Met. 12.429Ante oculōs stat et ille meōs, quī sēna leōnum
430vinxerat inter sē cōnexīs vellera nōdīs,
Phaeocomēs, hominemque simul prōtēctus equumque.He too stands before my eyes, Phaeocomes, who had bound six lion skins together with linked knots, protecting man and horse at once. Met. 12.432Cōdice quī missō, quem vix iuga bīna movērent,
Tectaphon Ōlenidēn ā summō vertice frēgit.He, hurling a log which two yoke of oxen could scarcely move, shattered Tectaphos, son of Olenus, from the crown of his head. Met. 12.439Ast ego, dum parat hic armīs nūdāre iacentem,
440(scit tuus hoc genitor) gladium spoliantis in īma
īlia dēmīsī.But I, while he was preparing to strip the fallen man of his armour (your father knows this), plunged my sword into the depths of the despoiler's groin. Met. 12.441Chthonius quoque Teleboāsque
ēnse iacent nostrō: rāmum prior ille bifurcum
gesserat, hic iaculum;Chthonius and Teleboas too lie dead by my sword: the former had carried a forked branch, the latter a javelin; Met. 12.443iaculō mihi vulnera fēcit:
signa vidēs!with the javelin he wounded me: you see the marks! Met. 12.444adpāret adhūc vetus inde cicātrīx.the old scar from it still shows.
Met. 12.445Tunc ego dēbueram capienda ad Pergama mittī,
tum poteram magnī, sī nōn superāre, morārī
Hectoris arma meīs!Then I ought to have been sent to capture Pergamum; then I could have, if not overcome, at least held back the arms of great Hector with mine! Met. 12.447Illō sed tempore nūllus,
aut puer Hector erat, nunc mē mea dēficit aetās.But at that time Hector was nobody, or a boy; now my age fails me. Met. 12.449Quid tibi victōrem geminī Periphanta Pyraethī,
450Ampyca quid referam, quī quadrupedantis Echeclī
fīxit in adversō cornum sine cuspide vultū?Why should I tell you of Periphas, victor over the double-bodied Pyraethus, why of Ampyx, who drove a pointless cornel shaft into the face of four-footed Echeclus as he came on? Met. 12.452Vecte Pelethronium Macareus in pectus adāctō
strāvit Erigdupum, meminī et vēnābula condī
inguine Nessēīs manibus coniecta Cymelī.Macareus felled Erigdupus of Pelethronium with a crowbar driven into his chest; and I remember a hunting-spear, hurled by the hands of Nessus, buried in the groin of Cymelus. Met. 12.455Nec tū crēdiderīs tantum cecinisse futūra
Ampycidēn Mopsum: Mopsō iaculante biformis
accubuit frūstrāque loquī temptāvit Hodītēs
ad mentum linguā mentōque ad guttura fīxō.Nor must you believe that Mopsus, son of Ampyx, only sang of things to come: by the javelin of Mopsus the two-formed Hodites was laid low and tried in vain to speak, his tongue pinned to his chin and his chin to his throat.
Met. 12.459Quīnque necī Caeneus dederat, Styphelumque Bromumque
460Antimachumque Elymumque secūriferumque Pyraechmēn:
vulnera nōn meminī, numerum nōmenque notāvī.Caeneus had given five to death, Styphelus and Bromus and Antimachus and Elymus and Pyraechmes, wielder of the axe: I do not remember their wounds; I noted the number and the names. Met. 12.462Prōvolat Ēmathiī spoliīs armātus Alesī,
quem dederat lētō, membrīs et corpore Latreus
maximus: huic aetās inter iuvenemque senemque,
465vīs iuvenālis erat, variābant tempora cānī.Forth flies Latreus, armed with the spoils of Emathian Halesus, whom he had put to death, enormous in limbs and body: his age was between youth and old age, his strength was a young man's, grey hairs streaked his temples. Met. 12.466Quī clipeō gladiōque Macedoniāque sarīsā
cōnspicuus faciemque obversus in agmen utrumque
armaque concussit certumque equitāvit in orbem
verbaque tot fūdit vacuās animōsus in aurās:
470"Et tē, Caenī, feram?Conspicuous with shield and sword and Macedonian pike, he turned his face to each army in turn, clashed his arms, galloped in a fixed circle, and boldly poured out these many words into the empty air: 'And shall I put up with you too, Caenis?
