§717* adversa Ditis regia, atque ingens domus §718umbrante luco tegitur, hic vasto specu §719pendent tyranni limina, hoc umbris iter, §720haec porta regni, campus hanc circa iacet,
* Opposite, the palace of Dis and his huge house is covered by a shading grove; here, in a vast cave, hangs the threshold of the tyrant; this is the path for the shades, this the gate of the kingdom.
Around this lies a plain, on which, sitting with a proud countenance, the dread majesty of the god distributes the recent souls.
§723frons torva, fratrum quae tamen speciem gerat §724gentisque tantae, vultus est illi Iovis, §725sed fulminantis: magna pars regni trucis §726est ipse dominus, cuius aspectus timet §727' quicquid timetur.
His brow is grim, which yet bears the likeness of his brothers and of so great a race; he has the countenance of Jupiter, but of him when thundering; a great part of the grim kingdom is the lord himself, whose look is feared by whatever is feared.
§727bVerane est fama inferis §728tam sera reddi iura et oblitos sui §729sceleris nocentes debitas poenas dare?
Amphitryon: Is the rumor true that to the shades below justice is rendered so late, and that, having forgotten their own crime, the guilty pay the penalties they owe?
§730quis iste veri rector atque aequi arbiter?
Who is that ruler of truth and arbiter of justice?
Theseus: Not one inquisitor alone, sitting on a high seat, distributes late judgments to the trembling defendants.
In that forum Cnossian Minos is approached, Rhadamanthus in that, and in this the father-in-law of Thetis hears.
What each has done, he suffers; crime returns to its author, and the guilty is oppressed by his own example.
I have seen bloody leaders enclosed in prison, and the backs of the powerless tyrant cut by a plebeian hand.
§739scindi tyranni, quisquis est placide potens §740dominusque vitae servat innocuas manus §741et incruentum mitis imperium regit §742animoque parcit, longa permensus diu §743felicis aevi spatia vel caelum petit §744vel laeta felix nemoris Elysii loca,
Whoever is peacefully powerful, and, as lord of life, keeps his hands innocent, and gently rules an unbloody empire, and spares life; having long measured out the long spaces of a happy life, he either seeks heaven, or, happy, the joyful places of the Elysian grove, destined to be a judge.
§745iudex futurus, sanguine humano abstine §746quicumque regnas: scelera taxantur modo §747maiore vestra,
Abstain from human blood, whoever rules: crimes are assessed with a greater measure for you.
§747bCertus inclusos tenet
Amphitryon: Does a fixed place hold the enclosed guilty?
And, as rumor reports, do savage punishments tame the impious with perpetual chains?
§750Rapitur volucri tortus Ixion rota; §751cervice saxum grande Sisyphia sedet; §752in amne medio faucibus siccis senex §753sectatur undas, alluit mentum latex. §754fidemque cum iam saepe decepto dedit. §755perit unda in ore; poma destituunt famem.
Theseus: Ixion, twisted, is carried on a swift wheel; a huge rock sits on the neck of Sisyphus; in the midst of the river, the old man with dry throat pursues the waves; the water washes his chin, and when it has given promise to him, already so often deceived, the wave vanishes from his mouth; the fruits fail his hunger.
§756praebet volucri Tityos aeternas dapes §757urnasque frustra Danaides plenas gerunt; §758errant furentes impiae Cadmeides §759terretque mensas avida Phineas avis.
Tityos provides eternal feasts for the bird, and in vain the Danaides carry full urns; the impious daughters of Cadmus wander raving, and the greedy bird terrifies the tables of Phineas.
§760Nunc ede nati nobilem pugnam mei.
Amphitryon: Now relate the noble battle of my son.
§761patrui volentis munus an spolium refert?
Does he bring back a gift of a willing uncle, or a spoil?
§762Ferale tardis imminet saxum vadis.
Theseus: A death-bringing rock overhangs the sluggish shallows.
