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Tag: the Olympians
________ Mean-while the restless horses neigh’d aloud, Breathing out fire, and pawing where they stood. Tethys, not knowing what had past, gave way, And all the waste of Heav’n before ’em lay. who seems to have some sort of controlling force in the heavens, and concern for the regularity of its movements, though I haven’t yet figured out her specific purpose, position, in the scheme of things They spring together out, and swiftly bear The flying youth thro’ clouds and yielding air; They, the horses The flying youth, Phaeton With wingy speed outstrip the eastern wind, And leave the breezes of the morn behind. “ the eastern wind, Eurus , which you The youth was light, nor cou’d he fill the seat, Or poise the chariot with its wonted weight: wonted, usual, the chariot is lighter now that only Phaeton’s lesser weight is in it rather than that of his heavier father poise, superb word here suggestive of the delicacy, the precariousness, of the operation, not to mention its grace But as at sea th’ unballass’d vessel rides, unballass’d, without ballast,unstable, destabilized Cast to and fro, the sport of winds and tides; So in the bounding chariot toss’d on high, The youth is hurry’d headlong through the sky. Soon as the steeds perceive it, they forsake Their stated course, and leave the beaten track. The youth was in a maze, you can hear the etymology of amaze here, was in a maze, caught up in a conundrum, completely disoriented nor did he know Which way to turn the reins, or where to go; Nor wou’d the horses, had he known, obey. had he known, Phaeton didn’t know,as his father would have, his horses Then the sev’n stars first felt Apollo’s ray, And wish’d to dip in the forbidden sea. the sev’n stars, the Pleiades , a star cluster , closest to the earth, would resort to the coolness of the sea, supposedly, upon being subjected to the heat of Apollo’s ray, or rays forbidden, probably forbidding The folded serpent next the frozen pole, Stiff and benum’d before, began to rowle, The folded serpent, the constellation And raged with inward heat, and threaten’d war, And shot a redder light from ev’ry star; a redder light, the brightest star, constellation Serpens , is called greater understanding of the cosmos, call such stars red giant s because of a distinctive ring they present around their core for reasons of thermodynamics, Ovid is using this cosmic peculiarity here for his own poetic purposes Nay, and ’tis said Bootes too, that fain Thou woud’st have fled, tho’ cumber’d with thy wane. constellation, like Serpens , in the northern sky
cumbered, encumbered
wane, to lose its vigour Th’ unhappy youth then, bending down his head, Saw Earth and Ocean far beneath him spread. His colour chang’d, he startled at the sight, And his eyes darken’d by too great a light. darken’d, blinded, by too great a light Now cou’d he wish the fiery steeds untry’d, untry’d, o, that he had not attempted totake on the fiery steeds, Phaeton rues, nor to have ridden at all the Chariot of the Sun His birth obscure, and his request deny’d: had Phaeton only left [h]is birth obscure, not demanded to know who his father was, and been denied, been deny’d , this horrifying proof of it would not be now so threatening Now wou’d he Merops for his father own, stepfather, Phaeton would now willingly accept, own, Merops as his father, and give up his claim to being son of the Sun god And quit his boasted kindred to the sun. kindred, originating from the same family,spirit So fares the pilot, when his ship is tost In troubled seas, and all its steerage lost, He gives her to the winds, and in despair Seeks his last refuge in the Gods and pray’r.
