Ovid: HEROIDES

Gratulor Oechaliam titulis accedere nostris,
     victorem victae succubuisse queror.
fama Pelasgiadas subito pervenit in urbes
     decolor et factis infitianda tuis,
quem numquam Iuno seriesque inmensa laborum
     fregerit, huic Iolen inposuisse iugum.
hoc velit Eurystheus, velit hoc germana Tonantis,
     laetaque sit vitae labe noverca tuae.

I rejoice that Oechalia is added to our titles,
     I complain that the victor has succumbed to the vanquished.
A report suddenly reached the Pelasgian cities,
     tarnished and to be denied by your deeds,
him whom neither Juno nor the immense series of labors
     ever broke—upon him Iole has imposed a yoke.
Let Eurystheus wish this, let the sister of the Thunderer wish this,
     and let your stepmother be glad at the stain upon your life.

at non ille velit, cui nox (si creditur) una
     non tanti, ut tantus conciperere, fuit.
Plus tibi quam Iuno nocuit Venus: illa premendo
     sustulit, haec humili sub pede colla tenet.
respice vindicibus pacatum viribus orbem,
     qua latam Nereus caerulus ambit humum.

But he would not wish it, for whom one night (if it is believed) was not of such worth,
     that so great a one should be conceived.
Venus has harmed you more than Juno: that one, by pressing,
     lifted you up; this one holds your neck beneath her lowly foot.
Look back upon the orb pacified by your avenging forces,
     where the cerulean Nereus encircles the broad earth.

se tibi pax terrae, tibi se tuta aequora debent;
     implesti meritis Solis utramque domum.
quod te laturum est, caelum prius ipse tulisti:
     Hercule supposito sidera fulsit Atlans.
quid nisi notitia est misero quaesita pudori,
     si cumulas sturpi facta priora nota?

the peace of the earth owes itself to you, to you the safe seas owe themselves;
     you have filled, by your merits, both homes of the Sun.
what is going to bear you, you yourself first bore—the heaven:
     Atlas shone with the stars, with Hercules set beneath.
what is it but notoriety sought for a wretched shame,
     if you heap up your prior deeds with a shameful note?

tene ferunt geminos pressisse tenaciter angues,
     cum tener in cunis iam Iove dignus eras?
coepisti melius quam desinis; ultima primis
     cedunt: dissimiles hic vir et ille puer.
quem non mille ferae, quem non Stheneleius hostis,
     non potuit Iuno vincere, vincit Amor.

Is it you they report to have pressed the twin serpents tenaciously,
     when, tender in the cradle, you were already worthy of Jove?
you began better than you end; the last things yield to the first
     here the man and that boy are dissimilar.
whom not a thousand wild beasts, whom not the Stheneleian foe,
     not even Juno could conquer, Love conquers.

At bene nupta feror, quia nominer Herculis uxor,
     sitque socer, rapidis qui tonat altus equis.
quam male inaequales veniunt ad aratra iuvenci,
     tam premitur magno coniuge nupta minor.
non honor est sed onus species laesura ferentes:
     siqua voles apte nubere, nube pari.

But I am reputed well-wed, because I am called the wife of Hercules,
     and that my father-in-law is he who thunders on high with rapid horses.
How badly unequal bullocks come to the plow,
     so is a lesser bride pressed by a great husband.
It is not an honor but an onus, an appearance that will wound its bearers:
     if you wish to wed aptly, wed an equal.

vir mihi semper abest, et coniuge notior hospes
     monstraque terribiles persequiturque feras.
ipsa domo vidua votis operata pudicis
     torqueor, infesto ne vir ab hoste cadat;
inter serpentes aprosque avidosque leones
     iactor et haesuros terna per ora canes.
me pecudum fibrae simulacraque inania somni
     ominaque arcana nocte petita movent.

my husband is always away from me, and the guest is more familiar than the spouse;
     and he pursues monsters and terrible wild beasts.
I myself, widowed at home, occupied with chaste vows,
     am racked, lest my husband fall by a hostile foe;
among serpents and boars and ravenous lions
     I am tossed about, and by hounds that will fasten with their triple mouths.
the entrails of flocks, the empty phantoms of sleep,
     and omens sought in secret night, unnerve me.

aucupor infelix incertae murmura famae
     speque timor dubia spesque timore cadit.
mater abest queriturque deo placuisse potenti,
     nec pater Amphitryon nec puer Hyllus adest.
arbiter Eurystheus astu Iunonis iniquae
     sentitur nobis iraque longa deae.

