Statius: THEBAID

Interea gelidis Maia satus aliger umbris
iussa gerens magni remeat Iouis; undique pigrae
ire uetant nubes et turbidus implicat aer,
nec Zephyri rapuere gradum, sed foeda silentis
aura poli. Styx inde nouem circumflua campis,                5
hinc obiecta uias torrentum incendia claudunt.
pone senex trepida succedit Laius umbra
uulnere tardus adhuc; capulo nam largius illi
transabiit animam cognatis ictibus ensis
impius et primas Furiarum pertulit iras;                10
it tamen et medica firmat uestigia uirga.
tum steriles luci possessaque manibus arua
et ferrugineum nemus astupet, ipsaque Tellus
miratur patuisse retro, nec liuida tabes
inuidiae functis quamquam et iam lumine cassis                15

Meanwhile Maia’s winged son, clad in chill shadows,
bearing his orders, might return to great Jove; on every side
slothful clouds forbid their going and the troubled air entangles,
nor did the Zephyrs carry the step, but the foul breath
of the silent sky. Styx thence, flowing around the nine plains,                5
here the torches thrown across the ways close the torrents.
Behind, the old man Laius follows, trembling, slow yet from his wound;
for to him the sword, more lavish in its hilt, pierced the soul with kinsmen’s blows
impious, and bore the primal angers of the Furies;                10
yet even so the healing staff braces his steps.
Then the barren groves and fields seized by hands
and the rust‑eaten wood stand agape, and Earth herself
marvels that things lie open backward, nor did the livid decay
of envy, though now bereft of light,                15

defuit. unus ibi ante alios, cui laeua uoluntas
semper et ad superos (hinc et grauis exitus aeui)
insultare malis rebusque aegrescere laetis,
'uade' ait 'o felix, quoscumque uocaris in usus,
seu Iouis imperio, seu maior adegit Erinys                20
ire diem contra, seu te furiata sacerdos
Thessalis arcano iubet emigrare sepulcro,
heu dulces uisure polos solemque relictum
et uirides terras et puros fontibus amnes,
tristior has iterum tamen intrature tenebras.'                25
illos ut caeco recubans in limine sensit
Cerberus, atque omnes capitum subrexit hiatus;
saeuus et intranti populo, iam nigra tumebat
colla minax, iam sparsa solo turbauerat ossa,
ni deus horrentem Lethaeo uimine mulcens                30

was lacking. One there before the others, to whom a leftward will
always and even toward the gods (hence the heavy end of life)
to assail good things and to sicken at joyful affairs,
"go," he says, "O fortunate one, to whatever uses you are summoned,
whether by Jupiter's command, or whether a greater Erinys has driven you                20
to go against the day, or whether a raving Thessalian priestess
bids you depart into a secret tomb of Thessaly,
ah, to behold the sweet heavens and the sun left behind
and the green lands and streams pure with fountains,
yet more sorrowful you will enter these very shadows again."                25
as Cerberus, lying blind upon the threshold, perceived them
and all the yawning mouths of his heads lifted up;
savage and menacing to the people entering, then his black
neck swelled threateningly, now his bones, sprinkled, had disturbed the ground,
had it not been that a god, soothing the bristling beast with a Lethean switch,                30

ferrea tergemino domuisset lumina somno.
est locus (Inachiae dixerunt Taenara gentes)
qua formidatum Maleae spumantis in auras
it caput et nullos admittit culmine uisus.
stat sublimis apex uentosque imbresque serenus 35
despicit et tantum fessis insiditur astris.

an iron sleep of threefold weight had tamed his eyes.
there is a place (the Inachian peoples called it Taenarum)
where the feared head of foaming Malea goes forth into the airs
and admits no sight from its summit. A lofty peak stands, serene above winds and rains 35
it looks down and rests only upon the weary stars.

[illic exhausti posuere cubilia uenti,
fulminibusque iter est; medium caua nubila montis
insumpsere latus, summos nec praepetis alae
plausus adit colles, nec rauca tonitrua pulsant.] 40
ast ubi prona dies, longos super aequora fines
exigit atque ingens medio natat umbra profundo.
interiore sinu frangentia litora curuat
Taenaros, expositos non audax scandere fluctus.
illic Aegaeo Neptunus gurgite fessos 45

[there they set couches exhausted by the wind,
and a path for lightning; hollow clouds took up the middle side of the mountain,
and the precipitous wings do not approach the highest hills with applause,
nor do hoarse thunders strike.] 40
but where the day leans forward, it drives over the long bounds of the seas
and a huge shadow swims in the mid-deep.
bending with an inner bay it curves the shores of Taenarus,
the exposed waves not daring to climb.
there Neptune, in the Aegean whirlpool, weary 45

in portum deducit equos, prior haurit harenas
ungula, postremi soluuntur in aequora pisces.
hoc, ut fama, loco pallentes deuius umbras
trames agit nigrique Iouis uacua atria ditat
mortibus. Arcadii perhibent si uera coloni, 50
stridor ibi et gemitus poenarum, atroque tumultu
feruet ager; saepe Eumenidum uocesque manusque
in medium sonuere diem, Letique triformis
ianitor agricolas campis auditus abegit.

he leads the horses into the harbor, the foremost hoof scoops the sands, the rearmost are loosed into the waters as fishes.
this, so rumor says, there drives a devious path of pale shades, and enriches the empty courts of black Jove with deaths.
the Arcadian farmers, they say if true, the creak and moan of punishments there are heard, and the field will seethe with a black tumult; 50
often the voices and hands of the Eumenides rang out in the open by day, and the three-formed doorkeeper of Death, heard in the fields, drove the farmers away.

hac et tunc fusca uolucer deus obsitus umbra 55
exilit ad superos, infernaque nubila uultu
discutit et uiuis adflatibus ora serenat.
inde per Arcturum mediaeque silentia Lunae
arua super populosque meat. Sopor obuius illi
Noctis agebat equos, trepidusque adsurgit honori 60

then the dusky, winged god, overspread with shadow, 55
springs up to the heavens, and with his countenance scatters the infernal clouds
and with living breaths brightens the mouths of men. Thence through Arcturus and the mid-silences
of the Moon he courses over fields and peoples. Sleep, meeting him, urged the steeds
of Night, and he, anxious, rises to his charge 60

numinis et recto decedit limite caeli.
inferior uolat umbra deo, praereptaque noscit
sidera principiumque sui; iamque ardua Cirrhae
pollutamque suo despectat Phocida busto.
uentum erat ad Thebas; gemuit prope limina nati 65
Laius et notos cunctatus inire penates.

and he departs from the numen and the straight limit of the sky.
beneath, a lower shadow flies toward the god, and, having been snatched ahead, knows the stars
and the beginning of itself; and now he looks down on the heights of Cirrha
and on Phocis, polluted by its own tomb. He had come to Thebes; near the thresholds of his son Laius groaned, 65
hesitating to enter the well-known penates.

ut uero et celsis suamet iuga nixa columnis
uidit et infectos etiamnum sanguine currus,
paene retro turbatus abit: nec summa Tonantis
iussa nec Arcadiae retinent spiramina uirgae.                70
    et tunc forte dies noto signata Tonantis
fulmine, praerepti cum te, tener Euhie, partus
transmisere patri. Tyriis ea causa colonis
insomnem ludo certatim educere noctem
suaserat; effusi passim per tecta, per agros,                75

but when indeed it saw its own ridges leaning on lofty columns
and chariots still stained with blood, it went off almost bewildered; nor did the highest commands
of the Thunderer nor the breathings of the Arcadian rod restrain it.                70
    and then by chance the day marked by the Thunderer’s well-known
bolt, when, snatched away with you, tender Euhyus, the offspring
had been delivered to the father. For this cause she had persuaded
the Tyrian colonists to draw out the sleepless night in sport, competing;
poured forth everywhere through roofs, through fields,                75

serta inter uacuosque mero crateras anhelum
proflabant sub luce deum; tunc plurima buxus
aeraque taurinos sonitu uincentia pulsus;
ipse etiam gaudens nemorosa per auia sanas
impulerat matres Baccho meliore Cithaeron:                 80
qualia per Rhodopen rabido conuiuia coetu
Bistones aut mediae ponunt conuallibus Ossae;
illis semianimum pecus excussaeque leonum
ore dapes et lacte nouo domuisse cruorem
luxus; at Ogygii si quando adflauit Iacchi                85
saeuus odor, tunc saxa manu, tunc pocula pulchrum
spargere et inmerito sociorum sanguine fuso
instaurare diem festasque reponere mensas.
    nox ea cum tacita uolucer Cyllenius aura
regis Echionii stratis adlapsus, ubi ingens                90

wreaths and with wine the empty bowls they breathed forth, panting,
under the light of the gods; then very many boxwood
and brazen things, beaten with a bulls’ clang, victorious strokes;
he himself also rejoicing had driven through leafy byways the mothers
healed by Bacchus—Cithaeron the kinder:                 80
such as in Rhodope at a raging banquet the Bistones
or those of mid-Ossa set in the valley-places; to them a half-alive flock
and, from the roused jaws of lions, the feast
and luxury had tamed blood with new milk;
but when at any time the savage scent of Ogygian Iacchus blew                85
then stones by hand, then fair cups to scatter,
and, with the undeserved blood of comrades poured out,
to renew the day and to replace the festive tables.
    that night, when the winged Cyllenian breeze, silent, had slipped
to the couches of King Echionius, where vast                90

fuderat Assyriis extructa tapetibus alto
membra toro. pro gnara nihil mortalia fati
corda sui! capit ille dapes, habet ille soporem.

he had laid his limbs upon a high couch piled with Assyrian tapestries
his heart knowing nothing of his mortal fate! —what heed for his own?
he takes the feast, he has sleep.

