Metamorphoses 10.243–297

Met. 10.243Quās quia Pygmaliōn aevum per crīmen agentēs
vīderat, offēnsus vitiīs, quae plūrima mentī
245fēmineae nātūra dedit, sine coniuge caelebs
vīvēbat thalamīque diū cōnsorte carēbat.

Because Pygmalion had seen these women spending their lives in shame, he was repelled by the many faults nature has given the female mind, and he lived single, without a wife, and for a long time had no partner for his bed.

Note. Quas: connecting relative referring to the Propoetides, the women of Amathus in Cyprus who denied Venus' divinity; in the lines just before this passage Venus made them the first prostitutes and then turned them to stone. quia ... viderat, offensus ...: Pygmalion's disgust explains his single life. aevum per crimen agentes: 'spending their lives in shame' (per crimen, 'through vice'). plurima: superlative of multus, here 'very many'. sine coniuge caelebs and consorte carebat say the same thing twice, a typical Ovidian fullness. careo takes the ablative (consorte).

Met. 10.247Intereā niveum mīrā fēlīciter arte
sculpsit ebur fōrmamque dedit, quā fēmina nāscī
nūlla potest: operisque suī concēpit amōrem.

Meanwhile, with wonderful skill, he successfully carved the snow-white ivory and gave it a beauty no woman can be born with: and he fell in love with his own work.

Note. niveum ... ebur: hyperbaton, the adjective first and the noun at the start of the next line; ebur, eboris is neuter. qua femina nasci / nulla potest: 'with which no woman can be born' (relative clause with qua = ablative of description). operis ... sui concepit amorem: 'conceived love for his own work': the objective genitive with amor.

Met. 10.250Virginis est vērae faciēs, quam vīvere crēdās,
et, sī nōn obstet reverentia, velle movērī:
ars adeō latet arte suā.

The face is that of a real girl, whom you would believe alive and wanting to move, if modesty did not stand in the way: so completely is the art hidden by its own art.

Note. quam vivere credas: potential subjunctive in the relative clause, 'whom you would think alive'. si non obstet reverentia: a 'should-would' condition, 'if modesty did not prevent it'. ars adeo latet arte sua: 'so far is art hidden by its own art', the famous line on art that conceals itself (ars ... arte, polyptoton).

Met. 10.252Mīrātur et haurit
pectore Pygmaliōn simulātī corporis ignēs.

Pygmalion marvels, and drinks into his heart a passion for the imitation body.

Note. haurit pectore ... ignes: 'drinks in fire with his heart', i.e. burns with love. simulati corporis: 'of the counterfeit body': the passion is for an imitation. Pygmalion delayed to the second line is emphatic.

Met. 10.254Saepe manūs operī temptantēs admovet, an sit
255corpus an illud ebur: nec adhūc ebur esse fatētur.

Often he moves his hands to the work, testing whether it is flesh or ivory, and he still does not admit that it is ivory.

Note. temptantes: 'testing', with an indirect question an sit corpus an ... ebur, 'whether it is a body or ivory' (an ... an for alternatives). nec adhuc ebur esse fatetur: he will not admit, even now, that it is ivory.

Met. 10.256Ōscula dat reddīque putat loquiturque tenetque,
et crēdit tāctīs digitōs īnsidēre membrīs,
et metuit, pressōs veniat nē līvor in artūs.

He gives it kisses and thinks they are returned, and speaks to it and holds it, and believes his fingers sink into the limbs he touches, and fears a bruise may come on the limbs he has pressed.

Note. A run of short verbs joined by -que ... -que (polysyndeton) shows his busy fantasy. reddi: 'to be returned' (the kisses). tactis ... membris: dative with insidere, 'settle into the limbs he touches'. metuit ... veniat ne: fear clause, 'fears that a bruise may come'; the ne is moved late in its clause.

