摘要：Ovid's treatment of the Megalensia in his Fasti (4.179H.) opens with the noisy procession of Cybele's statue through the streets of Rome. The Phrygian pipe blows a fanfare, eunuchs beat their tympana, cymbals dash. The stately procession of the Great Mother is accompanied by the howls of her devotees. Against this background our poet invites his fellow citizens to the Ludi Megalenses and sternly urges them to refrain from the "war" in the forum. He then wishes to interview the deity, as he does so many others in the Fasti. But the festal din intimidates hirn, so he asks Cybele for someone else who can answer his aetiological questions. She dispatches her granddaughters, the Muses, conveniendy spotted nearby, one of whom, Erato, serves as Ovid's interlocutor for the remainder of the lengthyentry for April 4.
