Ovid: METAMORPHOSES

Regia Solis erat sublimibus alta columnis,
clara micante auro flammasque imitante pyropo,
cuius ebur nitidum fastigia summa tegebat,
argenti bifores radiabant lumine valvae.
materiam superabat opus: nam Mulciber illic

The palace of the Sun was high with lofty columns,
bright with glittering gold and with pyrope imitating flames,
whose shining ivory covered the highest pediments,
the two-leaved valves of silver were radiating with light.
the workmanship surpassed the material: for Mulciber there

aequora caelarat medias cingentia terras
terrarumque orbem caelumque, quod imminet orbi.
caeruleos habet unda deos, Tritona canorum
Proteaque ambiguum ballaenarumque prementem
Aegaeona suis inmania terga lacertis

he had engraved the seas encircling the lands in the middle,
and the orb of the lands and the heaven which overhangs the orb.
the wave holds the cerulean gods, canorous triton,
and proteus the ambiguous, and aegaeon pressing
the immense backs of the whales with his own arms

Doridaque et natas, quarum pars nare videtur,
pars in mole sedens viridis siccare capillos,
pisce vehi quaedam: facies non omnibus una,
non diversa tamen, qualem decet esse sororum.
terra viros urbesque gerit silvasque ferasque

Doris too and her daughters, of whom a part seem to swim,
a part, sitting on a mole, to dry their green tresses,
some to be carried by a fish: the visage is not one for all,
nor yet diverse, such as it befits sisters to be.
the earth bears men and cities and forests and wild beasts

fluminaque et nymphas et cetera numina ruris.
haec super inposita est caeli fulgentis imago,
signaque sex foribus dextris totidemque sinistris.
Quo simul adclivi Clymeneia limite proles
venit et intravit dubitati tecta parentis,

and the rivers and nymphs and the other numina of the countryside.
Above these is set the image of the shining heaven,
and six signs on the right-hand doors and just as many on the left.
To which, as soon as the Clymenian offspring by the acclivous path
came and entered the house of his doubted parent,

protinus ad patrios sua fert vestigia vultus
consistitque procul; neque enim propiora ferebat
lumina: purpurea velatus veste sedebat
in solio Phoebus claris lucente smaragdis.
a dextra laevaque Dies et Mensis et Annus

straightway he bears his footsteps toward the paternal visage,
and he stands at a distance; for his eyes did not endure anything nearer;
Phoebus, veiled in a purple garment, was sitting
on a throne shining with bright emeralds.
on the right and on the left, Day and Month and Year

Saeculaque et positae spatiis aequalibus Horae
Verque novum stabat cinctum florente corona,
stabat nuda Aestas et spicea serta gerebat,
stabat et Autumnus calcatis sordidus uvis
et glacialis Hiems canos hirsuta capillos.

and the Ages and the Hours, placed at equal intervals,
and new Spring stood, girded with a flowering crown,
naked Summer stood and bore garlands of ears of grain,
Autumn too stood, dirty with grapes having been trodden,
and icy Winter, shaggy with hoary hairs.

Ipse loco medius rerum novitate paventem
Sol oculis iuvenem, quibus adspicit omnia, vidit
'quae' que 'viae tibi causa? quid hac' ait 'arce petisti,
progenies, Phaethon, haud infitianda parenti?'
ille refert: 'o lux inmensi publica mundi,

He himself, in the middle of the place, trembling at the novelty of things,
the Sun saw the youth with the eyes with which he beholds all things,
and said: 'What is the cause of your way? What have you sought in this citadel,
offspring, Phaethon, not to be denied by your parent?'
He replies: 'O public light of the immense world,'

Phoebe pater, si das usum mihi nominis huius,
nec falsa Clymene culpam sub imagine celat,
pignora da, genitor, per quae tua vera propago
credar, et hunc animis errorem detrahe nostris!'
dixerat, at genitor circum caput omne micantes

Father Phoebus, if you grant to me the use of this name,
and Clymene does not conceal a fault under a false semblance,
give pledges, begetter, by which I may be believed your true progeny,
and strip this error from our minds!'
He had spoken, but the begetter around his whole head flashing

deposuit radios propiusque accedere iussit
amplexuque dato 'nec tu meus esse negari
dignus es, et Clymene veros' ait 'edidit ortus,
quoque minus dubites, quodvis pete munus, ut illud
me tribuente feras! promissi testis adesto

he laid aside his rays and ordered him to come closer,
and, an embrace having been given, said: 'Nor do you deserve that it be denied that you are mine,
and Clymene has brought forth true birth; and so that you may doubt the less, ask for whatever gift,
that you may carry it off with me bestowing it! Let the witness of the promise be present

dis iuranda palus, oculis incognita nostris!'
vix bene desierat, currus rogat ille paternos
inque diem alipedum ius et moderamen equorum.
Paenituit iurasse patrem: qui terque quaterque
concutiens inlustre caput 'temeraria' dixit

'the marsh to be sworn by of the gods, unknown to our eyes!'
he had scarcely well ceased, when he asks for the paternal chariot
and for the day the right and the governance of the wing‑footed horses.
It repented the father of having sworn: who, thrice and four times
shaking his illustrious head, said, 'rash one'

'vox mea facta tua est; utinam promissa liceret
non dare! confiteor, solum hoc tibi, nate, negarem.
dissuadere licet: non est tua tuta voluntas!
magna petis, Phaethon, et quae nec viribus istis
munera conveniant nec tam puerilibus annis:

'my voice has been made yours; would that it were permitted not to give the promises!
I confess, this one thing to you, son, I would deny.
I am allowed to dissuade: your will is not safe!
you seek great things, Phaethon, and gifts which neither suit those powers
nor such puerile years:'

sors tua mortalis, non est mortale, quod optas.
plus etiam, quam quod superis contingere possit,
nescius adfectas; placeat sibi quisque licebit,
non tamen ignifero quisquam consistere in axe
me valet excepto; vasti quoque rector Olympi,

your lot is mortal; what you opt for is not mortal.
even more than what could come to pass for the gods above,
unknowing, you aspire; each may be pleased with himself, if he will,
yet no one is strong enough to stand upon the fire-bearing axle
me excepted; not even the ruler of vast Olympus,

qui fera terribili iaculatur fulmina dextra,
non agat hos currus: et quid Iove maius habemus?
ardua prima via est et qua vix mane recentes
enituntur equi; medio est altissima caelo,
unde mare et terras ipsi mihi saepe videre

he who with his terrible right hand hurls savage thunderbolts,
let not him drive this chariot: and what greater than Jove do we have?
the first way is steep, and on it at dawn the fresh
horses scarcely struggle upward; in the midst it is highest in the sky,
whence I myself have often seen the sea and the lands

fit timor et pavida trepidat formidine pectus;
ultima prona via est et eget moderamine certo:
tunc etiam quae me subiectis excipit undis,
ne ferar in praeceps, Tethys solet ipsa vereri.
adde, quod adsidua rapitur vertigine caelum

fear arises and my breast trembles with timorous dread;
the last stretch of the way is sloping downward and needs a sure steering:
then even she who receives me with the waves lying beneath,
lest I be borne headlong, Tethys herself is wont to fear.
add, too, that the heaven is swept along by assiduous vertigo

sideraque alta trahit celerique volumine torquet.
nitor in adversum, nec me, qui cetera, vincit
inpetus, et rapido contrarius evehor orbi.
finge datos currus: quid ages?

and he draws the high stars and twists them with a swift revolution.
I strive against the adverse, nor does the impetus, which conquers the rest, vanquish me,
and I am borne contrary to the rapid orb.
suppose the chariot were granted: what will you do?

poterisne rotatis
obvius ire polis, ne te citus auferat axis?

will you be able to go to meet the rotating poles, lest the swift axis carry you off?
will you be able to go to meet, lest the swift axis carry you off?

forsitan et lucos illic urbesque deorum
concipias animo delubraque ditia donis
esse: per insidias iter est formasque ferarum!
utque viam teneas nulloque errore traharis,
per tamen adversi gradieris cornua tauri

perhaps even there you may conceive in your mind the groves and the cities of the gods,
and shrines rich with gifts to be: the journey is through ambushes and the forms of wild beasts!
and so that you may keep the way and be drawn by no error,
yet you will walk between the horns of an adverse bull

Haemoniosque arcus violentique ora Leonis
saevaque circuitu curvantem bracchia longo
Scorpion atque aliter curvantem bracchia Cancrum.
nec tibi quadripedes animosos ignibus illis,
quos in pectore habent, quos ore et naribus efflant,

Haemonian bows and the violent jaws of the Lion,
and the savage Scorpion bending its arms in a long circuit,
and the Crab bending its arms in a different way.
nor let the high-spirited quadrupeds, with those fires,
which they have in their breast, which they blow out from mouth and nostrils,

in promptu regere est: vix me patiuntur, ubi acres
incaluere animi cervixque repugnat habenis.—
at tu, funesti ne sim tibi muneris auctor,
nate, cave, dum resque sinit tua corrige vota!
scilicet ut nostro genitum te sanguine credas,

To govern them is easy—in theory: they scarcely endure even me, when their sharp spirits have heated up and the neck resists the reins.—
But you, lest I be to you the author of a funereal gift,
son, beware; while the matter still permits, correct your vows!
No doubt in order that you may believe yourself begotten from my blood,

pignora certa petis: do pignora certa timendo
et patrio pater esse metu probor. adspice vultus
ecce meos; utinamque oculos in pectora posses
inserere et patrias intus deprendere curas!
denique quidquid habet dives, circumspice, mundus

You seek sure pledges: I give sure pledges by my fearing,
and by paternal fear I am proven to be a father. Look upon—behold—my features;
and would that you could insert eyes into my breast
and apprehend within the paternal cares!
Finally, whatever the rich world possesses, look around

eque tot ac tantis caeli terraeque marisque
posce bonis aliquid; nullam patiere repulsam.
deprecor hoc unum, quod vero nomine poena,
non honor est: poenam, Phaethon, pro munere poscis!
quid mea colla tenes blandis, ignare, lacertis?

and from so many and so great goods of heaven and earth and sea ask for something; you will suffer no refusal.
I beg off this one thing, which by its true name is a punishment, not an honor: a punishment, Phaethon, you ask for as a gift!
why do you hold my neck with soothing, ignorant one, arms?

100

ne dubita! dabitur (Stygias iuravimus undas),
quodcumque optaris; sed tu sapientius opta!'
Finierat monitus; dictis tamen ille repugnat
propositumque premit flagratque cupidine currus.
ergo, qua licuit, genitor cunctatus ad altos

Do not doubt! It shall be given (I have sworn by the Stygian waves),
whatever you may choose; but you, choose more wisely!'
He had finished his admonitions; yet he resists the words
and he presses his purpose and burns with desire for the chariot.
therefore, so far as it was permitted, the father, hesitating, to the lofty

105

deducit iuvenem, Vulcania munera, currus.
aureus axis erat, temo aureus, aurea summae
curvatura rotae, radiorum argenteus ordo;
per iuga chrysolithi positaeque ex ordine gemmae
clara repercusso reddebant lumina Phoebo.

he leads down the youth, the Vulcanian gifts, the chariot.
the axle was golden, the pole golden, golden the curvature
of the wheel’s topmost rim, the silver array of the spokes;
along the yokes were chrysolites, and gems set in order,
giving back bright lights with Phoebus reflected.

