ovid baucis et philemon lines 1-11 translation and style

iuppiter huc specie mortali cumque parente venit Atlantiades positis caducifer alis.

Jupiter came here in human form and, with his father, came the wand bearing descendant of Atlas, having set aside his wings.

mille domos adiere locum requiemque petentes,

mille domos clausere serae. tamen una recepit,

They approached a thousand houses, seeking a place to rest: bars shut a thousand houses. However one received them,parva

parva quidem stipulis et canna tecta palustri,

sed pia Baucis anus parilique aetate Philemon

a small one, it is true, covered with stalks and marshy reeds, but the dutiful old woman Baucis, and Philemon of similar age

illa sunt annis iuncti iuvenalibus, illa

consenuere casa paupertatemque fatendo

effecere levem nec iniqua mente ferendo.

were united in their young years in that cottage, grew old in that cottage, and, by acknowledging their poverty, and bearing it with a not unfair mind, made it unimportant.

nec refert, dominos illic famulosne requires:

tota domus duo sunt, idem parentque iubentque.

And it does not matter whether you look for the masters or servants there: the two are the whole house, the same people obey and order.

‘huc’ line 1

‘here’ - vivid descriptor - like we’re actually there

‘parente…Atlantiades’ line 1/2

‘descendant of Atlas’ - doctrina - poet shows off his learning/knowledge - impressive - text more serious/formal/educational

‘positis…alis’ line 2

‘having set aside his wings’ - enclosing word order - wings around Hermes - more vivid

‘caducifer alis’ line 2

‘wand-bearing…wings’ - juxtaposition emphasises distinct characteristics - emphasises godliness

‘mille domos’ x2 line 3/4

‘a thousand houses’ - anaphora, asyndeton and epanalepsis emphasises the sheer amount of houses - also hyperbole

‘adiere…clausere’ line 3/4

‘they approached…shut’ - homeoteleuton emphasises being turned away

‘mille domos….petentes’ line 3 (entire)

‘they approached a thousand houses, seeking a place to rest.’ - the dactylic rapid rhythm emphasises how tiring and long the journey was

‘serae/ tamen’ line 4

‘bars/however’ - delayed and powerful caesura emphasising the closed doors and mistreatment

‘parva’ line 5 (+ una line 4)

‘small’ - contrast in number of houses - emphasises size of house - humble

‘parva quidem stipulis et canna tecta palustri, sed pia Baucis anus parilique aetate Philemon’ line 5/6

‘a small one, it is true, covered with stalks and marshy reeds, but the dutiful old woman Baucis, and Philemon of similar age,’ - the plosive alliteration of ‘p’ emphasises the adjectives describing the house, creating a more vivid description - important elements

‘canna tecta palustri’ line 5

‘covered with marshy reeds’ - enclosing order - emphasises how the roof was fully covered and overgrown

‘

‘illa…illa’ line 7 - both link to casa

‘that (cottage)…. that (cottage’ - anaphora and use of deictic - importance of house to the story and to the time the couple have spent there - togetherness

‘iuncti iuvenalibus…consenuere’ line 7/8

‘were united in their young years’ ‘grew old’ -the assonance of ‘iu’ and ‘con’ emphasise their togetherness

‘consensuere casa’ line 8

‘grew old in (that) cottage’ - fricative alliteration links the words together - B and P together in their house

‘fatendo…ferendo’ line 8/9

‘acknowledging…bearing’ - fricative alliteration and homeoteleuton + both doing words - shows how they dealt with poverty and links them together - didn’t resent it - good quality

‘levem’ line 9

‘unimportant’ - metaphor - means light- shows how far it was from their minds - didn’t weigh on them

‘nec iniqua’ line 9

‘not unfair’ - litotes - showing how they were measured and considered, shows how most people would interpret it, emphasises goodness and piety

‘nec…nec’ line 9/10

‘not…un’ - epanalepsis - shows negative connotations of poverty and how they are making light of it regardless of how we percieve it

‘dominos… domus duo’ line 10/11

‘master’ ‘the two…house’ alliteration of ‘d’ emphasises how they are both masters and how the house is made up of the people in it

‘dominos… famulosne… parentque…iubentque’ line 10/11

'‘master…servant…obey and order’ - 2x homeoteleuton - emphasises the pair’s togetherness and how in each case they do both things

‘illic’ line 10

‘deictic pronoun’ - pointing the place out as if we are there - vivid