Ovid – Erysichthon
Metamorphoses 8.826-845
lēnis adhuc somnus placidīs Erysichthona pennīs
mulcēbat: petit ille dapēs sub imāgine somnī
ōraque vāna movet dentemque in dente fatīgat
exercetque cibō dēlūsum guttur inānī
prōque epulīs tenuēs nēquīquam dēvorat aurās. 830
ut vērō est expulsa quiēs, furit ardor edendī
perque avidās faucēs incēnsaque viscera regnat.
nec mora, quod pontus, quod terra, quod ēducat āer,
poscit et adpositīs queritur iēiūnia mensīs
inque epulīs epulās quaerit; quodque urbibus esse 835
quodque satis poterat populō, nōn sufficit ūnī,
plūsque cupit, quō plūra suam dēmittit in alvum.
utque fretum recipit dē tōtā flūmina terrā
nec satiātur aquīs peregrīnōsque ēbibit amnēs,
utque rapax ignis nōn umquam alimenta recūsat 840
innumerāsque facēs cremat et, quō cōpia māior
est data, plūra petit turbāque vorācior ipsā est:
sīc epulās omnēs Erysichthonis ōra profānī
accipiunt poscuntque simul. cibus omnis in illō
causa cibī est, semperque locus fit inānis edendō. 845
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Notes
Meter: dactylic hexameters
826 Erysichthona: Greek accusative829 exerceō, exercēre = “keep … occupied” guttur, -uris, n. = “gullet, throat”831 edendī = “of eating”834 adpositīs mēnsīs = “with the tables (i.e., meals) placed before (him)”, i.e., when meals are … iēiūnium, -ī, n.: “a fast”; here plural for the singular, = “hunger” queritur = “he complains of”837 plūs = “more”; plūra = “more things” quō: the ablative expresses degree of difference: the more he wants, by so much he eats more; compare English, ‘the more … the more …’ alvus, -ī, f. = “the belly”839 satiō, satiāre = “to satisfy, sate” ēbibō, ēbibere: “to drink up, drain”840 alimentum, -ī, n: “nourishment” > “fuel”841 cremō, cremāre, cremāvī, cremātum = “to burn up” quō māior copia = “the greater the mass that …”842 data est = “was given” vorācior is comparative: “more voracious” turbā ipsā is the mass of fuel; the ablative expresses cause: the fire becomes more voracious from the mass of fuel it comsumes845 fit = “comes into being, becomes” edendō = “for eating”
