Ariadne Theseo - notes

Section I

1 illa – refers to Ariadne. These first two lines are not part of Ariadne's letter, but are a comment from
“a reader” of the letter to Theseus.
Theseu – vocative
2 haec – neuter plural substantive
3 genus omne – neuter accusative singular
4 credita … eram = I had been entrusted
5 quae = haec (verba/epistula) - it is a relative pronoun here, as it often is when it begins a sentence
6 velum, ī n. = sail
tulēre – a syncopated form of tulērunt
8 insidior, insidiārī, insidiātus sum = to lie in ambush (vocative participle)

Section II

9 vitreā … pruinā = glassy frost; macrons help to determine its case and use
10 fronde – ablative of instrument with tectae
queror, querī, questus sum = to complain, grumble, gripe
11 incertum = adv. uncertainly, not firmly, not completely
12 Thesea – accusative singular, object of prensurās
prendō, prendere, prendī, prensus = to reach for; here describing manūs (acc. pl.)
semisupinus, semisupina, semisupinum = half-lying on one's back
14 torus, ī m. = bed, couch
15 excutiō, excutere, excussī, excussus = to shake off; for the form, excussēre, c.f. Tulēre (6)
16 viduus, vidua, viduum = widowed, bereft, unmarried
17 adductīs … palmīs – macrons help with case, lit. with my palms drawn together my chest resounded;
which more freely means “my hands drummed on my chest.”
18 utque = ut + que – is ut used with the indicative or subjunctive?

Section III

19 siquid = if at all, if anything

cernō, cernere, crēvī, crētus = see, distinguish (cernam = tense?)
20 quod videant oculī – indirect question
quod = what
21 utrōque = in both directions
24 nomen … tuum – chiasmus

Section IV

27 frutex, fruticis n. = shrub, bush

28 scopulus … aquīs – synchises
30 metior, metīrī, mensus sum = measure, estimate
31 sum … usa = usa sum; utor, utī, usus sum = to use, enjoy the friendship of (with abl.)
32 praeceps, (gen.), praecipitis = headlong, precipitous
carbasus, a, um = (made from) flax, linen; supply vela (6)
tenta = perfect passive participle from teneo; modifies vela, supplied
Notus, ī m. = south wind; the directional winds were named in Latin
34 glaciē – which use of the ablative with frigidior?
 Section V

35 languēre – c.f. tulēre (6)

langueō, languēre, languī = to become faint or languid or weak
diu – supply quam
diu quam = as long as
37 scelerātus, a ,um = wicked, accursed
revertor, revertī, reversus sum = to turn back;
revertere – present singular imperative
38 numerum suum – i.e. illa, the boat, is missing one person, Ariadne.
39 haec ego – missing the verb, supply dixī
haec – neuter plural substantive, supply verba
quod = cum
dēsum, dēesse, dēfuī, dēfuturus = to be wanting, lack, abandon, fail
vōcī = dative object with dēerat; supply mihi = for me
repleō, replēre, replēvī, replētus = to fill again
fuēre – c.f. tulēre (6), excussēre (15)

Section VI

145 hās... lassās – modifies manūs (146) accusative plural, translate in apposition to manūs
lassus, a, um = faint, weary, tired
147 maestus = sad, gloomy – modifies the subject (ego)
superō, superāre, superāvī, superātus = overcome, survive
148 moveō, movēre, mōvī, mōtus = to move, affect, provoke
149 relābere – c.f. revertere (37)
150 sī... ferēs – Future More Vivid Condition
 METER

The selections from Ovid, from the Ars Amatoria and Heroides, are in elegiac couplet, a meter created
by the early Greek lyric poets for a variety of themes (drinking, military, history, dedications, epitaphs,
laments, and love poems) and to be accompanied by music on the flute.
While the meter of Roman elegy is almost totally derived from its Greek originals, it is original to the
Romans in its treatment. Latin love poetry is traditionally composed in elegiac couplet. It consists of
two paired lines of primarily dactylic ( -uu) meter: the first line, which contains six feet, is a
hexameter line; the second, which contains five feet, is a pentameter. The elegiac couplet,
particularly as Ovid composed it, tends to be sense contained, in that each line of verse presents a
complete idea.

Elegiac Couplet: Ovid 1.1, 1.9, 2.17

The first line, the hexameter verse, allows the substitution of spondees ( ) in any of the first
four feet. The pentameter verse permits the substitution of spondees only in the first two feet.
<http://www.iona.edu/latin/meter.html>