Statius: THEBAID

Vt subitus uates pallentibus incidit umbris
letiferasque domos orbisque arcana sepulti
rupit et armato turbauit funere manes,
horror habet cunctos, Stygiis mirantur in oris
tela et equos corpusque nouum; nec enim ignibus atris                5
conditus aut maesta niger aduentabat ab urna,
sed belli sudore calens, clipeumque cruentis
roribus et scissi respersus puluere campi.
necdum illum aut trunca lustrauerat obuia taxo
Eumenis, aut furuo Proserpina poste notarat                10
coetibus adsumptum functis; quin comminus ipsa
Fatorum deprensa colus, uisoque pauentes
augure tunc demum rumpebant stamina Parcae.
illum et securi circumspexere fragorem
Elysii, et si quos procul ulteriore barathro                15

As the sudden seer fell upon the pallid shades
and burst the death-bearing homes and the arcana of the buried world,
and with an armed funeral threw the Manes into turmoil,
a shudder holds all; on the Stygian shores they marvel
at the weapons and horses and the new body; for he had not been laid away by black fires,                5
nor was he approaching blackened from a mournful urn,
but warm with the sweat of war, his shield with bloody
dews and with the dust of a rent field besprinkled.
Nor yet had the Eumenis, meeting him, purified him with a lopped yew,
nor had Proserpina at her dusky threshold marked him as taken                10
into the gatherings of those who have finished; nay rather, with the very
distaff of the Fates caught at close quarters, the Parcae, frightened
at the seer once seen, only then were breaking the threads.
Him too the Elysian dwellers, carefree of the crash,
looked around at, and, if any there were far off in the farther barathrum,                15

altera nox aliisque grauat plaga caeca tenebris.
tunc regemunt pigrique lacus ustaeque paludes,
umbriferaeque fremit sulcator pallidus undae
dissiluisse nouo penitus telluris hiatu
Tartara et admissos non per sua flumina manes.                20
    forte sedens media regni infelicis in arce
dux Erebi populos poscebat crimina uitae,
nil hominum miserans iratusque omnibus umbris.
stant Furiae circum uariaeque ex ordine Mortes,
saeuaque multisonas exertat Poena catenas;                25
Fata serunt animas et eodem pollice damnant:
uincit opus.

another night as well, and the blind tract weighs down with other darknesses.
then groan the sluggish lakes and the scorched marshes,
and the pale furrower of the shade-bearing wave roars
that Tartarus had burst asunder deep within by a new yawning of the earth,
and that the shades had been admitted not by their own rivers.                20
    by chance, sitting in the midst of the citadel of the unlucky realm,
the leader of Erebus was demanding from the peoples the crimes of life,
pitying nothing of men and angry at all the shades.
around stand the Furies and the various Deaths in their order,
and Punishment, savage, shakes out her many-sounding chains;                25
the Fates sow the souls and with the same thumb condemn:
the work prevails.

iuxta Minos cum fratre uerendo
iura bonus meliora monet regemque cruentum
temperat; adsistunt lacrimis atque igne tumentes
Cocytos Phlegethonque, et Styx periuria diuum 30

nearby Minos with his venerable brother
the good man admonishes better laws and moderates the blood-stained king;
Cocytus and Phlegethon stand by, swollen with tears and with fire,
and the Styx, avenger of the perjuries of the gods 30

arguit. ille autem supera compage soluta
nec solitus sentire metus expauit oborta
sidera, iucundaque offensus luce profatur:
'quae superum labes inimicum impegit Auerno
aethera? quis rupit tenebras uitaeque silentes 35
admonet?

he arraigns. But he, with the upper structure loosed,
and not wont to feel fear, trembled at the stars arisen,
and, offended by the pleasant light, speaks forth:
'what stain of the gods above has driven hostile aether into Avernus?
who has broken the darkness and admonishes the silent ones of life? 35

unde minae? uter haec mihi proelia fratrum?
congredior, pereant agedum discrimina rerum.

Whence these threats? Which of the brothers wages these battles against me?
I engage; come now, let the discriminations of things perish.

nam cui dulce magis? magno me tertia uictum
deiecit fortuna polo, mundumque nocentem
seruo; nec iste meus: diris quin peruius astris 40
inspicitur. tumidusne meas regnator Olympi
explorat uires?

for whom is it sweeter? the third lot of Fortune has hurled me, conquered, down
from the great pole, and I serve the noxious world; nor is even that mine: nay, being pervious
to dire stars it is looked into. 40
is the swollen ruler of Olympus testing my powers?

habeo iam quassa Gigantum
uincula et aetherium cupidos exire sub axem
Titanas miserumque patrem: quid me otia maesta
saeuus et implacidam prohibet perferre quietem 45

i now have the shattered chains of the Giants
and the Titans eager to go out beneath the aetherial axis, and their wretched father:
why does the savage one forbid me to endure sad leisure and implacable quiet 45

amissumque odisse diem? pandam omnia regna,
si placet, et Stygio praetexam Hyperiona caelo.
Arcada nec superis (quid enim mihi nuntius ambas
itque reditque domos?) emittam et utrumque tenebo
Tyndariden.

and to hate the lost day? I will lay open all the realms,
if it pleases, and I will overlay Hyperion with Stygian sky.
Nor will I send forth for the Upper Gods the Arcadian (for what to me is a messenger who goes and returns between both homes?)
and I will hold both Tyndarids.

cur autem auidis Ixiona frango 50
uerticibus? cur non expectant Tantalon undae?
anne profanatum totiens Chaos hospite uiuo
perpetiar?

but why, however, do I shatter Ixion 50
with avid vortices? why do the waves not await Tantalus?
or that Chaos, so often profaned by a living guest
shall I endure?

me Pirithoi temerarius ardor
temptat et audaci Theseus iuratus amico,
me ferus Alcides tum cum custode remoto 55
ferrea Cerbereae tacuerunt limina portae;
Odrysiis etiam pudet (heu!) patuisse querelis
Tartar: uidi egomet blanda inter carmina turpes
Eumenidum lacrimas iterataque pensa Sororum;
me quoque++sed durae melior uiolentia legis. 60

the rash ardor of Pirithous tempts me, and Theseus, sworn to his audacious friend,
fierce Alcides moves me—then, with the guard removed 55
the iron thresholds of the Cerberean gate fell silent;
it even shames me (alas!) that Tartarus lay open to Odrysian laments:
I myself saw, amid the coaxing songs, the shameful tears of the Eumenides, and the tasks of the Sisters repeated;
me too++—but the stronger force of the hard law prevailed. 60

ast ego uix unum, nec celsa ad sidera, furto
ausus iter Siculo rapui conubia campo:
nec licuisse ferunt; iniustaeque a Ioue leges
protinus, et sectum genetrix mihi computat annum.
sed quid ego haec? i, Tartareas ulciscere sedes, 65
Tisiphone; si quando nouis asperrima monstris,
triste, insuetum, ingens, quod nondum uiderit aether,
ede nefas, quod mirer ego inuideantque sorores.

but I scarcely a single one, nor up to the lofty stars, by stealth
dared a journey; from the Sicilian field I snatched a marriage:
and they say it was not lawful; and unjust laws from Jove
forthwith, and my mother counts for me the year cut in pieces.
but why do I say these things? go, avenge the Tartarean seats, 65
Tisiphone; if ever, most ruthless with new monsters,
bring forth a sad, unaccustomed, immense nefarious deed, such as the aether has not yet seen,
one which I may marvel at and my sisters may envy.

atque adeo fratres (nostrique haec omina sunto
prima odii), fratres alterna in uulnera laeto 70
Marte ruant; sit qui rabidarum more ferarum
mandat atrox hostile caput, quique igne supremo
arceat exanimes et manibus aethera nudis
commaculet: iuuet ista ferum spectare Tonantem.
praeterea ne sola furor mea regna lacessat, 75

and indeed let the brothers (and let these be our first omens
of hate), let brothers rush into alternate wounds with Mars exultant; 70
let there be one who, after the manner of rabid beasts,
atrocious, masticates the hostile head, and one who with supreme
fire wards off the lifeless and with bare hands contaminates the aether:
let it please the savage Thunderer to behold these things. besides, lest my fury assail
my realms alone, 75

quaere deis qui bella ferat, qui fulminis ignes
infestumque Iouem clipeo fumante repellat.
faxo haud sit cunctis leuior metus atra mouere
Tartara frondenti quam iungere Pelion Ossae.'
dixerat: atque illi iamdudum regia tristis                80
attremit oranti, suaque et quae desuper urguet
nutabat tellus: non fortius aethera uultu
torquet et astriferos inclinat Iuppiter axes.
    'at tibi quos,' inquit, 'manes, qui limite praeceps
non licito per inane ruis?' subit ille minantem                85
iam tenuis uisu, iam uanescentibus armis,
iam pedes: extincto tamen interceptus in ore
augurii perdurat honos, obscuraque fronti
uitta manet, ramumque tenet morientis oliuae.

seek for the gods one who would bear wars, who would repel the fires of the thunderbolt
and hostile Jove with a smoking shield.
I will see to it that it be by no means a lighter dread for all to set in motion black
Tartarus than to yoke leafy Pelion to Ossa.'
he had spoken: and for him the gloomy palace had long been trembling as he prayed,                80
and the earth was nodding—its own mass and that which presses from above;
nor more strongly does Jupiter with his countenance twist the aether and tilt
the star-bearing axes.
    'but what Manes are yours,' he says, 'you who headlong along an unlawful boundary
rush through the void?' He approaches the threatening one, now thin to the sight,                85
now with his arms vanishing, now his feet; yet, though his mouth was cut off in extinction,
the honor of augury endures, and a dusky fillet remains upon his brow,
and he holds a branch of the dying olive.

