Prayers of Ovid
Posted: Thu Feb 19, 2004 7:59 pm
Publius Ovidius Naso (43 BCE - 17 CE)
Prayers from the Metamorphoses
I.2-4: "Gods, inspire me now, at the start of my work, for you know how to change and as such, to begin, lead my song through all of time, from the origin of the universe down to my own time."
I.377-80: Deucalion and Pyrra cried aloud, "If prayers, as they say, may soften divine Justice, if the anger of the Gods may be turned aside, Themis, tell me how are we to repair what was so soundly devastated, immerse yourself in our work, Most Gentle Goddess, and tell how we are to carry it out."
I.487-9: Daphne, daughter of Peneus pleaded, "Father, grant me what Diana?s father has granted her; let me remain, as I am, a woman, virgin and free."
I.545-6: Daphne called to Jove, "Father help me. If your spirit resides in this river, help me now, if I have pleased you in the past, by changing my form and destroying my beauty that has been so great a curse to me."
III.611-14: Acoetes spoke, "I know not which, but a god you surely are. Whoever you are, be favorable, and grant us this one indulgence: I pray you let us go."
IV.11-21: "Bacchus they call you, and Bromius, and Lyaeus, born in fire, and Savior also, who alone was born of two mothers. Revered as a God in Nyseus, unshorn Thyoneus, joyful Lenaeus, the sower of grapes, Lord of Nocturnal Revelries, the Bullroarer, and by many more names, Liber, are You known among the Greeks. Adored for your eternal youth, a youth everlasting, you the most beautiful among the celestial Gods high above, to You are sacrifices made when You, without horns upon Your most virgin head, are near and lend us Your assistance. Arising victorious in the East, illuminating those distant lands faded in memory, to outermost India as far as the banks of the Ganges."
IV.31: Ismenides prayed, "Calm and mild, may you come to us."
IV.383-6: Hermaphrodite prayed, "Give generously to your son, Mother and Father, who has both your names, whoever in these springs would come as a man, let him leave as I am, only half a man, and touched by their waters, suddenly to become half a woman also."
V.618-20: "Help me, Diana, for I am overwhelmed. Diana, I am your servant, your arms-bearer, to whom you have often given your bow to carry, and who filled your quiver with arrows."
VI.261-3: "O Gods, who are common to all," prayed Ilioneus, uncertain of who to ask, "spare me!"
VI.280-5: "Feed upon our sadness, hard hearted Latona, delight in my mourning and be satisfied! May it satisfy the beast within you that I prepare funerals for seven sons. Exult in triumph as a conqueror over your enemies. Where is victory though, when a goddess stoops so low as to commit such a beastly act? The many Gods who rise above are as cruel to me, as they are beneficial to you; and yet, though I am bereft by so many funerals, still I am better than you."
VI.327-8: "Favour me, Goddess, lead me, and lend me your support."
VII.192-219: Medea prayed, "O Night, most faithful keeper of secrets, when each golden day the moon passes into the fiery stars, and you, triple-formed Hecate, aware of our ventures, come, divine Helper, as you have always come to our aid in magic spells and magic arts. O Tellus, Mother Earth, you who provide powerful herbs to us, be with us now. And you also, all you gods and goddesses of the air and mountains, of streams and lakes, gods of all sacred groves, all the gods and goddess of the night, come now to me. Many marvels we have worked together, whenever you wished, turning back rivers onto their source, or churning them to overflow their banks. Together we have calmed the violent seas. I drive off storm clouds, and I induce storms, the winds I drive away, and I call the winds to me. With your words and charms I make the viper?s throat to erupt. The very rocks and boulders are torn from the earth, enlivened and invigorated by my charms into a dance. Forests and mountains I set in motion and order them to tremble, and ghosts I make not only to moan and bellow but call them forth from the grave! And you, O Moon, I am able to draw down, or else diminish you in size by an eclipse. Even the chariot of Aurora may be halted with our charms at my desire, and pale the red sky through magic potions. The fire breathing bulls you bent their necks to the yoke for my beloved that he might plow the fields. In my beloved?s cruel battle, you surrendered the serpent-born to him, and put that rude guard to dream in sleep, so that he could lay claim to the golden fleece, and kept Graia, by deception, away in his city. Now grant your assistance in this work, too, as I make a potion to restore an old man and return him to the flower of his youth, turning back the years. Truly the signs in the stars neither sparkle in vain, nor in vain does my chariot, drawn by dragons, await. Come, gods and goddesses, attend me, and lend me your aid."
