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Lectitō › Ovid › Metamorphoses, Book 3 › Metamorphoses 3.316–329

Ovid · Metamorphoses III

Metamorphoses 3.316–329

Tiresias settles a divine dispute

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Met. 3.316Dumque ea per terrās fātālī lēge geruntur
tūtaque bis genitī sunt incūnābula Bacchī,
forte Iovem memorant, diffūsum nectare, cūrās
sēposuisse gravēs vacuumque agitāsse remissōs
320cum Iūnōne iocōs et "maior vestra profectō est,
quam quae contingit maribus" dīxisse "voluptās."
And while these things are done on earth by the law of fate, and the cradle of twice-born Bacchus is safe, they say that Jupiter by chance, well flushed with nectar, had set aside his heavy cares and, at leisure, traded idle jests with Juno, and said, 'Surely your pleasure is greater than that which falls to males.'
Met. 3.322Illa negat.She denies it. Met. 3.322Placuit quae sit sententia doctī
quaerere Tīresiae: venus huic erat utraque nota.
They decided to ask what the opinion of learned Tiresias was: to him love in both forms was known.
Met. 3.324Nam duo magnōrum viridī coeuntia silvā
325corpora serpentum baculī violāverat ictū;
For with a blow of his staff he had struck two bodies of great serpents mating in the green wood;
Met. 3.326dēque virō factus (mīrābile) fēmina septem
ēgerat autumnōs.
and changed (a marvel) from a man into a woman, he had spent seven autumns.

Met. 3.327Octāvō rūrsus eōsdem
vīdit, et "est vestrae sī tanta potentia plagae"
dīxit "ut auctōris sortem in contrāria mūtet,
In the eighth he saw the same snakes again, and said, 'If there is such power in a blow struck at you that it changes the striker's lot into its opposite,

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Grammar in this passage: indirect statement ×1

Latin vocabulary for this passage (77 words)
dum, conj.while, as; as long as; until
que, enclitic conj.and
is, ea, id, dem. pron.this, that; he, she, it, they
per, prep, with ace.through, by means of
terra, -ae, f.land, earth
fātālis, -efated, destined; fatal, deadly
lēx, lēgis f.law
gerō, gerere, gessī, gestuscarry, wear; carry on, do
tūtus, -a, -umsafe
bis (adv.)twice
gignō, gignere, genuī, genitusproduce, bring forth
sum, esse, fuī, futūrusbe
incūnābula, -ōrum n. pl.cradle; birthplace; infancy
forte, adv.by chance, accidentally
memorō, -āre, -āvī, -ātusremind of, mention
diffundō, -fundere, -fūdī, -fūsuspour forth, spread or shed abroad, diffuse
nectar, -aris n.nectar, the drink of the gods; (of bees) honey
cūra, -ae f.care, concern (cūrae esse: to be a concern)
sēpōnō, -ere, -posuī, -positusset aside, reserve
gravis, -eheavy; severe, grievous, serious
vacuus, -a, -umempty
agitō, -āre, -āvī, -ātusdrive about; discuss, debate
remittō, -ere, -mīsī, -missumsend back; give up, remit
cum, prep, with abl.with
iocus, -ī m.joke, jest
et, conj.and; et ... et, both ... and
magnus, -a, -umlarge, big, great, mighty; loud
vester, -tra, -trumyour
profectō, adv.certainly, surely
quam, adv.how? as; than; with superl., as ... as possible
quī, quae, quod, rel. pron.who, which
contingō, -ere, -tigī, -tāctumtouch, reach
mās, maris m.male
dīcō, dīcere, dīxī, dictussay, speak; diem dīcere, to appoint or set a day
voluptās, -tātis, f.pleasure
ille, illa, illud, dem. pron.that; he, she, it, they; ille ... hīc, see hīc
negō, -āre, -āvī, -ātussay no or not, deny, refuse
placeō, -ēre, placuī, placitum (+ dat.)please (placuit eī: he decided)
quī, quae, quod, interrog. pron. adj.what?
sententia, -ae, f.opinion; purpose
doctus, -a, -umlearned, skilled, trained (in: abl.)
quaerō, quaerere, quaesīvī, quaesītusseek; ask, inquire
hic, haec, hoc, dem. pron.this; ille ... hīc, that ... this, the former ... the latter
uterque, utraque, utrumqueeach, either, both
nōtus, -a, -umknown, well-known, famous
nam, conj.for
duo, -ae, -o, plur. adj.two
viridis, -egreen
coeō, -īre, -iī, -itumcome together, assemble
silva, -ae, f.wood, forest
corpus, corporis, n.body
serpēns, -entis, f.serpent
baculum, -ī, n.stick, wand
violō, -āre, -āvī, -ātusharm, violate
īctus, -ūs, m.blow
dē, prep, with abl.down from, from, out of; about, concerning, of
vir, virī, m.man
faciō, facere, fēcī, factusmake, do; iter facere, see iter
mīrābilis, -ewonderful, marvellous
fēmina, -ae, f.woman
septemseven
agō, agere, ēgī, āctusdrive; do; pass, lead; grātiās agere, see grātia
autumnus, -ī m.autumn
octāvus, -a, -umeighth
rūrsus, adv.again
īdem, eadem, idem, dem. pron.the same; sometimes to be translated likewise, also
videō, vidēre, vīdī, vīsussee; pass., seem
sī, conj.if
tantus, -a, -umso great or much
potentia, -ae f.power, influence
plāga, -ae f.blow, wound; affliction, illness
ut, conj.as; when; that; ita ut, as
auctor, -ōris m.originator, instigator
sors, sortis, f.lot
in, prep. with acc. and abl.with acc.: into, onto, against; with abl.: in, on
contrārius, -a, -umopposite, facing
mūtō, -āre, -āvī, -ātuschange
Ovid, Metamorphoses III. Latin text: H. Magnus, Die Metamorphosen des P. Ovidius Naso (Gotha, 1892), public domain; digital text from the Perseus Digital Library, CC BY-SA. Word analysis: drafted by our own tagger (trained on the hand-checked texts on this site), with every doubtful word checked by hand. English translation and section titles: written for this app, each checked against the Latin by a second reader.