Metamorphoses 8.183–235

Met. 8.183Daedalus intereā Crētēn longumque perōsus
exsilium tāctusque locī nātālis amōre
185clausus erat pelagō.

Meanwhile Daedalus, hating Crete and his long exile and moved by love of his native place, was shut in by the sea.

Note. Crētēn is a Greek accusative (Crētē, -ēs). perōsus, 'utterly hating', takes accusative objects (Crētēn, exsilium). Ovid holds the main verb back: clausus erat pelagō, 'he was shut in by the sea', is the point of the sentence. Daedalus was held on Crete by King Minos after building the Labyrinth.

Met. 8.185"Terrās licet" inquit "et undās
obstruat: at caelum certē patet;

"He may block the lands and the waves," he said, "but the sky at least lies open;

Note. licet + subjunctive (obstruat) means 'although' or 'he may': a concession. The subject is Minos. Note how inquit interrupts the quotation, as often in Latin.

Met. 8.186ībimus illāc.

we will go that way.

Note. ībimus: future of eō, 'we shall go'.

Met. 8.187Omnia possideat, nōn possidet āera Mīnōs."

Minos may possess everything, but he does not possess the air."

Note. possideat is a concessive subjunctive again ('let him possess…'). āera is a Greek accusative of āēr. Ovid repeats possideat / possidet for point: the contrast is everything.

Met. 8.188Dīxit et ignōtās animum dīmittit in artēs
nātūramque novat.

He spoke, and turned his mind to unknown arts, and made nature new.

Note. in artēs dīmittit animum: 'sends his mind into arts', i.e. turns his thoughts to them. nātūram novat: Daedalus changes nature itself, the theme of the whole poem (Metamorphōsēs, 'transformations').

Met. 8.189Nam pōnit in ōrdine pennās,
190ā minimā coeptās, longam breviōre sequentī,
ut clīvō crēvisse putēs.

For he lays feathers in a row, beginning with the smallest, a shorter one followed by a longer, so that you would think they had grown on a slope.

Note. ā minimā (pennā) coeptās: 'begun from the smallest'. longam breviōre sequentī: an ablative absolute, 'a long one with a shorter one following', i.e. graded by length. putēs is a potential subjunctive: 'you would think'.

Met. 8.191Sīc rūstica quondam
fistula disparibus paulātim surgit avēnīs.

In just this way a rustic panpipe once rises little by little from reeds of unequal length.

Note. The simile compares the graded feathers to a panpipe (fistula), whose reeds of unequal length (disparibus avēnīs) rise gradually.

Met. 8.193Tum līnō mediās et cērīs adligat īmās,
atque ita compositās parvō curvāmine flectit,
195ut vērās imitētur avēs.

Then he binds the middle ones with thread and the lowest with wax, and bends them, once arranged, in a gentle curve, so as to imitate real birds.

Note. mediās … īmās (pennās): 'the middle ones … the lowest'. īmus is the superlative of īnferus. ut … imitētur: a purpose or result clause.

Met. 8.195Puer Īcarus ūnā
stābat et, ignārus sua sē trāctāre perīcla,
ōre renīdentī modo, quās vaga mōverat aura,
captābat plūmās, flāvam modo pollice cēram
mollībat lūsūque suō mīrābile patris
200impediēbat opus.

The boy Icarus was standing with him and, not knowing that he was handling his own peril, with a beaming face he was now catching at the feathers which the wandering breeze had stirred, now softening the yellow wax with his thumb, and by his play he was hindering his father's wonderful work.

Note. A long sentence built around the imperfects stābat, captābat, mollībat, impediēbat, describing what the boy kept doing. mollībat is an old form of mollīēbat. sua … perīcla: perīcla is a shortened (syncopated) form of perīcula, common in poetry. modo … modo: 'now … now'. ignārus + accusative and infinitive: 'not knowing that he was handling…'.

Met. 8.200Postquam manus ultima coeptō
imposita est, geminās opifex lībrāvit in ālās
ipse suum corpus mōtāque pependit in aurā.

After the last touch had been put to the undertaking, the craftsman himself balanced his body on the twin wings and hung in the air he had set moving.

Note. manus ultima: 'the last hand', i.e. the finishing touch. coeptō is a noun here, 'the undertaking'. mōtā … in aurā: 'in the air (that he had) set moving' with his wings.

Met. 8.203Īnstruit et nātum "mediō"que "ut līmite currās,
Īcare," ait "moneō, nē, sī dēmissior ībis,
205unda gravet pennās, sī celsior, ignis adūrat.

He instructs his son too: "I warn you, Icarus," he says, "to fly on the middle course, so that the water does not weigh down your wings if you go too low, and the fire does not scorch them if you go too high.

Note. Īnstruit natum … et 'ut … currās' ait 'moneō': the order is broken up by the quotation. moneō ut … currās: an indirect command. nē … gravet … adūrat: negative purpose clauses. dēmissior, celsior: comparatives, 'too low', 'too high'.

Met. 8.206Inter utrumque volā.

Fly between the two.

Note. volā: imperative of volō, 'fly' (not volō 'wish').

Met. 8.206Nec tē spectāre Boōtēn
aut Helicēn iubeō strictumque Ōrīōnis ēnsem:
mē duce carpe viam."

And I tell you not to look at Boötes or Helice or the drawn sword of Orion: take your way with me as your guide."

