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Metamorphoses 3. 271-310
Metamorphoses 3. 271-310
surgit ab hīs soliō recondita nūbe
līmen adit Semelēs, nec nūbēs ante remōvit,
quam simulāvit anum posuitque ad tempora cānōs
sulcāvitque cutem rūgīs et curva trementī
membra tulit passū; vōcem quoque fēcit anīlem, 275
ipsaque erat Beroē, Semelēs Epidauria nutrix.
ergō ubi captātō sermōne diūque loquendō
ad nōmen vēnēre Iovis, suspīrat et “optō,
Iuppiter ut sit” ait: “metuō tamen omnia: multī
nōmine dīvōrum thalamōs iniēre pudīcōs. 280
nec tamen esse Iovem satis est: det pignus amōris,
sī modo vērus is est, quantusque et quālis ab altā
Iūnōne excipitur, tantus tālisque, rogātō,
det tibi complexūs suaque ante insignia sūmat.”
tālibus ignāram Iūnō Cadmēida dictīs 285
formārat. rogat illa Iovem sine nōmine mūnus.
cui deus “ēlige” ait: “nullam patiēre repulsam.
quōque magis crēdās, Stygiī quoque conscia suntō
nūmina torrentis: timor et deus ille deōrum est.”
laeta malō nimiumque potēns peritūraque amantis 290
obsequiō Semelē “quālem Saturnia” dixit
“tē solet amplectī, Veneris cum foedus inītis,
dā mihi tē tālem.” voluit deus ōra loquentis
opprimere: exierat iam vox prōperāta sub aurās.
ingemuit; neque enim nōn haec optāsse, neque ille 295
nōn iūrāsse potest. ergō maestissimus altum
aethera conscendit vultūque sequentia traxit
nūbila, quīs nimbōs inmixtaque fulgura ventīs
addidit et tonitrūs et inevitābile fulmen.
quā tamen usque potest, vīrēs sibi dēmere temptat; 300
nec, quō centimanum dēiecerat igne Typhōea,
nunc armatur eo: nimium feritātis in illō est.
est aliud levius fulmen, cuī dextra Cyclōpum
saevitiae flammaeque minus, minus addidit irae;
tēla secunda vocant superī. capit illa, domumque 305
intrat Agēnoream. corpus mortāle tumultūs
nōn tulit aetheriōs dōnīsque iugālibus arsit.
imperfectus adhuc infāns genetrīcis ab alvō
ēripitur, patriōque tener (sī credere dignum est)
insuitur femorī māternaque tempora complet. 310
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Notes
Meter: dactylic hexameters
271 ab hīs (verbīs), i.e., ‘after these words’ (referring to her foregoing speech) recondita (passive with reflexive force): “having shrouded herself”272 līmen, līminis, n.: a threshold adit from adeō: “approached” Semelēs is a Greek genitive: “of Semele” For ante … quam see antequam273 cānōs – understand capillōs274 sulcō, sulcāre, sulcāvī, sulcātum: to furrow, plough rūga, -ae, f.: wrinkle curvus, -a, -um: curved, bent275 tulit – see ferō anīlis, -e: of an old woman, old-womanly276 Epidaurius, -a, -um: Epidaurian, from Epidaurus277 captātus is perfect participle of captō, captāre, captāvī, captātum, “to seek to catch, entrap” Literally captātō sermōne means ‘with a conversation having been seized upon’ diūque loquendō (gerund), literally ‘and by talking for a long time’278 vēnēre = vēnērunt suspīrō, suspīrāre, suspīrāvī, suspīrātum: to sigh279 ait = “says” ut sit (subjunctive): “that he might be …”280 dīvōrum = deōrum iniēre = iniērunt, perfect of ineō, ‘enter into’ thalamus, -ī, m.: inner chamber, bedroom (a Greek word) pudīcus, -a, -um: modest, chaste, virtuous, pure281 nec tamen … satis est = sed tamen nōn satis est …: “But nevertheless it is not enough …” det (subjunctive): “let him give”283 rogātō (the so-called future imperative) det: “ask that he gives” tantus and tālis are predicative to the subject of det: “…being as great and of such nature …”, i.e. in his proper form quantus and quālis are correlative with tantus and tālis: “… as (when) he …”284 complexūs (accusative plural): “embraces” sūmat (subjunctive): “let him put on” insignia = “regalia, attire”, i.e., the formal dress and trappings of office285 Cadmēida (Greek accusative) = “daughter of Cadmus” dictīs = verbīs286 formārat = formāverat (pluperfect): shaped her in the sense of manipulating her sine nōmine, i.e., unspecified287 patiēre = patiēris: “you will suffer” repulsa, -ae, f.: rejection, repulse288 quōque magis credās, literally ‘and that you might trust all the more’ sunto (future imperative): “let them be”; subject is nūmina: “Let the nūmina … be conscia” torrēns, torrentīs, m.: a torrent; reference is to the River Styx – Stygius, -a, -um: Stygian289 ille refers to the Styx, personified290 laeta malō: “glad with the evil”291 obsequium, -ī, n.: compliance, indulgence Saturnia is the daughter of Saturn, i.e., Juno amplectī (infinitive of amplector): “to embrace” cum … inītis = “when you begin”293 loquentis (present participle): “as she was speaking”294 exierat (pluperfect of exeō): “had gone out” prōperō, prōperāre, prōperāvī, prōperātum: to hurry forth, go quickly 295 ingemō, ingemere, ingemuī: to groan, bemoan, lament296 nōn optāsse = nōn optāvisse (perfect infinitive), “not to have wished” nōn iūrāsse = nōn iūrāvisse (perfect infinitive), “not to have sworn” The -issum- in maestissimus forms a superlative: “very …”; “most …”297 aethera is a Greek accusative, masculine; the aether is the upper air, heaven; altum with aethera sequentia, present participle of sequor: “following” traxit, from trahō – he draws away the clouds; vultū is separative: “from his …”298 nūbila, -ōrum, n.: “clouds” quīs = quibus (dative with addidit), referring to the nūbila nimbus, -ī, m.: rain-storm; inmixtus, -a, -um: “mixed in”; ventīs is ablative with inmixta 299 tonitrus, -ūs, m.: thunder inevitabilis, -e: unavoidable300 quā usque potest = “to the extent that he can” dēmō, dēmere, dēmpsī, dēmptum: to take away; vīrēs from vīs301 Word order = nam nōn (= nec) armātur eō igne quō dēiecerat Typhōea: armātur has reflexive force (‘arms himself’); the ablatives are instrumental (‘with that fire with which …’); Typhōea is a Greek accusative of Typhōeus, the giant whom Jupiter struck down with his lightning and buried under Mount Aetna.302 feritās, feritātis, f.: wildness, savagery303 levius is comparative = “lighter” Cyclōpum is genitive plural; Cyclopses (not the one-eyed variety) make the armaments for the gods304 saevitia, -ae, f.: cruelty, fierceness, violence minus = “less”; the genitives are partitive305 tēla secunda would be light arms Agēnoreus, -a, -um: of the descendants of Agenor (the father of Cadmus)306 tumultūs (accusative plural) here = “the storm” aetherius, -a, -um: from the sky, from heaven307 arsit from ardeō iugālis, -e: nuptial, matrimonial308 genetrix, genetricis, f.: procreator, mother alvus, -ī, f.: belly310 insuō, insuere, insuō, insūtum: to sew into, sew in
P.B. Persing, Semele & Zeus with Thunderbolt
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