No More Learning

Ovid / by Alfred Church.
Church, Alfred John, 1829-1912. Philadelphia : J. B. Lippincott, 1880.
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? OvidAlfred John Church
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? v>>
In Memoriam
Obiit December 2Zr* 1897.
ty i$ -
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? \ncient Classics for English Readers
EDITED BY THE
REV. W. LUCAS COLLINS, M. A.
(SUPPLEMENTARY SERIES. )
Vol. 14 //
OVID
K, Jm
'
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? Lately published.
THE METAMORPHOSES
? ' OF
PUBLIUS OVIDIUS NASO.
TRANSLATED IN ENGLISH BLANK VERSE.
By HENEY KING, M. A. ,
Fellow of Wadham College, Oxford.
Crown 8vo, price 10s. 6d.
EXTRACTS FROM CRITICISMS.
1' By far the most elegant and trustworthy version of the ' Metamorphoses'
in the English language, from which may be formed a fair conception of the
special attributes of Ovid as a poet, the fertility of his invention, the play
of his fine fancy, the tenderness of his pathos, and the easy elegance, and,
at times, the stately march of his sounding versification. . . . Cordially
do we commend this version of Ovid's 'Metamorphoses' to our readers as
by far the best and purest in our language. "--Graphic.
"A high level of excellence is almost everywhere sustained, and we could
fill columns with passages which, besides being singularly faithful as
renderings of the Latin, are fine pieces of verse. "--Spectator.
1' We gladly bear witness to the pleasure which his work has afforded us,
and heartily commend it to those who care to possess in really good
English verse a very storehouse of mythology and early classical history. "
--Standard.
William Blackwood & Sons, Edinburgh and London.
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? OVID
BY THE
REV. ALFRED CHURCH, M. A.
>S> I*
HEAD-MASTER OF KING EDWARD VI. 'S SCHOOL,
EAST RETFORD
WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS
EDINBURGH AND LONDON
1876. --REPRINT, 1880
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? The extracts from the 'Metamorphoses' are, with one
exception (marked "C"), taken from Mr Henry King's
admirable version of that poem (Blackwood & Sons,
1871). The translations in Chapter II. marked "D. ,"
are from a volume to which Dryden and others con-
tributed. A passage from the Epistle of Laodamia to
Protesilaus, and also the Elegy on the death of Tibul-
lus, both in the same chapter, are taken--the former,
from a little collection of Translations and Poems by
Miss E. Garland (Liverpool, 1842); the latter (a
translation by Professor Nichol) from Mr James
Cranstoun's 'Elegies of Tibullus. ' For the other
translations, except where an obligation is specially
acknowledged, I am myself responsible.
As regards the banishment of the Poet, I have to
express my obligations to an article by Dr Dyer, pub-
lished in the 'Classical Museum. '
A. C.
-^'Oj
i Is
's
49195
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? CONTENTS.
PAGE
CHAP. I. EARLY LIFE--THE AUGUSTAN AGE OF ROMAN
LOVE-POETRY, 1
? It. THE LOVE-POEMS, 20
n III. DOMESTIC LIFE--BANISHMENT, . . . 41
? TV. THE METAMORPHOSES, OR TRANSFORMA-
TIONS, 53
? V. THE FASTI, OR ROMAN CALENDAR, . . 82
? VI. DEPARTURE FROM ROME--THE PLACE OF
EXILE, 102
? vn. THE POEMS OF EXILE: THE TRISTIA, OR
THE 'SORROWS,' 113
? VIII. THE POEMS OF EXILE: THE LETTERS FROM
THE PONTUS. --DEATH OF OVID, . . 129
? IX. FRAGMENTS--LOST TOEMS--GENERAL OBSER-
VATIONS, 1*7
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? OVID.
CHAPTER L
EAELY LIFE--THE AUGUSTAN AGE OF ROMAN
LOVE-POETRY.
Ovid, like Horace, is his own biographer. In some
respects he is even more communicative than his
fellow-poet. Horace, for instance, is reticent, as a
rule, about his own compositions. The writer of the
Odes might, for all we know, be a different man from
the author of the Satires or the author of the Epistles.
Ovid, on the contrary, takes good care that his readers
should be well acquainted with the list of his works.
