Decent Help :: Ne Sit Ancillae :: II:4

In today's ode, it is hard to tell whether Horace is being sarcastic, playful, fatherly, serious, or sly.  Is he talking to himself?  Is he the one who is smitten by someone of the lower classes? Or is there a real person named Xantias of Phocis, who is badly in need of advice? Scholars can't agree.

One thing is for certain.  This poem was written when Horace was forty years old. Now middle-aged, he takes up his stylus (I suppose he composed this poem on a wax tablet) and scratches out a few witty words to say that he is now beyond looking at a girl's pretty legs. Mirabile dictu! We have already seen what he can write when the sap returns to his aged, withered frame. 

I exaggerate. I only wish, in my translation, I could have taken the time to find the right amount of exaggeration (as if exaggeration were on a continuum from less exaggerated to most exaggerated) for this poem and to capture what I think he is saying about love between the classes, between the older and the young.

I also did not find the right words to capture the humor, which goes like this: 

Don't worry, Xan. Lots of guys've had trouble with their maids. Let me give you a few examples, like from Homer. You know, the girl you're interested in is so nice she must be a closet royal. And by the way, I think she's gorgeous—arms, face, and those legs! But don't think I'm . . . . no, listen. I'm way too old.

Notes:

Pergama [Πέργαμα], a plural neuter noun meaning the citadel of Troy.

Tecmessa: the daughter of King Teuthras, and mistress of Ajax, son of the argonaut Telamo[n] [Τελαμών].

Hector [Ἔκτωρ]: the bravest of the Trojans, slain and dragged three times around Troy by Achiles.

Thessaly [Θεσσαλία]: the country of Thessaly in the northeastern part of Greece, but here refers to Achilles.

Atrides: Agamemnon and the 'virgo rapta' is Cassandra, Agamemnon's prize at the fall of Troy.

lustrum:  a period of five years. 

Translation:

Do not let love for a maidservant be your shame, 

Xanthias of Phocis. Before, the servant girl, 

snow white Briseis, excited haughty Achilles.

The beauty of the captive Tecmessa excited 

the master Ajax, who was born of Telamon.

Atrides, in triumph, was consumed by that girl, 

seized after the barbarous towers, by Achilles' 

victory, fell, after Hector, though dragged off, made 

of Troy easy prey for the battle-weary Greeks. 

You don't know if blond Phyllis' well-off parents

will honor you as son-in-law, for surely 

she mourns her royal lineage and the unfair gods.

Believe it: one you picked is not of the unwashed, 

one so true, so anti money, couldn't've come 

from a mother disgraced. Her arms,  face, smooth thighs

all I laud. But don't get me, whose age has just rushed 

to the conclusion of its eighth lustrum, all wrong!

translation copyright © 2010 by James Rumford

Commentarii: http://www.horatius.ru/index.xps?2.1.204

In prose:

Ne sit amor ancillae tibi pudori,

Xanthia Phoceu:

prius serva Briseis niveo colore Achillem insolentem movit,

forma captivae Tecmessae Aiacem dominum—Telemone natum—movit,

Atrides in triumpho medio virgine rapta arsit,

postquam turmae barbarae victore Thessalo cecidere

et Hector ademptus leviora Pergama Grais fessis tradidit tolli.

Nescias an parentes beati generum Phyllidis flavae decorent:

certe genus regium, et penatis iniquos maeret.

Crede illam dilectam non tibi de plebe scelesta,

nec sic fidelem,

sic aversam lucro potuisse matre pudenda nasci.

bracchia et voltum surasque teretes integer laudo:

fuge suspicari,

cuius aetas trepidavit octavum lustrum claudere. 

Original Ode:

Ne sit ancillae tibi amor pudori,
Xanthia Phoceu: prius insolentem
serua Briseis niueo colore
     mouit Anchillem;

mouit Aiacem Telamone natum               5
forma captiuae dominum Tecmessae;
arsit Atrides medio in triumpho
     uirgine rapta,

barbarae postquam cecidere turmae
Thessalo uictore et ademptus Hector               10
tradidit fessis leuiora tolli
     Pergama Grais.

Nescias an te generum beati
Phyllidis flauae decorent parentes;
regium certe genus et penatis               15
     maeret iniquos.

Crede non illam tibi de scelesta
plebe delectam, neque sic fidelem,
sic lucro auersam potuisse nasci
     matre pudenda.               20

Bracchia et uoltum teretisque suras
integer laudo: fuge suspicari
cuius octauum trepidauit aetas
     claudere lustrum.

