Ovid: METAMORPHOSES

Quae gemitus truncaeque deo Neptunius heros
causa rogat frontis; cui sic Calydonius amnis
coepit inornatos redimitus harundine crines:
'triste petis munus. quis enim sua proelia victus
commemorare velit? referam tamen ordine, nec tam

What is the cause of the groans and of the shorn brow the Neptunian hero asks the god;
to whom thus the Calydonian river began, his unadorned hair wreathed with reed:
“you seek a sad gift. For who, defeated, would wish to commemorate his own battles?
I will recount nevertheless in order, nor so

turpe fuit vinci, quam contendisse decorum est,
magnaque dat nobis tantus solacia victor.
nomine siqua suo fando pervenit ad aures
Deianira tuas, quondam pulcherrima virgo
multorumque fuit spes invidiosa procorum.

to be vanquished was shameful; to have contended is decorous,
and so great a victor gives us great solaces.
if any tale under her own name, by report, has reached your ears—
Deianira, once a most beautiful maiden,
and the invidious hope of many suitors.

cum quibus ut soceri domus est intrata petiti,
"accipe me generum," dixi "Parthaone nate":
dixit et Alcides. alii cessere duobus.
ille Iovem socerum dare se, famamque laborum,
et superata suae referebat iussa novercae.

with whom we entered the house of the sought-for father-in-law,
"receive me as a son-in-law," I said, "O son of Parthaon":
Alcides said it too. The others yielded to the two.
he declared he would give Jove as father-in-law, and the fame of his labors,
and he recounted the commands of his stepmother that had been overcome.

contra ego "turpe deum mortali cedere" dixi—
nondum erat ille deus—"dominum me cernis aquarum
cursibus obliquis inter tua regna fluentum.
nec gener externis hospes tibi missus ab oris,
sed popularis ero et rerum pars una tuarum.

on the contrary I said, “it is disgraceful for a god to cede to a mortal”— he was not yet a god— “you see me, the lord of the waters, flowing with oblique courses among your realms.
nor as a son-in-law sent to you as a guest from external shores,
but I will be a fellow-countryman and one part of your affairs.”

tantum ne noceat, quod me nec regia Iuno
odit, et omnis abest iussorum poena laborum.
nam, quo te iactas, Alcmena nate, creatum,
Iuppiter aut falsus pater est, aut crimine verus.
matris adulterio patrem petis. elige, fictum

only let it not harm, that royal Juno does not hate me,
and that the penalty of all commanded labors is absent.
for, that of which you boast, Alcmena’s son, to have been begotten,
Jupiter is either a false father, or a true one by a crime.
you seek a father through your mother’s adultery. choose: a feigned

esse Iovem malis, an te per dedecus ortum."
talia dicentem iamdudum lumine torvo
spectat, et accensae non fortiter imperat irae,
verbaque tot reddit: "melior mihi dextera lingua.
dummodo pugnando superem, tu vince loquendo"

"choose: either that Jupiter is feigned, or that you were begotten through disgrace."
at one saying such things he for some time now gazes with a grim eye,
and he does not command his kindled anger bravely,
and he returns words to this effect: "my right hand is a better tongue.
so long as I conquer by fighting, you win by speaking"

congrediturque ferox. puduit modo magna locutum
cedere: reieci viridem de corpore vestem,
bracchiaque opposui, tenuique a pectore varas
in statione manus et pugnae membra paravi.
ille cavis hausto spargit me pulvere palmis,

and he, fierce, engages. I was ashamed, having just spoken great things, to yield: I cast off the green garment from my body, and I set my arms in opposition, and held my splayed hands away from my chest in a guard, and I prepared my limbs for the fight. he, having scooped dust with hollowed palms, sprinkles me with it,

inque vicem fulvae tactu flavescit harenae.
et modo cervicem, modo crura, modo ilia captat,
aut captare putes, omnique a parte lacessit.
me mea defendit gravitas frustraque petebar;
haud secus ac moles, magno quam murmure fluctus

and in turn he grows yellow by the touch of the tawny sand.
and now my neck, now my legs, now my flanks he snatches at,
or you would think him trying to snatch, and from every side he provokes.
my own heaviness defends me, and I was assailed in vain;
not otherwise than a mass, which the waves with great murmur

oppugnant; manet illa, suoque est pondere tuta.
digredimur paulum, rursusque ad bella coimus,
inque gradu stetimus, certi non cedere, eratque
cum pede pes iunctus, totoque ego pectore pronus
et digitos digitis et frontem fronte premebam.

they assail; it remains, and is safe by its own weight.
we withdraw a little, and again we come together to battle,
and we stood in our stance, resolved not to yield, and
foot was joined with foot, and I, leaning forward with my whole breast,
was pressing fingers to fingers and forehead to forehead.

non aliter vidi fortes concurrere tauros,
cum, pretium pugnae, toto nitidissima saltu
expetitur coniunx: spectant armenta paventque
nescia, quem maneat tanti victoria regni.
ter sine profectu voluit nitentia contra

not otherwise have I seen brave bulls run together,
when, as the prize of the fight, the most gleaming consort is sought with their full leap:
the herds look on and are afraid,
not knowing whom the victory of so great a kingdom awaits.
thrice, without progress, the straining ones strove against each other

reicere Alcides a se mea pectora; quarto
excutit amplexus, adductaque bracchia solvit,
inpulsumque manu—certum est mihi vera fateri—
protinus avertit, tergoque onerosus inhaesit.
siqua fides,—neque enim ficta mihi gloria voce

Alcides to reject from himself my breast; at the fourth
he shakes off my embraces, and looses my drawn-in arms,
and, having been impelled by his hand—it is certain for me to confess truths—
forthwith he turns me aside, and, onerous, he clung to my back.
if there be any faith,—for neither is my glory feigned by voice

quaeritur—inposito pressus mihi monte videbar.
vix tamen inserui sudore fluentia multo
bracchia, vix solvi duros a corpore nexus.
instat anhelanti, prohibetque resumere vires,
et cervice mea potitur. tum denique tellus

it is asked—under a mountain imposed upon me I seemed to be pressed.
scarcely yet did I insert my arms, flowing with much sweat,
scarcely did I loosen the hard bonds from my body.
he presses on one panting, and forbids me to resume my strength,
and gets possession of my neck. then at last the earth

pressa genu nostro est, et harenas ore momordi.
inferior virtute, meas devertor ad artes,
elaborque viro longum formatus in anguem.
qui postquam flexos sinuavi corpus in orbes,
cumque fero movi linguam stridore bisulcam,

was pressed by my knee, and I bit the sands with my mouth.
being inferior in prowess, I turn aside to my arts,
and slip out from the man, having been formed into a long serpent.
and after I had curved my body into folded coils,
and with savage hissing I moved my forked tongue,

risit, et inludens nostras Tirynthius artes
"cunarum labor est angues superare mearum,"
dixit "et ut vincas alios, Acheloe, dracones,
pars quota Lernaeae serpens eris unus echidnae?
vulneribus fecunda suis erat illa, nec ullum

He laughed, and the Tirynthian, mocking my arts,
said, "the labor of my cradle is to overcome the serpents of my cradle,"
"and even if you vanquish other dragons, Achelous,
what fraction will you be, a single serpent of the Lernaean Echidna?
she was fertile in her own wounds, and not any

de centum numero caput est inpune recisum,
quin gemino cervix herede valentior esset.
hanc ego ramosam natis e caede colubris
crescentemque malo domui, domitamque reclusi.
quid fore te credis, falsum qui versus in anguem 75
arma aliena moves, quem forma precaria celat?"
dixerat, et summo digitorum vincula collo
inicit: angebar, ceu guttura forcipe pressus,
pollicibusque meas pugnabam evellere fauces.

of a hundred in number a head was cut off with impunity,
nay, the neck was stronger with a twin heir.
this branching one, with snakes born from the slaughter,
and growing by evil, I subdued, and, once subdued, I laid it open.
what do you suppose you will be, you who, falsely turned into a serpent, 75
wield alien arms, whom a borrowed form conceals?"
he had spoken, and he throws the bonds of his fingers upon the top of my neck:
I was being strangled, as if my throat were pressed by a forceps,
and with my thumbs I was fighting to tear away my jaws.

sic quoque devicto restabat tertia tauri

Thus too, with that one conquered, the third form of the bull remained

forma trucis. tauro mutatus membra rebello.
induit ille toris a laeva parte lacertos,
admissumque trahens sequitur, depressaque dura
cornua figit humo, meque alta sternit harena.
nec satis hoc fuerat: rigidum fera dextera cornu

the form of a savage one. Mutated into a bull, with my limbs I renew the fight.
he throws his brawny arms around me on the left side,
and, dragging the one admitted to the charge, he presses on, and the hard
horns, pressed down, he fixes in the earth, and he lays me low on the high sand.
nor had this been enough: his fierce right hand with the rigid horn

dum tenet, infregit, truncaque a fronte revellit.
naides hoc, pomis et odoro flore repletum,
sacrarunt; divesque meo Bona Copia cornu est.'
Dixerat: et nymphe ritu succincta Dianae,
una ministrarum, fusis utrimque capillis,

while he held it, he broke it, and tore the lopped horn from the forehead.
The Naiads, this thing filled with fruits and with odorous blossom,
consecrated; and Good Abundance is rich with my horn.'
He had spoken: and a nymph, girt in the fashion of Diana,
one of her handmaids, with hair flowing on either side,

incessit totumque tulit praedivite cornu
autumnum et mensas, felicia poma, secundas.
lux subit; et primo feriente cacumina sole
discedunt iuvenes, neque enim dum flumina pacem
et placidos habeant lapsus totaeque residant

she advanced and brought, in the very rich horn, all of autumn and the second tables, the happy fruits.
Light comes on; and with the first sun striking the treetops
the youths depart, for as yet the rivers do not have peace and gentle glidings, nor have they wholly subsided

opperiuntur aquae. vultus Achelous agrestes
et lacerum cornu mediis caput abdidit undis.
Huic tamen ablati doluit iactura decoris,
cetera sospes habet.

the waters close over. Achelous hid his rustic features
and, his horn torn, hid his head in the midst of the waves.
Yet the loss of his removed comeliness pained him,
he has the rest safe.

capitis quoque fronde saligna
aut superinposita celatur harundine damnum.

the damage to his head too is concealed by willow frondage
or by a superimposed reed.

