OVID, ON THE BIRTH OF LOVE MET. I 452
FF.)'
The cha m o he Apollo and Daphne my h inspi es admi a ion,
pa icula ly in i s ama o y ace , he aspec which has a ac ed mos
a en ion. Bu he my h also examines lo e and pain, alongside he
elemen s o p ophecy and i gini y, as he ue na u e o poe y,
symbolized by he lau el o Apollo. I also deals wi h lo e -and i s
opposi e, he philosophical p inciples o sepa a ion and combina ion- as
p imum mobile in a ci ilizing ew i ing o Hesiod and his p ima y,
gene a i e lo e. He e O id uses he cha m o elegy wi h he
cosmogonic hymn, didac ic wisdom and he epyllion.
The my h o Daphne and Apollo o he me amo phosis o he lau el,
is endowed wi h beau y, and he ac is ha when we ma el a any
mani es a ion o beau y -a handsome you h like Apollo he e, O id's a
i sel , any exquisi e wo k o na u e- we do no ask he objec o ou
admi a ion o b eak in o speech, o speak sensibly o o display
wisdom. We do no expec se ious s a emen s om he ai Helen, and
we can be mo ed o ecs asy by an a ia whose meaning is a closed
book o us.
The my h sings o use ul hings in dulce ones. In such dulce
ones, in ac , - he one o lo e elegy, o o lo e and pain- ha he
philosophical elemen i ually passes unno iced. This is jus as i
should be in such
a
wo k as he
Me amo p.hoses,
which aims o
'Al hough I e e o he my h in gene al, i is lines 452-473 in pa icula ha I am
commen ing on he e. I would like o hank he
Minis e io
de
Educación
y
Ciencia
(PS94-
0096) o encou agemen abo e all and o economic assis ance. I am e y g a e ul o
Ca iona Zol owska o help wi h hese pages.
Exempla ia
2 (1),
1998, 15-23. ©
Uni e sidad
de Huel a
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en e ain and deligh us wi h i s endless compendium o knowledge,
and i s sus ained ligh ness o one.
The my h o Daphne and Apollo, o ins ance, con a y o
appea ances, begins mos unhappily. I o igina es in he con lic
be ween wo a che gods, Cupid and Apollo. The bow means powe ,
and hei duel mus be based on he symbol o he powe s, a odds
wi h each o he . I is on he bow ha Apollo concen a es his
challenge, and wi h i he winged you h exac s e enge o he a on
o he senseless boy.
A he end o i s hund ed-odd lines, he my h didac ically almos
culmina es in a con adic ion. Fo shunning he iolen lo e o Apollo,
Daphne is inally inca na ed as one o his a ibu es, he lau el. Bu why
lau el? Wha kind o symbol o Apollo can his be?
The lau el is an e e g een, shining ee, wi h pu i ying e ec s. The
pe ennial sheen o i s lea y b anches is associa ed wi h he adian
b igh ness o immo ali y, in e e nal you h: emblems o glo y and
ic o y. All his, oge he wi h he ies wi h i gini y (Daphne) and wi h
p ophecy (Apollo), combine o make he lau el a symbol o poe y.
In e ms o i s subjec ma e , he agmen is epic. I should also be
se ious, as be i s a s uggle be ween gods. Howe e , he one
domina ing he legend as a whole is enchan ingly ama o y. A wise
choice, because oge he wi h he incu able emo ions Cupid in lic s on
his ende p ey, we wi ness he bi h in he wo k -in he uni e se- o
lo e and his win and ad e sa y, ha ed. F om om now on i is lo e in
pa icula ha will ha e he ask o eeding ("swee poison") ou
al eady sha pened in e es , no only in his passage, bu h oughou he
poem, as in he Me amo phoses as a whole.