VII.615-21: "Jupiter, if what they say is not false, if You did indeed embrace my mother Aegina, if then, great Father, You are not ashamed to acknowledge me as Your son, either restore to me what is mine or else build me a sepulcher as well." Then Jupiter sent lightning and thunder as a sign that He had heard. "I accept this to be Your sign and I pray that it is a good omen of Your approval."
VII.627-8: "O Jupiter, best of fathers," Aeacus prayed, "grant me as many fellow citizens as before and fill this empty town."
VIII.350-1: Mopsus prayed, "O Phoebus, if I have cherished You in the past and worship You now, grant that You guide this javelin I throw to its mark."
VIII.481-90: Althaea prayed, "Triple Goddesses, Furies who hand out punishments, Eumenides, turn aside your holy gaze from me. By a nefarious act I avenge wicked deeds. This corpse is an atonement of the dead, a wicked deed to end wicked deeds, another funeral made on top of funerals, that all its many impious deeds may be atoned, and mourning pass from this house. Surely I am without gladness, for the death of my son, he who prevailed over the sons of my father Oeneus, will leave my husband Thestius childless. Better this, though, that there should be mourning for both. May you, shades and souls of my brothers, look upon this and rest easy that I have fulfilled my duty to you, and accept these preparations below, for the great burden I bear, this evil child of my womb."
VIII.594-602: Achelous prays for Perimele, "O Neptune, who reigns over the realm of wandering waves, Bearer of the Trident, come to our aid, I pray, and undo her father?s savagery. Neptune, grant her a safe haven, or else allow her to become a place herself, (to live forever as one of Your nymphs)."
IX.773-81: Telethusa and Iphis pray, "Isis, Queen of the Seas and Ports, who dwells in the land of the Pharaohs and in the seven mouths of the Nile delta, help us, I pray, and deliver us from our fears. Remember that once before You came to me in a dream. Goddess, I saw you in a procession, your followers each bearing a bronze sistrum. In this I saw a sign and my belief in you slowly grew more. Remember how I obeyed your commands, what was seen in the light of your vision, and that I warranted no punishment. Look upon two of your followers and what we perform in tribute to you. Help us, have pity on the two of us, and lend us your assistance."
X.274-6: "If, Gods, You are to linger a little longer, may it be, as I choose," Pygmalion dared to say, "my bride a virgin as white as my marble statue."
X.321-3: Myrrha prayed, "Gods, I pray, and piously ask, that you conspire with me in an unholy act to have my father, but if this is a crime, then prohibit this wickedness and oppose our desecration."
X.483-7: Myrrha pleaded, "O Gods, if any of you are able to endure my confession, I have deservedly earned and gladly accept my punishment. No longer allow the defilement I made, but extinguish this violation I have done to the living and the dead. Drive me out of the kingdom and change me into something else, and undo this worthless life I have led."
X.640-1: Hippomenes whispered, "Venus of Cytherea, I pray that you come to our venture, and that she gives herself to whom you help in passion."
XI.131-2: Midas cried out, "Forgive me, Father Bacchus, I was mistaken, but have pity, I pray, and command that I should be torn from your beauty."
XIII.598-9: Aurora asked, "Grant me solace at my son's death, and this also, ease a mother's wound, grant my son Memnon honours befitting a high god."
XIV.729-32: Iphis called out, "O Gods above, if indeed you see our exploits, proclaim my memory, with nothing more than my prayers to uphold it, make it be told forever, and grant this life that you take from me a time of fame."
XV.39-40: Myscelus prayed, "O Hercules, to whom twelve labors was given, help me, I pray, since you are witness to the accusations made against me."
XV.622-25: "Help spread before me now," Ovid spoke, "O Muses, whose divine inspiration the poets seek, for you know the truth and are not beguiled by prolonged antiquity, tell me from whence came Asculapius, the son of Coronis, to the city of Romulus, to become a divine presence on an isle surround by the noble Tiber."
XV.677-9: The Epidaurian priest told the Roman envoys, "Behold a god, it is your god! Whoever now is here, quiet your thoughts and attend. O most beautiful Asculapius, may this vision and your holy temple be a blessing to people."
XV.861-70: Ovid requested, "Gods hear me! I pray to you gods who led Aeneas and his companions through fire and sword from ruined Troy. Jupiter who sits high atop the Tarpeian Heights, Di Indigetes and Romulus, Founder of Rome, invincible Gradivus Quirinus, Father, and you Phoebus Apollo and Vesta of the Augustan house. By whatever names poets may rightly and piously call to you, I pray. Grant that the day of Augustus passing from our lives may yet be far off, and that when his day comes to leave this world over which he rules may he rise to the heavens to sit among the Holy Penates. Like his father Caesar before him, though absent from us, may he yet watch over us and grant us our prayers."
