Met. 14.1Iamque Gigantēīs iniectam faucibus Aetnēn
arvaque Cyclōpum, quid rāstra, quid ūsus arātrī
nescia nec quicquam iūnctīs dēbentia būbus,
līquerat Euboicus tumidārum cultor aquārum,
5līquerat et Zanclēn adversaque moenia Rhēgī
nāvifragumque fretum, geminō quod lītore pressum
Ausoniae Siculaeque tenet cōnfīnia terrae.And now the Euboean dweller in the swelling waters had left behind Etna, heaped upon the Giant's jaws, and the fields of the Cyclopes, which know nothing of the rake or the use of the plough and owe nothing to yoked oxen; he had left Zancle too, and the walls of Rhegium opposite, and the ship-wrecking strait which, hemmed in by twin shores, holds the boundary of the Ausonian and Sicilian lands. Met. 14.8Inde manū magnā Tyrrhēna per aequora raptus
herbiferōs adiit collēs atque ātria Glaucus
10Sōle satae Circēs, variārum plēna ferārum.From there, sweeping with mighty strokes through the Tyrrhenian waters, Glaucus came to the grassy hills and the halls of Circe, child of the Sun, full of beasts of every kind. Met. 14.11Quam simul adspexit, dictā acceptāque salūte,
"dīva, deī miserēre, precor!As soon as he saw her, and greetings had been given and returned, 'Goddess, pity a god, I beg you!
Met. 14.12nam sōla levāre
tū potes hunc," dīxit "videar modo dignior esse!for you alone can bring relief to the one before you,' he said, 'if only I seem worthy of it! Met. 14.14Quanta sit herbārum, Tītāni, potentia, nūllī
15quam mihi cognitius, quī sum mūtātus ab illīs.How great is the power of herbs, Titan's daughter, no one knows better than I, who was transformed by them. Met. 14.16Nēve meī nōn nota tibi sit causa furōris:
lītore in Italicō, Messēnia moenia contrā,
Scylla mihi vīsa est;And so that the cause of my madness may not be unknown to you: on the Italian shore, opposite the walls of Messana, I caught sight of Scylla; Met. 14.18pudor est prōmissa precēsque
blanditiāsque meās contemptaque verba referre.I am ashamed to recount my promises and prayers and endearments, and how my words were scorned. Met. 14.20At tū, sīve aliquod regnum est in carmine, carmen
ōre movē sacrō, sīve expugnācior herba est,
ūtere temptātīs operōsae vīribus herbae.But you, if there is any sovereignty in spells, utter a spell with your sacred lips; or if a herb is more potent, use the proven powers of an efficacious herb.
Met. 14.23Nec medeāre mihi sānēsque haec vulnera mandō,
fīneque nīl opus est: partem ferat illa calōris."And I do not ask you to cure me and heal these wounds, nor is there any need of an end to them: let her bear a share of the heat.' Met. 14.25At Circē (neque enim flammīs habet aptius ūlla
tālibus ingenium, seu causa est huius in ipsā,
seu Venus indiciō facit hoc offēnsa paternō)
tālia verba refert.But Circe (for no woman has a nature more susceptible to such flames, whether the cause of this lies in herself, or whether Venus, offended by her father's informing, brings it about) replies in these words. Met. 14.28"Melius sequerēre volentem
optantemque eadem parilīque cupīdine captam.'You would do better to pursue one who is willing and longs for the same and is captured by an equal desire. Met. 14.30Dignus erās ultrō (poterās certēque) rogārī,
et, sī spem dederis, mihi crēde, rogāberis ultrō.You deserved to be wooed unasked (and surely you could have been), and, if you give any hope, believe me, you will be wooed unasked.
Met. 14.32Neu dubitēs adsitque tuae fīdūcia fōrmae:
ēn ego, cum dea sim, nitidī cum fīlia Sōlis,
grāmine cum tantum, tantum quoque carmine possim,
35ut tua sim, voveō;And do not doubt it, but have confidence in your beauty: see, I, though I am a goddess, though I am the daughter of the shining Sun, though I have such power through herbs and such power through spells too, pray to be yours; Met. 14.35spernentem sperne, sequentī
redde vices ūnōque duās ulcīscere factō!"scorn her who scorns you, repay her who pursues you, and by one act take revenge on two!' Met. 14.37Tālia temptantī "prius" inquit "in aequore frondēs"
Glaucus "et in summīs nāscentur montibus algae,
sōspite quam Scyllā nostrī mūtentur amōrēs!"To her attempts Glaucus said, 'Sooner will leaves grow in the sea and seaweed on the tops of the mountains than my love will change while Scylla lives!' Met. 14.40Indignāta dea est, et laedere quātenus ipsum
nōn poterat (nec vellet amāns), īrāscitur illī,
quae sibi praelāta est, venerisque offēnsa repulsā
prōtinus horrendīs īnfāmia pābula sūcīs
conterit et trītīs Hecatēia carmina miscet
45caerulaque induitur vēlāmina perque ferārum
agmen adūlantum mediā prōcēdit ab aulā,
oppositumque petēns contrā Zanclēia saxa
Rhēgion ingreditur ferventēs aestibus undās,
in quibus ut solidā pōnit vestīgia terrā
50summaque dēcurrit pedibus super aequora siccīs.The goddess was indignant, and since she could not harm him himself (nor would she wish to, loving him), she is angry with the girl who was preferred to her; and, offended by the rejection of her love, she at once grinds notorious herbs with horrible juices and mixes Hecate's spells with them as they are ground, and puts on a dark-blue robe, and proceeds from the middle of her hall through the throng of fawning beasts; and making for Rhegium, which faces the rocks of Zancle, she enters the waves seething with tides, on which she sets her feet as if on solid ground, and runs over the surface of the sea with dry feet.
Met. 14.51Parvus erat gurges, curvōs sinuātus in arcūs,
grāta quiēs Scyllae;There was a small pool, curving into a bending arc, a pleasant resting place for Scylla; Met. 14.52quō sē referēbat ab aestū
et maris et caelī, mediō cum plūrimus orbe
sōl erat et minimās ā vertice fēcerat umbrās.she would retreat there from the heat of sea and sky, when the sun was at its strongest in mid-circle and had made the shadows smallest from the zenith. Met. 14.55Hunc dea praevitiat portentificīsque venēnīs
inquinat, hīc pressōs laticēs rādīce nocentī
spargit et obscūrum verbōrum ambāge novōrum
ter noviēns carmen magicō dēmurmurat ōre.This the goddess pollutes beforehand and taints with monster-making poisons; here she sprinkles liquids pressed from a baneful root, and murmurs thrice nine times with magic lips a spell dark with a maze of strange words. Met. 14.59Scylla vēnit mediāque tenus dēscenderat alvō,
60cum sua foedārī lātrantibus inguina mōnstrīs
adspicit ac prīmō crēdēns nōn corporis illās
esse suī partēs refugitque abigitque timetque
ōra proterva canum, sed quōs fugit, attrahit ūnā
et corpus quaerēns femorum crūrumque pedumque,
65Cerbereōs rictūs prō partibus invēnit illīs:
statque canum rabiē subiectaque terga ferārum
inguinibus truncīs uterōque exstante coercet.Scylla came and had gone down as far as her waist, when she sees her loins disfigured with barking monsters; and at first, not believing that they were parts of her own body, she flees and drives off and fears the insolent mouths of dogs; but what she flees she drags along with her, and, searching for her body, her thighs and legs and feet, she finds Cerberean jaws in place of those parts: she stands on the rage of dogs and holds in check the backs of beasts set beneath her, her loins cut short and her belly standing out above.
Met. 14.68Flēvit amāns Glaucus nimiumque hostīliter ūsae
vīribus herbārum fūgit cōnūbia Circēs;Glaucus, who loved her, wept, and fled the embraces of Circe, who had used the power of herbs too hostilely; Met. 14.70Scylla locō mānsit cumque est data cōpia prīmum,
in Circēs odium sociīs spoliāvit Ulixēn;Scylla stayed in that place and, as soon as she was given the opportunity, out of hatred for Circe robbed Ulysses of his comrades; Met. 14.72mox eadem Teucrās fuerat mersūra carīnās,
nī prius in scopulum, quī nunc quoque saxeus exstat,
trānsfōrmāta foret: scopulum quoque nāvita vītat.soon the same Scylla would have sunk the Trojan ships, had she not first been transformed into a rock, which still stands out, made of stone, today: the sailor shuns the rock too.