Valerius Flaccus: ARGONAVTICA

Prima deum magnis canimus freta pervia natis
fatidicamque ratem, Scythici quae Phasidis oras
ausa sequi mediosque inter iuga concita cursus
rumpere flammifero tandem consedit Olympo.
      Phoebe, mone, si Cumaeae mihi conscia vatis                    5
stat casta cortina domo, si laurea digna
fronte viret, tuque o pelagi cui maior aperti
fama, Caledonius postquam tua carbasa vexit
Oceanus Phrygios prius indignatus Iulos,
eripe me populis et habenti nubila terrae,                    10
sancte pater, veterumque fave veneranda canenti
facta virum: versam proles tua pandit Idumen,
namque potest, Solymo nigrantem pulvere fratrem
spargentemque faces et in omni turre furentem.
ille tibi cultusque deum delubraque genti                    15

We sing first of the straits made passable for the great sons of the gods,
and of the fatidic raft, which dared to follow the shores of Scythian Phasis
and, sped on, to burst a course between the mid yokes, and at last it settled
on flame-bearing Olympus.
      Phoebus, advise, if for me the chaste cortina stands aware of the Cumaean prophetess                    5
in her house, if laurel, worthy, greens upon my brow; and you too, O you whose
fame is greater on the open pelagus, after the Caledonian Ocean carried your canvases,
having earlier been indignant at the Phrygian Iuli,
snatch me away from peoples and from the cloud-bearing land,                    10
holy father, and favor one singing the veneranda deeds of men of old:
your offspring unfolds Idumea turned, for she can—her brother black with Solymian dust,
scattering torches and raging on every tower.
He for you both the cults of the gods and the shrines for the nation                    15

instituet, cum iam, genitor, lucebis ab omni
parte poli neque erit Tyriae Cynosura carinae
certior aut Grais Helice servanda magistris.
seu tu signa dabis seu te duce Graecia mittet
et Sidon Nilusque rates: nunc nostra serenus 20
orsa iuves, haec ut Latias vox impleat urbes.
Haemoniam primis Pelias frenabat ab annis,
iam gravis et longus populis metus.

he will ordain, when now, father, you will shine from every
part of the pole, nor will there be for the Tyrian keel a surer Cynosure
or a Helice to be observed by Greek masters.
whether you will give the signals, or with you as leader Greece will send
and Sidon and the Nile their ships: now, serene, aid our undertakings, 20
so that this voice may fill the Latin cities.
Pelias was bridling Haemonia from his earliest years,
already a grievous and long-standing fear to the peoples.

illius amnes
Ionium quicumque petunt, ille Othryn et Haemum
atque imum felix versabat vomere Olympum. 25
sed non ulla quies animo fratrisque paventi
progeniem divumque minas. hunc nam fore regi
exitio vatesque canunt pecudumque per aras
terrifici monitus iterant; super ipsius ingens
instat fama viri virtusque haud laeta tyranno. 30

its rivers
whoever seek the Ionian, he was turning with the ploughshare Othrys and Haemus
and the lowest Olympus, fortunate. 25
but there was no rest for his mind, fearing his brother’s progeny
and the threats of the gods. For seers sing that this one will be for the king
a destruction, and terrifying warnings are repeated over the altars of the flocks;
moreover the vast fame of the man himself presses on, and his virtue—by no means welcome to the tyrant. 30

ergo anteire metus iuvenemque exstinguere pergit
Aesonium letique vias ac tempora versat,
sed neque bella videt Graias neque monstra per urbes
ulla: Cleonaeo iam tempora clausus hiatu
Alcides, olim Lernae defensus ab angue 35
Arcas et ambobus iam cornua fracta iuvencis.
ira maris vastique placent discrimina ponti.
tum iuvenem tranquilla tuens nec fronte timendus
occupat et fictis dat vultum et pondera dictis.

therefore he goes on to forestall fear and to extinguish the Aesonian youth,
and he turns over the ways and the times of death;
but he sees neither wars nor any monsters through the Grecian cities:
Alcides now, his temples enclosed by the Cleonaean gape,
the Arcadian once defended from the Lernaean serpent, 35
and for both young bulls the horns already broken.
the wrath of the sea and the hazards of the vast deep please.
then, gazing tranquilly upon the youth and not to be feared in countenance,
he addresses him and gives a look and weight to feigned words.

'hanc mihi militiam, veterum quae pulchrior actis, 40
adnue daque animum. nostri de sanguine Phrixus
Cretheos ut patrias audis effugerit aras.
hunc ferus Aeetes, Scythiam Phasinque rigentem
qui colit--heu magni Solis pudor!--, hospita vina
inter et attonitae mactat sollemnia mensae 45

'Nod assent to this campaign for me, which is fairer than the deeds of the ancients, 40
and give spirit. Phrixus, of our blood, as you hear,
fled the ancestral altars of Cretheus his father.
him the fierce Aeetes, who inhabits Scythia and the freezing Phasis
who dwells there--alas, shame of great Sol!--, amid hospitable wines
and the solemnities of a thunderstruck table, slaughters. 45

nil nostri divumque memor. non nuntia tantum
fama refert: ipsum iuvenem tam saeva gementem,
ipsum ego, cum serus fessos sopor alligat artus,
aspicio, lacera adsiduis namque illius umbra
questibus et magni numen maris excitat Helle. 50
si mihi quae quondam vires, et pendere poenas
Colchida iam et regis caput hic atque arma videres.
olim annis ille ardor hebet necdum mea proles
imperio et belli rebus matura marique.

in no way mindful of us and of the gods. Not only as a messenger
does rumor report: the very youth himself groaning such savage things—
him I myself, when late sleep binds weary limbs,
behold; for Helle, torn, as a shade with her incessant complaints,
arouses even the numen of the great sea. 50
if the strengths I once had were mine, you would already see the Colchian
paying penalties, and here the king’s head and his arms. Long ago that ardor
is dulled by years, and my progeny is not yet
mature for command and for the affairs of war and of the sea.

tu, cui iam curaeque vigent animique viriles, 55
i, decus, et pecoris Nephelaei vellera Graio
redde tholo ac tantis temet dignare periclis!'
talibus hortatur iuvenem propiorque iubenti
conticuit certus Scythico concurrere ponto
Cyaneas tantoque silet possessa dracone 60

you, in whom already cares and manly spirits are vigorous, 55
go, glory, and return the fleeces of Nephelian cattle to a Greek
tholos, and deem yourself worthy of such great perils!'
With such words she urges on the youth, and, drawing nearer as she bids,
she fell silent; he, resolved to contend with the Cyaneae on the Scythian sea,
keeps silence too about the things possessed by so great a dragon. 60

vellera, multifidas regis quem filia linguas
vibrantem ex adytis cantu dapibusque vocabat
et dabat externo liventia mella veneno.
      Mox taciti patuere doli nec vellera curae
esse viro, sed sese odiis immania cogi                    65
in freta. qua iussos sectatur quaerere Colchos
arte queat: nunc aerii plantaria vellet
Perseos aut currus et quos frenasse dracones
creditus, ignaras Cereris qui vomere terras
imbuit et flava quercum damnavit arista.                    70
heu quid agat?

the fleeces, him, lashing his many-forked tongues, whom the king’s daughter used to call forth from the adyta by song and by banquets,
and she would give honeys livid with foreign poison.
      Soon the silent wiles lay open, and that the fleeces were not the man’s care,
but that he himself was being driven by hatreds into the immense straits.                    65
by what art he might be able to pursue, as ordered, to seek the Colchians:
now he would wish for the plantar-sandals of airy Perseus
or the chariot and the dragons whom he is believed to have reined,
he who with the ploughshare imbued the lands ignorant of Ceres and condemned the oak by the blond ear of grain.                    70
alas, what is he to do?

populumne levem veterique tyranno
infensum atque olim miserantes Aesona patres
advocet an socia Iunone et Pallade fretus
armisona speret magis et freta iussa capessat,
siqua operis tanti domito consurgere ponto 75

should he summon the fickle people, hostile to the ancient tyrant,
and the fathers who once pitied Aeson;
or, relying on allied Juno and Pallas,
should he rather hope in the arms-sounding one and undertake the commanded straits,
if any means for so great a work might arise with the sea tamed 75

fama queat. tu sola animos mentemque peruris,
Gloria, te viridem videt immunemque senectae
Phasidis in ripa stantem iuvenesque vocantem.
tandem animi incertum confusaque pectora firmat
religio tendensque pias ad sidera palmas                    80
'omnipotens regina,' inquit, 'quam, turbidus atro
aethere caeruleum quateret cum Iuppiter imbrem,
ipse ego praecipiti tumidum per Enipea nimbo
in campos et tuta tuli nec credere quivi
ante deam quam te tonitru nutuque reposci                    85
coniugis et subita raptam formidine vidi,
da Scythiam Phasinque mihi tuque, innuba Pallas,
eripe me! vestris egomet tunc vellera templis
illa dabo, dabit auratis et cornibus igni
colla pater niveique greges altaria cingent?'                    90

may Fame be able. you alone burn up our spirits and mind, Glory; you, ever green and immune from senectitude, he sees standing on the bank of the Phasis and calling the youths. at last religion steadies the mind’s uncertainty and his confounded breast, and stretching pious palms to the stars 80
he says, ‘almighty queen, whom, when Jupiter, turbid in black aether, was shaking the cerulean rain, I myself bore through the Enipeus swollen by a headlong storm-cloud into the plains and to safe places; nor could I believe, goddess, before that you were demanded back by the thunder and the nod of your spouse, and I saw you snatched away in sudden fear. grant me Scythia and the Phasis, and you too, maiden Pallas, rescue me! then I myself will give those fleeces to your temples, and my father will give to the fire necks with gilded horns, and snow-white flocks will encircle the altars?’ 90

      Accepere deae celerique per aethera lapsu
diversas petiere vias: in moenia pernix
Thespiaca ad carum Tritonia devolat Argum.
moliri hunc puppem iubet et demittere ferro
robora Peliacas et iam comes exit in umbras.                    95
at Iuno Argolicas pariter Macetumque per urbes
spargit inexpertos temptare parentibus Austros
Aesoniden, iam stare ratem remisque superbam
poscere quos revehat rebusque in saecula tollat.
      Omnis avet quae iam bellis spectataque fama                    100
turba ducum primae seu quos in flore iuventae
temptamenta tenent necdum data copia rerum.