The ex is also amed wi hin he peculia Genesis o O id, who
now wonde s abou he consecu i e dis ibu ion o he Whole om
ough and o mless Chaos. In his didac ic poin lo e and ha e mus
ul il hei co esponding unc ion as well: as p inciples which a e also
o sepa a ion and union, o conco d and disco d, he wo opposing
o ces which ha e helped he wise men o so many pe iods o
conjec u e abou he oad be ween black holes o big bang and he
o de ly, in elligen cosmos. Fo , in ac , he wo ld and i s cons an
mu a ions a e e lec ed in he i een books o he T ans o ma ions.
Bu o go back o lo e, i is he b illian ly applied ama o y one ha
gi es he episode i s cha m. Obse ing i s incu able o men , we
become sympa he ic accomplices, and a e en e ained. In u n, he
ob ious cha m o he piece, e en g ea e in wha lies benea h he
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OVID, ON THE BIRTH OF LOVE
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17
su ace, p oduces he desi ed e ec , emo ion, which is wha eng a es i
deep in ou memo y a he han ou consciousness.
I we use wha is explici in he passage wi h wha is s ongly
sugges ed, i could be said ha Delian Phoebus is he Apollo who
ep esen s an age ha hi s s o lo e, he age o he mili a y ba acks,
you h in all i s a dou , i s imp udence and i s e o . He e we see he
god exhila a ing in hun ing, he h ill ha is a ca bon copy o eal
soldie ing. He eels p ide in his ecen conques o he d agon, his
sau ian om an unde ined age, no long a e he lood in O idian
paleon ology. Suddenly he encoun e s Cupid, an all-powe ul god o
all ha he is a boy. Lo e bends his bow o au en he s ing, wi h no
indica ion o his speci ic pu pose o a ge , o who he unknown ic im
migh be, a e lec ion o lo e pe manen ly lying in wai . Apollo
haugh ily upb aids he boy o wielding a weapon o which he has
exclusi e igh s, he bow: he key. He a gues, boas ing o he Py hon,
his ecen qua y, and o de s Cupid o limi his powe s o he use o
he o ch, whose e ec s he beli les as a bu ning sensa ion, an i i a ion
which is unknown o him and which he he e o e sco ns. By his ime
Apollo is al eady los , wi hou ealizing i , since his s ubbo n, emp y
hea is unacquain ed wi h he imminen wound o lo e, is igno an o
he laws o his wa , so much ue and ha she han he wa o me al
weapons o he elegis s, o hose who once we e poe s o ebellious
lo e.
Cupid, in u n, possesses wo a ibu es: he o ch, o cou se, bu
also he bow, and he is no jus any lesse god, no any less skilled
wi h he a ow. To he p o oca i e jibes o Apollo, and his lack o
calcula ion, he acco dingly eplies epically, hie a ically, in a one which
would be ou o p opo ion o any o he boy. Home ic, oo, is he
manne in which he announces his e enge and ins an ly ca ies i ou .
Flying up o he lo y heigh s o Pa nassus, he in lic s on Apollo he
wound o lo e, he pie cing golden wound - he gold o di ini y, o he
anscenden al. A he same ime he pie ces he maiden Daphne wi h
he blun lead o disco d, which she will be unable o bea . In his way
he b a e daugh e o he i e god, he migh y Peneus, is o su e a
c uel, unsough blow, o in he i e ocable chas i y, he down all was
he beau y. Meanwhile, he dashing conque ed god, wi h his u u e
lau els, symbols o ic o y, absu dly ends up as he inca na ion o he
admoni o y con adic ion and becomes he hun ed hun e , he
wounded heale .
Pa nassus is he mos sui able backg ound o his scene, since i is
he moun ain o he Muses, below which, in Delphi, he god had
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o e come he d agon. And now we unde s and why Apollo is he god
o music and poe y, and o all he a s. I is he wo k o lo e,
a oad o
knowledge. Fo wha o he p o ound eason, wha o he allego ical
logic could be ound in O id?
