Valerius Flaccus: ARGONAVTICA

Tertia iam gelidas Tithonia solverat umbras
exueratque polum. Tiphyn placida alta vocabant.
it tectis Argoa manus, simul urbe profusi
Aenidae caris socium digressibus haerent.

Already the third Tithonian Dawn had loosed the icy shadows
and had stripped the pole. They were calling Tiphys to the placid deeps.
it from the roofs goes the Argoan band, and at the same time, poured forth from the city,
the Aeneads cling to their comrade with dear leave-takings.

dant Cererem lectumque pecus nec palmite Bacchum                    5
Bithyno Phrygiove satum, sed quem sua noto
colle per angustae Lesbos freta suggerit Helles.
ipse agit Aesonidae iunctos ad litora gressus
Cyzicus abscessu lacrimans ~coniunx persocia vestes~
muneribus, primas coniunx Percosia vestes                    25
quas dabat et picto Clite variaverat auro,                    10

they give Ceres and chosen livestock, nor Bacchus sown from a Bithynian or Phrygian vine-shoot, but the one whom Helle from her well-known hill supplies through the straits of narrow Lesbos.                    5
he himself guides the Aesonid’s joined steps to the shores, Cyzicus weeping at the departure, ~the consort, very-associated, the garments~ with gifts, the Percosian consort the first garments                    25
which she was giving, and Clite had variegated with pictured gold,                    10

tum galeam et patriae telum insuperabile dextrae
addidit. ipse ducis pateras et Thessala contra
frena capit manibusque datis iunxere penates.
Tu mihi nunc causas infandaque proelia, Clio,
pande virum!

then he added the helmet and the insuperable weapon of his native land to his right hand.
he himself takes the leader’s paterae and, in turn, the Thessalian reins,
and, hands having been given, the household gods joined them.
You for me now the causes and the unspeakable battles, Clio,
unfold of the man!

tibi enim superum data, virgo, facultas 15
nosse animos rerumque vias. cur talia passus
arma, quid hospitiis iunctas concurrere dextras
Iuppiter? unde tubae nocturnaque movit Erinys?

for to you, maiden, the faculty has been given by the gods above 15
to know minds and the ways of things. why has Jupiter allowed such arms, why let right hands joined in hospitality clash?
whence the trumpets, and did the nocturnal Erinys set them in motion?

      Dindyma sanguineis famulum bacchata lacertis
dum volucri quatit asper equo silvasque fatigat                     20
Cyzicus, ingenti praedae deceptus amore
adsuetum Phrygias dominam vectare per urbes
oppressit iaculo redeuntem ad frena leonem.
et tunc ille iubas captivaque postibus ora
imposuit, spolium infelix divaeque pudendum.                    26
quae postquam Haemoniam tantae non immemor irae
aerisono de monte ratem praefixaque regum
scuta videt, nova monstra viro, nova funera volvit,
ut socias in nocte manus utque impia bella                    30

      Dindyma, having revelled with blood-stained arms over her servant,
while with a swift horse he lashes and wearies the forests                     20
Cyzicus, deceived by a vast love of prey,
struck down with a javelin the lion, accustomed to carry the Phrygian mistress through the cities,
as it was returning to the reins. and then he set the manes and the captive jaws upon the doorposts—
a luckless spoil and a shame to the goddess.                    26
who, after she sees from her brazen-sounding mountain the Haemonian
ship and the kings’ shields set in front, not unmindful of so great a wrath,
she devises new portents for the man, new funerals,
that allied hands in the night and that impious wars                    30

conserat et saevis erroribus implicet urbem.
Nox erat et leni canebant aequora sulco
et iam prona leves spargebant sidera somnos.
aura vehit, religant tonsas veloque Procneson
et te iam medio flaventem, Rhyndace, ponto 35
spumosumque legunt fracta Scylaceon ab unda.

may join battle and entangle the city in savage delusions.
It was night, and the seas were singing with a gentle furrow,
and already the light stars were scattering downward slumbers.
the breeze carries them; they make fast the oars, and with the sail make Proconnesus,
and you, Rhyndacus, already yellowing in the mid-sea, 35
and they skirt the foaming Scylaceon from the broken wave.

ipse diem longe solisque cubilia Tiphys
consulit, ipse ratem vento stellisque ministrat.
atque illum non ante sopor luctamine tanto
lenit agens divum imperiis. cadit inscia clavo 40
dextera demittitque oculos solataque puppis
turbine flectit iter portuque refertur amico.

Tiphys himself consults the day from afar and the couches of the sun; he himself ministers the ship by wind and stars.
and not before does slumber, after so great a struggle, soothe him, acting under the gods’ commands. His right hand, unknowing of the tiller 40
falls, and he lowers his eyes, and the stern, consoled, bends its course with an eddy and is borne back to a friendly harbor.

Ut notis adlapsa vadis, dant aethere longo
signa tubae vox et mediis emissa tenebris:
'hostis habet portus, soliti rediere Pelasgi!' 45

As, gliding to familiar shallows, the voice of the trumpet gives signals through the long aether and, sent forth from the midst of darkness:
'the foe holds the harbors, the Pelasgians have returned as of old!' 45

rupta quies, deus ancipitem lymphaverat urbem
Mygdoniae Pan iussa ferens saevissima Matris,
Pan nemorum belli<que> potens, quem lucis ab horis
antra tenent, patet ad medias per devia noctes
saetigerum latus et torvae coma sibila frontis.                    50
vox omnes super una tubas, qua conus et enses,
qua trepidis auriga rotis nocturnaque muris
claustra cadunt. talesque metus non Martia cassis
Eumenidumque comae, non tristis ab aethere Gorgo
sparserit aut tantis aciem raptaverit umbris.                    55
ludus et ille deo, pavidum praesepibus aufert
cum pecus et profugi sternunt dumeta iuvenci.
      Ilicet ad regem clamor ruit.

broken rest, the god had driven the ambivalent city mad—Pan of Mygdonia, bearing the commands of the most savage Mother—
Pan of the groves and of war puissant, whom from the hours of light the caverns hold; he stands revealed through devious midnights, his setigerous flank and the sibilant locks of his grim brow.50
a single voice above all trumpets, at which the cone and the swords,
at which the charioteer from his trembling wheels, and the nocturnal bars
fall from the walls. nor would such fears the Martial casque
and the tresses of the Eumenides, nor the gloomy Gorgon from the aether
have scattered, or have rapt away a battle-line with such great shades.55
and that too is sport to the god: he carries off the frightened herd from the stalls
with the cattle, and the fugitive bullocks flatten the thickets.
Straightway the clamor rushes to the king.

exsilit [ab] altis
somnia dira toris simulacraque pallida linquens
Cyzicus. ecce super foribus Bellona reclusis 60

he leaps forth from his high
couches, leaving behind dire dreams and pallid simulacra,
Cyzicus. Behold, above the flung-open doors Bellona 60

nuda latus passuque movens orichalca sonoro
adstitit et triplici pulsans fastigia crista
inde ciere virum. sequitur per moenia demens
ille deam et fatis extrema in proelia tendit,
qualis in Alciden et Thesea Rhoecus iniqui 65
nube meri geminam Pholoen maioraque cernens
astra ruit qualisve redit venatibus actis
lustra pater Triviamque canens umeroque Learchum
advehit, at miserae declinant lumina Thebae.
iamque adeo nec porta ducem nec pone moratur 70
excubias sortita manus, quae prima furenti
advolat.

with flank bare and, with sonorous step, moving the orichalcs,
she stood by, and, with triple crest striking the pediments,
then to rouse the man. He, demented, follows the goddess through the walls
and strains, by the fates, toward last battles,
just as Rhoecus, iniquitous, upon Alcides and Theseus, seeing in a cloud of unmixed wine a twin Pholoë and greater
65
stars, rushes; or as the father returns, the huntings accomplished,
from the lairs, singing of Trivia, and on his shoulder carries Learchus,
but wretched Thebes turns away her eyes.
and now indeed neither at the gate nor behind does the band assigned
70
to the watch delay the leader; it is the first to fly to the raging one.

hinc alii subeunt, ut proxima quaeque
intremuit domus et motus accepit inanes.
At Minyas anceps fixit pavor. aegra virorum
corda labant nec quae regio aut discrimina cernunt, 75

From here others come up, so that each nearest house
shuddered and took up idle motions.
But a two-edged fear fixed the Minyans. The men’s ailing
hearts waver, nor do they discern what region or what perils, 75

cur galeae clipeique micent, num pervigil armis,
donec et hasta volans immani turbine transtris 78
insonuit monuitque ratem rapere obvia caeca
arma manu. princeps galeam constringit Iason
vociferans: 'primam hanc nati, pater, accipe pugnam
vosque, viri, optatos huc adfore credite Colchos.'
Bistonas in medios ceu Martius exsilit astris
currus, ubi ingentes animae clamorque tubaeque
sanguineae iuvere deum, non segnius ille 85
occupat arva furens; sequitur vis omnis Achivum.
adglomerant latera et densis thoracibus horrens
stat manus, aegisono quam nec fera pectore virgo
dispulerit nec dextra Iovis Terrorque Pavorque,
Martis equi.

why do helmets and shields flash—is he ever-vigil with arms,
until even a spear, flying with immense whirlwind, on the thwarts 78
resounded and warned the ship to snatch, blindly, the arms that offered themselves, with the hand. as leader Jason tightens his helmet,
vociferating: 'Father, receive this as the first battle of your son,
and you, men, believe that the long-desired Colchians will be here.'
Into the midst of the Bistones, as a Martial chariot from the stars leaps,
when mighty spirits and the clamor and blood-red trumpets
have aided the god, no less swiftly he seizes the fields, raging;85
the whole force of the Achives follows. they mass to the flanks, and a band stands
bristling with dense cuirasses, which not even the maiden
with savage breast, with the aegis sounding, would have scattered, nor the right hand of Jove,
nor Terror and Panic, the horses of Mars.

sic contextis umbonibus urgent 90

thus, with the bosses interwoven, they press on 90

caeruleo veluti cum Iuppiter agmine nubem
constituit. certant Zephyri frustraque rigentem
pulsat utrimque Notus. pendent mortalia longo
corda metu, quibus illa fretis, quibus incidat arvis.

just as when Jupiter with a cerulean battle-line sets a cloud in place.
the Zephyrs contend, and Notus in vain beats the rigid cloud on both sides.
mortal hearts hang suspended in long fear, on which seas, on which fields it may fall.

