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Vocab & Notes 

umbras erat illa recentes

inter et incessit passu de vulnere tardo.

hanc simul et legem Rhodopeius accipit heros,                                                      50

ne flectat retro sua lumina, donec Avernas

exierit valles; aut inrita dona futura.

carpitur adclivis per muta silentia trames,

arduus, obscurus, caligine densus opaca,

nec procul afuerunt telluris margine summae:               

hic, ne deficeret, metuens avidusque videndi

flexit amans oculos, et protinus illa relapsa est,

bracchiaque intendens prendique et prendere certans

nil nisi cedentes infelix arripit auras.

iamque iterum moriens non est de coniuge quicquam                                           60

questa suo (quid enim nisi se quereretur amatam?)

supremumque 'vale,' quod iam vix auribus ille

acciperet, dixit revolutaque rursus eodem est.

     Non aliter stupuit gemina nece coniugis Orpheus,

quam tria qui timidus, medio portante catenas,

colla canis vidit, quem non pavor ante reliquit,

quam natura prior saxo per corpus oborto,

quique in se crimen traxit voluitque videri

Olenos esse nocens, tuque, o confisa figurae,

infelix Lethaea, tuae, iunctissima quondam                                                           70

pectora, nunc lapides, quos umida sustinet Ide.

orantem frustraque iterum transire volentem

portitor arcuerat: septem tamen ille diebus

squalidus in ripa Cereris sine munere sedit;

cura dolorque animi lacrimaeque alimenta fuere. 

esse deos Erebi crudeles questus, in altam

se recipit Rhodopen pulsumque aquilonibus Haemum.

     Tertius aequoreis inclusum Piscibus annum

finierat Titan, omnemque refugerat Orpheus

femineam Venerem, seu quod male cesserat illi,                                                    80

sive fidem dederat; multas tamen ardor habebat

iungere se vati, multae doluere repulsae.

ille etiam Thracum populis fuit auctor amorem

in teneros transferre mares citraque iuventam

aetatis breve ver et primos carpere flores. 

  1. Umbra, umbrae, f, shadow: shade  

  2. Flecto, flectere, flexi, flexum: to bend, turn back 

  3. Carpo, carpere, carpsi, carptum: to tear off 

  4. Prendo, prendere, prendi, prensum: (alternative form of ‘prehendo’), to grab 

  5. Quicquam: anyone, anything 

  6. Geminus, gemina, geminum: twinborn, double

  7. Catenta, catenae, f: chain 

  8. Pavor, pavoris, m: the act of trembling, fear 

  9. Oborior, oboriri, obortus sum: to arise, appear, occur 

  10. Squalidus, squalida, squalidum: stiff, rough 

  11. Dolor, doloris, m: pain ache

  12. Aquilo, aquilonis, m: north wind, wind 

  13. Cedo, cedere, cessi, cessum: to go, move 

  14. Ardor, ardoris, m: flamre, fire 

  15. Aetas, aetatis, f: the period of a life, lifespan

​

  1. (48): Ovid refers to the souls of the underworld as shades 

  2. (49): A venomous snake previously bit Eurydice, killing her 

  3. (50): Rhodope is a region of Thrace, and is the birthplace of Orpheus 

  4. (51): The Avernian Valley is an alternative name for the underworld 

  5. (51-2): “ne…flectat” is a subjunctive noun clause 

  6. (52): “Dona futura” refers to Eurydice’s freedom from the underworld 

  7. (53): “muta silentia” refers to the eerie quiet of the underworld 

  8. (56): “ne deficeret” is a subjunctive—negative purpose clause 

  9. (56): “metuens” is a present participle 

  10. (61): “(quid…amatam?)” — a question Ovid directly poses to the reader  

  11. (69): Olenos is a Greek mythological figure who was turned into stone because of his wife’s arrogance 

  12. (73): “portitor” — Ovid omits the figure Mercury, who other poets often depict accompanying the two lovers on their ascent

  13. (74): Antonomasia; Ceres is the goddess of harvest, he is without food 

  14. (78): Antonomasia; Venus is the goddess of romantic and sexual love, he is without venery 

  15. (83): The Thracians inhabited large swaths of Southeast Europe in what is now Romania, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, northern Greece, and eastern Turkey

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