Statius: THEBAID

Tertius horrentem zephyris laxauerat annum
Phoebus et angusto cogebat limite uernum
longius ire diem, cum fracta impulsaque fatis
consilia et tandem miseri data copia belli.
prima manu rutilam de uertice Larisaeo 5
ostendit Bellona facem dextraque trabalem
hastam intorsit agens, liquido quae stridula caelo
fugit et Aoniae celso stetit aggere Dirces.
mox et castra subit ferroque auroque coruscis
mixta uiris turmale fremit; dat euntibus enses, 10
plaudit equos, uocat ad portas; hortamina fortes
praeueniunt, timidisque etiam breuis addita uirtus.

Tertius Phoebus had loosened the year bristling with zephyrs
and urged the spring to go farther on its narrow highway,
when counsels, broken and driven by the Fates, and at last the ample opportunity of wretched war were given.
Bellona first with her hand showed a gleaming torch from the Larisaean summit 5
and, brandishing a long shaft, she hurled it with her right, which, whistling through the clear air,
flew and stood upon Dirce’s high Aonian bank. Soon she approaches the camp, and it rustles with men mixed with flashing iron and gold;
she gives swords to those going, 10
she smites the horses, she summons them to the gates; ardent exhortations anticipate the brave,
and to the timid even a brief courage is added.

dicta dies aderat. cadit ingens rite Tonanti
Gradiuoque pecus, nullisque secundus in extis
pallet et armatis simulat sperare sacerdos. 15

the appointed day was at hand. A vast flock falls, in due rite, to the Thunderer and to Gradivus,
and, second to none in reading the entrails, the priest grows pale and feigns to hope for the armed. 15

iamque suos circum pueri nuptaeque patresque
funduntur mixti summisque a postibus obstant.
nec modus est lacrimis: rorant clipeique iubaeque
triste salutantum, et cunctis dependet ab armis
suspiranda domus; galeis iuuat oscula clausis 20
inserere amplexuque truces deducere conos.
illi, quis ferrum modo, quis mors ipsa placebat,
dant gemitus fractaeque labant singultibus irae.

and now boys, brides, and fathers pour themselves round their own,
mingled together and standing in the highest doorways.
There is no limit to tears: shields and crests drip
with the sad greeting, and from all the arms hangs
a house to be sighed for; it pleases to press kisses into closed helms 20
and by embrace to draw down the fierce cones.
Those men — one who but now loved the iron, another to whom death itself was pleasing —
send forth groans, and broken sobs of wrath sink away.

sic ubi forte uiris longum super aequor ituris,
cum iam ad uela noti et scisso redit ancora fundo, 25
haeret amica manus: certant innectere collo
bracchia, manantesque oculos hinc oscula turbant,
hinc magni caligo maris, tandemque relicti
stant in rupe tamen; fugientia carbasa uisu
dulce sequi, patriosque dolent crebrescere uentos. 30

thus when by chance the men were to go far over the sea,
and now the anchor, known to the sails and torn, returns to the bottom, 25
a friendly hand clings: they strive to entwine arms about the neck,
and kisses, wetting their eyes, bewilder here,
there the great gloom of the sea, and at last, left behind,
they nevertheless stand upon the rock; to the sight the fleeing sails are sweet to follow,
and they grieve that the fatherland’s winds increase. 30

[stant tamen et nota puppim de rupe salutant.]
    nunc mihi, Fama prior mundique arcana Vetustas,
cui meminisse ducum uitasque extendere curae,
pande uiros, tuque, o nemoris regina sonori,
Calliope, quas ille manus, quae mouerit arma                35
Gradiuus, quantas populis solauerit urbes,
sublata molire lyra: neque enim altior ulli
mens hausto de fonte uenit. rex tristis et aeger
pondere curarum propiorque abeuntibus annis
inter adhortantes uix sponte incedit Adrastus,                40
contentus ferro cingi latus; arma manipli
pone ferunt, uolucres portis auriga sub ipsis
comit equos, et iam inde iugo luctatur Arion.
huic armat Larisa uiros, huic celsa Prosymna,
aptior armentis Midea pecorosaque Phlius,                45

[they nevertheless stand and hail the well-known stern of the ship from the cliff.]
    Now to me, Fame first, and Age, the secrets of the world,
to whom it is a care to remember leaders and to prolong lives,
unfold the men, and you, O Calliope, queen of the sounding grove,
what those hands were, what arms Gradiuus moved                35
what cities, how many, he relieved for peoples,
set up the lyre: for no higher mind to any
comes from the draught of the spring. The king, sad and sick
with the weight of cares and nearer to departing years,
among those exhorting him scarcely walks willingly, Adrastus,                40
content to gird his side with iron; they bear their arms in the maniple behind;
a swift charioteer under the very gates accompanies the horses, and thence Arion already struggles with the yoke.
To this Larisa arms men, to that lofty Prosymna,
more fit for herds Midea, and Phlius rich in flocks,                45

quaeque pauet longa spumantem ualle Charadron
Neris, et ingenti turritae mole Cleonae
et Lacedaemonium Thyrea lectura cruorem.
iunguntur memores transmissi ab origine regis,
qui Drepani scopulos et oliuiferae Sicyonis                50
culta serunt, quos pigra uado Langia tacenti
lambit et anfractu riparum incuruus Elisson.
saeuus honos fluuio: Stygias lustrare seueris
Eumenidas perhibetur aquis; huc mergere suetae
ora et anhelantes poto Phlegethonte cerastas,                55
seu Thracum uertere domos, seu tecta Mycenes
impia Cadmeumue larem; fugit ipse natantes
amnis, et innumeris liuescunt stagna uenenis.
it comes Inoas Ephyre solata querelas
Cenchreaeque manus, uatum qua conscius amnis                60

and she who fears the foaming Charadron in its long valley of Neris,
and Cleona, towered with a huge mass,
and Thyrea of Lacedaemon, marked by slaughter.
they are joined, mindful, sent across from the king’s origin,
who sow the cliffs of Drepanum and the cultivated lands of olive-bearing Sicyon                50
which the sluggish Langia laps in its silent ford and the Elisson, curved in the meander of the banks.
a fierce honor to the river: it is said to cleanse the Stygian Eumenides in its stern waters; hither are wont
to plunge their mouths and the panting horned ones after drinking Phlegethon,                55
whether to overturn the homes of the Thracians, or the impious roofs of Mycenae or the Cadmean household;
the stream itself flees from swimmers, and the pools grow livid with innumerable poisons.
with it goes the company of Inoas, Ephyre who has eased complaints, and the hand of Cenchreae, by which river the seer is privy                60

Gorgoneo percussus equo, quaque obiacet alto
Isthmos et a terris maria inclinata repellit.
haec manus Adrastum numero ter mille secuti
exultant; pars gaesa manu, pars robora flammis
indurata diu (non unus namque maniplis                65
mos neque sanguis) habent, teretes pars uertere fundas
adsueti uacuoque diem praecingere gyro.
ipse annis sceptrisque subit uenerabilis aeque:
ut possessa diu taurus meat arduus inter
pascua iam laxa ceruice et inanibus armis,                70
dux tamen: haud illum bello attemptare iuuencis
sunt animi; nam trunca uident de uulnere multo
cornua et ingentes plagarum in pectore nodos.
    proxima longaeuo profert Dircaeus Adrasto
signa gener, cui bella fauent, cui commodat iras                75

Struck by a Gorgonean horse, and wherever the high
Isthmi lie opposite and repel seas bent from the lands.
this band, having followed Adrastus in the number of three thousand,
exult; some with gaesa in hand, some with timbers long
hardened by flames have (for neither custom nor blood is one for maniples),65
some smooth in turning slings,
accustomed to gird the day with an empty whirl.
he himself, venerable alike in years and scepters, advances:
as a bull long possessed roams lofty among pastures now lax in neck
and with hollow horns, yet a leader: his spirit is not to be tried by young bulls in war;
for they see his horns truncated from many a wound
and huge knots of blows upon his chest.
nearby the Dircaean son brings forth to aged Adrastus
the standards of his son-in-law, to whom wars favor, to whom he entrusts his wrath 75

cuncta cohors: huic et patria de sede uolentes
aduenere uiri, seu quos mouet exul (et haesit
tristibus aucta fides), seu quis mutare potentes
praecipuum, multi, melior quos causa querenti
conciliat; dederat nec non socer ipse regendas                80
Aegion Arenenque, et quas Theseia Troezen
addit opes, ne rara mouens inglorius iret
agmina, neu raptos patriae sentiret honores.
idem habitus, eadem arma uiro, quae debitus hospes
hiberna sub nocte tulit: Teumesius implet                85
terga leo et gemino lucent hastilia ferro,
aspera uulnifico subter latus ense riget Sphinx.
iam regnum matrisque sinus fidasque sorores
spe uotisque tenet, tamen et de turre suprema
attonitam totoque extantem corpore longe                90

The entire cohort: to him also men, willing to come from their native seat, whether those whom exile stirs (and increased loyalty clings to the sorrowful), or some to overturn the powerful preeminence, many whom a better cause reconciles to the plaintiff; nor had his father-in-law himself failed to give Aegion and Arenen to govern, and the riches which Theseian Troezen adds, lest, moving his troops, he go inglorious, nor feel the honors of his robbed fatherland. The same garb, the same arms upon the man which the indebted guest bore beneath the winter night: a Theumesian lion fills his back and spears gleam with twin iron, beneath his flank the Sphinx bristles with a wound-dealing sword. Now he holds his kingdom and his mother’s bosom and faithful sisters in hope and vows; yet also from the highest tower he beholds her astonished, her whole body standing forth far off. 90

respicit Argian; haec mentem oculosque reducit
coniugis et dulces auertit pectore Thebas.
    ecce inter medios patriae ciet agmina gentis
fulmineus Tydeus, iam laetus et integer artus,
ut primae strepuere tubae: ceu lubricus alta                95
anguis humo uerni blanda ad spiramina solis
erigitur liber senio et squalentibus annis
exutus laetisque minax interuiret herbis:
a miser, agrestum si quis per gramina hianti
obuius et primo fraudauerit ora ueneno.                100
huic quoque praesentes Aetolis urbibus adfert
belli fama uiros: sensit scopulosa Pylene
fletaque cognatis auibus Meleagria Pleuron
et praeceps Calydon et quae Ioue prouocat Iden
Olenos Ioniis et fluctibus hospita portu                105

she looks back to Argian shores; this draws back the mind and eyes
of her husband and turns sweet Thebes from her heart.
    behold amid the midst of his fatherland he raises the ranks of the people—
the thunder-struck Tydeus, now joyful and whole of limbs,
as when the first trumpets clamoured: like a slippery high
snake of spring from the earth, flattering to the sun’s breath,
it rises freed from senility and the years foul with age,
cast off, and menacing it grows green among joyous herbs:
ah wretch, if any rustic, gaping through the grasses,
had met him and first deceived his face with venom.
    to this man also the present fame of war brings
men from the Aetolian cities: rock-girt Pylene felt it,
and Meleagria Pleuron, weeping for kinsmen,
and headlong Calydon and Iden, which challenges Jove,
Olenos, and Ionia, guest to waves and harbour                105

