[Sidenote: Ciris.] The second piece, entitled _Ciris_, is a little longer than the _Culex_. This poem, evidently written by some member of the circle of Messalla, tells the story of Scylla, who caused the death of her father, Nisus, and betrayed her native town, on account of her love for Minos, the leader of an invading army. She was dragged through the water at the stern of a vessel, but the gods pitied her and changed her into a seabird called ciris. Her father was restored to life and made a sea eagle. [Sidenote: Moretum.] The third poem, the _Moretum_ (the word denotes a sort of salad eaten by the peasants), contains only one hundred and twenty-four lines. It is a slight poem, idyllic in character, and admirably written. It describes how a poor peasant and his slave, a negress, make the _moretum_ in the early morning. [Sidenote: Copa.] This poem is said to be an imitation of a Greek original by Parthenius. It is possible, though not probable, that it is by Virgil. The fourth poem is the _Copa_ (barmaid), consisting of only thirty-eight lines of elegiac verse. It has to do with the barmaid of a wayside tavern, and is clever and interesting, but has none of the qualities of Virgil’s poems. It belongs, however, without doubt, to the Augustan period. [Sidenote: Ætna] The _Diræ_, which is also included in the manuscripts of Virgil, belongs, as has been said (page 63), to an earlier time, and the _Ætna_ belongs to the subsequent period. This consists of six hundred and forty-six hexameters, describing volcanic eruptions, and attempting to account for them. It has little poetic merit, but shows that even an indifferent poet could write good hexameters. The remaining short poems ascribed to Virgil are of little interest or importance, though one of them—a comic ode in honor of an old muleteer—is an excellent parody of the poem of Catullus addressed to his old yacht. [Sidenote: Nux. Consolatio ad Liviam.] The elegy entitled _Nux_ (nut tree), and the _Consolatio ad Liviam_ (Consolation to Livia), both ascribed to Ovid, are imitations by writers of a slightly later time, and have little merit. The _Nux_ is the complaint of a tree on account of the bad treatment it receives from passers-by. The _Consolatio ad Liviam_ purports to be addressed to Livia, wife of Augustus, on the death of her son Drusus, in 9 B. C. CHAPTER XI OVID Ovid, 43 B. C.-18 A. D.—His life—Poems of love—Fasti—Metamorphoses—Poems written after his banishment—His qualities and influence.