100

at te, Nesse ferox, eiusdem virginis ardor
perdiderat volucri traiectum terga sagitta.
namque nova repetens patrios cum coniuge muros
venerat Eueni rapidas Iove natus ad undas.
uberior solito, nimbis hiemalibus auctus,

but you, fierce Nessus, the ardor for that same maiden
had undone, your back transfixed by the winged arrow.
for the son of Jove, returning to his paternal walls with his new spouse,
had come to the rapid waves of the Evenus.
more abundant than usual, augmented by wintry rain-clouds,

105

verticibusque frequens erat atque inpervius amnis.
intrepidum pro se, curam de coniuge agentem
Nessus adit, membrisque valens scitusque vadorum,
'officio' que 'meo ripa sistetur in illa
haec,' ait 'Alcide. tu viribus utere nando!'

and the river was teeming with vortices and impassable.
Nessus approaches him, intrepid for himself, but taking care about his spouse,
strong in his limbs and skilled in the shallows,
and says: 'by my service this woman shall be set on that bank,
Alcides: do you use your strength by swimming!'

110

pallentemque metu, fluviumque ipsumque timentem
tradidit Aonius pavidam Calydonida Nesso.
mox, ut erat, pharetraque gravis spolioque leonis—
nam clavam et curvos trans ripam miserat arcus—
'quandoquidem coepi, superentur flumina' dixit,

pale with fear, and fearing the river and the man himself,
the Aonian delivered the timid Calydonian maiden to Nessus.
Soon, just as he was, and heavy with his quiver and the lion’s spoil—
for he had sent his club and his curved bow across the bank—
'since indeed I have begun, let the rivers be overcome,' he said,

115

nec dubitat nec, qua sit clementissimus amnis,
quaerit, et obsequio deferri spernit aquarum.
iamque tenens ripam, missos cum tolleret arcus,
coniugis agnovit vocem Nessoque paranti
fallere depositum 'quo te fiducia' clamat

he neither hesitates nor asks where the river may be most gentle,
and he spurns to be borne by the compliance of the waters.
and now, holding the bank, as he was lifting the bow he had sent,
he recognized his consort’s voice, and to Nessus, as he was preparing
to cheat the trust committed, he cries, 'Whither does your confidence'

120

'vana pedum, violente, rapit? tibi, Nesse biformis,
dicimus. exaudi, nec res intercipe nostras.

'Whither does a vain confidence in your feet, violent one, carry you? To you, Nessus the biform, we speak.
Listen, and do not intercept our affairs.

si te nulla mei reverentia movit, at orbes
concubitus vetitos poterant inhibere paterni.
haud tamen effugies, quamvis ope fidis equina;

if no reverence for me moved you, yet the wheels—the penalty for your father’s forbidden coupling—could have restrained you.
yet you will by no means escape, although you trust in equine aid;

125

vulnere, non pedibus te consequar.' ultima dicta
re probat, et missa fugientia terga sagitta
traicit. exstabat ferrum de pectore aduncum.
quod simul evulsum est, sanguis per utrumque foramen
emicuit mixtus Lernaei tabe veneni.

‘by a wound, not with my feet, I shall overtake you.’ He proves his last words by the deed, and with a sent arrow he transfixes his fleeing back. The hooked iron projected from his breast.
which, as soon as it was torn out, blood spurted forth through both holes, mixed with the taint of the Lernaean venom.

130

excipit hunc Nessus 'ne' que enim 'moriemur
inulti' secum ait, et calido velamina tincta cruore
dat munus raptae velut inritamen amoris.
Longa fuit medii mora temporis, actaque magni
Herculis inplerant terras odiumque novercae.

Nessus catches this and says to himself, 'for we shall not die unavenged,' and he gives garments dyed with hot blood as a gift to the ravished woman, as though an incitement of love.
Long was the delay of the intervening time, and the deeds of great Hercules and the stepmother’s hatred were filling the lands.

135

victor ab Oechalia Cenaeo sacra parabat
vota Iovi, cum Fama loquax praecessit ad aures,
Deianira, tuas, quae veris addere falsa
gaudet, et e minimo sua per mendacia crescit,
Amphitryoniaden Ioles ardore teneri.

the victor from Oechalia was preparing on Cenaeum sacred rites, vows to Jove,
when loquacious Rumor went before to your ears, Deianira,
who rejoices to add false to truths,
and from the very least grows her own by mendacity,
that the Amphitryonid is held by ardor for Iole.

140

credit amans, venerisque novae perterrita fama
indulsit primo lacrimis, flendoque dolorem
diffudit miseranda suum. mox deinde 'quid autem
flemus?' ait 'paelex lacrimis laetabitur istis.
quae quoniam adveniet, properandum aliquidque novandum est,

the lover believes, and, panic-struck by the report of a new love,
she indulged at first in tears, and by weeping
she, pitiable, poured out her own grief. Soon then, “but why,
pray, are we weeping?” she says; “the mistress will rejoice in those tears.
since she will arrive, something must be hastened, and something must be innovated,”

145

dum licet, et nondum thalamos tenet altera nostros.
conquerar, an sileam? repetam Calydona, morerne?

while it is permitted, and as yet the other does not hold our marriage-bed.
shall I complain, or be silent? shall I return to Calydon, or shall I linger?

excedam tectis? an, si nihil amplius, obstem?
quid si me, Meleagre, tuam memor esse sororem
forte paro facinus, quantumque iniuria possit

shall I go forth from the house? or, if nothing more, shall I oppose?
what if I, Meleager, remembering that I am your sister,
by chance am preparing a crime, and how much injustice can accomplish?

150

femineusque dolor, iugulata paelice testor?'
in cursus animus varios abit. omnibus illis
praetulit inbutam Nesseo sanguine vestem
mittere, quae vires defecto reddat amori,
ignaroque Lichae, quid tradat, nescia, luctus

and a feminine dolor—do I call the concubine jugulated to witness?'
her mind goes off into various courses. Before all those
she preferred to send the garment imbued with Nessus’s blood,
which might restore strength to love grown faint,
and to the unknowing Lichas, herself not knowing what grief she was handing over,

155

ipsa suos tradit blandisque miserrima verbis,
dona det illa viro, mandat. capit inscius heros,
induiturque umeris Lernaeae virus echidnae.
Tura dabat primis et verba precantia flammis,
vinaque marmoreas patera fundebat in aras:

she herself hands over her own things and, most wretched, with coaxing words,
she orders that that one give the gifts to the man. The unknowing hero takes it,
and is clothed on his shoulders with the venom of the Lernaean Echidna.
He was offering incense to the first flames and words of prayer,
and with a bowl he was pouring wines upon the marble altars:

160

incaluit vis illa mali, resolutaque flammis
Herculeos abiit late dilapsa per artus.
dum potuit, solita gemitum virtute repressit.
victa malis postquam est patientia, reppulit aras,
inplevitque suis nemorosam vocibus Oeten.

that force of the evil grew hot, and, loosened by flames,
went forth, widely diffused through the Herculean limbs.
while he could, by his wonted virtue he repressed a groan.
after his patience was conquered by woes, he thrust back the altars,
and filled woody Oeta with his own voices.

165

nec mora, letiferam conatur scindere vestem:
qua trahitur, trahit illa cutem, foedumque relatu,
aut haeret membris frustra temptata revelli,
aut laceros artus et grandia detegit ossa.
ipse cruor, gelido ceu quondam lammina candens

nor delay: he attempts to rend the lethal garment;
where it is dragged, it drags the skin, and—foul to relate—
either it clings to the limbs, tried in vain to be torn away,
or it lays bare mangled joints and massive bones.
the blood itself, like a glowing plate once on something gelid

170

tincta lacu, stridit coquiturque ardente veneno.
nec modus est, sorbent avidae praecordia flammae,
caeruleusque fluit toto de corpore sudor,
ambustique sonant nervi, caecaque medullis
tabe liquefactis tollens ad sidera palmas

tinctured in the basin, it hisses and is cooked by the burning venom.
nor is there limit: avid flames absorb his vitals,
and cerulean sweat flows from his whole body,
and the scorched nerves sound, and, with his marrows
liquefied by blind decay, lifting his palms to the stars

175

'cladibus,' exclamat 'Saturnia, pascere nostris:
pascere, et hanc pestem specta, crudelis, ab alto,
corque ferum satia. vel si miserandus et hosti,
hoc est, si tibi sum, diris cruciatibus aegram
invisamque animam natamque laboribus aufer.

'with disasters,' he exclaims, 'Saturnian one, feed on our own:
feed, and behold this pest, cruel one, from on high,
and sate your savage heart. Or if pitiable even to an enemy—
that is, if I am to you—take away my soul, hateful
and sick with dire torments, born for labors.

180

mors mihi munus erit; decet haec dare dona novercam.
ergo ego foedantem peregrino templa cruore
Busirin domui? saevoque alimenta parentis
Antaeo eripui?

death will be a gift to me; it befits a stepmother to give such gifts.
so then did I subdue Busiris, defiling the temples with foreign blood? and did I snatch from savage Antaeus the sustenance of his parent, his mother?

nec me pastoris Hiberi
forma triplex, nec forma triplex tua, Cerbere, movit?

nor did the triple form of the Iberian shepherd move me,
nor your triple form, Cerberus?

185

vosne, manus, validi pressistis cornua tauri?
vestrum opus Elis habet, vestrum Stymphalides undae,
Partheniumque nemus? vestra virtute relatus
Thermodontiaco caelatus balteus auro,
pomaque ab insomni concustodita dracone?

was it you, hands, that pressed the horns of the sturdy bull?
your work Elis has, your work the Stymphalian waves,
and the Parthenian grove? by your virtue was brought back
the belt caelated with Thermodontiac gold,
and the apples kept by the sleepless dragon?

