Met. 12.64Fēcerat haec notum Grāiās cum mīlite fortī
65adventāre ratēs, neque inexspectātus in armīs
hostis adest: prohibent aditūs lītusque tuentur
Trōēs, et Hectoreā prīmus fātāliter hastā,
Prōtesilāe, cadis, commissaque proelia magnō
stant Danaīs, fortisque animae nece cognitus Hector.She had made it known that Greek ships were approaching with a brave army, and the enemy is not unexpected when he arrives in arms: the Trojans bar the landing and guard the shore, and you, Protesilaus, are the first to fall, doomed, by Hector's spear; and the battles joined cost the Danaans dear, and Hector, a man of brave spirit, made himself known by slaughter. Met. 12.70Nec Phrygēs exiguō, quid Achāica dexterā possit
sanguine sēnsērunt.Nor did the Phrygians learn at the cost of little blood what an Achaean right hand could do. Met. 12.71Et iam Sīgēa rubēbant
lītora, iam lētō prōlēs Neptūnia Cygnus
mīlle virōs dederat, iam currū īnstābat Achillēs
tōtaque Pēliacae sternēbat cuspidis ictū
75agmina, perque aciēs aut Cygnum aut Hectora quaerēns
congreditur Cygnō (decimum dīlātus in annum
Hector erat): tum colla iugō canentia pressōs
exhortātus equōs currum dīrēxit in hostem
concutiēnsque suīs vibrantia tēla lacertīs
80"quisquis es, ō iuvenis" dīxit "sōlāmen habētō
mortis, ab Haemoniō quod sīs iugulātus Achille."And now the Sigean shores were red, now Cygnus, Neptune's offspring, had given a thousand men to death, now Achilles was pressing on in his chariot and laying whole columns low with the stroke of his Pelian spear, and, seeking through the ranks either Cygnus or Hector, he meets Cygnus (Hector had been put off to the tenth year): then, urging on his horses, their white necks pressed beneath the yoke, he steered his chariot at the enemy, and, brandishing the quivering weapon in his arms, said: 'Whoever you are, young man, take this comfort in your death, that you were slain by Haemonian Achilles.' Met. 12.82Hāctenus Aeacidēs;So far the grandson of Aeacus; Met. 12.82vōcem gravis hasta secūta est.the heavy spear followed his words.
Met. 12.83Sed quamquam certā nūllus fuit error in hastā,
nīl tamen ēmissī prōfēcit acūmine ferrī
85utque hebetī pectus tantummodo contudit ictū.But although there was no error in the sure spear, yet the point of the hurled iron achieved nothing, and merely bruised his chest, as if with a blunt blow. Met. 12.86"Nāte dea, nam tē fāmā praenōvimus," inquit
ille "quid ā nōbīs vulnus mīrāris abesse?"'Son of a goddess, for we know you beforehand by report,' said the other, 'why do you wonder that a wound is absent from me?' Met. 12.88(mīrābātur enim) "nōn haec, quam cernis, equīnīs
fulva iubīs cassis neque onus cava parma sinistrae
90auxiliō mihi sunt: decor est quaesītus ab istīs.(for he was wondering) 'Neither this helmet you see, tawny with its horsehair crest, nor the hollow shield, the burden of my left hand, are any help to me: it is adornment that is sought from them. Met. 12.91Mārs quoque ob hoc capere arma solet!Mars too takes up arms for this reason! Met. 12.91Removēbitur omne
tegminis officium, tamen indēstrictus abībō.Let all the protection of armour be removed, yet I shall come away unscathed.
Met. 12.93Est aliquid nōn esse satum Nērēide, sed quī
Nēreaque et nātās et tōtum temperat aequor."It is something not to be born of a Nereid, but of one who rules both Nereus and his daughters and the whole sea.' Met. 12.95Dīxit et haesūrum clipeī curvāmine tēlum
mīsit in Aeacidēn, quod et aes et proxima rūpit
terga novēna boum, decimō tamen orbe morātum est.He spoke, and hurled at the grandson of Aeacus a spear meant to stick in the curve of his shield, which broke through both the bronze and the next nine layers of oxhide, but was stopped at the tenth circle. Met. 12.98Excutit hoc hērōs rūrsusque trementia fortī
tēla manū torsit: rūrsus sine vulnere corpus
100sincērumque fuit!The hero shakes it off and again hurled quivering weapons with his strong hand: again the body was without a wound and unharmed! Met. 12.100Nec tertia cuspis apertum
et sē praebentem valuit dēstringere Cygnum.Nor could a third spear graze Cygnus, though he was exposed and offering himself. Met. 12.102Haud secus exārsit, quam circō taurus apertō,
cum sua terribilī petit inrītāmina cornū,
poenīceas vestēs, ēlūsaque vulnera sentit.He blazed up no differently than a bull in the open arena when with its terrible horn it charges the scarlet cloths that provoke it, and feels its blows evaded.
