Apollo's Warning and Silenus' Song of Creation and Myth — Virgil, Eclogues 6.1–6.86, Latin & English

Prima Syracosio dignata est ludere versu,

My Thalia first deigned to play in Syracusan verse,

nostra nec erubuit silvas habitare Thalia.

and blushed not to inhabit the woods.

Cum canerem reges et proelia, Cynthius aurem

When I was singing of kings and battles, Cynthius pulled my ear

vellit, et admonuit: “Pastorem, Tityre, pinguis

and warned me: “A shepherd, Tityrus, should feed fat

pascere oportet ovis, deductum dicere carmen.”¹

sheep, but sing a slender song.”

Nunc ego—namque super tibi erunt, qui dicere laudes,

Now I—for there will be more than enough who desire to speak your praises,

Vare, tuas cupiant, et tristia condere bella—

Varus, and to compose grim wars—

agrestem tenui meditabor arundine Musam.

will practice the rustic Muse on a slender reed.

Non iniussa cano: si quis tamen haec quoque, si quis

I do not sing unbidden things: yet if anyone, if anyone

captus amore leget, te nostrae, Vare, myricae,

captured by love shall read even these, of you, Varus, our tamarisks,

te nemus omne canet; nec Phoebo gratior ulla est,

of you every grove shall sing; nor is any page more pleasing to Phoebus,

quam sibi quae Vari praescripsit pagina nomen.

than that which has written Varus’ name at its head.

Pergite, Pierides! Chromis et Mnasyllos in antro

Proceed, Pierian Muses! Chromis and Mnasyllos in a cave

Silenum pueri somno videre iacentem,

saw Silenus lying asleep,

inflatum hesterno venas,² ut semper, Iaccho:

his veins swollen, as always, with yesterday’s wine:

serta procul tantum capiti delapsa iacebant,

his wreaths lay just slipped off from his head a little way off,

et gravis attrita pendebat cantharus ansa.

and his heavy tankard was hanging by its worn handle.

Adgressi—nam saepe senex spe carminis ambo

Attacking him—for often the old man had deceived both with the hope

luserat—iniciunt ipsis ex vincula sertis:

of a song—they cast upon him fetters made from his very wreaths:

addit se sociam, timidisque supervenit Aegle,—

Aegle joins them as an ally and comes upon them in their fear—

Aegle, Naiadum pulcherrima,—iamque videnti

Aegle, the most beautiful of the Naiads—and as he now opens his eyes

sanguineis frontem moris et tempora pingit.

she paints his forehead and temples with blood-red mulberries.

Ille dolum ridens, “Quo vincula nectitis?” inquit;

He, laughing at the trick, says: “Why do you bind these fetters?

“solvite me, pueri; satis est potuisse videri:³

Free me, boys; it is enough to have seemed to have been able to be seen:

carmina, quae voltis, cognoscite; carmina vobis,

hear the songs you wish; songs for you,

huic aliud mercedis erit.” Simul incipit ipse.

and for her there shall be another reward.” At once he himself begins.

Tum vero in numerum Faunosque ferasque videres

Then indeed you might have seen Fauns and wild beasts playing

ludere, tum rigidas motare cacumina quercus;

to the rhythm, then rigid oaks swaying their tops;

nec tantum Phoebo gaudet Parnasia rupes,

nor does the Parnassian rock rejoice so much in Phoebus,

nec tantum Rhodope miratur et Ismarus Orphea.

nor do Rhodope and Ismarus marvel so much at Orpheus.

Namque canebat, uti magnum per inane coacta⁴

For he sang how, through the great void, the seeds

semina terrarumque animaeque marisque fuissent,

of earth and air and sea had been gathered together,

et liquidi simul ignis; ut his exordia primis

and therewith of liquid fire; how from these first elements

omnia et ipse tener mundi concreverit orbis;

all beginnings and the young sphere of the world itself coalesced;

tum durare solum et discludere Nerea ponto

how then the ground began to harden and to shut off Nereus in the sea,

coeperit, et rerum paulatim sumere formas;

and gradually to take the forms of things;

iamque novum terrae stupeant lucescere solem,

and how now the lands are amazed that a new sun begins to shine,

altius atque cadant submotis nubibus imbres;

and how, as the clouds are lifted, showers fall from higher up;

incipiant silvae cum primum surgere, cumque

when first the woods begin to rise, and when

rara per ignaros errent animalia montis.

scattered animals wander through unknown mountains.

Hinc lapides Pyrrhae iactos, Saturnia regna,

Next he relates the cast stones of Pyrrha, the reign of Saturn,

Caucasiasque refert volucres, furtumque Promethei:

and the Caucasian birds, and the theft of Prometheus:

his adiungit, Hylan nautae quo fonte relictum

to these he adds at what spring the sailors had called for the abandoned

clamassent, ut litus “Hyla, Hyla!” omne sonaret.

Hylas, so that the whole shore resounded “Hylas, Hylas!”

et fortunatam, si numquam armenta fuissent,⁵

and he consoles Pasiphae, fortunate if herds had never existed,

Pasiphaen nivei solatur amore iuvenci.

in her love for the snow-white bull.

ah, virgo infelix, quae te dementia cepit!

Ah, unhappy maiden, what madness seized you!

