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Translation and Notes
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The Miraculous Statue
Ovid, Metamorphoses book 10, lines 247 - 297
[Pygmalion] niveum mira feliciter arte
sculpsit ebur formamque dedit, qua femina nasci
nulla potest, operisque sui concepit amorem.
virginis est verae facies, quam vivere credas,
et, si non obstet reverentia, velle moveri: 5
ars adeo latet arte sua. miratur et haurit
pectore Pygmalion simulati corporis ignes.
saepe manus operi temptantes admovet, an sit
corpus an illud ebur, nec adhuc ebur esse fatetur.
oscula dat reddique putat loquiturque tenetque 10
et credit tactis digitos insidere membris
et metuit, pressos veniat ne livor in artus,
et modo blanditias adhibet, modo grata puellis
munera fert illi conchas teretesque lapillos
et parvas volucres et flores mille colorum 15
liliaque pictasque pilas et ab arbore lapsas
Heliadum lacrimas; ornat quoque vestibus artus,
dat digitis gemmas, dat longa monilia collo,
aure leves bacae, redimicula pectore pendent.
Festa dies Veneris tota celeberrima Cypro 20
venerat, et pandis inductae cornibus aurum
conciderant ictae nivea cervice iuvencae,
turaque fumabant, cum munere functus ad aras
constitit et timide ‘si di dare cuncta potestis,
sit coniunx, opto,’ non ausus ‘eburnea virgo’ 25
dicere, Pygmalion ‘similis mea’ dixit ‘eburnae.’
sensit, ut ipsa suis aderat Venus aurea festis,
vota quid illa velint et, amici numinis omen,
flamma ter accensa est apicemque per aera duxit.
ut rediit, simulacra suae petit ille puellae 30
incumbensque toro dedit oscula,: visa tepere est;
temptatum mollescit ebur positoque rigore
subsidit digitis ceditque, ut Hymettia sole
cera remollescit tractataque pollice multas
flectitur in facies ipsoque fit utilis usu. 35
dum stupet et dubie gaudet fallique veretur,
rursus amans rursusque manu sua vota retractat.
corpus erat! saliunt temptatae pollice venae.
tum vero Paphius plenissima concipit heros
verba, quibus Veneri grates agat, oraque tandem 40
ore suo non falsa premit, dataque oscula virgo
sensit et erubuit timidumque ad lumina lumen
attollens pariter cum caelo vidit amantem.
coniugio, quod fecit, adest dea, iamque coactis
cornibus in plenum noviens lunaribus orbem 45
illa Paphon genuit, de qua tenet insula nomen.
Ovid, Metamorphoses book 10, lines 247 - 297
[Pygmalion] niveum mira feliciter arte
sculpsit ebur formamque dedit, qua femina nasci
nulla potest, operisque sui concepit amorem.
virginis est verae facies, quam vivere credas,
et, si non obstet reverentia, velle moveri: 5
ars adeo latet arte sua. miratur et haurit
pectore Pygmalion simulati corporis ignes.
saepe manus operi temptantes admovet, an sit
corpus an illud ebur, nec adhuc ebur esse fatetur.
oscula dat reddique putat loquiturque tenetque 10
et credit tactis digitos insidere membris
et metuit, pressos veniat ne livor in artus,
et modo blanditias adhibet, modo grata puellis
munera fert illi conchas teretesque lapillos
et parvas volucres et flores mille colorum 15
liliaque pictasque pilas et ab arbore lapsas
Heliadum lacrimas; ornat quoque vestibus artus,
dat digitis gemmas, dat longa monilia collo,
aure leves bacae, redimicula pectore pendent.
Festa dies Veneris tota celeberrima Cypro 20
venerat, et pandis inductae cornibus aurum
conciderant ictae nivea cervice iuvencae,
turaque fumabant, cum munere functus ad aras
constitit et timide ‘si di dare cuncta potestis,
sit coniunx, opto,’ non ausus ‘eburnea virgo’ 25
dicere, Pygmalion ‘similis mea’ dixit ‘eburnae.’
sensit, ut ipsa suis aderat Venus aurea festis,
vota quid illa velint et, amici numinis omen,
flamma ter accensa est apicemque per aera duxit.
