Ovid: METAMORPHOSES

Iamque deus posita fallacis imagine tauri
se confessus erat Dictaeaque rura tenebat,
cum pater ignarus Cadmo perquirere raptam
imperat et poenam, si non invenerit, addit
exilium, facto pius et sceleratus eodem.

And now the god, with the fallacious image of the bull set aside,
had confessed himself and was holding the Dictaean fields,
when the father, unknowing, orders Cadmus to seek the abducted girl,
and adds the penalty, if he does not find her, of exile,
pious and criminal by the same deed.

orbe pererrato (quis enim deprendere possit
furta Iovis?) profugus patriamque iramque parentis
vitat Agenorides Phoebique oracula supplex
consulit et, quae sit tellus habitanda, requirit.
'bos tibi' Phoebus ait 'solis occurret in arvis,

after the world has been wandered through (for who indeed could apprehend
the thefts of Jove?), a fugitive, the Agenorid avoids both his fatherland and his father’s wrath,
and, a suppliant, consults the oracles of Phoebus
and asks what land is to be inhabited.
'a cow will meet you,' says Phoebus, 'in solitary fields,

nullum passa iugum curvique inmunis aratri.
hac duce carpe vias et, qua requieverit herba,
moenia fac condas Boeotiaque illa vocato.'
vix bene Castalio Cadmus descenderat antro,
incustoditam lente videt ire iuvencam

having suffered no yoke and free from the curved plow.
With this as guide, take your ways, and, where it shall have rested on the grass,
see to it that you found walls and call that Boeotia.'
Hardly had Cadmus well descended from the Castalian cave,
he sees an unguarded heifer go slowly

nullum servitii signum cervice gerentem.
subsequitur pressoque legit vestigia gressu
auctoremque viae Phoebum taciturnus adorat.
iam vada Cephisi Panopesque evaserat arva:
bos stetit et tollens speciosam cornibus altis 20
ad caelum frontem mugitibus inpulit auras
atque ita respiciens comites sua terga sequentis
procubuit teneraque latus submisit in herba.

bearing no sign of servitude upon her neck.
he follows, and with close-pressed step reads the footprints,
and, taciturn, adores Phoebus, the author of the way.
already he had passed the shallows of the Cephisus and the fields of Panopeus:
the cow stood, and, lifting her beautiful brow with her high horns 20
to the sky she, with lowings, drove the breezes,
and thus, looking back at the companions following her back,
she sank down and lowered her flank upon the tender grass.

Cadmus agit grates peregrinaeque oscula terrae
figit et ignotos montes agrosque salutat.

Cadmus gives thanks and plants kisses upon the foreign earth
and greets the unknown mountains and fields.

Sacra Iovi facturus erat: iubet ire ministros
et petere e vivis libandas fontibus undas.
silva vetus stabat nulla violata securi,
et specus in media virgis ac vimine densus
efficiens humilem lapidum conpagibus arcum

He was about to perform sacred rites to Jove: he orders the ministers to go
and to seek from living springs waters to be poured in libation.
an ancient forest stood, violated by no axe,
and in the midst a cave, dense with rods and with wickerwork,
forming a low arch by the joinings of stones

uberibus fecundus aquis; ubi conditus antro
Martius anguis erat, cristis praesignis et auro;
igne micant oculi, corpus tumet omne venenis,
tresque vibrant linguae, triplici stant ordine dentes.
quem postquam Tyria lucum de gente profecti

fecund with abundant waters; where in a cavern was hidden a Martial serpent, remarkable for crests and for gold;
his eyes flash with fire, his whole body swells with venoms,
and three tongues quiver, the teeth stand in triple order.
whom, after the Tyrians, having set out from the Tyrian people,
to the grove

infausto tetigere gradu, demissaque in undas
urna dedit sonitum, longo caput extulit antro
caeruleus serpens horrendaque sibila misit.
effluxere urnae manibus sanguisque reliquit
corpus et attonitos subitus tremor occupat artus.

they touched it with an ill-omened step, and the urn, lowered into the waves,
gave a sound; from the long cavern a cerulean serpent lifted its head
and sent forth horrendous hissings. The urns slipped from their hands,
and blood left the body, and a sudden tremor seizes their thunderstruck limbs.

ille volubilibus squamosos nexibus orbes
torquet et inmensos saltu sinuatur in arcus
ac media plus parte leves erectus in auras
despicit omne nemus tantoque est corpore, quanto,
si totum spectes, geminas qui separat arctos.

he twists scaly orbs in voluble coils,
and by a leap he curves into immense arches,
and, with more than half his length lightly reared into the airs,
he looks down on the whole grove, and he is of so great a body as that which,
if you behold it entire, separates the twin Bears.

nec mora, Phoenicas, sive illi tela parabant
sive fugam, sive ipse timor prohibebat utrumque,
occupat: hos morsu, longis conplexibus illos,
hos necat adflati funesta tabe veneni.
Fecerat exiguas iam sol altissimus umbras:

nor was there delay: he seizes the Phoenicians, whether they were preparing weapons or flight, or fear itself was forbidding both; these by a bite, those with long embraces; these he kills by the deadly taint of exhaled venom.
The highest sun had already made the shadows scant:

quae mora sit sociis, miratur Agenore natus
vestigatque viros. tegumen derepta leoni
pellis erat, telum splendenti lancea ferro
et iaculum teloque animus praestantior omni.
ut nemus intravit letataque corpora vidit

what delay there is for his associates, the son of Agenor marvels
and he tracks the men. the tegument was a skin stripped from a lion,
and as weapon a lance with shining iron,
and a javelin—and a spirit more excellent than every weapon.
as he entered the grove and saw the bodies laid low by death

victoremque supra spatiosi tergoris hostem
tristia sanguinea lambentem vulnera lingua,
'aut ultor vestrae, fidissima pectora, mortis,
aut comes' inquit 'ero.' dixit dextraque molarem
sustulit et magnum magno conamine misit.

and the victorious foe above the expanse of his broad back,
licking with his blood-red tongue the grim wounds,
'either the avenger of your death, most faithful hearts,
or a comrade,' he said, 'I shall be.' He spoke and with his right hand a millstone
he lifted, and a great one with great exertion he sent.

illius inpulsu cum turribus ardua celsis
moenia mota forent, serpens sine vulnere mansit
loricaeque modo squamis defensus et atrae
duritia pellis validos cute reppulit ictus;
at non duritia iaculum quoque vicit eadem,

by his impulse, the lofty walls with their high towers would have been moved; the serpent remained without wound,
and, defended by his scales in the manner of a lorica, and by the hardness of his dark hide,
he with his skin repelled the mighty blows;
but that same hardness did not also conquer the javelin,

quod medio lentae spinae curvamine fixum
constitit et totum descendit in ilia ferrum.
ille dolore ferox caput in sua terga retorsit
vulneraque adspexit fixumque hastile momordit,
idque ubi vi multa partem labefecit in omnem,

which, fixed in the curvature of the pliant spine’s middle,
stood fast, and the whole iron descended into the flanks.
He, fierce with pain, twisted his head onto his own back
and looked upon his wounds and bit the fixed shaft,
and when with much force he had shaken it loose in every part,

vix tergo eripuit; ferrum tamen ossibus haesit.
tum vero postquam solitas accessit ad iras
causa recens, plenis tumuerunt guttura venis,
spumaque pestiferos circumfluit albida rictus,
terraque rasa sonat squamis, quique halitus exit

he scarcely tore it from its back; however the iron stuck fast in the bones.
then indeed, after a fresh cause was added to his accustomed rages,
the throat swelled with veins full,
and whitish foam flowed around the pestiferous gaping jaws,
and the earth, scraped, resounds with scales, and the breath which goes out

ore niger Stygio, vitiatas inficit auras.
ipse modo inmensum spiris facientibus orbem
cingitur, interdum longa trabe rectior adstat,
inpete nunc vasto ceu concitus imbribus amnis
fertur et obstantis proturbat pectore silvas.

with Stygian mouth black, he infects the vitiated airs.
he himself now, his coils making an immense orb, is encircled,
at times he stands more upright as a long beam,
now with vast impetus, like a river stirred by rains,
he is borne along and with his breast drives away the obstructing forests.

cedit Agenorides paulum spolioque leonis
sustinet incursus instantiaque ora retardat
cuspide praetenta: furit ille et inania duro
vulnera dat ferro figitque in acumine dentes.
iamque venenifero sanguis manare palato

The Agenorid yields a little, and with the lion’s spoil he sustains the incursions and slows the insistent jaws with his spear held before him; that one rages, and deals empty wounds to the hard iron and fixes his teeth in the tip. And now blood begins to drip from his veneniferous palate

coeperat et virides adspergine tinxerat herbas;
sed leve vulnus erat, quia se retrahebat ab ictu
laesaque colla dabat retro plagamque sedere
cedendo arcebat nec longius ire sinebat,
donec Agenorides coniectum in guttura ferrum

had begun, and had tinctured the green herbs with the aspersion;
but the wound was slight, because he drew himself back from the blow,
and he gave his injured necks backward, and by yielding he warded off
the stroke from settling, nor did he allow it to go farther,
until the Agenorid hurled the iron into the throat

usque sequens pressit, dum retro quercus eunti
obstitit et fixa est pariter cum robore cervix.
pondere serpentis curvata est arbor et ima
parte flagellari gemuit sua robora caudae.
Dum spatium victor victi considerat hostis,

Following unceasingly, he pressed, until an oak opposed the one going backward
and the neck was fixed fast together with the oak’s trunk.
By the weight of the serpent the tree was bent, and in its lowest
part it groaned, its own oaken strength being scourged by the tail.
While the victorious foe considers a respite for the vanquished,

vox subito audita est; neque erat cognoscere promptum,
unde, sed audita est: 'quid, Agenore nate, peremptum
serpentem spectas? et tu spectabere serpens.'
ille diu pavidus pariter cum mente colorem
perdiderat, gelidoque comae terrore rigebant:

a voice was suddenly heard; nor was it easy to recognize
whence, but it was heard: 'why, son of Agenor, do you gaze at the slain
serpent? and you too will be gazed at as a serpent.'
he, fearful for a long time, had lost his color along with his mind alike,
and his hair was stiff with icy terror:

100

ecce viri fautrix superas delapsa per auras
Pallas adest motaeque iubet supponere terrae
vipereos dentes, populi incrementa futuri.
paret et, ut presso sulcum patefecit aratro,
spargit humi iussos, mortalia semina, dentes.

behold the man’s patroness, Pallas, having glided down through the upper airs, is present, and bids him to put beneath the stirred earth the viperous teeth, the increments of a future people.
he obeys, and, as with the pressed plow he opened a furrow,
he scatters on the ground the commanded, mortal seeds, the teeth.

