chief. You also glory in being of the race of Pelops and Tantalus; and, if you reckon farther, are the fifth in a direct line from the Father of the Gods. Nor are you destitute of courage; but you have borne arms in an invidious cause, constrained to engage in the just revenge of a father's death. Oh! how I wish that you had given proof of your valor in a less direful cause! yet was it not choice, but necessity. You yielded to the urgent call, and shed the blood of that villain Ægisthus, who had so cruelly murdered your father. But Pyrrhus censures it, and calls that praise-worthy revenge a crime; and even presumes to do it in my presence.
Tu mihi, quod matri pater est; quas egerat olimDardanius partis advena, Pyrrhus agit.Ille licet patriis sine fine superbiat actis;Et tu, quae referas facta parentis, habes.Tantalides omnis ipsumque regebat Achillem.Hic pars militiae; dux erat ille ducum.Tu quoque per proavum Pelopem Pelopisque parentem,Si medios numeres, a Iove quintus eris.Nec virtute cares. arma invidiosa tulisti,Sed tibi — quid faceres? — induit illa pater.
I am distracted; my cheeks, as well as my heart, glow with rage, and my breast is scorched with flames pent up. Shall any one dare to blame Orestes in Hermione's presence? I have indeed neither strength nor arms: but I may shed tears: tears assuage grief; tears flow from my eyes in floods. These alone I always can command, and these I always shed profusely: my neglected cheeks are watered by a continual stream. By this fate of our race, which reaches down even to the present age, we matrons of the house of Tantalus fall a sure prey to every ravisher. I need not mention the deceit of the swan, or how Jupiter lurked under the disguise of feathers. Hippodamia was conveyed by foreign wheels, to where the isthmus stretching to a great length divides two seas. Helen was restored to the Amyclæan brothers, Castor and Pollux, from an Attic city. Helen, conveyed beyond sea by an Idæan stranger, raised in arms the whole power of Greece to recover her. Scarcely do I remember the time; yet, young as I was, I remember it: all appeared full of grief; all discovered manifest tokens of anxiety and concern. My grandfather wept, as did also her sister and twin brothers: Leda called on the heavenly powers and her own Jove. I myself with tresses torn, which even yet are not long, complained in a mournful voice; Alas, mother, are you gone without me? have you left me behind? for Menelaus was absent. Lo I too, that I might not belie the race of Pelops, am made the prey of hated Neoptolemus. Oh that Achilles had escaped the arrows of Apollo! he would doubtless have condemned the insolence of his son. He neither approved formerly, nor now would have approved, that a forsaken husband should lament the rape of his spouse. What crime of mine has raised
Materia vellem fortis meliore fuisses;Non lecta est operi, sed data causa tuo.Hanc tamen inplesti; iuguloque Aegisthus apertoTecta cruentavit, quae pater ante tuus.Increpat Aeacides laudemque in crimina vertit —Et tamen adspectus sustinet ille meos.Rumpor, et ora mihi pariter cum mente tumescunt,Pectoraque inclusis ignibus usta dolent.Hermione coram quisquamne obiecit Orestae,Nec mihi sunt vires, nec ferus ensis adest?Flere licet certe; flendo defundimus iram,Perque sinum lacrimae fluminis instar eunt.Has solas habeo semper semperque profundo;Ument incultae fonte perenne genae.Num generis fato, quod nostros errat in annos,Tantalides matres apta rapina sumus?Non ego fluminei referam mendacia cygniNec querar in plumis delituisse Iovem.Qua duo porrectus longe freta distinet Isthmos,Vecta peregrinis Hippodamia rotis;Taenaris Idaeo trans aequor ab hospite raptaArgolicas pro se vertit in arma manus.Vix equidem memini, memini tamen. omnia luctus,Omnia solliciti plena timoris erant;Flebat avus Phoebeque soror fratresque gemelli,Orabat superos Leda suumque Iovem.Ipsa ego, non longos etiamtunc scissa capillos,Clamabam: 'sine me, me sine, mater, abis?'Nam coniunx aberat!
the indignation of the Gods? Unhappy that I am! What ominous star obstructs my felicity? I was deprived of my mother in my earliest youth; my father was engaged in a foreign war; thus, though both were alive, I was destitute of both. I did not, O my mother, in my younger days fondle and flatter you with my prattling tongue; I caught you not round the neck with my infant arms, nor sat, a pleasing load, upon your knee. You had no care of my education, nor was I led by you to the nuptial bed. I came out to meet you at your return, and, to own the truth, I could not distinguish my mother's face. I only fancied you to be Helen, because you were the most beautiful; nor did you know, before a friend informed you, which was your daughter. My only good fortune was the having Orestes for my husband; and he too will be lost, unless he should maintain his right by arms. Pyrrhus hath obtained me from my victorious father; it is all I have gained
ne non Pelopeia credar,Ecce, Neoptolemo praeda parata fui!Pelides utinam vitasset Apollinis arcus!Damnaret nati facta proterva pater;Nec quondam placuit nec nunc placuisset AchilliAbducta viduum coniuge flere virum.Quae mea caelestis iniuria fecit iniquos,Quod mihi — vae miserae! — sidus obesse querar?Parva mea sine matre fui, pater arma ferebat,Et duo cum vivant, orba duobus eram.Non tibi blanditias primis, mea mater, in annisIncerto dictas ore puella tuli;Non ego captavi brevibus tua colla lacertisNec gremio sedi sarcina grata tuo.Non cultus tibi cura mei, nec pacta maritoIntravi thalamos matre parante novos.
by the fall of Troy. When the sun in his resplendent chariot mounts the mid heaven, my misfortunes then suffer some remission; but, when night conceals me in my chambers, howling and heaving bitter groans, and I have thrown myself upon my mournful couch; instead of being closed by sleep, my eyes overflow with tears, and I shun my husband when I can, as I would an enemy. Oft rendered insensible by my misfortunes, and unmindful of the place and persons, I am apt to stretch over Pyrrhus my unwary hand. But as soon as I recollect my error, I start from the hated touch, and think my hands polluted. Oft, instead of Pyrrhus, the name of my Orestes escapes me, and I am glad to interpret the mistake as a good omen. I swear by our unhappy race and its almighty sire, who shakes the earth and seas and heaven by his nod; by the bones of your father, my uncle, which, bravely revenged by your hand, now rest in a peaceful urn: I will either prematurely die, and be extinguished in my early youth, or, as I am a descendant of Tantalus, be married to one of my own race.
Obvia prodieram reduci tibi — vera fatebor —Nec facies nobis nota parentis erat!Te tamen esse Helenen, quod eras pulcherrima, sensi;Ipsa requirebas, quae tua nata foret!Pars haec una mihi, coniunx bene cessit Orestes;Is quoque, ni pro se pugnat, ademptus erit.Pyrrhus habet captam reduce et victore parente —Hoc munus nobis diruta Troia dedit!Cum tamen altus equis Titan radiantibus instant,Perfruor infelix liberiore malo;Nox ubi me thalamis ululantem et acerba gementemCondidit in maesto procubuique toro,Pro somno lacrimis oculi funguntur obortis,Quaque licet, fugio sicut ab hoste virum.Saepe malis stupeo rerumque oblita lociqueIgnara tetigi Scyria membra manu,Utque nefas sensi, male corpora tacta relinquoEt mihi pollutas credor habere manus.
