Listen Up :: Mercuri, Nam Te Docilis :: III:11

This ode is addressed to Mercury and the lyre for the benefit of Lyde, a hetaera, or Roman geisha. Horace wants her to hear about how Mercury can calm even those in the underworld suffering excruciating pain. In particular he wants her to hear about evil girls who did wicked things. He tells her about Hypermestra, one of the daughters of Danaus. She and her sisters were forced by their father to marry the sons of their father’s brother. On the wedding night they were to murder their husbands. All carried out their father’s wishes except Hypermnestra, who allowed her husband to escape. Of course, the evil sisters must spend eternity sub Orco, under the watch of Orcus, ogre god of the underworld. Their punishment: to fill a dolium, whose bottom is perforated with holes. As for Hypermnestra, she’s in Elysium.

  

According to Daniel Garrison in his Horace: Epodes and Odes, A New Annotated Latin Edition [1989], Horace spends so much time talking about Hypermnestra (without mentioning her name, I might add) that we forget forget all about Lyde and Mercury and the lyre. Why is this? Says Garrison [page 312]: “this is because the ode as a whole is a characteristically oblique tribute to Augustus’ spectacular new temple of Apollo, who portico was lined with statues of the Danaïds . . . .”

Given this historical background, perhaps Horace is once again railing against immorality in this ode. What if Lyde represents all the girls of Rome? What if she is Rome herself? This is not such a far-fetched idea, especially after reading ode III:6 “Delicta Maiorum Immeritus.”

In that last posting, I talked about Horace’s style, and how he seemed to like tacking on—no, piling on—more information until each of his sentences was a carefully constructed house of cards, each card being one more thing he wanted to say. And like a house of cards, some of his sentences are so huge that they seem to totter and sway under their own weight. The sentences in today’s ode are no different. Some sentences are so complex that editors have been forced over the centuries to enclose parts of them within parentheses.

I do not know whether Horace had some graphic sign to indicate a parenthetical remark or not (the Romans did have punctuation such as points and lines). Nevertheless, it is generally believed that lines 1-2 are parenthetical as well as line 30.

Mercure, (nam te docilis magistro

movit Amphion lapides canendo)

Mercury, for by you teacher, the teachable

Amphion moved rocks by singing,

Impiae (nam quid potuere maius?)

The impious girls, for what more could they do?

I’ve been feeling pretty smug about my analysis of Horace, how I think he uses singular verbs with plural subjects.  All you have to do is look at the lack of subject-verb agreement in today’s ode (which I have marked in red) to see further examples. Maybe Horace or the Romans, in general, thought that putting singular verbs with plural subjects was cool. If so, Horace’s style has nothing to do with adding on information. Rather it is a reflection of how he bent the rules of grammar. It could be that Horace was being colloquial. I suppose we’ll ever know. The last native speaker of Latin morphed into a speaker of Italian long, long ago.

And one more thing: the lack of subject-verb agreement is not altogether unknown in Indo-European languages. Persian is a good example. Subject-verb agreement is mandatory when the subject is animate or better still, a human being, but in all other cases subject-verb agreement is optional. Indeed, it is considered good style by some (I suspect pretty old codgers by now, since the language is evolving) to say:  The books was stolen. کتابها دزدیده شد  We even have our share of discord in English. Today, one hears more and more ‘there is’ when ‘there are’ should be used. 

  

translation :: 6|5 6|5 6|5 3|2

O Mercury, for because of you teacher, 

docile Amphion moved rocks with his singing, 

and you, ‘turtle shell,’ skillful in giving sound

to your seven strings,

once having aught to say, unwelcome, but now— 

at the tables of the rich and friend of the 

temples—play now a song for Lyde to bend

a stubborn ear to,

who, like a three-year-old filly in wide fields, 

plays and leaps and is afraid of being touched, 

unmarried, until now unprepared—for a 

spirited husband.

You have the power to command tigers and 

the willing woods and waylay the fleeting streams; 

that monstrous guard at the entrance yielded   

to your soothing ways—

that Cerberus—a multitude of serpents 

have guard over his head like a Fury’s, and 

there lingers putrid breath and a bloody ooze  

in his three-tongued mouth; 

indeed Ixion and Tityos, their faces 

unwilling, looked cheerful, the urn stood a bit 

dry, while you caress the Danaus girls with 

a welcome song.

Lyde hears the crime and the known punishment 

of the young girls and the empty vessel with 

water leaking from the bottom and the 

destinies delayed 

that too await the crimes before Orcus. 

The wicked girls–for what more could they have done?– 

the wicked girls were able kill their husbands 

with hardened iron.

Out of the many, one worthy of the 

wedding torch was splendidly deceitful to 

her disreputable father and for all 

time a noble girl,

“Get up!” she said to her youthful husband. 

“Get up. Don’t let long sleep be given you

from one you do not fear; cheat your father-in-law 

and evil sisters,

who like lionesses lying in wait for 

young bulls, rip them apart, oh God, one by one;

I, gentler than they, will not strike you dead 

nor keep you locked up.

Me Father will weigh down with brutal chains, because 

merciful me spared her poor man, me he will 

send off in a ship to the furthermost fields 

of Numidia.

Go where feet take you and the winds, while the night 

is kind—and Venus too, go with all luck, and 

scratch on my tomb a sad song, a memory of 

what happened to us.

translation © 2011 by James Rumford

commentarii :: 

http://www.horatius.ru/index.xps?2.1.311

in prose ::

[O] Mercuri, nam Amphion docilis, te magistro, lapides canendo movit, tuque, [o] testudo septem nervis resonare callida, nec olim loquax neque grata, et nunc [in] mensis divitum et [in] templis amica, tu dic modos quibus Lyde ‹aures [suas] obstinatas› applicet.

Quae, velut equa trima, [in] campis latis exsultim ludit metuitque tangi, nuptiarum expers et adhuc marito protervo cruda. 

Tu potes tigres silvasque comites ducere et rivos celeres morari. Cerberus, ‹ianitor immanis› aulae, quamvis centum angues caput furiale eius muniant atque spiritus taeter saniesque ore trilingui manet, tibi blandienti cessit. Quin et Ixion Tityosque vultu invito risit, urna sicca paulum stetit, dum ‹carmine grato› puellas Danai mulces. 

Lyde scelus audiat atque poenas notas virginum et dolium fundo imo lymphae pereuntis inane fataque sera, quae culpas etiam sub Orco manent. [Puellae] impiae—nam quid maius potuer[unt]?—impiae potuer[unt] ferro duro sponsos perdere. 

Fuit una de multis face nuptiali digna in parentem periurum splendide mendax et virgo nobilis in aevum omne. 

“Surge!” quae ‹marito iuveni› dixit, “Surge, ne somnus longius, unde non times, tibi detur. Socerum et sorores scelestas falle, quae—velut leaenae vitulos nactae—singulos eheu lacerant. Ego illis mollior nec te feriam neque intra claustra tenebo.

“Pater me [cum] catenis saevis oneret, quod [ego] clemens viro misero peperci. Vel me in agros extremos Numidarum [in] classe releget. I quo pedes et aurae te rapiunt, dum nox et Venus favet. I omine secundo. Et querelam, memorem nostri, [in] sepulcro scalpe.”   [revised March 27, 2015]

delphin ordo ::

O Mercuri (siquidem te præceptore Amphion saxa cantu movit) et tu, lyra, chordis septenis resonare perita: neque canora pridem neque jucunda, jam verò familiaris tum opulentorum mensis, tum fanis Deorum, numeros ede, quibus pervicaces auriculas admoveat Lyde: quæ sicut equa trium annorum exultat et ludit per apertos agros; fugitque attrectari, à nuptiis immunis, necdum petulanti viro idones. Tu vales trahere tigres silvasque simul, et rapidos tardare fluvios. Tibi demulcenti morem gessit Cerberus crudelis aulæ janitor; licèt caput illius furiale stipent serpentes multi, et ex ore tres linguas habente halitus pestilens et tabum fluat. Quinetiam Ixion et Tityus facie prætulerunt hilaritatem non sponte: stetit dolium tantisper aridum dum suavi cantu Danai filias detineres. Discat Lyde crimen et supplicia famosa puellarum, et vacuum aquâ vas evanescente ex imo profundo, perennemque sortem delictis etiam apud Inferos reservatam. Sceleratæ (quid enim pejus valuerint?) sceleratæ, inquam, illæ sævo gladio perimere sponsos valuerunt. At è pluribus una, tædis nuptialibus idones, egregiè fraudulenta erga patrem fallacem, et in cuncta secula illustris virgo extitit: quæ ait adolescenti sponso, Exurge, ne diuturnus tibi sopor, unde non metuis, comparetur: socerum et impias sorores effuge; quæ tanquam leænæ vitulos adeptæ totidem, (heu!) discerpunt. Ego illis elementior neque te percutiam, neque ditinebo intra septa. Me parens duris vinculis obruat, quoniam sponsum infelicem benigna servavi: me navi amandet ad ultimos etiam Numidarum campos. Abi auò te ferunt pedes et venti, dum nox et Venus obsecundant: abi faustis auspiciis, et tumulo inscribe querimoniam quá nostri recordatio permaneat. 

original ode ::

Mercurī, (nam tē docilis magistrō  

mōvit Amphion lapidēs canendō),

tūque testūdō resonāre septem

     callida nervīs,

nec loquax ōlim neque grāta, nunc et 

dīvitum mensīs et amīca templīs,

dīc modōs Lȳdē quibus obstinātās

     applicet aurıs.

quae velut lātīs equa trīma campīs

lūdit exsultim metuitque tangī

nuptiārum expers et adhuc protervō

     crūda marītō.

tū potes tīgrıs comitēsque silvās

dūcere et rīvōs celerēs morārī;

cessit immānis tibi blandientī 

     iānitor aulae

Cerberus, quamvis furiāle centum

mūniant anguēs caput eius atque

spīritus taeter saniesque mānet

     ōre trilinguī;  

quīn et Ixīon Tityōsque vultū

rīsit invītō, stetit urna paulum

sīcca, dum grātō Danaī puellās

     carmine mulcēs.

audiat Lȳdē scelus atque nōtās

virginum poenās et ināne lymphae

dōlium fundō pereuntis īmō

     sēraque fāta,

quae manent culpās etiam sub Orcō:

impiae—nam quid potuēre māius?—

impiae sponsōs potuēre dūrō

     perdere ferrō.

ūna dē multīs face nuptiālī

digna periūrum fuit in parentem

splendide mendax et in omne virgō

     nōbilis aevum,

‘surge’ quae dīxit iuvenī marītō,

‘surge, nē longıus tibi somnus unde

nōn timēs dētur, socerum et scelestās

     falle sorōrēs,

quae velut nactae vitulōs leaenae

singulōs ēheu lacerant: ego illīs

mollior nec tē feriam neque intrā

     claustra tenēbō.

mē pater saevīs oneret catēnīs,

quod virō clēmēns miserō pepercī,

mē vel extrēmōs Numidārum in agrōs

     clāsse relēget:

ī pedēs quō tē rapiunt et aurae,

dum favet nox et Venus, ī secundō

omine et nostrī memorem sepulcrō

     scalpe querēlam.’

:: Latin books by James Rumford ::

For all 102 odes purchase Carpe Diem, Horace De-Poetized, for $11.50 at 

https://www.amazon.com/Carpe-Diem-Poetized-James-Rumford/dp/1891839179/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1479932219&sr=8-1&keywords=Carpe+Diem+Rumford. 

For a Latin translation of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer at $12, click here: 

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Pericla+Thomae+Sawyer

To find out more about Carpe Diem go to the blog of March 26, 2015; 

for more about Pericla Thomae Sawyer, go to the blog of November 22, 2016.

And One More Thing :: Delicta Maiorum Immeritus :: III:6

For some time I’ve had to contend with Horace using singular verbs for plural subjects. Sometimes, a scholar will note this oddity, but say nothing more. In today’s ode, there are two instances of subject-verb discord; so I ask myself: is Horace being poetic? Is he playing around with a rather tightly screwed together grammatical system. Or, is something else happening—something which goes to the heart of Horace’s style?

In lines 9–16, clearly there are multiple subjects but only singular verbs are used.

Iam bis Monaeses et Pacori manus

non auspicats contudit impetus

nostros et adiecisse praedam

torquibus exiguis renidet.

Paene occupatam seditionibus

delevit urbem Dacus et Aethiops,

hic classe formidatus, ille

missilibus melior sagittis.

Now twice Monaeses and Pacorus’ troops

crushed our inauspicious thrusts and

beams at having added booty to  

thin arm bands.

Dacus and the Egyptian nearly destroyed

the City occupied with civil war, the one

formidable with a navy, the other better

at shooting arrows.