Met. 10.259Et modo blanditiās adhibet, modo grāta puellīs
260mūnera fert illī conchās teretēsque lapillōs
et parvās volucrēs et flōrēs mīlle colōrum
līliaque pictāsque pilās et ab arbore lāpsās
Hēliadum lacrimās;

And now he uses endearments, now he brings it the gifts girls like: shells and smooth pebbles, little birds and flowers of a thousand colours, lilies and painted balls, and the tears of the Heliades that have dropped from the tree;

Note. modo ... modo: 'now ... now'. The list of lover's gifts is a little catalogue of things a Roman girl would like. Heliadum lacrimas: amber; the sisters of Phaethon, mourning him, were turned into poplars and their tears hardened into amber.

Met. 10.263ōrnat quoque vestibus artūs,
dat digitīs gemmās, dat longa monīlia collō:
265aure levēs bācae, redimīcula pectore pendent.

he dresses the limbs in clothes too, puts jewels on its fingers, long necklaces on its neck: light pearls hang from its ears, and chains on its breast.

Note. ornat ... artus: 'he adorns its limbs'. The anaphora dat ... dat continues the list. aure: ablative of place without a preposition, 'from its ear', as is pectore.

Met. 10.266Cūncta decent: nec nūda minus fōrmōsa vidētur.

Everything suits her: but naked she seems no less beautiful.

Note. decent: 'suit (her)'. nec nuda minus formosa videtur: 'nor does she seem less beautiful naked' — a typically witty Ovidian close.

Met. 10.267Conlocat hanc strātīs conchā Sīdonide tinctīs
appellatque torī sociam, acclīnātaque colla
mollibus in plūmīs, tamquam sēnsūra, repōnit.

He lays her on coverlets dyed with Sidonian purple, and calls her the partner of his bed, and rests her reclining neck on soft feathers, as if she would feel it.

Note. stratis concha Sidonide tinctis: 'on coverlets dyed with Sidonian shell', i.e. with the purple dye from the murex shellfish of Phoenician Sidon and Tyre, the most costly dye of antiquity. tori sociam: 'partner of his couch'. tamquam sensura: future participle with tamquam, 'as if about to feel it'.

Met. 10.270Fēsta diēs Veneris tōtā celeberrima Cyprō
vēnerat, et pandīs inductae cornibus aurum
conciderant ictae niveā cervīce iuvencae,
tūraque fūmābant: cum mūnere fūnctus ad ārās
cōnstitit et timidē, "sī dī dare cūncta potestis,
275sit coniūnx, optō" (nōn ausus "eburnea virgō"
dīcere) Pygmaliōn "similis mea" dīxit "eburnae."

The feast day of Venus, the most crowded in all Cyprus, had come; heifers, their curved horns covered with gold, had fallen, struck on their snowy necks, and incense was smoking, when, having made his offering, Pygmalion stood at the altar and said timidly, "If you gods can give all things, let my wife be" (not daring to say "the ivory girl") "like the ivory one."

Note. A long sentence on Venus' festival in Cyprus. celeberrima: 'most crowded'. Cypro: ablative of place, without a preposition, as often with islands in verse. pandis inductae cornibus aurum: 'covered as to their curved horns with gold' (a Greek-style accusative of respect aurum with the passive participle inductae): the victims' horns were gilded. conciderant ictae: 'had fallen, struck'. cum ... constitit: inverted cum, 'when (suddenly) he stood'. sit coniunx ... similis mea eburnae: jussive subjunctive, 'let my wife be like the ivory girl'; the parenthesis (non ausus ... dicere) shows him changing his prayer mid-sentence.

Met. 10.277Sēnsit, ut ipsa suīs aderat Venus aurea fēstīs,
vōta quid illa velint;

Golden Venus, who was present in person at her own festival, understood what those prayers meant;

Note. ut ipsa ... aderat: 'since she herself was present'. vota quid illa velint: indirect question, 'what those prayers meant' (literally 'wanted').

Met. 10.278et, amīcī nūminis ōmen,
flamma ter accēnsa est apicemque per āera dūxit.

and as an omen of the friendly goddess, the flame flared up three times and drew its tip up through the air.

Note. amici numinis omen: in apposition to the whole clause, 'as a sign of a friendly deity'. ter: three times, a lucky number. per aera: Greek accusative of āēr.

