Humanitext Reader

Ovid · Sorrows §3.5.1-3.5.56

Gratitude to a New Friend and Hope for Mercy

Passage 26 of 60 · Latin

Summary

The poet expresses his gratitude to a relatively new friend who remained exceptionally loyal and supportive after his exile. He argues that his transgression was a mere mistake of seeing something forbidden rather than an active conspiracy, citing mythological and historical exempla of great leaders showing mercy to support his hope for a mitigation of his sentence.

§3.5.1Usus amicitiae tecum mihi parvus, ut illam §3.5.2non aegre posses dissimulare, fuit, §3.5.3nec me complexus vinclis propioribus esses §3.5.4nave mea vento, forsan, eunte suo.
My practice of friendship with you was small, so that you could without difficulty dissimulate it, nor would you, perhaps, have embraced me with closer bonds if my ship had been sailing with its own wind.
§3.5.5ut cecidi cunctique metu fugere ruinam, §3.5.6versaque amicitiae terga dedere meae, §3.5.7ausus es igne Iovis percussum tangere corpus §3.5.8et deploratae limen adire domus: §3.5.9idque recens praestas nec longo cognitus usu, §3.5.10quod veterum misero vix duo tresve mihi.
When I fell and all fled the ruin out of fear, and turned their backs on my friendship, you dared to touch a body struck by the fire of Jupiter and to approach the threshold of a deplored home: and you, a recent friend, not known by long usage, perform this for wretched me, which scarcely two or three of my old friends did.
§3.5.11vidi ego confusos vultus visosque notavi, §3.5.12osque madens fletu pallidiusque meo, §3.5.13et lacrimas cernens in singula verba cadentes §3.5.14ore meo lacrimas, auribus illa bibi; §3.5.15brachiaque accepi presso pendentia collo, §3.5.16et singultatis oscula mixta sonis.
I saw your troubled countenance and noted it when seen, and your face wet with weeping and paler than my own, and seeing tears falling at every word, I drank those tears with my mouth, and those words with my ears; and I received your arms hanging from my tightly-pressed neck, and kisses mixed with sobbing sounds.
§3.5.17sum quoque, care, tuis defensus viribus absens— §3.5.18scis carum veri nominis esse loco— §3.5.19multaque praeterea manifesti signa favoris §3.5.20pectoribus teneo non abitura meis.
I have also, dear friend, been defended by your strength while absent— you know that "dear" is in place of your true name— and besides, I hold many signs of manifest goodwill in my heart, which will never depart.
§3.5.21di tibi posse tuos tribuant defendere semper, §3.5.22quos in materia prosperiore iuves, §3.5.23si tamen interea, quid in his ego perditus oris §3.5.24quod te credibile est quaerere quaeris, agam, §3.5.25spe trahor exigua, quam tu mihi demere noli, §3.5.26tristia leniri numina posse dei.
May the gods grant you the power to always defend your own, whom you may help in a more prosperous circumstance, if, however, in the meantime, you ask what I, ruined on these shores, am doing—which it is believable that you ask— I am sustained by a slender hope—which do not take away from me— that the harsh will of the god can be softened.
§3.5.27seu temere expecto, sive id contingere fas est, §3.5.28tu mihi, quod cupio, fas, precor, esse proba, §3.5.29quaeque tibi linguae est facundia, confer in illud, §3.5.30ut doceas votum posse valere meum.
Whether I expect it blindly, or whether it is right for this to happen, prove to me, I pray, that what I desire is right; and whatever eloquence of tongue you have, direct it to this, that you may show my prayer can have strength.
§3.5.31quo quisque est maior, magis est placabilis irae, §3.5.32et faciles motus mens generosa capit, §3.5.33corpora magnanimo satis est prostrasse leoni, §3.5.34pugna suum finem, cum iacet hostis, habet: §3.5.35at lupus et turpes instant morientibus ursi §3.5.36et quaecumque minor nobilitate fera.
The greater anyone is, the more placable is his anger, and a noble mind admits easy impulses; it is enough for a magnanimous lion to have prostrated bodies, and the fight has its end when the enemy lies low; but the wolf and base bears press upon the dying, and whatever beast is inferior in nobility.
§3.5.37maius apud Troiam forti quid habemus Achille?
What greater thing do we have at Troy than brave Achilles?
§3.5.38Dardanii lacrimas non tulit ille senis, §3.5.39quae ducis Emathii fuerit clementia, Porus §3.5.40Dareique docent funeris exequiae.
He could not bear the tears of the Dardanian elder; what the clemency of the Emathian leader was, Porus and the funeral rites of Darius show.
§3.5.41neve hominum referam flexas ad mitius iras, §3.5.42Iunonis gener est qui prius hostis erat.
And lest I only relate the angers of men bent to a milder mood, he who was formerly an enemy is now Juno's son-in-law.
§3.5.43denique non possum nullam sperare salutem, §3.5.44cum poenae non sit causa cruenta meae.
Finally, I cannot but hope for some safety, since the cause of my punishment is not bloody.
§3.5.45non mihi quaerenti pessumdare cuncta petitum §3.5.46Caesareum caput est, quod caput orbis erat; §3.5.47non aliquid dixive, elatave lingua loquendo est, §3.5.48lapsaque sunt nimio verba profana mero: §3.5.49inscia quod crimen viderunt lumina, plector, §3.5.50peccatumque oculos est habuisse meum.
No attempt was made by me, seeking to ruin everything, against Caesar's life, which was the head of the world; nor did I speak any word, nor was my tongue elevated in speaking, nor did profane words slip out through too much unwatered wine: because my unknowing eyes saw a crime, I am punished, and my sin is to have had eyes.
§3.5.51non equidem totam possum defendere culpam, §3.5.52sed partem nostri criminis error habet, §3.5.53spes igitur superest facturum ut molliat ipse §3.5.54mutati poenam condicione loci.
Indeed, I cannot defend my whole fault, but error holds a part of our crime; therefore hope remains that he himself will soften the punishment on condition of a changed place.
§3.5.55hos utinam nitidi Solis praenuntius ortus §3.5.56afferat admisso Lucifer albus equo!
Would that the white Morning Star, herald of the bright Sun's rising, might bring this news, letting his horse gallop!