Moriturus te saluto :: Æquam Memento :: II:3

Sumus omnes morituri.  We are all about to die. Morituri is a phrase often heard in the coliseum from gladiators addressing the emperor: morituri te salutant: those who are about to die salute you. And in today's ode, Horace ironically salutes this intimate friend of Emperor Augustus named Dellius as 'O Dellus, about to die."    

As an aside, translated word for word into Chinese, moriture would become a very pejorative term: 要死的, meaning 'damn.' Different cultures. Different ideas about death.

As for Horace's ideas about death, they are pretty clear by now. Death is inevitable. Its hour unpredictable. Its manner surprising. But above all, death is something we shouldn't worry about. 

Some scholars find this ode a good excuse to talk about les grandes idées, but I see it as a good opportunity to see Horace at his best: unpretentious and straight forward.

This ode is also a good opportunity to explain a little more about the strategy I use to understand Horace. In the first stanza of this ode, Horace writes:

Aequam memento rebus in arduis

servare mentem non secus ac bonis

ab insolenti temperatam

laetitia, moriture Delli,

My strategy is to consider each word complete in itself.

• Aequam memento — remember the equal one
• rebus in arduis — things in hard ones
• servare mentem — to keep the mind

At this point, I begin reordering the phrase, putting words of the same gender and number and case together and come up with:

Remember to keep the mind equal in hard matters/things

I continue:

• non secus ac bonis – just as good ones
• ab insolenti – from an unaccustomed one
• temperatam — a tempered one
• laetitia – joy
• moriture – O one who is about to die, 
• Delli – O Dellus

When I put this together, I get:

just as good ones from unaccustomed joy a tempered one, 

O Dellus, who is about to die.

The question now is: what do the 'one's' refer to? Gender and number and case help me make connections to the first part of the stanza. 'Good ones' must refer to 'matters.' 'Tempered one' must refer 'mind.' Thus the stanza must read:

Remember to keep the mind equal in hard matters just as [you keep] a tempered one 

in good matters due to unaccustomed joy, O Dellus, who is about to die.

I have no name for this take-each-word-as-it-comes strategy. Shall I call it "the Horace Strategy"? Perhaps. 

Psycholinguistically there is nothing new here. As we receive linguistic information our minds are constantly formulating hypotheses about what is being said. We revise and double check all along the way until we've decided we understand.  If not, we simply say, "Huh? Could you repeat that?" Being proficient in a language means being able to formulate these hypotheses with lightning speed. Although I am still in first gear on a uphill climb, clarifying in my mind what I must do to understand Horace has made things a whole lot easier.

And as an experiment, my translation below contains no capitalization or punctuation. Native speakers, have at it. Hypothesize away!

translation:

an even mind remember keep that

in steep times and when things are 

good because of unaccustomed joy

my mortal dellius

or you can live out your days in sadness

or you can treat yourself to some quiet 

lawn come the holidays with falerno 

from the cellar's depths

he the giant pine and she the white poplar

why do they love joining branches of welcoming 

shade why does the water fly struggle rush 

down the winding bank

over here wine and oil and sweet roses 

all too short-lived order them brought

while things life the black thread of the 

three sisters let us.

you'll give up lands houses the villa 

washed by the yellow tiber you'll give 

them up and the riches piled high

your heir will take

are you a rich man of the ancient inachus line,

who cares if you die a pauper and come 

from the lowest class under heaven o victim 

of the uncaring monster

we're all being herded to the same place

everyone's urn will be turned over and 

sooner or later out will come our number 

to put us on eternal exile's boat.

copyright © 2010 by James Rumford

notes: 

Falernus: a famous wine of the Campania region

Inachus [Ἴναχος]: the first king of Argos

Orcus: Pluto; some say the origin of our word 'ogre'

Sororum trium: of the three fates, the third of whom cuts the black thread of life that the other two have spun and woven. 

commentarii: http://www.horatius.ru/index.xps?2.1.203

in prose:

In rebus arduis memento mentem aequam servare

non secus in bonis ab laetitia insolenti temperatam, 

moriture Delli,

seu maestus omni tempore vixeris

seu in gramine remoto per dies festos, interiore nota Falerni,  te reclinatum bearis.

Quo pinus ingens populusque alba amant umbram hospitalem ramis consociare?

Quid lympha fugax laborat rivo obliquo trepidare?

Iube vina et unguenta et nimium flores brevis rosae amoenae huc ferre,

dum res et aetas et fila atra sororum trium patiuntur.

