine praedae 225

per rupes scopulosque adituque carentia saxa,

quaque¹⁰ est difficilis quaque¹⁰ est via nulla, sequuntur.

ille¹¹ fugit per quae fuerat loca saepe secutus,

heu! famulos¹² fugit ipse suos. clamare libebat¹³:

‘Actaeon¹⁴ ego sum: dominum cognoscite vestrum!’ 230

verba¹⁵ animo desunt; resonat latratibus aether.

prima Melanchaetes¹⁶ in tergo vulnera fecit,

proxima Theridamas¹⁶, Oresitrophos¹⁶ haesit in armo¹⁷:

tardius¹⁸ exierant, sed per¹⁹ conpendia montis

anticipata via est; dominum retinentibus illis, 235

cetera²⁰ turba coit confertque in corpore dentes.

iam loca²¹ vulneribus desunt; gemit ille sonumque²²,

etsi²³ non hominis, quem non tamen edere possit

cervus, habet maestisque replet iuga²⁴ nota querellis

et genibus²⁵ pronis supplex similisque roganti 240

circumfert²⁶ tacitos tamquam sua bracchia vultus.

at comites rabidum²⁷ solitis²⁸ hortatibus agmen

ignari instigant oculisque Actaeona²⁹ quaerunt

et velut³⁰ absentem certatim Actaeona clamant

(ad nomen caput ille refert) et abesse³¹ queruntur 245

nec capere oblatae segnem³² spectacula praedae.

vellet³³ abesse quidem, sed adest; velletque³³ videre,

non etiam sentire canum fera facta³⁴ suorum.

undique circumstant, mersisque in corpore rostris³⁵

dilacerant falsi dominum sub imagine cervi, 250

nec nisi finita³⁶ per plurima vulnera vita

ira³⁷ pharetratae³⁸ fertur satiata Dianae.

Commentary

ut : ut + indicitive = “as” ↩
me miserum : accusative of exclamation, miserable me! ↩
dicturus erat : FAP + past tense of sum, “he was going to say….” ↩
mens tantum pristina mansit : as we’ve seen before, Actaeon’s human mind is still present in his new deer body ↩
quid faciat : deliberative subjunctive! ↩
repetatne….an lateat : potential subjunctives, should he…. or should he… ↩
pudor hoc, timor inpedit illud : reuse the verb inpedit, with both hoc (this [seeking his palace home]) and illud (that [hiding inthe woods]) ↩
canes : here Ovid goes into an epic catalogue of Actaeon’s hunting dogs, naming thiry-five dogs over the span of nineteen lines. This “mock catalogue” both gives this scene an epic flair, but also pokes fun at the grandeur and loftiness of the epic genre, a frequent move by Ovid. The most famous epic catalogue is the Catalogue of the Ships from Iliad 2, which lists all of the Greeks who sailed to Troy and spans 250 lines. This is later followed by a shorter Catalogue of Trojans, something that Vergil echoes in Aeneid 7 when he gives a Catalogue of the Rutulians. All of the dogs in this passage have Greek names, often with ferocious or hunting meanings ↩
quosque referre mora est : it would take a long time (there is a delay) to relate each one ↩
quaque : and where, ablative of location ↩ ↩²
ille fugit….secutus : take in this order: ille fugit loca per quae saepe secutus fuerat ↩
famulos : these “attendants” are the hunting dogs, though they have stopped obeying their dominus ↩
clamare libebat : impersonal verb, it was pleasing [for the dogs] to….. ↩
Actaeon ego sum : note how the first time the reader sees Actaeon’s name is in this desperate attempt to save himself, one the reader knows is in vain ↩
verba animo desunt : words lack to his mind, meaning that he is unable to speak human words in his deer form ↩
Melanchaetes, Theridamas, Oresitrophos : all of these are dog names. Ovid cannot help himself but extend the catalogue a little bit past where his audience thought it had finished ↩ ↩² ↩³
in armo : armus, -i (m) = flank ↩
tardius : note the -ius, comparative adverb ↩
per conpendia montis : through shortcuts of the mountain ↩
cetera….dentes : the harsh alliteration in this line is meant to mirror the hounds tearing Actaeon apart ↩
iam loca vulneribus desunt : now the places lack wounds, meaning that there is no space to add more wounds to his body ↩
sonumque : direct object of habet in line 239 ↩
etsi non hominis….cervus : Actaeon is existing in this in-between space, not fully human and not fully deer ↩
iuga nota : iugum, -i (n) can mean “mountain ridges” ↩
genibus pronis supplex : on bent knees, like a suppliant. The great hunter prince Actaeon is being humbled to a lowly status, and the audience knows that his begging will not save him ↩
circumfert tacitos….. vultus : he brought around his silent face (poetic plural) around like his arms. Actaeon is unable to do the complete gesture of a supplex, and is reduced to gesturing with his head, instead of his nonexistent arms ↩
rabidum : some manuscripts read rapidum, which would make equal sense ↩
solitis hortatibus : the solitis stresses that this action is nothing new or unsual for the hunters, they don’t realize that something out of the ordinary is going on ↩
Actaeona : Greek accusative ↩
velut absentem : to his men, Actaeon is not present to help bring down the deer. A nice stab of dramatic irony ↩
abesse queruntur…capere : indirect statement with his men as the subject of queruntur. Actaeon is missing as your subject of the indirect statement ↩
segnem : describing Actaeon, he [eum], being slow, or because he is slow. The men think that Actaeon is missing the hunt, not realizing that he is the hunt ↩
vellet abesse quidem….velletque videre : note the potential subjunctive, he might wish…. ↩ ↩²
fera facta : when used as a noun, factum, PPP from facio, often can be translated as deeds (things having been done) ↩
rostris : best translated as “snounts” or “muzzles” ↩
finita per plurima vulnera vita : ablative absolute ↩
ira….fertur : the ira is the subject. Fero, ferre can sometimes mean “to say,” like “to report, to bring back.” The anger is said…. ↩
pharetratae…Dianae : an epic epithet of Diana. Even though she did not have her quiver on her, this lofty adjective stresses her menacing, vengeful nature. ↩