Ovid: METAMORPHOSES

Praebuerat dictis Tritonia talibus aures
carminaque Aonidum iustamque probaverat iram;
tum secum: 'laudare parum est, laudemur et ipsae
numina nec sperni sine poena nostra sinamus.'
Maeoniaeque animum fatis intendit Arachnes,

Tritonia had lent her ears to such words
and had approved the songs of the Aonids and their just ire;
then with herself: 'to praise is too little; let we ourselves too be praised
as divinities, nor let us allow our power to be scorned without penalty.'
And she directed her mind to the fates of Maeonian Arachne,

quam sibi lanificae non cedere laudibus artis
audierat. non illa loco nec origine gentis
clara, sed arte fuit: pater huic Colophonius Idmon
Phocaico bibulas tinguebat murice lanas;
occiderat mater, sed et haec de plebe suoque

whom she had heard not to yield to her in the praises of the wool-working art;
she was not famous by place nor by origin of her race, but by art: her father,
Idmon of Colophon, dyed the absorbent wools with Phocaean murex;
her mother had died, but she too was of the plebeian rank and her own

aequa viro fuerat; Lydas tamen illa per urbes
quaesierat studio nomen memorabile, quamvis
orta domo parva parvis habitabat Hypaepis.
huius ut adspicerent opus admirabile, saepe
deseruere sui nymphae vineta Timoli,

she had been equal to her husband; yet she through the Lydian cities
had sought by her zeal a memorable name, although
born from a small house she dwelt in little Hypaepa.
that they might look upon her admirable work, often
the nymphs left the vineyards of their own Tmolus,

deseruere suas nymphae Pactolides undas.
nec factas solum vestes, spectare iuvabat
tum quoque, cum fierent: tantus decor adfuit arti,
sive rudem primos lanam glomerabat in orbes,
seu digitis subigebat opus repetitaque longo

The Pactolian nymphs deserted their own waters.
nor was it only the finished garments that it delighted to behold
then too, when they were being made: so great a grace attended the art,
whether she was winding the raw wool into its first orbs,
or with her fingers she was subduing the work, and repeated with long

vellera mollibat nebulas aequantia tractu,
sive levi teretem versabat pollice fusum,
seu pingebat acu; scires a Pallade doctam.
quod tamen ipsa negat tantaque offensa magistra
'certet' ait 'mecum: nihil est, quod victa recusem!'

she would soften fleeces, equaling clouds, by the drawing-out,
or with light thumb she would turn the smooth spindle,
or she would paint with the needle; you would know her taught by Pallas.
which, however, she herself denies, and, so greatly offended at the mistress,
'she should contend with me,' she says: 'there is nothing that, if beaten, I would refuse!'

Pallas anum simulat: falsosque in tempora canos
addit et infirmos, baculo quos sustinet, artus.
tum sic orsa loqui 'non omnia grandior aetas,
quae fugiamus, habet: seris venit usus ab annis.
consilium ne sperne meum: tibi fama petatur

Pallas simulates an old woman: and she adds false gray hairs to her temples,
and infirm limbs, which she supports with a staff.
then thus she began to speak: 'Not all things does an older age,
which we should flee, have: experience comes from late years.
do not spurn my counsel: let fame be sought for you

inter mortales faciendae maxima lanae;
cede deae veniamque tuis, temeraria, dictis
supplice voce roga: veniam dabit illa roganti.'
adspicit hanc torvis inceptaque fila relinquit
vixque manum retinens confessaque vultibus iram

among mortals, the greatest for wool-working;
yield to the goddess, and, rash one, ask pardon for your words
with a suppliant voice: she will grant pardon to one who asks.'
she looks at her with grim eyes and leaves the threads she had begun
and, scarcely restraining her hand, with her features confessing anger

talibus obscuram resecuta est Pallada dictis:
'mentis inops longaque venis confecta senecta,
et nimium vixisse diu nocet. audiat istas,
si qua tibi nurus est, si qua est tibi filia, voces;
consilii satis est in me mihi, neve monendo

with such words she cut off the obscure Pallas:
'bereft of mind, and by long senectitude worn out in your veins,
and to have lived too long does harm. Let her hear these
words, if you have any daughter-in-law, if you have any daughter;
I have counsel enough in myself for myself, and do not, by admonishing

profecisse putes, eadem est sententia nobis.
cur non ipsa venit? cur haec certamina vitat?'
tum dea 'venit!' ait formamque removit anilem
Palladaque exhibuit: venerantur numina nymphae
Mygdonidesque nurus; sola est non territa virgo,

you would suppose you have made progress; the same is our sentiment.
why does she not come herself? why does she avoid this contest?'
then the goddess said, 'she comes!' and removed the aged form
and exhibited Pallas; the nymphs venerate the divinity,
and the Mygdonian daughters-in-law; only the maiden is not terrified,

sed tamen erubuit, subitusque invita notavit
ora rubor rursusque evanuit, ut solet aer
purpureus fieri, cum primum Aurora movetur,
et breve post tempus candescere solis ab ortu.
perstat in incepto stolidaeque cupidine palmae

but nevertheless she blushed, and a sudden blush marked her unwilling face, and again it vanished, as the air is accustomed to become purple when Dawn first stirs, and after a brief time to grow bright from the sun’s rising. she stands fast in her undertaking and in the foolish cupidity for the palm

in sua fata ruit; neque enim Iove nata recusat
nec monet ulterius nec iam certamina differt.
haud mora, constituunt diversis partibus ambae
et gracili geminas intendunt stamine telas:
tela iugo vincta est, stamen secernit harundo,

she rushes into her own fates; for the daughter of Jove does not refuse
nor does she admonish further nor now defer the contests.
no delay, both set themselves on different sides
and with slender thread they stretch twin webs:
the web is bound to the yoke, the reed separates the warp,

inseritur medium radiis subtemen acutis,
quod digiti expediunt, atque inter stamina ductum
percusso paviunt insecti pectine dentes.
utraque festinant cinctaeque ad pectora vestes
bracchia docta movent, studio fallente laborem.

the weft is inserted into the midst by sharp shuttles,
which the fingers dispatch, and, drawn between the warps,
the teeth, inserted, ram it down by the smitten comb.
both hasten, and with garments girt to the breast
they move skillful arms, zeal beguiling the labor.

illic et Tyrium quae purpura sensit aenum
texitur et tenues parvi discriminis umbrae;
qualis ab imbre solent percussis solibus arcus
inficere ingenti longum curvamine caelum;
in quo diversi niteant cum mille colores,

there too the Tyrian purple that has felt the bronze cauldron
is woven, and slender shades of small distinction;
such as rainbows are wont, after rain, when the sun is smitten,
to dye the sky, long with a huge curvature;
in which diverse a thousand colors shine,

transitus ipse tamen spectantia lumina fallit:
usque adeo, quod tangit, idem est; tamen ultima distant.
illic et lentum filis inmittitur aurum
et vetus in tela deducitur argumentum.
Cecropia Pallas scopulum Mavortis in arce

the very transition, however, deceives the watching eyes:
so far that what it touches is the same; yet the outermost parts differ.
there too ductile gold is introduced into the threads
and an ancient argument is drawn down into the web.
Cecropian Pallas depicts the rock of Mars in the citadel

pingit et antiquam de terrae nomine litem.
bis sex caelestes medio Iove sedibus altis
augusta gravitate sedent; sua quemque deorum
inscribit facies: Iovis est regalis imago;
stare deum pelagi longoque ferire tridente

she paints also the ancient lawsuit over the name of the land.
twice six celestials, with Jove in the middle, on high seats
sit with august gravity; she inscribes each of the gods
with his own visage: the image of Jove is regal;
she paints the god of the sea standing and smiting with his long trident

aspera saxa facit, medioque e vulnere saxi
exsiluisse fretum, quo pignore vindicet urbem;
at sibi dat clipeum, dat acutae cuspidis hastam,
dat galeam capiti, defenditur aegide pectus,
percussamque sua simulat de cuspide terram

he fashions rough rocks, and that from the wound in the middle of the rock a sea-strait has leapt forth, by which pledge he vindicates his claim to the city;
but she gives herself a shield, gives a spear of sharp point,
gives a helmet to her head, her breast is defended by the aegis,
and she represents the earth struck by her own spear-point

edere cum bacis fetum canentis olivae;
mirarique deos: operis Victoria finis.
ut tamen exemplis intellegat aemula laudis,
quod pretium speret pro tam furialibus ausis
quattuor in partes certamina quattuor addit,

to bring forth, with its berries, the offspring of the hoary olive;
and that the gods marvel: Victory is the end of the work.
yet, so that the emulous of praise may understand by examples,
what price she may hope for in return for such furial audacities,
she adds four contests in four parts,

clara colore suo, brevibus distincta sigillis:
Threiciam Rhodopen habet angulus unus et Haemum,
nunc gelidos montes, mortalia corpora quondam,
nomina summorum sibi qui tribuere deorum;
altera Pygmaeae fatum miserabile matris

bright with its own color, distinguished by small emblems:
one corner holds Thracian Rhodope and Haemus,
now icy mountains, once mortal bodies,
who attributed to themselves the names of the highest gods;
another, the pitiable fate of the Pygmaean mother

pars habet: hanc Iuno victam certamine iussit
esse gruem populisque suis indicere bellum;
pinxit et Antigonen, ausam contendere quondam
cum magni consorte Iovis, quam regia Iuno
in volucrem vertit, nec profuit Ilion illi

one part has: Juno, her conquered in the contest, ordered
her to be a crane and to declare war upon her own peoples;
she also painted Antigone, who once dared to contend
with the consort of great Jove, whom regal Juno
turned into a bird, nor did Ilion avail her.