190

nec mihi centauri potuere resistere, nec mi
Arcadiae vastator aper? nec profuit hydrae
crescere per damnum geminasque resumere vires?
quid, cum Thracis equos humano sanguine pingues
plenaque corporibus laceris praesepia vidi,

nor were the Centaurs able to withstand me, nor the boar, devastator of Arcadia? nor did it profit the Hydra to grow through damage and to resume twin strength? what of when I saw the Thracian’s horses fat with human blood and the mangers full with lacerated bodies,

195

visaque deieci, dominumque ipsosque peremi?
his elisa iacet moles Nemeaea lacertis:
hac caelum cervice tuli. defessa iubendo est
saeva Iovis coniunx: ego sum indefessus agendo.
sed nova pestis adest, cui nec virtute resisti

and, once seen, I cast them down, and did I slay both their lord and themselves?
by these arms the Nemean mass lies crushed:
with this neck I bore the heaven. the savage consort of Jove is wearied with commanding:
I am indefatigable in doing.
but a new pest is at hand, which cannot be resisted even by virtue

200

nec telis armisque potest. pulmonibus errat
ignis edax imis, perque omnes pascitur artus.
at valet Eurystheus!

nor can it be met by missiles and arms. It wanders through my inmost lungs,
a devouring fire, and feeds upon all my limbs.
but Eurystheus is hale!

et sunt, qui credere possint
esse deos?' dixit, perque altam saucius Oeten
haud aliter graditur, quam si venabula taurus

and are there those who can believe
there are gods?' he said, and, wounded, through high Oeta
he strides no otherwise, than as if a bull by hunting-spears

205

corpore fixa gerat, factique refugerit auctor.
saepe illum gemitus edentem, saepe frementem,
saepe retemptantem totas infringere vestes
sternentemque trabes irascentemque videres
montibus aut patrio tendentem bracchia caelo.                210
     Ecce Lichan trepidum latitantem rupe cavata
aspicit, utque dolor rabiem conlegerat omnem,
'tune, Licha,' dixit 'feralia dona dedisti?
tune meae necis auctor eris?' tremit ille, pavetque
pallidus, et timide verba excusantia dicit.

carry them fixed in his body, and the author of the deed has fled.
often you would see him uttering groans, often raging,
often attempting again to break off the whole garment,
and you would see him laying low beams and growing wrathful,
or stretching his arms to the mountains or to his father’s sky.                210
     Behold, he catches sight of Lichas, trembling, hiding in a hollowed rock,
and as pain had gathered all its rage,
“is it you, Lichas,” he said, “who have given the funereal gifts?
will you be the author of my death?” He trembles, and is afraid,
pale, and timidly speaks words of excuse.

215

dicentem genibusque manus adhibere parantem
corripit Alcides, et terque quaterque rotatum
mittit in Euboicas tormento fortius undas.
ille per aerias pendens induruit auras:
utque ferunt imbres gelidis concrescere ventis,

as he was speaking and preparing to place his hands upon his knees
Alcides seizes him, and, whirled thrice and four times,
he sends him into the Euboean waves with a force stronger than a catapult.
he, hanging through the airy breezes, grew hard:
and as they say that showers congeal with icy winds,

220

inde nives fieri, nivibus quoque molle rotatis
astringi et spissa glomerari grandine corpus,
sic illum validis iactum per inane lacertis
exsanguemque metu nec quicquam umoris habentem
in rigidos versum silices prior edidit aetas.

from this snows are made, and, with the snows too when whirled,
the soft is constricted and the body is agglomerated into dense hail,
thus him, hurled through the void by mighty muscles,
bloodless with fear and possessing not any moisture,
a prior age put forth as turned into rigid flints.

225

nunc quoque in Euboico scopulus brevis eminet alto
gurgite et humanae servat vestigia formae,
quem, quasi sensurum, nautae calcare verentur,
appellantque Lichan. at tu, Iovis inclita proles,
arboribus caesis, quas ardua gesserat Oete,

even now in the Euboean deep a low crag projects
from the surge and preserves the vestiges of a human form,
which, as if it would feel, sailors fear to tread upon,
and they call it Lichas. But you, illustrious offspring of Jove,
with trees felled, which lofty Oeta had borne,

230

inque pyram structis arcum pharetramque capacem
regnaque visuras iterum Troiana sagittas
ferre iubes Poeante satum, quo flamma ministro
subdita. dumque avidis comprenditur ignibus agger,
congeriem silvae Nemeaeo vellere summam

and onto the pyre, the tiers built up, you bid the bow and the capacious quiver
to be borne by the son of Poeas, to the realms that would see Trojan arrows again—
by whose ministry the flame was set beneath. And while the mound is grasped by greedy fires,
the pile is seized, and the top of the heap of wood with the Nemean fleece

235

sternis, et inposita clavae cervice recumbis,
haud alio vultu, quam si conviva iaceres
inter plena meri redimitus pocula sertis.
Iamque valens et in omne latus diffusa sonabat,
securosque artus contemptoremque petebat

you spread it, and, with the club set beneath your neck, you recline,
with no other face than if, a dinner guest, you were lying
among cups full of unmixed wine, wreathed with garlands.
And now strong and poured out to every side it was roaring,
and it was aiming at the untroubled limbs and at their scorner.

240

flamma suum. timuere dei pro vindice terrae.
quos ita, sensit enim, laeto Saturnius ore
Iuppiter adloquitur: 'nostra est timor iste voluptas,
o superi, totoque libens mihi pectore grator,
quod memoris populi dicor rectorque paterque

the flame its own sound. The gods feared for the avenger of the earth.
whom thus—for he perceived it—the Saturnian Jupiter addresses with a joyful countenance:
'that fear of yours is our delight, O supernal ones, and with my whole breast I gladly give thanks to myself,
because I am called both ruler and father of a mindful people'

245

et mea progenies vestro quoque tuta favore est.
nam quamquam ipsius datur hoc inmanibus actis,
obligor ipse tamen. sed enim nec pectora vano
fida metu paveant.

and my progeny is safe also by your favor.
for although this is attributed to him by his own monstrous acts,
I myself am nonetheless obliged. but indeed let faithful hearts
not be terrified by empty fear.

Oetaeas spernite flammas!
omnia qui vicit, vincet, quos cernitis, ignes;

Spurn the Oetaean flames!
he who has vanquished all will vanquish the fires which you behold;

250

nec nisi materna Vulcanum parte potentem
sentiet. aeternum est a me quod traxit, et expers
atque inmune necis, nullaque domabile flamma.
idque ego defunctum terra caelestibus oris
accipiam, cunctisque meum laetabile factum

nor will he feel mighty Vulcan except in the maternal part.
what he drew from me is eternal, and free and immune from death, and by no flame tamable.
and this, when it is done with earth, I shall receive to the celestial shores,
and my deed will be gladdening to all.

255

dis fore confido. siquis tamen Hercule, siquis
forte deo doliturus erit, data praemia nolet,
sed meruisse dari sciet, invitusque probabit.'
adsensere dei. coniunx quoque regia visa est
cetera non duro, duro tamen ultima vultu

I trust it will be acceptable to the gods. If anyone, however, at Hercules, if anyone perchance at the god, is going to be pained, he will not want the rewards given, but he will know that they deserved to be given, and unwillingly he will approve.'
The gods assented. The royal consort too seemed not with a hard countenance in the rest, yet with a hard one at the last

260

dicta tulisse Iovis, seque indoluisse notatam.
interea quodcumque fuit populabile flammae,
Mulciber abstulerat, nec cognoscenda remansit
Herculis effigies, nec quicquam ab imagine ductum
matris habet, tantumque Iovis vestigia servat.

that she had borne Jove’s words, and avowed that she had felt pain at being reproved.
meanwhile whatever was plunderable by the flame,
Mulciber had carried off, nor did a recognizable effigy
of Hercules remain, nor does he have anything drawn
from his mother’s image, and he keeps only the vestiges of Jove.

265

utque novus serpens posita cum pelle senecta
luxuriare solet, squamaque nitere recenti,
sic ubi mortales Tirynthius exuit artus,
parte sui meliore viget, maiorque videri
coepit et augusta fieri gravitate verendus.

And as a new serpent, when its aged skin has been set aside,
is accustomed to luxuriate, and to shine with recent scale,
so, when the Tirynthian cast off his mortal limbs,
he thrives in the better part of himself, and began to seem greater
and to become, with august gravity, to be revered.

270

quem pater omnipotens inter cava nubila raptum
quadriiugo curru radiantibus intulit astris.
Sensit Atlas pondus. neque adhuc Stheneleius iras
solverat Eurystheus, odiumque in prole paternum
exercebat atrox. at longis anxia curis

whom the omnipotent father, snatched up among the hollow clouds,
carried in a four-yoked chariot to the radiant stars.
Atlas felt the weight. nor yet had the Stheneleian Eurystheus
loosed his angers, and he was savagely exercising a paternal hatred against the progeny,
but, anxious with long cares

275

Argolis Alcmene, questus ubi ponat aniles,
cui referat nati testatos orbe labores,
cuive suos casus, Iolen habet. Herculis illam
imperiis thalamoque animoque receperat Hyllus,
inpleratque uterum generoso semine; cui sic

Argive Alcmene, where she may set down her old-woman laments,
to whom she may recount her son’s labors attested by the world,
or to whom her own misfortunes—has Iole. Her, at Hercules’ commands,
Hyllus had received into his bed and his heart, and had filled her womb
with noble seed; to whom thus

280

incipit Alcmene: 'faveant tibi numina saltem,
conripiantque moras tum cum matura vocabis
praepositam timidis parientibus Ilithyiam,
quam mihi difficilem Iunonis gratia fecit.
namque laboriferi cum iam natalis adesset

Alcmene begins: 'May the numina at least favor you,
and may they snatch away delays when, ripe, you will summon
Ilithyia, set over timid parturients,
whom the favor of Juno made ill-disposed toward me.
for when now the birth-bearing day was at hand

285

Herculis et decimum premeretur sidere signum,
tendebat gravitas uterum mihi, quodque ferebam,
tantum erat, ut posses auctorem dicere tecti
ponderis esse Iovem. nec iam tolerare labores
ulterius poteram. quin nunc quoque frigidus artus,

and the tenth sign was being pressed by the star of Hercules,
the heaviness stretched my womb, and what I was bearing
was so great that you could declare the author of the concealed
weight to be Jove. nor now could I endure the labors
any further. indeed even now cold chills my limbs,

290

dum loquor, horror habet, parsque est meminisse doloris.
septem ego per noctes, totidem cruciata diebus,
fessa malis, tendensque ad caelum bracchia, magno
Lucinam Nixosque pares clamore vocabam.
illa quidem venit, sed praecorrupta, meumque

while I speak, a shiver holds me, and to remember is part of the pain.
for seven nights, and just so many days, tormented,
wearied by misfortunes, and stretching my arms to heaven, with a great
cry I kept calling upon Lucina and the Nixae alike.
she indeed came, but bribed beforehand, and my

295

quae donare caput Iunoni vellet iniquae.
utque meos audit gemitus, subsedit in illa
ante fores ara, dextroque a poplite laevum
pressa genu et digitis inter se pectine iunctis
sustinuit partus. tacita quoque carmina voce

who would wish to offer her head to iniquitous Juno.
and as she hears my groans, she sat down upon that
altar before the doors, and, with the right ham, the left
pressed with her knee, and with her fingers joined together like a comb,
she held back the births. also with a silent voice incantations

300

dixit, et inceptos tenuerunt carmina partus.
nitor, et ingrato facio convicia demens
vana Iovi, cupioque mori, moturaque duros
verba queror silices. matres Cadmeides adsunt,
votaque suscipiunt, exhortanturque dolentem.

she said, and the incantations held back the commenced births.
I strain, and, demented, I hurl invectives at thankless Jove,
and I long to die, and I complain—words to move hard flints.
the Cadmean mothers are present, they undertake vows, and they exhort me in my pain.