ut rediit, simulacra suae petit ille puellae 30
incumbensque toro dedit oscula,: visa tepere est;
temptatum mollescit ebur positoque rigore
subsidit digitis ceditque, ut Hymettia sole
cera remollescit tractataque pollice multas
flectitur in facies ipsoque fit utilis usu. 35
dum stupet et dubie gaudet fallique veretur,
rursus amans rursusque manu sua vota retractat.
corpus erat! saliunt temptatae pollice venae.
tum vero Paphius plenissima concipit heros
verba, quibus Veneri grates agat, oraque tandem 40
ore suo non falsa premit, dataque oscula virgo
sensit et erubuit timidumque ad lumina lumen
attollens pariter cum caelo vidit amantem.
coniugio, quod fecit, adest dea, iamque coactis
cornibus in plenum noviens lunaribus orbem 45
illa Paphon genuit, de qua tenet insula nomen.
The Miraculous Statue
niveum = snow-white
feliciter = successfully
ebur = ivory
nasci = be born
operis = his work
concepit = he fell in
facies = her appearance
obstet = hold you back
velle = you would expect it to
latet = is concealed
haurit = he drank in
pectore = in his heart
ignes = the flame of passion
simulati = made-up, not real
temptantes = tentative, exploring
an sit = to find out whether
nec adhuc = no longer
fatetur = he admits
oscula = kisses
reddi = they are returned
tactis...membris = when he touches her limbs
digitos = his fingers
insidere = sink in
metuit = he is afraid
livor = a bruise
artus = limbs
blanditias = flattery, compliments
adhibet = he addresses to her
modo = sometimes
munera = gifts
conchas = shells
teretes = polished
volucres = birds
pictas = coloured
pilas = balls
lapsas = fallen
Heliadum = of the daughters of Helios, the Sun
vestibus = with clothes
monilia = necklaces
collo = neck
aure = from her ear(s)
bacae = drops
redimicula = chains
celeberrima = attended by crowds
pandis … cornibus = on their spreading horns
inductae = gilded
conciderant = had been sacrificed
ictae = stricken
cervice = neck(s)
iuvencae = heifers (young cows)
tura = incense
munere functus = after he had offered his gift
aras = altars
opto = I beg, pray
eburnea = (made of) ivory
sensit = (Venus) understood
vota = prayers
velint = meant
numinis = divine power
ter = three times
accensa = blazed up
apicem = the tip of the flame
aera = air
simulacra = statue
incumbens = leaning over
toro = her couch
tepere = to grow warm
temptatum = when he touched it
mollescit = grew soft
posito = lost
rigore = its stiffness
subsidit = it yielded
cedit = gave way
Hymettia = from Hymettus, a mountain near Athens famous even today for its honey
cera = wax
tractata = moulded
pollice = thumb
flectitur = can be modelled
facies = shapes
fit = becomes
usu = by being used
dubie = doubtfully
falli = of being deceived
veretur = he is afraid
rursus = again
amans = the lover (Pygmalion)
retractat = draws back from
sua vota = the object of his prayers (i.e. the statue)
saliunt = leap, pulsate
venae = veins
concipit = poured out
Paphius = from Paphos,the birthplace of Venus in Cyprus
plenissima = fulsome, a flood of
grates = thanks
ora = her lips
premit = he presses
data = (which) she is given
erubuit = blushes
lumen/lumina = eye(s)
attollens = raising
pariter = at the same time as
coniugio = at the wedding
coactis … cornibus = having joined her horns
noviens = nine times
lunaribus = the moon
in plenum = to the full phase
(the whole of this last phrase means simply “Nine months later …”)
genuit = gave birth to
tenet = takes, is given
niveum = snow-white
feliciter = successfully
ebur = ivory
nasci = be born
operis = his work
concepit = he fell in
facies = her appearance
obstet = hold you back
velle = you would expect it to
latet = is concealed
haurit = he drank in
pectore = in his heart
ignes = the flame of passion
simulati = made-up, not real
temptantes = tentative, exploring
an sit = to find out whether
nec adhuc = no longer
fatetur = he admits
oscula = kisses
reddi = they are returned
tactis...membris = when he touches her limbs
digitos = his fingers
insidere = sink in
metuit = he is afraid
livor = a bruise
artus = limbs
blanditias = flattery, compliments
adhibet = he addresses to her
modo = sometimes
munera = gifts
conchas = shells
teretes = polished
volucres = birds
pictas = coloured
pilas = balls
lapsas = fallen
Heliadum = of the daughters of Helios, the Sun
vestibus = with clothes
monilia = necklaces
collo = neck
aure = from her ear(s)
bacae = drops
redimicula = chains
