P. Ovidius Naso, Metamorphoses 10.243–253

Within the song of Orpheus, the inset narrator of Book 10, the scene leaves the Propoetides of Cyprus and settles on a single sculptor, Pygmalion, and on an ivory figure of a maiden. This page is descriptive, introducing the artist, the celibate life that sets his story in motion, and the craftsmanship of the ivory itself.

 

Tier 1

Propoetidēs erant fēminae malae. malam vītam agēbant. Pygmaliōn eās vīderat. Pygmaliōn vitia fēminārum nōn amābat. itaque sine uxōre diū vīvēbat.

 

intereā Pygmaliōn ebur album mīrā arte sculpsit. fōrmam fēminae fēcit. nūlla fēmina vēra erat tam pulchra. Pygmaliōn eburneam virginem amāre coepit. fōrma erat sīcut vīvae virginis. ars Pygmaliōnis erat mīrābilis. itaque Pygmaliōn statuam vehementer amābat.

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