temptasse: = temptavisse.
27. et: = etiam; with hic (adv.).
auguror: augurari,to divine, surmise.
esse: sc. eum (Amorem) as subj.
28. est mentita: mentiri, to lie, speak falsely.
rapinae: rapina,abduction, rape; Pluto had abducted Persephone and carried her off to Hades to be his queen.
29. per ego…loca: when ego is used in an oath it regularly stands between per (by) and its object.
30. Chaos: n. sg., Chaos, the Abyss, the Underworld; modified by hoc, which in poetry is often scanned as a long syllable in both the nom. and acc. cases.
31. Eurydices: Greek gen. sg.
properata:hurried, premature, from properare,to hurry, rush, hasten.
retexite: retexere,to unweave, reverse; an allusion to the Fates, who in classical myth weave the tapestry of one’s life.
32. paulum: adv., a little, a while.
morati: morari,to linger, delay.
33. serius aut citius: Eng. uses the reverse order, sooner or later.
sedem: sedes,seat, abode, home, place.
34. vosque: emphatically positioned, to strengthen his appeal (and cp. vos in 29).
35. regna: pl. for sg., rule (over) + OBJ. GEN.
36. peregerit: peragere, to finish, live out.
37. iuris erit vestri: lit., will be of your law = will be under your jurisdiction.
pro munere:as a favor.
poscimus: poscere,to request, demand.
usum:loan; a technical term for temporary use of another’s property. This word, together with iustos and iuris, gives Orpheus’ plea a legalistic tone.
38. quod si: but if.
veniam: venia,kindness, favor, pardon.
certum est…mihi (39): i.e., I am resolved (to); the delay of mihi is meant to parallel that of pro coniuge.
40. dicentem…moventem: positioning the first partic. at the caesura emphasizes the internal rhyme, lending a musicality to the verse that suits its meaning.
41. exsangues: bloodless, lifeless, pale.
Tantalus: for his sins, Tantalus was placed near food and water which always withdrew just beyond his grasp when he reached for it; but for a moment, under the spell of Orpheus’ music, he forgot this “tantalizing” torture.
42. stupuit: stupere, to be amazed, stupefied; with Ixionis orbis, Ixion’s wheel, = halted in amazement. Like Tantalus and the others mentioned here, Ixion had committed a crime (the attempted seduction of Juno) for which he was condemned to eternal torment in Hades; Ixion’s punishment was to be spread-eagled on a wheel that perpetually turned, but here even the wheel was mesmerized by Orpheus’ song and ceased to revolve.
Through the charm of his music Orpheus wins his request for Eurydice’s return, only to lose her again as they near the upper world.
“Orpheus before Pluto and Proserpina” François Perrier, 1650 Louvre, Paris, France
Erich Lessing/Art Resource, NY.
40 Talia dicentem nervosque ad verba moventem exsangues flebant animae; nec Tantalus undam captavit refugam, stupuitque Ixionis orbis, nec carpsere iecur volucres, urnisque vacarunt Belides, inque tuo sedisti, Sisyphe, saxo. 45 Tunc primum lacrimis victarum carmine fama est Eumenidum maduisse genas. Nec regia coniunx sustinet oranti, nec qui regit ima, negare, Eurydicenque vocant. Umbras erat illa recentes inter, et incessit passu de vulnere tardo. 50 Hanc simul et legem Rhodopeius accipit Orpheus, ne flectat retro sua lumina, donec Avernas exierit valles, aut irrita dona futura.
43. iecur: liver.
volucres: volucris,winged creature, bird. The giant Tityus attempted to rape Leto, mother of Diana and Apollo, and was tied to the ground in Hades and exposed to vultures that plucked constantly at his liver.
vacarunt: vacare,to be free from.
44. Belides: Danaids, the 50 daughters of Danaus, king of Libya and son of Belus; 49 of them murdered their husbands on their wedding night, at their father’s bidding, and were punished in the Underworld by forever trying to fill water urns that had holes in the bottom.
Sisyphe: in an abrupt APOSTROPHE the narrator addresses the Corinthian king Sisyphus, who for his deceit and avarice had been condemned in Hades to the unending task of pushing up a hill a huge stone that always rolled back down again when he neared the top.
