possibly an epistolary future perfect indicative ('when you receive
this, your brother will perhaps [_forsitan_] have heard'). For the
perfect subjunctive compare _Met_ X 560-62 _'forsitan audieris_ aliquam
certamine cursus / ueloces superasse uiros'.
=121. FORTVNA EST IMPAR ANIMO.= Similar phrasing at _Tr_ V v 46-47 (on his
wife's birthday) 'at non sunt ista gaudia nata die, / sed labor et curae
_fortunaque moribus impar_'; but note the different sense of _fortuna_.
=121. FORTVNA.= 'My means' (Wheeler). The sense is rare but classical;
_OLD fortuna_ 12 cites among other passages Cic _Fam_ XIV 4 2 'periculum
fortunarum ['possessions'] et capitis sui' and Caes _BG_ V 43 4.
=122. CARPO ... OPES.= For the sense of _carpo_ see at viii 32 _carpsit
opes ... meas_ (p 266).
=126. ILLVM= _CMFHILTB2_ ILLI _B1_. Either accusative or dative would be
acceptable enough with _latere_. The earliest instances from verse given
by _TLL_ VII.2 997 49 are Lucretius III 280 for the dative and _Aen_ I
130 for the accusative. I retain the accusative because it is the
reading of most manuscripts, including _B_'s close relative _C_. There
are similar variants involving the object of _latere_ at _Fast_ V 361:
the accusative given by most manuscripts is generally read in preference
to the dative.
=127-29. TV ... TV.= For the anaphora of _tu_ in hymns or solemn prayer,
see the passages collected by Nisbet and Hubbard at Hor _Carm_ I x 9 and
by Tarrant at Sen _Ag_ 311.
=127. SVPERIS ASCITE.= _Asciscere_ is generally used of admission to the
citizenship or to the Senate: for parallels to the metaphorical use
here, see Tarrant at Sen _Ag_ 812-13 'tuus ille bis seno meruit labore /
_adlegi caelo_ magnus Alcides'.
=128.= Causal =VT= [_'ex ueteribus' Naugerius_] seems an appropriate
correction for the manuscripts' lame ET.
=129-30. NOSTRAS ... PRECES.= The hyperbaton adds elevation and dignity to
the prayer.
=129-30. INTER CONVEXA ... SIDERA= = _inter sidera conuexi caeli_; the
hypallage adds further to the elevation of the passage. For _conuexa_
compare Festus (58 Muller; 51 Lindsay) 'conuexum est ex omni parte
declinatum, _qualis est natura caeli_, quod ex omni parte ad terram
uersum declinatum est', _Met_ I 26 'ignes _conuexi_ uis et sine pondere
_caeli_', _Ecl_ IV 50, and Cic _Arat_ 560 (314). In particular compare
_Aen_ I 607-8, which Ovid is clearly imitating: 'dum montibus umbrae /
lustrabunt, _conuexa_ polus dum _sidera_ pascet'. There is some question
as to whether _conuexa_ should there be taken with _sidera_, or as the
object of _lustrabunt_: Ovid clearly took it with _sidera_.
=130. SOLLICITO QVAS DAMVS ORE PRECES.= For the general wording compare
_Tr_ III viii 20 'tum quoque _sollicita mente rogandus_ erit' and _EP_
III i 148 'nil nisi _sollicitae_ sint tua uerba _preces_': for
_sollicito ... ore_ compare _sollicita uoce_ at _Met_ X 639 & XIV 706.
=131. PERVENIANT ISTVC.= Compare _EP_ II ii 95 'si tamen haec audis et uox
mea _peruenit istuc_ [=_Romam_]'.
=131-32. CARMINA ... QVAE DE TE MISI CAELITE FACTA NOVO.= Ovid also
mentions his poems on Augustus' apotheosis at vi 17-18, viii 63-64 &
xiii 25-26.
