sed tamen ambobus versæ solacia formæ
magna nepos dederat, quem debellata colebat
India, quem positis celebrabat Achaia templis.
solus Abantiadēs ab origine cretus eadem
Acrisius superest, qui moenibus arceat urbis
Argolicæ contraque Deum ferat arma genusque
non putet esse Iovis; neque enim Iovis esse putabat
Persea, quem pluvio Danæ conceperat auro.
mox tamen Acrisium (tanta est præsentia veri)
tam violasse Deum quam non agnosse nepotem
pænitet: inpositus iam cælo est alter, at alter
viperei referens spolium memorabile monstri
æra carpebat tenerum stridentibus alis.
cumque super Libycas victor penderat harenas
Gorgonei capitis guttæ cecidere cruentæ.
quas humus exceptas varios animauit angues:
unde frequens illa est infestaque terra colubris.
inde per inmensum ventis discordibus actus
nunc huc, nunc illuc exemplo nubis aquosæ
fertur et ex alto seductas æthere longe
despectat terras totumque superuolat orbem.
ter gelidas Arctos, ter Cancri bracchia vidit:
sæpe sub occasus, sæpe est ablatus in ortus.
iamque cadente die, veritus se credere nocti,
constit Hesperio, regnis Atlantis, in orbe,
exiguamque petit requiem, dum Lucifer ignes,
euocet auroræ, currus Aurora divernos.
hic hominum cunctis ingenti corpore præstands
Iapetionidēs Atlas fuit. ultima tellus
rege sub hoc et pontus erat, qui Solis anhelis
æquora subdit equis et fessos excipit axes.
mille greges ille totidemque armenta per herbas
errabant et humum vicinia nulla premebant.
arboreæ frondes auro radiante nitentes
ex auro ramos, ex auro poma tegebant.
“hospes”, ait Perseus illi, “seu gloria tangit
te generis magni, generis mihi Iuppiter auctor:
siue es mirator mirabere nostras.
hospitum requiemque peto.” ... memor ille vetustæ
sortis erat: Themis hanc dederat Parnasia sortem:
“tempus, Atla, veniet, tua quo spoliabitur auro
arbor, et hunc prædæ titulum Ioue natus habebit.”
id metuens solidis pomaria clauserat Atlas
mœnibus et vasto dederat seruanda draconi
arcebatque suis externos finibus omnes.
huic quoque, “vade procul, ne longe gloiria rerum,
quam mentiris” ait, “longe tibi Iuppiter absit!”
vimque minis addit manusque expellere temptat
cunctantem et placidis miscentem fortia dictis.
viribus inferior (quis enim par esset Atlantis
viribus?) “at quoniam parvi tibi gratia nostra est,
accipe munus!” ait, lævaque a parte Medusæ
ipse retro versus squalentia protuilit ora.
quantus erat, mons factus Atlas: nam barba comæque,
in siluas abeant, iuga sunt umerique manusque,
quod caput ante fuit, summo est in monte cacumen,
ossa lapis fuint: tum partes auctus in omnes
creuit in mensum (sic, di, statuistis) et omne
cum tot sideribus cælum requieuit in illo.
But also however with both those two
By having been translated: changed into
Fresh forms, pass into a new frame of mind,
Moulded appearances, natural, kind,
It’d given the grandson great solace,
Whom, engaged in the Indian wars’ end,
He’d layed down and ordained an open space,
Honouring Achæan gods cultivate,
With frequent practice for auspices take.
Since the start Abantiadēs only,
Acrisius born in time, the same way
Whom defended the fort, a survivor
Argos’ high walls, against his twin brother,
And the weaponry of God brought to bear;
Though a noble, think not you’re Jupiter,
Nor Perseus believe you’re truly Jove,
Whom Danaë conceived in a show’r of gold.
Presently however Acrisius
(propitious of the truth he’s worth so much)
So God, outraged, to whom he’d brok’n agreement
Not recognising his grandson, repents:
He’s the one, having been charged by heav’n,
But the other, a bronze monster, weakens,
Remarkable, shed his serpentine skin,
Hissing at the young yeilding one with whistling wings.
The gods above and beyond Libya
Over desert sands and shores: the victor,
Killed the Gorgon, her bloody head hung down
Wherever crimson specks fell to the ground.
Somehow the soil received it, diff’rent,
Dry land animate: changes underwent,
From where in-spirit into serpents, snakes,
Is num’rously infested and made unsafe.