110

Dumque ea magnanimus Phaethon miratur opusque
perspicit, ecce vigil nitido patefecit ab ortu
purpureas Aurora fores et plena rosarum
atria: diffugiunt stellae, quarum agmina cogit
Lucifer et caeli statione novissimus exit.

And while the magnanimous Phaethon marvels at these things and inspects the work,
behold, wakeful Aurora from the shining Orient laid open the purple doors and the atria full of roses;
the stars scatter, whose ranks Lucifer marshals, and, last, he departs from his station in the sky.

115

Quem petere ut terras mundumque rubescere vidit
cornuaque extremae velut evanescere lunae,
iungere equos Titan velocibus imperat Horis.
iussa deae celeres peragunt ignemque vomentes,
ambrosiae suco saturos, praesepibus altis

When he saw her approaching the lands and the world redden,
and the horns of the extreme moon, as it were, vanish,
the Titan orders the swift Hours to yoke the horses.
The swift ones carry out the goddess’s commands and lead out the fire-spewing team,
sated with the juice of ambrosia, from their lofty mangers.

120

quadripedes ducunt adduntque sonantia frena.
tum pater ora sui sacro medicamine nati
contigit et rapidae fecit patientia flammae
inposuitque comae radios praesagaque luctus
pectore sollicito repetens suspiria dixit:

the four-footed team draws in and they add the resounding bridles.
then the father touched the face of his own son with sacred medicament
and made it patient to the rapid flame,
and he set the rays upon his hair, and, presaging grief,
from an anxious breast repeating sighs he said:

125

'si potes his saltem monitis parere parentis
parce, puer, stimulis et fortius utere loris!
sponte sua properant, labor est inhibere volentes.
nec tibi derectos placeat via quinque per arcus!
sectus in obliquum est lato curvamine limes,

'if you can at least obey these admonitions of your parent,
spare, boy, the goads, and use the reins more firmly!
of their own accord they hasten; the labor is to rein in the willing.
nor let the way direct through the five arcs please you!
the track is cut obliquely with a broad curvature,

130

zonarumque trium contentus fine polumque
effugit australem iunctamque aquilonibus arcton:
hac sit iter—manifesta rotae vestigia cernes—
utque ferant aequos et caelum et terra calores,
nec preme nec summum molire per aethera currum!

and be content with the boundary of the three zones, and shun the austral pole and the Bear joined to the north winds:
let this be the path—you will discern the manifest tracks of the wheel—
and so that both heaven and earth may bear even heats,
neither press down nor strive to drive the chariot through the topmost aether!

135

altius egressus caelestia tecta cremabis,
inferius terras; medio tutissimus ibis.
neu te dexterior tortum declinet ad Anguem,
neve sinisterior pressam rota ducat ad Aram,
inter utrumque tene! Fortunae cetera mando,

going out higher you will burn the celestial roofs, lower, the lands; in the middle you will go most safely.
nor let the more right-hand side deflect you, twisted, toward the Serpent, nor let the more left-hand side lead your pressed-down wheel toward the Altar,
hold between both! I entrust the rest to Fortune,

140

quae iuvet et melius quam tu tibi consulat opto.
dum loquor, Hesperio positas in litore metas
umida nox tetigit; non est mora libera nobis!
poscimur: effulget tenebris Aurora fugatis.
corripe lora manu, vel, si mutabile pectus

whom I wish may help and counsel you better than you yourself do.
while I speak, dewy Night has touched the goals set on the Hesperian shore;
there is no free delay for us!
we are summoned: Aurora shines out, the darkness put to flight.
seize the reins with your hand, or, if your heart is mutable

145

est tibi, consiliis, non curribus utere nostris!
dum potes et solidis etiamnum sedibus adstas,
dumque male optatos nondum premis inscius axes,
quae tutus spectes, sine me dare lumina terris!'
Occupat ille levem iuvenali corpore currum

It is for you: use my counsels, not my chariots!
while you can and still stand upon solid seats,
and while, unknowing, you do not yet press the ill‑desired axles,
allow me to give light to the lands which you may safely behold!'
He seizes the light chariot with his juvenile body

150

statque super manibusque leves contingere habenas
gaudet et invito grates agit inde parenti.
Interea volucres Pyrois et Eous et Aethon,
Solis equi, quartusque Phlegon hinnitibus auras
flammiferis inplent pedibusque repagula pulsant.

and he stands upright and rejoices to touch the light reins with his hands, and then gives thanks to his unwilling parent.
Meanwhile swift Pyrois and Eous and Aethon,
the horses of Sol, and the fourth, Phlegon, fill the breezes with fiery neighings
and with their feet they beat upon the barriers.

155

quae postquam Tethys, fatorum ignara nepotis,
reppulit, et facta est inmensi copia caeli,
corripuere viam pedibusque per aera motis
obstantes scindunt nebulas pennisque levati
praetereunt ortos isdem de partibus Euros.

which, after Tethys, ignorant of her grandson’s fates, had pushed back, and there was access to the immense sky,
they seized the way, and with their feet moved through the air
they cleave the clouds that stand in the way, and, lifted by their wings,
they pass by the East-winds, the Eurus-winds, born from the same quarters.

160

sed leve pondus erat nec quod cognoscere possent
Solis equi, solitaque iugum gravitate carebat;
utque labant curvae iusto sine pondere naves
perque mare instabiles nimia levitate feruntur,
sic onere adsueto vacuus dat in aera saltus

but the weight was light, nor such as the Sun’s horses could recognize,
and the yoke lacked its accustomed gravity;
and just as curved ships wobble without proper weight
and across the sea are borne unstable by excessive levity,
so, empty of the accustomed burden, it gives leaps into the air

165

succutiturque alte similisque est currus inani.
Quod simulac sensere, ruunt tritumque relinquunt
quadriiugi spatium nec quo prius ordine currunt.
ipse pavet nec qua commissas flectat habenas
nec scit qua sit iter, nec, si sciat, imperet illis.

and it is shaken on high, and the chariot is like an empty one.
Which as soon as they sensed, they rush and leave the beaten space,
the four-yoked team, nor do they run in the order as before.
he himself is afeared and knows not where to bend the entrusted reins,
nor does he know where the way is, nor, if he did know, would he command them.

170

tum primum radiis gelidi caluere Triones
et vetito frustra temptarunt aequore tingui,
quaeque polo posita est glaciali proxima Serpens,
frigore pigra prius nec formidabilis ulli,
incaluit sumpsitque novas fervoribus iras;

then for the first time the chilly Triones grew warm by the rays
and in vain they tried to be dipped in the forbidden sea,
and the Serpent, which is set nearest the glacial pole,
previously sluggish with cold and formidable to no one,
grew hot and took on new rages with the fervors;

175

te quoque turbatum memorant fugisse, Boote,
quamvis tardus eras et te tua plaustra tenebant.
Ut vero summo despexit ab aethere terras
infelix Phaethon penitus penitusque iacentes,
palluit et subito genua intremuere timore

they also recount that you, disturbed, fled, Boötes,
although you were slow and your wagons were holding you.
But when indeed from the highest aether he looked down upon the lands,
unhappy Phaëthon lying deep, deep down,
he grew pale, and suddenly his knees trembled with fear

180

suntque oculis tenebrae per tantum lumen obortae,
et iam mallet equos numquam tetigisse paternos,
iam cognosse genus piget et valuisse rogando,
iam Meropis dici cupiens ita fertur, ut acta
praecipiti pinus borea, cui victa remisit

suntque darkness to his eyes have arisen through so great a lumen,
and now he would rather never have touched the paternal horses,
now it irks him to have known his genus and to have prevailed by begging,
now desiring to be called of Merops, thus he is carried, as a pine-ship
driven by the headlong Boreas, to which, vanquished, he has relinquished

185

frena suus rector, quam dis votisque reliquit.
quid faciat? multum caeli post terga relictum,
ante oculos plus est: animo metitur utrumque
et modo, quos illi fatum contingere non est,
prospicit occasus, interdum respicit ortus,

the reins his own helmsman has released, though he has left it to the gods and to prayers.
What should he do? Much of the sky has been left behind his back,
before his eyes there is more: with his mind he measures both
and now he looks out upon the settings, which it is not his fate to attain,
at times he looks back at the risings,

190

quidque agat ignarus stupet et nec frena remittit
nec retinere valet nec nomina novit equorum.
sparsa quoque in vario passim miracula caelo
vastarumque videt trepidus simulacra ferarum.
est locus, in geminos ubi bracchia concavat arcus

and, ignorant of what he should do, he is stupefied, and neither remits the reins
nor is he able to retain them, nor does he know the names of the horses.
also the marvels scattered everywhere in the variegated sky
and, trembling, he sees the simulacra of vast wild beasts.
there is a place, where the arms hollow into twin arches

195

Scorpius et cauda flexisque utrimque lacertis
porrigit in spatium signorum membra duorum:
hunc puer ut nigri madidum sudore veneni
vulnera curvata minitantem cuspide vidit,
mentis inops gelida formidine lora remisit.

The Scorpion, with tail and with its arms bent on both sides,
stretches its limbs into the span of two signs;
when the boy saw this one, dripping with the black sweat of venom,
threatening wounds with its curved sting,
bereft of mind, with icy dread he let go the reins.

200

Quae postquam summum tetigere iacentia tergum,
exspatiantur equi nulloque inhibente per auras
ignotae regionis eunt, quaque inpetus egit,
hac sine lege ruunt altoque sub aethere fixis
incursant stellis rapiuntque per avia currum

After the reins, lying slack, had touched the top of his back,
the horses exspatiate, and with no one inhibiting, through the air
they go into an unknown region, and wherever impetus drove them,
thither without law they rush, and on the stars fixed beneath the high ether
they collide, and they snatch the chariot through pathless places

205

et modo summa petunt, modo per declive viasque
praecipites spatio terrae propiore feruntur,
inferiusque suis fraternos currere Luna
admiratur equos, ambustaque nubila fumant.
corripitur flammis, ut quaeque altissima, tellus

and now they seek the heights, now down the declivity and the ways
headlong they are borne, with the space of the earth nearer,
and Luna marvels that the fraternal horses are running
beneath her own, and the scorched clouds smoke.
the earth is seized by flames, as whatever is most lofty,

210

fissaque agit rimas et sucis aret ademptis;
pabula canescunt, cum frondibus uritur arbor,
materiamque suo praebet seges arida damno.
parva queror: magnae pereunt cum moenibus urbes,
cumque suis totas populis incendia gentis

and, split, it drives fissures and, with juices taken away, it is parched;
the fodders grow hoary, as the tree is burned with its leaves,
and the arid crop offers material (fuel) to its own loss.
I complain of small things: great cities perish with their walls,
and conflagrations consume whole nations along with their peoples

215

in cinerem vertunt; silvae cum montibus ardent;
ardet Athos Taurusque Cilix et Tmolus et Oete
et tum sicca, prius creberrima fontibus, Ide
virgineusque Helicon et nondum Oeagrius Haemus:
ardet in inmensum geminatis ignibus Aetne

they turn into cinders; forests burn along with the mountains;
Athos burns and the Cilician Taurus and Tmolus and Oete,
and Ida, then dry, previously most crowded with springs,
and maiden Helicon and Haemus not yet Oeagrian:
Aetna burns boundlessly with twinned fires

