Ovid: HEROIDES

Hanc tibi Priamides mitto, Ledaea, salutem,
     quae tribui sola te mihi dante potest.
eloquar, an flammae non est opus indice notae,
     et plus quam vellem, iam meus extat amor?
ille quidem lateat malim, dum tempora dentur
     laetitiae mixtos non habitura metus.

This salutation I, the Priamid, send to you, Ledaean,
     which alone can be bestowed, you granting it to me.
Shall I speak out, or has a flame of known note no need of an index,
     and does my love already stand out more than I would wish?
That indeed I would prefer to lie hidden, so long as times are granted
     for joy, not destined to have fears mixed in.

sed male dissimulo; quis enim celaverit ignem,
     lumine qui semper proditur ipse suo?
si tamen expectas, vocem quoque rebus ut addam:
     uror—habes animi nuntia verba mei.
parce, precor, fasso, nec vultu cetera duro
     perlege, sed formae conveniente tuae.

but I dissimulate badly; for who indeed could hide a fire,
     which is always betrayed by its own light?
if, however, you expect that I also add a voice to the facts:
     I burn—you have words, messengers of my mind.
spare, I pray, the one who has confessed, and do not with a hard countenance
     read through the rest, but with one suited to your beauty.

iamdudum gratum est, quod epistula nostra recepta
     spem facit, hoc recipi me quoque posse modo.
quae rata sit; nec te frustra promiserit, opto,
     hoc mihi quae suasit, mater Amoris, iter.
namque ego divino monitu—ne nescia pecces—
     advehor et coepto non leve numen adest.

For some time now it is welcome, that, my epistle having been received,
     it gives hope that I too may be received in this way.
May this be ratified; and may she not have promised you in vain, I pray,
     she who urged upon me this journey—the Mother of Love.
For I am carried hither by a divine monition—lest you err in ignorance—
     and no light divinity is present to the undertaking.

praemia magna quidem, sed non indebita posco:
     pollicita est thalamo te Cytherea meo.
hac duce Sigeo dubias a litore feci
     longa Phereclea per freta puppe vias.
illa dedit faciles auras ventosque secundos—
     in mare nimirum ius habet orta mari.

Great rewards indeed I ask, but not undue:
     Cytherea has promised you to my bridal-chamber.
With her as guide I made from the Sigean shore uncertain
     ways through long straits on the Phereclean stern.
She gave easy breezes and favorable winds—
     surely, born from the sea, she has jurisdiction over the sea.

perstet et ut pelagi, sic pectoris adiuvet aestum,
deferat in portus et mea vota suos.
attulimus flammas, non hic invenimus, illas.
hae mihi tam longae causa fuere viae.

Let her persist, and as she aids the swell of the sea, so let her aid the surge of my breast,
and carry my vows into their own harbors.
I brought the flames, I did not find them here, those.
these were for me the cause of so long a way.

nam neque tristis hiems neque nos huc appulit error;
     Taenaris est classi terra petita meae.
nec me crede fretum merces portante carina
     findere—quas habeo, di tueantur opes.
nec venio Graias veluti spectator ad urbes;
     oppida sunt regni divitiora mei.

for neither grim winter nor wandering has driven us hither;
     Taenarian land is the land sought by my fleet.
nor believe that I cleave the strait with a keel carrying merchandise—
     what wealth I have, may the gods protect.
nor do I come to Grecian cities as a spectator;
     the towns are richer than my kingdom.

te peto, quam pepigit lecto Venus aurea nostro;
     te prius optavi quam mihi nota fores.
ante tuos animo vidi quam lumine vultus;
     prima tulit vulnus nuntia fama tui.
nec tamen est mirum, si sicut oportuit arcu,
     missilibus telis eminus ictus amo.

you I seek, whom golden Venus pledged to my couch;
     I desired you before you were known to me.
before your face I saw with my mind rather than with light;
     the first report of you bore the wound.
nor, however, is it a wonder, if, just as is fitting for the bow,
     struck from afar by missile weapons I love.

sic placuit fatis; quae ne convellere temptes,
     accipe cum vera dicta relata fide.
matris adhuc utero partu remorante tenebar;
     iam gravidus iusto pondere venter erat.
illa sibi ingentem visa est sub imagine somni
     flammiferam pleno reddere ventre facem.

thus it pleased the Fates; that you not try to wrench these things loose,
     receive words recounted with true fidelity.
I was still held in my mother’s womb, the birth delaying;
     already the belly was gravid with due weight.
she seemed to herself, under the image of a dream,
     to render from her full belly a flame-bearing torch.

territa consurgit metuendaque noctis opacae
     visa seni Priamo, vatibus ille refert.
arsurum Paridis vates canit Ilion igni—
     pectoris, ut nunc est, fax fuit illa mei.
forma vigorque animi, quamvis de plebe videbar,
     indicium tectae nobilitatis erat.

