Seneca: FABULAE

Thyestis Vmbra Opaca linquens Ditis inferni loca,
adsum profundo Tartari emissus specu,
incertus utras oderim sedes magis:
fugio Thyestes inferos, superos fugo.
En horret animus et pauor membra excutit: 5
uideo paternos, immo fraternos lares.
hoc est uetustum Pelopiae limen domus;
hinc auspicari regium capiti decus
mos est Pelasgis, hoc sedent alti toro
quibus superba sceptra gestantur manu, 10
locus hic habendae curiae—hic epulis locus.

Thyestes' Shade Leaving the shadowy places of Infernal Dis,
I am present, sent forth from the deep cavern of Tartarus,
uncertain which abodes I should hate more:
I, Thyestes, flee the infernal gods; the gods above I flee.
Lo, my spirit bristles and fear shakes my limbs; 5
I see my paternal—nay, my fraternal—Lares.
this is the ancient threshold of the Pelopian house;
from here it is the custom for the Pelasgians to take the auspice for the regal adornment of the head;
here sit, high upon the couch,
those by whose hand proud scepters are borne, 10
this is the place for holding the council—here the place for feasts.

      Libet reuerti. nonne uel tristes lacus
incolere satius? nonne custodem Stygis
trigemina nigris colla iactantem iubis
                          * * * * *                                            14a
ubi ille celeri corpus euinctus rotae
in se refertur, ubi per aduersum irritus
redeunte totiens luditur saxo labor,
ubi tondet ales auida fecundum iecur,
et inter undas feruida exustus siti
aquas fugaces ore decepto appetit                      20

      I desire to revert. Is it not better to inhabit even the sad lakes?
is it not [better to face] the guardian of Styx,
tossing his threefold necks with black manes
                          * * * * *                                            14a
where that man, his body bound to the swift wheel,
is carried back upon himself; where, up the adverse slope, in vain,
the toil is mocked by the so-often-returning stone; where the avid bird
shears the fecund liver; and, amid the waves, burning, scorched with thirst,
he strives for the fleeing waters with a mouth deceived.                      20

poenas daturus caelitum dapibus graues?
Sed ille nostrae pars quota est culpae senex?
reputemus omnes quos ob infandas manus
quaesitor urna Gnosius uersat reos:
uincam Thyestes sceleribus cunctos meis.

to pay grievous penalties for the banquets of the celestials?
But what fraction of our guilt is that old man?
let us reckon all whom, on account of unspeakable hands,
the Cnossian inquisitor turns in the urn as defendants:
I, Thyestes, shall surpass all with my crimes.

25
a fratre uincar? liberis plenus tribus
in me sepultis? uiscera exedi mea.

25
shall I be conquered by a brother? full of three children
buried in myself? I have devoured my own viscera.

Nec hactenus Fortuna maculauit patrem,
sed maius aliud ausa commisso scelus
gnatae nefandos petere concubitus iubet. 30
non pauidus hausi dicta, sed cepi nefas.
ergo ut per omnis liberos irem parens,
coacta fatis gnata fert utero graui
me patre dignum. uersa natura est retro:
auo parentem, pro nefas, patri uirum, 35

Nor has Fortune stained the father only thus far,
but, daring a greater crime than the one committed,
she bids me seek unspeakable couplings with my daughter. 30
not fearful did I drink in the words, but I seized the abomination.
therefore, that as a parent I might go through all my children,
my daughter, compelled by the Fates, bears in her heavy womb
one worthy of me as father. Nature is turned backward:
to the grandsire a parent, O abomination, to the father a husband, 35

gnatis nepotes miscui—nocti diem.
      Sed sera tandem respicit fessos malis
post fata demum sortis incertae fides:
rex ille regum, ductor Agamemnon ducum,
cuius secutae mille uexillum rates                      40
Iliaca uelis maria texerunt suis,
post decima Phoebi lustra deuicto Ilio
adest—daturus coniugi iugulum suae.
Iam iam natabit sanguine alterno domus:
enses secures tela, diuisum graui                      45
ictu bipennis regium uideo caput;
iam scelera prope sunt, iam dolus caedes cruor—
parantur epulae.

I have mingled grandchildren with children—day with night.
      But late at last the faith of uncertain fortune looks back upon those wearied by evils—after deaths, at last:
that king of kings, the leader Agamemnon of leaders,
whose thousand ships, having followed the banner, covered the Iliac seas with their sails                      40
after ten lustrums of Phoebus, with Ilium conquered,
is here—about to give his throat to his own wife.
Now, now the house will swim with alternate blood:
swords, axes, missiles, I see the royal head split by the heavy stroke
of the double-edged axe;                      45
now crimes are near, now guile, slaughter, gore—
banquets are being prepared.

causa natalis tui,
Aegisthe, uenit. quid pudor uultus grauat?
quid dextra dubio trepida consilio labat? 50

the cause of your birth,
Aegisthus, has come. Why does shame weigh down your face?
Why does your right hand, trembling, waver in doubtful counsel? 50

quid ipse temet consulis torques rogas,
an deceat hoc te? respice ad patrem: decet.
Sed cur repente noctis aestiuae uices
hiberna longa spatia producunt mora,
aut quid cadentes detinet stellas polo? 55
Phoebum moramur. redde iam mundo diem.

Why do you yourself consult yourself, rack yourself, ask,
does this befit you? Look to your father: it befits.
But why do the alternations of a summer night suddenly
protract long spans with a hibernal delay,
or what holds back the setting stars in the sky? 55
We are delaying Phoebus. Give back now to the world the day.

      [Chorvs] O regnorum magnis fallax
      Fortuna bonis,
in praecipiti dubioque locas
      excelsa nimis.
Numquam placidam sceptra quietem                      60
certumue sui tenuere diem:
alia ex aliis cura fatigat
uexatque animos noua tempestas.
non sic Libycis Syrtibus aequor
furit alternos uoluere fluctus,                      65

      [Chorus] O to the great goods of kingdoms treacherous,
      Fortune,
you place on a headlong and doubtful brink
      things too exalted.
Never have scepters held placid quiet                      60
nor have they held a day certain of itself:
care after care fatigues,
and a new tempest vexes minds.
not so does the sea on the Libyan Syrtes
rage to roll alternating billows,                      65

non Euxini turget ab imis
      commota uadis
unda niuali uicina polo,
ubi caeruleis immunis aquis
lucida uersat plaustra Bootes,                      70
ut praecipites regum casus
      Fortuna rotat.
metui cupiunt metuique timent,
non nox illis alma recessus
      praebet tutos,
non curarum somnus domitor                      75
      pectora soluit.
      Quas non arces scelus alternum
dedit in praeceps?

nor does the wave of the Euxine, stirred from its lowest shallows, swell, near the snowy pole,
      where Bootes, bright, turns his wagons,
immune from the dark-blue waters,                      70
as Fortune wheels the headlong downfalls of kings.
      They long to be feared and they fear being feared;
nor does kindly night afford them safe retreats,
      nor does sleep, tamer of cares,
loosen their hearts.                      75
      What citadels has not alternating crime
hurled headlong?

impia quas non
arma fatigant? iura pudorque
et coniugii sacrata fides                      80
fugiunt aulas; sequitur tristis
sanguinolenta Bellona manu
quaeque superbos urit Erinys,
nimias semper comitata domos,
quas in planum quaelibet hora                      85
      tulit ex alto.
Licet arma uacent cessentque doli,
sidunt ipso pondere magna
ceditque oneri fortuna suo:
uela secundis inflata Notis                      90

what impious
arms do not weary them? laws and modesty
and the consecrated faith of wedlock                      80
flee the halls; grim
blood-smeared Bellona with her hand follows,
and the Erinys who burns the proud,
ever accompanied by houses grown too excessive,
which into the level ground any hour                      85
      has borne down from on high. Though arms be idle and tricks cease,
great things sink by their very weight
and Fortune yields to her own load:
sails inflated by favorable South Winds (Notus)                      90

uentos nimium timuere suos;
nubibus ipsis inserta caput
turris pluuio uapulat Austro,
densasque nemus spargens umbras
annosa uidet robora frangi;                      95
feriunt celsos fulmina colles,
corpora morbis maiora patent,
et cum in pastus armenta uagos
      uilia currant,
placet in uulnus maxima ceruix:                      100
quidquid in altum Fortuna tulit,
      ruitura leuat.
Modicis rebus longius aeuum est:
felix mediae quisquis turbae
      sorte quietus
aura stringit litora tuta                      105

they have feared their own winds too much;
a tower, its head inserted into the clouds themselves,
is beaten by the pluvial South-Wind,
and the grove, scattering dense shades,
sees its aged oaks broken;                      95
lightnings smite the lofty hills,
larger bodies lie open to diseases,
and when common herds run
      into wandering pastures,
the largest neck is pleasing for the wound:                      100
whatever Fortune has lifted on high,
      she raises to fall.
In moderate means there is a longer age:
happy whoever, quiet by the lot
      of the middle throng,
with a breeze just grazes the safe shores                      105

timidusque mari credere cumbam
remo terras propiore legit.
[Clytemestra] Quid, segnis anime, tuta consilia expetis?
quid fluctuaris?

and timid to entrust his skiff to the sea
and with the oar he skirts the lands that are nearer.
[Clytemestra] What, sluggish spirit, do you seek safe counsels?
why do you fluctuate?

clausa iam melior uia est.
licuit pudicos coniugis quondam toros                      110
et sceptra casta uidua tutari fide;
periere mores ius decus pietas fides
et qui redire cum perit nescit pudor;
da frena et omnem prona nequitiam incita:
per scelera semper sceleribus tutum est iter.                      115
Tecum ipsa nunc euolue femineos dolos,
quod ulla coniunx perfida atque impos sui
amore caeco, quod nouercales manus
ausae, quod ardens impia uirgo face
Phasiaca fugiens regna Thessalica trabe:                      120

the better way is now closed.
once it was permitted to guard the modest marriage bed of my husband                      110
and to protect the chaste scepters with widowed fidelity;
morals, right, honor, piety, faith have perished,
and modesty, which when it has perished does not know how to return;
give the reins and spur on every headlong depravity:
through crimes the way is always safe by means of crimes.                      115
Now with yourself unfold womanly wiles,
whatever any wife, treacherous and not mistress of herself,
in blind love, whatever stepmotherly hands
have dared, whatever the impious maiden burning with a Phasian torch
fleeing the Phasian realms on a Thessalian keel [has dared]:                      120

ferrum, uenena—uel Mycenaeas domos
coniuncta socio profuge furtiua rate.
Quid timida loqueris furta et exilium et fugas?
soror ista fecit: te decet maius nefas.

iron, poisons—or the Mycenaean halls
flee, joined with your partner, in a furtive skiff.
Why do you, timid one, talk of thefts and exile and flights?
your sister did those; a greater nefarious deed befits you.

      [Nvtrix] Regina Danaum et inclitum Ledae genus,                      125
quid tacita uersas quidue consilii impotens
tumido feroces impetus animo geris?
licet ipsa sileas, totus in uultu est dolor.
proin quidquid est, da tempus ac spatium tibi:
quod ratio non quit, saepe sanauit mora.                      130
[Cl.] Maiora cruciant quam ut moras possim pati;
flammae medullas et cor exurunt meum;
mixtus dolori subdidit stimulos timor;
inuidia pulsat pectus, hinc animum iugo
premit cupido turpis et uinci uetat;                       135

      [Nurse] Queen of the Danaans and the illustrious lineage of Leda,                      125
why, silent, do you turn things over, or, powerless of counsel,
do you carry fierce impulses in a swelling spirit?
though you yourself keep silent, all your grief is in your face.
therefore, whatever it is, grant time and space to yourself:
what reason cannot, delay has often healed.                      130
[Cl.] Greater things torment me than that I can endure delays;
flames burn up my marrow and my heart;
fear, mingled with grief, has set spurs;
envy beats upon my breast, from here base desire with a yoke
presses my mind and forbids it to be conquered;                      135

et inter istas mentis obsessae faces
fessus quidem et deiectus et pessumdatus
pudor rebellat. fluctibus uariis agor,
ut, cum hinc profundum uentus, hinc aestus rapit,
incerta dubitat unda cui cedat malo. 140
proinde omisi regimen e manibus meis:
quocumque me ira, quo dolor, quo spes feret,
hoc ire pergam; fluctibus dedimus ratem.
ubi animus errat, optimum est casum sequi.

and amid these torches of a besieged mind
wearied indeed and dejected and ruined
shame rebels. I am driven by various waves,
as, when here the wind, here the tide, snatches the deep,
the uncertain wave hesitates to which evil it should cede. 140
accordingly I have let the steering slip from my hands:
whithersoever anger, whither pain, whither hope will bear me,
this way I will go on; we have given the raft to the waves.
where the mind errs, it is best to follow chance.

[Nvt.] Caeca est temeritas quae petit casum ducem. 145
[Cl.] Cui ultima est fortuna, quid dubiam timet?
[Nvt.] Tuta est latetque culpa, si pateris, tua.
[Cl.] Perlucet omne regiae uitium domus.

[Nvt.] Blind is the temerity that seeks chance as leader. 145
[Cl.] He for whom fortune is at the last, why does he fear the uncertain?
[Nvt.] Your fault is safe and lies hidden, if you allow it.
[Cl.] Every vice of the royal house shines through.

[Nvt.] Piget prioris et nouum crimen struis?
[Cl.] Res est profecto stulta nequitiae modus. 150

[Nvt.] Do you repent of the former, and are you building a new crime?
[Cl.] A measure of wickedness is indeed a foolish thing. 150

[Nvt.] Quod metuit auget qui scelus scelere obruit.
[Cl.] Et ferrum et ignis saepe medicinae loco est.
[Nvt.] Extrema primo nemo temptauit loco.

[Nvt.] He augments what he fears, who buries crime beneath crime.
[Cl.] Both iron and fire are often in the place of medicine.
[Nvt.] No one has attempted extremes in the first place.

[Cl.] Rapienda rebus in malis praeceps uia est.
[Nvt.] At te reflectat coniugi nomen sacrum. 155
[Cl.] Decem per annos uidua respiciam uirum?
[Nvt.] Meminisse debes sobolis ex illo tuae.

[Cl.] In bad circumstances, a headlong way is to be seized.
[Nvt.] But let the sacred name of your spouse turn you back. 155
[Cl.] For ten years shall I, a widow, look back to my husband?
[Nvt.] You ought to remember your offspring from him.

[Cl.] Equidem et iugales filiae memini faces
et generum Achillem: praestitit matri fidem.
[Nvt.] Redemit illa classis immotae moras 160
et maria pigro fixa languore impulit.
[Cl.] Pudet doletque: Tyndaris, caeli genus,
lustrale classi Doricae peperi caput!

[Cl.] Indeed I remember both my daughter’s bridal torches
and my son-in-law Achilles: he kept faith to his mother.
[Nvt.] She redeemed the delays of the motionless fleet 160
and drove the seas fixed in sluggish languor.
[Cl.] I am ashamed and I grieve: a Tyndarid, stock of heaven,
I bore an expiatory head for the Doric fleet!

reuoluit animus uirginis thalamos meae
quos ille dignos Pelopia fecit domo, 165

my mind revolves the bridal-chambers of my maiden
which he made worthy of the Pelopian house, 165

cum stetit ad aras ore sacrifico pater
quam nuptialis! horruit Calchas suae
responsa uocis et recedentes focos.
o scelera semper sceleribus uincens domus:
cruore uentos emimus, bellum nece! 170
sed uela pariter mille fecerunt rates?

when the father stood at the altars with a sacrificial face—how nuptial!
Calchas shuddered at the responses of his own voice and at the receding hearths.
o house always conquering crimes with crimes:
with blood we purchase winds, with a killing, war! 170
but did a thousand ships together make sail?

non est soluta prospero classis deo;
eiecit Aulis impias portu rates.
      Sic auspicatus bella non melius gerit:
amore captae captus, immotus prece                      175
Zminthea tenuit spolia Phoebei senis,
ardore sacrae uirginis iam tum furens.
non illum Achilles flexit indomitus minis,
non ille solus fata qui mundi uidet
(in nos fidelis augur, in captas leuis),                      180

the fleet was not loosed by a favorable god;
Aulis cast the impious ships out from port.
      Thus, having taken the auspices, he does not wage wars better:
captured by love of the captive, unmoved by prayer                      175
he held the spoils of the Sminthean old man of Phoebus,
already then raging with ardor for the sacred maiden.
Not even Achilles, untamed, bent him with threats,
nor he who alone sees the fates of the world
(in our regard a faithful augur, toward captive women fickle),                      180

non populus aeger et relucentes rogi;
inter ruentis Graeciae stragem ultimam
sine hoste uictus marcet ac Veneri uacat
reparatque amores; neue desertus foret
a paelice umquam barbara caelebs torus,                      185
ablatam Achilli diligit Lyrnesida
nec rapere puduit e sinu auulsam uiri—
en Paridis hostem! nunc nouum uulnus gerens
amore Phrygiae uatis incensus furit,
et post tropaea Troica ac uersum Ilium                      190
captae maritus remeat et Priami gener.
      Accingere, anime: bella non leuia apparas.

not a sickly people and re-shining pyres;
amid the ultimate slaughter of collapsing Greece
defeated without an enemy he languishes and has leisure for Venus
and renews his loves; and lest his bed should ever be left celibate,
deserted by a barbarian concubine,                      185
he dotes on the Lyrnessian woman taken from Achilles,
nor was he ashamed to snatch her, torn from her husband’s bosom—
behold the enemy of Paris! now bearing a new wound
he rages, inflamed with love for the Phrygian prophetess,
and after Trojan trophies and overturned Ilium                      190
he returns as husband of a captive and son-in-law of Priam.
      Gird yourself, my soul: you prepare no light wars.

scelus occupandum est; pigra, quem expectas diem?
Pelopia Phrygiae sceptra dum teneant nurus?
an te morantur uirgines uiduae domi 195

the crime must be seized; sluggish one, what day are you waiting for?
While Pelopian daughters-in-law hold the scepters of Phrygia?
or do widowed virgins at home delay you 195

patrique Orestes similis? horum te mala
uentura moueant, turbo quis rerum imminet.
quid, misera, cessas?

and Orestes like to his father?
let the coming evils of these move you, the whirlwind of affairs which is impending.
why, wretched woman, do you delay?

[en adest gnatis tuis
furens nouerca] per tuum, si aliter nequit,
latus exigatur ensis et perimat duos;                      200
misce cruorem, perde pereundo uirum:
mors misera non est commori cum quo uelis.
[Nvt.] Regina, frena temet et siste impetus
et quanta temptes cogita: uictor uenit
Asiae ferocis, ultor Europae, trahit                      205
captiua Pergama et diu uictos Phrygas;
hunc fraude nunc conaris et furto aggredi?
quem non Achilles ense uiolauit fero,
quamuis procacem toruus armasset manum,
non melior Aiax morte decreta furens,                      210

[Lo, a raging stepmother is at hand for your sons]
through your side, if otherwise it cannot be, let the sword be driven and let it kill two;                      200
mingle blood, by perishing destroy your husband:
death is not wretched, to die together with him with whom you wish.
[Nurse] Queen, bridle yourself and check your onrushes,
and consider how great things you attempt: the victor comes
of fierce Asia, the avenger of Europe; he drags                      205
Pergamum captive and the long-conquered Phrygians;
do you now try to attack this man by fraud and by stealth?
him whom not even Achilles violated with his fierce sword,
although grim he had armed his forward hand,
nor the better Ajax, raging with death decided,                      210

non sola Danais Hector et bello mora,
non tela Paridis certa, non Memnon niger,
non Xanthus armis corpora immixta aggerens
fluctusque Simois caede purpureos agens,
non niuea proles Cycnus aequorei dei,                      215
non bellicoso Thressa cum Rheso phalanx,
non picta pharetras et securigera manu
peltata Amazon, hunc domi reducem paras
mactare et aras caede maculare impia?
Vltrix inultum Graecia hoc facinus feret?                      220
equos et arma classibusque horrens fretum
propone et alto sanguine exundans solum
et tota captae fata Dardaniae domus
regesta Danais—comprime adfectus truces
mentemque tibimet ipsa pacifica tuam.                       225
      [Aegisthvs] Quod tempus animo semper ac mente horrui
adest profecto, rebus extremum meis.

not Hector alone was a check in war to the Danaans,
nor Paris’s sure missiles, nor black Memnon,
nor Xanthus heaping up bodies commingled with arms,
and the Simois driving waves purple with slaughter,
nor the snow-white offspring Cycnus of the sea-god,                      215
nor the Thracian phalanx with warlike Rhesus,
nor the peltate Amazon, with painted quivers and an axe-bearing hand—
do you prepare to immolate this man returned home,
and to maculate the altars with impious slaughter?
Will avenging Greece bear this deed unavenged?                      220
set before you the horses and arms and the sea bristling with fleets,
and the ground overflowing with deep blood,
and the entire dooms of the captured Dardanian house
brought back to the Danaans—repress your truculent passions,
and yourself pacify your own mind.                       225
      [Aegisthvs] The time which I have always shuddered at in spirit and in mind
is truly at hand, the end of my affairs.

quid terga uertis, anime? quid primo impetu
deponis arma? crede perniciem tibi
et dira saeuos fata moliri deos: 230

Why do you turn your back, spirit? Why at the first impetus
do you lay down your arms? Believe that for you the gods are contriving
perdition and dire, savage fates: 230

oppone cunctis uile suppliciis caput,
ferrumque et ignes pectore aduerso excipe,
Aegisthe: non est poena sic nato mori.
Tu nos pericli socia, tu, Leda sata,
comitare tantum: sanguinem reddet tibi 235
ignauus iste ductor ac fortis pater.
sed quid trementis circuit pallor genas
iacensque uultu languido optutus stupet?

oppose your head to all vile punishments,
and receive iron and fires with your breast set against them,
Aegisthus: it is no punishment for one so born to die thus.
You, companion of peril to us, you, born of Leda,
only accompany: the cowardly leader and the brave father will render blood to you 235
but why does pallor encircle the trembling cheeks
and why does the gaze, drooping with a languid visage, stand stupefied?

[Cl.] Amor iugalis uincit ac flectit retro,
referimur illuc, unde non decuit prius 240
abire; sed nunc casta repetatur fides,
nam sera numquam est ad bonos mores uia:
quem paenitet peccasse paene est innocens.
[Ae.] Quo raperis amens? credis aut speras tibi
Agamemnonis fidele coniugium?

[Cl.] Conjugal love conquers and bends back,
we are borne back thither, whence it was not fitting before 240
to depart; but now let chaste faith be resumed,
for the way to good morals is never late:
he whom it repents to have sinned is almost innocent.
[Ae.] Whither are you being snatched, frantic one? Do you believe or hope for yourself
Agamemnon’s faithful conjugal union?

ut nihil 245

that nothing 245

subesset animo quod graues faceret metus,
tamen superba et impotens flatu nimis
Fortuna magno spiritus tumidos daret.
grauis ille sociis stante adhuc Troia fuit:
quid rere ad animum suapte natura trucem 250
Troiam addidisse? rex Mycenarum fuit,
ueniet tyrannus: prospera animos efferunt.

if there lurked in his mind something that would make grave fears,
nevertheless proud and unbridled Fortune, with too great a blast,
would give tumid spirits. He was grievous to his allies while Troy still stood:
what do you think that Troy has added to a spirit cruel by its very nature? 250
he was king of Mycenae,
a tyrant will come: prosperities lift up minds.

Effusa circa paelicum quanto uenit
turba apparatu! sola sed turba eminet
tenetque regem famula ueridici dei. 255
feresne thalami uicta consortem tui?
at illa nolet.

Poured out around the paramour, with how great a display the crowd came!
but alone there stands out from the throng, and holds the king, the handmaid of the truth‑speaking God. 255
Will you, conquered, bear a consort of your marriage‑bed?
but she will not.

ultimum est nuptae malum
palam maritam possidens paelex domum.
nec regna socium ferre nec taedae sciunt.
[Cl.] Aegisthe, quid me rursus in praeceps agis 260

It is the ultimate evil for a bride
a paramour openly possessing the wedded woman’s house.
neither do kingdoms know how to bear a partner, nor do the nuptial torches.
[Cl.] Aegisthus, why are you again driving me headlong 260

iramque flammis iam residentem incitas?
permisit aliquid uictor in captam sibi:
nec coniugem hoc respicere nec dominam decet.
lex alia solio est, alia priuato in toro.

and do you incite a wrath now already subsiding from its flames?
the victor has permitted himself some latitude with regard to the captive:
nor is it fitting for a wife or for a lady to regard this.
one law is for the throne, another for the private bed.

quid, quod seueras ferre me leges uiro 265
non patitur animus turpis admissi memor?
det ille ueniam facile cui uenia est opus.
[Ae.] Ita est?

What of the fact that to bear severe laws from my husband 265
my spirit, mindful of the shameful offense committed, does not allow?
Let him grant pardon readily to whom pardon is needful.
[Ae.] Is it so?

pacisci mutuam ueniam licet?
ignota tibi sunt iura regnorum aut noua?
nobis maligni iudices, aequi sibi, 270
id esse regni maximum pignus putant,
si quidquid aliis non licet solis licet.

Is it permitted to make a compact for mutual pardon?
Are the laws of realms unknown to you, or novel?
to us malicious judges, to themselves fair, 270
they think that to be the greatest pledge of kingship,
if whatever is not permitted to others is permitted to them alone.

[Cl.] * * * 272a
ignouit Helenae: iuncta Menelao redit
quae Europam et Asiam paribus afflixit malis.
[Ae.] Sed nulla Atriden Venere furtiua abstulit 275

[Cl.] * * * 272a
He forgave Helen: joined to Menelaus she returns,
she who afflicted Europe and Asia with equal evils.
[Ae.] But no furtive Venus carried off the Atreid. 275

nec cepit animum coniugi obstrictum suae.
iam crimen ille quaerit et causas parat.
nil esse crede turpe commissum tibi:
quid honesta prodest uita, flagitio uacans?

nor did she seize the mind bound to his own consort.
already that man seeks a crime and prepares causes.
Believe that nothing shameful has been committed by you:
what does an honest life, free from flagitiousness, profit?

ubi dominus odit, fit nocens, non quaeritur. 280
Spartenne repetes spreta et Eurotan tuum
patriasque sedes profuga? non dant exitum
repudia regum: spe metus falsa leuas.

where a lord hates, one becomes guilty; no inquiry is made. 280
Will you seek again Sparta, once spurned, and your Eurotas,
and your ancestral seats as a fugitive? The repudiations of kings do not grant an exit;
you lighten fear with false hope.

[Cl.] Delicta nouit nemo nisi fidus mea.
[Ae.] Non intrat umquam regium limen fides. 285
[Cl.] Opibus merebor, ut fidem pretio obligem.
[Ae.] Pretio parata uincitur pretio fides.

[Cl.] No one knows my delicts except a faithful one.
[Ae.] Fidelity never enters the royal threshold. 285
[Cl.] By wealth I shall merit it, so that I may bind fidelity with a price.
[Ae.] Fidelity procured by a price is overcome by a price.

[Cl.] Surgit residuus pristinae mentis pudor;
quid obstrepis? quid uoce blandiloqua mala
consilia dictas? scilicet nubam tibi, 290

[Cl.] The remaining shame of my former mind rises;
why do you clamor? why with a blandishing voice do you dictate
evil counsels? Of course I should marry you, 290

regum relicto rege, generosa exuli?
[Ae.] Et cur Atrida uideor inferior tibi,
gnatus Thyestae? [Cl.] Si parum est, adde et nepos.

leaving the king of kings, a noblewoman to an exile?
[Ae.] And why do I seem to you inferior to the Atreid, I, son of Thyestes?
[Cl.] If that is too little, add also grandson.

[Ae.] Auctore Phoebo gignor; haud generis pudet.
[Cl.] Phoebum nefandae stirpis auctorem uocas, 295
quem nocte subita frena reuocantem sua
caelo expulistis? quid deos probro addimus?

[Ae.] With Phoebus as author I am begotten; I am not ashamed of my lineage.
[Cl.] Do you call Phoebus the author of a nefarious stock, 295
whom, in sudden night, reining back his own reins,
you expelled from heaven? Why do we add the gods to reproach?

subripere doctus fraude geniales toros,
quem Venere tantum scimus inlicita uirum,
facesse propere ac dedecus nostrae domus 300
asporta ab oculis: haec uacat regi ac uiro.
[Ae.] Exilia mihi sunt haud noua; assueui malis.
si tu imperas, regina, non tantum domo
Argisue cedo: nil moror iussu tuo
aperire ferro pectus aerumnis graue.

skilled to steal by fraud the genial couches,
whom we know to be a man only in illicit Venus,
be off quickly and carry the disgrace of our house out of my eyes: 300
this stands vacant for the king and for a husband. [Ae.] Exiles are by no means new to me; I have grown accustomed to ills.
if you command, queen, I yield not only the house and Argos besides:
I do not delay, at your bidding, to open with iron my breast heavy with hardships.

305

[Cl.] Siquidem hoc cruenta Tyndaris fieri sinam.
quae iuncta peccat debet et culpae fidem.
secede mecum potius, ut rerum statum
dubium ac minacem iuncta consilia explicent.

[Cl.] Surely I, the blood-stained Tyndarid, should allow this to be done.
she who sins joined owes also faith to the fault.
withdraw with me rather, so that the state of affairs
dubious and menacing may, by joined counsels, be explicated.

      [Chorvs] Canite, o pubes inclita, Phoebum!                      310
tibi festa caput turba coronat,
tibi uirgineas laurum quatiens
      de more comas
innuba fudit stirps Inachia.
Tu quoque nostros, Thespias hospes,                      315
      comitare choros,
quaeque Erasini gelidos fontes,
      quaeque Eurotan,
quaeque uirenti tacitum ripa
      bibis Ismenon,
quam fatorum praescia Manto,
      sata Tiresia,                      320
Latonigenas monuit sacris
      celebrare deos.
      Arcus, uictor, pace relata,
      Phoebe, relaxa
umeroque graues leuibus telis
      pone pharetras                      325

      [Chorus] Sing, O renowned youth, of Phoebus!                      310
for you the festal throng crowns its head,
for you, brandishing laurel as is the custom,
      the Inachian unmarried stock
has let loose its maiden locks. You too, Thespian guest, accompany our
      choruses,
you who drink the chilly springs of Erasinus,
      and you the Eurotas,
and you who at the green bank drink
      the silent Ismenus,
whom Manto, prescient of fates, daughter of Tiresias,
      warned to celebrate with rites the gods born of Latona.                      320
Unstring your bows, victor, with peace restored,
      Phoebus, relax them,
and from your shoulder set down the heavy quivers
      with their light darts.                      325

resonetque manu pulsa citata
      uocale chelys:
nil acre uelim magnumque modis
      intonet altis,
sed quale soles leuiore lyra
      flectere carmen                      330
simplex, lusus cum docta tuos
      Musa recenset.
licet et chorda grauiore sones,
      quale canebas
cum Titanas fulmine uictos
      uidere dei,
uel cum montes montibus altis                      335
      super impositi
struxere gradus trucibus monstris,
stetit imposita Pelion Ossa,
pinifer ambos pressit Olympus.
      Ades, o magni, soror et coniunx,                      340
consors sceptri, regia Iuno:
tua te colimus turba Mycenae,
tu sollicitum supplexque tui
numinis Argos sola tueris,
tu bella manu pacemque geris;                      345

and let the vocal chelys, struck by the hand and hastened, resound,
      I would wish nothing sharp, nor let anything great
      thunder in lofty modes,
but such as you are wont with a lighter lyre
      to bend a simple song,                      330
when the learned Muse recounts
      your playthings.
you may also sound on a graver string,
      such as you were singing
when the gods saw the Titans
      conquered by the thunderbolt,
or when mountains, set upon lofty mountains,                      335
      built steps over the fierce monsters—
Ossa stood placed upon Pelion,
pine-bearing Olympus pressed them both.
      Be present, O sister and spouse of the great one,                      340
sharer of the scepter, royal Juno:
your Mycenae’s throng worships you,
you alone watch over Argos,
anxious and suppliant for your divinity;
you carry on wars and peace with your hand;                      345

tu nunc laurus Agamemnonias
      accipe uictrix.
Tibi multifora tibia buxo
      sollemne canit,
tibi fila mouent docta puellae
      carmine molli,                      350
tibi uotiuam matres Graiae
      lampada iactant:
ad tua coniunx candida tauri
delubra cadet nescia aratri,
nullo collum signata iugo.                      355
      Tuque, o magni gnata Tonantis,
      incluta Pallas,
quae Dardanias saepe petisti
      cuspide turres,
te permixto matrona minor
      maiorque choro                      360
colit et reserat ueniente dea
      templa sacerdos:
tibi nexilibus turba coronis
      redimita uenit,
tibi grandaeui lassique senes
compote uoto reddunt grates                      365

you now receive the Agamemnonian laurels, victorious one.
      For you the many-bored boxwood pipe sings the solemn rite,
for you skilled maidens set the strings in motion
      with a soft song;                      350
for you Greek mothers brandish the votive torch:
      at your shrines a white consort of the bull
will fall, ignorant of the plow,
her neck marked by no yoke.                      355
      And you too, O daughter of the great Thunderer,
      renowned Pallas,
who often assailed the Dardanian towers
      with your spear,
you both the younger and the elder matron,
      in a mingled chorus,                      360
worships, and the priestess, as the goddess arrives,
      unbars the temples:
to you the throng comes wreathed
      with plaited garlands,
to you the very aged and weary elders
render thanks, their vow fulfilled.                      365

libantque manu uina trementi.
      Et te Triuiam nota memores
      uoce precamur:
tu maternam sistere Delon,
      Lucina, iubes,
huc atque illuc prius errantem                      370
      Cyclada uentis;
nunc iam stabilis fixa terras
      radice tenet,
respuit auras religatque rates
      assueta sequi.
tu Tantalidos funera matris                      375
      uictrix numeras:
stat nunc Sipyli uertice summo
      flebile saxum
et adhuc lacrimas marmora fundunt
      antiqua nouas.

and they pour libations of wine with a trembling hand.
      And you, Trivia, we, mindful, with a familiar
      voice beseech:
you bid the maternal Delos to stand fast,
      Lucina,
the Cyclad that previously wandered hither and thither                      370
      by the winds;
now, stable at last, fixed, it holds
      to the earth by a root,
it spits back the breezes and binds again the ships
      accustomed to follow.
you, victorious, count the funerals of the Tantalid mother:                      375
      now there stands on the highest summit of Sipylus
a weeping stone,
and even now the ancient marbles pour forth
      new tears.

colit impense femina uirque                      380
      numen geminum.
      Tuque ante omnis, pater ac rector
      fulmine pollens,
cuius nutu simul extremi
      tremuere poli,
generis nostri, Iuppiter, auctor,                      385
      cape dona libens
abauusque tuam non degenerem
      respice prolem.
      Sed ecce, uasto concitus miles gradu
manifesta properat signa laetitiae ferens
(namque hasta summo lauream ferro gerit)                      390
fidusque regi semper Eurybates adest.

woman and man devoutly worship the twin numen.                      380
      And you before all, father and ruler,      powerful in the thunderbolt,
at whose nod at once the farthest      poles have trembled,
author of our race, Jupiter,      accept the gifts gladly,                      385
      and, as great-great-grandfather, look upon your not-degenerate      progeny.
      But lo, a soldier, quickened with vast stride,
hastens bearing clear signs of joy
(for on the tip of his spear he bears a laurel),                      390
and Eurybates, ever faithful to the king, is at hand.