tunc senior quae iussus agit; neu falsa uideri
noctis imago queat, longaeui uatis opacos                95
Tiresiae uultus uocemque et uellera nota
induitur. mansere comae propexaque mento
canities pallorque suus, sed falsa cucurrit
infula per crines, glaucaeque innexus oliuae
uittarum prouenit honos; dehinc tangere ramo                100
pectora et has uisus fatorum expromere uoces:
'non somni tibi tempus, iners qui nocte sub alta
germani secure iaces, ingentia dudum
acta uocant rerumque graues, ignaue, paratus.
tu, ueluti magnum si iam tollentibus Austris                105

then the old man does what he was commanded; and lest the image of night seem false, the aged seer's sombre face and voice and the familiar fleece are assumed                95
the looks and voice and the known vellus of Tiresias are put on. His hair remained and his beard drooped to his chin, his own hoariness and pallor, but a false fillet ran through his locks, and the honour of garlands came tied with glaucous olive; then to touch the breast with a branch                100
and to utter these voices of the fates: 'This is no time for sleep for you, you inert one who lies secure beneath the deep night, brother; mighty deeds long since call and heavy affairs of things, coward, are you prepared. You, just as if now with the South Winds rising                105

Ionium nigra iaceat sub nube magister
inmemor armorum uersantisque aequora claui,
cunctaris. iamque ille nouis (scit Fama) superbit
conubiis uiresque parat, quis regna capessat,
quis neget, inque tua senium sibi destinat aula. 110
dant animos socer augurio fatalis Adrastus
dotalesque Argi, nec non in foedera uitae
pollutus placuit fraterno sanguine Tydeus.
hinc tumor, et longus fratri promitteris exul.

Let the Ionian master lie beneath a black cloud
forgetful of arms and of turning the sea's helm,
you delay. And now he boasts (Fame knows) of new marriages
and prepares his strengths — who will seize kingdoms,
who will refuse — and in your hall he appoints old age to himself. 110
the father‑in‑law Adrastus gives courage by augury, and the dowries of Argos,
and not least Tydeus pleased to be bound in the pact of life defiled
with brotherly blood. Hence a swelling pride, and you are promised a long exile to your brother.

ipse deum genitor tibi me miseratus ab alto 115
mittit: habe Thebas, caecumque cupidine regni,
ausurumque eadem, germanum expelle, nec ultra
fraternos inhiantem obitus sine fidere coeptis
fraudibus aut Cadmo dominas inferre Mycenas.'
dixit, et abscedens (etenim iam pallida turbant 120

the god himself, your sire, taking pity on me from on high, sends me to you: take Thebes, blind with desire for the kingship,
and daring the same, expel your brother, and no longer, gaping for a brother’s death, trust your undertakings to frauds, nor bring mistresses into Cadmus’ Mycenae.'
he said, and departing (for now already pale they trouble 120

sidera lucis equi) ramos ac uellera fronti
deripuit, confessus auum, dirique nepotis
incubuit stratis; iugulum mox caede patentem
nudat et undanti perfundit uulnere somnum.
illi rupta quies, attollit membra toroque                125
erigitur plenus monstris, uanumque cruorem
excutiens simul horret auum fratremque requirit.
qualis ubi audito uenantum murmure tigris
horruit in maculas somnosque excussit inertes,
bella cupit laxatque genas et temperat ungues,                130
mox ruit in turmas natisque alimenta cruentis
spirantem fert ore uirum: sic excitus ira
ductor in absentem consumit proelia fratrem.
    et iam Mygdoniis elata cubilibus alto
impulerat caelo gelidas Aurora tenebras,                135

siding the steeds of light) he tore off branches and fleeces from his brow,
having confessed his grandfather, and, bent upon the dread grandson,
lay upon the couches; soon he bares the throat gaping with slaughter
and drenches with a flowing wound the slumbering man.
his rest broken, he raises his limbs and from the couch                125
is lifted, full of omens, and shaking off vain gore
at once bristles and seeks out his grandfather and brother.
such as when, at the heard murmur of huntsmen, the tiger
trembles into his spots and shakes off inert slumbers,
desires battles, relaxes his cheeks and sharpens his claws,                130
soon rushes into ranks and bears, to the bloody haunches food,
the man breathing from his mouth: thus roused by anger
the leader consumes battles against his absent brother.
    and now Aurora, exalted from Mygdonian couches on high,
had driven away the cold shadows with the sky,                135

rorantes excussa comas multumque sequenti
sole rubens; illi roseus per nubila seras
aduertit flammas alienumque aethera tardo
Lucifer exit equo, donec pater igneus orbem
impleat atque ipsi radios uetet esse sorori,                140
cum senior Talaionides nec longa morati
Dircaeusque gradum pariterque Acheloius heros
corripuere toris. illos post uerbera fessos
exceptamque hiemem cornu perfuderat omni
Somnus; at Inachio tenuis sub pectore regi                 145
tracta quies, dum mente deos inceptaque uersat
hospitia, et quae sint generis ascita repertis
fata mouet. postquam mediis in sedibus aulae
congressi inque uicem dextras iunxere locumque,
quo serere arcanas aptum atque euoluere curas,                150

shaking off dripping locks and much reddening from the pursuing sun;
to them rosy Lucifer through the clouds delays his fires
and on his slow steed leaves the foreign sky, until the fiery father
fill the orb and forbid the rays to be for his sister herself,                140
when the elder Talaionides, not long delaying, and Dircaeus and the hero Achelous
seized their couches together. Sleep had then, after their lashings wearying them,
and with his horn poured over the welcomed night for them in full;
but for the Inachian king a thin, drawn-out rest lay under his breast,                145
while with his mind he turned over the gods and the undertaken hospitalities
and moved the fates that should be sought for the offspring found. After they
had met in the middle seats of the hall and in turn joined right hands and a place,
fitted for planting hidden matters and unfolding cares,                150

insidunt, prior his dubios compellat Adrastus:
'egregii iuuenum, quos non sine numine regnis
inuexit nox atra meis, quibus ipse per imbres
fulminibus mixtos intempestumque Tonantem
has meus usque domos uestigia fecit Apollo,                155
non equidem obscurum uobis plebique Pelasgae
esse rear, quantis conubia nostra procorum
turba petant studiis; geminae mihi namque, nepotum
laeta fides, aequo pubescunt sidere natae.
quantus honos, quantusque pudor (ne credite patri)                160
et super hesternas licuit cognoscere mensas.
has tumidi solio et late dominantibus armis
optauere uiri (longum enumerare Pharaeos
Oebaliosque duces) et Achaea per oppida matres
spem generis, nec plura tuus despexerat Oeneus                165

seated, Adrastus first addresses these doubtful ones:
"illustrious youths, whom not without divine will for kingdoms
the black night ushered into my house, for whom through rains
and mingled lightnings and the untimely Thunderer himself
my Apollo made tracks to my very doors continually,                155
I would not, indeed, judge it hidden from you and the Pelasgian commonfolk
how great a marriage-bounty our suitors seek with eager pursuits; for to me, in joyful faith of grandchildren,
twin daughters grow up born under an equal star.
what honour, and what modesty (do not trust the father),                160
and moreover I was permitted to know yesterday's tables.
Then men, swelling on the throne and ruling far and wide by arms,
desired these (to recount at length the Pharaean
and Oebalian leaders would be long) and Achaean mothers throughout the towns
desired hope for the line, nor did your Oeneus disdain more than that.                165

foedera Pisaeisque socer metuendus habenis.
sed mihi nec Sparta genitos nec ab Elide missos
iungere fas generos: uobis hic sanguis et aulae
cura meae longo promittitur ordine fati.
di bene, quod tales stirpemque animosque uenitis 170
ut responsa iuuent: hic durae tempore noctis
partus honos, haec illa uenit post uerbera merces.'
audierant, fixosque oculos per mutua paulum
ora tenent, uisique inter sese ordine fandi
cedere.

treaties and a father‑in‑law to Pisa, to be feared for his reins.
but it is not right for me to join grooms born in Sparta nor sent from Elis:
to you this blood and the care of my hall is promised in a long succession of fate. gods grant well that you come of such stock and spirits 170
that responses may aid: here is the honour of a birth in a time of stern night,
that one shall come as the wage after lashes.'
they had heard, and, with fixed eyes, held their faces toward one another a little while
and, having looked upon each other, yielded in the turn of speaking.

sed cunctis Tydeus audentior actis 175
incipit: 'o quam te parcum in praeconia famae
mens agitat matura tuae, quantumque ferentem
fortunam uirtute domas! cui cedat Adrastus
imperiis? quis te solio Sicyonis auitae
excitum infrenos componere legibus Argos 180

but bolder than all in deeds, Tydeus begins: 'O how sparing you are in the heraldings of fame, how your mature mind restrains you in praise,
and how by virtue you tame fortune as it bears you! To whom will Adrastus yield in command?
who will rouse you from the ancestral throne of Sicyon to bring unbridled Argos to order by laws? 175

nesciat? atque utinam his manibus permittere gentes,
Iuppiter aeque, uelis, quas Doricus adligat undis
Isthmos et alterno quas margine summouet infra.
non fugeret diras lux intercisa Mycenas,
saeua nec Eleae gemerent certamina ualles, 185
~Eumenidesque aliis aliae sub regibus,~ et quae
tu potior, Thebane, queri: nos uero uolentes
expositique animis.' sic interfatus, et alter
subicit: 'anne aliquis soceros accedere tales
abnuat?