=133-34. NEC TV / IMMERITO NOMEN MITE PARENTIS HABES.= 'Et ce n'est pas
sans raison que tu portes le doux nom de Père' (André) must be correct
as against Wheeler's 'for not undeservedly hast thou the gracious name
of "Father"', since _nec_, although it can mean _et ... non_ or _sed
... non_, cannot mean _nam ... non_; the proof of this is the frequent
occurrence of _neque enim_.
The litotes _non (haud, nec) immerito_ is common enough in Latin: see
the many examples at _TLL_ VII.1 457 26 ff. But in the four
instances given of _nec immerito_, it never serves to introduce a new
phrase as here. At Plautus _St_ 28 'decet _neque_ id _immerito_ eueniet'
it introduces a second verb which amplifies the preceding one, while it
modifies preceding verbs at Ter _Ad_ 615 'tanta nunc suspicio de me
incidit _neque_ ea immerito', Val Max IV vii 1 'inimicus patriae fuisse
Ti. Gracchus existimatus est, _nec immerito_, quia potentiam suam
saluti eius praetulerat', and Quintilian X i 104 'habet amatores--_nec
immerito_--Cremuti libertas'. One would expect a clause of causation to
follow _auguror his igitur flecti tua numina_, and I think it possible
that Ovid wrote NAM TV / E MERITO (Professor C. P. Jones suggests EX
MERITO). Both the corruption from _e merito_ and the subsequent
interpolation of _nec_ would be easy enough. For _e(x) merito_, compare
vii 16 'contigit _ex merito_ qui tibi nuper honor'.
=133. NEC TV.= The elegiac poets admitted a monosyllabic ending to the
hexameter if it was preceded by another monosyllable closely linked to
it in sense: see Platnauer 13. For true monosyllabic endings, see at ii
47 _Aonius fons_.
=134. NOMEN MITE PARENTIS= = _nomen parentis, quod significat te mitem
esse_. At _Tr_ I i 73 and _EP_ II viii 51 members of the imperial family
are called _mitissima numina_. There is another instance of hypallage
with _nomen mite_ (a different sense of _mitis_ being used) at _Fast_ V
64 '_nomen_ et aetatis _mite_ [_codd_: rite _Riese_] senatus erat', 'the
very name of senate signified a ripe old age' (Frazer).
=134. PARENTIS= = _patris patriae_. For the title compare _Res Gestae_ 35
(the final achievement listed by Augustus) 'tertium decimum consulatum
cum gerebam, senatus et equester ordo populusque Romanus uniuersus
appellauit me _patrem patriae_, idque in uestibulo aedium mearum
inscribendum esse et in curia et in foro Aug. sub quadrigis quae mihi
ex s.c. positae sunt decreuit'. Suetonius describes the conferring of
the title at _Aug_ 58.
X. To Albinovanus Pedo
The poem is the only one in the _Ex Ponto_ addressed to Albinovanus.
Considering the elder Seneca's express testimony that Albinovanus was a
close friend of Ovid (see at 4 [pp 327-28]), this is rather surprising;
perhaps Albinovanus, an associate of Germanicus (Tac _Ann_ I 60 2), had,
like some of Ovid's other friends, asked not to be mentioned in his
verse.
The poem begins with the statement that Ovid is now in his sixth year of
exile; unlike flint and iron, he is not touched by the passing of time
(1-8). He says that his tribulations are like those of Ulysses, but more
severe; there follows a comparison of his experiences with those of
Ulysses (9-30). He then describes the bleakness of the climate, and how
the sea freezes over in winter (31-34). He has heard that his accounts
are not believed at Rome, and will therefore explain the reasons for the
sea's freezing over (35-38). At Tomis the north wind prevails, and the
salinity of the sea is reduced by the influx of many large rivers (which
are listed in a catalogue); the sea's freezing is caused by these two
factors (39-64). He is telling all this to Albinovanus to pass the time;
Albinovanus is writing poetry as well, about Theseus, who is an example
for him to follow (65-82). Ovid does not wish to imply that Albinovanus
is not already doing everything possible to assist him (83-84).