Notes

  1. 3.5.4nave mea vento... eunte suo — An ablative absolute construction with metaphorical meaning, where 'vento suo' refers to 'its own wind' (i.e., a favorable wind). It functions as a virtual protasis (contrary-to-fact condition) to the preceding subjunctive pluperfect 'complexus esses', establishing the logic that 'if my ship had been sailing in favorable winds (as in my past prosperous life), you would not have had to embrace me with such tight bonds.'
  2. 3.5.10quod veterum misero vix duo tresve mihi — A clause continuing from the previous line (idque recens praestas... quod...), where in the relative clause introduced by 'quod', a perfect tense verb corresponding to 'praestas' (such as 'praestiterunt') is omitted. 'veterum' is the genitive of the substantivized adjective ('old friends'), functioning as a partitive genitive qualifying 'vix duo tresve' ('scarcely two or three'). This structural ellipsis highlights the contrast between the recent friend's exceptional loyalty and the abandonment by older friends.
  3. 3.5.14ore meo lacrimas, auribus illa bibi — The verb 'bibi' ('I drank') governs two parallel pairs of sensory organs and their respective accusative objects: 'ore meo' with 'lacrimas' ('tears with my mouth'), and 'auribus' with 'illa' ('those [words] with my ears', referring to the preceding 'singula verba'). This is a zeugma, where a single verb elegantly governs two distinct concepts, poetically compressing the intense intimacy and grief of their final parting.
  4. 3.5.21quos in materia prosperiore iuves — A relative clause qualifying the antecedent 'tuos' ('your own people'). The subjunctive 'iuves' is not a simple statement of fact but aligns with the optative subjunctive in the main clause ('di tribuant', 'may the gods grant'), expressing a wish, potentiality, or purpose: 'whom you may help in a more prosperous circumstance' (rather than in a ruinous situation like Ovid's).
  5. 3.5.53spes igitur superest facturum ut molliat ipse — An appositive phrase in the accusative with infinitive construction, explaining the content of 'spes' ('hope'). The subject pronoun ('eum' referring to Augustus) and the auxiliary 'esse' are omitted, forming 'facturum [esse eum] ut...' ('that he will bring it about that...'). The 'ut' clause introduces a noun clause with the subjunctive 'molliat', meaning 'the hope remains that he himself will soften the punishment on condition of a changed place.'

Cite this passage

Ovid, Sorrows §3.5.1-3.5.56. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0959.phi008.humanitext-lat2:3.5.1-3.5.56

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