DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.9260#0225
ipo P.OVIDII METAMOR-
Cyficus, upon the Death of her Mother, whom that
fame Goddefs had deftroyed.
----- Triviaeque potentis
Occidit arcana geniirix abjumpta fagitta.
The Scholiaft of Pindar (7} remarks, after Phere-
cydes, that Apollo fent his Sifter Diana to kill Co-
ronis and feveral other Women , while he himfelf
went to dispatch Ifchis : after this it is not fur-
prizing to fee Penelope , in Homer , praying
Diana to give her that Death which She fo ardently
delired If thefe Teftimonies were not fufficient to
prove this Tradition, I would add to them the Autho-
rity of Strabo (6) and Euftathius, who fay the fame
thmg; and the Latter very judicioufly remarks that
the Poets, who made'thole Divinities the Authors of
fudden Deaths , and fuch as happen'd by the Plague,
always attributed! hofe of Men to Apollo , and Thofe
of Women to Diana (7_). Homer , indeed , has
varied from that Rule in faying that Diana killed
Orion (8}. But as he attempted the Honour of that
Gtfddels, it is not furprizing that fhe fhould punifh
him herfclf This is, neverthelefs, fo contrary to
the coihmon Cuftom that there are fome Authors,
according to the relation of Euftathius (9), who be-
lieve that this Paflage in Homer is fuppofititious.
Nothing is better imagined than this Syftem, fince
we have reafon to attribute contagious Diftempers to
the Exhalations of the Earth , and the immoderate
Heat of the Sun; Elomcr alio ingenioufty remarks that
the Plague came upon the Grecian Camp, when that
God , being irritated , let his Arrows fly amongft
them; that is to fay, when the extreme Heat of his
Rays had corrupted the Air: This is what gave occa-
flop- to Servius (io^ to fay Apolline offenfo pefttlen-
tiam femper creari , quod etiam Homerus ojtendit,
citrn eum armatum indue it fagittis & inde Apollinem
dici fecundum aliquos h.-m> £ knro^Xvav. For it- is
neceilary to remark , by the way, that the Arrows
were the Symbol of Apollo, when angry, as the Harp
/ignified that he was appeafed, as the lame Author ob-
ferves: Lyram qua nobis ccelefiis harmonia imaginem
monlirat......Sagittas quibus infernus 'Deus &
noxius judicatur. And he fays in another Place : CV-
ttiaram tenens, miii'S eft, hence did People never fail
in thofe epidemic Difeafes to implore the Affiftance of
that Divinity, and to offer Sacrifices to him, as Horace
and Paufanias tell us. They likewife took great Care at
fuch times to put Branches of Laurel on theDoors of their
Houfes,in Hopes that the God would fpare the Places
which were under the Protection of a Perfon that was
once fo dear to him ; this we may find in Diogenes
Laertius and the Author of the Etymologicon Magnum.
Ovid fays the Children of Niobe were killed in a
Circus, where thofe Young Princes were managing
their Horfes but Paufanias (11} fays, with more
appearance of Truth , that her Sons perifhed on
Mount Citkaron , where they were Hunting , and
that her Daughters dyed at Thebes. If it has been
added , upon the Authority of Homer (12) that
thofe unfortunate Children remained Nine Days
without Burial , becaufe the Gods had changed all
the 1 hebans into Stones , and that thofe Divinities
thcmlclves performed the funeral Duties the Tenth
Day; it is becaufe, they dying of the Plague, no Body
du.-ft venture to bury them , and every one feemed
inienfible of the Queen's Misfortune: A lively Figure of
the Calamities with which that Scourge of Heaven
is attended , in which every one fearing an almoft
certain Death thinks of nothing but his own
proper Safety , and neglefts the moft effential Du-
ties. Neverthelefs, as the Priefts, after the Rage of
the Diftemper was fomcthing abated , began to bury
(0 On the III. Pythic Ode. (6) Lib. XIV. (7) On the
Second Book of the Iliad. (8) OdyJJ. V. Verf.iajv (9) On the
Fifth B »ok of the Odvtf. (10) On the Third Book of the JEntid.