Hinc manus infelix clamore impellere magno 95
saxa facesque atras et tortae pondera fundae.
fert sonitus immota phalanx irasque retentant,
congeries dum prima fluat. stellantia Mopsus
tegmina et ingentem Corythi notat Eurytus umbram.

From here the unlucky band sets to hurl, with a great clamor, 95
stones and black torches and the weights of the twisted sling.
a sound is borne; the motionless phalanx bears it and they hold back their wraths,
while the foremost mass flows down. Mopsus notes the starry
armor, and Eurytus marks the huge shadow of Corythus.

restitit ille gradu seseque a lumine ferri 100
sustinuit praeceps, subitum ceu pastor ad amnem
spumantem nimbis fluctuque arbusta ruentem.
at Tydeus 'en intentis quem viribus' inquit
'opperiar manibusque dari quem comminus optem.
quo steteris moriere loco!' subit ilia cuspis 105

he halted his step and, headlong, held himself back from being carried away by the glare 100
like a shepherd at a sudden river foaming with cloudbursts and with its billow sweeping down the orchards.
but Tydeus: 'lo, the one with strained forces,' he says,
'whom I will await, and whom I desire to be given to my hands at close quarters.
wherever you stand, in that place you will die!' the spear slips up into his flanks 105

Olenii, dedit ille sonum compressaque mandens
aequora purpuream singultibus expulit hastam.
ac velut in medio rupes latet horrida ponto,
quam super ignari numquam rexere magistri
praecipites impune rates, sic agmine caeco 110
incurrit strictis manus ensibus. occubat Iron
et Cotys et Pyrno melior genitore Bienor.

of Olenus, he gave a sound, and, biting the pressed level plains,
with sobs he expelled the purple spear.
and just as in mid-sea a rugged crag lies hidden,
over which unknowing helmsmen have never steered
their headlong ships with impunity, so into the blind column 110
the band rushes with drawn swords. Iron lies low,
and Cotys, and Bienor, better than his begetter Pyrnus.

At magis interea diverso turbida motu
urbs agitur. Genyso coniunx amoverat arma;
ast illi subitus ventis vivoque reluxit 115
torre focus: telis gaudes, miserande, repertis.
linquit et undantes mensas infectaque pernox
sacra Medon; chlamys imbelli circumvenit ostro
torta manum strictoque vias praefulgurat ense.

But meanwhile, more, the city is agitated with turbid, diverse motion;
the wife had removed the arms from Genysus;
but for him the hearth, relit suddenly by winds and by a living brand, flashed back: 115
you rejoice in weapons found, poor wretch. And Medon leaves the billowing
tables and the defiled all-night rites; a chlamys of unwarlike purple,
twisted, encircles his hand, and with a drawn sword he gleams forth along the ways.

talis in arma ruit nec vina dapesque remota 120

such he rushes to arms, the wines and banquets not even removed 120

statque loco torus inque omen mansere ministri.
inde vagi nec tela modis nec casibus isdem
conseruere manu et longe iacuere perempti.
Ecce gravem nodis pinguique bitumine quassans
lampada turbata Phlegyas decurrit ab urbe. 125
ille leves de more manus aciemque Pelasgum
per noctem remeasse ratus pulsumque requirens
saepe sibi vano Thamyrum clamore petebat
arduus et late fumanti nube coruscus.

and the couch stands in place, and as an omen the attendants remained.
then, wandering, they did not close with weapons in the same modes nor the same chances,
and lay far off, slain.
Look! shaking a heavy torch, knotted and with rich bitumen,
Phlegyas runs down from the troubled city. 125
he, thinking that the light-armed bands and the Pelasgian battle-line
had returned through the night, and seeking the routed,
often was calling Thamyras to himself with vain shouting,
towering and flashing far with a smoking cloud.

quantus ubi immenso prospexit ab aethere Typhon 130
igne simul ventisque rubens, quem Iuppiter alte
crine tenet. trepidant diro sub lumine puppes.
tollitur hinc totusque ruit Tirynthius acri
pectore, certa regens adversa spicula flamma.

as mighty as when Typhon looked out from the immense aether 130
glowing red with fire and with winds at once, whom Jupiter on high
holds by the hair. Under the baleful light the ships tremble.
then from here the Tirynthian is lifted up and wholly rushes forth with a keen
breast, guiding sure darts against the adverse flame.

per piceos accensa globos et pectus harundo 135

the kindled reed-shaft through pitchy globes and through the breast 135

per medium contenta fugit, ruit ille comanti
ore facem supra maiorque apparuit ignis.
Ambrosium Peleus, ingentem Ancaeus Echeclum
sternit et elatae propius succedere dextrae
Telecoonta sinit librataque ora securi 140
disiecit cervice tenus. simul aspera victor
cingula sublustri vibrantia detrahit umbra.

drawn tight it sped through the middle, he rushes with shaggy
muzzle above the torch, and a greater fire appeared.
Peleus lays low Ambrosius, Ancaeus lays low mighty Echeclus,
and he lets Telecoön come nearer to the raised right hand,
and with a balanced axe he dashed the edges asunder up to the neck. 140
at the same time the victor pulls off the rough
belts quivering in the half-light shade.

'has, precor, exuvias <et> opima cadavera' Nestor
'linquite!' ait. 'ferro potius mihi dextera, ferro
navet opus!' prensumque manu detruncat Amastrum 145
diversasque simul socios invadere turmas
admonuit. pergunt rupta testudine fusi
qua tenebrae campique ferunt.

'Leave, I pray, these spoils and rich corpses,' said Nestor,
'with iron rather let my right hand, with iron, ply its work!' and, having seized
Amastrus with his hand, he hews him down, 145
and at once he admonished his comrades to invade the diverse
squadrons. They press on, the tortoise broken, scattered wherever
the shadows and the plains bear them.

gravis invenit Ochum
Phlias et trepido Pollux impingitur Hebro.
ipse super vultus taboque natantia terga 150

Phlias finds Ochus grievous,
and Pollux is dashed against the trembling Hebrus.
he himself above faces and backs floating with gore 150

dux campi Martisque potens, ut caeca profundo
currit hiems, Zelyn et Bronten Abarinque relinquit
semineces. Glaucum sequitur Glaucumque ruentem
occupat et iugulo vulnus molitur aperto.
ille manu contra telum tenet ultima frustra 155
verba ciens fixamque videt decrescere cornum.

leader of the field and potent in Mars, as a blind storm runs through the deep,
he leaves Zelyn and Brontes and Abaris half-dead.
he pursues Glaucus and, overtaking Glaucus as he falls,
he works at a wound at his opened throat.
he with his hand holds the weapon back in opposition, his last efforts in vain 155
uttering words, and sees the fixed cornel-spear grow shorter.

hinc Halyn, hinc rigido transcurrens demetit ense
Protin et insignem cithara cantuque fluenti
Dorcea, qui dulci festis adsistere mensis
pectine Bistoniae magnum post ausus alumnum. 160
nec pharetram aut acres ultra Tirynthius arcus
exercet, socia sed disicit agmina clava.
ac veluti magna iuvenum cum densa securi
silva labat cuneisque gemit grave robur adactis
iamque abies piceaeque ruunt, sic dura sub ictu 165

hence Halys, hence, running across, he mows down with a rigid sword
Protin and Dorcas, distinguished for the cithara and for flowing song,
who had dared, after the great fosterling, to stand by sweet festive tables
with the Bistonian plectrum. 160
nor does the Tirynthian any further exercise the quiver or the keen bows,
but with his club he scatters the allied battle-lines.
and just as, when under the dense axes of youths a great
forest wavers, and the weighty oak groans with wedges driven in,
and already fir and pitch-pines crash down, so under the blow the hard 165

ossa virum malaeque sonant sparsusque cerebro
albet ager. levis ante pedes subsederat ~Hidmon~.
occupat os barbamque viri clavamque superne
intonat 'occumbes' et 'nunc' ait 'Herculis armis,
donum ingens semperque tuis mirabile fatum.' 170
horruit ille cadens nomenque agnovit amicum
primus et ignaris dirum scelus attulit umbris.
nec tibi Thessalicos tunc profuit, Ornyte, reges
hospitiis aut mente moras fovisse benigna
et dapibus sacrasse diem.

the bones of men and jaws resound, and the field, spattered with brain,
grows white. Light ~Hidmon~ had crouched down before his feet.
He seizes the man’s mouth and beard, and from above the club
thunders: 'you will meet death,' and he says, 'now by the arms of Hercules,
a huge gift and an ever-wondrous fate for your own.' 170
he shuddered as he fell and recognized the friendly name,
and, the first, he bore to the unknowing shades the dire crime.
nor then did it profit you, Ornyte, to have fostered for the Thessalian kings
delays with hospitalities or a kindly mind,
and to have consecrated the day with banquets.

procul advenit Idmon 175
oblatumque ferit, galeam cristasque rubentes
(heu tua dona) gerens. quem te qualemque videbit
attonitus, Crenaee, parens! en frigidus orbes
purpureos iam somnus obit, iam candor et anni
deficiunt vitaque fugit decus omne soluta. 180

from afar Idmon arrives 175
and strikes the one proffered, wearing a helmet and reddening crests
(alas, your gifts). What, and of what sort, will your astonished
parent, Crenaeus, see you! Lo, cold sleep now overtakes the purple
orbs; now candor and the years fail, and life flees and every decor,
unbound, falls away. 180

desere nunc nemus et nympharum durus amores!
at diversa Sagen turbantem fallere nervo
tum primum puer ausus Hylas (spes maxima bellis
pulcher Hylas, si fata sinant, si prospera Iuno)
prostravitque virum celeri per pectora telo. 185
Accessere (nefas) tenebris fallacibus acti
Tyndaridae in sese. Castor prius ibat in ictus
nescius, ast illos nova lux subitusque diremit
frontis apex.

now forsake the grove and the hard loves of the nymphs!
but elsewhere Hylas, the boy, for the first time dared to beguile Sagen, as he was throwing things into turmoil, with the string (bowstring),
the greatest hope in wars, fair Hylas, if the Fates should allow, if Juno be propitious,
and he laid the man low with a swift weapon through the breast. 185
They drew near—abomination—driven by deceitful shadows,
the Tyndarids against each other. Castor was going first into the blows,
unknowing, but a new light and the sudden crest of the brow
parted them.

tum Castor Ityn, qua caerulus ambit
balteus et gemini committunt ora dracones, 190
frater Hagen Thapsumque securigerumque Nealcen
transigit et Canthi pallentem vulnere Cydrum.
torserat hic totis conisus viribus hastam
venatori Erymo, brevis hanc sed fata ferentem
prodidit et piceo comitem miserata refulsit 195

then Castor [struck] Itys, where the cerulean baldric encircles
and the twin dragons join their mouths, 190
his brother transfixes Hagen and Thapsus and axe-bearing Nealces,
and Cydrus, son of Canthus, pallid from the wound.
this man had hurled the spear, having strained with all his forces,
at the huntsman Erymus; but brief fates betrayed him bearing it,
and, in pitch-blackness, pitying his comrade, it flashed back. 195

Luna polo. cessere iubae raptumque per auras
vulnus et extrema sonuit cita cuspide cassis.
Nisaeum Telamon et Ophelten vana sonantem
per clipei cedentis opus artemque trilicem,
qua stomachi secreta, ferit laetusque profatur: 200
'di, precor, hunc regem aut aeque delegerit alta
fors mihi gente satum magnusque et flebilis urbi
conciderit.' super addit Aren fratremque Melanthum
Phoceaque Oleniden, <Le>legum qui pulsus ab oris
regis amicitiam et famuli propioris honores 205
(qua patiens non arte?) tulit.

The Moon on the pole. the crests yielded, and a wound snatched through the airs,
and the helmet rang at its edge from the swift spear-point.
Telamon strikes Nisaeus and Opheltes babbling vainly,
through the work of the yielding shield and the triple-twined craft,
where the secrets of the stomach lie, and joyfully he speaks forth: 200
“gods, I pray, may high Chance have chosen this man as the king for me,
or at least one born of an equally high clan; and may he fall, great and mourned by the city.”
besides he adds Aren and his brother Melanthus,
and Olenides the Phocaean, who, driven from the shores of the <Le>leges,
won the friendship of the king and the honors of a more intimate attendant
(by what endurance, by what craft not?) he bore it. 205

nox alta cadentum
ingentes resonat sonitus augetque ruinas.
ut magis Inarime, magis ut mugitor anhelat
Vesbius, attonitas acer cum suscitat urbes,
sic pugnae crebrescit opus neque enim ignea cedunt 210

the deep night of the falling resounds with huge sounds and augments the ruins.
as Inarime the more, as the bellower Vesuvius pants the more,
when, fierce, he rouses thunderstruck cities,
so the work of battle grows more frequent, for indeed the fiery do not yield 210

astra loco, lentis haeret nox conscia bigis.
Perge age Tartareae mecum simul omnia noctis,
Musa, sequi. trepidam Phaethon adflavit ab alto
Tisiphonen graviorque locos iam luce propinqua
umbra premit.

the stars in place; the night, privy to the slow two-horse chariot, clings.
Go on now, Muse, to follow with me all the things of Tartarean Night,
Phaethon from on high breathed upon trembling Tisiphone, and a heavier shadow,
now with light near, presses upon the places.

non signa virum, non funera cernunt 215
et rabie magis ora calent. vos prodite, divae,
Eumenidum noctisque globos vatique patescat
armorum fragor et tepidi singultibus agri
labentem atque acti Minyis per litora manes.
Cyzicus hic aciem vanis discursibus implet 220
fata trahens.

they discern not the standards of men, not the funerals 215
and their faces grow hotter with rabies. You, bring forth, goddesses,
the clusters of the Eumenides and of Night, and let there be laid open to the vatic poet
the crash of arms and the sobs of the tepid field,
the shades gliding and, driven by the Minyans, along the shores.
Here Cyzicus fills the battle-line with vain dartings, 220
dragging out his fates.

iam pulsa sibi cessisse Pelasgum
agmina, iam passim vacuos disiecta per agros
credit ovans. tales habitus, ea gaudia fingit
ira deum. fundo veluti cum Coeus in imo
vincla Iovis fractoque trahens adamante catenas 225
Saturnum Tityumque vocat spemque aetheris amens
concipit, ast illum fluviis et nocte remensa
Eumenidum canis et sparsae iuba reppulit Hydrae.

now he believes that the Pelasgian ranks, once driven back, have yielded to him;
now, exultant, he believes them scattered far and wide through the empty fields.
such dispositions, such joys, does the wrath of the gods fashion.
even as when Coeus, in the deepest bottom, dragging Jove’s bonds and the chains with the adamant broken, 225
calls Saturn and Tityus and, mad, conceives a hope of the aether,
but him, with the rivers and night retraced, the hounds of the Eumenides and the Hydra with its scattered mane have driven back.

saevit acerba fremens tardumque a moenibus agmen
increpitat: 'numquamne dolor virtusve subibit 230

he rages, bitterly roaring, and chides the slow column from the walls
'really will pain or virtue never arise? 230

nil ausas sine rege manus? at barbara buxus
si vocet et motis ululantia Dindyma sacris,
tunc ensis placeatque furor, modo tela sacerdos
porrigat, et iussa sanguis exuberet ulna.'
talibus insultans iamdudum numine divae 235
deficit, infracti languescunt frigore cursus,
corda pavent, audit fremitus irasque leonum
cornuaque et motas videt inter nubila turres.
tunc gravis et certo tendens stridore per umbram
Aesonii venit hasta ducis latumque sub imo 240
pectore rumpit iter.

‘have your hands dared nothing without a king? But if the barbarian boxwood-call should summon, and Dindyma ululating with the rites set in motion,
then the sword and frenzy please—provided the priest proffers the weapons—and, at command, blood brims from the forearm.’
Taunting with such words, already he fails by the numen of the goddess, 235
the broken charges grow languid with frigidity,
hearts quake; he hears the roars and wraths of lions,
and he sees horns and towers stirred among the clouds.
then the heavy spear of the Aesonian leader, aiming with sure hissing through the shadow,
comes and beneath his deep breast bursts a broad way. 240

quam nunc incognita vellet
lustra sibi nullosque datos venatibus annos!
talia magnanimi diverso turbine fundunt
tela viri sonitusque pedum suspectaque motu
explorant, prensant socios vocemque reposcunt. 245

how he would now wish unknown lairs for himself, and that no years had been allotted to hunts!
Such things the magnanimous men in a diverse whirlwind pour forth
their weapons, and they explore the sounds of feet and things suspected by motion,
they grasp their comrades and demand a reply of voice. 245

quod si tanta lues seros durasset in ortus,
exstinctum genus et solas per moenia matres
vidisset stratamque dies in litore gentem.
Tum pater omnipotens, tempus iam rege perempto
flectere fata ratus miserasque abrumpere pugnas, 250
supremam celeravit opem nutuque sereno
intonuit, quem Nocte satae, quem turbidus horret
Armipotens. tunc porta trucis coit infera belli.

but if such a plague had lasted into late dawns,
day would have seen the race extinguished and only mothers along the walls,
and the people strewn upon the shore.
Then the omnipotent father, thinking it time, now that the king had been slain,
to bend the fates and to break off the wretched battles, 250
hastened final aid and thundered with a serene nod—him whom those born of Night, whom the stormy
Armipotent dreads. Then the nether gate of savage war closes.

continuo dant terga metu versique per agros
diffugiunt, quae sola salus. nec terga ruentum 255
mens Minyis conversa sequi, stetit anxia virtus.
ecce levi primos iam spargere lumine portus
orta dies notaeque (nefas) albescere turres.

immediately they give their backs in fear and, turned, scatter through the fields,
which is the only salvation. nor was the mind of the Minyans turned to follow the backs of the routed, 255
anxious virtue stood still. lo, the risen day now begins to sprinkle the foremost ports
with gentle light, and the familiar—(abomination!)—towers grow white.

'di maris,' attonito conclamat ab agmine Tiphys
'ut mea fatali damnastis pectora somno. 260

'gods of the sea,' Tiphys cries out from the thunderstruck host
'how you have condemned my breast to fatal sleep. 260

heu socii quantis complerunt litora monstris!'
illi autem neque adhuc gemitus neque conscia facti
ora levant. tenet exsangues rigor horridus artus
ceu pavet ad crines et tristia Pentheos ora
Thyias, ubi impulsae iam se deus agmine matris 265
abstulit et caesi vanescunt cornua tauri.
nec minus effusi grandaevum ad litora vulgus
ut socias videre manus dare versa retrorsus
terga metu.