The poem combines with remarkable ease a number of quite disparate
subjects, and is in this sense reminiscent of Tibullus. Most of the
subjects had been used previously in the poetry of exile; in particular,
see _Tr_ I v 57-84 for an extended comparison of the trials of Ulysses
and those of Ovid. The disquisition on the reasons for the Euxine's
freezing over is, however, new. It seems to have been drawn from a
geographical or physical treatise which has left its mark elsewhere in
Latin literature: see at 37-38 (p 340-42).
=1. CIMMERIO= _British Library Harley 2607 (Tarrant)_ CVMERIO _M1_ IN
ETIAM MEMORI _C_ IN ********** _B1_ IN HEMONIO _HITP_ IN EVXINO _F_ IN
exino _B2c_ BISTONIO _LM2ul_ Many centuries had passed since the
Cimmerians had inhabited Scythia; even Herodotus, who tells the story of
their departure, seems to regard the event as belonging to the distant
past (IV 11-12). Homer was vaguely aware of the nation: at _Od_ XI 13-19
(imitated at _Pan Mess_ 64-66), he speaks of the '[Greek: Kimmeriôn
andrôn ... polis]' by the stream of Ocean, which never receives sunlight.
For _Cimmerio_ Burman compared Claudian _Cons Stil_ I 129 'nunc prope
Cimmerii tendebat litora _Ponti_'; see as well _In Eutr_ I 249 'extra
_Cimmerias_, Taurorum claustra, paludes'.
=1. BIS TERTIA ... AESTAS.= The poem is therefore dated to the summer of
14. For Ovid's mentions of the length of his exile, see at vi 5
_quinquennis_ (p 227).
=3. ECQVOS ... ECQVOD= _Laurentianus 36 2, saec xv_ ET QVOS ... ET QVOD
_BCMFHILT_. The same corruption is found in certain manuscripts at _Met_
III 442-45 (Narcissus speaking) '"_ecquis_, io siluae, crudelius"
inquit "amauit? ... _ecquem_ ... qui sic tabuerit longo meministis in
aeuo?"' and commonly. Other instances of _ecquis_ in emotionally
heightened questions at _Fast_ IV 488, _Tr_ I vi 11, _EP_ III i 3, and
_Her_ XXI 106.
=3. SILICES ... FERRVM.= See at viii 49 _tabida consumit ferrum lapidemque
uetustas_ (p 270).
=4. ALBINOVANE.= Albinovanus Pedo[21] and Ovid seem to have been close
friends. Ovid mentions him again at xvi 6 'sidereusque Pedo', and he was
the source of the famous anecdote in the elder Seneca (_Cont_ II 2 12)
of how Ovid chose as the three lines in his poems he most wished to
retain the same three verses a group of his friends most wished to
remove.
[Footnote 21: _PIR_1 A 343; _PIR_2 A 479; PW 1,1 1314 21-40;
Schanz-Hosius II 266 (§315); Bardon 69-73.]
He was a famous raconteur: the younger Seneca calls Pedo _fabulator
elegantissimus_ at _Ep_ CXXII 15-16 when repeating one of his anecdotes.
At the time this poem was written, Albinovanus was engaged on a
_Theseid_ (71). Quintilian perhaps had this poem in mind when he
included a rather slighting mention of Albinovanus in his catalogue of
epic poets at X i 90: 'Rabirius ac Pedo non indigni cognitione, si
uacet'. He may, however, have been thinking of Albinovanus' poem on
Germanicus' campaigns, of which the elder Seneca preserves some
twenty-three hexameters (_Suas_ I 15; commentary by V. Bongi, _Istituto
Lombardo di scienze e lett. Rendiconti [Classe di Lettere]_ ser. 3 13
[1949], 28-48. Norden and others have attributed Morel _Incert_ 46
'ingenia immansueta suoque simillima caelo' to the same poem). Martial
several times mentions Albinovanus as a writer of epigrams (II lxxvii 5,
V v 5 & X xx (xix) 10); this fits well with the younger Seneca's
description of Albinovanus as _fabulator elegantissimus_.