      The goddesses received it and with a swift glide through the aether
they sought different ways: to the Thespian walls the nimble
Tritonian flies down to dear Argus. She bids him to set about this ship and to fell with iron
the Pelian oaks, and already, as a companion, she goes forth into the shadows.                    95
but Juno through the Argolic and Macedonian cities alike
spreads abroad that the untried should dare the Austers at their parents’ counsel,
to follow Aeson’s son—now the craft stands and, proud with oars,
he calls for those whom he may carry back and lift in their fortunes for ages.
      All the throng of captains of the foremost rank, whose fame has already been tested in wars, longs,                    100
or those whom, in the flower of youth, trials hold, and not yet has there been given the opportunity for deeds.

at quibus arvorum studiumque insontis aratri,
hos stimulant magnaque ratem per lustra viasque
iussi laude canunt manifesto in lumine Fauni 105

but those for whom there is zeal for the fields and the innocent plow,
these they rouse; and, at command, they chant with great laud the ship through haunts and ways,
in the manifest light of the Fauns. 105

silvarumque deae atque elatis cornibus Amnes.
Protinus Inachiis ultro Tirynthius Argis
advolat, Arcadio cuius flammata veneno
tela puer facilesque umeris gaudentibus arcus
gestat Hylas; velit ille quidem, sed dextera nondum 110
par oneri clavaeque capax. quos talibus amens
insequitur solitosque novat Saturnia questus:
'o utinam Graiae rueret non omne iuventae
in nova fata decus nostrique Eurystheos haec nunc
iussa forent.

and the goddesses of the forests and the Rivers with uplifted horns.
Straightway the Tirynthian of his own accord flies to Inachian Argos,
whose weapons the boy Hylas bears, inflamed with Arcadian poison,
and the easy-to-bend bows upon his rejoicing shoulders;
he would indeed wish it, but his right hand is not yet equal to the burden nor capacious of the club. 110
her whom, distraught, the Saturnian pursues with such words and renews her accustomed laments:
“O would that not all the glory of Grecian youth were rushing into new fates,
and that these commands were now of our Eurystheus.”

imbrem et tenebras saevumque tridentem 115
iamiam ego et inviti torsissem coniugis ignem.
nunc quoque nec socium nostrae columenve carinae
esse velim Herculeis nec me umquam fidere fas sit
auxiliis comiti et tantum debere superbo.'
dixit et Haemonias oculos detorquet ad undas. 120

rain and darkness and the savage trident 115
right now I too would have hurled, and even the fire of my unwilling spouse.
now too I would wish him neither as a comrade nor as the pillar of our keel
to be with us, nor let it ever be right for me to trust in Herculean aids
from a companion and to owe so much to the proud one.'
she spoke and twists her eyes toward the Haemonian waves. 120

Fervere cuncta virum coetu, simul undique cernit
delatum nemus et docta resonare bipenni
litora. iam pinus gracili dissolvere lamna
Thespiaden iungique latus lentoque sequaces
molliri videt igne trabes remisque paratis 125
Pallada velifero quaerentem bracchia malo.
constitit ut longo moles non pervia ponto,
puppis et ut tenues subiere latentia cerae
lumina, picturae varios super addit honores.

She sees all things seethe with a gathering of men; at the same time on every side she perceives the grove brought down and the shores resounding with the skillful two‑edged axe.
now she sees the Thespiad dissolving pines with a slender blade, the side being joined, and the fitting beams being mollified by slow fire, and, the oars prepared, 125
seeking the arms of Pallas for the sail‑bearing mast.
when the mass stood, impervious to the long sea,
and when thin waxes had entered beneath the hull’s hidden little apertures,
over and above he adds the various honors of painting.

hic sperata <. . . . . > Tyrrheni tergore piscis 130
Peleos in thalamos vehitur Thetis; aequora delphin
corripit, <ipsa> sedet deiecta in lumina palla
nec Iove maiorem nasci suspirat Achillen.
hanc Panope Dotoque soror laetataque fluctu
prosequitur nudis pariter Galatea lacertis 135

here the hoped-for <. . . . . > on the back of a Tyrrhenian fish 130
Thetis is borne into the bridal-chambers of Peleus; the dolphin
seizes the seas, <she herself> sits with her mantle cast down over her eyes,
nor does she sigh that an Achilles greater than Jove be born.
her Panope and her sister Doto, and Galatea rejoicing in the wave,
escort her alike with bare arms. 135

antra petens; Siculo revocat de litore Cyclops.
contra ignis viridique torus de fronde dapesque
vinaque et aequoreos inter cum coniuge divos
Aeacides pulsatque chelyn post pocula Chiron.
parte alia Pholoe multoque insanus Iaccho 140
Rhoecus et Atracia subitae de virgine pugnae.

seeking the caves; the Cyclops calls back from the Sicilian shore.
opposite, fires and a couch from green leaf and banquets
and wines, and the Aeacid among the sea-divinities with his consort,
and Chiron strikes the lyre after the cups.
in another part Pholus and, mad with much Bacchus, 140
Rhoecus, and the sudden battle over the Atracian maiden.

crateres mensaeque volant araeque deorum
poculaque, insignis veterum labor. optimus hasta
hic Peleus, hic ense furens agnoscitur Aeson.
fert gravis invito victorem Nestora tergo 145
Monychus, ardenti peragit Clanis Actora quercu.

craters and tables fly, and the altars of the gods,
and cups, the distinguished labor of the ancients. Here Peleus,
best with the spear; here Aeson, raging with the sword, is recognized.
the heavy Monychus bears the victor Nestor on an unwilling back 145
Clanis dispatches Actor with a blazing oak.

nigro Nessus equo fugit adclinisque tapetis
in mediis vacuo condit caput Hippasus auro.
Haec quamquam miranda viris stupet Aesone natus,
at secum: 'heu miseros nostrum natosque patresque! 150

black Nessus flees on a horse, and, leaning upon the tapestries,
Hippasus in their midst hides his head in empty gold.
Although at these things, marvelous to the men, the son of Aeson is stupefied,
but to himself: 'alas, how wretched we are—our sons and our fathers!' 150

hacine nos animae faciles rate nubila contra
mittimur? in solum nunc saeviet Aesona pontus?
non iuvenem in casus eademque pericula Acastum
abripiam?

Is it for this that we, so yielding in spirit, are sent on a raft against the storm-clouds?
Will the sea now rage upon Aeson alone?
Shall I not snatch the youth Acastus into misfortunes and the same perils
away?

invisae Pelias freta tuta carinae
optet et exoret nostris cum matribus undas.'                    155
      Talia conanti laevum Iovis armiger aethra
advenit et validis fixam gerit unguibus agnam.
at procul e stabulis trepidi clamore sequuntur
pastores fremitusque canum; citus occupat auras
raptor et Aegaei super effugit alta profundi.                    160
accipit augurium Aesonides laetusque superbi
tecta petit Peliae. prior huic tum regia proles
advolat amplexus fraternaque pectora iungens.

let Pelias wish safe straits for the hated keel,
and implore the waves together with our mothers.'                    155
      As he attempted such things, on the left Jove’s armiger
comes from the aether and bears a ewe fixed in his mighty talons.
but far off from the stalls the trembling shepherds follow with a clamor
and the growling of dogs; the raptor swiftly takes to the airs
and above escapes the high places of the Aegean deep.                    160
the son of Aeson takes the augury and, glad, seeks the haughty
roofs of Pelias. First to him then the royal offspring
flies up, joining brotherly breasts in embraces.

ductor ait: 'non degeneres, ut reris, Acaste,
venimus ad questus: socium te iungere coeptis 165

the leader said: 'not degenerate, as you suppose, Acastus,
have we come to complaints: to join you as an associate to our undertakings 165

est animus neque enim Telamon aut Canthus et Idas
Tyndareusque puer mihi vellere dignior Helles.
o quantum terrae, quantum cognoscere caeli
permissum est, pelagus quantos aperimus in usus!
nunc forsan grave reris opus, sed laeta recurret 170
cum ratis et caram cum iam mihi reddet Iolcon,
quis pudor heu nostros tibi tunc audire labores,
quae referam visas tua per suspiria gentes!'
Nec passus rex plura virum 'sat multa parato
in quaecumque vocas.

there is spirit—for neither Telamon nor Canthus and Idas, nor the Tyndarean boy, is more worthy than I of the fleece of Helle.
O how much of earth, how much of heaven it is permitted to know, into how great uses we open the sea!
now perhaps you deem the task burdensome, but joy will return, when the ship returns and when it shall now give me back dear Iolcus, 170
what shame, alas, for you then to hear our labors, what peoples seen I shall recount while you sigh!'
Nor did the king allow the man more: 'enough—much [has been said] for one prepared for whatever you call [him] to.

nec nos,' ait 'optime, segnes 175
credideris patriisve magis confidere regnis
quam tibi, si primos duce te virtutis honores
carpere, fraternae si des adcrescere famae.
quin ego, nequa metu nimio me cura parentis
impediat, fallam ignarum subitusque paratis 180

nor,' he says, 'best one, would you think us sluggish, 175
or that we trust more in our native realms than in you, if, with you as leader, we may reap the first honors of valor, if you grant me to increase a brother’s fame.
nay rather I, lest in any way the care of a parent hinder me through excessive fear, will deceive him unknowing and, sudden, be at the preparations, 180

tunc adero, primas linquet cum puppis harenas.'
dixerat. ille animos promissaque talia laetus
accipit et gressus avidos ad litora vertit.
At ducis imperiis Minyae monituque frequentes
puppem umeris subeunt et tento poplite proni 185
decurrunt intrantque fretum; non clamor anhelis
nauticus aut blandus testudine defuit Orpheus.

‘then I will be there, when the ship will leave the first sands.’
he had spoken. He, glad, receives courage and such promises,
and turns eager steps to the shores.
But at the leader’s commands and, in throngs, at his monition,
the Minyae go under the ship on their shoulders, and with knee stretched, bent forward, 185
they run down and enter the strait; nor was nautical clamor
lacking for the panting men, nor Orpheus, coaxing with his tortoise-shell lyre.

tum laeti statuunt aras. tibi, rector aquarum,
summus honor, tibi caeruleis in litore vittis
et Zephyris Glaucoque bovem Thetidique iuvencam 190
deicit Ancaeus: non illo certior alter
pinguia letifera perfringere colla bipenni.
ipse ter aequoreo libans carchesia patri
sic ait Aesonides: 'o qui spumantia nutu
regna quatis terrasque salo complecteris omnes, 195

then joyful they set up altars. to you, ruler of the waters,
the highest honor; to you, on the shore with cerulean fillets,
and for the Zephyrs and Glaucus a bull, and for Thetis a heifer 190
Ancaeus fells: not another more sure than he
to shatter the fat necks with a lethal two-edged axe.
he himself, thrice libating the cups to the sea-father,
thus says the son of Aeson: 'O you who with a nod shake the foaming
realms, and embrace all lands with brine, 195

da veniam! scio me cunctis e gentibus unum
inlicitas temptare vias hiememque mereri:
sed non sponte feror nec nunc mihi iungere montes
mens ~tamen~ aut summo deposcere fulmen Olympo.
ne Peliae te vota trahant!

grant pardon! I know that I alone from all peoples
attempt illicit ways and earn a winter:
but I am not borne of my own will, nor now is my mind to yoke mountains
~nonetheless~ or to demand the thunderbolt from highest Olympus.
let not the vows of Pelias drag you!

ille aspera iussa 200
repperit et Colchos in me luctumque meorum.
illum ego--tu tantum non indignantibus undis
hoc caput accipias et pressam regibus alnum.'
sic fatus pingui cumulat libamine flammam.
Protulit ut crinem densis luctatus in extis 205
ignis et escendit salientia viscera tauri,
ecce sacer totusque dei per litora Mopsus
immanis visu vittamque comamque per auras
surgentem laurusque rotat.

that man devised harsh commands 200
and the Colchians against me, and the grief of my people.
him I—do you only, with the waves not indignant,
receive this head and the alder pressed down with kings.'
thus having spoken he heaps the flame with a rich libation.
As the fire, having wrestled amid the dense entrails, put forth its tress, 205
and mounted the leaping viscera of the bull,
lo, Mopsus, sacred and wholly of the god, all along the shores,
immense to behold, whirls his fillet and his hair rising through the air,
and his laurel.

vox reddita tandem,
vox horrenda viris. tum facta silentia vati. 210

the voice was given back at last,
a horrendous voice to the men. Then silence was made for the seer. 210

'heu quaenam aspicio? nostris modo concitus ausis
aequoreos vocat ecce deos Neptunus et ingens
concilium. fremere et legem defendere cuncti
hortantur.

