§993pharetramque solvit, stridet emissa impetu §994harundo— medio spiculum collo fugit §995vulnere relicto,
He loosed his quiver; the arrow, released with a rush, hissed— the shaft sped through the middle of the neck, leaving a wound behind.
The remaining offspring I will track down, and all their hiding places; why do I delay?
A greater war awaits me at Mycenae, so that the Cyclopean stones, overturned by our hands, may fall.
Let the door fly this way and that, its bar shattered, and let it break the doorposts; let the struck roof shake and fall.
The whole palace is transparent: here I see hidden the son of that wicked father.
Behold, stretching out his winning hands to my knees, he begs in a pitiable voice.
§1004scelus nefandum, triste et aspectu horridum!
A shameful crime, sad and dreadful to behold!
§1005dextra precantem rapuit et circa furens §1006bis ter rotatum misit; ast illi caput §1007sonuit, cerebro tecta disperso madent.
His right hand snatched the suppliant, and in his madness he whirled him twice and thrice, and flung him; but his head crashed, and the house is wet with scattered brains.
But the wretched Megara, protecting her little son in her bosom, fled from her hiding place, like one who is mad.
Though as a fugitive you should hide in the bosom of the Thunderer, this right hand will seek you out from anywhere and carry you off.
§1012Quo misera pergis? quam fugam aut latebram petis?
Whither, wretched woman, do you hasten? What flight or hiding place do you seek?
§1013nullus salutis Hercule infesto est locus.
There is no place of safety when Hercules is hostile.
Rather embrace him and with winning prayer try to soften him.
Spare me now, my husband, I pray; recognize Megara.
gnatus hic vultus tuos §1017habitusque reddit; cernis, ut tendat manus?
This son reflects your looks and carriage; do you see how he stretches out his hands?
§1018Teneo novercam.
I hold my stepmother.
sequere, da poenas mihi §1019iugoque pressum libera turpi Iovem; §1020sed ante matrem parvulum hoc monstrum occidat.
Follow, pay the penalty to me, and free Jupiter pressed by her shameful yoke; but before the mother let this little monster die.
§1021Quo tendis amens? sanguinem fundes tuum?
Whither do you go in your madness? Will you shed your own blood?
The terrified infant, at his father's fiery look, died before the blow; fear snatched away his breath.
§1024in coniugem nunc clava libratur gravis: §1025perfregit ossa, corpori trunco caput §1026abest nec usquam est.
Now the heavy club is poised against the wife: it shattered her bones; her head is gone from her mangled body and is nowhere to be seen.
cernere hoc audes, nimis §1027vivax senectus? si piget luctus, habes
Do you dare to behold this, O too long-lived old age?
§1028mortem paratam: pectus in tela indue, §1029vel stipitem istuc caede nostrorum inlitum §1030converte, falsum ac nomini turpem tuo §1031remove parentem, ne tuae laudi obstrepat. —
If you are weary of grief, you have death ready: impale your breast upon his weapons, or turn against yourself that club smeared with the slaughter of our own; remove a parent who is false and a shame to your name, lest he cry out against your praise.
§1032quo te ipse, senior, obvium morti ingeris?
Whither, old man, do you thrust yourself in the path of death?
Whither do you go in your madness? Flee and lie hidden, and take away this one crime from the hands of Hercules.
§1035Bene habet, pudendi regis excisa est domus.
It is well; the house of the shameful king is destroyed.
§1036tibi hunc dicatum, maximi coniunx Iovis, §1037gregem cecidi; vota persolvi libens §1038te digna, et Argos victimas alias dabit.
To you, wife of greatest Jupiter, I have slain this dedicated herd; gladly have I paid vows worthy of you, and Argos will give other victims.
§1039Nondum litasti, nate: consumma sacrum.
You have not yet made a proper sacrifice, my son: complete the ritual.
Behold, the victim stands at the altar, waiting for your hand with bowed neck; I offer myself, I run to meet you, I follow: slay me.
But what is this? Is my vision failing, and does sorrow dim my sight?
§1044manus trementes? vultus in somnum cadit
Or do I see the hands of Hercules trembling?
§1045et fessa cervix capite summisso labat; §1046flexo genu iam totus ad terram ruit, §1047ut caesa silvis ornus aut portum mari
His face sinks into sleep, and his weary neck sags with his drooping head; with bent knee he now collapses entirely to the ground, like an ash tree felled in the forests, or a jetty that is to give a harbor to the sea.
Are you alive, or has the same madness that sent yours to death delivered you also to destruction?
§1050sopor est: reciprocos spiritus motus agit.
It is sleep: he draws regular breaths in and out.
Let time be given for rest, so that in heavy sleep the conquered force of his disease may relieve his oppressed breast.
§1053removete, famuli, tela, ne repetat furens.
Remove, servants, his weapons, lest in his madness he seek them again.
§1054Lugeat aether magnusque parens §1055aetheris alti tellusque ferax §1056et vaga ponti mobilis unda, §1057tuque ante omnis qui per terras §1058tractusque maris fundis radios §1059noctemque fugas ore decoro, §1060fervide Titan: obitus pariter §1061tecum Alcides vidit et ortus §1062novitque tuas utrasque domos.
Let the heavens mourn, and the great parent of high heaven, and the fertile earth, and the wandering wave of the restless sea, and you above all who over the lands and expanses of the sea pour your rays and put night to flight with your beautiful face, glowing Titan: Alcides together with you saw both the setting and the rising, and knew both of your dwellings.
Free his mind from such great monsters, free him, ye gods above; turn his distorted mind back to the better.
§1066tuque, o domitor Somne malorum, §1066brequies animi, §1067pars humanae melior vitae, §1068volucre o matris genus Astraeae, §1069frater durae languide Mortis, §1070veris miscens falsa, futuri §1071certas et idem pessimus auctor, §1072pater o rerum, portus vitae, §1073lucis requies noctisque comes, §1074qui par regi famuloque venis, §1075pavidum leti genus humanum §1076cogis longam discere noctem: §1077placidus fessum lenisque fove, §1078preme de victum torpore gravi; §1079sopor indomitos alliget artus §1080nec torva prius pectora linquat, §1081quam mens repetat pristina cursum.
And thou, O Sleep, tamer of evils, rest of the soul, better part of human life, O winged offspring of mother Astraea, languid brother of harsh Death, mixing false things with true, certain guide to the future and yet the worst authority, O father of things, harbor of life, rest from light and companion of night, who comest alike to king and servant, who compellest mankind, fearful of death, to learn the lesson of the long night: cherish him, gentle and mild, in his weariness; overcome him and hold him down with heavy torpor; let sleep bind his untamed limbs, nor leave his grim breast before his former mind resumes its course.