§540ambustus extat, dirimit insanum mare §541fluctusque rumpit pectore et navem manu §542complexus ignes traxit et caeco mari §543conlucet Aiax, omne resplendet fretum,
He stands out, burnt, and divides the raging sea, and breaks the waves with his breast, and holding the ship with his hand he dragged the fire, and in the dark sea Ajax shines bright; the whole sea gleams.
§544tandem occupata rupe furibundum intonat: §545'superasse cuncta, pelagus atque ignes iuvat, §546vicisse caelum Palladem fulmen mare.
At last, having seized a rock, he thunders furiously: "It is a joy to have overcome all things, the sea and the fires, to have conquered heaven, Pallas, the lightning, and the sea.
§547non me fugavit bellici terror dei §549Phoebea nec me tela pepulerunt gradu: §550cum Phrygibus istos vicimus— tene horream?
The terror of the warlike god did not put me to flight, nor did Phoebus' weapons drive me from my step; with the Phrygians we conquered those—shall I shudder at you?
§551aliena inerti tela mittis dextera, §552quid si ipse mittat?' plura cum auderet furens, §553tridente rupem subruit pulsam pater §554Neptunus imis exerens undis caput §555solvitque montem; quem cadens secum tulit §556terraque et igne victus et pelago iacet.
You send another's weapons with a powerless right hand; what if he himself should send them?" While he, raging, dared to say more, father Neptune, raising his head from the lowest waves, undermined the struck rock with his trident and shattered the mountain; which, falling, carried him down with it, and vanquished by earth, fire, and sea, he lies dead.
§557Nos alia maior naufragos pestis vocat, §558est humilis, unda, scrupeis mendax vadis, §559ubi saxa rapidis clausa verticibus tegit §560fallax Caphereus; aestuat scopulis fretum §561fervetque semper fluctus alterna vice.
Another, greater plague calls us shipwrecked men; there is a shoal, deceitful with its sharp-stoned shallows, where the rocks enclosed by rapid whirlpools are covered by treacherous Caphereus; the sea seethes against the crags, and the wave always boils in alternating turns.
§562arx imminet praerupta quae spectat mare §563utrimque geminum: Pelopis hinc oras tui §564et Isthmon, arto qui recurvatus solo §565Ionia iungi maria Phrixeis vetat, §566hinc scelere Lemnon nobilem et Calchedona
A steep cliff looms, which looks upon the double sea on both sides: here the shores of your Pelops and the Isthmus, which, curved in a narrow soil, forbids the Ionian seas to be joined with those of Phrixus, on the other side, Lemnos, noble for its crime, and Chalcedon, and Aulis, slow for ships.
§567tardamque ratibus Aulida: hanc arcem occupat §568Palamedis ille genitor et clarum manu §569lumen nefanda vertice e summo efferens §570in saxa ducit perfida classem face.
This citadel is occupied by that father of Palamedes; and bringing forth a bright light with his impious hand from the highest peak, he guides the fleet onto the rocks with his treacherous torch.
§571haerent acutis rupibus fixae rates; §572has inopis undae brevia comminuunt vada, §573pars vehitur huius prima, pars scopulo sedet; §574hanc alia retro spatia relegentem ferit
The ships cling, fixed upon the sharp rocks; the shallow shoals of the water shatter them, the first part of one ship is carried along, part sits on a rock; another ship, tracing its course back, is struck by another and, broken, breaks other things.
Now the ships fear the land and prefer the seas.
cecidit in lucem furor: §577postquam litatum est Ilio, Phoebus redit §578et damna noctis tristis ostendit dies.
The fury subsided at dawn: after sacrifice had been made to Ilium, Phoebus returns, and the sad day reveals the losses of the night.
§579Vtrumne doleam laeter an reducem virum?
Should I grieve or rejoice that my husband has returned?
§580remeasse laetor vulnus et regni grave
I rejoice that he has returned, but I am forced to mourn the heavy wound of the kingdom.
Render now to the Greeks, O Father shaking the high-sounding realms, the appeased gods.
