Ovid: METAMORPHOSES

In nova fert animus mutatas dicere formas
corpora; di, coeptis (nam vos mutastis et illas)
adspirate meis primaque ab origine mundi
ad mea perpetuum deducite tempora carmen!
Ante mare et terras et quod tegit omnia caelum

My spirit bears me to speak of forms changed into new bodies;
gods, breathe upon my undertakings (for you too have changed those),
and from the first origin of the world
deduce a perpetual song down to my own times!
Before the sea and the lands and the sky which covers all

unus erat toto naturae vultus in orbe,
quem dixere chaos: rudis indigestaque moles
nec quicquam nisi pondus iners congestaque eodem
non bene iunctarum discordia semina rerum.
nullus adhuc mundo praebebat lumina Titan,

there was one face of Nature in the whole orb,
which they called Chaos: a rude and indigested mass,
and nothing except an inert weight, and in the same place heaped together
the discordant seeds of things not well conjoined.
no Titan as yet was offering lights to the world,

nec nova crescendo reparabat cornua Phoebe,
nec circumfuso pendebat in aere tellus
ponderibus librata suis, nec bracchia longo
margine terrarum porrexerat Amphitrite;
utque erat et tellus illic et pontus et aer,

nor did Phoebe, by waxing, repair her new horns,
nor did the earth hang in the surrounding air,
balanced by its own weights, nor had Amphitrite extended
her arms along the long margin of the lands;
and as there was both earth there and sea and air,

sic erat instabilis tellus, innabilis unda,
lucis egens aer; nulli sua forma manebat,
obstabatque aliis aliud, quia corpore in uno
frigida pugnabant calidis, umentia siccis,
mollia cum duris, sine pondere, habentia pondus.

thus the earth was unsteady, the wave unswimmable,
the air lacking light; its own form remained to none,
and one thing stood in the way of another, because in one body
the cold were fighting with the hot, the humid with the dry,
the soft with the hard, the weightless with things having weight.

Hanc deus et melior litem natura diremit.
nam caelo terras et terris abscidit undas
et liquidum spisso secrevit ab aere caelum.
quae postquam evolvit caecoque exemit acervo,
dissociata locis concordi pace ligavit:

This strife a god and a better nature resolved.
for he severed the lands from the sky, and from the lands he cut off the waves
and the liquid heaven he separated from the dense air.
which, after he unfolded and removed it from the blind heap,
the things dissociated in their places he bound with concordant peace.

ignea convexi vis et sine pondere caeli
emicuit summaque locum sibi fecit in arce;
proximus est aer illi levitate locoque;
densior his tellus elementaque grandia traxit
et pressa est gravitate sua; circumfluus umor

the igneous force of the convexity and of the sky without weight
sprang forth and made for itself a place on the highest citadel;
next to it is air in lightness and in place;
denser than these the earth drew the grander elements
and was pressed by its own gravity; the circumflowing moisture

ultima possedit solidumque coercuit orbem.
Sic ubi dispositam quisquis fuit ille deorum
congeriem secuit sectamque in membra coegit,
principio terram, ne non aequalis ab omni
parte foret, magni speciem glomeravit in orbis.

the surrounding moisture took the last place and confined the solid orb.
Thus, when whoever of the gods he was had disposed the congeries and cut it and forced the cut thing into members,
at the beginning, the earth, lest it not be equal from every part,
he rolled into the likeness of a great orb.

tum freta diffundi rapidisque tumescere ventis
iussit et ambitae circumdare litora terrae;
addidit et fontes et stagna inmensa lacusque
fluminaque obliquis cinxit declivia ripis,
quae, diversa locis, partim sorbentur ab ipsa,

then he ordered the seas to spread out and to swell with rapid winds,
and to surround the encircled earth with shores;
he added also fountains and immense pools and lakes,
and he girded the sloping rivers with oblique banks,
which, diverse in their places, are in part absorbed by the earth herself,

in mare perveniunt partim campoque recepta
liberioris aquae pro ripis litora pulsant.
iussit et extendi campos, subsidere valles,
fronde tegi silvas, lapidosos surgere montes,
utque duae dextra caelum totidemque sinistra

some reach into the sea, and, taken in by the plain,
they beat the shores of freer water in place of banks.
and he also ordered the plains to be extended, the valleys to subside,
the woods to be covered with frond, the stony mountains to rise,
and that two on the right hand the sky and just as many on the left

parte secant zonae, quinta est ardentior illis,
sic onus inclusum numero distinxit eodem
cura dei, totidemque plagae tellure premuntur.
quarum quae media est, non est habitabilis aestu;
nix tegit alta duas; totidem inter utramque locavit

in part the zones cut it; the fifth is more ardent than those,
thus did the care of the god distinguish the enclosed burden with the same number,
and just as many regions are pressed upon the earth.
of which the one that is in the middle is not habitable because of heat;
deep snow covers two; just as many he placed between each

temperiemque dedit mixta cum frigore flamma.
Inminet his aer, qui, quanto est pondere terrae
pondus aquae levius, tanto est onerosior igni.
illic et nebulas, illic consistere nubes
iussit et humanas motura tonitrua mentes

and he gave a tempering, with fire mixed with cold.
Over these hangs the air, which, by as much as the weight of water is lighter than the weight of earth, by that much is heavier than fire.
there he ordered both mists, there clouds to take their stand, and thunders destined to move human minds

et cum fulminibus facientes fulgura ventos.
His quoque non passim mundi fabricator habendum
aera permisit; vix nunc obsistitur illis,
cum sua quisque regat diverso flamina tractu,
quin lanient mundum; tanta est discordia fratrum.

and winds making lightning-flashes along with thunderbolts.
To these as well the fabricator of the world did not permit
the air to be held everywhere; scarcely now are they withstood,
as each guides his own blasts in a different course,
and they would rend the world; so great is the discord of brothers.

Eurus ad Auroram Nabataeaque regna recessit
Persidaque et radiis iuga subdita matutinis;
vesper et occiduo quae litora sole tepescunt,
proxima sunt Zephyro; Scythiam septemque triones
horrifer invasit Boreas; contraria tellus

Eurus has withdrawn toward Aurora and the Nabataean realms,
and Persia and the ridges subjected to the morning rays;
Vesper and the shores which grow warm with the setting sun
are nearest to Zephyr; Scythia and the seven Triones
the horrid Boreas has invaded; the opposite land

nubibus adsiduis pluviaque madescit ab Austro.
haec super inposuit liquidum et gravitate carentem
aethera nec quicquam terrenae faecis habentem.
Vix ita limitibus dissaepserat omnia certis,
cum, quae pressa diu fuerant caligine caeca,

it grows soaked with constant clouds and with rain from the South Wind.
above these he placed the aether, fluid and lacking gravity,
and holding nothing of terrene dregs.
Hardly had he thus separated all things by fixed boundaries,
when the things which had long been pressed by blind gloom,

sidera coeperunt toto effervescere caelo;
neu regio foret ulla suis animalibus orba,
astra tenent caeleste solum formaeque deorum,
cesserunt nitidis habitandae piscibus undae,
terra feras cepit, volucres agitabilis aer.

the stars began to effervesce through the whole heaven;
lest any region be bereft of its own animals,
the stars and the forms of the gods hold the celestial soil,
the waves yielded to be inhabited by shining fishes,
the earth received wild beasts, the agitable air birds.

Sanctius his animal mentisque capacius altae
deerat adhuc et quod dominari in cetera posset:
natus homo est, sive hunc divino semine fecit
ille opifex rerum, mundi melioris origo,
sive recens tellus seductaque nuper ab alto

More sacred than these, a living creature and more capacious of high mind
was still lacking, and one that could dominate the rest:
man was born, whether the craftsman of things, the origin of a better world,
made him from divine seed,
or the fresh earth, newly separated from the deep

aethere cognati retinebat semina caeli.
quam satus Iapeto, mixtam pluvialibus undis,
finxit in effigiem moderantum cuncta deorum,
pronaque cum spectent animalia cetera terram,
os homini sublime dedit caelumque videre

kindred with the aether, it retained the seeds of the sky.
which the son of Iapetus, having mixed with rainy waters,
fashioned into the effigy of the gods who moderate all things,
and whereas the other animals look prone toward the earth,
he gave to man a sublime face and to see the sky

iussit et erectos ad sidera tollere vultus:
sic, modo quae fuerat rudis et sine imagine, tellus
induit ignotas hominum conversa figuras.
Aurea prima sata est aetas, quae vindice nullo,
sponte sua, sine lege fidem rectumque colebat.

and he also ordered them to raise their faces erect to the stars:
thus, the earth, which just now had been rude and without likeness,
put on, transformed, the unknown shapes of men.
The Golden age was first sown, which, with no avenger,
of its own accord, without law, cultivated good faith and the right.

poena metusque aberant, nec verba minantia fixo
aere legebantur, nec supplex turba timebat
iudicis ora sui, sed erant sine vindice tuti.
nondum caesa suis, peregrinum ut viseret orbem,
montibus in liquidas pinus descenderat undas,

punishment and fear were absent, nor were menacing words read on posted bronze, nor did the suppliant throng fear the face of its own judge, but they were safe without an avenger.
not yet had the pine, felled from its own mountains, descended into the liquid waves to visit a foreign orb,

nullaque mortales praeter sua litora norant;
nondum praecipites cingebant oppida fossae;
non tuba derecti, non aeris cornua flexi,
non galeae, non ensis erat: sine militis usu
mollia securae peragebant otia gentes.

and mortals knew no shores beyond their own;
not yet did steep ditches encircle towns;
no straight trumpet, no horns of bent bronze,
no helmets, no sword existed: without any use of soldiery
the secure peoples spent soft leisure.

