Ovid was probably influenced by the _bis ... tertia_ of the poem's opening. _Cimmerio_ in 1 furnishes another connection with Ulysses (_Od_ XI 14; quoted at 1).

=13. FOVISSE.= Compare _Od_ V 118-120 (Calypso speaking) '[Greek: Schetlioi este, theoi, zelemones exochon allon, / hoi te theais agaasthe par' andrasin eunazesthai / amphadien, hen tis te philon poieset'

akoiten]'.

=13. CALYPSO= _BCMILT_. Lenz and Andre print CALYPSON (_FH_). Roman poets followed the Greek declension of feminine proper nouns ending in [Greek:-o]; compare _Pan Mess_ 77 'fecunda Atlantidos arua _Calypsus_ [_uar_ calipsos]'. The accusatives of such nouns are of the same form as the nominative. See for example _Aen_ IV 383-84 'et nomine _Dido_ / saepe uocaturum' and _Aen_ VII 324-25 'luctificam _Allecto_ dirarum ab sede dearum / infernisque ciet tenebris', cited by Charisius 63 (Keil); neither he nor Servius shows knowledge of an accusative in _-on_.

Scribes, however, found the declension puzzling; and it is common to find the pseudo-accusative in _-on_ offered by some manuscripts whenever the true form in _-o_ occurs; this has happened at _Her_ VI 65 'ultimus e sociis sacram conscendis in _Argo_', _Her_ VII 7 'certus es ire tamen miseramque relinquere _Dido_ [_edd_: Didon _codd_]', _Her_ XII 9 'cur umquam Colchi Magnetida uidimus _Argo_', _Am_ II ii 45 'dum nimium seruat custos Iunonius _Io_', _Am_ II xix 29 'dum seruat Iuno mutatam cornibus _Io_', and Prop I xx 17-18 'namque ferunt olim Pagasae naualibus _Argo_ [_edd_: Argon _codd_] / egressam longe Phasidos isse uiam'. Modern editors often print the spurious form, even at _AA_ I 323 'et modo se Europen fieri, modo postulat _Io_', where all manuscripts offer the correct reading.

For a full discussion of this and the inverse corruption (for instance of _Iason_ to _Iaso_), see Goold 12-14.

=14. AEQVOREAEQVE.= Compare _Am_ II xvii 17-18 'creditur _aequoream_ Pthio Nereida regi, / Egeriam iusto concubuisse Numae' and _AA_ II 123-24 'non formosus erat, sed erat facundus Vlixes, / et tamen _aequoreas_ torsit amore deas'. Merkel's AEAEAEQVE is ingenious but unnecessary.

=15. HIPPOTADES= = _Aeolus_. The same patronymic at _Met_ IV 663, XI 431, XIV 86, XIV 224 & XV 707.

=15. QVI DAT PRO MVNERE VENTOS.= Compare _Met_ XIV 223-26 'Aeolon ille refert Tusco regnare profundo, / Aeolon Hippotaden, cohibentem carcere _uentos_; / quos bouis inclusos tergo, _memorabile munus_, / Dulichium sumpsisse ducem' and _Od_ X 19-26.

=17. NEC BENE CANTANTES LABOR EST AVDISSE PVELLAS.= The description is intentionally prosaic. For the Homeric account of the Sirens see _Od_ XII 37-54 & 153-200.

=17. AVDISSE= _F_ AVDIRE _BCMHILT_. _Audire_ cannot stand, as the present tense conflicts with _fuit_ in the following line. For _est audisse_ representing _fuit audire_, compare _Met_ IX 5-6 (Achelous hesitates before recounting his wrestling-match with Hercules) 'referam tamen ordine: nec tam / turpe _fuit uinci_ quam _contendisse decorum est_'.

=18. NEC DEGVSTANTI LOTOS AMARA FVIT.= See _Od_ IX 82-104 for Homer's account of the Lotus-eaters.

=18. NEC ... AMARA= = _et dulcis_. Compare _Od_ IX 94 '[Greek: lotoio ... meliedea karpon]'.

=18. DEGVSTANTI.= The verb is extremely rare in the sense 'taste, sample'; this is the only instance of the meaning found in poetry, although a transferred use is found at Lucretius II 191-92 'ignes ... celeri flamma _degustant_ tigna trabesque' and _Aen_ XII 375-76 'lancea ... summum _degustat_ uulnere corpus'.

