The Amores; or, Amours

551 (return)

[ Proved false to me.—Ver. 10. Tibullus has a similar passage, 'Et si perque suos fallax juravit ocellos 'and if with her eyes the deceitful damsel is forsworn.']

552 (return)

[ Its divine sway.—Ver. 12. 'Numen' here means a power equal to that of the Divinities, and which puts it on a level with them.]

553 (return)

[ Mine felt pain.—Ver. 14. When the damsel swore by them, his eyes smarted, as though conscious of her perjury.]

554 (return)

[ Forsooth to you.—Ver. 17. He says that surely it was enough for the Gods to punish Andromeda, the daughter of Cepheus, for the sins of her mother, without making him to suffer misery for the perjury of his mistress. Cassiope, the mother of Andromeda, having dared to compare her own beauty with that of the Nereids, her daughter was, by the command of Jupiter, exposed to a sea-monster, which was afterwards slain by Perseus. See the Metamorphoses, Book iv. 1. 670.]

555 (return)

[ Hurls at the groves.—Ver. 35. A place which had been struck by lightning was called 'bidental,' and was held sacred ever afterwards. The same veneration was also paid to a place where any person who had been killed by lightning was buried. Priests collected the earth that had been torn up by lightning, and everything that had been scorched, and buried it in the ground with lamentations. The spot was then consecrated by sacrificing a two-year-old sheep, which being called 'bidens,' gave its name to the place. An altar was also erected there, and it was not allowable thenceforth to tread on the spot, or to touch it, or even look at it. When the altar had fallen to decay, it might be renovated, but to remove its boundaries was deemed sacrilege. Madness was supposed to ensue on committing such an offence; and Seneca mentions a belief, that wine which had been struck by lightning, would produce death or madness in those who drank it.]

556 (return)

[ Unfortunate Semele.—Ver. 37. See the fate of Semele, related in the Third Book of the Metamorphoses.]

557 (return)

[ Have some regard.—Ver. 49. Or, in other words. 'Don't sweat any more by my eyes.']

558 (return)

[ Because she cannot, stilt sews.—Ver. 4. It is not a little singular that a heathen poet should enunciate the moral doctrine of the New Testament, that it is the thought, and not the action, that of necessity constitutes the sin.]

559 (return)

[ A hundred in his neck.—Ver. 18. In the First Book of the Metamorphoses, he assigns to Argus only one hundred eyes; here, however, he uses a poet's license, prohably for the sake of filling up the line.]

560 (return)

[ Its stone and its iron.—Ver. 21. From Pausanias and Lucian we learn that the chamber of Danaë was under ground, and was lined with copper and iron.]

561 (return)

[ Nor yet is it legal.—Ver. 33. He tells him that he ought not to inflict loss of liberty on a free-born woman, a punishment that was only suited to a slave.]

562 (return)

[ Those two qualities.—Ver. 42. He says, the wish being probably the father to the thought, that beauty and chastity cannot possibly exist together.]

563 (return)

[ Many a thing at home.—Ver. 48. He tells him that he will grow quite rich with the presents which his wife will then receive from her admirers.]

564 (return)

[ Its bubbling foam..—Ver. 13. He alludes to the noise which the milk makes at the moment when it touches that in the pail.]

565 (return)

[ Ewe when milked.—Ver. 14. Probably the milk of ewes was used for making cheese, as is sometimes the case in this country.]

566 (return)

[ Hag of a procuress.—Ver. 40. We have been already introduced to one amiable specimen of this class in the Eighth Elegy of the First Book.]

567 (return)

[ River that hast.—Ver. 1. Ciofanus has this interesting Note:—'This river is that which flows near the walls of Sulmo, and, which, at the present day we call 'Vella.' In the early spring, when the snows melt, and sometimes, at the beginning of autumn, it swells to a wonderful degree with the rains, so that it becomes quite impassable. Ovid lived not far from the Fountain of Love, at the foot of the Moronian hill, and had a house there, of which considerable vestiges still remain, and are called 'la botteghe d'Ovidio.' Wishing to go thence to the town of Sulmo, where his mistress was living, this river was an obstruction to his passage.']

