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) KO) &i) tO) BFW OF. G Fae ODL U Le f OVID METAMORPHOSES BOOKS 1-8 Translated by BINAINK JUST US MILEBR Revised by G. P. Goold Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2011 with funding from Brigham Young University http://www.archive.org/details/metamorphoses01 ovid THE LOEB CLASSICAL LIBRARY FOUNDED BY JAMES LOEB, LL.D. EDITED BY | Db EK. H. WARMINGTON, M.A., F.R.HIST.SOO. FORMER EDITORS + T. E. PAGE, c.H., LiTt.p. + E. CAPPS, PH.D., LL.D. + W. H. D. ROUSE, tirt.p. L. A. POST, L.u.p. OVID 1It METAMORPHOSES i 42 ANCIENT STUDIES Qr % f.8 LSS OVID V. 82 IN SIX VOLUMES iit METAMORPHOSES WITH AN ENGLISH TRANSLATION BY FRANK JUSTUS MILLER, Pu.D., LL.D. PROFESSOR IN THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO IN TWO VOLUMES id BOOKS I—VIII we \ na my) i : AN =) CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESS LONDON WILLIAM HEINEMANN LTD MCMLXXI keg ee mein il tele Cr tee ihe YN we ee a ene, wile Oyen Liye fleet one LI wnece American ISBN 0-674-99046-3 British ISBN 0 434 99042 6 First Published 1916 Second Edition 1921 Reprinted 1925, 1928, 1929, 1936, 1939, 1944, 1946, 1951, 1956, 1960, 1966, 1971 a Printed in Great Britain THE LIpR. A RY ; BRIGHAM YOUN:. ONIVERSITY PROVO, UTAH CONTENTS PAGE INTRODUCTION Vil BIBLIOGRAPHY Xl METAMORPHOSES : BOOK I l BOOK II 59 BOOK III 123 BOOK IV 177 BOOK V 237 BOOK VI 287 BOOK VII. O41 BOOK VIII 405 INTRODUCTION PropaBLy no Roman writer has revealed himself more frankly in his works than has Publius Ovidius Naso. Indeed, the greater part of our knowledge of him is gained from his own writings. References to his parentage, his early education, his friends, his work, his manner of life, his reverses—all lie scattered freely through his pages. Especially is this true of the Amores, and of the two groups of poems written from his exile. The Metamorphoses are naturally free from biographical material. Not content with occasional references, the poet has taken care to leave to posterity a somewhat extended and formal account of his life. From this (Z'ristea, tv. 10) we learn that he was born at Sulmo in the Pelignian country, 43 B.c., of well-to-do parents of equestrian rank, and that he had one brother, exactly one year older than himself. His own bent, from early childhood, was towards poetry ; but in this he was opposed by his practical father, who desired that both his sons should prepare for the profession of the law, a desire with which both the brothers complied, but the younger with only half-hearted and temporary devotion. Having reached the age of manhood, young Ovid found public life utterly distasteful to him, and now that he was his own master, he gave loose rein to his poetic fancy and abandoned himself to the enjoy- vil INTRODUCTION ment of the gay social life of Rome. He soon gained admission to the choice circle of the poets of his day, paying unlimited devotion to the masters of his art, and quickly becoming himself the object of no small admiration on the part of younger poets. His youthful poems soon gained fame among the people also, and his love poems became the popular lyrics of the town. Though extremely susceptible to the influences of love, he proudly boasts that his private life was above reproach. He contracted two unhappy mar- riages in his youth, but his third marriage was a lasting joy to him. And now his father and his mother died. The poet, while deeply mourning their loss with true filial devotion, still cannot but rejoice that they died before that disgrace came upon him which was to darken his own life and the lives of all whom he loved. For now, as the early frosts of age were beginning to whiten his locks, in the year 8 of our era, a sudden calamity fell upon him, no less than an imperial decree against him of perpetual banishment to the far-off shores of the Euxine Sea. The cause of this decree he only hints at; but he gives us to understand that it was an error of his judgment and not of his heart.! Exiled to savage Tomi, far from home and friends and the delights of his beloved Rome, he was forced to live in a rigorous climate, an unlovely land, midst a society of uncultured semi-savages. His chief solace was the cultivation of his art, and in this he spent the tiresome days. He ends his autobiography 1 Augustus, indeed, gave as his reason the immorality of Ovid’s love poems, but this is gencrally supposed to be only a cloak for a more personal and private reason. vill INTRODUCTION with a strain of thanksgiving to his muse, and a prophecy of his world-wide fame and literary im- mortality. Though Ovid says that he strove to bear his misfortunes with a manly fortitude, the poems of his exile abound in plaintive lamentations at his hard lot, petitions to his friends in Rome, and unmanly subserviency to Augustus, and later to Tiberius, in the hope of gaining his recall. These, however, were all in vain, and he died at Tomi in A.D. 18, after a banishment of nearly ten years. Ovid’s greatest work, the fruit of the best years of the prime of his life, when his imagination had ripened and his poetic vigour was at its height, was the Metamorphoses, finished in a.p. 7, just before his banishment. In the poet’s own judgment, however, the poem was not finished, and, in his despair on learning of his impending exile, his burned his manuscript. He himself tells us of his motive for this rash act (Tristia, 1.7): ““ On departing from Rome, I burned this poem as well as many others of my works, either because I was disgusted with poetry which had proved my bane, or because this poem was still rough and unfinished.”’ But fortunately copies of this great work still survived in the hands of friends ; and in this letter he begs his friends now to publish it, and at the same time he begs his readers to remember that the poem has never received its author’s finishing touches and so to be lenient in their judgment of it. In the Metamorphoses Ovid attempts no less a task than the linking together into one artistically har- monious whole all the stories of classical mythology. And this he does, until the whole range of wonders 1X INTRODUCTION (miraculous changes, hence the name, Metamorphoses) is passed in review, from the dawn of creation, when chaos was changed by divine fiat into the orderly universe, down to the very age of the poet himself, when the soul of Julius Caesar was changed to a star and set in the heavens among the immortals. Every important myth is at least touched upon, and though the stories differ widely in place and time, there is no break in the sequence of narration. The poet has seized upon every possible thread of con- nexion as he passes on from cycle to cycle of story ; and where this connexion is lacking, by various ingenious and artistic devices a connecting-link is found. The poem thus forms a manual of classical myth- ology, and is the most important source of mythical lore for all writers since Ovid’s time. This is the real, tangible service which he has done the literary world. Many of these.stories could now be obtained from the sources whence Ovid himself drew them— from Homer, Hesiod, the Greek tragedians, the Alexandrine poets, and many others. And yet many stories, but for him, would have been lost to us; and all of them he has so vivified by his strong poetic imagination that they have come down to us with added freshness and life. The classic myths have always had a strong fasci- nation for later writers, and so numerous are both passing and extended references to these in English literature, and especially in the poets, that he who reads without a classical background reads with many lapses of his understanding and appreciation. While the English poets have, of course, drawn from all classic sources, they are indebted for their myth- ology largely to Ovid. The poet would have been Xx INTRODUCTION accessible after 1567 even to writers not versed in Latin, for in that year Golding’s translation of Ovid appeared. An admirable study of the influence of classic myth on the writings of Shakespeare has been made,} in which the author finds that Shakespeare was thoroughly familiar with the myths, and makes very free use of them. We read: “ Though the number of definite allusions in Shakespeare is smaller than that of the vague ones, they are yet sufficiently numerous to admit of satisfactory conclusions. Of these allusions, for which a definite source can be assigned, it will be found that an overwhelming majority are directly due to Ovid, while the re- mainder, with few exceptions, are from Vergil. .. . Throughout, the influence of Ovid is at least four times as great as that of Vergil; the whole character of Shakespeare’s mythology is essentially Ovidian.” What is true of Shakespeare is still more true of numerous other English poets in respect to their use of classical mythology. They do not always, indeed, use the myths in Ovid’s manner, which is that of one whose sole attention is on the story, which he tells with eager interest, simply for the sake of telling ; and yet such earlier classicists as Spenser and Milton 2 have so thoroughly imbibed the spirit of the classics that they deal with the classic stories quite as sub- jectively as Ovid himself. But among later English poets we find a tendency to objectify the myths, to rationalize them, to philosophize upon them, draw 1 Classical Mythology in Shakespeare. By Robert Kilburn Root. New York: Henry Holt and Co., 1903. - 2 See The Classical Mythology of Milton’s English Poems. By Charles Grosvenor Osgood. New York: Henry Holt and Co., 1900, Xl INTRODUCTION lessons from them, and even to burlesque them. Perhaps the most interesting development of all is found in our own time, a decided tendency to revamp the classical stories, though not always in the classical spirit—a kind of Pre-Raphaelite movement in poetry. Prominently in this class of poets should be named Walter Savage Landor, Edmund Gosse, Lewis and William Morris, and F[rederick Tennyson; while many others have caught the same spirit and written in the same form. The Latin text of this edition is based on that of Ehwald, published by Messrs. Weidmann, of Berlin, who have generously given permission to use it. All deviations of any importance from Ehwald’s text have been noted, and EKhwald’s readings given with their sources. Cuicaco, March 1915. Xl BIBLIOGRAPHY I. EDITIO PRINCEPS Bologna. Edited by Franciscus Puteolanus. Printed by Azzoguidi, 1471. There was also an edition printed at Rome in the same year. It. EARLY FAMOUS EDITIONS The Aldus edition. Venice, 1502. The commentary edition of Burmann, containing besides Burmann’s exhaustive notes, those of Micylius, Ciofanus, and Heinsius. Amsterdam 1727. Til. LATEST CRITICAL EDITIONS Hugo Magnus. Gotha, 18927. A. Zingerle. Prag, 1884. M. Haupt, O. Korn, H. J. Miiller, and R. Ehwald. Berlin, I® 1903, II? 1898. The present edition follows this text, except as noted. R. Merkel. Leipzig, 1888. Rudolfus Ehwald. Metamorphoses ex iterata R. Merkelii recognitione. Kditio maior. Leipzig, qt. Y’. Bonner. Metamorphosen. Kommentar. Bks. 1-3, Heidelberg 1969. A. G. Lee. ed. of Bk. 1. Cambridge, 1963. A. Hollis. ed. of Bk. 8. Oxford, 1970. X1il BIBLIOGRAPHY IV. CRITICAL TREATISES Schénfeld, Ovids Metamorphosen in threm Verhdéiltnis zur anttken Kunst. Leipzig, 1877. Sobieski, Vergel und Ovid nach thren Gleichnissen in der Aeneid und den Metamorphosen. Lemberg, 1861. Ebert, Der Anachronismus in Ovids Metamorphosen. Ansbach, 1888. Liidke, Ueber Laut-maleret in Ovids Metamorphosen. Stralsund, 1871. William Bréton, Metamorphosen libros Ovidius quo consilio susceperit, qua arte perfecerit. Paris, 1882. George Lafaye, Les Métamorphoses d’Ovide et leurs modeles grecs. Paris, 1904. E. K. Rand, Ovid and the Spirit of Metamorphosis. Harvard Essays on Classical Subjects (pp. 209- 238), 1912. Rudolph Schevill, Ovzd and the Renascence in Spain. University of California Press, 1913. V. APPRECIATIONS Frédéric Plessis, La Poéste latine (pp. 410-470). Paris, 1909. Otto Ribbeck, Geschichte der Rémische Dichtung (Vol. II, pp. 225-340). Stuttgart, 1900. W. Y. Sellar, The Roman Poets of the Augustan Age: Horace and the Elegiac Poets (pp. 324-362). Oxford, 1892. X1V BIBLIOGRAPHY VI. INDICES Burmann, in the second half of the fourth volume of his commentary. Siebelis-Polle. Leipzig, 1893. VII. TRANSLATIONS Golding (" Shakespeare’s Ovid ”’). London, 1567. Reprinted by the De La More Press, London, 1904. Sandys, Ovid’s Metamorphosis, Englished, Mythologized, and Represented in Figures. Oxford, 1632. Dryden, Pope, Congreve, Addison, and others. London, 1717. Riley. London, 1851. King, Metamorphoses Translated. Edinburgh, 1871. XV METAMORPHOSES METAMORPHOSEON LIBER I In nova fert animus mutatas dicere formas corpora; di, coeptis (nam vos mutastis et illas) adspirate meis primaque ab origine mundi ad mea perpetuum deducite tempora carmen! Ante mare et terras et quod tegit omnia caelum 5 unus erat toto naturae vultus in orbe, — quem dixere chaos: rudis indigestaque moles nec quicquam nisi pondus iners congestaque eodem non bene iunctarum discordia semina rerum. nullus adhue mundo praebebat lumina Titan, nec nova crescendo reparabat cornua Phoebe, nec circumfuso pendebat in aere tellus ponderibus librata suis, nec bracchia longo margine terrarum porrexerat Amphitrite ; utque erat et tellus illic et pontus et aer, sic erat instabilis tellus, innabilis unda, lucis egens aer; nulli sua forma manebat, obstabatque aliis aliud, quia corpore in uno frigida pugnabant calidis, umentia siccis, 10 15 mollia cum duris, sine pondere, habentia pondus. 20 Hanc deus et melior litem natura diremit. nam caelo terras et terris abscidit undas 2 METAMORPHOSES BOOK I My mind is bent to tell of bodies changed into new forms. Ye gods, for you yourselves have wrought the changes, breathe on these my undertakings, and bring down my song in unbroken strains from the world’s very beginning even unto the present time. Before the sea was, and the lands, and the sky that hangs over all, the face of Nature showed alike in her whole round, which state have men called chaos: a rough, unordered mass of things, nothing at all save lifeless bulk and warring seeds of ill-matched elements heaped in one. No sun as yet shone forth upon the world, nor did the waxing moon renew her slender horns ; not yet did the earth hang poised by her own weight in the circumambient air, nor had the ocean stretched her arms along the far reaches of the lands. And, though there was both land and sea and air, no one could tread that land, or swim that sea; and the air was dark. No form of things remained the same; all objects were at odds, for within one body cold things strove with hot, and moist with dry, soft things with hard, things having weight with weightless things. God—or kindlier Nature—composed this strife ; for he rent asunder land from sky, and sea from land, 3 OVID et liquidum spisso secrevit ab aere caelum. quae postquam evolvit caecoque exemit acervo, dissociata locis concordi pace ligavit : ignea convexi vis et sine pondere caeli emicuit summaque locum sibi fecit in arce ; proximus est aer illi levitate locoque ; densior his tellus elementaque grandia traxit et pressa est gravitate sua; circumfluus umor ultima possedit solidumque coercuit orbem. Sic ubi dispositam quisquis fuit ille deorum congeriem secuit sectamque in membra coegit, principio terram, ne non aequalis ab omni parte foret, magni speciem glomeravit in orbis. tum freta diffundi rapidisque tumescere ventis iussit et ambitae circumdare litora terrae ; addidit et fontes et stagna inmensa lacusque fluminaque obliquis cinxit declivia ripis, quae, diversa locis, partim sorbentur ab ipsa, in mare perveniunt partim campoque recepta liberioris aquae pro ripis litora pulsant. iussit et extendi campos, subsidere valles, fronde tegi silvas, lapidosos surgere montes, utque duae dextra caelum totidemque sinistra parte secant zonae, quinta est ardentior illis, sic onus inclusum numero distinxit eodem cura dei, totidemque plagae tellure premuntur. quarum quae media est, non est habitabilis aestu ; 4 25 30 35 40 45 METAMORPHOSES BOOK I and separated the ethereal heavens from the dense atmosphere. When thus he had released these ele- ments and freed them from the blind heap of things, he set them each in its own place and bound them fast in harmony. The fiery weightless element that forms heaven’s vault leaped up and made place for itself upon the topmost height. Next came the air in lightness and in place. The earth was heavier than these, and, drawing with it the grosser ele- ments, sank to the bottom by its own weight. The streaming water took the last place of all, and held the solid land confined in its embrace. When he, whoever of the gods it was, had thus arranged in order and resolved that chaotic mass, and reduced it, thus resolved, to cosmic parts, he first moulded the earth into the form of a mighty ball so that it might be of like form on every side. Then he bade the waters to spread abroad, to rise in waves beneath the rushing winds, and fling them- selves around the shores of the encircled earth. Springs, too, and huge, stagnant pools and lakes he made, and hemmed down-flowing rivers within their shelving banks, whose waters, each far remote from each, are partly swallowed by the earth itself, and partly flow down to the sea; and being thus received into the expanse of a freer flood, beat now on shores instead of banks. Then did he bid plains to stretch out, valleys-to sink down, woods to be clothed in leafage, and the rock-ribbed mountains to arise. And as the celestial vault is cut by two zones on the right and two on the left, and there is a fifth zone between, hotter than these, so did the providence of God mark off the enclosed mass with the same number of zones, and the same tracts were stamped upon the earth. The central zone of these may not be dwelt in by 5 OVID nix tegit alta duas; totidem inter utramque locavit 50 temperiemque dedit mixta cum frigore flamma. __ Inminet his aer, qui quanto est pondere terrae, pondere aquae levior, tanto est onerosior igni. illic et nebulas, illic consistere nubes : iussit et humanas motura tonitrua mentes 5D et cum fulminibus facientes frigora ventos. His quoque non passim mundi fabricator habendum aera permisit; vix nunc obsistitur illis, cum sua quisque regat diverso flamina tractu, quin lanient mundum; tanta est discordia fratrum. Kurus ad Auroram Nabataeaque regna recessit 61 Persidaque et radiis iuga subdita matutinis ; vesper et occiduo quae litora sole tepescunt, proxima sunt Zephyro; Scythiam septemque triones horrifer invasit Boreas; contraria tellus 65 nubibus adsiduis pluviaque madescit ab Austro. haec super inposuit liquidum et gravitate carentem aethera nec quicquam terrenae faecis habentem. Vix ita limitibus dissaepserat omnia certis, cum, quae pressa diu fuerant caligine caeca, 10 sidera coeperunt toto effervescere caelo; neu regio foret ulla suis animalibus orba, astra tenent caeleste solum formaeque deorum, cesserunt nitidis habitandae piscibus undae, terra feras cepit, volucres agitabilis aer. 15 Sanctius his animal mentisque capacius altae deerat adhuc et quod dominari in cetera posset ; 6 i METAMORPHOSES BOOK I reason of the heat; deep snow covers two, two he placed between and gave them temperate climate, mingling heat with cold. The air hung over all, which is as much heavier than fire as the weight of water is lighter than the weight of earth. There did the creator bid the mists and clouds to take their place, and thunder, that should shake the hearts of men, and winds which with the thunderbolts make chilling cold. To these also the world’s creator did not allot the air that they might hold it everywhere. [ven as it is, they can scarce be prevented, though they control their blasts, each in his separate tract, from tearing the world to pieces. So fiercely do these brothers strive together. But Eurus drew off to the land of the dawn and the realms of Araby, and where the Persian hills flush beneath the morning light. The western shores which glow with the setting sun are the place of Zephyrus: while bristling Boreas betook himself to Scythia and the farthest north. The land far opposite is wet with constant fog and rain, the home of Auster, the South-wind. Above these all he <_placed the liquid, weightless ether, which has naught of earthy dregs. Scarce had he thus parted off all things within their determined bounds, when the stars, which had long been lying hid crushed down beneath the dark- ness, began to gleam throughout the sky. And, that no region might be without its own forms of animate life, the stars and divine forms occupied the floor of heaven, the sea fell to the shining fishes for their home, earth received the beasts, and the mobile air the birds. A living creature of finer stuff than these, more capable of lofty thought, one who could have dominion over all the rest, was lacking yet. Then man was born: 7 OVID natus homo est, sive hunc divino semine fecit ille opifex rerum, mundi melioris origo, sive recens tellus seductaque nuper ab alto 80 aethere cognati retinebat semina caeli. quam satus Japeto, mixtam pluvialibus undis, finxit in efigiem moderantum cuncta deorum, pronaque cum spectent animalia cetera terram, os homini sublime dedit caelumque videre 85 iussit et erectos ad sidera tollere vultus : sic, modo quae fuerat rudis et sine imagine, tellus induit ignotas hominum conversa figuras. Aurea prima sata est aetas, quae vindice nullo, sponte sua, sine lege fidem rectumque colebat. 90 poena metusque aberant, nec verba minantia fixo aere legebantur, nec supplex turba timebat iudicis ora sui, sed erant sine iudice tuti. nondum caesa suis, peregrinum ut viseret orbem, montibus in liquidas pinus descenderat undas, 95 nullaque mortales praeter sua litora norant ; nondum praecipites cingebant oppida fossae ; non tuba directi, non aeris cornua flexi, non galeae, non ensis erant: sine militis usu mollia securae peragebant otia gentes. 100 ipsa quoque inmunis rastroque intacta nec ullis saucia vomeribus per se dabat omnia tellus, contentique cibis nullo cogente creatis arbuteos fetus montanaque fraga legebant cornaque et in duris haerentia mora rubetis 105 et quae deciderant patula Iovis arbore glandes. 8 METAMORPHOSES BOOK I whether the god who made all else, designing a more perfect world, made man of his own divine substance, or whether the new earth, but lately drawn away from heavenly ether, retained still some elements of its kindred sky—that earth which the son of Iapetus mixed with fresh, running water, and moulded into the form of the all-controlling gods. And, though all other animals are prone, and fix their gaze upon the earth, he gave to man an up- lifted face and bade him stand erect and turn his eyes to heaven. So, then, the earth, which had but lately been a rough and formless thing, was changed and clothed itself with forms of men before unknown. Golden was that first age, which, with no one to compel, without a law, of its own will, kept faith and did the right. There was no fear of punishment, no threatening words were to be read on brazen tablets; no suppliant throng gazed fearfully upon its judge’s face; but without judges lived secure. Not yet had the pine-tree, felled on its native moun- tains, descended thence into the watery plain to visit other lands; men knew no shores except their own. Not yet were cities begirt with steep moats; there were no trumpets of straight, no horns of curving brass, no swords or helmets. There was no need at all of armed men, for nations, secure from war’s alarms, passed the years in gentle ease. The earth herself, without com- pulsion, untouched by hoe or plowshare, of herself gave all things needful. And men, content with food which came with no one’s seeking, gathered the arbute fruit, strawberries from the mountain-sides, cornel-cherries, berries hanging thick upon the prickly bramble, and acorns fallen from the spread- ing tree of Jove. Then spring was everlasting, and 9 OVID ver erat aeternum, placidique tepentibus auris mulcebant zephyri natos sine semine flores ; mox etiam fruges tellus inarata ferebat, nec renovatus ager gravidis canebat aristis ; 110 flumina iam lactis, iam flumina nectaris ibant, flavaque de viridi stillabant ilice mella. Postquam Saturno tenebrosa in Tartara misso sub Iove mundus erat, subiit argentea proles, auro deterior, fulvo pretiosior aere. 115 Iuppiter antiqui contraxit tempora veris perque hiemes aestusque et inaequalis autumnos et breve ver spatiis exegit quattuor annum. tum primum siccis aer fervoribus ustus canduit, et ventis glacies adstricta pependit ; 120 tum primum subiere domos; domus antra fuerunt et densi frutices et vinctae cortice virgae. semina tum primum longis Cerealia sulcis obruta sunt, pressique iugo gemuere iuvenci. Tertia post illam successit aenea proles, 125 saevior ingeniis et ad horrida promptior arma, non scelerata tamen; de duro est ultima ferro. protinus inrupit venae peioris in aevum omne nefas fugitque pudor verumque fidesque ; in quorum subiere locum fraudesque dolusque 130 insidiaeque et vis et amor sceleratus habendi. vela dabant ventis nec adhuc bene noverat illos navita, quaeque prius steterant in montibus altis, fluctibus ignotis exsultavere carinae, communemque prius ceu lumina solis et auras 135 IO METAMORPHOSES BOOK I gentle zephyrs with warm breath played with the flowers that sprang unplanted. Anon the earth, untilled, brought forth her stores of grain, and the fields, though unfallowed, grew white with the heavy, bearded wheat. Streams of milk and streams of sweet nectar flowed, and yellow honey was distilled from the verdant oak. After Saturn had been banished to the dark land of death, and the world was under the sway of Jove, the silver race came in, lower in the scale than gold, but of greater worth than yellow brass. Jove now shortened the bounds of the old-time spring, and through winter, summer, variable autumn, and brief spring completed the year in four seasons. Then first the parched air glared white with burning heat, and icicles hung down congealed by freezing winds. In that age men first sought the shelter of houses. Their homes had heretofore been caves, dense thickets, and branches bound together with bark. Then first the seeds of grain were planted in long furrows, and bullocks groaned beneath the heavy yoke. Next after this and third in order came the brazen race, of sterner disposition, and more ready to fly to arms savage, but not yet impious. The age of hard iron came last. Straightway all evil burst forth into this age of baser vein: modesty and truth and faith .fled the earth, and in their place came tricks and plots and snares, violence and cursed love of gain. Men now spread sails to the winds, though the sailor as yet scarce knew them; and keels of pine which long had stood upon high mountain-sides, now leaped insolently over unknown waves. And the ground, which had hitherto been a common possession like the sunlight and the air, the careful surveyor now Il OVID cautus humum longo signavit limite mensor. nec tantum segetes alimentaque debita dives poscebatur humus, sed itum est in viscera terrae, quasque recondiderat Stygiisque admoverat umbris, effodiuntur opes, inritamenta malorum. 140 iamque nocens ferrum ferroque nocentius aurum prodierat, prodit bellum, quod pugnat utroque, sanguineaque manu crepitantia concutit arma. vivitur ex rapto: non hospes ab hospite tutus, non socer a genero, fratrum quoque gratia rara est; inminet exitio vir coniugis, illa mariti, 146 lurida terribiles miscent aconita novercae, filius ante diem patrios inquirit in annos: victa iacet pietas, et virgo caede madentis ultima caelestum terras Astraea reliquit. 150 Neve foret terris securior arduus aether, adfectasse ferunt regnum caeleste gigantas altaque congestos struxisse ad sidera montis. tum pater omnipotens misso perfregit Olympum fulmine et excussit subiectae Pelion Ossae. 155 obruta mole sua cum corpora dira iacerent, perfusam multo natorum sanguine Terram immaduisse ferunt calidumque animasse cruorem et, ne nulla suae stirpis monimenta manerent, in faciem vertisse hominum; sed et illa propago 160 contemptrix superum saevaeque avidissima caedis et violenta fuit: scires e sanguine natos. Quae pater ut summa vidit Saturnius arce, ingemit et facto nondum vulgata recenti 12 METAMORPHOSES BOOK I marked out with long-drawn boundary-line. Not only did men demand of the bounteous fields the crops and sustenance they owed, but they delved as well into the very bowels of the earth; and the wealth which the creator had hidden away and buried deep amidst the very Stygian shades, was brought to light, wealth that pricks men on to crime. And now baneful iron had come, and gold more baneful than iron; war came, which fights with both, and bran- dished in its bloody hands the clashing arms. Men lived on plunder. Guest was not safe from host, nor father-in-law from son-in-law ; even among brothers ‘twas rare to find affection. The husband longed for the death of his wife, she of her husband; murderous stepmothers brewed deadly poisons, and sons inquired into their fathers’ years before the time. Piety lay vanquished, and the maiden Astraea, last of the immortals, abandoned the blood-soaked earth. And, that high heaven might be no safer than the earth, they say that the Giants essayed the very throne of heaven, piling huge mountains, one on another, clear up to the stars. Then the Almighty Father hurled his thunderbolts, shattered Olympus, and dashed Pelion down from underlying Ossa. When those dread bodies lay o’erwhelmed by their own _ bulk, they say that Mother Earth, drenched with their streaming blood, informed that warm gore anew with life, and, that some trace of her former offspring might remain, she gave it human form. But this new stock, too, proved contemptuous of the gods, very greedy for slaughter, and passionate. You might know that they were sons of blood. When Saturn’s son from his high throne saw this he groaned, and, recalling the infamous revels of 13 OVID foeda Lycaoniae referens convivia mensae 165 ingentes animo et dignas love concipit iras conciliumque vocat: tenuit mora nulla vocatos. Est via sublimis, caelo manifesta sereno; lactea nomen habet, candore notabilis ipso. hac iter est superis ad magni tecta Tonantis 170 regalemque domum: dextra laevaque deorum atria nobilium valvis celebrantur apertis. plebs habitat diversa locis: hac parte potentes caelicolae clarique suos posuere penates ; hic locus est, quem, si verbis audacia detur, 1j5 haud timeam magni dixisse Palatia caeli. Ergo ubi marmoreo superi sedere recessu, celsior ipse loco sceptroque innixus eburno terrificam capitis concussit terque quaterque caesariem, cum qua terram, mare, sidera movit. 180 talibus inde modis ora indignantia solvit: “non ego pro mundi regno magis anxius illa tempestate fui, qua centum quisque parabat inicere anguipedum captivo bracchia caelo. nam quamquam ferus hostis erat, tamen illud ab uno corpore et ex una pendebat origine bellum ; 186 nune mihi qua totum Nereus circumsonat orbem, perdendum est mortale genus: per flumina iuro infera sub terras Stygio labentia luco! cuncta prius temptata, sed inmedicabile corpus 190 ense recidendum, ne pars sincera trahatur. sunt mihi semidei, sunt, rustica numina, nymphae faunique satyrique et monticolae silvani ; quos quoniam caeli nondum dignamur honore, 14 METAMORPHOSES BOOK I Lycaon’s table—a story still unknown because the deed was new—he conceived a mighty wrath worthy of the soul of Jove, and summoned a council of the gods. Naught delayed their answer to the summons. There is a high way, easily seen when the sky is clear. “Tis called the Milky Way, famed for its shining whiteness. By this way the gods fare to the halls and royal dwelling of the mighty Thunderer. On either side the palaces of the gods of higher rank are thronged with guests through folding-doors flung wide. The lesser gods dwell apart from these. Fronting on this way, the illustrious and strong heavenly gods have placed their homes. This is the place which, if I may make bold to say it, I would not fear to call the Palatia of high heaven. So, when the gods had taken their seats within the marble council chamber, the king himself, seated high above the rest and leaning on his ivory sceptre, shook thrice and again his awful locks, wherewith he moved the land and sea and sky. Then he opened his indignant lips, and thus spoke he: “I was not more troubled than now for the sovereignty of the world when each one of the serpent-footed giants was in act to lay his hundred hands upon the captive sky. For, although that was a savage enemy, their whole attack sprung from one body and one source. . But now, wherever old Ocean roars around the earth, I must destroy the race of men. By the infernal streams that glide beneath the earth through Stygian groves, I swear that I have already tried all other means. But that which is incurable must be cut away with the knife, lest the untainted part also draw in- fection. I have demigods, rustic divinities, nymphs, fauns and satyrs, and sylvan deities upon the moun- tain-slopes. Since we do not yet esteem them I5 OVID quas dedimus, certe terras habitare sinamus. 195 an satis, o superi, tutos fore creditis illos, cum mihi, qui fulmen, qui vos habeoque regoque, struxerit insidias notus feritate Lycaon? ” Contremuere omnes studiisque ardentibus ausum talia deposcunt: sic, cum manus inpia saevit 200 sanguine Caesareo Romanum exstinguere nomen, attonitum tanto subitae terrore ruinae humanum genus est totusque perhorruit orbis ; nec tibi grata minus pietas, Auguste, tuorum quam fuit illa Iovi. qui postquam voce manuque 205 murmura conpressit, tenuere silentia cuncti. substitit ut clamor pressus gravitate regentis, Juppiter hoc iterum sermone silentia rupit: ‘ ille quidem poenas (curam hanc dimittite!) solvit ; quod tamen admissum, quae sit vindicta, docebo. 210 contigerat nostras infamia temporis aures ; quam cupiens falsam summo delabor Olympo et deus humana lustro sub imagine terras. longa mora est, quantum noxae sit ubique repertum, enumerare: minor fuit ipsa infamia vero. 215 Maenala transieram latebris horrenda ferarum et cum Cyllene gelidi pineta Lycaei: Arcadis hinc sedes et inhospita tecta tyranni ingredior, traherent cum sera crepuscula noctem. signa dedi venisse deum, vulgusque precari 220 coeperat: inridet primo pia vota Lycaon, mox ait ‘ experiar deus hic discrimine aperto an sit mortalis: nec erit dubitabile verum.’ 16 METAMORPHOSES BOOK I worthy the honour of a place in heaven, let us at least allow them to dwell in safety in the lands allotted them. Or do you think that they will be safe, when against me, who wield the thunderbolt, who have and rule you as my subjects, Lycaon, well known for savagery, has laid his snares? ”’ All trembled, and with eager zeal demanded him who had been guilty of such bold infamy. So, when an impious band was mad to blot out the name of Rome with Caesar’s blood, the human race was dazed with a mighty fear of sudden ruin, and the whole world shuddered in horror. Nor is the loyalty of thy subjects, Augustus, less pleasing to thee than that was to Jove. After he, by word and gesture, had checked their outcry, all held their peace. When now the clamour had subsided, checked by his royal authority, Jove once more broke the silence with these words: ‘“‘ He has indeed been punished; have no care for that. But what he did and what his punishment I will relate. An infamous report of the age had reached my ears. Eager to prove this false, I descended from high Olympus, and as a god dis- guised in human form travelled up and down the land. It would take too long to recount how great impiety was found on every hand. The infamous report was far less than the truth. I had crossed Maenala, bristling with the lairs of beasts, Cyllene, and the pine-groves of chill Lycaeus. Thence I approached the seat and inhospitable abode of the Arcadian king, Just as the late evening shades were ushering in the night. I gave a sign that a god had come, and the common folk began to worship me. Lycaon at first mocked at their pious prayers; and then he said: ‘I will soon find out, and that by a plain test, whether this fellow be.god or mortal. Nor 17 VOL. I. B OVID nocte gravem somno necopina perdere morte me parat: haec illi placet experientia veri; 225 nec contentus eo, missi de gente Molossa obsidis unius iugulum mucrone resolvit atque ita semineces partim ferventibus artus mollit aquis, partim subiecto torruit igni. quod simul inposuit mensis, ego vindice flamma 230 in dominum dignosque everti tecta penates ; territus ipse fugit nactusque silentia ruris exululat frustraque loqui conatur: ab ipso colligit os rabiem solitaeque cupidine caedis utitur in pecudes et nunc quoque sanguine gaudet. in villos abeunt vestes, in crura lacerti: 236 fit lupus et veteris servat vestigia formae ; canities eadem est, eadem violentia vultus, idem oculi lucent, eadem feritatis imago est. occidit una domus, sed non domus una perire 240 digna fuit: qua terra patet, fera regnat Erinys. in facinus iurasse putes! dent ocius omnes, | quas meruere pati, (sic stat sententia) poenas.”’ Dicta Iovis pars voce probant stimulosque frementi adiciunt, alii partes adsensibus inplent. 245 est tamen humani generis iactura dolori omnibus, et quae sit terrae mortalibus orbae forma futura rogant, quis sit laturus in aras tura, ferisne paret populandas tradere terras. talia quaerentes (sibi enim fore cetera curae) 250 13 METAMORPHOSES BOOK I shall the truth be at all in doubt.’ He planned that night while I was heavy with sleep to kill me by an unexpected murderous attack. Such was the experi- ment he adopted to test the truth. And not content with that, he took a hostage who had been sent by the Molossian race, cut his throat, and some parts of him still warm with life, he boiled, and others he roasted over the fire. But no sooner had he placed these be- fore me on the table than I, with my avenging bolt, o’erthrew the house upon its master and on his guilty household. The king himself flies in terror and, gain- ing the silent fields, howls aloud, attempting in vain to speak. His mouth of itself gathers foam, and with his accustomed greed for blood he turns against the sheep, delighting stillin slaughter. His garments change to shaggy hair, his arms to legs. He turns into a wolf, and yet retains some traces of his former shape. There is the same grey hair, the same fierce face, the same gleaming eyes, the same picture of beastly savagery. One house has fallen; but not one house alone has deserved to perish. Wherever the plains of earth extend, wild fury reigns supreme. You would deem it a conspiracy of crime. Let them all pay, and quickly too, the penalties which they have deserved. So stands my purpose.” When he had done, some proclaimed their approval - of his words, and added fuel to his wrath, while others played their parts by giving silent consent. And yet they all grieved over the threatened loss of the human race, and asked what would be the state of the world bereft of mortals. Who would bring incense to their altars? Was he planning to give over the world to the wild beasts to despoil? As they thus questioned, their king bade them be of good cheer (for the rest should be his care), for 19 OVID rex superum trepidare vetat subolemque priori dissimilem populo promittit origine mira. Iamque erat in totas sparsurus fulmina terras ; sed timuit, ne forte sacer tot ab ignibus aether conciperet flammas longusque ardesceret axis: 255 esse quoque in fatis reminiscitur, adfore tempus, quo mare, quo tellus correptaque regia caeli ardeat et mundi moles obsessa laboret. tela reponuntur manibus fabricata cyclopum ; poena placet diversa, genus mortale sub undis 260 perdere et ex omni nimbos demittere caelo. Protinus Aeoliis Aquilonem claudit in antris et quaecumque fugant inductas flamina nubes emittitque Notum. madidis Notus evolat alis, terribilem picea tectus caligine vultum ; 265 barba gravis nimbis, canis fluit unda capillis ; fronte sedent nebulae, rorant pennaeque sinusque. utque manu lata pendentia nubila pressit, fit fragor: hine densi funduntur ab aethere nimbi; nuntia I[unonis varios induta colores 270 concipit Iris aquas alimentaque nubibus adfert. sternuntur segetes et deplorata coloni vota iacent, longique perit labor inritus anni. Nec caelo contenta suo est Iovis ira, sed illum caeruleus frater iuvat auxiliaribus undis. 275 convocat hic amnes: qui postquam tecta tyranni intravere sui, “ non est hortamine longo — 20 METAMORPHOSES BOOK I he would give them another race of wondrous origin far different from the first. And now he was in act to hurl his thunderbolts ‘gainst the whole world; but he stayed his hand in fear lest perchance the sacred heavens should take fire from so huge a conflagration, and burn from pole to pole. He remembered also that ‘twas in the fates that a time would come when sea and land, the unkindled palace of the sky and the beleaguered structure of the universe should be destroyed by fire. And so he laid aside the bolts which Cyclopean hands had forged. He preferred a different punishment, to destroy the human race beneath the waves and to send down rain from every quarter of the sky. Straightway he shuts the North-wind up in the cave of Aeolus, and all blasts soever that put the clouds to flight; but he lets the South-wind loose. Forth flies the South-wind with dripping wings, his awful face shrouded in pitchy darkness. His beard is heavy with rain; water flows in streams down his hoary locks; dark clouds rest upon his brow; while his wings and garments drip with dew. And, when he presses the low-hanging clouds with his broad hands, a crashing sound goes forth; and next the dense clouds pour forth their rain. Iris, the mes- senger of Juno, clad in robes of many hues, draws . up water and feeds it to the clouds. The standing grain is overthrown; the crops which have been the object of the farmers’ prayers lie ruined; and the hard labour of the tedious year has come to naught. The wrath of Jove is not content with the waters from his own sky; his sea-god brother aids him with auxiliary waves. He summons his rivers to council. When these have assembled at the palace of their king, he says: ‘‘ Now is no time to employ a long zai OVID nunc ”’ ait ““ utendum; vires effundite vestras: sic opus est! aperite domos ac mole remota fluminibus vestris totas inmittite habenas! ” 280 iusserat; hi redeunt ac fontibus ora relaxant et defrenato volvuntur in aequora cursu. Ipse tridente suo terram percussit, at illa intremuit motuque vias patefecit aquarum. exspatiata ruunt per apertos flumina campos 289 cumque satis arbusta simul pecudesque virosque tectaque cumque suis rapiunt penetralia sacris. si qua domus mansit potuitque resistere tanto indeiecta malo, culmen tamen altior huius unda tegit, pressaeque latent sub gurgite turres. 290 iamque mare et tellus nullum discrimen habebant: omnia pontus erant, deerant quoque litora ponto. Occupat hic collem, clumba sedet alter adunca et ducit remos illic, ubi nuper arabat : ille supra segetes aut mersae culmina villae 299 navigat, hic summa piscem deprendit in ulmo. figitur in viridi, si fors tulit, ancora prato, aut subiecta terunt curvae vineta carinae ; et, modo qua graciles gramen carpsere capellae, nunc ibi deformes ponunt sua corpora phocae. 300 mirantur sub aqua lucos urbesque domosque Nereides, silvasque tenent delphines et altis incursant ramis agitataque robora pulsant. nat lupus inter oves, fulvos vehit unda leones, unda vehit tigres; nec vires fulminis apro, 305 crura nec ablato prosunt velocia cervo, 22 METAMORPHOSES BOOK I harangue. Put forth all your strength, for there is need. Open wide your doors, away with all restrain- ing dykes, and give full rein to all your river steeds.” So he commands, and the rivers return, uncurb their fountains’ mouths, and in unbridled course go racing to the sea. Neptune himself smites the earth with his trident. She trembles, and at the stroke flings open wide a way for the waters. The rivers overleap all bounds and flood the open plains. And not alone orchards, crops and herds, men and dwellings, but shrines as well and their sacred contents do they sweep away. If any house has stood firm, and has been able to resist that huge misfortune undestroyed, still do the overtop- ping waves cover its roof, and its towers lie hid beneath the flood. And now the sea and land have no distinction. Allis sea, but a sea without a shore. Here one man seeks a hill-top in his flight; an- other sits in his curved skiff, plying the oars where lately he has plowed; one sails over his fields of grain or the roof of his buried farmhouse, and one takes fish caught in the elm-tree’s top. And some- times it chanced that an anchor was embedded in a grassy meadow, or the curving keels brushed over the vineyard tops. And where but now the slender goats had browsed, the ugly sea-calves rested. The Nereids are amazed to see beneath the waters groves and cities and the haunts of men. The dolphins in- vade the woods, brushing against the high branches, and shake the oak-trees as they knock against them in their course. The wolf swims among the sheep, while tawny lions and tigers are borne along by the waves. Neither does the power of his lightning stroke avail the boar, nor his swift limbs the stag, since both are alike swept away by the flood; and 23 OVID quaesitisque diu terris, ubi sistere possit, in mare lassatis volucris vaga decidit alis. obruerat tumulos inmensa licentia ponti, pulsabantque novi montana cacumina fluctus. 310 maxima pars unda rapitur; quibus unda pepercit, | illos longa domant inopi ieiunia victu. Separat Aonios Oetaeis Phocis ab arvis, terra ferax, dum terra fuit, sed tempore in illo pars maris et latus subitarum campus aquarum. 315 mons ibi verticibus petit arduus astra duobus, nomine Parnasus, superantque cacumina nubes. hic ubi Deucalion (nam cetera texerat aequor) cum consorte tori parva rate vectus adhaesit, Corycidas nymphas et numina montis adorant 320 fatidicamque Themin, quae tunc oracla tenebat: non illo melior quisquam nec amantior aequi vir fuit aut illa metuentior ulla deorum. Iuppiter ut liquidis stagnare paludibus orbem et superesse virum de tot modo milibus unum, 325 et superesse vidit de tot modo milibus unam, innocuos ambo, cultores numinis ambo, nubila disiecit nimbisque aquilone remotis et caelo terras ostendit et aethera terris. nec maris ira manet, positoque tricuspide telo 330 mulcet aquas rector pelagi supraque profundum 24 : METAMORPHOSES BOOK I the wandering bird, after long searching for a place to alight, falls with weary wings into the sea. The sea in unchecked liberty has now buried all the hills, and strange waves now beat upon the mountain- peaks. Most living things are drowned outright. Those who have escaped the water slow starvation at last o’ercomes through lack of food. The land of Phocis separates the Boeotian from the Oetean fields, a fertile land, while still it was a land. But at that time it was but a part of the sea, a broad expanse of sudden waters. There Mount Parnasus lifts its two peaks skyward, high and steep, piercing the clouds. When here Deucalion and his wife, borne in a little skiff, had‘come to land—for the sea had covered all things else—they first worshipped the Corycian nymphs and the mountain deities, and the goddess, fate-revealing Themis, who in those days kept the oracles. There was no better man than he, none more scrupulous of right, nor than she was any woman more reverent of the gods. When now Jove saw that the world was all one stagnant pool, and that only one man was left from those who were but now so many thousands, and that but one woman too was left, both innocent and both wor- shippers of God, he rent the clouds asunder, and when these had been swept away by the North-wind he showed the land once more to the sky, and the heavens to the land. Then too the anger of the sea subsides, when the sea’s great ruler lays by his three-pronged spear and calms the waves; and, call- ing sea-hued Triton, showing forth above the deep, his shoulders thick o’ergrown with shell-fish, he bids him blow into his loud-resounding conch, and by that signal to recall the floods and streams. He lifts his hollow, twisted shell, which grows from the least 25 ‘| aie Pa awe OVID exstantem atque umeros innato murice tectum caeruleum Tritona vocat conchaeque sonanti inspirare iubet fluctusque et flumina signo iam revocare dato: cava bucina sumitur illi, dd0 tortilis, in latum quae turbine crescit ab imo, bucina, quae medio concepit ubi aera ponto, litora voce replet sub utroque iacentia Phoebo; tum quoque, ut ora dei madida rorantia barba contigit et cecinit iussos inflata receptus, 340 omnibus audita est telluris et aequoris undis, et quibus est undis audita, coercuit omnes. iam mare litus habet, plenos capit alveus amnes, flumina subsidunt collesque exire videntur ; surgit humus, crescunt loca decrescentibus undis, 345 postque diem longam nudata cacumina silvae ostendunt limumque tenent in fronde relictum Redditus orbis erat; quem postquam vidit inanem et desolatas agere alta silentia terras, Deucalion lacrimis ita Pyrrham adfatur obortis: 350 ““ o soror, 0 coniunx, o femina sola superstes, quam commune mihi genus et patruelis origo, deinde torus iunxit, nunc ipsa pericula iungunt, terrarum, quascumque vident occasus et ortus, nos duo turba sumus; possedit cetera pontus. 355 haec quoque adhuc vitae non est fiducia nostrae certa satis; terrent etiamnum nubila mentem. quis tibi, si sine me fatis erepta fuisses, nunc animus, miseranda, foret? quo sola timorem ferre modo posses? quo consolante doleres ! 360 namque ego (crede mihi), si te quoque pontus haberet, te sequerer, coniunx, et me quoque pontus haberet. 20 METAMORPHOSES BOOK I and lowest to a _ broad-swelling whorl—the shell which, when in mid-sea it has received the Triton’s breath, fills with its notes the shores that lie beneath the rising and the setting sun. So then, when it had touched the sea-god’s lips wet with his dripping beard, and sounded forth the retreat which had been ordered, ’twas heard’ by all the waters both of land and sea; and all the waters by which ’twas heard it held in check. Now the sea has shores, the rivers, bank full, keep within their channels; the floods sub- side, and hill-tops spring into view; land rises up, the ground increasing as the waves decrease ; and now at length, after long burial, the trees show their un- covered tops, whose leaves still hold the slime which the flood has left. The world was indeed restored. But when Deu- calion saw that it was an empty world, and that deep silence filled the desolated lands, he burst into tears and thus addressed his wife: ‘‘ O sister, O my wife, O only woman left on earth, you whom the ties of common race and family,! whom the marriage couch has joined to me, and whom now our very perils join: of all the lands which the rising and the setting sun behold, we two are the throng. The sea holds all the rest. And even this hold which we have upon our life is not as yet sufficiently secure. Even yet the clouds strike terror to my heart. What would be your feelings, now, poor soul, if the fates had willed that you be rescued all alone? How would you bear your fear, alone? who would console your grief? For be assured that if the sea held you also, I would follow you, my wife, and the sea should hold me also. 1 patruelis origo. See line 390. Deucalion and Pyrrha were cousins, a relationship which on the part of the woman is sometimes expressed by soror. | 27 OVID o utinam possim populos reparare paternis | artibus atque animas formatae infundere terrae! nunc genus in nobis restat mortale duobus. 365 sic visum superis: hominumque exempla manemus.” dixerat, et flebant: placuit caeleste precari numen et auxilium per sacras quaerere sortes. — nulla mora est: adeunt pariter Cephesidas undas, ut nondum liquidas, sic iam vada nota secantes. 370 inde ubi libatos inroravere liquores vestibus et capiti, flectunt vestigia sanctae ad delubra deae, quorum fastigia turpi pallebant musco stabantque sine ignibus arae. ut templi tetigere gradus, procumbit uterque 375 pronus humi gelidoque pavens dedit oscula saxo atque ita “‘ si precibus ” dixerunt “ numina iustis victa remollescunt, si flectitur ira deorum, dic, Themi, qua generis damnum reparabile nostri arte sit, et mersis fer opem, mitissima, rebus!” 380 Mota dea est sortemque dedit: “ discedite templo et velate caput cinctasque resolvite vestes ossaque post tergum magnae iactate parentis! ” obstupuere diu: rumpitque silentia voce Pyrrha prior iussisque deae parere recusat, 385 detque sibi veniam pavido rogat ore pavetque laedere iactatis maternas ossibus umbras. interea repetunt caecis obscura latebris verba datae sortis secum inter seque volutant. inde Promethides placidis Epimethida dictis 390 mulcet et ‘“ aut fallax ”’ ait.‘‘ est sollertia nobis, 28 METAMORPHOSES BOOK I Oh, would that by my father’s arts I might restore the nations, and breathe, as did he, the breath of life into the moulded clay. But as it is, on us two only depends the human race. Such is the will of Heaven: and we remain sole samples of mankind.” He spoke ; and when they had wept awhile they resolved to appeal to the heavenly power and seek his aid through sacred oracles. Without delay side by side they went to the waters of Cephisus’ stream, which, while not yet clear, still flowed within their familiar banks. From this they took some drops and sprinkled them on head and clothing. So having done, they bent their steps to the goddess’s sacred shrine, whose gables were still discoloured with foul moss, and upon whose altars the fires were dead. When they had reached the temple steps they both fell prone upon the ground, and with trembling lips kissed the chill stone and said: “If deities are appeased by the prayers of the righteous, if the wrath of the gods is thus turned aside, O Themis, tell us by what means our race may be restored, and bring aid, O most merciful, to a world o’erwhelmed.” The goddess was moved and gave this oracle: ‘““ Depart hence, and with veiled heads and loosened robes throw behind you as you go the bones of your great mother.’’ Long they stand in dumb amaze ; and first Pyrrha breaks the silence and refuses to obey the bidding of the goddess. With trembling lips she prays for pardon, but dares not outrage her mother’s ghost by treating her bones as she is bid. Meanwhile they go over again the words of the oracle, which had been given so full of dark per- plexities, and turn them over and over in their minds. At last Prometheus’ son comforts the daughter of Epimetheus with reassuring words: “ Either my wit 29 OVID aut (pia sunt nullumque nefas oracula suadent !) magna parens terra est: lapides in corpore terrae ossa reor dici; iacere hos post terga iubemur.”’ Coniugis augurio quaamquam Titania mota est, 395 ~ spes tamen in dubio est: adeo caelestibus ambo diffidunt monitis; sed quid temptare nocebit? descendunt: velantque caput tunicasque recingunt et iussos lapides sua post vestigia mittunt. saxa (quis hoc credat, nisi sit pro teste vetustas ?) 400 ponere duritiem coepere suumque rigorem mollirique mora mollitaque ducere formam. mox ubi creverunt naturaque mitior illis contigit, ut quaedam, sic non manifesta videri forma potest hominis, sed uti de marmore coeptis ! non exacta satis rudibusque simillima signis, 406 quae tamen ex illis aliquo pars umida suco et terrena fuit, versa est in corporis usum ; quod solidum est flectique nequit, mutatur in ossa, quae modo vena fuit, sub eodem nomine mansit, 410 inque brevi spatio superorum numine saxa missa viri manibus faciem traxere virorum et de femineo reparata est femina iactu. inde genus durum sumus experiensque laborum et documenta damus qua simus origine nati. 415 Cetera diversis tellus animalia formis sponte sua peperit, postquam vetus umor ab igne percaluit solis, caenumque udaeque paludes intumuere aestu, fecundaque semina rerum 1 coeptis Merkel: coepta MSS. 30 METAMORPHOSES BOOK I is at fault, or else (oracles are holy and never counsel guilt!) our great mother is the earth, and I think that the bones which the goddess speaks of are the stones in the earth’s body. ‘Tis these that we are bidden to throw behind us.”’ Although Pyrrha is moved by her husband's sur- mise, yet hope still wavers; so distrustful are they both as to the heavenly command. But what harm will it do to try? They go down, veil their heads, ungird their robes, and throw stones behind them just as the goddess had bidden. And the stones— who would believe it unless ancient tradition vouched for it?—began at once to lose their hardness and stiffness, to grow soft slowly, and softened to take on form. Then, when they had grown in size and be- come milder in their nature, a certain likeness to the human form, indeed, could be seen, still not very clear, but such as statues just begun out of marble have, not sharply defined, and very like roughly blocked-out images. That part of them, however, which was earthy and damp with slight moisture, was changed to flesh; but what was solid and incapable of bending became bone; that which was but now veins remained under the same name. And in a short time, through the operation of the divine will, the stones thrown by the man’s hard took on the form of men, and women were made from the stones the woman threw. Hence come the hardness of our race and our endurance of toil; and we give proof from what origin we are sprung. As to the other forms of animal life, the earth spontaneously produced these of divers kinds; after that old moisture remaining from the flood had grown warm from the rays of the sun, the slime of the wet marshes swelled with heat, and the fertile 31 OVID vivaci nutrita solo ceu matris in alvo ~ 420 creverunt faciemque aliquam cepere morando. sic ubi deseruit madidos septemfluus agros Nilus et antiquo sua flumina reddidit alveo aetherioque recens exarsit sidere limus, plurima cultores versis animalia glaebis 425 inveniunt et in his quaedam modo coepta per ipsum nascendi spatium, quaedam inperfecta suisque trunca vident numeris, et eodem in corpore saepe altera pars vivit, rudis est pars altera tellus. quippe ubi temperiem sumpsere umorque calorque, concipiunt, et ab his oriuntur cuncta duobus, 431 cumque sit ignis aquae pugnax, vapor umidus omnes res creat, et discors concordia fetibus apta est. ergo ubi diluvio tellus lutulenta recenti solibus aetheriis almoque ! recanduit aestu, " 435 edidit innumeras species; partimque figuras rettulit antiquas, partim nova monstra creavit. Illa quidem nollet, sed te quoque, maxime Python, tum genuit, populisque novis, incognita serpens, terror eras: tantum spatii de monte tenebas. 440 hune deus arquitenens et numquam talibus armis ante nisi in dammis capreisque fugacibus usus mille gravem telis exhausta paene pharetra perdidit effuso per vulnera nigra veneno. neve operis famam posset delere vetustas, 445 instituit sacros celebri certamine ludos, Pythia perdomitae serpentis nomine dictos. hic iuvenum quicumque manu pedibusve rotave 1 almo Merkel: alto MSS. of METAMORPHOSES BOOK I seeds of life, nourished in that life-giving soil, as in a mother’s womb, grew and in time took on some special form. So when the seven-mouthed Nile has receded from the drenched fields and has returned again to its former bed, and the fresh slime has been heated by the sun’s rays, farmers as they turn over the lumps of earth find many animate things; and among these some, but now begun, are upon the very verge of life, some are unfinished and lacking in their proper parts, and oft-times in the same body one part is alive and the other still nothing but raw earth. For when moisture and heat unite, life is conceived, and from these two sources all living things spring. And, though fire and water are naturally at enmity, still heat and moisture produce all things, and this inharmonious harmony is fitted to the growth of life. When, therefore, the earth, covered with mud from the recent flood, became heated up by the hot and genial rays of the sun, she brought forth innumerable forms of life; in part she restored the ancient shapes, and in part she created creatures new and strange. She, indeed, would have wished not so to do, but thee also she then bore, thou huge Python, thou snake unknown before, who wast a terror to new- created men; so huge a space of mountain-side didst thou fill. This monster the god of the glittering bow destroyed with arms never before used except against does and wild she-goats, crushing him with countless darts, well-nigh emptying his quiver, till the creature’s poisonous blood flowed from the black wounds. And, that the fame of his deed might not perish through lapse of time, he instituted sacred games whose con- tests throngs beheld, called Pythian from the name of the serpent he had overthrown. At these games, 33 OVID vicerat, aesculeae capiebat frondis honorem. nondum laurus erat, longoque decentia crine 450 tempora cingebat de qualibet arbore Phoebus. Primus amor Phoebi Daphne Peneia, quem non fors ignara dedit, sed saeva Cupidinis ira, Delius hunc nuper, victa serpente superbus, viderat adducto flectentem cornua nervo 455 “quid” que “ tibi, lascive puer, cum fortibus armis? ”’ dixerat: “ ista decent umeros gestamina nostros, qui dare certa ferae, dare vulnera possumus hosti, qui modo pestifero tot iugera ventre prementem stravimus innumeris tumidum Pythona sagittis. 460 tu face nescio quos esto contentus amores inritare tua, nec laudes adsere nostras! ”’ filius huic Veneris “ figat tuus omnia, Phoebe, te meus arcus ” ait; “ quantoque animalia cedunt cuncta deo, tanto minor est tua gloria nostra.” 465 dixit et eliso percussis aere pennis inpiger umbrosa Parnasi constitit arce eque sagittifera prompsit duo tela pharetra diversorum operum: fugat hoc, facit illud amorem ; quod facit, auratum est et cuspide fulget acuta, 470 quod fugat, obtusum est et habet sub harundine plumbum. hoc deus in nympha Peneide fixit, at illo laesit Apollineas traiecta per ossa medullas ; protinus alter amat, fugit altera nomen amantis silvarum latebris captivarumque ferarum 475 34 ‘ METAMORPHOSES BOOK I every youth who had been victorious in boxing, run- ning, or the chariot race received the honour of an oaken garland. For as yet the laurel-tree was not, and Phoebus was wont to wreathe his temples, comely with flowing locks, with a garland from any tree. Now the first love of Phoebus was Daphne, daughter of Peneus, the river-god. It was no blind chance that gave this love, but the malicious wrath of Cupid. Delian Apollo, while still exulting over his conquest of the serpent, had seen him bending his bow with tight-drawn string, and had said: “What hast thou to do with the arms of men, thou wanton boy? That weapon befits my shoulders; for I have strength to give unerring wounds to the wild beasts, my foes, and have but now laid low the Python swollen with countless darts, covering whole acres with plague-engendering form. Do thou be content with thy torch to light the hidden fires of - love, and lay not claim to my honours.”’ And to him Venus’ son replied: “ Thy dart may pierce all things else, Apollo, but mine shall pierce thee; and by as much as all living things are less than deity, by so much less is thy glory than mine.’ So saying he shook his wings and, dashing upward through the air, quickly alighted on the shady peak of Parnasus. There he took from his quiver two darts of opposite effect: one puts to flight, the other kindles the flame of love. The one which kindles love is of gold and has a sharp, gleaming point; the other is blunt and tipped with lead. This last the god fixed in the heart of Peneus’ daughter, but with the other he smote Apollo, piercing even unto the bones and marrow. Straightway he burned with love; but she fled the very name of love, rejoicing in the deep fastnesses of the woods, and in the spoils of beasts 35 OVID exuviis gaudens innuptaeque aemula Phoebes: vitta coercebat positos sine lege capillos. multi illam petiere, illa aversata petentes inpatiens expersque viri nemora avia lustrat nec, quid Hymen, quid Amor, quid sint conubia curat. saepe pater dixit: ‘‘ generum mihi, filia, debes,”’ 481 saepe pater dixit: “ debes mihi, nata, nepotes ”’; illa velut crimen taedas exosa iugales pulchra verecundo suffunditur ora rubore inque patris blandis haerens cervice lacertis 485 “da mihi perpetua, genitor carissime,” dixit “ virginitate frui! dedit hoc pater ante Dianae.” ille quidem obsequitur, sed te decor iste quod optas esse vetat, votoque tuo tua forma repugnat: Phoebus amat visaeque cupit conubia Daphnes, 490 quodque cupit, sperat, suaque illum oracula fallunt, utque leves stipulae demptis adolentur aristis, ut facibus saepes ardent, quas forte viator vel nimis admovit vel iam sub luce reliquit, sic deus in flammas abiit, sic pectore toto 495 uritur et sterilem sperando nutrit amorem. spectat inornatos collo pendere capillos et “ quid, si comantur? ” ait. videt igne micantes sideribus similes oculos, videt oscula, quae non est vidisse satis; laudat digitosque manusque 500 bracchiaque et nudos media plus parte lacertos ; si qua latent, meliora putat. fugit ocior aura illa levi neque ad haec revocantis verba resistit : ‘““nympha, precor, Penei, mane! non insequor hostis ; nympha, mane! sic agna lupum, sic cerva leonem, 505 36 METAMORPHOSES BOOK I which she had snared, vying with the virgin Phoebe. A single fillet bound her locks all unarranged. Many sought her; but she, averse to all suitors, impatient of control and without thought for man, roamed the pathless woods, nor cared at all that Hymen, love, or wedlock might be. Often her father said: “‘ Daughter, you owe me a son-in-law ’’; and often: ‘‘ Daughter, you owe me grandsons.” But she, hating the wed- ding torch as if it were a thing of evil, would blush rosy red over her fair face, and, clinging around her father’s neck with coaxing arms, would say: “O father, dearest, grant me to enjoy perpetual virginity. Her father has already granted this to Diana.” He, indeed, yielded to her request. But that beauty of thine, Daphne, forbade the fulfilment of thy desire, and thy form fitted not with thy prayer. Phoebus loves Daphne at sight, and longs to wed her; and what he longs for, that he hopes; and his own gifts of prophecy deceive him. And as the stubble of the harvested grain is kindled, as hedges burn with the torches which some traveller has chanced to put too near, or has gone off and left at break of day, so was the god consumed with flames, so did he burn in all his heart, and feed his fruitless love on hope. He looks at her hair hanging down her neck in disarray, and says: ‘‘ What if it were arrayed? ” He gazes at her eyes gleaming like stars, he gazes upon her lips, which but to gaze on does not satisfy. He marvels at her fingers, hands, and wrists, and her arms, bare to the shoulder; and what is hid he deems still lovelier. But she flees him swifter than the fleet- ing breeze, nor does she stop when he calls after her: ‘ O nymph, O Peneus’ daughter, stay! I who pursue thee am noenemy. Ohstay! So does the lamb flee from the wolf; the deer from the lion; so do doves on fluttering wing flee from the eagle; so every 37 OVID sic aquilam penna fugiunt trepidante columbae, hostes quaeque suos: amor est mihi causa sequendi! me miserum! ne prona cadas indignave laedi crura notent sentes et sim tibi causa doloris! aspera, qua properas, loca sunt: moderatius, oro, 510 curre fugamque inhibe, moderatius insequar ipse. cui placeas, inquire tamen: non incola montis, non ego sum pastor, non hic armenta gregresque horridus observo. nescis, temeraria, nescis, quem fugias, ideoque fugis: mihi Delphica tellus 515 et Claros et Tenedos Patareaque regia servit 5 Iuppiter est genitor; per me, quod eritque fuitque estque, patet; per me concordant carmina nervis. certa quidem nostra est, nostra tamen una sagitta certior, in vacuo quae vulnera pectore fecit! 520 inventum medicina meum est, opiferque per orbem dicor, et herbarum subiecta potentia nobis. ei mihi, quod nullis amor est sanabilis herbis nec prosunt domino, quae prosunt omnibus, artes!” Plura locuturum timido Peneia cursu 525 fugit cumque ipso verba inperfecta reliquit, tum quoque visa decens; nudabant corpora venti, obviaque adversas vibrabant flamina vestes, et levis inpulsos retro dabat aura capillos, auctaque forma fuga est. sed enim non sustinet ultra perdere blanditias iuvenis deus, utque movebat 531 ipse amor, admisso sequitur vestigia passu. ut canis in vacuo leporem cum Gallicus arvo vidit, et hic praedam pedibus petit, ille salutem ; alter inhaesuro similis iam iamque tenere 539 38 + wf METAMORPHOSES BOOK I creature flees its foes. But love is the cause of my pursuit. Ah me! I fear that thou wilt fall, or brambles mar thy innocent limbs, and I be cause of pain to thee. The region here is rough through which thou hastenest. Run with less speed, I pray, and hold thy flight. 1, too, will follow with less speed. Nay, stop and ask who thy lover is. I am no mountain-dweller, no shepherd I, no unkempt guardian here of flocks and herds. Thou knowest not, rash one, thou knowest not whom thou fleest; and for that reason dost thou flee. Mine is the Delphian land, and Claros, Tenedos, and the realm of Patara acknowledge me as lord. Jove is my father. By me what shall be, has been, and what is are all revealed; by me the lyre responds in harmony to song. My arrow is sure of aim, but oh, one arrow, surer than my own, has wounded my heart but now so fancy free. The art of medicine is my discovery. I am called Help-Bringer throughout the world, and all the potency of herbs is given unto me. Alas, that love is curable by no herbs, and the arts which heal all others cannot heal their lord! ” He would have said more, but the maiden pur- sued her frightened way and left him with his words unfinished, even in her desertion seeming fair. The winds bared her limbs, the opposing breezes set her garments a-flutter as she ran, and a light air flung her locks streaming behind her. Her beauty was enhanced by flight. But the chase drew to an end, for the youthful god would not longer waste his time in coaxing words, and urged on by love, he pursued at utmost speed. Just as when a Gallic hound has seen a hare in an open plain, and seeks his prey on flying feet, but the hare, safety; he, just about to fasten on her, now, even now thinks he has her, and 39 OVID sperat et extento stringit vestigia rostro, alter in ambiguo est, an sit conprensus, et ipsis morsibus eripitur tangentiaque ora relinquit : sic deus et virgo est hic spe celer, illa timore. qui tamen insequitur pennis adiutus Amoris, 540 ocior est requiemque negat tergoque fugacis inminet et crinem sparsum cervicibus adflat. viribus absumptis expalluit illa citaeque victa labore fugae spectans Peneidas undas ! 544 “fer, pater, inquit ‘ opem! si flumina numen habetis, qua nimium placui, mutando perde figuram!”’ 547 vix prece finita torpor gravis occupat artus, mollia cinguntur tenui praecordia libro, in frondem crines, in ramos bracchia crescunt, 550 pes modo tam velox pigris radicibus haeret, ora cacumen habet: remanet nitor unus in illa. Hane quoque Phoebus amat positaque in stipite dextra sentit adhuc trepidare novo sub cortice pectus conplexusque suis ramos ut membra:lacertis 50D oscula dat ligno; refugit tamen oscula lignum. cui deus “ at, quoniam coniunx mea non potes esse, arbor eris certe ” dixit “mea! semper habebunt te coma, te citharae, te nostrae, laure, pharetrae ; tu ducibus Latiis aderis, cum laeta Triumphum 560 vox canet et visent longas Capitolia pompas ; postibus Augustis eadem fidissima custos ante fores stabis mediamque tuebere quercum, 1 Most MSS. have two verses for 547: qua nimium placui, tellus, ait, hisce, vel istam quae facit ut laedar mutando perde figuram. Probably quae facit ut laedar was first writien as a gloss to qua nimium placui, and the line completed by an emendation. 4° METAMORPHOSES BOOK I grazes her very heels with his outstretched muzzle; but she knows not whether she be not already caught, and barely escapes from those sharp fangs and leaves behind the Jaws Just closing on her: so ran the god and maid, he sped by hope and she by fear. But he ran the more swiftly, borne on the wings of love, gave her no time to rest, hung over her fleeing shoulders and breathed on the hair that streamed over her neck. Now was her strength all gone, and, pale with fear and utterly overcome by the toil of her swift flight, seeing her father’s waters near, she cried: “O father, help! if your waters hold divinity ; change and destroy this beauty by which I pleased o'er well.” Scarce had she thus prayed when a down- dragging numbness seized her limbs, and her soft sides were begirt with thin bark. Her hair was changed to leaves, her arms to branches. Her feet, but now so swift, grew fast in sluggish roots, and her head was now but atree’s top. Her gleaming beauty alone remained. But even now in this new form Apollo loved her ; and placing his hand upon the trunk, he felt the heart still fluttering beneath the bark. He embraced the branches as if human limbs, and pressed his lips upon the wood. But even the wood shrank from his kisses. And the god cried out to this: ‘‘ Since thou canst not be my bride, thou shalt at least be my tree. My hair, my lyre, my quiver shall always be entwined with thee, O laurel. With thee shall Roman generals wreathe their heads, when shouts of joy shall acclaim their triumph, and long processions climb the Capitol. Thou at Augustus’ portals shalt stand a trusty guardian, and keep watch over the civic crown of 4I OVID utque meum intonsis caput est iuvenale capillis, tu quoque perpetuos semper gere frondis honores! ”’ finierat Paean: factis modo laurea ramis 566 adnuit utque caput visa est agitasse cacumen. Est nemus Haemoniae, praerupta quod undique claudit silva: vocant Tempe; per quae Peneus ab imo effusus Pindo spumosis volvitur undis 570 deiectuque gravi tenues agitantia fumos nubila conducit summisque adspergine silvis inpluit et sonitu plus quam vicina fatigat : haec domus, haec sedes, haec sunt penetralia magni amnis, in his residens facto de cautibus antro, 575 undis iura dabat nymphisque colentibus undas. conveniunt illuc popularia flumina primum, nescia, gratentur consolenturne parentem, populifer Sperchios et inrequietus Enipeus Apidanusque senex lenisque Amphrysos et Aeas, 580 moxque amnes alii, qui, qua tulit inpetus illos, in mare deducunt fessas erroribus undas. Inachus unus abest imoque reconditus antro fletibus auget aquas natamque miserrimus Io luget ut amissam: nescit, vitane fruatur 585 an sit apud manes; sed quam non invenit usquam, esse putat nusquam atque animo peiora veretur. Viderat a patrio redeuntem luppiter illam flumine et “ 0 virgo Iove digna tuoque beatum nescio quem factura toro, pete ’’ dixerat ““umbras 590 altorum nemorum ” (et nemorum monstraverat umbras) ae METAMORPHOSES BOOK I oak which hangs between. And as my head is ever young and my locks unshorn, so do thou keep the beauty of thy leaves perpetual.” Paean was done. The laurel waved her new-made branches, and seemed to move her head-like top in full consent. There is a vale in Thessaly which steep-wooded slopes surround on every side. Men call it Tempe. Through this the River Peneus flows from the foot of Pindus with foam-flecked waters, and by its heavy fall forms clouds which drive along fine, smoke-like mist, sprinkles the tops of the trees with spray, and deafens even remoter regions by its roar. Here is the home, the seat, the inmost haunt of the mighty stream. Here, seated in a cave of overhanging rock, he was giving laws to his waters, and to his water- nymphs. Hither came, first, the rivers of his own country, not knowing whether to congratulate or console the father of Daphne: the poplar-fringed Sperchios, the restless Enipeus, hoary Apidanus, gentle Amphrysos and Aeas; and later all the rivers which, by whatsoever way their current carries them, lead down their waters, weary with wandering, into the sea. Inachus only does not come; but, hidden away in his deepest cave, he augments his waters with his tears, and in utmost wretchedness laments his daughter, Io, as lost. He knows not whether she still lives or is among the shades. But, since he cannot find her anywhere, he thinks she must be nowhere, and his anxious soul forbodes things worse than death. Now Jove had seen her returning from her father’s stream, and said: “‘ O maiden, worthy of the love of Jove, and destined to make some husband happy, seek now the shade of these deep woods ”—and he pointed to the shady woods—“ while the sun at his 43 OVID dum calet, et medio sol est altissimus orbe! quodsi sola times latebras intrare ferarum, praeside tuta deo nemorum secreta subibis, nec de plebe deo, sed qui caelestia magna 595 sceptra manu teneo, sed qui vaga fulmina mitto. ne fuge me! ” fugiebat enim. iam pascua Lernae consitaque arboribus Lyrcea reliquerat arva, cum deus inducta latas caligine terras occuluit tenuitque fugam rapuitque pudorem. 600 Interea.medios Iuno dispexit in Argos 4 et noctis faciem nebulas fecisse volucres sub nitido mirata die, non fluminis illas esse, nec umenti sensit tellure remitti; atque suus coniunx ubi sit circumspicit, ut quae 605 deprensi totiens iam -nosset furta mariti. quem postquam caelo non repperit, “ aut ego fallor aut ego laedor ” ait delapsaque ab aethere summo constitit in terris nebulasque recedere iussit. | coniugis adventum praesenserat inque nitentem 610 Inachidos vultus mutaverat ille iuvencam (bos quoque formosa est): speciem Saturnia vaccae, quamquam invita, probat nec non, et cuius et unde quove sit armento, veri quasi nescia quaerit. Juppiter e terra genitam mentitur, ut auctor 615 desinat inquiri: petit hanc Saturnia munus. quid faciat? crudele suos addicere amores, non dare suspectum est: Pudor est, qui suadeat illine, 1 Argos Merkel and Miiller: agros MSS. 44 METAMORPHOSES BOOK I zenith’s height is overwarm. But if thou fearest to go alone amongst the haunts of wild beasts, under a god’s protection shalt thou tread in safety even the inmost woods. Nor am I of the common gods, but I am he who holds high heaven’s sceptre in his mighty hand, and hurls the roaming thunderbolts. Oh, do not flee from me! ’’—for she was already in flight. Now had she left behind the pasture-fields of Lerna, and the Lyrcean plains thick-set with trees, when the god hid the wide land in a thick, dark cloud, caught the fleeing maid and ravished her. Meanwhile Juno chanced to look down upon the midst of Argos, and marvelled that quick-rising clouds had wrought the aspect of night in the clear light of day. She knew that they were not river mists nor fogs exhaled from the damp earth; and forthwith she glanced around to see where her lord might be, as one who knew well his oft-discovered wiles. When she could not find him in the sky she said: “ Either I am mistaken or I am being wronged ”’; and gliding down from the top of heaven, she stood upon the earth and bade the clouds dis- perse. But Jove had felt beforehand his spouse’s coming and had changed the daughter of Inachus into a white heifer. Even in this form she still was beautiful. Saturnia looked awhile upon the heifer in grudging admiration; then asked whose she was and whence she came or from what herd, as if she did not know full well. Jove lyingly declared that she had sprung from the earth, that so he might forestall: all further question as to her origin. Thereupon Saturnia asked for the heifer as a gift. What should he do? “Iwere a cruel task to sur- render his love, but not to do so would arouse suspicion. Shame on one side prompts to give her 45 OVID hine dissuadet Amor. victus Pudor esset Amore, sed leve si munus sociae generisque torique 620 vacca negaretur, poterat non vacca videri! Paelice donata non protinus exuit omnem diva metum timuitque Jovem et fuit anxia furti, donec Arestoridae servandam tradidit Argo. centum luminibus cinctum caput Argus habebat 625 inde suis vicibus capiebant bina quietem, cetera servabant atque in statione manebant. constiterat quocumque modo, spectabat ad Io, ante oculos Io, quamvis aversus, habebat. luce sinit pasci; cum sol tellure sub alta est, 630 claudit et indigno circumdat vincula collo. frondibus arboreis et amara pascitur herba. proque toro terrae non semper gramen habenti incubat infelix limosaque flumina potat. illa etiam supplex Argo cum bracchia vellet 635 tendere, non habuit, quae bracchia tenderet Argo, et conata queri mugitus edidit ore pertimuitque sonos propriaque exterrita voce est. venit et ad ripas, ubi ludere saepe solebat, Inachidas: rictus! novaque ut conspexit in unda 640 cornua, pertimuit seque exsternata refugit. naides ignorant, ignorat et Inachus ipse, quae sit; at illa patrem sequitur sequiturque sorores et patitur tangi seque admirantibus offert. decerptas senior porrexerat Inachus herbas: 645 illa manus lambit patriisque dat oscula palmis nec retinet lacrimas et, si modo verba sequantur, 1 Inachidas: rictus Merkel: Inachidas ripas MSS. 46 . METAMORPHOSES BOOK I up, but love on the other urges not. Shame by love would have been o’ercome; but if so poor a gift'as a heifer were refused to her who was both his sister and his wife, perchance she had seemed to be no heifer. Though her rival was at last given up, the goddess did not at once put off all suspicion, for she feared Jove and further treachery, until she had given her over to Argus, the son of Arestor, to keep for her. Now Argus’ head was set about with a hundred eyes, which took their rest in sleep two at a time in turn, while the others watched and remained on guard. In whatsoever way he stood he looked at Io; even when his back was turned he had Io before his eyes. In the daytime he allowed her to graze; but when the sun had set beneath the earth he shut her up and tied an ignominious halter round her neck. She fed on leaves of trees and bitter herbs, and instead of a couch the poor thing lay upon the ground, which was not always grassy, and drank water from the muddy streams. When she strove to stretch out suppliant arms to Argus, she had no arms to stretch ; and when she attempted to voice her complaints, she only mooed. She would start with fear at the sound, and was filled with terror at her own voice. She came also to the bank of her father’s stream, where she used to play; but when she saw, reflected in the water, her gaping jaws and sprouting horns, she fled in very terror of herself. Her Naiad sisters knew not who she was, nor yet her father, Inachus himself. But she followed him and her sisters, and offered herself to be petted and admired. Old Inachus had plucked some grass and held it out to her; she licked her father’s hand and tried to kiss it. She could not restrain her tears, and, if only she could 47 OVID oret opem nomenque suum casusque loquatur ; littera pro verbis, quam pes in pulvere duxit, corporis indicium mutati triste peregit. 650 ‘““me miserum! ”’ exclamat pater Inachus inque gementis cornibus et niveae pendens cervice iuvencae ““me miserum! ” ingeminat; “ tune es quaesita per omnes nata mihi terras? tu non inventa reperta luctus eras levior! retices nec mutua nostris 655 dicta refers, alto tantum suspiria ducis pectore, quodque unum potes, ad mea verba remugis ! at tibi ego ignarus thalamos taedasque parabam, spesque fuit generi mihi prima, secunda nepotum. de grege nunc tibi vir, nunc de grege natus habendus. 660 nec finire licet tantos mihi morte dolores; sed nocet esse deum, praeclusaque ianua leti aeternum nostros luctus extendit in aevum.” talia maerentes stellatus submovet Argus ereptamque patri diversa in pascua natam 665 abstrahit. ipse procul montis sublime cacumen occupat, unde sedens partes speculatur in omnes. Nec superum rector mala tanta Phoronidos ultra ferre potest natumque vocat, quem lucida partu Pleias enixa est letoque det imperat Argum. 670 parva mora est alas pedibus virgamque potenti somniferam sumpsisse manu tegumenque capillis. haec ubi disposuit, patria love natus ab arce desilit in terras; illic tegumenque removit et posuit pennas, tantummodo virga retenta est: 675 hac agit ut pastor per devia rura capellas, 43 METAMORPHOSES BOOK I speak, she would tell her name and sad misfortune, and beg for aid. But instead of words, she did tell the sad story of her changed form with letters which she traced in the dust with her hoof. ‘“ Ah, woe is me!” exclaimed her father, Inachus; and, clinging to the weeping heifer’s horns and snow-white neck: ‘Ah, woe is me! art thou indeed my daughter whom I have sought o’er all the earth? Unfound, a lighter grief wast thou than found. Thou art silent, and givest me back no answer to my words; thou only heavest deep sighs, and, what alone thou canst, thou dost moo in reply. I, in blissful ignor- ance, was preparing marriage rites for thee, and had hopes, first of a son-in-law, and then of grand- children. But now from the herd must I find thee a husband, and from the herd must I look for grand- children. And even by death I may not end my crushing woes. It is a dreadful thing to be a god, for the door of death is shut to me, and my grief must go on without end.” As they thus wept together star-eyed Argus separated them and drove the daughter, torn from her father’s arms, to more distant pastures. There he perched himself apart upon a high mountain-top, where at his ease he could keep watch on every side. But now the ruler of the heavenly ones can no longer bear these great sufferings of Io, and he calls his son whom the shining Pleiad bore, and bids him do Argus to death. Without delay Mercury puts on his winged sandals, takes in his potent hand his sleep-producing wand, and dons his magic cap. Thus arrayed, the son of Jove leaps down from sky to earth, where he removes his cap and lays aside his wings. Only his wand he keeps. With this, in the character of a shepherd, through the sequestered 49 VOL. I. Cc OVID dum venit, adductas et structis cantat avenis. voce nova et captus custos Iunonius arte ‘“ quisquis es, hoc poteras mecum considere saxo ” Argus ait; “ neque enim pecori fecundior ullo 680 herba loco est, aptamque vides pastoribus umbram.”’ Sedit Atlantiades et euntem multa loquendo detinuit sermone diem iunctisque canendo vincere harundinibus servantia lumina temptat. ille tamen pugnat molles evincere somnos 685 et, quamvis sopor est oculorum parte receptus, parte tamen vigilat. quaerit quoque (namque reperta fistula nuper erat), qua sit ratione reperta. Tum deus “ Arcadiae gelidis sub montibus ” inquit “inter hamadryadas celeberrima Nonacrinas 690 naias una fuit: nymphae Syringa vocabant. non semel et satyros eluserat illa sequentes et quoscumque deos umbrosaque silva feraxque rus habet. Ortygiam studiis ipsaque colebat virginitate deam; ritu quoque cincta Dianae 695 falleret, ut posset credi Latonia, si non corneus huic arcus, si non foret aureus illi; sic quoque fallebat. Redeuntem colle Lycaeo Pan videt hanc pinuque caput praecinctus acuta talia verba refert ’’—restabat verba referre 700 et precibus spretis fugisse per avia nympham, 50 METAMORPHOSES BOOK I country paths he drives a flock of goats which he has collected as he came along, and plays upon his reed pipe as he goes. Juno's guardsman is greatly taken with the strange sound. “ You, there,’ he calls, ‘“ whoever you are, you might as well sit beside me on this rock; for nowhere is there richer grass for the flock, and you see that there is shade convenient for shepherds.”’ So Atlas’ grandson takes his seat, and fills the passing hours with talk of many things; and by making music on his pipe of reeds he tries to over- come those watchful eyes. But Argus strives valiantly against his slumberous languor, and though he allows some of his eyes to sleep, still he continues to watch with the others. He asks also how the reed pipe came to be invented; for at that time it had but recently been invented. Then said the god: ‘ On Arcadia’s cool mountain- slopes, among the wood nymphs who dwelt on Nonacris, there was one much sought by suitors. Her sister nymphs called her Syrinx. More than once she had eluded the pursuit of satyrs and all the gods who dwell either in the bosky woods or fertile fields. But she patterned after the Delian goddess in her pursuits and above all in her life of maidenhood. When girt after the manner of Diana, she would deceive the beholder, and could be mistaken for Latona’s daughter, were not her bow of horn, were not Diana's of gold. But even so she was mistaken for the goddess. “One day Pan saw her as she was coming back from Mount Lycaeus, his head wreathed with a crown of sharp pine-needles, and thus addressed her. ...” It remained still to tell what he said and to relate how the nymph, spurning his prayers, fled 51 OVID donec harenosi placidum Ladonis ad amnem venerit ; hic illam cursum inpedientibus undis ut se mutarent liquidas orasse sorores, Panaque cum prensam sibi iam Syringa putaret, 705 corpore pro nymphae calamos tenuisse palustres, dumque ibi suspirat, motos in harundine ventos effecisse sonum tenuem similemque querenti. arte nova vocisque deum dulcedine captum “hoc mihi concilium tecum”’ dixisse “‘manebit,’” 710 atque ita disparibus calamis conpagine cerae inter se iunctis nomen tenuisse puellae. talia dicturus vidit Cyllenius omnes subcubuisse oculos adopertaque lumina somno; supprimit extemplo vocem firmatque soporem 715 languida permulcens medicata lumina virga. nec mora, faleato nutantem vulnerat ense, qua collo est confine caput, saxoque cruentum deicit et maculat praeruptam sanguine rupem. 719 Arge, iaces, quodque in tot lumina lumen habebas, exstinctum est, centumque oculos nox occupat una. Excipit hos volucrisque suae Saturnia pennis collocat et gemmis caudam stellantibus inplet. protinus exarsit nec tempora distulit irae horriferamque oculis animoque obiecit Erinyn 725 paelicis Argolicae stimulosque in pectore caecos condidit et profugam per totum terruit orbem. ultimus inmenso restabas, Nile, labori; quem simulac tetigit, positisque in margine ripae procubuit genibus resupinoque ardua collo, 130 52 | vse 7a _ METAMORPHOSES BOOK I through the pathless wastes until she came to Ladon’s stream flowing peacefully along his sandy banks; how here, when the water checked her further flight, she besought her sisters of the stream to change her form; and how Pan, when now he thought he had caught Syrinx, instead of her held naught but marsh reeds in his arms; and while he sighed in disappointment, the soft air stirring in the reeds gave forth a low and complaining sound. Touched by this wonder and charmed by the sweet tones, the god exclaimed: “ This union, at least, shall I have with thee.” And so the pipes, made of unequal reeds fitted together by a joining of wax, took and kept the name of the maiden. When Mercury was going on to tell this story, he saw that all those eyes had yielded and were closed in sleep. Straightway he checks his words, and deepens Argus’ slumber by passing his magic wand over those sleep-faint eyes. And forthwith he smites with his hooked sword the nodding head just where it joins the neck, and sends it bleeding down the rocks, defiling the rugged cliff with blood. Argus, thou liest low; the light which thou hadst within thy many fires is all put out; and one darkness fills thy hundred eyes. Saturnia took these eyes and set them on the feathers of her bird, filling his tail with star-like jewels. Straightway she flamed with anger, nor did she delay the fulfilment of her wrath. She set a terror-bearing fury to work before the eyes and heart of her Grecian rival, planted deep within her breast a goading fear, and sent her fleeing in terror through all the world. Thou, O Nile, alone didst close her boundless toil. When she reached the stream, she flung herself down on her knees upon the river bank; with head thrown back she raised her face, 53 OVID quos potuit solos, tollens ad sidera vultus et gemitu et lacrimis et luctisono mugitu cum Jove visa queri finemque orare malorum. coniugis ille suae conplexus colla lacertis, 134 finiat ut poenas tandem, rogat “ in” que “ futurum pone metus ” inquit: ‘ numquam tibi causa doloris haec erit,” et Stygias iubet hoc audire paludes. w Ut lenita dea est, vultus capit illa priores : fitque, quod ante fuit: fugiunt e corpore saetae, cornua decrescunt, fit luminis artior orbis, 740 contrahitur rictus, redeunt umerique manusque, ungulaque in quinos dilapsa absumitur ungues : de bove nil superest formae nisi candor in illa. officioque pedum nymphe contenta duorum erigitur metuitque loqui, ne more iuvencae 745 mugiat, et timide verba intermissa retemptat. Nunc dea linigera colitur celeberrima turba. huic } Epaphus magni genitus de semine tandem creditur esse Iovis perque urbes iuncta parenti templa tenet. fuit huic animis aequalis et annis 750 Sole satus Phaethon, quem quondam magna loquentem nec sibi cedentem Phoeboque parente superbum non tulit Inachides “matri”’ que ait “ omnia demens credis et es tumidus genitoris imagine falsi.”’ erubuit Phaethon iramque pudore repressit 150 et tulit ad Clymenen Epaphi convicia matrem ‘quo’ que “magis doleas, genetrix’”’ ait, “ille ego liber, Na 1 huic Heinsius: nunc MSS. 54 METAMORPHOSES BOOK I which alone she could raise, to the high stars, and with groans and tears and agonized mooings she seemed to voice her griefs to Jove and to beg him to end her woes. Thereupon Jove threw his arms about his spouse's neck, and begged her at last to end her vengeance, saying: ‘ Lay aside all fear for the future; she shall never be source of grief to you again ’’; and he called upon the Stygian pools to witness his oath. The goddess’s wrath is soothed; Io gains back her former looks, and becomes what che was before. The rough hair falls away from her body, her horns dis- appear, her great round eyes grow smaller, her gaping mouth is narrowed, her shoulders and her hands come back, and the hoofs are gone, being changed each into five nails. No trace of the heifer is left in her save only the fair whiteness of her body. And now the nymph, able at last to stand upon two feet, stands erect; yet fears to speak, lest she moo in the heifer’s way, and with fear and trembling she resumes her long-abandoned speech. Now, with fullest service, she is worshipped as a goddess by the linen-robed throng. A son, Epaphus, was born to her, thought to have sprung at length from the seed of mighty Jove, and throughout the cities dwelt in temples with his mother. He had a companion of like mind and age named Phaéthon, ~ child of the Sun. When this Phaéthon was once speaking proudly, and refused to give way to him, boasting that Phoebus was his father, the grand- son of Inachus rebelled and said: “ You are a fool to believe all your mother tells you, and are swelled up with false notions about your father.”” Phaéthon grew red with rage, but repressed his anger through very shame and carried Epaphus’ insulting taunt straight to his mother, Clymene. “ And that you a0 OVID ille ferox tacui! pudet haec opprobria nobis et dici potuisse et non potuisse refelli. at tu, si modo sum caelesti stirpe creatus, 760 ede notam tanti generis meque adsere caelo! ”’ dixit et inplicuit materno bracchia collo perque suum Meropisque caput taedasque sororum traderet oravit veri sibi signa parentis. ambiguum Clymene precibus Phaethontis an ira 765 mota magis dicti sibi criminis utraque caelo bracchia porrexit spectansque ad lumina solis “per iubar hoc ” inquit “ radiis insigne coruscis, nate, tibi iuro, quod nos auditque videtque, 169 hoc te, quem spectas, hoc te, qui temperat orbem, Sole satum; si ficta loquor, neget ipse videndum se mihi, sitque oculis lux ista novissima nostris! nec longus labor est patrios tibi nosse penates. unde oritur, domus est terrae contermina nostrae: si modo fert animus, gradere et scitabere ab ipso! ” emicat extemplo laetus post talia matris 176 dicta suae Phaethon et concipit aethera mente Aethiopasque suos positosque sub ignibus Indos sidereis transit patriosque adit inpiger ortus. K* a (. xX * 56 METAMORPHOSES BOOK I may grieve the more, mother,’ he said, “I, the high-spirited, the bold of tongue, had no word to say. Ashamed am I that such an insult could have been uttered and yet could not be answered. But do you, if I am indeed sprung from heavenly seed, give me a proof of my high birth, and justify my claims to divine origin.”” So spoke the lad, and threw his arms around his mother’s neck, begging her, by his own and Merops’ life, by his sisters’ nuptial torches, to give him some sure token of his birth. Clymene, moved (it is ‘uncertain whether by the prayers of Phaéthon, or more by anger at the insult to herself), stretched out both arms to heaven, and, turning her eyes on the bright sun, exclaimed: “By the splendour of that radiant orb which both hears and sees me now, I swear to you, my boy, that you are sprung from the Sun, that being whom you behold, that being who sways the world. If I speak not the truth, may I never see him more, and may this be the last time my eyes shall look upon the light of day. But it is not difficult for you yourself to find your father’s house. The place where he rises is not far from our own land. If you are so minded, go there and ask your question of the sun himself.” Phaéthon leaps up in joy at his mother’s words, already grasping the heavens in imagination ; and after crossing his own Ethiopia and the land of Ind lying close beneath the sun, he quickly comes to his father’s rising-place. 57 LIBER Il Rear Solis erat sublimibus alta columnis, clara micante auro flammasque imitante pyropo, cuius ebur nitidum fastigia summa tegebat, argenti bifores radiabant lumine valvae. materiam superabat opus: nam Mulciber illic 5 aequora caelarat medias cingentia terras terrarumque orbem caelumque, quod imminet orbi. caeruleos habet unda deos, Tritona canorum Proteaque ambiguum ballenarumque prementem Aegaeona suis inmania terga lacertis 10 Doridaque et natas, quarum pars nare videtur, pars in mole sedens viridis siccare capillos, pisce vehi quaedam: facies non omnibus una, non diversa tamen, qualem decet esse sororum. terra viros urbesque gerit silvasque ferasque 15 fluminaque et nymphas et cetera numina ruris. haec super inposita est caeli fulgentis imago, signaque sex foribus dextris totidemque sinistris. Quo simul adclivi Clymeneia limite proles venit et intravit dubitati tecta parentis, 20 protinus ad patrios sua fert vestigia vultus consistitque procul; neque enim propiora ferebat lumina: purpurea velatus veste sedebat 60 BOOK II Tue palace of the Sun stood high on lofty columns, bright with glittering gold and bronze that shone like fire. Gleaming ivory crowned the gables above ; the double folding-doors were radiant with burnished silver. And the workmanship was more beautiful than the material. For upon the doors Mulciber had carved in relief the waters that enfold the central earth, the circle of the lands and the sky that over- hangs the lands. The sea holds the dark-hued gods: tuneful Triton, changeful Proteus, and Aegaeon, his strong arms thrown over a pair of huge whales; Doris and her daughters, some of whom are shown swimming through the water, some sitting on a rock drying their green hair, and some riding on fishes. They have not all the same appearance, and yet not altogether different; as it should be with sisters. The land has men and cities, woods and beasts, rivers, nymphs and other rural deities. Above these scenes was placed a representation of the shining sky, six signs of the zodiac on the right-hand doors, and six signs on the left. Now when Clymene’s son had climbed the steep path which leads thither, and had come beneath the roof of his sire whose fatherhood had been ques- tioned, straightway he turned him to his father’s face, but halted some little space away; for he could not bear the radiance at a nearer view. Clad in a 61 OVID in solio Phoebus claris lucente smaragdis. a dextra laevaque Dies et Mensis et Annus 25 Saeculaque et positae spatiis aequalibus Horae Verque novum stabat cinctum florente corona, stabat nuda Aestas et spicea serta gerebat, stabat et Autumnus calcatis sordidus uvis et glacialis Hiems canos hirsuta capillos. 30 Ipse loco medius rerum novitate paventem Sol oculis iuvenem, quibus adspicit omnia, vidit ? 66 “quae ” que “ viae tibi causa? quid hac ” ait “ arce petisti progenies, Phaethon, haud infitianda parenti? ” ille refert: “‘ o lux inmensi publica mundi, 35 Phoebe pater, si das usum mihi nominis huius, nec falsa Clymene culpam sub imagine celat, pignora da, genitor, per quae tua vera propago credar, et hunc animis errorem detrahe nostris! ”’ dixerat, at genitor circum caput omne micantes 40 deposuit radios propiusque accedere iussit amplexuque dato “ nec tu meus esse negari dignus es, et Clymene veros ”’ ait “' edidit ortus, quoque minus dubites, quodvis pete munus, ut illud me tribuente feras! promissi testis adesto 45 dis iuranda palus, oculis incognita nostris! ” vix bene desierat, currus rogat ille paternos inque diem alipedum ius et moderamen equorum. Paenituit iurasse patrem: qui terque quaterque concutiens inlustre caput “ temeraria ” dixit 50 ‘vox mea facta tua est; utinam promissa liceret 62 5] METAMORPHOSES BOOK II purple robe, Phoebus sat on his throne gleaming with brilliant emeralds. To right and left stood Day and Month and Year and Century, and the Hours set at equal distances. Young Spring was there, wreathed with a floral crown; Summer, all unclad with garland of ripe grain; Autumn was there, stained with the trodden grape, and icy Winter with white and bristly locks. Seated in the midst of these, the Sun, with the eyes which behold all things, looked on the youth filled with terror at the strange new sights, and said: ‘“Why hast thou come? What seekest thou in this high dwelling, Phaéthon—a son no father need deny?” The lad replied: “ O common light of this vast universe, Phoebus, my father, if thou grantest me the right to use that name, if Clymene is not giding her shame beneath an unreal pretence, grant me a proof, my father, by which all may know me for thy true son, and take away this uncertainty from my mind.” He spoke; and his father put off his glittering crown of light, and bade the boy draw nearer. Embracing him, he said: ‘‘ Thou art both worthy to be called my son, and Clymene has told thee thy true origin. And, that thou mayst not doubt my word, ask what boon thou wilt, that thou mayst receive it from my hand. And may that Stygian pool whereby gods swear, but which mine eyes have never seen, be witness of my promise.” Scarce had he ceased when the boy asked for his father’s chariot, and the right to drive his winged horses for a day. The father repented him of his oath. Thrice and again he shook his bright head and said: “ ‘Thy words have proved mine to have been rashly said. Would that I might retract my promise! For I confess, my 63 OVID non dare! confiteor, solum hoc tibi, nate, negarem. dissuadere licet: non est tua tuta voluntas ! magna petis, Phaethon, et quae nec viribus istis munera conveniant nec tam puerilibus annis: D9 sors tua mortalis, non est mortale, quod optas. plus etiam, quam quod superis contingere possit, nescius adfectas; placeat sibi quisque licebit, non tamen ignifero quisquam consistere in axe me valet excepto; vasti quoque rector Olympi, 60 qui fera terribili iaculatur fulmina dextra, non aget hos currus: et quid ove maius habemus? ardua prima via est et qua vix mane recentes enituntur equi; medio est altissima caelo, unde mare et terras ipsi mihi saepe videre 65 fit timor et pavida trepidat formidine pectus ; ultima prona via est et eget moderamine certo: tune etiam quae me subiectis excipit undis, ne ferar in praeceps, Tethys solet ipsa vereri. adde, quod adsidua rapitur vertigine caelum 10 sideraque alta trahit celerique volumine torquet. nitor in adversum, nec me, qui cetera, vincit inpetus, et rapido contrarius evehor orbi. finge datos currus: quid ages? poterisne rotatis obvius ire polis, ne te citus auferat axis? 15 forsitan et lucos illic urbesque deorum concipias animo delubraque ditia donis esse: per insidias iter est formasque ferarum! utque viam teneas nulloque errore traharis, per tamen adversi gradieris cornua tauri 80 64 METAMORPHOSES BOOK II son, that this alone would I refuse thee. But I may at least strive to dissuade thee. What thou desirest isnot safe. ‘Thou askest too great a boon, Phaéthon, and one which does not befit thy strength and those so boyish years. ‘Thy lot is mortal: not for mortals is that thou askest. In thy simple ignorance thou dost claim more than can be granted to the gods themselves. Though each of them may do as he will, yet none, save myself, has power to take his place in my chariot of fire. Nay, even the lord of great Olympus, who hurls dread thunderbolts with his awful hand, could not drive this chariot; and what have we greater than Jove? The first part of the road is steep, up which my steeds in all their morning freshness can scarce make their way. In mid-heaven it is exceeding high, whence to look down on sea and land oft-times causes even me to tremble, and my heart to quake with throbbing fear. The last part of the journey is precipitous, and needs an assured control. Then even Tethys, who receives me in her underlying waters, is wont to fear lest I fall head- long. Furthermore, the vault of heaven spins round in constant motion, drawing along the lofty stars which it whirls at dizzy speed. I make my way against this, nor does the swift motion which over- comes all else overcome me; but I drive clear con- trary to the swift circuit of the universe. Suppose thou hast my chariot. What wilt thou do? Wilt thou be able to make thy way against the whirling poles that their swift axis sweep thee not away? Perhaps, too, thou deemest there are groves there, and cities of the gods, and temples full of rich gifts? Nay, the course lies amid lurking dangers and fierce beasts of prey. And though thou shouldst hold the way, and not go straying from the course, still shalt 65 OVID Haemoniosque arcus violentique ora Leonis saevaque circuitu curvantem bracchia longo Scorpion atque aliter curvantem bracchia Cancrum. nec tibi quadripedes animosos ignibus illis, quos in pectore habent, quos ore et naribus efflant, 85 in promptu regere est: vix me patiuntur, ubi acres incaluere animi cervixque repugnat habenis.— at tu, funesti ne sim tibi muneris auctor, nate, cave, dum resque sinit tua corrige vota! scilicet ut nostro genitum te sanguine credas, 90 pignora certa petis: do pignora certa timendo et patrio pater esse metu probor. adspice vultus ecce meos utinamque oculos in pectora posses inserere et patrias intus deprendere curas! denique quidquid habet divescircumspicesmundus 95 eque tot ac tantis caeli terraeque marisque posce bonis aliquid; nullam patiere repulsam. deprecor hoc unum, quod vero nomine poena, non honor est: poenam, Phaethon, pro munere poscis ! quid mea colla tenes blandis, ignare, lacertis? 100 ne dubita! dabitur (Stygias iuravimus undas), quodcumque optaris; sed tu sapientius opta! ”’ Finierat monitus; dictis tamen ille repugnat propositumque premit flagratque cupidine currus. ergo, qua licuit, genitor cunctatus ad altos 105 deducit iuvenem, Vulcania munera, currus. aureus axis erat, temo aureus, aurea Summae curvatura rotae, radiorum argenteus ordo ; 66 METAMORPHOSES BOOK II thou pass the horned Bull full in thy path, the Haemo- nian Archer, the maw of the raging Lion, the Scor- pion, curving his savage arms in long sweeps, and the Crab, reaching out in the opposite direction. Norisit an easy thing for thee to control the steeds, hot with those strong fires which they have within their breasts, which they breathe out from mouth and nostrils. Scarce do they suffer my control, when their fierce spirits have become heated, and their necks rebel against the reins. But do thou, O son, beware lest I be the giver of a fatal gift to thee, and while still there is time amend thy prayer. Dost thou in sooth seek sure pledges that thou art son of mine? Behold, I give sure pledges by my very fear ; I show myself thy father by my fatherly anxiety. See! look upon my face. And oh, that thou couldst look into my heart as well, and understand a father’s cares therein! Then look around, see all that the rich world holds, and from those great and bound- less goods of land and sea and sky ask anything. Nothing will I deny thee. But this one thing I beg thee not to ask, which, if rightly understood, is a bane instead of blessing. A bane, my Phaéthon, dost thou seek as boon. Why dost thou throw thy coaxing arms about my neck, thou foolish boy? Nay, doubt it not, it shall be given—we have sworn it by the Styx—whatever thou dost choose. But, oh, make wiser choice! ”’ The father’s warning ended; yet he fought against the words, and urged his first request, burning with desire to drive the chariot. So then the father, delaying as far as might be, led forth the youth to that high chariot, the work of Vulcan. Its axle was of gold, the pole of gold; its wheels had golden tyres and a ring of silver spokes. Along the yoke 67 OVID per iuga chrysolithi positaeque ex ordine gemmae clara repercusso reddebant lumina Phoebo. 110 Dumque ea magnanimus Phaethon miratur opusque perspicit, ecce vigil rutilo patefecit ab ortu purpureas Aurora fores et plena rosarum atria: diffugiunt stellae, quarum agmina cogit Lucifer et caeli statione novissimus exit. 115 Quem petere ut terras mundumque rubescere vidit cornuaque extremae velut evanescere lunae, iungere equos Titan velocibus imperat Horis. iussa deae celeres peragunt ignemque vomentes, ambrosiae suco saturos, praesepibus altis 120 quadripedes ducunt adduntque sonantia frena. tum pater ora sui sacro medicamine nati contigit et rapidae fecit patientia flammae inposuitque comae radios praesagaque luctus pectore sollicito repetens suspiria dixit : 125 ‘si potes his saltem monitis parere parentis parce, puer, stimulis et fortius utere loris! sponte sua properant, labor est inhibere volentes. nec tibi directos placeat via quinque per arcus! sectus in obliquum est lato curvamine limes, 130 zonarumque trium contentus fine polumque effugit australem iunctamque aquilonibus arcton: hac sit iter! manifesta rotae vestigia cernes. utque ferant aequos et caelum et terra calores, nec preme nec summum molire per aethera cursum ! altius egressus caelestia tecta cremabis, 136 inferius terras; medio tutissimus ibis. neu te dexterior tortum declinet ad Anguem, 68 METAMORPHOSES BOOK II chrysolites and jewels set in fair array gave back their bright glow to the reflected rays of Phoebus. Now while the ambitious Phaéthon is gazing in wonder at the workmanship, behold, Aurora, who keeps watch in the reddening dawn, has opened wide her purple gates, and her courts glowing with rosy light. The stars all flee away, and the morning star closes their ranks as, last of all, he departs from his watch-tower in the sky. When Titan saw him setting and the world grow red, and the slender horns of the waning moon fading from sight, he bade the swift Hours to yoke his steeds. The goddesses quickly did his bidding, and led the horses from the lofty stalls, breathing forth fire and filled with ambrosial food, and they put upon them the clanking bridles. Then the father anointed his son’s face with a sacred ointment, and made it proof against the devouring flames; and he placed upon his head the radiant crown, heaving deep sighs the while, presaging woe, and said: “ If thou canst at least obey these thy father’s warnings, spare the lash, my boy, and more strongly use the reins. The horses hasten of their own accord; the hard task is to check their eager feet. And take not thy way straight through the five zones of heaven: the true path runs slantwise, with a wide curve, and, confined within the limits of three zones, avoids the southern heavens and the far north as well. This be thy route. The tracks of my wheels thou wilt clearly see. And, that the sky and earth may have equal heat, go not too low, nor yet direct thy course along the top of heaven; for if thou goest too high thou wilt burn up the skies, if too low the earth. In the middle is the safest path. And turn not off too far to the right towards the writhing Serpent; 69 OVID neve sinisterior pressam rota ducat ad Aram, inter utrumque tene! Fortunae cetera mando, 140 quae iuvet et melius quam tu tibi consulat opto. dum loquor, Hesperio positas in litore metas umida nox tetigit; non est mora libera nobis! poscimur: effulget tenebris Aurora fugatis. corripe lora manu, vel, si motabile pectus 145 est tibi, consiliis, non curribus utere nostris! dum potes et solidis etiamnum sedibus adstas, dumque male optatos nondum premis inscius axes, quae tutus spectes, sine me dare lumina terris! ”’ Occupat ille levem iuvenali corpore currum 150 statque super manibusque datas contingere habenas gaudet et invito grates agit inde parenti. Interea volucres Pyrois et Eous et Aethon, Solis equi, quartusque Phlegon hinnitibus auras flammiferis inplent pedibusque repagula pulsant. 155 quae postquam Tethys, fatorum ignara nepotis, reppulit et facta est inmensi copia caeli, corripuere viam pedibusque per aera motis obstantes scindunt nebulas pennisque levati praetereunt ortos isdem de partibus Euros. 160 sed leve pondus erat nec quod cognoscere possent Solis equi, solitaque iugum gravitate carebat ; utque labant curvae iusto sine pondere naves perque mare instabiles nimia levitate feruntur, sic onere adsueto vacuus dat in aera saltus 165 succutiturque alte similisque est currus inani. 70 METAMORPHOSES BOOK II nor on the left, where the Altar lies low in the heavens, guide thy wheel. Hold on between the two. I commit all else to Fortune, and may she aid thee, and guide thee better than thou dost thyself. While I am speaking dewy night has reached her goal on the far western shore. We may no longer delay. We are summoned. Behold, the dawn is glowing, and the shadows all have fled. Here, grasp the reins, or, if thy purpose still may be amended, take my counsel, not my chariot, while still thou canst, while still thou dost stand on solid ground, before thou hast mounted to the car which thou hast in ignorance foolishly desired. Let me give light to the world, which thou mayst see in safety.” But the lad has already mounted the swift chariot, and, standing proudly, he takes the reins with joy into his hands, and thanks his unwilling father for the gift. Meanwhile the sun’s swift horses, Pyrois, Eoiis, Aethon, and the fourth, Phlegon, fill all the air with their fiery whinnying, and paw impatiently against their bars. When Tethys, ignorant of her grandson's fate, dropped these and gave free course through the boundless skies, the horses dashed forth, and with swift-flying feet rent the clouds in their path, and, borne aloft upon their wings, they passed the east winds that have their rising in the same quarter. But the weight was light, not such as the horses of the sun could feel, and the yoke lacked its accustomed bur- den. And, as curved ships, without their proper ballast, roll in the waves, and, unstable because too light, are borne out of their course, so the chariot, without its accustomed burden, gives leaps into the air, is tossed aloft and is like a riderless car. 71 OVID Quod simulac sensere, ruunt tritumque relinquunt quadriiugi spatium nec quo prius ordine currunt. ipse pavet nec qua commissas flectat habenas nec scit qua sit iter, nec, si sciat, imperet illis. 170 tum primum radiis gelidi caluere Triones et vetito frustra temptarunt aequore tingui, quaeque polo posita est glaciali proxima Serpens, frigore pigra prius nec formidabilis ulli, incaluit sumpsitque novas fervoribus iras; 175 te quoque turbatum memorant fugisse, Boote, quamvis tardus eras et te tua plaustra tenebant. Ut vero summo dispexit ab aethere terras infelix Phaethon penitus penitusque patentis, palluit et subito genua intremuere timore 180 suntque oculis tenebrae per tantum lumen orbortae, et iam mallet equos numquam tetigisse paternos, iam cognosse genus piget et valuisse rogando, iam Meropis dici cupiens ita fertur, ut acta praecipiti pinus borea, cui victa remisit 185 frena suus rector, quam dis votisque reliquit. quid faciat? multum caeli post terga relictum, ante oculos plus est: animo metitur utrumque et modo, quos illi fatum contingere non est, prospicit occasus, interdum respicit ortus, 190 quidque agat ignarus stupet et nec frena remittit nec retinere valet nec nomina novit equorum. sparsa quoque in vario passim miracula caelo vastarumque videt trepidus simulacra ferarum. est locus, in geminos ubi bracchia concavat arcus 195 72 METAMORPHOSES BOOK II When they feel this, the team run wild and leave the well-beaten track, and fare no longer in the same course as before. The driver is panic-stricken. He knows not how to handle the reins entrusted to him, nor where the road is; nor, if he did know, would he be able to control the steeds. Then for the first time the cold Bears grew hot with the rays of the sun, and tried, though all in vain, to plunge into the forbidden sea. And the Serpent, which lies nearest the ic pole, ever before harmless because sluggish with the cold, now grew hot, and conceived great frenzy from that fire. They say that you also, Bodtes, fled in terror, slow though you were, and held back by your clumsy ox-cart. But when the unhappy Phaéthon looked down from the top of heaven, and saw the lands lying far, far below, he grew pale, his knees trembled with sudden fear, and over his eyes came darkness through excess of light. And now he would prefer never to have touched his father’s horses, and repents that he has discovered his true origin and prevailed in his prayer. Now, eager to be called the son of Merops, he is borne along just as a ship driven before the head- long blast, whose pilot has let the useless rudder go and abandoned the ship to the gods and prayers. What shall he do? Much of the sky is now behind him, but more is stillin front! His thought measures both. And now he looks forward to the west, which he is destined never to reach, and at times back to the east. Dazed, he knows not what to do; he neither lets go the reins nor can he hold them, and he does not even know the horses’ names. To add to his panic fear, he sees scattered everywhere in the sky strange figures of huge and savage beasts. There is one place where the Scorpion bends out his arms into 73 OVID Scorpius et cauda flexisque utrimque lacertis porrigit in spatium signorum membra duorum: hunc puer ut nigri madidum sudore veneni vulnera curvata minitantem cuspide vidit, mentis inops gelida formidine lora remisit. 200 Quae postquam summum tetigere iacentia tergum, exspatiantur equi nulloque inhibente per auras ignotae regionis eunt, quaque inpetus egit, hac sine lege ruunt altoque sub aethere fixis incursant stellis rapiuntque per avia currum 209 et modo summa petunt, modo per declive viasque praecipites spatio terrae propiore feruntur, inferiusque suis fraternos currere Luna admiratur equos, ambustaque nubila fumant. corripitur flammis, ut quaeque altissima, tellus 210 fissaque agit rimas et sucis aret ademptis ; pabula canescunt, cum frondibus uritur arbor, materiamque suo praebet seges arida damno. parva queror: magnae pereunt cum moenibus urbes, cumque suis totas populis incendia gentis 215 in cinerem vertunt; silvae cum montibus ardent; ardet Athos Taurusque Cilix et Tmolus et Oete et tum sicca, prius celeberrima fontibus Ide virgineusque Helicon et nondum Oeagrius Haemus : ardet in inmensum geminatis ignibus Aetne 220 Parnasusque biceps et Eryx et Cynthus et Othrys et tandem nivibus Rhodope caritura Mimasque Dindymaque et Mycale natusque ad sacra Cithaeron. 74 METAMORPHOSES BOOK II two bows; and with tail and arms stretching out on both sides, he spreads over the space of two signs. When the boy sees this creature reeking with black poisonous sweat, and threatening to sting him with his curving tail, bereft of wits from chilling fear, down he dropped the reins. When the horses feel these lying on their backs, they break loose from their course, and, with none to check them, they roam through unknown regions of the air. Wherever their impulse leads them, there they rush aimlessly, knocking against the stars set deep in the sky and snatching the chariot along through uncharted ways. Now they climb up to the top of heaven, and now, plunging headlong down, they course along nearer the earth. The Moon in amazement sees her brother’s horses running below her own, and the scorched clouds smoke. The earth bursts into flame, the highest parts first, and splits into deep cracks, and its moisture is all dried up. The meadows are burned to white ashes; the trees are consumed, green leaves and all, and the ripe grain furnishes fuel for its own destruction. But these are small losses which I am lamenting. Great cities perish with their walls, and the vast conflagra- tion reduces whole nations to ashes. The woods are ablaze with the mountains; Athos is ablaze, Cilician Taurus, and Tmolus, and Oete, and Ida, dry at last, but hitherto covered with springs, and Helicon, haunt of the Muses, and Haemus, not yet linked with the name of Oeagrus. Aetna is blazing bound- lessly with flames now doubled, and twin-peaked Parnasus and Eryx, Cynthus and Othrys, and Rhodope, at last destined to lose its snows, Mimas and Dindyma, Mycale and Cithaeron, famed for sacred rites. Nor does its chilling clime save 75 OVID nec prosunt Scythiae sua frigora: Caucasus ardet Ossaque cum Pindo maiorque ambobus Olympus 225 aeriaeque Alpes et nubifer Appenninus. Tum vero Phaethon cunctis e partibus orbem adspicit accensum nec tantos sustinet aestus ferventisque auras velut e fornace profunda ore trahit currusque suos candescere sentit ; 230 et neque iam cineres eiectatamque favillam ferre potest calidoque involvitur undique fumo, quoque eat aut ubi sit, picea caligine tectus nescit et arbitrio volucrum raptatur equorum. Sanguine tum credunt in corpora summa vocato Aethiopum populos nigrum traxisse colorem; 236 tum facta est Libye raptis umoribus aestu arida, tum nymphae passis fontesque lacusque deflevere comis; quaerit Boeotia Dircen, Argos Amymonen, Ephyre Pirenidas undas ; 240 nec sortita loco distantes flumina ripas tuta manent: mediis Tanais fumavit in undis Peneusque senex Teuthranteusque Caicus et celer Ismenos cum Phegiaco Erymantho arsurusque iterum Xanthos flavusque Lycormas, 245 quique recurvatis ludit Maeandros in undis, Mygdoniusque Melas et Taenarius EKurotas. arsit et Euphrates Babylonius, arsit Orontes Thermodonque citus Gangesque et Phasis et Hister ; aestuat Alpheos, ripae Spercheides ardent, 250 quodque suo Fagus amne vehit, fluit ignibus aurum, et, quae Maeonias celebrarant carmine ripas, flumineae volucres medio caluere Caystro ; Nilus in extremum fugit perterritus orbem occuluitque caput, quod adhuc latet: ostia septem pulverulenta vacant, septem sine flumine valles. 256 76 METAMORPHOSES BOOK II Scythia; Caucasus burns, and Ossa with Pindus, and Olympus, greater than both; and the heaven- piercing Alps and cloud-capped Apennines. Then indeed does Phaéthon see the earth aflame on every hand; he cannot endure the mighty heat, and the air he breathes is like the hot breath of a deep furnace. The chariot he feels growing white-hot beneath his feet. He can no longer bear the ashes and whirling sparks, and is completely shrouded in the dense, hot smoke. In this pitchy darkness he cannot tell where he is or whither he is going, and is swept along at the will of his flying steeds. It was then, as men think, that the peoples of Aethiopia became black-skinned, since the blood was drawn to the surface of their bodies by the heat. Then also Libya became a desert, for the heat dried up her moisture. Then the nymphs with dishevelled hair bewailed their fountains and their pools. Boeotia mourns the loss of Dirce; Argos, Amymone ; Corinth, her Pirenian spring. Nor do rivers, whose lot had given them more spacious channels, remain unscathed. The Don’s waters steam; old Peneus, too, Mysian Caicus, and swift Ismenus; and Arcadian Erymanthus, Xanthus, destined once again to burn; tawny Lycormas, and Maeander, playing along upon its winding way; Thracian Melas and Laconian Euro- tas. Babylonian Euphrates burns; Orontes burns, and swift Thermodon; the Ganges, Phasis, Danube ; Alpheus boils; Spercheos’ banks are aflame. The golden sands of Tagus melt in the intense heat, and the swans, which had been wont to throng the Maeonian streams in tuneful company, are scorched in mid Cayster. The Nile fled in terror to the ends of the earth, and hid its head, and it is hidden yet. The seven mouths lie empty, filled with dust; seven 77 OVID fors eadem Ismarios Hebrum cum Strymone siccat Hesperiosque amnes, Rhenum Rhodanumque Padumque cuique fuit rerum promissa potentia, Thybrin. dissilit omne solum, penetratque in Tartara rimis ‘260 lumen et infernum terret cum coniuge regem ; et mare contrahitur siccaeque est campus harenae, quod modo pontus erat, quosque altum texerat aequor, exsistunt montes et sparsas Cycladas augent. ima petunt pisces, nec se super aequora curvi 265 tollere consuetas audent delphines in auras ; corpora phocarum summo resupina profundo exanimata natant: ipsum quoque Nerea fama est Doridaque et natas tepidis latuisse sub antris. ter Neptunus aquis cum torvo bracchia vultu 270 exserere ausus erat, ter non tulit aeris ignes. Alma tamen Tellus, ut erat circumdata ponto, inter aquas pelagi contractosque undique fontes, qui se condiderant in opacae viscera matris, sustulit oppressos collo tenus arida vultus 275 opposuitque manum fronti magnoque tremore omnia concutiens paullum subsedit et infra, quam solet esse, fuit sacraque ita voce locuta est: “si placet hoc meruique, quid o tua fulmina cessant, summe deum? liceat periturae viribus ignis 280 igne perire tuo clademque auctore levare! vix equidem fauces haec ipsa in verba resolvo ” ; (presserat ora vapor) “ tostos en adspice crines 78 METAMORPHOSES BOOK II broad channels, all without a stream. The same mischance dries up the Thracian rivers, Hebrus and Strymon; also the rivers of the west, the Rhine, Rhone, Po, and the Tiber, to whom had been pro- mised the mastery of the world. Great cracks yawn everywhere, and the light, penetrating to the lower world, strikes terror into the infernal king and his consort. Even the sea shrinks up, and what was but now a great, watery expanse is a dry plain of sand. The mountains, which the deep sea had covered before, spring forth, and increase the num- bers of the scattered Cyclades. The fish dive to the lowest depths, and the dolphins no longer dare to leap curving above the surface of the sea into their wonted air. The dead bodies of sea-calves float, with upturned belly, on the water's top. They say that Nereus himself and Doris and her daughters were hot as they lay hid in their caves. Thrice Neptune essayed to lift his arms and august face from out the water; thrice did he desist, unable to bear the fiery atmosphere. Not so all-fostering Earth, who, encircled as she was by sea,amid the waters of the deep, amid her fast- contracting streams which had crowded into her dark bowels and hidden there, though parched by heat, heaved up her smothered face. Raising her shielding hand to her brow and causing all things to shake with her mighty trembling, she sank back a little lower than her wonted place, and then in awful tones she spoke: “ If this is thy will, and I have deserved all this, why, O king of all the gods, are thy lightnings idle? If I must die by fire, oh, let me perish by thy fire and lighten my suffering by thought of him who sent it. I scarce can open my lips to speak these words "—the hot smoke was choking her—“ See my 79 OVID inque oculis tantum, tantum super ora favillae! hosne mihi fructus, hunce fertilitatis honorem 285 officiique refers, quod adunci vulnera aratri rastrorumque fero totoque exerceor anno, quod pecori frondes alimentaque mitia, fruges, humano generi, vobis quoque tura ministro? sed tamen exitium fac me meruisse: quid undae, quid meruit frater? cur illi tradita sorte 291 aequora decrescunt et ab aethere longius absunt? quodsi nec fratris nec te mea gratia tangit, at caeli miserere tui! circumspice utrumque: fumat uterque polus! quos si vitiaverit ignis, 295 atria vestra ruent! Atlans en ipse laborat vixque suis umeris candentem sustinet axem ! si freta, si terrae pereunt, si regia caeli, in chaos antiquum confundimur! eripe flammis, 299 si quid adhuc superest, et rerum consule summae! ” Dixerat haec Tellus: neque enim tolerare vaporem ulterius potuit nec dicere plura suumque rettulit os in se propioraque manibus antra ; at pater omnipotens, superos testatus et ipsum, qui dederat currus, nisi opem ferat, omnia fato 305 interitura gravi, summam petit arduus arcem, unde solet nubes latis inducere terris, unde movet tonitrus vibrataque fulmina iactat ; sed neque quas posset terris inducere nubes tunc habuit, nec quos caelo dimitteret imbres: 310 intonat et dextra libratum fulmen ab aure misit in aurigam pariterque animaque rotisque 80 METAMORPHOSES BOOK II singed hair and all ashes in my eyes, all ashes over my face. Is this the return, this the reward thou payest of my fertility and dutifulness? that I bear the wounds of the crooked plow and mattock, tormented year in, year out? that I provide kindly pasturage for the flocks, grain for mankind, incense for the altars of the gods? But, grant that I have deserved destruc- tion, what has the sea, what has thy brother done? Why are the waters which fell to him by the third lot so shrunken, and so much further from thy sky? But if no consideration for thy brother nor yet for me has weight with thee, at least have pity on thy own heavens. Look around: the heavens are smoking from pole to pole. If the fire shall weaken these, the homes of the gods will fall in ruins. See, Atlas him- self is troubled and can scarce bear up the white-hot vault upon his shoulders. If the sea perish and the land and the realms of the sky, then are we hurled back to primeval chaos. Save from the flames what- ever yet remains and take thought for the safety of the universe.” So spoke the Earth and ceased, for she could no longer endure the heat; and she retreated into her- self and into the depths nearer the land of shades. But the Almighty Father, calling on the gods to witness and him above all who had given the chariot, that unless he bring aid all things will perish by a grievous doom, mounts on high to the top of heaven, whence it is his wont to spread the clouds over the broad lands, whence he stirs his thunders and flings his hurtling bolts. But now he has no clouds where- with to overspread the earth, nor any rains to send down from the sky. He thundered, and, balancing in his right hand a bolt, flung it from beside the ear at the charioteer and hurled him from the car and from SI VOL. I. D OVID expulit et saevis conpescuit ignibus ignes. consternantur equi et saltu in contraria facto colla iugo eripiunt abruptaque lora relinquunt: 315 illic frena iacent, illic temone revulsus axis, in hac radii fractarum parte rotarum sparsaque sunt late laceri vestigia currus. At Phaethon rutilos flamma populante capillos volvitur in praeceps longoque per aera tractu. 3320 fertur, ut interdum de caelo stella sereno etsi non cecidit, potuit cecidisse videri. quem procul a patria diverso maximus orbe excipit Eridanus fumantiaque abluit ora. Naides Hesperiae trifida fumantia flamma 329 corpora dant tumulo, signant quoque carmine saxum: HIC * SITVS * EST * PHAETHON * CVRRVS ° AVRIGA * PATERNI QVEM ° SI* NON * TENVIT * MAGNIS * TAMEN °* EXCIDIT >: AVSIS Nam pater obductos luctu miserabilis aegro condiderat vultus, et, si modo credimus, unum —_:330 isse diem sine sole ferunt: incendia lumen praebebant aliquisque malo fuit usus in illo. at Clymene postquam dixit, quaecumque fuerunt in tantis dicenda malis, lugubris et amens et laniata sinus totum percensuit orbem 339 exanimesque artus primo, mox ossa requirens repperit ossa tamen peregrina condita ripa incubuitque loco nomenque in marmore lectum perfudit lacrimis et aperto pectore fovit. nec minus Heliades fletus et inania morti 340 82 METAMORPHOSES BOOK II life as well, and thus quenched fire with blasting fire. The maddened horses leap apart, wrench their necks from the yoke, and break away from the parted reins. Here lie the reins, there the axle torn from the pole; in another place the spokes of the broken wheels, and fragments of the wrecked chariot are scattered far and wide. But Phaéthon, fire ravaging his ruddy hair, is hurled headlong and falls with a long trail through the air; as sometimes a star from the clear heavens, although it does not fall, still seems to fall. Him far from his native land, in another quarter of the globe, Eridanus receives and bathes his steaming face. The Naiads in that western land consign his body, still smoking with the flames of that forked bolt, to the tomb and carve this epitaph upon his stone: HERE PHAETHON LIES : IN PHOEBUS’ CAR HE FARED, AND THOUGH HE GREATLY FAILED, MORE GREATLY DARED. The wretched father, sick with grief, hid his face; and, if we are to believe report, one whole day went without the sun. But the burning world gave light, and so even in that disaster was there some service. But Clymene, after she had spoken whatever could be spoken in such woe, melancholy and distraught and tearing her breast, wandered over the whole earth, seeking first his lifeless limbs, then his bones; his bones at last she found, but buried on a river-bank in a foreign land. Here she prostrates herself upon the tomb, drenches the dear name carved in the marble with her tears, and fondles it against her breast. The Heliades, her daughters, join in her lamentation, and pour out their tears in useless tribute to the dead. With bruising hands beating 83 OVID munera dant, lacrimas, et caesae pectora palmis non auditurum miseras Phaethonta querellas nocte dieque vocant adsternunturque sepulcro. luna quater iunctis inplerat cornibus orbem ; illae more suo (nam morem fecerat usus) 345 plangorem dederant: e quis Phaethusa, sororum maxima, cum vellet terra procumbere, questa est deriguisse pedes; ad quam conata venire candida Lampetie subita radice retenta est ; tertia, cum crinem manibus laniare pararet, 350 avellit frondes; haec stipite crura teneri, illa dolet fieri longos sua bracchia ramos, dumque ea mirantur, conplectitur inguina cortex perque gradus uterum pectusque umerosque manusque ambit, et exstabant tantum ora vocantia matrem. 355 quid faciat mater, nisi, quo trahat inpetus illam, huc eat atque illuc et, dum licet, oscula iungat? non satis est: truncis avellere corpora temptat et teneros manibus ramos abrumpit, at inde sanguineae manant tamquam de vulnere guttae. 360 ‘parce, precor, mater, quaecumque estsaucia, clamat, ‘parce, precor: nostrum laceratur in arbore corpus iamque vale ’—cortex in verba novissima venit. inde fluunt lacrimae, stillataque sole rigescunt de ramis electra novis, quae lucidus amnis 365 excipit et nuribus mittit gestanda Latinis. Adfuit huic monstro proles Stheneleia Cygnus, qui tibi materno quamvis a sanguine iunctus, mente tamen, Phaethon, propior fuit. _ille relicto 84 METAMORPHOSES BOOK II their naked breasts, they call night and day upon their brother, who nevermore will hear their sad laments, and prostrate themselves upon his sepulchre. Four times had the moon with waxing crescents reached her full orb; but they, as was their habit (for use had established habit), were mourning still. Then one day the eldest, Phaéthusa, when she would throw herself upon the grave, complained that her feet had grown cold and stark; and when the fair Lampetia tried to come to her, she was held fast as by sudden roots. A third, making to tear her hair, found her hands plucking at foliage. One com- plained that her ankles were encased in wood, another that her arms were changing to long branches. And while they look on those things in amazement bark closes round their loins, and, by degrees, their waists, breasts, shoulders, hands; and all that was free were their lips calling upon their mother. What can the frantic mother do but run, as impulse carries her, now here, now there, and print kisses on their lips? That is not enough: she tries to tear away the bark from their bodies and breaks off slender twigs with her hands. But as she does this bloody drops trickle forth as from a wound. And each one, as she is wounded, cries out: “‘ Oh, spare me, mother; spare, I beg you. “Tis my body that you are tearing in the tree. And now fare- well ’’—the bark closed over her latest words. Still their tears flow on, and these tears, hardened into amber by the sun, drop down from the new-made trees. The clear river receives them and bears them onward, one day to be worn by the brides of Rome. Cycnus, the son of Sthenelus, was a witness of this miracle. Though he was kin to you, O Phaéthon, by his mother’s blood, he was more closely joined in 85 OVID (nam Ligurum populos et magnas rexerat urbes) 370 imperio ripas virides amnemque querellis Kridanum inplerat silvamque sororibus auctam, cum vox est tenuata viro canaeque capillos dissimulant plumae collumque a pectore longe porrigitur digitosque ligat iunctura rubentis, 379 penna latus velat, tenet os sine acumine rostrum. fit nova Cygnus avis nec se caeloque Iovique tradit, ut iniuste missi memor ignis ab illo; stagna petit patulosque lacus ignemque perosus quae colat elegit contraria flumina flammis. 380 Squalidus interea genitor Phaethontis et expers ipse sui decoris, qualis, cum deficit orbem, esse solet, lucemque odit seque ipse diemque datque animum in luctus et luctibus adicit iram officiumque negat mundo. “satis ’inquit“ abaevi 385 sors mea principiis fuit inrequieta, pigetque actorum sine fine mihi, sine honore laborum! quilibet alter agat portantes lumina currus! si nemo est omnesque dei non posse fatentur, ipse agat ut saltem, dum nostras temptat habenas, 390 orbatura patres aliquando fulmina ponat! tum sciet ignipedum vires expertus equorum non meruisse necem, qui non bene rexerit illos.”’ Talia dicentem circumstant omnia Solem numina, neve velit tenebras inducere rebus, 395 supplice voce rogant; missos quoque luppiter lignes excusat precibusque minas regaliter addit. 86 METAMORPHOSES BOOK II affection. He, abandoning his kingdom—for he ruled over the peoples and great cities of Liguria—went weeping and lamenting along the green banks of the Eridanus, and through the woods which the sisters had increased. And as he went his voice became thin and shrill; white plumage hid his hair and his neck stretched far out from his breast. A web-like membrane joined his reddened fingers, wings clothed his sides, and a blunt beak his mouth. So Cycnus became a strange new bird—the swan. But he did not trust himself to the upper air and Jove, since he remembered the fiery bolt which the god had un- justly hurled. His favourite haunts were the still pools and spreading lakes; and, hating fire, he chose the water for his home, as the opposite of flame. Meanwhile Phoebus sits in gloomy mourning garb, shorn of his brightness, just as when he is darkened by eclipse. He hates himself and the light of day, gives over his soul to grief, to grief adds rage, and refuses to do service to the world. ‘“ Enough,” he says; ' from time’s beginning has my lot been unrest- ful; I am weary of my endless and unrequited toils. Let any else who chooses drive the chariot of light. If no one will, and all the gods confess that it is beyond their power, let Jove himself do it, that, sometime at least, while he essays to grasp my reins, he may lay aside the bolts that are destined to rob fathers of their boys. Then will he know, when he has himself tried the strength of those fiery-footed steeds, that he who failed to guide them well did not deserve death.” As he thus speaks all the gods stand around him, and beg him humbly not to plunge the world in dark- ness. Jove himself seeks to excuse the bolt he hurled, and to his prayers adds threats in royal style. 87 OVID colligit amentes et adhuc terrore paventes Phoebus equos stimuloque dolens et verbere saevit ; saevit, erum! natumque obiectat et inputat illis. 400 At pater omnipotens ingentia moenia caeli circuit et, ne quid labefactum viribus ignis corruat, explorat. quae postquam firma suique roboris esse videt, terras hominumque labores perspicit. Arcadiae tamen est inpensior illi 405 cura suae: fontesque et nondum audentia labi flumina restituit, dat terrae gramina, frondes arboribus, laesasque iubet revirescere silvas. dum redit itque frequens, in virgine Nonacrina haesit, et accepti caluere sub ossibus ignes. 410 non erat huius opus lanam mollire trahendo nec positu variare comas; ubi fibula vestem, vitta coercuerat neglectos alba capillos ; et modo leve manu iaculum, modo sumpserat arcum, miles erat Phoebes: nec Maenalon attigit ulla 415 gratior hac Triviae; sed nulla potentia longa est. Ulterius medio spatium sol altus habebat, cum subit illa nemus, quod nulla ceciderat aetas ; exuit hic umero pharetram lentosque retendit arcus inque solo, quod texerat herba, iacebat 420 et pictam posita pharetram cervice premebat. Iuppiter ut vidit fessam et custode vacantem, ‘hoc certe furtum coniunx mea nesciet ” inquit, ‘aut si rescierit, sunt, o sunt iurgia tanti! ” 1 erum Merkel: enim MSS. 88 METAMORPHOSES BOOK II Then Phoebus yokes his team again, wild and trembling still with fear; and, in his grief, fiercely plies them with lash and goad, fiercely he plies them, reproaching and taxing them with the death of their master, his son. But now the Almighty Father makes a round of the great battlements of heaven and examines to see if anything has been loosened by the might of fire. When he sees that these are firm with their immortal strength, he inspects the earth and the affairs of men. Yet Arcadia, above all, is his more earnest care. He restores her springs and rivers, which hardly dare as yet to flow; he gives grass again to the ground, leaves to the trees, and bids the damaged forests grow green again. And as he came and went upon his tasks he chanced to see a certain Arcadian nymph, and straightway the fire he caught grew hot to his very marrow. She had no need to spin soft wools nor to arrange her hair in studied elegance. A simple brooch fastened her gown and a white fillet held her loose-flowing hair. And in this garb, now with a spear, and now a bow in her hand, was she arrayed as one of Phoebe’s warriors. Nor was any nymph who roamed over the slopes of Maenalus in higher favour with her goddess than was she. But no favour is of long duration. The sun was high o’erhead, just beyond his zenith, when the nymph entered the forest that all years had left unfelled. Here she took her quiver from her shoulder, unstrung her tough bow, and lay down upon the grassy ground, with her head pillowed on her painted quiver. When Jove saw her there, tired out and unprotected: “ Here, surely,’ he said, “ my consort will know nothing of my guile; or if she learn it, well bought are taunts at such a price.” 89 OVID protinus induitur faciem cultumque Dianae 425 atque ait: “ o comitum, virgo, pars una mearum, in quibus es venata iugis? ”’ de caespite virgo se levat et “ salve numen, me iudice ”’ dixit, ‘ audiat ipse licet, maius Jove.” ridet et audit et sibi praeferri se gaudet et oscula iungit, 430 nec moderata satis nec sic a virgine danda. qua venata foret silva, narrare parantem inpedit amplexu nec se sine crimine prodit. illa quidem contra, quantum modo femina posset (adspiceres utinam, Saturnia, mitior esses), 435 illa quidem pugnat, sed quem superare puella, quisve Iovem poterat? superum petit aethera victor Iuppiter: huic odio nemus est et conscia silva ; unde pedem referens paene est oblita pharetram tollere cum telis et quem suspenderat arcum. 440 Ecce, suo comitata choro Dictynna per altum Maenalon ingrediens et caede superba ferarum adspicit hanc visamque vocat: clamata refugit et timuit primo, ne luppiter esset in illa; sed postquam pariter nymphas incedere vidit, 445 sensit abesse dolos numerumque accessit ad harum. heu! quam difficile est crimen non prodere vultu! vix oculos attollit humo nec, ut ante solebat, iuncta deae lateri nec toto est agmine prima, sed silet et laesi dat signa rubore pudoris ; 450 et, nisi quod virgo est, poterat sentire Diana mille notis culpam: nymphae sensisse feruntur. orbe resurgebant lunaria cornua nono, go METAMORPHOSES BOOK II Straightway he put on the features and dress of Diana and said: “ Dear maid, best loved of all my followers, where hast thou been hunting to-day? ” The maiden arose from her grassy couch and said: “ Hail thou, my goddess, greater far than Jove, I say, though he himself should hear.” Jove laughed to hear her, rejoicing to be prized more highly than himself; and he kissed her lips, not modestly, nor as a maiden kisses. When she began to tell him in what woods her hunt had been, he broke in upon her story with an embrace, and by this outrage betrayed himself. She, in truth, struggled against him with all her girlish might—hadst thou been there to see, Saturnia, thy judgment were more kind !—but whom could a girl o’ercome, or who could prevail against Jove? Jupiter won the day, and went back to the sky; she loathed the forest and the woods that knew her secret. As she retraced her path she almost for- got to take up the quiver with its arrows, and the bow she had hung up. But see, Diana, with her train of nymphs, ap- proaches along the slopes of Maenalus, proud of her trophies of the chase. She sees our maiden and calls to her. At first she flees in fear, lest this should be Jove in disguise again. But when she sees the other nymphs coming too, she is reassured and joins the - band. Alas, how hard it is not to betray a guilty conscience in the face! She walks with downcast eyes, not, as was her wont, close to her goddess, and leading all the rest. Her silence and her blushes give clear tokens of her plight; and, were not Diana herself a maid, she could know her guilt by a thou- sand signs; it is said that the nymphs knewit. Nine times since then the crescent moon had grown full orbed, when the goddess, worn with the chase and Ol OVID cum dea venatu fraternis languida flammis, nacta nemus gelidum, de quo cum murmure labens ibat et attritas versabat rivus harenas. 456 ut loca laudavit, summas pede contigit undas ; his quoque laudatis “ procul est”’ ait “arbiter omnis: nuda superfusis tinguamus corporalymphis!’’ Parrhasis erubuit; cunctae velamina ponunt; 460 una moras quaerit: dubitanti vestis adempta est, qua posita nudo patuit cum corpore crimen. attonitae manibusque uterum celare volenti “i procul hine ” dixit “ nec sacros pollue fontis! ” Cynthia deque suo iussit secedere coetu. 465 Senserat hoc olim magni matrona Tonantis distuleratque graves in idonea tempora poenas. causa morae nulla est, et iam puer Arcas (id ipsum indoluit luno) fuerat de paelice natus. quo simul obvertit saevam cum lumine mentem, 470 “ scilicet hoc etiam restabat, adultera ”’ dixit, “ut fecunda fores, fieretque iniuria partu nota, lovisque mei testatum dedecus esset. haud inpune feres: adimam tibi namque figuram, qua tibi, quaque places nostro, inportuna, marito.”’ dixit et adversam prensis a fronte capillis 476 stravit humi pronam. tendebat bracchia supplex : bracchia coeperunt nigris horrescere villis curvarique manus et aduncos crescere in unguis officioque pedum fungi laudataque quondam 480 ora Iovi lato fieri deformia rictu. neve preces animos et verba precantia flectant, posse loqui eripitur: vox iracunda minaxque plenaque terroris rauco de gutture fertur ; Q2 METAMORPHOSES BOOK II overcome by the hot sun’s rays, came to a cool grove through which a gently murmuring stream flowed over its smooth sands. The place delighted her and she dipped her feet into the water. Delighted too with this, she said to her companions: ‘ Come, no one is near to see; let us disrobe and bathe us in the brook.” The Arcadian blushed, and, while all the rest obeyed, she only sought excuses for delay. But her companions forced her to comply, and there her shame was openly confessed. As she stood terror- stricken, vainly striving to hide her state, Diana cried: ‘Begone! and pollute not our sacred pool ’’; and so expelled her from her company. The great Thunderer’s wife had known all this long since; but she had put off her vengeance until a fitting time. And now that time was come; for, to add a sting to Juno’s hate, a boy, Arcas, had been born of her rival. Whereto when she turned her angry mind and her angry eyes, “ See there! ”’ she cried, “ nothing was left, adulteress, than to breed a son, and publish my wrong by his birth, a living witness to my lord’s shame. But thou shalt suffer for it. Yea, for I will take away thy beauty wherewith thou dost delight thyself, forward girl, and him who is my husband.” So saying, she caught her by the hair full in front and flung her face-foremost to the ground. And when the girl stretched out her arms in prayer for mercy, her arms began to grow rough with black shaggy hair; her hands changed into feet tipped with sharp claws; and her lips, which but now Jove had praised, were changed to broad, ugly Jaws ; and, that she might not move him with entreating prayers, her power of speech was taken from her, and only a harsh, terrifying growl came hoarsely from her throat. Still her human feelings remained, though 93 OVID mens antiqua manet, (facta quoque mansit in ursa) adsiduoque suos gemitu testata dolores 486 qualescumque manus ad caelum et sidera tollit ingratumque lovem, nequeat cum dicere, sentit. a! quotiens, sola non ausa quiescere silva, ante domum quondamque suis erravit in agris! 490 a! quotiens per saxa canum latratibus acta est venatrixque metu venantum territa fugit! saepe feris latuit visis, oblita quid esset, ursaque conspectos in montibus horruit ursos pertimuitque lupos, quamvis pater esset in illis. 495 KEece Lycaoniae proles ignara parentis, Arcas adest ter quinque fere natalibus actis ; dumque feras sequitur, dum saltus eligit aptos nexilibusque plagis silvas Erymanthidas ambit, incidit in matrem, quae restitit Arcade viso 500 et cognoscenti similis fuit: ille refugit inmotosque oculos in se sine fine tenentem nescius extimuit propiusque accedere aventi vulnifico fuerat fixurus pectora telo: arcuit omnipotens pariterque ipsosque nefasque 505 sustulit et pariter raptos per inania vento inposuit caelo vicinaque sidera fecit. Intumuit Iuno, postquam inter sidera paelex fulsit, et ad canam descendit in aequora Tethyn Oceanumque senem, quorum reverentia movit 510 saepe deos, causamque viae scitantibus infit: ‘* quaeritis, aetheriis quare regina deorum 94 METAMORPHOSES BOOK II she was now a bear; with constant moanings she shows her grief, stretches up such hands as are left her to the heavens, and, though she cannot speak, still feels the ingratitude of Jove. Ah, how often, not daring to lie down in the lonely woods, she wandered before her home and in the fields that had once been hers! How often was she driven over the rocky ways by the baying of hounds and, huntress though she was, fled in affright before the hunters! Often she hid at sight of the wild beasts, forgetting what she was; and, though herself a bear, shuddered at sight of other bears which she saw on the mountain- slopes. She even feared the wolves, although her own father, Lycaon, ran with the pack. And now Arcas, Lycaon’s grandson, had reached his fifteenth year, ignorant of his mother’s plight. While he was hunting the wild beasts, seeking out their favourite haunts, hemming the Arcadian woods with his close-wrought nets, he chanced upon his mother, who stopped still at sight of Arcas, and seemed like one that recognized him. He shrank back at those unmoving eyes that were fixed for ever upon him, and feared he knew not what; and when she tried tocome nearer, he was just in the act of pierc- ing her breast with his wound-dealing spear. But the Omnipotent stayed his hand, and together he removed both themselves and the crime, and together caught up through the void in a whirlwind, he set them in the heavens and made them neighbouring stars. Then indeed did Juno’s wrath wax hotter still when she saw her rival shining in the sky, and straight went down to Tethys, venerable goddess of the sea, and to old Ocean, whom oft the gods hold in reverence. When they asked her the cause of her coming, she began: “ Do you ask me why I, the 95 OVID sedibus huc adsim? pro me tenet altera caelum! mentior, obscurum nisi nox cum fecerit orbem, nuper honoratas summo, mea vulnera, caelo 515 videritis stellas illic, ubi circulus axem ultimus extremum spatioque brevissimus ambit. et vero quisquam Iunonem laedere nolit offensamque tremat, quae prosum sola nocendo? 519 o ego quantum egi! quam vasta potentia nostra est! esse hominem vetui: facta est dea! sic ego poenas sontibus inpono, sic est mea magna potestas! vindicet antiquam faciem vultusque ferinos detrahat, Argolica quod in ante Phoronide fecit cur non et pulsa ducit Junone meoque 025 collocat in thalamo socerumque Lycaona sumit? at vos si laesae tangit contemptus alumnae, gurgite caeruleo septem prohibete triones sideraque in caelo stupri mercede recepta pellite, ne puro tinguatur in aequore paelex!”’ 530 Di maris adnuerant: habili Saturnia curru ingreditur liquidum pavonibus aethera pictis, tam nuper pictis caeso pavonibus Argo, quam tu nuper eras, cum candidus ante fuisses, corve loquax, subito nigrantis versus in alas. 535 nam fuit haec quondam niveis argentea pennis ales, ut aequaret totas sine labe columbas, nec servaturis vigili Capitolia voce cederet anseribus nec amanti flumina cygno. lingua fuit damno: lingua faciente loquaci 540 qui color albus erat, nunc est contrarius albo. 96 METAMORPHOSES BOOK II queen of heaven, am here? Another queen has usurped my heaven. Count my word false if to- night, when darkness has obscured the sky, you see not new constellations fresh set, to outrage me, in the place of honour in highest heaven, where the last and shortest circle encompasses the utmost pole. And is there any reason now why anyone should hesitate to insult Juno and should fear my wrath, who do but help where I would harm? Oh, what great things have I accomplished! What unbounded power is mine! She whom I drove out of human form has now become a goddess. So do I punish those who wrong me! Such is my vaunted might! It only remains for him to release her from her bestial form and restore her former features, as he did once before in Argive Io’s case. Why, now that I am deposed, should he not wed and set her in my chamber, and become Lycaon’s son-in-law? But do you, if the insult to your foster-child moves you, debar these bears from your green pools, disown stars which have gained heaven at the price of shame, and let not that harlot bathe in your pure stream.” The gods of the sea granted her prayer, and Saturnia, mounting her swift chariot, was borne back through the yielding air by her gaily decked pea- cocks, peacocks but lately decked with the slain Argus’ eyes, at the same time that thy plumage, talking raven, though white before, had been suddenly changed to black. For he had once been a bird of silvery-white plumage, so that he rivalled the spotless doves, nor yielded to the geese which one day were to save the Capitol with their watchful cries, nor to the river-loving swan. But his tongue was his undoing. Through his tongue’s fault the talking bird, which once was white, was now the opposite of white. 97 OVID Pulchrior in tota quam Larisaea Coronis non fuit Haemonia: placuit tibi, Delphice, certe, dum vel casta fuit vel inobservata, sed ales sensit adulterium Phoebeius, utque latentem 545 detegeret culpam, non exorabilis index, ad dominum tendebat iter. quem garrula motis consequitur pennis, scitetur ut omnia, cornix auditaque viae causa “ non utile carpis ”’ inquit “iter: ne sperne meae praesagia linguae! 550 quid fuerim quid simque vide meritumque require : invenies nocuisse fidem. nam tempore quodam Pallas Erichthonium, prolem sine matre creatam, clauserat Actaeo texta de vimine cista virginibusque tribus gemino de Cecrope natis 555 et lezem dederat, sua ne secreta viderent. abdita fronde levi densa speculabar ab ulmo, quid facerent: commissa duae sine fraude tuentur, Pandrosos atque Herse; timidas vocat una sorores Aglauros nodosque manu diducit, et intus 560 infantemque vident adporrectumque draconem. acta deae refero. pro quo mihi gratia talis redditur, ut dicar tutela pulsa Minervae et ponar post noctis avem! mea poena volucres admonuisse potest, ne voce pericula quaerant. 565 at, puto, non ultro nequiquam tale rogantem me petiit !—ipsa licet hoc a Pallade quaeras: quamvis irata est, non hoc irata negabit. 98 METAMORPHOSES BOOK II In all Thessaly there was no fairer maid than Coronis of Larissa. She surely found favour in thy eyes, O Delphic god, so long as she was chaste—or undetected. But the bird of Phoebus discovered her unchastity, and was posting with all speed, hard- hearted tell-tale, to his master to disclose the sin he had spied out. The gossiping crow followed him on flapping wings and asked the news. But when he heard the real object of the trip he said: “ ’Tis no profitable journey you are taking, my friend. Scorn not the forewarning of my tongue. See what I used to be and what I am now, and then ask the reason for it. You will find that good faith was my undoing. Once upon a time a child was born, named Erichthonius, a child without a mother. Him Pallas hid in a box woven of Actaean osiers, and gave this to the three daughters of double-shaped Cecrops, with the strict command not to look upon her secret. Hidden in the light leaves that grew thick over an elm, I set myself to watch what they would do. Two of the girls, Pandrosos and Herse, watched the box in good faith, but the third, Aglauros, called her sisters cowards, and with her hand undid the fastenings. And within they saw a baby-boy and a snake stretched out beside him. I went and be- trayed them to the goddess, and for my pains I was turned out of my place as Minerva’s attendant and put after the bird of night! My punishment ought to be a warning to all birds not to invite trouble by talking too much. But perhaps (do you say?) she did not seek me out of her own accord, when I asked no such thing? Well, you may ask Pallas herself. Though she be angry with me now, she will not deny that, for all her anger. It is a well-known story. I once was a king’s daughter, child of the famous oo OVID nam me Phocaica clarus tellure Coroneus (nota loquor) genuit, fueramque ego regia virgo 570 divitibusque procis (ne me contemne) petebar: forma mihi nocuit. nam cum per litora lentis passibus, ut soleo, summa spatiarer harena, vidit et incaluit pelagi deus, utque precando tempora cum blandis absumpsit inania verbis, 575 vim parat et sequitur. fugio densumque relinquo litus et in molli nequiquam lassor harena. inde deos hominesque voco; nec contigit ullum vox mea mortalem: mota est pro virgine virgo auxiliumque tulit. tendebam bracchia caelo: 580 bracchia coeperunt levibus nigrescere pennis ; reicere ex umeris vestem molibar, at illa pluma erat inque cutem radices egerat imas ; plangere nuda meis conabar pectora palmis, sed neque iam palmas nec pectora nuda gerebam ; currebam, nec, ut ante, pedes retinebat harena, 586 sed summa tollebar humo; mox alta per auras evehor et data sum comes inculpata Minervae. quid tamen hoc prodest, si diro facta volucris crimine Nyctimene nostro successit honori? 590 an quae per totam res est notissima Lesbon, non audita tibi est, patrium temerasse cubile Nyctimenen? avis illa quidem, sed conscia culpae conspectum lucemque fugit tenebrisque pudorem celat et a cunctis expellitur aethere toto.” 099 Talia dicenti “ tibi ”’ ait “ revocamina ” corvus “‘sint, precor, ista malo: nos vanum spernimus omen.” 100 METAMORPHOSES BOOK II Coroneus in the land of Phocis, and—nay, scorn me not—rich suitors sought me in marriage. But my beauty proved my bane. For once, while I paced, as is my wont, along the shore with slow steps over the sand’s top, the god of the ocean saw me and grew hot. And when his prayers and coaxing words proved but waste of time, he offered force and pursued. I ran from him, leaving the hard-packed beach, and was quickly worn out, but all to no purpose, in the soft sand beyond. Then I cried out for help to gods and men, but my cries reached no mortal ear. But the virgin goddess heard a virgin’s prayer and came to my aid. I was stretching my arms to heaven, when my arms began to darken with light feathers. I strove to cast my mantle from m shoulders, but it was feathers, too, which had already struck their roots deep into my skin. I tried to beat my bare breasts with my hands, but I found I had now neither breasts nor hands. I would run; and now the sand did not retard my feet as before, but I skimmed lightly along the top of the ground, and soon | floated on the air, soaring high; and so I was given to Minerva to be her blameless comrade. But of what use was that to me, if, after all, Nyctimene, who was changed into a bird because of her vile sins, has been put in my place? Or have you not heard the tale all Lesbos knows too well, how Nyctimene outraged the sanctity of her father’s bed? And, bird though she now is, still, conscious of her guilt, she flees the sight of men and light of day, and tries to hide her shame in darkness, outcast by all from the whole radiant sky.” In reply to all this the raven said: “ On your own head, | pray, be the evil that warning portends; I scorn the idle presage,’ continued on his way to his Io1r OVID nec coeptum dimittit iter dominoque iacentem cum iuvene Haemonio vidisse Coronida narrat. laurea delapsa est audito crimine amantis, 600 et pariter vultusque deo plectrumque colorque excidit, utque animus tumida fervebat ab ira, arma adsueta capit flexumque a cornibus arcum tendit et illa suo totiens cum pectore iuncta indevitato traiecit pectora telo. 605 icta dedit gemitum tractoque a corpore ferro candida puniceo perfudit membra cruore et dixit: “ potui poenas tibi, Phoebe, dedisse, sed peperisse prius; duo nunc moriemur in una.” hactenus, et pariter vitam cum sanguine fudit; 610 corpus inane animae frigus letale secutum est. Paenitet heu! sero poenae crudelis amantem, seque, quod audierit, quod sic exarserit, odit ; odit avem, per quam crimen causamque dolendi scire coactus erat, nec non arcumque manumque 615 odit cumque manu temeraria tela sagittas conlapsamque fovet seraque ope vincere fata nititur et medicas exercet inaniter artes. quae postquam frustra temptata rogumque parari vidit et arsuros supremis ignibus artus, 620 tum vero gemitus (neque enim caelestia tingui ora licet lacrimis) alto de corde petitos edidit, haud aliter quam cum spectante iuvenca lactentis vituli dextra libratus ab aure tempora discussit claro cava malleus ictu. 625 102 METAMORPHOSES BOOK II master, and then told him that he had seen Coronis lying beside the youth of Thessaly. When that charge was heard the laurel glided from the lover’s head; together countenance and colour changed, and the quill dropped from the hand of the god. And as his heart became hot with swelling anger he seized his accustomed arms, strung his bent bow from the horns, and transfixed with unerring shaft the bosom which had been so often pressed to his own. The smitten maid groaned in agony, and, as the arrow was drawn out, her white limbs were drenched with her red blood. “ “Twas right, O Phoebus,” she said, “ that I should suffer thus from you, but first I should have borne my child. But now two of us shall die in one.” And while she spoke her life ebbed out with her streaming blood, and soon her body, its life all spent, lay cold in death. The lover, alas! too late repents his cruel act; he hates himself because he listened to the tale and was so quick to break out in wrath. He hates the bird by which he has been compelled to know the offence that brought his grief; bow and hand he hates, and with that hand the hasty arrows too. He fondles the fallen girl, and too late tries to bring help and to conquer fate; but his healing arts are exercised in vain. When his efforts were of no avail, and he saw the pyre made ready with the funeral fires which were to consume her limbs, then indeed—for the cheeks of the heavenly gods may not be wet with tears—from his deep heart he uttered piteous groans; such groans as the young cow utters when before her eyes the hammer high poised from beside the right ear crashes with its resounding blow through the hollow temples of her suckling calf. The god pours fragrant incense on her unconscious breast, gives her 103 OVID ut tamen ingratos in pectora fudit odores et dedit amplexus iniustaque iusta peregit, non tulit in cineres labi sua Phoebus eosdem semina, sed natum flammis uteroque parentis eripuit geminique tulit Chironis in antrum, 630 sperantemque sibi non falsae praemia linguae inter aves albas vetuit consistere corvum. Semifer interea divinae stirpis alumno laetus erat mixtoque oneri gaudebat honore ; ecce venit rutilis umeros protecta capillis 635 filia centauri, quam quandam nympha Chariclo fluminis in rapidi ripis enisa vocavit Ocyroen: non haec artes contenta paternas edidicisse fuit, fatorum arcana canebat. ergo ubi vaticinos concepit mente furores 640 incaluitque deo, quem clausum pectore habebat, adspicit infantem “ toto ” que “ salutifer orbi cresce, puer! ” dixit; “ tibi se mortalia saepe corpora debebunt, animas tibi reddere ademptas fas erit, idque semel dis indignantibus ausus 645 posse dare hoc iterum flamma prohibebere avita, eque deo corpus fies exsangue deusque, qui modo corpus eras, et bis tua fata novabis. tu quoque, care pater, nunc inmortalis et aevis omnibus ut maneas nascendi lege creatus, 650 posse mori cupies, tum cum cruciabere dirae sanguine serpentis per saucia membra recepto ; teque ex aeterno patientem numina mortis 104 METAMORPHOSES BOOK II the last embrace, and performs all the fit offices unfitly for the dead. But that his own son should perish in the same funeral fires he cannot brook. He snatched the unborn child from his mother’s womb and from the devouring flames, and bore him for safe keeping to the cave of two-formed Chiron. But the raven, which had hoped only for reward from his truth- telling, he forbad to take their place among white birds. Meantime the Centaur was rejoicing in his foster- child of heavenly stock, glad at the honour which the task brought with it, when lo! there comes his daughter, her shoulders overmantled with red-gold locks, whom once the nymph, Chariclo, bearing her to him upon the banks of the swift stream, had called thereafter Ocyrhoé. She was not satisfied to have learnt her father’s art, but she sang prophecy. So when she felt in her soul the prophetic madness, and was warmed by the divine fire prisoned in her breast, she looked upon the child and cried: “O child, health-bringer to the whole world, speed thy growth. Often shall mortal bodies owe their lives to thee, and to thee shall it be counted right to restore the spirits of the departed. But having dared this once in scorn of the gods, from power to give life a second time thou shalt be stayed by thy grandsire’s lightning. So, from a god shalt thou become but a lifeless corpse; but from this corpse shalt thou again become a god and twice renew thy fates. Thou also, dear father, who art now im- mortal and destined by the law of thy birth to last through all the ages, shalt some day long for power to die, when thou shalt be in agony with all thy limbs burning with the fatal Hydra’s blood. But at last, from immortal the gods shall make thee capable 105 OVID efficient, triplicesque deae tua fila resolvent.” restabat fatis aliquid: suspirat ab imis 655 pectoribus, lacrimaeque genis labuntur obortae, atque ita “ praevertunt ” inquit “ me fata, vetorque plura loqui, vocisque meae praecluditur usus. non fuerant artes tanti, quae numinis iram contraxere mihi: mallem nescisse futura! 660 iam mihi subduci facies humana videtur, iam cibus herba placet, iam latis currere campis impetus est: in equam cognataque corpora vertor. tota tamen quare? pater est mihi nempe biformis.” talia dicenti pars est extrema querellae 665 intellecta parum confusaque verba fuerunt ; mox nec verba quidem nec equae sonus ille videtur sed simulantis equam, parvoque in tempore certos edidit hinnitus et bracchia movit in herbas. tum digiti coeunt et quinos alligat ungues 670 perpetuo cornu levis ungula, crescit et oris et colli spatium, longae pars maxima pallae cauda fit, utque vagi crines per colla iacebant, in dextras abiere iubas, pariterque novata est et vox et facies ; nomen quoque monstra dedere. 675 Flebat opemque tuam frustra Philyreius heros, Delphice, poscebat. nam nec rescindere magni iussa [ovis poteras, nec, si rescindere posses, tunc aderas: Elim Messeniaque arva colebas. illud erat tempus, quo te pastoria pellis 680 texit, onusque fuit baculum silvestre sinistrae, alterius dispar septenis fistula cannis. 106 METAMORPHOSES BOOK II of death, and the three goddesses shall loose thy thread.” Still other fates remained to tell; but suddenly she sighed deeply, and with flowing tears said: ‘‘ The fates forestall me and forbid me to speak more. My power of speech fails me. Not worth the cost were those arts which have brought down the wrath of heaven upon me. I would that I had never known the future. Now my human shape seems to be passing. Now grass pleases as food; now I am eager to race around the broad pastures. I am turning into a mare, my kindred shape. But why completely? Surely my father is halfhuman.” Even while she spoke, the last part of her complaint became scarce understood and her words were all confused. Soon they seemed neither words nor yet the sound of a horse, but as of one trying to imitate a horse. At last she clearly whinnied and her arms became legs and moved along the ground. Her fingers drew together and one continuous light hoof of horn bound together the five nails of her hand. Her mouth enlarged, her neck was extended, the train of her gown became a tail; and her locks as they lay roam- ing over her neck were become a mane on the right side. Now was she changed alike in voice and feature; and this new wonder gave her a new name as well. The half-divine son of Philyra wept and vainly called on thee for aid, O lord of Delphi. For thou couldst not revoke the edict of mighty Jove, nor, if thou couldst, wast thou then at hand. In those days thou wast dwelling in Elis and the Messenian fields. Thy garment was a shepherd’s cloak, thy staff a stout stick from the wood, and a pipe made of seven unequal reeds was in thy hand. And while thy thoughts were all of love, and while thou didst 107 OVID dumque amor est curae, dum te tua fistula mulcet, incustoditae Pylios memorantur in agros processisse boves: videt has Atlantide Maia 685 natus et arte sua silvis occultat abactas. senserat hoc furtum nemo nisi notus in illo rure senex; Battum vicinia tota vocabat. divitis hic saltus herbosaque pascua Nelei nobiliumque greges custos servabat equarum. 690 hunce timuit blandaque manu seduxit et illi “ quisquis es, hospes ”’ ait, “ si forte armenta requiret haec aliquis, vidisse nega neu gratia facto nulla rependatur, nitidam cape praemia vaccam! ” et dedit. accepta voces hac reddidit hospes: 695 “tutus eas! lapis iste prius tua furta loquetur, ” et lapidem ostendit. simulat love natus abire ; mox redit et versa pariter cum voce figura C$ ‘rustice, vidisti si quas hoc limite ” dixit ‘ire boves, fer opem furtoque silentia deme! 700 iuncta suo pariter dabitur tibi femina tauro.” at senior, postquam est merces geminata, “ sub illis montibus ” inquit “ erunt,’’ et erant sub montibus illis. risit Atlantiades et “ me mihi, perfide, prodis? me mihi prodis? ” ait periuraque pectora vertit 705 in durum silicem, qui nunc quoque dicitur index, inque nihil merito vetus est infamia saxo. 108 METAMORPHOSES BOOK II discourse sweetly on the pipe, the cattle thou wast keeping strayed, ‘tis said, all unguarded into the Pylian fields. ‘There Maia’s son spied them, and by his native craft drove them into the woods and hid them there. Nobody saw the theft except one old man well known in that neighbourhood, called Battus by all the countryside. He, as a _ hired servant of the wealthy Neleus, was watching a herd of blooded mares in the glades and rich pasture- fields thereabouts. Mercury feared his tattling and, drawing him aside with cajoling hand, said: “‘ Who- ever you are, my man, if anyone should chance to ask you if you have seen any cattle going by here, say that you have not; and, that your kindness may not go unrewarded, you may choose out a sleek heifer for your pay ’’; and he gave him the heifer forth- with. The old man took it and replied: ‘“ Go on, stranger, and feel safe. That stone will tell of your thefts sooner than I’; and he pointed out a stone. The son of Jove pretended to go away, but soon came back with changed voice and form, and said: “My good fellow, if you have seen any cattle going along this way, help me out, and don’t refuse to tell about it, for they were stolen. I'll give you a cow and a bull into the bargain if youll tell.” The old man, tempted by the double reward, said: ‘‘ You'll find them over there at the foot of that mountain.’’ And there, true enough, they were. Mercury laughed him to scorn and said: “ Would you betray me to myself, you rogue? me to my very face?” So saying, he turned the faithless fellow into a flinty stone, which even to this day is called touch-stone; and old reproach still rests upon the undeserving int. 109 OVID Hinc se sustulerat paribus caducifer alis, Munychiosque volans agros gratamque Minervae despectabat humum cultique arbusta Lycei. 710 illa forte die castae de more puellae vertice supposito festas in Palladis arces pura coronatis portabant sacra canistris. inde revertentes deus adspicit ales iterque non agit in rectum, sed in orbem curvat eundem: 715 ut volucris visis rapidissima miluus extis, dum timet et densi circumstant sacra ministri, flectitur in gyrum nec longius audet abire spemque suam motis avidus circumvolat alis, sic super Actaeas agilis Cyllenius arces 120 inclinat cursus et easdem circinat auras. quanto splendidior quam cetera sidera fulget Lucifer, et quanto quam Lucifer aurea Phoebe, tanto virginibus praestantior omnibus Herse ibat eratque decus pompae comitumque suarum. 725 obstipuit forma Iove natus et aethere pendens non secus exarsit, quam cum Balearica plumbum funda iacit: volat illud et incandescit eundo et, quos non habuit, sub nubibus invenit ignes. vertit iter caeloque petit terrena relicto 130 nec se dissimulat: tanta est fiducia formae. quae quamquam iusta est, cura tamen adiuvat illam permulcetque comas chlamydemque, ut pendeat apte, collocat, ut limbus totumque adpareat aurum, ut teres in dextra, qua somnos ducit et arcet, 735 virga sit, ut tersis niteant talaria plantis. | IIo METAMORPHOSES BOOK II The god of the caduceus had taken himself hence on level wings and now as he flew he was looking down upon the Munychian fields, the land that Minerva loves, and the groves of the learned Lyceum. That day chanced to be a festival of Pallas when young maidens bore to their goddess’ temple mystic gifts in flower-wreathed baskets on their heads. The winged god saw them as they were returning home and directed his way towards them, not straight down but sweeping in such a curve as when the swift kite has spied the fresh-slain sacrifice, afraid to come down while the priests are crowded around the victim, and yet not venturing to go quite away, he circles around in air and on flapping wings greedily hovers over his hoped-for prey; so did the nimble Mercury fly round the Athenian hill, sweep- ing in circles through the same spaces of air. As Lucifer shines more brightly than all the other stars and as the golden moon outshines Lucifer, so much was Herse more lovely than all the maidens round her, the choice ornament in the solemn procession of her comrades. The son of Jove was astounded at her beauty, and hanging in mid-air he caught the flames of love; as when a leaden bullet is thrown by a Balearic sling, it flies along, is heated by its motion, and finds heat in the clouds which it had not before. Mercury now turns his course, leaves the air and flies to earth, nor seeks to disguise himself; such is the confidence of beauty. Yet though that trust be lawful, he assists it none the less with pains; he smooths his hair, arranges his robe so that it may hang neatly and so that all the golden border willshow. He takes care to have in his right hand his smooth wand with which he brings on sleep or drives it away, and to have his winged sandals glittering on his trim feet. iff OVID Pars secreta domus ebore et testudine cultos tres habuit thalamos, quorum tu, Pandrose, dextrum, Aglauros laevum, medium possederat Herse. quae tenuit laevum, venientem prima notavit 740 Mercurium nomenque dei scitarier ausa est et causam adventus; cui sic respondit Atlantis Pleionesque nepos “ ego sum, qui iussa per auras verba patris porto; pater est mihi Iuppiter ipse. nec fingam causas, tu tantum fida sorori 145 esse velis prolisque meae matertera dici: Herse causa viae; faveas oramus amanti.”’ adspicit hunc oculis isdem, quibus abdita nuper viderat Aglauros flavae secreta Minervae, proque ministerio magni sibi ponderis aurum 150 postulat: interea tectis excedere cogit. Vertit ad hanc torvi dea bellica luminis orbem et tanto penitus traxit suspiria motu, ut pariter pectus positamque in pectore forti aegida concuteret: subit, hance arcana profana 755 detexisse manu, tum cum sine matre creatam Lemnicolae stirpem contra data foedera vidit, et gratamque deo fore iam gratamque sorori et ditem sumpto, quod avara poposcerat, auro. protinus Invidiae nigro squalentia tabo 760 tecta petit: domus est imis in vallibus huius abdita, sole carens, non ulli pervia vento, tristis et ignavi plenissima frigoris et quae igne vacet semper, caligine semper abundet. huc ubi pervenit belli metuenda virago, 165 Iit2 METAMORPHOSES BOOK II In a retired part of the house were three chambers, richly adorned with ivory and tortoise-shell. The right-hand room of these Pandrosos_ occupied, Aglauros the left, and Herse the room between. Aglauros first saw the approaching god and made so bold as to ask his name and the cause of his visit. He, grandson of Atlas and Pleione, replied: “ I am he who carry my father’s messages through the air. My father is Jove himself. Nor will I conceal why I am here. Only do you consent to be true to your sister, and to be called the aunt of my off- spring. I have come here for Herse’s sake. I pray you favour a lover’s suit.’ Aglauros looked at him with the same covetous eyes with which she had lately peeped at the secret of the golden-haired Minerva, and demanded a mighty weight of gold as the price of her service; meantime, she compelled him to leave the palace. The warrior goddess now turned her angry eyes upon her, and breathed sighs so deep and perturbed that her breast and the aegis that lay upon her breast shook with her emotion. She remembered that this was the girl who had with profaning hands uncovered the secret at the time when, contrary to her com- mand, she looked upon the son of the Lemnian, without mother born. And now she would be in favour with the god and with her sister, and rich, besides, with the gold which in her greed she had demanded. Straightway Minerva sought out the cave of Envy, filthy with black gore. Her home was hidden away in a deep valley, where no sun shines and no breeze blows; a gruesome place and full of a numbing chill. No cheerful fire burns there, and the place is wrapped in thick, black fog. When the warlike maiden goddess came to the cave, she 113 VOL, I. E OVID constitit ante domum (neque enim succedere tectis fas habet) et postes extrema cuspide pulsat. concussae patuere fores. videt intus edentem vipereas carnes, vitiorum alimenta suorum, Invidiam visaque oculos avertit; at illa 170 surgit humo pigre semesarumque relinquit corpora serpentum passuque incedit inerti. utque deam vidit formaque armisque decoram, ingemuit vultumque deae ad suspiria duxit. pallor in ore sedet, macies in corpore toto. 175 nusquam recta acies, livent robigine dentes, pectora felle virent, lingua est suffusa veneno ; risus abest, nisi quem visi movere dolores ; nec fruitur somno, vigilantibus excita curis, sed videt ingratos intabescitque videndo 780 successus hominum carpitque et carpitur una suppliciumque suum est. quamvis tamen oderat illam, talibus adfata est breviter Tritonia dictis : ‘ infice tabe tua natarum Cecropis unam : sic opus est. Aglauros ea est.” haud plura locuta 785 fugit et inpressa tellurem reppulit hasta. Illa deam obliquo fugientem lumine cernens murmura parva dedit successurumque Minervae indoluit baculumque capit, quod spinea totum vincula cingebant, adopertaque nubibus atris, 790 quacumque ingreditur, florentia proterit arva exuritque herbas et summa cacumina carpit adflatuque suo populos urbesque domosque polluit et tandem Tritonida conspicit arcem II4 METAMORPHOSES BOOK II stood without, for she might not enter that foul abode, and beat upon the door with end of spear. The battered doors flew open; and there, sitting within, was Envy, eating snakes’ flesh, the proper food of her venom. At the horrid sight the goddess turned away her eyes. But that other rose heavily from the ground, leaving the snakes’ carcasses half consumed, and came forward with sluggish step. When she saw the goddess, glorious in form and armour, she groaned aloud and shaped her counte- nance to match the goddess’ sigh. Pallor o’erspreads her face and her whole body seems to shrivel up. Her eyes are all awry, her teeth are foul with mould; green, poisonous gall o’erflows her breast, and venom drips down from her tongue. She never smiles, save at the sight of another’s troubles; she never sleeps, disturbed with wakeful cares; unwelcome to her is the sight of men’s success, and with the sight she pines away; she gnaws and is gnawed, herself her own punishment. Although she de- tested the loathsome thing, yet in curt speech Tritonia spoke to her: “ Infect with your venom one of Cecrops’ daughters. Such the task I set. I mean Aglauros.”’ Without more words she fled the crea- ture’s presence and, pushing her spear against the ground, sprang lightly back to heaven. The hag, eyeing her askance as she flees, mutters awhile, grieving to think on the goddess’ joy of triumph. Then she takes her staff, thick-set with thorns, and, wrapped in a mantle of dark cloud, sets forth. Wherever she goes, she tramples down the flowers, causes the grass to wither, blasts the high waving trees, and taints with the foul pollution of her breath whole peoples, cities, homes. At last she spies Tritonia’s city, splendid with art and wealth 115 OVID ingeniis opibusque et festa pace virentem 195 vixque tenet lacrimas, quia nil lacrimabile cernit. sed postquam thalamos intravit Cecrope natae, iussa facit pectusque manu ferrugine tincta tangit et hamatis praecordia sentibus inplet inspiratque nocens virus piceumque per ossa 800 dissipat et medio spargit pulmone venenum, neve mali causae spatium per latius errent, germanam ante oculos fortunatumque sororis coniugium pulchraque deum sub imagine ponit cunctaque magna facit; quibus inritata dolore 805 Cecropis occulto mordetur et anxia nocte anxia luce gemit lentaque miserrima tabe liquitur, et glacies incerto saucia sole, felicisque bonis non lenius uritur Herses, quam cum spinosis ignis supponitur herbis, 810 quae neque dant flammas lenique tepore cremantur. saepe mori voluit, ne quicquam tale videret, saepe velut crimen rigido narrare parenti; denique in adverso venientem limine sedit exclusura deum. cui blandimenta precesque 815 verbaque iactanti mitissima ‘‘ desine! ” dixit, “ hine ego me non sum nisi te motura repulso.”’ “ stemus ” ait “ pacto ”’ velox Cyllenius “ isto! ”’ caelestique fores virga patefecit: at illi surgere conanti partes, quascumque sedendo 820 flectitur, ignava nequeunt gravitate moveri: illa quidem pugnat recto se attollere trunco, sed genuum iunctura riget, frigusque per ungues labitur, et pallent amisso sanguine venae ; 116 bd METAMORPHOSES BOOK II and peaceful joy; and she can scarce restrain her tears at the sight, because she sees no cause for others’ tears. But, having entered the chamber of Cecrops’ daughter, she performed the goddess’ bid- ding, touched the girl’s breast with her festering hand and filled her heart with pricking thorns. Then she breathed pestilential, poisonous breath into her nostrils and spread black venom through her very heart and bones. And, to fix a cause for her grief, Envy pictured to her imagination her sister, her sister’s blest marriage and the god in all his beauty, magnifying the excellence of everything. Maddened by this, Aglauros eats her heart out in secret misery; careworn by day, careworn by night, she groans and wastes away most wretchedly with slow decay, like ice touched by the fitful sunshine. She is consumed by envy of Herse’s happiness; just as when a fire is set under a pile of weeds, which give out no flames and waste away with slow con- sumption. She often longed to die that she might not behold such happiness; often to tell it, as ’twere a crime, to her stern father. At last she sat down at her sister’s threshold, to prevent the god’s entrance when he should come. And when he coaxed and prayed with his most honeyed words, ‘‘ Have done,” she said, “‘ for I shall never stir from here till I have foiled your purpose.”” ‘‘ We’ll stand by that bargain,” Mercury quickly replied, and with a touch of his heavenly wand he opened the door. At this the girl struggled to get up, but found the limbs she bends in sitting made motionless with dull heaviness; she strove to stand erect, but her knees had stiffened; a numbing chill stole through her limbs, and her flesh was pale and bloodless. And, as an incurable cancer spreads its evil roots ever more widely and involves sound ce OVID utque malum late solet inmedicabile cancer 825 serpere et inlaesas vitiatis addere partes, sic letalis hiems paullatim in pectora venit vitalesque vias et respiramina clausit, nec conata loqui est nec, si conata fuisset, vocis habebat iter: saxum iam colla tenebat, 830 oraque duruerant, signumque exsangue sedebat ; nec lapis albus erat: sua mens infecerat illam. Has ubi verborum poenas mentisque profanae cepit Atlantiades, dictas a Pallade terras linquit et ingreditur iactatis aethera pennis. 835 sevocat hunc genitor nec causam fassus amoris “fide minister ”’ ait “ iussorum, nate, meorum, pelle moram solitoque celer delabere cursu, quaeque tuam matrem tellus a parte sinistra suspicit (indigenae Sidonida nomine dicunt), 840 hanc pete, quodque procul montano gramine pasci armentum regale vides, ad litora verte! ” dixit, et expulsi iamdudum monte iuvenci litora iussa petunt, ubi magni filia regis ludere virginibus Tyriis comitata solebat. 845 non bene conveniunt nec in una sede morantur maiestas et amor; sceptri gravitate relicta ille pater rectorque deum, cui dextra trisulcis ignibus armata est, qui nutu concutit orbem, induitur faciem tauri mixtusque iuvencis 850 mugit et in teneris formosus obambulat herbis. quippe color nivis est, quam nec vestigia duri calcavere pedis nec solvit aquaticus auster. 118 METAMORPHOSES BOOK II with infected parts, so did a deadly chill little by little creep to her breast, stopping all vital functions and choking off her breath. She no longer tried to speak, and, if she had tried, her voice would have found no way of utterance. Her neck was changed to stone, her features had hardened— there she sat, a lifeless statue. Nor was the stone white in colour; her soul had stained it black. When Mercury had inflicted this punishment on the irl for her impious words and spirit, he left the land of Pallas behind him, and flew to heaven on outflung pinions. Here his father calls him aside; and not revealing his love affair as the real reason, he says: ‘“ My son, always faithful to perform my bidding, delay not, but swiftly in accustomed flight glide down to earth and seek out the land that looks up at your mother’s star from the left. The natives call it the land of Sidon. There you are to drive down to the sea-shore the herd of the king’s cattle which you will see grazing at some distance on the mountain-side.”’ He spoke, and quickly the cattle were driven from the mountain and headed for the shore, as Jove had directed, to a spot where the great king’s daughter was accustomed to play in company with her Tyrian maidens. Majesty and love do not go well together, nor tarry long in the same dwelling-place. And so the father and ruler of the gods, who wields in his right hand the three-forked lightning, whose nod shakes the world, laid aside his royal majesty along with his sceptre, and took upon him the form of a bull. In this form he mingled with the cattle, lowed like the rest, and wandered around, beautiful to be- hold, on the young grass. His colour was white as the untrodden snow, which has not yet been melted by the rainy south-wind. The muscles stood rounded 119g OVID colla toris exstant, armis palearia pendent, cornua parva quidem, sed quae contendere possis 855 facta manu, puraque magis perlucida gemma. nullae in fronte minae, nec formidabile lumen: pacem vultus habet. miratur Agenore nata, quod tam formosus, quod proelia nulla minetur ; sed quamvis mitem metuit contingere primo, 860 mox adit et flores ad candida porrigit ora. gaudet amans et, dum veniat sperata voluptas, oscula dat manibus; vix iam, vix cetera differt ; et nunc adludit viridique exsultat in herba, nunc lates in fulvis niveum deponit harenis ; 865 paullatimque metu dempto modo pectora praebet virginea plaudenda ! manu, modo cornua sertis inpedienda novis; ausa est quoque regia virgo nescia, quem premeret, tergo considere tauri, cum deus a terra siccoque a litore sensim 870 falsa pedum primo vestigia ponit in undis 5 inde abit ulterius mediique per aequora ponti fert praedam: pavet haec litusque ablata relictum respicit et dextra cornum tenet, altera dorso inposita est ; tremulae sinuantur flamine vestes. 875 1 Some MSS. read palpanda. I20 METAMORPHOSES BOOK II upon his neck, a long dewlap hung down in front; his horns were small, but perfect in shape as if carved by an artist’s hand, cleaner and more clear than pearls. His brow and eyes would inspire no fear, and his whole expression was peaceful. Agenor’s daughter looked at him in wondering admiration, because he was so beautiful and friendly. But, although he seemed so gentle, she was afraid at first to touch him. Presently she drew near, and held out flowers to his snow-white lips. The disguised lover rejoiced and, as a foretaste of future joy, kissed her hands. Even so he could scarce restrain his passion. And now he jumps sportively about on the grass, now lays his snowy body down on the yellow sands; and, when her fear has little by little been allayed, he yields his breast for her maiden hands to pat and his horns to entwine with garlands of fresh flowers. The princess even dares to sit upon his back, little knowing upon whom she rests. The god little by little edges away from the dry land, and sets his borrowed hoofs in the shallow water; then he goes further out and soon is in full flight with his prize on the open ocean. She trembles with fear and looks back at the receding shore, holding fast a horn with one hand and resting the other on the creature's back. And her fluttering garments stream behind her in the wind. I2I LIBER III JamaQveE deus posita fallacis imagine tauri se confessus erat Dictaeaque rura tenebat, cum pater ignarus Cadmo perquirere raptam imperat et poenam, si non invenerit, addit exilium, factor pius et sceleratus eodem. orbe pererrato (quis enim deprendere possit furta Iovis ?) profugus patriamque iramque parentis vitat Agenorides Phoebique oracula supplex consulit et, quae sit tellus habitanda, requirit. “bos tibi ’’ Phoebus ait “ solis occurret in arvis, nullum passa iugum curvique inmunis aratri. hac duce carpe vias et, qua requieverit herba, moenia fac condas Boeotiaque illa vocato.”’ vix bene Castalio Cadmus descenderat antro, incustoditam lente videt ire iuvencam nullum servitii signum cervice gerentem. subsequitur pressoque legit vestigia passu auctoremque viae Phoebum taciturnus adorat. iam vada Cephisi Panopesque evaserat arva: bos stetit et tollens speciosam cornibus altis 124 10 15 20 BOOK III Anp now the god, having put off disguise of the bull, owned himself for what he was, and reached the fields of Crete. But the maiden’s father, ignorant of what had happened, bids his son, Cadmus, go and search for the lost girl, and threatens exile as a punishment if he does not find her—pious and guilty by the same act. After roaming over all the world in vain (for who could search out the secret loves of Jove?) Agenor’s son becomes an exile, shunning his father’s country and his father’s wrath. Then in suppliant wise he consults the oracle of Phoebus, seeking thus to learn in what land he is to settle. Phoebus replies: “ A heifer will meet you in the wilderness, one who has never worn the yoke or drawn the crooked plough. Follow where she leads, and where she lies down to rest upon the grass there see that you build your city’s walls and call the land Boeotia.”1 Hardly had Cadmus left the Castalian grotto when he saw a heifer moving slowly along, all unguarded and wearing on her neck no mark of service. He follows in her track with deliberate steps, silently giving thanks the while to Phoebus for showing him the way. And now the heifer had passed the fords of Cephisus and the fields of Panope, when she halted and, lifting towards the heavens her beautiful head 1 7.e. “‘ the land of the heifer.”’ 125 OVID ad caelum frontem mugitibus inpulit auras atque ita respiciens comites sua terga sequentis procubuit teneraque latus submisit in herba. Cadmus agit grates peregrinaeque oscula terrae figit et ignotos montes agrosque salutat. Sacra Iovi facturus erat: iubet ire ministros et petere e vivis libandas fontibus undas. silva vetus stabat nulla violata securi, et specus in media virgis ac vimine densus efficiens humilem lapidum conpagibus arcum uberibus fecundus aquis ; ubi conditus antro Martius anguis erat, cristis praesignis et auro ; igne micant oculi, corpus tumet omne venenis, tres vibrant linguae, triplici stant ordine dentes. quem postquam Tyria lucum de gente profecti infausto tetigere gradu, demissaque in undas urna dedit sonitum, longo caput extulit antro caeruleus serpens horrendaque sibila misit. efuxere urnae manibus sanguisque reliquit corpus et attonitos subitus tremor occupat artus. ille volubilibus squamosos nexibus orbes torquet et inmensos saltu sinuatur in arcus ac media plus parte leves erectus in auras 20 30 30 despicit omne nemus tantoque est corpore, quanto, si totum spectes, geminas qui separat arctos. nec mora, Phoenicas, sive illi tela parabant sive fugam, sive ipse timor prohibebat utrumque, 126 45 METAMORPHOSES BOOK III with its spreading horns, she filled the air with her lowings; and then, looking back upon those who were following close behind, she kneeled and let her flank sink down upon the fresh young grass. Cadmus gave thanks, reverently pressed his lips upon this stranger land, and greeted the unknown mountains and the plains. With intent to make sacrifice to Jove, he bade his attendants hunt out a spring of living water for libation. There was a primeval forest there, scarred by no axe; and in its midst a cave thick set about with shrubs and pliant twigs. With well-fitted stones it fashioned a low arch, whence poured a full-welling spring, and deep within dwelt a serpent sacred to Mars. The creature had a wondrous golden crest; fire flashed from his eyes; his body was all swollen with venom; his triple tongue flickered out and in and his teeth were ranged in triple row. When with luckless steps the wayfarers of the Tyrian race had reached this grove, they let down their vessels into the spring, breaking the silence of the place. At this the dark serpent thrust forth his head out of the deep cave, hissing horribly. The urns fell from the men’s hands, their blood ran cold, and, horror-struck, they were seized with a sudden trembling. The serpent twines his scaly coils in rolling knots and with a spring curves himself into a huge bow; and, lifted high by more than half his length into the unsubstantial air, he looks down upon the whole wood, as huge, could you see him all, as is that serpent in the sky that lies outstretched between the twin bears. He makes no tarrying, but seizes on the Phoenicians, whether they are preparing for fighting or for flight or whether very fear holds both in check. Some he slays with his fangs, some 127 OVID occupat: hos morsu, longis conplexibus illos, hos necat adflatu funesti tabe veneni Fecerat exiguas iam sol altissimus umbras : quae mora sit sociis, miratur Agenore natus vestigatque viros. tegumen derepta leoni pellis erat, telum splendenti lancea ferro et iaculum teloque animus praestantior omni. ut nemus intravit letataque corpora vidit victoremque supra spatiosi corporis hostem tristia sanguinea lambentem vulnera lingua, ‘ aut ultor vestrae, fidissima corpora, mortis, 50 D0 aut comes ” inquit “ ero.” dixit dextraque molarem sustulit et magnum magno conamine misit. illius inpulsu cum turribus ardua celsis moenia mota forent, serpens sine vulnere mansit loricaeque modo squamis defensus et atrae duritia pellis validos cute reppulit ictus ; at non duritia iaculum quoque vicit eadem, quod medio lentae spinae curvamine fixum constitit et totum descendit in ilia ferrum. ille dolore ferox caput in sua terga retorsit vulneraque adspexit fixumque hastile momordit, idque ubi vi multa partem labefecit in omnem, vix tergo eripuit; ferrum tamen ossibus haesit. tum vero postquam solitas accessit ad iras causa recens, plenis tumuerunt guttura venis, spumaque pestiferos circumfluit albida rictus, terraque rasa sonat squamis, quique halitus exit ore niger Stygio, vitiatas inficit auras. ipse modo inmensum spiris facientibus orbem 128 60 65 10 15 METAMORPHOSES BOOK III he crushes in his constricting folds, and some he stifles with the deadly corruption of his poisoned breath. The sun had reached the middle heavens and drawn close the shadows. And now Cadmus, wondering what has delayed his companions, starts out to trace them. For shield, he has a lion’s skin; for weapon, a spear with glittering iron point and a javelin; and, better than all weapons, a courageous soul. When he enters the wood and sees the corpses of his friends all slain, and victorious above them their huge-bodied foe licking their piteous wounds with bloody tongue, he cries: ‘O ye poor forms, most faithful friends, either I shall avenge your death or be your comrade init.’ So saying, he heaved up a massive stone with his right hand and with mighty effort hurled its mighty bulk. Under such a blow, high ramparts would have fallen, towers and all; but the serpent went unscathed, protected against that strong stroke by his scales as by an iron doublet and by his hard, dark skin. But that hard skin cannot withstand the javelin too, which now is fixed in the middle fold of his tough back and penetrates with its iron head deep into his flank. The creature, mad with pain, twists back his head, views well his wound, and bites at the spear-shaft fixed therein. Then, when by violent efforts he had loosened this all round, with difficulty he tore it out; but the iron head remained fixed in the backbone. Then indeed fresh fuel was added to his native wrath; his throat swells with full veins, and white foam flecks his horrid jaws. The earth resounds with his scraping scales, and such rank breath as exhales from the Stygian cave befouls the tainted air. Now he coils in huge spiral folds; now shoots up, straight 129 OVID cingitur, interdum longa trabe rectior exstat, inpete nunc vasto ceu concitus imbribus amnis fertur et obstantis proturbat pectore silvas. cedit Agenorides paullum spolioque leonis sustinet incursus instantiaque ora retardat cuspide praetenta: furit ille et inania duro vulnera dat ferro figitque in acumine dentes. iamque venenifero sanguis manare palato coeperat et virides adspergine tinxerat herbas; sed leve vulnus erat, quia se retrahebat ab ictu laesaque colla dabat retro plagamque sedere cedendo arcebat nec longius ire sinebat, donec Agenorides coniectum in gutture ferrum usque sequens pressit, dum retro quercus eunti obstitit et fixa est pariter cum robore cervix. pondere serpentis curvata est arbor et ima parte flagellari gemuit sua robora cauda. Dum spatium victor victi considerat hostis, vox subito audita est; neque erat cognoscere promptum, unde, sed audita est: “ quid, Agenore nate, peremptum serpentem spectas? et tu spectabere serpens.” ille diu pavidus pariter cum mente colorem perdiderat, gelidoque comae terrore rigebant: ecce viri fautrix superas delapsa per auras Pallas adest motaeque iubet supponere terrae vipereos dentes, populi incrementa futuri. paret et, ut presso sulcum patefecit aratro, spargit humi iussos, mortalia semina, dentes. inde (fide maius) glaebae coepere moveri, 130 80 85 90 95 100 105 METAMORPHOSES BOOK III and tall as a tree; now he moves on with huge rush, like a stream in flood, sweeping down with his breast the trees in his path. Cadmus gives way a little, re- ceiving his foe’s rushes on the lion’s skin, and holds in check the ravening Jaws with his spear-point thrust well forward. The serpent is furious, bites vainly at the hard iron and catches the sharp spear-head be- tween his teeth. And now from his venomous throat the blood begins to trickle and stains the green grass with spattered gore. But the wound is slight, because the serpent keeps backing from the thrust, drawing away his wounded neck, and by yielding keeps the stroke from being driven home nor allows it to go deeper. But Cadmus follows him up and presses the planted point into his throat; until at last an oak- tree stays his backward course and neck and tree are pierced together. The oak bends beneath the ser- pent’s weight and the stout trunk groans beneath the lashings of his tail. While the conqueror stands gazing on the huge bulk of his conquered foe, suddenly a voice sounds in his ears. He cannot tell whence it comes, but he hears it saying: “ Why, O son of Agenor, dost thou gaze on the serpent thou hast slain? ‘Thou too shalt be a serpent for men to gaze on.’’ Long he stands there, with quaking heart and pallid cheeks, and his hair rises up on end with chilling fear. But behold, the hero’s helper, Pallas, gliding down through the high air, stands beside him, and she bids him plow the earth and plant therein the dragon’s teeth, destined to grow into a nation. He obeys and, having opened up the furrows with his deep-sunk plow, he sows in the ground the teeth as he is bid, a man-producing seed. Then, a thing beyond belief, the plowed ground begins to stir; and first there 131 OVID primaque de sulcis acies adparuit hastae, tegmina mox capitum picto nutantia cono, mox umeri pectusque onerataque bracchia telis exsistunt, crescitque seges clipeata virorum: 110 sic, ubi tolluntur festis aulaea theatris, surgere signa solent primumque ostendere vultus, cetera paullatim, placidoque educta tenore tota patent imoque pedes in margine ponunt. Territus hoste novo Cadmus capere arma parabat : 115 ‘ne cape!’ de populo, quem terra creaverat, unus exclamat “ ne te civilibus insere bellis! ” atque ita terrigenis rigido de fratribus unum comminus ense ferit, iaculo cadit eminus ipse ; hunc quoque qui leto dederat, non longius illo 120 vivit et exspirat modo quas acceperat auras, exemploque pari furit omnis turba, suoque Marte cadunt subiti per mutua vulnera fratres, iamque brevis vitae spatium sortita iuventus sanguineam tepido plangebat pectore matrem, 125 quinque superstitibus, quorum fuit unus Echion. ‘ is sua iecit humo monitu Tritonidis arma fraternaeque fidem pacis petiitque deditque: hos operis comites habuit Sidonius hospes, cum posuit iussus Phoebeis sortibus urbem. 130 Iam stabant Thebae, poteras iam, Cadme, videri exilio felix: soceri tibi Marsque Venusque contigerant; huc adde genus de coniuge tanta, tot natas natosque et, pignora cara, nepotes, 132 METAMORPHOSES BOOK III spring up from the furrows the points of spears, then helmets with coloured plumes waving ; next shoulders of men and breasts and arms laden with weapons come up, and the crop grows with the shields of warriors. So when on festal days the curtain in the theatre is raised, figures of men rise up, showing first their faces, then little by little all the rest; until at last, drawn up with steady motion, the entire forms stand revealed, and plant their feet upon the curtain’s edge. Frightened by this new foe, Cadmus was preparing to take his arms. ‘‘ Take not your arms,’ one of the earth-sprung brood cried out, “ and take no part in our fratricidal strife.” So saying, with his hard sword he clave one of his earth-born brothers, fighting hand to hand; and instantly he himself was felled by a javelin thrown from far. But he also who had slain this last had no longer to live than his victim, and breathed forth the spirit which he had but now received. The same dire madness raged in them all, and in mutual strife by mutual wounds these brothers of an hour perished. And now the youth, who had enjoyed so brief a span of life, lay writhing on their mother earth warm with their blood—all save five. One of these five was Echion, who, at Pallas’ bidding, dropped his weapons to the ground and sought and made peace with his surviving brothers. These the Sidonian wanderer had as comrades in his task when he founded the city granted him by Phoebus’ oracle. And now Thebes stood complete ; now thou couldst seem, O Cadmus, even in exile, a happy man. Thou hast obtained Mars and Venus, too, as parents of thy bride; add to this blessing children worthy of so noble a wife, so many sons and daughters, the pledges of thy love, and grandsons, too, now grown to budding 133 OVID hos quoque iam iuvenes; sed scilicet ultima semper exspectanda dies hominis, dicique beatus 136 ante obitum nemo supremaque funera debet. Prima nepos inter tot res tibi, Cadme, secundas causa fuit luctus, alienaque cornua fronti addita, vosque canes satiatae sanguine erili. 140 at bene si quaeras, Fortunae crimen in illo, non scelus invenies; quod enim scelus error habebat ? Mons erat infectus variarum caede ferarum, iamque dies medius rerum contraxerat umbras et sol ex aequo meta distabat utraque, 145 cum iuvenis placido per devia lustra vagantes participes operum conpellat Hyantius ore: ‘ lina madent, comites, ferrumque cruore ferarum, fortunamque dies habuit satis; altera lucem cum croceis invecta rotis Aurora reducet, 150 propositum repetemus opus: nunc Phoebus utraque distat idem terra finditque vaporibus arva. sistite opus praesens nodosaque tollite lina! ” iussa viri faciunt intermittuntque laborem. Vallis erat piceis et acuta densa cupressu, 155 nomine Gargaphie succinctae sacra Dianae, cuius in extremo est antrum nemorale recessu arte laboratum nulla: simulaverat artem ingenio natura suo; nam pumice vivo et levibus tofis nativum duxerat arcum 3 160 fons sonat a dextra tenui perlucidus unda, margine gramineo patulos incinctus hiatus. 134 METAMORPHOSES BOOK III manhood. But of a surety man’s last day must ever be awaited, and none be counted happy till his death, till his last funeral rites are paid. One grandson of thine, Actaeon, midst all thy happiness first brought thee cause of grief, upon whose brow strange horns appeared, and whose dogs greedily lapped their master’s blood. But if you seek the truth, you will find the cause of this in fortune’s fault and not in any crime of his. For what crime had mere mischance? “Twas on a mountain stained with the blood of many slaughtered beasts; midday had shortened every object’s shade, and the sun was at equal distance from either goal. Then young Actaeon with friendly speech thus addressed his comrades of the chase as they fared through the trackless wastes: “ Both nets and spears, my friends, are dripping with our quarry's blood, and the day has given us good luck enough. When once more Aurora, borne on her saffron car, shall bring back the day, we will resume our proposed task. Now Phoebus is midway in his course and cleaves the very fields with his burning rays. Cease then your present task and bear home the well-wrought nets.” The men performed his bidding and ceased their toil. There was a vale in that region, thick grown with pine and cypress with their sharp needles. “Iwas called Gargaphie, the sacred haunt of high-girt Diana. In its most secret nook there was a well-shaded grotto, wrought by no artist’s hand. But Nature by her own cunning had imitated art; for she had shaped a native arch of the living rock and soft tufa. A sparkling spring with its slender stream babbled on one side and widened into a pool girt with grassy banks. Here the goddess of the wild woods, when weary with 135 OVID hic dea silvarum venatu fessa solebat virgineos artus liquido perfundere rore. quo postquam subiit, nympharum tradidit uni 165 armigerae iaculum pharetramque arcusque retentos, altera depositae subiecit bracchia pallae, vincla duae pedibus demunt; nam doctior illis Ismenis Crocale sparsos per colla capillos colligit in nodum, quamvis erat ipsa solutis. 170 excipiunt laticem Nepheleque Hyaleque Rhanisque et Psecas et Phiale funduntque capacibus urnis. dumque ibi perluitur solita Titania lympha, ecce nepos Cadmi dilata parte laborum per nemus ignotum non certis passibus errans 175 pervenit in lucum: sic illum fata ferebant. qui simul intravit rorantia fontibus antra, sicut erant nudae, viso sua pectora nymphae percussere viro subitisque ululatibus omne inplevere nemus circumfusaeque Dianam 180 corporibus texere suis; tamen altior illis ipsa dea est colloque tenus supereminet omnis. qui color infectis adversi solis ab ictu nubibus esse solet aut purpureae Aurorae, is fuit in vultu visae sine veste Dianae. 185 quae, quamquam comitum turba stipata suarum, in latus obliquum tamen adstitit oraque retro flexit et, ut vellet promptas habuisse sagittas, quas habuit sic hausit aquas vultumque virilem perfudit spargensque comas ultricibus undis 190 addidit haec cladis praenuntia verba futurae: “nunc tibi me posito visam velamine narres, sit poteris narrare, licet! ” nec plura minata 136 METAMORPHOSES BOOK III the chase, was wont to bathe her maiden limbs in the crystal water. On this day, having come to the grotto, she gives to the keeping of her armour-bearer among her nymphs her hunting spear, her quiver, and her unstrung bow; another takes on her arm the robe she has laid by; two unbind her sandals from her feet. But Theban Crocale, defter than the rest, binds into a knot the locks which have fallen down her mistress’ neck, her own locks streaming free the while. Others bring water, Nephele, Hyale and Rhanis, Psecas and Phiale, and pour it out from their capacious urns. And while Titania is bathing there in her accustomed pool, lo! Cadmus’ grandson, his day’s toil deferred, comes wandering through the unfamiliar woods with unsure footsteps, and enters Diana’s grove; for so fate would have it. As soon as he entered the grotto bedewed with fountain spray, the naked nymphs smote upon their breasts at sight of the man, and filled all the grove with their shrill, sudden cries. Then they thronged around Diana, seeking to hide her body with their own; but the goddess stood head and shoulders over all the rest. And red as the clouds which flush beneath the sun’s slant rays, red as the rosy dawn, were the cheeks of Diana as she stood there in view without her robes. Then, though the band of nymphs pressed close about her, she stood turning aside a little and cast back her gaze; and though she would fain have had her arrows ready, what she had she took up, the water, and flung it into the young man’s face. And as she poured the avenging drops upon his hair, she spoke these words foreboding his coming doom: ‘ Now you are free to tell that you have seen me all unrobed—if you can tell.””. No more than this she spoke; but on the head which she had sprinkled she caused to grow the 137 OVID dat sparso capiti vivacis cornua cervi, dat spatium collo summasque cacuminat aures 195 cum pedibusque manus, cum longis bracchia mutat cruribus et velat maculoso vellere corpus ; additus et pavor est: fugit Autonoeius heros et se tam celerem cursu miratur in ipso. | ut vero vultus et cornua vidit in unda, 200 “me miserum! ” dicturus erat: vox nulla secuta est! ingemuit: vox illa fuit, lacrimaeque per ora non sua fluxerunt; mens tantum pristina mansit. quid faciat? repetatne domum et regalia tecta an lateat silvis? pudor hoc, timor inpedit illud. 205 Dum dubitat, videre canes, primique Melampus Ichnobatesque sagax latratu signa dedere, Gnosius Ichnobates, Spartana gente Melampus. inde ruunt alii rapida velocius aura, 209 Pamphagos et Dorceus et Oribasus, Arcades omnes, Nebrophonusque valens et trux cum Laelape Theron et pedibus Pterelas et naribus utilis Agre Hylaeusque fero nuper percussus ab apro deque lupo concepta Nape pecudesque secuta Poemenis et natis comitata Harpyia duobus 215 et substricta gerens Sicyonius ilia Ladon et Dromas et Canace Sticteque et Tigris et Alce et niveis Leucon et villis Asbolus atris praevalidusque Lacon et cursu fortis Aello et Thous et Cyprio velox cum fratre Lycisce 220 et medio nigram frontem distinctus ab albo Harpalos et Melaneus hirsutaque corpore Lachne et patre Dictaeo, sed matre Laconide nati Labros et Agriodus et acutae vocis Hylactor 1 The English names of these hounds in their order would be: Black-foot, Trail-follower, Voracious, Gazelle, Mountain- ranger, Faun-killer, Hurricane, Hunter, Winged, Hunter, Sylvan, Glen, Shepherd, Seizer, Catcher, Runner, Gnasher, Spot, 138 METAMORPHOSES BOOK III horns of the long-lived stag, stretched out his neck, sharpened his ear-tips, gave feet in place of hands, changed his arms into long legs, and clothed his body with a spotted hide. And last of all she planted fear within his heart. Away in flight goes Autonoé’s heroic son, marvelling to find himself so swift of foot. But when he sees his features and his horns in a clear pool, “Oh, woe is me!” he tries to say; but no words come. He groans—the only speech he has— and tears course down his changeling cheeks. Only his mind remains unchanged. What is he to do? Shall he go home to the royal palace, or shall he stay skulking in the woods? Shame blocks one course and fear the other. But while he stands perplexed he sees his hounds.} And first come Melampus and keen-scented Ichno- bates, baying loud on the trail—Ichnobates a Cretan dog, Melampus a Spartan; then others come rushing on swifter than the wind: Pamphagus, Dorceus, and Oribasus, Arcadians all; staunch Nebrophonus, fierce Theron and Laelaps; Pterelas, the swift of foot, and keen-scented Agre; savage Hylaeus, but lately ripped up by a wild boar; the wolf-dog Nape and the trusty shepherd Poemenis; Harpyia with her two pups; Sicyonian Ladon, thin in the flanks; Dromas, Canace, Sticte, Tigris, Alee; white-haired Leucon, black As- bolus; Lacon, renowned for strength, and fleet Aéllo ; Thoiis and swift Lycisce with her brother Cyprius ; Harpalos, with a white spot in the middle of his black forehead; Melaneus and shaggy Lachne; two dogs from a Cretan father and a Spartan mother, Labros and Agriodus; shrill-tongued Hylactor, and others Tigress, Might, White, Soot, Spartan, Whirlwind, Swift, Cyprian, Wolf, Grasper, Black, Shag, Fury, White-tooth, Barker, Black-hair, Beast-killer, Mountaineer. 139 OVID quosque referre mora est: ea turba cupidine praedae per rupes scopulosque adituque carentia saxa, 226 quaque est difficilis quaque est via nulla, feruntur. ille fugit per quae fuerat loca saepe secutus, heu! famulos fugit ipse suos. clamare libebat: “ Actaeon ego sum: dominum cognoscite vestrum!”’ verba animo desunt; resonat latratibus aether. 231 prima Melanchaetes in tergo vulnera fecit, proxima Theridamas, Oresitrophus haesit in armo: tardius exierant, sed per conpendia montis anticipata via est; dominum retinentibus illis, 235 cetera turba coit confertque in corpore dentes. iam loca vulneribus desunt; gemit ille sonumque, etsi non hominis, quem non tamen edere possit cervus, habet maestisque replet iuga nota querellis et genibus pronis supplex similisque roganti 240 circumfert tacitos tamquam sua bracchia vultus. at comites rapidum solitis hortatibus agmen ignari instigant oculisque Actaeona quaerunt et velut absentem certatim Actaeona clamant (ad nomen caput ille refert) et abesse queruntur. 245 nec capere oblatae segnem spectacula praedae. vellet abesse quidem, sed adest; velletque videre, non etiam sentire canum fera facta suorum. undique circumstant, mersisque in corpore rostris dilacerant falsi dominum sub imagine cervi, 250 140 METAMORPHOSES BOOK III whom it were too long to name. The whole pack, keen with the lust of blood, over crags, over cliffs, over trackless rocks, where the way is hard, where there is no way at all, follow on. He flees over the - very ground where he has oft-times pursued ; he flees (the pity of it!) his own faithful hounds. He longs to cry out: “I am Actaeon! Recognize your own master!” But words fail his desire. All the air resounds with their baying. And first Melanchaetes fixes his fangs in his back, Theridamas next; Oresitrophus has fastened on his shoulder. They had set out later than the rest, but by a short-cut across the mountain had outstripped their course. While they hold back their master’s flight, the whole pack collects, and all together bury their fangs in his body till there is no place left for further wounds. He groans and makes a sound which, though not human, is still one no deer could utter, and fills the heights he knows so well with mournful cries. And now, down on his knees in suppliant attitude, just like one in prayer, he turns his face in silence towards them, as if stretching out beseeching arms. But his companions, ignorant of his plight, urge on the fierce pack with their accustomed shouts, looking all around for Actaeon, and call, each louder than the rest, for Actaeon, as if he were far away—he turns his head at the sound of his name—and complain that he is absent and is missing through sloth the sight of the quarry brought to bay. Well, indeed, might he wish to be absent, but he is here; and well might he wish to see, not to feel, the fierce doings of his own hounds. They throng him on every side and, plung- ing their muzzles in his flesh, mangle their master under the deceiving form of the deer. Nor, as they say, till he had been done to death by many 141 OVID nec nisi finita per plurima vulnera vita ira pharetratae fertur satiata Dianae. Rumor in ambiguo est; aliis violentior aequo visa dea est, alii laudant dignamque severa virginitate vocant: pars invenit utraque causas. 255 sola Iovis coniunx non tam, culpetne probetne, eloquitur, quam clade domus ab Agenore ductae gaudet et a Tyria collectum paelice transfert in generis socios odium; subit ecce priori 259 causa recens, gravidamque dolet de semine magni esse lovis Semelen; dum linguam ad iurgia solvit, ‘ profeci quid enim totiens per iurgia? ” dixit, ‘“ ipsa petenda mihi est; ipsam, si maxima Iuno rite vocor, perdam, si me gemmantia dextra sceptra tenere decet, si sum regina Iovisque 265 et soror et coniunx, certe soror. at, puto, furto est contenta, et thalami brevis est iniuria nostri. concipit: id deerat; manifestaque crimina pleno fert utero et mater, quod vix mihi contigit, uno de Iove vult fieri: tanta est fiducia formae. 270 fallat eam faxo; nec sum Saturnia, si non ab Iove mersa suo Stygias penetrabit in undas.” -Surgit ab his solio fulvaque recondita nube limen adit Semeles nec nubes ante removit quam simulavit anum posuitque ad tempora canos suleavitque cutem rugis et curva trementi 276 142 METAMORPHOSES BOOK III wounds, was the wrath of the quiver-bearing goddess appeased. Common talk wavered this way and that: to some the goddess seemed more cruel than was just; others called her act worthy of her austere virginity ; both sides found good reasons for their judgment. Jove’s wife alone spake no word either in blame or praise, but rejoiced in the disaster which had come to Agenor’s house; for she had now transferred her anger from her Tyrian rival! to those who shared her blood. And lo! a fresh pang was added to her former grievance and she was smarting with the knowledge that Semele was pregnant with the seed of mighty Jove. Words of reproach were rising to her lips, but “ What,” she cried, “ have I ever gained by re- proaches? ‘Tis she must feel my wrath. Herself, if I am duly called most mighty Juno, must I attack if I am fit to wield in my hand the jewelled sceptre, if I am queen of heaven, the sister and the wife of Jove—at least his sister. And yet, methinks, she is content with this stolen love, and the insult to my bed is but for a moment. But she has conceived— that still was lacking—and bears plain proof of her guilt in her full womb, and seeks—a fortune that has scarce been mine—to be made a mother from Jove. So great is her trust in beauty! But I will cause that trust to mock her: I am no daughter of Saturn if she go not down to the Stygian pool plunged thither by her Jupiter himself.” On this she rose from her seat, and, wrapped in a saffron cloud, she came to the home of Semele. But before she put aside her concealing cloud she feigned herself an old woman, whitening her hair at the temples, furrowing her skin with wrinkles, and 1 7.e. Kuropa, whose story has already been told. 143 OVID membra tulit passu; vocem quoque fecit anilem, ipsaque erat Beroe, Semeles Epidauria nutrix. ergo ubi captato sermone diuque loquendo ad nomen venere ovis, suspirat et “‘ opto, 280 Juppiter ut sit ” ait; “ metuo tamen omnia: multi nomine divorum thalamos iniere pudicos. nec tamen esse Jovem satis est: det pignus amoris, si modo verus is est; quantusque et qualis ab alta Junone excipitur, tantus talisque, rogato, 200 det tibi conplexus suaque ante insignia sumat! ” Talibus ignaram Iuno Cadmeida dictis formarat: rogat illa lovem sine nomine munus. cui deus “ elige! ”’ ait “ nullam patiere repulsam, quoque magis credas, Stygii quoque conscia sunto numina torrentis: timor et deus ille deorum est.”’ 291 laeta malo nimiumque potens perituraque amantis obsequio Semele “ qualem Saturnia ”’ dixit “te solet amplecti, Veneris cum foedus initis, da mihi te talem! ” voluit deus ora loquentis 295 opprimere: exierat iam vox properata sub auras. ingemuit ; neque enim non haec optasse, neque ille non iurasse potest. ergo maestissimus altum aethera conscendit vultuque sequentia traxit nubila, quis nimbos inmixtaque fulgura ventis 300 addidit et tonitrus et inevitabile fulmen ; qua tamen usque potest, vires sibi demere temptat nec, quo centimanum deiecerat igne Typhoea, 144 METAMORPHOSES BOOK III walking with bowed form and tottering steps. She spoke also in the voice of age and became even as Beroé, the Epidaurian nurse of Semele. When, after gossiping about many things, they came to mention of Jove’s name, the old woman sighed and said: “ I pray that it be Jupiter; but I am afraid of all such doings. Many, pretending to be gods, have found entrance into modest chambers. But to be Jove is not enough; make him prove his love if he is true Jove; as great and glorious as he is when welcomed by heavenly Juno, so great and glorious, pray him grant thee his embrace, and first don all his splendours. ”’ In such wise did Juno instruct the guileless daughter of Cadmus. She in her turn asked Jove for a boon, unnamed. The god replied: “ Choose what thou wilt, and thou shalt suffer no refusal. And that thou mayst be more assured, I swear it by the divinity of the seething Styx, whose godhead is the fear of all the gods.” Rejoicing in her evil fortune, too much prevailing and doomed to perish through her lover’s compliance, Semele said: “ In such guise as Saturnia beholds thee when thou seekest her arms in love, so show thyself tome.” The god would have checked her even as she spoke; but already her words had sped forth into uttered speech. He groans; for neither can she recall her wish, nor he his oath. And so in deepest distress he ascends the steeps of heaven, and with his beck drew on the mists that followed, then mingling clouds and lightnings and blasts of wind, he took last the thunder and that fire that none can escape. And yet whatever way he can he essays to lessen his own might, nor arms himself now with that bolt with which he had hurled down from heaven Typhoeus 145 VOL. 1. EF OVID nunc armatur eo: nimium feritatis in illo est. est aliud levius fulmen, cui dextra cyclopum 305 saevitiae flammaeque minus, minus addidit irae : tela secunda vocant superi; capit illa domumque intrat Agenoream. corpus mortale tumultus non tulit aetherios donisque iugalibus arsit. inperfectus adhuc infans genetricis ab alvo 310 eripitur patrioque tener (si credere dignum est) insuitur femori maternaque tempora conplet. furtim illum primis Ino matertera cunis educat, inde datum nymphae Nyseides antris occuluere suis lactisque alimenta dedere. 315 Dumque ea per terras fatali lege geruntur tutaque bis geniti sunt incunabula Bacchi, forte Iovem memorant diffusum nectare curas seposuisse graves vacuaque agitasse remissos cum Iunone iocos et “ maior vestra profector est, 320 quam quae contingit maribus ” dixisse “ voluptas.”’ illa negat. placuit quae sit sententia docti quaerere Tiresiae: Venus huic erat utraque nota. nam duo magnorum viridi coeuntia silva corpora serpentum baculi violaverat ictu 325 deque viro factus (mirabile) femina septem egerat autumnos; octavo rursus eosdem vidit, et “ est vestrae si tanta potentia plagae ’ dixit, ““ ut auctoris sortem in contraria mutet, nunc quoque vos feriam.” percussis anguibus isdem forma prior rediit, genetivaque venit imago. 33] arbiter hic igitur sumptus de lite iocosa 146 ? METAMORPHOSES BOOK III of the hundred hands, for that weapon were too deadly; but there is a lighter bolt, to which the Cyclops’ hands had given a less devouring flame, a wrath less threatening. The gods call them his “Second Armoury.’ With these in hand he enters the palace of Agenor’s son, the home of Semele. Her mortal body bore not the onrush of heavenly power, and by that gift of wedlock she was consumed. The babe still not wholly fashioned is snatched from the mother’s womb and (if report may be believed) sewed up in his father’s thigh, there to await its full time of birth. In secret his mother’s sister, Ino, watched over his infancy; thence he was confided to the nymphs of Nysa, who hid him in their cave and nurtured him with milk. Now while these things were happening on the earth by the decrees of fate, when the cradle of Bacchus, twice born, was safe, it chanced that Jove (as the story goes), while warmed with wine, put care aside and bandied good-humoured jests with Juno in an idle hour. “I maintain,” said he, “ that your leasure in love is greater than that which we enjoy.” She held the opposite view. And so they decided to ask the judgment of wise Tiresias. He knew both sides of love. For once, with a blow of his staff he had outraged two huge serpents mating in the green forest; and, wonderful to relate, from man he was changed into a woman, and in that form spent seven years. In the eighth year he saw the same serpents again and said: “ Since in striking you there is such magic power as to change the nature of the giver of the blow, now will I strike you once again.”’ So saying, he struck the serpents and his former state was restored and he became ashe had beenborn. He there- fore, being asked to arbitrate the playful dispute of 147 OVID dicta lovis firmat: gravius Saturnia iusto nec pro materia fertur doluisse suique iudicis aeterna damnavit lumina nocte; ooD at pater omnipotens (neque enim licet inrita cuiquam facta dei fecisse deo) pro lumine adempto scire futura dedit poenamque levavit honore. Ille per Aonias fama celeberrimus urbes inreprehensa dabat populo responsa petenti; 340 prima fide vocisque ratae temptamina sumpsit caerula Liriope, quam quondam flumine curvo inplicuit clausaeque suis Cephisos in undis vim tulit: enixa est utero pulcherrima pleno infantem nymphe, iam tunc qui posset amari, 345 Narcissumque vocat. de quo consultus, an esset tempora maturae visurus longa senectae, fatidicus vates “ si se non noverit ” inquit. vana diu visa est vox auguris: exitus illam resque probat letique genus novitasque furoris. 350 namque ter ad quinos unum Cephisius annum addiderat poteratque puer iuvenisque videri: multi illum iuvenes, multae cupiere puellae ; sed fuit in tenera tam dura superbia forma, nulli illum iuvenes, nullae tetigere puellae. 305 adspicit hune trepidos agitantem in retia cervos vocalis nymphe, quae nec reticere loquenti nec prior ipsa loqui didicit, resonabilis Echo. Corpus adhuc Echo, non vox erat et tamen usum garrula non alium, quam nunc habet, oris habebat, reddere de multis ut verba novissima posset. 361 fecerat hoc Iuno, quia, cum deprendere posset 148 METAMORPHOSES BOOK III the gods, took sides with Jove. Saturnia, they say, grieved more deeply than she should and than the issue warranted, and condemned the arbitrator to perpetual blindness. But the Almighty Father (for no god may undo what another god has done) in return for his loss of sight gave Tiresias the power to know the future, lightening the penalty by the honour. He, famed far and near through all the Boeotian towns, gave answers that none could censure to those who sought his aid. The first to make trial of his truth and assured utterances was the nymph, Liriope, whom once the river-god, Cephisus, embraced in his winding stream and ravished, while imprisoned in his waters. When her time came the beauteous nymph brought forth a child, whom a nymph might love even as a child, and named him Narcissus. When asked whether this child would live to reach well-ripened age, the seer replied: “ If he ne'er know himself.’’ Long did the saying of the prophet seem but empty words. But what befell proved its truth— the event, the manner of his death, the strangeness of his infatuation. For Narcissus had reached his sixteenth year and might seem either boy or man. Many youths and many maidens sought his love; but in that slender form was pride so cold that no youth, no maiden touched his heart. Once as he was driving the frightened deer into his nets, a certain nymph of strange speech beheld him, resounding Echo, who could neither hold her peace when others spoke, nor yet begin to speak till others had addressed her. Up to this time Echo had form and was not a voice alone; and yet, though talkative, she had no other use of speech than now—only the power out of many words to repeat the last she heard. Juno had made her thus; for often when she might have 149 OVID sub Iove saepe suo nymphas in monte iacentis, illa deam longo prudens sermone tenebat, dum fugerent nymphae. postquam hoc Saturnia sensit, 365 ‘ huius ” ait “ linguae, qua sum delusa, potestas parva tibi dabitur vocisque brevissimus usus,” reque minas firmat. tamen haec in fine loquendi ingeminat voces auditaque verba reportat. ergo ubi Narcissum per devia rura vagantem 370 vidit et incaluit, sequitur vestigia furtim, quoque magis sequitur, flamma propiore calescit, non aliter quam cum summis circumlita taedis admotas rapiunt vivacia sulphura flammas. a quotiens voluit blandis accedere dictis 375 et mollis adhibere preces! natura repugnat nec sinit, incipiat, sed, quod sinit, illa parata est exspectare sonos, ad quos sua verba remittat. forte puer comitum seductus ab agmine fido dixerat: ‘‘ ecquis adest? ” et “ adest ’’ responderat Echo. 380 hic stupet, utque aciem partes dimittit in omnis, voce “ veni! ’” magna clamat: vocat illa vocantem. respicit et rursus nullo veniente “ quid ” inquit “me fugis? ”’ et totidem, quot dixit, verba recepit. perstat et alternae deceptus imagine vocis 385 “ huc coeamus ”’ ait, nullique libentius umquam responsura sono © coeamus " rettulit Echo et verbis favet ipsa suis egressaque silva ibat, ut iniceret sperato bracchia collo; ille fugit fugiensque “ manus conplexibus aufer! 390 ante ” ait “ emoriar, quam sit tibi copia nostri ” ; 150 METAMORPHOSES BOOK III surprised the nymphs in company with her lord upon the mountain-sides, Echo would cunningly hold the goddess in long talk until the nymphs were fled. When Saturnia realized this, she said to her: ‘ That tongue of thine, by which I have been tricked, shall have its power curtailed and enjoy the briefest use of speech.”’ The event confirmed her threat. Nevertheless she does repeat the last phrases of a speech and returns the words she hears. Now when she saw Narcissus wandering through the fields, she was inflamed with love and followed him by stealth ; and the more she followed, the more she burned by a nearer flame; as when quick-burning sulphur, smeared round the tops of torches, catches fire from another fire brought near. Oh, how often does she long to approach him with alluring words and make soft prayers to him! But her nature forbids this, nor does it permit her to begin; but as it allows, she is ready to await the sounds to which she may give back her own words. By chance the boy, separated from his faithful companions, had cried: “Is anyone here?’ and “ Here! ” cried Echo back. Amazed, he looks around in all directions and with loud voice cries ““ Come!’’; and “‘ Come! ”’ she calls him calling. He looks behind him and, seeing no one coming, calls again: “ Why do you run from me?” and hears in answer his own words again. He stands still, deceived by the answering voice, and “ Here let us meet,” he cries. Echo, never to answer other sound more gladly, cries: ‘‘ Let us meet ’’; and to help her own words she comes forth from the woods that she may throw her arms around the neck she longs to clasp. But he flees at her approach and, fleeing, says: “‘ Hands off! embrace me not! May I die before I give you power o’er I51 OVID rettulit illa nihil nisi “ sit tibi copia nostri! ”’ spreta latet silvis pudibundaque frondibus ora protegit et solis ex illo vivit in antris; sed tamen haeret amor crescitque dolore repulsae ; et tenuant vigiles corpus miserabile curae 396 adducitque cutem macies et in aera sucus corporis omnis abit; vox tantum atque ossa super- sunt : vox manet, ossa ferunt lapidis traxisse figuram. inde latet silvis nulloque in monte videtur, 400 omnibus auditur: sonus est, qui vivit in illa. Sic hanc, sic alias undis aut montibus ortas luserat hic nymphas, sic coetus ante viriles ; inde manus aliquis despectus ad aethera tollens ‘sic amet ipse licet, sic non potiatur amato!”’ 405 dixerat: adsensit precibus Rhamnusia iustis. fons erat inlimis, nitidis argenteus undis, quem neque pastores neque pastae monte capellae contigerant aliudve pecus, quem nulla volucris nec fera turbarat nec lapsus ab arbore ramus; 410 gramen erat circa, quod proximus umor alebat, silvaque sole locum passura tepescere nullo. hic puer et studio venandi lassus et aestu procubuit faciemque loci fontemque secutus, dumque sitim sedare cupit, sitis altera crevit, 415 dumque bibit, visae correptus imagine formae spem sine corpore amat, corpus putat esse, quod umbra est. adstupet ipse sibi vultuque inmotus eodem 152 METAMORPHOSES BOOK III me!” “IT give you power o'er me!” she says, and nothing more. ‘Thus spurned, she lurks in the woods, hides her shamed face among the foliage, and lives from that time on in lonely caves. But still, though spurned, her love remains and grows on grief; her sleepless cares waste away her wretched form; she becomes ‘gaunt and wrinkled and all moisture fades from her body into the air. Only her voice and her bones remain: then, only voice; for they say that her bones were turned to stone. She hides in woods and is seen no more upon the mountain-sides ; but all may hear her, for voice, and voice alone, still lives in her. Thus had Narcissus mocked her, thus had he mocked other nymphs of the waves or mountains; thus had he mocked the companies of men. At last one of these scorned youth, lifting up his hands to heaven, prayed: “ So may he himself love, and not gain the thing he loves!’ The goddess, Nemesis, heard his righteous prayer. There was a clear pool with silvery bright water, to which no shepherds ever came, or she-goats feeding on the mountain- side, or any other cattle; whose smooth surface neither bird nor beast nor falling bough ever ruffled. Grass grew all around its edge, fed by the water near, and a coppice that would never suffer the sun to warm the spot. Here the youth, worn by the chase and the heat, lies down, attracted thither by the appearance of the place and by the spring. While he seeks to slake his thirst another thirst springs up, and while he drinks he is smitten by the sight of the beautiful form he sees. He loves an unsub- stantial hope and thinks that substance which is only shadow. He looks in speechless wonder at himself and hangs there motionless in the same expression, 153 OVID haeret, ut e Pario formatum marmore signum ; spectat humi positus geminum, sua lumina, sidus 420 et dignos Baccho, dignos et Apolline crines inpubesque genas et eburnea colla decusque oris et in niveo mixtum candore ruborem, cunctaque miratur, quibus est mirabilis ipse: se cupit inprudens et, qui probat, ipse probatur, 425 dumque petit, petitur, pariterque accendit et ardet. inrita fallaci quotiens dedit oscula fonti, in medias quotiens visum captantia collum bracchia mersit aquas nec se deprendit in illis! quid videat, nescit; sed quod videt, uritur illo, 430 atque oculos idem, qui decipit, incitat error. credule, quid frustra simulacra fugacia captas? quod petis, est nusquam; quod amas, avertere, perdes! ista repercussae, quam cernis, imaginis umbra est: nil habet ista sui; tecum venitque manetque; 435 tecum discedet, si tu discedere possis! Non illum Cereris, non illum cura quietis abstrahere inde potest, sed opaca fusus in herba spectat inexpleto mendacem lumine formam perque oculos perit ipse suos; paullumque levatus ad circumstantes tendens sua bracchia silvas 441 “ ecquis, io silvae, crudelius ” inquit “ amavit? scitis enim et multis latebra opportuna fuistis. ecquem, cum vestrae tot agantur saecula vitae, qui sic tabuerit, longo meministis in aevo? 445 et placet et video; sed quod videoque placetque, non tamen invenio: tantus tenet error amantem. quoque magis doleam, nec nos mare separat ingens 154 METAMORPHOSES BOOK III like a statue carved from Parian marble. Prone on the ground, he gazes at his eyes, twin stars, and his locks, worthy of Bacchus, worthy of Apollo; on his smooth cheeks, his ivory neck, the glorious beauty of his face, the blush mingled with snowy white: all things, in short, he admires for which he is himself admired. Unwittingly he desires himself; he praises, and is himself what he praises; and while he seeks, is sought; equally he kindles love and burns with love. How often did he offer vain kisses on the elusive pool? How often did he plunge his arms into the water seeking to clasp the neck he sees there, but did not clasp himself in them! What he sees he knows not; but that which he sees he burns for, and the same delusion mocks and allures his eyes. O fondly foolish boy, why vainly seek to clasp a fleeting image? What you seek is nowhere; but turn yourself away, and the object of your love will be no more. That which you behold is but the shadow of a reflected form and has no substance of its own. With you it comes, with you it stays, and it will go with you—if you can go. No thought of food or rest can draw him from the spot; but, stretched on the shaded grass, he gazes on that false image with eyes that cannot look their fill and through his own eyes perishes. Raising himself a little, and stretching his arms to the trees, he cries: “ Did anyone, O ye woods, ever love more cruelly than I? You know, for you have been the convenient haunts of many lovers. Do you in the ages past, for your life is one of centuries, remember anyone who has pined away like this? I am charmed, and I see; but what I see and what charms me I cannot find— so great a delusion holds my love. And, to make me grieve the more, no mighty ocean separates us, no ee OVID nec via nec montes nec clausis moenia portis ; exigua prohibemur aqua! cupit ipse teneri: 450 nam quotiens liquidis porreximus oscula lymphis, hic totiens ad me resupino nititur ore. posse putes tangi: minimum est, quod amantibus obstat. quisquis es, huc exi! quid me, puer unice, fallis quove petitus abis? certe nec forma nec aetas 455 est mea, quam fugias, et amarunt me quoque nymphae! spem mihi nescio quam vultu promittis amico, cumque ego porrexi tibi bracchia, porrigis ultro, cum risi, adrides; lacrimas quoque saepe notavi me lacrimante tuas; nutu quoque signa remittis 460 et, quantum motu formosi suspicor oris, verba refers aures non pervenientia nostras ! iste ego sum: sensi, nec me mea fallit imago; uror amore mei: flammas moveoque feroque. quid faciam ? roger anne rogem? quid deinde rogabo? quod cupio mecum est: inopem me copia fecit. 466 o utinam a nostro secedere corpore possem! votumin amante novum,vellem, quod amamus, abesset. iamque dolor vires adimit, nec tempora vitae longa meae superant, primoque exstinguor in aevo. nec mihi mors gravis est posituro morte dolores, 471 hic, qui diligitur, vellem diuturnior esset ; nunc duo concordes anima moriemur in una.” Dixit et ad faciem rediit male sanus eandem et lacrimis turbavit aquas, obscuraque moto 475 156 METAMORPHOSES BOOK III long road, no mountain ranges, no city walls with close-shut gates; by a thin barrier of water we are kept apart. He himself is eager to be embraced. For, often as I stretch my lips towards the lucent wave, so often with upturned face he strives to lift his lips to mine. You would think he could be touched—so small a thing it is that separates our loving hearts. Whoever you are, come forth hither! Why, O peerless youth, do you elude me? or whither do you go when I strive to reach you? Surely my form and age are not such that you should shun them, and me too the nymphs have loved. Some ground for hope you offer with your friendly looks, and when I have stretched out my arms to you, you stretch yours too. When I have smiled, you smile back; and I have often seen tears, when I weep, on your cheeks. My becks you answer with your nod; and, as I sus- pect from the movement of your sweet lips, you answer my words as well, but words which do not reach my ears.—Oh, [amhe! I have felt it, I know now my own image. I burn with love of my own self; I both kindle the flames and suffer them. What shall Ido? Shall I be wooed or woo? Why woo at allP What I desire, I have; the very abundance of my riches beggars me. Oh, that I might be parted from my own body! and, strange prayer for a lover, I would that what I love were absent from me! And now grief is sapping my strength; but a brief space of life remains to me and I am cut off in my life’s prime. Death is nothing to me, for in death I shall leave my troubles; I would he that is loved might live longer; but as it is, we two shall die together in one breath.” He spoke and, half distraught, turned again to the same image. His tears ruffled the water, and dimly 157 OVID reddita forma lacu est; quam cum vidisset abire, “ quo refugis? remane nec me, crudelis, amantem desere! ” clamavit; “ liceat, quod tangere non est, adspicere et misero praebere alimenta furori! ”’ dumque dolet, summa vestem deduxit ab ora 480 nudaque marmoreis percussit pectora palmis. pectora traxerunt roseum percussa ruborem, non aliter quam poma solent, quae candida parte, parte rubent, aut ut variis solet uva racemis ducere purpureum nondum matura colorem. 485 quae simul adspexit liquefacta rursus in unda, non tulit ulterius, sed ut intabescere flavae igne levi cerae matutinaeque pruinae sole tepente solent, sic attenuatus amore liquitur et tecto paullatim carpitur igni; 490 et neque iam color est mixto candore rubori, nec vigor et vires et quae modo visa placebant, nec corpus remanet, quondam quod amaverat Echo. quae tamen ut vidit quamvis irata memorque indoluit, quotiensque puer miserabilis “ eheu” 495 dixerat, haec resonis iterabat vocibus “ eheu ”’; cumque suos manibus percusserat ille lacertos, haec quoque reddebat sonitum plangoris eundem. ultima vox solitam fuit haec spectantis in undam: “ heu frustra dilecte puer! ” totidemque remisit 560 verba locus, dictoque vale “ vale ” inquit et Echo. ille caput viridi fessum submisit in herba, lumina mors clausit domini mirantia formam: tum quoque se, postquam est inferna sede receptus, in Stygia spectabat aqua. planxere sorores 505 naides et sectos fratri posuere capillos, 158 METAMORPHOSES BOOK III the image came back from the troubled pool. As he saw it thus depart, he cried: “ Oh, whither do you flee? Stay here, and desert not him who loves thee, cruel one! Still may it be mine to gaze on what I may not touch, and by that gaze feed my unhappy passion.” While he thus grieves, he plucks away his tunic at its upper fold and beats his bare breast with pallid hands. His breast when it is struck takes on a delicate glow; just as apples sometimes, though white in part, flush red in other part, or as grapes hanging in clusters take on a purple hue when not yet ripe. As soon as he sees this, when the water has become clear again, he can bear no more; but, as the yellow wax melts before a gentle heat, as hoar frost melts before the warm morning sun, so does he, wasted with love, pine away, and is slowly con- sumed by its hidden fire. No longer has he that ruddy colour mingling with the white, no longer that strength and vigour, and all that lately was so pleasing to behold; scarce does his form remain which once Echo had loved so well. But when she saw it, though still angry and unforgetful, she felt pity; and as often as the poor boy says “ Alas!” again with answering utterance she cries “ Alas! ’’ and as his hands beat his shoulders she gives back the same sounds of woe. His last words as he gazed into the familiar spring were these: “ Alas, dear boy, vainly beloved! ” and the place gave back his words. And when he said ‘“ Farewell!” “‘ Farewell!’’ said Echo too. He drooped his weary head on the green grass and death sealed the eyes that marvelled at their master’s beauty. And even when he had been received into the infernal abodes, he kept on gazing on his image in the Stygian pool. His naiad-sisters beat their breasts and shore their locks in sign of grief for their dear 159 OVID planxerunt dryades; plangentibus adsonat Echo. lamque rogum quassasque faces feretrumque parabant : nusquam corpus erat; croceum pro corpore florem inveniunt foliis medium cingentibus albis. 