      [Evrybates] Delubra et aras caelitum et patrios lares
post longa fessus spatia, uix credens mihi,
supplex adoro. uota superis soluite:
telluris altum remeat Argolicae decus                      395
tandem ad penates uictor Agamemnon suos.
      [Clytemestra] Felix ad aures nuntius uenit meas.

      [Evrybates] The shrines and altars of the celestials, and the ancestral Lares,
weary after long spans, scarcely trusting myself,
I adore as a suppliant. Fulfill your vows to the gods above:
the lofty ornament of Argolic earth returns                      395
at last to his Penates comes the victor Agamemnon.
      [Clytemestra] A happy message comes to my ears.

ubinam petitus per decem coniunx mihi
annos moratur? pelagus an terras premit?
[Ev.] Incolumis, auctus gloria, laude inclitus 400

Where is my husband, sought after for ten years, delaying?
Does he press the sea or the lands?
[Ev.] Unharmed, increased in glory, renowned in praise 400

reducem expetito litori impressit pedem.
[Cl.] Sacris colamus prosperum tandem diem
et si propitios attamen lentos deos.
Tu pande uiuat coniugis frater mei
et pande teneat quas soror sedes mea. 405
[Ev.] Meliora uotis posco et obtestor deos:
nam certa fari sors maris dubii uetat.

returned, he has set his foot upon the longed-for shore.
[Cl.] With sacred rites let us celebrate the day at last prosperous,
and the gods—propitious yet slow.
Do you unfold whether my husband’s brother lives,
and unfold what seats my sister holds. 405
[Ev.] I ask for better things with vows and I call the gods to witness:
for the lot of the doubtful sea forbids me to speak things certain.

ut sparsa tumidum classis excepit mare,
ratis uidere socia non potuit ratem.
quin ipse Atrides aequore immenso uagus 410
grauiora pelago damna quam bello tulit
remeatque uicto similis, exiguas trahens
lacerasque uictor classe de tanta rates.
[Cl.] Quis fare nostras hauserit casus rates
aut quae maris fortuna dispulerit duces. 415

as the fleet, scattered, took up the swollen sea,
no ship could see its companion ship.
nay, even Atrides himself, wandering on the immense sea 410
bore losses heavier on the sea than in war,
and he returns like one conquered, dragging along
a few and torn ships, though a victor, from so great a fleet.
[Cl.] Tell, what disasters have engulfed our ships,
or what fortune of the sea has scattered the leaders. 415

[Ev.] Acerba fatu poscis, infaustum iubes
miscere laeto nuntium. refugit loqui
mens aegra tantis atque inhorrescit malis.
[Cl.] Exprome: clades scire qui refugit suas
grauat timorem; dubia plus torquent mala. 420
[Ev.] Vt Pergamum omne Dorica cecidit face,
diuisa praeda est, maria properantes petunt.

[Ev.] You ask for a bitter utterance, you bid
to mix an ill-omened message with a glad one. My mind
ailing shrinks from speaking and shudders at such great evils.
[Cl.] Express it: he who shuns to know his own calamities
aggravates fear; doubtful evils torment more. 420
[Ev.] When all Pergamum fell to the Dorian torch,
the booty was divided, and, hastening, they make for the seas.

iamque ense fessum miles exonerat latus,
neglecta summas scuta per puppes iacent;
ad militares remus aptatur manus                      425
omnisque nimium longa properanti mora est.
signum recursus regia ut fulsit rate
et clara laetum remigem monuit tuba,
aurata primas prora designat uias
aperitque cursus, mille quos puppes secent.                       430
      Hinc aura primo lenis impellit rates
adlapsa uelis; unda uix actu leui
tranquilla Zephyri mollis afflatu tremit,
splendetque classe pelagus et pariter latet.

and now the soldier unburdens his side, weary with the sword,
shields, neglected, lie along the upper sterns;
an oar is fitted to soldierly hands,                      425
and every delay is too long for one in haste.
as soon as the signal of return flashed on the royal ship
and the clear trumpet urged the glad oarsman,
the gilded prow marks out the first ways
and opens courses which a thousand sterns cut.                       430
      Then from here at first a gentle breeze, having glided to the sails, impels the ships;
the wave, tranquil, scarcely quivers with light motion,
with the soft breath of Zephyr, and the sea shines with the fleet and equally lies hidden.

iuuat uidere nuda Troiae litora, 435

it delights to see the bare shores of Troy, 435

iuuat relicti sola Sigei loca.
properat iuuentus omnis adductos simul
lentare remos, adiuuat uentos manu
et ualida nisu bracchia alterno mouet.
sulcata uibrant aequora et latera increpant 440
dirimuntque canae caerulum spumae mare.

it delights to have left behind the lonely places of Sigeum.
the whole youth hastens at once to bend the drawn‑in oars,
helps the winds with the hand
and with strong effort moves the sturdy arms in alternation.
the furrowed waters quiver and the sides rattle 440
and hoary foams sunder the cerulean sea.

      Vt aura plenos fortior tendit sinus,
posuere tonsas, credita est uento ratis
fususque transtris miles aut terras procul,
quantum recedunt uela, fugientes notat,                      445
aut bella narrat: Hectoris fortis minas
currusque et empto redditum corpus rogo,
sparsum cruore regis Herceum Iouem.
tunc qui iacente reciprocus ludit salo
tumidumque pando transilit dorso mare                      450

      As the breeze, stronger, stretches the full bellies, of the sails,
they set down the oars; the ship was entrusted to the wind,
and the soldier, poured along the benches, either notes the lands fleeing far off,
as far as the sails recede,                      445
or tells of wars: the brave menaces of Hector
and the chariot, and the body returned to the pyre, bought with a price,
and Hercean Jove spattered with the king’s gore.
then he who, with the sea lying calm, in backwash plays with the swell
and with arched back leaps across the swollen sea                      450

Tyrrhenus omni piscis exultat freto
agitatque gyros et comes lateri adnatat,
anteire naues laetus et rursus sequi;
nunc prima tangens rostra lasciuit chorus,
millesimam nunc ambit et lustrat ratem.                      455
iam litus omne tegitur et campi latent
et dubia pereunt montis Idaei iuga;
et uix (quod unum peruicax acies uidet)
Iliacus atra fumus apparet nota.
      Iam lassa Titan colla releuabat iugo,                      460
in astra iam lux prona, iam praeceps dies:
exigua nubes sordido crescens globo
nitidum cadentis inquinat Phoebi iubar;
suspecta uarius occidens fecit freta.
nox prima caelum sparserat stellis, iacent                      465

the Tyrrhenian fish exults in all the sea
and drives its gyres and, as a companion, swims close to the flank,
glad to go before the ships and again to follow;
now, touching the foremost prows, the playful chorus,
now it encircles and surveys the thousandth vessel.                      455
now all the shore is covered and the plains lie hidden,
and the doubtful ridges of Mount Ida vanish;
and scarcely (that one thing which a pervicacious gaze sees)
the Iliac smoke appears as a black mark.
      Now Titan was easing his weary neck from the yoke,                      460
already the light bent toward the stars, already the day headlong:
a slight cloud, swelling to a sordid globe,
befouls the shining radiance of the setting Phoebus;
the variegated west made the straits suspect.
first night had sprinkled the sky with stars, they lie                      465

deserta uento uela. tum murmur graue,
maiora minitans, collibus summis cadit
tractuque longo litus ac petrae gemunt;
agitata uentis unda uenturis tumet:
cum subito luna conditur, stellae latent;                      470
nec una nox est: densa tenebras obruit                      472
caligo et omni luce subducta fretum
caelumque miscet. undique incumbunt simul
rapiuntque pelagus infimo euersum solo                      475

the sails abandoned to the wind. then a heavy murmur,
threatening greater things, falls upon the highest hills,
and with a long sweep the shore and rocks groan;
the wave, agitated by the coming winds, swells:
when suddenly the moon is hidden, the stars lie latent;                      470
nor is it just one night: a dense murk overwhelms the darkness                      472
and, with all light withdrawn, it mingles sea
and sky. from all sides at once they bear down,
and they seize the sea, overturned from its deepest bottom                      475

aduersus Euro Zephyrus et Boreae Notus.
sua quisque mittunt tela et infesti fretum
emoliuntur, turbo conuoluit mare:
Strymonius altas Aquilo contorquet niues
Libycusque harenas Auster ac Syrtes agit, 480
[nec manet in Austro; fit grauis nimbis Notus]
imbre auget undas; Eurus orientem mouet
Nabataea quatiens regna et Eoos sinus.
quid rabidus ora Corus Oceano exerens?

against Eurus Zephyr, and Notus against Boreas.
each sends its own missiles, and, hostile, they work to undo the sea;
a whirlwind rolls the sea together:
the Strymonian Aquilo hurls lofty snows,
and the Libyan Auster drives the sands and the Syrtes, 480
[nor does he remain with the Auster; Notus becomes heavy with rain-clouds]
with rain he augments the waves; Eurus sets the Orient in motion,
shaking the Nabataean realms and the Eastern bays.
what of raging Corus, thrusting the shores toward the Ocean?

mundum reuelli sedibus totum suis 485
ipsosque rupto crederes caelo deos
decidere et atrum rebus induci chaos.
uento resistit aestus et uentus retro
aestum reuoluit; non capit sese mare:
in astra pontus tollitur, caelum perit 471

you would think the whole world wrenched from its own seats 485
and the gods themselves, with the sky burst, to be falling down,
and black chaos to be brought upon things.
the surge resists the wind, and the wind rolls the surge back;
the sea does not contain itself:
the deep is lifted to the stars, the sky perishes 471

undasque miscent imber et fluctus suas. 490
nec hoc leuamen denique aerumnis datur,
uidere saltem et nosse quo pereant malo:
premunt tenebrae lumina et dirae Stygis
inferna nox est. excidunt ignes tamen
et nube dirum fulmen elisa micat; 495
miserisque lucis tanta dulcedo est malae:
hoc lumen optant. Ipsa se classis premit
et prora prorae nocuit et lateri latus.

and rain and surge commingle the waves with their own. 490
nor is even this relief at last granted to their hardships,
to see at least and to know by what evil they perish:
darkness presses upon their eyes, Stygian and dire—
it is infernal night. Yet fires burst forth,
and, beaten out of the cloud, a dire thunderbolt flashes; 495
and to the wretched, so great is the sweetness of the baleful light:
this light they long for. The fleet presses upon itself,
and prow has harmed prow, and side side.

illam dehiscens pontus in praeceps rapit
hauritque et alto redditam reuomit mari; 500

the gaping sea snatches her headlong
drinks her in and, returned, vomits her back from the deep sea; 500

haec onere sidit, illa conuulsum latus
submittit undis, fluctus hanc decimus tegit;
haec lacera et omni decore populato leuis
fluitat nec illi uela nec tonsae manent
nec rectus altas malus antemnas ferens,                      505
sed trunca toto puppis Ionio natat.
      Nil ratio et usus audet: ars cessit malis;
tenet horror artus, omnis officio stupet
nauita relicto, remus effugit manus.
in uota miseros ultimus cogit timor                      510
eademque superos Troes et Danai rogant.

this one settles by its burden, that one lowers its wrenched side
to the waves; the tenth billow covers this one;
this, tattered and light with all its ornament despoiled,
floats, and for it neither sails nor oars remain,
nor a straight mast bearing high yards,                      505
but the ship, maimed, floats over the whole Ionian Sea.
      Reason and practice dare nothing: skill has yielded to evils;
horror holds their limbs; every sailor, his duty abandoned, is stupefied,
the oar slips from their hands. Final fear drives the wretched into vows,                      510
and Trojans and Danaans beseech the same gods above.

quid fata possunt! inuidet Pyrrhus patri,
Aiaci Vlixes, Hectori Atrides minor,
Agamemno Priamo: quisquis ad Troiam iacet
felix uocatur, cadere qui meruit gradu, 515

What the Fates can do! Pyrrhus envies his father,
Ulysses envies Ajax, the lesser Atrides envies Hector,
Agamemnon envies Priam: whoever lies at Troy
is called happy, he who has deserved to fall from his degree. 515

quem fama seruat, uicta quem tellus tegit.
'Nil nobile ausos pontus atque undae ferent?
ignaua fortes fata consument uiros?

whom fame preserves, whom the conquered earth covers.
'Nothing noble will the sea and waves bear for those who have dared?
will ignoble fates consume brave men?

perdenda mors est? quisquis es, nondum malis
satiate tantis, caelitum, tandem tuum 520
numen serena: cladibus nostris daret
uel Troia lacrimas. odia si durant tua
placetque mitti Doricum exitio genus,
quid hos simul perire nobiscum iuuat,
quibus perimus?

