§817in astra missus fertur et nubes vago §818spargit cruore; talis in caelum exilit §819harundo Getica visa dimitti manu §820aut quam Cydon excussit: inferius tamen §821et tela fugient, truncus in pontum cadit, §822in saxa vertex: unus ambobus iacet.
He is carried, hurled toward the stars, and sprinkles the clouds with wandering blood; in such a way there leaps into the sky a Getic reed seen dismissed from the hand, or one which a Cydonian has discharged: yet even those weapons will fly lower; the trunk falls into the sea, the head upon the rocks: one man lies in both places.
§823'resistite' inquit 'non furor mentem abstulit, §824furore gravius istud atque ira malum est: §825in me iuvat saevire. ' vix pestem indicat §826et saevit: artus ipse dilacerat suos §827et membra vasta carpit avellens manu.
"Stop," he said, "madness has not taken away my mind; this evil is heavier than madness and wrath: it pleases me to rage against myself." Scarcely does he point out the plague, and he rages: he himself tears apart his own limbs and plucks away his vast members, tearing them with his hand.
§828exuere amictus quaerit: hoc solum Herculem §829non posse vidi; trahere conatus tamen §830et membra traxit: corporis palla horridi §831pars est et ipsa: pestis immiscet cuti.
He seeks to strip off his garment: this alone I saw Hercules unable to do; yet when he attempts to drag it off, he drags his limbs as well: the robe is part of his shuddering body: the plague mixes it with his skin.
§832nec causa dirae cladis in medio patet, §833sed causa tamen est; vixque sufficiens malo §834nunc ore terram languidus prono premit, §835nunc poscit undas: unda non vincit malum; §836fluctisona quaerit litora et pontum occupat: §837familiaris illum retinet errantem manus.
Nor is the cause of the dreadful disaster clear in public view, yet a cause there is; and scarcely sufficient to bear the evil, now, weak, he presses the earth with his face downward, now he demands water: water does not conquer the evil; he seeks the wave-resounding shores and takes to the sea: a friendly hand restrains him as he wanders.
§838o sortem acerbam! fuimus Alcidae pares.
O bitter lot! We were companions of Alcides.
§839nunc puppis illum litore Euboico refert §840Austerque lenis pondus Herculeum rapit; §841destituit animus membra, nox oculos premit.
Now a ship brings him back from the Euboean shore, and a gentle South wind carries the Herculean weight; his consciousness has deserted his limbs, and night presses upon his eyes.
§842Quid, anime, cessas? quid stupes? factum est scelus,
Deianira: Why, my soul, do you hesitate? Why are you astounded?
§843natum reposcit Iuppiter, Iuno aemulum.
The crime is done, Jupiter demands back his son, Juno her rival.
He must be restored to the world: restore and show what you can: let a driven sword go through my limbs.
§846sic, sic agendum est.
Thus, thus it must be done.
tam levis poenas manus
Does so light a hand demand such great punishments?
Destroy with thunderbolts, father-in-law, your wicked daughter-in-law.
nec levi telo manus §849armetur: illud fulmen exiliat polo, §850quo, nisi fuisset genitus Alcides tibi, §851hydram cremasses: pestem ut insolitam feri §852et ut noverca potius irata malum.
Nor let your hand be armed with a light weapon: let that thunderbolt leap from the sky, with which, had Alcides not been begotten for you, you would have burned the hydra: destroy me as an unusual plague of a wild beast, and rather as the evil of an angry stepmother.
Send forth a weapon such as was formerly sent against wandering Phaethon: I myself have destroyed peoples in Hercules alone.
§855et ipsa populos, quid rogas telum deos?
Why do you ask a weapon of the gods?
§856iam parce socero: coniugem Alcidae necem §857optare pudeat: haec erit voto manus, §858a me petatur; occupa ferrum ocius.
Now spare your father-in-law: let it be shameful for the wife of Alcides to wish for death from another: this hand will answer my vow, let it be sought from myself; seize the iron more swiftly.
