Valerius Flaccus: ARGONAVTICA

Atque ea non oculis divum pater amplius aequis
sustinuit natique pios miseratus amores
Iunonem ardenti trepidam gravis increpat ira:
'ut nova nunc tacito <se> pectore gaudia tollunt!
haeret inops solisque furit Tirynthius oris, 5
at comite immemores Minyae facilesque relicto
alta tenent. sic Iuno ducem fovet anxia curis
Aesonium, sic arma viro sociosque ministrat.

And the father of the gods no longer endured these things with impartial eyes,
and, pitying his son's pious loves, sternly rebukes Juno, trembling, with burning wrath:
'how new joys now lift themselves in his silent breast!
the Tirynthian clings helpless and rages on lonely shores, 5
but the Minyae, unmindful and compliant, with their comrade left behind,
hold the deep. Thus does Juno, anxious with cares, cherish the Aesonian leader,
thus does she minister arms and allies to the man.'

iam quibus incertam bellis Scythicaeque paventem
gentis opes, quanta trepidam formidine cernam! 10
tum precibus, tum me lacrimis et supplice dextra
attemptare veto. rerum mihi firma potestas.
i, Furias Veneremque move, dabit impia poenas
virgo nec Aeetae gemitus patiemur inultos.'
dixit et arcano redolentem nectare rorem, 15

now, under whom I see the wealth of the nation uncertain through wars and quailing at the Scythian race—how greatly do I behold her trembling with fear! 10
now with prayers, now with tears and a suppliant right hand you try to assail me, I forbid it. my dominion over things is firm.
go, stir the Furies and Venus; the impious maiden shall pay penalties, nor will we suffer Aeetes’ groans unavenged.'
he spoke, and the dew redolent of secret nectar, 15

quem penes alta quies liquidique potentia somni,
detulit inque vagi libavit tempora nati.
ille graves oculos et Hylan resonantia semper
ora ferens, ut nulla deum superare potestas,
procumbit. tandem fessis pax reddita silvis 20
fluminaque et vacuis auditae montibus aurae.

in whose keeping are the lofty repose and the potency of liquid Sleep,
he brought it down and lightly touched the temples of his wandering son.
he, bearing heavy eyes and lips ever resounding “Hylas,”
so that no power of the gods could overcome it,
prostrates himself. at last peace was restored to the weary woods, 20
and on the empty mountains the rivers and the breezes were heard.

ecce puer summa se tollere visus ab unda
frondibus in croceis et iniquae munera nymphae
stansque super carum talis caput edere voces:
'quid, pater, in vanos absumis tempora questus? 25
hoc nemus, hoc fatis mihi iam domus, improba quo me
nympha rapit saevae monitu Iunonis, in amne.
nunc Iovis accessus et iam mihi limina caeli
conciliat iungitque <toros> et fontis honores.
o dolor, o dulces quas gessimus ante pharetrae! 30

behold, the boy seemed to raise himself from the wave’s surface,
with crocus-hued fronds and the gifts of the hostile nymph,
and, standing above his dear father, to utter such words:
'why, father, do you spend your time on vain complaints? 25
this grove, this by the fates is now my home, whither the wicked
nymph, at the monition of savage Juno, snatches me, into the river.
now she procures for me the approaches of Jove and already the thresholds of heaven,
and she joins the <marriage-beds> and the honors of the spring.
o sorrow, O sweet quivers which we once bore before! 30

iam socii laetis rapuerunt vincula ventis,
hortator postquam furiis et voce nefanda
impulit Oenides. verum cum gente domoque
ista luet saevaeque aderunt tua numina matri.
surge age et in duris haud umquam defice, caelo 35
mox aderis teque astra ferent: tu semper amoris
sis memor et cari comitis ne abscedat imago.'
talibus orantem dictis visuque fruentem
ille ultro petit et vacuis amplexibus instat
languentisque movet frustra conamina dextrae: 40
corpus hebet somno refugaque eluditur umbra.

already the comrades have snatched the cables for the glad winds,
after the Oenid, as exhorter, impelled them with furies and a nefarious voice.
but he will pay for these things with his clan and house, and your divinities will be present to the savage mother.
rise, come now, and in hardships never fail; soon you will be in heaven and the stars will bear you: do you always be mindful of love, and let not the image of your dear companion depart.'
as he prays with such words and enjoys the sight,
he on his own seeks and presses with empty embraces
and moves in vain the languishing efforts of his right hand: 40
his body grows dull with sleep, and the shade, fleeing, eludes him.

tum lacrimis, tum voce sequi, tum rumpere questus,
cum sopor et vano spes maesta resolvitur actu.
fluctus ab undisoni ceu forte crepidine saxi
cum rapit halcyonis miserae fetumque laremque, 45

then to follow with tears, then with the voice, then to burst into complaints,
when slumber is loosened and sad hope is dissolved into a vain act.
just as a wave, from the ledge of a wave-sounding rock by chance,
when it snatches both the brood and the home of the wretched halcyon, 45

it super aegra parens queritur<que> tumentibus undis
certa sequi quocumque ferant audetque pavetque,
icta fatiscit aquis donec domus haustaque fluctu est;
illa dolens vocem dedit et se sustulit alis:
haud aliter somni maestus labor. exsilit amens 50
effusisque genas lacrimis rigat. 'ibimus' inquit
'solus et hos montes desertaque lustra tenebis,
care puer, nec res ultra mirabere nostras?'
haec fatus relegitque vias et vallibus exit
incertus quid Iuno ferat, quas apparet iras. 55
nec minus et socios cernit procul aequore ferri
praecipites tacitumque pudet potuisse relinqui.

the ailing parent goes above and laments to the swelling waves,
resolved to follow wherever they may carry her, and she both dares and fears,
the home, struck by the waters, gapes until it is drained by the surge;
she, grieving, gave a cry and lifted herself on wings:
not otherwise the sad labor of sleep. He springs up, out of his mind 50
and wets his cheeks with effused tears. 'We shall go,' he says,
'you alone will hold these mountains and deserted lairs,
dear boy, and will you no longer marvel at our affairs?'
having spoken these things he retraces the roads and goes out into the valleys,
uncertain what Juno may bring, what wrath she displays. 55
nonetheless he also discerns his comrades being borne far off over the sea,
headlong, and he is ashamed that it could have been possible to be left behind in silence.

Iamque iter ad Teucros atque hospita moenia Troiae
flexerat Iliaci repetens promissa tyranni,
cum maesto Latona simul Dianaque vultu 60

And now he had bent his course toward the Teucrians and the hospitable walls of Troy,
seeking again the promises of the Iliac tyrant,
when Latona and Diana together, with a mournful countenance, 60

ante Iovem stetit et supplex sic fatur Apollo:
'in quem alium Alciden, in quae iam tempora differs
Caucaseum, rex magne, senem? nullumne malorum
finem adeo poenaeque dabis? te cuncta precatur
gens hominum atque ipsi iam te, pater <optime>, montes 65
fessaque cum silvis orant iuga.

he stood before Jove, and as a suppliant thus Apollo speaks:
'in whom else, in what times now do you defer Alcides,
O great king, for the Caucasian old man? Will you give no
end at all to his evils and his punishment? To you the whole
race of humankind prays, and even the mountains themselves, father best, 65
and the ridges weary with their forests beseech.'

sat tibi furtum
ignis et aetheriae defensa silentia mensae!'
dixit ubi, e scopulis media inter pabula diri
vulturis ipse etiam gemitu maestaque fatigat
voce Iovem saevis relevans ambusta pruinis 70
lumina, congeminant amnes rupesque fragorem
Caucaseae, stupet ipse dei clamoribus ales.
tunc etiam super<as> Acheronte auditus ad arces
Iapetus, gravis orantem procul arcet Erinys
respiciens celsi legem Iovis. ille dearum 75

'enough for you is the theft
of fire and the defended silences of the aetherial table!'
when he had spoken, from the crags, amid the pastures of the dread
vulture, he himself too wearies Jove with a groan and with a mournful
voice, relieving eyes burned by savage hoarfrosts; 70
the rivers and the Caucasian cliffs double their crash,
the very bird of the god is stupefied at the outcries.
then even Iapetus was heard up to the upper citadels above Acheron,
a weighty Erinys keeps the suppliant far off,
looking back at the law of lofty Jove. he, of the goddesses 75

fletibus et magno Phoebi commotus honore
velocem roseis demittit nubibus Irin.
'i, Phrygas Alcides et Troiae differat arma.
nunc' ait 'eripiat dirae Titana volucri.'
diva volat defertque viro celeranda parentis 80
imperia atque alacrem laetis hortatibus implet.

moved by the tears and the great honor of Phoebus,
he sends down swift Iris from the rosy clouds.
'go, let Alcides delay the Phrygians and the arms of Troy.
now,' he says, 'let him snatch the Titan from the dread bird.'
the goddess flies and bears to the man the commands of his parent to be hastened, 80
and she fills him, eager, with joyful exhortations.

Iam Minyae mediis clarae per sidera noctis
fluctibus intulerant placido cava lintea cursu
multaque deserto memores super Hercule volvunt.
Thracius at summa sociis e puppe sacerdos 85
fata deum et miserae solans incommoda vitae
securum numeris agit et medicabile carmen.
quod simul adsumpta pulsum fide, luctus et irae
et labor et dulces cedunt e pectore nati.

Already the Minyae, through the stars in the midst of the bright night,
had borne their hollow sails across the waves with a placid course,
and, mindful, they revolve many things about Hercules left behind.
But the Thracian priest from the highest stern for his comrades 85
telling of the fates of the gods and soothing the inconveniences of wretched life,
works in measures a care-free and medicable song.
which, as soon as the lyre-string is taken up and struck, griefs and angers
and toil, and even dear children, yield from the breast.

Interea magni iamiam subeuntibus astris 90

Meanwhile, with the great stars now already rising 90

Oceani genitale caput Titania frenis
antra sonant, Sol auricomis urgentibus horis
multifidum iubar et bisseno sidere textam
loricam induitur; ligat hanc qui nubila contra
balteus undantem variat mortalibus arcum.                    95
inde super terras et eoi cornua montis
emicuit traxitque diem candentibus undis
et Minyas viso liquerunt flamina Phoebo.
      Proxima Bebrycii panduntur litora regni,
pingue solum et duris regio non invida tauris.                    100
rex Amycus. regis fatis et numine freti
non muris cinxere domos, non foedera legum
ulla colunt placidas aut iura tenentia mentes.