‘alas, comrades, with how great monsters they have filled the shores!’
but they, however, as yet raise neither groans nor faces conscious of the deed.
a horrid rigor holds their bloodless limbs,
as a Thyias shudders at the hair and the gloomy face of Pentheus,
when now the god, driven off by the column of his mother, has withdrawn himself, 265
and the horns of the slain bull vanish.
nor less did the aged crowd pour out to the shores
when they saw the allied bands give their backs, turned backward
in fear.

dextram tendens proclamat Iason:
'quos fugitis? vellem hac equidem me strage meosque 270
procubuisse magis. deus haec, deus asper utrisque
implicuit.

extending his right hand, Jason proclaims:
'whom do you flee? I would indeed have wished that I and my men 270
had rather fallen prostrate in this slaughter. a god has entwined these things, a god harsh to both.'

sumus en Minyae, sumus hospita turba!'
Tum super exsangues confertae caedis acervos 274

'Behold, we are Minyans, we are a guest throng!'
Then over the bloodless heaps of the crowded carnage 274

praecipiti plangore ruunt, agnoscit in alta
strage virum sua texta parens, sua munera coniunx.
it gemitus toto sinuosa per aequora caelo.
pars tenues flatus et adhuc stridentia prensat
vulnera, pars sera componunt lumina dextra.

with headlong lamentation they rush, a parent recognizes in the deep
slaughter the man by her weaving, a spouse by her gifts.
goes the groaning through the whole sky over the sinuous plains.
part grasps the faint breaths and the wounds still hissing
wounds, part with a belated right hand compose the eyes.

at vero in mediis exsangui rege reperto                    280
aggeribus, tristi sileant ceu cetera planctu,
sic famulum matrumque dolor, sic omnis ad unum
versa manus. circa lacrimis ac mentibus aegri
stant Minyae deflentque nefas et cuspidis ictus
Aesoniae sortemque ducis solantur acerbam.                    285
ille ubi concretos pingui iam sanguine crines
pallentesque genas infractaque pectore caro
tela neque hesternos agnovit in hospite vultus,
ingemit atque artus fatur complexus amicos:
'te tamen ignarum tanti, miserande, furoris                    290

but indeed, when the bloodless king was found in the midst of the ramparts                    280
as though all else fall silent with sad lamentation,
so the grief of servants and of mothers, so every band is turned as one.
Around, with tears and sick at heart, the Minyae stand
and they bewail the crime and the blows of the Asonian spear,
and they console the bitter lot of the leader.                    285
but he, when he did not recognize the hair now clotted with thick blood,
the pallid cheeks, and the weapons broken in the flesh of the breast,
nor the features of yesterday in the guest,
he groans, and embracing the beloved limbs, he speaks:
'you, however, pitiable one, unaware of so great a frenzy,                    290

nox habet et nullo testantem foedera questu,
at mihi luctificum venit iubar. heu quibus adsum
conloquiis, cui me hospitio fortuna revexit!
exstinguine mea (fatis id defuit unum)
speravi te posse manu talisve reliqui 295
has ego, amice, domos?

night holds you too, attesting the pacts with no lament,
but for me a mournful dawn has come. alas, to what colloquies am I present, to whose hospitality has Fortune carried me back!
by my extinction (that alone was lacking to the fates) did I hope that you could by my hand,
or did I, friend, leave these homes in such a state 295
these homes?

quod si iam bella manebant
et placitum hoc superis, nonne haec mea iustius essent
funera meque tuus <potius> nunc plangeret error
nec Clarii nunc antra dei quercusque Tonantis
arguerem? talesne acies, talesne triumphos 300
sorte dabant? tantumque nefas mens conscia vatum
conticuit patriae exitium crudele senectae
et tot acerba canens?

but if now wars were awaiting
and this had been decreed by the gods above, would not these funerals more justly be mine,
and would not your error now bewail me <rather>
nor would I now accuse the caverns of the Clarian god and the Thunderer’s oak
would I? Are such battle-lines, such triumphs 300
what the lot was granting? and did the conscious mind of the seers
keep silence about the cruel doom of the fatherland in its old age
even while singing of so many bitter things?

heu divis visa sinistris
regna mihi! quinam reditus, quae me hospita tellus
accipiet, quae non primis prohibebit harenis? 305

alas, realms seen as sinister by the gods for me! What return, what hospitable land
will receive me, which will not forbid me from the first sands? 305

invidere dei ne Phasidis arva remoti
et Scythicas populatus opes haec rursus adirem
litora neve tuos irem tunc ultor in hostes.
fas tamen est conferre genas, fas iungere tecum
pectora et exsangues miscere amplexibus artus.                    310
cur etiam flammas miserosque moramur honores?                    273
vos age funereas ad litora volvite silvas                    311

Did the gods begrudge it, that—after the fields of distant Phasis and Scythian wealth were plundered—I should again approach these shores, and that I should not then go as an avenger against your enemies?
yet it is right to press cheek to cheek, it is right to join breasts with you and to mingle exsanguine limbs in embraces.                    310
why do we even delay the flames and the wretched honors?                    273
come, you, roll the funeral woods to the littoral.                    311

et socios lustrate rogos, date debita caesis
munera, quae nostro misisset Cyzicus igni.'
      Parte alia Clite laceras super ora mariti
fusa comas misera in planctus vocat agmina matrum                    315
fatur et haec: 'primis coniunx ereptus in annis
cuncta trahis. necdum suboles nec gaudia de te
ulla mihi, quis maesta tuos nunc, optime, casus
perpeterer tenui luctum solamine fallens.
Mygdonis arma patrem funestaque proelia nuper                    320
natales rapuere domos Triviaeque potentis
occidit arcana genetrix absumpta sagitta:
tu, mihi qui coniunx pariter fraterque parensque
solus et a prima fueras spes una iuventa,
deseris heu totamque deus simul impulit urbem.                    325

and lustrate the comrades’ pyres, give the dues owed to the slain,
the gifts which Cyzicus would have sent to our fire.'
In another part Clite, her hair poured over her husband’s lacerated face,
the poor wretch, calls the ranks of mothers to lamentations, 315
and speaks also these words: 'Husband, snatched away in your earliest years,
you draw everything with you. Nor yet offspring nor any joys
from you have I, by which, sorrowing now, best of men, your downfall
I might endure, beguiling my grief with slender solace.
The Mygdonian arms and deadly battles have lately snatched away my father
and my ancestral homes, and my mother perished, consumed by the secret arrow
of mighty Trivia: you, who to me were at once husband and brother and parent,
alone, and from my first youth my single hope,
you forsake me—alas!—and a god at the same time has smitten the whole city.'

ast ego non media te saltem, Cyzice, vidi
tendentem mihi morte manus aut ulla monentis
verba tuli; quin te thalamis modo questa morari
heu talem tantique metus secura recepi.'
illam vix gemino maerens cum Castore Pollux                    330
erigit haerentem compressaque colla trahentem.
      Interea innumeras nudatis montibus urgent
certatim decorantque pyras et corpora maesti
summa locant. vadit sonipes cervice remissa
venatrix nec turba canum pecudumque morantur                    335
funereae, quae cuique manus, quae cura suorum,
quae fortuna fuit.

but I—at least not even in the midst did I see you, Cyzicus,
stretching to me your hands in death, nor did I receive any words
of warning; nay rather, only now complaining that you tarried from the bridal chambers
alas, such as you were, and secure from so great a fear, I welcomed you.'
her, grieving, Pollux with his twin Castor scarcely lifts up as she clings                    330
and tugs at their tightly-held necks.
      Meanwhile they press, on mountains laid bare, innumerable
pyres in rivalry and adorn them, and, mournful, they place the bodies
on the tops. The hoofed steed goes with slackened neck,
the huntress-band, nor the crowd of hounds and of herds, do not linger—at the funeral                    335
it is shown what hand attended each, what care from their own,
what fortune each had.

medio rex aggere longe
eminet, hunc crebris quatiens singultibus ora
adlevat Aesonides celsoque reponit in ostro.
dat pictas auro atque ardentes murice vestes 340

on the middle rampart the king eminently stands out from afar;
shaking his features with frequent sobs, Aesonides lifts him
and reposes him upon lofty purple. He gives garments painted with gold and blazing with murex-purple 340

quas rapuit telis festina vocantibus Austris
Hypsipyle. galeam dilectaque cingula regi
inicit. ille suam vultus conversus ad urbem
sceptra manu veterum retinet gestamen avorum.

which she snatched with weapons, in haste as the Austers call
Hypsipyle. she casts upon the king the helmet and the beloved belts.
casts. he, his face turned toward the city,
holds in his hand the scepters, the accoutrement of his ancient forefathers.

nam quia nec proles alius nec denique sanguis, 345
ipse decus regnique refert insigne parenti.
inde ter armatos Minyis referentibus orbes
concussi tremuere rogi, ter inhorruit aether
luctificum clangente tuba. iecere supremo
tum clamore faces, rerum labor omnis in auras 350
solvitur et celsis conlucent aequora flammis.

for since there is neither another progeny nor, at last, other blood, 345
he himself restores to his parent the glory and the insignia of the kingdom.
then thrice, with the Minyae bringing their shields back around,
the shaken pyres trembled; thrice the upper air bristled
as the mournful trumpet blared. Then with a final
shout they cast the torches; the whole fabric of things into the airs 350
is dissolved, and the waters gleam with lofty flames.

scilicet haec illo iuvenem populosque manebant
tempore, Peliacis caderet cum montibus arbor:
hoc volucrumque minae praesagaque fulmina longo
acta mari tulerant. sed quis non prima refellat 355

Of course these things at that time were awaiting the youth and the peoples,
when the tree would fall from the Pelian mountains:
this the menaces of birds and the presaging lightnings, driven across the long
sea, had borne. But who does not refute the first 355

monstra deum longosque sibi non auguret annos?
iamque solutus honos cineri, iam passibus aegris
dilapsae cum prole nurus tandemque quiescunt
dissona pervigili planctu vada, qualiter Arctos
ad patrias avibus medio iam vere revectis 360
Memphis et aprici statio silet annua Nili.
At non inde dies nec quae magis aspera curis
nox Minyas tanta caesorum ab imagine solvit.

who would not augur for himself the portents of the gods and long years?
and now the honor for the ash is discharged, now with ailing steps
the daughters-in-law with their offspring slip away, and at last fall silent
the discordant shallows from their ever-wakeful wailing, just as when Arctos,
with the birds now borne back to their fatherlands in mid-spring, 360
Memphis and the sunny annual station of the Nile falls silent.
But neither from then did day, nor the night which is more harsh with cares,
release the Minyans from so great an image of the slain.

bis Zephyri iam vela vocant. fiducia maestis
nulla viris, aegro adsidue mens carpitur aestu 365
necdum omnes lacrimas atque omnia reddita caesis
iusta putant. patria ex oculis acerque laborum
pulsus amor segnique iuvat frigescere luctu.