305

una ministrarum, media de plebe, Galanthis,
flava comas, aderat, faciendis strenua iussis,
officiis dilecta suis. ea sensit iniqua
nescio quid Iunone geri, dumque exit et intrat
saepe fores, divam residentem vidit in ara

one of the handmaids, from the middle of the plebs, Galanthis,
golden-haired, was present, strenuous in performing the orders,
beloved for her services. she perceived that something iniquitous
I-know-not-what was being done by Juno, and while she goes out and enters
the doors often, she saw the goddess seated upon the altar

310

bracchiaque in genibus digitis conexa tenentem,
et "quaecumque es," ait "dominae gratare. levata est
Argolis Alcmene, potiturque puerpera voto."
exsiluit, iunctasque manus pavefacta remisit
diva potens uteri: vinclis levor ipsa remissis.

and holding her arms upon her knees, with fingers interlaced,
and "whoever you are," she says, "be gracious to my mistress. Alcmena the Argive has been relieved, and the parturient attains her vow."
she leapt up, and, panic-stricken, let go her joined hands,
the goddess potent over the womb: with the bonds relaxed I myself am lightened.

315

numine decepto risisse Galanthida fama est.
ridentem prensamque ipsis dea saeva capillis
traxit, et e terra corpus relevare volentem
arcuit, inque pedes mutavit bracchia primos.
strenuitas antiqua manet; nec terga colorem

it is said that Galanthis laughed, the divinity deceived.
the savage goddess dragged her, laughing and seized by her very hair,
and barred her, as she wished to raise her body from the earth,
and changed her forearms into feet.
her ancient strenuousness remains; nor does her back lose its color

320

amisere suum: forma est diversa priori.
quae quia mendaci parientem iuverat ore,
ore parit nostrasque domos, ut et ante, frequentat.'
Dixit, et admonitu veteris commota ministrae
ingemuit. quam sic nurus est affata dolentem:

have lost their own: the form is different from the former.
she who, because with a mendacious mouth she had helped the woman in labor,
by the mouth gives birth and frequents our homes, as before.'
She spoke, and, moved by the admonition of the old ministra,
she groaned. Her the daughter-in-law thus addressed as she grieved:

325

'te tamen, o genetrix, alienae sanguine nostro
rapta movet facies. quid si tibi mira sororis
fata meae referam? quamquam lacrimaeque dolorque
impediunt, prohibentque loqui. fuit unica matri—
me pater ex alia genuit—notissima forma

'Yet, O mother, the face of an alien woman, abducted by one of our blood,
moves you. What if I were to recount to you the wondrous fates
of my sister? although both tears and grief
impede me, and forbid me to speak. She was the only one to her mother—
my father begot me from another—most renowned for beauty

330

Oechalidum, Dryope. quam virginitate carentem
vimque dei passam Delphos Delonque tenentis
excipit Andraemon, et habetur coniuge felix.
est lacus, adclivis devexo margine formam
litoris efficiens, summum myrteta coronant.

Dryope of the Oechalidae. whom, lacking virginity and having suffered the violence of the god holding Delphi and Delos,
Andraemon receives, and is held happy with a spouse.
There is a lake, rising with a slanting margin, fashioning the form of a shore;
myrtle-groves crown the topmost part.

335

venerat huc Dryope fatorum nescia, quoque
indignere magis, nymphis latura coronas,
inque sinu puerum, qui nondum impleverat annum,
dulce ferebat onus tepidique ope lactis alebat.
haut procul a stagno Tyrios imitata colores

She had come here, Dryope, unknowing of the fates, and—at which you might be more indignant—bringing crowns for the nymphs,
and in her lap a boy who had not yet completed a year,
she bore the sweet burden and nourished him with the help of warm milk.
not far from the pool, imitating Tyrian colors

340

in spem bacarum florebat aquatica lotos.
carpserat hinc Dryope, quos oblectamina nato
porrigeret, flores, et idem factura videbar—
namque aderam—vidi guttas e flore cruentas
decidere et tremulo ramos horrore moveri.

in hope of berries the aquatic lotus was blooming.
From here Dryope had culled, that she might proffer as delights to her son,
flowers, and I seemed about to do the same—
for I was present—I saw bloody drops fall from the flower
and the branches move with tremulous horror.

345

scilicet, ut referunt tardi nunc denique agrestes,
Lotis in hanc nymphe, fugiens obscena Priapi,
contulerat versos, servato nomine, vultus.
'Nescierat soror hoc. quae cum perterrita retro
ire et adoratis vellet discedere nymphis,

Of course, as the slow rustics now at last report,
Lotis, the nymph, fleeing the obscenities of Priapus,
had transferred her transformed features into this, with the name preserved.
'Her sister had not known this; and when, terrified, she wished to go back
and, the nymphs having been adored, to depart,

350

haeserunt radice pedes. convellere pugnat,
nec quicquam, nisi summa movet. subcrescit ab imo,
totaque paulatim lentus premit inguina cortex.

her feet stuck fast by a root. she strives to wrench them free, and moves nothing, save the upper parts. it grows up from below, and little by little the clinging bark presses her whole loins.

ut vidit, conata manu laniare capillos,
fronde manum implevit: frondes caput omne tenebant.

As she saw it, attempting with her hand to tear her hair,
she filled her hand with fronds: fronds held her whole head.

355

at puer Amphissos (namque hoc avus Eurytus illi
addiderat nomen) materna rigescere sentit
ubera; nec sequitur ducentem lacteus umor.
spectatrix aderam fati crudelis, opemque
non poteram tibi ferre, soror, quantumque valebam,

but the boy Amphissos (for his grandfather Eurytus had added this name to him)
feels his mother’s breasts grow stiff; nor does the milky humor follow
the one drawing. I was present as a spectator of the cruel fate, and help
I could not bring to you, sister, as much as I was able,

360

crescentem truncum ramosque amplexa morabar,
et, fateor, volui sub eodem cortice condi.
'Ecce vir Andraemon genitorque miserrimus adsunt,
et quaerunt Dryopen: Dryopen quaerentibus illis
ostendi loton. tepido dant oscula ligno,

embracing the growing trunk and branches, I lingered,
and, I confess, I wished to be enclosed beneath the same bark.
'Behold, her husband Andraemon and her most wretched father are present,
and they seek Dryope: to those seeking Dryope I pointed out the lotus;
they give kisses to the warm wood,

365

adfusique suae radicibus arboris haerent.
nil nisi iam faciem, quod non foret arbor, habebat
cara soror: lacrimae misero de corpore factis
inrorant foliis, ac, dum licet, oraque praestant
vocis iter, tales effundit in aera questus:

and present they cling to the roots of her tree.
now she had nothing except a face, which would not be a tree;
the dear sister:
tears, made from her wretched body, bedew the leaves, and, while it is permitted, and her mouth provides
a path for a voice, she pours such laments into the air:

370

"siqua fides miseris, hoc me per numina iuro
non meruisse nefas. patior sine crimine poenam.
viximus innocuae.

"if there is any faith for the wretched, by the numina I swear this
that I have not deserved the nefarious wrong. I suffer punishment without crime.
we have lived innocent.

si mentior, arida perdam
quas habeo frondes, et caesa securibus urar.
hunc tamen infantem maternis demite ramis,

if I lie, may I lose the dry leaves which I have,
and, felled by axes, may I be burned.
yet take down this infant from the maternal branches,

375

et date nutrici, nostraque sub arbore saepe
lac facitote bibat, nostraque sub arbore ludat.
cumque loqui poterit, matrem facitote salutet,
et tristis dicat 'latet hoc in stipite mater.'
stagna tamen timeat, nec carpat ab arbore flores, 380
et frutices omnes corpus putet esse dearum.
care vale coniunx, et tu, germana, paterque!

and give him to the nurse, and under our tree often
make sure he drinks milk, and under our tree let him play.
when he will be able to speak, make sure that he salute his mother,
and, sad, let him say: 'Mother lies hidden in this tree-trunk.'
nevertheless let him fear pools, nor let him pluck flowers from a tree, 380
and let him suppose all shrubs to be the body of goddesses.
farewell, dear husband, and you, sister, and father!

qui, siqua est pietas, ab acutae vulnere falcis,
a pecoris morsu frondes defendite nostras.
et quoniam mihi fas ad vos incumbere non est,

you, who, if there is any piety, defend our leaves from the wound of the sharp sickle,
from the herd’s bite. And since it is not permitted for me to lean toward you,

385

erigite huc artus, et ad oscula nostra venite,
dum tangi possum, parvumque attollite natum!
plura loqui nequeo. nam iam per candida mollis
colla liber serpit, summoque cacumine condor.

raise up my limbs here, and come to our kisses,
while I can be touched, and lift up the little son!
I cannot speak more. for now the soft bark
creeps over my white neck, and I am being hidden in the topmost tip.

ex oculis removete manus. sine munere vestro

remove your hands from my eyes. without your gift

390

contegat inductus morientia lumina cortex!"
desierant simul ora loqui, simul esse. diuque
corpore mutato rami caluere recentes.'
Dumque refert Iole factum mirabile, dumque
Eurytidos lacrimas admoto pollice siccat

"let the bark, drawn over, cover my dying eyes!"
at once her lips ceased both to speak and to be. and for a long time
the fresh branches grew warm with the body now changed.'
And while Iole recounts the marvelous deed, and while
she dries the Eurytid’s tears with her thumb brought near

395

Alcmene (flet et ipsa tamen) compescuit omnem
res nova tristitiam. nam limine constitit alto
paene puer dubiaque tegens lanugine malas,
ora reformatus primos Iolaus in annos.
hoc illi dederat Iunonia muneris Hebe,

Alcmene (and she herself weeps nonetheless) a new thing checked all
her sadness. For on the high threshold there stood
almost a boy, veiling his cheeks with doubtful down,
Iolaus, his features re-formed into his first years.
This as a gift had Juno’s Hebe given to him,

400

victa viri precibus. quae cum iurare pararet,
dona tributuram post hunc se talia nulli,
non est passa Themis: 'nam iam discordia Thebae
bella movent,' dixit 'Capaneusque nisi ab Iove vinci
haud poterit, fientque pares in vulnere fratres,

overcome by the man's prayers. and when she was preparing to swear
that she would bestow such gifts on no one after this man,
Themis did not allow it: “for already discord at Thebes
stirs wars,” she said, “and Capaneus will not be able to be conquered
except by Jove, and the brothers will become equals in the wound,”

405

subductaque suos manes tellure videbit
vivus adhuc vates; ultusque parente parentem
natus erit facto pius et sceleratus eodem
attonitusque malis, exul mentisque domusque,
vultibus Eumenidum matrisque agitabitur umbris,

and with the earth withdrawn he will see his own shades, the seer still alive;
and a son, having avenged a parent upon a parent,
will be pious and criminal by the same deed,
stunned by evils, an exile both from mind and from home,
he will be harried by the faces of the Eumenides and by his mother’s shades,

410

donec eum coniunx fatale poposcerit aurum,
cognatumque latus Phegeius hauserit ensis.
tum demum magno petet hos Acheloia supplex
ab Iove Calliroe natis infantibus annos
addat, neve necem sinat esse ultoris inultam.

until his spouse shall have demanded the fateful gold,
and the Phegean sword shall have drunk the kindred side.
then at last Achelous’s Callirhoe, as a suppliant, will seek from great
Jove that he add years to her infant sons,
and not allow the death of the avenger to be unavenged.