We ha e seen how li le space is aken up by he s inging oge he
o hemes and ones which ha e always exis ed, hemes which a e
always new in an
a is 's hands. I is e en mo e as onishing o see how
he i s wo lines alone a e enough o sugges he essence o a whole
long s o y which, as men ioned abo e, akes up mo e han a hund ed
lines. I he eal es o
an opening lies in he b illiance o i s impac ,
his one akes o wi h a bang.
P imus
amo
Phoebi Daphne Peneia, quem non
o s igna a dedi ,
sed
saeua Cupidinis
i a.
One dis ich manages o in oduce he episode while loca ing,
summa ising and condensing i . The
s o y is o be ha o a i s lo e
( ha o
he i s lo e), since gi en i s posi ion in he i s book, we
should be p epa ed o some ae iology, some ul ima e
cause. We a e o
b ace ou sel es o some hing highly signi ican , he alded by he o ce
o his double p inciple. A he same ime, he i s wo wo ds
(p imus
amo )
in oduce an episode we should expec o be ama o y, and in
ac i is an elegiac one, i ingly, ha will p e ail in he legend. We a e
also immedia ely in oduced o he cha ac e s in he names ha ollow
(Phoebi Daphne Peneia).
Phoebus comes i s , al hough we may
al eady ha e guessed a Cupid's p esence om he e m
p imus
amo ,
and now lo e is o ule in Apollo's emp y hea . Nex comes Daphne,
objec o his desi e,
who loa hes him, in a a e ul wo d o de .
Following in second place is Peneus, he p o ec o , he lo ing a he ,
whose oice will la e be hea d in he e ospec ion on Daphne and o
whom mo eo e he esolu ion o he my h will be delega ed: o sa e
his daugh e , he changes he in o a lau el, and al hough he does no
hus ee he om Apollo o om Cupid,
he does manage o sa e he
2
Phoebi-Daphne. The o de o he ad e sa ies names eopens he wound o us a ed
lo e he e and in he no less imp essi e opening o he second Eclogue: o monsum -
pas o , Beau y and he Beas ; o he i als in lo e in Sappho, 31, ai ne ai moi - kh'no",
jus as in Ca ullus 51, Ille-mihi; Puella-senibus, in Ma ial V 37, he li le gi l and he old
man. The i als o lo e s a e joined in a union much mo e deadly han he dis ance ha
uni es o sepa a es hem: odi e
amo.
The same ule which is applied o he imminence
o Daphne and Apollo can be seen one s ep be o e in P imus A/amo -Phoebi: Cupid and
Apollo duelling. In addi ion, he iden i y which lows easily om he nominal ph ase
("The i s lo e o Phoebus: Daphne, daugh e o Peneus") is a enewal o g ie . I s
an hological ambigui y ("The i s lo e: o Phoebus and Daphne daugh e o Peneus") is
equi alen o he o acula "This is you wi e and mo he o you child en" in Oedipus.
Uni e sidad de Huel a 2009
O ID, ON THE
BIRTH
OF Lo E
19
i gini y. Wha g ea e ibu e could he e be o he lau el o a han
his esh, un odden
(auia)
sanc i y? Finally, jus a he end o he
second line, we once again ha e a linking men ion o Cupid
(amo
-
Cupidinis),
in his s a ole: he double, he iumphan o ce.
Fo s
and
i a
also s uggle in he same sho space. They in oduce ension o he
line, combining wi h he adjec i es: o i was no chance ha was
igno an bu Apollo's you h
3
, opposed o he omnipo en age which
no mally cha ac e ises he gods and hei e lec ions, he epic he oes.
The in oduc o y lines he ald he ine i able duel, wi h a clea ic o and
a se ious ending which only epic
(saeua
i a)
so ened by he sensuali y
and pi y o elegy, succeeds in lamen ing.
All his is indica ed o sugges ed by hese wo lines, which gi e
some ad ance wa ning o he linking o ain allusions, o he sub le
use o nominal ph ases, o app op ia e cadences'. All hese elemen s
combine o c ea e an exquisi e wo k, one o ma ch he concen a ed
epig am which opens and sums up he second
Eclogue
o Vi gil o he
whole u bulence and consciousness o passion lodged in Ca ullus'
desola e
Odi e
amo,
also comp essed in wo lines.