Met. 12.470Nam tū mihi fēmina semper,
tū mihi Caenis eris.For to me you will always be a woman, to me always Caenis. Met. 12.471Nec tē nātālis orīgō
commonuit, mentemque subit, quō praemia factō
quāque virī falsam speciem mercēde parāstī?Has your birth not reminded you, and does it not come to mind for what deed you won your reward, and at what price you gained the false appearance of a man? Met. 12.474Quid sīs nāta, vidē, vel quid sīs passa, columque,
475ī, cape cum calathīs et stāmina pollice torquē:
bella relinque virīs."Look at what you were born, or what you suffered, and go, take up your distaff with your wool-baskets, and twist the threads with your thumb: leave wars to men.' Met. 12.476Iactantī tālia Caeneus
extentum cursū missā latus ēruit hastā,
quā vir equō commissus erat.As he boasted thus, Caeneus, with a hurled spear, tore open his side, stretched out in the gallop, where the man was joined to the horse. Met. 12.478Furit ille dolōre
nūdaque Phyllēī iuvenis ferit ōra sarīsā.He rages with pain and strikes the bare face of the young Phyllean with his pike.
Met. 12.480Nōn secus haec resilit, quam tēctī ā culmine grandō,
aut sīquis parvō feriat cava tympana saxō.It bounces back no differently than hail from the ridge of a roof, or as if someone were to strike a hollow drum with a small stone. Met. 12.482Comminus adgreditur laterīque recondere dūrō
luctātur gladium: gladiō loca pervia nōn sunt.He attacks at close quarters and struggles to bury his sword in his hard side: the places offer no way to the sword. Met. 12.484"Haud tamen effugiēs!'Yet you will not escape! Met. 12.484mediō iugulāberis ēnse,
485quandōquidem mūcrō est hebes" inquit et in latus ēnsem
oblīquat longāque amplectitur īlia dextrā.you will be slain by the middle of the sword, since the point is blunt,' he says, and slants the sword against his side and with a long sweep of his right hand embraces his flanks. Met. 12.487Plaga facit gemitūs in corpore marmoris ictī,
frāctaque dissiluit percussō lammina callō.The blow makes a groan, as on a body of struck marble, and the blade broke and leapt apart, striking the hard skin.
Met. 12.489Ut satis inlaesōs mīrantī praebuit artūs,
490"nunc age," ait Caeneus, "nostrō tua corpora ferrō
temptēmus!"When he had offered his unharmed limbs long enough to the wondering man, 'Now come,' says Caeneus, 'let us test your body with our iron!' Met. 12.491capulōque tenus dēmīsit in armōs
ēnsem fātiferum caecumque in viscera mōvit
versāvitque manū vulnusque in vulnere fēcit.and he sank his deadly sword up to the hilt into his shoulder, and moved it blindly in his entrails, and twisted it with his hand, and made a wound within a wound. Met. 12.494Ecce ruunt vāstō rabidī clamōre bimembrēs
495tēlaque in hunc omnēs ūnum mittuntque feruntque.Look, the double-bodied ones rush on in frenzy with a huge shout, and all hurl and thrust their weapons at him alone. Met. 12.496Tēla retūsa cadunt: manet inperfossus ab omnī
inque cruentātus Caeneus Elatēius ictū.The weapons fall blunted: Caeneus, son of Elatus, remains unpierced and unbloodied by every blow. Met. 12.498Fēcerat attonitōs nova rēs.The strange event had stunned them. Met. 12.498"Heu dēdecus ingēns!"'Alas, huge disgrace!' Met. 12.499Monychus exclāmat, "populus superāmur ab ūnō
500vixque virō: quamquam ille vir est, nōs segnibus āctīs
quod fuit ille, sumus!cries Monychus; 'we, a whole people, are beaten by one, and that one barely a man: and yet he is a man, while we, by our feeble deeds, are what he once was!