Met. 12.105Num tamen exciderit ferrum, cōnsīderat hastae:
haerēbat lignō.Yet he examines whether the iron has fallen from the spear: it was fixed to the shaft. Met. 12.106"Manus est mea dēbilis ergō,
quāsque" ait "ante habuit vīrēs, effūdit in ūnō?'Is my hand weak, then,' he says, 'and has it poured out on one man the strength it had before? Met. 12.108Nam certē valuit, vel cum Lyrnēsia prīmus
moenia dēiēcī, vel cum Tenedonque suōque
110Ēetiōneās inplēvī sanguine Thēbās,
vel cum purpureus populārī caede Cāīcus
flūxit opusque meae bis sēnsit Tēlephus hastae.For certainly it was strong, either when I first threw down the walls of Lyrnesus, or when I filled Tenedos and Eetion's Thebes with their own blood, or when the Caicus flowed crimson with the slaughter of its people, and Telephus twice felt the work of my spear. Met. 12.113Hīc quoque tot caesīs, quōrum per lītus acervōs
et fēcī et videō, valuit mea dextra valetque."Here too, with so many slain, whose heaps along the shore I have both made and now see, my right hand was strong and is strong.' Met. 12.115Dīxit et, ante āctīs velutī male crēderet, hastam
mīsit in adversum Lyciā dē plēbe Menoetēn
lōrīcamque simul subiectaque pectora rūpit.He spoke, and, as though he mistrusted what he had done before, hurled his spear at Menoetes, one of the Lycian common folk, who faced him, and broke through his breastplate and the chest beneath it together.
Met. 12.118Quō plangente gravem moribundō pectore terram
extrahit illud idem calidō dē vulnere tēlum
120atque ait: "Haec manus est, haec, quā modo vīcimus, hastā:
ūtar in hōc īsdem;As the man beat the heavy earth with his dying breast, he draws that same weapon out of the warm wound and says: 'This is the hand, this the spear with which we have just conquered: I shall use the same against him; Met. 12.121sit in hōc, precor, exitus īdem!"may the outcome against him, I pray, be the same!' Met. 12.122Sīc fātus Cygnum repetit, nec fraxinus errat
inque umerō sonuit nōn ēvītāta sinistrō,
inde velut mūrō solidāque ā caute repulsa est;So speaking, he goes for Cygnus again, and the ash does not stray, and, not avoided, it rang on his left shoulder, and from there it was beaten back as if from a wall or solid rock; Met. 12.125quā tamen ictus erat, signātum sanguine Cygnum
vīderat et frūstrā fuerat gāvīsus Achillēs:
vulnus erat nūllum, sanguis fuit ille Menoetae!yet where he had been struck Achilles had seen Cygnus marked with blood, and had rejoiced in vain: there was no wound; that blood was Menoetes'!
Met. 12.128Tum vērō praeceps currū fremebundus ab altō
dēsilit et nitidō sēcūrum comminus hostem
130ēnse petēns parmam gladiō galeamque cavārī
cernit et in dūrō laedī quoque corpore ferrum!Then indeed, roaring, he leaps headlong down from his high chariot, and, attacking his unconcerned foe at close quarters with his gleaming blade, he sees the shield and helmet holed by the sword, and the steel too damaged on the hard body! Met. 12.132Haud tulit ulterius, clipeōque adversa reductō
ter quater ōra virī, capulō cava tempora pulsat
cēdentīque sequēns īnstat turbatque ruitque
135attonitōque negat requiem: pavor occupat illum,
ante oculōsque natant tenebrae, retrōque ferentī
āversōs passūs mediō lapis obstitit arvō.He bore it no longer, and, drawing back his shield, three and four times he beats the man's face, turned towards him, and his hollow temples with the hilt, and following as he gives ground he presses, harries and rushes him, and denies him rest in his bewilderment: terror seizes him, and darkness swims before his eyes, and as he takes backward steps a stone in the middle of the field blocked his way.
Met. 12.138Quem super inpulsum resupīnō corpore Cygnum
vī multā vertit terraeque adflīxit Achillēs.Over this Achilles, with great force, turned Cygnus, thrust back with his body face upwards, and dashed him to the ground. Met. 12.140Tum clipeō genibusque premēns praecordia dūrīs
vincla trahit galeae: quae pressō subdita mentō
ēlīdunt faucēs et respīrāmen utrumque
ēripiunt animae.Then, pressing his chest with his shield and hard knees, he drags at the straps of his helmet: these, pressed beneath the chin, crush his throat and rob his breath of both its passages. Met. 12.143Victum spoliāre parābat:
arma relicta videt;He was preparing to strip the vanquished man: he sees the armour left behind; Met. 12.144corpus deus aequoris albam
145contulit in volucrem, cuius modo nōmen habēbat.the god of the sea had changed the body into the white bird whose name it had just now borne.