Humanitext Reader

Ovid · The Loves §3.3.1-3.3.48

Lament on a False Mistress's Unfading Beauty

Passage 40 of 53 · Latin

Summary

The poet complains that despite his mistress swearing false oaths and deceiving the gods, her beauty remains unimpaired, lamenting that the gods are too indulgent toward beautiful women.

§3.3.1Esse deos, i, crede — fidem iurata fefellit, §3.3.2Et facies illi, quae fuit ante, manet!
'Go, believe that there are gods — she swore an oath and broke her faith, and her face remains to her as it was before!
§3.3.3Quam longos habuit nondum periura capillos, §3.3.4Tam longos, postquam numina laesit, habet.
As long hair as she had when not yet perjured, so long she has after she offended the divine powers.
§3.3.5Candida candorem roseo suffusa rubore §3.3.6Ante fuit — niveo lucet in ore rubor.
Before, she was fair, her white complexion infused with rosy blush — now the blush shines in her snow-white face.
§3.3.7Pes erat exiguus — pedis est artissima forma.
Her foot was tiny — the shape of her foot is most slender.
§3.3.8Longa decensque fuit — longa decensque manet.
She was tall and graceful — tall and graceful she remains.
§3.3.9Argutos habuit — radiant ut sidus ocelli, §3.3.10Per quos mentita est perfida saepe mihi.
Bright eyes she had — her lovely eyes shine like a star, through which that treacherous girl often lied to me.
§3.3.11Scilicet aeterni falsum iurare puellis §3.3.12Di quoque concedunt, formaque numen habet.
Of course, the eternal gods also allow girls to swear falsely, and beauty holds divine power.
§3.3.13Perque suos illam nuper iurasse recordor §3.3.14Perque meos oculos: en doluere mei!
And I remember that she recently swore by her own eyes and by my eyes: look, mine have hurt!
§3.3.15Dicite, di, si vos inpune fefellerat illa, §3.3.16Alterius meriti cur ego damna tuli?
Tell me, gods, if she had deceived you with impunity, why did I bear the losses of another's desert?
§3.3.17An non invidiae vobis Cepheia virgo est, §3.3.18Pro male formosa iussa parente mori?
Or is the Cepheid maiden not a cause of reproach to you, ordered to die for her ill-speaking parent?
§3.3.19Non satis est, quod vos habui sine pondere testis, §3.3.20Et mecum lusos ridet inulta deos?
Is it not enough that I had you as witnesses of no weight, and that she, unpunished, laughs at the gods mocked along with me?
§3.3.21Ut sua per nostram redimat periuria poenam, §3.3.22Victima deceptus decipientis ero?
So that she may redeem her perjury through my punishment, shall I, deceived, be the victim of the deceiver?
§3.3.23Aut sine re nomen deus est frustraque timetur §3.3.24Et stulta populos credulitate movet; §3.3.25Aut, siquis deus est, teneras amat ille puellas §3.3.26Et nimium solas omnia posse iubet.
Either 'god' is a name without substance, and is feared in vain, and moves peoples with foolish credulity; or, if there is any god, he loves tender girls, and bids them alone to have too much power in all things.
§3.3.27Nobis fatifero Mavors accingitur ense; §3.3.28Nos petit invicta Palladis hasta manu.
Against us Mavors is girt with a death-bringing sword; the spear of Pallas attacks us with invincible hand.
§3.3.29Nobis flexibiles curvantur Apollinis arcus; §3.3.30In nos alta Iovis dextera fulmen habet.
For us the flexible bows of Apollo are bent; against us the high right hand of Jupiter holds the thunderbolt.
§3.3.31Formosas superi metuunt offendere laesi §3.3.32Atque ultro, quae se non timuere, timent.
The gods above, though offended, fear to offend beautiful women, and on the contrary they fear those who have not feared them.
§3.3.33Et quisquam pia tura focis inponere curat?
And does anyone care to place pious incense on the altars?
§3.3.34Certe plus animi debet inesse viris!
Surely more spirit ought to be in men!
§3.3.35Iuppiter igne suo lucos iaculatur et arces §3.3.36Missaque periuras tela ferire vetat.
Jupiter strikes groves and citadels with his fire, and forbids his hurled weapons to strike perjured women.
§3.3.37Tot meruere peti — Semele miserabilis arsit!
So many deserved to be attacked — miserable Semele burned!
§3.3.38Officio est illi poena reperta suo; §3.3.39At si venturo se subduxisset amanti, §3.3.40Non pater in Baccho matris haberet opus.
Punishment was found for her due to her compliance; But if she had withdrawn herself from her coming lover, the father would not have the mother's task in Bacchus.
§3.3.41Quid queror et toto facio convicia caelo?
Why do I complain and hurl reproaches at the whole sky?
§3.3.42Di quoque habent oculos, di quoque pectus habent!
The gods too have eyes, the gods too have a heart!
§3.3.43Si deus ipse forem, numen sine fraude liceret §3.3.44Femina mendaci falleret ore meum; §3.3.45Ipse ego iurarem verum iurare puellas §3.3.46Et non de tetricis dicerer esse deus.
If I myself were a god, a woman would be allowed without harm to deceive my divinity with her lying mouth; I myself would swear that girls swear the truth, and I would not be said to be a god of the gloomy ones.
§3.3.47Tu tamen illorum moderatius utere dono — §3.3.48Aut oculis certe parce, puella, meis!
But you, girl, use their gift more moderately — or at least spare, girl, my eyes!'

Notes

  1. 3.3.1i — Present imperative second-person singular of the verb *ire* (to go). Here it is used not in its literal sense of motion, but as a hortatory or indignant particle accompanying *crede* ("go on, believe").
  2. 3.3.5candoren suffusa — A construction of the accusative of specification (Greek accusative) where the perfect passive participle *suffusa* takes the accusative *candorem* ("infused as to her whiteness with rosy blush").
  3. 3.3.17invidiae vobis — A double dative construction. *vobis* is the dative of reference ("for you"), and *invidiae* is the dative of purpose or tendency ("a source of reproach/scandal").
  4. 3.3.31laesi — Perfect participle agreeing with the subject *superi* (the gods above), functioning here with a concessive force ("although they have been offended/injured").
  5. 3.3.39subduxisset... haberet — A mixed counterfactual conditional sentence. The protasis uses the pluperfect subjunctive (*subduxisset*) to express a past counterfactual, while the apodosis uses the imperfect subjunctive (*haberet*) to express a present or ongoing counterfactual state.

Cite this passage

Ovid, The Loves §3.3.1-3.3.48. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0959.phi001.humanitext-lat2:3.3.1-3.3.48

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.