Embedded Files
epistola ex Pontō 3.2.43-96
epistola ex Pontō 3.2.43-96
“nōs quoque amīcitiae nōmen, bone, nōvimus, hospes,
quōs procul ā vōbīs Pontus et Hister habet.
est locus in Scythiā, Taurōs dixēre priōrēs, 45
quī Geticā longē nōn ita distat humō.
hāc ego sum terrā (patriae nec paenitet) ortus:
cōnsortem Phoebī gēns colit illa deam.
templa manent hodiē vastīs innixa columnīs,
perque quater dēnōs ītur in illa gradūs. 50
fāma refert illic signum caeleste fuisse;
quōque minus dubitēs, stat basis orba deā;
āraque, quae fuerat nātūrā candida saxī,
dēcolor adfūsō tincta cruōre rubet.
fēmina sacra facit taedae nōn nōta iugalī, 55
quae superat Scythicās nōbilitāte nurūs.
sacrificī genus est – sic instituēre parentes –
advena virgineō caesus ut ense cadat.
regna Thoās habuit Maeōtide clārus in ōrā,
nec fuit Euxīnīs nōtior alter aquīs. 60
sceptra tenente illō liquidās fēcisse per aurās
nēscioquam dicunt Īphigenīan iter.
quam levibus ventīs sub nūbe per aethera vectam
crēditur hīs Phoebē dēposuisse locīs.
praefuerat templō multōs ea rīte per annōs, 65
invītā peragēns tristia sacra manū:
cum duo vēliferā iuvenēs vēnēre carinā
pressēruntque suō lītora nostra pede.
par fuit hīs aetās et amor, quōrum alter Orestēs,
alter erat Pyladēs: nōmina fāma tenet. 70
prōtinus immītem Triviae dūcuntur ad āram,
ēvinctī geminās ad sua terga manūs,
spargit aquā captōs lustrālī Grāia sacerdōs,
ambiat ut fulvās infula longa comās.
dumque parat sacrum, dum vēlat tempora vittīs, 75
dum tardae causās invenit ipsa morae,
‘nōn ego crūdēlis, iuvenēs, (ignōscite)’ dixit
‘sacra suō faciō barbariōra locō.
rītus is est gentis; quā vōs tamen urbe venītis?
quodve parum faustā puppe petīstis iter?’ 80
dixit, et audītō patriae pia nōmine virgō
consortēs urbis comperit esse suae.
‘alter ut ē vōbīs’ inquit ‘cadat hostia sacrīs,
ad patriās sēdēs nūntius alter eat.’
īre iubet Pyladēs cārum peritūrus Orestēn; 85
hic negat, inque vicēs pugnat uterque morī.
exstitit hoc ūnum, quō nōn convēnerit illīs:
cētera par concors et sine līte fuit.
dum peragunt pulchrī iuvenēs certāmen amōris
ad frātrem scriptās exarat illa notās. 90
ad frātrem mandāta dabat, cuīque illa dabantur
(hūmānōs cāsūs aspice!) frāter erat.
nec mora, dē templō rapiunt simulacra Diānae,
clamque per immēnsās puppe feruntur aquās.
mīrus amor iuvenum. quamvis abiēre tot annī, 95
in Scythiā magnum nunc quoque nōmen habent.”
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Notes
Ovid (43 BCE – 17 CE) was exiled by the Emperor Augustus to the remote shore of the Black Sea for reasons that remain a mystery. There he wrote letters as poems appealing for a reprieve from his exile. In this letter he recounts an alternate version of the myth of Iphigenia. Ovid claims to have heard the story from an old Scythian man. Meter: elegiac couplets
43 bone — vocative of bonus44 Pontus — the Pontus Euxinus or Black Sea; the Hister is the Danube River45 Scythia comprised the lands on the north coast of the Black Sea, from the mouth of the Danube to the Caucasus Mountainsdixēre = dixērunt; priōrēs, “the earlier ones” are the ancestors46 Geticus, -a, -um: “of the Getae”, among whom Ovid spent the years of his exile — in what is now Romania, near the Black Sea 47 ortus sum: see oriorhāc terrā, i.e. from Scythia48 consors, -sortis, literally “sharing the same lot”, i.e. sibling; Diana is the sister of Phoebus (Apollo)49 innītor, innītī, innixus sum: to lean on, rest oncolumna, -ae, f.: column50 ītur (impersonal passive): “one goes”51 fāma refert = “the story relates …”signum caeleste = “a statue of the god” 52 quō minus dubitēs: “lest you doubt”basis, -is, f.: pedestal, base (a Greek word)55 taeda iūgālis is the wedding torch, here in the dative case; by metonymy for ‘marriage’nōn nōta = “innocent of; unfamiliar with”56 superat: “surpasses”nurus, -ūs, f.: daugher-in-law; Scythicus, -a, -um: Scythian, of Scythia57 sacrificī = sacrificiī, genitiveinstituēre = instituērunt; the parentēs are the ancestors58 virgineō ense i.e., slain by a sword wielded by a virgin59 Thoās, king of the Tauric Chersonese, or the Crimean peninsula.Maeōtis, -tidis: the word is used as both noun and adjective.The noun is fem., referring to Lake Maeotis or the modern Sea of Azov, bordering the Crimea.The adjective, used here, modifying ōrā, means simply “of Lake Maeotis”.60 nōtior – comparative of nōtusEuxīnus, -a, -um: “of the Euxine Sea”61 sceptra tenente illō: the ablative absolute means simply ‘during his reign’62 nescioquam … Iphigenīan: “a certain Iphigenia”.In this version, Diana snatches Iphigenia away from the sacrificial knife, leaving a doe in her place.She transported her to the Tauric Chersonese, where she served as her priestess in this barbaric rite.Euripides relates this account in his Iphigenia in Tauris. Iphigenīan is Greek accusative, for reasons of meter.63 vectam: see vehō64 Phoebē, a title of Diana as assimilated to the goddess of the Moon65 praefuerat: pluperfect of praesum; templō is its dative complement 67 vēliferus, -a, -um: carried along by sails, sail-driven; vēnēre = vēnērunt71 Trivius, -a, -um: “of the triple crossroads”, epithet of Diana, the ‘tripartite’ goddess72 geminās … manūs: Greek adverbial use of the accusative, defining with respect to what they were tied up.Simply = “both hands bound …”74 ambiō, ambīre, ambīvī, ambītum: to go around.The woolen fillets were draped on the heads of sacrificial victims as a mark of consecration to the god.78 suō … locō – ablative expressing degree of difference with the comparative barbariōra80 parum faustā, i.e., unlucky83 alter … ē vōbīs: “one of you”; sacrīs is dative86 in vicēs: “by turns”; morī – infinitive of morior87 exstitit hoc ūnum, quō: i.e., this was the one thing in which …nōn convēnerit (perf. subj.) illīs (dat.) = in quō nōn fuerint concordēs, ‘in which they were not in agreement’.convēnerit is impersonal88 cētera is adverbial: ‘in other respects’; par – used here as a noun: “the companion”concors, -cordis (adj.): of like mind, agreeing, harmonioulīs, lītis, f.: dispute, quarrel, strife90 exarat, literally ‘plows out’; the verb exarāre is used informally of carving letters on wax tablets.Iphigenia intends the survivor to return to Mycenae with the letter to her brother.Note that she has not asked them their names, which would be a breech of the etiquette of sacrifice.95 iuvenum is genitive pluralabiēre = abiērunt, from abeō96 nunc quoque: “even now”
Benjamin West, Iphigenia, Orestes & Pylades
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse