§350per ora multus sanguis atque oculos redit. §351Infausta magnos sacra terrores cient. §352sed ede certas viscerum nobis notas. §353Genitor, quid hoc est? non levi motu, ut solent,
\nMuch blood returns through the face and eyes.\n\nThe ill-omened sacrifices stir up great terrors.\n\nBut declare to us the certain signs of the entrails.\n\nFather, what is this?
§354agitata trepidant exta, sed totas manus §355quatiunt novusque prosilit venis cruor. §356cor marcet aegrum penitus ac mersum latet §357liventque venae; magna pars fibris abest §358et felle nigro tabidum spumat iecur, §359ac (semper omen unico imperio grave) §360en capita paribus bina consurgunt toris; §361sed utrumque caesum tenuis abscondit caput §362membrana: latebram rebus occultis negans §363hostile valido robore insurgit latus §364septemque venas tendit; has omnis retro §365prohibens reverti limes oblicus secat. §366mutatus ordo est, sede nil propria iacet, §367sed acta retro cuncta: non animae capax §368in parte dextra pulmo sanguineus iacet, §369non laeva cordi regio, non molli ambitu §370omenta pingues visceri obtendunt sinus: §371natura versa est, nulla lex utero manet, §372scrutemur, unde tantus hic extis rigor.
Not with a light movement, as they are wont,\n\ndo the agitated entrails tremble, but they shake\n\nentire hands, and new blood leaps forth from the veins.\n\nThe sick heart decays deep within and lies hidden, submerged,\n\nand the veins are livid; a large part of the fibers is missing\n\nand the decaying liver foams with black bile,\n\nand (always a heavy omen for sole command)\n\nbehold, two heads rise up with equal swellings;\n\nbut a thin membrane hides each cut head:\n\ndenying a hiding place to hidden things,\n\nthe hostile side rises with strong power\n\nand stretches seven veins; an oblique line cuts across,\n\npreventing all these from turning backward.\n\nThe order is changed, nothing lies in its own proper place,\n\nbut all things are driven backward: not capable of breath,\n\nthe bloody lung lies on the right side,\n\nno left region is there for the heart, nor with soft wrapping\n\ndo the caul membranes extend rich folds over the entrails:\n\nnature is reversed, no law remains in the womb,\n\nlet us examine whence comes this great stiffness in the entrails.\n\nWhat is this monstrous crime?
§373quod hoc nefas? conceptus innuptae bovis. . §374nec more solito positus alieno in loco, §375implet parentem; membra cum gemitu movet, §376rigore tremulo debiles artus micant; §377infecit atras lividus fibras cruor §378temptantque turpes mobilem trunci gradum, §379et inane surgit corpus ac sacros petit §380cornu ministros; viscera effugiunt manum. §381neque ista, quae te pepulit, armenti gravis §382vox est nec usquam territi resonant greges: §383immugit aris ignis et trepidant foci. §384Quid ista sacri signa terrifici ferant §385exprome: voces aure non timida hauriam. §387His invidebis quibus opem quaeris malis. §388Memora quod unum scire caelicolae volunt, §389contaminarit rege quis caeso manus. §390Nec alta caeli quae levi pinna secant §391nec fibra vivis rapta pectoribus potest §392ciere nomen; alia temptanda est via: §393ipse evocandus noctis aeternae plagis, §394emissus Erebo ut caedis auctorem indicet. §395reseranda tellus, Ditis inplacabile §396numen precandum, populus infernae Stygia §397huc extrahendus: ede cui mandes sacrum; §398nam te, penes quem summa regnorum, nefas §399invisere umbras. §399bTe, Creo, hic poscit labor, §400ad quem secundum regna respiciunt mea. §401Dum nos profundae claustra laxamus Stygis, §402populare Bacchi laudibus carmen sonet. §403Effusam redimite comam nutante corymbo, §404mollia Nysaeis armati bracchia thyrsis! §405Lucidum caeli decus, huc ades §406votis quae tibi nobiles §407Thebae, Bacche, tuae §408palmis supplicibus ferunt. §409Huc adverte favens virgineum caput, §410vultu sidereo discute nubila §411et tristes Erebi minas §412avidumque fatum. §413Te decet cingi comam floribus vernis, §414te caput Tyria cohibere mitra §415hederave mollem §415bbacifera religare frontem. §416Spargere effusos sine lege crines, §417rursus