Note 158 — ARRIAN ON COURSING.
William Dansey translation
ὁ ἀγὼν λαγωῷ καὶ κυνί—accurately and beautifully described in the Ovidian simile;
Metamorph. L. i. 533.
Ut canis in vacuo leporem cum Gallicus arvo Vidit; et hic prædam pedibus petit, ille salutem: Alter inhæsuro similis, jam jamque tenere Sperat, et extento stringit vestigia rostro; Alter in ambiguo est, an sit deprensus, et ipsis Morsibus eripitur; tangentiaque ora relinquit.
and in the fable of Cephalus and Procris, the Teumesian fox being substituted for the hare;
Metamorph. L. vii. 781.
Tollor eò capioque novi spectacula cursûs: Quà modo deprendi, modo se subducere ab ipso Vulnere visa fera est: nec limite callida recto, In spatiumque fugit; sed decipit ora sequentis, Et redit in gyrum, ne sit suus impetus hosti. Imminet hic sequiturque parem: similisque tenenti Non tenet, et vacuos exercet in aëra morsus.
When reading these and other splendid fables of this poet, and his similes illustrative of terror and rapidity of flight, and eagerness of pursuit, in the parties represented, it strikes us as probable that he was a practical courser, “Apollinis et Dianæ utriusque sectator,” and derived his imagery from experience in the field. To the tales of “Cephalus and his greyhound Lælaps,” and of “Daphne in Laurum” with its cited accompaniment, we may add much of the poetical ornament of Arethusa’s plaintive and terrified flight from the lustful Alpheus,
Metamorph. L. v. 604.
Sic ego currebam; sic me ferus ille premebat, ... &c.
in which the classic courser will discover many allusions to his favourite sport:
Ejusdem v. 609.
Nec me velocior ille, Sed tolerare diu cursus ego viribus impar Non poteram: longi patiens erat ille laboris. Per tamen et campos, per opertos arbore montes, Saxa quoque et rupes, et quà via nulla, cucurri. Sol erat à tergo: vidi præcedere longam Ante pedes umbram: nisi si timor illa videbat. Sed certè sonituque pedum terrebar; et ingens Crinales vittas afflabat anhelitus oris.
And when the affrighted nymph is rescued by the interposition of a cloud from her pursuer’s grasp, and hears the cry “Io Arethusa, Io Arethusa,” the poet compares her to a hare in a brake under similar terror,
Ejusdem v. 627.
Lepori, qui vepre latens hostilia cernit Ora canum, nullosque audet dare corpore motus:
as if the chase of this little animal had supplied him with the outline of his picture.