Chalcis et Herculea turpatus gymnade uultus
amnis; adhuc imis uix truncam attollere frontem
ausus aquis glaucoque caput summersus in antro
maeret, anhelantes aegrescunt puluere ripae.
omnibus aeratae propugnant pectora crates,                110
pilaque saeua manu; patrius stat casside Mauors.
undique magnanimum pubes delecta coronant
Oeniden, hilarem bello notisque decorum
uulneribus; non ille minis Polynicis et ira
inferior, dubiumque adeo cui bella gerantur.                115
    maior at inde nouis it Doricus ordo sub armis,
qui ripas, Lyrcee, tuas, tua litora multo
uomere suspendunt, fluuiorum ductor Achiuum,
Inache (Persea neque enim uiolentior exit
amnis humo, cum Taurum aut Pliadas hausit aquosas                120

Chalcis and the river, his visage dishonored by Herculean gymnastic feats;
still scarcely daring to lift his truncated brow from the lowest waters, his head submerged in a glaucous cave he mourns, and the banks grow sick, panting with dust.
with bronzed breastplates all defend their wickerworks, and savage balls in hand; ancestral Mars stands with helmet.                110
from every side the magnanimous youth, chosen, crown Oeneis, merry in war and made splendid by familiar wounds;
he is not inferior to Polynices in threats and anger, and so uncertain indeed is to whom wars shall be waged.                115
    but greater thence goes the Doric host under new arms,
who, Lyrcaeus, suspend your banks, your shores with many a plough, leader of Achaean rivers,
Inachus (for Persea — for no stream more violent issues from the ground, when it drained the watery Taurus or the Pleiades)                120

spumeus et genero tumuit Ioue), quos celer ambit
Asterion Dryopumque trahens Erasinus aristas,
et qui rura domant Epidauria (dexter Iaccho
collis at Hennaeae Cereri negat); auia Dyme
mittit opem densasque Pylos Neleia turmas;                125
nondum nota pylos iuuenisque aetate secunda
Nestor, et ire tamen peritura in castra negauit.
hos agitat pulchraeque docet uirtutis amorem
arduus Hippomedon; capiti tremit aerea cassis
ter niueum scandente iuba, latus omne sub armis                130
ferrea suta terunt, umeros ac pectora late
flammeus orbis habet, perfectaque uiuit in auro
nox Danai: sontes Furiarum lampade nigra
quinquaginta ardent thalami; pater ipse cruentis
in foribus laudatque nefas atque inspicit enses.                135

foaming and swollen with Jove as sire), which the swift Asterion embraces,
and Erasinus dragging Dryopian ears, the rivers;
and those who tame the Epidaurian fields (a hill right to Iacchus
but denied to Hennaean Ceres); remote Dyme sends aid and Neleian Pylos dense squadrons;                125
Pylos not yet famed and Nestor in the second flower of youth,
and yet he refused to go, though doomed to perish, into the camp.
these Hippomedon urges and teaches the love of fair valor;
a brazen helmet thrice trembles on his head as the snowy plume rises,
they grate iron seams over every flank beneath his arms,                130
a flaming circlet widely girds his shoulders and his breast,
and the Danaans' night lives perfected in gold:
guilty bridechambers, fifty, burn with the black torch of the Furies;
the father himself at the blood-stained thresholds praises the crime and surveys the swords.                135

illum Palladia sonipes Nemeaeus ab arce
deuehit arma pauens umbraque inmane uolanti
implet agros longoque attollit puluere campum.
non aliter siluas umeris et utroque refringens
pectore montano duplex Hylaeus ab antro                140
praecipitat: pauet Ossa uias, pecudesque feraeque
procubuere metu; non ipsis fratribus horror
afuit, ingenti donec Peneia saltu
stagna subit magnumque obiectus detinet amnem.
    quis numerum ferri gentesque et robora dictu                145
aequarit mortale sonans? suus excit in arma
antiquam Tiryntha deus; non fortibus illa
infecunda uiris famaue inmanis alumni
degenerat, sed lapsa situ fortuna, neque addunt
robur opes; rarus uacuis habitator in aruis                150

that Palladian horse-footed Nemean from the citadel bears him off; fearing, and with a monstrous shadow flying, he fills the fields and uplifts the plain with a long dust.
no less likewise Hylaeus, twofold, breaking the woods with his shoulders and mountain breast,
hurls down from his cavern: Ossa dreads the ways, and flocks and wild beasts sank down with fear;
horror did not fail even the brothers themselves, until the Peneian leap submerges the pools
and the mass hurled restrains the mighty river.
who can set in words the measure of iron and the nations and the strengths to be told, 145
the mortal clang? the Tirynthian god rouses his own to arms; that stock does not degenerate in brave men nor as monstrous scion of renown;
but fallen in estate by fortune, nor do riches add strength; a rare dweller on empty fields 150

monstrat Cyclopum ductas sudoribus arces.
dat tamen haec iuuenum tercentum pectora, uulgus
innumerum bello, quibus haud ammenta nec enses
triste micant: flauae capiti tergoque leonum
exuuiae, gentilis honos; et pineus armat 155
stipes, inexhaustis artantur tela pharetris.
Herculeum paeana canunt uastataque monstris
omnia; frondosa longum deus audit ab Oeta.

shows the Cyclopes’ citadels, hewn by sweat.
yet these furnish the hearts of three hundred youths, a countless host for war,
for whom neither spears nor swords gleam mournfully:
the tawny spoils of lions for head and back, a hereditary honour; and a pine
staff arms them, their shafts supplied from inexhaustible quivers. 155
they sing a Herculean paean and all things wasted by monsters;
the god, from leafy Oeta, long hears it.

dat Nemea comites, et quas in proelia uires
sacra Cleonaei cogunt uineta Molorchi. 160
gloria nota casae, foribus simulata salignis
hospitis arma dei, paruoque ostenditur aruo,
robur ubi et laxos qua reclinauerit arcus
ilice, qua cubiti sedeant uestigia terra.
at pedes et toto despectans uertice bellum 165

Nemea gives comrades, and those strengths which the sacred vineyards of Cleonaean Molorchus force into battles. 160
the household’s well-known glory, the god’s arms feigned at the guest’s willow-thresholds,
and are displayed on a little plot of land, where the oak has laid down both its trunk and the relaxed bows
and where traces of elbows may sit upon the earth. but with his feet and, with his whole crown looking down, he scorns war 165

quattuor indomitis Capaneus erepta iuuencis
terga superque rigens iniectu molis aenae
uersat onus; squalet triplici ramosa corona
Hydra recens obitu: pars anguibus aspera uiuis
argento caelata micat, pars arte reperta                170
conditur et fuluo moriens nigrescit in auro;
circum amnis torpens et ferro caerula Lerna.
at laterum tractus spatiosaque pectora seruat
nexilis innumero Chalybum subtemine thorax,
horrendum, non matris, opus; galeaeque corusca                175
prominet arce Gigans; atque uni missilis illi
cuspide praefixa stat frondibus orba cupressus.
huic parere dati, quos fertilis Amphigenia
planaque Messene montosaque nutrit Ithome,
quos Thryon et summis ingestum montibus Aepy,                180

Capaneus, having seized four untamed heifers, rigid from the cast of brazen weight upon their backs and above, turns the burden;
a branching, threefold crown bristles — the Hydra, recent in death:
part, harsh with live serpents, gleams with silver inlay, part, found by art,170
is buried and, dying, blackens into tawny gold;
around it the sluggish river and Lerna blue with iron.
But a Chalybean thorax, woven with countless thongs beneath its warp, preserves the drawn-out sides and spacious chests,
a dreadful work, not of a mother; and helmets glittering jut from the Giant’s citadel;175
and for that one there stands a leafless cypress, its summit fitted with a thrown spear-point.
To this one are set to obey those whom fertile Amphigenia and the plain Messene and mountained Ithome nourish,
whom Thryon and Aepy, heaped on their high mountains,180

quos Helos et Pteleon, Getico quos flebile uati
Dorion; hic fretus doctas anteire canendo
Aonidas mutos Thamyris damnatus in annos
ore simul citharaque (quis obuia numina temnat?)
conticuit praeceps, qui non certamina Phoebi                185
nosset et inlustres Satyro pendente Celaenas.
    iamque et fatidici mens expugnata fatiscit
auguris; ille quidem casus et dira uidebat
signa, sed ipsa manu cunctanti iniecerat arma
Atropos obrueratque deum, nec coniugis absunt                190
insidiae, uetitoque domus iam fulgurat auro.
hoc aurum uati fata exitiale monebant
Argolico; scit et ipsa (nefas!), sed perfida coniunx
dona uiro mutare uelit, spoliisque potentis
inminet Argiae raptoque excellere cultu.                195

whom Helos and Pteleon, whom Dorion bewailed to the Getic seer;
this one, relying on his skill to surpass the learned in song,
Thamyris, condemned for years to silence the Ao(n)id Muses,
was struck dumb at once in mouth and lyre (who would scorn opposing the gods?)
he fell silent headlong, he who did not know Phoebus’ contests                185
and the famous Celaenae, Satyr hanging, he would not have famed.     and now the mind of the prophet, overthrown, slackens
the augur’s; he indeed saw the catastrophe and dire
omens, but Destiny itself had cast weapons into the hesitating hand,
Atropos had overwhelmed the god, and the snares of the husband are not absent,                190
and the house already shines with forbidden gold.
this gold the fates warned would be deadly for the prophet
to the Argolic man; she herself knows it (a shame!), yet the treacherous wife
wishes to change gifts for her husband, and threatens the spoils of the powerful
to excel in Argive display and by plundered adornment.                195

illa libens (nam regum animos et pondera belli
hac nutare uidet, pariter si prouidus heros
militet) ipsa sacros gremio Polynicis amati
exuerat cultus haud maesta atque insuper addit:
'non haec apta mihi nitidis ornatibus' inquit                200
'tempora, nec miserae placeant insignia formae
te sine: sat dubium coetu solante timorem
fallere et incultos aris aduerrere crines.
scilicet (infandum!), cum tu claudare minanti
casside ferratusque sones, ego diuitis aurum                205
Harmoniae dotale geram? dabit aptius isto
fors decus, Argolicasque habitu praestabo maritas,
cum regis coniunx, cum te mihi sospite templa
uotiuis implenda choris; nunc induat illa
quae petit et bellante potest gaudere marito.'                210

She willingly (for she sees that the minds of kings and the scales of war are swayed by this, if a provident hero serves) herself had slipped the sacred robes into the bosom of Polynices, the beloved, not sorrowful, and added besides:
'These times are not fit for me for bright adornments,' she said 200
'nor may the insignia of fair beauty please the wretched one apart from you; it is enough to cheat my doubtful fear by a relieving company and to turn my unkempt hair to the altars. Surely (unspeakable!), when you sound, threatening, with your helmet closed and you clank armed in iron, shall I bear the wealthy gold, Harmonia’s dowry? Fortune will give a fame more apt than that, and I will present Argive brides with a bridal garb, when, as queen wife, with you safe to me, the temples are to be filled with votive choirs; now let that woman wear what she seeks and be able to rejoice in a husband at war.' 210

sic Eriphylaeos aurum fatale penates
inrupit scelerumque ingentia semina mouit,
et graue Tisiphone risit gauisa futuris.
Taenariis hic celsus equis, quam dispare coetu
Cyllarus ignaro generarat Castore prolem, 215
quassat humum; uatem cultu Parnasia monstrant
uellera: frondenti crinitur cassis oliua,
albaque puniceas interplicat infula cristas.
arma simul pressasque iugo moderatur habenas.