'alas, what do I behold? just now, stirred by our ventures,
behold, Neptune calls the sea-gods and a vast
council. they roar, and all exhort the defense of the law
hortantur.

sic amplexus, sic pectora fratris,
Iuno, tene tuque o puppem ne desere, Pallas: 215
nunc patrui, nunc flecte minas! cessere ratemque
accepere mari. per quot discrimina rerum
expedior!

thus having embraced, thus the brother’s breast,
Juno, do you hold the stern, and you, O Pallas, do not desert the ship: 215
now the uncle’s, now bend the threats! they yielded and received the ship into the sea.
through how many crises of affairs I am disentangled!

subita cur pulcher harundine crines
velat Hylas? unde urna umeris niveosque per artus
caeruleae vestes? unde haec tibi vulnera, Pollux? 220
quantus io tumidis taurorum e naribus ignis!

why does fair Hylas suddenly veil his hair with a reed?
whence the urn on his shoulders and the sky-blue garments over snowy limbs?
whence these wounds for you, Pollux? 220
how great, ah, the fire from the swollen nostrils of bulls!

tollunt se galeae sulcisque ex omnibus hastae
et iam iamque umeri. quem circum vellera Martem
aspicio? quaenam aligeris secat anguibus auras
caede madens?

The helmets uplift themselves, and from all the furrows the spears,
and now, now the shoulders. What Mars do I behold around the fleeces?
Who is this that cleaves the airs on winged serpents,
reeking with slaughter?

quos ense ferit? miser, eripe parvos, 225

whom does he strike with the sword? Poor man, snatch away the little ones, 225

Aesonide! cerno et thalamos ardere iugales!'
      Iamdudum Minyas <% > ambage ducemque
terrificat; sed enim contra Phoebeius Idmon
non pallore viris, non ullo horrore comarum
terribilis, plenus fatis Phoeboque quieto,                    230
cui genitor tribuit monitu praenoscere divum
omina, seu flammas seu lubrica comminus exta
seu plenum certis interroget aera pinnis,
sic sociis Mopsoque canit: 'quantum augur Apollo
flammaque prima docet, praeduri plena laboris                    235
cerno equidem, patiens sed quae ratis omnia vincet.
ingentes durate animae dulcesque parentum
tendite ad amplexus!' lacrimae cecidere canenti
quod sibi iam clausos invenit in ignibus Argos.

Aesonid! I even discern the nuptial chambers ablaze!'
      For a long time now he terrifies the Minyae <% > with a circuitous tale and the leader; but in reply Phoebeian Idmon,
not terrible to men by pallor, nor by any horror of bristling hair,
full of fates and with Apollo untroubled,                    230
to whom his sire granted, by the monition of the gods, to foreknow
omens—whether he question flames, or the slippery entrails at close hand,
or interrogate the air full of sure pinions—
thus he chants to his comrades and to Mopsus: “So far as augur Apollo
and the first flame teach, I indeed discern things full of very hard toil,                    235
but a patient ship will conquer all. Mighty souls, endure, and
stretch toward the embraces of your sweet parents!” Tears fell as he sang,
because he already finds Argos shut in by fires for him.

Vix ea fatus erat, iungit cum talia ductor 240

Hardly had he spoken these things, when the leader adds such words 240

Aesonius: 'superum quando consulta videtis,
o socii, quantisque datur spes maxima coeptis,
vos quoque nunc vires animosque adferte paternos.
non mihi Thessalici pietas culpanda tyranni
suspective doli: deus haec, deus omine dextro 245
imperat; ipse suo voluit commercia mundo
Iuppiter et tantos hominum miscere labores.
ite, viri, mecum dubiisque evincite rebus
quae meminisse iuvet nostrisque nepotibus instent.

Aesonius: 'since you see the counsels of the gods above,
o comrades, and how very great a greatest hope is given to our undertakings,
you too now bring paternal strengths and spirits.
not for me is the piety of the Thessalian tyrant to be blamed as suspect of guile:
a god commands these things, a god with a right-hand omen 245
he himself—Jupiter—has willed commerce with his own world
and to commingle such great labors of men.
go, men, with me, and in doubtful affairs win through to those things
which it will help to remember and which may urge on our descendants.

hanc vero, socii, venientem litore laeti 250
dulcibus adloquiis ludoque educite noctem!'
paretur. molli iuvenes funduntur in alga
conspicuusque toris Tirynthius. exta ministri
rapta simul veribus Cereremque dedere canistris.

this night indeed, comrades, as it comes upon the shore, gladly 250
draw out with sweet addresses and with play!'
let preparation be made. the youths are spread out on the soft seaweed,
and the Tirynthian is conspicuous on the couches. the attendants
at once gave the entrails on spits and Ceres in baskets.

Iamque aderat summo decurrens vertice Chiron 255

And now Chiron was at hand, running down from the highest peak 255

clamantemque patri procul ostendebat Achillen.
ut puer ad notas erectum Pelea voces
vidit et ingenti tendentem bracchia passu,
adsiluit caraque diu cervice pependit.
illum nec valido spumantia pocula Baccho 260
sollicitant veteri nec conspicienda metallo
signa tenent: stupet in ducibus magnumque sonantes
haurit et Herculeo fert comminus ora leoni.

and he was showing from afar to his father Achilles shouting. As the boy saw Peleus, raised up by the familiar voices,
and stretching his arms with a huge stride,
he sprang up and hung for a long time from his dear neck. Neither do the foaming cups with strong Bacchus 260
tempt him, nor do statues to be beheld, held in ancient metal, detain him: he stands amazed among the leaders and drinks in those sounding great things,
and he brings his face close at hand to the Herculean lion.

laetus at impliciti Peleus rapit oscula nati
suspiciensque polum 'placido si currere fluctu 265
Pelea vultis' ait 'ventosque optare ferentes,
hoc, superi, servate caput! tu cetera, Chiron,
da mihi! te parvus lituos et bella loquentem
miretur; sub te puerilia tela magistro
venator ferat et nostram festinet ad hastam.' 270

But happy, Peleus snatches the kisses of his entwined son,
and looking up to the pole he says, 'If with a placid swell you wish Peleus to run 265
and to pray for bearing winds, this head, O gods above, preserve! You, Chiron,
grant me the rest: let the little one marvel at you speaking of trumpets and wars;
under you as master let him, a hunter, bear boyish weapons and hasten to our spear.' 270

omnibus inde viae calor additus; ire per altum
magna mente volunt. Phrixi promittitur absens
vellus et auratis Argo reditura corymbis.
Sol ruit et totum Minyis laetantibus undae
deduxere diem.

thereupon for all the heat of the journey was added; they wish to go through the deep with great mind. The fleece of Phrixus, though absent, is promised, and the Argo is about to return with golden corymbs.
The Sun rushes down, and the waves, with the Minyae rejoicing, drew down the whole day.

sparguntur litore curvo                    275
lumina nondum ullis terras monstrantia nautis.
Thracius hic noctem dulci testitudine vates
extrahit, ut steterit redimitus tempora vittis
Phrixus et iniustas contectus nubibus aras
fugerit Inoo linquens Athamanta Learcho;                    280
aureus ut iuvenem miserantibus intulit undis
vector et adstrictis ut sedit cornibus Helle.
septem Aurora vias totidemque peregerat umbras
luna polo dirimique procul non aequore visa
coeperat a gemina discedere Sestos Abydo.                    285

they are scattered along the curved shore                    275
lights not yet pointing out the lands to any sailors.
Here the Thracian vates draws out the night with the sweet tortoise-shell lyre,
telling how Phrixus stood, his temples wreathed with fillets,
and, the unjust altars veiled with clouds, fled from Ino,
leaving Athamas to Learchus;                     280
how the golden bearer carried the youth into the pitying waves,
and how Helle sat with the horns gripped tight.
Dawn had traversed seven ways, and the moon as many shadows
in the pole of the sky; and Sestos, seen from afar as not sundered by the sea,
had begun to draw apart from its twin Abydos.                    285

hic soror Aeoliden aevum mansura per omne
deserit, heu saevae nequiquam erepta novercae!
illa quidem fessis longe petit umida palmis
vellera, sed bibulas urgenti pondere vestes
unda trahit levique manus labuntur ab auro.                     290
quis tibi, Phrixe, dolor, rapido cum concitus aestu
respiceres miserae clamantia virginis ora
extremasque manus sparsosque per aequora crines!
      Iamque mero ludoque modus positique quietis
conticuere toris, solus quibus ordine fusis                    295
impatiens somni ductor manet.

here the sister, the Aeolid, destined to endure through all time, abandons life, alas, snatched in vain from the cruel stepmother!
she indeed with weary palms seeks the wet fleece far off, but the wave, with pressing weight, drags at the thirsty garments, and her hands slip from the light gold. 290
what grief for you, Phrixus, when, stirred by the swift surge, you looked back at the face of the wretched virgin crying out, and at her outstretched hands and her hair scattered over the waters!
And now there was a limit to wine and to play, and, rest having been set aside, they fell silent on the couches; alone among them, as they lay stretched in order, the leader remains impatient of sleep. 295

hunc gravis Aeson
et pariter vigil Alcimede spectantque tenentque
pleni oculos. illis placidi sermonis Iason
suggerit adfatus turbataque pectora mulcet.
mox ubi victa gravi ceciderunt lumina somno 300
visa coronatae fulgens tutela carinae
vocibus his instare duci: 'Dodonida quercum
Chaoniique vides famulam Iovis.

him aged Aeson
and equally wakeful Alcimede both watch and hold
their eyes full. To them Jason, of placid speech,
addressing them, suggests and soothes their troubled hearts.
soon, when their eyes, conquered by heavy sleep, fell 300
the shining tutelary of the garlanded ship seemed
to press upon the leader with these words: 'You see the Dodonian oak
and the Chaonian handmaid of Jove.'

aequora tecum 308

the seas with you 308

ingredior nec fatidicis avellere silvis 303
me nisi promisso potuit Saturnia caelo.
tempus adest: age rumpe moras, dumque aequore toto
currimus incertus si nubila duxerit aether,
iam nunc mitte metus fidens superisque mihique.'
dixerat. ille pavens laeto quamquam omine divum 309
prosiluit stratis.

I embark, nor could Saturnia have torn me from the fate-speaking woods 303
save with heaven promised. The time is at hand: come, break off delays, and while over the whole
sea we run, uncertain whether the aether will draw clouds,
even now send away your fears, confident in the gods above and in me.'
He had spoken. He, trembling, although at the glad omen of the gods, 309
leapt from his couch.