Terrified she rises, and the fearsome vision of the dark night
     is told to old Priam; he reports it to the seers.
A seer sings that Ilion will burn with Paris’s fire—
     that was the torch of my breast, as now it is.
My form and vigor of spirit, although I seemed of the plebeian sort,
     were an indication of veiled nobility.

est locus in mediis nemorosae vallibus Idae
     devius et piceis ilicibusque frequens,
qui nec ovis placidae nec amantis saxa capellae
     nec patulo tardae carpitur ore bovis;
hinc ego Dardaniae muros excelsaque tecta
     et freta prospiciens arbore nixus eram—
ecce, pedum pulsu visa est mihi terra moveri—
     vera loquar veri vix habitura fidem—
constitit ante oculos actus velocibus alis
     Atlantis magni Pleionesque nepos—
fas vidisse fuit, fas sit mihi visa referre—
     inque dei digitis aurea virga fuit.
tresque simul divae, Venus et cum Pallade Iuno,
     graminibus teneros inposuere pedes.
obstupui, gelidusque comas erexerat horror,
     cum mihi 'pone metum!' nuntius ales ait:
'arbiter es formae; certamina siste dearum,
     vincere quae forma digna sit una duas.'
neve recusarem, verbis Iovis imperat et se
     protinus aetheria tollit in astra via.

there is a place in the midst of the wooded valleys of Ida,
     remote and abounding in pitch‑pines and holm‑oaks,
whose rocks are cropped neither by the gentle sheep nor the loving she‑goat,
     nor by the slow cow’s wide‑open mouth;
from here I, looking out upon the walls of Dardania and the lofty roofs
     and the straits, was leaning on a tree—
behold, at the beat of feet the earth seemed to me to move—
     I will speak true things, scarcely likely to win belief as true—
there stood before my eyes, borne by swift wings,
     the grandson of great Atlas and of Pleione—
it was lawful to have seen; let it be lawful for me to report what I saw—
     and in the god’s fingers was a golden rod.
and three goddesses together—Venus, and Juno with Pallas—
     set their tender feet upon the grasses.
I was astonished, and a chilly horror had bristled my hair,
     when to me the winged messenger said, “Put aside fear!
you are the arbiter of beauty; bring to decision the contests of the goddesses,
     which single form is worthy to conquer the other two.”
and lest I refuse, by the words of Jove he gives command and
     straightway lifts himself by the aetherial way into the stars.

mens mea convaluit, subitoque audacia venit
     nec timui vultu quamque notare meo.
vincere erant omnes dignae iudexque querebar
     non omnes causam vincere posse suam.
sed tamen ex illis iam tunc magis una placebat,
     hanc esse ut scires, unde movetur amor.

My mind recovered, and suddenly audacity came
     nor did I fear to mark each with my visage.
All were worthy to conquer, and as judge I complained
     that not all could win their own cause.
But yet from among them even then one pleased me more,
     that you might know which she was, whence love is moved.

tantaque vincendi cura est; ingentibus ardent
     iudicium donis sollicitare meum.
regna Iovis coniunx, virtutem filia iactat;
     ipse potens dubito fortis an esse velim.
dulce Venus risit; 'nec te, Pari, munera tangant
     utraque suspensi plena timoris,' ait;
'nos dabimus, quod ames, et pulchrae filia Ledae
     ibit in amplexus pulchrior illa tuos.'
dixit, et ex aequo donis formaque probata
     victorem caelo rettulit illa pedem.

and so great is the concern for winning; they burn to solicit my judgment with enormous gifts.
     the spouse of Jove vaunts kingdoms, the daughter vaunts virtue;
     powerful myself, I doubt whether I would wish to be brave.
sweetly Venus smiled; ‘nor let the gifts of the two, Paris, touch you,
     gifts full of anxious suspense,’ she says;
‘we will give what you love, and the daughter of fair Leda
     will go into your embraces, she more beautiful.’
she spoke, and, with her gifts and beauty approved on equal terms,
     that goddess bore back her foot to heaven as victor.

interea, credo, versis ad prospera fatis
     regius agnoscor per rata signa puer.
laeta domus nato per tempora longa recepto,
     addit et ad festos hunc quoque Troia diem.
utque ego te cupio, sic me cupiere puellae;
     multarum votum sola tenere potes.

meanwhile, I believe, with the fates turned toward prosperous things
     I am recognized, by ratified signs, as a royal boy.
the house is glad, with the son received back after long times,
     and Troy adds this day too to its festal days.
and as I desire you, so have maidens desired me;
     you alone are able to hold the vow of many.