100

ipsa quoque inmunis rastroque intacta nec ullis
saucia vomeribus per se dabat omnia tellus,
contentique cibis nullo cogente creatis
arbuteos fetus montanaque fraga legebant
cornaque et in duris haerentia mora rubetis

the earth itself also, immune and untouched by the rake and not wounded by any ploughshares, of itself was giving everything; content with foods created with no one compelling, they were gathering arbutus fruits and mountain strawberries, cornels too, and mulberries clinging on the hard brambles

105

et quae deciderant patula Iovis arbore glandes.
ver erat aeternum, placidique tepentibus auris
mulcebant zephyri natos sine semine flores;
mox etiam fruges tellus inarata ferebat,
nec renovatus ager gravidis canebat aristis;

and the acorns which had fallen from Jove’s broad-spreading tree.
spring was eternal, and placid Zephyrs with tepid breezes
soothed flowers born without seed;
soon too the untilled earth bore crops,
and the field, not renewed, was white with heavy ears;

110

flumina iam lactis, iam flumina nectaris ibant,
flavaque de viridi stillabant ilice mella.
Postquam Saturno tenebrosa in Tartara misso
sub Iove mundus erat, subiit argentea proles,
auro deterior, fulvo pretiosior aere.

now rivers of milk, now rivers of nectar were flowing,
and golden honey was dripping from the green ilex.
After Saturn had been sent into shadowy Tartarus,
the world was under Jove; the silver offspring succeeded,
worse than gold, yet more precious than tawny bronze.

115

Iuppiter antiqui contraxit tempora veris
perque hiemes aestusque et inaequalis autumnos
et breve ver spatiis exegit quattuor annum.
tum primum siccis aer fervoribus ustus
canduit, et ventis glacies adstricta pependit;

Jupiter contracted the times of the ancient spring,
and through winters and heats and unequal autumns
and, with a brief spring, drove the year through four spans.
then for the first time the air, scorched by dry fervors,
glowed white, and ice, congealed by the winds, hung;

120

tum primum subiere domos; domus antra fuerunt
et densi frutices et vinctae cortice virgae.
semina tum primum longis Cerealia sulcis
obruta sunt, pressique iugo gemuere iuvenci.
Tertia post illam successit aenea proles,

then for the first time they entered houses; the houses were caves
and dense shrubs and rods bound with bark.
then for the first time the Cereal seeds were buried in long furrows,
and the young bullocks, pressed by the yoke, groaned.
After that there succeeded a third, the brazen progeny,

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saevior ingeniis et ad horrida promptior arma,
non scelerata tamen; de duro est ultima ferro.
protinus inrupit venae peioris in aevum
omne nefas: fugere pudor verumque fidesque;
in quorum subiere locum fraudesque dolusque

harsher in dispositions and readier for horrid arms,
yet not criminal; the last is of hard iron.
straightway there broke in, from a worse vein, into the age
every crime: shame fled, and truth and good faith;
into whose place there stepped frauds and guile

130

insidiaeque et vis et amor sceleratus habendi.
vela dabant ventis nec adhuc bene noverat illos
navita, quaeque prius steterant in montibus altis,
fluctibus ignotis insultavere carinae,
communemque prius ceu lumina solis et auras

and insidious plots and force and the wicked love of possessing.
they were giving sails to the winds, nor had the sailor yet well known them,
and the keels which previously had stood on high mountains
leapt upon unknown waves,
and what previously were common, like the lights of the sun and the breezes

135

cautus humum longo signavit limite mensor.
nec tantum segetes alimentaque debita dives
poscebatur humus, sed itum est in viscera terrae,
quasque recondiderat Stygiisque admoverat umbris,
effodiuntur opes, inritamenta malorum.

the cautious surveyor marked the ground with a long boundary-line.
nor was the rich earth demanded only for crops and due aliment,
but a going was made into the viscera of the earth,
and the riches which she had hidden and had brought near the Stygian shades
are dug out—wealth, incitements to evil.

140

iamque nocens ferrum ferroque nocentius aurum
prodierat, prodit bellum, quod pugnat utroque,
sanguineaque manu crepitantia concutit arma.
vivitur ex rapto: non hospes ab hospite tutus,
non socer a genero, fratrum quoque gratia rara est;

and now the guilty iron, and gold more guilty than iron, had come forth; forth comes war, which fights with both, and with a bloodied hand he shakes the rattling arms.
life is lived from rapine: the guest is not safe from the host,
nor the father-in-law from the son-in-law; the favor of brothers too is rare;

145

inminet exitio vir coniugis, illa mariti,
lurida terribiles miscent aconita novercae,
filius ante diem patrios inquirit in annos:
victa iacet pietas, et virgo caede madentis
ultima caelestum terras Astraea reliquit.

a man looms with ruin over his spouse, she over her husband,
terrible stepmothers mix lurid aconites,
the son, before his time, inquires into his father’s years:
piety lies conquered, and the maiden
Astraea, last of the celestials, left the lands dripping with slaughter.

150

Neve foret terris securior arduus aether,
adfectasse ferunt regnum caeleste gigantas
altaque congestos struxisse ad sidera montis.
tum pater omnipotens misso perfregit Olympum
fulmine et excussit subiecto Pelion Ossae.

And lest lofty ether be more secure than the lands,
they say that the Giants aspired to the celestial kingdom
and constructed high mountains, heaped up to the stars.
then the all-powerful Father, with a thunderbolt sent, shattered Olympus
and shook off Pelion from Ossa set beneath.

155

obruta mole sua cum corpora dira iacerent,
perfusam multo natorum sanguine Terram
immaduisse ferunt calidumque animasse cruorem
et, ne nulla suae stirpis monimenta manerent,
in faciem vertisse hominum; sed et illa propago

when the dread bodies lay overthrown by their own mass,
they say that Earth, drenched with the much blood of her sons,
grew sodden and animated the warm gore,
and, lest no monuments of her stock should remain,
she turned it into the face of men; but even that progeny

160

contemptrix superum saevaeque avidissima caedis
et violenta fuit: scires e sanguine natos.
Quae pater ut summa vidit Saturnius arce,
ingemit et facto nondum vulgata recenti
foeda Lycaoniae referens convivia mensae

contemptuous of the gods, most avid for savage slaughter, and violent: you would know them born from blood.
Which, when the Saturnian Father saw from the highest citadel,
he groaned and, the deed recent and not yet divulged,
recalling the foul banquets of the Lycaonian table

165

ingentes animo et dignas Iove concipit iras
conciliumque vocat: tenuit mora nulla vocatos.
Est via sublimis, caelo manifesta sereno;
lactea nomen habet, candore notabilis ipso.
hac iter est superis ad magni tecta Tonantis

he conceives immense wrath in his spirit, and wrath worthy of Jove,
and calls a council: no delay held the summoned.
There is a sublime way, manifest in the serene heaven;
it bears the name Milky, notable by its very whiteness.
by this is the journey for the gods above to the halls of the great Thunderer

170

regalemque domum: dextra laevaque deorum
atria nobilium valvis celebrantur apertis.
plebs habitat diversa locis: hac parte potentes
caelicolae clarique suos posuere penates;
hic locus est, quem, si verbis audacia detur,

and the regal house: on the right and on the left the atria of the noble gods are thronged, their folding-doors thrown open.
the plebs inhabits diverse places: in this quarter the potent and illustrious heaven‑dwellers have placed their own Penates;
this is the place, which, if boldness be granted to words,

175

haud timeam magni dixisse Palatia caeli.
Ergo ubi marmoreo superi sedere recessu,
celsior ipse loco sceptroque innixus eburno
terrificam capitis concussit terque quaterque
caesariem, cum qua terram, mare, sidera movit.

I would not fear to have called it the Palatine of great heaven.
Therefore, when the gods above sat in a marble recess,
he himself, loftier in place and leaning on an ivory scepter,
shook thrice and four times the awe-inspiring hair of his head,
with which he moved earth, sea, and the stars.

180

talibus inde modis ora indignantia solvit:
'non ego pro mundi regno magis anxius illa
tempestate fui, qua centum quisque parabat
inicere anguipedum captivo bracchia caelo.
nam quamquam ferus hostis erat, tamen illud ab uno

then he loosened his indignant lips in such modes:
'not I for the reign of the world more anxious at that tempest
than when each of the hundred snake-footed was preparing
to cast his arms upon the captive heaven.
for although the foe was fierce, yet that was from one

185

corpore et ex una pendebat origine bellum;
nunc mihi qua totum Nereus circumsonat orbem,
perdendum est mortale genus: per flumina iuro
infera sub terras Stygio labentia luco!
cuncta prius temptanda, sed inmedicabile curae

and the war hung upon one body and from one origin;
now, wherever Nereus resounds around the whole orb,
the mortal race must be destroyed by me: I swear by the rivers
infernal, gliding beneath the earth through the Stygian grove!
all things must first be attempted, but the immedicable to cure

190

ense recidendum, ne pars sincera trahatur.
sunt mihi semidei, sunt, rustica numina, nymphae
faunique satyrique et monticolae silvani;
quos quoniam caeli nondum dignamur honore,
quas dedimus, certe terras habitare sinamus.

it must be cut away with the sword, lest the sound part be dragged along.
I have demigods, I have, rustic numina, nymphs,
and fauns and satyrs and mountain-dwelling Silvani;
whom, since we do not yet deem worthy of heaven’s honor,
let us at least allow to inhabit the lands we have granted.

195

an satis, o superi, tutos fore creditis illos,
cum mihi, qui fulmen, qui vos habeoque regoque,
struxerit insidias notus feritate Lycaon?'
Confremuere omnes studiisque ardentibus ausum
talia deposcunt: sic, cum manus inpia saevit

Do you believe, O gods above, that they will be safe enough,
when against me—who have the thunderbolt, who both possess you and rule you—
Lycaon, notorious for ferocity, has laid snares?'
All roared together, and with ardent zeal they demand
the one who dared such things: thus, when an impious band rages

200

sanguine Caesareo Romanum exstinguere nomen,
attonitum tantae subito terrore ruinae
humanum genus est totusque perhorruit orbis;
nec tibi grata minus pietas, Auguste, tuorum
quam fuit illa Iovi. qui postquam voce manuque

to extinguish the Roman name with Caesarean blood,
the human race was astonished by the terror of so great a ruin suddenly,
and the whole orb shuddered through and through;
nor was the piety of your own, Augustus, less pleasing to you
than that was to Jove. who, after by voice and by hand

205

murmura conpressit, tenuere silentia cuncti.
substitit ut clamor pressus gravitate regentis,
Iuppiter hoc iterum sermone silentia rupit:
'ille quidem poenas (curam hanc dimittite!) solvit;
quod tamen admissum, quae sit vindicta, docebo.

he suppressed the murmurs; all held silence.
When the clamor, pressed by the gravity of the regent, subsided,
Jupiter with this discourse again broke the silences:
'He indeed has paid the penalties (dismiss this care!);
yet for what was committed, what the vengeance is, I will make known.

