OVID, AMORES 1.3
iusta precor: quae me nuper praedata puella est,
aut amet aut faciat cur ego semper amem!
a, nimium volui—tantum patiatur amari;
CRITICAL
APPARATUS1
GLOSSARY (Christina Peaslee & Anita Santos)
precor, ārī, ātus sum to ask, beg, pray;
nuper (adv.) newly, lately;
nimium (adv.) too much;
patior, patī, passus sum to bear, suffer, endure;
prex, precis (usu. pl.) f. prayer
audierit nostras tot Cytherea preces!
5
accipe, per longos tibi qui deserviat annos;
accipe, qui pura norit amare fide!
si me non veterum commendant magna parentum
nomina, si nostri sanguinis auctor eques,
nec meus innumeris renovatur campus aratris,
10
temperat et sumptus parcus uterque parens—
deserviō, īre, ivī, itum to serve zealously, be devoted
nōscō, nōscere, nōvī, nōtum to get knowledge of, learn, discern,
come to know;
commendō, āre to entrust, confide, commit for protection
sanguis, is m. blood
equēs, itis m. horseman, rider
renovō, āre to renew, restore; plow over
campus, ī m. plain, field
temperō, āre to restrain;
sumptus, ūs m. expenses;
parcus, a, um sparing, thrifty, frugal
COMMENTARY (Christina Peaslee & Ortwin Knorr)
In this poem, Ovid finally mentions the woman with whom he has fallen in love. Most poets in this style mention the object of their affection in the first poem,
yet Ovid waits until the third poem to mention her. This could indicate that she is not the most important aspect of the poetry, that Ovid is really writing of his
experiences as a lover and the woman is secondary. Ovid describes his love for this woman as a kind of servitude, and he begs her to accept him. The power of
the relationship in the poem clearly belongs to the woman. He describes his devotion to her in line five, as he will serve her zealously and be devoted to her
through long years. As usual, Ovid's references and imagery are advanced and suited to a reader with previous knowledge. (Christina Peaslee)
1 iusta (n. pl.) = justice. 2 amet … faciat … patiatur: iussive subjunctives. 4 audierit: future perfect, alternative form to audiverit; the sentence audierit …
preces functions like the apodosis to the protasis that is implied in the wish tantum patiatur amari, i.e. “(If my wish is fulfilled and she tolerates …,) then Venus
will have heard my prayers.” 4 Cytherea is another name for Venus, the goddess of love. 5 qui … deserviat: relative clause of consecutive characteristic: “who
is of such a kind that he will serve”. 6 nōrit, syncopated for the perf. subj. form nōverit (in another relative clause of consecutive characteristic: qui … noverit
“who is of such a kind that he knows”).
11 si qua fides (est): literally, “if there is any loyalty (or truth)”, i.e., “you can believe me”; refers to Apollo, the god of poetry. 11 Repertor vitis, the inventor of
the vine is Bacchus, the god of wine. 11 comites novem the nine Muses accompany Apollo. 12 hāc (ex parte) faciunt they act on this (i.e., my) side, they
support me;
1
P: Parisinus Latinus 8242 (Puteaneus), saec. ix/x (only Am. 1.1.51-rest); S: Sangallensis 864, saec. xi; Y: Berolinensis Hamiltonensis 471, saec. xi; y: a corrector of cod.
Y; ω: all or many mss. except RPSY; ς: some or a few of these mss; φ: florilegia & excerpts, saec. xii-xiv.
P. Ovidi Nasonis Amores
I3
11
at Phoebus comitesque novem vitisque repertor
hac faciunt, et me qui tibi donat, Amor,
et nulli cessura fides, sine crimine mores
nudaque simplicitas purpureusque pudor.
15
non mihi mille placent, non sum desultor amoris:
tu mihi, si qua fides, cura perennis eris.
tecum, quos dederint annos mihi fila sororum,
vivere contingat teque dolente mori!
