The Metamorposes Book I

Written by Publius Ovidius Naso (Ovid), and published in 8 C.E., the Metamorphoses is an epic poem written in dactylic hexameter. It details a history of the world, from its creation to the deification of Julius Caesar (in 44 B.C.E.), told through the lense of transformations, some very literal, others less so.

Lines 1-75

In nova fert animus mutatas dicere formas

The spirit makes [me] speak of changed forms, in new

corpora; di, coeptis (nam vos mutastis et illas)

Bodies; gods (for you even changed those [arts]) to undertaking

adspirate meis primaque ab origine mundi

of mine assist from the origin of the world

ad mea perpetuum deducite tempora carmen!

To my time draw out a continuous song!

Ante mare et terras et quod tegit omnia caelum

Before the sea and lands and all that covers the sky

unus erat toto naturae vultus in orbe,

There was one face in the whole circle of nature,

quem dixere chaos: rudis indigestaque moles

Who is called Chaos: a rough, confused mass

nec quicquam nisi pondus iners congestaque eodem

Not anything except the same inert weight with collected

non bene iunctarum discordia semina rerum.

Seed of things joined together not well in discord.

nullus adhuc mundo praebebat lumina Titan,

No Titan hitherto was offering light to the world,

nec nova crescendo reparabat cornua Phoebe,

Nor was Phoebe restoring her new horns with increasing,

nec circumfuso pendebat in aere tellus

Nor was the sky hanging in the air, around it

ponderibus librata suis, nec bracchia longo

With its weights balanced, nor with his long arms

margine terrarum porrexerat Amphitrite;

Had Amphitrite stretched to the end of the earth;

utque erat et tellus illic et pontus et aer,

As much as there was a ground in there, and a sea and air,

sic erat instabilis tellus, innabilis unda,

In such a way was the earth unstable, the wave unswimmable,

lucis egens aer; nulli sua forma manebat,

The air needing of light; none were keeping their shape,

obstabatque aliis aliud, quia corpore in uno

The one was obstructing the others, for [they were] in one body

frigida pugnabant calidis, umentia siccis,

The cold was fighting the hot, the wet the dry,

mollia cum duris, sine pondere, habentia pondus.

The soft with the hard, that which had weight, with the weightless.

Hanc deus et melior litem natura diremit.

The better nature god separated this quarrel.

nam caelo terras et terris abscidit undas

For he cut the lands from the sky, and the waves from the lands

et liquidum spisso secrevit ab aere caelum.

And separated the liquid sky from the condensed air.

quae postquam evolvit caecoque exemit acervo,

He cleared up these after, and freed [them] from the dark mass,

dissociata locis concordi pace ligavit: 25

He tied the dissociated things to their places in concordant peace:

ignea convexi vis et sine pondere caeli

Force, fiery and without weight, in the vaulted heavens

emicuit summaque locum sibi fecit in arce;

Flashed in the heights, and made a place for itself in the heights;

proximus est aer illi levitate locoque;

The air is next to that place, with lightness;

densior his tellus elementaque grandia traxit

The earth [is] denser than these, and dragged the elements grand

et pressa est gravitate sua; circumfluus umor 30

And were pressed with its gravity; the liquid flowing around

ultima possedit solidumque coercuit orbem.

At last held, and enclosed the solid earth.

Sic ubi dispositam quisquis fuit ille deorum

Thus when he, whichever of the gods he was, had distributed

congeriem secuit sectamque in membra coegit,

He separated the cut mass and ordered it in portions,

principio terram, ne non aequalis ab omni

First the Earth, lest it should not equal from all

parte foret, magni speciem glomeravit in orbis. 35

Part be, he rounded it into the image of a great sphere.

tum freta diffundi rapidisque tumescere ventis

Then the seas to scatter, and the rapid winds to swell

iussit et ambitae circumdare litora terrae;

He commanded, and the lands encircled by beaches to enclose;

addidit et fontes et stagna inmensa lacusque

And he added springs, and large ponds and lakes

fluminaque obliquis cinxit declivia ripis,

And descending rivers, and he surrounded with slanting shores,

quae, diversa locis, partim sorbentur ab ipsa, 40

Of which, diverse with places, a part is sucked up by itself

in mare perveniunt partim campoque recepta

[another] part arrive in the sea, and received by the plain

liberioris aquae pro ripis litora pulsant.