210

contigerat nostras infamia temporis aures;
quam cupiens falsam summo delabor Olympo
et deus humana lustro sub imagine terras.
longa mora est, quantum noxae sit ubique repertum,
enumerare: minor fuit ipsa infamia vero.

The infamy of the time had reached our ears;
wishing it false, I glide down from highest Olympus
and, a god, under a human image, I survey the lands.
It is a long delay to enumerate how much wrongdoing was found everywhere;
the infamy itself was less than the truth.

215

Maenala transieram latebris horrenda ferarum
et cum Cyllene gelidi pineta Lycaei:
Arcadis hinc sedes et inhospita tecta tyranni
ingredior, traherent cum sera crepuscula noctem.
signa dedi venisse deum, vulgusque precari

I had crossed Maenalus, horrendous with the lairs of wild beasts
and along with Cyllene, the pine-groves of gelid Lycaeus:
from here I enter the seats of Arcadia and the inhospitable roofs of the tyrant,
as the late twilights were dragging on the night.
I gave signs that a god had come, and the crowd to pray

220

coeperat: inridet primo pia vota Lycaon,
mox ait "experiar deus hic discrimine aperto
an sit mortalis: nec erit dubitabile verum."
nocte gravem somno necopina perdere morte
comparat: haec illi placet experientia veri;

he had begun: Lycaon at first derides the pious vows,
soon he says, "I will try by an open discrimination
whether this one is a god or is mortal: nor will the truth be doubtful."
at night he prepares to destroy him, heavy with sleep, by unforeseen death;
this experience of the truth pleases him.

225

nec contentus eo, missi de gente Molossa
obsidis unius iugulum mucrone resolvit
atque ita semineces partim ferventibus artus
mollit aquis, partim subiecto torruit igni.
quod simul inposuit mensis, ego vindice flamma

nor content with that, he slit with the blade the jugular of a single hostage sent from the Molossian race
and thus the half-dead limbs he partly softened in boiling waters,
partly he roasted with a fire set beneath.
which, as soon as he set upon the tables, I, with avenging flame

230

in domino dignos everti tecta penates;
territus ipse fugit nactusque silentia ruris
exululat frustraque loqui conatur: ab ipso
colligit os rabiem solitaeque cupidine caedis
vertitur in pecudes et nunc quoque sanguine gaudet.

I overturned the roofs and Penates worthy of their master;
he himself, terrified, flees, and having gained the silences of the countryside
he ululates and tries in vain to speak: from himself his mouth gathers rabies, and by the cupidity of his accustomed slaughter
he turns upon the flocks and now too rejoices in blood.

235

in villos abeunt vestes, in crura lacerti:
fit lupus et veteris servat vestigia formae;
canities eadem est, eadem violentia vultus,
idem oculi lucent, eadem feritatis imago est.
occidit una domus, sed non domus una perire

into shaggy hair his garments pass, into legs his upper-arms:
he becomes a wolf and preserves the vestiges of his former form;
the same hoariness remains, the same violence of visage,
the same eyes gleam, the same image of ferocity.
one house fell, but not one house to perish

240

digna fuit: qua terra patet, fera regnat Erinys.
in facinus iurasse putes! dent ocius omnes,
quas meruere pati, (sic stat sententia) poenas.'
Dicta Iovis pars voce probant stimulosque frementi
adiciunt, alii partes adsensibus inplent.

was worthy: wherever the earth extends, the savage Erinys reigns.
you would think they had sworn an oath to crime! let all forthwith pay,
the punishments which they have deserved to suffer (thus stands the sentence).'
Some approve Jove’s words with their voices and add goads to the raging one,
others fill out their parts with assents.

245

est tamen humani generis iactura dolori
omnibus, et quae sit terrae mortalibus orbae
forma futura rogant, quis sit laturus in aras
tura, ferisne paret populandas tradere terras.
talia quaerentes (sibi enim fore cetera curae)

yet the loss of the human race is a grief
to all, and they ask what the form will be of the earth bereft of mortals,
who will be the bearer of incense to the altars,
whether he is preparing to hand over the lands to beasts to be ravaged.
asking such things (for the rest, indeed, would be his concern)

250

rex superum trepidare vetat subolemque priori
dissimilem populo promittit origine mira.
Iamque erat in totas sparsurus fulmina terras;
sed timuit, ne forte sacer tot ab ignibus aether
conciperet flammas longusque ardesceret axis:

the king of the gods forbids trembling and promises a progeny dissimilar to the prior people, of marvelous origin.
And now he was about to scatter his thunderbolts over all the lands;
but he feared lest perhaps the sacred aether, from so many fires,
might catch flames and the long axis blaze:

255

esse quoque in fatis reminiscitur, adfore tempus,
quo mare, quo tellus correptaque regia caeli
ardeat et mundi moles obsessa laboret.
tela reponuntur manibus fabricata cyclopum;
poena placet diversa, genus mortale sub undis

he remembers also that it is in the fates, that there will be a time,
when the sea, when the earth, and the royal palace of heaven, seized,
will burn, and the mass of the world, besieged, will labor.
the weapons forged by the hands of the cyclopes are put back;
a different penalty pleases, the mortal race beneath the waves

260

perdere et ex omni nimbos demittere caelo.
Protinus Aeoliis Aquilonem claudit in antris
et quaecumque fugant inductas flamina nubes
emittitque Notum. madidis Notus evolat alis,
terribilem picea tectus caligine vultum;

to destroy, and to send down storm-clouds from all the sky.
Straightway he shuts the North Wind in the Aeolian caverns
and whatever blasts drive away the drawn-in clouds,
and he releases the South Wind. The South Wind flies out with dripping wings,
his countenance terrible, covered with pitch-black murk;

265

barba gravis nimbis, canis fluit unda capillis;
fronte sedent nebulae, rorant pennaeque sinusque.
utque manu lata pendentia nubila pressit,
fit fragor: hinc densi funduntur ab aethere nimbi;
nuntia Iunonis varios induta colores

his beard heavy with rain-clouds; from his hoary hairs water flows;
mists sit upon his brow, and both the wings and the folds drip.
And when with broad hand he pressed the hanging clouds,
there is a crash: from here thick nimbi are poured from the aether;
the messenger of Juno, clothed in various colors

270

concipit Iris aquas alimentaque nubibus adfert.
sternuntur segetes et deplorata coloni
vota iacent, longique perit labor inritus anni.
Nec caelo contenta suo est Iovis ira, sed illum
caeruleus frater iuvat auxiliaribus undis.

Iris gathers waters and brings nourishment to the clouds.
The grain-fields are laid low, and the farmer’s lamented
vows lie, and the vain labor of a long year perishes.
Nor is Jove’s wrath content with his own sky, but him
his cerulean brother aids with auxiliary waves.

275

convocat hic amnes: qui postquam tecta tyranni
intravere sui, 'non est hortamine longo
nunc' ait 'utendum; vires effundite vestras:
sic opus est! aperite domos ac mole remota
fluminibus vestris totas inmittite habenas!'

here he calls together the rivers: who, after they had entered the roofs of their tyrant,
'now,' he says, 'there is no need of long exhortation;
pour out your forces: thus is the need! open the homes and, the mass removed,
give your rivers the full reins!'

280

iusserat; hi redeunt ac fontibus ora relaxant
et defrenato volvuntur in aequora cursu.
Ipse tridente suo terram percussit, at illa
intremuit motuque vias patefecit aquarum.
exspatiata ruunt per apertos flumina campos

He had ordered; they return and loosen the mouths of their springs,
and, with an unbridled course, are rolled into the level expanse.
He himself struck the earth with his trident, and she
trembled, and by her motion opened pathways for the waters.
the rivers, having spread beyond bounds, rush through the open fields

285

cumque satis arbusta simul pecudesque virosque
tectaque cumque suis rapiunt penetralia sacris.
si qua domus mansit potuitque resistere tanto
indeiecta malo, culmen tamen altior huius
unda tegit, pressaeque latent sub gurgite turres.

and both the sown fields and the vine-rows together, the flocks and men,
and the roofs, and they snatch away the inner penetralia with their sacred things.
if any house remained and could resist so great a calamity,
not cast down, yet a wave higher than its roof-crest
covers it, and the towers, pressed down, lie hidden beneath the whirlpool.

290

iamque mare et tellus nullum discrimen habebant:
omnia pontus erant, derant quoque litora ponto.
Occupat hic collem, cumba sedet alter adunca
et ducit remos illic, ubi nuper arabat:
ille supra segetes aut mersae culmina villae

and now the sea and the land had no distinction:
all things were sea; shores too were lacking to the sea.
This man seizes a hill, another sits in a curved skiff
and pulls the oars there where lately he was plowing:
that one above the cornfields or the rooftops of a submerged villa

295

navigat, hic summa piscem deprendit in ulmo.
figitur in viridi, si fors tulit, ancora prato,
aut subiecta terunt curvae vineta carinae;
et, modo qua graciles gramen carpsere capellae,
nunc ibi deformes ponunt sua corpora phocae.

one sails; here one catches a fish in the top of an elm.
the anchor is fixed in a green meadow, if chance has so brought it,
or the curved keels wear down the vineyards lying beneath;
and, where just now the slender she-goats cropped the grass,
now there misshapen seals lay down their bodies.