Must death be squandered? whoever you are, not yet sated with such great ills, O one of the celestials, at last make your numen serene: even Troy would give tears for our disasters. If your hatreds endure and it pleases that the Dorian race be sent to destruction, why does it help that these perish together with us, by whom we are perishing? 520

sistite infestum mare: 525
uehit ista Danaos classis? et Troas uehit!'
nec plura possunt: occupat uocem mare.
Ecce alia clades.

Stay the hostile sea: 525
Does that fleet carry the Danaans? And it carries the Trojans!'
Nor can they say more: the sea seizes the voice.
Behold, another disaster.

fulmine irati Iouis
armata Pallas quidquid aut hasta minax
aut aegide et furore Gorgoneo potest, 530

with the thunderbolt of wrathful Jove
armed Pallas, whatever either the menacing spear
or the aegis and Gorgonean fury can accomplish, 530

hoc igne patrio temptat, et caelo nouae
spirant procellae. solus inuictus malis
luctatur Aiax. uela cogentem hunc sua
tento rudente flamma perstrinxit cadens.

with this paternal fire she assails, and from the sky
new tempests breathe. alone, unconquered by ills,
Ajax wrestles. this man, reefing his sails,
with a taut rope, a falling flame scorched him.

libratur aliud fulmen: hoc toto impetu 535
certum reducta Pallas excussit manu,
imitata patrem. transit Aiacem et ratem
ratisque partem secum et Aiacem tulit.
nil ille motus, ardua ut cautes, salo
ambustus extat, dirimit insanum mare 540
fluctusque rumpit pectore et nauem manu
complexus ignes traxit et caeco mari
conlucet Aiax; omne resplendet fretum.

another thunderbolt is poised: this one, with its whole onrush, 535
sure, with her hand drawn back, Pallas shot forth,
imitating her father. it passes through Ajax and the ship,
and it bore off with itself both a part of the ship and Ajax.
he, not at all moved, like a lofty crag, stands out, scorched by the brine,
he sunders the mad sea 540
and breaks the billows with his chest, and, clasping the ship with his hand,
he drew the fires, and Ajax lights up the dark sea;
the whole strait is resplendent.

Tandem occupata rupe furibundum intonat:
'superasse ~nunc pelagus atque ignes iuuat, 545

At last, having seized a crag, he thunders, frenzied:
'now it pleases to have overcome the sea and the fires' 545

uicisse caelum Palladem fulmen mare.
non me fugauit bellici terror dei,
[et Hectorem una solus et Martem tuli]
Phoebea nec me tela pepulerunt gradu:
cum Phrygibus istos uicimus—tene horream 550
aliena inerti tela iaculantem manu?
quid si ipse mittat?' plura cum auderet furens,
tridente rupem subruit pulsam pater
Neptunus imis exerens undis caput
soluitque montem; quem cadens secum tulit 555
terraque et igne uictus et pelago iacet.

to have vanquished heaven, Pallas, the thunderbolt, the sea.
the terror of the warlike god did not rout me,
[and I alone together bore Hector and Mars]
nor did Phoebean darts drive me from my stride:
with the Phrygians we conquered those—am I to dread you 550
hurling another’s weapons with an inert hand?
what if he himself should send them?' as, raging, he was daring more,
the Father with his trident undermined the smitten rock,
Neptune, lifting his head from the deepest waves,
both loosed the mountain; which, falling, carried him with it 555
and, conquered by earth and by fire and by sea, he lies.

Nos alia maior naufragos pestis uocat.
est humilis unda, scrupeis mendax uadis,
ubi saxa rapidis clausa uerticibus tegit
fallax Caphereus; aestuat scopulis fretum 560

Another, greater pest calls us, shipwrecked.
there is a low wave, mendacious with craggy shoals,
where the rocks, enclosed by rapid whirlpools, are covered by
deceitful Caphereus; the strait seethes with the crags 560

feruetque semper fluctus alterna uice.
arx imminet praerupta quae spectat mare
utrimque geminum: Pelopis hinc oras tui
et Isthmon, arto qui recuruatus solo
Ionia iungi maria Phrixeis uetat,                      565
hinc scelere Lemnon nobilem, hinc Anthedona
tardamque ratibus Aulida: hanc arcem occupat
Palamedis ille genitor et clarum manu
lumen nefanda uertice e summo efferens
in saxa ducit perfida classem face.                      570
haerent acutis rupibus fixae rates;
has inopis undae breuia comminuunt uada,
pars uehitur huius prima, pars scopulo sedet;
hanc alia retro spatia relegentem ferit
et fracta frangit. iam timent terram rates                      575

and the billow seethes always in alternating turn.
a precipitous citadel overhangs which looks upon the twin sea on either side:
on this side the shores of your Pelops and the Isthmus, which, bent back with narrow ground,
forbids the Ionian seas to be joined to the Phrixean;                      565
from here Lemnos, renowned for crime, from here Anthedon,
and Aulis slow for ships: this citadel that father of Palamedes occupies,
and, lifting with his hand a bright light from the top of the nefarious peak,
with a treacherous torch he leads the fleet onto the rocks.
the ships stick, fixed on sharp crags;                      570
these the shallow shoals of scant water shatter,
one part, the front, is borne along by it, part sits on a crag;
another, as it is withdrawing its spaces backward, strikes this one
and, broken, breaks it. now the ships fear the land                      575

et maria malunt. cecidit in lucem furor:
postquam litatum est Ilio, Phoebus redit
et damna noctis tristis ostendit dies.
[Cl.] Vtrumne doleam laeter an reducem uirum?

and they prefer the seas.
fury has fallen into the light:
after sacrifice was offered at Ilium, Phoebus returns
and the day shows the damages of the grim night.
[Cl.] Should I grieve or rejoice at a husband returned?

remeasse laetor, uulnus et regni graue                      580
lugere cogor. redde iam Grais, pater
altisona quatiens regna, placatos deos.
nunc omne laeta fronde ueletur caput,
sacrifica dulces tibia effundat modos
et niuea magnas uictima ante aras cadat.                      585
      Sed ecce, turba tristis incomptae comas
Iliades adsunt, quas super celso gradu
effrena Phoebas entheas laurus quatit.

I rejoice that he has returned, and I am compelled to mourn the grave wound of the kingdom.                      580
now restore to the Greeks, Father, shaking the high-sounding realms, the placated gods.
now let every head be veiled with glad foliage,
let the sacrificial pipe pour out sweet modes,
and let a snow-white victim fall before the great altars.                      585
      But look, a sad throng with unkempt hair,
the Trojan women are present, above whom, on a lofty step,
the unbridled laurel shakes the inspired Phoebas.

      [Chorvs] Heu quam dulce malum mortalibus additum
uitae dirus amor, cum pateat malis                      590
effugium et miseros libera mors uocet,
portus aeterna placidus quiete.
nullus hunc terror nec impotentis
procella Fortunae mouet aut iniqui
      flamma Tonantis.                      595

      [Chorvs] Alas, what a sweet evil added to mortals,
the dire love of life, when for the afflicted                      590
an escape lies open, and liberating Death calls the miserable,
a port placid with eternal quiet.
no terror moves him, nor the unbridled
squall of Fortune, or the flame of the unjust
      Thunderer.                      595

pax alta nullos ciuium coetus
timet aut minaces uictoris iras,
non maria asperis insana Coris,
non acies feras puluereamue nubem
motam barbaricis equitum cateruis,                      600
non urbe cum tota populos cadentis
hostica muros populante flamma
      indomitumque bellum.
Solus seruitium perrumpet omne
contemptor leuium deorum,                      605
qui uultus Acherontis atri,
qui Styga tristem non tristis uidet
audetque uitae ponere finem:
par ille regi, par superis erit.
o quam miserum est nescire mori!                      610
      Vidimus patriam ruentem
nocte funesta, cum Dardana tecta
Dorici raperetis ignes.

deep peace fears no gatherings of citizens
nor the menacing wraths of the victor,
nor seas mad with rough northwesterlies,
nor savage battle-lines or the dusty cloud
stirred by barbarian squadrons of horsemen,                      600
nor, when with the whole city collapsing the hostile flame
is ravaging the walls, indomitable war
      He alone will burst through every servitude,
a despiser of the light gods,                      605
who beholds the visage of black Acheron,
who sees sad Styx not sad,
and dares to set an end to life:
he will be equal to a king, he will be equal to the gods above.
O how wretched it is not to know how to die!                      610
      We saw our fatherland collapsing
on the fatal night, when you Doric fires
were sweeping away the Dardan roofs.

non illa bello uicta, non armis,
ut quondam Herculea cecidit pharetra;
quam non Pelei Thetidisque natus 615

not that one conquered by war, not by arms,
as once it fell by the Herculean quiver;
which not the son of Peleus and of Thetis 615

carusque Pelidae nimium feroci
uicit, acceptis cum fulsit armis
fuditque Troas falsus Achilles,
aut cum ipse Pelides animos feroces
sustulit luctu celeremque saltu                      620
Troades summis timuere muris,
perdidit in malis extremum decus
fortiter uinci: restitit annis
Troia bis quinis unius noctis
      peritura furto.
      Vidimus simulata dona                      625
molis immensae Danaumque
fatale munus duximus nostra
creduli dextra tremuitque saepe
limine in primo sonipes cauernis
conditos reges bellumque gestans.                      630

and the dear one of the too-fierce Pelides prevailed,
when, the arms having been received, he shone, and, a false Achilles,
he routed the Trojans; or when the Pelides himself
raised his fierce spirit from grief, and with a swift leap                      620
the Trojan women feared upon the topmost walls,
it lost, amid evils, its final honor—
to be bravely conquered: Troy held out for twice five years,
destined to perish by the stealth of a single night.
      We saw the feigned gifts
of immense mass, and we, credulous, drew the Danaans’ fatal gift with our own right hand;                      625
and often on the very threshold the hoofed steed trembled,
bearing in its caverns kings concealed and carrying war.                      630

et licuit dolos uersare ut ipsi
fraude sua caderent Pelasgi:
saepe commotae sonuere parmae
tacitumque murmur percussit aures,
ut fremuit male subdolo                      635
      parens Pyrrhus Vlixi.
      Secura metus Troica pubes
sacros gaudet tangere funes.
hinc aequaeui gregis Astyanax,
hinc Haemonio desponsa rogo                      640
ducunt turmas, haec femineas,
      ille uiriles.

and it was permitted to ply deceits so that the Pelasgians themselves might fall by their own fraud:
often the shields, when stirred, resounded, and a silent murmur struck the ears,
as the sire Pyrrhus roared against the sly Ulysses.                      635
      The Trojan youth, secure from fear,
      rejoices to touch the sacred ropes.
from here Astyanax of the same-aged band,
from here she betrothed to the Haemonian pyre                      640
lead their squadrons, she the feminine,
      he the masculine.

festae matres uotiua ferunt
      munera diuis,
festi patres adeunt aras;                      645
unus tota est uultus in urbe;
et, quod numquam post Hectoreos
uidimus ignes, laeta est Hecabe.
      Quid nunc primum, dolor infelix,
quidue extremum deflere paras?                      650

festal mothers bring votive
      gifts to the gods,
festal fathers approach the altars;                      645
there is one countenance in the whole city;
and, a thing we have never seen since the Hectorean
fires, Hecabe is glad.
      What now first, ill-fated grief,
or what last do you prepare to bewail?                      650

moenia diuum fabricata manu,
      diruta nostra?
an templa deos super usta suos?
non uacat istis lacrimare malis:
te, magne parens, flent Iliades.                      655
uidi, uidi senis in iugulo
telum Pyrrhi uix exiguo
      sanguine tingui.

the walls of the gods fabricated by hand,
      our own laid low?
or temples burned over their own gods?
there is no leisure to weep for such evils:
you, great father, the daughters of Ilium weep.                      655
I saw, I saw upon the old man’s throat
the weapon of Pyrrhus scarcely with scant
      blood tinged.

