Statius: THEBAID

Nuntia multiuago Danaas perlabitur urbes
Fama gradu, sancire nouo sollemnia busto
Inachidas ludumque super, quo Martia bellis
praesudare paret seseque accendere uirtus.
Graium ex more decus: primus Pisaea per arua                5
hunc pius Alcides Pelopi certauit honorem
puluereumque fera crinem detersit oliua;
proxima uipereo celebratur libera nexu
Phocis, Apollineae bellum puerile pharetrae;
mox circum tristes seruata Palaemonis aras                10
nigra superstitio, quotiens animosa resumit
Leucothea gemitus et amica ad litora festa
tempestate uenit: planctu conclamat uterque
Isthmos, Echioniae responsant flebile Thebae.
et nunc eximii regum, quibus Argos alumnis                15

Rumor, the messenger, glides with step through the many-wandering cities of the Danaans,
to sanction for the Inachids the solemnities at the new tomb
and, moreover, a game, by which Martial valor prepares to pre-sweat for wars
and to kindle itself. An honor of the Greeks according to custom: first across the Pisaean fields                5
pious Alcides strove for this honor for Pelops,
and wiped his dusty hair with the wild olive;
next, Phocis is celebrated, freed from the viperine coil—
the boyish war of the Apollinean quiver;
soon, around the sad altars of Palaemon, a black superstition is observed,                10
whenever spirited Leucothea resumes her groans and to her friendly shores, with a festal
tempest, comes: with wailing both sides of the Isthmus cry aloud,
the Echionian Thebes respond plaintively.
and now the distinguished of kings, whose nurslings Argos                15

conexum caelo, quorumque ingentia tellus
Aonis et Tyriae suspirant nomina matres,
concurrunt nudasque mouent in proelia uires.
ceu primum ausurae trans alta ignota biremes,
seu Tyrrhenam hiemem, seu stagna Aegaea lacessant,                20
tranquillo prius arma lacu clauumque leuesque
explorant remos atque ipsa pericula discunt;
at cum experta cohors, tunc pontum inrumpere fretae
longius ereptasque oculis non quaerere terras.
    clara laboriferos caelo Tithonia currus                25
extulerat uigilesque deae pallentis habenas
et Nox et cornu fugiebat Somnus inani;
iam plangore uiae, gemitu iam regia mugit
flebilis, acceptos longe nemora auia frangunt
multiplicantque sonos. sedet ipse exutus honoro                30

bound to heaven, and whose mighty names the land of Aonia and the Tyrian mothers sigh for,
they run together and set their naked forces into battle.
as when biremes, first about to dare across the high unknown seas,
whether they challenge the Tyrrhenian winter, or the Aegaean waters,                20
first on a tranquil lake they test the gear, the helm, and the light
oars, and they learn the dangers themselves;
but when the cohort is experienced, then, emboldened, to burst into the deep
further, and not to seek lands snatched from their eyes.
    bright Tithonia had lifted into the sky her labor-bearing chariots,                25
and the wakeful reins of the pallid goddess, and Night and Sleep with his empty horn were fleeing;
now with the beating of the way, now the tearful palace bellows with groaning,
the pathless groves far off break the received sounds and multiply them.
he himself sits stripped of honor                30

uittarum nexu genitor squalentiaque ora
sparsus et incultam ferali puluere barbam.
asperior contra planctusque egressa uiriles
exemplo famulas premit hortaturque uolentes
orba parens, lacerasque super procumbere nati 35
reliquias ardet totiensque auulsa refertur.
arcet et ipse pater.

with the binding of fillets the father, and his squalid features
sprinkled, and his unkempt beard, with funereal dust.
sterner in reply, and having surpassed manly plaints,
by her example the bereft parent presses the handmaids and urges on the willing,
and she burns to sink down upon the torn relics of her son, 35
and so often, torn away, she is brought back.
and the father himself holds her off.

mox ut maerentia dignis
uultibus Inachii penetrarunt limina reges,
ceu noua tunc clades et primo saucius infans
uulnere letalisue inrumperet atria serpens, 40
sic alium ex alio quamquam lassata fragorem
pectora congeminant, integratoque resultant
accensae clamore fores: sensere Pelasgi
inuidiam et lacrimis excusant crimen obortis.
ipse, datum quotiens intercisoque tumultu 45

Soon as the Inachian kings, with mourning visages as was fitting,
penetrated the thresholds, as if just then some new calamity,
a babe wounded by his first wound, or a lethal serpent
were bursting into the atria, 40
thus, though wearied, their breasts redouble din upon din,
and the doors, enflamed, ring back with the cry renewed:
the Pelasgians sensed the ill-will and with tears upwelling
excuse the offense. he himself, as often as it was granted and with the tumult cut short, 45

conticuit stupefacta domus, solatur Adrastus
adloquiis genitorem ultro, nunc fata recensens
resque hominum duras et inexorabile pensum,
nunc aliam prolem mansuraque numine dextro
pignora. nondum orsis modus, et lamenta redibant.                50
ille quoque adfatus non mollius audit amicos
quam trucis Ionii rabies clamantia ponto
uota uirum aut tenues curant uaga fulmina nimbos.
    tristibus interea ramis teneraque cupresso
damnatus flammae torus et puerile feretrum                55
texitur: ima uirent agresti stramina cultu;
proxima gramineis operosior area sertis,
et picturatus morituris floribus agger;
tertius adsurgens Arabum strue tollitur ordo
Eoas complexus opes incanaque glebis                60

The house, stupefied, fell silent; Adrastus consoles the father unbidden with addresses, now recounting the fates and the hard affairs of men and the inexorable weighed portion, now [promising] another offspring and pledges that will abide under a right-hand divinity. Not yet was there a limit to the begun words, and the laments returned. 50
he too, when addressed, hears his friends no more gently than the rage of the harsh Ionian [sea] heeds the vows of men crying upon the deep, or than slender lightnings care for wandering clouds.
Meanwhile with gloomy branches and tender cypress the couch condemned to the flame and the childish bier is woven: the lowest layers are green with rustic straw in their arrangement; next, a more elaborate area with grassy garlands, and a mound pictured with dying flowers; a third tier rising is lifted with a heap of the Arabs, encompassing Eastern wealth and hoary with clods. 60

tura et ab antiquo durantia cinnama Belo.
summa crepant auro, Tyrioque attollitur ostro
molle supercilium, teretes hoc undique gemmae
inradiant, medio Linus intertextus acantho
letiferique canes: opus admirabile semper                65
oderat atque oculos flectebat ab omine mater.
arma etiam et ueterum exuuias circumdat auorum
gloria mixta malis adflictaeque ambitus aulae,
ceu grande exequiis onus atque inmensa ferantur
membra rogo, sed cassa tamen sterilisque dolentes                70
fama iuuat, paruique augescunt funere manes.
inde ingens lacrimis honor et miseranda uoluptas,
muneraque in cineres annis grauiora feruntur;
namque illi et pharetras breuioraque tela dicarat
festinus uoti pater insontesque sagittas;                75

incenses and cinnamons enduring from ancient Belus.
the top clinks with gold, and with Tyrian purple the soft brow is raised;
smooth gems irradiate this on every side, and in the middle Linus interwoven with acanthus
and the death-bringing dogs: a work admirable—yet the mother always
hated it and turned her eyes away from the omen.                65
she also surrounds with arms and the spoils of the ancient forefathers,
glory mixed with evils and the ambit of the afflicted hall,
as if a great burden for the obsequies and immense limbs
were being borne to the pyre; but empty and barren rumor nevertheless
pleases the mourners, and the little Manes swell with the funeral.                70
thence a vast honor with tears and a pitiable pleasure,
and gifts weightier with years are borne onto the ashes;
for to him the father, hasty in his vow, had dedicated
quivers and briefer weapons and guiltless arrows.                75

iam tunc et nota stabuli de gente probatos
in nomen pascebat equos cinctusque sonantes
armaque maiores expectatura lacertos.
[spes auidi quas, non in nomen credula, uestes
urguebat studio cultusque insignia regni                80
purpureos sceptrumque minus, cuncta ignibus atris
damnat atrox suaque ipse parens gestamina ferri,
si damnis rabidum queat exaturare dolorem.]
    parte alia gnari monitis exercitus instat
auguris aeriam truncis nemorumque ruina,                85
montis opus, cumulare pyram, quae crimina caesi
anguis et infausti cremet atra piacula belli.
[his labor accisam Nemeen umbrosaque tempe
praecipitare solo lucosque ostendere Phoebo.]
sternitur extemplo ueteres incaedua ferro                90

already then even the horses, known and approved from the stable’s breed, he was pasturing for his name, and he had girded him with sounding arms and with weapons that would await larger upper-arms.
[the garments which eager hopes, not credulous merely for the name, were pressing with zeal, and the insignia of kingship—purple robes and, less than these, the scepter—he, grim, condemns all to black fires, and the father himself orders the trappings to be borne, if by losses he might glut his rabid grief.]
elsewhere the host, knowing the augur’s warnings, presses to heap an airy pyre with trunks and the ruin of groves, a mountain’s work, which may burn the crimes of the slain serpent and the black expiations of the ill-starred war.
[their toil is to hurl down to the ground shorn Nemea and its shady valleys, and to expose the groves to Phoebus.]
straightway the ancient trees, unhewn by iron, are laid low 90

silua comas, largae qua non opulentior umbrae
Argolicos inter saltusque educta Lycaeos
extulerat super astra caput: stat sacra senectae
numine, nec solos hominum transgressa ueterno
fertur auos, Nymphas etiam mutasse superstes                95
Faunorumque greges. aderat miserabile luco
excidium: fugere ferae, nidosque tepentes
absiliunt (metus urguet) aues; cadit ardua fagus
Chaoniumque nemus brumaeque inlaesa cupressus,
procumbunt piceae, flammis alimenta supremis,                100
ornique iliceaeque trabes metuendaque suco
taxus et infandos belli potura cruores
fraxinus atque situ non expugnabile robur.
hinc audax abies et odoro uulnere pinus
scinditur, adclinant intonsa cacumina terrae                105

the forest with leafy tresses, than which none was more opulent in lavish shade,
raised among Argolic and Lycaean glades,
had lifted its head above the stars: it stands sacred by the numen of old age,
and, having outpassed the senility of not only men’s grandsires,
is reported, surviving, to have outlived even the Nymphs and the herds of Fauns.                95
a pitiable destruction was at hand for the grove: the wild beasts flee, and from their warm
nests the birds leap away (fear presses); the lofty beech falls,
and the Chaonian grove, and the cypress unhurt by winter;
the pitch-firs topple, food for the ultimate flames,
and the beams of flowering-ash and holm-oak, and the yew to be feared for its sap,                100
and the ash destined to drink the unspeakable gore of war,
and the oak not to be stormed by mould.
Then the bold fir and the pine are riven with a fragrant wound,
their unshorn tops lean to the earth.                105

alnus amica fretis nec inhospita uitibus ulmus.
dat gemitum tellus: non sic euersa feruntur
Ismara cum fracto Boreas caput extulit antro,
non grassante Noto citius nocturna peregit
flamma nemus. linquunt flentes dilecta locorum 110
otia cana Pales Siluanusque arbiter umbrae
semideumque pecus, migrantibus aggemit illis
silua, nec amplexae dimittunt robora Nymphae.

the alder, friend to the seas, and the elm not inhospitable to vines.
the earth gives a groan: not thus are the Ismara borne overturned
when Boreas raised his head from his broken cavern,
nor, with Notus rampaging, did nocturnal flame more swiftly finish
a grove. weeping, hoary Pales and Silvanus, arbiter of shade,
and the demi-god herd leave the beloved repose of their places 110
the forest adds its groan as they migrate, nor do the Nymphs,
having embraced the oaks, let them go.

ut cum possessas auidis uictoribus arces
dux raptare dedit, uix signa audita, nec urbem                115
inuenias; ducunt sternuntque abiguntque feruntque
inmodici, minor ille fragor quo bella gerebant.
    iamque pari cumulo geminas, hanc tristibus umbris
ast illam superis, aequus labor auxerat aras,
cum signum luctus cornu graue mugit adunco                120

as when, once greedy victors have possessed the citadels,
the leader gives leave to ransack—scarcely are the signals heard, and you cannot even find the city                115
they, immoderate, lead off and lay low and drive away and carry off; the crash with which they were waging wars was lesser.
    and now with an equal heap the twin—this one for the gloomy shades,
but that one for the gods above—altars, equal toil had augmented,
when the sign of mourning bellows on the heavy, curved horn.                120

tibia, cui teneros suetum producere manes
lege Phrygum maesta. Pelopem monstrasse ferebant
exequiale sacrum carmenque minoribus umbris
utile, quo geminis Niobe consumpta pharetris
squalida bissenas Sipylon deduxerat urnas.                125
    portant inferias arsuraque fercula primi
Graiorum, titulisque pios testantur honores
gentis quisque suae; longo post tempore surgit
colla super iuuenum (numero dux legerat omni)
ipse fero clamore torus. cinxere Lycurgum                130
Lernaei proceres, genetricem mollior ambit
turba; nec Hypsipyle raro subit agmine: uallant
Inachidae memores, sustentant liuida nati
bracchia et inuentae concedunt plangere matri.