Would he not know? and would that Jupiter but permit nations to these hands, and likewise to the sails which the Dorian sea binds to the Isthmus and which it displaces along the alternate margin below. Night, cut short, would not flee dreadful Mycenae, nor would the savage valleys of Elea groan with contests, 185
~Eumenidesque aliis aliae sub regibus,~ and those things which you most prefer to complain of, Theban: we indeed, willing and with our minds laid open.' Thus having thus spoken, and another interjects: 'would anyone then refuse to receive such in-laws coming near?'

exulibus quamquam patriaque fugatis 190
nondum laeta Venus, tamen omnis corde resedit
tristitia, adfixique animo cessere dolores.
nec minus haec laeti trahimus solacia, quam si
praecipiti conuulsa Noto prospectet amicam
puppis humum. iuuat ingressos felicia regni 195

although for the exiles and those driven from their native land 190
Venus was not yet joyful, nevertheless all sadness settled in the heart
and the pains, fixed to the spirit, gave way. Nor do we draw these consolations less gladly than if
a prow, torn by the headlong South Wind, should behold from the stern the friendly land. It pleases to have entered the fortunate precincts of the realm 195

omina quod superest fati uitaeque laborum
fortuna transire tua.' nec plura morati
consurgunt, dictis impensius aggerat omne
promissum Inachius pater, auxilioque futurum
et patriis spondet reduces inducere regnis.                200
ergo alacres Argi, fuso rumore per urbem
aduenisse duci generos primisque hymenaeis
egregiam Argian nec formae laude secundam
Deipylen tumida iam uirginitate iugari,
gaudia mente parant. socias it Fama per urbes                205
finitimisque agitatur agris procul usque Lycaeos
Partheniosque super saltus Ephyraeaque rura,
nec minus Ogygias eadem dea turbida Thebas
insilit: haec totis perfundit moenia pennis
Labdaciumque ducem praemissae consona nocti                210

all the omens that remain of fate and of life’s labors, that fortune may pass over you.'—nor lingering longer, they rise; Inachian father, with words, more eagerly heaps every promise, and vows he will be a help and will lead the returnees into their ancestral realms. 200
therefore the eager Argives, the rumour spread through the city that a noble daughter had come to the leader and for the first nuptials, prepare joys in their minds: Deipyle, outstanding and second to none in praise of beauty, swollen with maidenhood, is to be yoked;
Fame goes through allied cities and over neighboring fields as far as the Lycaean and Parthenian woods, above the glens and the Ephyrean countrysides, nor less does that same bustling goddess alight upon Ogygian Thebes: she drenches the walls with her full wings,
and, sent on ahead, blends in consonance with the night of the Labdacid leader. 210

territat; hospitia et thalamos et foedera regni
permixtumque genus (quae tanta licentia monstro,
quis furor?) et iam bella canit.
diffuderat Argos
expectata dies: laeto regalia coetu
atria complentur, species est cernere auorum 215
comminus et uiuis certantia uultibus aera.
tantum ausae perferre manus!

she alarms; the hospices and bridal-chambers and treaties of the realm
and a mingled race (what monstrous licence is this,
what madness?) and now she proclaims wars. the long-awaited day had spread through Argos:
the royal halls are filled with a joyous assembly,
there is a sight to see of ancestral visages close at hand 215
and bronzes contending with living faces in personal encounter.
so great a deed only the hands dared to endure!

pater ipse bicornis
in laeuum prona nixus sedet Inachus urna;
hunc tegit Iasiusque senex placidusque Phoroneus
et bellator Abas indignatusque Tonantem 220
Acrisius nodoque ferens caput ense Coroebus
toruaque iam Danai facinus meditantis imago;
exin mille duces. foribus cum inmissa superbis
unda fremit uulgi, procerum manus omnis et alto
quis propior de rege gradus stant ordine primi. 225

the father himself, two‑horned, sits leaning to the left on an urn;
this Iasius covers — the old and placid Phoroneus —
and the warrior Abas and Acrisius, indignant at the Thunderer 220
and Coroebus bearing a head by a knot with his sword,
and the grim image already meditating the Danaans’ crime;
then a thousand leaders. when a proud tide, poured in at the doors, roars
through the multitude, every band of nobles and who next in rank
from the high king stands forward in the order of the first steps. 225

interior sacris calet et sonat aula tumultu
femineo; casta matrem cinxere corona
Argolides, pars uirginibus circum undique fusae
foedera conciliant noua solanturque timorem.
ibant insignes uultuque habituque uerendo                230
candida purpureum fusae super ora pudorem
deiectaeque genas; tacite subit ille supremus
uirginitatis amor, primaeque modestia culpae
confundit uultus; tunc ora rigantur honestis
imbribus, et teneros lacrimae iuuere parentes.                235
non secus ac supero pariter si cardine lapsae
Pallas et asperior Phoebi soror, utraque telis,
utraque torua genis flauoque in uertice nodo,
illa suas Cyntho comites agat, haec Aracyntho;
tunc, si fas oculis, non umquam longa tuendo                240

the inner hall glows and rings with a sacred
feminine tumult; chaste Argolides crowned the mother
and some, scattered all around among the virgins,
forge new bonds and soothe the fear.
ibant insignes vultuque habituque verendo                230
they went conspicuous in mien and in reverent bearing,
white with purple shame poured over their faces
and cheeks cast down; silently there comes that supreme
love of virginity, and the modesty of first fault
confounds their looks; then their faces are bedewed
with honest showers, and tender tears assist the parents.                235
no otherwise than if, fallen from the upper hinge,
Pallas and Phoebus’ sterner sister, each armed,
each grim in the cheeks and with a golden knot upon the brow,
that one should lead her comrades to Cynthus, this to Aracynthus;
then, if it is right for eyes, never with prolonged gazing                240

expedias, cui maior honos, cui gratior, aut plus
de Ioue; mutatosque uelint transumere cultus,
et Pallas deceat pharetras et Delia cristas.
    certant laetitia superosque in uota fatigant
Inachidae, quae cuique domus sacrique facultas.                245
hi fibris animaque, hi caespite nudo,
nec minus auditi, si mens accepta, merentur
ture deos, fractisque obtendunt limina siluis.
ecce metu subito (Lachesis sic dura iubebat)
impulsae mentes, excussaque gaudia patri,                250
et turbata dies.

decide to whom the greater honor, to whom the more pleasing, or who receives more from Jove; and if they wish to take up changed cults, and that Pallas be decked with quivers and Delia with crests. they strive in joy and weary the heavens with vows, the Inachidae, according to which house and the sacerdotal means belongs to each. 245
some with entrails and soul, some with bare turf, nor less—if the mind is well-disposed—do they earn the gods by incense, and with split wood they prop the thresholds to the woods. behold, by sudden fear (thus stern Lachesis commanded) minds were driven, joys shaken off from the father, 250
and the day was troubled.

innuptam limine adibant
Pallada, Monychiis cui non Argiua per urbes
posthabita est Larisa iugis; hic more parentum
Iasides, thalamis ubi casta adolesceret aetas,
uirgineas libare comas primosque solebant 255

to the unmarried they approached the threshold of Pallas,
to her for whom Larisa on the Monychian ridges was preferred to Argive cities; here, by the custom of their parents,
the Iasides, where chastity might grow in bridal chambers,
were wont to offer libations on virginal locks and the first offerings 255

excussare toros. celsam subeuntibus arcem
in gradibus summi delapsus culmine templi,
Arcados Euhippi spolium, cadit aereus orbis,
praemissasque faces, festum nubentibus ignem,
obruit, eque adytis simul exaudita remotis 260
nondum ausos firmare gradum tuba terruit ingens.
in regem conuersi omnes formidine prima,
mox audisse negant; cunctos tamen omina rerum
dira mouent, uariisque metum sermonibus augent.

they shake down the couches. To those climbing the lofty citadel
a brazen orb, slipped from the summit of the highest temple,
falls upon the Arcadians of Euhippus as spoil, the torches sent ahead, the festive fire for the brides,
it buries; and likewise a mighty trumpet, heard even from the remote adyta, 260
terrified those not yet daring to fix a firm step.
turned toward the king, all in their first fright,
soon deny that they heard; yet the dire omens of things stir them all,
and by diverse reports increase their fear.

nec mirum: nam tu infaustos donante marito                265
ornatus, Argia, geris dirumque monile
Harmoniae. longa est series, sed nota malorum
persequar, unde nouis tam saeua potentia donis.
    Lemnius haec, ut prisca fides, Mauortia longum
furta dolens, capto postquam nil obstat amori                270

nor wonder: for you, Argia, adorned with ill-omened gifts from your husband,                265
wear a dread necklace of Harmonia. the sequence is long, but I will pursue the known evils,
whence such savage potency in these new gifts.     Lemnius reports these things, as ancient faith holds; grieving long the thefts of Mauortia,
after he perceived that nothing opposed his love                270

poena nec ultrices castigauere catenae,
Harmoniae dotale decus sub luce iugali
struxerat. hoc, docti quamquam maiora, laborant
Cyclopes, notique operum Telchines amica
certatim iuuere manu; sed plurimus ipsi                275
sudor. ibi arcano florentes igne zmaragdos
cingit et infaustas percussum adamanta figuras
Gorgoneosque orbes Siculaque incude relictos
fulminis extremi cineres uiridumque draconum
lucentes a fronte iubas; hic flebile germen                280
Hesperidum et dirum Phrixei uelleris aurum;
tum uarias pestes raptumque interplicat atro
Tisiphones de crine ducem, et quae pessima ceston
uis probat; haec circum spumis lunaribus unguit
callidus atque hilari perfundit cuncta ueneno.                285

nor punishment nor avenging chains had chastened her;
she had fashioned Harmonia’s dowry-glory beneath the nuptial light.
This, though the learned Cyclopes, greater labors notwithstanding, work at,
and the Telchines, famed for crafts, as friends strove to aid with eager hand; but most of all to them was sweat                275
there. There he clasps flourishing smaragds with secret fire
and stamps ill-omened adamantine forms struck through,
and Gorgonean disks and Sicilian anvils left behind
of the final lightning’s ashes and the green, shining crests
gleaming from the brow; here is the woeful spawn                280
of the Hesperides and the dire gold of Phrixus’ fleece;
then he weaves together varied plagues and the seized with dark
Tisiphone as leader from her hair, and what worst force tests in the casket;
these he anoints around with lunar foams,
cunning, and drenches all things with a gleeful poison.                285

non hoc Pasithea blandarum prima sororum,
non Decor Idaliusque puer, sed Luctus et Irae
et Dolor et tota pressit Discordia dextra.
prima fides operi, Cadmum comitata iacentem
Harmonia uersis in sibila dira querelis 290
Illyricos longo sulcauit pectore campos.
improba mox Semele uix dona nocentia collo
induit, et fallax intrauit limina Iuno.