      [Cassandra] Cohibete lacrimas omne quas tempus petet,
Troades, et ipsae uestra lamentabili                      660
lugete gemitu funera: aerumnae meae
socium recusant. cladibus questus meis
remouete: nostris ipsa sufficiam malis.
[Cho.] Lacrimas lacrimis miscere iuuat:
magis exurunt quos secretae                      665
      lacerant curae,
iuuat in medium deflere suos.

      [Cassandra] Hold back the tears which time will claim, Trojan women, and you yourselves bewail your funerals with lamentable                      660
groaning: my hardships refuse a companion. Keep lamentations away from my calamities: I myself shall suffice for my own ills.
[Cho.] It is a comfort to mix tears with tears: more they burn those whom secret cares                      665
      lacerate; it is a comfort to weep one’s own in the open.

Nec tu, quamuis dura uirago
patiensque mali,
poteris tantas flere ruinas.
non quae uerno mobile carmen 670

Nor you, although a hard virago
and patient of ill,
will be able to weep such great ruins.
not even she whose vernal song is mobile 670

ramo cantat tristis aedon
Ityn in uarios modulata sonos,
non quae tectis Bistonis ales
residens summis impia diri
furta mariti garrula narrat,                      675
lugere tuam poterit digne
      conquesta domum,
licet ipse uelit clarus niueos
inter olores Histrum cycnus
Tanainque colens extrema loqui,                      680
licet alcyones Ceyca suum
fluctu leuiter plangente sonent,
cum tranquillo male confisae
credunt iterum pelago audaces
fetusque suos nido pauidae                      685
      titubante fouent,
non si molles imitata uiros
tristis laceret bracchia tecum
quae turritae turba parenti
pectora rauco concita buxo
ferit ut Phrygium lugeat Attin.                      690

on the branch sings the sad nightingale,
modulating Itys into various sounds;
nor that bird which, sitting on the highest roofs of Biston,
garrulous, impious, narrates the thefts of her dire
husband, will be able to mourn your house worthily,                      675
lamenting it as she complains;
though the swan himself, illustrious, should wish to speak among snowy
olors, dwelling by the Ister and the far Tanais;
though the halcyons should sound their own Ceyx with the wave lightly beating,                      680
when, ill-confident in a tranquil sea,
they, audacious, trust the deep once more
and, fearful, cherish their offspring in a tottering nest;                      685
not even if, mimicking effeminate men,
a sad crowd would with you lacerate its arms—
that crowd which, for the turret-crowned parent,
strikes its breasts, stirred by the hoarse boxwood,
so that she may lament Phrygian Attis.                      690

non est lacrimis, Cassandra, modus,
quia quae patimur uicere modum.
Sed cur sacratas deripis capiti infulas?
miseris colendos maxime superos putem.

there is no measure for tears, Cassandra,
because the things we suffer have overcome the measure.
But why do you tear the sacred fillets from your head?
I would think that for the wretched the gods above are most to be worshiped.

[Ca.] Vicere nostra iam metus omnis mala. 695
equidem nec ulla caelites placo prece
nec, si uelint saeuire, quo noceant habent.
Fortuna uires ipsa consumpsit suas.
quae patria restat, quis pater, quae iam soror?

[Ca.] Our ills have now conquered all fear. 695
indeed I appease the celestials by no prayer,
nor, if they should wish to rage, do they have anything with which to harm.
Fortune herself has exhausted her powers.
what fatherland remains, what father, what sister now?

bibere tumuli sanguinem atque arae meum. 700
quid illa felix turba fraterni gregis?
exhausta nempe: regia miseri senes
uacua relicti, totque per thalamos uident
praeter Lacaenam ceteras uiduas nurus.
tot illa regum mater et regimen Phrygum, 705

tumuli and altars drink my blood. 700
what of that happy throng of the fraternal flock?
drained indeed: the wretched old men have been left behind, the palace empty,
and through so many bridal chambers they behold
the daughters-in-law widowed, all except the Laconian.
that mother of so many kings and the regimen of the Phrygians, 705

fecunda in ignes Hecuba fatorum nouas
experta leges induit uultos feros:
circa ruinas rabida latrauit suas,
Troiae superstes, Hectori, Priamo, sibi.
[Cho.] Silet repente Phoebas et pallor genas                      710
creberque totum possidet corpus tremor;
stetere uittae, mollis horrescit coma,
anhela corda murmure incluso fremunt,
incerta nutant lumina et uersi retro
torquentur oculi, rursus immoti rigent.                      715
nunc leuat in auras altior solito caput
graditurque celsa, nunc reluctantis parat
reserare fauces, uerba nunc clauso male
custodit ore maenas impatiens dei.
[Ca.] Quid me furoris incitam stimulis noui,                      720

fecund for fires Hecuba, having experienced the new laws of the Fates,
put on feral visages:
rabid she bayed around her own ruins,
a survivor of Troy, of Hector, of Priam, of herself.
[Cho.] Suddenly the Phoebad is silent, and pallor her cheeks                      710
thickly seizes, and a frequent tremor possesses the whole body;
the fillets stood, the soft hair bristles,
the panting hearts roar with a murmur shut within,
the uncertain lights nod and, turned backward,
the eyes are twisted; again, unmoving, they are rigid.                      715
now she lifts her head into the airs, higher than usual,
and strides lofty; now she prepares to unbar the reluctant jaws;
now, with mouth shut, the Maenad, impatient of the god,
keeps poorly her words under guard.
[Ca.] Why do you, me already incited, goad with the spurs of a new frenzy?                      720

quid mentis inopem, sacra Parnasi iuga,
rapitis? recede, Phoebe, iam non sum tua,
extingue flammas pectori infixas meo.
cui nunc uagor uesana?

why do you, sacred ridges of Parnassus, seize me, bereft of mind?
recede, Phoebus, I am no longer yours,
extinguish the flames infixed in my breast.
whither now do I wander, raving?

cui bacchor furens?
iam Troia cecidit—falsa quid uates agor? 725
Vbi sum? fugit lux alma et obscurat genas
nox alta et aether abditus tenebris latet.

for whom do I rave, frenzied, in Bacchic madness?
now Troy has fallen—why am I, a prophetess, driven to falsehood? 725
Where am I? The kindly light flees and deep night darkens my cheeks, and the ether, withdrawn, lies hidden in darkness.

sed ecce gemino sole praefulget dies
geminumque duplices Argos attollit domus.
Idaea cerno nemora: fatalis sedet 730
inter potentes arbiter pastor deas.
timete, reges, moneo, furtiuum genus:
agrestis iste alumnus euertet domum.

but behold, the day shines forth with a twin sun
and the house lifts up twin Argos, doubled.
I discern the Idaean groves: the fateful shepherd sits 730
as judge between the powerful goddesses.
fear, kings, I warn, a furtive stock:
that rustic nursling will overturn the house.

Quid ista uecors tela feminea manu
destricta praefert? quem petit dextra uirum 735
Lacaena cultu, ferrum Amazonium gerens?
quae uersat oculos alia nunc facies meos?

What does that demented one, with weapons drawn in a feminine hand,
hold forth? Which man does her right hand seek—Laconian in attire, bearing Amazonian iron? 735
What other visage now turns my eyes?

uictor ferarum colla sublimis iacet
ignobili sub dente Marmaricus leo,
morsus cruentos passus audacis leae.                      740
      Quid me uocatis sospitem solam e meis,
umbrae meorum? te sequor, tota pater
Troia sepulte; frater, auxilium Phrygum
terrorque Danaum, non ego antiquum decus
uideo aut calentes ratibus exustis manus,                      745

the victor of beasts lies with towering neck
the Marmaric lion beneath an ignoble tooth,
having suffered bloody bites of an audacious lioness.                      740
      Why do you call me, safe, the only one from my own,
shades of my people? I follow you, father,
buried with all Troy; brother, the aid of the Phrygians
and the terror of the Danaans, I do not see the ancient glory
or the hands glowing from the ships burned.                      745

sed lacera membra et saucios uinclo graui
illos lacertos. te sequor, nimium cito
congresse Achilli Troile; incertos geris,
Deiphobe, uultus, coniugis munus nouae.
iuuat per ipsos ingredi Stygios lacus, 750
iuuat uidere Tartari saeuum canem
auidique regna Ditis!

but mangled limbs and those upper arms wounded by a heavy shackle
I follow you, too swiftly
having met Achilles, Troilus; you bear unrecognizable features,
Deiphobus, the gift of your new wife.
it pleases me to enter through the Stygian lakes themselves, 750
it pleases me to see the savage dog of Tartarus
and the realms of greedy Dis!

haec hodie ratis
Phlegethontis atri regias animas uehet,
uictamque uictricemque. uos, umbrae, precor,
iurata superis unda, te pariter precor: 755
reserate paulum terga nigrantis poli,
leuis ut Mycenas turba prospiciat Phrygum.
spectate, miseri: fata se uertunt retro.

this raft today
will carry along the royal souls of black Phlegethon,
both the vanquished and the victor. you, shades, I pray,
o wave sworn by the gods above, you likewise I pray: 755
unbar a little the backs of the blackening sky,
so that the light throng of Phrygians may look out upon Mycenae.
behold, wretches: the fates turn themselves backward.

Instant sorores squalidae,
anguinea iactant uerbera, 760

The squalid sisters press on,
they brandish serpentine scourges, 760

fert laeua semustas faces
turgentque pallentes genae
et uestis atri funeris
exesa cingit ilia
                        * * * * *                             764a
strepuntque nocturni metus
et ossa uasti corporis
corrupta longinquo situ
palude limosa iacent.
      Et ecce, defessus senex
ad ora ludentes aquas                      770
non captat oblitus sitim,
maestus futuro funere.
exultat et ponit gradus
pater decoros Dardanus.

the left hand bears half-burned torches
and the pallid cheeks swell,
and the raiment of a black funeral
gnawed-away girds the flanks
                        * * * * *                             764a
and nocturnal terrors make a din,
and the bones of the vast body,
corrupted by long-standing mould,
lie in a slimy marsh.
      And look, a wearied old man
by the brink, the waters playing,                      770
does not catch his thirst, forgetful of it,
sorrowful at the future funeral.
he exults and sets his steps,
the Dardanian father, decorous.