568 (return)

[ A hollow boat.—Ver. 4. 'Cymba' was a name given to small boats used on rivers or lakes. He here alludes to a ferry-boat, which was not rowed over; but a chain or rope extending from one side of the stream to the other, the boatman passed across by running his hands along the rope.]

569 (return)

[ The opposite mountain.—Ver. 7. The mountain of Soracte was near the Flaminian way, in the territory of the Falisci, and may possibly be the one here alluded to. Ciofanus says that its name is now 'Majella,-and that it is equal in height to the loftiest mountains of Italy, and capped with eternal snow. *All one with the day.—Ver. 10. He means to say that he has risen early in the morning for the purpose of proceeding on his journey.]

570 (return)

[ The son of Danaë.—Ver. 13. Mercury was said to have lent to Perseus his winged shoes, 'talaria,' when he slew Medusa with her viperous locks.]

571 (return)

[ Wish for the chariot.—Ver. 15. Ceres was said to have sent Trip-tolemus in her chariot, drawn by winged dragons, to introduce agriculture among mankind. See the Fourth Book of the Fasti, 1. 558.]

572 (return)

[ Inachus.—Ver. 25. Inachus was a river of Argolis, in Peloponnesus.]

573 (return)

[ Love for Melie.—Ver. 25. Melie was a Nymph beloved by Neptune, to whom she bore Amycus, king of Bebrycia, or Bithynia, in Asia Minor, whence her present appellation.]

574 (return)

[ Alpheus.—Ver 29. See the story of Alpheus and Arethusa, in the Fifth Book of the Metamorphoses, 1. 576.]

575 (return)

[ Creüsa.—Ver. 31. Creüsa was a Naïad, the mother of Hypseas, king of the Lapithae, by Peneus, a river of Thessaly. Xanthus was a rivulet near Troy. Of Creüsa being promised to Xanthus nothing whatever is known.]

576 (return)

[ The be beloved by Mars.—Ver. 33. Pindar, in his Sixth Olympic Ode, says that Metope, the daughter of Ladon, was the mother of live daughters, by Asopus, a river of Boeotia. Their names were Corcyra, Ægina, Salamis, Thebe, and Harpinna. Ovid, in calling her Thebe, probably follows some other writer. She is called 'Martia,' because she was beloved by Mars, to whom she bore Evadne.]

577 (return)

[ Hand of Hercules.—Ver. 36. For the contest of Hercules and Achelous for the hand of Deianira, see the beginning of the Ninth Book of the Metamorphoses.]

578 (return)

[ Calydon.—Ver. 37. Aeneus, the father of Meleager and Dei'anira, reigned over Ætolia, of which Calydon was the chief city.]

579 (return)

[ The native spot.—Ver. 40; He alludes to the fact of the source or native country of the Nile being then, as it probably still is, quite unknown.]

580 (return)

[ Daughter of Asopus.—Ver. 41. Evadne is called 'Asopide,' from her mother being the wife of Asopus. See the Note on line 33 above.]

581 (return)

[ Enipeus dried up.—Ver. 43. Probably the true reading here is 'fictus,' 'the false Enipeus.' Tyro was the daughter of Salmoneus, king of Pisa, in Elis. She being much enamoured of the river Enipeus, Neptune is said to have assumed his form, and to have been, by her, the father of Pelias and Neleus.']

582 (return)

[ Argive Tibur,—Ver. 46. Tibur was a town beautifully situate in the neighbourhood of Home; it was said to have been founded by three Argive brothers, Tyburtus, Catillus, and Coras.]