At Ocean’s generative head the Titanian caverns ring with reins, the Sun, as the golden‑haired Hours urge him on, puts on his many‑cleft beam and a cuirass woven with a twice‑six constellation; a balteus binds it, which, against the clouds, for mortals variegates the billowing bow. 95
thence over the lands and the horns of the eastern mountain he flashed forth and drew the day with incandescent waves, and, Phoebus being seen, the winds left the Minyae.
The nearest shores of the Bebrycian realm are laid open, a fat soil and a region not grudging to hardy bulls. 100
King Amycus. Trusting in the king’s fates and numen, they have not girded their homes with walls; they do not cultivate any compacts of laws, nor statutes holding placid minds.

quales Aetnaeis rabidi Cyclopes in antris
nocte sub hiberna servant freta, sicubi saevis 105

such as the rabid Cyclopes in the Aetnaean caverns
beneath a hibernal night keep the straits, wherever with savage 105

advectet ratis acta notis tibi pabula dira
et miseras, Polypheme, dapes, sic undique in omnes
prospiciunt cursantque vias, qui corpora regi
capta trahant. ea Neptuno trux ipse parenti
sacrifici pro rupe iugi media aequora supra 110
torquet agens. sin forma viris praestantior adsit,
tum legere arma iubet sumptisque occurrere contra
caestibus: haec miseri sors est aequissima leti.

let a raft, driven by the Notus-winds, convey to you dire fodder
and wretched banquets, Polyphemus; thus on every side they look out and run all the roads,
those whose task it is to drag captured bodies to the king.
these he himself, savage, for Neptune his father, as sacrifice, from before a ridge-cliff,
high above the mid-seas, whirls and hurls, driving them. 110
but if there be present a man more outstanding in form,
then he orders “arms” to be chosen and, the cestuses taken up, to meet him in combat:
this is the most equitable lot of wretched death.

huc ubi devectam Neptunus gurgite puppem
sensit et extremum nati prospexit in oras 115
et quondam laetos domini certamine campos,
ingemit ac tales evolvit pectore questus:
'infelix imas quondam mihi rapta sub undas
nec potius magno Melie tum mixta Tonanti!
usque adeone meam quacumque ab origine prolem 120

hither, when Neptune sensed the ship’s stern carried by the surge and looked out upon the farthest shores of his son 115
and the fields once joyful at the lord’s contest,
he groans and unrolls such complaints from his breast:
“Unhappy she, once snatched for me beneath the lowest waves,
and not rather then mingled with the great Thunderer as Melie!
to such a degree, then, is my progeny, from whatever origin, 120

tristia fata manent? sic te olim pergere sensi,
Iuppiter, iniustae quando mihi virginis armis
concidit infelix et nunc chaos implet Orion.
nec tibi nunc virtus aut det fiducia nostri,
nate, animos opibusque ultra ne crede paternis. 125
iamiam aliae vires maioraque sanguine nostro
vincunt fata Iovis, potior cui cura suorum est.

Do sad fates await? Thus I once sensed you to persist, Jupiter, when by the arms of the unjust maiden the unlucky Orion fell to me and now fills the chaos. Nor now let valor give you confidence in our power, son; do not any further trust in your father's spirit and resources. 125
Already now other forces and things greater than our blood overcome the fates of Jove, for whom the care of his own is weightier.

atque ideo nec ego hanc tumidis avertere ventis
temptavi tenuive ratem nec iam mora morti
hinc erit ulla tuae. reges preme, dure, secundos!'                    130
abstulit inde oculos natumque et tristia linquens
proelia sanguineo terras pater adluit aestu.
      Principio fluvios gentemque et litora ductor
explorare iubet paulumque egressus Echion
invenit obscura gemitus in valle trahentem                    135

and therefore neither did I attempt to avert this ship from the swollen winds,
nor did I hold the craft, nor now will there be any delay to your death
from here. Press the favorable kings, hard one!'                    130
from there he withdrew his eyes and, leaving his son and the gloomy
battles, the father bathed the lands with a blood-red surge.
      At the beginning the leader bids the rivers and the people and the shores
to be explored, and Echion, having gone out a little,
finds in a dark valley one dragging forth groans.                    135

clam iuvenem et caesi maerentem nomen amici.
ille virum ut contra venientem umbrataque vidit
tempora Parrhasio patris de more galero
paciferaeque manu nequiquam insignia virgae,
'heu fuge' ait 'certo quicumque es, perdite, passu 140
dum datur!' obstipuit visu Nonacria proles
quid ferat admirans. postquam remeare monentem
ocius et dictis perstantem cernit in isdem,
abripit et sociis quae sint ea promere cogit.

secretly a youth, and one mourning the name of a slain friend.
he, when he saw the man coming opposite and his temples shaded
by the Parrhasian hat of his father, after the custom, and in his hand
the insignia of the peace-bearing rod, in vain, said: 'alas, flee,
whoever you are, lost one, with a sure step, while it is granted!' 140
the Nonacrian offspring stood agape at the sight, wondering what he brings.
after he sees him warning to go back more swiftly and persisting
in the same words, he snatches him away and compels him to disclose to his comrades what these things are.

ille manum tendens 'non haec' ait 'hospita vobis 145
terra, viri, non hic ullos reverentia ritus
pectora: mors habitat saevaeque hoc litore pugnae.
iam veniet diros Amycus qui tollere caestus
imperet et vasto qui vertice nubila pulset.
talis in advectos Neptuni credita proles 150

he, stretching out his hand, said: 'This land is not hospitable to you, 145
men; here reverence for any rites is in no hearts: death dwells, and on this shore savage combats.
now there will come dread Amycus, who commands to take up the cestuses,
and who with his vast summit batters the clouds.
such to the newcomers is Neptune’s progeny reputed.' 150

aeternum furit atque aequae virtutis egentes
ceu superum segnes ad iniqua altaria tauros
constituit, tandem ut misero lavet arma cerebro.
consulite atque fugae medium ne temnite tempus.
namque isti frustra quisquam concurrere monstro 155
audeat et quaenam talem vidisse voluptas?'
ductor ad haec: 'Bebryxne venis diversaque regi
corda gerens--melior vulgi nam saepe voluntas--
hostis an externis fato delatus ab oris?

he rages eternally, and those lacking equal virtue
just as sluggish bulls of the gods at unjust altars
he sets up, so that at length he may bathe his arms in wretched brain.
take counsel, and do not scorn the middle moment for flight.
for who would dare to run together against that monster in vain, 155
and what pleasure is there in having seen such a one?'
the leader to these things: 'Are you a Bebryx, coming and bearing
a heart at odds with the king—for often the will of the crowd is better—
an enemy, or carried by fate from foreign shores?

et tua cur Amycus caestu nondum obruit ora?' 160
'nomen' ait 'praedulce mihi ~nomen~que secutus
Otreos unanimi. decus ille et laeta suorum
gloria nec vestros comes aspernandus in actus
Hesionam et Phrygiae peteret cum gaudia nuptae,
hic Amycum contra iussus stetit atque ego palmas 165

and why has Amycus not yet overwhelmed your face with the caestus?' 160
'the name,' he said, 'most-sweet to me, and, following a namesake,
Otreus of like mind. He was the honor and the glad glory of his own,
nor to be spurned as a companion in your exploits,
when he sought Hesione and the joys of a Phrygian bride;
here, by command, he stood against Amycus, and I the palms 165

implicui. sed prima procul vixdum ora levantis
fulminea frontem dextra disiectaque fudit
lumina. me numquam leto dignatus et armis,
sed lacrimis potius luctuque absumor inerti.

I clasped my hands. But at the first, while he, from afar, was scarcely lifting his face, with a thunderbolt right hand he smashed his forehead and dashed out his lights. Me he never deemed worthy of death and of arms, but rather I am consumed by tears and inert mourning.

spes tamen, his fando si nuntius extitit oris                    170
et Mariandynum patrias penetravit ad urbes,
unde genus fraterque viro--sed et ille quierit
oro nec vanis cladem Lycus augeat armis.'
      Haec ubi non ulla iuvenes formidine moti
accipiunt (dulce et dura sic pergere mente),                     175
terga sequi properosque iubet coniungere gressus.
litore in extremo spelunca apparuit ingens
arboribus super et dorso contecta minanti,
non quae dona deum, non quae trahat aetheris ignem,
infelix domus et sonitu tremebunda profundi.                    180
at varii pro rupe metus: hinc trunca rotatis
bracchia rapta viris strictoque immortua caestu
ossaque taetra situ <et> capitum maestissimus ordo
per piceas, quibus adverso sub vulnere nulla
iam facies nec nomen erat; media ipsius arma                    185

hope, however—if a messenger by speaking has arisen on these shores                    170
and has penetrated to the Mariandynian fatherland cities,
whence the man’s stock and brother—but may he too, I pray, have come to rest,
and let Lycus not augment the disaster with vain weapons.'
      When the youths, moved by no fear, take these things in
(sweet thus to go on with a mind for hard things),                     175
he bids them follow the backs and to join quick steps.
at the far edge of the shore a huge cavern appeared,
overhung with trees and covered on a menacing ridge,
not one to receive the gifts of the gods, not one to draw the fire of the upper air—
an ill-fated house, trembling with the sound of the profund.                    180
but varied fears before the cliff: here, truncated arms
torn from men by whirled blows, and lifeless bodies with the caestus drawn,
and bones foul with decay <and> a most mournful row of heads
amid pitch-pines, for whom, under a fronting wound, no face
nor name now remained; in the middle his very weapons                    185

sacra metu[que] magnique aris imposta parentis.
hospitis hic primum monitus rediere Dymantis
et pavor et monstri subiit absentis imago
atque oculos cuncti inter se tenuere silentes,
donec sidereo Pollux interritus ore 190
'te tamen hac, quicumque es,' ait 'formidine faxo
iam tua silva ferat, modo sint tibi sanguis et artus!'
omnibus idem animus forti decernere pugna
exoptantque virum contra<que> occurrere poscunt.
qualiter ignotis spumantem funditus amnem 195
<. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .>
pandit iter, mox omne pecus formidine pulsa
pone subit iamque et mediis procedit ab undis.

the sacred rites and fear, and things set upon the great parent’s altars.
here first the warnings of the guest Dymantis returned,
and fear came over them and the image of the absent monster,
and they all kept their eyes on one another in silence,
until Pollux, undaunted with a sidereal countenance, 190
said, ‘you, however—whoever you are—I will make sure
that now this dread makes your own forest carry you off, provided you have blood and limbs!’
the same spirit is in all to decide by stout combat,
and they long for the man and demand to run to meet him.
just as through unknown, from-the-depths foaming river 195
<. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .>
he opens a way, soon the whole herd, fear driven off,
comes on behind, and now advances and goes forth from the midst of the waves.

