... TEMPVS CVRAMQVE FEFELLI _LT_ DETINVI ... CVRAS TEMPVSQVE FEFELLI
_BCMFHI_. _Tempus fallere_ 'make time pass unnoticed' is perfectly
acceptable Latin; compare _Tr_ III iii 11-12 'non qui labentia tarde /
_tempora_ narrando _fallat_ amicus adest', _Her_ I 9-10 'nec mihi
quaerenti spatiosam _fallere noctem_ / lassaret uiduas pendula tela
manus', _Met_ VIII 651 'interea medias _fallunt_ sermonibus _horas_',
_Tr_ IV x 112-14 'tristia ... carmine fata leuo. / quod quamuis nemo est
cuius referatur ad aures, / sic tamen absumo _decipioque diem_', and
_Her_ XIX 37-38 'tortaque uersato ducentes stamina fuso / feminea tardas
_fallimus_ arte _moras_'. The difficulty with the manuscript reading in
the present passage is that _detinui curas_ is without parallel.
Heinsius therefore accepted Politian's reading, citing in its support
_Met_ I 682-83 'sedit Atlantiades et euntem multa loquendo / _detinuit_
sermone _diem_'. The Auctor Electorum Etonensium objected that _detinui
tempus_ was inappropriate: 'poeta tempus detinere noluit, quod scilicet
per se morari atque haerere uidebatur inuisum'. He conjectured DISTINVI
CVRAS and Burman DIMINVI CVRAS, which he later found in one of his
manuscripts. But _detinere_ here can have the same meaning 'occupy, keep
busy' as it has at the _Metamorphoses_ passage, where A. G. Lee cites
the present passage (with Politian's reading) and _Tr_ V vii 39
'_detineo studiis animum_ falloque dolores'.
The interchange of adjoining metrically and grammatically equivalent
substantives is very common.
=67-68. "DETINVI" DICAM "TEMPVS, CVRASQVE FEFELLI; / HVNC FRVCTVM
PRAESENS ATTVLIT HORA MIHI".= The thought of the passage also at ii 39-40
& 45 'quid nisi Pierides, solacia frigida, restant', _Tr_ V i 33-34 'tot
mala pertulimus, quorum medicina quiesque / nulla nisi in studio est
Pieridumque mora', and _EP_ I v 53-55 'magis utile nil est / artibus
his, quae nil utilitatis habent. / consequor ex illis casus obliuia
nostri'.
=69. ABFVIMVS SOLITO ... DOLORE.= Compare Cic _Fam_ IV iii 2 'a multis et
magnis molestiis abes'; I have found no parallel from verse.
=71. CVM THESEA CARMINE LAVDES.= See at 4 _Albinouane_ (p 327).
=71. THESEA.= For Theseus as the type of loyalty, compare _Tr_ I iii 66 'o
mihi Thesea pectora iuncta fide!', I v 19-20, I ix 31-32, V iv 25-26
(Ovid's letter speaking) 'teque Menoetiaden, te qui comitatus Oresten, /
te uocat _Aegiden_ Euryalumque suum', and _EP_ II iii 43, II vi 26 & III
ii 33-34 'occidit et Theseus et qui comitauit Oresten; / sed tamen in
laudes uiuit uterque suas'. From other authors, Otto _Theseus_ cites
Prop II i 37-38, Martial VII xxiv 3-4 & X xi 1-2, Claudian _Ruf_ I 107,
Ausonius _Epist_ XXV 34, Apollinaris Sidonius _Ep_ III xiii 10, _Carm_ V
288 & _Carm_ XXIV 29. Professor R. J. Tarrant notes that in Bion fr. 12
(Gow) there is a pairing of Theseus/Pirithous and Orestes/Pylades
similar to what we find in Ovid.
=72. TITVLOS.= 'Claims to glory'; compare _Met_ VII 448-49 (to Theseus)
'si _titulos_ annosque tuos numerare uelimus, / facta prement annos' and
_Met_ XII 334 'uictori titulum ... Dictys Helopsque dederunt'.
=73. VETAT ILLE PROFECTO.= 'I am quite certain that he does not allow
...'
=74. TRANQVILLI ... TEMPORIS= implies _sed non temporis aduersi_.