the pipe, mournful by the law of the Phrygians, accustomed to lead forth the tender Manes.
they said that Pelops had shown the exequial sacred rite and a chant useful for the lesser shades,
by which Niobe, consumed by the twin quivers, squalid, had led down to Sipylus twice-six urns. 125
the foremost of the Graians carry inferiae and dishes destined to burn,
and by inscriptions each attests the pious honors of his own clan; after a long time there rises
above the necks of the youths (the leader had chosen a full number)
the bier itself, with fierce clamor. The Lernaean princes encircled Lycurgus,
a softer throng surrounds the mother; nor does Hypsipyle advance with a scanty column: they wall her in,
the mindful Inachidae; the sons support her livid arms and allow the mother, once found,
to beat herself in lament.

illic infaustos ut primum egressa penates 135

there, as soon as she had gone forth from the ill-omened Penates 135

Eurydice, nudo uocem de pectore rumpit
planctuque et longis praefata ululatibus infit:
'non hoc Argolidum coetu circumdata matrum
speraui te, nate, sequi, nec talia demens
fingebam uotis annorum elementa tuorum, 140
nil saeuum reputans: etenim his in finibus aeui
unde ego bella tibi Thebasque ignara timerem?
cui superum nostro committere sanguine pugnas
dulce? quis hoc armis uouit scelus?

Eurydice breaks forth a voice from her bare breast
and, with lamentation and long ululations prefaced, she begins:
'Not thus, surrounded by the assembly of Argolid mothers,
did I hope, son, to follow you, nor, out of my mind,
was I fashioning in vows the elements of your years such as these, 140
reckoning nothing cruel: for indeed, at this limit of my life,
whence should I, unknowing, fear wars and Thebes for you?
To which of the gods above would it be sweet to commit battles with our blood,
who vowed this crime with arms?

at tua nondum,
Cadme, domus, nullus Tyrio grege plangitur infans. 145
primitias egomet lacrimarum et caedis acerbae,
ante tubas ferrumque, tuli, dum deside cura
credo sinus fidos altricis et ubera mando.
quidni ego? narrabat seruatum fraude parentem
insontesque manus.

but your house, not yet,
Cadmus, no infant of the Tyrian clan is lamented. 145
I myself have borne the first-fruits of tears and of bitter slaughter,
before trumpets and steel, while in sluggish care I trust the faithful lap of the nurse and consign him to her breasts.
Why should not I? she would tell of a father saved by fraud and of guiltless hands.

en quam ferale putemus 150

lo, how fatal we should deem this 150

abiurasse sacrum et Lemni gentilibus unam
inmunem furiis! haec illa (et creditis ausae?)
haec pietate potens solis abiecit in aruis++
non regem dominumque++alienos impia partus,
hoc tantum, siluaque infamis tramite liquit 155
quem non anguis atrox (quid enim hac opus, ei mihi, leti
mole fuit?) tantum caeli uiolentior aura
impulsaeque Noto frondes cassusque ualeret
exanimare timor. nec uos incessere luctu
orba habeo, fixum matri inmotumque manebat 160
hac altrice nefas; ~atquin et blandus ad illam
nate magis solam nosse atque audire uocantem
ignarusque mei~ nulla ex te gaudia matri.

to have forsworn the sacred rite and that on Lemnos she alone among her kinswomen was immune from the Furies! This is that woman (and did you dare believe it?)
this one, powerful in piety, cast away in solitary fields++
not the king and lord++ but, impiously, another’s offspring,
only this— and she left him on the infamous path of the wood 155
whom no baleful serpent (for what need, alas, was there of such a mass of death?)
but only a more violent breeze of the sky, and leaves driven by Notus, and an empty fear
had the power to make lifeless. Nor do I, bereft, have you to assail with lament;
for the nefarious wrong remained fixed and unmoved, by the mother, upon this nurse— 160
~and yet, coaxed, to that woman, my son was more used to know and to hear her calling,
and was ignorant of me~ no joys from you to your mother.

illa tuos questus lacrimososque impia risus
audiit et uocis decerpsit murmura primae. 165

that impious she heard your complaints and lachrymose laughs,
and plucked the murmurs of your first voice. 165

illa tibi genetrix semper dum uita manebat,
nunc ego. sed miserae mihi nec punire potestas
sic meritam! quid dona, duces, quid inania fertis
iusta rogis?

she was your genetrix always, while life remained,
now I. But I, wretched, have not the power to punish
one so deserving! why, leaders, do you bring gifts, why empty
just dues to the pyres?

illam (nil poscunt amplius umbrae),
illam, oro, cineri simul excisaeque parenti                170
reddite, quaeso, duces, per ego haec primordia belli
cui peperi; sic aequa gemant mihi funera matres
Ogygiae.' sternit crines iteratque precando:
'reddite, nec uero crudelem auidamque uocate
sanguinis: occumbam pariter, dum uulnere iusto                175
exaturata oculos unum impellamur in ignem.'
talia uociferans alia de parte gementem
Hypsipylen (neque enim illa comas nec pectora seruat)
agnouit longe et socium indignata dolorem:
'hoc saltem, o proceres, tuque o, cui pignora nostri                180

her (the shades ask for nothing more), her, I beg, restore, I pray, leaders, to the ash and to her parent cut down together,                170
by these beginnings of the war to which I gave birth; so may the Ogygian mothers lament equal funerals for me.' she casts down her hair and, by entreating, repeats:
'restore her, nor indeed call me cruel and greedy for blood: I will fall together with her, provided that, my eyes sated by a just wound, we are driven into one fire.'                175
shouting such things, from another quarter Hypsipyle (for she spares neither her hair nor her breast) recognized the groaning woman afar and, indignant at the shared grief, said:
'this at least, O chieftains, and you, O you, to whom are the pledges of ours—                180

proturbata tori: prohibete, auferte supremis
inuisam exequiis. quid se funesta parenti
miscet et in nostris spectatur et ipsa ruinis?'
[cui luget complexa suos?' dixitque repente
concidit abruptisque obmutuit ore querelis.]                185
sic ait abruptisque inmutuit ore querelis.                185b
non secus ac primo fraudatum lacte iuuencum,
cui trepidae uires et solus ab ubere sanguis,
seu fera seu duras auexit pastor ad aras;
nunc uallem spoliata parens, nunc flumina questu,
nunc armenta mouet uacuosque interrogat agros;                190
tunc piget ire domum, maestoque nouissima campo
exit et oppositas impasta auertitur herbas.
    at genitor sceptrique decus cultusque Tonantis
inicit ipse rogis, tergoque et pectore fusam
caesariem ferro minuit sectisque iacentis                195

driven from the bed: forbid, remove from the final obsequies
the hated one. Why does she, death-bringing, mingle herself with the parent
and is herself gazed upon amid our ruins?'
['Whom does she mourn, clasping her own?' and having said this, suddenly
she collapsed and fell mute, her complaints broken off upon her lips.]                185
thus she spoke and fell mute, her complaints broken off upon her lips.                185b
no otherwise than a young bullock defrauded of its first milk,
whose powers are trembling and whose blood comes solely from the udder,
whether a wild beast or a shepherd has conveyed it to the hard altars;
now the despoiled dam stirs the valley, now the rivers, with lament,
now the herds, and she questions the empty fields;                190
then it irks her to go home, and last she goes forth from the gloomy plain
and, unfed, she turns away from the opposing grasses.
    but the father himself casts upon the pyres the emblem of the scepter and the attire of the Thunderer,
and with iron he lessens the hair flowing over back and breast,
and, the locks cut, of the one lying there                195

obnubit tenuia ora comis, ac talia fletu
uerba pio miscens: 'alio tibi, perfide, pacto,
Iuppiter, hunc crinem uoti reus ante dicaram,
si pariter uirides nati libare dedisses
ad tua templa genas; sed non ratus ore sacerdos,                200
damnataeque preces; ferat haec, quae dignior, umbra.'
iam face subiecta primis in frondibus ignis
exclamat; labor insanos arcere parentes.
stant iussi Danaum atque obtentis eminus armis
prospectu uisus interclusere nefasto.                205
ditantur flammae; non umquam opulentior illic
ante cinis: crepitant gemmae, atque inmane liquescit
argentum, et pictis exsudat uestibus aurum;
nec non Assyriis pinguescunt robora sucis,
pallentique croco strident ardentia mella,                210

she veils her delicate face with her hair, and, mixing such words with pious weeping, says: ‘by another pact to you, faithless one, Jupiter, I would earlier have dedicated this lock as a debtor of a vow, if you had alike granted my son’s green/youthful cheeks to make libation at your temples; but the priest did not ratify it with his mouth, and the prayers were condemned; let that shade bear these, who is more worthy.’ Now, with the torch put underneath, the fire in the foremost leaves cries out; it is a toil to keep back the frenzied parents. The ordered ranks of the Danaans stand, and, with weapons held out at a distance, they shut off sight, blocking the view from the nefarious spectacle. The flames are enriched; never before there was the ash more opulent: gems crackle, and vast silver melts, and gold sweats out from broidered garments; and the oaken timbers grow rich with Assyrian juices, and burning honeys hiss with pallid saffron, 210

spumantesque mero paterae uerguntur et atri
sanguinis et rapto gratissima cymbia lactis.
tunc septem numero turmas (centenus ubique
surgit eques) uersis ducunt insignibus ipsi
Graiugenae reges, lustrantque ex more sinistro                215
orbe rogum et stantes inclinant puluere flammas.
ter curuos egere sinus, inlisaque telis
tela sonant, quater horrendum pepulere fragorem
arma, quater mollem famularum bracchia planctum.
    semianimas alter pecudes spirantiaque ignis                220
accipit armenta; hic luctus abolere nouique
funeris auspicium uates, quamquam omina sentit
uera, iubet: dextri gyro et uibrantibus hastis
hac redeunt, raptumque suis libamen ab armis
quisque iacit, seu frena libet seu cingula flammis                225

and paterae foaming with wine are tilted, and of black
blood, and the most pleasing cymbia of snatched milk.
Then seven troops in number (everywhere a hundred
horseman rises) with insignia reversed the Greek-born kings themselves lead,
and they circumambulate by custom the pyre in a leftward                215
orbit and bow the standing flames with dust.
Thrice they drove the curving circuits, and weapons dashed on
weapons resound; four times the arms drove a dreadful crash,
four times the soft arms of the handmaids beat lament.
    the fire receives half-alive sheep and breathing herds;                220
here the seer, although he perceives the omens to be true,
bids to abolish the grief and the auspice of a new funeral:
with a rightward gyre and quivering spears
thus they return, and each throws a libation snatched from his own gear,
whether he pleases the flames with reins or with girdles.                225

mergere seu iaculum summae seu cassidis umbram.
[multa gemunt extra raucis concentibus agri,
et lituis aures circum pulsantur acutis.
terretur clamore nemus: sic Martia uellunt
signa tubae, nondum ira calet, nec sanguine ferrum 230
inrubuit, primus bellorum comitur illo
uultus, honoris opus.

to plunge either the javelin, or the shadowing brim of the helmet.
[many fields outside groan with hoarse concourses,
and the ears are battered round about by sharp war-trumpets.
the grove is frightened by the clamor: thus the Martial
signals tug at the standards; not yet does wrath grow hot, nor has the iron 230
blushed red with blood; the first countenance of wars is adorned by that,
a work of honor.