105

inde (fide maius) glaebae coepere moveri,
primaque de sulcis acies adparuit hastae,
tegmina mox capitum picto nutantia cono,
mox umeri pectusque onerataque bracchia telis
exsistunt, crescitque seges clipeata virorum:

then (beyond belief) the clods began to move,
and first from the furrows the spear’s point appeared,
soon the helmets, nodding with painted crest,
soon shoulders and breast and arms burdened with weapons
come forth, and the shield-bearing harvest of men grows:

110

sic, ubi tolluntur festis aulaea theatris,
surgere signa solent primumque ostendere vultus,
cetera paulatim, placidoque educta tenore
tota patent imoque pedes in margine ponunt.
Territus hoste novo Cadmus capere arma parabat:

thus, when in festive theaters the curtains are lifted,
the figures are wont to rise and first to show their faces,
the rest little by little, and, drawn up with a placid tenor,
they lie wholly open and set their feet upon the lowest margin.
Terrified by the new enemy Cadmus was preparing to take up arms:

115

'ne cape!' de populo, quem terra creaverat, unus
exclamat 'nec te civilibus insere bellis!'
atque ita terrigenis rigido de fratribus unum
comminus ense ferit, iaculo cadit eminus ipse;
hunc quoque qui leto dederat, non longius illo

'Do not take them!' from the people whom the earth had created, one shouts, 'nor insert yourself into civil wars!'
and so one of the earth-born, with a rigid sword, strikes at close quarters one from among his brothers,
he himself falls by a javelin from afar;
this one too, who had given him to death, no farther than that one

120

vivit et exspirat, modo quas acceperat auras,
exemploque pari furit omnis turba, suoque
Marte cadunt subiti per mutua vulnera fratres.
iamque brevis vitae spatium sortita iuventus
sanguineam tepido plangebat pectore matrem,

he lives and breathes his last, the airs he had just received,
and by like example the whole throng raves, and by their own
Mars they fall, sudden-born brothers, through mutual wounds.
and now the youth, allotted the brief span of life,
was beating his bloodstained mother with warm breast,

125

quinque superstitibus, quorum fuit unus Echion.
is sua iecit humo monitu Tritonidis arma
fraternaeque fidem pacis petiitque deditque:
hos operis comites habuit Sidonius hospes,
cum posuit iussus Phoebeis sortibus urbem.

with five survivors, of whom one was Echion.
he, at the monition of the Tritonid, cast his arms to the ground
and both sought and gave the pledge of fraternal peace:
these the Sidonian guest had as companions of the work,
when, ordered by Phoebean lots, he founded the city.

130

Iam stabant Thebae, poteras iam, Cadme, videri
exilio felix: soceri tibi Marsque Venusque
contigerant; huc adde genus de coniuge tanta,
tot natos natasque et, pignora cara, nepotes,
hos quoque iam iuvenes; sed scilicet ultima semper

By now Thebes stood, you could now, Cadmus, seem fortunate in exile
your parents-in-law, Mars and Venus, had come to you;
to this add the lineage from so great a spouse,
so many sons and daughters and, dear pledges, grandchildren,
these too already youths; but of course the last things always

135

exspectanda dies hominis, dicique beatus
ante obitum nemo supremaque funera debet.
Prima nepos inter tot res tibi, Cadme, secundas
causa fuit luctus, alienaque cornua fronti
addita, vosque, canes satiatae sanguine erili.

the day of a man must be awaited, and no one ought to be called blessed
before his obit and ultimate funerals.
The first cause of grief, amid so many favorable things to you, Cadmus, was your grandson,
and alien horns were added to his brow,
and you, dogs, satiated with your master’s blood.

140

at bene si quaeras, Fortunae crimen in illo,
non scelus invenies; quod enim scelus error habebat?
Mons erat infectus variarum caede ferarum,
iamque dies medius rerum contraxerat umbras
et sol ex aequo meta distabat utraque,

but if you inquire well, you will find in him the blame of Fortune,
not a crime; for what crime did error have?
There was a mountain stained with the slaughter of various wild beasts,
and now mid-day had contracted the shadows of things,
and the sun was at an equal distance from either goal,

145

cum iuvenis placido per devia lustra vagantes
participes operum conpellat Hyantius ore:
'lina madent, comites, ferrumque cruore ferarum,
fortunaeque dies habuit satis; altera lucem
cum croceis invecta rotis Aurora reducet,

when the Hyantian youth, with placid voice, addresses the partners of the tasks as they wander through remote lairs:
'the nets are drenched, comrades, and the steel with the blood of wild beasts,
and the day has had enough of fortune; another Dawn,
borne in with saffron wheels, will bring back the light,'

150

propositum repetemus opus: nunc Phoebus utraque
distat idem meta finditque vaporibus arva.
sistite opus praesens nodosaque tollite lina!'
iussa viri faciunt intermittuntque laborem.
Vallis erat piceis et acuta densa cupressu,

we will resume the purposed work: now Phoebus is equally distant from either turning-post and cleaves the fields with his vapors. halt the present work and lift the knotted nets!' they do the man's commands and intermit the labor.
There was a valley thick with pitch-pines and dense with sharp cypress,

155

nomine Gargaphie succinctae sacra Dianae,
cuius in extremo est antrum nemorale recessu
arte laboratum nulla: simulaverat artem
ingenio natura suo; nam pumice vivo
et levibus tofis nativum duxerat arcum;

named Gargaphie, sacred to girded Diana,
at whose farthest recess there is a woodland cave
wrought by no art: nature by her own ingenuity had simulated art;
for with living pumice and smooth tufa-stones
she had drawn a native arch;

160

fons sonat a dextra tenui perlucidus unda,
margine gramineo patulos incinctus hiatus.
hic dea silvarum venatu fessa solebat
virgineos artus liquido perfundere rore.
quo postquam subiit, nympharum tradidit uni

a spring sounds on the right, pellucid with its slender wave,
girt with a grassy margin, its wide-mouthed opening.
here the goddess of the forests, wearied by the hunt, was accustomed
to bathe her maiden limbs with liquid dew.
when she had gone within it, she entrusted to one of the nymphs

165

armigerae iaculum pharetramque arcusque retentos,
altera depositae subiecit bracchia pallae,
vincla duae pedibus demunt; nam doctior illis
Ismenis Crocale sparsos per colla capillos
colligit in nodum, quamvis erat ipsa solutis.

the javelin of the arms-bearing goddess, the quiver, and the bows held back,
another placed her arms beneath the laid-aside mantle,
two remove the bindings from her feet; for more skillful than they,
Crocale of Ismenus gathers the hair scattered over her neck
into a knot, although she herself was with her own tresses unbound.

170

excipiunt laticem Nepheleque Hyaleque Rhanisque
et Psecas et Phiale funduntque capacibus urnis.
dumque ibi perluitur solita Titania lympha,
ecce nepos Cadmi dilata parte laborum
per nemus ignotum non certis passibus errans

They catch the water—Nephele and Hyale and Rhanis—
and Psecas and Phiale—and they pour it with capacious urns.
And while there the Titanian is being bathed in the accustomed lymph,
behold, the grandson of Cadmus, with a portion of his labors deferred,
through an unknown grove, wandering with uncertain steps

175

pervenit in lucum: sic illum fata ferebant.
qui simul intravit rorantia fontibus antra,
sicut erant, nudae viso sua pectora nymphae
percussere viro subitisque ululatibus omne
inplevere nemus circumfusaeque Dianam

he came into a grove: thus the Fates were bearing him.
who, as soon as he entered the antra dripping with springs,
just as they were, the nymphs, naked, at the sight of the man
beat their own breasts and with sudden ululations filled all
the grove, and, having surrounded Diana

180

corporibus texere suis; tamen altior illis
ipsa dea est colloque tenus supereminet omnis.
qui color infectis adversi solis ab ictu
nubibus esse solet aut purpureae Aurorae,
is fuit in vultu visae sine veste Dianae.

they covered her with their bodies; yet higher than them
the goddess herself is, and up to the neck she towers above all.
the color which is wont to be in clouds stained by the stroke of the facing sun,
or of purpled Aurora,
that was on the visage of Diana seen without garment.