Then, again, there is something very shadowy and
unreal about the beauties to whom Horace pours forth
his passion or his reproaches. Lydia, Chloe, Barine,
Lalage, Glycera -- there is scarcely one of them all
whom we may venture to pronounce anything more
than a creation of the poet's fancy. But Ovid's
Corinna, the one mistress to whom he dedicates hi8
song, is only too real. "Who she was, of what rank
A. C. S. S. , voL ii. a
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-26 11:21 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/njp. 32101074172253 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 2 OVID.
and character, the learned have disputed; but that
she was a real personage no one doubts. And then
he gives us the most copious and exact information
about his birthplace, his family, his education, his
marriage, his fortunes in general. Yet, for all this,
the personality of the man himself seems to elude us.
Some one has said that we should recognise Horace
were we to meet him in the street. Short and corpu-
lent, the sunny and cheerful youthfulness of his face
belying his white hair, his gay figure seems familiar
to us. "We are acquainted with all his tastes and
habits; he confesses his faults; his virtues show
themselves. Ovid does not give us such confidences.
The most exact statement that he ever makes about
his own character--that though his verse was loose
his life was pure--we must be permitted to disbelieve.
I The real Ovid is almost as unknown to us as is the
real Virgil. Nevertheless, there is more to be said of
him than can be contained within the limits of this
volume. And here it may be said, once for all, that
much will have to be omitted, not only for want of
space, but for yet more imperative reasons of morality
and good taste.
Publius Ovidius Naso was born at Sulmo, a town
in Peligni, a district of Northern Italy which took its
name from one of the Samnite tribes. The Samnites,
Eome's stoutest antagonist in her early struggles for
the supremacy of Italy, nearly overthrew her empire
when it had been extended over all the shores of the
Mediterranean. It was with the Marsi, the neigh-
bours of the Peligni on the west, that the war of the
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-26 11:21 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/njp.
The extracts from the 'Metamorphoses' are, with one
exception (marked "C"), taken from Mr Henry King's
admirable version of that poem (Blackwood & Sons,
1871). The translations in Chapter II. marked "D. ,"
are from a volume to which Dryden and others con-
tributed. A passage from the Epistle of Laodamia to
Protesilaus, and also the Elegy on the death of Tibul-
lus, both in the same chapter, are taken--the former,
from a little collection of Translations and Poems by
Miss E. Garland (Liverpool, 1842); the latter (a
translation by Professor Nichol) from Mr James
Cranstoun's 'Elegies of Tibullus. ' For the other
translations, except where an obligation is specially
acknowledged, I am myself responsible.
As regards the banishment of the Poet, I have to
express my obligations to an article by Dr Dyer, pub-
lished in the 'Classical Museum. '
A. C.
-^'Oj
i Is
's
49195
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-26 11:21 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/njp. 32101074172253 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? CONTENTS.
PAGE
CHAP. I. EARLY LIFE--THE AUGUSTAN AGE OF ROMAN
LOVE-POETRY, 1
? It. THE LOVE-POEMS, 20
n III. DOMESTIC LIFE--BANISHMENT, . . . 41
? TV. THE METAMORPHOSES, OR TRANSFORMA-
TIONS, 53
? V. THE FASTI, OR ROMAN CALENDAR, . . 82
? VI. DEPARTURE FROM ROME--THE PLACE OF
EXILE, 102
? vn. THE POEMS OF EXILE: THE TRISTIA, OR
THE 'SORROWS,' 113
? VIII. THE POEMS OF EXILE: THE LETTERS FROM
THE PONTUS. --DEATH OF OVID, . . 129
? IX. FRAGMENTS--LOST TOEMS--GENERAL OBSER-
VATIONS, 1*7
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? OVID.
CHAPTER L
EAELY LIFE--THE AUGUSTAN AGE OF ROMAN
LOVE-POETRY.
Ovid, like Horace, is his own biographer. In some
respects he is even more communicative than his
fellow-poet. Horace, for instance, is reticent, as a
rule, about his own compositions. The writer of the
Odes might, for all we know, be a different man from
the author of the Satires or the author of the Epistles.
Ovid, on the contrary, takes good care that his readers
should be well acquainted with the list of his works.