Minyas simul obtulit omnes
alma novo crispans pelagus Tithonia Phoebo.
discurrunt transtris: hi celso cornua malo
expediunt, alii tonsas in marmore summo
praetemptant, prora funem legit Argus ab alta.
increscunt matrum gemitus et fortia languent 315

At once she offered all the Minyans
nurturing Tithonia, crisping the sea, to the new Phoebus.
they run about the thwarts: these make ready the horns to the lofty mast
others make a preliminary trial of the oars on the marble surface
Argus gathers the rope from the high prow.
the mothers’ groans increase and the brave languish 315

corda patrum, longis flentes amplexibus haerent.
vox tamen Alcimedes planctus supereminet omnis,
femineis tantum illa furens ululatibus obstat,
obruat Idaeam quantum tuba Martia buxum,
fatur et haec: 'nate indignos aditure labores, 320
dividimur nec ad hos animum componere casus
ante datum, sed bella tibi terrasque timebam.
vota aliis facienda deis.

the hearts of the fathers; weeping, they cling in long embraces.
yet Alcimede’s voice overtops all lamentations,
she, raging, with feminine ululations overmasters them,
as much as the Martial trumpet overwhelms Idaean boxwood,
and she also speaks these things: ‘son, about to go to unworthy labors, 320
we are divided, nor was it given before to compose my spirit to these misfortunes,
but I was fearing wars and lands for you. vows must be made to other gods.’

si fata reducunt
te mihi, si trepidis placabile matribus aequor,
possum equidem lucemque pati longumque timorem. 325
sin aliud fortuna parat, miserere parentum,
Mors bona, dum metus est nec adhuc dolor. ei mihi, Colchos
unde ego et avecti timuissem vellera Phrixi?
quos iam mente dies, quam saeva insomnia curis
prospicio!

if the fates bring you back to me, if the sea is placable to trembling mothers,
I indeed can endure the light and the long fear. 325
but if Fortune prepares otherwise, pity your parents, Good Death, while there is fear and not yet pain. alas for me, why should I have feared the Colchians and the fleece of Phrixus carried off?
what days already in my mind, how savage insomnia with cares
do I foresee!

quotiens raucos ad litoris ictus 330

how often to the hoarse crashes of the shore 330

deficiam Scythicum metuens pontumque polumque
nec de te credam nostris ingrata serenis!
da, precor, amplexus haesuraque verba relinque
auribus et dulci iam nunc preme lumina dextra!'
talibus Alcimede maeret, sed fortior Aeson 335
attollens dictis animos: 'o si mihi sanguis
quantus erat cum signiferum cratera minantem
non leviore Pholum manus haec compescuit auro,
primus in aeratis posuissem puppibus arma
concussoque ratem gauderem tollere remo. 340
sed patriae valuere preces auditaque magnis
vota deis: video nostro tot in aequore reges
teque ducem. tales, tales ego ducere suetus
atque sequi.

I shall faint, fearing the Scythian Pontus and the pole,
nor will I deem you ungrateful for our clear skies!
grant, I pray, embraces, and leave words that will cling
to my ears, and even now press my eyes with your sweet right hand!'
with such words Alcimede mourns, but Aeson, stronger, raising their spirits with words: 335
'O if only I had blood as great as I had when this hand
restrained Pholus, menacing with a sign-bearing mixing-bowl,
with no lighter gold, I would have been first to set arms
upon bronze-clad ships and rejoice to lift the craft with a shaken oar. 340
But my country’s prayers prevailed and vows heard by the great
gods: I see on our sea so many kings, and you the leader.
Such men, such men am I accustomed to lead and to follow.

nunc ille dies--det Iuppiter oro--,
ille super quo te Scythici regisque marisque 345
victorem atque umeros ardentem vellere rapto
accipiam cedantque tuae mea facta iuventae.'
sic ait. ille suo conlapsam pectore matrem
sustinuit magnaque senem cervice recepit.
Et iam finis erat.

now that day—may Jupiter grant it, I pray—,
that day on which I shall receive you as victor over the Scythian king and the sea 345
and your shoulders blazing with the fleece seized,
and may the deeds of my youth yield to your youth.'
thus he speaks. he supported his mother collapsed upon his breast,
and with his great neck he received the old man.
And now there was an end.

Zephyrumque ratemque morantes 350

delaying both Zephyr and the ship 350

solverat amplexus tristi tuba tertia signo.
dant remo sua quisque viri, dant nomina transtris.
hinc laevum Telamon pelagus tenet, altior inde
occupat Alcides aliud mare, cetera pubes
dividitur.

the third trumpet had loosed embraces with its sad signal.
each man gives his own to the oar, they give their names to the thwarts.
from here Telamon holds the left sea; higher then
Alcides occupies another sea; the rest of the youth
are divided.

celer Asterion, quem matre cadentem                    355
Peresius gemino fovit pater amne Cometes,
segnior Apidani vires ubi sentit Enipeus,
nititur, hinc Talaus fratrisque Leodocus urget
remo terga sui, quos nobile contulit Argos.
hinc quoque missus adest quamvis arcentibus Idmon                    360
alitibus; sed turpe viro timuisse futura.
hic et Naubolides tortas consurgit in undas
Iphitus, hic patrium frangit Neptunius aequor,
qui tenet undisonam Psamathen semperque patentem
Taenaron, Euphemus, mollique a litore Pellae                    365

swift Asterion, whom, falling from his mother,                    355
Peresius Cometes, the father, cherished with a twin river,
where Enipeus, slower, feels the powers of the Apidanus,
strains; from here Talaus and his brother Leodocus press
with the oar the back of their own ship, whom noble Argos supplied.
From here too there is present, though birds are warding him off, Idmon,                    360
but it is shameful for a man to have feared things to come.
Here too the Naubolid Iphitus rises into the twisted waves,
here the Neptunian cleaves his father’s sea—
Euphemus, who holds wave-sounding Psamathe and ever-open
Taenarum—and from the soft shore of Pella.                    365

Deucalion certus iaculis et comminus ense
nobilis Amphion, pariter quos edidit Hypso
nec potuit similes voluitve ediscere vultus.
tum valida Clymenus percusso pectore tonsa
frater et Iphiclus puppem trahit et face saeva                    370
in tua mox Danaos acturus saxa, Caphereu,
Nauplius, et tortum non a Iove fulmen Oileus
qui gemet Euboicas nato stridente per undas
quique Erymanthei sudantem pondere monstri
Amphitryoniaden Tegeaeo limine Cepheus                    375
iuvit et Amphidamas (at frater plenior actis
maluit Ancaeo vellus contingere Phrixi)
tectus et Eurytion servato colla capillo,
quem pater Aonias reducem tondebit ad aras.
te quoque Thessalicae, Nestor, rapit in freta puppis                    380

Deucalion, sure in javelins and at close quarters with the sword,
the noble Amphion, whom Hypso bore equally,
nor could she, nor did she wish, to produce similar faces.
then the brother Clymenus with a stout oar, his breast smitten,
and Iphiclus draws the stern, and with a savage torch                    370
soon to drive the Danaans upon your rocks, Caphereus, Nauplius; and Oileus, a twisted thunderbolt not from Jove,
who will lament along the Euboean waves, his son screeching through the waters,
and Cepheus, who helped at the Tegean threshold the Amphitryoniad
sweating with the weight of the Erymanthian monster,
and Amphidamas (but the brother, fuller in deeds,                    375
preferred that Ancaeus should touch the fleece of Phrixus),
and Eurytion too, his neck covered with hair kept unshorn,
whom his father will shear, returned, at the Aonian altars.
you too, Nestor, a Thessalian ship snatches into the straits                    380

fama, Mycenaeis olim qui candida velis
aequora nec stantes mirabere mille magistros.
nec Peleus fretus soceris et coniuge diva                    403
defuit ac prora splendet tua cuspis ab alta,
Aeacide; tantum haec aliis excelsior hastis
quantum Peliacas in vertice vicerat ornos.
linquit et Actorides natum Chironis in antro,
ut socius caro pariter meditetur Achilli
fila lyrae pariterque leves puer incitet hastas.
[discat eques placidi conscendere terga magistri]                    410
hic vates Phoebique fides non vana parentis                    383

renown, you who once for the Mycenaeans will not marvel at seas white with sails nor at a thousand helmsmen standing.
nor did Peleus, relying on his in-laws and his divine spouse, fail, and from the high prow your spear-point gleams, Aeacid;                    403
this so much higher than other spears as it had surpassed the Pelian ash-trees on the summit.
and the son of Actor leaves the son of Chiron in the cave, so that, as a dear companion to Achilles, he may practice together the strings of the lyre and the boy likewise may urge on the light spears.
[let the horseman learn to mount the back of the calm master]                    410
here is a seer and Phoebus his father’s not empty assurance                    383

Mopsus, puniceo cui circumfusa cothurno
palla imos ferit alba pedes vittataque frontem
cassis et in summo laurus Peneia cono.
quin etiam Herculeo consurgit ab ordine Tydeus
Nelidesque Periclymenus, quem parva Methone
et levis Elis equis et fluctibus obvius Aulon
caestibus adversos viderunt frangere vultus. 390
tu quoque Phrixeos remo, Poeantie, Colchos
bis Lemnon visure petis, nunc cuspide patris
inclitus, Herculeas olim moture sagittas.
proximus hinc Butes Actaeis dives ab oris;
innumeras nam claudit apes longaque superbus 395
fuscat nube diem dum plenas nectare cellas
pandit et in dulcem reges dimittit Hymetton.

Mopsus, whose white mantle, streaming about, with crimson cothurnus strikes his lowest feet, and whose helmet filleted binds his brow, and on the summit bears Penean laurel on the cone.
nay even Tydeus rises from the Herculean rank, and Periclymenus, son of Nelius, whom little Methone and light Elis with its horses and Aulon meeting the waves saw shatter opposing faces with caestus-gloves. 390
you too, son of Poeas, with the oar of Phrixus, make for the Colchians, destined to see Lemnos twice, now renowned with your father’s spear, someday to set in motion Herculean arrows.
next from here comes Butes, rich from Actaean shores; for he encloses numberless bees, and, proud, he darkens the day with a long cloud while he opens the cells filled with nectar and lets loose the kings into sweet Hymettus. 395

insequeris casusque tuos expressa, Phalere,
arma geris laeva; nam lapsus ab arbore parvum
ter quater ardenti tergo circumvenit anguis, 400
stat procul intendens dubium pater anxius arcum.
tum caelata metus alios gerit arma Eribotes
et quem fama genus non est decepta Lyaei 411

you pursue and, Phalerus, you bear on your left engraved arms, expressing your misfortunes;
for, having slipped from a tree, a serpent three and four times encircled the little one with its burning back, 400
the anxious father stands afar, aiming his wavering bow.
then Eribotes carries arms embossed with other fears,
and him whose lineage report has not been deceived to be of Lyaeus. 411

Phlias immissus patrios de vertice crines.
nec timet Ancaeum genetrix committere ponto,
plena tulit quem rege maris. securus in aequor
haud minus Erginus proles Neptunia fertur,                    415
qui maris insidias, clarae qui sidera noctis
norit et e clausis quem destinet Aeolus antris,
non metuat cui regna ratis, cui tradere caelum
adsidua Tiphys vultum lassatus ab Arcto.
taurea vulnifico portat celer a<spera> plumbo                    420
terga Lacon, saltem in vacuos ut bracchia ventos
spargat et Oebalium Pagaseia puppis alumnum
spectet securo celebrantem litora ludo,
oraque Thessalico melior contundere freno
vectorem pavidae Castor dum quaereret Helles                    425