Laomedonve pater, sumptis quin candida pennis
ipsa sibi plaudat crepitante ciconia rostro;
qui superest solus, Cinyran habet angulus orbum;
isque gradus templi, natarum membra suarum,
amplectens saxoque iacens lacrimare videtur.

Or father Laomedon, and indeed the white stork, having assumed feathers, applauds herself with her crepitating beak;
a corner holds bereft Cinyras, the only one who remains;
and he, embracing the steps of the temple—the limbs of his own daughters—and lying on the stone, seems to weep.

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circuit extremas oleis pacalibus oras
(is modus est) operisque sua facit arbore finem.
Maeonis elusam designat imagine tauri
Europam: verum taurum, freta vera putares;
ipsa videbatur terras spectare relictas

she encircles the outer borders with peace‑bringing olives
(such is the mode), and with her own tree she makes the finish of the work.
the Maeonian girl delineates Europa, deluded by the image of a bull:
a real bull, real straits you would suppose;
she herself seemed to look upon the lands left behind

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et comites clamare suas tactumque vereri
adsilientis aquae timidasque reducere plantas.
fecit et Asterien aquila luctante teneri,
fecit olorinis Ledam recubare sub alis;
addidit, ut satyri celatus imagine pulchram

and her companions to cry out and to fear the touch
of the leaping water, and to draw back their timid soles.
he also made Asterie be held by a wrestling eagle,
he made Leda recline beneath swan-like wings;
he added, that, concealed in the image of a satyr, the fair

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Iuppiter inplerit gemino Nycteida fetu,
Amphitryon fuerit, cum te, Tirynthia, cepit,
aureus ut Danaen, Asopida luserit ignis,
Mnemosynen pastor, varius Deoida serpens.
te quoque mutatum torvo, Neptune, iuvenco

Jupiter filled the Nycteid with twin offspring,
he was Amphitryon when he seized you, Tirynthian,
as golden he sported with Danae, a fire played with the Asopid,
a shepherd for Mnemosyne, a variegated serpent for the Deoid.
you too, Neptune, transformed into a grim bull,

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virgine in Aeolia posuit; tu visus Enipeus
gignis Aloidas, aries Bisaltida fallis,
et te flava comas frugum mitissima mater
sensit equum, sensit volucrem crinita colubris
mater equi volucris, sensit delphina Melantho:

you lay with a maiden in Aeolia; you, seen as Enipeus,
you beget the Aloidae, as a ram you deceive the Bisaltid,
and you too the golden of locks, the most gentle mother of the crops,
felt you as a horse; the mother, hair-bound with snakes,
of the winged horse felt you as a bird; Melantho felt you as a dolphin:

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omnibus his faciemque suam faciemque locorum
reddidit. est illic agrestis imagine Phoebus,
utque modo accipitris pennas, modo terga leonis
gesserit, ut pastor Macareida luserit Issen,
Liber ut Erigonen falsa deceperit uva,

to all these he restored both his own face and the face of the places;
there is there Phoebus in a rustic image,
and how he has borne now the feathers of a hawk, now the hide of a lion,
how as a pastor he played Issa the Macareid,
how Liber deceived Erigone with a false grape,

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ut Saturnus equo geminum Chirona crearit.
ultima pars telae, tenui circumdata limbo,
nexilibus flores hederis habet intertextos.
Non illud Pallas, non illud carpere Livor
possit opus: doluit successu flava virago

how Saturn, as a horse, begot twin-formed Chiron.
the last part of the web, surrounded by a thin hem,
has flowers interwoven with plaited ivies.
Not at that could Pallas, not at that could Envy carp,
at the work: the blonde virago grieved at the success

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et rupit pictas, caelestia crimina, vestes,
utque Cytoriaco radium de monte tenebat,
ter quater Idmoniae frontem percussit Arachnes.
non tulit infelix laqueoque animosa ligavit
guttura: pendentem Pallas miserata levavit

and she tore the painted garments, the celestial crimes,
and as she held the shuttle from Mount Cytorus,
thrice and four times she struck the brow of Idmonian Arachne.
the unhappy one did not endure it, and spirited, with a noose she bound
her throat: Pallas, pitying the hanging one, lifted her

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atque ita 'vive quidem, pende tamen, inproba' dixit,
'lexque eadem poenae, ne sis secura futuri,
dicta tuo generi serisque nepotibus esto!'
post ea discedens sucis Hecateidos herbae
sparsit: et extemplo tristi medicamine tactae

and thus she said, "Live indeed, yet hang, shameless one,"
"and let the same law of punishment, that you be not secure of the future,
be declared for your race and for your late-born descendants!"
after these things, departing, with the juices of the Hecatean herb
she sprinkled: and immediately, once touched by the grim medicament

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defluxere comae, cum quis et naris et aures,
fitque caput minimum; toto quoque corpore parva est:
in latere exiles digiti pro cruribus haerent,
cetera venter habet, de quo tamen illa remittit
stamen et antiquas exercet aranea telas.

her hair fell away, and along with it both nostrils and ears,
and her head becomes very small; in her whole body too she is small:
on her side slender digits cling in place instead of legs,
the rest the belly possesses, from which nevertheless she sends out
thread, and the spider exercises her ancient webs.

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Lydia tota fremit, Phrygiaeque per oppida facti
rumor it et magnum sermonibus occupat orbem.
ante suos Niobe thalamos cognoverat illam,
tum cum Maeoniam virgo Sipylumque colebat;
nec tamen admonita est poena popularis Arachnes,

All Lydia murmurs, and through the towns of Phrygia the rumor of the deed goes and occupies the great orb with discourses.
Niobe had known her before her own bridal-chambers,
then, when as a maiden she inhabited Maeonia and Sipylus;
nor, however, was she admonished by the punishment of her compatriot Arachne,

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cedere caelitibus verbisque minoribus uti.
multa dabant animos; sed enim nec coniugis artes
nec genus amborum magnique potentia regni
sic placuere illi, quamvis ea cuncta placerent,
ut sua progenies; et felicissima matrum

to yield to the celestials and to use humbler words.
many things were giving her spirit; but indeed neither the arts of her husband
nor the lineage of both and the potency of a great kingdom
pleased her so much, although all those things were pleasing,
as her own progeny; and happiest of mothers

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dicta foret Niobe, si non sibi visa fuisset.
nam sata Tiresia venturi praescia Manto
per medias fuerat divino concita motu
vaticinata vias: 'Ismenides, ite frequentes
et date Latonae Latonigenisque duobus

she would have been called so, Niobe, if she had not seemed so to herself.
for Manto, the daughter of Tiresias, prescient of the future,
had prophesied through the midst of the streets, stirred by divine motion:
'Ismenides, go in crowds
and give to Latona and to the two Latona-born

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cum prece tura pia lauroque innectite crinem:
ore meo Latona iubet.' paretur, et omnes
Thebaides iussis sua tempora frondibus ornant
turaque dant sanctis et verba precantia flammis.
Ecce venit comitum Niobe celeberrima turba

with prayer offer pious incense and bind your hair with laurel:
‘Latona orders by my mouth.’ Let it be obeyed, and all
the Theban women adorn their temples with fronds in accordance with the commands
and give incense to the holy flames and words of supplication.
Lo, Niobe comes, with a most thronged crowd of companions

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vestibus intexto Phrygiis spectabilis auro
et, quantum ira sinit, formosa; movensque decoro
cum capite inmissos umerum per utrumque capillos
constitit, utque oculos circumtulit alta superbos,
'quis furor auditos' inquit 'praeponere visis

conspicuous in garments with Phrygian gold inwoven
and, as far as anger allows, beautiful; and, moving with her decorous
head the hair let down over each shoulder,
she stood, and as she cast her superb eyes around, lofty,
'say, what madness,' she said, 'to prefer things heard to things seen'

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caelestes? aut cur colitur Latona per aras,
numen adhuc sine ture meum est? mihi Tantalus auctor,
cui licuit soli superorum tangere mensas;
Pleiadum soror est genetrix mea; maximus Atlas
est avus, aetherium qui fert cervicibus axem;

celestials? Or why is Latona worshipped at the altars,
while my numen is still without incense? For me Tantalus is progenitor,
to whom alone among the supernal gods it was permitted to touch the tables;
the sister of the Pleiads is my genetrix; greatest Atlas
is grandsire, who bears the ethereal axis upon his shoulders;

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Iuppiter alter avus; socero quoque glorior illo.
me gentes metuunt Phrygiae, me regia Cadmi
sub domina est, fidibusque mei commissa mariti
moenia cum populis a meque viroque reguntur.
in quamcumque domus adverti lumina partem,

Jupiter is my other grandsire; in that father-in-law too I glory.
the Phrygian nations fear me; the palace of Cadmus
is under its mistress, and the walls entrusted to the strings of my husband,
together with the peoples, are governed by me and by my man.
into whatever part of the house I turn my lights,