twice now the Zephyrs already call the sails. no confidence for the sorrowful men; the mind is continually consumed by a sickly surge 365
nor yet do they think that all tears and all the rites owed to the slain have been rendered.
the love of fatherland is driven from their eyes, and, made bitter by labors,
that love is beaten back, and it even pleases, in sluggish grief, to grow cold.

ipse etiam Aesonides, quamquam tristissima rerum
castiganda duci vultuque premenda sereno, 370

even Aesonides himself, although the most sorrowful things ought to be castigated by a leader and pressed down by a serene visage, 370

dulcibus indulget lacrimis aperitque dolorem.
tum secreta trahens Phoebeum ad litora Mopsum
'quaenam' ait 'ista lues aut quae sententia divum?
decretusne venit fato pavor an sibi nectunt
corda moras?

he indulges in sweet tears and opens his grief.
then, drawing the Phoebean Mopsus to the secret shores,
"what," he says, "is that pestilence, or what sentence of the gods?
does fear come decreed by fate, or do hearts weave
delays for themselves?"

cur immemores famaeque larisque                    375
angimur aut pariet quemnam haec ignavia finem?'
      'Dicam' ait 'ac penitus causas labemque docebo.'
Mopsus et astra tuens: 'non si mortalia membra
sortitusque breves et parvi tempora fati
perpetimur, socius superi quondam ignis Olympi,                    380
fas ideo miscere neces ferroque morantes
exigere hinc animas redituraque semina caelo.
quippe nec in ventos nec in ultima solvimur ossa;
ira manet duratque dolor. cum deinde tremendi
ad solium venere Iovis questuque nefandam                    385

why, unmindful of fame and of the hearth, are we anguished, or what end will this cowardice bring forth?                    375
are we pressed, or what end will this cowardice bear?'
      'I will tell,' he said, 'and I will teach the causes and the stain to the very depths.'
And Mopsus, also gazing at the stars: 'Not that, if we bear mortal limbs
and brief allotments and the short spans of a small fate,
—we once a companion of the upper fire of Olympus—, therefore is it right to mingle slaughters and, with iron, while they tarry,
to drive out from here souls and the seeds destined to return to heaven.
For neither are we dissolved into the winds nor into bones as our ultimate end;
wrath remains and pain endures. When then they come to the throne of dread
Jove, and with lament [set forth] the unspeakable...                    385

edocuere necem, patet ollis ianua leti
atque iterum remeare licet. comes una sororum
additur et pariter terras atque aequora lustrant.
quisque suos sontes inimicaque pectora poenis
implicat et varia meritos formidine pulsant. 390
at quibus invito maduerunt sanguine dextrae,
si fors saeva tulit miseros, sed proxima culpa,
hos variis mens ipsa modis agit et sua carpunt
facta viros: resides et iam nil amplius ausi
in lacrimas humilesque metus aegramque fatiscunt 395
segnitiem, quos ecce vides.

they have taught the killing; for them the gate of lethal doom stands open,
and it is permitted to return again. a companion, one of the sisters,
is added, and together they traverse lands and seas.
each entangles his guilty ones and hostile hearts with punishments,
and smites the deserving with varied dread. 390
but those whose right hands grew wet with blood unwillingly,
if savage chance brought the wretches to it, though the fault was very near,
these the mind itself drives in various ways, and their own deeds carp at
the men: sluggish and now having dared nothing further,
they crumble into tears and lowly fears and a sickly sloth—those, behold, whom you see. 395

sed nostra requiret
cura viam. memori iam pridem cognita vati
est procul ad Stygiae devexa silentia noctis
Cimmerium domus et superis incognita tellus
caeruleo tenebrosa situ, quo flammea numquam 400
Sol iuga sidereos nec mittit Iuppiter annos.
stant <ta>citae frondes immotaque silva comanti
horret Averna iugo.

but our care will seek a way.
long since known to the mindful seer
there lies far away, sloping down toward the silences of Stygian night,
a Cimmerian dwelling and a land unknown to the gods above,
gloomy in a cerulean setting, where the fiery Sun never sends his yokes, 400
nor does Jupiter dispatch the starry years.
stand <ta>silent leaves and the unmoved forest with leafy hair;
Avernus bristles on its shaggy ridge.

specus umbrarumque meatus
subter et Oceani praeceps fragor arvaque nigro
vasta metu et subitae post longa silentia voces. 405

the cave and the passages of shadows beneath,
and the headlong roar of Ocean, and fields vast with black dread,
and sudden voices after long silences. 405

ensifer hic atraque sedens in veste Celaeneus
insontes errore luit culpamque remittens
carmina turbatos volvit placantia manes.
ille mihi quae danda forent lustramina caesis
prodidit, ille volens Erebum tenebrasque retexit.                    410
ergo ubi puniceas oriens accenderit undas,
te socios adhibere sacris armentaque magnis
bina deis, me iam coetus accedere vestros
haud fas interea, donec lustralia pernox
vota fero. movet en gelidos Latonia currus:                    415
flecte gradum, placitis sileant age litora coeptis!'
      Iamque sopor mediis tellurem presserat horis
et circum tacito volitabant somnia mundo,
cum vigil arcani speculatus tempora sacri
Ampycides petit adversis Aesepia silvis                    420

sword-bearing, here, and sitting in a black vestment, Celaeneus
pays for the innocent by error and, remitting guilt,
rolls forth chants pleasing to the troubled Manes.
he disclosed to me what lustrations should be given for the slain,
he, willing, un-wove Erebus and the darkness.                    410
therefore, when the rising dawn has kindled the crimson waves,
bring your companions to the sacra and two head of cattle
for the great gods; for me it is not lawful meanwhile to approach
your gatherings, until all-night I bear lustral vows.
lo, the Latonian sets her icy chariots in motion:                    415
bend your step; come, let the shores fall silent for the propitious undertakings!'
      And now slumber had pressed the earth in the middle hours,
and dreams were flitting around the silent world,
when, wakeful, having kept watch for the time of the arcane rite,
the son of Ampycus makes for Aesepus through the opposing woods.                    420

flumina et aequoreas pariter decurrit ad undas.
hic sale purpureo vivaque nitentia lympha
membra novat seque horrificis accommodat actis.
tempora tum vittis et supplice castus oliva
implicat et stricto designat litora ferro, 425
circum humiles aras ignotaque nomina divum
instituit silvaque super contristat opaca:
utque metum numenque loco sacramque quietem
addidit, ardenti nitidum iubar evocat alto.

he runs down alike to the rivers and to the sea-waves.
here with purple brine and with living, shining water
he renews his limbs and fits himself to the dread rites.
then, chaste, he entwines his temples with fillets and with suppliant olive,
and with drawn iron he marks out the shores, 425
around he establishes low altars and the unknown names of the gods,
and he darkens above the shadowy wood:
and when he has added to the place fear, numen, and sacred quiet,
he evokes the shining beam from the burning height.

Atque Argoa manus variis insignis in armis 430
ibat agens lectas aurata fronte bidentes.
Delius hic longe candenti veste sacerdos
occurrit ramoque vocat iamque ipse recenti
stat tumulo placida transmittens agmina lauro.
ducit et ad fluvios ac vincula solvere monstrat 435

And the Argoan band, conspicuous in varied arms, 430
went, driving chosen two‑toothed ewes with gilded brow.
Here a Delian priest from afar, in a candescent white robe,
runs to meet them and with a bough summons; and now he himself with a fresh
laurel stands on a mound, sending the peaceful ranks across.
he leads them too to the rivers and shows how to loosen the bonds 435

prima pedum glaucasque comis praetexere frondes
imperat, hinc alte Phoebi surgentis ad orbem
ferre manus totisque simul procumbere campis.
tunc piceae mactantur oves prosectaque partim
pectora per medios, partim gerit obvius Idmon. 440
ter tacitos egere gradus, ter tristia tangens
arma simul vestesque virum lustramina ponto
pone iacit, rapidis adolentur cetera flammis.
quin etiam truncas nemorum[que] effigiesque virorum
rite locat quercus simulataque subligat arma. 445
huc Stygias transire minas iramque severi
sanguinis, his orat vigiles incumbere curas
atque ita lustrifico cantu vocat: 'ite, perempti,
ac memores abolete animos.

first he orders them to fringe the feet and to pre-tex the hair with gray-green leaves;
then to bear their hands aloft to the orb of rising Phoebus
and together to lie prostrate across the whole plains.
then pitch-black ewes are sacrificed, and the cut-out
breasts he in part carries through the midst, in part Idmon, meeting them, bears. 440
three times they drove silent steps, three times, touching the sad
arms and at once the garments of the men, he casts the purifications behind
into the sea; the rest are kindled to consuming rapid flames.
nay even he duly sets up the trunks of the groves and the effigies of men,
oaken, and he fastens simulated arms beneath them. 445
hither to pass over he prays the Stygian menaces and the wrath of severe
blood; upon these he begs vigilant cares to bend,
and thus with lustrific song he calls: ‘go, you slain,
and, mindful, abolish your animosities.

sint otia vobis,
sit Stygiae iam sedis amor, procul agmine nostro 450

may there be leisure for you,
may there now be love for the Stygian seat, far from our column 450

et procul este mari cunctisque absistite bellis.
vos ego nec Graias umquam contendere ad urbes
nec triviis ululare velim pecorique satisque
nullae ideo pestes nec luctifer ingruat annus
nec populi nostrive luant ea facta minores.'                    455
dixerat et summas frondentibus intulit aris
libavitque dapes, placidi quas protinus angues,
umbrarum famuli, linguis rapuere coruscis.
      Continuo puppem petere et considere transtris
imperat Ampycides nec visum vertere terrae:                    460
exciderint quae gesta manu, quae debita fatis.

and be far from the sea and withdraw from all wars.
I would not wish you ever to contend to the Greek cities
nor to ululate at the crossroads, and for the herd and for the sown fields
therefore let there be no plagues, nor let a grief-bearing year press on,
nor let the peoples or our descendants pay for those deeds.'                    455
he had spoken, and he bore to the topmost leafy altars
and made a libation of the viands, which at once the placid serpents,
servants of the shades, snatched with flashing tongues.
      Immediately the Ampycid orders to seek the ship and to take seats on the thwarts
and not to turn the gaze toward the land:                    460
let the things wrought by hand, the things owed to the fates, fall from mind.

