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Ovid Metamorphoses (a poetic translation): Arachne (6.1) Ovid Metamorphoses
A translation of Ovid's Metamorphoses, poetically rendered in the style of John Dryden and Christopher Marlowe.
præbuerat dictis Tritonia talibus aures
carminaque Aonidum iustamque probaverat iram.
By having been mentioned such, had proffered,
Hearing songs of the Muses: Minerva
Had esteemed them, and justified anger.
tum secum “laudare parum est; laudemur et ipsæ
numina nec sperni sine pœna nostra sinamus”
So, with themselves, “’T is not enough to praise,
We may’ve praised and the very divinities
Are to not spurn without our penalty,
Mæoniæque animum Fatis intendit Arachnes,
quam sibi lanificæ non cedere laudibus artis
Lydia, the slopes of mount’ Tmolus,
Who, for her weaving was from Fated purpose,
Not to yield from fame of her skill they’d heard.
non illa loco neque origine gentis
Not that she’s given away in marriage,
Nor by birth of descent distinguished,
But in the craft, she was skilled.
Phocaico bibulas tingebat murice lanas.
The latter’s father: fond of drink, Idmon,
Dyed Phocis’ purple wool in Colophon.
occiderat mater; sed et hæc de plebe suoque
The mother had died; but from her father
Equally, the man’d been a commoner.
Lydas tamen illa per urbes
quæsierat studio nomen memorabile, quamvis
orta domo parva parvis habitabat Hypæpis.
However, that all over Lydia
From the cities: study’s application,
Although sprung from a small-town: Hypæpa,
From home, she’d earned a remarkable name.
huius ut adspicerent opus admirabile, sæpe
deseruere sui nymphæ vineta Timoli,
deseruere suas nymphæ Pactolides undas.
Often, the young women of Tmolus
Abandoned the waters of the Pactolus,
Forsook the vineyards, so that they may look
At this: of her astonishing workmanship.
nec factas solum vestes spectare iuvabat;
tum quoque, cum fierent: tantus decor adfuit arti.
Not only to watch tapestries be’ng made
At the time, also they’d help to create
Them, ’t was a delight to come to her aid,
For a beautiful work of art so great.
sive rudem primos lanam glomerabat in orbes,
seu pingebat acu, scires a Pallade doctam.
Whether it was the first coarse unworked wool,
Hooped, rounded off, wound into a ball,
You’d know that she’d been taught by Minerva.
quod tamen ipsa negat, tantaque offensa magistra
“certet” ait “mecum: nihil est, quod victa recusam.”
However, in that, herself refusēd
This, denied it, and by having been so
Greatly offended, the instructress said,
“Could she compete with me? She is nothing!
Because I’d refuse to be defeated.”
Pallas anum simulat falsosque in tempora canos
addit et infirmos, baculo quos sustinet, artus.
Of a feeble grey-haired frail old woman,
And add to that a walking stick: deceit,
She’d narrowly support herself upright.
tum sic orsa loqui: “non omnia grandior ætas
quæ fugiamus, habet: series venit usus ab annis.
Next, as matters are, she began to say,
“Not everything that has an older age,
May pass us swiftly by: vanish away,
Sewing comes from years of experience.
You’re not to reject my piece of advice.
inter mortales faciendæ maxima lanæ:
cede Deæ veniamque tuis, temeraria, dictis
supplice voce roga: veniam dabit illa roganti.”
For you among mortals, of producing
The greatest of all wool-working, spinning,
You’ll humbly ask the goddess’ forgiveness,
And your rash words spoken with thoughtlessness,
It may pass, that she’ll permit you to ask.”
adspicit hanc torvis inceptaque fila relinquit,
vixque manum retinens confessaque vultibus iram
talibus obscuram resecuta est Pallada dictis:
With a fierce stare she looks her in the face,
And the woolen threads she starts to forsake,
With a hand held back, her eyes acknowledged,
A look of anger,
Such a dark answer ’t is; Minerva said:
“mentis inops langaque venis confectat senecta;
“A disposition of poor character,
You’ve come to be worn out with old age;
et nimium vixisse diu nocet.