From that time to an enormous degree,
By having been as far as to proceed,
Came to pass with discordant deliv’ry,
For an example: at one time hither,
Nature’s warning: at another, tither,
’T is said by a drifting cloud precipitous,
As rain rushing, flowing down from heaven,
From the sky, remote, apart, long distances,
Peers down ’pon the earth from the empyr’an,
Commands a view of the whole world,
As it flies o’er so great a globe: this cloud.
Thrice the numbing north-wind at night perceives
The Great Bear, Little Bear and Boötēs,
Three times Cancer’s crab-like claws looks to see,
Oft’imes sets in the west, ending beneath,
Having been ta’en off: rises in the east.
And one day setting, themselves the night feared,
Now, confident in the darkness revered,
For Venus is in orbit and agrees,
With Kingdoms of the Atlantiadēs,
To encircle the world: Hesperidēs,
Whose meagre relaxation is but short,
Until of Phosphorus’ bright passions court,
Calls forth the morning star’s bright rays,
Aurora’s char’ot dawns, day, by day.
Iapetionidēs Atlas being,
This man’s all, a mighty body: outstanding.
This King ’neath the end of the earth: was he,
And below, subject to the level sea,
Which welcomes the puffing sun, and receives,
Horses weary, bear char’ots, axle-trees.
That herds of cattle numbered one-thousand,
And throughout the land just as many oxen,
All o’er the green earth they had wandered,
And not squeezed together in neighbourhood.
Like trees, garlanded with gold leaves gleaming,
With beautiful golden branches shining,
Whose boughs bear radiant fruit gone golden,
And whose concealēd orchards they’ve hidden.
“Friend”, well-known Perseus to that one speaks,
“Whether ’tis the taste of proud fame you seek,
You, high-born noble of Divine descent,
I, to my father’s side: noble pedigree,
Sired by Jupiter, not unimportant,
Or if you’re admir’ing wonderment,
Of us, our dear friends, extraordinary.
I court peaceful rest, hospitality.”
That mindful of old allotted duty,
In remembrance of the ancients was he,
Themis granted Delphi’n oracle’s lot,
This goddess of prophecy, Parnassos.
“A time’ll come, Atlas, when you’ll plunder,
Rob, strip-naked this grove of golden trees,
This plund’ring pretext; by Jupiter,
Steal his title of honour as booty,
Ransack the name as Jove’s son shall have he.”
From fearing that whole orchard be cut down,
Atlas blockaded all the town walls ’round,
And brought an enormous serpent to guard,
Keep safe his friends them preserve and retain,
Enclosed his own ’gainst foreign frontiers strange,
All territ’ry outwards from his domain.
He says this also, “To go a distance
Not that far off glorious circumstance,
You let yourself be deceived, and by who?
That Jupiter is far away from you!”
To banish by trying slow influence,
Put his pow’rful hands to threats of vi’lence,
And by having been told resolutely,
In-fact confound calm with indifference.
By brave men, now dead in the world below,
(For who used to be like Atlantis’ heroes?)
“But see’ing as it’s small thanks to you,
That, service to our home land: gratitude,
Receive this treat from my hand, won’t you?”
From his left-hand side, after he’d spoken,
By procuring Medusa ill-omened,
Brought forth Medusa’s maw, himself behind,
In the direction, the other: petrified.
So great as he was, Atlas made a mountain:
For beard and head-hair to fol’age flow’ring,
They’re changed into forests, trees and boulders,
Ridgeway retired to a pair of shoulders,
On the highlands highest summit: turned bone
Before his head became heartwood and stone.
Then the part, by having been enlargēd,
To each during the months ’t was decided,
(so thus the gods established: determined)
The Universe ’portioned each their stations,
And there’s as many stars in the heavens,
That find rest ’mong the sky, as constellations.
Perseus and Andromeda.
clauserat Hippotadēs æterno cancere uentos
admonitorque operum cælo clarissimus alto
lucifer ortus erat. pennis ligat ille resumptis
parte ab utraque pedes teloque accingitur unco
et liquidum motis talaribus æra findit.
Æolus’ descendant Hippotadēs,
Admonished imprisoned the winds did he,
And with work from heav’n, immortal, lasting,
Sky’s morning star, the most illuminating:
Hesperus in the east, he was rising.
With feather winged sandles takes up again,
A walker, which of two shared from away,
In girding ready his jav’lin and arms,
Through misty weather: keep moving and calm.
Translated by Mr. Maxwell Lewis Latham, all rights reserved.
