poetry. In the two instances already cited, _quod_ is followed by the
indicative, as is the case at Prop III ii 11-16. _Quod_ in this sense
followed by the subjunctive seems to be an Ovidian idiom; it is used by
him at _Her_ IV 157-61 '_quod_ mihi _sit_ genitor, qui possidet aequora,
Minos, / quod _ueniant_ proaui fulmina torta manu, / quod _sit_ auus
radiis frontem uallatus acutis, / purpureo tepidum qui mouet axe
diem-- / nobilitas sub amore iacet!' and _Met_ VII 704-7 'liceat mihi
uera referre / pace deae: quod _sit_ roseo spectabilis ore, / quod
_teneat_ lucis, _teneat_ confinia noctis, / nectareis quod _alatur_
aquis, ego Procrin amabam', and by an imitator of Ovid at _Her_ XVIII
41.
=26. HENIOCHAE NAVTIS PLVS NOCVERE RATES.= The Heniochi lived on the
eastern shore of the Euxine and were, as Ovid indicates, known as
pirates (Strabo XI 2 12-13).
=27. INFESTIS ... ACHAEIS.= Mela includes the Achaei and the Heniochi in
his list of 'ferae incultaeque gentes uasto mari adsidentes' (I 110).
The two nations are grouped together by Strabo (XII 2 12) and Pliny
(_NH_ VI 30).
=28. EPOTVM ... VOMAT.= Professor R. J. Tarrant cites the verbal similarity
at (pseudo-Ovidian) _Am_ III v 18 'iterum _pasto pascitur_ ante cibo'.
=28. EPOTVM= _B_ ET POTVM _C_ EPOTET _MFHILT_. _Epotet_ is supported by
_Her_ XII 125 'quaeque uomit totidem fluctus totidemque resorbet' and Od
XII 105-6 '[Greek: tris men gar t' aniêsin ep êmati, tris d' anaroibdei
/ deinon]'. Professor A. Dalzell points out in particular '[Greek: tris
... tris]' paralleling _ter ... ter_ in the present passage. But at _RA_
740 Ovid wrote 'hic uomit epotas [_uarr_ et potat; hic potat; optatas;
acceptas; aequoreas] dira Charybdis aquas'; and the corruption to
_epotet_ seems much more probable than the inverse. Ovid elsewhere uses
only the perfect participle of _epotare_.
=29. LICENTIVS ERRANT.= Ovid is clearly imitating _Aen_ VII 557-58 (Juno
to Allecto) 'te super aetherias _errare licentius_ auras / haud pater
ille uelit, summi regnator Olympi', apparently the only other instance
of _licentius_ in classical verse.
=31-32= act as a bridge to the next major section of the poem, and do not
in themselves contribute to what has been said.
=31. INFRONDES= is a _hapax legomenon_.
=32. HIC FRETA VEL PEDITI PERVIA REDDIT HIEMPS.= Other mentions of the
sea's freezing at vii 7, _Tr_ II 196, III x 35-50 & V x 2, and _EP_ III
i 15-16 (to the Pontus) 'tu glacie freta uincta tenes, et in aequore
piscis / inclusus tecta saepe natauit aqua'.
Parts of the Black Sea do in fact freeze: 'In winter, spurs of the
Siberian anticyclone (clear, dry, high-pressure air mass) create a
strong current of cold air, and the northwestern Black Sea cools down
considerably, with regular ice formation' (article on "Black Sea",
_Encyclopaedia Britannica_, Macropaedia vol. 2, pp. 1096-98 [Chicago:
1974]).
=32. HIEMPS.= For the last one hundred years, the spelling given in
editions of Latin texts has generally been _hiems_ (some exceptions are
Palmer's _Heroides_, the Paravia Virgil, and Reynolds' editions of
Seneca), but the spelling in the ancient manuscripts of Virgil is
invariably _hiemps_. Munro's argument for this spelling seems
unanswerable: 'obeying the almost unanimous testimony of our own [i.e.