Prayers from the Metamorphoses
I.2-4: "Gods, inspire me now, at the start of my work, for you know how to change and as such, to begin, lead my song through all of time, from the origin of the universe down to my own time."
I.377-80: Deucalion and Pyrra cried aloud, "If prayers, as they say, may soften divine Justice, if the anger of the Gods may be turned aside, Themis, tell me how are we to repair what was so soundly devastated, immerse yourself in our work, Most Gentle Goddess, and tell how we are to carry it out."
I.487-9: Daphne, daughter of Peneus pleaded, "Father, grant me what Diana?s father has granted her; let me remain, as I am, a woman, virgin and free."
I.545-6: Daphne called to Jove, "Father help me. If your spirit resides in this river, help me now, if I have pleased you in the past, by changing my form and destroying my beauty that has been so great a curse to me."
III.611-14: Acoetes spoke, "I know not which, but a god you surely are. Whoever you are, be favorable, and grant us this one indulgence: I pray you let us go."
IV.11-21: "Bacchus they call you, and Bromius, and Lyaeus, born in fire, and Savior also, who alone was born of two mothers. Revered as a God in Nyseus, unshorn Thyoneus, joyful Lenaeus, the sower of grapes, Lord of Nocturnal Revelries, the Bullroarer, and by many more names, Liber, are You known among the Greeks. Adored for your eternal youth, a youth everlasting, you the most beautiful among the celestial Gods high above, to You are sacrifices made when You, without horns upon Your most virgin head, are near and lend us Your assistance. Arising victorious in the East, illuminating those distant lands faded in memory, to outermost India as far as the banks of the Ganges."
IV.31: Ismenides prayed, "Calm and mild, may you come to us."
IV.383-6: Hermaphrodite prayed, "Give generously to your son, Mother and Father, who has both your names, whoever in these springs would come as a man, let him leave as I am, only half a man, and touched by their waters, suddenly to become half a woman also."
V.618-20: "Help me, Diana, for I am overwhelmed. Diana, I am your servant, your arms-bearer, to whom you have often given your bow to carry, and who filled your quiver with arrows."
VI.261-3: "O Gods, who are common to all," prayed Ilioneus, uncertain of who to ask, "spare me!"
VI.280-5: "Feed upon our sadness, hard hearted Latona, delight in my mourning and be satisfied! May it satisfy the beast within you that I prepare funerals for seven sons. Exult in triumph as a conqueror over your enemies. Where is victory though, when a goddess stoops so low as to commit such a beastly act? The many Gods who rise above are as cruel to me, as they are beneficial to you; and yet, though I am bereft by so many funerals, still I am better than you."
VI.327-8: "Favour me, Goddess, lead me, and lend me your support."
VII.192-219: Medea prayed, "O Night, most faithful keeper of secrets, when each golden day the moon passes into the fiery stars, and you, triple-formed Hecate, aware of our ventures, come, divine Helper, as you have always come to our aid in magic spells and magic arts. O Tellus, Mother Earth, you who provide powerful herbs to us, be with us now. And you also, all you gods and goddesses of the air and mountains, of streams and lakes, gods of all sacred groves, all the gods and goddess of the night, come now to me. Many marvels we have worked together, whenever you wished, turning back rivers onto their source, or churning them to overflow their banks. Together we have calmed the violent seas. I drive off storm clouds, and I induce storms, the winds I drive away, and I call the winds to me. With your words and charms I make the viper?s throat to erupt. The very rocks and boulders are torn from the earth, enlivened and invigorated by my charms into a dance. Forests and mountains I set in motion and order them to tremble, and ghosts I make not only to moan and bellow but call them forth from the grave! And you, O Moon, I am able to draw down, or else diminish you in size by an eclipse. Even the chariot of Aurora may be halted with our charms at my desire, and pale the red sky through magic potions. The fire breathing bulls you bent their necks to the yoke for my beloved that he might plow the fields. In my beloved?s cruel battle, you surrendered the serpent-born to him, and put that rude guard to dream in sleep, so that he could lay claim to the golden fleece, and kept Graia, by deception, away in his city. Now grant your assistance in this work, too, as I make a potion to restore an old man and return him to the flower of his youth, turning back the years. Truly the signs in the stars neither sparkle in vain, nor in vain does my chariot, drawn by dragons, await. Come, gods and goddesses, attend me, and lend me your aid."