Met. 12.501Quid membra inmānia prōsunt?What use are our monstrous limbs? Met. 12.502Quid geminae vīrēs et quod fortissima rērum
in nōbīs duplex nātūra animālia iūnxit?What use our double strength, and that our twofold nature has joined in us the strongest of living creatures? Met. 12.504Nec nōs mātre dea, nec nōs Ixīone nātōs
505esse reor, quī tantus erat, Iūnōnis ut altae
spem caperet: nōs sēmimarī superāmur ab hoste!I do not think we are sons of a goddess mother, nor of Ixion, who was so great that he conceived hopes of lofty Juno: we are beaten by a half-male foe! Met. 12.507Saxa trabēsque super tōtōsque involvite montēs
vīvācemque animam missīs ēlīdite silvīs!Roll rocks and beams and whole mountains on top of him, and crush out his long-lived spirit by hurling forests! Met. 12.509silva premat faucēs, et erit prō vulnere pondus."let a forest press on his throat, and weight will serve for a wound.' Met. 12.510Dīxit et īnsānīs dēiectam vīribus austrī
forte trabem nactus validum coniēcit in hostem
exemplumque fuit, parvōque in tempore nūdus
arboris Othrys erat, nec habēbat Pēlion umbrās.He spoke, and, chancing on a tree-trunk thrown down by the mad strength of the south wind, he hurled it at his powerful foe, and was an example to the rest, and in a short time Othrys was stripped of trees, and Pelion had no shade.
Met. 12.514Obrutus inmānī tumulō sub pondere Caeneus
515aestuat arboreō congestaque rōbora dūrīs
fert umerīs.Buried under the huge mound, Caeneus heaves beneath the weight of trees, and bears the piled oaks on his hard shoulders. Met. 12.516Sed enim postquam super ōra caputque
crēvit onus neque habet, quās dūcat, spīritus aurās,
dēficit interdum, modo sē super āera frūstrā
tollere cōnātur iactāsque ēvolvere silvās,
520interdumque movet, velutī, quam cernimus, ecce,
ardua sī terrae quatiātur mōtibus Īdē.But when the load grew over his face and head, and his breath has no air to draw, he sometimes falters, sometimes tries in vain to raise himself into the air and roll off the woods hurled upon him, and now and then he moves them, just as if lofty Ida, look, which we see there, were shaken by earthquakes. Met. 12.522Exitus in dubiō est: aliī sub inānia corpus
Tartara dētrūsum silvārum mōle ferēbant;His end is in doubt: some said that his body was thrust down by the mass of the forest to empty Tartarus; Met. 12.524abnuit Ampycidēs mediōque ex aggere fulvīs
525vīdit avem pennīs liquidās exīre sub aurās,
quae mihi tum prīmum, tunc est cōnspecta suprēmum.the son of Ampyx denied it, and saw a bird with tawny wings go forth from the middle of the heap into the clear air, which I saw then for the first time, and then for the last.
Met. 12.527Hanc ubi lūstrantem lēnī sua castra volātū
Mopsus et ingentī circum clangōre sonantem
adspexit pariterque animīs oculīsque secūtus
530"ō salvē" dīxit, "Lapithaeae glōria gentis,
maxime vir quondam, sed nunc avis ūnica, Caeneu!"When Mopsus saw it circling his camp in gentle flight and sounding around it with a great clamour, and followed it alike with mind and eyes, he said: 'Hail, glory of the Lapith race, once the greatest of men, but now a bird unique, Caeneus!' Met. 12.532Crēdita rēs auctōre suō est: dolor addidit īram,
oppressumque aegrē tulimus tot ab hostibus ūnum;The thing was believed on the word of its teller: grief added anger, and we took it hard that one man was crushed by so many foes; Met. 12.534nec prius abstitimus ferrō exercēre dolōrem,
535quam data pars lētō, partem fuga noxque remōvit."nor did we cease to vent our grief with the sword before some were given to death, and flight and night took the rest away.'