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Carmen 64.249-264
Carmen 64.249-264
quae tum prōspectāns cēdentem maesta carīnam
multiplicēs animō volvēbat saucia cūrās. 250
at parte ex aliā florēns volitābat Iacchus
cum thiasō satyrōrum et Nysigenīs sīlēnīs
tē quaerēns, Ariadna, tuōque incēnsus amōre.
cuī Thyadēs passim lymphātā mente furēbant –
‘euhoe!’ – bacchantes, – ‘euhoe!’ – capita inflectentēs. 255
hārum pars tectā quatiēbant cuspide thyrsōs,
pars ē dīvulsō iactābant membra iuvencō,
pars sēsē tortis serpentibus incingēbant,
pars obscura cavīs celebrābant orgia cistīs,
orgia quae frustrā cupiunt audīre profānī, 260
plangēbant aliae prōcērīs tympana palmīs
aut teretī tenuēs tinnītūs aere ciēbant,
multīs raucisonōs efflābant cornua bombōs
barbaraque horribilī stridēbat tibia cantū.
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Notes
Ariadne watches as Theseus sails away, leaving her stranded on the beach of a desert isle. But Bacchus takes notice of her and arrives in a Bacchanalian procession. (The poem describes a scene embroidered in a tapestry, as if it were occurring in real time.)
Meter: dactylic hexameters
249 quae = et ea, referring to Ariadne prōspectāns= “looking out” cēdentem, “departing” carīna, -ae, f.: hull (of a ship); metaphorically = nāvis maestus, -a, -um = “grieving, sorrowing”250 multiplex, -iplicis: = “manifold, many-sided” saucius, -a, -um: wounded, injured; grief-striken251 parte ex aliā = “elsewhere” (on the tapestry) florēns (from floreō) = “in the bloom of youth” Iacchus = Bacchus252 thiāsus, -ī, m.: = a Bacchic retinue, a thiasus satyrus, ī, m.: = “satyr”, a male Bacchic attendant, with goat legs and a horse tail Nysigena, -ae: from Nysa (mythical birth-place of Dionysus); silēnī are older satyrs253 quaerēns = “seeking” incēnsus, -a, -um = “inflamed”254 cui = Bacchō (dative) Thyadēs or Thyiadēs are Bacchantes, female revellers of Bacchus lymphātus, -a, -um: raving255 bacchantes = “in a Bacchic frenzy” The Bacchic chant ‘Euhoe’ is parenthetical inflectentēs = “bending back”256 thyrsus, -ī, m.: “thyrsus; a Bacchic wand”, a plant stalk , wound with ivy and crowned with a pine cone cuspis, -pidis, f.: tip, point tectus, -a, -um: covered; the tecta cuspis refers to the pine-cone crown of the thyrsus257 dīvulsus, -a, -um: “torn asunder, torn apart”258 incingō, incingere, incinxi, incinctum: “to gird on, encircle, entwine, wrap” sēsē = sē259 celebrābant here = “were crowded in worship of” orgia, -ōrum, n. here = “sacred ritual objects” (of the nocternal mysteries of Bacchus) obscūrus, -a, -um, literally “dark”; obscūra here takes the ablative, “in …”260 audīre here means “hear about”, since the secret rituals may not be divulged to the unitiated261 plangō, plangere, planxī, planctum = “to beat, strike” porrigo, porrigere, porrexī, porrectum: to extend262 teres, teretis (adjective): smooth; aere from aes; the reference of teretī aere is to cymbals tinnītus, -ūs, m.: ringing, clanging263 multīs is dative feminine efflābant: “were blowing out”; cornua is the subject raucisonus, -a, -um: hoarse-sounding bombus, -ī, m.: blast, booming, blaring264 cantus, -ūs, m.: song, chant, drone
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