§763stupent ubi undae, segne torpescit fretum.
Where the waves are numb, and the sluggish stream is torpid.
This river is kept by a squalid old man, horrid in attire and appearance, who ferries the trembling shades.
§766impexa pendet barba, deformem sinum §767nodus coercet, concavae lucent genae; §768regit ipse longo portitor conto ratem.
His uncombed beard hangs down, a knot binds his deformed garment, and his hollow cheeks gleam; the ferryman himself guides the boat with a long pole.
§769hic onere vacuam litori puppem applicans §770repetebat umbras; poscit Alcides viam §771cedente turba; dirus exclamat Charon: §772'quo pergis, audax? siste properantem gradum.
He, bringing his boat empty of cargo to the shore, was returning for the shades; Alcides demands passage, as the crowd gives way; dread Charon cries out: "Whither do you go, bold man?
' §773non passus ullas natus Alcmena moras §774ipso coactum navitam conto domat §775scanditque puppem.
Stay your hastening step!" The son of Alcmena, tolerating no delay, subdues the boatman, compelled by his own pole, and climbs into the boat.
cumba populorum capax §776succubuit uni: sedit et gravior ratis §777utrimque Lethen latere titubanti bibit.
The bark, capable of carrying whole peoples, sank under the weight of one: the vessel sat lower, and drank Lethe on both sides with its reeling side.
§778tum victa trepidant monstra, Centauri truces §779Lapithaeque multo in bella succensi mero; §780Stygiae paludis ultimos quaerens sinus §781fecunda mergit capita Lernaeus labor.
Then the vanquished monsters tremble, the fierce Centaurs and the Lapiths, inflamed to war by much unmixed wine; seeking the furthest recesses of the Stian marsh, the Lernaean labor submerges its fertile heads.
§782post haec avari Ditis apparet domus: §783hic saevus umbras territat Stygius canis, §784qui terna vasto capita concutiens sono §785regnum tuetur, sordidum tabo caput §786lambunt colubrae, viperis horrent iubae §787longusque torta sibilat cauda draco.
After this, the house of greedy Dis appears: here the savage Stygian dog terrifies the shades, who, shaking his three heads with a vast sound, guards the kingdom; snakes lick his head, dirty with gore, his manes bristle with vipers, and a long serpent hisses from his twisted tail.
§788par ira formae: sensit ut motus pedum, §789attollit hirtas angue vibrato comas §790missumque captat aure subrecta sonum, §791sentire et umbras solitus, ut propior stetit §792Iove natus, antro sedit incertus canis §793leviterque timuit, ecce latratu gravi §794loca muta terret; sibilat totos minax §795serpens per armos, vocis horrendae fragor §796per ora missus terna felices quoque
His anger is equal to his form: as soon as he felt the movement of feet, he raises his shaggy hair with vibrating snakes, and catches the incoming sound with pricked ear, accustomed to perceive even shades; when nearer stood the son of Jupiter, the dog sat uncertain in his cave and was slightly afraid; behold, with a heavy bark he terrifies the silent places; menacing, the serpent hisses through all his shoulders, the crash of his horrible voice sent through his triple mouths terrifies even the happy shades.
§797exterret umbras, solvit a laeva feros §798tunc ipse rictus et Cleonaeum caput §799opponit ac se tegmine ingenti tegit, §800victrice magnum dextera robur gerens.
Then he himself looses from his left the fierce jaws and opposes the Cleonaean head and covers himself with the huge covering, bearing a great club in his victorious right hand.
§801huc nunc et illuc verbere assiduo rotat, §802ingeminat ictus, domitus infregit minas §803et cuncta lassus capita summisit canis §804antroque toto cessit, extimuit sedens
Here and there he rotates it with continuous blows, redoubles the strikes; subdued, the dog broke his threats and, weary, submitted all his heads and yielded the whole cave.
§805uterque solio dominus et duci iubet;
Sitting on their throne, both rulers feared and ordered him to be led away;