celeberrima = attended by crowds
pandis … cornibus = on their spreading horns
inductae = gilded
conciderant = had been sacrificed
ictae = stricken
cervice = neck(s)
iuvencae = heifers (young cows)
tura = incense
munere functus = after he had offered his gift
aras = altars
opto = I beg, pray
eburnea = (made of) ivory
sensit = (Venus) understood
vota = prayers
velint = meant
numinis = divine power
ter = three times
accensa = blazed up
apicem = the tip of the flame
aera = air
simulacra = statue
incumbens = leaning over
toro = her couch
tepere = to grow warm
temptatum = when he touched it
mollescit = grew soft
posito = lost
rigore = its stiffness
subsidit = it yielded
cedit = gave way
Hymettia = from Hymettus, a mountain near Athens famous even today for its honey
cera = wax
tractata = moulded
pollice = thumb
flectitur = can be modelled
facies = shapes
fit = becomes
usu = by being used
dubie = doubtfully
falli = of being deceived
veretur = he is afraid
rursus = again
amans = the lover (Pygmalion)
retractat = draws back from
sua vota = the object of his prayers (i.e. the statue)
saliunt = leap, pulsate
venae = veins
concipit = poured out
Paphius = from Paphos,the birthplace of Venus in Cyprus
plenissima = fulsome, a flood of
grates = thanks
ora = her lips
premit = he presses
data = (which) she is given
erubuit = blushes
lumen/lumina = eye(s)
attollens = raising
pariter = at the same time as
coniugio = at the wedding
coactis … cornibus = having joined her horns
noviens = nine times
lunaribus = the moon
in plenum = to the full phase
(the whole of this last phrase means simply “Nine months later …”)
genuit = gave birth to
tenet = takes, is given
Ovid: The Miraculous Statue
This poem is taken from Ovid’s “Metamorphoses”. The word means “changes” and each of the myths re-told by Ovid in the 15 books of poems contains some sort of ‘transformation scene.' In some of the stories—such as Pyramus and Thisbe—the change is of minor importance: mulberries are changed from white to red. In other stories, such as the story of Pygmalion, the change is of major importance. The hero, disillusioned with the women of his native Cyprus, carves his ideal lady in ivory and prays to Venus that she, or somebody like her, may come to life. His prayer is granted and this is the climax of the story. The name Pygmalion is more familiar than the story itself, largely through Bernard Shaw's well-known play and its even better-known musical version, My Fair Lady. But it is important to realise that Shaw owed little to Ovid except the germ of an idea, just as Shakespeare may have derived from Ovid the idea of a statue coming to life in the final act of A Winter's Tale. In a sense Shaw begins where Ovid ends, for his ‘statue’ is already alive in the person of Eliza Doolittle, and his plot, with all its social satire and phonetics, is concerned with her launching into high society. Ovid tells his story in his own way, simply and for its own sake: Pygmalion is just a sculptor in love with his masterpiece; his statue has no name (for Galatea is a later invention), and never utters a word.
Pygmalion successfully carved snow-white ivory with amazing skill, and gave it the shape that no woman born could ever possess, then fell in love with his own work.
It really looked like a girl, whom you would really believe alive, and if modesty did not hold it back, you would expect to move: to such an extent did art conceal art.
Pygmalion is a prince of Cyprus, birthplace of the goddess Venus. Lately, however, the women of the island have been indulging in a festival to the goddess which included human sacrifice - the goddess was revolted by this, and took her revenge by turning the women into hard-hearted prostitutes, then, the logical progress from this, into stones. Poor Pygmalion, looking for a wife, could not find a single woman by whom he was not repelled, so took matters into his own hands.
He marvelled at her, and his breast was inflamed by the fires of love for his artificial creation. Often he would move tentative hands towards his work, to see whether she was real flesh or only ivory, and could not admit that she really was only ivory.
He kisses her, and believes that she returns his kisses. He talks to her, and holds her in his arms, and believes that his fingers sink into her flesh as he touches it. He is afraid that a bruise may appear where he pressed her flesh.
