Metamorphoses 3.15

1868 Painting of Medea, a "witch" from antiquity. Love made her fearsome, like several other characters from that time.

Thoughts about this passage:

• Photis's act with the strap and the tears was really something. Lucius is now putty in this girl's hands, and I almost have to admire how she mixes flattery with fear to coax from him his natural curiosity.
• A witch who preys upon young, good-looking men...there is a trope in there, I am sure of it. Erika would know better. Part of what makes the mulier so disturbing is the control that she is credited with - not only does she control men, but she controls the stars, the gods, the very elements. It doesn't matter what she does with it - a woman with that kind of power in that time would automatically be labeled a witch, no matter the source of the power.

Latin	Vocabulary	Translation
Sic illa, laetitia recreata, "Patere," inquit, "oro, prius fores cubiculi diligenter obcludam, ne, sermonis elapsi profana petulantia committam grande flagitium."	obcludam flagitium petulantia	Thus her happiness was restored. She said, "I pray, suffer that I shut upthe doors of this bedroom carefully, lest with a grand profane carelessness of a dropped word I commit a disgraceful act."
et cum dicto pessulis iniectis, et uncino firmiter immisso, sic ad me reversa colloque meo manibus ambabus inplexa, voce tenui et admodum minuta,	ambabus inplexa admodum minuta tenui	And with this word the bolts were thrown, and the hook was more firmly inserted. Thus to me she was turned and with my neck entwined by both of her hands, with a tiny and very little voice, she said,
""Paveo," inquit, "et formido solide domus huius operta detegere et arcana dominae meae revelare secreta.	paveo	"I am frightened and I am afraid to strip bare the hidden secrets of this house and to reveal the arcane mysteries of my mistress.
sed melius de te doctrinaque tua prasesumo, qui praeter generosam natalium dignitatem, praeter sublime  ingenium, sacris pluribus initiatus profecto nosti sanctam silentii fidem.	profecto	"But I have better assumptions about you and your education, who besides the noble dignity of your birth, besides your lofty genius, initiated wholly into many mysteries you recognize the sacred trust of silence.
quaecumque itaque commisero huius religiosi pectoris tui penetralibus, semper haec intra conseptum clausa custodias, oro, et simplicitatem relationis meae tenacitate taciturnitatis tuae remunerare.	commisero conseptum clausa	And so whatsoever I entrust to the inner part of your pious heart, always, I pray, you might keep it enclosed so that you might protect it, safe in a cell, and that you repay the frankness of our relationship with your firmness in silence.
nam me, quae sola mortalium novi, amor is, quo tibi teneor, indicare compellit.	indicare	For this love which I hold for you compells me to show you those things I alone of all mortals know.
iam scies omnem domus nostrae statum, iam scies erae meae miranda secreta, quibus obaudiunt manes, turbantur sidera, coguntur numina, serviunt elementa.nec umquam magis artis huius violentia nititur, quam cum scitulae formulae iuvenem quimpiam libenter aspexit, quod quidem ei solet crebriter evenire.	erae manes obaudiunt turbantur serviunt nititur scitulae crebriter evenire	Already you know the whole state of our house, and already you know the wondrous secrets of my mistress, which the shades of the dead obey, by which the stars are throw into confusion, by which the gods are known, and to which the elements are slaves. She never depends more the violence of her arts  than when she freely gazes on a young man with a hot body, which indeed frequently happens to her as she is accustomed.