220

Parnasosque biceps et Eryx et Cynthus et Othrys
et tandem nivibus Rhodope caritura Mimasque
Dindymaque et Mycale natusque ad sacra Cithaeron.
nec prosunt Scythiae sua frigora: Caucasus ardet
Ossaque cum Pindo maiorque ambobus Olympus

and twin-peaked Parnassus and Eryx and Cynthus and Othrys
and at last Rhodope destined to be without snows, and Mimas
and Dindyma and Mycale and Cithaeron born for sacred rites.
nor do Scythia’s own colds avail: Caucasus burns,
Ossa together with Pindus, and Olympus greater than both

225

aeriaeque Alpes et nubifer Appenninus.
Tum vero Phaethon cunctis e partibus orbem
adspicit accensum nec tantos sustinet aestus
ferventisque auras velut e fornace profunda
ore trahit currusque suos candescere sentit;

and the airy Alps and the cloud-bearing Apennine.
Then indeed Phaethon from all parts beholds the orb inflamed
and does not sustain such great heats,
and the fervent breezes, as if from a deep furnace,
he draws with his mouth, and he feels his chariots grow white-hot;

230

et neque iam cineres eiectatamque favillam
ferre potest calidoque involvitur undique fumo,
quoque eat aut ubi sit, picea caligine tectus
nescit et arbitrio volucrum raptatur equorum.
Sanguine tum credunt in corpora summa vocato

and now he can no longer bear the cinders and the flung-out ash,
and he is wrapped on every side in hot smoke,
and where he should go or where he is, covered in pitch-black gloom,
he does not know, and he is snatched along at the will of the fleet horses.
Then they believe that, with blood summoned into the uppermost parts of the bodies,

235

Aethiopum populos nigrum traxisse colorem;
tum facta est Libye raptis umoribus aestu
arida, tum nymphae passis fontesque lacusque
deflevere comis; quaerit Boeotia Dircen,
Argos Amymonen, Ephyre Pirenidas undas;

The peoples of the Ethiopians drew a black complexion;
then Libya, her moistures snatched away by heat, was made arid,
then the nymphs, with hair let loose, wept for the springs and the lakes;
Boeotia seeks Dirce, Argos Amymone, Ephyre the Pirenian waters;

240

nec sortita loco distantes flumina ripas
tuta manent: mediis Tanais fumavit in undis
Peneosque senex Teuthranteusque Caicus
et celer Ismenos cum Phegiaco Erymantho
arsurusque iterum Xanthos flavusque Lycormas,

nor do the rivers, allotted banks far apart in place, remain safe:
the Tanais smoked in its mid-waves,
and old Peneus and the Teuthrantean Caicus,
and swift Ismenus with Phegian Erymanthus,
and Xanthus, about to burn again, and blond Lycormas,

245

quique recurvatis ludit Maeandros in undis,
Mygdoniusque Melas et Taenarius Eurotas.
arsit et Euphrates Babylonius, arsit Orontes
Thermodonque citus Gangesque et Phasis et Hister;
aestuat Alpheos, ripae Spercheides ardent,

and the Maeander that plays in its recurved waves,
and the Mygdonian Melas and the Taenarian Eurotas.
the Babylonian Euphrates burned, the Orontes burned,
and the swift Thermodon and the Ganges and the Phasis and the Hister;
Alpheus seethes, the Spercheian banks burn,

250

quodque suo Tagus amne vehit, fluit ignibus aurum,
et, quae Maeonias celebrabant carmine ripas
flumineae volucres, medio caluere Caystro;
Nilus in extremum fugit perterritus orbem
occuluitque caput, quod adhuc latet: ostia septem

and the gold which the Tagus carries in its own stream flows with fires,
and the riverine birds, who celebrated the Maeonian banks with song,
grew hot in mid Cayster; the Nile, terrified, fled to the world’s extremity
and hid its head, which still lies hidden: seven mouths

255

pulverulenta vacant, septem sine flumine valles.
fors eadem Ismarios Hebrum cum Strymone siccat
Hesperiosque amnes, Rhenum Rhodanumque Padumque
cuique fuit rerum promissa potentia, Thybrin.
dissilit omne solum, penetratque in Tartara rimis

the dusty mouths lie empty, seven valleys without a river.
the same Fortune dries the Ismarian Hebrus with the Strymon,
and the Hesperian streams, the Rhine and the Rhone and the Po,
and the Tiber, to whom the power over the world had been promised.
all the ground bursts asunder, and through the cracks it penetrates into Tartarus

260

lumen et infernum terret cum coniuge regem;
et mare contrahitur siccaeque est campus harenae,
quod modo pontus erat, quosque altum texerat aequor,
exsistunt montes et sparsas Cycladas augent.
ima petunt pisces, nec se super aequora curvi

it terrifies the light and the infernal king with his consort;
and the sea is contracted and is a plain of dry sand,
what just now was the sea, and those which the deep had covered,
mountains emerge and augment the scattered Cyclades.
the fish seek the depths, nor do the curved ones show themselves above the waters

265

tollere consuetas audent delphines in auras;
corpora phocarum summo resupina profundo
exanimata natant: ipsum quoque Nerea fama est
Doridaque et natas tepidis latuisse sub antris.
ter Neptunus aquis cum torvo bracchia vultu

nor do the curved dolphins dare to lift themselves into their accustomed airs;
the bodies of the seals, upturned on the surface of the deep, float lifeless:
it is the report that Nereus himself too, and Doris and their daughters, have lain hidden beneath tepid caves.
thrice Neptune, with a grim visage, his arms from the waters

270

exserere ausus erat, ter non tulit aeris ignes.
Alma tamen Tellus, ut erat circumdata ponto,
inter aquas pelagi contractosque undique fontes,
qui se condiderant in opacae viscera matris,
sustulit oppressos collo tenus arida vultus

had dared to thrust out his arms; three times he did not endure the fires of the air.
Yet Nourishing Tellus, as she was surrounded by the sea,
among the waters of the pelagic deep and the springs contracted on every side,
which had hidden themselves in the opaque viscera of their mother,
lifted her oppressed face, dry up to the neck

275

opposuitque manum fronti magnoque tremore
omnia concutiens paulum subsedit et infra,
quam solet esse, fuit fractaque ita voce locuta est:
'si placet hoc meruique, quid o tua fulmina cessant,
summe deum? liceat periturae viribus ignis

and she set her hand to her forehead, and with great trembling
shaking all things, she settled a little and was lower,
than she is wont to be, and with a broken voice thus she spoke:
'if this pleases and i have deserved it, why, o, do your thunderbolts delay,
highest of the gods? let it be permitted to one about to perish, by the powers of fire

280

igne perire tuo clademque auctore levare!
vix equidem fauces haec ipsa in verba resolvo';
(presserat ora vapor) 'tostos en adspice crines
inque oculis tantum, tantum super ora favillae!
hosne mihi fructus, hunc fertilitatis honorem

to perish by your fire and to lighten the calamity by its author!
scarcely indeed do I loosen my throat into these very words';
(the vapor had pressed upon my mouth) 'behold my scorched locks
and in my eyes only, only cinders above my face!
are these the fruits for me, this honor of fertility

285

officiique refers, quod adunci vulnera aratri
rastrorumque fero totoque exerceor anno,
quod pecori frondes alimentaque mitia, fruges
humano generi, vobis quoque tura ministro?
sed tamen exitium fac me meruisse: quid undae,

and do you repay my duty thus, that I bear the wounds of the hooked plough and of the rakes, and am exercised the whole year, that I provide for the flock foliage and gentle aliments, crops for the human race, and to you as well I minister incense? But yet, suppose that I have merited destruction: what have the waters done,

290

quid meruit frater? cur illi tradita sorte
aequora decrescunt et ab aethere longius absunt?
quodsi nec fratris nec te mea gratia tangit,
at caeli miserere tui!

what has my brother merited? why do the seas assigned by lot to him recede and stand farther away from the aether?
but if neither my brother nor you are touched by my grace, yet have mercy on your own heaven!

circumspice utrumque:
fumat uterque polus! quos si vitiaverit ignis,

Look around at both:
both poles smoke! which, if fire vitiates,

295

atria vestra ruent! Atlas en ipse laborat
vixque suis umeris candentem sustinet axem!
si freta, si terrae pereunt, si regia caeli,
in chaos antiquum confundimur!

your atria will collapse! Atlas—behold!—himself labors and scarcely with his own shoulders sustains the glowing axis!
if the seas, if the lands perish, if the palace of heaven,
into ancient Chaos we are confounded!

eripe flammis,
si quid adhuc superest, et rerum consule summae!'

snatch from the flames,
if anything still remains, and consult for the sum of things!'

300

Dixerat haec Tellus: neque enim tolerare vaporem
ulterius potuit nec dicere plura suumque
rettulit os in se propioraque manibus antra;
at pater omnipotens, superos testatus et ipsum,
qui dederat currus, nisi opem ferat, omnia fato

Tellus had said these things: for she could not endure the heat
any further nor say more, and she drew back her face into herself
and the nearer caverns with her hands;
but the omnipotent father, having called to witness the gods above and the very one
who had given the chariot, [declared that] unless he bring help, all would be undone by fate

305

interitura gravi, summam petit arduus arcem,
unde solet nubes latis inducere terris,
unde movet tonitrus vibrataque fulmina iactat;
sed neque quas posset terris inducere nubes
tunc habuit, nec quos caelo demitteret imbres:

with all things about to perish by grievous doom, he, towering, seeks the highest citadel,
whence he is wont to induce clouds upon the broad lands,
whence he sets in motion the thunders and hurls the brandished thunderbolts;
but neither had he then the clouds which he could induce upon the lands,
nor the rains which he might send down from the sky:

310

intonat et dextra libratum fulmen ab aure
misit in aurigam pariterque animaque rotisque
expulit et saevis conpescuit ignibus ignes.
consternantur equi et saltu in contraria facto
colla iugo eripiunt abruptaque lora relinquunt:

he thunders, and from his right ear he sent a poised thunderbolt into the charioteer and drove him out at once from life and from his wheels, and with savage fires he checked the fires.
the horses are thrown into consternation, and with a leap made into the opposite direction they tear their necks from the yoke and leave the broken reins behind:

315

illic frena iacent, illic temone revulsus
axis, in hac radii fractarum parte rotarum
sparsaque sunt late laceri vestigia currus.
At Phaethon rutilos flamma populante capillos
volvitur in praeceps longoque per aera tractu

there the reins lie, there the axle wrenched from the pole, on this side the spokes of the broken wheels, and far and wide are scattered the torn vestiges of the chariot.
But Phaethon, as a flame is ravaging his rutilant hair,
is rolled headlong, and in a long tract through the air

320

fertur, ut interdum de caelo stella sereno
etsi non cecidit, potuit cecidisse videri.
quem procul a patria diverso maximus orbe
excipit Eridanus fumantiaque abluit ora.
Naides Hesperiae trifida fumantia flamma

it is told, that as sometimes from a serene sky a star
even if it has not fallen, could seem to have fallen.
him, far from his fatherland in a different orb,
the very great Eridanus receives and laves his smoking face.
the Hesperian Naiads, smoking with the three-forked flame