_O_ and _Q_ of Lucretius] and other good mss. we cannot but give
_umerus_ _umor_ and the like: also _hiemps_. I have heard it asked what
then is the genitive of _hiemps_; to which the best reply perhaps would
be what is the perfect of _sumo_ or the supine of _emo_. The Latins
wrote _hiemps_, as they wrote _emptum_ _sumpsi_ _sumptum_ and a hundred
such forms, because they disliked _m_ and _s_ or _t_ to come together
without the intervention of a _p_ sound; and our mss. all attest this:
_tempto_ likewise is the only true form, which the Italians in the 15th
century rejected for _tento_' (Lucretius ed. 4 vol. 1 p. 33).
=33-34. VT, QVA REMVS ITER PVLSIS MODO FECERAT VNDIS, / SICCVS CONTEMPTA
NAVE VIATOR EAT.= Ovid has in mind Virgil's description of the freezing
of a Scythian river (_G_ III 360-62) 'concrescunt subitae currenti in
flumine crustae, / undaque iam tergo ferratos sustinet orbis, / puppibus
illa prius, patulis nunc hospita plaustris'.
=35. QVI VENIVNT ISTINC VIX VOS EA CREDERE DICVNT; / QVAM MISER EST QVI
FERT ASPERIORA FIDE.= For Ovid's fear that his accounts of what he has
undergone will not be believed, see vii 3-4 and _Tr_ I v 49-50, III x
35-36 & IV i 65-66. In particular, see ix 85-86 'mentiar, an coeat
duratus frigore Pontus, / et teneat glacies iugera multa freti'.
=37-38. NEC TE CAVSAS NESCIRE SINEMVS / HORRIDA SARMATICVM CVR MARE DVRET
HIEMPS.= Ovid's principal explanation of the freezing of the Euxine, the
low salinity of the water, is found in four other Latin authors. At IV
718-28, Valerius Flaccus offers a catalogue of rivers similar to that of
Ovid, and, like Ovid, gives the cold winter winds as a subsidiary reason
for the freezing. It is quite possible that Ovid is Valerius' source;
but this is very unlikely to be the case for Macrobius _Sat_ VII xii
28-38 (cited by Burman). The passage is a discussion of why, although
oil congeals, wine and vinegar do not. Wine does not freeze because it
contains elements of fire; this is why Homer called it [Greek: aithopa
oinon]. Vinegar does not freeze because it is so bitter; it is like
seawater, which because of its bitterness does not congeal. 'nam quod
Herodotus historiarum scriptor contra omnium ferme qui haec quaesiuerunt
opinionem scripsit [IV 28], mare Bosporicum, quod et Cimmerium appellat,
earumque partium mare omne, quod Scythicum dicitur, id gelu constringi
et consistere, aliter est quam putatur'. It is not the seawater that
freezes, but the layer of fresh water above it, which comes from the
rivers that flow into the Euxine. Macrobius goes on to explain that
there is an outflow of fresh water to the Mediterranean and an influx of
seawater, with perfect correctness: the _Encyclopaedia Britannica_
article cited at 32 notes that 'Flows in the Bosporus are complex, with
surface Black Sea water going out and deep, saltier water coming in from
the Sea of Marmara*.
There can be very little doubt, given the identity of the explanations
and the similarity of language, that Ovid and Macrobius were drawing on
a common source. The same source is reflected at Gellius XVII viii
8-16. Here Taurus the philosopher asks Gellius why oil often congeals,
but wine does not. Gellius answers that wine is fiery by nature, which
is why Homer called it [Greek: aithopa oinon]. Taurus responds that wine
is indeed known to have fire in it, for it warms the body when drunk;
yet vinegar, in spite of its cooling effects, never freezes; perhaps
things which are light and smooth are more prone to freezing. It is also
worth asking why fresh water freezes, but seawater does not. 'tametsi
Herodotus ... historiae scriptor contra omnium ferme qui haec
quaesiuerunt opinionem scribit mare Bosporicum, quod Cimmerium
appellatur, earumque partium mare omne quod Scythicum dicitur, gelu
stringi et consistere'. No explanation for the freezing-over is
given.[22]
[Footnote 22: Macrobius does include the explanation for the
freezing-over. In view of his fuller account, I believe that Macrobius
drew his material from Gellius' source and not from Gellius. It is of
course possible enough that Macrobius conflated Gellius with another
source.]