Veri". 13^. (11) In B<sot. (12) Iliad. Lib, XXIV,
P.OVID'S METAMOR-
the Dead, it was reported that the Gods thcmfelves
had performed that Duty. It was alfo added that
Ismenus, the eldeft of thofe Princes, not being able
to fupport the Pain of fo violent a Diftemper, threw
himfelf into a River of Baotia , called at that time
Cadmus's Foot, but, from that Event, had after-
wards the Name of that Young Prince.
Niobe, not enduring to ftay any longer at Thebes ^
after the Death of her Children and her Husband,
who killed himfelf in Despair , returned to
Lydia, and finifhed her Days near Mount Sipylus,
upon which , according to Paufanias (13) , was a
Rock refembling , at a Diftance , a Woman over-
whelmed with Grief and Affliclion , tho' nothing
was more unlike that Figure , when One ftood near
it ; as we are aflured by the fame Author who had
been upon the place. This is what made Ovid Iky
that a Whirlwind had carried this unfortunate Prin-
cefs to the Top of that Mountain , where fhe was
changed into a Rock. A Circumftance which fhews
us, as Cicero fays(14), that Niobe kept a profound
Silence in her Affliction , and became , as it were,
immovable and dumb ; which is the Characler of
extraordinary Griefs. Sophocles , in his Antigone,
fays that this Pnncefs was not immediatly changed
into Stone, but that the Gods, afterwards, granted
that Favour to her Prayers. The fame Poet, in his
Elcclra , fays that Niobe fheds Tears on a Stone
Tomb.
Ovid believed, without doubt, that the Hiftory
would be more moving , if he faid that all the Chil-
dren of Niobe became the Viclimes of Latona's Re-
venge. Paufanias (if) neverthelefs, tells us that
Melibea, or Chloris and Amycle Two of her Daugh-
ters appeafed Diana, who preferved their Lives: That
is to fay, that they recovered of the Plague. TheFirft
of thofe Two Princefles was married to Neleus the
Father of Neftor, as Apollodorus relates in his Firft
Book. But the fame Paufanias declares himfelf rather in
favour of the Sentiment of Homer, who fays in his Iliad,
that all the Children of Niobe perifhed by the Hands
of Apollo and Diana. I muft not forget to take No-
tice of the Reafon why Melibea had the Surname of
Chloris given her > which was becaufe, not being
able to recover the Fright fhe took at the Death of
her Sifters , fhe remained extremely pale ever after j
as Paufanias relates in his Corinthiacs.
The Hiftory which I have explained happen'd about
120 Years before the War of Troy •, as is eafy to be
proved by the Genealogy of Neftor the Son of Chlo-
ris , and much more by that of Laius the Father of
Oedipus, who fucceeded Amphion and Zethus in the
Kingdom of Thebes i as I fhall fhew when I explain
the Fable of Amphion.
Such is the Truth of that Event, fo famous in the
ancient Poets. Let us admire the Fertility of Ovid's
Imagination who relates it fo well ; let us tranfport
ourlelves with him to Thebes , to fee thofe Youno-
Princes mounted on their ftately Courfers performing
their Exercifes, and Apollo and Diana, who under-
take to revenge their injured Mother Latona, cruelly
murdering them with their Arrows. The Sifters of
thofe unfortunate Princes run to the Ramparts , at
the Noife of that fatal Accident, and fall under the
invifible Strokes of Diana. At laft the Mother ar-
rives, and afflicled to Defpair , bathes the dead
Bodies of her Children with her Tears , and
is , herfelf, changed at laft into Stone. It will be
acknowledged by all that if Fielion adds great Or-
naments to Truth, the Discovery of the fame Truth
gives much greater Pleafure to the Underftanding,
than thofe vain Ornaments can poilibly afford to the
Imagination.
An Antic Monument, defcribed by Father Mont-
faucon has preferved the Hiftory of that Event, ac-
cording
(13) In Atticis. (14) Tufe. Qut/l. Lib. Ill,
(159 In his Attics.