325

corpora dant tumulo, signant quoque carmine saxum:
hic : sitvs : est : phaethon : cvrrvs : avriga : paterni
qvem : si : non : tenvit : magnis : tamen : excidit : avsis
Nam pater obductos luctu miserabilis aegro
condiderat vultus, et, si modo credimus, unum

they give the body to a tomb, and they also mark the stone with a verse:
here : lies : phaethon : charioteer : of : his : father’s : chariot
whom : if : he : did : not : hold : yet : he : fell : by : great : ventures
For the father, miserable with sickly grief, had hidden his veiled features, and, if indeed we believe, one

330

isse diem sine sole ferunt: incendia lumen
praebebant aliquisque malo fuit usus in illo.
at Clymene postquam dixit, quaecumque fuerunt
in tantis dicenda malis, lugubris et amens
et laniata sinus totum percensuit orbem

they report that a day went by without the sun: the conflagrations provided light,
and even some use was in that evil. But Clymene, after she said whatever had to be said
in such great misfortunes, lugubrious and out of her mind,
and with her bosom torn, traversed the whole world

335

exanimesque artus primo, mox ossa requirens
repperit ossa tamen peregrina condita ripa
incubuitque loco nomenque in marmore lectum
perfudit lacrimis et aperto pectore fovit.
nec minus Heliades fletus et, inania morti

seeking first the lifeless limbs, soon the bones,
she found the bones, however, interred on a foreign bank,
and she lay upon the place and the name read on the marble
she drenched with tears and with open breast she warmed.
nor any the less did the Heliades weep, and—vain against death—

340

munera, dant lacrimas, et caesae pectora palmis
non auditurum miseras Phaethonta querellas
nocte dieque vocant adsternunturque sepulcro.
luna quater iunctis inplerat cornibus orbem;
illae more suo (nam morem fecerat usus)

gifts, they give tears, and their breasts beaten with their palms
they call Phaethon, not about to hear, to their wretched complaints
night and day they call and they are laid down at the sepulcher.
the moon four times filled the orb with her joined horns;
they in their custom (for use had made the custom)

345

plangorem dederant: e quis Phaethusa, sororum
maxima, cum vellet terra procumbere, questa est
deriguisse pedes; ad quam conata venire
candida Lampetie subita radice retenta est;
tertia, cum crinem manibus laniare pararet,

they had given lamentation: of whom Phaethusa, the eldest of the sisters,
when she wished to sink to the earth, complained that her feet had stiffened;
to whom, as she tried to come,
fair Lampetie was held back by a sudden root;
the third, when she was preparing to tear her hair with her hands,

350

avellit frondes; haec stipite crura teneri,
illa dolet fieri longos sua bracchia ramos,
dumque ea mirantur, conplectitur inguina cortex
perque gradus uterum pectusque umerosque manusque
ambit, et exstabant tantum ora vocantia matrem.

she plucks off fronds; this one complains that her legs are held by a trunk,
that one grieves that her arms are being made into long branches,
and while they marvel at these things, bark embraces their loins
and by degrees encircles the womb and the breast and the shoulders and the hands,
and only the mouths calling their mother were standing out.

355

quid faciat mater, nisi, quo trahat inpetus illam,
huc eat atque illuc et, dum licet, oscula iungat?
non satis est: truncis avellere corpora temptat
et teneros manibus ramos abrumpit, at inde
sanguineae manant tamquam de vulnere guttae.

What is the mother to do, except, whither impulse draws her, go here and there and, while it is permitted, join kisses?
It is not enough: she tries to tear the bodies from the trunks and with her hands breaks off the tender branches, but from there sanguineous drops flow as if from a wound.

360

'parce, precor, mater,' quaecumque est saucia, clamat,
'parce, precor: nostrum laceratur in arbore corpus
iamque vale'—cortex in verba novissima venit.
inde fluunt lacrimae, stillataque sole rigescunt
de ramis electra novis, quae lucidus amnis

'Spare me, I pray, mother,' whoever she is, wounded, cries,
'Spare me, I pray: our body is being torn on the tree,
and now farewell'—the bark comes upon the very last words.
Then tears flow, and, having dripped, they harden in the sun
from the new branches into electrum, which a shining river

365

excipit et nuribus mittit gestanda Latinis.
Adfuit huic monstro proles Stheneleia Cycnus,
qui tibi materno quamvis a sanguine iunctus,
mente tamen, Phaethon, propior fuit. ille relicto
(nam Ligurum populos et magnas rexerat urbes)

it receives and sends to Latin daughters-in-law to be carried.
Present at this portent was the Stheneleian progeny, Cycnus,
who to you, though joined by maternal blood,
yet in mind, Phaethon, was closer. He, leaving behind
(for he had ruled the peoples of the Ligurians and great cities)

370

imperio ripas virides amnemque querellis
Eridanum inplerat silvamque sororibus auctam,
cum vox est tenuata viro canaeque capillos
dissimulant plumae collumque a pectore longe
porrigitur digitosque ligat iunctura rubentis,

his rule abandoned, he was filling the green banks and the river Eridanus with laments, and the wood augmented by his sisters, when the man’s voice is attenuated and hoary plumes veil his hair, and his neck is stretched far from his breast, and the joint binds his reddening fingers,

375

penna latus velat, tenet os sine acumine rostrum.
fit nova Cycnus avis nec se caeloque Iovique
credit, ut iniuste missi memor ignis ab illo;
stagna petit patulosque lacus ignemque perosus
quae colat elegit contraria flumina flammis.

with a wing he veils his flank; his mouth holds a beak without a point.
Cycnus becomes a new bird and does not entrust himself to the sky and to Jove,
mindful that the fire sent by him was unjust;
he seeks pools and wide-open lakes, and, hating fire,
he chose to inhabit streams contrary to flames.

380

Squalidus interea genitor Phaethontis et expers
ipse sui decoris, qualis, cum deficit orbem,
esse solet, lucemque odit seque ipse diemque
datque animum in luctus et luctibus adicit iram
officiumque negat mundo. 'satis' inquit 'ab aevi

Meanwhile the squalid father of Phaethon, and bereft
himself of his own decor, such as, when he fails the orb,
he is wont to be, and he hates the light and both himself and the day,
and he gives his mind to griefs and adds ire to his griefs,
and denies his office to the world. 'Enough,' he says, 'from the age

385

sors mea principiis fuit inrequieta, pigetque
actorum sine fine mihi, sine honore laborum!
quilibet alter agat portantes lumina currus!
si nemo est omnesque dei non posse fatentur,
ipse agat ut saltem, dum nostras temptat habenas,

my fate was unquiet from the beginnings, and i am wearied of acts without end for me, of labors without honor!
let any other drive the chariot bearing the lights!
if there is no one and all the gods confess they cannot,
let him himself at least drive, while he tries our reins,

390

orbatura patres aliquando fulmina ponat!
tum sciet ignipedum vires expertus equorum
non meruisse necem, qui non bene rexerit illos.'
Talia dicentem circumstant omnia Solem
numina, neve velit tenebras inducere rebus,

let him lay down the thunderbolts that will someday bereave fathers!
then, having experienced the forces of the fire-footed horses,
he will know that he who has not well guided them has not deserved death.'
As he is saying such things, all the divinities surround the Sun,
and, lest he be willing to induce darkness upon things,

395

supplice voce rogant; missos quoque Iuppiter ignes
excusat precibusque minas regaliter addit.
colligit amentes et adhuc terrore paventes
Phoebus equos stimuloque dolens et verbere saevit
(saevit enim) natumque obiectat et inputat illis.

with a suppliant voice they beg; and Jupiter also excuses the fires he had sent, and to their prayers regally adds menaces.
Phoebus gathers the horses, mad and still quaking with terror,
and, grieving, he rages with goad and lash (for he does rage), and he reproaches them with his son and imputes it to them.

400

At pater omnipotens ingentia moenia caeli
circuit et, ne quid labefactum viribus ignis
corruat, explorat. quae postquam firma suique
roboris esse videt, terras hominumque labores
perspicit. Arcadiae tamen est inpensior illi

But the omnipotent father circuits the vast ramparts of heaven
and, lest anything shaken by the forces of fire should collapse, he explores.
When he sees that these are firm and of their own robustness,
he surveys the lands and the labors of men.
Nevertheless he is more intent upon Arcadia

405

cura suae: fontesque et nondum audentia labi
flumina restituit, dat terrae gramina, frondes
arboribus, laesasque iubet revirescere silvas.
dum redit itque frequens, in virgine Nonacrina
haesit, et accepti caluere sub ossibus ignes.

his care for his own: and he restored the springs and the rivers not yet daring to glide,
he gives grasses to the earth, leaves to the trees, and bids the injured forests to grow green again.
while he goes back and forth frequently, he stuck fast upon the Nonacrian maiden,
and the fires received grew hot beneath his bones.

410

non erat huius opus lanam mollire trahendo
nec positu variare comas; ubi fibula vestem,
vitta coercuerat neglectos alba capillos;
et modo leve manu iaculum, modo sumpserat arcum,
miles erat Phoebes: nec Maenalon attigit ulla

it was not this maiden’s task to soften wool by drawing it out,
nor to vary her hair by arrangement; where a brooch [held] the garment,
a white fillet had restrained her neglected hair;
and now a light javelin in hand, now she had taken up a bow,
she was a soldier of Phoebe: nor did any [other] touch Maenalus

415

gratior hac Triviae; sed nulla potentia longa est.
Ulterius medio spatium sol altus habebat,
cum subit illa nemus, quod nulla ceciderat aetas;
exuit hic umero pharetram lentosque retendit
arcus inque solo, quod texerat herba, iacebat

more pleasing than this to Trivia; but no potency is long-lasting.
Further on the high sun held the mid-space,
when she enters a grove, which no age had felled;
here she stripped from her shoulder her quiver and unstrung her pliant bow,
and on the soil, which the grass had covered, she was lying

420

et pictam posita pharetram cervice premebat.
Iuppiter ut vidit fessam et custode vacantem,
'hoc certe furtum coniunx mea nesciet' inquit,
'aut si rescierit, sunt, o sunt iurgia tanti!'
protinus induitur faciem cultumque Dianae

and, her neck laid down, she was pressing the painted quiver.
When Jupiter saw her weary and devoid of a guardian,
he said, 'This theft at least my wife will not know,
or if she learns it, the quarrels are—oh, they are—worth so much!'
forthwith he clothes himself in the face and attire of Diana

425

atque ait: 'o comitum, virgo, pars una mearum,
in quibus es venata iugis?' de caespite virgo
se levat et 'salve numen, me iudice' dixit,
'audiat ipse licet, maius Iove.' ridet et audit
et sibi praeferri se gaudet et oscula iungit,

and says: 'O maiden, one of my companions, on which ridges have you hunted?' From the turf the maiden raises herself and said, 'Hail, divinity—by my judgment greater than Jove, though he himself may hear.' He laughs and hears and rejoices that he is preferred to himself, and he joins kisses,

430

nec moderata satis nec sic a virgine danda.
qua venata foret silva, narrare parantem
inpedit amplexu nec se sine crimine prodit.
illa quidem contra, quantum modo femina posset
(adspiceres utinam, Saturnia, mitior esses),

the kisses not moderate enough nor thus to be given by a virgin.
as she was preparing to narrate in what forest she had hunted,
he impedes with an embrace and does not reveal himself without crime.
she indeed in resistance, as much as a woman could just now
(would that you might look, Saturnia, you would be milder),

435

illa quidem pugnat, sed quem superare puella,
quisve Iovem poterat? superum petit aethera victor
Iuppiter: huic odio nemus est et conscia silva;
unde pedem referens paene est oblita pharetram
tollere cum telis et quem suspenderat arcum.