Most translators say that the Persian general Monaeses (?منیوش) and the troops of King Pacorus (d. 38 BC—پاکور) are the subjects of contudit, ‘crushed’ and renidet, ‘beams.’ They believe that Dacus (the Dacian, or someone from the area of modern Hungary and Romania) and Aethiops (the Ethiopian, or here, scholars say, the Egyptian) are the subjects of delevit ‘destroyed.’ I get the feeling, however, that the conjunction et means more than ‘and’ here. Perhaps it means ‘and Pacorus’ troops by the way’ or perhaps it indicates a parenthetical remark: Monaeses (and Pacorus’ troops). If so, then Horace is not playing around with subject-verb agreement. Rather, he is doing what he always does in his poetry: tacking on afterthoughts, adding a bit of parenthetical precision. Just as Horace is fond of appositives, so I think he is enamored with this almost conversational style, a style that gives his work such immediacy.  It is as though he had not thought things out fully, as one speaking would do, gathering one’s thoughts, adding to what has already been said to make sure the meaning comes across.  Of course, Horace did think things out fully. His elaborate verbal crisscrossing of nouns and adjectives, the leap-frogging of verbs with subjects and objects couldn’t have been done otherwise. But I think, this jerky, bumpy feeling Horace gives to his words is part of his style. Scholars and school teachers may try to explain away his lack of subject-verb agreement, but I say, let him be.

Let him be when he decides to omit verbs. Take lines 33 to 44. Here Horace casts further shame on the parents of his day for not producing offspring as brave as their forebears. See how he constructs this idea in one long sentence.

(The following between brackets was revised August 9, 2013)

[The subject is iuventus, ‘youth,’ which I have colored red. The youth not of these parents did brave things but the offspring of he-man farmers and no-nonsense mothers. Horace, of course, is not as straightforward as this; there is a lot of information in these lines that makes the reader yearn a bit more of the connecting tissue of language: relative pronouns, copulas—that kind of thing. 

Non his iuventus orta parentibus

infecit aequor sanguine punico

Pyrrhumque et ingentem cecidit

Antiochum Hannibalemque dirum;

sed rusticorum mascula militum

proles, Sabelli docta ligonibus

versare glebas et severae

matris ad abitrium recisos

portare fuscis, sol ubi montium

mutaret umbras et iuga demeret

bobus fatigatis, amicum

tempus agens abeunte curru. 

It has taken me two years to realize fully Horace’s use of parenthetical remarks, which I will call these lines with seemingly double subjects, these lines containing no verbs. Horace keeps saying: “Oh, wait, I’ve got one more thing to say.”] 

translation :: 

Undeserving citizen, you’ll be paying 

for your fathers’ sins until you have redone 

the temples of the gods and shrines in

ruins and idols filthy with black smoke.

Since you take yourself less than the gods, you rule.

From here: all beginnings. Back here: bring results.

The gods neglected have given much

evil to sorrowing Italia.

Monaeses has already twice beaten back—

the forces of Pacorus as well—our ill-

omened thrusts and has beamed at having 

added plunder to his puny neck torques.

The Dacian, with his better arrow shooting, 

just about destroyed—the Egyptian as well, 

terrifying with his fleet of ships—

the City occupied with civil war.

Days fecund with sin have defiled first marriage 

then our children and family; from this fountain 

the destruction drawn off has flowed on, 

over the fatherland and the people.

The maturing girl delights in learning the 

Ionian moves and is taught its ways and 

before you know it, contemplates 

impure love with her tender fingertips.

Soon she is looking for younger adult men while 

her husband is drunk, and she isn’t choosey 

who she offers her unpermitted  

delights to, with the lights in the distance,

but, when openly ordered, not without her 

husband knowing, gets up, be he door-to-door 

salesman or a ship’s captain from Spain,

some big-spending buyer of disgust.

The youth arisen not from such parents 

stained the sea with Punic blood and brought down 

Phyrrhus and the powerful 

Antiochus, the hated Hannibal. [revised Aug 2013]

This youth! The manly offspring of rustic soldiers, 

taught to turn over the clods of earth with 

the Sabelian hoe and at the 

bidding of a strict mother to bring cut 

firewood, where Sol might transform the mountain 

shadows and remove the yoke from the tired 

cattle, driving on the beloved 

hours in his departing chariot.

Destructive day! What doesn’t it hang over?  