thus fatal gold burst into Eriphyle’s penates and stirred up the mighty seeds of crimes,
and stern Tisiphone laughed, rejoicing in the things to come.
Here, lofty on Taenarus with horses, whom, unequal in union, Cyllarus, unaware, had begotten as offspring for Castor,215
shook the ground; they show the prophetess the Parnassian vellus by her attire: a leafy olive crowns the flowing helmet,
and a white fillet weaves among the purple crests. At once she governs the arms and the reins pressed on the yoke.

hinc atque inde morae iaculis, et ferrea curru 220
silua tremit; procul ipse graui metuendus in hasta
eminet et clipeo uictum Pythona coruscat.
huius Apollineae currum comitantur Amyclae,
quos Pylos et dubiis Malea uitata carinis
plaudentique habiles Caryae resonare Dianae, 225

here and there delays of javelins, and the iron wood trembles at the chariot 220
afar he himself, grim and to be feared, towers upon a heavy spear
and makes the conquered Python flash upon his shield.
the Amyclaeans accompany the chariot of this Apolline one,
whom Pylos and the wavering-keeled Malea, their prows having turned aside,

quos Pharis uolucrumque parens Cythereia Messe,
Taygetique phalanx et oloriferi Eurotae
dura manus. deus ipse uiros in puluere crudo
Arcas alit nudaeque modos uirtutis et iras
ingenerat; uigor inde animis et mortis honorae 230
dulce sacrum. gaudent natorum fata parentes
hortanturque mori, deflent iamque omnis ephebum
turba, coronato contenta est funere mater.

whom Pharis and the winged mother Cythereia Messe,
and the phalanx of Taygetus and the stern hand of swan-bearing Eurotas,
the god himself nourishes Arcas in the raw dust
and engendered bare patterns of virtue and of wrath;
from that comes vigor for souls and the honors of death, 230
a sweet sacrament. The parents rejoice in the fates of their sons
and exhort them to die; and now the whole throng laments the youth,
the mother content with a funeral crowned.

frena tenent duplexque inserto missile nodo,
exerti ingentes umeros, chlamys horrida pendet, 235
et cono Ledaeus apex. non hi tibi solum,
Amphiarae, merent: auget resupina maniplos
Elis, depressae populus subit incola Pisae,
qui te, flaue, natant, terris Alphee Sicanis
aduena tam longo non umquam infecte profundo. 240

they hold the reins and a double strap with a knot inserted,
great shoulders thrust forth, a shaggy chlamys hangs, 235
and a Ledaean cone-shaped apex. These men are not deserving of you alone,
Amphiaraus: Elis, lying back, increases the bands,
the humbled people, the inhabitant of Pisa advances,
who, O fair-haired one, swims to you, a stranger to the Sicilian lands of the Alpheus,
never before so long tried in the deep.

curribus innumeris late putria arua lacessunt
et bellis armenta domant: ea gloria genti
infando de more et fractis durat ab usque
axibus Oenomai; strident spumantia morsu
uincula, et effossas niueus rigat imber harenas.                245
    tu quoque Parrhasias ignara matre cateruas
(a rudis annorum, tantum noua gloria suadet!),
Parthenopaee, rapis; saltus tunc forte remotos
torua parens (neque enim haec iuueni foret ire potestas)
pacabat cornu gelidique auersa Lycaei.                250
pulchrior haud ulli triste ad discrimen ituro
uultus et egregiae tanta indulgentia formae;
nec desunt animi, ueniat modo fortior aetas.
quas non ille duces nemorum fluuiisque dicata
numina, quas magno non abstulit igne Napaeas?                255

with innumerable chariots they harry the putrid fields far and wide
and by wars they tame the herds: that glory for a people
from an unspeakable custom and by broken axles endures even to Oenomaus;
the foaming bits grate with a bite, and a snowy shower waters the excavated sands.                245
    you too, Parrhasian, ignorant of your mother, seize bands
(a rawness of years, only new glory urges!),
Parthenopaeus, you carry off; then perhaps the stern mother pacified
the distant glades (for this were not a youth’s power to go)
with her horn and turned away from the icy Lycaean hill.                250
more beautiful than any about to face a mournful peril
is your countenance and so great indulgence of distinguished form;
nor does courage fail, provided a mightier age arrive.
whom did he not lead, those consecrated to the gods of woods and rivers,
whom did not great fire carry off, the Napaean nymphs?                255

ipsam, Maenalia puerum cum uidit in umbra,
Dianam, tenero signantem gramina passu,
ignouisse ferunt comiti, Dictaeaque tela
ipsam et Amyclaeas umeris aptasse pharetras.
prosilit audaci Martis percussus amore,                260
arma, tubas audire calens et puluere belli
flauentem sordere comam captoque referri
hostis equo: taedet nemorum, titulumque nocentem
sanguinis humani pudor est nescire sagittas.
igneus ante omnes auro micat, igneus ostro,                265
undantemque sinum nodis inrugat Hiberis,
imbelli parma pictus Calydonia matris
proelia; trux laeua sonat arcus, et aspera plumis
terga Cydonea gorytos harundine pulsat
electro pallens et iaspide clarus Eoa.                270

When she herself, in a Maenalian shade, saw the boy — Diana, marking the grasses with a tender footstep — they say she knew the companion, and had fitted upon him the Dictaean spear and the Amyclaean quivers on his shoulders. He springs up, struck by a bold love of Mars, eager for arms, to hear the trumpets and to soil his golden hair with the dust of battle and to be borne back on a captive enemy’s horse: he grows weary of the groves, and shame at injuring human blood is ignorant of arrows. Fiery above all he flashes with gold, fiery with purple, and fringes the flowing fold with Iberian knots; a small shield, painted with the wars of Calydonian mother, proclaims conflicts; the left-hand bow clangs fierce, and the gorytos’ rugged back, struck with a reed, rings with amber — pale and bright with jasper, the Eastern one.

cornipedem trepidos suetum praeuertere ceruos,
uelatum geminae deiectu lyncis et arma
mirantem grauioris heri, sublimis agebat,
dulce rubens uiridique genas spectabilis aeuo.
Arcades huic ueteres astris lunaque priores                275
agmina fida datis, nemorum quos stirpe rigenti
fama satos, cum prima pedum uestigia tellus
admirata tulit; nondum arua domusque nec urbes,
conubiisue modus; quercus laurique ferebant
cruda puerperia, ac populos umbrosa creauit                280
fraxinus, et feta uiridis puer excidit orno.
hi lucis stupuisse uices noctisque feruntur
nubila et occiduum longe Titana secuti
desperasse diem. rarescunt alta colonis
Maenala, Parthenium fugitur nemus, agmina bello                285

the horn-footed, wont to put to flight trembling stags,
veiled by the twin lynx’s fall and by arms,
marvelling at the weightier yesterday, he moved aloft,
sweetly blushing and notable in cheeks verdant with youth.
Arcades to him, ancient before stars and moon,                275
gave faithful cohorts, whom fame declares sprung from a hard stock of groves,
when the earth first bore the admired footprints of feet; not yet fields nor house nor cities,
nor measure of marriages; oaks and laurels were bringing forth raw births,
and the shady ash created peoples, and the fruitful green ash cast forth a boy as ornament.                280
these are said to have been stunned by the alternations of light and night,
to have followed clouds and the westward Titan afar
and to have despaired of the day. High Maenalus thins for settlers;
the Parthenian grove is fled, and bands are summoned to war                285

Rhipeque et Stratie uentosaque donat Enispe.
non Tegea, non ipsa deo uacat alite felix
Cyllene templumque Aleae nemorale Mineruae
et rapidus Clitor et qui tibi, Pythie, Ladon
paene socer candensque iugis Lampia niuosis                290
et Pheneos nigro Styga mittere credita Diti.
uenit et Idaeis ululatibus aemulus Azan
Parrhasiique duces, et quae risistis, Amores,
grata pharetrato Nonacria rura Tonanti,
diues et Orchomenos pecorum et Cynosura ferarum                295
Aepytios idem ardor agros Psophidaque celsam
uastat et Herculeo uulgatos robore montes,
monstriferumque Erymanthon et aerisonum Stymphalon.
Arcades hi, gens una uiris, sed dissona cultu
scinditur: hi Paphias myrtos a stirpe recuruant                300

Rhipe and Stratie and windy Enispe give their names.
not Tegea, not even Cyllene itself, lucky with its bird for the god,
nor the woodland temple of Alea of wise Minerva
and rapid Clitor, nor Ladon, who, Pythia, to you
was almost a father-in-law, nor Lampia white with snowy ridges                290
and Pheneos believed to be sent to black Dis by the Styx.
Azan comes too, rivaling Ida with his cries,
and the leaders of Parrhasia, and ye who laughed, Loves,
Nonacrian fields, pleasing to the thunderer with their quivers,
rich Orchomenus of flocks and Cynosura of beasts                295
the same ardor wastes the Aepytian fields and lofty Psophis
and the mountains famed for Herculean strength,
monstrous Erymanthus and the airy Stymphalus.
These Arcadians, one people in men, yet divided by differing worship,
some from the stock bow Paphian myrtles                300

et pastorali meditantur proelia trunco,
his arcus, his tela sudes, his cassida crines
integit, Arcadii morem tenet ille galeri,
ille Lycaoniae rictu caput asperat ursae.
hos belli coetus iurataque pectora Marti                305
milite uicinae nullo iuuere Mycenae;
funereae tunc namque dapes mediique recursus
solis, et hic alii miscebant proelia fratres.
    iamque Atalantaeas implerat nuntius aures
ire ducem bello totamque impellere natum                310
Arcadiam: tremuere gradus, elapsaque iuxta
tela; fugit siluas pernicior alite uento
saxa per et plenis obstantia flumina ripis,
qualis erat, correpta sinus et uertice flauum
crinem sparsa Noto; raptis uelut aspera natis                315

and they practise battles with a pastoral trunk,
to some bows, to some spears, to some stakes, to some helmets hair
covers, he observes the Arcadian fashion of the galerus,
that one roughens his head with the bite of a Lycaonian bear.
these bands of war and chests sworn to Mars                305
no neighboring Mycenaean soldier came to help them at all;
for then indeed funeral feasts and the return of the mid‑day sun
and here other brothers were mingling in battles.
    and now a messenger had filled Atalanta’s ears
that the leader was going to war and to drive forth his whole-born son                310
into Arcadia: the ranks trembled, and nearby their weapons slipped away
the woods fled with swifter-winged wind
rocks and rivers blocking the full banks,
such as was the bay, seized, and the golden hair
scattered from the summit by the South Wind; with the buttocks seized, as if harshly                315

praedatoris equi sequitur uestigia tigris.
ut stetit aduersisque impegit pectora frenis
(ille ad humum pallens): 'unde haec furibunda cupido,
nate, tibi? teneroque unde improba pectore uirtus?

the tiger follows the tracks of the marauder's horse.
when he halted and struck his breast with opposing reins
(that one, pale, to the ground): 'whence this raging cupidity, son, to you?
and whence, in your tender breast, this shameless virtue?'

tu bellis aptare uiros, tu pondera ferre 320
Martis et ensiferas inter potes ire cateruas?
quamquam utinam quires! nuper te pallida uidi,
dum premis obnixo uenabula comminus apro,
poplite succiduo resupinum ac paene ruentem;
et ni curuato torsissem spicula cornu, 325
nunc ubi bella tibi?

you, to fit men for wars, you to bear weights 320
to go among Mars’ and sword‑bearing companies?
though—would that you would ask!—not long ago I saw you pale,
while you pressed, leaning in, javelins at close quarters on a boar,
with the hamstring cut, lying on your back and almost collapsing;
and if I had not twisted the little spear on the curved horn, 325
now where are your wars?

nil te mea tela iuuabunt
nec teretes arcus maculis nec discolor atris
hic, cui fidis, equus; magnis conatibus instas,
uix Dryadum thalamis Erymanthiadumque furori
Nympharum mature puer. sunt omina uera: 330

none of my weapons will aid you
nor smooth bows with spots nor this horse, on whom you trust, variegated with black
you press on with great exertions,
scarcely a boy, prematurely given to the bridal-chambers of the Dryads and to the frenzy of the Erymanthian Nymphs.
the omens are true: 330

mirabar cur templa mihi tremuisse Dianae
nuper et inferior uultu dea uisa, sacrisque
exuuiae cecidere tholis; hoc segnior arcus
difficilesque manus et nullo in uulnere certae.
expecta dum maior honos, dum firmius aeuum, 335
dum roseis uenit umbra genis uultusque recedunt
ore mei; tunc bella tibi ferrumque, quod ardes,
ipsa dabo et nullo matris reuocabere fletu.
nunc refer arma domum!