stat adhuc incertus in alta
nube quibus sese Mauors indulgeat armis.]
    finis erat, lassusque putres iam Mulciber ibat
in cineres; instant flammis multoque soporant                235
imbre rogum, posito donec cum sole labores
exhausti; seris uix cessit cura tenebris.
    roscida iam nouies caelo dimiserat astra
Lucifer et totidem Lunae praeuenerat ignes
mutato nocturnus equo (nec conscia fallit                240
sidera et alterno deprenditur unus in ortu):
mirum opus accelerasse manus! stat saxea moles,
templum ingens cineri, rerumque effictus in illa
ordo docet casus: fessis hic flumina monstrat
Hypsipyle Danais, hic reptat flebilis infans,                245

still he stands uncertain in a high
cloud as to with which arms Mars should indulge himself.]
    the end had come, and weary Mulciber was already turning the decayed things
into ashes; they press upon the flames and with much rain they lull                235
the pyre, until, with the sun set, their labors
were exhausted; care scarcely yielded to the late darkness.
    dewy Lucifer had now nine times sent down from the sky the stars,
and just so many times had anticipated the fires of the Moon,
nocturnal with his steed changed (nor does he deceive the knowing                240
stars, and the one and the same is caught in alternate rising):
a wondrous work that hands have hastened! a stony mass stands,
a huge temple for the ash, and the fashioned order of things in it
teaches the mishaps: here Hypsipyle shows the rivers to the weary
Danaans, here a tearful infant crawls,                245

hic iacet, extremum tumuli circum asperat orbem
squameus; expectes morientis ab ore cruenta
sibila, marmorea sic uoluitur anguis in hasta.
    iamque auidum pugnas uisendi uulgus inermes
(fama uocat cunctos) aruis ac moenibus adsunt                250
exciti; illi etiam quis belli incognitus horror,
quos effeta domi, quos prima reliquerat aetas,
conueniunt: non aut Ephyraeo in litore tanta
umquam aut Oenomai fremuerunt agmina circo.
    collibus incuruis uiridique obsessa corona                255
uallis in amplexu nemorum sedet; hispida circum
stant iuga, et obiectus geminis umbonibus agger
campum exire uetat, longo quem tramite planum
gramineae frontes sinuataque caespite uiuo
mollia non subitis augent fastigia cliuis.                260

here it lies, roughening around the outermost rim of the tumulus;
scaly; you would expect bloody hisses from a dying mouth—
thus a marble serpent coils upon a spear.
    and now the unarmed crowd, eager to view the combats,
(report calls all) are present, roused, from fields and from walls;                250
even those, to whom the horror of war is unknown,
whom a spent age kept at home, whom earliest age had left,
gather together: not even on the Ephyraean shore ever, nor in Oenomaus’s circus,
did such throngs roar.
    a valley sits, besieged by curved hills and a green corona, in the embrace of groves;                255
rough ridges stand around, and an embankment set as if with twin bosses
forbids the plain to go out, which, level along a long course,
the grassy brows and the sod, wavy with living turf,
augment with gentle heights, not with sudden slopes.                260

illic conferti, iam sole rubentibus aruis,
bellatrix sedere cohors; ibi corpore mixto
metiri numerum uultusque habitusque suorum
dulce uiris, tantique iuuat fiducia belli.
centum ibi nigrantes, armenti robora, tauros 265
lenta mole trahunt; idem numerusque colorque
matribus et nondum lunatis fronte iuuencis.
exin magnanimum series antiqua parentum
inuehitur, miris in uultum animata figuris.

there, crowded together, now with the fields reddening under the sun,
the warlike cohort sat; there, with bodies mingled,
to measure the number and the faces and the habits of their own
is sweet to the men, and the confidence of so great a war delights.
a hundred there black bulls, the strength of the herd, they drag 265
with slow mass; and the same number and color
for the mothers and for the young bullocks not yet crescent-horned at the brow.
then an ancient series of great-souled ancestors
is borne in, animated to the visage by wondrous figures.

primus anhelantem duro Tirynthius angens 270
pectoris attritu sua frangit in ossa leonem.
haud illum impauidi quamuis et in aere suumque
Inachidae uidere decus. pater ordine iuncto
laeuus harundineae recubans super aggere ripae
cernitur emissaeque indulgens Inachus urnae. 275

First, the Tirynthian, throttling the panting lion, by the hard attrition of his chest, breaks the lion upon his own bones. 270
not unafraid did the Inachidae behold him, though both in bronze and as their own glory.
the father, on the left, with the order joined, reclining upon the rampart of a reed-bearing bank,
is seen—Inachus—indulging his poured-out urn. 275

Io post tergum, iam prona dolorque parentis,
spectat inocciduis stellatum uisibus Argum.
ast illam melior Phariis erexerat aruis
Iuppiter atque hospes iam tunc Aurora colebat.
Tantalus inde parens, non qui fallentibus undis 280
inminet aut refugae sterilem rapit aera siluae,
sed pius et magni uehitur conuiua Tonantis.

Io behind her back, now prone and the grief of her parent,
looks at Argus, starred with unsetting gazes.
but for her a better lot than the Pharian fields had Jupiter raised up,
and as a guest even then Aurora was honoring her.
Tantalus then as father, not he who with deceiving waters 280
hangs over or snatches the barren air of the fugitive grove,
but pious, and is borne as the banquet-guest of the great Thunderer.

parte alia uictor curru Neptunia tendit
lora Pelops, prensatque rotas auriga natantes
Myrtilos et uolucri iam iamque relinquitur axe. 285
et grauis Acrisius speciesque horrenda Coroebi
et Danae culpata sinus et in amne reperto
tristis Amymone, paruoque Alcmena superbit
Hercule tergemina crinem circumdata luna.
iungunt discordes inimica in foedera dextras 290

in another part, Pelops as victor with the Neptunian chariot stretches the reins,
and Myrtilus the charioteer grasps the swimming wheels,
and now, now he is left behind by the winged axle. 285
and weighty Acrisius, and the horrendous apparition of Coroebus,
and Danaë, her bosom blamed, and sad Amymone, the river being found,
and Alcmena is proud in her little Hercules, her hair encircled by the triple moon.
the discordant join right hands into hostile covenants. 290

Belidae fratres, sed uultu mitior astat
Aegyptus; Danai manifestum agnoscere ficto
ore notas pacisque malae noctisque futurae.
mille dehinc species. tandem satiata uoluptas
praestantesque uiros uocat ad sua praemia uirtus. 295
primus sudor equis.

Belid brothers, but with a milder countenance stands Aegyptus; for Danaus, with a feigned face, recognizes manifestly the marks of evil peace and of the coming night.
thence a thousand forms. at last sated pleasure,
and virtue calls preeminent men to its own rewards. 295
the first sweat for the horses.

dic incluta, Phoebe, regentum
nomina, dic ipsos; neque enim generosior umquam
alipedum conlata acies, ceu praepete cursu
confligant densae uolucres aut litore in uno
Aeolus insanis statuat certamina uentis.                300
    ducitur ante omnes rutilae manifestus Arion
igne iubae. Neptunus equo, si certa priorum
fama, pater; primus teneri laesisse lupatis
ora et litoreo domitasse in puluere fertur,
uerberibus parcens; etenim insatiatus eundi                305

say, illustrious Phoebus, the names of the rulers,
say the men themselves; for never was a more noble
array of the wing‑footed gathered, as if in precipitate course
dense birds were clashing, or on one single shore
Aeolus were to set contests for the mad winds.                300
    before all, Arion is led, manifest with the fire
of his ruddy mane. Neptune, if the report of the former ages
is sure, is the father to the horse; he is said first to have bruised
the tender mouth with a wolf‑bit and to have tamed him in the littoral dust,
sparing the lashes; for indeed insatiate of going                305

ardor et hiberno par inconstantia ponto.
saepe per Ionium Libycumque natantibus ire
interiunctus equis omnesque adsuerat in oras
caeruleum deferre patrem; stupuere relicta
Nubila, certantesque Eurique Notique sequuntur. 310
nec minor in terris bella Eurysthea gerentem
Amphitryoniaden alto per gramina sulco
duxerat, illi etiam ferus indocilisque teneri.
mox diuum dono regis dignatus Adrasti
imperia et multum mediis mansueuerat annis. 315
tunc rector genero Polynici indulget agendum
multa monens, ubi feruor equo, qua suetus ab arte
mulceri, ne saeua manus, ne liber habenis
impetus.

ardor and an inconstancy equal to the winter sea.
often through the Ionian and Libyan, going yoked among swimming horses,
he had been wont to carry his sea-blue father to all shores; the Clouds, left behind,
stood amazed, and the competing Eurus and Notus follow. 310
nor was he lesser on land, having led the Amphitryoniad waging Eurysthean wars
through the grasses with a deep furrow; to him also he was fierce and untaught to be restrained.
soon, by the gods’ gift, deemed worthy of the commands of King Adrastus,
he had greatly been tamed in the intervening years. 315
then the driver indulges his son-in-law Polynices to do the driving,
warning many things: where there is fervor in the horse, by what art he is wont
to be soothed, let there not be a cruel hand, let there not be an unreined
impetus.

'urgue alios,' inquit, 'stimulisque minisque;
ille ibit, minus ipse uoles.' sic ignea lora 320

'press others,' he says, 'with spurs and with threats; he will go, you yourself will need to will it less.' thus the fiery reins 320

cum daret et rapido Sol natum imponeret axi,
gaudentem lacrimans astra insidiosa docebat
nolentesque teri zonas mediamque polorum
temperiem: pius ille quidem et formidine cauta,
sed iuuenem durae prohibebant discere Parcae.                325
Oebalios sublimis agit, spes proxima palmae,
Amphiaraus equos; tua furto lapsa propago,
Cyllare, dum Scythici diuersus ad ostia Ponti
Castor Amyclaeas remo permutat habenas.
ipse habitu niueus, niuei dant colla iugales,                330
concolor est albis et cassis et infula cristis.
quin et Thessalicis felix Admetus ab oris
uix steriles compescit equas, Centaurica dicunt
semina: credo, adeo sexum indignantur, et omnis
in uires adducta Venus; noctemque diemque                335

when the Sun would grant and set his son upon the rapid axle,
weeping he taught the insidious stars to the rejoicing youth,
and the zones unwilling to be worn, and the mid temper of the poles:
pious he indeed, and with cautious fear,
but the hard Fates forbade the young man to learn. 325
Lofty Amphiaraus drives the Oebalian horses, the hope nearest to the palm;
your stock, Cyllarus, slipped away by stealth, while, turned elsewhere to the mouths of the Scythian Pontus,
Castor exchanges the Amyclaean reins for an oar.
He himself is snow-white in aspect, and his yoke-mates offer snowy necks,
and both helmet and fillet with its crests are of like color to the whites.
Nay even happy Admetus from Thessalian shores
can scarcely restrain his barren mares—they say Centaurian seeds:
I believe it, so greatly do they resent their sex, and all their Venus is drawn to strength;
both night and day 335

adsimulant maculis internigrantibus albae:
tantus uterque color, credi nec degener illo
de grege, Castaliae stupuit qui sibila cannae
laetus et audito contempsit Apolline pasci.
ecce et Iasonidae iuuenes, noua gloria matris 340
Hypsipyles, subiere iugo, quo uectus uterque,
nomen auo gentile Thoas atque omine dictus
Euneos Argoo. geminis eadem omnia: uultus,
currus, equi, uestes, par et concordia uoti,
uincere uel solo cupiunt a fratre relinqui. 345
it Chromis Hippodamusque, alter satus Hercule magno,
alter ab Oenomao: dubites uter effera presset
frena magis.

the white [mares] simulate with inward-blackening spots:
so grand is each color, nor could it be believed degenerate from that
herd, he who marveled at the sibilants of the Castalian reed
and, glad, upon Apollo being heard, disdained to be pastured.
lo, too, the sons of Jason, the new glory of their mother 340
Hypsipyle, have come beneath the yoke, by which each was borne,
the clan-name Thoas from their grandsire, and called by omen
Euneos, Argoan. For the twins the same in all things: countenances,
chariots, horses, garments, equal too the concord of wish;
they desire to conquer, or at least to be left behind by their brother alone. 345
Chromis and Hippodamus go, the one begotten of great Hercules,
the other from Oenomaus: you would doubt which pressed
the savage reins more.