nec tantum regum natae petiere ducumque,
     sed nymphis etiam curaque amorque fui.
quas super Oenonen facies mutarer in orbem
     nec Priamo est a te dignior ulla nurus.
sed mihi cunctarum subeunt fastidia, postquam
     coniugii spes est, Tyndari, facta tui.

nor have only the daughters of kings and commanders sought me,
     but I was also both care and love to the nymphs.
above whom Oenone, even if I were changed in appearance throughout the world,
     nor is there any daughter-in-law more worthy for Priam than you.
but the distastes of all come over me, after
     the hope of marriage with you, Tyndarid, has been made.

te vigilans oculis, animo te nocte videbam,
lumina cum placido victa sopore iacent.
quid facies praesens, quae nondum visa placebas?
ardebam, quamvis hic procul ignis erat.

Awake I was seeing you with my eyes; at night I was seeing you with my mind,
when my eyes lie conquered by placid sleep.
What will you do when present, you who, not yet seen, were pleasing?
I was burning, although here the fire was far away.

nec potui debere mihi spem longius istam,
     caerulea peterem quin mea vota via.
Troia caeduntur Phrygia pineta securi
     quaeque erat aequoreis utilis arbor aquis;
ardua proceris spoliantur Gargara silvis,
     innumerasque mihi longa dat Ida trabes.
fundatura citas flectuntur robora naves
     texitur et costis panda carina suis.

nor could I keep that hope owed to me longer,
     without my vows seeking the cerulean way.
in Troy the Phrygian pine-groves are hewn by the axe
     and every tree that was useful for the sea-waters;
lofty Gargara is despoiled of its tall forests,
     and long Ida gives me numberless beams.
the timbers are bent, for launching swift ships,
     and the arched keel is woven with its own ribs.

addimus antennas et vela sequentia malo
     accipit et pictos puppis adunca deos;
qua tamen ipse vehor, comitata Cupidine parvo
     sponsor coniugii stat dea picta sui.
imposita est factae postquam manus ultima classi,
     protinus Aegaeis ire lubebat aquis.
at pater et genetrix inhibent mea vota rogando
     propositumque pia voce morantur iter;
et soror effusis ut erat Cassandra capillis,
     cum vellent nostrae iam dare vela rates,
'quo ruis?' exclamat, 'referes incendia tecum!

we add yards and sails that follow the mast
     and the curved stern receives the painted gods;
yet the one in which I myself am borne, accompanied by little Cupid,
     the goddess stands painted as sponsor of her own marriage.
after the final hand was set upon the completed fleet,
     forthwith it pleased to go upon the Aegean waters.
but father and mother inhibit my vows by entreating,
     and with pious voice delay the proposed journey;
and my sister Cassandra, as she was, with hair let loose,
     when already our ships were willing to spread their sails,
“where do you rush?” she cries out, “you will bring back fires with you!

     quanta per has nescis flamma petatur aquas!'
vera fuit vates; dictos invenimus ignes
     et ferus in molli pectore flagrat amor.
portubus egredior ventisque ferentibus usus
     applicor in terras, Oebali nympha, tuas.
excipit hospitio vir me tuus: hoc quoque factum
     non sine consilio numinibusque deum.

     you do not know how great a flame is being sought through these waters!'
the prophetess was true; we found the fires spoken of
     and fierce Love blazes in my gentle breast.
I put out from the harbors and, making use of favorable winds,
     I make landfall upon your lands, O Oebalian nymph.
your man receives me with hospitality: this too was done
     not without the counsel and the numina of the gods.

ille quidem ostendit, quidquid Lacedaemone tota
     ostendi dignum conspicuumque fuit;
sed mihi laudatam cupienti cernere formam
     lumina nil aliud quo caperentur erat.
ut vidi, obstipui praecordiaque intima sensi
     attonitus curis intumuisse novis.
his similes vultus, quantum reminiscor, habebat,
     venit in arbitrium cum Cytherea meum.