300

mirantur sub aqua lucos urbesque domosque
Nereides, silvasque tenent delphines et altis
incursant ramis agitataque robora pulsant.
nat lupus inter oves, fulvos vehit unda leones,
unda vehit tigres; nec vires fulminis apro,

they marvel under the water at groves and cities and homes
the Nereids, and dolphins hold the forests and against the high
branches they run and beat the agitated oaks.
the wolf swims among the sheep, the wave conveys tawny lions,
the wave conveys tigers; nor the strength of the thunderbolt to the boar,

305

crura nec ablato prosunt velocia cervo,
quaesitisque diu terris, ubi sistere possit,
in mare lassatis volucris vaga decidit alis.
obruerat tumulos inmensa licentia ponti,
pulsabantque novi montana cacumina fluctus.

nor do swift legs profit the deer, once carried off,
and, lands long sought where it might come to a stop,
the wandering bird falls into the sea with wearied wings.
the immense license of the sea had overwhelmed the grave‑mounds,
and new waves were beating the mountain summits.

310

maxima pars unda rapitur; quibus unda pepercit,
illos longa domant inopi ieiunia victu.
Separat Aonios Oetaeis Phocis ab arvis,
terra ferax, dum terra fuit, sed tempore in illo
pars maris et latus subitarum campus aquarum.

the greatest part is swept away by the wave; those whom the wave spared,
long fasts subdue, with scant victual.
Phocis separates the Aonians from the Oetaean fields,
a land fertile, while it was land, but at that time
a part of the sea, and a broad plain of sudden waters.

315

mons ibi verticibus petit arduus astra duobus,
nomine Parnasos, superantque cacumina nubes.
hic ubi Deucalion (nam cetera texerat aequor)
cum consorte tori parva rate vectus adhaesit,
Corycidas nymphas et numina montis adorant

there a mountain, steep, with two summits, seeks the stars,
by name Parnassus, and its peaks surpass the clouds.
here, where Deucalion (for the rest the water had veiled)
together with the consort of his bed, borne in a little raft, clung fast,
they adore the Corycian nymphs and the mountain’s divine powers

320

fatidicamque Themin, quae tunc oracla tenebat:
non illo melior quisquam nec amantior aequi
vir fuit aut illa metuentior ulla deorum.
Iuppiter ut liquidis stagnare paludibus orbem
et superesse virum de tot modo milibus unum,

and the fate-speaking Themis, who then held the oracles:
no man was better than that one nor more a lover of the equitable,
nor was any woman more god-fearing than she.
how Jupiter made the world stagnate in liquid marshes
and that, out of so many thousands, only one man survived,

325

et superesse vidit de tot modo milibus unam,
innocuos ambo, cultores numinis ambo,
nubila disiecit nimbisque aquilone remotis
et caelo terras ostendit et aethera terris.
nec maris ira manet, positoque tricuspide telo

and he saw that out of so many thousands there survived one woman,
both innocent, both cultivators of the numen,
he scattered the clouds, and the rain-clouds removed by the North Wind,
and he showed the lands to the sky and the aether to the lands.
nor does the sea’s wrath remain, and with the three-cusped weapon set aside

330

mulcet aquas rector pelagi supraque profundum
exstantem atque umeros innato murice tectum
caeruleum Tritona vocat conchaeque sonanti
inspirare iubet fluctusque et flumina signo
iam revocare dato: cava bucina sumitur illi,

the ruler of the sea soothes the waters, and above the deep
he calls the cerulean Triton, standing forth and his shoulders covered with natural murex,
and he bids him to breathe into the sounding conch and, at the signal
now given, to recall the waves and the rivers: the hollow buccina
is taken up by him,

335

tortilis in latum quae turbine crescit ab imo,
bucina, quae medio concepit ubi aera ponto,
litora voce replet sub utroque iacentia Phoebo;
tum quoque, ut ora dei madida rorantia barba
contigit et cecinit iussos inflata receptus,

twisted, which grows wide by a whirl from the lowest,
the bucina, which, when it has taken in the air in the mid sea,
fills with its voice the shores lying beneath either Phoebus;
then too, as soon as it touched the lips of the god, with beard wet and dripping,
and, inflated, sang the ordered withdrawals,

340

omnibus audita est telluris et aequoris undis,
et quibus est undis audita, coercuit omnes.
iam mare litus habet, plenos capit alveus amnes,
flumina subsidunt collesque exire videntur;
surgit humus, crescunt sola decrescentibus undis,

it was heard by all the waves of earth and of the sea,
and the waves by which it was heard, he restrained them all.
now the sea has a shore, the channel receives full rivers,
the rivers subside and the hills seem to come forth;
the ground rises, the soils grow as the waves decrease,

345

postque diem longam nudata cacumina silvae
ostendunt limumque tenent in fronde relictum
Redditus orbis erat; quem postquam vidit inanem
et desolatas agere alta silentia terras,
Deucalion lacrimis ita Pyrrham adfatur obortis:

and after a long day the stripped tree-tops of the forest
reveal, and hold upon the foliage, the mud left behind
The world had been restored; which, after he saw empty,
and the lands, desolated, enacting deep silences,
Deucalion with tears welling up thus addresses Pyrrha:

350

'o soror, o coniunx, o femina sola superstes,
quam commune mihi genus et patruelis origo,
deinde torus iunxit, nunc ipsa pericula iungunt,
terrarum, quascumque vident occasus et ortus,
nos duo turba sumus; possedit cetera pontus.

'O sister, O spouse, O only surviving woman,
whom a common lineage to me and a paternal-cousin origin,
then the marriage-bed joined, now the perils themselves join,
of the lands, whatsoever the Occident and the Orient behold,
we two are a crowd; the sea has possessed the rest.

355

haec quoque adhuc vitae non est fiducia nostrae
certa satis; terrent etiamnum nubila mentem.
quis tibi, si sine me fatis erepta fuisses,
nunc animus, miseranda, foret? quo sola timorem
ferre modo posses?

Even this, as yet, is not a confidence of our life sure enough;
the clouds still terrify the mind.
what spirit would you have now, pitiable one, if you had been snatched away by the Fates without me,
how could you, alone, bear fear?
to bear fear in what way could you?

quo consolante doleres!

with whose consoling would you grieve!

360

namque ego (crede mihi), si te quoque pontus haberet,
te sequerer, coniunx, et me quoque pontus haberet.
o utinam possim populos reparare paternis
artibus atque animas formatae infundere terrae!
nunc genus in nobis restat mortale duobus.

for indeed I (believe me), if the sea held you as well,
I would follow you, consort, and the sea would hold me as well.
O would that I could restore peoples by paternal arts
and infuse souls into the formed earth!
now the mortal race remains in us two.

365

sic visum superis: hominumque exempla manemus.'
dixerat, et flebant: placuit caeleste precari
numen et auxilium per sacras quaerere sortes.
nulla mora est: adeunt pariter Cephesidas undas,
ut nondum liquidas, sic iam vada nota secantes.

thus it seemed to the powers above: and we remain exemplars of humankind.'
He had spoken, and they were weeping: it pleased them to pray the celestial numen
and to seek aid through sacred lots.
There is no delay: together they approach the Cephisian waves,
though not yet limpid, yet already cutting the well-known shallows.

370

inde ubi libatos inroravere liquores
vestibus et capiti, flectunt vestigia sanctae
ad delubra deae, quorum fastigia turpi
pallebant musco stabantque sine ignibus arae.
ut templi tetigere gradus, procumbit uterque

then, when they had sprinkled the libated liquids upon their garments and head, they turn their steps to the shrines of the holy goddess, whose pediments were pale with foul moss, and the altars stood without fires. as they touched the steps of the temple, each falls prostrate

375

pronus humi gelidoque pavens dedit oscula saxo
atque ita 'si precibus' dixerunt 'numina iustis
victa remollescunt, si flectitur ira deorum,
dic, Themi, qua generis damnum reparabile nostri
arte sit, et mersis fer opem, mitissima, rebus!'

face-down on the ground and, trembling, he gave kisses to the icy stone
and thus they said, 'if by just prayers the numina, once conquered, grow soft again;
if the ire of the gods is bent,
tell, Themis, by what art the loss of our race may be repairable,
and bring aid to our affairs, sunk, most gentle one!'

380

Mota dea est sortemque dedit: 'discedite templo
et velate caput cinctasque resolvite vestes
ossaque post tergum magnae iactate parentis!'
obstupuere diu: rumpitque silentia voce
Pyrrha prior iussisque deae parere recusat,

The goddess was moved and gave an oracle: 'depart from the temple
and veil your head and loosen your girded garments
and throw the bones of the great parent behind your back!'
they stood astonished for a long time: and Pyrrha first breaks the silence with her voice
Pyrrha first, and refuses to obey the goddess’s commands,

385

detque sibi veniam pavido rogat ore pavetque
laedere iactatis maternas ossibus umbras.
interea repetunt caecis obscura latebris
verba datae sortis secum inter seque volutant.
inde Promethides placidis Epimethida dictis

and she asks that she grant pardon to herself with a trembling mouth, and she fears
to harm the maternal shades by the cast bones.
Meanwhile they go over, in blind hiding-places,
the obscure words of the given lot, and turn them over with themselves and with each other.
then the Promethid addresses the Epimethid with placid words

390

mulcet et 'aut fallax' ait 'est sollertia nobis,
aut (pia sunt nullumque nefas oracula suadent!)
magna parens terra est: lapides in corpore terrae
ossa reor dici; iacere hos post terga iubemur.'
Coniugis augurio quamquam Titania mota est,

he soothes her and says, 'either our ingenuity is deceptive,
or (the oracles are pious and urge no impiety!)
the great parent is Earth: stones in the body of Earth
I reckon are called bones; we are bidden to cast these behind our backs.'
Although the Titaness was moved by her husband's augury,

395

spes tamen in dubio est: adeo caelestibus ambo
diffidunt monitis; sed quid temptare nocebit?
descendunt: velantque caput tunicasque recingunt
et iussos lapides sua post vestigia mittunt.
saxa (quis hoc credat, nisi sit pro teste vetustas?)

hope nevertheless is in doubt: to such a degree do both distrust the celestial monitions;
but what will it harm to attempt?
they descend: and they veil the head and ungird their tunics
and they send the commanded stones behind their own footsteps.
the rocks (who would believe this, unless antiquity be as witness?)

