Humanitext Reader

Ovid · The Loves §3.11a.1-3.11a.32

Resolution to Break the Bonds of an Unfaithful Mistress

Passage 48 of 53 · Latin

Summary

The poet, unable to bear his mistress's infidelity and humiliating treatment any longer, resolves to free himself from his shameful love. Recalling the indignities he suffered and her betrayals, he declares that he will no longer be deceived by her flatteries.

§3.11a.1Multa diuque tuli; vitiis patientia victa est; §3.11a.2Cede fatigato pectore, turpis amor!
I have borne much and for a long time; my patience has been conquered by your vices; depart from my weary heart, shameful love!
§3.11a.3Scilicet adserui iam me fugique catenas, §3.11a.4Et quae non puduit ferre, tulisse pudet.
To be sure, I have now claimed my freedom and escaped my chains, and what I was not ashamed to bear, I am now ashamed to have borne.
§3.11a.5Vicimus et domitum pedibus calcamus amorem; §3.11a.6Venerunt capiti cornua sera meo.
We have conquered, and we tread underfoot a subdued love; horns have come at last to my head.
§3.11a.7Perfer et obdura! dolor hic tibi proderit olim; §3.11a.8Saepe tulit lassis sucus amarus opem.
Endure and hold out! this pain will benefit you one day; often a bitter juice has brought aid to the weary.
§3.11a.9Ergo ego sustinui, foribus tam saepe repulsus, §3.11a.10Ingenuum dura ponere corpus humo?
Did I then endure, so often shut out from your doors, to lay my free-born body on the hard ground?
§3.11a.11Ergo ego nescio cui, quem tu conplexa tenebas, §3.11a.12Excubui clausam servus ut ante domum?
Did I then, for some nameless rival whom you held embraced, keep watch before the closed house like a slave as before?
§3.11a.13Vidi, cum foribus lassus prodiret amator, §3.11a.14Invalidum referens emeritumque latus; §3.11a.15Hoc tamen est levius, quam quod sum visus ab illo — §3.11a.16Eveniat nostris hostibus ille pudor!
I saw when the exhausted lover came out of the doors, dragging back his weak and worn-out body; yet this is lighter than that I was seen by him — may that shame happen to our enemies!
§3.11a.17Quando ego non fixus lateri patienter adhaesi, §3.11a.18Ipse tuus custos, ipse vir, ipse comes?
When did I not patiently cling fixed to your side, myself your guard, myself your husband, myself your companion?
§3.11a.19Scilicet et populo per me comitata placebas; §3.11a.20Causa fuit multis noster amoris amor.
To be sure, accompanied by me, you pleased the public too; our love was the cause of love for many.
§3.11a.21Turpia quid referam vanae mendacia linguae §3.11a.22Et periuratos in mea damna deos?
Why should I recall the shameful lies of your empty tongue and the gods falsely sworn to my ruin?
§3.11a.23Quid iuvenum tacitos inter convivia nutus §3.11a.24Verbaque conpositis dissimulata notis?
Why the silent nods of young men during banquets, and words disguised under prearranged codes?
§3.11a.25Dicta erat aegra mihi — praeceps amensque cucurri; §3.11a.26Veni, et rivali non erat aegra meo!
I was told you were ill — headlong and frantic I ran; I arrived, and you were not ill for my rival!
§3.11a.27His et quae taceo duravi saepe ferendis; §3.11a.28Quaere alium pro me, qui queat ista pati.
I have often hardened myself by bearing these things and those I keep silent; seek another in my place who can endure such things.
§3.11a.29Iam mea votiva puppis redimita corona §3.11a.30Lenta tumescentes aequoris audit aquas.
Already my ship, wreathed with a votive garland, undisturbed hears the swelling waters of the sea.
§3.11a.31Desine blanditias et verba, potentia quondam, §3.11a.32Perdere — non ego nunc stultus, ut ante fui!
Cease to waste flatteries and words, once powerful — I am not now foolish as I was before!

Notes

  1. 3.11a.3adserui iam me — A metaphor from the Roman legal process of a liberty suit (*vindicatio in libertatem*), in which one claims someone's status as a free person (*asserere aliquem in libertatem*). Here, the poet asserts his own freedom from the slavery of love.
  2. 3.11a.6cornua — "Horns" (*cornua*) serve as a symbol of courage, strength, or self-respect, like a bull prepared to fight. It metaphorically expresses that the poet, after long submission, has finally found the strength to resist.
  3. 3.11a.9Ergo ego sustinui — The structures starting with "Ergo ego..." in lines 9-10 and 11-12 function as rhetorical questions filled with indignant self-reproach, looking back at his past blind submission as an unbelievable folly.
  4. 3.11a.20Causa fuit multis noster amoris amor — The subject is *noster amor* ("our love"). *multis* is the dative of reference ("for many people"), and *amoris* is the genitive modifying *causa* ("the cause of love"), creating a wordplay on the root of *amor*.
  5. 3.11a.26rivali non erat aegra meo — A bitter contrast revealing the mistress's duplicity; while she claimed to be too ill to see the poet, she was healthy enough to welcome his rival (*rivalis*).

Cite this passage

Ovid, The Loves §3.11a.1-3.11a.32. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0959.phi001.humanitext-lat2:3.11a.1-3.11a.32

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

Translation, notes and summary are AI-generated drafts, revised through reader feedback.