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inmensae spectantur opes; accedit eodem
digna dea facies; huc natas adice septem
et totidem iuvenes et mox generosque nurusque!
quaerite nunc, habeat quam nostra superbia causam,
nescio quoque audete satam Titanida Coeo

immense riches are beheld; to the same there is added
a face worthy of a goddess; to this add seven daughters
and just as many youths, and soon sons-in-law and daughters-in-law!
ask now what cause our pride may have,
and, I know not why, you even dare to revere the Titaness born of Coeus

185

Latonam praeferre mihi, cui maxima quondam
exiguam sedem pariturae terra negavit!
nec caelo nec humo nec aquis dea vestra recepta est:
exsul erat mundi, donec miserata vagantem
"hospita tu terris erras, ego" dixit "in undis"

to prefer Latona to me, to whom once the greatest earth denied a scant seat when she was about to give birth!
neither by sky nor by soil nor by waters was your goddess received:
she was an exile of the world, until, pitying her as she wandered,
"As a guest you stray upon the lands; I," she said, "upon the waves"

190

instabilemque locum Delos dedit. illa duorum
facta parens: uteri pars haec est septima nostri.
sum felix (quis enim neget hoc?) felixque manebo
(hoc quoque quis dubitet?): tutam me copia fecit.

and Delos granted an unstable place. She became the mother of two; this is the seventh part of my womb.
I am fortunate (for who would deny this?) and I shall remain fortunate (who would doubt this too?): abundance has made me safe.

maior sum quam cui possit Fortuna nocere,

I am greater than one whom Fortune can harm,

195

multaque ut eripiat, multo mihi plura relinquet.
excessere metum mea iam bona. fingite demi
huic aliquid populo natorum posse meorum:
non tamen ad numerum redigar spoliata duorum,
Latonae turbam, qua quantum distat ab orba?

and even if she snatches many, by far more will she leave to me.
my blessings have now passed beyond fear. suppose that something
could be taken from this people of my children:
yet I would not, stripped of two, be reduced to the tally—
Latona’s throng—how far is she from a bereft woman?

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ite—satis pro re sacri—laurumque capillis
ponite!' deponunt et sacra infecta relinquunt,
quodque licet, tacito venerantur murmure numen.
Indignata dea est summoque in vertice Cynthi
talibus est dictis gemina cum prole locuta:

go—enough for the business of the sacred rite—and place the laurel upon your hair!'
they set them down and leave the rites unaccomplished,
and, so far as is permitted, they venerate the divinity with a silent murmur.
The goddess was indignant, and on the highest summit of Cynthus
she spoke with such words with her twin offspring:

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'en ego vestra parens, vobis animosa creatis,
et nisi Iunoni nulli cessura dearum,
an dea sim, dubitor perque omnia saecula cultis
arceor, o nati, nisi vos succurritis, aris.
nec dolor hic solus; diro convicia facto

'behold, I, your parent, spirited for you, my offspring,
and yielding to none of the goddesses, except to Juno,
am made a matter of doubt whether I am a goddess, and from altars
worshiped through all ages I am kept away, O children, unless you succor.
nor is this grief alone; with a dire deed insults

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Tantalis adiecit vosque est postponere natis
ausa suis et me, quod in ipsam reccidat, orbam
dixit et exhibuit linguam scelerata paternam.'
adiectura preces erat his Latona relatis:
'desine!' Phoebus ait, 'poenae mora longa querella est!'

The Tantalid added and has dared to postpone you to her own children,
and said that I—may it fall back upon herself—be bereft,
and the wicked woman displayed her paternal tongue.'
Latona was about to add prayers after these things were recounted:
'Cease!' says Phoebus, 'a long complaint is a delay of punishment!'

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dixit idem Phoebe, celerique per aera lapsu
contigerant tecti Cadmeida nubibus arcem.
Planus erat lateque patens prope moenia campus,
adsiduis pulsatus equis, ubi turba rotarum
duraque mollierat subiectas ungula glaebas.

Phoebe said the same, and with a swift glide through the air
they had reached the Cadmean citadel, whose roof touched the clouds.
A plain lay, broad and lying open far and wide, near the walls,
beaten by horses in constant passage, where the throng of wheels
and the hard hoof had softened the clods set beneath.

220

pars ibi de septem genitis Amphione fortes
conscendunt in equos Tyrioque rubentia suco
terga premunt auroque graves moderantur habenas.
e quibus Ismenus, qui matri sarcina quondam
prima suae fuerat, dum certum flectit in orbem

there some of the brave, of Amphion’s seven-born, mount upon horses,
and press backs reddening with Tyrian juice,
and, heavy with gold, they govern the reins.
of these Ismenus, who had once been his mother’s
first burden, while he bends into a sure orbit

225

quadripedis cursus spumantiaque ora coercet,
'ei mihi!' conclamat medioque in pectore fixa
tela gerit frenisque manu moriente remissis
in latus a dextro paulatim defluit armo.
proximus audito sonitu per inane pharetrae

he restrains the quadruped’s course and its foaming mouth,
“ah me!” he cries aloud, and he carries the weapon fixed
in the middle of his breast, and with the reins let loose as his hand is dying
he slowly slips down upon his flank from the right shoulder.
the next, the sound heard, through the emptiness of the quiver

230

frena dabat Sipylus, veluti cum praescius imbris
nube fugit visa pendentiaque undique rector
carbasa deducit, ne qua levis effluat aura:
frena tamen dantem non evitabile telum
consequitur, summaque tremens cervice sagitta

Sipylus was giving the reins, just as when, prescient of rain,
at the sight of a cloud he flees and the helmsman draws down on every side the hanging
canvases, lest any light breeze should slip away:
yet as he gives the reins, an unavoidable missile
overtakes him, and an arrow, quivering at the top of his neck

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haesit, et exstabat nudum de gutture ferrum;
ille, ut erat, pronus per crura admissa iubasque
volvitur et calido tellurem sanguine foedat.
Phaedimus infelix et aviti nominis heres
Tantalus, ut solito finem inposuere labori,

it stuck fast, and the bare iron was protruding from his throat;
he, just as he was, headlong, rolls amid legs spread and mane,
and befouls the earth with warm blood.
Unlucky Phaedimus and Tantalus, heir of the ancestral name,
when they put an end to their accustomed labor,

240

transierant ad opus nitidae iuvenale palaestrae;
et iam contulerant arto luctantia nexu
pectora pectoribus, cum tento concita nervo,
sicut erant iuncti, traiecit utrumque sagitta.
ingemuere simul, simul incurvata dolore

they had moved on to the work of the polished youthful palaestra;
and now they had brought, in a tight wrestling clasp,
chest to chest, when, with the bowstring stretched taut,
just as they were joined, an arrow pierced them both.
they groaned together, together bent with pain

245

membra solo posuere, simul suprema iacentes
lumina versarunt, animam simul exhalarunt.
adspicit Alphenor laniataque pectora plangens
advolat, ut gelidos conplexibus adlevet artus,
inque pio cadit officio; nam Delius illi

they placed their limbs on the ground, and, lying there, together they turned their last lights, together they exhaled their life-breath.
Alphenor beholds, and, beating his lacerated breasts, flies toward them, that he may with embraces lift their icy limbs,
and he falls in pious office; for the Delian at him

250

intima fatifero rupit praecordia ferro.
quod simul eductum est, pars et pulmonis in hamis
eruta cumque anima cruor est effusus in auras.
at non intonsum simplex Damasicthona vulnus
adficit: ictus erat, qua crus esse incipit et qua

he broke apart his inmost precordia with the fate-bearing iron.
which, as soon as it was drawn out, even a part of the lung on the barbs
was torn away, and blood, together with the breath, was poured out into the airs.
but the unshorn Damasicthon is not afflicted by a simple wound:
he had been struck where the leg begins to be and where

255

mollia nervosus facit internodia poples.
dumque manu temptat trahere exitiabile telum,
altera per iugulum pennis tenus acta sagitta est.
expulit hanc sanguis seque eiaculatus in altum
emicat et longe terebrata prosilit aura.

the sinewy ham makes the soft intervals between the joints.
and while with his hand he tries to draw the baneful weapon,
another arrow was driven through his throat up to the feathers.
his blood expelled this and, ejaculating itself on high,
it flashes forth and, the air perforated, springs far.

260

ultimus Ilioneus non profectura precando
bracchia sustulerat 'di' que 'o communiter omnes,'
dixerat ignarus non omnes esse rogandos
'parcite!' motus erat, cum iam revocabile telum
non fuit, arcitenens; minimo tamen occidit ille

Ilioneus, the last, had raised his arms in a prayer not going to profit, and had said, 'gods,' and 'O all of you in common,'
unaware that not all were to be entreated, 'spare!' He of the bow was moved, when already the missile was not recallable;
yet he slew that man with the slightest wound.