400

ponere duritiem coepere suumque rigorem
mollirique mora mollitaque ducere formam.
mox ubi creverunt naturaque mitior illis
contigit, ut quaedam, sic non manifesta videri
forma potest hominis, sed uti de marmore coepta

they began to put off their hardness and their own rigidity
and to be softened by delay, and, softened, to take on a form.
soon, when they grew and a gentler nature
befell them, so that a certain, yet not manifest,
form of a human can be seen, but as if begun from marble

405

non exacta satis rudibusque simillima signis,
quae tamen ex illis aliquo pars umida suco
et terrena fuit, versa est in corporis usum;
quod solidum est flectique nequit, mutatur in ossa,
quae modo vena fuit, sub eodem nomine mansit,

not sufficiently exact and very similar to rude statues,
which, however, of them whatever part was moist with some juice
and earthy, was turned to the use of a body;
what is solid and cannot be bent is changed into bones,
what a moment ago was a vein remained under the same name,

410

inque brevi spatio superorum numine saxa
missa viri manibus faciem traxere virorum
et de femineo reparata est femina iactu.
inde genus durum sumus experiensque laborum
et documenta damus qua simus origine nati.

and in a brief span, by the numen of the supernal ones, the stones
sent by the man's hands drew the face of men,
and a woman was repaired from a feminine cast.
thence we are a hard race and experienced in labors,
and we give proofs of the origin by which we were born.

415

Cetera diversis tellus animalia formis
sponte sua peperit, postquam vetus umor ab igne
percaluit solis, caenumque udaeque paludes
intumuere aestu, fecundaque semina rerum
vivaci nutrita solo ceu matris in alvo

The earth brought forth the rest of the animals in diverse forms
of its own accord, after the ancient moisture by the fire of the sun
had been warmed through, and the mire and the wet marshes swelled with heat,
and the fecund seeds of things, nourished in the lively soil
as in a mother’s womb

420

creverunt faciemque aliquam cepere morando.
sic ubi deseruit madidos septemfluus agros
Nilus et antiquo sua flumina reddidit alveo
aetherioque recens exarsit sidere limus,
plurima cultores versis animalia glaebis

they grew, and by lingering took on some face.
thus, when the seven-flowing Nile has deserted the dripping fields
and has given back its streams to the ancient channel,
and the fresh mud has flared beneath the aetherial star,
the cultivators find very many animals in the upturned clods

425

inveniunt et in his quaedam modo coepta per ipsum
nascendi spatium, quaedam inperfecta suisque
trunca vident numeris, et eodem in corpore saepe
altera pars vivit, rudis est pars altera tellus.
quippe ubi temperiem sumpsere umorque calorque,

they find also among these certain things only just begun within the very span of nascence,
some things imperfect and maimed of their proper parts, and in the same body often
one part lives, another part is raw earth.
for indeed when moisture and heat have taken on a tempering,

430

concipiunt, et ab his oriuntur cuncta duobus,
cumque sit ignis aquae pugnax, vapor umidus omnes
res creat, et discors concordia fetibus apta est.
ergo ubi diluvio tellus lutulenta recenti
solibus aetheriis altoque recanduit aestu,

they conceive, and from these two all things arise,
and although fire is pugnacious against water, a moist vapor
creates all things, and a discordant concord is apt for births.
therefore, when the earth, muddy from the recent deluge,
glowed white again with aetherial suns and with deep heat,

435

edidit innumeras species; partimque figuras
rettulit antiquas, partim nova monstra creavit.
Illa quidem nollet, sed te quoque, maxime Python,
tum genuit, populisque novis, incognita serpens,
terror eras: tantum spatii de monte tenebas.

it produced innumerable species; and in part restored ancient figures, in part created new monsters.
She indeed would not wish it, but you too, greatest Python,
then she begot, and to the new peoples, an unknown serpent,
you were a terror: so much expanse of the mountain you occupied.

440

hunc deus arcitenens, numquam letalibus armis
ante nisi in dammis capreisque fugacibus usus,
mille gravem telis exhausta paene pharetra
perdidit effuso per vulnera nigra veneno.
neve operis famam posset delere vetustas,

this one the bow-bearing god, who had never before with lethal arms
used them except against does and fleet roes,
with his quiver almost exhausted made him heavy with a thousand missiles
destroyed him, as black venom poured out through his wounds.
and lest age might be able to blot the fame of the deed,

445

instituit sacros celebri certamine ludos,
Pythia de domitae serpentis nomine dictos.
hic iuvenum quicumque manu pedibusve rotave
vicerat, aesculeae capiebat frondis honorem.
nondum laurus erat, longoque decentia crine

he instituted sacred games with a celebrated contest,
called the Pythian, from the name of the subdued serpent.
here, of the youths, whoever by hand or by feet or by wheel
had conquered, took the honor of oaken frond.
there was not yet laurel, and leaves befitting the long hair

450

tempora cingebat de qualibet arbore Phoebus.
Primus amor Phoebi Daphne Peneia, quem non
fors ignara dedit, sed saeva Cupidinis ira,
Delius hunc nuper, victa serpente superbus,
viderat adducto flectentem cornua nervo

Phoebus was girding his temples with foliage from any tree whatsoever.
The first love of Phoebus was Daphne, the Peneian, which not
blind Chance gave, but the savage wrath of Cupid;
the Delian, recently, proud with the serpent conquered,
had seen him bending his bow with the string drawn tight.

455

'quid' que 'tibi, lascive puer, cum fortibus armis?'
dixerat: 'ista decent umeros gestamina nostros,
qui dare certa ferae, dare vulnera possumus hosti,
qui modo pestifero tot iugera ventre prementem
stravimus innumeris tumidum Pythona sagittis.

'what have you to do, wanton boy, with stout weapons?'
he had said: 'those equipments befit our shoulders,
we who can give sure wounds to the wild beast, can give wounds to the enemy,
we who just now laid low the swollen Python, pressing so many acres with its pestiferous belly,
with innumerable arrows.'

460

tu face nescio quos esto contentus amores
inritare tua, nec laudes adsere nostras!'
filius huic Veneris 'figat tuus omnia, Phoebe,
te meus arcus' ait; 'quantoque animalia cedunt
cuncta deo, tanto minor est tua gloria nostra.'

'You, with your torch, be content to stir up I-know-not-what loves of yours,
and do not lay claim to our praises!'
To him the son of Venus said, 'Let your bow pierce all things, Phoebus;
you, my bow will pierce,' he said; 'and by how much all animals yield
to the god, by that much your glory is lesser than ours.'

465

dixit et eliso percussis aere pennis
inpiger umbrosa Parnasi constitit arce
eque sagittifera prompsit duo tela pharetra
diversorum operum: fugat hoc, facit illud amorem;
quod facit, auratum est et cuspide fulget acuta,

He said, and with the air shattered by his beating wings,
the unwearied one stood on the shady citadel of Parnassus,
and from his arrow-bearing quiver he brought forth two darts
of diverse operations: this one puts love to flight, that one makes it;
the one that makes, it is gilded and gleams with a sharp cusp,

470

quod fugat, obtusum est et habet sub harundine plumbum.
hoc deus in nympha Peneide fixit, at illo
laesit Apollineas traiecta per ossa medullas;
protinus alter amat, fugit altera nomen amantis
silvarum latebris captivarumque ferarum

that which puts to flight is blunt and has lead beneath the reed.
this the god fixed in the Penean nymph, but with that
he wounded the Apollinean marrow, shot through the bones;
straightway the one loves, the other flees the name of a lover
into the hiding-places of the woods and of captured wild beasts

475
exuviis gaudens innuptaeque aemula Phoebes:
vitta coercebat positos sine lege capillos.
multi illam petiere, illa aversata petentes
inpatiens expersque viri nemora avia lustrat
nec, quid Hymen, quid Amor, quid sint conubia curat.

475
rejoicing in spoils and a rival of unmarried Phoebe:
a fillet restrained her hair set without law.
many sought her; she, turning away from the seekers,
impatient of and inexperienced in man, ranges the pathless groves,
nor cares what Hymen is, what Amor, what the connubial bonds are.

480

saepe pater dixit: 'generum mihi, filia, debes,'
saepe pater dixit: 'debes mihi, nata, nepotes';
illa velut crimen taedas exosa iugales
pulchra verecundo suffuderat ora rubore
inque patris blandis haerens cervice lacertis

often her father said: 'daughter, you owe me a son-in-law,'
often her father said: 'child, you owe me grandchildren';
she, hating the bridal torches as if a crime,
had suffused her beautiful face with a modest blush
and, clinging to her father's neck with coaxing arms

485

'da mihi perpetua, genitor carissime,' dixit
'virginitate frui! dedit hoc pater ante Dianae.'
ille quidem obsequitur, sed te decor iste quod optas
esse vetat, votoque tuo tua forma repugnat:
Phoebus amat visaeque cupit conubia Daphnes,

'Grant me to enjoy perpetual virginity, dearest father,' she said
'My father before granted this to Diana.'
He indeed complies, but that beauty of yours forbids you to be what you wish,
and your form fights against your vow:
Phoebus loves, and, having seen her, desires the connubial union with Daphne,

490

quodque cupit, sperat, suaque illum oracula fallunt,
utque leves stipulae demptis adolentur aristis,
ut facibus saepes ardent, quas forte viator
vel nimis admovit vel iam sub luce reliquit,
sic deus in flammas abiit, sic pectore toto

and what he desires, he hopes for, and his own oracles deceive him,
and as light stalks, the ears plucked away, are kindled,
as hedges burn from torches which by chance a wayfarer
either has brought too near or now at daybreak has left behind,
thus the god passed into flames, thus with his whole breast