Ovid uses the somewhat more common _gustare_ in a similar context at _Tr_ IV i 31-32 'sic noua Dulichio lotos _gustata_ palato / illo quo nocuit grata sapore fuit'.

=21. VRBEM LAESTRYGONOS= = '[Greek: Lamou aipy ptoliethron, / Telepylon Laistrygonien]' (_Od_ X 81-82) or 'Lami ueterem Laestrygonos ... urbem'

(_Met_ XIV 233), where the crews of all the ships but Ulysses' own were killed and eaten; accounts of this at _Od_ X 76-132 and _Met_ XIV 233-42. Ovid refers again to the episode at _EP_ II ix 41 'quis non Antiphaten Laestrygona deuouet?'.

=21. LAESTRYGONOS= _BC_ LE(-I-)STRYGONIS _MFHILT_. _Laestrygonos_ = [Greek: Laistrygonos] (_Od_ X 106). At _Met_ XIV 233 (cited above) all manuscripts offer _Laestrygonis_; the Greek genitive should probably be read as here.

=22. GENTIBVS OBLIQVA QVAS OBIT HISTER AQVA.= Similar wording at ii 37-38 'hic mea cui recitem nisi flauis scripta Corallis, / quasque alias gentes barbarus Hister obit?'.

=22. OBLIQVA= apparently refers to the swirling of a river's eddies. The sense 'winding' generally given the word would fit at _Met_ IX 17-18 (Achelous to the father of Deianira) 'dominum me cernis aquarum / cursibus _obliquis_ inter tua regna fluentum', but not at _Met_ VIII 550-53 (Achelous to Theseus) '"succede meis" ait "Inclite, tectis, / Cecropide, nec te committe rapacibus undis: / ferre trabes solidas _obliquaque_ uoluere magno / murmure saxa solent"' or _Her_ VI 87 'illa refrenat aquas _obliquaque_ flumina sistit'. At _Met_ I 39 'fluminaque _obliquis_ cinxit decliuia ripis', _obliquis_ should be taken with _flumina_, and _decliuia_ with _ripis_; or possibly both adjectives should be taken with both nouns.

=23. VINCET.= Like _superare_, _uincere_ has the twin meanings of 'surpass' and 'defeat'.

=23. CYCLOPS.= The same pairing of the Laestrygonians and Polyphemus at _EP_ II ii 113-114 (to Messalinus; he should address Augustus on Ovid's behalf) 'nec tamen Aetnaeus uasto Polyphemus in antro / accipiet uoces Antiphatesue tuas'.

=23. FERITATE= goes with _uincet_: 'will surpass in savagery'. I once thought PIETATE (_BCIac_) was the correct reading, connecting the word with _saeuum_ and taking it as a reference to human sacrifice; but this seems strained and obscure. _Pietate_ may be an intrusion from ecclesiastical Latin; Professor R. J. Tarrant suggests that it is possibly an anticipation of the following _Piacchen_.

=23. PIACCHEN= _B_ PIAECHEN _C_. See the critical apparatus for the other forms offered by the manuscripts. As the king's name is not elsewhere recorded, its true form must remain in doubt.

=24. QVI QVOTA TERRORIS PARS SOLET ESSE MEI.= With Burman, Weber, and Wheeler I take the line as a statement: compare _EP_ II x 31 'et _quota pars_ haec sunt rerum quas uidimus ambo' (cited by Williams), where _quota_, as here, takes the meaning 'how small' from context. Most editors take it as a question, for which compare _Am_ II xii 9-10 'Pergama cum caderent bello superata bilustri, / ex tot in Atridis _pars quota_ laudis erat?'.

=25-27. SCYLLA ... CHARYBDIN.= Ovid gives similar descriptions of Scylla at _Am_ III xii 21-22 and _EP_ III i 122, of Charybdis at _Am_ II xvi 25-26, and of Scylla and Charybdis at _Her_ XII 123-26 and _Met_ XIII 730-33. All such descriptions in Latin poetry of course derive ultimately from _Od_ XII 73-110.