Getici pecus hic Diomedis, at ille
Pisaei iuga patris habet, crudelibus ambo
exuuiis diroque imbuti sanguine currus. 350

Getic herd of Diomedes here, but he
holds the yokes of his Pisaean father; both
chariots imbued with cruel spoils and dire blood. 350

    metarum instar erat hinc nudo robore quercus,
olim omnes exuta comas, hinc saxeus umbo,
arbiter agricolis; finem iacet inter utrumque
quale quater iaculo spatium, ter harundine, uincas.
    interea cantu Musarum nobile mulcens                355
concilium citharaeque manus insertus Apollo
Parnasi summo spectabat ab aethere terras.
                            . . .                                                                357a
orsa deum, nam saepe Iouem Phlegramque suique
anguis opus fratrumque pius cantarat honores.

    in the likeness of turning-posts there stood on this side an oak with naked timber,
once stripped of all its leaves; on that side a rocky boss,
umpire for the husbandmen; the finish lies between the two
such a space as you might overcome with four casts of the javelin, with three of the reed-shaft.
    meanwhile, soothing the noble council with the song of the Muses                355
the assembly, and with hands engaged upon the cithara, Apollo
from the summit of Parnassus was beholding the lands from the ether.
                            . . .                                                                357a
the tales of the gods—for often both Jupiter and Phlegra and his own
serpent-work, and the pious honors of his brothers, he had sung.

tunc aperit quis fulmen agat, quis sidera ducat 360
spiritus, unde animi fluuiis, quae pabula uentis,
quo fonte inmensum uiuat mare, quae uia solis
praecipitet noctem, quae porrigat, imane tellus
an media et rursus mundo succincta latenti.
finis erat, differt auidas audire sorores, 365

then he reveals who drives the thunderbolt, who leads the stars 360
a spirit; whence the streams for souls, what fodder for the winds,
from what spring the boundless sea lives, what road of the sun
hurls night headlong, what prolongs it, whether the earth is vast at the rim
or central and in turn girdled by a hidden world.
the end had come; he defers the sisters eager to hear, 365

dumque chelyn lauro tectumque inlustre coronae
subligat et picto discingit pectora limbo,
haud procul Herculeam Nemeen clamore reductus
aspicit atque illic ingens certaminis instar
quadriiugi. noscit cunctos, et forte propinquo 370
constiterant Admetus et Amphiaraus in aruo.
tunc secum: 'quisnam iste duos, fidissima Phoebi
nomina, commisit deus in discrimina reges?

during which, as he fastens the lyre, laurel-covered, and his head illustrious with a crown,
and ungirds his breast from the painted border,
not far off, drawn back by the clamor, he sights the Herculean Nemea,
and there the huge exemplar of a contest—a four-horse chariot-team.
he recognizes all, and by chance, in a nearby field, had taken their stand Admetus and Amphiaraus. 370
then to himself: ‘what god has committed these two kings—the most faithful names of Phoebus—into hazards?’

ambo pii carique ambo; nequeam ipse priorem
dicere. Peliacis hic cum famularer in aruis 375
(sic Iouis imperia et nigrae uoluere Sorores),
tura dabat famulo nec me sentire minorem
ausus; at hic tripodum comes et pius artis alumnus
aetheriae. potior meritis tamen ille, sed huius
extrema iam fila colu; datur ordo senectae 380

both pious and both dear, both; I myself could not say which first
to name. When I was serving in the Pelian fields (so have the commands of Jove and the black Sisters willed), 375
he would offer incense to his servant and did not dare to make me feel lesser;
but this one is a companion of the tripods and a pious alumnus of the ethereal art.
that one is weightier in merits, however; but of this one I have already tended the last threads;
the order of old age is granted. 380

Admeto serumque mori; tibi nulla supersunt
gaudia, nam Thebae iuxta et tenebrosa uorago.
scis miser, et nostrae pridem cecinere uolucres.'
dixit, et os fletu paene inuiolabile tinctus
extemplo Nemeen radiante per aera saltu 385
ocior et patrio uenit igne suisque sagittis.
ipse olim in terris, caelo uestigia durant,
claraque per zephyros etiamnum semita lucet.

for Admetus, a late death; for you no joys remain,
for Thebes is nearby and a tenebrous chasm.
you know it, wretch, and our birds long since sang it.'
he spoke, and, his face almost inviolable, tinged with weeping,
straightway to Nemea, with a radiant leap through the air, 385
swifter, he came with paternal fire and with his own arrows.
he himself once upon the earth; in the sky the vestiges endure,
and the bright pathway even now shines through the zephyrs.

    et iam sortitus Prothous uersarat aena
casside, iamque locus cuique est et liminis ordo.                390
terrarum decora ampla uiri, decora aequa iugales,
diuum utrumque genus, stant uno margine clausi,
spesque audaxque una metus et fiducia pallens.
nil fixum cordi: pugnant exire pauentque,
concurrit summos animosum frigus in artus.                395

    and now Prothous, having drawn lots, had shaken the bronze lots in the helmet
and now there is a place for each and the order of the threshold.                390
the men, ample ornaments of the lands, their yoke-mates equal ornaments,
the twofold race of the gods, stand shut in on one margin,
and hope and boldness together, and fear and paling confidence.
nothing fixed for the heart: they strive to go out and they are afraid,
a spirited chill runs together into the furthest limbs.                395

qui dominis, idem ardor equis; face lumina surgunt,
ora sonant morsu, spumisque et sanguine ferrum
uritur, impulsi nequeunt obsistere postes
claustraque, compressae transfumat anhelitus irae.
stare adeo miserum est, pereunt uestigia mille 400
ante fugam, absentemque ferit grauis ungula campum.
par circumstant fidi, nexusque et torta iubarum
expediunt firmantque animos et plurima monstrant.

the same ardor that is in the masters is in the horses; torch-like their eyes spring up,
their mouths resound with biting, and the iron is scorched by foams and by blood;
the posts and the bars, when driven against, cannot resist, and the panting breath of compressed wrath smokes through.
to stand is so miserable; a thousand footprints perish before the flight, 400
and the heavy hoof strikes the absent field.
par the faithful stand around in equal ranks, and they undo the knots and the twisted locks
of the manes, and they strengthen spirits and show very many things.

insonuit contra Tyrrhenum murmur, et omnes
exiluere loco. quae tantum carbasa ponto, 405
quae bello sic tela uolant, quae nubila caelo?
amnibus hibernis minor est, minor impetus igni,
tardius astra cadunt, glomerantur tardius imbres,
tardius e summo decurrunt flumina monte.

A murmur resounded against the Tyrrhenian, and all
leaped up from their place. What canvas so greatly on the sea, 405
what missiles thus in war fly, what clouds in the sky?
less is the force of winter rivers, less the impetus of fire,
more slowly the stars fall, more slowly are the showers massed,
more slowly do rivers run down from the mountain’s summit.

emissos uidere atque agnouere Pelasgi, 410

the Pelasgians saw the ones sent forth and recognized them, 410

et iam rapti oculis, iam caeco puluere mixti
una in nube latent, uultusque umbrante tumultu
uix inter sese clamore et nomine noscunt.
euoluere globum, et spatio quo quisque ualebat
diducti. delet sulcos iterata priores 415
orbita, nunc auidi prono iuga pectore tangunt,
nunc pugnante genu et pressis duplicantur habenis.

and now snatched from their eyes, now mingled with blind dust,
together they lie hidden in one cloud, and their faces, with the tumult overshadowing,
scarcely do they recognize one another by shout and by name.
they unrolled the mass, and, drawn apart in the space where each had strength,
the repeated track effaces the former furrows; 415
now, avid, they touch the yokes with leaning breast,
now, with the knee contending and the reins pressed tight, they double.

colla toris crinita tument, stantesque repectit
aura iubas, bibit albentes humus arida nimbos.
fit sonus inmanisque pedum tenuisque rotarum:                420
nulla manu requies, densis insibilat aer
uerberibus; gelida non crebrior exilit Arcto
grando, nec Oleniis manant tot cornibus imbres.
    senserat adductis alium praesagus Arion
stare ducem loris, dirumque expauerat insons                425

the maned necks swell with knotted muscles, and the breeze combs back
the standing manes, the dry ground drinks the whitening showers.
there arises a sound, immense of hooves and fine of wheels:                420
there is no rest for the hand, the air hisses with dense
lashes; hail does not leap more frequent from the icy Bear,
nor do so many showers drip from the Olenian horns.
    the prescient Arion had sensed, with the reins drawn tight,
that another leader stood at the reins, and, guiltless, had shuddered at the dread one.                425

Oedipodioniden; iam illinc a limine discors
iratusque oneri solito truculentior ardet.
Inachidae credunt accensum laudibus; ille
aurigam fugit, aurigae furiale minatur
efferus, et campo dominum circumspicit omni.                430
ante tamen cunctos sequitur longeque secundus
Amphiaraus agit, quem Thessalus aequat eundo
Admetus; iuxta gemini, nunc Euneos ante
et nunc ante Thoas, cedunt uincuntque, nec umquam
ambitiosa pios conlidit gloria fratres.                435
postremum discrimen erant Chromis asper et asper
Hippodamus, non arte rudes, sed mole tenentur
cornipedum; prior Hippodamus fert ora sequentum,
fert gemitus multaque umeros incenditur aura.
sperauit flexae circum compendia metae                440

the Oedipodionid; already from there, from the threshold, at odds,
and wrathful, more truculent toward the accustomed burden, he blazes.
the Inachidae believe him kindled by praises; but he
flees the charioteer, the wild one threatens the charioteer with fury,
and over the whole field he looks around for his master.                430
yet before all he follows, and far in second place
Amphiaraus drives, whom the Thessalian Admetus matches by going;
next to them the twins, now before Euneos and now before Thoas,
yield and prevail, and never does ambitious glory collide
the pious brothers together.                435
the last contest were rough Chromis and rough
Hippodamus, not unskilled in art, but they are held by the mass
of the horn-footed steeds; Hippodamus, ahead, bears the cries of those following,
bears groans, and with much breeze his shoulders are set aflame.
he hoped for a shortcut around the bent meta                440

interius ductis Phoebeius augur habenis
anticipasse uiam; nec non et Thessalus heros
spe propiore calet, dum non cohibente magistro
spargitur in gyros dexterque exerrat Arion.
iam prior Oeclides et iam non tertius ibat 445
Admetus, laxo cum denique ab orbe reductus
aequoreus sonipes premit euaditque parumper
gauisos; subit astra fragor, caelumque tremescit,
omniaque excusso patuere sedilia uulgo.
sed nec lora regit nec uerbera pallidus audet 450
Labdacides: lassa ueluti ratione magister
in fluctus, in saxa ruit nec iam amplius astra
respicit et uictam proiecit casibus artem.

with the reins drawn more to the inside, the Phoebean augur had anticipated the way;
and the Thessalian hero likewise burns with nearer hope, while, his master not restraining,
he is scattered into gyres and Arion swerves furiously to the right.
now the Oeclidian was first and Admetus was now no longer third 445
when at last, drawn back from the broad ring, the sea-born steed
bears down and for a moment gets past those who had rejoiced; the crash mounts to the stars,
and the sky trembles, and all the benches lay open with the crowd shaken out.
but the Labdacide, pale, neither guides the reins nor dares the lashes: 450
like a master with reason wearied he rushes upon the waves, upon the rocks, and no longer
looks back to the stars and has cast aside an art overcome by mishaps.

rursus praecipites in recta ac deuia campi
obliquant tenduntque uias, iterum axibus axes 455
inflicti, radiisque rotae; pax nulla fidesque.
bella geri ferro leuius, bella horrida, credas;
is furor in laudes. trepidant mortemque minantur,
multaque transuersis praestringitur ungula campis.

again headlong, on the straight and the byways of the field
they swerve and aim their routes, again axles are dashed on axles, 455
and the spokes of the wheel; no peace and no good faith.
you would think wars are waged more lightly with iron, horrid wars;
such is the fury for praises. they quake and threaten death,
and many a hoof skims the crosswise fields.

nec iam sufficiunt stimuli, non uerbera; uoce 460

nor now do the goads suffice, nor the lashes; with the voice 460

nominibusque cient Pholoen Admetus et Irin
funalemque Thoen, rapidum Danaeius augur
Ascheton increpitans meritumque uocabula Cycnum.
audit et Herculeum Strymon Chromin, Euneon audit
igneus Aetion; tardumque Cydona lacessit 465
Hippodamus, uariumque Thoas rogat ire Podarcen.
solus Echionides errante silentia curru
maesta tenet trepidaque timet se uoce fateri.

and with names they summon Pholoe, Admetus, and Iris,
and the trace-horse Thoe; the Danaean augur, chiding
the swift Aschetos, calls by name the well-deserving Cycnus.
Strymon too hears the Herculean Chromis, the fiery Aetion hears
Euneus; and Hippodamus goads the sluggish Cydon, 465
and Thoas asks the changeable Podarces to go. Alone the Echionid,
with his erring chariot, holds the mournful silences
and, trembling, fears to confess himself with his voice.

    uixdum coeptus equis labor, et iam puluere quarto
campum ineunt, iamque et tepidis sudoribus artus                470
effeti, et crassum rapit eiectatque uaporem
cornipedum flammata sitis, nec iam integer illis
impetus, et longi suspendunt ilia flatus.
hic anceps Fortuna diu decernere primum
ausa uenit. ruit, Haemonium dum feruidus instat                475

    Hardly begun is the labor for the horses, and already in the fourth dust-cloud
they enter the field, and now too the limbs are spent with tepid sweats,                470
and the inflamed thirst of the horses draws in and ejects a thick vapor, nor now is their impetus intact, and with long breathings their flanks hang.
Here two-sided Fortune, long wavering, first ventured to decide.
He rushes on, while, fervid, he presses the Haemonian.                475

Admetum superare, Thoas, nec praetulit ullam
frater opem. uelit ille quidem, sed Martius ante
obstitit Hippodamus mediasque inmisit habenas.
mox Chromis Hippodamum metae interioris ad orbem
uiribus Herculeis et toto robore patris 480
axe tenet prenso; luctantur abire iugales
nequiquam frenosque et colla rigentia tendunt.

