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”

Ille etiam Cereāle nemus violāsse securīdīcitur et lūcōs ferrō temerāsse vetustōs.[Ov. M. 8.744 f.]

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