185

quae, quamquam comitum turba est stipata suarum,
in latus obliquum tamen adstitit oraque retro
flexit et, ut vellet promptas habuisse sagittas,
quas habuit sic hausit aquas vultumque virilem
perfudit spargensque comas ultricibus undis

she, although she is thronged by a crowd of her companions,
nevertheless took her stand to a slanting side and turned her face backward,
and, as if she wished to have had her arrows prompt,
the waters which she had she thus drew up and drenched the virile face
and, sprinkling his hair with avenging waves

190

addidit haec cladis praenuntia verba futurae:
'nunc tibi me posito visam velamine narres,
si poteris narrare, licet!' nec plura minata
dat sparso capiti vivacis cornua cervi,
dat spatium collo summasque cacuminat aures

she added these words, foretelling the calamity to come:
'now you may tell that you have seen me with my veil laid aside,
if you can tell it—indeed, you may!' and, having threatened no more,
she gives to the sprinkled head the antlers of a long-lived stag,
she gives length to the neck and tapers the utmost ears to points

195

cum pedibusque manus, cum longis bracchia mutat
cruribus et velat maculoso vellere corpus;
additus et pavor est: fugit Autonoeius heros
et se tam celerem cursu miratur in ipso.
ut vero vultus et cornua vidit in unda,

as he changes both hands into feet, and his arms into long legs,
and veils his body with a spotted hide;
and fear too is added: the Autonoeian hero flees
and marvels at himself so swift in the very course.
but when indeed he saw his features and horns in the wave,

200

'me miserum!' dicturus erat: vox nulla secuta est!
ingemuit: vox illa fuit, lacrimaeque per ora
non sua fluxerunt; mens tantum pristina mansit.
quid faciat?

'miserable me!' he was about to say: no voice followed!
he groaned: that was the voice, and tears over a face
not his own flowed; only his former mind remained.
what should he do?

repetatne domum et regalia tecta
an lateat silvis? pudor hoc, timor inpedit illud.

Should he return home and the regal roofs
or should he lie hidden in the forests? Shame hinders this, fear hinders that.

205

Dum dubitat, videre canes, primique Melampus
Ichnobatesque sagax latratu signa dedere,
Cnosius Ichnobates, Spartana gente Melampus.
inde ruunt alii rapida velocius aura,
Pamphagos et Dorceus et Oribasos, Arcades omnes,

While he hesitates, the dogs see, and first Melampus
and the sagacious Ichnobates gave signs with barking—
Cnossian Ichnobates, Melampus of Spartan race.
Thence others rush, swifter than the rapid breeze,
Pamphagos and Dorceus and Oribasos, all Arcadians,

210

Nebrophonosque valens et trux cum Laelape Theron
et pedibus Pterelas et naribus utilis Agre
Hylaeusque ferox nuper percussus ab apro
deque lupo concepta Nape pecudesque secuta
Poemenis et natis comitata Harpyia duobus

and valiant Deer-slayer and grim Theron with Laelaps
and Pterelas in his feet, and Agre useful in her nostrils
and Hylaeus, fierce, lately struck by a boar,
and Nape conceived from a wolf, and—having followed the flocks—
Poemenis, and Harpyia accompanied by her two offspring

215

et substricta gerens Sicyonius ilia Ladon
et Dromas et Canache Sticteque et Tigris et Alce
et niveis Leucon et villis Asbolos atris
praevalidusque Lacon et cursu fortis Aello
et Thoos et Cyprio velox cum fratre Lycisce

and Ladon the Sicyonian, bearing tight-drawn flanks,
and Dromas and Canache and Sticte and Tigris and Alce,
and Leucon with snowy coat and Asbolos with black shag,
and the very-strong Lacon and Aello strong in running,
and Thoos and Lycisce, swift with his brother from Cyprus

220

et nigram medio frontem distinctus ab albo
Harpalos et Melaneus hirsutaque corpore Lachne
et patre Dictaeo, sed matre Laconide nati
Labros et Argiodus et acutae vocis Hylactor
quosque referre mora est: ea turba cupidine praedae

and Harpalus, his black forehead distinguished in the middle by white,
and Melaneus, and Lachne shaggy of body,
and Labros and Argiodus, and Hylactor of acute voice,
born of a Dictaean father, but of a Laconian mother—
and those whom it is a delay to recount: that throng with cupidity for prey

225

per rupes scopulosque adituque carentia saxa,
quaque est difficilis quaque est via nulla, sequuntur.
ille fugit per quae fuerat loca saepe secutus,
heu! famulos fugit ipse suos.

through cliffs and crags and rocks lacking access,
and wherever the way is difficult and wherever there is no road, they follow.
he flees through the places which he had often pursued,
alas! he himself flees his own servants

clamare libebat:
'Actaeon ego sum: dominum cognoscite vestrum!'

he wanted to shout:
'I am Actaeon: recognize your master!'

230

verba animo desunt; resonat latratibus aether.
prima Melanchaetes in tergo vulnera fecit,
proxima Theridamas, Oresitrophos haesit in armo:
tardius exierant, sed per conpendia montis
anticipata via est; dominum retinentibus illis,

words fail his spirit; the ether resounds with barkings.
first Melanchaetes made wounds on his back,
next Theridamas; Oresitrophos stuck in the shoulder:
they had set out more slowly, but by the mountain’s shortcuts
the way was anticipated; as they were holding their master,

235

cetera turba coit confertque in corpore dentes.
iam loca vulneribus desunt; gemit ille sonumque,
etsi non hominis, quem non tamen edere possit
cervus, habet maestisque replet iuga nota querellis
et genibus pronis supplex similisque roganti

the rest of the crowd gathers and packs their teeth into his body.
now places for wounds are lacking; he groans, and a sound,
although not of a man, which nevertheless a stag could not utter,
he has, and he fills the familiar ridges with mournful complaints
and, with knees bent, he is a suppliant and like one begging

240

circumfert tacitos tamquam sua bracchia vultus.
at comites rapidum solitis hortatibus agmen
ignari instigant oculisque Actaeona quaerunt
et velut absentem certatim Actaeona clamant
(ad nomen caput ille refert) et abesse queruntur

he turns about his silent looks, as though his features were his arms.
but his companions, ignorant, incite the swift column with their customary exhortations,
and with their eyes they seek Actaeon,
and as if he were absent they cry out Actaeon in rivalry
(at the name he turns his head), and they complain that he is absent

245

nec capere oblatae segnem spectacula praedae.
vellet abesse quidem, sed adest; velletque videre,
non etiam sentire canum fera facta suorum.
undique circumstant, mersisque in corpore rostris
dilacerant falsi dominum sub imagine cervi, 250
nec nisi finita per plurima vulnera vita
ira pharetratae fertur satiata Dianae.

nor at the spectacle of prey proffered are they slow to seize.
he would indeed wish to be away, but he is present; and he would wish to see,
not also to feel the savage deeds of his own hounds.
on all sides they surround, and with snouts plunged into his body
they tear to pieces their master under the image of a stag, mistaken, 250
nor is the wrath of quiver-bearing Diana said to have been sated until, through very many wounds, life was ended.

Rumor in ambiguo est; aliis violentior aequo
visa dea est, alii laudant dignamque severa
virginitate vocant: pars invenit utraque causas.

Rumor is in ambiguity; to some the goddess seemed more violent than equitable,
others laud and call her worthy of severe virginity:
each side finds causes.

255

sola Iovis coniunx non tam, culpetne probetne,
eloquitur, quam clade domus ab Agenore ductae
gaudet et a Tyria collectum paelice transfert
in generis socios odium; subit ecce priori
causa recens, gravidamque dolet de semine magni

only Jove’s consort does not so much speak out whether she blame or approve,
as she rejoices in the ruin of the house drawn from Agenor,
and transfers to the allies of the race the hatred gathered from the Tyrian mistress;
behold, a fresh cause comes in addition to the former,
and she grieves that one is pregnant by the seed of the great one

260

esse Iovis Semelen; dum linguam ad iurgia solvit,
'profeci quid enim totiens per iurgia?' dixit,
'ipsa petenda mihi est; ipsam, si maxima Iuno
rite vocor, perdam, si me gemmantia dextra
sceptra tenere decet, si sum regina Iovisque

that Semele is of Jove; while she loosens her tongue for quarrels,
'for what, indeed, have I accomplished so often by quarrels?' she said,
'she herself must be sought out by me; her, if I am rightly called greatest Juno,
I will destroy, if it be fitting that my right hand hold the gemmed
scepters, if I am queen of Jove and

265

et soror et coniunx, certe soror. at, puto, furto est
contenta, et thalami brevis est iniuria nostri.
concipit++id derat++manifestaque crimina pleno
fert utero et mater, quod vix mihi contigit, uno
de Iove vult fieri: tanta est fiducia formae.

both sister and spouse, certainly sister. But, I suppose, she is content with furtive theft, and brief is the injury of our bed-chamber.
she conceives—this was lacking—and bears manifest crimes in a full womb, and, as a mother—what has scarcely befallen me—she wants to be made by Jove alone: so great is the confidence in her form.