At _Ann_ I 60 2, Tacitus mentions Pedo as 'praefectus finibus Frisiorum'
in Germanicus' campaign of 15.
=5-6. LAPIDEM ... ANVLVS ... VOMER.= See at viii 49 _tabida consumit ferrum
lapidemque uetustas_ (p 270), and compare _AA_ I 473-76 'ferreus assiduo
consumitur _anulus_ usu, / interit assidua _uomer_ aduncus humo. / quid
magis est saxo durum, quid mollius unda? / dura tamen molli saxa
cauantur aqua'.
=6. ATTERITVR= _Heinsius_. Korn and Riese printed the manuscripts' ET
TERITVR, for which Riese cited _Tr_ I iv 9-10 'pinea texta sonant pulsu
[_Rothmaler_: pulsi _codd_], stridore rudentes, / ingemit _et_ nostris
ipsa carina malis' and _Tr_ III iv 57-58 'ante oculos errant domus,
urbsque et forma locorum, / accedunt_que_ suis singula facta locis', but
these are extended descriptions of single events, not lists of separate
examples.
Elsewhere in Ovid, the only form found of _atterere_ is _attritus_: this
circumstance perhaps contributed to the corruption of the present
passage.
=6. ATTERITVR PRESSA VOMER ADVNCVS HVMO.= Professor R. J. Tarrant points
out to me the hypallage in this passage. _Pressus_ is to be taken twice,
with _uomer_ and with _humo_: the earth is _pressed down_ as the plough
is _pressed_ into it.
=7. TEMPVS EDAX.= The same phrase at _Met_ XV 234; compare as well _edax
... uetustas_ at _Met_ XV 872.
=7. PRAETER NOS.= At _EP_ II vii 39-45, Ovid (with a series of images
parallel to that of the present passage) says that he is in fact being
worn away by the hardships he is enduring: 'ut ... caducis / percussu
crebro _saxa_ cauantur aquis, / sic ego continuo Fortunae uulneror ictu
... nec magis assiduo _uomer_ tenuatur ab usu, / nec magis est curuis
Appia trita rotis, / pectora quam mea sunt serie calcata malorum'.
=8. PERDIT= _I_ PERDET _BCMFHLT_. The tense is made probable by the
preceding _cauat ... consumitur ... atteritur_ and the following _cessat_;
compare as well _Tr_ IV vi 17-18 'cuncta pot_est_ ... uetustas / praeter
quam curas attenuare meas'. Third conjugation verbs in the third person
are for obvious reasons peculiarly apt to corruption of tense and mood.
The alteration from present to future is rather less common than the
inverse corruption, for an instance of which see at xii 18 _reddet_ (p
378).
=8. CESSAT DVRITIA MORS QVOQVE VICTA MEA.= Death does not conquer Ovid,
but is conquered by him. Professor E. Fantham points out to me the
baroque inversion in the phrase, citing as a parallel Sen _Tr_ 1171-75,
where Hecuba says that death fears her and flees her.
Riese placed a question mark at the end of the line, but since in 7 Ovid
asserts unambiguously that time does not affect him, there seems no
reason to make the following line a question. In his poems from exile
Ovid often expresses his wish to die; see _Tr_ III viii 39-40 'tantus
amor necis est querar ut cum Caesaris ira / quod non offensas uindicet
ense suas', _Tr_ III xiii 5-6, IV vi 49-50, and V ix 37-38.
=9. EXEMPLVM EST ANIMI NIMIVM PATIENTIS VLIXES.= Ovid frequently compares
his trials in exile to those undergone by Ulysses. The longest instance
of this is _Tr_ I v 57-84; compare as well _Tr_ III xi 61-62 'crede
mihi, si sit nobis collatus Vlixes, / Neptuni minor est quam Iouis ira
fuit', _Tr_ V v 1-4, and _EP_ I iii 33-34, II vii 59-60 & III vi 19-20.