=75. CONDITVR A TE.= Ovid does not elsewhere use a person as the object of
_condere_, although at _Tr_ II 335-36 he uses a person's achievements as
object: 'diuitis ingenii est immania Caesaris acta / condere'.
=76. TANTVS QVANTO= _L_ TANTO QVANTVS _BacCFHITpc_ TANTus QVANTVS _M2c_
TANTO QVANTO _BpcTac_ QVANTO TANTVS _fort legendum_. The transmitted
reading, _tanto quantus_, can be construed: Professor E. Fantham
translates 'a man so great as should have been sung with this mighty
style'. This however subordinates Theseus to Albinovanus, while the
purpose of the line is to emphasize Theseus' greatness. _Tanto quanto_
is generally printed: it is acceptable enough (compare _EP_ II ix 11-12
'regia, crede mihi, res est succurrere lapsis, / conuenit et _tanto_,
_quantus_ es ipse, uiro'), but is very weakly attested, and does not
explain the transmitted reading. I have printed _L_'s _tantus quanto_;
_quanto tantus_ might also be read.
=76. QVANTO ... ORE.= For _os_ 'grandness of utterance' Professor R. J.
Tarrant compares _Am_ II i 11-12 'ausus eram, memini, caelestia dicere
bella ... et satis _oris_ erat'.
=78. INQVE FIDE THESEVS QVILIBET ESSE POTEST.= For the use of mythological
figures as character types, compare _RA_ 589 'semper habe Pyladen
aliquem qui curet Oresten' and Martial VI xi 9-10 'ut praestem Pyladen,
aliquis mihi praestet Oresten. / hoc non fit uerbis, Marce: ut ameris,
ama'.
=79-82.= Professor R. J. Tarrant points out to me how the example of
Theseus balances the comparison with Ulysses at the start of the poem.
Earlier Ovid argued against a difference of scale between his own case
and the mythic figure's: here he insists on it.
=79. HOSTES ... DOMANDI.= For lists of these enemies, see _Her_ II 69-70
'cum fuerit Sciron lectus toruusque Procrustes / et Sinis' and the
Athenians' hymn of praise to Theseus at _Met_ VII 433-50.
=79. CLAVAQVE.= For Theseus' club see _Her_ IV 115-16 (Phaedra to
Hippolytus) 'ossa mei fratris _claua_ perfracta trinodi / sparsit humi'
and _Her_ X 77 'me quoque, qua fratrem, mactasses, improbe, _claua_'.
Ovid mentions the club of Hercules about a dozen times.
=80. VIX ILLI.= For _uix_ 'with difficulty' _OLD uix_ 1 cites _Fast_ I 508
'uix est Euandri uixque retenta manu'.
Most editors print VIX VLLI (_BCT_), which is possible enough. _Vix
illi_ seems rather more forceful, however, as making the point that even
Theseus was able to make the dangerous journey only with difficulty, and
that before him the road was impassable. Compare _Met_ VII 443-44 'tutus
ad Alcathoen, Lelegeia moenia, limes / composito Scirone patet'.
=81. OPEROSA.= The word in the sense 'troublesome' seems confined to prose
except for this passage and _Her_ II 63-64 'fallere credentem non est
_operosa_ puellam / gloria; simplicitas digna fauore fuit'.
=83. PERSTAS= _IPF2ul_. Compare _Tr_ IV i 19-20 'me quoque Musa leuat
Ponti loca iussa petentem: / sola comes nostrae _perstitit_ illa fugae'
and _Tr_ V xiv 19-20 'quae ne quis possit temeraria dicere, persta
[_uar_ praesta] / et pariter serua meque piamque fidem'. PERSTAS, the
reading of most manuscripts, would have no acceptable meaning in the
present passage; it has no object, and the intransitive meaning, 'stand
out', is clearly inappropriate. The error may have been induced by _Tr_
IV v 23-24 'teque, quod est rarum, _praesta_ constanter ad omne /
indeclinatae munus amicitiae'; more probably, it is an aftereffect of
_praestandus_ in 81.
=83. INDECLINATVS= governs _amico_. The only other instance of the word in
classical Latin seems to be _Tr_ IV v 24, quoted at the end of the last
note.