I ha e al eady men ioned some o he ones ha moniously
combined in he ex . The
Me amo phoses
belong o he newbo n gen e
o insolen epic, as i could well be named, he li ing po ai o he
accu sed adical ebel poe who concei ed i , an app op ia e esponse
o he abuse o powe which was he seed o he
Aeneid.
In his
episode he e e nal epic akes he a ac i e o m o a g ace ul elegy
which is also a cosmogonic hymn and which w i es o e he lines o
e e y genesis, o e e y heogony, o e Hesiod, o e e e y book o
wisdom, ew i ing he bi h o lo e (o o Lo e, cause and e ec ) wi h
in ini e cha m, and insc u able se iousness. And a he same ime i is
in e wined wi h he s o y o he bi h o ange (o ha e), pe haps
concu en wi h a hi d o ou h gen e, a new minia u ised epic o do
wi h Home and he whole s o y
5
o humani y which i echoes.
;I belie e ha igna a, e lec ing you h, is applied o Apollo, jus as saeua undoub edly
e e s o Cupid. Apollo's innocence (p imus
amo )
is s essed by he adjec i e lasciue
which Apollo associa es wi h Cupid, so ha he na a o , by calling him saeuus wi hou
mode a ing his wo ds, a he same ime de ines wha is c ucial in he wo gods.
4
PRiMus aMoR PHoebi DaPHNE PeNEia, queM NoN / oRs igNaRa DeDi ,
Sed
SaeuA
CupIdlnIs I A, is only he pe cep ible pa o he music I e e o. The eccen ic place
occupied by non, alling ha shly a he end o he line, pe haps emphasises all hese
elemen s, and gi es i s echo such powe .
'The epic is he poe ic his o y o human con lic and by his I mean ha i is deeply and
uly assumed. Fo all science, all knowledge is ans o med by poe y in o a spi i ual
op ion o a spi i ual subjec . This is he case o Hesiod and Luc e ius and o he a ious
Sc ip u es, and is use ully and lucidly e oked in Goe he's Faus .
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20 ANA
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Wi h e e ence o he di e en o ms o knowledge, he epic among
hem, he e seems o be a whole se ies o in ini e uni y o gods whose
many eplicas a e o be ound among men -among he oes- and his
eeling is common o all humani y. Bu , be ween his human wo ld and
he di ine wo ld, wha is he shadow and wha he idea? Le us y o
ind ou .
Sing, oh Muse, o he w a h o Achilles, son o Peleus, ha ill- a ed
w a h, which was a sou ce o uncoun able ills, which cas in o Hades
he gene ous souls o many he oes, and le hei bodies as ood o he
dogs and he bi ds ( hus he will o Zeus was ca ied ou ), om he day
when, o he i s ime, a qua el di ided he son o A eus, king o
men, and di ine Achilles.
And who hen, among inmo als, was he one who p o oked such
iolen dispu es? The son o La ona and Zeus. In his w a h agains
Agamemnon, Apollo made a e ible a lic ion all upon he a my, and
he peoples pe ished, because he son o A eus had o ended his p ies
Ch yses.
Le us e ead his in a ain a emp o ind ou whe he he w a h o
Achilles o ha o Apollo o he o ence o Agamemnon, son o A eus,
was o we e he i s cause o he wa . Ou only ce ain y is ha ages
and p imo dial s uggles begin he s o y and ha he
Iliad
exal s he
i s and g ea es con lic o new-bo n humani y. Bu when ying o
deciphe he deepes o igins o his e il, we hesi a e, los in a maze o
mi o s, who is p ojec ing his ange and who is e lec ing i , so ha we
do no know whe e o look o he image o idea.