He indeed showed whatever in all Lacedaemon
     was worthy to be shown and conspicuous;
but for me, desiring to behold the lauded form,
     there was nothing else for my eyes by which they might be captured.
As I saw, I was stunned, and I felt my inmost precordia
     to have swelled, thunderstruck, with new cares.
A face like this, as far as I recall, she had,
     when Cytherea came into my arbitrament.

si tu venisses pariter certamen in illud,
     in dubium Veneris palma futura fuit.
magna quidem de te rumor praeconia fecit,
     nullaque de facie nescia terra tua est;
nec tibi par usquam Phrygia nec solis ab ortu
     inter formosas altera nomen habet!
credis et hoc nobis?—minor est tua gloria vero
     famaque de forma paene maligna tua est.

if you had come likewise into that contest,
     the palm of Venus would have been in doubt.
rumor indeed has made great proclamations about you,
     and no land is ignorant of your face;
nor anywhere in Phrygia nor from the rising of the sun
     does another among the beautiful bear a name equal to you!
do you also believe this from us?—your glory is less than the truth,
     and the fame about your form is almost malign.

plus hic invenio, quam quod promiserat illa,
     et tua materia gloria victa sua est.
ergo arsit merito, qui noverat omnia, Theseus,
     et visa es tanto digna rapina viro,
more tuae gentis nitida dum nuda palaestra
     ludis et es nudis femina mixta viris.
quod rapuit, laudo; miror quod reddidit umquam.

here I find more than that which she had promised,
     and by your matter her own glory has been vanquished.
therefore Theseus, who knew all things, burned with merit,
     and you seemed worthy of such a rapine to so great a man,
in the manner of your nation, while in the gleaming nude palaestra
     you play and, a woman, are mixed with nude men.
what he snatched, I praise; I marvel that he ever returned it.

tam bona constanter praeda tenenda fuit.
ante recessisset caput hoc cervice cruenta,
quam tu de thalamis abstraherere meis.
tene manus umquam nostrae dimittere vellent?

such good prey ought to have been held with constancy.
before this head had receded from a bloodied neck,
than that you be drawn away from my bridal chambers.
would our hands ever have wished to let you go?

     tene meo paterer vivus abire sinu?
si reddenda fores, aliquid tamen ante tulissem
     nec Venus ex toto nostra fuisset iners.
vel mihi virginitas esset libata vel illud
     quod poterat salva virginitate rapi.

     Would I, alive, have allowed you to depart from my bosom?
If you had to be given back, nevertheless I would have taken something beforehand,
     nor would our Venus have been entirely inert.
Either your virginity would have been libated to me, or that
     which could be seized with your virginity preserved.

da modo te, quae sit Paridis constantia nosces:
     flamma rogi flammas finiet una meas.
praeposui regnis ego te, quae maxima quondam
     pollicita est nobis nupta sororque Iovis,
dumque tuo possem circumdare bracchia collo,
     contempta est virtus Pallade dante mihi.
nec piget aut umquam stulte legisse videbor;
     permanet in voto mens mea firma suo.

only grant yourself, you will know what Paris’s constancy is:
     the flame of the pyre with one flame will finish my flames.
I have preferred you to kingdoms, though she who once,
     the bride and sister of Jove, promised the greatest things to me,
and while I could have encircled your neck with my arms,
     valor was held in contempt, though Pallas was giving it to me.
nor do I regret, nor shall I ever seem to have chosen foolishly;
     my mind remains firm in its own vow.

spem modo ne nostram fieri patiare caducam,
     deprecor, o tanto digna labore peti!
non ego coniugium generosae degener opto,
     nec mea, crede mihi, turpiter uxor eris.
Pliada, si quaeres, in nostra gente Iovemque
     invenies, medios ut taceamus avos.

only do not allow our hope to fall away,
     I beseech, O you worthy to be sought by so great a labor!
I do not, as a degenerate, seek the conjugal union of a noble-born woman,
     nor, believe me, will you be a wife of mine in disgrace.
If you inquire, you will find in our race a Pleiad and Jove,
     to say nothing of the ancestors in between.

sceptra parens Asiae, qua nulla beatior ora est,
     finibus inmensis vix obeunda, tenet.
innumeras urbes atque aurea tecta videbis
     quaeque suos dicas templa decere deos.
Ilion adspicies firmataque turribus altis
     moenia, Phoebeae structa canore lyrae.

the parent of Asia holds the scepters, than which no shore is more blessed,
     scarcely to be encompassed within its immense boundaries.
you will see innumerable cities and golden roofs,
     and temples which you would say befit their own gods.
you will behold Ilion and walls fortified with lofty towers,
     constructed by the canorous music of Phoebus’s lyre.

quid tibi de turba narrem numeroque virorum?
vix populum tellus sustinet illa suum.
occurrent denso tibi Troades agmine matres
nec capient Phrygias atria nostra nurus.

what should I tell you of the throng and the number of men?
that land scarcely sustains its own people.
Trojan mothers will run to meet you in a dense array
nor will our atria contain the Phrygian daughters-in-law.

o quotiens dices: 'quam pauper Achaia nostra est!'
     una domus quaevis urbis habebit opes.
nec mihi fas fuerit Sparten contemnere vestram:
     in qua tu nata es, terra beata mihi est.
parca sed est Sparte, tu cultu divite digna;
     ad talem formam non facit iste locus.