Phlias, with his ancestral locks let down from his crown.
Nor does the mother fear to commit Ancaeus to the sea, whom, full with child by the king of the sea, she bore. No less secure upon the level deep is Erginus, a Neptunian offspring, borne along,                    415
one who knows the ambushes of the sea, who knows the stars of the bright night, and which wind Aeolus assigns from his closed caverns,
one for whom one need not fear the rule of the ship, to whom Tiphys, his face wearied by constant gazing at the Bear, is willing to hand over the sky.
The Laconian swiftly bears bull-hides rough with wound-dealing lead,                    420
at least so that he may fling his arms into the empty winds,
and the Pagasaean stern may watch the Oebalian alumnus celebrating the shores in carefree play,
and, better at bruising mouths with a Thessalian bit, Castor, while he sought the rider of skittish Helle.                    425

passus Amyclaea pinguescere Cyllaron herba.
illis Taenario pariter tremit ignea fuco
purpura, quod gemina mater spectabile tela
duxit opus: bis Taygeton silvasque comantes
struxerat, Eurotan molli bis fuderat auro.                    430
quemque suus sonipes niveo de stamine portat
et volat amborum patrius de pectore cycnus.
at tibi collectas solvit iam fibula vestes
ostenditque umeros fortes spatiumque superbi
pectoris Herculeis aequum, Meleagre, lacertis.                    435
hic numerosa phalanx, proles Cyllenia: certus
Aethalides subitas nervo redeunte sagittas
cogere; tu medios gladio bonus ire per hostes,
Euryte; nec patrio Minyis ignobilis usu
nuntia verba ducis populis qui reddit Echion.                    440

he permitted Cyllarus to grow fat on Amyclaean herb.
for them alike the purple, fiery with Taenarian dye, trembles,
because their twin-mother drew a remarkable work on the loom: twice she had built Taygetus and its leafy woods,
twice she had poured out the Eurotas in soft gold.                    430
and each is carried by his own steed from snowy thread,
and the fatherly swan of both flies from the breast.
but for you a brooch now loosens the gathered garments
and shows your strong shoulders and the span of a proud
chest equal to Herculean biceps, Meleager.                    435
here a numerous phalanx, the Cyllenian offspring: sure is
Aethalides to drive swift arrows as the string rebounds;
you, Eurytus, good to go with sword through the midst of foes;
nor is Echion ignoble among the Minyans for his paternal practice,
he who renders to the peoples the message-words of the leader.                    440

sed non, Iphi, tuis Argo reditura lacertis
heu cinerem Scythica te maesta relinquet harena
cessantemque tuo lugebit in ordine remum.
te quoque dant campi tanto pastore Pheraei
felices, Admete, tuis nam pendet in arvis                    445
Delius ingrato Steropen quod fuderat arcu.
a quotiens famulo notis soror obvia silvis
flevit ubi Ossaeae captaret frigora quercus
perderet et pingui miseros Boebeide crines!
insurgit transtris et remo Nerea versat                    450
Canthus, in Aeaeo volvet quem barbara cuspis
pulvere; at interea clari decus adiacet orbis
quem genitor gestabat Abas--secat aurea fluctu
tegmina Chalcidicas fugiens Euripus harenas
celsaque semiferum contorquens frena luporum                    455

but not, Iphi, will the Argo be about to return to your arms;
alas, saddened she will leave you as ash on Scythian sand,
and will mourn the oar idle in your place in the row.
you too the Pheraean fields, happy with so great a shepherd, grant, Admetus,
for in your acres hangs Sterope, whom the Delian with his ungrateful bow had laid low. 445
ah, how often did the sister, meeting him in woods known to the servant,
weep where the Ossaean oak would catch the coolness,
and would ruin her wretched hair with the rich Boebeid!
Canthus rises from the thwarts and with his oar stirs Nereus—
him a barbarian spear-point will roll in Aeaean dust; but meanwhile lies the honor of the bright world,450
which his father Abas bore—the golden coverings cleave the wave,
fleeing the Chalcidian sands of the Euripus,
and, lofty, twisting the reins of half-wolf teams.455

surgis ab ostrifero medius, Neptune, Geraesto.
et tibi Palladia pinu, Polypheme, revecto
ante urbem ardentis restat deprendere patris
reliquias, multum famulis pia iusta moratis
si venias. breviore petit iam caerula remo 460
occupat et longe sua transtra novissimus Idas.

you rise mid-sea, Neptune, from oyster-bearing Geraestus.
and for you, Polyphemus, with the Palladian pine brought back,
it remains, before the city, to overtake the relics of your burning father,
if you should come, with the pious rites long delayed by the servants.
He now seeks the cerulean with a shorter oar 460
and far off Idas, the very last, takes his own benches.

at frater magnos Lynceus servatur in usus,
quem tulit Arene, possit qui rumpere terras
et Styga transmisso tacitam deprendere visu.
fluctibus e mediis terras dabit ille magistro 465
et dabit astra rati cumque aethera Iuppiter umbra
perdiderit solus transibit nubila Lynceus.
quin et Cecropiae proles vacat Orithyiae
temperet ut tremulos Zetes fraterque ceruchos.

but the brother Lynceus is kept for great uses,
whom Arene bore, who can burst through the lands
and, with his sight sent across, catch the silent Styx.
from the midst of the waves he will point out lands to the master 465
and he will point out the stars to the raft; and when Jupiter has lost the aether in shadow,
Lynceus alone will pass through the clouds.
nay even the offspring of Cecropian Orithyia is free,
that Zetes and his brother may temper the tremulous oars.

nec vero Odrysius transtris impenditur Orpheus 470

nor indeed is Odrysian Orpheus hung over the thwarts 470

aut pontum remo subigit, sed carmine tonsas
ire docet summo passim ne gurgite pugnent.
donat et Iphiclo pelagus iuvenumque labores
Aesonides, fessum Phylace quem miserat aevo
non iam operum in partem, monitus sed tradat ut acres 475
magnorumque viros qui laudibus urat avorum.
Arge, tuae tibi cura ratis, te moenia doctum
Thespia Palladio dant munere; sors tibi nequa
parte trahat tacitum puppis mare fissaque fluctu
vel pice vel molli conducere vulnera cera. 480
pervigil Arcadio Tiphys pendebat ab astro
Hagniades, felix stellis qui segnibus usum
et dedit aequoreos caelo duce tendere cursus.

or does he subdue the deep with an oar, but with song he teaches the oar-blades
to go, lest they contend here and there on the surface surge.
he also entrusts to Iphiclus the sea and the labors of the youths,
the Aesonid, whom Phylace had sent, weary with age,
no longer for a share in the works, but that, being a monitor, he might hand over to the keen 475
men counsels, and with praises of their great forefathers might inflame them.
Argus, the care of your ship is yours; you, skilled, the Thespian walls
assign by Pallas’s gift; your lot is that in no part the stern
draw in the silent sea, and to seal the wounds split by the wave
either with pitch or with soft wax. 480
ever-watchful Tiphys, the son of Hagnias, hung upon the Arcadian star,
happy he, who gave a use to the sluggish stars
and taught to stretch sea-going courses with the sky for guide.

Ecce per obliqui rapidum compendia montis
ductor ovans laetusque dolis agnoscit Acastum 485

Behold, through the rapid shortcuts of the oblique mountain
the leader, exultant and glad, recognizes Acastus by the stratagems 485

horrentem iaculis et parmae luce coruscum.
ille ubi se mediae per scuta virosque carinae
intulit, ardenti Aesonides retinacula ferro
abscidit. haud aliter saltus vastataque pernix
venator cum lustra fugit dominoque timentem 490
urget equum teneras compressus pectore tigres
quas astu rapuit pavido, dum saeva relictis
mater in adverso catulis venatur Amano.

bristling with javelins and shimmering with the light of his parma.
he, when he had borne himself into the midst of the ship, through shields and men,
Aesonides with burning iron cut the hawsers. not otherwise a nimble
hunter flees the glades and the lairs laid waste and urges on the horse that dreads its master 490
pressing to his breast the tender tigresses which by fearful craft he has snatched,
while the savage mother, her whelps left behind, hunts on opposite Amanus.

it pariter propulsa ratis. stant litore matres
claraque vela oculis percussaque sole sequuntur                    495
scuta virum, donec iam celsior arbore pontus
immens<usque> ratem spectantibus abstulit aer.
      Siderea tunc arce pater pulcherrima Graium
coepta tuens tantamque operis consurgere molem
laetatur; patrii neque enim probat otia regni.                    500

the ship goes forward, propelled alike. The mothers stand on the shore
and with their eyes they follow the bright sails and the men’s shields, struck by the sun,                    495
until now the sea, higher than the mast, and the boundless air carried the ship off from those watching.
      Then from his sidereal citadel the father, gazing on the most beautiful undertakings of the Greeks and so great a mass of the work rising up,
rejoices; for he does not approve idleness in his paternal realm.                    500

una omnes gaudent superi venturaque mundo
tempora quaeque vias cernunt sibi crescere Parcae.
sed non et Scythici genitor discrimine nati
intrepidus tales fundit Sol pectore voces:
'summe sator, cui nostra dies volventibus annis 505
tot peragit reficitque vices, tuane ista voluntas
Graiaque nunc undis duce te nutuque secundo
it ratis? an meritos fas est mihi rumpere questus?

together all the gods above rejoice, and the Parcae discern
both the times to come for the world and what paths are growing for themselves.
but, at the peril of his son, the father of the Scythian, not unafraid,
the Sun pours from his breast such words:
'highest Begetter, to whom our day, with the years rolling, 505
performs and refashions so many turns, is that your will,
and does the Greek ship now go upon the waves with you as leader and with a favorable nod?
or is it right for me to break forth in well‑deserved complaints?'

hoc metuens et nequa foret manus invida nato
non mediae telluris opes, non improba legi 510
divitis arva plagae (teneant uberrima Teucer
et Libys et vestri Pelopis domus): horrida saevo
quae premis arva gelu strictosque insedimus amnes.
cederet his etiam et sese sine honore referret
ulterius, sed nube rigens ac nescia rerum 515

fearing this and lest there be any envious hand against my son,
not the opulence of the middle earth, not did I impudently by selection claim the rich fields of the wealthy region 510
(let Teucer and the Libyan and your house of Pelops hold the most fertile lands): the rough fields
which you press with savage gelid frost, and we sit upon congealed rivers.
he would yield even these and would return himself farther without honor,
but, rigid with cloud and unknowing of things, 515

stat super et nostros iam zona reverberat ignes.
quid regio immanis, quid barbarus amnibus ullis
Phasis et aversis proles mea gentibus obstat?
quid Minyae meruere queri?

it stands above and now the zone reverberates our fires.
what hindrance are the immense region, what the barbarous Phasis with all its rivers,
and my offspring among averse peoples? what have the Minyae merited to complain of?

num vellere Graio
vi potitur? profugo quin agmina iungere Phrixo                    520
abnuit, Inoas ultor nec venit ad aras,
imperii sed parte virum nataeque moratus
coniugio videt e Graia nunc stirpe nepotes
et generos vocat et iunctas sibi sanguine terras.
flecte ratem motusque, pater, nec vulnere nostro                    525
aequora pande viris; veteris sat conscia luctus
silva Padi et viso flentes genitore sorores!'
adfremit his quassatque caput qui vellera dono
Bellipotens sibi fixa videt temptataque, contra
Pallas et amborum gemuit Saturnia questus.                    530

Does he gain possession of the Greek fleece by force?
Nay rather he refused to join his forces to the fugitive Phrixus,                    520
nor did the avenger come to the Inoan altars,
but, keeping the man by a part of his empire and by his daughter’s marriage,
he now sees grandsons from a Greek stock,
and he calls them sons-in-law and the lands joined to himself by blood.
Turn the ship and your motions, father, and do not by our wound                    525
lay open the seas to the men; the wood of the Po is enough conscious of ancient grief,
and the sisters weeping at the sight of their father!'
At these words the Bellipotent growled assent and shook his head—he who sees the fleeces
fixed for himself as a gift and assailed—over against this
Pallas and Saturnia groaned their complaint on behalf of both.                    530

      Tum genitor: 'vetera haec nobis et condita pergunt
ordine cuncta suo rerumque a principe cursu
fixa manent; neque enim terris tum sanguis in ullis
noster erat cum fata darem, iustique facultas
hinc mihi cum varios struerem per saecula reges.                    535
atque ego curarum repetam decreta mearum.
iam pridem regio quae virginis aequor ad Helles
et Tanai tenus immenso descendit ab Euro
undat equis floretque viris nec tollere contra
ulla pares animos nomenque capessere bellis                    540
ausa manus. sic fata locos, sic ipse fovebam.