265

vulnere, non alte percusso corde sagitta.
Fama mali populique dolor lacrimaeque suorum
tam subitae matrem certam fecere ruinae,
mirantem potuisse irascentemque, quod ausi
hoc essent superi, quod tantum iuris haberent;

by a wound, the heart not struck deep by the arrow.
The report of the misfortune and the people’s grief and the tears of her own
made the mother certain of so sudden a ruin,
marveling that it could have been and growing angry, that the gods above had dared
this, that they possessed so much right;

270

nam pater Amphion ferro per pectus adacto
finierat moriens pariter cum luce dolorem.
heu! quantum haec Niobe Niobe distabat ab illa,
quae modo Latois populum submoverat aris
et mediam tulerat gressus resupina per urbem

for father Amphion, with iron driven through his breast,
as he died had ended his grief together with the light.
alas! how far did this Niobe differ from that Niobe,
who just now had removed the people from the Letoan altars
and had borne her steps, resupine, through the middle of the city

275

invidiosa suis; at nunc miseranda vel hosti!
corporibus gelidis incumbit et ordine nullo
oscula dispensat natos suprema per omnes;
a quibus ad caelum liventia bracchia tollens
'pascere, crudelis, nostro, Latona, dolore,

envied by her own; but now pitiable even to an enemy!
she leans over the icy bodies and with no order
dispenses final kisses to all her children;
from whom, lifting her livid arms to the sky,
'feed, cruel one, on our grief, Latona,'

280

pascere' ait 'satiaque meo tua pectora luctu!
[corque ferum satia!' dixit. 'per funera septem]
efferor: exsulta victrixque inimica triumpha!

feed,' she says 'and satiate your breast with my grief!
[and satiate your savage heart!' she said. 'through seven funerals]
I am borne forth: exult, and as a victress and enemy, triumph!

cur autem victrix? miserae mihi plura supersunt,
quam tibi felici; post tot quoque funera vinco!'                285
     Dixerat, et sonuit contento nervus ab arcu;
qui praeter Nioben unam conterruit omnes:
illa malo est audax. stabant cum vestibus atris
ante toros fratrum demisso crine sorores;
e quibus una trahens haerentia viscere tela

why however victorious? to wretched me more things remain,
than to you fortunate; even after so many funerals I prevail!'                285
     She had spoken, and the string sounded from the tightened bow;
which frightened all except Niobe alone:
she is bold in her calamity. the sisters stood with black garments
before the biers of their brothers, with hair let down;
one of whom, drawing out the shafts sticking fast in the vitals

290

inposito fratri moribunda relanguit ore;
altera solari miseram conata parentem
conticuit subito duplicataque vulnere caeco est.
[oraque compressit, nisi postquam spiritus ibat]
haec frustra fugiens collabitur, illa sorori

with her moribund mouth laid upon her brother she grew languid;
another, having tried to solace the wretched parent,
fell silent suddenly and was doubled by a blind wound.
[and she kept her lips pressed until after her breath was going]
this one, fleeing in vain, collapses, that one, to her sister

295

inmoritur; latet haec, illam trepidare videres.
sexque datis leto diversaque vulnera passis
ultima restabat; quam toto corpore mater,
tota veste tegens 'unam minimamque relinque!
de multis minimam posco' clamavit 'et unam.'

she dies upon her; this one lies hidden, that one you would have seen tremble.
and with six given to death and with diverse wounds suffered
the last remained; whom with her whole body the mother,
with her whole garment covering, cried, 'Leave me one, the least!
of many I ask the least,' she shouted, 'and one.'

300

dumque rogat, pro qua rogat, occidit: orba resedit
exanimes inter natos natasque virumque
deriguitque malis; nullos movet aura capillos,
in vultu color est sine sanguine, lumina maestis
stant inmota genis, nihil est in imagine vivum.

and while she begs, the one for whom she begs, perishes: bereft she sat down
among exanimate sons and daughters and her husband,
and she stiffened with misfortunes; the breeze moves no hairs,
in her face there is color without blood, her lights
stand unmoving on mournful cheeks, there is nothing living in the image.

305

ipsa quoque interius cum duro lingua palato
congelat, et venae desistunt posse moveri;
nec flecti cervix nec bracchia reddere motus
nec pes ire potest; intra quoque viscera saxum est.
flet tamen et validi circumdata turbine venti

her tongue itself also inwardly with the hard palate
freezes, and the veins desist from being able to move;
nor can the neck be bent nor the arms render motions
nor can the foot go; within too the very viscera are stone.
yet she weeps and, surrounded by the whirlwind of a mighty wind

310

in patriam rapta est: ibi fixa cacumine montis
liquitur, et lacrimas etiam nunc marmora manant.
Tum vero cuncti manifestam numinis iram
femina virque timent cultuque inpensius omnes
magna gemelliparae venerantur numina divae;

she was rapt to her fatherland: there, fixed on the mountain’s peak
she melts, and even now the marbles ooze tears.
Then indeed all, woman and man, fear the manifest wrath of the divinity, and with more lavish cult all
venerate the great divine powers of the twin-bearing goddess;

315

utque fit, a facto propiore priora renarrant.
e quibus unus ait: 'Lyciae quoque fertilis agris
non inpune deam veteres sprevere coloni.
res obscura quidem est ignobilitate virorum,
mira tamen: vidi praesens stagnumque locumque

and as it happens, from a nearer deed they re-tell prior things.
of whom one says: 'Of Lycia too, fertile in fields,
the old farmers did not with impunity spurn the goddess.
the affair is indeed obscure because of the ignobility of the men,
yet marvelous: I, being present, saw both the pool and the place

320

prodigio notum. nam me iam grandior aevo
inpatiensque viae genitor deducere lectos
iusserat inde boves gentisque illius eunti
ipse ducem dederat, cum quo dum pascua lustro,
ecce lacu medio sacrorum nigra favilla

known by a prodigy. For me, my father, now rather advanced in age
and impatient of the road, had ordered to lead down from there the choice
oxen, and for me going to the people of that nation he himself
had given a guide, with whom, while I survey the pastures,
behold, in the middle of the lake, black cinder of the sacred rites

325

ara vetus stabat tremulis circumdata cannis.
restitit et pavido "faveas mihi!" murmure dixit
dux meus, et simili "faveas!" ego murmure dixi.
Naiadum Faunine foret tamen ara rogabam
indigenaene, dei, cum talia rettulit hospes:

an old altar stood, surrounded with tremulous reeds.
he halted and with a fearful murmur said, "be favorable to me!"
my leader, and with a like murmur I said, "be favorable!".
I was asking whether the altar was of Faunus of the Naiads,
or of indigenous gods, when the stranger related such things:

330

"non hac, o iuvenis, montanum numen in ara est;
illa suam vocat hanc, cui quondam regia coniunx
orbem interdixit, quam vix erratica Delos
orantem accepit tum, cum levis insula nabat;
illic incumbens cum Palladis arbore palmae

"not on this altar, O young man, is a mountain numen;
she calls this one hers, the one to whom once the regal consort
interdicted the world, whom erratic Delos scarcely
received as she prayed, then, when the light island was swimming;
there, leaning upon the palm together with the tree of Pallas

335

edidit invita geminos Latona noverca.
hinc quoque Iunonem fugisse puerpera fertur
inque suo portasse sinu, duo numina, natos.
iamque Chimaeriferae, cum sol gravis ureret arva,
finibus in Lyciae longo dea fessa labore 340
sidereo siccata sitim collegit ab aestu,
uberaque ebiberant avidi lactantia nati.
forte lacum mediocris aquae prospexit in imis
vallibus; agrestes illic fruticosa legebant
vimina cum iuncis gratamque paludibus ulvam;

Latona bore the twins, her stepmother unwilling.
Thence too the newly-delivered mother is said to have fled Juno
and to have carried in her own bosom the two divinities, her sons.
And now, within the borders of Chimera-bearing Lycia, when the heavy sun was scorching the fields,
the goddess, wearied by long labor, 340
parched with thirst by the sidereal heat,
and her eager newborns had drained her milky breasts.
By chance she spied a pool of moderate water in the lowest valleys;
there rustics were gathering shrubby withies with rushes and the sedge pleasing to marshes;

345

accessit positoque genu Titania terram
pressit, ut hauriret gelidos potura liquores.
rustica turba vetat; dea sic adfata vetantis:
'quid prohibetis aquis? usus communis aquarum est.
nec solem proprium natura nec aera fecit

she approached and, with her knee set down, the Titaness pressed the earth,
so that, about to drink, she might draw up the chilly liquors.
the rustic crowd forbids; the goddess thus addressed those forbidding:
'why do you prohibit from the waters? the use of waters is common.
nor has nature made the sun one’s own, nor the air.'

350

nec tenues undas: ad publica munera veni;
quae tamen ut detis, supplex peto. non ego nostros
abluere hic artus lassataque membra parabam,
sed relevare sitim. caret os umore loquentis,
et fauces arent, vixque est via vocis in illis.

nor the thin waters: to the public gifts I have come;
which, however, that you grant, as a suppliant I ask. I was not intending
to wash here my limbs and wearied members,
but to relieve thirst. my mouth lacks moisture for speaking,
and my throat is parched, and scarcely is there a way for the voice in them.

355

haustus aquae mihi nectar erit, vitamque fatebor
accepisse simul: vitam dederitis in unda.
hi quoque vos moveant, qui nostro bracchia tendunt
parva sinu,' et casu tendebant bracchia nati.
quem non blanda deae potuissent verba movere?

A draught of water will be nectar to me, and I will avow that life
I have received at once: you will have given life in the water.
Let these also move you, who stretch their little arms
from our lap,' and by chance the offspring were stretching their arms.
Whom could the coaxing words of the goddess not move?

360

hi tamen orantem perstant prohibere minasque,
ni procul abscedat, conviciaque insuper addunt.
nec satis est, ipsos etiam pedibusque manuque
turbavere lacus imoque e gurgite mollem
huc illuc limum saltu movere maligno.

yet these persist to forbid the suppliant, and add threats,
unless he withdraw far away, and besides they add invectives.
nor is it enough: they even, with feet and hands,
disturbed the pools, and from the deepest whirlpool the soft
slime they stirred here and there by malicious leaping.