'si licet et sanctis hic ora resoluere fas est 90

'if it is permitted and lawful for the holy to unloose their lips here 90

manibus, o cunctis finitor maxime rerum
(at mihi, qui quondam causas elementaque noram,
et sator), oro, minas stimulataque corda remulce,
neue ira dignare hominem et tua iura timentem;
nam nec ad Herculeos (unde haec mihi pectora?) raptus,                95
nec uenerem inlicitam (crede his insignibus) ausi
intramus Lethen: fugiat ne tristis in antrum
Cerberus, aut nostros timeat Proserpina currus.
augur Apollineis modo dilectissimus aris,
testor inane Chaos (quid enim hic iurandus Apollo?),                100
crimine non ullo subeo noua fata, nec alma
sic merui de luce rapi; scit iudicis urna
Dictaei uerumque potest deprendere Minos.
coniugis insidiis et iniquo uenditus auro
Argolicas acies (unde haec tibi turba recentum                105

with my hands, O greatest Finisher of all things
(but for me, who once knew the causes and the elements,
and their sower), I beg, soothe the threats and the hearts stirred to goads,
and do not deign in wrath against a man who fears your laws;
for neither by a Herculean rape (whence for me such a breast?) am I snatched,                95
nor, believe these insignia, having dared illicit Venus,
do we enter Lethe: let not gloomy Cerberus flee into his cavern,
nor let Proserpina fear our chariots.
an augur but lately most beloved at Apollo’s altars,
I call to witness void Chaos (for what Apollo is to be sworn by here?),                100
that by no crime do I undergo new fates, nor have I deserved
to be snatched thus from the kindly light; the urn of the Dictaean judge
knows, and Minos can lay hold of the true thing.
by a wife’s treacheries and sold for iniquitous gold
to the Argolic battle-lines (whence for you this throng of the newly dead                105

umbrarum, et nostrae ueniunt quoque funera dextrae)
non ignarus ini: subito me turbine mundi
(horret adhuc animus) mediis e milibus hausit
nox tua. quae mihi mens, dum per caua uiscera terrae
uado diu pendens et in aere uoluor operto? 110
ei mihi! nil ex me sociis patriaeque relictum,
uel captum Thebis; iam non Lernaea uidebo
tecta, nec attonito saltem cinis ibo parenti.

of the shades, and the funerals of our own right hand come too)
not ignorant I entered: suddenly a whirlwind of the world
(my spirit still shudders) from the midst of thousands your night
drew me in. What mind had I, while through the hollow entrails of the earth
I go for a long time, hanging, and in the covered air I am whirled? 110
alas for me! nothing of me is left to comrades and fatherland,
not even taken captive at Thebes; no longer shall I see
the roofs of Lerna, nor shall my ash at least go to my thunderstruck father.

non tumulo, non igne miser lacrimisque meorum
productus, toto pariter tibi funere ueni, 115
nil istis ausurus equis; nec deprecor umbram
accipere et tripodum iam non meminisse meorum.
nam tibi praesagi quis iam super auguris usus,
cum Parcae tua iussa trahant? sed pectora flectas
et melior sis, quaeso, deis.

not by tomb, not by fire, and by the tears of my own not escorted, wretched, I came to you with my whole funeral at once, 115
I will venture nothing with those horses; nor do I beseech the Shade to receive me and to remember no longer my tripods.
for what further use to you now of a presager, of an augur, when the Fates are drawing out your commands? but may you bend your heart and be kinder, I pray, than the gods.

si quando nefanda 120

if ever nefarious deeds 120

huc aderit coniunx, illi funesta reserua
supplicia: illa tua, rector bone, dignior ira.'
accipit ille preces indignaturque moueri.
ut leo, Massyli cum lux stetit obuia ferri,
tunc iras, tunc arma citat; si decidit hostis,                125
ire supra satis est uitamque relinquere uicto.
    interea uittis lauruque insignis opima
currus et egregiis modo formidatus in armis
luce palam, fusus nulli nullique fugatus,
quaeritur: absistunt turmae, suspectaque tellus                130
omnibus, infidi miles uestigia campi
circumit, atque auidae tristis locus ille ruinae
cessat et inferni uitatur honore sepulcri.

here the spouse will come; for her reserve the deadly punishments: she is more worthy of your wrath, good ruler.'
he accepts the prayers and is indignant to be moved.
as a lion, when in the open light Massylian steel has stood to meet him,
then he summons his rages, then his arms; if the foe has fallen,                125
to go on is enough, and to leave life to the conquered.
    meanwhile, distinguished with fillets and with rich laurel,
the chariot and he, lately dreaded in illustrious arms,
openly in the light, by no one routed and by no one put to flight,
is sought: the squadrons stand off, and the earth is suspect                130
to all; the soldier goes around the footprints of the treacherous field,
and that place, grim for greedy ruin, stands idle and is shunned with the honor of an infernal tomb.

nuntius hortanti diuersa in parte maniplos
Adrasto, uix ipse ratus uidisse, Philaemon 135

the messenger to Adrastus, as he was exhorting the maniples in a different part,
Philaemon, scarcely himself thinking that he had seen it, 135

aduolat et trepidans (steterat nam forte cadenti
proximus inspectoque miser pallebat hiatu),
'uerte gradum, fuge rector' ait 'si Dorica saltem
terra loco patriaeque manent, ubi liquimus, arces.
non armis, non sanguine opus: quid inutile ferrum 140
stringimus in Thebas? currus humus impia sorbet
armaque bellantesque uiros; fugere ecce uidetur
hic etiam, quo stamus, ager.

He flies up and, trembling (for by chance he had stood nearest to the one falling, and, the gaping maw inspected, the wretch grew pale), 'turn your step, flee, driver,' he says, 'if at least the Doric land and the citadels of our fatherland remain where we left them. We have no need of arms, no need of blood: why do we draw useless steel against Thebes? 140
the impious ground swallows chariots and arms and men at war; behold, even this field, on which we stand, seems to flee.

uidi ipse profundae
noctis iter ruptaque soli compage ruentem
illum heu, praesagis quo nullus amicior astris, 145
Oecliden, frustraque manus cum uoce tetendi.
mira loquor, sulcos etiamnum, rector, equorum
fumantemque locum et spumis madida arua reliqui.
nec commune malum est: tellus agnoscit alumnos,
stat Thebana acies.' stupet haec et credere Adrastus 150
cunctatur; sed Mopsus idem trepidusque ferebat
Actor idem.

I myself saw the journey of deep night and him rushing as the structure of the soil was broken—him, alas, than whom none was more friendly to the presaging stars, Oeclides—and I stretched out hands with voice in vain. 145
I tell wonders: even now, rector, I left the furrows of the horses and the place still smoking and the fields drenched with foams.
Nor is it a common evil: the earth recognizes her nurslings; the Theban battle-line stands.' At this Adrastus is amazed and hesitates to believe; but Mopsus was reporting the same, and trembling Actor the same. 150

iam Fama nouis terroribus audax
non unum cecidisse refert. sponte agmina retro
non expectato reuocantum more tubarum
praecipitant: sed torpet iter, falluntque ruentes 155

Now Rumor, bold with new terrors, reports that more than one has fallen. Of their own accord the battle-lines hurl themselves back, not waiting for the recall in the manner of the trumpets; but the way is numb, and those rushing are foiled. 155

genua uiros; ipsique (putes sensisse) repugnant
cornipedes nulloque truces hortamine parent
nec celerare gradum nec tollere lumina terra.
fortius incursant Tyrii, sed Vesper opacus
lunares iam ducit equos; data foedere paruo 160
maesta uiris requies et nox auctura timores.
quae tibi nunc facies postquam permissa gemendi
copia!

the knees fail the men; and the hoof‑footed steeds themselves (you would think they had sensed it) resist, and, fierce, obey no urging, neither to hasten their pace nor to lift their eyes from the ground.
the Tyrians charge more strongly, but dusky Vesper now leads the lunar horses; by a brief truce granted, 160
a mournful rest to the men, and a night to augment their fears.
what a countenance is yours now, after leave to lament has been permitted!

qui fletus galeis cecidere solutis!
nil solitum fessos iuuat; abiecere madentes,
sicut erant, clipeos, nec quisquam spicula tersit, 165
nec laudauit equum, nitidae nec cassidis altam
compsit adornauitque iubam; uix magna lauare
uulnera et efflantes libet internectere plagas:
tantus ubique dolor. mensas alimentaque bello
debita nec pugnae suasit timor: omnia laudes, 170

what weepings fell with helmets unfastened!
naught customary avails the weary; they have cast aside their dripping,
just as they were, shields, nor did anyone wipe his spicula, 165
nor lauded his horse, nor did he comb and adorn the high
crest of the shining helmet; scarcely is it pleasing to lave great
wounds and to interknit the exhaling gashes:
so great everywhere is the pain. To the tables and the aliments owed
to war, for battle, not even fear’s suasion urged them: all is praise, 170

Amphiarae, tuas fecundaque pectora ueri
commemorant lacrimis, et per tentoria sermo
unus: abisse deos dilapsaque numina castris:
'heu ubi laurigeri currus sollemniaque arma
et galeae uittatus apex? hoc antra lacusque 175
Castalii tripodumque fides? sic gratus Apollo?

Amphiaraus, they commemorate you and your breasts fecund with truth with tears,
and through the tents there is one discourse: that the gods have departed and the numina have slipped away from the camp:
‘alas, where are the laurel-bearing chariots and the solemn arms
and the filleted crest of the helmet? Is this the Castalian caves and pools 175
and the faith of the tripods? Thus gracious Apollo?’

quis mihi sidereos lapsus mentemque sinistri
fulguris, aut caesis saliat quod numen in extis,
quando iter, unde morae, quae saeuis utilis armis,
quae pacem magis hora uelit? quis iam omne futurum 180
proferet, aut cum quo uolucres mea fata loquentur?
hos quoque bellorum casus nobisque tibique
praescieras et (quanta sacro sub pectore uirtus!)
uenisti tamen et miseris comes additus armis.

who to me will [tell] the sidereal lapses and the intent of sinister
lightning, or what numen leaps in the cut entrails,
when the march, whence the delays, what hour is useful for savage arms,
what hour would more will peace? who now will bring forth all the future 180
or with whom will the birds speak my fates?
these chances too of wars, and for us and for yourself,
you had foreknown, and (how great the virtue beneath the sacred breast!)
you came nonetheless and were added as a companion to our wretched arms.

et cum te tellus fatalisque hora uocaret, 185

and when the earth and the fated hour were calling you, 185

tu Tyrias acies aduersaque signa uacasti
sternere; tunc etiam media de morte timendum
hostibus infestaque abeuntem uidimus hasta.
et nunc te quis casus habet? poterisne reuerti
sedibus a Stygiis altaque erumpere terra? 190
anne sedes hilaris iuxta, tua numina, Parcas
et uice concordi discis uentura docesque?

you devoted yourself to lay low the tyrian battle-lines and the opposing standards;
then even out of the midst of death we saw you to be feared by the enemies, and, departing, with the spear still hostile.
and now what chance holds you? will you be able to return from the sty gian seats and burst forth from the deep earth? 190
or do you sit cheerful beside your numina, the fates, and in harmonious turn do you learn things to come and teach them?