To surpass Admetus, Thoas, not even a brother proffered any help.
He indeed would wish it, but Martial Hippodamus first stood in the way
and drove the reins into their midst. Soon Chromis holds Hippodamus at the circle of the inner turning-post
with Herculean forces and with all the strength of his father, 480
with the axle caught; the yoke-mates struggle to get away
in vain and stretch the reins and their stiff necks.

ut Siculas si quando rates tenet aestus et ingens
auster agit, medio stant uela tumentia ponto.
tunc ipsum fracto curru deturbat, et isset 485
ante Chromis; sed Thraces equi ut uidere iacentem
Hippodamum, redit illa fames, iam iamque trementem
partiti furiis, ni frena ipsosque frementes
oblitus palmae retro Tirynthius heros
torsisset uictusque et conlaudatus abisset. 490

as when the tide holds Sicilian ships and the great south-wind drives, the sails, swelling, stand in the mid-sea.
then he throws him down from the shattered chariot, and would have gone on before Chromis; 485
but when the Thracian horses saw Hippodamus lying, that hunger returns, and even now, now, parceling out the trembling man in their frenzies,
had not the Tirynthian hero, forgetful of the palm, twisted back the reins and the very beasts as they raged,
and departed defeated and highly lauded. 490

    at tibi promissos iamdudum Phoebus honores,
Amphiarae, cupit. tandem ratus apta fauori
tempora puluerei uenit in spatia horrida circi,
cum iam in fine uiae, et summum uictoria nutat;
anguicomam monstri effigiem, saeuissima uisu                495
ora, mouet siue ille Erebo seu finxit in astus
temporis, innumera certe formidine cultum
tollit in astra nefas. non illud ianitor atrae
impauidus Lethes, non ipsae horrore sine alto
Eumenides uidisse queant, turbasset euntes                500
Solis equos Martisque iugum.

    but for you the long-promised honors Phoebus desires, Amphiaraus.
at last, thinking the times apt for his favor, he comes into the horrid spaces of the dusty circus,
when now at the end of the course, and victory nods at the summit;
the snake-haired effigy of a monster, faces most savage to behold, of the moment—surely he lifts to the stars an abomination adorned with innumerable fear.                495
not even the doorkeeper of black Lethe would be unafraid of that, nor could the Eumenides themselves
behold it without deep horror; it would have thrown into confusion the going horses of the Sun
and the yoke of Mars.                500

nam flauus Arion
ut uidit, saliere iubae, atque erectus in armos
stat sociumque iugi comitesque utrimque laboris
secum alte suspendit equos. ruit ilicet exul
Aonius nexusque diu per terga uolutus 505

for golden Arion,
as soon as he saw, the manes leapt, and, reared upon his shoulders,
he stands and hoists high with himself his yoke-fellow and the horses,
companions of the labor on either side. Straightway the Aonian
exile rushes headlong, and, entangled, long rolled over their backs 505

exuit: abripitur longe moderamine liber
currus; at hunc putri praeter tellure iacentem
Taenarii currus et Thessalus axis et heros
Lemnius obliqua, quantum uitare dabatur,
transabiere fuga. tandem caligine mersum 510
erigit accursu comitum caput aegraque tollit
membra solo, et socero redit haud speratus Adrasto.
quis mortis, Thebane, locus, nisi dura negasset
Tisiphone, quantum poteras dimittere bellum!

he is cast out: the chariot, freed from control, is snatched far away;
but him, lying upon the rotten earth, the Taenarian chariots and the Thessalian axle and the Lemnian hero,
by a slanting flight, as much as it was permitted to avoid,
passed by. at last, plunged in murk, 510
the rush of his comrades raises his head and he lifts his ailing
limbs from the ground, and, unhoped-for, he returns to his father-in-law Adrastus.
what place of death, Theban, had not harsh Tisiphone denied it—
how much war you could have dismissed!

te Thebe fraterque palam, te plangeret Argos,                515
te Nemea, tibi Lerna comas Larisaque supplex
poneret, Archemori maior colerere sepulcro.
    tum uero Oeclides, quamquam iam certa sequenti
praemia, cum uacuus domino praeiret Arion,
ardet adhuc cupiens uel inanem uincere currum.                520

you Thebes and your brother openly, you Argos, would lament,                515
you Nemea; for you Lerna would lay its tresses and suppliant Larisa
would place them; you would be honored greater than the sepulchre of Archemorus.
    then indeed the Oeclid, although now the prizes were certain for the one following,
since Arion, empty of his master, was going on ahead,
still burns, desiring even to conquer an empty chariot.                520

dat uires refouetque deus; uolat ocior Euro,
ceu modo carceribus dimissus in arua solutis,
uerberibusque iubas et terga lacessit habenis
Ascheton increpitansque leuem Cycnumque niualem.
nunc, saltem dum nemo prior, rapit igneus orbes 525
axis, et effusae longe sparguntur harenae.
dat gemitum tellus et iam tum saeua minatur.

the god gives strength and revives; he flies swifter than Eurus,
as if just dismissed from the starting-gates, the bars unloosed,
and with lashes he provokes the manes and backs with the reins,
chiding Aschetos and the light, snow-white Cycnus.
now, at least while no one is before him, the fiery axle whirls the wheels 525
and the effused sands are scattered far and wide.
the earth gives a groan and even then the savage earth threatens.

forsitan et uicto prior isset Arione Cycnus,
sed uetat aequoreus uinci pater: hinc uice iusta
gloria mansit equo, cessit uictoria uati.                530
    huic pretium palmae gemini cratera ferebant
Herculeum iuuenes: illum Tirynthius olim
ferre manu sola spumantemque ore supino
uertere, seu monstri uictor seu Marte, solebat.
Centauros habet arte truces aurumque figuris                535

perhaps even Cycnus would have gone first, with Arion defeated,
but the sea-god father forbids him to be beaten: hence, by a just exchange,
the glory remained to the horse, the victory yielded to the poet.                530
    for him, as the prize of the palm, twin youths were bearing
the Herculean crater: that vessel the Tirynthian once
was wont to carry with a single hand, and, as it foamed at its upturned mouth,
to tip, whether victor over a monster or in war.
It has fierce Centaurs wrought by art, and gold with figures.                535

terribile: hic mixta Lapitharum caede rotantur
saxa, faces (aliique iterum crateres); ubique
ingentes morientum irae; tenet ipse furentem
Hylaeum et torta molitur robora barba.
at tibi Maeonio fertur circumflua limbo                540
pro meritis, Admete, chlamys repetitaque multo
murice: Phrixei natat hic contemptor ephebus
aequoris et picta tralucet caerulus unda;
in latus ire manu mutaturusque uidetur
bracchia, nec siccum speres in stamine crinem;                545
contra autem frustra sedet anxia turre suprema
Sestias in speculis, moritur prope conscius ignis.
has Adrastus opes dono uictoribus ire
imperat; at generum famula solatur Achaea.
    sollicitat tunc ampla uiros ad praemia cursu                550

terrible: here, with the slaughter of the Lapiths mingled, rocks and torches are whirled (and other kraters again); everywhere the vast wraths of the dying; he himself holds the frenzied Hylaeus and with twisted beard he labors the oaken timbers.
but for your deserts, Admetus, a cloak with a Maeonian hem and redyed with much murex is borne about you; the ephebe, contemner of the Phrixean sea, here swims, and the dark-blue wave shines through in the painting;
he seems about to go to the side and to change his arms with his hand, nor would you hope for hair dry in the thread;
opposite, however, the Sestian girl sits anxious in the topmost tower on her watchtowers, the privy fire dies near at hand.
these riches Adrastus commands to go as a gift to the victors; but the Achaean handmaid consoles her son-in-law.
then a race entices the men to ample prizes by speed 550

praeceleres: agile studium et tenuissima uirtus,
pacis opus, cum sacra uocant, nec inutile bellis
subsidium, si dextra neget. prior omnibus Idas,
nuper Olympiacis umbratus tempora ramis,
prosilit; excipiunt plausu Pisaea iuuentus 555
Eleaeque manus. sequitur Sicyonius Alcon,
et bis in Isthmiaca uictor clamatus harena
Phaedimus, alipedumque fugam praegressus equorum
ante Dymas, sed tunc aeuo tardante secutus.

the very swift: an agile zeal and the most slender prowess,
a work of peace, when sacred rites call, nor a useless subsidy
to wars, if the right hand should fail. Idas before all,
his temples lately shaded with Olympic branches,
leaps forth; the Pisaean youth and the Elean bands receive him with applause. 555
the Sicyonian Alcon follows,
and Phaedimus, twice proclaimed victor on the Isthmian sand,
and Dymas, who once had outstripped the flight of wing-footed horses;
but then, with age slowing him, he followed.

multi et, quos uarii tacet ignorantia uulgi, 560
hinc atque hinc subiere. sed Arcada Parthenopaeum
appellant densique cient uaga murmura circi.
nota parens cursu; quis Maenaliae Atalantes
nesciat egregium decus et uestigia cunctis
indeprensa procis?

many also, and those whom the various ignorance of the crowd keeps silent, 560
from here and from there came up. But for the Arcadian Parthenopaeus
they call, and the dense circus rouses wandering murmurs.
his parent is known for running; who does not know Atalanta of Maenalus,
the outstanding glory, and her footprints not overtaken by all
her suitors?

onerat celeberrima natum 565

the most celebrated mother burdens her son 565

mater, et ipse procul fama iam notus inermes
narratur ceruas pedes inter aperta Lycaei
tollere et emissum cursu deprendere telum.
tandem expectatus uolucri super agmina saltu
emicat et torto chlamydem diffibulat auro. 570
effulsere artus, membrorumque omnis aperta est
laetitia, insignes umeri, nec pectora nudis
deteriora genis, latuitque in corpore uultus.
ipse tamen formae laudem aspernatur et arcet
mirantes; tunc Palladios non inscius haustus 575
incubuit pinguique cutem fuscatur oliuo.

mother, and he himself, already far off well-known by report, is told to make the unarmed hinds
lift their feet amid the open spaces of Lycaeus with his running, and to catch a missile sent forth by speed.
at last, awaited, with a winged leap above the battle-ranks he flashes out and unclasps his cloak fastened with twisted gold. 570
his limbs shone out, and the gladness of all his members was laid open;
distinguished shoulders, nor were his chest inferior to his bare
cheeks, and the face lay hidden in the body.
he himself, however, spurns praise of his form and wards off
the wonderers; then, not unknowing of Pallas’ draughts, he bent to it, and his skin is darkened with rich olive. 575

hoc Idas, hoc more Dymas aliique nitescunt.
sic ubi tranquillo perlucent sidera ponto
uibraturque fretis caeli stellantis imago,
omnia clara nitent, sed clarior omnia supra 580

by this Idas, by this manner Dymas and others shine.
so when on a tranquil sea the stars shine through
and the image of the starry heaven is vibrated upon the straits,
all bright things glitter, but one brighter above all 580

Hesperus exercet radios, quantusque per altum
aethera, caeruleis tantus monstratur in undis.
proximus et forma nec multum segnior Idas
cursibus atque aeuo iuxta prior; attamen illi
iam tenuem pingues florem induxere palaestrae,                585
deserpitque genis nec se lanugo fatetur
intonsae sub nube comae. tunc rite citatos
explorant acuuntque gradus, uariasque per artes
instimulant docto languentia membra tumultu:
poplite nunc sidunt flexo, nunc lubrica forti                590
pectora conlidunt plausu, nunc ignea tollunt
crura breuemque fugam necopino fine reponunt.
    ut ruit atque aequum summisit regula limen,
corripuere leues spatium, campoque refulsit
nuda cohors: uolucres isdem modo tardius aruis                595