Proetides inplerunt falsis mugitibus agros:

The daughters of Proetus filled the fields with false lowings:

at non tam turpis pecudum tamen ulla secuta est

yet not one of them pursued such shameful mating

concubitus, quamvis collo timuisset aratrum,

with beasts, though she had feared the plow on her neck,

et saepe in levi quaesisset cornua fronte.

and often sought horns on her smooth forehead.

ah, virgo infelix, tu nunc in montibus erras:

Ah, unhappy maiden, you now wander in the mountains:

ille, latus niveum molli fultus hyacintho,

he, his snow-white flank pillowed on soft hyacinths,

ilice sub nigra pallentis ruminat herbas,

under a dark holm-oak chews the pale grass,

aut aliquam in magno sequitur grege. “Claudite, nymphae,

or follows some female in the great herd. “Close, nymphs,

Dictaeae nymphae, nemorum iam claudite saltus,

Dictaean nymphs, close now the glades of the groves,

si qua forte ferant oculis sese obvia nostris

if by chance any wandering tracks of the bull

errabunda bovis vestigia; forsitan illum,

may present themselves to our eyes; perhaps some cows

aut herba captum viridi, aut armenta secutum,

may lead him, either captivated by green grass or following the herds,

perducant aliquae stabula ad Gortynia vaccae.”

to the Gortynian stalls.”

Tum canit Hesperidum miratam mala puellam;

Then he sings of the maiden who marveled at the apples of the Hesperides;

tum Phaethontiades musco circumdat amaro

then he surrounds the daughters of Phaethon with the bitter moss

corticis, atque solo proceras erigit alnos.

of bark, and raises them from the ground as tall alders.

Tum canit, errantem Permessi ad flumina Gallum⁶

Then he sings how, as Gallus wandered by the streams of Permessus,

Aonas in montis ut duxerit una sororum,

one of the sisters led him to the Aonian mountains,

utque viro Phoebi chorus adsurrexerit omnis;

and how the whole choir of Phoebus rose up to the man;

ut Linus haec illi, divino carmine pastor,

how Linus, a shepherd of divine song,

floribus atque apio crinis ornatus amaro,

his hair adorned with flowers and bitter celery,

dixerit: “Hos tibi dant calamos, en accipe, Musae,

said to him: “These reeds the Muses give to you, lo, take them,

Ascraeo quos ante seni, quibus ille solebat

whom they gave before to the Ascraean elder, with which he was wont

cantando rigidas deducere montibus ornos:

by singing to lead down rigid mountain-ashes from the mountains:

his tibi Grynei nemoris dicatur origo,

with these let the origin of the Grynean grove be sung by you,

ne quis sit lucus, quo se plus iactet Apollo.”

so that there may be no grove in which Apollo prides himself more.”

Quid loquar aut Scyllam Nisi, quam fama secuta est

Why should I speak of Scylla, daughter of Nisus, of whom the story went

candida succinctam latrantibus inguina monstris

that, her fair loins girt with barking monsters,

Dulichias vexasse rates, et gurgite in alto,

she harassed the Dulichian ships, and in the deep gulf,

ah, timidos nautas canibus lacerasse marinis,

ah, tore the fearful sailors with her sea-dogs?

aut ut mutatos Terei narraverit artus;

Or how he told of the changed limbs of Tereus;

quas illi Philomela dapes, quae dona pararit,

what feasts, what gifts Philomela prepared for him,

quo cursu deserta petiverit, et quibus ante

with what speed she sought the desert places, and with what wings,

infelix sua tecta supervolitaverit alis?

unhappy one, she hovered over her own roof before?

Omnia, quae Phoebo quondam meditante, beatus

All things which, when Phoebus of old practiced them, the blessed

audiit Eurotas, iussitque ediscere laurus,

Eurotas heard and ordered his laurels to learn by heart,

ille canit: pulsae referunt ad sidera valles;

he sings: the struck valleys echo them back to the stars;

cogere donec ovis stabulis numerumque referri

until Vesper ordered to gather the sheep into the folds and to report their number,

iussit, et invito processit Vesper Olympo.

and set forth from an unwilling Olympus.

Syntax notes6 items

6.5deductum dicere carmen
The adjective deductum (literally "spun out, drawn thin") is a stylistic metaphor for a refined, slender pastoral style, contrasting with the epic grandeur of kings and battles (reges et proelia).
6.15inflatum hesterno venas
venas (veins) is an accusative of specification (Greek accusative) modifying the perfect passive participle inflatum, meaning "having his veins swollen with yesterday's wine."
6.24satis est potuisse videri
There are two interpretations of potuisse videri: (1) treating videri as passive ("to be seen"), meaning "it is enough to have been able to be seen [in this captured state]," or (2) treating videri as copulative ("to seem"), meaning "it is enough to have seemed to be able [to bind me]." Here we adopt the passive interpretation (1), which shows Silenus' indulgence towards the boys' trick.
6.31uti magnum per inane coacta
uti ("how") introduces an indirect question depending on canebat, governing the pluperfect subjunctive fuissent and the following series of subjunctives (concreverit, coeperit, stupeant, etc.), describing the process of cosmogony.
6.45fortunatam, si numquam armenta fuissent
fortunatam is an accusative (either of exclamation or in apposition with the preceding Pasiphaen), with si numquam armenta fuissent acting as a past contrary-to-fact conditional clause ("unhappy [but] fortunate, if only herds had never existed").
6.64errantem Permessi ad flumina Gallum
Gallum is an instance of prolepsis (anticipation), where the subject of the following ut-clause (ut... duxerit) is pulled forward into the main clause as an accusative object.

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-22)urn:cts:latinLit:phi0690.phi001.humanitext-lat2:6.1-6.86