Saltibus et domo villaque coemptis quam Tibiris flavus lavit cedes;

Cedes et heres divitiis in altum exstructis potietur.

Divesne natus ab Inacho pisco nil interest an pauper et de gente infima sub divo moreris—victima Orci nil miserantis.

Omnes eodem cogimur, urna omnium versatur serius ocius sors exitura,

et in exilium aeternum cumbae nos impositura. 

original:

Aequam memento rebus in arduis
seruare mentem, non secus in bonis
     ab insolenti temperatam
     laetitia, moriture Delli,

seu maestus omni tempore uixeris               5
seu te in remoto gramine per dies
     festos reclinatum bearis
     interiore nota Falerni.

Quo pinus ingens albaque populus
umbram hospitalem consociare amant               10
     ramis? Quid obliquo laborat
     lympha fugax trepidare riuo?

Huc uina et unguenta et nimium breuis
flores amoenae ferre iube rosae,
     dum res et aetas et Sororum
     fila trium patiuntur atra.               15

Cedes coemptis saltibus et domo
uillaque, flauus quam Tiberis lauit,
     cedes, et exstructis in altum
     diuitiis potietur heres.               20

Diuesne prisco natus ab Inacho
nil interest an pauper et infima
     de gente sub diuo moreris,
     uictima nil miserantis Orci;

omnes eodem cogimur, omnium               25
uersatur urna serius ocius
     sors exitura et nos in aeternum
     exilium impositura cumbae.

Lolita Romana :: Nondum Subacta Ferre :: II:5

I doubt that this ode was part of every school boy's curriculum in the days when Horace was still one of the spokes of a well-rounded education, for this ode is about the sexual mores of the Romans—about themes that we moderns have only begun to talk about openly in art. You know: the Lolita stories of the past sixty years, the shocking transgender films like the "Crying Game" and "Boys Don't Cry." This ode is the kind that must have given Rome such a bad rap over the years, making a phrase like 'the decadence of Rome' sound almost axiomatic.

It is difficult to understand what Horace is saying in this ode. Some scholars see sexual metaphors and double entendres with every word. Other scholars are not so sure, perhaps because there is a depth of thought that goes beyond sexual innuendo. Horace presents us with a middle-aged man forced to admit the years have taken their toll and that the youth belong to a club he is no longer a member of.

Horace seems to be talking to someone in this ode, but I don't know who. Perhaps some friend of his enamored of a very young girl. Perhaps he is talking to himself, for he has mentioned the girl Lalage before in Ode I:22 [Jan 31 blog]. Or perhaps, as I suspect, he is talking to you, foretelling the future, if you are young, reminding you of the facts if you are old, while giving you images you won't soon forget.

A lot of the meaning of the poem hinges on line 16:

dilecta, quantum non Pholoë fugax,

which many translators/commentators read as 'more loved than flighty Pholoë' [Garrison, Horace Epodes and Odes] or as 'loved even more than shy Pholoë.' [Rudd, Horace, Loeb Classical Library].

Clearly Horace intends to make a comparison, but what kind of comparison?  Does quantum mean 'as much as' giving us:

[Lalage] loved, not as much as shy Pholoë

Perhaps 'loved not as much as' effectively means the same thing as 'more loved than,' but I see a difference, one that suggests that although Lalage is loved, she has her own special charms, charms unlike those of Chloris, Pholoë, or Gyges. 

I turn to Porphyrion, who had this to say about this line:

Dilecta generaliter accipe: a quocumque, qui eam viderit, dilecta; et hoc utique propter pulchritudinem, quam in ea praedicat praeferendo Chloridi et Foloae, quas aeque pulcherrimas fuisse intellegendum.

Generally take dilecta as: beloved by whomever sees her, prized; and this being due to beauty, which he mentions before concerning her, since he prefers her to Chloris and Pholoë, who are thought to have been equally beautiful.

I have to admit, I am not well-versed in the lingo of second-century African scholars on Horace, but the sense I get is this:

the quantum of Lalage's beauty is not that of Pholoë or Chloris or Gyges.

Obviously Horace sees something else in Lalage, something else that sets her apart from girls like Pholoë and Chloris or boys like Gyges.

And one more problem with this line: the word fugax. Does it mean 'flightly' as its root suggests, the same root that gave us the word 'fugitive'? Or does it mean 'shy,' quick to flee?  Or, as Porphyrion says, 

non Foloe fugax: quae viros fugeret

who puts men to flight, who discomfits men? I don't know.

 notes:

Gyges: a boy's name of Near Eastern origin.