Met. 10.280Ut rediit, simulācra suae petit ille puellae
incumbēnsque torō dedit ōscula: vīsa tepēre est.

When he returned, he went to the image of his girl and, leaning over the couch, gave her kisses: she seemed to be warm.

Note. Ut rediit: 'when he returned'. simulacra suae ... puellae: poetic plural, 'the image of his girl'. visa tepere est: 'she seemed to be warm' (videor with an infinitive). The heavy pause after oscula prepares the surprise.

Met. 10.282Admovet ōs iterum, manibus quoque pectora temptat:
temptātum mollēscit ebur positōque rigōre
subsīdit digitīs cēditque, ut Hymēttia sōle
285cēra remollēscit trāctātaque pollice multās
flectitur in faciēs ipsōque fit ūtilis ūsū.

He brings his mouth to her again, and with his hands too he tests her breast: the ivory, tested, grows soft, loses its stiffness, sinks under his fingers and yields, as wax from Hymettus softens in the sun, and, worked by the thumb, is bent into many shapes and is made useful by use itself.

Note. temptatum mollescit ebur: 'the ivory, tested, softens'; the chain of present tenses (mollescit, subsidit, cedit) shows the change happening. positoque rigore: ablative absolute, 'its hardness laid aside'. The simile compares the statue to beeswax from Mount Hymettus near Athens, which softens in the sun, is shaped by the thumb, and 'becomes useful by being used'.

Met. 10.287Dum stupet et dubiē gaudet fallīque verētur,
rūrsus amāns rūrsusque manū sua vōta retractat.

While he is stunned, and rejoices uncertainly, and fears he is deceived, the lover touches his prayers with his hand again and again.

Note. Dum + present: 'while'. dubie gaudet: 'is uncertainly glad'. falli: present passive infinitive, 'to be deceived'. rursus ... rursusque: 'again and again'. vota retractat: 'handles his prayers (i.e. the answered prayer, the girl) again'.

Met. 10.289Corpus erat: saliunt temptātae pollice vēnae.

It was a body: the veins throb, tested by his thumb.

Note. Corpus erat: the short sentence marks the moment of transformation. saliunt ... venae: 'the veins leap', i.e. the pulse beats.

Met. 10.290Tum vērō Paphius plēnissima concipit hērōs
verba, quibus Venerī grātēs agat, ōraque tandem
ōre suō nōn falsa premit: dataque ōscula virgō
sēnsit et ērubuit timidumque ad lūmina lūmen
attollēns pariter cum caelō vīdit amantem.

Then indeed the hero of Paphos pours out words full of thanks to Venus, and at last presses with his mouth a mouth that is not false: the girl felt the kisses given her and blushed, and lifting her shy eyes to the light, she saw at the same moment the sky and her lover.

Note. Paphius ... heros: Pygmalion, called after Paphos, his city (and the name of his future child). plenissima ... verba: 'words full (of gratitude)'. quibus ... grates agat: relative purpose clause, 'with which to give thanks'. ora ... non falsa: 'lips that are not false', i.e. real lips. ad lumina lumen: 'her eyes to the light' (lumen 'eye', lumina 'daylight'), a play on the word. pariter cum caelo vidit amantem: 'she saw her lover together with the sky' — her first sight.

Met. 10.295Coniugiō, quod fēcit, adest dea.

The goddess is present at the marriage she made.

Note. Coniugio: dative with adest, 'is present at the marriage'; quod fecit: 'which she (Venus) made'.

Met. 10.295Iamque coāctīs
cornibus in plēnum noviēns lūnāribus orbem
illa Paphon genuit, dē quā tenet īnsula nōmen.

And when the moon's horns had nine times come together into a full circle, she gave birth to Paphos, from whom the island takes its name.

Note. coactis cornibus ... noviens lunaribus: 'when the moon's horns had nine times been brought together into a full circle', i.e. after nine months. illa: the statue-wife (later called Galatea, a name not in Ovid). Paphon: Greek accusative. tenet insula nomen: the town of Paphos in Cyprus is named after the child.