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Metamorphoses 12.4-38
Metamorphoses 12.4-38
dēfuit officiō Paridis praesentia tristī,
postmodo quī raptā longum cum coniuge bellum 5
attulit in patriam; coniūrātaeque sequuntur
mille ratēs gentisque simul commūne Pelasgae.
nec dīlāta foret vindicta, nisi aequora saevī
invia fecissent ventī Boeōtaque tellus
Aulide piscōsā puppēs tenuisset itūrās. 10
hīc patriō dē mōre Iovī cum sacra parāssent,
ut vetus accensīs incanduit ignibus āra,
serpere caeruleum Danaī vīdēre dracōnem
in platanum, coeptīs quae stābat proxima sacrīs.
nīdus erat volucrum bis quattuor arbore summā: 15
quās simul et mātrem circum sua damna volantem
corripuit serpēns avidōque recondidit ōre.
obstipuēre omnēs. at vērī prōvidus augur
Thestoridēs “vincēmus” ait, “gaudēte, Pelasgī!
Trōia cadet, sed erit nostrī mora longa labōris,” 20
atque novem volucrēs in bellī dīgerit annōs.
ille, ut erat viridēs amplexus in arbore rāmōs,
fit lapis et servat serpentis imāgine saxum.
permanet Āoniīs Nereus violentus in undīs
bellaque nōn trānsfert; et sunt quī parcere Trōiae 25
Neptūnum credant, quia moenia fēcerat urbī.
at nōn Thestoridēs: nec enim nēscitve tacetve
sanguine virgineō plācandam virginis īram
esse deae. postquam pietātem publica causa
rexque patrem vīcit castumque datūra cruōrem 30
flentibus ante āram stetit Iphigenīa ministrīs,
victa dea est nūbemque oculīs obiēcit et inter
officium turbamque sacrī vōcēsque precantum
suppositā fertur mūtāsse Mycēnida cervā.
ergō ubi, quā decuit, lēnīta est caede Diāna, 35
et pariter Phoebēs, pariter maris īra recessit,
accipiunt ventōs ā tergō mille carīnae
multaque perpessae Phrygiā potiuntur harēnā.
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Notes
Meter: dactylic hexameters
4 officium refers to the burial of Priam’s son Aesacuspraesentia Paridis – a poetic periphrasis for Paris7 commūne is used here as – “the generality”, i.e., the vulgusPelasgus, -a, -um: Pelasgian, referring to the early inhabitants of Greece; hence, “Greek”8 foret = esset, being the apodosis in a past contrary-to-fact conditional9 invia is a predicate object, with aequoraBoeōtus, -a, -um: Boeotian 10 piscōsus, -a, -um: teeming with fish; the ablative Aulide expresses locationitūrās – the participle is circumstantial: “as they were about to …”11 dē here = ‘in accordance with …’parāssent, contraction for parāvissent13 Danäus, -a, -um: Greek, here used as a nounvīdēre = vīdērunt14 coeptīs – participle with sacrīs, itself dative after proxima; see coepī19 The ‘son of Thestor’ is Calchas, the seer for the campaign against Troy22 erat amplexus, pluperfect of amplector23 servat … saxum: “keeps the stone”, i.e., remains stone24 Nereus, by metonymy for mare25 bellaque nōn trānsfert: plural for singular, abstract (bellum) for concrete (nāvēs)27 -ve … -ve … = “either … or …”28 plācandam esse: passive periphrastic in indirect statementThe virgina dea is Diana29 The full expression of this compressed clause would bepostquam causa publica (“public interest”) piētātem (i.e., personal feeling) vīcit, et postquam rex patrem vīcit …32 oculīs is dative33 inter … turbam sacrī means ‘amidst the bustle / hurry of the sacrifice’, turba being ‘disorder, confusion’precantum, genitive plural of the present participle; see precor34 mūtāsse – contraction of mūtāvisse; fertur establishes indirect statement: “is said to have”Mycēnida, Greek accusative = Mycēnidem, from Mycēnis, -idis, “the Mycenean girl”, i.e., Iphigenia36 Phoebēs Greek genitive of Phoebē, “Phoebe”, the goddess of the moon, an epithet of Diana 38 The Phrygia harēna is the beach at Troy
Nicolas André Monsiau,Sacrifice of Iphigenia
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