an tibi felices lucos miseratus Auerni
rector et Elysias dedit inseruare uolucres?
quidquid es, aeternus Phoebo dolor et noua clades 195
semper eris mutisque diu plorabere Delphis.
hic Tenedon Chrysenque dies partuque ligatum
Delon et intonsi claudet penetralia Branchi,
nec Clarias hac luce fores Didymaeaque quisquam
limina nec Lyciam supplex consultor adibit. 200

Or has the ruler of Avernus, pitying you, granted you to watch over the happy groves and the Elysian birds?
whatever you are, an eternal grief to Phoebus and a new disaster 195
you will always be, and for a long time you will be wept by mute Delphi.
this day will shut Tenedos and Chryse and Delos bound by childbirth,
and the penetralia of unshorn Branchus,
nor on this day will any suppliant inquirer approach the Clarian doors and the Didymaean
thresholds, nor Lycia. 200

quin et cornigeri uatis nemus atque Molosso
quercus anhela Ioui Troianaque Thymbra tacebit.
ipsi amnes ipsaeque uolent arescere laurus,
ipse nihil certum sagis clangoribus aether
praecinet, et nulla ferientur ab alite nubes. 205
iamque erit ille dies quo te quoque conscia fatis
templa colant reddatque tuus responsa sacerdos.'
talia fatidico peragunt sollemnia regi,
ceu flammas ac dona rogo tristesque rependant
exequias mollique animam tellure reponant. 210
fracta dehinc cunctis auersaque pectora bello.
sic fortes Minyas subito cum funere Tiphys
destituit, non arma sequi, non ferre uidetur
remus aquas, ipsique minus iam ducere uenti.

nay, even the grove of the horn-bearing seer and the Molossian oaks, panting to Jove, and Trojan Thymbra will be silent.
the very rivers and the very laurels will wish to dry up,
the aether itself will pre-chant nothing certain with prophetic clangors,
and no clouds will be smitten by any bird. 205
and soon there shall be that day when temples too, privy to the fates,
will worship you, and your priest will render responses.'
such solemnities they perform for the fatidic king,
as if they were repaying flames and gifts to the pyre and the sad obsequies,
and laying back his spirit in the soft earth. 210
thereafter the hearts of all are broken and averse to war.
thus, when Tiphys with sudden death deserted the brave Minyae,
they seem no longer to follow arms, the oar seems not to bear the waters,
and even the winds themselves now seem to draw less.

iam fessis gemitu paulatim corda leuabat 215

now he was little by little alleviating the hearts of the weary with a groan 215

exhaustus sermone dolor; nox addita curas
obruit et facilis lacrimis inrepere somnus.
    at non Sidoniam diuersa in parte per urbem
nox eadem: uario producunt sidera ludo
ante domos intraque, ipsaeque ad moenia marcent                220
excubiae; gemina aera sonant Idaeaque terga
et moderata sonum uario spiramine buxus.
tunc dulces superos atque omne ex ordine alumnum
numen ubique sacri resonant paeanes, ubique
serta coronatumque merum. nunc funera rident                225
auguris ignari, contraque in tempore certant
Tiresian laudare suum; nunc facta reuoluunt
maiorum ueteresque canunt ab origine Thebas:
hi mare Sidonium manibusque attrita Tonantis
cornua et ingenti sulcatum Nerea tauro,                230

exhausted by speech was the grief; night, superadded, overwhelms cares
and sleep, easy to tears, steals in.
    but not the same night in a different quarter through the Sidonian city:
with varied sport they prolong the stars
before the homes and within, and even at the walls the watches grow faint;                220
twin bronzes ring out and the Idaean hides,
and the boxwood pipe, modulating a sound with varied breathing.
then to the sweet celestials and every fostered divinity in due order
everywhere the sacred paeans resound, everywhere
garlands and garlanded unmixed wine. now they laugh at funerals,                225
ignorant of the augur, and in due time they vie
to praise their own Tiresias; now they revolve the deeds
of their ancestors and sing of Thebes of old from the origin:
these, the Sidonian sea and the horns of the Thunderer worn smooth by hands,
and Nereus furrowed by the huge bull,                230

hi Cadmum lassamque bouem fetosque cruenti
Martis agros, alii Tyriam reptantia saxa
ad chelyn et duras animantem Amphiona cautes,
hi grauidam Semelen, illi Cythereia laudant
conubia et multa deductam lampade fratrum                235
Harmoniam: nullis deest sua fabula mensis.
ceu modo gemmiferum thyrso populatus Hydaspen
Eoasque domos nigri uexilla triumphi
Liber et ignotos populis ostenderet Indos.
    tunc primum ad coetus sociaeque ad foedera mensae                240
semper inaspectum diraque in sede latentem
Oedipoden exisse ferunt uultuque sereno
canitiem nigram squalore et sordida fusis
ora comis laxasse manu sociumque benignos
adfatus et abacta prius solacia passum,                245

these tell of Cadmus and the wearied cow and the fields teeming with bloody Mars; others of the Tyrian stones crawling to the chelys and of Amphion animating the hard crags; these praise pregnant Semele, those the Cytherean wedlocks and Harmonia led down with the many torches of her brothers: no table lacks its own fable.
as if even now Liber, with his thyrsus, had ravaged the gem-bearing Hydaspes and the Eastern homes, and were displaying the standards of his black triumph and the Indians unknown to the peoples.
then for the first time, to the gatherings and the covenants of the shared table, they report that Oedipus—always unseen and lurking in a dread seat—came forth, and with a serene countenance loosened with his hand hoariness black with filth and a face befouled by streaming hair, and addressed his comrades with kindly words and allowed consolations previously driven away, 245

quin hausisse dapes insiccatumque cruorem
deiecisse genis. cunctos auditque refertque,
qui Ditem et Furias tantum et si quando regentem
Antigonen maestis solitus pulsare querelis.
causa latet.

nay, that he had drained the banquet and had let the dried gore fall from his cheeks.
he both listens to all and reports to all,
he who was wont to assail only Dis and the Furies, and, if ever, his guide
Antigone, with mournful complaints.
the cause lies hidden.

non hunc Tyrii fors prospera belli, 250
tantum bella iuuant; natum hortaturque probatque
nec uicisse uelit; sed primos comminus enses
et sceleris tacito rimatur semina uoto.
inde epulae dulces ignotaque gaudia uultu.
qualis post longae Phineus ieiunia poenae, 255
nil stridere domi uolucresque ut sensit abactas
(necdum tota fides), hilaris mensasque torosque
nec turbata feris tractauit pocula pennis.

not him do the Tyrians, the prosperous chance of war, so much do wars delight; 250
he both urges and approves his son, and would not wish him to have conquered; but the first swords at close quarters
and, with a silent vow, he probes the seeds of crime. Then sweet banquets and unknown joys in his countenance.
like Phineus after the fasts of his long punishment, 255
when he sensed that nothing screeched at home and that the birds were driven away
(not yet full trust), cheerful he handled both tables and couches,
and the cups not disturbed by savage wings.

cetera Graiorum curis armisque iacebat
fessa cohors; alto castrorum ex aggere Adrastus 260

the remaining cohort of the Greeks, weary, lay with cares and arms;
from the high rampart of the camp Adrastus 260

laetificos tenui captabat corde tumultus,
quamquam aeger senio, sed agit miseranda potestas
inuigilare malis. illum aereus undique clamor
Thebanique urunt sonitus, et amara lacessit
tibia, tum nimio uoces marcore superbae                265
incertaeque faces et iam male peruigil ignis.
sic ubi per fluctus uno ratis obruta somno
conticuit, tantique maris secura iuuentus
mandauere animas: solus stat puppe magister
peruigil inscriptaque deus qui nauigat alno.                270
    tempus erat iunctos cum iam soror ignea Phoebi
sensit equos penitusque cauam sub luce parata
Oceani mugire domum, seseque uagantem
colligit et leuiter moto fugat astra flagello:
concilium rex triste uocat, quaeruntque gementes                275

he was catching with a frail heart the joy-bringing tumults,
although sick with senility; yet pitiable power drives one
to keep vigil over evils. A brazen clamor on every side
and Theban noises burn him, and the bitter pipe
provokes, then voices proud with excessive sluggishness,                265
and wavering torches and a fire now poorly wakeful.
thus when, over the waves, a raft overwhelmed by a single sleep
falls silent, and the youth, heedless of so great a sea,
have entrusted their lives: the helmsman alone stands at the stern,
ever-wakeful, and the god who sails on the inscribed alder-ship.                270
    it was the time when now the fiery sister of Phoebus
felt the yoked horses, and deep within the hollow house
of Ocean, with the light made ready, bellowed; and she, wandering,
gathers herself and with a lightly moved whip puts the stars to flight:
the king calls a sad council, and, groaning, they seek                275

quis tripodas successor agat, quo prodita laurus
transeat atque orbum uittae decus. haud mora, cuncti
insignem fama sanctoque Melampode cretum
Thiodamanta uolunt, quicum ipse arcana deorum
partiri et uisas uni sociare solebat                280
Amphiaraus aues, tantaeque haud inuidus artis
gaudebat dici similem iuxtaque secundum.
illum ingens confundit honos inopinaque turbat
gloria et oblatas frondes summissus adorat
seque oneri negat esse parem, cogique meretur.                285
sicut Achaemenius solium gentesque paternas
excepit si forte puer, cui uiuere patrem
tutius, incerta formidine gaudia librat
an fidi proceres, ne pugnet uulgus habenis,
cui latus Euphratae, cui Caspia limina mandet;                290

who as successor should manage the tripods, to whom the handed-down laurel
may pass, and the honor bereft of the fillet. No delay: all
want Thiodamas, distinguished in fame and sprung from holy Melampus,
with whom Amphiaraus himself was wont to share the arcana of the gods
and to associate the birds he alone had seen; and, not invidious of so great an art,                280
he rejoiced to be called like, and next at his side as second.
That man the vast honor confounds, and unexpected glory troubles;
he humbly adores the proffered fronds and declares himself not equal
to the burden, and deserves to be compelled. Just as an Achaemenian boy
has perchance received the throne and his fathers’ peoples—safer for him were his father to live—he weighs his joys with uncertain dread,                285
whether the nobles are faithful, lest the crowd fight the reins,
to whom he should entrust the bank of the Euphrates, to whom the Caspian thresholds.                290