510 Cognita res meritam vati per Achaidas urbes attulerat famam, nomenque erat auguris ingens ; spernit Echionides tamen hunc ex omnibus unus contemptor superum Pentheus praesagaque ridet verba senis tenebrasque et cladem lucis ademptae 515 obicit. ille movens albentia tempora canis ‘“ quam felix esses, si tu quoque luminis huius orbus ”’ ait “ fieres, ne Bacchica sacra videres! namque dies aderit, quam non procul auguror esse, qua novus huc veniat, proles Semeleia, Liber, 520 quem nisi templorum fueris dignatus honore, mille lacer spargere locis et sanguine silvas foedabis matremque tuam matrisque sorores. eveniet! neque enim dignabere numen honore, meque sub his tenebris nimium vidisse quereris.”’ 525 talia dicentem proturbat Echione natus; dicta fides sequitur, responsaque vatis aguntur. Liber adest, festisque fremunt ululatibus agri: turba ruit, mixtaeque viris matresque nurusque vulgusque proceresque ignota ad sacra feruntur. 530 “ Quis furor, anguigenae, proles Mavortia, vestras attonuit mentes?’’ Pentheus ait; “ aerane tantum aere repulsa valent et adunco tibia cornu 160 METAMORPHOSES BOOK III brother; the dryads, too, lamented, and Echo gave back their sounds of woe. And now they were pre- paring the funeral pile, the brandished torches and the bier; but his body was nowhere to be found. In place of his body they find a flower, its yellow centre girt with white petals. When this story was noised abroad it spread the well-deserved fame of the seer throughout the cities of Greece, and great was the name of Tiresias. Yet Echion’s son, Pentheus, the scoffer at gods, alone of all men flouted the seer, laughed at the old man’s words of prophecy, and taunted him with his darkness and loss of sight. But he, shaking his hoary head in warning, said: “ How fortunate wouldst thou be if this light were dark to thee also, so that thou mightst not behold the rites of Bacchus! For the day will come—nay, I foresee ‘tis near—when the new god shall come hither, Liber, son of Semele. Unless thou worship him as is his due, thou shalt be torn into a thousand pieces and scattered everywhere, and shalt with thy blood defile the woods and thy mother and thy mother’s sisters. So shall it come to pass; for thou shalt refuse to honour the god, and shalt com- plain that in my blindness I have seen all too well.” Even while he speaks the son of Echion flings him forth; but his words did indeed come true and his prophecies were accomplished. The god is now come and the fields resound with the wild cries of revellers. The people rush out of the city in throngs, men and women, old and young, nobles and commons, all mixed together, and hasten to celebrate the new rites. “What madness, ye sons of the serpent’s teeth, ye seed of Mars, has dulled your reason? ”’ Pentheus cries. ‘‘ Can clash- ing cymbals, can the pipe of crooked horn, can 161 OVID et magicae fraudes, ut, quos non bellicus ensis, non tuba terruerit, non strictis agmina telis, 535 femineae voces et mota insania vino obscenique greges et inania tympana vincant? vosne, senes, mirer, qui longa per aequora vecti hac Tyron, hac profugos posuistis sede penates, nunc sinitis sine Marte capi? vosne, acrior aetas, 540 o iuvenes, propiorque meae, quos arma tenere, non thyrsos, galeaque tegi, non fronde decebat ? este, precor, memores, qua sitis stirpe creati, illiusque animos, qui multus perdidit unus, sumite serpentis! pro fontibus ille lacuque 545 interiit: at vos pro fama vincite vestra! ille dedit leto fortes: vos pellite molles et patrium retinete decus! si fata vetabant stare diu Thebas, utinam tormenta virique moenia diruerent, ferrumque ignisque sonarent! 550 essemus miseri sine crimine, sorsque querenda, non celanda foret, lacrimaeque pudore carerent ; at nunc a puero Thebae capientur inermi, quem neque bella iuvant nec tela nec usus equorum, sed madidus murra crinis mollesque coronae 555 purpuraque et pictis intextum vestibus aurum, quem quidem ego actutum (modo vos absistite) cogam adsumptumque patrem commentaque sacra fateri. an satis Acrisio est animi, contemnere vanum numen et Argolicas venienti claudere portas: 560 Penthea terrebit cum totis advena Thebis? ite citi ’’ (famulis hoc imperat), ‘ ite ducemque 162 METAMORPHOSES BOOK III shallow tricks of magic, women’s shrill cries, wine- heated madness, vulgar throngs and empty drums —can all these vanquish men, for whom real war, with its drawn swords, the blare of trumpets, and lines of glittering spears, had no terrors? You, ye elders, should I give you praise, who sailed the long reaches of the sea and planted here your Tyre, here your wandering Penates, and who now permit them to be taken without a struggle? Or you, ye young men of fresher age and nearer to my own, for whom once ‘twas seemly to bear arms and not the thyrsus, to be sheltered by helmets and not garlands? Be mindful, I pray, from what seed you are sprung, and show the spirit of the serpent, who in his single strength killed many foes. For his fountain and his pool he perished; but do you conquer for your glory’s sake! He did to death brave men: do you but put to flight unmanly men and save your ancestral honour. If it be the fate of Thebes not to endure for long, I would the enginery of war and heroes might batter down her walls and that sword and fire might roar around her: then should we be unfortunate, but our honour without stain; we should bewail, not seek to conceal, our wretched state; then our tears would be without shame. But now our Thebes shall fall before an untried boy, whom neither arts of war assist nor spears nor horsemen, but whose weapons are scented locks, soft garlands, purple and gold inwoven in em- broidered robes. But forthwith—only do you stand aside—I will force him to confess that his father’s name is borrowed and his sacred rites a lie. Did Acrisius have spirit enough to despise his empty god- head, and to shut the gates of Argos in his face, and shall Pentheus and all Thebes tremble at this wanderer’s approach? Go quickly ’—this to his 163 OVID attrahite huc vinctum! iussis mora segnis abesto! ”’ hune avus, hunc Athamas, hunc cetera turba suorum corripiunt dictis frustraque inhibere laborant. 565 acrior admonitu est inritaturque retenta et crescit rabies moderaminaque ipsa nocebant: sic ego torrentem, qua nil obstabat eunti, lenius et modico strepitu decurrere vidi; at quacumque trabes obstructaque saxa tenebant, 570 spumeus et fervens et ab obice saevior ibat. Ecce cruentati redeunt et, Bacchus ubi esset, quaerenti domino Bacchum vidisse negarunt ; ‘“hune ” dixere “tamen comitem famulumque sacrorum cepimus ” et tradunt manibus post terga ligatis 575 sacra dei quendam Tyrrhena gente secutum. Adspicit hunc Pentheus oculis, quos ira tremendos fecerat, et quamquam poenae vix tempora differt, ‘o periture tuaque aliis documenta dature morte,” ait, ‘“ ede tuum nomen nomenque parentum et patriam, morisque novi cur sacra frequentes!”’ 581 ille metu vacuus “ nomen mihi ”’ dixit “ Acoetes, patria Maeonia est, humili de plebe parentes. non mihi quae duri colerent pater arva iuvenci, lanigerosve greges, non ulla armenta reliquit; 585 pauper et ipse fuit linoque solebat et hamis decipere et calamo salientis ducere pisces. ars illi sua census erat; cum traderet artem, ‘accipe, quas habeo, studii successor et heres,’ dixit ‘ opes ’ moriensque mihi nihil ille reliquit 590 164 METAMORPHOSES BOOK III slaves—‘‘ go, bring this plotter hither, and in chains! Let there be no dull delay to my bidding.” His grandsire addresses him in words of reprimand, and Athamas, and all his counsellors, and they vainly strive to curb his will. He is all the more eager for their warning; his mad rage is fretted by restraint and grows apace, and their very efforts at control but make him worse. So have I seen a river, where nothing obstructed its course, flow smoothly on with but a gentle murmur; but, where it was held in check by dams of timber and stone set in its way, foaming and boiling it went, fiercer for the obstruction. But now the slaves come back, all covered with blood, and, when their master asks where Bacchus is, they say that they have not seen him; “ but this companion of his,” they say, “ this priest of his sacred rites, we have taken,’ and they deliver up, his hands bound behind his back, one of Etruscan stock, a votary of Bacchus. Him Pentheus eyes awhile with gaze made terrible by his wrath; and, with difficulty withholding his hand from punish- ment, he says: “ Thou fellow, doomed to perish and by thy death to serve as a warning to others, tell me thy name, thy parents, and thy country; and why thou dost devote thyself to this new cult.” He fearlessly replies: ““ My name is Acoetes, and my country is Maeonia; my parents were but humble folk. My father left me no fields or sturdy bullocks to till them ; no woolly sheep, no cattle. He himself was poor and used to catch fish with hook and line and rod and draw them leaping from the stream. His craft was all his wealth; and when he passed it on tome he said: ‘Take this craft; ‘tis all my fortune. Be you my heir and successor in it.’ And in dying he left me nothing but the waters. This alone can 165 OVID praeter aquas: unum hoc possum adpellare paternum. mox ego, ne scopulis, haererem semper in isdem, addidici regimen dextra moderante carinae flectere et Oleniae sidus pluviale capellae Taygetenque Hyadasque oculis Arctonque notavi 595 ventorumque domos et portus puppibus aptos. forte petens Delum Chiae telluris ad oras adplicor et dextris adducor litora remis doque levis saltus udaeque inmittor harenae: nox ibi consumpta est; aurora rubescere prima 600 coeperat: exsurgo laticesque inferre recentis admoneo monstroque viam, quae ducat ad undas; ipse quid aura mihi tumulo promittat ab alto prospicio comitesque voco repetoque carinam. ‘ adsumus en ’ inquit sociorum primus Opheltes, 605 utque putat, praedam deserto nactus in agro, virginea puerum ducit per litora forma. ille mero somnoque gravis titubare videtur vixque sequi; specto cultum faciemque gradumque: nil ibi, quod credi posset mortale, videbam. 610 et sensi et dixi sociis: ‘quod numen in isto corpore sit, dubito; sed corpore numen in isto est! quisquis es, o faveas nostrisque laboribus adsis ; his quoque des veniam! °* pro nobis mitte precari! ’ Dictys ait, quo non alius conscendere summas 615 ocior antemnas prensoque rudente relabi. hoc Libys, hoc flavus, prorae tutela, Melanthus, hoc probat Alcimedon et, qui requiemque modumque voce dabat remis, animorum hortator, Epopeus, hoc omnes alii: praedae tam caeca cupido est. 620 166 METAMORPHOSES BOOK III I call my heritage. Soon, that I might not always stay planted on the selfsame rocks, I learned to steer ships with guiding hand; I studied the stars; the rainy constellation of the Olenian Goat, Taygete, the Hyades, the Bears; I learned the winds and whence they blow; I learned what harbours are best for ships. It chanced that while making for Delos I was driven out of my course to the shore of Chios and made the land with well-skilled oars. Light leaping, we landed on the wet shore and spent the night. As soon as the eastern sky began to redden I rose and bade my men go for fresh water, showing them the way that led to the spring. For my own task, from a high hill I observed the direction of the wind; then called my comrades and started back on board. ‘ Lo, here we are! ’ cried Opheltes, first of all the men, bringing with him a prize (so he considered it) which he had found in a deserted field, a little boy with form beautiful as a girl's. He seemed to stagger, as if oercome with wine and sleep, and could scarce follow him who led. I gazed on his garb, his face, his walk; and all I saw seemed more to me than mortal. This I perceived, and said to my companions: ‘ What divinity is in that mortal body I know not; but assuredly a divinity is therein. Whoever thou art, be gracious unto us and prosper our under- takings. Grant pardon also to these men.’ ‘ Pray not for us, said Dictys, than whom none was more quick to climb the topmost yard and slide down on firm-grasped rope. Libys seconded this speech; so did yellow-haired Melanthus, the look-out, and Alcimedon and Epopeus, who by his voice marked the time for the rowers and urged on their flagging spirits. And all the rest approved, so blind and heedless was their greed for booty. ‘And yet I 167 OVID “non tamen hanc sacro violari pondere pinum perpetiar ’ dixi: © pars hic mihi maxima iuris ’ inque aditu obsisto: furit audacissimus omni de numero Lycabas, qui Tusca pulsus ab urbe exilium dira poenam pro caede luebat ; 625 is mihi, dum resto, iuvenali guttura pugno rupit et excussum misisset in aequora, si non haesissem, quamvis amens, in fune retentus. inpia turba probat factum; tum denique Bacchus (Bacchus enim fuerat), veluti clamore solutus 630 sit sopor aque mero redeant in pectora sensus, ‘ quid facitis? quis clamor? ’ ait “ qua, dicite, nautae, huc ope perveni? quo me deferre paratis? ’ ‘pone metum ’ Proreus, “ et quos contingere portus ede velis!’ dixit; ‘ terra sistere petita.’ 635 ‘ Naxon ’ ait Liber “ cursus advertite vestros! illa mihi domus est, vobis erit hospita tellus.’ per mare fallaces perque omnia numina iurant sic fore meque iubent pictae dare vela carinae. dextera Naxos erat: dextra mihi lintea danti 640 ‘quid facis, o demens? quis te furor—?’ inquit Opheltes ; pro se quisque, ‘ tenet? ? laevam pete! ’ maxima nutu pars mihi significat, pars quid velit aure susurrat. obstipui “ capiat ° que * aliquis moderamina! ’ dixi meque ministerio scelerisque artisque removi. 645 1 pro se quisque, ‘tenet? Heinsius: ° persequiturve timor ’ Burman: pro se quisque timet MSS. 168 METAMORPHOSES BOOK III shall not permit this ship to be defiled by such sacrilege, I said; “here must my authority have greater weight.’ And I resisted their attempt to come on board. Then did Lycabas break out into wrath, the most reckless man of the crew, who, driven from Tuscany, was suffering exile as a punish- ment for the foul crime of murder. He, while I withstood him, tore at my throat with his strong hands and would have hurled me overboard, if, scarce knowing what I did, I had not clung to a rope that held me back. The godless crew applauded Lycabas. Then at last Bacchus—for it was he—as if aroused from slumber by the outcry, and as if his wine- dimmed senses were coming back, said: ‘ What are you doing? Why this uproar? And tell me, ye sailor-men, how did I get here and ‘whither are you planning to take me?’ ‘Be not afraid,’ said Proreus, ‘tell me what port you wish to make, and you shall be set off at any place you choose.’ ‘ Then turn your course to Naxos,’ said Liber; ‘ that is my home, and there shall you find, yourselves, a friendly land.’ By the sea and all its gods the treacherous fellows swore that they would do this, and bade me get the painted vessel under sail. Naxos lay off upon the right; and as I was setting my sails towards the right Opheltes said: ‘What are you doing, you fool? what madness—’ and each one for himself supplied the words— holds you? Take the left tack.’ The most of them by nods and winks let me know what they wanted, and some whispered in my ear. I could not believe my senses and I said to them: ‘Then let someone else take the helm’; and declared that I would have nor part nor lot in their wicked scheme. They all cried 169 OVID increpor a cunctis, totumque inmurmurat agmen ; e quibus Aethalion ‘ te scilicet omnis in uno nostra salus posita est! ’ ait et subit ipse meumque explet opus Naxoque petit diversa relicta. tum deus inludens, tamquam modo denique fraudem 650 senserit, e puppi pontum prospectat adunca et flenti similis ‘ non haec mihi litora, nautae, promisistis © ait, ‘ non haec mihi terra rogata est! quo merui poenam facto? quae gloria vestra est, si puerum iuvenes, si multi fallitis unum? ’ 655 iamdudum flebam: lacrimas manus inpia nostras ridet et inpellit properantibus aequora remis. per tibi nunc ipsum (nec enim praesentior illo est deus) adiuro, tam me tibi vera referre quam veri maiora fide: stetit aequore puppis 660 haud aliter, quam si siccum navale teneret. illi admirantes remorum in verbere perstant velaque deducunt geminaque ope currere temptant: inpediunt hederae remos nexuque recurvo serpunt et gravidis distinguunt vela corymbis. 665 ipse racemiferis frontem circumdatus uvis pampineis agitat velatam frondibus hastam ; quem circa tigres simulacraque inania lyncum pictarumque iacent fera corpora pantherarum. exsiluere viri, sive hoc insania fecit 670 sive timor, primusque Medon nigrescere coepit corpore et expresso spinae curvamine flecti. incipit huic Lycabas: ‘in quae miracula ° dixit ‘verteris? ’ et lati rictus et panda loquenti 170 METAMORPHOSES BOOK III out upon me and kept up their wrathful mutterings. And one of them, Aethalion, broke out: ‘ I’d have you know, the safety of us all does not depend on you alone!’ So saying, he came and took my place at the helm and, leaving the course for Naxos, steered off in another direction. Then the god, in mockery of them, as if he had just discovered their faithlessness, looked out upon the sea from the curved stern, and in seeming tears cried out: “ These are not the shores you promised me, you sailor-men; and this is not the land I sought. What have I done to be so treated? And what glory will you gain if you, grown men, deceive a little boy? if you, so many, overcome just one?’ I was long since in tears; but the godiess crew mocked my tears and swept the seas with speeding oars. Now by the god himself I swear (for there is no god more surely near than he) that what I speak is truth, though far beyond belief. The ship stands still upon the waves, as if a dry-dock held her. The sailors in amaze redouble their striving at the oars and make all sail, hoping thus to speed their way by twofold power. But ivy twines and clings about the oars, creeps upward with many a back-flung, catching fold, and decks the sails with heavy, hanging clusters. The god himself, with his brow garlanded with clustering berries, waves a wand wreathed with ivy-leaves. Around him lie tigers, the forms (though empty all) of lynxes and of fierce spotted panthers. The men leap overboard, driven on by madness or by fear. And first Medon’s body begins to grow dark and his back to be bent in a well-marked curve. Lycabas starts to say to him: ‘ Into what strange creature are you turning?’ But as he speaks his own jaws spread wide, his nose becomes hooked, and his skin 171 OVID naris erat, squamamque cutis durata trahebat. 675 at Libys obstantis dum vult obvertere remos, in spatium resilire manus breve vidit et illas iam non esse manus, lam pinnas posse vocari. alter ad intortos cupiens dare bracchia funes bracchia non habuit truncoque repandus in undas 680 corpore desiluit: falcata novissima cauda est, qualia dimidiae sinuantur cornua lunae. undique dant saltus multaque adspergine rorant emerguntque iterum redeuntque sub aequora rursus inque chori ludunt speciem lascivaque iactant 685 corpora et acceptum patulis mare naribus efHant. de modo viginti (tot enim ratis illa ferebat) restabam solus: pavidum gelidumque trementi corpore vixque meum firmat deus ‘ excute ’ dicens ‘corde metum Diamque tene! ’ delatus in illam 690 accessi sacris Baccheaque sacra frequento.” ‘‘Praebuimus longis ’ Pentheus “ ambagibus aures,’’ inquit “ ut ira mora vires absumere posset. praecipitem, famuli, rapite hunc cruciataque diris corpora tormentis Stygiae demittite nocti! ”’ 695 protinus abstractus solidis Tyrrhenus Acoetes clauditur in tectis; et dum crudelia iussae instrumenta necis ferrumque ignesque parantur, sponte sua patuisse fores lapsasque lacertis sponte sua fama est nullo solvente catenas. 700 Perstat Echionides, nec iam iubet ire, sed ipse vadit, ubi electus facienda ad sacra Cithaeron cantibus et clara bacchantum voce sonabat. 172 METAMORPHOSES BOOK III becomes hard and covered with scales. But Libys, while he seeks to ply the sluggish oars,sees his hands suddenly shrunk in size to things that can no longer be called hands at all, but fins. Another, catching at a twisted rope with his arms, finds he has no arms and goes plunging backwards with limbless body into the sea: the end of his tail is curved like the horns of a half-moon. They leap about on every side, sending up showers of spray; they emerge from the water, only to return to the depths again; they sport like a troupe of dancers, tossing their bodies in wanton sport and drawing in and blowing out the water from their broad nostrils. Of but now twenty men—for the ship bore so many—I alone remained. And, as I stood quaking and trembling with cold fear, and hardly knowing what I did, the god spoke words of cheer to me and said: ‘Be of good courage, and hold on your course to Naxos.’ Arrived there, I have joined the rites and am one of the Bacchanalian throng.”’ Then Pentheus said: “ We have lent ear to this long, rambling tale, that by such delay our anger might lose its might. Ye slaves, now hurry him away, rack his body with fearsome tortures, and so send him down to Stygian night.” Straightway Acoetes, the Tyrrhenian, was dragged out and shut up in a strong dungeon. And while the slaves were getting the cruel instruments of torture ready, the iron, the fire—of their own accord the doors flew open wide; of their own accord, with no one loosing them, the chains fell from the prisoner’s arms. But Pentheus stood fixed in his purpose. He no longer sent messengers, but went himself to where Cithaeron, the chosen seat for the god’s sacred rites, was resounding with songs and the shrill cries of wor- 173 OVID ut fremit acer equus, cum bellicus aere canoro signa dedit tubicen pugnaeque adsumit amorem, 705 Penthea sic ictus longis ululatibus aether movit, et audito clamore recanduit ira. Monte fere medio est, cingentibus ultima silvis, purus ab arboribus, spectabilis undique, campus: his oculis illum cernentem sacra profanis 710 prima videt, prima est insano concita cursu, prima suum misso violavit Penthea thyrso mater et “ o geminae ” clamavit “ adeste sorores! ille aper, in nostris errat qui maximus agris, ille mihi feriendus aper.” ruit omnisin unum = 715 turba furens; cunctae coeunt trepidumque sequuntur, iam trepidum, iam verba minus violenta loquentem, iam se damnantem, iam se peccasse fatentem. saucius ille tamen “ fer opem, matertera ” dixit ‘‘ Autonoe! moveant animos Actaeonis umbrae!”’ 720 illa, quis Actaeon, nescit dextramque precantis abstulit, Inoo lacerata est altera raptu. non habet infelix quae matri bracchia tendat, trunca sed ostendens deiectis vulnera membris ‘ adspice, mater!” ait. visis ululavit Agaue 725 collaque iactavit movitque per aera crinem avulsumque caput digitis conplexa cruentis clamat: “io comites, opus haec victoria nostrum est!” non citius frondes autumni frigore tactas iamque male haerentes alta rapit arbore ventus, 730 quam sunt membra viri manibus direpta nefandis. talibus exemplis monitae nova sacra frequentant turaque dant sanctasque colunt Ismenides aras. 174 METAMORPHOSES BOOK III shippers. As a spirited horse snorts when the brazen trumpet with tuneful voice sounds out the battle and his eagerness for the fray waxes hot, so did the air, pulsing with the long-drawn cries, stir Pentheus, and the wild uproar in his ears heated his wrath white-hot. About midway of the mountain, bordered with thick woods, was an open plain, free from trees, in full view from every side. Here, as Pentheus was spying with profane eyes upon the sacred rites, his mother was the first to see him, first to rush madly on him, first with hurled thyrsus to smite her son. ‘Ho, there, my sisters, come! ”’ she cried, “ see that huge boar prowling in our fields. Now must I rend him.”’ The whole mad throng rush on him; from all sides they come and pursue the frightened wretch— yes, frightened now, and speaking milder words, cursing his folly and confessing that he has sinned. Sore wounded, he cries out: “ Oh help, my aunt, Autonoé! Let the ghost of Actaeon move your heart.”’ She knows not who Actaeon is, and tears the suppliant’s right arm away; Ino in frenzy rends away his left. And now the wretched man has no arms to stretch out in prayer to his mother; but, showing his mangled stumps where his arms have been torn away, he cries: “ Oh, mother, see!” Agave howls madly at the sight and tosses her head with wildly streaming hair. Off she tears his head, and holding it in bloody hands, she yells: “ See, comrades, see my toil and its reward of victory!’ Not more quickly are leaves, when touched by the first cold of autumn and now lightly clinging, whirled from the lofty tree by the wind than is Pentheus torn limb from limb by those impious hands. ‘Taught by such a warning, the Thebans throng the new god’s sacred rites, burn incense, and bow down before his shrines. 175 LIBER IV At non Alcithoe Minyeias orgia censet accipienda dei, sed adhuc temeraria Bacchum progeniem negat esse IJovis sociasque sorores inpietatis habet. festum celebrare sacerdos inmunesque operum famulas dominasque suorum 5 pectora pelle tegi, crinales solvere vittas, serta coma, manibus frondentis sumere thyrsos iusserat et saevam laesi fore numinis iram vaticinatus erat: parent matresque nurusque telasque calathosque infectaque pensa reponunt 10 turaque dant Bacchumque vocant Bromiumque Lyaeumque ignigenamque satumque iterum solumque bimatrem; additur his Nyseus indetonsusque Thyoneus et cum Lenaeo genialis consitor uvae Nycteliusque Eleleusque parens et Iacchus et EKuhan, et quae praeterea per Graias plurima gentes 16 nomina, Liber, habes. tibi enim inconsumpta iuventa est, 1 “ The noisy one.” 2 “* The deliverer from care.” 3 “* Of Nysa,”’ a city in India, connected traditionally with the infancy of Bacchus. 4 “Son of Thyone,” the name given to his mother, Semele, after her translation to the skies. 5 “* God of the wine-press.”’ 6 So named from the fact that his orgies were celebrated in the night. 178 BOOK IV But not Minyas’ daughter Alcithoé; she will not have the god's holy revels admitted; nay, so bold is she that she denies Bacchus to be Jove’s son! And her sisters are with her in the impious deed. The priest had bidden the people to celebrate a Bacchic festival: all serving-women must be excused from toil; with their mistresses they must cover their breasts with the skins of beasts, they must loosen the ribands of their hair, and with garlands upon their heads they must hold in their hands the vine-wreathed thyrsus. And he had prophesied that the wrath of the god would be merciless if he were disregarded. The matrons and young wives all obey, put by weaving and work-baskets, leave their tasks unfinished; they burn incense, calling on Bacchus, naming him also Bromius,! Lyaeus,? son of the thunderbolt, twice born, child of two mothers; they hail him as Nyseus? also, Thyoneus* of the unshorn locks, Lenaeus,’ planter of the joy-giving vine, Nyctelius,® father Eleleus,’, Iacchus,? and Kuhan, and all the many names besides by which thou art known, O Liber,® throughout the towns of Greece. 7 From the wild cries uttered by his worshippers in the orgies. 8 A name identified with Bacchus. ® Kither from liber, ‘‘ the free,’ or from (/ibo, ‘“‘ he to whom libations of wine are poured.” 179 OVID tu puer aeternus, tu formosissimus alto conspiceris caelo; tibi, cum sine cornibus adstas, virgineum caput est; Oriens tibi victus, adusque 20 decolor extremo qua tinguitur India Gange. Penthea tu, venerande, bipenniferumque Lycurgum sacrilegos mactas, Tyrrhenaque mittis in aequor corpora, tu biiugum pictis insignia frenis colla premis lyncum. bacchae satyrique sequuntur, 25 quique senex ferula titubantis ebrius artus sustinet et pando non fortiter haeret asello. quacumque ingrederis, clamor iuvenalis et una femineae voces inpulsaque tympana palmis concavaque aera sonant longoque foramine buxus. 30 ‘ Placatus mitisque ’ rogant Ismenides “ adsis,” iussaque sacra colunt; solae Minyeides intus intempestiva turbantes festa Minerva aut ducunt lanas aut stamina pollice versant aut haerent telae famulasque laboribus urguent. 35 e quibus una levi deducens pollice filum “ dum cessant aliae commentaque sacra frequentant, nos quoque, quas Pallas, melior dea, detinet ” inquit, “ utile opus manuum vario sermone levemus perque vices aliquid, quod tempora longa videri 40 non sinat, in medium vacuas referamus ad aures! ” dicta probant primamque iubent narrare sorores. illa, quid e multis referat (nam plurima norat), cogitat et dubia est, de te, Babylonia, narret, Derceti, quam versa squamis velantibus artus 45 stagna Palaestini credunt motasse figura, 180 METAMORPHOSES BOOK IV For thine is unending youth, eternal boyhood; thou art the most lovely in the lofty sky; thy face is virgin-seeming, if without horns thou stand before us. The Orient owns thy sway, even to the bounds where remotest Ganges laves swart India. Pentheus thou didst destroy, thou awful god, and Lycurgus, armed with the two-edged battle-axe (impious were they both), and didst hurl the Tuscan sailors into the sea. Lynxes, with bright reins harnessed, draw thy car; bacchant women and satyrs follow thee, and that old man who, drunk with wine, supports his staggering limbs on his staff, and clings weakly to his misshapen ass. Where’er- thou goest, glad shouts of youths and cries of women echo round, with drum of tambourine, the cymbals’ clash, and the shrill piping of the flute. “Oh, be thou with us, merciful and mild!” the Theban women cry; and perform the sacred rites as the priest bids them. The daughters of Minyas alone stay within, marring the festival, and out of due time ply their household tasks, spinning wool, thumbing the turning threads, or keep close to the loom, and press their maidens with work. Then one of them, drawing the thread the while with deft thumb, says: “ While other women are deserting their tasks and thronging this so-called festival, let us also, who keep to Pallas, a truer goddess, lighten with various talk the serviceable work of our hands, and to beguile the tedious hours, let us take turns in telling stories, while all the others listen.” The sisters agree and bid her be first to speak. She mused awhile which she should tell of many tales, for very many she knew. She was in doubt whether to tell of thee, Dercetis of Babylon, who, as the Syrians believe, changed to a fish, all covered with 181 OVID an magis, ut sumptis illius filia pennis extremos albis in turribus egerit annos, nais an ut cantu nimiumque potentibus herbis verterit in tacitos iuvenalia corpora pisces, donec idem passa est, an, quae poma alba ferebat ut nunc nigra ferat contactu sanguinis arbor : hoc placet, haec quoniam vulgaris fabula non est; talibus orsa modis lana sua fila sequente : 50 ‘“ Pyramus et Thisbe, iuvenum pulcherrimus alter, altera, quas Oriens habuit, praelata puellis, contiguas tenuere domos, ubi dicitur altam coctilibus muris cinxisse Semiramis urbem. notitiam primosque gradus vicinia fecit, tempore crevit amor; taedae quoque iure coissent, sed vetuere patres: quod non potuere vetare, ex aequo captis ardebant mentibus ambo. conscius omnis abest; nutu signisque loquuntur, quoque magis tegitur, tectus magis aestuat ignis. fissus erat tenui rima, quam duxerat olim, cum fieret, paries domui communis utrique. id vitium nulli per saecula longa notatum— quid non sentit amor ?—primi vidistis amantes et vocis fecistis iter, tutaeque per illud murmure blanditiae minimo transire solebant. 56 60 65 10 saepe, ubi constiterant hinc Thisbe, Pyramus illine, inque vices fuerat captatus anhelitus oris, ‘invide ’ dicebant ‘ paries, quid amantibus obstas? quantum erat, ut sineres toto nos corpore iungi aut, hoc si nimium est, vel ad oscula danda pateres? 182 METAMORPHOSES BOOK IV scales, and swims in a pool; or how her daughter, changed to a pure white dove, spent her last years perched on high battlements; or how a certain nymph, by incantation and herbs too potent, changed the bodies of some boys into mute fishes, and at last herself became a fish; or how the mulberry-tree, which once had borne white fruit, now has fruit dark red, from the bloody stain. The last seems best. This tale, not commonly known as yet, she tells, spinning her wool the while. ‘“Pyramus and Thisbe—he, the most beautiful youth, and she, loveliest maid of all the East—dwelt in houses side by side, in the city which Semiramis is said to have surrounded with walls of brick. Their nearness made the first steps of their acquaintance. In time love grew, and they would have been joined in marriage, too, but their parents forbade. Still, what no parents could forbid, sore smitten in heart they burned with mutual love. They had no go- between, but communicated by nods and signs; and the more they covered up the fire, the more it burned. There was a slender chink in the party-wall of the two houses, which it had at some former time received when it was building. vy This chink, which no one had ever discovered through all these years—but what does love not see ?—you lovers first discovered and made it the channel of speech. Safe through this your loving words used to pass in tiny whispers. Often, when they had taken their positions, on this side Thisbe, and Pyramus on that, and when each in turn had listened eagerly for the other’s breath, ‘O envious wall,’ they would say, ‘why do you stand between lovers? How small a thing ’twould be for you to permit us to embrace each other, or, if this be too much, to open for our kisses! But we are 183 OVID nec sumus ingrati: tibi nos debere fatemur, quod datus est verbis ad amicas transitus auris.’ talia diversa nequiquam sede locuti sub noctem dixere ‘ vale ’ partique dedere oscula quisque suae non pervenientia contra. postera nocturnos Aurora removerat ignes, solque pruinosas radiis siccaverat herbas: ad solitum coiere locum. tum murmure parvo multa prius questi statuunt, ut nocte silenti fallere custodes foribusque excedere temptent, 16 80 85 cumque domo exierint, urbis quoque tecta relinquant, neve sit errandum lato spatiantibus arvo, conveniant ad busta Nini lateantque sub umbra arboris: arbor ibi niveis uberrima pomis (ardua morus erat) gelido contermina fonti. pacta placent; et lux, tarde discedere visa, praecipitatur aquis, et aquis nox exit ab isdem. ‘ Callida per tenebras versato cardine Thisbe egreditur fallitque suos adopertaque vultum pervenit ad tumulum dictaque sub arbore sedit. audacem faciebat amor. venit ecce recenti caede leaena boum spumantis oblita rictus depositura sitim vicini fontis in unda; quam procul ad lunae radios Babylonia Thisbe vidit et obscurum timido pede fugit in antrum, dumque fugit, tergo velamina lapsa reliquit. ut lea saeva sitim multa conpescuit unda, dum redit in silvas, inventos forte sine ipsa ore cruentato tenues laniavit amictus. 184 90 95 100 METAMORPHOSES BOOK IV not ungrateful. We owe it to you, we admit, that a passage is allowed by which our words may go through to loving ears.’ » So, separated all to no purpose, they would talk, and as night came on they said good-bye and printed, each on his own side of the wall, kisses that did not go through. The next morning had put out the starry beacons of the night, and the sun’s rays had dried the frosty grass; they came together at the accustomed place. Then first in low whispers they lamented bitterly,’ then decided when all had become still that night to try to elude their guar- dians’ watchful eyes and steal out of doors; and, when they had gotten out, they would leave the city as well; and that they might not run the risk of missing one another, as they wandered in the open country, they were to meet at Ninus’ tomb and hide in the shade of a tree. Now there was a tree there hanging full of snow-white berries, a tall mulberry, and not far away was a cool spring. They liked the plan, and slow the day seemed to go. But at last the sun went plunging down beneath the waves, and from the same waves the night came up. ‘“ Now Thisbe, carefully opening the door, steals out through the darkness, seen of none, and arrives duly at the tomb with her face well veiled and sits down under the trysting-tree. Love made her bold. But see! here comes a lioness, her Jaws all dripping with the blood of fresh-slain cattle, to slake her thirst at the neighbouring spring. Far off under the rays of the moon Babylonian Thisbe sees her, and flees with trembling feet into the deep cavern, and as she flees she leaves her cloak on the ground behind her. When the savage lioness has quenched her thirst by copious draughts of water, returning to the woods she comes by chance upon the light garment (but without the 185 OVID serius' egressus vestigia vidit in alto 105 pulvere certa ferae totoque expalluit ore Pyramus; ut vero vestem quoque sanguine tinctam repperit, ‘ una duos ‘ inquit ‘ nox perdet amantes, e quibus illa fuit longa dignissima vita ; nostra nocens anima est. ego te, miseranda, peremi, in loca plena metus qui iussi nocte venires 11] nec prior huc veni. nostrum divellite corpus et scelerata fero consumite viscera morsu, o quicumque sub hac habitatis rupe leones! sed timidi est optare necem. velamina Thisbes 115 tollit et ad pactae secum fert arboris umbram, utque dedit notae lacrimas, dedit oscula vesti, ‘accipe nunc ’ inquit ‘nostri quoque sanguinis haustus! ’ quoque erat accinctus, demisit in ilia ferrum, nec mora, ferventi moriens e vulnere traxit. 120 ut iacuit resupinus humo, cruor emicat alte, non aliter quam cum vitiato fistula plumbo scinditur et tenui stridente foramine longas eiaculatur aquas atque ictibus aera rumpit. arborei fetus adspergine caedis in atram 125 vertuntur faciem, madefactaque sanguine radix purpureo tinguit pendentia mora colore. ‘“Eece metu nondum posito, ne fallat amantem, illa redit iuvenemque oculis animoque requirit, quantaque vitarit narrare pericula gestit ; 130 utque locum et visa cognoscit in arbore formam, sic facit incertam pomi color: haeret, an haec sit. 186 METAMORPHOSES BOOK IV girl herself!) and tears it with bloody jaws. Pyramus, coming out a little later, sees the tracks of the beast plain in the deep dust and grows deadly pale at the sight. But when he saw the cloak too, smeared with blood, he cried: * One night shall bring two lovers to death. But she of the two was more worthy of long life; on my head lies all the guilt. Oh, I have been the cause of your death, poor girl, in that I bade you come forth by night into this dangerous place, and did not myself come hither first. Come, rend my body and devour my guilty flesh with your fierce fangs, O all ye lions who have your lairs beneath this cliff! But ‘tis a coward’s part merely to pray for death.’ He picks up Thisbe’s cloak and carries it to the shade of the trysting-tree. And while he kisses the familiar garment and bedews it with his tears he cries: © Drink now my blood too.’ So saying, he drew the sword which he wore girt about him, plunged the blade into his side, and straightway, with his dying effort, drew the sword from his warm wound. As he lay stretched upon the earth the spouting blood leaped high; just as when a pipe has broken at a weak spot in the lead and through the small hissing aperture sends spurting forth long streams of water, cleaving the air with its jets. The fruit of the tree, sprinkled with the blood, was changed to a dark red colour; and the roots, soaked with his gore, also tinged the hanging berries with the same purple hue. “ And now comes Thisbe from her hiding-place, still trembling, but fearful also that her lover will miss her; she seeks for him both with eyes and soul, eager to tell him how great perils she has escaped. And while she recognizes the place and the shape of the well-known tree, still the colour 187 OVID dum dubitat, tremebunda videt pulsare cruentum membra solum, retroque pedem tulit, oraque buxo pallidiora gerens exhorruit aequoris instar, 135 quod tremit, exigua cum summum Stringitur aura. sed postquam remorata suos cognovit amores, percutit indignos claro plangore lacertos et laniata comas amplexaque corpus amatum vulnera supplevit lacrimis fletumque cruori 140 miscuit et gelidis in vultibus oscula figens ‘ Pyrame,’ clamavit, ‘ quis te mihi casus ademit? Pyrame, responde! tua te carissima Thisbe nominat; exaudi vultusque attolle iacentes! ° ad nomen Thisbes oculos a morte gravatos 145 Pyramus erexit visaque recondidit illa. “ Quae postquam vestemque suam cognovit et ense vidit ebur vacuum, ° tua te manus ’ inquit “ amorque perdidit, infelix! est et mihi fortis in unum hoc manus, est et amor: dabit hic in vulnera vires. persequar extinctum letique miserrima dicar 15] causa comesque tui: quique a me morte revelli heu sola poteras, poteris nec morte revelli. hoe tamen amborum verbis estote rogati, o multum miseri meus illiusque parentes, 155 ut, quos certus amor, quos hora novissima iunxit, conponi tumulo non invideatis eodem ; at tu quae ramis arbor miserabile corpus nunc tegis unius, mox es tectura duorum, signa tene caedis pullosque et luctibus aptos 160 semper habe fetus, gemini monimenta cruoris.’ 188 METAMORPHOSES BOOK IV of its fruit mystifies her. She doubts if it be this. While she hesitates, she sees somebody's limbs writhing on the bloody ground, and starts back, paler than boxwood, and shivering like the sea when a slight breeze ruffles its surface. But when after a little while she recognizes her lover, she smites her innocent arms with loud blows of grief, and tears her hair; and embracing the well-beloved form, she fills his wounds with tears, mingling these with his blood. And as she kissed his lips, now cold in death, she wailed: “O my Pyramus, what mis- chance has reft you from me? Pyramus! answer me. “Tis your dearest Thisbe calling you. Oh, listen, and lift your drooping head!’ At the name of Thisbe, Pyramus lifted his eyes, now heavy with death, and having looked upon her face, closed them again. ‘’ Now when she saw her own cloak and the ivory scabbard empty of the sword, she said: ° “Twas your own hand and your love, poor boy, that took your life. I, too, have a hand brave for this one deed; I, too, have love. This shall give me strength for the fatal blow. I will follow you in death, and men shall say that I was the most wretched cause and comrade of your fate. Whom death alone had power to part from me, not even death shall have power to part from me. O wretched parents, mine and his, be ye en- treated of this by the prayers of us both, that you begrudge us not that we, whom faithful love, whom the hour of death has joined, should be laid together in the same tomb. And do you, O tree, who now shade with your branches the poor body of one, and soon will shade two, keep the marks of our death and always bear your fruit of a dark colour, meet for mourning, as a memorial of our double death.’ 189 OVID dixit et aptato pectus mucrone sub imum incubuit ferro, quod adhuc a caede tepebat. vota tamen tetigere deos, tetigere parentes ; nam’ color in pomo est, ubi permaturuit, ater, 165 quodque rogis superest, una requiescit in urna.” Desierat: mediumque fuit breve tempus, et orsa est dicere Leuconoe: vocem tenuere sorores. “ hune quoque, siderea qui temperat omnia luce, cepit amor Solem: Solis referemus amores. 170 primus adulterium Veneris cum Marte putatur hic vidisse deus; videt hic deus omnia primus. indoluit facto lunonigenaeque marito furta tori furtique locum monstravit, at illi et mens et quod opus fabrilis dextra tenebat 175 excidit: extemplo graciles ex aere catenas retiaque et laqueos, quae lumina fallere possent, elimat. non illud opus tenuissima vincant stamina, non summo quae pendet aranea tigno; utque levis tactus momentaque parva sequantur, 180 efficit et lecto circumdata collocat arte. ut venere torum coniunx et adulter in unum, arte viri vinclisque nova ratione paratis in mediis ambo deprensi amplexibus haerent. Lemnius extemplo valvas patefecit eburnas 185 inmisitque deos; illi iacuere ligati turpiter, atque aliquis de dis non tristibus optat sic fieri turpis; superi risere, diuque haec fuit in toto notissima fabula caelo. “ Exigit indicii memorem Cythereia poenam 190 190 METAMORPHOSES BOOK IV She spoke, and fitting the point beneath her breast, she fell forward on the sword which was still warm with her lover’s blood. Her prayers touched the gods and touched the parents; for the colour of the mulberry fruit is dark red when it is ripe, and all that remained from both funeral pyres rests in a common urn. The tale was done. Then, after a brief interval, Leuconoé began, while her sisters held their peace. “Even the Sun, who with his central light guides all the stars, has felt the power of love. The Sun’s loves we will relate. This god was first, ‘tis said, to see the shame of Mars and Venus; this god sees all things first. Shocked at the sight, he revealed her sin to the goddess’ husband, Vulcan, Juno’s son, and where it was committed. Then Vulcan’s mind reeled and the work upon which he was engaged fell from his hands. Straightway he fashioned a net of fine links of bronze, so thin that they would escape detec- tion of the eye. Not the finest threads of wool would surpass that work; no, not the web which the spider lets down from the ceiling beam. He made the web in such a way that it would yield to the slightest touch, the least movement, and then he spread it deftly over the couch. Now when the goddess and her paramour had come thither, by the husband’s art and by the net so cunningly prepared they were both caught and held fast in each other’s arms. Straight- way Vulcan, the Lemnian, opened wide the ivory doors and invited in the other gods. There lay the two in chains, disgracefully, and some one of the merry gods prayed that he might be so disgraced. The gods laughed, and for a long time this story was the talk of heaven. ‘“ But the goddess of Cythera did not forget the one IQI OVID inque vices illum, tectos qui laesit amores, laedit amore pari. quid nunc, Hyperione nate, forma colorque tibi radiataque lumina prosunt ? nempe, tuis omnes qui terras ignibus uris, ureris igne novo; quique omnia cernere debes, 195 Leucothoen spectas et virgine figis in una, quos mundo debes, oculos. modo surgis Koo temperius caelo, modo serius incidis undis, spectandique mora brumalis porrigis horas ; deficis interdum, vitiumque in lumina mentis 200 transit et obscurus mortalia pectora terres. nec tibi quod lunae terris propioris imago obstiterit, palles: facit hunc amor iste colorem. diligis hanc unam, nec te Clymeneque Rhodosque nec tenet Aeaeae genetrix pulcherrima Circes 205 quaeque tuos Clytie quamvis despecta petebat concubitus ipsoque illo grave vulnus habebat tempore: Leucothoe multarum oblivia fecit, gentis odoriferae quam formosissima partu edidit Eurynome; sed postquam filia crevit, 210 quam mater cunctas, tam matrem filia vicit. rexit Achaemenias urbes pater Orchamus isque septimus a prisco numeratur origine Belo. ‘““ Axe sub Hesperio sunt pascua Solis equorum : ambrosiam pro gramine habent; ea fessa diurnis 215 membra ministeriis nutrit reparatque labori. dumque ibi quadrupedes caelestia pabula carpunt noxque vicem peragit, thalamos deus intrat amatos, 192 METAMORPHOSES BOOK IV who had spied on her, and took fitting vengeance on him; and he that betrayed her stolen love was equally betrayed in love. What now avail, O son of Hyperion, thy beauty and brightness and radiant beams? For thou, who dost inflame all lands with thy fires, art thyself inflamed by astrange fire. Thou who shouldst behold all things, dost gaze on Leucothoé alone, and on one maiden dost thou fix those eyes which belong to the whole world. Anon too early dost thou rise in the eastern sky, and anon too late dost thou sink beneath the waves, and through thy long lingering over her dost prolong the short wintry hours. Sometimes thy beams fail utterly, thy heart's darkness passing to thy rays, and darkened thou dost terrify the hearts of men. Nor is it that the moon has come ’twixt thee and earth that thou art dark; tis that love of thine alone that makes thy face so wan. Thou delightest in her alone. Now neither Clymene seems fair to thee, nor the maid of Rhodes, nor Aeaean Circes’ mother, though most beautiful, nor Clytie, who, although scorned by thee, still seeks thy love and even now bears its deep wounds in her heart. Leucothoé makes thee forgetful of them all, she whom most fair Eurynome bore in the land of spices. But, after the daughter came to womanhood, as the mother surpassed all in loveliness, so did the daughter surpass her. Her father, Orchamus, ruled over the cities of Persia, himself the seventh in line from ancient Belus. ‘‘ Beneath the western skies lie the pastures of the Sun’s horses. Here not common grass, but ambrosia is their food. On this their bodies, weary with their service of the day, are refreshed and gain newstrength for toil. While here his horses crop their celestial pasturage and Night takes her turn of toil, the 193 OVID versus in Eurynomes faciem genetricis, et inter bis sex Leucothoen famulas ad lumina cernit 220 levia versato ducentem stamina fuso. ergo ubi ceu mater carae dedit oscula natae, ‘res’ ait ‘ arcana est: famulae, discedite neve eripite arbitrium matri secreta loquendi.’ paruerant, thalamoque deus sine teste relicto 225 ‘ jlle ego sum ’ dixit, “ qui longum metior annum, omnia qui video, per quem videt omnia tellus, mundi oculus: mihi, crede, places.’ pavet illa metuque et colus et fusus digitis cecidere remissis. ipse timor decuit. nec longius ille moratus 230 in veram rediit speciem solitumque nitorem ; at virgo quamvis inopino territa visu victa nitore dei posita vim passa querella est. ‘“ Invidit Clytie (neque enim moderatus in illa Solis amor fuerat) stimulataque paelicis ira 239 vulgat adulterium diffamatumque parenti indicat. ille ferox inmansuetusque precantem tendentemque manus ad lumina Solis et ° ille vim tulit invitae ° dicentem defodit alta crudus humo tumulumque super gravis addit harenae. 240 dissipat hunc radiis Hyperione natus iterque dat tibi, qua possis defossos promere vultus 5 nec tu iam poteras enectum pondere terrae tollere, nympha, caput corpusque exsangue iacebas: nil illo fertur volucrum moderator equorum 245 194 METAMORPHOSES BOOK IV god enters the apartments of his love, assuming the form of EKurynome, her mother. There he discovers Leucothoé, surrounded by her twelve maidens, spin- ning fine wool with whirling spindle. Then having kissed her, just as her mother would have kissed her dear daughter, he says: ‘ Mine is a private matter. Retire, ye slaves, and let not a mother want the right to a private speech.’ The slaves obey; and now the god, when the last witness has left the room, declares: ‘Lo, I am he who measure out the year, who behold all things, by whom the earth beholds all things— the world’s eye. I tell thee thou hast found favour in my sight.’ The nymph is filled with fear; distaff and spindle fall unheeded from her limp fingers. Her very fear becomes her. Then he, no longer tarrying, resumes his own form and his wonted splendour. But the maiden, though in terror at this sudden apparition, yet, overwhelmed by his radiance, at last without protest suffers the ardent wooing of the god. ‘’ Clytie was jealous, for love of the Sun still burned uncontrolled in her. Burning now with wrath at the sight of her rival, she spread abroad the story, and especially to the father did she tell his daughter’s shame. He, fierce and merciless, unheeding her prayers, unheeding her arms stretched out to the Sun, and unheeding her cry, “ He overbore my will,’ with brutal cruelty buried her deep in the earth, and heaped on the spot a heavy mound of sand. The son of Hyperion rent this with his rays, and made a way by which you might put forth your buried head ; but too late, for now, poor nymph, you could not lift your head, crushed beneath the heavy earth, and you lay there, a lifeless corpse. Naught more pitiful than that sight, they say, did the driver of the swift steeds 195 OVID post Phaethonteos vidisse dolentius ignes. ille quidem gelidos radiorum viribus artus si queat in vivum temptat revocare calorem ; sed quoniam tantis fatum conatibus obstat, nectare odorato sparsit corpusque locumque 250 multaque praequestus © tanges tamen aethera ’ dixit. protinus inbutum caelesti nectare corpus dilicuit terramque suo madefecit odore, virgaque per glaebas sensim radicibus actis turea surrexit tumulumque cacumine rupit. 259 “ At Clytien, quamvis amor excusare dolorem indiciumque dolor poterat, non amplius auctor lucis adit Venerisque modum sibi fecit in illa. tabuit ex illo dementer amoribus usa; nympharum inpatiens et sub Jove nocte dieque 260 sedit humo nuda nudis incompta capillis, perque novem luces expers undaeque cibique rore mero lacrimisque suis ieiunia pavit nec se movit humo; tantum spectabat euntis ora dei vultusque suos flectebat ad illum. 265 membra ferunt haesisse solo, partemque coloris luridus exsangues pallor convertit in herbas ; est in parte rubor violaeque simillimus ora flos tegit. illa suum, quamvis radice tenetur, vertitur ad Solem mutataque servat amorem.” 270 Dixerat, et factum mirabile ceperat auris ; pars fieri potuisse negant, pars omnia veros posse deos memorant: sed non est Bacchus in illis. poscitur Alcithoe, postquam siluere sorores. 196 METAMORPHOSES BOOK IV see since Phaéthon’s burning death. He tried, indeed, by his warm rays to recall those death-cold limbs to the warmth of life. But since grim fate opposed all his efforts, he sprinkled the body and the ground with fragrant nectar, and preluding with many words of grief, he said: ‘ In spite of fate shalt thou reach the upper air. Straightway the body, soaked with the celestial nectar, melted away and filled the earth around with its sweet fragrance. Then did a shrub of frankincense, with deep-driven roots, rise slowly through the soil and its top cleaved the mound. ‘But Clytie, though love could excuse her grief, and grief her tattling, was sought no more by the great light-giver, nor did he find aught to love in her. For this cause she pined away, her love turned to mad- ness. Unable to endure her sister nymphs, beneath the open sky, by night and day, she sat upon the bare ground, naked, bareheaded, unkempt. For nine whole days she sat, tasting neither drink nor food, her hunger fed by naught save pure dew and tears, and moved not from the ground. Only she gazed on the face of her god as he went his way, and turned her face towards him. They say that her limbs grew fast to the soil and her deathly pallor changed in part to a bloodless plant; but in part ‘twas red, and a flower, much like a violet, came where her face had been. Still, though roots hold her fast, she turns ever to- wards the sun and, though changed herself, preserves her love unchanged.”’ The story-teller ceased; the wonderful tale had held their ears. Some of the sisters say that such things could not happen; others declare that true gods can do anything. But Bacchus is not one of these. Alcithoé is next called for when the sisters 197 OVID quae radio stantis percurrens stamina telae 275 “ vulgatos taceo ”’ dixit “ pastoris amores Daphnidis Idaei, quem nymphe paelicis ira contulit in saxum: tantus dolor urit amantes; nec loquor, ut quondam naturae iure novato ambiguus fuerit modo vir, modo femina Sithon. 280 te quoque, nunc adamas, quondam fidissime parvo, Celmi, Iovi largoque satos Curetas ab imbri et Crocon in parvos versum cum Smilace flores praetereo dulcique animos novitate tenebo. ‘Unde sit infamis, quare male fortibus undis 285 Salmacis enervet tactosque remolliat artus, discite. causa latet, vis est notissima fontis. Mercurio puerum diva Cythereide natum naides Idaeis enutrivere sub antris, cuius erat facies, in qua materque paterque 290 cognosci possent; nomen quoque traxit ab illis. is tria cum primum fecit quinquennia, montes deseruit patrios Idaque altrice relicta ignotis errare locis, ignota videre flumina gaudebat, studio minuente laborem. 295 ille etiam Lycias urbes Lyciaeque propinquos Caras adit: videt hic stagnum lucentis ad imum usque solum lymphae; non illic canna palustris nec steriles ulvae nec acuta cuspide iunci; perspicuus liquor est; stagnitamen ultima vivo 300 caespite cinguntur semperque virentibus herbis. nympha colit, sed nec venatibus apta nec arcus flectere quae soleat nec quae contendere cursu, 198 METAMORPHOSES BOOK IV have become silent again. Running her shuttle swiftly through the threads of her loom, she said: “ [ will pass by the well-known love of Daphnis, the shepherd-boy of Ida, whom a nymph, in anger at her rival, changed to stone: so great is the burning smart which jealous lovers feel. Nor will I tell how once Sithon, the natural laws reversed, lived of changing sex, now woman and now man. How you also, Celmis, now adamant, were once most faithful friend of little Jove; how the Curetes sprang from copious showers; how Crocus and his beloved Smilax were changed into tiny flowers. All these stories I will pass by and will charm your minds with a tale that is pleasing because new. ‘ How the fountain of Salmacis is of ill-repute, how it enervates with its enfeebling waters and renders soft and weak all men who bathe therein, you shall now hear. ‘The cause is hidden; but the enfeebling power of the fountain is well known. A little son of Hermes and of the goddess of Cythera the naiads nursed within Ida’s caves. In his fair face mother and father could be clearly seen; his name also he took from them. When fifteen years had passed, he left his native mountains and abandoned his foster- mother, Ida, delighting to wander in unknown lands and to see strange rivers, his eagerness making light of toil. He came even to the Lycian cities and to the Carians, who dwell hard by the land of Lycia. Here he saw a pool of water crystal clear to the very bottom. No marshy reeds grew there, no unfruitful swamp-grass, nor spiky rushes; it is clear water. But the edges of the pool are bordered with fresh grass, and herbage ever green. A nymph dwells in the pool, one that loves not hunting, nor is wont to bend the bow or strive with speed of foot. She 199 OVID solaque naiadum celeri non nota Dianae. saepe suas illi fama est dixisse sorores 305 ‘ Salmaci, vel iaculum vel pictas sume pharetras et tua cum duris venatibus otia misce! ’ nec iaculum sumit nec pictas illa pharetras, nec sua cum duris venatibus otia miscet, sed modo fonte suo formosos perluit artus, 310 saepe Cytoriaco deducit pectine crines et, quid se deceat, spectatas consulit undas ; nunc perlucenti circumdata corpus amictu mollibus aut foliis aut mollibus incubat herbis, saepe legit flores. et tum quoque forte legebat, 315 cum puerum vidit visumque optavit habere. “Nec tamen ante adiit, etsi properabat adire, quam se conposuit, quam circumspexit amictus et finxit vultum et meruit formosa videri. tunc sic orsa loqui: “ puer o dignissime credi 320 esse deus, seu tu deus es, potes esse Cupido, sive es mortalis, qui te genuere, beati, et frater felix, et fortunata profecto, si qua tibi soror est, et quae dedit ubera nutrix ; sed longe cunctis longeque beatior illa, 325 si qua tibi sponsa est, si quam dignabere taeda. haec tibi sive aliqua est, mea sit furtiva voluptas, seu nulla est, ego sim, thalamumque ineamus eundem.’ nais ab his tacuit. pueri rubor ora notavit 5 nescit, enim, quid amor; sed et erubuisse decebat : hic color aprica pendentibus arbore pomis 331 aut ebori tincto est aut sub candore rubenti, cum frustra resonant aera auxiliaria, lunae. poscenti nymphae sine fine sororia saltem 200 METAMORPHOSES BOOK IV only of the naiads follows not in swift Diana’s train. Often, ‘tis said, her sisters would chide her: ‘ Sal- macis, take now either hunting-spear or painted quiver, and vary your ease with the hardships of the hunt.’ But she takes no hunting-spear, no painted quiver, nor does she vary her ease with the hardships of the hunt; but at times she bathes her shapely limbs in her own pool; often combs her hair with a boxwood comb, often looks in the mirror-like waters to see what best becomes her. Now, wrapped in a trans- parent robe, she lies down to rest on the soft grass or the soft herbage. Often she gathers flowers; and on this occasion, too, she chanced to be gathering flowers when she saw the boy and longed to possess what she saw. “ Not yet, however, did she approach him, though she was eager to do so, until she had calmed herself, until she had arranged her robes and composed her countenance, and taken all pains to appear beautiful. Then did she speak: ‘O youth, most worthy to be believed a god, if thou art indeed a god, thou must be Cupid; or if thou art mortal, happy are they who gave thee birth, blest is thy brother, fortunate indeed any sister of thine and thy nurse who gave thee suck. But far, oh, far happier than they all is she, if any be thy promised bride, if thou shalt deem any worthy to be thy wife. Ifthere be any such, let mine be stolen joy; if not, may I be thine, thy bride, and may we be joined in wedlock.’ The maiden said no more. But the boy blushed rosy red; for he knew not what love is. But still the blush became him well. Such colour have apples hanging in sunny orchards, or painted ivory ; such has the moon, eclipsed, red under white, when brazen vessels clash vainly for her relief. When the nymph begged and prayed for at least a sister’s kiss, 201 OVID oscula iamque manus ad eburnea colla ferenti 335 ‘desinis? aut fugio tecumque ’ ait ‘ ista relinquo.’ Salmacis extimuit ‘loca’ que ‘ haec tibi libera trado, hospes ait simulatque gradu discedere verso, tum quoque respiciens, fruticumque recondita silva delituit flexuque genu submisit; at ille, 340 scilicet ut vacuis et inobservatus in herbis, huc it et hinc illuc et in adludentibus undis summa pedum taloque tenus vestigia tinguit ; nec mora, temperie blandarum captus aquarum mollia de tenero velamina corpore ponit. 345 tum vero stupuit nudaeque cupidine formae Salmacis exarsit, flagrant quoque lumina nymphae, non aliter quam cum puro nitidissimus orbe opposita speculi referitur imagine Phoebus ; vixque moram patitur, vix iam sua gaudia differt, 350 iam cupit amplecti, iam se male continet amens. ille cavis velox adplauso corpore palmis desilit in latices alternaque bracchia ducens in liquidis translucet aquis, ut eburnea si quis signa tegat claro vel candida lilia vitro. 309 “vicimus et meus est’ exclamat nais, et omni veste procul iacta mediis inmittitur undis, pugnantemque tenet, luctantiaque oscula carpit, subiectatque manus, invitaque pectora tangit, et nunc hac iuveni, nunc circumfunditur illac; 360 denique nitentem contra elabique volentem inplicat ut serpens, quam regia sustinet ales sublimemque rapit: pendens caput illa pedesque adligat et cauda spatiantes inplicat alas ; utve solent hederae longos intexere truncos, 369 utque sub aequoribus deprensum polypus hostem 202 METAMORPHOSES BOOK IV and was in act to throw her arms round his snowy neck, he cried: ‘ Have done, or I must flee and leave this spot—and you.’ Salmacis trembled at this threat and said: ‘I yield the place to you, fair stranger,’ and turning away, pretended to depart. But even so she often looked back, and deep in a neighbouring thicket she hid herself, crouching on bended knees. But the boy, freely as if unwatched and alone, walks up and down on the grass, dips his toes in the lapping waters, and his feet. Then quickly, charmed with the coolness of the soothing stream, he threw aside the thin garments from his slender form. ‘Then was the nymph as one spellbound, and her love kindled as she gazed at the naked form. Her eyes shone bright as when the sun’s dazzling face is reflected from the surface of a glass held opposite his rays. Scarce can she endure delay, scarce bear her Joy postponed, so eager to hold him in her arms, so madly incontinent. He, clapping his body with hollow palms, dives into the pool, and swimming with alternate strokes flashes with gleaming body through the transparent flood, as if one should encase ivory figures or white lilies in translucent glass. “I win, and he is mine! ’ cries the naiad, and casting off all her garments dives also into the waters: she holds him fast though he strives against her, steals reluctant kisses, fondles him, touches his unwilling breast, clings to him on this side and on that. At length, as he tries his best to break away from her, she wraps him round with her embrace, as a serpent, when the king of birds has caught her and is bearing her on high: which, hang- ing from his claws, wraps her folds around his head and feet and entangles his flapping wings with her tail; or as the ivy oft-times embraces great trunks of trees, or as the sea-polyp holds its enemy caught 203 OVID continet ex omni dimissis parte flagellis. perstat Atlantiades sperataque gaudia nymphae denegat, illa premit commissaque corpore toto sicut inhaerebat, © pugnes licet, inprobe,’ dixit, 370 ‘non tamen effugies. ita di iubeatis, et istum nulla dies a me nec me deducat ab isto.’ vota suos habuere deos; nam mixta duorum corpora iunguntur, faciesque inducitur illis una. velut, si quis conducat cortice ramos, 315 crescendo iungi pariterque adolescere cernit, sic ubi conplexu coierunt membra tenaci, nec duo sunt et forma duplex, nec femina dici nec puer ut possit, neutrumque et utrumque videntur. “ Ergo ubi se liquidas, quo vir descenderat, undas semimarem fecisse videt mollitaque in illis 381 membra, manus tendens, sed iam non voce virili Hermaphroditus ait: ‘nato date munera vestro, et pater et genetrix, amborum nomen habenti: quisquis in hos fontes vir venerit, exeat inde 385 semivir et tactis subito mollescat in undis! ’ motus uterque parens nati rata verba biformis fecit et incesto fontem medicamine tinxit.” Finis erat dictis, sed adhuc Minyeia proles urguet opus spernitque deum festumque profanat, tympana cum subito non adparentia raucis 39] obstrepuere sonis, et adunco tibia cornu tinnulaque aera sonant; redolent murraeque crocique, resque fide maior, coepere virescere telae inque hederae faciem pendens frondescere vestis; 395 pars abit in vites, et quae modo fila fuerunt, 204 METAMORPHOSES BOOK IV beneath the sea, its tentacles embracing him on every side. The son of Atlas resists as best he may and denies the nymph the joy she craves; but she holds on, and clings as if grown fast to him. ‘ Strive as you may, wicked boy, she cries, “still shall you not escape me. Grant me this, ye gods, and may no day ever come that shall separate him from me or me from him.’ The gods heard her prayer. For their two bodies, joined together as they were, were merged in one, with one face and form for both. As when one grafts a twig on some tree, he sees the branches grow one, and with common life come to maturity, so were these two bodies knit in close embrace: they were no longer two, nor such as to be called, one, woman, and one, man. They seemed neither, and yet both. ‘’ When now he saw that the waters into which he had plunged had made him but half-man, and that his limbs had become enfeebled there, stretching out his hands and speaking, though not with manly tones, Hermaphroditus cried: ‘Oh, grant this boon, my father and my mother, to your son who bears the names of both: whoever comes into this pool as man may he go forth half-man, and may he weaken at touch of the water.’ His parents heard the prayer of their two-formed son and charged the waters with that uncanny power.” Alcithoé was done; but still did the daughters of Minyas ply their tasks, despising the god and pro- faning his holy day: when suddenly unseen timbrels sounded harshly in their ears, and flutes, with curving horns, and tinkling cymbals; the air was full of the sweet scent of saffron and of myrrh; and, past all belief, their weft turned green, the hanging cloth changed into vines of ivy ; part became grape-vines, and what were but now threads became clinging 205 OVID palmite mutantur; de stamine pampinus exit; purpura fulgorem pictis adcommodat uvis. iamque dies exactus erat, tempusque subibat, quod tu nec tenebras nec possis dicere lucem, 400 sed cum luce tamen dubiae confinia noctis : tecta repente quati pinguesque ardere videntur lampades et rutilis conlucere ignibus aedes falsaque saevarum simulacra ululare ferarum, fumida iamdudum latitant per tecta sorores 405 diversaeque locis ignes ac lumina vitant, dumque petunt tenebras, parvos membrana per artus porrigitur tenuique includit bracchia pinna ; nec qua perdiderint veterem ratione figuram, scire sinunt tenebrae: non illas pluma levavit, 410 sustinuere tamen se perlucentibus alis conataeque loqui minimam et pro corpore vocem emittunt peraguntque levi stridore querellas. tectaque, non silvas celebrant lucemque perosae nocte volant seroque tenent a vespere nomen. 415 Tum vero totis Bacchi memorabile Thebis numen erat, magnasque novi matertera vires narrat ubique dei de totque sororibus expers una doloris erat, nisi quem fecere sorores: adspicit hanc natis thalamoque Athamantis habentem sublimes animos et alumno numine Iuno 421 nec tulit et secum: “ potuit de paelice natus 206 METAMORPHOSES BOOK IV tendrils; vine-leaves sprang out along the warp, and bright-hued clusters matched the purple tapestry. And now the day was ended, and the time was come when you could not say ‘twas dark or light; it was the borderland of night, yet with a gleam of day. Suddenly the whole house seemed to tremble, the oil-fed lamps to flare up, and all the rooms to be ablaze with ruddy fires, while ghostly beasts howled round. Meanwhile the sisters are seeking hiding- places through the smoke-filled rooms, in various corners trying to avoid the flames and glare of light. And while they seek to hide, a skinny covering overspreads their slender limbs, and thin wings enclose their arms. And in what fashion they have lost their former shape they know not for the darkness. No feathered pinions uplift them, yet they sustain themselves on transparent wings. They try to speak, but utter only the tiniest sound as befits their shrivelled forms, and give voice to their grief in thin squeaks. Houses, not forests, are their favourite haunts; and, hating the light of day, they flit by night and from late eventide derive their name. Then, truly, was the divinity of Bacchus acknow- ledged throughout all Thebes, and his mother’s sister, Ino, would be telling of the wonderful powers of the new god everywhere. She alone of all her sisters knew naught of grief, except what she felt for them. She, proud of her children, of her hus- band, Athamas, and proud above all of her divine foster-son, is seen by Juno, who could not bear the sight. ‘‘ That child of my rival,’ she said, com- muning with herself, “had power to change the 1 4.2, vespertiliones, “‘ creatures that flit about in the twi- light,”’ 2.e. bats. 207 OVID vertere Maeonios pelagoque inmergere nautas et laceranda suae nati dare viscera matri et triplices operire novis Minyeidas alis: 425 nil poterit Iuno nisi inultos flere dolores? idque mihi satis est? haec una potentia nostra est? ipse docet, quid agam (fas est et ab hoste doceri), quidque furor valeat, Penthea caede satisque ac super ostendit: cur non stimuletur eatque 480 per cognata suis exempla furoribus Ino? ” Est via declivis funesta nubila taxo: ducit ad infernas per muta silentia sedes ; Styx nebulas exhalat iners, umbraeque recentes descendunt illac simulacraque functa sepuleris: 435 pallor hiemsque tenent late loca senta, novique, qua sit iter, manes, Stygiam quod ducat ad urbem, ignorant, ubi sit nigri fera regia Ditis. mille capax aditus et apertas undique portas urbs habet, utque fretum de tota flumina terra, 440 sic omnes animas locus accipit ille nec ulli exiguus populo est turbamve accedere sentit. errant exsangues sine corpore at ossibus umbrae, parsque forum celebrant, pars imi tecta tyranni, pars aliquas artes, antiquae imitamina vitae! 445 Sustinet ire illuc caelesti sede relicta 447 (tantum odiis iraeque dabat) Saturnia Juno; quo simul intravit sacroque a corpore pressum ingemuit limen, tria Cerberus extulit ora 450 1 446 exercent, aliam partem sua poena coercet. This line, included in some manuscripts, ts rejected by most editors. 208 METAMORPHOSES BOOK IV Maeonian sailors and plunge them in the sea, to cause the flesh of a son to be torn in pieces by his own mother, and to enwrap the three daughters of Minyas with strange wings; and shall naught be given to Juno, save to bemoan her wrongs still unavenged? Does that suffice me? Is this my only power? But he himself teaches me what to do. ‘Tis proper to learn even from an enemy. To what length madness can go he has proved enough and to spare by the slaughter of Pentheus. Why should not Ino be stung to madness too, and, urged by her fury, go where her kinswomen have led the way? ” There is a down-sloping path, by deadly yew-trees shaded, which leads through dumb silence to the infernal realms. The sluggish Styx there exhales its vaporous breath; and by that way come down the spirits of the new-dead, shades of those who have received due funeral rites. This is a wide-extending waste, wan and cold; and the shades newly arrived know not where the road is which leads to the Stygian city where lies the dread palace of black Dis. This city has a thousand wide approaches and gates open on all sides; and as the ocean receives the rivers that flow down from all the earth, so does this: place receive all souls; it is not too small for any people, nor does it feel the accession of a throng. There wander the shades bloodless, without body and bone. Some throng the forum, some the palace of the under- world king ; others ply some craft in imitation of their former life. Thither, leaving her abode in heaven, Saturnian Juno endured to go; so much did she grant to her hate and wrath. When she made entrance there, and the threshold groaned beneath the weight of her sacred form, Cerberus reared up his threefold head 209 VOL. I. H OVID et tres latratus simul edidit; illa sorores Nocte vocat genitas, grave et inplacabile numen: carceris ante fores clausas adamante sedebant deque suis atros pectebant crinibus angues. quam simul agnorunt inter caliginis umbras, 455 surrexere deae; sedes scelerata vocatur: viscera praebebat Tityos lanianda novemque iugeribus distentus erat; tibi, Tantale, nullae deprenduntur aquae, quaeque inminet, effugit arbos ; aut petis aut urgues rediturum, Sisyphe saxum; 460 volvitur Ixion et se sequiturque fugitque, molirique suis letum patruelibus ausae adsiduae repetunt, quas perdant, Belides undas. Quos omnes acie postquam Saturnia torva vidit et ante omnes Ixiona, rursus ab illo 465 Sisyphon adspiciens “ cur hic e fratribus ” inquit “ perpetuas patitur poenas, Athamanta superbum regia dives habet, qui me cum coniuge semper sprevit? ’’ et exponit causas odiique viaeque, quidque velit: quod vellet, erat, ne regia Cadmi 470 staret, et in facinus traherent Athamanta sorores. imperium, promissa, preces confundit in unum sollicitatque deas: sic haec Iunone locuta, Tisiphone canos, ut erat, turbata capillos movit et obstantes reiecit ab ore colubras 475 atque ita “‘ non longis opus est ambagibus,’”’ inquit ; ‘facta puta, quaecumque iubes; inamabile regnum desere teque refer caeli melioris ad auras.” 210 METAMORPHOSES BOOK IV and uttered his threefold baying. The goddess sum- moned the Furies, sisters born of Night, divinities deadly and implacable. Before hell’s closed gates of adamant they sat, combing the while black snakes from their hair. When they recognized Juno ap- proaching through the thick gloom, the goddesses arose. This place is called the Accursed Place. Here Tityos offered his vitals to be torn, lying stretched out over nine broad acres. Thy lips can catch no water, Tantalus, and the tree that overhangs ever eludes thee. Thou, Sisyphus, dost either push or chase the rock that must always be rolling down the hill again. There whirls Ixion on his wheel, both following himself and fleeing, all in one; and the Belides, for daring to work destruction on their cousin-husbands, with unremitting toil seek again and again the waters, only to lose them. On all these Saturnia looks with frowning eyes, but especially on Ixion; then, turning her gaze from him to Sisyphus, she says: “ Why does this of all the brothers suffer unending pains, while Athamas dwells proudly in a rich palace—Athamas, who with his wife has always scorned my godhead? ’’ And she explains the causes of her hatred and of her journey hither, and what she wants. What she wanted was that the house of Cadmus should fall, and that the Fury-sisters should drive Athamas to madness. Commands, promises, prayers she poured out all in one, and begged the goddesses to aid her. When Juno had done, Tisiphone, just as she was, shook her tangled grey locks, tossed back the straggling snakes from her face, and said: “ There is no need of long ex- planations; consider done all that you ask. Leave this unlovely realm and go back to the sweeter airs of your native skies.” Juno went back rejoicing ; 2I1I OVID laeta redit Iuno, quam caelum intrare parantem roratis lustravit aquis Thaumantias Iris. 480 Nec mora, Tisiphone madefactam sanguine sumit inportuna facem, fluidoque cruore rubentem induitur pallam, tortoque incingitur angue egrediturque domo. Luctus comitatur euntem et Pavor et Terror trepidoque Insania vultu. 485 limine constiterat: postes tremuisse feruntur Aecolii pallorque fores infecit acernas } solque locum fugit. monstris exterrita coniunx, territus est Athamas, tectoque exire parabant: obstitit infelix aditumque obsedit Erinys, 490 nexaque vipereis distendens bracchia nodis caesariem excussit: motae sonuere colubrae parsque iacent umeris, pars circum pectora lapsae sibila dant saniemque vomunt linguisque coruscant. inde duos mediis abrumpit crinibus angues 495 pestiferaque manu raptos inmisit, at illi Inoosque sinus Athamanteosque pererrant inspirantque graves animos; nec vulnera membris ulla ferunt: mens est, quae diros sentiat ictus. attulerat secum liquidi quoque monstra veneni, 500 oris Cerberei spumas et virus Echidnae erroresque vagos caecaeque oblivia mentis et scelus et lacrimas rabiemque et caedis amorem, omnia trita simul, quae sanguine mixta recenti coxerat aere cavo viridi versata cicuta ; 505 dumque pavent illi, vergit furiale venenum pectus in amborum praecordiaque intima movit. 1 acernas MSS.: Avernus Merkel. 212 METAMORPHOSES BOOK IV and as she was entering heaven, Iris, the daughter of Thaumus, sprinkled her o’er with purifying water. Straightway the fell Tisiphone seized a torch which had been steeped in gore, put on a robe red with dripping blood, girt round her waist a writhing snake, and started forth. Grief went along with her, Terror and Dread and Madness, too, with quivering face. She stood upon the doomed threshold. They say the very door-posts of the house of Aeolus? shrank away from her; the polished oaken doors grew dim and the sun hid his face. Ino was mad with terror at the monstrous sight, and her husband, Athamas, was filled with fear. They made to leave their palace, but the baleful Fury stood in their way and blocked their exit. And stretching her arms, wreathed with vipers, she shook out her locks: disturbed, the serpents hissed horribly. A part lay on her shoulders, part twined round her breast, hissing, vomiting venomous gore, and darting out their tongues. Then she tears away two serpents from the midst of her tresses, and with deadly aim hurls them at her victims. The snakes go gliding over the breasts of Ino and of Athamas and breathe upon them their pestilential breath. No wounds their bodies suffer; ‘tis their minds that feel the deadly stroke. The Fury, not content with this, had brought horrid poisons too—froth of Cerberus’ jaws, the venom of the Hydra, strange hallucinations and utter forgetfulness, crime and tears, mad love of slaughter, all mixed together with fresh blood and green hemlock juice, and brewed in a_ brazen cauldron. And while they stood quaking there, over the breasts of both she poured this maddening poison brew, and made it sink to their being’s core. 1 The father of Athamas. 213 OVID tum face iactata per eundem saepius orbem consequitur motis velociter ignibus ignes. sic victrix iussique potens ad inania magni 510 regna redit Ditis sumptumque recingitur anguem. Protinus Aeolides media furibundus in aula clamat “ io, comites, his retia tendite silvis! hic modo cum gemina visa est mihi prole leaena ” utque ferae sequitur vestigia coniugis amens 515 deque sinu matris ridentem et parva Learchum bracchia tendentem rapit et bis terque per auras more rotat fundae rigidoque infantia saxo discutit ora ferox; tum denique concita mater, seu dolor hoc fecit seu sparsi causa veneni, 520 exululat passisque fugit male sana capillis teque ferens parvum nudis, Melicerta, lacertis ‘“euhoe Bacche ” sonat: Bacchi sub nomine Iuno risit et “ hos usus praestet tibi ’ dixit “ alumnus!” inminet aequoribus scopulus: pars ima cavatur 525 fluctibus et tectas defendit ab imbribus undas, summa riget frontemque in apertum porrigit aequor 5 occupat hunc (vires insania fecerat) Ino seque super pontum nullo tardata timore mittit onusque suum; percussa recanduit unda. 530 At Venus, inmeritae neptis miserata labores, sic patruo blandita suo est “ o numen aquarum, proxima cui caelo cessit, Neptune, potestas, 214 METAMORPHOSES BOOK IV Then, catching up her torch, she whirled it rapidly round and round and kindled fire by the swiftly moving fire. So, her task accomplished and her victory won, she retraced her way to the unsub- stantial realm of mighty Dis, and there laid off the serpents she had worn. Straightway cried Athamas, the son of Aeolus, madly raving in his palace halls: “Ho! my comrades, spread the nets here in these woods! I saw here but now a lioness with her two cubs’; and madly pursued his wife’s tracks as if she were a beast of prey. His son, Learchus, laughing and stretching out his little hands in glee, he snatched from the mother’s arms, and whirling him round and round through the air like a sling, he madly dashed the baby’s head against a rough rock. ‘Then the mother, stung to madness too, either by grief or by the sprinkled poison’s force, howled wildly, and, quite bereft of sense, with hair streaming, she fled away, bearing thee, little Melicerta, in her naked arms, and shouting “ Ho! Bacchus! ”’ as she fled. At the name of Bacchus, Juno laughed in scorn and said: ‘So may your foster-son ever bless you!” A cliff oerhung the sea, the lower part of which had been hollowed out by the beating waves, and sheltered the waters underneath from the rain. Its top stood high and sharp and stretched far out in front over the deep. To this spot—for madness had made her strong—Ino climbed, and held by no natural fears, she leaped with her child far out above the sea. The water where she fell was churned white with foam. But Venus, pitying the undeserved sufferings of her granddaughter, thus addressed her uncle with coaxing words: ““O Neptune, god of waters, whose 215 OVID magna quidem posco, sed tu miserere meorum, iactari quos cernis in Ionio inmenso, 535 et dis adde tuis. aliqua et mihi gratia ponto est, si tamen in dio quondam concreta profundo spuma fui Graiumque manet mihi nomen ab illa.”’ adnuit oranti Neptunus et abstulit illis, quod mortale fuit, maiestatemque verendam 540 inposuit nomenque simul faciemque novavit Leucothoeque deum cum matre Palaemona dixit. Sidoniae comites, quantum valuere secutae signa pedum, primo videre novissima saxo ; nec dubium de morte ratae Cadmeida palmis 545 deplanxere domum scissae cum veste capillos, utque parum iustae nimiumque in paelice saevae invidiam fecere deae. convicia Iuno non tulit et “ faciam vos ipsas maxima ” dixit ‘‘ saevitiae monimenta meae ”’; res dicta secuta est. 590 nam quae praecipue fuerat pia, “ persequar ” inquit “in freta reginam ” saltumque datura moveri haud usquam potuit scopuloque adfixa cohaesit ; altera, dum solito temptat plangore ferire pectora, temptatos sensit riguisse lacertos ; 559 illa, manus ut forte tetenderat in maris undas ; saxea facta manus in easdem porrigit undas; huius, ut arreptum laniabat vertice crinem, duratos subito digitos in crine videres ; 216 METAMORPHOSES BOOK IV power is second to heaven alone, I ask great things, I know; but do thou pity these my friends, whom thou seest plunged in the broad Ionian sea, and receive them among thy sea-deities. Some favour is due to me from the sea, if in its sacred depths my being sprang once from foam, and in the Greek tongue I have a name from this.” Neptune con- sented to her prayer and, taking from Ino and her son all that was mortal, gave them a being to be revered, changing both name and form; for he called the new god Palaemon, and his goddess- mother, Leucothoé. The Theban women who had been Ino’s com- panions followed on her track as best they could, and saw her last act from the edge of the rock. Nothing doubting that she had been killed, in mourning for the house of Cadmus they beat their breasts with their hands, tore their hair, and rent their garments; and they upbraided Juno, saying that she was unjust and too cruel to the woman who had wronged her. Juno could not brook their reproaches and said: “I will make yourselves the greatest monument of my cruelty.”’ No sooner said than done. For she who had been most devoted to the queen cried: “ I shall follow my queen into the sea; and was just about to take the leap when she was unable to move at all, and stood fixed fast to the rock. A second, while she was preparing again to smite her breasts as she had been doing, felt her lifted arms grow stiff. Another had by chance stretched out her hands towards the waters of the sea, but now ‘twas a figure of stone that stretched out hands to those same waters. Still another, plucking at her hair to tear it out, you might see with sudden stiffened fingers still in act to 217 OVID quo quaeque in gestu deprensa est, haesit in illo. 560 pars volucres factae, quae nunc quoque gurgite in illo aequora destringunt summis Ismenides alis. Nescit Agenorides natam parvumque nepotem aequoris esse deos; luctu serieque malorum victus et ostentis, quae plurima viderat, exit 565 conditor urbe sua, tamquam fortuna locorum, non sua se premeret, longisque erratibus actus contigit [lyricos profuga cum coniuge fines. iamque malis annisque graves dum prima retractant fata domus releguntque suos sermone labores, 570 “num sacer ille mea traiectus cuspide serpens ” Cadmus ait “ fuerat, tum cum Sidone profectus vipereos sparsi per humum, nova semina, dentes? quem si cura deum tam certa vindicat ira, ipse precor serpens in longam porrigar alvum.” 575 dixit, et ut serpens in longam tenditur alvum durataeque cuti squamas increscere sentit nigraque caeruleis variari corpora guttis in pectusque cadit pronus, commissaque in unum paullatim tereti tenuantur acumine crura. 580 bracchia iam restant: quae restant bracchia tendit et lacrimis per adhuc humana fluentibus ora ““ accede, o coniunx, accede, miserrima ”’ dixit, ‘““dumque aliquid superest de me, me tange manumque accipe, dum manus est, dum non totum occupat anguis.” 585 218 METAMORPHOSES BOOK IV tear. Each turned to stone and kept the pose in which she was overtaken. Still others were changed to birds, and they also, once Theban women, now on light wings skim the water over that pool. Cadmus was all unaware that his daughter and little grandson had been changed to deities of the sea. Overcome with grief at the misfortunes which had been heaped upon him, and awed by the many portents he had seen, he fled from the city which he had founded, as if the fortune of the place and not his own evil fate were overwhelming him. Driven on through long wanderings, at last his flight brought him with his wife to the borders of Illyria. Here, overborne by the weight of woe and age, they reviewed the early misfortunes of their house and their own troubles. Cadmus said: “‘ Was that a sacred serpent which my spear transfixed long ago when, fresh come from Sidon, I scat- tered his teeth on the earth, seed of a strange crop of men? If it be this the gods have been avenging with such unerring wrath, I pray that I, too, may be a serpent, and stretch myself in long snaky form Iiven as he spoke he was stretched out in long snaky form; he felt his skin hardening and scales growing on it, while iridescent spots besprinkled his darkening body. He fell prone upon his belly, and his legs were gradually moulded together into one and drawn out into a slender, pointed tail. His arms yet remained; while they remained, he stretched them out, and with tears flowing down his still human cheeks he cried: ‘“ Come near, oh, come, my most wretched wife, and while still there is something left of me, touch me, take my hand, while I have a hand, while still the serpent does not usurp me quite.” He wanted to 219 OVID ille quidem vult plura loqui, sed lingua repente in partes est fissa duas, nec verba volenti sufficiunt, quotiensque aliquos parat edere questus, sibilat: hanc illi vocem natura reliquit. nuda manu feriens exclamat pectora coniunx: 590 ‘’ Cadme, mane teque, infelix, his exue monstris ! Cadme, quid hoc? ubi pes, ubi sunt umerique manusque et color et facies et, dum loquor, omnia? cur non me quoque, caelestes, in eandem vertitis anguem? ” dixerat, ille suae lambebat coniugis ora 595 inque sinus caros, veluti cognosceret, ibat et dabat amplexus adsuetaque colla petebat. quisquis adest (aderant comites), terrentur; at illa lubrica permulcet cristati colla draconis, et subito duo sunt iunctoque volumine serpunt, 600 donec in adpositi nemoris subiere latebras, nune quoque nec fugiunt hominem nec vulnere laedunt quidque prius fuerint, placidi meminere dracones. Sed tamen ambobus versae solacia formae magna nepos dederat, quem debellata colebat 605 India, quem positis celebrabat Achaia templis ; solus Abantiades ab origine cretus eadem Acrisius superest, qui moenibus arceat urbis Argolicae contraque deum ferat arma genusque non putet esse deum: neque enim Iovis esse putabat Persea, quem pluvio Danae conceperat auro. 611 mox tamen Acrisium (tanta est praesentia veri) tam violasse deum quam non agnosse nepotem 220 METAMORPHOSES BOOK IV say much more, but his tongue was of a sudden cleft in two; words failed him, and whenever he tried to utter some sad complaint, it was a hiss; this was the only voice which Nature left him. Then his wife, smiting her naked breasts with her hands, cried out: “OQ Cadmus, stay, unhappy man, and put off this monstrous form! Cadmus, what does this mean? Where are your feet? Where are your shoulders and your hands, your colour, face, and, while I speak, your—everything ? Why, O ye gods of heaven, do you not change me also into the same serpent form? ”’ She spoke; he licked his wife’s face and glided into her dear breasts as if familiar there, embraced her, and sought his wonted place about her neck. All who were there—for they had comrades with them—were filled with horror. But she only stroked the sleek neck of the crested dragon, and suddenly there were two serpents there with intertwining folds, which after a little while crawled off and hid in the neigh- bouring woods. Now also, as of yore, they neither fear mankind nor wound them, mild creatures, remembering what once they were. But both in their altered form found great comfort in their grandson, whom conquered India now wor- shipped, whose temples Greece had filled with adoring throngs. There was one only, Acrisius, the son of Abas, sprung from the same stock, who forbade the entrance of Bacchus within the walls of his city, Argos, who violently opposed the god, and did not admit that he was the son of Jove. Nor did he admit that Perseus was son of Jove, whom Danaé had conceived of a golden shower. And yet, such is the power of truth, Acrisius in the end was sorry that he had repulsed the god and had not acknowledged his grandson. ‘The one had now been received to a 221 OVID paenitet: inpositus iam caelo est alter, at alter viperei referens spolium memorabile monstri aera carpebat tenerum stridentibus alis, cumque super Libycas victor penderet harenas, Gorgonei capitis guttae cecidere cruentae ; quas humus exceptas varios animavit in angues, unde frequens illa est infestaque terra colubris. Inde per inmensum ventis discordibus actus nunc huc, nunc illuc exemplo nubis aquosae fertur et ex alto seductas aethere longe despectat terras totumque supervolat orbem. ter gelidas arctos, ter cancri bracchia vidit, saepe sub occasus, saepe est ablatus in ortus, iamque cadente die, veritus se credere nocti, constitit Hesperio, regnis Atlantis, in orbe exiguamque petit requiem, dum Lucifer ignes evocet Aurorae, currus Aurora diurnos. hic hominum cunctos ingenti corpore praestans Japetionides Atlas fuit: ultima tellus rege sub hoc et pontus erat, qui Solis anhelis aequora subdit equis et fessos excipit axes. mille greges illi totidemque armenta per herbas errabant, et humum vicinia nulla premebat ; arboreae frondes auro radiante nitentes eX auro ramos, ex auro poma tegebant. “ hospes ”’ ait Perseus illi, “ seu gloria tangit te generis magni, generis mihi Iuppiter auctor ; sive es mirator rerum, mirabere nostras ; 615 620 625 630 635 640 hospitium requiemque peto.” memor ille vetustae sortis erat; Themis hanc dederat Parnasia sortem: 222 METAMORPHOSES BOOK IV place in heaven; but the other, bearing the wonder- ful spoil of the snake-haired monster, was taking his way through the thin air on whirring wings. As he was flying over the sandy wastes of Libya, bloody drops from the Gorgon’s head fell down; and the earth received them as they fell and changed them into snakes of various kinds. And for this cause the land of Libya is full of deadly serpents. From there he was driven through the vast stretches of air by warring winds and borne, now hither, now thither, like a cloud of mist. He looked down from his great height upon the lands lying below and flew over the whole world. Thrice did he see the cold Bears, and thrice the Crab’s spreading claws; time and again to the west, and as often back to the east was he carried. And now, as daylight was fading, fearing to trust himself to flight by night, he alighted on the borders of the West, in the realm of Atlas. Here he sought a little rest until the morning star should wake the fires of dawn and the dawn lead out the fiery car of day. Here, far surpassing all men in huge bulk of body, was Atlas, of the stock of Iapetus. He ruled this edge of the world and the sea which spread its waters to receive the Sun’s panting horses and his weary car. A _ thousand flocks he had, and as many herds, wandering at will over the grassy plains; and no other realm was near to hem in his land. A tree he had whose leaves were of gleaming gold, concealing golden branches and golden fruits. ‘“‘ Good sir,’ said Perseus, addressing him, “if glory of high birth means anything to you, Jove is my father; or if you admire great deeds, you surely will admire mine. I crave your hospitality and a chance to rest.’’ But Atlas bethought him of an old oracle, which Themis of Parnasus had given: a2; OVID ‘tempus, Atla, veniet, tua quo spoliabitur auro arbor, et hunc praedae titulum Iove natus habebit.”’ id metuens solidis pomaria clauserat Atlas 646 moenibus et vasto dederat servanda draconi arcebatque suis externos finibus omnes. huic quoque “ vade procul, ne longe gloria rerum, quam mentiris”’ ait, “longe tibi Iuppiter absit!’’ 650 vimque minis addit manibusque expellere temptat cunctantem et placidis miscentem fortia dictis. viribus inferior (quis enim par esset Atlantis viribus 7) “ at, quoniam parvi tibi gratia nostra est, accipe munus! ”’ ait laevaque a parte Medusae 655 ipse retro versus squalentia protulit ora. quantus erat,mons factus Atlas: nam barba comaeque in silvas abeunt, iuga sunt umerique manusque, quod caput ante fuit, summo est in monte cacumen, ossa lapis fiunt; tum partes altus in omnes 660 crevit in inmensum (sic di statuistis), et omne cum tot sideribus caelum requievit in illo. Clauserat Hippotades aeterno carcere ventos, admonitorque operum caelo clarissimus alto Lucifer ortus erat: pennis ligat ille resumptis 665 parte ab utraque pedes teloque accingitur unco et liquidum motis talaribus aera findit. gentibus innumeris circumque infraque relictis Aethiopum populos Cepheaque conspicit arva. illic inmeritam maternae pendere linguae 670 Andromedan poenas iniustus iusserat Ammon; | 224 METAMORPHOSES BOOK IV ‘“ Atlas, the time will come when your tree will be spoiled of its gold, and he who gets the glory of this spoil will be Jove’s son.” Fearing this, Atlas had enclosed his orchard with massive walls and had put a huge dragon there to watch it; and he kept off all strangers from his boundaries. And now to Perseus, too, he said: “ Hence afar, lest the glory of your deeds, which you falsely brag of, and lest this Jupiter of yours be far from aiding you.’ He added force to threats, and was trying to thrust out the other, who held back and manfully resisted while he urged his case with soothing speech. At length, finding him- self unequal in strength—for who would be a match in strength for Atlas?—he said: “ Well, since so small a favour you will not grant to me, let me give you a boon ’’; and, himself turning his back, he held out from his left hand the ghastly Medusa-head. Straightway Atlas became a mountain huge as the giant had been; his beard and hair were changed to trees, his shoulders and arms to spreading ridges; what had been his head was now the mountain’s top, and his bones were changed to stones. Then he grew to monstrous size in all his parts—for so, O gods, ye had willed it—and the whole heaven with all its stars rested upon his head. Now Aeolus, the son of Hippotas, had shut the winds in their everlasting prison, and the bright morning star that wakes men to their toil had risen in the heavens. Then Perseus bound on both his feet the wings he had laid by, girt on his hooked sword, and soon in swift flight was cleaving the thin air. Having left behind countless peoples all around him and below, he spied at last the Ethiopians and Cepheus’ realm. There unrighteous Ammon had bidden Andromeda, though innocent, to 225 OVID quam simul ad duras religatam bracchia cautes vidit Abantiades, nisi quod levis aura capillos moverat et tepido manabant lumina fletu, marmoreum ratus esset opus; trahit inscius ignes 675 et stupet eximiae correptus imagine formae paene suas quatere est oblitus in aere pennas. ut stetit, “o ” dixit “ non istis digna catenis, sed quibus inter se cupidi iunguntur amantes, pande requirenti nomen terraeque tuumque, 680 et cur vincla geras.”’ primo silet illa nec audet adpellare virum virgo, manibusque modestos celasset vultus, si non religata fuisset ; lumina, quod potuit, lacrimis inplevit obortis. saepius instanti, sua ne delicta fateri 685 nolle videretur, nomen terraeque suumque, quantaque maternae fuerit fiducia formae, indicat, et nondum memoratis omnibus unda insonuit, veniensque inmenso belua ponto inminet et latum sub pectore possidet aequor. 690 conclamat virgo: genitor lugubris et una mater adest, ambo miseri, sed iustius illa, nec secum auxilium, sed dignos tempore fletus plangoremque ferunt vinctoque in corpore adhaerent, cum sic hospes ait “ lacrimarum longa manere 695 tempora vos poterunt, ad opem brevis hora ferendam est. hanc ego si peterem Perseus love natus et illa, quam clausam inplevit fecundo Iuppiter auro, Gorgonis anguicomae Perseus superator et alis aerias ausus iactatis ire per auras, 700 226 METAMORPHOSES BOOK IV pay the penalty of her mother’s words. As soon as Perseus saw her there bound by the arms to a rough cliff—save that her hair gently stirred in the breeze, and the warm tears were trickling down her cheeks, he would have thought her a marble statue—he took fire unwitting, and stood dumb. Smitten by the sight of her exquisite beauty, he almost forgot; to move his wings in the air. Then, when he alighted near the maiden, he said: “ Oh! those are not the chains you deserve to wear, but rather those that link fond lovers together! Tell me, for I would know, your country’s name and yours, and why you are chained here.” She was silent at first, for, being a maid, she did not dare address aman; she would have hidden her face modestly with her hands but that her hands were bound. Her eyes were free, and these filled with rising tears. As he continued to urge her, she, lest she should seem to be trying to conceal some fault of her own, told him her name and her country, and what sinful boasting her mother had made of her own beauty. While she was yet speaking, there came a loud sound from the sea, and there, advancing over the broad expanse, a monstrous creature loomed up, breasting the wide waves. The maiden shrieked. The grieving father and the mother are at hand, both wretched, but she more justly so. They have no help to give, but only wailings and loud beatings of the breast, befitting the occasion, and they hang to the girl’s chained form. Then speaks the stranger: “ There will be long time for weeping by and by; but time for helping is very short. If I sought this maid as Perseus, son of Jove and that imprisoned one whom Jove filled with his life-giving shower; if as Perseus, victor over Gorgon of the snaky locks, and as he who has dared to ride the 227 * OVID praeferrer cunctis certe gener; addere tantis dotibus et meritum, faveant modo numina, tempto: ut mea sit servata mea virtute, paciscor.’’ accipiunt legem (quis enim dubitaret ?) et orant promittuntque super regnum dotale parentes. 705 Ecce, velut navis praefixo concita rostro suleat aquas iuvenum sudantibus acta lacertis, sic fera dimotis inpulsu pectoris undis ; tantum aberat scopulis, quantum Balearica torto funda potest plumbo medii transmittere caeli, 710 cum subito iuvenis pedibus tellure repulsa arduus in nubes abiit: ut in aequore summo umbra viri visa est, visa fera saevit in umbra, utque lovis praepes, vacuo cum vidit in arvo praebentem Phoebo liventia terga draconem, 715 occupat aversum, neu saeva retorqueat ora, squamigeris avidos figit cervicibus ungues, sic celeri missus praeceps per inane volatu terga ferae pressit dextroque frementis in armo Inachides ferrum curvo tenus abdidit hamo. 120 vulnere laesa gravi modo se sublimis in auras attollit, modo subdit aquis, modo more ferocis versat apri, quem turba canum circumsona terret. ille avidos morsus velocibus effugit alis quaque patet, nunc terga cavis super obsita conchis, nunc laterum costas, nunc qua tenuissima cauda 726 desinit in piscem, falcato verberat ense ; 228 METAMORPHOSES BOOK IV winds of heaven on fluttering wings, surely I should be preferred to all suitors as your son-in-law. But now I shall try to add to these great gifts the gift of service, too, if only the gods will favour me. That she be mine if saved by my valour is my bargain.” The parents accept the condition—for who would refuse? —and beg him to save her, promising him a kingdom as dowry in addition. But see! as a swift ship with its sharp beak plows the waves, driven by stout rowers’ sweatin arms, so does the monster come, rolling back the water from either side as his breast surges through. And now he was as far from the cliff as is the space through which a Balearic sling can send its whizzing bullet; when suddenly the youth, springing up from the earth, mounted high into the clouds. When the monster saw the hero’s shadow on the surface of the sea, he savagely attacked the shadow. And as the bird of Jove, when it has seen in an open field a serpent sunning its mottled body, swoops down upon him from behind; and, lest the serpent twist back his deadly fangs, the bird buries deep his sharp claws in the creature's scaly neck; so did Perseus, plunging headlong in a swift swoop through the empty air, attack the roaring monster from above, and in his right shoulder buried his sword clear down to the curved hook. Smarting under the deep wound, the creature now reared himself high in air, now plunged beneath the waves, now turned like a fierce wild-boar when around him a noisy pack of hounds give tongue. Perseus eludes the greedy fangs by help of his swift wings; and where the vulnerable points lie open to attack, he smites with his hooked sword, now at the back, thick-set with barnacles, now on the sides, now where the tail is most slender and changes into 229 OVID belua puniceo mixtos cum sanguine fluctus ore vomit: maduere graves adspergine pennae. nec bibulis ultra Perseus talaribus ausus 730 credere conspexit scopulum, qui vertice summo stantibus exstat aquis, operitur ab aequore moto. nixus €o rupisque tenens iuga prima sinistra ter quater exegit repetita per ilia ferrum. litora cum plausu clamor superasque deorum 135 inplevere domos: gaudent generumque salutant auxiliumque domus servatoremque fatentur Cassiope Cepheusque pater; resoluta catenis incedit virgo, pretiumque et causa laboris. ipse manus hausta victrices abluit unda, 740 anguiferumque caput dura ne laedat harena, mollit humum foliis natasque sub aequore virgas sternit et inponit Phorcynidos ora Medusae. virga recens bibulaque etiamnum viva medulla vim rapuit monstri tactuque induruit huius 145 percepitque novum ramis et fronde rigorem. at pelagi nymphae factum mirabile temptant pluribus in virgis et idem contingere gaudent seminaque ex illis iterant iactata per undas: nunc quoque curaliis eadem natura remansit, 150 duritiam tacto capiant ut ab aere quodque vimen in aequore erat, fiat super aequora saxum. Dis tribus ille focos totidem de caespite ponit, laevum Mercurio, dextrum tibi, bellica virgo, ara Iovis media est; mactatur vacca Minervae, 755 alipedi vitulus, taurus tibi, summe deorum, 230 METAMORPHOSES BOOK IV the form of fish. The beast belches forth waters mixed with purple blood. Meanwhile Perseus’ wings are growing heavy, soaked with spray, and he dares not depend further on his drenched pinions. He spies a rock whose top projects above the surface when the waves are still, but which is hidden by the roughened sea. Resting on this and holding an edge of the rock with his left hand, thrice and again he plunges his sword into the vitals of the monster. At this the shores and the high seats of the gods re-echo with wild shouts of applause. Cassiope and Cepheus rejoice and salute the hero as son-in-law, calling him prop and saviour of their house. The maiden also now comes forward, freed from chains, she, the prize as well as cause of his feat. He washes his victorious hands in water drawn for him; and, that the Gorgon’s snaky head may not be bruised on the hard sand, he softens the ground with leaves, strews seaweed over these, and lays on this the head of Medusa, daughter of Phorcys. The fresh weed twigs, but now alive and porous to the core, absorb the power of the monster and hardens at its touch and take a strange stiffness in their stems and leaves. And the sea-nymphs test the wonder on more twigs and are delighted to find the same thing happening to them all; and, by scattering these twigs as seeds, propagate the wondrous thing throughout their waters. And even till this day the same nature has remained in coral so that they harden when exposed to air, and what was a pliant twig beneath the sea is turned to stone above. Now Perseus builds to three gods three altars of turf, the left to Mercury, the right to thee,O warlike maid, and the central one to Jove. To Minerva he slays a cow, a young bullock to the winged god, and 231 OVID protinus Andromedan et tanti praemia facti indotata rapit; taedas Hymenaeus Amorque praecutiunt; largis satiantur odoribus ignes, sertaque dependent tectis et ubique lyraeque 760 tibiaque et cantus, animi felicia laeti argumenta, sonant; reseratis aurea valvis atria tota patent, pulchroque instructa paratu Cephenum proceres ineunt convivia regis. Postquam epulis functi generosi munere Bacchi 765 diffudere animos, cultusque genusque locorum quaerit Lyncides moresque animumque virorum ; 767 qui simul edocuit, ‘‘ nunc, o fortissime,”’ dixit 769 ‘fare, precor, Perseu, quanta virtute quibusque 770 artibus abstuleris crinita draconibus ora! ” narrat Agenorides gelido sub Atlante iacentem esse locum solidae tutum munimine molis; cuius in introitu geminas habitasse sorores Phorcidas unius partitas luminis usum ; T75 id se sollerti furtim, dum traditur, astu supposita cepisse manu perque abdita longe deviaque et silvis horrentia saxa fragosis Gorgoneas tetigisse domos passimque per agros perque vias vidisse hominum simulacra ferarumque in silicem ex ipsis visa conversa Medusa. * 781 se tamen horrendae clipei, quem laeva gerebat, aere repercusso formam adspexisse Medusae, dumque gravis somnus colubrasque ipsamque tenebat, eripuisse caput collo; pennisque fugacem 185 Pegason et fratrem matris de sanguine natos. 232 METAMORPHOSES BOOK IV a bull to thee, thou greatest of the gods. Forthwith the hero claims Andromeda as the prize of his great deed, seeking no further dowry. Hymen and Love shake the marriage torch; the fires are fed full with incense rich and fragrant, garlands deck the dwell- ings, and everywhere lyre and flute and songs resound, blessed proofs of inward joy. The huge folding-doors swing back and reveal the great golden palace-hall with a rich banquet spread, where Cepheus’ princely courtiers grace the feast. When they have had their fill of food, and their hearts have expanded with Bacchus’ generous gift, then Perseus seeks to know the manner of the region thereabouts, its peoples, customs, and the spirit of its men. The prince who answered him then said: ‘’ Now tell us, pray, O Perseus, by what wondrous valour, by what arts you won the Gorgon’s snaky head.” ‘The hero, answering, told how beneath cold Atlas there was a place safe under the protection of the rocky mass. At the entrance to this place two sisters dwelt, both daughters of old Phorcys, who shared one eye between them. This eye by craft and stealth, while it was being passed from one sister to the other, Perseus stole away, and travelling far through trackless and secret ways, rough woods, and bristling rocks, he came at last to where the Gorgons lived. On ali sides through the fields and along the ways he saw the forms of men and beasts changed into stone by one look at Medusa’s face. But he himself had looked upon the image of that dread face reflected from the bright bronze shield his left hand bore; and while deep sleep held fast both the snakes and her who wore them, he smote her head clean from her neck, and from the blood of his mother swift-winged Pegasus and his brother sprang. 233 OVID Addidit et longi non falsa pericula cursus, quae freta, quas terras sub se vidisset ab alto et quae iactatis tetigisset sidera pennis ; ante exspectatum tacuit tamen. excipit unus 790 ex numero procerum quaerens, cur sola sororum gesserit alternis inmixtos crinibus angues. hospes ait: “ quoniam scitaris digna relatu, accipe quaesiti causam. clarissima forma multorumque fuit spes invidiosa procorum 195 illa, nec in tota conspectior ulla capillis pars fuit: inveni, qui se vidisse referret. hanc pelagi rector templo vitiasse Minervae dicitur: aversa est et castos aegide vultus nata lovis texit, neve hoc inpune fuisset, 800 Gorgoneum crinem turpes mutavit in hydros. nunc quoque, ut attonitos formidine terreat hostes, pectore in adverso, quos fecit, sustinet angues. ” 234 METAMORPHOSES BOOK IV The hero further told of his long journeys and perils passed, all true, what seas, what lands he had beheld from his high flight, what stars he had touched on beating wings. He ceased, while they waited still to hear more. But one of the princes asked him why Medusa only of the sisters wore serpents mingled with her hair. The guest replied: ‘ Since what you ask is a tale well worth the telling, hear then the cause. She was once most beautiful in form, and the jealous hope of many suitors. Of all her beauties, her hair was the most beautiful— for so I learned from one who said he had seen her. ‘Tis said that in Minerva’s temple Neptune, lord of the Ocean, ravished her. Jove’s daughter turned away and hid her chaste eyes behind her aegis. And, that the deed might be punished as was due, she changed the Gorgon’s locks to ugly snakes. And now to frighten her fear-numbed foes, she still wears upon her breast the snakes which she has made.” 250 LIBER V Dvmove ea Cephenum medio Danaeius heros agmine commemorat, fremida regalia turba atria conplentur, nec coniugialia festa qui canat est clamor, sed qui fera nuntiet arma}; inque repentinos convivia versa tumultus D adsimilare freto possis, quod saeva quietum ventorum rabies motis exasperat undis. primus in his Phineus, belli temerarius auctor ; fraxineam quatiens aeratae cuspidis hastam ‘“en’’ ait, “en adsum praereptae coniugis ultor; 10 nec mihi te pennae nec falsum versus in aurum Iuppiter eripiet! ’’ conanti mittere Cepheus “quid facis? ’’ exclamat, “ quae te, germane, furentem mens agit in facinus? meritisne haec gratia tantis redditur? hac vitam servatae dote rependis? 15 quam tibi non Perseus, verum si quaeris, ademit, sed grave Nereidum numen, sed corniger Ammon, sed quae visceribus veniebat belua ponti exsaturanda meis; illo tibi tempore rapta est, quo peritura fuit, nisi si, crudelis, id ipsum 20 exigis, ut pereat, luctuque levabere nostro. 238 BOOK V WuiLe the heroic son of Danaé is relating these adventures amongst the Ethiopian chiefs, the royal halls are filled with confused uproar: not the loud sound that sings a song of marriage, but one that presages the fierce strife of arms. And the feast, turned suddenly to tumult, you could liken to the sea, whose peaceful waters the raging winds lash to boisterous waves. First among them is Phineus, brother of the king, rash instigator of strife, who brandishes an ashen spear with bronze point. ‘ Behold,” says he, “ here am I, come to avenge the theft of my bride. Your wings shall not save you this time, nor Jove, changed to seeming gold.” As he was in the act of hurling his spear, Cepheus cried out: “ What are you doing, brother? What mad folly is driving you to crime? Is this the way you thank our guest for his brave deeds? Is this the dower you give for the maiden saved? If ‘tis the truth you want, it was not Perseus who took her from you, but the dread deity of the Nereids, but horned Ammon, but that sea-monster who came to glut his maw upon my own flesh and blood. “Twas then you lost her when she was exposed to die; unless, perchance, your cruel heart demands this very thing—her death, and seeks by my grief to ease its own. It seems it is not enough that you saw her chained, and that you brought no aid, uncle though 239 OVID scilicet haud satis est, quod te spectante revincta est et nullam quod opem patruus sponsusve tulisti ; insuper, a quoquam quod sit servata, dolebis praemiaque eripies? quae si tibi magna videntur, 25 ex illis scopulis, ubi erant adfixa, petisses. nunc sine, qui petiit, per quem haec non orba senectus, ferre, quod et meritis et voce est pactus, eumque non tibi, sed certae praelatum intellege morti.”’ Ille nihil contra, sed et hunc et Persea vultu 30 alterno spectans petat hunc ignorat an illum: cunctatusque brevi contortam viribus hastam, quantas ira dabat, nequiquam in Persea misit. ut stetit illa toro, stratis tum denique Perseus exsiluit teloque ferox inimica remisso 35 pectora rupisset, nisi post altaria Phineus isset: et (indignum) scelerato profuit ara. fronte tamen Rhoeti non inrita cuspis adhaesit, qui postquam cecidit ferrumque ex osse revulsum est calcitrat et positas adspergit sanguine mensas. 40 tum vero indomitas ardescit vulgus in iras, telaque coniciunt, et sunt, qui Cephea dicunt cum genero debere mori; sed limine tecti exierat Cepheus testatus iusque fidemque hospitiique deos, ea se prohibente moveri. 45 bellica Pallas adest et protegit aegide fratrem datque animos. Erat Indus Athis, quem flumine Gange edita Limnaee vitreis peperisse sub undis 240 METAMORPHOSES BOOK V you were, and promised husband: will you grieve, besides, that someone did save her, and will you rob him of his prize? If this prize seems so precious in your sight, you should have taken it from those rocks where it was chained. Now let the man who did take it, by whom I have been saved from childless- ness in my old age, keep what he has gained by his deserving deeds and by my promise. And be assured of this: that he has not been preferred to you, but to certain death.” Phineus made no reply; but, looking now on him and now on Perseus, he was in doubt at which to aim his spear. Delaying a little space, he hurled it with all the strength that wrath gave at Perseus; but in vain. When the weapon struck and stood fast in the bench, then at last Perseus leapt gallantly up and hurled back the spear, which would have pierced his foeman’s heart; but Phineus had already taken refuge behind the altar, and, shame! the wretch found safety there. Still was the weapon not without effect, for it struck full in Rhoetus’ face. Down he fell, and when the spear had been wrenched forth from the bone he writhed about and sprinkled the well-spread table with his blood. And now the mob was fired to wrath un- quenchable. They hurled their spears, and there were some who said that Cepheus ought to perish with his son-in-law. But Cepheus had already with- drawn from the palace, calling to witness Justice, Faith, and the gods of hospitality that this was done against his protest. Then came warlike Pallas, pro- tecting her brother with her shield, and making him stout of heart. There was an Indian youth, Athis by name, whom Limnaee, a nymph of Ganges’ stream, is said to have 241 VOL. I. I OVID creditur, egregius forma, quam divite cultu augebat, bis adhuc octonis integer annis, 50 indutus chlamydem Tyriam, quam limbus obibat aureus; ornabant aurata monilia collum et madidos murra curvum crinale capillos ; ille quidem iaculo quamvis distantia misso figere doctus erat, sed tendere doctior arcus. 5D tum quoque lenta manu flectentem cornua Perseus stipite, qui media positus fumabat in ara, perculit et fractis confudit in ossibus ora. Hunc ubi laudatos iactantem in sanguine vultus Assyrius vidit Lycabus, iunctissimus illi 60 et comes et veri non dissimulator amoris, postquam exhalantem sub acerbo vulnere vitam deploravit Athin, quos ille tetenderat arcus arripit et “ mecum tibi sint certamina! ” dixit ; “nec longum pueri fato laetabere, quo plus 65 invidiae quam laudis habes.”” haec omnia nondum dixerat: emicuit nervo penetrabile telum vitatumque tamen sinuosa veste pependit. vertit in hunc harpen spectatam caede Medusae Acrisioniades adigitque in pectus; at ille 10 iam moriens oculis sub nocte natantibus atra circumspexit Athin seque adclinavit ad illum et tulit ad manes iunctae solacia mortis. Ecce Syenites, genitus Metione, Phorbas et Libys Amphimedon, avidi committere pugman, 75 sanguine, quo late tellus madefacta tepebat, conciderant lapsi; surgentibus obstitit ensis, alterius costis, iugulo Phorbantis adactus. 242 METAMORPHOSES BOOK V brought forth beneath her crystal waters. He was of surpassing beauty, which his rich robes enhanced, a sturdy boy of sixteen years, clad in a purple mantle fringed with gold; a golden chain adorned his neck, and a golden circlet held his locks in place, perfumed with myrrh. He was well skilled to hurl the javelin at the most distant mark, but with more skill could bend the bow. When now he was in the very act of bending his stout bow, Perseus snatched up a brand which lay smouldering on the altar and smote the youth, crushing his face to splintered bones. When Assyrian Lycabas beheld him, his lovely features defiled with blood—Lycabas, his closest comrade and his declared true lover—he wept aloud for Athis, who lay gasping out his life beneath that bitter wound; then he caught up the bow which Athis had bent, and cried: “ Now you have me to fight, and not long shall you plume yourself on a boy’s death, which brings you more contempt than glory.’ Before he had finished speaking the keen arrow fleshed from the bowstring; but it missed its mark and stuck harmless in a fold of Perseus’ robe. Acrisius’ grandson quickly turned on him that hook which had been fleshed in Medusa’s death, and drove it into his breast. But he, even in death, with his eyes swimming in the black darkness, looked round for Athis, fell down by his side, and bore to the shadows this comfort, that in death they were not divided. Then Phorbas of Syene, Metion’s son, and Libyan Amphimedon, eager to join in the fray, slipped and fell in the blood with which all the floor was wet. As they strove to rise the sword met them, driven through the ribs of one and through the other’s throat. 243 OVID At non Actoriden Erytum, cui lata bipennis telum erat, hamato Perseus petit ense, sed altis 80 exstantem signis multaeque in pondere massae ingentem manibus tollit cratera duabus infligitque viro; rutilum vomit ille cruorem et resupinus humum moribundo vertice pulsat. inde Semiramio Polydaemona sanguine cretum 85 Caucasiumque Abarin Sperchionidenque Lycetum intonsumque comas Helicem Phlegyanque Clytumque sternit et exstructos morientum calcat acervos. Nec Phineus ausus concurrere comminus hosti intorquet iaculum, quod detulit error in Idan, 90 expertem frustra belli et neutra arma secutum. ille tuens oculis inmitem Phinea torvis ‘“ quandoquidem in partes ’ Phineu, quem fecisti, hostem pensaque hoc vulnere vulnus! ”’ ’ 9 ait ““ abstrahor, accipe, iamque remissurus tractum de corpore telum 95 sanguine defectos cecidit conlapsus in artus. Tum quoque Cephenum post regem primus Hodites, ense iacet Clymeni, Prothoenora percutit Hypseus, Hypsea Lyncides. fuit et grandaevus in illis Emathion, aequi cultor timidusque deorum, 100 quem quoniam prohibent anni bellare, loquendo pugnat et incessit scelerataque devovet arma; huic Chromis amplexo tremulis altaria palmis decutit ense caput, quod protinus incidit arae atque ibi semianimi verba exsecrantia lingua 105 edidit et medios animam exspiravit in ignes. 244 METAMORPHOSES BOOK V But Eurytus, the son of Actor, who wielded a broad, two-edged battle-axe, Perseus did not attack with his hooked sword, but lifting high in both hands a huge mixing-bowl heavily embossed and ponderous, he hurled it crashing at the man. The red blood spouted forth as he lay dying on his back, beating the floor with his head. Then in rapid succession Perseus laid low Polydaemon, descended from Queen Semiramis, Caucasian Abaris, Lycetus who dwelt by Spercheos, Helices of unshorn locks, Phlegyas and Clytus, treading the while on heaps of dying men. Phineus did not dare to come to close combat with his enemy, but hurled his javelin. This was ill- aimed and struck Idas, who all to no purpose had kept out of the fight, taking sides with neither party. He, gazing with angry eyes upon cruel Phineus, said: “‘ Since I am forced into the strife, O Phineus, accept the foeman you have made, and score me wound for wound.”’ And he was just about to hurl back the javelin which he had drawn out of his own body, when he fell fainting, his limbs all drained of blood. Then also Hodites, first of the Ethiopians after the king, fell by the sword of Clymenus; Hypseus smote Prothoénor; Lyncides, Hypseus. Amid the throng was one old man, Emathion, who loved justice and revered the gods. He, since his years forbade war- fare, fought with the tongue, and strode forward and cursed their impious arms. As he clung to the altar-horns with age-enfeebled hands Chromis struck off his head with his sword: the head fell straight on the altar, and there the still half-conscious tongue kept up its execrations and the life was breathed out in the midst of the altar-fires. 245 OVID Hine gemini fratres Broteasque et caestibus Ammon invicta, vinci si possent caestibus enses, Phinea cecidere manu Cererisque sacerdos Ampycus albenti velatus tempora vitta, 110 tu quoque, Lampetide, non hos adhibendus ad usus, sed qui, pacis opus, citharam cum voce moveres ; iussus eras celebrare dapes festumque canendo. cui procul adstanti plectrumque inbelle tenenti Pettalus inridens “ Stygiis cane cetera’ dixit 115 ‘“ manibus! ’’ et laevo mucronem tempore fixit ; concidit et digitis morientibus ille retemptat fila lyrae, casuque fuit miserabile carmen. nec sinit hune inpune ferox cecidisse Lycormas raptaque de dextro robusta repagula posti 120 ossibus inlisit mediae cervicis, at ille procubuit terrae mactati more iuvenci. demere temptabat laevi quoque robora postis Cinyphius Pelates; temptanti dextera fixa est cuspide Marmaridae Corythi lignoque cohaesit; 125 haerenti latus hausit Abas, nec corruit ille, sed retinente manum moriens e poste pependit. sternitur et Melaneus, Perseia castra secutus, et Nasamoniaci Dorylas ditissimus agri, dives agri Dorylas, quo non possederat alter 130 latius aut totidem tollebat turis acervos. huius in obliquo missum stetit inguine ferrum: letifer ille locus. quem postquam vulneris auctor singultantem animam et versantem lumina vidit Bactrius Halcyoneus, “ hoc, quod premis,”’ inquit habeto 135 de tot agris terrae! ’’ corpusque exsangue relinquit. torquet in hunc hastam calido de vulnere raptam 246 METAMORPHOSES BOOK V Next fell two brothers by Phineus’ hand, Broteas and Ammon, invincible with gauntlets, if gauntlets could but contend with swords; and Ampycus, Ceres’ priest, his temples wreathed with white fillets. You, too, Lampetides, not intended for such a scene as this, but for a peaceful task, to ply lute and voice: you had been bidden to grace the feast and sing the festal song. To him standing apart and holding his peaceful quill, Pettalus mocking cried: ‘‘ Go sing the rest of your song to the Stygian shades,” and pierced the left temple with his steel. He fell, and with dying fingers again essays the strings, and as he fell there was a lamentable sound. Nor did Lycormas, maddened at the sight, suffer him to perish unavenged; but, tearing out a stout bar from the door-post on the right, he broke the murderer's neck with a crashing blow. And Pettalus fell to the earth like a slaughtered bull. Cinyphian Pelates essayed to tear away another bar from the left post, but in the act his right hand was pierced by the spear of Corythus of Marmarida, and pinned to the wood. There fastened, Abas thrust him through the side; nor did he fall, but, dying, hung down from the post to which his hand was nailed. Melaneus, too, was slain, one of Perseus’ side; and Dorylas, the richest man in the land of Nasamonia—Dorylas, rich in land, than whom none held a wider domain, none heaped so many piles of spices. Into his groin a spear hurled from the side struck; that place is fatal. When Bactrian Halcyoneus, who hurled the spear, beheld him gasping out his life and rolling his eyes in death, he said: “This land alone on which you lie of all your lands shall you possess,” and left the lifeless body. Against him Perseus, swift to avenge, hurled the spear snatched from the warm wound, which, 247 OVID ultor Abantiades; media quae nare recepta cervice exacta est in partesque eminet ambas ; dumque manum [Iortuna iuvat, Clytiumque Claninque, 140 matre satos una, diverso vulnere fudit: nam Clytii per utrumque gravi librata lacerto fraxinus acta femur, iaculum Clanis ore momor- dit. occidit et Celadon Mendesius, occidit Astreus matre Palaestina dubio genitore creatus, 145 Aethionque sagax quondam ventura videre, tunc ave deceptus falsa, regisque Thoactes armiger et caeso genitore infamis Agyrtes. Plus tamen exhausto superest; namque omnibus unum opprimere est animus, coniurata undique pugnant 150 agmina pro causa meritum inpugnante fidemque ; hac pro parte socer frustra pius et nova coniunx cum genetrice favent ululatuque atria conplent, sed sonus armorum superat gemitusque cadentum, pollutosque simul multo Bellona penates 155 sanguine perfundit renovataque proelia miscet. Circueunt unum Phineus et mille secuti Phinea: tela volant hiberna grandine plura praeter utrumque latus praeterque et lumen et aures. adplicat his umeros ad magnae saxacolumnae 160 tutaque terga gerens adversaque in agmina yersus sustinet instantes: instabat parte sinistra Chaonius Molpeus, dextra Nabataeus Ethemon. tigris ut auditis diversa valle duorum exstimulata fame mugitibus armentorum 165 nescit, utro potius ruat, et ruere ardet utroque, sic dubius Perseus, dextra laevane feratur, Molpea traiecti submovit vulnere cruris 248 METAMORPHOSES BOOK V striking the nose, was driven through the neck, and stuck out on both sides. And, while fortune favoured him, he slew also Clytius and Clanis, both born of one mother, but each with a different wound. For through both thighs of Clytius went the ashen spear, hurled by his mighty arm; the other dart Clanis crunched with his jaw. There fell also Mendesian Celadon; Astreus, too, whose mother was a Syrian, and his father unknown; Aethion, once wise to see what is to come, but now tricked by a false omen; Thoactes, armour-bearer of the king; Agyrtes, infamous for that he had slain his sire. Yet more remains, faint with toil though he is; for all are bent on crushing him alone. On all sides the banded lines assail him, in a cause that repudiated merit and plighted word. On his side his father-in- law with useless loyalty and his bride and her mother range themselves, and fill all the hall with their shrieks. But their cries are drowned in the clash of arms and the groans of dying men; while Bellona drenches and pollutes with blood the sacred home, and ever renews the strife. Now he stands alone where Phineus and a thousand followers close round him. Thicker than winter hail fly the spears, past right side and left, past eyes and ears. He stands with his back against a great stone column and, so protected in the rear, faces the opposing crowds and their impetuous attack. The attack is made on the left by Chaonian Molpeus, and by Arabian Ethemon on the right. Just as a tigress, pricked by hunger, that hears the bellowing of two herds in two several valleys, knows not which to rush upon, but burns to rush on both; so Perseus hesi- tates whether to smite on right or left; he stops Molpeus with a wound through the leg and was 249 OVID contentusque fuga est; neque enim dat tempus Ethemon, sed furit et cupiens alto dare vulnera collo 170 non circumspectis exactum viribus ensem fregit, in extrema percussae parte columnae: lamina dissiluit dominique in gutture fixa est. non tamen ad letum causas satis illa valentes plaga dedit ; trepidum Perseus et inermia frustra 175 bracchia tendentem Cyllenide confodit harpe. Verum ubi virtutem turbae succumbere vidit, ‘ auxilium ”’ Perseus, ‘‘ quoniam sic cogitis ipsi,’’ dixit “ ab hoste petam: vultus avertite vestros, si quis amicus adest!”’ et Gorgonis extulit ora. 180 ‘* quaere alium, tua quem moveant miracula ” dixit Thescelus; utque manu iaculum fatale parabat mittere, in hoc haesit signum de marmore gestu. proximus huic Ampyx animi plenissima magni pectora Lyncidae gladio petit: inque petendo 185 dextera diriguit nec citra mota nec ultra est. at Nileus, qui se genitum septemplice Nilo ementitus erat, clipeo quoque flumina septem argento partim, partim caelaverat auro, ‘“adspice’’ ait “ Perseu, nostrae primordia gentis: 190 magna feres tacitas solacia mortis ad umbras, a tanto cecidisse viro ’’; pars ultima vocis in medio suppressa sono est, adapertaque velle ora loqui credas, nec sunt ea pervia verbis. increpat hos “ vitio ’’ que “ animi, non viribus ’ inquit 195 ‘ Gorgoneis torpetis ’ Eryx. ‘ incurrite mecum b] 250 METAMORPHOSES BOOK V content to let him go; but Ethemon gives him notime, and comes rushing on, eager to wound him in the neck, and drives his sword with mighty power but careless aim, and breaks it on the edge of the great stone column: the blade flies off and sticks in its owner's throat. The stroke indeed is not deep enough for death; but as he stands there trembling and stretching out his empty hands (but all in vain), Perseus thrusts him through with Mercury’s hooked sword. But when Perseus saw his own strength was no match for the superior numbers of his foes, he ex- claimed: “ Since you yourselves force me to it, I shall seek aid from my own enemy. Turn away your faces, if any friend be here.” So saying, he raised on high the Gorgon’s head. “Seek someone else to frighten with your magic arts,’ cried Thescelus, and raised his deadly javelin in act to throw; but in that very act he stood immovable, a marble statue. Next after him Ampyx thrust his sword full at the heart of the great-souled Perseus; but in that thrust his right hand stiffened and moved neither this way nor that. But Nileus, who falsely claimed that he was sprung from the sevenfold Nile, and who had on his shield engraved the image of the stream’s seven mouths, part silver and part gold, cried: “ See, O Perseus, the source whence I have sprung. Surely a great consolation for your death will you carry to the silent shades, that you have fallen by so great a man "—his last words were cut off in mid-speech ; you would suppose that his open lips still strove to speak, but they no longer gave passage to his words. These two Eryx rebuked, saying: “ "Tis from defect of courage, not from any power of the Gorgon’s head, that you stand rigid. Rush in with me and hurl to 251 OVID et prosternite humi invenem magica arma moven- tem!" incursurus erat: tenuit vestigia tellus, inmotusque silex armataque mansit imago. Hi tamen ex merito poenas subiere, sed unus 200 miles erat Persei: pro quo dum pugnat, Aconteus Gorgone conspecta saxo concrevit oborto ; quem ratus Astyages etiamnum vivere, longo ense ferit: sonuit tinnitibus ensis acutis. dum stupet Astyages, naturam traxit eandem, 205 marmoreoque manet vultus mirantis in ore. nomina longa mora est media de plebe virorum dicere: bis centum restabant corpora pugnae, Gorgone bis centum riguerunt corpora visa. Paenitet iniusti tum denique Phinea belli; 210 sed quid agat? simulacra videt diversa figuris adgnoscitque suos et nomine quemque vocatum poscit opem credensque parum sibi proxima tangit corpora: marmor erant; avertitur atque ita supplex confessasque manus obliquaque bracchia tendens 215 “ vincis ” ait, ‘‘ Perseu! remove tua monstra tuaeque saxificos vultus, quaecumque ea, tolle Medusae, tolle, precor! non nos odium regnique cupido conpulit ad bellum, pro coniuge movimus arma! causa fuit meritis melior tua, tempore nostra: 220 non cessisse piget; nihil, o fortissime, praeter hane animam concede mihi, tua cetera sunto! ”’ talia dicenti neque eum, quem voce rogabat, respicere audenti ‘ quod ”’ ait, “ timidissime Phineu, 252 METAMORPHOSES BOOK V the earth this fellow and his magic arms! ’”’ He had begun the rush, but the floor held his feet fast and there he stayed, a motionless rock, an image in full armour. These, indeed, deserved the punishment they received. But there was one, Aconteus, a soldier on Perseus’ side, who, while fighting for his friend, chanced to look upon the Gorgon’s face and hardened into stone. Astyages, thinking him still a living man, smote upon him with his long sword. The sword gave out a sharp clanging sound; and while Astyages stood amazed, the same strange power got hold on him, and he stood there still with a look of wonder on his marble face. It would take too long to tell the names of the rank and file who perished. Two hundred men survived the fight; two hundred saw the Gorgon and turned to stone. But now at last Phineus repents him of this un- righteous strife. But what is he to do? He sees images in various attitudes and knows the men for his own; he calls each one by name, prays for his aid, and hardly believing his eyes, he touches those who are nearest him: marble, all! He turns his face away, and so stretching out sideways suppliant hands that confess defeat, he says: “‘ Perseus, you are my conqueror. Remove that dreadful thing; that petrifying Medusa-head of yours—whosoever she may be, oh, take it away, I beg. It was not hate of you and lust for the kingly power that drove me to this war. It was my wife I fought for. Your claim was better in merit, mine in time. I am content to yield. Grant me now nothing, O bravest of men, save this my life. All the rest be yours.” As he thus spoke, not daring to look at him to whom he prayed, Perseus replied: ‘‘ Most craven Phineus, dismiss your 253 OVID et possum tribuisse et magnum est munus inerti,— pone metum!—tribuam: nullo violabere ferro. 226 quin etiam mansura dabo monimenta per aevum, inque domo soceri semper spectabere nostri, ut mea se sponsi soletur imagine coniunx.”’ dixit et in partem Phorcynida transtulit illam, 230 ad quam se trepido Phineus obverterat ore. tum quoque conanti sua vertere lumina cervix diriguit, saxoque oculorum induruit umor, sed tamen os timidum vultusque in marmore supplex submissaeque manus faciesque obnoxia mansit. 235 Victor Abantiades patrios cum coniuge muros intrat et inmeriti vindex ultorque parentis adgreditur Proetum; nam fratre per arma fugato Acrisioneas Proetus possederat arces. sed nec ope armorum nec, quam male ceperat, arce torva colubriferi superavit lumina monstri. 241 Te tamen, o parvae rector, Polydecta, Seriphi, nec iuvenis virtus per tot spectata labores nec mala mollierant, sed inexorabile durus exerces odium, nec iniqua finis in ira est; — 245 detrectas etiam laudem fictamque Medusae arguis esse necem. “ dabimus tibi pignora veri. parcite luminibus!” Perseus ait oraque regis ore Medusaeo silicem sine sanguine fecit. Hactenus aurigenae comitem Tritonia fratri 250 254 METAMORPHOSES BOOK V fears; what I can give (and ‘tis a great boon for your coward soul), I will grant: you shall not suffer by the sword. Nay, but I will make of you a monument that shall endure for ages; and in the house of my father-in-law you shall always stand on view, that so my wife may find solace in the statue of her promised lord.”’ So saying, he bore the Gorgon-head where Phineus had turned his fear-struck face. Then, even as he strove to avert his eyes, his neck grew hard and the very tears upon his cheeks were changed to stone. And now in marble was fixed the cowardly face, the suppliant look, the pleading hands, the whole cringing attitude. Victorious Perseus, together with his bride, now returns to his ancestral city; and there, to avenge his grandsire, who little deserved this championship, he wars on Proetus. For Proetus had driven his brother out by force of arms, and seized the strong- hold of Acrisius. But neither by the force of arms, nor by the stronghold he had basely seized, could he resist the baleful gaze of that dread snake-wreathed monster. But you, O Polydectes, ruler of Little Seriphus, were not softened by the young man’s valour, tried in so many feats, nor by his troubles; but you were hard and unrelenting in hate, and your unjust anger knew no end. You even refused him his honour, and declared that the death of Medusa was all a lie. ‘ We will give you proof of that,” then Perseus said ; “protect your eyes!” (this to his friends). And with the Medusa-face he changed the features of the king to bloodless stone. During all this time Tritonia! had been the comrade of her brother born of the golden shower. 1 Athena. 255 OVID se dedit; inde cava circumdata nube Seriphon deserit, a dextra Cythno Gyaroque relictis, quaque super pontum via visa brevissima, Thebas virgineumque Helicona petit. quo monte potita constitit et doctas sic est adfata sorores: 255 “fama novi fontis nostras pervenit ad aures, dura Medusaei quem praepetis ungula rupit. is mihi causa viae; volui mirabile factum cernere; vidi ipsum materno sanguine nasci.’’ excipit Uranie: “ quaecumque est causa videndi 260 has tibi, diva, domos, animo gratissima nostro es. vera tamen fama est: est Pegasus huius origo fontis ’’ et ad latices deduxit Pallada sacros. quae mirata diu factas pedis ictibus undas silvarum lucos circumspicit antiquarum 265 antraque et innumeris distinctas floribus herbas felicesque vocat pariter studioque locoque Mnemonidas; quam sic adfata est una sororum: ‘0, nisi te virtus opera ad maiora tulisset, in partem ventura chori Tritonia nostri, 270 vera refers meritoque probas artesque locumque, et gratam sortem, tutae modo simus, habemus. sed (vetitum est adeo sceleri nihil) omnia terrent virgineas mentes, dirusque ante ora Pyreneus vertitur, et nondum tota me mente recepi. . 275 Daulida Threicio Phoceaque milite rura ceperat ille ferox iniustaque regna tenebat ; templa petebamus Parnasia: vidit euntes nostraque fallaci veneratus numina vultu 279 ‘ Mnemonides ’ (cognorat enim), “ consistite ° dixit 256 METAMORPHOSES BOOK V But now, wrapped in a hollow cloud, she left Seriphus, and, passing Cythnus and Gyarus on the right, by the shortest course over the sea she made for Thebes and Helicon, home of the Muses. On this mountain she alighted, and thus addressed the sisters versed in song: “‘ The fame of a newspring has reached my ears, which broke out under the hard hoof of the winged horse of Medusa. This is the cause of my journey: I wished to see the marvellous thing. The horse himself I saw born from his mother’s blood.” Urania replied: “ Whatever cause has brought thee to see our home, O goddess, thou art most welcome to our hearts. But the tale is true, and Pegasus did indeed produce our spring.” And she led Pallas aside to the sacred waters. She long admired the spring made by the stroke of the horse’s hoof; then looked round on the ancient woods, the grottoes, and the grass, spangled with countless flowers. She declared the daughters of Mnemosyne to be happy alike in their favourite pursuits and in their home. And thus one of the sisters answered her: “ O thou, Tritonia, who wouldst so fitly join our band, had not thy merits raised thee to far greater tasks, thou sayest truth and dost justly praise our arts and our home. We have indeed a happy lot—were we but safe in it. But (such is the licence of the time) all things affright our virgin souls, and the vision of fierce Pyreneus is ever before our eyes, and I have not yet recovered from my fear. This bold king with his Thracian soldiery had captured Daulis and the Phocian fields, and ruled that realm which he had unjustly gained. It chanced that we were journeying to the temple on Parnasus. He saw us going, and feigning a reverence for our divinity, he said: ‘O daughters of Mnemosyne’ —for he knew us— ‘stay your steps and do not hesitate 25/7 OVID ‘ nec dubitate, precor, tecto grave sidus et imbrem ’ (imber erat) “ vitare meo; subiere minores saepe casas superi.’ dictis et tempore motae adnuimusque viro primasque intravimus aedes. desierant imbres, victoque aquilonibus austro 285 fusca repurgato fugiebant nubila caelo: inpetus ire fuit; claudit sua tecta Pyreneus vimque parat, quam nos sumptis effugimus alis. ipse secuturo similis stetit arduus arce ‘ qua ’ que ‘ via est vobis, erit et mihi ’ dixit “ eadem ’ seque iacit vecors e summae culmine turris 291 et cadit in vultus discussisque ossibus oris tundit humum moriens scelerato sanguine tinctam.”’ Musa loquebatur: pennae sonuere per auras, voxque salutantum ramis veniebat ab altis. 295 suspicit et linguae quaerit tam certa loquentes unde sonent hominemque putat Jove nata locutum ; ales erat. numeroque novem sua fata querentes institerant ramis imitantes omnia picae. miranti sic orsa deae dea “ nuper et istae 300 auxerunt volucrum victae certamine turbam. Pieros has genuit Pellaeis dives in arvis, Paeonis Euippe mater fuit; illa potentem Lucinam noviens, noviens paritura, vocavit. . intumuit numero stolidarum turba sororum 305 perque tot Haemonias et per tot Achaidas urbes huc venit et tali committit proelia voce: ‘ desinite indoctum vana dulcedine vulgus fallere; nobiscum, si qua est fiducia vobis, 258 METAMORPHOSES BOOK V to take shelter beneath my roof against the lowering sky and the rain —for rain was falling— gods have often entered a humbler home.’ Moved by his words and by the storm, we yielded to the man and entered his portal. And now the rain had ceased, the south wind had been routed by the north, and the dusky clouds were in full flight from the brightening sky. We were fain to go on our way; but Pyreneus shut his doors, and offered us violence. ‘This we escaped by donning our wings. He, as if he would follow us, took his stand on a lofty battlement and cried to us: ‘ What way you take, the same will I take also’; and, quite bereft of sense, he leaped from the pinnacle of the tower. Headlong he fell, crushing his bones and dyeing the ground in death with his accursed blood.” While the muse was still speaking, the sound of whirring wings was heard and words of greeting came from the high branches of the trees. Jove’s daughter looked up and tried to see whence came the sound which was so clearly speech. She thought some human being spoke; but it was a bird. Nine birds, lamenting their fate, had alighted in the branches, magpies, which can imitate any sound they please. When Minerva wondered at the sight, the other addressed her, goddess to goddess: “ "Tis but lately those creatures also, conquered in a strife, have been added to the throng of birds. Pierus, lord of the rich domain of Pella, was their father, and Euippe of Paeonia was their mother. Nine times brought to the birth, nine times she called for help on mighty Lucina. Swollen with pride of numbers, this throng of senseless sisters journeyed through all the towns of Haemonia and all the towns of Achaia to us, and thus defied us to a contest in song: ° Cease to de- ceive the unsophisticated rabble with your pretence 259 OVID Thespiades, certate, deae. nec voce, nec arte 310 vincemur totidemque sumus: vel cedite victae fonte Medusaeo et Hyantea Aganippe, vel nos Emathiis ad Paeonas usque nivosos cedemus campis! dirimant certamina nymphae.’ ‘ Turpe quidem contendere erat, sed cedere visum turpius; electae iurant per flumina nymphae 316 factaque de vivo pressere sedilia saxo. tunc sine sorte prior quae se certare professa est, bella canit superum falsoque in honore gigantas ponit et extenuat magnorum facta deorum ; 320 emissumque ima de sede Typhoea terrae caelitibus fecisse metum cunctosque dedisse terga fugae, donec fessos Aegyptia tellus ceperit et septem discretus in ostia Nilus. huc quoque terrigenam venisse Typhoea narrat 325 et se mentitis superos celasse figuris ; ‘ duxque gregis ’ dixit ‘ fit Iuppiter: unde recurvis nunc quoque formatus Libys est cumcornibus Ammon ; Delius in corvo, proles Semeleia capro, fele soror Phoebi, nivea Saturnia vacca, 330 pisce Venus latuit, Cyllenius ibidis alis.’ ‘“ Hactenus ad citharam vocalia moverat ora: poscimur Aonides,—sed forsitan otia non sint, nec nostris praebere vacet tibi cantibus aurés.”’ “ne dubita vestrumque mihi refer ordine carmen! ”’ Pallas ait nemorisque levi consedit in umbra; 336 Musa refert: “ dedimus summam certaminis uni; surgit et inmissos hedera collecta capillos Calliope querulas practemptat pollice chordas 260 METAMORPHOSES BOOK V of song. Come, strive with us, ye Thespian god- desses, if you dare. Neither in voice nor in skill can we be conquered, and our numbers are the same. If you are conquered, yield us Medusa’s spring and Boeotian Aganippe; or we will yield to you the Emathian plains even to snow-clad Paeonia; and let the nymphs be judges of our strife.’ “ It was a shame to strive with them, but it seemed greater shame to yield. So the nymphs were chosen judges and took oath by their streams, and they set them down upon benches of living rock. Then with- out drawing lots she who had proposed the contest first began. She sang of the battle of the gods and giants, ascribing undeserved honour to the giants, and belittling the deeds of the mighty gods: how Typhoeus, sprung from the lowest depths of earth, inspired the heavenly gods with fear, and how they all turned their backs and fled, until, weary, they found refuge in the land of Egypt and the seven- mouthed Nile. How even there Typhoeus, son of earth, pursued them, and the gods hid themselves in lying shapes: ‘ Jove thus became a ram,’ said she, ‘ the lord of flocks, whence Libyan Ammon even to this day is represented with curving horns; Apollo hid in a crow’s shape, Bacchus in a goat; the sister of Phoebus, in a cat, Juno in a snow-white cow, Venus in a fish, Mercury in an ibis bird.’ | “So far had she sung, tuning voice to harp; we, the Aonian sisters, were challenged to reply—but perhaps you have not leisure, and care not to listen to oursong?”’ “Nay, have no doubt,” Pallas exclaimed, ‘but sing now your song in due order.’’ And she took her seat in the pleasant shade of the forest. The muse replied: “‘ We gave the conduct of our strife to one, Calliope; who rose and, with her flowing tresses 261 OVID atque haec percussis subiungit carmina nervis: 340 ‘Prima Ceres unco glaebam dimovit aratro, prima dedit fruges alimentaque mitia terris, prima dedit leges; Cereris sunt omnia munus ; illa canenda mihi est. utinam modo dicere possim carmina digna dea! certe dea carmine digna est. 345 ““Vasta giganteis ingesta est insula membris Trinacris et magnis subiectum molibus urguet aetherias ausum sperare Typhoea sedes. nititur ille quidem pugnatque resurgere saepe, dextra sed Ausonio manus est subiecta Peloro, 350 laeva, Pachyne, tibi, Lilybaeo crura premuntur, degravat Aetna caput, sub qua resupinus harenas eiectat flammamque fero vomit ore Typhoeus. saepe remoliri luctatur pondera terrae oppidaque et magnos devolvere corpore montes: 355 inde tremit tellus, et rex pavet ipse silentum, ne pateat latoque solum retegatur hiatu inmissusque dies trepidantes terreat umbras. hanc metuens cladem tenebrosa sede tyrannus exierat curruque atrorum vectus equorum 360 ambibat Siculae cautus fundamina terrae. postquam exploratum satis est loca nulla labare depositique metus, videt hunc Erycina vagantem monte suo residens natumque amplexa volucrem 4 ° 99 e ° arma Manusque meae, mea, nate, potentia dixit, 6 ‘ illa, quibus superas omnes, cape tela, Cupido, 366 262 METAMORPHOSES BOOK V bound in an ivy wreath, tried the plaintive chords with her thumb, and then, with sweeping chords, she sang this song: ‘Ceres was the first to turn the glebe with the hooked plowshare; she first gave corn and kindly sustenance to the world; she first gave laws. All things are the gift of Ceres; she must be the subject of my song. Would that I could worthily sing of her; surely the goddess is worthy of my song. “ “The huge island of Sicily had been heaped upon the body of the giant, and with its vast weight was resting on Typhoeus, who had dared to aspire to the heights of heaven. He struggles indeed, and strives often to rise again; but his right hand is held down by Ausonian Pelorus and his left by you, Pachynus. Lilybaeum rests on his legs, and Aetna’s weight is on his head. Flung on his back beneath this mountain, the fierce Typhoeus spouts forth ashes and vomits flames from his mouth. Often he puts forth all his strength to push off the weight of earth and to roll the cities and great mountains from his body: then the earth quakes, and even the king of the silent land is afraid lest the crust of the earth split open in wide seams and lest the light of day be let in and affright the trembling shades. Fearing this disaster, the king of the lower world had left his gloomy realm and, drawn in his chariot with its sable steeds, was tra- versing the land of Sicily, carefully examining its foundations. After he had examined all to his satisfaction, and found that no points were giving way, he put aside his fears. ‘Then Venus Erycina saw him wandering to and fro, as she was seated on her sacred mountain, and embracing her winged son, she exclaimed: “ O son, both arms and hands to me, and source of all my power, take now those shafts, Cupid, with which you conquer all, and shoot 263 OVID inque dei pectus celeres molire sagittas, cui triplicis cessis fortuna novissima regni. tu superos ipsumque lovem, tu numina ponti victa domas ipsumque, regit qui numina ponti: 370 Tartara quid cessant? cur non matrisque tuumque imperium profers? agitur pars tertia mundi, et tamen in caelo, quae iam patientia nostra est, spernimur, ac mecum vires minuuntur Amoris. Pallada nonne vides iaculatricemque Dianam = 375 abscessisse mihi? Cereris quoque filia virgo, si patiemur, erit; nam spes adfectat easdem. at tu pro socio, si qua est ea gratia, regno iunge deam patruo.” dixit Venus; ille pharetram solvit et arbitrio matris de mille sagittis 380 unam seposuit, sed qua nec acutior ulla nec minus incerta est nec quae magis audiat arcus, oppositoque genu curvavit flexile cornum inque cor hamata percussit harundine Ditem. “*Haud procul Hennaeis lacus est a moenibus altae, nomine Pergus, aquae: non illo plura Caystros 386 carmina cycnorum labentibus audit in undis. silva coronat aquas cingens latus omne suisque frondibus ut velo Phoebeos submovet ictus; frigora dant rami, tyrios humus umida flores: —_ 390 perpetuum ver est. quo dum Proserpina luco ludit et aut violas aut candida lilia carpit, dumque puellari studio calathosque sinumque inplet et aequales certat superare legendo, paene simul visa est dilectaque raptaque Diti: 395 usque adeo est properatus amor. dea territa maesto 204 METAMORPHOSES BOOK V your swift arrows into the heart of that god to whom the final lot of the triple kingdom fell. You rule the gods, and Jove himself; you conquer and control the deities of the sea, and the very king that rules the deities of the sea. Why does Tartarus hold back ? Why do you not extend your mother’s empire and your own? The third part of the world is at stake. And yet in heaven, such is our long-suffering, we are despised, and with my own, the power of love is weakening. Do you not see that Pallas and huntress Diana have revolted against me? And Ceres’ daughter, too, will remain a virgin if we suffer it; for she aspires to be like them. But do you, in behalf of our joint sovereignty, if you take any pride in that, join the goddess to her uncle in the bonds of love.” So Venus spoke. The god of love loosed his quiver at his mother’s bidding and selected from his thousand arrows one, the sharpest and the surest and the most obedient to the bow. Then he bent the pliant bow across his knee and with his barbed arrow smote Dis through the heart. ‘‘“ Not far from Henna’s walls there is a deep pool of water, Pergus by name. Not Cajster on its gliding waters hears more songs of swans than does this pool. A wood crowns the heights around its waters on every side, and with its foliage as with an awning keeps off the sun’s hot rays. The branches afford a pleasing coolness, and the well-watered ground bears bright- coloured flowers. There spring is everlasting. Within this grove Proserpina was playing, and gathering violets or white lilies. And while with girlish eager- ness she was filling her basket and her bosom, and striving to surpass her mates in gathering, almost in one act did Pluto see and love and carry her away: so precipitate was his love. ‘The terrified girl called 265 OVID et matrem et comites, sed matrem saepius, ore clamat, et ut summa vestem laniarat ab ora, collecti flores tunicis cecidere remissis, tantaque simplicitas puerilibus adfuit annis, 400 haec quoque virgineum movit iactura dolorem. raptor agit currus et nomine quemque vocando exhortatur equos, quorum per colla iubasque excutit obscura tinctas ferrugine habenas, perque lacus altos et olentia sulphure fertur 405 stagna Palicorum rupta ferventia terra et qua Bacchiadae, bimari gens orta Corintho, inter inaequales posuerunt moenia portus. “Est medium Cyanes et Pisaeae Arethusae, quod coit angustis inclusum cornibus aequor: 410 hic fuit, a cuius stagnum quoque nomine dictum est, inter Sicelidas Cyane celeberrima nymphas. gurgite quae medio summa tenus exstitit alvo adgnovitque deam “ nec longius ibitis! *”’ inquit ; “non potes invitae Cereris gener esse: roganda, 415 non rapienda fuit. quodsi conponere magnis parva mihi fas est, et me dilexit Anapis ; exorata tamen, nec, ut haec, exterrita nupsi.” dixit et in partes diversas bracchia tendens | obstitit. haud ultra tenuit Saturnius iram 420 terribilesque hortatus equos in gurgitis ima contortum valido sceptrum regale lacerto condidit; icta viam tellus in Tartara fecit et pronos currus medio cratere recepit. 266 METAMORPHOSES BOOK V plaintively on her mother and her companions, but more often upon her mother. And since she had torn her garment at its upper edge, the flowers which she had gathered fell out of her loosened tunic; and such was the innocence of her girlish years, the loss of her flowers even at such a time aroused new grief. Her captor sped his chariot and urged on his horses, calling each by name, and shaking the dark-dyed reins on their necks and manes. Through deep lakes he galloped, through the pools of the Palici, reeking with sulphur and boiling up from a crevice of the earth, and where the Bacchiadae, a race sprung from Corinth between two seas, had built a city between two harbours of unequal size. ‘“ “ There is between Cyane and Pisaean Arethusa a bay of the sea, its waters confined by narrowing points of land. Here was Cyane, the most famous of the Sicilian nymphs, from whose name the pool itself was called. She stood forth from the midst of her pool as far as her waist, and recognizing the goddess cried to Dis: “ No further shall you go! Thou canst not be the son-in-law of Ceres against her will. The maiden should have been wooed, not ravished. But, if it is proper for me to compare small things with great, I also have been wooed, by Anapis, and I wedded him, too, yielding to prayer, however, not to fear, like this maiden.” She spoke and, stretching her arms on either side, blocked his way. No longer could the son of Saturn hold his wrath, and urging on his terrible steeds, he whirled his royal sceptre with strong right arm and smote the pool to its bottom. The smitten earth opened up a road to Tartarus and received the down-plunging chariot in her cavernous depths. 267 OVID “At Cyane, raptamque deam contemptaque fontis iura sui maerens, inconsolabile vulnus 426 mente gerit tacita lacrimisque absumitur omnis et, quarum fuerat magnum modo numen, in illas extenuatur aquas: molliri membra videres, ossa pati flexus, ungues posuisse rigorem ; 430 primaque de tota tenuissima quaeque liquescunt, caerulei crines digitique et crura pedesque ; nam brevis in gelidas membris exilibus undas transitus est; post haec umeri tergusque latusque pectoraque in tenues abeunt evanida rivos ; 435 denique pro vivo vitiatas sanguine venas lympha subit, restatque nihil, quod prendere posses. “ “Interea pavidae nequiquam filia matri omnibus est terris, omni quaesita profundo. illam non udis veniens Aurora capillis 440 cessantem vidit, non Hesperus; illa duabus flammiferas pinus manibus succendit ab Aetna perque pruinosas tulit inrequieta tenebras ; rursus ubi alma dies hebetarat sidera, natam solis ab occasu solis quaerebat ad ortus. 445 fessa labore sitim conlegerat, oraque nulli conluerant fontes, cum tectam stramine vidit forte casam parvasque fores pulsavit; at inde prodit anus divamque videt lymphamque roganti dulce dedit, tosta quod texerat ante polenta. 450 dum bibit illa datum, duri puer oris et audax constitit ante deam risitque avidamque vocavit. offensa est neque adhuc epota parte loquentem cum liquido mixta perfudit diva polenta : conbibit os maculas et, quae modo bracchia gessit, crura gerit; cauda est mutatis addita membris, 456 inque brevem formam, ne sit vis magna nocendi, 268 . £84 METAMORPHOSES BOOK V ““ But Cyane, grieving for the rape of the goddess and for her fountain’s rights thus set at naught, nursed an incurable wound in her silent heart, and dissolved all away in tears; and into those very waters was she melted whose great divinity she had been but now. You might see her limbs softening, her bones becom- ing flexible, her nails losing their hardness. And first of all melt the slenderest parts: her dark hair, her fingers, legs and feet; for it is no great change from slender limbs to cool water. Next after these, her shoulders, back and sides and breasts vanish into thin watery streams. And finally, in place of living blood, clear water flows through her weakened veins and nothing is left that you can touch. “““ Meanwhile all in vain the affrighted mother seeks her daughter in every land, on every deep. Not Aurora, rising with dewy tresses, not Hesperus sees her pausing in the search. She kindles two pine torches in the fires of Aetna, and wanders without rest through the frosty shades of night; again, when the genial day had dimmed the stars, she was still seeking her daughter from the setting to the rising of the sun. Faint with toil and athirst, she had moistened her lips in no fountain, when she chanced to see a hut thatched with straw, and knocked at its lowly door. Then out came an old woman and beheld the goddess, and when she asked for water gave her a sweet drink with parched barley floating upon it. ‘While she drank, a coarse, saucy boy stood watching her, and mocked her and called her greedy. She was offended, and threw what she had not yet drunk, with the barley grains, full in his face Straight- way his face was spotted, his arms were changed to legs, and a tail was added to his transformed limbs ; he shrank to tiny size, that he might have no great 269 OVID contrahitur, parvaque minor mensura lacerta est. mirantem flentemque et tangere monstra parantem fugit anum latebramque petit aptumque pudori 460 nomen habet variis stellatus corpora guttis. ‘““ Quas dea per terras et quas erraverit undas, dicere longa mora est; quaerenti defuit orbis ; Sicaniam repetit, dumque omnia lustrat eundo, venit et ad Cyanen. ea ni mutata fuisset, 465 omnia narrasset; sed et os et lingua volenti dicere non aderant, nec, quo loqueretur, habebat ; signa tamen manifesta dedit notamque parenti, illo forte loco delapsam in gurgite sacro | Persephones zonam summis ostendit in undis. 470 quam simul agnovit, tamquam tum denique raptam scisset, inornatos laniavit diva capillos et repetita suis percussit pectora palmis. nescit adhuc, ubi sit; terras tamen increpat omnes ingratasque vocat nec frugum munere dignas, 475 Trinacriam ante alias, in qua vestigia damni repperit. ergo illic saeva vertentia glaebas fregit aratra manu parilique irata colonos ruricolasque boves leto dedit arvaque iussit fallere depositum vitiataque semina fecit. 480 fertilitas terrae latum vulgata per orbem falsa iacet: primis segetes moriuntur in herbis, et modo sol nimius, nimius modo corripit imber ; sideraque ventique nocent, avidaeque volucres 270 METAMORPHOSES BOOK V power to harm, and became in form a lizard, though yet smaller in size. The old woman wondered and wept, and reached out to touch the marvellous thing, but he fled from her and sought a hiding-place. He has a name? suited to his offence, since his body is starred with bright-coloured spots. “ “Over what lands and what seas the goddess wandered it would take long to tell. When there was no more a place to search in, she came back to Sicily, and in the course of her wanderings here she came to Cyane. Ifthe nymph had not been changed to water, she would have told her all. But, though she wished to tell, she had neither lips nor tongue, nor aught wherewith to speak. But still she gave clear evidence, and showed on the surface of her pool what the mother knew well, Persephone’s girdle, which had chanced to fall upon the sacred waters. As soon as she knew this, just as if she had then for the first time learned that her daughter had been stolen, the goddess tore her unkempt locks and smote her breast again and again with her hands. She did not know as yet where her child was; still she reproached all lands, calling them ungrateful and unworthy of the gift of corn; but Sicily above all other lands, where she had found traces of her loss. So there with angry hand she broke in pieces the plows that turn the glebe, and in her rage she gave to destruction farmers and cattle alike, and bade the plowed fields to betray their trust, and blighted the seed. The fertility of this land, famous throughout the world, lay false to its good name: the crops died in early blade, now too much heat, now too much rain destroying them. Stars and winds were baleful, and greedy birds ate up the seed as soon as it was 1 2.e. stellio, a lizard or newt. 271 OVID semina iacta legunt; lolium tribulique fatigant triticeas messes et inexpugnabile gramen. “ “Tum caput Eleis Alpheias extulit undis rorantesque comas a fronte removit ad aures atque ait “ o toto quaesitae virginis orbe et frugum genetrix, inmensos siste labores neve tibi fidae violenta irascere terrae. terra nihil meruit patuitque invita rapinae, nec sum pro patria supplex: huc hospita veni. Pisa mihi patria est et ab Elide ducimus ortus, Sicaniam peregrina colo, sed gratior omni 485 490 495 haec mihi terra solo est: hos nunc Arethusa penates, hance habeo sedem. quam tu, mitissima, serva. mota loco cur sim tantique per aequoris undas advehar Ortygiam, veniet narratibus hora tempestiva meis, cum tu curaque levata et vultus melioris eris. mihi pervia tellus praebet iter, subterque imas ablata cavernas hic caput attollo desuetaque sidera cerno. ergo dum Stygio sub terris gurgite labor, visa tua est oculis illic Proserpina nostris : illa quidem tristis neque adhuc interrita vultu, sed regina tamen, sed opaci maxima mundi, sed tamen inferni pollens matrona tyranni! ” Mater ad auditas stupuit ceu saxea voces attonitaeque diu similis fuit, utque dolore pulsa gravi gravis est amentia, curribus oras exit in aetherias: ibi toto nubila vultu ante Iovem passis stetit invidiosa capillis 272 500) 505 O10 METAMORPHOSES BOOK V sown; tares and thorns and stubborn grasses choked the wheat. “Then did Arethusa, Alpheus’ daughter, lift her head from her Elean pool and, brushing her dripping locks back from her brows, thus addressed the goddess: ‘O thou mother of the maiden sought through all the earth, thou mother of fruits, cease now thy boundless toils and do not be so grievously wroth with the land which has been true to thee. The land is innocent; against its will it opened to the robbery. It is not for my own country that I pray, for I came a stranger hither. Pisa is my native land, and from Elis have I sprung; I dwell in Sicily a foreigner. But I love this country more than all; this is now my home, here is my dwelling-place. And now, I pray thee, save it, O most merciful. Why I moved from my place and why I came to Sicily, through such wastes of sea, a fitting time will come to tell thee, when thou shalt be free from care and of a more cheerful countenance. The solid earth opened a way before me, and passing through the lowest depths, I here lifted my head again and beheld the stars that had grown unfamiliar. Therefore, while I was gliding beneath the earth in my Stygian stream, I saw Proserpina there with these very eyes. She seemed sad indeed, and her face was still perturbed with fear; but yet she was a queen, the great queen of that world of darkness, the mighty consort of the tyrant of the underworld.” The mother upon hearing these words stood as if turned to stone, and was for a long time like one bereft of reason. But when her overwhelming frenzy had given way to over- whelming pain, sheset forthin herchariot to the realms of heaven. There, with clouded countenance, with dishevelled hair, and full of indignation, she appeared before Jove and said: “I have come, O Jupiter, as 273 VOL. I. K OVID ‘pro ’’ que “ meo veni supplex tibi, Iuppiter,”’ inquit ‘“ sanguine proque tuo: si nulla est gratia matris, 515 nata patrem moveat, neu sit tibi cura, precamur, vilior illius, quod nostro est edita partu. en quaesita diu tandem mihi nata reperta est, sl reperire vocas amittere certius, aut si scire, ubi sit,reperire vocas. quod rapta,feremus, 520 dummodo reddat eam! neque enim praedone marito filia digna tua est, si iam mea filia non est.” Iuppiter excepit “ commune est pignus onusque nata mihi tecum; sed si modo nomina rebus addere vera placet, non hoc iniuria factum, 525 verum amor est; neque erit nobis gener ille pudori, tu modo, diva, velis. ut desint cetera, quantum est esse Iovis fratrem! quid, quod nec cetera desunt nec cedit nisi sorte mihi?—sed tanta cupido si tibi discidii est, repetet Proserpina caelum, 530 lege tamen certa, si nullos contigit illic ore cibos; nam sic Parcarum foedere cautum est.” “* Dixerat, at Cereri certum est educere natam ; non ita fata sinunt, quoniam ieiunia virgo solverat et, cultis dum simplex errat in hortis, 535 poeniceum curva decerpserat arbore pomum sumptaque pallenti septem de cortice grana ° presserat ore suo, solusque ex omnibus illud Ascalaphus vidit, quem quondam dicitur Orphne, inter Avernales haud ignotissima nymphas, 540 ex Acheronte suo silvis peperisse sub atris ; vidit et indicio reditum crudelis ademit. 274 METAMORPHOSES BOOK V suppliant in behalf of my child and your own. If you haveno regard for the mother, at least let the daughter touch her father’s heart. And let not your care for her be less because I am her mother. See, my daughter, sought so long, has at last been found, if ou call it finding more certainly to lose her, or if you call it finding merely to know where she is. That she has been stolen, I will bear, if only he will bring her back; for your daughter does not deserve to have a robber for a husband—if now she is not mine.” And Jove replied: “She is, indeed, our daughter, yours and mine, our common pledge and care. But if only we are willing to give right names to things, this is no harm that has been done, but only love. Nor will he shame us for a son-in-law—do you but consent, goddess. Though all else be lacking, how great a thing it is to be Jove’s brother! But what that other things are not lacking, and that he does not yield place to me—save only by the lot? But if you so greatly desire to separate them, Proserpina shall return to heaven, but on one condition only: if in the lower-world no food has as yet touched her lips. For so have the fates decreed.”’ “ “He spoke; but Ceres was resolved to have her daughter back. Not so the fates; for the girl had already broken her fast, and while, simple child that she was, she wandered in the trim gardens, she had plucked a purple pomegranate hanging from a bend- ing bough, and peeling off the yellowish rind, she had eaten seven of the seeds. The only one who saw the act was Ascalaphus, whom Orphne, not the least famous of the Avernal nymphs, is said to have borne to her own Acheron within the dark groves of the lower-world. The boy saw, and by his cruel tattling thwarted the girl’s return to earth. Then 2795 OVID ingemuit regina Erebi testemque profanam fecit avem sparsumque caput Phlegethontide lympha in rostrum et plumas et grandia lumina vertit. 545 ille sibi ablatus fulvis amicitur in alis inque caput crescit longosque reflectitur ungues vixque movet natas per inertia bracchia pennas foedaque fit volucris, venturi nuntia luctus, ignavus bubo, dirum mortalibus omen. 550 ‘“ “ Hic tamen indicio poenam linguaque videri commeruisse potest; vobis, Acheloides, unde pluma pedesque avium, cum virginis ora geratis? an quia, cum legeret vernos Proserpina flores, in comitum numero, doctae Sirenes, eratis? 555 quam postquam toto frustra quaesistis in orbe, protinus, et vestram sentirent aequora curam, posse super fiuctus alarum insistere remis optastis facilesque deos habuistis et artus vidistis vestros subitis flavescere pennis. 560 ne tamen ille canor mulcendas natus ad aures tantaque dos oris linguae deperderet usum, virginei vultus et vox humana remansit. “ At medius fratrisque sui maestaeque sororis Juppiter ex aequo volventem dividit annum: 565 nunc dea, regnorum numen commune duorum, cum matre est totidem, totidem cum conluge menses. vertitur extemplo facies et mentis et oris ; nam modo quae poterat Diti quoque maesta videri, laeta deae frons est, ut sol, qui tectus aquosis 570 nubibus ante fuit, victis e nubibus exit. 276 METAMORPHOSES BOOK V was the queen of Erebus enraged, and changed the informer into an ill-omened bird; throwing in his face a handful of water from the Phlegethon, she gave him a beak and feathers and big eyes. Robbed of himself, he is now clothed in yellow wings; he grows into a head and long, hooked claws; but he scarce moves the feathers that sprout all over his sluggish arms. He has become a loathsome bird, prophet of woe, the slothful screech-owl, a bird of evil omen to men. ‘ “ He indeed can seem to have merited his punish- ment because of his tattling tongue. But, daughters of Acheloiis, why have you the feathers and feet of birds, though you still have maidens’ features? Is it because, when Proserpina was gathering the spring flowers, you were among the number of her com- panions, ye Sirens, skilled in song? After you had sought in vain for her through all the lands, that the sea also might know your search, you prayed that you might float on beating wings above the waves: you found the gods ready, and suddenly you saw your limbs covered with golden plumage. But, that you might not lose your tuneful voices, so soothing to the ear, and that rich dower of song, maiden features and human voice remained. “ “ But now Jove, holding the balance between his brother and his grieving sister, divides the revolving year into two equal parts. Now the goddess, the common divinity of two realms, spends half the months with her mother and with her husband, half. Straightway the bearing of her heart and face is changed. For she who but lately even to Dis seemed sad, now wears a joyful countenance; like the sun which, long concealed behind dark and misty clouds, disperses the clouds and reveals his face. 271 OVID ‘““ Exigit alma Ceres nata secura recepta, quae tibi causa fugae, cur sis, Arethusa, sacer fons. conticuere undae quarum dea sustulit alto fonte caput viridesque manu siccata capillos 579 fluminis Elei veteres.narravit amores. “pars ego nympharum, quae sunt in Achaide,”’ dixit “una fui, nec me studiosius altera saltus legit nec posuit studiosius altera casses. sed quamvis formae numquam mihi fama petita est, quamvis fortis eram, formosae nomen habebam, 581 nec mea me facies nimium laudata iuvabat, quaque aliae gaudere solent, ego rustica dote corporis erubui crimenque placere putavi. lassa revertebar (memini) Stymphalide silva ; 585 aestus erat, magnumque labor geminaverat aestum: invenio sine vertice aquas, sine murmure euntes, perspicuas ad humum, per quas numerabilis alte calculus omnis erat, quas tu vix ire putares. cana salicta dabant nutritaque populus unda 590 sponte sua natas ripis declivibus umbras. accessi primumque pedis vestigia tinx1, poplite deinde tenus; neque eo contenta, recingor molliaque inpono salici velamina curvae nudaque mergor aquis. quas dum ferioque trahoque mille modis labens excussaque bracchia iacto, 596 nescio quod medio sensi sub gurgite murmur territaque insisto propioris margine ripae. “quo properas, Arethusa? ’ suis Alpheus ab undis, ‘quo properas? ’ iterum rauco mihi dixerat ore. 600 278 METAMORPHOSES BOOK V ‘““ Now kindly Ceres, happy in the recovery of her daughter, asks of you, Arethusa, why you fled, why you are now a sacred spring. The waters fall silent while their goddess lifts her head from her deep spring, and dries her green locks with her hands, and tells the old story of the Elean river's love. “I used to be one of the nymphs,” she says, ‘‘ who have their dwelling in Achaia, and no other was more eager in scouring the glades, or in setting the hunting-nets. But although I never sought the fame of beauty, although I was brave, I had the name of beautiful. Nor did my beauty, all too often praised, give me any Joy; and my dower of charming form, in which other maids rejoice, made me blush like a country girl, and I deemed it wrong to please. Wearied with the chase, I was returning, I remem- ber, from the Stymphalian wood; the heat was great and my toil had made it double. I came upon a stream flowing without eddy, and without sound, crystal-clear to the bottom, in whose depths you might count every pebble, waters which you would scarcely think to be moving. Silvery willows and poplars fed by the water gave natural shade to the soft-sloping banks. I came to the water’s edge and first dipped my feet, then in I went up to the knees: not satisfied with this, I removed my robes, and hanging the soft garments on a drooping willow, naked I plunged into the waters. And while I beat them, drawing them and gliding in a thousand turns and tossing my arms, I though I heard a kind of murmur deep in the pool. In terror I leaped on the nearer bank. Then Alpheus called from his waters: ‘Whither in haste, Arethusa? Whither in such haste?’ Twice in his hoarse voice he called to me. As I was, without my robes, I fled; for my robes were 279 OVID sicut eram fugio sine vestibus (altera vestes ripa meas hahuit): tanto magis instat ct ardet, et quia nuda fui, sum visa paratior illi. sic ego currebam, sie me ferus ille premebat, ut fugere accipitrem penna trepidante columbae, 605 ut solet accipiter trepidas urguere columbas. usque sub Orchomenon Psophidaque Cylenenque Maenaliosque sinus geliduimque Ierymanthon ct {lim currere sustinui, nec me velocior ille ; sed tolerare diu cursus ego viribus inpar 610 non poteram, longi patiens crat ille laboris. per tamen ct campos, per operlos arbore montes, saxa quoque ct rupcs et, qua via nulla, cucurri. sol erat a tergo: vidi praccedere longam ante pedes umbram, nisi si timor illa videbat; 615 sed certe sonitusque pedum terrebat ct ingens crinales vittas adflabat anhelitus oris. fessa labore fugae * fer opem, deprendimur, inquam ‘armigerac, Dictynna,!' tuac, cui sacpe dedisti ferre tuos areus inclusaque tela pharetra! ’ 620 mota dea est spissisque ferens ¢ nubibus unam me super iniecit: lustrat caligince tectam amnis et ignarus circum cava nubila quacrit bisque locum, quo me dea texcerat, inscius ambit et bis ‘io Arethusa’ voeavit, ‘io Arethusa! ’ 625 quid mihi tune animi miscrae fuit? anne quod agnac est, si qua Jupos audit cireum stabula alta frementes, aut Jepori, qui vepre latens hostilia cernit ora canum nullosque audet dare corpore motus ? non tamen abscedit; neque enim vestigia cernit 630 longius ulla pedum: servat nubemque locumque. oceupat obsessos sudor mihi frigidus artus, cacruleaeque cadunt toto de corpore guttac, 1 Dictynna Ifeinsius: Diana MSS. 280 METAMORPHOSES BOOK V on the other bank. So much the more he pressed on and burned with love: naked PE seemed readier for his taking. So did T flee and so did he hotly press after me, as doves on fluttering pinions flee the hawk, as the tee pursues the (rivhtened doves. sven past Orchomenus, past Psophis and Cyllene, past the combs of Macnalus, chill Mrymanthus and Vlis, T kept my flicht; nor was he swifter of foot iain I But O, being ill-matched in strength, could not long keep up my speed, while he could sustain a long pursuit. Yet through level plains, over mountains covered with trees, over rocks also and chffs, and where there was no way at ull, Tran. ‘The sun was at my back. I saw my pursucr’s long shadow stretching out ahead of me—unless it was fear that saw iit surely | heard the terrifying sound of feet, and his deep-pant- ing breath fanned my hair. ‘Then, forspent with the foil of flight, | cried aloud: °O help me or Tam caught, help thy armour-bearer, goddess of the nets, to whom so often thou hast given thy bow to bear and thy quiver, wilh all its arrows!” The eoddess heard, and threw an impenetrable cloud ofinist about me. ‘The river-god circled around me, wrapped in the darkness, and at fault quested about the hollow mist. And twice he went round the place where the g@od- dess had hidden me, unknowing, and twice he called, ‘ Arethusal ©O Arethusal’ Tfow did | feel then, poor wretch! Was L not as the lamb, when it hears the wolves howling around the fold? or the hare which, hiding in the brambles, sees the dogs’ deadly muzzles and darcs not make the slightest motion ? But he went not far away, for he saw no traces of my feet further on; he watehed the cloud and the place. Cold sweat poured down my beleaguered limbs and the dark drops rained down from my whole body. 281 OVID quaque pedem movi, manat lacus, eque capillis ros cadit, et citius, quam nunc tibi factarenarro, 635 in latices mutor. sed enim cognoscit amatas amnis aquas positoque viri, quod sumpserat, ore vertitur in proprias, et se mihi misceat, undas. Delia rupit humum, caecisque ego mersa cavernis advehor Ortygiam, quae me cognomine divae 640 grata meae superas eduxit prima sub auras.” “ “Hac Arethusa tenus; geminos dea fertilis angues curribus admovit frenisque coercuit ora et medium caeli terraeque per aera vecta est atque levem currum Tritonida misit in urbem 645 Triptolemo partimque rudi data semina iussit spargere humo, partim post tempora longa recultae. jam super Europen sublimis et Asida terram vectus erat iuvenis: Scythicas advertitur oras. rex ibi Lyncus erat; regis subit ille penates. 650 qua veniat, causamque viae nomenque rogatus et patriam, “patria est clarae mihi’ dixit “ Athenae; Triptolemus nomen; veni nec puppe per undas, nec pede per terras: patuit mihi pervius aether. dona fero Cereris, latos quae sparsa per agros 655 frugiferas messes alimentaque mitia reddant.”’ barbarus invidit tantique ut muneris auctor ipse sit, hospitio recipit somnoque gravatum adgreditur ferro: conantem figere pectus 282 METAMORPHOSES BOOK V Wherever I put my foot a pool trickled out, and from my hair fell the drops; and sooner than I can now tell the tale I was changed to a stream of water. But sure enough he recognized in the waters the maid he loved; and laying aside the form of a man which he had assumed, he changed back to his own watery shape to mingle with me. My Delian goddess cleft the earth, and I, plunging down into the dark depths, was borne hither to Ortygia, which I love because it bears my goddess’ name, and this first received me to the upper air.” “* With this, Arethusa’s tale was done. Then the goddess of fertility yoked her two dragons to her car, curbing their mouths with the bit, and rode away through the air midway between heaven and earth, until she came at last to Pallas’ city. Here she gave her fleet car to Triptolemus, and bade him scatter the seeds of grain she gave, part in the untilled earth and part in fields that had long lain fallow. And now high over Europe and the land of Asia the youth held his course and came to Scythia, where Lyncus ruled as king. He entered the royal palace. The king asked him how he came and why, what was his name and country: he said: “ My country is far-famed Athens; Triptolemus, my name. I came neither by ship over the sea, nor on foot by land; the air opened a path for me. I bring the gifts of Ceres, which, if you sprinkle them over your wide fields, will give a fruitful harvest and food not wild.” The barbaric king heard with envy. And, that he himself might be the giver of so great a boon, he received his guest with hospitality, and when he was heavy with sleep, he attacked him with the sword. Him, in the very act of piercing the stranger’s breast, Ceres transformed into a lynx; and back 283 OVID lynea Ceres fecit rursusque per aera iussit 660 Mopsopium iuvenem sacros agitare iugales.’ “ Finierat dictos e nobis maxima cantus; at nymphae vicisse deas Helicona colentes concordi dixere sono: convicia victae cum iacerent, “ quoniam ‘ dixi “ certamine vobis 665 supplicium meruisse parum est maledictaque culpae additis et non est patientia libera nobis, ibimus in poenas et, qua vocat ira, sequemur.. rident Emathides spernuntque minacia verba, conantesque loqui et magno clamore protervas 670 intentare manus pennas exire per ungues adspexere suos, operiri bracchia plumis, alteraque alterius rigido concrescere rostro ora videt volucresque novas accedere silvis ; dumque volunt plangi, per bracchia mota levatae 675 aere pendebant, nemorum convicia, picae. Nunc quoque in alitibus facundia prisca remansit raucaque garrulitas studiumque inmane loquendi.”’ 284 METAMORPHOSES BOOK V through the air she bade the Athenian drive her sacred team.’ ‘ Our eldest sister here ended the song I have just rehearsed; then the nymphs with one voice agreed that the goddesses of Helicon had won. When the conquered sisters retorted with reviling, I made answer: ‘Since it was not enough that you have earned punishment by your challenge and you add insults to your offence, and since our patience is not without end, we shall proceed to punishment and indulge our resentment.’ The Pierides mocked, and scorned her threatening words. But as they tried to speak, and with loud outcries brandished their hands in saucy gestures, they saw feathers sprouting on their fingers, and plumage covering their arms; each saw another's face stiffening into a hard beak, and new forms of birds added to the woods. And while they strove to beat their breasts, uplifted by their flapping arms, they hung in the air, magpies, the noisy scandal of the woods. Even now in their feathered form their old-time gift of speech remains, their hoarse garrulity, their boundless passion for talk.” 285 LIBER VI PRAEBVERAT dictis Tritonia talibus aures carminaque Aonidum iustamque probaverat iram ; tum secum: “ laudare parum est, laudemur et ipsae numina nec sperni sine poena nostra sinamus. ” Maeoniaeque animum fatis intendit Arachnes, 5 quam sibi lanificae non cedere laudibus artis audierat. non illa loco nec origine gentis clara, sed arte fuit: pater huic Colophonius Idmon Phocaico bibulas tinguebat murice lanas ; occiderat mater, sed et haec de plebe suoque 10 aequa viro fuerat; Lydas tamen illa per urbes quaesierat studio nomen memorabile, quamvis orta domo parva parvis habitabat Hypaepis. huius ut adspicerent opus admirabile, saepe deseruere sui nymphae vineta Timoli, 15 deseruere suas nymphae Pactolides undas. nec factas solum vestes, spectare iuvabat tum quoque, cum fierent: tantus decor adfuit arti, sive rudem primos lanam glomerabat in orbes, seu digitis subigebat opus repetitaque longo 20 vellera mollibat nebulas aequantia tractu, sive levi teretem versabat pollice fusum, 288 BOOK VI Tritonta had listened to this tale, and had approved of the muses’ song and their just resentment. And then to herself she said: “‘ To praise is not enough; let me be praised myself and not allow my divinity to be scouted without punishment.” So saying, she turned her mind to the fate of Maeonian Arachne, who she had heard would not yield to her the palm in the art of spinning and weaving wool. Neither for place of birth nor birth itself had the girl fame, but only for her skill. Her father, Idmon of Colophon, used to dye the absorbent wool for her with Phocaean purple. Her mother was now dead; but she was low-born herself, and had a husband of the same degree. Nevertheless, the girl, Arachne, had gained fame for her skill throughout the Lydian towns, although she herself had sprung from a humble home and dwelt in the hamlet of Hypaepa. Often,towatch her wondrous skill, the nymphs would leave their own vineyards on Timolus’ slopes, and the water- nymphs of Pactolus would leave their waters. And ‘twas a pleasure not alone to see her finished work, but to watch her as she worked; so graceful and deft was she. Whether she was winding the rough yarn into a new ball, or shaping the stuff with her fingers, reaching back to the distaff for more wool, fleecy as a cloud, to draw into long soft threads, or giving a twist with practised thumb to the graceful spindle, or 289 OVID seu pingebat acu; scires a Pallade doctam. quod tamen ipsa negat tantaque offensa magistra “certet”’ ait “ mecum: nihil est, quod victa re- cusem! ” 25 Pallas anum simulat: falsosque in tempora canos addit et infirmos baculo quoque sustinet artus. tum sic orsa loqui “ non omnia grandior aetas, quae fugiamus, habet: seris venit usus ab annis. consilium ne sperne meum: tibi fama petatur 30 inter mortales faciendae maxima lanae; cede deae veniamque tuis, temeraria, dictis supplice voce roga: veniam dabit illa roganti.” adspicit hanc torvis inceptaque fila relinquit vixque manus retinens confessaque vultibus iram 35 talibus obscuram resecuta est Pallada dictis: ‘““mentis inops longaque venis confecta senecta, et nimium vixisse diu nocet. audiat istas, si qua tibi nurus est, si qua est tibi filia, voces ; consilii satis est in me mihi, neve monendo 40 profecisse putes, eadem est sententia nobis. cur non ipsa venit? cur haec certamina vitat? ” tum dea “ venit! ” ait formamque removit anilem Palladaque exhibuit: venerantur numina nymphae Mygdonidesque nurus; sola est non territa virgo, 45 sed tamen exsiluit,! subitusque invita notavit ora rubor rursusque evanuit, ut solet aer purpureus fieri, cum primum Aurora movetur, et breve post tempus candescere solis ab ortu. 1 Exsiluit Merkel: erubuit MSS. 290 METAMORPHOSES BOOK VI embroidering with her needle: you could know that Pallas had taught her. Yet she denied it, and, offended at the suggestion of a teacher ever so great, she said: “‘Let her but strive with me; and if I lose there is nothing which I would not forfeit.” Then Pallas assumed the form of an old woman, put false locks of grey upon her head, took a staff in her hand to sustain her tottering limbs, and thus she began: “ Old age has some things at least that are not to be despised; experience comes with riper years. Do not scorn my advice: seek all the fame you will among mortal men for handling wool; but yield place to the goddess, and with humble prayer beg her pardon for your words, reckless girl. She will grant you pardon if you ask it.” But she re- garded the old woman with sullen eyes, dropped the threads she was working, and, scarce holding her hand from violence, with open anger in her face she answered the disguised Pallas: “ Doting in mind, you come to me, and spent with old age; and it is too long life that is your bane. Go, talk to your daughter-in-law, or to your daughter, if such you have. I am quite able to advise myself. To show you that you have done no good by your advice, we are both of the same opinion. Why does not your goddess come herself? Why does she avoid a contest with me?” Then the goddess exclaimed: “ She has come! " and throwing aside her old woman’s disguise, she revealed Pallas. The nymphs worshipped her godhead, and the Mygdonian women; Arachne alone remained unafraid, though she did start up and a sudden flush marked her unwilling cheeks and again faded: as when the sky grows crimson when the dawn first appears, and after a little while when the sun is up it pales again. Still she persists in her 291 OVID perstat in incepto stolidaeque cupidine palmae ~ 50 in sua fata ruit; neque enim love nata recusat nec monet ulterius nec iam certamina differt. haud mora, constituunt diversis partibus ambae et gracili geminas intendunt stamine telas: tela iugo vincta est, stamen secernit harundo, 55 inseritur medium radiis subtemen acutis, quod digiti expediunt, atque inter stamina ductum percusso feriunt insecti pectine dentes. utraque festinant cinctaeque ad pectora vestes bracchia docta movent, studio fallente laborem. 60 illic et Tyrium quae purpura sensit aenum texitur et tenues parvi discriminis umbrae ; qualis ab imbre solent percussis solibus arcus inficere ingenti longum curvamine caelum ; in quo diversi niteant cum mille colores, 65 transitus ipse tamen spectantia lumina fallit: usque adeo, quod tangit, idem est; tamen ultima distant. illic et lentum filis inmittitur aurum et vetus in tela deducitur argumentum. Cecropia Pallas scopulum Mavortis in arce T0 pingit et antiquam de terrae nomine litem. bis sex caelestes medio Iove sedibus altis augusta gravitate sedent; sua quemque deorum inscribit facies: Iovis est regalis imago; stare deum pelagi longoque ferire tridente 15 aspera saxa facit, medioque e vulnere saxi exsiluisse fretum, quo pignore vindicet urbem ; at sibi dat clipeum, dat acutae cuspidis hastam, 292 METAMORPHOSES BOOK VI challenge, and stupidly confident and eager for vic- tory, she rushes on her fate. For Jove’s daughter refuses not, nor again warns her or puts off the contest any longer. They both set up the looms in different places without delay and they stretch the fine warp upon them. The web is bound upon the beam, the reed separates the threads of the warp, the woof is threaded through them by the sharp shuttles which their busy fingers ply, and when shot through the threads of the warp, the notched teeth of the hammering slay beat it into place. Theyspeed on the work with their mantles close girt about their breasts and move back and forth their well-trained hands, their eager zeal beguiling their toil. There are inwoven the purple threads dyed in Tyrian kettles, and lighter colours insensibly shading off from these. As when after a storm of rain the sun’s rays strike through, and a rainbow, with its huge curve, stains the wide sky, though a thousand different colours shine in it, the eye cannot detect the change from each one to the next; so like appear the adjacent colours, but the extremes are plainly different. There, too, they weave in pliant threads of gold, and trace in the weft some ancient tale. Pallas pictures the hills of Mars on the citadel of Cecrops ! and that old dispute over the naming of the land. There sit twelve heavenly gods on lofty thrones in awful majesty, Jove in their midst; each god she pictures with his own familiar features; Jove’s is a royal figure. There stands the god of ocean, and with his long trident smites the rugged cliff, and from the cleft rock sea-water leaps forth; a token to claim the city for his own. To herself 1 Ovid here confuses the Acropolis with the Areopagus. See Herod., vi. 55; Apollodorus, m1. 14, 1. 293 OVID dat galeam capiti, defenditur aegide pectus, percussamque sua simulat de cuspide terram 80 edere cum bacis fetum canentis olivae; mirarique deos: operis Victoria finis. ut tamen exemplis intellegat aemula laudis, quod pretium speret pro tam furialibus ausis quattuor in partes certamina quattuor addit, 85 clara colore suo, brevibus distincta sigillis : Threiciam Rhodopen habet angulus unus et Haemom, nunc gelidos montes, mortalia corpora quondam, nomina summorum sibi qui tribuere deorum ; altera Pygmaeae fatum miserabile matris 90 pars habet: hanc Iuno victam certamine iussit esse gruem populisque suis indicere bellum ; pinxit et Antigonen, ausam contendere quondam cum magni consorte lovis, quam regia Iuno in volucrem vertit, nec profuit Ilion illi 95 Laomedonve pater, sumptis quin candida pennis ipsa sibi plaudat crepitante ciconia rostro ; qui superest solus, Cinyran habet angulus orbum ; isque gradus templi, natarum membra suarum, amplectens saxoque iacens lacrimare videtur. 100 circuit extremas oleis pacalibus oras, is modus est operisque sua facit arbore finem. Maeonis elusam designat imagine tauri Europam: verum taurum, freta vera putares ; ipsa videbatur terras spectare relictas 105 et comites clamare suas tactumque vereri adsilientis aquae timidasque reducere plantas. fecit et Asterien aquila luctante teneri, 294 METAMORPHOSES BOOK VI the goddess gives a shield and a sharp-pointed spear, and a helmet for her head; the aegis guards her breast; and from the earth smitten by her spear’s point upsprings a pale-green olive-tree hanging thick with fruit; and the gods look on in wonder. Victory crowns her work. Then, that her rival may know by pictured warnings what reward she may expect for her mad daring, she weaves in the four corners of the web four scenes of contest, each clear with its own colours, and in miniature design. One corner shows Thracian Rhodope and Haemus, now huge, bleak mountains, but once audacious mortals who dared assume the names of the most high gods. A second corner shows the wretched fate of the Pygmaean queen, whom Juno conquered in a strife, then changed into a crane, and bade her war upon those whom once she ruled. Again she pictures how Antigone once dared to set herself against the consort of mighty Jove, and how Queen Juno changed her into a bird; Ilium availed her nothing, nor Laomedon, her father; nay, she is clothed in white feathers, and claps her rattling bill, a stork. The remaining corner shows Cinyras bereft of his daughters; there, embracing the marble temple- steps, once their limbs, he lies on the stone, and seems to weep. The goddess then wove around her work a border of peaceful olive-wreath. This was the end; and so, with her own tree, her task was done. Arachne pictures Europa cheated by the disguise of the bull: a real bull and real waves you would think them. The maid seems to be looking back upon the land she has left, calling on her companions, and, fearful of the touch of the leaping waves, to be drawing back her timid feet. She wrought Asterie, held by the struggling eagle; she wrought Leda, 295 OVID fecit olorinis Ledam recubare sub alis; addidit, ut satyri celatus imagine pulchram 110 luppiter inplerit gemino Nycteida fetu, Amphitryon fuerit, cum te, Tirynthia, cepit, aureus ut Danaen, Asopida luserit ignis, Mnemosynen pastor, varius Deoida serpens. te quoque mutatum torvo, Neptune, iuvenco 115 virgine in Aeolia posuit; tu visus Enipeus gignis Aloidas, aries Bisaltida fallis, et te flava comas frugum mitissima mater sensit equum, sensit volucrem crinita colubris mater equi volucris, sensit delphina Melantho: 120 omnibus his faciemque suam faciemque locorum reddidit. est illic agrestis imagine Phoebus, utque modo accipitris pennas, modo terga leonis gesserit, ut pastor Macareida luserit Issen, Liber ut Erigonen falsa deceperit uva, 125 ut Saturnus equo geminum Chirona crearit. ultima pars telae, tenui circumdata limbo, nexilibus flores hederis habet intertextos. Non illud Pallas, non illud carpere Livor possit opus: doluit successu flava virago 130 et rupit pictas, caelestia crimina, vestes, utque Cytoriaco radium de monte tenebat, ter quater Idmoniae frontem percussit Arachnes. non tulit infelix laqueoque animosa ligavit guttura: pendentem Pallas miserata levavit 135 atque ita “vive quidem, pende tamen, inproba ”’ dixit, ‘““lexque eadem poenae, ne sis secura futuri, dicta tuo generi serisque nepotibus esto! ” post ea discedens sucis Hecateidos herbae 296 METAMORPHOSES BOOK VI beneath the swan’s wings. She added how, in a satyr’s image hidden, Jove filled lovely Antiope with twin offspring; how he was Amphitryon when he cheated thee, Alemena; how in a golden shower he tricked Danaé; Aegina, as a flame; Mnemosyne, as a shepherd; Deo’s daughter, as a spotted snake. Thee also, Neptune, she pictured, changed to a grim bull with the Aeolian maiden; now as Enipeus thou dost beget the Aloidae, as a ram deceivedst Bisaltis. The golden-haired mother of corn, most gentle, knew thee as a horse; the snake-haired mother of the winged horse knew thee as a winged bird; Melantho knew thee as a dolphin. To all these Arachne gave their own shapes and appropriate surroundings. Here is Phoebus like a countryman; and she shows how he wore now a hawk’s feathers, now a lion’s skin; how as a shepherd he tricked Macareus’ daughter, Isse; how Bacchus deceived Erigone with the false bunch of grapes; how Saturn in a horse’s shape begot the centaur, Chiron. The edge of the wéb with its narrow border is filled with flowers and clinging ivy intertwined. Not Pallas, nor Envy himself, could find a flaw in that work. The golden-haired goddess was_ in- dignant at her success, and rent the embroidered web with its heavenly crimes; and, as she held a shuttle of Cytorian boxwood, thrice and again she struck Idmonian Arachne’s head. The wretched girl could not endure it, and put a noose about her bold neck. As she hung, Pallas lifted her in pity, and said: “ Live on, indeed, wicked girl, but hang thou still; and let this same doom of punishment (that thou mayst fear for future times as well) be declared upon thy race, even to remote posterity.” So saying, as she turned to go she sprinkled her with et OVID sparsit: et extemplo tristi medicamine tactae 140 defluxere comae, cum quis et naris et aures, fitque caput minimum; toto quoque corpore parva est: in latere exiles digiti pro cruribus haerent, cetera venter habet, de quo tamen illa remittit stamen et antiquas exercet aranea telas. 145 Lydia tota fremit, Phrygiaeque per oppida facti rumor it et magnum sermonibus occupat orbem. ante suos Niobe thalamos cognoverat illam, tum cum Maeoniam virgo Sipylumque colebat ; nectamenadmonita est poenapopularis Arachnes, 150 cedere caelitibus verbisque minoribus uti. multa dabant animos; sed enim nec coniugis artes nec genus amborum magnique potentia regni sic placuere illi, quamvis ea cuncta placerent, ut sua progenies; et felicissima matrum 155 dicta foret Niobe, si non sibi visa fuisset. nam sata Tiresia venturi praescia Manto per medias fuerat divino concita motu vaticinata vias: “ Ismenides, ite frequentes et date Latonae Latonigenisque duobus 160 cum prece tura pia lauroque innectite crinem: ore meo Latona iubet.” paretur, et omnes Thebaides iussis sua tempora frondibus ornant turaque dant sanctis et verba precantia flammis. Ecce venit comitum Niobe celeberrimaturba 165 vestibus intexto Phrygiis spectabilis auro et, quantum ira sinit, formosa movensque decoro cum capite inmissos umerum per utrumque capillos. 298 METAMORPHOSES BOOK VI the juices of Hecate’s herb; and forthwith her hair, touched by the poison, fell off, and with it both nose and ears; and the head shrank up; her whole body also was small; the slender fingers clung to her side as legs; the rest was belly. Still from this she ever spins a thread; and now, as a spider, she exercises her old-time weaver-art. All Lydia is in a tumult; the story spreads throughout the towns of Phrygia and fills the whole world with talk. Now Niobe, before her marriage, had known Arachne, when, as a girl, she dwelt in Maeonia, near Mount Sipylus. And yet she did not take warning by her countrywoman’s fate to give place to the gods and speak them reverently. Many things gave her pride; but in truth neither her hus- band’s art nor the high birth of both and their royal power and state so pleased her, although all those did please, as her children did. And Niobe would have been called most blessed of mothers, had she not seemed so to herself. For Manto, daughter of Tiresias, whose eyes could see what was to come, had fared through the streets of Thebes inspired by divine impulse, and proclaiming to all she met: ‘““ Women of Thebes, go throng Latona’s temple, and give to her and to her children twain incense and pious prayer, wreathing your hair with laurel. By my mouth Latona speaks.’’ They obey; all the Theban women deck their temples with laurel wreaths and burn incense in the altar flames, with words of prayer. But lo! comes Niobe, thronged about with a numerous following, a notable figure in Phrygian robes wrought with threads of gold, and beautiful as far as anger suffered her to be; and she tosses her shapely head with the hair falling on either shoulder. She halts and, drawn up to her full 299 OVID constitit, utque oculos circumtulit alta superbos, ‘“ quis furor auditos ” inquit “ praeponere visis 170 caelestes? aut cur colitur Latona per aras, numen adhuc sine ture meum est? mihi Tantalus auctor, cui licuit soli superorum tangere mensas ; Pleiadum soror est genetrix mea; maximus Atlas est avus, aetherium qui fert cervicibus axem; 175 Iuppiter alter avus; socero quoque glorior illo. me gentes metuunt Phrygiae, me regia Cadmi sub domina est, fidibusque mei commissa mariti moenia cum populis a meque viroque reguntur. in quamcumque domus adverti lumina partem, 180 inmensae spectantur opes; accedit eodem digna dea facies; huc natas adice septem et totidem iuvenes et mox generosque nurusque! quaerite nunc, habeat quam nostra superbia causam, nescio quoque audete satam Titanida Coeo 185 Latonam praeferre mihi, cui maxima quondam exiguam sedem pariturae terra negavit! nec caelo nec humo nec aquis dea vestra recepta est : exsul erat mundi, donec miserata vagantem ‘hospita tu terris erras, ego ’ dixit ‘in undis’ 190 instabilemque locum Delos dedit. illa duorum facta parens: uteri pars haec est septima nostri. sum felix (quis enim neget hoc?) felixque manebo (hoc quoque quis dubitet ?): tutam me copia fecit. maior sum quam cui possit Fortuna nocere, 195 multaque ut eripiat, multo mihi plura relinquet. 300 METAMORPHOSES BOOK VI height, casts her haughty eyes around and cries: “What madness this, to prefer gods whom you have only heard of to those whom you have seen? Or why is Latona worshipped at these altars, while my divinity still waits for incense? I have Tantalus to my father, the only mortal ever allowed to touch the table of the gods; my mother is a sister of the Pleiades; most mighty Atlas is one grandfather, who supports the vault of heaven on his shoulders ; my other grandsire is Jove himself, and I boast him as my father-in-law as well. The Phrygian nations hold me in reverent fear. I am queen of Cadmus’ royal house, and the walls of Thebes, erected by the magic of my husband's lyre, together with its people, acknowledge me and him as their rulers. Wherever J turn my eyes in the palace I see great stores of wealth. Besides, I have beauty worthy of a goddess ; add to all this that I have seven daughters and as many sons, and soon shall have sons- and daughters- in-law. Ask now what cause I have for pride; and then presume to prefer to me the Titaness, Latona, daughter of Coeus, whoever he may be—Latona, to whom the broad earth once refused a tiny spot for bringing forth her children. Neither heaven nor earth nor sea was open for this goddess of yours; she was outlawed from the universe, until Delos, pitying the wanderer, said to her: ‘ You are a vagrant on the land; I, on the sea,’ and gave her a place that stood never still. And there she bore two children, the seventh part only of my offspring. Surely I am happy. Who can deny it? And happy I shall remain. This also who can doubt? My very abundance has made me safe. I am too great for l’ortune to harm; though she should take many from me, still many more will she leave to me. My blessings have 301 OVID excessere metum mea iam bona. fingite demi huic aliquid populo natorum posse meorum : non tamen ad numerum redigar spoliata duorum, Latonae turbam, qua quantum distat ab orba? 200 ite—sat est—propere sacris laurumque capillis ponite ! “—deponunt et sacra infecta relinquunt, quodque licet, tacito venerantur murmure numen. Indignata dea est summoque in vertice Cynthi talibus est dictis gemina cum prole locuta: 205 ‘en ego vestra parens, vobis animosa creatis, et nisi Iunoni nulli cessura dearum, an dea sim, dubitor perque omnia saecula cultis arceor, 0 nati, nisi vos succurritis, aris. nec dolor hic solus; diro convicia facto 210 Tantalis adiecit vosque est postponere natis ausa suis et me, quod in ipsam reccidat, orbam dixit et exhibuit linguam scelerata paternam.” adiectura preces erat his Latona relatis: ‘“desine!”’ Phoebus ait, “ poenae mora longa querella est!” 215 dixit idem Phoebe, celerique per aera lapsu contigerant tecti Cadmeida nubibus arcem. Planus erat lateque patens prope moenia campus, adsiduis pulsatus equis, ubi turba rotarum duraque mollierat subiectas ungula glaebas. 220 pars ibi de septem genitis Amphione fortes conscendunt in equos Tyrioque rubentia suco terga premunt auroque graves moderantur habenas. e quibus Ismenus, qui matri sarcina quondam 302 METAMORPHOSES BOOK VI banished fear. Even suppose that some part of this tribe of children could be taken from me, not even so despoiled would I be reduced to the number of two, Latona’s throng, with which how far is she from childlessness? Away with you, hasten, you have sacrificed enough, and take off those laurels from your hair.” They take off the wreaths and leave the sacrifice unfinished; but, as they may, they still worship the goddess with unspoken words. The goddess was angry, and on the top of Cynthus she thus addressed Apollo and Diana: “ Lo, I, your mother, proud of your birth and willing to yield place to no goddess save Juno only, I have had my divinity called in question; and through all coming ages I shall be denied worship at the altar, unless you, my children, come to my aid. Nor is this m only cause for resentment. This daughter of Tan- talus has added insult to her injuries: she has dared to prefer her own children to you, and has called me childless—may that fall on her head !—and by her impious speech has displayed her father’s unbridled tongue.” To this story of her wrongs Latona would have added prayers; but here Phoebus cried: ‘‘ Have done! along complaint is but delay of punishment! ”’ Phoebe said the same. Then, swiftly gliding through the air, they alighted on Cadmus’ citadel, covered in clouds. There was a broad and level plain near the walls, beaten by the constant tread of horses, where a host of wheels and the hard hoof had levelled the clods beneath them. There some of Amphion’s seven sons mounted their strong horses, sitting firm on their backs bright with Tyrian purple, and guided them with rich gold-mounted bridles. While one of these, Ismenus, who was his mother’s first-born son, 393 OVID prima suae fuerat, dum certum flectitin orbem 225 quadripedis cursus spumantiaque ora coercet, ‘ei mihi! ” conclamat medioque in pectore fixa tela gerit frenisque manu moriente remissis in latus a dextro paullatim defluit armo. proximus audito sonitu per inane pharetrae 230 frena dabat Sipylus, veluti cum praescius imbris nube fugit visa pendentiaque undique rector carbasa deducit, ne qua levis effluat aura: frena tamen dantem non evitabile telum consequitur, summaque tremens cervice sagitta 235 haesit, et exstabat nudum de gutture ferrum ; ille, ut erat, pronus, per crura admissa lubasque volvitur et calido tellurem sanguine foedat. Phaedimus infelix et aviti nominis heres Tantalus, ut solito finem inposuere laboti, 240 transierant ad opus nitidae iuvenale palaestrae ; et iam contulerant arto luctantia nexu pectora pectoribus; cum tento concita nervo, sicut erant iuncti, traiecit utrumque sagitta. ingemuere simul, simul incurvata dolore 245 membra solo posuere, simul suprema iacentes lumina versarunt, animam simul exhalarunt. adspicit Alphenor laniataque pectora plangens advolat, ut gelidos conplexibus adlevet artus, inque pio cadit officio; nam Delius illi 250 intima fatifero rupit praecordia ferro. quod simul eductum est, pars et pulmonis in hamis eruta cumque anima cruor est effusus in auras. at non intonsum simplex Damasichthona vulnus 304 METAMORPHOSES BOOK VI was guiding his charger’s course round the curving track and pulling hard on the foaming bit, “ Ah me!” he cried, and, with an arrow fixed in his breast, he dropped the reins from his dying hands and slowly sank sidewise down to the earth over his horse’s right shoulder. Next, hearing through the void air the sound of the rattling quiver, Sipylus gave full rein; as when a shipmaster, conscious of an approaching storm, flees at the sight of a cloud and crowds on all sail that he may catch each pass- ing breeze. He gave full rein, and as he gave it the arrow that none may escape overtook him, and the shaft stuck quivering in his neck; while the iron point showed from his throat in front. He, leaning forward, as he was, pitched over the galloping horse’s mane and legs, and stained the ground with his warm blood. Unhappy Phaedimus and Tantalus, who bore his grandsire’s name, when they had finished their wonted task had passed to the youth- ful exercise of the shining wrestling-match. And now they were straining together, breast to breast, in close embrace, when an arrow, sped from the drawn bow, pierced them both just as they stood clasped together. They groaned together; together they fell writhing in pain to the ground; together as» they lay they moved their dying eyes; together they breathed their last. Alphenor saw them die, and beating his breast in agony, he ran to lift up their cold bodies in his arms; and in this pious duty he fell; for Apollo pierced him through the midriff with death-dealing steel. When this was removed, a piece of his lungs was drawn out sticking to the barbs, and his life-blood came rushing forth into the air. But one wound was not all that pierced youthful Damasichthon. He was struck where the 3°5 VOL. I. L OVID adficit: ictus erat, qua crus esse incipit et qua 255 mollia nervosus facit internodia poples. dumque manu temptat trahere exitiabile telum, altera per iugulum pennis tenus acta sagitta est. expulit hanc sanguis seque eiaculatus in altum emicat et longe terebrata prosilit aura. 260 ultimus Ilioneus non profectura precando bracchia sustulerat “di” que “‘o communiter omnes,” dixerat ignarus, non omnes esse rogandos “ parcite!’’ motus erat, cum iam revocabile telum non fuit, arcitenens; minimo tamen occidit ille 265 vulnere, non alte percusso corde sagitta. Fama mali populique dolor lacrimaeque suorum tam subitae matrem certam fecere ruinae, mirantem potuisse irascentemque, quod ausi hoc essent superi, quod tantum iuris haberent; 270 nam pater Amphion ferro per pectus adacto finierat moriens pariter cum luce dolorem. heu! quantum haec Niobe Niobe distabat ab illa, quae modo Latois populum submoverat aris et mediam tulerat gressus resupina per urbem 275 invidiosa suis; at nunc miseranda vel hosti! corporibus gelidis incumbit et ordine nullo oscula dispensat natos suprema per omnes; a quibus ad caelum liventia bracchia tollens ‘“ pascere, crudelis, nostro, Latona, dolore, | 280 pascere ’’ ait “ satiaque meo tua pectora luctu! corque ferum satia!” dixit. “ per funera septem ! efferor: exsulta victrixque inimica triumpha! cur autem victrix? miserae mihi plura supersunt, quam tibi felici; post tot quoque funera vinco!” 285 1 Tine 282 bracketed by Ehwald. 306 METAMORPHOSES BOOK VI lower leg just begins, and where the sinews of the hough give a soft spot; and while he was trying to draw out the fatal shaft with his hand, a second arrow was driven clear to the feathers through his throat. The blood drove it forth and gushing out spurted high in air in a long, slender stream. Ilioneus was the last; stretching out his arms in prayer doomed to be vain, he cried: “‘ Oh, spare me, all ye gods,’ not knowing that he need not pray to them all. The archer-god was moved to pity, but too late to recall his shaft. Still the youth fell smitten by a slight wound only, since the arrow did not deeply pierce his heart. Rumour of the trouble, the people’s grief, and the tears of her own friends informed the mother of this sudden disaster, amazed that it could have happened, and angry because the gods had dared so far, that they should have such power; for the father, Am- phion, had already driven a dagger through his heart, and so in dying had ended his grief and life together. Alas, how different now was this Niobe from that Niobe who had but now driven the people from Latona’s altar, and had walked proudly through the city streets, enviable then to her friends, but now one for even her enemies to pity. She threw her- self upon the cold bodies of her sons, wildly giving the last kisses to them all. From them she lifted her bruised arms to high heaven and cried: ‘ Feed now upon my grief, cruel Latona, feed and glut your heart on my sorrow. Yes, glut your bloodthirsty heart! In my seven sons have I suffered sevenfold death. Exult, and triumph in your hateful victory. But why victory? In my misery I still have more than you in your felicity. After so many deaths, I triumph still! ”’ 397 OVID Dixerat, et sonuit contento nervus ab arcu, qui praeter Nioben unam conterruit omnes: illa malo est audax.—stabant cum vestibus atris ante toros fratrum demisso crine sorores; e quibus una trahens haerentia viscere tela 290 inposito fratri moribunda relanguit ore ; altera solari miseram conata parentem conticuit subito duplicataque vulnere caeco est. oraque compressit, nisi postquam spiritus ibat.} haec frustra fugiens collabitur, illa sorori 295 inmoritur; latet haec, illam trepidare videres. sexque datis leto diversaque vulnera passis ultima restabat, quam toto corpore mater, tota veste tegens “ unam minimamque relinque! de multis minimam posco ”’ clamavit “ et unam.”’ 300 dumque rogat, pro qua rogat, occidit: orba resedit exanimes inter natos natasque virumque deriguitque malis; nullos movet aura capillos, in vultu color est sine sanguine, lumina maestis stant inmota genis, nihil est in imagine vivum. 305 ipsa quoque interius cum duro lingua palato congelat, et venae desistunt posse mover ; nec flecti cervix nec bracchia reddere motus nec pes ire potest; intra quoque viscera saxum est. flet tamen et validi circumdata turbine venti 310 in patriam rapta est: ibi fixa cacumine montis liquitur, et lacrimas etiam nunc marmora manant. Tum vero cuncti manifestam numinis iram femina virque timent cultuque inpensius omnes 1 Line 294 bracketed by Ehwald. 308 METAMORPHOSES BOOK VI She spoke, and the taut bowstring twanged, which terrified all save Niobe alone; misery made her bold. The sisters were standing about their brothers’ biers, with loosened hair and robed in black. One of these, while drawing out the shaft fixed in a brother’s vitals, sank down with her face upon him, fainting and dying. A second, attempting to console her grieving mother, ceased suddenly, and was bent in agony by an unseen wound. She closed her lips till her dying breath had passed. One fell while trying in vain to flee. Another died upon her sister; one hid, and one stood trembling in full view. And now six had suffered various wounds and died; the last remained. The mother, covering her with her crouching body and her sheltering robes, cried out: “Oh, leave me one, the littlest! Of all my many children, the littlest I beg you spare—just one! ”’ And even while she sprayed, she for whom she prayed fell dead. Now does the childless mother sit down amid the lifeless bodies of her sons, her daughters, and her husband, in stony grief. Her hair stirs not in the breeze; her face is pale and bloodless, and her eyes are fixed and staring in her sad face. There is nothing alive in the picture. Her very tongue is silent, frozen to her mouth’s roof, and her veins can move no longer; her neck cannot bend nor her arms move nor her feet go. Within also her vitals are stone. But still she weeps; and, caught up in a strong, whirling wind, she is rapt away to her own native land. There, set on a mountain’s peak, she weeps; and even to this day tears trickle from the marble. Then truly do all men and women fear the wrath of the goddess so openly displayed; and all more zealously than ever worship the dread divinity of 3°9 OVID magna gemelliparae venerantur numina divae; 315 utque fit, a facto propiore priora renarrant. e quibus unus ait: ‘‘ Lyciae quoque fertilis agris non inpune deam veteres sprevere coloni. res obscura quidem est ignobilitate virorum, mira tamen: vidi praesens stagnumque locumque prodigio notum. nam me iam grandior aevo 321 inpatiensque viae genitor deducere lectos iusserat inde boves gentisque illius eunti ipse ducem dederat, cum quo dum pascua lustro, ecce lacu medio sacrorum nigra favilla 329 ara vetus stabat tremulis circumdata cannis. restitit et pavido ‘ faveas mihi! ’ murmure dixit dux meus, et simili ‘ faveas! ’ ego murmure dixi. Naiadum Faunine foret tamen ara rogabam indigenaene, dei, cum talia rettulit hospes: 330 “non hac, o iuvenis, montanum numen in ara est; illa suam vocat hanc, cui quondam regia coniunx orbem interdixit, quam vix erratica Delos orantem accepit tum, cum levis insula nabat ; Cr illic incumbens cum Palladis arbore palmae 33 edidit invita geminos Latona noverca. hinc quoque Iunonem fugisse puerpera fertur inque suo portasse sinu, duo numina, natos. iamque Chimaeriferae, cum sol gravis ureret arva, finibus in Lyciae longo dea fessa labore 340 310 METAMORPHOSES BOOK VI the twin gods’ mother. And, as usual, stirred by the later, they tell over former tales. Then one of them begins: “So also in the fertile fields of Lycia, peasants of olden time scorned the goddess and suffered for it. The story is little known because of the humble estate of the men concerned, but it is remarkable. I myself saw the pool and the place made famous by the wonder. For my father, who at that time was getting on in years and too weak to travel far, had bidden me go and drive down from that country some choice steers which were grazing there, and had given me a man of that nation to serve as guide. While I fared through the grassy glades with him, there, in the midst of a lake, an ancient altar was standing, black with the fires of many sacrifices, surrounded with shivering reeds. My guide halted and said with awe-struck whisper: ‘ Be merciful to me!’ and in like whisper I said: ‘ Be merciful!’ Then I asked my guide whether this was an altar to the Naiads, or Faunus, or some deity of the place, and he replied: “ No, young man; no mountain deity dwells in this altar. She claims its worship, whom the queen of heaven once shut out from all the world, whom wandering Delos would scarce accept at her prayer, when it was an island, lightly floating on the sea. There, reclining on the palm and Pallas’ tree,! in spite of their step- mother, she brought forth her twin babes. Even thence the new-made mother is said to have fled from Juno, carrying in her bosom her infant children, both divine. And now, having reached the borders of Lycia, home of the Chimaera, when the hot sun beat fiercely upon the fields, the goddess, weary of her long struggle, was faint by reason of the 1 7.e. the olive. 311 OVID sidereo siccata sitim collegit ab aestu, uberaque ebiberant avidi lactantia nati. forte lacum mediocris aquae prospexit in imis vallibus; agrestes illic fruticosa legebant vimina cum iuncis gratamque paludibus ulvam; 345 accessit positoque genu Titania terram pressit, ut hauriret gelidos potura liquores. rustica turba vetat; dea sic adfata vetantis: ‘quid prohibetis aquis? usus communis aquarum est. nec solem proprium natura nec aera fecit 350 nec tenues undas: ad publica munera veni; quae tamen ut detis, supplex peto. non ego nostros abluere hic artus lassataque membra parabam, sed relevare sitim. caret os umore loquentis, et fauces arent, vixque est via vocis in illis. 309 haustus aquae mihi nectar erit, vitamque fatebor accepisse simul: vitam dederitis in unda. hi quoque vos moveant, qui nostro bracchia tendunt parva sinu,’’ et casu tendebant bracchia nati. quem non blanda deae potuissent verba movere? hi tamen orantem perstant prohibere minasque, 361 ni procul abscedat, conviciaque insuper addunt. nec satis est, ipsos etiam pedibusque manuque turbavere lacus imoque e gurgite mollem _ huc illuc limum saltu movere maligno. 365 distulit ira sitim; neque enim iam filia Coei supplicat indignis nec dicere sustinet ultra verba minora dea tollensque ad sidera palmas 6 ‘aeternum stagno ” dixit “ vivatis in isto! ”’ 412 METAMORPHOSES BOOK VI sun’s heat and parched with thirst; and the hungry children had drained her breasts dry of milk. She chanced to see a lake of no great size down in a deep vale; some rustics were there gathering bushy osiers, with fine swamp-grass and rushes of the marsh. Latona came to the water’s edge and kneeled on the ground to quench her thirst with a cooling draught. But the rustic rabble would not let her drink. Then she besought them: “Why do you deny me water? The enjoyment of water is a common right. Nature has not made the sun private to any, nor the air, nor soft water. This common right I seek; and yet I beg you to give it to me as a favour. I was not preparing to bathe my limbs or my weary body here in your pool, but only to quench my thirst. Even as I speak, my mouth is dry of moisture, my throat is parched, and my voice can scarce find utterance. A drink of water will be nectar to me, and I shall confess that I have received life with it; yes, life you will be giving me if you let me drink. These children too, let them touch your hearts, who from my bosom stretch out their little arms.’’ And it chanced that the children did stretch out their arms. Who would not have been touched by the goddess’ gentle words? Yet for all her prayers they persisted in denying with threats if she did not go away; they even added insulting words. Not content with that, they soiled the pool itself with their feet and hands, and stirred up the soft mud from the bottom, leaping about, all for pure meanness. Then wrath postponed thirst; for Coeus’ daughter could neither humble herself longer to those unruly fellows, nor could she endure to speak with less power than a goddess; but stretching up her hands to heaven, she cried: ‘‘ Live then for ever 313 OVID eveniunt optata deae: iuvat esse sub undis 310 et modo tota cava submergere membra palude, nunc proferre caput, summo modo gurgite nare, saepe super ripam stagni consistere, saepe in gelidos resilire lacus, sed nunc quoque turpes litibus exercent linguas pulsoque pudore, 319 quamvis sint sub aqua, sub aqua maledicere temptant. vox quoque iam rauca est, inflataque colla tumescunt, ipsaque dilatant patulos convicia rictus 5 turpe caput tendunt, colla intercepta videntur, spina viret, venter, pars maxima corporis, albet, 380 limosoque novae saliunt in gurgite ranae.’ ”’ Sic ubi nescio quis Lycia de gente virorum rettulit exitium, satyri reminiscitur alter, quem Tritoniaca Latous harundine victum adfecit poena. ‘ quid me mihi detrahis? ” inquit; “al piget, a! non est ’’ clamabat “ tibia tanti.” 386 clamanti cutis est summos direpta per artus, nec quicquam nisi vulnus erat; cruor undique manat, detectique patent nervi, trepidaeque sine ulla pelle micant venae; salientia viscera possis 390 et perlucentes numerare in pectore fibras. illum ruricolae, silvarum numina, fauni et satyri fratres et tunc quoque carus Olympus et nymphae flerunt, et quisquis montibus illis lanigerosque greges armentaque bucera pavit. 395 fertilis inmaduit madefactaque terra caducas concepit lacrimas ac venis perbibit imis ; quas ubi fecit aquam, vacuas emisit in auras. 314 METAMORPHOSES BOOK VI in that pool.” It fell out as the goddess prayed. It is their delight to live in water; now to plunge their bodies quite beneath the enveloping pool, now to thrust forth their heads, now to swim upon the surface. Often they sit upon the sedgy bank and often leap back into the cool lake. But even now, as of old, they exercise their foul tongues in quarrel, and all shameless, though they may be under water, even under the water they try to utter maledictions. Now also their voices are hoarse, their inflated throats swell up, and their constant quarrelling distends their wide jaws; they stretch their ugly heads, the necks seem to have disappeared. Their backs are green; their bellies, the largest part of the body, are white ; and as new-made frogs they leap in the muddy ool.’ J Then, when this unknown story-teller had told the destruction of the Lycian peasants, another recalled the satyr whom the son of Latona had conquered in a contest on Pallas’ reed, and punished. “Why do you tear me from myself?”’ he cried. “Oh, Irepent! Oh, a flute is not worth such price!’ As he screams, his skin is stripped off the surface of his body, and he is all one wound: blood flows down on every side, the sinews lie bare, his veins throb and quiver with no skin to cover them: you could count the entrails as they palpitate, and the vitals showing clearly in his breast. The country people, the sylvan deities, fauns and his brother satyrs, and Olympus, whom even then he still loved, the nymphs, all wept for him, and every shepherd who fed his woolly sheep or horned kine on those mountains. The fruitful earth was soaked, and soaking caught those tears and drank them deep into her veins. Changing these then to water, she sent them forth into the free air. Thence the stream 315 OVID inde petens rapidus ripis declivibus aequor Marsya nomen habet, Phrygiae liquidissimus amnis. Talibus extemplo redit ad praesentia dictis 401 vulgus et exstinctum cum stirpe Amphiona luget; mater in invidia est: hanc tunc quoque dicitur unus flesse Pelops umeroque, suas a pectore postquam deduxit vestes, ebur ostendisse sinistro. 405 concolor hic umerus nascendi tempore dextro corporeusque fuit; manibus mox caesa paternis membra ferunt iunxisse deos, aliisque repertis, qui locus est iuguli medius summique lacerti, defuit: inpositum est non conparentis in usum 410 partis ebur, factoque Pelops fuit integer illo. Finitimi proceres coeunt, urbesque propinquae oravere suos ire ad solacia reges, Argosque et Sparte Pelopeiadesque Mycenae et nondum torvae Calydon invisa Dianae 415 Orchomenosque ferax et nobilis aere Corinthus Messeneque ferox Patraeque humilesque Cleonae et Nelea Pylos neque adhuc Pittheia Troezen, quaeque urbes aliae bimari clauduntur ab Isthmo exteriusque sitae bimari spectantur ab Isthmo; 420 credere quis posset? solae cessastis Athenae. obstitit officio bellum, subvectaque ponto barbara Mopsopios terrebant agmina muros. _ Threicius Tereus haec auxiliaribus armis fuderat et clarum.vincendo nomen habebat;. 425 316 METAMORPHOSES BOOK VI within its sloping banks ran down quickly to the sea, and had the name of Marsyas, the clearest river in all Phrygia. Straightway the company turns from such old tales to the present, and mourns Amphion dead with his children. They all blame the mother; but even then one man, her brother Pelops, is said to have wept for her, and, drawing aside his garment from his breast, to have revealed the ivory patch on the left shoulder. This at the time of his birth had been of the same colour as his right, and of flesh. But later, when his father had cut him in pieces, they say that the gods joined the parts together again; they found all the others, but one part was lacking where the neck and upper arm unite. <A piece of ivory was made to take the place of the part which could not be found; and so Pelops was made whole again. Now all the neighbouring princes assembled, and the near-by cities urged their kings to go and offer sympathy: Argos and Sparta and Peloponnesian Mycenae; Calydon, which had not yet incurred Diana’s wrath; fertile Orchomenos and Corinth, famed for works of bronze; warlike Messene, Patrae, and low-lying Cleonae; Nelean Pylos and Troezen, not yet ruled by Pittheus; and all the other cities which are shut off by the Isthmus between its two seas, and those which are outside visible from the Isthmus be- tweenitstwoseas.! Butofallcities—whocould believe it ?—you, Athens, alone did nothing. War hindered this friendly service, and barbaric hordes from over- sea held the walls of Mopsopia?in alarm. Now Tereus of Thrace had put these to flight with his relieving troops, and by the victory had a great name. And 1 That is, the Peloponnese and Northern Greece. 2 Athens, from King Mopsopius. 317 OVID quem sibi Pandion opibusque virisque potentem et genus a magno ducentem forte Gradivo conubio Procnes iunxit; non pronuba Iuno, non Hymenaeus adest, non illi Gratia lecto: Kumenides tenuere faces de funere raptas, EKumenides stravere torum, tectoque profanus incubuit bubo thalamique in culmine sedit. hac ave coniuncti Procne Tereusque, parentes hac ave sunt facti; gratata est scilicet illis Thracia, disque ipsi grates egere; diemque, quaque data est claro Pandione nata tyranno quaque erat ortus Itys, festum iussere vocari: usque adeo latet utilitas. Jam tempora Titan quinque per autumnos repetiti duxerat anni, cum blandita viro Procne “ si gratia ”’ dixit ulla mea est, vel me visendam mitte sorori, vel soror huc veniat: redituram tempore parvo promittes socero; magni mihi muneris instar germanam vidisse dabis.’”’ iubet ille carinas in freta deduci veloque et remige portus Cecropios intrat Piraeaque litora tangit. ut primum soceri data copia, dextera dextrae iungitur, et fausto committitur omine sermo. coeperat, adventus causam, mandata referre coniugis et celeres missae spondere recursus : ecce venit magno dives Philomela paratu, divitior forma; quales audire solemus naidas et dryadas mediis incedere silvis, 318 430 435 440 445 450 METAMORPHOSES BOOK VI since he was strong in wealth and in men, and traced his descent, as it happened, from Gradivus, Pandion, king of Athens, allied him to himself by wedding him to Procne. But neither Juno, bridal goddess, nor Hymen, nor the Graces were present at that wedding. The Furies lighted them with torches stolen from a funeral; the Furies spread the couch, and the uncanny screech-owl brooded and sat on the roof of their chamber. Under this omen were Proene and Tereus wedded; under this omen was their child conceived. Thrace, indeed, rejoiced with them, and they themselves gave thanks to the gods; both the day on which Pandion’s daughter was married to their illustrious king, and that day on which Itys was born, they made a festival: even so is our true advantage hidden. Now Titan through five autumnal seasons had brought round the revolving years, when Procne coaxingly to her husband said: “ If I have found any favour in your sight, either send me to visit my sister or let my sister come to me. You will promise my father that after a brief stay she shall return. If you give me a chance to see my sister you will confer on me a precious boon.’ Tereus accordingly bade them launch his ship, and plying oar and sail, he entered the Cecropian harbour and came to land on the shore of Piraeus. As soon as he came into the presence of his father-in-law they joined right hands, and the talk began with good wishes for their health. He had begun to tell of his wife’s request, which was the cause of his coming, and to promise a speedy return should the sister be sent home with him, when lo! Philomela entered, attired in rich apparel, but richer still in beauty ; such as we are wont to hear the naiads described, and dryads when they move about 319 OVID si modo des illis cultus similesque paratus. non secus exarsit conspecta virgine Tereus, 455 quam Si quis canis ignem supponat aristis aut frondem positasque cremet faenilibus herbas. digna quidem facies; sed et hunc innata libido exstimulat, pronumque genus regionibus illis in Venerem est: flagrat vitio gentisque suoque. 460 impetus est illi comitum corrumpere curam nutricisque fidem nec non ingentibus ipsam sollicitare datis totumque inpendere regnum aut rapere et saevo raptam defendere bello; et nihil est, quod non effreno captus amore 465 ausit, nec capiunt inclusas pectora flammas. iamque moras male fert cupidoque revertitur ore ad mandata Procnes et agit sua vota sub illa. facundum faciebat amor, quotiensque rogabat ulterius iusto, Procnen ita velle ferebat. 470 addidit et lacrimas, tamquam mandasset et illas. pro superi, quantum mortalia pectora caecae noctis habent! ipso sceleris molimine Tereus creditur esse pius laudemque a crimine sumit. quid, quod idem Philomela cupit, patriosque lacertis blanda tenens umeros, ut eat visura sororem, 476 perque suam contraque suam petit ipsa salutem. spectat eam Tereus praecontrectatque videndo osculaque et collo circumdata bracchia cernens omnia pro stimulis facibusque ciboque furoris 480 accipit, et quotiens amplectitur illa parentem, esse parens vellet: neque enim minus inpius esset. 320 METAMORPHOSES BOOK VI in the deep woods, if only one should give to them refinement and apparel like hers. The moment he saw the maiden Tereus was inflamed with love, quick as if one should set fire to ripe grain, or dry leaves, or hay stored away in the mow. Her beauty, indeed, was worth it; but in his case his own passionate nature pricked him on, and, besides, the men of his clime are quick to love: his own fire and his nation’s burnt in him. His impulse was to corrupt her attendants’ care and her nurse's faithfulness, and even by rich gifts to tempt the girl herself, even at the cost of all his kingdom; or else to ravish her and to defend his act by bloody war. There was nothing which he would not do or dare, smitten by this mad passion. His heart could scarce contain the fires that burnt init. Now, impatient of delay, he eagerly repeated Procne’s request, pleading his own cause under her name. Love made him eloquent, and as often as he asked more urgently than he should, he would say that Procne wished it so. He even added tears to his entreaties, as though she had bidden him to do this too. Ye gods, what blind night rules in the hearts of men! In the very act of pushing on his shameful plan Tereus gets credit for a kind heart and wins praise from wickedness. Ay, more— Philomela herself has the same wish; winding her arms about her father’s neck, she coaxes him to let her visit her sister; by her own welfare (yes, and against it, too) she urges her prayer. Tereus gazes at her, and as he looks feels her already in his arms; as he sees her kisses and her arms about her father’s neck, all this goads him on, food and fuel for his passion; and whenever she embraces her father he wishes that he were in the father’s place—indeed, if he were, his intent would be no 321 OVID vincitur ambarum genitor prece: gaudet agitque illa patri grates et successisse duabus id putat infelix, quod erit lugubre duabus. 485 Jam labor exiguus Phoebo restabat, equique pulsabant pedibus spatium declivis Olympi: regales epulae mensis et Bacchus in auro ponitur; hinc placido dantur sua corpora somno. at rex Odrysius, quamvis secessit, in illa ~ 490 aestuat et repetens faciem motusque manusque qualia vult fingit quae nondum vidit et ignes Ipse suos nutrit cura removente soporem. lux erat, et generi dextram conplexus euntis Pandion comitem lacrimis commendat obortis: 495 ‘“hanc ego, care gener, quoniam pia causa coegit, et voluere ambae (voluisti tu quoque, Tereu) do tibi perque fidem cognataque pectora supplex per superos oro patrio ut tuearis amore | et mihi sollicitae lenimen dulce senectae 500 quam primum (omnis erit nobis mora longa) remittas ; tu quoque quam primum (satis est procul esse sororem), si pietas ulla est, ad me, Philomela, redito! ” mandabat pariterque suae dabat oscula natae, et lacrimae mites inter mandata cadebant; 505 utque fide pignus dextras utriusque poposcit inter seque datas iunxit natamque nepotemque absentes pro se memori rogat ore salutent ; supremumque vale pleno singultibus ore | vix dixit timuitque suae praesagia mentis. 510 322 METAMORPHOSES BOOK VI less impious. The father yields to the prayers of both. The girl is filled with joy; she thanks her father and, poor unhappy wretch, she deems that success for both sisters which is to prove a woeful happening for them both. Now Phoebus’ toils were almost done and his horses were pacing down the western sky. A royal feast was spread, wine in cups of gold. Then they lay them down to peaceful slumber. But although the Thracian king retired, his heart seethes with thoughts of her. Recalling her look, her move- ment, her hands, he pictures at will what he has not yet seen, and feeds his own fires, his thoughts preventing sleep. Morning came; and Pandion, wringing his son-in-law’s hand as he was departing, consigned his daughter to him with many tears and said: ‘‘ Dear son, since a natural plea has won me, and both my daughters have wished it, and you also have wished it, my Tereus, I give her to your keeping; and by your honour and the ties that bind us, by the gods, I pray you guard her with a father’s love, and as soon as possible—it will seem a long time in any case to me—send back to me this sweet solace of my tedious years. And do you, my Philomela, if you love me, come back to me as soon as possible; it is enough that your sister is so far away. Thus he made his last requests and kissed his child good-bye, and gentle tears fell as he spoke the words; and he asked both their right hands as pledge of their promise, and joined them together and begged that they would remember to greet for him his daughter and her son. His voice broke with sobs, he could hardly say farewell, as he feared the forebodings of his mind. 323 OVID Ut semel inposita est pictae Philomela carinae, admotumque fretum remis tellusque repulsa est, “* vicimus! ’’ exclamat, ““ mecum mea vota feruntur! ”’ exsultatque et vix animo sua gaudia differt barbarus et nusquam lumen detorquet ab illa, 515 non aliter quam cum pedibus praedator obuncis deposuit nido leporem Iovis ales in alto; nulla fuga est capto, spectat sua praemia raptor. Iamque iter effectum, iamgue in sua litora fessis puppibus exierant, cum rex Pandione natam 520 in stabula alta trahit, silvis obscura vetustis, atque ibi pallentem trepidamque et cuncta timentem et iam cum lacrimis, ubi sit germana, rogantem includit fassusque nefas et virginem et unam vi superat frustra clamato saepe parente, 525: saepe sorore sua, magnis super omnia divis. illa tremit velut agna pavens, quae saucia cani ore excussa lupi nondum sibi tuta videtur, utque columba suo madefactis sanguine plumis horret adhucavidosque timet, quibus haeserat, ungues. mox ubi mens rediit, passos laniata capillos, 531 lugenti similis caesis plangore lacertis intendens palmas “ o diris barbare factis, ‘ o crudelis ”’ ait, ““ nec te mandata parentis cum lacrimis movere piis nec cura sororis 539 nec mea virginitas nec coniugialia iura? omnia turbasti; paelex ego facta sororis, tu geminus coniunx, hostis mihi debita Procne! 324 METAMORPHOSES BOOK VI As soon as Philomela was safely embarked upon the painted ship and the sea was churned beneath the oars and the land was left behind, Tereus ex- claimed: “ I have won! in my ship I carry the ful- filment of my prayers!” The barbarous fellow triumphs, he can scarce postpone his joys, and never turns his eyes from her, as when the ravenous bird of Jove has dropped in his high eyrie some hare caught in his hooked talons; the captive has no chance to escape, the captor gloats over his prize. And now they were at the end of their journey, now, leaving the travel-worn ship, they had landed on their own shores; when the king dragged off Pandion’s daughter to a hut deep hidden in the ancient woods ; and there, pale and trembling and all fear, begging with tears to know where her sister was, he shut her up. Then, openly confessing his horrid purpose, he violated her, just a weak girl and all alone, vainly calling, often on her father, often on her sister, but most of all upon the great gods. She trembled like a frightened lamb, which, torn and cast aside by a grey wolf, cannot yet believe that it is safe; and like a dove which, with its own blood all smeared over its plumage, still palpitates with fright, still fears those greedy claws that have pierced it. Soon, when her senses came back, she dragged at her loosened hair, and like one in mourning, beating and tearing her arms, with outstretched hands she cried: “ Oh, what a horrible thing you have done, bar- barous, cruel wretch! Do you care nothing for my father’s injunctions, his affectionate tears, my sister's love, my own virginity, the bonds of wedlock? You have confused all natural relations: I have become a concubine, my sister’s rival; you, a husband to both. Now Procne must be my enemy. Why do you not 325 OVID quin animam hanc, ne quod facinus tibi, perfide, restet, eripis? atque utinam fecisses ante nefandos 540 concubitus: vacuas habuissem criminis umbras. si tamen haec superi cernunt, si numina divum sunt aliquid, si non perierunt omnia mecum, quandocumque mihi poenas dabis! ipsa pudore proiecto tua facta loquar: si copia detur, 545 in populos veniam; si silvis clausa tenebor, inplebo silvas et conscia saxa movebo; audiet haec aether et si deus ullus in illo est!” Talibus ira feri postqguam commota tyranni nec minor hac metus est, causa stimulatus utraque, quo fuit accinctus, vagina liberat ensem 551 arreptamque coma fixis post terga lacertis vincla pati cogit; iugulum Philomela parabat spemque suae mortis viso conceperat ense: ille indignantem et nomen patris usque vocantem luctantemque loqui conprensam forcipe linguam 556 abstulit ense fero. radix micat ultima linguae, ipsa iacet terraeque tremens inmurmurat atrae, utque salire solet mutilatae cauda colubrae, palpitat et moriens dominae vestigia quaerit. 560 hoc quoque post facinus (vix ausim credere) fertur saepe sua lacerum repetisse libidine corpus. Sustinet ad Procnen post talia facta reverti; coniuge quae viso germanam quaerit, at ille 326 METAMORPHOSES BOOK VI take my life, that no crime may be left undone, you traitor? Aye, would that you had killed me before you wronged me so. Then would my shade have been innocent and clean. If those who dwell on high see these things, nay, if there are any gods at all, if all things have not perished with me, sooner or later you shall pay dearly for this deed. I will myself cast shame aside and proclaim what you have done. If I should have the chance, I would go where people throng and tell it; if I am kept shut up in these woods, I will fill the woods with my story and move the very rocks to pity. The air of heaven shall hear it, and, if there is any god in heaven, he shall hear it too.” The savage tyrant’s wrath was aroused by these words, and his fear no less. Pricked on by both these spurs, he drew his sword which was hanging by his side in its sheath, caught her by the hair, and twisting her arms behind her back, he bound them fast. At sight of the sword Philomela gladly offered her throat to the stroke, filled with the eager hope of death. But he seized her tongue with pincers, as it protested against the outrage, calling ever on the name of her father and struggling to speak, and cut it off with his merciless blade. The mangled root quivers, while the severed tongue lies pal- pitating on the dark earth, faintly murmuring; and, as the severed tail of a mangled snake is wont to writhe, it twitches convulsively, and with its last dying movement it seeks its mistress’s feet. Even after this horrid deed—one would scarce believe it— the monarch is said to have worked his lustful will again and again upon the poor mangled form. With such crimes upon his soul he had the face to return to Procne’s presence. She on seeing him 327 OVID dat gemitus fictos commentaque funera narrat, et lacrimae fecere fidem. velamina Procne deripit ex umeris auro fulgentia lato induiturque atras vestes et inane sepulcrum constituit falsisque piacula manibus infert et luget non sic lugendae fata sororis. Signa deus bis sex acto lustraverat anno; quid faciat Philomela? fugam custodia claudit, structa rigent solido stabulorum moenia saxo, os mutum facti caret indice. grande doloris ingenium est, miserisque venit sollertia rebus: stamina barbarica suspendit callida tela purpureasque notas filis intexuit albis, indicium sceleris; perfectaque tradidit uni, utque ferat dominae, gestu rogat; illa rogata pertulit ad Procnen nec scit, quid tradat in illis. evolvit vestes saevi matrona tyranni fortunaeque suae carmen miserabile legit et (mirum potuisse) silet: dolor ora repressit, verbaque quaerenti satis indignantia linguae defuerunt, nec flere vacat, sed fasque nefasque confusura ruit poenaeque in imagine tota est. 565 570 515 580 585 Tempus erat, quo sacra solent trieterica Bacchi Sithoniae celebrare nurus: (nox conscia sacris, nocte sonat Rhodope tinnitibus aeris acuti) nocte sua est egressa domo regina deique ritibus instruitur furialiaque accipit arma; 328 590 METAMORPHOSES BOOK VI at once asked where her sister was. He groaned in pretended grief and told a made-up story of death; his tears gave credence to the tale. Then Procne tore from her shoulders the robe gleaming with a broad golden border and put on black weeds; she built also a cenotaph in honour of her sister, brought pious offerings to her imagined spirit, and mourned her sister’s fate, not meet so to be mourned. Now through the twelve signs, a whole year’s journey, has the sun-god passed. And what shall Philomela do? A guard prevents her flight; stout walls of solid stone fence in the hut; speechless lips can give no token of her wrongs. But grief has sharp wits, and in trouble cunning comes. She hangs a Thracian web on her loom, and skilfully weaving purple signs on a white background, she thus tells the story of her wrongs. This web, when completed, she gives to her one attendant and begs her with gestures to carry it to the queen. The old woman, as she was bid, takes the web to Procne, not knowing what she bears in it. The savage tyrant’s wife unrolls the cloth, reads the pitiable tale of her misfortune, and (a miracle that she could !) says not a word. Grief chokes the words that rise to her lips, and her questing tongue can find no words strong enough to express her outraged feelings. Here is no room for tears, but she hurries on to con- found right and wrong, her whole soul bent on the thought of vengeance. It was the time when the Thracian matrons were wont to celebrate the biennial festival of Bacchus. Night was in their secret; by night Mount Rhodope would resound with the shrill clash of brazen cym- bals; so by night the queen goes forth from her house, equips herself for the rites of the god and 329 OVID vite caput tegitur, lateri cervina sinistro vellera dependent, umero levis incubat hasta. concita per silvas turba comitante suarum terribilis Procne furiisque agitata doloris, 595 Bacche, tuas simulat: venit ad stabula avia tandem exululatque euhoeque sonat portasque refringit germanamque rapit raptaeque insignia Bacchi induit et vultus hederarum frondibus abdit attonitamque trahens intra sua moenia ducit. 600 Ut sensit tetigisse domum Philomela nefandam, horruit infelix totoque expalluit ore ; nacta locum Procne sacrorum pignora demit oraque develat miserae pudibunda sororis amplexumque petit; sed non attollere contra 605 sustinet haec oculos paelex sibi visa sororis deiectoque in humum vultu iurare volenti testarique deos, per vim sibi dedecus illud inlatum, pro voce manus fuit. ardet et iram non capit ipsa suam Procne fletumque sororis 610 corripiens ‘‘non est lacrimis hoc”’ inquit “agendum, sed ferro, sed si quid habes, quod vincere ferrum possit. in omne nefas ego me, germana, paravi: aut ego, cum facibus regalia tecta cremaho, artificem mediis inmittam Terea flammis 615 aut linguam atque oculos et quae tibi membra pudorem abstulerunt ferro rapiam aut per vulnera mille sontem animam expellam! magnum, quodcumque paravl ; quid sit, adhuc dubito.”’ 33° METAMORPHOSES BOOK VI dons the array of frenzy ; her head was wreathed with trailing vines, a deer-skin hung from her left side, a light spear rested on her shoulder. Swift she goes through the woods with an attendant throng of her companions, and driven on by the madness of grief, Procne, terrific in her rage, mimics thy madness, O Bacchus! She comes to the secluded lodge at last, shrieks aloud and cries “ Euhoe! ”’ breaks down the doors, seizes her sister, arrays her in the trappings of a Bacchante, hides her face with ivy-leaves, and, dragging her along in amazement, leads her within her own walls. When Philomela perceived that she had entered that accursed house the poor girl shook with horror and grew pale as death. Procne found a place, and took off the trappings of the Bacchic rites and, uncovering the shame-blanched face of her wretched sister, folded her in her arms. But Philomela could not lift her eyes to her sister, feeling herself to have wronged her. And, with her face turned to the ground, longing to swear and call all the gods to witness that that shame had been forced upon her, she made her hand serve for voice. But Procne was all on fire, could not contain her own wrath, and chid- ing her sister's weeping, she said: “‘ This is no time for tears, but for the sword, for something stronger than the sword, if you have such a thing. I am prepared for any crime, my sister; either to fire this palace with a torch, and to cast Tereus, the author of our wrongs, into the flaming ruins, or to cut out his tongue and his eyes, to cut off the parts which brought shame to you, and drive his guilty soul out through a thousand wounds. I am prepared for some great deed; but what it shall be I am still in doubt.” 331 OVID Peragit dum talia Procne, ad matrem veniebat Itys; quid possit, ab illo 620 admonita est oculisque tuens inmitibus “a! quam es similis patri! ” dixit nec plura locuta triste parat facinus tacitaque exaestuat ira. ut tamen accessit natus matrique salutem attulit et parvis adduxit colla lacertis 625 mixtaque blanditiis puerilibus oscula iunxit, mota quidem est genetrix, infractaque constitit ira invitique oculi lacrimis maduere coactis ; sed simul ex nimia mentem ! pietate labare sensit, ab hoc iterum est ad vultus versa sororis 630 inque vicem spectans ambos “ cur admovet ” inquit “alter blanditias, rapta silet altera lingua? quam vocat hic matrem, cur non vocat illa sororem? cui sis nupta, vide, Pandione nata! marito degeneras? scelus est pietas in coniuge Tereo.” 635 nec mora, traxit Ityn, veluti Gangetica cervae lactentem fetum per silvas tigris opacas, utque domus altae partem tenuere remotam, tendentemque manus et iam sua fata videntem et “ mater! mater!” clamantem et colla petentem ense ferit Procne, lateri qua pectus adhaeret, 641 nec vultum vertit. satis illi ad fata vel unum vulnus erat: iugulum ferro Philomela resolvit, vivaque adhuc animaeque aliquid retinentia membra dilaniant. pars inde cavis exsultat aenis, 645 pars veribus stridunt; manant penetralia tabo. His adhibet coniunx ignarum Terea mensis et patrii moris sacrum mentita, quod uni 1 mentem cod. Ciofani: matrem N. Heinsius. 332 METAMORPHOSES BOOK VI While Procne was thus speaking Itys came into his mother’s presence. His coming suggested what she could do, and regarding him with pitiless eyes, she said: ‘“‘ Ah, how like your father you are!” Saying no more, she began to plan a terrible deed and boiled with inward rage. But when the boy came up to her and greeted his mother, put his little arms around her neck and kissed her in his winsome, boy- ish way, her mother-heart was touched, her wrath fell away, and her eyes, though all unwilling, were wet with tears that flowed in spite of her. But when she perceived that her purpose was wavering through excess of mother-love, she turned again from her son to her sister; and gazing at both in turn, she said: ‘Why is one able to make soft, pretty speeches, while her ravished tongue dooms the other to silence? Since he calls me mother, why does she not call me sister? Remember whose wife you are, daughter of Pandion! Will you be faithless to your husband? But faithfulness to such a husband as Tereus is a crime.” Without more words she dragged Itys away, as a tigress drags a suckling fawn through the dark woods on Ganges’ banks. And when they reached a remote part of the great house, while the boy stretched out pleading hands as he saw his fate, and screamed, ‘“‘ Mother! mother! ” and sought to throw his arms around her neck, Procne smote him with a knife between breast and side—and with no change of face. This one stroke sufficed to slay the lad; but Philomela cut the throat also, and they cut up the body still warm and quivering with life. Part bubbles in brazen kettles, part sputters on spits; while the whole room drips with gore. This is the feast to which the wife invites Tereus, little knowing what it is. She pretends that it is a 333 OVID fas sit adire viro, comites famulosque removit. ipse sedens solio Tereus sublimis avito 650 vescitur inque suam sua viscera congerit alvum, tantaque nox animi est, “ Ityn huc accersite! ”’ dixit. dissimulare nequit crudelia gaudia Procne iamque suae cupiens exsistere nuntia cladis 654 “ intus habes, quem poscis ”’ ait: circumspicit ille atque, ubi sit, quaerit; quaerenti iterumque vocanti, sicut erat sparsis furiali caede capillis, prosiluit Ityosque caput Philomela cruentum misit in ora patris nec tempore maluit ullo posse loqui et meritis testari gaudia dictis. 660 Thracius ingenti mensas clamore repellit vipereasque ciet Stygia de valle sorores et modo, si posset, reserato pectore diras egerere inde dapes emersaque viscera gestit, flet modo seque vocat bustum miserabile nati, 665 nunc sequitur nudo genitas Pandione ferro. corpora Cecropidum pennis pendere putares: pendebant pennis. quarum petit altera silvas, altera tecta subit, neque adhuc de pectore caedis excessere notae, signataque sanguine pluma est. 670 ille dolore suo poenaeque cupidine velox vertitur in volucrem, cui stant in vertice cristae. prominet inmodicum pro longa cuspide rostrum ; nomen epops volucri, facies armata videtur. 334 METAMORPHOSES BOOK VI sacred feast after their ancestral fashion, of which only a husband may partake, and removes. all attendants and slaves. So Tereus, sitting alone in his high ancestral banquet-chair, begins the feast and gorges himself with flesh of his own flesh. And in the utter blindness of his understanding he cries: ‘“ Go, call me Itys hither!’ Procne cannot hide her cruel joy, and eager to be the messenger of her bloody news, she says: “ You have, within, him whom you want.” He looks about and asks where the boy is. And then, as he asks and calls again for his son, Just as she was, with streaming hair, and all stained with her mad deed of blood, Philomela springs forward and hurls the gory head of Itys straight into his father’s face; nor was there ever any time when she longed more to be able to speak, and to express her joy in fitting words. Then the Thracian king overturns the table with a great cry and invokes the snaky sisters from the Stygian pit. Now, if he could, he would gladly lay open his breast and take thence the horrid feast and vomit forth the flesh of his son; now he weeps bitterly and calls himself his son’s most wretched tomb; then with drawn sword he pursues the two daughters of Pandion. As they fly from him you would think that the bodies of the two Athenians were poised on wings: they were poised on wings! One flies to the woods, the other rises to the roof. And even now their breasts have not lost the marks of their mur- derous deed, their feathers are stained with blood. Tereus, swift in pursuit because of his grief and eager desire for vengeance, is himself changed into a bird. Upon his head a stiff crest appears, and a huge beak stands forth instead of his long sword. He is the hoopoé, with the look of one armed for war. Rh) OVID Hic dolor ante diem longaeque extrema senectae tempora Tartareas Pandiona misit ad umbras. 676 sceptra loci rerumque capit moderamen Erechtheus, iustitia dubium validisne potentior armis. quattuor ille quidem iuvenes totidemque crearat femineae sortis, sed erat par forma duarum. 680 e quibus Aeolides Cephalus te coniuge felix, Procri, fuit; Boreae ‘Tereus Thracesque nocebant, dilectaque diu caruit deus Orithyia, dum rogat et precibus mavult quam viribus uti; ast ubi blanditiis agitur nil, horridus ira, 685 quae solita est illi nimiumque domestica vento, ‘et merito! ” dixit; “ quid enim mea tela reliqui, saevitiam et vires iramque animosque minaces, admovique preces, quarum me dedecet usus? apta mihi vis est: vi tristia nubila pello, 690 vi freta concutio nodosaque robora verto induroque nives et terras grandine pulso; idem ego, cum fratres caclo sum nactus aperto (nam mihi campus is est), tanto molimine luctor, ut medius nostris concursibus insonet aether 695 exsiliantque cavis elisi nubibus ignes 5 idem ego, cum subii convexa foramina terrae supposuique ferox imis mea terga cavernis, sollicito manes totumque tremoribus orbem. hac ope debueram thalamos petiisse, socerque 700 non orandus erat mihi sed faciendus Erechtheus.” 330 METAMORPHOSES BOOK VI This woe shortened the days of old Pandion and sent him down to the shades of Tartarus before old age came to its full term. His sceptre and the state's control fell to Erechtheus, equally famed for justice and for prowess in arms. Four sons were born to him and four daughters also. Of these daughters two were of equal beauty, of whom thou, Procris, didst make happy in wedlock Cephalus, the grandson of Aeolus. Boreas was not favoured because of Tereus and the Thracians!; and so the god was long kept from his beloved Orithyia, while he wooed and preferred to use prayers rather than force. But when he could accomplish nothing by soothing words, rough with anger, which was the north-wind’s usual and more natural mood, he said: “I have deserved it! For why have I given up my own weapons, fierceness and force, rage and threatening moods, and had recourse to prayers, which do not at all become me? Force is my fit instrument. By force I drive on the gloomy clouds, by force I shake the sea, I overturn gnarled oaks, pack hard the snow, and pelt the earth with hail. So also when I meet my brother in the open sky—for that is my battle- ground—I struggle with them so fiercely that the mid-heavens thunder with our meeting and fires leap bursting out of the hollow clouds. So also when I have entered the vaulted hollows of the earth, and have set my strong back beneath her lowest caverns, I fright the ghosts and the whole world, too, by my heavings. By this means I should have sought my wife. I should not have begged Erechtheus to be my father-in-law, but made him to be so.” With 1 Since the home of Boreas was in the north, he was included in the hatred felt at Athens for Tereus and the Thracians. 337 VOL. I. M OVID haec Boreas aut his non inferiora locutus excussit pennas, quarum iactatibus omnis adflata est tellus latumque perhorruit aequor, pulvereamque trahens per summa cacumina pallam verrit hamum pavidamque metu caligine tectus 706 Orithyian amans fulvis amplectitur alis. dum volat, arserunt agitati fortius ignes, nec prius aerii cursus suppressit habenas, quam Ciconum tenuit populos et moenia raptor. 710 illic et gelidi coniunx Actaea tyranni et genetrix facta est, partus enixa gemellos, cetera qui matris, pennas genitoris haberent. non tamen has una memorant cum corpore natas, barbaque dum rutilis aberat subnixa capillis, 715 inplumes Calaisque puer Zetesque fuerunt ; mox pariter pennae ritu coepere volucrum cingere utrumque latus, pariter flavescere malae. ergo ubi concessit tempus puerile iuventae, vellera cum Minyis nitido radiantia villo 720 per mare non notum prima petiere carina. 338 METAMORPHOSES BOOK VI these words cr others no less boisterous, Boreas shook his wings, whose mighty flutterings sent a blast over all the earth, and rufHed the broad ocean. And trailing along his dusty mantle over the mountain- tops, he swept the land; and wrapped in darkness, the lover embraced with his tawny wings his Orithyia, who was trembling sore with fear. As he flew his own flames were fanned and burned stronger. Nor did the robber check his airy flight until he came to the people and the city of the Cicones. There did the Athenian girl become the bride of the cold monarch, and mother, when she brought forth twins sons, who had all else of their mother, but their father’s wings. Yet these wings, they say, were not born with their bodies; while the beard was not yet to be seen beneath their yellow locks, both Calais and Zetes were wingless, but soon and at the same time wings began to spring out on either side after the fashion of birds, and the cheeks began to grow tawny. So these two youths, when boyhood was passed and they had grown to man’s estate, went with the Minyans over an unknown sea in that first ship to seek the bright gleaming fleece of gold. 339 LIBER VII JamQve fretum Minyae Pagasaea puppe secabant, perpetuaque trahens inopem sub nocte senectam Phineus visus erat, iuvenesque Aquilone creati virgineas volucres miseri senis ore fugarant, multaque perpessi claro sub Iasone tandem 5 contigerant rapidas limosi Phasidos undas. dumque adeunt regem Phrixeaque vellera poscunt lexque datur Minyis magnorum horrenda laborum, concipit interea validos Aeetias ignes et luctata diu, postquam ratione furorem 10 vincere non poterat, “ frustra, Medea, repugnas: nescio quis deus obstat,”’ ait, ‘“ mirumque, nisi hoc est, aut aliquid certe simile huic, quod amare vocatur. nam cur iussa patris nimium mihi dura videntur ? sunt quoque dura nimis! cur, quem modo denique vidi, ne pereat, timeo? quae tanti causa timoris? 16 excute virgineo conceptas pectore flammas, si potes, infelix! si possem, sanior essem ! sed gravat invitam nova vis, aliudque cupido, mens aliud suadet: video meliora proboque, 20 deteriora sequor. quid in hospite, regia virgo, Sr BOOK VII Anp now the Minyans were plowing the deep in their Thessalian ship. They had seen Phineus, spending his last days helpless in perpetual night; and the sons of Boreas had driven the harpies from the presence of the unhappy king. Having ex- perienced many adventures under their illustrious leader Jason, they reached at last the swift waters of muddy Phasis. There, while they were approach- ing the king and demanding the fleece that Phrixus had given to him, while the dreadful condition with its great tasks was being proposed to the Minyans, meanwhile the daughter of King Aeétes conceived an overpowering passion. Long she fought against it, and when by reason she could not rid her of her madness she cried: “ In vain, Medea, do you fight. Some god or other is opposing you; I wonder if this is not what is called love, or at least something like this. For why do the mandates of my father seem too harsh? They certainly are too harsh. Why do I fear lest he perish whom I have but now seen for the first time? What is the cause of all this fear? Come, thrust from your maiden breast these flames that you feel, if you can, unhappy girl. Ah, if I could, I should be more myself. But some strange power holds me down against my will. Desire persuades me one way, reason another. I see the better and approve it, but I follow the worse. Why do you, a 343 OVID ureris et thalamos alieni concipis orbis ? haec quoque terra potest, quod ames, dare. vivat anille occidat, in dis est. vivat tamen! idque precari vel sine amore licet: quid enim commisit Iason? 25 quem, nisi crudelem, non tangat Iasonis aetas et genus et virtus? quem non, ut cetera desint, ore movere potest? certe mea pectora movit. at nisi opem tulero, taurorum adflabitur ore concurretque suae segeti, tellure creatis 30 hostibus, aut avido dabitur fera praeda draconi. hee ego si patiar, tum me de tigride natam, tum ferrum et scopulos gestare in corde fatebor ! cur non et specto pereuntem oculosque videndo conscelero? cur non tauros exhortor in illum 30 terrigenasque feros insopitumque draconem? di meliora velint! quamquam non ista precanda, sed facienda mihi—prodamne ego regna parentis, atque ope nescio quis servabitur advena nostra, ut per me sospes sine me det lintea ventis 40 virque sit alterius, poenae Medea relinquar? si facere hoc aliamve potest praeponere nobis, occidat ingratus! sed non is vultus in illo, non ea nobilitas animo est, ea gratia formae, ut timeam fraudem meritique oblivia nostyri. 45 et dabit ante fidem, cogamque in foedera testes esse deos. quid tuta times? accingere et omnem pelle moram: tibi se semper debebit Iason, te face sollemni iunget sibi perque Pelasgas 344 METAMORPHOSES BOOK VII royal maiden, burn for a stranger, and think upon marriage with a foreign world? This land also can give you something to love. Whether he live or die is in the lap of the gods. Yet may he live! This J may pray for even without loving him. For what has Jason done? Who that is not heartless would not be moved by Jason’s youth, his noble birth, his manhood? Who, though the rest were lacking, would not be touched by his beauty? Certainly he has touched my heart. But unless I help him he will be breathed on by the bulls’ fiery breath, and he will have to meet an enemy of his own sowing sprung from the earth, or he will be given as prey like any wild beast to the greedy dragon. If I permit this, then shall I confess that I am the child of a tigress and that I have iron and stone in my heart. But why can I not look on as he dies, and why is such a sight defilement for my eyes? Why do IJ not urge on the bulls against him, and the fierce earth-born warriors, and the sleepless dragon? Heaven forefend! and yet that is not matter for my prayers, but for my deeds. Shall I then betray my father’s throne? and shall an unknown stranger be preserved by my aid, that, when saved by me, he may sail off without me, and become another’s husband, while I, Medea, am left for punishment? If hecando that, if hecan prefer another woman to me, let him perish, ungrateful man. But no: his look, his loftiness of soul, his grace of form are not such that I need fear deceit or forgetfulness of my service. And he shall give me his pledge beforehand, and I will compel the gods to be wit- nesses of our troth. Why do you fear when all is safe? Now for action, and away with all delay! Jason shall always owe himself to you, he shall join you to himself in solemn wedlock. Then you shall 345 OVID servatrix urbes matrum celebrabere turba. 50 ergo ego germanam fratremque patremque deosque et natale solum ventis ablata relinquam? nempe pater saevus, nempe est mea barbara tellus, frater adhuc infans; stant mecum vota sororis, maximus intra me deus est! non magna relinquam, magna sequar: titulum servatae pubis Achivae 56 notitiamque soli melioris et oppida, quorum hic quoque fama viget, cultusque artesque locorum, quemque ego cum rebus, quas totus possidet orbis, Aesoniden mutasse velim, quo coniuge felix 60 et dis cara ferar et vertice sidera tangam. quid, quod nescio qui mediis concurrere in undis dicuntur montes ratibusque inimica Charybdis nunc sorbere fretum, nunc reddere, cinctaque saevis Scylla rapax canibus Siculo latrare profundo! 65 nempe tenens, quod amo, gremioque in [asonis haerens per freta longa ferar; nil illum amplexa verebor aut, siquid metuam, metuam de coniuge solo.— coniugiumne vocas speciosaque nomina culpae inponis, Medea, tuae ?—quin adspice, quantum 70 adgrediare nefas, et, dum licet, effuge crimen! ” dixit, et ante oculos rectum pietasque pudorque constiterant, et victa dabat iam terga Cupido. Ibat ad antiquas Hecates Perseidos aras, quas nemus umbrosum secretaque silva tegebat, 75 et iam fortis erat, pulsusque recesserat ardor, cum videt Aesoniden exstinctaque flamma reluxit. 346 METAMORPHOSES BOOK VII be hailed as his deliverer through the cities of Greece by throngs of women. And shall I then sail away and leave my sister here, my brother, father, gods, and native land? Indeed my father is a stern man, indeed my native land is barbarous, my brother is still a child, my sister’s goodwill is on my side; and the greatest god is within me! I shall not be leaving great things, but going to great things: the title of saviour of the Achaean youth, acquaintance with a better land, cities, whose fame is mighty even here, the culture and arts of civilized countries, and the man I would not give in exchange for all that the wide world holds—the son of Aeson; with him as my husband I shall be called the beloved of heaven, and with my head shall touch the stars. But what of certain mountains, which, they say, come clashing together in mid-sea; and Charybdis, the sailor's dread, who now sucks in and again spews forth the waves; and greedy Scylla, girt about with savage dogs, baying in the Sicilian seas! Nay, holding that which I love, and resting in Jason’s arms, I shall fare over the long reaches of the sea; in his safe embrace I shall fear nothing; or if I fear at all, I shall fear for my husband only. But do you call it marriage, Medea, and do you give fair-seeming names to your fault? Nay, rather, look ahead and see how great a wickedness you are approaching and flee it while you may.’ She spoke, and before her eyes stood righteousness, filial affection, and modesty ; and love, defeated, was now on the point of flight. She took her way to an ancient altar of Hecate, the daughter of Perse, hidden in the deep shades of a forest. And now she was strong of purpose and the flames of her vanquished passion had died down; when she saw the son of Aeson and the dying flame 347 OVID erubuere genae, totoque recanduit ore, utque solet ventis alimenta adsumere, quaeque parva sub inducta latuit scintilla favilla crescere et in veteres agitata resurgere vires, sic iam lenis amor, iam quem languere putares, ut vidit iuvenem, specie praesentis inarsit. et casu solito formosior Aesone natus illa luce fuit: posses ignoscere amanti. spectat et in vultu veluti tum denique viso lumina fixa tenet nec se mortalia demens ora videre putat nec se declinat ab illo; ut vero coepitque loqui dextramque prehendit hospes et auxilium submissa voce rogavit promisitque torum, lacrimis ait illa profusis: “ quid faciam, video: non ignorantia veri decipiet, sed amor. servabere munere nostro, servatus promissa dato! ” per sacra triformis ille deae lucoque foret quod numen in illo perque patrem soceri cernentem cuncta futuri eventusque suos et tanta pericula iurat : creditus accepit cantatas protinus herbas edidicitque usum laetusque in tecta recessit. Postera depulerat stellas Aurora micantes: conveniunt populi sacrum Mavortis in arvum consistuntque iugis; medio rex ipse resedit agmine purpureus sceptroque insignis eburno. ecce adamanteis Vulcanum naribus efllant aeripedes tauri, tactaeque vaporibus herbae ardent, utque solent pleni resonare camini, 348 80 85 90 95 100 105 METAMORPHOSES BOOK VII leaped up again. Her cheeks grew red, then all her face became pale again; and as a tiny spark, which has lain hidden beneath the ashes, is fed by a breath of wind, then grows and regains its former strength as it is fanned to life; so now her smouldering love, which you would have thought all but dying, at sight of the young hero standing before her blazed up again. It chanced that the son of Aeson was more beautiful than usual that day: you could pardon her for loving him. She gazed upon him and held her eyes fixed on his face as if she had never seen him before; and in her infatuation she thought the face she gazed on more than mortal, nor could she turn herself away from him. But when the stranger began to speak, grasped her right hand, and in low tones asked for her aid and promised marriage in return, she burst into tears and said: “ I see what I am about to do, nor shall ignorance of the truth be my undoing, but love itself. You shall be preserved by my assistance ; but when preserved, fulfil your promise.” He swore he would be true by the sacred rites of the threefold goddess, by whatever divinity might be in that grove, by the all-beholding father of his father-in- law who was to be, by his own successes and his mighty perils. She believed; and straight he re- ceived the magic herbs and learnt their use, then withdrew full of joy into his lodging. The next dawn had put to flight the twinkling stars. Then the throngs gathered into the sacred field of Mars and took their stand on the heights. In the midst of the company sat the king himself, clad in purple, and conspicuous with his ivory sceptre. —See! here come the brazen-footed bulls, breathing fire from nostrils of adamant. The very grass shrivels up at thetouch of their hot breath. Andasfullfurnaces 349 OVID aut ubi terrena silices fornace soluti concipiunt ignem liquidarum adspergine aquarum, pectora sic intus clausas volventia flammas gutturaque usta sonant; tamen illis Acsone natus obvius it. vertere truces venientis ad ora terribiles vultus praefixaque cornua ferro pulvereumque solum pede pulsavere bisulco fumificisque locum mugitibus inpleverunt. deriguere metu Minyae; subit ille nec ignes sensit anhelatos; tantum medicamina possunt, pendulaque audaci mulcet palearia dextra suppositosque iugo pondus grave cogit aratri ducere et insuetum ferro proscindere campum : mirantur Colchi, Minyae clamoribus augent adiciuntque animos. galea tum sumit aena vipereos dentes et aratos spargit in agros. semina mollit humus valido praetincta veneno, et crescunt fiuntque sati nova corpora dentes, utque hominis speciem materna sumit in alvo perque suos intus numeros conponitur infans nec nisi maturus communes exit in auras, sic, ubi visceribus gravidae telluris imago effecta est hominis, feto consurgit in arvo, | iG i 115 120 125 quodque magis mirum est, simul edita concutit arma. quos ubi viderunt praeacutae cuspidis hastas in caput Haemonii iuvenis torquere parantis, demisere metu vultumque animumque Pelasgi; ipsa quoque extimuit, quae tutum fecerat illum. utque peti vidit iuvenem tot ab hostibus unum, 35° 131 135 METAMORPHOSES BOOK VII are wont to roar, or as limestones burned in the lime- kiln hiss and grow hot when water is poured upon them; so did the bulls’ chests and parched throats rumble with the fires pent up within. Nevertheless the son of Aeson went forward to meet them. As he came towards them the fierce beasts turned upon him terrible faces and sharp horns tipped with iron, pawed the dusty earth with their cloven feet, and filled the place with their fiery bellowings. The Minyans were stark with fear; he went up to the bulls, not feeling their hot breath at all, so great is the power of charmed drugs; and stroking their hanging dew- laps with fearless hand, he placed the yoke on their necks and made them draw the heavy plow and cut through the field that had never felt steel before. The Colchians are amazed; but the Minyans shouted aloud and increased their hero’s courage. Next he took from a brazen helmet the serpent’s teeth and sowed them broadcast in the plowed field. The earth softened these seeds steeped in virulent poison and the teeth swelled up and took on new forms. And just as in its mother’s body an infant gradually assumes human form, and is perfected within through all its parts, and does not come forth to the common air until it is fully formed; so, when the forms of men had been completed in the womb of the pregnant earth, they rose up on the teeming soil and, what is yet more wonderful, each clashed weapons that had been brought forth with him. When the Greeks saw them preparing to hurl sharp-pointed spears at the head of the Thessalian hero, their faces fell with fear and their hearts failed them. She also, who had safeguarded him, was sore afraid; and when she saw him, one man, attacked by so many foes, she grew pale, and 351 OVID palluit et subito sine sanguine frigida sedit, neve parum valeant a se data gramina, carmen auxiliare canit secretasque advocat artes. ille gravem medios silicem iaculatus in hostes ase depulsum Martem convertit in ipsos: 140 terrigenae pereunt per mutua vulnera fratres civilique cadunt acie. gratantur Achivi victoremque tenent avidisque amplexibus haerent. tu quoque victorem conplecti, barbara, velles : obstitit incepto pudor, at conplexa fuisses } 145 sed te, ne faceres, tenuit reverentia famae. quod licet, adfectu tacito laetaris agisque carminibus grates et dis auctoribus horum. Pervigilem superest herbis sopire draconem, qui crista linguisque tribus praesignis et uncis 150 dentibus horrendus custos erat arboris aureae. hunc postquam sparsit Lethaei gramine suci verbaque ter dixit placidos facientia somnos, quae mare turbatum, quae concita flumina sistunt, somnus in ignotos oculos sibi venit, et auro 155 heros Aesonius potitur spolioque superbus muneris auctorem secum, spolia altera, portans victor Iolciacos tetigit cum coniuge portus. | Haemoniae matres pro gnatis dona receptis grandaevique ferunt patres congestaque flamma 160 tura liquefaciunt, inductaque cornibus aurum victima vota litat, sed abest gratantibus Aeson 1 Tine 145 bracketed by Ehwald. 352 METAMORPHOSES BOOK VII sat there suddenly cold and bloodless. And, lest the charmed herbs which she had given him should not be strong enough, she chanted a spell to help them and called in her secret arts. But he hurled a heavy rock into the midst of his enemies and so turned their fury away from him upon themselves. The earth-born brethren perished by each other’s wounds and fell fighting in internecine strife. Then did the Greeks congratulate the victorious youth, catching him in their arms and clinging to him in eager embraces. You also, barbarian maiden, would gladly have embraced the victor ; your modesty stood in the way. Still, you would have embraced him; but respect for common talk held you back. What was allowed you did, gazing on him with silent joy and thanking your spells and the gods who gave them. Thereremained the task of putting tosleep the ever- watchful dragon with magic herbs. This creature, distinguished by a crest, a three-forked tongue and hooked fangs, was the awful guardian of the golden tree. After Jason had sprinkled upon him the Lethaean juice of a certain herb and thrice had recited the words that bring peaceful slumber, which stay the swollen sea and swift-flowing rivers, then sleep came to those eyes which had never known sleep before, and the heroic son of Aeson gained the golden fleece. Proud of this spoil and bearing with him the giver of his prize, another spoil, the victor and his wife in due time reached the harbour of Tolchos. The Thessalian mothers and aged fathers bring gifts in honour of their sons’ safe return, and burn incense heaped on the altar flames, and the victim with gilded horns which they have vowed is slain. But Aeson is absent from the rejoicing throng, being 353 OVID iam propior leto fessusque senilibus annis, cum sic Aesonides: “ o cui debere salutem confiteor, coniunx, quamquam mihi cuncta dedisti excessitque fidem meritorum summa tuorum, 166 si tamen hoc possunt (quid enim non carmina possunt ?) deme meis annis et demptos adde parenti! ” nec tenuit lacrimas: mota est pietate rogantis, dissimilemque animum subiit Aeeta relictus ; 170 nec tamen adfectus talis confessa “ quod ”’ inquit “excidit ore tuo, coniunx, scelus? ergo ego cuiquam posse tuae videor spatium transcribere vitae? nec sinat hoc Hecate, nec tu petis aequa; sed isto, quod petis, experiar maius dare munus, Iason. 175 arte mea soceri longum temptabimus aevum, non annis revocare tuis, modo diva triformis adiuvet et praesens ingentibus adnuat ausis.”’ Tres aberant noctes, ut cornua tota coirent efficerentque orbem; postquam plenissima fulsit 180 ac solida terras spectavit imagine luna, egreditur tectis vestes induta recinctas, nuda pedem, nudos umeris infusa capillos, fertque vagos mediae per muta silentia noctis incomitata gradus: homines volucresque ferasque 185 solverat alta quies, nullo cum murmure saepes,} inmotaeque silent frondes, silet umidus aer, sidera sola micant: ad quae sua bracchia tendens ter se convertit, ter sumptis flumine crinem inroravit aquis ternisque ululatibus ora 190 1 So Merkel. Ehwald with some MSS. gives two lines for 186 ,; solverat alta quies, nullo cum murmure serpunt : sopitis similes, nullo cum murmure saepes. 354 METAMORPHOSES BOOK VII now near death and heavy with the weight of years. Then says the son of Aeson: “ O wife, to whom I freely own my deliverance is due, although you have already given me all, and the sum of your benefits has ex- ceeded all my hopes; still, if your spells can do this —and what can they not do?—take some portion from my own years of life and give this to my father.” And hecould not restrain histears. Medea wasmoved by the petitioner's filial love, and the thought of Aeétes deserted came into her mind, how different from Jason's! Still, not confessing such feelings, she replied: “ What impious words have fallen from your lips, my husband? Can I then transfer to any man, think you, a portion of your life? Neither would Hecate permit this, nor is your request right. Buta greater boon than what you ask, my Jason, will I try to give. By my art and not your years I will try to renew your father’s long span of life, if only the three-formed goddess will help me and grant her present aid in this great deed which I dare attempt.” There were yet three nights before the horns of the moon would meet and make the round orb. When the moon shone at her fullest and looked down upon the earth with unbroken shape, Medea went forth from her house clad in flowing robes, barefoot, her hair unadorned and streaming down her shoulders; and all alone she wandered out into the deep stillness of midnight. Men, birds, and beasts were sunk in profound repose; there was no sound in the hedgerow; the leaves hung mute and motionless; the dewy air was still. Only the stars twinkled. Stretching up her arms to these, she turned thrice about, thrice sprinkled water caught up from a flowing stream upon her head and thrice 2) OVID solvit et in dura submisso poplite terra ‘“ Nox ” ait “ arcanis fidissima, quaeque diurnis aurea cum luna succeditis ignibus astra, tuque, triceps Hecate, quae coeptis conscia nostris adiutrixque venis cantusque artisque magorum, 195 quaeque magos, Tellus, pollentibus instruis herbis, auraeque et venti montesque amnesque lacusque, dique omnes nemorum, dique omnes noctis adeste, quorum ope, cum volui, ripis mirantibus amnes in fontes rediere suos, concussaque sisto, 200 stantia concutio cantu freta, nubila pello nubilaque induco, ventos abigoque vocoque, vipereas rumpo verbis et carmine fauces, vivaque saxa sua convulsaque robora terra et silvas moveo iubeoque tremescere montis 205 et mugire solum manesque exire sepulcris! te quoque, Luna, traho, quamvis Temesaea labores aera tuos minuant; currus quoque carmine nostro pallet avi, pallet nostris Aurora venenis ! vos mihi taurorum flammas hebetastis et unco 210 inpatiens oneris collum pressistis aratro, vos serpentigenis in se fera bella dedistis custodemque rudem somni sopistis et aurum vindice decepto Graias misistis in urbes: nunc opus est sucis, per quos renovata senectus 215 in florem redeat primosque recolligat annos, 356 METAMORPHOSES BOOK VII gave tongue in wailing cries. Then she kneeled down upon the hard earth and prayed: “ O Night, faithful preserver of mysteries, and ye bright stars, whose golden beams with the moon succeed the fires of day; thou three-formed Hecate, who knowest our undertakings and comest to the aid of the spells and arts of magicians; and thou, O Earth, who dost provide the magicians with thy potent herbs; ye breezes and winds, ye mountains and streams and pools; all ye gods of the groves, all ye gods of the night: be with me now. With your help when I have willed it, the streams have run back to their fountain-heads, while the banks wondered; I lay the swollen, and stir up the calm seas by my spell; I drive the clouds and bring on the clouds; the winds I dispel and summon; I break the jaws of serpents with my incantations; living rocks and oaks I root up from their own soil; I move the forests, I bid the mountains shake, the earth to rumble and the ghosts to come forth from their tombs. Thee also, Luna, do I draw from the sky, though the clanging bronze of ‘Temesa strive to aid thy throes !; even the chariot of the Sun, my grandsire, pales at my song; Aurora pales at my poisons. You dulled the bulls’ flames at my command; you pressed under the curved plow those necks which had endured no weight. You turned the savage onslaught of the serpent-born band against themselves; you lulled the watcher who knew no sleep, and beguiling the defender sent the golden prize back to the cities of Greece. Now I have need of juices by whose aid old age may be renewed and may turn back to the bloom of youth and regain its early years. And you 1 At an eclipse it was usual to make a noise in order to frighten away the malignant influence. 307 OVID et dabitis. neque enim micuerunt sidera frustra, nec frustra volucrum tractus cervice draconum currus adest.’’ aderat demissus ab aethere currus. quo simul adscendit frenataque colla draconum 220 permulsit manibusque leves agitavit habenas, sublimis rapitur subiectaque Thessala Tempe dispicit et certis regionibus adplicat angues : et quas Ossa tulit, quas altum Pelion herbas Othrysque et Pindus, quas Pindo maior Olympus, 225 perspicit et placitas partim radice revellit, partim succidit curvamine falcis aenae. multa quoque Apidani placuerunt gramina ripis, multa quoque Amphrysi, neque eras inmunis, Enipeu; nec non Peneos nec non Spercheides undae 230 contribuere aliquid iuncosaque litora Boebes; carpsit et Kuboica vivax Anthedone gramen, nondum mutato vulgatum corpore Glauci. ° Kit iam nona dies curru pennisque draconum nonaque nox omnes lustrantem viderat agros, 235 cum rediit; neque erant tacti nisi odore dracones, et tamen annosae pellem posuere senectae. constitit adveniens citra limenque foresque et tantum caelo tegitur refugitque viriles contactus, statuitque aras de caespite binas, 240 dexteriore Hecates, ast laeva parte luventae. has ubi verbenis silvaque incinxit agresti, haud procul egesta scrobibus tellure duabus sacra facit cultrosque in guttura velleris atri conicit et patulas perfundit sanguine fossas ; 245 358 METAMORPHOSES BOOK VII will give them; for not in vain have the stars gleamed in reply, not in vain is my car at hand, drawn by winged dragons.” There was the car, sent down from the sky. When she had mounted therein and stroked the bridled necks of the dragon team, shaking the light reins with her hands she was whirled aloft. She looked down on Thessalian Tempe lying below, and turned her dragons towards regions that she knew. All the herbs that Ossa bore, and high Pelion, Othrys and Pindus and Olympus, greater than Pindus, she surveyed: and those that pleased her, some she plucked up by the roots and some she cut off with the curved blade of a bronze pruning-hook. Many grasses also she chose from the banks of the Apidanus, many from Amphrysus. Nor were you, Enipeus, left without toll; Peneus also, and Spercheus gave something, and the reedy banks of Boebe. From Euboean Anthedon she culled a grass that gives long life, a herb not yet made famous by the change which it produced in Glaucus’ body. And now nine days and nine nights had seen her traversing all lands, drawn in her car by her winged dragons, when she returned. The dragons had not been touched save by the odour of the herbs, and yet they sloughed off their skins of many long years. As she came Medea stopped this side of the threshold and the door; covered by the sky alone, she avoided her husband’s embrace, and built two turf altars, one on the right to Hecate and one on the left to Youth. She wreathed these with boughs from the wild wood, then hard by she dug two ditches in the earth and performed her rites; plunging her knife into the throat of a black sheep, she drenched the open ditches with his blood. Next she poured upon 399 OVID tum super invergens liquidi carchesia vini alteraque invergens tepidi carchesia lactis, verba simul fudit terrenaque numina civit umbrarumque rogat rapta cum coniuge regem, ne properent artus anima fraudare senili. 250 Quos ubi placavit precibusque et murmure longo, Aesonis effetum proferri corpus ad auras iussit et in plenos resolutum carmine somnos exanimi similem stratis porrexit in herbis. hine procul Aesoniden, procul hinc iubet ire ministros et monet arcanis oculos removere profanos. 256 diffugiunt iussi; passis Medea capillis bacchantum ritu flagrantis circuit aras multifidasque faces in fossa sanguinis atra tinguit et infectas geminis accendit in aris 260 terque senem flamma, ter aqua, ter sulphure lustrat. Interea validum posito medicamen aeno fervet et exsultat spumisque tumentibus albet. illic Haemonia radices valle resectas seminaque floresque et sucos incoquit acres ; 265 adicit extremo lapides Oriente petitos et quas Oceani refluum mare lavit harenas ; addit et exceptas luna pernocte pruinas et strigis infamis ipsis cum carnibus alas inque virum soliti vultus mutare ferinos 270 ambigui prosecta lupi; nec defuit illis squamea Cinyphii tenuis membrana chelydri vivacisque iecur cervi; quibus insuper addit ova caputque novem cornicis saecula passae. his et mille aliis postquam sine nomine rebus 215 360 METAMORPHOSES BOOK VII it bowls of liquid wine, and again bowls of milk still warm, while at the same time she uttered her incantations, called up the deities of the earth, and prayed the king of the shades with his stolen bride not to be in haste to rob the old man’s body of the breath of life. When she had appeased all these divinities by long, low-muttered prayers, she bade her people bring out under the open sky old Aeson’s worn-out body; and having buried him in a deep slumber by her spells, like one dead she stretched him out on a bed of herbs. Tar hence she bade Jason go, far hence all the attendants, and warned them not to look with profane eyes upon her secret rites. They retired as she had bidden. Medea, with streaming hair after the fashion of the Bacchantes, moved round the blazing altars, and dipping many-cleft sticks in the dark pools of blood, she lit the gory sticks at the altar flames. ‘Thrice she purified the old man with fire, thrice with water, thrice with sulphur. Meanwhile the strong potion in the bronze pot is boiling, leaping and frothing white with the swelling foam. In this pot she boils roots cut in a Thessalian vale, together with seeds, flowers, and strong Juices. She adds to these ingredients pebbles sought for in the farthest Orient and sands which the ebbing tide of Ocean laves. She adds hoar frost gathered under the full moon, the wings of the uncanny screech-owl with the flesh as well, and the entrails of a werewolf which has the power of changing its wild-beast fea- tures into a man’s. There also in the pot is the scaly skin of a slender Cinyphian water-snake, the liver of a long-lived stag, to which she adds also eggs and the head of a crow nine generations old. When with these and a thousand other nameless things the barbarian 361 OVID propositum instruxit mortali barbara maius, arenti ramo iampridem mitis olivae omnia confudit summisque inmiscuit ima. ecce vetus calido versatus stipes aeno fit viridis primo nec longo tempore frondes 280 induit et subito gravidis oneratur olivis : at quacumque cavo spumas elecit aeno ignis et in terram guttae cecidere calentes, vernat humus, floresque et mollia pabula surgunt. quae simul ac vidit, stricto Medea recludit 285 ense senis jugulum veteremque exire cruorem passa replet sucis; quos postquam conbibit Aeson aut ore acceptos aut vulnere, barba comaeque canitie posita nigrum rapuere colorem, pulsa fugit macies, abeunt pallorque situsque, 290 adiectoque cavae supplentur corpore rugae, membraque luxuriant: Aeson miratur et olim ante quater denos hunc se reminiscitur annos. Viderat ex alto tanti miracula monstri Liber et admonitus, iuvenes nutricibus annos 295 posse suis reddi, capit hoc a Colchide munus. Neve doli cessent, odium cum coniuge falsum Phasias adsimulat Peliaeque ad limina supplex confugit; atque illam, quoniam gravis ipse senecta est, excipiunt natae; quas tempore callida parvo 300 Colchis amicitiae mendacis imagine cepit, dumque refert inter meritorum maxima demptos Aesonis esse situs atque hac in parte moratur, spes est virginibus Pelia subiecta creatis, 362 METAMORPHOSES BOOK VII woman had prepared her more than mortal plan, she stirred it all up with a branch of the fruitful olive long since dry and well mixed the top and bottom together. And lo, the old dry stick, when moved about in the hot broth, grew green at first, in a short time put forth leaves, and then suddenly was loaded with teeming olives. And wherever the froth bubbled over from the hollow pot, and the hot drops fell upon the ground, the earth grew green and flowers and soft grass sprang up. When she saw this, Medea unsheathed her knife and cut the old man’s throat; then, letting the old blood all run out, she filled his veins with her brew. When Aeson had drunk this in part through his lips and part through the wound, his beard and hair lost their hoary grey and quickly became black again; his leanness vanished, away went the pallor and the look of neglect, the deep wrinkles were filled out with new flesh, his limbs had the strength of youth. Aeson was filled with wonder, and remembered that this was he forty years ago. Now Bacchus had witnessed this marvel from his station in the sky, and learning from this that his own nurses might be restored to their youthful years, he obtained this boon from the Colchian woman. That malice might have its turn, the Phasian woman feigned a quarrel with her husband, and fled as a suppliant to the house of Pelias. There, since the king himself was heavy with years, his daughters gave her hospitable reception. These girls the crafty Colchian in a short time won over by a false show of friendliness; and while she was relating among the most remarkable of her achievements the rejuvena- tion of Aeson, dwelling particularly on that, the daughters of Pelias were induced to hope that by 303 OVID arte suum parili revirescere posse parentem, 305 idque petunt pretiumque iubent sine fine pacisci. illa brevi spatio silet et dubitare videtur suspenditque animos ficta gravitate rogantes. mox ubi pollicita est, “ quo sit fiducia maior muneris huius ”’ ait, “ qui vestri maximus aevo est 310 dux gregis inter oves, agnus medicamine fiet.”’ protinus innumeris effetus laniger annis attrahitur flexo circum cava tempora cornu ; cuius ut Haemonio marcentia guttura cultro fodit et exiguo maculavit sanguine ferrum, 315 membra simul pecudis validosque venefica sucos mergit in aere cavo: minuunt ea corporis artus cornuaque exurunt nec non cum cornibus annos, et tener auditur medio balatus aeno: nec mora, balatum mirantibus exsilit agnus 320 lascivitque fuga lactantiaque ubera quaerit. Obstipuere satae Pelia, promissaque postquam exhibuere fidem, tum vero inpensius instant. ter iuga Phoebus equis in Hibero flumine mersis dempserat et quarta radiantia nocte micabant 325 sidera, cum rapido fallax Aeetias igni imponit purum laticem et sine viribus herbas. iamque neci similis resoluto corpore regem et cum rege suo custodes somnus habebat, quem dederant cantus magicaeque potentia linguae ; intrarant iussae cum Colchide limina natae 331 364 METAMORPHOSES BOOK VII skill like this their own father might be made young again. And they beg this boon, bidding her name the price, no matter how great. She made no reply for a little while and seemed to hesitate, keeping the minds of her suppliants in suspense by feigned deep meditation. When she had at length given her promise, she said to them: “ That you may have the greater confidence in this boon, the oldest leader of the flock among your sheep shall become a lamb again by my drugs.” Straightway a woolly ram, worn out with untold years, was brought forward, his great horns curving round his hollow temples. When the witch cut his scrawny throat with her Thessalian knife, barely staining the weapon with his scanty blood, she plunged his carcass into a kettle of bronze, throwing in at the same time juices of great potency. These made his body shrink, burnt away his horns, and with his horns, his years. And now a thin bleating was heard from within the pot; and, even while they were wondering at the sound, out jumped a lamb and ran frisking away to find some udder to give him milk. Pelias’ daughters looked on in amazement; and now that these promises had been performed, they urged their request still more eagerly than before. Three times had Phoebus unyoked his steeds after their plunge in Ebro’s stream, and on the fourth night the stars were shining bright in the sky, when the trea- cherous daughter of Aeétes set some clear water over a hot fire and put therein herbs of no potency. And now a death-like sleep held the king, his body all relaxed, and with the king his guards, sleep which incantations and the potency of magic words had given. The king’s daughters, as they were bid, entered his chamber with the Colchian and stood 365 OVID ambierantque torum: “quid nunc dubitatis inertes? stringite”’ ait “ gladios veteremque haurite crurorem, ut repleam vacuas iuvenali sanguine venas! in manibus vestris vita est aetasque parentis: 335 si pictas ulla est nec spes agitatis inanis, officium praestate patri telisque senectam exigite, et saniem coniecto emittite ferro! ” his, ut quaeque pia est, hortatibus inpia prima est et, ne sit scelerata, facit scelus: haud tamenictus 340 ulla suos spectare potest, oculosque reflectunt, caecaque dant saevis aversae vulnera dextris. ille cruore fluens, cubito tamen adlevat artus, semilacerque toro temptat consurgere, et inter tot medius gladios pallentia bracchia tendens 345 “ quid facitis, gnatae? quid vos in fata parentis armat? ”’ ait: cecidere illis animique manusque ; plura locuturo cum verbis guttura Colchis abstulit et calidis laniatum mersit in undis. Quod nisi pennatis serpentibus isset in auras, 350 non exempta foret poenae: fugit alta superque Pelion umbrosum, Philyreia tecta, superque Othryn et eventu veteris loca nota Cerambi: hic ope nympharum sublatus in aera pennis, cum gravis infuso tellus foret obruta ponto, 305 Deucalioneas effugit inobrutus undas. Aeoliam Pitanen a laeva parte relinquit factaque de saxo longi simulacra draconis Idaeumque nemus, quo nati furta, iuvencum, occuluit Liber falsi sub imagine cervi, 360 366 METAMORPHOSES BOOK VII around his bed. “‘ Why do you hesitate now, you laggards?’ Medea said. ‘“‘ Come, draw your swords, and let out his old blood that I may refill his empty veins with young blood again. In your own hands rests your father’s life and youth. If you have any filial love, and if the hopes are not vain that you are cherishing, come, do your duty by your father; drive out age at your weapon's point; let out his enfeebled blood with the stroke of the steel.’’ Spurred on by these words, as each was filial she became first in the unfilial act, and that she might not be wicked did the wicked deed. Nevertheless, none could bear to see her own blows; they turned their eyes away; and so with averted faces they blindly struck with cruel hands. The old man, streaming with blood, still raised himself on his elbow and half mangled tried to get up from his bed; and with all those swords round him, he stretched out his pale arms and cried: ‘“ What are you doing, my daughters? What arms you to your father’s death?” Their courage left them, their hands fell. When he would have spoken further, the Colchian cut his throat and plunged his mangled body into the boiling water. But had she not gone away through the air drawn by her winged dragons, she would not have escaped punishment. High up she sped over shady Pelion, the home of Chiron, over Othrys and the regions made famous by the adventure of old Cerambus. (He, by the aid of the nymphs borne up into the air on wings, at the time when the heavy earth had sunk beneath the overwhelming sea, escaped Deucalion’s flood undrowned.) Aeolian Pitane she passed by on the left, with its huge serpent image made of stone; and Ida’s grove, where Bacchus, to conceal his son’s theft, changed the bullock into the seeming form of 307 OVID quaque pater Corythi parva tumulatus harena est, et quos Maera novo latratu terruit agros, Kurypylique urbem, qua Coae cornua matres gesserunt tum, cum discederet Herculis agmen, Phoebeamque Rhodon et lalysios Telchinas, 365 quorum oculos ipso vitiantes omnia visu Iuppiter exosus fraternis subdidit undis ; transit et antiquae Cartheia moenia Ceae, qua pater Alcidamas placidam de corpore natae miraturus erat nasci potuisse columbam. 370 inde lacus Hyries videt et Cyeneia Tempe, quae subitus celebravit olor: nam Phyllius illic imperio pueri volucrisque ferumque leonem tradiderat domitos; taurum quoque vincere iussus vicerat et spreto totiens iratus amore 375 praemia poscenti taurum suprema negabat ; ille indignatus “ cupies dare ”’ dixit et alto desiluit saxo; cuncti cecidisse putabant : factus olor niveis pendebat in aere pennis ; at genetrix Hyrie, servatum nescia, flendo 380 dilicuit stagnumque suo de nomine fecit. adiacet his Pleuron, in qua trepidantibus alis Ophias effugit natorum vulnera Combe ; inde Calaureae Letoidos adspicit arva in volucrem versi cum coniuge conscia regis. 385 dextera Cyllene est, in qua cum matre Menephron concubiturus erat saevarum more ferarum ; Cephison procul hinc deflentem fata nepotis 368 METAMORPHOSES BOOK VII a stag; where the father of Corythus lay buried beneath a small mound of sand; where Maera spread terror through the fields by her strange barking; over the city of Eurypylus where the women of Cos wore horns what time the band of Hercules with- drew; over Rhodes, beloved of Phoebus; and the Telchines of Ialysus whose eyes, blighting all things by their very glance, Jupiter in scorn and hatred plunged beneath his brother’s waves. She passed also the walls of ancient Carthaea on the island of Cea, where father Alcidamas was sometime to marvel that a peaceful dove could have sprung from his daughter’s body. Next Hyrie’s lake she saw, and Tempe, which Cycnus’ sudden change into a swan made famous. For there Phyllius, at the command of a boy, had tamed and brought him wild birds and a savage lion; being commanded to tame a wild bull also, he had tamed him, but angry that so often his love was spurned, he withheld the last gift of the bull from the boy who asked it; whereupon the boy in anger said, “ You will wish you had given it,” and leaped forthwith from a cliff. They all thought that he had fallen; but changed to a swan he re- mained floating in the air on snowy wings. But Hyrie, his mother, not knowing that her son was saved, melted away in tears and became a pool of the same name. Near these regions lies Pleuron, where Combe, the daughter of Ophius, escaped death at the hands of her sons on fluttering wings. After that, she sees the fertile island of Calaurea, sacred to Latona, the island that saw the king and his wife both changed into birds. On her right lies Cyllene, which Menephron was doomed to defile with incest after the wild beasts’ fashion. Far off from here she looks down on the Cephisus, bewailing the fate of his 369 VOL. I. N OVID respicit in tumidam phocen ab Apolline versi Eumelique domum lugentis in aere natum. 390 Tandem vipereis Ephyren Pirenida pennis contigit: hic aevo veteres mortalia primo corpora vulgarunt pluvialibus edita fungis. sed postquam Colchis arsit nova nupta venenis flagrantemque domum regis mare vidit utrumque, 395 sanguine natorum perfunditur inpius ensis, ultaque se male mater Jasonis effugit arma. hine Titaniacis ablata draconibus intrat Palladias arces, quae te, iustissima Phene, teque, senex Peripha, pariter videre volantes 400 innixamque novis neptem Polypemonis alis. | excipit hanc Aegeus facto damnandus in uno, nec satis hospitium est, thalami quoque foedere iungit. Jamque aderat Theseus, proles ignara parenti, qui virtute sua bimarem pacaverat Isthmon: 405 huius in exitium miscet Medea, quod olim attulerat secum Scythicis aconiton ab oris. illud Echidneae memorant e dentibus ortum esse canis: specus est tenebroso caecus hiatu, est via declivis, per quam Tirynthius heros — 410 restantem contraque diem radiosque micantes obliquantem oculos nexis adamante catenis Cerberon abstraxit, rabida qui concitus ira inplevit pariter ternis latratibus auras et sparsit virides spumis albentibus agros ; 415 37° METAMORPHOSES BOOK VII grandson changed by Apollo into a plump sea-calf; and upon the home of Kumelus, who lamented that his son now dwelt in air. At length, upborne by the snaky wings, she reached Corinth of the sacred spring. Here, according to ancient tradition, in the earliest times men’s bodies sprang from mushrooms. But after the new wife had been burnt by the Colchian witchcraft, and the two seas had seen the king’s palace aflame, she stained her impious sword in the blood of her sons; and then, after this horrid vengeance, the mother fled Jason’s sword. Borne hence by her dragons sprung from Titans’ blood, she entered the citadel of Pallas, which beheld you, most righteous Phene, and you, old Periphas, flying side by side, and the grand- daughter! of Polypemon upborne by new-sprung wings. Aegeus received her, that one deed enough to doom him; but he was not content with hos- pitality : he made her his wife as well. And now came Theseus, a son that his father knew not; who by his manly prowess had established peace on the Isthmus between its two seas. Bent on his destruction, Medea mixed in a cup a poison which she had brought long ago from the Scythian shores. This poison, they say, came from the mouth of the Echidnean dog. There is a cavern with a dark, yawning throat and a way down-sloping, along which Hercules, the hero of Tiryns, dragged Cer- berus with chains wrought of adamant, while the great dog fought and turned away his eyes from the bright light of day. He, goaded on to mad frenzy, filled all the air with his threefold howls, and sprinkled the green fields with white foam. Men think that these flecks of foam grew; and, 1 Alcyone. 371 OVID has concresse putant nactasque alimenta feracis fecundique soli vires cepisse nocendi; quae quia nascuntur dura vivacia caute, agrestes aconita vocant. ea coniugis astu ipse parens Aegeus nato porrexit ut hosti. sumpserat ignara Theseus data pocula dextra, cum pater in capulo gladii cognovit eburno signa sui generis facinusque excussit ab ore. effugit illa necem nebulis per carmina motis ; At genitor, quamquam laetatur sospite nato, attonitus tamen est, ingens discrimine parvo committi potuisse nefas: fovet ignibus aras muneribusque deos inplet, feriuntque secures colla torosa boum vinctorum tempora vittis. nullus Erechthidis fertur celebratior illo inluxisse dies: agitant convivia patres et medium vulgus nec non et carmina vino ingenium faciente canunt: “ te, maxime Theseu, mirata est Marathon Cretaei sanguine tauri, quodque suis securus arat Cromyona colonus, 420 425 430 435 munus opusque tuum est; tellus Epidauria per te clavigeram vidit Vulcani occumbere prolem, vidit et inmitem Cephisias ora Procrusten, Cercyonis letum vidit Cerealis Eleusin. occidit ille Sinis magnis male viribus usus, qui poterat curvare trabes et agebat ab alto ad terram late sparsuras corpora pinus. tutus ad Alcathoen, Lelegeia moenia, limes conposito Scirone patet, sparsisque latronis 372 440 METAMORPHOSES BOOK VII drawing nourishment from the rich, rank soil, they gained power to hurt; and because they spring up and flourish on hard rocks, the country folk call them aconite.!. This poison, through the treachery of his wife, father Aegeus himself presented to his son as though to a stranger. Theseus had taken and raised the cup in his unwitting hand, when the father recognized the tokens of his own family on the ivory hilt of the sword which Theseus wore, and he dashed the vile thing from his lips. But Medea escaped death in a dark whirlwind her witch songs raised. But the father, though he rejoiced at his son’s deliverance, was still horror-struck that so monstrous an iniquity could have been so nearly done. He kindled fires upon the altars, made generous gifts to the gods; his axes struck at the brawny necks of bulls with ribbons about their horns. It is said that no day ever dawned for the Athenians more glad than that. The elders and the common folk made merry together. Together they sang their songs, with wit inspired by wine: “ You, O most mighty Theseus, Marathon extols for the blood of the Cretan bull; and that the farmer of Cromyon may till his fields without fear of the sow is your gift and your deed. Through you the land of Epidaurus saw Vul- can’s club-wielding son 2 laid low; the banks of Cephi- sus saw the merciless Procrustes slain; Eleusis, the town of Ceres, beheld Cercyon’s death. By your hand fell that Sinis of great strength turned to evil uses, who could bend the trunks of trees, and force down to earth the pine-tops to shoot men’s bodies far out through the air. A way lies safe and open now to Alcathoé and the Lelegeian walls, now that Sciron is nomore. To this robber’s scattered bones both land 1 4.e. “ growing without soil.” 2 Periphetes. 373 OVID terra negat sedem, sedem negat ossibus unda; 445 quae iactata diu fertur durasse vetustas in scopulos: scopulis nomen Scironis inhaeret. si titulos annosque tuos numerare velimus, facta prement annos. pro te, fortissime, vota publica suscipimus, Bacchi tibi sumimus haustus.”’ 450 consonat adsensu populi precibusque faventum regia, nec tota tristis locus ullus in urbe est. Nec tamen (usque adeo nulla est sincera voluptas, sollicitumque aliquid laetis intervenit) Aegeus gaudia percepit nato secura recepto: 455 bella parat Minos; qui quamquam milite, quamquam classe valet, patria tamen est firmissimus ira Androgeique necem iustis ulciscitur armis. ante tamen bello vires adquirit amicas, quaque potens habitus volucri freta classe pererrat : hine Anaphen sibi iungit et Astypaleia regna, 461 (promissis Anaphen, regna Astypaleia bello) ; hinc humilem Myconon cretosaque rura Cimoli florentemque thymo Syron planamque Seriphon marmoreamque Paron, quamque inpia prodidit Arne Sithonis: accepto, quod avara poposcerat, auro 466 mutata est in avem, quae nunc quoque diligit aurum, nigra pedes, nigris velata monedula pennis. At non Oliaros Didymaeque et Tenos et Andros et Gyaros nitidaeque ferax Peparethos olivae 470 Gnosiacas iuvere rates; latere inde sinistro Oenopiam Minos petit, Aeacideia regna: Oenopiam veteres adpellavere, sed ipse Aeacus Aeginam genetricis nomine dixit. 374 METAMORPHOSES BOOK VII and sea denied a resting-place; but, long tossed about, it is said that in time they hardened into cliffs; and the cliffs still bear the name of Sciron. If we should wish to count your praises and your years, your deeds would exceed your years. For you, brave hero, we give public thanks and prayers, to you we drain our cups of wine.” The palace resounds with the applause of the people and the prayers of the happy revellers; nowhere in the whole city is there any place for gloom. And yet—so true it is that there is no pleasure unalloyed, and some care always comes to mar our joys—Aegeus’ rejoicing over his son’s return was not unmixed with care. Minos was threatening war. Strong in men and ships, he was yet most strong in fatherly resentment and with just arms was seeking to avenge the death of his son Androgeos. But first he sought for friendly aid for his warfare; and he scoured the sea in the swift fleet in which his chief strength lay. He Joined to his cause Anaphe and Astypalaea, the first by promises, the second by threats of war; the low-lying Myconus and the chalky fields of Cimolus; Syros covered with wild thyme, level Seriphos, Paros of the marble cliffs, and that place which impious Sithonian Arne betrayed, and having received the gold which she in her greed had demanded, was changed into a bird which even now delights in gold, a black-footed, black-winged daw. But Oliaros and Didymae, Tenos, Andros, Gyaros and Peparethos, rich in glossy olives, gave no aid to the Cretan fleet. Sailing thence to the left, Minos sought Oenopia, the realm of the Aeacidae. Men of old time had called the place Oenopia; but Aeacus himself styled it Aegina by his mother’s name. At 375 OVID turba ruit tantaeque virum cognoscere famae 475 expetit; occurrunt illi Telamonque minorque quam Telamon Peleus et proles tertia Phocus ; ipse quoque egreditur tardus gravitate senili Aeacus et, quae sit veniendi causa requirit. admonitus patrii luctus suspirat et illi 480 dicta refert rector populorum talia centum: ‘“ arma iuves oro pro gnato sumpta piaeque pars sis militiae; tumulo solacia posco.”’ huic Asopiades “ petis inrita ” dixit “ et urbi non facienda meae; neque enim coniunctior ulla 485 Cecropidis est hac tellus: ea foedera nobis.” tristis abit ““stabunt” que “‘tibi tua foedera magno”’ dixit et utilius bellum putat esse minari quam gerere atque suas ibi praeconsumere vires. classis ab Oenopiis etiamnum Lyctia muris 490 spectari poterat, cum pleno concita velo Attica puppis adest in portusque intrat amicos, quae Cephalum patriaeque simul mandata ferebat. Aeacidae longo iuvenes post tempore visum agnovere tamen Cephalum dextrasque dedere 495 inque patris duxere domum: spectabilis heros et veteris retinens etiamnum pignora formae ingreditur ramumque tenens popularis olivae a dextra laevaque duos aetate minores maior habet, Clyton et Buten, Pallante creatos. 500 Postquam congressus primi sua verba tulerunt, Cecropidum Cephalus peragit mandata rogatque auxilium foedusque refert et iura parentum, imperiumque peti totius Achaidos addit. 376 METAMORPHOSES BOOK VII his approach a rabble rushed forth, eager to see and know so famous a man. Him Telamon met, and Peleus, younger than Telamon, and Phocus, third in age. Aeacus himself came also, slow with the weight of years, and asked him what was the cause of his coming. Reminded of his fatherly grief, the ruler of a hundred cities sighed and thus made answer: ‘TI beg you aid the arms which for my son’s sake I have taken up; and be a part of my pious warfare. Repose for the dead I ask.”” To him Aeacus replied: “You ask in vain that which my city cannot give; for no land is more closely linked to the Athenians than this: so strong are the treaties between us.” The other, disappointed, turned away saying: “ Your treaty shall cost you dear ’’; for he thought it were better to threaten war than to wage it and to waste his strength there untimely. Still the Cretan fleet could be seen from the Oenopian walls, when, driven on under full sail, an Attic ship arrived and entered the friendly port, bringing Cephalus and his country’s greetings. The men of the house of Aeacus, though it was long since they had seen Cephalus, yet knew him, grasped his hand, and brought him into their father’s house. The hero advanced, the centre of all eyes, retaining even yet the traces of his old beauty and charm, bearing a branch of his country’s olive, and, himself the elder, flanked on right and left by two of lesser age, Clytos and Butes, sons of Pallas. After they had exchanged greetings, Cephalus delivered the message of the Athenians, asking for aid and quoting the ancestral league and treaty between their two nations. He added that not alone Athens but the sovereignty over all Greece was Minos’ aim. When thus his eloquence had com- STi OVID sic ubi mandatam iuvit facundia causam, 505 Aeacus, in capulo sceptri nitente sinistra, “ne petite auxilium, sed sumite ”’ dixit, “ Athenae, nec dubie vires, quas haec habet insula, vestras ducite et omnia, quae rerum status iste mearum. robora non desunt; superat mihi miles et hosti; 510 gratia dis, felix et inexcusabile tempus.’ “immo ita sit ’’ Cephalus, “ crescat tua civibus opto urbs ” ait; “‘ adveniens equidem modo gaudia cepi, cum tam pulchra mihi, tam par aetate iuventus obvia processit; multos tamen inde requiro, 515 quos quondam vidi vestra prius urbe receptus.” Aeacus ingemuit tristique ita voce locutus: flebile principium melior fortuna secuta est ; hanc utinam possem vobis memorare sine illo! ordine nunc repetam, neu longa ambage morer vos, ossa cinisque iacent, memori quos mente requiris, 521 et quota pars illi rerum periere mearum! dira lues ira populis Iunonis iniquae incidit exosae dictas a paelice terras. dum visum mortale malum tantaeque latebat 525 causa nocens cladis, pugnatum est arte medendi: exitium superabat opem, quae victa iacebat. principio caelum spissa caligine terras pressit et ignavos inclusit nubibus aestus ; dumque quater iunctis explevit cornibus orbem 530 Luna, quater plenum tenuata retexuit orbem, letiferis calidi spirarunt aestibus austri. constat et in fontis vitium venisse lacusque, miliaque incultos serpentum multa per agros errasse atque suis fluvios temerasse venenis. 539 378 METAMORPHOSES BOOK VII mended his cause, Aeacus, his left hand resting on the sceptre's hilt, exclaimed: “ Ask not our aid, but take it, Athens; and boldly count your own the forces which this island holds, and all things which the state of my affairssupplies. Warlikestrength is not lacking; I have soldiers enough for myself and for my enemy. Thanks to the gods, the times are happy, and without excuse for my refusal.’ “ May it prove even so,” said Cephalus, “ and may your city multiply in men. In truth, as I came hither, I was rejoiced to meet youth so fair, so matched in age. And yet I miss many among them whom I saw before when last I visited your city.”” Aeacus groaned and with sad voice thus replied: “ It was an unhappy beginning, but better fortune followed. Would that I could tell you the last without the first! Now I will take each in turn; and, not to delay you with long cireum- locution, they are but bones and dust whom with kindly interest you ask for. And oh, how large a part of all my kingdom perished with them! A dire pestilence came on my people through angry Juno’s wrath, who hated us for that our land was called by her rival’s name. So long as the scourge seemed of mortal origin and the cause of the terrible plague was still unknown, we fought against it with the physician’s art. But the power of destruction ex- ceeded our resources, which were completely baffled. At first heaven rested down upon the earth in thick blackness, and held the sluggish heat confined in the clouds. And while the moon four times waxed to a full orb with horns complete, and four times waned from that full orb, hot south winds blew on us with pestilential breath. Consistently with this, the bale- ful infection reached our springs and pools; thousands of serpents crawled over our deserted fields and defiled 379 OVID strage canum primo volucrumque oviumque boumque inque feris subiti deprensa potentia morbi. concidere infelix validos miratur arator inter opus tauros medioque recumbere sulco; lanigeris gregibus balatus dantibus aegros 540 sponte sua lanaeque cadunt et corpora tabent ; acer equus quondam magnaeque in pulvere famae degenerat palmas veterumque oblitus honorum ad praesepe gemit leto moriturus inerti. non aper irasci meminit, non fidere cursu 545 cerva nec armentis incurrere fortibus ursi. omnia languor habet: silvisque agrisque viisque corpora foeda iacent, vitiantur odoribus aurae. mira loquar: non illa canes avidaeque volucres, non cani tetigere lupi; dilapsa liquescunt 550 adflatuque nocent et agunt contagia late. “ Pervenit ad miseros damno graviore colonos pestis et in magnae dominatur moenibus urbis. viscera torrentur primo, flammaeque latentis indicium rubor est et ductus anhelitus; igni 555 aspera lingua tumet, tepidisque arentia ventis ora patent, auraeque graves captantur hiatu. non stratum, non ulla pati velamina possunt, sed dura terra ponunt praecordia, nec fit © corpus humo gelidum, sed humus de corpore fervet. nec moderator adest, inque ipsos saeva medentes 561 erumpit clades, obsuntque auctoribus artes ; quo propior quisque est servitque fidelius aegro, in partem leti citius venit, utque salutis 380 METAMORPHOSES BOOK VII our rivers with their poison. At first the swift power of the disease was confined to the destruction of dogs and birds, sheep and cattle, or among the wild beasts. The luckless plowman marvels to see his strong bulls fall in the midst of their task and sink down in the furrow. The woolly flocks bleat feebly while their wool falls off of itself and their bodies pine away. The horse, once of high courage and of great renown on the race-course, has now lost his victorious spirit and, forgetting his former glory, groans in his stall, doomed to an inglorious death. The boar forgets his rage, the hind to trust his fleetness, the bears to attack the stronger herds. Lethargy holds all. In woods and fields and roads foul carcasses lie; and the air is defiled by the stench. And, strange to say, neither dogs nor ravenous birds nor grey wolves did touch them. The bodies lie rotting on the ground, blast with their stench, and spread the contagion far and near. ‘ At last, now grown stronger, the pestilence attacks the wretched countrymen, and lords it within the great city swalls. As the first symptoms, the vitals are burnt up, and a sign of the lurking fire is a red flush and panting, feverish breath. The tongue is rough and swollen with fever; the lips stand apart, parched with hot respiration, and catch gasping at the heavy air. The stricken can endure no bed, nocovering of any kind, but throw themselves face down on the hard ground ; but their bodies gain no coolness from the ground; rather is the ground heated by their bodies. No one can control the pest, but it fiercely breaks out upon the very physicians, and their arts do but injure those who use them. The nearer one is to the sick and the more faithfully he serves them, the more quickly is he him- self stricken unto death. And as the hope of life 381 OVID spes abiit finemque vident in funere morbi, 565 indulgent animis et nulla, quid utile, cura est: utile enim nil est. passim positoque pudore fontibus et fluviis puteisque capacibus haerent, nec sitis est exstincta prius quam vita bibendo. inde graves multi nequeunt consurgere et ipsis 570 inmoriuntur aquis, aliquis tamen haurit et illas; tantaque sunt miseris invisi taedia lecti, prosiliunt aut, si prohibent consistere vires, corpora devolvunt in humum fugiuntque penates quisque suos, sua cuique domus funesta videtur, 575 et quia causa latet, locus est in crimine parvus. semianimes errare viis, dum stare valebant, adspiceres, flentes alios terraque iacentes lassaque versantes supremo lumina motu ; membraque pendentis tendunt ad sidera caeli, 580 hic illic, ubi mors deprenderat, exhalantes. “ Quid mihi tunc animi fuit? an, quod debuit esse, ut vitam odissem et cuperem pars esse meorum? quo se cumque acies oculorum flexerat, illic vulgus erat stratum, veluti cum putria motis 589 poma cadunt ramis agitataque ilice glandes. templa vides contra gradibus sublimia longis: Iuppiter illa tenet. quis non altaribus illis inrita tura dedit? quotiens pro coniuge coniunx, pro gnato genitor dum verba precantia dicit, 590 non exoratis animam finivit in aris, inque manu turis pars inconsumpta reperta est ! admoti quotiens templis, dum vota sacerdos concipit et fundit durum inter cornua vinum, 382 METAMORPHOSES BOOK VII deserts them and they see the end of their malady only in death, they indulge their desires, and they have no care for what is best—for nothing is best. Everywhere, shameless they lie, in fountain-basins, in streams and roomy wells; nor by drinking is their thirst quenched so long as life remains. Many of these are too weak to rise, and die in the very water ; and yet others drink even that water. To many poor wretches so great is the irksomeness of their hateful beds that they Jump out, or, if they have not strength enough to stand, they roll out on the ground. They flee from their own homes: for each man’s home seems a place of death to him. Since the cause of the disease is hidden, that small spot is held to blame. You might have seen them wandering half dead along the ways while they could keep on their feet, others lying on the ground and weeping bitterly, turning their dull eyes upward with a last weak effort, and stretching out their arms to the sky that hung over them like a pall—here, there, wherever death has caught them, breathing out their lives. ‘ What were my feelings then? Was it not natural that I should hate life and long to be with my friends ? Wherever I turned my eyes there was a confused heap of dead, as mellow apples fall when the boughs are shaken, and acorns from the wind-tossed oak. You see a temple yonder, raised on high, approached by a long flight of steps. It is sacred to Jupiter. Who did not bear his fruitless offerings to those altars? How often a husband for his wife’s sake, a father for his son, while still uttering his prayer, has died before the implacable altars, and in his hand a portion of the incense was unused! How often the sacrificial bulls brought to the temples, while yet the priest was praying and pouring pure wine between their 383 OVID haud exspectato ceciderunt vulnere tauri! 595 ipse ego sacra lovi pro me patriaque tribusque cum facerem natis, mugitus victima diros edidit et subito conlapsa sine ictibus ullis exiguo tinxit subiectos sanguine cultros. exta quoque aegra notas veri monitusque deorum 600 perdiderant: tristes penetrant ad viscera morbi. ante sacros vidi proiecta cadavera postes, ante ipsas, quo mors foret invidiosior, aras. pars animam laqueo claudunt mortisque timorem morte fugant ultroque vocant venientia fata. 605 corpora missa neci nullis de more feruntur funeribus (neque enim capiebant funera portae) : aut inhumata premunt terras aut dantur in altos indotata rogos; et iam reverentia nulla est, deque rogis pugnant alienisque ignibus ardent. 610 qui lacriment, desunt, indefletaeque vagantur matrumque nuruumque animae iuvenumque senum- que, nec locus in tumulos, nec sufficit arbor in ignes. Attonitus tanto miserarum turbine rerum, ‘Tuppiter o! ’ dixi, ‘si te non falsa loquuntur 615 dicta sub amplexus Aeginae Asopidos isse, nec te, magne pater, nostri pudet esse parentem, aut mihi redde meos aut me quoque conde sepulcro! ’ ille notam fulgore dedit tonitruque secundo. ‘ accipio sintque ista precor felicia mentis 620 signa tuae! ’ dixi, ‘ quod das mihi, pigneror omen.’ forte fuit iuxta patulis rarissima ramis sacra Iovi quercus de semine Dodonaeo ; 384 METAMORPHOSES BOOK VII horns, have fallen without waiting for the stroke! While I myself was sacrificing to Jove on my own behalf and for my country and my three sons, the victim uttered dreadful bellowings and, suddenly falling without any stroke of mine, it barely stained the knife with its seanty blood; the diseased entrails also had lost the marks of truth and the warnings of the gods: for to the very vitals does the grim pest go. Before the temple doors I saw the corpses cast away, nay, before the very altars, that their death might be even more odious. Some hung themselves, driving away the fear of death by death and going out to meet their approaching fate. The dead bodies were not borne out to burial in the accustomed way; for the gates would not accommodate so many funerals. They either lie on the ground unburied, or else they are piled high on funeral pyres without honours. And by this time there is no reverence for the dead; men fight for pyres, and with stolen flames they burn. There are none left to mourn the dead. Unwept they go wandering out, the souls of matrons and of brides, of men both young and old. There was no more space for graves, nor wood for fires. ‘““ Dazed by such an overwhelming flood of woe, I cried to Jove: ‘O Jove, if it is not falsely said that thou didst love Aegina, daughter of Asopus, andif thou, creat father, art not ashamed to be our father, either give me back my people orconsign me also to the tomb.’ He gave a sign with lightning and a peal of thunder in assent. ‘I accept the sign,’ I said, ‘and may those tokens of thy mind towards us be happy signs. The omen which thou givest me I take as pledge.’ It chanced there was an oak near by with branches un- usually widespread, sacred to Jove and of Dodona’s stock. Here we spied a swarm of grain-gathering 385 OVID hic nos frugilegas adspeximus agmine longo grande onus exiguo formicas ore gerentes 625 rugosoque suum servantes cortice callem ; dum numerum miror, ‘ totidem, pater optime,’ dixi, ‘tu mihi da cives et inania moenia supple! ’ intremuit ramisque sonum sine flamine motis alta dedit quercus: pavido mihi membra timore 630 horruerant, stabantque comae; tamen oscula terrae roboribusque dedi, nec me sperare fatebar ; sperabam tamen atque animo mea vota fovebam. nox subit, et curis exercita corpora somnus occupat: ante oculos eadem mihi quercus adesse 635 et ramis totidem totidemque animalia ramis ferre suis visa est pariterque tremescere motu graniferumque agmen subiectis spargere in arvis ; crescere quod subito et maius maiusque videri ac se tollere humo rectoque adsistere trunco 640 et maciem numerumque pedum nigrumque colorem ponere et humanam membris inducere formam. somnus abit: damno vigilans mea visa querorque in superis opis esse nihil; at in aedibus ingens 644 murmur erat, vocesque hominum exaudire videbar iam mihi desuetas; dum suspicor has quoque somni esse, venit Telamon properus foribusque reclusis ‘ speque fideque, pater ’, dixit ‘ maiora videbis: egredere! " egredior, qualesque in imagine somni visus eram vidisse viros, ex ordine tales 650 adspicio noscoque: adeunt regemque salutant. vota lovi solvo populisque recentibus urbem partior et vacuos priscis cultoribus agros, 386 METAMORPHOSES BOOK VII ants in a long column, bearing heavy loads with their tiny mouths, and keeping their own path along the wrinkled bark. Wondering at their numbers, I said: ‘O most excellent father, grant thou me just as many subjects, and fill my empty walls.’ The lofty oak trembled and moved its branches, rustling in the windless air. My limbs were horror-smit with quak- ing fear and my hair stood onend. Yet I kissed the earth and the oak-tree; nor did I own my hopes to myself, and yet I did hope and I cherished my desires within my mind. Night came and sleep claimed our care-worn bodies. Before my eyes the same oak-tree seemed to stand, with Just as many branches and with just as many creatures on its branches, to shake with the same motion, and to scatter the grain-bearing column on the ground below. These seemed sud- denly to grow larger and ever larger, to raise themselves from the ground and stand with form erect, to throw off their leanness, their many feet, their back colour, and to take on human limbs and a human form. Then sleep departed. Once awake I thought lightly of my vision, bewailing that there was no help in the gods. But there was a great confused noise in the palace, and I seemed to hear the voices of men to which I was long unused. And while I half believed that this also was a trick of sleep, Telamon came running and, throwing open the door, exclaimed: ‘ O father, more than you believed or hoped for shall you see. Come out!” I went without, and there just such men as I had seen in my dream I now saw and recognized with my waking eyes. They approached and greeted me as king. I gave thanks to Jove, and to my new subjects I portioned out my city and my fields, for- saken by their former occupants; and I called them 387 OVID Myrmidonasque voco nec origine nomina fraudo. corpora vidisti; mores, quos ante gerebant, 655 nunc quoque habent: parcum genus est patiensque laborum quaesitique tenax, et qui quaesita reservent. hi te ad bella pares annis animisque sequentur, cum primum qui te feliciter attulit eurus ”’ (eurus enim attulerat) “ fuerit mutatus in austrum.” 660 Talibus atque aliis longum sermonibus illi inplevere diem; lucis pars ultima mensae est data, nox somnis. iubar aureus extulerat Sol, flabat adhuc eurus redituraque vela tenebat: ad Cephalum Pallante sati, cui grandior aetas, 665 ad regem Cephalus simul et Pallante creati conveniunt, sed adhuc regem sopor altus habebat. excipit Aeacides illos in limine Phocus ; nam Telamon fraterque viros ad bella legebant. Phocus in interius spatium pulchrosque recessus 670 Cecropidas ducit, cum quis simul ipse resedit. adspicit Aeoliden ignota ex arbore factum ferre manu iaculum, cuius fuit aurea cuspis. pauca prius mediis sermonibus ille locutus ‘““sum nemorum studiosus ” ait “ caedisque ferinae ; qua tamen e silva teneas hastile recisum, © 676 iamdudum dubito: certe si fraxinus esset, fulva colore foret; si cornus, nodus inesset. unde sit, ignoro, sed non formosius isto viderunt oculi telum iaculabile nostri.” 680 excipit Actaeis e fratribus alter et “ usum 388 METAMORPHOSES BOOK VII Myrmidons,! nor did I cheat the name of its origin. You have seen their bodies; the habits which they had before they still keep, a thrifty race, inured to toil, keen in pursuit of gain and keeping what they get. These men will follow you to the wars well matched in years and courage, as soon as the east wind which brought you so fortunately hither ’’—for the east wind it was that brought him—”" shall have changed to the south.” With such and other talk they filled the lingering day. The last hours of the day were given to feasting, the night to sleep. When the golden sun had shown his light, the east wind was still blowing and kept the sails from the homeward voyage. The sons of Pallas came to Cephalus, who was the older, and Cephalus with the sons of Pallas went together to the king. Butdeep sleep still held the king. Phocus, son of Aeacus, received them at the threshold; for Telamon and his brother were marshalling the men for war. Into the inner court and beautiful apart- ments Phocus conducted the Athenians, and there they sat them down together. There Phocus noticed that Cephalus carried in his hand a Javelin with a golden head, and a shaft made of some strange wood. After some talk, he said abruptly: “I am devoted to the woods and the hunting of wild beasts. Still, I have for some time been wondering from what wood that weapon you hold is made. Surely if it were of ash it would be of deep yellow hue; if it were of cornel-wood there would be knots upon it. What wood it is made of I cannot tell; but my eyes have never seen a javelin for throwing more beautiful than that.” And one of the Athenian brothers replied: “ You will admire the weapon’s use more 1 Fancifully derived from pupyuné, an ant. 389 OVID maiorem specie mirabere ” dixit “ in isto. consequitur, quodcumque petit, fortunaque missum non regit, et revolat nullo referente cruentum.”’ tum vero iuvenis Nereius omnia quaerit, 689 cur sit et unde datum, quis tanti muneris auctor. quae petit, ille refert, sed enim narrare pudori est, qua tulerit mercede; silet tactusque dolore coniugis amissae lacrimis ita fatur obortis : “ hoe me, nate dea, (quis possit credere?) telum 690 flere facit facietque diu, si vivere nobis fata diu dederint; hoc me cum coniuge cara perdidit: hoc utinam caruissem munere semper! “ Procris erat, si forte magis pervenit ad aures Orithyia tuas, raptae soror Orithyiae, 695 si faciem moresque velis conferre duarum, dignior ipsarapi! pater hanc mihi iunxit Erechtheus, hance mihi iunxit amor: felix dicebar eramque ; non ita dis visum est, aut nunc quoque forsitan essem. alter agebatur post sacra iugalia mensis, 700 cum me cornigeris tendentem retia cervis vertice de summo semper florentis Hymetti lutea mane videt pulsis Aurora tenebris invitumque rapit. liceat mihi vera referre pace deae: quod sit roseo spectabilis ore, 105 quod teneat lucis, teneat confinia noctis, nectareis quod alatur aquis, ego Procrin amabam ; pectore Procris erat, Procris mihi semper in ore. sacra tori coitusque novos thalamosque recentes primaque deserti referebam foedera lecti: 710 399 METAMORPHOSES BOOK VII than its beauty; it goes straight to any mark, and chance does not guide its flight; and it flies back, all bloody, with no hand to bring it.” Then indeed young Phocus was eager to know why it was so, and whence it came, who was the giver of so wonderful a gift. Cephalus told what the youth asked, but he was ashamed to tell at what price he gained it. He was silent; then, touched with grief for his lost wife, he burst into tears and said: ‘It is this weapon makes me weep, thou son of a goddess—who could believe it?—and long will it make me weep if the fates shall give me long life. This destroyed me and my dear wife together. And oh, that I had never had it! My wife was Procris, or, if by more likely chance the name of Orithyia has come to your ears, the sister of the ravished Orithyia. If you should compare the form and bearing of the two, Procris herself is the more worthy to be ravished away. It is she that her father, Erechtheus, joined to me; it is she that love joined to me. I was called happy, and happy I was. But the gods decreed it otherwise, or, perchance, I should be happy still. It was in the second month after our marriage rites. I was spreading my nets to catch the antlered deer, when from the top of ever-blooming Hymettus the golden goddess of the dawn, having put the shades to flight, beheld me and carried me away, against my will: may the goddess pardon me for telling the simple truth; but as truly as she shines with the blush of roses on her face, as truly as she holds the portals of the day and night, and drinks the juices of nectar, it was Procris I loved; Procris was in my heart, Procris was ever on my lips. I kept talking of my wedding and its fresh joys of love and the first union of my now deserted couch. The 39! OVID mota dea est et ° siste tuas, ingrate, querellas ; Procrin habe!’ dixit, “quod si mea provida mens est, non habuisse voles.’ meque illi irata remisit. cum redeo mecumque deae memorata retracto, esse metus coepit, ne iura iugalia coniunx 715 non bene servasset: facies aetasque iubebat credere adulterium, prohibebant credere mores ; sed tamen afueram, sed et haec erat, unde redibam, criminis exemplum, sed cuncta timemus amantes. quaerere, quod doleam, statuo donisque pudicam 720 sollicitare fidem; favet huic Aurora timori inmutatque meam (videor sensisse) figuram. Palladias ineo non cognoscendus Athenas ingrediorque domum; culpa domus ipsa carebat castaque signa dabat dominoque erat anxia rapto: vix aditus per mille dolos ad Erechthida factus. 726 ut vidi, obstipui meditataque paene reliqui temptamenta fide; male me, quin vera faterer, continui, male, quin, et oportuit, oscula ferrem. tristis erat (sed nulla tamen formosior illa 730 esse potest tristi) desiderioque dolebat coniugis abrepti: tu collige, qualis in illa, Phoce, decor fuerit, quam sic dolor ipse décebat! quid referam, quotiens temptamina nostra pudici reppulerint mores, quotiens ‘ ego ’ dixerit ‘uni 735 servor; ubicumque est, uni mea gaudia servo.’ cui non ista fide satis experientia sano magna foret? non sum contentus et in mea pugno 392 METAMORPHOSES BOOK VII goddess was provoked and exclaimed: “ Cease your complaints, ungrateful boy; keep your Procris! but, if my mind can foresee at all, you will come to wish that you had never had her ’; and in a rage she sent me back to her. As I was going home, and turned over in my mind the goddess’ warning, I began to fear that my wife herself had not kept her marriage vows. Her beauty and her youth made me fear unfaithfulness; but her character forbade that fear. Still, I had been absent long, and she from whom I was returning was herself an example of unfaithfulness; and besides, we lovers fear every- thing. I decided to make a cause for grievance and to tempt her chaste faith by gifts. Aurora helped me in this jealous undertaking and changed my form; (I seemed to feel the change). And so, unrecognizable I entered Athens, Pallas’ sacred city, and went into my house. The household itself was blameless, showed no sign of aught amiss, was only anxious for its lost lord. With much difficulty and by a thousand wiles I gained the presence of Erechtheus’ daughter; and when I looked upon her my heart failed me and I almost abandoned the test of her fidelity which I had planned. I scarce kept from confessing the truth, from kissing her as was her due. She was sad; but no woman could be more beautiful than was she in her sadness. She was all grief with longing for the husband who had been torn away from her. Imagine, Phocus, how beautiful she was, how that grief itself became her. Why should I tell howoften her chastity repelled my temptations? To every plea she said: ‘ I keep myself for one alone. Wherever he is I keep my love for one.’ What husband in his senses would not have found that test of her fidelity enough? But I was not content and strove on to my own undoing! 393 OVID vulnera! cum census dare me pro nocte loquendo muneraque augendo tandem dubitare coegi, 740 exclamo male victor: ‘ adest, mala, fictus adulter! verus eram coniunx! me, perfida, teste teneris.’ illa nihil; tacito tantummodo victa pudore insidiosa malo cum coniuge limina fugit ; offensaque mei genus omne perosa virorum 145 montibus errabat, studiis operata Dianae. tum mihi deserto violentior ignis ad ossa pervenit: orabam veniam et peccasse fatebar et potuisse datis simili succumbere culpae me quoque muneribus, si munera tanta darentur. 750 hoc mihi confesso, laesum prius ulta pudorem, redditur et dulces concorditer exigit annos ; dat mihi praeterea, tamquam se parva dedisset dona, canem munus; quem cum sua traderet illi Cynthia, ‘ currendo superabit ’ dixerat ‘ omnes.’ 755 dat simul et iaculum, manibus quod, cernis, habemus. muneris alterius quae sit fortuna, requiris ? accipe mirandum: novitate movebere facti! ‘“ Carmina Laiades non intellecta priorum solverat ingeniis, et praecipitata iacebat 760 inmemor ambagum vates obscura suarum : protinus Aoniis inmittitur altera Thebis 763 (scilicet alma Themis nec talia linquit inulta!) 762 pestis, et exitio multi pecorumque suoque rurigenae pavere feram; vicina iuventus 765 394 METAMORPHOSES BOOK VII By promising to give fortunes for her favour, and at last, by adding to my promised gifts, I forced her to hesitate. Then, victor to my sorrow, I exclaimed: ‘False one, he that is here is a feigned adulterer! I was really your husband! By my own witness, traitress, you are detected! * She,notaword. Only in silence, overwhelmed with shame, she fled her treacherous husband and his house. In hate for me, loathing the whole race of men, she wandered over the mountains, devoted to Diana’s pursuits. Then in my loneliness the fire of love burned more fiercely, penetrating to the marrow. I craved pardon, owned that I had sinned, confessed that I too might have yielded in the same way under the temptation of gifts, if so great gifts were offered to me. When I had made this confession and she had sufficiently avenged her outraged feelings, she came back to me and we spent sweet years together in harmony. She gave me beside, as though she had given but small gifts in herself, a wonderful hound which her own Cynthia had given, and said as she gave: ‘ He will surpass all other hounds in speed.’ She gave me a javelin also, this one which, as you see, I hold in m hands. Would you know the story of both gifts? Hear the wonderful story: you will be moved by the strangeness of the deed. ‘ Oedipus, the son of Laius, had solved the riddle which had been inscrutable to the understanding of all before; fallen headlong she lay, the dark prophet, forgetful of her own riddle. Straightway a second monster was sent against Aonian Thebes (and surely kind Themis does not let such things go un- punished !) and many country dwellers were in terror of the fierce creature, fearing both for their own and their flocks’ destruction. We, theneighbouring youths, 395 OVID venimus et latos indagine cinximus agros. illa levi velox superabat retia saltu summaque transibat postarum lina plagarum : copula detrahitur canibus, quos illa sequentes effugit et centum non segnior alite ludit. 770 poscor et ipse meum consensu Laelapa magno (muneris hoc nomen): iamdudum vincula pugnat exuere ipse sibi colloque morantia tendit. vix bene missus erat, nec iam poteramus, ubi esset, scire; pedum calidus vestigia pulvis habebat, 775 ipse oculis ereptus erat: non ocior illo hasta nec excussae contorto verbere glandes nec Gortyniaco calamus levis exit ab arcu. collis apex medii subiectis inminet arvis : tollor eo capioque novi spectacula cursus, 780 quo modo deprendi, modo se subducere ab ipso vulnere visa fera est; nec limite callida recto in spatiumque fugit, sed decipit ora sequentis et redit in gyrum, ne sit suus inpetus hosti: inminet hic sequiturque parem similisque tenenti non tenet et vanos exercet in aera morsus. 186 ad iaculi vertebar opem; quod dextera librat dum mea, dum digitos amentis addere tempto, lumina deflexi. revocataque rursus eodem rettuleram: et medio (mirum) duo marmora campo adspicio; fugere hoc, illud captare putares. 791 scilicet invictos ambo certamine cursus esse deus voluit, si quis deus adfuit illis.”’ 396 METAMORPHOSES BOOK VII came and encircled the broad fields with our hunting- nets. But that swift beast leaped over the nets, over the very tops of the toils which we had spread. Then we let slip our hounds from the leash; but she escaped their pursuit and mocked the hundred dogs with speed like any bird. Then all the hunters called upon me for my Laelaps (that is the name of the hound my wife had given me). Long since he had been struggling to get loose from the leash and straining his neck against the strap that held him. Scarce was he well released when we could not tell where he was. The warm dust kept the imprint of his feet, he himself had quite disappeared from sight. No spear is swifter than he, nor leaden bullets thrown by a whirled sling, or the light reed shot from a Gortynian bow. There was a high hill near by, whose top overlooked the surrounding plain. Thither I climbed and gained a view of that strange chase, in which the beast seemed now to be caught and now to slip from the dog’s very teeth. Nor does the cunning creature flee in a straight course off into the distance, but it eludes the pursuer’s Jaws and wheels sharply round, so that its enemy may lose his spring. The dog presses him hard, follows him step for step, and, while he seems to hold him, does not hold, and snaps at the empty air. I turned to my Javelin’s aid. As my right hand was balancing it, while I was fitting my fingers into the loop, I turned my eyes aside for a single moment; and when I turned them back again to the same spot—oh, wonderful! I saw two marble images in the plain; the one you would think was fleeing, the other catching at the prey. Doubtless some god must have willed, if there was any god with them, that both should be unconquered in their race.” ‘Thus far he spoke and fell silent. 397 OVID ‘6 hactenus, et tacuit; ““iaculo quod crimen in ipso est?” Phocus ait; iaculi sic crimina reddidit ille: 7195 ‘‘ Gaudia principium nostri sunt, Phoce, doloris : illa prius referam. iuvat o meminisse beati temporis, Aeacida, quo primos rite per annos coniuge eram felix, felix erat illa marito. mutua cura duos et amor socialis habebat, 800 nec lovis illa meo thalamos praeferret amori, nec me quae caperet, non si Venus ipsa veniret, ulla erat; aequales urebant pectora flammae. sole fere radiis feriente cacumina primis venatum in silvas iuvenaliter ire solebam 805 nec mecum famuli nec equi nec naribus acres ire canes nec lina sequi nodosa solebant : tutus eram iaculo; sed cum satiata ferinae dextera caedis erat, repetebam frigus et umbras et quae de gelidis exibat vallibus aura: 810 aura petebatur medio mihi lenis in aestu, auram exspectabam, requies erat illa labori. ‘aura ’ (recordor enim), ‘ venias ’ cantare solebam, ‘ meque iuves intresque sinus, gratissima, nostros, utque facis, relevare velis, quibus urimur, aestus! ’ forsitan addiderim (sic me mea fata trahebant), 816 blanditias plures et ‘ tu mihi magna voluptas ’ dicere sim solitus, “ tu me reficisque fovesque, tu facis, ut silvas, ut amem loca sola: meoque spiritus iste tuus semper captatur ab ore.’ 820 vocibus ambiguis deceptam praebuit aurem nescio quis nomenque aurae tam saepe vocatum 398 METAMORPHOSES BOOK VII “ But what charge have you to bring against the javelin itself? asked Phocus. The other thus told what charge he had against the javelin: ‘““ My joys, Phocus, were the beginning of my woe. These I will describe first. Oh, what a joy it is, son of Aeacus, to remember the blessed time when during those first years I was happy in my wife, as I should be, and she was happy in her husband. Mutual cares and mutual love bound us together. Not Jove’s love would she have preferred to mine; nor was there any woman who could lure me away from her, no, not if Venus herself should come. An equal passion burned in both our two hearts. In the early morning, when the sun’s first rays touched the tops of the hills, with a young man’s eagerness I used to go hunting in the woods. Nor did I take attendants with me, or horses or keen-scented dogs or knotted nets. I was safe with my javelin. But when my hand had had its fill of slaughter of wild creatures, I would come back to the cool shade and the breeze that came forth from the cool valleys. I wooed the breeze, blowing gently on me in my heat; the breeze I waited for. She was my labour’s rest. ‘ Come, Aura, I remember I used to ery, ‘come soothe me; come into my breast, most welcome one, and, as indeed you do, relieve the heat with which I burn.’ Perhaps I would add, for so my fates drew me on, more endearments, and say: ‘Thou art my greatest joy; thou dost refresh and comfort me; thou makest me to love the woods and solitary places. It is ever my joy to feel thy breath upon my face.’ Some one overhearing these words was deceived by their double meaning; and, thinking that the word ‘ Aura’ so often on my lips was a nymph’s name, was convinced that I was in love with 399 OVID esse putat nymphae: nympham mihi credit amari. criminis extemplo ficti temerarius index Procrin adit linguaque refert audita susurra. 825 credula res amor est: subito conlapsa dolore, ut mihi narratur, cecidit; longoque refecta tempore se miseram, se fati dixit iniqui deque fide questa est et crimine concita vano, quod nil est, metuit, metuit sine corpore nomen 830 et dolet infelix veluti de paelice vera. saepe tamen dubitat speratque miserrima falli indicioque fidem negat et, nisi viderit ipsa, damnatura sui non est delicta mariti. postera depulerant Aurorae lumina noctem : 835 egredior silvamque peto victorque per herbas ‘aura, veni’ dixi “ nostroque medere labori! ’ et subito gemitus inter mea verba videbar nescio quos audisse; ‘ veni ’ tamen, ‘ optima! ’ dixi. fronde levem rursus strepitum faciente caduca 840 sum ratus esse feram telumque volatile misi: Procris erat medioque tenens in pectore vulnus ‘ei mihi’ conclamat! vox est ubi cognita fidae coniugis, ad vocem praeceps amensque cucurri. 844 semianimem et sparsas foedantem sanguine vestes et sua (me miserum!) de vulnere dona trahentem invenio corpusque meo mihi carius ulnis mollibus attollo scissaque a pectore veste vulnera saeva ligo conorque inhibere cruorem neu me morte sua sceleratum deserat, oro. 850 400 METAMORPHOSES BOOK VII some nymph. Straightway the rash tell-tale went to Procris with the story of my supposed unfaithful- ness and reported in whispers what he had heard. A credulous thing is love. Smitten with sudden pain (as I heard the story), she fell down in a swoon. Reviving at last, she called herself wretched, victim of cruel fate; complained of my unfaithfulness, ‘and, excited by an empty charge, she feared a mere nothing, feared an empty name and grieved, poor girl, as over a real rival. And yet she would often doubt and hope in her depth of misery that she was mistaken; she refused to believe the story she had heard, and, unless she saw it with her own eyes, would not think her husband guilty of such sin. The next morning, when the early dawn had banished night, I left the house and sought the woods; there, successful, as I lay on the grass, I cried: ‘Come, Aura, come and soothe my toil ’— and suddenly, while I was speaking, I thought I heard a groan. ‘Come, dearest one,’ I cried again. And as the fallen leaves made a slight rustling sound, I thought it was some beast and hurled my javelin at the place. It was Procris, and, clutching at the wound in her breast, she cried, “Oh, woe is me.’ When I recognized the voice of my faithful wife, I rushed headlong towards the sound, beside myself with horror. There | found her dying, her dis- ordered garments stained with blood, and oh, the pity! trying to draw the very weapon she had given me from her wounded breast. With loving arms I raised her body, dearer to me than my own, tore open the garment from her breast and bound up the cruel wound, and tried to staunch the blood, praying that she would not leave me stained with her death. She, though strength failed her, with a 401 VOL. I. O OVID viribus illa carens et iam moribunda coegit haec se pauca loqui: ‘ per nostri foedera lecti perque deos supplex oro superosque meosque, per si quid merui de te bene perque manentem nune quoque, cum pereo, causam mihi mortis amorem, ne thalamis Auram patiare innubere nostris!’ 856 dixit, et errorem tum denique nominis esse et sensi et docui. sed quid docuisse iuvabat ? labitur, et parvae fugiunt cum sanguine vires, dumque aliquid spectare potest, me spectat et in me infelicem animam nostroque exhalat in ore; 861 sed vultu meliore mori secura videtur.” Flentibus haec lacrimans heros memorabat, et ecce Aeacus ingreditur duplici cum prole novoque milite ; quem Cephalus cum fortibus accipit armis. 865 402 METAMORPHOSES BOOK VII dying effort forced herself to say these few words: ‘By the union of our love, by the gods above and my own gods, by all that I have done for you, and by the love that still I bear you in my dying hour, the cause of my own death, I beg you, do not let this Aura take my place.’ And then I knew at last that it was a mistake in the name, and I told her the truth. But what availed then the telling? She fell back in my arms and her last faint strength fled with her blood. So long as she could look at anything she looked at me and breathed out her unhappy spirit on my lips. But she seemed to die content and with a happy look upon her face.”’ This story the hero told with many years. And now Aeacus came in with his two sons and his new levied band of soldiers, which Cephalus received with their valiant arms. 403 LIBER VIII Iam nitidum retegente diem noctisque fugante tempora Lucifero cadit Eurus, et umida surgunt nubila: dant placidi cursum redeuntibus Austri Aeacidis Cephaloque; quibus feliciter acti ante exspectatum portus tenuere petitos. 5 interea Minos Lelegeia litora vastat praetemptatque sui vires Mavortis in urbe Alcathoi, quam Nisus habet, cui splendidus ostro inter honoratos medioque in vertice canos crinis inhaerebat, magni fiducia regni. 10 Sexta resurgebant orientis cornua lunae, et pendebat adhuc belli fortuna, diuque inter utrumque volat dubiis Victoria pennis. regia turris erat vocalibus addita muris, in quibus auratam proles Letoia fertur 15 deposuisse lyram: saxo sonus eius inhaesit. saepe illuc solita est ascendere filia Nisi et petere exiguo resonantia saxa lapillo, tum cum pax esset; bello quoque saepe solebat spectare ex illa rigidi certamina Martis, 20 iamque mora belli procerum quoque nomina norat armaque equosque habitusque Cydonaeasque pharetras ; 406 BOOK VIII Now when Lucifer had banished night and ushered in the shining day, the east wind fell and moist clouds arose. The peaceful south wind offered a safe return to Cephalus and the mustered troops of Aeacus, and, speeding their voyage, brought them, sooner than they had hoped, to their desired haven. Meanwhile King Minos was laying waste the coast of Megara, and was trying his martial strength against the city of Alcathoiis,! where Nisus reigned. This Nisus had growing on his head, amidst his locks of honoured grey, a brilliant purple lock on whose preservation rested the safety of his throne. Six times had the new moon shown her horns, and still the fate of war hung in the balance; so long did Victory hover on doubtful wings between the two. There was a royal tower reared on the tuneful walls where Latona’s son was said to have laid down his golden lyre, whose music still lingered in the stones. Often to this tower the daughter of King Nisus used to climb and set the rocks resounding with a pebble, in the day when peace was. Also after the war began she would often look out from this place upon the rough martial combats. And now, as the war dragged on, she had come to know even the names of the warring chieftains, their arms, their horses, their dress, their Cretan quivers. And 1 2.e. Megara. 407 OVID noverat ante alios faciem ducis EKuropaei, plus etiam, quam nosse sat est: hac iudice Minos, seu caput abdiderat cristata casside pennis, in galea formosus erat; seu sumpserat aere fulgentem clipeum, clipeum sumpsisse decebat ; torserat adductis hastilia lenta lacertis: laudabat virgo iunctam cum viribus artem ; inposito calamo patulos sinuaverat arcus: sic Phoebum sumptis iurabat stare sagittis ; cum vero faciem dempto nudaverat aere purpureusque albi stratis insignia pictis terga premebat equi spumantiaque ora regebat, vix sua, vix sanae virgo Niseia compos mentis erat: felix iaculum, quod tangeret ille, quaeque manu premeret, felicia frena vocabat. impetus est illi, liceat modo, ferre per agmen virgineos hostile gradus, est impetus illi turribus e summis in Gnosia mittere corpus castra vel aeratas hosti recludere portas, vel siquid Minos aliud velit. utque sedebat candida Dictaei spectans tentoria regis, ‘“laeter,”’ ait “ doleamne geri lacrimabile bellum, 25 30 JO 40 in dubio est; doleo, quod Minos hostis amanti est. 45 sed nisi bella forent, numquam mihi cognitus esset! me tamen accepta poterat deponere bellum obside: me comitem, me pacis pignus haberet. si quae te peperit, talis, pulcherrime rerum, qualis es, ipsa fuit, merito deus arsit in illa. o ego ter felix, si pennis lapsa per auras Gnosiaci possem castris insistere regis 50 fassaque me flammasque meas, qua dote, rogarem, 408 METAMORPHOSES BOOK VIII above all others did she know the face of their leader, Europa’s son, yes, better than she should. If he had hidden his head in a crested casque, Minos in a helmet was lovely to her eyes: or if he carried his shining golden shield, the shield became him well. Did he hurl his tough spear with tense muscles, the girl admired the strength and the skill he showed. Did he bend the wide-curving bow with arrow fitted to the string, thus she would swear that Phoebus stood with arrows in his hand. But when unhelmed he showed his face, when clad in purple he bestrode his milk-white steed gorgeous with broidered trap- pings, and managed the foaming bit, then was Nisus’ daughter hardly her own, hardly mistress of a sane mind. Happy the javelin which he touched and happy the reins which he held in his hand, she thought. She longed, were it but allowed, to speed her maiden steps through the foemen’s line; she longed to leap down from her lofty tower into the Cretan camp, to open the city’s bronze-bound gates to the enemy, to do any other thing which Minos might desire. And, as she sat gazing at the white tents of the Cretan king, she said: “Whether I should rejoice or grieve at this woeful war, I cannot tell. I grieve because Minos is the foe of her who loves him; but if there were no war, he would never have been known to me. Suppose he had me as a hostage, then he could give up the war; I should be in his com- pany, should be a pledge of peace. If she who bore you, O loveliest of all the world, was such as you are, good reason was it that the god burned for her. Oh, thrice happy should I be, if only I might fly through the air and stand within the camp of the Cretan king, and confess my love, and ask what dower he would wish to be paid for me. Only let him not ask my 409 OVID vellet emi, tantum patrias ne posceret arces! nam pereant potius sperata cubilia, quam sim 5d proditione potens !—quamvis saepe utile vinci victoris placidi fecit clementia multis. iusta gerit certe pro nato bella perempto: et causaque valet causamque tenentibus armis, et, puto, vincemur; qui si manet exitus urbem, 60 cur suus haec illi reseret mea moenia Mavors et non noster amor? melius sine caede moraque inpensaque sui poterit superare cruoris. non metuam certe, ne quis tua pectora, Minos, vulneret inprudens: quis enim tam durus, utinte 65 dirigere inmitem non inscius audeat hastam? ”’ coepta placent, et stat sententia tradere secum dotalem patriam finemque inponere bello; verum velle parum est! “ aditus custodia servat, claustraque portarum genitor tenet: hunc ego solum infelix timeo, solus mea vota moratur. 71 di facerent, sine patre forem! sibi quisque profecto est deus: ignavis precibus Fortuna repugnat. | altera iamdudum succensa cupidine tanto perdere gauderet, quodcumque obstaret amori. 75 et cur ulla foret me fortior? ire per ignes et gladios ausim; nec in hoc tamen ignibus ullis aut gladiis opus est, opus est mihi crine paterno. illa mihi est auro pretiosior, illa beatam purpura me votique mei factura potentem.” 80 Talia dicenti curarum maxima nutrix nox intervenit, tenebrisque audacia crevit. prima quies aderat, qua curis fessa diurnis 410 METAMORPHOSES BOOK VIII country's citadel. For may all my hopes of wedlock perish ere I gain it by treachery. And yet oft-times many have found it good to be overcome, when an appeased victor has been merciful. Surely he wages a just war for his murdered son; and he is strong both in his cause and in the arms that defend his cause. We shall be conquered, I am sure. And if that doom awaits our city, why shall his warrior hand unbar these walls of ours, and not my love? Far better will it be without massacre and suspense and the cost of his own blood for him to conquer. In that case truly I should not fear lest someone should pierce your breast unwittingly, dear Minos; for, if not unwitting, who so cruel that he could bring himself to throw his pitiless spear at you?’’ She likes the plan, and decides to give up herself with her country as her dowry, and so to end the war. But merely to willis not enough. ‘‘ A watch guards the entry; my father holds the keys of the city gates. Himonly dol fear, unhappy! Only he delays the wish of my heart. Would to God I had no father! But surely everyone is his own god; Fortune resists half-hearted prayers. Another girl in my place, fired with so great a love, would long since have destroyed, and that with joy, whatever stood in the way of her love. And why should another be braver than I? Through fire and sword would I dare go. And yet here there is no need of fire or sword. I need but my father’s lock of hair. That is to me more precious than gold; that purple lock will make me blest, will give me my _heart’s desire.’’ While she thus spoke night came on, most potent healer of our cares; and with the darkness her boldness grew. The first rest had come, when sleep AII OVID pectora somnus habet: thalamos taciturna paternos intrat et (heu facinus !) fatali nata parentem 85 crine suum spoliat praedaque potita nefanda per medios hostes (meriti fiducia tanta est) 88 pervenit ad regem; quem sic adfata paventem est: “ suasit amor facinus: proles ego regia Nisi 90 Scylla tibi trado patriaeque meosque penates ; praemia nulla peto nisi te: cape pignus amoris purpureum crinem nec me nunc tradere crinem, sed patrium tibi crede caput!” scelerataque dextra munera porrexit; Minos porrecta refugit 95 turbatusque novi respondit imagine facti: di te summoveant, o nostri infamia saecli, orbe suo, tellusque tibi pontusque negetur ! certe ego non patiar Iovis incunabula, Creten, qui meus est orbis, tantum contingere monstrum.”’ 100 Dixit, et ut leges captis iustissimus auctor hostibus inposuit, classis retinacula solvi iussit et aeratas impleri remige puppes. Scylla freto postquam deductas nare carinas nec praestare ducem sceleris sibi praemia vidit, 105 consumptis precibus violentam transit in iram intendensque manus passis furibunda capillis ‘ quo fugis exclamat “ meritorum auctore relicta, O patriae praelate meae, praelate parenti? quo fugis, inmitis, cuius victoria nostrum 110 et scelus et meritum est? nec te data munera, nec te noster amor movit, nec quod spes omnis in unum AI2 METAMORPHOSES BOOK VIII holds the heart weary with the cares of day: the daughter steals silently into her father’s chamber, and—oh, the horrid crime!—she despoils him of the tress where his life lay. With this cursed prize, through the midst of her foes, so sure is she of a welcome for her deed, she goes straight to the king; and thus she addresses him, startled at her presence: “ Love has led me to this deed. I, Scylla, daughter of King Nisus, do here deliver to your hands my country and my house. I ask no reward save only you. Take as the pledge of my love this purple lock, and know that I am giving to you not a lock, but my father’s life.”” And in her sin-stained hand she held out the prize to him. Minos recoiled from the proffered gift, and, in horror at the sight of so unnatural an act, he replied: ‘““ May the gods banish you from their world, O foul disgrace of our age! May both land and sea be denied to you! Be sure that I shall not permit so vile a monster to set foot on Crete, my world, the cradle of Jove’s infancy.” He spoke; and when this most upright lawgiver had imposed laws upon his conquered foes, he bade loose the hawsers of the fleet, and the rowers to man the bronze-bound ships. When Scylla saw that the ships were launched and afloat, and that the king refused her the reward of her sin, having prayed until she could pray no more, she became violent] enraged, and stretching out her hands, with streaming hair and mad with passion, she exclaimed: “‘ Whither do you flee, abandoning the giver of your success, O you whom I put before my fatherland, before my father? Whither do you flee, you cruel man, whose victory is my sin, ‘tis true, but is my merit also? Does not the gift I gave moye you, do not my loye and 413 OVID te mea congesta est? nam quo deserta revertar? in patriam? superata iacet! sed finge manere: proditione mea clausa est mihi! patris ad ora? 115 quem tibi donavi! cives odere merentem, finitimi exemplum metuunt: exponimur orbe terrarum, nobis ut Crete sola pateret. hac quoque si prohibes et nos, ingrate, relinquis, non genetrix Europa tibi est, sed inhospita Syrtis, 120 Armeniae tigres austroque agitata Charybdis. Nec Iove tu natus, nec mater imagine tauri ducta tua est: generis falsa est ea fabula! verus et ferus et captus nullius amore iuvencae, qui te progenuit, taurus fuit. exige poenas, 125 Nise pater! gaudete malis modo prodita nostris moenia! nam, fateor, merui et sum digna perire. sed tamen ex illis aliquis, quos impia laesi, me perimat! cur, qui vicisti crimine nostro, insequeris crimen? scelus hoc patriaeque patrique, officium tibi sit! te vere coniuge digna est, 131 quae torvum ligno decepit adultera taurum discordemque utero fetum tulit. ecquid ad aures perveniunt mea dicta tuas, an inania venti’ verba ferunt idemque tuas, ingrate, carinas? 135 iam iam Pasiphaen non est mirabile taurum praeposuisse tibi: tu plus feritatis habebas. me miseram! properare iubet! divulsaque remis unda sonat, mecumque simul mea terra recedit. 414 METAMORPHOSES BOOK VIII all my hopes built on you alone? Deserted, whither shall I go? Back to my fatherland? It lies over- thrown. But suppose it still remained: it is closed to me by my treachery. To my father’s presence? him whom I betrayed to you? My countrymen hate me, and with just cause; the neighbouring peoples fear my example. I am banished from all the world, that Crete alone might be open to me. And if you forbid me Crete as well, and, O un- grateful, leave me here, Europa is not your mother, but the inhospitable Syrtis, the Armenian tigress and storm-tossed Charybdis. You are no son of Jove, nor was your mother tricked by the false semblance of a bull. That story of your birth is a lie: it was a real bull that begot you, a fierce, wild thing that loved no heifer. Inflict my punishment, O Nisus, my father! Rejoice in my woes, O ye walls that I have but now betrayed! For I confess I have merited your hate and I deserve to die. But let some one of those whom I have foully injured slay me. Why should you, who have triumphed through my sin, punish my sin? Let this act which was a crime against my country and my father be but a service in your eyes. She is a true mate! for you who with unnatural passion deceived the savage bull by that shape of wood and bore a hybrid offspring in her womb. Does my voice reach your ears? Or do the same winds blow away my words to emptiness that fill your sails, you ingrate? Now, now I do not wonder that Pasiphaé preferred the bull to you, for you were a more savage beast than he. Alas for me! He orders his men to haste away! and the waves resound as the oars dash into them, and I and my land are both fading from his sight. But it 1 Pasiphaé, the wife of Minos and mother of the Minotaur. 