I GIVE you joy that the conquest of Œchalia is now added to your other trophies; but I am sorry that the conqueror is forced to submit to the conquered. For a report that tends greatly to your dishonor, and which by your actions you must study to discredit, has been suddenly propagated through all the cities
Saepe Neoptolemi pro nomine nomen OrestaeExit, et errorem vocis ut omen amo.Per genus infelix iuro generisque parentem,Qui freta, qui terras et sua regna quatit;
of Greece, that he whom neither the malice of Juno, nor an endless series of toils, could subdue, is now a captive to the charms of Iole. Eurystheus has much longed for this, as has the sister of the Thunderer; and your step-mother triumphs in this stain of your character: but it is far from pleasing him, to whom (if fame can be believed) one night was not sufficient to beget you, great as you are. Venus has injured you more than Juno. The wife of Jove raised, by endeavouring to depress you: the other goddess keeps your neck beneath her footstool. Think how the world lies hushed in peace by your avenging arm, where-ever the blue ocean circles this vast tract of earth. To thee the earth is indebted for peace, and the sea for a safe navigation: thy glory hath filled both houses of the sun. You previously bore up the heavens, that must at length bear you; Atlas, by your aid, supported the stars. Yet all this tends
Per patris ossa tui, patrui mihi, quae tibi debent,Quod se sub tumulo fortiter ulta iacent —Aut ego praemoriar primoque exstinguar in aevo,Aut ego Tantalidae Tantalis uxor ero![Mittor ad Alciden a coniuge conscia mentis][Littera, si coniunx Deianira tua est: ]Gratulor Oechaliam titulis accedere nostris;Victorem victae succubuisse queror.Fama Pelasgiadas subito pervenit in urbesDecolor et factis infitianda tuis,Quem numquam Iuno seriesque inmensa laborumFregerit, huic Iolen inposuisse iugum.Hoc velit Eurystheus, velit hoc germana Tonantis,Laetaque sit vitae labe noverca tuae;At non ille, brevis cui nox — si creditur — unaLuctanti, ut tantus conciperere, fuit.
only to spread abroad your shame, if your former brave deeds are stained by an infamous miscarriage. Are you not said to have wrung to death two horrid snakes, when, young and in your cradle, you shewed yourself worthy of your father Jupiter? You began with more honor than you are like to end: the last parts of your life fall short of the first. How preposterous to shew yourself a man in this, in that a child! He whom not a thousand monsters, not the son of Sthenelus, his obstinate enemy, not implacable Juno could vanquish, is yet vanquished by love. But I am thouht honorably wedded, because I am called the wife of Hercules, and boast of him for my father-in-law, who, riding on his fiery steeds, rends the poles with his thunder. As when unequal steers are yoked in the same plough, so does the wife of inferior degree suffer from her mighty husband. A rank that oppresses, is no honor, but a burthen. She who desires to wed well, will do wisely to wed with her equal. My lord is ever absent; and a stranger is better known to him than his wife: he is always in pursuit of monsters and ferocious beasts. Oft I ad-
Plus tibi quam Iuno, nocuit Venus: illa premendoSustulit, haec humili sub pede colla tenet.Respice vindicibus pacatum viribus orbem,Qua latam Nereus caerulus ambit humum.Se tibi pax terrae, tibi se tuta aequora debent;Inplesti meritis solis utramque domum.Quod te laturum est, caelum prius ipse tulisti;Hercule supposito sidera fulsit Atlans.Quid nisi notitia est misero quaesita pudori,Si cumulas turpi facta priora nota?Tene ferunt geminos pressisse tenaciter angues,Cum tener in cunis iam Iove dignus eras?Coepisti melius quam desinis; ultima primisCedunt; dissimiles hic vir et ille puer.Quem non mille ferae, quem non Stheneleius hostis,Non potuit Iuno vincere, vincit amor.At bene nupta feror, quia nominer Herculis uxor,Sitque socer, rapidis qui tonat altus equis.
dress Heaven with chaste vows, and tremble in my solitary home, lest my husband should fall by some savage enemy. My imagination hurries me amidst serpents, boars, furious lions, and three-headed devouring dogs. The entrails of the sacrifices, the vain phantoms of sleep, and secret omens of night, alarm me. I am terrified with every surmise of doubtful fame, and feel the full misery of a breast racked by alternate hope and fear. Your mother is absent, and complains that ever her charms engaged the notice of a powerful God. I have neither the society of your father Amphitryon, nor that of your son Hyllus. I feel only Eurystheus, the minister of Juno's unjust rage, and the unrelenting wrath of that goddess. But it is not difficult to bear this. You add also foreign loves; and any one may be a mother by you. I shall not speak either of
Quam male inaequales veniunt ad aratra iuvenci,Tam premitur magno coniuge nupta minor.Non honor est sed onus species laesura ferentis;Siqua voles apte nubere, nube pari.Vir mihi semper abest, et coniuge notior hospes,Monstraque terribiles persequiturque feras.Ipsa domo vidua votis operata pudicisTorqueor, infesto ne vir ab hoste cadat;Inter serpentes aprosque avidosque leonesIactor et haesuros terna per ora canes.Me pecudum fibrae simulacraque inania somniOminaque arcana nocte petita movent.Aucupor infelix incertae murmura famae,Speque timor dubia spesque timore cadit.
Auge deflowered in the vales of Arcadia, or of your offspring by Astydamia, the daughter of Ormenus. You shall not be reproached with the fifty sisters of the house of Theutrantes, all of whom you debauched in one night. Your late crime I resent, in preferring an adulteress to me; by whom I am made stepmother to Lydian Lamus.
Mater abest queriturque deo placuisse potenti,Nec pater Amphitryon nec puer Hyllus adest;Arbiter Eurystheus astu Iunonis iniquaeSentitur nobis iraque longa deae.Haec mihi ferre parum? peregrinos addis amores,Et mater de te quaelibet esse potest.