Ulysses' voyage was a favourite subject of the Latin poets. For a
surviving example, see Prop III xii 23-36. An indication of the
subject's popularity is the fact that _Pan Mess_ 45-49 'nam seu diuersi
fremat inconstantia uulgi, / non alius sedare queat; seu iudicis ira /
sit placanda, tuis poterit mitescere uerbis. / non Pylos aut Ithace
tantos genuisse feruntur / Nestora uel paruae magnum decus urbis Vlixem'
is followed not by a description of Ulysses' eloquence, as would have
been appropriate, but by a narrative of his travels (52-81): this
illogical sequence was no doubt induced by the poet's familiarity with
similar descriptions of Ulysses' voyage in the poetry of his time.
Professor E. Fantham cites Seneca's use of Ulysses as an _exemplum
patientiae_ at Sen _Dial_ II 2 1, where Hercules is compared to Ulysses.
=9. EXEMPLVM EST.= Professor R. J. Tarrant points out to me the unusual
baldness of the phrase. In Ovid's earlier verse _exemplum_ has an
instructional or minatory overtone (_AA_ III 686, _Met_ IX 454). The
flatter use of _exemplum_ seems to be typical of the poetry of exile:
compare _EP_ III i 44 'coniugis exemplum diceris esse bonae', and _Tr_ I
v 21, IV iii 72 & IV iv 71.
=9. NIMIVM PATIENTIS= = [Greek: polytlas] (_Il_ VIII 97, _Od_ V 171, et
saep.). The sense of _nimium_ seen here is not generally found in
poetry, or even in literary prose; the instances cited by _OLD nimium2_
2 are all from comedy, Cato, and the letters of Cicero.
=10. DVO LVSTRA.= Compare xvi 13-14 'Vlixem / errantem saeuo per _duo
lustra_ mari' and _AA_ III 15-16 'est pia Penelope _lustris_ errante
_duobus_ / et totidem lustris bella gerente uiro'.
=11. SOLLICITI ... FATI= is based on such phrases as _sollicita uita_ (Prop
II vii 1) and _sollicitissima aetas_ (Sen _Breu Vit_ 16 1). Similar
phrasing at _Tr_ IV x 116 'nec me _sollicitae_ taedia _lucis_ habent'.
=11. PLACIDAE SAEPE FVERE MORAE.= Compare Prop III xii 23-24 'Postumus
alter erit miranda coniuge Vlixes: / non illi _longae_ tot nocuere
_morae_'.
=13. SEX ANNIS.= According to Homer (_Od_ VII 261), Ulysses left Calypso
in the eighth year of his stay on her island. André points out that
Hyginus _Fab_ CXXV 16 has Ulysses on the island for one year only; for
other estimates of the length of Ulysses' stay, see Roscher III 627.
Ovid was probably influenced by the _bis ... tertia_ of the poem's
opening. _Cimmerio_ in 1 furnishes another connection with Ulysses (_Od_
XI 14; quoted at 1).
=13. FOVISSE.= Compare _Od_ V 118-120 (Calypso speaking) '[Greek:
Schetlioi este, theoi, zêlêmones exochon allôn, / hoi te theais agaasthe
par' andrasin eunazesthai / amphadiên, hên tis te philon poiêset'
akoitên]'.
=13. CALYPSO= _BCMILT_. Lenz and André print CALYPSON (_FH_). Roman poets
followed the Greek declension of feminine proper nouns ending in
[Greek:-ô]; compare _Pan Mess_ 77 'fecunda Atlantidos arua _Calypsus_
[_uar_ calipsos]'. The accusatives of such nouns are of the same form as
the nominative. See for example _Aen_ IV 383-84 'et nomine _Dido_ /
saepe uocaturum' and _Aen_ VII 324-25 'luctificam _Allecto_ dirarum ab
sede dearum / infernisque ciet tenebris', cited by Charisius 63 (Keil);
neither he nor Servius shows knowledge of an accusative in _-on_.