415

Iuppiter his motus privignae dona nurusque
praecipiet, facietque viros inpubibus annis.'
Haec ubi faticano venturi praescia dixit
ore Themis, vario superi sermone fremebant,
et, cur non aliis eadem dare dona liceret,

Jupiter, moved by these things, will ordain gifts for his stepdaughter and his daughter-in-law,
and will make them men in unbearded years.'
When Themis, prescient of what was to come, had said these things with a fate-speaking mouth,
the gods above were murmuring with varied speech,
and why it should not be permitted to give the same gifts to others as well.

420

murmur erat. queritur veteres Pallantias annos
coniugis esse sui, queritur canescere mitis
Iasiona Ceres, repetitum Mulciber aevum
poscit Ericthonio, Venerem quoque cura futuri
tangit, et Anchisae renovare paciscitur annos.

There was a murmur. The Pallantian (Aurora) complains that the years of her spouse are ancient;
mild Ceres complains that gentle Iasion is growing hoary;
Mulciber asks that the age be repeated for Erichthonius;
care for the future touches Venus too, and she makes a pact to renew Anchises’s years.

425

cui studeat, deus omnis habet; crescitque favore
turbida seditio, donec sua Iuppiter ora
solvit, et 'o! nostri siqua est reverentia,' dixit
'quo ruitis? tantumne aliquis sibi posse videtur,
fata quoque ut superet? fatis Iolaus in annos,

each god has someone whom he favors; and with favor the turbulent sedition grows, until Jupiter loosed his own lips, and said, 'O! if there is any reverence for us, where are you rushing? does anyone seem to himself to be able so much, as even to surpass the fates? Iolaus, by the fates, into years,

430

quos egit, rediit. fatiiuvenescere debent
Calliroe geniti, non ambitione nec armis.
vos etiam, quoque hoc animo meliore feratis,
me quoque fata regunt. quae si mutare valerem,
nec nostrum seri curvarent Aeacon anni,

into the years which he had spent, he returned.
Those begotten of Callirhoe ought to grow young by fate, not by ambition nor by arms.
You also, that you may bear this with a better spirit,
the fates rule me as well. If I were able to change these,
neither would late years bend our Aeacus.

435

perpetuumque aevi florem Rhadamanthus haberet
cum Minoe meo, qui propter amara senectae
pondera despicitur, nec quo prius ordine regnat.'
Dicta Iovis movere deos; nec sustinet ullus,
cum videat fessos Rhadamanthon et Aeacon annis

and Rhadamanthus would possess the perpetual flower of age
together with my Minos, who, on account of the bitter weights of senescence,
is despised, nor does he rule in the order in which he did before.'
The words of Jove moved the gods; nor does anyone endure it,
when he sees Rhadamanthus and Aeacus wearied by years.

440

et Minoa, queri. qui, dum fuit integer aevi,
terruerat magnas ipso quoque nomine gentes;
tunc erat invalidus, Deionidenque iuventae
robore Miletum Phoeboque parente superbum
pertimuit, credensque suis insurgere regnis,

and Minos, to complain. who, while he was in the prime of life,
had terrified great nations with his very name as well;
then he was infirm, and he grew afraid of the Deionid, Miletus,
proud in the strength of youth and with Phoebus as parent,
and, believing him to insurge against his own kingdoms,

445

haut tamen est patriis arcere penatibus ausus.
sponte fugis, Milete, tua, celerique carina
Aegaeas metiris aquas, et in Aside terra
moenia constituis positoris habentia nomen.
hic tibi, dum sequitur patriae curvamina ripae,

not, however, did he dare to ward you off from your ancestral hearths.
of your own accord you flee, Miletus, and with a swift keel
you measure the Aegaean waters, and in the Asiatic land
you set up walls bearing your founder’s name.
here for you, while it follows the bendings of its native bank,

450

filia Maeandri totiens redeuntis eodem
cognita Cyanee, praestanti corpora forma,
Byblida cum Cauno, prolem est enixa gemellam.
Byblis in exemplo est, ut ament concessa puellae,
Byblis Apollinei correpta cupidine fratris;

the daughter of Maeander, so often returning to the same place,
known as Cyanê, with a body of outstanding beauty,
bore twin offspring, Byblis together with Caunus.
Byblis is a cautionary example, so that girls may love what is permitted to maidens,
Byblis, seized by desire for her Apollinean brother;

455

non soror ut fratrem, nec qua debebat, amabat.
illa quidem primo nullos intellegit ignes,
nec peccare putat, quod saepius oscula iungat,
quod sua fraterno circumdet bracchia collo;
mendacique diu pietatis fallitur umbra.

she did not love as a sister loves a brother, nor as she ought.
she indeed at first understands no fires,
nor does she think she sins, because she more often joins kisses,
because she encircles her arms around the fraternal neck;
and for a long time she is deceived by the mendacious shadow of piety.

460

paulatim declinat amor, visuraque fratrem
culta venit, nimiumque cupit formosa videri
et siqua est illic formosior, invidet illi.
sed nondum manifesta sibi est, nullumque sub illo
igne facit votum, verumtamen aestuat intus.

gradually her love turns aside, and, adorned, she comes to see her brother,
and she too eagerly desires to appear beautiful,
and if there is there anyone more beautiful, she envies her.
but she is not yet manifest to herself, and beneath that fire she makes no vow,
nevertheless she seethes within.

465

iam dominum appellat, iam nomina sanguinis odit,
Byblida iam mavult, quam se vocet ille sororem.
Spes tamen obscenas animo demittere non est
ausa suo vigilans; placida resoluta quiete
saepe videt quod amat: visa est quoque iungere fratri

now she calls him master, now she hates the names of blood,
she now prefers that he call her Byblis rather than his sister.
Nevertheless, awake, she has not dared to let obscene hopes descend into her own mind; loosened in placid quiet she often sees what she loves: she seemed also to join with her brother

470

corpus et erubuit, quamvis sopita iacebat.
somnus abit; silet illa diu repetitque quietis
ipsa suae speciem dubiaque ita mente profatur:
'me miseram! tacitae quid vult sibi noctis imago?

and she blushed, although she lay asleep.
sleep departs; she is silent for a long time and recalls the appearance of her own quiet,
and with a doubtful mind thus she speaks forth:
'Wretched me! What does the image of the silent night want with me?'

quam nolim rata sit! cur haec ego somnia vidi?

how I wish it not to be true! why did I see these dreams?

475

ille quidem est oculis quamvis formosus iniquis
et placet, et possim, si non sit frater, amare,
et me dignus erat. verum nocet esse sororem.
dummodo tale nihil vigilans committere temptem,
saepe licet simili redeat sub imagine somnus!

he indeed is handsome to my unjust eyes
and he pleases, and I could, if he were not my brother, love him,
and he was worthy of me. but it harms to be a sister.
provided only that I attempt, while awake, to commit nothing of such a kind,
let sleep often return under a similar image!

480

testis abest somno, nec abest imitata voluptas.
pro Venus et tenera volucer cum matre Cupido,
gaudia quanta tuli! quam me manifesta libido
contigit!

a witness is absent from my sleep, nor is the imitated pleasure absent.
O Venus, and winged Cupid with his tender mother,
what joys I took! how manifest libido
touched me!

ut iacui totis resoluta medullis!
ut meminisse iuvat! quamvis brevis illa voluptas

how I lay loosened in all my marrows!
how it delights to remember! although that pleasure was brief

485

noxque fuit praeceps et coeptis invida nostris.
'O ego, si liceat mutato nomine iungi,
quam bene, Caune, tuo poteram nurus esse parenti!
quam bene, Caune, meo poteras gener esse parenti!
omnia, di facerent, essent communia nobis,

and the night was headlong and envious toward our undertakings.
'O I, if it were permitted, with the name changed, to be joined,
how well, Caunus, I could have been a daughter-in-law to your parent!
how well, Caunus, you could have been a son-in-law to my parent!
everything, if the gods would make it, would be common to us,

490

praeter avos: tu me vellem generosior esses!
nescioquam facies igitur, pulcherrime, matrem;
at mihi, quae male sum, quos tu, sortita parentes,
nil nisi frater eris. quod obest, id habebimus unum.

except the grandparents: I would that you were more of a "son-in-law"!
therefore you will make some I-know-not-what woman a mother, most beautiful one;
but for me, wretched as I am, having been allotted the parents whom you have,
you will be nothing but a brother. That which is an obstacle, that one thing we shall have.

quid mihi significant ergo mea visa? quod autem

what then do my dreams signify to me? but what

495

somnia pondus habent? an habent et somnia pondus?
di melius!

