OCR GCSE Latin - Verse Literature - Baucis et Philemon (Ovid) - Lines 50-63 - Translation and Stylep

parent ambo baculisque levati

nituntur longo vestigia ponere clibo.

Both obey, and supported by their staffs, they strive to place their footsteps on the long slope.

tantum aberant summo, quantam semel ire sagitta

missa potest; flexere oculos et mersa palude

cetera prospiciunt, tantum sua teecta manere.

They were (about) as far away from the top as an arrow, once discharged, can go; they turned their eyes and see the rest (of the houses) submerged by a marsh, and only their house remaining.

dumque ea mirantur, dum deflent fata suorum,

illa vetus dominis etiam casa prava duobus

vertitur in templum; furcas subiere columnae,

And while they were marvelling at these things, while they were weeping for the destructions of their friends, that old house, small even for its two owners, is turned into a temple; columns replaced the poles

stramina flavescunt aurataque tecta videntur

caelataeque fores adopertaque marmore tellus.

the thatch becomes yellow and a golden roof is seen, doors engraved, and the earth covered with marble.

talia tum placido Saturnius edidit ore:

Then the son of Saturn uttered the following (words) with calm expression:

‘dicite, iuste senex et femina conjuge iusto

digna, quid optetis.’ cum Baucide pauca locutus

iudicium superis aperit commune Philemon:

‘Honest old man and woman worthy of an honest husband, tell me what you desire.’ Having spoken a few (words) with Baucis, Philemon reveals their joint decision to the gods:

‘parent’ line 50

‘obey’ - verb promoted to 1st word in phrase, emphasises obedience

‘ambo’ line 50

‘both’ - not needed

‘nituntur longo’ line 51

‘they strive…long’ - they strive is emphasised as 1st word in line - stressing their effort; spondaic rythym - slow - emphasises strain/effort

‘longo…clivo.’ line 51

‘long…slope’ - enclosing word order - stresses distance

‘tantam aberant summo, quantum semel ire sagitta missa potest;’ line 52/3

‘They were as far away from the top as an arrow, once discharged, can go’ - alliteration of ‘m’ and ‘n’ suggest they are tired and hopeless; sibilance of ‘s’ reflects whistle of arrow; enjambment suggests distance arrow flies

‘mersa…cetera…tecta’ line 53/4

‘the rest submerged…house’ 1st bit enclosing (by marsh), house postponed to create suspense

‘tantum sua tecta’ line 54

‘only their house’ - alliteration of ‘t’ emphasises that it is only their house

‘dum…dum’ - line 55

‘while…while’ - anaphora emphasises things happening at the same time - overwhelm

‘deflent fata’ line 55

‘they were weeping for the destruction’ - fricatives - emphasises destruction

‘suorum’ line 55

‘their’ - use of possessive adjective

‘illa vetus…casa’ line 56

‘that old little house’ - perjorative - contrast with temple; enclosing word order - owners inside it - their house

‘parvo duobus’ line 56

‘small even for its two’ - emphasises small size; enjambment after creates suspense

line 57

short rapid phrases - transformation

‘stramina flavescunt aurataque tecta videntur’ line 58

‘the thatch becomes yellow and a golden roof is seen’ - alliteration of ‘t’ - new hard roof

‘stramina…tecta’ line 58

‘the thatch…the roof' - homeoteleuton - links thatch and roof - transformation

‘aurataque…caelataeque…marmore’ line 58

‘and a golden…engraved…marble’ - references to Augustus’s building program in Rome - pleasing him

‘aurataque…adopertaque’ line 58/9

‘golden and…and..covered’ - polysyndeton and homeoteleuton - grandeur of temple emphasised

line 58/9

enjambment - emphasises sheer amount of things

‘placido…ore:’ line 60

‘calm expression’ - enclosing word order - expression of Saturn

‘Saturnius’ line 60

‘son of Saturn’ - doctrina

‘iuste senex..femina…digna’ 61/2

‘Honest old man and woman worthy of an honest husband’ - chiasmus emphasises piety

‘iuste…iusto’ line 61

‘honest’ - polyptoton - emphasises piety - enclosing w.o. - togetherness as a pair

‘Baucide…aperit…Philemon’ line 52/3

‘Baucis, Philemon reveals’ - balanced placement of names shows even decision; Philemon is promoted creating suspense, first 2 words create enclosing w.o. - decision is joint