sumere tunc arcus ipsumque onerare ueretur
patris equum uisusque sibi nec sceptra capaci
sustentare manu nec adhuc implere tiaran.
    atque is ubi intorto signatus uellere crinem
conuenitque deis, hilari per castra tumultu                295
uadit ouans ac, prima sui documenta, sacerdos
Tellurem placare parat: nec futile maestis
id uisum Danais. geminas ergo ilicet aras
arboribus uiuis et adulto caespite texi
imperat, innumerosque deae, sua munera, flores                 300
et cumulos frugum et quidquid nouat impiger annus
addit et intacto spargens altaria lacte
incipit: 'o hominum diuumque aeterna creatrix,
quae fluuios siluasque animarum et semina mundo
cuncta Prometheasque manus Pyrrhaeaque saxa                305
gignis, et impastis quae prima alimenta dedisti
mutastique uiris, quae pontum ambisque uehisque:
te penes et pecudum gens mitis et ira ferarum
et uolucrum requies; firmum atque inmobile mundi
robur inoccidui, te uelox machina caeli                310

then he fears to take up the bows and to burden the horse of his father itself, and seemed to himself neither to sustain the scepters with a capable hand nor yet to fill the tiara.
    and when he, his hair marked with twisted fleece, has convened with the gods, he goes rejoicing through the camp with cheerful tumult,                295
exultant, and, the first proofs of himself, the priest prepares to appease Earth: nor did that seem futile to the mournful Danaans. Therefore forthwith he orders twin altars
to be thatched with living trees and with full-grown turf, and he adds numberless flowers for the goddess, her own gifts,                 300
and heaps of crops and whatever the tireless year renews, and, sprinkling the altars with untouched milk, he begins: ‘O eternal creatrix of men and gods,
you who beget rivers and forests, and for the world the souls and seeds of all things, and the Promethean hands and the Pyrrhaean stones,
and you who first gave nourishment to the unfed and transformed them into men, you who surround the sea and also carry it:
in your keeping are both the gentle race of herds and the wrath of wild beasts and the repose of birds; the firm and immovable strength of the unsetting world, you the swift machine of the sky                310

aere pendentem uacuo, te currus uterque
circumit, o rerum media indiuisaque magnis
fratribus! ergo simul tot gentibus alma, tot altis
urbibus ac populis, subterque ac desuper una
sufficis, astriferumque domos Atlanta supernas 315
ferre laborantem nullo uehis ipsa labore:
nos tantum portare negas? nos, diua, grauaris?

aerily hanging in the empty air, you the swift machine of heaven encircles; you each chariot
wheels around, O the midmost of things and undivided with your great
brothers! therefore at once, nurturing, for so many nations, for so many lofty
cities and peoples, both beneath and above, as one you suffice, and the astriferous homes of Atlas on high 315
bearing in his toil you yourself convey without any toil:
do you refuse to carry us only? Are you, goddess, weighed down by us?

quod, precor, ignari luimus scelus? an quia plebes
externa Inachiis huc aduentamus ab oris?
omne homini natale solum, nec te, optima, saeuo 320
tamque humili populos deceat distinguere fine
undique ubique tuos; maneas communis et arma
hinc atque inde feras; liceat, precor, ordine belli
pugnaces efflare animas et reddere caelo.

What, I pray, is the crime we, unknowing, expiate? Or because a foreign populace
from Inachian shores we arrive hither?
Every land is a natal soil for man, nor would it befit you, O best one, with a savage 320
and so lowly boundary to distinguish peoples,
on every side and everywhere your own; remain common and bear arms
on this side and that; let it be permitted, I pray, in the order of war
to breathe out pugnacious spirits and to render them back to heaven.

ne rape tam subitis spirantia corpora bustis, 325

Do not snatch breathing bodies to such hasty pyres, 325

ne propera: ueniemus enim, quo limite cuncti,
qua licet ire uia; tantum exorata Pelasgis
siste leuem campum, celeres neu praecipe Parcas.
at tu, care deis, quem non manus ulla nec enses
Sidonii, sed magna sinu Natura soluto,                 330
ceu te Cirrhaeo meritum tumularet hiatu,
sic amplexa coit, hilaris des, oro, precatus
nosse tuos, caeloque et uera monentibus aris
concilies, et quae populis proferre parabas,
me doceas: tibi sacra feram praesaga, tuique                335
numinis interpres te Phoebo absente uocabo.
ille mihi Delo Cirrhaque potentior omni,
quo ruis, ille adytis melior locus.' haec ubi dicta,
nigrantes terra pecudes obscuraque mergit
armenta, ac uiuis cumulos undantis harenae                340
aggerat et uati mortis simulacra rependit.

do not hasten: for we shall come, by whatever boundary all,
by whatever way it is permitted to go; only, entreated by the Pelasgians,
stay the level field, and do not bid the swift Parcae.
but you, dear to the gods, whom no hand nor the swords
of the Sidonians, but Great Nature, with her bosom loosened,                 330
as though a Cirrhaean chasm had deservedly entombed you,
thus, embracing, closes—cheerful, grant, I beg, having prayed,
to know your purposes, and reconcile us with heaven and with altars that warn true things,
and what you were preparing to bring forth for the peoples,
teach me: to you I will bear presaging sacred rites, and, of your                335
numen the interpreter I will call you, with Phoebus absent.
that place, for me, more potent than Delos and than every Cirrha,
whither you rush, that place is better than the adyta.' When these things were said,
the earth engulfs the blackening flocks and the darkened
herds, and over the living heaps of billowing sand                340
it piles up and pays back to the seer images of death.

talia apud Graios, cum iam Mauortia contra
cornua, iam saeuos fragor aereus excitat enses.
addit acerba sonum Teumesi e uertice crinem
incutiens acuitque tubas et sibila miscet 345

such things among the Graians, when now the Mavortian horns are face to face,
now the brazen clamor rouses savage swords. He adds a bitter sound, shaking his hair
from the Teumesian peak, and sharpens the trumpets and mingles hissings 345

Tisiphone: stupet insolito clangore Cithaeron
marcidus et turres carmen non tale secutae.
iam trepidas Bellona fores armataque pulsat
limina, iam multo laxantur cardine Thebae.
turbat eques pedites, currus properantibus obstant, 350
ceu Danai post terga premant: sic omnibus alae
artantur portis septemque excursibus haerent.

Tisiphone: Cithaeron, languid, is astonished at the unaccustomed clangor,
and the towers have not attended a chant of such a kind.
now Bellona batters the trembling doors and the armed
thresholds; now Thebes is loosened upon many a hinge.
the horseman throws the foot into turmoil, the chariots obstruct the hastening, 350
as if the Danaans pressed upon their backs: thus on all the gates
the wings are constricted and they cling fast in sallies at the seven.

Ogygiis it sorte Creon, Eteoclea mittunt
Neistae, celsas Homoloidas occupat Haemon,
Hypsea Proetiae, celsum fudere Dryanta 355
Electrae, quatit Hypsistas manus Eurymedontis,
culmina magnanimus stipat Dircaea Menoeceus.
qualis ubi auersi secretus pabula caeli
Nilus et Eoas magno bibit ore pruinas,
scindit fontis opes septemque patentibus aruis 360

To the Ogygian gates Creon goes by lot, to the Eteoclean the Neistae send;
Haemon seizes the lofty Homoloid heights,
the Hypsean to Proetia, the lofty Dryas they poured forth
to Electra’s, the hands of Eurymedon shake the Hypsistae,
the magnanimous Menoeceus packs the Dircaean summits.
just as when, turned aside and hidden, the Nile
drinks with great mouth the pasturage of the sky and the Eastern hoarfrosts,
he splits the riches of his fount and into seven over fields lying open 355

in mare fert hiemes; penitus cessere fugatae
Nereides dulcique timent occurrere ponto.
tristis at inde gradum tarde mouet Inacha pubes,
praecipue Eleae Lacedaemoniaeque cohortes
et Pylii; subitum nam Thiodamanta sequuntur 365
augure fraudati, necdum accessere regenti.
nec tua te, princeps tripodum, sola agmina quaerunt:
cuncta phalanx sibi deesse putat; minor ille per alas
septimus extat apex.

he carries winters into the sea; the Nereids, driven off, have withdrawn deep within, and fear to meet the gentle sea.
but from there the Inachian youth sadly moves its step slowly, especially the Eleian and Lacedaemonian cohorts and the Pylians; for, deprived of the augur, they follow Thiodamas as a sudden leader, nor have they yet approached the ruler. 365
nor do your bands alone, prince of the tripods, seek you: the whole phalanx thinks itself to be lacking; that lesser crest stands forth as the seventh along the wings.

liquido uelut aethere nubes
inuida Parrhasiis unum si detrahat astris,                370
truncus honor Plaustri, nec idem riget igne reciso
axis, et incerti numerant sua sidera nautae.
    sed iam bella uocant: alias noua suggere uires,
Calliope, maiorque chelyn mihi tendat Apollo.
fatalem populis ultro poscentibus horam                375

just as, in the liquid ether, a cloud
envious, should drag down one from the Parrhasian stars,                370
the honor of the Wain is maimed, nor does the axis likewise go rigid with the fire cut away,
and uncertain sailors count their own stars.
    but now wars call: supply new forces for other themes,
Calliope, and let Apollo stretch for me a greater chelys-lyre.
the fated hour, with the peoples demanding it of their own accord,                375

admouet atra dies, Stygiisque emissa tenebris
Mors fruitur caelo bellatoremque uolando
campum operit nigroque uiros inuitat hiatu,
nil uulgare legens, sed quae dignissima uita
funera, praecipuos annis animisque, cruento 380
ungue notat: iamque in miseros pensum omne Sororum
scinditur, et Furiae rapuerunt licia Parcis.
stat medius campis etiamnum cuspide sicca
Bellipotens, iamque hos clipeum, iam uertit ad illos
arma ciens aboletque domos, conubia, natos. 385
pellitur et patriae et, qui mente nouissimus exit,
lucis amor; tenet in capulis hastisque paratas
ira manus, animusque ultra thoracas anhelus
conatur, galeaeque tremunt horrore comarum.
quid mirum caluisse uiros?