583 (return)

[ Whom Ilia.—Ver. 47. Ilia was said to have been buried alive, by the orders of Amulius, on the banks of the river Tiber; or, according to some, to have been thrown into that river, on which she is said to have become the wife of the river, and was deified. Acron, an ancient historian, wrote to the effect that her ashes were interred on the banks of the Anio; and that river overflowing, carried them to the bed of the Tiber, whence arose the story of her nuptials with the latter. According to one account, she was not put to death, but was imprisoned, having been spared by Amulius at the entreaty of his daughter, who was of the same age as herself, and at length regained her liberty.]

584 (return)

[ Descendant of Laomedon.—Ver. 54. She was supposed to be descended from Laomedon, through Ascanius, the son of Creüsa, the granddaughter of Laomedon.]

585 (return)

[ No white fillet.—Ver. 56. The fillet with which the Vestals bound their hair.]

586 (return)

[ Am I courted.—Ver. 75. The Vestais were released from their duties, and were allowed to marry if they chose, after they had served for thirty years. The first ten years were passed in learning their duties, the next ten in performing them, and the last ten in instructing the novices.]

587 (return)

[ Did she throw herself.—Ver. 80. The Poet follows the account which represented her as drowning herself.]

588 (return)

[ To some fixed rule.—Ver. 89. 'Legitimum' means 'according to fixed laws so that it might be depended upon, 'in a steady manner.']

589 (return)

[ Injurious to the flocks.—Ver. 99. It would be 'damnosus' in many ways, especially from its sweeping away the cattle and the produce of the land. Its waters, too, being turbid, would be unpalatable to the thirsty traveller, and unwholesome from the melted snow, which would be likely to produce goitre, or swellings in the throat.]

590 (return)

[ Could I speak of the rivers.—Ver. 103. He apologizes to the Acheloüs, Inachus, and Nile, for presuming to mention their names, in addressing such a turbid, contemptible stream.]

591 (return)

[ After my poems.—Ver. 5. He refers to his lighter works; such, perhaps, as the previous books of his Amores. This explains the nature of the 'libelli,' which he refers to in his address to his mistress, in the Second Book of the Amores, El. xi. 1. 31.]

592 (return)

[ His wealth acquired.—Ver. 9. 'Censu.' For the explanation of this word, see the Fasti, B. i. 1. 217, and the Note to the passage.]

593 (return)

[ Through his wounds.—Ver. 9. In battle, either by giving wounds, or receiving them.]

594 (return)

[ Which thus late.—Ver. 15. By 4 serum,'he means that his position, as a man of respectable station, has only been recently acquired, and has not descended to him through a long line of ancestors.]

595 (return)

[ Was it acquired.—Ver. 20. This was really much to the merit of his rival; but most of the higher classes of the Romans affected to despise anything like gain by means of bodily exertion; and the Poet has extended this feeling even to the rewards of merit as a soldier.]

596 (return)

[ Hold sway over.—Ver. 27. He here plays upon the two meanings of the word 'deducere.' 'Deducere carmen' is 'to compose poetry'; 'deducere primum pilum' means 'to form' or 'command the first troop of the Triarii.' These were the veteran soldiers of the Roman army, and the 'Primipilus' (which office is here alluded to) being the first Centurion of the first maniple of them, was the chief Centurion of the legion, holding an office somewhat similar to our senior captains. Under the Empire this office was very lucrative. See the Note to the 49th line of the Seventh Epistle, in the-Fourth Book of the Pontic Epistles.]

597 (return)

[ The ravished damsel.—Ver. 30. He alludes to Danaë.]

598 (return)

[ Resorted to presents.—Ver. 33. He seems to allude to the real meaning of the story of Danaë, which, no doubt, had reference to the corrupting influence of money.]

599 (return)

[ With no boundaries.—Ver. 42. The 'limes' was a line or boundary, between pieces of land belonging to different persons, and consisted of a path, or ditch, or a row of stones. The 'ager limitatus' was the public land marked out by 'limites,' for the purposes of allotment to the citizens. On apportioning the land, a line, which was called 'limes,' was drawn through a given point from East to West, which was called 'decumanus,' and another line was drawn from North to South. The distance at which the 'limites' were to be drawn depended on the magnitude of the squares or 'centuriæ,' as they were called, into which it was purposed to divide the tract.]