Ammianus Marcellinus XXII 8 48 gives the same two explanations for the
Euxine's freezing as Ovid: 'quicquid autem eiusdem Pontici sinus
Aquilone caeditur et pruinis, ita perstringitur gelu ut nec amnium
cursus subteruolui credantur, nec per infidum et labile solum gressus
hominis possit uel iumenti firmari, quod uitium numquam mare sincerum,
sed permixtum aquis amnicis temptat'. At XXII 8 46 he once again
mentions the sweetness of the Euxine's waters.
Lucan describes the freezing of the Euxine (V 436-41), but gives no
explanation of the cause.
=39. PLAVSTRI PRAEBENTIA FORMAM ... SIDERA.= The Great Bear. Other mentions
of the constellation at _Met_ X 446-47 'inter ... triones / flexerat
obliquo plaustrum temone Bootes', _Tr_ III iv b 1-2 (47-48), III x 3-4 &
V iii 7-8, and _EP_ I v 73-74. Compare as well Germanicus _Aratea_ 24-26
'axem Cretaeae dextra laeuaque tuentur / siue Arctoe seu Romani
cognominis Vrsae / Plaustraue [_Grotius_:-que _codd_], quae facie
[_scripsi (datiuum)_[23]: facies _codd_] stellarum proxima uerae
[_Barth_: uera _uel_ uero _codd_]', _Her_ XVIII 152, Sen _Ag_ 66-68, and
Lucan V 23 'Hyperboreae plaustrum glaciale sub Vrsae'.
[Footnote 23: This seems the best solution to the awkwardness of the
line as currently printed. Gellius IX xiv 21 gives two examples of
dative _facie_ from Lucilius. Plautus regularly uses _fide_ (_Aul_ 667,
_Pers_ 193, _Poen_ 890, _Trin_ 117) and _die_ (_Am_ 546, _Capt_ 464,
_Trin_ 843); dative _pube_ is found at _Pseud_ 126. Sallust and Caesar
use _fide_ (_Iug_ 16 3; _BG_ V 3 7); at the time of Germanicus, _fide_
is found at Hor _Sat_ I iii 94-95 'quid faciam si furtum fecerit, aut si
/ prodiderit commissa _fide_ sponsumue negarit?', and _pernicie_ at Livy
V 13 5.]
_Praebentia formam_ is elevated diction: Professor R. J. Tarrant cites
Lucretius V 581-83 'luna ... claram speciem certamque _figuram_ /
_praebet_'.
=40. PERPETVVM= _M2ul_ PRAECIPVVM _BCM1FHILT_. _Praecipuum_ could be
defended by _EP_ III i 13-14 (to the Pontus) 'nec tibi pampineas
autumnus porrigit uuas, / cuncta sed immodicum tempora frigus habet',
but _praecipuus_ in fact always seems to have the notion of
'outstanding' or 'superior', which does not seem appropriate to the
present passage. For _perpetuum_ compare _Tr_ III ii 7-8 'plurima sed
pelago terraque pericula passum / ustus ab _assiduo_ frigore Pontus
habet', _Tr_ III x 14 '[niuem ...] indurat Boreas _perpetuamque_ facit',
_Tr_ V ii 65-66 'me ... cruciat _numquam sine frigore_ caelum, /
glaebaque canenti _semper_ obusta gelu', _EP_ I iii 49-50 'orbis in
extremi iaceo desertus harenis, / fert ubi _perpetuas_ obruta terra
niues', and _EP_ II vii 72 'frigore _perpetuo_ Sarmatis ora riget'.