Gnidus or Cnidos [Κνίδος]: an ancient city in northeastern Cyprus, home of the sculptor Praxiteles.

translation:

Not yet able, neck pushed down, to carry

the yoke, to be equal partners, to bear 

the heft of a bull rushing through sex.

your young heifer's heart is in the green fields, 

fond of streams in the heavy heat of day, 

longing to play in the damp willow grove

with the young bulls. put aside your lust for 

unripe grapes. soon hued autumn will turn the 

pale blue clusters scarlet purple for you.

soon she'll follow you; life runs on snatching 

years from you to give to her. soon, forehead

out, Lalage will rush toward her mate—

prized, not as coy Pholoë, nor Chloris,

her white shoulders shining so, like a pure 

moon on night seas, nor Gyges of Cnidus,

who, in a girls chorus, would most likely 

fool shrewd guests, obscuring distinctions with 

his flowing hair and ambiguous face. 

translation © 2010 by James Rumford

traduction explicative en français: http://agoraclass.fltr.ucl.ac.be/concordances/horace_OdesII/ligne05.cfm?numligne=26&mot=subacta#debut

commentarii: http://www.horatius.ru/index.xps?2.1.205

in prose:

nondum valet iugum cervice subacta ferre,

nondum munia conparis aequare

nec pondus tauri ruentis in venerem tolerare;

est animus iuvencae tuae circa campos virentis

nunc fluviis aestum gravem solantis,

nunc in salicto udo cum vitulis praegestientis ludere.

cupidinem immitis uvae tolle; iam Autumnus varius tibi racemos lividos colore purpureo distinguet.

iam te sequitur, currit enim aetas ferox illi quos tibi dempserit annos apponet.

fronte proterva, maritum petit Lalage, dilecta—

—Pholoe fugax non quantum,

—non Chloris, umero albo sic nitens, ut mari nocturno luna pura renidet,

—[non] Cnidiusve Gyges,

quem, si choro puellarum inseres,

hospites sagaces discrimen obscurum crinibus solutis vultuque ambiguo falleret.

original:

Nondum subacta ferre iugum ualet
ceruice, nondum munia comparis
     aequare nec tauri ruentis
     in uenerem tolerare pondus.

Circa uirentis est animus tuae               5
campos iuuencae, nunc fluuiis grauem
     solantis aestum, nunc in udo
     ludere cum uitulis salicto

praegestientis. Tolle cupidinem
immitis uuae: iam tibi liuidos               10
     distinguet autumnus racemos
     purpureo uarius colore;

iam te sequetur; currit enim ferox
aetas et illi quos tibi dempserit
     adponet annos; iam proterua
     fronte petet Lalage maritum,               15

dilecta, quantum non Pholoe fugax,
non Chloris albo sic umero nitens
     ut pura nocturno renidet
     luna mari Cnidiusue Gyges,               20

quem si puellarum insereres choro,
mire sagacis falleret hospites
     discrimen obscurum solutis
     crinibus ambiguoque uoltu.

A Friend Returned :: O Saepe Mecum :: II:7

Horace addresses this poem to a friend named Pompeius. Nothing is really known about this man, but the apparent affection the two have for each other seems real and touching.  They have shared much together, and now on his friend's return to civilian life, there is cause for much celebration.

This poem is interesting to Horace scholars because it recalls a time of civil war when Horace was fighting with Brutus at the disastrous battle of Philippi of October, 42 BC. During that battle, Brutus and his pro-Republic forces were soundly defeated by the pro-Empire army of Antony and Octavian. When peace returned, all was forgiven. Horace became a staunch supporter of Octavian. Perhaps this fact is behind Horace's use of the diminuative parmula for parma, 'shield' [line 10]. Maybe Horace was saying that his opposition to Antony and Octavian was  ineffectual and, now that Octavian is the emperor Augustus, even inconsequential.

As far as the structure of the poem is concerned, I must admit that I was once again fooled by my slippery grasp of case endings. Here are two examples. In line 2, deducte is the vocative of deductus and means together with the first word of the ode: 'Oh one carried off.'  Prime in line 5 is also vocative: 'Oh first one.' Even with these difficulties, I was able, for the very first time since I started last August, to understand almost the entire poem after the first reading.

Notes: 

Malabathrum: A fragrant oil. Although Horace calls this oil Assyrian, it actually came from the Malabar Coast of India, where the leaves of the Cinnamomum tamala were used to make a fragrant oil that was much prized in Greek and Roman times. Today, the leaves, sometimes known as 'Indian bay leaves,' are used for cooking and for making tisanes.  