Scribes, however, found the declension puzzling; and it is common to
find the pseudo-accusative in _-on_ offered by some manuscripts whenever
the true form in _-o_ occurs; this has happened at _Her_ VI 65 'ultimus
e sociis sacram conscendis in _Argo_', _Her_ VII 7 'certus es ire tamen
miseramque relinquere _Dido_ [_edd_: Didon _codd_]', _Her_ XII 9 'cur
umquam Colchi Magnetida uidimus _Argo_', _Am_ II ii 45 'dum nimium
seruat custos Iunonius _Io_', _Am_ II xix 29 'dum seruat Iuno mutatam
cornibus _Io_', and Prop I xx 17-18 'namque ferunt olim Pagasae
naualibus _Argo_ [_edd_: Argon _codd_] / egressam longe Phasidos isse
uiam'. Modern editors often print the spurious form, even at _AA_ I 323
'et modo se Europen fieri, modo postulat _Io_', where all manuscripts
offer the correct reading.
For a full discussion of this and the inverse corruption (for instance
of _Iason_ to _Iaso_), see Goold 12-14.
=14. AEQVOREAEQVE.= Compare _Am_ II xvii 17-18 'creditur _aequoream_ Pthio
Nereida regi, / Egeriam iusto concubuisse Numae' and _AA_ II 123-24 'non
formosus erat, sed erat facundus Vlixes, / et tamen _aequoreas_ torsit
amore deas'. Merkel's AEAEAEQVE is ingenious but unnecessary.
=15. HIPPOTADES= = _Aeolus_. The same patronymic at _Met_ IV 663, XI 431,
XIV 86, XIV 224 & XV 707.
=15. QVI DAT PRO MVNERE VENTOS.= Compare _Met_ XIV 223-26 'Aeolon ille
refert Tusco regnare profundo, / Aeolon Hippotaden, cohibentem carcere
_uentos_; / quos bouis inclusos tergo, _memorabile munus_, / Dulichium
sumpsisse ducem' and _Od_ X 19-26.
=17. NEC BENE CANTANTES LABOR EST AVDISSE PVELLAS.= The description is
intentionally prosaic. For the Homeric account of the Sirens see _Od_
XII 37-54 & 153-200.
=17. AVDISSE= _F_ AVDIRE _BCMHILT_. _Audire_ cannot stand, as the present
tense conflicts with _fuit_ in the following line. For _est audisse_
representing _fuit audire_, compare _Met_ IX 5-6 (Achelous hesitates
before recounting his wrestling-match with Hercules) 'referam tamen
ordine: nec tam / turpe _fuit uinci_ quam _contendisse decorum est_'.
=18. NEC DEGVSTANTI LOTOS AMARA FVIT.= See _Od_ IX 82-104 for Homer's
account of the Lotus-eaters.
=18. NEC ... AMARA= = _et dulcis_. Compare _Od_ IX 94 '[Greek: lôtoio
... meliêdea karpon]'.
=18. DEGVSTANTI.= The verb is extremely rare in the sense 'taste, sample';
this is the only instance of the meaning found in poetry, although a
transferred use is found at Lucretius II 191-92 'ignes ... celeri flamma
_degustant_ tigna trabesque' and _Aen_ XII 375-76 'lancea ... summum
_degustat_ uulnere corpus'.
Ovid uses the somewhat more common _gustare_ in a similar context at
_Tr_ IV i 31-32 'sic noua Dulichio lotos _gustata_ palato / illo quo
nocuit grata sapore fuit'.
=21. VRBEM LAESTRYGONOS= = '[Greek: Lamou aipy ptoliethron, / Têlepylon
Laistrygoniên]' (_Od_ X 81-82) or 'Lami ueterem Laestrygonos ... urbem'
(_Met_ XIV 233), where the crews of all the ships but Ulysses' own were
killed and eaten; accounts of this at _Od_ X 76-132 and _Met_ XIV
233-42. Ovid refers again to the episode at _EP_ II ix 41 'quis non
Antiphaten Laestrygona deuouet?'.
=21. LAESTRYGONOS= _BC_ LE(-I-)STRYGONIS _MFHILT_. _Laestrygonos_ =
[Greek: Laistrygonos] (_Od_ X 106). At _Met_ XIV 233 (cited above) all
manuscripts offer _Laestrygonis_; the Greek genitive should probably be
read as here.
