IX. Cynthia saepe tuis fertur, vōcalis Ărīōn,
Tamquam fraternis obstŭpuisse mŏdis.
(i.) Vocabulary.—
Cynthia = Diana (Artemis), so called from Mt. Cynthus, in Delos, where she and Apollo were born.
Fertur = is said, asserted; cf. fĕrunt = they say.
Vōcalis = tuneful, clearly from same root as vox, vŏc-o, &c., of our vocal. For change of quantity cf. rex, rēgis, from rĕgo.
Obstŭpuisse = to have been spell-bound; stŭp-eo, stŭp-idus, and our stupefy, stupid will suggest the root-meaning.[11]
Mŏdis = measures, especially of verse, or, as here, of music.
(ii.) Translation.—You will remember that Apollo, the god who brings back light and sunshine in spring, is also the god of music and of poetry. Ovid skilfully implies that Arion’s playing was so beautiful that even Diana, Apollo’s own sister, mistakes Arion’s playing for her brother’s.
This sentence takes up a whole couplet, but is in form quite simple. Thus fertur is the incomplete predicate, and obstupuisse saepe tuis modis tamquam fraternis completes the predicate, i.e. tells us all that is said of the subject Cynthia.
Vōcalis Ărīon is clearly vocative, or nominative of address.