Mæander, which wanders so much in the same plains, whose winding streams flow back by frequent channels, has seen the neck of Hercules adorned with a string of pearls; that neck to which the heavens were an easy load. You have not been ashamed to bind your arms with chains of gold, and deck your solid joints with shining gems. And yet under these arms did the Nemean lion expire, whose skin new forms a covering for
Non ego Partheniis temeratam vallibus Augen,Nec referam partus, Ormeni nympha, tuos;Non tibi crimen erunt, Teuthrantia turba, sorores,Quarum de populo nulla relicta tibi est.Una, recens crimen, referetur adultera nobis,Unde ego sum Lydo facta noverca Lamo.
your left shoulder. You had the weakness to bind your rude locks with a mitre; a garland of poplar would have better adorned the temples of Hercules. Nor did you think it a dishonor to confine your waist with the girdle of Omphale, after the manner of a wanton maid. The image of barbarous Diomedes, who savagely fed his mares with human flesh, was not then, surely, in your mind. Had Busiris beheld you in that unmanly attire, the conquered would have been ashamed of his conqueror. Antæus would have torn the pearls from your nervous neck, ashamed to submit to so effeminate a victor. You are said to hold the basket amidst the other attendants of Omphale, and tremble at the threats of a mistress. Degenerate Alcides, are you not ashamed to employ in
Maeandros, terris totiens errator in isdem,Qui lassas in se saepe retorquet aquas,Vidit in Herculeo suspensa monilia colloIllo, cui caelum sarcina parva fuit.Non puduit fortis auro cohibere lacertos,Et solidis gemmas opposuisse toris?Nempe sub his animam pestis Nemeaea lacertisEdidit, unde umerus tegmina laevus habet!Ausus es hirsutos mitra redimire capillos!Aptior Herculeae populus alba comae.Nec te Maeonia lascivae more puellaeIncingi zona dedecuisse putas?Non tibi succurrit crudi Diomedis imago,Efferus humana qui dape pavit equas?
servile offices those nervous hands which have been victorious over a thousand dangers? to apply your manly thumb in fashioning the long thread, and measure out the task given you by your fair mistress? How often, while with rough fingers you draw out the slender thread, have your sinewy hands broken the feeble distaffs? You are said, unhappy man, to tremble at the thongs of the whip, and, falling prostrate at the feet of your mistress, to beg a respite from stripes. You hope to appease her by boasting of your great deeds and pompous triumphs; exploits which, in those circumstances, it would be better to dissemble: by relating how, when an infant in your cradle, you grasped hideous serpents, not terrified by their extended jaws, or forky tongues: how the Arcadian boar was slain upon cypress-bearing Erymanthus, and burthened the earth with his enormous weight. You tell also of the heads that were fixed upon Thracian gates, and the mares fattened by the blood of men; of Geryon, that three-fold monster, rich in Iberian herds, who had three bodies in one; of Cerberus, forming three dogs from the same trunk, having his hair wreathed with hissing
Si te vidisset cultu Busiris in isto,Huic victor victo nempe pudendus eras.Detrahat Antaeus duro redimicula collo,Ne pigeat molli succubuisse viro.Inter Ioniacas calathum tenuisse puellasDiceris et dominae pertimuisse minas.Non fugis, Alcide, victricem mille laborumRasilibus calathis inposuisse manum,Crassaque robusto deducis pollice fila,Aequaque famosae pensa rependis erae?A, quotiens digitis dum torques stamina duris,Praevalidae fusos conminuere manus!Ante pedes dominae …Factaque narrabas dissimulanda tibi —Scilicet inmanes elisis faucibus hydrosInfantem caudis involuisse manum,Ut Tegeaeus aper cupressifero ErymanthoIncubet et vasto pondere laedat humum.Non tibi Threiciis adfixa penatibus ora,Non hominum pingues caede tacentur equae;
snakes; of the astonishing serpent which multiplied by its wounds, and gathered strength from the greatness of its losses; of the enormous burthen which, poised between your left arm and side, you by main strength pressed to death; and the troop of Centaurs, who, vainly trusting to their feet and double-limbed form, were dispersed on the craggy summits of Thessaly. Are you not ashamed to recount these exploits, when you are clad in Tyrian purple; and is not your tongue restrained by a sense of the unseemly dress? The daughter of Iardanus has moreover adorned herself with your armour, and wears the mighty trophies of her captive lover.
Prodigiumque triplex, armenti dives HiberiGeryones, quamvis in tribus unus erat;Inque canes totidem trunco digestus ab unoCerberos inplicitis angue minante comis;Quaeque redundabat fecundo vulnere serpensFertilis et damnis dives ab ipsa suis;Quique inter laevumque latus laevumque lacertumPraegrave conpressa fauce pependit onus;Et male confisum pedibus formaque bimembriPulsum Thessalicis agmen equestre iugis.Haec tu Sidonio potes insignitus amictuDicere?
Rouse now your courage, and boast of your warlike deeds. She has taken the name of hero, because you were unworthy of it; and is as much above you, as it was a harder task to subdue you, the greatest of conquerors, than those whom you overcame. The glory of your actions redounds to her. Resign your claim of praise: a mistress has become
non cultu lingua retenta silet?Se quoque nympha tuis ornavit Iardanis armisEt tulit a capto nota tropaea viro.I nunc, tolle animos et fortia gesta recense;Quo tu non esses, iure vir illa fuit.Qua tanto minor es, quanto te, maxime rerum,Quam quos vicisti, vincere maius erat.
heir to your trophies. For shame! do you suffer the bristly hide, torn from the ribs of the savage lion, to enfold her feeble limbs? Weak man, to be thus deluded! These are not the spoils of the lion, but yours: you have indeed triumphed over the savage monster; but she triumphs over you. A woman, scarcely able to sustain the distaff loaded with wool, bears the darts dipped in the poison of the Lernæan Hydra; she has armed her right hand with the club which could subdue the most ferocious beasts; and has viewed in a mirror the armour of her spouse. These things, indeed, I only heard, and was willing to disbelieve common report; but now the mournful tale forces itself upon my senses. A foreign harlot is caressed in my sight; and it is no longer in my power to hide what I suffer. I am not even allowed to be absent. The captive, whom I behold with unwilling eyes, is led through the midst of the city, not in the manner of slaves, with her hair disheveled, and hiding her face in token of her disaster; but in triumphal pomp, adorned with shining gold, and clad in the same attire which you wore when in Phrygia. She carries her dead high amidst the captives subdued by Hercules, as if Œchalia still stood, and her father yet existed. Perhaps too, laying aside the name of mistress, she will be received as your spouse, and Deianira of Ætolia be ba-
Illi procedit rerum mensura tuarum —Cede bonis; heres laudis amica tuae.O pudor! hirsuti costis exuta leonisAspera texerunt vellera molle latus!Falleris et nescis — non sunt spolia illa leonis,Sed tua, tuque feri victor es, illa tui.Femina tela tulit Lernaeis atra venenis,Ferre gravem lana vix satis apta colum,Instruxitque manum clava domitrice ferarum,Vidit et in speculo coniugis arma mei!Haec tamen audieram; licuit non credere famae,Et venit ad sensus mollis ab aure dolor —Ante meos oculos adducitur advena paelex,Nec mihi, quae patior, dissimulare licet!Non sinis averti; mediam captiva per urbemInvitis oculis adspicienda venit.Nec venit incultis captarum more capillis,Fortunam vultu fassa decente suam;Ingreditur late lato spectabilis auro,Qualiter in Phrygia tu quoque cultus eras.Dat vultum populo sublimis ut Hercule victo;Oechaliam vivo stare parente putes.