=84. LINGVA QVERENTE.= Ovid elsewhere uses persons as the subject of
_queri_, except for similar uses of metonymy at xiv 26 '_littera_ de
uobis est mea _questa_ nihil' and _Tr_ V xi 1-2 'Quod te nescioquis per
iurgia dixerit esse / exulis uxorem, _littera questa_ tua est'.
XI. To Gallio
The poem is a letter of condolence to the famous rhetor Junius Gallio,
an old friend of Ovid (see at 1). Ovid starts the poem by saying that
Gallio should certainly be mentioned in his poetry, because he helped
Ovid at the time of his catastrophe (1-4). This one misfortune should
have been enough for him, but now he has lost his wife (5-8). Ovid wept
on receiving the news, but will not attempt to comfort him, since by now
the grief is in the past, and he would risk renewing it (9-20). Also
(and he hopes this will turn out to be the case), Gallio may already
have remarried (21-22).
The poem is one of the shortest in Ovid's canon (_Am_ II iii is
shorter), and has few parallels with his other poems. The one that comes
closest is _EP_ I ix, addressed to Cotta Maximus, which describes Ovid's
reaction on hearing of the death of Celsus. There are some verbal
parallels as well with _EP_ I iii, Ovid's answer to Rufinus' letter of
consolation on his exile. In the commentary I cite passages from Ser.
Sulpicius Rufus' famous letter to Cicero on the death of his daughter
Tullia (_Fam_ IV v) and from Seneca's treatises of consolation; Ovid was
clearly making use of the common topics of the genre.
=1. GALLIO.= Junius Gallio[24], adoptive father of the younger Seneca's
elder brother, is often cited by the elder Seneca, who considered him
one of the four supreme orators of his time (_Contr_ X praef. 13). At
_Suas_ III 6-8, Seneca discusses Gallio's fondness for the Virgilian
phrase _plena deo_ (which, oddly, is not found in our text of the poet),
and quotes Gallio as saying that his friend Ovid was also very fond of
the phrase. Quintilian and Tacitus did not share Seneca's high opinion
of Gallio: Quintilian criticizes the lack of restraint in his style (IX
ii 92), while at _Dial_ 26 1 Tacitus has Messalla say how he prefers 'G.
Gracchi impetum aut L. Crassi maturitatem quam calamistros ['curling
irons' = 'excessive ornament'] Maecenatis aut tinnitus Gallionis'.
[Footnote 24: _PIR_1 I 493; _PIR_2 I 756; PW X,l 1035 26; Schanz-Hosius
349 (§ 336)]
In AD 32 Gallio proposed in the Senate that ex-members of the Praetorian
guard be permitted to use the theatre seats reserved for members of the
equestrian order; this resulted in a bitter and sarcastic letter from
Tiberius to the Senate attacking Gallio's presumption; he was first
exiled, then brought back to custody in Rome after it was decided that
Lesbos, chosen by him, was too pleasant a place of exile (Tac _Ann_ VI
3; Dio LXVIII 18 4).
=1. EXCVSABILE.= The word is extremely rare, and is not found in verse
outside the _Ex Ponto_: compare I vii 41-42 'quod nisi delicti pars
_excusabilis_ esset, / parua relegari poena futura fuit' and III ix
33-34 'nil tamen e scriptis magis _excusabile_ nostris / quam sensus
cunctis paene quod unus inest'.
=2. HABVISSE= could have the usual past sense of the perfect infinitive,
but more probably is equivalent to _habere_: compare ix 20 'gauderem
lateris non _habuisse_ locum' and see at viii 82 _imposuisse_ (p 282).
=3-4. CAELESTI CVSPIDE FACTA ... VVLNERA.= 'Wounds inflicted by no human
weapon'. The _cuspis_ is attributed to Mars at _Am_ I i 11, to Neptune
at _Met_ XII 580, and to Athena at _Fast_ VI 655. At Sen _Ag_ 368-71
'tuque, o magni nata Tonantis / inclita Pallas, / quae Dardanias saepe
petisti / cuspide terras', R. J. Tarrant cites _HF_ 563 (Dis), _HF_ 904
& _Phaed_ 755 (Bacchus), _HO_ 156 (Hercules), and Juvenal II 130 (Mars).