At procul e silvis sese gregibusque ferebat
saevus in antra gigas, quem nec sua turba tuendo 200

But far off, out from the woods and the flocks, the savage giant was making his way into the caves,
whom not even his own throng by guarding 200

it taciti secura metus. mortalia nusquam
signa manent; instar scopuli, qui montibus altis
summus abit longeque iugo stat solus ab omni.
devolat inde furens nec quo via curve profecti
nec genus ante rogat, sed tali protonat ira: 205
'incipite, o iuvenes!

they go, silent, fear untroubled. mortal signs nowhere
remain; like a crag, which on the high mountains
the topmost withdraws and far from every ridge stands alone.
from there he swoops down, raging, nor whither the way bends for those who had set out
nor does he first ask their race, but he thunders forth in such wrath: 205
'begin, O youths!

etenim fiducia, credo,
huc tulit auditas et sponte lacessitis oras.
sin errore viae necdum mens gnara locorum,
Neptuni domus atque egomet Neptunia proles. 213
hic mihi lex caestus adversaque tollere contra 209

for indeed confidence, I believe,
has brought you hither to shores heard of, and you of your own will provoke them.
but if by an error of the way your mind is not yet knowing of the places,
this is Neptune’s house and I myself a Neptunian offspring. 213
here for me the law is the cestus and to lift counters in opposition 209

bracchia, sic ingens Asiae plaga quique per Arcton
dexter et in laevum pontus iacet haec mea visit
hospitia, hoc cuncti remeant certamine reges.
iam pridem caestus resides et frigida raris 214
dentibus aret humus. quis mecum foedera iunget?

arms, thus the vast tract of Asia and the sea which along the Bear
to the right and to the left lies, visits these my hostelries;
this is my hospitality; with this contest all kings return.
long since the cestus is idle, and the cold with sparse 214
teeth the ground is parching. Who will join a pact with me?

prima manu cui dona fero? mox omnibus idem
ibit honos. fuga sub terras, fuga nulla per auras.

To which hand do I first bear gifts? Soon the same honor
will go to all. Flight beneath the earth, no flight through the airs.

nec lacrimae--ne ferte preces--superive vocati
pectora nostra movent: aliis rex Iuppiter oris.
faxo Bebrycium nequeat transcendere puppis                    220
ulla fretum et ponto volitet Symplegas inani.'
      Talia dicta dabat, cum protinus asper Iason
et simul Aeacidae simul et Calydonis alumni
Nelidesque Idasque prior quae maxima surgunt
nomina, sed nudo steterat iam pectore Pollux.                    225

nor tears—do not bring prayers—nor, though those above be invoked, move our hearts: for other shores Jupiter is king.
I will make sure that no Bebrycian ship can cross the strait, and that the Symplegades flit over an empty sea.                    220
      Such words he was uttering, when straightway grim Jason,
and at once the Aeacids and likewise the scions of Calydon,
and the Neleïd and Idas—the greatest names that first arise—
but Pollux had already stood with bare chest.                    225

tum pavor et gelidus defixit Castora sanguis,
nam nec ad Elei pugnam videt ora parentis
nec sonat Oebalius caveae favor aut iuga nota
Taygeti, lavitur patrios ubi victor ad amnes,
nec pretium sonipes aut sacrae taurus harenae,                     230
praemia sed manes reclusaque ianua leti.
illum Amycus nec fronte trucem nec mole tremendum,
vixdum etiam primae spargentem signa iuventae,
ore renidenti lustrans obit et fremit ausum
sanguineosque rotat furiis ardentibus orbes.                    235
non aliter iam regna poli, iam capta Typhoeus
astra ferens Bacchum ante acies primamque deorum
Pallada et oppositos doluit sibi virginis angues.
sic adeo insequitur rabidoque ita murmure terret:
'quisquis es, infelix celeras puer, haud tibi pulchrae                    240
manserit hoc ultra frontis decus orave matri
nota feres.

then fear and gelid blood fixed Castor in place,
for he does not see at the Eleian contest the face of his parent,
nor does the Oebalian favor of the galleries sound, nor the well-known ridges
of Taygetus, where, as victor, he bathes in his native rivers,
nor as prize a steed or a bull of the sacred sand,                     230
but the rewards are the Shades and the opened gate of death.
him Amycus—marking in him no grimness of brow nor a bulk to be dreaded,
scarcely yet even sprinkling the first tokens of youth—
surveying with a smiling face goes to meet him and growls at the daring,
and he wheels his blood-red orbs with burning furies.                    235
not otherwise did Typhoeus grieve—now for the realms of the sky, now that the stars were taken—
enduring Bacchus before the battle-lines and Pallas, first of the gods,
and the opposing snakes of the virgin. thus to such a degree he pursues and with rabid murmur so terrifies:
'whoever you are, unhappy boy, you hasten; not for you shall there remain any longer the beauty                    240
of that fair brow, nor will you bear features known to your mother.

tune a sociis electus iniquis?
tune Amyci moriere manu?' nec plura moratus
ingentes umeros spatiosaque pectoris ossa
protulit horrendosque toris informibus artus. 245

Are you then chosen by iniquitous comrades?
Are you then to die by Amycus’s hand?' and, delaying no more,
he brought forth his huge shoulders and the spacious bones of his breast
and limbs dreadful with formless muscle-bulges. 245

deficiunt visu Minyae, miratur et ipse
Tyndarides. redit Alcidae iam sera cupido
et vacuo maestos lustrarunt lumine montes.
at satus aequoreo fatur tunc talia rege:
'aspice et haec crudis durata volumina tauris 250
nec peto sortis opem, sed quos potes indue caestus.'
Dixit et urgentis post saeva piacula fati
nescius extremum hoc armis innectere palmas
dat famulis, dat et inde Lacon.

the Minyae faint at the sight, and the Tyndarid himself marvels. now a late desire for Alcides returns, and with an empty light they scanned the mountains, sorrowful. but the one begotten of the sea-king then speaks such things: 'look, and these coils hardened from raw bulls’ hides 250
nor do I seek the help of lot, but put on whatever caestus-gauntlets you can.'
He spoke, and, with fate pressing on after savage piacula, unaware that in this he was lacing his palms into arms for the last time, he gives them to the attendants; and then the Laconian gives [his hands] too.

odia aspera surgunt
ignotis prius atque incensa mente feruntur 255
in medium sanguis Iovis et Neptunia proles.
hinc illinc dubiis intenta silentia votis
et pater orantis caesorum Tartarus umbras
nube cava tandem ad meritae spectacula pugnae
emittit. summi nigrescunt culmina montis. 260

harsh hatreds arise
previously unknown, and with an inflamed mind are borne into the midst—the blood of Jove and the Neptunian offspring. 255
on this side and that, silences intent with doubtful vows;
and father Tartarus sends forth the shades of the slain, beseeching, from a hollow cloud at last to the spectacles of the well-deserved fight.
the summits of the highest mountain grow black. 260

      Continuo Bebryx, Maleae velut arce fragosa
turbo rapax, vix ora virum, vix tollere passus
bracchia torrenti praeceps agit undique nimbo
cursibus involvens totaque immanis harena
insequitur. vigil ille metu cum pectore et armis                    265
huc alternus et huc, semper cervice reducta
semper et in digitis et summi pulvere campi,
proiectusque redit. spumanti qualis in alto
Pliade capta ratis, trepidi quam sola magistri
cura tenet, rapidum ventis certantibus aequor                    270
intemerata secat, Pollux sic providus ictus
servat et Oebalia dubium caput eripit arte.

Straightway Bebryx, like a ravening whirlwind from Cape Malea’s craggy citadel,
hardly suffered the man to lift his face, hardly his arms; headlong he drives him with a torrent-like rain-storm,
enveloping with rushes on every side, and the whole monstrous sand pursues.
but he, watchful, with fear in his breast and with his arms,
now this way and now that, always with neck drawn back,
always both on his toes and on the dust of the field’s surface,
and flung forward he returns. As on the foaming deep a ship caught in the Pleiad-season,
which the sole care of the trembling master holds, unscathed she cleaves the rapid level
with the winds contending, so Pollux, provident, guards against the blows
and by skill snatches the Oebalian head from peril. 270

ut deinde urgentes effudit nubibus iras
ardoremque viri, paulatim insurgere fesso
integer et summos ~manibus~ deducere caestus. 275

as then he poured out the pressing wraths from the clouds
and the man’s ardor, gradually the unhurt one begins to rise upon the weary,
and to draw down the upraised cestuses with his hands. 275

ille dies aegros Amyci sudoribus artus
primus et arenti cunctantem vidit hiatu
nec sua defessum noscunt loca nec sua regem
agmina. respirant ambo paulumque reponunt
bracchia, ceu Lapithas aut Paeonas aequore in ipso 280
cum refovet fixaque silet Gradivus in hasta.
vix steterant et iam ecce ruunt inflictaque late
terga sonant.

That day first saw Amycus’s limbs sick with sweats,
and him delaying with a parched gape; nor do his own places recognize the wearied man, nor his own ranks their king.
They both respire and a little set down their arms, as when the Lapiths or Paeonians on the very plain 280
are refreshed, and Gradivus, his spear planted, is silent.
Hardly had they stood, and now—behold!—they rush, and the smitten backs resound far and wide.

nova vis iterum, nova corpora surgunt.
hunc pudor, hunc noto iam spes audentior hoste
instimulat. fumant crebro praecordia pulsu, 285
avia responsant gemitu iuga.

new force again, new bodies arise.
this one shame, that one a hope now bolder with the known foe
stimulates. their precordia fume with frequent pulse, 285
the pathless ridges respond with a groan.

pervigil ut cum
artificum notat Aet<na> manus et fulmina Cyclops
prosubigit, pulsis strepitant incudibus urbes.
emicat hic dextramque parat dextramque minatur
Tyndarides, redit huc oculis et pondere Bebryx 290

as when the ever-watchful Aet<na> marks the hands of artificers and the Cyclops forges the thunderbolts, the cities clatter with anvils when they are beaten.
here darts forth, and he readies his right hand and threatens with his right hand, the Tyndarid; and Bebryx comes back hither with his eyes and with his weight 290

sic ratus, ille autem celeri rapit ora sinistra:
conclamant socii et subitas dant gaudia voces.
illum insperata turbatum fraude furentemque
Oebalides prima refugit dum detonet ira,
territus ipse etiam atque ingentis conscius ausi. 295
saevit inops Amycus nullo discrimine sese
praecipitans avidusque viri (respectat ovantes
quippe procul Minyas), tunc caestu elatus utroque
inruit. hos inter Pollux subit et trucis ultro
advolat ora viri nec spes effecta, sed ambae 300
in pectus cecidere manus.

thus thinking, he, however, with a swift left snatches at the face:
the comrades cry aloud and give sudden shouts of joy.
him, disturbed by the unhoped-for fraud and raging,
the Oebalid first retreats from, until the anger detonates,
he himself too frightened and conscious of an enormous daring. 295
Amycus rages, helpless, hurling himself with no discrimination
and greedy for the man (for he looks back at the rejoicing
Minyae at a distance), then, borne aloft with the cestus on both hands,
he rushes in. Amid these Pollux comes up and of his own accord
flies at the face of the savage man, nor was the hope effected, but both 300
hands fell on the chest.

hoc saevior ille
ecce iterum vacuas agit inconsulta per auras
bracchia. sentit ubi Pollux rationis egentem,
dat genibus iunctis latus effusumque secutus
haud revocare gradum patitur turbatque premitque 305

hoc saevior ille
lo, again he drives his arms unadvised through the empty airs.
when Pollux perceives him lacking reason,
he offers his flank with knees joined, and, following him as he poured himself out,
he does not allow him to recover his step, and he confounds and presses him. 305

ancipitem crebros et liber congerit ictus
desuper averso. sonat omni vulnere vertex
inclinis ceditque malis. iam tempora manant
sanguineaeque latent aures, vitalia donec
vincula, qua primo cervix committitur artu, 310
solvit dextra gravis.

he heaps frequent and free twofold strokes
from above upon the turned-away; the vertex resounds with every wound,
inclining, he yields to the blows. now the temples are streaming,
and the sanguineous ears lie hidden, until
the vital bonds, where at the first joint the cervix is joined, 310
his heavy right hand loosens.

labentem propulit heros
ac super insistens 'Pollux ego missus Amyclis
et Iove natus.' ait 'nomen mirantibus umbris
hoc referes. sic et memori noscere sepulchro.'
Bebrycas extemplo spargit fuga, nullus adempti 315
regis amor: montem celeres silvamque capessunt.
haec sors, haec Amycum tandem manus arcuit ausis
effera servantem Ponti loca vimque iuventae
continuam et magni sperantem tempora patris.

the hero drove back the slipping one
and, standing over him, he says: 'I am Pollux, sent from Amyclae and born of Jove.' 'You will carry this name back to the wondering shades. Thus too let a memorial sepulcher know it.'
At once flight scatters the Bebrycians; no love of the taken-away 315
king: swift they take the mountain and the forest.
this fate, this hand at last warded off Amycus from his savage ventures,
keeping the places of Pontus and the unbroken force of youth,
and hoping for the times of his great father.

tenditur ille ingens hominum pavor arvaque late 320

that immense terror of men is spread, and the fields far and wide 320

occupat, annosi veluti si decidat olim
pars Erycis vel totus Athos. qua mole iacentis
ipse etiam expleri victor nequit oraque longo
comminus obtutu mirans tenet. at manus omnis
heroum densis certatim amplexibus urgent 325
armaque ferre iuvat fessasque attollere palmas.

it seizes, as if sometime a part of time-worn Eryx should fall,
or all Athos. By such a mass of the one lying
even the victor himself cannot be filled, and, marveling, he holds the face with a long
gaze at close quarters. But the whole band of heroes with dense embraces, vying,
press on, and it pleases them to carry the arms and to lift the weary palms. 325

'salve, vera Iovis, vera o Iovis' undique 'proles'
ingeminant 'o magnanimis memoranda palaestris
Taygeta et primi felix labor ille magistri!'
dumque ea dicta ferunt, tenues tamen ire cruores 330
siderea de fronte vident nec sanguine Pollux
territus averso siccabat vulnera caestu.
illius excelsum ramis caput armaque Castor
implicat et viridi conectit tempora lauro
respiciensque ratem 'patriis' ait 'has precor oris, 335

'hail, true of Jove, true, O Jove’s' on every side they redouble 'offspring,'
they redouble 'O Taygeta, to be remembered by magnanimous palaestrae,
and that happy toil of the first master!'
and while they bear these words, nevertheless they see slender gore to go 330
from the starry brow; and Pollux, not terrified by the blood,
was drying the wounds with his turned-away caestus.
Castor entwines with branches his lofty head and his weapons,
and binds his temples with green laurel,
and looking back at the ship he says, 'at my fatherland’s shores, I pray, these ...' 335

diva, refer frondes cumque hac freta curre corona.'
dixerat. hinc valida caedunt armenta bipenni
perfusique sacro placati gurgitis amne
graminea sternuntur humo, tunc liba dapesque
frondibus accumulant; exsortia terga Laconi 340
praecipiunt pecudum. toto mox tempore mensae
laetus ovat nunc laude virum, nunc vatis honoro
carmine, victori geminans cratera parenti.

goddess, carry back the fronds and, relying on this, run with the crown.'
he had spoken. then with a strong two-edged axe they hew down the herds,
and, drenched with the sacred stream of the flood and appeased,
the victims are laid low on the grassy ground; then they heap cakes and banquets
with leaves; they reserve the special hides of the flocks for the Laconian. 340
soon for the whole time of the table
he joyfully exults, now with praise of the men, now I honor the poet
with song, doubling the mixing-bowl for the victorious parent.

      Iamque dies auraeque vocant rursusque capessunt
aequora, qua rigidos eructat Bosporos amnes.                    345
illos, Nile, tuis nondum dea gentibus Io
transierat fluctus, unde haec data nomina ponto.
tum pius Oeagri claro de sanguine vates
admonita genetrice refert casusque locorum
Inachidosque vias pelagusque emensa iuvencae                    350

And now the day and the breezes call, and again they take up the seas, where the Bosporus belches forth its icy rivers. 345
to those waves, Nile, the goddess Io had not yet crossed to your peoples, whence these names were given to the deep.
then the pious seer from the illustrious blood of Oeagrus
admonished by his mother, recounts the fortunes of the places
and the paths of the Inachian maiden and the sea traversed by the heifer. 350

exilia intentisque canit. 'videre priores
saepe Iovem <in> terras Argivaque regna Pelasgum
virginis Iasiae blandos descendere ad ignes.
sentit Iuno dolos curaque accensa iugali
aethere desiluit (dominam Lyrceia tellus 355
antraque deprensae tremuerunt conscia culpae),
cum trepida Inachiae paelex subit ora iuvencae
sponte dei; plausu fovet hanc et pectora mulcet
Iuno renidenti cohibens suspiria vultu.

he sings of exiles and of those intent. ‘men of former times often saw Jove descend into the lands and the Argive Pelasgian realms to the coaxing fires of the Iasian maiden.
Juno perceives the deceits, and, enkindled with conjugal care, leapt down from the aether (the Lyrceian land trembled at its mistress, 355
and the caverns, conscious of the detected one’s guilt, trembled),
when the trembling paramour of Inachus assumes the features of a heifer by the god’s will; with applause Juno cherishes her and soothes her breast, holding back sighs with a beaming countenance.

mox ita adorta Iovem: "da quam modo ditibus Argis 360
campus alit primae referentem cornua Phoebes
indomitamque bovem, da carae munera nuptae.
ipsa ego dilectae pecudi iam pascua digna
praecipuosque legam fontes." qua fraude negaret
aut quos inventos tenuisset Iuppiter astus? 365

soon thus she addressed Jove: "Grant me her whom now in wealthy Argos 360
the plain nourishes, bearing the horns of first Phoebe,
and the untamed cow—grant gifts to your dear bride.
I myself will choose for the beloved cow now pastures worthy
and especial springs." With what fraud could he deny,
or what wiles, once uncovered, could Jupiter have kept? 365

muneris illa potens custodem protinus Argum
adiungit. custos Argus placet, inscia somni
lumina non aliter toto cui vertice quam si
Lyda nurus sparso telas maculaverit ostro.
Argus et in scopulos et monstris horrida lustra 370
ignotas iubet ire vias heu multa morantem
conantemque preces inclusaque pectore verba.

she, powerful by means of the gift, immediately joins Argus as guardian.
the guard Argus pleases, whose lights, ignorant of sleep,
over his whole head are no otherwise than if
a Lydian bride had speckled her webs with sprinkled purple dye.
Argus bids [her] to go both onto crags and into lairs rough with monsters 370
by unknown ways—alas, she delaying many things
and attempting prayers and words shut within her breast.