the black day draws near, and, sent forth from Stygian shadows,
Death takes her pleasure in the sky, and by flying
she covers the battlefield and invites men with a black yawning maw,
choosing nothing common, but those funerals most worthy of life,
the foremost in years and in spirits, she marks with a bloody 380
talon: and now upon the wretched the whole task of the Sisters
is torn, and the Furies have snatched the threads from the Parcae.
Bellipotent stands in the midst of the fields yet with a dry
spear-point, and now he turns his shield to these, now to those,
mustering arms, and abolishes homes, marriages, sons. 385
and both the love of fatherland is driven out, and, which leaves the mind last,
the love of light; wrath holds hands ready on hilts and on spears,
and the spirit, panting, strains beyond the thoraces,
and helmets tremble with the bristling of the hair.
what wonder that the men grew hot?

flammantur in hostem 390

they are inflamed against the enemy 390

cornipedes niueoque rigant sola putria nimbo,
corpora ceu mixti dominis irasque sedentum
induerint: sic frena terunt, sic proelia poscunt
hinnitu tolluntque armos equitesque supinant.
iamque ruunt, primusque uirum concurrere puluis 395
incipit, et spatiis utrimque aequalibus acti
aduentant mediumque uident decrescere campum.
iam clipeus clipeis, umbone repellitur umbo,
ense minax ensis, pede pes et cuspide cuspis:
sic obnixa acies pariter suspiria fumant, 400
admotaeque nitent aliena in casside cristae.

the horn-hoofed drench the crumbling soils with a snowy nimbus,
as though their bodies, mingled with their masters, had put on the angers
of the seated: thus they wear the bits, thus they demand battles,
with a neigh they lift their shoulders and tip back the riders.
and now they rush, and first the dust of men begins the concurrence 395
driven with equal intervals on both sides they draw near and see the middle
of the plain grow lesser. Now shield is repelled by shields, umbo by umbo,
sword menacing sword, foot with foot and point with point:
thus the wedged line equally steams with gasps,
and plumes, brought close, gleam upon another’s helmet.

pulcher adhuc belli uultus: stant uertice coni,
plena armenta uiris, nulli sine praeside currus,
arma loco, splendent clipei pharetraeque decorae
cingulaque et nondum deforme cruoribus aurum. 405

Fair as yet the face of war: crests stand upon the crown,
the squadrons are full of men, no chariot without a captain,
arms in their place; shields shine and ornate quivers,
and belts, and gold not yet disfigured by gore. 405

at postquam rabies et uitae prodiga uirtus
emisere animos, non tanta cadentibus Haedis
aeriam Rhodopen solida niue uerberat Arctos,
nec fragor Ausoniae tantus cum Iuppiter omni
arce tonat, tanta quatitur nec grandine Syrtis                410
cum Libyae Boreas Italos niger attulit imbres.
exclusere diem telis, stant ferrea caelo
nubila, nec iaculis artatus sufficit aer.
hi pereunt missis, illi redeuntibus hastis,
concurrunt per inane sudes et mutua perdunt                415
uulnera, concurrunt hastae, stridentia funda
saxa pluunt, uolucres imitantur fulgura glandes
et formidandae non una morte sagittae.
nec locus ad terram telis: in corpora ferrum
omne cadit; saepe ignari perimuntque caduntque                420

but after rabies and a virtue prodigal of life had sent forth souls,
not with so great [a force] does Arctos lash airy Rhodope with solid snow
when the Kids are setting, nor so great the crash when Ausonian Jupiter
thunders from every citadel, nor is the Syrtis shaken by so great hail                410
when the swart Boreas of Libya has brought Italian rains.
they shut out the day with missiles; iron clouds stand in the sky,
nor does the air, cramped, suffice for the javelins.
some perish by cast spears, others by returning spears;
pikes meet through the void and forfeit mutual wounds;                415
spears clash; slings rain whistling stones;
bullets imitate winged lightnings, and arrows to be feared
for not one single death.
nor is there room for missiles to the earth: upon bodies falls
all the steel; and often, unknowing, they both slay and fall.                420

casus agit uirtutis opus: nunc turba recedit,
nunc premit, ac uicibus tellurem amittit et aufert.
ut uentis nimbisque minax cum soluit habenas
Iuppiter alternoque adfligit turbine mundum:
stat caeli diuersa acies, nunc fortior Austri,                425
nunc Aquilonis hiems, donec pugnante procella
aut nimiis hic uicit aquis, aut ille sereno.
    principium pugnae turmas Asopius Hypseus
Oebalias (namque hae magnum et gentile tumentes
Euboicum duris rumpunt umbonibus agmen)                430
reppulit erepto cunei ductore Menalca.
hic et mente Lacon, crudi torrentis alumnus
(nec turpauit auos), hastam ultra pectus euntem,
ne pudor in tergo, per et ossa et uiscera retro
extrahit atque hosti dextra labente remittit                435

chance drives the work of virtue: now the throng recedes,
now it presses, and in turns it loses and carries off the ground.
as, with winds and rain-clouds menacing, when Jupiter loosens the reins
and with alternating whirlwind afflicts the world:
the opposed battle-line of the sky stands, now stronger the Auster,                425
now the winter of Aquilo, until, the squall fighting,
either this one has conquered with excessive waters, or that one with clear weather.
    at the beginning of the battle Hypseus, son of Asopus,
drove back the Oebalian troops (for these, swelling with greatness and clan-nobility,
break the Euboean column with their hard shield-bosses)                430
after the leader of the wedge, Menalcas, had been snatched away.
this man too, a Laconian in mind, a nursling of a harsh torrent
(nor did he disgrace his ancestors), a spear that had gone beyond his breast—
lest there be shame upon his back—through both bones and vitals backward
he pulls out, and sends it back at the foe, his right hand slipping.                435

sanguineam: dilecta genis morientis oberrant
Taygeta et pugnae laudataque uerbera matri.
Phaedimon Iasiden arcu Dircaeus Amyntas
destinat: heu celeres Parcae! iam palpitat aruis
Phaedimus, et certi nondum tacet arcus Amyntae. 440
abstulit ex umero dextram Calydonius Agreus
Phegeos: illa suum terra tenet improba ferrum
et mouet; extimuit sparsa inter tela iacentem
praegrediens truncamque tamen percussit Acoetes.

blood-red: Taygetus, beloved to the cheeks of the dying, flits before him, and the lashes of the fight, praised to his mother.
Dircaean Amyntas with the bow targets Phaedimus the Iasian: alas, how swift the Fates! Already Phaedimus flutters on the fields, and the sure bow of Amyntas is not yet silent. 440
The Calydonian Agreus took the right hand from Phegeus’s shoulder: that shameless hand holds its own iron in the earth and moves it; Acoetes, advancing, took fright at him lying among the scattered missiles, and yet struck the maimed one.

Iphin atrox Acamas, Argum ferus impulit Hypseus, 445
strauit Abanta Pheres, diuersaque uulnera flentes
Iphis eques, pedes Argus, Abas auriga iacebant.
Inachidae gemini geminos e sanguine Cadmi
occultos galeis (saeua ignorantia belli)
perculerant ferro; sed dum spolia omnia caesis 450

Iphin the grim Acamas smote, Argus the fierce Hypseus drove, 445
Pheres strewed Abas; and, lamenting diverse wounds,
Iphis the horseman, Argus the foot-soldier, Abas the charioteer were lying.
The twin Inachidae had struck down with iron the twin men from the blood of Cadmus,
hidden by helmets (savage ignorance of war);
but while [they] all the spoils from the slain 450

eripiunt, uidere nefas, et maestus uterque
respicit ad fratrem pariterque errasse queruntur.
cultor Ion Pisae cultorem Daphnea Cirrhae
turbatis prostrauit equis: hunc laudat ab alto
Iuppiter, hunc tardus frustra miseratur Apollo.                455
    ingentes Fortuna uiros inlustrat utrimque
sanguine in aduerso: Danaos Cadmeius Haemon
sternit agitque, furens sequitur Tyria agmina Tydeus;
Pallas huic praesens, illum Tirynthius implet.
qualiter hiberni summis duo montibus amnes                460
franguntur geminaque cadunt in plana ruina:
contendisse putes uter arua arbustaque tollat
altius aut superet pontes; et cum una receptas
confundit iam uallis aquas, sibi quisque superbus
ire cupit, pontoque negant descendere mixti.                465

they tear away the spoils—an impiety to behold—and each, sorrowful,
looks back to his brother, and they complain that they have gone astray alike.
Ion, devotee of Pisa, cast down the devotee of Daphnean Cirrha
with maddened horses: this one Jupiter praises from on high,
that one Apollo, slow, pities in vain.                455
    Fortune makes great men illustrious on both sides
with blood in opposition: the Cadmean Haemon lays low and drives the Danaans;
Tydeus, raging, pursues the Tyrian ranks;
Pallas is present to this one, the Tirynthian fills that one.
just as wintry rivers on the crests of two mountains                460
are broken and, in a twin downfall, fall upon the plains:
you would think they have contended which of the two lifts fields and orchards
higher, or overcomes bridges; and when one valley now confounds
the waters it has received, each, proud, longs to go on by itself,
and, mingled, they deny to descend to the sea.                465

    ibat fumiferam quatiens Onchestius Idas
lampada per medios turbabatque agmina Graium,
igne uiam rumpens; magno quem comminus ictu
Tydeos hasta feri dispulsa casside fixit.
ille ingens in terga iacet, stat fronte superstes                470
lancea, conlapsae ueniunt in tempora flammae.
prosequitur Tydeus: 'saeuos ne dixeris Argos,
igne tuo, Thebane, (rogum concedimus) arde!'
inde, uelut primo tigris gauisa cruore
per totum cupit ire pecus, sic Aona saxo,                475
ense Pholum, Chromin ense, duos Helicaonas hasta
transigit, Aegaeae Veneris quod Maera sacerdos
ediderat prohibente dea; uos praeda cruenti
Tydeos, it saeuas etiamnum mater ad aras.