A worse-omened bird, our parents’ age, brought us, 

even more worthless, soon to produce  

children even more defective.

translation © 2011 by James Rumford

in prose ::

[O] Romane, immeritus delicta maiorum lues, donec templa aedesque labentes deorum et simulacra fumo nigro foeda refeceris. Imperas, quod te minorem dis geris. Hinc omne principium, huc exitum refer. 

Di neglecti multa mala Hesperiae luctuosae dederunt. Iam bis Monaeses et manus Pacori impetus non auspicatos nostros contud[erun]t et renide[n]t praedam torquibus exiguis adiecisse. Dacus et Aethiops urbem seditionibus occupatam paene delev[erun]t, hic classe formidatus, ille missilibus sagittis melior. 

Saecula culpae fecunda primum nuptias et genus et domos inquinaver[unt]. ‹Clades [ex] hoc fonte derivata› in patriam populumque fluxit. Virgo matura gaudet motus Ionicos doceri et artibus fingitur et iam nunc amores incestos de ungui tenero mediatur. Iuniores mox adulteros inter vina mariti quaerit neque eligit cui gaudia impermissa raptim donet, luminibus remotis, sed coram iussa, non sine conscio marito, surgit, seu institor vocat, seu magister navis Hispanae, emptor pretiosus dedecorum. 

Iuventus, his parentibus non orta, aequor sanguine Punico infecit, ‹Pyrrhumque› et ‹Antiochum ingentem› ‹Hannibalemque dirum› cecidit, sed [illa iuventus erat] proles mascula militum rusticorum, ligonibus Sabellis glaebas versare docta et ad arbitrium matris severae fustes recisos portare, ubi sol umbras montium mutaret et iuga bobus fatigatis demeret, agens tempus amicum, curru abeunte. 

Dies damnosa quid non imminuit? Aetas parentum, avis peior, nos nequiores tulit, mox progeniem vitiosiorem daturos.   [revised March 27, 2015]

Delphin ordo ::

O Romane, solves pœnas quas non es meritus, ob peccata patrum, donec resarcieris fana et delubra Numinum decidentia, atque imagines atro squalore deformatas. Regnas, quia te præstas inferiorem Numinibus. Inde omne primordium; illuc finem reduc. Spreta Numina plures calamitates intulerunt afflictæ Italiæ. Jam semel atque iterum Monæses et Pacori exercitus repulit nostros conatus inauspicatos: gaudetque nostra polia addidisse torquibus suis minoribus.  Civitatem dessensionibus detentam propemodum extinxit Dacus et Æthiops, hic navibus potens, ille telis jaciendis peritus. Ævum delictis fertile primò fœdavit conjugia, et stirpem, et familias. Ex istâ origine manans calamitas in patriam et populum grassata est. Nubilis puella studet ediscere saltationes Ionum, et jam formatur artibus: atque flagitiosos amores cogitat ab ætate molliori. Deinde mœchos adolescentiores sectatur inter viri sui convivia: nullumque delectum adhibet, cuí voluptates haud licitas furtim indulgeat, extinctis lucernis. Sed præsente et consentiente viro pergit vocata, sive petit negotiator, sive dominus navis Hispanicæ, flagitia remunerans ingenti mercede. Non ejusmodi parentibus nati juvenes mare tinxerunt cruore Carthaginiensium; et profligavere Pyrrhum, magnumque Antiochum, et sævum Hannibalem: sed strenui filii militum agrestium, assueti terram colere bipalo Sabino, et ad austeræ matris voluntatem amputata referre ligna, cùm montium vertit umbras et juga fessis bobus detrahit Sol, horam adducens jucundam recedente curru. Quid tempus edax non corrumpit? Ævum patrum nostrorum avis deterius produxit nos pejores, deinde prolem edituros etiam improbiorem.

original ode :: 

Dēlicta māiōrum immeritus luēs,

Rōmāne, dōnec templa refēceris

   aedēsque labentıs deōrum et

        foeda nigrō simulacra fūmō.

dīs tē minōrem quod geris, imperās:

hinc omne princīpium, hūc refer exitum.

   dī multa neglectī dedērunt

        Hesperiae mala luctuōsae.

iam bis Monaesēs et Pacorī manūs

nōn auspicātōs contudit impetūs

   nostrōs et adiēcisse praedam

        torquibus exiguīs renīdet.

paene occupātam sēditiōnibus

dēlēvit urbem Dācus et Aethiops,

   hīc clāsse formīdātus, ille

        missilibus melior sagittīs.