I wondered why Diana’s temples had lately trembled for me
and the goddess was seen with a lowered countenance, and her sacred
vestments fell from the domes; for this my bow is more sluggish
and my hands reluctant and certain in no wound.
expect until greater honour, until life be firmer, 335
until a shadow comes to my rosy cheeks and my features withdraw
from my face; then I myself will give you wars and the sword for which you burn,
and you will not be recalled by any mother’s weeping.
now carry the arms home!

uos autem hunc ire sinetis,
Arcades, o saxis nimirum et robore nati?' 340
plura cupit; fusi circum natusque ducesque
solantur minuuntque metus, et iam horrida clangunt
signa tubae. nequit illa pio dimittere natum
complexu multumque duci commendat Adrasto.
at parte ex alia Cadmi Mauortia plebes, 345

will you, however, allow this man to go, Arcades, O surely born of rocks and of oak-strength? 340
he longs for more; the routed around — both youths and commanders — console and diminish fears, and now the dreadful signals of the trumpet blare.
she cannot from her pious embrace dismiss her son, and she entrusts him much to be led to Adrastus.
but on the other side the Mauortian populace of Cadmus, 345

maesta ducis furiis nec molli territa fama,
quando his uulgatum descendere uiribus Argos,
tardius illa quidem regis causaeque pudore,
uerum bella mouet. nulli destringere ferrum
impetus aut umeros clipeo clausisse paterno                350
dulce nec alipedum iuga comere, qualia belli
gaudia; deiecti trepidas sine mente, sine ira
promisere manus; hic aegra in sorte parentem
unanimum, hic dulces primaeuae coniugis annos
ingemit et gremio miseros adcrescere natos.                355
bellator nulli caluit deus; ipsa uetusto
moenia lapsa situ magnaeque Amphionis arces
iam fessum senio nudant latus, et fide sacra
aequatos caelo surdum atque ignobile muros
firmat opus. tamen et Boeotis urbibus ultrix                360

sad by the dux’s furies and not terrified by soft rumor,
since it was publicized that Argos had descended with these forces,
she indeed was slower through the king and the shame of his cause,
but she sets wars in motion. No onset to draw the sword
nor to close the shoulders with the paternal shield is sweet, nor to comb the bridles
of winged horses — such are the joys of war; cast down, trembling without mind, without anger,
they pledged their hands; this one, sick in her lot, laments a parent
unanimous, this one groans for the sweet years of his first wife
and for the miserable children growing in her lap. 355
no god grew bald for any warrior; she herself, her walls fallen by ancient decay
and the great citadels of Amphion now strip a flank weary with age, and sacred trust
made equal to heaven strengthens with work deaf and ignoble walls.
Yet also, avenger for the Boeotian cities 360

adspirat ferri rabies, nec regis iniqui
subsidio quantum socia pro gente mouentur.
ille uelut pecoris lupus expugnator opimi,
pectora tabenti sanie grauis hirtaque saetis
ora cruentata deformis hiantia lana,                365
decedit stabulis huc illuc turbida uersans
lumina, si duri comperta clade sequantur
pastores, magnique fugit non inscius ausi.
    accumulat crebros turbatrix Fama pauores:
hic iam dispersos errare Asopide ripa                370
Lernaeos equites, hic te, bacchate Cithaeron,
ille rapi Teumeson ait noctisque per umbras
nuntiat excubiis uigiles arsisse Plataeas.
nam Tyrios sudare lares et sanguine Dircen
inriguam fetusque nouos iterumque locutam                375

the frenzy of iron breathes upon them, nor are they moved so much by the aid of an unjust king
as by the allied people stirred on behalf of their race.
He, like a wolf that assaults the fat flock,
chests dripping with festering gore and heavy, bristling with hairs, a face bloodstained, misshapen, with wool gaping,                365
departs the stalls, wildly turning his eyes this way and that;
if shepherds are found to follow after the hardness of slaughter,
and not unknowing of the great boldness dared, he flees.
    Rumor, the disturber, heaps frequent alarms:
here now she says that dispersed men wander by the Asopus’ bank                370
Lernaean horsemen, here she cries, Bacchic Cithaeron, you, she says,
that Teumesus is snatched away, and through the shadows of night
announces that the sleepless sentinels have been set aflame at Plataea.
For she reports the Tyrian households sweating, the Dircean land watered with blood,
and offspring newly spoken of and spoken of again:                375

Sphinga petris, cui non et scire licentia passim
et uidisse fuit? nouus his super anxia turbat
corda metus: sparsis subito correpta canistris
siluestris regina chori decurrit in aequum
uertice ab Ogygio trifidamque huc tristis et illuc                380
lumine sanguineo pinum disiectat et ardens
erectam attonitis implet clamoribus urbem:
'omnipotens Nysaee pater, cui gentis auitae
pridem lapsus amor, tu nunc horrente sub Arcto
bellica ferrato rapidus quatis Ismara thyrso                385
pampineumque iubes nemus inreptare Lycurgo,
aut tumidum Gangen aut claustra nouissima Rubrae
Tethyos Eoasque domos flagrante triumpho
perfuris, aut Hermi de fontibus aureus exis:
at tua progenies, positis gentilibus armis                390

The Sphinx of stone — to whom was not permitted alike to know and to see abroad? A new fear besides disturbs anxious hearts: with baskets suddenly snatched and scattered the woodland queen of the chorus runs down onto the plain from Ogygian summit, and three‑forked she, sad this way and that, with blood‑red light rends the pine and, burning, fills the city, astonished, with cries:
'omnipotent Father of Nysa, to whom long since the love of the ancestral race fell, you now beneath the bristling North, swift with warlike iron, shake Ismarus with thy thyrsus, and bid the vine‑leafed grove creep upon Lycurgus; or, swelling, through the Ganges or the remotest barriers of the Red Tethys and the Eastern homes with blazing triumph you rage, or you emerge golden from Hermes’ springs: but your progeny, their gentilitial arms laid aside 390

quae tibi festa litant, bellum lacrimasque metumque
cognatumque nefas, iniusti munera regni,
pendimus. aeternis potius me, Bacche, pruinis
trans et Amazoniis ululatum Caucason armis
siste ferens, quam monstra ducum stirpemque profanam 395
eloquar. en urgues (alium tibi, Bacche, furorem
iuraui): similes uideo concurrere tauros;
idem ambobus honos unusque ab origine sanguis;
ardua conlatis obnixi cornua miscent
frontibus alternaque truces moriuntur in ira. 400
tu peior, tu cede, nocens qui solus auita
gramina communemque petis defendere montem.

which as festival rites they offer to you, war and tears and fear
and kinborn sacrilege, the unjust gifts of a kingdom,
we suspend. rather bear me, Bacche, across eternal frosts,
and over Amazonian arms the ululation of Caucasus,
than that I speak the monsters of commanders and profane lineage 395
aloud. behold, you urge on (to you I vowed another fury, Bacche):
I see like bulls collide together;
the same honour for both and one blood from the same origin;
striving, the upraised horns mingle when thrust together
they gore with brows and alternately the savage ones perish in wrath. 400
you are the worse, yield, guilty one who alone seeks
the ancestral grasses and to defend the common mountain.

a miseri morum! bellastis sanguine tanto
et saltum dux alter habet.' sic fata gelatis
uultibus et Baccho iam demigrante quieuit.                405
    at trepidus monstro et uariis terroribus impar
longaeui rex uatis opem tenebrasque sagaces
Tiresiae, qui mos incerta pauentibus, aeger
consulit. ille deos non larga caede iuuencum,
non alacri penna aut uerum salientibus extis,                410

a wretches of customs! you have waged wars with so great bloodshed
and another leader has the pasture.' Thus, with chilled faces
and Bacchus now departing, she was silent.                 405
    but the trembling king, unequal to the monster and its various terrors,
the long-lived rex of the seer anxiously sought the aid and the sagacious
darkness of Tiresias, whom, as is his custom, the fearful consulted about uncertainties, sick
he consulted. That man did not propitiate the gods by a lavish slaughter of heifers,
nor with a sprightly bird's wing, nor with entrails leaping true to the omen,                410

nec tripode implicito numerisque sequentibus astra,
turea nec supra uolitante altaria fumo
tam penitus, durae quam Mortis limite manes
elicitos, patuisse refert; Lethaeaque sacra
et mersum Ismeni subter confinia ponto                415
miscentis parat ante ducem, circumque bidentum
uisceribus laceris et odori sulphuris aura
graminibusque nouis et longo murmure purgat.
    silua capax aeui ualidaque incurua senecta,
aeternum intonsae frondis, stat peruia nullis                420
solibus; haud illam brumae minuere, Notusue
ius habet aut Getica Boreas impactus ab Vrsa.
subter operta quies, uacuusque silentia seruat
horror et exclusae pallet male lucis imago.
nec caret umbra deo: nemori Latonia cultrix                425

and he relates that neither the stars, entangled with the tripod and the ensuing numbers,
nor the altars with incense and smoke flying above so deeply, — so deeply that the shades, summoned at the boundary of stern Death, had laid themselves open; —
he prepares before the leader the Lethean rites and the borders plunged beneath the Ismenus' sea                415
and around he purges with the entrails torn by the bident and with a blast of sulphurous scent and with fresh herbs and a long murmur.
    a wood capacious of age and strong with curved senescence,
of everlasting unshorn foliage it stands, passable by no suns; nor does winter lessen it, nor has the South a right, nor Boreas, hurled from the Getic Ursa, to assail it.420
beneath is hidden rest, and horror keeps vacant silences
and the pale image of excluded light grows wan.
nor does it lack a shadow for the god: Latonia's worshipper of the grove                425

