Humanitext Reader

Ovid · The Loves §2.12.1-2.12.28

Triumph in Winning Corinna and the Bloodless Spoils of Love

Passage 30 of 53 · Latin

Summary

The poet boasts of his triumph in love by winning Corinna away from her guards, comparing his bloodless victory to a grand triumph solely achieved by himself. He recalls historical and mythological instances where women caused wars, noting that he too has marched under Cupid's banner.

§2.12.1Ite triumphales circum mea tempora laurus!
Go, triumphal laurels, around my temples!
§2.12.2Vicimus: in nostro est, ecce, Corinna sinu, §2.12.3Quam vir, quam custos, quam ianua firma, tot hostes, §2.12.4Servabant, nequa posset ab arte capi!
I have conquered: look, Corinna is in my embrace, whom her husband, whom her guard, whom the firm door—so many enemies— were watching, lest she should be captured by any art!
§2.12.5Haec est praecipuo victoria digna triumpho, §2.12.6In qua, quaecumque est, sanguine praeda caret.
This victory is worthy of a special triumph, in which, whatever it is, the prey is free from blood.
§2.12.7Non humiles muri, non parvis oppida fossis §2.12.8Cincta, sed est ductu capta puella meo!
No low walls, no towns surrounded with small ditches were taken, but a girl, by my own leadership!
§2.12.9Pergama cum caderent bello superata bilustri, §2.12.10Ex tot in Atridis pars quota laudis erat?
When Pergama fell, conquered in the ten-year war, how small a part of the praise belonged to the sons of Atreus among so many?
§2.12.11At mea seposita est et ab omni milite dissors §2.12.12Gloria, nec titulum muneris alter habet.
But my glory is set apart and unshared with any soldier, nor does another hold the title of the achievement.
§2.12.13Me duce ad hanc voti finem, me milite veni; §2.12.14Ipse eques, ipse pedes, signifer ipse fui.
I came to this end of my wish with myself as leader, myself as soldier; I myself was the horseman, myself the foot-soldier, myself the standard-bearer.
§2.12.15Nec casum fortuna meis inmiscuit actis — §2.12.16Huc ades, o cura parte Triumphe mea!
Nor did fortune mix chance with my deeds— be present here, O Triumph, my care won by my effort!
§2.12.17Nec belli est nova causa mei.
Nor is the cause of my war new.
nisi rapta fuisset §2.12.18Tyndaris, Europae pax Asiaeque foret.
If the daughter of Tyndareus had not been carried off, there would be peace for Europe and Asia.
§2.12.19Femina silvestris Lapithas populumque biformem §2.12.20Turpiter adposito vertit in arma mero; §2.12.21Femina Troianos iterum nova bella movere §2.12.22Inpulit in regno, iuste Latine, tuo; §2.12.23Femina Romanis etiamnunc urbe recenti §2.12.24Inmisit soceros armaque saeva dedit.
A woman basely turned the wild Lapiths and the double-formed people to arms when the wine was set before them; a woman forced the Trojans to stir up new wars again in your kingdom, just Latinus; a woman also, when the city was still new, sent the fathers-in-law against the Romans and gave them cruel arms.
§2.12.25Vidi ego pro nivea pugnantes coniuge tauros; §2.12.26Spectatrix animos ipsa iuvenca dabat.
I myself saw bulls fighting for a snow-white mate; the heifer herself, as spectator, gave them courage.
§2.12.27Me quoque, qui multos, sed me sine caede, Cupido §2.12.28Iussit militiae signa movere suae.
Cupid, who has commanded many, ordered me too—but me without bloodshed— to move the standards of his warfare.

Notes

  1. §2.12.3Quam vir, quam custos, quam ianua firma, tot hostes, / Servabant — The relative pronoun quam refers to Corinna in the previous line. The three subjects vir (husband), custos (guard), and ianua firma (firm door) are in apposition with tot hostes (so many enemies), acting as the subject of the plural verb servabant.
  2. §2.12.10pars quota — An interrogative expression meaning "how small a part". Here it has a rhetorical force, implying "how insignificantly small (in fact, almost non-existent) was the share of praise that belonged to the Atridae among so many soldiers."
  3. §2.12.11ab omni milite dissors — The adjective dissors (having no share, unshared) governs the ablative with ab, meaning "unshared with any other soldier."
  4. §2.12.13Me duce ... me milite — Ablative absolute (noun + noun construction). It translates to "with myself as leader, with myself as soldier," emphasizing that he won his love entirely by his own efforts without anyone else's help.
  5. §2.12.16o cura parte Triumphe mea — Although many manuscripts read parte, it is widely regarded as a scribal error for the perfect passive participle parta (from pario, feminine ablative singular), agreeing with curā meā as an ablative absolute or ablative of means ("won by my effort"). Alternatively, cura can be understood in apposition with the vocative Triumphe ("my care/love").
  6. §2.12.27qui multos — In the relative clause introduced by qui, the verb of the main clause iussit is omitted in an instance of prolepsis. It should be understood with the ellipsis supplied: "who has ordered many [to move the standards of his warfare]."

Cite this passage

Ovid, The Loves §2.12.1-2.12.28. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0959.phi001.humanitext-lat2:2.12.1-2.12.28

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