Met. 13.98Cōnferat hīs Ithacus Rhēsum imbellemque Dolona
Priamidēnque Helenum raptā cum Pallade captum:
100lūce nihil gestum est, nihil est Diomēde remōtō.Let the Ithacan set against these Rhesus and unwarlike Dolon and Priam's son Helenus, captured along with the stolen Pallas: nothing was done by daylight, nothing with Diomedes away. Met. 13.101Sī semel ista datis meritīs tam vīlibus arma,
dīvidite, et pars sit maior Diomēdis in illīs!If once you give those arms for such cheap services, divide them, and let Diomedes' part in them be the greater! Met. 13.103Quō tamen haec Ithacō, quī clam, quī semper inermis
rem gerit et fūrtīs incautum dēcipit hostem?Yet what use are these to the Ithacan, who always acts in secret, always unarmed, and deceives the unwary enemy by stealth? Met. 13.105Ipse nītor galeae clārō radiantis ab aurō
īnsidiās prōdet manifestābitque latentem.The very gleam of the helmet, shining with bright gold, will betray his ambushes and reveal him in his hiding. Met. 13.107Sed neque Dūlichius sub Achillis casside vertex
pondera tanta feret, nec nōn onerōsa gravisque
Peliās hasta potest imbellibus esse lacertīs,
110nec clipeus vāstī concrētus imāgine mundī
conveniet timidae nātaeque ad fūrta sinistrae:
dēbilitātūrum quid tē petis, Improbe, mūnus?But neither will the Dulichian's head bear so great a weight beneath Achilles' helmet, nor can the spear from Pelion fail to be heavy and burdensome for unwarlike arms, nor will the shield, embossed with the image of the vast world, suit a timid left hand born for theft: why do you seek a gift that will only weaken you, you rogue?
Met. 13.113Quod tibi sī populī dōnāverit error Achīvī,
cūr spoliēris, erit, nōn cūr metuāris ab hoste,
115et fugā, quā sōlā cūnctōs, timidissime, vincis,
tarda futūra tibi est gestāmina tanta trahentī.And if the error of the Achaean people grants it to you, it will be a reason for the enemy to strip you, not to fear you, and flight, the one thing, most cowardly of men, in which you surpass everyone, will be slow for you as you drag so great a load. Met. 13.117Adde quod iste tuus, tam rārō proelia passus,
integer est clipeus: nostrō, quī tēla ferendō
mīlle patet plagīs, novus est successor habendus.Add that this shield of yours, which has so rarely endured battles, is unmarked: mine, which gapes with a thousand gashes from bearing weapons, must have a new successor. Met. 13.120Dēnique (quid verbīs opus est?) spectēmur agendō!Finally (what need is there of words?), let us be judged by action! Met. 13.121Arma virī fortis mediōs mittantur in hostēs:
inde iubēte petī et referentem ōrnātē relātīs?"Let the arms of the brave hero be thrown into the midst of the enemy: order them to be fetched from there, and adorn the man who brings them back with what he brings!' Met. 13.123Fīnierat Telamōne satus vulgīque secūtum
ultima murmur erat, dōnec Lāertius hērōs
125adstitit atque oculōs paulum tellūre morātōs
sustulit ad procerēs exspectātōque resolvit
ōra sonō;The son of Telamon had finished, and a murmur from the crowd had followed his last words, until the Laertian hero stood up, and, raising to the chieftains his eyes, which had lingered a little on the ground, he opened his lips with the speech they awaited; Met. 13.127neque abest fācundīs grātia dictīs.nor is grace lacking from his eloquent words.
Met. 13.128"Sī mea cum vestrīs valuissent vōta, Pelasgī,
nōn foret ambiguus tantī certāminis hērēs,
130tūque tuīs armīs, nōs tē poterēmur, Achille.'If my prayers had prevailed along with yours, Pelasgians, the heir to so great a contest would not be in doubt, and you would possess your arms, Achilles, and we would possess you. Met. 13.131Quem quoniam nōn aequa mihi vōbīsque negārunt
fāta" (manūque simul velutī lacrimantia tersit
lūmina), "quis magnō melius succēdit Achillī,
quam per quem magnus Danaīs successit Achillēs?But since unjust fates have denied him to me and to you' (and at the same time he wiped his eyes with his hand as if they were weeping), 'who better succeeds great Achilles than the man through whom great Achilles joined the Danaans? Met. 13.135Huic modo nē prōsit, quod, utī est, hebes esse vidētur,
nēve mihi noceat, quod vōbīs semper, Achīvī,
prōfuit ingenium, meaque haec fācundia, Sīqua est,
quae nunc prō dominō, prō vōbīs saepe locūta est,
invidiā careat, bona nec sua quisque recūset.Only let it not help him that he seems, as indeed he is, dull-witted, nor let it harm me that my intelligence has always been of service to you, Achaeans; and let this eloquence of mine, if I have any, which now speaks for its owner and has often spoken for you, be free from ill will, and let no one reject his own good qualities.
Met. 13.140Nam genus et proavōs et quae nōn fēcimus ipsī,
vix ea nostra vocō;For birth and ancestors and the things we did not do ourselves, I scarcely call those ours; Met. 13.141sed enim quia rettulit Aiāx
esse Iovis pronepōs, nostrī quoque sanguinis auctor
Iuppiter est, totidemque gradūs distāmus ab illō.but since Ajax has declared that he is the great-grandson of Jupiter, Jupiter is the founder of my blood too, and we stand removed from him by the same number of steps. Met. 13.144Nam mihi Lāertēs pater est, Arcesius illī,
145Iuppiter huic, neque in hīs quisquam damnātus et exsul.For Laertes is my father, Arcesius his, Jupiter his, and none of these was ever condemned and exiled. Met. 13.146Est quoque per mātrem Cyllēnius addita nōbīs
altera nōbilitās: deus est in utrōque parente.Through my mother too the Cyllenian god is added to me, a second nobility: there is a god on each side of my parentage. Met. 13.148Sed neque māternō quod sum generōsior ortū,
nec mihi quod pater est frāternī sanguinis īnsōns,
150prōposita arma petō: meritīs expendite causam,
dummodo, quod frātrēs Telamōn Pēleusque fuērunt,
Aiācis meritum nōn sit nec sanguinis ōrdō,
sed virtūtis honor spoliīs quaerātur in istīs!But it is not because I am nobler by my mother's birth, nor because my father is innocent of a brother's blood, that I seek the arms on offer: weigh the case by merits, provided that the fact that Telamon and Peleus were brothers is not counted as merit in Ajax, and that not the order of blood but the honour of valour is looked to in these spoils!
Met. 13.154Aut sī proximitās prīmusque requīritur hērēs,
155est genitor Pēleus, est Pyrrhus fīlius illī.Or if nearness of kin and the first heir is what is required, Peleus is his father, Pyrrhus is his son. Met. 13.156Quis locus Aiācī?What place is there for Ajax? Met. 13.156Phthīam haec Scȳrumve ferantur!Let these be carried to Phthia or to Scyros! Met. 13.157Nec minus est istō Teucer patruēlis Achillī:
num petit ille tamen?Nor is Teucer any less Achilles' cousin than he is: yet does he claim them? Met. 13.158num sī petat, auferat illa?If he did claim them, would he carry them off? Met. 13.159Ergō operum quoniam nūdum certāmen habētur:
160plūra quidem fēcī, quam quae comprendere dictīs
in prōmptū mihi sit;Therefore, since the contest is held as a bare one of deeds: I have done more, indeed, than it would be easy for me to encompass in words; Met. 13.161rērum tamen ōrdine dūcar.yet I shall be guided by the order of events. Met. 13.162Praescia ventūrī genetrīx Nērēia lētī
dissimulat cultū nātum, et dēcēperat omnēs,
in quibus Aiācem, sūmptae fallācia vestis.His Nereid mother, foreknowing his coming death, disguises her son by his dress, and the deceit of the clothing he had put on had deceived everyone, among them Ajax.
Met. 13.165Arma ego fēmineīs animum mōtūra virīlem
mercibus īnseruī, neque adhūc prōiēcerat hērōs
virgineōs habitūs, cum parmam hastamque tenentī
"nāte dea," dīxī "tibi sē peritūra reservant
Pergama!Among women's wares I put arms that would stir a man's spirit, and the hero had not yet thrown off his girl's garb when, as he held shield and spear, I said, "Son of the goddess, Pergamum, doomed to perish, is keeping itself for you! Met. 13.169quid dubitās ingentem ēvertere Troiam?"Why do you hesitate to overthrow mighty Troy?" Met. 13.170iniēcīque manum fortemque ad fortia mīsī.and I laid my hand on him and sent the brave man to brave deeds. Met. 13.171Ergō opera illīus mea sunt: ego Telephon hastā
pugnantem domuī, victum ōrantemque refēcī;So his deeds are mine: it was I who conquered Telephus as he fought with the spear, and restored him when beaten and begging; Met. 13.173quod Thēbae cecidēre, meum est, mē crēdite Lesbon,
mē Tenedon Chrȳsēnque et Cillan, Apollinis urbēs,
175et Scȳrum cēpisse, meā concussa putāte
prōcubuisse solō Lyrnēsia moenia dextrā,
utque aliās taceam, quī saevum perdere posset
Hectora, nempe dedī: per mē iacet inclitus Hector.that Thebes fell is mine; believe that I took Lesbos, I Tenedos and Chryse and Cilla, cities of Apollo, and Scyros; consider that the walls of Lyrnesus were shaken by my right hand and fell to the ground; and, to say nothing of others, it was I, of course, who gave the man who could destroy savage Hector: through me famous Hector lies low.
Met. 13.179Illīs haec armīs, quibus est inventus Achillēs,
180arma petō: vīvō dederam, post fāta reposcō.With those arms by which Achilles was discovered I seek these arms: I gave them to him living, after his death I ask them back. Met. 13.180—Ut dolor ūnīus Danaōs pervēnit ad omnēs
Aulidaque Euboicam complērunt mīlle carīnae,
exspectāta diū, nūlla aut contrāria classī
flāmina erant, dūraeque iubent Agamemnona sortēs
185inmeritam saevae nātam mactāre Diānae.— When the grief of one man reached all the Danaans and a thousand keels filled Euboean Aulis, the winds, long awaited, were either none or contrary to the fleet, and harsh oracles order Agamemnon to sacrifice his innocent daughter to cruel Diana. Met. 13.186Dēnegat hoc genitor dīvīsque īrāscitur ipsīs
atque in rēge tamen pater est.Her father refuses this and is angry with the gods themselves, and, though a king, he is still a father. Met. 13.187Ego mīte parentis
ingenium verbīs ad pūblica commoda vertī.It was I who by my words turned the gentle nature of the parent to the public good. Met. 13.189Nunc equidem (fateor, fassōque ignōscat Atrīdēs!)
190difficilem tenuī sub inīquō iūdice causam.Now indeed (I confess it, and may Atreus' son forgive the confession!) I won a difficult case before a biased judge.
Met. 13.191Hunc tamen ūtilitās populī frāterque datīque
summa movet scēptrī, laudem ut cum sanguine pēnset.Yet the advantage of the people moves him, and his brother, and the supreme power of the sceptre given him, to weigh glory against blood. Met. 13.193Mittor et ad mātrem, quae nōn hortanda, sed astū
dēcipienda fuit: quō sī Telamōnius īsset,
195orba suīs essent etiamnum lintea ventīs.I am sent also to the mother, who was not to be persuaded but deceived by cunning: had Telamon's son gone to her, our sails would even now be bereft of their winds. Met. 13.196Mittor et Īliacās audāx ōrātor ad arcēs,
vīsaque et intrāta est altae mihi cūria Troiae
(plēnaque adhūc erat illa virīs), interritus ēgī,
quam mihi mandārat commūnis Graecia causam,
200accūsōque Parim praedamque Helenamque reposcō
et moveō Priamum Priamōque Antēnora iūnctum.I am sent too as a bold envoy to the Ilian citadel, and I saw and entered the senate-house of lofty Troy (and it was still full of men), and fearlessly I pleaded the case that all Greece had entrusted to me, and I accuse Paris and demand back the plunder and Helen, and I move Priam, and Antenor who sat with Priam.
Met. 13.202At Paris et frātrēs et quī rapuēre sub illō,
nī tenuēre manūs (scīs hoc, Menelāe) nefandās,
prīmaque lūx nostrī tēcum fuit illa perīclī.But Paris and his brothers and those who had joined in the theft under him barely held back their impious hands (you know this, Menelaus), and that day was the first of the danger we shared.