      Then the father: 'these things are ancient for us and established, and they proceed
all in their own order, and from the primal course of things
they remain fixed; for neither on any lands was our blood then
when I was giving the fates, and the faculty of justice
was mine from this point, when I was arranging various kings through the ages.                    535
and I will take up again the decrees of my cares.
long since the region which to the maiden Helle’s sea
and as far as the Tanais descends from the immense East
billows with horses and flowers with men, nor to raise against it
has any band dared equal spirits and to seize a name in wars                    540
with a hand. Thus the fates favored the places, thus I myself was fostering.'

accelerat sed summa dies Asiamque labantem
linquimus et poscunt iam me sua tempora Grai.
inde meae quercus tripodesque animaeque parentum
hanc pelago misere manum. via facta per undas 545

but the final day hastens, and we leave tottering Asia,
and now the Greeks’ own times summon me.
thence my oaks and tripods and the souls of my parents
sent this band upon the sea. a way was made through the waves 545

perque hiemes, Bellona, tibi. nec vellera tantum
indignanda manent propiorque ex virgine rapta
ille dolor, sed--nulla magis sententia menti
fixa meae--veniet Phrygia iam pastor ab Ida,
qui gemitus irasque pares et mutua Grais 550
dona ferat. quae classe dehinc effusa procorum
bella, quot ad Troiae flentes hiberna Mycenas,
quot proceres natosque deum, quae robora cernes
oppetere et magnis Asiam concedere fatis!

and through winters, Bellona, for you. nor do only the Fleeces remain to be indignant at, and that nearer grief from the maiden ravished, but--no judgment more fixed in my mind--there will come now from Ida the Phrygian shepherd,
who may bring groans and equal wraths and reciprocal gifts to the Greeks. 550
what wars thereafter, with a fleet of suitors poured forth; how many winter-quarters at Mycenae, weeping for Troy;
how many chieftains and sons of gods, what strengths you will see
to meet death, and Asia to yield to great fates!

hinc Danaum de fine sedet gentesque fovebo 555
mox alias. pateant montes silvaeque lacusque
cunctaque claustra maris, spes et metus omnibus esto.
arbiter ipse locos terrenaque summa movendo
experiar, quaenam populis longissima cunctis
regna velim linquamque datas ubi certus habenas.' 560

From here the end of the Danaans is fixed, and I will soon foster other nations. 555
let the mountains, and woods, and lakes lie open,
and all the bars of the sea; let hope and fear be for all.
I, arbiter myself, by shifting places and the highest affairs of earth,
will try which realms I would wish to be most long-lasting for all peoples,
and where, determined, I will leave the granted reins. 560

tunc oculos Aegaea refert ad caerula robur
Herculeum Ledaeque tuens genus atque ita fatur:
'tendite in astra, viri: me primum regia mundo
Iapeti post bella trucis Phlegraeque labores
imposuit; durum vobis iter et grave caeli                    565
institui. sic ecce meus, sic orbe peracto
Liber et expertus terras remeavit Apollo.'
dixit et ingenti flammantem nubila sulco
direxit per inane facem, quae puppe propinqua
in bifidum discessit iter fratresque petivit                    570
Tyndareos, placida et mediis in frontibus haesit
protinus amborum lumenque innoxia fundit
purpureum, miseris olim implorabile nautis.
      Interea medio saevus permissa profundo
carbasa Pangaea Boreas speculatus ab arce                    575

then Aegaea turns back her eyes to the sea-blue might,
gazing on the Herculean strength and the offspring of Leda, and thus she speaks:
'strain toward the stars, men: me first the royal palace set upon the world
of Iapetus after the wars of savage Phlegra and its labors;
I have ordained for you a hard journey and a weighty path of heaven.                    565
so, behold, thus my Liber, thus, the circle traversed,
Apollo, experienced of the lands, has returned.'
She spoke, and a torch blazing with a mighty furrow through the clouds
she directed through the void, which, near the stern,
split into a bifid course and sought the Tyndarid brothers,                    570
and with calm at once it lodged in the midst upon both their brows
and poured out a harmless purple light,
once to be implored by wretched sailors.
      Meanwhile, savage Boreas, with the canvases let loose upon the mid-deep,
having spied from the Pangaean citadel,                    575

continuo Aeoliam Tyrrhenaque tendit ad antra
concitus. omne dei rapidis nemus ingemit alis,
strata Ceres motuque niger sub praepete pontus.
aequore Trinacrio refugique a parte Pelori
stat rupes horrenda fretis, quot in aethera surgit 580
molibus, infernas totidem demissa sub undas.

straightway he, roused, hastens toward the Aeolian and Tyrrhenian caverns.
the whole grove of the god groans at his rapid wings, Ceres lies strewn and the sea grows black beneath the swift-swooping flight.
on the Trinacrian main and on the side of retreating Pelorus
there stands a rock dreadful to the straits; by as many masses as it rises into the aether, 580
by just so many it is sunk down beneath the infernal waves.

nec scopulos aut antra minor iuxta altera tellus
cernitur. illam Acamans habitat nudusque Pyracmon,
has nimbi ventique domos et naufraga servat
tempestas, hinc in terras latumque profundum 585
est iter, hinc olim soliti miscere polumque
infelixque fretum (neque enim tunc Aeolus illis
rector erat, Libya cum rumperet advena Calpen
Oceanus, cum flens Siculos Oenotria fines
perderet et mediis intrarent montibus undae), 590

nor is another land seen nearby lesser in crags or caves
that one Acamas inhabits and naked Pyracmon,
these the clouds and winds keep as homes, and the ship-wrecking
tempest; from here there is a way into the lands and the broad deep 585
from here in former times they were wont to commix both the pole and
the ill-fated strait (for then Aeolus was not a ruler for them,
when the Ocean, a newcomer from Libya, was breaking Calpe,
and when weeping Oenotria was losing the Sicilian borders
and the waves were entering among the very mountains), 590

intonuit donec pavidis ex aethere ventis
Omnipotens regemque dedit, quem iussa vereri
saeva cohors; vix monte chalybs iterataque muris
saxa domant Euros. cum iam cohibere frementum
ora nequit, rex tunc aditus et claustra refringit 595
ipse volens placatque data fera murmura porta.
nuntius hunc solio Boreas proturbat ab alto.

it thundered until, at the fearful winds from the ether,
the Omnipotent gave a king, whom, under orders, the savage cohort should revere;
hardly do Chalybean steel on the mountain and stones re-laid in walls tame the Eurus-winds. When now it cannot restrain the roaring mouths,
then the king himself breaks open the approaches and the bars, and, the gate being granted, he placates the wild murmurs. 595
as a messenger, Boreas drives him from his lofty throne.

'Pangaea quod ab arce nefas,' ait, 'Aeole, vidi!
Graia novam ferro molem commenta iuventus
pergit et ingenti gaudens domat aequora velo. 600
nec mihi libertas imis freta tollere harenis
qualis eram nondum vinclis et carcere clausus.
hinc animi structaeque viris fiducia puppis,
quod Borean sub rege vident.

'What sacrilege from the Pangaean citadel,' he said, 'Aeolus, I saw!
The Graian youth, having devised a new mass by iron,
presses on and, rejoicing, tames the waters with an ingent sail. 600
nor have I the liberty to lift the straits from their deepest sands
such as I was when not yet enclosed by chains and prison.
Hence spirit and, for the men, confidence in a ship constructed,
because they see Boreas under a king.'

da mergere Graios
insanamque ratem! nil me mea pignora tangunt. 605

grant to sink the Greeks
and the insane raft! My pledges do not touch me at all. 605

tantum hominum compesce minas dum litora iuxta
Thessala necdum aliae viderunt carbasa terrae.'
Dixerat, at cuncti fremere intus et aequora venti
poscere. tum validam contorto turbine portam
impulit Hippotades, fundunt se carcere laeti 610
Thraces equi Zephyrusque et nocti concolor alas
nimborum cum prole Notus crinemque procellis
hispidus et multa flavus caput Eurus harena.
induxere hiemem raucoque ad litora tractu
unanimi freta curva ferunt.

only restrain the threats of men while the Thessalian shores are near at hand,
and no other lands have yet seen the canvases.'
He had spoken, but all within roared and the winds demanded the seas;
then Hippotades with a twisted whirlwind struck the strong gate,
they pour themselves from the prison rejoicing—610
the Thracian horses and Zephyrus, and Notus, like in hue to night,
with the wings of nimbus-clouds together with his progeny, shaggy in his hair with gales,
and Eurus, tawny, his head with much sand.
they brought on winter, and with a hoarse sweep toward the shores
with one mind they drive the curving seas.

nec sola Tridentis 615
regna movent, vasto pariter ruit igneus aether
cum tonitru piceoque premit nox omnia caelo.
excussi manibus remi conversaque frontem
puppis in obliquum resonos latus accipit ictus,
vela super tremulum subitus volitantia malum 620

nor do the realms of the Trident alone stir; 615
equally the fiery ether rushes with vast blaze,
with thunder, and night with pitch-black heaven presses all things.
the oars are shaken from hands, and, its face turned,
the ship receives at a slant resounding blows upon its flank,
the sails suddenly fluttering above the trembling mast. 620

turbo rapit. qui tum Minyis trepidantibus horror
cum picei fulsere poli pavidamque coruscae
ante ratem cecidere faces antemnaque laevo
prona dehiscentem cornu cum sustulit undam.
non hiemem missosque putant consurgere ventos 625
ignari, sed tale fretum.

a whirlwind snatches them. What terror then to the trembling Minyans
when the piceous poles flashed and the coruscant
brands fell before the ship, and the yard with its left
horn, forward-bent, heaved up the gaping wave.
they, unknowing, do not think that a winter-storm and sent-up winds are rising 625
but that the strait is of such a kind.

tum murmure maesto:
'hoc erat inlicitas temerare rudentibus undas
quod nostri timuere patres. vix litore puppem
solvimus et quanto fremitu se sustulit Aegon!
hocine Cyaneae concurrunt aequore cautes 630
tristius an miseris superest mare?

then with a sad murmur:
'had this been it—to violate the illicit waves with ropes—
which our fathers feared? We scarcely loosed the ship from the shore,
and with how great a roar did Aegon heave himself up!
is it for this that the Cyanean crags clash upon the sea, 630
or does a sadder sea remain for the wretched?

linquite, terrae,
spem pelagi sacrosque iterum seponite fluctus!'
haec iterant segni flentes occumbere leto.
magnanimus spectat pharetras et inutile robur
Amphitryoniades. miscent suprema paventes 635

Leave off, O lands, the hope of the sea, and once more sequester the sacred billows!'
they repeat these things, weeping, slow to succumb to death.
the magnanimous Amphitryoniades looks at his quivers and his useless strength.
they, trembling, busy themselves with last things. 635

verba alii iunguntque manus atque ora fatigant
aspectu in misero ~tota~ cum protinus alnus
solvitur et vasto puppis mare sorbet hiatu.
illam huc atque illuc nunc torquens verberat Eurus,
nunc stridens Zephyris aufert Notus. undique fervent 640
aequora, cum subitus trifida Neptunus in hasta
caeruleum fundo caput extulit.

others utter words and join their hands and weary their mouths
at the wretched sight, when straightway the ~whole~ alder (ship)
is unloosed and the stern gulps the sea with a vast gaping hiatus.
now Eurus, twisting her this way and that, lashes her;
now Notus, shrilling with the Zephyrs, carries her off. on every side the waters seethe 640
when suddenly Neptune, with his three-forked spear, lifted his cerulean head from the depths.

