When she has ended her complaints of the cruelty and ingratitude of Theseus, Ariadne expresses a very natural wish, that the ship Argo had never reached her native shores—
“Jupiter Omnipotens, utinam ne tempore primo
Gnosia Cecropiæ tetigissent littora puppes.”
Thus, apparently, imitated by Virgil—
“Felix, heu nimium felix! si littora tantum
Nunquam Dardaniæ tetigissent nostra carinæ.”
But both these passages, it is probable, were originally drawn from the beginning of the Medea of Euripides—
“Ἐιθ’ οφελ’ Αργους μη διαπτασθαι σκαφος
Κολχων ες αιαν κυανεας συμπληγαδας.”
Catullus proceeds with a much closer imitation of Euripides—