601 (return)

[ Then was the shore.—Ver. 44. Because they had not as yet learnt the art of navigation.]

602 (return)

[ Turreted fortifications.—Ver. 47. Among the ancients the fortifications of cities were strengthened by towers, which were placed at intervals on the walls; they were also generally used at the gates of towns.]

603 (return)

[ Why not seek the heavens.—Ver. 50. With what indignation would he not have spoken of a balloon, as being nothing less than a downright attempt to scale the 'tertia régna!']

604 (return)

[ Ciesar but recently.—Ver. 52. See the end of the Fifteenth Book of the Metamorphoses, and the Fasti, Book iii. 1. 704.]

605 (return)

[ The Senate-house.—Ver. 55. 'Curia'was the name of the place where the Senate held its meetings, such as the 'curia Hostilia,' * Julia,' Marcelli,' and others. Hence arose the custom of calling the Senate itself, in the various Roman towns, by the name of 'curia,' but not the Senate of Rome. He here means to say, that poverty excluded a man from the Senate-house, and that wealth alone was the qualification for the honours of the state.]

606 (return)

[ Wealth alone confers honours —Ver. 55. The same expression occurs in the Fasti, Book i. 1. '217, where a similar complaint is made on the worldly-mindedness of the age.]

607 (return)

[ The Field of Mars.—Ver. 57. The 'comitia,' or meetings for the elections of the magistrates, were held on the 'Campus Martius' or field of Mars. See the Notes to the Fasti, Book i. 1. 53.]

608 (return)

[ And the Forum. —Ver. 57. The 'Fora' were of two kinds at Rome; some being market-places, where all kinds of goods were exposed for sale, while others were solely courts of justice. Among the latter is the one here mentioned, which was simply called 'Forum,' so long as it was the only one of its kind existing at Rome, and, indeed, after that period, as in the present instance. At a later period of the Republic, and under the Empire, when other 'fora,' for judicial purposes, were erected, this Forum' was distinguished by the epithets 'vetus,' 'old,' or 'magnum, 'great.' It was situate between the Capitoline and Palatine hills, and was originally a swamp or marsh, which was filled up hy Romulus or Tatius. It was chiefly used for judicial proceedings, and is supposed to have been surrounded with the hankers' shops or offices, 'argentaria.' Gladiatorial games were occasionally held there, and sometimes prisoners of war, and faithless legionary soldiers, were there put to death. A second 'Forum,' for judicial purposes, was erected hy Julius Caesar, and was called hy his name. It was adorned with a splendid temple of Venus Genitrix. A third was built hy Augustus, and was called 'Forum Augusts' It was adorned with a temple of Mars, and the statues of the most distinguished men of the republic. Having suffered severely from fire, this Forum was restored by the Emperor Hadrian. It is mentioned in the Fourth Book of the Pontic Epistles, Ep. xv. 1. 16. See the Fasti, Book iii. 1. 704.]

609 (return)

[ With regard to me.—Ver. 63. He says that because he is poor she makes excuses, and pretends that she is afraid of her husband and those whom he has set to watch her.]

610 (return)

[ Of thy own inspiration.—Ver. 5. Burmann remarks, that the word 'opus' is especially applied to the sacred rites of the Gods; literally 'the priest of thy rites.']

611 (return)

[ The erected pile—Ver. 6. Among the Romans the corpse was burnt on a pile of wood, which was called 'pyra,' or 'rogus.' According to Servius, it was called by the former name before, and hy the latter after, it was lighted, but this distinction is not observed by the Latin writers.]

612 (return)

[ The cruel boar.—Ver. 16. He alludes to the death of Adonis, by the tusk of a boar, which pierced his thigh. See the Tenth Book of the Metamorphoses, l. 716.]

