II. ARIADNE'S LAMENT. Madam, 'twas Ariadne passioning For Theseus' perjury and unjust flight. Two GENTLEMEN OF VERONA, IV. 4, 172. ARGUMENT. ARIADNE tells the story of her first waking, to find herself abandoned by Theseus and left on an unknown island, exposed to a host of dangers.-(HEROIDES, X.) The story is beautifully told by Catullus, in the "Epithalamium Pelei et Thetidos:" it also forms one of the episodes in Chaucer's “Legende of Goode Women." I woke before it was day to find myself alone, no trace of my companions In vain I felt and called for Theseus; the echoes alone gave to be seen. me answer. ΙΟ 20 QUAE legis, ex illo, Theseu, tibi litore mitto, In quo me somnusque meus male prodidit et tu, Tempus erat, vitrea quo primum terra pruina Nullus erat, referoque manus, iterumque retempto, Interea toto clamanti litore "Theseu!" [TAYLOR'S OVID-See Page 16.] 107 112 97 123 111 150 121 106 3 174. STORIES FROM OVID. Punica poma, pomegranates. 178. Taenarum, at the southern extremity of Peloponnesus, was one of the numerous descents to Tartarus. Ĉf. Virgil, Georg. IV. 467: 179. Taenarias etiam fauces, alta ostia Ditis. Factura fuit. This periphrasis for fecisset is to be noted; it is the one from which the oblique forms are all constructed, e.g., facturam fuisse, or factura fuisset. 183. Cessatis, one of a goodly number of intransitive verbs of the first conjugation which have a passive participle. Cf. erratas, above, 139, clamata, 35.. So Horace, regnata Phalanto rura (Odes, II. 6, 12); triumphatae gentes (Virgil). II.-IV. ARIADNE. THIS and the two following extracts, though taken from different works, form a definite sequence. Ariadne, daughter of Minos, king of Crete, has helped Theseus to conquer the Minotaur, by giving him a clew to the maze in which the monster was hid, and, being in love with him, has fled in his company. They put in for the night to the island of Dia, and Theseus on the next morning treacherously sails away, leaving the poor girl alone. The first extract is part of an epistle which she is supposed to write on the day when she discovers his perfidy. The name Dia, which belonged properly to a small island off the north coast of Crete, was also a poetical name for Naxos, one of the largest of the Cyclades. It may have been this fact which led to the further legend which is recounted in the next extract, how Ariadne, lorn of Theseus, becomes the bride of Bacchus; for Naxos was the home of the Bacchic worship. As the completion of the legend she is raised to share in Bacchus' divine honours, and as the Cretan Crown becomes one of the signs of the heavens. 4. Per facinus, criminally. 5. Describing apparently the early dawn, or the hour that precedes it, when the night is at its coldest, and the birds, half-awake, begin to stir in their nests. Pruina hints that it is autumn. A beautifully descriptive line-But half-awake, with all the languor of sleep still on me. '7. A somno after, as the result of. 8. Semisupina, on my side, lit., half on my back, describes the motion of a person thus groping about on waking. Cf. Chaucer : Ryght in the dawenynge awaketh shee, And gropeth in the bed, and fonde ryghte noghte. [TAYLOR'S OVID-See Page 16.] 55-87] AENEIDOS, LIB. XI. 55 haec mea magna fides? at non, Euandre, pudendis volneribus pulsum aspicies, nec sospite dirum optabis nato funus pater. ei mihi, quantum praesidium Ausonia, et quantum tu perdis, Iule! Haec ubi deflevit, tolli miserabile corpus 60 imperat, et toto lectos ex agmine mittit. mille viros, qui supremum comitentur honorem, intersintque patris lacrimis, solacia luctus exigua ingentis, misero set debita patri. haut segnes alii crates et molle feretrum 65 arbuteis texunt virgis et vimine querno, extructosque toros obtentu frondis inumbrant. hic iuvenem agresti sublimem stramine ponunt; qualem virgineo demessum pollice florem seu mollis violae, seu languentis hyacinthi, 70 cui neque fulgor adhuc, nec dum sua forma recessit; non iam mater alit tellus, viresque ministrat. tunc geminas vestes auroque ostroque rigentis extulit Aeneas, quas illi laeta laborum ipsa suis quondam manibus Sidonia Dido 75 fecerat, et tenui telas discreverat auro. harum unam iuveni supremum maestus honorem induit, arsurasque comas obnubit amictu; multaque praeterea Laurentis praemia pugnae aggerat, et longo praedam iubet ordine duci. So addit equos et tela, quibus spoliaverat hostem. vinxerat et post terga manus, quos mitteret umbris inferias, caeso sparsuros sanguine flammam; indutosque iubet truncos hostilibus armis ipsos ferre duces, inimicaque nomina figi. 85 ducitur infelix aevo confectus Acoetes, pectora nunc foedans pugnis, nunc unguibus ora; [STORR'S VIRGIL-See Page 16.] Comp. Geor. ii. 80, Nec longum tempus et exiit . . . arbos, C. But as these are the only two instances of the construction adduced it is perhaps safer to take et = even. 51 nil iam, etc.] The father is making vows to heaven in his son's behalf, but the son is gone where vows are neither made nor paid. 55 haec mea magna fides] 'Is this the end of all my promises?' Magna may be taken as 'solemn,' or 'boastful.' pudendis volneribus] All his wounds are on his breast. 