Do dreams have weight? Or do even dreams have weight?
Gods, grant better!

di nempe suas habuere sorores.
sic Saturnus Opem iunctam sibi sanguine duxit,
Oceanus Tethyn, Iunonem rector Olympi.
sunt superis sua iura!

the gods indeed have had their own sisters.
thus Saturn led in marriage Ops, joined to himself by blood,
Ocean took Tethys, the ruler of Olympus took Juno.
the celestials have their own rights!

quid ad caelestia ritus

what are rites to the celestial

500

exigere humanos diversaque foedera tempto?
aut nostro vetitus de corde fugabitur ardor,
aut hoc si nequeo, peream, precor, ante toroque
mortua componar, positaeque det oscula frater.
et tamen arbitrium quaerit res ista duorum!

am i attempting to enforce human and contrary pacts?
or will the forbidden ardor be driven from my heart,
or, if i cannot do this, let me perish, i pray, first, and let me be composed dead upon the bier,
and let my brother give kisses to me as i lie there laid out.
and yet this affair seeks the arbitration of two!

505

finge placere mihi: scelus esse videbitur illi.
'At non Aeolidae thalamos timuere sororum!
unde sed hos novi?

suppose it pleases me: it will seem a crime to him.
'But the Aeolids did not fear the marriage-chambers of their sisters!
but whence do I know these?

cur haec exempla paravi?
quo feror? obscenae procul hinc discedite flammae
nec, nisi qua fas est germanae, frater ametur!

why have i prepared these examples?
whither am i being carried? obscene flames, depart far from here
nor let a brother be loved, except in the way it is right for a sister!

510

si tamen ipse mei captus prior esset amore,
forsitan illius possem indulgere furori.
ergo ego, quae fueram non reiectura petentem,
ipsa petam! poterisne loqui?

if, however, he himself had first been captured by love of me,
perhaps I could indulge that fury of his.
therefore I, who would not have rejected the petitioner,
I myself will seek! will you be able to speak?

poterisne fateri?
coget amor, potero! vel, si pudor ora tenebit,

Will you be able to confess?
Love will compel me, I will be able! Or, if modesty will hold my lips,

515

littera celatos arcana fatebitur ignes.'
Hoc placet, haec dubiam vicit sententia mentem.
in latus erigitur cubitoque innixa sinistro
'viderit: insanos' inquit 'fateamur amores!
ei mihi, quo labor?

a letter will confess the hidden, arcane fires.'
This pleases; this sentiment has conquered the doubtful mind.
she raises herself onto her side and, leaning on her left elbow,
'let him see to it: let us confess our insane loves!' she says.
ah me, to what end do I labor?

quem mens mea concipit ignem?'

what fire does my mind conceive?'

520

et meditata manu componit verba trementi.
dextra tenet ferrum, vacuam tenet altera ceram.
incipit et dubitat, scribit damnatque tabellas,
et notat et delet, mutat culpatque probatque
inque vicem sumptas ponit positasque resumit.

and composes meditated words with a trembling hand.
the right hand holds the iron, the other holds the empty wax.
she begins and hesitates, writes and condemns the tablets,
and marks and deletes, changes, blames and approves,
and in turn sets down what she has taken up and, once set down, resumes them.

525

quid velit ignorat; quicquid factura videtur,
displicet. in vultu est audacia mixta pudori.
scripta 'soror' fuerat; visum est delere sororem
verbaque correctis incidere talia ceris:
'quam, nisi tu dederis, non est habitura salutem,

she does not know what she wants; whatever she seems about to do displeases. in her face is audacity mixed with modesty. she had written 'sister'; it seemed good to delete 'sister' and to incise such words upon the corrected wax tablets: 'she who, unless you grant it, will not have safety,

530

hanc tibi mittit amans: pudet, a, pudet edere nomen,
et si quid cupiam quaeris, sine nomine vellem
posset agi mea causa meo, nec cognita Byblis
ante forem, quam spes votorum certa fuisset.
'Esse quidem laesi poterat tibi pectoris index

This the lover sends to you: I am ashamed, ah, I am ashamed to publish my name,
and if you ask what I desire, I would wish
my cause could be transacted without my own name, nor would I be known as Byblis
before the hope of my vows had been certain.
'There could indeed have been to you an index of a wounded breast

535

et color et macies et vultus et umida saepe
lumina nec causa suspiria mota patenti
et crebri amplexus, et quae, si forte notasti,
oscula sentiri non esse sororia possent.
ipsa tamen, quamvis animo grave vulnus habebam,

both my color and leanness and countenance, and my often moist
eyes, and sighs stirred without a manifest cause,
and frequent embraces, and kisses which, if perchance you noticed,
could be felt not to be sisterly.
Yet I myself, although I bore a grave wound in my mind,

540

quamvis intus erat furor igneus, omnia feci
(sunt mihi di testes), ut tandem sanior essem,
pugnavique diu violenta Cupidinis arma
effugere infelix, et plus, quam ferre puellam
posse putes, ego dura tuli. superata fateri 545
cogor, opemque tuam timidis exposcere votis.
tu servare potes, tu perdere solus amantem:
elige, utrum facias.

although within there was an igneous fury, I did everything
(the gods are my witnesses), that at length I might be saner,
and I fought for a long time to escape the violent arms of Cupid,
unlucky, and more than you would think a girl able to bear
I bore hard things. overcome I am compelled to confess, 545
and to ask for your aid with timid vows.
you can save, you alone can destroy the lover:
choose which you do.

non hoc inimica precatur,
sed quae, cum tibi sit iunctissima, iunctior esse
expetit et vinclo tecum propiore ligari.

It is not an enemy who prays for this,
but she who, since she is most conjoined to you, seeks to be more conjoined
and to be bound with you by a nearer bond.

550

iura senes norint, et quid liceatque nefasque
fasque sit, inquirant, legumque examina servent.
conveniens Venus est annis temeraria nostris.
quid liceat, nescimus adhuc, et cuncta licere
credimus, et sequimur magnorum exempla deorum.

let old men know the laws, and let them inquire what may be licit and what nefas and fas may be, and let them observe the examinations of the laws.
a temerarious Venus is suitable to our years.
what may be licit, we do not yet know, and we believe that everything is licit, and we follow the examples of the great gods.

555

nec nos aut durus pater aut reverentia famae
aut timor impediet: tantum sit causa timendi,
dulcia fraterno sub nomina furta tegemus.
est mihi libertas tecum secreta loquendi,
et damus amplexus, et iungimus oscula coram.

nor will either a harsh father or reverence for fame
or fear impede us: only let there be a cause for fearing,
we will veil sweet thefts under a fraternal name.
I have liberty to speak secrets with you,
and we give embraces, and we join kisses in public.

560

quantum est, quod desit? miserere fatentis amorem,
et non fassurae, nisi cogeret ultimus ardor,
neve merere meo subscribi causa sepulchro.'
Talia nequiquam perarantem plena reliquit
cera manum, summusque in margine versus adhaesit.

how little is there that is lacking? pity one confessing love,
and one who would not confess it, unless the ultimate ardor compelled,
nor earn that the cause be subscribed to my sepulcher.'
While she was in vain plowing through such things, the full wax left
her hand, and the topmost verse adhered on the margin.

565

protinus inpressa signat sua crimina gemma,
quam tinxit lacrimis (linguam defecerat umor):
deque suis unum famulis pudibunda vocavit,
et pavidum blandita 'fer has, fidissime, nostro'
dixit, et adiecit longo post tempore 'fratri.'

forthwith she marks her crimes with an impressed gem,
which she dyed with tears (moisture had failed her tongue):
and of her own servants, abashed, she called one,
and, coaxing the fearful man, said, 'bear these, most faithful, to our—'
and after a long time added, 'brother.'

570

cum daret, elapsae manibus cecidere tabellae.
omine turbata est, misit tamen. apta minister
tempora nactus adit traditque latentia verba.
attonitus subita iuvenis Maeandrius ira
proicit acceptas lecta sibi parte tabellas,

as she was giving them, the tablets, slipped from her hands, fell.
she was disturbed by the omen, yet she sent them. The minister,
having found a fit time, approaches and hands over the hidden words.
thunderstruck with sudden anger, the Maeandrian youth
flings down the received tablets, a part having been read to himself,

575

vixque manus retinens trepidantis ab ore ministri,
'dum licet, o vetitae scelerate libidinis auctor,
effuge!' ait 'qui, si nostrum tua fata pudorem
non traherent secum, poenas mihi morte dedisses.'
ille fugit pavidus, dominaeque ferocia Cauni

and scarcely restraining his hands from the trembling attendant’s face,
“while it is allowed, O wicked author of forbidden lust,
flee!” he says, “you who, if your fates did not drag our modesty
along with them, would have paid me the penalty with death.”
He flees, panic-stricken, and the ferocity of Caunus for his mistress

580

dicta refert. palles audita, Bybli, repulsa,
et pavet obsessum glaciali frigore corpus.
mens tamen ut rediit, pariter rediere furores,
linguaque vix tales icto dedit aere voces:
'et merito! quid enim temeraria vulneris huius

he reports the words. You grow pale, Byblis, at what you heard, repulsed,
and you tremble, your body beset by glacial cold.
yet as your mind returned, the furies returned in like manner,
and your tongue scarcely gave such words, the air being struck:
'and deservedly! for what, indeed, rash as I am, of this wound

585

indicium feci? quid, quae celanda fuerunt,
tam cito commisi properatis verba tabellis?
ante erat ambiguis animi sententia dictis
praetemptanda mihi. ne non sequeretur euntem,
parte aliqua veli, qualis foret aura, notare

Did I make an indication? Why did I, of things that had to be concealed,
commit words so quickly to hastened tablets?
First the mind’s judgment ought to have been pretested for me with ambiguous sayings,
so that, as I set out, it would not fail to follow—
by some portion of the sail to note what the breeze would be like.

590

debueram, tutoque mari decurrere, quae nunc
non exploratis inplevi lintea ventis.
auferor in scopulos igitur, subversaque toto
obruor oceano, neque habent mea vela recursus.
'Quid quod et ominibus certis prohibebar amori

I ought to have done so, and to run my course on a safe sea, whereas now I have filled my canvas with unexplored winds.
I am carried off onto the rocks, therefore, and, overturned, I am overwhelmed by the whole ocean, nor do my sails have a return-course.
'What of the fact that I was even being forbidden by sure omens from love

595

indulgere meo, tum cum mihi ferre iubenti
excidit et fecit spes nostras cera caducas?
nonne vel illa dies fuerat, vel tota voluntas,
sed potius mutanda dies? deus ipse monebat
signaque certa dabat, si non male sana fuissem.

to indulge my own love, then, when, as I was bidding it be brought to me,
the wax slipped and made our hopes caducous?
Was not either that day to be changed, or the whole intention,
but rather the day to be changed? The god himself was warning
and gave sure signs, if I had not been unsound of mind.