12 hac Palmer :
haec PYSω :
hoc ς : hinc Merkel
13 nulli cessura
fides Sςφ : nulli
censura et dis PY :
non cessuri nisi diis
ω
desultor PYS :
desertor yω :
delusor, seductor,
simulator ς
repertor, ōris m. discoverer, inventor
cēdō, cēdere, cessī, cessum to give way, yield;
purpureus, a, um purple colored
pudor, ōris m. modesty, decency, propriety
dēsultor, ōris m a circus rider (who jumps from horse to horse: dē+ saltāre); perennis, e perennial, eternal (per + annus); fīlum, ī n.
thread; contingit, contigit (impers.) it happens, it comes to pass; it
befalls (alicuī, someone); praebeō, ēre, uī, itum to offer, present;
māteriēs, ēī f. material (for building), subject, theme; fēlix, fēlīcis
fruitful, fertile, happy; prōveniō, venīre, vēnī, ventum to come
forward, to come to light.
te mihi materiem felicem in carmina praebe—
20
provenient causa carmina digna sua.
COMMENTARY (Anita Santos & Ortwin Knorr)
In the second half of Am. 1.3, Ovid continues with his attempt to prove his love. In lines 15-20, he proclaims that his love for his woman is strong and everlasting.
He expresses wishes for their future and compels her to be his muse so that their names may last forever just as the names of Io (line 21), Leda (line 22), and
Europa (lines 23-24). Although Ovid presents himself as subservient to his lover, the fact that these women were powerless when faced with Zeus reveals a
similar power imbalance between Ovid and his beloved. It is really Ovid’s name that will be commemorated throughout time, while her name is never mentioned
in this poem. Zeus and Ovid’s unnamed lover are channels through which the real subjects of the poems will be remembered. (Anita Santos)
17 sorōres the Parcae who spin and finally cut off everyone’s thread of life; 17 quōs … dederint the subjunctive in the relative clause has been explained as a
subj. of attraction (i.e., agreeing with contingat, 18), but dederint is probably better understood as a potential subj. or as a subj. in a relative clause of characteristic (both are related, see Allen & Greenough, Latin Grammar, p. 343). 18 contingat (mihi): optative subj.: “may it happen (to me)”; 18 tēque dolente, abl.
abs. 19 materiem felicem predicative accusatives: “offer yourself as …”; 20 provenient future tense; causā … suā ablative of specification after digna;
P. Ovidi Nasonis Amores
I3
21
carmine nomen habent exterrita cornibus Io
et quam fluminea lusit adulter ave,
quaeque super pontum simulato vecta iuvenco
virginea tenuit cornua vara manu.
25
nos quoque per totum pariter cantabimur orbem,
exterreō, -ēre, -uī, -itum to terrify (+ abl., with sth.); Īōūs or Īōnis
f. (acc & abl: Īō) Io, daughter of Inachos, beloved of Zeus;
flūmineus, -a, -um adj. of a river; lūdō, -dere, -sī, -sum to play,
trick, deceive; adulter, -erī m. adultery, lover; avis, -is f. a bird;
super (prep. w. acc.) over, above; pontus, -ī m. sea; simulō, -āre, āvī, -ātum to imitate, represent; simulātus, a, um (part.) fake;
vehor, vehī, vectus sum to ride (on sth.); iuvencus, ī m. a young
bull or ox; vārus, a, um crooked, bent; quŏque also, too; pariter
equally, in like manner.
iunctaque semper erunt nomina nostra tuis.
COMMENTARY
21 carmine abl. of reason: “because of a poem”; 21 Zeus turned Io, daughter of king Inachos of Argos, into a cow to hide his interest in her from the suspicious
eyes of his wife, Hera; 22 flumineā … ave ablative of means after lusit; Zeus disguised himself as a swan when he seduced Leda, the wife of king Tyndareos of
Sparta; 23 simulato iuvenco abl. of means after vehor (lit., “to be transported by”, i.e., “to ride on”); 23 refers to the myth of Europa and the Bull: Zeus abducted
Europa, a Phoenician princess, in the disguise of a bull, and brought her across the sea to Crete. 25 Nos is ambivalent. On the one hand, it means “you and I”. On
the other hand, it could also indicate the “royal we”, just as nostra in line 26, which because of tuis clearly refers only to Ovid. Thus it becomes another hint that
it is really Ovid’s name alone that will be sung throughout the world.