ultima tum patriae cedens dedit oscula ripae;
flevit Amymone, flerunt Messeides undae,
flevit et effusis revocans Hyperia lacertis. 375
illa, ubi vel fessi tremerent erroribus artus
vel rueret summo iam frigidus aethere vesper,
heu quotiens saxo posuit latus aut, ubi longa
aegra siti, quos ore lacus, quae pabula carpsit,
verbere candentes quotiens exhorruit armos! 380

then, departing, she gave last kisses to her native bank;
Amymone wept, the Messeid waves wept,
and Hyperia too wept, calling her back with outspread arms. 375
she, whenever her limbs, wearied by wanderings, would tremble,
or when cold evening would rush down from the highest aether,
alas how often she set her side on a rock, or, when long
sick with thirst, what lakes did she with her mouth, what fodders did she crop,
how often at the lash did she shudder in her gleaming shoulders! 380

quin et ab excelso meditantem vertice saltus
audentemque mori valles citus egit in imas
Argus et arbitrio durus servavit erili,
cum subito Arcadio sonuit cava fistula ritu
imperiumque patris celerans Cyllenius ales                    385
advenit et leni modulatur carmen avena
"quo" que ait "hinc diversus abis? heus respice cantus!"
haud procul insectans Argum languentia <cantu>
lumina cuncta notat dulcesque sequentia somnos
et celerem mediis in cantibus exigit harpen.                    390
iamque refecta Iovi paulatim in imagine prisca
ibat agris Io victrix Iunonis et ecce
cum facibus spirisque et Tartareo ululatu
Tisiphonen videt: ac primo vestigia visu
figit et in miserae rursus bovis ora recurrit.                    395

nay even from a lofty summit, as she was rehearsing leaps
and daring to die, Argus quickly drove her into the lowest valleys,
and, harsh, kept her under his master’s discretion,
when suddenly the hollow pipe sounded in Arcadian rite,
and the Cyllenian winged-one, hastening his father’s command, 385
arrived and with a gentle oaten reed modulates a song
and says, “Whither, diverted, do you go from here? Hey, look back to the song!”
pursuing Argus not far off, he notes all the eyes languishing <song>
and the sweet slumbers that follow, and in the midst of his songs he draws forth the swift harpe.
and now, gradually restored by Jove into her pristine image,390
Io was going through the fields, a victress over Juno; and behold
she sees Tisiphone with torches and coils and Tartarean ululation;
and at the first sight she fixes her steps, and runs back again into the face of the wretched cow. 395

nec qua valle memor <nec> quo se vertice sistat
Inachias errore etiam defertur ad undas,
qualis et a prima quantum mutata iuvenca!
nec pater aut trepidae temptant accedere nymphae.
ergo iterum silvas, iterum petit invia retro 400
ceu Styga dilectum fugiens caput.

nor mindful in what valley <nor> on what summit she should set herself
she is borne by wandering even to the Inachian waves,
how unlike, and how much changed from the heifer she first was!
nor do her father or the trembling nymphs attempt to approach.
therefore again the woods, again she seeks the pathless places back 400
like one fleeing, to keep a beloved head from the Styx.

inde per urbes
raptatur Graias atque ardua flumina ripis,
oblato donec paulum cunctata profundo
incidit. absistunt fluctus et gnara futuri
dant pavida alta viam, celsis procul ipsa refulget 405
cornibus ac summa palearia sustinet unda.
ast Erebi virgo ditem volat aethere Memphin
praecipere et Pharia venientem pellere terra.

thence through cities
she is snatched, Greek, and the steep-banked rivers along their banks,
until, with the deep offered and having hesitated a little,
she plunges in. The waves stand apart and, knowing what is to come,
the fearful deeps grant a way; she herself gleams afar with lofty 405
horns, and the wave upholds her dewlaps at the surface.
but the maiden of Erebus flies through the ether to pre-instruct rich Memphis
and to drive away the one coming, from the Pharian land.

contra Nilus adest et toto gurgite torrens
Tisiphonen agit atque imis inlidit harenis 410
Ditis opem ac saevi clamantem numina regni.
apparent sparsaeque faces disiectaque longe
verbera et abruptis excussi crinibus hydri.
nec Iovis interea cessat manus: intonat alto
insurgens caelo genitor curamque fatetur 415

against her the Nile is at hand, and with his whole whirl as a torrent
drives Tisiphone and dashes her upon the deepest sands 410
crying for the aid of Dis and the divinities of the cruel realm.
there appear scattered torches and scourges flung far,
and hydras shaken out from her torn-off tresses.
nor meanwhile does the hand of Jove cease: he thunders, rising
in the high heaven, the Sire, and avows his concern. 415

atque ipsa imperium Iuno pavet. haec procul Io
spect[ab]at ab arce <Phari>, iam divis addita iamque
aspide cincta comas et ovanti persona sistro.
Bosporon hinc veteres errantis nomine divae
vulgavere.

and Juno herself trembles for her rule. These things from afar Io was watching from the citadel of Pharos, now added to the divinities and now her hair cinct with an asp and, in her persona, exultant with the sistrum.
From this the ancients spread abroad the Bosporus by the name of the wandering goddess.

iuvet nostros nunc ipsa labores                    420
immissisque ratem sua per freta provehat Euris.'
      Dixerat et placidi tendebant carbasa venti.
postera non cassae Minyis Aurora retexit
noctis iter: nova cuncta vident Thyneaque iuxta
litora fatidici poenis horrentia Phinei,                    425
dira deum summo quem vis urgebat in aevo.
quippe neque extorrem tantum nec lucis egentem
insuper Harpyiae Typhonides, ira Tonantis,
depopulant ipsoque dapes praedantur ab ore.

may she herself now aid our labors,                    420
and, with the Eurus winds sent in, carry the ship forward through her own straits.'
      He had spoken, and placid winds were stretching the canvas.
On the next day Aurora un-wove the course of night for the Minyae, not in vain:
they see all things new, and, hard by, the Thynian
shores bristling with the penalties of fatidic Phineus,                    425
whom the dire force of the gods was pressing in his utmost age.
For indeed, not only an exile and in want of light,
moreover the Harpies, Typhonids, the wrath of the Thunderer,
ravage him and prey upon the banquets from his very mouth.

talia prodigia et tales pro crimine poenas 430

such prodigies and such penalties for the crime 430

perpetitur. spes una seni, quod pellere saevam
quondam fata luem dederant Aquilone creatis.
ergo ubi iam Minyas certamque accedere Phineus
sentit opem, primas baculo defertur ad undas
vestigatque ratem atque oculos attollit inanes. 435
tunc tenuem spirans animam 'salve o mihi longum
exspectata manus nostrisque' ait 'agnita votis.

is endured. One hope for the old man, that to drive away the savage pestilence once the fates had given to those begotten of Aquilo (the North Wind).
therefore when Phineus now senses that the Minyae and sure help are drawing near, he is borne with his staff to the first waves
and he feels out the ship and lifts his sightless eyes. 435
then, breathing a thin life, he says: 'hail, O band long expected by me and recognized as answer to our vows.'

novimus et divis geniti quibus et via iussos
quae ferat ac vestri rebar sic tempora cursus
proxima quaeque legens, quantum Vulcania Lemnos 440
traxerit, infelix tulerit quae Cyzicus arma.
sensi et Bebrycio supremam in litore pugnam
iam propior iamque hoc animam solamine mulcens.
non ego nunc magno quod cretus Agenore Phineus
aut memorem mea quod vates insedit Apollo 445

we know too, you born from the gods, what the way, being commanded, will bring, and I supposed thus the times of your course, reading each next event, how much Vulcanian Lemnos has delayed you, 440
and what arms ill-fated Cyzicus has borne. I felt also on the Bebrycian shore the final combat, now nearer and now soothing my spirit with this solace. not I now because Phineus was begotten from great Agenor, nor because my vatic Apollo has sat upon me to make me mindful 445

pectora: praesentis potius miserescite fati!
nec mihi diversis erratum casibus orbem
amissas aut flere domos aut dulcia tempus
lumina; consuetis serum est ex ordine fatis
ingemere. Harpyiae semper mea pabula servant, 450
fallere quas nusquam misero locus: ilicet omnes
deveniunt niger intorto ceu turbine nimbus
iamque alis procul et sonitu mihi nota Celaeno.

hearts: rather pity the present fate!
nor is it mine that the orb has been wandered through diverse chances,
to weep for lost homes or the sweet lights; it is late to groan
at the accustomed fates in their order. the Harpies always keep my victuals under guard, 450
for the wretch there is nowhere a place to deceive them: straightway all
come down, a black cloud as if in a twisted whirlwind,
and already by the wings from afar and by the sound, Celaeno is known to me.

diripiunt verruntque dapes foedataque turbant
pocula, saevit odor surgitque miserrima pugna 455
parque mihi monstrisque fames. sprevere quod omnes
pollueruntque manu quodque unguibus excidit atris
has mihi fert in luce moras. nec rumpere fata
morte licet, trahitur victu crudelis egestas.

They despoil and sweep away the banquets, and they disturb the defiled
cups; the stench rages, and a most wretched battle rises 455
and hunger equal for me and for the monsters. They have spurned whatever all
have polluted by hand, and whatever slips out from their black claws—
this brings me these delays in the light. Nor is it permitted to break the fates
by death; cruel indigence is drawn out by sustenance.

sed vos o servate precor, praedicta deorum 460

but you, O, keep, I pray, the predictions of the gods 460

si non falsa mihi, vos finem imponite poenis.
nempe adsunt qui monstra fugent, Aquilonia proles
non externa mihi: nam rex ego divitis Hebri
iunctaque vestra meo quondam Cleopatra cubili.'
Nomen ad Actaeae Calais Zetesque sororis 465
prosiliunt Zetesque prior 'quem cernimus?' inquit
'tune ille Odrysiae Phineus rex inclitus orae?
tu Phoebi comes et nostro dilecte parenti?

if I am not deceived, do you impose an end to the punishments.
surely there are present those who put the monsters to flight, the Aquilonian progeny
not alien to me: for I am king over the wealthy Hebrus,
and Cleopatra, of your blood, was once joined to my couch.'
at the name of the Actaean sister, Calais and Zetes spring forth, 465
and Zetes, first, says, 'whom do we behold?'
'are you that Phineus, illustrious king of the Odrysian shore?
you, companion of Phoebus and beloved of our parent?'

o ubi nunc regni generisque ubi gloria? quam te
exedit labor et miseris festina senectus! 470
quin age mitte preces: namque est tibi nostra voluntas,
si non ira deum--vel si placabilis--urget.'
sustulit hic geminas Phineus ad sidera palmas
'te'que ait 'infesti, quae nunc premis, ira Tonantis,
ante precor, nostrae tandem iam parce senectae, 475

o where now the glory of your kingdom and of your lineage? how toil has eaten you away, and for the wretched a hurrying old age! 470
nay then, come, dismiss prayers: for our goodwill is toward you, if not the wrath of the gods—or if it be placable—presses.'
here Phineus raised his twin palms to the stars
'and you,' he said, 'hostile wrath of the Thunderer, which now presses,
first I pray, at last now spare our old age, 475

sit modus. et fore credo equidem, nam vestra voluntas
quid, iuvenes, sine pace deum? nec credite culpam
saevitiae scelerumve mihi nunc crimina pendi:
fata loquax mentemque Iovis quaeque abdita solus
consilia et terris subito ventura parabat 480
prodideram miserans hominum genus.

let there be a limit. and I for my part believe there will be, for what is your will,
young men, without the peace of the gods? nor believe that guilt,
the indictments of savagery or of crimes are now being weighed against me:
loquacious about the fates, and the mind of Jove, and the hidden counsels which he alone
was preparing, and the things that would suddenly come upon the lands 480
I had disclosed, pitying the race of men.

hinc mihi tanta
pestis et offusae media inter dicta tenebrae.
iam tandem cessere irae nec casus ab alto,
ipse volens nostris sed vos deus adpulit oris.'
sic ait et fatis ita iam cedentibus omnes 485
impulit et durae commovit imagine poenae.
instituere toros mediisque tapetibus ipsum
accipiunt circumque iacent; simul aequora servant,
astra simul, vescique iubent ac mittere curas,
cum subitus misero tremor et pallentia primae 490
ora senis fugere manus.

