Ovid Lines 12-25 - Analysis

◇ = Analysis of Latin || ✪ = Notes on context

Therefore, when the heaven-dwellers arrived at the small household¹¹

◇✪11: caelicolae parvos … penates: the juxtaposition of the first two words emphasises the ludicrous picture of mighty gods going into a small house. Although penates means “house”, here, there is also a hint to its original meaning of “household gods” and therefore contrasts the little household gods with the powerful Olympian gods, Jupiter and Mercury. Also, the alliteration of ‘p’ could be interpreted as derogatory.

Then she separated the warm ash in the hearth and rouses

The fires of yesterday¹², and feeds them with leaves and dry bark

◇12: ignes suscitat hesternos: sibilance and alliteration of ‘t’ intended to imitate the crackling of the fire as Baucis stirs up the ashes.

And brings forth flames with the breath of an old woman¹³,

◇13: anima … anili: the assonance here emphasises her feeble breath due to her age.

And made them smaller¹⁴ and applied them to a small¹⁴ bronze pot,

◇14: minuit parvo: the juxtaposition of these words emphasises the tiny size of the cottage, and because the pot is small, Baucis has to cut the firewood into even smaller pieces.

And brought down torches split into many pieces¹⁵ and dry sticks from the roof

And made them smaller and applied them to a small bronze pot,

And she strips a cabbage of its leaves which her husband had gathered

From the well-watered garden; with a two-pronged fork¹⁵ he lifts

◇15: caelicolae … multifidas … bicorni: the use of compound adjectives is a feature of epic poetry, as they add a grander tone to the narrative.

The sooty¹⁶ back of a pig which was hanging on a black¹⁶ beam

16: sordida … nigro: the position of these words at the beginning of each half of the line emphasises the blackness of the cottage caused by smoke rising from the open fire.

And having cut it up softens it in the boiling waters¹⁷.

17: undis: hyperbole. undis means ‘waves’, which is an exaggerated way to simply say ‘waters’.