o how often you will say: 'how poor our Achaea is!'
     any single house will have the opulence of a city.
nor would it be right for me to contemn your Sparta:      the land in which you were born is blessed to me.
but Sparta is frugal, you worthy of rich adornment;
     this place does not befit such beauty.

hanc faciem largis sine fine paratibus uti
     deliciisque decet luxuriare novis.
cum videas cultus nostra de gente virorum,
     qualem Dardanias credis habere nurus?
da modo te facilem nec dedignare maritum,
     rure Therapnaeo nata puella, Phrygem.

it befits this beauty to make use of lavish preparations without end
     and to luxuriate in new delights.
when you see the finery of men from our people,
     what sort do you think the Dardanian brides have?
only grant yourself to be amenable and do not disdain a husband,
     girl born in the Therapnaean countryside—a Phrygian.

Phryx erat et nostro genitus de sanguine, qui nunc
     cum dis potando nectare miscet aquas.
Phryx erat Aurorae coniunx, tamen abstulit illum
     extremum noctis quae dea finit iter.
Phryx etiam Anchises, volucrum cui mater Amorum
     gaudet in Idaeis concubuisse iugis.

A Phrygian he was and begotten from our blood, who now
     in drinking with the gods mixes waters with nectar.
A Phrygian was the consort of Aurora, yet him she took away,
     the goddess who finishes the last journey of night.
A Phrygian too was Anchises, with whom the winged mother of Loves
     rejoices to have lain on the Idaean ridges.

nec, puto, conlatis forma Menelaus et annis
     iudice te nobis anteferendus erit.
non dabimus certe socerum tibi clara fugantem
     lumina, qui trepidos a dape vertat equos;
nec Priamo pater est soceri de caede cruentus
     et qui Myrtoas crimine signat aquas;
nec proavo Stygia nostro captantur in unda
     poma, nec in mediis quaeritur umor aquis.
quid tamen hoc refert, si te tenet ortus ab illis?

nor, I think, with form and years compared,
     with you as judge, will Menelaus have to be preferred before me.
we will certainly not give you a father-in-law driving the bright lights to flight,
     who turns his frightened horses from a banquet;
nor has Priam a father blood-stained from the slaughter of a father-in-law,
     and one who marks the Myrtoan waters with his crime;
nor are apples snatched at by our great-grandfather in the Stygian wave,
     nor is moisture sought in the midst of waters.
what does this matter, however, if your being sprung from them holds you?

     cogitur huic domui Iuppiter esse socer.
heu facinus! totis indignus noctibus ille
     te tenet amplexu perfruiturque tuo;
at mihi conspiceris posita vix denique mensa
     multaque quae laedant hoc quoque tempus habet.

     Jupiter is compelled to be father-in-law to this house.
alas, a crime! that man, unworthy, holds you through whole nights
     in his embrace and enjoys you to the full;
but to me you are scarcely seen, at last, when the table has been set,
     and even this time too has many things that wound.

hostibus eveniant convivia talia nostris,
     experior posito qualia saepe mero.
paenitet hospitii, cum me spectante lacertos
     imponit collo rusticus iste tuo.
rumpor et invideo—quid ni tamen omnia narrem?—
     membra superiecta cum tua veste fovet.

May such banquets befall our enemies,
     I am experiencing what such are like with unmixed wine set down often.
I repent of hospitality, when, with me looking on, that rustic fellow
     sets his arms upon your neck.
I burst and I envy—why should I not, however, relate everything?—
     he warms his limbs with your garment cast over him.

oscula cum vero coram non dura daretis,
     ante oculos posui pocula sumpta meos;
lumina demitto cum te tenet artius ille,
     crescit et invito lentus in ore cibus.
saepe dedi gemitus; et te, lasciva, notavi
     in gemitu risum non tenuisse meo.
saepe mero volui flammam compescere, at illa
     crevit, et ebrietas ignis in igne fuit.

when, truly, you were giving kisses not harsh in my presence,
     I set the cups, once taken up, before my eyes;
I lower my eyes when that fellow holds you more tightly,
     and, against my will, sluggish food grows in my mouth.
often I gave groans; and you, wanton girl, I noted
     not to have restrained laughter at my groan.
often with wine I wished to quench the flame, but it
     grew, and drunkenness was fire in the fire.

multaque ne videam, versa cervice recumbo;
     sed revocas oculos protinus ipsa meos.
quid faciam, dubito; dolor est meus illa videre,
     sed dolor a facie maior abesse tua.
qua licet et possum, luctor celare furorem,
     sed tamen apparet dissimulatus amor.