=41. HINC ORITVR BOREAS.= Compare _Tr_ III xi 7-8 'barbara me tellus et
inhospita litora Ponti / cumque suo _Borea_ Maenalis ursa uidet' and
_Ibis_ 11-12 'ille relegatum gelidos _Aquilonis ad ortus_ / non sinit
exilio delituisse meo'.
=41. DOMESTICVS.= The word is rare in verse; Ovid uses it as a substantive
at iii 15 'ille ego conuictor densoque _domesticus_ usu'. Here Ovid may
be recalling the language of _Met_ VI 685-86 (of Boreas) 'ira, / quae
solita est illi nimiumque _domestica_ uento'.
=42. VIRES.= Merkel proposed MORES, citing Virgil _G_ I 50-52 'at prius
ignotum ferro quam scindimus aequor, / uentos et uarium caeli
praediscere _morem_ / cura sit' and Statius _Sil_ III ii 87 'quos tibi
currenti praeceps gerat Hadria _mores_'. The second passage is not to
the point, since it means 'what sort of obedience to your wishes do you
expect from the Adriatic as you make your voyage'. In any case,
Professor R. J. Tarrant points out to me the poor logic of Merkel's
proposed text: Ovid is deriving the _natura loci_ from its surroundings;
he should not now be saying that Boreas gets his _mores_ from the area.
The reading of the manuscripts seems acceptable enough if one accepts
Meynke's _polo_ for _loco_ ('he gathers strength from the nearby North
Pole'). For _sumit uires_ compare _Met_ VIII 882 (Achelous speaking)
'armenti modo dux _uires_ in cornua _sumo_', _Met_ XI 510-11 'ut
... solent _sumptis_ incursu _uiribus_ ire ... feri ... leones' and Hor
_Ep_ I xviii 85 'neglecta solent incendia _sumere uires_'. Professor R.
J. Tarrant compares such phrases as _sumere iras_ (_Met_ II 175),
_animos_ (_Met_ III 544-45), and _cornua_ (_AA_ I 239, _Tr_ IV ix 27).
=42. POLO= _Meynke_ LOCO _codd_. The pointlessness of _loco_ is made clear
enough by Wheeler's 'and he takes on strength from a place nearer to
him'. Meynke's _polo_ removes the difficulty, answers well to the
following 'at Notus, _aduerso_ tepidum qui spirat ab _axe_', and is
supported by the language of _Met_ II 173 'quaeque _polo_ posita est
glaciali _proxima_ Serpens', and _Fast_ IV 575-76 (of Ceres) 'errat et
in caelo liquidique immunia ponti / adloquitur gelido _proxima_ signa
_polo_'. For the corruption, compare the common misreading of _locum_
for _solum_.
=43. ADVERSO ... AB AXE.= Ovid here seeks a contrast with _polo_ in the
previous line; but clearly he means only that the south wind comes from
the opposite direction, not that it originates at the South Pole.
Bentley conjectured AVERSO for _aduerso_, and the two words are
obviously prone to interchange: compare _Tr_ I iii 45 (of Ovid's wife,
after his departure) 'multaque in auersos [_Heinsius_: aduersos _codd_]
effudit uerba Penates' and the variations among the manuscripts at
Virgil _G_ I 218 'auerso ... astro', _Aen_ XII 647 'auersa uoluntas', and
Sen _Tr_ 1123 'auersa cingit campus' (on which see Housman 1076). But
_aduerso_ 'opposite' seems to have the sense required here.
=43. TEPIDVM QVI SPIRAT.= For the construction compare _Met_ IX 661 'sub
aduentu _spirantis lene_ Fauoni' and Avienus _Descr Orb_ 847 'uel qua
_lene_ Notus _spirat_'. The trivialized TEPIDVS QVI SPIRAT is found in
_MH2c_. _Tepidus Notus_ occurs four times in Ovid (_Am_ I iv 12, I vii
56 & II viii 20, and _Tr_ III xii [xiii] 42).