Professor Tarrant points out to me that the _cuspis_ does not seem to be
attributed to Jupiter, no doubt because the _fulmen_ was too firmly
established as his weapon. Ovid is therefore not making his customary
specific equation of Augustus with Jupiter.
=4. FOVISTI.= _Fouere_ was a technical term in medicine for bathing
something in a liquid (Cato _Agr_ 157 4, Celsus IV 2 4, Columella VI 12
4). The word occurs in this sense in poetry: see _Met_ II 338-39 'nomen
... in marmore lectum / perfudit lacrimis et aperto pectore _fouit_',
_Met_ VIII 654 (perhaps spurious; the passage is one where textual
doublets occur), _Met_ X 186-87 (Hyacinthus has just been struck by
Apollo's discus) 'deus conlapsos ... excipit artus, / et modo te
_refouet_, modo tristia uulnera siccat', _Met_ XV 532 'et lacerum _foui_
Phlegethontide corpus in unda', and _Aen_ XII 420 '_fouit_ ea uulnus
lympha longaeuus Iapyx'.
=5. RAPTI.= The word could be taken to mean 'dead'; compare xvi 1 'Nasonis
... rapti', where the context shows this is the meaning, and _EP_ I ix
1-2 (to Cotta Maximus) 'Quae mihi de _rapto_ tua uenit epistula Celso, /
protinus est lacrimis umida facta meis'. For the similarly ambiguous use
of _ademptus_, see at vi 49 _qui me doluistis ademptum_ (p 243).
=6. QVOD QVERERERE.= For the phrase, compare _Am_ I iv 23-24 (Ovid is
listing the signals his girl should use at the dinner-table) 'si quid
erit de me tacita _quod_ mente _queraris_, / pendeat extrema mollis ab
aure manus', _Tr_ V i 37 (of Fortune) '_quod querar_, illa mihi pleno de
fonte ministrat', _Her_ XIX 79, and _Her_ XX 34 & 94.
=7-8. PVDICA / CONIVGE.= Being _pudica_, she deserved to
survive--Professor E. Fantham points out to me here Ovid's use of what
could be called the _quid profuit_ topic.
The reference to Gallio's wife seems rather cool in tone. For some very
warm descriptions of recently deceased wives, see Lattimore 275-80.
=8. NON HABVERE NEFAS.= This sense of _habere_, very common in prose, does
not seem to occur elsewhere in Ovid; but Professor R. J. Tarrant cites
_Aen_ V 49-50 'dies ... adest quem semper acerbum, / semper honoratum
... _habebo_'.
=9. LVCTVS= = _causae luctus_. Other instances of this sense of _luctus_,
which seems to be confined to poetical passages of great emotional
content, at _Met_ I 654-55 (Inachus to Io) 'tu non inuenta reperta /
_luctus_ eras leuior', _Met_ IX 155, and _Aen_ VI 868 (Aeneas has just
seen Marcellus) 'o nate, ingentem _luctum_ ne quaere tuorum'.
=10. LECTAQVE CVM LACRIMIS SVNT TVA DAMNA MEIS.= Compare _EP_ I ix 1-2
(quoted above at 5 _rapti_) and _Fam_ IV v 1 (Ser. Sulpicius Rufus to
Cicero) 'Postea quam mihi renuntiatum est de obitu Tulliae, filiae tuae,
sane quam pro eo ac debui grauiter molesteque tuli communemque eam
calamitatem existimaui'.
=10. TVA DAMNA.= Compare _Fast_ II 835-36 (Lucretia has just killed
herself) 'ecce super corpus _communia damna_ gementes / obliti decoris
uirque paterque iacent' and _Tr_ IV iii 35 'tu uero tua damna dole,
mitissima coniunx'.
=11. SED NEQVE SOLARI PRVDENTEM STVLTIOR AVSIM.= Compare _Fam_ IV v 6
'plura me ad te de hac re scribere pudet, ne uidear _prudentiae_ tuae
diffidere'. For the opposite reasoning, see Sen _Cons Marc_ 1 1 'Nisi
te, Marcia, scirem tam longe ab infirmitate muliebris animi quam a
ceteris uitiis recessisse et mores tuos uelut aliquod antiquum exemplar
aspici, non auderem obuiam ire dolori tuo'.