270

fallat eam faxo; nec sum Saturnia, si non
ab Iove mersa suo Stygias penetrabit in undas.'
Surgit ab his solio fulvaque recondita nube
limen adit Semeles nec nubes ante removit
quam simulavit anum posuitque ad tempora canos

I will contrive that she be deceived; nor am I the Saturnian, if she does not
plunged by her own Jove, penetrate the Stygian waves.'
She rises at these words from her throne, and, hidden in a fulvous cloud,
she goes to Semele’s threshold, nor did she remove the cloud before
she feigned an old woman and set gray hairs at her temples

275

sulcavitque cutem rugis et curva trementi
membra tulit passu; vocem quoque fecit anilem,
ipsaque erat Beroe, Semeles Epidauria nutrix.
ergo ubi captato sermone diuque loquendo
ad nomen venere Iovis, suspirat et 'opto,

and she furrowed her skin with wrinkles and bore her bent
limbs with a trembling step; she also made her voice anile,
and she herself was Beroe, Semele’s Epidaurian nurse.
therefore, when, after catching at conversation and by long talking,
they came to the name of Jove, she sighs and says, 'I wish,

280

Iuppiter ut sit' ait; 'metuo tamen omnia: multi
nomine divorum thalamos iniere pudicos.
nec tamen esse Iovem satis est: det pignus amoris,
si modo verus is est; quantusque et qualis ab alta
Iunone excipitur, tantus talisque, rogato,

‘Let him be Jupiter,’ she says; ‘still I fear everything: many have entered chaste marriage-beds under the name of gods.
nor yet is it enough that he be Jupiter: let him give a pledge of love,
if only he is true; and as great and of such a kind as he is received by high
Juno, so great and such, when asked,’

285

det tibi conplexus suaque ante insignia sumat!'
Talibus ignaram Iuno Cadmeida dictis
formarat: rogat illa Iovem sine nomine munus.
cui deus 'elige!' ait 'nullam patiere repulsam,
quoque magis credas, Stygii quoque conscia sunto

let him grant you his embraces and take up his own insignia beforehand!'
With such words Juno had shaped the unknowing Cadmeian: she asks of Jove a gift without a name.
to whom the god says, 'choose! you will suffer no repulse,
and, that you may believe the more, let the Stygian [river] also be witness

290

numina torrentis: timor et deus ille deorum est.'
laeta malo nimiumque potens perituraque amantis
obsequio Semele 'qualem Saturnia' dixit
'te solet amplecti, Veneris cum foedus initis,
da mihi te talem!' voluit deus ora loquentis

the divinities of the torrent: a terror, and that is the god of the gods.'
joyful in her bane and too powerful, and doomed to perish by a lover’s compliance,
Semele said, 'in the manner in which the Saturnian
is wont to embrace you, when you enter into the pact of Venus,
grant me you in such a manner!' the god wished the lips of the one speaking

295

opprimere: exierat iam vox properata sub auras.
ingemuit; neque enim non haec optasse, neque ille
non iurasse potest. ergo maestissimus altum
aethera conscendit vultuque sequentia traxit
nubila, quis nimbos inmixtaque fulgura ventis

to suppress; the hurried voice had already gone forth into the upper air.
he groaned; for she cannot be said not to have desired this, nor he not to have sworn.
therefore, most sorrowful, he ascended the high aether and with his face drew the clouds that followed,
clouds, in which nimbus-clouds and lightnings were commingled with winds

300

addidit et tonitrus et inevitabile fulmen;
qua tamen usque potest, vires sibi demere temptat
nec, quo centimanum deiecerat igne Typhoea,
nunc armatur eo: nimium feritatis in illo est.
est aliud levius fulmen, cui dextra cyclopum

he added both thunder and the inevitable thunderbolt;
yet, so far as he can, he tries to take strength away from himself,
nor, with the fire by which he had cast down the hundred-handed Typhoeus,
does he now arm himself: there is too much ferocity in that.
there is another, lighter, thunderbolt, for which the right hand of the Cyclopes

305

saevitiae flammaeque minus, minus addidit irae:
tela secunda vocant superi; capit illa domumque
intrat Agenoream. corpus mortale tumultus
non tulit aetherios donisque iugalibus arsit.
inperfectus adhuc infans genetricis ab alvo

less of savagery and of flame, less it had added to ire:
the supernal ones call them the second weapons; he takes that one and
enters the Agenorean house. The mortal body did not bear the aetherial
tumults and was burned by the nuptial gifts. The as yet unfinished infant from his mother’s womb

310

eripitur patrioque tener (si credere dignum est)
insuitur femori maternaque tempora conplet.
furtim illum primis Ino matertera cunis
educat, inde datum nymphae Nyseides antris
occuluere suis lactisque alimenta dedere.

he is snatched away, and, tender, (if it is worthy to believe) is sewn into his father’s thigh, and he completes the maternal time.
secretly his aunt Ino rears him in the first cradles,
then, once given over, the Nysaean nymphs hid him in their caves
and gave nourishment of milk.

315

Dumque ea per terras fatali lege geruntur
tutaque bis geniti sunt incunabula Bacchi,
forte Iovem memorant diffusum nectare curas
seposuisse graves vacuaque agitasse remissos
cum Iunone iocos et 'maior vestra profecto est,

While these things were being carried on through the lands by fated law
and the cradle of twice-begotten Bacchus was safe,
they tell that by chance Jove, his cares suffused with nectar,
had set his grave concerns aside and, in leisure, had bandied unstrained jests
with Juno, and, 'Yours is assuredly the greater,'

320

quam quae contingit maribus' dixisse 'voluptas.'
illa negat. placuit quae sit sententia docti
quaerere Tiresiae: Venus huic erat utraque nota.
nam duo magnorum viridi coeuntia silva
corpora serpentum baculi violaverat ictu

‘than the pleasure which befalls males,’ he is said to have said.
She denies it. It pleased them to seek what the sentiment of the learned
Tiresias might be: to him both aspects of Venus were known.
For two bodies of great serpents coupling in a green forest
he had violated with the blow of his staff.

325

deque viro factus (mirabile) femina septem
egerat autumnos; octavo rursus eosdem
vidit, et 'est vestrae si tanta potentia plagae'
dixit, 'ut auctoris sortem in contraria mutet,
nunc quoque vos feriam.' percussis anguibus isdem

and from a man made (marvelous) a woman he had passed seven autumns; on the eighth he again saw the same,
and said, 'if there is such potency of your stroke as to change the lot of the author into the contrary,
now also I will strike you.' the same serpents having been struck

330

forma prior rediit, genetivaque venit imago.
arbiter hic igitur sumptus de lite iocosa
dicta Iovis firmat: gravius Saturnia iusto
nec pro materia fertur doluisse suique
iudicis aeterna damnavit lumina nocte;

the former form returned, and the inborn image came.
therefore, taken as arbiter here of the jocose dispute,
he affirms Jove’s sayings: the Saturnian is reported to have grieved more heavily than was just
and not in proportion to the matter, and she
condemned the eyes of her own judge to eternal night;

335

at pater omnipotens (neque enim licet inrita cuiquam
facta dei fecisse deo) pro lumine adempto
scire futura dedit poenamque levavit honore.
Ille per Aonias fama celeberrimus urbes
inreprehensa dabat populo responsa petenti;

but the omnipotent father (for it is not permitted to any god to have made void the deeds of a god), in exchange for the light taken away, granted to know the future and lightened the penalty with an honor.
He, through the Aonian cities, most celebrated in fame, was giving irreprehensible responses to the seeking people;

340

prima fide vocisque ratae temptamina sumpsit
caerula Liriope, quam quondam flumine curvo
inplicuit clausaeque suis Cephisos in undis
vim tulit: enixa est utero pulcherrima pleno
infantem nymphe, iam tunc qui posset amari,

sea-blue Liriope took up the first trials of trust and of a ratified voice,
whom once Cephisus entangled in his winding river, and, shut within his own waves,
used force upon: the nymph, most beautiful with her womb full,
bore a child, one who even then could be loved,

345

Narcissumque vocat. de quo consultus, an esset
tempora maturae visurus longa senectae,
fatidicus vates 'si se non noverit' inquit.
vana diu visa est vox auguris: exitus illam
resque probat letique genus novitasque furoris.

And she names him Narcissus. About whom, when consulted whether he would behold the long times of a mature old age,
the fatidic seer says, “if he does not know himself.”
For a long time the voice of the augur seemed vain; the outcome proves it,
and the fact as well—the kind of death and the novelty of the madness.

350

namque ter ad quinos unum Cephisius annum
addiderat poteratque puer iuvenisque videri:
multi illum iuvenes, multae cupiere puellae;
sed fuit in tenera tam dura superbia forma,
nulli illum iuvenes, nullae tetigere puellae.

for indeed the Cephisian had added one year thrice to five
and he could seem both boy and youth:
many young men, many maidens desired him;
but in his tender form there was so hard a pride,
no youths touched him, no maidens.

355

adspicit hunc trepidos agitantem in retia cervos
vocalis nymphe, quae nec reticere loquenti
nec prior ipsa loqui didicit, resonabilis Echo.
Corpus adhuc Echo, non vox erat et tamen usum
garrula non alium, quam nunc habet, oris habebat,

She beholds him driving the trembling deer into the nets
the vocal nymph, who had learned neither to keep silent to one speaking
nor to speak first herself, resounding Echo.
At that time Echo was still a body, not a voice, and yet
the garrulous girl had no other use of a mouth than that which she now has,

360

reddere de multis ut verba novissima posset.
fecerat hoc Iuno, quia, cum deprendere posset
sub Iove saepe suo nymphas in monte iacentis,
illa deam longo prudens sermone tenebat,
dum fugerent nymphae. postquam hoc Saturnia sensit,

so that she could give back, out of many, the very last words.
Juno had done this, because, whenever she was able to apprehend
nymphs lying on the mountain with her own Jove,
that one, prudent, held the goddess with a long discourse,
while the nymphs fled. After Saturnia sensed this,

365

'huius' ait 'linguae, qua sum delusa, potestas
parva tibi dabitur vocisque brevissimus usus,'
reque minas firmat. tantum haec in fine loquendi
ingeminat voces auditaque verba reportat.
ergo ubi Narcissum per devia rura vagantem

'Of this tongue,' she says, 'by which I have been deluded, a small power
will be given to you, and the most brief use of voice,'
and by the deed she makes her threats firm. Only this, at the end of speaking,
she redoubles the sounds and reports back the words she has heard.
therefore, when Narcissus, wandering through the pathless fields,

370

vidit et incaluit, sequitur vestigia furtim,
quoque magis sequitur, flamma propiore calescit,
non aliter quam cum summis circumlita taedis
admotas rapiunt vivacia sulphura flammas.
o quotiens voluit blandis accedere dictis

she saw and grew heated, she follows the footprints furtively,
and the more she follows, the flame grows hotter, nearer,
not otherwise than when lively sulphur, smeared around the tips of torches,
snatches up the flames brought close.
o how often did she wish to approach with blandishing words

375

et mollis adhibere preces! natura repugnat
nec sinit, incipiat, sed, quod sinit, illa parata est
exspectare sonos, ad quos sua verba remittat.
forte puer comitum seductus ab agmine fido
dixerat: 'ecquis adest?' et 'adest' responderat Echo.

and to apply soft supplications! Nature resists
and does not permit her to begin, but, what it permits, she is prepared
to await the sounds, to which she may send back her own words.
by chance the boy, separated from the faithful band of companions,
had said: 'Is anyone here?' and 'Here' Echo had answered.