She indeed fights, but whom could a girl overcome, or who could overcome Jove?
Victor Jupiter makes for the aether of the gods above; to her the grove is hateful and the knowing forest;
whence, retracing her step, she almost forgot to take up her quiver with the arrows and the bow which she had hung up.

440

Ecce, suo comitata choro Dictynna per altum
Maenalon ingrediens et caede superba ferarum
adspicit hanc visamque vocat: clamata refugit
et timuit primo, ne Iuppiter esset in illa;
sed postquam pariter nymphas incedere vidit,

Behold, Dictynna, accompanied by her own chorus, advancing through lofty Maenalus,
and proud with the slaughter of wild beasts, beholds her and, having seen her, calls her:
when called, she fled, and at first she feared lest it were Jupiter in her;
but after she saw the nymphs proceed together in like manner,

445

sensit abesse dolos numerumque accessit ad harum.
heu! quam difficile est crimen non prodere vultu!
vix oculos attollit humo nec, ut ante solebat,
iuncta deae lateri nec toto est agmine prima,
sed silet et laesi dat signa rubore pudoris;

she sensed the deceits to be absent and joined the number of these.
Alas! how difficult it is not to betray a crime in one’s countenance!
scarcely does she lift her eyes from the ground, nor, as before she was wont,
is she joined to the goddess’s side, nor is she first in the whole company,
but she is silent and gives signs of wounded modesty by a blush;

450

et, nisi quod virgo est, poterat sentire Diana
mille notis culpam: nymphae sensisse feruntur.
orbe resurgebant lunaria cornua nono,
cum de venatu fraternis languida flammis,
nacta nemus gelidum dea, quo cum murmure labens

and, except that she is a maiden, Diana could have perceived the fault from a thousand marks: the nymphs are said to have sensed it.
the lunar horns were rising again in the ninth orbit,
when, from the hunt, faint with her brother’s flames,
the goddess, having found a gelid grove, where gliding with a murmur

455

ibat et attritas versabat rivus harenas.
ut loca laudavit, summas pede contigit undas;
his quoque laudatis 'procul est' ait 'arbiter omnis:
nuda superfusis tinguamus corpora lymphis!'
Parrhasis erubuit; cunctae velamina ponunt;

She went on, and the rivulet was turning the attrited sands.
When she praised the place, she touched with her foot the surface-waves;
with these also praised, she says, 'Every arbiter is far away:
naked let us bathe our bodies with waters poured over us!'
The Parrhasian blushed; all lay aside their veils;

460

una moras quaerit: dubitanti vestis adempta est,
qua posita nudo patuit cum corpore crimen.
attonitae manibusque uterum celare volenti
'i procul hinc' dixit 'nec sacros pollue fontis!'
Cynthia deque suo iussit secedere coetu.

one of them seeks delays: for the hesitating one the garment was taken away,
and with it set down, with the body bare the crime lay open.
To the thunderstruck one, and as she wished to hide her womb with her hands,
“go far from here,” she said, “and do not pollute the sacred founts!”
and Cynthia ordered her to secede from her own company.

465

Senserat hoc olim magni matrona Tonantis
distuleratque graves in idonea tempora poenas.
causa morae nulla est, et iam puer Arcas (id ipsum
indoluit Iuno) fuerat de paelice natus.
quo simul obvertit saevam cum lumine mentem,

The matron of the great Thunderer had sensed this long ago,
and had deferred the grave punishments to suitable times.
there is no cause of delay, and now the boy Arcas (this very thing
Juno grieved) had been born from the concubine.
whereupon as soon as she turned her savage mind, together with her gaze, toward it,

470

'scilicet hoc etiam restabat, adultera' dixit,
'ut fecunda fores, fieretque iniuria partu
nota, Iovisque mei testatum dedecus esset.
haud inpune feres: adimam tibi namque figuram,
qua tibi, quaque places nostro, inportuna, marito.'

'Surely this too was still remaining, adulteress,' she said,
'that you should be fecund, and the injury be made known by childbirth,
and the disgrace of my Jupiter be attested.
You shall not bear it unpunished: for I will take away from you the figure
which is yours, and by which you, importunate one, please my husband.'

475

dixit et adversam prensis a fronte capillis
stravit humi pronam. tendebat bracchia supplex:
bracchia coeperunt nigris horrescere villis
curvarique manus et aduncos crescere in unguis
officioque pedum fungi laudataque quondam

she spoke, and, seizing by the forelocks the one facing her, she spread her prone on the ground. She, a suppliant, was stretching out her arms: the arms began to bristle with black shaggy hairs, and the hands to be bent and to grow into hooked nails, and, once-praised, to perform the office of feet

480

ora Iovi lato fieri deformia rictu.
neve preces animos et verba precantia flectant,
posse loqui eripitur: vox iracunda minaxque
plenaque terroris rauco de gutture fertur;
mens antiqua tamen facta quoque mansit in ursa,

her face becomes, to Jove, deformed by a broad rictus.
and lest prayers and precatory words should bend minds,
the power to speak is snatched away: an angry and menacing voice
full of terror is borne from her hoarse throat;
yet her former mind, though made, remained even in the she‑bear,

485

adsiduoque suos gemitu testata dolores
qualescumque manus ad caelum et sidera tollit
ingratumque Iovem, nequeat cum dicere, sentit.
a! quotiens, sola non ausa quiescere silva,
ante domum quondamque suis erravit in agris!

and by assiduous groaning she attested her pains;
whatever hands she raises to heaven and the stars,
and, though she cannot speak it, she senses ungrateful Jove.
Ah! how often, not daring, alone, to rest in the forest,
she wandered before the house and through her once-her-own fields!

490

a! quotiens per saxa canum latratibus acta est
venatrixque metu venantum territa fugit!
saepe feris latuit visis, oblita quid esset,
ursaque conspectos in montibus horruit ursos
pertimuitque lupos, quamvis pater esset in illis.

ah! how often through the rocks she was driven by the barkings of dogs,
and the huntress, frightened by fear of the hunters, fled!
often she hid when wild beasts were seen, forgetting what she was,
and as a she-bear she shuddered at bears sighted in the mountains,
and she feared wolves, although her father was among them.

495

Ecce Lycaoniae proles ignara parentis,
Arcas adest ter quinque fere natalibus actis;
dumque feras sequitur, dum saltus eligit aptos
nexilibusque plagis silvas Erymanthidas ambit,
incidit in matrem, quae restitit Arcade viso

Behold, the Lycaonian offspring, unaware of his parent,
Arcas arrives with almost 15 birthdays gone by;
and while he pursues wild beasts, while he chooses glades apt for the chase,
and with woven nets he circles the Erymanthian woods,
he happens upon his mother, who halted when Arcas was seen.

500

et cognoscenti similis fuit: ille refugit
inmotosque oculos in se sine fine tenentem
nescius extimuit propiusque accedere aventi
vulnifico fuerat fixurus pectora telo:
arcuit omnipotens pariterque ipsosque nefasque

and she was like to one recognizing him: he drew back
and (saw) her holding unmoving eyes upon him without end;
not knowing he grew afraid, and as she was eager to approach nearer
he would have fixed her breast with a wound‑dealing weapon:
the omnipotent one warded it off, and equally both them and the crime.

505

sustulit et pariter raptos per inania vento
inposuit caelo vicinaque sidera fecit.
Intumuit Iuno, postquam inter sidera paelex
fulsit, et ad canam descendit in aequora Tethyn
Oceanumque senem, quorum reverentia movit

he lifted them and, together, those swept through the void by the wind,
set them upon the sky and made them neighboring stars.
Juno swelled, after the paramour shone among the stars,
and she descended to the hoary Tethys on the seas and to old Oceanus,
whose reverence moved her

510

saepe deos, causamque viae scitantibus infit:
'quaeritis, aetheriis quare regina deorum
sedibus huc adsim? pro me tenet altera caelum!
mentior, obscurum nisi nox cum fecerit orbem,
nuper honoratas summo, mea vulnera, caelo

often she begins to the gods, as they inquire the cause of the way:
'Do you ask why the queen of the gods from the ethereal seats
is present here? In my stead another holds the heaven!
I speak falsely, unless when night has made the orb dark,
lately—my wounds!—honored in the highest heaven

515

videritis stellas illic, ubi circulus axem
ultimus extremum spatioque brevissimus ambit.
et vero quisquam Iunonem laedere nolit
offensamque tremat, quae prosum sola nocendo?
o ego quantum egi!

you will have seen the stars there, where the circle, shortest in span, encircles the farthest, outermost end of the axis.
and indeed, would anyone wish not to injure Juno and tremble at her when she is offended, I who am of use only by harming?
o how much I have accomplished!

quam vasta potentia nostra est!

how vast our power is!

520

esse hominem vetui: facta est dea! sic ego poenas
sontibus inpono, sic est mea magna potestas!
vindicet antiquam faciem vultusque ferinos
detrahat, Argolica quod in ante Phoronide fecit
cur non et pulsa ducit Iunone meoque

I forbade her to be human: she has been made a goddess! thus I impose penalties on the guilty, thus is my great power! let him vindicate her former face and strip off the ferine looks, the thing which previously he did in the Argolic Phoronis—why not also, with Juno driven off, does he lead her away, and my

525

collocat in thalamo socerumque Lycaona sumit?
at vos si laesae tangit contemptus alumnae,
gurgite caeruleo septem prohibete triones
sideraque in caelo stupri mercede recepta
pellite, ne puro tinguatur in aequore paelex!'

does he place her in the bridal chamber and take Lycaon as father-in-law?
but you, if the contempt of your injured foster-daughter touches you,
from the cerulean gulf forbid the Seven Triones,
and drive off the constellations received into the sky as the wage of fornication,
lest the paramour be dipped in the pure expanse of the sea!'

530

Di maris adnuerant: habili Saturnia curru,
ingreditur liquidum pavonibus aethera pictis,
tam nuper pictis caeso pavonibus Argo,
quam tu nuper eras, cum candidus ante fuisses,
corve loquax, subito nigrantis versus in alas.

The gods of the sea had nodded assent: Saturnia, with a serviceable chariot,
enters the liquid aether with painted peacocks,
so newly painted, the peacocks, with Argus slain,
as you were lately, though before you had been shining-white,
loquacious crow, suddenly turned into black wings.

535

nam fuit haec quondam niveis argentea pennis
ales, ut aequaret totas sine labe columbas,
nec servaturis vigili Capitolia voce
cederet anseribus nec amanti flumina cycno.
lingua fuit damno: lingua faciente loquaci

for once this bird was silvery with snowy feathers
so that it equaled the wholly unblemished doves,
nor would it yield to the geese that would preserve the Capitoline by their watchful voice,
nor to the swan that loves the rivers.
the tongue was its harm: the tongue, making it loquacious

540

qui color albus erat, nunc est contrarius albo
Pulchrior in tota quam Larisaea Coronis
non fuit Haemonia: placuit tibi, Delphice, certe,
dum vel casta fuit vel inobservata, sed ales
sensit adulterium Phoebeius, utque latentem

the color which was white is now contrary to white
No one in all Haemonia was more beautiful than Larisaean Coronis
she surely pleased you, Delphic one,
while she was either chaste or unobserved, but the bird
of Phoebus sensed the adultery, and, as she found it hidden

545

detegeret culpam, non exorabilis index,
ad dominum tendebat iter. quem garrula motis
consequitur pennis, scitetur ut omnia, cornix
auditaque viae causa 'non utile carpis'
inquit 'iter: ne sperne meae praesagia linguae!

to uncover the fault, the inexorable informer was making his way to the master. whom the garrulous crow, with wings set in motion, follows, in order that she might ascertain everything, and, the cause of the journey having been heard, she says: 'you are taking a not-useful journey: do not spurn the presages of my tongue!'

