OPPIAN 



CYNEGETICA, or THE CHASE 



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To thee," blessed one. I sing : thou glorious bulwark 

 of the earth, lovely light of the warhke sons of 

 Aeneas,* sweet scion of Ausonian "^ Zeus,** Antoninus, 

 whom Domna - bare to Severus, mighty mother to 

 mighty sire. Happy the husband whom she wedded 

 and happy the son to whom she gave birth — bride 

 of the best of men and mother of a noble son, Assyrian 

 Cythereia,' the uneclipsed Moon ; a son no meaner 

 than the breed of Cronian Zeus (with favour of Titan 

 Phaethon ^ be it spoken and of Phoebus Apollo I) ; 

 to whom thy sire, by the labour of his mighty hands, 

 gave in keeping all the dry land and all the wet sea.* 

 Yea, for thee doth earth, giver of all gifts, conceive 

 and blossom ; for thee again the sunny sea rears 



"mooned Ashtoroth " of Milton (Xaiiv. 2-2), was pictured 

 with horns, representing the crescent moon, and by the 

 Greeks usually identified with Aphrodite, but also with the 

 moon-goddess, Selene : Plut. Mor. 357 b ; Lucian, De dea 

 Syr. For Assyrian = Syrian see C. i. 340 n. 



' The poets often use Phaethon (Verg. A en. v. lOo) and 

 Titan (Verg. Aen. iv. 119) for the Sun. For this paren- 

 thetic apology cf. H. v. 339 n. 



* Lycophr. 1239 yf)^ Kal daXdiraTji aKrjTTpa koI fiovapxicLif 

 Xa^ovres ; Luc. i. 83 populum terrae pelagique potentem. 



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