Met. 1.89Aurea prīma sata est aetās, quae vindice nūllō,
90sponte suā, sine lēge fidem rēctumque colēbat.Golden was the first age to be sown, which with no avenger, of its own accord, without law, cherished good faith and right. Met. 1.91Poena metusque aberant, nec verba minantia fīxō
aere legēbantur, nec supplex turba timēbat
iūdicis ōra suī, sed erant sine vindice tūtī.Punishment and fear were absent, no threatening words were read on fixed bronze, no suppliant crowd feared the face of its judge, but they were safe without an avenger. Met. 1.94Nōndum caesa suīs, peregrīnum ut vīseret orbem,
95montibus in liquidās pīnus dēscenderat undās,
nūllaque mortālēs praeter sua lītora nōrant.Not yet had the pine, felled on its mountains, come down into the flowing waves to visit a foreign world, and mortals knew no shores but their own. Met. 1.97Nōndum praecipitēs cingēbant oppida fossae;Not yet did steep ditches surround the towns; Met. 1.98nōn tuba dīrēctī, nōn aeris cornua flexī,
nōn galeae, nōn ēnsis erat: sine mīlitis ūsū
100mollia sēcūrae peragēbant ōtia gentēs.there was no trumpet of straight brass, no horns of curved brass, no helmets, no sword: without the use of soldiers the peoples, free from care, passed their days in gentle ease.
Met. 1.101ipsa quoque inmūnis rāstrōque intācta nec ūllīs
saucia vōmeribus per sē dabat omnia tellūs;the earth herself too, untaxed, untouched by the hoe and wounded by no ploughshares, gave all things of herself; Met. 1.103contentīque cibīs nūllō cōgente creātīs
arbuteōs fētūs montānaque frāga legēbant
105cornaque et in dūrīs haerentia mōra rubētīs
et quae dēciderant patulā Iovis arbore glandēs.and content with foods produced with no one compelling, they gathered the fruit of the arbutus and mountain strawberries and cornel cherries and blackberries clinging to the tough brambles, and acorns that had fallen from Jupiter's spreading tree. Met. 1.107Vēr erat aeternum, placidīque tepentibus aurīs
mulcēbant zephyrī nātōs sine sēmine flōrēs.Spring was everlasting, and gentle zephyrs with warm breezes caressed flowers born without seed. Met. 1.109Mox etiam frūgēs tellūs inarāta ferēbat,
110nec renovātus ager gravidīs canēbat aristīs;Soon too the unploughed earth bore crops, and the field, never renewed, grew white with heavy ears of grain; Met. 1.111flūmina iam lactis, iam flūmina nectaris ībant,
flāvaque dē viridī stillābant īlice mella.now rivers of milk, now rivers of nectar flowed, and golden honey dripped from the green holm-oak. Met. 1.113Postquam, Sāturnō tenebrōsa in Tartara missō,
sub Iove mundus erat, subiit argentea prōlēs,
115aurō dēterior, fulvō pretiōsior aere.After Saturn had been sent to gloomy Tartarus and the world was under Jupiter, the silver race came in, worse than gold, more precious than tawny bronze.
Met. 1.116Iuppiter antīquī contrāxit tempora vēris
perque hiemēs aestūsque et inaequālīs autumnōs
et breve vēr spatiīs exēgit quattuor annum.Jupiter shortened the time of the old spring, and through winters and summers and uneven autumns and brief spring completed the year in four seasons. Met. 1.119Tum prīmum siccīs āēr fervōribus ūstus
120candūit, et ventīs glaciēs adstricta pependit.Then for the first time the air glowed white, scorched with dry heat, and ice hung, bound fast by the winds. Met. 1.121Tum prīmum subiēre domus (domus antra fuērunt
et dēnsī fruticēs et vinctae cortice virgae).Then for the first time men went into houses (their houses were caves and dense thickets and twigs bound together with bark). Met. 1.123Sēmina tum prīmum longīs Cereālia sulcīs
obruta sunt, pressīque iugō gemuēre iuvencī.Then for the first time the seeds of Ceres were buried in long furrows, and bullocks groaned, weighed down by the yoke. Met. 1.125Tertia post illam successit aēnea prōlēs,
saevior ingeniīs et ad horrida promptior arma,
nōn scelerāta tamen.Third after that came the bronze race, more savage in nature and readier for dreadful arms, yet not wicked. Met. 1.127Dē dūrō est ultima ferrō.The last is of hard iron.