adducto revocare nodo; §418qualis iratam metuens novercam §419creveras falsos imitatus artus, §420crine flaventi simulata virgo, §421lutea vestem retinente zona: §422inde tam molles placuere cultus §423et sinus laxi fluidumque syrma. §424Vidit aurato residere curru, §425veste cum longa tegeres leones, §426omnis Eoae plaga vasta terrae, §427qui bibit Gangen niveumque quisquis §428frangit Araxen. §429Te senior turpi sequitur Silenus asello, §430turgida pampineis redimitus tempora sortis; §431condita lascivi deducunt orgia mystae. §432Te Bassaridum comitata cohors §433nunc Edono pede pulsavit §434sola Pangaeo, nunc Threicio §435vertice Pindi; nunc Cadmeas §436inter matres impia maenas §437comes Ogygio venit laccho, §438nebride sacra praecincta latus §441thyrsumque levem vibrante manu, §439tibi commotae pectora matres
A conception within an unwed heifer...\n\nnor placed in the accustomed manner, but in a strange location,\n\nit fills its mother; it moves its limbs with a groan,\n\nand with a trembling stiffness the weak limbs twitch;\n\nlivid blood has stained the dark fibers,\n\nand the shameful parts of the trunk attempt a moving step,\n\nand the lifeless body rises and seeks the sacred\n\nministers with its horn; the entrails escape the hand.\n\nNor is that heavy voice of the herd which struck you,\n\nnor do the terrified flocks resound anywhere:\n\nthe fire bellows on the altars and the hearths tremble.\n\nExplain what those signs of the terrifying sacrifice bring:\n\nI will drink in the words with an unafraid ear.\n\n\n\nYou will envy those evils for which you seek help.\n\nRelate the one thing which the inhabitants of heaven wish to be known,\n\nwho stained his hands by the slaying of the king.\n\nNeither those which cut the high heavens with light wing,\n\nnor the fiber snatched from living breasts can\n\nsummon the name; another way must be tried:\n\nthe king himself must be summoned from the regions of eternal night,\n\nreleased from Erebus so that he may point out the author of the slaughter.\n\nThe earth must be opened, the implacable divinity of Dis\n\nmust be prayed to, the Stygian people of the underworld\n\nmust be dragged out hither: declare to whom you entrust the sacrifice;\n\nfor to you, in whose power is the height of kingdoms, it is a crime\n\nto look upon the shades.\n\nTo you, Creon, this labor calls,\n\nwhom my kingdoms look up to as second.\n\nWhile we loosen the bars of deep Styx,\n\nlet a popular song resound with the praises of Bacchus.\n\nBind your loose hair with nodding ivy-berries,\n\narmed in your soft arms with Nysaean thyrsi!\n\nBright glory of the sky, come hither,\n\nwhich noble Thebes, your own,\n\nO Bacchus, brings to you\n\nwith suppliant palms of vows.\n\nHither turn your favoring, maidenly head,\n\nwith your starry countenance disperse the clouds,\n\nand the grim threats of Erebus,\n\nand greedy fate.\n\nIt becomes you to bind your hair with spring flowers,\n\nto cover your head with a Tyrian mitre,\n\nor with ivy your soft,\n\nberry-bearing forehead to bind.\n\nTo scatter loose hair without law,\n\nand again to recall it with a drawn knot;\n\njust as, fearing your angry stepmother,\n\nyou had grown, imitating false limbs,\n\na feigned maiden with golden hair,\n\nwith a yellow belt holding your garment:\n\nthence those soft styles pleased you,\n\nand loose folds, and the flowing train.\n\nThe vast region of all the Eastern land saw you\n\nsitting in your gilded chariot, when you covered lions with a long robe,\n\nwhoever drinks the Ganges, and whoever\n\nbreaks the snowy Araxes.\n\n\n\nThe elder Silenus follows you on a shameful ass,\n\nhis swollen temples bound with ivy-crowns;\n\nthe wanton initiates lead the hidden mysteries.\n\nThe cohort of Bassarids accompanied you,\n\nnow on Pangaeus alone with Edonian step,\n\nnow on the Thracian summit of Pindus;\n\nnow among Cadmean mothers an impious maenad\n\ncomes as a companion to Ogygian Iacchus,\n\ngirt about her side with the sacred fawn-skin,\n\nbrandishing a light thyrsus with her vibrating hand,\n\nthe mothers, their breasts stirred for you...