Array Ovid - The Lovers Assistant; Or, New Art of Love

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He means in the other two Books.

Here Ovid uses the Examples of Automedon , who was the Coachman of Achilles ; and of Tiphys , who was Pilot or Steersman to the Argonauts .

This is a literal Translation; by which it appears this barbarous Custom of whipping Boys on the Hands, till they look as if they had the Itch, was used by the Roman Schoolmasters as well as by ours.

The Original introduces Achilles , who was the pupil of Chiron .

In the Original, — held forth at his Master's Commands those Hands to be whipt, which Hector was hereafter to feel . The Indelicacy of which Image we have avoided applying to our British Hero.

Both born of a Goddess.

This is transferred, we hope not improperly from Roman to British Superstition. The Latin alludes to Augury, and very justly ridicules the Folly of Divination by the Flight of Birds.

Nor were Clio or her Sisters seen by me, while I tended a Flock in the Valleys of Ascra. This Ascra was a Valley near the Helicon , which was the Residence of the Parents of Hesiod . Now Hesiod was fabled, whilst he was keeping his Father's Sheep, to have been led by the Muse to the Fountain Hippocrene ; and being, I suppose, well ducked in that Water, commenced Poet.

This whole Passage is a manifest Burlesque on the Invocations with which the Ancients began their Poems. Not very different is that Sneer at the Beginning of the Metamorphosis ,

– Dii, caeptis , (NAM VOS MUTASTIS ET ILLAS) Adspirate —

But the strongest Piece of Burlesque of this kind is the Invocation to Venus at the Beginning of Lucretius : For what can be more so than a solemn Application to a Deity for her Assistance in a Work, the professed Intention of which is to expose the Belief of any Deity at all; and more particularly of any Concern which such superior Beings might be supposed to take in the Affairs of Men. For my own part, I must confess, I cannot perceive that graceful Air of Enthusiasm which a noble Author observes in the Invocation of the Antients; many of them indeed seem to have been too apparently in jest, to endeavour to impose on their Readers, and in reality to apply to the Muses with less Devotion than our modern Poets, many of whom perhaps believe as much in those Deities as in any other.

Ovid would here insinuate, that the Courtezans only were the Subjects of the ensuing Poem; and in his Tristibus he cites these Lines, and pleads them in his Defence: But he is not over-honest in his Profession; for in many Parts it appears, that his Instructions are calculated for much more than concessa furtia .

Andromeda was the Daughter of Cepheus King of Aethiopia and of Cassiope . Her Mother having offended the Nereids , by contending with them for Superiority in Beauty, Neptune , at their Petition, sent a Sea-Monster, which greatly annoyed the Aethiopians . Upon this they consulted the Oracle of Jupiter Ammon , who ordered them to expose one of the Progeny of Cepheus and Cassiope to be devoured by the Monster. Andromeda was accordingly ty'd to a Rock, where she was espied by Perseus , who killed the Monster, and rescued the Lady; for which he received her at the Hands of her Parents as his Reward. The Story is told in the 4th Book of the Metamorphosis .

Bunches of Grapes in Methymna; a City of Lesbia , the Wine of which Country was famous among the Ancients.

Ears of Corn in Gargara; which was in Mysia , a Province of the Hellespont .

The Original is, And the Mother of AEneas resides in the City of her Son. AEneas , from whom the Romans derived their Original, was the Son of Venus by Anchises .

The Original, rendered as literally as possible, is as follows: Walk at your ease under the Pompeian Shade, when the Sun enters the Herculean Lion; or where the Mother hath added her Benefactions to those of her Son; a work rich in foreign Marble: Nor avoid that Portico adorned with ancient Pictures, which is called Livia , from the Name of its Founder: nor that adorned by the Statues of the Belides , who attempted the Lives of their unfortunate Cousins; and where you see the cruel Father standing with his drawn Sword: Nor pass by the Temple of Venus and her lamented Adonis; nor omit the Seventh-Day Festivals of the Jews ; nor the Egyptian Temples of the Linnen-clad Heifer: She makes many Women to be that which she herself was to Jupiter.

To explain these several Particulars to an English Reader, it must be known, that the Portico's in Rome were the publick Walks; and here Persons of both Sexes used to assemble. Among these was one built by Pompey . The second Portico mentioned, is by the best Commentators understood of the Octavian , which was built by Octavia , Sister to Augustus , and Mother to Marcellus ; and this adjoined to a Temple built by the same Marcellus . The third Portico was built by Livia the Wife of Augustus , and called from her Name. The fourth, where the Picture of the Belides was, is to be understood of the Portico of Apollo Palatinus , in which were the Statues of the fifty Daughters of Danaus and Grandaughters of Belus . These being married to the fifty Sons of their Uncle AEgyptus , every one, by her Father's Command, slew her husband on the first Night, save only Hypermnestra . For this they were punished in the lower World, by being obliged to fill a Barrel full of Holes with Water. Scaliger and others have here made a mistake, supposing the Picture of the Belides was here hung up: But the contrary appears by many Authorities, particularly by this in Qv. Trist. 3 .

Signa peregrinis ubi sunt alterna columnis, Belides, & stricto barbarus ense pater.

It appears that the Number of Pillars was equalled by the Number of Statues. 5thly, The Temple of Venus , in which she was worshipped, together with Adonis , after the Assyrian manner. This Adonis was the Son of Cinyras King of Cyprus , begotten by him on his own Daughter Myrrha . The Fame of his Beauty, and the Passion which Venus bore towards him, are well known. 6thly, The Jewish Synagogues. The Jews having been encouraged by Julius Caesar , were very numerous in Rome at that time; and the Strangeness and Pomp of their Ceremonies inviting the Curiosity of the Roman Ladies, their Synagogues became famous Places of Intrigue. 7. The Temple of Isis . This Goddess, when a Woman, was called Io . She was the Daughter of Inachus ; and being beloved by Jupiter , was by him, to preserve her from his Wife's Jealousy, turned into a Heifer, Juno suspecting the Fact, obtained this Heifer of her Husband, and set Argus to watch over her. Jupiter wanting to visit his old Friend, sent Mercury to kill Argus ; in revenge of which, Juno ordered a Gad-Bee to sting the poor Heifer; which thereupon growing mad, ran to Egypt , where she was again restored to the Shape of a Woman, and married to Osiris . The Feast of Isis was celebrated in Rome ten Days together by the Women, and was a time of Carnival among them.