Hence upon me so great a pest and darkness cast over in the very midst of speech.
now at length the wraths have yielded, and not chance from on high,
but the god himself, willing, has driven you to our shores.'
Thus he speaks, and with the fates now thus giving way he urged them all 485
and moved them by the image of harsh penalty.
they set up couches and receive him himself upon the middle tapestries
and lie around; at once they keep watch over the seas,
the stars as well, and they bid him to feed and to send away cares,
when a sudden tremor [came] upon the wretch, and the pallid features of the old 490
man eluded the nearest hands.

nec prodita pestis
ante, sed in mediis dapibus videre volucres.
fragrat acerbus odor patriique exspirat Averni
halitus, unum omnes incessere planctibus, unum
infestare manus. inhiat Cocytia nubes 495

nor had the pestilence been disclosed before, but in the midst of the banquet they saw birds.
a bitter odor reeks, and Avernus’ native
breath exhales, all assail one with lamentations, one they infest with their hands. the Cocytian cloud gapes 495

luxurians ipsoque ferens fastidia visu.
tum sola conluvie atque inlusis stramina mensis
foeda rigant, stridunt alae praedaque retenta
saevit utrimque fames. nec solum horrenda Celaeno
Phinea, sed miseras etiam prohibere sorores. 500
emicat hic subito seseque Aquilonia proles
cum clamore levat, genitor simul impulit alas.

luxuriating and by the very sight bringing disgust.
then, with mere filth and the straw-mats of the tables insulted,
they foully drench them; the wings shriek, and with the prey withheld
on both sides hunger rages. nor did dread Celaeno alone
forbid Phineus, but the wretched sisters also. 500
hereupon suddenly the Aquilonian offspring darts forth
and lifts itself with a shout; at the same time their begetter impelled their wings.

hoste novo turbata lues lapsaeque rapinae
faucibus et primum pavidae Phineia tecta
pervolitant, mox alta petunt. stant litore fixi 505
Haemonidae atque oculis palantia monstra sequuntur.
sicut, prorupti tonuit cum forte Vesevi
Hesperiae letalis apex, vixdum ignea montem
torsit hiems, iamque eoas cinis induit urbes:
turbine sic rapido populos atque aequora longe 510

disturbed by the new foe the pestilence, and the plunders slipping from their jaws,
and at first, fearful, they fly through the Phinean roofs,
soon they seek the heights. Fixed they stand on the shore 505
the Haemonidae and with their eyes follow the straggling monsters.
just as, when by chance the deadly apex of Hesperia, Vesuvius,
has thundered forth, the fiery storm has scarcely yet wracked
the mountain, and already ash clothes the Eoan cities:
so with a rapid whirlwind the peoples and the seas far away 510

transabeunt nullaque datur considere terra.
iamque et ad Ionii metas atque intima tendunt
saxa, vocat magni Strophadas nunc incola ponti.
hic fessae leti<que> metu propioris anhelae
dum trepidant humilique graves timidoque volatu 515
implorant clamore patrem Typhona nefando,
extulit adsurgens noctem pater imaque summis
miscuit et mediis vox exaudita tenebris:
'iam satis huc pepulisse deas.

they pass across and no land is granted to alight upon.
and now they aim both for the bounds of the Ionian and its innermost rocks; the inhabitant of the great sea now calls them the Strophades.
here, weary and gasping with fear of nearer death,
while they tremble and, heavy, with low and timid flight 515
they implore with a cry their father Typhon with unspeakable [words],
the father, rising up, brought up night and mingled the lowest with the highest,
and from the midst of the darkness a voice was heard:
'now it is enough to have driven the goddesses hither.

cur tenditis ultra
in famulas saevire Iovis, quas fulmina quamquam 520
aegidaque ille gerens magnas sibi legit in iras?
nunc quoque Agenoreis idem decedere tectis
imperat: agnoscunt monitus iussaeque recedunt.
mox tamen et vobis similis fuga, cum premet arcus
letifer.

why do you strive further
to rage against Jove’s handmaids, whom, although 520
he, bearing the thunderbolts and the aegis, has marked out for his great wrath?
now also he commands the same, to depart from the Agenorean roofs
he orders: they recognize the admonitions and, commanded, withdraw.
soon, however, for you too a like flight, when the bow
death-bearing presses.

Harpyiae numquam nova pabula quaerent                    525
donec erunt divum meritae mortalibus irae.'
haesit uterque polo dubiisque elanguit alis,
mox abit et sociae victor petit agmina puppis.
      Interea Minyae pulsa lue prima Tonanti
sacra novant, tum vina toris epulasque reponunt.                    530

The Harpies will never seek new fodder                    525
so long as the wrath of the gods, deserved by mortals, shall be.'
each hung in the sky and with wavering wings grew faint,
soon he departs, and the victor makes for the ranks of the allied ship.
      Meanwhile the Minyae, the plague driven off, first renew sacred rites to the Thunderer,
then they set again the wines upon the couches and the banquets.                    530

ipse inter medios ceu dulcis imagine somni
laetus ad oblitae Cereris suspirat honores;
agnoscit Bacchi latices, agnoscit et undam
et nova non pavidae miratur gaudia mensae.
hunc ubi reclinem stratis et pace fruentem 535
aspicit ac longae ducentem oblivia poenae
talibus appellat supplexque ita fatur Iason:
'vota, senex, perfecta tibi. nunc me quoque curis
eripe et ad nostros animum converte labores.

he himself among the midst, as by the sweet image of a dream,
glad, sighs for the honors of forgotten Ceres;
he recognizes the liquids of Bacchus, he recognizes too the wave,
and without fear he marvels at the new joys of the table.
when he sees him reclining on the couches and enjoying peace 535
and drawing forgetfulness of long punishment,
he addresses him with such words, and as a suppliant Jason thus speaks:
‘your vows, old man, have been fulfilled. Now rescue me too from cares
and turn your mind to our labors.

omnis adhuc sors laeta quidem nec numine vano, 540
siqua fides curae superum, tantum aequor adorti
tendimus: ipsa mihi puppem Iovis optima proles
instituit, dedit et socios Saturnia reges.
fidere mens sed nostra nequit quantumque propinquat
Phasis et ille operum summus labor, hoc magis angunt 545

all our lot thus far has indeed been happy, nor by an empty numen, if there is any trust in the care of the gods; having dared so great a sea we press on: the best offspring of Jove himself set up the ship for me, and Saturnia gave kings as comrades. 540
yet my mind cannot trust; and the more the Phasis draws near and that supreme labor of our works, the more they distress me. 545

proxima nec vates sat iam mihi Mopsus et Idmon.'
ille ducem nec ferre preces nec dicere passus
amplius hic demum vittas laurumque capessit
numina nota ciens. stupet Aesonis inclita proles
Phinea ceu numquam poenis nullaque gravatum 550
peste Iovis: tam largus honos, tam mira senectae
maiestas infusa; vigor novus auxerat artus.
tum canit: 'o terras fama venture per omnes,
quem sociis ducibusque deis atque arte benigna
Pallados ipse ultro Pelias ad sidera tollit, 555
demens, dum profugi non sperat vellera Phrixi,
fata locosque tibi, possum quas reddere grates,
expediam rerumque vias finemque docebo.

nor are the nearest seers Mopsus and Idmon now enough for me.'
he did not allow the leader either to continue his prayers or to speak;
then at last he takes up fillets and laurel,
calling upon the familiar divinities. The illustrious offspring of Aeson is amazed,
as if Phineus had never been in punishments nor weighed down by any plague 550
of Jove: so lavish an honor, so wondrous a majesty
of old age was infused; a new vigor had augmented his limbs.
then he chants: 'O you whose fame will come through all lands,
whom, with comrades and guiding gods and by the kindly art
of Pallas, Pelias himself unprompted raises to the stars— 555
madman, while he does not expect the fleeces of the refugee Phrixus—,
I will unfold for you the fates and the places—what thanks I can render—,
and I will teach the ways of things and the end.'

ipse etiam, qui me prohibet sua pandere terris
saecula, te propter fandi mihi Iuppiter auctor. 560

Jupiter himself also, who forbids me to unfold his ages to the lands, is, on your account, for me the author of speaking. 560

hinc iter ad Ponti caput errantesque per altum
Cyaneas. furor his medio concurrere ponto;
necdum ullas videre rates: sua comminus actae
saxa premunt cautesque suas. ceu vincula mundi
ima labant, tremere ecce solum, tremere ipsa repente 565
tecta vides: illae redeunt, illae aequore certant.

from here the way to the head of the Pontus and the wandering Cyaneae over the deep.
their fury is to run together in the midst of the sea;
nor yet have they seen any ships: driven at close quarters,
they press their own rocks and their own crags. as if the deepest bonds of the world
were tottering, lo, the ground trembles; you see the very roofs suddenly tremble; 565
they draw back, they contend upon the sea.

di tibi progresso propius, di forsitan ipsi
auxilium mentemque dabunt. ast ipse iuvare
ausa quibus monitis possim tua? quippe per altum
tenditis unde procul venti, procul unde volucres, 570
et pater ipse maris pavidas detorquet habenas.