§583nunc omne laeta fronde veletur caput, §584sacrifiea dulces tibia effundat modos §585et nivea magnas victima ante aras cadat
Now let every head be veiled with joyful foliage, let the sacrificial pipe pour forth sweet melodies, and let the snow-white victim fall before the great altars.
§586Sed ecce.
But behold!
turba tristis in comptae comas §587Iliades adsunt, quas super celso gradu §588effrena Phoebas entheas laurus quatit.
A sad crowd, their hair unkempt, the Trojan women are present; above whom, with lofty step, the unbridled priestess of Phoebus shakes the divinely inspired laurels.
§589Heu quam dulce malum mortalibus additum §590vitae diras amor, cum pateat malis §591effugium et miseros libera mors vocet §592portus aeterna placidus quiete, §593nullus hunc terror nec impotentia §594procella Fortunae movet aut iniqui §595flamma Tonantis.
Alas, what a sweet evil added to mortals is the dreadful love of life, since an escape lies open for evils and free death calls the wretched, a peaceful harbor in eternal quiet; no terror nor the uncontrolled storm of Fortune moves this, nor the flame of the unjust Thunderer.
§605Perrumpet omne servitium §606contemptor levium deorum, §607qui vultus Acherontis atri, §608qui Styga tristem non tristis videt §609audetque vitae ponere finem.
He will break through all servitude, the despiser of the fickle gods, who looks upon the face of black Acheron, who looks upon gloomy Styx, himself not gloomy, and dares to put an end to life.
§596Alta pax nullos §597civium coetus timet aut minaces §598victoris iras, non maria asperis §599insana coris, non acies feras §600pulvereamve nubem §601motam barbaricis equitum catervis; §602non urbe cum tota populos cadentes, §603hostica muros populari te flamma, §604indoinitumve bellum: §610par ille regi, par superis erit.
Deep peace fears no assemblies of citizens or the threatening wraths of the victor, nor the seas raging with rough northwestern winds, nor fierce battle lines, or the dusty cloud stirred up by barbarian troops of horsemen; nor peoples falling together with their entire city, nor the hostile flame devastating your walls, or untamed war: he will be equal to a king, equal to the gods above.
§611o quam miserum est nescire mori!
Oh, how miserable it is not to know how to die!
§612Vidimus patriam ruentem nocte funesta, §613cum Dardana tecta Dorici raperetis ignes, §614non illa bello victa, non armis, §615ut quondam, Herculea cecidit pharetra.
We saw our country falling on that fatal night, when you, Doric fires, were snatching away Trojan homes, It was not conquered by war, nor by arms; it did not fall, as once, by the Herculean quiver.
§616quam non Pelei Thetidisquo natus §617carosque Pelidae nimium feroci §618vicit, acceptis cum fulsit armis §619fuditque Troas falsus Achilles, §620aut cum ipso Pelides animos feroces §621sustulit luctu celeremque saltu §622Troades summis timuere muris,
Her, neither the son of Peleus and Thetis, nor the friend too dear to the overly fierce son of Peleus, conquered, when he shone in the accepted arms and as a false Achilles routed the Trojans, or when Peleus' son himself raised his fierce spirits through grief, and swift in his leap, the Trojan women feared him from the highest walls.
§623perdidit in malis §624extremum decus fortiter vinci: §625restitit quinis bis annis §626unius noctis peritura furto.
She lost in her evils the ultimate glory of being bravely conquered: she resisted for twice five years, only to perish by the stealth of a single night.
§627Vidimus simulata dona §628molis immensae Danaumque §628bfatale munus duximus nostra §629creduli dextra tremuitque saepe §630limine in primo sonipes, cavernis §631conditos reges bellumque gestans; §632et licuit dolos versare ut ipsi §633fraude sua caderent Pelasgi.
We saw the simulated gifts of immense bulk, and the fatal gift of the Greeks we led with our own credulous right hand; and often did the courser tremble on the very threshold, in its caverns bearing hidden kings and carrying war; and it was permitted to turn their deceits back so that they Pelasgians themselves might fall by their own fraud.