or whether to that
against Augustus, which is mentioned by Suetonius, in the
nineteenth chapter of his History. As Augustus survived the latter
conspiracy, and the parallel is thereby rendered more complete,
probably this is the circumstance here alluded to.]

EXPLANATION.

It is to be presumed, that Ovid here follows the prevailing tradition
of his time; and it is surprising how closely that tradition adheres
to the words of Scripture, relative to the determination of the
Almighty to punish the earth by a deluge, as disclosed in the sixth
chapter of Genesis. The Poet tells us, that the King of heaven calls
the Gods to a grand council, to deliberate upon the punishment of
mankind, in retribution for their wickedness. The words of Scripture
are, "And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth,
and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil
continually. And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the
earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the Lord said, 'I will
destroy man, whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man
and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air: for it
repenteth me that I have made them.'" --Genesis, ch. vi. ver. 5, 6, 7.

Tradition seems to have faithfully carried down the fact, that, amid
this universal corruption, there was still at least one just man, and
here it attributes to Deucalion the merit that belonged to Noah.

FABLE VII. [I.216-243]

Lycaon, king of Arcadia, in order to discover if it is Jupiter himself
who has come to lodge in his palace, orders the body of an hostage,
who had been sent to him, to be dressed and served up at a feast. The
God, as a punishment, changes him into a wolf.

I had {now} passed Maenalus, to be dreaded for its dens of beasts of
prey, and the pine-groves of cold Lycaeus, together with Cyllene.[44]
After this, I entered the realms and the inhospitable abode of the
Arcadian tyrant, just as the late twilight was bringing on the night.
I gave a signal that a God had come, and the people commenced to pay
their adorations. In the first place, Lycaon derided their pious
supplications. Afterwards, he said, I will make trial, by a plain proof,
whether this is a God, or whether he is a mortal; nor shall the truth
remain a matter of doubt. He then makes preparations to destroy me, when
sunk in sleep, by an unexpected death; this mode o