Hesperus exercises his rays, and as great as through the high
ether, so great is he shown in the cerulean waves.
Next, and in form and not much slower, Idas,
in courses and in age nearly earlier alongside; yet for him
already the rich palaestrae have brought on a slender bloom,                585
and the down creeps over his cheeks, nor does the down confess itself
beneath the cloud of unshorn hair. Then duly they test
and sharpen their paces when summoned, and through various arts
they goad the languishing limbs with a skillful tumult:
now they settle with knee bent, now with a strong slap they clash their slippery                590
chests, now they lift fiery legs and set back
the brief flight with an unlooked-for end.
    As the rod rushes down and has lowered the even threshold,
the light ones snatched up the stretch, and on the plain there flashed
the naked cohort: the winged, just now, more slowly in the same fields                595

isse uidentur equi; credas e plebe Cydonum
Parthorumque fuga totidem exiluisse sagittas.
non aliter, celeres Hyrcana per auia cerui
cum procul impasti fremitum accepere leonis
siue putant, rapit attonitos fuga caeca metusque 600
congregat, et longum dant cornua mixta fragorem.
effugit hic oculos rapida puer ocior aura
Maenalius, quem deinde gradu premit horridus Idas
inspiratque umero, flatuque et pectoris umbra
terga premit.

the horses seem to have gone; you would believe that from the people of the Cydonians
and of the Parthians in flight just as many arrows had leapt forth.
not otherwise, swift stags through the Hyrcanian pathless wilds
when from afar they have received the roar of an unfed lion
or think so, blind flight snatches them thunderstruck, and fear 600
gathers them, and their mingled antlers give a long crash.
here a Maenalian boy, fleeter than the rapid breeze, escapes the eyes,
whom then grim Idas presses in stride and breathes upon his shoulder,
and with the blast and the shadow of his chest
presses his back.

post ambiguo discrimine tendunt 605
Phaedimus atque Dymas, illis celer inminet Alcon.
flauus ab intonso pendebat uertice crinis
Arcados; hoc primis Triuiae pascebat ab annis
munus et, Ogygio uictor cum Marte redisset,
nequiquam patriis audax promiserat aris. 610

after the ambiguous decision they strain forward 605
Phaedimus and Dymas; swift Alcon hangs over them.
blond hair was hanging from his unshorn crown,
the Arcadian’s; with this he had nourished from his earliest years
the service of Trivia, and, when victorious he had returned with Ogygian Mars,
he had boldly promised in vain to the ancestral altars. 610

tunc liber nexu lateque in terga solutus
occursu Zephyri retro fugit et simul ipsum
impedit infestoque uolans obtenditur Idae.
inde dolum iuuenis fraudique accommoda sensit
tempora; iam finem iuxta, dum limina uictor                615
Parthenopaeus init, correpto crine reductum
occupat, et longe primus ferit ostia portae.
    Arcades arma fremunt, armis defendere regem,
ni raptum decus et meriti reddantur honores,
contendunt totoque parant descendere circo.                620
sunt et quis Idae placeat dolus.

then, free from its binding and widely loosed upon his back,
at the onset of Zephyr it flies backward, and at the same time it
hampers him and, flying, is held out as a hostile screen to Idas.
then the youth perceived the trick and times accommodated to fraud;
now near the finish, while as victor Parthenopaeus enters the thresholds,                615
he catches him, pulled backward with his hair seized,
and, far and away, is first to strike the doorways of the gate.
    the Arcadians rattle their arms, to defend their king with arms,
unless the snatched glory and the honors of merit are restored,
they press and prepare to descend into the whole circus.                620
and there are also those to whom Idas’s trick is pleasing.

ipse regesta
Parthenopaeus humo uultumque oculosque madentes
obruit, accessit lacrimarum gratia formae.
pectora nunc maerens, nunc ora indigna cruento
ungue secat meritamque comam, furit undique clamor 625

he himself, lifted back from the ground,
Parthenopaeus covers his face and his tear-wet eyes;
a grace of tears was added to his beauty.
now mourning, now he cuts his breast, now a face unworthy, with bloody
nail, and his merited hair; on every side the clamor rages 625

dissonus, ambiguumque senis cunctatur Adrasti
consilium. tandem ipse refert: 'compescite litem,
o pueri! uirtus iterum temptanda; sed ite
limite non uno, latus hoc conceditur Idae,
tu diuersa tene; fraus cursibus omnis abesto.' 630
audierant, dictoque manent.

dissonant, and ambiguous, the counsel of the old man Adrastus wavers;
at length he himself declares: 'Curb the quarrel,
O boys! virtue must be tested again; but go
by not one track, this flank is conceded to Ida,
you hold the opposite; let every fraud be absent from the races.' 630
they had heard, and they abide by the word.

mox numina supplex
adfatu tacito iuuenis Tegeaeus adorat:
'diua potens nemorum (tibi enim hic, tibi crinis honori
debitus, eque tuo uenit haec iniuria uoto),
si bene quid genetrix, si quid uenatibus ipse 635
promerui, ne, quaeso, sinas hoc omine Thebas
ire nec Arcadiae tantum meruisse pudorem.'
auditum manifesta fides: uix campus euntem
sentit, et exilis plantis interuenit aer,
raraque non fracto uestigia puluere pendent. 640

soon, as a suppliant, the Tegean youth adores the divinities with a silent address:
'goddess powerful of the groves (for to you is this, to you the hair owed for honor,
and from your vow comes this injury),
if in any wise my genetrix, if by huntings I myself have merited anything 635
do not, I pray, allow Thebes to go on under this omen,
nor that Arcadia should have deserved so great a shame.'
clear proof attested that he was heard: the plain scarcely feels him going,
and a slender air intervenes beneath his soles,
and rare footprints hang with the dust not broken. 640

inrumpit clamore fores, clamore recurrit
ante ducem prensaque fouet suspiria palma.
finiti cursus, operumque insignia praesto.
Arcas equum dono, clipeum gerit improbus Idas,
cetera plebs Lyciis uadit contenta pharetris. 645
tunc uocat, emisso si quis decernere disco
impiger et uires uelit ostentare superbas.

he bursts in upon the doors with clamor, with clamor he runs back
before the leader, and with a pressed palm he soothes his gasps.
the courses finished, and the insignia of works are at the ready.
The Arcadian gives a horse as a gift; overbold Idas bears a shield,
the rest of the crowd goes content with Lycian quivers. 645
then he calls, if anyone, with the discus sent forth,
energetic, should wish to decide and to display proud strength.

it iussus Pterelas et aenae lubrica massae
pondera uix toto curuatus corpore iuxta
deicit; inspectant taciti expenduntque laborem 650
Inachidae. mox turba ruunt, duo gentis Achaeae,
tres Ephyreiadae, Pisa satus unus, Acarnan
septimus; et plures agitabat gloria, ni se
arduus Hippomedon cauea stimulante tulisset
in medios, lateque ferens sub pectore dextro 655

Pterelas goes when ordered, and, scarcely, bent with his whole body, he casts down nearby the slippery weight of the bronze mass; the Inachids look on silent and weigh the labor. 650
soon the crowd rush in, two of the Achaean race, three Ephyreiads, one begotten of Pisa, an Acarnanian the seventh; and glory was driving more, had not towering Hippomedon, the cavea urging, borne himself into the midst, and, carrying it broad beneath the right breast, 655

orbem alium: 'hunc potius, iuuenes, qui moenia saxis
frangere, qui Tyrias deiectum uaditis arces,
hunc rapite: ast illud cui non iaculabile dextrae
pondus?' et arreptum nullo conamine iecit
in latus. absistunt procul attonitique fatentur 660
cedere; uix unus Phlegyas acerque Menestheus
(hos etiam pudor et magni tenuere parentes)
promisere manum; concessit cetera pubes
sponte et adorato rediit ingloria disco.
qualis Bistoniis clipeus Mauortis in aruis 665
luce mala Pangaea ferit solemque refulgens
territat incussaque dei graue mugit ab hasta.

another disc: "this one rather, young men, you who go to shatter walls with stones,
who are going to throw down Tyrian citadels, seize this one: but that weight—
not hurlable for a right hand— for whom?" and the thing snatched up he cast with no exertion
to the side. they stand off far away and, astonished, confess that they yield; 660
scarcely one Phlegyas and keen Menestheus
(these too shame and their great parents held back)
promised their hand; the rest of the youth yielded
of their own accord and returned inglorious to the adored disc.
as the shield of Mavors in the Bistonian fields, 665
with baleful light, smites Pangaea and, refulgent, even frightens the sun,
and, when struck by the god’s spear, gives a heavy bellow.

Pisaeus Phlegyas opus incohat et simul omnes
abstulit in se oculos: ea uiso corpore uirtus
promissa. ac primum terra discumque manumque 670

Pisaean Phlegyas begins the task and at once drew all
drew all eyes upon himself: such, at the sight of that body, was the prowess
promised. And first the ground and the discus and his hand 670

asperat, excusso mox circum puluere uersat,
quod latus in digitos, mediae quod certius ulnae
conueniat, non artis egens: hic semper amori
ludus erat, patriae non tantum ubi laudis obiret
sacra, sed alternis Alpheon utrumque solebat                675
metari ripis et, qua latissima distant,
non umquam merso transmittere flumina disco.
ergo operum fidens non protinus horrida campi
iugera, sed caelo dextram metitur, humique
pressus utroque genu collecto sanguine discum                680
ipse super sese rotat atque in nubila condit.
ille citus sublime petit similisque cadenti
crescit in aduersum, tandemque exhaustus ab alto
tardior ad terram redit atque inmergitur aruis.
sic cadit, attonitis quotiens auellitur astris,                685

he roughens it, and soon, the dust shaken off, he turns it around,
to see which side would fit the fingers, which more surely the middle of the ulna,
not lacking in art: this sport was always to his love,
not only where he would discharge for his fatherland the sacred rites of praise,
but he was wont by turns to measure the Alpheus on either bank,                675
and, where they are farthest at their broadest, never to transmit the rivers
with the disc dipped. therefore, confident in his feats, not straightway the rough acres
of the field, but he measures his right hand to the sky, and, pressed to the ground
with each knee, with his blood gathered, he himself whirls the disc over himself
and hides it in the clouds. it swiftly seeks the height, and, like one falling,                680
it grows as it comes against him, and at last, exhausted from the high,
slower it returns to the earth and is immersed in the fields.
thus it falls, whenever it is torn away from the astonished stars,                685

Solis opaca soror; procul auxiliantia gentes
aera crepant frustraque timent, at Thessala uictrix
ridet anhelantes audito carmine bigas.
conlaudant Danai ~sed non tibi molle tuenti,
Hippomedon~ maiorque manus speratur in aequo. 690
atque illi extemplo, cui spes infringere dulce
inmodicas, Fortuna uenit. quid numina contra
tendere fas homini?

The sun’s shadowy sister; far off the helping peoples
clash their bronzes and fear in vain, but the Thessalian victress
laughs at the panting two-horse chariots when the chant is heard.
conlaud the Danaans ~but not gentle for you as you look on, Hippomedon~ and a greater band is hoped for on the level ground. 690
and to him at once, for whom it is sweet to shatter immoderate hopes,
Fortune comes. What is it lawful for a man to strive against the numina?

spatium iam inmane parabat,
iam ceruix conuersa, et iam latus omne redibat:
excidit ante pedes elapsum pondus et ictus 695
destituit frustraque manum demisit inanem.
ingemuere omnes, rarisque ea uisa uoluptas.
inde ad conatus timida subit arte Menestheus
cautior, et multum te, Maia crete, rogato
molis praeualidae castigat puluere lapsus. 700
illa manu magna et multum felicior exit,
nec partem exiguam circi transuecta quieuit.

he was already preparing an immense span,
now the neck turned, and now his whole flank drew back again:
the weight slipped out before his feet, having glided free, and the stroke 695
failed, and he let his hand fall empty in vain.
all groaned, and that pleasure was seen by few.
then Menestheus approaches the efforts with timid craft,
more cautious, and, you having been much invoked, Maia’s child,
he corrects with dust the slips of the very weighty mass. 700
that one departs by a great hand and much more fortunate,
nor, carried across no small part of the course, did it come to rest.