Cyficus, upon the Death of her Mother, whom that
fame Goddefs had deftroyed.
----- Triviaeque potentis
Occidit arcana geniirix abjumpta fagitta.
The Scholiaft of Pindar (7} remarks, after Phere-
cydes, that Apollo fent his Sifter Diana to kill Co-
ronis and feveral other Women , while he himfelf
went to dispatch Ifchis : after this it is not fur-
prizing to fee Penelope , in Homer , praying
Diana to give her that Death which She fo ardently
delired If thefe Teftimonies were not fufficient to
prove this Tradition, I would add to them the Autho-
rity of Strabo (6) and Euftathius, who fay the fame
thmg; and the Latter very judicioufly remarks that
the Poets, who made'thole Divinities the Authors of
fudden Deaths , and fuch as happen'd by the Plague,
always attributed! hofe of Men to Apollo , and Thofe
of Women to Diana (7_). Homer , indeed , has
varied from that Rule in faying that Diana killed
Orion (8}. But as he attempted the Honour of that
Gtfddels, it is not furprizing that fhe fhould punifh
him herfclf This is, neverthelefs, fo contrary to
the coihmon Cuftom that there are fome Authors,
according to the relation of Euftathius (9), who be-
lieve that this Paflage in Homer is fuppofititious.
Nothing is better imagined than this Syftem, fince
we have reafon to attribute contagious Diftempers to
the Exhalations of the Earth , and the immoderate
Heat of the Sun; Elomcr alio ingenioufty remarks that
the Plague came upon the Grecian Camp, when that
God , being irritated , let his Arrows fly amongft
them; that is to fay, when the extreme Heat of his
Rays had corrupted the Air: This is what gave occa-
flop- to Servius (io^ to fay Apolline offenfo pefttlen-
tiam femper creari , quod etiam Homerus ojtendit,
citrn eum armatum indue it fagittis & inde Apollinem
dici fecundum aliquos h.-m> £ knro^Xvav. For it- is
neceilary to remark , by the way, that the Arrows
were the Symbol of Apollo, when angry, as the Harp
/ignified that he was appeafed, as the lame Author ob-
ferves: Lyram qua nobis ccelefiis harmonia imaginem
monlirat......Sagittas quibus infernus 'Deus &
noxius judicatur. And he fays in another Place : CV-
ttiaram tenens, miii'S eft, hence did People never fail
in thofe epidemic Difeafes to implore the Affiftance of
that Divinity, and to offer Sacrifices to him, as Horace
and Paufanias tell us. They likewife took great Care at
fuch times to put Branches of Laurel on theDoors of their
Houfes,in Hopes that the God would fpare the Places
which were under the Protection of a Perfon that was
once fo dear to him ; this we may find in Diogenes
Laertius and the Author of the Etymologicon Magnum.
Ovid fays the Children of Niobe were killed in a
Circus, where thofe Young Princes were managing
their Horfes but Paufanias (11} fays, with more
appearance of Truth , that her Sons perifhed on
Mount Citkaron , where they were Hunting , and
that her Daughters dyed at Thebes. If it has been
added , upon the Authority of Homer (12) that
thofe unfortunate Children remained Nine Days
without Burial , becaufe the Gods had changed all
the 1 hebans into Stones , and that thofe Divinities
thcmlclves performed the funeral Duties the Tenth
Day; it is becaufe, they dying of the Plague, no Body
du.-ft venture to bury them , and every one feemed
inienfible of the Queen's Misfortune: A lively Figure of
the Calamities with which that Scourge of Heaven
is attended , in which every one fearing an almoft
certain Death thinks of nothing but his own
proper Safety , and neglefts the moft effential Du-
ties. Neverthelefs, as the Priefts, after the Rage of
the Diftemper was fomcthing abated , began to bury
(0 On the III. Pythic Ode. (6) Lib. XIV. (7) On the
Second Book of the Iliad. (8) OdyJJ. V. Verf.iajv (9) On the
Fifth B »ok of the Odvtf. (10) On the Third Book of the JEntid.
