in his frenzy, feared not Phlegethon nor his blazing waters, nor the mournful realms of Dis, o'erlaid with gloom, the dwellings of Tartarus, buried deep, and beset with cruel night, nor the abodes of Dis, easy of entry were there not a judge1-a judge, who after death passes sentence on the deeds of life. But Fortune, potent in the past, had made him bold. Ere then, swift rivers had stood still; the throng of wild beasts, following by reason of his alluring voice, had pressed close upon Orpheus; and ere then, from the green ground, the oak had moved its deepest root aloft, and of their own free will the whistling woods were snatching his songs with greedy bark. Even in their gliding course amid the stars he checked Luna's twin-yoked steeds, and at their desire, thou thyself, O maiden of the month, eager to hear the lyre, didst hold them back, deserting the night. This same lyre availed to conquer thee, O bride of Dis, and make thee of thine own will restore Eurydice, to be led away. No right over unvanquished death had the goddess, no right that would yield to prayer. Eurydice indeed, who ere this had found the Shades too stern, was marking out the path prescribed, and turned not her eyes to gaze within, nor annulled the goddess' gifts by speech. But thou cruel one, thou more cruel, Orpheus, seeking her dear kisses, didst break the commandments of the gods! Worthy of pardon was thy love; pleasing thy sin, did Hell but know yet grievous is the remembrance.2

295 "For you, O heroines, over against you in the house of the righteous, there waits a band of heroes. Here are the two sons of Aeacus: for Peleus and

1 cf. Aen. VI. 431.

2 This seems to refer back to 268 above; Eurydice remembers with sorrow.

per secura patris laetantur numina, quorum conubis Venus et Virtus iniunxit honorem : hunc rapuit serva: ast illum Nereis amavit. assidet hac iuvenis; sociat te gloria sortis, alter, in excessum, referens a navibus ignis Argolicis Phrygios torva feritate repulsos.

"O quis non referat talis divortia belli, quae Troiae videre viri videreque Grai, Teucria cum magno manaret sanguine tellus, et Simois Xanthique liquor, Sigeaque praeter litora, cum Troas saevi ducis Hectoris ira truderet in classis inimica mente Pelasgas volnera tela neces ignis inferre paratos? ipsa vagis namque Ida potens feritatis, et ipsa Ida faces altrix cupidis praebebat alumnis, omnis ut in cineres Rhoetei litoris ora classibus ambustis flamma lacrimante daretur. hinc erat oppositus contra Telamonius heros obiectoque dabat clipeo certamina, et illinc Hector erat, Troiae summum decus, acer uterque ; fluminibus veluti fragor <est, cum vere vagantur>

300

305

310

315

300 hanc Vollmer. rapuit ferit ast serva Bembo: rapuit Periboea Schrader: rapit Hesiona, ast Heinsius, Ellis. 301 huic Ellis. sociat de : sociate V.

302 alter] acer Bembo. inexcis(s)um Br: inexcelsum V. 303 torva Bembo: turba. feritate] ferit arte г: trepidante Ellis.

307 propter Heinsius, Ellis.

309 truderet Baehrens: vi daret Leo: videre (vidi).

311 ipsa vagis] ipsa iugis Bembo: ipsas vagit r: ipsa sudis Ellis. potens] parens Ellis.

318-320 given according to Vollmer's conjectural restoration.

4

valiant Telamon rejoice, care-free through their sire's divinity-they upon whose nuptials Venus and Valour bestowed glory: captivated was the one by his bondmaid; 2 the other was loved of a Nereid.3 Here, at their side, is seated a youth; with him the fame of thy lot, O second youth, allies thee unto death, for thou tellest of the Phrygian fires thrust back from the Greek ships with wild and savage valour.