and that I may not see many things, with my neck turned I recline;
     but you yourself immediately call back my eyes.
What am I to do? I hesitate; it is my pain to see those things,
     but a greater pain is to be away from your face.
In whatever way it is permitted and I can, I wrestle to conceal my fury,
     but nevertheless love, dissimulated, appears.

nec tibi verba damus; sentis mea vulnera, sentis;
     atque utinam soli sint ea nota tibi.
a, quotiens lacrimis venientibus ora reflexi,
     ne causam fletus quaereret ille mei.
a, quotiens aliquem narravi potus amorem,
     ad vulnus referens singula verba tuos,
indiciumque mei ficto sub nomine feci;
     ille ego, si nescis, verus amator eram.

nor am I giving you mere words; you feel my wounds, you feel them;
     and would that they were known to you alone.
ah, how often I turned my face aside when tears were coming,
     lest he should seek the cause of my weeping.
ah, how often, drunk, I told of some love,
     referring each single word to your wound,
and under a feigned name I made an indication of myself;
     that man—if you do not know—was I, the true lover.

quin etiam ut possem verbis petulantius uti,
     non semel ebrietas est simulata mihi.
Prodita sunt, memini, tunica tua pectora laxa
     atque oculis aditum nuda dedere meis
pectora vel puris nivibus vel lacte tuamve
     complexo matrem candidiora Iove.
dum stupeo visis—nam pocula forte tenebam—
     tortilis a digitis excidit ansa meis.

indeed even, so that I might be able to use words more petulantly,
     ebriety was not once simulated by me.
Your breast, I remember, was betrayed by a loose tunic,
     and, bare, gave access to my eyes—
a breast more candid than pure snows or milk, or than Jove
     embracing your mother.
while I stood stupefied at the sights—for by chance I was holding cups—
     the twisted handle slipped from my fingers.

oscula si natae dederas, ego protinus illa
     Hermiones tenero laetus ab ore tuli.
et modo cantabam veteres resupinus amores
     et modo per nutum signa tegenda dabam.
et comitum primas Clymenen Aethramque, tuarum
     ausus sum blandis nuper adire sonis;
quae mihi non aliud, quam formidare locutae
     orantis medias deseruere preces.

if you had given kisses to your daughter, I straightway, happy, bore them off from Hermione’s tender mouth.
     and now I was singing ancient loves, supine,
and now by a nod I was giving signs to be veiled.
     and the first among your companions, Clymene and Aethra,
I dared recently to approach with blandishing sounds;
     who, having said to me nothing other than to be afraid,
deserted me in the midst of my pleading prayers.

di facerent, pretium magni certaminis esses,
     teque suo posset victor habere toro,
ut tulit Hippomenes Schoeneida praemia cursus,
     venit ut in Phrygios Hippodamia sinus,
ut ferus Alcides Acheloia cornua fregit,
     dum petit amplexus, Deianira, tuos.
nostra per has leges audacia fortiter isset
     teque mei scires esse laboris opus.
nunc mihi nil superest nisi te, formosa, precari
     amplectique tuos, si patiare, pedes.

May the gods bring it about that you be the prize of a great contest,
     and that the victor might possess you on his own couch,
as Hippomenes took the Schoeneid as the prize of his running,
     as Hippodamia came into Phrygian arms,
as fierce Alcides broke the Achelous-horns,
     while he sought your embraces, Deianira.
Under such terms our audacity would have gone bravely,
     and you would know that you were the work of my labor.
Now nothing remains for me except to pray to you, beautiful one,
     and to clasp your feet, if you allow.

o decus, o praesens geminorum gloria fratrum,
     o Iove digna viro, ni Iove nata fores,
aut ego Sigeos repetam te coniuge portus
     aut hic Taenaria contegar exul humo!
non mea sunt summa leviter destricta sagitta
     pectora; descendit vulnus ad ossa meum!
hoc mihi, nam repeto, fore ut a caeleste sagitta
     figar, erat verax vaticinata soror.

o honor, o present glory of the twin brothers,
     o worthy of Jove as a husband, if you had not been born of Jove,
either I shall revisit the Sigean harbors with you as spouse,
     or here I shall be covered, an exile, by Taenarian soil!
it is not the surface of my breast that is lightly grazed by the arrow—
     the wound has descended to my bones!
this for me—for I recall it—that I would be fixed by a celestial arrow
     my veracious sister vaticinated.

parce datum fatis, Helene, contemnere amorem—
     sic habeas faciles in tua vota deos.
multa quidem subeunt; sed coram ut plura loquamur,
     excipe me lecto nocte silente tuo.
an pudet et metuis Venerem temerare maritam
     castaque legitimi fallere iura tori?