additur; hanc piceae cedrique et robore in omni
effictam sanctis occultat silua tenebris.
huius inaspectae luco stridere sagittae
nocturnique canum gemitus, ubi limina patrui
effugit inque nouae melior redit ora Dianae;                430
aut ubi fessa iugis, dulcesque altissima somnos
lux mouet, hic late iaculis circum undique fixis
effusam pharetra ceruicem excepta quiescit.
extra inmane patent, tellus Mauortia, campi;
fetus ager Cadmo, durus qui uomere primo                435
post consanguineas acies sulcosque nocentes
ausus humum uersare et putria sanguine prata
eruit; ingentes infelix terra tumultus
lucis adhuc medio solaque in nocte per umbras
expirat, nigri cum uana in proelia surgunt                440

it is added; a wood, throughout made of pitch-pine, cedar and every oak,
the sacred grove conceals in holy shadows.
From this unseen wood the whizzing of arrows and the wailing of night-dogs are heard, where it flees the threshold of the uncle
and returns to the better face of the new Diana; 430
or where, weary on the ridges, and where light disturbs the sweetest highest slumbers,
here, widely with javelins fixed all around, with the quiver thrown open having received the neck, she rests.
Outside vast lie open, the Martial fields;
the fruitful land of Cadmus, hardy, which, after the first share, dared to turn over the soil and to tear up meadows rotten with blood,435
harming the related ranks and furrows;
the unhappy earth brings forth mighty commotions,
even in the midst of daylight and also in the night breathes forth through shadows alone;
when black phantoms rise into vain battles 440

terrigenae; fugit incepto tremibundus ab aruo
agricola insanique domum rediere iuuenci.
    hic senior uates (Stygiis accommoda quippe
terra sacris, uiuoque placent sola pinguia tabo)
uelleris obscuri pecudes armentaque sisti                445
atra monet; quaecumque gregum pulcherrima ceruix
ducitur; ingemuit Dirce maestusque Cithaeron,
et noua clamosae stupuere silentia ualles.
tum fera caeruleis intexit cornua sertis
ipse manu tractans, notaeque in limite siluae                450
principio largos nouies tellure cauata
inclinat Bacchi latices et munera uerni
lactis et Actaeos imbres suadumque cruorem
manibus; aggeritur quantum bibit arida tellus.
trunca dehinc nemora aduoluunt, maestusque sacerdos                 455
tres Hecatae totidemque satis Acheronte nefasto
uirginibus iubet esse focos; tibi, rector Auerni,
quamquam infossus humo superat tamen agger in auras
pineus; hunc iuxta cumulo minor ara profundae
erigitur Cereri; frontes atque omne cupressus                460

the earth-born; the farmer, trembling, fled from the enterprise of the field, and the maddened yokes returned home.
here the old prophet (for the land fitted to Stygian rites indeed,
and while alive they delight only in fat corruption)
warns to halt the flocks and herds of dark fleece; whichever most beautiful neck
of the flocks is led; Dirce sighed and sorrowful Cithaeron,
and the newly clamorous valleys were struck dumb into silence.
then the beast himself, handling with his hand, wreathed his horns with blue garlands,
and, known at the wood’s boundary, at the beginning hollowed nine times in the earth,450
bends the abundant streams of Bacchus and the offerings of spring milk
and Actaean rains and the persuasive blood with its hands; a mound is heaped up as much as the dry earth drinks.
then trunks roll toward the groves, and the saddened priest
orders that there be three hearths of Hecate and as many unholy fires by Acheron for the maidens;
to you, ruler of Avernus, although buried in soil a pine mound nevertheless rises into the airs;
next to this, a smaller altar to deep Ceres is raised by the heap; boughs and every cypress 460

intexit plorata latus. iamque ardua ferro
signati capita et frugum libamine puro
in uulnus cecidere greges; tunc innuba Manto
exceptum pateris praelibat sanguen, et omnes
ter circum acta pyras sancti de more parentis                465
semineces fibras et adhuc spirantia reddit
uiscera, nec rapidas cunctatur frondibus atris
subiectare faces. atque ipse sonantia flammis
uirgulta et tristes crepuisse ut sensit aceruos
Tiresias (illi nam plurimus ardor anhelat                470
ante genas impletque cauos uapor igneus orbes)
exclamat (tremuere rogi et uox terruit ignem):
'Tartareae sedes et formidabile regnum
Mortis inexpletae, tuque, o saeuissime fratrum,
cui seruire dati manes aeternaque sontum                475

he wove a lamented flank with garments. And now on the steep places, the heads marked with iron
and the flocks, with a pure libation of grain, fell into the wound; then Manto, unwed,
poured the received blood from bowls, and all around three times they, after the custom of a holy parent, 465
rendered half-dead fibers and still breathing viscera from the seed, nor did they delay to place swift torches
beneath the dark leaves. And when Tiresias himself perceived that the shrubby thickets sounded with flames
and the sad heaps had crackled (for to him a very great heat pants before his cheeks
and the fiery vapor fills his hollow orbs), he cried aloud (the pyres trembled and his voice terrified the fire):
'Tartarean seat and fearsome kingdom
of unfulfilled Death, and thou, most cruel of brothers,
to whom the shades were given to serve and the eternal guilty rites of sin 475

supplicia atque imi famulatur regia mundi,
soluite pulsanti loca muta et inane seuerae
Persephones uulgusque caua sub nocte repostum
elicite, et plena redeat Styga portitor alno.
ferte simul gressus, nec simplex manibus esto                480
in lucem remeare modus; tu separe coetu
Elysios, Persei, pios, uirgaque potenti
nubilus Arcas agat; contra per crimina functis,
qui plures Erebo pluresque e sanguine Cadmi,
angue ter excusso et flagranti praeuia taxo,                485
Tisiphone, dux pande diem, nec lucis egentes
Cerberus occursu capitum detorqueat umbras.'
    dixerat, et pariter senior Phoebeaque uirgo
erexere animos; illi formidine nulla,
quippe in corde deus, solum timor obruit ingens                490

and he ministers to the punishments and the lowest royal offices of the world,
unseal, to him who knocks, the mute places and the hollow refuge of austere Persephone,
and draw forth the throng laid up beneath the hollow night,
and let the ferryman return to the full Styx with his alder-pole.
Advance your steps together, and let the manner of returning to light not be simple in your hands; 480
you, Perseus, separate the Elysian from the crowd, the pious; and let Arcas, cloud-bringing, drive them with his potent rod;
but for those who have suffered for crimes, who go the farther way to Erebus and the more from Cadmus’ blood,
with the snake shaken off three times and the blazing yew sent ahead,
Tisiphone, leader, disclose the day, nor let Cerberus, unneeding of light, by the meeting of his heads wrench away the shades.'
Thus he had spoken, and together the elder and the Phoebean maid raised their spirits; they, devoid of fear—since a god was indeed in their hearts—only a vast dread overwhelmed the lone one. 490

Oedipodioniden, uatisque horrenda canentis
nunc umeros nunc ille manus et uellera prensat
anxius inceptisque uelit desistere sacris.
qualis Gaetulae stabulantem ad confraga siluae
uenator longo motum clamore leonem 495
expectat firmans animum et sudantia nisu
tela premens; gelat ora pauor gressusque tremescunt,
quis ueniat quantusque, sed horrida signa frementis
accipit et caeca metitur murmura cura.
atque hic Tiresias nondum aduentantibus umbris: 500
'testor,' ait, 'diuae, quibus hunc saturauimus ignem
laeuaque conuulsae dedimus carchesia terrae,
iam nequeo tolerare moram.

Oedipodionide, and of the prophetess who chants dread things,
now he clasps her shoulders, now that hand and the fleeces he grasps,
anxious that he may will to cease from the sacred rites already begun.
such as a Gaetulian hunter, watching a lion stirred to the buttress of the wood
awaits with a long cry, steadying his spirit and pressing his sweat-damp weapons with effort; 495
fear chills his face and his steps tremble,
what sort he is and how great, but he takes the dreadful signs of the roaring one
and measures blind murmurs with anxious care.
and here Tiresias, the shades not yet come: 500
'I call,' he says, 'the goddesses to witness, by whom we have fed this fire
and to whom, the left hand having been torn, we gave the carchesia of the earth,
now I am no longer able to endure delay.

cassusne sacerdos
audior? an, rabido iubeat si Thessala cantu,
ibitis? et, Scythicis quotiens medicata uenenis 505

Am I heard as a vain priest?
Or, if he bid with a Thessalian, rabid chant, will you go?
and how often, medicated with Scythian poisons 505

Colchis aget, trepido pallebunt Tartara motu?
nostri cura minor, si non attollere bustis
corpora nec plenas antiquis ossibus urnas
egerere et mixtos caelique Erebique sub unum
funestare deos libet aut exanguia ferro 510
ora sequi atque aegras functorum carpere fibras?
ne tenues annos nubemque hanc frontis opacae
spernite, ne, moneo: et nobis saeuire facultas.

Will Colchis act, will Tartarus grow pale at the trembling motion?
our care is less, if we do not raise from pyres the bodies
nor urns full of ancient bones
to bring forth and to mingle the gods of heaven and Erebus into one
to devastate the gods or to follow bloodless faces with iron 510
and to pursue and pluck the sick fibres of the dead?
Do not scorn the slight years and this cloud of a shaded brow,
do not scorn, I warn you: we too have the faculty to rage.

scimus enim et quidquid dici noscique timetis
et turbare Hecaten (ni te, Thymbraee, uererer) 515
et triplicis mundi summum, quem scire nefastum.
illum++sed taceo: prohibet tranquilla senectus.
iamque ego uos++' auide subicit Phoebeia Manto:
'audiris, genitor, uulgusque exangue propinquat.

for we know also whatever you dread to be spoken and to be known
and to disturb Hecate (unless I, Thymbraean, should fear you) 515
and the summit of the threefold world, which to know is ill-omened.
him — but I am silent: serene old age forbids it.
and now Phoebean Manto eagerly thrusts you forth:
'you are heard, O father, and the bloodless throng draws near.'

panditur Elysium chaos, et telluris opertae 520

Elysium is opened, and the earth’s hidden chaos laid bare 520

dissilit umbra capax, siluaeque et nigra patescunt
flumina: liuentes Acheron eiectat harenas,
fumidus atra uadis Phlegethon incendia uoluit,
et Styx discretis interflua manibus obstat.
ipsum pallentem solio circumque ministras 525
funestorum operum Eumenidas Stygiaeque seueros
Iunonis thalamos et torua cubilia cerno.
in speculis Mors atra sedet dominoque silentes
adnumerat populos; maior superinminet ordo.

dissilits a capacious shadow, and the woods and black rivers lie open
the flowing Acheron casts forth its loosened sands,
smoky Phlegethon rolls black fires upon the waves,
and the Styx, with its waters parting in separate hands, obstructs the passage.
I behold him pale upon his throne and around him ministrant 525
the Furies of deadly works and stern Stygian attendants, the bridal-chambers of Juno and her grim couches I discern.
in the lookouts black Death sits, and to his lord he counts the silent peoples; a greater muster looms above.

arbiter hos dura uersat Gortynius urna 530
uera minis poscens adigitque expromere uitas
usque retro et tandem poenarum lucra fateri.
quid tibi monstra Erebi, Scyllas et inane furentes
Centauros solidoque intorta adamante Gigantum
uincula et angustam centeni Aegaeonis umbram?' 535

the Gortynian arbiter turns these matters in a hard urn 530
demanding true things by threats and forcing them to disclose lives
even backwards and at length to confess the profits of punishments.
what to you are the monsters of Erebus, Scyllas and the empty raging
Centaurs, and the bonds of the Giants wound about with solid adamant,
and the narrow shade of the hundred‑fold Aegaeon?' 535

'immo,' ait, 'o nostrae regimen uiresque senectae,
ne uulgata mihi. quis enim remeabile saxum
fallentesque lacus Tityonque alimenta uolucrum
et caligantem longis Ixiona gyris
nesciat? ipse etiam, melior cum sanguis, opertas 540
inspexi sedes, Hecate ducente, priusquam
obruit ora deus totamque in pectora lucem
detulit.

