LP0023 - Corona Borealis - Ovid's Fasti -

Legendary Passages #0023 - Corona Borealis - Ovid's Fasti -

Last time we heard about paintings of Semele and Pasiphae; and how Ariadne was abandoned by Theseus and rescued by Bacchus. This time we shall hear several stories, ending with Ariadne and Bacchus ascending into the heavens.

This poem by Ovid is named 'Fasti', which translates to Festivals or Book of Days. The holidays in the Roman calendar have diverse customs and origins rooted in history and legend.

This passage covers the beginning of March, or Martius as the Romans called it. It was Mars was the father of Romulus and Remus, founders of Rome. Unlike the Greek Ares, Mars has an agricultural aspect, and is less about carnage and more conquest and national security.

How the Romans counted the days of the month are in reference to the moon. The Kaldends are the first day of the month, coinciding with the new moon. The Nones are the day of the half moon. The Ides are the day of the full moon. Frustratingly, they counted down to those days.

The first day in this passage is the fifth Nones of March, five days before the first half moon, and actually March 3rd. It refers to two constellations of fish, named after the north and south winds, Septentrio and Subsolanus, or Boreas and Notos to the Greeks.

The next day is the third Nones, or March 5th. When Aurora appears, the rosy fingers of dawn, many constellations dip below the horizon. But not Amphelus, once a boy loved by Bacchus. when he died, his vine was enshrined the the heavens.

The Pridie Nones is the eve of the Nones and the 6th of March. There is a tenuous connection between Ceasar Augustus and Vesta. When he became Pontifex Maximus, he presided over the Vestial Virgins.

On March 7th is the Nones of March and the half moon, also known as the first quarter. Romulus, Rome's founder, gave asylum for fugitives at two groves, and there, on this day the temple of Veiovis was consecrated for the young Jupiter. Overhead is the constellation Pegasus, the winged horse, born when Perseus severed the head of Medusa.

Lastly is March 8th, also known as the seventh Ides, seven days from the infamous Ides of March. When night falls you can see the constellation Corona Borealis, the radiant crown of Ariadne. She was given the crown by Theseus, who got it from the sea goddess Amphytrite.

After Bacchus, also known as Liber or Dionysus, rescued her from Naxos, he took her on his campaign against India. When he takes captive a princess, to the chagrin of Ariadne, she bewails her luck with faithless men.

Eventually, Bacchus embraces her. They ascend into the heavens and she is renamed as the goddess Liberia. The nine jewels of her crown are transmogrified into the constellation Corona Borealis.

Next time we shall cover tragic tales, from Athens to Crete to Sicily, of the craftsman and inventor Daedalus.

http://www.theoi.com/Text/OvidFasti3.html

Corona Borealis,
a Legendary Passage,
from Ovid's Fasti,
translated by James G. Frazer.

Fasti 3 [399] - [517]

March 3rd
V. NON. 3rd

When the third night of the month has altered its risings, one of the two Fishes will have disappeared. For there are two: one of them is next neighbour to the South Winds, the other to the North Winds; each of them takes its name from the wind.

March 5th
III. NON. 5th

When from her saffron cheeks Tithonus' spouse shall have begun to shed the dew at the time of the fifth morn, the constellation, whether it be the Bear-ward or the sluggard Bootes, will have sunk and will escape thy sight.

But not so will the Grape-gatherer escape thee. The origin of that constellation also can be briefly told. 'Tis said that the unshorn Ampelus, son of a nymph and a satyr, was loved by Bacchus on the Ismarian hills. Upon him the god bestowed a vine that trailed from an elm's leafy boughs, and still the vine takes from the boy its name. While he rashly culled the gaudy grapes upon a branch, he tumbled down; Liber bore the lost youth to the stars.

March 6th
PR. NON. 6th

When the sixth sun climbs up Olympus' steep from ocean, and through the ether takes his way on his winged steeds, all ye, whoe'er ye are, who worship at the shrine of the chaste Vesta, wish the goddess joy and offer incense on the Ilian hearth. To Caesar's countless titles, which he has preferred to earn, was added the honour of the pontificate. Over the eternal fire the divinity of Caesar, no less eternal, doth preside: the pledges of empire thou seest side by side. Ye gods of ancient Troy, ye worthiest prize to him who bore ye, ye whose weight did save Aeneas from the foe, a priest of the line of Aeneas handles your kindred divinities; Vesta, do thou guard his kindred head! Nursed by his sacred hand, ye fires live well. O live undying, flame and leader both, I pray.