Re u ning o O id and his e sion o he o igin o lo e, and i s
opposi e, we see ha in he ex he w a h o a pa icula Home ic
he o, Achilles, is in oked as, by implica ion, he w a h o all he iolen
cha ac e s (men, he oes o gods) who people he epics. O id alludes o
he w a h o he in incible one, o he god o heal h and illness, he
w a h o Apollo, whose cul was neglec ed by hese i s ances o s o
ou s. Apollo, who d o e men o wa -o
ice e sa
-, is he pe ec
candida e o his new assignmen . To him alls he con adic o y
honou o changing om he powe ul dispense o w a h o ic im. I
should again be epea ed ha his be alls him a he hands o a child,
hough no common child. A s ange and pa he ic ole: a new wa ning.
And should no Cupid d awing his bow also ecall ha g ea sage,
one o he ew who had e e seen Hell, Ulysses, e u ning om his
nós os
a he end o he
Odyssey?
Should we doub o which glo ious
a che he he o commends himsel a ha e y momen when, as he
only one capable o bending he bow, he changes om a begga in o
an in incible adminis a o o jus ice?
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OVID, ON THE BIRTH OF LOVE 21
We could go on o dwell on mo e de ails la en in he ex . Men ion
could be made, o example, o he e e ence o he my h o he ages in
he gold and he lead in Cupid's a ows, since a ci ilising allego y o
his ype would ein o ce diploma ic conco d agains uns able and
des uc i e wa . O we could conside he co ec ion o Hesiod, whose
ad en o lo e is pos poned in O id, con e ing i om a s ic ly
necessa y gene a i e and engende ing o ce in o a sensual, magne ic
and na co ic u y. This sublima ion is also ci ilising and i s mys ic pa h
has been odden so o en ha i mus su ely be ue. O pe haps one
could see in he
umb osa
ci adel o Pa nassus a e e en e e ence o
he "shades", o he immo al souls o dead li e a y mas e s. We could
e en eel a li le mo e pi y o Apollo as we pe cei e he pa he ic
iangle which he o ms, in ye ano he pa adox, wi h his own sis e as
i al. I is o Phoebe, ha o he maid, ha Daphne gi es he sel up.
Daphne, Phoebe and Phoebus a a dis ance
6
. Fo as he ama o y
speleologis s wa n -and no only he ogues like Ho ace bu also he
mo e se ious au ho s- Venus likes o join wi h an une en wounding
b onze yoke e e y hing ha is di e en . Fo in wha o he mi o
would she le us look a ou sel es, wha o he e lec ion could she
o e us -o ice- e sa, could we mo als o e he - he beau i ul
goddess o lo e, he wi e o he de o med smi h? We may well be
as onished a how O id ew i es himsel , since I belie e ha his ex
ep esen s he li e a y ma u i y, e bal and speci ically allusi e, o his
i e e en mani es o agains he shame ul adula o y a demanded by
Augus us. I am e e ing in pa icula o he i s elegy o his
Amo es
(bu also o he es ), a wo k which a he heigh o he dic a o ship
could boas o a libe al spi i and a i mness ha only he could
main ain, unlike hose who we e a one ime poe s o da ing lo e and
poli ical ebels. Only O id s ood as and paid a hea y p ice': he pain
o exile, he macab e double dea h in li e me ed ou by Augus us o his
wo s enemies, o his daugh e Julia, o he man who migh ha e been
his successo , Ag ippa Pos umus, and also o O id, o (and by way o )
example.
Howe e , I do no eel i necessa y o insis much u he on wha
seems o be a deligh ul ui o O id's as ounding a , and o his
misunde s ood, and a imes sco ned, in ellec ual igou . I do no see
'G aphically seen in lines 463 and 467, so dis an .
7
This is a opic o discussion elsewhe e, bu I ag ee wi h hose who main ain ha O id
in his exile, a om being a la e e , was in ac an implacable opponen o Augus us'
egime, and compa able in i e e ence o Lucan, who b anded Ne o as a and squin ing,
o Pe sius, o whom he empe o had ass's ea s.