'Nay,' he said, 'O governance and powers of our old age,
do not make them common to me. For who does not know the returnable rock,
the deceitful lakes and Tityon the food of birds,
and Ixion reeling in long whirls, dimmed with motion?
do I not even myself, when my blood was better, behold the hidden seats,
with Hecate leading, before a god overwhelmed my face
and bore away the light from my whole breast? 540

Argolicas magis huc appelle precando
Thebanasque animas; alias auertere gressus
lacte quater sparsas maestoque excedere luco,                545
nata, iube; tum qui uultus habitusque, quis ardor
sanguinis adfusi, gens utra superbior adsit,
dic agedum nostramque mone per singula noctem.'
    iussa facit carmenque serit, quo dissipat umbras,
quo reciet sparsas; qualis, si crimina demas,                 550
Colchis et Aeaeo simulatrix litore Circe.
tunc his sacrificum dictis adfata parentem:
'primus sanguineo summittit inertia Cadmus
ora lacu, iuxtaque uirum Cythereia proles
insequitur, geminusque bibit de uertice serpens.                555

Call hither the Argolic and Theban souls more by praying,
and bid the daughter turn her steps elsewhere and depart
with milk sprinkled four times and from the mournful grove,                545
born, command; then who the visage and bearing, what ardor
of blood poured in, which of the two peoples may be more proud,
speak, come now, and warn our night through each single thing.'
    She obeys the orders and plants a charm, by which she disperses the shades,
by which she recalls the scattered; such as, if you blot out crimes,                 550
is Colchis and Circe, imitator of the Aeaean shore.
Then, having addressed the parent with these sacrificial words:
'first Cadmus yields his mouth to the bloodied lake's inertia;
and next the offspring of Cytherean follows the man,
and a twin snake drinks from his crown.'                555

terrigenae comites illos, gens Martia, cingunt,
quis aeui mensura dies, manus omnis in armis,
omnis et in capulo; prohibent obstantque ruuntque
spirantum rabie, nec tristi incumbere fossae
cura, sed alternum sitis exhaurire cruorem. 560
proxima natarum manus est fletique nepotes.
hic orbam Autonoen, et anhelam cernimus Ino
respectantem arcus et ad ubera dulce prementem
pignus, et oppositis Semelen a uentre lacertis.
Penthea iam fractis genetrix Cadmeia thyrsis 565
iamque remissa deo pectusque adoperta cruentum
insequitur planctu; fugit ille per auia Lethes
et Stygios super usque lacus, ubi mitior illum
flet pater et lacerum componit corpus Echion.

the earth-born comrades surround those, the Martial nation girds them,
what day is the measure of an age, every hand in arms,
every one also on the hilt; they check, oppose, and rush forward
with the rage of the living, nor is there the sad care to lie upon a trench,
but to drain in turn the blood with thirst. 560
nearest is a band of daughters and the grandchildren of weeping. Here we behold Autonoë bereft, and panting Ino
looking back at the child and pressing the sweet pledge to her breasts,
and Semele with arms folded against her belly.
Pentheus’ mother, the Cadmean, now with thyrsi broken 565
and now the god’s staff cast aside and her breast covered in blood,
pursues with lamentation; he flees through pathless Lethe’s ways
and even over the Stygian lakes, where his father laments him more gently
and Echion arranges the mangled body.

tristem nosco Lycum dextramque in terga reflexum 570

I recognize sad Lycus, and his right hand bent back upon his back 570

Aeoliden, umero iactantem funus onusto.
necdum ille aut habitus aut uersae crimina formae
mutat Aristaeo genitus: frons aspera cornu,
tela manu, reicitque canes in uulnus hiantes.
ecce autem magna subit inuidiosa caterua                575
Tantalis et tumido percenset funera luctu,
nil deiecta malis; iuuat effugisse deorum
numina et insanae plus iam permittere linguae.'
    talia dum patri canit intemerata sacerdos,
illius elatis tremefacta adsurgere uittis                 580
canities tenuisque impelli sanguine uultus.

The Aeolid, bearing a funeral burden upon his shoulder.
Not yet does he, sprung from Aristaeus, change his mien or the faults of altered form: a brow rough with horn,
weapons in hand, and he throws back the dogs gaping at the wound.
behold, however, an envious great throng advances 575
and Tantalis, with swollen grief, will count off the funerals, unmoved by misfortunes; it pleases them to have escaped the powers of the gods
and now to entrust even more to a mad tongue.'
While the stainless priestess chants such things to the father,
his gray hair, shaken by raised fillets, trembles to stand upright,
and his face is driven pale by thin blood.

nec iam firmanti baculo nec uirgine fida
nititur, erectusque solo, 'desiste canendo,
nata,' ait, 'externae satis est mihi lucis, inertes
discedunt nebulae, et uultum niger exuit aer. 585
umbrisne an supero dimissus Apolline complet
spiritus? en uideo quaecumque audita. sed ecce
maerent Argolici deiecto lumine manes!

no longer leaning upon a supporting staff nor trusting in a maiden, and risen erect on the ground, he says, 'Cease singing, daughter; foreign light is enough for me, the inert mists depart, and the black air sheds its visage. 585
does the spirit, sent down by Apollo, fill the shades or the upper world? behold, I see whatever has been heard. But look— the Argolic shades mourn, their light cast down!'

toruus Abas Proetusque nocens mitisque Phoroneus
truncatusque Pelops et saeuo puluere sordens 590

grim Abas and guilty Proetus and gentle Phoroneus
and mangled Pelops and foul with cruel dust 590

Oenomaus largis umectant imbribus ora.
auguror hinc Thebis belli meliora. quid autem
hi grege condenso (quantum arma et uulnera monstrant,
pugnaces animae) nobis in sanguine multo
oraque pectoraque et falso clamore leuatas 595
intendunt sine pace manus?

Oenomaus wets his cheeks with copious rains.
I augur hence better things for Thebes' war. But why
do these, in a dense flock (how many arms and wounds they show,
spirited for battle), upon much of our blood
and with faces and breasts uplifted by a false shout 595
aim their hands without peace?

rex, fallor? an hi sunt
quinquaginta illi? cernis Cthoniumque Chrominque
Phegeaque et nostra praesignem Maeona lauro.

King, am I mistaken? — are these those fifty? Do you see Cthonium and Chromis and Phegeas and our Maeonian, conspicuous with a laurel?

ne saeuite, duces, nihil hic mortalibus ausum,
credite, consiliis: hos ferrea neuerat annos                600
Atropos. existis casus: bella horrida nobis,
atque iterum Tydeus.' dicit, uittaque ligatis
frondibus instantes abigit monstratque cruorem.
    stabat inops comitum Cocyti in litore maesto
Laius, inmiti quem iam deus ales Auerno                605

do not rage, leaders; believe that here nothing was dared against mortals by counsel: Atropos had not brought these men to iron years 600
“You are the fall: dreadful wars for us, and Tydeus again,” he says, and with garlands of leaves bound about them he drives them on standing and displays the blood.
bereft of comrades stood on the doleful shore of Cocytus Laius, whom already the birdlike god of harsh Avernus 605

reddiderat, dirumque tuens obliqua nepotem
(noscit enim uultu) non ille aut sanguinis haustus,
cetera ceu plebes, aliumue accedit ad imbrem,
inmortale odium spirans. sed prolicit ultro
Aonius uates: 'Tyriae dux inclute Thebes, 610
cuius ab interitu non ulla Amphionis arces
uidit amica dies, o iam satis ulte cruentum
exitium, et multum placata minoribus umbra,
quo miserande fugis? iacet ille in funere longo,
quem fremis, et iunctae sentit confinia mortis, 615
obsitus exhaustos paedore et sanguine uultus
eiectusque die: sors leto durior omni,
crede mihi!

he had returned, and, gazing askance at his dire nephew
(for he knows him by visage), not one to take a draught of blood,
as the rest, like plebs, nor to approach another shower,
breathing immortal hatred. But the Aonian bard forthwith proffers:
'Tyrant of Tyre, illustrious Thebes, 610
whose towers of Amphion no friendly day saw spared from ruin,
O now enough avenged, the bloody destruction,
and much appeased by the lesser shades,
whither, pitiable one, do you flee? He lies in a long funeral,
him whom you rage against, and who feels the confines of death joined, 615
his face besmeared, drained by gore and blood,
and cast out to the day: a fate harsher than any death,
believe me!'

quaenam inmeritum uitare nepotem
causa tibi? confer uultum et satiare litanti
sanguine uenturasque uices et funera belli 620

what cause have you to spare an undeserving grandson?
turn your face and sate the suppliant with blood,
and the vicissitudes that are coming and the funerals of war 620

pande, uel infensus uel res miserate tuorum.
tunc ego et optata uetitam transmittere Lethen
puppe dabo placidumque pia tellure reponam
et Stygiis mandabo deis.' mulcetur honoris
muneribus tingitque genas, dein talia reddit: 625
'cur tibi uersanti manes, aequaeue sacerdos,
lectus ego augurio tantisque potissimus umbris,
qui uentura loquar? satis est meminisse priorum.

Unfold, whether hostile or take pity on the affairs of your own.
then I will both grant the desired and send the forbidden across Lethe's wave,
I will place him on the stern and lay him to rest on a pious land in peace
and I will entrust him to the Stygian gods.' He is soothed by gifts of honor
and wets his cheeks, then utters such things: 625
'why to you, the manes turned, or equal priest,
shall I, chosen by augury and most fit for such shades,
speak what is to come? it is enough to recall things gone before.

nostrane praeclari (pudeat) consulta nepotes
poscitis? illum, illum sacris adhibete nefastis, 630
qui laeto fodit ense patrem, qui semet in ortus
uertit et indignae regerit sua pignora matri.
et nunc ille deos Furiarumque atra fatigat
concilia et nostros rogat haec in proelia manes.