nished from your bed. An impious marriage may join, in unchaste bands, Iole the daughter of Eurytus, and the infatuated Alcides. My mind sickens with the apprehension; a shivering coldness spreads itself over all my limbs; and my languid hands lie motionless upon my knees. You loved also me among many others; but your love to me was without a crime. Think it no dishonor that twice you fought victorious in my behalf. Achelous gathered his shattered horns upon his oozy banks, and plunged his mutilated temples in the muddy stream. Nessus the Centaur fell near the stream of fatal Evenus, and tinged the waters with his unnatural blood. But why do I now mention these things? Even while I write, Fame brings me the news that my husband perishes by the poison of the shirt that I sent him. Alas! what have I done? Whither has my despairing love driven me? Impious Deianira, do you yet doubt whether you should die? Shall your husband perish miserably on Mount
Forsitan et pulsa Aetolide DeianiraNomine deposito paelicis uxor erit,Eurytidosque Ioles atque Aonii AlcidaeTurpia famosus corpora iunget Hymen.Mens fugit admonitu, frigusque perambulat artus,Et iacet in gremio languida facta manus.Me quoque cum multis, sed me sine crimine amasti.Ne pigeat, pugnae bis tibi causa fui.Cornua flens legit ripis Achelous in udisTruncaque limosa tempora mersit aqua;Semivir occubuit in lotifero EuenoNessus, et infecit sanguis equinus aquas.Sed quid ego haec refero? scribenti nuntia venitFama, virum tunicae tabe perire meae.Ei mihi! quid feci? quo me furor egit amantem?Inpia quid dubitas Deianira mori?
Œta; and you, the cause of that barbarous crime, survive? If aught yet remains to be done by which I may shew myself the wife of Hercules, death shall be the confirmation of our union. You also, Meleager, shall own in me a true sister. Impious Deianira, do you yet doubt whether you should die? Oh! ill-fated house! Agrios usurps the lofty throne, and a desolate old age oppresses Œneus. My brother Tydeus wanders an exile on unknown coasts: the other perished alive in devouring flames. My mother transfixed her heart with steel. Impious Deianira, do you yet doubt whether you should die? It is my only request, by all the most sacred ties of marriage, that I may not be thought to have betrayed you to your fate. Nessus, when his breast was pierced by the flying arrow, said to me, "This blood of mine contains the powers of love." I sent you a robe stained with the poison of the Centaur. Impious Deianira, do you yet doubt whether you should die? And now, my aged sire, and sister Gorge, adieu. Farewell, my country, and my brother, banished from your native home. Adieu, light of day, the last to my now fading eyes. Farewell, my husband, (Oh that thou could'st fare well!) Hyllus, my dear Hyllus, adieu!
An tuus in media coniunx lacerabitur Oeta,Tu sceleris tanti causa superstes eris?Siquid adhuc habeo facti, cur Herculis uxorCredar, coniugii mors mea pignus erit!Tu quoque cognosces in me, Meleagre, sororem!Inpia quid dubitas Deianira mori?Heu devota domus! solio sedet Agrios alto;Oenea desertum nuda senecta premit.Exulat ignotis Tydeus germanus in oris;Alter fatali vivus in igne situs;Exegit ferrum sua per praecordia mater.Inpia quid dubitas Deianira mori?Deprecor hoc unum per iura sacerrima lecti,Ne videar fatis insidiata tuis.Nessus, ut est avidum percussus harundine pectus,'Hic,' dixit, 'vires sanguis amoris habet.'Inlita Nesseo misi tibi texta veneno.Inpia quid dubitas Deianira mori?Iamque vale, seniorque pater germanaque Gorge,Et patria et patriae frater adempte tuae,Et tu lux oculis hodierna novissima nostris,Virque — sed o possis!
BEASTS of the most savage nature have proved more mild and gentle to me, than you; nor could I have been intrusted to more faithless hands. The epistle which you now read, Theseus, is sent to you from that shore, whence your ship, leaving me behind, was borne by the spreading sails; where soft sleep, and you also, who barbarously watched the opportunity of my slumbers, fatally betrayed me. It was the season when the earth begins to be covered with shining frost, and the birds, lurking among the leaves, complain of the decaying year; when, half awake, and still in slumber languidly reclining, I stretched my arms to grasp my Theseus. No Theseus was there: I suddenly pulled back my hands, and then tried once more to find him. I wandered with my arms over all the bed: still no Theseus was there. Fear instantly shook off sleep: I started up in a consternation, and headlong threw my limbs fiom the deserted bed. Forthwith my breast resounded with the repeated strokes of my hands; and I tore my hair, as yet disheveled from sleep. The moon shone: I looked round if I could discern any thing besides the shore. My eager eyes found nought to look at but the shore. I ran sometimes here, sometimes there, and with wild disorder on either side: the deep yielding sands impeted my tender feet. Mean-while the hollow rocks over all the shore resounded the name of Theseus to my incessant cries. As often as I named you, the place re-echoed the sound: the very place seemed willing to alleviate my wretched lot. Near the spot was a mountain, whose top was thinly covered with tufted shrubs; and where a steep rock, undermined by the beating waves, impended. I mounted the ascent: my passion gave me strength; and thence with wide prospect I surveyed the mighty deep. Hence (for the winds also were cruelly unkind) I could observe your sails full-stretched by stiff southern gales. I either saw, or, when I thought I saw, remained cold as ice, and half-dead with concern. Nor did grief long permit this indolent respite: I was roused by that sensation; I was roused, and in a loud complaining strain called upon Theseus: "Whither do you fly? Return, perjured wretch, change your course; the ship has not her complement." Thus I complained: I made up in shrieks what was wanting in articulate sounds, and mingled my words with repeated blows upon my breast. My hands, waved high in the air, made signs, that, if you could not hear, you might at least perceive me. I also held out a white robe upon a long pole, to admonish you of her whom you had left behind. But, alas! I soon lost sight of you; it was then I began to weep; my tender cheeks had hitherto been stiffened with grief. What could my eyes do better, after ceasing to behold your sails, than help me to bemoan my forlorn state? Sometimes I wandered solitary, with my hair disheveled, like the raving priestesses inspired by the Theban God. Sometimes, fixing my eyes upon the sea, I silently seated myself upon some pointed rock, cold and senseless as the stone whereon I sat. Often I repair to the bed which once sheltered us both: Alas! it will never more exhibit the once happy lovers. I kiss the print left by your dear body, and love to repose myself upon the spot which your dear joints have warmed.