VII.615-21: "Jupiter, if what they say is not false, if You did indeed embrace my mother Aegina, if then, great Father, You are not ashamed to acknowledge me as Your son, either restore to me what is mine or else build me a sepulcher as well." Then Jupiter sent lightning and thunder as a sign that He had heard. "I accept this to be Your sign and I pray that it is a good omen of Your approval."
VII.627-8: "O Jupiter, best of fathers," Aeacus prayed, "grant me as many fellow citizens as before and fill this empty town."
VIII.350-1: Mopsus prayed, "O Phoebus, if I have cherished You in the past and worship You now, grant that You guide this javelin I throw to its mark."
VIII.481-90: Althaea prayed, "Triple Goddesses, Furies who hand out punishments, Eumenides, turn aside your holy gaze from me. By a nefarious act I avenge wicked deeds. This corpse is an atonement of the dead, a wicked deed to end wicked deeds, another funeral made on top of funerals, that all its many impious deeds may be atoned, and mourning pass from this house. Surely I am without gladness, for the death of my son, he who prevailed over the sons of my father Oeneus, will leave my husband Thestius childless. Better this, though, that there should be mourning for both. May you, shades and souls of my brothers, look upon this and rest easy that I have fulfilled my duty to you, and accept these preparations below, for the great burden I bear, this evil child of my womb."
VIII.594-602: Achelous prays for Perimele, "O Neptune, who reigns over the realm of wandering waves, Bearer of the Trident, come to our aid, I pray, and undo her father?s savagery. Neptune, grant her a safe haven, or else allow her to become a place herself, (to live forever as one of Your nymphs)."
IX.773-81: Telethusa and Iphis pray, "Isis, Queen of the Seas and Ports, who dwells in the land of the Pharaohs and in the seven mouths of the Nile delta, help us, I pray, and deliver us from our fears. Remember that once before You came to me in a dream. Goddess, I saw you in a procession, your followers each bearing a bronze sistrum. In this I saw a sign and my belief in you slowly grew more. Remember how I obeyed your commands, what was seen in the light of your vision, and that I warranted no punishment. Look upon two of your followers and what we perform in tribute to you. Help us, have pity on the two of us, and lend us your assistance."
X.274-6: "If, Gods, You are to linger a little longer, may it be, as I choose," Pygmalion dared to say, "my bride a virgin as white as my marble statue."
X.321-3: Myrrha prayed, "Gods, I pray, and piously ask, that you conspire with me in an unholy act to have my father, but if this is a crime, then prohibit this wickedness and oppose our desecration."
X.483-7: Myrrha pleaded, "O Gods, if any of you are able to endure my confession, I have deservedly earned and gladly accept my punishment. No longer allow the defilement I made, but extinguish this violation I have done to the living and the dead. Drive me out of the kingdom and change me into something else, and undo this worthless life I have led."
X.640-1: Hippomenes whispered, "Venus of Cytherea, I pray that you come to our venture, and that she gives herself to whom you help in passion."
XI.131-2: Midas cried out, "Forgive me, Father Bacchus, I was mistaken, but have pity, I pray, and command that I should be torn from your beauty."
XIII.598-9: Aurora asked, "Grant me solace at my son's death, and this also, ease a mother's wound, grant my son Memnon honours befitting a high god."
XIV.729-32: Iphis called out, "O Gods above, if indeed you see our exploits, proclaim my memory, with nothing more than my prayers to uphold it, make it be told forever, and grant this life that you take from me a time of fame."
XV.39-40: Myscelus prayed, "O Hercules, to whom twelve labors was given, help me, I pray, since you are witness to the accusations made against me."
XV.622-25: "Help spread before me now," Ovid spoke, "O Muses, whose divine inspiration the poets seek, for you know the truth and are not beguiled by prolonged antiquity, tell me from whence came Asculapius, the son of Coronis, to the city of Romulus, to become a divine presence on an isle surround by the noble Tiber."
XV.677-9: The Epidaurian priest told the Roman envoys, "Behold a god, it is your god! Whoever now is here, quiet your thoughts and attend. O most beautiful Asculapius, may this vision and your holy temple be a blessing to people."
XV.861-70: Ovid requested, "Gods hear me! I pray to you gods who led Aeneas and his companions through fire and sword from ruined Troy. Jupiter who sits high atop the Tarpeian Heights, Di Indigetes and Romulus, Founder of Rome, invincible Gradivus Quirinus, Father, and you Phoebus Apollo and Vesta of the Augustan house. By whatever names poets may rightly and piously call to you, I pray. Grant that the day of Augustus passing from our lives may yet be far off, and that when his day comes to leave this world over which he rules may he rise to the heavens to sit among the Holy Penates. Like his father Caesar before him, though absent from us, may he yet watch over us and grant us our prayers."