    Onchestian Idas went, shaking a smoke-bearing torch through the midst and was throwing the ranks of the Greeks into turmoil,
breaking a way with fire; whom with a great blow at close quarters
fierce Tydeus with his spear, his helmet driven aside, pinned fast.
He, huge, lies on his back; the lance stands surviving in his brow,                470
the fallen flames come down upon his temples.
Tydeus pursues: “Do not call Argos savage; with your own fire, Theban, burn! (we grant you a pyre).”
Then, as a tigress, rejoicing in first blood, longs to go through the whole herd, so he with a rock [slays] Aon,                475
with the sword Pholus, with the sword Chromis, and with the spear he runs through two Heliconians—
a birth which Maera, priestess of Aegaean Venus, had brought forth, the goddess forbidding; you were the prey of blood-stained
Tydeus; the mother even now goes to the savage altars.

nec minus Herculeum contra uagus Haemona ducit 480

no less does he, roving, lead Haemon against the Herculean hero 480

sanguis: inexpleto rapitur per milia ferro,
nunc tumidae Calydonis opes, nunc torua Pylenes
agmina, nunc maestae fundens Pleuronis alumnos,
donec in Olenium fessa iam cuspide Buten
incidit. hunc turmis obuersum et abire uetantem                485
adgreditur; puer ille, puer malasque comamque
integer, ignaro cui tunc Thebana bipennis
in galeam librata uenit: finduntur utroque
tempora diuiduique cadunt in bracchia crines,
et non hoc metuens inopino limine uita                490
exiluit. tunc flauum Hypanin flauumque Politen
(ille genas Phoebo, crinem hic pascebat Iaccho:
saeuus uterque deus), uictis Hyperenora iungit
conuersumque fuga Damasum; sed lapsa per armos
hasta uiri trans pectus abit parmamque tenenti                495

blood: with insatiate steel he is swept through thousands,
now the swollen might of Calydon, now the grim ranks of Pylene,
now pouring out the offspring of mournful Pleuron,
until upon Olenian Butes he falls, his spear-point now wearied.
he attacks him, facing the squadrons and forbidding departure, 485
that lad, a boy, intact in cheeks and hair,
to whom, unknowing, then a Theban bipennis, poised, came upon the helmet:
his temples are split on both sides and the divided locks fall upon his arms,
and life, not fearing this unexpected threshold, leapt out.
then he joins flaxen Hypanis and flaxen Polites
(that one used to cherish his cheeks for Phoebus, this one his hair for Iacchus: cruel is each god), and to the vanquished he adds Hyperenor,
and Damasus, turned in flight; but a spear, slipping along the man’s shoulders,
goes through the chest, even as he holds his parma (small shield) 495

excutit et summa fugiens in cuspide portat.
sterneret aduersos etiamnum Ismenius Haemon
Inachidas (nam tela regit uiresque ministrat
Amphitryoniades), saeuum sed Tydea contra
Pallas agit. iamque aduerso uenere fauore 500
comminus, et placido prior haec Tirynthius ore:
'fida soror, quaenam hunc belli caligine nobis
congressum fortuna tulit?

he shakes it off and, fleeing, carries it on the spear’s very tip.
the Ismenian Haemon would even now be strewing the opposing Inachids
(for the Amphitryoniad guides the missiles and supplies strength), but Pallas urges on
savage Tydeus against him. And now they came with opposing favor 500
at close quarters, and the Tirynthian first, with placid mouth, [spoke] these words:
'faithful sister, what fortune, in the murk of war, has brought this encounter upon us?'

num regia Iuno
hoc molita nefas? citius me fulmina contra
(infandum!) ruere et magno bellare parenti 505
aspiciat. genus huic++sed mitto agnoscere, quando
tu diuersa foues, nec si ipsum comminus Hyllum
Tydeos hasta tui Stygioque ex orbe remissum
Amphitryona petat; teneo aeternumque tenebo
quantum haec, diua, manus, quotiens sudauerit aegis 510

Is royal Juno the one who has contrived this nefas?
let her sooner behold me rushing against the thunderbolts (unspeakable!)
and warring against my great parent. 505
his lineage++—but I forbear to acknowledge it, since you
foster the opposite; nor even if Tydeus with his spear
at close quarters should assail Hyllus himself, your own,
and Amphitryon sent back from the Stygian world; I keep in mind,
and shall keep forever, how much this hand is yours, goddess, whenever the aegis has sweated. 510

ista mihi, duris famulus dum casibus omnes
lustro uagus terras; ipsa (heu!) comes inuia mecum
Tartara, ni superos Acheron excluderet, isses.
tu patriam caelumque mihi++quis tanta relatu
aequet? habe totas, si mens excindere, Thebas. 515
cedo equidem ueniamque precor.' sic orsus abibat.

be those mine, while, a servant to harsh misfortunes, I roam all the lands;
you yourself (alas!), a companion with me to pathless Tartarus, would have gone, if Acheron did not exclude the supernal gods.
you are fatherland and heaven to me++who can equal so great a thing in the relating?
have all Thebes, if your mind is to extirpate them. 515
I yield indeed, and I beg for pardon.' thus begun he was departing.

Pallada mulcet honos: rediit ardore remisso
uultus et erecti sederunt pectoris angues.
    sensit abisse deum; leuius Cadmeius Haemon
tela rotat nulloque manum cognoscit in ictu.                520
tunc magis atque magis uires animusque recedunt,
nec pudor ire retro; cedentem Acheloius heros
impetit, et librans uni sibi missile telum
derexit iactus summae qua margine parmae
ima sedet galea et iuguli uitalia lucent.                525

Pallas is soothed by the honor: with ardor abated her visage returned, and the serpents of her uplifted breast settled.
he sensed the divinity had departed; the Cadmeian Haemon wheels his weapons more lightly and recognizes his hand in no stroke. 520
then more and more his strengths and spirit recede, nor is there shame to go back; the Acheloian hero assails the one yielding, and, poising for himself a single missile weapon, he directed the cast where, at the edge of the shield’s top, the bottom of the helmet sits and the vitals of the throat shine. 525

nec frustrata manus, mortemque inuenerat hasta;
sed prohibet paulumque umeri libare sinistri
praebuit et merito parcit Tritonia fratri.
ille tamen nec stare loco nec comminus ire
amplius aut uultus audet perferre cruenti                530
Tydeos, aegra animo uis ac fiducia cessit.
qualis saetigeram Lucana cuspide frontem
strictus aper, penitus cui non infossa cerebro
uulnera, nec felix dextrae tenor, in latus iras
frangit et expertae iam non uenit obuius hastae.                535
    ecce ducem turmae certa indignatus in hostem
spicula felici Prothoum torquere lacerto,
turbidus Oenides una duo corpora pinu,
cornipedemque equitemque, ferit: ruit ille ruentem
in Prothoum lapsasque manu quaerentis habenas                540

nor was the hand frustrated, and the spear had found death;
but Tritonia forbids, and allowed it to just graze a little the left
shoulder, and with good desert spares her brother.
he, however, neither to stand in place nor to go hand-to-hand
any further, nor to endure the bloody face of Tydeus, dares,                530
strength and confidence, sick at heart, have ebbed away.
like a boar, bristle-bearing, by a Lucanian spear in the brow
pricked, whose wounds are not dug deep into the brain,
nor the holding of the right hand fortunate, he breaks his wrath
sideways and no longer comes to meet the now-experienced spear.                535
    lo, the leader of the squadron, Prothoüs, taking aim with sure
darts at the foe with a lucky arm; stormy the Oenid strikes with one pine-spear
two bodies at once, horse and horseman: he falls, while rushing,
upon Prothoüs, and with his hand seeking the reins that had slipped                540

in uultus galeam clipeumque in pectora calcat,
saucius extremo donec cum sanguine frenos
respuit et iuncta domino ceruice recumbit.
sic ulmus uitisque, duplex iactura colenti,
Gaurano de monte cadunt, sed maestior ulmus                545
quaerit utrumque nemus, nec tam sua bracchia labens
quam gemit adsuetas inuitaque proterit uuas.
    sumpserat in Danaos Heliconius arma Corymbus,
ante comes Musis, Stygii cui conscia pensi
ipsa diu positis letum praedixerat astris                550
Vranie.

he treads the helmet onto his face, and the shield onto his chest,
wounded, until with his last blood he spits out the reins
and, with his neck joined to his master, sinks down.
thus elm and vine, a double loss to the cultivator,
fall from the Gauran mountain; but the sadder elm                545
seeks the grove for them both, and, slipping, it groans not so much for its own arms
as it unwillingly crushes the accustomed grapes.
    Heliconian Corymbus had taken up arms against the Danaans,
formerly a companion to the Muses, to whom, conscious of the Stygian burden,
Urania herself, with the stars long laid aside, had long foretold death.                550

cupit ille tamen pugnasque uirosque,
forsitan ut caneret; longa iacet ipse canendus
laude, sed amissum mutae fleuere Sorores.
pactus Agenoream primis Atys ibat ab annis
Ismenen, Tyrii iuuenis non Aduena belli. 555

he nevertheless desires battles and men, perhaps to chant them; he himself lies, to be sung with lasting praise, but the mute Sisters wept the lost one.
Atys, betrothed from his earliest years to Agenorean Ismene, was going, a Tyrian youth, no newcomer to war. 555

quamuis Cirrha domus, soceros nec tristibus actis
auersatus erat; sponsam quin castus amanti
squalor et indigni commendat gratia luctus.
ipse quoque egregius, nec pectora uirginis illi
diuersa, inque uicem, sineret fortuna, placebant. 560
bella uetant taedas, iuuenique hinc maior in hostes
ira; ruit primis inmixtus et agmina Lernae
nunc pedes ense uago, prensis nunc celsus habenis,
ceu spectetur, agit. triplici uelauerat ostro
surgentes etiamnum umeros et leuia mater 565
pectora; tunc auro phaleras auroque sagittas
cingulaque et manicas, ne coniuge uilior iret,
presserat et mixtum cono crispauerat aurum.

although Cirrha was his home, nor had he been averse to his fathers-in-law in their sad affairs; nay rather, chaste in his loving, the squalor and the grace of undeserved mourning commended the bride to the lover. he too was outstanding, nor were the maiden’s feelings toward him at variance, and, in turn, if Fortune allowed, they found favor. 560
wars forbid the wedding torches, and hence in the youth a greater wrath against the foes; he rushes, mingled among the foremost, and he drives the ranks of Lerna—now on foot with a ranging sword, now lofty with reins grasped—he acts as if he were on display. with triple purple his mother had veiled his shoulders still rising and his smooth breast; then with gold she had weighted the phalerae and with gold the arrows, the belts and the arm-guards, that he might not go meaner than his bride, and she had crimped the gold mixed into the topknot.

