§632auxilia venit? vidit hoc tantum nefas
Does anyone come to aid?
§633defensus orbis? cur diem questu tero?
Has the defended world seen this so great outrage? Why do I waste the day in lamentation?
Let the victim be slaughtered, let valor bear this mark, and let Lycus become the greatest enemy of Alcides.
I am carried away to shed hostile blood: Theseus, stay, lest any sudden force should attack.
§638me bella poscunt, differ amplexus, parens, §639coniunxque differ, nuntiet Diti Lycus §640me iam redisse.
War demands me; defer your embraces, father, and defer them, wife; let Lycus announce to Dis that I have already returned.
§640bFlebilem ex oculis fuga, §641regina, vultum, tuque nato sospite §642lacrimas cadentes reprime: si novi Herculem, §643Lycus Creonti debitas poenas dabit,
Banish the mournful look from your eyes, queen, and do you, with your son safe, repress your falling tears: if I know Hercules, Lycus will pay the penalty due to Creon.
§644lentum est dabit: dat; hoc quoque est lentum: dedit.
"He will pay" is slow: he pays; this too is slow: he has paid.
May the god who can favor our vow, and be present to our weary affairs.
O magni comes §647magnanime nati. pande virtutum ordinem, §648quam longa maestos ducat ad manes via, §649ut vincla tulerit dura Tartareus canis.
O high-minded companion of my great son, unfold the order of his deeds, how long a way leads to the mournful shades, how the Tartarean dog bore his harsh chains.
You compel me to remember deeds that are horrible even to a mind now secure.
vix adhuc certa est fides §652vitalis aurae, torpet acies luminum §653hebetesque visus vix diem insuetum ferunt.
Hardly yet is there sure trust in the vital air; the keenness of my eyes is numb, and my dimmed sight can hardly bear the unaccustomed day.
§654Pervince, Theseu, quicquid alto in pectore §655remanet pavoris neve te fructu optimo §656frauda laborum: quae fuit durum pati,
Overcome, Theseus, whatever fear remains in your deep heart, and do not defraud yourself of the best fruit of your labors: what was hard to endure, is sweet to remember.
§657meminisse dulce est fare casus horridos.
Speak of those horrible events.
§658Fas omne mundi teque dominantem precor §659regno capaci teque quam amotam inrita §660quaesivit Enna mater, ut iura abdita §661et operta terris liceat impune eloqui.
I pray all the divine law of the world, and you who rule the capacious realm, and you whom, carried away, in vain her mother sought in Enna, that I may speak with impunity of hidden laws and things covered by the earth.
§662Spartana tellus nobile attollit iugum, §663densis ubi aequor Taenarus silvis premit; §664hic ora solvit Ditis invisi domus §665hiatque rupes alta et immenso specu §666ingens vorago faucibus vastis patet §667latumque pandit omnibus populis iter.
The Spartan land raises a noble ridge, where Taenarus presses the sea with dense woods; here the house of hated Dis opens its mouth, and the high rock gapes, and a huge abyss with a vast cavern lies open with wide jaws, and spreads a broad path for all nations.
§668non caeca tenebris incipit. primo via; §669tenuis relictae lucis a tergo nitor §670fulgorque dubius solis afflicti cadit §671et ludit aciem:- nocte sic mixta solet §672praebere lumen primus aut serus dies.
The way does not begin blind with darkness at first; a faint brightness of the left-behind light from behind, and a doubtful splendor of the sinking sun falls and deceives the eyes: so, when night is mixed, early or late day is wont to afford light.
Hence ample spaces are widened in empty places, into which all the sunken human race enters.
§675nec ire labor est; ipsa deducit via: §676ut saepe puppes aestus invitas rapit, §677sic pronus aer urguet atque avidum chaos, §678gradumque retro flectere haut umquam sinunt §679umbrae tenaces.
Nor is it labor to go; the way itself leads down: as often the tide carries away unwilling ships, so the downward air and greedy chaos urge them on, and the tenacious shades never permit them to turn their steps backward.
intus immensi sinus §680placido quieta labitur Lethe vado §681demitque curas, neve remeandi amplius §682pateat facultas, flexibus multis gravem §683involvit amnem: qualis incertis vagus §684Maeander undis ludit et cedit sibi §685instatque dubius litus an fontem petat.
Within, a vast bay of Lethe quietly glides with placid shoal, and takes away cares; and lest any more opportunity of returning should lie open, with many windings it rolls its heavy stream: just as the wandering Maeander plays with uncertain waves, and yields to itself, and presses on, doubtful whether it seeks the shore or its source.
§686palus inertis foeda Cocyti iacet; §687hic vultur, illic luctifer bubo gemit §688omenque triste resonat infaustae strigis.
The foul marsh of sluggish Cocytus lies; here the vulture, there the grief-bringing owl groans, and the sad omen of the ill-omened screech-owl resounds.
§689horrent opaca fronde nigrantes comae, §690taxo imminente quam tenet segnis Sopor, §691Famesque maesta tabido rictu iacet §692Pudorque serus conscios vultus tegit.
The black tresses shudder with thick foliage, which sluggish Sleep possesses under the overhanging yew, and mournful Hunger lies with wasting open mouth, and late Shame covers its conscious face.
§693Metus Pavorque + Funus et frendens Dolor §694aterque Luctus sequitur et Morbus tremens §695et cincta ferro Bella; in extremo abdita §696iners Senectus adiuvat baculo gradum.
Fear and Dread, Death and gnashing Pain, and black Grief follows, and trembling Sickness, and War girt with iron; hidden in the extreme part, sluggish Old Age helps its step with a staff.
§697Estne aliqua tellus Cereris aut Bacchi ferax?
Is there any land fertile of Ceres or Bacchus?
§698Non prata viridi laeta facie germinant §699nec adulta leni fluctuat Zephyro seges; §700non ulla ramos silva pomiferos habet: §701sterilis profundi vastitas squalet soli §702et foeda tellus torpet aeterno situ.
No meadows sprout joyful with green face, nor does the full-grown crop wave with the gentle Zephyr; no wood has fruit-bearing branches: the barren vastness of the deep soil is squalid, and the foul earth is numb with eternal neglect.
§704immotus aer haeret et pigro sedet §705nox atra mundo: cuncta maerore horrida §706ipsaque morte peior est mortis locus.
The unmoved air hangs, and black night sits sluggish on the world: all things are shuddering with sorrow, and the place of death itself is worse than death.
What of him who rules the dark places with his sceptre, in what seat placed does he govern the light peoples?
There is a place in the dark recess of Tartarus, which thick darkness binds with heavy shades.
§711a fonte discors manat hinc uno latex, §712alter quieto similis (hunc iurant dei) §713tacente sacram devehens fluvio Styga; §714at hic tumultu rapitur ingenti ferox §715et saxa fluctu volvit Acheron invius
From here a discordant stream flows from a single source: one is like a quiet stream (by this the gods swear), carrying down the sacred Styx with silent river; but this one is swept away with huge tumult, fierce, and Acheron rolls rocks with its wave, impassable to be sailed back.
§716renavigari. cingitur duplici vado
It is girt by a double shoal...