Ovid, Metamorphoses, 3.511-733: Latin Text with Introduction, Commentary, Glossary of Terms, Vocabulary Aid and Study QuestionsThis extract from Ovid's 'Theban History' recounts the confrontation of Pentheus, king of Thebes, with his divine cousin, Bacchus, the god of wine. Notwithstanding the warnings of the seer Tiresias and the cautionary tale of a character Acoetes (perhaps Bacchus in disguise), who tells of how the god once transformed a group of blasphemous sailors into dolphins, Pentheus refuses to acknowledge the divinity of Bacchus or allow his worship at Thebes. Enraged, yet curious to witness the orgiastic rites of the nascent cult, Pentheus conceals himself in a grove on Mt. Cithaeron near the locus of the ceremonies. But in the course of the rites he is spotted by the female participants who rush upon him in a delusional frenzy, his mother and sisters in the vanguard, and tear him limb from limb. The episode abounds in themes of abiding interest, not least the clash between the authoritarian personality of Pentheus, who embodies 'law and order', masculine prowess, and the martial ethos of his city, and Bacchus, a somewhat effeminate god of orgiastic excess, who revels in the delusional and the deceptive, the transgression of boundaries, and the blurring of gender distinctions. This course book offers a wide-ranging introduction, the original Latin text, study aids with vocabulary, and an extensive commentary. Designed to stretch and stimulate readers, Gildenhard and Zissos's incisive commentary will be of particular interest to students of Latin at AS and undergraduate level. It extends beyond detailed linguistic analysis to encourage critical engagement with Ovid's poetry and discussion of the most recent scholarly thought. |
Common terms and phrases
accusative object Acoetes Actaeon adjective adverb Aeneid Agave attribute atum Autonoe Bacchants Bacchic Bacchus Cadmus caesura Cithaeron crew cult dactyl dative Dionysus Discussion Points divine dolphins dragon earlier Echion epic episode Epopeus Etruscan Euripidean Euripides following form genitive Gildenhard god’s gods Greek helmsman hexameter Homeric Hymn Hymn to Dionysus hyperbaton Identify indirect statement infinitive Intro introduces John Henderson Jupiter kind of ablative Latin line links Lycabas Maenads main verb Melanthus Metamorphoses metonymy mihi modify Mount Cithaeron name Narcissus narrative Naxos noun number OLD s.v. Ovid Ovid’s Pacuvius Parse participle penates Pentheus plural poem poetic poetry pronoun quae quam readers reference relative clause rhetorical rites Roman Rome sacra sail scans Semele sense sentence sequence set text simile Spartoi speaking spondee Study Questions Stylistic Appreciation subject accusative subjunctive syllable tale terms Theban Thebes Tiresias tragedy tragic transformation tricolon turba verse Virgil vowel Zissos