— et puer Hylle, vale![Illa relicta feris etiamnunc, improbe Theseu,][Vivit: et haec aequa mente tulisse velis: ]Mitius inveni quam te genus omne ferarum;Credita non ulli quam tibi peius eram.Quae legis, ex illo, Theseu, tibi litore mittoUnde tuam sine me vela tulere ratem,In quo me somnusque meus male prodidit et tu,Per facinus somnis insidiate meis.Tempus erat, vitrea quo primum terra pruinaSpargitur et tectae fronde queruntur aves.Incertum vigilans ac somno languida moviThesea prensuras semisupina manus —Nullus erat! referoque manus iterumque retempto,Perque torum moveo bracchia — nullus erat!Excussere metus somnum; conterrita surgo,Membraque sunt viduo praecipitata toro.Protinus adductis sonuerunt pectora palmis,Utque erat e somno turbida, rupta coma est.Luna fuit; specto, siquid nisi litora cernam.Quod videant oculi, nil nisi litus habent.Nunc huc, nunc illuc, et utroque sine ordine, curro;Alta puellares tardat harena pedes.Interea toto clamavi in litore 'Theseu!':Reddebant nomen concava saxa tuum,Et quotiens ego te, totiens locus ipse vocabat.Ipse locus miserae ferre volebat opem.Mons fuit — apparent frutices in vertice rari;Hinc scopulus raucis pendet adesus aquis.Adscendo — vires animus dabat — atque ita lateAequora prospectu metior alta meo.Inde ego — nam ventis quoque sum crudelibus usa —Vidi praecipiti carbasa tenta Noto.Ut vidi haut dignam quae me vidisse putarem,Frigidior glacie semianimisque fui.Nec languere diu patitur dolor; excitor illo,Excitor et summa Thesea voce voco.'Quo fugis?' exclamo; 'scelerate revertere Theseu!Flecte ratem! numerum non habet illa suum!'Haec ego; quod voci deerat, plangore replebam;Verbera cum verbis mixta fuere meis.Si non audires, ut saltem cernere posses,Iactatae late signa dedere manus;Candidaque inposui longae velamina virgae —Scilicet oblitos admonitura mei!Iamque oculis ereptus eras. tum denique flevi;Torpuerant molles ante dolore genae.Quid potius facerent, quam me mea lumina flerent,Postquam desieram vela videre tua?Aut ego diffusis erravi sola capillis,Qualis ab Ogygio concita Baccha deo,Aut mare prospiciens in saxo frigida sedi,Quamque lapis sedes, tam lapis ipsa fui.
I throw myself down; and watering the couch with profuse tears, Here, (I cry,) we pressed thee together: bring us together again. Hither we both came; why not both also depart? Perfidious bed, what is become of my dearer half? What shall I do? Whither, thus desolate and forsaken, shall I fly? The island lies uncultivated, and affords no prints either of men or cattle. The sea encompasses me. No mariner appears, no ship to bear me through the ambiguous tract. And suppose a ship, companions, and winds were in my power, what could I do? my native country denies access. Even if in a prosperous ship I should traverse the quiet seas, Æolus restraining the murmuring winds, still I should
Saepe torum repeto, qui nos acceperat ambos,Sed non acceptos exhibiturus erat,Et tua, quae possum pro te, vestigia tangoStrataque quae membris intepuere tuis.Incumbo, lacrimisque toro manante profusis,'Pressimus,' exclamo, 'te duo — redde duos!Venimus huc ambo; cur non discedimus ambo?Perfide, pars nostri, lectule, maior ubi est?'Quid faciam? quo sola ferar? vacat insula cultu.Non hominum video, non ego facta boum.Omne latus terrae cingit mare; navita nusquam,Nulla per ambiguas puppis itura vias.Finge dari comitesque mihi ventosque ratemque —Quid sequar?
remain an exile. I shall never more behold you, O Crete, planned out into a hundred cities, — the isle where infant Jupiter was nursed. I have basely betrayed my father, and his kingdom ruled by just laws, — names that must be ever dear to me. For you have I betrayed them, when, anxious lest the victor should be bewildered in the labyrinth, I gave you a clue to guide your uncertain steps: when you deceived me by false protestations, and swore by the dangers from which you had escaped, that, while life remained, we should be inseparably one. We live; and yet, Theseus, I am no longer thine; if indeed an unhappy woman, oppressed by the treachery of a perjured man, can be said to live. If you, barbarous man, had murdered me with the club with which you slew my brother, my death would have absolved you from your vow. Now I not only figure to myself those ills which I shall suffer, but every mishap that can befall one in my forlorn condition. A thousand shapes of death wander before my eyes. Death itself appears less terrible, than the lin-
accessus terra paterna negat.Ut rate felici pacata per aequora labar,Temperet ut ventos Aeolus — exul ero!Non ego te, Crete centum digesta per urbes,Adspiciam, puero cognita terra Iovi,Ut pater et tellus iusto regnata parentiProdita sunt facto, nomina cara, meo.Cum tibi, ne victor tecto morerere recurvo,Quae regerent passus, pro duce fila dedi,Tum mihi dicebas: 'per ego ipsa pericula iuro,Te fore, dum nostrum vivet uterque, meam.'Vivimus, et non sum, Theseu, tua — si modo vivitFemina periuri fraude sepulta viri.Me quoque, qua fratrem mactasses, inprobe, clava;Esset, quam dederas, morte soluta fides.
gering life that threatens me. Sometimes I fancy that ravenous wolves may rush upon me unseen, and tear my bowels with their bloody teeth. Who knows but the island may nourish savage lions? perhaps too it is infested with fierce tigers: the shores are said to be fertile in sea-calves. How am I screened from the stroke of a piercing sword? But most I dread to be led a captive in cruel chains, and to prosecute the toilsome task with servile hands; — I, who boast of Minos for my father, who was born of the daughter of Phœbus; and, (what is still more to me) who was solemnly engaged to you. If I turn my eyes toward the sea, the earth, or the winding shore, both earth and waves threaten me with a thousand dangers. Heaven only remains, and yet even here I fear the forms of the Gods. I am left a prey, and food for savage beasts. If men inhabit or cultivate these fields, I am apt to mistrust even them. already a sufferer, I have learned to be slow in giving credit to strangers. Oh that Androgeos had still lived, nor the land of Cecrops been condemned to expiate that wicked deed by its funerals! Oh that thy strong arm, Theseus, had never killed my monstrous brother, half ox, half man, with a knotted club, and that I had never given you the thread to guide your returning steps, the thread often grasped by your alternate bands!