600

et tamen ipsa loqui, nec me committere cerae
debueram, praesensque meos aperire furores.
vidisset lacrimas, vultum vidisset amantis;
plura loqui poteram, quam quae cepere tabellae.
invito potui circumdare bracchia collo,

and yet I ought myself to speak, and not to commit myself to wax
and, being present, to lay bare my frenzies.
he would have seen my tears, he would have seen the face of a lover;
I could have spoken more than what the tablets could take in.
I could have thrown my arms around his unwilling neck,

605

et, si reicerer, potui moritura videri
amplectique pedes, adfusaque poscere vitam.
omnia fecissem, quorum si singula duram
flectere non poterant, potuissent omnia, mentem.
forsitan et missi sit quaedam culpa ministri:

and, if I were rejected, I could have seemed about to die,
and to embrace your feet, and, prostrate, to ask for life.
I would have done everything—any one of which, if the individual things could not
bend a hard mind, all together could have bent the mind.
perhaps even there is some fault of the messenger sent:

610

non adiit apte, nec legit idonea, credo,
tempora, nec petiit horamque animumque vacantem.
'Haec nocuere mihi. neque enim est de tigride natus
nec rigidas silices solidumve in pectore ferrum
aut adamanta gerit, nec lac bibit ille leaenae.

he did not approach aptly, nor did he select suitable, I believe,
times, nor did he seek both an hour and a mind vacant.
'These things harmed me. For he is not born from a tigress,
nor does he bear rigid flints or solid iron in his breast
or adamants, nor did he drink lioness’s milk.'

615

vincetur! repetendus erit, nec taedia coepti
ulla mei capiam, dum spiritus iste manebit.
nam primum, si facta mihi revocare liceret,
non coepisse fuit: coepta expugnare secundum est.
quippe nec ille potest, ut iam mea vota relinquam,

He will be conquered! He must be attacked again, nor shall I take any weariness of my undertaking, so long as this spirit shall remain.
for first, if it were permitted me to revoke my deeds, it would have been not to have begun; to storm the things begun is the second.
indeed, nor can he bring it about that I now abandon my vows,

620

non tamen ausorum semper memor esse meorum.
et, quia desierim, leviter voluisse videbor,
aut etiam temptasse illum insidiisque petisse,
vel certe non hoc, qui plurimus urget et urit
pectora nostra, deo, sed victa libidine credar;

yet not to be always mindful of my daring deeds.
and, because I have ceased, I shall seem to have wished lightly,
or even to have attempted him and to have sought him with insidious snares,
or certainly I shall be believed not this—that he who most urges and burns
our hearts is a god—but that I was conquered by libido;

625

denique iam nequeo nil commisisse nefandum.
et scripsi et petii: reserata est nostra voluntas;
ut nihil adiciam, non possum innoxia dici.
quod superest, multum est in vota, in crimina parvum.'
dixit, et (incertae tanta est discordia mentis),

at last now I can no longer say I have committed nothing nefarious.
and I have written and I have petitioned: my will has been unbarred;
not to add anything, I cannot be called innocent.
as for what remains, it is much for vows, little for crimes.'
she said, and (so great is the discord of a wavering mind),

630

cum pigeat temptasse, libet temptare. modumque
exit et infelix committit saepe repelli.
mox ubi finis abest, patriam fugit ille nefasque,
inque peregrina ponit nova moenia terra.
Tum vero maestam tota Miletida mente

when it irks to have tried, it pleases to try.
and he exits the measure and, ill-fated, often commits to be repelled.
soon, when the end is absent, he flees his fatherland and the wrong,
and in a foreign land he sets new walls.
Then indeed the mournful Milesian girl with her whole mind

635

defecisse ferunt, tum vero a pectore vestem
diripuit planxitque suos furibunda lacertos;
iamque palam est demens, inconcessaeque fatetur
spem veneris, siquidem patriam invisosque penates
deserit, et profugi sequitur vestigia fratris.

they say she had fainted; then indeed from her breast she tore
her garment and, frenzied, beat her own upper arms;
and now it is plain she is demented, and she confesses
a hope of forbidden Venus, since she deserts her homeland and her hateful Penates
and follows the footsteps of her exiled brother.

640

utque tuo motae, proles Semeleia, thyrso
Ismariae celebrant repetita triennia bacchae,
Byblida non aliter latos ululasse per agros
Bubasides videre nurus. quibus illa relictis
Caras et armiferos Lelegas Lyciamque pererrat.

and as, moved by your thyrsus, Semelean offspring,
the Ismarian Bacchae celebrate their repeated triennial rites,
not otherwise did the Bubasian brides see Byblis howl through the broad fields;
these left behind, she wanders on,
traversing the Carians and the arms-bearing Leleges and Lycia.

645

iam Cragon et Limyren Xanthique reliquerat undas,
quoque Chimaera iugo mediis in partibus ignem,
pectus et ora leae, caudam serpentis habebat.
deficiunt silvae, cum tu lassata sequendo
concidis, et dura positis tellure capillis,

now she had left behind Cragus and Limyre and the waters of the Xanthus,
and where also the Chimaera on the ridge had fire in its middle parts,
and had the breast and face of a lioness, the tail of a serpent.
the woods give out, when you, wearied by pursuing,
collapse, and, with your hair laid on the hard earth,

650

Bybli, iaces, frondesque tuo premis ore caducas.
saepe illam nymphae teneris Lelegeides ulnis
tollere conantur, saepe, ut medeatur amori,
praecipiunt, surdaeque adhibent solacia menti.
muta iacet, viridesque suis tenet unguibus herbas

Byblis, you lie, and you press fallen fronds with your mouth.
often the Lelegeian nymphs try to lift her in their tender arms,
often they prescribe, so that it may be a remedy for her love,
and they apply solaces to a deaf mind.
mute she lies, and with her own nails she holds the green grasses

655

Byblis, et umectat lacrimarum gramina rivo.
naidas his venam, quae numquam arescere posset,
subposuisse ferunt. quid enim dare maius habebant?
protinus, ut secto piceae de cortice guttae,
utve tenax gravida manat tellure bitumen;

Byblis, and she moistens the grasses with a rivulet of tears.
they say the naiads placed beneath these a vein which could never dry;
for what greater had they to give?
straightway, as drops from the cut bark of a pitch-pine,
or as tenacious bitumen oozes from the pregnant earth;

660

utve sub adventu spirantis lene favoni
sole remollescit quae frigore constitit unda;
sic lacrimis consumpta suis Phoebeia Byblis
vertitur in fontem, qui nunc quoque vallibus illis
nomen habet dominae, nigraque sub ilice manat.

as beneath the coming of the gently-breathing Favonius
the wave which stood fast by the cold is re-softened by the sun;
so, consumed by her own tears, Phoebeian Byblis
is turned into a spring, which even now in those valleys
bears the name of its mistress, and flows beneath a black ilex.

665

Fama novi centum Cretaeas forsitan urbes
implesset monstri, si non miracula nuper
Iphide mutata Crete propiora tulisset.
proxima Cnosiaco nam quondam Phaestia regno
progenuit tellus ignotum nomine Ligdum,

Rumor of a new monster would perhaps have filled the hundred Cretan cities,
if Crete had not recently borne nearer miracles, with Iphis changed.
for the Phaestian land, next to the Cnossian kingdom, once brought forth
a Ligdus, unknown by name,

670

ingenua de plebe virum, nec census in illo
nobilitate sua maior, sed vita fidesque
inculpata fuit. gravidae qui coniugis aures
vocibus his monuit, cum iam prope partus adesset.
'quae voveam, duo sunt: minimo ut relevere dolore,

a freeborn man of the plebs, and his census was not
greater than his own nobility; but his life and faith
were blameless. He admonished the ears of his gravid wife
with these words, when birth was now nearly at hand.
“the things I vow are two: that you be relieved with the least pain,

675

utque marem parias. onerosior altera sors est,
et vires fortuna negat. quod abominor, ergo
edita forte tuo fuerit si femina partu,—
invitus mando; pietas, ignosce!—necetur.'
dixerat, et lacrimis vultum lavere profusis,

and that you may bear a male. The other lot is more onerous,
and Fortune denies strength. Which I abominate, therefore—
if by chance a female shall have been brought forth by your delivery—
unwilling I command; Piety, forgive!—let her be slain.'
He had spoken, and with tears poured forth he washed his face,

680

tam qui mandabat, quam cui mandata dabantur.
sed tamen usque suum vanis Telethusa maritum
sollicitat precibus, ne spem sibi ponat in arto.
certa sua est Ligdo sententia. iamque ferendo
vix erat illa gravem maturo pondere ventrem,

as much he who was giving the mandate, as she to whom the mandates were being given.
but nevertheless Telethusa continually solicits her own husband with vain prayers, that he not set his hope in a narrow strait.
Ligdus’s own opinion is fixed. And now, in bearing,
she could scarcely endure the heavy womb with its mature weight,

685

cum medio noctis spatio sub imagine somni
Inachis ante torum, pompa comitata sacrorum,
aut stetit aut visa est. inerant lunaria fronti
cornua cum spicis nitido flaventibus auro
et regale decus; cum qua latrator Anubis,

when, in the mid span of night, under the semblance of a dream,
the Inachian woman before the bed, accompanied by the pomp of sacred rites,
either stood or seemed to have stood. On her brow were lunar
horns, with ears of grain yellowing with shining gold,
and a royal adornment; with whom the barker Anubis,

690

sanctaque Bubastis, variusque coloribus Apis,
quique premit vocem digitoque silentia suadet;
sistraque erant, numquamque satis quaesitus Osiris,
plenaque somniferis serpens peregrina venenis.
tum velut excussam somno et manifesta videntem

and holy Bubastis, and Apis variegated with colors,
and he who suppresses the voice and with his finger urges silence;
and there were sistrums, and Osiris never sufficiently sought,
and a foreign serpent full of somniferous venoms.
then, as if shaken from sleep and seeing things made manifest

695

sic adfata dea est: 'pars o Telethusa mearum,
pone graves curas, mandataque falle mariti.
nec dubita, cum te partu Lucina levarit,
tollere quicquid erit. dea sum auxiliaris opemque
exorata fero; nec te coluisse quereris

thus the goddess spoke: 'O Telethusa, a part of my own,
put aside grave cares, and deceive the mandates of your husband.
nor doubt, when Lucina has relieved you in childbirth,
to raise whatever it will be. I am an auxiliary goddess, and help,
when entreated, I bring; nor will you complain that you have worshiped me '

700

ingratum numen.' monuit, thalamoque recessit.
laeta toro surgit, purasque ad sidera supplex
Cressa manus tollens, rata sint sua visa, precatur.
Ut dolor increvit, seque ipsum pondus in auras
expulit, et nata est ignaro femina patre,

'an ungrateful divinity.' She warned, and withdrew from the bedchamber.
Joyful she rises from the couch, and, as a suppliant, to the stars
the Cretan lifting pure hands, she prays that her visions be ratified.
As the pain increased, and the very burden drove itself into the air,
it expelled, and a female was born, the father unaware,

705

iussit ali mater puerum mentita. fidemque
res habuit, neque erat ficti nisi conscia nutrix.
vota pater solvit, nomenque inponit avitum:
Iphis avus fuerat.

the mother, having lied, ordered the boy to be reared. and the matter had credence, nor was there anyone conscious of the fiction except the nurse. the father paid his vows, and imposes the ancestral name: Iphis had been the grandfather.

gavisa est nomine mater,
quod commune foret, nec quemquam falleret illo.

the mother rejoiced at the name,
because it would be common, and would deceive no one by it.