=44. LANGVIDIORQVE VENIT.= Compare _EP_ II i 1-2 'Huc quoque Caesarei
peruenit fama triumphi, / _languida_ quo fessi uix uenit _aura Noti_'.
=46. AB AMNE.= Similar instrumental uses of _ab_ at _Her_ X 138 'tunicas
lacrimis sicut _ab imbre_ graues', _AA_ III 545 'ingenium placida
mollitur _ab arte_', _Met_ I 65-66 'contraria tellus / nubibus assiduis
pluuiaque madescit ab Austro', _Met_ IV 162-63 'pectus ... adhuc _a
caede_ tepebat', and _Fast_ V 323 'caelum nigrescit _ab Austris_'.
=47-58.= For the lengthy catalogue, typical of Ovid, compare the listing
of Actaeon's dogs at _Met_ III 206-25 (in particular at 217 'et Dromas
et Canache Sticteque et Tigris et Alce') and the catalogue of trees that
came to listen to Orpheus sing (_Met_ X 90-107).
=47. LYCVS.= A number of rivers had this name in the ancient world. Ovid
presumably means the Paphlagonian Lycus referred to by Virgil at _G_ IV
366-67 'omnia sub magna labentia flumina terra / spectabat diuersa
locis, Phasimque Lycumque ...'.
=47. SAGARIS.= The modern Sakarya; it flows into the Black Sea about 125
kilometres east of Istanbul. It is mentioned at Pliny _NH_ VI 1 4
'Sangaris fluuius ex inclutis. oritur in Phrygia, accipit uastos amnes
... idem Sagiarius plerisque dictus'.
=47. PENIVSQVE.= The 'flumen et oppidum Penius' are mentioned at Pliny
_NH_ VI 14 as being in the region of the Caucasus on the Euxine coast;
nearby were 'multis nominibus Heniochorum gentes'. The river seems not
to be mentioned elsewhere in ancient literature.
=47. HYPANISQVE.= The modern Bug empties into the Black Sea about 50
kilometres east of Odessa. It is mentioned again by Ovid at _Met_ XV
285-86 'quid? non et Scythicis Hypanis de montibus ortus, / qui fuerat
dulcis, salibus uitiatur amaris?' and Virgil _G_ IV 370 'saxosumque
sonans Hypanis'.
=47. CALESQVE.= Isaac Vossius made this correction for the manuscripts'
CATESQVE (_I_ has CHARESQVE) on the basis of 'Eustathio Scholiis in
Periegeten'. Heinsius aptly cited a description of the occasionally
violent flow of the river at Thucydides IV 75 2.
As indicated by this passage, the modern Alapli flows into the Black Sea
near Eregli, about 200 kilometres east of Istanbul.
=48. CREBRO VERTICE TORTVS HALYS.= An imitation of _Aen_ VII 566-67
'fragosus / dat sonitum saxis et _torto uertice_ torrens'. _Tortus_ when
used of water generally refers to the disturbance caused by rowing
(_Fast_ V 644; Catullus LXIV 13; _Aen_ III 208).
=48. HALYS.= The modern Kizil Irmak flows into the Black Sea about 600
kilometres east of Istanbul. André compares Apollonius' description of
the river (II 366-67) '[Greek: rhoai Halyos potamoio / deinon
ereugontai]'.
=49-50.= The three rivers mentioned in these lines are all named for their
swiftness.
=49. PARTHENIVSQVE RAPAX.= The modern Bartin flows into the Black Sea
about 280 kilometres east of Istanbul and about 240 kilometres west of
Sinop. It is in fact a very calm river: this information was available
to Ovid from Apollonius II 936-37 '[Greek: Parthenioio rhoas
halimurêentos, / prêutatou potamou]' (cited by André).
=49. VOLVENS SAXA.= Similar phrasing at _Met_ VIII 552-53 '[undae ...]
ferre trabes solidas obliquaque _uoluere_ magno / murmure _saxa_
solent'.
=49. CINAPSES= _BC_ CINAPSIS _L_ TYNAPSES _H_ CINASPES _FIT_ NIPHATES _M_.