Nunc ego non tantum, quae sum passura, recordor,Et quaecumque potest ulla relicta pati:Occurrunt animo pereundi mille figurae,Morsque minus poenae quam mora mortis habet.Iam iam venturos aut hac aut suspicor illac,Qui lanient avido viscera dente, lupos.Quis scit an et fulvos tellus alat ista leones?Forsitan et saevas tigridas insula habet.Et freta dicuntur magnas expellere phocas!Quis vetat et gladios per latus ire meum?Tantum ne religer dura captiva catena,Neve traham serva grandia pensa manu,Cui pater est Minos, cui mater filia Phoebi,Quodque magis memini, quae tibi pacta fui!Si mare, si terras porrectaque litora vidi,Multa mihi terrae, multa minantur aquae.Caelum restabat — timeo simulacra deorum!Destitutor rabidis praeda cibusque feris;Sive colunt habitantque viri, diffidimus illis —Externos didici laesa timere viros.Viveret Androgeos utinam! nec facta luissesInpia funeribus, Cecropi terra, tuis;Nec tua mactasset nodoso stipite, Theseu,Ardua parte virum dextera, parte bovem;
No wonder that victory declared for you, and the prostrate monster tinged with its blood the Cretan ground. A heart so steeled could not be pierced by the sharpest horn. Had you encountered him with your breast uncovered, you were yet safe from harm. There you were armed with flint and adamant; there you bore Theseus, yet harder than adamant. Cruel sleep, why did you bind me over to a fatal sloth? It had been better for me to have sunk in eternal night. You also, barbarous winds, too readily conspired against me. Ye officious gales have been to me the cause of many tears.
Nec tibi, quae reditus monstrarent, fila dedissem,Fila per adductas saepe recepta manus.Non equidem miror, si stat victoria tecum,Strataque Cretaeam belua planxit humum.Non poterant figi praecordia ferrea cornu;Ut te non tegeres, pectore tutus eras.Illic tu silices, illic adamanta tulisti,Illic, qui silices, Thesea, vincat, habes.Crudeles somni, quid me tenuistis inertem?
O inhuman right-hand, the bane of both me and my brother; and faith, an empty name, plighted at my request! Sleep, the winds, and strongest vows, combined against me, and concurred in deceiving a harmless unsuspecting maid. Alas! must I then here breathe my last, nor see the tears of a pitying mother? shall none attend to close my dying eyes? Must I breathe out my mournful soul in foreign air, and no friendly hand anoint my motionless limbs? Shall my unburied frame be left a prey to devouring vultures? Are these the proper returns for all my affectionate services? When you enter the port of Cecrops, and, welcomed by your country, mount the lofty citadel that overlooks the town; when there you relate your victory over the doubtful monster, and your escape from the intricate prison, branched out into a thousand windings; tell also how I was abandoned in a desert land: I ought not to be forgotten in the train of your exploits. Surely Ægeus was not your father; Æthra never gave birth to you: you sprang from pointed locks, or the raging sea. Oh if
Aut semel aeterna nocte premenda fui.Vos quoque crudeles, venti, nimiumque paratiFlaminaque in lacrimas officiosa meas.Dextera crudelis, quae me fratremque necavit,Et data poscenti, nomen inane, fides!In me iurarunt somnus ventusque fidesque;Prodita sum causis una puella tribus!Ergo ego nec lacrimas matris moritura videbo,Nec, mea qui digitis lumina condat, erit?Spiritus infelix peregrinas ibit in auras,Nec positos artus unguet amica manus?Ossa superstabunt volucres inhumata marinae?Haec sunt officiis digna sepulcra meis?Ibis Cecropios portus patriaque receptus,Cum steteris turbae celsus in ore tuaeEt bene narraris letum taurique viriqueSectaque per dubias saxea tecta vias,Me quoque narrato sola tellure relictam!
you could have viewed me from the stern of your ship, the mournful figure had surely moved compassion. As you cannot now observe me with your eyes, only imagine me to yourself, hanging over a frightful rock, undermined by the waves that dash against it below. Consider me with my hair disheveled, and carelessly spread over my disconsolate face; behold my clothes heavy with tears, as from a shower. My body trembles like corn shaken by the north winds; and the letters proceed unequal from my faltering hand. I do not urge you now by my merit, since my favors were so ill bestowed, nor expect any retribution, as due to my kind offices: but then, what pretence have you for ill usage? Had I not contributed in the smallest degree to your safety, even this is no reason why you should be the cause of my death. To thee wretched Ariadne stretches over the wide sea her hands, faint with often beating her sorrowful breast. Disconsolate as I am, I remind you of the few mangled tresses that yet remain. I conjure you, by the tears shed for your cruel departure, turn your ship, dear Theseus, and bear back your inverted sails. If I die ere you arrive, you may yet collect my scattered bones.
Non ego sum titulis subripienda tuis.Nec pater est Aegeus, nec tu Pittheidos AethraeFilius; auctores saxa fretumque tui!Di facerent, ut me summa de puppe videres;Movisset vultus maesta figura tuos!Nunc quoque non oculis, sed, qua potes, adspice menteHaerentem scopulo, quem vaga pulsat aqua.Adspice demissos lugentis more capillosEt tunicas lacrimis sicut ab imbre gravis.Corpus, ut inpulsae segetes aquilonibus, horret,Litteraque articulo pressa tremente labat.Non te per meritum, quoniam male cessit, adoro;Debita sit facto gratia nulla meo.Sed ne poena quidem! si non ego causa salutis,Non tamen est, cur sis tu mihi causa necis.Has tibi plangendo lugubria pectora lassasInfelix tendo trans freta lata manus;Hos tibi — qui superant — ostendo maesta capillos!Per lacrimas oro, quas tua facta movent —Flecte ratem, Theseu, versoque relabere velo!
IF any of these lines should appear stained and obscured by blots, know that they will be occasioned by the death of the writer. My right hand holds the pen, my left a drawn sword; and the paper lies unfolded in my lap. This is the true picture of Canace writing to her brother: it is only in this manner, it seems, that I can satisfy a hard-hearted father. I could wish him to be a spectator of my untimely death, that the blow might be given in the presence of a
Si prius occidero, tu tamen ossa feres![Aeolis Aeolidae, quam non habet ipsa, salutem][Mittit et armata verba notata manu; ]Siqua tamen caecis errabunt scripta lituris,Oblitus a dominae caede libellus erit.Dextra tenet calamum, strictum tenet altera ferrum,Et iacet in gremio charta soluta meo.
stern father who commanded it. Fierce, and far more cruel than his eastern ministers of storms, he would view without a tear the mortal wound. For it is infectious to live with savage winds; and therefore he contracts the temper of his people. He commands the South, the Zephyr, and the northern blasts of Thrace; and, surly East, he checks thy rigid wing. He controls indeed the winds; but, alas! he has no power over his own unmeasurable wrath, and governs a kingdom less intractable than his own vices. What avails it that I am allied to the Gods above, that Jupiter is in the number of my kindred? does it snatch from my trembling hind the destructive steel, that fatal gift and weapon, alas, unfit for me! O Macareus, I wish that the hour which joined us had
Haec est Aeolidos fratri scribentis imago;Sic videor duro posse placere patri.Ipse necis cuperem nostrae spectator adesset,Auctorisque oculis exigeretur opus!Ut ferus est multoque suis truculentior Euris,Spectasset siccis vulnera nostra genis.Scilicet est aliquid, cum saevis vivere ventis;Ingenio populi convenit ille sui.Ille Noto Zephyroque et Sithonio AquiloniImperat et pinnis, Eure proterve, tuis.Imperat heu! ventis, tumidae non imperat irae,Possidet et vitiis regna minora suis.