Then, again, there is something very shadowy and
unreal about the beauties to whom Horace pours forth
his passion or his reproaches. Lydia, Chloe, Barine,
Lalage, Glycera -- there is scarcely one of them all
whom we may venture to pronounce anything more
than a creation of the poet's fancy. But Ovid's
Corinna, the one mistress to whom he dedicates hi8
song, is only too real. "Who she was, of what rank
A. C. S. S. , voL ii. a
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-26 11:21 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/njp. 32101074172253 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 2 OVID.
and character, the learned have disputed; but that
she was a real personage no one doubts. And then
he gives us the most copious and exact information
about his birthplace, his family, his education, his
marriage, his fortunes in general. Yet, for all this,
the personality of the man himself seems to elude us.
Some one has said that we should recognise Horace
were we to meet him in the street. Short and corpu-
lent, the sunny and cheerful youthfulness of his face
belying his white hair, his gay figure seems familiar
to us. "We are acquainted with all his tastes and
habits; he confesses his faults; his virtues show
themselves. Ovid does not give us such confidences.
The most exact statement that he ever makes about
his own character--that though his verse was loose
his life was pure--we must be permitted to disbelieve.
I The real Ovid is almost as unknown to us as is the
real Virgil. Nevertheless, there is more to be said of
him than can be contained within the limits of this
volume. And here it may be said, once for all, that
much will have to be omitted, not only for want of
space, but for yet more imperative reasons of morality
and good taste.
Publius Ovidius Naso was born at Sulmo, a town
in Peligni, a district of Northern Italy which took its
name from one of the Samnite tribes. The Samnites,
Eome's stoutest antagonist in her early struggles for
the supremacy of Italy, nearly overthrew her empire
when it had been extended over all the shores of the
Mediterranean. It was with the Marsi, the neigh-
bours of the Peligni on the west, that the war of the
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-26 11:21 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/njp. 32101074172253 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? EARLY LIFE. 3
Italian allies against Eome, commonly called by his-
torians the Social "War, began. Ovid recounts, with'
a pride which may seem strange in a loyal Roman,
the part which his own countrymen had taken in
the struggle--
"Whom freedom's voice to noble warfare led,
When their own allies were the Komans' dread. "
But in truth the poet was not venturing on any
dangerous ground in thus writing. The cause of the
allies had been closely connected with the cause of the
democracy. And the Eoman empire, like another
empire of our own times, had inherited the democratic
traditions. "Their cause," says Velleius Paterculus,
a younger contemporary of Ovid, and conspicuous
for his flattery of Augustus and Tiberius, "was as
righteous as their fate was terrible, for they sought
to be citizens of the state whose sway they defended
with their swords. " The emperors would find no
offence in sympathy with the opponents of that aris-
tocracy on the ruins of whose power their own throne
was founded. The poet speaks more than once of
the fertility and healthfulness of his native district
.
These blessings it chiefly owed to its copious and un-
failing streams. Its pastures never dried up, even
under the scorching suns of an Italian summer. Its
water-meadows are specially mentioned. It produced
wheat in abundance; and its light fine soil was even
better adapted for the vine and the olive. The town
of Sulmo boasted a high antiquity. A fanciful etymo-
logy found in the word the name of a companion of
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? 4 o viD.
iEneas, sprung from the Phrygian Solymi,* to whom
that chieftain had given one of his daughters in mar-
riage. It took the side of the vanquished party in
the struggle between Marius and Sulla, and suffered
cruelly in consequence. More fortunate in the next
civil war, it opened its gates to Julius Csesar. Ovid
(he always called himself Naso +) belonged to one of
the oldest families in this town. It was of equestrian
or knightly rank, and had possessed this distinction
for many generations. "In my family," he says,
"you will find knights up through an endless line of
ancestry;" and he looks down, just as among ourselves
a baronet looks down on a knight, on men who had
won that honour for themselves.
"I never climbed, not I, from step to step. "
And he complains loudly to the faithless Corinna--
"Some knight, with wealth by wounds but newly earned,
Full-fed on slaughter, is preferred to me I"
The poet was born on March the 20th, 43 b. c. He
marks the year by speaking of it as that
"In which both consuls met an equal fate. "
These consuls were Hirtius and Pansa, both of whom'
perished at the siege of Mutina, fighting against Mark
Antony. The Eoman Eepublic virtually perished with
* The same origin was assigned, on equally good grounds, to
Jerusalem. "Hierosolyma" was, of course, the sacred (hieros)
city of the Solymi!