illi alacres pars arma locant, pars ardua <summis>
insternunt tabulata toris oriturque trementum
remorum sonus et laetae concordia vocis.
Iuppiter urgentem ceu summa Ceraunia nubem 465

They, eager, some set the arms in place, others spread the lofty topmost decks with couches, and the trembling sound of oars arises and the glad concord of voice. Jupiter, as a cloud pressing upon the topmost Ceraunian summits 465

cum pepulit movitque iugis, fulsere repente
et nemora et scopuli nitidusque reducitur aether,
sic animi rediere viris iamque ipse magister
nutat ab arce ratis remisque insistere tendit.
instaurant primi certamina liber amictu 470
Eurytus et dictis Talai non territus Idas,
inde alii increpitant atque aequora pectore tollunt.
par gemitu pulsuque labor versumque vicissim
mittitur in puppem remo mare.

when he has driven it and moved it from the ridges, suddenly both the groves and the crags gleamed, and the shining aether is restored;
thus spirits returned to the men, and now the master himself
nods from the citadel of the ship and makes to set upon the oars.
foremost Eurytus and Idas, not terrified by the words of Talaus, renew the contests, with garment free 470
then others upbraid and lift the levels with their breast.
equal is the toil in groan and in beat, and the sea, turned in turn,
is sent into the stern by the oar.

laetus et ipse
Alcides 'quisnam hos vocat in certamina fluctus?'                    475
dixit et intortis adsurgens arduus undis
percussit subito deceptum fragmine pectus
atque in terga ruens Talaum fortemque Eriboten
et longe tantae securum Amphiona molis
obruit inque tuo posuit caput, Iphite, transtro.                     480
      Iam summas caeli Phoebus candentior arces
vicerat et longas medius revocaverat umbras.
tardior hinc cessante viro quae proxima Tiphys
litora quosque dabat densa trabe Mysia montes
advehitur. petit excelsas Tirynthius ornos,                    485

glad as well
Alcides, 'who calls these waves into contests?'                    475
he said, and rising towering from the twisted waves
he suddenly struck the chest, caught off guard, with a splinter,
and, rushing onto their backs, he overwhelmed Talaus and brave Eribotes,
and Amphion, far off and uncareful of so great a mass,
and he set his head upon your thwart, Iphitus.                     480
      Now Phoebus, more incandescent, had conquered the topmost citadels of the sky
and at the middle had called back the long shadows.
slower from here, with the man ceasing, Tiphys
is borne to the nearest shores and to the Mysian mountains, which gave dense timber for the beam;
the Tirynthian seeks the towering ash-trees,                    485

haeret Hylas lateri passusque moratur iniquos.
      Illum ubi Iuno poli summo de vertice puppem
deseruisse videt, tempus rata diva nocendi
Pallada consortem curis cursusque regentem,
nequa inde inceptis fieret mora, fallere prima                    490
molitur caroque dolis avertere fratri,
tum sic adloquitur: 'procerum vi pulsus iniqua
germanique manu (repetis quo crimine) Perses
barbaricas iam movit opes Hyrcanaque signa.
Aeetes contra thalamis et virgine pacta                    495
conciliat reges Scythicos primusque coacta
advehit Albana Styrus gener agmina porta,
bellum ingens, atque ipse citis Gradivus habenis
fundit equos.

Hylas clings to his side and delays his uneven paces.
      When Juno from the topmost summit of the pole sees that he has abandoned the ship,
deeming it the time to do harm, the goddess first contrives to deceive Pallas, partner in cares and governing the course,
lest from that point any delay be made to the undertakings, and to turn aside by wiles her dear brother,                    490
then thus she addresses her: “Driven by the unjust force of the nobles and by a brother’s hand (on what charge do you recall it?), Perses
has now stirred barbaric resources and Hyrcanian standards.
Aeetes, in answer, with nuptials and a maiden as pledge
wins over Scythian kings, and first Styrus the son-in-law conveys compelled bands to the Alban gate,                    495
a vast war, and Gradivus himself with quick reins
lets loose his horses.

viden Arctoo de carcere quanta
tollat se nubes atque aequore pendeat atro? 500

do you see from the Arctic prison how vast a cloud
lifts itself and hangs over the dark sea? 500

corripe prima vias. finem cum Phasidis alti
transierit Perses aciemque admoverit urbi,
coepta refer paulumque moras et foedera necte
consiliis atque arte tua. sponde adfore reges
dis genitos, quis arma volens, quis agmina iungat.' 505
at virgo, quamquam insidias aestusque novercae
sentiat et blandos quaerentem fingere vultus,
obsequitur tamen et iussas petit ocius oras.

Seize the ways first. When Perses shall have crossed the boundary of the deep Phasis and shall have brought up the battle-line to the city, report the undertakings and weave a little delays and treaties by your counsels and your art. Pledge that god-begotten kings will be present, one to furnish arms willingly, another to join the ranks.' 505
but the maiden, although she perceives the treacheries and heats of the stepmother and that she, seeking, is feigning coaxing looks, nevertheless obeys and swiftly seeks the ordered shores.

      Ingemuit Iuno tandemque silentia rumpit:
'en labor, en odiis caput insuperabile nostris!                    510
quam Nemeen tot fessa minis quae bellave Lernae
experiar? Phrygiis ultro concurrere monstris
nempe virum et pulso reserantem Pergama ponto
vidimus: en ego nunc regum soror++et mihi gentis
ullus honos? iam tum indecores iussaeque dolorum                    515

      Juno groaned, and at last breaks the silence:
'Behold the labor, behold a head insuperable to our hatreds!                    510
what Nemea, wearied by so many threats, or what wars of Lerna shall I try?
We surely saw the man of his own accord run to meet the Phrygian monsters
and, with the sea beaten back, unbarring Pergama;
see me now, the sister of kings++and is there any honor of my race for me?
already then dishonored and consigned to pains.                    515

primitiae et tenero superati protinus angues.
debueram nullos iuveni iam quaerere casus
victa nec <ad> tales forsan descendere pugnas.
verum animis insiste tuis ~actumque movebo~
tende, pudor; mox et Furias Ditemque movebo.' 520
haec ait et pariter laevi iuga pinea montis
respicit ac pulchro venantes agmine nymphas,
undarum nemorumque decus.

the first-fruits and the serpents straightway overcome by the tender boy.
I ought to have sought no further chances for the youth by now,
and, conquered, perhaps not to descend <ad> such battles.
but stand upon your spirits, ~and I will unsettle what has been done~;
press on, shame; soon too I will move the Furies and Dis.' 520
she says this, and at the same time she looks back at the piney ridges of the gentle mountain,
and the nymphs hunting in a beautiful column,
the glory of the waves and of the groves.

levis omnibus arcus
et manicae virides et stricta myrtus habena,
summo palla genu, tenui vagus innatat unda 525
crinis ad obscurae decurrens cingula mammae.
ipsa citatarum tellus pede plausa sororum
personat et teneris summittit gramina plantis.
e quibus Herculeo Dryope percussa fragore,
cum fugerent iam tela ferae, processerat ultra 530

light for all a bow,
and green sleeves and a myrtle thong drawn tight,
a mantle at the top of the knee, the wandering hair swims in a slender wave 525
running down to the girdles of a dusky breast.
the very earth, applauded by the foot of the hastened sisters,
resounds and lowers its grasses to their tender soles.
of whom Dryope, struck by the Herculean crash,
when the wild beasts were already fleeing the missiles, had advanced further 530

turbatum visura nemus fontemque petebat
rursus et attonitos referebat ab Hercule vultus.
hanc delapsa polo piceaeque adclinis opacae
Iuno vocat prensaque manu sic blanda profatur:
'quem tibi coniugio tot dedignata dicavi, 535
nympha, procos, en Haemonia puer adpulit alno,
clarus Hylas, saltusque tuos fontesque pererrat.
vidisti roseis haec per loca Bacchus habenis
cum domitas acies et eoi fercula regni
duceret ac rursus thiasos et sacra moventem. 540
hunc tibi vel posito venan pectine Phoebum
crede dari.

she was seeking again the fountain, intending to view the troubled grove,
and she was bringing back looks astonied from Hercules.
her Juno, having glided down from the pole and leaning against a shadowy pitch-pine,
calls, and with her hand having been seized thus soothingly speaks:
‘the one whom for your wedlock, after scorning so many suitors, I have dedicated to you, 535
nymph—behold—a Haemonian boy has brought to shore by an alder,
famous Hylas, and he ranges through your glades and fountains.
you saw Bacchus with rosy reins through these places,
when he was leading the tamed battle-lines and the pageantries of the Eoan realm,
and again setting in motion the thiasoi and the sacred rites. 540
believe that this one is given to you as a Phoebus too, with the plectrum laid aside for hunting.’

quae spes nymphis aufertur Achaeis,
praereptum quanto proles Boebeia questu
audiet et flavi quam tristis nata Lycormae!'
sic ait et celerem frondosa per avia cervum 545
suscitat ac iuveni sublimem cornibus offert.
ille animos tardusque fugae longumque resistens
sollicitat suadetque pari contendere cursu.
credit Hylas praedaeque ferox ardore propinquae
insequitur, simul Alcides hortatibus urget 550

what hope is taken from the Achaean nymphs,
with how great lament will the Boebeian progeny hear that he has been snatched away,
and how sad the daughter of fair-haired Lycormas!'
thus she speaks, and she rouses a swift stag through leafy byways 545
and offers him, lofty with his horns, to the youth.
he, heartening their spirits, and slow to flight and long resisting,
provokes and persuades them to contend with an equal course.
Hylas believes, and, fierce with the ardor of near prey,
pursues; at the same time Alcides presses with exhortations 550

prospiciens. iamque ex oculis aufertur uterque,
cum puerum instantem quadripes fessaque minantem
tela manu procul ad nitidi spiracula fontis
ducit et intactas levis ipse superfugit undas.
hoc pueri spes lusa modo est nec tendere certat 555
amplius; utque artus et concita pectora sudor
diluerat, gratos avidus procumbit ad amnes.