And the long lasting injury harmēd,
Fame too great to be rememberēd.
siqua tibi nurus est, siqua est tibi filia, voces;
If anyone ’t is yours, a young womans’,
Whoever ’t is, you young lady, she says,
Of counsel quite sufficient for me and mine;
consilii satis est in me mihi. neve monendo
profecisse putes, eadem est sententia nobis.
And not count on advance warning; the same
Also goes for us in a judgement.
cur non ipsa venit?
Why has not she herself: Pallas come?
cur hæc certamina vitat?”
Why is it that she avoids this contest?”
tum Dea “venit” ait, formamque removit anilem
Then the goddess Minerva said, “She’s come”,
Presents herself: removed the elder form.
Mygdonidesque nurus: sola est non territa virgo.
Nymphs, by having honoured divinities,
Daughters of Corœbus: Mygdonidēs,
The girl’s the only one not scared is she;
sed tamen erubuit subitusque invita notavit
ora rubor rursusque evanuit, ut solet ær
purpureus fieri, cum primum aurora movetur,
et breve post tempus candescere solis ab ortu.
But all the same, she was feeling ashamed,
And by having entered ’gainst her will,
Was disgraced, blushed, and in return again,
The redness may’ve passed away, as usual,
By having to compose herself: cool off,
As soon as dawn breaks, be’ng set in motion
And after a short time, to be white-hot,
Since the rising of Apollo: the sun.
perstat in incepto stolidæque cupidine palmæ
in sua Fata ruit neque enim Iove nata recusat,
nec monet ulterius, nec iam certamina differt.
To begin with Arachne persisted,
And by longing for a stolid vict’ry,
The prize: the palm, in her downfall Fated,
Not for Jupiter’s daughter, declinēd,
Neither more farther be she warnēd,
Nor now delay the contest: rivalry.
haud mora, constituunt diversis partibus ambæ
et gracili geminas intendunt stamine telas
(tela iugo iuncta est, stamen secernit harundo);
inseritur medium radiis subtemen acutis,
quod digiti expediunt, atque inter stamina ductum
percusso paviunt insecti pectine dentes.
Both organised by sides, without delay,
By having been faced a different way,
And with slender thread the twin looms turnēd,
(The yarn-beam ’t is attached to the cross-beam,
A comb separated the distaff’s thread);
With pointed shuttles put in ’midst the weft,
That fingers disentangle, and yet
Between the warps, wool, having been spun,
Piercēd, they strike the comb’s teeth notchēd.
utraque festinant cinctæque ad pectora vestes
bracchia docta movent, studio fallente laborem.
They each hurriēd, and the selvedges:
By having gone around the tapestries,
With enthusiasm their arms movēd,
To disappoint hardship being provēd.
illic et Tyrium quæ purpura sensit ænum
texitur et tenues parvi discriminibus umbræ,
qualis ab imbre solet percussis solibus arcus
inficere ingenti longum curvamine cælum:
in quo diversi niteant cum mille colores,
transitus ipse tamen spectantia lumina fallit;
usque adeo quod tangit idem est, tamen ultima distant.
Yonder, both in purple which’s Tyrian,
’T is perceived copper by being woven,
And fine, slight, of distinction to shadow,
Such as from after show’rs usually do,
From sunlight, by be’ng stuck through: a rainbow
To stain in the great vast vaulting heaven:
’Midst which gleams with thousands of diff’rent hues,
Precisely a transition, ne’ertheless
By beholding it, it deceives the eyes;
Continu’sly so ’cause its touch: ’t is likewise,
However furthest are the distances.
illic et lentum filis inmittitur aurum
et vetus in tela deducitur argumentum.
There both the pliant gold threads be’ng put in,
And on the old loom a subject to spin.
Cecropia Pallas scopulum Mavortis in arce
pingit et antiquam de terræ nomine litem.
Minerva embroidered a peak: Mars’s,
On the summit of the Acropolis,
Concerning the country’s name in account,
And an ancient matter in dispute.
bis sex cælestes medio Iove sedibus altis
augusta gravitate sedent; sua quemque Deorum
inscribit facies: Iovis est regalis imago.
