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Ovid · Letters from the Black Sea §3.3.55-3.3.108

Cupid's Prophecy and the Appeal to Maximus

Passage 28 of 52 · Latin

Summary

The poet entreats Amor to intercede with Caesar to mitigate his punishment, and Amor swears to the innocence of the poet's love poetry while prophesying eventual clemency. The poet then addresses Maximus, praising his noble descent and compassionate character, and begs for his patronage.

§3.3.55an sit ab his omnis rigide summota libellis, §3.3.56quam lex furtivos arcet habere viros?
Is she who is strictly removed from all these books, she whom the law forbids to have clandestine husbands?
§3.3.57quid tamen hoc prodest, vetiti si lege severa §3.3.58credor adulterii composuisse notas?
Yet what does this profit, if by a severe law of forbidden adultery I am believed to have composed signs?
§3.3.59at tu, sic habeas ferientes cuncta sagittas, §3.3.60sic numquam rapido lampades igne vacent, §3.3.61sic regat imperium terrasque coerceat omnis §3.3.62Caesar, ab Aenea qui tibi fratre tuus, §3.3.63effice, sit nobis non inplacabilis ira, §3.3.64meque loco plecti commodiore velit.
But you—thus may you have your arrows that strike all things, thus may your torches never lack rapid fire, thus may Caesar rule the empire and restrain all lands, Caesar, who is yours from your brother Aeneas— bring it about that his anger towards us is not implacable, and that he may wish me to be punished in a more convenient place.
§3.3.65haec ego visus eram puero dixisse volucri, §3.3.66hos visus nobis ille dedisse sonos.
These things I seemed to have said to the winged boy, and he seemed to have given these sounds to us.
§3.3.67per mea tela, faces, et per mea tela, sagittas, §3.3.68per matrem iuro Caesareumque caput, §3.3.69nil nisi concessum nos te didicisse magistro, §3.3.70Artibus et nullum crimen inesse tuis.
'By my weapons, the torches, and by my weapons, the arrows, by my mother and by the head of Caesar I swear, that we learned nothing but what was permitted, under you as teacher, and that no crime is in your Arts.
§3.3.71utque hoc, sic utinam defendere cetera possem!
And as I wish I could defend this, would that I could defend the rest!
§3.3.72scis aliud, quod te laeserit, esse, magis, §3.3.73quicquid id est (neque enim debet dolor ipse referri, §3.3.74nec potes a culpa dicere abesse tua)
You know that there is something else that harmed you more, whatever that is (for the pain itself ought not to be recalled, nor can you say that you are free from fault).
§3.3.75tu licet erroris sub imagine crimen obumbres, §3.3.76non gravior merito iudicis ira fuit.
Though you may shade your crime under the image of an error, the anger of the judge was not heavier than you deserved.
§3.3.77ut tamen aspicerem consolarerque iacentem, §3.3.78lapsa per inmensas est mea pinna vias.
Yet, that I might look upon and console you as you lie prostrate, my wing glided down through immense paths.
§3.3.79haec loca tum primum vidi, cum matre rogante §3.3.80Phasias est telis fixa puella meis.
I first saw these places then, when at my mother’s request, the Phasian maiden was pierced by my weapons.
§3.3.81quae nunc cur iterum post saecula longa revisam, §3.3.82tu facis, o castris miles amice meis.
Why I now revisit them again after long ages, you are the cause, o soldier friend to my camp.
§3.3.83pone metus igitur: mitescet Caesaris ira, §3.3.84et veniet votis mollior hora tuis.
Therefore lay aside your fears: Caesar's anger will grow mild, and a gentler hour will come for your prayers.
§3.3.85neve moram timeas, tempus, quod quaerimus, instat, §3.3.86cunctaque laetitiae plena triumphus habet, §3.3.87dum domus et nati, dum mater Livia gaudet, §3.3.88dum gaudes, patriae magne ducisque pater, §3.3.89dum sibi gratatur populus, totamque per urbem §3.3.90omnis odoratis ignibus ara calet, §3.3.91dum faciles aditus praebet venerabile templum, §3.3.92sperandum est nostras posse valere preces, §3.3.93dixit, et aut ille est tenues dilapsus in auras, §3.3.94coeperunt sensus aut vigilare mei.
And do not fear delay; the time we seek is at hand, and the triumph holds everything full of joy, while the house and the sons, while the mother Livia rejoices, while you rejoice, great father of your country and of our leader, while the people congratulate themselves, and through the whole city every altar is warm with fragrant fires, while the venerable temple offers easy approach, we must hope that our prayers can have power.' He spoke, and either he dissolved into thin air, or my senses began to wake.
§3.3.95si dubitem, faveas quin his, o Maxime, dictis, §3.3.96Memnonio cycnos esse colore putem, §3.3.97sed neque mutatur nigra pice lacteus humor, §3.3.98nec, quod erat candens, fit terebinthus ebur.
If I should doubt, Maximus, that you favor these words, I would think that swans are of Memnon's color, but neither is milky liquid changed by black pitch, nor does ivory, which was white, become terebinth.
§3.3.99conveniens animo genus est tibi, nobile namque §3.3.100pectus et Herculeae simplicitatis habes, §3.3.101livor, iners vitium, mores non exit in altos, §3.3.102utque latens ima vipera serpit humo.
Your lineage is suited to your mind, for you have a noble heart and Herculean simplicity, envy, a sluggish vice, does not go out into lofty characters, and crawls like a viper hiding on the lowest ground.
§3.3.103mens tua sublimis supra genus eminet ipsum, §3.3.104grandius ingenio nec tibi nomen inest.
Your sublime mind towers above your lineage itself, nor is your name greater than your talent.
§3.3.105ergo alii noceant miseris optentque timeri, §3.3.106tinctaque mordaci spicula felle gerant: §3.3.107at tua supplicibus domus est adsueta iuvandis, §3.3.108in quorum numero me, precor, esse velis. ’
Therefore let others harm the wretched and wish to be feared, and carry arrows dipped in biting gall: but your house is accustomed to helping suppliants, in whose number, I pray, you would wish me to be.

Notes

  1. 3.3.55an sit — The interrogative particle `an` introduces a rhetorical question or an alternative, implying "is it not rather the case that..." here to strengthen the previous denial of complicity in adultery.
  2. 3.3.59sic habeas — `sic` accompanied by the optative subjunctive `habeas` forms a formulaic expression of wishing ("so may you have..."), used here to prelude the poet's urgent request to Amor to intercede with Caesar (63: `effice`).
  3. 3.3.62ab Aenea qui tibi fratre tuus — Since Aeneas is the son of Venus (Amor's mother), he is Amor's half-brother. Caesar (Augustus) claimed descent from Iulus, son of Aeneas, making him mythological family (`tuus`) to Amor.
  4. 3.3.70Artibus — Written with a capital letter, `Artibus` refers to Ovid's famous didactic poem on love, the *Ars Amatoria* (*The Art of Love*).
  5. 3.3.95si dubitem, faveas quin — The conjunction `quin` with the subjunctive `faveas` is used after the verb of doubting `dubitem` in a virtual negative or rhetorical context ("If I should doubt that you favor...").

Cite this passage

Ovid, Letters from the Black Sea §3.3.55-3.3.108. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0959.phi009.humanitext-lat2:3.3.55-3.3.108

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

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