365

distulit ira sitim; neque enim iam filia Coei
supplicat indignis nec dicere sustinet ultra
verba minora dea tollensque ad sidera palmas
'aeternum stagno' dixit 'vivatis in isto!'
eveniunt optata deae: iuvat esse sub undis

Anger deferred thirst; for now the daughter of Coeus no longer supplicates the unworthy, nor does the goddess endure to speak further words lesser than a goddess, and lifting her palms to the stars she said, 'May you live forever in that stagnant pool!' The things desired by the goddess come to pass: it pleases them to be beneath the waves.

370

et modo tota cava submergere membra palude,
nunc proferre caput, summo modo gurgite nare,
saepe super ripam stagni consistere, saepe
in gelidos resilire lacus, sed nunc quoque turpes
litibus exercent linguas pulsoque pudore,

and now to submerge all their limbs beneath the hollow marsh,
now to proffer the head, now to swim on the surface of the whirlpool,
often to take a stand upon the bank of the pool, often
to leap back into the icy lakes; but now too, foul,
they exercise their tongues in litigious quarrels, and, with shame driven out,

375

quamvis sint sub aqua, sub aqua maledicere temptant.
vox quoque iam rauca est, inflataque colla tumescunt,
ipsaque dilatant patulos convicia rictus;
terga caput tangunt, colla intercepta videntur,
spina viret, venter, pars maxima corporis, albet,

although they are under the water, under the water they try to utter maledictions.
their voice too is now raucous, and their inflated necks are swelling,
and with invectives they themselves dilate their gaping jaws;
their backs touch the head, their necks seem truncated,
the spine grows green, the belly, the greatest part of the body, whitens,

380

limosoque novae saliunt in gurgite ranae."'
Sic ubi nescio quis Lycia de gente virorum
rettulit exitium, satyri reminiscitur alter,
quem Tritoniaca Latous harundine victum
adfecit poena. 'quid me mihi detrahis?' inquit;

and in the muddy whirlpool new frogs leap."'
Thus, when I-know-not-who of the Lycian race of men recounted the destruction,
another recalls the satyr,
whom the Leto-born, having conquered with the Tritonian reed, afflicted with punishment.
'why are you stripping me from myself?' he says;

385

'a! piget, a! non est' clamabat 'tibia tanti.'
clamanti cutis est summos direpta per artus,
nec quicquam nisi vulnus erat; cruor undique manat,
detectique patent nervi, trepidaeque sine ulla
pelle micant venae; salientia viscera possis

'Ah! I regret it, ah! the flute is not worth so much,' he was shouting.
as he shouted, the skin was torn off from his limbs to their very extremities,
and there was nothing except a wound; gore flows on every side,
and the bared nerves lie open, and the trembling veins,
without any skin, quiver; you could see the leaping viscera

390

et perlucentes numerare in pectore fibras.
illum ruricolae, silvarum numina, fauni
et satyri fratres et tunc quoque carus Olympus
et nymphae flerunt, et quisquis montibus illis
lanigerosque greges armentaque bucera pavit.

and to number the translucent fibers in his breast.
Him the country-dwellers, the divinities of the woods, the Fauns,
and the Satyrs his brothers, and even then dear Olympus,
and the nymphs wept, and whoever on those mountains
pastured wool-bearing flocks and horned herds of cattle.

395

fertilis inmaduit madefactaque terra caducas
concepit lacrimas ac venis perbibit imis;
quas ubi fecit aquam, vacuas emisit in auras.
inde petens rapidus ripis declivibus aequor
Marsya nomen habet, Phrygiae liquidissimus amnis.

the fertile earth grew moist and, made wet, received the falling
tears and drank them down through its deepest veins;
which, when it had made into water, it sent out into the vacant airs.
thence, seeking the level expanse, swift along sloping banks,
it bears the name Marsya, the most limpid river of Phrygia.

400

Talibus extemplo redit ad praesentia dictis
vulgus et exstinctum cum stirpe Amphiona luget;
mater in invidia est: hanc tunc quoque dicitur unus
flesse Pelops umeroque, suas a pectore postquam
deduxit vestes, ebur ostendisse sinistro.

At such words immediately the crowd returns to present things
and laments Amphion extinguished with his stock;
the mother is under ill-will: her then too, one—
Pelops—is said to have wept, and, after he drew his garments down from his breast,
to have shown ivory at his left shoulder.

405

concolor hic umerus nascendi tempore dextro
corporeusque fuit; manibus mox caesa paternis
membra ferunt iunxisse deos, aliisque repertis,
qui locus est iuguli medius summique lacerti,
defuit: inpositum est non conparentis in usum

this shoulder on the right, at the time of being born, was of the same color and corporeal;
they report that the gods soon joined the limbs cut by paternal hands,
and, the other parts having been found, the place which is the middle of the jugular and the top of the upper arm
was lacking: it was set in place for the use of the part not matching,
of one not appearing.

410

partis ebur, factoque Pelops fuit integer illo.
Finitimi proceres coeunt, urbesque propinquae
oravere suos ire ad solacia reges,
Argosque et Sparte Pelopeiadesque Mycenae
et nondum torvae Calydon invisa Dianae

ivory for the part, and with that piece fashioned Pelops was whole.
Neighboring chieftains gather, and the cities near at hand
begged their own kings to go for solace,
both Argos and Sparta and Pelopeian Mycenae
and Calydon, not yet hateful to grim Diana

415

Orchomenosque ferax et nobilis aere Corinthus
Messeneque ferox Patraeque humilesque Cleonae
et Nelea Pylos neque adhuc Pittheia Troezen,
quaeque urbes aliae bimari clauduntur ab Isthmo
exteriusque sitae bimari spectantur ab Isthmo;

and fertile Orchomenus and Corinth noble in bronze
and fierce Messene and Patrae and humble Cleonae
and Nelean Pylos and Troezen not yet Pitthean,
and whatever other cities are enclosed by the two-sea’d Isthmus
and those situated outside are looked upon from the two-sea’d Isthmus;

420

credere quis posset? solae cessastis Athenae.
obstitit officio bellum, subvectaque ponto
barbara Mopsopios terrebant agmina muros.
     Threicius Tereus haec auxiliaribus armis
fuderat et clarum vincendo nomen habebat;                425
quem sibi Pandion opibusque virisque potentem
et genus a magno ducentem forte Gradivo
conubio Procnes iunxit; non pronuba Iuno,
non Hymenaeus adest, non illi Gratia lecto:
Eumenides tenuere faces de funere raptas,

Who could believe it? You alone stood idle, Athens.
War stood in the way of duty, and barbarian columns, borne over the sea,
were terrifying the Mopsopian walls.
Thracian Tereus had routed these with auxiliary arms
and by conquering had a illustrious name; 425
Pandion joined him to himself by the marriage of Procne, powerful in resources and in men,
and tracing his lineage from great Gradivus;
not Juno as pronuba is present, not Hymenaeus, not a Grace for that bed:
the Eumenides held torches snatched from a funeral.

430

Eumenides stravere torum, tectoque profanus
incubuit bubo thalamique in culmine sedit.
hac ave coniuncti Procne Tereusque, parentes
hac ave sunt facti; gratata est scilicet illis
Thracia, disque ipsi grates egere; diemque,

The Eumenides strewn the bed, and a profane owl lay upon the roof and sat on the summit of the bridal chamber.
With this bird Procne and Tereus were joined, with this bird they became parents; Thrace, to be sure, was gratifying to them,
and they themselves gave thanks to the gods; and the day,

435

quaque data est claro Pandione nata tyranno
quaque erat ortus Itys, festum iussere vocari:
usque adeo latet utilitas.
Iam tempora Titan
quinque per autumnos repetiti duxerat anni,
cum blandita viro Procne 'si gratia' dixit

and the place where the daughter, born of famous Pandion, was given to the tyrant
and where Itys had been born, they ordered to be called a festival:
to such a degree utility lies hidden.
Already Titan had led the times through five autumns of the repeated year,
when Procne, having caressed her husband, said, 'if grace'

440

'ulla mea est, vel me visendae mitte sorori,
vel soror huc veniat: redituram tempore parvo
promittes socero; magni mihi muneris instar
germanam vidisse dabis.' iubet ille carinas
in freta deduci veloque et remige portus

'if any favor is mine, either send me to visit my sister,
or let my sister come here: you will promise to my father-in-law that she will return
in a short time; you will give me, in the likeness of a great gift,
to have seen my sister.' He orders the keels
to be led down into the straits and, with sail and oars, the harbors

445

Cecropios intrat Piraeaque litora tangit.
ut primum soceri data copia, dextera dextrae
iungitur, et fausto committitur omine sermo.
coeperat, adventus causam, mandata referre
coniugis et celeres missae spondere recursus:

She enters the Cecropian lands and touches the Piraean shores.
as soon as the opportunity of the father-in-law is given, right hand to right hand
is joined, and speech is committed with a favorable omen.
she had begun to relate the cause of her arrival, to report the mandates
of her husband, and to promise the swift returns of the one sent:

450

ecce venit magno dives Philomela paratu,
divitior forma; quales audire solemus
naidas et dryadas mediis incedere silvis,
si modo des illis cultus similesque paratus.
non secus exarsit conspecta virgine Tereus,

behold, rich Philomela comes with great array,
richer in form; such as we are accustomed to hear
naiads and dryads to walk through the middle woods,
if only you grant to them adornments and similar attire.
no otherwise did Tereus blaze at the sight of the maiden,

455

quam si quis canis ignem supponat aristis
aut frondem positasque cremet faenilibus herbas.
digna quidem facies; sed et hunc innata libido
exstimulat, pronumque genus regionibus illis
in Venerem est: flagrat vitio gentisque suoque.

than if someone were to put fire beneath dry ears of grain,
or were to burn foliage and the grasses laid up in haylofts.
Worthy indeed the appearance; but innate libido also
spurs this man on, and the race in those regions is prone
to Venus: he blazes with the vice of his people and his own.