710

inde incepta pia mendacia fraude latebant.
cultus erat pueri; facies, quam sive puellae,
sive dares puero, fuerat formosus uterque.
Tertius interea decimo successerat annus:
cum pater, Iphi, tibi flavam despondet Ianthen,

Thereafter the pious deceits, once begun, lay hidden by a fraud.
her attire was that of a boy; the face which, whether you would assign it to a girl
or to a boy, both would have been beautiful.
Meanwhile the third year had succeeded the tenth:
when your father, Iphis, betroths to you flaxen-haired Ianthe,

715

inter Phaestiadas quae laudatissima formae
dote fuit virgo, Dictaeo nata Teleste.
par aetas, par forma fuit, primasque magistris
accepere artes, elementa aetatis, ab isdem.
hinc amor ambarum tetigit rude pectus, et aequum

among the Phaestian women there was a maiden who was most lauded in the endowment of beauty,
born of the Dictean Telestes.
equal was the age, equal the form; their first arts
they received from the same teachers, the elements of their age, from the same.
hence love touched the untutored heart of both, and in equal measure

720

vulnus utrique dedit, sed erat fiducia dispar:
coniugium pactaeque exspectat tempora taedae,
quamque virum putat esse, virum fore credit Ianthe;
Iphis amat, qua posse frui desperat, et auget
hoc ipsum flammas, ardetque in virgine virgo,

Love dealt a wound to each, but the confidence was unequal:
she awaits marriage and the time of the pledged nuptial torch,
and Ianthe, thinking her to be a man, believes she will be a man;
Iphis loves her, whom she despairs to be able to enjoy, and this very thing increases
the flames, and a maiden burns for a maiden,

725

vixque tenens lacrimas 'quis me manet exitus,' inquit
'cognita quam nulli, quam prodigiosa novaeque
cura tenet Veneris? si di mihi parcere vellent,
parcere debuerant; si non, et perdere vellent,
naturale malum saltem et de more dedissent.

and scarcely holding back tears, 'What outcome awaits me,' she said
'whom a care known to none, so prodigious and new, of Venus holds?
'If the gods wished to spare me,
'they ought to have spared; if not, and wished to destroy,
'they should at least have given a natural malady and according to custom.

730

nec vaccam vaccae, nec equas amor urit equarum:
urit oves aries, sequitur sua femina cervum.
sic et aves coeunt, interque animalia cuncta
femina femineo conrepta cupidine nulla est.
vellem nulla forem! ne non tamen omnia Crete

nor does love burn a cow for a cow, nor mares for mares:
a ram burns for ewes, its female follows the stag.
thus also birds couple, and among all animals
no female is seized by female desire.
I would that I were no female! yet lest not, however, all Crete

735

monstra ferat, taurum dilexit filia Solis,
femina nempe marem. meus est furiosior illo,
si verum profitemur, amor. tamen illa secuta est
spem Veneris; tamen illa dolis et imagine vaccae
passa bovem est, et erat, qui deciperetur, adulter.

though it bear monsters, the daughter of the Sun loved a bull,
a female, namely, a male. My love is more furious than that,
if we profess the truth. Yet she followed
the hope of Venus; yet she, by tricks and the image of a cow,
suffered the bull, and there was an adulterer to be deceived.

740

huc licet ex toto sollertia confluat orbe,
ipse licet revolet ceratis Daedalus alis,
quid faciet? num me puerum de virgine doctis
artibus efficiet? num te mutabit, Ianthe?
'Quin animum firmas, teque ipsa recolligis, Iphi,

hither, even if all skill should flow together from the whole world,
Daedalus himself, even if he should fly back with waxen wings,
what will he do? Will he by learned arts make me, from a maiden, a boy?
will he change you, Ianthe?
'Why don’t you make your spirit firm, and gather yourself again, Iphis,

745

consiliique inopes et stultos excutis ignes?
quid sis nata, vide, nisi te quoque decipis ipsam,
et pete quod fas est, et ama quod femina debes!
spes est, quae faciat, spes est, quae pascat amorem.

and, bereft of counsel, will you not shake off foolish fires?
see what you were born to be, unless you are also deceiving yourself,
and seek what is lawful, and love what as a woman you ought!
there is hope, which may accomplish it; there is hope, which may nourish love.

hanc tibi res adimit. non te custodia caro

this matter takes this from you. no costly guard watches over you

750

arcet ab amplexu, nec cauti cura mariti,
non patris asperitas, non se negat ipsa roganti,
nec tamen est potiunda tibi, nec, ut omnia fiant,
esse potes felix, ut dique hominesque laborent.
nunc quoque votorum nulla est pars vana meorum,

it is not the care of a cautious husband that keeps you from her embrace, nor a father’s harshness, nor does she herself deny herself to the one who asks; and yet she is not to be possessed by you, nor, even if all things come to pass, can you be happy, so that both gods and men may labor. even now no part of my vows is vain,

755

dique mihi faciles, quicquid valuere, dederunt;
quodque ego, vult genitor, vult ipsa, socerque futurus.
at non vult natura, potentior omnibus istis,
quae mihi sola nocet. venit ecce optabile tempus,
luxque iugalis adest, et iam mea fiet Ianthe—

the gods, favorable to me, have granted whatever they were able to;
and what I want, my father wants, she herself wants, and the future father-in-law.
but Nature does not will it, more potent than all these,
who alone harms me. Behold, the longed-for time comes,
and the nuptial light is at hand, and now Ianthe will become mine—

760

nec mihi continget: mediis sitiemus in undis.
pronuba quid Iuno, quid ad haec, Hymenaee, venitis
sacra, quibus qui ducat abest, ubi nubimus ambae?'
pressit ab his vocem. nec lenius altera virgo
aestuat, utque celer venias, Hymenaee, precatur.

nor will it befall me: we shall thirst in the midst of the waves.
what of Juno as brideswoman? why do you, Hymenaeus, come to these
rites, for which he who should lead is absent, where we both are brides?'
she pressed her voice at these words. nor less does the other maiden
burn, and she prays that you come swiftly, Hymenaeus.

765

quae petit, haec Telethusa timens modo tempora differt,
nunc ficto languore moram trahit, omina saepe
visaque causatur. sed iam consumpserat omnem
materiam ficti, dilataque tempora taedae
institerant, unusque dies restabat. at illa

what she asks for, this Telethusa, fearing, now puts off the times,
now with feigned languor she draws out a delay, often
pleading omens and visions seen. But now she had consumed all
the material for fiction, and the deferred times of the nuptial torch
were pressing, and one day remained. But she

770

crinalem capiti vittam nataeque sibique
detrahit, et passis aram complexa capillis
'Isi, Paraetonium Mareoticaque arva Pharonque
quae colis, et septem digestum in cornua Nilum:
fer, precor,' inquit 'opem, nostroque medere timori!

she removes the hair-fillet from her head and from her daughter’s,
and, with hair let loose, embracing the altar,
'Isis, you who inhabit Paraetonium, the Mareotic fields, and Pharos,
and the Nile arranged into seven horns:
bring, I pray,' she says, 'aid, and remedy our fear!'

775

te, dea, te quondam tuaque haec insignia vidi
cunctaque cognovi, sonitum comitantiaque aera
sistrorum, memorique animo tua iussa notavi.
quod videt haec lucem, quod non ego punior, ecce
consilium munusque tuum est. miserere duarum,

you, goddess, you once I saw, and these your insignia
and I recognized all, the sound and the accompanying bronzes
of the sistra, and with a mindful mind I noted your commands.
That she sees the light, that I am not punished, behold
is your counsel and gift. pity the two of us,

780

auxilioque iuva!' lacrimae sunt verba secutae.
visa dea est movisse suas (et moverat) aras,
et templi tremuere fores, imitataque lunam
cornua fulserunt, crepuitque sonabile sistrum.
non secura quidem, fausto tamen omine laeta

'and help with aid!' tears followed the words.
the goddess seemed to have moved her altars (and she had moved them),
and the doors of the temple trembled, and the horns, imitating the moon,
shone, and the sonorous sistrum rattled.
not assured indeed, yet glad at the auspicious omen

785

mater abit templo. sequitur comes Iphis euntem,
quam solita est, maiore gradu, nec candor in ore
permanet, et vires augentur, et acrior ipse est
vultus, et incomptis brevior mensura capillis,
plusque vigoris adest, habuit quam femina. nam quae

the mother departs from the temple. Iphis, the companion, follows her as she goes,
with a greater step than she was accustomed, nor does the whiteness in her face
remain, and her strengths are increased, and the very countenance is more keen,
and with hair unadorned the measure is shorter,
and more vigor is present than a female had. for she who

790

femina nuper eras, puer es! date munera templis,
nec timida gaudete fide! dant munera templis,
addunt et titulum: titulus breve carmen habebat:
dona : puer : solvit : quae : femina : voverat : iphis.
postera lux radiis latum patefecerat orbem,

you were a woman just now, you are a boy! give gifts to the temples,
and rejoice with no timid faith! they give gifts to the temples,
and they add an inscription: the inscription held a brief poem:
gifts : the boy paid : what : the girl had vowed : Iphis.
the next light had with its rays laid open the broad orb,

795

cum Venus et Iuno sociosque Hymenaeus ad ignes
conveniunt, potiturque sua puer Iphis Ianthe.

when Venus and Juno, and Hymenaeus the companion, come together to the bridal fires,
and the boy Iphis gains his own Ianthe.