Editors read CYNAPSES; but since the river is not otherwise known,
restoration is dangerous. _M_'s reading looks like an interpolation from
Lucan III 245 'Armeniusque tenens _uoluentem saxa_ Niphaten' (cited by
Micyllus).
=50. NVLLO TARDIOR= = _uelocior omni_; André mistranslates 'le plus lent
des fleuves'. Compare _Tr_ I v 1 'O mihi post nullos umquam [_uar_ ullos
numquam] memorande sodales' and _EP_ I iii 65-66 'Zmyrna uirum tenuit,
non Pontus et hostica tellus, / paene _minus nullo_ Zmyrna petenda
loco'.
=50. TYRAS.= The modern Dnestr flows into the Black Sea about fifty miles
south of Odessa; near its mouth is the city of Ovidiopol. The river is
briefly mentioned at Pliny _NH_ IV 82 & 93, and at Mela II 7, where it
is called the 'Tyra'; this however seems to be a scribal error induced
by the following _separat_.
=51. THERMODON.= The modern Terme flows into the Black Sea about 100
kilometres southeast of the mouth of the Kizil Irmak (Halys). It was
conventional to mention the Amazons in connection with the river (_Met_
XII 611, _Aen_ XI 659-60, Prop III xiv 13-14, Ammianus Marcellinus XXII
8 17). Professor E. Fantham suggests to me that Ovid may here be
providing Albinovanus with material for the part of his _Theseid_
dealing with Theseus' expedition against the Amazons.
Ovid also mentions the Thermodon at _Met_ I 248-49 (the story of
Phaethon) 'arsit et Euphrates Babylonius, arsit Orontes / Thermodonque
citus Gangesque et Phasis et Hister'. As in the present distich, the
Thermodon and Phasis, both prominent in mythology, are mentioned
together.
=51. TVRMAE= _BCM_ TVRBAE _FHILT_. There is a similar variation among the
manuscripts at _AA_ III l-2 'Arma dedi Danais in Amazonas; arma
supersunt / quae tibi dem et _turmae_, Penthesilea, tuae'. From other
descriptions of the Amazons, the Auctor Electorum Etonensium aptly
compares Val Fl IV 603 (_cateruas_) and 607 (_turma_); compare as well
Statius _Sil_ I vi 56 (_turmas_). It is possible that _turma_ should be
read at Prop III xiv 13-14 'qualis Amazonidum nudatis bellica mammis /
Thermodontiacis _turba_ lauatur aquis'; but this would make _bellica_
redundant.
=53. BORYSTHENIO ... AMNE= = _BorYsthenE_. The river is the modern Dnepr,
which flows into the Black Sea about 120 kilometres east of Odessa,
about 50 kilometres east of the mouth of the Bug (Hypanis). For the
metrical device here employed, compare Prop II vii 17-18 'hinc etenim
tantum meruit mea gloria nomen, / gloria ad hibernos lata
_Borysthenidas_', Avienus _Descr Orb_ 448 'inde _Borysthenii_ uis sese
_fluminis_ effert' & 721 'ora _Borysthenii_ qua _fluminis_ in mare
uergunt'.
=53. LIQVIDISSIMVS= is not found elsewhere in Ovid.
=53. DIRAPSES.= The river is not mentioned elsewhere.
=54. MELANTHVS.= The modern Melet Irmak flows into the Black Sea about 25
kilometres west of Trabzon (Trapezus). It is mentioned in passing at
Pliny _NH_ VI 11.
=55-56. QVIQVE DVAS TERRAS, ASIAM CADMIQVE SOROREM, / SEPARAT ET CVRSVS
INTER VTRAMQVE FACIT.= The Tanais (Don) is named as the border between
Europe and Asia by Pliny (_NH_ IV 78) and Avienus (_Descr Orb_ 28 &
861). Compare as well Lucan III 272-76 'qua uertice lapsus / Riphaeo
Tanais diuersi nomina mundi / imposuit ripis Asiaeque et terminus idem /
Europae, mediae dirimens confinia terrae, / nunc hunc, nunc illum, qua
flectitur, ampliat orbem'.