460

impetus est illi comitum corrumpere curam
nutricisque fidem nec non ingentibus ipsam
sollicitare datis totumque inpendere regnum
aut rapere et saevo raptam defendere bello;
et nihil est, quod non effreno captus amore

he has an impulse to corrupt the care of her companions
and the nurse’s faith, and likewise to solicit the lady herself
with huge gifts, and to expend the whole kingdom,
or to seize her and defend the seized one in savage war;
and there is nothing which, captured by unbridled love,

465

ausit, nec capiunt inclusas pectora flammas.
iamque moras male fert cupidoque revertitur ore
ad mandata Procnes et agit sua vota sub illa.
facundum faciebat amor, quotiensque rogabat
ulterius iusto, Procnen ita velle ferebat.

he would dare, nor does his breast contain the enclosed flames.
and now he ill bears delays and returns with eager countenance
to Procne’s mandates, and he presses his own vows under her name.
Love made him eloquent, and whenever he asked
beyond what was just, he claimed that Procne wished it thus.

470

addidit et lacrimas, tamquam mandasset et illas.
pro superi, quantum mortalia pectora caecae
noctis habent! ipso sceleris molimine Tereus
creditur esse pius laudemque a crimine sumit.
quid, quod idem Philomela cupit, patriosque lacertis

he added tears as well, as though she had enjoined those too.
o gods above, how much of blind night mortal breasts contain!
by the very undertaking of the crime Tereus is believed to be pious and takes praise from the crime.
what of the fact that Philomela too desires the same, and her father in her arms

475

blanda tenens umeros, ut eat visura sororem,
perque suam contraque suam petit ipsa salutem.
spectat eam Tereus praecontrectatque videndo
osculaque et collo circumdata bracchia cernens
omnia pro stimulis facibusque ciboque furoris

coaxing, holding his shoulders, that she may go to see her sister,
and by her own safety and against her own she herself seeks it.
Tereus gazes at her and by gazing pre-handles her,
and, seeing kisses and arms wrapped around his neck,
takes everything as goads and torches and nourishment of frenzy.

480

accipit, et quotiens amplectitur illa parentem,
esse parens vellet: neque enim minus inpius esset.
vincitur ambarum genitor prece: gaudet agitque
illa patri grates et successisse duabus
id putat infelix, quod erit lugubre duabus.

he accepts it, and as often as that girl embraces her parent,
he would wish to be the parent: for he would not be less impious.
the begetter of both is conquered by the prayer of both: she rejoices and renders
thanks to her father, and the unhappy one thinks that for the two
that has succeeded, which will be mournful for the two.

485

Iam labor exiguus Phoebo restabat, equique
pulsabant pedibus spatium declivis Olympi:
regales epulae mensis et Bacchus in auro
ponitur; hinc placido dant turgida corpora somno.
at rex Odrysius, quamvis secessit, in illa

Now a scant labor remained for Phoebus, and the horses
were striking with their feet the space of declivous Olympus:
royal banquets are set on the tables, and Bacchus in gold
is placed; from here they give their turgid bodies to placid sleep.
but the Odrysian king, although he withdrew, in that

490

aestuat et repetens faciem motusque manusque
qualia vult fingit quae nondum vidit et ignes
ipse suos nutrit cura removente soporem.
lux erat, et generi dextram conplexus euntis
Pandion comitem lacrimis commendat obortis:

He seethes, and recalling the face and the motions and the hands,
he fashions, as he wishes, what he has not yet seen, and he himself
nourishes his own fires, care removing sleep.
It was light, and, embracing the right hand of his son-in-law as he went,
Pandion commends the companion with tears welling up:

495

'hanc ego, care gener, quoniam pia causa coegit,
et voluere ambae (voluisti tu quoque, Tereu)
do tibi perque fidem cognataque pectora supplex,
per superos oro, patrio ut tuearis amore
et mihi sollicitae lenimen dulce senectae

'this one I, dear son-in-law, since a pious cause has compelled,
and both have willed it (you too have willed it, Tereus),
I give to you, and as a suppliant, by faith and by our kindred hearts,
I beg by the gods above, that you may guard her with fatherly love
and be for me a sweet leniment of solicitous old age

500

quam primum (omnis erit nobis mora longa) remittas;
tu quoque quam primum (satis est procul esse sororem),
si pietas ulla est, ad me, Philomela, redito!'
mandabat pariterque suae dabat oscula natae,
et lacrimae mites inter mandata cadebant;

that you send her back as soon as possible (every delay will be long for us); you too as soon as possible (it is enough that your sister is far away), if there is any piety, return to me, Philomela!' she was giving instructions and at the same time was giving kisses to her daughter, and gentle tears were falling amid the commands.

505

utque fide pignus dextras utriusque poposcit
inter seque datas iunxit natamque nepotemque
absentes pro se memori rogat ore salutent;
supremumque vale pleno singultibus ore
vix dixit timuitque suae praesagia mentis.                510
     Ut semel inposita est pictae Philomela carinae,
admotumque fretum remis tellusque repulsa est,
'vicimus!' exclamat, 'mecum mea vota feruntur!'
exsultatque et vix animo sua gaudia differt
barbarus et nusquam lumen detorquet ab illa,

and as a pledge of faith she asked for the right hands of both,
and joined them when given between themselves, and she asks that her daughter and her grandson,
being absent, be greeted for her with a mindful mouth;
and a final farewell, with a mouth full of sobs, she scarcely said,
and she feared the forebodings of her own mind.                510
     As soon as Philomela was set on the painted ship,
and the sea was moved by oars and the land was driven back,
‘we have conquered!’ he cries, ‘with me my vows are being borne!’
and he exults and scarcely contains his joys in his spirit,
the barbarian, and nowhere does he turn his gaze away from her,

515

non aliter quam cum pedibus praedator obuncis
deposuit nido leporem Iovis ales in alto;
nulla fuga est capto, spectat sua praemia raptor.
Iamque iter effectum, iamque in sua litora fessis
puppibus exierant, cum rex Pandione natam

not otherwise than when, with hooked feet the predator,
Jove’s bird has set down in its high nest a hare;
there is no escape for the captured one; the raptor gazes at its own prizes.
And now the journey was accomplished, and now they had put in to their own shores, with weary ships,
when the king was greeted, Pandion’s daughter

520

in stabula alta trahit, silvis obscura vetustis,
atque ibi pallentem trepidamque et cuncta timentem
et iam cum lacrimis, ubi sit germana, rogantem
includit fassusque nefas et virginem et unam
vi superat frustra clamato saepe parente,

into high stables he drags her, obscured by ancient forests,
and there, pale and trembling and fearing all things,
and now with tears, asking where her sister is,
he shuts her in, and, confessing the nefarious deed, both a virgin and alone,
he overpowers by force, with her parent often called upon in vain,

525

saepe sorore sua, magnis super omnia divis.
illa tremit velut agna pavens, quae saucia cani
ore excussa lupi nondum sibi tuta videtur,
utque columba suo madefactis sanguine plumis
horret adhuc avidosque timet, quibus haeserat, ungues.

often her sister, and the great gods above all.
she trembles like a timorous lamb, which, wounded, shaken off from the hoary mouth of the wolf, does not yet seem safe to itself,
and as a dove, with its feathers soaked with its own blood,
still shudders and fears the avid claws in which it had been fastened.