=12. VERBAQVE DOCTORVM NOTA.= Compare _EP_ I iii 27-30 (to Rufinus, who
has written him a letter of consolation on his exile) 'cum bene
firmarunt animum _praecepta_ iacentem, / sumptaque sunt nobis pectoris
arma tui, / rursus amor patriae _ratione ualentior omni_, / quod tua
fecerunt scripta retexit opus', and Sen _Cons Marc_ 2 1 'scio a
praeceptis incipere omnes qui monere aliquem uolunt, in exemplis
desinere'.
=13-14. FINITVMQVE TVVM ... DOLOREM / IPSA IAM PRIDEM SVSPICOR ESSE MORA.=
Compare _EP_ I iii 25-26 'cura quoque interdum nulla medicabilis arte
est-- / aut, ut sit, longa est extenuanda mora', _Fam_ IV v 6 'nullus
dolor est quem non longinquitas temporis minuat ac molliat', and _Cons
Marc_ 8 1 'dolorem dies longa consumit'. For a variation of the theme,
see _Cons Marc_ 1 6 'illud ipsum naturale remedium temporis, quod
maximas quoque aerumnas componit, in te una uim suam perdidit'.
The topic of time as the healer of pain is common in ancient literature
from New Comedy on: see Tarrant on Sen _Ag_ 130 'quod ratio non quiit,
saepe sanauit mora', Otto _dies_ 6, and Kassel 53.
=13. SI NON RATIONE.= _Ratio_ similarly used to counter strong emotion
(without success) at _EP_ I iii 27-30 (quoted at 12), _Met_ VII 10-11
(Medea falls in love with Jason) '_ratione_ furorem / uincere non
poterat', and _Met_ XIV 701-2 (similar phrasing for Iphis' falling in
love with Anaxarete).
=14. IPSA ... MORA.= 'By the mere passage of time'.
=15-16. DVM TVA PERVENIENS, DVM LITTERA NOSTRA RECVRRENS / TOT MARIA AC
TERRAS PERMEAT, ANNVS ABIT.= Similar phrasing at _EP_ III iv 59-60 'dum
uenit huc rumor properataque carmina fiunt / factaque eunt ad uos, annus
abisse potest'.
=15. PERVENIENS= is my correction for the manuscripts' _peruenit_. The
perfect tense of _peruenit_ conflicts with the following _permeat_ and
_abit_. It might be argued that the perfect is acceptable, since Ovid is
speaking of a past event; but he would not have used the perfect of an
action which took place over a considerable period of time. For
_perueniens ... permeat_ referring to a past event, compare Ovid's use of
the present _uenit_ in the very similar passage _EP_ III iv 59-60
(quoted at the end of the last note).
The postponement of _permeat_ to the following line made the corruption
of _dum ... perueniens_ to _dum ... peruenit_ simple enough.
=17. TEMPORIS OFFICIVM EST SOLACIA DICERE CERTI.= Here Ovid says that
words of comfort should not be offered too late; at _RA_ 127-30 he says
they should not be offered too early: 'quis matrem, nisi mentis inops,
in funere nati / flere uetet? non hoc illa monenda loco est. / cum
dederit lacrimas animumque impleuerit aegrum, / ille dolor uerbis
emoderandus erit'.
For the same concern with time as in the present passage and medical
imagery similar to that in 19-20, see _Cons Marc_ 1 8 and _Cons Hel_ 1 2
'dolori tuo, dum recens saeuiret, sciebam occurrendum non esse, ne illum
ipsa solacia irritarent et accenderent; nam in morbis quoque nihil est
perniciosius quam immatura medicina. expectabam itaque, dum ipse uires
suas frangeret et ad sustinenda remedia mora mitigatus tangi se ac
tractari pateretur'. See as well the passages cited at Kassel 52-53:
from modern literature he quotes Sterne _Tristram Shandy_ III 29
'Before an affliction is _digested_ consolation ever comes too
soon;--and after it is digested--it comes too late: so that you see
... there is but a mark between those two, as fine almost as a hair, for
a comforter to take aim at'.