Not this Pasithea, first of the flattering sisters,
not Decor and the Idalian boy, but Luctus and Irae
and Dolor and all Discord pressed on the right hand.
Faith first to the work, Harmonia, having accompanied Cadmus lying
with turned, dire hisses bewailed in complaints 290
ploughed the Illyrian fields with a long breast.
Soon wicked Semele barely put the harmful gifts about her neck,
and deceitful Juno entered the thresholds.

teque etiam, infelix, perhibent, Iocasta, decorum
possedisse nefas; uultus hac laude colebas, 295
heu quibus, heu, placitura toris! post longior ordo.
tunc donis Argia nitet uilesque sororis
ornatus sacro praeculta superuenit auro.

and they even report that you, unhappy Iocasta, had a comely crime; you used to cultivate your face with this praise, 295
ah, on what couches, ah, about to be pleasing! then follows a longer sequence. then Argia shines with gifts and the cheap adornments of her sister, decked with consecrated gold, appear.

uiderat hoc coniunx perituri uatis, et aras
ante omnes epulasque trucem secreta coquebat 300

the wife of the prophet doomed to perish had seen this, and secretly was preparing the savage altars and feasts before all others 300

inuidiam, saeuis detur si quando potiri
cultibus, heu nihil auguriis adiuta propinquis.
quos optat gemitus, quantas cupit impia clades!
digna quidem: sed quid miseri decepta mariti
arma, quid insontes nati meruere furores? 305
postquam regales epulas et gaudia uulgi
bisseni clausere dies, Ismenius heros
respicere ad Thebas iamque et sua quaerere regna.

envy, if ever it may seize upon savage rites,
to cults is given — alas, aided by no neighboring auguries.
what groans it longs for, what impious ruin it desires!
indeed worthy: but what of the wretched, the deceived husband's
arms, what have the innocent children deserved of these furies? 305
after the two days that closed the royal banquets and the people's joys,
the Ismenian hero
turned his gaze to Thebes and already to seek his own realms.

quippe animum subit illa dies, qua, sorte benigna
fratris, Echionia steterat priuatus in aula, 310
respiciens descisse deos trepidoque tumultu
dilapsos comites++nudum latus omne fugamque
fortunae. namque una soror producere tristes
exulis ausa uias; etiam hanc in limine primo
liquerat et magna lacrimas incluserat ira. 315

for that day indeed came upon his spirit, on which, by the kindly lot of his brother, he had stood a private man in the Echionian hall, 310
looking back that the gods had descended and, from the trembling tumult, his comrades had slipped away
and every side lay bare and Fortune was in flight. For one sister had dared to lead forth the sad ways
of the exile; yet she had even left this at the first threshold
and great anger had shut up her tears. 315

tunc quos excedens hilares (quis cultus iniqui
praecipuus ducis) et profugo quos ipse notarat
ingemuisse sibi per noctem ac luce sub omni
digerit; exedere animum dolor iraque demens
et, qua non grauior mortalibus addita curis,                320
spes, ubi longa uenit. talem sub pectore nubem
consilii uoluens Dircen Cadmique negatas
apparat ire domos. ueluti dux taurus amata
ualle carens, pulsum solito quem gramine uictor
iussit ab erepta longe mugire iuuenca,                325
cum profugo placuere tori ceruixque recepto
sanguine magna redit fractaeque in pectora quercus,
bella cupit pastusque et capta armenta reposcit
iam pede, iam cornu melior (pauet ipse reuersum
uictor, et attoniti uix agnouere magistri):                330

then, leaving behind those who were merry (what hospitality of an unfriendly leader, chief of the commander), and those whom he himself had marked as fugitive, he notes that they had groaned to him through the night and beneath every dawn;
grief and wrath, maddening, consume his spirit, and hope — which, when added to mortal cares, is no less weighty — comes at last after long enduring. 320
rolling such a cloud of counsel beneath his breast, he prepares to go to the houses denied to Dirce and Cadmus. just as a leader bull, bereft of his beloved valley, whom the victor ordered to be driven off from the grass he was wont to feed on, the heifer, having been snatched away, bellows loudly from afar,
when, the fugitive having pleased the bed and his neck restored, great blood returns and the oak broken in his chest,
he longs for wars and for pasture and demands once more the captured herds — now by foot, now by horn bettered (the victor himself trembles at his return, and the astonished masters hardly recognized him): 330

non alias tacita iuuenis Teumesius iras
mente acuit. sed fida uias arcanaque coniunx
senserat; utque toris primo complexa iacebat
aurorae pallore uirum, 'quos, callide, motus
quamue fugam moliris?' ait 'nil transit amantes. 335
sentio, peruigiles acuunt suspiria questus,
numquam in pace sopor. quotiens haec ora natare
fletibus et magnas latrantia pectora curas
admota deprendo manu!

Not otherwise did the tacit youth Teumesius whet his ire in his mind.
But the faithful wife had perceived the roads and hidden counsels; and as, first embracing the bed,
with the paleness of dawn she lay near the man, 'what movements,' she said, 'and by what cunning
or what flight do you scheme? Nothing escapes lovers. 335
I feel it, sleepless sighs and plaints sharpen them through the night,
never slumber in peace. How often do these lips swim with tears
and I detect with my hand the great, barking cares pressed close to my heart!

nil foedere rupto
conubiisue super moueor uiduaque iuuenta, 340
etsi crudus amor necdum post flammea toti
intepuere tori: tua me, properabo fateri,
angit, amate, salus. tune incomitatus, inermis
regna petes? poterisque tuis decedere Thebis,
si neget?

with no compact having been broken
nor by nuptials moreover am I moved — a widowed youth, 340
and though raw love not yet, after the flaming of the whole bed,
has burned away: your safety, beloved, constrains me — I will hasten to confess —
will you then, unescorted, unarmed,
seek the realms? and will you be able to depart from your Thebes,
if it refuses?

atque illum sollers deprendere semper 345

and ever to detect that crafty man 345

Fama duces tumidum narrat raptoque superbum
difficilemque tibi: necdum consumpserat annum.
me quoque nunc uates, nunc exta minantia diuos
aut auium lapsus aut turbida noctis imago
terret et (a, memini!) numquam mihi falsa per umbras 350
Iuno uenit. quo tendis iter?

Rumour tells of leaders swollen with spoil and proud from seizure,
and difficult for you: not yet had a year been consumed.
now also a vates, now entrails menacing the divinities,
or the fall of birds or a troubled image of the night
terrifies me and (ah, I remember!) never false through the shades 350
Juno comes. Whither do you tend your way?

ni conscius ardor
ducit et ad Thebas melior socer.' hic breue tandem
risit Echionius iuuenis tenerumque dolorem
coniugis amplexu solatus et oscula maestis
tempestiua genis posuit lacrimasque repressit: 355
'solue metus animo, dabitur, mihi crede, merentum
consiliis tranquilla dies; te fortior annis
nondum cura decet. sciat haec Saturnius olim
fata parens, oculosque polo demittere si quos
Iustitia et rectum terris defendere curat. 360

'unless a conscious ardor drives me and to Thebes a better father‑in‑law.' Here finally the Echionian youth smiled briefly and, soothing the tender grief of his wife with an embrace and placing timely kisses on her sorrowful cheeks, checked her tears: 355
'cast off fear in your mind; it will be granted, believe me, a tranquil day deserved by counsel; care does not yet become you — you are too strong for your years. Let this be known: the Saturnian sire at times knows the fates, and that Justice cares to lower from the sky whatever eyes are meant to defend right upon the earth.' 360

fors aderit lux illa tibi, qua moenia cernes
coniugis et geminas ibis regina per urbes.'
sic ait, et caro raptim se limine profert.
Tydea iam socium coeptis, iam pectore fido
aequantem curas (tantus post iurgia mentes 365
uinxit amor) socerumque adfatur tristis Adrastum.
fit mora consilio, cum multa mouentibus una
iam potior cunctis sedit sententia, fratris
pertemptare fidem tutosque in regna precando
explorare aditus.

perhaps that light will be present for you, by which you will behold the walls of your husband and go, a queen, through twin cities.'
thus she speaks, and swiftly from the threshold puts forth her dear person.
Tydean now an ally to the enterprises, now in a faithful heart
matching his cares (so great a love bound their minds after quarrels 365
) and sad Adrastus addresses his father-in-law.
A delay arises in council, when many, urging together,
now one opinion, superior to all, has settled: to test the brother's fidelity and, by entreaty, to reconnoiter safe approaches into the kingdoms.