530

mox ubi mens rediit, passos laniata capillos,
lugenti similis caesis plangore lacertis
intendens palmas 'o diris barbare factis,
o crudelis' ait, 'nec te mandata parentis
cum lacrimis movere piis nec cura sororis

soon, when her mind returned, with her loosened hair torn,
like one mourning, with her upper arms bruised by beating,
stretching out her palms, ‘O barbarous man in dire deeds,’
‘O cruel one,’ she says, ‘neither did the mandates of a parent
with pious tears move you, nor the care of a sister

535

nec mea virginitas nec coniugialia iura?
omnia turbasti; paelex ego facta sororis,
tu geminus coniunx, hostis mihi debita Procne!
quin animam hanc, ne quod facinus tibi, perfide, restet,
eripis? atque utinam fecisses ante nefandos

neither my virginity nor conjugal rights?
you have thrown all into turmoil; I, made the concubine of my sister,
you a double husband, Procne owed to me as an enemy!
why do you not snatch away this life, treacherous man, lest any crime remain for you,
and would that you had done it before the unspeakable

540

concubitus: vacuas habuissem criminis umbras.
si tamen haec superi cernunt, si numina divum
sunt aliquid, si non perierunt omnia mecum,
quandocumque mihi poenas dabis! ipsa pudore
proiecto tua facta loquar: si copia detur,

intercourses: I would have had empty shadows of crime.
Yet if the gods above behold these things, if the numina of the gods
are anything, if not everything has perished with me,
someday you will pay me the penalty! I myself, shame
thrown aside, will speak your deeds: if opportunity be given,

545

in populos veniam; si silvis clausa tenebor,
inplebo silvas et conscia saxa movebo;
audiet haec aether et si deus ullus in illo est!'
Talibus ira feri postquam commota tyranni
nec minor hac metus est, causa stimulatus utraque,

I will come among the peoples; if I am held shut within the forests,
I will fill the forests and I will move the conscious rocks;
the aether will hear these things—and if there is any god in it!'
After such words the wrath of the fierce tyrant was stirred,
and no less than this was the fear, goaded by each cause,

550

quo fuit accinctus, vagina liberat ensem
arreptamque coma fixis post terga lacertis
vincla pati cogit; iugulum Philomela parabat
spemque suae mortis viso conceperat ense:
ille indignantem et nomen patris usque vocantem

the sword with which he had been girded, he frees from its sheath
and, having seized her by the hair, with her upper arms fixed behind her back,
he compels her to suffer bonds; Philomela was preparing her throat,
and at the sight of the sword had conceived hope of her own death:
he, she indignant and unceasingly calling the name of her father

555

luctantemque loqui conprensam forcipe linguam
abstulit ense fero. radix micat ultima linguae,
ipsa iacet terraeque tremens inmurmurat atrae,
utque salire solet mutilatae cauda colubrae,
palpitat et moriens dominae vestigia quaerit.

and the tongue, struggling and trying to speak, seized with the forceps,
he cut off with the fierce sword. The utmost root of the tongue quivers,
itself it lies and, trembling, murmurs into the black earth,
and just as the tail of a mutilated serpent is wont to leap,
it palpitates and, dying, seeks its mistress’s footprints.

560

hoc quoque post facinus (vix ausim credere) fertur
saepe sua lacerum repetisse libidine corpus.
Sustinet ad Procnen post talia facta reverti;
coniuge quae viso germanam quaerit, at ille
dat gemitus fictos commentaque funera narrat,

Even after this crime (I scarcely would dare to believe it) he is said often to have revisited the lacerated body with his libido.
He has the heart to return to Procne after such deeds;
his consort, who on seeing him seeks after her sister, but he
gives forth fictitious groans and narrates contrived funerals,

565

et lacrimae fecere fidem. velamina Procne
deripit ex umeris auro fulgentia lato
induiturque atras vestes et inane sepulcrum
constituit falsisque piacula manibus infert
et luget non sic lugendae fata sororis.

and the tears made faith. Procne tears from her shoulders the veils gleaming with broad gold
and she puts on black garments and sets up an empty sepulchre
and brings piacular offerings to the feigned Manes
and she mourns the fate of a sister not to be mourned thus.

570

Signa deus bis sex acto lustraverat anno;
quid faciat Philomela? fugam custodia claudit,
structa rigent solido stabulorum moenia saxo,
os mutum facti caret indice. grande doloris
ingenium est, miserisque venit sollertia rebus:

The god had traversed the twice-six signs, the year having been completed;
what is Philomela to do? custody closes off flight,
the walls of the stalls, constructed of solid stone, are rigid,
her mute mouth lacks an indicator of the deed. Great is the ingenuity of grief,
and resourcefulness comes to wretched affairs:

575

stamina barbarica suspendit callida tela
purpureasque notas filis intexuit albis,
indicium sceleris; perfectaque tradidit uni,
utque ferat dominae, gestu rogat; illa rogata
pertulit ad Procnen nec scit, quid tradat in illis.

the clever one hung the warp upon a barbaric loom
and interwove purple letters into white threads,
an indication of the crime; and, having perfected it, she handed it over to one,
and by gesture asks that she carry it to her mistress; she, being asked,
brought it to Procne and does not know what she delivers in them.

580

evolvit vestes saevi matrona tyranni
germanaeque suae fatum miserabile legit
et (mirum potuisse) silet: dolor ora repressit,
verbaque quaerenti satis indignantia linguae
defuerunt, nec flere vacat, sed fasque nefasque

she unrolled the garments, the wife of the savage tyrant,
and read the pitiable fate of her own sister,
and (a wonder she could) she is silent: grief repressed her lips,
and words sufficiently indignant for her seeking tongue
were lacking, nor is there time to weep, but right and wrong

585

confusura ruit poenaeque in imagine tota est.
Tempus erat, quo sacra solent trieterica Bacchi
Sithoniae celebrare nurus: (nox conscia sacris,
nocte sonat Rhodope tinnitibus aeris acuti)
nocte sua est egressa domo regina deique

about to confound, she rushes, and she is wholly in the image of punishment.
It was the time when the trieteric rites of Bacchus
the Sithonian daughters-in-law are accustomed to celebrate: (a night conscious of the rites,
by night Rhodope resounds with the tinkles of keen bronze)
by her own night she went out from the house, the queen too of the god

590

ritibus instruitur furialiaque accipit arma;
vite caput tegitur, lateri cervina sinistro
vellera dependent, umero levis incubat hasta.
concita per silvas turba comitante suarum
terribilis Procne furiisque agitata doloris,

she is arrayed with rites and takes up the Furies’ arms;
her head is covered with the vine, on her left flank cervine fleeces
hang down, a light spear leans upon her shoulder.
with the throng of her own women accompanying, stirred through the woods,
terrible Procne, and driven by the furies of grief,

595

Bacche, tuas simulat: venit ad stabula avia tandem
exululatque euhoeque sonat portasque refringit
germanamque rapit raptaeque insignia Bacchi
induit et vultus hederarum frondibus abdit
attonitamque trahens intra sua moenia ducit.

Bacchus, he simulates your rites: he comes at last to the remote stalls,
and he ululates and sounds “euhoe” and breaks down the gates,
and he snatches his sister and clothes the seized one with the insignia of Bacchus,
and he hides her face with the fronds of ivy,
and, dragging the astonished one, he leads her within his own walls.

600

Ut sensit tetigisse domum Philomela nefandam,
horruit infelix totoque expalluit ore;
nacta locum Procne sacrorum pignora demit
oraque develat miserae pudibunda sororis
amplexumque petit; sed non attollere contra

As she sensed that she had touched the unspeakable house, Philomela shuddered, unhappy, and grew pale in her whole face;
having found a place, Procne removes the pledges of the sacred rites
and unveils the face of her wretched, bashful sister,
and seeks an embrace; but she did not lift up in return

605

sustinet haec oculos paelex sibi visa sororis
deiectoque in humum vultu iurare volenti
testarique deos, per vim sibi dedecus illud
inlatum, pro voce manus fuit. ardet et iram
non capit ipsa suam Procne fletumque sororis

the paramour, as she seemed to her sister, does not endure to lift up her eyes;
and with her face cast down to the ground, though she wished to swear
and to call the gods to witness that that disgrace had been brought upon her by force,
her hands were in place of a voice. She burns, and Procne herself cannot contain
her own anger and her sister’s weeping.

610

corripiens 'non est lacrimis hoc' inquit 'agendum,
sed ferro, sed si quid habes, quod vincere ferrum
possit. in omne nefas ego me, germana, paravi:
aut ego, cum facibus regalia tecta cremabo,
artificem mediis inmittam Terea flammis,

seizing her, “this is not to be done with tears,” she says, “but with iron, nay, with whatever you have that can vanquish iron. For every nefarious deed I, sister-german, have prepared myself: either I, when with torches I burn the regal roofs, will send Tereus, the artificer, into the midst of the flames,

615

aut linguam atque oculos et quae tibi membra pudorem
abstulerunt ferro rapiam, aut per vulnera mille
sontem animam expellam! magnum quodcumque paravi;
quid sit, adhuc dubito.'
Peragit dum talia Procne,
ad matrem veniebat Itys; quid possit, ab illo

either the tongue and the eyes and the limbs which stole away your modesty from you I will snatch with iron, or through a thousand wounds I will expel the guilty soul! whatever great thing I have prepared; what it is, I still doubt.'
While Procne is carrying through such things,
Itys was coming to his mother; what she could, from him

620

admonita est oculisque tuens inmitibus 'a! quam
es similis patri!' dixit nec plura locuta
triste parat facinus tacitaque exaestuat ira.
ut tamen accessit natus matrique salutem
attulit et parvis adduxit colla lacertis

she was reminded, and, gazing with harsh eyes, said, 'ah! how
you are similar to your father!' and, having spoken no more,
she prepares a sad crime and seethes with tacit ire.
yet when the son approached and brought a salutation to his mother
and with his small arms drew her neck close

625

mixtaque blanditiis puerilibus oscula iunxit,
mota quidem est genetrix, infractaque constitit ira
invitique oculi lacrimis maduere coactis;
sed simul ex nimia mentem pietate labare
sensit, ab hoc iterum est ad vultus versa sororis

and he joined kisses, mixed with childish blandishments,
the genetrix indeed was moved, and her anger stood broken,
and unwilling eyes were wet with compelled tears;
but as soon as she felt her mind waver from excessive piety,
she turned from this again to the face of her sister

630

inque vicem spectans ambos 'cur admovet' inquit
'alter blanditias, rapta silet altera lingua?
quam vocat hic matrem, cur non vocat illa sororem?
cui sis nupta, vide, Pandione nata, marito!

and looking in turn at both, she said, 'Why does the one proffer blandishments, while the other is silent, her tongue ravished?
She whom this one calls mother, why does that one not call sister?
See to what husband you are married, daughter of Pandion!'

degeneras! scelus est pietas in coniuge Tereo.'

