"But Theseus, self-blinded with mental mist, let slip from forgetful breast all those injunctions which until then he had held firmly in mind, nor bore aloft sweet signals to his sad sire, showing himself safe when in sight of Erectheus' haven."
— Gaius Valerius Catullus (c. 84 - c. 54 B.C.)
Work Title
Date
54 B.C.
Metaphor
"But Theseus, self-blinded with mental mist, let slip from forgetful breast all those injunctions which until then he had held firmly in mind, nor bore aloft sweet signals to his sad sire, showing himself safe when in sight of Erectheus' haven."
Metaphor in Context
has postquam maesto profudit pectore voces
supplicium saevis exposcens anxia factis,
adnuit invicto caelestum numine rector,
quo nutu tellus atque horrida contremuerunt
aequora concussitque micantia sidera mundus.
ipse autem caeca mentem caligine Theseus
consitus oblito dimisit pectore cuncta
quae mandata prius constanti mente tenebat,
dulcia nec maesto sustollens signa parenti
sospitem Erechtheum se ostendit visere portum
namque ferunt olim, classi cum moenia divae
linquentem gnatum ventis concrederet Aegeus,
talia complexum iuveni mandata dedisse:
[After she had poured forth these words from her grief-laden bosom, distractedly clamouring for requital against his heartless deeds, the celestial ruler assented with almighty nod, at whose motion the earth and the shuddering waters quaked, and the world of glittering stars quivered. But Theseus, self-blinded with mental mist, let slip from forgetful breast all those injunctions which until then he had held firmly in mind, nor bore aloft sweet signals to his sad sire, showing himself safe when in sight of Erectheus' haven. For it is said that before, when Aegeus entrusted his son to the winds, on leaving the walls of the chaste goddess's city, he gave these commands to the youth with his parting embrace:]
supplicium saevis exposcens anxia factis,
adnuit invicto caelestum numine rector,
quo nutu tellus atque horrida contremuerunt
aequora concussitque micantia sidera mundus.
ipse autem caeca mentem caligine Theseus
consitus oblito dimisit pectore cuncta
quae mandata prius constanti mente tenebat,
dulcia nec maesto sustollens signa parenti
sospitem Erechtheum se ostendit visere portum
namque ferunt olim, classi cum moenia divae
linquentem gnatum ventis concrederet Aegeus,
talia complexum iuveni mandata dedisse:
[After she had poured forth these words from her grief-laden bosom, distractedly clamouring for requital against his heartless deeds, the celestial ruler assented with almighty nod, at whose motion the earth and the shuddering waters quaked, and the world of glittering stars quivered. But Theseus, self-blinded with mental mist, let slip from forgetful breast all those injunctions which until then he had held firmly in mind, nor bore aloft sweet signals to his sad sire, showing himself safe when in sight of Erectheus' haven. For it is said that before, when Aegeus entrusted his son to the winds, on leaving the walls of the chaste goddess's city, he gave these commands to the youth with his parting embrace:]
Categories
Provenance
Searching "mind" at Perseus Digital Library
Citation
Text from Perseus Digital Library, which draws from E.T Merrill's 1893 edition of Catullus <Link>. Catullus. The Carmina of Gaius Valerius Catullus trans. Leonard C. Smithers (London: Smithers, 1894).
Date of Entry
05/18/2011