=25. QVOD LATRET AB INGVINE MONSTRIS.= Professor R. J. Tarrant points out to me Ovid's imitation here of _Ecl_ VI 74-75 'Scyllam ... candida succinctam latrantibus inguina monstris'; the _rates_ and _nautae_ of Ovid's line 26 are in lines 76 and 77 of the Virgilian passage.

=25. QVOD.= 'Granted that'. Bomer at _Met_ VII 705 claims that the only passage where this is the necessary meaning of _quod_ is _Priapea_ VI 1 'quod sum ligneus ... Priapus ... prendam te tamen', but it seems to be the meaning required at Lucretius II 532-35 'nam _quod_ rara uides magis esse animalia quaedam / fecundamque minus naturam cernis in illis, / at regione locoque alio terrisque remotis / multa licet genere esse in eo numerumque repleri'.

All six instances of the idiom cited by the _OLD_ (_quod_ 6c) are from poetry. In the two instances already cited, _quod_ is followed by the indicative, as is the case at Prop III ii 11-16. _Quod_ in this sense followed by the subjunctive seems to be an Ovidian idiom; it is used by him at _Her_ IV 157-61 '_quod_ mihi _sit_ genitor, qui possidet aequora, Minos, / quod _ueniant_ proaui fulmina torta manu, / quod _sit_ auus radiis frontem uallatus acutis, / purpureo tepidum qui mouet axe diem-- / nobilitas sub amore iacet!' and _Met_ VII 704-7 'liceat mihi uera referre / pace deae: quod _sit_ roseo spectabilis ore, / quod _teneat_ lucis, _teneat_ confinia noctis, / nectareis quod _alatur_ aquis, ego Procrin amabam', and by an imitator of Ovid at _Her_ XVIII 41.

=26. HENIOCHAE NAVTIS PLVS NOCVERE RATES.= The Heniochi lived on the eastern shore of the Euxine and were, as Ovid indicates, known as pirates (Strabo XI 2 12-13).

=27. INFESTIS ... ACHAEIS.= Mela includes the Achaei and the Heniochi in his list of 'ferae incultaeque gentes uasto mari adsidentes' (I 110).

The two nations are grouped together by Strabo (XII 2 12) and Pliny (_NH_ VI 30).

=28. EPOTVM ... VOMAT.= Professor R. J. Tarrant cites the verbal similarity at (pseudo-Ovidian) _Am_ III v 18 'iterum _pasto pascitur_ ante cibo'.

=28. EPOTVM= _B_ ET POTVM _C_ EPOTET _MFHILT_. _Epotet_ is supported by _Her_ XII 125 'quaeque uomit totidem fluctus totidemque resorbet' and Od XII 105-6 '[Greek: tris men gar t' aniesin ep emati, tris d' anaroibdei / deinon]'. Professor A. Dalzell points out in particular '[Greek: tris ... tris]' paralleling _ter ... ter_ in the present passage. But at _RA_ 740 Ovid wrote 'hic uomit epotas [_uarr_ et potat; hic potat; optatas; acceptas; aequoreas] dira Charybdis aquas'; and the corruption to _epotet_ seems much more probable than the inverse. Ovid elsewhere uses only the perfect participle of _epotare_.

=29. LICENTIVS ERRANT.= Ovid is clearly imitating _Aen_ VII 557-58 (Juno to Allecto) 'te super aetherias _errare licentius_ auras / haud pater ille uelit, summi regnator Olympi', apparently the only other instance of _licentius_ in classical verse.

=31-32= act as a bridge to the next major section of the poem, and do not in themselves contribute to what has been said.

=31. INFRONDES= is a _hapax legomenon_.

=32. HIC FRETA VEL PEDITI PERVIA REDDIT HIEMPS.= Other mentions of the sea's freezing at vii 7, _Tr_ II 196, III x 35-50 & V x 2, and _EP_ III i 15-16 (to the Pontus) 'tu glacie freta uincta tenes, et in aequore piscis / inclusus tecta saepe natauit aqua'.

Parts of the Black Sea do in fact freeze: 'In winter, spurs of the Siberian anticyclone (clear, dry, high-pressure air mass) create a strong current of cold air, and the northwestern Black Sea cools down considerably, with regular ice formation' (article on "Black Sea", _Encyclopaedia Britannica_, Macropaedia vol. 2, pp. 1096-98 [Chicago: 1974]).

