2.01: 3.511–18

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cognita res meritam vati per Achaidas urbes
attulerat famam, nomenque erat auguris ingens;
spernit Echionides tamen hunc ex omnibus unus
contemptor superum Pentheus praesagaque ridet
verba senis tenebrasque et cladem lucis ademptae 515
obicit. ille movens albentia tempora canis
‘quam felix esses, si tu quoque luminis huius
orbus’ ait ‘fieres, ne Bacchica sacra videres!

Study Questions

What is the res mentioned in 511?
What noun does the adjective meritam (511) agree with? What is name for this kind of separation of attribute and noun? What is the effect of its use here?
Parse vati.
Parse attulerat.
What is the subject of spernit (513)?
Identify the respective accusative object(s) of spernit (513), ridet (514), and obicit (516).
Parse superum.
What does the -que after praesaga (514) link? The -que after tenebras (515)? The et in 515?
Parse senis.
Parse canis — how does it fit into the sentence?
What type of conditional clause does si (517) introduce? What is its protasis?
Parse fieres.
How does Ovid bring the theme of ‘blindness and insight’ into play here?

Stylistic Appreciation

Analyze the rhetorical design of spernit Echionides tamen hunc ex omnibus unus | contemptor superum Pentheus praesagaque ridet | verba senis tenebrasque et cladem lucis ademptae | obicit (513–16), paying attention not least to Ovid’s placement of words in the nominative, accusative objects, and verbs.

Discussion Points

How does Ovid characterize Pentheus and Tiresias here? What type of power do these figures represent, respectively? Can you think of similar conflicts elsewhere in classical (and contemporary) literature and culture?

cognosco, -oscere, -ovi, -itum	to get to know in the perfect often = to know
vates/ vatis, -is, m./f	prophet, seer; poet
Achais, -idos, f. adj	Greek
augur, -uris, m	prophet, seer; augur
Echionides	(patronymic) ‘son of Echion’
praesagus, -a, -um	portending, ominous
superi, -orum (or superum)	those who dwell above; gods
adimo, -imere, -emi, -emptum	to remove by physical force, take away
obicio, -icere, -ieci, -iectum	to throw in the way/ in one’s teeth
albeo, -ere	to be white (with), appear white
tempus, -oris, n.	the side of the forehead, temple (a less common sense of the Latin word for ‘time’)
cani, -orum, m. pl. [= cani capilli]	grey hairs (not to be confused with canis, -is, m./f., ‘dog’)
orbus, -a, -um	deprived (of), bereaved, orphaned