Six goddess’, six gods, so heavenly,
With heavens’ weight sits ’midst Jove’s majesty;
That her, of the gods, marks a character,
’T is a likeness of Regal Jupiter.
stare Deum pelagi longoque ferire tridente
aspera saxa facit, medioque e vulnere saxi
exsiluisse fretum, quo pignore vindicet urbem;
To continue, the god of the ocean:
To strike rugged rocks with a long trident,
Makes a hole ’midst rock and sea,
Where with stake, may lay claim to the city;
at sibi dat clipeum, dat acutæ cuspidis hastam,
dat galeam capiti, defenditur ægide pectus,
percussamque sua simulat de cuspide terram
edere cum bacis fetum canentis olivæ;
mirarique Deos: operis Victoria finis.
But for herself makes a round shield, bronze,
She gives a shaft: sharp tip of the trident,
A helm’ to the head, be’ng protected from
The breast, ægis: Medusa’s face inset,
And by having been struck, represented
Her from out of the earth, the trident’s tips,
Celebrates with berries brought, eats olives;
And to the gods’ amazement: of work she
Ended it, with the goddess: Victory.
ut tamen exemplis intellegat æmula laudis,
quod pretium speret pro tam furialibus ausis,
quattuor in partes certamina quattuor addit,
clara colore suo, brevibus distincta sigillis.
However, consid’ring how with patterns
Her rival might realize, of esteem,
In that, worth she hopes for, in proportion,
By daring: attempted so much fury,
By having been adorned into four parts,
Determined, she adds bright lustre to hers’,
Minerva weaves four small little figures.
Threiciam Rhodopen habet angulus unus et Hæmum
(nunc gelidi montes, mortalia corpora quondam!)
nomina summorum sibi qui tribuere Deorum.
On one corner she has the Thrac’an Rhodrop’
And Hæmus (at present: icy mountains
Who were afore mortals: of bod’ly form)
Fame of the high’st reaches: of the gods,
That for itself to attribute: adorn.
altera Pygmææ Fatum miserabile matris
pars habet: hanc Iuno victam certamine iussit
esse gruem populisque suis indicere bella.
The other side has a Pygmy Princess,
The pitiable Doom of a mother,
This: Juno prevailing in a contest,
Tells of her change into a crane, and her
People to declare war ’pon them they were;
pinxit et Antigonen ausam contendere quondam
cum magni consorte Iovis, quam Regia Iuno
And embroidered Antigonē’s tale told,
With the noble consort of Jupiter,
Who’d once dared contend with much Regal Juno,
And how she had turned her into a bird.
nec profuit Ilion illi
Laomedonve pater, sumptis quin candida pennis
ipsa sibi plaudat crepitante ciconia rostro.
She had not been of use to Ilus, nor
Laodemon, who was the father of her,
Without applause, assumed with white feathers
Into the form of a chattering stork,
Herself: with the bill stitched together.
qui superest solus, Cinyran habet angulus orbum;
isque gradus templi natarum membra suarum,
amplectens saxoque iacens lacrimare videtur.
Cyprus’ Cinyras a corner contains,
Who, made childless, he alone remains,
And that in position of the quarter,
Divided of his belovēd daughters,
Be’ng seen to weep, and cast on a boulder.
circuit extremas oleis pacalibus oras
(is modus est) operisque sua facit arbore finem.
She had surrounded the last selvedges
With olives: peace (sacrēd to Minerva;
that is the end) and of the artistry,
Makes hers with an olive-tree border.
Mæonis elusam designat imagine tauri
Europam: verum taurum, freta vera putares.
The Lydian Arachne depicted
Fair Europa, having been deceivēd
By Jupiter in the shape of a bull,
A lifelike bull, seas you may believe true.
ipsa videbatur terras spectare relictas
et comites clamare suas tactumque vereri
adsilentis aquæ timidasque reducere plantas.
By herself she appeared to look at
The dry land, her companions, and cried out,
And touching the waters with fearful feet,
Afraid to marry again as they’d leap.
fecit et Asterien aquila luctante teneri,
fecit olorinis Ledam recubare sub alis;
And she was making Asteria with
Whom Jove’s eagle to keep hold of was strug’ling,
She made Leda, that lay beneath swan’s wings;
addidit, ut satyri celatus imagine pulchram
Iuppiter implerit gemino Nycteida fetu,
Amphitryon fuerit, cum [te] Tirynthis, cepit,
aureus ut Danæn, Asopida luserit ignis,
Mnemosynen pastor, varius Deoida serpens.
