§934Sed iam saevi nubila fati §934bpelle ac miseri §935temporis omnis dimitte notas; §936redeant vultus ad laeta boni, §937veterem ex animo mitte Thyesten.
But now drive away the clouds of cruel fate and dismiss all marks of the wretched time; let the face of a good man return to joyful things, send the old Thyestes out of your mind.
§938Proprium hoc miseros sequitur vitium, §939numquam rebus credere laetis: §940redeat felix fortuna licet, §941tamen afflictos gaudere piget,
This peculiar fault follows the wretched, never to believe in joyful circumstances: though happy fortune may return, yet it displeases the afflicted to rejoice.
Why do you call me back and forbid me to celebrate the festive day?
quid flere iubes, §944nulla surgens dolor ex causa?
Why do you order me to weep, O grief rising from no cause?
Why do you prohibit me from binding my hair with a fitting flower? It prohibits, it prohibits!
§947Vernae capiti Auxere rosae, §948pingui madidus crinis amomo §949inter subitos stetit horrores, §950imber vultu nolente cadit, §951venit in medias voces gemitus, §952maeror lacrimas amat assuetas, §953flendi miseris dira cupido est.
Spring roses flowed from my head, my hair wet with rich amomum stood up amidst sudden horrors, a rain of tears falls from my unwilling face, a groan comes in the middle of my words, grief loves accustomed tears, and the wretched have a dreadful desire for weeping.
§954libet infaustos mittere questus, §955libet et Tyrio saturas ostro §956rumpere vestes, ululare libet.
I wish to send forth ill-boding complaints, I wish to tear my garments saturated with Tyrian purple, I wish to wail aloud.
§957Mittit luctus signa futuri §958mens, ante sui praesaga mali: §959instat nautis fera tempestas, §960cum sine vento tranquilla tument.
The mind, foreboding its own evil beforehand, sends signs of future mourning: a fierce storm threatens sailors when quiet waters swell without wind.
§961Quos tibi luctus quosve tumultus §962fingis, demens? credula praesta §963pectora fratri: iam, quicquid id est, §964vel sine causa vel sero times.
Atreus: What griefs or what tumults do you fashion for yourself, madman? Present a trusting heart to your brother: now, whatever it is, you fear either without cause or too late.
§965Nolo infelix, sed vagus intra §966terror oberrat, subitos fundunt §967oculi fletus, nec causa subest,
Thyestes: I do not wish to be unhappy, but a wandering terror roves within me; my eyes pour out sudden tears, nor is there a cause underneath.
§968dolor an metus est?
Is it grief or fear?
§969an habet lacrimas magna voluptas?
Or does great pleasure have tears?
§970Festum diem, germane, consensu pari §971celebremus: hic est, sceptra qui firmet mea §972solidamque pacis alliget certae fidem.
Atreus: Let us celebrate the festive day, brother, with equal consent: this is the day which may establish my sceptre and bind the solid faith of certain peace.
§973Satias dapis me nec minus Bacchi tenet, §974augere cumulus hic voluptatem potest, §975si cum meis gaudere felici datur.
Thyestes: Satiety of the feast and no less of Bacchus holds me; this accumulation can increase my pleasure, if it is granted to rejoice happily with my children.
§976Hic esse natos crede in amplexu patris, §977hic sunt eruntque; nulla pars prolis tuae §978tibi subtrahetur.
Atreus: Believe that your sons are here in their father's embrace; here they are and will be; no part of your offspring will be withdrawn from you.
I will give you the faces you long for, and now I will fill the father completely with his own crowd; you shall be satisfied, do not fear.
Now mixed with mine, they celebrate the pleasant sacred rites of the youthful table; but they shall be summoned.
poculum infuso cape §983gentile Baccho, §983bCapio fraternae dapis §984donum, paternis vina libentur deis.
Take the cup poured with family wine, Thyestes: I receive the gift of the brotherly feast, let wine be libated to the paternal gods.
§985tunc hauriantur.
Then let it be drained.
sed quid hoc? nolunt manus
But what is this?
§986parere, crescit pondus et dextram gravat; §987admotus ipsis Bacchus a labris fugit §988circaque rictus ore decepto fluit §989et ipsa trepido mensa subsiluit solo.
My hands refuse to obey, the weight increases and burdens my right hand; Bacchus, brought to my very lips, flees, and flows around my jaws, my mouth being deceived, and the table itself leaped up from the trembling ground.
The fire scarcely shines; indeed the heavy sky itself, deserted between day and night, stands amazed.
§992quid hoc? magis magisque concussi labant
What is this?
More and more the shaken vaults of heaven totter; a thicker gloom gathers with dense darkness, and night has hidden itself in night; every star has fled.
§995fugit omne sidus, quicquid est, fratri precor §996gnatisque parcat, omnis in vile hoc caput §997abeat procella, redde iam gnatos mihi!
Whatever it is, I pray that it spare my brother and children, let all the storm depart upon this vile head; restore my children to me now!
§998Reddam, et tibi illos nullus eripiet dies.
Atreus: I will restore them, and no day shall snatch them from you.
§999Quis hic tumultus viscera exagitat mea?
Thyestes: What is this tumult that agitates my entrails?
§1000quid tremuit intus? sentio impatiens onus
What trembled inside?
§1001meumque gemitu non meo pectus gemit,
I feel an unbearable burden, and my chest groans with a groan not my own.
Be present, my children, your unhappy father calls you, be present.
visis fugiet hic vobis dolor— §1004unde obloquuntur?
At the sight of you, this pain will flee—from where do they speak?
Atreus: Prepare your embraces, father: they have come. Do you recognize your children at all?
Thyestes: I recognize my brother. Do you endure to bear so great a crime, O Earth?
Do you not plunge us into the infernal Styx and darkness, breaking open, and by a huge path drag away the kingdoms with their king to empty chaos?
Do you not, tearing up the whole dwellings from the lowest soil, overturn Mycenae?
§1012uterque iam debuimus: hinc compagibus §1013et hinc revulsis, si quid infra Tartara est §1014avesque nostros, hoc tuam, inmani sinu §1015demitte vallem nosque defossos tege §1016Acheronte toto.
We both ought already to have been standing around Tantalus: with joints torn apart on this side and on that, if there is anything below Tartarus, and our birds, dismiss your abyss into your immense bosom and cover us, buried, with the whole Acheron.
noxiae supra, caput §1017animae vagentur nostrum et ardenti freto §1018Phlegethon harenas igneus totas agens §1019exilia supra nostra violentus fluat— §1020immota tellus pondus ignavum iaces?
Let guilty souls wander above our head, and let fiery Phlegethon, driving all its sands with its burning flood, flow violently above our exile— do you lie unmoved, Earth, a lazy weight?
§1021fugere superi,
The gods have fled.
§1021bIam accipe hos potius libens §1022diu expetitos— nulla per fratrem est mora: §1023fruere, osculare, divide amplexus tribus.
Atreus: Now receive these rather, gladly, long sought—there is no delay on your brother's part: enjoy them, kiss them, divide your embraces among the three.
§1024Hoc foedus? haec est gratia, haec fratris fides?
Thyestes: Is this the treaty? Is this the gratitude, this the faith of a brother?
§1025sic odia ponis? non peto.
Do you lay aside your hatreds thus?