fēcunda culpae saecula nuptiās

prīmum inquināvēre et genus et domōs:

   hōc fonte dērīvāta clādēs

        in patriam populumque fluxit

mōtūs docērī gaudet Iōnicōs

mātūra virgō et fingitur artibus,

   iam nunc et incestōs amōrēs

        dē tenerō meditātur unguī.

mox iuniorēs quaerit adulterōs  

inter marītī vīna, neque ēligit

   cui dōnet impermissa raptim

        gaudia luminibus remōtīs,

sed iussa cōram nōn sine consciō

surgit marītō, seu vocat institor

   seu nāvis Hispānae magister,

        dēdecōrum pretiōsus emptor.

nōn hīs iuventus orta parentibus

infēcit aequor sanguine Pūnicō

   Pyrrhumque et ingentem cecīdit

        Antiochum Hannibalemque dīrum;

sed rusticōrum mascula mīlitum

prōles, Sabellīs docta ligōnibus

   versāre glaebās et sevērae

        mātris ad arbitrium recīsōs

portāre fustıs, sōl ubi montium

mūtāret umbrās et iuga dēmeret

   bōbus fatīgātīs, amīcum

        tempus agēns abeunte currū.

damnōsa quid nōn imminuit diēs?

aetās parentum, pēior āvīs, tulit

   nōs nēquiōrēs, mox datūrōs

        prōgeniem vitiōsiōrem.

:: Latin books by James Rumford ::

For all 102 odes purchase Carpe Diem, Horace De-Poetized, for $11.50 at 

https://www.amazon.com/Carpe-Diem-Poetized-James-Rumford/dp/1891839179/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1479932219&sr=8-1&keywords=Carpe+Diem+Rumford. 

For a Latin translation of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer at $12, click here: 

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Pericla+Thomae+Sawyer

To find out more about Carpe Diem go to the blog of March 26, 2015; 

for more about Pericla Thomae Sawyer, go to the blog of November 22, 2016.

Money :: Inclusam Danaen Turris :: III:16

The ancient commentator Porphyrio says this about today’s ode:

ut ostendatur nihil non posse pecunia atque auro expugnari

to show that nothing cannot be expunged with money or gold

Later in the poem, Horace warns his audience not to be too greedy. It isn’t so much that money can’t buy happiness. It is that greed leads to unhappiness. One must realize when one has had enough. One must learn to count one’s blessings. As you might imagine, this poem has oft been quoted. Certain lines have made their way into the usual compendia of quotations.  I ran across some website which stated that this poem is found in 170 books from 1793–2006. In fact, one line 

crescentem sequitur cura pecuniam maiorumque fames

care—and hunger for more—follows growing money

can be found in websites from all over the world. The most interesting is one from Japan with this transliteration

クレスケンテム・セクゥィトゥル・クーラ・ペクーニアム

which, because of the nature of the Japanese syllabary, sounds like:

kurusutentemu · sekuuitouru ·kuura · pakuuniamu

and is translated as:

増える金銭には心配事が付き従う。

In ode III:16, we meet Acrisius, the king of Argos, who so feared his daughter would bear a child that, according to an oracle, would one day murder him, that he locked her in a tower, only to have Zeus/Jupiter turn himself into a shower of gold and, I suppose, bribe his way into the tower to accomplish the deed. Such is the power of money.

Next we hear of Amphiraraus, the soothsayer form Argos, who died in the siege of Thebes. Why had he gone to Thebes? Because Polyneices had bribed his wife so that she would coax Amphiraraus into going. We also hear of the Man from Macedonia, Philip, father of Alexander the Great, who used money in dealing with his enemies. Finally, we hear of the rich king of Lydia in Asia Minor named Alyattes and the plains of King Mygon, I suppose another rich monarch. 

Grammatically, this ode has, like all of the others, its pitfalls. Fore, line 7, is an old future infinite used for futurum esse. Fore causes problems because it implies that someone said something or thought something so that what seems to to be missing from lines 7 and 8 is:

risissent, [quia Jupiter Venusque intellegebant] iter tutum fore [futurum esse] . . . .

laughed because Jupiter and Venus thought there’d be a safe way . . . .

As for me, I almost think that fore was a way for Horace to interject himself into the poem, a sarcastic aside, something like: of course, there would be a way in, once a god turns himself into money.

Another pitfall for me were lines 22–24:

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . nil cupientium

nudus castra peto et transfuga divitum

partis linquere gestio.