380

hic stupet, utque aciem partes dimittit in omnis,
voce 'veni!' magna clamat: vocat illa vocantem.
respicit et rursus nullo veniente 'quid' inquit
'me fugis?' et totidem, quot dixit, verba recepit.
perstat et alternae deceptus imagine vocis

Here he stands amazed, and as he sends his gaze into all parts,
with a great voice he shouts, "Come!": she calls the caller.
He looks back and again, with no one coming, he says "why"
"do you flee me?" and he received just as many words as he had said.
He persists and, deceived by the image of an answering voice

385

'huc coeamus' ait, nullique libentius umquam
responsura sono 'coeamus' rettulit Echo
et verbis favet ipsa suis egressaque silva
ibat, ut iniceret sperato bracchia collo;
ille fugit fugiensque 'manus conplexibus aufer!

'here let us come together,' he says, and Echo, who would respond to no sound more gladly ever,
returned 'let us come together';
and she herself favors her own words, and, having gone forth from the forest,
she was going to cast her arms upon the hoped-for neck;
he flees, and as he flees, 'take your hands away from embraces!'

390

ante' ait 'emoriar, quam sit tibi copia nostri';
rettulit illa nihil nisi 'sit tibi copia nostri!'
spreta latet silvis pudibundaque frondibus ora
protegit et solis ex illo vivit in antris;
sed tamen haeret amor crescitque dolore repulsae;

‘I would sooner die,’ he said, ‘than that you should have access to me’;
she returned nothing except, ‘that you should have access to me!’
spurned, she lies hidden in the woods and, bashful, with leaves she covers her face,
and from that time she lives in caves alone;
but nevertheless love clings and grows with the pain of repulse;

395

extenuant vigiles corpus miserabile curae
adducitque cutem macies et in aera sucus
corporis omnis abit; vox tantum atque ossa supersunt:
vox manet, ossa ferunt lapidis traxisse figuram.
inde latet silvis nulloque in monte videtur,

wakeful cares extenuate the pitiable body
and leanness draws the skin, and into the air the juice
of the whole body goes away; only the voice and the bones remain:
the voice remains; they say the bones have drawn the figure of stone.
thence she hides in the woods and on no mountain is she seen,

400

omnibus auditur: sonus est, qui vivit in illa.
Sic hanc, sic alias undis aut montibus ortas
luserat hic nymphas, sic coetus ante viriles;
inde manus aliquis despectus ad aethera tollens
'sic amet ipse licet, sic non potiatur amato!'

she is heard by all: a sound is what lives in her.
Thus had he toyed with this one, thus with others born from waves or from mountains,
the nymphs; so too with male assemblies before;
then someone scorned, lifting his hands to the aether,
'so may he himself love—be it so—thus may he not possess the beloved!'

405

dixerat: adsensit precibus Rhamnusia iustis.
fons erat inlimis, nitidis argenteus undis,
quem neque pastores neque pastae monte capellae
contigerant aliudve pecus, quem nulla volucris
nec fera turbarat nec lapsus ab arbore ramus;

He had spoken: Rhamnusia assented to the just prayers.
There was an unpolluted spring, silvery with shining waters,
which neither shepherds nor she-goats pastured on the mountain
had touched, nor any other herd; which no bird
nor wild beast had disturbed, nor a branch fallen from a tree;

410

gramen erat circa, quod proximus umor alebat,
silvaque sole locum passura tepescere nullo.
hic puer et studio venandi lassus et aestu
procubuit faciemque loci fontemque secutus,
dumque sitim sedare cupit, sitis altera crevit,

there was grass around, which the nearest moisture nourished,
and a wood that would suffer the place to grow tepid by no sun.
here the boy, wearied both by the zeal of venery and by the heat,
lay down and, following the face of the place and the fountain,
and while he longs to quench his thirst, another thirst grew,

415

dumque bibit, visae correptus imagine formae
spem sine corpore amat, corpus putat esse, quod umbra est.
adstupet ipse sibi vultuque inmotus eodem
haeret, ut e Pario formatum marmore signum;
spectat humi positus geminum, sua lumina, sidus

and while he drinks, seized by the image of the form he has seen,
he loves a hope without body, he thinks what is a shadow to be a body.
he stands astonished at himself, and with the same face unmoved
he clings, like a statue formed from Parian marble;
set on the ground he gazes at his lights, a twin star

420

et dignos Baccho, dignos et Apolline crines
inpubesque genas et eburnea colla decusque
oris et in niveo mixtum candore ruborem,
cunctaque miratur, quibus est mirabilis ipse:
se cupit inprudens et, qui probat, ipse probatur,

and hair worthy of Bacchus, and worthy also of Apollo,
and beardless cheeks and an ivory neck and the grace
of the face, and the blush mixed with snowy whiteness,
and he marvels at all the things by which he himself is marvelous:
unwitting he desires himself, and he who approves is himself approved,

425

dumque petit, petitur, pariterque accendit et ardet.
inrita fallaci quotiens dedit oscula fonti,
in mediis quotiens visum captantia collum
bracchia mersit aquis nec se deprendit in illis!
quid videat, nescit; sed quod videt, uritur illo,

and while he seeks, he is sought, and alike he kindles and burns.
how often he gave in vain kisses to the fallacious fountain,
how often, in the midst, his arms catching at the seen neck
he plunged into the waters, nor did he apprehend himself in them!
what he sees, he knows not; but by what he sees, he is inflamed by that,

430

atque oculos idem, qui decipit, incitat error.
credule, quid frustra simulacra fugacia captas?
quod petis, est nusquam; quod amas, avertere, perdes!
ista repercussae, quam cernis, imaginis umbra est:
nil habet ista sui; tecum venitque manetque;

and the same error, which deceives, incites the eyes.
credulous one, why do you vainly grasp at fleeing simulacra?
what you seek is nowhere; what you love, turn away, you will lose!
that, which you discern, is the shadow of a reflected image:
that thing has nothing of its own; it comes with you and remains with you;

435

tecum discedet, si tu discedere possis!
Non illum Cereris, non illum cura quietis
abstrahere inde potest, sed opaca fusus in herba
spectat inexpleto mendacem lumine formam
perque oculos perit ipse suos; paulumque levatus

it will depart with you, if you could depart!
Neither Ceres nor the concern for rest can draw him away from there, but, stretched on the shaded grass,
he gazes with unsated eye at the deceitful form,
and through his very eyes he himself perishes; and, lifted a little

440

ad circumstantes tendens sua bracchia silvas
'ecquis, io silvae, crudelius' inquit 'amavit?
scitis enim et multis latebra opportuna fuistis.
ecquem, cum vestrae tot agantur saecula vitae,
qui sic tabuerit, longo meministis in aevo?

stretching his arms toward the surrounding woods
'has anyone, O woods, loved more cruelly?' he says.
'for you know, and to many you have been an opportune hiding-place.
anyone, while so many ages of your life are being spent,
who has so wasted away, do you remember, in the long age?'

445

et placet et video; sed quod videoque placetque,
non tamen invenio'++tantus tenet error amantem++
'quoque magis doleam, nec nos mare separat ingens
nec via nec montes nec clausis moenia portis;
exigua prohibemur aqua! cupit ipse teneri:

both it pleases and I see; yet what I see and what pleases, I nevertheless do not find it'++so great an error holds the lover++ and, that I may grieve the more, neither does the vast sea separate us nor road nor mountains nor walls with gates shut; we are hindered by a little water! he himself longs to be held:

450

nam quotiens liquidis porreximus oscula lymphis,
hic totiens ad me resupino nititur ore.
posse putes tangi: minimum est, quod amantibus obstat.
quisquis es, huc exi!

for as often as I have stretched out kisses to the liquid waters,
so often does he strive toward me with an upturned mouth toward me.
you would think it could be touched: it is a very little thing which stands in the way of lovers.
whoever you are, come out here!

quid me, puer unice, fallis
quove petitus abis? certe nec forma nec aetas

why do you deceive me, unique boy?
and whither, when sought, do you go? surely neither form nor age

455

est mea, quam fugias, et amarunt me quoque nymphae!
spem mihi nescio quam vultu promittis amico,
cumque ego porrexi tibi bracchia, porrigis ultro,
cum risi, adrides; lacrimas quoque saepe notavi
me lacrimante tuas; nutu quoque signa remittis

the one whom you flee is mine, and the nymphs too have loved me!
you promise me I know not what hope with a friendly visage,
and when I stretched out my arms to you, you extend yours unbidden,
when I laughed, you smile back; I have often noted your tears
when I was weeping; with a nod too you send back signs

460

et, quantum motu formosi suspicor oris,
verba refers aures non pervenientia nostras!
iste ego sum: sensi, nec me mea fallit imago;
uror amore mei: flammas moveoque feroque.
quid faciam?

and, as much as I suspect from the motion of the beautiful mouth,
you refer words not reaching our ears!
I am that one: I have perceived it, nor does my image deceive me;
I burn with love of myself: I both move and bear the flames.
what am I to do?

roger anne rogem? quid deinde rogabo?

shall i be asked, or shall i ask? what then shall i ask?