495

uritur et sterilem sperando nutrit amorem.
spectat inornatos collo pendere capillos
et 'quid, si comantur?' ait. videt igne micantes
sideribus similes oculos, videt oscula, quae non
est vidisse satis; laudat digitosque manusque

he burns and by hoping he nourishes a sterile love.
he beholds the unadorned hair hanging upon the neck
and says, 'what, if it were combed?' he sees eyes flashing with fire,
like to the stars, he sees the lips, which to have seen is not enough; he praises the fingers and the hands

500

bracchiaque et nudos media plus parte lacertos;
si qua latent, meliora putat. fugit ocior aura
illa levi neque ad haec revocantis verba resistit:
'nympha, precor, Penei, mane! non insequor hostis;
nympha, mane! sic agna lupum, sic cerva leonem,

and her arms and upper arms, bare for more than half their length; if any lie hidden, he judges them better. She flees swifter than the light breeze, nor does she halt at these words of the one calling her back: 'Nymph, I pray, Penean, stay! I do not pursue as an enemy; nymph, stay! so a lamb the wolf, so a doe the lion,

505
sic aquilam penna fugiunt trepidante columbae,
hostes quaeque suos: amor est mihi causa sequendi!
me miserum! ne prona cadas indignave laedi
crura notent sentes et sim tibi causa doloris!
aspera, qua properas, loca sunt: moderatius, oro,

505
so doves flee the eagle with trembling wing,
each its own foes: love is my cause of pursuing!
Alas, wretched me! lest you fall headlong, or suffer unworthy injury,
lest brambles mark your legs, and I be to you the cause of pain!
the places where you hasten are rough: more moderately, I beg,

510

curre fugamque inhibe, moderatius insequar ipse.
cui placeas, inquire tamen: non incola montis,
non ego sum pastor, non hic armenta gregesque
horridus observo. nescis, temeraria, nescis,
quem fugias, ideoque fugis: mihi Delphica tellus

Run, and hold back your flight; I myself will pursue more moderately.
Inquire, however, whom you please: I am not an inhabitant of the mountain,
I am not a shepherd, nor here do I, shaggy, observe herds and flocks.
You do not know, rash girl, you do not know
whom you flee, and therefore you flee: the Delphic land is mine

515

et Claros et Tenedos Patareaque regia servit;
Iuppiter est genitor; per me, quod eritque fuitque
estque, patet; per me concordant carmina nervis.
certa quidem nostra est, nostra tamen una sagitta
certior, in vacuo quae vulnera pectore fecit!

both Claros and Tenedos and the Patarean royal seat serve me;
Jupiter is my begetter; through me, what will be and what has been
and what is, lies open; through me songs are concordant with the strings.
sure indeed is our shaft; yet one arrow of ours is more sure,
which has made wounds in an empty breast!

520

inventum medicina meum est, opiferque per orbem
dicor, et herbarum subiecta potentia nobis.
ei mihi, quod nullis amor est sanabilis herbis
nec prosunt domino, quae prosunt omnibus, artes!'
Plura locuturum timido Peneia cursu

medicine is my invention, and I am called an aid-bringer throughout the orb,
and the power of herbs lies subject to us.
alas for me, that love is curable by no herbs,
nor do the arts which profit all profit their master!'
As he was about to speak more, the Penean girl with timid course

525

fugit cumque ipso verba inperfecta reliquit,
tum quoque visa decens; nudabant corpora venti,
obviaque adversas vibrabant flamina vestes,
et levis inpulsos retro dabat aura capillos,
auctaque forma fuga est. sed enim non sustinet ultra

she fled and left his words imperfect, and even then she seemed becoming; the winds were baring her body,
and the oncoming blasts were fluttering her opposing garments,
and a light breeze was driving her hair back behind,
and her beauty was augmented by flight. But indeed he cannot endure it further

530

perdere blanditias iuvenis deus, utque monebat
ipse Amor, admisso sequitur vestigia passu.
ut canis in vacuo leporem cum Gallicus arvo
vidit, et hic praedam pedibus petit, ille salutem;
alter inhaesuro similis iam iamque tenere

the youthful god wastes his blandishments, and, as Love himself was advising,
with the rein loosed he follows her footsteps.
as when a Gallic hound, in an empty field, has seen a hare,
and this one seeks the prey with his feet, that one safety;
the one, seeming about to fasten on, now even now to hold

535

sperat et extento stringit vestigia rostro,
alter in ambiguo est, an sit conprensus, et ipsis
morsibus eripitur tangentiaque ora relinquit:
sic deus et virgo est hic spe celer, illa timore.
qui tamen insequitur pennis adiutus Amoris,

he hopes, and with outstretched snout skims the vestiges,
the other is in doubt whether he has been seized, and is snatched from the very bites and leaves the touching mouths:
thus the god and the virgin—this one swift with hope, that one with fear.
who, however, pursues, aided by the wings of Amor,

540

ocior est requiemque negat tergoque fugacis
inminet et crinem sparsum cervicibus adflat.
viribus absumptis expalluit illa citaeque
victa labore fugae spectans Peneidas undas
'fer, pater,' inquit 'opem! si flumina numen habetis,

he is swifter and denies respite and over the back of the fugitive
he looms and breathes upon the hair scattered over her neck.
with her strength consumed she grew pale, and by the hasty
flight, conquered by the toil, gazing at the Peneian waves,
'support, father,' she said, 'bring help! if you rivers have numen,'

545

qua nimium placui, mutando perde figuram!'
[quae facit ut laedar mutando perde figuram.]
vix prece finita torpor gravis occupat artus,
mollia cinguntur tenui praecordia libro,
in frondem crines, in ramos bracchia crescunt,

by which I have pleased too much, by changing destroy my figure!'
[which makes that I be injured—by changing, destroy my figure.]
scarcely with the prayer finished, a heavy torpor seizes her limbs,
her soft vitals are encircled by a thin bark,
into foliage her hair grows, into branches her arms grow,

550

pes modo tam velox pigris radicibus haeret,
ora cacumen habet: remanet nitor unus in illa.
Hanc quoque Phoebus amat positaque in stipite dextra
sentit adhuc trepidare novo sub cortice pectus
conplexusque suis ramos ut membra lacertis

The foot, just now so swift, clings in sluggish roots,
a treetop holds her face: one brightness alone remains in her.
He loves this one too, Phoebus, and with his right hand set upon the trunk
he feels her breast still flutter beneath the new bark,
and, embracing the branches with his own arms as limbs,

555

oscula dat ligno; refugit tamen oscula lignum.
cui deus 'at, quoniam coniunx mea non potes esse,
arbor eris certe' dixit 'mea! semper habebunt
te coma, te citharae, te nostrae, laure, pharetrae;
tu ducibus Latiis aderis, cum laeta Triumphum

he gives kisses to the wood; yet the wood recoils from the kisses.
to whom the god: 'But, since you cannot be my spouse,
'you will certainly be my tree,' he said, 'mine! Always will have
you my hair, you my citharas (lyres), you, laurel, my quivers;
you will be present to the Latin leaders, when joyful Triumph

560

vox canet et visent longas Capitolia pompas;
postibus Augustis eadem fidissima custos
ante fores stabis mediamque tuebere quercum,
utque meum intonsis caput est iuvenale capillis,
tu quoque perpetuos semper gere frondis honores!'

a voice will sing, and the Capitoline will behold long pomps;
to the Augustan doorposts, the same most faithful guardian,
you will stand before the doors and will protect the central oak,
and as my head is youthful with unshorn hairs,
you too always bear the perpetual honors of foliage!'

565

finierat Paean: factis modo laurea ramis
adnuit utque caput visa est agitasse cacumen.
Est nemus Haemoniae, praerupta quod undique claudit
silva: vocant Tempe; per quae Peneos ab imo
effusus Pindo spumosis volvitur undis

Paean had finished: the laurel with newly-made branches nodded, and as though it were a head seemed to have shaken its top.
There is a grove of Haemonia, which a precipitous forest encloses on every side: they call it Tempe; through which the Peneus, poured out from the base of Pindus, is rolled with foamy waves

570

deiectuque gravi tenues agitantia fumos
nubila conducit summisque adspergine silvis
inpluit et sonitu plus quam vicina fatigat:
haec domus, haec sedes, haec sunt penetralia magni
amnis, in his residens facto de cautibus antro,

and with its heavy plunge it gathers clouds that stir thin smokes,
and with its aspersion it rains upon the topmost woods,
and with its sound it wearies more than the neighboring places:
this is the house, this the seat, these are the penetralia of the great
river; in these, sitting in a cave made from rocks,

575

undis iura dabat nymphisque colentibus undas.
conveniunt illuc popularia flumina primum,
nescia, gratentur consolenturne parentem,
populifer Sperchios et inrequietus Enipeus
Apidanosque senex lenisque Amphrysos et Aeas,

he was giving laws to the waves and to the nymphs who cultivate the waves.
thither first the kindred rivers gather,
not knowing whether they should congratulate or console their parent,
poplar-bearing Spercheus and restless Enipeus,
and old Apidanus and gentle Amphrysus and Aeas,

580

moxque amnes alii, qui, qua tulit inpetus illos,
in mare deducunt fessas erroribus undas.
Inachus unus abest imoque reconditus antro
fletibus auget aquas natamque miserrimus Io
luget ut amissam: nescit, vitane fruatur

and soon other rivers, who, wherever their impetus has carried them,
conduct their waves, wearied by wanderings, into the sea.
Inachus alone is absent, and hidden in the deepest cavern
augments the waters with his weepings, and, most miserable, he laments Io,
his daughter, as though lost: he knows not whether she enjoys life

585

an sit apud manes; sed quam non invenit usquam,
esse putat nusquam atque animo peiora veretur.
Viderat a patrio redeuntem Iuppiter illam
flumine et 'o virgo Iove digna tuoque beatum
nescio quem factura toro, pete' dixerat 'umbras

or whether she is among the Manes; but her, whom he cannot find anywhere,
he thinks to be nowhere, and in his mind he fears worse things.
Jupiter had seen her returning from the paternal
river and had said, 'O maiden worthy of Jove, and destined to make I know not whom blessed
by your bed, seek the shadows'

590

altorum nemorum' (et nemorum monstraverat umbras)
'dum calet, et medio sol est altissimus orbe!
quodsi sola times latebras intrare ferarum,
praeside tuta deo nemorum secreta subibis,
nec de plebe deo, sed qui caelestia magna

'of the high groves' (and he had pointed out the shades of the groves)
'while it is warm, and the sun is highest in the middle of the orb!
but if, alone, you fear to enter the lairs of wild beasts,
with a presiding god as guardian, safe you will enter the secret places of the groves,
and not a god of the plebe, but one who the great celestial things

595

sceptra manu teneo, sed qui vaga fulmina mitto.
ne fuge me!' fugiebat enim. iam pascua Lernae
consitaque arboribus Lyrcea reliquerat arva,
cum deus inducta latas caligine terras
occuluit tenuitque fugam rapuitque pudorem.