I, unlucky, go fowling for the murmurs of uncertain rumor
     and fear falls by hope, and doubtful hope falls by fear.
mother is away and complains that she has pleased the mighty god,
     nor is father Amphitryon nor the boy Hyllus present.
the arbiter Eurystheus, by the craft of iniquitous Juno,
     is felt by us, and the long wrath of the goddess.

Haec mihi ferre parum; peregrinos addis amores,
     et mater de te quaelibet esse potest.
non ego Partheniis temeratam vallibus Augen
     nec referam partus, Ormeni nympha, tuos;
non tibi crimen erunt, Teuthrantia turba, sorores,
     quarum de populo nulla relicta tibi est.
una, recens crimen, referetur adultera nobis,
     unde ego sum Lydo facta noverca Lamo.

These things are too little for me to bear; you add peregrine loves,
     and any woman whatsoever can be a mother by you.
I will not recount Auge defiled in the Parthenian valleys,
     nor your births, Ormenian nymph;
the sisters, the Teuthrantian throng, shall not be a charge against you,
     of whom, from the populace, not a single one has been left to you.
one adulteress, a fresh crime, will be recounted by me,
     whence I have been made stepmother to Lydian Lamus.

Maeandros, totiens qui terris errat in isdem,
     qui lassas in se saepe retorquet aquas,
vidit in Herculeo suspensa monilia collo,
     illo, cui caelum sarcina parva fuit.
non puduit fortes auro cohibere lacertos
     et solidis gemmas opposuisse toris?
nempe sub his animam pestis Nemeaea lacertis
     edidit, unde umerus tegmina laevus habet.

Meander, who so often errs upon the same lands,
     who often turns back the weary waters upon himself,
has seen necklaces hanging on the Herculean neck,
     on that man for whom the sky was a small burden.
Was it not shameful to confine the strong biceps with gold
     and to set gems against the solid muscles?
Surely beneath these biceps the Nemean pest breathed out its life,
     whence the left shoulder has its coverings.

ausus es hirsutos mitra redimire capillos!
aptior Herculeae populus alba comae.
nec te Maeonia lascivae more puellae
incingi zona dedecuisse pudet?

you have dared to wreathe your shaggy hair with a mitre!
more fitting is the white-haired poplar of Hercules.
and are you not ashamed, in the lascivious manner of a Maeonian girl,
to be girded with a girdle?

non tibi succurrit crudi Diomedis imago,
     efferus humana qui dape pavit equas?
si te vidisset cultu Busiris in isto,
     huic victor victo nempe pudendus eras!
detrahat Antaeus duro redimicula collo,
     ne pigeat molli succubuisse viro!

Does not the image of cruel Diomedes occur to you,
     the feral one who fed his mares on human fare?
if Busiris had seen you in that attire,
     surely you, the victor, would have been shameful to the vanquished!
let Antaeus strip the neck-fillets from your hard neck,
     let it not irk him to have succumbed to a soft man!

Inter Ioniacas calathum tenuisse puellas
     diceris et dominae pertimuisse minas.
non fugis, Alcide, victricem mille laborum
     rasilibus calathis inposuisse manum
crassaque robusto deducis pollice fila
     aequaque formosae pensa rependis erae?
a! quotiens, digitis dum torques stamina duris,
     praevalidae fusos conminuere manus!

You are said to have held the basket among the Ionian maidens,
     and to have been frightened at your mistress’s threats.
Do you not shrink, Alcides, that the hand victorious in a thousand labors
     has been laid upon polished baskets,
and that you draw down thick threads with your sturdy thumb,
     and weigh out equal tasks of wool for your beautiful mistress?
Ah! how often, while you twist the strands with hard fingers,
     your very strong hands shattered the spindles!