The keys are the words: nudus for ‘stripped [of money]’,  peto ‘ask [for]’, transfuga ‘a deserter’ and gestio ‘I am eager to.’ In wordy Latin, this gives us:

ego sum nudus (sine pecunia) et 

castra virorum [qui nil cupiunt] peto;

ego etiam sum transfuga et ego gestio 

illas partis virorum divitum linquere.

Horace, as always, is compact. Deconstructing him is, as always, difficult. 

Finally, there is fallit in line 32. What is missing here is the idea that fallit means mihi fallit  or ‘I don’t know whether.’ Also missing is a verb like esse. 

Horace, as usual, is almost telegraphic. But what do you want? He’s a poet. His messages come via unusual channels from unusual places in his mind.

translation ::

A coppered tower, gates of oak, and a mournful 

patrol of vigilant dogs would have been quite enough 

to wall off the imprisoned girl Danaë from

the adulterers of the night, 

if Jupiter and Venus hadn’t laughed at 

Acrisium, the fearful guardian of that 

sequestered virgin with “there’ll be a sure way in,

with a god turned into money.”

Gold likes going among the attendant guards and, 

more powerful than a stroke of lightning, breaking 

apart rocks—the house of the Argive soothsayer 

did collapse because of money 

sinking into ruin. He split apart the gates 

of cities—the man from Macedonia—and 

dragged under rivaling kings with gifts; gifts ensnared 

the barbarous captains of ships.

Care attends money that increases and so does 

hunger for more. I have rightly abhorred to raise, 

my own head proudly for everyone to admire,   

Maecenas, glory of the knights.

And the more one denies himself, the more one will 

get from the gods; I, stripped, ask for the camps of those 

who covet nothing and I, deserter, long to 

leave behind the ranks of the rich,

I, a holder of hated things more splendid than 

were I said to hide within my barns whatever 

hardworking Apulus tilled—great treasures amongst 

those without.

A river of pure water and a woods of few 

acres and a sure faith in my crop—it’s not known 

if the one agleam with the command of fertile 

Africa is more blessed by fate.

Although the bees don’t bring Calabrian honey 

nor does a Laestrygonian Bacchus languish 

in an amphora for me, nor do wooly sheep  

grow in the pasture lands of Gaul,

but grievous poverty is far away, and, were 

I to want more, you would not deny giving it. 

Better, my desires pulled back, and that 

I have laid out my little spread

than if I joined the kingdom of the Mygdoni 

to the fields of Alyattes. Much is lacking 

those who ask much. Well, God gives what is sufficient 

to the one with a frugal hand.  

translation copyright 2011 by James Rumford

in prose ::

Turris aenea foresque robustae et excubiae tristes canum vigilum Danaen inclusam ab adulteris nocturnis satis munierant, si ‹Jupiter et Venus› Acrisium, custodem pavidum virginis abditae, non risissent, [sciverunt] enim, deo in pretium converso, iter tutum et patens fore. 

Aurum amat per medios satellites ire et saxa ictu fulmineo potentius perrumpere. Domus auguris Argivi, exitio demersa, ob lucrum concidit. Vir Macedo portas urbium diffidit et reges aemulos muneribus subruit. Munera duces saevos navium illaqueant. 

Cura famesque maiorum pecuniam crescentem sequitur. 

Iure perhorrui, ‹[o] Maecenas, decus equitum›, verticem conspicuum late tollere. Quisque sibi quanto plura negaverit, ab dis plura feret. [Ego] nudus, castra-nil-cupientium peto, et, [ego] transfuga, gestio partes divitum linquere. 

[Ego poeta sum] dominus rei contemptae, splendidior quam si [ego] dicerer [me in] meis horreis ‹quidquid Apulus impiger arat› occultare—inops inter opes magnas. 

Rivus aquae purae silvaque iugerum paucorum et fides certa segetis meae fulgentem imperio Africae fertilis fall[un]t. Sorte beatior [sum], quamquam nec apes mella Calabrae ferunt, nec Bacchus in amphora Laestrygonia mihi languescit, nec vellera pinguia pascuis Gallicis crescunt. 

Pauperies tamen importuna abest; nec tu [Maecenas] deneges dare, si plura velim. 

Melius vectigalia parva cupidine contracto porrigam quam si regnum Alyattei campis Mygdoniis continuem. 