come later than that of my death! Why, brother, did you ever love me otherwise than as a brother? And why did I regard you more than became a sister? For I also felt the powerful flame, and perceived I know not what God taking possession of my glowing heart; but such as I had often heard described. The color had forsaken my cheeks; a leanness had spread itself over all my joints; and my mouth took with reluctance even the smallest food. No gentle slumbers refreshed me; the nights seemed tedious and lingering; and I often sighed to myself, though no apparent grief oppressed me. I could not give any reason why I was thus disconsolate; nor, though in love myself, did I know what it was to love. My aged nurse first divined the growing mischief; and, wise through years, first told me that it was love. I blushed; and, full of shame, fixed my eyes upon my bosom; signs which, accompanied with silence, too clearly testified my confession. And now my womb swelled with the guilty load, and the growing weight pressed my sickly limbs. What herbs, what me-
Quid iuvat admotam per avorum nomina caeloInter cognatos posse referre Iovem?Num minus infestum, funebria munera, ferrumFeminea teneo, non mea tela, manu?O utinam, Macareu, quae nos commisit in unum,Venisset leto serior hora meo!Cur umquam plus me, frater, quam frater amasti,Et tibi, non debet quod soror esse, fui?Ipsa quoque incalui, qualemque audire solebam,Nescio quem sensi corde tepente deum.Fugerat ore color; macies adduxerat artus;Sumebant minimos ora coacta cibos;Nec somni faciles et nox erat annua nobis,Et gemitum nullo laesa dolore dabam.Nec, cur haec facerem, poteram mihi reddere causamNec noram, quid amans esset; at illud eram.Prima malum nutrix animo praesensit anili;Prima mihi nutrix 'Aeoli,' dixit, 'amas!'
dicines and not my nurse procure, and with her impious hands apply, that the increasing load (this alone we hid from thee) might be entirely discharged? But, alas! the tenacious infant too well withstood our best artifices, securely screened from all hostile attacks. And now the splendid sister of Phœbus had nine times completed her course, and the tenth moon was guiding forward her light-revolving steeds; when some unknown cause afflicted me with sudden pangs. I was a stranger to the movements of child-bearing, and a mere novice in this kind of discipline. I suppressed not my cries, "What!" said my nurse, "do you thus openly proclaim your guilt?" And, knowing the cause of my complaint, she stopped my mouth with her hand. What could I do in that unhappy case? Pain urged my groans; but shame, fear, and my nurse, pressed me to silence.
Erubui, gremioque pudor deiecit ocellos;Haec satis in tacita signa fatentis erant.Iamque tumescebant vitiati pondera ventris,Aegraque furtivum membra gravabat onus.Quas mihi non herbas, quae non medicamina nutrixAttulit audaci supposuitque manu,Ut penitus nostris — hoc te celavimus unum —Visceribus crescens excuteretur onus?A, nimium vivax admotis restitit infansArtibus et tecto tutus ab hoste fuit!Iam noviens erat orta soror pulcherrima Phoebi,Et nova luciferos Luna movebat equos.Nescia, quae faceret subitos mihi causa dolores,Et rudis ad partus et nova miles eram.Nec tenui vocem.
I nevertheless strove to repress my groans, and struggled with my cries; and was forced to drink the tears that trickled from my eyes. Death seemed to hover round me; Lucina refused her aid; and even death was a grievous crime, had I then expired: when entering with thy hair and garments torn, my bosom cherishing close pressed to thine, thou saidst, Live, my sister, O live, my dearest sister; nor rashly destroy two lives in one. Strengthen yourself by hope; for you shall soon be wedded to your brother, and become the wife of him by whom you have been made a mother. Though taint, and almost dead, yet (believe it) your words revived me; and the guilty load sprang forward from my womb.
'quid,' ait, 'tua crimina prodis?'Oraque clamantis conscia pressit anus.Quid faciam infelix? gemitus dolor edere cogit,Sed timor et nutrix et pudor ipse vetant.Contineo gemitus elapsaque verba reprendoEt cogor lacrimas conbibere ipsa meas.Mors erat ante oculos, et opem Lucina negabat —Et grave, si morerer, mors quoque crimen erat —Cum super incumbens scissa tunicaque comaquePressa refovisti pectora nostra tuis,Et mihi 'vive, soror, soror o carissima,' dixti;
Why do you rejoice at this danger over? In the mid-hall sits Æolus; and from a parent's eyes our crimes must be concealed. The cunning old nurse shrouds the babe with leaves, white olive boughs, and holy fillets; and while she feigns sacred rites, and mutters prayers, the people, and even my father, make way for the solemnity. And now she had almost reached the threshold, when the infant's cry invades my father's ears; by its own evidence, alas! betrayed. Instantly he seizes the child, and unveils the feigned solemnity: the palace resounds with his raging voice. As the sea quivers when brushed by the curling breeze, or a tall ash when shaken by the stormy south-wind; so you might see my pale limbs shiver with fear, and the bed shake under my trembling body. Æolus rushes in with violence, and publishes my shame by his clamors: hardly could he restrain his hands from my face. I, overwhelmed with conscious guilt, answered only by my tears; fear had bound up my frozen tongue. And now he commanded his little grandchild to be thrown out a prey to dogs and hungry birds, and left in some solitary place. The helpless babe cried out, as if he understood his doom, and conjured his grandfather with what voice he could. Imagine, dear brother, what anguish of soul I must then feel, (for you
'Vive nec unius corpore perde duos!Spes bona det vires; fratri nam nupta futura es.Illius, de quo mater, et uxor eris.'Mortua, crede mihi, tamen ad tua verba revixi:Et positum est uteri crimen onusque mei.Quid tibi grataris? media sedet Aeolus aula;Crimina sunt oculis subripienda patris.Frugibus infantem ramisque albentis olivaeEt levibus vittis sedula celat anus,Fictaque sacra facit dicitque precantia verba;Dat populus sacris, dat pater ipse viam.Iam prope limen erat — patrias vagitus ad aurisVenit, et indicio proditur ille suo!Eripit infantem mentitaque sacra revelatAeolus; insana regia voce sonat.Ut mare fit tremulum, tenui cum stringitur aura,Ut quatitur tepido fraxina virga Noto,Sic mea vibrari pallentia membra videres;Quassus ab inposito corpore lectus erat.Inruit et nostrum vulgat clamore pudorem,Et vix a misero continet ore manus.Ipsa nihil praeter lacrimas pudibunda profudi;
may easily guess the state of my mind by your own,) to hear my bowels doomed in my presence a prey to mountain-wolves, and the savage beasts of the woods. My father left me: then was I at liberty to beat my breast, and wound my checks with my nails. Meantime a messenger came from my father, his countenance sad, and his words full of cruelty. Æolus sends thee this sword (he then gave the sword into my hand), and says, that the sense of thy own demerits will teach thee what it means. I know what it means; and will boldly urge the piercing steel: my father's gift shall be treasured in my breast. Are these the gifts with which a father graces my nuptials? Is this the dower with which you enrich your daughter? Deluded Hymenæus, remove far hence the nuptial torch, and fly with hurry and trepidation from this detested place. Let the hideous Furies bring hither their internal brands, that, kindled up by them, my funeral pile may blaze. Do you, my sisters, wed, blessed with more propitious fate; but, warned, be ever mindful of my crime. What has my infant son, so
Torpuerat gelido lingua retenta metu.Iamque dari parvum canibusque avibusque nepotemIusserat, in solis destituique locis.Vagitus dedit ille miser — sensisse putares —Quaque suum poterat voce rogabat avum.Quid mihi tunc animi credis, germane, fuisse —Nam potes ex animo colligere ipse tuo —Cum mea me coram silvas inimicus in altasViscera montanis ferret edenda lupis?Exierat thalamo; tunc demum pectora plangiContigit inque meas unguibus ire genas.Interea patrius vultu maerente satellesVenit et indignos edidit ore sonos:'Aeolus hunc ensem mittit tibi' — tradidit ensem —'Et iubet ex merito scire, quid iste velit.'Scimus, et utemur violento fortiter ense;Pectoribus condam dona paterna meis.His mea muneribus, genitor, conubia donas?
