Passage Notes:​

• 200  postquam… imposita est (201): “after the finishing touches had been applied”(LaFleur)

        manus ultima (200): translates literally as “last touch” or “finishing touch”.

• 201  opifex, opificis, m. craftsman, artisan.

• 203  ut….: signifies an indirect command in the sentence. This starts Daedalus’ warning and orders to Icarus before their flight.

• 204  dēmissior, comparative degree of dēmissus, third declension comparative adjective, translated as “lower”.

• 205  gravō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus, to make heavy, weigh down.

• 206  Boōtēs, Boōtae, acc. Boōtēn, m. the Boötes constellation (also known as Arctophylax, the “Bear-keeper”)

• 207  Helicē, Helicēs, acc. Helicēn, f. the Ursa Major constellation (the “Great Bear”)

        Ōrīōn, Ōrīōnis, m. the Orion constellation (a great hunter turned into a constellation)

• 208  carpe: second-person singular present active imperative, imperatives denote commands, in this case Daedalus is ordering “Seize!”

• 209  ignōtās: accusative feminine plural of ignōtus, which means “unknown” or “alien”. Ovid uses this word to describe Daedalus’ “art” (the pairs of wings).

• 210  monitus, -ūs, m. advice, warning.

        senīlis, -is, -e, of an old man, old man’s; in old age, aged.

• 212  nōn iterum repetenda: translates as “not to be repeated again”. This phrase signifies the poetic device of foreshadowing. In this case, Ovid is foreshadowing the eventual death of Icarus at the peom’s climax.

• 214  quae: since he (Ovid) might have opted for the masculine pronoun (āles is common gender), Ovid may be comparing Daedalus specifically to a mother bird, which I chose to support through my translation. (LaFleur)

• 218  arātor, arātoris, m. plowman, farmer

        pāstor…ārator: this line illustrates a chiasmus, which is an ABBA interlocking word order in the line. 

• 220  iam and iuonia: these words do not elide because you treat the vowel “i” as the consonant “j” in Latin.

        laevus, -a, -um, left, on the left.

• 221  Samos, Samī, f. Samos is an island off the coast of Asia Minor, near Ephesus and northeast of Crete (where the characters escape from).

        Dēlos, Dēlī, f. Delos is one of the Cyclades islands in the Aegean Sea, which is north of Crete.

        Paros, Parī, f. Paros is another of the Cyclades islands near Delos.

• 222  Lebinthos, Lebinthī, f. Lebinthos is one of the Sporades islands off the coast of Asia Minor, north of the Cyclades.

        fēcundus, -a, -um, fertile, productive (of), rich (in).

        mel, mellis, n. honey. The word “melle” in the line is an ablative of respect that goes with “fēcundaque”. Thus, the island is rich in respect to honey or in the production of honey. 

       Calymnē, Calymnēs, f. Calymne is another of the Sporades islands, which apparently has great honey production.

• 223  audācī: a transferred epithet, which is “an adjective or descriptive phrase expressing a quality characteristic of the person or thing mentioned”(Wiktionary). Translated as “daring” in reference to the boy Icarus.

• 225  rapidus, -a, -um, quick; consuming, scorching (my choice in the translation)

• 226  ordōratus, -a, -um, sweet-smelling, fragrant

• 228  rēmigium, -ī, n. array of oars, orange, (set of) wings (my choice in translation)

• 229  caeruleus, -a, -um, sky-blue, azure.

• 232  regiō, regiōnis, f. direction, region.

• 232-233  Anaphora: repeating the first-word ‘Īcare’ in two adjacent lines, however, the second line shifts into the imperfect tense. Ovid does this in order to show Daedalus’ realization of Icarus’ doom around the second time he calls his name. Shifting the line and the story to more of a somber tone.

• sepulcrum, -ī, n. burial ground, grave, tomb (my choice).

• 235  dicta: supply est; that last clause is a proscript to the tale, explaining the origin of the name of the island Icaria (northeast of the Cyclades and near Samos) through the burial of Icarus’ body in the land. (LaFleur)