looking out. And now both are taken from his sight,
when the quadruped leads the pressing boy, threatening with a weary hand
his weapons, far off to the breathing-holes of the shining spring,
and the light one itself skims over the untouched waves.
in this the boy’s hope has just been cheated, nor does he strive to press on 555
further; and as sweat had washed his limbs and his stirred breast,
eager he sinks down to the welcome streams.

stagna vaga sic luce micant ubi Cynthia caelo
prospicit aut medii transit rota candida Phoebi,
tale iubar diffundit aquis: nil umbra comaeque 560
turbavitque sonus surgentis ad oscula nymphae.
illa avidas iniecta manus heu sera cientem
auxilia et magni referentem nomen amici
detrahit, adiutae prono nam pondere vires.
Iam pater umbrosis Tirynthius arcibus ornum 565

thus the wandering pools sparkle with light when Cynthia from the sky
looks forth, or the white wheel of mid Phoebus crosses the middle,
such radiance it diffuses upon the waters: nothing—neither shadow nor tresses, 560
nor the sound of the nymph rising to the kisses—disturbed it.
she, with greedy hands cast upon him, alas, as he was summoning
help too late and invoking the name of his great friend,
drags him down, for her strength was aided by the leaning weight.
Now the Tirynthian father on the shadowy citadels the ash-tree 565

depulerat magnoque iugi stridore revulsam
terga super fulvi porrexerat horrida monstri
litora curva petens; alio nam calle reversum
credit Hylan captaque dapes auxisse ferina.
sed neque apud socios structasque in litore mensas 570
unanimum videt aeger Hylan nec longius acrem
intendens aciem. varios hinc excitat aestus
nube mali percussus amor, quibus haeserit oris,
quis tales impune moras casusve laborve
attulerit.

he had driven it down and, with the great ridge’s screech, wrenched it away,
and had stretched over his back the rough hides of the tawny monster,
seeking the curved shores; for he believes Hylas, returned by another path,
to have augmented the feast with captured game.
but neither among the comrades and the tables arrayed on the shore 570
does he, heartsick, see his like-minded Hylas, nor by straining his keen
gaze farther. From here love, smitten by a cloud of ill, stirs various surges—
on which shores he has stuck,
what chance or toil has brought such delays with impunity.

densam interea descendere noctem 575
iam maiore metu, tum vero et pallor et amens
cum piceo sudore rigor. ceu pectora nautis
congelat hiberni vultus Iovis agricolisve,
cum coit umbra minax, comitis sic adficit error
Alciden saevaeque monet meminisse novercae. 580

meanwhile a dense night was descending 575
now with greater fear; then indeed both pallor and a frenzied
stiffness with pitch-black sweat. as the wintry countenance of Jove freezes
the breasts of sailors or of farmers, when the menacing shadow gathers,
so the error about his comrade afflicts Alcides and warns him to remember
his savage stepmother. 580

continuo, volucri ceu pectora tactus asilo
emicuit Calabris taurus per confraga saeptis
obvia quaeque ruens, tali se concitat ardens
in iuga senta fuga. pavet omnis conscia late
silva, pavent montes, luctu succensus acerbo 585
quid struat Alcides tantaque quid apparet ira.
ille, velut refugi quem contigit improba Mauri
lancea sanguineus vasto leo murmure fertur
frangit et absentem vacuis sub dentibus hostem,
sic furiis accensa gerens Tirynthius ora 590
fertur et intento decurrit montibus arcu.

immediately, as if his breast had been touched by a winged gadfly,
a Calabrian bull flashed forth through the rugged enclosures,
rushing at whatever meets him; in such wise, ardent, he rouses himself
in flight onto the bristling ridges. The whole conscious forest far and wide
quakes, the mountains quake, inflamed with bitter mourning, 585
what Alcides is contriving and what appears in such great wrath.
he, like a blood-stained lion whom the shameless spear of a Moor
has grazed as he flees, is borne with a vast rumble,
and breaks the absent enemy beneath empty teeth,
thus the Tirynthian, bearing a face kindled with furies, 590
is borne along and runs down the mountains with his bow intent.

heu miserae quibus ille feris, quibus incidit usquam
immeritis per lustra viris! volat ordine nullo
cuncta petens, nunc ad ripas deiectaque saxis
flumina, nunc notas nemorum procurrit ad umbras. 595

alas for the wretched beasts on whom he anywhere falls, and for undeserving men, through the haunts!
he flies with no order, seeking everything, now toward the banks and rivers thrown down by rocks,
now he runs out to the familiar shades of the groves. 595

rursus Hylan et rursus Hylan per longa reclamat
avia: responsant silvae et vaga certat imago.
      At sociis immota fides Austrisque secundis
certa: morae nec parvus Hylas, quamquam omnibus aeque
grata rudimenta, Herculeo sub nomine pendent.                    600
illum omnes lacrimis maestisque reposcere votis
incertique metu nunc longas litore voces
spargere, nunc seris ostendere noctibus ignes.
ipse vel excelsi cum densa silentia montis
strata vel oblatis ductor videt aequora ventis                    605
stat lacrimans magnoque viri cunctatur amore.

again “Hylas,” and again “Hylas,” through the long pathless places he cries back: the woods respond, and the wandering image (echo) vies.
But in his comrades loyalty is unmoved and sure with favoring South winds: nor is Hylas a small cause of delay; although the rudiments, equally pleasing to all, hang beneath the Herculean name. 600
all of them demand him back with tears and gloomy prayers,
and, uncertain in fear, now scatter long calls along the shore,
now show fires in the late nights. as for the leader himself, whether when the thick silences of the lofty mountain
lie spread, or when he sees the levels offered by the proffered winds, he stands weeping and hesitates for the man out of great love. 605

illius incessus habilemque ad terga pharetram,
illum inter proceres maestaeque silentia mensae
quaerit inops quondam ingenti comprensa trahentem
vina manu et durae referentem monstra novercae. 610

his gait and the quiver handy to his back,
him among the chiefs and the mournful silences of the table
he seeks, bereft—once dragging the wines, gripped in his huge hand,
and recounting the monsters of his hard stepmother. 610

      Nec minus interea crudelis Iapyga Iuno
adsidue movet et primis cum solibus offert.
iamque morae impatiens cunctantes increpat ausus
Tiphys et oblato monet otia rumpere cursu.
ergo animum flexus dictis instantis Iason                    615
concedit sociosque simul sic fatur ad omnes:
'o utinam, Scythicis struerem cum funera terris,
vox mihi mentitas tulerit Parnasia sortes,
agmine de tanto socium qui maximus armis
adforet, hunc Iovis imperiis fatoque teneri                    620
ante procellosum scopulis errantibus aequor.

      No less meanwhile does Juno set in motion the cruel Iapygian wind and proffer it with the first suns.
And now Tiphys, impatient of delay, rebukes the hesitating and urges that they break their leisures by the offered course.
therefore Jason, bent in mind by the words of the insistent one, yields and at once thus speaks to all his comrades:                    615
‘O would that, when I was contriving funerals in Scythian lands, the Parnassian voice had brought me mendacious lots,
that out of so great a column the comrade who would be greatest in arms would be at hand— that this man is held by the commands of Jove and by fate before the stormy sea with wandering rocks.                    620

necdum fama viri nec certior exstitit auctor.
verum agite et, dubiis variant quae pectora curis,
consulite et, motis seu vos via flatibus urget,
pergite et inceptos mecum revocate labores, 625

and not yet had the report of the man nor any more certain authority emerged.
but come, and—since doubtful cares make your hearts waver—take counsel, and, whether the course with stirred breezes urges you,
press on and resume with me the labors begun, 625

seu pluris tolerare moras rursusque propinquis
quaesivisse iugis, pretium haud leve temporis acti.'
      Dixerat. at studiis iamdudum freta iuventus
orat inire vias: unum tanto afore coetu
nec minus in sese generis dextrasque potentes                    630
esse ferunt. tali mentem pars maxima flatu
erigit et vana gliscunt praecordia lingua:
saltibus ut mediis tum demum laeta reducit
cerva gregem, tum gestit aper reboatque superbis
comminus ~ursa~ lupis, cum sese Martia tigris                    635
abstulit aut curvo tacitus leo condidit antro.

whether to endure further delays and again to have sought the neighboring ridges—no light price of time that has passed.'
      He had spoken. But the youth, long now relying on zeal,
begs to enter upon the ways: that one will be absent from so great a company,
they declare, yet they themselves are none the less of lineage and of potent right hands.                    630
By such a blast the greatest part lifts its mind,
and their inwards swell with a vain tongue:
as in the midst of the forest-glades then at last the glad hind leads back
the herd, then the boar exults and bellows back at the proud
wolves at close quarters, and the ~bear~, when the Martial tigress                    635
has withdrawn herself, or the silent lion has hidden himself in a curved cave.