415 OVID nil agis, o frustra meritorum oblite meorum: 140 insequar invitum puppimque amplexa recurvam per freta longa trahar.”’ Vix dixerat, insilit undis consequiturque rates faciente cupidine vires Gnosiacaeque haerét comes invidiosa carinae. quam pater ut vidit (nam iam pendebat in aura 145 et modo factus erat fulvis haliaeetus alis), ibat, ut haerentem rostro laceraret adunco; illa metu puppim dimisit, et aura cadentem sustinuisse lévis, ne tangeret aequora, visa est. pluma fuit: plumis in avem mutata vocatur 150 Ciris et a tonso est hoc nomen adepta capillo. Vota Iovi Minos taurorum corpora centum solvit,; ut egressus ratibus Curetida terram contigit, et spoliis decorata est regia fixis. creverat obprobrium generis, foedumque patebat 155 matris adulterium monstri novitate biformis ; destinat hune Minos thalamo removere pudorem multiplicique domo caecisque includere tectis. Daedalus ingenio fabrae celeberrimus artis ponit opus turbatque notas et lumina flexu 160 ducit in errorem variarum ambage viarum. non sécus ac liquidus Phrygiis Maeandrus in arvis ludit et ambiguo lapsu refluitque fluitque occurrensque sibi venturas aspicit undas et nunc ad fontes, nunc ad mare versus apertum 165 incertas exercet aquas, ita Daedalus implet 416 METAMORPHOSES BOOK VIII is in vain; you have forgotten my deserts in vain; I shall follow you against your will, and clinging to the curving stern, I shall be drawn over the long reaches of the sea.” Scarce had she spoken when she leaped into the water, swam after the ship, her passion giving strength, and clung, hateful and un- welcome, to the Cretan boat. When her father saw her—for he was hovering in the air, having but now been changed into an osprey with tawny wings—he came on that he might tear her, as she clung there, with his hooked beak. In terror she let go her hold upon the boat, and as she fell the light air seemed to hold her up and keep her from touching the water. She was like a feather! Changed to a feathered bird, she is called Ciris, and takes this name from the shorn lock of hair.t Minos duly paid his vows to Jove, a hundred bulls, when he disembarked upon the Cretan strand; and he hung up his spoils of war to adorn his palace. But now his family’s disgrace had grown big, and the queen’s foul adultery was revealed to all by her strange hybrid monster-child. Minos planned to remove this shame from his house and to hide it away in a labyrinthine enclosure with blind passages. Daedalus, a man famous for his skill in the builder’s art, planned and performed the work. He confused the usual passages and deceived the. eye by a con- flicting maze of divers winding paths. Just as the watery Maeander plays in the Phrygian fields, flows back and forth in doubtful course and, turning back on itself, beholds its own waves coming on their way, and sends its uncertain waters now towards their source and now towards the open sea: so Daedalus made those innumerable winding passages, and was 1 Ciris, as if from Keipw, “I cut.” 417 OVID innumeras errore vias vixque ipse reverti ad limen potuit: tanta est fallacia tecti. Quo postquam geminam tauri iuvenisque figuram clausit, et Actaeo bis pastum sanguine monstrum 170 tertia sors annis domuit repetita novenis, utque ope virginea nullis iterata priorum ianua difficilis filo est inventa relecto, protinus Aegides rapta Minoide Diam vela dedit comitemque suam crudelis in illo 175 litore destituit; desertae et multa querenti amplexus et opem Liber tulit utque perenni sidere clara foret, sumptam de fronte coronam inmisit caelo: tenues volat illa per auras dumque volat, gemmae nitidos vertuntur inignes 180 consistuntque loco specie remanente coronae, qui medius Nixique genu est Anguemque tenentis. Daedalus interea Cretan longumque perosus exilium tactusque loci natalis amore clausus erat pelago. “ terras licet ’ inquit “ et undas obstruat: et caelum certe patet; ibimus illac: 186 omnia possideat, non possidet aera Minos.” dixit et ignotas animum dimittit in artes naturamque novat. nam ponit in ordine pennas a minima coeptas, longam breviore sequenti, 190 ut clivo crevisse putes: sic rustica quondam fistula disparibus paulatim surgit avenis ; tum lino medias et ceris alligat imas atque ita conpositas parvo curvamine flectit, 418 METAMORPHOSES BOOK VIII himself scarce able to find his way back to the place of entry, so deceptive was the enclosure he had built. In this labyrinth Minos shut up the monster of the bull-man form and twice he fed him on Athenian blood; but the third tribute, demanded after each nine years, brought the creature’s overthrow. And when, by the virgin Ariadne’s help, the difficult entrance, which no former adventurer had ever reached again, was found by winding up the thread, straightway the son of Aegeus, taking Minos’ daughter, spread his sails for Dia; and on that shore he cruelly abandoned his companion. To her, deserted and bewailing bitterly, Bacchus brought love and help. And, that she might shine among the deathless stars, he sent the crown she wore up to the skies. Through the thin air it flew; and as it flew its gems were changed to gleaming fires and, still keeping the appearance of a crown, it took its place between the Kneeler 1 and the Serpent-holdey.? Meanwhile Daedalus, hating Crete and his long exile, and longing to see his native land, was shut in by the sea. “ Though he may block escape by land and water, he said, “ yet the sky is open, and by that way will I go. Though Minos rules over all, he does not rule the air.” So saying, he sets his mind at work upon unknown arts, and changes the laws of nature. Tor he lays feathers in order, beginning at the smallest, short next to long, so that you would think they had grown upon a slope. Just so the old-fashioned rustic pan-pipes with their unequal reeds rise one above another. Then he fastened the feathers together with twine and wax at the middle and bottom; and, thus arranged, he bent them with a gentle curve, so that they looked like 1 The constellation of Hercules. 2 Ophiuchus. 419 OVID ut veras imitetur aves. puer Icarus una 195 stabat et ignarus, sua se tractare pericla, ore renidenti modo, quas yaga moverat aura, captabat plumas, flavam modo pollice ceram mollibat lusuque suo mirabile patris impediebat opus. postquam manus ultima coepto 200 inposita est, geminas opifex libravit in alas ipse suum corpus motaque pependit in aura; instruit et natum “ medio ” que “ ut limite curras, Icare,” ait “‘ moneo, ne, si demissior ibis, unda gravet pennas, si celsior, ignis adurat : 205 inter utrumque vola. nec te spectare Booten aut Helicen iubeo strictumque Orionis ensem: me duce carpe viam! ”’ pariter praecepta volandi tradit et ignotas umeris accommodat alas. inter opus monitusque genae maduere seniles, 210 et patriae tremuere manus; dedit oscula nato non iterum repetenda suo pennisque levatus ante volat comitique timet, velut ales, ab alto quae teneram prolem produxit in aera nido, hortaturque sequi damnosasque erudit artes 215 et movet ipse suas et nati respicit alas. hos aliquis tremula dum captat harundine pisces, aut pastor baculo stivave innixus arator vidit et obstipuit, quique aethera carpere possent, credidit esse deos. et iam Iunonia laeva 220 parte Samos (fuerant Delosque Parosque relictae) dextra Lebinthus erat fecundaque melle Calymne, cum puer audaci coepit gaudere volatu 420 METAMORPHOSES BOOK VIII real birds’ wings. His son, Icarus, was standing by and, little knowing that he was handling his own peril, with gleeful face would now catch at the feathers which some passing breeze had blown about, now mould the yellow wax with his thumb, and by his sport would hinder his father’s wondrous task. When now the finishing touches had been put upon the work, the master workman himself balanced his body on two wings and hung poised on the beaten air. He taught his son also and said: “ I warn you, Icarus, to fly in a middle course, lest, if you go too low, the water may weight your wings; if you go too high, the fire may burn them. Fly between the two. And I bid you not to shape your course by Bodtes or Helice or the drawn sword of Orion, but fly where I shall lead.” At the same time he tells him the rules of flight and fits the strange wings on his boy’s shoulders. While he works and talks the old man’s cheeks are wet with tears, and his fatherly hands tremble. He kissed his son, which he was destined never again to do, and rising on his wings, he flew on ahead, fearing for his companion, just like a bird which has led forth her fledglings from the high nest into the unsubstantial air. He encourages the boy to follow, instructs him in the fatal art of flight, himself flap- ping his wings and looking back on his son. Now ' some fisherman spies them, angling for fish with his flexible rod, or a shepherd, leaning upon his crook, or a plowman, on his plow-handles—spies them and stands stupefied, and believes them to be gods that they could fly through the air. And now Juno’s sacred Samos had been passed on the left, and Delos and Paros; Lebinthus was on the right and Calymne, rich in honey, when the boy began to rejoice in his bold flight and, deserting his leader, A421 OVID deseruitque ducem caelique cupidine tractus altius egit iter. rapidi vicinia solis 225 mollit odoratas, pennarum vincula, ceras ; tabuerant cerae: nudos quatit ille lacertos, remigioque carens non ullas percipit auras, oraque caerulea patrium clamantia nomen excipiuntur aqua, quae nomen traxit ab illo. 230 at pater infelix, nec iam pater, “ Icare,”’ dixit, ‘ Ieare,” dixit “ ubi es? qua te regione requiram ? ” ‘“ Teare ” dicebat: pennas aspexit in undis devovitque suas artes corpusque sepulcro condidit, et tellus a nomine dicta sepulti. 235 Hunc miseri tumulo ponentem corpora nati garrula limoso prospexit ab elice perdix et plausit pennis testataque gaudia cantu est, unica tunc volucris nec visa prioribus annis, factaque nuper avis longum tibi, Daedale, crimen. 240 namque huic tradiderat, fatorum ignara, docendam progeniem germana suam, natalibus actis bis puerum senis, animi ad praecepta capacis ; ille etiam medio spinas in pisce notatas traxit in exemplum ferroque incidit acuto 245 perpetuos dentes et serrae repperit usum ; primus et ex uno duo ferrea bracchia nodo vinxit, ut aequali spatio distantibus illis altera pars staret, pars altera duceret orbem. Daedalus invidit sacraque ex arce Minervae 250 praecipitem misit, lapsum mentitus; at illum, quae favet ingeniis, excepit Pallas avemque reddidit et medio velavit in aere pennis, 422 METAMORPHOSES BOOK VIII led by a desire for the open sky, directed his course to a greater height. The scorching rays of the nearer sun softened the fragrant wax which held his wings. The wax melted; his arms were bare as he beat them up and down, but, lacking wings, they took no hold on the air. His lips, calling to the last upon his father’s name, were drowned in the dark blue sea, which took its name from him. But the unhappy father, now no longer father, called: ‘‘ Icarus, Icarus, where are you? In what place shall I seek you? Icarus,” he called again; and then he spied the wings floating on the deep, and cursed his skill. He buried the body in a tomb, and the land was called from the name of the buried boy. As he was consigning the body of his ill-fated son to the tomb, a chattering partridge looked out from a muddy ditch and clapped her wings uttering a joyful note. She was at that time a strange bird, of a kind never seen before, and but lately made a bird; a lasting reproach to you, Daedalus. For the man’s sister, ignorant of the fates, had sent him her son to be trained, a lad of teachable mind, who had now passed his twelfth birthday. This boy, moreover, observed the backbone of a fish and, taking it as a model, cut a row of teeth in a thin strip of iron and thus invented the saw. He also was the first to bind two arms of iron together at a joint, so that, while the arms kept the same distance apart, one might stand still while the other should trace a circle. Daedalus envied the lad and thrust him down headlong from the sacred citadel of Minerva, with a lying tale that the boy had fallen. But Pallas, who favours the quick of wit, caught him up and made him a bird, and clothed him with feathers in mid-air. His old quickness of wit passed 423 OVID sed vigor ingenii quondam velocis in alas inque pedes abiit; nomen, quod et ante, remansit. non tamen haec alte volucris sua corpora tollit, 256 nec facit in ramis altoque cacumine nidos: propter humum volitat ponitque in saepibus ova antiquique memor metuit sublimia casus. Iamque fatigatum tellus Aetnaea tenebat 260 Daedalon, et sumptis pro supplice Cocalus armis mitis habebatur; iam lamentabile Athenae pendere desierant Thesea laude tributum : templa coronantur, bellatricemque Minervam cum love disque vocant aliis, quos sanguine voto 265 muneribusque datis et acerris turis honorant ; sparserat Argolicas nomen vaga fama per urbes Theseos, et populi, quos dives Achaia cepit, huius opem magnis inploravere periclis, huius opem Calydon, quamvis Meleagron haberet, sollicita supplex petiit prece: causa petendi 271 sus erat, infestae famulus vindexque Dianae. Oenea namque ferunt pleni successibus anni primitias frugum Cereri, sua vina Lyaeo, Palladios flavae latices libasse Minervae ; 975 coeptus ab agricolis superos pervenit ad omnes ambitiosus honor: solas sine ture relictas praeteritae cessasse ferunt Latoidos aras. 6 tangit et ira deos. “ at non inpune feremus, quaeque inhonoratae, non et dicemur inultae” 280 inquit, et Oeneos ultorem spreta per agros 424 METAMORPHOSES BOCE VIII into his wings and legs, but he kept the name which he had before. Still the bird does not lift her body high in flight nor build her nest on trees or on high points of rock; but she flutters along near the ground and lays her eggs in hedgerows; and, remembering that old fall, she is ever fearful of lofty places. Now the land of Aetna received the weary Dae- dalus, where King Cocalus took up arms in the sup- pliant’s defence and was esteemed most kind.1. Now also Athens, thanks to Theseus, had ceased to pay her doleful tribute. The temple is wreathed with flowers, the people call on Minerva, goddess of battles, with Jove and the other gods, whom they worship with sacrificial blood, with gifts and burning incense. Quick-flying fame had spread the name of Theseus through all the towns of Greece, and all the peoples of rich Achaia prayed his help in their own great perils. Suppliant Calydon sought his help with anxious prayers, although she had her Meleager. The cause of seeking was a monster boar, the servant and avenger of outraged Diana. For they say that Oeneus, king of Calydon, in thanksgiving for a bounteous harvest-time, paid the first-fruits of the grain to Ceres, paid his wine to Bacchus, and her own flowing oil to golden-haired Minerva. Beginning with the rural deities, the honour they craved was paid to all the gods of heaven; onl Diana's altar was passed by (they say) and left with- outitsincense. Anger alsocan move the gods. ‘But we shall not bear this without vengeance,” she said; “ and though unhonoured, it shall not be said that we are unavenged.’ And the scorned goddess sent over Oeneus’ fields an avenging boar, as great as 1 This phrase has no point, and there seems to be something wrong with the text. 425 OVID misit aprum, quanto maiores herbida tauros non habet Epiros, sed habent Sicula arva minores: sanguine et igne micant oculi, riget ardua cervix, et setae similes rigidis hastilibus horrent: } 285 fervida cum rauco latos stridore per armos 287 spuma fluit, dentes aequantur dentibus Indis, fulmen ab ore venit, frondes afflatibus ardent. is modo crescentes segetes proculcat in herba, 290 nunc matura metit fleturi vota coloni et Cererem in spicis intercipit: area frustra et frustra exspectant promissas horrea messes. sternuntur gravidi longo cum palmite fetus bacaque cum ramis semper frondentis olivae. 295 saevit et in pecudes: non has pastorve canisve, non armenta truces possunt defendere tauri. diffugiunt populi nec se nisi moenibus urbis. esse putant tutos, donec Meleagros et una lecta manus iuvenum coiere cupidine laudis: 300 Tyndaridae gemini, spectatus caestibus alter, alter equo, primaeque ratis molitor lason, et cum Pirithoo, felix concordia, Theseus, et duo Thestiadae prolesque Aphareia, Lynceus et velox Idas, et iam non femina Caeneus, 305 Leucippusque ferox iaculoque insignis Acastus Hippothousque Dryasque et cretus Amyntore Phoenix Actoridaeque pares et missus ab Elide Phyleus. nec Telamon aberat magnique creator Achillis cumque Pheretiade et Hyanteo Iolao 310 1 EKhwald omits, as well as line 286: stantque velut vallum, velut alta hastilia setae. 426 METAMORPHOSES BOOK VIII the bulls which feed on grassy Epirus, and greater than those of Sicily. His eyes glowed with blood and fire; his neck was stiff and high; his bristles stood up like lines of stiff spear-shafts; amidst deep, hoarse grunts the hot foam flecked his broad shoulders; his tusks were long as the Indian ele- phant’s, lightning flashed from his mouth, the herb- age shrivelled beneath his breath. Now he trampled down the young corn in the blade, and now he laid waste the full-grown crops of some farmer who was doomed to mourn, and cut off the ripe grain in the ear. In vain the threshing-floor, in vain the granary awaited the promised harvests. The heavy bunches of grapes with their trailing vines were cast down, and berry and branch of the olive whose leaf never withers. He vents his rage on the cattle, too. Neither herdsmen nor dogs can protect them, nor can the fierce bulls defend their herds. The people flee in all directions, nor do they count themselves safe until protected by a city’s walls. Then at last Meleager and a picked band of youths assembled, fired with the love of glory: the twin sons of Leda, wife of Tyndarus, one famous for boxing, the other for horsemanship; Jason, the first ship’s builder; Theseus and Pirithoiis, inseparable friends; the two sons of Thestius;! Lynceus and swift-footed Idas, sons of Aphareus; Caeneus,? no longer a woman; warlike Leucippus and Acastus, famed for his javelin; Hippothoiis and Dryas; Phoenix, the son of Amyntor; Actor’s two sons 3 and Klean Phyleus. ‘Telamon was also there, and the father of great Achilles; and, along with the son of Pheres * and Boeotian Iolaiis, 1 Plexippus and Toxeus, brothers of Althaea, the mother of Meleager. 2 See xu. 189 ff. % Eurytus and Cleatus. * Admetus. 427 OVID inpiger EKurytion et cursu invictus Echion Naryciusque Lelex Panopeusque Hyleusque feroxque Hippasus et primis etiamnum Nestor in annis, et quos Hippocoon antiquis misit Amyclis, Penelopaeque socer cum Parrhasio Ancaeo, 315 Ampycidesque sagax et adhuc a coniuge tutus Oeclides nemorisque decus Tegeaea Lycaei: rasilis huic summam mordebat fibula vestem, crinis erat simplex, nodum conlectus in unum, ex umero pendens resonabat eburnea laevo 320 telorum custos, arcum quoque laeva tenebat ; talis erat cultu, facies, quam dicere vere virgineam in puero, puerilem in virgine possis. hanc pariter vidit, pariter Calydonius heros optavit renuente deo flammasque latentes 325 hausit et “ o felix, siquem dignabitur ” inquit “ista virum!’”’ nec plura sinit tempusque pudorque dicere: maius opus magni certaminis urguet. Silva frequens trabibus, quam nulla ceciderat aetas, incipit a plano devexaque prospicit arva: 330 quo postquam venere viri, pars retia tendunt, vincula pars adimunt canibus, pars pressa sequuntur signa pedum, cupiuntque suum reperire periclum. concava vallis erat, quo se demittere rivi adsuerunt pluvialis aquae; tenet ima lacunae 335 lenta salix ulvaeque leves iuncique palustres viminaque et longa parvae sub harundine cannae: 428 METAMORPHOSES BOOK VIII were Eurytion, quick in action, and Echion, of un- conquered speed; Locrian Lelex, Panopeus, Hyleus and Hippasus, keen for the fray; Nestor, then in the prime of his years; and those whom Hippocoén sent from ancient Amyclae; the father-in-law of Penelope,! and Arcadian Ancaeus; Ampycus’ pro- phetic son,” and the son* of Oecleus, who had not yet been ruined by his wife; and Atalanta of Tegea, the pride of the Arcadian woods. A polished buckle clasped her robe at the neck; her hair, plainly dressed, was caught up in one knot. From her left shoulder hung an ivory quiver, resounding as she moved, with its shafts, and her left hand held a bow. Such was she in dress. As for her face, it was one which you could truly say was maidenly for a boy or boyish for a maiden. As soon as his eyes fell on her, the Calydonian hero straightway longed for her (but God forbade); he felt the flames of love steal through his heart; and “ O happy man,” he said, “if ever that maiden shall deem any man worthy to be hers.” Neither the occasion nor his own modesty permitted him more words; the greater task of the mighty conflict urged him to action. There was a dense forest, that past ages had never touched with the axe, rising from the plain and look- ing out on the downward-sloping fields. When the heroes came to this, some stretched the hunting-nets, some slipped the leashes from the dogs, some fol- lowed the well-marked trail as they longed to come at their dangerous enemy. There was a deep dell, where the rain-water from above drained down; the lowest part of this marshy spot was covered with a growth of pliant willows, sedge-grass and swamp- rushes, osiers and tall bulrushes, with an under- 1 Laértes. 2 Mopsus. 3 Amphiaratis. 429 OVID hinc aper excitus medios violenter in hostes fertur, ut excussis elisi nubibus ignes. sternitur incursu nemus, et propulsa fragorem 340 silva dat: exclamant iuvenes praetentaque forti ‘tela tenent dextra lato vibrantia ferro. ille ruit spargitque canes, ut quisque furenti obstat, et obliquo latrantes dissipat ictu. cuspis Echionio primum contorta lacerto 345 vana fuit truncoque dedit leve vulnus acerno; proxima, si nimiis mittentis viribus usa non foret, in tergo visa est haesura petito: longius it; auctor teli Pagasaeus Iason. ‘ Phoebe,’ ait Ampycides, “ si te coluique coloque, da mihi, quod petitur, certo contingere telo!” 351 qua potuit, precibus deus adnuit: ictus ab illo est, sed sine vulnere aper: ferrum Diana volanti abstulerat iaculo; lignum sine acumine venit. ira feri mota est, nec fulmine lenius arsit: 355 emicat ex oculis, spirat quoque pectore flamma, utque volat moles adducto concita nervo, cum petit aut muros aut plenas milite turres, in iuvenes certo sic impete vulnificus sus fertur et Kupalamon Pelagonaque, dextra tuentes 360 cornua, prosternit: socii rapuere iacentes ; at non letiferos effugit Enaesimus ictus Hippocoonte satus: trepidantem et terga parantem vertere succisso liquerunt poplite nervi. 430 METAMORPHOSES BOOK VIII growth of small reeds. From this covert the boar was roused and launched himself with a mad rush against his foes, like lightning struck out from the clashing clouds. The grove is laid low by his on- rush, and the trees crash as he knocks against them. The heroes raise a halloo and with unflinching hands hold their spears poised with the broad iron heads well forward. The boar comes rushing on, scatters the dogs one after another as they strive to stop his mad rush, and thrusts off the baying pack with his deadly sidelong stroke. The first spear, thrown by Echion’s arm, missed its aim and struck glancing on the trunk of a maple-tree. The next, if it had not been thrown with too much force, seemed sure of transfixing the back where it was aimed. It went too far. Jason of Pagasae was the marksman. Then Mopsus cried: ‘‘O Phoebus, if I have ever worshipped and do still worship thee, grant me with unerring spear to reach my mark.’ So far as possible the god heard his prayer. His spear did strike the boar, but with- out injury; for Diana had wrenched the iron point from the javelin as it sped, and pointless the wooden shaft struck home. But the beast’s savage anger was roused, and it burned hotter than the lightning. Fire gleamed from his eyes, seemed to breathe from his throat. And, as a huge rock, shot from a catapult sling, flies through the air against walls or turrets filled with soldiery; so with irresistible and death- dealing force the beast rushed on the youths, and overbore Kupalamus and Pelagon, who were stationed on the extreme right. Their comrades caught them up as they lay. But Enaesimus, the son of Hippo- coén, did not escape the boar’s fatal stroke. As he in fear was just turning to run he was hamstrung and his muscles gave way beneath him. Pylian 431 OVID forsitan et Pylius citra Troiana perisset 365 tempora, sed sumpto posita conamine ab hasta arboris insiluit, quae stabat proxima, ramis despexitque, loco tutus, quem fugerat, hostem. dentibus ille ferox in querno stipite tritis inminet exitio fidensque recentibus armis 370 Kurytidae magni rostro femur hausit adunco. at gemini, nondum caelestia sidera, fratres, ambo conspicui, nive candidioribus ambo vectabantur equis, ambo vibrata per auras hastarum tremulo quatiebant spicula motu. 375 vulnera fecissent, nisi saetiger inter opacas nec iaculis isset nec equo loca pervia silvas. persequitur Telamon studioque incautus eundi pronus ab arborea cecidit radice retentus. dum levat hunc Peleus, celerem Tegeaea sagittam inposuit nervo sinuatoque expulit arcu: 381 fixa sub aure feri summum destrinxit harundo corpus et exiguo rubefecit sanguine saetas ; nec tamen illa sui successu laetior ictus quam Meleagros erat: primus vidisse putatur 385 et primus sociis visum ostendisse cruorem et “ meritum ”’ dixisse “‘ feres virtutis honorem.” erubuere viri seque exhortantur et addunt cum clamore animos iaciuntque sine ordine tela: turba nocet iactis et, quos petit, impedit ictus. 390 eece furens contra sua fata bipennifer Arcas 432 METAMORPHOSES BOOK VIII Nestor came near perishing before he ever went to the Trojan War; but, putting forth all his strength, he leaped by his spear-pole into the branches of a tree which stood near by, and from this place of safety he looked down upon the foe he had escaped. The raging beast whetted his tusks on an oak-tree’s trunk; and, threatening destruction and emboldened by his freshly sharpened tusks, ripped up the thigh of the mighty Hippasus with one sweeping blow. But now the twin brothers,! not yet set in the starry heavens, came riding up, both conspicuous among the rest, both on horses whiter than snow, both poising their spears, which they threw quivering through the air. And they would have struck the boar had not the bristly monster taken refuge in the dense woods, whither neither spear nor horse could follow him. Telamon did attempt to follow, and in his eagerness, careless where he went, he fell prone on the ground, caught by a projecting root. While Peleus was helping him to rise, Atalanta notched a swift arrow on the cord and sent it speeding from her bent bow. The arrow just grazed the top of the boar’s back and remained stuck beneath his ear, staining the bristles with a trickle of blood. Nor did she show more joy over the success of her own stroke than Meleager. He was the first to see the blood, the first to point it out to his companions, and to say: “ Due honour shall your brave deed receive.” The men, flushed with shame, spurred each other on, gaining courage as they cried out, hurling their spears in disorder. The mass of missiles made them of no effect, and kept them from striking as they were meant to do. Then Ancaeus, the Arcadian, armed with a two- headed axe raging to meet his fate, cried out: L Castor and Pollux. 433 VOL. I. P OVID ‘ discite, femineis quid tela virilia praestent, oO iuvenes, operique meo concedite! ”’ dixit. ‘ipsa suis licet hunc Latonia protegat armis, invita tamen hunc perimet mea dextra Diana.” talia magniloquo tumidus memoraverat ore ancipitemque manu tollens utraque securim institerat digitis pronus suspensus in ictus: occupat audentem, quaque est via proxima leto, 395 summa ferus geminos direxit ad inguina dentes. 400 concidit Ancaeus glomerataque sanguine multo viscera lapsa fluunt: madefacta est terra cruore. ibat in adversum proles Ixionis hostem Pirithous valida quatiens venabula dextra; cui “procul” Aegides “‘o me mihi carior ”’ inquit ‘“ pars animae consiste meae! licet eminus esse fortibus: Ancaeo nocuit temeraria virtus.” dixit et aerata torsit grave cuspide cornum ; quo bene librato votique potente futuro obstitit aesculea frondosus ab arbore ramus. misit et Aesonides iaculum: quod casus ab illo vertit in inmeriti fatum latrantis et inter ilia coniectum tellure per ilia fixum est. at manus Oenidae variat, missisque duabus hasta prior terra, medio stetit altera tergo. 405 410 415 nec mora, dum saevit, dum corpora versat in orbem stridentemque novo spumam cum sanguine fundit, vulneris auctor adest hostemque inritat ad iram splendidaque adversos venabula condit in armos. 434 METAMORPHOSES BOOK VIII ‘“Learn now, O youths, how far a man’s weapons surpass a girl's; and leave this task tome. Though Latona’s daughter herself shield this boar with her own arrows, in spite of Diana shall my good right arm destroy him.”’ So, swollen with pride and with boastful lips, he spoke: and, heaving up in both hands his two-edged axe, he stood on tiptoe, poised to strike. The boar made in upon his bold enemy, and, as the nearest point for death, he fiercely struck at the upper part of the groins with his two tusks. Ancaeus fell; his entrails poured out amid streams of blood and the ground was soaked with gore. Then Ixion’s son, Pirithoiis, advanced against the foe, brandishing a hunting-spear in his strong right hand. To him Theseus cried out in alarm: ‘ Keep away, O dearer to me than my own self, my soul’s other half; it is no shame for brave men to fight at long range. Ancaeus’ rash valour has proved his bane.’’ He spoke and hurled his own heavy shaft with its sharp bronze point. Though this was well aimed and seemed sure to reach the mark, a leafy branch of an oak-tree turned it aside. Then the son of Aeson hurled his javelin, which chance caused to swerve from its aim and fatally wound an innocent dog, passing clear through his flanks and pinning him to the ground. But the hand of Meleager had a different fortune: he threw two spears, the first of which stood in the earth, but the second stuck squarely in the middle of the creature’s_ back. Straightway, while the boar rages and whirls round and round, spouting forth foam and fresh blood in a hissing stream, the giver of the wound presses his advantage, pricks his enemy on to madness, and at last plunges his gleaming hunting-spear right through the shoulder. The others vent their joy by wild pg 435 OVID gaudia testantur socii clamore secundo 420 victricemque petunt dextrae coniungere dextram inmanemque ferum multa tellure iacentem mirantes spectant neque adhuc contingere tutum esse putant, sed tela tamen sua quisque cruentat. Ipse pede inposito caput exitiabile pressit 4.25 atque ita “ sume mei spolium, Nonacria, iuris,” dixit “ et in partem veniat mea gloria tecum.”’ protinus exuvias rigidis horrentia saetis terga dat et magnis insignia dentibus ora. illi laetitiae est cum munere muneris auctor; 430 invidere alii, totoque erat agmine murmur. e quibus ingenti tendentes bracchia voce ‘pone age nec titulos intercipe, femina, nostros,”’ Thestiadae clamant, “ nec te fiducia formae decipiat, ne sit longe tibi captus amore 439 auctor, et huic adimunt munus, ius muneris illi. non tulit et tumida frendens Mavortius ira ‘“ discite, raptores alieni ”’ dixit “ honoris, facta minis quantum distent,’’ hausitque nefando pectora Plexippi nil tale timentia ferro. 440 Toxea, quid faciat, dubium pariterque volentem ulcisci fratrem fraternaque fata timentem _ haud patitur dubitare diu calidumque priori caede recalfecit consorti sanguine telum. Dona deum templis nato victore ferebat, 4.45 cum videt exstinctos fratres Althaea referri. quae plangore dato maestis clamoribus urbem 43° METAMORPHOSES BOOK VIII shouts of applause and crowd around to press the victor’s hand. They gaze in wonder at the huge beast lying stretched out over so much ground, and still think it hardly safe to touch him. But each dips his spear in the blood. Then Meleager, standing with his foot upon that death-dealing head, spoke thus to Atalanta: “ Take thou the prize that is of my right, O fair Arcadian, and let my glory be shared with thee.” And therewith he presented her with the spoils: the skin with its bristling spikes, and the head remarkable for its huge tusks. She rejoiced in the gift and no less in the giver; but the others begrudged it, and an angry murmur rose through the whole company. Then two, the sons of Thestius, stretching out their arms, cried with a loud voice: “ Let be, girl, and do not usurp our honours. And be not deceived by trusting in your beauty, lest this lovesick giver be far from helping you.” And they took from her the gift, and from him the right of giving. This was more than that son of Mars could bear, and, gnashing his teeth with rage, he cried: ‘‘ Learn then, you that plunder another's rights, the difference between deeds and threats,” and plunged his impious steel deep in Plexippus’ heart, who was taken off his guard. Then, as Toxeus stood hesitating what to do, wishing to avenge his brother, but at the same time fearing to share his brother’s fate, Meleager gave him scant time to hesitate, but, while his spear was still warm with its first victim’s slaughter, he warmed it again in his comrade’s blood. Althaea in the temple of the gods was offering thanksgiving for her son's victory, when she saw the corpses of her brothers carried in. She beat her breast and filled the city with woeful lamentation, 437 OVID inplet et auratis mutavit vestibus atras ; at simul est auctor necis editus, excidit omnis luctus et a lacrimis in poenae versus amorem est. 450 Stipes erat, quem, cum partus enixa iaceret Thestias, in flammam triplices posuere sorores staminaque inpresso fatalia pollice nentes ‘ tempora ” dixerunt ‘‘ eadem lignoque tibique, o modo nate, damus.”” quo postquam carmine dicto excessere deae, flagrantem mater ab igne 456 eripuit ramum sparsitque liquentibus undis. ille diu fuerat penetralibus abditus imis servatusque tuos, luvenis, servaverat annos. protulit hune genetrix taedasque et fragmina poni imperat et positis inimicos admovet ignes. 461 tum conata quater flammis inponere ramum coepta quater tenuit: pugnat materque sororque, et diversa trahunt unum duo nomina pectus. saepe metu sceleris pallebant ora futuri, 465 saepe suum fervens oculis dabat ira ruborem, et modo nescio quid similis crudele minanti vultus erat, modo quem misereri credere posses ; cumque ferus lacrimas animi siccaverat ardor, inveniebantur lacrimae tamen, utque carina, 470 quam ventus ventoque rapit contrarius aestus, vim geminam sentit paretque incerta duobus, Thestias haud aliter dubiis affectibus errat inque vices ponit positamque resuscitat iram. incipit esse tamen melior germana parente 475 et consanguineas ut sanguine leniat umbras, inpietate pia est. nam postquam pestifer ignis 438 METAMORPHOSES BOOK VIII and changed her gold-spangled robes for black. But when she learned who was their murderer, her grief all fell away and was changed from tears to the passion for vengeance. There was a billet of wood which, when the daughter of Thestius lay in childbirth, the three sisters threw into the fire and, spinning the threads of life with firm-pressed thumb, they sang: “ An equal span of life we give to thee and to this wood, O babe new-born.”” When the three goddesses had sung this prophecy and vanished, the mother snatched the blazing brand from the fire, and quenched it in water. Long had it lain hidden away in a secret place and, guarded safe, had safeguarded your life, O youth. And now the mother brought out this billet and bade her servants make a heap of pine-knots and fine kindling, and lit the pile with cruel flame. Then four times she made to throw the billet in the flames and four times she held her hand. Mother and sister strove in her, and the two names tore one heart this way and that. Often her cheeks grew pale with fear of the impious thing she planned; as often blazing wrath gave its own colour to her eyes. Now she looked like one threatening some cruel deed, and now you would think her pitiful. And when the fierce anger of her heart had dried up her tears, still tears would come again. And as a ship, driven by the wind, and against the wind by the tide, feels the double force and yields uncertainly to both, so Thestius’ daughter wavered betwixt opposing pas- sions; now quenched her wrath and now fanned it again. At last the sister in her overcomes the mother, and, that she may appease with blood the shades of her blood-kin, she is pious in impiety. For when the devouring flames grow hot, she cries: ‘ Be that 439 OVID convaluit, ‘‘ rogus iste cremet mea viscera ’’ dixit, | utque manu dira lignum fatale tenebat, | ante sepulcrales infelix adstitit aras 480 ‘“ poenarum ” que “ deae triplices, furialibus,” inquit ** EKumenides, sacris vultus advertite vestros ! ulciscor facioque nefas; mors morte pianda est, in scelus addendum scelus est, in funera funus: per coacervatos pereat domus inpia luctus ! 485 an felix Oeneus nato victore fruetur, Thestius orbus erit? melius lugebitis ambo. vos modo, fraterni manes animaeque recentes, officium sentite meum magnoque paratas accipite inferias, uteri mala pignora nostri! 490 ei mihi! quo rapior? fratres, ignoscite matri! deficiunt ad coepta manus: meruisse fatemur illum, cur pereat; mortis mihi displicet auctor. ergo inpune feret vivusque et victor et ipso successu tumidus regnum Calydonis habebit, 495 vos cinis exiguus gelidaeque iacebitis umbrae ? haud equidem patiar: pereat sceleratus et ille spemque patris regnumque trahat patriaeque ruinam! mens ubi materna est? ubi sunt pia iura parentum et quos sustinui bis mensum quinque labores? 500 o utinam primis arsisses ignibus infans, idque ego passa forem! vixisti munere nostro; nunc merito moriere tuo! cape praemia facti bisque datam, primum partu, mox stipite rapto, redde animam vel me fraternis adde sepulcris! 505 et cupio et nequeo. quid agam ? modovulnerafratrum ante oculos mihi sunt et tantae caedis imago, 440 METAMORPHOSES BOOK VIII the funeral pyre of my own flesh.” And, as she held the fateful billet in her relentless hand and stood, unhappy wretch, before the sepulchral fires, she said: ‘“O ye triple goddesses of vengeance, Eu- menides, behold these fearful rites. I avenge and I do a wicked deed: death must be atoned by death; to crime must crime be added, death to death. Through woes on woes heaped up let this accursed house go on to ruin! Shall happy Ceneus rejoice in his victorious son and Thestius be child- less? “Twill be better for you both to grieve. Only do you, my brothers’ manes, fresh-made ghosts, appre- ciate my service, and accept the sacrifice I offer at so heavy cost, the baleful tribute of my womb. Ah me, whither am I hurrying? Brothers, forgive a mother’s heart! My hands refuse to finish what they began. I confess that he deserves to die; but that I should be the agent of his death, I cannot bear. And shall he go scathless then? Shall he live, victorious and puffed up with his own success, and lord it in Calydon, while you are naught but a handful of ashes, shivering ghosts? I will not suffer it. Let the wretch die and drag to ruin with him his father’s hopes, his kingdom and his fatherland! Where is my mother-love? Where are parents’ pious cares? Where are those pangs which ten long months I bore? O that you had perished in your infancy by those first fires, and I had suffered it! You lived by my gift; now you shall die by your own desert; pay the price of your deed. Give back the life I twice gave you, once at your birth, once when I saved the brand; or else add me to my brothers’ pyre. I both desire to act, and cannot. Oh, what shall I do? Now I can see only my brothers’ wounds, the sight of that deed of blood: and now 441 OVID nunc animum pietas maternaque nomina frangunt. me miseram! male vincetis, sed vincite, fratres, dummodo, quae dedero vobis, solacia vosque 510 ipsa sequar! ”’ dixit dextraque aversa trementi funereum torrem medios coniecit in ignes: aut dedit aut visus gemitus est ipse dedisse stipes, ut invitis conreptus ab ignibus arsit. Inscius atque absens flamma Meleagros ab illa 515 uritur et caecis torreri viscera sentit ignibus ac magnos superat virtute dolores. quod tamen ignavo cadat et sine sanguine leto, maeret et Ancaei felicia vulnera dicit grandaevumque patrem fratresque piasque sorores cum gemitu sociamque tori vocat ore supremo, 6521 forsitan et matrem. crescunt ignisque dolorque languescuntque iterum; simul est exstinctus uterque, inque leves abiit paulatim spiritus auras paulatim cana prunam velante favilla. 525 Alta iacet Calydon: lugent iuvenesque senesque, vulgusque proceresque gemunt, scissaeque capillos planguntur matres Calydonides Eueninae ; pulvere canitiem genitor vultusque seniles foedat humi fusus spatiosumque increpat aevum. 530 nam de matre manus diri sibi conscia facti exegit poenas acto per viscera ferro. non mihi si centum deus ora sonantia linguis ingeniumque capax totumque Helicona dedisset, tristia persequerer miserarum dicta sororum. 539 inmemores decoris liventia pectora tundunt, dumque manet corpus, corpus refoventque foventque, 442 METAMORPHOSES BOOK VIII love and the name of mother break me down. Woe is my, my brothers! It is ill that you should win, but win you shall; only let me have the solace that I grant to you, and let me follow you!’ She spoke, and turning away her face, with trembling hand she threw the fatal billet into the flames. The brand either gave or seemed to give a groan as it was caught and consumed by the unwilling fire. Unconscious, far away, Meleager burns with those flames; he feels his vitals scorching with hidden fire, and o’ercomes the great pain with fortitude. But yet he grieves that he must die a cowardly and bloodless death, and he calls Ancaeus happy for the wounds he suffered. With groans of pain he calls with his dying breath on his aged father, his brothers and loving sisters and his wife, perchance also upon his mother. The fire and his pains increase, and then die down. Both fire and pain go out together; his spirit gradually slips away into the thin air as white ashes gradually overspread the glowing coals. Lofty Calydon is brought low. Young men and old, chieftains and commons, lament and groan; and the Calydonian women, dwellers by EKuenus’ stream, tear their hair and beat their breasts. The father, prone on the ground, defiles his white hair and his aged head with dust, and laments that he has lived too long. [Tor the mother, now knowing her awful deed, has punished herself, driving a dagger through her heart. Not if some god had given me a hundred mouths each with its tongue, a master’s genius, and all Helicon’s inspiration, could I describe the piteous prayers of those poor sisters. Careless of decency, they beat and bruise their breasts ; and, while their brother’s corpse remains, they caress that corpse over and 443 OVID oscula dant ipsi, posito dant oscula lecto. post cinerem cineres haustos ad pectora pressant adfusaeque iacent tumulo signataque saxo 540 nomina conplexae lacrimas in nomina fundunt. quas Parthaoniae tandem Latonia clade exsatiata domus praeter Gorgenque nurumque nobilis Alemenae natis in corpore pennis adlevat et longas per bracchia porrigit alas 545 corneaque ora facit versasque per aera mittit. Interea Theseus sociati parte laboris functus Erechtheas Tritonidos ibat ad arces. clausit iter fecitque moras Achelous eunti &¢ imbre tumens: “ succede meis,”’ ait “ inclite, tectis, Cecropida, nec te committe rapacibus undis : 551 ferre trabes solidas obliquaque volvere magno murmure saxa solent. vidi contermina ripae cum gregibus stabula alta trahi; nec fortibus illic profuit armentis nec equis velocibus esse. 55D multa quoque hic torrens nivibus de monte solutis corpora turbineo iuvenalia flumine mersit. tutior est requies, solito dum flumina currant limite, dum tenues capiat suus alveus undas.”’ adnuit Aegides ‘“‘utar,’’ que “ Acheloe, domoque 560 consilioque tuo ” respondit; et usus utroque est. pumice multicavo nec levibus atria tophis structa subit: molli tellus erat umida musco, 444 METAMORPHOSES BOOK VIII over, kiss him and kiss the bier as it stands before them. And, when he is ashes, they gather the ashes and press them to their hearts, throw them- selves on his tomb in abandonment of grief and, clasping the stone on which his name has been - carved, they drench the name with their tears. At length Diana, satisfied with the destruction of Par- thaon’s house, made feathers spring on their bodies— all save Gorge and great Alemena’s daughter-in-law! —stretched out long wings over their arms, gave them a horny beak, and sent them transfigured into the air.? Meanwhile Theseus, having done his part in the confederate task, was on his way back to Tritonia’s city where Erechtheus ruled. But Acheloiis, swollen with rain, blocked his way and delayed his jour- ney. “ Enter my house, illustrious hero of Athens,” said the river-god, “‘ and do not entrust yourself to my greedy waters. The current is wont to sweep down solid trunks of trees and huge boulders in zig- zag course with crash and roar. I have seen great stables that stood near by the bank swept away, cattle and all, and in that current neither strength availed the ox nor speed the horse. Many a strong man also has been overwhelmed in its whirling pools when swollen by melting snows from the mountain- sides. It is safer for you to rest until the waters shall run within their accustomed bounds, until its own bed shall hold the slender stream.”’ The son of Aegeus replied: “ I will use both your house, Acheloiis, and your advice.’ And he did use them both. He entered the river-god’s dark dwelling, built of porous pumice and rough tufa; the floor was damp with soft 1 Deianira, the wife of Hercules. 2 These birds were called Meleagrides, guinea-hens. VOL. I. Q te OVID summa lacunabant alterno murice conchae. iamque duas lucis partes Hyperione menso 565 discubuere toris Theseus comitesque laborum, hac Ixionides, illa Troezenius heros parte Lelex, raris iam sparsus tempora canis, quosque alios parili fuerat dignatus honore Amnis Acarnanum, laetissimus hospite tanto. 570 protinus adpositas nudae vestigia nymphae instruxere epulis mensas dapibusque remotis in gemma posuere merum. tum maximus heros, aequora prospiciens oculis subiecta, “ quis ” inquit “ille locus?” (digitoque ostendit) “‘ et insula nomen O19 quod gerit illa, doce, quaamquam non una videtur! ” Amnis ad haec “non est” inquit “ quod cernitis unum : quinque iacent terrae; spatium discrimina fallit. quoque minus spretae factum mirere Dianae, naides hae fuerant, quae cum bis quinque iuvencos mactassent rurisque deos ad sacra vocassent, 581 inmemores nostri festas duxere choreas. intumui, quantusque ferror, cum plurimus umquam, tantus eram, pariterque animis inmanis et undis a silvis silvas et ab arvis arva revulsi 585 cumque loco nymphas, memores tum denique nostri, in freta provolvi. fluctus nosterque marisque continuam diduxit humum partesque resolvit in totidem, mediis quot cernis Echinadas undis. ut tamen ipse vides, procul, en procul una recessit insula, grata mihi; Perimelen navita dicit: 591 446 METAMORPHOSES BOOK VIII moss, conchs and purple-shells panelled the ceiling. Now had the blazing sun traversed two-thirds of his daily course, when Theseus and his comrades of the chase disposed themselves upon the couches. I xion’s son! lay here, and there Lelex, the hero of Troezen, took his place, his temples already sprinkled with grey; and others who had been deemed worthy of equal honour by the Acarnanian river-god, who was filled with joy in his noble guest. Without delay barefoot nymphs set the feast upon the tables, and then when the food had been removed, they set out the wine in jewelled cups. Then the noble hero, looking forth upon the wide water spread before his eyes, pointed with his finger and said: ‘‘ What place is that? Tell me the name which that island bears. And yet it seems not to be one island.”’ The river- god replied: “ No, what you see is not one island. There are five islands lying there together; but the distance hides their divisions. And, that you may wonder the less at what Diana did when she was slighted, those islands once were nymphs, who, when they had slaughtered ten bullocks and had invited all the other rural gods to their sacred feast, forgot me as they led the festal dance. I swelled with rage, as full as when my flood flows at the fullest; and so, terrible in wrath, terrible in flood, I tore forests from forests, fields from fields; and with the place they stood on, I swept the nymphs away, who at last remembered me then, into the sea. There my flood and the sea, united, cleft the undivided ground into as many parts as now you see the Kchinades yonder amid the waves. But, as you yourself see, away, look, far away beyond the others is one island that I love: the sailors call it Perimele. 1 Pirithoiis. 447 OVID huic ego virgineum dilectae nomen ademi; quod pater Hippodamas aegre tulit inque profun- dum propulit e scopulo periturae corpora natae. excepi nantemque ferens ‘o proxima mundi regna vagae ' dixi‘ sortite, Tridentifer, undae, 596 adfer opem mersaeque, precor, feritate paterna; 601 da, Neptune, locum; vel sit locus ipsa licebit! ’ dum loquor,amplexaestartusnovaterranatantes 609 et gravis increvit mutatis insula membris.” 610 Amnis ab his tacuit. factum mirabile cunctos moverat: inridet credentes, utque deorum spretor erat mentisque ferox, Ixione natus ‘ ficta refers nimiumque putas, Acheloe, potentes esse deos,’’ dixit “ si dant adimuntque figuras.”’ 615 obstipuere omnes nec talia dicta probarunt, ante omnesque Lelex animo maturus et aevo, sic ait: “ inmensa est finemque potentia caeli non habet, et quicquid superi voluere, peractum est, quoque minus dubites, tiliae contermina quercus 620 collibus est Phrygiis modico circumdata muro ; ipse locum vidi; nam me Pelopeia Pittheus misit in arva suo quondam regnata parenti. haud procul hine stagnum est, tellus habitabilis olim, nunc celebres mergis fulicisque palustribus undae ; Iuppiter huc specie mortali cumque parente 626 venit Atlantiades positis caducifer alis. mille domos adiere locum requiemque petentes, mille domos clausere serae; tamen una recepit, 448 METAMORPHOSES BOOK VIII She was beloved by me, and from her I took the name of maiden. Her father, Hippodamas, was enraged with this, and he hurled his daughter to her death down from a high cliff into the deep. I caught her, and supporting her as she swam, I cried: ‘O thou god of the trident, to whom the lot gave the kingdom next to the world, even the wandering waves, bring aid, I pray, to one drowned by a father’s cruelty ; give her a place, O Neptune, or else let her become a place herself.’ While I prayed a new land em- braced her floating form and a solid island grew from her transformed shape.” With these words the river was silent. The story of the miracle had moved the hearts of all. But one mocked at their credulity, a scoffer at the gods, one reckless in spirit, Ixion’s son, Pirithoiis. “‘ These are but fairy-tales you tell, Acheloiis,” he said, “ and you concede too much power to the gods, if they give and take away the forms of things.’”’ All the rest were shocked and disapproved such words, and especially Lelex, ripe both in mind and years, who replied: “ The power of heaven is indeed immeasur- able and has no bounds; and whatever the gods decree is done. And, that you may believe it, there stand in the Phrygian hill-country an oak and a linden-tree side by side, surrounded by a low wall. I have myself seen the spot; for Pittheus sent me to Phrygia, where his father once ruled. Not far from the place I speak of is a marsh, once a habitable land, but now water, the haunt of divers and coots. Hither came Jupiter in the guise of a mortal, and with his father came Atlas’ grandson, he that bears the caduceus, his wings laid aside. To a thousand homes they came, seeking a place for rest; a thousand homes were barred against them. Still one house 449 OVID parva quidem, stipulis et canna tecta palustri, 630 sed pia Baucis anus parilique aetate Philemon illa sunt annis iuncti iuvenalibus, illa consenuere casa paupertatemque fatendo effecere levem nec iniqua mente ferendo; nec refert, dominos illic famulosne requiras : 635 tota domus duo sunt, idem parentque iubentque. ergo ubi caelicolae parvos tetigere penates summissoque humiles intrarunt vertice postes, membra senex posito iussit relevare sedili; quo superiniecit textum rude sedula Baucis 640 inque foco tepidum cinerem dimovit et ignes suscitat hesternos foliisque et cortice sicco nutrit et ad flammas anima producit anili multifidasque faces ramaliaque arida tecto detulit et minuit parvoque admovit aeno, 645 quodque suus coniunx riguo conlegerat horto, truncat holus foliis; furea levat ille bicorni sordida terga suis nigro pendentia tigno servatoque diu resecat de tergore partem exiguam sectamque domat ferventibus undis. 650 interea medias fallunt sermonibus horas } * * * * torus de molli fluminis ulva 655 inpositus lecto sponda pedibusque salignis. vestibus hunc velant, quas non nisi tempore festo sternere consuerant, sed et haec vilisque vetusque vestis erat, lecto non indignanda saligno. adcubuere dei. mensam succincta tremensque 660 1 The following lines are omitted by Ehwald: sentirique moram prohibent. erat alveus illic fagineus, dura clavo suspensus ab ansa: is tepidis impletur aquis artusque fovendos accipit, in medio torus est de mollibus ulvis. 450 METAMORPHOSES BOOK VIII received them, humble indeed, thatched with straw and reeds from the marsh; but pious old Baucis and Philemon, of equal age, were in that cottage wedded in their youth, and in that cottage had grown old together; there they made their poverty light by owning it, and by bearing it in a contended spirit. It was of no use to ask for masters or for servants in that house; they two were the whole household, together they served and ruled. And so when the heavenly ones came to this humble home and, stooping, entered in at the lowly door, the old man set out a bench and bade them rest their limbs, while over this bench busy Baucis threw a rough covering. Then she raked aside the warm ashes on the hearth and fanned yesterday's coals to life, which she fed with leaves and dry bark, blowing them into flame with the breath of her old body. Then she took down from the roof some fine-split wood and dry twigs, broke them up and placed them under the little copper kettle. And she took the cabbage which her husband had brought in from the well-watered garden and lopped off the outside leaves. Meanwhile the old man with a forked stick reached down a chine of smoked bacon, which was hanging from a blackened beam and, cutting off a little piece of the long- cherished pork, he put it to cook in the boiling water. Meanwhile they beguiled the intervening time with their talk * * * * a mattress of soft sedge- grass was placed on a couch with frame and feet of willow. They threw drapery over this, which they were not accustomed to bring out except on festal days; but even this was a cheap thing and well- worn, a very good match for the willow couch. The gods reclined. The old woman, with her skirts tucked up, with trembling hands set out the table. 451 OVID ponit anus, mensae sed erat pes tertius inpar: testa parem fecit; quae postquam subdita clivum sustulit, aequatam mentae tersere virentes. ponitur hic bicolor sincerae baca Minervae conditaque in liquida corna autumnalia faece 665 intibaque et radix et lactis massa coacti ovaque non acri leviter versata favilla, omnia fictilibus. post haec caelatus eodem sistitur argento crater fabricataque fago pocula, qua cava sunt, flaventibus inlita ceris; 670 parva mora est, epulasque foci misere calentes, nec longae rursus referuntur vina senectae dantque locum mensis paulum seducta secundis : hic nux, hic mixta est rugosis carica palmis prunaque et in patulis redolentia mala canistris 675 et de purpureis conlectae vitibus uvae, candidus in medio favus est; super omnia vultus accessere boni nec iners pauperque voluntas. ‘‘ Interea totiens haustum cratera repleri sponte sua per seque vident succrescere vina: 680 attoniti novitate pavent manibusque supinis concipiunt Baucisque preces timidusque Philemon et veniam dapibus nullisque paratibus orant. unicus anser erat, minimae custodia villae: quem dis hospitibus domini mactare parabant; 685 ille celer penna tardos aetate fatigat eluditque diu tandemque est visus ad ipsos confugisse deos: superi vetuere necari. 452 METAMORPHOSES BOOK VIII But one of its three legs was too short; so she propped it up with a potsherd. When this had levelled the slope, she wiped it, thus levelled, with green mint. Next she placed on the board some olives, green and ripe, truthful Minerva’s berries, and some autumnal cornel-cherries pickled in the lees of wine; endives and radishes, cream cheese and eggs, lightly roasted in the warm ashes, all served in earthen dishes. After these viands, an embossed mixing-bowl of the same costly ware was set on together with cups of beechwood coated on the inside with yellow wax. A moment and the hearth sent its steaming viands on, and wine of no great age was brought out, which was then pushed aside to give a small space for the second course. Here were nuts and figs, with dried dates, plums and fragrant apples in broad baskets, and purple grapes just picked from the vines; in the centre of the table was a comb of clear white honey. Besides all this, pleasant faces were at the board and lively and abounding goodwill. ‘“ Meanwhile they saw that the mixing-bowl, as often as it was drained, kept filling of its own accord, and that the wine welled up of itself. The two old people saw this strange sight with amaze and fear, and with upturned hands they both uttered a prayer, Baucis and the trembling old Philemon, and they craved indulgence for their fare and meagre entertain- ment. They had one goose, the guardian of their tiny estate; and him the hosts were preparing to kill for their divine guests. But the goose was swift of wing, and quite wore the slow old people out in their efforts to catch him. He eluded their grasp for a long time, and finally seemed to flee for refuge to the gods themselves. Then the gods told them not 453 OVID ‘ dique sumus, meritasque luet vicinia poenas inpia ’ dixerunt; ‘ vobis inmunibus huius 690 esse mali dabitur; modo vestra relinquite tecta ac nostros comitate gradus et in ardua montis ite simul! ° parent ambo baculisque levati nituntur longo vestigia ponere clivo. tantum aberantsummo, quantumsemeliresagitta 695 missa potest: flexere oculos et mersa palude cetera prospiciunt, tantum sua tecta manere, dumque ea mirantur, dum deflent fata suorum, illa vetus dominis etiam casa parva duobus vertitur in templum: furcas subiere columnae, 700 stramina flavescunt aurataque tecta videntur caelataeque fores adopertaque marmore tellus. talia tum placido Saturnius edidit ore: ‘ dicite, iuste senex et femina coniuge iusto digna, quid optetis.’ cum Baucide pauca locutus 705 iudicium superis aperit commune Philemon: ‘esse sacerdotes delubraque vestra tueri poscimus, et quoniam concordes egimus annos, auferat hora duos eadem, nec coniugis umquam busta meae videam, neu sim tumulandus abilla.’ 710 vota fides sequitur: templi tutela fuere, donec vita data est; annis aevoque soluti ante gradus sacros cum starent forte locique narrarent casus, frondere Philemona Baucis, Baucida conspexit senior frondere Philemon. 715 iamque super geminos crescente cacumine vultus mutua, dum licuit, reddebant dicta ‘ vale ’ que ‘ o coniunx ’ dixere simul, simul abdita texit 454 METAMORPHOSES BOOK VIII to kill the goose. ‘We are gods,’ they said, ‘ and this wicked neighbourhood shall be punished as it deserves; but to you shall be given exemption from this punishment. Leave now your dwelling and come with us to that tall mountain yonder.’ They both obeyed and, propped on their staves, they struggled up the long slope. When they were a bowshot distant from the top, they looked back and saw the whole country-side covered with water, only their own house remaining. And, while they wondered at this, while they wept for the fate of their neighbours, that old house of theirs, which had been small even for its two occupants, was changed into a temple. Marble columns took the place of the forked wooden supports; the straw grew yellow and became a golden roof; there were gates richly carved, a marble pavement covered the ground. Then calmly the son of Saturn spoke: ‘ Now ask of us, thou good old man, and thou wife, worthy of thy good husband, any boon you will.’ When he had spoken a word with Baucis, Philemon announced their joint decision to the gods: ‘ We ask that we may be your priests, and guard your temple; and, since we have spent our lives in constant com- pany, we pray that the same hour may bring death to both of us—that I may never see my wife’s tomb, nor be buried by her.’ Their request was granted. They had the care of the temple as long as they lived. And at last, when, spent with extreme old age, they chanced to stand before the sacred edifice talking of old times, Baucis saw Philemon putting forth leaves, Philemon saw Baucis; and as the tree- top formed over their two faces, while still they could they cried with the same words: ‘ Farewell, dear mate, just as the bark closed over and hid 455 OVID ora frutex: ostendit adhuc Thyneius illic incola de gemino vicinos corpore truncos. 120 haec mihi non vani (neque erat, cur fallere vellent) narravere senes; equidem pendentia vidi serta super ramos ponensque recentia dixi ‘cura deum di sunt, et, qui coluere, colantur.’ ”’ Desierat, cunctosque et res et moverat auctor, 725 Thesea praecipue ; quem facta audire volentem mira deum innixus cubito Calydonius amnis talibus adloquitur: “ sunt, o fortissime, quorum forma semel mota est et in hoc renovamine mansit; sunt, quibus in plures ius est transire figuras, 730 ut tibi, conplexi terram maris incola, Proteu. nam modo te iuvenem, modo te videre leonem, nunc violentus aper, nunc, quem tetigisse timerent, anguis eras, modo te faciebant cornua taurum ; saepe lapis poteras, arbor quoque saepe videri, 735 interdum, faciem liquidarum imitatus aquarum, flumen, eras, interdum undis contrarius ignis. ‘Nec minus Autolyci coniunx, Erysichthone nata, iuris habet: pater huius erat, qui numina divum sperneret et nullos aris adoleret odores ; 740 ille etiam Cereale nemus violasse securi dicitur et lucos ferro temerasse vetustos. stabat in his ingens annoso robore quercus, una nemus; vittae mediam memoresque tabellae sertaque cingebant, voti argumenta potentis. 745 456 METAMORPHOSES BOOK VIII their lips. Even to this day the Bithynian peasant in that region points out two trees standing close to- gether, and growing from one double trunk. These things were told me by staid old men who could have had no reason to deceive. With my own eyes I saw votive wreaths hanging from the boughs, and placing fresh wreaths there myself, I said: “Those whom the gods care for are gods; let those who have worshipped be worshipped.’ ”’ Lelex made an end: both the tale and the teller had moved them all; Theseus especially. When he would hear more of the wonderful doings of the gods, the Calydonian river-god, propped upon his elbow, thus addressed him: “Some there are, bravest of heroes, whose form has been once changed and remained in its new state. To others the power is given to assume many forms, as to thee, Proteus, dweller in the earth-embracing sea. For now men saw thee as a youth, now as a lion; now thou wast a raging boar, now a serpent whom men would fear to touch; now horns made thee a bull; often thou couldst appear as a stone, often, again, a tree; some- times, assuming the form of flowing water, thou wast a stream, and sometimes a flame, the water’s enemy. ‘“ No less power had the wife of Autolycus, Ery- sichthon’s daughter. This Erysichthon was a man who scorned the gods and burnt no sacrifice on their altars. He, so the story goes, once violated the sacred grove of Ceres with the axe and profaned those ancient trees with steel. There stood among these a mighty oak with strength matured by cen- turies of growth, itself a grove. Round about it hung woollen fillets, votive tablets, and wreaths of flowers, witnesses of granted prayers. Often beneath 457 OVID saepe sub hac dryades festas duxere choreas, saepe etiam manibus nexis ex ordine trunci circuiere modum, mensuraque roboris ulnas quinque ter inplebat, nec non et cetera tantum silva sub hac, silva quantum fuit herba sub omni. 750 non tamen idcirco ferrum Triopeius illa abstinuit famulosque iubet succidere sacrum robur, et ut iussos cunctari vidit, ab uno edidit haec rapta sceleratus verba securi : ‘non dilecta deae solum, sed et ipsa licebit 755 sit dea, iam tanget frondente cacumine terram.’ dixit, et obliquos dum telum librat in ictus, contremuit gemitumque dedit Deoia quercus, et pariter frondes, pariter pallescere glandes coepere ac longi pallorem ducere rami. 760 cuius ut in trunco fecit manus inpia vulnus, haud aliter fluxit discusso cortice sanguis, quam solet, ante aras ingens ubi victima taurus concidit, abrupta cruor e cervice profundi. obstipuere omnes, aliquisque ex omnibus audet deterrere nefas saevamque inhibere bipennem: 766 aspicit hunc ‘mentis’ que “piae cape praemia!’ dixit Thessalus inque virum convertit ab arbore ferrum detruncatque caput repetitaque robora caedit, redditus et medio sonus est de robore talis: 770 ‘nympha sub hoc ego sum Cereri gratissima ligno, quae tibi factorum poenas instare tuorum vaticinor moriens, nostri solacia leti.’ persequitur scelus ille suum, labefactaque tandem ictibus innumeris adductaque funibus arbor T75 corruit et multam prostravit pondere silvam. 458 METAMORPHOSES BOOK VIII this tree dryads held their festival dances; often with hand linked to hand in line they would encircle the great tree whose mighty girth was full fifteen ells. It towered as high above other trees as they were higher than the grass that grew beneath. Yet not for this did Triopas’ son! withhold his axe, as he bade his slaves cut down the sacred oak. But when he saw that they shrank back, the wretch snatched an axe from one of them and said: ‘ Though this be not only the tree that the goddess loves, but even the goddess herself, now shall its leafy top touch the ground.’ He spoke; and while he poised his axe for the slanting stroke, the oak of Deo? trembled and gave forth a groan; at the same time its leaves and its acorns grew pale, its long branches took on a pallid hue. But when that impious stroke cut into the trunk, blood came streaming forth from the severed bark, even as when a huge sacrificial bull has fallen at the altar, and from his smitten neck the blood pours forth. All were astonied, and one, bolder than the rest, tried to stop his wicked deed and stay his cruel axe. But the Thessalian looked at him and said: ‘ Take that to pay you for your pious thought! ’ and, turning the axe from the tree against the man, lopped off his head. Then, as he struck the oak blow after blow, from within the tree a voice was heard: ‘I, a nymph most dear to Ceres, dwell within this wood, and I prophesy with my dying breath, and find my death’s solace in it, that punish- ment is at hand for what you do.’ But he accom- plished his crime; and at length the tree, weakened by countless blows and drawn down by ropes, fell and with its weight laid low a wide stretch of woods around. 1 Erysichthon. 2 1.e,. Ceres. 459 OVID ‘“ Attonitae dryades damno nemorumque suoque, omnes germanae, Cererem cum vestibus atris maerentes adeunt poenamque Erysichthonis orant. adnuit his capitisque sui pulcherrima motu 780 concussit gravidis oneratos messibus agros, moliturque genus poenae miserabile, si non ille suis esset nulli miserabilis actis, pestifera lacerare Fame, quae quatenus ipsi non adeunda deae est (neque enim Cereremque Famemque 185 fata coire sinunt), montani numinis unam talibus agrestem conpellat oreada dictis : ‘ est locus extremis Scythiae glacialis in oris, triste solum, sterilis, sine fruge, sine arbore tellus; Frigus iners illic habitant Pallorque Tremorque 790 et ieiuna ames: ea se in praecordia condat sacrilegi scelerata, iube, nec copia rerum vincat eam superetque meas certamine vires, neve viae spatium te terreat, accipe currus, accipe, quos frenis alte moderere, dracones! ’ 795 et dedit; illa dato subvecta per aera curru devenit in Scythiam: rigidique cacumine montis (Caucason appellant) serpentum colla levavit quaesitamque F'amem lapidoso vidit in agro unguibus et raras vellentem dentibus herbas. 800 hirtus erat crinis, cava lumina, pallor in ore, labra incana situ, scabrae rubigine fauces, dura cutis, per quam spectari viscera possent ; ossa sub incurvis exstabant arida lumbis, ventris erat pro ventre locus; pendere putares 805 pectus et a spinae tantummodo crate teneri. 460 METAMORPHOSES BOOK VIII ‘ All the dryad sisters were stupefied at their own and their forest’s loss and, mourning, clad in black robes, they went to Ceres and prayed her to punish Erysichthon. The beautiful goddess con- sented, and with a nod of her head shook the fields heavy with ripening grain. She planned in her mind a punishment that might make men pity (but that no man could pity him for such deeds), to rack him with dreadful Famine. But, since the goddess herself could not go to her (for the fates do not permit Ceres and Famine to come together), she summoned one of the mountain deities, a rustic oread, and thus addressed her: ‘ There is a place on the farthest border of icy Scythia, a gloomy and barren soil, a land without corn, without trees. Sluggish Cold dwells there and Pallor, Fear, and gaunt Famine. So, bid Famine hide herself in the sinful stomach of that impious wretch. Let no abundance satisfy her, and let her overcome my utmost power to feed. And, that the vast journey may not daunt you, take my chariot and my winged dragons and guide them aloft.’ And she gave the reins into her hands. The nymph, borne through the air in her borrowed chariot, came to Scythia, and on a bleak mountain-top which men call Caucasus, unyoked her dragon steeds. Seeking out Famine, she saw her in a stony field, plucking with nails and teeth at the scanty herbage. Her hair hung in matted locks, her eyes were sunken, her face ghastly pale; her lips were wan and foul, her throat rough with scurf; her skin was hard and dry so that the entrails could be seen through it; her skinny hip-bones bulged out beneath her hollow loins, and her belly was but a belly’s place; her breast seemed to be hanging free and just to be held by the framework of the spine ; 461 OVID auxerat articulos macies, genuumque tumebat orbis, et inmodico prodibant tubere tali. ‘“ Hance procul ut vidit, (neque enim est accedere luxta ausa) refert mandata deae paulumque morata, 810 quamquam aberat longe, quamquam modo venerat illuc, visa tamen sensisse famem retroque dracones egit in Haemoniam versus sublimis habenis. ‘ Dicta Fames Cereris, quamvis contraria semper illius est operi, peragit perque aera vento 815 ad iussam delata domum est, et protinus intrat sacrilegi thalamos altoque sopore solutum (noctis enim tempus) geminis amplectitur ulnis, seque viro inspirat, faucesque et pectus et ora adflat et in vacuis spargit ieiunia venis ; 820 functaque mandato fecundum deserit orbem inque domos inopes adsueta revertitur antra. Lenis adhuc Somnus placidis Erysichthona pennis mulcebat: petit ille dapes sub imagine somni, oraque vana movet dentemque in dente fatigat, 825 exercetque cibo delusum guttur inani proque epulis tenues nequiquam devorat auras ; ut vero est expulsa quies, furit ardor edendi perque avidas fauces incensaque viscera regnat. nec mora; quod pontus, quod terra, quod educat aer, poscit et adpositis queritur ieiunia mensis 831 inque epulis epulas quaerit; quodque urbibus esse, quodque satis poterat populo, non sufficit uni, plusque cupit, quo plura suam demittit in alvum. utque fretum recipit de tota flumina terra 835 462 METAMORPHOSES BOOK VIII her thinness made her Joints seem large, her knees were swollen, and her ankles were great bulging lumps. ‘* When the nymph saw her in the distance (for she did not dare approach her), she delivered to her the goddess’ commands. And, though she tarried but a little while, though she kept far from her and had but now arrived, still she seemed to feel the famine. Then, mounting high in air, she turned her course and drove the dragons back to Thessaly. ‘“ Famine did the bidding of Ceres, although their tasks are ever opposite, and flew through the air on the wings of the wind to the appointed mansion. Straight she entered the chamber of the impious king, who was sunk in deep slumber (for it was night); there she wrapped her skinny arms about him and filled him with herself, breathing upon his throat and breast and lips; and in his hollow veins she planted hunger. When her duty was done, she left the fertile world, and returned to the homes of want and her familiar caverns. “ Still gentle Sleep, hovering on peaceful wings, soothes Erysichthon. And in his sleep he dreams of feasting, champs his Jaws on nothing, wearies tooth upon tooth, cheats his gullet with fancied food; for his banquet is nothing but empty air. But when he: awakes, a wild craving for food lords it in his ravenous jaws and in his burning stomach. Straightway he calls for all that sea and land and air can furnish; with loaded tables before him, he complains still of hunger; in the midst of feasts seeks other feasts. What would be enough for whole cities, enough for a whole nation, is not enough for one. The more he sends down into his maw the more he wants. And as the ocean receives the streams from a whole land 463 OVID nec satiatur aquis peregrinosque ebibit amnes, utque rapax ignis non umquam alimenta recusat innumerasque faces cremat et, quo copia maior est data, plura petit turbaque voracior ipsa est: sic epulas omnes Erysichthonis ora profani 840 accipiunt poscuntque simul. cibus omnis in illo causa cibi est, semperque locus fit inanis edendo. ‘“ Tamque fame patrias altaque voragine ventris attenuarat opes, sed inattenuata manebat tum quoque dira fames, inplacataeque vigebat 845 flamma gulae. tandem, demisso in viscera censu, filia restabat, non illo digna parente. hanc quoque vendit inops: dominum generosa recusat et vicina suas tendens super aequora palmas ‘ eripe me domino, qui raptae praemia nobis 850 virginitatis habes! ’ ait: haec Neptunus habebat; qui prece non spreta, quamvis modo visa sequenti esset ero, formamque novat vultumque virilem induit et cultus pisces capientibus aptos. hanc dominus spectans ‘0 qui pendentia parvo 855 aera cibo celas, moderator harundinis,’ inquit ‘ sic mare conpositum, sic sit tibi piscis in unda credulus et nullos, nisi fixus, sentiat hamos: quae modo cum vili turbatis veste capillis — 859 litore in hoc steterat (nam stantem in litore vidi), dic, ubi sit: neque enim vestigia longius exstant.’ illa dei munus bene cedere sensit et a se se quaeri gaudens his est resecuta rogantem: “ quisquis es, ignoscas; in nullam lumina partem 464 METAMORPHOSES BOOK VIII and is not filled with his waters, but swallows up the streams that come to it from afar; and as the all- devouring fire never refuses fuel, but burns countless logs, seeks ever more as more is given it, and is more greedy by reason of the quantity: so do the lips of impious Erysichthon receive all those banquets, and ask for more. All food in him is but the cause of food, and ever does he become empty by eating. ‘And now famine and his belly’s deep abyss had exhausted his ancestral stores; but even then ravenous Famine remained unexhausted and _ his raging greed was still unappeased. At last, when all his fortunes had. been swallowed up, there re- mained only his daughter, worthy of a better father. Penniless, he sold even her. The high-spirited girl refused a master, and stretching out her hands over the neighbouring waves, she cried: “Save me from slavery, O thou who hast already stolen my virginity.’ This Neptune had taken; he did not refuse her prayer; and though her master following her had seen her but now, the god changed her form, gave her the features of a man and garments proper to a fisherman. Her master, looking at this person, said: ‘ Ho, you who conceal the dangling hook in a little bait, you that handle the rod; so may the sea be calm, so be the fish trustful in the wave for your catching, and feel no hook until you strike: where is she, tell me, who but now stood on this shore with mean garments and disordered hair, for I saw her standing upon the shore, and her tracks go no farther!’ She perceived by this that the god’s gift was working well, and, delighted that one asked her of herself, answered his question in these words: ‘ Whoever you are, excuse me, sir; I have not taken my eyes from this pool to look in any direction. I 465 OVID gurgite ab hoc flexi studioque operatus inhaesi, 865 quoque minus dubites, sic has deus aequoris artes adiuvet, ut nemo iamdudum litore in isto, me tamen excepto, nec femina constitit ulla.’ credidit et verso dominus pede pressit harenam elususque abiit: illi sua reddita forma est. 870 ast ubi habere suam transformia corpora sensit, saepe pater dominis Triopeida tradit, at illa nunc equa, nunc ales, modo bos, modo cervus abibat praebebatque avido non iusta alimenta parenti. vis tamen illa mali postquam consumpserat omnem materiam dederatque gravi nova pabula morbo, 876 ipse suos artus lacero divellere morsu coepit et infelix minuendo corpus alebat.— “ Quid moror externis? etiam mihi nempe novandi est corporis, o iuvenis, numero finita, potestas. 880 nam modo, qui nunc sum, videor, modo flector in anguem, armenti modo dux vires in cornua sumo,— cornua, dum potui. nunc pars caret altera telo frontis, ut ipse vides.’’ gemitus sunt verba secuti. 466 METAMORPHOSES BOOK VIII have been altogether bent on my fishing. And that you may believe me, so may the god of the sea assist this art of mine, as it is true that for a long time back no man has stood upon this shore except myself, and no woman, either.. Her master believed, and turning upon the sands, he left the spot, completely deceived. Then her former shape was given back to her. But when her father perceived that his daughter had the power to change her form, he sold her often and to many masters. But now in the form of a mare, now bird, now cow, now deer, away she went, and so found food, though not fairly, for her greedy father. At last, when the strength of the plague had consumed all these provisions, and but added to his fatal malady, the wretched man began to tear his own flesh with his greedy teeth and, by consuming his own body, fed himself. ‘“ But why do I dwell on tales of others? I myself, young sirs, have often changed my form; but my power is limited in its range. For sometimes I appear as you see me now; sometimes | change to a serpent; again I am leader of a herd and put my strength into my horns—horns, I say, so long as I could. But now one of the weapons of my forehead is gone, as you yourself can see.’ He ended with a groan. 407 Printed in Great Britain by Richard Clay (The Chaucer Press), Lid., Bungay, Suffolk THE LOEB CLASSICAL LIBRARY VOLUMES ALREADY PUBLISHED Latin Authors AMMIANUS MARCELLINUS. Translated by J.C. Rolfe. 3 Vols. APULEIUS: THE GOLDEN Ass (METAMORPHOSES). W. Adling- ton (1566). Revised by S. Gaselee. St. AUGUSTINE: City oF Gop. 7 Vols. Vol. I. G. E. McCracken. Vol. II. W.M. Green. Vol. III. D. Wiesen. Vol. IV. P. Levine. Vol. V. E. M. Sanford and W. M. Green. Vol. VI. W.C. Greene. St. AUGUSTINE, CONFEssIONS OF. W. Watts (1631). 2 Vols. Sr. AUGUSTINE, SELECT LETTERS. J.H. Baxter. Avusonius. H.G. Evelyn White. 2 Vols. BrepE. J.E. King. 2 Vols. BoretHius: Tracts and DE CONSOLATIONE PHILOSOPHIAE. Rev. H. F. Stewart and E. K. Rand. CAESAR: ALEXANDRIAN, AFRICAN and SPANISH Wars. A. G. Way. CAESAR: Civit Wars. A. G. Peskett. CAESAR: GALLIC War. H. J. Edwards. Cato: DE Rz Rustica; Varro: DE RE Rustica. H. B. Ash and W. D. Hooper. Catuttus. F. W. Cornish; Tisutuus. J. B. Postgate; PER- VIGILIUM VENERIS. J. W. Mackail. Cetsus: DE Mrepicina. W.G.Spencer. 3 Vols. CicERO: Brutus, and Orator. G. L. Hendrickson and H. M. Hubbell. {[(CicERO]: AD HERENNIUM. H. Caplan. CIcERO: DE ORATORE, etc. 2 Vols. Vol. I. Dr ORATORE, Books I. and II. E. W. Sutton and H. Rackham. Vol. II. Dre OrRaATORE, Book III. De Fato; Paradoxa Stoicorum; De Partitione Oratoria. H. Rackham. Cicero: Dre Finisus. H. Rackham. CicERO: DE INVENTIONE, etc. H. M. Hubbell. CicrERO: DE Natura DEORUM and ACADEMICA. H. Rackham. CicERO: Ds Orriciis. Walter Miller. CicERO: DE REPUBLICA and DE LEGIBUS: SOMNIUM SCIPIONIS. Clinton W. Keyes. 1 CicERO: DE SENEcTUTE, DE Amicitia, DE DIVINATIONE. W.A. Falconer. 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Knox THEOPHRASTUS: ENQUIRY INTO Prants. Sir Arthur Hort, Bart. 2 Vols. THucypDIDES. C.F.Smith. 4 Vols. 7 TRYPHIODORUS. Cf. OPPIAN. XENOPHON: CYROPAEDIA. Walter Miller. 2 Vols. XENOPHON: HELLENICA. C. LL. Brownson. 2 Vols. XENOPHON: ANABASIS. C. L. Brownson. XENOPHON: MEMORABILIA AND OEconomicus. E.C. Marchant. SYMPOSIUM AND Apotoacy. O.J.Todd. XENOPHON: ScriprA Minora. E. C. Marchant and G. W. Bowersock. IN PREPARATION Greek Authors ARISTIDES: OrATIONS. C. A. Behr. MusaEus: HERO AnD LEANDER. T. Gelzer and C. H. WHITMAN. THEOPHRASTUS: DE CavusiIs PLANTARUM. G. K. K. Link and B. Ejinarson. Latin Authors ASCONIUS: COMMENTARIES ON CICERO’S ORATIONS. G. W. Bowersock. BENEDICT: THE RuLE. P. Meyvaert. JUSTIN—TROGUsS. R. Moss. Maniutus. G. P. Goold. DESCRIPTIVE PROSPECTUS ON APPLICATION London WILLIAM HEINEMANN LTD Cambridge, Mass. HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESS ‘es | KO) 5) STO) USD FOF. G Fan BO (We 6 OVID VE IV RTOS BOOKS 9-15 Translated by PRANK JUSTUS MILLER Revised by G. P. Goold THE LOEB CLASSICAL LIBRARY FOUNDED BY JAMES LOEB, LL.D. EDITED BY +T. E. PAGE, c.H., LITT.D. E. CAPPS, PH.D., LL.D. +W. H. D. ROUSE, Litt.p. . A. POST, M.A. E. H. WARMINGTON, M.A. F.R HIST.SOC. OVID METAMORPHOSES (I OVID METAMORPHOSES WITH AN ENGLISH TRANSLATION BY FRANK JUSTUS MILLER Pu.D., LL.D. PROFESSOR IN THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO IN TWO VOLUMES I] COOKS IX-XV LONDON WILLIAM HEINEMANN LTD CAMBRIDGE MASSACHUSETTS HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESS MCMLVIII First published . . 2. . . .). «61916 Reprintes 1922 1926 1929, 1933, 1939 1946, 1951. 1958 Printed in Great Britain CONTENTS PAGE METAMORPHOSES ; BOOK IX 1 BOOK X 63 BOOK XI 119 BOOK XH 179 BOOK XIII Q07 BOOK XIV 299 BOOK XV 363 INDEX 429 METAMORPHOSES METAMORPHOSEON LIBER IAN Qvar gemitus truncaeque deo Neptunius heros causa rogat frontis, cum sic Calydonius amnis coepit inornatos redimitus harundine crines : “triste petis munus. quis enim sua proelia victus commemorare velit? referam tamen ordine, nec tam turpe fuit vinci, quam contendisse decorum est, 6 magnaque dat nobis tantus solacia victor. nomine siqua suo fando pervenit ad aures Deianira tuas, quondam pulcherrima virgo multorumque fuit spes invidiosa procorum. 10 cum quibus ut soceri domus est intrata petiti, ‘accipe me gencrum, dixi ‘ Parthaone nate’ : dixit et Alcides, alii cessere duobus. ille Iovem socerum dare se, famamque laborum, et superata suae referebat iussa novercae. 15 contra ego ‘turpe deum mortali cedere’ dixi— nondum erat ille deus—*‘ dominum me cernis aquarum (4) rad METAMORPHOSES BOOK IX Tue !veptunian hero! asked the god why he groaned and what was the cause of his mutilated forehead. And thus the Calydonian river, binding up his rough locks with a band of reeds, made answer: “’Tis an unpleasant task you set; for who would care to chronicle his defeats? Still I will tell the story as it happened: nor was it so much a disgrace to be de- feated as it was an honour to have striven at all, and the thought that my conqueror was so mighty is a great comfort tome. Deianira (if you have ever heard of her) was once a most beautiful maiden and the envied hope of many suitors. When along with them I entered the house of the father? of the maid I sought, I said: ‘Take me for son-in-law, O son of Parthaon.’ Hercules said the same, and the others yielded their claims to us two. He pleaded the fact that Jove was his father, pleaded his famous labours and all that he had overcome at the command of his stepmother. In reply U said: ‘It isa shame fora god to give place to a mortal’ (Hercules had not yet been made a god); ‘you behold in me the lord of the 1 Theseus was the reputed son of Aegeus; but there was a current tradition that he was really the son of Neptune. 2 Oeneus. OVID cursibus obliquis inter tua regna fluentum. nec gener externis hospes tibi missus ab oris, sed popularis ego et rerum pars una tuarum. 20 tantum ne noceat, quod me nec regia Iuno odit, et omnis abest iussorum poena laborum. ham, quo te iactas, Alemena nate, creatum, luppiter aut falsus pater est, aut crimine verus. matris adulterio patrem petis. elige, fictum 25 esse lovem malis, an te per dedecus ortum.’ talia dicentem iandudum lumine torvo spectat, et accensae non fortiter imperat irae, verbaque tot reddit: ‘ melior mihi dextera lingua. dummodo pugnando superem, tu vince loquendo’ 30 congrediturque ferox. puduit modo magna locutum cedere: reieci viridem de corpore vesteimn, bracchiaque opposui, tenuique a pectore varas in statione manus et pugnae membra paravi. ille cavis hausto spargit me pulvere palmis, 85 inque vicem fulvae tactu flavescit harenae. et modo cervicem, modo crura micantia captat, aut captare putes, omnique a parte lacessit. me mea defendit gravitas frustraque petebar ; haud secus ac moles, maguo quam murmure fluctus oppugnant; manet illa, suoque est pondere tuta. 41 digredimur paulum, rursusque ad bella coimus, inque gradu stetimus, certi non cedere, eratque cum pede pes iunctus, totoque ego pectore pronus et digitos digitis et frontem fronte premebam. 45 non aliter vidi fortes concurrere tauros, 4 METAMORPHOSES BOOK IX waters which flow down their winding courses through your realm. If I wed your daughter, it will be no stranger from foreign shores; but I shall be one of your own countrymen, a part of your own kingdom. Only let it not be to my disadvantage that Queen Juno does not hate me and that no labours are imposed upon me in consequence of her hate. For Jove, from whom you boast that you have sprung, O son of Alemena, is either not your father, or is so to your disgrace. Through your mother’s sin you claim your father. Choose,then, whether you prefer to say that your claim to Jove is false, or to confess yourself the son of shame.’ AsI1 thus spoke he eyed me fora long while with lowering gaze and, unable to control his hot wrath longer, he answered just these words: ‘My hand is better than my tongue. Let me but win in fighting and you may win in speech ’; and he came at me fiercely. I was ashamed to draw back after having spoken so boldly ; and so I threw off my green coat, put up my arms, held my clenched hands out in front of my breast in position, and so prepared me for the fight. Hecaught up some dust in the hollow of his hand and threw it over me and in turn himself became yellow with the tawny sand. And now he caught at my neck, now at my quick-moving legs (or you would think he did), and attacked me at every point. My weight protected me and I was attacked in vain. Just like a cliff I stood, which, though the roaring waves dash against it, stands secure, safe in its own bulk. We draw apart a little space, then rush to- gether again to the fray and stand firm in our tracks, each determined not tovield Foot locked with foot, fingers with fingers clenched, brow against brow, with all my body’s forward-leaning weight I pressed upon him. Like that have I seen two strong bulls rush 5 OVID cum, pretium pugnae, toto nitidissima saltu expetitur eoniunx : spectant armenta paventque nescia, quein maneat tanti victoria regni. ter sine profectu voluit nitentia contra 50 reicere Alcides a se mea pectora ; quarto excutit amplexus, adductaque bracchiia solvit,} inpulsumque manu—certum est mihi vera fateri— protinus avertit, tergoque onerosus inhaesit. siqua fides,—neque enim fieta mihi gloria voee 55 quaeritur—inposito pressus mihi monte videbar. vix tamen inserui sudore fluentia multo bracchia, vix solvi duros a peetore nexus. instat anhelanti, prohibetque resumere vires, et cervice mea potitur. tum denique tellus 60 pressa genu nostro est, et harenas ore momordi, inferior virtute, meas divertor ad artes, elaborque viro longum formatus in anguem. qui postquam flexos sinuavi corpus in orbes, eumque fero movi linguam stridore bisulcam, 65 risit, et inludens nostras Tirynthius artes ‘eunarum labor est angues superare mearum,’ dixit ‘et ut vincas alios, Acheloe, dracones, pars quota Lernaeae serpens eris unus echidnae ? vulneribus fecunda suis erat illa, nee ullum 70 de centum numero caput est inpune recisum, quin gemino cervix herede valentior esset. hane ego ramosam natis e eaede colubris erescentemque malo domui, domitamque reelusi. quid fore te eredas, falsum qui versus in anguem 75 t So Merkel: Ehwald volvit. 6 METAMORPHOSES BOOK IX together when they strive for the sleekest heifer in the pasture as the prize of conflict. The herd looks on in fear and trembling, not knowing to which one victory will award so great dominion. Three times withont success did Alcides strive to push away from him my opposing breast ; at the fourth attempt he shook off my embrace, broke my hold, and, giving me a sharp buffet with his hand (I am determined to tell it as it was), he whirled me round and clung with all his weight upon my back. If you will believe me (for I am not trying to gain any credit by exaggera- tion), I seemed to bear the weight of a mountain on my back. With difficulty I thrust in my arms stream- ing with sweat, with difficulty I broke his hard grip from my body. He pressed close upon me as I panted for breath, gave me no chance to regain my strength, and got me around theneck. ‘Then at length I fell to my knees upon the earth and bit the dust. Fiind- ing myself no match for him in strength, I had recourse to my arts, and glided out of his grasp in the form of a long snake. But when I wound my body into twisting coils, and darted out my forked tongue and hissed fiercely at him, the hero of Tiryns only laughed, and mocking at my arts he said: ‘It was the task of my cradle days to conquer snakes; and though you should outdo all other serpents, Aclielotis, how small a part of that Lernaean monster would you, just one snake, be? For it throve on the wounds I gave; nor was any one of its hundred heads cut off without its neck being the stronger by two succeeding heads. This creature, branching out with serpents sprung from death and thriving on destruction, I over- mastered and, having overmastered, destroyed. And what do you think will become of you who, having assumed but a lying serpent form, make use of 7 OVID arma aliena moves, quem forma precaria celat ?’ dixerat, et summo digitorum vincula collo inicit : angebar, ceu guttura forcipe pressus, pollicibusque meas pugnabam evellere fauces. sic quoque devicto restabat tertia tauri 80 forma trucis. tauro mutatus membra rebello. induit ille toris a laeva parte lacertos, admissumque trahens sequitur, depressaque dura cornua figit humo, meque alta sternit harena. nec satis hoe fuerat: rigidum fera dextera cornu 85 dum tenet, infregit, truncaque a fronte revellit. naides hoc, pomis et odoro flore repletum, sacrarunt ; divesque meo Bona Copia cornu est.” Dixerat: et nymphe ritu succincta Dianae, una ministrarum, fusis utrimque capillis, yO incessit totumque tulit praedivite cornu autumium et mensas, felicia poma, secundas. lux subit ; et primo feriente cacumina sole discedunt iuvenes, neque enim dui flumina pacem et placidos habeant lapsus totaeque residant Yi opperiuntur aquae. vultus Achelous agrestis et lacerum cornu mediis caput abdidit undis. Hunc tamen ablati domuit iactura decoris, cetera sospes habet. capitis quoque fronde saligna aut superinposita celatur harundine damnum. — 100 at te, Nesse ferox, eiusdem virginis ardor perdiderat volucri traiectum terga sagitta. namque nova repetens patrios cum coniuge muros 8 METAMORPHOSES BOOK [IX borrowed arms, who are masked in a shifting form ?’ So saying he fixed his vice-like grip upon my throat. I was in anguish, as if my throat were in a forceps’ grip, and struggled to tear my jaws from his fingers. Conquered in this form also, there remained to me my third refuge, the form of a savage buli. And so in bull form I fought him. He threw his arms around my neck on the left, kept up with me as I ran at full speed, dragging upon me; and, finally, forced down my hard horns and thrust them into the earth and laid me low in the deep dust. Nor was this enough: holding my tough horn in his pitiless right hand, he broke it off and tore it from my forehead, mutilating me. This horn the naiads took, filled it with fruit and fragrant flowers,and hallowed it. And now the goddess of glad Abundance is enriched with my horn.” So spoke the river-god ; and lo, a nymph girt like Diana, one of the attendants with locks flowing free, appeared and served them from her bounteous horn with all the fruits of Autumn, and wholesome apples for the second course. The dawn came on, and, as the first rays of the sun smote the mountain-tops, the youths took their departure; for they did not wait until the river shoald flow in peaceful current and all the flood-waters should subside. And Acheloiis hid his rustic features and his head, scarred from the wrenched-off horn, beneath his waves. He was humbled indeed by the loss of his beauteous horn, which had been taken from him, though scath- less in all else, a loss which he could hide with willow boughs and reeds entwined about his head. But, O savage Nessus, a passion for the same maiden utterly destroyed you, pierced through the body by a flying arrow. For, seeking his native city with his 9 OVID venerat Eueni rapidas love uatus ad undas. uberior solito, nimbis hiemalibus auctus, 105 verticibusque frequens erat atque inpcrvius amnis. intrepidum pro se, curam de coniuge agentem Nessus adit, membrisque valens scitusque vadorum, ‘‘officio’’ que “ meo ripa sistetur in illa haec,” ait “ Alcide. tu viribus atere nando!” 110 pallentemque metu, fluviumque ipsumque timentem tradidit Aonius pavidam Calydonida Nesso. mox, ut erat, pharetraque gravis spolioque leonis— nam clavam et curvos trans ripam miserat arcus— “ quandoquidem coepi, superentur flumina” dixit, nec dubitat nec, qua sit clementissimus amnis, 116 quaerit, et obsequio deferri spernit aquarum. iamque tenens ripam, missos cum tolleret arcus, coniugis agnovit vocem Nessoque paranti fallere depositum “ quo te fiducia’’ clamat 120 “vana pedum, violente, rapit ? tibi, Nesse biformis, dicimus. exaudi, nec res intercipe nostras. si te nulla mei reverentia movit, at orbes concubitus vetitos poterant inhibere paterni. haud tamen effugies, quamvis ope fidis equina; 125 vulnere, non pedibus te consequar.” ultima dicta res probat, et missa fugientia terga sagitta traicit. exstabat ferrum de pectore aduncum 10 METAMORPHOSES BOOK IX bride, the son of Jove had come to the switt waters of EKuenus. ‘Phe stream was higher than its wont, swollen with winter rains, full of wild eddies, and quite impassable. As the hero stood undaunted for himself, but anxious for his bride, Nessus came up, strong of limb and well acquainted with the fords, antl said: ‘* By my assistance, Alcides, she shall be set on yonder bank ; and do you use your strength and swim across!” ‘The Theban accordingly en- trusted to Nessus’ care the Calydonian maid, pale and trembling, fearing the river and the centaur himself. At once, just as he was, burdened with his quiver and the lion’s skin (for he had tossed his club and curving bow across to the other bank), the hero said: « Since I have undertaken it, these waters shall be overcome,”” And in he plunged; nor did he seck out where the stream was kindlicst, and scorned to reach his goal by the courtesy of the waters, And now he had just gained the other bank, and was picking up his bow which he had thrown across, when he heard his wife’s voice calling; and to Nessus, who was in act to betray his trust, he shouted: ‘ Where is your vain confidence in your fleetness carrying you, you ravisher? To you, two-formed Nessus, I am talking: listen, and do not dare come between me and mine. If no fearof me has weight with you, at least your father’s ! whirling wheel should prevent the outrage you intend. You shall not escape, how- ever much you trust in your horse’s fleetness. With my deadly wound, if not with my feet, I shall overtake you.” Suiting the action to his last words, he shot an arrow straight into the back of the fleeing centaur. The barbed point protruded from his 1 ie. Ixion, who also had been guilty of an outrage for which he suffered his well-known punishment in Hades. 1] OVID quod simul evulsum est, sanguis per utrumque foramen emicuit mixtus Lernaei tabe veneni. 130 excipit hune Nessus: ‘ neque enim moriemur inulti” secum ait, et calido velamina tincta cruore dat munus raptae velut inritamen amoris. Longa fuit medii mora temporis, actaque magni Herculis inplerant terras odiumque novercae. 135 victor ab Oechalia Cenaeo sacra parabat vota lovi, cum Fama loquax praecessit ad aures, Deianira, tuas, quae veris addere falsa gaudet, et e minimo sua per mendacia crescit, Amphitryoniaden loles ardore teneri. 140 credit amans, venerisque novae perterrita fama indulsit primo lacrimis, flendoque dolorem diffudit miseranda suum. mox deinde “quid autem flemus ?”’ ait “ paelex lacrimis laetabitur istis. quae quoniam adveniet, properandum aliquidque novandum est, 145 dum licet, et nondum thalamos tenet altera nostros. conquerar, an sileam? repetam Calydona, morerne ? excedam tectis? an, si nihil amplius, obstem ? quid si me, Meleagre, tuam memor esse sororem forte paro facinus, quantumque iniuria possit 150 femineusque dolor, iugulata paelice testor ?”’ incursus animus varios habet. omnibus illis praetulit inbutam Nesseo sanguine vestem 12 METAMORPHOSES BOOK IX breast. This he tore out, and spurting forth from both wounds came the blood mixed with the deadly poison of the Lernaean hydra. Nessus caught this, and muttering, “ I shall not die unavenged,” he gave his tunic, soaked with his warm blood, to Dewi as a gift, potent to revive waning love. Meanw hile, long years had passed; the deeds él the mighty Hercules had filled the earth and had sated his stepmother’s hate. Returning victorious from Oechalia, he was preparing to pay his vows to Jove at Cenaeum, when tattling Rumour came on ahead to your ears, Deianira, Rumour, who loves to mingle false and true and, though very small at first, grows huge through lying, and she reported that the son of Amphitryon ! was enthralled by love of Tole.? The loving wife believes the tale, and completely overcome by the report of this new love, she indulges her tears at first and, poor creature, pours out her grief in a flood of weeping. But soon she says: “Why do I weep? My rival will rejoice at my tears. But since she is on her way hither I must make haste and devise some plan while I may, and while as yet another woman has not usurped my couch. Shall I complain or shall I grieve in silence ? Shall I go back to Calydon or tarry here? Shall I leave my house or, if I can nothing more, stay and oppose her? What if, O Mcleager, remembering that I am your sistcr, I make bold to plan some dreadful deed, and by killing my rival prove how much a woman’s outraged feelings and grief can do?” Her mind has various promptings ; but to all other plans she prefers to send to her husband the tunic soaked in Nessus’ blood, in the hope that this 1 The husband of Alemena and putative father of Hercules. 2 The daughter of Eurytus, king of Oechalia. 13 OVID mittere, quae vires defecto reddat amori, ignaroque Lichae, quid tradat, nescia, luctus 155 ipsa suos tradit blandisque miserrima verbis, dona det illa viro, mandat. capit inscius heros, induiturque umeris Lernaeae virus echidnae. Tura dabat primis et verba precantia flammis, vinaque marmoreas patera fundebat in aras : 160 incaluit vis illa mali, resolutaque dammis Herculeos abiit late dilapsa per artus. dum potuit, solita gemitum virtute repressit. victa malis postquam est patientia, reppulit aras, inplevitque suis nemorosum vocibus Oeten. 165 nec mora, letiferam conatur scindere vestem: qua trahitur, trahit illa cutem, foedumque relatu, aut haeret membris frustra temptata revelli, aut laceros artus et grandia detegit ossa. ipse cruor, gelido ceu quondam lammina candens 170 tincta lacu, stridit coquiturque ardente veneno. nec modus est, sorbent avidae praecordia flammac, caeruleusque fluit toto de corpore sudor, ambustique sonant nervi, caecaque medullis tabe liquefactis tollens ad sidera palmas 175 “ cladibus,” exclamat “ Saturnia, pascere nostris : pascere, et hance pestem specta, crudelis, ab alto, corque ferum satia. vel si miserandus et hosti, hoc est, si tibi sum, diris cruciatibus aegram invisamque animam natamque laboribus aufer. 180 hoc mihi munus erit; decet haec dare dona novercam. 14 METAMORPHOSES BOOK IX may revive her husband’s failing love; and to Lichas, ignorant of what he bears, with her own hai ds she all unwittingly commits the cause of her fntine woe, and with honeyed words the unhappy woman bids him take this present to her lord. ‘Phe hero innocently received the gift and put on his shoulders the tunic soaked in the Lernaean hydra’s pvison. He was offering incense and prayers amid the kindling flames and pouring wine from the libation bow] upon the marble altar: then was the virulence of that pest aroused and, freed by the heat, went stealing throughout the frame of Hercules. While he could, with his habitual manly courage he held back his groans. But when his endurance was con- quered by his pain, he overthrew the altar and filled woody Oeta with his cries. At once he tries to tear off the deadly tunic; but where it is torn away, it tears the skin with itand, ghastly to relate, it either sticks to his limbs, from which he vainly tries to tear it, or else lays bare his torn muscles and huge bunes. His very blood hisses and boils with the burning poison, as when a piece of red-hot metal is plunged into a cold pool. Without limit the greedy flames devour his vitals; the dark sweat pours from his whole body; his burnt sinews crackle and, while his very marrow melts with the hidden, deadly fire, he stretches suppliant hands~to heaven and cries: “Come, feast, Saturnia,! apon my destruction; feast, I say; look down, thou cruel one, from thy lofty seat, behold my miserable end, and glut thy savage heart! Or, if I merit pity even from my enemy—that is, from thee—take hence this hateful life, sick with its cruel sufferings and born for toil. This will be a boon to me, surely a fitting boon 1 Juno. 15 OVID ergo ego foedantem peregrino templa cruore Busirin domui? saevoque alimenta parentis Antaco erinui? nec me pastoris Hiberi forma tripiex, nec forma triplex tua, Cerbere, movit? vosne, manus, validi pressistis cornua tauri ? 186 vestrum opus Elis habet, vestrum Stymphalides undae, Partheniumque nemus ? vestra virtute relatus Thermodontiaco caelatus baltens auro, pomaque ab insomni concustodita dracone ? 190 nec mihi centauri potuere resistere, nec mi Arcadiae vastator aper? nec profuit hydrae crescere per damnum geminasque resumere vires ? quid, quod Thracis eques humano sanguine pingues plenaque corporibus laceris praesepia vidi, 195 visaque deieci, dominumque ipsosque peremi ? his elisa iacet moles Nemeaca lacertis : hae caeium cervice tuli. defessa inbendo est saeva Iovis coniunx: ego sum indefcssus agendo. sed nova pestis adest, cui nec virtnte rcsisti 200 nec telis armisque potest. pulmonibus errat ignis edax imis, perque ommes pascitur artus. at valet Eurystheus ! et sunt, qui credcre possint esse devs !”’ dixit, perque altum sauctus Oeten haud aliter graditur, quam si venabula taurus 205 corpore fixa gerat, factique refugerit auctor. saepe illum gemitus edentem, saepe frementem, saepe retemptantem totas infringere vestes sternentemque trabes irascentemque videres montibus aut patrio tendentem bracchia caelo. 210 16 METAMORPHOSES BOOK IX for a stepmother to bestow! Was it for this I slew Busiris, who defiled his temples with strangers’ blood ? that I deprived the dread Antaeus of his mother’s strength ? that I did not fear the Spanish shepherd's ! triple form, nor thy triple form, O Cerberus? Was it for this, O hands, that you broke the strong bull’s horns? that Elis knows your toil, the waves of Stym- phalus, the Parthenian woods ? that by your prowess the girdle wrought of Thermodonian gold in relief was secured, and that fruit guarded by the dragon’s sleep- lesseyes? Was it for this that the centaurs could not prevail against me, nor the boar that wasted Arcady ? that it did not avail the hydra to grow by loss and gain redoubled strength? What, when I saw the Thracian’s horses fat with human blood and those mangers full of mangled corpses and, seeing, threw them down and slew the master? and the steeds themselves? By these arms the monster of Nemea lies crushed ; upon this neck upheld the sky! ‘The cruel wife of Jove is weary of imposing toils; bnt I am not yet weary of performing them. But now a strange and deadly thing is at me, which neither by strensth can I resist, nor yet by weapons nor by arms. Deep through my Jungs steals the devouring fire, and feeds through al] my frame. But Eurysthcus is alive and well! And there are those who can believe that there are gods!” He spoke and in sore distress went ranging along high Oeta; jnst as a bull carries about the shaft that has pierced his body, though the giver of the wound has fled. See him there on the mountains oft uttering heart- rending groans, oft roaring in agony, oft struggling Cg to tear off all his garments, uprooting great trunks of trees, and raging o'er the mountains or stretching out his arms to his father’s skies. 1 Geryon. § Diomedes. 17 OVID Ecce Lichan trepidum latitantem rupe cavata aspicit, utque dolor rabiem conlegerat omnem, “tune, Licha,” dixit “ feralia dona dedisti? tune meae necis auctor eris?” tremit ille, pavetque pallidus, et timide verba excusantia dicit. 215 dicentem genibusque manus adhibere parantem corripit Alcides, et terque quaterque rotatum mittit in Euboicas tormento fortius undas. ille per aérias pendens induruit auras : utque ferunt imbres gelidis concrescere ventis, 220 inde nives fieri, nivibus quoque molle rotatis astringi et spissa glomerari grandine corpus, sic illum validis iactum per inane lacertis exsanguemque metu nec quicquam umoris habentem in rigidos versum silices prior edidit aetas. 225 nunc quoque in Euboico scopulus brevis eminet alto gurgite et humanae servat vestigia formae, quem, quasi sensurum, nautae calcare verentur, appellantque Lichan. at tu, Iovis inclita proles, arboribus caesis, quas ardua gesserat Oete, 230 inque pyram structis arcum pharetramque capacem regnaque visuras iterum Troiana sagittas ferre iubes Poeante satum, quo flamma ministro subdita. dumque avidis comprenditur ignibus agver, congeriem silvae Nemeaeo vellere simmam 235 sternis, et inposita clavae cervice recuinbis, haud alio vultu, quam si conviva iaceres inter plena meri redimitus pocula sertis. 18 METAMORPHOSES BOOK IX Of a sudden he caught sight of Lichas cowering with fear and hiding beneath a hollow rock, and with all the accumulated rage of suffering he cried: “ Was it you, Lichas, who brought this fatal gitt? And shall you be called the author of my death?”” The young man trembled, grew pale with tear, and timidly at- tempted to excuse his act. But while he was yet speaking and striving to clasp the hero’s knees, Alcides caught him up and, whirling him thrice and again about his head, he hurled him far out into the Euboean sea, swifter than a missile from a catapult. The youth stiffened as he yet hung high in air; and as drops of rain are said to congeal beneath the chilling blast and change to snow, then whirling snowflakes condense to a soft mass and finally are packed in frozen hail: so, hurled by strong arms through the empty air, bloodless with fear, his vital moisture dried, he changed, old tradition says, to flinty rock. Even to this day in the Euboean sea a low rock rises from the waves, keeping the semblance of a human form ; this rock, as if it were sentient, the sailors fear to tread on, and they call it Lichas. But you, illus- trious son of Jove, cut down the trees which grew on lofty Oeta, built a huge funeral pyre, and bade the son of Poeas,! who set the torch beneath, to take in recompense your bow, capacious quiver and arrows, destined once again to see the realm of Troy. And as the pyre began to kindle with the greedy flames, you spread the Nemean lion’s skin on top of the pile of wood and, with your club for pillow, laid you down with peaceful countenance, as if, amid cups of generous wine and crowned with garlands, you were reclining on a banquet-couch. ! Philoctetea. Ig OVID Iamque valens et in omne latns diffusa sonabat, securosque artus contemptoremque petebat 240 flamma suum. timuere dei pro vindice terrae. quos ita, sensit enim, laeto Saturnius ore luppiter adloquitur: ‘nostra est timor iste voluptas, o superi, totoque libens mihi pectore grator, quod memoris populi dicor rectorque paterque 245 et mea progenies vestro quoque tuta favore est. nam quamquam ipsius datis hoc inmanibus actis, obligor ipse tamen. sed enim nee pectora vano fida metu paveant. istas nec spernite flammas! omnia qui vicit, vincet, quos cernitis, ignes; 250 nec nisi materna Vulcanum parte potentem sentiet. aeternum est a me quod traxit, et expers atque inmune necis, nullique domabile flammae. idque ego defunctum terra caelestibus oris accipiam, cunctisque meum laetabile factum 255 dis fore confido. siquis tamen Hercule, siquis forte deo doliturus erit, data praemia nolet, sed meruisse dari sciet, invitusque probabit.” adsensere dei. coniunx quoque regia visa est cetera non duro, duro tamen ultima vultu 260 dicta tulisse Iovis, seque indoluisse notatam, interea quodcumque fuit populabile flammae, Mulciber abstulerat, nec cognoscenda remansit Herculis effigies, nec quicquam ab imagine ductum matris habet, tantumque Iovis vestigia servat. 2065 utque novus Serpels posita cum pelle senecta luxuriare solet, squamaque nitere recenti, 20 METAMORPHOSES BOOK IX And now on all sides the spreading flames were crackling fiercely, and licking at the careless limbs that scorned their power. The gods felt fear for the earth’s defender. ‘Ihen Saturnian Jove, well pleased (for he knew their thoughts), addressed them: “ Your solicitude is a joy to me, ye gods of heaven, and | rejoice with all my heart that I am called king and father of a grateful race of gods, and that my oftspring is safe under your protecting favour also. For, though you offer this tribute to his own mighty deeds, still I myself am much beholden to you. But let not your faithful hearts be filled with needless fear. Scorn not those flames' He who has conquered all things shall conquer these fires which you see; nor shall he fee] Vulcan’s power save in the part his mother gave him. Immortal is the part which he took from me, and that is safe and beyond the power of death, which no flame can destroy. And when this is done with earth I shall receive him on the heavenly shores, and I trust that this act of mine will be pleas- ing to all the gods. But if there is anyone, if there is anyone, I say, who is going to be sorry that Her- cules is made a god, why then, he will begrudge the prize, but he will at least know that it was given deservedly, and will be forced to approve the deed.” The gods assented; even Juno seemed to take all else complacently, but not complacently the last words of Jove, and she grieved that she had been singled out for rebuke. Meanwhile, whatever the flames could destroy, Mulciber had now consumed, and no shape of Hercules that could be recognized remained, nor was there anything left which his mother gave, He kept traces only of his father ; and as a serpent, its old age sloughed off with its skin, revels in fresh life, and shines resplendent in its 21 OVID sic ubi mortales Tirynthius exuit artus, parte sui meliore viget, maiorque videri coepit et augusta fieri gravitate verendus. 270 quem pater omnipotens inter cava nubila raptum quadriiugo curru radiantibus intulit astris. Sensit Atlas pondus. neque adhuc Stheneleius iras solverat Eurystheus, odiumque in prole paternum exercebat atrox. at longis anxia curis 275 Argolis Alemene, questus ubi ponat aniles, cui referat nati testatos orbe labores, cuive suos casus, Iolen habet. Herculis illam imperiis thalamoque animoque receperat Hyllus, inpleratque uterum generoso semine; cui sic 280 incipit Alemene: “ faveant tibi numina saltem, conripiantque moras tum cum matura vocabis praepositam timidis parientibus Ilithyiam, quam mihi difficilem Iunonis gratia fecit. namque laboriferi cum iam natalis adesset 285 Herculis et decimum premeretur sidere signum, tencebat gravitas uterum mihi, quodque ferebam, tautum erat, ut posses auctorem dicere tecti ponderis esse Jovem. nec iam tolerare labores ulterius poteram. quin nunc quoque frigidus artus, dum loquor, horror habet, parsque est meminisse doloris. 291 septem ego per noctes, totidem cruciata diebus, fessa malis, tendensque ad caelum bracchia, magno Lucinam Nixosque patres clamore vocabam, illa quidem venit, sed praecorrupta, meumque = 295 quae donare caput Iunoni vellet iniquae. 22 METAMORPHOSES BOOK IX bright new scales; so when the ‘liryuthian put off his mortal frame, he gained new vigour in his better part, began to seem of more heroic size, and to become awful in his godlike dignity. Him the Almighty Father sped through the hollow clonds with his team of four, and set him amid the glittering stars. — - Atlas felt his weight. But not cven now did Eurystheus, the son of Sthenelus, put away his wrath; but his bitter hatred for the father he still kept up towards his race. Now, spent with long- continued cares, Argive Alemena had in Jule one to whom she could confide her old woman’s troubles, to whom she could relate her son’s labours witnessed by all the world, and her own misfortunes. For by Her- cules’ command, Hyllus had received [ole to his arms and heart, and to him she was about to bear a child of that noble race. Thus spoke Alemena to her: “ May the gods be merciful to you at least and give you swift deliverance in that hour when in your need you call on Ilithyia, goddess of frightened mothers in travail, whom Juno’s hatred made so bitter against me. For when the natal hour of toil-bear- ing Hercules was near and the tenth sign was being traversed by the sun, my burden was so heavy and what I bore so great that you could know Jove was the father of the unborn child; nor could I longer bear my pangs. Nay, even now as IJ tell it, cold horror holds my limbs and my pains return even as | think of it. For seven nights and days [ was in torture; then, spent with anguish, I stretched my arms to heaven and with a mighty wail I called upon Lueina and the three guardian deities of birth. Lucina came, indeed, but pledged in advance to vive my life to crue] Juno. There she sat upon the altar before the door, listening to my groans, with her 23 OVID utque meos audit gemitus, subsedit in illa ante fores ara, dextroque a poplite laevum pressa genu et digitis inter se pectine iunctis sustinuit partus. tacita quoque carmina vcce 300 dixit, et inceptos tenuerunt carmina partus. nitor, et ingrato facio convicia demens vana lovi, cupioque mori, moturaque duros verba queror silices. matres Cadmeides adsunt, votaque suscipiunt, exhortanturque dolentem. 305 una ministrarum, media de plebe, Galanthis, flava comas, aderat, faciendis strenua iussis, officiis dilecta suis. ea sensit iniqua nescio quid Iunone geri, dumque exit et intrat saepe fores, divam residentem vidit in ara 310 bracchiaque in genibus digitis conexa tenentem, et ‘quaecumque es,’ ait ‘dominae gratare. levata est Argolis Alemene, potiturque puerpera voto.’ exsiluit, iunctasque manus pavefacta remisit diva potens uteri: vinclis levor ipsa remissis. 315 numine decepto risisse Galanthida fama est. ridentem prensamque ipsis dea saeva capillis traxit, et e terra corpus relevare volentem arcuit, inque pedes rautavit bracchia primos. strenuitas antiqua manet; nec terga colorem 320 amisere suum: forma est diversa priori. quae quia mendaci parientem iuverat ore, ore parit nostrasque domos, ut et ante, rrequentat.” Dixit, et admonitu veteris conmota ministrae 24 METAMORPHOSES BOOK IX right knee crossed ove: i.er left, and with her fingers interlocked; and so she stayed the birth. Charms also, in low muttered words, she chanted, and the charms prevented my deliverance. I fiercely strove and, mad with pain, I shricked out vain revilings against ungrateful Jove. I longed to die, and my words would have moved the unfeeling rocks. The Theban matrons stood around me, appealed to heaven, and strove to stay my grief. There was one of my attendants born of the common folk, Galanthis, with hair of reddish hue, active always in obedience to my commands, well loved by me for her faithful services. She felt assured that unjust Juno was working some spell against me; and as she was passing in and out the house, she saw the goddess seated on the altar holding her clinched hands upon her knees, end said to her: ‘ Whoever you are, congratulate our mistress: Argive Alemena is relieved ; her prayers are answered and her child is born.’ Up leaped the goddess of birth, unclinched her hands and spread them wide in consternation ; my bonds were loosed and I was delivered of my child. They said Galanthis laughed in derision of the cheated deity. And as she laughed the cruel goddess caught her by the hair and dragged her on the ground; and, as the girl strove to rise, she kept her there and changed her arms into the fore- legsof ananiimal. Her oldactivity remained and her hair kept its former hue; but her former shape was changed. And because she had helped her labouring mistress with her deceitful lips, through her mouth must she bring forth her young. And still, as of yore, she makes our dwelling-place her home.” ?} She spoke and, stirred by the warning fate of her former attendant, groaned dee;ly. And as she 1 Galanthis was changed into a weasel. 25 OVID ingemuit. quam sie nurus est affata dolentem: $25 ‘te tamen, o genetrix, alienae sanguine nostro rapta movet facies. quid si tibi mira sororis fata mcae referam ? quamquam lacrimaeque dolorque impediunt, prohibentque logui. fuit unica matri— me pater ex alia genuit—notissima forma 530 Oechalidum, Dryope. quam virginitate carentem vimque dei passam Delphos Delumque tenentis excipit Andraemon, et habetur coninge felix. est lacus, adclivis devexo margine formam litoris efficiens, summum myrteta coronant. 335 venerat huc Dryope fatorum nescia, quoque indignere magis, nymphis latura coronas, inque sinu puerum, qui nondum impleverat annum dulce ferebat onus tepidique ope lactis alebat. haut procul a stagno Tyrios imitata colores 340 in spem bacarum florebat aquatica lotos. earpserat hine Dryope, quos oblectamina nato porrigerct, flores, et idem factura videbar— namque aderam—vidi guttas e flore cruentas devidere et tremulo ramos horrore moveri. 345 scilicet, ut veferunt tardi nunc denique agrestes, Lotis in hane nymphe, fugiens obscena Priapi, coniulerat versos, servato nomine, vultus. ‘‘ Nescierat soror hoc. quae cum perterrita retro ire et adoratis vellet discedere nymphiis, 350 haeserunt radice pedes. convellere pugnat, nec quicquam, nisi summa movet. subcrescit ab imo, totaque paulatim lentus premit inguina cortex. 26 METAMORPHOSES BOOK [X grieved her daughter-in-law thus addressed her: «“ And yet, my mother, ’tis the changed form of one not of our blvod you grieve for, What if I should tell you of the strange misfoitunes of my own sister? And yet my tears and grief check me and almost prevent my speech. She was her mother’s only child (for I was born of my father’s second wife), Dryope, the most beautiful of all the Oechalian maids. Her, a maid no more through the violence of him who rules at Delphiand at Delos, Andraemon took and was counted happy in his wife. There is a pool whose shelving banks take the form of sloping shores, the top of which a growth of myrtle crowns. Dryope had come hither innocent of the fates and, that you may be the more indignant, with the intention of gathering garlands for the nyinphs. In her arms she bore a pleasing burden, her iufant boy not yet a full year old, and nursed him at her breast. Near the margin of the pool a plant of the water-lotus grew full of bright blossoms, the harbingers of fruit. To please her little son the mother plucked some of these blossoms, and I was in the act to do the same (for I was with her), when I saw drops of blood fall- ing from the flowers and all the branches shivering with horror. For, you must know, as the slow rustics still relate, Lotis, a nymph, while flecing from Priapus’ vile pursuit, had taken refuge in this shape, changed as to features but keeping still her name. “ But my sister knew naught of this. And when she started back in terror and, with prayers to the uymphs, strove to leave the place, her feet clung, root-like, to the ground ; she struggled to tear her- self away, but nothing moved except the upper part of her body ; the slow-erceping bark climbed upward from her feet and covered all her loins. When B 27 OVID ut vidit, conata manu laniare capillos, frende manum implevit: frondes caput omne tene- bant. 355 at puer Amphissos, (namque hoc avus Eurytus illi addiderat nomen,) materna rigescere sentit ubera; nec sequitur ducentem lacteus umor. spectatrix aderam fati crudelis, opemque non poieram tibi ferre, soror, quantumque valebam, crescentem truncum ramosque amplexa morabar, 361 et, fateor, volui sub eodem cortice condi. “ Ecce vir Andraemon genitorque miserrimus adsunt, et quaerunt Dryopen: Dryopen quaerentibus illis ostendi loton. tepido dant oscula ligno, 365 adfusique suae radicibus arboris haerent. nil nisi iam faciem, quod non foret arbor, habebat cara soror: lacrimae misero de corpore factis inrorant foliis; et, dum licet, oraque praestant vocis iter, tales effundit in aéra questus: 370 ‘ siqua fides miseris, hoc me per numina iuro non meruisse nefas. patior sine crimine poenam. viximus innocuae. si mentior, arida perdam quas habeo frondes, et caesa securibus urar. hune tamen infanteni maternis demite ramis, 375 et date nutrici, nostraque sub arbore saepe lac facitote bibat, nostraque sub arbore ludat. cumque ioqui poterit, matrem facitote salutet, et tristis dicat “latet hoc in stipite mater.”’ stagna tamen timeat, nec carpat ab arbore flores, 380 28 METAMORPHOSES BOOK IX she saw this, she strove to tear her hair with her hands, but only filled her hands with leaves; for leaves now covered all her head. But the boy, Amphissos (for so his grandsire, Eurytus, had named him), felt his mother’s breast grow hard, nor could he any longer draw his milky feast. I stood and saw your cruel fate, my sister, nor could I bring you any aid at all. And yet, so far as I could, I delayed the change by holding your growing trunk and branches fast in my embrace; and (shall I confess it?) I longed to hide me beneath that selfsame bark. “ But lo, her husband, Andraemon, and her most unhappy father came seeking for Dryope; and Dryope, in response to their questionings, I showed them as the lotus-tree. They printed kisses on the warm wood and, prostrate on the ground, they clung about the roots of their darling tree. And now my dear sister had only her face remaining, while all the rest was tree. Her tears rained down upon the leaves made from her poor body; and while they could, and her lips afforded utterance for her voice, it poured forth these complaints into the air: ‘If oaths of wretched sufferers have any force, I swear by the gods that I have not merited this dreadful thing, In utter innocence I am suffering, and in innocence I have always lived. If 1 say not the truth, parched with the drought may I lose my foliage and may I be cnt down by the axe and burned. But take this infant from his mother’s limbs and give him to a nurse. Beneath my tree let him often come and take his milk ; beneath my tree let him play. And when he learns to talk, have him greet his mother and sadly say: “ Here in this tree-trunk is my mother hid.” Still let him fear the pool, pluck no blossoms from the trees, and think all shrubs are goddesses in 29 OVID et frutices omnes corpus putet esse dearum. care vale coniunx, et tu, germana, paterque ! quin, siqua est pietas, ab acutae vulnere falcis, a pecoris morsu frondes defendite nosiras. et quoniam mihi fas ad vos incumbere non est, 385 erigite hue artus, et ad oscula nostra venite, dum tangi possum, parvumgue attollite natum ! plura loqui nequeo. nam iam per candida mollis colla liber serpit, summoque cacuniine condor, ex oculis removete manus. sine munere vestro 390 contegat inductus morientia lumina cortex !’ desierant simul ora loqui, simul esse. diuque corpore mutato rami caluere recentes.”’ Dumque refert Iole factum mirabile, dumque Eurytidos lacrimas admoto pollice siccat 395 Alemene, (flet et ipsa tamen,) compescuit omnem res nova tristitiam. nam limine constitit alto paene puer dubiaque tegens lanugine malas, ora reformatus primos [olaus in annos. hoc illi dederat Innonia muneris Hebe, 4.00 vieta viri precibus. quae cum lurare pararet, dona tributuram post hunce se talia nulli, non est passa Themis: “ nam iam discordia Thebae bella movent,” dixit “ Capaneusque nisi ab Tove vinci haud poterit, fientque pares in vulnere fratres, 405 subductaque suos manes tellure videbit 30 METAMORPHOSES BOOK IX disguise! Farewell, dear husband, and you, sister, and my father! Nay, if you love me still, protect my branches from the sharp knife, my foliage from the brawsing sheep. And, since it is not permitted me to bend down to you, reach up to me aid let me kiss you while 1 may ; and 1each me once more my little son' Now I can say no more; for over my white neck the soft bark comes creeping, and | aim buried in its overtopping folds. You need not close my eyes with your ha. ds; without your ser- vice let the bark creep up and close my dying eyes!’ In the samme moment did she cease to speak and cease to be; and long did the new-made branches keep the warmth of the transformed body.” While Tole was telling this wonderful tale, and wh-le Alemena, herself alsu in tears, was drying with her sympathetic hand the tears of the daughter of Kurytus, a startling circumstance banished the grief of both. For there, in the deep doorway, stood a youth, almost a boy, with delicate down covering his cheeks, lolaiis,! restored in features to his youthful prime. Hebe, Juno’s daughter, won by her hus- band’s? prayers, had given him this boon; and when she was on the point of swearing that to no one after him would she bestow such gifts, Themis checked her vow. “For,” said she, “Thebes is even now embroiled in civil strife, Capineus shall be invin- cible save by the hand of Jove himself; the two brothers’ shall die by mutual wounds; the prophet- king shall in the flesh behold his own spirits, 1 The son of Iphicles, half-brother to Hercules. 2 te. Hercules, to whom, after his traustation to heaven, Hebe had been given in marriage. * Eteoctes and Polynices 4 Amphiaraiis. 3) OVID vivus adhuce vates; ultusque parente parentem natus erit facto pius et sceleratus eodem attonitusque malis, exul mentisque domusque, vultibus Eumenidum matrisque agitabitur umbris, 410 donec eum coniunx fatale poposcerit aurum, cognatumque latus Phegeius hauserit ensis. tum demum magno petet hos Acheloia supplex ab Iove Callirloe natis infantibus annos, neve necem sinat esse diu victoris inultam. 415 [uppiter his motus privignae dona nurusque praecipiet, facietque viros inpubibus annis.”’ Haec ubi faticano venturi praescia dixit ore Themis, vario superi sermone fremebant, et, cur non aliis eadem dare dona liceret, 420 murmur erat. queritur veteres Pallantias annos coniugis esse sui, queritur canescere mitis lisiona Ceres, repetitum Mulciber aevum poscit Erichthonio, Venerem quoque cura futuri tangit, et Anchisae renovare paciscitur annos. 425 cui studeat, deus omnis habet; crescitque favore turbida seditio, donec sua Iuppiter ora solvit, et “o! nostri siqua est reverentia,” dixit “quo ruitis? tantumne aliquis sibi posse videtur, fata quoque ut superet? fatis lolaus in annos, 430 quos egit, rediit. fatis iuvenescere debent 32 METAMORPHOSES BOOK IX engulfed by the yawning earth; and his son? shall avenge parent on parent,? filial and accursed in the selfsame act; stunned by these evil doings, banished from reason and from home, he shall be hounded by the Furies and by his mother’s ghost until his wife? shall ask of him the fatal golden necklace and the sword of Phegeus shall have drained his kinsman’s blood. And then at last shall Callirhoé, daughter of Acheloiis, by prayer obtain from mighty Jove that her infant sons may attain at once to manly years, that so their victorious father’s death be not long unavenged. Jove, thus prevailed upon, shall claim in advance for these the gifts of his stepdaughter * and daughter- in-law,5 and shall in an act change beardless boys to men,” When Themis, who knew what was to come, thus spoke with prophetic lips, a confused murmur of varying demands arose among the gods, and they inquired why they were not allowcd to grant the same boon to others. Pallantis ® lamented her hus- band’s? hoary age; mild Ceres bewailed Iasion’s whitening locks; Mulciber demanded renewed life for Erichthonius, and Venus, too, with care for the future, stipulated that old Anchises’ years should be restored. Each god had his own favourite; and the noisy, partisan strife kept on, until Jupiter opened his lips and spoke: ‘‘ Oh, if you have any reverence for me, what are you coming to? Does anyone sup- pose that he can so far prevail as to alter Fate’s decrees? ’*Twas by the will of Fate that Iolaiis was restored to the years which he had passed, by Fate 1 Alcmaeon, 8 Eriphyle. 3 Callirhoé, 4 Hebe. & Ibid, ¢ Aurora. ? Tithonus. 33 OVID Callirhoe geniti, non ambitione nec armis. vos etiam, quoque hoc animo meliore feratis, me quoque fata regunt. quae si mutare valerem, nec nostrum seri curvarent Aeacon anni, 435 perpetuumque aevi florem Rhadamanthus haberet cum Minoe meo, qui propter amara senectac pondera despicitur,) nec quo prius ordine regnat.” Dicta Iovis movere deos; nec sustinet ullus, cum videat fessos Rhadamanthon et Aeacon annis et Minoa, queri. qui, dum fuit integer aevi, 441 terruerat magnas ipso quoque nomine gentes; tune erat invalidus, Defonidenque iuventae robore Miletum Phoeboque parente superbum pertimuit, credensque suis insurgere regnis, 445 haut tamen est patriis arcere penatilbus ansus. sponte fugis, Milete, tua, celerique carina Aegaeas metiris aquas, et in Aside terra moenia constituis positoris habentia nomen. nic tibi, dum sequitur patriae curvamina ripae, 450 filia Maeandri totiens redeuntis eodem cognita Cyanee, praestanti corpora forma, Byblida cum Cauno, prolem est enixa gemellam. Byblis in exemplo est, ut ament concessa puellae, Byblis Apollinei correpta cupidine fratris ; 452 non soror ut fratrem, nec qua debebat, amabat. illa quidem primo nullos intellegit ignes, nec peccare putat, quod saepius oscula iungat, quo sua fraterno circumdet bracchia collo; 34 METAMORPHOSES BOOK IX also Callirhoé’s sons are destined to leap to manhood from infancy, and not by any ambition or strife of theirs. You, too (I say thisthat you may be of better mind), and me also the Fates control. If I could change them, old age would not bend low my Aeacus ; Rhadamanthus, too, would enjoy perpetual youth, together with my Minos, who, because of the galling weight of age, is now despised and no longer reigns in his former state.” Jove’s words appeased the gods; nor could anyone complain when he saw Rhadamanthus, Aeacus, and Minos spent with years. Now Minos, while in his prime, had held great nations in fear of him by his very name; but at that time he was infirm with age and in fear of Miletus, son of Deione and Phoebus, proud of his youthful strength and parentage; and, though he believed that the youth was planning a rebellion against his kingdom, still he did not dare to banish him from his ancestral home. But of your own accord you fled, Miletus, and in your swift vessel crossed the Aegean sea and on the shores of Asia built a city which still bears its founder’s name. There, while wandering along the banks of her father’s winding stream, Cyanee, a nymph of un- rivalled beauty, daughter of Maeander, who oft returns upon his former course, was known by you; and of this union Byblis and Caunus, twin progeny, were born. Byblis is a warning that girls should not love un- lawfully, Byblis, smitten with a passion for her brother, the grandsonof Apollo. She loved him not as a brother, nor as a sister should. At first, indeed, she did not recognize the fires of love, nor think it wrong often to kiss him, often to throw her arms about her brother’s neck, and she was long deceived $5 OVID mendacique diu pietatis fallitur umbra. 460 paulatim declinat amor, visuraque fratrem culta venit, nimiumque cupit formosa videri et siqua est illic formosior, invidet illi. sed nondum manifesta sibi est, nullumque sub illo igne facit votum, verumtamen aestuat intus. AG5 iam dominum appellat, iam nomina sanguinis cdit, Byblida iam mavult, quam se vocet ille sororem. Spes tamen obscenas animo demittere non est ausa suo vigilans; placida resoluta quiete saepe videt quod amat: visa est quoque iungere fratri 470 corpus et erubuit, quamvis sopita iacebat, somnus abit ; silet illa diu repetitque quietis ipsa suae speciem dubiaque ita mente profatur : “me miseram! tacitae quid vult sibi noctis imago? quam nolim rata sit! cur haec ego somnia vidi? 475 ille quidem est oculis quamvis formosus iniquis et placet, et possim, si non sit frater, amare, et me dignus erat. verum nocet esse sororem. dummodo tale nihil vigilans, committere temptem, saepe licet simili redeat sub imagine somnus! 480 testis abest somno, nec obest imitata voluptas. pro Venus et tenera volucer cum matre Cupido, gaudia quanta tuli! quam me manifesta libido contigit ! ut iacui totis resoluta medullis! ut meminisse iuvat! quamvis brevis illa voluptas 485 noxque fuit praeceps et coeptis invida nostris. “ O ego, si liceat mutato nomine iungi, 36 METAMORPHOSES BOOK IX by the semblance of sisterly affection. But gradually this affection changed to love: carefully adorned she came to see her brother, too anxious to seem lovely in his sight; and if any other seemed more beautiful to him, she envied her. But not yet did she have a clear vision of herself, felt no desire, prayed for no joy of love; but yet the hidden fire burned on. Now she called him her lord, now hated the name of brother, and wished him to call her Byblis, rather than sister. Still in her waking hours she does not let her mind dwell on impure desires; but when she is re- laxed in peaceful slumber, she often has visions of her love: she sees herself clasped in her brother’s arms and blushes, though she lies sunk in sleep. When sleep has fled, she lies still for long and pic- tures again the visions of her slumber and at last, with wavering mind, she exclaims: “Oh, wretched girl that Iam! What means this vision of the night? Oh, but I would not have it so! Why do I have such dreams? He is indeed beautiful, even to eyes that look unkindly on him, and is pleasing, and I could love him if he were not my brother; and he would be worthy of me; but it is my bane that I am his sister. If only when I am awake I make trial of no such thing, still may sleep often return with a dream like that! There’s no one to tell in sleep, and there is no harm in imagined Joy. O Venus and winged Cupid with thy soft mtother, how happy I was! How real my joy seemed! How my very heart melted within me as I lay! How sweet to remember it! An yet ’twas but a fleeting pleasure, and night was headlong and envious of the joys before me. *¢ Oh, if I could only change my name and be joined $7 OVID quam bene, Caune, tuo poteram nurus esse parenti ! ,uam bene, Caune, meo poteras gener esse parenti! omnia, di facerent, essent communia nobis, 490 praeter avos: tu me vellem generosior esses! nescioquam facies igitur, pulcherrime, matrem ; at mihi, quae male sum, quos tu, sortita parentes, nil nisi frater eris. quod obest, id habebimus unum. quid mihi significant ergo mea visa? quod autem 495 sompia pondus habent? an habent et sommia pondus? di melius: di nempe suas habuere sorores. sic Satnrnus Opem iunctam sibi sanguine duxit, Oceanns Tethyn, Iunonem rector Olympi. sunt superis sua iura! quid ad caelestia ritus 500 exigere lumanos diversaque foedera tempto ? aut nostro vetitus de corde fugabitur ardor, aut hoc si nequeo, peream, precor, ante toroque mortua componar, positaeque det oscula frater. et tamen arbitrium quaerit res ista duorum ! 505 finge placere mihi: scelus esse videbitur illi. “ Atnon Aeolidae thalamos timuere sororum! unde sed hus novi? cur haec exempla paravi ? quo feror? obscenae procul hine discedlite flammae nec, nisi qua fas est germanae, frater ametur! 510 si tamen ipse meo captus prior esset amore, forsitan illius possem indulgere furori. ergo ego, quae fuerim non reiectura petentein, ipsa petam ! poterisne loqui? poterisne fateri? coget amor, potero! vel, si pudor ora tenebit, S15 littera celatos arcana fatebitur ignes.”’ $8 METAMORPHOSES BOOK [!X to you, how good a daughter, Caunus, I could be to your father, how good a son, Caunus, you could be to mine! we should have all things in common, if heaven allowed, except our grandparents. I should want you to be better born than I! You will be someone’s hus- band, I suppose, O most beautiful; but to me, who have unfortunately drawn the same parents as your- self, you will never be anything but brother: what is our bane, that alone we shall have in common. What then do my dreams mean for me !—But what weight have dreams? or have dreams really weight ? The gods forbid !—But surely the gods have loved their sisters ; so Saturn married Ops, blood-kin of his ; Oceanus, Tethys; the ruler of Olympus, Juno. But the gods are a law unto themselves!) Why should | try to measure human fashions by divine and far different customs? Either my passion will flee from my heart if I forbid its presence, or if I cannot do this, I pray that I may die before I yield, and be laid out dead upon my couch, and as I lie there may my brother kiss my lips. And yet that act requires the will of two! Supposing it please me, it will seem a crime to him. ‘Yet the Aeolidae did not shun their sisters’ chambers! But whence do [know these? Why do I quote these examples? Whither am | tending? Get you far hence, immodest love, and let not my brother be loved at all, save in sisterly fashion ! And yet if he himself had first been smitten with love for me, I might perchance smile upon his passion. l.et me myself, then, woo him, since I should not have rejected his wooing! And caa you speak ? can you confess? Love will compel me: I ean! or if shame holds my lips, a private letter shall confess my secret love.”’ 39 OVID Hoc placet, haec dubiam vicit sententia mentem. in latus erigitur cubitoque innixa sinistro “ viderit: insanos’’ inquit “ fateamur amores! ei mihi, quo labor ? quein mens mea concipit ignem ?” et meditata manu componit verba trementi. 521 dextra tenet ferrum, vacuam tenet altera ceram. incipit et dubitat, scribit damnatque tabellas, et notat et delet, mutat culpatque probatque inque vicem suinptas ponit positasque resumit, 525 quid velit ignorat ; quicquid factura videtur, displicet. in vultu est audacia mixta pudori. scripta ‘‘soror’’ fuerat; visum est delere sororem verbaque correctis incidere talia ceris : « quam, nisi tu dederis, non est habitura salutem, 530 hance tibi mittit amans : pudet, a, pudet edere nomen, et si quid cupiam quaeris, sine nomine vellem posset agi mea causa meo, nec cognita Byblis ante forem, quam spes votorum certa fuisset. “ Esse quidem laesi poterat tibi pectoris index 535 et color et macies et vultus et umida saepe lumina nec causa suspiria mota patenti et crebri amplexus, et quae, si forte notasti, oscula sentiri non esse sororia possent. ipsa tamen, quamvis animo grave vulnus habebam, quamvis intus erat furor igneus, omnia feci 541 (sunt mihi di testes), ut tandem sanior essem, pugnavique diu violenta Cupidinis arma effugere infelix, et plus, quam ferre puellam posse putes, ego dura tuli. superata fateri 545 40 METAMORPHOSES BOOK IX This plan meets her approval; upon this her wavering mind decides. She half-way rises and, leaning upon her left elbow, says: “Let him see: let us confess our mad passion! Ah me! whither am I slipping ? What hot love does my heart con- ceive?” And she proceeds to set down with a trembling hand the words she has thought out. In her right hand she holds her pen, in her left an empty waxen tablet. She begins, then hesitates and stops; writes on and hates what she has written; writes and erases; changes, condemns, approves ; by turns she lays her tablets down and takes them up again. What she would do she knows not; on the point of action, she decides against it. Shame and bold resolution mingle in her face. She had begun with “sister”; but “sister” she decided to erase, and wrote these words on the amended wax: «A health to you, which, if you give it not to her, she will not have, one sends to you who loves you. Shamed, oh, she is ashamed to tell her name. And if you seek to know what I desire, I would that nameless I might plead my cause, and not be known as Byblis until my fond hopes were sure. “You might have had knowledge of my wounded heart from my pale, drawn face, my eyes oft filled with tears, my sighs for no seeming cause, my frequent embraces and my kisses which you miglhit have known, had you but marked them, were more than sisterly. Yet, though my heart was sore dis- tressed, though full of hot passion, I have done everything (the gods are my witnesses) to bring myself to sanity. Long have I fought, unhappy that I am, to escape love’s cruel charge, and I have borne more than you would think a girl could bear. But I have been overborne and am forced to confess my 41 OVID cogor, opemque tuam timidis exposcere votis. tu servare potes, tu perdere solus amantem: elige, utrum facias. non hoc inimica precatur, sed quae, cum tibi sit iunctissima, iunctior esse expetit et vinclo tecum propiore ligari. 550 iura senes norint, et quid liceatque nefasque fasque sit, inquirant, legumque examina servent. conveniens Venus est annis temeraria nostris. quid liceat, nescimus adhuc, et cuncta licere credimus, et sequimur magnorum exempla deorum. nec nos aut durus pater aut reverentia famae 556 aut timor impediet: tainen ut sit causa timendi, dulci fraterno sub nomine furta tegemus. est mihi libertas tecum secreta loquendi, et damus amplexus, et iungimus oscula coram. 560 quantum est, quod desit ? miserere fatentis amores, et non fassurae, nisi cogeret ultimus ardor, neve merere meo subscribi causa sepulehro.” Talia nequiquam perarantem plena reliquit cera manum, sumimusque in margine versus adhaesit. protinus inpressa signat sua crimina gemma, 566 quam tinxit lacrimis (linguam defecerat umor) : deque suis unum famulis pudibunda vocavit, et pavidum blandita “ fer has, fidissinie, nostro "— dixit, et adiecit longo post tempore “ fratri.” 570 cum daret, elapsae manibus cecidere tabellae, omine turbata est, nisit tamen. apta minister 42 METAMORPHOSES BOOK IX love, and with timid prayers to beg help of you, For you alone can save, you only can destroy your lover. Choose which you will do. It is no enemy who prays to you, but one who, though most closely joined to you, seeks to be more fully joined and to be bound by a still closer tie. Let old men know propriety and talk of what is fitting, what is right and wrong, and preserve the nice discrimination of the laws. But love is compliant and heedless for those of our age. What is allowed we have not yet discovered, and we believe all things allowed ; and in this we do but follow the example of the gods. You and I have no harsh father, no care for reputa- © tion, no fear to hold us back. And yet even though there be cause for fear, beneath the sweet name of brother and sister we shall conceal our stolen love. I have full liberty to talk apart with you; we may embrace and kiss in open view of all. How much still is lacking? Pity her who confesses to you her love, but who would not confess if the utmost love did not compel her ; and let it not be written on my sepulchre that for your sake I died.” The tablet was full when she had traced these words doomed to disappointment, the last line coming to the very edge. Straightway she stamped the shameful letter with her seal which she moistened with her tears (for moisture failed her tongue). Then, blushing hotly, she called one of her atten- dants and with timorous and coaxing voice said: “Take these tablets, most faithful servant, to my ’’; and aftera long silence added, “brother.” While she was giving them, the tablets slipped from her hands and fell. “Though much perturbed by the omen, she still sent the letter. The servant, finding a fitting time, went to the brother and delivered to 43 OVID tempora nactus adit traditque fatentia verba. attonitus subita iuvenis Maeandrius ira proicit acceptas lecta sibi parte tabellas, 575 vixque manus retinens trepidantis ab ore ministri, “dum licet, o! vetitae scelerate libidinis auctor, effuge!”’ ait “ qui, si nostrum tua fata pudorem non traherent secum, poenas mihi morte dedisses.”’ ille fugit pavidus, dominaeque ferocia Cauni 580 dicta refert. palles audita, Bybli, repulsa, et pavet obsessum glaciali frigore corpus. "mens tamen ut rediit, pariter rediere furores, linguague vix tales icto di dit aére voces: “et merito! quid enim temeraria vulncris huius 585 indicium feci? quid, quae celanda fuerunt, tam cito commisi properatis verba tabellis ? ante erat ambiguis animi sententia dictis praetcmptanda mihi. ne non sequeretur euntcm, parte aliqua veli, qualis forct aura, notare 590 debueram, tutoque mari decurrere, quae nunc non exploratis inplevi lintea ventis. auferor in scopulos igitur, subversaque toto obruor oceano, neque habent mea vela recursus. “Quid quod et ominibus certis prohibebar amori 59. induleere meo, tum cum mihi ferre inbenti excidit et fecit spes nostras cera caducas ? nonne vel illa dies fuerat, vel tota voluntas, sed potius mutanda dics @ deus ipse monebat signaque certa dabat, si non male sana fuissem. 600 et tamen ipsa loqui, nec me committere cerae 44 METAMORPHOSES BOOK [IX him the message of confession. The grandson of Maeander, in a passion of sudden rage, threw down the tablets which he had taken and read half through, and, scarcely restraining his hands from the trem- bling servant's throat, he cried: “ Flee while you may, you raseally promoter of a lawless love! But if your fate did not involve our own disgrace, you should have paid the penalty for this with death.” He fled in terror and reported te his mistress her brother’s savage answer. When, Byblis, you heard that your love had been repulsed, you grew pale, and your whole body trembled in the grip of an icy chill. But when your senses came back, your mad love came back with equal force; and then with choked and feeble utterance you spoke: ‘‘ Deservedly | suffer! For why did I so rashly tell him of this wound of mine? Why was I in such a haste to commit to tablets what should have been concealed? I should first have tried his disposition towards me by obscure hints. That my voyage might have a favourable wind, I should first have tested with a close-reefed sail what the wind was, and so have fared in safety ; but now with sails full spread I have encountered unexpected winds. And so my ship is on the rocks ; with the full force of ocean am [ overwhelnied, and have no power to turn back upon my course. “Nay, by the clearest omens I was warned not to confess my love, at the time when the letter fell fron. my hand as I bade my servant bear it, and taught me that my hopes must fall as well. Should not that day or my whole purpose—say rather, should not the day have been postponed? God himself warned me and gave me clear signs had J not been mad with love. And yetl should have told him with my own lips, I should in person have confessed my 45 OVID debneram. praesensque meos aperire furores. vidisset lacrimas, vultum vidisset amantis ; plura loqu poteram, quam quae cepere tabellae. invito potui cireumdare bracchia cello, 605 et, si reicerer, potui moritura videri amplectique pedes, adfusaque poscere vitam, omuia fecissem, quorum si singula duram flectere non potcrant, potuissent omnia, mentem. forsitan et missi sit quaedam culpa ministri : 610 non adiit apte, nec legit idonea, credo, tempora, nec petiit horamque animumque vacantem. « Haecnocueremihi. neque enim est de tigride natus nec rigidas silices solidumve in pectore ferrum aut adamanta gerit, nec lac bibit ille leaenae. 615 vircetur ! rep:tendus erit, nec taedia coepti ulla mei capiam, dum spiritus iste manebit. nam primum, si facta mihi revocare liceret, non coepisse fuit: coepta expugnare secundum est. quippe nec ille potest, ut iam mea vota relir.quam, non tamen ausorum semper memor esse meorum, 621 et, quia desierim, leviter voluisse videbor, aut etiam temptasse illum insidiisque petisse, vel certe non hoc, qui plurimus trguet et urit pectora nostra, deo, sed victa libidine credar ; 625 denique iam nequeo nil commisisse nefandum. et scripsi et petii: temerata est nostra voluntas ; ut nihil adiciam, non possum innoxia dici. 46 METAMORPHOSES BOOK IX passion, and not have trusted my inmost heart to waxen tablets! He should have secn my tears, he should have seen his lover’s face; I could have spoken more than any tablets could hold; I could have thrown my arms about his unwilling neck and, if 1 were rejected, 1 could have seemed at the point of death, could have embraced his feet and, lying prostrate there, have begged for life. 1 should have done all things, which together might have won his stubborn soul if one by one they could not. Perhaps the servant whom I sent made some mistake: did not approach him rightly; chose an unfitting time, I suppose, nor sought an hour and mind that was free. * All this has wrought against me. For he is no tigress’ son; he has no heart of hard flint or solid iron or adamant; no lioness has suckled him. He shall be conquered! I must go to him again; nor shall I weary in my attempts while I have breath left in my body. For if it were not too late to undo what I have done, it was the best thing not to have begun at ail; the second best is to win through with what I have begun. Though I should now abandon my suit, he cannot help remembering always how far I have already dared. And in that case, just because I did give up, I shall seem either to have been fickle in my desire, or else to have been trying to tempt him and catch him in a snare. Whichever of these he thinks of me, he certainly will not believe that I have been overcome by that god who more than all others rules and in- flames our hearts, but actuated by lust alone. In short, I cannot now undo the wrong that | have done. I have both written and have wooed him and rash J was todo so. Though I do nothing more, 47 OVID quod superest, multum est in vota, in crimina parvum.” dixit, et (incertae tanta est discordia mentis,) 630 cum pigeat temptasse, libet temptare. modumque exit et infelix committit saepe repelli. mox ubi finis abest, patriam fugit ille nefasque, inque peregrina ponit nova moenia terra. Tum vero maestam tota Miletida mente 635 defecisse ferunt, tum vero a pectore vesten. diripuit planxitque suos furibunda lacertos ; iamque palam est demens, inconcessamque fatetur spem veneris, sine qua patriam invisosque penates deserit, et profugi sequitur vestigia fratris. 640 utque tuo motae, proles Semeleia, thyrso Ismariae celebrant repetita triennia bacchae, Byblida non aliter latos ululasse per agros Bubasides videre nurus. quibus illa relictis Caras et armiferos Lelegas Lyciamque pererrat. 645 iam Cragon et Limyren Xanthique reliquerat undas, quoque Chimaera iugo mediis in partibus ignem, pectus et ora leae, caudam serpentis habebat. deficiunt silvae, cum tu lassata sequendo concidis, et dura positis tellure capillis, 650 Bybli, iaces, frondesque tuo premis ore caducas. saepe etiam nymphae teneris Lelegeides ulnis tollere conantur, saepe, ut medeatur amori, praecipiunt, surdaeque adhibent solacia menti. muta iacet, viridesque suis tenet unguibus herbas 655 Byblis, et uiectat lacrimarum gramina rivus. 48 METAMORPHOSES BOOK IX I cannot seem other than guilty in his sight. As for the rest, 1 have much to hope and naught to fear.”’ Thus does she argue ; and (so great is her uncertainty of soul), while she is sorry that she tried at all, she wants to try again. The wretched girl tries every art within her power, but is repeatedly repulsed. At length, when there seemed to be no limit to her importunity, the youth fled from his native land and from this shameful wooing, and founded a new city? in another land. Then, they say, the wretched daughter of Miletus lost all control of reason ; she tore her garments from her breast, and in mad passion beat her arms. Now before all the world she rages and publicly proclaims her hope of unlawful love, disappointed in which she forsakes her land and her hated home and follows her fleeing brother. And just as, crazed by thy thyrsus, O son of Semele, thy Ismarian worshippers throng thy triennial orgies, so the women of Bubassus? beheld Byblis go shrieking through the broad fields. Leaving these behind, she wandered through the land of Caria, by the well-armed Leleges and the country of the Lycians. And now she had passed by Cragus and Limyre and Xanthus’ stream and the ridge where dwelt Chimaera, that fire-breathing monster with lion’s head and neck and serpent’s tail. Clear beyond the wooded ridge she went, and then at last, wearied with pursuing, you fell, O Byblis, and lay there with your hair streaming over the hard ground and your face buried in the fallen leaves. Often the Lelegeian nymphs try to lift her in thcir soft arms, often advise her how she may cure her love and offer comfort to her unheeding soul. Byblis lies without a word, 1 Caunus, in south-western Caria. * A town in Caria. 49 OVID naidas his venam, quae nunmiqnam arescere posset, subposuisse ferunt. quid enim dare maius habebant? protinus, ut secto piceae de cortice guttae, utve tenax gravida manat tellure bitumen ; 660 utve sub adventu spirantis lene favoni sole remollescit quae frigore constitit unda ; sic lacrimis consumpta suis Phoebeia Byblis vertitur in fontem, qui nunc quogue vallibus illis nomen habet dominae, nigraque sub ilice manat. 665 Fama novi centum Creteas forsitanourbes implesset monstri, si non miracula nuper Iphide mutata Crete propiora tulisset. proxima Gnosiaco nam quondam Phaestia regno progenuit tellus ignotum nomine Ligdum, 670 ingenua de plebe virum, nec census in illo nobilitate sua maior, sed vita fidesque inculpata fuit. gravidae qui coniugis aures vocibus his monuit, cum iam prope partus adesset. “quae voveam, duo sunt: minimo ut relevere dolore, utque marem parias. onerosior altera sors est, 670 et vires fortuna negat. quod abominor: ergo edita forte tuo fuerit si femina partu,— invitus mando; pietas, ignosce !—necetur.”’ dixerat, et lacrimis vultum lavere profusis, 680 tam qui mandabat, quam cui mandata dabantur. sed tamen usque suum vanis Telethusa maritum 50 METAMORPHOSES BOOK IX clutching the green herbs with her fingers, and watering the grass with her flowing tears. The naiads are said to have given her a vein of tears which could nevcr dry ; for what greater gift had they to bestow? Straightway, as drops of pitch drip forth from the gashed pine-bark ; as sticky bitumen oozes from rich heavy earth; or as, at the approach of the soft breathing west-wind, the water which had_ stood frozen with the cold now melts beneath the sun; so Phoebean Byblis, consumed by her own tears, is changed into a fountain, which to this day in those valleys has the name of its mistress, and issues forth from under a dark ilex-tree. The story of this unnatural passion would, per- haps, have been the talk of Crete’s hundred towns, if Crete had not latcly had a wonder of its own in the changed form of Iphis. For there once lived in the Phaestian country, not far from the royal town of Gnosus, a man named Ligdus, otherwise unknown, of free-born but humble parentage; nor was his pro- perty any greater than his birth. But he was of blameless life and trustworthy. When now the time drew near when his wife should give birth to a child, he warned and instructed her with these words: « There are two things which I would ask of Heaven: that you may be delivered with the Icast possible pain, and that your child may be a boy. Girls are more trouble, and fortune has denied them strength. Therefore (and may Heaven save the mark!), if by chance your child should prove to be a girl (I hate to say it, and may I be pardoned for the impiety), let her be put to death.” He spoke, and their cheeks were bathed in tears, both his who ordered and hers to whom the commaiid was given. Never- theless, Telethusa ceaselessly implored her husband 51 OVID sollicitat precibus, ne spem sibi ponat in arto. certa sua est Ligdo sententia. iamque ferendo vix erat illa gravem maturo pondere ventrem, 685 cum medio noctis spatio sub imagine somni Inachis ante torum, pompa comitata sacrorum, aut stetit aut visa est. inerant lunaria fronti cornua cum spicis nitido flaventibus auro et regale decus ; cum qua latrator Anubis, 690 sanctaque Bubastis, variusque coloribus Apis, quique premit vocem digitoque silentia suadet ; sistraque crant, numquamque satis quaesitus Osiris, plenaque somniferis serpens peregrina venenis. tum velut excussam somno et manifesta videntem 695 sic adfata dea est: “pars o Telethusa mearum, pone graves curas, mandataque falle mariti. nec dubita, cum te partu Lucina levarit, tollere quicquid erit. dea sum auxiliaris opemque exorata fero; nec te coluisse quereris 700 ingratum numen.” monuit, thalamoque recessit. laeta toro surgit, purasque ad sidera supplex Cressa manus tollens, rata sint sua visa, precatur. Ut dolor increvit, seque ipsum pondus in auras expulit, et nata est ignaro femina patre, 705 iussit ali mater puerum mentita. fidemque res habuit, neque erat ficti nisi conscia nutrix, 52 METAMORPHOSES BOOK IX (though all in vain) not so to straiten her expectation ; but Ligdus remained steadfast in his determination. And now the time was at hand when the child should be born, when at midnight, in a vision of her dreams, she saw or seemed to see the daughter? of Inachus standing before her bed, accompanied by a solemn train of sacred beings. She had crescent horns upon her forehead, and a wheaten garland yellow with bright gold about her head, a sight of regal beauty. Near her were seen the dog Anubis, sacred Bubastis, dappled Apis, and the god? who enjoins silence with his finger on his lips; there also were the sacred rattles, and Osiris, for whom none ever search enough, and the Egyptian serpent swelling with sleep- producing venom. She seemed to be thoroughly awake and to see all things about her clearly as the goddess spoke to her: “ O Telethusa, one of my own worshippers, put away your grievous cares, and think not to obey your husband’s orders. And do not hesitate, when Lucina has delivered you, to save your child, whatever it shall be. I am the goddess who bring help and succour to those who call upon me; nor shall you have cause to complain that you have worshipped a thankless deity.” Having so admonished her, the goddess left the chamber. Then joyfully the Cretan woman arose from her bed, and, raising her innocent hands in suppliance to the stars, she prayed that her vision might come true. When now her pains increased and the birth was accomplished, and the child proved to be a girl (though without the father’s knowledge), the mother, with intent to deceive, bade them feed the boy. Circumstances favoured her deceit, for the nurse was 1 i.e. Io, worshipped as the goddess Isis, See 1. 747. * Harpocrates. 58 OVID vota pater solvit, nomenque inponit avitum : Iphisavus fuerat. gavisa est nomine mater, quod commune foret, nee qnemquain fallerct illo. 710 inde incepta pia mendacia fraude latebant. cultus erat pneri; facies, quam sive puellae, sive dares puero, fucrat formosus uterque, Tertius interea decimo sueccesserat annus: cum pater, Iphi, tibi flavam despondet Ianthen, 715 inter Phaestiadas quae laudatissiina formae dote fuit virgo, Dictaeo nata Teleste. par aetas, par forma fuit, primasque magistris accepere artes, eleincnta aetatis, ab isdem. hine amor ambarum tetigit rude pectus, et acquium vulnus utrique dedit, sed erat fiducia dispar : Fel coniugium pactaeque exspectat tempora taedae, quamgqne viruin putat essc, viram fore ercdit Tanthe ; Iphis amat, qua posse frni desperat, et augct hoc ipsum flammas, ardctque in virgine virgo 125 vixquce tencns lacrimas ‘quis me manet exitus,”’ inquit * cognita quam nulli, quam prodigiosa novaeque cura tenct Vencris ? si di mihi parcere vellent, parcere debuerant; si non, et perdere vellent, naturale malum saltem et de more dcdissent. 730 nee vaecam vaceaec, nee equas amor urit equarum 3 urit oves arics, scquitur sua femina cervum, sic et aves cocunt, interque animalia cuncta 54 METAMORPHOSES BOOK IX the only one who knew of the trick. The father paid his vows and named the child after its grand- father: the grandfather had been Iphis, The mother rejoiced in the name; for it was of common gender and she eould use it without deceit. And so the trick, begun with pious fraud, remained undetected. The child was dressed like a boy, and its face would have been ecunted lovely whether you assigned it to a girl or boy. Meanwhile thirteen years passed by; and then your father found you a bride, O Iphis, in golden- haired Ianthe, a girl the most praised among the Phaestian women for the rieh dower of her beauty, the daughter of Cretan ‘Velestes. The two were of equal age and equal loveliness, and from the same teachers had they received their first instruction in childish rudiments. Hence love came to both their hearts all unsuspected and filled them both with equal longing. But they did not both love with equal hope: Ianthe looked forward confidently to marriage and the fulfilment of her troth, and be- lieved that she whom she thought to be a man would some day be her husband. Whereas Iphis loved without hope of her love’s fulfilment, and for this very reason loved all the more—a girl madly in love with another girl. Searcely holding back her tears, “Oh, what will be the end of me,” she said, “ whom a love possesses that no one ever heard of, a strange and monstrous love? If the gods wished to save me they should have saved me; if not, and they wished to ruin me, they should at least have given me some natural woe, within the bounds of experience. Cows do not love cows, nor mares, mares; but the ram desires the sheep, and his own doe follows the stag. So also birds mate, and in the whole animal world 55 OVID femina femineo courepta cupidine nulla est. vellcm nulla forem! ne non tamen omnia Crete 735 monstra ferat, taurum dilexit filia Solis, femina nempe marem. meus est furiosior illo, si verum profitemur, amor. tamen illa secuta est spem Veneris ; tamen illa dolis et imagine vaccae passa bovem est, et erat, qui deciperetur, adulter. 74C huc licet ex toto sollertia confluat orbe, ipse licet revolet ceratis Daedalus alis, quid faciet ? num me puerum de virgine doctis artibus efficiet ? num te mutabit, Ianthe? “Quin animum firmas, tequeipsa recolligis, Iphi, 745 consiliique inopes et stultos excutis ignes ? quid sis nata, vide, nisi te quoque decipis ipsa, et pete quod fas est, et ama quod femina debes ! spes est, quae capiat, spes est, quae pascat amorem. hanc tibi res adimit. non te custodia caro 750 arcet ab amplexu, nec cauti cura mariti, non patris asperitas, non se negat ipsa roganti, nec tamen est potienda tibi, nec, ut omnia fiant, esse potes felix, ut dique hominesque laborent. nunc quoque votorum nulla est pars vana meorum, dique mihi faciles, quicquid valuere, dederunt; 756 quodque ego, vult genitor, vult ipsa, socerque futurus. at non vult natura, potentior omnibus istis, juae mihi sola nocet. venit ecce optabile tempus, luxque iugalis adest, et iam mea fiet Ianthe— 760 nec mihi continget ; mediis sitiemus in undis. 56 METAMORPHOSES BOOK IX there is no female smitten with love for female. I would I were no female! Nevertheless, that Crete might produce all monstrous things, the daughter! of the Sun loved a bull—a female to be sure, and male ; my passion is more mad than that, if the truth be told. Yet she had some hope of her love’s fulfil- ment; yet she enjoyed her bull by a trick and the disguise of the heifer, and it was the lover who was deceived. Though all the ingenuity in the world should be collected here, though Daedalus himself should fly back on waxen wings, what could he do? With all his learned arts could he make me into a boy from a girl? or could he change you, Ianthe? “‘ Nay, then, be strong of soul, take courage, Iphis, and banish from your heart this hopeless, foolish love. See what you were born, unless you yourself deceive yourself as well as others; seek what is lawful, and love as a woman ought to love! It is hope of fulfilment that begets love, and hope that keeps it alive. And of this hope the nature of things deprives you. No guardian keeps you from her dear embrace, no watchfulness of a jealous liusband, no cruel father ; nor does she herself deny your suit. And- yet you cannot have her, norcan you be happy, though all things should favour you, though gods and men should work for you. And even now none of my prayers have been denied ; the gods, compliant, have given me whatever was theirs to give; and what I wish my father wishes, she herself and her father all desire. But nature will not have it so, nature, more mighty than they all, who alone is working my dis- tress. And lo, the longed-for time is come, my wedding-day is at hand, and soon lanthe will be mine—and yet not mine. In the midst of water we 1 Pasiphaé., 57 OVID pronuba quid Iuno, quid ad haec, Hymenaee, venitis sacra, quibus qui ducat abest, ubi nubimus ambae ?”’ pressit ab his vocem. nec lenius altera virgo aestuat, utque celer venias, Hymenaee, precatur. 765 quod petit haec, Telethusa timens modo tempora differt, nunc ficto languore moram trahit, omina saepe visaque causatur. sediam consumpscrat omnein materiam ficti, dilataque tempora taedae institerant, unusque dies restabat. at illa 770 crinalem capiti vittam nataeque sibique detrahit, et passis aram complexa capillis : “Tsi, Paraetonium Mareoticaque arva Pharonque quae colis, et septem digestum in cornua Nilunm: fer, precor,”” inquit “ opem, nostroque medere timori ! te, dea, te quondam tuaque haec insignia vidi 770 cunctaque cognovi, sonitum comitesque facesque ... sistrorum, memorique animo tua iussa notavi. quod videt haec lucem, quod non ego punior, ecce consilium munusque tuum est. miserere duarum, auxilioque iuva!”’ lacrimae sunt verba secutae. 781 visa dea est movisse suas, (et moverat,) aras, et templi tremuere fores, imitataque lunam cornua fulserunt, crepuitque sonabile sistrum. non secura quidem, fausto tamen omine laeta = 785 mater abit templo. sequitur comes Iphis euntem, quam solita est, maiore gradu, nec candor in ore permanet, et vires augentur, et acrior ipse est vultus, et incomptis brevior mensura capillis, 58 METAMORPHOSES BOOK IX shal! thirst. Why do you come, Juno, goddess of brides, and Hymen, to these wedding rites, where 0 man takes the woman for his bride, but where both are brides?’ She broke off speech with these words. The other maiden burned with equal love, and prayed, Hymen, that you would make haste to come. And Telethusa, fearing what lanthe sought, put off the time, now causing delay because of a pretended sickness, often giving for reason some ill- omened vision she had seen. But now she had exhausted every possible excuse, and the postponed wedding-day was close at hand, and but one more day remained. Then the mother took the encircling fillets from her own and her daughter's heads, and with flowing locks she prayed, clinging to the altar: “Q Isis, who dwellest in Paraetonium and the Mareotic fields and Pharos and the sevenfold waters of the Nile, help us, I pray, and heal our sore distress. Thee, goddess, thee and these thy symbols once [ saw and recognized them all—the clashing sound, thy train, the torches, [the rattling] of the sistra— and with retentive mind I noted thy commands. That this, my daughter still looks on the light, that I have not been punished, behold, is all of thy counsel and thy gift. Pity us two, and help us with thy aid!” Tears followed on her words. The goddess seemed to move, nay, moved her altar, the doors of the témple shook, her moon-shaped horns shot forth gleams of light and the sistrum rattled noisily. Not yet quite free from care and yet rejoicing in the good omen, the mother left the temple; and Iphis walked beside her as she went, but with a longer stride than was her wont. Her face seemed of a darker hue, her strength seemed greater, her very features sharper, and her locks, all unadorned, were c 59 OVID plusque vigoris adest, habuit quam femina. nam quae 790 femina nuper eras, pueres! date munera templis, nec timida gaudete fide! dant munera templis, addunt et titulum: titulus breve carmen habebat : DONA + PUER + SOLVIT - QUAE* FEMINA + VOVERAT . IPHIS. postera lux radiis latum patefecerat orbem, 795 cum Venus et Juno sociosgue Hymenaeus ad ignes conveniunt, potiturque sua puer Iphis Ianthe. 58 METAMORPHOSES BOOK IX shorter than before. She seemed more vigorous than was her girlish wont. In fact, you who but lately were a girl are now a boy! Go, make your offerings at the shrines; rejoice with gladness un- afraid! They make their offerings at the shrines and add a votive tablet; the tablet had this brief inscription : THESE GIFTS AS MAN DID IpHiIs PAY WHICH ONCE AS MAID HE VowED. The morrow’s sun had revealed the broad world with its rays, when Venus, Juno, and Hymen met at the marriage fires, and the boy Iphis gained his Ianthe. 61 LIBER X INDE per inmensum croceo veiatus amictu aethera digreditur Ciconumque Hymenaeus ad oras tendit et Orphea nequiquam voce vocatur. adfuit ille quidem, sed nec sollemnia verba nec laetos vultus nec felix attulit omen. 5 fax quoque, quam tenuit, lacrimoso stridula fumo usque fuit nullosque invenit motibus ignes. exitus auspicio gravior: nam nupta per herbas dum nova naiadum turba comitata vagatur, occidit in talum serpentis dente recepto. 10 quam satis ad superas postquam Rhodopeius auras deflevit vates, ne non temptaret et umbras, ad Styga ‘Taenaria est ausus descendere porta perque leves populos simulacraque functa sepulcro Persephonen adiit inamoenaque regna tenentem 15 umbrarum dominum pulsisque ad carmina nervis sie ait: ‘‘o positi sub terra numina mundi, in quem reccidimus, quicquid mortale creamur, si licet et falsi positis ambagibus oris vera loqui sinitis, non huc, ut opaca viderem 20 Tartara, descendi, nec uti villosa colubris terna Medusaei vincirem guttura monstri 64 BOOK X Tuence through the boundless air Hymen, clad in a saffron manile, departed and took his way to the country of the Ciconians, and was summoned by the voice of Orpheus, though all in vain. He was present, it is true; but he brought neither the hal- lowed words, nor joyous faces, nor lucky omen, The torch also which he held kept sputtering and filled the eyes with smoke, nor would it catch fire for any brandishing. ‘The outcome of the wedding was worse than the beginning; for while the bride was strolling through the grass with a group of naiads in attendance, she fell dead, smitten in the ankle by a serpent’s tooth. When the bard of Rhodope had mourned her to the full in the upper world, that he might try the shades as well he dared to go down to the Stygian world through the gate of Taenarus. And through the unsubstantial throngs and the ghosts who had received burial, he came to Persephone and him who rules those unlovely realms, lord of the shales, Then, singing to the music of his lyre, he said: ‘©O ye divinities who rule the world which lies beneath the earth, to which we all fall back who are born mortal, if it is lawful and you permit me to lay aside all false and doubtful speech and tell the simple truth: I have not come down hither to sce dark Tartarus, nor yet to bind the three necks of Medusa’s monstrous offspring, rough with serpents. The cause 65 OVID causa viae est coniunx, in quam calcata venenum vipera diffudit erescentesque abstulit annos. posse pati volui nec me temptasse negabo: 25 vicii Amor. supera deus hic bene notus in ora est; an sit et hic, dubito: sed et hic tamen auguror esse, famaque si vcteris non est mentita rapinae, vos quoque iunxit Amor. per ego haec loca plena timoris, per Chaos hoc ingens vastique silentia regni, 30 Eurydices, oro, properata retexite fata. omnia debemur vobis, paulumque morati serius aut citius sedem properamus ad unam. tendimus huc omnes, haec est domus ultima, vosque humani generis longissima regna tenetis. 35 haee quoque, cum iustos matura peregerit anos, iuris erit vestri: pro munere poscimus usum ; quodsi fata negant veniam pro coniuge, certum est nolle redire mihi: leto gaudete duorum.” Talia dicentem nervosque ad verba moventem 40 exsangues flebant animac; nec Tantalus undam captavit refugam, stupuitque Ixionis orbis, nec carpsere iecur volucres, urnisque vacarunt Belides, inque tuo sedisti, Sisyphe, saxo. tune primum lacrimis victarum carmine fama est 45 Kumenidum maduisse genas, nec regia coniunx sustinet oranti nec, qui regit ima, negare, Eurydicenque vocant : umbras erat illa recentes inter et incessit passu de vulnere tardo, hance simul et legem Rhodopeius accipit Orpheus, 50 66 METAMORPHOSES BOOK X of my journey is my wife, into whose body a trodden serpent shot his poison and so snatched away her budding years. I have desired strength to endure, and I will not deny that I have tried to bear it. But Love has overcome me,a god well-known in the upper world, but whether here or not Ido not know; and yet I surmise that he is known here as well, and if the story. of that old-time ravishment is not false, you, too, were joined by Love. By these fear- some places, by this huge void and these vast and silent realms, I beg of you, unravel the fates of my Eurydice, too quickly run. Weare in all things due to you, and though we tarry on earth a little while, slow or swift we speed to one abode. Hither we all make our way; this is our final home; yours is the longest sway over the human race. She also shall be yours to rule when of ripe age she shall have lived out her allotted years. I ask the enjoyment of her as a boon; but it the fates deny this privilege for my wife, I am resolved not to return. Rejoice in the death of two.” As he spoke thus, accompanying his words with the music of his lyre, the bloodless spirits wept ; ‘l'antalus did not catch at the fleeing wave; Ixion’s wheel stopped in wonder; the vultures did not pluck at the liver;! the Belides rested from their urns, and thou, O Sisyphus, didst sit ypes thy stone. Then first, tradition says, conquered by the song, the cheeks of the EKumenides were wet with tears; nor could the queen nor he who rules the lower world refuse the suppliant. They called Eurydice. She was among the new shades and came with steps halting from her wound. Orpheus, the Thracian, then re- ceived his wife and with her this condition, that he 1 ae. of Tityus. 67 OVID ne fiectat retro sua lumina, donee Avernas exierit valles; aut inrita dona futura. carpitur adclivis per muta silentia trames, arduus, obscurus, caligine densus opaca, nec procul afnerunt telluris margine summae: 55 hie, ne deficerct, metuens avidusque videndi flexit amans oculos, et protinus illa relapsa est. bracchiaque intendens prendique et prendere certans nil nisi cedentes infclix arripit auras, 59 iamque iterum moriens non est de coniuge quicquam questa suo (quid enim nisi se quereretur amatam ?) supremnumque “vale,” quod iam vix auribus ille acciperet, dixit revolutaque rursus eodem est. Non aliter stupuit gemina nece coniugis Orpheus, quain tria qui timidus, medio portante catenas, 65 colla canis vidit, quem non pavor ante reliquit, quam natura prior saxo per corpus oborto, quique in se crimen traxit voluitque videri Olenos esse nocens, tuque, o confisa figurae infelix Lethaea tuae, iunctissima quondam 7Q pectora, nunc lapides, quos umida sustinet Ide. orantem frustraque iterum transire volenteim portitor arcuerat: septem tamen ille diebus squalidus in ripa Cereris sine munere sedit ; cura dolorque animi lacrimaeque alimenta fuere. 75 68 METAMORPHOSES BOOK X should not turn his eyes backward until he had gone forth from the valley of Avernus, or else the gift would be in vain. They took the up-sloping path through places of utter silence, a steep path, indis- tinct and clouded in pitchy darkness. And now they were nearing the margin of the upper earth, when he, afraid that she might fail him, eager for sight of her, turned back his longing eyes; and instantly she slipped into the depths. He stretched out his arms, eager to catch her or to feel her clasp; but, unhappy one, he clasped nothing but the yielding air. And now, dying a second time, she made no com- plaint against her husband; for of what could she complain save that she was beloved? She spake one last “ farewell’? which scarcely reached her husband’s ears, and fell back again to the place whence she had eome, By his wife’s double death Orpheus was stunned, like that frightened creature! who saw the three- headed dog with chains on his middle neck, whose numbing terror left him only when his former nature left, and the petrifying power crept through his body ; or like that Olenos,? who took sin upon him- self and was willing to seem guilty; and like you, luckless Lethaea,3 too boastful of your beauty, once two hearts joined in close embrace, but now two stones which well-watered Ida holds. Orpheus prayed and wished in vain to cross the Styx a second time, but the keeper drove him back. Seven days he sat there on the bank in filthy rags and with no taste of food, Care, anguish of soul, and tears were his nourishment. Complaining that the gods of 1 A man, unknown, who is said to have turned to stone at sicht of Cerberus led in chains by Hercules, 2 See Index. 3 See Index. 69 OVID esse eos Erebi crudeles questus, in altam se recipit Rhodopen pulsumque aquilonibus Haemum. Tertius aequoreis inclusum Piscibus annum finierat Titan, omnemque refugerat Orpheus femineam Venerem, seu quod male cesserat illi, 80 sive fidem dcderat ; multas tamen ardor habcbat lungere se vati, multae doluere repulsac ille etiam Thracum populis fuit auctor amorem in teneros transferre mares citraque iuventam aetatis breve ver et primos carpere flores. 85 Collis erat collemque super planissima campi area, quam viridem faciebant graminis herbae : umbra loco deerat ; qua postquam parte resedit dis genitus vates et fila sonantia movit, uimbra loco venit: non Chaonis afuit arbor, 90 non nemus Heliadum, non frondibus aesculus altis, nec tiliae molles, nec fagus et innuba laurus, et coryli fragiles et fraxinus utilis hastis enodisque abies curvataque glandibus ilex et platanus genialis acerque coloribus inpar 95 amnicolaeque simul salices et aquatica lotos perpetuoque virens buxum tenuesque myricae et bicolor myrtus et bacis caerula tinus. vos quoque, flexipedes hederae, venistis et una pampineae vites et amictae vitibus ulmi 100 ornique et piceae pomoque onerata rubenti arbutus et lentae, victoris praemia, palmae et succincta comas hirsutaque vertice pinus, grata dcum matri, siquidem Cybeleius Attis exuit hac hominem truncoque induruit illo. 105 Adfuit huic turbae metas imitata cupressus, 70 METAMORPHOSES BOOK X Erebus were cruel, he betook himself to high Rho- dope and wind-swept Haemus. Three times had the sun finished the year and come tu watery Pisces; and Orpheus had shunned al! love of womankind, whether because it had gone so ill with him, or because he had so given his troth. Still, many women felt a passion for the bard ; many grieved for their love repulsed. He set the example for the peoples of Thrace of giving his love to tender boys, and enjoying the springtime and first flower of their youth. a A hill there was, and on the hill a wide-extending plain, green with luxuriant grass; but the place was devoid of shade. When here the heaven-descended bard sat down and smote his sounding lyre, shade came to the place. There came the Chaonian oak, the grove of the Heliades,! the oak with its deep foliage, the soft linden, the beech, the virgin laurel- tree, the brittle hazel, the ash, suitable for spear- shafts, the smooth silver-fir, the ilex-tree bending with acorns, the pleasant plane, the many-coloured maple, river-haunting willows, the lotus, lover of the pools, the evergreen boxwood, the slender tama- risk, the double-hued myrtle, the viburnum with its dark-blue berries. You also, pliant-footed ivy, came, and along with you tendrilled grapes, and the elm- trees, draped with vines; the mountain-ash, the forest-pines, the arbute-tree, loaded with ruddy fruit, the pliant palm, the prize of victory, the bare-trunked pine with broad, leafy top, pleasing to the mother of the gous, since Attis, dear to Cybele, exchanged for this his human form and st.ffened in its trunk. Amidst this throng came the cone-shaped cypress, 1 The poplar-trees. ip OVID nunc arbor, puer ante deo dilectus ab illo, qui citharam nervis et nervis temperat arcum. namque sacer nymphis Carthaea tenentibus arva ingens cervus erat, lateque patentibus altas 11¢ ipse suo capiti praebebat cornibus umbras. cornua fulgebant auro, demissaque in armos pendebant tereti gemmata monilia collo. bulla super frontem parvis argentea loris vincta movebatur parilique aetate: nitebant 115 auribus e geminis circum cava tempora bacae ; isque metu vacuus naturalique pavore deposito celebrare domos mulcendaque colla quamlibet ignotis manibus praebere solebat. sed tamen ante alios, Ceae pulcherrime gentis, 120 gratus erat, Cyparisse, tibi: tu pabula cervuin ad nova, tu liquidi ducebas fontis ad undam, tu modo texebas varios per cornua flores, nunc eques in tergo residens huc laetus et illue mollia purpureis frenabas ora capistris, 125 Aestus erat meditsque dies, solisque vapore coneava litorei fervebant bracchia Cancri; fessus in herbosa posuit sua corpora terra cervus et arborea frigus ducebat ab umbra. hunc puer inprudens iaculo Cyparissus acuto 130 fixit et, ut saevo morientem vulnere vidit, velle mori statuit. quae non solacia Phoebus dixit! ut hune, leviter pro materiaque doleret, admonuit ! gemit ille tamen munusque supremum hoc petit a superis, ut tempore lugeat omni. 135 iamque per inmensos egesto sanguine fletus in viridem verti coeperunt membra colorem, 12 METAMORPHOSES BOOK X now a tree, but once a boy, beloved by that god who strings the lyre and strings the bow. For there was a mighty stag, sacred to the nymplis who haunt the Carthaean plains, whose wide-spreading antlers gave ample shade to his own head. His antlers gleamed with gold, and down on his shoulders hung a gem- mounted collar set on his rounded neck. Upon his forehead a silver boss bound with small thongs was worn, and worn there from his birth. Pendent from both his ears, about his hollow temples, were gleam- ing pearls. He, quite devoid of fear and with none of his natural shyness, frequented men’s homes and let even strangers stroke his neck. But more than to all the rest, O Cyparissus, loveliest of the Cean race, was he dear to you. "Iwas you who led the stag to fresh pasturage and to the waters of the clear spring. Now would you weave bright garlands for his horns; now, sitting like a horseman on his back, now here, now there, would gleefully guide his soft mouth with purple reins. ’Twas high noon on a summer’s day, when the spreading claws of the shore-loving Crab were burn- ing with the sun’s hot rays. Weary, the stag had lain down upon the grassy earth and was drinking in the coolness of the forest shade. Him, all unwit- tingly, the boy, Cyparissus, pierced with a sharp javelin, and when he saw him dying of the cruel wound, he resolved on death himself. What did not Phoebus say to comfort him! How he warned him to grieve in moderation and consistently with the occasion! The lad only groaned and begged this as the boon he most desired from heaven, that he might mourn for ever. And now, as his life forces were exhausted by endless weeping, his limbs began to change to a green colour, and his locks, which but 73 OVID et, modo qui nivea pendebant fronte capilli, horrida caesaries ficri sumptoque rigore sidereuin gracili spectare cacumine caelum. 140 ingemuit tristisque deus “ lugebere nobis lugebisque alios aderisque dolentibus ”’ inqnit. Tale nemus vates attraxerat inque ferarum concilio medius turba volucrumque sedebat. ut satis inpulsas temptavit pollice chordas 145 et sensit varios, quamvis diversa sonarent, coneordare modos, hoc vocem carmine movit: “ab Love, Musa parens, (cedunt Iovis omnia regno,) carmina nostra move! Iovis est milii saepe potestas dicta prius: cecini plectro graviore Gigautas 150 sparsaque Phlegraeis victricia fulmina campis. nune opus est leviore lyra, »uerosque canamus dileetos superis inconecssisque puellas ignibus attonitas meruisse libidine poenam. “ Rex superum Phrygii quondam Ganymedis amore arsit, et inventum est aliquid, quod luppiter esse, 156 quam quod erat, mallet. nulla tamen alite verti dignatur, nisi quae posset sua fulmina ferre. icc mora, percusso mendacibus aere pennis abripit Hiaden; qui nune quoque pocula miseet 160 invitaque Tovi nectar Iunone ministrat. “Te quoque, Amyclide, posuisset in acthere Phoebus, tristia si spatium ponendi fata dedissent. qua licet, aeternus tamen es, quotiensque repellit ver hiemem, Piscique Aries succedit aquoso, 105 14 METAMORPHOSES BOOK X now overhung his snowy brow, were turned to a bristling crest, cand he became a stiff tree with slender top lookin 1g to the starry heavens. ‘The god groaned and, full of sadness, said: “ Yon shall be mourned by me, shall mourn for others, and your place shall always be where others grieve.’ 4 Such was the grove the bard had drawn, and he sat, the central figure i in an assembly of wild beasts ad birds. And when he had tried the chords by touching them with his thumb, and his ears told him that the notes were in harmony although they were of different pitch, he raised his voice in this song: “From Jove, O Muse, my mother—for all things yicld to the sway of Jove—iuspire my song! Oft have I sung the power of Jove before; I have sung the giants in a heavier strain, and the victorious bolts hurled on the Phlegraean plains. But now I need the gentler touch, for I would sing of boys beloved by gods, and maidens inflamed by unnatural love and paying the penalty of their lust. “lhe king of the gods once burned with love for Phrygian Ganymede, and something was found which Jove would rather be than what he was. Still he did not deign to take the form of any bird save only that which could bear his thunderbolts. Without delay he cleft the air on his lying wings and stole away the Trojan boy, who even now, though against the will of Juno, mingles the nectar and attends the cups of Jove. « You aiso, youth of Amyclae,! Phoebus would have set in the sky, if grim fate had given him time to set you there. Still in what fashion you may you are immortal: as often as spring drives winter out and the Ram succeeds the watery Fish, so often 1 Hyacinthus, OVID tu totiens oreris viridique in caespite flores. te meus ante omues genitor dilexit, et orbe in medio positi carucrunt praeside Delphi, dum deus Eurotan inmunitamque frequentat Sparten, nec citharae nec sunt in honore sagittae : inmemor ipse sui non retia ferre recusat, (71 non tenuisse canes, non per iuga montis in‘qui ire comes, longaque alit adsuetudine flammas, iamque fere medius Titan venicntis et actae noctis erat spatioque pari distabat utrimque, 175 corpora veste levant et suco pinguis olivi splendescunt latique ineunt certamina disci. quem prius aerias libratum Phoebus in auras misit et oppositas disiecit pondere nubes ; reccidit in solitam longo post tempore terram 180 pondus et exhibuit iunctam cum viribus artein. protinus inprudens actusque eupidine lusus tollere Taenarides orbem properabat, at illum dura repercussum subiecit in aera tellus in vultus, Hyacinthe, tuos, expalluit aeque 185 quam puer ipse deus conlapsosque excipit artus, et modo te refovet, modo tristia vulnera siccat, nune animam admotis fugientem sustinet herbis. nil prosuut artes: erat inmedicabile vulnus. ut, siquis violas rigidumve papaver in horto 190 liliaque infringat fulvis horrentia linguis, mareida demittant subito caput illa vietum nec se sustineant spectentque cacumine terram : 76 METAMORPHOSES BOOK X do you come up and blossom on the green turf. Above all others did my father love you, and Delphi, set at the very centre of the earth, lacked its pre- siding deity while the god was haunting Eurotas’ stream and Sparta,! the unwalled. No more has he thought for zither or for bow. Entirely heedless of his usual pursuits, he refuses not to bear the nets, nor hold the dogs in leash, nor go as comrade along the rough mountain ridges. And so with long association he feeds his passion’s flame. And now Titan was about midway ’twixt the coming and the banished night, standing at equal distance from both extremes; they strip themselves and, gleaming with rich olive oil, they try a contest with the broad discus. This, well poised, Phoebus sent flying through the air and cleft the opposite clouds with the heavy iron. Back to the wouted earth after long time it fell, revealing the hurler’s skill and strength com- bined. Straightway the Taenarian*? youth, heed- less of danger and moved by eagerness for the game, ran out to take up the discus. But it bounded back into the air from the hard earth beneath full in your face, O Hyacinthus. ‘The god grows deadly pale even as the boy, and catches up the huddled form ; now he seeks to warm you again, now tries to staunch your dreadful wound, now strives to stay your parting soul with healing herbs. But his arts are of no avail; the wound is past all cure. Just as when in a garden, if someone should break off violets or stiff poppies or lilies, bristling with yellow stamens, fainting they suddenly droop their withered heads and can no longer stand erect, but gaze, with tops bowed low, upon the earth: so the 1 The home of Hyacinthus, 4 Poetic for Laconian, or Spartan. 17 OVID sic vultus moriens iacet et defecta vigore ipsa sibi est oneri cervix umeroque reeumbit. 195 ‘laberis, Oebalide, prima fraudate iuventa,’ Phoebus ait ‘ videcoque tuuin, mea crimiua, vulius. tu doler es facinusque meum: mea dextera leto inscribenda tuo est. ego sum tibi funeris auctor. quae mea culpa tainen, nisi si lusisse vocari 200 culpa potest, nisi culpa potest et amasse vocari ? atque utinam merito vitam tecumve licerct reddere ! quod quoniam fatali lege tenemur, semper eris necum memorique haerebis in ore. te lyra pulsa manu, te carmina nostra sonabunt, 205 flosque novus scripto gemitus imitabere nostros. tempus et illud erit, quo se fortissimus heros addat in hune florem folioque legatur eodem.’ talia dum vero memorantur Apollinis ore, ecee cruor, qui fusus humo signaverat herbas, = 210 desinit esse cruor, Tyrioque nitentior ostro flos oritur formamique capit, quam lilia, si non purpureus color his, argenteus essct in illis. non satis hoe Phoebo est (is enim fuit auetor honoris): ipse suos gemitus folits inscribit, et Al Al O15 flos habet inscriptum, funestaque littera ducta est. nec genuisse pudet Sparten Hyacinthon : honorque durat in hoc aevi, eelebrancdaque more priorum annua praclata redeunt Hyacinthia pompa. 78 METAMORPHOSES BOOK X dying face lies prone, the neck, its strength all gone, cannot sustain its own weight and falls back upon the shoulders, ‘ Thou art fallen,defrauded of thy youth’s prime, Oebalides,’ 1 says Phoebus, ‘and in thy wound do I see my guilt; thou art my cause of grief and self-reproach ; my hand must be proclaimed the cause of thy destruction, I am the author of thy death. And yet, what is my fault, unless my playing with thee can be called a fault, unless my loving thee ean be called a fault? And oh, that I might give up ny life for thee, so well-deserving, or give it up with thee! But since we are held from this by the laws of fate, thou shalt be always with me, and shalt stay on my mindful lips. Thee shall my lyre, struck by my hand, thee shall mysongs proclaim. And as a new flower, by thy markings shalt thou imitate my groans. Also the time will come when a most valiant hero? shall be linked with this flower, and by the same markings shall he be known.’ While Apollo thus spoke with truth-telling lips, behold, the blood, which had poured out on the ground and stained the grass, ceased to be blood, and in its place there sprang a flower brighter than Tyrian dye. It took the form of the lily, save that the one was of purple hue, while the other was silvery white. Phoe- bus, not satisfied with this—tor ’twas he who wrought the honouring miracle—-himself inscribed his grieving words upon the leaves, and the flower bore the marks, Al AI, letters of lamentation, drawn thereon. Sparta, too, was proud that Hyacinthus was her son, and even to this day his honour still endures; and still, as the anniversary returns, as did their sires, they celebrate the Hyacinthia in solemn festival. 1 Descendant of Oebalus, Spartan. P Ajax. 79 OVID “ At si forte roges fecundam Amathunta metallis, an genuisse velit Propoetidas, abnuat aeque 221 atque illos, gemino quondam quibus aspera cornu frons erat, unde etiam nomen traxere Cerastae. ante fores horum stabat lovis Hospitis ara ; ignarus sceleris! quam siquis sanguine tinctam 225 advena vidisset, mactatos crederet illic lactantes vitulos Amathusiacasque bidentcs : hospes erat caesus! sacris offensa nefandis ipsa suas urbes Ophiusiaque arva parabat deserere alma Venus. ‘sed quid loca grata, quid urbes peccavere meae? quod’ dixit‘crimen in illis? 231 exilio poenam potius gens inpia pendat vel nece vel siquid medium est mortisque fugaeque. idque quid esse potest, nisi versae poena figurae ?’ dum dubitat, quo mutet eos, ad cornua vultum = 235 flexit et admonita est haec illis posse relinqui grandiaque in torvos transformat membra 1uvencvs. «Sunt tamen obscenae Venerem Propoetides atsae esse negare deam; pro quo sua numinis ira corpora cum fama primae vulgasse feruntur, 24.0 utque pudor cessit, sanguisque induruit oris, in rigidum parvo silicem discrimine versae. * Quas quia Pygmalion aevum per crimen agentis viderat, offensus vitiis, quae plurima menti femineae natura dcedit, sine coniuge caelebs 24.5 vivebat thalamique diu consorte carebat. 1 The text is corrupt. Of the many MS. readings and con- jectures thisof N. Madvig seems best. Ehwald reads ¢ in lugubris celeri f. 80 METAMORPHOSES BOOK X * But if you should chance to ask Amathus, rich in veins of ore, if she is proud of her Propoetides, she would repudiate both them and those whose foreheads once were deformed by two horns, whence also they took their name, Cerastae. Before their gates there used to stand an altar sacred to Jove, the god of hospitality; if any stranger, ignorant of the crime, had seen this altar all smeared with blood, he would suppose that suckling calves or two-year- old sheep of Amathus had been sacrificed thereon. ‘T'was the blood of slaughtered guests! Outraged by these impious sacrifices, fostering Venus was pre- paring to desert her cities and her Ophiusian plains ; ‘but,’ she said, ‘wherein have these pleasant regions, wherein have my cities sinned? What crime is there in them? Rather let this impious race pay the penalty by exile or by death, or by some punishment midway betwixt death and exile, And what other can that be than the penalty of a changed form?’ While she hesitates to what she shall change them, her eyes fall upon their horns, and she reminds herself that these can still be left to them. And so she changes their big bodies into savage bulls. “But the foul Propoetides dared to deny the divinity of Venus. In consequence of this, through the wrath of the goddess they are said to have been the first to prostitute their bodies and their fame; and as their shame vanished and the blood of their faces hardened,! they were turned with but small change to hard stones. “Pygmalion had seen these women spending their lives in shame, and, disgusted with the faults which in such full measure nature had given the female 1 ive. they lost the power to blush. 81 OVID interea niveum mira felicitcr arte sculpsit ebur formamque dedit, qua femina nasci nuila potest, operisque sui concepit amorem. virginis est vcrae facies, quam vivere credas, 250 et, si non obstet reverentia, velle moveri: ars adeo latet arte sua. miratur et haurit pectore Pygmalion simulati corporis ignes. saepe manus operi temptantes admovet, an sit corpus an i}lud ebur, nec adhue ebur esse fatetur. oscula dat reddique putat loquiturque tenetque 256 et credit tactis digitos insidere membris et metuit, pressos veniat ne livor in artus, et modo blanditias adhibet, modo grata puellis munera fert illi conchas teretesque lapillos 260 et parvas volucres et flores mille colorum liliaque pictasque pilas et ab arbore lapsas Heliadum lacrimas; ornat quoque vestibus artus, dat digitis gemmas, dat longa monilia collo, aure leves bacae, redimicula pectore pendent: 265 cuncta decent; nec nuda minus formosa videtur. conlocat hane stratis concha Sidonide tinctis dapellatque tori sociam adclinataque colla mollibus in plumis, tamquam sensura, reponit. « Festa dies Veneris tota celeberrima Cypro 270 venerat, et pandis inductae cornibus aurum conciderant ictae nivea cervice iuvencae, turaque fumabant, cum muncre functus ad aras 82 METAMORPHOSES BOOK X mind, he lived unmarried and long was without a partner of his couch. Meanwhile, with wondrous art he successfully carves a figure out of snowy ivory, giving it a beauty more perfect than that of any woman ever born. And with his own work he falls in love. The face is that of a real maiden, whom you would think living and desirous of being moved, if modesty did not prevent. So does his art conceal his art. Pygmalion looks in admiration and is in- flamed with love for this semblance of a form. Often he lifts his hands to the work to try whether it be flesh or ivory; nor does he yet confess it to be ivory. He kisses it and thinks his kisses are re- turned. He speaks to it, grasps it and seems to feel his fingers sink into the limbs when he touches them; and then he fears lest he leave marks of bruises on them. Now he addresses it with fond words of love, now brings it gifts pleasing to girls, shells and smooth pebbles, little birds and many-hued flowers, and lilies and coloured balls, with tears! of the Heliadesthatdrop down from the trees. He drapes its limbs also with robes, puts gemmed rings upon its fingers and a long necklace around its neck; pearls hang from the ears and chains adorn the breast. All these are beautiful ; but no less beautiful is the statue unadorned. He lays it on a bed spread with coverlets of Tyrian hue, calls it the consort of his couch, and rests its reclin- ing head upon soft, downy pillows, as if it could enjoy them. “And now the festal day of Venus had come, which all Cyprus thronged to celebrate; heifers with sprcading horns covered with gold had fallen ‘neath the death-stroke on their snowy necks, and the altars smoked with incense. Pygmalion, having 1a.e. amber. 83 OVID constitit et timide ‘si di dare cuncta potestis, sit coniunx, opto,’ non ausus ‘eburnea virgo’ = 275 dicere, Pygmalion ‘similis mea’ dixit ‘eburnae.’ sensit, ut ipsa suis aderat Venus aurea festis, vota quid illa velint et, amici numinis omen, flainma ter accensa est apicemque per aera duxit. ut rediit, simulacra suae petit ille puellae 280 incumbensque toro dedit oscula: visa tepere est ; adinovet os iterum, manibus quoque pectora temptat : teniptatum mollescit ebur positoque rigore subsidit digitis ceditque, ut Hymettia sole cera remollescit tractataque pollice multas 285 flectitur in facies ipsoque fit utilis usu. dum stupet et dubie gaudet fallique veretur, rursus amans rursusque manu sua vota retractat. corpus erat! saliunt temptatae pollice venae. tum vero Paphius plenissima concipit heros 290 verba, quibus Veneri grates agat, oraque tandem ore suo non falsa premit, dataque oscula virgo sensit et erubuit timidumque ad lumina lumen attollens pariter cum caelo vidit amantem. coniugio, quud fecit, adest dea, iamquce coactis 295 cornibus in plenum noviens lunaribus orbem illa Paphon genuit, de qua tenet insula nomen. «‘ Editus hac ille est, qui si sine prole fuisset, inter felices Cinyras potuisset haberi. dira canam ; procul hine natae, procul este parentes, aut, mea si vestras mulcebunt carmina mentcs, 301 desit in hae mihi parte fides, nec eredite factum, 54 METAMORPHOSES BOOK X brought his gift to the altar, stood and falteringly prayed: ‘If ye, O gods, can give all things, J pray to have as wife he did not dare add ‘my ivory maid,’ but said, ‘one like my ivory maid.’ But golden Venus (for she herself was present at her feast) knew what that prayer meant; and, as an omen of her favouring deity, thrice did the fame burn brightly and leap high in air. When he returned he sought the image of his maid, and bending over the couch he kissed her. She seemed warm to his touch. Again he kissed her, and with his hands also he touched her breast. The ivory grew soft to his touch and, its hardness vanishing, gave and yielded beneath his fingers,as Hymettian wax grows soft under the sun and, moulded by the thumb, is easily shaped to many forms and becomes usable through use itself. The lover stands amazed, rejoices still in doubt, fears he is mistaken, and tries his hopes again and yet again with his hand. Yes, it was real flesh! ‘The veins were pulsing beneath his testing finger. Then did the Paphian hero pour ont copious thanks to Venus, and again pressed with his lips real lips at last. The maiden felt the kisses, blushed and, lifting her timid eyes up to the light, she saw the sky and her lover at the same time. The goddess graced with her presence the marriage she had made; and ere the ninth moon had brought her crescent to the full, a daughter was born to them, Paphos, from whom the island takes its name. if ‘‘Cinyras was her son and, had he been without offspring, might have been counted fortunate. A horrible tale I have to tell. Far hence be daughters, far hence, fathers; or, if your minds find pleasure in my songs, do not give credence to this story, and believe that it never happened ; or, if you do believe 85 OVID vel, si credetis, facti quoque credite poenam. si tamen admissum sinit hoc natura videri, gentibus Ismariis et nostro gratulor orbi, 305 gratulor huic terrae, quod abest regionibus illis, quae tantum genuere nefas: sit dives amomo cinnamaque costumque suum sudataque ligno tura ferat floresque alios Panchaia tellus, dum ferat et murram : tanti nova non fuit arbor. 310 ipse negat nocuisse tibi sua tela Cupido, Myrrha, facesque suas a crimine vincicat isto ; stipite te Stygio tumidisque adflavit echiduis e tribus una soror: scelus est odisse parentem, hic amor est odio maius scelus.—undique lecti 315 te cupiunt proceres, totoque Oriente iuventa ad thalami certamen adest: ex omnibus unum elige, Myrrha, virum, dum ne sit in omnibus unus. illa quidem sentit foedoque repugnat amori et secum ‘ quo mente feror ? quid molior ?’ inquit ‘di, precor, et pietas sacrataque iura parentum, 321 hoc prohibete nefas scelerique resistite nostro, si tamen hoc scelus est. sed enim damnare negatur hance Venerem pietas: coeunt animalia nullo cetera dilectu, nec habetur turpe iuvencae 325 ferre patrem tergo, fit equo sua filia coniunx, quasque creavit init pecudes caper, ipsaque, cuius semine concepta est, ex illo concipit ales. felices, quibus ista licent ! humana malignas cura dedit leges, et quod natura remittit, 330 invida iura negant, gentes tamen esse feruntur, 86 METAMORPHOSES BOOK Xx it, believe also in the punishment of the deed. It, however, nature allows a crime like this to show itself, I congratulate the Ismarian people, and this our country ; I congratulate this land on being far away from those regions where such iniquity is possible. Let the land of Panchaia be rich in balsam, let it bear its cinnamon, its costum, its frankincense exuding from the trees, its flowers of many sorts, so long as it bears its myrrh-tree, too: a new tree was not worth so great a price. Cupid himself avers that his weapons did not harm you, Myrrha, and clears his torches from that crime of yours. One of the three sisters with firebrand from the Styx and with swollen vipers blasted you. ’Tis a crime to hate one’s father, but such love as this is a greater crime than hate. From every side the pick of princes desire you; from the whole Orient young men are here vying for your couch; out of them all choose one for your husband, Myirrha, only let not one? be among them all. She, indeed, is fully aware of her vile passion and fights against it and says within her- self: ‘To what is my purpose tending? What am [ planning? O gods, I pray you, and piety and the sacred rights of parents, keep this sin from me and fight off my crime, if indeed it isa crime. But I am not sure, for piety refuses to condemn such love as this. Other animals mate as they will, nor is it thought base for a heifer to endure her sire, nor for his own offspring to be a horse’s mate ; the goat goes in among the flocks which he has fathered, and the very birds conceive from those from whom they were conceived. Happy they who have such privi- lege! Human civilization has made spiteful laws, and what nature allows, the jealous laws forbid. And A g.¢. her father, 87 OVID in quibus et nato genetrix et nata parenti iungitur, ut pietas geminato crescat amore. me miseram, quod non nasci mihi contigit illic, fortunaque loci laedor !—quid in ista revolvor? 335 spes interdictae, discedite ! dignus amari ille, sed ut pater, est.—ergo, si filia magni non essem Cinyrac, Cinyrae concumbere possem : nunc, quia iam meus est, non est meus, ipsaque damno est mihi proximitas, aliena potentior essem ? 340 ire libet procul hine patriaeque relinquere fines, dum scelus effugiam ; rctinet malus ardor amantem, ut praesens spectem Cinyram tangamque loquarque osculaque admoveam, si nil conceditur ultra.

ultra autem spcctare aliquid potes, inpia virgo? 345 et quot confundas et iura et nomina, sentis ! tune eris et matris paelex et adultera patris? tune soror nati genetrixque vocabere fratris ? nee mctues atro crinitas angue sorores, quas facibus saevis oculos atque ora petentes 350 noxia corda vident? at tu, dum corpore non es passa nefas, animo ne concipe neve potentis concubitu vetito naturae pollue foedus! velle puta: res ipsa vetat; pius ille memorque moris—et o vellem similis furor esset in illo!’ 355 « Dixerat, at Cinyras, quem copia digna procorum, quid faciat, dubitare facit, scitatur ab ipsa, nominibus dictis, cuius velit esse mariti ; illa silet primo patriisque in vultibus haerens aestuat et tepido suffundit lumina rore, 360 88 METAMORPHOSES BOOK X yet they say that there are tribes among whom mother with son, daughter with father mates, so that natural love is increased by the double bond. Oh, wretched me, that it was not my lot tu be born there, and that I am thwarted by the mere accident of place! Why do I dwell on such things? Avaunt, lawless desires! Worthy to be loved is he, but as a father.—Well, if I were not the daughter of great Cinyras, to Cinyras could I be joined. But as it is, because he is mine, he is not mine; and, while my very propinquity is my loss, would I asa stranger be better off? It is well to go far away, to leave the borders of my native land, if only I may flee from crime ; but unhappy passion keeps the lover here, that I may see Cinyras face to face, may touch him, speak with him and kiss him, if nothing else is granted. But can you hope for aught else, you un- natural girl? Think how many ties, how many names you are confusing! Will you be the rival of your mother, the mistress of your father? Will you be called the sister of your son, the mother of your brother? And have you no fear of the sisters with black snakes in their hair, whom guilty souls see brandishing cruel torches before their eyes and faces? But you, while you have not yet sinned in body, do not conceive sin in your heart, and defile not great nature’s law with unlawful union. Grant that you wish it: facts themselves forbid. He is a righteous man and heedful of moral law—and oh, how I wish a like passion were in him!’ “ She spoke ; but Cinyras, whom a throng of worthy suitors caused to doubt what he should do, inquired of her herself, naming them over, whom she wished for husband. She is silent at first and, with gaze fixed on her father’s face, wavers in doubt, while the 89 OVID virginei Cinyras haec credens esse timoris, flere vetat siccatque genas atque oscula iungit ; Myrrha datis nimium gaudet consultaque, qualem optet habere virum, ‘ similem tibi’ dixit; at ille non intellectam vocem conlaudat et ‘ esto 365 tam pia semper’ ait. pietatis nomine dicto demisit vultus sceleris sibi conscia virgo. ‘“ Nectis erat medium, curasque et corpora somnus solverat ; at virgo Cinyreia pervigil igni carpitur indomito furiosaque vota retractat 370 et modo desperat, modo vult temptare, pudetque et cupit, et, quid agat, non invenit, utque securi saucia trabs ingens, ubi plaga novissima restat, quo cadat, in dubio est omnique a parte timetur, sic animus vario labefactus vuliere nutat 375 huc levis atque illuc momentaque sumit utroque, nec modus et requies, nisi mors, reperitur amoris. mors placet. erigitur laqueoque innectere fauces destinat et zona summo de poste revincta ‘care, vale, Cinyra, causamque intellege inortis !’ 380 dixit et aptabat pallenti vincula collo. ‘¢Nurmura verborum fidas nutricis ad aures pervenisse ferunt limen servantis alumnae. surgit anus reseratque fores mortisque paratae instrumenta videns spatio conclamat eodem 385 sequc ferit scinditque sinus ereptaque collo vincula dilaniat ; tum denique flere vacavit, tum dare conplexus laqueique requirere causam, muta silet virgo terramque inmota tuetur 90 METAMORPHOSES BOOK X warn tears fill her eyes. Cinyras, attributing this to maidenly alarm, bids her not to weep, dries her cheeks and kisses her on the lips. Myrrha is too rejoiced at this and, being asked what kind of husband she desires, says: ‘One like you.’ But he approves her word, not understanding it, and says: ‘May you always be so filial.’ At the word ¢ filial’ the girl, conscious of her guilt, casts down her eyes, “It was midnight, and sleep had set free men’s bodies from their cares ; but the daughter of Cinyras, sleepless through the night, is consumed by un- governed passion, renews her mad prayers, is filled now with despair, now with lust to try, feels now shame and now desire, and finds no plan of action; and, just as a great tree, smitten by the axe, when all but the last blow has been struck, wavers which way to fall and threatens every side, so her mind, weakened by many blows, leans unsteadily now this way and now that, and falteringly turns in both directions ; and no end nor rest for her passion can she find save death, She decides on death. She rises from her couch, resolved to hang herself, and, tying her girdle to a ceiling-beam, she says : ‘ Fare- well, dear Cinyras, and know why I die,’ and is in the act of fitting the rope about her death-pale neck. “ They say that the confused sound of her words came to the ears of the faithful nurse who watched outside her darling’s door. ‘The old woman rises and opens the door; and when she sees the pre- parations for death, all in the same moment she screams, beats her breasts and rends her garments, and seizes and snatches off the rope from the girl's neck. Then at last she has time to weep, time to embrace her and ask the reason for the nouse. The girl is stubbornly silent, gazes fixedly on the ground, D 91 OVID et deprensa dolet tardae conuamina mortis, 390 instat anus canosque suos et inania nudanis ubera per cunas alimentaque prima precatur, ut sibi committat, quicquid dolet. illa rogantem aversata gemit; certa est exquirere nutrix nee solam spondere fidem. ‘dic’ inquit ‘ opemque me sine ferre tibi: non est mea pigra senectus. 396 seu furor est, habeo, quae carmine sanet et herbis ; sive aliquis nocuit, magico lustraberc ritu ; ira deum sive est, sacris placabilis ira. quid rear ulterius? certe fortuna domnusque 4.00 sospes et in cursu est: vivunt genetrixque paterque.’ Myrrha patre audito suspiria duxit ab imo pectore ; nec nutrix etiamnum concipit ullum mente nefas aliquemque tamen praesentit amorem propositique tenax, quodcumque est, orat, ut ipsi 405 indicet, et gremio lacrimantem tollit anili atque ita conplectens infirmis membra lacertis ‘sensimus, inquit ‘amas! et in hoc mea (pone timore.) sedulitas erit apta tibi, nec sentiet umquam hoc pater.’ exiluit gremio furibunda torumque +10 ore premens ‘ discede, precor, miseroque pudori parce !’ ait; instant: ‘discede, aut desine’ dixit ‘quaerere, quid doleam! scelus est, quod scire laboras.’ horret anus tremulasque manus annisque metuque tendit et ante pedes supplex procumbit alumnae 415 et modo blanditur, modo, si non conscia fiat, terret et indicium laquei coeptaeque minatur 92 METAMORPHOSES BOUK X and grieves that her attempt at death, all too slow, has been detected. The old woman insists, bares her white hair and thin breasts, and begs by the girl’s cradle and her first nourishment that she trust to her nurse her cause of grief. The girl turns away from her pleadings with a groan. The nurse is determined to find out, and promises more than confidence. ‘Tell me,’ she says, ‘and let me help you; my old age is not without resources. If it be madness, I know one who has healing-charms and herbs; or if someone has worked an evil spell on you, you shall be purified with magic rites; or if the gods are wroth with you, wrath may be appeased by sacrifice. What further can I think? Surely your household fortunes are prosperous as usual; your mother and your father are alive and well." At the name of father Myrrha sighed deeply from the bottom of her heart. Even now the nurse had no conception of any evil in the girl's soul, and yet she had a presentiment that it was some love affair, and with persistent purpose she begged her to tell her whatever it was. She took the weeping girl on her aged bosom, and so holding her in her feeble arms she said: ‘I know, you are in love! and in this affair I shal] be entirely devoted to your service, have no fear; nor shall your father ever know.’ With a bound the mad girl leaped from her bosom and, burying her face in her couch, she said : ‘Go away, I pray you, and spare my unhappy shame’: still pressed, ‘Go away,’ she said again, ‘or cease asking why I grieve. It is a crime, what you want so much to know.’ The old woman is horrified and, stretching out her hands trembling with age and fear, she falls pleadingly at her nursling’s feet, now coaxing and now frightening her if she does not tell; she both threatens to report the affair of the noose and attempt at death, and promises her help 93 OVID mortis et officium commisso spondet amori. extulit illa caput lacrimisque inplevit obortis pectora nutricis conataque saepe fateri 420 saepe tenet vocem pudibundaque vestibus ora texit et ‘o’ dixit ‘felicem coniuge matrem ! ° hactenus, et gemuit. gelidus nutricis in artus ossaque (sensit enin)) penetrat tremor, albaque toto vertice canities rigidis stetit hirta capillis, 425 multaque, ut excuteret diros, si posset, amores, addidit, at virgo scit se non falsa moneri ; certa mori tamen est, si non potiatur amore. ‘vive,’ ait haee, ‘ potiere tuo ’—et, non ausa ‘ parente’ dicere, conticuit promissaque numine firmat. 430 “ Festa piae Cereris ce!lebrabant annua matres illa, quibus nivea velatae corpora veste primitias frugum dant spicea serta suarum perque novem noctes venerem tactusque viriles in vetitis numerant : turba Cenchreis in illa 435 regis adest coniunx arcanaque sacra frequentat. ergo legitima vacuus dum coniuge lectus, nacta gravem vino Cinyram male sedula nutrix, nomine mentito veros exponit amores et faciem laudat; quaesitis virginis annis 44.0 ‘par’ ait “est Myrrhae.’ quam postquam adducere iussa est utque domum rediit, ‘ gaude, mea’ dixit ‘alumna: vicimus !" infelix non toto pectore sentit laetitiam virgo, praesagaque pectora maerent, sed tamen et gaudet; tanta est discordia mentis. 445 “ Tempus erat, quo cuncta silent, interque triones flexerat obliquo plaustrum temone Bootes: 94 METAMORPHOSES BOOK X if she will confess her love. The girl lifts her head and fills her nurse’s bosom with her rising tears; often she tries to confess, and often checks her words and hides her shamed face in herrobes. Then she says: ‘O mother, blest in your husband !’— only so much, and groans. Cold horror stole through the nurse’s frame (for she understood), and her white hair stood up stiffly over all her head, and she said many things to banish, if she might, the mad passion. The girl knew that she was tnily warned; still she was resolved on death if she could not have her desire. ‘ Live then,’ said the other, ‘have your’ —she did not dare say ‘ father’ ; she said no more, calling on Heaven to confirm her promises. “It was the time when married women were cele- brating that annual festival of Ceres at which with bodies robed in white raiment they bring garlands of wheaten ears as the first offerings of their fruits, and for nine nights they count love and the touch of man among things forbidden. In that throng was Cen- chreis, wife of the king, in constant attendance on the secret rites. And so since the king's bed was deprived of his lawful wife, the over-otticious nurse, finding Cinyras drunk with wine, told him of one who loved him truly, giving a false name, and praised her beauty. When he asked the maiden’s age, she said: ‘The same as Myrrha’s.”_ Bidden to fetch her, when she had reached home she cried: ‘ Rejoice, my child, we win!’ Not with all her heart did the unhappy girl feel joy, and her mind was filled with sad forebodings; but still she did also rejoice; so inconsistent were her feelings. ‘It was the time when all things are at rest, and between the Bears Bodtes had turned his wain with 95 OVID ad facinus venit illa suum; fugit aurea caelo luna, tegunt nigrae latitantia sidera nubes ; nox caret igne suo; primus tegis, Icare, vultus, 450 Erigoneque pio sacrata parentis amore. ter pedis offensi signo est revocata, ter omen funereus bubo letali carmine fecit: it tamen, et tenebrae minuunt noxque atra pudorem ; nutricisque manum laeva tenet, altera motu 455 caecum iter explorat. thalami iam limina tangit, iamque fores apcrit, iam ducitur intus: at illi poplite succiduo genua intremuere, fugitque et color et sanguis, animusque relinquit euntem. quoque suo propior sceleri est, magis horret, et ausi paenitet, ct vellet non cognita posse reverti. 461 cunctantem longaeva manu deducit et alto admotam lecto cum traderet ‘accipe,’ dixit, ‘ista tua est, Cinyra’ devotaque corpora iunxit. accipit obsceno genitor sua viscera lectu 4.65 virgineosque metus levat hortaturque timentem. forsitan aetatis quoque nomine ‘ filia’ dixit, dixit et illa ‘ pater,’ sceleri ne nomina desint. «Plena patris thalamis excedit et inpia diro semina fert utero conceptaque crimina portat. 470 postera nox facinus geminat, nec finis in illa est, cum tandem Cinyras, avidus cognoscere amantem go METAMORPHOSES BOOK X down-pointing pole.1 She came to her guilty deed. The golden moon fled from the sky; black clouds hid the skulking stars; night was without her usual fires. You were the first, Icarus, to cover your face, and you, Erigone, deified for yonr pious love of your father. Thrice was Myrrha stop; ed by the omen of the stumbling foot; thrice did the funereal screech-ow] warn her by his uncanny ery: still on she went, her shame lessened by the black shadows of the night. With her left hand she holds fast to her nurse, and with the other she gropes her way through the dark. Now she reaches the threshold of the chamber, now she opens the door, now is led within. But her krees tremble and sink beneath her; colour and blood flee from her face, and her senses desert her as she goes. ‘The reuwrer she is to her crime, the more she shudders at it, repents her of her boldness, would gladly turn back unrecognized, As she holds back, the aged crone leads her by the hand to the side of the high bed and, delivering her over, says: ‘Take her, Cinyras, she is yours’; and leaves the doomed pair together. The father receives his own flesh in his incestuous bed, strives to calm her girlish fears, and speaks encouragingly to the shrinking girl. It chanced, by a name appropriate to her age, he called her ‘daughter, and she called him ‘father,’ that names might not be lacking to their guilt. “ Forth from the chamber she went, full of her father, with crime conceived within her womb. The next night repeated their guilt, nor was that the end. At length Cinyras, eager to recognize his mistress 1 At midnight these constellations attain their highest point in the heavens, and thereafter begin their downward course. 97 OVID post tot concubitus, inlato lumine vidit et scelus et natam verbisque dolore retentis pendenti nitidum vagina deripit ensem ; 475 Myrrha fugit : tenebrisque et caecae munere noctis intercepta neci est latosque vagata per agros palmiferos Arabas Panchacaque rura relinquit perque novem erravit redeuntis cornua lunae, cum tandem terra requievit fessa Sabaea ; 480 vixque uteri portabat onus. tum nescia voti atque inter mortisque metus et taedia vitae est tales conplexa preces: ‘0 siqua patetis uumina confessis, merui nec triste recuso supplicium, sed ue violem vivosque superstes 485 mortuaque exstinctos, ambobus pellite regnis mutataeque mihi vitamque necemque negate!’ numen confessis aliquod patct: ultima certe vota suos habuere deos. nam crura loquentis terra supervenit, ruptosque obliqua per ungues 490 porrigitur radix, longi firmamina trunci, ossaque robur agunt, mediaque manente medulla sanguis it in sucos, in magnos bracchia ramos, in parvos digiti, duratur cortice pellis. iamque gravem crescens uterum perstrinxcrat arbor pectoraque obruerat collumque operire parabat: 496 non tulit illa moram venientique obvia ligno subsedit mersitque suos in cortice vultus. quae quamquam amisit veteres cum corpore sensus, flet tamen, et tepidae manant ex arbore guttae, 500 est honor et lacrimis, stillataque robore murra nomen erile tenet nulloque tacebitur aevo. 08 METAMORPHOSES BOOK X after so many meetings, brought in a light and beheld his crime and his daughter. Speechless with woe, he snatched his bright sword from the sheath which hung near by. Myrrha fled and escaped death by grace of the shades of the dark night. Groping her way through the broad fields, she left palm-bearing Arabia and the Panchaean country; then, after nine months of wandering, in utter weariness she rested at last in the Sabaean land. And now she could scarce bear the burden of her womb, Not knowing what to pray for, and in a strait betwixt fear of death and weariness of life, she summed up her wishes in this prayer: ‘O gods, if any there be who will listen to my prayer, I do not refuse the dire punishment I have deserved ; but lest, surviving, I offend the living, and, dying, I offend the dead, drive me from both realms; change me and refuse me both life and death!’ Some god did listen to her prayer; her last petition had its answering gods. For even as she spoke the earth closed over her legs; roots burst forth from her toes and stretched out on either side the supports of the high trunk; her bones gained strength, and, while the central pith remained the same, her blood changed to sap, her arms to long branches, her fingcrs to twigs, her skin to hard bark. And now the growing tree had closely bound her heavy womb, had buried her breast and was just covering her neck; but she could not endure the delay and, meeting the rising wood, she sank down and plunged her face in the bark. Though she has lost her old-time feelings with her body, still she weeps, and the warm drops trickle down from the tree. Even the tears have fame, and the myrrh which distils from the tree-trunk keeps the name of its mis- tress and will be remembered through all the ages. 99 OVID ** At male conceptus sub robore creverat infans quaerebatque viam, qua se genetrice relicta exsereret; media gravidus tumet arbore venter. 505 tendit onus matrem ; neque habent sua verba dolores, nec Lucina potest parientis voce vocari. nitenti tamen est similis cnrvataque crebros dat gemitus arbor lacrimisque cadentibus umet. constitit ad ramos mitis Lucina dolentis 510 admovitque manus et verba puerpera dixit: arbor agit rimas et fissa cortice vivum reddit onus, vagitque puer; quem mollibus herbis naides inpositum lacrimis unxere parentis. laudaret faciem Livor quoque; qualia namque 515 corpora nudorumn tabula pinguntur Amorum, talis erat, sed, ne faciat discrimina cultus, aut huic adde leves, aut illi deme pharetras. “ Labitur occulte fallitque volatilis aetas, et nihil est annis velocius: ille sorore 520 natus avoque suo, qui conditus arbore nuper, nuper erat genitus, modo formosissimus infans, iam iuvenis, iam vir, iam se formosior ipso est, iam placet et Veneri matrisque ulciscitur ignes. namque plhiaretratus dum dat puer oscula matri, 525 inscius exstanti destrinxit harundine pectus ; laesa manu natum dea reppulit . altius actum vulnus erat specie primoque fefellerat ipsam. capta viri forma non iam Cythereia curat litora, non alto repetit Paphon aequore cinctain 530 piscosamque Cnidon gravidamve Amathunta metallis; 100 METAMORPHOSES BOOK X “‘ But the misbegotten child had grown within the wl, 204. was now seeking a way by which it might leave it. motherand come forth. The pregnant tree swells in mid-trunk, the weight within straining on its mother. The birth-pangs cannot voice them- selves, nor can Lucina be called upon in the words of one in travail. Still, like a woman in agony, the tree bends itself, groans oft, and is wet with fall- ing tears. Pitying Lucina stood near the groaning branches, laid her hands on them, and uttered charms to aid the birth. Then the tree cracked open, the bark was rent asunder, and it gave forth its living burden, a wailing baby-boy. The naiads laid him on soft leaves and anointed him with his mother’s tears. Even Envy would praise his beauty, for he looked like one of the naked loves portrayed on canvas. But, that dress may make no distinction, you should either give the one a light quiver or take it from the other. “Time glides by imperceptibly and cheats us in its flight, and nothing is swifter than the years. That son of his sister and his grandfather, who was but lately concealed within his parent tree, but lately born, then a most lovely baby-boy, is now a youth, now man, now more beautiful than his former self; now he excites even Venus’ love, and avenges his mother’s passion. For while the goddess’ son, with quiver on shoulder, was kissing his mother, he chanced unwittingly to graze her breast with a projecting arrow. ihe wounded goddess pushed her son away with her hand ; but the scratch had gone deeper than she thought, and she herself was at first deceived. Now, smitten with the beauty of a mortal, she cares no more for the borders of Cythera, nor does she seek Paphos, girt by the deep sea, nor fish-haunted Cnidos, 10] OVID abstinet et caelo: caelo praefertur Adonis. hunc tenet, huic comes est adsuetaque semper in umbra indulgere sibi formamque augere colendo, per iuga, per silvas dumosaque saxa vagatur 535 fine genu vestem ritu succincta Dianae hortaturque canes tutaeque animalia praedae, aut pronos lepores aut celsum in cornua cervum aut agitat dammas; a fortibus abstinet apris raptoresque lupos armatosque unguibus ursos 540 vitat et armenti saturatos caede leones. te quoque, ut hos timeas, siquid prodesse monendo posset, Adoni, monct, ‘ fortis’que ‘ fugacibus esto’ inquit; ‘in audaces non est audacia tuta. parce meo, iuvenis, temerarius esse periclo, 545 neve feras, quibus arma dedit natura, lacesse, stet mihi ne magno tua gloria. non movet aetas nec facies nec quae Venerem movere, leones saetigeresque sues oculosque animosque ferarum. fulmen habent acres in aduncis dentibus apri, 5550 impetus est fulvis et vasta leonibus ira, invisumque mihi genus est.’ quae causa, roganti ‘dicam,’ ait ‘et veteris monstrum mirabere culpae. sed labor insolitus iam me lassavit, et, ecce, opportuna sua blanditur populus umbra, 555 datque torum caespes: libet hac requiescere tecum © (et requievit) ‘ humo’ pressitque et gramen et ipsum inque sinu iuvenis posita cervice reclinis sic ait ac mediis interserit oscula verbis : 102 METAMORPHOSES BOOK X nor Amathus, rich in precious ores. She stays away even from the skies; Adonis is preferred to heaven, She holds him fast, is his companion and, though her wont has always been to take her ease in the shade. and to enhance her beauty by fostering it, now, over mountain ridges, through the woods, over rocky places set with thorns, she ranges with her garments girt up to her knees after the manner of Diana. She also cheers on the hounds and pursues those creatures which are safe to hunt, such as the headlong hares, or the stag with high-branching horns, or the timid doe; \but from strong wild boars she keeps away, and fio ravenous wolves, and she avoids bears, armed with claws, and lions reeking with the slaughter of cattle. She warns you, too, Adonis, to fear these beasts, if only it were of any availto warn. ‘ Be brave wernt timorous creatures, she says; ‘ but _as _against bold creatures boldness is not safe. Do not be rash, dear boy; gt my risk ; and do not provoke those beasts “which nature has well armed, lest your glory be at great cost to me. Neither youth nor beauty, nor the ~things which have moved Venus, move lions and br istling boars and the eyes and minds of wild beasts. Boars have the force of a lightning stroke in their curving tusks, and the impetuous wrath of tawny lions is irresistible. I fearand hate themall.’ When he asks her why, she says: ‘I will tell, and you shall marvel at the monstrous outcome of an ancient crime. But now [ am aweary with my unaccustomed toil; and see, a poplar, happilv at hand,invites us with its shade, and here is grassy turf for couch. I would fain rest here on the grass with you.’ So saying, she reclined upon the’ cround and, pillowing her head against his breast and min eling kisses with her words she told the following tale: 103 OVID ¢« Forsitan audieris aliquam certamine cursus 560 veloces superasse viros: non fabula rumor iNe fuit; superabat enim. nec dicere posses, laude pedum formaene bono praestantior esset. scitanti deus huic de coniuge “ coniuge ” dixit “ nil opus est, Atalanta, tibi: fuge coniugis usum. 505 nec tamen effugies teque ipsa viva carebis.” territa sorte dei per opacas innuba silvas vivit et instantem turbam violenta procorum condicione fugat, “ nee sum potienda, nisi” inquit “ yicta prius cursu. pedibus contendite mecum: 570 praemia veloci coniunx thalamique dabuntur, mors pretium tardis: ea lex certaminis esto.” illa quidem inmitis, sed (tanta potentia formae est) venit ad hanc legem temeraria turba procorum. sederat Hippomenes cursus spectator iniqui 575 et “petitur cuiquam per tanta pericula coniunx ?” dixerat ac nimios iuvenum damnarat amiores 3 ut faciem et posito corpus velamine vidit, quale meum, vel quale tuum, si femina fias, obstipuit tollensque manus “ignoscite, dixit = 580 “ quos modo culpavi! nondum mihi praemia nota, quae peteretis, erant.”” laudando concipit ignes et, ne quis iuvenum currat velocius, optat invidiaque timet. “sed cur certaminis huius intemptata mihi fortuna relinquitur ?” inquit 585 audentes dens ipse iuvat!”’ dum talia secum exigit Hippomenes, passu volat alite virgo. 104 METAMORPHOSES BOOK X “¢* You may, perchance, have heard of a maid who surpassed swift-footed men in the contest of the race. And that was no idle tale, for she did surpass them. Nor could you say whether her fleetness or her beauty was more worthy of your praise. Now when this maid consulted the oracle about a husband, the god replied : “A husband will be your bane, O Atalanta; flee. from the intercourse of husband ; and yet you will not escape, and, though living, you will lose yourself.” Terrified by the oracle of the god, she lived unwedded in the shady woods, and with harsh terms she re- pulsed the insistent throng of suitors. ‘I am not to be won,” she said, “ till I be conquered first in speed. Contest the race with me. Wife and couch shall be given as prize unto the swift, but death shall be the reward of those who lag behind. Be that the con- dition of the race.”” She, in truth, was pitiless, but such was the witchery of her beauty, even on this condition a rash throng of suitors came to try their fate. Now Hippomenes had taken his seat as a spectator of this cruel race, and had exclaimed: “Who would seek a wife at so great peril to him- self?’’ and he had condemned the young men for their headstrong love. {But when he saw her face and her disrobed form, such beauty as is mine, or as would be yours if you were a woman, he was amazed ~” and, stretching out his hands, he cried: “ Forgive me, ye whom but now I blamed. (I did not yet realize the worth of the prize you strove for.” As he praises, his own heart takes fire and he hopes that none of the youths may outstrip her in the race, and is filled with jealous fears. ‘But why is my fortune in this contest left untried?” hecries. ‘“ God himself helps those who dare.” While thus Hippomenes was weighing the matter in his mind, the girl sped by 105 OVID quae quamquam Scythica non setius ire sagitta Aonio visa est iuveni, tamen ille decorem miratur magis: et cursus facit ille decorem. 590. aura refert ablata citis talaria plantis, tergaque iactantur crines per eburnea, quaeque poplitibus suberant picto genualia limbo ; inque puellari corpus candore ruborem traxerat, hand aliter, quam cum super atria velum candida purpureum simulatas inficit umbras. 596 dum notat haec hospes, decursa novissima meta est, et tegitur festa victrix Atalanta corona. dant gemitum victi penduntque ex foedere poenas. ««Non tamen eventu iuvenis deterritus horum constitit in medio vultuque in virgine fixo 601 “quid facilem titulum superando quaeris inertes ? mecum confer” ait. “seu me fortuna potenteim fecerit, a tanto non indignabere vinci: namque mihi genitor Megareus Onchestius, illi 605 est Neptunus avus, pronepos ego regis aquarum, nec virtus citra genus est; seu vincar, habebis Hippomene victo magnum et memorabile nomen.” talia dicentem molli Schoeneia vultu aspicit et dubitat, superari an vincere malit, 610 atque ita “ quis deus hunce formosis ” inquit “ iniquus perdere vult caraeque iubet discrimine vitae coniugiuim petere hoc? non sum, me iudice, tanti, nec forma tangor, (poteram tamen hac quoque tangi) sed quod adhuc puer est; -non me movet ipse, sed aetas, 615 106 METAMORPHOSES BOOK X on winged feet. Though she seemed to the Aonian youth to go not less swiftly than a Scythian arrow, yet he admired her beauty still more. And the running gave a beauty of its own. The breeze bore back the streaming pinions on her flying feet, her hair was tossed over her white shoulders ; the bright- bordered ribbons at her knees were fluttering, and over her fair girlish body a pink flush came, just as when a purple awning, drawn over a marble hall, stains it with borrowed hues. While the stranger marked all this, the last goal was passed, and Atalanta was crowned victor with a festal wreath. But the conquered youths with groans paid the penalty according to the bond. “Not deterred by the experience of these, how- ever, Hippomenes stood forth and, fixing his eves upon the girl, exclaimed: “Why do you seek an easily won renown by conquering sluggish youth ? Come, strive with me! If fortune shall give me the victory, ‘twill be no shame for you to be overcome by so great a foe. For Megareus of Onchestus is my father and his grandfather is Neptune; hence I am the great-grandson of the king of the waters. Nor is my manly worth less than my race. Or, if I shall be defeated, you will have a great and memorable name for the conquest of Hippomenes.” As he said this, the daughter of Schoeneus gazed on him with softening eyes, being in a strait betwixt her desire to conquer and to be conquered. And thus she spoke: ‘What god, envious of beauteous youths, wishes to destroy this one, and prompts him to seek wedlock with me at the risk of his own dear life? I am not worth so great a price, if I am the judge. Nor is it his beauty that touches me—and yet I could be touched by this as well—but the fact that he is still 107 OVID quid, quod inest virtus et mens interrita leti? quid, quod ab aequorea numeratur origine quartus? quid, quod amat tantique putat connbia nostra. ut pereat, si me fors illi dura negarit ? dum licet, hospes, abi thalamosque relinque cruentos coniugium crudele meum est, tibi nubere nulla nolet, et optari potes a sapiente puella.— 621 cur tamen est mihi cura tui tot iam ante peremptis? viderit ! intereat, quoniam tot caede procorum admonitus non est agiturque in taedia vitae.— occidet hic igitur, voluit quia vivere mecum, indignamque necem pretium patietur amoris? non erit invidiae victoria nostra ferendae. sed non culpa mea est! utinam desistere velles, aut, quoniam es deimens, utinam velocior esses ! a: quam virgineus puerili vultus in ore est ! a! miser Hippomene, nollem tibi visa fuissem! vivere dignus eras. quodsi felicior essem, nee mihi couingiuin fata inportuna negarent, unus eras, cum quo sociare cubilia vellem.” dixerat, utque rudis primoque cupidine tacta, quid facit ignorans, amat et non sentit amorem. 625 630 635 «Tam solitos poscunt cursus populusque paterque, cum ine sollicita proles Neptunia voce invocat Hippomenes “Cytherea,” que “conprecor, ausis adsit’” ait “nostris et quos dedit, adiuvet ignes,”’ 108 648 METAMORPHOSES BOOK X but a boy. (It is not he himself who moves me, but his youth. CWhat of his manly courage and his soul fearless of death? What that he claims by birth to )/ be the fourth from the monarch of the seas?} What of his Jove for me, and that he counts marriage with me of so great worth that he would perish if cruel fate denies me to hin? O stranger, go hence while still you may; flee from this bloody wedlock. Mar- riage with me is a fatal thing. No other maiden will refuse to wed you, and it may well be that a wiser girl will seek your love.-—Yet why this care for you, since so many have already perished? Let him look to himself! let him perish, too, since by the death of so many suitors he was not warned, and cares so little for his life-—And shall he die, because he wished to live with me, and suffer undeserved death as the penalty of love? My victory will be attended by unbearable hatred against me. But the fault is none of mine. O sir, I would that you might desist, or, since you are so madly set upon it, would that you might prove the swifter! Ah, how girlish is his youthful face! Ah, poor Hippomenes, I would that you had never looked on me! You were so worthy of life. But if I were of happier fortune, and if the harsh fates did not deny me marriage, you were the only he with whom I should want to share my couch.” So speaks the maid ; and, all untutored, feeling for the first time the impulse of love, ignorant of what she does, she loves and knows it not. “¢ Meanwhile the people and her father demanded the accustomed race. Then did the Neptunian youth, Hippomenes, with suppliant voice call on me: “O may Cytherea,” he said, “be near, I pray, and assist the thing I dare and smile upon the love which she has given.” A kindly breeze bore this soft prayer to 109 f OVID detulit aura preces ad me non invida blandas : motaque sum, fateor, nec opis mora longa dabatur. est ager, indigenae ‘'‘amasenum nomine dicunt, telluris Cypriae pars optima, quam mihi prisci 645 sacravere senes templisque accedere dotem hanc iussere meis; medio nitet arbor in arvo, fulva comas, fulvo ramis crepitantibus auro: hine tria forte mea veniens decerpta ferebam aurea poma manu nullique videnda nisi ipsi 650 Hippomenen adii docuique, quis usus in illis. signa tubae dederant, cum carcere pronus nterque emicat et summam celeri pede libat harenam : posse putes illos sicco freta radere passu et segetis canae stantes percurrere aristas. 655 adiciunt animos iuveni clamorque favorque verbaque dicentum “nunc, nune incumbere tempus ! Hippomene, propera ! nunc viribus utere totis! pelle moram: vinces!” dubium, Megareius heros gaudeat an virgo magis his Schoeneia dictis. 660 o quotiens, cum jam posset transire, morata est spectatosque diu vultus invita reliquit! aridus e lasso veniebat anhelitus ore, metaque erat longe: tum denique de tribus unum fetibus arboreis proles Neptunia misit. 605 obstipuit virgo nitidique cupidine pomi declinat cursus aurumque volubile tollit ; praeterit Hippomenes: resonant spectacula plausu. 110 METAMORPHOSES BOOK X me and [| confess it moved my heart. And _ there was but seanty time to give him aid. There is a field, the natives call it the field of Tamasus, the richest portion of the Cyprian land, which in ancient times men set apart to me and bade my temples be enriched with this. Within this field there stands a tree gleaming with golden leaves and its branches crackle with the same bright gold. Fresh come from there, [ chaneed to have in my hand three golden apples which [ had plucked. Revealing myself to no one save to him, I approached Hippomenes and taught him how to use the apples. The trumpets had sounded for the race, when they both, crouching low, flashed forth from their stalls and slimmed the surface of the sandy course with flying feet. You would think that they could graze the sea with un- wet feet and pass lightly over the ripened heads of the standing grain. The youth was cheered on by shouts of applause and the words of those who cried to him: “ Now, now is the time to bend to the work, Hippomenes! Goon! Now use your utmost strength! Notarrying! You're sure to win!” It is a matter of doubt whether the heroic son of Megareus or the daughter of Schoeneus took more joy ‘of these words. Oh, how often, when she could have passed him, did she delay and after gazing long upon his face reluctantly leave him behind! And now dry, panting breath came from his weary throat and the goal was still far away. ‘Then at length did Neptune’s scion throw one of the three golden apples. The maid beheld it with wonder and, eager to possess the shining fruit, she turned out of her course and picked up the rolling golden thing. Hippomenes passed her by while the spectators roared their applause. She by a burst of speed made 111 OVID illa moram celeri cessataque tempora cursu corrigit atque iterum iuvenem post terga relinquit : et rursus pomi iactu remorata secundi 671 consequitur transitque virum. pars ultima cursus restabat ; “nunc’’ inquit “ ades, dea muneris auctor!” inque latus campi, quo tardius illa rediret, iecit ab obliquo nitidum iuvenatiter aurum. 675 an peteret, virgo visa est dubitare : coegi tollere et adieci sublato pondera malo inpediique oneris pariter gravitate moraque, neve meus sermo cursu sit tardior ipso, praeterita est virgo: duxit sua praemia victor. 680 ‘“«¢ Dignane, cui grates ageret, cui turis honorem ferret, Adoni, fui? nec grates inmemor egit, nec mihi tura dedit. subitam convertor in iram, contemptuque dolens, ne sim spernenda futuris, exemplo caveo meque ipsa exhortor in ambos: 685 templa, deum Matri quae quondam clarus Echion fecerat ex voto, nemorosis abdita silvis, transibant, et iter longum requiescere suasit ; illic concubitus intempestiva cupido occupat Hippomenen a numine concita nostro. 690 luminis exigui fuerat prope templa recessus, speluncae similis, nativo pumice tectus, religione sacer prisca, quo multa sacerdos 112 METAMORPHOSES BOOK xX up for her delay and the time that she had lost, and again left the youth behind her. Again she delayed at the tossing of the second apple, followed and passed the man. The last part of the course remained. “ Now be near me, goddess, author of my gift!”’ he said, and obliquely into a side of the field, returning whence she would lose much time, with all his youth- ful strength he threw the shining gold. The girl seemed to hesitate whether or no she should go after it. I forced her to take it up, and added weight to the fruit she carried, and so impeded her equally with the weight of her burden and with her loss of time. And, lest my story be longer than the race itself, the maiden was outstripped ; the victor led away his prize. “¢ And was | not worthy, Adonis, of being thanked and of having the honour of incense paid to me? But, forgetful of my services, he neither thanked nor offered incense tome. Then was I changed to sudden wrath and, smarting under the slight, and resolved not to be slighted in the future, I decided to make an example of them, and urged myself on against them both. They were passing by a temple deep hidden in the woods, which in ancient times illus- trious Echion had built to the mother! of the gods in payment of a vow; and the long journey persuaded them to rest. There incontinent desire seized on Hippomenes, who was kindled by my divinity. Hard by the temple was a dimly lighted, cave-like place, built of soft native rock, hallowed by ancient religious veneration, where the priest had set many wooden images of the olden gods. This place he entered; this holy presence he defiled by lust. The sacred images turned away their eyes. The tower- 1 Cybele. 113 OVID lignea contulerat veterum simulacra deorum; hune init et vetito temerat sacraria probro. 