§378tibi grandaevi lassique senes §379compote voto §380reddunt grates libantque manu §381vina trementi.
For you the aged and weary old men, their vow being granted, return thanks and pour from trembling hand wine.
§382et te Triviam nota memores §383voce precamur: §384tu maternam sistere Delon, §385Lucina, iubes, §386huc atque illuc prius errantem §387Cyclada ventis; §388nunc iam stabilis fixa terras §389radice tenet, §390respuit auras religatque rates §391assueta sequi,
And you we pray, mindful of Trivia by her known name, with our voice: you, O Lucina, command your maternal Delos to stand, which was formerly drifting hither and thither by the winds, a Cycladic island; now indeed stable, it holds the earth, fixed with a root, and despises the winds and binds fast the ships, though once accustomed to follow.
§392tu Tantalidos funera matris §393victrix numeras: §394stat nunc Sipyli vertice summo §395flebile saxum, §396et adhuc lacrimas marmora fundunt §397antiqua novas,
You, victorious, count the deaths of the Tantalid mother; now on the highest peak of Sipylus stands the weeping stone, and still the ancient marble pours down new tears.
§398colit impense femina virque §399numen geminum, §400tuque ante omnis, pater ac rector §401fulmine pollens, §402cuius nutu simul extremi §403tremuere poli, §404generis nostri, Iuppiter, auctor, §405cape dona libens §406abavusque tuam non degenerem §407respice prolem.
Both woman and man eagerly worship the twin divinity, and you before all, O father and ruler mighty with the thunderbolt, at whose nod at once the furthest poles tremble, Jupiter, the author of our race, willingly accept the gifts, and as a forefather look upon your offspring, who is not degenerate.
§408Sed ecce, vasto concitus miles gradu §409manifesta properat signa laetitiae ferens §410(namque hasta summo lauream ferro gerit) §411fidusque regi semper Eurybates adest.
But behold, a soldier with vast stride excited hurries, bringing manifest signs of joy (for his spear bears a laurel on its iron tip), and Eurybates, always faithful to the king, is present.
§392aDelubra et aras caelitum et patrios lares §393apost longa fessus spatia, vix credens mihi, §394asupplex adoro.
The temples and altars of the heavenly gods and the ancestral Lares, tired after long journeys, scarcely believing myself, I worship as a suppliant.
vota superis solvite: §395atelluris altum remeat Argolicae decus §396atandem ad penates victor Agamemnon suos,
Pay your vows to the gods above: the great glory of the Argolic land returns, at last Agamemnon as victor to his own Penates.
§397aFelix ad aures nuntius venit meas.
Clytemnestra: A happy messenger has come to my ears.
§398aubinam petitus per decem coniunx mihi
Where indeed does my husband, sought through ten years, delay?
§399aannos moratur? pelagus an terras premit?
Does he press the sea or the land?
Eurybates: Safe, increased in glory, illustrious in praise, he has pressed his returning foot upon the longed-for shore.
Clytemnestra: Let us worship with sacred rites this prosperous day at last, and the gods, if propitious, yet slow.
Reveal whether the brother of my husband lives, and reveal what home my sister holds.
Eurybates: I ask and pray the gods for better things than vows: for the certain lot of the doubtful sea forbids to speak.
When the swollen sea received the scattered fleet, a friendly ship could not see a companion ship.
§410aquin ipse Atrides aequore immenso vagus §411agraviora pelago damna quam bello tulit §412remeatque victo similis, exiguas trahens §413lacerasque victor classe de tanta rates.
Indeed, the son of Atreus himself, wandering on the immense sea, bore heavier losses from the sea than from war, and returns like a vanquished man, dragging few and shattered ships, though a victor from so great a fleet.
§414Effare casus quis rates hausit meas?
Clytemnestra: Tell what disaster has swallowed my ships?
§415aut quae maris fortuna dispulerit duces.
Or what fortune of the sea has dispersed the leaders?
§416Acerba fatu poscis, infaustum iubes §417miscere laeto nuntium, refugit loqui §418mens aegra tantis atque inhorrescit malis.
Eurybates: You ask for things bitter to say, you command to mix an unhappy message with the joyful one; my sick mind refuses to speak and shudders at such great evils.
Clytemnestra: Disclose it: he who refuses to know his own disasters increases fear; doubtful evils torment more.
Eurybates: When all Pergamum fell by the Doric torch, the spoils were divided, and they eagerly sought the seas.
§423iamque ense fessum miles exonerat latus, §424neglecta summas scuta per puppes iacent; §425ad militares remus aptatur manus §426omnisque nimium longa properanti mora est.
And now the soldier unburdens his tired side of the sword, neglected shields lie along the high sterns; the oar is fitted to military hands, and every delay is too long for one who hastens.
§427signum recursus regia ut fulsit rate §428et clara laetum remigem monuit tuba, §429aurata primas prora designat vias §430aperitque cursus, mille quos puppes secent.
When the sign of return shone from the royal ship, and the clear trumpet warned the joyful rower, the gilded prow marks out the first paths and opens the courses, which a thousand ships may cut.
§431hinc aura primo lenis impellit rates §432adlapsa velis; unda vix actu levi §433tranquilla Zephyri mollis afflatu tremit.
Hence a gentle breeze at first impels the ships, having glided into the sails; the calm wave, with scarcely a light movement, trembles under the gentle breath of soft Zephyrus.
§434splendetque classe polagus et pariter latet.
And the sea shines with the fleet, and is equally hidden by it.
It is pleasing to see the bare shores of Troy, it is pleasing to see the lonely places of abandoned Sigeum.
§437proporat iuventus omnis adductos simul §438lentare remos, adiuvat ventos manu §439et valida nisu bracchia alterno movet.
All the youth hasten at the same time to bend the pulled oars, helping the winds with their hands, and move their strong arms with alternating effort.
Furrowed, the waters vibrate, and the sides of the ships resound, and white foam divides the blue sea.
As a stronger breeze stretches the full sails, they laid down their oars, the ship was entrusted to the wind.
§444{ususque transtris miles aut terras procul, §445quantum recedunt vela, fugientes notat, §446aut bella narrat: Hectoris fortis minas §447currusque et empto redditum corpus rogo, §448sparsum cruore rogis Herceum Iovem.
And the soldier, using the benches, either notes the far-off lands, fleeing as the sails recede, or narrates the wars: the threats of brave Hector, and the chariots, and the body returned for the bought pyre, and Herceian Jupiter sprinkled with blood at the altars.
§449tunc qui iacente reciprocus ludit salo §450tumidumque pando transilit dorso mare §451Tyrrhenus omni piscis exultat freto §452agitatque gyros et comes lateri adnatat, §453anteire naves laetus et rursus sequi; §454nunc prima tangens rostra lascivit chorus, §455millosimam nunc ambit et lustrat ratem.
Then the Tyrrhenian fish, which plays in the reciprocating calm sea and leaps over the swollen waters with its arched back, exults in every strait, and makes circles and swims companion to the side, joyful to go before the ships and to follow again; now the sporting troop touches the first prows, now it circles and surveys the thousandth ship.
§456iam litus omne tegitur et campi latent
Now all the shore is covered and the plains are hidden.