refrain from contemning the love granted by the Fates, Helen—
     so may you have the gods amenable to your vows.
many things indeed occur; but that we may speak more face-to-face,
     receive me into your bed in the silent night.
or are you ashamed and do you fear to profane marital Venus
     and to deceive the chaste laws of the legitimate couch?

a, nimium simplex Helene, ne rustica dicam,
     hanc faciem culpa posse carere putas?
aut faciem mutes aut sis non dura, necesse est;
     lis est cum forma magna pudicitiae.
Iuppiter his gaudet, gaudet Venus aurea furtis;
     haec tibi nempe patrem furta dedere Iovem.

ah, too simple, Helen, lest I say rustic,
     do you think that this face can be free of blame?
either you must mutate your face or be not hard; it is necessary;
     there is a great quarrel of chastity with beauty.
Jupiter rejoices in these thefts, golden Venus rejoices;
     these thefts, indeed, gave you Jupiter as father.

vix fieri, si sunt vires in semine amorum,
     et Iovis et Ledae filia casta potes.
casta tamen tum sis, cum te mea Troia tenebit,
     et tua sim quaeso crimina solus ego.
nunc ea peccemus quae corriget hora iugalis,
     si modo promisit non mihi vana Venus.

scarcely can it be, if there is power in the seed of loves,
     that you, daughter both of Jove and Leda, can be chaste.
yet then be chaste, when my Troy will hold you,
     and may I, I pray, be your crime alone.
now let us sin in those things which the nuptial hour will correct,
     if only Venus has not promised me vain things.

sed tibi et hoc suadet rebus, non voce, maritus,
     neve sui furtis hospitis obstet, abest.
non habuit tempus, quo Cresia regna videret
     aptius—o mira calliditate virum!
'res, et ut Idaei mando tibi,' dixit iturus,
     'curam pro nobis hospitis, uxor, agas.'
neglegis absentis, testor, mandata mariti;
     cura tibi non est hospitis ulla tui.

but your husband also urges you this by deeds, not by voice,
     and, lest he stand in the way of his guest’s furtive thefts, he is away.
he did not have a time more apt in which he might see the Cretan realms—
     O the wondrous craftiness of the man!
‘the matter is this, and—as for the Idaean—I entrust to you,’ he said as he was going,
     ‘wife, that you should manage the care of the guest on our behalf.’
you neglect, I bear witness, the mandates of your absent husband;
     you have no concern at all for your guest.

huncine tu speras hominem sine pectore dotes
     posse satis formae, Tyndari, nosse tuae?
falleris: ignorat, nec, si bona magna putaret,
     quae tenet, externo crederet illa viro.
ut te nec mea vox nec te meus incitet ardor,
     cogimur ipsius commoditate frui:
aut erimus stulti, sic ut superemus et ipsum,
     si tam securum tempus abibit iners.

Do you hope that this man, without a breast (heart), can sufficiently know the endowments of your beauty, Tyndaris?
     You are mistaken: he is ignorant, nor, if he thought the goods great, would he entrust those things he holds to an external man.
so that neither my voice nor my ardor may incite you,
     we are compelled to enjoy the convenience he himself provides:
or we shall be fools, so as even to surpass him himself,
     if so secure a time passes by inert.

paene suis ad te manibus deducit amantem;
     utere mandantis simplicitate viri!
sola iaces viduo tam longa nocte cubili;
     in viduo iaceo solus et ipse toro.
te mihi meque tibi communia gaudia iungant;
     candidior medio nox erit illa die.

he almost leads to you the lover with his own hands;
     make use of the simplicity of the man giving the mandate!
alone you lie in a widowed bed through so long a night;
     I too myself lie alone on a widowed couch.
let shared joys join you to me and me to you;
     that night will be more radiant than the noon-day.

tunc ego iurabo quaevis tibi numina meque
     adstringam verbis in sacra vestra meis;
tunc ego, si non est fallax fiducia nostri,
     efficiam praesens, ut mea regna petas.
si pudet et metuis ne me videare secuta,
     ipse reus sine te criminis huius ero.
nam sequar Aegidae factum fratrumque tuorum;
     exemplo tangi non propiore potes.

then I will swear to you by whatever divinities, and I will bind myself by my own words to your sacred rites;
     then I, if confidence in me is not fallacious,
I will effect in person that you seek my realms.
     if you are ashamed and fear lest you seem to have followed me,
I myself will be the defendant of this crime without you.
     for I shall follow the deed of the son of Aegeus and of your brothers;
you cannot be touched by a closer example.

te rapuit Theseus, geminas Leucippidas illi;
     quartus in exemplis adnumerabor ego.
Troia classis adest armis instructa virisque;
     iam facient celeres remus et aura vias.
ibis Dardanias ingens regina per urbes,
     teque novam credet vulgus adesse deam,
quaque feres gressus, adolebunt cinnama flammae,
     caesaque sanguineam victima planget humum.