lately born, committed? What could one scarcely brought forth do to offend his grandfather? If it were possible for him to have deserved so hard a fate, let him be thought to have deserved it. Alas, unhappy balse, you suffer for the guilt to your mother! O my darling son, to be your mother's grief, and the prey of wild beasts! alas! doomed to be destroyed on the very day of your birth; ill-fated babe, the mournful pledge of our unhappy loves; this was your first day of life, this also must be your last! I was not allowed to shed over you a mother's tears, or offer upon your sepulchre my shora hair. I did not hang over thy lifeless frame, or snatch from thy mouth the cold kisses. My bowels, alas! are made a prey to savage beasts. But I will soon follow by this wound thy infant shade: not long a mother, nor long shall I be called childless. But thou, in vain, alas! thy wretched sister's hope, fail not to gather up the scattered members of thy son; bear them to his fond mother's grave, and unite them with her in the social tomb: let the same urn, though small, contain us
Hac tua dote, pater, filia dives erit?Tolle procul, decepte, faces, Hymenaee, maritasEt fuge turbato tecta nefanda pede!Ferte faces in me quas fertis, Erinyes atrae,Et meus ex isto luceat igne rogus!Nubite felices Parca meliore sorores,Amissae memores sed tamen este mei!Quid puer admisit tam paucis editus horis?Quo laesit facto vix bene natus avum?Si potuit meruisse necem, meruisse putetur —A, miser admisso plectitur ille meo!Nate, dolor matris, rabidarum praeda ferarum,Ei mihi! natali dilacerate tuo;Nate, parum fausti miserabile pignus amoris —Haec tibi prima dies, haec tibi summa fuit.Non mihi te licuit lacrimis perfundere iustis,In tua non tonsas ferre sepulcra comas;Non super incubui, non oscula frigida carpsi.
both. Live ever mindful of your Canace, and shed some tears over my wound: nor fear to touch the breathless body of one whom you loved. Fulfil these last commands of thy hapless sister; and I will execute the cruel mandates of my unrelenting sire.
Diripiunt avidae viscera nostra ferae.Ipsa quoque infantis cum vulnere prosequar umbrasNec mater fuero dicta nec orba diu.
WELL I remember that, though queen of Colchis, I found leisure to provide for your safety, when you requested the help of my art. Then, if ever, the Sisters, who measure out the thread of human life, ought to have finished the number of my days. Then might Medea have died honorably. Life ever since has been a series of woes. Alas! why did the Thessalian bark, manned by a
Tu tamen, o frustra miserae sperate sorori,Sparsa, precor, nati collige membra tui,Et refer ad matrem socioque inpone sepulcro,Urnaque nos habeat quamlibet arta duos!Vive memor nostri, lacrimasque in vulnera funde,Neve reformida corpus amantis amans.Tu, rogo, dilectae nimium mandata sororisPerfice;
troop of resolute youths, sail in quest of the golden fleece? why did Argo come within sight of Colchis, or a Grecian band drink of the water of Phasis? why was I so much pleased with your golden locks, your personal attractions, and the dissembled eloquence of your enchanting tongue? Doubtless, (as a strange ship had arrived on our coast, and landed a set of bold enterprising youths.) ungrateful Jason should have been left to rush, unfortified with spells, upon the glowing nostrils of the fire-breathing bulls, and dare their lofty looks: he should have been left to sow the serpent's teeth, and feel the arms of his numerous foes; that the forward cultivator might thus have fallen by his own harvest.
mandatis obsequar ipsa patris![Exul, inops, contempta novo Medea marito][Dicit: an a regnis tempora nulla vacant? ]At tibi Colchorum, memini, regina vacavi,Ars mea cum peteres ut tibi ferret opem.Tunc quae dispensant mortalia fila sororesDebuerant fusos evoluisse meos.Tum potui Medea mori bene! quidquid ab illoProduxi vitam tempore, poena fuit.Ei mihi! cur umquam iuvenalibus acta lacertisPhrixeam petiit Pelias arbor ovem?Cur umquam Colchi Magnetida vidimus Argo,Turbaque Phasiacam Graia bibistis aquam?
Perjured wretch! how much perfidy had been prevented by your fall! how many heart-piercing griefs might I have escaped! It is some relief to upbraid the ungrateful with the favors which they have received. This I can still enjoy; and it is indeed the only pleasure you have now left me. Commanded by your uncle to sail to Colchis with the unproved ship, you entered the happy kingdom of my native land. There Medea held the same place which your new bride holds here: my father, in wealth and dominion, came not short of her's. He rules over Corinth placed between two seas: my father commands all that part of snowy Scythia, which runs along the left-side of the Euxine sea. Æetes gave a kind and noble reception to the Pelasgian youths, and placed them on richly embroidered couches. It was then I first saw you, and understood who you were; that was the dreadful day of ruin to my quiet and peace of mind. How did I gaze, how did I imbibe the fatal poison, and burn with fires I had not felt before, like a pine-torch when lighted up at the sacrifices of the
Cur mihi plus aequo flavi placuere capilliEt decor et linguae gratia ficta tuae?Aut, semel in nostras quoniam nova puppis harenasVenerat audacis attuleratque viros,Isset anhelatos non praemedicatus in ignesInmemor Aesonides oraque adusta boum;Semina iecisset totidem quot semina et hostes,Ut caderet cultu cultor ab ipse suo!Quantum perfidiae tecum, scelerate, perisset,Dempta forent capiti quam mala multa meo!Est aliqua ingrato meritum exprobrare voluptas.Hac fruar; haec de te gaudia sola feram.Iussus inexpertam Colchos advertere puppimIntrasti patriae regna beata meae.Hoc illic Medea fui, nova nupta quod hic est;Quam pater est illi, tam mihi dives erat.