Met. 2.301Dīxerat haec Tellūs: neque enim tolerāre vapōrem
ulterius potuit nec dīcere plūra: suumque
rettulit ōs in sē propiōraque mānibus antra.Earth had said this: for she could not bear the heat any longer, nor say more: and she drew her face back into herself and into the caves nearer the shades below. Met. 2.304At pater omnipotēns, superōs testātus et ipsum,
305quī dederat currūs, nisi opem ferat, omnia fātō
interitūra gravī, summam petit arduus arcem,
unde solet nūbēs lātīs indūcere terrīs,
unde movet tonitrūs vibrātaque fulmina iactat.But the almighty father, calling the gods above to witness, and the very one who had given the chariot, that unless he brings help everything will perish by a grievous fate, climbs high to the topmost citadel, from where he is wont to spread clouds over the wide lands, from where he sets the thunder rolling and hurls his brandished thunderbolts. Met. 2.309Sed neque quās posset terrīs indūcere nūbēs
310tunc habuit, nec quōs caelō dēmitteret imbrēs.But at that time he had neither clouds that he could spread over the lands nor rain that he could send down from the sky.
Met. 2.311Intonat et dextrā lībrātum fulmen ab aure
mīsit in aurīgam pariterque animāque rotīsque
expulit et saevīs compescuit ignibus ignēs.He thunders, and, poising a thunderbolt by his right ear, he hurled it at the charioteer, and drove him at once from life and from the chariot, and checked fire with savage fire. Met. 2.314Cōnsternantur equī et saltū in contrāria factō
315colla iugō ēripiunt abruptaque lōra relinquunt.The horses are thrown into panic, and, leaping in opposite directions, they tear their necks from the yoke and leave the broken reins behind. Met. 2.316Illīc frēna iacent, illīc tēmōne revulsus
axis, in hāc radiī frāctārum parte rotārum,
sparsaque sunt lātē lacerī vestīgia currūs.There lie the bridles, there the axle torn from the pole, in this place the spokes of the broken wheels, and the remnants of the shattered chariot are scattered far and wide. Met. 2.319At Phaethōn rutilōs flammā populante capillōs,
320volvitur in praeceps longōque per āera tractū
fertur, ut interdum dē caelō stella serēnō
etsī nōn cecidit, potuit cecidisse vidērī.But Phaethon, the flame ravaging his ruddy hair, rolls headlong and is carried through the air in a long trail, as sometimes a star from a clear sky, though it has not fallen, could seem to have fallen.
Met. 2.323Quem procul ā patriā dīversō maximus orbe
excipit Ēridanus fūmantiaque abluit ōra.Far from his homeland, in a different part of the world, the mighty Eridanus receives him and washes his smoking face. Met. 2.325Nāïdēs Hesperiae trifidā fūmantia flammā
corpora dant tumulō, signant quoque carmine saxum:
HĪC SITUS EST PHAETHŌN, CURRŪS AURĪGA PATERNĪ:
QUEM SĪ NŌN TENUIT, MĀGNĪS TAMEN EXCIDIT AUSĪS.The Hesperian Naiads commit his body, smoking from the three-forked flame, to a tomb, and also mark the stone with a verse: HERE LIES PHAETHON, CHARIOTEER OF HIS FATHER'S CAR: IF HE DID NOT MASTER IT, YET HE FELL IN GREAT DARING. Met. 2.329Nam pater obductōs, lūctū miserābilis aegrō
330condiderat vultūs: et, sī modo crēdimus, ūnum
īsse diem sine sōle ferunt: incendia lūmen
praebēbant aliquisque malō fuit ūsus in illō.For his father, pitiable in sick grief, had covered and hidden his face: and, if only we believe it, they say that one day went by without the sun: the fires gave light, and there was some use in that disaster. Met. 2.333At Clymenē postquam dīxit quaecumque fuērunt
in tantīs dīcenda malīs, lūgubris et āmēns
335et laniāta sinūs tōtum percēnsuit orbem,
exanimēsque artūs prīmō, mox ossa requīrēns
repperit (ossa tamen peregrīnā condita rīpā!),
incubuitque locō nōmenque in marmore lectum
perfūdit lacrimīs et apertō pectore fōvit.But Clymene, when she had said whatever was to be said in such great woes, mourning and frantic and with her robe torn at the breast, travelled over the whole world, seeking first his lifeless limbs, then his bones, and found them (his bones, though, buried on a foreign bank!), and she lay upon the place, and bathed with tears the name she read on the marble and warmed it with her bared breast.
Met. 2.340Nec minus Hēliadēs lūgent et inānia mortī
mūnera dant lacrimās, et caesae pectora palmīs
nōn audītūrum miserās Phaethonta querellās
nocte diēque vocant adsternunturque sepulcrō.No less do the Heliades mourn, and give tears, an empty offering, to death, and beating their breasts with their palms they call night and day on Phaethon, who will not hear their wretched laments, and lie prostrate on his tomb. Met. 2.344Lūna quater iūnctīs implērat cornibus orbem:
345illae mōre suō (nam mōrem fēcerat ūsus)
plangōrem dederant.Four times the moon had joined her horns and filled her orb: they, after their custom (for habit had made it a custom), had made their lament. Met. 2.346Ē quīs Phaethūsa, sorōrum
maxima, cum vellet terrā prōcumbere, questa est
dēriguisse pedēs.Of them Phaethusa, the eldest of the sisters, when she wished to throw herself on the ground, complained that her feet had grown stiff. Met. 2.348Ad quam cōnāta venīre
candida Lampetiē subitā rādīce retenta est.When fair Lampetie tried to come to her, she was held back by a sudden root. Met. 2.350Tertia cum crīnem manibus laniāre parāret,
āvellit frondēs;A third, when she was preparing to tear her hair with her hands, tears out leaves; Met. 2.351haec stīpite crūra tenērī,
illa dolet fierī longōs sua bracchia rāmōs.this one grieves that her legs are held fast by a trunk, that one that her arms are becoming long branches.
Met. 2.353Dumque ea mīrantur, complectitur inguina cortex,
perque gradūs uterum pectusque umerōsque manūsque
355ambit et exstābant tantum ōra vocantia mātrem.And while they marvel at this, bark encloses their loins and by degrees surrounds belly and breast and shoulders and hands, and only their mouths remained, calling on their mother. Met. 2.356Quid faciat māter, nisi, quō trahat impetus illam,
hūc eat atque illūc, et, dum licet, ōscula iungat?What is their mother to do, except go this way and that, wherever her impulse draws her, and join kisses with them while she may? Met. 2.358Nōn satis est;It is not enough; Met. 2.358truncīs āvellere corpora temptat,
et tenerōs manibus rāmōs abrumpit;she tries to tear their bodies from the trunks, and breaks off slender branches with her hands; Met. 2.359at inde
360sanguineae mānant, tamquam dē vulnere, guttae.but from there drops of blood flow, as if from a wound. Met. 2.361"Parce, precor, māter", quaecumque est saucia, clāmat,
"parce, precor: nostrum lacerātur in arbore corpus.'Spare me, mother, I beg you,' cries each one as she is wounded, 'spare me, I beg you: it is our body that is being torn in the tree.