[Cho.] Iam peruagatus ipse se fregit furor, 775
caditque flexo qualis ante aras genu
ceruice taurus uulnus incertum gerens.
releuemus artus.—En deos tandem suos
uictrice lauru cinctus Agamemnon adit,
et festa coniunx obuios illi tulit 780

[Cho.] Now, having ranged abroad, the fury itself has broken itself, 775
and falls, with knee bent, like a bull before the altars,
bearing an uncertain wound in its neck. Let us relieve his limbs.—Lo, at last his own gods
he approaches, Agamemnon, wreathed with victorious laurel,
and his festal consort has come to meet him. 780

gressus reditque iuncta concordi gradu.
      [Agamemnon] Tandem reuertor sospes ad patrios lares;
o cara salue terra! tibi tot barbarae
dedere gentes spolia, tibi felix diu
potentis Asiae domina summisit manus.                      785
      Quid ista uates corpus effusa ac tremens
dubia labat ceruice?

their steps go and return, joined in concordant stride.
      [Agamemnon] At last I return safe to my ancestral household gods;
O dear land, hail! to you so many barbarian
peoples have given spoils; to you the long-fortunate,
powerful mistress of Asia has submitted her hands.                      785
      Why does that prophetess, her body loosened and trembling,
totter with wavering neck?

famuli, attollite,
refouete gelido latice. iam recipit diem
marcente uisu. Suscita sensus tuos:
optatus ille portus aerumnis adest. 790
festus dies est.

servants, lift her up,
revive with gelid water. now she regains the day
with a languishing gaze. Rouse your senses:
that longed-for port for your hardships is at hand. 790
it is a festal day.

[Ca.] Festus et Troiae fuit.
[Ag.] Veneremur aras. [Ca.] Cecidit ante aras pater.

[Ca.] There was a festal day for Troy too.
[Ag.] Let us venerate the altars. [Ca.] Father fell before the altars.

[Ag.] Iouem precemur pariter. [Ca.] Herceum Iouem?
[Ag.] Credis uidere te Ilium?

[Ag.] Let us together pray to Jove. [Ca.] Herkean Jove?
[Ag.] Do you think you see Ilium?

[Ca.] Et Priamum simul.
[Ag.] Hic Troia non est. [Ca.] Vbi Helena est, Troiam puta. 795
[Ag.] Ne metue dominam famula.

[Ca.] And Priam as well.
[Ag.] This is not Troy. [Ca.] Where Helen is, think it Troy. 795
[Ag.] Do not fear the mistress, handmaid.

[Ca.] Libertas adest.
[Ag.] Secura uiue. [Ca.] Mihi mori est securitas.

[Ca.] Liberty is present.
[Ag.] Live secure. [Ca.] For me, to die is security.

[Ag.] Nullum est periclum tibimet. [Ca.] At magnum tibi.
[Ag.] Victor timere quid potest?

[Ag.] There is no peril to yourself. [Ca.] But a great one to you.
[Ag.] What can a victor fear?

[Ca.] Quod non timet.
[Ag.] Hanc fida famuli turba, dum excutiat deum, 800

[Ca.] That which he does not fear.
[Ag.] Let the faithful throng of servants take this woman, until she shakes off the god, 800

retinete ne quid impotens peccet furor.
      At te, pater, qui saeua torques fulmina
pellisque nubes, sidera et terras regis,
ad quem triumphi spolia uictores ferunt,
et te sororem cuncta pollentis uiri,                      805
Argolica Iuno, pecore uotiuo libens
Arabumque donis supplice et fibra colam.
      [Chorvs] Argos nobilibus nobile ciuibus,
Argos iratae carum nouercae,
semper ingentes educas alumnos,                      810
imparem aequasti numerum deorum:
tuus ille bis seno meruit labore
adlegi caelo magnus Alcides,
cui lege mundi Iuppiter rupta
roscidae noctis geminauit horas                      815

hold back, lest impotent frenzy commit any sin.
      But you, Father, who hurl savage thunderbolts
and drive off clouds, who rule the stars and the lands,
to whom victors bring the spoils of triumphs,
and you, the sister of the man puissant over all things,                      805
Argive Juno, I will gladly worship with votive cattle
and with the gifts of the Arabians, and with the suppliant fiber (entrails).
      [Chorvs] Argos, noble with noble citizens,
Argos, dear to an angry stepmother,
you always rear mighty foster-sons,                      810
you have made equal the odd number of the gods:
that great Alcides, yours, by twice six labors
deserved to be chosen to heaven,
for whom, the law of the world broken,
Jupiter doubled the hours of the dewy night.                      815

iussitque Phoebum
tardius celeres agitare currus
et tuas lente remeare bigas,
candida Phoebe.
* * * rettulitque pedem
nomen alternis stella quae mutat 820
seque mirata est Hesperum dici.
Aurora mouit
ad solitas uices caput et relabens
imposuit seni collum marito.

and he ordered Phoebus
to drive his swift chariots more slowly
and you to return your bigae slowly,
bright Phoebe.
* * * and the star which alternately changes its name drew back its step 820
and marveled to be called Hesperus. Aurora moved
her head to her accustomed turns, and slipping back
she laid her neck upon her aged husband.

Sensit ortus, sensit occasus
Herculem nasci: uiolentus ille                      825
nocte non una poterat creari.
tibi concitatus substitit mundus,
o puer subiture caelum.
      Te sensit Nemeaeus arto
pressus lacerto fulmineus leo                      830

The Orient felt it, the Occident felt it
Hercules being born: that violent one                      825
could not be created in a single night.
for you the world, roused, stood still,
O boy about to ascend heaven.
      The Nemean felt you, pressed by a tight
upper arm, the lightning-like lion                      830

ceruaque Parrhasis,
sensit Arcadii populator agri
gemuitque taurus Dictaea linquens
      horridus arua.
Morte fecundum domuit draconem                      835
uetuitque collo pereunte nasci,
geminosque fratres
pectore ex uno tria monstra natos
stipite incusso fregit insultans
duxitque ad ortus Hesperium pecus,                      840
Geryonae spolium triformis.
Egit Threicium gregem,
quem non Strymonii gramine fluminis
Hebriue ripis pauit tyrannus:
hospitum dirus stabulis cruorem                      845

and the Parrhasian hind,
felt the ravager of the Arcadian field,
and the bull, rough, groaning, leaving the Dictaean
      fields.
He subdued the dragon fecund in death,                      835
and forbade it to be born as the neck was perishing,
and the twin brothers,
three monsters born from one breast,
he shattered, insulting, with his club smitten,
and he drove to the East the Hesperian herd,                      840
the spoil of three-formed Geryon.
He drove the Thracian herd,
which the tyrant did not pasture on the grass of the Strymonian river
nor on the banks of the Hebrus:
the dire blood of guests in his stables                      845

praebuit saeuis tinxitque crudos
ultimus rictus sanguis aurigae.
Vidit Hippolyte ferox
pectore e medio rapi
spolium, et sagittis nube percussa 850
Stymphalis alto decidit caelo
arborque pomis fertilis aureis
extimuit manus insueta carpi
fugitque in auras leuiore ramo.
audiuit sonitum crepitante lamna 855
frigidus custos nescius somni,
linqueret cum iam nemus omne fuluo
plenus Alcides uacuum metallo.

it offered to the savage ones and stained the raw
jaws with the charioteer’s blood at his final gaping.
Ferocious Hippolyte saw
the spoil snatched from the very midst of her breast,
and Stymphalis, smitten by a cloud of arrows, 850
fell from the high heaven;
and the tree, fertile with golden apples,
dreaded hands unaccustomed to pluck
and fled into the breezes with a lighter bough.
he heard the sound from the rattling metal-plate, 855
the cold guardian unknowing of sleep,
when now Alcides, full of tawny metal,
was leaving the whole grove empty of metal.

Tractus ad caelum canis inferorum
triplici catena tacuit nec ullo                      860
      latrauit ore,
lucis ignotae metuens colorem.
Te duce succidit
mendax Dardanidae domus
et sensit arcus iterum timendos;
te duce concidit totidem diebus                      865
      Troia quot annis.
[Ca.] Res agitur intus magna, par annis decem.

Dragged to the sky the infernal hound,
with a triple chain he was silent and with no                      860
      barked mouth,
fearing the color of unknown light.
With you as leader
the mendacious house of the Dardanian was cut down
and felt bows to be feared again;
with you as leader it fell in just as many days                      865
      as Troy in years.
[Ca.] A great matter is being acted within, equal to ten years.

eheu quid hoc est? anime, consurge et cape
pretium furoris: uicimus uicti Phryges.
bene est, resurgis Troia; traxisti iacens 870

alas, what is this? soul, arise and seize
the price of frenzy: we, the conquered Phrygians, have conquered.
it is well; you rise again, troy; prostrate, you have dragged down 870

pares Mycenas, terga dat uictor tuus!
Tam clara numquam prouidae mentis furor
ostendit oculis: uideo et intersum et fruor;
imago uisus dubia non fallit meos:
spectemus! epulae regia instructae domo, 875
quales fuerunt ultimae Phrygibus dapes,
celebrantur: ostro lectus Iliaco nitet
merumque in auro ueteris Assaraci trahunt.

you equal Mycenae; your victor turns his back!
So clear a frenzy of a provident mind never
showed to the eyes: I see and I am present and I enjoy;
a doubtful image of sight does not deceive my eyes:
let us look! a banquet is arrayed in the royal house, 875
such as were the last feasts for the Phrygians,
are celebrated: with Iliac purple the couch gleams,
and they draw unmixed wine in the gold of old Assaracus.

et ipse picta ueste sublimis iacet,
Priami superbas corpore exuuias gerens.                      880
      Detrahere cultus uxor hostiles iubet,
induere potius coniugis fidae manu
textos amictus—horreo atque animo tremo:
regemne perimet exul et adulter uirum?
uenere fata. sanguinem extremae dapes                      885
domini uidebunt et cruor Baccho incidet.

and he himself reclines aloft in embroidered robe,
bearing on his body the superb spoils of Priam.                      880
      The wife orders the hostile adornments to be stripped,
rather to don garments woven by the hand of a faithful spouse—
I shudder and tremble in spirit:
will an exile and adulterer slay the king, the husband?
the fates have come. the master’s last banquet will behold blood                      885
and gore will fall upon Bacchus.