Ciborium [κιβώριον]:  a large cup in the shape of colocasia [κολοκασία, κολοκἀσιον] leaves, a kind of Egyptian water lily. Pliny mentions this and so does Porphyrio in his commentary on Horace. Ciborium is a word still used today, if you are familiar with ecclesiastical terms. It means the cup containing the sacrament during the mass and it is also a free-standing canopy over the altar. As for the history of this word, I might give it an Egyptian origin. There are plenty of candidates:  khbb 'pot,' khba 'lotus,' qbh 'vase,' qabw 'pot.'  What is more, if you add the Egyptian adjective wr 'big' to any of these words you might come up with something close to the cibor in ciborium. Perhaps, too, Porphyrio, a native of Africa, who lived sometime during the second or third century after Christ, spoke Coptic or even knew how to read hieroglyphs and wrote about the word ciborium with some authority.

Edonis: Edoni [Ἠδωνοἰ] a people of Thrace, worshippers of Bacchus.

Venus: In this context, a venus was name of a particular throw of the dice, something like our 'snake eyes' or 'boxcars.' 

translation:

Ah, Pompeius, often dragged with me through 

the worst times when Brutus led the army—

who returned you, a civilian, to your 

father's gods and the skies of Italy? 

First of my friends, we'd drink wine to break up

the time, my hair gleaming with Syrian 

malabathrum.

With you, I went through Philippi and a 

hasty retreat, not a good thing leaving 

my little shield behind, when our broken

manhood and threatening warriors struck

chins on shameful ground.

But frightened me Mercury quickly raised 

up past the enemy in a thick cloud, 

while you waves from a seething sea swallowed  

and carried back to war.

So give Jove his due a feast, and lay down

your long military service and your 

tired self under my laurel tree and 

don't hold back from the jars marked for you, 

fill to overflowing the thin lotus cup 

with Massicum to forget, pour oil from 

the large conch shell. 

Who's to rush around making up garlands 

of wet parsley or myrtle? Who's to be

the drinking master by the Venus dice?

Am I not the sanest to celebrate

Bacchus? It's sweet to go crazy over 

a friend returned.

translation © 2010 by James Rumford

in prose:

O [amice], 

saepe mecum in tempus ultimum, 

Bruto duce,

militiae deducte,

quis te Quiritem dis patriis Italoque caelo redonavit,

Pompei, prime sodalium meorum,

cum quo morantem diem saepe mero fregi,

[ego] coronatus capillos malobathro Syrio nitentis?

Tecum Philippos et fugam celerem sensi,

parmula non bene relicta,

cum virtus fracta et minaces mento turpe solum tetigere.

Sed Mercurius me paventem  per hostis celer aere denso sustulit;

unda fretis aestuosis te rursus in bellum resorbens tulit.

Ergo dapem obligatam Iovi redde,

militia longa latusque fessum  sub lauru mea depone

nec cadis destinatis tibi parce.

Ciboria levia Massico oblivioso exple,

ungenta de conchis capacibus funde.

Quis curat apio udo myrtove coronas deproperare?

Quem Venus abritrum bibendi dicet?

Non ego sanius Edonis bacchabor;

dulce mihi est amico recepto furere. 

commentarii: http://www.horatius.ru/index.xps?2.1.207

original poem:

O saepe mecum tempus in ultimum
deducte Bruto militiae duce,
     quis te redonauit Quiritem
     dis patriis Italoque caelo,

Pompei, meorum prime sodalium,               5
cum quo morantem saepe diem mero
     fregi, coronatus nitentis
     malobathro Syrio capillos?

Tecum Philippos et celerem fugam
sensi relicta non bene parmula,               10
     cum fracta uirtus et minaces
     turpe solum tetigere mento;

sed me per hostis Mercurius celer
denso pauentem sustulit aere,
     te rursus in bellum resorbens               15
     unda fretis tulit aestuosis.

Ergo obligatam redde Ioui dapem
longaque fessum militia latus
     depone sub lauru mea, nec
     parce cadis tibi destinatis.               20

Obliuioso leuia Massico
ciboria exple, funde capacibus
     unguenta de conchis. Quis udo
     deproperare apio coronas

curatue myrto? Quem Venus arbitrum               25
dicet bibendi? Non ego sanius
     bacchabor Edonis: recepto
     dulce mihi furere est amico.