=18. DVM DOLOR IN CVRSV EST.= Compare _RA_ 119 _'dum furor in cursu est_,
currenti cede furori' and _Met_ XIII 508-10 (Hecuba speaking) '_in
cursuque meus dolor est_: modo maxima rerum ... nunc trahor exul, inops,
tumulis auulsa meorum'.
=18. AEGER.= The substantive _aeger_ is quite common in both verse and
prose, but always with the meaning 'physically ill'; even when used, as
here, with a transferred meaning, the sense of metaphor is still
present. Compare _RA_ 313-14 'curabar propriis aeger Podalirius herbis,
/ et, fateor, medicus turpiter _aeger_ eram', _EP_ I iii 17 'non est in
medico semper releuetur ut _aeger_', and _EP_ III iv 7-8 'firma ualent
per se, nullumque Machaona quaerunt; / ad medicam dubius confugit
_aeger_ opem'.
The adjective, however, is used by the poets from Ennius on (_Sc_ 254 &
392 Vahlen3), particularly in the phrases _mens aegra_ and _animus
aeger_, to indicate a state of mental anguish. Compare, from Ovid, _Tr_
III viii 33-34 'nec melius ualeo quam corpore mente, sed aegra est /
utraque pars aeque', _Tr_ IV iii 21, IV vi 43 & V ii 7, _EP_ I iii 89-90
'uereor ne ... frustra ... iuuer admota perditus _aeger ope_', I v 18 & I
vi 15 'tecum tunc aberant _aegrae solacia_ mentis', and _Ibis_ 115;
from other poets, compare _Cons ad Liuiam_ 395, Hor _Ep_ I viii 8, and
_Aen_ I 208 & IV 35. The same use of the adjective is found occasionally
in the historians (Sallust _Iug_ 71 2, Livy II 3 5, etc).
=19. LONGA DIES= = _tempus_. Compare _Met_ I 346, _Met_ XIV 147-48 (the
Sibyl to Aeneas) 'tempus erit cum de tanto me corpore paruam / _longa
dies_ faciet', and _Tr_ I v 11-14 'spiritus et uacuas prius hic
tenuandus in auras / ibit ... quam subeant animo meritorum obliuia
nostro, / et _longa_ pietas excidat ista _die_'.
=19. VVLNERA MENTIS.= Ovid is fond of this metaphorical sense of _uulnus_;
see _Met_ V 425-27 'Cyane ... inconsolabile _uulnus_ / _mente_ gerit
tacita', _Tr_ IV iv 41-42 'neue retractando nondum coeuntia rumpam /
_uulnera_: uix illis proderit ipsa quies', _EP_ I iii 87-88 'nec tamen
infitior, si possent nostra coire / _uulnera_, praeceptis posse coire
tuis', and _EP_ I v 23 'parcendum est animo miserabile _uulnus_
habenti'. To judge from Seneca, the metaphor was usual in treatises of
consolation: 'antiqua mala in memoriam reduxi et, ut scires
[_Schultess_: uis scire _codd_] hanc quoque plagam esse sanandam,
ostendi tibi aeque magni _uulneris_ cicatricem' (_Cons Marc_ 1 5),
'itaque utcumque conabar manu super plagam meam imposita ad obliganda
_uulnera_ uestra reptare' (_Cons Hel_ 1 1).
=20. FOVET= _Heinsius_ MOVET _codd_. For the meaning of _fouet_ see at 4
_fouisti_ (p 361). _Mouet_ here is to some extent supported by Ovid's
use of such verbs as _tangere_ and _tractare_ in contexts like that of
the present passage; compare _EP_ I vi 21-22 'nec breue nec tutum
peccati quae sit origo / scribere; _tractari uulnera_ nostra timent',
_EP_ II vii 13, and _EP_ III vii 25-26 'curando fieri quaedam maiora
uidemus / uulnera, quae melius non _tetigisse_ fuit'. But _tractare_ and
_tangere_ are neutral in force, while _mouet_ here would mean 'disturb',
as at Hor _Carm_ III xx 1-2 'Non uides quanto _moueas_ periclo, /
Pyrrhe, Gaetulae catulos leaenae?' and Lucan VIII 529-30 'bustum
cineresque _mouere_ / Thessalicos audes bellumque in regna uocare?'. As
Professor R. J. Tarrant comments, if _mouet_ were read in the present
passage, _intempestiue_ would lose the appropriateness it has when
_fouet_ is read: there is no proper time to "disturb" a wound.
