Catullus – Ariadne

Carmen 64.52-75

namque fluentisonō prospectāns lītore Diae

Thēsea cēdentem celerī cum classe tuētur

indomitōs in corde gerēns Ariadna furōrēs,

necdum etiam sēsē quae vīsit vīsere credit, 55

utpote fallācī quae tunc prīmum excita somnō

dēsertam in sōlā miseram sē cernat harēnā.

immemor at iuvenis fugiēns pellit vada rēmīs,

inrita ventōsae linquēns promissa procellae.

quem procul ex algā maestīs Mīnōis ocellīs 60

saxea ut effigiēs bacchantis prōspicit, ēheu,

prōspicit et magnīs cūrārum fluctuat undīs,

nōn flāvō retinēns subtīlem vertice mitram,

nōn contecta levī vēlātum pectus amictū,

nōn teretī strophiō lactentēs vincta papillās, 65

omnia quae tōtō dēlapsa ē corpore passim

ipsius ante pedēs fluctūs salis adlūdēbant.

sīc neque tum mitrae neque tum fluitantis amictūs

illa vicem cūrāns tōtō ex tē pectore, Thēseu,

tōtō animō, tōtā pendēbat perdita mente. 70

āh misera, assiduīs quam luctibus exsternāvit

spīnōsās Erycīna serēns in pectore cūrās

illā tempestāte, ferox quō ex tempore Thēseus

ēgressus curvīs ē lītoribus Piraēī

attigit iniustī rēgis Gortynia tecta. 75

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Notes Meter: dactylic hexameters
52 fluentisomus, -a, -um: resounding with wavesDia, Diae, f.: the island of Dia, also known as Naxos53 Thēsea, acc. of Thēseustueor, tuērī, tuitus sum: to gaze upon54 indomitus, -a, -um = untamable55 necdum = “and not yet”vīso, vīsere, vīsī, vīsum = “look at, observe, behold”56 utpote: “in as much as”excitus, -a, -um here = “roused, awaken” 57 dēsertam understand esse, in reported speech, from dēserōquae … cernat: the subjunctive expresses cause: “since she …”58 vadum, ī, n.: the shallows, shoalsimmemor: not forgetful so much as unmindful59 procella, -ae, f.: the storm-wind, tempestventōsus, -a, -um: windy60 The alga mark the edge of the waterocellus, -ī, m., is diminutive of oculus: “a little eye”61 saxeus, -a, -um: stoneyeffigiēs, -eī, f.: an image; she is likened to a bacchans because of her wild, maddened aspect62 fluctuat: “is tossed about”63 flāvō vertice, i.e., on her blond headmitra, -ae, f.: headband (part of her sleep-wear)64 contectus, -a, -um: coveredpectus is a Greek adverbial use of the accusative: “her breast covered …”; vēlātum simply restates contecta65 strophium, -ī, n.: a chest band, serving as a brassierelactantēs (“milk-producing”) with papillae (“breasts”) is a purely ornamental epithetvinctus, -a, -um: “bound”, from vincio67 sal, salis, m., “salt”, is used by metonymy for the seaallūdēbant – literally “were playing about”68 fluitō, fluitāre: to flutter, hang loose69 vicem cūrāns + gen. = “having a care for …” vicem + gen. = “for, for the sake of, in place of, on account of”70 pendēbat ex tē – i.e., she was wholly preoccupied with …perdita from perdō71 exsternō, exsternāre literally = “flatten”, metaphorically “craze, drive out of one’s wits”72 Erychīna = Venus, so named for a shrine of hers in Eryx, Sicilyserēns, participle of serō: “sowing”spīnōsus, -a, -um: spiny, thorny73 illā tempetāte … ex quō tempore: simply “from the time when”74 ēgressus: having departedPireus is the harbor of Athens75 iniustus, -a, -um: oppressive, harshGortynius, -a, -um: “of Gortyn”, a city in the uplands of Crete; simply = “Cretan”

Evelyn De Morgan,Ariadne Abandoned on Naxos by Theseus

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