=32. HIEMPS.= For the last one hundred years, the spelling given in editions of Latin texts has generally been _hiems_ (some exceptions are Palmer's _Heroides_, the Paravia Virgil, and Reynolds' editions of Seneca), but the spelling in the ancient manuscripts of Virgil is invariably _hiemps_. Munro's argument for this spelling seems unanswerable: 'obeying the almost unanimous testimony of our own [i.e.

_O_ and _Q_ of Lucretius] and other good mss. we cannot but give _umerus_ _umor_ and the like: also _hiemps_. I have heard it asked what then is the genitive of _hiemps_; to which the best reply perhaps would be what is the perfect of _sumo_ or the supine of _emo_. The Latins wrote _hiemps_, as they wrote _emptum_ _sumpsi_ _sumptum_ and a hundred such forms, because they disliked _m_ and _s_ or _t_ to come together without the intervention of a _p_ sound; and our mss. all attest this: _tempto_ likewise is the only true form, which the Italians in the 15th century rejected for _tento_' (Lucretius ed. 4 vol. 1 p. 33).

=33-34. VT, QVA REMVS ITER PVLSIS MODO FECERAT VNDIS, / SICCVS CONTEMPTA NAVE VIATOR EAT.= Ovid has in mind Virgil's description of the freezing of a Scythian river (_G_ III 360-62) 'concrescunt subitae currenti in flumine crustae, / undaque iam tergo ferratos sustinet orbis, / puppibus illa prius, patulis nunc hospita plaustris'.

=35. QVI VENIVNT ISTINC VIX VOS EA CREDERE DICVNT; / QVAM MISER EST QVI FERT ASPERIORA FIDE.= For Ovid's fear that his accounts of what he has undergone will not be believed, see vii 3-4 and _Tr_ I v 49-50, III x 35-36 & IV i 65-66. In particular, see ix 85-86 'mentiar, an coeat duratus frigore Pontus, / et teneat glacies iugera multa freti'.

=37-38. NEC TE CAVSAS NESCIRE SINEMVS / HORRIDA SARMATICVM CVR MARE DVRET HIEMPS.= Ovid's principal explanation of the freezing of the Euxine, the low salinity of the water, is found in four other Latin authors. At IV 718-28, Valerius Flaccus offers a catalogue of rivers similar to that of Ovid, and, like Ovid, gives the cold winter winds as a subsidiary reason for the freezing. It is quite possible that Ovid is Valerius' source; but this is very unlikely to be the case for Macrobius _Sat_ VII xii 28-38 (cited by Burman). The passage is a discussion of why, although oil congeals, wine and vinegar do not. Wine does not freeze because it contains elements of fire; this is why Homer called it [Greek: aithopa oinon]. Vinegar does not freeze because it is so bitter; it is like seawater, which because of its bitterness does not congeal. 'nam quod Herodotus historiarum scriptor contra omnium ferme qui haec quaesiuerunt opinionem scripsit [IV 28], mare Bosporicum, quod et Cimmerium appellat, earumque partium mare omne, quod Scythicum dicitur, id gelu constringi et consistere, aliter est quam putatur'. It is not the seawater that freezes, but the layer of fresh water above it, which comes from the rivers that flow into the Euxine. Macrobius goes on to explain that there is an outflow of fresh water to the Mediterranean and an influx of seawater, with perfect correctness: the _Encyclopaedia Britannica_ article cited at 32 notes that 'Flows in the Bosporus are complex, with surface Black Sea water going out and deep, saltier water coming in from the Sea of Marmara*.

There can be very little doubt, given the identity of the explanations and the similarity of language, that Ovid and Macrobius were drawing on a common source. The same source is reflected at Gellius XVII viii 8-16. Here Taurus the philosopher asks Gellius why oil often congeals, but wine does not. Gellius answers that wine is fiery by nature, which is why Homer called it [Greek: aithopa oinon]. Taurus responds that wine is indeed known to have fire in it, for it warms the body when drunk; yet vinegar, in spite of its cooling effects, never freezes; perhaps things which are light and smooth are more prone to freezing. It is also worth asking why fresh water freezes, but seawater does not. 'tametsi Herodotus ... historiae scriptor contra omnium ferme qui haec quaesiuerunt opinionem scribit mare Bosporicum, quod Cimmerium appellatur, earumque partium mare omne quod Scythicum dicitur, gelu stringi et consistere'. No explanation for the freezing-over is given.[22]

[Footnote 22: Macrobius does include the explanation for the freezing-over. In view of his fuller account, I believe that Macrobius drew his material from Gellius' source and not from Gellius. It is of course possible enough that Macrobius conflated Gellius with another source.]

