herself, regardless and stupified with horror at her frightful situation, stood like the motionless statue of a Bacchante,— “Saxea ut effigies Bacchantis prospicit Evoe; Non flavo retinens subtilem vertice mitram, Non contecta levi velatum pectus amictu, Non tereti strophio luctantes vincta papillas; Omnia quæ toto delapsa e corpore passim Ipsius ante pedes fluctus salis alludebant.” The above passage is thus imitated by the author of the elegant poem _Ciris_, which has been attributed to Virgil, and is not unworthy of his genius: “Infelix virgo tota bacchatur in urbe: Non styrace Idæo fragrantes picta capillos, Cognita non teneris pedibus Sicyonia servans, Non niveo retinens baccata monilia collo.”—v. 167. Catullus, leaving Ariadne in the attitude above described, recapitulates the incidents, by which she had been placed in this agonizing situation. He relates, in some excellent lines, the magnanimous enterprize of Theseus—his voyage, and arrival in Crete: He gives us a picture of the youthful innocence of Ariadne, reared in the bosom of her mother, like a myrtle springing up on the solitary banks of the Euphrates, or a flower whose blossom is brought forth by the breath of spring. The combat of Theseus with the Minotaur is but shortly and coldly described. It is obvious that the poet merely intended to raise our idea of the valour of Theseus, so far as to bestow interest and dignity on the passion of Ariadne, and to excuse her for sacrificing to its gratification all feelings of domestic duty and affection. Having yielded and accompanied her lover, she was deserted by him, in that forlorn situation, her deep sense of which had changed her to the likeness of a Bacchante sculptured in stone. Her first feelings of horror and astonishment had deprived her of the power of utterance; but she at length bursts into exclamations against the perfidy of men, and their breach of vows, which —— “Cuncta aerii discerpunt irrita venti. Jam jam nulla viro juranti femina credat, Nulla viri speret sermones esse fideles: Qui, dum aliquid cupiens animus prægestit apisci, Nil metuunt jurare, nihil promittere parcunt. Sed simul ac cupidæ mentis satiata libido est, Dicta nihil metuêre, nihil perjuria curant.” This passage has been obviously imitated by Ariosto, in his _Orlando_— “Donne, alcuna di voi mai più non sia Che a parole d’amante abbia a dar fede. L’amante per aver quel che desia, Senza curar che Dio tutto ode e vede, Avviluppa promesse, e giuramenti, Che tutti spargon poi per l’aria i venti.” After indulging in such general reflections, Ariadne complains of the cruelty and ingratitude of Theseus in particular, whom she thus apostrophizes— “Quænam te genuit solâ sub rupe leæna? Quod mare conceptum spumantibus exspuit undis? Quæ Syrtis, quæ Scylla, vorax quæ vasta Charybdis?”