465

quod cupio mecum est: inopem me copia fecit.
o utinam a nostro secedere corpore possem!
votum in amante novum, vellem, quod amamus, abesset.

what I desire is with me: abundance has made me poor.
o would that I could withdraw from my own body!
a vow new in a lover: I would that what we love were absent.

iamque dolor vires adimit, nec tempora vitae
longa meae superant, primoque exstinguor in aevo.

And now pain deprives me of strength, nor do long spans of my life remain;
and I am extinguished in my first age.

470

nec mihi mors gravis est posituro morte dolores,
hic, qui diligitur, vellem diuturnior esset;
nunc duo concordes anima moriemur in una.'
     Dixit et ad faciem rediit male sanus eandem
et lacrimis turbavit aquas, obscuraque moto                475
reddita forma lacu est; quam cum vidisset abire,
'quo refugis? remane nec me, crudelis, amantem
desere!' clamavit; 'liceat, quod tangere non est,
adspicere et misero praebere alimenta furori!'
dumque dolet, summa vestem deduxit ab ora

nor is death grievous to me, since by death I shall lay down my pains,
this one, who is cherished, I would wish were more long‑lasting;
now we two, concordant, shall die in one soul.'
     He spoke and, hardly sane, returned to the same face
and with tears disturbed the waters, and his form was rendered obscure, the lake having been set in motion;                475
when he saw it depart, he cried, 'whither do you flee? remain, and do not, cruel one, desert me, your lover!
let it be permitted, since it is not permitted to touch, to behold and to provide sustenance to my wretched fury!'
and while he grieves, he drew his garment down from the upper edge

480

nudaque marmoreis percussit pectora palmis.
pectora traxerunt roseum percussa ruborem,
non aliter quam poma solent, quae candida parte,
parte rubent, aut ut variis solet uva racemis
ducere purpureum nondum matura colorem.

and with marble-white palms he struck his naked breasts.
his breasts, struck, drew a rosy rubor,
no otherwise than apples are wont, which in one part are candid,
in part grow red; or as the grape in its various clusters
is wont, not yet mature, to take on a purple color.

485

quae simul adspexit liquefacta rursus in unda,
non tulit ulterius, sed ut intabescere flavae
igne levi cerae matutinaeque pruinae
sole tepente solent, sic attenuatus amore
liquitur et tecto paulatim carpitur igni;

which, as soon as he beheld it liquefied again in the wave,
he did not endure further; but as yellow wax is wont to melt
with a light fire, and the morning frost
with the sun warming is wont, so attenuated by love
he liquefies and is little by little consumed by a hidden fire;

490

et neque iam color est mixto candore rubori,
nec vigor et vires et quae modo visa placebant,
nec corpus remanet, quondam quod amaverat Echo.
quae tamen ut vidit, quamvis irata memorque,
indoluit, quotiensque puer miserabilis 'eheu'

and there is no longer color, redness mixed with whiteness,
nor vigor and forces and the things which lately, when seen, were pleasing,
nor does the body remain, which Echo once had loved.
who, however, when she saw it, although angry and mindful,
grieved, and as often as the pitiable boy said 'alas'

495

dixerat, haec resonis iterabat vocibus 'eheu';
cumque suos manibus percusserat ille lacertos,
haec quoque reddebat sonitum plangoris eundem.
ultima vox solitam fuit haec spectantis in undam:
'heu frustra dilecte puer!' totidemque remisit

He had spoken, and she was repeating with resounding voices: 'alas';
and when he had struck his own upper arms with his hands,
she too was returning the same sound of lamentation.
This was the last voice of him, accustomed as he gazed into the wave:
'alas, boy beloved in vain!' and she sent back just as many.

500

verba locus, dictoque vale 'vale' inquit et Echo.
ille caput viridi fessum submisit in herba,
lumina mors clausit domini mirantia formam:
tum quoque se, postquam est inferna sede receptus,
in Stygia spectabat aqua. planxere sorores

the place returned the words, and to the spoken ‘farewell’ ‘farewell,’ said Echo as well.
he lowered his weary head on the green grass,
death closed the eyes marveling at their master’s form:
then too, after he was received in the infernal seat,
he was gazing at himself in Stygian water. the sisters lamented

505

naides et sectos fratri posuere capillos,
planxerunt dryades; plangentibus adsonat Echo.
iamque rogum quassasque faces feretrumque parabant:
nusquam corpus erat; croceum pro corpore florem
inveniunt foliis medium cingentibus albis.

The Naiads too laid their shorn locks for their brother,
the Dryads lamented; Echo sounds in accord with the lamenters.
And now they were preparing the pyre, the brandished torches, and the bier:
the body was nowhere; instead of the body they find a saffron flower,
its middle encircled by white leaves.

510

Cognita res meritam vati per Achaidas urbes
attulerat famam, nomenque erat auguris ingens;
spernit Echionides tamen hunc ex omnibus unus
contemptor superum Pentheus praesagaque ridet
verba senis tenebrasque et cladem lucis ademptae

Once the matter was known, it had brought the seer deserved fame through the Achaean cities,
and the name of the augur was mighty;
yet the Echionid, alone of all, spurns this man—
Pentheus, a despiser of the gods—and he laughs at the presaging
words of the old man, and at the darkness and the calamity of light taken away.

515

obicit. ille movens albentia tempora canis
'quam felix esses, si tu quoque luminis huius
orbus' ait 'fieres, ne Bacchica sacra videres!
namque dies aderit, quam non procul auguror esse,
qua novus huc veniat, proles Semeleia, Liber,

he hurls it in his face. He, shaking his temples white with hoary hairs,
says, 'how happy you would be, if you too were to become bereft
of this light, so that you would not see the Bacchic sacred rites!
for a day will come, which I augur is not far off,
on which a newcomer will come here—the Semelean progeny, Liber—

520

quem nisi templorum fueris dignatus honore,
mille lacer spargere locis et sanguine silvas
foedabis matremque tuam matrisque sorores.
eveniet! neque enim dignabere numen honore,
meque sub his tenebris nimium vidisse quereris.'

whom, unless you deign him the honor of temples,
you will, lacerated, be scattered in a thousand places, and with blood you will befoul the woods,
and your mother and your mother’s sisters.
it will come to pass! for you will not deign the divinity with honor,
and you will complain that I, beneath this darkness, have seen too much.'

525

talia dicentem proturbat Echione natus;
dicta fides sequitur, responsaque vatis aguntur.
Liber adest, festisque fremunt ululatibus agri:
turba ruit, mixtaeque viris matresque nurusque
vulgusque proceresque ignota ad sacra feruntur.

as he was saying such things, the son of Echion drives him away;
credence follows the words, and the prophet’s responses are carried out.
Liber is at hand, and the fields roar with festal ululations:
the crowd rushes, and mothers and daughters-in-law, mingled with men,
and both the commoners and the nobles are borne to the unknown rites.

530

'Quis furor, anguigenae, proles Mavortia, vestras
attonuit mentes?' Pentheus ait; 'aerane tantum
aere repulsa valent et adunco tibia cornu
et magicae fraudes, ut, quos non bellicus ensis,
non tuba terruerit, non strictis agmina telis,

'What frenzy, snake-born, Mavortian progeny, has thunder-struck your minds?' says Pentheus; 'Do the bronzes, resounding when struck by bronze, and the pipe with its hooked horn, and magical frauds, so prevail, that those whom not the warlike sword, not the trumpet, not battalions with drawn weapons,

535

femineae voces et mota insania vino
obscenique greges et inania tympana vincant?
vosne, senes, mirer, qui longa per aequora vecti
hac Tyron, hac profugos posuistis sede penates,
nunc sinitis sine Marte capi? vosne, acrior aetas,

shall feminine voices and insanity set in motion by wine,
obscene bands and inane tympana, prevail?
is it you, old men, that I should marvel at, who, borne across long seas,
here set Tyre, here placed your fugitive Penates in this seat,
now allowing capture without Mars? you, the keener age,

540

o iuvenes, propiorque meae, quos arma tenere,
non thyrsos, galeaque tegi, non fronde decebat?
este, precor, memores, qua sitis stirpe creati,
illiusque animos, qui multos perdidit unus,
sumite serpentis! pro fontibus ille lacuque

O young men, and nearer to my own blood, you to whom it was fitting to hold arms,
not thyrsi, and to be covered with a helmet, not with frondage?
be, I pray, mindful of what stock you were created,
and take up the spirit of that serpent, who, one alone, destroyed many,
for the springs and the pool!

545

interiit: at vos pro fama vincite vestra!
ille dedit leto fortes: vos pellite molles
et patrium retinete decus! si fata vetabant
stare diu Thebas, utinam tormenta virique
moenia diruerent, ferrumque ignisque sonarent!

he has perished: but you, for your fame, be victorious!
that one consigned the brave to death: you drive out the soft and retain your ancestral decorum!
and if the Fates forbade Thebes to stand long, would that engines and men might tear down the walls, and iron and fire might resound!