[Crederis infelix scuticae tremefactis habenis
     ante pedes dominae pertimuisse minas ...
eximiis pompis, immania semina laudim]
     factaque narrabas dissimulanda tibi:
scilicet: immanes elisis faucibus hydros
     infantem caudis involuisse manum;
ut Tegeaeus aper cupressifero Erymantho
     incubet et vasto pondere laedat humum;
non tibi Threiciis adfixa penatibus ora,
     non hominum pingues caede tacentur equae,
prodigiumque triplex, armenti dives Hiberi
     Geryones, quamvis in tribus unus erat;
inque canes totidem trunco digestus ab uno
     Cerberos implicitis angue minante comis;
quaeque redundabat fecundo vulnere serpens
     fertilis et damnis dives ab ipsa suis,
quique inter laevumque latus laevumque lacertum
     praegrave conpressa fauce pependit onus,
et male confisum pedibus formaque bimembri
     pulsum Thessalicis agmen equestre iugis.
Haec tu Sidonio potes insignitus amictu
     dicere? non cultu lingua retenta silet?

[You would be believed, unlucky one, with the reins of the scourge trembling,
     to have quailed before your mistress’s feet at her threats ...
with exceptional pomps, the immense seeds of praise]
     and you were recounting deeds that ought to be concealed by you:
of course: that huge hydras, their jaws crushed,
     had coiled an infant’s hand with their tails;
how the Tegean boar on cypress-bearing Erymanthus
     lies down and with its vast weight harms the ground;
that neither the heads affixed to Thracian household-gods are hushed for you,
     nor the mares fat with the slaughter of men;
and the triple prodigy, Geryones, rich in Iberian herd,
     although in three he was one;
and Cerberus, apportioned into just so many dogs from a single trunk,
     his locks entwined with a menacing serpent;
and the serpent that overflowed from its fertile wound,
     fruitful and wealthy from its very losses;
and the very heavy burden that hung between your left flank and left upper arm,
     its throat pressed tight;
and the cavalry column beaten on the Thessalian ridges,
     ill-confident in its feet and with a bi-formed shape.
Can you tell these things, you adorned with a Sidonian mantle?
     Does not your tongue, restrained by your attire, keep silent?

se quoque nympha tuis ornavit Dardanis armis
     et tulit a capto nota tropaea viro.
i nunc, tolle animos et fortia gesta recense:
     quo tu non esses, iure vir illa fuit.
qua tanto minor es, quanto te, maxime rerum,
     quam quos vicisti, vincere maius erat.

the nymph too adorned herself with your Dardanian arms
     and bore well-known trophies from a captured man.
go now, lift your spirits and recount your brave deeds:
     where you would not be, by right she was a man.
by as much you are the lesser, as, greatest of things,
     to conquer yourself was greater than to conquer those whom you conquered.

illi procedit rerum mensura tuarum,
cede bonis: heres laudis amica tuae.
o pudor! hirsuti costis exuta leonis
aspera texerunt vellera molle latus!

to him goes forth the measure of your deeds,
yield to your betters: the heir of your praise is your beloved.
o shame! stripped from the ribs of a shaggy lion
harsh fleeces have covered a soft side!

falleris et nescis: non sunt spolia illa leonis,
     sed tua, tuque feri victor es, illa tui.
femina tela tulit Lernaeis atra venenis,
     ferre gravem lana vix satis apta colum,
instruxitque manum clava domitrice ferarum
     vidit et in speculo coniugis arma sui.
Haec tamen audieram; licuit non credere famae,
     et venit ad sensus mollis ab aure dolor.

You are mistaken and you do not know: those are not the spoils of the lion,
     but yours; and you are the victor over the wild beast, she over you.
A woman bore weapons black with Lernaean poisons,
     and, scarcely apt enough for wool, bore the heavy distaff,
and she equipped her hand with the club, tamer of wild beasts,
     and saw in the mirror the arms of her husband.
Nevertheless I had heard these things; it was permitted not to believe rumor,
     and a soft sorrow came to my senses from my ear.

ante meos oculos adducitur advena paelex,
     nec mihi, quae patior, dissimulare licet!
non sinis averti: mediam captiva per urbem
     invitis oculis adspicienda venit.
nec venit incultis captarum more capillis:
     fortunam vultu fassa decente suam
ingreditur late lato spectabilis auro,
     qualiter in Phrygia tu quoque cultus eras;
dat vultum populo sublimis ut Hercule victo:
     Oechaliam vivo stare parente putes;
forsitan et pulsa Aetolide Deianira
     nomine deposito paelicis uxor erit,
Eurytidosque Ioles Atque Aonii Alcidae
     turpia famosus corpora iunget Hymen.

