Ovid - Metamorphoses Book 3

Actaeon & Diana

Met. 3.173 - 3.199

dumque ibi perluitur solita Titania¹ lympha²,

ecce³ nepos⁴ Cadmi dilata⁵ parte laborum

per nemus ignotum non certis passibus errans 175

pervenit in lucum: sic⁶ illum fata ferebant.

qui⁷ simul intravit rorantia fontibus antra,

sicut erant, nudae viso⁸ sua pectora nymphae

percussere⁹ viro subitisque ululatibus omne¹⁰

inplevere nemus circumfusaeque Dianam 180

corporibus texere suis; tamen altior illis

ipsa dea est colloque tenus¹¹ supereminet¹² omnes.

qui¹³ color infectis¹⁴ adversi solis ab ictu¹⁵

nubibus esse solet aut purpureae¹⁶ Aurorae,

is¹⁷ fuit in vultu visae sine veste Dianae. 185

quae, quamquam comitum turba est stipata suarum,

in¹⁸ latus obliquum tamen adstitit oraque retro

flexit et, ut¹⁹ vellet promptas²⁰ habuisse sagittas,

quas²¹ habuit sic hausit aquas vultumque virilem

perfudit spargensque comas ultricibus undis 190

addidit haec cladis²² praenuntia verba futurae:

‘nunc tibi me posito visam velamine narres,

si poteris²³ narrare, licet²⁴!’ nec plura²⁵ minata

dat sparso capiti vivacis cornua cervi,

dat²⁶ spatium collo summasque cacuminat aures 195

cum pedibusque²⁷ manus, cum longis bracchia mutat

cruribus et velat maculoso²⁸ vellere corpus;

additus et pavor est: fugit Autonoeius heros

et se tam celerem cursu miratur²⁹ in ipso.

Commentary

Titania : an eipthet for Diana, granddaughter of a Titan ↩
lympha : another nother word for “water” ↩
ecce : this interjection signals a strong transition when Actaeon bursts onto the scene ↩
nepos Cadmi : note still not naming him directly! ↩
dilata parte laborum : with his part of the work having been put aside/delayed, meaing that he is still on his break from hunting ↩
sic illum fata ferebant : !!! Here, Ovid is playing upon a line from Vergil (sive dolo seu iam Troiae sic fata ferebant. Verg. An. 2.34), where the Aeneas, while retelling the fall of Troy to Dido, says that it was either a trick or the fates that caused this desctruction to Troy. Ovid does not leave room for the ambiguity here, citing fata as the cause ↩
qui : this refers back to Actaeon ↩
viso viro : ablative absolute ↩
sua pectora nymphae percussere : the beating of chests was a ritual sign of mourning and lament, here are the shame caused to the goddess Diana ↩
omne : describes the neuter nemus in the next line ↩
colloque tenus : the preposition tenus often follows the noun it goes with, which is annoying since it’s called a preposition. sigh. ↩
supereminet : !!! For the keen reader, this should recall the Dido/Diana simile from Aeneid 1, where Diana is taller than her nymph attendants (gradiensque deas supereminet omnes. Verg. An. 1.501). In contrast to Vergil where this height is a marker of authority and command, Ovid paints the height as a vulnerability, since it renders part of Diana still visible, even as her nymphs try to hide her exposed body ↩
qui color : Which color (of Diana)…. This simile shows Diana blushing with not just shame, but also rage. ↩
infectis…nubibus : take these as a dative of possession. The color for (of) the clouds, having been dyed ↩
adversi solis ab ictu : from the rays of the opposing sun ↩
purpureae Aurorae : connect this pair of genitives to the color above ↩
is fuit : is refers to the color. This was the color… ↩
in latus obliquum : Diana turns to the side to cover as much of herself as she can ↩
ut vellet : note the subjunctive vellet, meaining how she wanted (but didn’t) ↩
promptas sagittas : promptas here means “at hand or ready” ↩
quas habuit : a brief relative clause descrbing the promptas sagittas ↩
cladis praenuntia : in apposition to haec ↩
si poteris narrare : note the future tense ↩
licet : start here in this quote, then go back to the start. It is allowed [that] you can tell of/narrate…. ↩
plura minata : this deponent PPP describes Diana, and can take a direct object, which here is the neuter plura, more things ↩
dat spatium collo : as the transformation into a deer behinds, Diana lengthens Actaeon’s heck ↩
cum pedibusque manus : borrow the verb from the next clause here ↩
maculoso vellere : with a spotted fleece. The word vellere is from vellus, -eris (n), so it’s not an infinitive ↩
miratur : note how Actaeon’s first act is to marvel and wonder at his new form. As we’ll see, he retains his human mind as his body is transformed ↩