=22. GENTIBVS OBLIQVA QVAS OBIT HISTER AQVA.= Similar wording at ii 37-38
'hic mea cui recitem nisi flauis scripta Corallis, / quasque alias
gentes barbarus Hister obit?'.
=22. OBLIQVA= apparently refers to the swirling of a river's eddies. The
sense 'winding' generally given the word would fit at _Met_ IX 17-18
(Achelous to the father of Deianira) 'dominum me cernis aquarum /
cursibus _obliquis_ inter tua regna fluentum', but not at _Met_ VIII
550-53 (Achelous to Theseus) '"succede meis" ait "Inclite, tectis, /
Cecropide, nec te committe rapacibus undis: / ferre trabes solidas
_obliquaque_ uoluere magno / murmure saxa solent"' or _Her_ VI 87 'illa
refrenat aquas _obliquaque_ flumina sistit'. At _Met_ I 39 'fluminaque
_obliquis_ cinxit decliuia ripis', _obliquis_ should be taken with
_flumina_, and _decliuia_ with _ripis_; or possibly both adjectives
should be taken with both nouns.
=23. VINCET.= Like _superare_, _uincere_ has the twin meanings of
'surpass' and 'defeat'.
=23. CYCLOPS.= The same pairing of the Laestrygonians and Polyphemus at
_EP_ II ii 113-114 (to Messalinus; he should address Augustus on Ovid's
behalf) 'nec tamen Aetnaeus uasto Polyphemus in antro / accipiet uoces
Antiphatesue tuas'.
=23. FERITATE= goes with _uincet_: 'will surpass in savagery'. I once
thought PIETATE (_BCIac_) was the correct reading, connecting the word
with _saeuum_ and taking it as a reference to human sacrifice; but this
seems strained and obscure. _Pietate_ may be an intrusion from
ecclesiastical Latin; Professor R. J. Tarrant suggests that it is
possibly an anticipation of the following _Piacchen_.
=23. PIACCHEN= _B_ PIAECHEN _C_. See the critical apparatus for the other
forms offered by the manuscripts. As the king's name is not elsewhere
recorded, its true form must remain in doubt.
=24. QVI QVOTA TERRORIS PARS SOLET ESSE MEI.= With Burman, Weber, and
Wheeler I take the line as a statement: compare _EP_ II x 31 'et _quota
pars_ haec sunt rerum quas uidimus ambo' (cited by Williams), where
_quota_, as here, takes the meaning 'how small' from context. Most
editors take it as a question, for which compare _Am_ II xii 9-10
'Pergama cum caderent bello superata bilustri, / ex tot in Atridis _pars
quota_ laudis erat?'.
=25-27. SCYLLA ... CHARYBDIN.= Ovid gives similar descriptions of Scylla at
_Am_ III xii 21-22 and _EP_ III i 122, of Charybdis at _Am_ II xvi
25-26, and of Scylla and Charybdis at _Her_ XII 123-26 and _Met_ XIII
730-33. All such descriptions in Latin poetry of course derive
ultimately from _Od_ XII 73-110.
=25. QVOD LATRET AB INGVINE MONSTRIS.= Professor R. J. Tarrant points out
to me Ovid's imitation here of _Ecl_ VI 74-75 'Scyllam ... candida
succinctam latrantibus inguina monstris'; the _rates_ and _nautae_ of
Ovid's line 26 are in lines 76 and 77 of the Virgilian passage.
=25. QVOD.= 'Granted that'. Bömer at _Met_ VII 705 claims that the only
passage where this is the necessary meaning of _quod_ is _Priapea_ VI 1
'quod sum ligneus ... Priapus ... prendam te tamen', but it seems to be
the meaning required at Lucretius II 532-35 'nam _quod_ rara uides magis
esse animalia quaedam / fecundamque minus naturam cernis in illis, / at
regione locoque alio terrisque remotis / multa licet genere esse in eo
numerumque repleri'.