talibus (heu!) fidens uocat ultro in proelia Graios.
ac prima in faciles grassatus cuspide turmas 570

trusting in such things (alas!), he calls the Greeks to battle of his own accord.
and first, having made an onset with his spear-point upon the yielding foremost troops 570

arma refert sociis et in agmina fida peracta
caede redit. sic Hyrcana leo Caspius umbra
nudus adhuc nulloque iubae flauentis honore
terribilis magnique etiamnum sanguinis insons,
haud procul a stabulis captat custode remoto                575
segne pecus teneraque famem consumit in agna.
mox ignotum armis ac solo corpore mensus
Tydea non timuit, fragilique lacessere telo
saepius infrendentem aliis aliosque sequentem
ausus erat. tandem inualidos Aetolus ad ictus                580
forte refert oculos et formidabile ridens,
'iamdudum uideo, magnum cupis, improbe, leti
nomen' ait; simul audacem non ense nec hasta
dignatus leuiter digitis imbelle solutis
abiecit iaculum: latebras tamen inguinis alte                585

he brings back arms to his allies and returns into the faithful ranks with the slaughter accomplished.
thus the Caspian lion of Hyrcanian shade, still naked and with no honor of a flavescent mane, terrible and yet guiltless of great blood, not far from the stalls, with the keeper removed, snatches the sluggish herd and consumes his hunger on a tender lamb. 575
soon he did not fear Tydeus, unknown in arms and measured only by his body, and he had dared to provoke with a brittle weapon one snarling often at some and pursuing others.
at last the Aetolian by chance turns his eyes to the feeble blows and, laughing formidably, says, ‘for a long time now I see, shameless one, you crave the great name of death’; at once, not deeming the bold fellow worthy of sword nor spear, he lightly with loosened fingers cast aside the unwarlike javelin: yet the hiding-places of the groin deep 585

missile, ceu totis intortum uiribus, hausit.
praeterit haud dubium fati et spoliare superbit
Oenides. 'neque enim has Marti aut tibi, bellica Pallas,
exuuias figemus' ait 'procul arceat ipsum
ferre pudor; uix, si bellum comitata relictis 590
Deipyle thalamis, illi inludenda tulissem.'
sic ait, et belli maiora ad praemia mente
ducitur: innumeris ueluti leo forte potitus
caedibus imbelles uitulos mollesque iuuencas
transmittit: magno furor est in sanguine mergi 595
nec nisi regnantis ceruice recumbere tauri.

the missile, as if twisted with all forces, drank deep.
he passes him by, his fate no doubtful thing, and the Oenides is proud to despoil;
‘for we will not fasten these spoils to Mars or to you, bellicose Pallas,’
he says; ‘far be it—let shame itself ward me from bearing them; scarcely, if Deipyle,
having left the chambers, had accompanied the war, would I have carried them for her to mock.’ 590
thus he speaks, and in mind he is led to greater prizes of war:
as a lion by chance, having gotten possession of innumerable slaughters,
passes over unwarlike calves and soft heifers:
his frenzy is to be plunged in great blood, and to recline only upon the neck of a reigning bull. 595

at non semianimi clamore Menoecea lapsus
fallit Atys: praeuertit equos curruque citato
desilit: instabat pubes Tegeaea iacenti,
nec prohibent Tyrii. 'pudeat, Cadmea iuuentus, 600

but Atys, as he was slipping by, is not misled by the clamor of half‑alive Menoeceus;
he outruns the horses and leaps down from the quickened chariot;
the Tegean youth was pressing the man lying there,
nor do the Tyrians prohibit. “Be ashamed, Cadmean youth,” 600

terrigenas mentita patres! quo tenditis,' inquit,
'degeneres? meliusne iacet pro sanguine nostro
hospes Atys?

earth-born fathers falsely claimed! Whither do you tend,' he says,
'degenerates? Is the guest Atys better lying dead in payment for our blood?

tantum hospes adhuc et coniugis ultor
infelix nondum iste suae; nos pignora tanta
prodimus?' insurgunt iusto firmata pudore                605
agmina, cuique suae rediere in pectora curae.
    interea thalami secreta in parte sorores,
par aliud morum miserique innoxia proles
Oedipodae, uarias miscent sermone querelas.
nec mala quae iuxta, sed longa ab origine fati,                610
haec matris taedas, oculos ast illa paternos,
altera regnantem, profugum gemit altera fratrem,
bella ambae.

‘is he still only a guest, and the unlucky avenger of a wife not yet his own; do we betray such pledges?’ The ranks rise up, strengthened by righteous shame,                605
and to each man his own cares returned into his breast.
    meanwhile, in the secret part of the bedchamber, the sisters, a pair otherwise alike in character and the innocent offspring of wretched Oedipus, mingle various complaints in their speech.
not of evils that are close at hand, but of those with a long origin in fate,                610
this one [laments] the mother’s wedding-torches, but that one the father’s eyes,
the one laments a brother reigning, the other a brother in exile, both [lament] wars.

grauis hinc miseri cunctatio uoti:
nutat utroque timor, quemnam hoc certamine uictum,
quem uicisse uelint: tacite praeponderat exul. 615

From here a grave cunctation of their wretched prayer:
fear wavers both ways, whom in this contest they would wish defeated,
whom to have conquered; silently the exile preponderates. 615

sic Pandioniae repetunt ubi fida uolucres
hospitia atque larem bruma pulsante relictum
stantque super nidos ueterisque exordia fati
adnarrant tectis: it truncum ac flebile murmur;
uerba putant, uoxque illa tamen non dissona uerbis. 620
atque ibi post lacrimas et longa silentia rursus
incohat Ismene: 'quisnam hic mortalibus error?
quae decepta fides? curam inuigilare quieti
claraque per somnos animi simulacra reuerti?

thus the Pandionian birds return to where their faithful hostings
and the hearth, left behind with winter beating them out, and they stand
above the nests and tell to the roofs the beginnings of their ancient fate:
a maimed and tearful murmur goes forth; they take it for words, and yet that voice
is not discordant with the words. 620
and there, after tears and long silences, again
Ismene begins: 'what error is this among mortals?
what trust deceived? that care should keep vigil over quiet
and the mind’s clear simulacra return through sleep?

ecce ego, quae thalamos, nec si pax alta maneret, 625
tractarem sensu, (pudet heu!) conubia uidi
nocte, soror; sponsum unde mihi sopor attulit amens
uix notum uisu? semel his in sedibus illum,
dum mea nescio quo spondentur foedera pacto,
respexi non sponte, soror. turbata repente 630

lo, I—who would not even handle with feeling the bridal chambers, not even if deep peace were abiding—(alas, shame!) saw connubial rites in the night, sister; whence did sleep, out of its mind, bring me a spouse scarcely known to the sight? once, in these halls, him, while my foedera are pledged—I know not by what pact— I looked back upon not of my own will, sister. suddenly troubled 625

omnia cernebam, subitusque intercidit ignis,
meque sequebatur rabido clamore reposcens
mater Atyn. quaenam haec dubiae praesagia cladis?
nec timeo, dum tuta domus milesque recedat
Doricus et tumidos liceat componere fratres.' 635
talia nectebant, subito cum pigra tumultu
expauit domus, et multo sudore receptus
fertur Atys, seruans animam iam sanguine nullo,
cui manus in plaga, dependet languida ceruix
exterior clipeo, crinesque a fronte supini. 640
prima uidet caramque tremens Iocasta uocabat
Ismenen: namque hoc solum moribunda precatur
uox generi, solum hoc gelidis iam nomen inerrat
faucibus.

I was discerning all things, and the sudden fire was cut short,
and his mother followed me, demanding Atys back with rabid clamor.
What presages are these of a dubious ruin?
nor do I fear, while the house is safe and the Dorian soldier withdraws,
and it is permitted to compose the swollen brothers.' 635
Such things they were weaving, when suddenly the sluggish house
was terrified by an uproar, and Atys, recovered with much sweat,
is borne in, keeping life now with no blood,
his hand upon the wound, his drooping neck hangs outside the shield,
and his hair swept back from his forehead. 640
Jocasta is first to see, and trembling she was calling her dear
Ismene: for this alone does the dying voice beseech for a son-in-law,
this alone, the name, now wanders in his icy throat.
throat.

exclamant famulae, tollebat in ora
uirgo manus, tenuit saeuus pudor; attamen ire 645
cogitur, indulget summum hoc Iocasta iacenti
ostenditque offertque. quater iam morte sub ipsa
ad nomen uisus defectaque fortiter ora
sustulit; illam unam neglecto lumine caeli
aspicit et uultu non exatiatur amato. 650

the handmaids cry out; the maiden was lifting her hands to her face,
savage modesty held her; nevertheless she is compelled to go 645
she is forced; Jocasta grants this last favor to the one lying
and both shows and offers her. Four times now, with death just upon him,
at her name he seemed to lift his failing features bravely,
he raised them; he looks on her alone, with the light of heaven neglected,
and is not sated with the beloved countenance. 650

tunc quia nec genetrix iuxta positusque beata
morte pater, sponsae munus miserabile tradunt
declinare genas; ibi demum teste remoto
fassa pios gemitus lacrimasque in lumina fudit.
dumque ea per Thebas, aliis serpentibus ardens 655
et face mutata bellum integrabat Enyo.
arma uolunt, primos ueluti modo comminus ictus
sustulerint omnisque etiamnum luceat ensis.

then, since neither the genetrix was near nor the father laid in blessed
death, they hand over to the bride the miserable office
to incline her cheeks; there at last, with the witness removed,
having confessed, she poured dutiful groans and tears into her eyes.
and while these things, through Thebes Enyo, burning with other serpents, 655
and with her torch changed, was renewing the war.
they want arms, as if they had just now sustained the first blows at close quarters
and every sword still even now were shining.

eminet Oenides: quamuis et harundine certa
Parthenopaeus agat, morientumque ora furenti 660
Hippomedon proculcet equo, Capaneaque pinus
iam procul Aoniis uolet agnoscenda cateruis,
Tydeos illa dies, illum fugiuntque tremuntque
clamantem: 'quo terga datis? licet ecce peremptos
ulcisci socios maestamque rependere noctem. 665

The Oenid stands out: although even with sure reed-shaft
Parthenopaeus drives, and the faces of the dying Hippomedon, raging,tramples with his horse, 660
and Capaneus’s pine will now fly afar, to be recognized by the Aonian cohorts;
that day is Tydeus’s—him they both flee and tremble at,
shouting: “Where are you turning your backs? Behold, it is now permitted
to avenge the slain comrades and to repay the mournful night.” 665

ille ego inexpletis solus qui caedibus hausi
quinquaginta animas: totidem, totidem heia gregatim
ferte manus! nulline patres, nulline iacentum
unanimi fratres? quae tanta obliuio luctas?