Met. 2.363iamque valē" —cortex in verba novissima vēnit.And now farewell' — the bark closed over her last words. Met. 2.364Inde fluunt lacrimae, stillātaque sōle rigēscunt
365dē rāmīs ēlectra novīs, quae lūcidus amnis
excipit et nuribus mittit gestanda Latīnīs.From there tears flow, and, dripping from the new branches, amber hardens in the sun; the clear river receives it and sends it to be worn by the brides of Latium. Met. 2.367Adfuit huic mōnstrō prōlēs Sthenelēia Cycnus,
quī tibi māternō quamvīs ā sanguine iūnctus,
mente tamen, Phaethōn, propior fuit.Present at this marvel was Cycnus, son of Sthenelus, who, though related to you, Phaethon, by his mother's blood, was closer to you in mind. Met. 2.369Ille relictō
370(nam Ligurum populōs et magnās rēxerat urbēs)
imperiō rīpās viridēs amnemque querellīs
Ēridanum implērat silvamque sorōribus auctam,
cum vōx est tenuāta virō, cānaeque capillōs
dissimulant plūmae, collumque ā pectore longē
375porrigitur, digitōsque ligat iūnctūra rubentēs,
penna latus vēlat, tenet ōs sine acūmine rōstrum.He had left his kingdom (for he had ruled the peoples of the Ligurians and great cities) and had filled the green banks and the river Eridanus and the wood, increased by the sisters, with his laments, when the man's voice grew thin, and white feathers hide his hair, and his neck stretches far out from his breast, and a web joins his reddening toes, plumage covers his sides, and a blunt beak holds his mouth.
Met. 2.377Fit nova Cycnus avis, nec sē caelōque Iovīque
crēdit, ut iniūstē missī memor ignis ab illō:
stagna petit patulōsque lacūs, ignemque perōsus
380quae colat ēlēgit contrāria flūmina flammīs.Cycnus becomes a new bird, and does not trust himself to the sky and to Jupiter, as if remembering the fire unjustly sent by him: he seeks pools and open lakes, and, hating fire, he has chosen rivers to dwell in, the opposite of flames. Met. 2.381Squālidus intereā genitor Phaethontis et expers
ipse suī decoris, quālis, cum dēficit orbem,
esse solet, lūcemque ōdit sēque ipse diemque,
datque animum in lūctūs;Meanwhile Phaethon's father, unkempt and himself without his splendour, as he usually is when he fails the world in eclipse, hates the light and himself and the day, and gives his mind up to grief; Met. 2.384et lūctibus adicit īram
385officiumque negat mundō.and to his grief he adds anger, and refuses his service to the world. Met. 2.385"Satis" inquit "ab aevī
sors mea prīncipiīs fuit inrequiēta, pigetque
āctōrum sine fīne mihi, sine honōre, labōrum.'Enough,' he says, 'my lot has been restless from the beginning of time, and I am weary of labours done without end and without honour.
Met. 2.388Quīlibet alter agat portantēs lūmina currūs!Let anyone else drive the chariot that carries the light! Met. 2.389Sī nēmō est omnēsque deī nōn posse fatentur,
390ipse agat ut saltem, dum nostrās temptat habēnās,
orbātūra patrēs aliquandō fulmina pōnat.If there is no one, and all the gods confess they cannot, let him drive it himself, so that at least, while he tries my reins, he may for once lay aside the thunderbolts that bereave fathers. Met. 2.392Tum sciet, ignipedum vīrēs expertus equōrum,
nōn meruisse necem, quī nōn bene rēxerit illōs."Then, having experienced the strength of the fire-footed horses, he will know that he who did not guide them well did not deserve death.' Met. 2.394Tālia dīcentem circumstant omnia Sōlem
395nūmina, nēve velit tenebrās indūcere rēbus,
supplice vōce rogant: missōs quoque Iuppiter ignēs
excūsat precibusque minās rēgāliter addit.As he says such things, all the deities stand around the Sun and beg him in suppliant voices not to choose to bring darkness over the world: Jupiter too excuses the fires he hurled, and to his prayers adds threats, like a king.
Met. 2.398Conligit āmentēs et adhūc terrōre paventēs
Phoebus equōs stimulōque dolēns et verbere saevit:
400saevit enim, nātumque obiectat et imputat illīs.Phoebus gathers his horses, still frantic and trembling with terror, and in his pain rages at them with goad and whip: he rages indeed, and reproaches them with his son and lays his death to their charge.