Ovid 4

Question 1

aestus erat

Answer 1

it was sultry

heat of the sun/ of passion- pun

Question 2

mediam horam

Answer 2

middle hour

middle of the day has already passed which is the hottest part of the day

Question 3

pars…pars

Answer 3

shutter…shutter

repetition and splitting of line making it look like one half of the shutter is open and the other one is closed

Question 4

quale fere silvae lumen habere solent

Answer 4

the kind of light that woods generally tend to have

the simile is to compare the lighting to the woods which is usually dark to the light in the room

Question 5

sublucere

Answer 5

faintly glows

Question 6

crepuscula

Answer 6

twilight

Question 7

aut ubi nox abiit, nec tamen orta dies

Answer 7

or when night has gone but the day has not yet risen

Question 8

illa verecundis lux est praebenda puellis

Answer 8

That is the light to offer to shy girls

juxtaposition of ‘illa verecundis’. At first is it the girl? no it is the light. Is this meeting with Corinna prearranged? irony- if they were shy would they come willingly to this environment

Question 9

timidus latebras speret habere pudor

Answer 9

in which their timid modesty may hope to find a hiding place

juxtaposition of timidus latebras, also ironic description of timidus pudor latebras, hiding places suggesting illicit nature of affair

Question 10

ecce, Corinna venit

Answer 10

look corinna comes

finally tis girl Corrina is named. The name is that of a Boetian poetess but it could have also been a pun on ‘core’ the Greek word for girl. Ovid’s details about Corrina invite curiosity about what type of girl she really is. Is she a willing partner, and compleatly party to the illicit nature of the meeting? Is she vunerable? is she REAL or a figment of his fanticies?

Question 11

tunica recincta

Answer 11

unbelted tunic

her tunic is covering her but is loosened. How shy is she when this suggests that her tunic is already unbelted

Question 12

candida colla

Answer 12

fair neck

some scholars see a hidden pun here. Catullus describes Lesbia when she appears at one of their dates as a ‘candida diva’ (beautiful godgess. Is she glowing in his eyes or is it the fact that more of her body than decent can be seen

Question 13

dividua coma…colla tegente

Answer 13

with her parted hair covering her neck

women should only have her hair down around their husband

Question 14

thalamus

Answer 14

bedroom

Clear suggestion of what is about to follow

Question 15

Seriramis

Answer 15

Refference to Semiramis Assyrian queen and famous beauty

Question 16

Lais

Answer 16

Lais was a famous courtesan.

Question 17

amata multis viris

Answer 17

loved by many men

Is ovid’s description a double edged sword? what kind if woman is corinna? a princess or a whore? ‘loved by many men’; ambigious statement- in an adoared way or a tarty way?

Question 18

deripui

Answer 18

I tore

Perfect tense suggests quick, possibly violent?

Question 19

pugnabat…pugnaret

Answer 19

she struggled…she was struggling

the repetition and use of perfect tense suggests she has spent some time fighting back

Question 20

nec multum rara nocebat

Answer 20

being thin it did not spoil things much

was it see-through? was this another inviation, in his eyes?

Question 21

deripui… pugnabat… pugnaret… vincere… vincta est.

Answer 21

i tore… struggled… struggling… conquer… conquered

a chain of verbs speeds up the actions. All have suggestion of battle, fight, struggle

Question 22

pugnaret non aegre

Answer 22

struggling… without difficulty

Another suggestion she may not be serious in her attempts to fight back?

Question 23

velamine posito

Answer 23

with her clothing put aside

nothing to indicate if she did this or if ovid did

Question 24

stetit

Answer 24

she stood

a contrast to the action verbs in the previous lines as she stands still while ovid’s eyes travel over her body

Question 25

umeros… lacertos… forma papillarum… sub pectore venter… latus… femur

Answer 25

sholders… arms… beautiful breasts… stomach beneath bosom… flank… thigh

ovid gives details ono by one as if he is scanning her body

Question 26

vidi tetigique

Answer 26

i saw and touched

The effect of juxtaposition makes it seem as if he cant stop himselfn

Question 27

nudam pressi corpus ad usque meum

Answer 27

I clasped her naked as she was close to my body

ovid delicately alludes to the act of sex; but note the empathetic position usque= all the way. There is no indication at all in these lines what her actions were- active or passive?

Question 28

cetera quis nescit

Answer 28

Who does not know what the rest

As if the camera pans away from the scene and we are left to imagine what comes next. Ovid feels as if he does not need to say more.

Question 29

proveniant medii sic mihi saepe dies

Answer 29

May my middays often be so successful

The final line, with the subjunctive verb, doesnt help us- does he want the same thing to happen all the time or does he wish this would happen