fit sonus, et fixa signatur terra sagitta.
tertius Hippomedon ualida ad certamina tardos
molitur gressus; namque illum corde sub alto 705

a sound is made, and the earth is marked by the fixed arrow.
the third, Hippomedon, to the mighty contests
sets in motion slow steps; for him beneath his deep heart 705

et casus Phlegyae monet et fortuna Menesthei.
erigit adsuetum dextrae gestamen, et alte
sustentans rigidumque latus fortesque lacertos
consulit ac uasto contorquet turbine, et ipse
prosequitur. fugit horrendo per inania saltu                710
iamque procul meminit dextrae seruatque tenorem
discus, nec dubia iunctaue Menesthea uictum
transabiit meta: longe super aemula signa
consedit uiridesque umeros et opaca theatri
culmina ceu latae tremefecit mole ruinae:                715
quale uaporifera saxum Polyphemus ab Aetna
lucis egente manu tamen in uestigia puppis
auditae iuxtaque inimicum exegit Vlixen.
[sic et Aloidae, cum iam calcaret Olympum
desuper Ossa rigens, ipsum glaciale ferebant                720

and the fall of Phlegyas warns and the fortune of Menestheus.
he raises the burden accustomed to the right hand, and, holding aloft,
while he addresses both the rigid flank and his strong upper arms,
he consults and hurls it with a vast whirlwind, and he himself
follows it. it flees through the void with a horrid leap,                710
and now from afar it remembers the right hand and keeps its course
the discus, and with Menestheus vanquished, neither in doubt nor tied,
it passed the turning-post: far beyond the rival markers
it settled, and it made the green shoulders and the shady summits
of the theatre tremble, like the downfall of a broad mass:                715
such a stone as Polyphemus from vapor-bearing Aetna,
with a hand bereft of light, nevertheless drove into the tracks of the heard ship
and close beside the enemy Ulysses.
[sic likewise the Aloeidae, when now he was treading Olympus
from above, rigid Ossa, were bearing the very icy                720

Pelion et trepido sperabant iungere caelo.]
    tum genitus Talao uictori tigrin inanem
ire iubet, fuluo quae circumfusa nitebat
margine et extremos auro mansueuerat ungues.
Cnosiacos arcus habet et uaga tela Menestheus.                 725
'at tibi' ait 'Phlegya, casu frustrate sinistro,
hunc, quondam nostri decus auxiliumque Pelasgi,
ferre damus, neque enim Hippomedon inuiderit, ensem.
nunc opus est animis: infestos tollite caestus
comminus; haec bellis et ferro proxima uirtus.'                730
    constitit inmanis cerni inmanisque timeri
Argolicus Capaneus, ac dum nigrantia plumbo
tegmina cruda boum non mollior ipse lacertis
induitur, 'date tot iuuenum de milibus unum
huc' ait 'atque utinam potius de stirpe ueniret                735
aemulus Aonia, quem fas demittere leto,
nec mea crudelis ciuili sanguine uirtus.'
obstipuere animi, fecitque silentia terror.

Pelion too they hoped to join to the trembling sky.]
    then the son of Talaus bids the empty tigress go to the victor,
which, suffused with a tawny border, was shining
and had gentled with gold its farthest claws.
Menestheus has Cnossian bows and roving darts.                 725
'but to you,' he says, 'Phlegya, foiled by an ill chance,
we grant to bear this sword—once the glory and help of our Pelasgian race—
nor indeed will Hippomedon begrudge it, the sword.
now there is need of spirit: lift the hostile caesti
hand to hand; this is the virtue nearest to wars and steel.'                 730
    the Argolic Capaneus stood—monstrous to behold and monstrous to be feared—
and while he is being clad in raw hides of oxen blackened with lead,
he himself no softer in his muscles, he says: 'give me out of so many
thousands of youths just one here; and would that rather there came from the stock
Aonian a rival whom it is lawful to send down to death,
and that my valor be not cruel with civil blood.'                 735
their spirits were astonished, and terror made silence.

tandem insperatus nuda de plebe Laconum
prosilit Alcidamas: mirantur Dorica regum 740

At last, unhoped-for, from the naked plebs of the Laconians
Alcidamas leaps forth: the Dorian kings marvel 740

agmina, sed socii fretum Polluce magistro
norant et sacras inter creuisse palaestras.
ipse deus posuitque manus et bracchia finxit
(materiae suadebat amor); tunc saepe locauit
comminus, et simili stantem miratus in ira 745
sustulit exultans nudumque ad pectora pressit.
illum indignatur Capaneus ridetque uocantem,
ut miserans, poscitque alium; tandemque coactus
restitit, et stimulis iam languida colla tumescunt.

the ranks, but his comrades knew the strait with Pollux as master,
and that he had grown up among the sacred palaestrae.
the god himself set his hands and shaped his arms
(love for the material urged him); then he often placed him
at close quarters, and, marveling at him standing in similar anger, 745
he lifted him up exulting and pressed the naked body to his chest.
Capaneus grows indignant at him and laughs at him as he calls out,
as if pitying, and he demands another; and at last, compelled,
he stood his ground, and now his wearied neck swells at the goads.

fulmineas alte suspensi corpora plantis 750
erexere manus; tuto procul ora recessu
armorum in speculis, aditusque ad uulnera clausi.
hic, quantum Stygiis Tityos consurgat ab aruis,
si toruae patiantur aues, tanta undique pandit
membrorum spatia et tantis ferus ossibus extat. 755

poised high on their soles, they raised their lightning-like hands; 750
their faces withdrew far back in safe recess,
at the lookouts of their armor, and the accesses to wounds were shut.
this man—by as much as Tityos might rise from the Stygian fields,
if the grim birds would permit—so far on every side he spreads
the spaces of his limbs, and, fierce, with such great bones he stands forth. 755

hic paulo ante puer, sed enim maturius aeuo
robur, et ingentes spondet tener impetus annos,
quem uinci haud quisquam saeuo neque sanguine tingi
malit, et erecto timeat spectacula uoto.
    ut sese permensi oculis et uterque priorem                760
sperauere locum, non protinus ira nec ictus:
alternus paulum timor et permixta furori
consilia, inclinant tantum contraria iactu
bracchia et explorant caestus hebetantque terendo.
doctior hic differt animum metuensque futuri                765
cunctatus uires dispensat: at ille nocendi
prodigus incautusque sui ruit omnis et ambas
consumit sine lege manus atque inrita frendit
insurgens seque ipse premit. sed prouidus astu
et patria uigil arte Lacon hos reicit ictus,                770

here, a little while ago a boy, yet a robustness more mature than his age,
and his tender impetus pledges vast years,
one whom no one would wish to be overcome by the fierce one, nor to be dyed with blood,
and would fear the spectacle with an upraised vow.
when they had measured each other with their eyes and each hoped for the prior 760
place, there was not straightway wrath nor blows:
an alternate slight fear and counsels mingled with fury;
they only incline their opposing arms with a cast and explore the cestuses and blunt them by rubbing.
the more learned one here puts off his spirit and, fearing what is to come,765
delaying, dispenses his strengths: but the other, prodigal of harming
and incautious of himself, rushes all-in and consumes both
hands without law and, rising, gnashes in vain and hampers himself.
but the Lacon, foreseeing with craft and vigilant in his native art,
throws off these blows, 770

hos cauet; interdum nutu capitisque citati
integer obsequio, manibus nunc obuia tela
discutiens, instat gressu uultuque recedit:
saepe etiam iniustis conlatum uiribus hostem
(is uigor ingenio, tanta experientia dextrae est)                775
ultro audax animis intratque et obumbrat et alte
adsilit. ut praeceps cumulo salit unda minantes
in scopulos et fracta redit, sic ille furentem
circumit expugnans; leuat ecce diuque minatur
in latus inque oculos; illum rigida arma cauentem                780
auocat ac manibus necopinum interserit ictum
callidus et mediam designat uulnere frontem:
iam cruor, et tepido signantur tempora riuo.
nescit adhuc Capaneus subitumque per agmina murmur
miratur; uerum ut fessam super ora reduxit                785

he avoids these; at times, with a nod and a head made swift,
intact by compliance, now with his hands scattering aside the weapons that meet him,
he presses on with his step and retreats with his visage:
often too, when the foe has been matched with unfair forces
(such is his vigor by wit, so great the experience of his right hand),                775
he of his own accord, bold in spirit, enters, overshadows, and springs up high.
as a wave, headlong from its heap, leaps at the menacing
rocks and returns broken, so he circles the raging one, storming him; look, he lifts and for long threatens
toward the flank and toward the eyes; that man, shunning with rigid arms,
he lures away, and with his hands cunningly inserts an unlooked-for blow,                780
and marks the middle of the forehead with a wound: now blood, and the temples
are signed with a tepid stream. Capaneus does not yet know and marvels at the sudden
murmur through the ranks; but when he drew back the weary [hand] over his face,                785

forte manum et summo maculas in uellere uidit,
non leo, non iaculo tantum indignata recepto
tigris: agit toto cedentem feruidus aruo
praecipitatque retro iuuenem atque in terga supinat,
dentibus horrendum stridens, geminatque rotatas                790
multiplicatque manus. rapiunt conamina uenti,
pars cadit in caestus; motu Spartanus acuto
mille cauet lapsas circum caua tempora mortes
auxilioque pedum, sed non tamen inmemor artis
aduersus fugit et fugiens tamen ictibus obstat.                795
    et iam utrumque labor suspiriaque aegra fatigant:
tardius ille premit, nec iam hic absistere uelox,
defectique ambo genibus pariterque quierunt.
sic ubi longa uagos lassarunt aequora nautas
et signum de puppe datum, posuere parumper                800

by chance he saw his hand and the stains on the topmost fleece;
not a lion, not a tigress so indignant at a javelin received:
fervid he drives him, yielding, over the whole field and hurls the youth headlong backward and turns him onto his back,
gnashing horribly with his teeth, and he doubles his whirled hands and multiplies them in blows.                790
the winds snatch the efforts, part falls on the caestus;
with sharp motion the Spartan wards a thousand deaths slipped around his hollow temples
with the aid of his feet, yet not unmindful of art
he flees facing him and, even fleeing, he still withstands the blows.                795
    and now toil and sickly sighs weary them both:
that one presses more slowly, nor is this one now swift to withdraw,
and both, failing in their knees, together took rest.
thus when long seas have wearied the wandering sailors
and the signal has been given from the stern, they have paused for a little while                800

bracchia: uix requies, iam uox citat altera remos.
ecce iterum inmodice uenientem eludit et exit
sponte ruens mersusque umeris: effunditur ille
in caput, adsurgentem alio puer improbus ictu
perculit euentuque impalluit ipse secundo.                805
clamorem Inachidae, quantum non litora, tollunt,
non nemora. illum ab humo conantem ut uidit Adrastus
tollentemque manus et non toleranda parantem:
'ite, oro, socii, furit, ite, opponite dextras,
festinate, furit, palmamque et praemia ferte!                810
non prius, effracto quam misceat ossa cerebro,
absistet, uideo; moriturum auferte Lacona.'
nec mora, prorumpit Tydeus, nec iussa recusat
Hippomedon; tunc uix ambo conatibus ambas
restringunt cohibentque manus ac plurima suadent:                815

arms: scarcely is there rest, already another voice summons the oars.
behold, again he outmaneuvers the one coming immoderately and slips out,
rushing of his own accord and plunged over the shoulders: that one is spilled
down upon his head; as he rises, the shameless boy with another blow
struck him down, and he himself paled at his second successful outcome.                805
the Inachidae raise a shout, as great as not the shores,
nor the groves. when Adrastus saw him from the ground attempting
and lifting his hands and preparing things not to be borne:
“go, I beg, comrades, he rages; go, set your right hands against him,
make haste, he rages, and bring the palm and the prizes!                810
not before he mixes bones with a shattered brain will he stop,
I see; carry off the Laconian, about to die.”
no delay: Tydeus bursts forth, nor does Hippomedon refuse the orders;
then with efforts the two scarcely restrain and hold back both
hands, and they urge very many counsels.                815

'uincis, abi; pulchrum uitam donare minori.
noster et hic bellique comes.' nil frangitur heros,
ramumque oblatumque manu thoraca repellit
uociferans: 'liceat! non has ego puluere crasso
atque cruore genas, meruit quibus iste fauorem                820
semiuiri, foedem, mittamque informe sepulcro
corpus et Oebalio donem lugere magistro?'
dicit; at hunc socii tumidum et uicisse negantem
auertunt, contra laudant insignis alumnum
Taygeti longeque minas risere Lacones.                825
    iamdudum uariae laudes et conscia uirtus
Tydea magnanimum stimulis urguentibus angunt.