March 7th
NON. 7th

The Nones of March have only one mark in the calendar, because they think that on that day the temple of Veiovis was consecrated in front of the two groves. When Rolumus surrounded the grove with a high stone wall, "Take refuge here," said he, "whoe'er thou art; thou shalt be safe." O from how small a beginning the Roman took his rise! How little to be envied was that multitude of old! But that the strangeness of the name may not prove a stumbling-block to you in your ignorance, learn who that god is, and why he is so called. He is the Young Jupiter: look on his youthful face; look then on his hand, its holds no thunderbolts. Jupiter assumed the thunderbolts after the giants dared attempt to win the sky; at first he was unarmed. Ossa balzed with the new fires (of his thunderbolts); Pelion, too, higher than Ossa, and Olympus, fixed in the solid ground. A she-goat also stands (beside the image of Veiovis); the Cretan nymphs are said to have fed the god; it was the she-goat that gave her milk to the infant Jove. Now I am called on to explain the name. Countrymen call stunted spelt vegrandia, and what is little they call vesca. If that is the meaning of the word, may I not suspect that the shrine of Veiovis is the shrine of the little Jupiter?

And now when the stars shall spangle the blue sky, look up: you will see the neck of the Gorgonian steed. He is said to have leaped forth from the teeming neck of the slain Medusa, his mane bespattered with blood. As he glided above the clouds and beneath the stars, the sky served him as solid ground, and his wing served him for a foot. Soon indignantly he champed the unwonted bit, when his light hoof struck out the Aonian spring. Now he enjoys the sky, to which aforetime he soared on wings, and he sparkles bright with fifteen stars.

March 8th
VII. ID. 8th

Straightway at the fall of night shalt thou see the Cnossian Crown. It was through the fault of Theseus that Ariadne was made a goddess. Already had she happily exchanged a perjured spouse for Bacchus, she who gave to a thankless man a clue to gather up.

Joying in her lot of love, "Why like a rustic maiden did I weep?" quoth she; "his faithlessness has been my gain."

Meantime Liber had conquered the straight-haired Indians and returned, loaded with treasure, from the eastern world. Amongst the fair captive girls there was one, the daughter of a king, who pleased Bacchus all too well.

His loving spouse wept, and pacing the winding shore with dishevelled locks she uttered these words: "Lo, yet again, ye billows, list to my like complaint! Lo, yet again, ye sands, receive my tears! I used to say, I remember, 'Foresworn and faithless Theseus!' He deserted me: now Bacchus does me the same wrong. Now again I will cry, 'Let no woman trust a man!' My case has been repeated, only the name is changed. Would that my lot had ended where it first began! So at this moment had I been no more. Why, Liber, didst thou save me to die on desert sands? I might have ended my griefs once and for all. Bacchus, thou light o' love! lighter than the leaves that wreathe thy brows! Bacchus, whom I have known only that I should weep! Hast thou dared to trouble our so harmonious loves by bringing a leman before mine eyes? Ah, where is plighted troth? Where are the oaths that thou wast wont to swear? Woe's me, how often must I speak these self-same words! Thou wast wont to blame Theseus; thou was twont thyself to dub him deceiver; judged by thyself, thine is the fouler sin. Let no man know of this, and let me burn with pangs unuttered, lest they should think that I deserve to be deceived so oft. Above all I would desire the thing were kept from Theseus, that he may not joy to know thee a partner in his guilt.

But I suppose a leman fair has been preferred to dusky me: - may that hue fall to my foes! But what does that matter? She is dearer to thee for the very blemish. What art thou about? She defiles thee by her embrace. Bacchus, keep faith, nor prefer any woman to a wife's love. I have learned to love my love for ever. The horns of a handsome bull won my mother's heart, thine won mine. But my love was cause for praise: hers was shameful. Let me not suffer for my love; thou thyself, Bacchus, didst not suffer for avowing thy flame to me. No wonder that thou dost make me burn; they say thou wert born in the fire and wert snatched from the fire by thy father's hand. I am she to whom thou wert wont to promise heaven. Ah me! what guerdon to I reap instead of heaven!"

She finished speaking.  Long time had Liber heard her plaint, for as it chanced he followed close behind. He put his arms about her, with kisses dried her tears, and "Let us fare together," quoth he, "to heaven's height. As thou hast shared my bed, so shalt thou share my name, for in thy changed state they name shall be Libera; and I will see to it that with thee there shall be a memorial of thy crown, that crown which Vulcan gave to Venus, and she to thee."

He did as he had said and changed the nine jewels of her crown into fires. Now the golden crown doth sparkle with nine stars.

http://www.theoi.com/Text/OvidFasti3.html