=20. NOVAT.= Similar phrasing at _Tr_ II 209 'nam non sum tanti _renouem_
ut tua _uulnera_, Caesar' and _RA_ 729-30 'admonitu refricatur amor,
_uulnusque nouatum_ / scinditur'.
=21. ADDE QVOD.= Professor E. Fantham points out to me how extraordinary
the occurrence of this phrase in the last distich of the poem is. Of the
twenty-five instances of the idiom in Ovid's poems[25], none except the
present passage occur in the final distich of a poem or book. The other
examples all occur in the middle of an argument, or lead into another
distich containing a final injunction or proof of an argument. As
Professor J. N. Grant suggests to me, this poem therefore furnishes
another example of Ovid's favourite device of unexpectedly altering a
poem's tone in the final distich, for a discussion of which see at xiv
61-62 (p 427).
[Footnote 25: Instances at _Her_ VI 99, _Am_ I xiv 13 & II vii 23, _AA_
II 675, III 81 & III 539, _Met_ XIII 117, XIII 854 & XIV 684, _Fast_ III
143, III 245 & VI 663, _Tr_ I v 79, II 135, V x 43, V xii 21 & V xiv 15,
_EP_ I vii 31, II xi 23, III ii 103, III iv 45, III vi 35, IV x 45, the
present passage, and IV xiv 45. (Ovid's imitator uses the expression at
_Her_ XVII 199.) The preponderance of this presumably colloquial
expression in the poems of exile is noteworthy.]
=21. MIHI= _BF1_ TIBI _MHILTF2_ _om C_. As Burman saw, _mihi_ must be the
correct reading, the perfect subjunctive acting as a past optative:
'certe ego _mihi_ praeferrem: utinam mihi, mentionem facienti noui tui
coniugii, uerum illud omen uenerit, neque fallar, sed tu iam uxorem
duxeris, ut ego uoueo'. _Tibi_ is hardly possible, since an omen to
Gallio indicating that he had remarried would be superfluous.
XII. To Tuticanus
Tuticanus[26] (known only from the _Ex Ponto_) seems from the testimony
of the poem (19-30) to have been a close friend of Ovid; he is mentioned
again at xiv 1-2 and xvi 27. It is reasonable to suppose that, like
Sextus Pompeius, he had previously been unwilling to allow Ovid to
mention him in his verse.
[Footnote 26: _PIR_1 T 314; PW VII A,2 1611 62; Schanz-Hosius 272 (§ 318
16)]
The poem opens with a discussion of the difficulty of fitting Tuticanus'
name into elegiac verse: Ovid could split the name between verses, or
alter the quantity of one or another of the name's syllables, but
neither procedure would be acceptable to Ovid or to his readers (1-18).
He has known Tuticanus since early youth; they assisted each other in
their verse (19-30). He is quite certain that Tuticanus will not desert
him (31-38). He should use his influence with Tiberius to assist Ovid;
but Ovid is so confused after his hardships that he cannot suggest
precisely what Tuticanus should do; he leaves this to Tuticanus'
judgment (39-50).
The appeal for assistance is a constant theme of the poetry of exile;
and the recalling of their assisting each other with their poetry is
paralleled by _EP_ II iv, in which Ovid recalls how he used to submit
his verse to Atticus for criticism, and by _Tr_ III vii, Ovid's letter
to his stepdaughter Perilla, whom he assisted when she first began
writing verse. The opening discussion of the metrical difficulty of
Tuticanus' name finds parallels elsewhere in Latin and Greek literature
(see at 1-2), but is remarkable for its fullness. The explanation for
this fullness may well be Tuticanus' being a fellow poet: he would be
amused by the use of his own name for the witty discussion of the
handling of metrical difficulties with which he himself would be
familiar enough.