before my eyes the alien paramour is led,
     nor is it permitted me to dissimulate what I suffer!
you do not allow me to turn away: through the midst of the city the captive
     comes to be looked upon by unwilling eyes.
nor does she come with hair unkempt in the manner of the captured:
     avowing her condition by a becoming countenance
she enters, conspicuous with gold wide and broad,
     just as in Phrygia you too were adorned;
lofty, she gives her face to the people as though Hercules were conquered:
     you would think Oechalia stood with its parent alive;
perhaps too, with the Aetolian Deianira driven away,
     laying aside the name of paramour, she will be wife,
and the notorious Hymen will yoke in wedlock the shameful bodies
     of Eurytus’s Iole and the Aonian Alcides.

mens fugit admonitu, frigusque perambulat artus,
     et iacet in gremio languida facta manus.
Me quoque cum multis, sed me sine crimine amasti;
     ne pigeat, pugnae bis tibi causa fui.
cornua flens legit ripis Achelous in udis
     truncaque limosa tempora mersit aqua;
semivir occubuit in letifero Eueno
     Nessus et infecit sanguis equinus aquas.

my mind flees at the admonition, and a chill perambulates my limbs,
     and my hand, made languid, lies in my lap.
You loved me too among many, but me without blame;
     do not let it irk you, twice I was the cause of combat for you.
weeping, Achelous gathered his horns on the wet banks
     and dipped his maimed temples in the muddy water;
the half‑man fell in the lethal Evenus,
     Nessus, and equine blood infected the waters.

sed quid ego haec refero? scribenti nuntia venit
fama virum tunicae tabe perire meae.
ei mihi!

but why do I recount these things? a report comes to me as I write
that the man is perishing from the corruption of my tunic.
ah me!

quid feci? quo me furor egit amantem?
impia quid dubitas Deianira mori?

What have I done? Whither has fury driven me, a lover?
Impious Deianira, why do you hesitate to die?

An tuus in media coniunx lacerabitur Oeta,
tu sceleris tanti causa superstes eris?
siquid adhuc habeo facti, cur Herculis uxor
credar, coniugii mors mea pignus erit.
tu quoque cognosces in me, Meleagre, sororem!

Or shall your husband be torn to pieces in the midst of Oeta,
and will you, the survivor, be the cause of so great a crime?
If I still have anything yet to do, why should I be credited as the wife of Hercules—
my death shall be the pledge of our wedlock.
You too, Meleager, will recognize in me a sister!

     impia quid dubitas Deianira mori?
Heu devota domus! solio sedet Agrios alto;
     Oenea desertum nuda senecta premit;
exulat ignotis Tydeus germanus in oris;
     alter fatali vivus in igne fuit;
exegit ferrum sua per praecordia mater.

     impious one, why do you hesitate, Deianira, to die?
Alas, a house devoted to doom! Agrios sits on a high throne;
     deserted Oeneus is pressed by naked old age;
Tydeus, my brother, is in exile on unknown shores;
     another was alive in fatal fire;
his mother drove the iron through her own inmost parts.

     impia quid dubitas Deianira mori?
Deprecor hoc unum per iura sacerrima lecti,
     ne videar fatis insidiata tuis.
Nessus, ut est avidum percussus harundine pectus,
     "hic," dixit, "vires sanguis amoris habet."
illita Nesseo misi tibi texta veneno.

     impious Deianira, why do you hesitate to die?
I beseech this one thing by the most sacred rights of the marriage-bed,
     lest I seem to have plotted against your fates.
Nessus, as his ravenous breast was struck by the reed,
     "Here," he said, "the blood has the powers of love."
I sent to you fabric smeared with the poison of Nessus.

     impia quid dubitas Deianira mori?
Iamque vale, seniorque pater germanaque Gorge
     et patria et patriae frater adempte tuae
et tu lux oculis hodierna novissima nostris
     virque—sed o possis!—et puer Hylle, vale!

     Impious one, why do you hesitate, Deianira, to die?
And now farewell, my aged father and my sister Gorge,
     and my fatherland, and you, brother taken from your fatherland,
and you, the light of my eyes today, my very last,
     and you, my husband—but oh, if only you could!—and the boy Hyllus, farewell!