Met. 1.128Prōtinus inrūpit vēnae peiōris in aevum
omne nefās: fūgēre pudor vērumque fidēsque;At once every crime burst into the age of baser metal: shame fled, and truth and good faith; Met. 1.130In quōrum subiēre locum fraudēsque dolīque
īnsidiaeque et vīs et amor scelerātus habendī.into their place came frauds and tricks and plots and violence and the wicked love of possessing. Met. 1.132Vēla dabat ventīs (nec adhūc bene nōverat illōs)
nāvita;The sailor spread his sails to the winds (nor did he yet know them well); Met. 1.133quaeque diū steterant in montibus altīs,
flūctibus ignōtīs īnsultāvēre carīnae,
135commūnemque prius ceu lūmina sōlis et aurās
cautus humum longō signāvit līmite mēnsor.and the keels that had long stood on the high mountains leapt over unknown waves, and the careful surveyor marked out with a long boundary the ground that had once been common, like the light of the sun and the breezes. Met. 1.137Nec tantum segetēs alimentaque dēbita dīves
poscēbātur humus, sed itum est in viscera terrae:
quāsque recondiderat Stygiīsque admōverat umbrīs,
140effodiuntur opēs, inrītāmenta malōrum.Nor was the rich soil asked only for crops and the food it owed, but men went into the bowels of the earth: the wealth she had hidden away and moved close to the Stygian shades is dug up, an incitement to evils.
Met. 1.141Iamque nocēns ferrum ferrōque nocentius aurum
prōdierat: prōdit bellum, quod pugnat utrōque,
sanguineāque manū crepitantia concutit arma.And now harmful iron had come forth, and gold more harmful than iron: war comes forth, which fights with both, and shakes clashing arms with bloody hand. Met. 1.144Vīvitur ex raptō: nōn hospes ab hospite tūtus,
145nōn socer ā generō;Men live by plunder: guest is not safe from host, nor father-in-law from son-in-law; Met. 1.145frātrum quoque grātia rāra est.even between brothers kindness is rare. Met. 1.146Inminet exitiō vir coniugis, illa marītī;The husband is bent on the death of his wife, she on that of her husband; Met. 1.147lūrida terribilēs miscent aconīta novercae;terrible stepmothers mix lurid aconite; Met. 1.148fīlius ante diem patriōs inquīrit in annōs.the son inquires into his father's years before their time. Met. 1.149Victa iacet pietās, et virgō caede madentīs,
150ultima caelestum terrās Astraea relīquit.Piety lies vanquished, and the maiden Astraea, last of the heavenly ones, left the lands dripping with slaughter. Met. 1.151Nēve foret terrīs sēcūrior arduus aethēr,
adfectāsse ferunt regnum caeleste Gigantas
altaque congestōs strūxisse ad sīdera montēs.And so that the lofty aether should be no safer than the earth, they say the Giants aimed at the kingdom of heaven and piled up mountains to the high stars.
Met. 1.154Tum pater omnipotēns missō perfrēgit Olympum
155fulmine et excussit subiectae Pēlion Ossae.Then the almighty father hurled his thunderbolt and shattered Olympus, and struck Pelion off Ossa beneath it. Met. 1.156Obruta mōle suā cum corpora dīra iacērent,
perfūsam multō nātōrum sanguine Terram
inmaduisse ferunt calidumque animāsse cruōrem,
et, nē nūlla suae stirpis monimenta manērent,
160in faciem vertisse hominum.When the dreadful bodies lay crushed under their own mass, they say that Earth, drenched with the abundant blood of her sons, grew wet and gave life to the warm gore, and, so that some memorial of her stock might remain, turned it into the shape of men. Met. 1.160Sed et illa prōpāgō
contemptrīx superum saevaeque avidissima caedis
et violenta fuit: scīrēs ē sanguine nātōs.But that offspring too was contemptuous of the gods, most greedy for savage slaughter, and violent: you would know they were born of blood.