56 dirum optabis funus = morti devovebis. Compare the meaning of dirae, xii. 845. 59-99] A description of the funeral rites. Aeneas bids his last farewell. 59 Haec ubi deflevit] 'His moan thus made.' De in composition has two opposite meanings: (1) cessation from or removal of the fundamental ideas, as in decresco, dedoceo, etc.; (2) (as here) in intensifying, as debello, demiror, desaevio. 61 honorem] Honos is used by V. for (1) a sacrifice, iii. 118; (2) a hymn, Geor. ii. 393; (3) beauty, Aen. x. 24; (4) the 'leafy honours' of trees, Geor. ii. 404; (5) funeral rites, vi. 333, and here. See below, l. 76. 63 solatia] In apposition to the whole sentence; whether it is nom. cr acc. depends on how we resolve the principal sentence; here, though solatia applies to the whole sentence, its construction probably depends on the last clause, which we may paraphrase, ut praesentes (тò μereîvai) sınt solatia; therefore it is nom. 64 crates et molle feretrum] The bier of pliant osier: cf. l. 22. 66] Cf. Statius, Theb. vi. 55, torus et puerile feretrum. obtentu frondis] 'A leafy canopy.' C. understands 'a layer of leaves. 67 agresti stramine] 'The rude litter.' 68] Cf. ix. 435; I. viii. 306, μήκων δ' ὡς ἑτέρωσε κάρη βάλεν, ἥτ ἐνὶ κήπω καρπῷ βριθομένη νοτίησί τε ειαρινῇσιν· ὡς ἑτέρωσ ̓ ἤμυσε κάρη πήληκι βαρυνθέν. 'Even as a flower, Poppy or hyacinth, on its broken stem Languidly raises its encumbered head.'-MILMAN. 6 69 languentis hyacinthi] The rhythm is Greek. The drooping hyacinth' is probably the Lilium Martagon or Turk's-cap lily, 'the sanguine flower inscribed with woe.' 70] That hath not yet lost its gloss nor all its native loveliness.' Recessit must apply to both clauses. 'If we suppose the two parts of the line to contain a contrast, the following line will lose much of its force," C. Compare the well-known lines from the Giaour, 'He who hath bent him o'er the dead,' etc. 71] Contrast the force of neque adhuc, nec dum, and non iam; 'the brightness not all gone,' 'the lines where beauty lingers,' and 'the support and nurture of mother earth cut off once and for all.' 34-42] The Meal in Simon's House. 89 36. iva páyp] In modern Greek, which properly speaking has no infinitive, the sense of the infinitive is expressed by vá (va) with subjunctive (as in this passage), e.g. miðvμô và vpády, 'I wish him to write;' see Corfe's Modern Greek Grammar, p. 78. This extension of the force of iva to oblique petition, and even to consecutive clauses, may be partly due to the influence of the Latin ut, cf. ch. xvi. 27, ἐρωτῶ οὖν, πάτερ, iva éμtys: see note on ch. iv. 3. The following incident is recorded by St. Luke alone. Simon the Pharisee is not to be identified with Simon the leper, Matt. xxvi., Mark xiv. 3. ȧVEKλion] The Jews had adopted the Roman, or rather Greek, fashion of reclining at meals-a sign of advancing luxury and of Hellenism, in which however even the Pharisee acquiesces. 37. yvvý] There is no proof that this woman was Mary Magdalene. But medieval art has identified the two, and great pictures have almost disarmed argument in this as in other incidents of the gospel narrative. 38. ¿λáßασтpov] The neuter sing. is Hellenistic. The classical form is ἀλάβαστρος with a heteroclite plural ἀλάβαστρα, hence probably the late sing. ἀλάβαστρον. The grammarian stage of a language loves uniformity, Herod. iii. 20; Theocr. xv. 114: Συρίω δὲ μύρω χρύσει ̓ ἀλάβαστρα. στᾶσα παρὰ τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ] This would be possible from the arrangement of the triclinium. 39. éyívwσkev av] 'Would (all the while) have been recognising.' 40. Xpewperλétai] A late word; the form varies between χρεωφειλέται and χρεοφειλέται. 41. Snvápia] The denarius was a silver coin originally containing ten ases (deni), afterwards, when the weight of the as was reduced, sixteen ases. Its equivalent modern value is reckoned at 7d. But such calculations are misleading; it is more to the point to regard the denarius as an average day's pay for a labourer. 42. un èxóvτwv] Because he saw that they had not ἐχαρίσατο] Cf. v. 21. [CARR'S NOTES ON THE GREEK TESTAMENT-See Page 23.] |