Do you ask counsel about our renowned descendants (shame on you)?
Call him, call him to the unholy rites, 630
he who with a joyous sword plunged into his father, who turns himself against his own offspring
and restores his pledges to an unworthy mother.
And now he wearies the councils of the gods and the dark Furies
and entreats our shades to these battles.

quodsi adeo placui deflenda in tempora uates, 635

but if indeed I have so pleased as to be a prophet doomed to tears in these times, 635

dicam equidem, quo me Lachesis, quo torua Megaera
usque sinunt: bellum, innumero uenit undique bellum
agmine, Lernaeosque trahit fatalis alumnos
Gradiuus stimulis; hos terrae monstra deumque
tela manent pulchrique obitus et ab igne supremo                640
sontes lege morae. certa est uictoria Thebis,
ne trepida, nec regna ferox germanus habebit
sed Furiae; geminumque nefas miserosque per enses
(ei mihi!) crudelis uincit pater.' haec ubi fatus
labitur et flexa dubios ambage relinquit.                645
    interea gelidam Nemeen et conscia laudis
Herculeae dumeta uaga legione tenebant
Inachidae; iam Sidonias auertere praedas,
sternere, ferre domos ardent instantque. quis iras
flexerit, unde morae, medius quis euntibus error,                650

I will indeed say, whithersoever Lachesis, whithersoever stern Megaera permit me:
war — innumerable war comes from every quarter in a column, and deadly Gradivus urges on
the Lernaean offspring with his stings; the monsters of the earth and the weapons of the gods
remain, and beautiful deaths and by the final fire                640
are subject to the law of delay. Victory for Thebes is certain,
nor shall the trembling brother hold a fierce realm,
but Fury; and a twin crime and the wretched by swords
(ah me!) a cruel father conquers.' These things said
he glides away and leaves the twisted, doubtful ambiguity behind.                645
    Meanwhile the Inachids, the wandering cohort conscious of Hercules' praise,
held the cool Nemean thickets; now they press to divert Sidonian spoils,
to lay low, to carry off houses, to set them burning and press on. Who will
bend the angers, whence the delays, what error comes in the midst of marching men,                650

Phoebe, doce: nos rara manent exordia famae.
    marcidus edomito bellum referebat ab Haemo
Liber; ibi armiferos geminae iam sidera brumae
orgia ferre Getas canumque uirescere dorso
Othryn et Icaria Rhodopen adsueuerat umbra,                655
et iam pampineos materna ad moenia currus
promouet; effrenae dextra laeuaque sequuntur
lynces, et uda mero lambunt retinacula tigres.
post exultantes spolia armentalia portant
seminecesque lupos scissasque Mimallones ursas.                660
nec comitatus iners: sunt illic Ira Furorque
et Metus et Virtus et numquam sobrius Ardor
succiduique gradus et castra simillima regi.

Phoebe, instruct: for us rare commencements of fame remain.
    withered Liber was bringing war from tame Haemus
there; there the twin stars of winter already brought forth armed orgies,
and the Getae and the greening of dogs’ flanks Othryn and Icaria Rhodope had grown accustomed to shadow,                655
and now the mother’s vine‑borne chariots advance to the walls;
unbridled to right and left lynxes follow,
and tigresses, wetted with wine, lick the bridles.
afterwards the exulting ones carry off pastoral spoils,
half‑slain wolves and the ripped Mimallones’ bears they bear away.                660
nor is the retinue idle: there are Anger and Fury
and Fear and Virtue and Ardor never sober,
and the failing ranks and camps most like a king’s.

isque ubi puluerea Nemeen efferuere nube
conspicit et solem radiis ignescere ferri, 665

and when he beholds the dust of Nemea boil up into a cloud
and the sun borne to blaze by its rays, 665

necdum compositas belli in certamina Thebas,
concussus uisis, quamquam ore et pectore marcet,
aeraque tympanaque et biforem reticere tumultum
imperat, attonitas qui circum plurimus aures,
atque ita: 'me globus iste meamque excindere gentem 670
apparat; ex longo recalet furor; hoc mihi saeuum
Argos et indomitae bellum ciet ira nouercae.
usque adeone parum cineri data mater iniquo
natalesque rogi quaeque ipse micantia sensi
fulgura? reliquias etiam fusaeque sepulcrum 675
paelicis et residem ferro petit impia Theben.

not yet into the settled contests of war at Thebes,
shaken by things seen, although he wastes in face and breast,
and bids the aera and tympana and the two‑fold clarion hush the tumult,
with many stunned ears all around him, and thus: 'that host threatens to destroy me and my race 670
appears; from a long time the fury rekindles; this cruel
anger of the stepmother stirs war for Argos and the untamed strife of the nuptial house.
has the mother been so little given to unjust ash,
and the natal flames of the pyre which I myself perceived, the flashing lightnings?
does impious Thebes even seek the relics and the scattered sepulchre 675
of the concubine, and her remaining rest by the sword?'

nectam fraude moras; illum, illum tendite campum,
tendite, io comites.' Hyrcanae ad signa iugales
intumuere iubas, dicto prius astitit aruis.
tempus erat medii cum solem in culmina mundi 680

I will bind delays by fraud; him, him—rush on the plain,
rush on, ho comrades.' At the signal the Hyrcanian yoked manes swelled,
and before the word he stood upon the fields. it was the hour of mid-day when the sun to the summits of the world 680

tollit anhela dies, ubi tardus hiantibus aruis
stat uapor atque omnes admittunt aethera luci.
undarum uocat ille deas mediusque silentum
incipit: 'agrestes, fluuiorum numina, Nymphae,
et nostri pars magna gregis, perferte laborem 685
quem damus. Argolicos paulum mihi fontibus amnes
stagnaque et errantes obducite puluere riuos.

the panting day rises, when a slow vapor stands over the yawning fields
and all admit the sky to the light. He calls the goddesses of the waves and, amid the silences,
begins: 'rustic Nymphs, numina of the rivers,
and a great part of our flock, endure the toil
which we impose. For a little, veil for me the Argolic streams with springs,
the pools and the wandering rivers with dust.' 685

praecipuam Nemeen, qua nostra in moenia bellis
nunc iter, ex alto fugiat liquor; adiuuat ipse
Phoebus adhuc summo, cesset ni uestra uoluntas, 690
limite; uim coeptis indulgent astra, meaeque
aestifer Erigones spumat canis. ite uolentes,
ite in operta soli; post uos ego gurgite pleno
eliciam, et quae dona meis amplissima sacris
uester habebit honos, nocturnaque furta licentum 695

the chief Nemean stream, by which our road now to the walls of war runs, let its water flee from the deep; Phoebus himself still aids on high, unless your will yield at the limit; 690
let the stars indulgent to our undertakings their force, and my heat-bearing Erigone’s hound foam. Go, willing ones, go into the covert of the soil; after you I will draw out with full gurgle,
and whatever most ample gifts your honour shall have for my sacred rites, and nocturnal thefts allowed 695

cornipedum et cupidas Faunorum arcebo rapinas.'
dixerat; ast illis tenuior percurrere uisus
ora situs, uiridisque comis exhorruit umor.
protinus Inachios haurit sitis ignea campos:
diffugere undae, squalent fontesque lacusque, 700
et caua feruenti durescunt flumina limo.
aegra solo macies, tenerique in origine culmi
inclinata seges, deceptum margine ripae
stat pecus, atque amnes quaerunt armenta natatos.

“I will keep off the hoofed ones and the eager rapines of the Fauns.”
he had said; but a thinner moisture ran across their sunken faces,
and a dampness rose bristling from their green locks.
Straightaway a fiery thirst drinks the Inachian fields:
the waves scatter, and the fountains and pools grow foul, 700
and the hollow rivers harden with boiling mud.
A sickness-struck leanness on the soil, and the tender crop
bent over at its origin, the bending cornfield deceived at the river’s edge
the flock stands, and the streams seek the herds driven to swim.

sic ubi se magnis refluus suppressit in antris 705
Nilus et Eoae liquentia pabula brumae
ore premit, fumant desertae gurgite ualles
et patris undosi sonitus expectat hiulca
Aegyptos, donec Phariis alimenta rogatus
donet agris magnumque inducat messibus annum. 710

thus when the reflux has been checked in great caverns 705
Nilus, repressing with his mouth the liquid pastures of the eastern winter, the valleys steam with their forsaken flood, and hollow Egypt awaits the sound of the billowing father, until, entreated by the Pharians for sustenance, he bestow on the fields their nourishment and bring in a great year of harvests. 710

    aret Lerna nocens, aret Lyrceus et ingens
Inachus aduoluensque natantia saxa Charadrus
et numquam in ripis audax Erasinus et aequus
fluctibus Asterion, ille alta per auia notus
audiri et longe pastorum rumpere somnos.                715
[sic Hyperionios cum lux effrena per orbem
rapta ruit Phaethontis equos, magnumque laborem
discordes gemuere poli, dum pontus et arua
stellarumque ruunt crines, non amnibus undae,
non lucis mansere comae, sed multus ubique                720
ignis, ubique faces et longa fluminis instar
indiget Aegaeon deceptus imagine ripae.]
una tamen tacitas, sed iussu numinis, undas,
haec quoque, secreta nutrit Langia sub umbra.
nondum illi raptus dederat lacrimabile nomen                725

    Lerna, baneful, dries up; Lyrceus dries up, and mighty Inachus, and Charadrus rolling over the floating rocks;
and bold Erasinus is no longer on its banks, nor Asterion level with the waves; that one, famed through the lofty wilds,
is heard and breaks afar the shepherds’ slumbers.                715
[thus when unbridled light of Hyperion throughout the orb
seized the horses of Phaethon and rushed, and great toil
the disagreeing heavens groaned, while sea and fields
and the locks of the stars fell, the waves did not remain in rivers,
the tresses of light did not remain, but everywhere abundant                720
fire, everywhere torches and long as a river
needed Aegaeon, deceived by the semblance of the shore.]
Yet one alone, silent, but by the command of a numen, also nurtures secret waves
this Langia beneath her shadow.
Not yet had the ravishing given to her that lachrymable name                725

Archemorus, nec fama deae; tamen auia seruat
et nemus et fluuium; manet ingens gloria nympham,
cum tristem Hypsipylen ducibus sudatus Achaeis
ludus et atra sacrum recolet trieteris Ophelten.
ergo nec ardentes clipeos uectare nec artos 730
thoracum nexus (tantum sitis horrida torret)
sufficiunt; non ora modo angustisque perusti
faucibus, interior sed uis quatit: aspera pulsu
corda, gelant uenae et siccis cruor aeger adhaeret
uisceribus; tunc sole putris, tunc puluere tellus 735
exhalat calidam nubem. non spumeus imber
manat equum: siccis inlidunt ora lupatis,
ora catenatas procul exertantia linguas;
nec legem dominosue pati, sed perfurit aruis
flammatum pecus.

