Ovid - Metamorphoses Book 3

Actaeon & Diana

Met. 3.138 - 3.172

Prima nepos¹ inter tot res² tibi, Cadme³, secundas

causa fuit luctus⁴, alienaque cornua fronti

addita, vosque⁵, canes satiatae sanguine erili. 140

at bene si quaeras⁶, Fortunae crimen in illo,

non scelus invenies; quod enim scelus⁷ error habebat?

Mons erat infectus variarum caede⁸ ferarum,

iamque dies⁹ medius rerum¹⁰ contraxerat umbras

et sol ex¹¹ aequo meta¹² distabat utraque, 145

cum iuvenis placido per¹³ devia lustra vagantes

participes¹⁴ operum conpellat Hyantius¹⁵ ore:

‘lina¹⁶ madent, comites, ferrumque¹⁷ cruore ferarum,

fortunaeque¹⁸ dies habuit satis; altera lucem

cum croceis¹⁹ invecta rotis Aurora²⁰ reducet²¹, 150

propositum repetemus²¹ opus²²: nunc Phoebus²⁰ utraque

distat idem meta²³ finditque²⁴ vaporibus arva.

sistite opus praesens²⁵ nodosaque tollite lina!’

iussa²⁶ viri faciunt intermittuntque laborem.

Vallis erat piceis et acuta²⁷ densa²⁸ cupressu, 155

nomine Gargaphie²⁹ succinctae³⁰ sacra³¹ Dianae,

cuius in extremo est antrum nemorale recessu

arte³² laboratum nulla: simulaverat artem

ingenio natura suo; nam pumice vivo

et levibus tofis nativum duxerat³³ arcum; 160

fons³⁴ sonat a dextra tenui perlucidus unda,

margine gramineo patulos incinctus hiatus³⁵.

hic dea silvarum venatu fessa solebat

virgineos artus liquido perfundere rore.

quo³⁶ postquam subiit, nympharum tradidit uni³⁷ 165

armigerae iaculum pharetramque arcusque³⁸ retentos,

altera³⁹ depositae subiecit bracchia pallae,

vincla duae⁴⁰ pedibus demunt; nam doctior illis

Ismenis⁴¹ Crocale⁴² sparsos per colla capillos

colligit in nodum, quamvis erat ipsa solutis⁴³. 170

excipiunt laticem⁴⁴ Nepheleque⁴² Hyaleque⁴² Rhanisque⁴²

et Psecas⁴² et Phiale⁴² funduntque⁴⁵ capacibus urnis.

Commentary

nepos : note that Ovid does not name this character, just calling him nepos, “grandson.” The audience would have known who was meant when they got to lines 139-140 (alienaque cornua….canes satiatae sanguine). This is some intense foreshadowing ↩
res : remember that res is feminine, so secundas describes it. secundus, -a, -um can also mean “favorable” ↩
Cadme: Cadmus, the mythological founder of the Greek city of Thebes, was the subject of the previous story. Ovid is using this phrase to bridge from the foundation of Thebes to his next story ↩
luctus : 4th declension, so be sure to think about the case ↩
vosque : vocative, addressing the canes ↩
quaeras : the 2nd singular verbs here are addressing the reader, and are meant to pull you in ↩
scelus : 3rd declension neuter, so be sure to think about the case too! ↩
variarum caede ferarum : more intense foreshadowing!!! ↩
dies medius : high noon is a VERY spooky time in Ovid! No shadows, glaring sun, absolutely unsettling ↩
rerum : connect this with the umbras, though it seems rather vague to me ↩
ex aequo : equally ↩
meta : metae are the turning posts used for chariot racing, a common metaphor for the sun being driven by Helios/Sol, the Titan god of the sun ↩
per devia lustra : through pathless wilderness, a vivid phrase setting the scene ↩
participes operum : this refers to the other hunters around Actaeon, with him as the leader ↩
Hyantius : a epithet meaning Boetian (of Boetia). Note how we still do not get Actaeon’s name ↩
lina : hunting nets ↩
ferrumque : as we’ve seen ferrum can refer to as sword, or more broadly to weapons, as it does here, since they are made of iron, the core meaning of the word ↩
fortunaeque….satis : enough of fortune, or if you prefer, enough fortune. A common Latin constrution ↩
croceis : a deep saffron yellow color often associated with the goddess of the dawn, given her connection to the sunrise ↩
Aurora, Phoebus : the Greeks/Romans would have not distinguished the concrete concept of the dawn or the sun from their view of the diety; they’d be one in the same ↩ ↩²
reducet, repetemus : both of these are 3rd/4th conjugation futures! ↩ ↩²
opus : 3rd declension neuter ↩
meta : ablative of separation, from the…. ↩
finditque vaporibus arva : he split the fields with vapors…. your guess is as good as mine as to what this means. I suppose it’s the suns rays drying out the field, making the vapor evaporate? ↩
praesens : the describes the opus just before it ↩
iussa : take this PPP substantively (meaning as a noun). “things having been ordered” –> orders ↩
acuta : most tree names are feminine in Latin, so this describes the cupressu. Italian Cypress tress are quite pointy ↩
densa : vallis, -is is feminine, so densa describes it. A valley dense in/with…. ↩
Gargaphie : the name for the valley where this scene occurs. Ovid seems to be the first to give it this name ↩
succinctae : having been girded (surrounded), an epithet that refers to a traditional hunting belt worn by Diana ↩
sacra : see note X for what this describes ↩
arte laboratum nulla : Ovid is stressing that this is a natural cave, nont one man-made ↩
duxerat : natura is still the subject, and here can be taken as created ↩
fons : all of this detailed nature description is meant to establish this place as a locus amoenus, a “pleasing place” which is a literary trope (repeated element). However, Ovid will quickly show how this peaceful, hidden location transforms into a place of violation and violence ↩
patulos….hiatus : take patulos hiatus as the direct object of incinctus, even though it’s a PPP ↩
quo : there, ablative of location ↩
uni armigerae : always good to remember that the UNUS NAUTA adjectives have -ius in the genitive singular and -i in the dative singular ↩
arcusque retentos : her bow having been loosened, showing that she is done with hunting for the moment. Bows were unstrung to release the tension, ensuring that the bow did not crack. A singular bow is often plural in Latin, since it has two major ends ↩
altera : _altera nympha, _another nymph attendant ↩
duae : duae nymphae, more attendants to care for Diana ↩
Ismenis : Theban, just adding more detail to the sccene ↩
Crocale, Nepheleque…. Phiale : each one of these is the name of a nymph, often with a Greek name associated with water. This seemingly unneccessary detail is highly Ovidian, mostly him flexing his knowledge and artistry on his audience ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶
erat ipsa solutis : she herself (the nymph) was with loosened [hair], showing that the nymphs are bathing Diana, not looking after themselves first ↩
laticem : another word for “water” ↩
funduntque capacibus urnis : Diana is acting like a rich Roman domina having her servants draw her a bath in ornate Augustan fashion ↩