'hanc mihi Pallas
et soror hanc,' inquit, 'mulcens mea pectora fletu
abstulerint; veniant Phariae Tyriaeque carinae
permissumque putent. quotiens mox rapta videbo 645
vela notis plenasque aliis clamoribus undas!
non meus Orion aut saevus Pliade Taurus
mortis causa novae; miseris tu gentibus, Argo,
fata paras nec iam merito tibi, Tiphy, quietum
ulla parens volet Elysium manesque piorum.' 650

'his from me Pallas
and my sister, this one,' he says, 'soothing my breast with weeping,
will have taken; let Pharian and Tyrian keels come
and think it permitted. How often shall I soon see snatched-away 645
sails by familiar winds and the waves filled with other clamors!
Not my Orion or the savage Pleiad Taurus
will be the cause of a new death; for wretched nations, Argo,
you prepare fates, nor now with good reason for you, Tiphys, will any parent
wish peaceful Elysium and the manes of the pious.' 650

haec ait et pontum pater ac turbata reponit
litora depellitque Notos, quos caerulus horror
et madido gravis unda sinu longeque secutus
imber ad Aeoliae tendunt simul aequora portae.
emicuit reserata dies caelumque resolvit 655
arcus et in summos redierunt nubila montes.
iam placidis ratis exstat aquis, quam gurgite ab imo
et Thetis et magnis Nereus socer erigit ulnis.

He says these things, and the Father restores the sea and the troubled shores, and drives off the South Winds, whom a cerulean dread and a heavy wave with a dripping bosom, and a rain long pursuing, send toward the Aeolian waters and the gate at once. The day flashed forth, unbarred, and the rainbow unloosed the sky, 655
and the clouds returned to the mountain-tops. Now the ship stands out upon placid waters, which from the lowest whirlpool both Thetis and Nereus, his father-in-law, raise with great forearms.

ergo umeros ductor sacro velatur amictu
Aesoniamque capit pateram, quam munere gaudens                     660
liquerat hospitio pharetrasque rependerat auro
Salmoneus, nondum ille furens, cum fingeret alti
quadrifida trabe tela Iovis contraque ruenti
aut Athon aut Rhodopen maestae nemora ardua Pisae
aemulus et miseros ipse ureret Elidis agros.                    665
hac pelago libat latices et talibus infit:
'di, quibus undarum tempestatisque sonorae
imperium et magno penitus par regia caelo,
tuque, fretum divosque pater sortite biformes,
seu casus nox ista fuit seu, volvitur axis                    670

therefore the leader veils his shoulders with a sacred mantle
and he takes the Aesonian patera, which, rejoicing in the gift of hospitality, 660
Salmoneus had left, and had repaid the quivers with gold—he not yet raging—when he was fashioning on a four-cleft beam
the darts of Jove from on high, and, rushing against either Athos or Rhodope,
the mournful tall groves of Pisa, emulous, and he himself would burn the wretched fields of Elis.665
with this he pours the waters as a libation to the sea and begins with such words:
'gods, to whom is the command of the waves and of the sonorous tempest,
and a realm deep within equal to the great heaven,
and you too, father allotted the strait and the two-formed divinities,
whether this night was chance, or the axis is rolling 670

ut superum, sic stare~t opus~ tollique vicissim
pontus habet seu te subitae nova puppis imago
armorumque hominumque truces consurgere in iras
impulit, haec luerim satis et tua numina, rector,
iam fuerint meliora mihi. da reddere terris 675
has animas patriaeque amplecti limina portae!
tum quocumque loco meritas tibi plurimus aras
pascet honos, quantusque rotis horrendus equisque
stas, pater, atque ingens utrimque fluentia Triton
frena tenet, tantus nostras condere per urbes.' 680
dixerat haec.

as with the gods above, so too the sea has it to stand and in turn to be lifted;
or if the sudden new image of a ship
and the fierce angers of arms and of men rising
has impelled you, may I have atoned for these enough, and may your divinities, O ruler,
now have been kinder to me. grant that I restore to the lands 675
these souls, and embrace the threshold of our country’s gate!
then, in whatever place, a most abundant honor will feed for you deserved altars,
and as dread as you stand with wheels and horses,
father, and huge Triton, his reins flowing on either side, holds them, so great will it be to found through our cities. 680
he had said these things.

oritur clamor dextraeque sequentum
verba ducis. sic cum stabulis et messibus ingens
ira deum et Calabri populator Sirius arvi
incubuit, coit agrestum manus anxia priscum
in nemus et miseris dictat pia vota sacerdos. 685

a clamor arises, and the leader’s words to the right wing of the followers
thus, when upon stalls and harvests the vast
wrath of the gods and Sirius, devastator of the Calabrian field,
has brooded, the anxious band of rustics gathers into the ancient
grove, and a priest dictates pious vows for the wretched. 685

ecce autem molli Zephyros descendere lapsu
aspiciunt, volat immissis cava pinus habenis
infinditque salum et spumas vomit aere tridenti;
Tiphys agit tacitique sedent ad iussa ministri,
qualiter ad summi solium Iovis omnia circum                    690
prona parata deo, ventique imbresque nivesque
fulguraque et tonitrus et adhuc in fontibus amnes.
      At subitus curaque ducem metus acrior omni
mensque mali praesaga quatit, quod regis adortus
progeniem raptoque dolis crudelis Acasto                    695
cetera nuda neci medioque in crimine patrem
liquerit ac nullis inopem vallaverit armis,
ipse procul nunc tuta tenens; ruat omnis in illos
quippe furor. nec vana pavet trepidatque futuris.
      Saevit atrox Pelias inimicaque vertice ab alto                    700

behold, moreover, they behold the Zephyrs descend in a soft glide
the hollow pine flies with loosened reins
and cleaves the swell and vomits foams with tridented bronze;
Tiphys drives and the attendants sit silent at the commands,
just as around the throne of highest Jove all things                    690
are prone and prepared for the god—winds and rains and snows
and lightnings and thunder and rivers still in their fountains.
      But sudden care and a fear sharper than all
shakes the leader, and a mind presaging evil, that, having attacked
the king’s offspring and, with Acastus cruel in rapine and stratagem, raptoque dolis crudelis Acasto                    695
he may leave the rest naked to slaughter and, in the midst of the crime, the father
he may abandon, and not wall the helpless with any arms,
he himself now holding safety far away; indeed that all fury may rush down upon them.
nor does he fear vainly, and he trembles at things to come.
      Savage Pelias rages, and, inimical, from the lofty summit                    700

vela videt nec qua se ardens effundere possit.
nil animi, nil regna iuvant; fremit obice ponti
clausa cohors telisque salum facibusque coruscat.
haud secus, aerisona volucer cum Daedalus Ida
prosiluit iuxtaque comes brevioribus alis, 705
nube nova linquente domos Minoia frustra
infremuit manus et visu lassatur inani
omnis eques plenisque redit Gortyna pharetris.

he sees the sails, and no way by which, blazing, he could burst out.
nothing helps his spirit, nothing his realms; the cohort, shut in by the barrier of the sea, roars, and the deep coruscates with missiles and with torches.
not otherwise, when winged Daedalus sprang from bronze-sounding Ida
and, beside him, his companion with shorter wings, 705
with a new cloud leaving the Minoian homes, in vain the band roared and every horseman wearies at the empty sight, and Gortyna returns with quivers still full.

quin etiam in thalamis primoque in limine Acasti
fusus humo iuvenis gressus et inania signa 710
ore premit sparsisque legens vestigia canis
'te quoque iam maesti forsan genitoris imago,
nate,' ait 'et luctus subeunt suspiria nostri
iamque dolos circumque trucis discrimina leti
mille vides. qua te, infelix, quibus insequar oris? 715

nay even in the bedchambers and on the very threshold of Acastus
the young man, sprawled on the ground, presses with his mouth the steps and empty tokens, 710
and, like a hound, picking out the scattered tracks,
'surely even now perhaps the image of your sad father,
my son,' he says, 'and the sighs of our sorrow come upon you,
and already you see a thousand deceits and the hazards of cruel death all around.
whither, unlucky one, by what shores shall I pursue you? 715

non Scythicas ferus ille domos nec ad ostia Ponti
tendit iter, falsae sed captum laudis amore
te, puer, in nostrae durus tormenta senectae
nunc lacerat. celsis an si freta puppibus essent
pervia, non ultro iuvenes classemque dedissem?                    720
o domus, o freti nequiquam prole penates!'
dixit et extemplo furiis iraque minaci
terribilis: 'sunt hic etiam tua vulnera, praedo,
sunt lacrimae carusque parens!' simul aedibus altis
itque reditque fremens rerumque asperrima versat.                    725
Bistonas ad meritos cum cornua saeva Thyone<us>
torsit et infelix iam mille furoribus Haemus,
iam Rhodopes nemora alta gemunt, talem incita longis
porticibus coniunxque fugit natique Lycurgum.
      Tartareo tum sacra Iovi Stygiisque ferebat                    730

that savage one does not aim his journey to Scythic homes nor to the mouths of the Pontus,
but, seized by the love of false laud, he, harsh, now lacerates you, boy, upon the torments of our senectitude.
Or if the straits were passable with towering ships, would I not unbidden have furnished young men and a fleet? 720
O house, O Penates trusting in offspring in vain!'
He spoke, and at once, terrible with furies and menacing wrath:
'here too are your wounds, brigand, here are tears and a dear parent!'
At the same time through the lofty halls he goes and returns, roaring, and turns over the harshest counsels.
When Thyoneus twisted his savage horns against the deserving Bistones, and ill-fated Haemus now with a thousand frenzies,
now the high woods of Rhodope groan; so, roused, through the long porticoes both wife and sons flee Lycurgus.
then he was bearing rites to Tartarean Jove and to the Stygian gods 730

manibus Alcimede tanto super anxia nato,
siquid ab excitis melius praenosceret umbris.
ipsum etiam curisque parem talesque prementem
corde metus ducit, facilem tamen, Aesona coniunx.
in scrobibus cruor et largus Phlegethontis operti 735
stagnat honos saevoque vocat grandaeva tumultu
Thessalis exanimes atavos magnaeque nepotem
Pleiones.

with her hands Alcimede, anxious beyond measure over so great a son,
if she might better foreknow anything from the roused shades.
she leads even him himself—equal to cares and pressing such fears in his heart—
yet compliant, the spouse of Aeson. in the pits gore and the ample honor of the buried Phlegethon 735
pools, and with savage tumult the very old Thessalian calls
the lifeless forefathers and the grandson of great Pleione.