I am that man—alone—who with unsated slaughters drained fifty souls:
just as many, just as many—hey!—bring hands in droves!
Are there no fathers, are there no unanimous brothers
of the fallen lying? What so great oblivion of mourning?

quam pudet Inachias contentum abiisse Mycenas! 670
hine super Thebis? haec robora regis? ubi autem
egregius dux ille mihi?' simul ordine laeuo
ipsum exhortantem cuneos capitisque superbi
insignem fulgore uidet; nec segnius ardens
occurrit, niueo quam flammiger ales olori 675
inminet et magna trepidum circumligat umbra.

how it shames Inachian Mycenae that I have gone away content! 670
from this, superiority over Thebes? are these the king’s oaken strengths? but where
is that distinguished leader for me?' at once, on the left order,
he sees him himself exhorting the wedges and, of his proud head,
marked by brilliance; nor less swiftly, ardent, he runs to meet him,
than the fire-bearing bird looms over the snowy swan and with a great shadow 675
encircles the trembling one.

tunc prior: 'Aoniae rex o iustissime gentis,
imus in arma palam tandemque ostendimus enses,
an noctem et solitas placet expectare tenebras?'
ille nihil contra, sed stridula cornus in hostem 680

then the first: 'O king most just of the Aonian people,
shall we go to arms openly and at last display our swords,
or does it please to await the night and the accustomed shadows?'
he said nothing in reply, but hurled the whistling cornel-spear at the foe 680

it referens mandata ducis, quam prouidus heros
iam iam in fine uiae percussam obliquat, et ipse
telum ingens auide et quanto non ante lacerto
impulit. ibat atrox finem positura duello
lancea (conuertere oculos utrimque fauentes 685
Sidonii Graique dei), crudelis Erinys
obstat et infando differt Eteoclea fratri,
cuspis in armigerum Phlegyan peccauit. ibi ingens
pugna uirum, stricto nam saeuior inruit ense
Aetolus, retroque datum Thebana tegebant 690
arma ducem.

he, carrying back the commands of the leader, which the provident hero,
now already at the end of its path, strikes aside obliquely; and he himself
drove a huge missile eagerly, and with an arm not before so mighty.
The spear went atrocious, about to set an end to the duel
(the Sidonian and the Greek gods turned their favoring eyes from both sides) 685
but the cruel Erinys stands in the way and by an unspeakable act diverts it from the Eteoclean brother;
the point erred onto Phlegyas the armor-bearer. There a huge
battle of men, for the Aetolian rushed in more savage with drawn sword,
and Theban arms were covering the leader driven back. 690

sic densa lupum iam nocte sub atra
arcet ab apprenso pastorum turba iuuenco;
improbus erigitur contra, nec cura uetantes
impetere: illum, illum, semel in quem uenerat, urguet.
non secus obiectas acies turbamque minorem 695

thus, with night now dense beneath the black night,
the crowd of shepherds keeps the wolf away from the seized young bullock;
the shameless one rears up against them, nor does he care for those forbidding
him to attack: that one, that one, the very one upon whom he had once come, he presses.
not otherwise does he press the opposed battle-lines and the lesser throng 695

dissimulat transitque manu; tamen ora Thoantis,
pectora Deilochi, Clonii latus, ilia torui
perforat Hippotadae; truncis sua membra remittit
interdum galeasque rotat per nubila plenas.
et iam corporibus sese spoliisque cadentum                700
clauserat; unum acies circum consumitur, unum
omnia tela uouent: summis haec ossibus haerent,
pars frustrata cadunt, partem Tritonia uellit,
multa rigent clipeo. densis iam consitus hastis
ferratum quatit umbo nemus, tergoque fatiscit                705
atque umeris gentilis aper; nusquam ardua coni
gloria, quique apicem toruae Gradiuus habebat
cassidis, haud laetum domino ruit omen: inusta
temporibus nuda aera sedent, circumque sonori
uertice percusso uoluuntur in arma molares.                710

dissimilates and passes it aside with his hand; yet he pierces the faces of Thoas,
the chests of Deilochus, Clonius’s side, the groins of grim
Hippotades; at times he sends their own limbs back to their trunks
and whirls helmets, full, through the clouds.
and now he had enclosed himself with the bodies and spoils of the falling;                700
around one man the battle line is consumed; at one
all the missiles are vowed: these cling to the topmost bones,
some fall frustrated, part Tritonia plucks away,
many stiffen in the clipeus. Now, sown with dense spears,
the iron umbo shakes the grove, and the kindred boar splits at back                705
and shoulders; nowhere the lofty glory of the crest,
and the apex that Gradivus bore on his grim cassis
falls as an omen not glad to its lord: the naked bronzes,
seared upon the temples, sit, and around, with the ringing
crown smitten, the molars roll down into the armor.                710

iam cruor in galea, iam saucia proluit ater
pectora permixtus sudore et sanguine torrens.
respicit hortantes socios et Pallada fidam
longius opposita celantem lumina parma:
ibat enim magnum lacrimis inflectere patrem.                715
    ecce secat Zephyros ingentem fraxinus iram
fortunamque ferens; teli non eminet auctor:
Astacides Melanippus erat, nec prodidit ipse
et uellet latuisse manum, sed gaudia turmae
monstrabant trepidum; nam flexus in ilia Tydeus                720
summissum latus et clipei laxauerat orbem.
clamorem Aonii miscent gemitumque Pelasgi,
obiectantque manus indignantemque tuentur.

now gore is in the helmet, now a black torrent, mixed with sweat and blood, has drenched his wounded breast.
he looks back at comrades urging him on and at faithful Pallas hiding her eyes farther off with her shield set before her:
for she was going to bend the great father with tears. 715
lo, a huge ash-spear cleaves the Zephyrs, bearing wrath and fortune; the thrower of the missile is not apparent:
it was Melanippus, descendant of Astacus, and he himself did not disclose it and would have wished his hand to have lain hidden, but the rejoicings of the troop pointed out the quivering man; for Tydeus, bent in his flanks,
had lowered his side and had loosened the circle of his shield.
the Aonians mingle shouting and the Pelasgi groaning,
and they throw up their hands and gaze at the indignant one.

ille per oppositos longe rimatus amarum
Astaciden, totis animae se cogit in ictum 725

he, having peered from afar through those opposing, having spied the bitter Astacides,
concentrates his whole soul into a stroke 725

reliquiis telumque iacit quod proximus Hopleus
praebuerat: perit expressus conamine sanguis.
tunc tristes socii cupidum bellare (quis ardor!)
et poscentem hastas mediaque in morte negantem
expirare trahunt, summique in margine campi 730
effultum gemina latera inclinantia parma
ponunt, ac saeui rediturum ad proelia Martis
promittunt flentes. sed et ipse recedere caelum
ingentesque animos extremo frigore labi
sensit, et innixus terrae, 'miserescite,' clamat, 735
'Inachidae: non ossa precor referantur ut Argos
Aetolumue larem; nec enim mihi cura supremi
funeris: odi artus fragilemque hunc corporis usum,
desertorem animi.

with his remaining strength he also hurls the weapon which nearest Hopleus had proffered: the blood, forced out by the conation, perishes.
then his sad comrades drag him, eager to war (what ardor!) and demanding spears and refusing to expire even in the very midst of death, and on the margin of the highest field 730
they set him down, propped, with twin shields supporting his leaning sides,
and weeping they promise he will return to the battles of savage Mars.
but he too felt the sky withdraw and his vast spirits slip with the final chill,
and, leaning on the earth, he cries, 'pity me, Inachids: I do not pray that my bones be borne back to Argos
or to the Aetolian hearth; nor indeed is the last funeral my care:
I hate my limbs and this fragile use of the body,
a deserter of the spirit.

caput, o caput, o mihi si quis
apportet, Melanippe, tuum! nam uolueris aruis, 740

head, O head, O if someone would bring me your head, Melanippus! for you will have rolled over the fields, 740

fido equidem, nec me uirtus suprema fefellit.
i, precor, Atrei si quid tibi sanguinis umquam,
Hippomedon, uade, o primis puer inclute bellis
Arcas, et Argolicae Capaneu iam maxime turmae.'
    moti omnes, sed primus abit primusque repertum                745
Astaciden medio Capaneus e puluere tollit
spirantem laeuaque super ceruice reportat,
terga cruentantem concussi uulneris unda:
qualis ab Arcadio rediit Tirynthius antro
captiuumque suem clamantibus intulit Argis.                750
    erigitur Tydeus uultuque occurrit et amens
laetitiaque iraque, ut singultantia uidit
ora trahique oculos seseque agnouit in illo,
imperat abscisum porgi, laeuaque receptum
spectat atrox hostile caput, gliscitque tepentis                755

I trust indeed, nor has my supreme virtue deceived me.
go, I pray, if ever any of Atreus’ blood has weighed with you,
Hippomedon, go, O boy renowned in your first wars,
Arcadian, and now most of Capaneus’s Argolic troop.'
    all are moved, but he goes first, and first, having found him,                745
Capaneus lifts the Astacide from the mid dust,
breathing, and bears him back upon his left shoulder,
his back being bloodied by the surge of the shaken wound:
as the Tirynthian returned from the Arcadian cave
and brought in the captive boar to the shouting Argives.                750
    Tydeus rises and runs to meet him, and, out of his mind
with joy and with wrath, when he saw the gasping lips
and the eyes being dragged, and recognized himself in him,
he commands that, cut off, it be proffered; and, received on his left,
he grimly gazes at the hostile head, and he swells at the warmth                755

lumina torua uidens et adhuc dubitantia figi.
infelix contentus erat: plus exigit ultrix
Tisiphone; iamque inflexo Tritonia patre
uenerat et misero decus inmortale ferebat,
atque illum effracti perfusum tabe cerebri 760
aspicit et uiuo scelerantem sanguine fauces
(nec comites auferre ualent): stetit aspera Gorgon
crinibus emissis rectique ante ora cerastae
uelauere deam; fugit auersata iacentem,
nec prius astra subit quam mystica lampas et insons 765
Ilissos multa purgauit lumina lympha.

seeing the grim eyes and still wavering to be fixed.
the unlucky one was content: the avenging Tisiphone demands more;
and now Tritonia, her father having been bent, had come and was bearing immortal honor to the wretch,
and she beholds him, drenched with the filth of a shattered brain, 760
and polluting his jaws with living blood
(nor are his comrades able to carry him off): the harsh Gorgon stood,
her hair let loose, and straight horned cerastes before her face
veiled the goddess; she flees, turning away from the one lying there,
nor does she ascend to the stars before the mystic lamp and the guiltless 765
Ilissus purged her eyes with much water.