3.956
The Argonautica 3.956 · Like Sirius3.956Like Sirius
Lines 956–961. Jason comes into sight, and Apollonius compares him to Sirius rising.
· · ·
αὐτὰρ1
autàr
But
οὐ2
ou
not
μετὰ3
metà
after
δηρὸν4
dēròn
longa long time
, ὅγʼ5
hóg’
he
ἐφαάνθη6
ephaánthē
appearedwas shown
ἐελδομένῃ7
eeldoménēi
to her longing eyesto her who longed
, ὑψόσʼ8
hypsós’
highupward
ἀναθρώσκων9
anathrṓskōn
springing upleaping up
ἅ10
há
likeas
τε11
te
—
Σείριος12
Seírios
Siriusthe Dog Star
Ὠκεανοῖο13
Ōkeanoîo
from Oceanof Ocean
, ὃς14
hòs
which
δή15
dḗ
—
τοι16
toi
you knowsurely
ἀντέλλει17
antéllei
rises
καλὸς18
kalòs
beautiful
μὲν19
mèn
—
ἀρίζηλός20
arízēlós
brilliantvery clear
τʼ21
t’
and
ἐσιδέσθαι22
esidésthai
to seeto look upon
, δʼ23
d’
but
ἐν24
en
uponin
ἧκεν25
hêken
bringssent
ἄσπετον26
áspeton
untoldunspeakable
ὀιζύν27
oizýn
miserywoe
μήλοισι28
mḗloisi
on the flockssheep
. ὧς29
hôs
So
ἄρα30
ára
—
τῇ31
têi
to her
ἐπήλυθεν32
epḗlythen
camecame upon
Αἰσονίδης33
Aisonídēs
the son of AesonAeson's son
, καλὸς34
kalòs
beautiful
μὲν35
mèn
—
εἰσοράασθαι36
eisoráasthai
to look onto behold
, δὲ37
dè
but
φαανθείς38
phaantheís
his appearinghaving appeared
ὦρσε39
ôrse
wokestirred
κάματον40
kámaton
the achetoil, weariness
δυσίμερον41
dysímeron
of lovesick longingof hard love
. But not long after, he appeared to her longing eyes, springing up high like Sirius from Ocean, which rises beautiful and brilliant to see, but brings untold misery upon the flocks. So to her came the son of Aeson, beautiful to look on, and his appearing woke the ache of lovesick longing.
But not long after, he appeared to her longing eyes, springing up high like Sirius from Ocean, which rises beautiful and brilliant to see, but brings untold misery upon the flocks. So to her came the son of Aeson, beautiful to look on, and his appearing woke the ache of lovesick longing.
Interpretation
But not long after, he appeared to her longing eyes, springing up high like Sirius from Ocean, which rises beautiful and brilliant to see but brings untold misery on the flocks. So the son of Aeson came to her, beautiful to look on, and his appearing woke the ache of lovesick longing.
Jason rises like Sirius, the Dog Star, coming up out of Ocean: beautiful, brilliant, and a misery to the flocks, because its rising marks the scorching heat of late summer (LSJ: "whose visible heliacal rising marked the season of greatest heat"). Mooney traces the comparison to the Iliad, where fire blazes from Diomedes' helmet and shield "like the autumn star that shines brightest when it has bathed in Ocean" (5.4–6), and sets beside it Virgil's morning star lifting its holy face from the Ocean wave (Aeneid 8.589–591).
The beauty is the harm. κάματον δυσίμερον is Mooney's "the pangs of a luckless love"; LSJ cites only this line and 4.4 for δυσίμερος, "of the torments of love."
3.962
The Argonautica 3.962 · Her heart falls3.962Her heart falls
Lines 962–966. When Medea sees him, her body gives way and the handmaids withdraw.
· · ·
And her heart fell out of her breast, and her eyes too grew dim; a hot flush seized her cheeks. She could lift her knees neither back nor forward, but her feet were rooted beneath her. Meanwhile all the handmaids had drawn away from the two.