550

essemus miseri sine crimine, sorsque querenda,
non celanda foret, lacrimaeque pudore carerent;
at nunc a puero Thebae capientur inermi,
quem neque bella iuvant nec tela nec usus equorum,
sed madidus murra crinis mollesque coronae

we would be wretched without fault, and our fate to be lamented,
would not have to be hidden, and our tears would be without shame;
but now Thebes will be taken by an unarmed boy,
whom neither wars delight nor weapons nor the use of horses,
but hair dripping with myrrh and soft garlands

555

purpuraque et pictis intextum vestibus aurum,
quem quidem ego actutum (modo vos absistite) cogam
adsumptumque patrem commentaque sacra fateri.
an satis Acrisio est animi, contemnere vanum
numen et Argolicas venienti claudere portas:

and purple and gold woven into embroidered garments,
whom indeed I will straightway (only you stand aside) compel
to confess the assumed father and the contrived sacred rites.
Or has Acrisius enough spirit, to contemn the vain numen
and to close the Argolic gates to him as he comes:

560

Penthea terrebit cum totis advena Thebis?
ite citi' (famulis hoc imperat), 'ite ducemque
attrahite huc vinctum! iussis mora segnis abesto!'
hunc avus, hunc Athamas, hunc cetera turba suorum
corripiunt dictis frustraque inhibere laborant.

Will a newcomer terrify Pentheus along with all Thebes?
go quickly (he commands this to his servants), 'go and drag the leader
here bound! Let sluggish delay be absent from my orders!'
him his grandfather, him Athamas, him the rest of the crowd of his own
reproach with words, and they labor in vain to restrain him.

565

acrior admonitu est inritaturque retenta
et crescit rabies remoraminaque ipsa nocebant:
sic ego torrentem, qua nil obstabat eunti,
lenius et modico strepitu decurrere vidi;
at quacumque trabes obstructaque saxa tenebant,

the fiercer for the admonition he is, and, when held back, he is irritated,
and the rage grows, and the hindrances themselves were doing harm:
thus have I seen a torrent, where nothing was standing as an obstacle to its going,
run down more gently and with a moderate strepitus;
but wherever beams and obstructing rocks were holding it,

570

spumeus et fervens et ab obice saevior ibat.
Ecce cruentati redeunt et, Bacchus ubi esset,
quaerenti domino Bacchum vidisse negarunt;
'hunc' dixere 'tamen comitem famulumque sacrorum
cepimus' et tradunt manibus post terga ligatis

foamy and fervent, and more savage from the obstruction, it went.
Lo! the bloodied men return and, when the master asked where Bacchus was,
they denied that they had seen Bacchus; 'this man,' they said, 'at least, a companion and servant of the sacred rites,
we captured,' and they hand him over, his hands bound behind his back.

575

sacra dei quendam Tyrrhena gente secutum.
adspicit hunc Pentheus oculis, quos ira tremendos
fecerat, et quamquam poenae vix tempora differt,
'o periture tuaque aliis documenta dature
morte,' ait, 'ede tuum nomen nomenque parentum

a certain man, of Tyrrhenian race, who had followed the god’s sacred rites.
Pentheus beholds him with eyes which anger had made tremendous,
and although he scarcely defers the time for punishment,
'O you who are about to perish and to give to others proofs by your death,' he says, 'declare
your name and the name of your parents

580

et patriam, morisque novi cur sacra frequentes!'
ille metu vacuus 'nomen mihi' dixit 'Acoetes,
patria Maeonia est, humili de plebe parentes.
non mihi quae duri colerent pater arva iuvenci,
lanigerosve greges, non ulla armenta reliquit;

‘and your fatherland, and why you frequent the sacred rites of a new custom!’
he, void of fear, said: ‘My name is Acoetes,
my fatherland is Maeonia; my parents are from the humble plebs.
My father left me not fields which hardy young bullocks might till,
nor wool-bearing flocks, nor any herds;

585

pauper et ipse fuit linoque solebat et hamis
decipere et calamo salientis ducere pisces.
ars illi sua census erat; cum traderet artem,
"accipe, quas habeo, studii successor et heres,"
dixit "opes," moriensque mihi nihil ille reliquit 590
praeter aquas: unum hoc possum adpellare paternum.
mox ego, ne scopulis haererem semper in isdem,
addidici regimen dextra moderante carinae
flectere et Oleniae sidus pluviale capellae
Taygetenque Hyadasque oculis Arctonque notavi

he too was poor, and with line and hooks he used to deceive, and with a reed-rod to draw forth the leaping fishes.
his art was his census; when he handed down the art,
“receive, successor and heir of my zeal, the resources I have,”
he said; and as he was dying he left me nothing 590
except the waters: this one thing I can call paternal.
soon I, lest I should always cling to the same rocks,
learned in addition to turn the steering of the keel, my right hand guiding,
and I marked with my eyes the rainy star of the Olenian she-goat,
and Taygete and the Hyades and the Bear.

595

ventorumque domos et portus puppibus aptos.
forte petens Delum Chiae telluris ad oras
adplicor et dextris adducor litora remis
doque levis saltus udaeque inmittor harenae:
nox ibi consumpta est; aurora rubescere primo

and the homes of the winds and harbors apt for sterns.
by chance, seeking Delos, I make for the shores of the Chian land
I make landfall and am drawn to the shore by right-hand oars
and I give light leaps and am sent into the wet sand:
night there was consumed; Aurora at first began to redden

600

coeperat: exsurgo laticesque inferre recentis
admoneo monstroque viam, quae ducat ad undas;
ipse quid aura mihi tumulo promittat ab alto
prospicio comitesque voco repetoque carinam.
"adsumus en" inquit sociorum primus Opheltes,

had begun: I rise and urge that fresh waters be brought aboard,
and I show the way which may lead to the waves;
I myself look out from the high mound what the breeze
promises me, and I call the comrades and make for the keel again.
"We are here, lo," says Opheltes, first of the companions,

605

utque putat, praedam deserto nactus in agro,
virginea puerum ducit per litora forma.
ille mero somnoque gravis titubare videtur
vixque sequi; specto cultum faciemque gradumque:
nil ibi, quod credi posset mortale, videbam.

and as he thinks, having found prey in a deserted field,
he leads the boy, with virginal form, along the shores.
he, heavy with wine and sleep, seems to stagger
and scarcely to follow; I look at the attire and the face and the gait:
nothing there did I see that could be believed mortal.

610

et sensi et dixi sociis: "quod numen in isto
corpore sit, dubito; sed corpore numen in isto est!
quisquis es, o faveas nostrisque laboribus adsis;
his quoque des veniam!" "pro nobis mitte precari!"
Dictys ait, quo non alius conscendere summas

and I both perceived and said to my companions: "what divinity may be in that
body, I am in doubt; but a divinity is in that body!
whoever you are, O may you favor and be present to our labors;
to these also may you grant pardon!" "stop praying for us!"
Dictys says, than whom no other to climb the topmost

615

ocior antemnas prensoque rudente relabi.
hoc Libys, hoc flavus, prorae tutela, Melanthus,
hoc probat Alcimedon et, qui requiemque modumque
voce dabat remis, animorum hortator, Epopeus,
hoc omnes alii: praedae tam caeca cupido est. 620
"non tamen hanc sacro violari pondere pinum
perpetiar" dixi: "pars hic mihi maxima iuris"
inque aditu obsisto: furit audacissimus omni
de numero Lycabas, qui Tusca pulsus ab urbe
exilium dira poenam pro caede luebat;

swifter to the yardarms and, with the rope seized, to slip back.
This Libys approves, this the blond, the guardian of the prow, Melanthus;
this Alcimedon approves, and Epopeus, who by his voice was giving both respite and measure
to the oars, the encourager of spirits; this all the others: so blind is the desire for prey. 620
"yet I will not endure that this pine be violated by a sacred burden,"
I said: "here the greatest share of authority is mine"
and at the gangway I stand in the way: Lycabas raves, the most audacious
of the whole number, who, driven from a Tuscan city,
was paying exile, a dire penalty, for slaughter;

625

is mihi, dum resto, iuvenali guttura pugno
rupit et excussum misisset in aequora, si non
haesissem, quamvis amens, in fune retentus.
inpia turba probat factum; tum denique Bacchus
(Bacchus enim fuerat), veluti clamore solutus

he, while I stood my ground, with a juvenile fist broke my throat,
and would have sent me, shaken off, into the waters, if I had not
clung, though out of my mind, held back on the rope.
the impious mob approves the deed; then at last Bacchus
(for Bacchus he had been), as if released by the clamor

630

sit sopor aque mero redeant in pectora sensus,
"quid facitis? quis clamor?" ait "qua, dicite, nautae,
huc ope perveni? quo me deferre paratis?"
"pone metum" Proreus, "et quos contingere portus
ede velis!" dixit; "terra sistere petita."

let slumber be gone, and from the unmixed wine let my senses return into my breast,
"What are you doing? What clamor?" he says; "by what, tell me, sailors,
did I come here with help? where are you preparing to carry me?"
"Put aside fear," Proreus said, "and declare what ports
you wish to touch; we will set you ashore on the land sought."

635

"Naxon" ait Liber "cursus advertite vestros!
illa mihi domus est, vobis erit hospita tellus."
per mare fallaces perque omnia numina iurant
sic fore meque iubent pictae dare vela carinae.
dextera Naxos erat: dextra mihi lintea danti

"Toward Naxos," says Liber, "turn your courses!
that is my home; for you it will be a hospitable land."
deceitful, they swear by the sea and by all the numina
that it shall be so, and they bid me to set sails to the painted keel.
on the right was Naxos: as I, giving the sails to the right

640

"quid facis, o demens? quis te furor," inquit "Acoete,"
pro se quisque, "tenet? laevam pete!" maxima nutu
pars mihi significat, pars quid velit ore susurro.