Veri". 13^. (11) In B<sot. (12) Iliad. Lib, XXIV,
P.OVID'S METAMOR-
the Dead, it was reported that the Gods thcmfelves
had performed that Duty. It was alfo added that
Ismenus, the eldeft of thofe Princes, not being able
to fupport the Pain of fo violent a Diftemper, threw
himfelf into a River of Baotia , called at that time
Cadmus's Foot, but, from that Event, had after-
wards the Name of that Young Prince.
Niobe, not enduring to ftay any longer at Thebes ^
after the Death of her Children and her Husband,
who killed himfelf in Despair , returned to
Lydia, and finifhed her Days near Mount Sipylus,
upon which , according to Paufanias (13) , was a
Rock refembling , at a Diftance , a Woman over-
whelmed with Grief and Affliclion , tho' nothing
was more unlike that Figure , when One ftood near
it ; as we are aflured by the fame Author who had
been upon the place. This is what made Ovid Iky
that a Whirlwind had carried this unfortunate Prin-
cefs to the Top of that Mountain , where fhe was
changed into a Rock. A Circumftance which fhews
us, as Cicero fays(14), that Niobe kept a profound
Silence in her Affliction , and became , as it were,
immovable and dumb ; which is the Characler of
extraordinary Griefs. Sophocles , in his Antigone,
fays that this Pnncefs was not immediatly changed
into Stone, but that the Gods, afterwards, granted
that Favour to her Prayers. The fame Poet, in his
Elcclra , fays that Niobe fheds Tears on a Stone
Tomb.
Ovid believed, without doubt, that the Hiftory
would be more moving , if he faid that all the Chil-
dren of Niobe became the Viclimes of Latona's Re-
venge. Paufanias (if) neverthelefs, tells us that
Melibea, or Chloris and Amycle Two of her Daugh-
ters appeafed Diana, who preferved their Lives: That
is to fay, that they recovered of the Plague. TheFirft
of thofe Two Princefles was married to Neleus the
Father of Neftor, as Apollodorus relates in his Firft
Book. But the fame Paufanias declares himfelf rather in
favour of the Sentiment of Homer, who fays in his Iliad,
that all the Children of Niobe perifhed by the Hands
of Apollo and Diana. I muft not forget to take No-
tice of the Reafon why Melibea had the Surname of
Chloris given her > which was becaufe, not being
able to recover the Fright fhe took at the Death of
her Sifters , fhe remained extremely pale ever after j
as Paufanias relates in his Corinthiacs.
The Hiftory which I have explained happen'd about
120 Years before the War of Troy •, as is eafy to be
proved by the Genealogy of Neftor the Son of Chlo-
ris , and much more by that of Laius the Father of
Oedipus, who fucceeded Amphion and Zethus in the
Kingdom of Thebes i as I fhall fhew when I explain
the Fable of Amphion.
Such is the Truth of that Event, fo famous in the
ancient Poets. Let us admire the Fertility of Ovid's
Imagination who relates it fo well ; let us tranfport
ourlelves with him to Thebes , to fee thofe Youno-
Princes mounted on their ftately Courfers performing
their Exercifes, and Apollo and Diana, who under-
take to revenge their injured Mother Latona, cruelly
murdering them with their Arrows. The Sifters of
thofe unfortunate Princes run to the Ramparts , at
the Noife of that fatal Accident, and fall under the
invifible Strokes of Diana. At laft the Mother ar-
rives, and afflicled to Defpair , bathes the dead
Bodies of her Children with her Tears , and
is , herfelf, changed at laft into Stone. It will be
acknowledged by all that if Fielion adds great Or-
naments to Truth, the Discovery of the fame Truth
gives much greater Pleafure to the Underftanding,
than thofe vain Ornaments can poilibly afford to the
Imagination.
An Antic Monument, defcribed by Father Mont-
faucon has preferved the Hiftory of that Event, ac-
cording
(13) In Atticis. (14) Tufe. Qut/l. Lib. Ill,
(159 In his Attics.