Archemorus, nor famed as a goddess; yet she keeps the wilds                 730
and grove and river; a vast glory abides the nymph, when, sweat-stained with sorrow for Hypsipyle under Achaean leaders, the game and the black triennial rite recall Opheltes.     therefore neither blazing shields to carry nor tight
the girded breastplate (so dreadful thirst withers)
suffice; not only the mouth scorched and the narrow
throats, but an inward force shakes: the heart beaten hard,
the veins grow cold and sick blood clings to the dry
viscera; then the earth exhales a warm cloud, then rotten by the sun, then by dust                735
no foaming rain wets the horse: their mouths strike upon parched bits,
mouths that far fling out chained tongues;
nor do they suffer law or masters, but rage over the fields
a flock set aflame.

huc illuc impellit Adrastus 740
exploratores, si stagna Licymnia restent,
si quis Amymones superet liquor: omnia caecis
ignibus hausta sedent, nec spes umentis Olympi,
ceu flauam Libyen desertaque pulueris Afri
conlustrent nullaque umbratam nube Syenen. 745

hither and thither Adrastus drives the scouts 740
to see if the Licymnian pools remain, if any Amymonian stream survives: all waters,
drawn up by hidden fires, sit; nor the hope of Olympus’ moist places, 745
as if they would scour the yellow Libya and the deserts of dusty Africa, and Syene shaded by no cloud.

    tandem inter siluas (sic Euhius ipse pararat)
errantes subitam pulchro in maerore tuentur
Hypsipylen; illi quamuis et ad ubera Opheltes
non suus, Inachii proles infausta Lycurgi,
dependet (neglecta comam nec diues amictu),                750
regales tamen ore notae, nec mersus acerbis
extat honos. tunc haec adeo stupefactus Adrastus:
'diua potens nemorum (nam te uultusque pudorque
mortali de stirpe negant), quae laeta sub isto
igne poli non quaeris aquas, succurre propinquis                755
gentibus; Arquitenens seu te Latonia casto
de grege transmisit thalamis, seu lapsus ab astris
non humilis fecundat amor (neque enim ipse deorum
arbiter Argolidum thalamis nouus), aspice maesta
agmina. nos ferro meritas excindere Thebas                 760
mens tulit, imbelli sed nunc sitis aspera fato
summittitque animos et inertia robora carpit.
da fessis in rebus opem, seu turbidus amnis,
seu tibi foeda palus, nihil hac in sorte pudendum,
nil humile est; tu nunc Ventis pluuioque rogaris                765

    at last amid the woods (thus Euhius himself had ordained)
they, wandering, behold Hypsipyle struck by sudden beautiful grief;
to her, although not his own to the breasts of Opheltes,
the ill-omened offspring of Inachus, son of Lycurgus, is hung,(neglected her hair nor rich in raiment),                750
yet royal features are known in her face, nor is honour wholly drowned in bitterness. Then Adrastus, so astonished, these words:
“O goddess potent of the groves (for face and shame deny you
to mortal stock), who, joyful beneath that fire of heaven, do not seek waters, give aid to near
peoples; whether Arquitenens or Latonia from the chaste flock
has sent you through bridal chambers, or love, fallen from the stars,
not lowly, makes you fruitful (for he himself is not a new arbiter
of Argive bridal rites), behold the sorrowful troops. Our mind bore to destroy Thebes by deserved steel,
but now harsh thirst, unwarlike by fate, submits our spirits and plucks away the strength of vigour.
Grant aid to those weary in affairs, whether troubled river,
or to you a foul marsh—nothing in this lot is shameful,
nothing base; you are now entreated by Winds and by rain”                765

pro Ioue, tu refugas uires et pectora bellis
exanimata reple: sic hoc tibi sidere dextro
crescat onus. tantum reduces det flectere gressus
Iuppiter, o quanta belli donabere praeda!
Dircaeos tibi, diua, greges numerumque rependam 770
plebis, et hic magna lucus signabitur ara.'
dixit, et orantis media inter anhelitus ardens
uerba rapit, cursuque animae labat arida lingua;
idem omnes pallorque uiros flatusque soluti
oris habet.

for Jove’s sake, you, restore back fledgling strengths and fill breasts exhausted by wars:
thus under this right-hand star may the burden grow for you. Only may Jupiter grant to turn back the returning steps—
O what great spoil of war you will be given!
Dircaean flocks to you, goddess, and the tally of the people I will repay 770
and here a great grove will be marked by an altar.'
she said, and burning amid the panting of the suppliant she snatches her words,
and with the course of the soul the dry tongue slips;
the same pallor seizes all the men and their faces are loosened by breath.

reddit demisso Lemnia uultu: 775
'diua quidem uobis, etsi caelestis origo est,
unde ego? mortales utinam haud transgressa fuissem
luctibus! altricem mandati cernitis orbam
pignoris; at nostris an quis sinus, uberaque ulla,
scit deus; et nobis regnum tamen et pater ingens++ 780

reddit demisso Lemnia uultu: 775
'a goddess indeed to you, though her origin is celestial,
whence am I? would that I had not passed into mortal sorrows!
you behold a nurse bereft of her entrusted pledge of offspring; but whether any of our bosoms, any breasts at all,
belong to us—God knows; and yet to us a kingdom and a mighty father++ 780

sed quid ego haec, fessosque optatis demoror undis?
mecum age nunc, si forte uado Langia perennes
seruat aquas; solet et rabidi sub limite Cancri
semper, et Icarii quamuis iuba fulguret astri,
ire tamen.' simul haerentem, ne tarda Pelasgis                785
dux foret, a! miserum uicino caespite alumnum
(sic Parcae uoluere) locat ponique negantis
floribus aggestis et amico murmure dulces
solatur lacrimas: qualis Berecyntia mater,
dum paruum circa iubet exultare Tonantem                790
Curetas trepidos; illi certantia plaudunt
orgia, sed magnis resonat uagitibus Ide.
    at puer in gremio uernae telluris et alto
gramine nunc faciles sternit procursibus herbas
in uultum nitens, caram modo lactis egeno                795

but why do I delay with these words, and detain you, wearied ones, from the wished-for waves?
come now with me, if by chance the Langian ford preserves perennial waters; it is wont also beneath the raging limit of Cancer always, and although the crest of the Icarian star may shine,
yet to go.' At once, clinging, lest the leader be slow for the Pelasgians,                785
ah! she places the wretched fosterling on a neighboring sod (thus the Fates willed), denying that he be laid and set among heaped flowers,
and with a friendly murmur soothes the sweet tears: such as a Berecyntian mother,
while she bids the trembling Curetes exult around the little Thunderer                790
they, vying, clap the orgies, but Ida resounds with great wailings. but the boy in the lap of the native soil and on the high
grass now spreads down soft herbage with his forward rushes, striving toward the face, lately dear to the milk‑poor one                795

nutricem clangore ciens iterumque renidens
et teneris meditans uerba inluctantia labris
miratur nemorum strepitus aut obuia carpit
aut patulo trahit ore diem nemorique malorum
inscius et uitae multum securus inerrat.                800
sic tener Odrysia Mauors niue, sic puer ales
uertice Maenalio, talis per litora reptans
improbus Ortygiae latus inclinabat Apollo.
    illi per dumos et opaca uirentibus umbris
deuia: pars cingunt, pars arta plebe sequuntur                805
praecelerantque ducem. medium subit illa per agmen
non humili festina modo; iamque amne propinquo
rauca sonat uallis, saxosumque impulit aures
murmur: ibi exultans conclamat ab agmine primus,
sicut erat leuibus tollens uexilla maniplis,                810

calling to the nurse with a clang and gleaming again
and framing words that struggle on tender lips
he marvels at the noises of the groves, either plucks up what lies before him
or with open mouth draws in the day, and ignorant of the evils of the wood
and very secure in life, wanders about.                 800
thus the tender Odrysian Mavors in snow, thus the winged boy
with Maenalian brow, such Apollo, crawling along the shores,
shone his shameless side toward Ortygia.
    they wind through brambles and shady, green shadows
by devious ways: some hem him in, some follow in close-packed throng                805
and they outstrip their leader. She plunges into the middle of the column
not hurrying only from a low place; and now the valley sounds hoarse with the nearby stream,
and a murmur strikes the rocky ears: there, exulting, he proclaims aloud from the host first,
as he was, lifting light banners from the maniples,                 810

Argus, 'aquae?' longusque uirum super ora cucurrit
clamor, 'aquae!' sic Ambracii per litora ponti
nauticus in remis iuuenum monstrante magistro
fit sonus inque uicem contra percussa reclamat
terra, salutatus cum Leucada pandit Apollo.                815
incubuere uadis passim discrimine nullo
turba simul primique, nequit secernere mixtos
aequa sitis, frenata suis in curribus intrant
armenta, et pleni dominis armisque feruntur
quadripedes; hos turbo rapax, hos lubrica fallunt                 820
saxa, nec implicitos fluuio reuerentia reges
proterere aut mersisse uado clamantis amici
ora. fremunt undae, longusque a fontibus amnis
diripitur; modo lene uirens et gurgite puro
perspicuus, nunc sordet aquis egestus ab imis                825
alueus; inde tori riparum et proruta turbant
gramina; iam crassus caenoque et puluere torrens,
quamquam expleta sitis, bibitur tamen. agmina bello
decertare putes iustumque in gurgite Martem
perfurere aut captam tolli uictoribus urbem.                830

Argus, "water?" and along the long face of the man ran a shout, "water!" thus along the shores of Ambracia the naval sound of youths with the oar-bearing master showing the way
becomes noise, and in turn the struck land cries back; when greeted, Leucadia opens Apollo.                815
they lay upon the shallows everywhere, without any distinction
a crowd at once and the foremost cannot separate the mingled ones: equal is their thirst; restrained in their chariots the herds enter among them,
and the four-footed are borne full of masters and arms; these the rapacious tumult snatches, those the slippery rocks deceive,                820
nor do the river-avoiding kings refrain from trampling the entangled ones, nor the mouths of a friend crying that he has been submerged in the ford. The waves roar, and the long river is torn from its springs;
now green with a gentle stream and clear with pure gulf, now it is sullied by waters driven up from the lowest basin;                825
thence it disturbs beds and overturned banks and the grasses; now the torrent, thick with mud and dust,
although thirst is filled, is nevertheless drunk. You would think the columns contend in war and that Mars pursues justice through the whirlpool
or that a captured city is raised by victors.

    atque aliquis regum medio circumfluus amni:
'siluarum, Nemea, longe regina uirentum,
lecta Iouis sedes, quam tu non Herculis actis
dura magis, rabidi cum colla comantia monstri
angeret et tumidos animam angustaret in artus!                835
hac saeuisse tenus populorum in coepta tuorum
sufficiat; tuque o cunctis insuete domari
solibus, aeternae largitor corniger undae,
laetus eas, quacumque domo gelida ora resoluis
inmortale tumens; neque enim tibi cana repostas                840
bruma niues raptasque alio de fonte refundit
arcus aquas grauidiue indulgent nubila Cauri,
sed tuus et nulli ruis expugnabilis astro.
te nec Apollineus Ladon nec Xanthus uterque
Spercheosque minas Centaureusque Lycormas                845

    and one of the kings, encircled by the mid‑flowing river, cried:
'sylvan Nemea, queen of the far‑greening woods,
chosen seat of Jove, which you — not in more harsh feats than Hercules' —
when the shaggy necks of the raging monster assaulted and pressed soul into swollen limbs!                835
let it suffice that you have raged thus far in the undertakings of your peoples; and you, O horned bestower of the eternal wave,
accustoméd to be tamed by no suns, gladly unbind them, wherever from your home you unseal cold shores,
swelling immortal; for neither does hoary winter restore waters laid away to you
nor do clouds indulgent of the gravid West Wind pour back waters seized from another spring,
but yours, and to no star are you driven as conquerable.
Neither Ladon of Apollo nor either Xanthus,
nor the threats of Spercheus, nor Centaur Lycormas                845

praestiterint; tu pace mihi, tu nube sub ipsa
armorum festasque super celebrabere mensas
(a Ioue primus honos), bellis modo laetus ouantes
accipias fessisque libens iterum hospita pandas
flumina defensasque uelis agnoscere turmas.' 850

they will have excelled; you, in peace for me, you under that very cloud
of arms shall be celebrated upon festive tables above
(from Jove the first honour), now only joyful, exulting in wars,
may you receive, and gladly, and again unfold hospitable rivers to the weary,
and by your sails recognise the squadrons defended.'