after a lifetime’s consideration, I’ve determined there are only two things one can do when confronted with a dire situation, pray for grace, and
make sure your tie’s on right’s stepfather Phaeton , one extrapolates, is doing at least one of these two things, the rest being up to the Gods, his last refuge stay tuned R ! chard
__________ The God repented of the oath he took, Phaeton’s mother the oath, to grant Phaeton his wishin order to prove his paternity For anguish thrice his radiant head he shook; “My son,” says he, “some other proof require, Rash was my promise, rash is thy desire. I’d fain deny this wish, which thou hast made, Or, what I can’t deny, wou’d fain disswade. fain, willingly, gladly what I can’t deny, his oath disswade, dissuade Too vast and hazardous the task appears, Nor suited to thy strength, nor to thy years. Thy lot is mortal, but thy wishes fly Beyond the province of mortality: Beyond the province of mortality, into immortality, for which Phaeton is not equipped, being human, his lot is mortal There is not one of all the Gods that dares (However skill’d in other great affairs) To mount the burning axle-tree, but I; the axle-tree, the bar that joins the wheels of the chariot, is burning because it transports the sun Not Jove himself, the ruler of the sky, That hurles the three-fork’d thunder from above, Dares try his strength: yet who so strong as Jove? gods, and of Thunder, will attempt to mount the burning axle-tree, despite his immense strength, superior to anyone’s The steeds climb up the first ascent with pain, And when the middle firmament they gain, the middle firmament, noon, themiddle of the day, where the sun reaches its zenith If downward from the Heav’ns my head I bow, And see the Earth and Ocean hang below, hang, suspended in the heavens Ev’n I am seiz’d with horror and affright, And my own heart misgives me at the sight. to fear of vertigo A mighty downfal steeps the ev’ning stage, And steddy reins must curb the horses’ rage. Tethys herself has fear’d to see me driv’n Down headlong from the precipice of Heav’n. Giants , who were defeated during what I’ve learned in the meantime actually ruled the cosmos before something Ovid had misrepresented in his retelling, where he suggests that they were upstarts, rather, mortal, however gigantic, who were the skie , in order to unseat the the Titans , as it turns out, were immortals, who ruled the cosmos before being ousted by the and his cohorts, and relegated, though Tethys herself seems to have made it out, and been reconciled with, at least, the Sun god should I point out that to try to set out in one, however comprehensive, manuscript, a mythology that had endured for going on a thousand years was likely to reflect some inconsistencies, some inaccuracies, not to mention the dictates of not only cultural, but also political considerations, we’ll have to forgive Ovid , or not, it appears, his transgressions Besides, consider what impetuous force Turns stars and planets in a diff’rent course. to speak, warning his son Phaeton of the strong, impetuous, and unpredictable, currents that [t]urn, jostle, stars and planets I steer against their motions; that’s what I have to deal with, cautions, these motions, these irascible, interplanetary, interstellar, streams nor am I Born back by all the current of the sky. neither am I born back, which is to say borne back, carried back, guided back, by any regular, orderly, current of the sky, by any rhythm, of the days, for instance, or of the, however intransigent, hours, that could, potentially, redirect his path But how cou’d you resist the orbs that roul In adverse whirls, and stem the rapid pole? roul, roll, swirl adverse whirls, of the winds, like ocean currents, that stem, are created by, are the source of, as in the stem of plants, the rapid pole, or pull, to rhyme with roul ,a bit, I think, of a poetic stretch But you perhaps may hope for pleasing woods, And stately dooms, and cities fill’d with Gods; While through a thousand snares your progress lies, Where forms of starry monsters stock the skies: dooms, eventualities, a wonderful conjunction here of stately, or exalted, expectations, with the more dire threat of a thousand snares , or starry monsters, that the word doom would usually suggest For, shou’d you hit the doubtful way aright, even if you stay on the right track, even if you hit the … way aright The bull with stooping horns stands opposite; you’ll have to confront [t]he bull, Next him the bright Haemonian bow is strung, Haemonian, of Thessaly , a region still of Greece the Haemonian bow, representative And next, the lion’s grinning visage hung: the lion, Leo The scorpion’s claws, here clasp a wide extent; And here the crab’s in lesser clasps are bent. an array of astrological configurations obstruct the sky Nor wou’d you find it easie to compose The mettled steeds, when from their nostrils flows The scorching fire, that in their entrails glows. mettled, spirited Ev’n I their head-strong fury scarce restrain, When they grow warm and restif to the rein. barely, scarce, hold them back, restrain them, when they grow … restif, restive, unable to keep still Let not my son a fatal gift require, don’t require of me a fatal gift, that will destroy you But, O! in time, recall your rash desire; You ask a gift that may your parent tell, a gift that may your parent tell, that is meant to determine, to prove, your descent Let these my fears your parentage reveal; And learn a father from a father’s care: Look on my face; or if my heart lay bare, Cou’d you but look, you’d read the father there. were you to just look at my face, see my concern, you should be able to make out that I’m your says Chuse out a gift from seas, or Earth, or skies, [c]huse, choose For open to your wish all Nature lies, Only decline this one unequal task, For ’tis a mischief, not a gift, you ask. unequal task, a challenge that is too great for Phaeton You ask a real mischief, Phaeton: Nay hang not thus about my neck, my son: don’t hang about my neck, Helios you don’t need to try to cajole me I grant your wish, and Styx has heard my voice, sworn an oath on Styx , the goddess, the river, an unshakable promise, which he intends to deliver Chuse what you will, but make a wiser choice.” now it’s up to you, Phaeton , for better or for worse, to decide R ! chard
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