et iam tenues ad carmina vultus
extulerat maestosque tuens natumque nurumque
talia libato pandebat sanguine Cretheus: 740
'mitte metus, volat ille mari, quantumque propinquat
iam magis atque magis variis stupet Aea deorum
prodigiis quatiuntque truces oracula Colchos.
heu quibus ingreditur fatis, qui gentibus horror
pergit! mox Scythiae spoliis nuribusque superbus 745

and already he had raised his slight features to the chants
and, gazing on his sad son and daughter-in-law,
Cretheus, with blood offered as a libation, was unfolding such things: 740
'put away fear; he flies upon the sea, and the more
he now draws near, more and more does Aea gape in wonder at the various prodigies of the gods,
and grim oracles shake the Colchians.
alas, to what fates he advances, what a horror to the nations
goes forth! soon, proud with the spoils of Scythia and with daughters-in-law, 745

adveniet--cuperem ipse graves tum rumpere terras--,
sed tibi triste nefas fraternaque turbidus arma
rex parat et saevas irarum concipit ignes.
quin rapis hinc animam et famulos citus effugis artus?
i, meus es, iam te in lucos pia turba silentum 750
secretisque ciet volitans pater Aeolus arvis.'
Horruit interea famulum clamore supremo
maesta domus, regemque fragor per moenia differt
mille ciere manus et iam dare iussa vocatis.

he will arrive—would that I myself could then burst the heavy earth—,
but for you the king, turbulent, prepares a grievous nefarious deed and fraternal arms,
and he conceives the savage fires of wraths. Why do you not snatch your soul from here and swiftly flee your servile limbs?
go, you are mine; now the pious throng of the silent calls you into the groves, 750
and Father Aeolus, fluttering, summons you to the secret fields.'
Meanwhile the sorrowful house shuddered at the supreme outcry of the servants,
and the crash carries to the king through the walls to rouse a thousand hands
and now to give orders to the summoned.

flagrantes aras vestemque nemusque sacerdos 755
praecipitat subitisque pavens circumspicit, Aeson
quid moveat. quam multa leo cunctatur in arta
mole virum rictuque genas et lumina pressit,
sic curae subiere ducem, ferrumne capessat
imbelle atque aevi senior gestamina primi 760

the priest topples the blazing altars and his vestment and the grove, 755
and, trembling at the sudden things, looks around to see what may be moving Aeson. As often as a lion hesitates in a tight
throng of men and has pressed with its gape the cheeks and the eyes,
so cares came upon the leader, whether he should take up
unwarlike steel and the trappings of his earliest age, an elder in years. 760

an patres regnique acuat mutabile vulgus.
contra effusa manus haerensque in pectore coniunx
'me quoque' ait 'casus comitem quicumque propinquat
accipies nec fata traham natumque videbo
te sine, sat caeli patiens, cum prima per altum 765
vela dedit, potui quae tantum ferre dolorem.'
talia per lacrimas. et iam circumspicit Aeson,
praeveniat quo fine minas, quae fata capessat
digna satis; magnos obitus natumque domumque
et genus Aeolium pugnataque poscere bella. 770
est etiam ante oculos aevum rudis altera proles,
ingentes animos et fortia discere facta
quem velit atque olim leti meminisse paterni.

or whether he whet the fathers and the kingdom’s mutable rabble.
in turn, with hand outstretched and clinging to his breast, his spouse
‘me too,’ she says, ‘as a companion to whatever mishap draws near
you will receive; nor will I drag out my fates and see our son
without you, patient enough of heaven—I, when first through the deep 765
he gave his sails, was able to bear so great a grief.’
such things through tears. And now Aeson looks around,
by what end he might forestall the threats, what fates he should seize
worthy enough; that great deaths, and his son and his house
and the Aeolian race, and wars fought, demand it. 770
There is also before his eyes the age of a second, untrained offspring,
whom he would wish to learn mighty spirits and brave deeds,
and one day to remember his father’s death.

ergo sacra novat. veteris sub nocte cupressi
sordidus et multa pallens ferrugine taurus 775

therefore he renews the sacred rites. by night beneath an old cypress
a bull, squalid and pale with much ferruginous stain 775

stabat adhuc, cui caeruleae per cornua vittae
et taxi frons hirta comis; ipse aeger anhelans
impatiensque loci visaque exterritus umbra.
hunc sibi praecipuum gentis de more nefandae
Thessalis in seros Ditis servaverat usus,                    780
tergeminam cum placat eram Stygiasque supremo
obsecrat igne domos, iamiam exorabile retro
carmen agens; neque enim ante leves niger avehit umbras
portitor et cunctae primis stant faucibus Orci.
illum ubi terrifici superesse in tempore sacri                    785
conspexit, statuit leto supremaque fatur
ipse manu tangens damnati cornua tauri:
'vos quibus imperium Iovis et non segne peractum
lucis iter, mihi conciliis, mihi cognita bellis
nomina magnorum fama sacrata nepotum                    790

it was still standing, whose horns were wreathed with cerulean fillets,
and its brow was shaggy with the tresses of yew; itself sick, gasping,
impatient of the place and terrified at the shade seen.
this one above all, by the custom of her nefarious clan,
the Thessalian had reserved for the late uses of Dis,                    780
when she appeases the threefold Fury and the Stygian homes with the supreme
fire, beseeches the houses, driving a spell now even almost persuadable to turn back;
for not before does the black ferryman carry the light shades,
and all stand at the first jaws of Orcus.
when he saw that he survived for the dread rite at the critical time,                    785
he set him for death and speaks the last words,
himself with his hand touching the horns of the doomed bull:
'you, to whom belong the empire of Jove and the not-sluggishly accomplished
path of light, names to me in councils, to me known in wars,
names of great descendants hallowed by fame                    790

tuque, excite parens umbris, ut nostra videres
funera et oblitos superum paterere dolores,
da placidae mihi sedis iter meque hostia vestris
conciliet praemissa locis! tu, nuntia sontum
virgo Iovi, terras oculis quae prospicis aequis,                    795
ultricesque deae Fasque et grandaeva Furorum
Poena parens, meritis regis succedite tectis
et saevas inferte faces! sacer effera raptet
corda pavor nec sola mei gravia adfore nati
arma ratemque putet. classes et Pontica signa                    800
atque indignatos temerato litore reges
mente agitet semperque metu decurrat ad undas
arma ciens: mors sera viam temptataque claudat
effugia et nostras nequeat praecurrere diras,
sed reduces iam iamque viros auroque coruscum                    805

and you too, rise, parent, from the shades, that you might see our funerals and would endure the pains forgotten by the gods above; grant me a path to a placid seat, and let me, sent ahead as a victim, win favor in your places! you, maiden, messenger to Jove of the guilty, who with even eyes look out over the lands,                    795
and you avenging goddesses and Right (Fas) and Poena, age-old mother of the Furies, come upon the palace for the king’s deserts and bring in savage torches! let sacred, wild fear snatch his heart, and let him not think that only my son’s arms and ship will be present as grievous; let fleets and Pontic standards and kings indignant at their violated shore vex his mind, and let him ever in fear run down to the waves, calling to arms: let late-coming death close the way and the attempted escapes, and let him not be able to outrun our dire curses, but the men again and again returning and the one flashing with gold                    800
and the kings outraged at the defiled shore let his mind be haunted by, and may he always in dread run down to the waters, summoning arms: let a belated death close the path and the tried escapes, nor let him be able to outstrip our dire curses, but the men now, now returning, and one coruscant with gold                    805

cernat iter. stabo insultans et ovantia contra
ora manusque feram. tum vobis siquod inausum
arcanumque nefas et adhuc incognita leti
sors superest, date fallaci pudibunda senectae
exitia indecoresque obitus!

let him behold the path. I will stand insulting and will bear against him a triumphant face and hands. then, if any undared and arcane impiety and a lot of death as yet unknown remains for you, grant to fallacious, shamefaced old age destructions and inglorious deaths!

non Marte nec armis                    810
aut nati precor ille mei dignatus ut umquam
ense cadat; quae fida manus, quae cara suorum
diripiat laceretque senem nec membra sepulchro
contegat. haec noster de rege piacula sanguis
sumat et heu cunctae quas misit in aequora gentes!'                    822
adstitit et nigro fumantia pocula tabo                    815

not by Mars nor by arms                    810
or, I pray, may that man ever be deemed worthy to fall by the sword of my son; let some faithful hand, some dear one of his own, despoil and lacerate the old man, and not cover his limbs with a sepulcher. Let our blood take these expiations from the king, and—alas!—all the peoples whom he sent upon the seas!'                    822
she stood by, and the cups, smoking with black gore,                    815

contigit ipsa gravi Furiarum maxima dextra,
illi avide exceptum pateris hausere cruorem.
      Fit fragor: inrumpunt sonitu, qui saeva ferebant
imperia et strictos iussis regalibus enses.
in media iam morte senes suffectaque leto                    820
lumina et undanti revomentes veste cruorem
conspiciunt primoque rudem sub limine rerum                    823
te, puer, et visa pallentem morte parentum
diripiunt adduntque tuis.

the greatest of the Furies herself touched it with her heavy right hand,
they greedily drained the blood, caught in bowls.
      There is a crash: they burst in with a clamor, those who were bearing
savage commands and swords drawn at regal orders.
they behold old men already in the midst of death and eyes suffused by death                    820
and vomiting blood upon a billowing garment,
and you, boy, rude at the very first threshold of things,                    823
and pale at the sight of your parents’ death—
they snatch you away and add you to your own.

procul horruit Aeson
excedens memoremque tulit sub nubibus umbram.
Cardine sub nostro rebusque abscisa supernis
Tartarei sedet aula patris. non illa ruenti
accessura polo, victam si volvere molem
ingenti placet ore Chaos, quod pondere fessam 830

far off Aeson shuddered as he departed and bore beneath the clouds a mindful shade.
Under our axis and cut off from supernal things sits the hall of the Tartarean father. That will not come near to the collapsing pole, even if it pleases Chaos, with its vast mouth, to roll the vanquished mass, which by its weight wearies her 830

materiem lapsumque queat consumere mundum.
hic geminae aeternum portae, quarum altera dura
semper lege patens populos regesque receptat,
ast aliam temptare nefas et tendere contra:
rara et sponte patet, siquando pectore ductor 835
vulnera nota gerens, galeis praefixa rotisque
cui domus aut studium mortales pellere curas,
culta fides, longe metus atque ignota cupido,
seu venit in vittis castaque in veste sacerdos.
quos omnes levibus plantis et lampada quassans 840
progenies Atlantis agit.

that could consume the matter and the collapse of the world.
here are twin eternal gates, of which the one, open by a hard law
always, receives peoples and kings;
but to attempt the other and to stretch toward it is nefas:
rarely and of its own accord it stands open, whenever a leader 835
bearing well-known wounds upon his breast, whose house has affixed before it with helmets and wheels,
or whose zeal is to drive away mortal cares,
faith cultivated, fear far off and desire unknown,
or if a priestess comes with fillets and in a chaste garment.
all these, with light soles and brandishing a torch, the offspring of Atlas 840
drives on.

lucet via late
igne dei, donec silvas et amoena piorum
deveniant camposque, ubi sol totumque per annum
durat aprica dies thiasique chorique virorum
carminaque et quorum populis iam nulla cupido. 845

the way shines far and wide
with the god’s fire, until they come to the woods and the pleasant
places of the pious and to the fields, where the sun and all through the year
the sunlit day endures, and thiasoi and choruses of men,
and songs—for which the peoples now have no desire. 845

has pater in sedes aeternaque moenia natum
inducitque nurum. tum porta quanta sinistra
poena docet maneat Pelian, quot limine monstra.
mirantur tantos strepitus turbamque ruentem
et loca et infernos almae virtutis honores.

the father leads his son into these seats and the eternal walls,
and leads in his daughter-in-law. then the left-hand gate teaches how great
a punishment may await the Peleian, how many monsters at the threshold.
they marvel at such great clamors and the rushing throng,
and the places and the infernal honors of kindly virtue.