304 who could not tell of the partings in such a war, which the heroes of Troy and the heroes of Greece beheld, what time the Teucrian soil streamed with plenteous blood, and Simois and the flowing Xanthus; and what time, along the Sigean shores, Hector, stern and angry captain, drove the Trojans with hostile intent against the Pelasgian ships, ready to assail with wounds and weapons, with death and flames? For, as they roamed abroad, Ida herself, queen of savage life, Ida herself, their nursing mother, furnished brands to her sons at their desire, that so the whole Rhoetean shore might be given over to ashes, as with the tear-dropping flame of pine the ships were consumed. On one side, arrayed against the foe, was the hero sprung of Telamon, offering combat from under his covering shield; and on the other was Hector, Troy's chief glory, both eager for the fray. Even as on rivers is heard a roar, when in spring-time they descend from

1 Peleus and Telamon live among the blest, because their father Aeacus received the gift of immortality.

2 Hesione, daughter of Laomedon, whom Hercules, on conquering Troy, gave as captive to Telamon, by whom she became mother of Ajax.

3 Thetis, who married Peleus, was the mother of Achilles. 4 Achilles; the second youth is Ajax.

<mont>ibus in se<getes, sic alter proicit ignes> 318A tegminibus telisque super, <quis hostibus arma> eriperet reditus, alter Volcania ferro

volnera protectus depellere navibus instat.

"Hos erat Aeacides voltu laetatus honores, Dardaniaeque alter fuso quod sanguine campis Hectoreo victor lustravit corpore Troiam.

320

326

rursus acerba fremunt, Paris hunc quod letat, et huius firma dolis Ithaci virtus quod concidit icta. huic gerit aversos proles Laertia voltus, et iam Strymonii Rhesi victorque Dolonis, Pallade iam laetatur ovans, rursusque tremescit : iam Ciconas iamque horret atrox Laestrygonas ipse. illum Scylla rapax, canibus succincta Molossis, Aetnaeusque Cyclops, illum Zanclaea Charybdis pallentesque lacus et squalida Tartara terrent.

"Hic et Tantaleae generamen prolis Atrides assidet, Argivum lumen, quo flamma regente Doris Erichthonias prostravit funditus arces. reddidit, heu, Graius poenas tibi, Troia, ruenti, Hellespontiacis obiturus reddidit undis. illa vices hominum testata est copia quondam, ne quisquam propriae Fortunae munere dives iret inevectus caelum super: omne propinquo frangitur invidiae telo decus. ibat in altum

322 hos Haupt: hoc : hic V. honore Scaliger. 326 firma Leo: alta Scaliger: arma

331

335

340

330 lestrigone (last word lost) : -es ipse V: -as ipse Ribbeck. limen Ellis: litus Vollmer.

332 Zanclea V: metuenda : et verida r.

337 Troia ruenti Bembo: troia furenti VSL: troias venti г.

the mountains upon the corn-fields: so from above the one hurls fires upon shields and darts, that thereby he may rob the foe of weapons of return; the other, guarding himself with his sword, presses on to ward off from the ships the assaults of Vulcan.

322At these glories the son of Aeacus was glad of countenance, and likewise the other, for that, when the Dardan fields were drenched with blood, he victoriously compassed Troy with the body of Hector. Again, they chafe bitterly, for that Paris slew the one, and the other's sturdy valour fell stricken by the Ithacan's wiles. From him the seed of Laertes1 keeps his countenance averted; and now, as victor over Strymonian Rhesus and over Dolon, and now, as triumphant over Pallas, rejoices, then again trembles: he, the dreaded one, shudders, now at the Cicones, and now at the Laestrygonians. Him ravenous Scylla, girt with her Molossian hounds, and the Cyclops of Aetna affright; him Zanclaean Charybdis, and the dim lakes and foul Tartarus.

334 Here too beside him sits the son of Atreus, offspring of the race of Tantalus, the light of Greece, beneath whose rule Doric flame utterly laid low the Erichthonian citadels.2 The Greeks, alas! paid penance to thee, O Troy, for thy fall-paid it, when doomed to death in the Hellespont's waves.3 That force bore witness in its time to human vicissitudes, lest anyone, enriched by his own Fortune's bounty, should mount exalted above the heavens: all glory is shattered by Envy's nigh-awaiting dart.4 The

1 Ulysses.

2 i.e. Troy, Erichthonius being son of Dardanus. 30, above, the same expression is used of Athens.

Yet at

3 Used for the whole Aegean. The Greeks were ship

wrecked off Euboea.

4 66 'Envy" here is retribution or Nemesis.