'You win, away; it is fair to grant life to a lesser. He too is ours and a comrade-in-war.' The hero is broken in nothing, and he pushes aside with his hand from his cuirass the proffered branch, vociferating: 'Let it be permitted! Shall I foul these cheeks with thick dust and gore—cheeks by which that semi-man earned favor—and shall I send a shapeless body to a shapeless tomb and grant the Oebalian master to mourn?' He speaks; but his comrades turn away this swelling one, denying that he had conquered; contrariwise they praise the distinguished alumnus of Taygetus, and the Laconians from afar laughed at the threats. 820
For some while now various praises and a self-conscious virtue, with urging spurs, torment magnanimous Tydeus. 825

ille quidem et disco bonus et contendere cursu,
nec caestu bellare minor, sed corde labores
ante alios erat uncta pale. sic otia Martis 830

he indeed was good both at the discus and at contending in the race,
nor was he lesser at fighting with the caestus, but at heart he was for the labors
of the oiled palaestra before others. Thus the leisures of Mars 830

degere et armiferas laxare adsueuerat iras
ingentes contra ille uiros Acheloia circum
litora felicesque deo monstrante palaestras.
ergo ubi luctandi iuuenes animosa citauit
gloria, terrificos umeris Aetolus amictus 835
exuitur patriumque suem. leuat ardua contra
membra Cleonaeae stirpis iactator Agylleus,
Herculea nec mole minor, sic grandibus alte
insurgens umeris hominem super improbus exit.

he had been accustomed to spend his time and to loosen his arms-bearing wraths
against huge men around the Acheloian shores and the lucky palaestrae, with the god showing the way.
therefore, when spirited glory summoned the youths to wrestling,
the Aetolian, clothed on his shoulders with fearsome coverings, 835
is stripped, and his fatherland’s boar as well. He lifts his lofty
limbs opposite, Agylleus, a boaster of Cleonaean stock, nor less in Herculean mass;
thus, rising high upon his great shoulders, the shameless man overtops the man.

sed non ille rigor patriumque in corpore robur: 840
luxuriant artus, effusaque sanguine laxo
membra natant; unde haec audax fiducia tantum
Oenidae superare parem. quamquam ipse uideri
exiguus, grauia ossa tamen nodisque lacerti
difficiles. numquam hunc animum natura minori 845

but there is not that rigor nor the ancestral robustness in his body: 840
his limbs luxuriate, and, with slack blood poured out,
the members float; whence this audacious confidence
to surpass one so great, a peer of the Oenid? Although he himself seems
small, yet his bones are heavy, and his biceps with knots are difficult.
Nature never matched this spirit to a smaller

corpore nec tantas ausa est includere uires.
postquam oleo gauisa cutis, petit aequor uterque
procursu medium atque hausta uestitur harena.
tum madidos artus alterno puluere siccant,
collaque demersere umeris et bracchia late 850
uara tenent.

nor did Nature dare to enclose such great forces in a body.
after the skin, rejoicing in oil, each seeks the level ground
with a run to the middle, and, the sand having been scooped up, each is clothed in sand.
then they dry their dripping limbs with alternating dust,
and they sink their necks into their shoulders and their arms wide 850
they hold them bowed.

iam tunc astu deducit in aequum
callidus et celsum procuruat Agyllea Tydeus,
summissus tergo et genibus uicinus harenae.
ille autem, Alpini ueluti regina cupressus
uerticis urguentes ceruicem inclinat ad Austros 855
uix sese radice tenens, terraeque propinquat,
iamdudum aetherias eadem reditura sub auras:
non secus ingentes artus praecelsus Agylleus
sponte premit paruumque gemens duplicatur in hostem,
et iam alterna manus frontemque umerosque latusque 860

already then by craft he leads him down onto the level
clever, and Tydeus bends the lofty Agylleus forward,
his back lowered and his knees close to the sand.
but he, like a queen cypress of an Alpine
summit, bends his neck to the South Winds pressing 855
scarcely holding himself by the root, and draws near to the earth,
soon to return beneath the same ethereal breezes:
just so the towering Agylleus presses down his huge limbs
of his own accord and, groaning, is doubled over upon his small foe,
and now by turns the hand and the brow and the shoulders and the flank 860

collaque pectoraque et uitantia crura lacessit.
interdumque diu pendent per mutua fulti
bracchia, nunc saeui digitorum uincula frangunt.
non sic ductores gemini gregis horrida tauri
bella mouent; medio coniunx stat candida prato 865
uictorem expectans, rumpunt obnixa furentes
pectora, subdit amor stimulos et uulnera sanat:
fulmineo sic dente sues, sic hispida turpes
proelia uillosis ineunt complexibus ursi.

and he provokes the necks and chests and the dodging legs.
and sometimes for a long time they hang, propped through mutual
arms; now they shatter the savage bonds of the fingers.
not thus do the twin leaders of the herd, bulls,
set horrid wars in motion; in the middle of the meadow the white consort stands, 865
awaiting the victor; raging, with strain they burst
their chests; love applies goads and heals wounds:
thus with lightning tooth the boars, thus the bristly bears
enter foul battles in shaggy embraces.

uis eadem Oenidae; nec sole aut puluere fessa 870
membra labant, riget arta cutis durisque laborum
castigata toris. contra non integer ille
flatibus alternis aegroque effetus hiatu
exuit ingestas fluuio sudoris harenas
ac furtim rapta sustentat pectora terra. 875

the same force in the Oenid; nor do limbs wearied by sun or dust waver 870
the tight skin is rigid, chastised by the hard cords of labors.
by contrast, that one is not sound,
effete with alternating breaths and a sickly gape,
he sheds the sands heaped on him by a river of sweat,
and stealthily with earth snatched up he props his chest. 875

instat agens Tydeus fictumque in colla minatus
crura subit; coeptis non eualuere potiri
frustratae breuitate manus, uenit arduus ille
desuper oppressumque ingentis mole ruinae
condidit. haud aliter collis scrutator Hiberi,                880
cum subiit longeque diem uitamque reliquit,
si tremuit suspensus ager subitumque fragorem
rupta dedit tellus, latet intus monte soluto
obrutus, ac penitus fractum obtritumque cadauer
indignantem animam propriis non reddidit astris.                885
acrior hoc Tydeus, animisque et pectore supra est.
nec mora, cum uinclis onerique elapsus iniquo
circumit errantem et tergo necopinus inhaeret,
mox latus et firmo celer implicat ilia nexu,
poplitibus genua inde premens euadere nodos                890

Tydeus presses on, driving, and with a feint threatened at the neck he slips beneath the legs; his hands, foiled by his shortness, did not prevail to master his attempts; that towering one came from above and buried the oppressed man beneath the mass of a huge ruin. Not otherwise the scrutator of an Iberian hill, 880
when he has gone down and has left day and life far behind, if the overhanging ground has trembled and the rent earth has given a sudden crash, lies hidden within, overwhelmed by the loosened mountain, and his corpse, shattered and crushed to the depths, has not given back its indignant soul to its own stars. Tydeus is the keener for this, and stands above in spirits and in chest. Without delay, when he has slipped from the bonds and the unfair burden, he circles the wandering foe and unlooked-for clings to his back, soon swiftly entwines flank and gut with a firm knot, then, pressing knees with the hams, he hinders him from escaping the knots. 890

nequiquam et lateri dextram insertare parantem
improbus, horrendum uisu ac mirabile pondus,
sustulit. Herculeis pressum sic fama lacertis
terrigenam sudasse Libyn, cum fraude reperta
raptus in excelsum, nec iam spes ulla cadendi, 895
nec licet extrema matrem contingere planta.
fit sonus, et laetos attollunt agmina plausus.

in vain, and as he was preparing to insert his right hand into the flank,
the relentless one, a weight dreadful to behold and marvelous, lifted him.
So report has it that the earth-born Libyan, pressed by Herculean arms,
sweated, when, the fraud discovered, he was snatched aloft,
and now there was no hope of falling, 895
nor is it permitted to touch his mother with the utmost sole.
a sound arises, and the ranks raise joyful applause.

tunc alte librans inopinum sponte remisit
obliquumque dedit, procumbentemque secutus
colla simul dextra, pedibus simul inguina uinxit. 900
deficit obsessus soloque pudore repugnat.
tandem pectus humi pronamque extensus in aluum
sternitur, ac longo maestus post tempore surgit,
turpia signata linquens uestigia terra.
palmam autem dextra laeuaque nitentia dono 905

then, poising him high, of his own accord he released the unsuspecting one,
and gave him obliquely, and, following as he sank down,
at once he bound the neck with his right hand, and at once the groin with his feet. 900
the pinned man fails, and with sheer shame alone he fights back.
at last he is laid flat, his breast to the ground and his belly prone, stretched out,
and after a long time he rises, sorrowful,
leaving disgraceful vestiges stamped upon the earth.
but the palm in his right hand, and in his left the shining gifts as a prize, 905

arma ferens Tydeus: 'quid si non sanguinis huius
partem haud exiguam (scitis) Dircaeus haberet
campus, ubi hae nuper Thebarum foedera plagae?'
haec simul ostentans quaesitaque praemia laudum
dat sociis, sequitur neglectus Agyllea thorax.                910
    sunt et qui nudo subeant concurrere ferro:
iamque aderant instructi armis Epidaurius Agreus
et nondum fatis Dircaeus agentibus exul.
dux uetat Iasides: 'manet ingens copia leti,
o iuuenes! seruate animos auidumque furorem                915
sanguinis aduersi.

Tydeus, bearing arms: 'What if the Dircaean field did not hold a not-inconsiderable part of this blood (you know), where these blows were lately the covenants of Thebes?'
displaying these at once and the prizes of praises he had sought, he gives to his comrades; the Agyllean cuirass, neglected, follows.    910
    there are even those who would go to clash with bared steel:
and already were present, equipped with arms, the Epidaurian Agreus
and the Dircaean, not yet an exile with the fates driving.
the Iasiad leader forbids: 'a vast abundance of death remains,
O youths! preserve your spirits and the avid fury
for opposing blood.                915

tuque o, quem propter auita
iugera, dilectas cui desolauimus urbes,
ne, precor, ante aciem ius tantum casibus esse
fraternisque sinas (abigant hoc numina!) uotis.'
sic ait, atque ambos aurata casside ditat. 920

and you too, O you, on account of ancestral acres,
for whom we have desolated beloved cities,
do not, I pray, before the battle-line allow so great a right
to belong to chances and to fraternal vows (may the divinities drive this away!).'
thus he speaks, and enriches both with a gilded casque. 920

tum generum, ne laudis egens, iubet ardua necti
tempora Thebarumque ingenti uoce citari
uictorem: dirae retinebant omina Parcae.
    ipsum etiam proprio certamina festa labore
dignari et tumulis supremum hunc addere honorem                925
hortantur proceres ac, ne uictoria desit
una ducum numero, fundat uel Lyctia cornu
tela rogant, tenui uel nubila transeat hasta.
obsequitur gaudens, uiridique ex aggere in aequum
stipatus summis iuuenum descendit; at illi                930
pone leues portat pharetras et cornua iussus
armiger: ingentem iactu transmittere circum
eminus et dictae dare uulnera destinat orno.

then he orders his son-in-law, lest he be wanting in praise, to have his lofty temples bound
and to be called with a mighty voice the victor of Thebes: the dread Fates were holding back the omens.
    the nobles even urge him himself to deem the festive contests worthy of his own labor
and to add this final honor to the tombs;                925
and, lest one victory be lacking to the tally of leaders, they ask that he either pour forth missiles
from the Lyctian horn, or that a slender spear pass through the clouds.
he complies rejoicing, and from the green embankment into the level ground
escorted by the choicest of the youths he descends; but his armor-bearer,                930
ordered, carries behind the light quivers and the bows:
he aims to send a huge missile clean through from afar with a cast
and to deal wounds with the aforesaid ash.

quis fluere occultis rerum neget omina causis?
fata patent homini, piget inseruare, peritque 935

who would deny that omens flow from the hidden causes of things?
the fates lie open to man; he is loath to observe them, and it perishes 935

uenturi praemissa fides: sic omina casum
fecimus, et uires hausit Fortuna nocendi.
campum emensa breui fatalis ab arbore tacta,
horrendum uisu, per quas modo fugerat auras,
uenit harundo retro uersumque a fine tenorem 940
pertulit, et notae iuxta ruit ora pharetrae.
multa duces errore serunt: hi nubila et altos
occurrisse Notos, aduersi roboris ictu
tela repulsa alii.

the pledge of what was to come sent ahead: thus we made the omens a downfall, and Fortune drank in strength for harming.
having in a moment traversed the field, the fatal shaft, touched by a tree, horrendous to see, through the airs by which it had just fled,
came back, and carried a course reversed from its tip 940
and it rushed near the rim of the well-known quiver.
the leaders sow many things in error: these say that the clouds and the lofty Noti met it, others that the weapons were driven back by the blow of an opposing oak.

penitus latet exitus ingens
monstratumque nefas: uni remeabile bellum, 945
et tristes domino spondebat harundo recursus.

the great outcome lies hidden deep
and the nefariousness demonstrated: a war returnable to one alone, 945
and the arrow pledged grim returns to its master.