Vibius Sequester (_Geog Lat min_ [Riese] p. 212) has an entry 'Hypanis
Scythiae qui, ut ait Gallus "uno tellures diuidit amne duas": Asiam enim
ab Europa separat'. The Hypanis cannot be the river Ovid is here
referring to, for it has already been mentioned in 47; but, as Lenz saw,
the line from Gallus could well have been in Ovid's mind as he wrote
this passage. Professor R. J. Tarrant notes that the extraordinary
_Cadmique sororem_ could well be a borrowing from the earlier poet.
=57-58. INTER MAXIMVS OMNES / CEDERE DANVVIVS SE TIBI, NILE, NEGAT.= A
similar conjunction at _Tr_ III x 27-28 'ipse, papyrifero qui non
angustior amne, / miscetur uasto multa per ora freto'. Herodotus
compares the courses of the Nile and the Danube, concluding '[Greek:
houtô ton Neilon dokeô dia pasês tês Libyês diexionta exisousthai tôi
Istrôi]' (II 34), referring to the length of the rivers, however,
rather than their volume of discharge. At _NQ_ III 22 Seneca mentions
the belief of some that because of their large size and the fact that
their sources were both unknown the Nile and the Danube must both have
been formed at the creation of the world, unlike other rivers. At IV 1
1-2 he argues against those who equated the two rivers, pointing out
that the source of the Danube was known to be in Germany, and that the
two rivers flood at different times of the year.
=59. COPIA TOT LATICVM QVAS AVGET ADVLTERAT AQVAS.= The comparative
freshness of the waters of the Black Sea was well known in antiquity.
Besides the passages cited at 37-38, see Polybius IV 42 3 and
Philostratus _Imag_ I 13 7.
=61-62. QVIN ETIAM, STAGNO SIMILIS PIGRAEQVE PALVDI, / CAERVLEVS VIX EST
DILVITVRQVE COLOR.= Ovid's drinking water was, on the other hand, rather
brackish: 'est in aqua dulci non inuidiosa uoluptas: / aequoreo bibitur
cum sale mixta palus' (_EP_ II vii 73-74).
=63. INNATAT VNDA FRETO DVLCIS.= Similar wording at Macrobius _Sat_ VII 12
32 'superficies maris, cui dulces aquae _innatant_, congelascit'.
=64. PONDVS= _B1CMFHT_ NOMEN _ILB2_. Wakefield conjectured MOMEN on the
basis of Lucretius VI 473-74 'quo magis ad nubis augendas multa uidentur
/ posse quoque e salso consurgere momine ponti'. But _pondus_ seems
appropriate to the context in a way that _momen_ 'heaving' does not.
_Nomen habe(n)t_ is a frequent line-ending in Ovid, occurring some
twenty-five times (once in _Her_ XVI). _Proprium nomen_ occurs in Ovid
at _Fast_ V 191-92 (Ovid is addressing Flora) 'ipsa doce quae sis.
hominum sententia fallax: / optima tu _proprii nominis_ auctor eris'
and _EP_ I viii 13-14 'Caspius Aegissos, de se si credimus ipsis, /
condidit et _proprio nomine_ dixit opus'. The phrase would have been
very familiar to the scribes from grammatical treatises ('proper noun').
A combination of these circumstances no doubt induced the error.
Professor A. Dalzell suggests to me that _momen_ is perhaps correct, the
notion being that the salt water keeps moving, and so does not freeze.
_Pondus_ would then be a (mistaken) gloss that has displaced _momen_
from the text; _nomen_ would be a simple misreading of _momen_.
=66. CERTIS ... MODIS.= 'Metre'; compare _Fast_ III 388 'ad _certos_ uerba
canenda _modos_', Tib II i 51-52 'agricola ... primum ... cantauit _certo_
rustica uerba _pede_' and Manilius III 35 '_pedibus_ ... iungere
_certis_'.