I hold the scepter in my hand, I who send the wandering lightning-bolts.
'Do not flee me!'—for she was fleeing. By now she had left the pastures of Lerna and the Lyrcean fields planted with trees,
when the god, with a drawn-over mist, veiled the broad lands and checked her flight and ravished her modesty.

600

Interea medios Iuno despexit in Argos
et noctis faciem nebulas fecisse volucres
sub nitido mirata die, non fluminis illas
esse, nec umenti sensit tellure remitti;
atque suus coniunx ubi sit circumspicit, ut quae

Meanwhile Juno looked down into mid Argos
and, marveling that winged clouds had made the face of night
beneath the shining day, she perceived that those were not of the river
nor remitted from the moist earth;
and she looks around where her own consort might be, as she who

605

deprensi totiens iam nosset furta mariti.
quem postquam caelo non repperit, 'aut ego fallor
aut ego laedor' ait delapsaque ab aethere summo
constitit in terris nebulasque recedere iussit.
coniugis adventum praesenserat inque nitentem

she, who had already come to know the furtive thefts of her husband, so often detected.
when, after she did not find him in the sky, she said, 'either I am mistaken or I am being wronged,' and, gliding down from the highest aether,
she stood on the earth and ordered the clouds to withdraw.
he had fore-sensed the arrival of his consort, and into a shining

610

Inachidos vultus mutaverat ille iuvencam;
bos quoque formosa est. speciem Saturnia vaccae,
quamquam invita, probat nec non, et cuius et unde
quove sit armento, veri quasi nescia quaerit.
Iuppiter e terra genitam mentitur, ut auctor

He had transformed the Inachid’s visage into a heifer;
even as a cow she is beautiful. The Saturnian the appearance of the cow,
although unwilling, approves, and, both whose and whence,
and to what herd she belongs, as if unaware of the truth, she asks.
Jupiter claims, as the author, that she was born from the earth,

615

desinat inquiri: petit hanc Saturnia munus.
quid faciat? crudele suos addicere amores,
non dare suspectum est: Pudor est, qui suadeat illinc,
hinc dissuadet Amor. victus Pudor esset Amore,
sed leve si munus sociae generisque torique

let inquiry cease: the Saturnian asks for this as a gift.
what is he to do? it is cruel to adjudge his own loves over,
not to give is suspect: Pudor is what would persuade from that side,
from this side dissuades Amor. Pudor would be conquered by Love,
but it would be a slight gift if to the consort of his lineage and bed

620

vacca negaretur, poterat non vacca videri!
Paelice donata non protinus exuit omnem
diva metum timuitque Iovem et fuit anxia furti,
donec Arestoridae servandam tradidit Argo.
centum luminibus cinctum caput Argus habebat

were the cow denied, she could seem no cow!
with the concubine bestowed, the goddess did not forthwith cast off all
fear, and she feared Jove and was anxious about the theft,
until she delivered her to Argus, son of Arestor, to be guarded.
Argus had a head girt with a hundred lights

625

inde suis vicibus capiebant bina quietem,
cetera servabant atque in statione manebant.
constiterat quocumque modo, spectabat ad Io,
ante oculos Io, quamvis aversus, habebat.
luce sinit pasci; cum sol tellure sub alta est,

then, in their turns, two at a time would take rest,
the others kept watch and remained on station.
however he had taken his stand, he looked toward Io,
he had Io before his eyes, although turned away.
by daylight he allows her to graze; when the sun is beneath the deep earth,

630

claudit et indigno circumdat vincula collo.
frondibus arboreis et amara pascitur herba.
proque toro terrae non semper gramen habenti
incubat infelix limosaque flumina potat.
illa etiam supplex Argo cum bracchia vellet

he encloses and encircles her neck with unworthy chains.
she grazes on arboreal fronds and bitter herb.
and in place of a couch, the earth not always having grass,
unhappy, she lies upon it and drinks muddy rivers.
she too, a suppliant, would wish her arms toward Argus

635

tendere, non habuit, quae bracchia tenderet Argo,
conatoque queri mugitus edidit ore
pertimuitque sonos propriaque exterrita voce est.
venit et ad ripas, ubi ludere saepe solebat,
Inachidas: rictus novaque ut conspexit in unda

to stretch, she did not have the arms which she might stretch to Argus,
and when she tried to complain, she put forth a lowing from her mouth
and she grew afraid of the sounds and was terrified by her own voice.
and she came to the banks, where she was often wont to play,
with the Inachids: and, as she caught sight in the wave of her muzzle and the newness

640

cornua, pertimuit seque exsternata refugit.
naides ignorant, ignorat et Inachus ipse,
quae sit; at illa patrem sequitur sequiturque sorores
et patitur tangi seque admirantibus offert.
decerptas senior porrexerat Inachus herbas:

the horns; she was frightened and, thunderstruck, shrank back from herself.
the naiads do not know, nor does Inachus himself know,
who she is; but she follows her father and follows her sisters
and allows herself to be touched and presents herself to the amazed.
the elder Inachus had proffered plucked grasses:

645

illa manus lambit patriisque dat oscula palmis
nec retinet lacrimas et, si modo verba sequantur,
oret opem nomenque suum casusque loquatur;
littera pro verbis, quam pes in pulvere duxit,
corporis indicium mutati triste peregit.

she licks his hands and gives kisses to her father’s palms
nor does she hold back tears, and, if only words would follow,
she would beg for aid and speak her name and her misfortunes;
a letter in place of words, which her foot drew in the dust,
completed the sad indication of her changed body.

650

'me miserum!' exclamat pater Inachus inque gementis
cornibus et nivea pendens cervice iuvencae
'me miserum!' ingeminat; 'tune es quaesita per omnes
nata mihi terras? tu non inventa reperta
luctus eras levior! retices nec mutua nostris

'Wretched me!' exclaims father Inachus, and, hanging upon the horns of the groaning
heifer and upon her snowy neck, 'Wretched me!' he repeats; 'are you the one, my daughter,
sought through all lands for me? you, not found, discovered, would have been lighter grief!
you keep silence, nor do you return mutual to our

655

dicta refers, alto tantum suspiria ducis
pectore, quodque unum potes, ad mea verba remugis!
at tibi ego ignarus thalamos taedasque parabam,
spesque fuit generi mihi prima, secunda nepotum.
de grege nunc tibi vir, nunc de grege natus habendus.

You return my words; only sighs you draw from your deep chest,
and, the one thing you can, you bellow back to my words!
Yet I, unknowing, was preparing bridal chambers and wedding torches for you,
and my hope was first for a son-in-law, second for grandsons.
Now from the herd you must have a husband, now from the herd a son.

660

nec finire licet tantos mihi morte dolores;
sed nocet esse deum, praeclusaque ianua leti
aeternum nostros luctus extendit in aevum.'
talia maerenti stellatus submovet Argus
ereptamque patri diversa in pascua natam

nor is it permitted for me to finish such great dolors by death;
but it harms to be a god, and the barred doorway of death
stretches our mournings eternally into the age.'
such things, to her grieving, star-studded Argus drives away
and the daughter, snatched from her father, to diverse pastures

665

abstrahit. ipse procul montis sublime cacumen
occupat, unde sedens partes speculatur in omnes.
Nec superum rector mala tanta Phoronidos ultra
ferre potest natumque vocat, quem lucida partu
Pleias enixa est letoque det imperat Argum.

he carries her off. he himself afar occupies the lofty summit of a mountain,
whence, sitting, he watches in all directions.
Nor can the ruler of the gods any longer bear such evils of Phoronis,
and he calls his son, whom a bright Pleiad bore in childbirth,
and he orders that Argus be given to death.

670

parva mora est alas pedibus virgamque potenti
somniferam sumpsisse manu tegumenque capillis.
haec ubi disposuit, patria Iove natus ab arce
desilit in terras; illic tegumenque removit
et posuit pennas, tantummodo virga retenta est:

little was the delay in taking up the wings for his feet and the powerful, somniferous wand in his hand, and a covering for his hair.
when he had arranged these things, the son of Jove from his native citadel
leaps down to the earth; there he removed the covering
and set down his wings, only the wand being retained:

675

hac agit, ut pastor, per devia rura capellas
dum venit abductas, et structis cantat avenis.
voce nova captus custos Iunonius 'at tu,
quisquis es, hoc poteras mecum considere saxo'
Argus ait; 'neque enim pecori fecundior ullo

With this he drives, like a shepherd, through the byway rural fields the she-goats he has led away, and he sings on assembled oaten reeds.
Captured by the new voice, Juno’s custodian says, ‘But you, whoever you are, you could sit with me on this rock,’ says Argus; ‘for indeed to no herd is there any place more fecund.’