695 sacra retorserunt oculos, turritague Mater an Stygia sontes dubitavit mergeret unda: poena levis visa est ; ergo modo levia fulvae colla iubae velant, digiti curvantur in ungues, ex umeris armi fiunt, in pectora totum 700 pondus abit, summae cauda verruntur harenae ; iram vultus habet, pro verbis murmura reddunt, pro thalamis celebrant silvas aliisque timendi dente premuut domito Cybeleia frena leones. hos tu, care mihi, cumque his genus omne ferarum, 705 quod non terga fugae, sed pugnae pectora praebet, effuge, ne virtus tua sit damnosa duobus !’ “ [la quidem monuit iunctisque per aera cygnis carpit iter, sed stat monitis contraria virtus, forte suem latebris vestigia certa secuti 710 excivere canes, silvisque exire parantem fixerat obliquo iuvenis Cinyreius ictu : protinus excussit pando venabula rostro sanguine tincta suo trepidumque et tuta petentem trux aper insequitur totosgue sub inguine dentes 715 abdidit et fulva moribundum stravit harena. vecta levi curru mecias Cytherea per auras Cypron olorinis nondum pervenerat alis: agnovit longe gemitum morientis et aibas flexit aves illuc, utque aethere vidit ab alto 720 exanimem inque suo iactantem sanguine corpus, desiluit pariterque sinum pariterque capillos rupit et indignis percussit pectora palinis questaque cum fatis ‘at non tamen omnia vestri 114 METAMORPHOSES BOOK X crowned Mother was on the verge of plunging the guilty pair beneath the waves of Styx; but the punishment seemed light. And so tawny manes covered their necks but now smooth, their fingers curved into claws, their arms change to legs, their weight went chiefly to their chests, with tails they swept the surface of the sandy ground. Harsh were their features, rough growls they gave for speech, and for marriage chamber they haunted the wild woods. And now as lions, to others terrible, with tamed mouths they champed the bits of Cybele. These beasts, and with them all other savage things which turn not their backs in flight, but offer their breasts to battle, do you, for my sake, dear boy, avoid, lest your manly courage be the ruin ‘of us both.’ “Thus the goddess warned and through the air, drawn by her swans, she took her way; but the boy’s manly courage would not brook advice. It chanced his hounds, following a well-marked trail, roused up a wild boar from his hiding-piace; and, as he was rushing from the wood, the young grandson of Cinyras pierced him with a glancing blow. Straightway the fierce boar with his curved snout rooted out the spear wet with his blood, and pursued the youth, now full of fear and running for his life; deep in the groin he sank his long tusks, and stretched the dying boy upon the ‘yellow sand. Borne through the middle air by flying swans on her light car, Cytherea had not yet come to Cyprus, when she heard afar the groans of the dying youth and turned her white swans to go to him. And when from the high air she saw him lying lifeless and weltering in his blood, she leaped down, tore both her garments and her hair and beat her breasts with cruel hands. Reproaching fate, she said: ‘ But 115 OVID iuris erunt’ dixit, ‘luctus monimenta mancbunt semper, Adoni, mei, repetitaque mortis imago 726 annua plangoris peraget simulamina nostri ; at cruor in forem mutabitur. an tibi quondam femineos artus in olentes vertere mentas, Persephone, licuit: nobis Cinyreius heros 730 invidiae mutatus erit?’ sic fata cruorem nectare odorato sparsit, qui tactus ab illo intumnit sic, ut fulvo perlucida caeno surgere bulla solet, nec plena longior hora facta mora est, cum flos de sanguine concolor ortus, qualem, quae lento celant sub cortice granum, 736 punica ferre solent; brevis est tamen usus in illo; namque male haerentem et nimia levitate caducum excutiunt idem, qui praestant nomina, venti.” 116 METAMORPHOSES BOOK X all shall not be in your power. My grief, Adonis, shall have an enduring monument, and each passing year in memory of your death shall give an imitation of my grief. But vour blood shall be changed toa flower. Or was it once allowed to thee, Persephone, to change a maiden’s! form to fragrant mint, and shall the change of my hero, offspring of Cinyras, be grudged to me?’ So saying, with sweet-scented nectar she sprinkled the blood; and this, touched by the nectar, swelled as when clear bubbles rise up from yellow mud, With no longer than an hour’s delay a flower sprang up of blood-red hue such as pomegranates bear which hide their seeds beneath the tenacious rind. But short-lived is their flower ; for the winds from which it takes its name ? shake off the flower so delicately clinging and doomed too easily to fall.” * The nymph Menthe. = Anemone, “the wind-flower.” 117 LIBER XI Carmine dum tali silvas ammosque ferarum Threicius vates ct saxa sequentia ducit, ecce nurus Ciconum tectae lymphata ferinis pectora velleribus tumuli de vertice cernunt Orphea percussis sociantem carmina nervis. 5 e quibus una leves iactato crine per auras, “en,” ait “en, hic est nostricontemptor !”’ et hastam vatis Apollinei vocalia misit in ora, quae foliis praesuta notam sine vulnere fecit ; alterius telum lapis est, qui missus in ipso 10 aere concentu victus vocisque lyraeque est ae veluti supplex pro tam furialibus ausis ante pedes iacuit. sed enim temeraria crescunt bella modusque abiit insanaque regnat Erinys ; cunctaque tela forent cantu mollita, sed ingens 15 clamor et infracto Berecyntia tibia cornu tympanaque et plausus et Bacchei ululatus obstrepuere sono citharae, tum denique saxa non exauditi rubuerunt sanguine vatis. ac primum attonitas etiamnum voce canentis 20 innumeras volucres anguesque agmenque ferarum maenades Orphei titulum rapuere theatri ; inde cruentatis vertuntur in Orphea dextris 120 BOOK XI] Wiig with such songs the bard of Thrace drew the trees, held beasts enthralled and constrained stones to follow him, behold, the crazed women of the Cicones, with skins flung over their breasts, saw Orpheus from a hill-top, fitting songs to the music of his lyre. Then one of these, her tresses streaming in the gentle breeze, cried out: “See, see, here is the man who scorns us!” and hurled her spear straight at the tuneful mouth of Apollo’s bard; but this, wreathed in leaves, marked without harming him. Another threw a stone, which, even as it flew through the air, was overcome by the sweet sound of voice aud lyre, and fell at his feet as if’twould ask forgiveness for its mad attempt. Butstill the assault waxed reckless ° their passion knew no bounds; mad fury reigned And all their weapons would have been harmless under the spell of song; but the huge uproar of the Berecyntian flutes, mixed witii discordant horns, the drums, and the breast-beatings and howlings of the Bacchanals, drowned the lyre’s sound; and then at last the stones were reddened with the blood of the bard whose voice they could not hear. First away went the multitudinous birds still spellbound by the singer's voice, with the snakes and the train of beasts, the glory of Orpheus’ audience, harried by the Maenads ; then these turned bloody hands against Orpheus and flocked around like birds when they see the bird 12] OVID et coeunt ut aves, si quando luce vagantem noctis avem cernunt, structoque utrimque theatro 25 ceu matutina cervus periturus harena praeda canum est, vatemque petunt et fronde virentes coniciunt thyrsos non haec in munera factos. hae glaebas, illae direptos arbore ramos, pars torquent silices ; neu desint tela furori, 30 forte boves presso subigebant vomere terram, nec procul hine multo fructum sudore parantes dura lacertosi fodiebant arva coloni, agmine qui viso fugiunt operisque relinquunt arma sui, vacuosque iacent dispersa per agros 35 sarculaque rastrique graves longique ligones ; quae postquam rapuere ferae cornuque minaces divulsere boves, ad vatis fata recurrunt tendentemque manus et in illo tempore primum inrita dicentem nec quicquam voce moventem 4.0 sacrilegae perimunt, perque os, pro Iuppiter! illud auditum saxis intellectumque ferarum sensibus in ventos anima exhalata recessit. Te maestae volucres, Orpheu, te turba feraruin, te rigidi silices, te carmina saepe secutae 45 fleverunt silvae, positis te frondibus arbor tonsa comas luxit; lacrimis quoque flumina dicunt increvisse suis, obstrusaque carbasa pullo naides et dryades passosque habuere capillos. membra iacent diversa locis, caput, Hebre, lyram ~ue excipis : et (mirum!) medio dum labitur amne, _ 5! 122 METAMORPHOSES BOOK XI of night wandering in the daylight ; and as when in the amphitheatre in the early morning of the spectacle the doomed stag in the arena is the prey of dogs. They rushed upon the bard and hurled at him their wands wreathed with green leaves, not made for such use as this. Some threw clods, some branches torn from trees, and some threw stones. And, that real weapons might not be wanting to their madness, it chanced that oxen, toiling beneath the yoke, were plowing up the soil; and not far from these, stout peasants were digging the hard earth and sweating at their work. When these beheld the advancing horde, they fled away and left behind the imple- ments of their toil. Scattered through the deserted fields lay hoes, long mattocks and heavy grubbing- tools. These the savage women caught up and, first tearing in pieces the oxen who threatened them with their horns, they rushed back to slay the Lard ; and, as he stretched out his suppliant hands, uttering words then, but never before, unheeded, and moving them not a whit by his voice, the impious women struck him down. And (oh, the pity of it!) through those lips, to which rocks listened, and to which the hearts of savage beasts responded, the soul, breathed out, went faring forth in air. The mourning birds wept for thee, Orpheus, the throng of beasts, the flinty rocks, and the trees which had so often gathered to thy songs; yes, the trees shed their leaves as if so tearing their hair in grief for thee. They say that the rivers also were swollen with their own tears, and that naiads and dryads alike mourned with dishevelled hair and with dark- bordered garments. The poet’s limbs lay scattered all around; but his head and lyre, O Hebrus, thou didst receive, and (a marvel!) while they floated in 123 E OVID Hebile nescio quid queritur lyra, flebile lingua murmurat exanimis, respondent flebile ripae. iarmque mare invectae flumen populare relinquunt et Methymnaeae potiuntur litore Lesbi : 55 hic ferus expositum peregrinis anguis harenis os petit et sparsos stillanti rore capillos. tandem Phoebus adest morsusque inferre parantem arcet et in lapidem rictus serpentis apertos congelat et patulos, ut erant, indnrat hiatus. 60 Umbra subit terras, et quae loca viderat ante, cuncta recognoscit quaerensque per arva piorum invenit Eurydicen cupidisque amplectitur ulnis ; hic modo coniunctis spatiantur passibus ambo, nunc praecedentem sequitur, nunc praevius anteit 65 Eurydicenque suam, iam tuto, respicit Orpheus. Non inpune tanien scelus hoc sinit esse Lyaeus amissoque dolens sacrorum vate suorum protinus in silvis matres Edonidas omnes, quae videre nefas, torta racice ligavit ; 70 guippe pedum digitos, in quantum est quaeque secuta, traxit et in solidam detrusit acumina terram, utque suum Jaqueis, quos callidus abdidit auceps, crus ubi commisit volucris sensitque teneri, plangitur ac trepidans adstringit vincula motu: 75 sic, ut quaeque solo defixa cohaeserat harum, exsternata fugam frustra temptabat, at illam lenta tenet radix exsultantemque coercet, dumque ubi sint digiti, dum pes ubi, quaerit, et ungues, aspicit in teretes lignum succedere suras 80 124 METAMORPHOSES BOOK XI mid-stream the lyre gave forth some mournful notes, mournfully the lifeless tongue murmured, mournfully the banks replied. And now, borne onward to the sea, they left their native stream and gained the shore of Lesbos near the city of Methymna. Here, as the head lay exposed upona foreign strand, a savage serpent attacked it and its streaming locks still dripping with the spray. But Phoebus at last appeared, drove off the snake just in the act to bite, and hardened and froze to stone, just as they were, the serpent’s widespread, yawning jaws. The poet's shade Hed beneath the earth, and recog- nized al] the places he had seen before; and, seeking through the blessed fields, found Eurydice and caught her in his eager arms. Here now side by side they walk ; now Orpheus follows her as she precedes, now goes before her, now may in safety look back upon his Eurydice. - However, Lyaeus did not suffer such crime as this to go unavenged. Grieved at the loss of the bard of his sacred rites, he straightway bound fast all those Thracian women, who saw the impious deed, with twisted roots. For he prolonged their toes and, in so far as each root followed down, he thrust their tips into the solid earth. And as a bird, when it has caught its foot in the snare which the cunning fowler has set for it, and feels that it is caught, flaps and flutters, but draws its bonds tighter by its struggling ; so, as each of these women, fixed firmly in the soil, had stuck fast, with wild affright, but all in vain, she attempted to flee. The tough roots held her, and though she struggled, kept firm their grasp. And when she asked where were her fingers, where her feet, her nails, she saw the bark come creeping up her shapely legs; striving to smite her thighs with 125 OVID et conata femur maerenti plangere dextra robora percussit, pectus quoque robora fiunt, robora sunt umeri; longos quoque bracchia versa esse putes ramos, et non fallare putando. Nec satis hoc Baccho est, ipsos quoque deserit agros cunique choro meliore sui vineta Timoli 86 Pactolonque petit, quamvis non aureus illo tempore nec caris erat invidiosus harenis. hune adsueta cohors, satyri bacchaeque, frequentant, at Silenus abest: titubantem annisque meroque 90 ruricolae cepere Phryges vinctumque coronis ad regem duxere Midan, cui Thracius Orpheus orgia tradiderat cum Cecropio Eumolpo. qui simul agnovit socium comitemque sacrorum, hospitis adventu festum genialiter egit 95 per bis quinque dies et iunctas ordine noctes, et iam stellarum sublime coegerat agmen Lucifer undecimus, Lydos cum laetus in agros rex venit et iuveni Silenum reddit alumno. Huic deus optandi gratum, sed inutile fecit 100 muneris arbitrium gaudens altore recepte. ille male usurus donis ait “ effice, quicquid corpore contigero, fulvum vertatur in anrum.” adnuit optatis nocituraque munera solvit Liber et indoluit, quod non meliora petisset. 105 laetus abit gaudetque malo Berecyntius heros pollicitique fidem tangendo singula temptat vixque sibi credens, non alta fronde virentem ilice detraxit virgam: virga aurea facta est: 126 METAMORPHOSES BOOK XI hands of grief, she smote on oak. Her breasts also became of oak ; oaken her shoulders. Her arms you would think had been changed to long branches— nor would your thought be wrong. Nor is this enough for Bacchus. He leaves their very fields and with a worthier band seeks the vine- yards of his own Timolus and his Pactolus; although this was not at that time a golden stream, nor envied for its precious sands. His usual company, satyrs and bacchanals, thronged round him; but Silenus was not there Him, stumbling with the weight of years and wine, the Phrygian rustics took captive, bound him with wreaths, and led him to Midas, their king. To this Midas, together with the Athenian Eumolpus, Thracian Orpheus had taught the rites of Bacchus. When now the king recognized the comrade and assistant of his revels, right merrily to celebrate the coming of his guest he ordered a festival which they kept for ten continuous days and nights. And now the eleventh dawn had driven away the ranks of stars on high, when the king with joyful heart came to the Lydian fields and gave Silenus back to his dear foster-child. Then did the god, rejoicing in his foster-father’s safe return, grant to the king the free choice of a boon, a pleasing, but useless gift. Midas, fated to make an ill use of his gift, exclaimed: “Grant that whatsoever I may touch with my body may be turned to yellow gold.” Bacchus granted his prayer and gave him the baleful gift, grieving the while that he had not asked better. The Berecyntian hero gaily went his way, rejoicing in his fatal gift, and tried its promised powers by touching this and that. Scarcely daring to believe, from a low oak- branch he broke off a green twig: the twig was 127 OVID tollit humo saxum: saxum quoque palluit auro; 110 contigit et glaebam: contactu glaeba potenti massa fit; arentis Cereris decerpsit aristas : aurea messis erat; demptum tenet arbore pomum : Hesperidas donasse putes ; si postibus altis admovit digitos, postes radiare videntur ; 115 ille etiam liquidis palmas ubi laverat undis, unda fluens palmis Danaen eludere posset ; vix spes ipse suas animo capit aurea fingens omnia, gaudenti mensas posuere ministri exstructas dapibus nec tostae frugis egentes: 120 tum vero, sive ille sua Cerealia dextra munera contigerat, Cerealia dona rigebant, sive dapes avido convellere dente parabat, lammina fulva dapes admoto dente premebat ; miscuerat puris auctorem muneris undis : 125 fusile per rictus aurum fluitare videres. Attonitus novitate mali divesque miserque effugere optat opes et quae modo voverat, odit. copia nulla famem relevat; sitis arida guttur urit, et inviso meritus torquetur ab auro 130 ad caelumque manus et splendida bracchia tollens ‘(da veniam, Lenaee pater! peccavimus ” inquit, “sed miserere, precor, speciosoque eripe damno!" mite deum numen: Bacchus peccasse fatentem restituit pactique fide data munera solvit 135 “neve male optato maneas circumlitus auro, 128 METAMORPHOSES BOOK Xl changed to gold. He picked up a stone from the ground: the stone, also, showed a light golden hue. He touched a clod: beneath that magic touch the clod became a mass of gold. He plucked some ripe wheat-heads: it was a golden harvest. He picked an apple from a tree and held it in his hand: you would suppose the Hesperides had givenit. If he laid his fingerson the lofty pillars, the pillars gleamed before hiseyes. When he bathed his hands in water, the water flowing over his hands could cheat a Danaé. His mind itself could scarcely grasp its own hopes, dreaming of all things turned to gold. As he re- joiced, his slaves set a table before him loaded with meats; nor was bread wanting. Then indeed, if he touched the gift of Ceres with his hand, the gift of Ceres went stiff and hard; or if he tried to bite a piece of meat with hungry teeth, where his teeth touched the food they touched but yellow plates of gold. He mingled pure water with the wine of Bacchus, giver of his gift; but through his jaws you would see the molten gold go trickling. Amazed by this strange mishap, rich and yet wretched, he seeks to flee his wealth and hates what he but now has prayed for. No store of food can relieve his hunger; his throat is parched with burning thirst, and through his own fault he is tortured by hateful gold. Lifting his hands and shining arms to heaven, he cries: ‘Oh, pardon me, Lenaeus, father! I have sinned. Yet have mercy, I pray thee, and save me from this curse that looks so fair.” The gods are kind: Bacchus restored him to his former condition when he confessed his fault, and herelieved him of the boon which he had given in fulfilment of his pledge. ‘And, that you may not remain encased in gold which you have so 129 OVID vade” ait “ad magnis vicinum Sardibus amnein perque iugum Lydum labentibus obvius undis carpe viam, donec venias ad fluminis ortus, spumigeroque tuum fonti, qua plurimus exit, 140 subde caput corpusque simul, simul elue crimen.” rex iussae succedit aquae: vis aurea tinxit flumen et humano de corpore cessit in amnem ; nune quoque iam veteris percepto semine venae arva rigent auro madidis pallentia glaebis. 145 Ille perosus opes silvas et rura colebat Panaque montanis habitantem semper in antris, pingue sed ingenium mansit, nocituraque, ut ante, rursus erant domino stultae praecordia mentis. nam freta prospiciens late riget arduus alto 150 Tmolus in ascensu clivoque extensus utroque Sardibus hine, illine parvis finitur Hypaepis. Pan ibi dum teneris iactat sua carmina nymphis et leve cerata modulatur harundine carmen ausus Apollineos prae se contemnere cantus, 155 indice sub T'molo certamen venit ad inpar. Monte suo senior iudex consedit et aures liberat arboribus: quercu coma caerula tantum cingitur, et pendert circum cava tempora glandes. isque deum pecoris spectans “in iudice’’ dixit 160 ‘nulla mora est.’ calamis agrestibus insonat ille barbaricoque Midan (aderat nam forte canenti) carmine delenit ; post hunc sacer ora retorsit Tmolus ad os Phoebi: vultum sua silva secuta est 130 METAMORPHOSES BOOK Xt foolishly desired,’ he said, “go to the stream which Hows by mighty Sardis town, and take your way along the Lydian hills up the tumbling stream until you come to the river’s source. There plunge your head and body beneath the foaming fountain where it comes leaping forth, and by that act wash your sin away.” The king went to the stream as he was bid. The power of the golden touch imbued the water and passed from the man’s body into the stream. And even to this day, receiving the seed of the original vein, the fields grow hard and yellow, their soil soaked with water of the golden touch. But Midas, hating wealth, haunted the woods and fields, worshipping Pan, who has his dwelling in the mountain caves. But stupid his wits still remained, and his foolish mind was destined again as once before to harm its master. For T'molus, looking far out upon the sea, stands stiff aud high, with steep sides extend- ing with one slope to Sardis, and on the other reaches down to little Hypaepae. There, while Pan was sing- ing his songs to the soft n;mphs and playing airy interludes upon his reeds close joined with wax, he dared speak slightingly of Apollo’s music in com- parison with his own, and came into an ill-matched contest with Tmolus as the judge. The old judge took his seat upon his own moun- tain-top, and shook his ears free from the trees. His dark locks were encircled by an oak-wreath only, and acorns hung around his hollow temples. He, looking at the shepherd-god, exclaimed: “‘ There is no delay on the judge’s part.’ Then Pan made music on his rustic pipes, and with his rude notes quite charmed King Midas, for he chanced to hear the strains. After Pan was done, venerable ‘'molus turned his face to- wards Phoebus; and his forest turned with his face. 13) OVID ille caput flavum lauro Parnaside vinctus 165 verrit humum Tyrio saturata murice palla instrictamque fidem gemmis et dentibus Indis sustinet a laeva, tenuit manus altera plectrum ; artificis status ipse fuit. tum stamina docto pollice sollicitat, quorum dulcedine captus 170 Pana iubet Tmolus citharae submittere cannas. [udicium sanctique placet sententia montis omnibus, arguitur tamen atque iniusta vocatur unius sermone Midae; nec Delius aures humanam stolidas patitur retinere figuram, 175 sed trahit in spatium villisque albentibus inplet instabilesque imas facit et dat posse moveri: cetera sunt hominis, partem damnatur in unam induiturque aures lente gradientis aselli. ile quidem celare cupit turpisque pudore 180 tempora purpureis temptat velare tiaris ; sed solitus longos ferro resecare capillos viderat hoc famulus, qui cum nec prodere visum dedecus auderet, cupiens efferre sub auras, nec posset reticere tamen, secedit humumque 185 effodit et, domini quales adspexerit aures, voce refert parva terraeque inmurmurat haustae indiciumque suae vocis tellure regesta obruit et scrobibus tacitus discedit opertis. ereber harundinibus tremulis ibi surgere lucus 190 coepit et, ut primum pleno maturuit anno, prodidit agricolam: leni nam miotus ab austro obruta verba refert dominique coarguit aures. Ultus abit Tmolo liquidumque per aera vectus angustum citra pontum Nepheleidos Helles 195 132 METAMORPHOSES BOOK XI Phoebus’ golden head was wreathed with laurel of Parnasus, and his mantle, dipped in Tyrian dye, swept the ground. His lyre, inlaid with gems and Indian ivory, he held in his left hand, while his right hand held the plectrum. His very pose was that of an artist. Then with trained thumb he plucked the strings and, charmed by those sweet strains, Imolus ordered Pan to lower his reeds before the lyre. All approved the judgment of the sacred mountain- god. And yet it was challenged and called unjust by Midas’ voice alone. The Delian god did not sutter ears so dull to keep their human form, but lengthened them out and filled them with shaggy, grey hair; he also made them unstable at the base and gave them power of motion. Human in all else, in this one feature was he punished, and wore the ears of a slow- moving ass. JDisfigured and ashamed, he strove to hide his temples beneath a purple turban, but the slave who was wont to trim his long hair beheld his shame. And he, since he dared not reveal the dis- graceful sight, yet eager to tell it out and utterly unable to keep it to himself, went off and dug a hole in the ground and into the hole, with low, muttered words, he whispered of his master’s ears which he had seen. Then by throwing back the earth he buried the evidence of his voice and, having thus filled up the hole again, he silently stoleaway. Buta thick growth of whispering reeds began to spring up there, and these, when at the year’s end they came to their full size, betrayed the sower, for, stirred by the gentle breeze, they repeated his buried words and exposed the story of his master’s ears. - His vengeance now complete, Latona’s son retires from Tmolus and, borne through the liquid air, with- out crossing the narrow sea of Helle, daughter of 133 OVID Laomedonteis Latoius adstitit arvis. dextera Sigei, Rhoetei laeva profundi ara Panomphaeo vetus est sacrata Tonanti: inde novae primum moliri moenia Troiae Laomedonta videt susceptaque magna labore 200 crescere difficili nec opes exposcere parvas cumqne tridentigero tumidi genitore profundi mortalem induitur formam Phrygiaeque tyranno aedificat muros pactus pro moenibus aurum. stabat opus: pretium rex infitiatur et addit, 205 perfidiae cumulum, falsis periuria verbis. “non inpune feres’’ rector maris inquit, et omnes inclinavit aquas ad avarae litora Troiae inque freti formam terras conplevit opesque abstulit agricolis et fluctibus obruit agros. 210 poena neque haec satis est : regis quoque filia monstro poscitur aequoreo, quam dura ad saxa revinctam vindicat Alcides promissaque munera dictos poscit equos tantique operis mercede negata bis periura capit superatae mocnia Troiae. 215 nec, pars militiae, ‘’elamon sine honore recessit Hesioneque data potitur. nam coniuge Peleus clarus erat diva nec avi magis ille superbus nomine quam soceri, siquidem Iovis esse nepoti contigit haut uni, coniunx dea contigit uni. 220 134 METAMORPHOSES BOOK XI Nephele, he came to earth in the country of Lao- medon. Midway between the Sigean and Rhoetean promontories was an ancient altar sacred to the Panomphaean Thunderer. ‘There Apollo saw Lao- medon beginning to build the walls of his new city, Troy; and, perceiving that the mighty task was proceeding with great difficulty, and demanded no slight resources, he, together with the trident- bearing father of the swollen sea, put on mortal form and built the walls for the Phrygian king, having first agreed upon a sum of gold for the walls. There stood the work. But the king repudiated his debt and, as a crowning act of perfidy, swore that he had never promised the reward. “ But you shall not go unpunished,” the sea-god said, and he set all his waters flowing against the shores of miserly Troy. He flooded the country till it looked like a sea, swept away the farmers’ crops and whelmed their fields beneath his waters. Nor was this punishment enough; the king’s daughter also must be sacri- ficed to a monster of the deep. But while she was bound there to the hard rocks, Alcides set her free, and then demanded his promised wage, the horses that were agreed upon. But the great task’s price was again refused, and so the hero took the twice- perjured walls of conquered Troy. Nor did Tela: mon, the partner of his campaign, go without reward, and Hesione was given him. For Peleus! was honoured with a goddess for his bride, and was not more proud of his grandfather’s name than of his father-in-law ; since it had fallen to not one alone to be grandson of Jove, but to him alone had it fallen to have a goddess for his wife. 1 Peleus also had assisted Hercules in this exploit. 185 OVID Namque senex Thetidi Proteus “dea” dixerat ‘ undae, concipe: mater eris iuvenis, qui fortibus annis acta patris vincet maiorque vocabitur illo.” ergo, ne quicquam mundus love maius haberet, quamvis haut tepidos sub pectore senserat ignes, 225 luppiter aequoreae Thetidis conubia fugit, in suaque Aeaciden succedere vota nepotem iussit et amplexus in virginis ire marinae. Est sinus Haemoniae curvos faleatus in arcus, bracchia procurrunt: ubi, si foret altior unda, 230 portus erat; summis inductum est aequor harenis ; litus habet solidum, quod nec vestigia servet nec remoretur iter nec opertum pendeat alga ; myrtea silva subest bicoloribus obsita bacis. est specus in medio, natura factus an arte, 235 ambiguum, magis arte tamen: quo saepe venire frenato delphine sedens, Theti, nuda solebas. illic te Peleus, ut somno vincta iacebas, occupat, et quoniam precibus temptata repugnas, vim parat, innectens ambobus colla lacertis ; 240 quod nisi venisses variatis saepe figuris ad solitas artes, auso foret ille potitus ; sed modo tu volucris: volucrem tamen ille tenebat; nunc gravis arbor eras: haerebat in arbore Peleus ; tertia forma fuit maculosae tigridis: illa 245 territus Aeacides a corpore bracchia solvit. usque deos pelagi vino super aequora fuso 136 METAMORPHOSES BOOK XI For old Proteus had said to Thetis: “O god- dess of the waves, conceive: thou shalt be the mother of a youth who, when to manhood grown, shall outdo his father’s deeds and shall be called greater than he.” Because of this, lest the earth should produce anything greater than himself, though he had felt the hot fires of love deep in his heart, Jove shunned the arms of Thetis, goddess of the sea, aud bade his grandson, the son of Aeacus, assume the place of lover in his stead, and seek a union with this virgin of the deep. There is a bay on the Thessalian coast, rounded like a curved sickle, with arms running out; ‘twould be a safe port for ships if the water were deeper. The sea spreads smooth over the sandy bottom ; the shore is firm, such as leaves no trace of feet, delays no journey, is free from seaweed. A myrtle wood grows close at hand, thick-hung with two-coloured berries. There is a grotto in this grove, whether made by nature or art one may not surely say, but rather by art. To this grot oftentimes, riding thy bridled dolphin, O Thetis, naked wast thou wont tocome. There then did Peleus seize thee as thou layest wrapped in slumber; and since, though en- treated by his prayers, thou didst refuse, he prepared to force thy will, entwining thy neck with both his arms. And hadst thou not, by changing oft thy form, had recourse to thine accustomed arts, he would have worked his daring will on thee. But now didst thou take the form of a bird: still he held fast to the bird. Now wast thou a sturdy tree; around the tree did Peleus tightly cling. Thy third dis- guise was a spotted tigress’ form: in fear of that Peleus loosed his hold on thee. Then did he pray unto the gods of the sea with wine poured out 137 OVID et pecoris fibris et fumo turis adorat, donee Carpathius medio de gurgite vates « Aeacide,” dixit “ thalainis potiere petitis, 250 tu modo, cum rigido sopita quiescet in antro, ignaram laqueis vincloque innecte tenaci. nec te decipiat centum mentita figuras, sed preme, quicquid erit, dum, quod fuit ante, reformet.”’ dixerat haec Proteus et condidit aequore vultuin 255 admisitque suos in verba novissima fluctus. Pronus erat Titan inclinatoque tenebat Hesperium temone fretum, cum pulchra relecto Nereis ingreditur consueta cubilia saxo ; vix bene virgineos Peleus invaserat artus: 200 illa novat formas, donec sua membra teneri sentit et in partes diversas bracchia tendi. tum demu: ingemuit, “neque” ait “sine numine vincis ”’ exhibita estque Thetis: confessam amplectitur heros et potitur votis ingentique inplet Achille. 205 Felix et nato, felix et coniuge Peieus, et cui, si demas iugulati crimina Phoci, omnia contigerant: fraterno sanguine sentem expulsumque domo patria Trachinia tellus accipit. hic regnum sine vi, sine caede regebat 270 Lucifero genitore satus patriumque nitorem ore ferens Ceyx, illo qui tempore maestus dissimilisque sui fratrem lugebat ademptum. quo postquam Aeacides fessus curaque viaque 138 METAMORPHOSES BOOK Xi upon the water, with entrails of sheep, and with the smoke of incense; until the Carpathian seer from his deep pools rose and said to him: “ O son of Aeacus, thou shalt yet gain the bride thou dost desire. Only do thou, when she lies within the rocky cave, deep sunk in sleep, bind her in her un- consciousness with snares and close-clinging thongs. And though she take a hundred lying forms, let her not escape thee, but hold her close, whatever she may be, until she take again the form she had at frst.” So spoke Proteus and hid his face beneath the waves, as he let his waters flow back ayvain over his final words. Now Titan was sinking low and kept the western sea beneath his down-sloping chariot, when the fair Nereid, seeking again the grot, lay down upon her accustomed couch. There scarce had Peleus well laid hold on her virgin limbs, when she began to assume new forms, until she perceived that she was held firmly bound and that her arms were pinioned wide. Then at length she groaned and said: “’Tis not without some god’s assistance that you conquer,” and gave herself up as Thetis. Her, thus owning her defeat, the hero caught in his embrace, attained his desire, and begat on her the great Achilles. Peleus was blessed in his son, blessed in his wife, and to him only good befell, if you except the crime of the murdered Phocus. Driven from his father’s house with his brother’s blood upon his hands, he found asylum in the land of Trachis. Here ruled in peaceful, bloodless sway Ceyx, son of Lucifer, with all his father’s bright gladness in his face. But at that time he was sad and unlike himself, for he was mourning the taking off of his brother. To him the son of Aeacus came, worn with his cares and 139 OVID venit et intravit paucis comitantibus urbem, 215 quosque greges pecorum, quae secum armenta trahebat, haut procul a muris sub opaca valle reliquit 5 copia cum facta est adeundi prima tyranni, velamenta manu praetendens supplice, qui sit quoque satus, memorat, tantum sua crimina celat 280 mentiturgue fugae causam ; petit, urbe vel agro se iuvet. hunce contra placido Trachinius ore talibus adloqnitur : “ mediae quoque commoda plebi nostra patent, Peleu, nec inhospita regna tenemus ; adicis huic animo momenta potentia, clarum 285 nomen avumque Iovem ; ne tempora perde precando ! quod petis, omne feres tuaque haec pro parte vocato, qualiacumque vides ! utinam meliora videres ! "’ et flebat: moveat tantos quae causa dolores, 289 Peleusque comitesque rogant; quibus ille profatur : “forsitan hanc volucrem, rapto quae vivit et omnes terret aves, semper pennas habuisse putetis : vir fuit (et—tanta est animi constantia—tantuin acer erat belloque ferox ad vimque paratus) nomine Daedalion. — illo genitore creatis, 295 qui vocat Auroram caeloque novissimus exit, culta mihi pax est, pacis mihi cura tenendae coniugiigue fuit, fratri fera bella placebant : illius virtus reges gentesque subegit, quae nune Thisbaeas agitat mutata columbas. 300 nata erat baie Chione, quae dotatissima forma 140 METAMORPHOSES BOOK XI journeyings, and entered his city with but a few retainers following. He left the flocks of sheep and the cattle which he had brought with him in a shady vale not far trom the city’s walls; then, when first he was allowed to approach the monarch, stretching out with suppliant hand an olive-branch wound with woollen fillets, he told him who he was and from what father sprung. He concealed only his crime, and lied concerning the reason for his fight. He begged for a chance to support himself in city or in field. To him the Trachinian monarch with kind words replied : “ The opportunities of our realm lie open, Peleus, even to humble folk, and we do not rule an inhospitable kingdom. To this our kindly disposition you add the strong incentive of an illus- trious name and descent from Jove. Then waste no time in prayer. You shall have all you seek. Call all this your own whatsoever you see; and I would that you saw better!” He spoke and wept. When Peleus and his companions asked him the cause of his great grief, he answered them: “ Perchance you think that yonder bird, which lives on rapine and is the terror of all birds, was always a feathered creature. He was once a man (and, so fixed is character, his only qualities were harshness, eagerness for war, readiness for violence), by name Daedalion. We two were born of that god who wakes the dawn and passes last from the sky. I was by nature peaceful and my care was always for preserving peace and for my wife. But cruel war was my brother's pleasure. His fierce courage subdued kings and nations, and now in changed form it pursues the doves of Thisbe.1. He had a daughter, Chione, a girl * A little town on the coast of Boeotia, famous for its wild doves. Tél OVID mille procos habuit, bis septem nubilis annis. forte revertentes Phoebus Maiaque creatus, ille suis Delphis, hic vertice Cylleneo, videre hanc pariter, pariter traxere calorem. 305 spem veneris differt in tempora noctis Apollo; non fert ille moras virgaque movente soporem virginis os tangit: tactu iacet illa potenti vimque dei patitur; nox caelum sparserat astris: Phoebus anum simulat praereptaque gaudia summit. ut sua maturus conplevit tempora venter, 311 alipedis de stirpe dei versuta propago nascitur Autolycus furtum ingeniosus ad omne, candida de nigris et de candentibus atra qui facere adsuerat, patriae non degener artis; 315 nascitur e Phoebo (namque est enixa gemellos) carmine vocali clarus citharaque Philammon. quid peperisse duos et dis placuisse duobus et forti genitore et progenitore nitenti esse satam prodest ? an obest quoque gloria? multis obfuit, huic certe ! quae se praeferre Dianae 321 sustinuit faciemque deae culpavit, at illi ira ferox mota est ‘ factis ’’ que ‘ placebimus ’ inquit. nec mora, curvavit cornu nervoque sagittam inpulit et meritam traiecit harundine linguam. 325 lingua tacet, nee vox temptataque verba sequuntur, conantemque loqui cum sanguine vita reliquit; quam miser amplexans ego tum patriumque dolorein corde tuli fratrique pio solacia dixi, quae pater haut aliter quam cautes murmura ponti 142 METAMORPHOSES BOOK XI most richly dowered with beauty, who had a thousand suitors when she had reached the marriageable age of fourteen years. It chanced that Phoebus and the son of Maia, returning the one from Delphi, the other from high Cyllene, beheld her both at orce and both at once were filled with love of her. Apollo put off his hope of love till night-time, but the other brooked no delay, and touched the maiden’s face with his sleep-compelling wand. She lay beneath the god's magic touch and endured his violence. Now night had spangled the heavens with the stars when Phoebus, assuming an old woman’s form, gained his forestalled joy. When the fullness of time was come, a son was born to the wing-footed god, Autolycus, of crafty nature, well versed in cunning wiles. For he could make white of black and black of white, a worthy heir of his father’s art. To Phoebus also, for the birth was twin, was born Philammon, famous for song and zither. But what profits it that she bore two sons, that she found favour with two gods, that she herself was sprung from a brave sire and shining grandsire? Is not glory a bane as well? It has been a bane to many, surely to her! For she boldly set herself above Diana and criticized the goddess’ beauty. But to her the goddess, moved by hot rage, exclaimed: ‘Then by our deeds we'll please you.’ Upon the word she bent her bow, sent an arrow swift flying from the string, and pierced that guilty tonzue with the shaft. The tongue was stilled, nor voice nor attempted words came more. Even as she tried to speak her life fled forth with her blocd. Wretched, I embraced her, feeling her father’s grief in my heart, and to my dear brother I spoke words of comfort. The father heard them as the crags hear the murmurs of the sea, and kept 143 OVID accipit et nataim delamentatur ademptam ; 331 wt vero ardentem vidit, quater impetus ill in medios fuit ire rogos, quater inde repulsus concita membra fugae mandat similisque iuvenco spicula crabronum pressa cervice gerenti, 335 qua via nulla, ruit. iam tum mili currere visus plus homine est, alasque pedes sumpsisse putares. effugit ergo omnes veloxque cupidine leti vertice Parnasi potitur; miseratus Apollo, cum se Daedalion saxo misisset ab alto, 340 fecit avem et subitis pendentem sustulit alis oraque adunca dedit, curvos dedit unguibus hamos, virtutem antiquam, maiores corpore vires, et nunc accipiter, nuili satis aequus, in omnes saevit aves aliisque dolens fit causa doleidi.” 3.45 Quae dum Lucifero genitus miracula narrat de consorte suo, cursu festinus anhelo advolat armenti custos Phoceus Onetor et “ Peleu, Peleu! magnae tibi nuntius adsum cladis””’ ait. quodcumque ferat, iubet edere Peleus, pendet et ipse metu trepidi Trachinius oris ; 351 ille refert ‘“ fessos ad litora curva iuvencos adpuleram, medio cum Sol altissimus orbe tantum respiceret, quantum superesse videret, parsque boum fulvis genua inclinarat harenis 355 latarumque iacens campos spectabat aquarum, pars gradibus tardis illuc errabat et illuc ; nant alii celsoque instant super aequora collo. templa mari subsunt nec marmore clara neque auro, sed trabibus densis lucoque umbrosa vetusto: 360 Nereides Nereusque tenent (hos navita ponti 144 METAMORPHOSES BOOK XI ever bewailing his lost child. But when he saw her burning, four times he made to rush into the blazing pile. Four times thrust back, he took to mad flight and, like a bullock whose neck is pierced by hornets’ stings, over trackless ways he rushed. Even then he seemed to me to run faster than human powers allow, and you would have thought his feet had taken wings. So then he fled us all and quickly, bent on destruction, he gained Parnasus’ top. Apollo, pity- ing him, when Daedalion had hurled himself from that high cliff, made him a bird, held him sus- pended there on sudden wings, and gave him a hooked beak, gave him curved claws, but he left him his old-time courage and strength greater than his body. And now as a hawk, friendly to none, he vents his cruel rage on all birds and, suffering himself, makes others suffer, too.” While the son of Lucifer was telling this marvel- lous story of his brother, Phocian Onetor, Peleus’ herdsman, came running in with breathless haste, crying: “ Peleus, Peleus! I come to tell you news of dreadful slaughter.” Peleus bade him tell his news, while the Trachinian king himself waited in trembling anxiety. The herdsman went on: “I had driven the weary herd down tothe curving shore when the high sun was midway in his course, beholding as much behind him as still lay before, A part of the cattle had kneeled down upon the yellow sands, and lying there were lovking out upon the broad, level sea; part was wandering slowly here and there, while others still swam out and stood neck-deep in water. A temple stood near the sea, not resplendent with marble and gold, but made of heavy timbers, and shaded by an ancient grove. The place was sacred to Nereus and the Nereids (these a sailor told me 145 OVID edidit esse deos, dum retia litore siccat) 5 iuncta palus huic est densis obsessa salictis, quani restagnantis fecit maris unda paludem inde fragore gravi strepitus loca proxima terret: belua vasta, lupus! mucisque palustribus exit oblitus, et spumis et sparsus sanguine rictus fulmineos, rubra suffusus lumina flamma. qui quamquam saevit pariter rabieque fameque, acrior est rabie: neque enim ieiunia curat caede boum diramque famem finire, sed omne vulnerat armentum sternitque hostiliter omne. pars quoque de nobis funesto saucia morsu, dum defensamius, leto est data; sanguine litus undaque prima rubet demugitaeque paludes. sed mora daimnosa est, nec res dubitare cemittit dum superest aliquid, cuncti coeamus ct arma, arma capessamus coniunctaque tela feramus * ” dixerat agrestis: nec Pelea damna movebant, sed memor admissi Nereida conligit orbam damna sua inferias exstincto mittere Phoco. induere arma viros violentaque sumere tela rex iubet Oetaeus; cum quis simul ipse parabat ire, sed Alcyone coniunx excita tumultu prosilit et nondum totos ornata capillos disicit hos ipsos colloque infusa mariti, mittat ut auxilium sine se, verbisque precatur 146 305 370 519 e ° 350 335 METAMORPHOSES BOOK XI were the gods of that sea, as he dried his nets on the shore). Hard by this temple was a marsh thick-set with willows, which the backwater of the sea made into a marsh. From this a loud, crashing noise filled the whole neighbourhood with fear: a huge beast, a wolf! he came rushing out, smeared with marsh-mud, his great, murderous jaws all bloody and flecked with foam, and his eyes blazing with red fire. He was mad with rage and hunger, but more with rage. For he stayed not to sate his fasting and dire hunger on the stain cattle, but mangled the whole herd, slaughtering all in wanton malice. Some of us, also, while we strove to drive him off, were sore wounded by his deadly fangs and given over to death. The shore, the shallow water, and the swamps, resounding with the bellow- ings of the herd, were red with blood. But delay is fatal, nor is there time to hesitate. While still there’s something left, let us all rush on together, and arms, let us take arms, and make a combined attack upon the wolf!”’ So spoke the rustic. Peleus was not stirred by the story of his loss; but, conscious of his crime, he well knew that the bereaved Nereid! was sending this calamity upon him as a sacrificial offeriug to her slain Phocus. The Oetaean king bade his men put on their armour and take their deadly spears in hand, and at the same time was making ready to go with them himself. But his wife, Alcyone, roused by the loud outcries, came rushing out of her chamber, her hair not yet all arranged, and, sending this flying loose, she threw herself upon her husband’s neck, and begged him with prayers and_ tears that he would send aid but not go himself, and 1 Psamathe, the mother of Phocus whom Peleus had accidentally killed. 147 OVID et lacrimis, animasque duas ut servet in una. Aeacides illi: “ pulchros, regina, piosque pone metus! plena est promissi gratia vestri. 390 non placet arma mihi contra nova monstra moveri; numen adorandum pelagi est !”’ erat ardua turris, arce focus summa, fessis nota grata carinis : ascendunt illue stratosque in litore tauros cum gemitu adspiciunt vastatoremque crucnto 395 ore ferum, longos infectum sanguine villos. inde manus tendens in aperti litora ponti caeruleam Peleus Psamathen, ut finiat iram, orat, opemque ferat ; nec vocibus illa rogantis flectitur Aeacidae, Thetis hanc pro coniuge supplex accepit veniam. sed enim revocatus ab acri 401 caede lupus perstat, dulcedine sanguinis asper, donec inhaerentem lacerae cervice iuveucae marmore mutavit : corpus praeterque colorem omnia servavit, lapidis color indicat illum 405 iam non esse lupum, iam non debere timeri. nec tamen hac profugum consistere Pelea terra fata sinunt, Magnetas adit vagus exul et illic suit ab Haemonio purgamina caedis Acasto. Interea fratrisque sui fratremque secutis 410 anxia prodigiis turbatus pectora Ceyx, consulat ut sacras, hominum oblectamina, sortes, 148 METAMORPHOSES BOOK XI s0 save two lives in one. Then said the son of Aeacus to her: “Your pious fears, O queen, become you; but have no fear. I am not un- grateful for your proffered help; but I have no desire that arms be taken in my behalf against the strange monster. I must pray to the goddess of the sea.’ There was a tall tower, a lighthouse on the top of the citadel, a welcome landmark for storm- tossed ships. They climbed up to its top, and thence with cries of pity looked out upon the cattle lying dead upon the shore, and saw the killer revelling with bloody jaws, and with his long shaggy hair stained red with blood. ‘There, stretching out his hands to the shores of the open sea, Peleus prayed to the sea-nymph, Psamathe, that she put away her wrath and come to his help. She, indeed, remained unmoved by the prayers of Peleus; but Thetis, add- ing her prayers for her husband’s sake, obtained the nymph's forgiveness. But the wolf, though ordered off from his fierce slaughter, kept on, mad with the sweet draughts of blood ; until, just as he was fasten- ing his fangs upon the torn neck of a heifer, the nymph changed him into marble. The body, save for its colour, remained the same in al] respects; but the colour of the stone proclaimed that now he was no longer wolf, that now he no longer need be feared. But still the fates did not suffer the banished Peleus to continue in this land. The wandering exile went on to Magnesia, and there, at the hands of the Hae- monian king, Acastus, he gained full absolution from his bloodguiltiness. Phe Meanwhile King Ceyx was much disturbed and anxious, not alone about the strange thing that hap- pened to his brother, but also about others that had happened since his brother’s fate. Accordingly, that 149 OVID aa Clarirm parat ire deum ; nam templa profanus invia cum Phlegyis faciebat Delphica Phorbas. consilii tamen ante sui, fidissima, certam 415 te facit, Aleyone ; cui protinus intima frigus ossa receperunt, buxoque simillimus ora pallor obit, lacrimisque genae maduere profusis. ter conata loqui ter fletibus ora rigavit singultuque pias interrumpente querellas 4.20 “ quae mea culpa tuam,” dixit “carissime, mentem vertit 2? ubi est quae cura mei prior esse solebat ° iam potes Alcyone securus abesse relicta? iam via longa placet? iam sum tibi carior absens ? at, puto, per terras iter est, tantumque dolebo, 425 von etiain metuam, curaeque timore carebunt. aequora me terrent et ponti tristis imago: et laceras nuper tabulas in litore vidi et saepe in tumulis sine corpore nomina legi. neve tuum fallax animum fiducia tangat, 430 quod socer Hippotades tibi sit, qui careere fortes contineat ventos, et, cum velit, aequora placet. cum semel emissi tenuerunt aequora venti, nil illis vetitum est: incommendataque tellus omnis et omne fretum est, caeli quoque nubila vexant excutiuntque feris rutilos concursibus ignes. 436 quo magis hos novi (nam novi et saepe paterna parva domo vidi), magis hos reor esse timendos. 150 METAMORPHOSES BOOK Xl he might consult the sacred oracles, the refuge of mankind in trouble, he planned to journey to the Clarian god. For the infamous Phorbas with the followers of Phlegyas was making the journey to the Delphic oracle unsafe. But before he started he told his purpose to you, his most faithful wife, Aleyone. Straightway she was chilled to the very marrow of her bones, her face grew pale as boxwood and her cheeks were wet with her flowing tears. Three times she tried to speak, three times watered her face with weeping ; at last, her loving complaints broken by her sobs, she said: “ What fault of mine, O dearest husband, has brought your mind to this? Where is that care for me which used to stand first of all? Can you now abandon your Alcyone with no thought of her? Is it your pleasure now to go on a long journey? Am I now dearer to you when absent from you? But, I suppose, your journey is by land, and I shall only grieve, not fear for you, and my cares shall have no terror in them. The sea affrights me, and the stern visage of the deep; and but lately I saw some broken planks upon the beach, and often have I read men’s names on empty tombs. And let not your mind have vain confidence in that the son of Hippotes is your father-in-law, who holds the stout winds behind prison bars, and when he will can calm the sea. For when once the winds have been let out and have gained the open deep, no power can check them, and every land and every sea is abandoned to their will. Nay, they harry the very clouds of heaven and rouse the red lightnings with their fierce collisions. The more I know them (for I do know them, and have ojten seen them when a child in my father’s home) the more I think them to be feared. But if no prayers can change your 151 OVID quod tua si flecti precibus sententia nullis, care, potest, coniunx, nimiumque es certus eundi, 440 me quoque tolle simul! certe iactabimur una, nec nisi quae patiar, metuam, pariterque feremus, quicquid erit, pariter super aequora lata feremur.”’ Talibus Aeolidis dictis lacrimisque movetur idereus coniunx : neque enim minor ignis in ipso est ; sed neque propositos pelagi dimittere cursus, 446 nec vult Aleyonen in partem adhibere pericli multaque respondit timidum solantia pectus. non tamen idcirco causam probat; addidit illis hoe quoque lenimen, quo solo flexit amantem: = 450 “longa quidem est nobis omnis mora, sed tibi iuro per patrios ignes, si me modo fata remittant, ante reversurum, quam luna bis inpleat orbem.” his ubi promissis spes est admota recursus, protinus eductam navalibus aequore tingul 455 aptarique suis pinum iubet armamentis ; qua rursus visa veluti praesaga futuri horruit Alcyone lacrimasque emisit obortas amplexusque dedit tristique miserrima tandem ore “vale” dixit conlapsaque corpore toto est; 400 ast iuvenes quaerente moras Ceyce reducunt ordinibus geminis ad fortia pectora remos aequalique ictu scindunt freta: sustulit illa umentes oculos stantemque in puppe recurva concussaque manu dantem sibi signa maritum 465 prima videt redditque notas; ubi terra recessit longius, atque oculi nequeunt cognoscere vultus, 152 METAMORPHOSES BOOK XI purpose, dear husband, and if you are over-bent on going, take me with you, too! For surely we shall then be storm-tossed together, nor shall [ fear save only what I feel,and together we shall endure what- ever comes, together over the broad billows we shal] fare.” With these words and tears of the daughter of Aeolus the star-born husband was deeply moved; for the fire of love burned no less brightly in his heart. And yet he was unwilling either to give up his proposed journey on the sea or to take Alcyone as sharer of his perils. His anxious love strove to comfort her with many soothing words, but for all that he did not win her approval. He added this comforting condition, also, by which alone he gained his loving wife’s consent: “ Every delay, I know, will seem long to us; but I swear to you by my father’s fires, if only the fates will let me, I will return before the moon shall twice have filled her orb.” When by these promises of return her hope had been awakened, straightway he ordered his ship to be launched and duly supplied with her equip- ment. But when Alcyone saw this, as if forewarned of what was to come, she fell to trembling again; her tears flowed afresh and, embracing her husband in the depth of woe, she said a sad farewell at last and then fainted away completely. But the young men, though Ceyx sought excuses for delay, in double rows drew back the oars to their strong breasts and rent the waters with their rhythmic strokes. Then Alcyone lifted her tear-wet eyes and saw her husband standing on the high-curved poop and waving his hand in first signal to her, and she waved tokens back again. When the land drew further off, and her eyes could no longer make out his features, 153 OVID dum licet, insequitur fugientem lumine pinum ; haec quoque ut haut poterat spatio submota videri, vela tamen spectat summo fluitantia malo; 470 ut nec vela videt, vacuum petit anxia lectum seque toro ponit: renovat lectusque locusque Alcyonae lacrimas et quae pars admonet absit. Portibus exierant, et moverat aura rudentes: obvertit lateri pendentes navita remos 475 cornuaque in summa locat arbore totaque malo carbasa deducit venientesque accipit auras. aut minus, aut certe medium non an)plius aequor puppe secabatur, longeque erat utraque tellus, cum mare sub noctem tumidis albescere coepit 480 fluctibus et praeceps spirare valentius eurus. “ardua iamdudum demittite cornua”’ rector clamat “et antemnis totum subnectite velum.” hic iubet; inpediunt adversae iussa procellae, nec sinit audiri vocem fragor aequoris ullam: 485 sponte tamen properant alii subducere remos, pars munire latus, pars ventis vela negare ; egerit hic fluctus aequorque refundit in aequor, hic rapit antemnas; quae dum sine lege geruntur, aspera crescit hiems, omnique e parte feroces 490 bella gerunt venti fretaque indignantia miscent. ipse pavet nec se, qui sit status, ipse fatetur scire ratis rector, nec quid iubeatve vetetve: tanta mali moles tantoque potentior arte est. quippe sonant clamore viri, stridore rudentes, 495 undarum incursu gravis unda, tonitribus aether. 154 METAMORPHOSES BOOK XI while yet she could she followed with her gaze the tast-receding ship. When even this was now so dis- tant that it could not be seen, still she watched the sails floating along at the top of the mast. When she could not even see the sails, heavy-hearted she sought her lonely couch and threw herself upon it. The couch and the place renewed her tears, for they reminded her of the part that was gone from her. They had left the harbour and the breeze had set the cordage rattling. At that the captain shipped his oars, ran the yard up to the top of the mast and spread all his sails to catch the freshening breeze. Phe ship was now skimming along about midway of the sea, and the land on either side was far away, when, as night came on, the water began to whiten with the roughening waves and the wind, driving ahead,to blow with increased violence. “ Lower the yard at once,” the captain cries, “and tight reef the sail.” So he orders, but the blast blowing in his face drowns out his orders, nor does the uproar of the sea let his voice be heard. Still, of their own will, some hastily draw in the oars, some close the oar-holes, and some reef the sails. Here one is bailing out the water and pouring the sea into the sea, while another hastily secures the spars. While these things are being done, all in confusion, the storm is increasing in vio- lence and from every quarter the raging winds make their attacks and stir up the angry waves. The captain himself is in terror and admits that he does not know how the vessel stands, nor what either to order or forbid; so great is the impending weight of destruction, so much more mighty than his skill, All is a confused uproar—shouts of men, rattling of cordage, roar of the rushing waves, and crash of thunder. The waves run mountain-high and scem 155 F OVID fluctibus erigitur caelumque aequare videtur pontus et inductas aspergine tangere nubes ; et modo, cum fulvas ex imo vertit harenas, concolor est illis, Stygia modo nigrior unda, 500 sternitur interdum spumisque sonantibus albet. ipsa quoque his agitur vicibus Trachinia puppis et nunc sublimis veluti de vertice montis despicere in valles imumque Acheronta videtur, nunc, ubi demissam curvum cireumstetit aequor, 505 suspicere inferno summum de gurgite caelum. saepe dat ingentem fluctu latus icta fragorem nec levius pulsata sonat, quam ferreus olim cum laceras aries balistave concutit arces, utque solent sumptis incursu viribus ire 510 pectore in arma feri protentaque tela leones, sic, ubi se ventis admiserat unda coortis, ibat in arma ratis multoque erat altior illis ; iamque labant cunei, spoliataque tegmine cerae rima patet praebetque viam letalibus undis. 515 ecce cadunt largi resolutis nubibus imbres, inque fretum credas totum descendere caelum, inque plagas caeli tumefactum ascendere pontum. vela madent nimbis, et cum caelestibus undis aequoreae miscentur aquae; caret ignibusaether, 520 caecaque nox premitur tenebris hiemisque suisque. discutiunt tamen has praebentque micantia lumen fulmina: fulmineis ardescunt ignibus undae. dat quoque iam saltus intra cava texta carinae 156 METAMORPHOSES BOOK XI to reach the very heavens, and with their spray to sprinkle the lowering clouds. Now the water is tawny with the sands swept up from the bottom of the sea, and now blacker than the very waters of the Styx. At other times the waves spread out, white with the hissing foam. The Trachini-n ship herself also is driven on in the grasp of chanee. Now, lifted high, as from a mountain-top she seems to look down into deep valleys and the pit of Acheron; now, as she sinks far down and the writhing waters close her in, she seems to be looking up to the top of heaven from the infernal pools. Often with mighty thuds the vessel’s sides resound, beaten by crashing waves as heavily as when sometimes an iron ram or ballista smites a battered fortress, And as savage lions, gaining new strength as they come rushing to the attack, are wont to breast the hunters’ arms and ready spears ; so, when the waves had been lashed to fury by the opposing winds, they rushed against the bulwarks of the barque and towered high over them. And now the tightening wedges of the hull spring loose and yawning chinks appear, their covering of wax clean washed away, and give passage to the deadly tide. Behold, the rain falls in sheets from the bursting clouds; and you would think that the whole heavens were falling down into the sea and that the swollen sea was leaping up into the regions of the sky. The sails are soaked with rain, and with the waters from the sky the ocean’s floods are mingled. No stars gleam in the sky and the black night is murky with its own and the tempest’s gloom, _ Still flashing lightnings cleave the shadows and give light, and the waves gleam red beneath the lightning’s glare. Now also the flood comes pouring within the vessel’s hollow hull; and as a soldier, more eager 157 OVID fluctus ; et ut miles, wumero praestantior omni, 525 cum saepe adsiluit defensae moenibus urbis, spe potitur tandem laudisque accensus amore inter mille viros murum tamen occupat unus, sic ubi pulsarunt noviens latera ardua fluctus, vastius insurgens decimae ruit impetus undae — 530 nec prius absistit fessam oppugnare carinam, quam velut in captae descendat moenia navis. pars igitur temptabat adhuc invadere pinum, pars maris intus erat: trepidant haud setius omnes, quam solet urbs aliis murum fodientibus extra 535 atque aliis murum trepidare tenentibus intus. deficit ars, animique cadunt, totidemque videntur, quot veniunt fluctus, ruere atque inrumpere mortes. non tenet hic lacrimas, stupet hic, vocat ille beatos, funera quos maneant, hic votis numen adorat 540 bracchiaque ad caelum, quod non videt, inrita tollens poscit opem; subeunt illi fraterque parensque, huic cum pignoribus domus et quodcunque relictum est; Alcyone Ceyca movet, Ceycis in ore nulla nisi Aleyone est et, cum desideret unam, 545 gaudet abesse tamen; patriae quoque vellet ad oras respicere ingue domum supremos vertere vultus, verum, ubi sit, nescit : tanta vertigine pontus fervet, et inducta piceis e nubibus umbra omne latet caelum, duplicataque noctis imago est. frangitur incursu nimbosi turbinis arbor, frangitur et regimen, spoliisque animosa superstes unda, velut victrix, sinuataque despicit undas ; nec levius, quam siquis Athon Pindumve revulsos sede sua totos in apertum everterit aequor, 555 158 Je 51 METAMORPHOSES BOOK X1 than his fellows, when he has often essayed to scale a beleaguered city’s walls, at last succeeds and, fired with the passion for praise, o’erleaps the wall] and stands one man amidst a thousand; so, when the waves nine times have battered at the lofty sides, the tenth wave, leaping with a mightier heave, comes on, nor does it cease its attack upon the weary ship until over the ramparts of the conquered barque it leaps within. So now a part of the sea still tries to invade the ship and part is already within its hold. All are in terrified confusion, just as a city is confused when some from without seek to undermine its walls and some hold the walls within. Skill fails and courage falls; and as many separate deaths seem rushing on and bursting through as are the advancing waves. One cannot restrain his tears; another is struck dumb; still another cries they are fortunate whom burial rites await; one calls on the gods in prayer and lifts unavailing arms to the unseen heavens, beg- ging for help; one thinks upon his brothers and his sire, one on his home and children, and each on that which he has left behind. But Ceyx thinks on Alcyone: upon the lips of Ceyx there is no one save Alcyone ; and, though he longs for her aloue, yet he rejoices that she is far away. How he would love to look towards his native shores again and turn his last gaze upon his home. But where he is he knows not; for the sea boils in such whirling pools and the shadows of the pitchy clouds hide all the sky and double the dark- ness of the night. The mast is broken by a whirling rush of wind; the rudder, too, is broken. One last wave, like a victor rejoicing in his spoils, heaves itself high and looks down upon the other waves; and, as if oneshould tear from their foundations Athos and Pindus and hurl them bodily into the open sea, so fell this 159 OVID praecipitata cadit pariterque et pondere et ictu mergit in ima ratem; cum qua pars magna virorum gurgite pressa pravi neque in aera reddita fato fuiicta suo est, alii partes et membra carinae trunca tenent : tenet ipse manu, qua sceptra solebat, fragmina navigii Ceyx socerumque patremque 561 invocat heu! frustra, sed plurima nantis in ore Alcyone coniunx: illam meminitque refertque, illius ante oculos ut agant sua corpora fluctus optat ct exanimis manibus tumuletur amicis. 505 dum natat, absentem, quotiens sinit hiscere fluctus, nominat Alcyonen ipsisque inmurmurat undis. ecce super medios fluctus niger arcus aquarum frangitur et rupta mersum caput obruit unda.— Lucifer obscurus nec quem cognoscere posses 570 illa luce fuit, quoniamque excedere caelo non licuit, dcnsis texit sua nubibus ora. Aeolis interea, tantorum ignara malorum, dinumerat noctes et iam, quas induat ille, festinat vestes, iam quas, ubi venerit ille, 575 ipsa gerat, reditusque sibi promittit inanes. omnibus illa quidem superis pia tura ferebat, ante tamen cunctos Iunonis templa colebat proque viro, qui nullus erat, veniebat ad aras utque foret sospes coniunx suus utque rediret, 580 optabat, nullamque sibi praeferret; at illi hoc de tot votis poterat contingere solum. At dea non ultra pro functo morte rogari 160 METAMORPHOSES BOOK XI wave headlong, and with its overwhelming weight plunged the ship down to the very bottom; and with the ship the great part of the sailors perished, sucked down in the eddying flood, nevermore to see the light of day. But some still clung to broken pieces of the vessel. Ceyx himself, with the hand that was wont to hold the sceptre, clung to a fragment of the wreck, and called upon his father-in-law and on his father, alas! in vain. But most of all is the name of Alcyone on the swimmer’s lips. He re- members her and names hero’er and o’er. He prays that the waves may bear his body into her sight and that in death he may be entombed by her dear hands. While he can keep afloat, as often as the waves allow him to open his month he calls the name of his Alcyone, far away, and murmurs it even as the waves close over his lips. See, a dark billow of waters breaks over the surrounding floods and buries his head deep beneath the seething waves. Dim and unrecognizable was Lucifer that dawn; and since he might not leave his station in the skies, he wrapped his face in thick clouds. Meanwhile the daughter of Aeolus, in ignorance of this great disaster, counts off the nights; now hastens on to weave the robes which he is to put on, and now those which she herself will wear when he comes back, and pictures to herself the home-coming which can never be. She dutifully burns incense to all the gods; but most of all she worships at Juno’s shrine, and approaches the altars on behalf of the man who is no more, that her husband may be kept safe from harm, that he may return once more, loving no other woman more than her. And only this prayer of all her prayers could be granted her. But the goddess could no longer endure these 161 OVID sustinet utque manus funestas arceat aris, “Tri, meae’”’ dixit “ fidissima nuntia vocis, 585 vise soporiferam Somni velociter aulam exstinctique iube Ceycis imagine mittat somnia ad Alcyonen veros narrantia casus.” dixerat: induitur velamina mille colornm Iris et arcuato caelum curvamine signans 590 tecta petit iussi sub nube latentia regis. Est prope Cimmerios longo spelunca recessu, mons cavus, ignavi domus et penetralia Somni, quo numquam radiis oriens mediusve cadensve Phoebus adire potest: nebulae caligine mixtae 595 exhalantur humo dubiaeque crepuscula lucis. non vigil ales ibi cristati cantibus oris evocat Auroram, nec voce silentia rampunt sollicitive canes canibusve sagacior anser ; non fera, non pecudes, non moti flamine rami 600 humanaeve sonum reddunt convicia linguae. muta quies habitat ; saxo tamen exit ab imo rivus aquae Lethes, per quem cum murmure labens invitat somnos crepitantibus unda lapillis. ante fores antri fecunda papavera florent 605 innumeraeque herbae, quarum de lacte soporem Nox legit et spargit per opacas umida terras, janua, ne verso stridores cardine reddat, nulla domo tota, custos in limine nullus ; at medio torus est ebeno sublimis in autro, 610 plumeus, atricolor, pullo velamine tectus, quo cubat ipse deus membris languore solutis. hunce cirea passim varias imitantia formas Somnia vana iacent totidem, quot messis aristas, silva gerit frondes, eiectas litus harenas. 615 162 METAMORPHOSES BOOK XI entreaties for the dead. And that she might free her altar from the touch of the hands of mourning, she said: ‘ Iris, most faithful messenger of mine, go quickly to the drowsy house of Sleep, and bid him send to Alcyone a vision in dead Ceyx’ form to tell her the truth about his fate.’”” She spoke; and Iris put on her cloak ofa thousand hues and, trailing across the sky in a rainbow curve, she sought the cloud- concealed palace of the king of sleep. Near the land of the Cimmerians there is a deep recess within a hollow mountain, the home and chamber of sluggish Sleep. Phoebus can never enter there with his rising, noontide, or setting rays. Clouds of vapour breathe forth from the earth, and dusky twilight shadows. There no wakeful, crested cock with his loud crowing summons the dawn; no careful watch-dog breaks the deep silence with his voice, or goose, still shrewder than the dog. There is no sound of wild beast or of cattle, of branches rustling in the breeze, no clamorous tongues of mien. There mute silence dwells. But from the bottom of the cave there flows the stream of Lethe, whose waves, gently murmuring over the gravelly bed, invite to slumber. Before the cavern’s entrance abundant poppies bloom, and countless herbs, from whose juices dewy night distils sleep and spreads its influence over the darkened lands, There is no door in all the house, lest some turning hinge should creak; no guardian on the threshold. But in the cavern’s central space there isa high couch of ebony, downy-soft,black-hued, spread witha dusky coverlet. There lies the god him- self, his limbs relaxed in languorous repose. Around him on all sides lie empty dream-shapes, mimicking many forms, many as ears of grain in harvest-time, as leaves upon the trees, as sancis cast on the shore. 163 OVID Quo simul intravit manibusque obstantia virgo Somnia dimovit, vestis fulgore reluxit sacra domus, tardaque deus gravitate iacentes vix oculos tollens iterumque iterumque relabens summaque percutiens nutanti pectora mento 620 excussit tandem sibi se cubitoque levatus, quid veniat, (cognovit enim) scitatur, at illa: ““Somne, quies rerum, placidissime, Somne, deorum, pax animi, quem cura fugit, qui corpora duris fessa ministeriis mulces reparasque labori, 625 Somnia, quae veras aequant imitamine formas, Herculea Trachine iube sub imagine regis Alcyonen adeant simulacraque naufraga fingant. imperat hoc Iuno.” postquam mandata peregit, Iris abit: neque enim ulterius tolerare soporis 630 vim poterat, labique ut somnum sensit in artus, effugit et remeat per quos modo venerat arcus. At pater e populo natorum mille suorum excitat artificem simulatoremque figurae Morphea: non illo quisquam sollertius alter 635 exprimit incessus vultumque sonumque loquendi ; adicit et vestes et consuetissima cuique verba; sed hic solos homines imitatur, at alter fit fera, fit volucris, fit longo corpore serpens : hunce Icelon superi, mortale Phobetora vulgus 640 nominat ; est etiam diversae tertius artis Phantasos: ille in humum saxumque undamque tra- bemque, quaeque vacant anima, fallaciter omnia transit; regibus hi ducibusque suos ostendere vultus nocte solent, populos alii plebemque pererrant. 645 praeterit hos senior cunctisque e fratribus unum 164 METAMORPHOSES BOOK Xi When the maiden entered there and with her hands brushed aside the dream-shapes that blocked her way, the awesome house was lit up with the gleam- ing of her garments. Then the god, scarce lifting his eyelids heavy with the weight of sleep, sinking back repeatedly and knocking }sis breast with his nodding chin, at last shook himself free of himself and, resting on an elbow, asked her (tor he recognized her) why she came, And she replied: “O Sleep, thou rest of all things, Sleep, mildest of the gods, balm of the soul, who puttest care to flight, soothest our bodies worn with hard ministries, and preparest them for toil again ! Fashion a shape that shall seem true form, and bid it go in semblance of the king to Alcyone in Trachis, famed for Hercules. There let it show her the picture of the wreck. This Juno bids.” When she had done her task Iris departed, for she could no longer endure the power of sleep, and when she felt the drowsiness stealing upon her frame she fled away and retraced her course along the arch over which she had lately passed. But the father rouses Morpheus from the throng of his thousand sons, a cunning imitator of the human form. No other is more skilled than he in represent- ing the gait, the features, and the speech of men; the clothing also and the accustomed words of each he represents. His office is with men alone: another takes the form of beast or bird or the long-bodied serpent. Him the gods call Icelos, but mortals name him Phobetor. A_ third is Phantasos, versed in different arts. He puts on deceptive shapes of earth, rocks, water, trees, all lifeless things. These shapes show themselves by night to kings and chieftains, the rest haunt the throng of common folk. These the old sleep-god passes by, and chooses out of all the 165 OVID Morphea, qui peragat Thaumantidos edita, Somnus eligit et rursus molli languore solutus deposuitque caput stratoque recondidit alto. [lle volat nullos strepitus facientibus alis 650 per tenebras intraque morae breve tempus in urbem pervenit Haemoniam, positisque e corpore pennis in faciem Ceycis abit sumptaque figura luridus, exanimi similis, sine vestibus ullis, coniugis ante torum miserae stetit: uda videtur 655 barba viri, madidisque gravis fluere unda capillis. tum lecto incumbens fletu super ora profuso haec ait: “ agnoscis Ceyca, miserrima coniunx, an mea mutata est facies nece? respice: nosces inveniesque tuo pro coniuge coniugis umbram! 660 nil opis, Aleyone, nobis tua vota tulerunt ! occidimus! falso tibi me promittere noli! nubilus Aegaeo deprendit in aequore navem Auster et ingenti iactatam flamine solvit, oraque nostra tuum frustra clamantia nomen 665 inplerunt fluctus.—non haec tibi nuntiat auctor ambiguus, non ista vagis rumoribus audis : ipse ego fata tibi praesens mea naufragus edo. surge, age, da lacrimas lugubriaque indue nec me indeploratum sub inania Tartara mitte!”’ 670 adicit his vocem Morpheus, quam coniugis illa crederet esse sui (fletus quoque fundere veros visus erat) gestumque manu Ceycis habebat. ingemit Alcyone, lacrimas movet atque lacertos per somnum corpusque petens amplectitur auras 675 exclamatque: ‘mane! quo te rapis? ibimus una.” 166 METAMORPHOSES BOOK XI brethren Morpheus alone to do the bidding of Iris, Thaumas’ daughter. This done, once more in soft drowsiness he droops his head and settles it down upon his high couch. But Morpheus flits away through the darkness on noiseless wings and quickly coines to the Haemonian city. There, putting off his wings, he takes the face and form of Ceyx, wan like the dead, and stands naked before the couch of the hapless wife. His beard is wet, and water drips heavily from his sodden hair. Then with streaming eyes he bends over her couch and says: “Do you recognize your Ceyx, O most wretched wife? or is my tace changed in death? Look on me! You will know me then and find in place of husband your husband’s shade. No help, Alcyone, have your prayers brought to me: I am dead. Cherish no longer your vain hope of me. For stormy Auster caught my ship on the Aegean sea and, tossing her in his fierce blasts, wrecked her there. My lips, calling vainly upon your name, drank in the waves. And this tale no uncertain messenger brings to you, nor do you hear it in the words of vague report; but I myself, wrecked as you see me, tell you of my fate. Get you up, then, and weep for me; put on your mourning garments and let me not go unlamented to the cheerless land of shades.” These words spoke Morpheus, and that, too, in a voice she might well believe her husband’s; he seemed also to weep real tears, and had the very gesture of her Ceyx’ hands. Alcyone groaned, shed tears, and in sleep seeking his arms and to clasp his body, held only air in her embrace. She cried aloud: “Wait for me! Whither do you hasten? I will go with you.” Aroused by her own voice and by the image of her 167 OVID voce sua specieque viri turbata soporem excutit et primo, si sit, cireumspicit, illic, qui modo visus erat ; nam moti voce ministri intulerant lumen. postquam non invenit usquam, percutit ora manu laniatque a pectore vestes 681 pectoraque ipsa ferit nec crines solvere curat : scindit et altrici, quae luctus causa, roganti “nulla est Alcyone, nulla est” ait. occidit una cum Ceyce suo. solantia tollite verba ! 685 naufragus interiit: vidi agnovique manusque ad discedentem cupiens retinere tetendi. umbra fuit, sed et umbra tamen manifesta virique vera mei. non ille quidem, si quaeris, habebat adsuetos vultus nec quo prius, ore nitebat: 690 pallentem nudumque et adhuc umente capillo infelix vidi. stetit hoc miserabilis ipse ecce loco” ; (et quaerit, vestigia siqua supersint), “hoe erat, hoc, animo quod divinante timebam, et ne me fugeres, ventos sequerere, rogabam. 695 at certe vellem, quoniam periturus abibas, me quoque duxisses: multum fuit utile tecum ire mihi; neque enim de vitae tempore quicquam non simu] egissem, nec mors discreta fuisset. nunc absens perii, iactor quoque fiuctibus absens, 700 et sine me me pontus habet. crudelior ipso sit mihi mens pelago, si vitam ducere nitar longius et tanto pugnem superesse dolori! sed neque pugnabo nec te, miserande, relinquam et tibi nunc saltem veniam comes, inque sepulcro 705 168 METAMORPHOSES BOOK XI husband, she started wide awake. And first she looked around to see if he was there whom but now she had seen. For her attendants, startled by her cries, had brought a lamp into her chamber. When she did not find him anywhere, she smote her cheeks, tore off her garment from her breast and beat her breasts themselves. She stayed not to loose her hair, but rent it, and to her nurse, who asked what was her cause of grief, she cried: “ Alcyone is no more, no more ; she has died together with her Ceyx. Away with consoling words! MHe’s shipwrecked, dead! I saw him and I knew him, and I stretched out my hands to him as he vanished, eager to hold him back. It was but a shade, and yet it was my husband’s true shade, clearly seen. He had not, to be sure, his wonted features, nor did his face light as it used to do. But wan and naked, with hair still dripping, oh, woe is me, I saw him. See there, on that very spot, he himself stood, piteous’””—and she strove to see if any footprints sti]l remained. “ This, this it was which with foreboding mind I feared, and J begged you not to leave me and sail away. But surely I should have wished, since you were going to your death, that you had taken me as well. How well had it been for me to go with you; for in that case neither should I have spent any of my life apart from you, nor should we have been separated in our death. But now far from myself I have perished ; far from myself also I am tossed about upon the waves, and without me the sea holds me. My heart would be more cruel to me than thie sea itself if I should strive still to live on and struggle to survive my sorrow. But I shall neither struggle nor shall I leave you, my poor husband. Now at least I shall come to be yow companion; and if not the 169 OVID si non urna, tamen iunget nos littera: si non ossibus ossa meis, at nomen nomine tangam.” plura dolor prohibet, verboque intervenit omni plangor, et attonito gemitus a corde traliuntur. Mane erat: egreditur tectis ad litus et illum 710 maesta locum repetit, de quo spectarat euntem, duinque moratur ibi dumque “ hic retinacula solvit, » hoc mihi discedens dedit oscula litore”’ dicit dumque notata locis reminiscitur acta fretumque prospicit, in liquida, spatio distante, tuetur 714 nescio quid quasi corpus aqua, primoque, quid illud esset, erat dubium ; postquam paulum adpulit unda, et, quamvis aberat, corpus tamen esse liquebat, qui foret, ignorans, quia naufragus, omine mota est et, tamquam ignoto lacrimam daret, “ heu ! miser,” inguit 720 “ quisquis es, et siqua est coniunx tibi!” fluctibus actu fit propius corpus: quod quo magis illa tuetur, hoc minus et minus est mentis, vae! iamque pro- pinquae admotum terrae, iam quod cognoscere posset, cernit : erat coniunx ! “ ille est !”’ exclamat et una ora, comas, vestem lacerat tendensque trementes 726 ad Ceyca manus “ sic, 0 carissime coniunx, sic ad me, miserande, redis?”’ ait. adiacet undis facta manu moles, quae primas aequoris undas frangit et incursus quae praedelassat aquarum. 730 170 METAMORPHOSES BOOK XI entombed urn, at least the lettered stone shal! join us; if not your bones with mine, still shall J touch you, name with name.” Grief checked further speech, wailing took place of words, and groais drawn from her stricken heart. Morning had come. She went forth from her house to the seashore and sadly sought that spot again from which she had watched him sail. And while she lingered there and while she was saying: ‘“‘ Here he loosed his cable, on this beach he kissed me as he was departing’’; while she was thus recalling the incidents and the place and gaziig sea- ward, away out upon the streaming waters she saw something like a corpse. At first she was not sure what it was; but after the waves had washed it a little nearer, although it was still some distance off, yet it clearly was a corpse. She did not know whose it was; yet, because it was a shipwrecked man, she was moved by the omen and, as if she would weep for the unknown dead, she cried: “Alas for you, poor man, whoever you are, and alas for your wife, if wife you have!” Meanwhile the body had been driven nearer by the waves, and the more she regarded it the less and still less could she contain herself. Ah! and now it had come close to land, now she could see clearly what it was. It was her husband! “’Tis he !”’ she shrieked and, tearing her cheeks, her hair, her garments all at once, she stretched out her trembling hands to Ceyx, crying: “Thus, O dearest husband, is it thus, poor soul, you come back tome?” Near by the water was a mole built which broke the first onslaught of the waters, and took the force of the rushing waves. Thither she ran and leaped into the sea; ’twas a wonder that she could; she flew and, fluttering through the yielding 171 OVID insilit hue, mirumque fuit potaisse : volabat percutieusque levem modo natis aera pennis stringebat summas nles miserabilis undas, dumque volat, macsto similem pleunumaque querellae ora dedere sonuim tenui erepitantia rostro. 735 ut vero tetigit mutum et sine sanguine corpus, dilectos artus amplexa reeentibus alis trigida nequiguam duro dedit oseula rostro, senserit hoe Ceyx, an vultnm motibus undae tollere sit visus, populus dubitabat, at ile 740 senserat : et, tandem superis miserantibus, ambo alite mutantur; fatis obnoxius isdem tune quoyue mansit amor nee coningiale solutum foedus in alitibus : cocunt fiuntque parentes, perqne dies placides hiberna tempore septem 745 incubat Aleyone pendentibus aequore nidis. tune iaeet unda maris : ventos custodit et arcet Acolus egressu praestatque nepotibus aequor. Hos aliquis senior iunctim freta iata volantes spectat et ad fnem servatos laudat amores : 750 proximus, aut idem, si fors tulit, hic quoque,” dixit “quem mare carpentem substrictaque crura gerentem aspicis, (ostendens spatiosum in guttura mergum) “regia progenies, et si descendere ad ipsum ordine perpetua quaeris, sunt huins origo 155 Hus et Assaracus raptusque Tovi Ganymedes Laomedongne senex Priamusque novissima Troiae tempora sortitus ; frater fuit Hectoris iste: qui nist sensisset prima nova fata inventa, torsitan inferius non Hectore nomen haberet, 760 17% METAMORPHOSES BOOK XI air on sudden wings, she skimmed the surface of the water, a wretched bird. And as she new, her croaking mouth, with long slender beak, uttered sounds like one in grief and full of complaint. But when she reached the silent, lifeless body, she embraced the dear limbs with her new-found wings and strove vainly to kiss the cold lips with her rough bill. Whether Ceyx felt this, or whether he but seemed to lift his face by the motion of the waves, imen were in doubt. But he did feel it. And at last, throngh the pity of the gods, both changed to birds. Though thus they suffered the same fate, still even thus their love remained, nor were their con- jugal bonds loosened because of their feathered Shape. Still do they mate and rear their young; and for seven peaceful days in the winter season Alcyone broods upon her nest floating upon the surtace of the waters. At such a time the waves of the sea are still; for Aeolus guards his winds and forbids them to go abrvad and for his grandsons’ sake gives peace upon the sea. Seeing these birds flying in loving harmony over the broad waters, some old man spoke in praise of their affection kept unbroken to the end. Then one near by, or perhaps the same speaker, pointing to a long-necked diver, said: “That bird also, which you see skimming along over the water and trailing his slender legs, is of royal birth, and his ancestors, if you wish in unbroken line to come down to him him- self, were Ilus and Assaracus, Ganymede, whom Jove stole away, old Laomedon and Priam, who came by fate on ‘l'roy’s last days. He there was the brother of Hector; and had he not met his strange fate in early manhood, perhaps he would have a name no less renowned than Hector’s. While the daughter 173 OVID quamvis est illum proles enixa Dymantis, Aesacon umbrosa furtim peperisse sub Ida fertur Alexiroe, Granico nata bicorni. oderat hic urbes nitidaque remotus ab aula secretos montes et inambitiosa colebat 765 rura nec Iliacos coetus nisi rarus adibat. non agreste tamen nec inexpugnabile amori pectus habens silvas captatam saepe per omnes aspicit Hesperien patria Cebrenida ripa iniectos umeris siccantem sole capillos. 770 visa fugit nymphe, veluti perterrita fulvum cerva lupum longeque lacu deprensa relicto accipitrem fluvialis anas; quain Troius heros insequitur celereinque metu celer urguet amore. ecce latens herba coluber fugientis adunco (eee dente pedem strinxit virusque in corpore liquit ; cum vita suppressa fuga est: amplectitur amens exanimem clamatque ‘ piget, piget esse secutum ! sed non hoc timui, neque erat mihi vincere tanti. perdidimus miseram nos te duo: vulnus ab angue, a me causa data est ! ego sum sceleratior illo, 781 qui tibi morte mea mortis solacia mittain.’ dixit et e scopulo, quem rauca subederat unda, decidit in pontum. Tethys miserata cadentem molliter excepit nantemque per aequora pennis 785 texit, et optatae non est data copia mortis. indignatur amans, invitum vivere cogi obstarique animae misera de sede volenti 174 METAMORPHOSES BOOK XI of Dymas ! bore the one, the other, Aesacus, is said to have been borne in secret beneath the shades of Ida by Alexiroé, daughter of the horned Granicus. He hated towns and, far from glittering palace halls, dwelt on remote mountain-sides and in lowly country places, and rarely sought the company of the men of Hium. Still his heart was not boorish nor averse to love, and often he pursued through all the woody glades Hesperia, daughter of Cebren, whom he beheld drying her hair tossed on her shoulders in the sun upon her father’s bank. The nymph fed at sight of him as the frightened hind flees the tawny wolf, or as the wild duck, surprised far from her forsaken pool, flees from the hawk. But the Trojan hero followed her, swift on the wings of love as she was swift on the wings of fear. Behold, a serpent, hiding in the grass, pierced her foot with his curved fangs as she fled along, and left his poison in her veins. Her flight stopped with life. Beside himself, her lover embraced the lifeless form and cried: ‘Oh, I repent me, I repent that I followed you! But I had no fear of this, nor was it worth so much to me to win you. We have destroyed you, poor maid, two of us: the wound was given you by the serpent, by me was given the cause! I am more guilty than he. But by my death will I send death’s consolation to you.’ So saying, from a lofty cliff, where the hoarse waves had eaten it out below, he hurled himself down into the sea, But Tethys, pitying his case, received him gently as he fell, covered him with feathers as he floated on the waters, and so denied him the privilege of the death he sought. The lover was wroth that he was forced to live against his will and that his spirit was thwarted as it desired to leave its wretched 1 Hecuba. 175 OVID exire, utque novas umeris adsumpserat alas, 785 subvolat atque iterum corpus super aequora mittit. pluma levat casus: furit Aesacos inque profundum pronus abit letique viam sine fine retemptat. fecit amor maciem: longa internodia crurum, longa manet cervix, caput est a corpore longe; 794 aequora amat nomenque tenet, quia mergitur illo.” 176 METAMORPHOSES BOOK XI seat. And when he had gained on his shoulders his new-sprung wings, he flew aloft and once muore hurled his body down to the sea; but his light plumage broke his fall. In wild rage Aesacus dived deep down below the water and tried endlessly to find the way to death. His passion made him lean; his legs between the joints are long, his long neck is still long, his head is far from his body. He still foves the sea and lias his name! because he dives beneath 1.” ’ Mergus, a diver. BOOK XII LIBER XI Nescivs adsumptis Priamus pater Aesacon alis vivere lugebat: tumulo quoque, nomen habenti, inferias dederat cum fratribus Hector inani; defuit officio Paridis praesentia tristi, postmodo qui rapta longum cum coniuge bellu attulit in patriam: coniurataeque sequuntur mille rates gentisque simul commune Pelasgae ; nec dilata foret vindicta, nisi aequora saevi invia fecissent venti, Boeotaque tellus Aulide piscosa puppes tenuisset ituras. hic patrio de more Jovi cum sacra parassent, ut vetus accensis incanduit ignibus ara, serpere caerulenin Danai videre draconem in platanum, coeptis quae stabat proxima sacris. 10 nidus erat voluecrum his quattuor arbore summa: 15 quas simul et matrem circum sua damna volantem corripuit serpens avidoque recondidit ore, obstipuere omnes, at veri providus augur Thestorides “vincemus’’: ait, ** gandete, Pelasgi! 9 3 » 3 > Troia cadet, sed erit nostri mora longa laboris,” atque novem volucres in belli digerit annos. 180 20 BOOK XII FaTHEeR Priam, not knowing that Aesacus was still alive in feathered form, mourned for his son. At an empty tomb also, inscribed with the lost one’s name, Hector with his brothers had offered sacrifices in honour of the dead. Paris was not present at the sad rite, Paris, who a little later brought a long-con- tinued war upon his country with his stolen wife. A thousand ships and the whole Pelasgian race, banded together, pursued him, nor would vengeance have been postponed had not stormy winds made the sea impassable, and had not the land of Boeotia kept the ships, though ready to set sail, at fish-haunted Aulis. When here, after their country’s fashion, they had prepared to sacrifice to Jove, and just as the ancient altar was glowing with the lighted fires, the Greeks saw a dark-green serpent crawling up a plane-tree which stood near the place where they had begun their sacrifices. There was a nest with eight young birds in the top of the tree, and these, together with the mother, who was flying around her doomed nest- lings, the serpent seized and swallowed in_ his greedy maw. They all looked on in amazement. But Thestorides, the augur, who saw clearly the meaning of the portent, said: “We shall conquer. Rejoice, ye Greeks, Troy shall fall, but our task will be of long duration” ; and he interpreted the nine birds as nine years of war. Meanwhile the serpent, 181 OVID ile, ut erat virides amplexus in arbore ramos, fit lapis et servat serpentis imagine nixum. Permanet Aoniis Nereus violentus in undis bellaque non transfert, et sunt, qui parcere Troiae 25 Neptunum credant, quia moenia fecerat urbi; at non Thestorides: nec enim nescitve tacetve sanguine virgineo piacandam virginis iram esse deae. postquam pietatem publica causa rexque patrem vicit, castumque datura cruorem 39 flentibus ante aram stetit Iphigenia ministris, victa dea est nubemque oculis obiecit et inter offcium turbamque sacri vocesque precantum supposita fertur mutasse Mycenida cerva. ergo ubi, qua decuit, lenita est caede Diana, 35 et pariter Phoebes, pariter maris ira recessit, accipiunt ventos a tergo mille carinae multaque perpessae Phrygia petiuntur harena, Orbe locus medio est inter terrasque fretumque caelestesque plagas, triplicis confinia mundi ; 40 unde quod est usquam, quamvis regionibus absit, inspicitur, penetratque cavas vox omnis ad aures: Fama tenet summaque domum sibi legit in arce, innumerosque aditus ac mille foramina tectis addidit et nullis inclusit limina portis ; 45 nocte dieque patet : tota est ex aere sonanti, 182 METAMORPHOSES BOOK XII just as he was, coiled round the green branches of the tree, was changed to stone, and the stone kept the form of the climbing serpent. But Nereus continued to be boisterous on the Aonian waters, and refused to transport the war. And there were some who held that Neptune was sparing Troy because he had built its walls. But not so the son of Thestor. For he was neither ignorant of the truth nor did he withhold it, that the wrath of the virgin goddess ? must be appeased with a virgin’s blood. After consideration for the public weal had overcome affection, and the father had been van- quished by the king, and just as midst the weeping attendants Iphigenia was standing before the altar ready to shed her innocent blood, the goddess was moved to pity and spread a cloud before their eyes ; and there, while the sacred rites went on, midst the confusion of the sacrifice and the cries of suppliants, she is said to have substituted a hind for the maiden of Mycenae. When therefore, as twas fitting, Diana had been appeased by the sacrifice of blood, when Phoebe’s and the ocean’s wrath had subsided to- gether, the thousand ships found the winds blowing astern and, after suffering many adventures, they reached the shores of Phrygia. There is a place in the middle of the world, ‘twixt land and sea and sky, the meeting-point of the three- fold universe. From this place, whatever is, how- ever far away, is seen, and every word penetrates to these hollow ears. Rumour dwells here, having chosen her house upon a high mountain-top; and she gave the house countless entrances, a thousand apertures, but with no doors to close them. Night and day the house stands open. It is built all of echoing 1 Diana. 1835 OVID tota fremit vocesque refert iteratque quod audit ; nulla quies intus nullaque silentia parte, nec tamen est clamor, sed parvae murmura vocis, qualia de pelagi, siquis procul audiat, undis 50 esse solent, qualemve sonum, cum Juppiter atras increpuit nubes, extrema tonitrua reddunt. atria turba tenet: veniunt, leve vulgus, euntque mixtaque cum veris passim commenta vagantur milia ramorum confusaque verba volutant ; 55 e quibus hi vacuas inplent sermonibus aures, hi narrata ferunt alio, mensuraque ficti crescit, et auditis aliquid novus adicit auctor. illic Credulitas, illic temerarius Error vanaque Laetitia est consternatique Timores 60 Seditioque recens dubioque auctore Susurri ; ipsa, quid in caelo rerum pelagoque geratur et tellure, videt totumque inquirit in orbem. Fecerat haec notum, Graias cum milite forti adventare rates, neque inexspectatus in armis 65 hostis adest : prohibent aditus litusque tuentur Troes, et Hectorea primus fataliter hasta, Protesilae, cadis, commissaque proelia magno stant Danais, fortisque animae nece cognitus Hector. nec Phryges exiguo, quid Achaica dextera posset, 70 sanguine senserunt, et iam Sigea rubebant litora, iam leto proles Neptunia, Cygnus, mille viros dederat, iam curru instabat Achilles totaque Peliacae sternebat cuspidis ictu 184 METAMORPHOSES BOOK XI] brass. The whole place is full of noises, repeats all words and doubles what it hears. There is no quiet, no silence anywhere within. And yet there is no loud clamour, but only the subdued murmur of voices, like the murmur of the waves of the sea if you listen afar off, or like the last rum- blings of thunder when Jove has made the dark clouds crash together. Crowds fill the hall, shifting throngs come and go, and everywhere wander thou- sands of rumours, falsehoods mingled with the truth, and confused reports flit about. Some of these fill their idle ears with talk, and others go and tell elsewhere what they have heard; while the story grows in size, and each new teller makes contribu- tion to what he has heard. Here is Credulity, here is heedless Error, unfounded Joy and panic Fear; here sudden Sedition and unauthentie Whis- perings. Rumour herself beholds all that is done in heaven, on sea and land, and searches throughout the world for news. Now she had spread the tidings that the Greek fleet was approaching full of brave soldiery ; and so not unlooked for did the invading army come. The Trojans were ready to prevent the enemy’s landing and to protect their shores. You first fell, Pro- tesilaiis, before Hector’s deadly spear. Those early battles proved costly to the Greeks and they soon learned Hector’s warlike mettle by the slaughter that he dealt. And the Phrygians learned too, at no slight cost of blood, how puissant was the Grecian hand. And now the Sigean shores grew red; now Neptune's son, Cygnus, had given a thousand men to death; now was Achilles pressing on in his chariot and laying low whole ranks with the stroke of his spear that grew on Pelion; and, as hesought through 185 OVID agmina perque acies aut Cygnum aut Hectora quaerens 75 congreditur Cygno (decimum dilatus in annum Hector erat): tum colla iugo canentia pressos exhortatus equos currum direxit in hostem concutiensque suis vibrantia tela lacertis “ quisquis es, o iuvenis,’ dixit “solamen habeto 80 mortis, ab Haemonio quod sis iugulatus Achille! ”’ hactenus Aeacides: vocem gravis hasta secuta est, sed quamquam certa nullus fuit error in hasta, nil tamen emissi profecit acumine ferri utque hebeti pectus tantummodo contudit ictu. 85 ‘nate dea, nam te fama praenovimus,” inquit ille “ quid a nobis vulnus miraris abesse ? (mirabatur enim.) “non haec, quam cernis, equinis fulva iubis cassis neque onus, cava parma, sinistrae auxilio mihi sunt: decor est quaesitus ab istis; 90 Mars quoque ob hoc capere arma solet! removebitur huius tegminis officium: tamen indestrictus abibo ; est aliquid non esse satum Nereide, sed qui Nereaque et natas et totum temperat aequor.” dixit et haesurum clipei curvamine telum 95 misit in Aeaciden, quod et aes et proxima rupit terga novena boum, decimo tamen orbe moratum est. excutit hoc heros rursusque trementia forti tela manu torsit: rursus sine vulnere corpus sinceruinque fuit; nec tertia cuspis apertum 100 et se praebentem valuit destringere Cvgnum. haut secus exarsit, quam circo taurus aperto, 186 METAMORPHOSES BOOK XII the battle’s press either Cygnus or Hector, he met with Cygnus. (Hector’s fate had been postponed until the tenth year.) Then Achilles, shouting to his horses whose snowy necks were straining at the yoke, drove his chariot full at the enemy and, brandishing his spear with his strong arm, cried: “Whoever you are, O youth, have it for solace of your death that you were slain by Achilles of Thessaly.”” So spoke Aeacides. His heavy spear followed on the word; but, although there was no swerving in the well-aimed spear, the flying weapon struck with its sharp point without effect, and only bruised his breast as by a blunt stroke. Then Cygnus said : “ Oson of Thetis, for rumour has already made you known to me, why do you marvel that I am unscathed?” for he was amazed. ‘ Neither this helmet which you behold, yellow with its horse-hair crest, nor yet this hollow shield which burdens my left arm is intended for a protection; ‘tis ornament that is sought from them. Mars, too, for this cause, wearshis armour. Remove the protection of this cover- ing : still shall I escape unharmed. It is something to be the son, not of Nereus’ daughter, but of him who rules both Nereus and his daughters and the whole sea besides.” He spoke and hurled against Aeacides his spear, destined only to stick in the curving shield. Through brass and through uine layers of bull’s hide it tore its way, but stopped upon the tenth. Shaking the weapon off, the hero again hurled a quivering spear with his strong hand. Again his foeman’s body was unwounded and unharmed; nor did a third spear avail to scratch Cygnus, though he offered his body quite unprotected. Achilles raged at this just like a bull in the broad arena when with his deadly horns he rushes on the scarlet cloak, the object of his 187 G OVID cum sua terribili petit inritamina cornu. poeniceas vestes, elusaque vulnera sentit: num tamen exciderit ferrum considerat hastae: 105 haerebat ligno. “manus est mea debilis ergo, quasque ”’ ait “ ante habuit vires, effudit in uno? nam certe valuit, vel cum Lyrnesia primus moenia deieci, vel cum Tenedonque suoque Ketioneas inplevi sanguine hebas, 110 vel cum purpureus populari caede Caicus fluxit, opusque meae bis sensit Telephus hastae. hic quoque tot caesis, quorum per litus acervos et feci et video, valuit mea dextra valetque.” dixit et, ante actis veluti male crederet, hastam 115 misit in adversum Lycia de plebe Menoeten loricamque simul subiectaque pectora rupit. quo plangente gravem moribundo vertice terra extrahit illud idem calido de vulnere telum atque ait: “haec manus est, haec, qua modo vicimus, hasta : 120 utar in hoc isdem; sit in hoc, precor, exitus idem!” sic fatus Cygnum repetit, nec fraxinus errat inque umero sonuit non evitata sinistro, inde velut muro solidaque a caute repulsa est; qua tamen ictus erat, signatuin sanguine Cygnum 125 viderat et frustra fuerat gavisus Achilles : vulnus erat nullum, sanguis fuit ille Menoetae |! tum vero praeceps curru fremebundus ab alto desilit et nitido securum comminus hostem ense petens parmam gladio galeamque cavari 130 cernit, at in duro laedi quoque corpore ferrum. 188 METAMORPHOSES BOOK XII wrath, and finds it ever eluding his fierce attack. He examined the spear to see if the iron point had not been dislodged. {t was still on the wooden shaft. “Is my hand then so weak,” he said, “and has the strength, which it once had, ebbed away in this case alone? For surely I had strength enough when I as leader of the attack overthrew Lyrnesus’ walls, or when I caused Tenedos and Thebes, the city of Eetion, to flow with their own blood, when the Caicus ran red with the slaughter of its neigh- bouring tribes, and when Telephus twice felt the strength of my spear. On this field also, with so many slain, heaps of whose corpses upon the shore I have both made and see, my right hand has been mighty and still is mighty.” He spoke and, as if he dis- trusted his former prowess, he hurled the spear fall at Menoetes, one of the Lycian commons, and smote clean through his breastplate and his breast beneath. As his dying victim fell clanging down head first upon the solid earth, Achilles plucked out the spear from the hot wound and cried: “ This is the hand, this the spear with which I have just conquered. I likewise shall use it on this foeman, and may the outcome be the same on him, I pray.’ So saying, he hurled again at Cygnus, and the ashen spear went straight and struck, unshunned, with a thud upon the left shoulder, whence it rebounded as from a wall or from a solid cliff. Yet where the spear struck, Achilles saw Cygnus marked with blood, and rejoiced, but vainly: there was no wound; it was Menoetes’ blood! Then truly in headlong rage he leaped down from his lofty chariot and, seeking his invulnerable foe in close conflict with his gleaming sword, he saw both shield and helmet pierced through, but on the unyielding body his sword was even blunted. The 189 OVID haut tulit ulterius clipeoque adversa retecti ter quater ora viri, capulo cava tempora pulsat cedentique sequens instat turbatque ruitque attonitoque negat requiem: pavor occupat illum, 135 ante oculosque natant tenebrae retroque ferenti aversos passus medio lapis obstitit arvo; quem super inpulsum resupino corpore Cygnum vi muita vertit terraeque adflixit Achilles. tum clipeo genibusque premens praecordia duris 140 vinela trahit galeae, quae presso subdita mento elidunt fauces et respiramen utrumque eripiunt animae. victum spoliare parabat : arma relicta videt ; corpus deus aequoris albam contulit in volucrem, cuius modo nomen habebat. 145 Hic labor, haec requiem multorum pugna dierum attulit et positis pars utraque substitit armis. dumque vigil Phrygios servat custodia muros, et vigil Argolicas servat custocia fossas, festa dies aderat, qua Cygni victor Achilles 150 Pallada mactatae placabat sanguine vaccae ; euius ut inposuit prosecta calentibus aris, et dis acceptus penetravit in aethera nidor, sacra tulere suam, pars est data cetera mensis. discubuere toris proceres et corpora tosta 155 carne replent vinoque levant curasque sitimque. non illos citharae, non illos carmina vocum longave multifori delectat tibia buxi, sed noctem sermone trahunt, virtusque loquendi 190 METAMORPHOSES BOOK XII hero could brook no more, but with shield and sword- hilt again and again he beat upon the face and hollow temples of his uncovered foe. As one gives way the other presses on, buffets and rushes him, gives him no pause to recover from the shock. Fear gets hold on Cygnus; dark shadows float before his eyes, and as he steps backward a stone lying on the plain blocks his way. As he lies with bent body pressed back upon this, Achilles whirls him with mighty force and dashes him to the earth. Then, pressing with buckler and hard knees upon his breast, he un- laces his helmet-thongs. With these applied beneath his chin he chokes his throat and cuts off the passage of his breath. He prepares to strip his conquered foe: he sees the armour empty; for the sea-god has changed the body into the white bird whose name he lately bore. | This struggle, this battle, brought a truce of many days, and each side laid its weapons down and rested. And while a watchful guard was patrolling the Phry- gian walls and a watchful guard patrolled the trenches of the Greeks, there came a festal day when Cygnus’ conqueror, Achilles, was sacrificing to Pallas with blood of a slain heifer. When now the entrails had been placed upon the blazing altars and the odour which gods love had ascended to the skies, the holy beings received their share and the rest was set upon the tables. The chiefs reclined upon the couches and ate their fill of the roasted flesh while they relieved their cares and quenched their thirst with wine. Nor were they entertained by sound of cithern, nor by the voice of song, nor by the long flute of boxwood pierced with many holes; but they drew out the night in talk, and valour was the theme of their conversation. Of battles was their talk, the 191 OVID materia est: pugnas referunt hostisque suasque, 160 inque vices adita atque exhausta pericula saepe commemorare iuvat; quid enim loqueretur Achilles, aut quid apud magnum potius loquerentur Achillem? proxima praecipue domito victoria Cygno in sermone fuit: visum mirabile cunctis, 165 quod iuveni corpus nullo penetrabile telo invictumque a vulnere erat ferrumque terebat. hoc ipse Aeacides, hoc mirabantur Achivi, cum sic Nestor ait: “ vestro fuit unicus aevo contemptor ferri nulloque forabilis ictu 170 Cygnus. at ipse olim patientem vulnera mille corpore non laeso Perrhaebum Caenea vidi, Caenea Perrhaebum, qui factis inclitus Othryn incoluit, quoque id mirum magis esset in illo, femina natus erat.’”” monstri novitate moventur 175 quisquis adest, narretque rogant : quos inter Achilles: “dic age! nam cunctis eadem est audire voluntas, o facunde senex, aevi prudentia nostri, quis fuerit Caeneus, cur in contraria versus, qua tibi militia, cuius certamine pugnae 180 cognitus, a quo sit victus, si victus ab ullo est.” tum senior: “ quamvis obstet mihi tarda vetustas, multaque me fugiant primis spectata sub annis, plura tamen memini, nec quae magis haereat ulla pectore res nostro est inter bellique domiaque 185 acta tot, ac si quem potuit spatiosa senectus spectatorem operum multorum reddere, vixi annos bis centum; nunc tertia vivitur aetas. ‘“‘ Clara decore fuit proles Elateia Caenis, 192 METAMORPHOSES BOOK XII enemy’s and their own, and ’twas joy to tell over and over again in turn the perils they had encountered and endured. For of what else should Achilles speak, or of what else should others speak in great Achilles’ presence? Especially did the talk turn on Achilles’ last victory and Cygnus’ overthrow. It seemed a marvel to them all that a youth should have a body which no spear could penetrate, invulnerable, which blunted the sword’s edge. Aeacides himself and the Greeks were wondering at this, when Nestor said: “In this your generation there has been one only, Cygnus, who could scorn the sword, whom no stroke could pierce; but I myself long ago saw one who could bear a thousand strokes with body unharmed, Thessalian Caeneus: Caeneus of Thessaly, I say, who once dwelt on Mount Othrys, famed tor his mighty deeds; and to enhance the marvel of him, he had been born a woman.’ All who heard were struck with wonder at this marvel and begged him to tell the tale. Among the rest Achilles said: “Tell on, old man, eloquent wisdom of our age, for all of us alike desire to hear, who was this Caeneus, why was he changed in sex, in what campaign did you know him and fighting against whom ; by whom he was conquered if he was conquered by anyone.” Then said the old man: “ Though time has blurred my memory, though many things which I saw in my young years have quite gone from me, still can I remember much; nor is there anything, midst so many deeds of war and peace, that clings more firmly in my memory than this. And, if long- extended age could have made anyone an observer of many deeds, I have lived for two centuries and now am living in my third. “ Famous for beauty was Elatus’ daughter, Caenis, 193 OVID Thessalidum virgo pulcherrima, perque propinquas perque tuas urbes (tibi enim popularis, Achille), 191 multorumque fuit spes invidiosa procorum. temptasset Peleus thalamos quoque forsitan illos: sed iam aut contigerant illi conubia matris aut fuerant promissa tuae, nec Caenis in ullos 195 denupsit thalamos secretaque litora carpens aequorei vim passa dei est (ita fama ferebat), utque novae Veneris Neptunus gaudia cepit, ‘ sint tua vota licet’ dixit ‘secura repulsae : elige, quid voveas !" (eadem hoc quoque fama ferebat) ‘magnum ’ Caenis ait ‘facit haec iniuriavotum, 201 tale pati nil posse; mihi da, femina ne sim: omnia praestiteris. graviore novissima dixit verba sono poteratque viri vox illa videri, sicut erat ; nam iam voto deus aequoris alti 205 adnuerat dederatque super, nec saucius ullis vulneribus fieri ferrove occumbere posset. munere laetus abit studiisque virilibus aevum exigit Atracides Peneiaque arva pererrat. “ Duxerat Hippodamen audaci Ixione natus 210 nubigenasque feros positis ex ordine mensis arboribus tecto discumbere iusserat antro. Haemonii proceres aderant, aderamus et ipsi, festaque confusa resonabat regia turba. ecce canunt Hymenaeon, etignibus atria fumant, 215 cinctanue adest virgo matrum nuruumque caterva, 194 METAMORPHOSES BOOK XII most lovely of all the maids of Thessaly, both through- out the neighbouring cities and your own (for she was of your city, Achilles), and she was the longed-for hope of many suitors, Peleus, too, perchance, would have tried to win her; but he had either already wed your mother or she was promised to him. And Caenis would not consent toany marriage ; but, so report had it, while walking along a lonely shore she was ravished by the god of the sea. When Neptune had tasted the joys of his new love, he said: ‘ Make now your prayers without fear of refusal. Choose what you most desire.” This, also, was a part of the same report. Then Caenis said: ‘The wrong that you have done me calls for a mighty prayer, the prayer that I may never again be able to suffer so. Grant me that [| be not woman: then you will have granted all.” She spoke the last words with a deeper tone which could well seem to be uttered bya man. And so it was; for already the god of the deep ocean had assented to her prayer, and had granted her besides that she should be proof against any wounds and should never fall before any sword, Atracides! went away rejoicing in his gift, spent his years in manly exercises, and ranged the fields of Thessaly. * Bold Ixion’s son® had wed Hippodame and had invited the cloud-born centaurs to recline at the tables, set in order in a well-shaded grotto. ‘The Thessalian chiefs were there and I myself was there. The palace, in festal array, resounded with the noisy throng. Behold, they were singing the nuptial song, the great hall smoked with the fires, and in came the maiden escorted by a throng of matrons and young wives, herself of surpassing beauty. We congratu- 1 ie, the Thessalian, Caeneus, the transformed Caenis. 2 Pirithoiis. 195 OVID praesignis facie ; felicem diximus tla coniuge Pirithoum, quod paene fefellimus omen. nam tibi, saevorum saevissime Centaurorum, Kuryte, quam vino pectus, tam virgine visa 220 ardet, et ebrietas geminata libidine regnat. protinus eversae turbant convivia mensae, raptaturque comis per vim nova nupta prehensis. Eurytus Hippodamen, alii, quam quisque probabant aut poterant, rapiunt, captaeque erat urbis imago, 225 femineo clamore sonat domus: ocius omnes surgimus, et primus ‘ quae te vecordia,’ Theseus ‘Euryte, pulsat,’ ait, ‘qui me vivente lacessas Pirithoum violesque duos ignarus in uno ¢’ [neve ea magnanimus frustra memoraverit ore, 230 submovet instantes raptamque furentibus aufert. | ille nihil contra, (neque enim defendere verbis talia facta potest) sed vindicis ora protervis insequitur manibus generosaque pectora pulsat. forte fuit iuxta signis exstantibus asper 235 antiquus crater ; quem surgens vastior ipse sustalit Aegides adversaque misit in ora: sanguinis ille globos pariter cerebrumque mernmque vulnere et ore vomens madida resupinus harena calcitrat. ardescunt germani caede bimembres 240 certatimque omnes uno ore‘ arma, arma’ Joquuntur. vina dabant animos, et prima pocula pugna missa volant fragilesque cadi curvique lebetes, res epulis quondam, tum bello et caedibus aptae. 196 METAMORPHOSES BOOK XII lated Pirithoiis upon his bride, an act which all but undid the good omen of the wedding. For your heart, Eurytus, wildest of the wild centaurs, was inflamed as well by the sight of the maiden as with wine, and it was swayed by drunken passion redoubled by lust. Straightway the tables were overturned and the banquet in an uproar, and the bride was caught by her hair and dragged violently away. Eurytus caught up Hippodame, and others, each took one for himself according as he fancied or as he could, and the scene looked like the sacking of a town. The whole house resounded with the women’s shrieks. Quickly we all sprang up and Theseus first cried out: ‘What madness, Eurytus, drives you to this, that while I still live you dare provoke Pirithoiis aid, not knowing what you do, attack two men in one?’ The great-souled hero, that he might justify his threat, thrust aside the opposing centaurs and rescued the ravished maid from their mad hands. The other made no reply, for with words he could not defend such deeds; but with unruly hands he rushed upon the avenger and beat upon his face and noble breast. There chanced to stand near by an antique mixing-vat, rough with high-wrought figures; this, Theseus, rising to his fullest height, himself caught up and hurled full into the other's face. He, spouting forth gouts of blood along with brains and wine from wound and mouth alike,stumbled backward upon the reeking ground. His twi-formed brothers, inflamed with passion at his death, cried all with one accord, ‘To arms! to arms!’ vying with one another. Wine gave them courage, and in the first on- slaught wine-cupsand brittle flasks went flying through the air, and deep rounded basins, utensils once meant for use of feasting, but now for war and slaughter. 197 OVID ‘* Primus Ophionides Amycus penetralia donis 245 haut timuit spoliare suis et primus ab aede lampadibus densum rapnit funale coruscis elatumque alte, veluti qui candida tauri rumpere sacrifica molitur colla securi, inlisit fronti Lapithae Celadontis et ossa non cognoscendo confusa relinquit in ore. exsiluere oculi, disiectisque ossibus oris acta retro naris medioque est fixa palato. hunc pede convulso mensae Pellaeus acernae stravit humi Pelates deiecto in pectora mento cumque atro mixtos sputantem sanguine dentes vulnere lTartareas geminato mittit ad umbras. ‘¢ Proximus ut steterat spectans altaria vultu furida terribili ‘ cur non ’ ait ‘ utimur istis ?’ cumque suis Gryneus inmanem sustulit aram ignibus et medium Lapitharum iecit in agmen depressitque duos, Brotean et Orion: Orio mater erat Mycale, quam deduxisse canendo saepe reluctantis constabat cornua lunae. ‘non impune feres, teli modo copia detur!’ dixerat Exadius telique habet instar, in aita quae fuerant pinu votivi cornua cervi. figitur hine duplici Gryneus in lumina ramo eruiturque oculos, quorum pars cornibus haeret, 250 260 265 pars fluit in barbam concretaque sanguine pendet. 270 “ Ecce rapit mediis flagrantem Rhoetus ab aris pruniceum torrem dextraque a parte Charaxi tempora perstringit fulvo protecta capillo. correpti rapida, veluti seges arida, flamma 198 METAMORPHOSES BOOK XII “ First Amycus, Ophion’s son, scrupled not to rob the inner sanctuary of its gifts, and first snatched from the shrine a chandelier thick hung with glitter- ing lamps. This, lifted on high, as when one strives to break a bull’s white neck with sacrificial axe, he dashed full at the head of Celadon, one of the Lapithae,crushing his face past recognition. His eyes leaped from their sockets, the bones of his face were shattered, and his nose driven back and fastened in his throat. But Pelates of Pella, wrenching off the leg of a table of maple-wood, hurled Amycus to the ground, his chin driven into his breast; and, as he spat forth dark blood and teeth commingled, his enemy with a second blow dispatched him to the shades of Tartarus. “Then Gryneus, gazing with wild eyes upon the smoking altar near which he stvod, cried out, ‘ Why not use this?’ and, catching up the huge altar, fire and all, he hurled it amidst a throng of Lapithae and crushed down two, Broteas and Orios. Now Orios’ mother was Mycale, who, men said, had by her incantations oft-times drawn down the horns of the moon, despite herstruggles. ‘ You shall not escape unscathed, if I may but lay hand upon a weapon.’ So cried Exadius, and found for weapon the antlers of a stag hung on a tall pine-tree as a votive offering. Gryneus’ eyes were pierced by the double branching horns and his eyeballs gouged out. One of these stuck to the horn and the other rolled down upon his beard and hung there in a mass of clotted blood. “Then Rhoetus caught up a blazing brand of plum-wood from the altar and, whirling it on the right, smashed through Charaxus’ temples covered with yellow hair. The hair, caught by the greedy flames, burned fiercely, like adry field of grain, and the blood 199 OVID arserunt crines, et vulnere sanguis inustus 275 terribilem stridore sonum dedit, ut dare ferrum igne rubens plerumque solet, quod forcipe curva cum faber eduxit, lacubus demittit : at illud stridet et in tepida submersum sibilat unda. saucius hirsutis avidum de crinibus ignem 280 excutit inque umeros limen tellure revulsum tollit, onus plaustri, quod ne permittat in hostem, ipsa facit gravitas: socium quoque saxea moles oppressit spatio stantem propiore Cometen. gaudia nec retinet Rhoetus: ‘sic, conprecor,’ inquit ‘cetera sit fortis castrorum turba tuorum !’ 286 semicremoque novat repetitum stipite vulnus terque quaterque gravi iuncturas verticis ictu rupit, et in liquido sederunt ossa cerebro. “Victor ad Euagrum Corythumque Dryantaque transit; 290 e quibus ut prima tectus lanugine malas procubuit Corythus, ‘puero quae gloria fuso parta tibi est?’ Euagrus ait, nec dicere Rhoetus plura sinit rutilasque ferox in aperta loquentis condidit ora viri perque os in pectora flammas 295 te quoque, saeve Drya, circum caput igne rotato insequitur, sed non in te quoque constitit idem exitus : adsiduae successu caedis ovantem, qua iuncta est umero cervix, sude figis obusta. ingemuit duroque sudem vix osse revulsit 300 Rhoetus et ipse suo madefactus sanguine fugit. fugit et Orneus Lycabasque et saucius armo 200 METAMORPHOSES BOOK XII scorching in the wound gave forth a horrid sizzling sound ; such as a bar of iron, glowing red in the fire, gives when the smith takes it out in his bent pincers and plunges it into a tub of water ; it sizzles and hisses as it is thrust into the tepid pool. The wounded man shook off the greedy fire from his shaggy locks, then tore up from the ground and heaved upon his shoulders a threshold-stone, a weight for a team of oxen. But its very weight prevented him from hurling it to reach his enemy. The massive stone, however, did reach Charaxus’ friend, Cometes, who stood a little nearer, and crushed him to the ground. At this Rhoetus could not contain his joy and said: ‘So, I pray, may the rest of the throng on your side be brave!’ and he redoubled his attack with the half-burned brand, and with heavy blows thrice and again he broke through the joinings of his skull until the bones sank down into his fluid brains, “ The victor next turned against Euagrus, Corythus, and Dryas. When one of these, young Corythus, whose first downy beard was just covering his clieeks, fell forward, Euagrus cried ; ‘ What glory do you get from slaying a mere boy?’ Rhoetus gave him no chance to say more, but fiercely thrust the red, flaming brand into the man’s mouth while still open in speech, and