Ammianus Marcellinus XXII 8 48 gives the same two explanations for the Euxine's freezing as Ovid: 'quicquid autem eiusdem Pontici sinus Aquilone caeditur et pruinis, ita perstringitur gelu ut nec amnium cursus subteruolui credantur, nec per infidum et labile solum gressus hominis possit uel iumenti firmari, quod uitium numquam mare sincerum, sed permixtum aquis amnicis temptat'. At XXII 8 46 he once again mentions the sweetness of the Euxine's waters.

Lucan describes the freezing of the Euxine (V 436-41), but gives no explanation of the cause.

=39. PLAVSTRI PRAEBENTIA FORMAM ... SIDERA.= The Great Bear. Other mentions of the constellation at _Met_ X 446-47 'inter ... triones / flexerat obliquo plaustrum temone Bootes', _Tr_ III iv b 1-2 (47-48), III x 3-4 & V iii 7-8, and _EP_ I v 73-74. Compare as well Germanicus _Aratea_ 24-26 'axem Cretaeae dextra laeuaque tuentur / siue Arctoe seu Romani cognominis Vrsae / Plaustraue [_Grotius_:-que _codd_], quae facie [_scripsi (datiuum)_[23]: facies _codd_] stellarum proxima uerae [_Barth_: uera _uel_ uero _codd_]', _Her_ XVIII 152, Sen _Ag_ 66-68, and Lucan V 23 'Hyperboreae plaustrum glaciale sub Vrsae'.

[Footnote 23: This seems the best solution to the awkwardness of the line as currently printed. Gellius IX xiv 21 gives two examples of dative _facie_ from Lucilius. Plautus regularly uses _fide_ (_Aul_ 667, _Pers_ 193, _Poen_ 890, _Trin_ 117) and _die_ (_Am_ 546, _Capt_ 464, _Trin_ 843); dative _pube_ is found at _Pseud_ 126. Sallust and Caesar use _fide_ (_Iug_ 16 3; _BG_ V 3 7); at the time of Germanicus, _fide_ is found at Hor _Sat_ I iii 94-95 'quid faciam si furtum fecerit, aut si / prodiderit commissa _fide_ sponsumue negarit?', and _pernicie_ at Livy V 13 5.]

_Praebentia formam_ is elevated diction: Professor R. J. Tarrant cites Lucretius V 581-83 'luna ... claram speciem certamque _figuram_ / _praebet_'.

=40. PERPETVVM= _M2ul_ PRAECIPVVM _BCM1FHILT_. _Praecipuum_ could be defended by _EP_ III i 13-14 (to the Pontus) 'nec tibi pampineas autumnus porrigit uuas, / cuncta sed immodicum tempora frigus habet', but _praecipuus_ in fact always seems to have the notion of 'outstanding' or 'superior', which does not seem appropriate to the present passage. For _perpetuum_ compare _Tr_ III ii 7-8 'plurima sed pelago terraque pericula passum / ustus ab _assiduo_ frigore Pontus habet', _Tr_ III x 14 '[niuem ...] indurat Boreas _perpetuamque_ facit', _Tr_ V ii 65-66 'me ... cruciat _numquam sine frigore_ caelum, / glaebaque canenti _semper_ obusta gelu', _EP_ I iii 49-50 'orbis in extremi iaceo desertus harenis, / fert ubi _perpetuas_ obruta terra niues', and _EP_ II vii 72 'frigore _perpetuo_ Sarmatis ora riget'.

=41. HINC ORITVR BOREAS.= Compare _Tr_ III xi 7-8 'barbara me tellus et inhospita litora Ponti / cumque suo _Borea_ Maenalis ursa uidet' and _Ibis_ 11-12 'ille relegatum gelidos _Aquilonis ad ortus_ / non sinit exilio delituisse meo'.