Mortifera uinctum perfidae tradit neci
induta uestis: exitum manibus negant
caputque laxi et inuii cludunt sinus.
haurit trementi semiuir dextra latus, 890

The death-bearing garment, having been donned, hands the bound man over to perfidious death;
they deny an exit to his hands,
and the loose and impassable folds shut in his head.
with a trembling right hand the half-man drains the flank, 890

nec penitus egit: uulnere in medio stupet.
At ille, ut altis hispidus siluis aper
cum casse uinctus temptat egressus tamen
artatque motu uincla et in cassum furit,
cupit fluentes undique et caecos sinus                      895
dissicere et hostem quaerit implicitus suum.
      Armat bipenni Tyndaris dextram furens,
qualisque ad aras colla taurorum prius
designat oculis * * * *
* * * antequam ferro petat,
sic huc et illuc impiam librat manum.                      900
habet, peractum est.

nor did he drive it through completely: he is stupefied in the midst of the wound.
But he, as a bristly boar in deep woods,
when bound by a snare yet tries to get out,
and by his movement tightens the bonds and rages in vain,
he longs to split the flowing and blind folds on every side                      895
and, entangled, seeks his enemy.
      The Tyndarid, raging, arms her right hand with a bipennis (double‑edged axe),
and just as at the altars she first with her eyes
marks out the necks of bulls * * * *
* * * before she assails with steel,
so she poises her impious hand this way and that.                      900
she has him; it is accomplished.

pendet exigua male
caput amputatum parte et hinc trunco cruor
exundat, illinc ora cum fremitu iacent.
Nondum recedunt: ille iam exanimem petit
laceratque corpus, illa fodientem adiuuat. 905

it hangs badly by a scant
part, the head amputated, and on this side from the trunk blood
overflows; on that side the lips lie with a groan.
They do not yet withdraw: he already attacks the lifeless one
and lacerates the body, she aids him as he is stabbing. 905

uterque tanto scelere respondet suis:
est hic Thyestae natus, haec Helenae soror.
Stat ecce Titan dubius emerito die,
suane currat an Thyestea uia.
[Electra] Fuge, o paternae mortis auxilium unicum, 910
fuge et scelestas hostium euita manus.

each responds to his own with so great a crime:
this man is the son of Thyestes, this woman the sister of Helen.
Behold, the Titan stands doubtful with his day discharged,
whether he should run his own course or the Thyestean way.
[Electra] Flee, O the sole aid of your father’s death, 910
flee and avoid the criminal hands of the enemies.

euersa domus est funditus, regna occidunt.
Quis iste celeres concitus currus agit?
germane, uultus ueste furabor tuos.

the house is overturned to its foundations, the realms perish.
Who is that who, in haste, drives the swift chariot?
brother, I will steal your visage by your vesture.

quid, anime demens, refugis? externos times? 915
domus timenda est. pone iam trepidos metus,
Oresta: amici fida praesidia intuor.

why, demented soul, do you shrink back? do you fear external foes? 915
the house is to be feared. set aside now your trembling fears,
Orestes: I behold the faithful safeguards of friends.

[Strophivs] Phocide relicta Strophius Elea inclutus
palma reuertor. causa ueniendi fuit
gratari amico, cuius impulsum manu 920

[Strophivs] With Phocis left behind, I, Strophius, renowned with the Eleian palm, return.
the cause of coming was
to congratulate a friend, at whose hand-impelled 920

cecidit decenni Marte concussum Ilium.
Quaenam ista lacrimis lugubrem uultum rigat
pauetque maesta? regium agnosco genus.

Ilium, shaken by a ten-year War, has fallen.
What woman is this who with tears bedews her lugubrious countenance,
and, sorrowful, is afraid? I recognize the royal lineage.

Electra, fletus causa quae laeta in domo est?
[El.] Pater peremptus scelere materno iacet, 925
comes paternae quaeritur natus neci,
Aegisthus arces Venere quaesitas tenet.
[St.] O nulla longi temporis felicitas!

Electra, what cause of weeping is there in this glad house?
[El.] Father, slain by a mother’s crime, lies, 925
the son is sought as a companion for his father’s murder,
Aegisthus holds the citadels won by Venus.
[St.] O no felicity is of long duration!

[El.] Per te parentis memoriam obtestor mei,
per sceptra terris nota, per dubios deos: 930
recipe hunc Oresten ac pium furtum occule.
[St.] Etsi timendum caesus Agamemnon docet,
aggrediar et te, Oresta, furabor libens.
[fidem secunda poscunt, aduersa exigunt]
cape hoc decorum ludicri certaminis, 935

[El.] By you I implore, by the memory of my parent,
by the scepters known to the lands, by the dubious gods: 930
receive this Orestes and conceal the pious theft.
[St.] Although slain Agamemnon teaches that there is cause to fear,
I will approach and, Orestes, I will steal you gladly.
[prosperities ask for faith, adversities exact it]
take this decoration of the sportive contest, 935

insigne frontis; laeua uictricem tenens
frondem uirenti protegat ramo caput,
et ista donum palma Pisaei Iouis
uelamen eadem praestet atque omen tibi.
Tuque, o paternis assidens frenis comes, 940
condisce, Pylade, patris exemplo fidem.
Vos Graecia nunc teste ueloces equi
infida cursu fugite praecipiti loca.

an insignia for the brow; let your left hand, holding the victorious frond,
protect your head with a green branch,
and let that palm, the gift of Pisaean Jove,
provide for you both a covering and an omen.
And you too, O companion sitting by your father’s reins, 940
learn well, Pylades, fidelity by your father’s example.
You, swift horses, with Greece now as witness,
flee the treacherous places at headlong speed.

[El.] Excessit, abiit, currus effreno impetu
effugit aciem. tuta iam opperiar meos 945
hostes et ultro uulneri opponam caput.
Adest cruenta coniugis uictrix sui,
et signa caedis ueste maculata gerit.

[El.] He has withdrawn, he has departed; the chariot with unbridled impetus
has fled the battle line. Now, safe, I will await my enemies 945
and of my own accord I will set my head against the wound.
She is here, bloody, the victress over her own spouse,
and she bears the signs of slaughter, her garment maculated.

manus recenti sanguine etiamnunc madent
uultusque prae se scelera truculenti ferunt. 950

their hands even now drip with recent blood
and their truculent visages bear their crimes before them. 950

concedam ad aras.—Patere me uittis tuis,
Cassandra, iungi paria metuentem tibi.
[Clytemestra] Hostis parentis, impium atque audax caput,
quo more coetus publicos uirgo petis?
[El.] Adulterorum uirgo deserui domum. 955
[Cl.] Quis esse credat uirginem—[El.] Gnatam tuam?

I will withdraw to the altars.—Allow me to be joined to your fillets, Cassandra, fearing the same as you.
[Clytemestra] Enemy of your parent, impious and audacious head, by what custom do you, maiden, seek the public assemblies?
[El.] I, a maiden, have deserted the house of adulterers. 955
[Cl.] Who would believe her to be a maiden—[El.] Your daughter?

[Cl.] Modestius cum matre. [El.] Pietatem doces?
[Cl.] Animos uiriles corde tumefacto geris;
sed agere domita feminam disces malo.

[Cl.] More modestly with your mother. [El.] Do you teach piety?
[Cl.] You carry virile spirits with a swollen heart;
but, tamed by punishment, you will learn to act the woman.

[El.] Nisi forte fallor, feminas ferrum decet. 960
[Cl.] Et esse demens te parem nobis putas?
[El.] Vobis?

[El.] Unless perhaps I am mistaken, iron befits women. 960
[Cl.] And, demented, do you think yourself our equal?
[El.] To you?

quis iste est alter Agamemnon tuus?
ut uidua loquere: uir caret uita tuus.
[Cl.] Indomita posthac uirginis uerba impiae
regina frangam; citius interea mihi 965

who is this other Agamemnon of yours?
you speak like a widow: your husband is bereft of life.
[Cl.] Hereafter I, the queen, will break the untamed words of the impious maiden;
I will break them; meanwhile, more quickly for me 965

edissere ubi sit gnatus, ubi frater tuus.
[El.] Extra Mycenas. [Cl.] Redde nunc gnatum mihi.

declare where the son is, where your brother is.
[El.] Outside Mycenae. [Cl.] Give back my son to me now.

[El.] Et tu parentem redde. [Cl.] Quo latitat loco?
[El.] Tuto quietus, regna non metuens noua:
iustae parenti satis.

[El.] And you, restore the parent. [Cl.] In what place does he lie hidden?
[El.] Safe, quiet, not fearing new reigns:
enough for a just parent.

[Cl.] At iratae parum. 970
morieris hodie. [El.] Dummodo hac moriar manu.
recedo ab aris.

[Cl.] But too little for the enraged one. 970
You will die today. [El.] Provided that I die by this hand.
I withdraw from the altars.

siue te iugulo iuuat
mersisse ferrum, praebeo iugulum tibi;
seu more pecudum colla resecari placet,
intenta ceruix uulnus expectat tuum.                      975
scelus paratum est: caede respersam uiri
atque obsoletam sanguine hoc dextram ablue.
[Cl.] Consors pericli pariter ac regni mei,
Aegisthe, gradere. gnata genetricem impie
probris lacessit, occulit fratrem abditum.                      980
      [Aegisthvs] Furibunda uirgo, uocis infandae sonum
et aure uerba indigna materna opprime.

whether it delights you to have plunged the iron into my throat,
I offer my throat to you;
or if it pleases, in the manner of cattle, that necks be cut,
my stretched neck awaits your wound.                      975
the crime is prepared: wash this right hand, spattered with a man’s
slaughter and made foul with blood. [Cl.] Partner alike of my peril and of my realm,
Aegisthus, come forward. The daughter impiously provokes the mother
with reproaches, she hides away her hidden brother.                      980
      [Aegisthvs] Raging maiden, suppress the sound of an unspeakable voice
and words unworthy for a mother’s ear.

[El.] Etiam monebit sceleris infandi artifex,
per scelera natus, nomen ambiguum suis,
idem sororis gnatus et patris nepos? 985

[El.] Will even the artificer of an unspeakable crime admonish,
born through crimes, a name ambiguous to his own,
the same, his sister’s son and his father’s grandson? 985

[Cl.] Aegisthe, cessas impium ferro caput
demetere? fratrem reddat aut animam statim.
[Ae.] Abstrusa caeco carcere et saxo exigat
aeuum; per omnes torta poenarum modos
referre quem nunc occulit forsan uolet. 990
inops egens inclusa, paedore obruta,
uidua ante thalamos, exul, inuisa omnibus
aethere negato sero subcumbet malis.

[Cl.] Aegisthus, do you delay to mow down the impious head with iron?
let her give back her brother, or her life at once.
[Ae.] Let her, hidden in a blind prison and rock, spend out her age;
tortured through all the modes of punishments, perhaps she will wish
to return the one whom she now conceals. 990
destitute, needy, shut in, overwhelmed with filth,
widowed before the bridal-chambers, an exile, hateful to all,
with the sky denied, she will late succumb to her woes.

[El.] Concede mortem. [Ae.] Si recusares, darem:
rudis est tyrannus morte qui poenam exigit. 995
[El.] Mortem aliquid ultra est? [Ae.] Vita, si cupias mori.—
Abripite, famuli, monstrum et auectam procul
ultra Mycenas ultimo in regni angulo
uincite saeptam nocte tenebrosi specus,
ut inquietam uirginem carcer domet. 1000

[El.] Grant death. [Ae.] If you refused, I would give it: unskilled is the tyrant who exacts punishment by death. 995
[El.] Is there anything beyond death? [Ae.] Life, if you desire to die.—
Seize, servants, the monster, and, carried off far away
beyond Mycenae, in the uttermost corner of the realm
bind her, enclosed by the night of a shadowy cave,
so that prison may tame the restless maiden. 1000

[Cl.] At ista poenas capite persoluet suo
captiua coniunx, regii paelex tori.
trahite, ut sequatur coniugem ereptum mihi.
[Ca.] Ne trahite, uestros ipsa praecedam gradus.

[Cl.] But that woman will pay the penalties with her own head
the captive consort, the paramour of the royal bed.
drag her, that she may follow the consort snatched from me.
[Ca.] Do not drag me; I myself will precede your steps.

perferre prima nuntium Phrygibus meis 1005
propero: repletum ratibus euersis mare,
captas Mycenas, mille ductorem ducum,
ut paria fata Troicis lueret malis,
perisse dono, feminae stupro, dolo.
nihil moramur, rapite, quin grates ago: 1010
iam, iam iuuat uixisse post Troiam, iuuat.
[Cl.] Furiosa, morere.

I hasten to carry first the message to my Phrygians 1005
the sea filled with overturned ships,
Mycenae captured, the leader of a thousand leaders,
that he might atone with equal fates for the Trojan ills,
has perished by a gift, by a woman’s adultery, by deceit.
we delay nothing; seize me—nay, I give thanks: 1010
now, now it pleases to have lived after Troy; it pleases.
[Cl.] Madwoman, die.

[Ca.] Veniet et uobis furor.

[Ca.] Madness will come to you too.