550

quid fuerim quid simque vide meritumque require:
invenies nocuisse fidem. nam tempore quodam
Pallas Ericthonium, prolem sine matre creatam,
clauserat Actaeo texta de vimine cista
virginibusque tribus gemino de Cecrope natis

see what I was and what I am, and inquire my merit: you will find that fidelity has harmed me. For at a certain time Pallas had enclosed Erichthonius, progeny created without a mother, in an Actaean cist woven from wicker, and to the three virgins born from double-formed Cecrops

555

et legem dederat, sua ne secreta viderent.
abdita fronde levi densa speculabar ab ulmo,
quid facerent: commissa duae sine fraude tuentur,
Pandrosos atque Herse; timidas vocat una sorores
Aglauros nodosque manu diducit, et intus

and had given a law, that they should not see her secrets.
hidden, I was watching from a dense elm with light foliage, what they were doing:
the two, Pandrosos and Herse, keep the trust without fraud,
Aglauros calls her timid sisters and with her hand draws apart the knots, and inside

560

infantemque vident adporrectumque draconem.
acta deae refero. pro quo mihi gratia talis
redditur, ut dicar tutela pulsa Minervae
et ponar post noctis avem!

and they see the infant and an outstretched dragon.
I report the acts of the goddess. in return for which such gratitude
is rendered to me, that I am said, Minerva’s tutelage driven away,
and I am set after the bird of night!

mea poena volucres
admonuisse potest, ne voce pericula quaerant.

my penalty may have admonished the birds
that they not seek perils by voice.

565

at, puto, non ultro nequiquam tale rogantem
me petiit!—ipsa licet hoc a Pallade quaeras:
quamvis irata est, non hoc irata negabit.
nam me Phocaica clarus tellure Coroneus
(nota loquor) genuit, fueramque ego regia virgo

but, I suppose, he did not, unprovoked, seek me—asking such a thing—in vain!
you may even ask this from Pallas herself:
although she is angry, angry she will not deny this.
for me, renowned Coroneus from Phocian land
(I speak of known things) begot, and I had been a royal maiden

570

divitibusque procis (ne me contemne) petebar:
forma mihi nocuit. nam cum per litora lentis
passibus, ut soleo, summa spatiarer harena,
vidit et incaluit pelagi deus, utque precando
tempora cum blandis absumpsit inania verbis,

I was being sought by wealthy suitors (do not disdain me): my form harmed me. For when along the shores with slow steps, as I am wont, I was walking on the topmost sand, the sea-god saw and grew hot; and as by entreaty he wasted the time with bland empty words,

575

vim parat et sequitur. fugio densumque relinquo
litus et in molli nequiquam lassor harena.
inde deos hominesque voco; nec contigit ullum
vox mea mortalem: mota est pro virgine virgo
auxiliumque tulit. tendebam bracchia caelo:

he prepares violence and pursues. I flee and leave the crowded shore,
and in the soft sand I grow weary in vain.
thence I call gods and men; nor did my voice reach any
mortal: a virgin was moved for the maiden
and brought aid. I was stretching my arms to the sky:

580

bracchia coeperunt levibus nigrescere pennis;
reicere ex umeris vestem molibar, at illa
pluma erat inque cutem radices egerat imas;
plangere nuda meis conabar pectora palmis,
sed neque iam palmas nec pectora nuda gerebam;

my arms began to blacken with light feathers;
I was striving to cast back the garment from my shoulders, but it
was plumage and had driven roots into my deepest skin;
I was trying to beat my bare breasts with my palms,
but I was now bearing neither palms nor bare breasts;

585

currebam, nec, ut ante, pedes retinebat harena,
sed summa tollebar humo; mox alta per auras
evehor et data sum comes inculpata Minervae.
quid tamen hoc prodest, si diro facta volucris
crimine Nyctimene nostro successit honori?

I was running, nor, as before, did the sand hold back my feet,
but I was lifted from the surface of the ground; soon aloft through the high airs
I am borne and I was given as a companion to blameless Minerva.
What, however, does this profit, if Nyctimene, made a bird by a dire
crime, has succeeded to our honor?

590

an quae per totam res est notissima Lesbon,
non audita tibi est, patrium temerasse cubile
Nyctimenen? avis illa quidem, sed conscia culpae
conspectum lucemque fugit tenebrisque pudorem
celat et a cunctis expellitur aethere toto.'

Or has the matter, most notorious through all Lesbos,
not been heard by you—that Nyctimene violated the paternal couch?
A bird she is indeed, but conscious of her guilt
she flees sight and the light and hides her shame in darkness
and by all she is expelled from the whole aether.'

595

Talia dicenti 'tibi' ait 'revocamina' corvus
'sint, precor, ista malo: nos vanum spernimus omen.'
nec coeptum dimittit iter dominoque iacentem
cum iuvene Haemonio vidisse Coronida narrat.
laurea delapsa est audito crimine amantis,

To one saying such things, the raven says, 'may those be recallings for you in your misfortune, I pray; we spurn an empty omen.'
nor does he relinquish the begun journey, and he relates to his master that he has seen Coronis lying with a Haemonian youth.
the laurel slipped down, the crime of the beloved having been heard,

600

et pariter vultusque deo plectrumque colorque
excidit, utque animus tumida fervebat ab ira,
arma adsueta capit flexumque a cornibus arcum
tendit et illa suo totiens cum pectore iuncta
indevitato traiecit pectora telo.

and alike from the god both his visage and his plectrum and his color fell away,
and as his spirit was seething with swelling ire,
he takes his wonted arms and stretches the bow curved from horns,
and her so often joined with his own breast
he pierced her breasts with an unavoidable weapon.

605

icta dedit gemitum tractoque a corpore ferro
candida puniceo perfudit membra cruore
et dixit: 'potui poenas tibi, Phoebe, dedisse,
sed peperisse prius; duo nunc moriemur in una.'
hactenus, et pariter vitam cum sanguine fudit;

struck, she gave a groan, and, the iron drawn from her body,
she drenched her white limbs with Punic-crimson gore,
and said: 'I could have exacted punishment from you, Phoebus,
but to have borne first; now we two will die in one.'
thus far, and together she poured out her life with her blood;

610

corpus inane animae frigus letale secutum est.
Paenitet heu! sero poenae crudelis amantem,
seque, quod audierit, quod sic exarserit, odit;
odit avem, per quam crimen causamque dolendi
scire coactus erat, nec non arcumque manumque

the body, empty of the soul, was followed by a lethal chill.
Alas! too late the lover repents of the cruel punishment,
and he hates himself, for having listened, for having thus flared up;
he hates the bird, through which he had been forced to know the crime and the cause for grieving,
and likewise the bow and the hand

615

odit cumque manu temeraria tela sagittas
conlapsamque fovet seraque ope vincere fata
nititur et medicas exercet inaniter artes.
quae postquam frustra temptata rogumque parari
vidit et arsuros supremis ignibus artus,

he hates both the weapons, the arrows, and his reckless hand,
and he cherishes the collapsed one and strives with belated aid to conquer the Fates,
and vainly he exercises the medical arts.
which, after he saw that they had been tried in vain, and that a pyre was being prepared,
and that her limbs were about to blaze with final fires,

620

tum vero gemitus (neque enim caelestia tingui
ora licet lacrimis) alto de corde petitos
edidit, haud aliter quam cum spectante iuvenca
lactentis vituli dextra libratus ab aure
tempora discussit claro cava malleus ictu.

then indeed he uttered groans (for it is not permitted that celestial faces be tinged with tears) fetched from deep within his heart, not otherwise than when, with the heifer looking on, the hollow hammer, poised in the right hand, from the ear shatters the temples of a suckling calf with a clear blow.

625

ut tamen ingratos in pectora fudit odores
et dedit amplexus iniustaque iusta peregit,
non tulit in cineres labi sua Phoebus eosdem
semina, sed natum flammis uteroque parentis
eripuit geminique tulit Chironis in antrum,

yet when upon her bosom the thankless odors had been poured
and embraces were given and the just rites were unjustly performed,
Phoebus did not endure that his own seed should slip into ashes
but he snatched his son from the flames and from the mother’s womb
and bore him into the cave of twin-formed Chiron,

630

sperantemque sibi non falsae praemia linguae
inter aves albas vetuit consistere corvum.
Semifer interea divinae stirpis alumno
laetus erat mixtoque oneri gaudebat honore;
ecce venit rutilis umeros protecta capillis

and the crow, hoping for itself the rewards of a not-false tongue,
he forbade to take its stand among the white birds.
Meanwhile the half-beast was glad with the alumnus of divine stock,
and rejoiced in the honor mingled with the burden;
behold, there comes one, her shoulders protected with rutilant hair

635

filia centauri, quam quondam nympha Chariclo
fluminis in rapidi ripis enixa vocavit
Ocyroen: non haec artes contenta paternas
edidicisse fuit, fatorum arcana canebat.
ergo ubi vaticinos concepit mente furores

the daughter of the centaur, whom once the nymph Chariclo
on the banks of a rapid river, having brought forth, called
Ocyroe: she was not content to have thoroughly learned
her father’s arts; she sang the arcana of the fates.
therefore, when she conceived in her mind vaticinal frenzies

640

incaluitque deo, quem clausum pectore habebat,
adspicit infantem 'toto' que 'salutifer orbi
cresce, puer!' dixit; 'tibi se mortalia saepe
corpora debebunt, animas tibi reddere ademptas
fas erit, idque semel dis indignantibus ausus

and she grew hot with the god, whom she kept shut in her breast,
she looks upon the infant and said, 'Grow, boy, salutary to the whole world!'
to you mortal bodies will often be indebted,
it will be lawful for you to restore souls that have been taken away,
and, with the gods indignant, having dared that once

645

posse dare hoc iterum flamma prohibebere avita,
eque deo corpus fies exsangue deusque,
qui modo corpus eras, et bis tua fata novabis.
tu quoque, care pater, nunc inmortalis et aevis
omnibus ut maneas nascendi lege creatus,

you will be forbidden by ancestral flame to be able to grant this again,
and from a god you will become a bloodless body and a god,
you who just now were a body, and you will twice renew your fates.
you too, dear father, now immortal, so that through all ages
you may remain, created by the law of being born,

650

posse mori cupies, tum cum cruciabere dirae
sanguine serpentis per saucia membra recepto;
teque ex aeterno patientem numina mortis
efficient, triplicesque deae tua fila resolvent.'
restabat fatis aliquid: suspirat ab imis

you will desire to be able to die, then, when you will be tormented, the blood of a dire serpent having been received through your wounded limbs; and the divine powers of Death will make you, from being eternal, susceptible to death, and the triple goddesses will unloose your threads.'
there remained something to the fates: he sighs from the depths

655

pectoribus, lacrimaeque genis labuntur obortae,
atque ita 'praevertunt' inquit 'me fata, vetorque
plura loqui, vocisque meae praecluditur usus.
non fuerant artes tanti, quae numinis iram
contraxere mihi: mallem nescisse futura!

from his deepest chest, and tears, arisen, glide down his cheeks,
and thus, 'they forestall,' he says, 'me, the fates, and I am forbidden
to speak more, and the use of my voice is precluded.
the arts were not worth so high a price, which have contracted for me the wrath
of the divinity: I would rather have not known the future!'