At pius ingenti Telamon iam fluctuat ira
cum fremitu saevisque serens fera iurgia dictis
insequitur magnoque implorat numina questu.
idem orans prensatque viros demissaque supplex 640

But pious Telamon now fluctuates with enormous ire
with a roar, and, sowing ferocious altercations with savage words,
he pursues and with a great lament he implores the divinities.
the same, praying and grasping the men, and, downcast, a suppliant 640

haeret ad ora ducis, nil se super Hercule fari,
sed socio quocumque, gemens; quamquam aspera fama
iam loca iamque feras per barbara litora gentes,
non alium contra Alciden, non pectora tanta
posse dari. rursum instimulat ducitque faventes 645
magnanimus Calydone satus, potioribus ille
deteriora fovens semperque inversa tueri
durus et haud ullis umquam superabilis aequis
rectorumve memor. 'non Herculis' inquit 'adempti,
sed tuus in seros haec nostra silentia questus 650
traxit honor, dum iura dares, dum tempora fandi.

he clings to the leader’s lips, says he will say nothing further about Hercules,
but—groaning—about whatever comrade; although a harsh report
already tells of the places and the wild peoples along barbarian shores,
that no other against Alcides, no breasts so great,
can be supplied. Again he instigates and leads the favorers 645
the magnanimous one born of Calydon, he
fostering the worse over the better and, stubborn, always to uphold things inverted,
and by no equitable terms ever superable, nor mindful of rulers.
'Not of bereft Hercules,' he says, 'but your honor has drawn
this our silence into the late hours with complaint, 650
while you were granting the rights, while the times of speaking.'

septimus hic celsis descendit montibus Auster
iamque ratem Scythicis forsan statuisset in oris.
nos patriae immemores, maneant ceu nulla revectos
gaudia, sed duro saevae sub rege Mycenae, 655

Here on the seventh the Auster descends from lofty mountains,
and now perhaps would have set the ship on Scythian shores.
we, unmindful of our fatherland, as if no joys remain for us returned,
but under the hard king of savage Mycenae, 655

ad medium cunctamur iter. si finibus ullis
has tolerare moras et inania tempora possem,
regna hodie et dulcem sceptris Calydona tenerem
laetus opum pacisque meae tutusque manerem
quis genitor materque locis. quid deside terra 660
haeremus, vacuos cur lassant aequora visus?

we tarry at the journey’s midpoint. if within any bounds I could tolerate these delays and inane times,
today I would hold the realms and sweet Calydon with scepters,
glad in my wealth and in my peace, and I would remain safe—
in what places are my father and mother? why on an idle land 660
do we cling, why do the level seas weary empty gazes?

tu comitem Alciden ad Phasidis amplius arva
adfore, tu socias ultra tibi rere pharetras?
non ea fax odiis oblitave numine fesso
Iuno sui. nova Tartareo fors semine monstra 665
at<que> iterum Inachiis iam nuntius urget ab Argis.

do you suppose Alcides as a companion will be present any further, even to the fields of the Phasis?
do you imagine allied quivers beyond for yourself?
not such is the torch for her hatreds, nor is Juno forgetful of herself with her numen wearied.
perhaps new monsters with Tartarean seed, 665
and already again a messenger presses from Inachian Argos.

non datur haec magni proles Iovis, at tibi Pollux
stirpe pares Castorque manent, at cetera divum
progenies nec parva mihi fiducia gentis.
en egomet quocumque vocas sequar, agmina ferro 670

this offspring of great Jove is not granted; but for you Pollux
and Castor, equal in stock, remain; and the rest of the gods’
progeny—and no small is my confidence in our race.
lo, I myself, whithersoever you call, will follow, the ranks with steel 670

plura metam, tibi dicta manus, tibi quicquid in ipso
sanguine erit iamque hinc operum quae maxima posco.
scilicet in solis profugi stetit Herculis armis
nostra salus. nempe ora aeque mortalia cuncti
ecce gerunt, ibant aequo nempe ordine remi. 675
ille vel insano iamdudum turbidus aestu
vel parta iam laude tumens consortia famae
despicit ac nostris ferri comes abnuit actis.

more I mark out, to you, O band addressed; to you, whatever shall be even to the very blood,
and now from here I demand the greatest of works.
surely in the arms of fugitive Hercules alone
did our safety stand. behold, surely all alike bear mortal faces;
the oars, surely, were going in equal order. 675
he, whether long now troubled by a mad, turbid surge,
or swelling with praise already won, looks down on a consortship of fame
and refuses to be borne as a comrade in our deeds.

vos, quibus et virtus et spes in limine primo,
tendite, dum rerum patiens calor et rude membris 680
robur inest; nec enim solis dare funera Colchis
sit satis et tota pelagus lustrasse iuventa.
spes mihi quae tali potuit longissima casu
esse fuit: quiscumque virum perquirere silvis
egit amor, loca vociferans non ulla reliqui. 685

you, in whom both virtue and hope are on the first threshold,
press on, while a heat patient of things and a raw robustness is in your limbs; 680
for it should not be enough to give funerals to the Colchians alone
and to have traversed the sea with all your youth.
the hope which could be longest for me in such a casualty
was this: whosoever love has driven to perquire the man through the woods,
crying aloud, I have left no places unvisited. 685

nunc quoque, dum vario nutat sententia motu,
cernere devexis redeuntem montibus opto.
sat lacrimis comitique datum, quem sortibus aevi
crede vel in mediae raptum tibi sanguine pugnae!'
Talibus Oenides urget, simul incita dictis 690
heroum manus. ante omnes Argoa iubebat
vincla rapi Calais.

Now too, while the resolve nods with varied motion,
I long to discern him returning down the sloping mountains.
Enough has been given to tears and to the comrade, whom by the lots of age
believe to have been snatched from you even in the blood of mid‑battle!'
With such words the Oenid presses on, and at the same time the band of heroes, incited by the words, 690
before all the Argoan Calais was bidding the bonds be seized.

furias miratur ovantum
Aeacides multusque viri cunctantia corda
fert dolor, an sese comitem tam tristibus actis
abneget et celsi maerens petat ardua montis. 695
non tamen et gemitus et inanes desinit iras
fundere. 'quis terris pro Iuppiter' inquit 'Achaeis
iste dies! saevi capient quae gaudia Colchi!

he marvels at the furies of the exultant,
the Aeacid, and much grief at the men’s wavering hearts
bears him—whether he should deny himself as a companion to such sad deeds,
and, mourning, seek the steep heights of the lofty mountain. 695
yet he does not cease to pour forth both groans and empty wraths.
“what a day, by Jupiter,” he says, “for Achaean lands!
what joys the savage Colchians will seize!”

non hi tum flatus, non ista superbia dictis,
litore cum patrio iam vela petentibus Austris 700

not then these blasts, not that pride in words,
when for the native shore the South winds (Auster) were already seeking the sails 700

cunctus ad Alciden versus favor: ipse iuvaret,
ipse ducis curas meritosque subiret honores.
iamne animis, iam[ne] gente pares? aeque inclita vulgi
dextera?

all favor was turned toward Alcides: he himself would help,
he himself would take upon himself the cares of a leader and the merited honors.
are you now equal in spirits, now [are you] in lineage? equally illustrious the right hand
of the crowd?

nulla fides, nulli super Hercule fletus?
nunc Porthaonides, nunc dux mihi Thracia proles?                    705
aspera nunc pavidos contra ruit agna leones?
hanc ego magnanimi spolium Didymaonis hastam,
quae neque iam frondes virides nec proferet umbras,
ut semel est evulsa iugis ac matre perempta
fida ministeria et duras obit horrida pugnas,                    710
testor et hoc omni, ductor, tibi numine firmo:
saepe metu, saepe in tenui discrimine rerum
Herculeas iam serus opes spretique vocabis
arma viri nec nos tumida haec tum dicta iuvabunt.'
      Talibus Aeacides socios terroribus urgens                    715

no faith, no tears left for Hercules?
now the Porthaonid, now is the Thracian offspring my leader?                    705
does a harsh lamb now rush against timid lions?
this spear, the spoil of great-souled Didymaon,
which will now neither put forth green fronds nor proffer shades,
once torn from the ridges and its mother slain,
performs faithful ministrations and meets horrid, hard battles,                    710
I call to witness also this, leader, for you by every steadfast numen:
often in fear, often at a fine crisis of affairs
you will call upon Herculean powers now too late and the arms of the man you have scorned,
nor will these swollen words then help us.'
      With such terrors pressing his comrades, the Aeacid                    715

inlacrimat multaque comas deformat harena.
fata trahunt raptusque virum certamine ductor
ibat et obtenta mulcebat lumina palla.
hic vero ingenti repetuntur pectora luctu,
ut socii sedere locis nullaeque leonis 720
exuviae tantique vacant vestigia transtri.

he weeps, and with much sand he disfigures his hair.
fates draw him on, and the leader, a man snatched along by the contest,
went and soothed his eyes with his mantle drawn over them.
here indeed his breast is again repeated upon with vast grief,
as his comrades sat in their places, and there are no lion’s
spoils, and the vestiges of so great a thwart lie empty. 720

flet pius Aeacides, maerent Poeantia corda,
ingemit et dulci frater cum Castore Pollux.
omnis adhuc vocat Alciden fugiente carina,
omnis Hylan, medio pereunt iam nomina ponto. 725
Dat procul interea toto pater aequore signum
Phorcys et immanes intorto murice phocas
contrahit antra petens. simul et Massylus et una
Lyctius et Calabris redit armentarius arvis.

the pious Aeacid weeps, the Poeantian hearts mourn,
and the brother groans, Pollux with dear Castor.
everyone still calls Alcides as the fleeing keel goes,
everyone calls Hylas; now the names perish in the mid sea. 725
Meanwhile, far off, father Phorcys gives a signal over the whole sea
and with a twisted murex-shell he draws together the monstrous seals,
seeking the caves. At once both the Massylian and together the Lyctian,
and the herdsman returns to the Calabrian fields.

ilicet extremi nox litore Solis Hiberas 730

straightway night, at the shore of the farthest Sun, overtakes the Iberian coasts 730

condidit alta domos et sidera sustulit axis.
flumina conticuere, iacet cum flatibus aequor.
Amphitryoniades nec quae nova lustra requirat
nec quo temptet iter comitis nec fata parenti
quae referat videt aut socios qua mente revisat. 735
urit amor solisque negat decedere silvis.

has hidden the lofty homes and the axis has lifted the stars.
the rivers have fallen silent; the level sea lies with the breezes.
the Amphitryoniad neither what new lairs he should seek
nor by what route he should attempt the path of his comrade, nor what fates to his parent
he should report does he see, or with what mind he should revisit his allies. 735
love burns him, and he refuses to depart from the woods alone.

non aliter gemitu quondam lea prolis ademptae
terga dedit: sedet inde viis inclusaque longo
pervigilant castella metu, dolor attrahit orbes
interea et misero manat iuba sordida luctu.

not otherwise once, with a groan, the lioness, her progeny taken away,
turned her back: thereafter she sits shut off from the roads, and the strongholds
keep all-night watch in long fear; meanwhile grief draws circles,
and her mane, foul with wretched mourning, drips.