"What are you doing, O demented one? What fury," he says, "Acoetes,"
each man for himself, "holds you? Make for the left!" The greatest part
signifies to me with a nod; part whispers with the mouth what he wants.

obstipui "capiat" que "aliquis moderamina!" dixi
meque ministerio scelerisque artisque removi. 645
increpor a cunctis, totumque inmurmurat agmen;
e quibus Aethalion "te scilicet omnis in uno
nostra salus posita est!" ait et subit ipse meumque
explet opus Naxoque petit diversa relicta.
tum deus inludens, tamquam modo denique fraudem

I was astonished and said, "let someone seize the controls!" and I removed myself from the ministry both of their crime and of their craft. 645
I am reproached by all, and the whole host murmurs;
of whom Aethalion says, "of course, our whole safety has been placed in you alone!" and he takes my place himself and completes my work, and for Naxos he makes with our course turned aside, the former track abandoned.
then the god, mocking, as though only just at last the fraud

650

senserit, e puppi pontum prospectat adunca
et flenti similis "non haec mihi litora, nautae,
promisistis" ait, "non haec mihi terra rogata est!
quo merui poenam facto? quae gloria vestra est,
si puerum iuvenes, si multi fallitis unum?"

having perceived it, from the curved stern he looks out over the sea
and, like one weeping, "not these shores for me, sailors,
you promised," he says, "not this land was asked for by me!
by what deed did I deserve a penalty? what glory is yours,
if you young men deceive a boy, if many deceive one?"

655

iamdudum flebam: lacrimas manus inpia nostras
ridet et inpellit properantibus aequora remis.
per tibi nunc ipsum (nec enim praesentior illo
est deus) adiuro, tam me tibi vera referre
quam veri maiora fide: stetit aequore puppis

I had long been weeping: the impious hand laughs at our tears
and impels the waters with hurrying oars.
By this very god himself (for no god is more present than he)
I adjure you, that I report to you truths as truly
as things greater than truth’s credence: the ship stood upon the waters

660

haud aliter, quam si siccam navale teneret.
illi admirantes remorum in verbere perstant
velaque deducunt geminaque ope currere temptant:
inpediunt hederae remos nexuque recurvo
serpunt et gravidis distinguunt vela corymbis.

no otherwise than if a dry dockyard held it.
they, marveling, persist in the beating of the oars
and they lower the sails and try to run with twin aid:
ivies entangle the oars and, with a backward-curved binding,
they creep and mark the sails with heavy clusters.

665

ipse racemiferis frontem circumdatus uvis
pampineis agitat velatam frondibus hastam;
quem circa tigres simulacraque inania lyncum
pictarumque iacent fera corpora pantherarum.
exsiluere viri, sive hoc insania fecit

he himself, his brow surrounded with grape-clusters
brandishes a spear veiled with pampinean fronds;
around him tigers and the empty simulacra of lynxes
and the wild bodies of painted panthers lie.
the men sprang up, whether madness did this

670

sive timor, primusque Medon nigrescere toto
corpore et expresso spinae curvamine flecti
incipit. huic Lycabas "in quae miracula" dixit
"verteris?" et lati rictus et panda loquenti
naris erat, squamamque cutis durata trahebat.

or fear, and first Medon begins to grow black over his whole body and to be bent by the pressed-out curvature of the spine.
to him Lycabas said, "into what miracles are you turning?" and as he spoke his gape was broad and his nose bowed,
and his skin, hardened, was drawing on scale.

675

at Libys obstantis dum vult obvertere remos,
in spatium resilire manus breve vidit et illas
iam non esse manus, iam pinnas posse vocari.
alter ad intortos cupiens dare bracchia funes
bracchia non habuit truncoque repandus in undas

but Libys, while he wishes to turn the hindering oars,
saw his hands resile into a brief space, and that they
were now no longer hands, now could be called fins.
another, wishing to give his arms to the twisted cables,
had no arms, and, arched-back with his trunk, into the waves

680

corpore desiluit: falcata novissima cauda est,
qualia dividuae sinuantur cornua lunae.
undique dant saltus multaque adspergine rorant
emerguntque iterum redeuntque sub aequora rursus
inque chori ludunt speciem lascivaque iactant

he leapt from the body: the hindmost is a falcate tail,
such as the horns of the divided moon undulate.
on every side they leap and drip with much spray
and they emerge again and return again beneath the waters
and they play in the likeness of a chorus and, playful, they toss about

685

corpora et acceptum patulis mare naribus efflant.
de modo viginti (tot enim ratis illa ferebat)
restabam solus: pavidum gelidumque trementi
corpore vixque meum firmat deus "excute" dicens
"corde metum Diamque tene!" delatus in illam

their bodies and the sea they had taken in they blow out with wide nostrils.
out of just-now twenty (for that raft was carrying so many)
I alone remained: panic-stricken and gelid, with a trembling
body, and the god scarcely steadies me, saying “shake out
fear from your heart and hold for Dia!” borne to that one

690

accessi sacris Baccheaque sacra frequento.'
'Praebuimus longis' Pentheus 'ambagibus aures,'
inquit 'ut ira mora vires absumere posset.
praecipitem, famuli, rapite hunc cruciataque diris
corpora tormentis Stygiae demittite nocti!'

I have approached the rites and I frequent the Bacchic sacred rites.'
'We have lent our ears to long circumlocutions,' says Pentheus, 'so that delay could consume the strength of anger.
seize this man headlong, servants, and, with his body racked by dire torments,
send him down to Stygian night!'

695

protinus abstractus solidis Tyrrhenus Acoetes
clauditur in tectis; et dum crudelia iussae
instrumenta necis ferrumque ignesque parantur,
sponte sua patuisse fores lapsasque lacertis
sponte sua fama est nullo solvente catenas.

Immediately, dragged away, the Tyrrhenian Acoetes
is shut within solid buildings; and while the cruel
instruments of the commanded killing, iron and fires, are being prepared,
there is a report that the doors opened of their own accord and that the chains
slipped from his arms of their own accord, with no one unloosing them.

700

Perstat Echionides, nec iam iubet ire, sed ipse
vadit, ubi electus facienda ad sacra Cithaeron
cantibus et clara bacchantum voce sonabat.
ut fremit acer equus, cum bellicus aere canoro
signa dedit tubicen pugnaeque adsumit amorem,

The son of Echion persists, and now he no longer orders them to go, but he himself
goes, where Cithaeron, chosen for the rites to be done,
was resounding with songs and with the clear voice of the Bacchants.
As a keen horse snorts, when the warlike trumpeter with tuneful bronze
has given the signals and assumes a love of battle,

705

Penthea sic ictus longis ululatibus aether
movit, et audito clamore recanduit ira.
Monte fere medio est, cingentibus ultima silvis,
purus ab arboribus, spectabilis undique, campus:
hic oculis illum cernentem sacra profanis

Thus the aether, smitten by long ululations, moved Pentheus,
and, when the clamor was heard, his anger rekindled.
About the middle of the mountain there is, the outer parts girdled by woods,
a field clear of trees, conspicuous on every side:
here he, with profane eyes, was discerning the sacred

710

prima videt, prima est insano concita cursu,
prima suum misso violavit Penthea thyrso
mater et 'o geminae' clamavit 'adeste sorores!
ille aper, in nostris errat qui maximus agris,
ille mihi feriendus aper.' ruit omnis in unum

she is first to see, she is first stirred to an insane course,
she is first to violate her own Pentheus with a thrown thyrsus,
the mother, and she cried, 'O twin sisters, be present, sisters!
that boar, who, the greatest, wanders in our fields,
that boar is for me to be smitten.' all rush upon the one

715

turba furens; cunctae coeunt trepidumque sequuntur,
iam trepidum, iam verba minus violenta loquentem,
iam se damnantem, iam se peccasse fatentem.
saucius ille tamen 'fer opem, matertera' dixit
'Autonoe! moveant animos Actaeonis umbrae!'

the frenzied crowd; all come together and follow the trembling man,
now trembling, now speaking words less violent,
now condemning himself, now confessing that he had sinned.
wounded, he nevertheless said, 'Bring aid, aunt,
Autonoe! let the shades of Actaeon move your spirit!'

720

illa, quis Actaeon, nescit dextramque precanti
abstulit, Inoo lacerata est altera raptu.
non habet infelix quae matri bracchia tendat,
trunca sed ostendens dereptis vulnera membris
'adspice, mater!' ait. visis ululavit Agaue

she—who does not know Actaeon?—took away the right hand from the supplicant,
and the other was torn off by Ino in the snatching.
the ill-fated one has no arms to stretch to his mother,
but, showing the truncated wounds, his limbs torn away,
'Behold, mother!' he says. Agave ululated at the sight.

725

collaque iactavit movitque per aera crinem
avulsumque caput digitis conplexa cruentis
clamat: 'io comites, opus hoc victoria nostra est!'
non citius frondes autumni frigore tactas
iamque male haerentes alta rapit arbore ventus,

and she tossed the neck and waved the hair through the air
and, having clasped the torn-off head with bloody fingers,
she shouts: 'io, companions, this work is our victory!'
not more swiftly does the wind snatch the leaves, touched by the chill of autumn,
and now clinging ill, from the tall tree,

730

quam sunt membra viri manibus direpta nefandis.
talibus exemplis monitae nova sacra frequentant
turaque dant sanctasque colunt Ismenides aras.

than the limbs of the man are torn apart by unspeakable hands.
Admonished by such examples, they frequent the new sacred rites
and give incense and the Ismenides cultivate the sacred altars.