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Ars Amatoria 1. 537-550
Ars Amatoria 1. 537-550
‘quid mihi fiet?’ ait: sonuērunt cymbala tōtō
lītore, et attonitā tympana pulsa manū.
excidit illa metū, rūpitque novissima verba;
nullus in exanimī corpore sanguis erat. 540
ecce Mimallonidēs sparsīs in terga capillīs:
ecce levēs satyrī, praevia turba deī:
ebrius, ecce, senex pandō Sīlēnus asellō
vix sedet, et pressās continet ante iubās.
dum sequitur Bacchās, Bacchae fugiuntque petuntque 545
quādrupedem ferulā dum malus urget eques,
in caput aurītō cecidit dēlapsus asellō:
clāmārunt satyrī ‘surge, age, surge, pater.’
iam deus in currū, quem summum texerat ūvīs,
tigribus adiunctīs aurea lōra dabat: 550
et color et Thēseus et vox abiēre puellae:
terque fugam petiit, terque retenta metū est.
horruit, ut gracilēs, agitat quās ventus, aristae,
ut levis in madidā canna palūde tremit.
cuī deus “ēn, adsum tibi cūra fidēlior” inquit: 555
“pōne metum: Bacchī, Cnōsias, uxor eris.
mūnus habē caelum; caelō spectābere sīdus;
saepe regēs dubiam Cressa Corōna ratem.”
dixit, et ē currū, nē tigrēs illa timēret,
dēsilit; impositō cessit harēna pedī: 560
implicitamque sinū (neque enim pugnāre valēbat)
abstulit; in facilī est omnia posse deō.
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Notes
Ovid relates the same scene: Ariadne deserted on the beach ‘rescued’ by an epiphany of the god Bacchus, together with his retinue.
Meter: elegiac couplets
537 fiet = “will happen” ait: “she says” cymbalum, -ī, n.: “cymbal”538 pulsa manū attonitā = “beat with a frenzied (literally ‘stricken’) hand” rūpit here means ‘broke off’ (see rumpō) novissima = “most recent”539 excidō, excidere = “to fall down, drop down”541 Mimallonidēs are the bacchants; translate “the Bacchants” in terga: the accusative has the sense of ‘along …’542 praevius, -a, -um: going before, advance, leading the way543 pandus, -a, -um: sway-back, bent, curved asellus, -ī, m.: a little ass; an ass’s colt544 iubae, -ārum, f., are the animal’s mane pressus, -a, -um: pressed (because he is holding tight)545 sequitur Bacchās = “he follows the Bacchants”546 quādripēs, -pedis = “four-footed”, here used as a noun ferula, -ae, f.: a reed, whip urgeō, urgēre, ursī: to press, urge, urge on eques, equitis, m.: horseman547 cecidit from cado dēlapsus, -a, -um: fallen, fallen down aurītus, -a, -um: eared, having (big) ears548 clāmārunt = clāmāvērunt549 texerat pluperfect of tegō550 tigribus adiunctīs (dative): “to tigers joined”, i.e., the tigers drawing the car551 abiēre = abiērunt: “went away”; puellae is dative552 petiit, perfect of petō; retentus, -a, -um: “held back”; metū abl.: “by fear”553 Word order: horruit ut aristae gracilēs, quās ventus agitat554 levis canna, “a light reed”; madidā with palūde; see palūs555 cūra here = “beloved”, by metonymy; fidēlior, comparative: “more loyal”, i.e., than Theseus 556 pōne imperative: “lay aside” Cnōsias, vocative: “woman of Cnossus”, i.e., Cretan557 mūnus is predicative: “ … as your reward” spectābere = spectāberis, future passive; sīdus is predicative The constellation meant is the Corona Borealis558 regēs, from regō; ratis, -is, f. here = nāvis Cressa Corōna, “the Cretan Crown” = Corona Borealis559 nē tigrēs illa timēret expresses purpose: “so that she might not fear the tigers” 560 impositō cessit harēna pedī: “the sand yielded to the foot placed upon it”561 implicitam … sinū literally “enfolded in his bosom” neque valēbat = nōn poterat562 abstulit perfect of auferō, to take away omnia posse, literally ‘to be able in all respects’ (omnia is adverbial); deō is dative; in facilī as adverb = “easily”. Translate, “For a god all things are easily possible”.
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