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Vocabulary and Notes

Vocabulary:

Line 31: “Vomere” Noun, “plowshare”

 

Line 32: “Parantes” Participle, “Preparing/Providing”

 

Line 33: “Lacertosi” Adjective, “Muscular/Powerful”

 

Line 36: “Sarculaque” Noun, “Hoe” (of the garden variety)

 

Line 36: “Rastrique” Noun, “Rake”

 

Line 36: “Ligones” Noun, “Spade”

 

Line 37: “Minaces” Adjective, “Menacing”

 

Line 38: “Divulsere” Verb, “Tear Apart”

 

Line 41: “Sacrilegae” Noun, “Wicked/Impious One”

 

Line 42: “Saxis” Noun, “Rock”

 

Line 43: “Anima” Noun, “Life Breath/Spirit”

 

Line 45: “Carmina” Noun, “Song/Poem”

 

Line 46: “Fleverunt” Verb, “To Grieve/Mourn”

 

Line 47: “Comas” Noun, “Hair/Foliage”

 

Line 50: “Membra” Noun, “Limb/Body Part”

 

Line 50: “Hebrus” Noun, God of the Hebrus River

 

Line 50: “Amne” Noun, “Rapid Water/River”

 

Line 52: “Flebile” Adjective, “Mournful/Sorrowful”

 

Line 54: “Popular” Adjective, “Popular” but in this case means “Native”

 

Line 55: “Litore” Noun, “Shore”

Line 57: “Rore” Noun, “Dew”

 

Line 58: “Adest” Verb, “Appeared”

 

Line 62: “Quaerensque” Participle, “Looking”

 

Line 63: “Amplectitur” Verb, “Embrace”

 

Line 66: “tuto” Adverb, “Safely”

Helpful Notes:

Line 41: “pro Iuppiter!” is an interjection, the exclamation point is not the end of a sentence. “perque os” belongs with the clause after “pro Iuppiter!”
 
Line 44: “Orpheu” is in the vocative, as Ovid is addressing him. Apostrophes are a rare case in the Metamorphoses, and here Ovid uses it to emphasize the readers feelings of empath
 
Line 44-46: Asyndetons are present throughout, creating a list that emphasis the many creatures and things mourning Orpheus’s death
 
Line 46: “Positis frondibus” is an ablative absolute, translating to “with branches laid down”
 
Line 47: “tonsa” is a PPP, translating to “having been cut”
 
Line 47: “comas” is an accusative of respect. It translates to “with respect to their foliage”
 
Line 48: In the original latin, as well as in the Tarrant version, the word “obstrusaque” is used. The verb “obtrudo” means “to thrust violently”, which doesn’t at all make sense within the context of the sentence. Scholars argue that instead,“abstrusque” should be used instead, as the definition of “abstrudo” (“to hide or conceal”), makes much more sense given the surrounding words. The word “obscuraque” can also be substituted, but some still argue that the participle “abstrusaque” balances out the sentence in a way that “obscuraque” (an adjective), cannot. See citations for source and more detail. 
 
Line 50: “locis” is in the ablative, as it is an object of preposition. 
 
Line 50: “Hebre”, referring to the god of the Hebrus river, is vocative. Another apostrophe, Ovid does this to express his appreciation to the God for saving Orpheus’s head. 
 
Line 52-53: The word “flebile” an adjective meaning “Mournful/Sorrowful” is used 3 times within 2 lines. This anaphora, similar to the list Ovid gives us in lines 44-46, emphasizes the grief that Orpheus’s surroundings experience after his death.
 
Line 55: “litore” is in the ablative not the accusative, because it is an object of preposition.
 
Line 55: Methymnaeae and Lesbi are both genitive, but Lesbi is a possessive genitive referring to the shore, while Methymaeae is a partitive genitive, referring to Lesbi
 
Line 57: “sparsos stillanti rore capillos” is an indirect statement with capillos in the accusative and stillanti as the infinitive. It translates to “its hair dripping scattered dew”.
 
Line 60: “Umbra” literally means shadow, and in this case it refers to the spirit of Orpheus as he descends into the underworld.
 
Line 65: Ovid uses an anaphora to stress the freedom that Orpheus and Eurydice now have. He is able to follow her, and she can follow him, without fear or danger.

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