Sometimes he offers her compliments, sometimes he brings her gifts of the sort that will please a young girl - shells, polished stones, little birds and flowers of a thousand colours, lilies, painted balls, and the tears of the daughters of Helios fallen from the trees. He also adorns her limbs with clothes, gives her jewels for her fingers, long necklaces for her throat, and delicate drops for her ears; chains hang at her breast.
This simple tale doesn't seem to need many notes - it is self-explanatory. However there are a few typically Ovidian mythological references, such as the one to the daughters of Helios here. Helios- the sun god - had rashly allowed his son Phaethon to drive his chariot across the sky one day. He drove too fast, lost control of the powerful horses, and would have crashed into the Earth, burning the whole planet up in a terrible conflagration, had not Helios destroyed the chariot, with Phaethon still in it, after making the dreadful decision to sacrifice his son and save the Earth. Phaethon's sisters - the Heliades in the text - wept so much for their brother that they were turned into pine-trees, which continued to weep even after the transformation - their tears are amber, with which the Romans were familiar through trade links with the Baltic from which the amber came. It was a costly material, and believed to have magical powers because of the static electricity which it can generate.
This poem is taken from Ovid’s “Metamorphoses”. The word means “changes” and each of the myths re-told by Ovid in the 15 books of poems contains some sort of ‘transformation scene.' In some of the stories—such as Pyramus and Thisbe—the change is of minor importance: mulberries are changed from white to red. In other stories, such as the story of Pygmalion, the change is of major importance. The hero, disillusioned with the women of his native Cyprus, carves his ideal lady in ivory and prays to Venus that she, or somebody like her, may come to life. His prayer is granted and this is the climax of the story. The name Pygmalion is more familiar than the story itself, largely through Bernard Shaw's well-known play and its even better-known musical version, My Fair Lady. But it is important to realise that Shaw owed little to Ovid except the germ of an idea, just as Shakespeare may have derived from Ovid the idea of a statue coming to life in the final act of A Winter's Tale. In a sense Shaw begins where Ovid ends, for his ‘statue’ is already alive in the person of Eliza Doolittle, and his plot, with all its social satire and phonetics, is concerned with her launching into high society. Ovid tells his story in his own way, simply and for its own sake: Pygmalion is just a sculptor in love with his masterpiece; his statue has no name (for Galatea is a later invention), and never utters a word.
Pygmalion successfully carved snow-white ivory with amazing skill, and gave it the shape that no woman born could ever possess, then fell in love with his own work.
It really looked like a girl, whom you would really believe alive, and if modesty did not hold it back, you would expect to move: to such an extent did art conceal art.
Pygmalion is a prince of Cyprus, birthplace of the goddess Venus. Lately, however, the women of the island have been indulging in a festival to the goddess which included human sacrifice - the goddess was revolted by this, and took her revenge by turning the women into hard-hearted prostitutes, then, the logical progress from this, into stones. Poor Pygmalion, looking for a wife, could not find a single woman by whom he was not repelled, so took matters into his own hands.
He marvelled at her, and his breast was inflamed by the fires of love for his artificial creation. Often he would move tentative hands towards his work, to see whether she was real flesh or only ivory, and could not admit that she really was only ivory.
He kisses her, and believes that she returns his kisses. He talks to her, and holds her in his arms, and believes that his fingers sink into her flesh as he touches it. He is afraid that a bruise may appear where he pressed her flesh.
Sometimes he offers her compliments, sometimes he brings her gifts of the sort that will please a young girl - shells, polished stones, little birds and flowers of a thousand colours, lilies, painted balls, and the tears of the daughters of Helios fallen from the trees. He also adorns her limbs with clothes, gives her jewels for her fingers, long necklaces for her throat, and delicate drops for her ears; chains hang at her breast.
This simple tale doesn't seem to need many notes - it is self-explanatory. However there are a few typically Ovidian mythological references, such as the one to the daughters of Helios here. Helios- the sun god - had rashly allowed his son Phaethon to drive his chariot across the sky one day. He drove too fast, lost control of the powerful horses, and would have crashed into the Earth, burning the whole planet up in a terrible conflagration, had not Helios destroyed the chariot, with Phaethon still in it, after making the dreadful decision to sacrifice his son and save the Earth. Phaethon's sisters - the Heliades in the text - wept so much for their brother that they were turned into pine-trees, which continued to weep even after the transformation - their tears are amber, with which the Romans were familiar through trade links with the Baltic from which the amber came. It was a costly material, and believed to have magical powers because of the static electricity which it can generate.