- Source
- Ovid. P. Ovidius Naso, Volume 1: Amores, Epistulae, Medicamina faciei femineae, Ars amatoria, Remedia amoris. Ehwald, Rudolf; Merkel, Rudolph; editors. Leipzig: B. G. Teubner, 1907.
- Translation
- AI-generated (gemini-3.5-flash) — machine translation; may contain errors
- Languages
- 日本語 · English · 简体中文 · 한국어
- CTS URN
- urn:cts:latinLit:phi0959.phi001.humanitext-lat2:1.8.1-1.8.56
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-27
The poet introduces the old procuress Dipsas, who possesses sinister magical powers and persuasive eloquence, and overhears her urging the poet's mistress to abandon her fidelity for a wealthy lover.
Est quaedam — quicumque volet cognoscere lenam,
There is a certain woman — whoever wishes to know a procuress,
Audiat! — est quaedam nomine Dipsas anus.
let him listen! — there is a certain old woman named Dipsas.
Ex re nomen habet — nigri non illa parentem
She has her name from the reality — she has never seen the parent
Memnonis1 in roseis sobria vidit equis.
of black Memnon on her rose-colored horses while being sober.
Illa magas artes Aeaeaque carmina novit
She knows magic arts and Aeaean spells,
Inque caput liquidas arte recurvat aquas;
and by her art she bends back running waters to their source;
Scit bene, quid gramen, quid torto concita rhombo
she knows well what herbs can do, what threads set in motion
Licia, quid valeat virus amantis equae.
by a twisted wheel, and what the secretion of a mare in heat can do.
Cum voluit, toto glomerantur nubila caelo;
When she wishes, clouds gather in the whole sky;
Cum voluit, puro fulget in orbe dies.
when she wishes, the sun shines in a clear sky.
Sanguine, siqua fides, stillantia sidera vidi;
I have seen (if there is any faith) stars dripping with blood;
Purpureus Lunae sanguine vultus erat.
the face of the Moon was purple with blood.
Hanc ego nocturnas versam2 volitare per umbras
I suspect that she, transformed, flies through the nocturnal shadows,
Suspicor et pluma corpus anile tegi.
and that her old woman’s body is covered with feathers.
Suspicor, et fama est. oculis quoque pupula duplex
I suspect it, and such is the rumor. In her eyes also a double pupil
Fulminat, et gemino lumen ab orbe venit.
flashes, and light comes from a twin orb.
Evocat antiquis proavos atavosque sepulcris
She summons ancestors and great-great-grandfathers from ancient graves,
Et solidam longo carmine findit humum.
and splits the solid earth with a long spell.
Haec sibi proposuit thalamos temerare pudicos;
She has set it as her purpose to defile chaste marriages;
Nec tamen eloquio lingua nocente caret.
nor does her tongue lack a harmful eloquence.
Fors me sermoni testem dedit; illa monebat
Chance made me a witness to her speech; she was giving
Talia — me duplices occuluere fores:
such advice — the double doors hid me:
'Scis here te, mea lux, iuveni placuisse beato?
’Do you know, my light, that yesterday you pleased a wealthy youth?
Haesit et in vultu constitit usque tuo.
He was transfixed and stood continually looking at your face.
Et cur non placeas? nulli tua forma secunda est;
And why should you not please? Your beauty is second to none;
Me miseram, dignus corpore cultus abest!
alas, poor me, the adornment worthy of your body is lacking!
Tam felix esses quam formosissima, vellem —
I would wish that you were as fortunate as you are most beautiful —
Non ego, te facta divite, pauper ero.
I will not be poor once you are made rich.
Stella tibi oppositi nocuit contraria Martis.
The opposing star of hostile Mars was hurting you.
Mars abiit; signo nunc Venus apta suo.
Mars has departed; now Venus is favorable in her own sign.
Prosit ut adveniens, en adspice! dives amator
Behold! See how her arrival may benefit you! A wealthy lover
Te cupiit; curae, quid tibi desit, habet.
has desired you; he cares about what you lack.
Est etiam facies, qua se tibi conparet, illi;
He also has a face with which he may compare himself to you;
Si te non emptam vellet, emendus erat.3'
if he did not wish to buy you, he himself would be worthy of being bought.’
Erubuit. 'decet alba quidem pudor ora, sed iste,
She blushed. ‘Blushing indeed becomes fair faces, but that blushing,
Si simules, prodest; verus obesse solet.
if you simulate it, is useful; a real one is usually harmful.
Cum bene deiectis gremium spectabis ocellis,
When you look at your lap with your eyes cast down,
Quantum quisque ferat, respiciendus erit.
each man must be regarded according to how much he brings.
Forsitan inmundae Tatio regnante Sabinae
Perhaps during the reign of Tatius the filthy Sabine women
Noluerint habiles pluribus esse viris;
did not wish to be compliant to several men;
Nunc Mars externis animos exercet in armis,
now Mars exercises minds in external arms,
At Venus Aeneae regnat in urbe sui.
but Venus reigns in the city of her own Aeneas.
Ludunt formosae; casta est, quam nemo rogavit —
Beautiful women play; she is chaste whom no one has asked —
Aut, si rusticitas non vetat, ipsa rogat.
or, if rusticity does not forbid, she herself asks.
Has quoque, quae frontis rugas in vertice portant,
Shake out those women also who carry wrinkles on the top of their forehead;
Excute; de rugis crimina multa cadent.
from the wrinkles many crimes will fall.
Penelope iuvenum vires temptabat in arcu;
Penelope was testing the strength of the youths with a bow;
Qui latus argueret,4 corneus arcus erat.
the bow of horn was that which would prove their vigor.
Labitur occulte fallitque volubilis aetas,
Fleeting time glides away secretly and deceives us,
Ut celer admissis labitur amnis aquis.
just as a swift river glides with its released waters.
Aera nitent usu, vestis bona quaerit haberi,
Bronzes shine with use, a good dress seeks to be worn,
Canescunt turpi tecta relicta situ —
abandoned houses grow white with shameful neglect —
Forma, nisi admittas, nullo exercente senescit.
beauty, unless you allow it, grows old with no one exercising it.
Nec satis effectus unus et alter habent;
Nor are one or two achievements enough;
Certior e multis nec tam invidiosa rapina est.
plunder from many is more secure and not so hateful.
Plena venit canis de grege praeda lupis.
Plentiful prey comes to old wolves from the flock.
- 1.8.3nigri non illa parentem / Memnonis
The 'parent of black Memnon' is a metonymy for Aurora, the goddess of dawn. Saying that she has never seen Aurora on her rose-colored horses while 'sober' (sobria) is a humorous way to indicate that she is always drunk before dawn.
- 1.8.13versam
The perfect passive participle of verto in the feminine accusative singular. Here it is used in a middle (reflexive) sense ('having turned herself into a bird'), functioning as the predicate (versam [esse]) to hanc in the accusative-and-infinitive construction.
- 1.8.34Si te non emptam vellet, emendus erat
A mixed conditional sentence where the imperfect subjunctive vellet in the protasis is paired with the imperfect indicative emendus erat in the apodosis. While maintaining a counterfactual framework, it expresses necessity or suitability to highlight the youth's beauty ('even if he did not wish to buy you, he himself ought to have been bought').
- 1.8.48Qui latus argueret
The verb argueret in the relative clause introduced by qui is in the imperfect subjunctive, expressing characteristic (description) or purpose with corneus arcus as its antecedent. The noun latus (flank/side) often serves as a metaphor for 'sexual vigor' or 'physical stamina' in the poetic context of love elegy.