613 (return)

[ We possess inspiration.—Ver. 17. In the Sixth Book of the Fasti, 1. 6, he says. 'There is a Deity within us (Poets): under his guidance we glow with inspiration; this poetic fervour contains the impregnating. particles of the mind of the Divinity.']

614 (return)

[ She lays her.—Ver. 20. It must be remembered that, whereas we personify Death as of the masculine gender; the Romans represented the grim tyrant as being a female. It is a curious fact that we find Death very rarely represented as a skeleton on the Roman monuments. The skeleton of a child has, in one instance, been found represented on one of the tombs of Pompeii. The head of a horse was one of the most common modes of representing death, as it signified departure.]

615 (return)

[ Ismarian Orpheus.—Ver. 21. Apollo and the Muse Calliope were the parents of Orpheus, who met with a cruel death. See the beginning of the Eleventh Book of the Metamorphoses.]

616 (return)

[ Linus! Alas!—Ver. 23. 'Ælinon' was said to have been the exclamation of Apollo, on the death of his son, the poet Linus. The word is derived from the Greek, 'di Aivôç,' 'Alas! Linus.' A certain poetic measure was called by this name; but we learn from Athenaeus, that it was not always confined to pathetic subjects. There appear to have been two persons of the name of Linus. One was a Theban, the son of Apollo, and the instructor of Orpheus and Hercules, while the other was the son of an Argive princess, by Apollo, who, according to Statius, was torn to pieces in his infancy by dogs.]

617 (return)

[ The son of Mæon. —Ver. 25. See the Note to the ninth line of the Fifteenth Elegy of the First Book of the Amores.]

618 (return)

[ Slow web woven.—Ver. 30. The web of Penelope.]

619 (return)

[ Nemesis, so Delia.—Ver. 31. Nemesis and Delia were the names of damsels whose charms were celebrated by Tibullus.]

620 (return)

[ Sacrifice avail thee.—Ver. 33. He alludes to two lines in the First Elegy of Tibullus.]

621 (return)

[ What lying apart.—Ver. 34. During the festival of Isis, all intercourse with men was forbidden to the female devotees.]

622 (return)

[ The yawning tomb.—Ver. 38. The place where a person was burnt was called 'bustum,' if he was afterwards buried on the same spot, and 'ustrina,' or 'ustrinum,' if he was buried at a different place. See the Notes to the Fasti, B. ii. 1. 531.]

623 (return)

[ The towers of Eryx—Ver. 45. He alludes to Venus, who had a splendid temple on Mount Eryx, in Sicily.]

624 (return)

[ The Phæacian land.—Ver. 47. The Phæacians were the ancient people of Corcyra, now the isle of Corfu. Tibullus had attended Messala thither, and falling ill, was unable to accompany his patron on his return to Rome, on which he addressed to him the First Elegy of his Third Book, in which he expressed a hope that he might not die among the Phæacians. To this Elegy Ovid here refers. Tibullus afterwards recovered, and died at Rome. When he penned this line, Ovid little thought that his own bones would one day rest in a much more ignoble spot than Corcyra, and one much more repulsive to the habits of civilization.]

625 (return)

[ Here.—Ver. 49. 1 Hie'here seems to be the preferable reading; alluding to Rome, in contradistinction to Corcyra.]

626 (return)

[ His tearful eyes.—Ver. 49. He alludes to the custom of the nearest relative closing the eyes of the dying person.]

627 (return)

[ The last gifts.—Ver. 50. The perfumes and other offerings which were thrown on the burning pile, are here alluded to. Tibullus says, in the same Elegy—]

'Non soror Assyrios cineri quæ dedat odores,]

Et Heat effusis ante sepulchra comis']

'No sister have I here to present to my ashes the Assyrian perfumes, and to weep before my tomb with dishevelled locks.' To this passage Ovid makes reference in the next two lines.]