+ Most of the writers who mention him follow the same
practice, hut Tacitus and the Younger Seneca speak of him as
Ovidius.
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? EARLY LIFE. 5
them, though we may be sure that had they lived they
could not have prolonged its existence. Ovid's birth
coincides appropriately enough with the beginning
of the imperial system. The day is noted as being
the second of the live days' festival to Minerva
(March 19-23). Minerva was the patroness of learn-
ing; and Juvenal tells us that ambitious young schol-
ars were wont at this time to address to images of
the goddess which cost them a penny of their pocket-
money their prayers for success and fame. He had a I
brother who was his elder by exactly a year--
"A double birthday-offering kept the day. "
The brothers were carefully educated, and were sent j
at an early age to the best teachers in Eome. Their
? father intended that both should follow the profession
of an advocate. The intention suited the inclinations
of the elder; the heart of jkf& youngest was otherwise
inclined. He wrota^verses "by stealth," just as
Frank Osbaldistone wrote them in the counting-house
at Bordeaux. And Ovid's father was just as con-
temptuous as the elder Osbaldistone of the unprofit-
able pursuit. The poet says that he was moved by
the paternal admonitions,--admonitions which indeed
there were obvious ways of enforcing. He applied
himself seriously to the business of learning his pro-
fession. The best known of those who have been
mentioned as his teachers were Porcius Latro, by'
birth a Spaniard, who had migrated to Eome under
the patronage of Augustus, and Arellius Fuscus, a
rival professor of the rhetorical art. It was Latro's
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? 6 0 VID.
practice to teach his pupils by declaiming before
them; Fuscus, with what we may conjecture to have
been a more effective method, made the youths them-
selves declaim. The Elder Seneca * 6peaks of having
heard Ovid perform such an exercise before Fuscus.
"His speech," he says, "could not then be called
anything else than poetry out of metre. " But he adds
that the poet had while a student a high reputation
as a declaimer; and he speaks strongly in praise of
the particular discourse which he had himself hap-
pened to hear, describing it as one of marked ability,
though somewhat wanting in order. The poetical
character of the young student's oratory--a character
quite out of keeping, it should be remarked, with the
genius of Latin eloquence--exactly suits what Ovid
says of himself--
"Whate'er I sought to say was still in verse ;"
which may be paraphrased by Pope's famous line--
"I lisped in numbers, for the numbers came. "
Seneca further tells us that he had a special fondness
for dealing with moral themes, and he gives some in-
teresting instances of expressions in the poems which
were borrowed from the declamations of his master,
Latro. The brothers assumed, in due time, the toga,
or distinguishing dress of manhood, t This robe, as
sons of a knight of ancient family, and aspirants, it was
* He was the father of the Younger Seneca, Nero's tutor,
and of Gallio, the proconsul of Achaia (Acts xviii. ), and grand-
father of the poet Lucan.
t This was commonly done on completing the sixteenth year.
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? EARLY LIFE. 7
presumed, to public life, they were permitted to wear
with the broad edge of purple which distinguished the
senator. The elder brother died immediately after
completing his twentieth year, and this event removed
the objection which the father had made to the indul-
gence of Ovid's poetical tastes. The family property,
which was not of more than moderate extent, would
not have to be divided, and there was no longer any
necessity why the only son should follow a lucrative
profession.
About this time we may place Ovid's visit to Athens, i
A single line contains all the mention that he makes ofi
it, but this informs us that he went there for purposes
of study. "What particular study he followed we do)
not know. It could scarcely have been moral philoso-i
phy, which Horace tells us had been his own favourite
subject there; rhetoric he had probably, by this time,
resolved to abandon. But Athens, which may be de-
scribed as the university of the Eoman world, doubt-
less contained professors of the belles lettres, as well as
of severer studies; and we may feel sure that the poet
took this opportunity of perfecting his knowledge of
the Greek literature and language. Possibly his stay
at Athens was followed or interrupted by a tour which
he made in company with the poet Macer, the younger
of that name, whose friendship he retained until the
end of his life. This tour included the famous Greek
cities of western Asia Minor. As Macer found the sub-
ject of his verse in the Trojan war, the friends proba-
bly visited the site of the famous city. Ovid, we know,
was once there; and, in these days of Trojan dis-
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