audax ea munera Tydeus 370
sponte subit; nec non et te, fortissime gentis
Aetolum, multum lacrimis conata morari
Deipyle, sed iussa patris tutique regressus
legato iustaeque preces uicere sororis.
iamque emensus iter siluis ac litore durum, 375

bold Tydeus of his own accord takes on those gifts 370
and likewise you, most brave of the Aetolian line, Deipyle, who strove much to delay him with tears, yet the orders of her father and the envoy’s safe return and her sister’s just prayers prevailed over her attempts to detain; and now, having measured the road through woods and along the rugged shore, 375

qua Lernaea palus, ambustaque sontibus alte
intepet hydra uadis, et qua uix carmine raro
longa sonat Nemea nondum pastoribus ausis,
qua latus Eoos Ephyres quod uergit ad Euros
Sisyphiique sedent portus irataque terrae                380
curua Palaemonio secluditur unda Lechaeo.
hinc praeteruectus Nisum et te, mitis Eleusin,
laeuus abit, iamque arue gradu Teumesia et arces
intrat Agenoreas; ibi durum Eteoclea cernit
sublimem solio saeptumque horrentibus armis.                385
iura ferus populo trans legem ac tempora regni
iam fratris de parte dabat; sedet omne paratus
in facinus queriturque fidem tam sero reposci.
    constitit in mediis (ramus manifestat oliuae
legatum) causasque uiae nomenque rogatus                390

where the Lernaean marsh lies, and where the hydra, scorched and seething in foul shallows, boils high;
and where long Nemea sounds with a song rarely ventured by shepherds, not yet dared,
and where the flank of Ephyra that faces the East and the Eurus lies, and the harbors of Sisyphus sit, and the land, enraged, is shut off from the Palaemonian wave by the curved Lechaeum sea;                380
from here, having been sailed past Nisus and you, gentle Eleusis, the leftward course departs, and now with measured step enters the Teumesian plain and the Agenorean heights;
there he perceives stern Eteocles, lofty on the throne and fenced with bristling arms.                385
the savage was already assigning laws to the people beyond law and the seasons of the realm on his brother’s part; he sits ready for every crime and complains that faith is reclaimed so late.
    he stopped in the midst (a branch of olive betrays the envoy) and, asked, declared the causes of the journey and its name                390

edidit; utque rudis fandi pronusque calori
semper erat, iustis miscens tamen aspera coepit:
'si tibi plana fides et dicti cura maneret
foederis, ad fratrem completo iustius anno
legatos hinc ire fuit teque ordine certo                395
fortunam exuere et laetum descendere regno,
ut uagus ille diu passusque haud digna per urbes
ignotas pactae tandem succederet aulae.
sed quia dulcis amor regni blandumque potestas,
posceris: astriferum iam uelox circulus orbem                400
torsit et amissae redierunt montibus umbrae,
ex quo frater inops ignota per oppida tristes
exul agit casus; et te iam tempus aperto
sub Ioue ferre dies terrenaque frigora membris
ducere et externos summissum ambire penates.                405

he declared; and since he was raw of speaking and prone to heat
and always was, yet mingling harshness with just things he began:
'if plain faith and the care of the spoken word had remained to you
of the pact, when the year was completed it would have been more just
for envoys to go from here to your brother and for you, by ordered rank                395
to put off fortune and descend to a joyous kingdom,
so that that wanderer long endured and having passed through cities
not at all worthy might at last succeed to the agreed palace.
but because the sweet love of reign and the flattering power,
you are demanded: the swift star-bearing circle already turned the orb                400
and the shadows of the mountains returned, lost,
since when the brother, impoverished, through unknown towns sad
drives exile's fortunes; and now the time, with heaven exposed,
under Jupiter to bear days and earthly colds in your limbs
and to lead and humbly seek external penates has come upon you.                405

pone modum laetis; satis ostro diues et auro
conspicuus tenuem germani pauperis annum
risisti; moneo, regnorum gaudia temet
dedoceas patiensque fugae mereare reuerti.'
    dixerat. ast illi tacito sub pectore dudum                410
ignea corda fremunt, iacto uelut aspera saxo
comminus erigitur serpens, cui subter inanes
longa sitis latebras totumque agitata per artus
conuocat in fauces et squamea colla uenenum:
'cognita si dubiis fratris mihi iurgia signis                415
ante forent nec clara odiorum arcana paterent,
sufficeret uel sola fides, qua toruus et illum
mente gerens (ceu saepta nouus iam moenia laxet
fossor et hostiles inimicent classica turmas)
praefuris. in medios si comminus orsa tulisses                420

Put bounds upon your joys; rich enough in purple and gold
and conspicuous, you derided the slender years of your poor brother;
I warn you, unteach yourself the pleasures of kingdoms
and deserve to return, patient in flight.'
She had spoken. But within him, long since under his silent breast,410
fiery hearts roar; like a serpent flung up by a harsh stone
and raised to close quarters, beneath which empty
long thirst conceals secret lairs and, shaken through all his limbs,
summons venom to the jaws and the scaly neck:
'If, by doubtful signs, my brother's quarrels had been known beforehand
and the clear secrets of hatreds had not been revealed,
faith alone would have sufficed, by which, stern and bearing him
in mind (as a new digger now loosens enclosed walls
and the war-trumpets set hostile companies at variance)
you would have raged beforehand. If you had undertaken to bring
your hand-to-hand onset into the midst'420

Bistonas aut refugo pallentes sole Gelonos,
parcior eloquio et medii reuerentior aequi
inciperes. neque te furibundae crimine mentis
arguerim: mandata refers. nunc omnia quando
plena minis, nec sceptra fide nec pace sequestra 425
poscitis, et propior capulo manus, haec mea regi
Argolico, nondum aequa tuis, uice dicta reporta:
quae sors iusta mihi, quae non indebitus annis
sceptra dicauit honos, teneo longumque tenebo:
te penes Inachiae dotalis regia dono 430
coniugis, et Danaae (quid enim maioribus actis
inuideam?) cumulentur opes.

Bistones or Geloni, pale from the sun's recoil,
you would begin more sparing in speech and more reverent of the middle and the just;
nor would I indict you of a frenzy of mind: you bring back the mandates. Now, since
you demand all things full of threats, asking neither sceptres by faith nor peace as pledge 425
and with your hand nearer the hilt, bring these my words to the Argolic king,
not yet equal to yours, and report them in turn:
what just lot is mine, what honour the sceptres have pronounced on me not unduly by years,
I hold and will hold long:
may the royal dowry of an Inachian wife be yours as a gift, and may the riches of Danae (for why 430
should I begrudge ancestral deeds?) be heaped upon you.

felicibus Argos
auspiciis Lernamque regas: nos horrida Dirces
pascua et Euboicis artatas fluctibus oras,
non indignati miserum dixisse parentem 435

to fortunate Argos
and to the regal Lernē under auspices: we, the dreadful Dirces' pastures
and shores hemmed in by Euboean waves,
not unwilling to have called our parent wretched 435

Oedipoden: tibi larga (Pelops et Tantalus auctor!)
nobilitas, propiorque fluat de sanguine iuncto
Iuppiter. anne feret luxu consueta paterno
hunc regina larem? nostrae cui iure sorores
anxia pensa trahant, longo quam sordida luctu 440
mater et ex imis auditus forte tenebris
offendat sacer ille senex.

Oedipodes: to you abundant nobility (Pelops and Tantalus the author!)
and may Jupiter flow nearer from blood joined
to you. Or will the queen bear this hearth, accustomed to paternal luxury?
for whom our sisters with rightful claim draw anxious threads, whom the mother, sullied by long grief, 440
and that sacred old man, heard perhaps from the lowest darkness,
may be offended.

iam pectora uulgi
adsueuere iugo: pudet heu plebisque patrumque:
ne totiens incerta ferant mutentque gementes
imperia et dubio pigeat parere tyranno. 445
non parcit populis regnum breue; respice quantus
horror et attoniti nostro in discrimine ciues.
hosne ego, quis certa est sub te duce poena, relinquam?
iratus, germane, uenis.

now the hearts of the crowd have grown accustomed to the yoke:
it shames, alas, both the plebs and the fathers:
that they should so often bear and change, groaning, uncertain
commands, and that it be distasteful to obey a dubious tyrant. 445
he will not spare the peoples — his rule will not be brief; behold how great
the horror and the citizens, struck dumb, at our crisis.
Shall I, whose punishment is certain under you as leader, leave these behind?
You come angry, brother.

fac uelle: nec ipsi,
si modo notus amor meritique est gratia, patres 450

Let him will it: nor do even the fathers,
if only love is known and grace of merit exists,

reddere regna sinent.' non ultra passus et orsa
iniecit mediis sermonibus obuia: 'reddes,'
ingeminat 'reddes; non si te ferreus agger
ambiat aut triplices alio tibi carmine muros
Amphion auditus agat, nil tela nec ignes 455
obstiterint, quin ausa luas nostrisque sub armis
captiuo moribundus humum diademate pulses.
tu merito; ast horum miseret, quos sanguine uiles
coniugibus natisque infanda ad proelia raptos
proicis excidio, bone rex. o quanta Cithaeron 460
funera sanguineusque uadis, Ismene, rotabis!

'they would allow you to give back the kingdoms.' He did not endure further, and in the midst of the speech he tossed in, meeting him: 'you will give back,'
he repeats, 'you will give back; not if some iron rampart should surround you
or Amphion, heard, should with another song build triple walls for you,
neither spears nor fires would have stood in the way, but having dared you would pay and, dying captive under our arms,
you would strike the ground with your diadem. You deserve it; but pity those whom, vile with blood,
you hurl to infamous battles snatched from their wives and children,
you cast forth to destruction, good king. O what funerals on Cithaeron
and what blood‑stained roads you will roll, Ismene! 455

haec pietas, haec magna fides! nec crimina gentis
mira equidem duco: sic primus sanguinis auctor
incestique patrum thalami; sed fallit origo:
Oedipodis tu solus eras, haec praemia morum 465

this piety, this great faith! nor do I indeed count the crimes of the line wonderful: thus the first author of blood and of the fathers' incestuous chamber; but the origin deceives: you alone were of Oedipus, these rewards of manners 465

ac sceleris, uiolente, feres! nos poscimus annum!
sed moror.' haec audax etiamnum in limine retro
uociferans, iam tunc impulsa per agmina praeceps,
euolat.

and you will bear the violence of the crime! we demand a year! but I delay.' this audacious woman, still shouting back from the threshold,
then already driven headlong through the ranks, flies forth.