628 (return)

[ Thy first love.—Ver. 53. 'Prior;' his former love was Delia, who was forsaken by him for Nemesis. They are both represented here as attending his obsequies. Tibullus says, in the First Elegy of the First Book, addressing Delia:—]

Te spectem, suprema mihi cum venerit hora,]

Te teneam moriens, déficiente manu.]

Flebis et arsuro positum me, Delia, lecto,]

Tristibus et lacrymis oscula mista dabis.']

May I look upon you when my last hour comes, when dying, may I hold you with my failing hand. Delia, you will lament me, too, when placed on my bier, doomed to the pile, and will give me kisses mingled with the tears of grief.' To these lines Ovid evidently here refers. It would appear from the present passage, that it was the custom to give the last kiss when the body was laid on the funeral pile.]

629 (return)

[ With his failing hand.—Ver. 58. Nemesis here alludes to the above line, and tells Delia, that she, herself, alone engaged his affection, as it was she alone who held his hand when he died.]

630 (return)

[ Learned Catullus.—Ver. 62. Catullus was a Roman poet, a native of Verona. Calvus was also a Roman poet of great merit. The poems of Catullus and Calvus were set to music by Hermogenes, Tigellius, and Demetrius, who were famous composers. See the Tristia, Book ii. lines 427 and 431, and the Notes to the passages.]

631 (return)

[ Prodigal of thy blood.—Ver. 64. He alludes to the fact of Gallus having killed himself, and to his having been suspected of treason against Augustus, from whom he had received many marks of kindness Ovid seems to hint, in the Tristia, Book ii. 1. 446, that the fault of Gallus was his having divulged the secrets of Augustus, when he was in a state o* inebriety. Some writers say, that when Governor of Egypt, he caused his name and exploits to be inscribed on the Pyramids, and that this constituted his crime. Others again, suppose that he was guilty of extortion in Egypt, and that he especially harassed the people of Thebea with his exactions. Some of the Commentators think that under the name 'amicus,' Augustus is not here referred to, inasmuch as it woulc seem to bespeak a familiar acquaintanceship, which is not known to have existed. Scaliger thinks that it must refer to some misunderstanding which had taken place between Gallus and Tibullus, in which the former was accused of having deceived his friend.]

632 (return)

[ The rites of Ceres—Ver. 1. This festival of Ceres occurred on the Fifth of the Ides of April, being the 12th day of that month. See the Fasti, Book iv. 1. 393. White garments, were worn at this festival, and woollen robes of dark colour were prohibited. The worship was conducted solely by females, and all intercourse with men was forbidden, who were not allowed to approach the altars of the Goddess.]

633 (return)

[ The oaks, the early oracles.—Ver. 9. On the oaks, the oracles of Dodona, see the Translation of the Metamorphoses, pages 253 and 467.]

634 (return)

[ Having nurtured Jove.—Ver. 20. See an account of the education of Jupiter, by the Curetes, in Crete, in the Fourth Book of the Fasti, L 499, et seq.]

635 (return)

[ Beheld Jasius.—Ver. 25. Iasius, or Iasion, was, according to most accounts, the son of Jupiter and Electra, and enjoyed the favour of Ceres, by whom he was the father of Plutus. According to the Scholiast on Theocritus, he was the son of Minos, and the Nymph Phronia. According to Apollodorus, he was struck dead by the bolts of Jupiter, for offering violence to Ceres. He was also said by some to be the husband of Cybele. He is supposed to have been a successful husbandman when agriculture was but little known; which circumstance is thought to have given rise to the story of his familiarity with Ceres. Ovid repeats this charge against the chastity of Ceres, in the Tristia, Book ii. 1. 300. See the Note to the passage.]

636 (return)

[ Proportion of their wheat.—Ver. 30. With less corn than had been originally sown.]

637 (return)

[ The law-giving Mims.—Ver. 41. Minos is said to have been the first who gave laws to the Cretans.]

638 (return)