May the gods, as you advance, nearer—may the gods perhaps themselves—
grant aid and counsel to you. But I myself to help—
with what admonitions could I, if I dared, aid your enterprise? For you are stretching over the deep
where the winds are far away, where the birds are far away, 570
and the father himself of the sea turns aside the fearful reins.

siqua brevis scopulis fieret mora, si semel orsis
ulla quies, fuga tunc medio speranda recursu:
vix repetunt primae celeres confinia terrae
iamque alio clamore ruunt omnisque tenetur 575

if any brief delay should be made upon the crags, if once, after setting out,
there were any rest, then escape would be to be hoped for by a return in mid-course:
the foremost, swift, scarcely regain the borders of the land,
and now at another clamor they rush, and all are held 575

pontus et infestis anceps cum montibus errat.
verum animo redit illa meo sors cognita divum
(fabor enim nec spe dubios solabor inani):
cum mihi Tartareas saevo clangore volucres
protulit ira Iovis, vox haec simul excidit auris: 580
"ne vanas impende preces finemque malorum
expete, Agenoride! Pontum penetraverit ulla
cum ratis et rabidi steterint in gurgite montes,
tum sperare modum poenae veniamque licebit."
sic deus.

and the sea too wanders, perilous, with hostile mountains.
but back to my mind returns that fate of the gods, well-known
(for I will speak, nor will I soothe the doubtful with empty hope):
when to me the Tartarean birds, with savage clangor,
the wrath of Jove brought forth, this voice at the same time fell upon my ears: 580
"do not expend vain prayers, and seek an end of your ills,
Agenorid! When some ship shall have penetrated the Pontus
and the rabid mountains shall have stood in the whirlpool,
then it will be permitted to hope for a limit of punishment and for pardon."
thus the god.

aut vobis ergo fera [per] saxa patescunt 585
aut mea iam saevae redeunt ad pabula Dirae.
verum inter medias dabitur si currere cautes
(certe digna manus) vacuumque exibis in aequor,
proxima regna Lyci, remeat qui victor ab oris
Bebryciis. toto non ullus litore Ponti 590

either, then, the wild rocks open a way for you 585
or now the fierce Dirae return to their fodder—my own.
but if it will be granted to run amid the crags
(surely a worthy band) and you will go out into the empty sea,
the nearest realms are those of Lycus, who returns as victor from the Bebrycian shores.
on the whole shoreline of the Pontus none 590

mitior. hic lecto comitum de robore siquem
perculerit vicina lues, ne defice casus
praedicti memor atque animos accinge futuris.
illic pestiferas subter iuga concava torquet
alter aquas Acheron vastoque exundat hiatu 595
fumeus et saeva sequitur caligine campos.

milder. Here, if from the selected strength of your companions the neighboring pestilence strikes anyone down, do not fail, mindful of the foretold mishap, and gird your spirits for what is to come. There beneath concave ridges another—Acheron—twists pestiferous waters and, fumeous, inundates with a vast chasm, 595
and a savage caliginous gloom pursues the fields.

linque gravem fluvium et miseris sua fata colonis:
sic quoque non uno dabitur transcurrere luctu.
quid tibi nubifera surgentem rupe Carambin,
quid memorem quas Iris aquas aut torqueat Ancon? 600
proxima Thermodon hinc iam secat arva--memento--
inclita Amazonidum magnoque exorta Gradivo
gens ibi: femineas nec tu nunc crede catervas,
sed qualis, sed quanta viris insultat Enyo
divaque Gorgonei gestatrix innuba monstri. 605

leave the heavy river and the wretched settlers to their own fates:
even so you will not be allowed to pass with a single grief.
why should I tell you of Carambis rising with cloud-bearing crag,
why recall what waters Iris or Ancon twists? 600
nearby the Thermodon from here now cuts the fields—remember—
there is the renowned race of the Amazons, sprung from great Gradivus:
nor now believe feminine battalions,
but such as, and so great, Enyo assaults men,
and the maiden goddess, bearer of the Gorgonian monster. 605

ne tibi tunc horrenda rapax ad litora puppem
ventus agat, ludo volitans cum turma superbo
pulvereis exsultat equis ululataque tellus
intremit et pugnas mota pater incitet hasta.
non ita sit metuenda tibi saevissima quamquam 610
gens Chalybum, duris patiens cui cultus in arvis
et tonat adflicta semper domus ignea massa.
inde omnem innumeri reges per litoris oram,
hospitii quis nulla fides, sed limite recto
puppis et aequali transcurrat carbasus aura: 615
sic demum rapidi venies ad Phasidis amnem.

lest then a rapacious wind drive your ship to horrendous shores,
when the troop flits in proud sport, the dusty horses exult,
and the ululating earth trembles, and the Father, his spear set in motion, incites battles.
let not the most savage nation of the Chalybes be so much to be feared by you, although 610
for them cultivation in the fields is tolerant of hardships,
and their house always thunders with the fiery mass when smitten.
from there let your ship run past, along the whole shore, the kings beyond number,
in whom there is no good faith of hospitality; but on a straight course
let the ship and the linen sail run by with an even breeze: 615
thus at last you will come to the swift river of the Phasis.

castra ibi iam Scythiae fraternaque surgit Erinys.
ipse truces illic Colchos hostemque iuvabis
auxiliis. nec plura equidem discrimina cerno.

there already is rising the camp of Scythia, and the fraternal Erinys.
you yourself there will aid the savage Colchians, the foe, with auxiliaries.
nor indeed do I discern more perils.

fors etiam optatam dabitur contingere pellem. 620

Perhaps even the desired fleece will be granted to be touched. 620

sed te non animis nec solis viribus aequum
credere: saepe acri potior prudentia dextra.
quam tulerit deus, arripe opem. iamque ultima nobis
promere fata nefas.

but it is not right for you to trust in spirit nor in strength alone;
often prudence is superior to a keen right hand.
whatever aid the god has brought, seize. and now to bring forth to us the ultimate fates is impious.

sileo prior.' atque ita facto
fine dedit tacitis iterum responsa tenebris.                    625
      Tum subita resides socios formidine Iason
praecipitat rumpitque moras tempusque timendi.
ipse viros gradiens ad primi litoris undam
prosequitur Phineus. 'quaenam tibi praemia,' dixit
'quas, decus o Boreae, possim persolvere grates?                    630
me Pangaea super rursus iuga meque paterna
stare Tyro dulcesque iterum mihi surgere soles
nunc reor.

"I am silent first." and thus, with the discourse finished,
he gave replies again to the tacit darkness.                    625
      Then with sudden fear Jason
hurries his slack comrades and breaks both the delays and the time for fearing.
he himself, stepping, escorts the men to the wave of the foremost shore;
"What rewards for you," said Phineus, "what thanks, O glory of Boreas, can I pay in full?                    630
I now think that over the ridges of Pangaea and in my paternal Tyre
I stand again, and that sweet suns rise for me again."

exactae (verumne?) abiere volucres
nec metuam tutaeque dapes? date tangere vultus,
dem sinite amplexus propiusque accedite dextrae.' 635

driven out (is it true?) have the birds departed
and shall I not fear, and are the banquets safe? grant me to touch your visages,
allow me to give embraces and draw nearer to my right hand.' 635

dixerat. abscedunt terris et litora condunt.
Omnibus extemplo saeva sub imagine rupes
Cyaneae propior<que> labor.

He had spoken. They depart from the lands and hide the shores.
At once, for all, under a grim image, the Cyanean cliffs
and a nearer labor appear.

quando adfore quaque
parte putent? stant ora metu nec fessa recedunt
lumina diversas circum servantibus undas, 640
cum procul auditi sonitus insanaque saxa,
saxa neque illa viris, sed praecipitata profundo
siderei pars visa poli. dumque ocius instant,
ferre fugam maria ante ratem, maria ipsa repente
deficere adversosque vident discedere montes, 645
omnibus et gelida rapti formidine remi.

when do they think they will be at hand and from what quarter?
their faces stand fixed with fear, nor do their weary eyes withdraw,
keeping watch around the diverse waters, 640
when from afar the crashes are heard and the insane rocks—
rocks not for men, but, hurled headlong into the deep,
seemed a part of the sidereal pole. And while they press on more swiftly,
the seas take to flight before the ship, the seas themselves suddenly
fail, and they see the opposing mountains part; 645
and from all, the oars are snatched by icy dread.

ipse per arma volans et per iuga summa carinae
hortatur supplexque manus intendit Iason
nomine quemque premens: 'ubi nunc promissa superba
ingentesque minae, mecum quibus ista secuti? 650

he himself, flying through the arms and over the topmost ridges of the hull,
encourages, and Jason stretches forth suppliant hands,
pressing each by name: 'where now are the proud promises
and the huge menaces, with which you followed this venture with me?' 650

idem Amyci certe visus timor omnibus antro
perculerat; stetimus tamen et deus adfuit ausis.
quin iterum idem aderit, credo, deus.' haec ubi fatus
corripit abiecti remumque locumque Phaleri
et trahit, insequitur flammata pudore iuventus. 655
unda laborantes praeceps rotat ac fuga ponti
obvia. miscentur rupes iamque aequore toto
Cyaneae iuga praecipites inlisa remittunt.

that same fear of Amycus’s sight had surely struck down all in the cave; nevertheless we stood fast and a god was present to our ventures.
nay rather, the same god, I believe, will be present again.' When he had spoken these things,
he snatches the oar and the station of fallen Phalerus
and draws it to him; the youth, inflamed with shame, follows. 655
a headlong wave whirls the struggling men, and their flight meets the sea head-on.
the crags are commingled, and now over the whole sea
the Cyanean ridges, headlong, rebound after being dashed together.

bis fragor infestas cautes adversaque saxis
saxa dedit, flamma expresso bis fulsit in imbri. 660
sicut multifidus ruptis e nubibus horror
effugit et tenebras nimbosque intermicat ignis
terrificique ruunt tonitrus elisaque noctem
lux dirimit (pavor ora virum, pavor occupat aures),
haud secus implevit pontum fragor; effluit imber 665

twice the crash gave stones to the hostile reefs, and against rocks
rocks; twice flame flashed in the wrung-out rain. 660
just as a many-cleft terror, from clouds burst asunder,
flees forth, and fire interflashes between darkness and storm-clouds,
and terrific thunders rush, and light, the night beaten apart,
divides it (fear seizes the faces of men, fear occupies their ears),
not otherwise did the crash fill the sea; the rain flows forth. 665

spumeus et magno puppem procul aequore vestit.
Advertere dei defixaque numina ponto,
quid scopulis praeclusa ratis, quid dura iuventus
expediat. pendet magnis favor ortus ab ausis.

spumy, and from the great sea it clothes the stern from afar.
The gods turned their attention, and the numina were fixed upon the deep,
what the ship, barred by the rocks, what the hardy youth
might expedite. Favor, arisen, hangs upon great ventures of daring.

prima coruscanti signum dedit aegide virgo 670
fulmineam iaculata facem. vixdum ardua cautes
cesserat, illa volans tenui per concita saxa
luce fugit. rediere viris animique manusque
ut videre viam.

the maiden first gave the signal with her flashing aegis, having hurled a lightning torch. 670
scarcely had the steep crag been left behind, she, flying,
sped through the roused rocks with slender light.
with slender light she fled. their spirits and their hands returned to the men
as soon as they saw the way.