Why then the iron? Whatever draws to death is weapon enough: let me be cast down from the ethereal cliff.
§861haec, haec renatum prima quae poscit diem, §862Oeta eligatur, corpus hinc mitti placet; §863abrupta cautes scindat et partem mei §864ferat omne saxum, pendeant lacerae manus §865totumque rubeat asperi montis latus.
This, this Oeta, which is the first to demand the reborn day, let it be chosen; from here it pleases me to cast my body; let the rugged crags tear me apart, and let every rock bear a part of me, let my torn hands hang down, and let the whole side of the harsh mountain be red.
§866levis una mors est— levis? at extendi potest.
A single death is light—light? But it can be prolonged.
§867eligere nescis, anime, cui telo incubes; §868utinam esset, utinam fixus in thalamis meis §869Herculeus ensis: huic decet ferro inmori.
You do not know how to choose, my soul, upon which weapon to fall; would that, would that the Herculean sword were fixed in my chamber: upon this iron it is fitting to die.
§870una perire dextera nobis sat est?
Is it enough for us to perish by a single right hand?
§871coite, gentes, saxa et immensas faces §872iaculetur orbis, nulla nunc cesset manus, §873corripite tela, vindicem vestram abstuli: §874impune saevi sceptra iam reges gerent, §875impune iam nascetur indomitum malum; §876repetentur arae cernere assuetae hostiam §877similem colenti: sceleribus feci viam, §878ego vos tyrannis regibus monstris feris §879saevisque rapto vindice opposui deis.
Assemble, nations; let the world hurl stones and immense torches, let no hand now be idle; snatch up weapons, I have taken away your avenger: with impunity cruel kings will now bear scepters, with impunity now untamed evil will be born; altars accustomed to see a victim similar to the worshipper will be sought again: I have made a way for crimes; by taking away your avenger, I have exposed you to tyrant kings, to monsters, to wild beasts, and to cruel gods.
§880cessas, Tonantis socia? non spargis facem
Do you hesitate, consort of the Thunderer?
Do you not scatter fire, imitating your brother, and send what was snatched from Jupiter, and destroy me yourself?
A famous praise is being snatched from you, a huge triumph, Juno: that the death of your rival is being forestalled.
§884bQuid domum impulsam trahis?
Nurse: Why do you drag down a house already shaken?
§885erroris est hic omne quodcumque est nefas.
Deianira: Whatever crime is here, is entirely of error.
§886haut est nocens quicumque non sponte est nocens.
Nurse: He is not guilty whoever is not guilty of his own free will.
Deianira: Whoever forgives fate and spares himself, has deserved to err: it pleases me to be condemned by death.
§889Nocens videri, qui mori quaerit, cupit.
Nurse: He who seeks to die desires to seem guilty.
§890Mors innocentes sola deceptos facit.
Deianira: Death alone makes the deceived innocent.
Nurse: Fleeing Titan— Deianira: Titan himself flees me.
§892Vitam relinques?
Nurse: Will you leave life?
§892bMiseram, ut Alciden sequar.
Deianira: A wretched one, that I may follow Alcides.
§893Superest et auras ille caelestes trahit.
Nurse: He survives, and draws the heavenly breezes.
§894Vinci Hercules cum potuit, hinc coepit mori.
Deianira: When Hercules was able to be conquered, from that moment he began to die.
§897Virum sequeris.
Nurse: You will follow your husband?
§897bPraegredi castae solent.
Deianira: Chaste wives are accustomed to go before.
§895Natum relinques fataque abrumpes tua?
Nurse: Will you abandon your son and break off your fate?
§896Quamcumque natus sepelit haec vixit diu.
Deianira: Whomever a son buries has lived long enough.
§898Si te ipsa damnas, scelere te misera arguis.
Nurse: If you condemn yourself, wretched one, you prove yourself guilty of crime.