=33. QVOLIBET EST FOLIO ... INCERTIOR.= For the proverb, see Otto _folium_ 1; and from Ovid compare _Am_ II xvi 45-46 'uerba puellarum, foliis leuiora caducis, / inrita qua uisum est uentus et unda ferunt', _Her_ V 109-10 'tu leuior foliis tum cum sine pondere suci / mobilibus uentis arida facta uolant', and _Fast_ III 481-82 (Ariadne speaking) 'Bacche leuis leuiorque tuis quae tempora cingunt / frondibus'.
=33. QVAVIS INCERTIOR AVRA.= Compare _Her_ VI 109-10 'mobilis Aesonide uernaque incertior aura, / cur tua polliciti pondere uerba carent?'. Otto (_uentus_ 1) cites as well Prop II v 11-13 'non ita Carpathiae uariant Aquilonibus undae, / nec dubio nubes uertitur atra Noto, / quam facile irati uerbo mutantur amantes', _Her_ XVIII 185-86 (Leander to Hero) 'cumque minus firmum nil sit quam uentus et unda, / in uentis et aqua spes mea semper erit?', and Calpurnius _Ecl_ III 10 'mobilior uentis o femina!'.
The _folium_ and _uentus_ images of the present line are found together at Prop II ix 33-35 'non sic incerto mutantur flamine Syrtes, / nec folia hiberno tam tremefacta Noto, / quam cito feminea non constat foedus in ira'.
=34. PAR ILLI= = _par illius leuitati_. Similar compressions at vi 40 'mollior est animo femina nulla tuo' and commonly.
=37-38.= Ovid gives four instances of unexpected catastrophe, two from Greek history, two from Roman; the greater importance of the Roman examples is emphasized by their position and by the doubling of the space allotted to each example from two lines to four. There is a similar transition at Prop II vi 19-20 'cur exempla petam Graium? tu criminis auctor / nutritus duro, Romule, lacte lupae'.
The Greek examples may have been a traditional pairing: Croesus and Dionysius are mentioned together at Lucian _Gall_ 23 as notable instances of personal catastrophe.
=37. OPVLENTIA CROESI.= Croesus as the archetype of wealth also at _Tr_ III vii 41-42 'nempe dat ... Fortuna rapitque, / Irus et est subito qui modo Croesus erat'.
The story of Croesus' downfall and the subsequent sparing of his life by Cyrus is taken from Herodotus I 86-88.
It is clear from his poetry that Ovid had a good knowledge of at least the first book of Herodotus:
(1) _Met_ III 135-37 'sed scilicet ultima semper / expectanda dies homini est, dicique beatus / ante obitum nemo supremaque funera debet' may have been drawn from Solon's advice to Croesus at Herodotus I 32 7: '[Greek: ei de pros toutoisi] [if in addition to having prosperity while alive] [Greek: eti teleutêsei ton bion eu, houtos ekeinos ton su zêteeis, ho] [[Greek: ho] _add Stein_] [Greek: olbios keklêsthai axios esti; prin d' an teleutêsêi, epischein mêde kaleein kô olbion, all' eutychea]'.