'sequor, o quicumque deorum,'
Aesonides 'vel fallis' ait praecepsque fragores 675
per medios ruit et fumo se condidit atro.
coeperat hinc cedens abductis montibus unda
ferre ratem pelagoque dies occurrere aperto.
sed neque permissis iam fundere rector habenis
vela neque eniti remis pote, cum super adsunt 680

'I follow, O whoever of the gods,'
Aesonides says, 'or even if you beguile,' and, headlong, the crashes 675
through the midst he rushes and hides himself in black smoke.
From here the wave, yielding with the mountains drawn aside, had begun
to carry the ship, and day to meet them on the open sea.
But neither was the helmsman able, the reins now permitted to be let loose,
to pour out the sails nor to strive with oars, when from above they are upon them 680

Cyaneae. premit umbra ratem scopulique feruntur
comminus. hic <Iuno> praecepsque ex aethere Pallas
insiliunt pariter scopulos: hunc nata coercet,
hunc coniunx Iovis, ut valido qui robore tauros
sub iuga et invito detorquet in ilia cornu. 685
inde, velut mixtis Vulcanius ardor harenis
verset aquas, sic ima fremunt fluctuque coacto
angitur et clausum scopulos super effluit aequor.

The Cyaneae. a shadow presses the ship and the cliffs are borne up close
at close quarters. here and Pallas headlong from the aether
leap together upon the rocks: this one the daughter restrains,
that one the spouse of Jove, as one who with mighty strength brings bulls
beneath the yoke and with his horn twists into unwilling flanks. 685
then, as if a Vulcanian heat with mingled sands
were turning the waters, so the depths roar, and with the wave forced
the sea is strangled and, shut in, overflows above the rocks.

contra omnes validis tenui discrimine remis
pergere iter mediosque ratem transferre per ictus. 690
saxa sed extremis tamen increpuere corymbis
parsque (nefas) deprensa iugis, nam cetera caelo
debita. conclamant Minyae, latera utraque quippe
dissiluisse putant. fugit ipse novissimus ictus
Tiphys et <e> mediis sequitur freta rapta ruinis 695

against all, with stout oars and by a thin margin, to pursue the course and to carry the ship through the blows in the midst. 690
yet the rocks rattled against the outermost corymbs, and a part—monstrous!—was caught on the ridges, for the rest are owed to the sky. The Minyae shout all together, for they think that both flanks have burst apart. Tiphys himself flees the latest stroke and from the midst follows the straits, swept with ruins. 695

nec prius obsessum scopulis respexit ad aequor
aut sociis temptata quies, nigrantia quam iam
litora longinquique exirent flumina Rhebae.
tunc fessas posuere manus, tunc arida anheli
pectora, discussa quales formidine Averni 700
Alcides Theseusque comes pallentia iungunt
oscula vix primis amplexi luminis oris.
nec vero ipse metus curasque resolvere ductor,
sed maria aspectans 'heu qui datus iste deorum
sorte labor nobis!

nor did they look back toward the sea besieged by crags,
nor did tried repose come to the comrades, before now the blackening
shores and the far-distant streams of the Rhebas came into view.
then they set down their weary hands, then their dry, panting
breasts; like men who, the dread of Avernus shaken off, 700
Alcides and his companion Theseus join pallid kisses,
scarcely having embraced the very borders of first light.
nor indeed did the leader himself unloose his fears and cares,
but gazing upon the seas: 'alas, what toil given by the gods’
lot has been assigned to us!

serum ut veniamus ad amnem 705
Phasidis et mites' inquit 'dent vellera Colchi,
unde per hos iterum montes fuga?' talia fundit
imperio fixos Iovis aeternumque revinctos
nescius. id fati certa nam lege manebat,
siqua per hos undis umquam ratis isset apertis. 710

that we should come late to the river of the Phasis, 705
and that the gentle Colchians,' he says, 'give the fleeces—whence again a flight through these mountains?' He pours forth such words, unaware that by Jove’s command they had been fixed and bound forever. For this remained by a sure law of fate, if ever any raft should have gone through these with the waves opened. 710

      Tum freta, quae longis fuerant impervia saeclis,
ad subitam stup<uer>e ratem Pontique iacentis
omne solum regesque patent gentesque repostae.
non alibi effusis cesserunt longius undis
litora, non, tantas quamvis Tyrrhenus et Aegon                    715
volvat aquas, geminis tot desint Syrtibus undae.
nam super huc vastos tellus quoque congerit amnes;
non septemgemini memorem quas exitus Histri,
quas Tanais flavusque Tyres Hypanisque Novasque
addat opes quantosque sinus Maeotia laxent                    720
aequora.

      Then the straits, which had been impassable through long ages,
were astonished at the sudden ship, and the whole expanse of level Pontus,
and kings and peoples long reposed, lie open.
Nowhere else have the shores yielded farther to outpoured waves,
nor, though Tyrrhenus and Aegon roll such vast waters,                    715
are so many waves lost to the twin Syrtes.
For moreover, hither the land also heaps up vast rivers;
not to mention what wealth the outlet of the seven-mouthed Hister adds,
what the Tanais and the tawny Tyres and the Hypanis and the Novas
add, and what great bays the Maeotian waters open out.                    720
waters.

flumineo sic agmine fregit amari
vim salis hinc Boreae cedens glaciantibus auris
Pontus et exorta facilis concrescere bruma.
utque vel immotos Ursae rigor invehit amnes
vel freta versa vadis, hiemem sic unda per omnem 725

thus with a fluvial column it broke the force of the bitter brine;
from here, yielding to Boreas with glaciating winds,
the Pontus too, with winter arisen, was easy to congeal.
and as the rigor of the Bear rides over even motionless rivers
or the straits turned into shallows, thus the wave through all the winter 725

aut campo iacet aut tumido riget ardua fluctu,
atque hac Europam curvis anfractibus urget,
hac Asiam, Scythicum specie sinuatus in arcum.
illic umbrosae semper stant aequore nubes
et non certa dies, primo nec sole profundum                    730
solvitur aut vernis cum lux aequata tenebris,
sed redit extremo tandem in sua litora Tauro.
      Iam Mariandynis advertit puppis harenis
atque celer terras regemque exquirit Echion
dicta ferens lectos (fama est si nominis umquam)                    735
Haemoniae subiisse viros, det litora fessis.
adproperat Lycus auditis laetatus Achivis
ac simul Aesoniden omnemque in regia turbam
tecta trahit modo Bebryciis praefixa tropaeis,
mitis et in mediis effatur talia Grais:                    740

either it lies like a plain or, with the swelling billow, the steep stands rigid,
and on this side it presses Europe with curving anfractures,
on that, Asia, bent, in semblance, into a Scythian bow.
there shadowy clouds ever stand upon the sea
and the day is not sure, nor is the deep loosed by the first sun                    730
or when light is made equal with the vernal darkness,
but at last it returns to its own shores, at the farthest, in Taurus.
      Now the stern veers toward the Mariandynian sands
and swiftly Echion seeks the lands and the king,
bearing words that chosen men of Haemonia (if ever there was report of the name)                    735
have come, let him grant shores to the weary.
Lycus hastens, gladdened at hearing of the Achaeans,
and at once he draws the Aesonid and the whole throng into the royal house,
roofs lately fronted with Bebrycian trophies,
and mild, in the midst of the Greeks, he utters such words:                    740

'haud temere est, fato divum reor ad mea vectos
litora vos, odium quibus atque eadem ira furentis
Bebryciae saevaque pares de gente triumphi:
certa fides animis, idem quibus incidit hostis.
nos quoque, nos Amycum tanto procul orbe remoti 745
sensimus et saevis frater mihi fusus harenis.
ultor ego atque illuc cunctis accensus in armis
tunc aderam, cum vos mediis contenta ferebant
vela fretis.

'not by chance is it—I think by the fate of the gods—that you have been borne to my shores,
you for whom the hatred and the same wrath of raging Bebrycia,
and savage, equal triumphs from that race, are fitting:
sure faith is in souls upon whom the same enemy has fallen.
we too, we, far removed across so great a world, have felt Amycus, 745
and my brother lay poured out upon the savage sands.
I, the avenger, and thither, inflamed in all arms,
was then present, when your sails, content, were bearing you
through the mid-seas.

illum in sanie taboque recenti
vidimus aequoreo similem per litora monstro. 750
nec vero praerepta mihi suprema tyranni
fata queror bellove magis laetarer et armis
procubuisse meis, quam lege quod occidit ultus
ipse sua meritoque madent quod sanguine caestus.'
excipit Aesonides: 'tuus ergo in montibus ignis 755

we saw him, in fresh gore and corruption,
along the shores, like to a sea-monster. 750
nor indeed do I complain that the tyrant’s last fates
were snatched from me, nor would I have rejoiced more had he
fallen by my war and arms, than that, avenged, he himself perished
by his own law, and that the cestus justly drip with blood.'
the son of Aeson takes it up: 'so then your fire in the mountains 755

ille? tuas acies medio de gurgite vidi?'
fatur et ostentans prolem Iovis 'hic tibi Pollux
en,' ait 'inviso solvit cui pectore poenas.'
ille virum circa mirantia lumina volvit.
festa dehinc mediis ineunt convivia tectis 760
communesque vocant superos, quorum eruta nutu
Bebrycia, et votis pariter praeda<que> fruuntur.

“that one? Was it your battle-lines I saw from the midst of the whirlpool?”
he speaks, and displaying the offspring of Jove: “here for you, Pollux,
behold,” he says, “to whom he paid the penalties with his detested breast.”
he rolls his wondering eyes around the man.
then thereafter they enter upon festive, convivial banquets in the midst of the halls 760
and they call upon the common gods above, at whose nod Bebrycia has been uprooted, and they equally enjoy their vows and the booty.