Arachne added to that Jupiter,
By depicting Him as a satyr,
Having been kept ignorant of He
Would impregnate comely Antiope,
Bearing two twin sons (raised by a goatherd
Amphion and Zethus the shepherd)
Amphitr’o will have been with Alcmena,
Appeared as gold: made love to Danaë,
A spotted serpent with Proserpina.
te quoque mutatum torvo, Neptune, iuvenco
virgine in Æolia posuit.
You too Neptune, to a wild bullock changed,
With a girl amidst Æolus she’d made.
gignis Aloidas, aries Bisaltida fallis;
You seemed to see a river in Thessaly,
Enipeus which flows to Peneus,
That begetting the four sons of Æolus,
Neptune as a ram deceives Theophanē;
et te flava comas frugam mitissima mater
sensit equum, sensit volucrem crinita colubris
mater equi volucris, sensit delphina Melantho.
And you saw the most mildest mother
Of the fruits of the earth with golden hair,
Astride a fleeting steed was Demeter;
You perceived with snakes for hair: Medusa,
From whose head sprung the winged horse: Pegasus;
Melantho, to a dolphin changed by Bacchus.
omnibus his faciemque suam faciemque locorum
All kinds of form and shape, and hers were these:
est illic agrestis imagine Phœbus,
utque modo accipitris pennas, modo terga leonis
gesserit, ut pastor Macareida luserit Issen;
That in the likeness of a countryman,
He is Apollo, the sun: Phœbus,
So that way with wings: as a bird of prey,
And he had worn the hide of a lion,
To a shepherd’s form with Issa did play,
(So sporting in the dalliance of love)
The daughter of Lesbos’ King Macreus;
Liber ut Erigonen falsa deceperit uva,
ut Saturnus equo geminum Chirona crearit.
How Erigone being mistaken,
Beguiled by Bacchus whom taught making wine;
How in the shape of an equine: Saturn
With Philya begot the twin-formed Chiron.
ultima pars telæ, tenui circumdata limbo,
nexilibus flores hederis habet intertextos.
Lastly of the cloth on her loom: woven,
Put round the side makes selvedges so fine,
Tied together flowers, ivy: intertwined.
non illud Pallas, non illus carpere Livor
Not having it, Minerva from Envy,
Could not let the other to card the work.
doluit successu flava virago
et rupit pictas cælestia crimina, vestes.
For the turn out, the blond heroine: sore,
That which pictured the god’s crimes: the tapestry,
She in pieces tore.
utque Cytoriaco radium de monte tenebat,
ter quater Idmoniæ frontem percussit Arachnes.
When she grasped the shuttle, from a mountain
In Cytoras (boxwood) and touched her thrice
On the brow, she used restraint in her strikes,
The fourth time: beat Arachne of Idmon.
non tulit infelix laqueoque animosa ligavit
Not showing her unhappiness, proud,
And with a noose about her neck she bound.
pendentem Pallas miserata levavit
atque ita “vive quidem, pende tamen, improba.”
As she hung down, Minerva pitied her,
Accordingly: averted the danger,
“You’ll surely stay alive, nevertheless”
And yet, “But for your presumptuousness”
dixit: “lexque eadem pœnæ, ne sis secura futuri,
dicta tuo generi serisque nepotibus esto.”
Then she says, “The principle and likewise: penalty,
In future so careless, you will not be,
Be’ng settled for you, your descendants
’T is too late for them and your grandchildren.”
post ea discedens sucis Hecateidos herbæ
Next she departs with Hecatē’s potions,
Scatters them ’pon the grass so it moistens.
et extemplo tristi medicamine tactæ
defluxere comæ, cum quis et naris et aures,
fitque caput minimum, toto quoque corpore parva est:
in latere exiles digiti pro cruribus hærent,
cetera venter habet: de quo tamen illa remittit
stamen et antiquas exercet aranea telas.
With the offensive smelling drug derived from
And immed’ately, having been sprinkled
With it, becomes very little is she,
The head and the ears and of the nostrils,
All of her, also a tiny body,
Arachne’s thin fingers: instead of legs,
Stick to her sides, in proportion to the rest,
That and a stomach is all she has left;
And for that she keeps busy: her former threads,
She produces all the same spider webs.
Translated by Mr. Maxwell Lewis Latham Cert. H.E. (litteræ humaniores), all intellectual property rights reserved.
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