Oeneae uindex sic ille Dianae
erectus saetis et aduncae fulmine malae,                470
cum premeret Pelopea phalanx, saxa obuia uoluens
fractaque perfossis arbusta Acheloia ripis,
iam Telamona solo, iam stratum Ixiona linquens
te, Meleagre, subit: ibi demum cuspide lata
haesit et obnixo ferrum laxauit in armo.                475
talis adhuc trepidum linquit Calydonius heros
concilium infrendens, ipsi ceu regna negentur,
festinatque uias ramumque precantis oliuae
abicit. attonitae tectorum e limine summo
aspectant matres, saeuoque infanda precantur                480

Thus that avenger of Oeneus, raised like Diana with bristles and the bent bolt of ill,                470
while the Pelopaean phalanx pressed on, rolling opposing rocks
and the groves of Achelous’ banks pierced and broken through,
now upon Telamon’s ground, now leaving the prostrate Ixion,
he, Meleager, comes upon you: there at last his broad spear stuck
and, having braced, he relaxed the iron in his harness.                475
thus the Calydonian hero yet abandons the trembling assembly,
gnashing at the council, as if kingdoms were denied to him,
and hastens from the roads and casts away the suppliant olive-branch.
From the highest threshold the astonished mothers look forth from their roofs,
and with savage prayers beg the unspeakable.                480

Oenidae tacitoque simul sub pectore regi.
nec piger ingenio scelerum fraudisque nefandae
rector eget. iuuenum fidos, lectissima bello
corpora, nunc pretio, nunc ille hortantibus ardens
sollicitat dictis, nocturnaque proelia saeuus 485
instruit, et (sanctum populis per saecula nomen)
legatum insidiis tacitoque inuadere ferro
(quid regnis non uile?) cupit.

Oeneids, and at once under the king's silent breast.
nor does the ruler lack a keen wit for crimes and nefarious fraud.
he seeks faithful youths, bodies choicest for war,
now with pay, now he—burning as he urges them on—
tempts with words, and the savage man prepares nocturnal battles 485
and (a name hallowed to peoples through the ages)
wishes to send a legate to attack with ambushes and the silent sword
(what is not base for kingdoms?) he desires.

quas quaereret artes
si fratrem, Fortuna, dares? o caeca nocentum
consilia! o semper timidum scelus!

what arts would he seek
if you, Fortune, would grant a brother? O blind counsels of the guilty!
O ever-timid crime!

exit in unum 490
plebs ferro iurata caput: ceu castra subire
apparet aut celsum crebris impulsibus urbis
inclinare latus, densi sic agmine facto
quinquaginta altis funduntur in ordine portis.
macte animi, tantis dignus qui crederis armis! 495

the people go forth as one 490
their leader sworn by iron: as when it appears to assault a camp
or to bend the city's lofty flank with repeated blows,
and thus, a dense column having been formed,
fifty are hurled down in rank at the high gates.
Macte animi, worthy you who are entrusted with such mighty arms! 495

    fert uia per dumos propior, qua calle latenti
praecelerant densaeque legunt compendia siluae.
lecta dolis sedes: gemini procul urbe malignis
faucibus urguentur colles, quos umbra superni
montis et incuruis claudunt iuga frondea siluis                500
(insidias natura loco caecamque latendi
struxit opem), mediasque arte secat aspera rupes
semita, quam subter campi deuexaque latis
arua iacent spatiis. contra importuna crepido,
Oedipodioniae domus alitis; hic fera quondam                 505
pallentes erecta genas suffusaque tabo
lumina, concretis infando sanguine plumis
reliquias amplexa uirum semesaque nudis
pectoribus stetit ossa premens uisuque trementi
conlustrat campos, si quis concurrere dictis                510

    the road bears nearer through brambles, by which on a hidden track
the dense woods hurry on and choose their shortcuts.
a lair chosen by snares: twin hills, far from the city, are pressed upon by malignant
jaws, which the shade of the high
mount and the curved ridges shut in with leafy woods                500
(nature has fashioned ambushes for the place and the blind help of lurking),
and by craft it cuts a rough path through the middle of the crags —
under which the fields and the sloping broad plains lie stretched out in ranges.
Opposite, on an inhospitable ridge, the house of the Oedipodionian bird; here once                505
a wild thing, cheeks raised pale and her eyes suffused with gore,
feathers congealed with unspeakable blood,
embracing the remnants of men and half-eaten bones upon her naked
breasts she stood, pressing the bones, and with a trembling look
scans the fields, to see if anyone would rush together to the place aforesaid                510

hospes inexplicitis aut comminus ire uiator
audeat et dirae commercia iungere linguae;
nec mora, quin acuens exertos protinus ungues
liuentesque manus fractosque in uulnere dentes
terribili applausu circum hospita surgeret ora;                515
et latuere doli, donec de rupe cruenta
(heu simili deprensa uiro!) cessantibus alis
tristis inexpletam scopulis adfligeret aluum.
monstrat silua nefas: horrent uicina iuuenci
gramina, damnatis auidum pecus abstinet herbis.                520
non Dryadum placet umbra choris non commoda sacris
Faunorum, diraeque etiam fugere uolucres
prodigiale nemus. tacitis huc gressibus acti
deueniunt peritura cohors, hostemque superbum
adnixi iaculis et humi posita arma tenentes                525

let no guest with unbound hair or traveler dare to go up close
or to join in commerce with a dreadful tongue; nor delay, but sharpening exposed claws straightway
the livid hands and teeth broken in the wound with a terrible clap
would rise around the guest’s face; and the plots lay hidden, until from the bloody cliff
(ah, caught by a like man!) with wings ceasing
the sad one dashed its unfilled belly upon the rocks. the wood reveals the crime: the neighboring grasses bristle for the oxen,
the doomed flock refrains from eager herbage. neither the Dryads’ shade suits their dances nor the sacred rites of the Fauns,
and even dire birds flee the portentous grove. driven hither with silent steps
arrive a band doomed to perish, and, leaning on javelins and holding weapons set upon the ground, 525

expectant, densaque nemus statione coronant.
coeperat umenti Phoebum subtexere palla
Nox et caeruleam terris infuderat umbram.
ille propinquabat siluis et ab aggere celso
scuta uirum galeasque uidet rutilare comantes, 530
qua laxant rami nemus aduersaque sub umbra
flammeus aeratis lunae tremor errat in armis.

they wait, and the thick grove crowns them with a station.
Moist Night had begun to weave Phoebus beneath a pall
and had shed a dark-blue shadow over the lands.
he drew near the woods and from the high rampart
sees the shields of men and crested helmets glinting red, 530
where the grove loosens its boughs, and under the opposite shade
a fiery tremor, like a bronze moon, wanders over the armour.

obstipuit uisis, ibat tamen, horrida tantum
spicula et inclusum capulo tenus admouet ensem,
ac prior 'unde, uiri, quidue occultatis in armis?' 535
non humili terrore rogat. nec reddita contra
uox, fidamque negant suspecta silentia pacem.
ecce autem uasto Cthonii contorta lacerto,
quo duce freta cohors, fuscas interuolat auras
hasta; sed audenti deus et fortuna recessit. 540

he stood amazed at what he saw, yet went on, brandishing only dreadful spear-points
and moves the sword, sheathed up to the hilt, and the first: 'Whence, man, and why do you conceal these things in your arms?' 535
does not ask in humble terror. Nor is a voice returned in answer,
and suspicious silences deny trusted peace. But behold, a spear hurled from the vast Chthonic arm,
by whose leadership the cohort had been urged, cleaves through the dusky airs;
yet to the daring man both god and fortune withdrew. 540

per tamen Olenii tegimen suis atraque saetis
terga super laeuos umeros uicina cruori
effugit et uiduo iugulum ferit inrita ligno.
tunc horrere comae sanguisque in corda gelari.
huc ferus atque illuc animum pallentiaque ira 545
ora ferens (nec tanta putat sibi bella parari):
'ferte gradum contra campoque erumpite aperto!

yet through Olenius’ covering with his own black bristles
he fled over the backs and left shoulders near the blood
and smites the throat; the wood proves vain.
then the hairs bristle and the blood congeals in the heart.
hither and thither he bears his spirit and his pallid, anger-beset face 545
(nor does he think so great a war is being prepared for him):
'advance your step and break forth into the open plain!'

quis timor audendi, quae tanta ignauia? solus,
solus in arma uoco.' neque in his mora; quos ubi plures,
quam ratus, innumeris uidet excursare latebris, 550
hos deire iugis, illos e uallibus imis
crescere, nec paucos campo, totumque sub armis
conlucere iter (ut clausas indagine profert
in medium uox prima feras), quae sola medendi
turbata ratione uia est, petit ardua dirae 555

what fear of daring, what great ignavia? 'Alone, alone I call to arms.' Nor is there delay in these; but when he sees more than he supposed, he sees them issue forth from innumerable lairs far and wide, some descend from the ridges, others spring up from the lowest valleys, and not a few onto the plain, and the whole road glitters beneath arms (as the first voice drives the beasts enclosed in the snare into the open), which alone, with reason of healing disturbed, is a way sought; he makes for the lofty heights of the dire 550