660

iam mihi subduci facies humana videtur,
iam cibus herba placet, iam latis currere campis
impetus est: in equam cognataque corpora vertor.
tota tamen quare? pater est mihi nempe biformis.'
talia dicenti pars est extrema querellae

already to me the human face seems to be withdrawn,
already grass pleases as food, already there is an impulse to run across the broad fields:
I am being turned into a mare and into kindred bodies.
Yet why wholly? surely my father is two-formed.'
As she was saying such things, this is the last part of her complaint

665

intellecta parum confusaque verba fuerunt;
mox nec verba quidem nec equae sonus ille videtur
sed simulantis equam, parvoque in tempore certos
edidit hinnitus et bracchia movit in herbas.
tum digiti coeunt et quinos alligat ungues

the words were scarcely understood and were confused;
soon neither words indeed nor that sound of a mare is perceived
but of one imitating a mare, and in a short time she produced clear
neighings and moved her arms into the grasses.
then the fingers come together and it binds the five nails into hooves

670

perpetuo cornu levis ungula, crescit et oris
et colli spatium, longae pars maxima pallae
cauda fit, utque vagi crines per colla iacebant,
in dextras abiere iubas, pariterque novata est
et vox et facies; nomen quoque monstra dedere.

a light hoof with a perpetual horn, and the span of the mouth and of the neck grows;
and the greatest part of the long mantle becomes a tail, and just as the wandering hairs were lying along the necks,
they went into right-side manes, and alike both voice and face were renewed;
the prodigies also gave a name.

675

Flebat opemque tuam frustra Philyreius heros,
Delphice, poscebat. nam nec rescindere magni
iussa Iovis poteras, nec, si rescindere posses,
tunc aderas: Elin Messeniaque arva colebas.
illud erat tempus, quo te pastoria pellis

He wept, and the Philyrian hero was requesting your aid in vain, Delphic one;
for you could not rescind the orders of great Jove, nor, if you could rescind, were you present then: you were inhabiting Elis and the Messenian fields.
that was the time when the pastoral pelt was upon you.

680

texit, onusque fuit baculum silvestre sinistrae,
alterius dispar septenis fistula cannis.
dumque amor est curae, dum te tua fistula mulcet,
incustoditae Pylios memorantur in agros
processisse boves: videt has Atlantide Maia

covered you, and a sylvan staff was the burden of your left hand,
and of the other, a pipe unequal with seven reeds.
and while love is a care, while your pipe soothes you,
it is recounted that the unguarded cattle proceeded into the Pylian fields:
Maia, daughter of Atlas, sees these

685

natus et arte sua silvis occultat abactas.
senserat hoc furtum nemo nisi notus in illo
rure senex; Battum vicinia tota vocabat.
divitis hic saltus herbosaque pascua Nelei
nobiliumque greges custos servabat equarum.

the son too by his own art hides the driven-off ones in the woods.
no one had sensed this theft except an old man known in that
countryside; the whole vicinity called him Battus.
here a guardian kept the glades and grassy pastures of wealthy Neleus
and watched over the herds of noble mares.

690

hunc tenuit blandaque manu seduxit et illi
'quisquis es, hospes' ait, 'si forte armenta requiret
haec aliquis, vidisse nega neu gratia facto
nulla rependatur, nitidam cape praemia vaccam!'
et dedit. accepta voces has reddidit hospes:

he held him and with a coaxing hand drew him aside, and to him
'whoever you are, guest,' he said, 'if perchance someone should seek
these herds, deny that you have seen them, and let not gratitude for the deed
be repaid with nothing; take a shining heifer as reward!'
and he gave it. The guest, having received it, returned these words:

695

'tutus eas! lapis iste prius tua furta loquetur,'
et lapidem ostendit. simulat Iove natus abire;
mox redit et versa pariter cum voce figura
'rustice, vidisti si quas hoc limite' dixit
'ire boves, fer opem furtoque silentia deme!

'go safely! that stone will sooner speak your thefts,'
and he pointed out a stone. the son of Jove pretends to depart;
soon he returns, and his figure altered together with his voice,
'rustic, if you have seen any cows going along this path,' he said,
'bring help and strip silence from the theft!'

700

iuncta suo pretium dabitur tibi femina tauro.'
at senior, postquam est merces geminata, 'sub illis
montibus' inquit 'erunt,' et erant sub montibus illis.
risit Atlantiades et 'me mihi, perfide, prodis?
me mihi prodis?' ait periuraque pectora vertit

A female joined to her own bull will be given to you as the price.'
But the elder, after the wage had been doubled, said, 'Under those
mountains they will be,' and they were under those mountains.
risit Atlantiades and said, 'Do you betray me to myself, perfidious one?
Do you betray me to myself?' he said, and he turned his perjured breast

705

in durum silicem, qui nunc quoque dicitur index,
inque nihil merito vetus est infamia saxo.
Hinc se sustulerat paribus caducifer alis,
Munychiosque volans agros gratamque Minervae
despectabat humum cultique arbusta Lycei.

into hard flint, which even now is called the Informer,
and upon the stone there is an ancient infamy, though it merited nothing.
From here the caduceus-bearer had lifted himself on paired wings,
and, flying, he looked down upon the Munychian fields and the ground pleasing to Minerva,
and the arboreta of the cultivated Lyceum.

710

illa forte die castae de more puellae
vertice supposito festas in Palladis arces
pura coronatis portabant sacra canistris.
inde revertentes deus adspicit ales iterque
non agit in rectum, sed in orbem curvat eundem:

on that chance day the chaste maidens, according to custom,
with heads bowed, were bearing the pure sacra in garland-crowned canisters
to the festal citadels of Pallas.
thence, as they returned, the winged god beholds them, and he does not drive his path straight,
but bends that same course into a circle:

715

ut volucris visis rapidissima miluus extis,
dum timet et densi circumstant sacra ministri,
flectitur in gyrum nec longius audet abire
spemque suam motis avidus circumvolat alis,
sic super Actaeas agilis Cyllenius arces

as, when the entrails have been seen, the very swift kite,
while it fears and the ministers of the sacred rites stand crowded around,
is bent into a circle and does not dare to go farther away,
and, eager, with wings in motion, flies around its own hope,
so above the Actaean citadels the agile Cyllenian

720

inclinat cursus et easdem circinat auras.
quanto splendidior quam cetera sidera fulget
Lucifer, et quanto quam Lucifer aurea Phoebe,
tanto virginibus praestantior omnibus Herse
ibat eratque decus pompae comitumque suarum.

he inclines his course and circles the same breezes.
As much as Lucifer shines more splendid than the other stars,
and as much as golden Phoebe than Lucifer,
by that much Herse was more preeminent than all maidens;
she went, and was the ornament of the procession and of her companions.

725

obstipuit forma Iove natus et aethere pendens
non secus exarsit, quam cum Balearica plumbum
funda iacit: volat illud et incandescit eundo
et, quos non habuit, sub nubibus invenit ignes.
vertit iter caeloque petit terrena relicto

The Jove-born was astonished at her beauty, and, hanging in the ether,
no otherwise did he blaze up than when a Balearic sling hurls lead:
it flies and incandesces as it goes,
and, beneath the clouds, finds fires which it did not have.
he turns his course and seeks the earth, with heaven left behind

730

nec se dissimulat: tanta est fiducia formae.
quae quamquam iusta est, cura tamen adiuvat illam
permulcetque comas chlamydemque, ut pendeat apte,
collocat, ut limbus totumque adpareat aurum,
ut teres in dextra, qua somnos ducit et arcet,

nor does he disguise himself: so great is his confidence in his beauty.
which, although just, careful attention nevertheless assists it
and he smooths his hair and the chlamys, so that it may hang aptly,
he arranges it, so that the border and all the gold may appear,
so that the polished caduceus in his right hand, with which he leads and wards off sleep,

735

virga sit, ut tersis niteant talaria plantis.
Pars secreta domus ebore et testudine cultos
tres habuit thalamos, quorum tu, Pandrose, dextrum,
Aglauros laevum, medium possederat Herse.
quae tenuit laevum, venientem prima notavit

let there be a wand, so that the winged sandals may shine on polished soles.
A hidden part of the house had three bedchambers, adorned with ivory and tortoise-shell,
of which you, Pandrose, had the right-hand one, Aglauros the left, the middle Herse had possessed.
she who held the left, as he was coming, first took note.

740

Mercurium nomenque dei scitarier ausa est
et causam adventus; cui sic respondit Atlantis
Pleionesque nepos 'ego sum, qui iussa per auras
verba patris porto; pater est mihi Iuppiter ipse.
nec fingam causas, tu tantum fida sorori

She dared to inquire about Mercury and the god’s name
and the cause of the advent; to whom thus replied Atlas’s
and Pleione’s grandson: 'I am he who through the airs
carry my father’s injunctions, his words; my father is Jupiter himself.
Nor will I feign causes; you only be faithful to your sister

745

esse velis prolisque meae matertera dici:
Herse causa viae; faveas oramus amanti.'
adspicit hunc oculis isdem, quibus abdita nuper
viderat Aglauros flavae secreta Minervae,
proque ministerio magni sibi ponderis aurum

may you be willing to be called the aunt of my progeny:
Herse is the cause of my way; we pray that you favor the lover.'
She looks at him with the same eyes with which Aglauros had recently
seen the hidden secrets of blonde Minerva,
and in return for a service of great weight to herself, gold

750

postulat: interea tectis excedere cogit.
Vertit ad hanc torvi dea bellica luminis orbem
et tanto penitus traxit suspiria motu,
ut pariter pectus positamque in pectore forti
aegida concuteret: subit, hanc arcana profana

he demands it: meanwhile she compels him to depart from the house.
The warlike goddess turned the circle of her grim eye toward her
and with so great a motion drew sighs deep within,
that she shook alike her breast and the aegis set upon her strong breast:
there comes to her the thought, to make this one profane to the arcana

755

detexisse manu, tum cum sine matre creatam
Lemnicolae stirpem contra data foedera vidit,
et gratamque deo fore iam gratamque sorori
et ditem sumpto, quod avara poposcerat, auro.
protinus Invidiae nigro squalentia tabo

to have disclosed with her hand, then when she saw the stock of the Lemnian-dweller created without a mother, contrary to the covenants that had been given, and that it would be pleasing to the god and now pleasing to his sister, and rich with the gold taken up, which she had avariciously demanded. straightway the things of Envy, squalid with black corruption

760

tecta petit: domus est imis in vallibus huius
abdita, sole carens, non ulli pervia vento,
tristis et ignavi plenissima frigoris et quae
igne vacet semper, caligine semper abundet.
huc ubi pervenit belli metuenda virago,

She seeks a dwelling: there is a house in this one’s deepest valleys,
hidden, lacking sun, pervious to no wind,
gloomy and most full of slothful frigidity, and which
is always void of fire, always abounds in caliginous gloom.
hither, when she arrives, the virago, to be feared in war,

765

constitit ante domum (neque enim succedere tectis
fas habet) et postes extrema cuspide pulsat.
concussae patuere fores. videt intus edentem
vipereas carnes, vitiorum alimenta suorum,
Invidiam visaque oculos avertit; at illa

she stood before the house (for she has no fas to enter beneath roofs)
and strikes the doorposts with the extreme cusp of her spear.
The shaken doors stood open. She sees within Envy eating
viperine meats, the nourishment of her own vices;
she beholds Envy and, at the sight, averts her eyes; but she

770

surgit humo pigre semesarumque relinquit
corpora serpentum passuque incedit inerti.
utque deam vidit formaque armisque decoram,
ingemuit vultumque una ac suspiria duxit.
pallor in ore sedet, macies in corpore toto.

she rises from the ground sluggishly and leaves behind the half-eaten bodies of serpents, and proceeds with an inert step.
and when she saw the goddess, comely in form and in arms, she groaned and drew her visage together, and with it drew forth sighs.
pallor sits upon her face, meagerness on her whole body.