Multa ‹multa petentibus› desunt. Bene est cui deus manu parca obtulit quod satis est.

[revised March 28, 2015]

Delphin ordo ::

Turris ex ære, et validæ januæ, necnon vigilantium canum mæsta custodia clausam Danaën abundè tuebantur noctu à mœchis, nisi Jupiter et Venus irrissent Acrisium inclusæ puellæ meticulosum observatorem: quippe viam fore securam opertamque numini in aurum mutato.Aurum solet pervadere medios custodes, ac rupes frangere, vi fulminis validius. Vatis Argolici familia teriit propter quæstum.Vir Macedonius portas civitatum perrupit, ac Reges invidos profligavit donis.Dona irretiunt feroces navarchos. Augescentes opes comitatur solicitudo, et cupiditas ampliorum.O Mæcenas, equitum gloria, non sine causâ timui caput erigere valdè splendidum.Quò majora sibi quisque ademerit, eò ampliora consequetur à Numinibus. Pauper transeo ad partes nihil appetentium, atque opulentiorum castra fugitivus deserere aveo; bonorum spretorum possessor magis illustris, quàm si meis granariis conderem id omne quod colit Appulus laboriosus, ego interim egens summis in divitiis.Rivus aquæ liquidæ et silva paucorum jugerum, messis[f. harvest]que  meæ spes secura, est ignota illi qui fœcundæ Libyæ dominatur.Ejusque fortunta melior est meâ, licèt mihi neque apes Calabricæ mel producant, neque vinum apud me senescat in cado Formiano, neque lanæ pretiosæ crescant in Galliæ pascuis; at gravis egestas non adest : sique majora cuperem, tu donare minimè recusares. Exigua trivuta solvam faciliùs refrænatâ cupiditate, quàm si Lydiæ ditionem agris Phrygiis adjungam.Plurima cupientes egent plurimis.Felix est is cui manu contractâ Diì dederunt quantum sufficit.

original ode ::

Inclūsam Danaen turris aēnea

rōbustaeque forēs et vigilum canum

tristēs excubiae mūnierant satis

   nocturnīs ab adulterīs,

sī nōn Acrisium, virginis abditae

custōdem pavidum, Iuppiter et Venus

rīsissent: fore enim tūtum iter et patēns

   conversō in pretium deō.

aurum per mediōs īre satellitēs

et perrumpere amat saxa potentius

ictū fulmineō; concidit auguris

   Argīvī domus ob lucrum

dēmersa exitiō; diffidit urbium

portās vir Macedo et subruit aemulōs

rēgēs mūneribus; mūnera navium

   saevōs illaqueant ducēs.

crescentem sequitur cūra pecūniam

maiōrumque famēs. iūre perhorruī

lātē conspicuum tollere verticem,

   Maecēnās, equitum decus.

quantō quisque sibī plūra negāverit,

ab dīs plūra feret; nīl cupientium

nūdus castra petō et transfuga dīvitum

   partıs linquere gestio,

contemptae dominus splendidior reī,

quam sī quidquid arat impiger āpulus

occultāre meīs dīcerer horreīs,

   magnās inter opēs inops.

pūrae rīvus aquae silvaque iūgerum

paucōrum et segetis certa fidēs meae

fulgentem imperiō fertilis Āfricae

   fallit sorte beātior.

quamquam nec Calabrae mella ferunt apēs

nec Laestrȳgoniā Bacchus in amphorā

languescit mihi nec pinguia Gallicīs

   crescunt vellera pascǔīs,

importūna tamen pauperiēs abest,

nec, sī plūra velim, tū dare dēnegēs.

contractō melius parva cupīdine

   vectīgālia porrigam

quam sī Mygdoniīs regnum Alyatteī

campīs continuem. multa petentibus

dēsunt multa; bene est cui deus obtulit

   parcā quod satis est manū.

:: Latin books by James Rumford ::

For all 102 odes purchase Carpe Diem, Horace De-Poetized, for $11.50 at 

https://www.amazon.com/Carpe-Diem-Poetized-James-Rumford/dp/1891839179/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1479932219&sr=8-1&keywords=Carpe+Diem+Rumford. 

For a Latin translation of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer at $12, click here: 

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Pericla+Thomae+Sawyer

To find out more about Carpe Diem go to the blog of March 26, 2015; 

for more about Pericla Thomae Sawyer, go to the blog of November 22, 2016.