Sphingos et abscisis infringens cautibus uncas
exuperat iuga dura manus, scopuloque potitus,
unde procul tergo metus et uia prona nocendi,
saxum ingens, quod uix plena ceruice gementes
uertere humo et muris ualeant inferre iuuenci,                560
rupibus auellit; dein toto sanguine nixus
sustinet, inmanem quaerens librare ruinam,
qualis in aduersos Lapithas erexit inanem
magnanimus cratera Pholus. stupet obuia leto
turba superstantem atque emissi turbine montis                 565
obruitur; simul ora uirum, simul arma manusque
fractaque commixto sederunt pectora ferro.
quattuor hic adeo disiecti mole sub una
congemuere, fuga tremefactum protinus agmen
excutitur coeptis. neque enim temnenda iacebant                570

Sphinxes, breaking off hooked talons from torn rocks,
the hand overcomes hard ridges, and having gained the cliff,
whence from far behind a fear and a path prone to harming,
a huge rock, which scarcely with full necks groaning
young bulls could overthrow to the ground and bear to the walls,                560
he rends from the crags; then, leaning on his whole blood, he sustains,
seeking to poise the monstrous ruin,
such as magnanimous Pholus raised, an empty bowl, against the opposing Lapiths. The throng,
meeting death, stands aghast and the mountain hurled in a whirlwind                565
overwhelms him; at once the faces of men, at once their arms and hands
and chests, mingled with broken iron, sank. Four here, so scattered, under one mass
groaned together; the column, shaken and panic-struck by flight, at once
is shaken from its beginnings. For those lying down were not to be despised                570

funera: fulmineus Dorylas, quem regibus ardens
aequabat uirtus, Martisque e semine Theron
terrigenas confisus auos, nec uertere cuiquam
frena secundus Halys, sed tunc pedes occubat aruis,
Pentheumque trahens nondum te Phaedimus aequo,                575
Bacche, genus. quorum ut subitis exterrita fatis
agmina turbatam uidit laxare cateruam,
quae duo sola manu gestans adclinia monti
fixerat, intorquet iacula et fugientibus addit.
mox in plana libens, nodo ne pectore tela                580
inciderent, saltu praeceps defertur et orbem,
quem procul oppresso uidit Therone uolutum,
corripuit, tergoque et uertice tegmina nota
saeptus et hostili propugnans pectora parma
constitit. inde iterum densi glomerantur in unum                585

funeral slaughter: lightning-like Dorylas, whose burning virtue matched kings,
and Theron sprung from Mars’ seed, trusting in earth-born grandsires,
and Halys, second to none in rein-holding, yet then lies prostrate with feet on the fields,
and dragging Pentheus — not yet did Phaedimus match you, Bacchus, in kin —                575
whose ranks, terrified by sudden fates, he saw unloosing the routed throng,
which, bearing with a single hand the slopes leaning to the mountain
he had fixed, he hurls spears and adds them to the fleeing.
Soon, glad to be on the plains, lest the weapons fall into a knot upon his chest,                580
he is borne headlong by a leap and seizes the round shield,
which, rolled afar by the crushed Theron, he caught up,
and, wrapped about his back and head in his familiar cloak
and defending his breast with a hostile parma, he stood firm. Thence again the dense masses cluster into one                585

Ogygidae firmantque gradum; trahit ocius ensem
Bistonium Tydeus, Mauortia munera magni
Oeneos, et partes pariter diuisus in omnes
hos obit atque illos ferroque micantia tela
decutit; impeditant numero seque ipsa uicissim                590
arma premunt, nec uis conatibus ulla, sed ipsae
in socios errare manus et corpora turba
inuolui prolapsa sua; manet ille ruentes
angustus telis et inexpugnabilis obstat.
non aliter Getica (si fas est credere) Phlegra                595
armatum inmensus Briareus stetit aethera contra,
hinc Phoebi pharetras, hinc toruae Pallados angues,
inde Pelethroniam praefixa cuspide pinum
Martis, at hinc lasso mutata Pyracmoni temnens
fulmina, cum toto nequiquam obsessus Olympo                600

the Ogygids steady their step; Tydeus of Biston draws his sword more swiftly
and Mauortis' gifts of great Oeneus, and, divided alike in every part,
he goes at these and those and knocks flashing weapons from the spear-shafts;
they hinder one another by number and press their very arms in turn,590
nor is there any force against their efforts, but the hands and bodies
themselves, having slipped, are entangled in the throng of their comrades; he stands, rushing,
narrow to missiles and unassailable he opposes.
not otherwise did Getic (if it is right to believe) Phlegra
an immense armed Briareus stand against the ether,595
here the quivers of Phoebus, there the grim serpents of Pallas,
there the pine of Pelethron set with the spearpoint of Mars,
and here scorning the thunder changed to weary Pyracmon's forge,
when in vain besieging all Olympus he was blocked about,600

tot queritur cessare manus: non segnior ardet
huc illuc clipeum obiectans, seque ipse recedens
circumit; interdum trepidis occurrit et instat
spicula deuellens, clipeo quae plurima toto
fixa tremunt armantque uirum; saepe aspera passus                605
uulnera, sed nullum uitae in secreta receptum
nec mortem sperare ualet. rotat ipse furentem
Deilochum, comitemque illi iubet ire sub umbras
Phegea sublata minitantem bella securi
Dircaeumque Gyan et Echionium Lycophonten.                610
iam trepidi sese quaerunt numerantque, nec idem
caedis amor, tantamque dolent rarescere turbam.
    ecce Chromis Tyrii demissus origine Cadmi
(hunc utero quondam Dryope Phoenissa grauato
rapta repente choris onerisque oblita ferebat,                615

so he complains that his hands are slackening: he burns not less, hurling his shield this way and that,
and retiring he turns about himself; at times he meets the frightened and presses on,
tearing off spears, very many of which fixed in the whole shield tremble
and arm the man; often having suffered harsh wounds                605
he cannot withdraw to the retreats of life nor hope for death. He himself whirls the raging
Deilochus, and orders his companion to go beneath the shadows
Phegea, brandishing the threatening axe of war,
and Dircaean Gyan and Echionian Lycophontes.                610
now the frightened seek themselves and count their number, nor is the same
love of slaughter, and they grieve that the throng is thinning so much.
    Look—Chromis of Tyre, sprung from the stock of Cadmus,
(which Dryope the Phoenician once, burdened with pregnancy,
had carried, suddenly snatched away from a womb and forgetful of choirs and burdens,                615

dumque trahit prensis taurum tibi cornibus, Euhan,
procidit impulsus nimiis conatibus infans)
tunc audax iaculis et capti pelle leonis
pinea nodosae quassabat robora clauae
increpitans: 'unusne, uiri, tot caedibus, unus 620
ibit ouans Argos? uix credet fama reuerso!
heu socii, nullaene manus, nulla arma ualebunt?

while he drags the bull, seized by the horns for you, Euhan,
the boy, driven down by too great exertions, falls prostrate)
then daring with javelins and with the skin of the captured lion
he shook the trunks of knotted pine with a club,
crying out: 'Shall one man, O men, with so many slayings, one 620
go home rejoicing to Argos? Hardly will report believe his return!
alas, comrades, will no hand, will no arms be of any avail?'

haec regi promissa, Cydon, haec, Lampe, dabamus?'
dum clamat, subit ore cauo Teumesia cornus,
nec prohibent fauces; atque illi uoce repleta 625
intercepta natat prorupto in sanguine lingua.
stabat adhuc, donec transmissa morte per artus
labitur inmorsaque cadens obmutuit hasta.
uos quoque, Thespiadae, cur infitiatus honora
arcuerim fama?

Were we promising these things to the king, Cydon, these, Lampe?'
while he cries out, the Teumesian horn enters with hollow mouth,
nor do the jaws restrain it; and, its voice full, 625
the tongue, cut off, swims in the gush of blood.
he still stood, until death sent through his limbs
glides him down, and the spear, fixed in him, falling, was silenced.
you too, Thespiadae, why — by denying honors — have I been shut off from fame?

fratris moribunda leuabat 630

the dying woman was lifting her brother 630

membra solo Periphas (nil indole clarius illa
nec pietate fuit), laeua marcentia colla
sustentans dextraque latus; singultibus artum
exhaurit thoraca dolor, nec uincla coercent
undantem fletu galeam, cum multa gementi 635
pone grauis curuas perfringit lancea costas
exit et in fratrem cognataque pectora telo
conserit. ille oculos etiamnum in luce natantes
sistit et aspecta germani morte resoluit.
at cui uita recens et adhuc in uulnere uires 640
'hos tibi complexus, haec dent' ait 'oscula nati.'
procubuere pares fatis, miserabile uotum
mortis, et alterna clauserunt lumina dextra.