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ha igno ance o ob iousness, coa seness o baseness, ha e e en he
sligh es pa o play in he wo k o his g ea poe , al hough i ce ainly
is impo an o ecognise, as in he esul s o any a is , he p o agonism
o he b illian use o he o ui ous, o elici ous disco e y, o he
subconscious.
I should be added ha o some eade s o O id, loyal and
compe en , his episode may me ely be seen as i olously elegiac,
seemingly -in ac , qui e legi ima ely- disjoin ed. We all ha e ou own
way o eading o in e p e ing his mas e o seduc ion, jus as we all
ha e ou own way o becoming ic ims o Augus us' censo ship. O
e en o alling unde he spell o lo e, equally blinding, illuso y, and
decep i e.
APPENDIX
(METAMORPHOSES I, 452-73)
P imus
amo
Phoebi Daphne Peneia, quem non
o s igna a dedi
sed
saeua Cupidinis
i a.
Delius hunc nupe uic o se pen e supe bus
uide a adduc o lec en em co nua ne uo
`quid'que ' ibi, lasciue pue , cum o ibus a mis?'
dixe a , 'is a decen ume os ges amina nos os,
qui da e ce a e ae, da e uulne a possumus hos i,
qui modo
pes i e o o iuge a uen e p emen em
s auimus innume is umidum Py hona sagi is.
Tu
ace nescio quos
es o
con en us
amo es
in i a e ua nec
laudes
adse e nos as.'
Filius huic Vene is ' iga uus omnia, Phoebe,
e
meus a cus' ai 'quan oque animalia cedun
cunc a deo
an o
mino es ua
glo ia
nos a.'
Dixi e eliso pe cussis ac e pennis
inpige
umb osa
Pa nasi cons i i
a ce
eque sagi i e a p ompsi duo ela
pha e a
diue so um ope um: uga hoc, aci illud amo em;
quod aci au a um es e cuspide ulge acu a,
quod uga ob usum es e habe sub ha undine plumbum;
hoc deus in nympha Peneide ixi a illo
laesi Apollineas aiec a pe ossa medullas
The i s lo e o Phoebus was Daphne, daugh e o Peneus, and no
h ough igno an chance bu h ough he c uel w a h o Cupid.
The Delian, aun ing his ecen conques o he d agon had seen
him bending his au bow, and had said "Wha do you ha e o do, you
Uni e sidad de Huel a 2009
OVID, ON THE BIRTH OF
Lo E
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23
play ul child, wi h a ms o alou ? These bu dens a e sui ed o my
shoulde s since I know how o wound wi h ce ain y he oe, he
mons e , and wi h coun less a ows ha e jus laid low he swollen
Py hon, who be o e co e ed whole ac es wi h his plague-bea ing o m.
Con en you sel wi h p o oking some lo e o o he wi h you o ch and
do no lay claim o my honou s."
And o him he son o Venus answe ed "You bow may pie ce
e e y hing. Phoebus, bu my bow will pie ce you, and jus as much as
all animals a e lowe han gods, so is you glo y lesse han mine. He
spoke, and bea ing he ai wi h his wings, quickly es ed on he shady
heigh s o Pa nassus, whe e he d ew om his ull qui e wo da s wi h
opposi e e ec s: one o d i e away, he o he o inspi e lo e. The one
ha inspi es is o gold, wi h a sha p gleaming ip. The one ha d i es
away is blun , and i s sha illed wi h lead. This is he one ha he god
used o shoo he nymph o Peneus, while wi h he o he he wounded
Apollo, shoo ing i in o he ma ow o his bones.
WORKS CITED
Ande son. V. S.
(1995)
«Aspec s o Lo e in O id's
Me amo phoses»,
Classical, jou nal
90 (3): 265-269.
Ba na d, M. E. (1990)
The My h o Apollo
and
Daphne om O id o
Que edo:
Lo e, Agon, and he G o esque,
Du ham NC
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ANA
PÉREZ VEGA
UNIVERSIDAD
DE
SEVILLA
SPRING
1996
Uni e sidad de Huel a 2009