P. Ovidius Naso, Metamorphoses 10.270–281

The festival of Venus, kept throughout Cyprus, frames this page. It presents three scene-types in sequence: the holiday sacrifice, a guarded prayer offered by Pygmalion at the altar, and an omen at the flame. Read the Latin for the careful wording Pygmalion chooses and the shape the sign takes.

 

Tier 1

fēstus diēs Veneris vēnerat. tōta Cyprus celebrābat. multae iuvencae cecidērunt ad ārās. tūra ardēbant. Pygmaliōn ad āram cōnstitit. mūnus deae dederat. tum timidē dīxit, 'dī, sī cūncta dare potestis, optō uxōrem similem eburneae meae!' sed vērē uxōrem eburneam virginem optābat. nōn ausus est hoc dīcere.

 

Venus ipsa aderat in fēstīs suīs. omnia sciēbat. 'Pygmaliōn statuam suam amat. uxōrem eburneam optat.' flamma ter in ārā accēnsa est. hoc ōmen bonum erat. Pygmaliōn ad domum suam rediit. statuam petīvit. super lectum sē posuit et ōscula eī dedit. statua calida vidēbātur.

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