Note. Boōtēn, Helicēn: Greek accusatives. Sailors steered by these northern stars; Daedalus tells Icarus to steer by him instead. mē duce: ablative absolute, 'with me as leader'.

Met. 8.208Pariter praecepta volandī
trādit et ignōtās umerīs accommodat ālās.

At the same time he hands on the rules of flying and fits the unknown wings to his shoulders.

Note. volandī: gerund, genitive, 'of flying'. umerīs: dative with accommodat, 'fits to his shoulders'.

Met. 8.210Inter opus monitūsque genae maduēre senīlēs,
et patriae tremuēre manūs.

Amid the work and the warnings the old man's cheeks were wet, and the father's hands trembled.

Note. maduēre, tremuēre: the poetic perfect ending -ēre for -ērunt. patriae manūs: 'the father's hands'; patrius is the adjective of pater.

Met. 8.211Dedit ōscula nātō
nōn iterum repetenda suō, pennīsque levātus
ante volat comitīque timet, velut āles, ab altō
quae teneram prōlem prōdūxit in āera nīdō,
215hortāturque sequī damnōsāsque ērudit artēs
et movet ipse suās et nātī respicit ālās.

He gave his son kisses that were not to be repeated, and lifted on his wings he flies ahead and fears for his companion, like a bird that has led its tender young from a high nest into the air; and he urges him to follow and teaches him the ruinous arts, and moves his own wings and looks back at his son's.

Note. nōn iterum repetenda: a gerundive, 'not to be given again': the narrator lets us know what Icarus does not. velut āles …: the simile of a mother bird teaching her chicks to fly. āera: Greek accusative again. damnōsās artēs: 'ruinous arts', a comment on what is coming.

Met. 8.217Hōs aliquis tremulā dum captat harundine piscēs,
aut pāstor baculō stīvāve innīxus arātor
vīdit et obstipuit, quīque aethera carpere possent
220crēdidit esse deōs.

Someone catching fish with a quivering rod, or a shepherd leaning on his staff, or a ploughman on the handle of his plough, saw them and was stunned, and believed that they, who could travel the sky, were gods.

Note. Hōs is the object of vīdit. aliquis … aut pāstor … aut arātor: three onlookers, each with a verb or participle: captat, innīxus. stīvāve: stīvā + -ve, 'or on the plough handle'. quīque … possent: 'and (believed) that those who could travel the sky were gods'; the antecedent is the understood subject of esse.

Met. 8.220Et iam Iūnōnia laevā
parte Samos (fuerant Dēlosque Parosque relictae),
dextrā Lebinthos erat fēcundaque melle Calymnē,
cum puer audācī coepit gaudēre volātū
dēseruitque ducem caelīque cupīdine trāctus
225altius ēgit iter.

And now Juno's Samos was on the left (Delos and Paros had been left behind), Lebinthos and Calymne, rich in honey, were on the right, when the boy began to delight in his bold flight, left his guide, and, drawn by desire for the sky, took a higher course.

Note. A 'cum inversum': the main clause sets the scene (iam … erat), and cum + indicative (coepit) brings in the sudden event. Samos, Delos, Paros, Lebinthos and Calymne are Aegean islands; the route is described from north-west to south-east, as they flew from Crete towards Asia Minor. altius: comparative adverb, 'higher'.

Met. 8.225Rapidī vīcīnia sōlis
mollit odōrātās, pennārum vincula, cērās.

The nearness of the fierce sun softens the fragrant wax, the bonds of the feathers.

Note. The word order wraps the subject around the verb: rapidī vīcīnia sōlis, 'the nearness of the fierce sun'. pennārum vincula is in apposition to cērās.

Met. 8.227Tābuerant cērae: nūdōs quatit ille lacertōs,
rēmigiōque carēns nōn ūllās percipit aurās,
ōraque caeruleā patrium clāmantia nōmen
230excipiuntur aquā: quae nōmen trāxit ab illō.

The wax had melted: he shakes his bare arms and, lacking the oarage of wings, catches no air, and his mouth, calling his father's name, is taken by the dark blue water, which took its name from him.

Note. Tābuerant: pluperfect, 'had (already) melted', a sudden jump in time. rēmigium is the 'oarage' of the wings, a bold metaphor. quae nōmen trāxit ab illō: the Icarian Sea (Mare Īcarium) in the eastern Aegean, named after him.

Met. 8.231At pater īnfēlīx, nec iam pater, "Īcare," dīxit,
"Īcare," dīxit "ubi es?

But the unhappy father, no longer a father, said, "Icarus," said, "Icarus, where are you?

Note. nec iam pater: 'no longer a father', since his son is dead. The repetition of 'Īcare' imitates his calling.

Met. 8.232quā tē regiōne requīram?"

In what region shall I look for you?"

Note. quā … regiōne: interrogative adjective + ablative of place. requīram: deliberative subjunctive, 'am I to look for'.

Met. 8.233"Īcare" dīcēbat: pennās adspexit in undīs
dēvōvitque suās artēs corpusque sepulcrō
235condidit, et tellūs ā nōmine dicta sepultī.

"Icarus," he kept saying: he caught sight of the feathers on the waves, cursed his own arts, and laid the body in a tomb, and the land was called after the name of the one buried there.

Note. dīcēbat: imperfect, 'he kept saying'. tellūs … dicta (est): the island of Icaria, where Icarus was buried, took its name from him. sepultī: genitive of the participle used as a noun, 'of the buried one'.