680

herba loco est, aptamque vides pastoribus umbram.'
Sedit Atlantiades et euntem multa loquendo
detinuit sermone diem iunctisque canendo
vincere harundinibus servantia lumina temptat.
ille tamen pugnat molles evincere somnos

‘there is grass in the place, and you see shade apt for shepherds.’
Atlantiades sat down and, by speaking much, held back with discourse the departing day,
and by singing with joined reeds he tries to conquer the eyes that keep watch.
he, however, fights to vanquish the soft slumbers

685

et, quamvis sopor est oculorum parte receptus,
parte tamen vigilat. quaerit quoque (namque reperta
fistula nuper erat), qua sit ratione reperta.
Tum deus 'Arcadiae gelidis sub montibus' inquit
'inter hamadryadas celeberrima Nonacrinas

and, although sleep has been received by part of his eyes,
yet with part he keeps vigil. He also asks (for the pipe had been
recently discovered), by what method it was discovered.
Then the god says, 'beneath the icy mountains of Arcadia,
among the most renowned Nonacrian Hamadryads

690

naias una fuit: nymphae Syringa vocabant.
non semel et satyros eluserat illa sequentes
et quoscumque deos umbrosaque silva feraxque
rus habet. Ortygiam studiis ipsaque colebat
virginitate deam; ritu quoque cincta Dianae

There was a Naiad: the nymphs called her Syrinx.
more than once she had eluded the Satyrs who followed her,
and whatever gods the shadowy forest and the fertile countryside have.
She cherished the Ortygian goddess in her pursuits and by her very virginity;
and was also girt in the rite of Diana

695

falleret et posset credi Latonia, si non
corneus huic arcus, si non foret aureus illi;
sic quoque fallebat.
Redeuntem colle Lycaeo
Pan videt hanc pinuque caput praecinctus acuta
talia verba refert -- restabat verba referre

she would have deceived and could be believed to be the Latonian, if this one did not have a horn bow, if that one were not golden; even so she deceived.
Returning from Mount Lycaeus
Pan sees her, and, his head girt with sharp pine,
he reports such words — it remained to report the words

700

et precibus spretis fugisse per avia nympham,
donec harenosi placidum Ladonis ad amnem
venerit; hic illam cursum inpedientibus undis
ut se mutarent liquidas orasse sorores,
Panaque cum prensam sibi iam Syringa putaret,

and, his prayers spurned, the nymph fled through pathless places,
until she came to the placid stream of sandy Ladon;
here, with the waves hindering her running, she begged her liquid sisters
to change her; and Pan, when he supposed that Syrinx, now grasped, was his,

705

corpore pro nymphae calamos tenuisse palustres,
dumque ibi suspirat, motos in harundine ventos
effecisse sonum tenuem similemque querenti.
arte nova vocisque deum dulcedine captum
'hoc mihi colloquium tecum' dixisse 'manebit,'

to have held marsh-reeds in place of the nymph’s body,
and while there he sighs, the winds set in motion in the reed
brought about a tenuous sound, akin to one lamenting.
and the god, captivated by a new art and by the sweetness of the voice,
'such colloquy with you,' he said, 'will remain with me,'

710

atque ita disparibus calamis conpagine cerae
inter se iunctis nomen tenuisse puellae.
talia dicturus vidit Cyllenius omnes
subcubuisse oculos adopertaque lumina somno;
supprimit extemplo vocem firmatque soporem

and thus with uneven reeds, joined among themselves by a compages of wax,
to have kept the girl’s name. About to say such things, the Cyllenian saw that all
eyes had sunk down and that their lights were covered over by sleep;
at once he suppresses his voice and makes the slumber firm.

715

languida permulcens medicata lumina virga.
nec mora, falcato nutantem vulnerat ense,
qua collo est confine caput, saxoque cruentum
deicit et maculat praeruptam sanguine rupem.
Arge, iaces, quodque in tot lumina lumen habebas,

stroking the drugged eyes with a languid wand.
and, no delay, with a sickle-curved sword he wounds the nodding one,
where the head is contiguous with the neck, and the bloodied [head]
he casts down upon the rock and stains the precipitous crag with blood.
Argus, you lie, and the light which you had as light in so many eyes,

720

exstinctum est, centumque oculos nox occupat una.
Excipit hos volucrisque suae Saturnia pennis
collocat et gemmis caudam stellantibus inplet.
protinus exarsit nec tempora distulit irae
horriferamque oculis animoque obiecit Erinyn

it has been extinguished, and one night seizes a hundred eyes.
Saturnia takes these and, with the feathers of her own bird, places them and fills the tail with stellar gems.
straightway she blazed up nor did she defer the times of her wrath,
and she set a horrific Erinys before her eyes and mind.

725

paelicis Argolicae stimulosque in pectore caecos
condidit et profugam per totum exercuit orbem.
ultimus inmenso restabas, Nile, labori;
quem simulac tetigit, positisque in margine ripae
procubuit genibus resupinoque ardua collo,

of the Argolic concubine, and she buried blind goads in her breast and drove the fugitive through the whole world.
You, Nile, remained last for the immense labor;
whom, as soon as she touched, and with her knees set on the margin of the bank,
she sank down, and, towering, with her neck thrown back,

730

quos potuit solos, tollens ad sidera vultus
et gemitu et lacrimis et luctisono mugitu
cum Iove visa queri finemque orare malorum.
coniugis ille suae conplexus colla lacertis,
finiat ut poenas tandem, rogat 'in' que 'futurum

lifting to the stars the only things she could—her face—
both with a groan and with tears and with a lugubrious-sounding lowing
she seemed to complain to Jove and to pray for an end to her evils.
he, having embraced his spouse’s neck with his arms,
asks that she at last finish the penalties, and for the future

735

pone metus' inquit: 'numquam tibi causa doloris
haec erit,' et Stygias iubet hoc audire paludes.
Ut lenita dea est, vultus capit illa priores
fitque, quod ante fuit: fugiunt e corpore saetae,
cornua decrescunt, fit luminis artior orbis,

‘put aside fear,’ he says: ‘never will this be a cause of sorrow to you,’ and he bids the Stygian marshes to hear this.
When the goddess is softened, she takes her prior visage
and becomes what she was before: bristles flee from her body,
the horns decrease, the orb of light (the eye) becomes narrower,

740

contrahitur rictus, redeunt umerique manusque,
ungulaque in quinos dilapsa absumitur ungues:
de bove nil superest formae nisi candor in illa.
officioque pedum nymphe contenta duorum
erigitur metuitque loqui, ne more iuvencae

her gape is contracted, and her shoulders and hands return,
and the hoof, dissolved into five nails, is absorbed;
of the cow nothing of the form remains save the whiteness in her.
and the nymph, content with the office of two feet,
is raised upright and fears to speak, lest she, after the manner of a heifer, low

745

mugiat, et timide verba intermissa retemptat.
Nunc dea linigera colitur celeberrima turba.
huic Epaphus magni genitus de semine tandem
creditur esse Iovis perque urbes iuncta parenti
templa tenet. fuit huic animis aequalis et annis

lest she might low, and timidly she reattempts words that were interrupted.
Now the goddess is worshiped, most celebrated, by the linen‑bearing throng.
to her Epaphus, begotten at last from the seed of great Jove,
is believed to be of Jove, and through the cities he holds temples joined to his parent;
he holds temples. To him there was an equal in spirit and in years

750

Sole satus Phaethon, quem quondam magna loquentem
nec sibi cedentem Phoeboque parente superbum
non tulit Inachides 'matri' que ait 'omnia demens
credis et es tumidus genitoris imagine falsi.'
erubuit Phaethon iramque pudore repressit

Sun-begotten Phaethon, whom once, speaking great things,
and not yielding to him, and proud with Phoebus as parent,
the Inachid did not endure, and he said, 'to your mother
you, demented, believe everything, and you are swollen by the image of a false genitor.'
Phaethon blushed and repressed his anger with shame.

755

et tulit ad Clymenen Epaphi convicia matrem
'quo' que 'magis doleas, genetrix' ait, 'ille ego liber,
ille ferox tacui! pudet haec opprobria nobis
et dici potuisse et non potuisse refelli.
at tu, si modo sum caelesti stirpe creatus,

and he brought to Clymene, mother of Epaphus, the insults
and, 'that you may grieve the more, mother,' he says, 'I—that freeborn one,
I, fierce, kept silent! I am ashamed that these reproaches
both could have been spoken and could not have been refuted.
but you, if indeed I am begotten from celestial stock,

760

ede notam tanti generis meque adsere caelo!'
dixit et inplicuit materno bracchia collo
perque suum Meropisque caput taedasque sororum
traderet oravit veri sibi signa parentis.
ambiguum Clymene precibus Phaethontis an ira

“bring forth the mark of so great a lineage and assert me to heaven!”
he said, and entwined his arms around his maternal neck,
and, by her own head and by Merops’s head and the torches of her sisters,
he implored that she would hand over to him tokens of his true parent.
Clymene, uncertain whether by Phaethon’s prayers or by anger,

765

mota magis dicti sibi criminis utraque caelo
bracchia porrexit spectansque ad lumina solis
'per iubar hoc' inquit 'radiis insigne coruscis,
nate, tibi iuro, quod nos auditque videtque,
hoc te, quem spectas, hoc te, qui temperat orbem,

more moved by the charge said against herself, she stretched both her arms to the sky
and, gazing toward the lights of the sun,
'by this luster,' she said, 'distinguished with coruscating rays,
son, to you I swear, which both hears and sees us,
by this one—him whom you behold, by this one—him who tempers the orb,

770

Sole satum; si ficta loquor, neget ipse videndum
se mihi, sitque oculis lux ista novissima nostris!
nec longus labor est patrios tibi nosse penates.
unde oritur, domus est terrae contermina nostrae:
si modo fert animus, gradere et scitabere ab ipso!'

Sun-begotten; if I speak feigned things, may he himself refuse to be seen by me, and let that light be the very last for our eyes!
nor is it a long labor for you to know your ancestral Penates.
whence he rises, his house is conterminous with our land:
if only your spirit bears it, go and you will learn by inquiry from himself!'

775

emicat extemplo laetus post talia matris
dicta suae Phaethon et concipit aethera mente
Aethiopasque suos positosque sub ignibus Indos
sidereis transit patriosque adit inpiger ortus.

At once, happy after such words of his mother, Phaethon leaps forth
and conceives the aether in his mind;
and his Ethiopians and the Indians placed beneath the sidereal fires
he passes, and, unwearying, he approaches the paternal risings.