775

nusquam recta acies, livent robigine dentes,
pectora felle virent, lingua est suffusa veneno;
risus abest, nisi quem visi movere dolores;
nec fruitur somno, vigilantibus excita curis,
sed videt ingratos intabescitque videndo

her gaze is nowhere straight, her teeth are livid with rust;
her breast is green with bile, her tongue is suffused with poison;
laughter is absent, except such as pains seen have moved;
nor does she enjoy sleep, roused by wakeful cares,
but she sees the ungrateful and wastes away by the seeing

780

successus hominum carpitque et carpitur una
suppliciumque suum est. quamvis tamen oderat illam,
talibus adfata est breviter Tritonia dictis:
'infice tabe tua natarum Cecropis unam:
sic opus est. Aglauros ea est.' haud plura locuta

she gnaws at the successes of men, and at once is herself gnawed,
and is her own punishment. Yet although she hated her,
the Tritonian addressed her briefly with such words:
“stain with your taint one of the daughters of Cecrops:
thus is the need. Aglauros is she.” having said no more

785

fugit et inpressa tellurem reppulit hasta.
Illa deam obliquo fugientem lumine cernens
murmura parva dedit successurumque Minervae
indoluit baculumque capit, quod spinea totum
vincula cingebant, adopertaque nubibus atris,

she fled and, with her spear planted, pushed back the earth.
She, perceiving the goddess fleeing with an oblique glance,
gave small murmurs and grieved that Minerva would succeed,
and takes up a staff, which thorny bonds wholly
were encircling, and, veiled with black clouds,

790

quacumque ingreditur, florentia proterit arva
exuritque herbas et summa cacumina carpit
adflatuque suo populos urbesque domosque
polluit et tandem Tritonida conspicit arcem
ingeniis opibusque et festa pace virentem

wherever she goes, she tramples the flourishing fields
and she scorches the grasses and nips the highest summits
and with her own breath she pollutes peoples and cities and homes
and at last she beholds the Tritonid’s citadel
verdant with genius and resources and with festive peace

795

vixque tenet lacrimas, quia nil lacrimabile cernit.
sed postquam thalamos intravit Cecrope natae,
iussa facit pectusque manu ferrugine tincta
tangit et hamatis praecordia sentibus inplet
inspiratque nocens virus piceumque per ossa

and scarcely holds back tears, because she sees nothing lamentable.
but after she entered the bridal chambers of the daughter of Cecrops,
she executes the orders and with a hand stained with ferruginous rust
touches the breast and fills the precordia with barbed brambles,
and, noxious, breathes in a virus and pitch-blackness through the bones

800

dissipat et medio spargit pulmone venenum,
neve mali causae spatium per latius errent,
germanam ante oculos fortunatumque sororis
coniugium pulchraque deum sub imagine ponit
cunctaque magna facit; quibus inritata dolore

she disperses and scatters the venom in the midst of the lung,
and lest the causes of the ill should err through a wider span,
she sets before her eyes her germane sister and the fortunate
conjugal union of her sister, and the fair image of the god,
and makes all things great; by which, irritated by dolor,

805

Cecropis occulto mordetur et anxia nocte
anxia luce gemit lentaque miserrima tabe
liquitur, et glacies incerto saucia sole,
felicisque bonis non lenius uritur Herses,
quam cum spinosis ignis supponitur herbis,

The daughter of Cecrops is bitten by a hidden sting and, anxious, by night
anxious by light she groans, and with a slow and most miserable wasting
she melts, like ice wounded by an uncertain sun,
nor is she burned more mildly at the felicitous goods of Herse,
than when fire is placed beneath thorny herbs,

810

quae neque dant flammas lentoque vapore cremantur.
saepe mori voluit, ne quicquam tale videret,
saepe velut crimen rigido narrare parenti;
denique in adverso venientem limine sedit
exclusura deum. cui blandimenta precesque

which neither give flames and are burned by a slow vapor.
often she wished to die, lest she see anything such,
often to narrate it as if a crime to her rigid parent;
finally she sat on the opposite threshold, to shut out the coming god.
to whom blandishments and prayers

815

verbaque iactanti mitissima 'desine!' dixit,
'hinc ego me non sum nisi te motura repulso.'
'stemus' ait 'pacto' velox Cyllenius 'isto!'
caelestique fores virga patefecit: at illi
surgere conanti partes, quascumque sedendo

and to her hurling words he said the gentlest, 'Desist!'
'From here I will not move myself, unless with you repulsed.'
'Let us stand by that pact,' said the swift Cyllenian, 'on that very condition!'
and with his celestial rod he opened the doors: but for her, as she tried to rise, the parts, whatever by sitting

820

flectimur, ignava nequeunt gravitate moveri:
illa quidem pugnat recto se attollere trunco,
sed genuum iunctura riget, frigusque per ungues
labitur, et pallent amisso sanguine venae;
utque malum late solet inmedicabile cancer

the parts, whichever are bent by sitting, cannot be moved by slothful heaviness:
she indeed struggles to raise herself with her trunk upright,
but the juncture of the knees stiffens, and cold slips down through the nails,
and the veins grow pale with the blood lost;
and as the incurable evil, cancer, is wont to spread widely

825

serpere et inlaesas vitiatis addere partes,
sic letalis hiems paulatim in pectora venit
vitalesque vias et respiramina clausit,
nec conata loqui est nec, si conata fuisset,
vocis habebat iter: saxum iam colla tenebat,

to creep and to add the unharmed parts to the tainted ones,
thus the lethal winter gradually came into the chest
and closed the vital ways and the respirations,
nor did she attempt to speak, nor, if she had attempted,
did she have a route of the voice: already stone was holding her neck,

830

oraque duruerant, signumque exsangue sedebat;
nec lapis albus erat: sua mens infecerat illam.
Has ubi verborum poenas mentisque profanae
cepit Atlantiades, dictas a Pallade terras
linquit et ingreditur iactatis aethera pennis.

and her features had hardened, and a bloodless statue sat;
nor was the stone white: her own mind had stained it.
When Atlantiades took these penalties for her words and her profane mind,
he leaves the lands appointed by Pallas and enters the aether
with his wings beating.

835

sevocat hunc genitor nec causam fassus amoris
'fide minister' ait 'iussorum, nate, meorum,
pelle moram solitoque celer delabere cursu,
quaeque tuam matrem tellus a parte sinistra
suspicit (indigenae Sidonida nomine dicunt),

the father calls him aside, and not having confessed the cause of love
'son, faithful minister of my commands,' he says,
'banish delay and, swift, glide down in your accustomed course,
and to that land which, on the left side, looks up at your mother
(the natives call it by the name Sidonian),'

840

hanc pete, quodque procul montano gramine pasci
armentum regale vides, ad litora verte!'
dixit, et expulsi iamdudum monte iuvenci
litora iussa petunt, ubi magni filia regis
ludere virginibus Tyriis comitata solebat.

‘Make for this land, and the royal herd which you see grazing far off on the mountain grass, turn to the shores!’
he said, and the bullocks, long since driven off the mountain, seek the bidden shores, where the daughter of the great king was accustomed to play, accompanied by Tyrian maidens.

845

non bene conveniunt nec in una sede morantur
maiestas et amor; sceptri gravitate relicta
ille pater rectorque deum, cui dextra trisulcis
ignibus armata est, qui nutu concutit orbem,
induitur faciem tauri mixtusque iuvencis

majesty and love do not well agree nor remain in one seat;
with the gravity of the scepter left behind,
that father and ruler of the gods, whose right hand is armed
with three-forked fires, who with a nod shakes the orb,
puts on the face of a bull and, mingled with the young bullocks

850

mugit et in teneris formosus obambulat herbis.
quippe color nivis est, quam nec vestigia duri
calcavere pedis nec solvit aquaticus auster.
colla toris exstant, armis palearia pendent,
cornua vara quidem, sed quae contendere possis

he bellows and, handsome, he walks about in the tender grasses.
indeed his color is that of snow, which neither the footprints of a hard foot
have trodden, nor has the watery South Wind melted.
the necks stand out with muscles, from the shoulders the dewlaps hang,
the horns indeed are splayed, but such as you could contend with

855

facta manu, puraque magis perlucida gemma.
nullae in fronte minae, nec formidabile lumen:
pacem vultus habet. miratur Agenore nata,
quod tam formosus, quod proelia nulla minetur;
sed quamvis mitem metuit contingere primo,

as if made by hand, and more translucent than a pure gem.
no threats on his brow, nor a formidable light:
his countenance has peace. Agenor’s daughter marvels,
that he is so beautiful, that he threatens no battles;
but although gentle, she fears to touch him at first,

860

mox adit et flores ad candida porrigit ora.
gaudet amans et, dum veniat sperata voluptas,
oscula dat manibus; vix iam, vix cetera differt;
et nunc adludit viridique exsultat in herba,
nunc latus in fulvis niveum deponit harenis;

soon she approaches and stretches flowers to his shining-white face.
the lover rejoices and, while the hoped-for delight may come,
he gives kisses to her hands; now scarcely, scarcely does he defer the rest;
and now he sports and exults in the green grass,
now he lays his snow-white side upon the tawny sands;

865

paulatimque metu dempto modo pectora praebet
virginea plaudenda manu, modo cornua sertis
inpedienda novis; ausa est quoque regia virgo
nescia, quem premeret, tergo considere tauri,
cum deus a terra siccoque a litore sensim

and little by little, with fear removed, now she offers his breast to be patted by a virginal hand,
now his horns to be entangled with new garlands; the royal maiden too dared,
unaware whom she was pressing, to sit upon the back of the bull,
as the god gradually from the land and the dry shore

870

falsa pedum primis vestigia ponit in undis;
inde abit ulterius mediique per aequora ponti
fert praedam: pavet haec litusque ablata relictum
respicit et dextra cornum tenet, altera dorso
inposita est; tremulae sinuantur flamine vestes.

he places feigned footprints of his feet in the first waves;
then he goes farther and over the level expanses of the mid-sea
he bears his prey: she is afraid and, carried off, looks back at the shore left behind,
and with her right hand she holds the horn, the other is placed on the back;
her trembling garments undulate in the breeze.