You are degenerate! Piety is a crime in the wife of Tereus.'

635

nec mora, traxit Ityn, veluti Gangetica cervae
lactentem fetum per silvas tigris opacas,
utque domus altae partem tenuere remotam,
tendentemque manus et iam sua fata videntem
et 'mater! mater!' clamantem et colla petentem

no delay; she dragged Itys, just as a Gangetic tigress through the dark forests drags the suckling offspring of a deer,
and when they had reached a remote part of the lofty house,
and him stretching out his hands and now seeing his own fate,
and crying “mother! mother!” and aiming for the neck

640

ense ferit Procne, lateri qua pectus adhaeret,
nec vultum vertit. satis illi ad fata vel unum
vulnus erat: iugulum ferro Philomela resolvit,
vivaque adhuc animaeque aliquid retinentia membra
dilaniant. pars inde cavis exsultat aenis,

Procne strikes with a sword, where the breast adheres to the side,
nor does she turn her face. For her, even a single
wound was enough for doom: Philomela unlooses his throat with iron,
and the limbs, still alive and retaining something of soul,
they tear to pieces. Part then seethes in hollow brazen kettles,

645

pars veribus stridunt; manant penetralia tabo.
His adhibet coniunx ignarum Terea mensis
et patrii moris sacrum mentita, quod uni
fas sit adire viro, comites famulosque removit.
ipse sedens solio Tereus sublimis avito

part sizzles on spits; the penetralia ooze with gore.
To these tables the consort ushers in Tereus, unaware,
and, having feigned the sacred of paternal custom, which it is licit
for one man alone to approach, she removed companions and servants.
Tereus himself, sitting on his ancestral throne, on high

650

vescitur inque suam sua viscera congerit alvum,
tantaque nox animi est, 'Ityn huc accersite!' dixit.
dissimulare nequit crudelia gaudia Procne
iamque suae cupiens exsistere nuntia cladis
'intus habes, quem poscis' ait: circumspicit ille

he feeds, and heaps his own entrails into his own belly,
and so great a night is upon his mind, he said, 'Summon Itys hither!'
Procne cannot dissemble her cruel joys,
and now, longing to become the messenger of her own calamity,
'show him within—you have the one you ask for,' she says: he looks around.

655

atque, ubi sit, quaerit; quaerenti iterumque vocanti,
sicut erat sparsis furiali caede capillis,
prosiluit Ityosque caput Philomela cruentum
misit in ora patris nec tempore maluit ullo
posse loqui et meritis testari gaudia dictis.

and he asks where he is; as he searches and calls again,
just as she was, with her hair spattered by furial slaughter,
Philomela leapt forth and hurled the bloody head of Itys
into his father’s face, nor at any time would she have preferred
to be able to speak and to attest her joy with merited words.

660

Thracius ingenti mensas clamore repellit
vipereasque ciet Stygia de valle sorores
et modo, si posset, reserato pectore diras
egerere inde dapes semesaque viscera gestit,
flet modo seque vocat bustum miserabile nati,

The Thracian with immense clamor repels the tables
and summons the viperous sisters from the Stygian valley,
and now, if he could, with his breast unbarred, he longs
to disgorge from there the dire banquet and the half-eaten viscera,
now he weeps and calls himself the pitiable pyre of his son,

665

nunc sequitur nudo genitas Pandione ferro.
corpora Cecropidum pennis pendere putares:
pendebant pennis. quarum petit altera silvas,
altera tecta subit, neque adhuc de pectore caedis
excessere notae, signataque sanguine pluma est.

now there follows the daughters of Pandion, born with naked iron.
you would think the bodies of the Cecropids were hanging by feathers:
they were hanging by feathers. of whom one seeks the woods,
the other goes under roofs, nor yet from her breast have the marks of the slaughter
departed, and her plumage is signed with blood.

670

ille dolore suo poenaeque cupidine velox
vertitur in volucrem, cui stant in vertice cristae.
prominet inmodicum pro longa cuspide rostrum;
nomen epops volucri, facies armata videtur.
Hic dolor ante diem longaeque extrema senectae

he, swift in his grief and in a desire for punishment,
is turned into a bird, upon whose crown crests stand.
an immoderate beak projects in place of a long spear-point;
the bird’s name is Epops; its aspect seems armed.
Here grief before its day, and the extremity of long senescence,

675

tempora Tartareas Pandiona misit ad umbras.
sceptra loci rerumque capit moderamen Erectheus,
iustitia dubium validisne potentior armis.
quattuor ille quidem iuvenes totidemque crearat
femineae sortis, sed erat par forma duarum.

he consigned Pandion’s times to the Tartarean shades.
Erectheus takes up the scepters of the place and the governance of affairs,
a man in whom it was doubtful whether justice or strong arms were more powerful.
he indeed had begotten four youths and just so many of the feminine lot,
but equal was the form of two.

680

e quibus Aeolides Cephalus te coniuge felix,
Procri, fuit; Boreae Tereus Thracesque nocebant,
dilectaque diu caruit deus Orithyia,
dum rogat et precibus mavult quam viribus uti;
ast ubi blanditiis agitur nihil, horridus ira,

of whom Aeolid Cephalus was happy with you as consort, Procris;
Boreas, Tereus, and the Thracians were doing harm,
and the god long lacked his beloved Orithyia,
while he asks and prefers to use prayers rather than force;
but when nothing is achieved by blandishments, horrid with ire,

685

quae solita est illi nimiumque domestica vento,
'et merito!' dixit; 'quid enim mea tela reliqui,
saevitiam et vires iramque animosque minaces,
admovique preces, quarum me dedecet usus?
apta mihi vis est: vi tristia nubila pello,

which was customary to him and all too domestic to the wind,
'and with merit!' he said; 'for what of my weapons have I left,
savagery and strength and anger and menacing spirits,
and have I applied prayers, the use of which ill befits me?
force is apt for me: by force I drive off the gloomy clouds,

690

vi freta concutio nodosaque robora verto
induroque nives et terras grandine pulso;
idem ego, cum fratres caelo sum nactus aperto
(nam mihi campus is est), tanto molimine luctor,
ut medius nostris concursibus insonet aether

by force I shake the seas and overturn knotted oaks,
and I indurate the snows and batter the lands with hail;
the same I, when I have encountered my brothers in the open sky
(for that is my field), wrestle with so great a massed effort,
that the aether in the midst resounds at our collisions.

695

exsiliantque cavis elisi nubibus ignes;
idem ego, cum subii convexa foramina terrae
supposuique ferox imis mea terga cavernis,
sollicito manes totumque tremoribus orbem.
hac ope debueram thalamos petiisse, socerque

and let fires, dashed out from hollow clouds, leap forth;
the same I, when I went beneath the convex openings of the earth
and, fierce, set my back beneath the deepest caverns,
I trouble the Manes and the whole orb with tremors.
by this power I ought to have sought the bridal chambers, and my father-in-law

700

non orandus erat mihi sed faciendus Erectheus.'
haec Boreas aut his non inferiora locutus
excussit pennas, quarum iactatibus omnis
adflata est tellus latumque perhorruit aequor,
pulvereamque trahens per summa cacumina pallam

"Erechtheus was not to be entreated by me, but to be made my father-in-law."
Having spoken these things, or things not inferior to these, Boreas shook out his wings, at the flappings of which all the earth was afflated and the broad sea shuddered through, and, dragging a dusty mantle over the highest summits,

705

verrit humum pavidamque metu caligine tectus
Orithyian amans fulvis amplectitur alis.
dum volat, arserunt agitati fortius ignes,
nec prius aerii cursus suppressit habenas,
quam Ciconum tenuit populos et moenia raptor.

he sweeps the earth, and, cloaked in caliginous gloom, embraces with tawny wings
Orithyia, the lover, panic-struck with fear.
while he flies, the fires, more strongly agitated, blazed,
nor did he sooner suppress the reins of his airy course
than the ravisher reached the peoples and walls of the Ciconians.

710

illic et gelidi coniunx Actaea tyranni
et genetrix facta est, partus enixa gemellos,
cetera qui matris, pennas genitoris haberent.
non tamen has una memorant cum corpore natas,
barbaque dum rutilis aberat subnixa capillis,

there too the Actaean consort of the icy tyrant
became a genetrix, having brought forth twin births,
who had the rest from their mother, the feathers from their begetter.
yet they do not recount that these were born together with the body,
and while a beard, propped upon ruddy-golden hair, was absent,

715

inplumes Calaisque puer Zetesque fuerunt;
mox pariter pennae ritu coepere volucrum
cingere utrumque latus, pariter flavescere malae.
ergo ubi concessit tempus puerile iuventae,
vellera cum Minyis nitido radiantia villo

Calais and the boy Zetes were unfledged;
soon alike feathers began, in the fashion of birds,
to gird either side; alike the cheeks to grow golden.
therefore when the boyish time conceded to youth,
the fleeces, with the Minyans, radiant with gleaming wool

720

per mare non notum prima petiere carina.

through a sea not known the first keel sought.