Ovid – Pentheus & Agave
Metamorphoses 3. 699-729
perstat Echīonidēs. nec iam iubet īre, sed ipse
vādit, ubi ēlectus facienda ad sacra Cithaeron 700
cantibus et clārā Bacchantum vōce sonābat.
ut fremit ācer equus, cum bellicus aere canōrō
signa dedit tubicen, pugnaeque assūmit amōrem,
Penthea sīc ictus longīs ululātibus aether
mōvit, et audītō clāmōre recanduit ira. 705
monte ferē mediō est, cingentibus ultima silvīs,
pūrus ab arboribus, spectābilis undique campus.
hīc oculīs illum cernentem sacra profānīs
prīma videt, prīma est īnsānō concita cursū,
prīma suum missō violāvit Penthea thyrsō 710
māter. “iō, geminae” clāmāvit “adeste sorōrēs!
ille aper, in nostrīs errat qui maximus agrīs,
ille mihi feriendus aper.” ruit omnis in ūnum
turba furēns; cunctae coëunt trepidumque sequuntur,
iam trepidum, iam verba minus violenta loquentem, 715
iam sē damnantem, iam sē peccāsse fatentem.
saucius ille tamen “fer opem, matertera” dixit
“Autonoē! moveant animos Actaeonis umbrae.”
illa, quis Actaeon, nescit dextramque precantis
abstulit: Īnōō lacerāta est altera raptū. 720
nōn habet infelix quae matrī bracchia tendat,
trunca sed ostendens dēiectīs vulnera membrīs
“aspice, māter!” ait. vīsīs ululāvit Agāvē
collaque iactāvit mōvitque per āera crinem
āvulsumque caput digitīs complexa cruentīs 725
clāmat “iō comitēs, opus haec victoria nostrum est!”
nōn citius frondēs autumnī frigore tactās
iamque malē haerentēs altā rapit arbore ventus,
quam sunt membra virī manibus dīrepta nefandīs.
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Notes
Meter: dactylic hexameters
699 Echīonidēs = “the son of Echion”, i.e., Pentheus nec iam = “but … no longer” iubet, understand suōs, “his men”; īre from eō: “to go”700 ēlectus ad …: “chosen for …”; the mountain was chosen by the god for the performance of his rites ad sacra facienda (gerundive) = “for performing the sacred rites”701 Bacchantum is gen. plur.702 ut introduces a simile, answered by sīc in line 704: “as …so …” bellicus, -a, -um: in war, of war, warlike aere, from aes canōrus, -a, -um: melodious, sweet-sounding703 tubicen, -cinis, m.: trumpeter assūmō, assūmere means to take as one’s own, to assume704 Penthea is a Greek accusative of Pentheus ululātus, -ūs, m.: ululation, howling705 recanescō, recanescere, recanuī: “to grow white (hot) again; become heated again”706 est, the substantive verb: “there is”; subject is campus cingentibus … silvīs is an ablative absolute ultima is used as a noun, object of cingentibus: “its farthest reaches”707 spectābilis, -e: visible ut sit (subjunctive): “that he might be …”708 hīc, the adverb: “in this place”; notice that Ovid places Pentheus in an open meadow, not up a tree sacra (neut. acc. plur.), is used as a noun, “the sacred rites”710 missō … thyrsō is an instrumental ablative: “with her …”711 geminae means simply that there are two of them, not that they are twins; the sisters are Autonoë and Ino adeste is the second person plural present imperative of adsum: “Be present!” = “Come here!”712 Word order: ille maximus aper, quī in agrīs nostrīs errat …; notice she sees a boar and not a lion714 coëunt = “come together” tredipumque sequuntur = “and follow the agitated man”715 loquentem: “speaking” minus violenta: “less violent” > “more appeasing”716 sē is the object of damnantem: “cursing himself” fatentem, from fateor: “confessing”; peccāsse – for peccāvisse, perfect active infinitive in indirect speech717 saucius, -a, -um: wounded718 moveant animōs … umbrae: moveant is a subjunctive expressing a wish — “may the shades of Actaeon move your spirit”; he is appealing for her to think of her dead son Actaeon and so take pity on him719 illa nescit quis Actaeōn, understand sit: “who does not know who Actaeon is”720 lacerō, lacerāre, lacerāvī, lacerātum: to mutilate, mangle Īnōō, adjective with raptū; Īnōus, -a, -um = “of Ino”; the adjective is equivalent to a genitive raptus, -ūs, m.: a tearing off, tearing away721 Word order: infelix nōn habet bracchia quae matrī tendat: “…does not have arms to extend to his …”, literally, ‘does not have the arms which he might extend’722 truncus, -a, -um: mutilated, lopped, maimed723 vīsīs, ablative expressing cause: “at the sight of them”; the ululation is a sound of celebration and triumph 727 nōn citius introduces a simile –“not more swiftly …”, answered by quam, “than”, in line 729728 altā …arbore is separative: “from a …”729 nefandus, -a, -um: unholy, abominable, wicked sunt dīrepta is perfect; manibus nefandīs is instrumental ablative