Of more open water they strike the beach instead of the bank.

iussit et extendi campos, subsidere valles,

And he ordered the the plains to extend, the valleys to sink,

fronde tegi silvas, lapidosos surgere montes,

The woods to cover with foliage, the rocky mountains to rise,

utque duae dextra caelum totidemque sinistra 45

And just as the sky in two to the right, [two to the] left

parte secant zonae, quinta est ardentior illis,

Is cut in zones, the fifth blazes more than them,

sic onus inclusum numero distinxit eodem

In this way he divided the bound weight into the same number

cura dei, totidemque plagae tellure premuntur.

By the care of the god, and just as many cuts are pressed on the earth.

quarum quae media est, non est habitabilis aestu;

Of which what is in the middle, is not habitable from fire;

nix tegit alta duas; totidem inter utramque locavit 50

Snow covers the other two; just as many are located between the two

temperiemque dedit mixta cum frigore flamma.

And he gave temperateness by mixing heat with cold.

Inminet his aer, qui, quanto est pondere terrae

The air borders these, which, by as much weight of the earth

pondus aquae levius, tanto est onerosior igni.

As the weight of the water [is] lighter, by so much is it heavier than fire

illic et nebulas, illic consistere nubes

And over there vapours, and there clouds to form

iussit et humanas motura tonitrua mentes 55

He ordered, and thunder to shake human minds

et cum fulminibus facientes fulgura ventos.

And lightning with flashes making winds.

His quoque non passim mundi fabricator habendum

Still the creator of the world not everywhere to hold

aera permisit; vix nunc obsistitur illis,

The winds did he allow; [even] now are they scarcely stopped,

cum sua quisque regat diverso flamina tractu,

Though each rules their gusts in different regions,

quin lanient mundum; tanta est discordia fratrum. 60

From tearing the world to pieces; so great is the discord of brothers.

Eurus ad Auroram Nabataeaque regna recessit

Eurus withdrew to Dawn and to the kingdoms of Arabia

Persidaque et radiis iuga subdita matutinis;

And to Persia and the mountains subjected to morning rays;

vesper et occiduo quae litora sole tepescunt,

And the West, whose beaches are warmed by the setting sun,

proxima sunt Zephyro; Scythiam septemque triones

They are close to Zephyrus; into Scythia and the north

horrifer invasit Boreas; contraria tellus 65

Does dread Boreas invade; opposite, the land

nubibus adsiduis pluviaque madescit ab Austro.

Is from incessant clouds and rain moistened by Auster.

haec super inposuit liquidum et gravitate carentem

Above these he placed water and the weight-lacking

aethera nec quicquam terrenae faecis habentem.

Heavens, lest any of them should bear earthly dregs.

Vix ita limitibus dissaepserat omnia certis,

Hardly had he separated all with fixed boundaries,

cum, quae pressa diu fuerant caligine caeca, 70

When, which had been obscured for a long time, hidden by the fog,

sidera coeperunt toto effervescere caelo;

The constellations began to shine in the whole sky;

neu regio foret ulla suis animalibus orba,

And that not any region should be deprived of its own animals,

astra tenent caeleste solum formaeque deorum,

The floor of the heavens holds the stars and the forms of the gods,

cesserunt nitidis habitandae piscibus undae,

The waves moved along, inhabited by shining fish,

terra feras cepit, volucres agitabilis aer. 75

The earth received beasts, the sky easily moved birds.