Theseus snatched you; those men, the twin Leucippids;
     I shall be numbered the fourth among the exemplars.
The Trojan fleet is here, equipped with arms and men;
     now the oar and the breeze will make swift ways.
You will go, a mighty queen, through Dardanian cities,
     and the crowd will believe that a new goddess is present;
wherever you bear your steps, cinnamon flames will be kindled,
     and the slaughtered victim will smite the sanguine ground.

dona pater fratresque et cum genetrice sorores
Iliadesque omnes totaque Troia dabit.
ei mihi! pars a me vix dicitur ulla futuri.

Gifts my father and brothers and, with their mother, my sisters
and all the Iliad-women and all Troy will give.
Ah me! scarcely any part of the future is told by me.

plura feres quam quae littera nostra refert.
nec tu rapta time, ne nos fera bella sequantur,
concitet et vires Graecia magna suas.
tot prius abductis ecqua est repetita per arma?

you will carry off more than what our letter relates.
nor do you, though seized, fear, lest savage wars follow us,
and that great Greece incite its own forces.
with so many carried off before, has any been reclaimed by arms?

     crede mihi, vanos res habet ista metus.
nomine ceperunt Aquilonis Erechthida Thraces
     et tuta a bello Bistonis ora fuit.
Phasida puppe nova vexit Pagasaeus Iason,
     laesa neque est Colcha Thessala terra manu.

     believe me, this matter holds vain fears.
under the name of Aquilo, the North Wind, the Thracians seized the Erechtheid maiden
     and the Bistonian shore was safe from war.
The Pagasaean Jason carried the Phasian maiden on a new ship,
     nor was the Colchian land harmed by a Thessalian hand.

te quoque qui rapuit, rapuit Minoida Theseus;
     nulla tamen Minos Cretas ad arma vocat.
terror in his ipso maior solet esse periclo;
     quaeque timere libet, pertimuisse pudet.
finge tamen, si vis, ingens consurgere bellum:
     et mihi sunt vires, et mea tela nocent.

Theseus, who abducted you too, abducted the Minos-born;
     yet no Minos summons the Cretans to arms.
terror in these things is wont to be greater than the peril itself;
     and what one is free to fear, one is ashamed to have feared.
yet suppose, if you wish, a mighty war to arise:
     I too have strength, and my weapons do harm.

nec minor est Asiae quam vestrae copia terrae:
     illa viris dives, dives abundat equis.
nec plus Atrides animi Menelaus habebit
     quam Paris aut armis anteferendus erit.
paene puer caesis abducta armenta recepi
     hostibus et causam nominis inde tuli.

nor is the plenty of Asia’s land less than that of your land:
     that one is rich in men, rich it abounds in horses.
nor will Atrides Menelaus have more courage
     than Paris, nor will he be to be preferred before him in arms.
almost a boy, with the enemies cut down, I recovered the herds carried off
     and from that I took the cause of my name.

paene puer iuvenes vario certamine vici,
     in quibus Ilioneus Deiphobusque fuit.
neve putes, non me nisi comminus esse timendum,
     figitur in iusso nostra sagitta loco.
num potes haec illi primae dare facta iuventae,
     instruere Atriden num potes arte mea?

almost a boy, I conquered young men in varied contest,
     among whom were Ilioneus and Deiphobus.
and lest you think that I am to be feared only at close quarters,
     my arrow is fixed in the assigned place.
can you ascribe these deeds to his earliest youth,
     can you equip the Atreid with my art?

omnia si dederis, numquid dabis Hectora fratrem?
unus is innumeri militis instar erit.
quid valeam nescis et te mea robora fallunt;
ignoras cui sis nupta futura viro.

if you were to give everything, will you by any chance give Hector as a brother?
he alone will be the equal of innumerable soldiery.
you do not know what I avail, and my strengths deceive you;
you are ignorant to what man you are going to be wed.

aut igitur nullo belli repetere tumultu,
     aut cedent Marti Dorica castra meo.
nec tamen indigner pro tanta sumere ferrum
     coniuge; certamen praemia magna movent.
tu quoque, si de te totus contenderit orbis,
     nomen ab aeterna posteritate feres
spe modo non timida dis hinc egressa secundis
     exige cum plena munera pacta fide.

either therefore to reclaim without any tumult of war,
     or the Dorian camp will yield to my Mars.
nor, however, would I be indignant to take up iron for so great a consort;
     great prizes stir the contest.
you too, if the whole world should contend for you,
     will bear a name from eternal posterity
only, with hope not timid, having gone forth hence with the gods favorable,
     exact the gifts pledged with full faith.