Periphas' limbs upon the ground (she was in nothing more bright in character
nor in piety), sustaining with his left her withering neck
and with his right her side; with sobs pain exhausts
his chest, nor do the bonds restrain the helmet wet
with weeping, when with many groans 635
from behind a heavy spear breaks her curved ribs,
comes forth and fixes in his brother and the kinswoman's breast
is planted. He still sets his eyes, swimming in light,
and loosens his gaze at the sight of his brother by death.
but to him whose life is fresh and whose strength is yet in the wound 640
'these embraces to you, these,' he says, 'give the kisses of a son.'
The matched pair fell by fates, a pitiable vow
of death, and with alternating right hands they closed their eyes.

protinus idem ultro iaculo parmaque Menoeten
proterrebat agens trepidis uestigia retro 645

straightaway the same man, of his own accord, with javelin and parma was terrifying Menoetes,
driving his trembling footsteps backward 645

passibus urguentem, donec defecit iniqua
lapsus humo, pariterque manus distractus in ambas
orat et a iugulo nitentem sustinet hastam:
'parce per has stellis interlabentibus umbras,
per superos noctemque tuam; sine tristia Thebis                650
nuntius acta feram uulgique per ora pauentis
contempto te rege canam: sic inrita nobis
tela cadant, nullique tuum penetrabile ferro
pectus, et optanti uictor reueharis amico.'
dixerat. ille nihil uultum mutatus 'inanes                655
perdis' ait 'lacrimas; et tu (ni fallor) iniquo
pollicitus mea colla duci: nunc arma diemque
proice; quid timidae sequeris compendia uitae?
bella manent.' simul haec et crassum sanguine telum
iam redit; ille super dictis infensus amaris                660

pressing with his steps, until by an unlucky slip he failed to the ground, and, his hands torn apart on both sides, he begs and sustains the gleaming spear at his throat:
'spare, through these shadows that glide with the stars,
by the gods above and by your night; without sad tidings to Thebes 650
I will bear the deeds as messenger and will sing them through the mouths of a fearing crowd,
with you despising the king: thus let our weapons fall useless,
and let no iron pierce your breast, and as victor be borne back to your longing friend.'
he had spoken. He, his face changed in no wise, replies, 'you squander
vain tears,' he says, 'and you (if I am not mistaken) promised to have my neck led into unjust bondage:
now cast away arms and the day; why do you, timorous, seek the shortcuts of life?
wars remain.' At once these words and the spear thick with blood
already return; he, enraged at these bitter sayings 660

prosequitur uictos: 'non haec trieterica uobis
nox patrio de more uenit, non orgia Cadmi
cernitis aut auidas Bacchum scelerare parentes.
nebridas et fragiles thyrsos portare putastis
imbellem ad sonitum maribusque incognita ueris 665
foeda Celaenaea committere proelia buxo?
hic aliae caedes, alius furor: ite sub umbras,
o timidi paucique!' haec intonat; ast tamen illi
membra negant, lassusque ferit praecordia sanguis.

he pursues the conquered: 'this triennial night has not come to you
by your ancestral custom, you do not behold the orgies of Cadmus
nor see Bacchus ravishing greedy parents.
nebridas and fragile thyrsi you thought to bear,
an unwarlike mistletoe to the sound and to the seas unknown to true rites 665
or to wage foul battles with Celaenaean boxwood?
here other slaughter, another frenzy: go beneath the shadows,
O fearful and few!' thus he thunders; but nevertheless they
deny their limbs, and exhausted blood smites his breast.

iam sublata manus cassos defertur in ictus, 670
tardatique gradus, clipeum nec sustinet umbo
mutatum spoliis; gelidus cadit imber anhelo
pectore, tum crines ardentiaque ora cruentis
roribus et taetra morientum aspergine manant:
ut leo, qui campis longe custode fugato 675

now, his hand raised, he is borne into empty blows, 670
and with slow steps, the shield no longer bears the boss
changed by plunder; a cold rain falls on his panting breast,
then his hair and blazing face run with crimson dews
and flow with the foul spray of those dying:
like a lion, which, the guardian routed far from the fields 675

Massylas depastus oues, ubi sanguine multo
luxuriata fames ceruixque et tabe grauatae
consedere iubae, mediis in caedibus astat
aeger, hians, uictusque cibis; nec iam amplius irae
crudescunt: tantum uacuis ferit aera malis                680
molliaque eiecta delambit uellera lingua.
    ille etiam Thebas spoliis et sanguine plenus
isset et attonitis sese populoque ducique
ostentasset ouans, ni tu, Tritonia uirgo,
flagrantem multaque operis caligine plenum                685
consilio dignata uirum: 'sate gente superbi
Oeneos, absentes cui dudum uincere Thebas
adnuimus, iam pone modum nimiumque secundis
parce deis: huic una fides optanda labori.
fortuna satis usus abi.' restabat acerbis                690

Massylas, having fed on sheep, where with much blood
luxuriant hunger and necks weighed down with corruption
the manes sat, stands amid the slaughter
sick, gaping, and bereft by victuals; nor now any longer do his
angers grow raw: only he smites the air with empty jaws                680
and with soft fleeces cast out laps them with his tongue.
    he moreover, full of spoils and blood,
would have gone to Thebes and, exulting, displayed himself
to the astonished people and leader, had you not, Tritonian virgin,
deigned by counsel the man: 'sown from a proud
line, Oeneus'—to whom, though absent, we long ago assented to conquer Thebes—
now put aside measure and spare the gods for excessive success:
to this one man alone let faith be wished for the labor.
Fortune, having had enough, depart.' Bitter things remained                690

funeribus socioque gregi non sponte superstes
Haemonides (ille haec praeuiderat, omina doctus
aeris et nulla deceptus ab alite) Maeon,
nec ueritus prohibere ducem, sed fata monentem
priuauere fide. uita miserandus inerti                695
damnatur; trepido Tydeus inmitia mandat:
'quisquis es Aonidum, quem crastina munere nostro
manibus exemptum mediis Aurora uidebit,
haec iubeo perferre duci: cinge aggere portas,
tela noua, fragiles aeuo circum inspice muros,                700
praecipue stipare uiros densasque memento
multiplicare acies! fumantem hunc aspice late
ense meo campum: tales in bella uenimus.'
    haec ait, et meritae pulchrum tibi, Pallas, honorem
sanguinea de strage parat, praedamque iacentem                705

surviving unwillingly the funerals and his companion host
Haemonides (Maeon — he had foreseen these things, learned in the omens of the air
and deceived by no bird), nor fearing to restrain the leader, but fate, while he warned,
deprived him of credence. His life, pitiable, is condemned to idle                695
doom; anxious Tydeus commands harsh things:
'whoever you are of the Aonians, whom tomorrow by our gift
Dawn will see taken away from the midst by hands,
I order that you carry these things to the leader: gird the gates with an earthen rampart,700
above all remember to crowd men together and to multiply dense battle-lines!
behold, far and wide, this field smoking with my sword: such are we come to wars.'
    thus he spoke, and prepares for you, Pallas, a fair honor deserved,
from the bloody slaughter, and the spoil lying there                705

comportat gaudens ingentiaque acta recenset.
quercus erat tenerae iam longum oblita iuuentae
aggere camporum medio, quam plurimus ambit
frondibus incuruis et crudo robore cortex.
huic leues galeas perfossaque uulnere crebro                710
inserit arma ferens, huic truncos ictibus enses
subligat et tractas membris spirantibus hastas.
corpora tunc atque arma simul cumulata superstans
incipit (oranti nox et iuga longa resultant):
'diua ferox, magni decus ingeniumque parentis,                715
bellipotens, cui torua genis horrore decoro
cassis, et asperso crudescit sanguine Gorgon,
nec magis ardentes Mauors hastataque pugnae
impulerit Bellona tubas, huic adnue sacro,
seu Pandionio nostras inuisere caedes                720

he joyfully gathers them and recounts the mighty deeds.
There stood an oak, long now forgetful of tender youth,
in the midden of the fields, which most fully surrounds
with curved leaves and a bark of fresh-grown strength.                710
to which he sets light helmets and arms pierced by frequent wounds, bearing weapons; to this he fastens trunks with blows, swords,
and drags spears to its breathing limbs. Then, standing over piled bodies and arms together,
he begins (to the suppliant the night and the long ridges answer):
'ferocious goddess, glory and genius of a great sire,                715
mighty in war, to whom a grim helmet lends horror as a grace upon the cheeks,
and the Gorgon, sprinkled with blood, grows yet bloodier,
no more would blazing Mars and Bellona, roused to spear-fight, have urged on the battle-tubes;
grant this to her in the sacred shrine, whether at Pandion's rites our slaughter has been seen                720

monte uenis, siue Aonia deuertis Itone
laeta choris, seu tu Libyco Tritone repexas
lota comas qua te biiugo temone frementem
intemeratarum uolucer rapit axis equarum:
nunc tibi fracta uirum spolia informesque dicamus                725
exuuias. at si patriis Porthaonis aruis
inferar et reduci pateat mihi Martia Pleuron,
aurea tunc mediis urbis tibi templa dicabo
collibus, Ionias qua despectare procellas
dulce sit, et flauo tollens ubi uertice pontum                730
turbidus obiectas Achelous Echinadas exit.
hic ego maiorum pugnas uultusque tremendos
magnanimum effingam regum, figamque superbis
arma tholis, quaeque ipse meo quaesita reuexi
sanguine, quaeque dabis captis, Tritonia, Thebis.                735

whether you come to the mountain, or turn aside to Aonian Itone
joyful in choruses, or, Tritonia, you pluck back your hair washed by the Libyan Triton
which the double-yoked helm, the rushing axle of unharnessed horses, snatches away,
now let us sing to you the broken spoils of men and shapeless exuviae                725
But if I may carry them into the native fields of Porthaon
and if Martial Pleuron may be open to their return to me,
then I will dedicate golden temples to you amid the city’s hills,
where it is sweet to look down upon Ionian storms,
and where, lifting the sea with a blond summit, the turbid Achelous issues against the Echinades isles.                730
Here I will portray the battles and awe-striking visages of my ancestors,
I will fix proud arms on your domes, and the arms which I myself recovered by my blood,
and those which you will give, Tritonia, to captured Thebes.                735

centum ibi uirgineis uotae Calydonides aris
Actaeas tibi rite faces et ab arbore casta
nectent purpureas niueo discrimine uittas,
peruigilemque focis ignem longaeua sacerdos
nutriet, arcanum numquam spretura pudorem. 740
tu bellis, tu pace feres de more frequentes
primitias operum, non indignante Diana.'
dixerat, et dulces iter instaurabat ad Argos.

there, at a hundred maidenly altars vowed by the Calydonides,
they duly weave for you Actaean torches and from the chaste tree
bind purple fillets with a snowy border,
and an aged priestess will foster the ever-watchful fire on the hearths,
never rejecting the secret modesty of the rite. 740
you, in war and in peace, will, according to custom, bear frequent
first-fruits of works, Diana not deeming it unworthy.'
she had spoken, and renewed the sweet journey to Argos.