Met. 5.1Dumque ea Cēphēnum mediō Danaēius hērōs
agmine commemorat, fremidā rēgālia turbā
ātria complentur: nec coniugiālia fēsta
quī canat est clamor, sed quī fera nūntiet arma.And while the hero, son of Danaë, recounts these things in the midst of the Cephenes, the royal halls are filled with a roaring crowd: and the clamour is not such as sings of wedding festivities, but such as announces savage war. Met. 5.5Inque repentīnōs convīvia versa tumultūs
adsimilāre fretō possīs, quod saeva quiētum
ventōrum rabiēs mōtīs exasperat undīs.And you could liken the banquet, turned to sudden tumult, to the sea, whose calm the savage fury of the winds roughens by stirring up the waves. Met. 5.8Prīmus in hīs Phīneus, bellī temerārius auctor,
fraxineam quatiēns aerātae cuspidis hastam,
10"ēn" ait, "ēn adsum praereptae coniugis ultor,
nec mihi tē pennae, nec falsum versus in aurum
Iuppiter ēripiet."First among them is Phineus, the reckless author of the war, brandishing an ashen spear with a bronze point: 'See,' he says, 'see, here I am, the avenger of my stolen bride, and neither your wings nor Jupiter turned into false gold shall snatch you from me.' Met. 5.12Cōnantī mittere Cēpheus
"quid facis?"As he tries to throw, Cepheus: 'What are you doing?' Met. 5.13exclāmat, "quae tē, germāne, furentem
mēns agit in facinus?he cries out, 'what state of mind drives you, brother, in your madness, to this crime?
Met. 5.14meritīsne haec grātia tantīs
15redditur?Is this the thanks repaid for such great services? Met. 5.15hāc vītam servātae dōte rependis?Is this the dowry with which you repay him for her life, which he saved? Met. 5.16Quam tibi nōn Perseus, vērum sī quaeris, adēmit,
sed grave Nērēidum nūmen, sed corniger Ammōn,
sed quae visceribus veniēbat bēlua pontī
exsaturanda meīs.It was not Perseus, if you want the truth, who took her from you, but the stern power of the Nereids, but horned Ammon, but the monster of the sea that was coming to glut itself on my own flesh and blood. Met. 5.19Illō tibi tempore rapta est,
20quō peritūra fuit: nisi sī crūdēlis id ipsum
exigis, ut pereat, lūctūque levābere nostrō.She was snatched from you at that moment when she was about to die: unless, cruel man, you demand that very thing, that she should die, and you would be relieved by our grief. Met. 5.22Scīlicet haud satis est, quod tē spectante revīncta est
et nūllam quod opem patruus spōnsusve tulistī:
īnsuper, ā quōquam quod sit servāta, dolēbis
25praemiaque ēripiēs?No doubt it is not enough that she was chained while you looked on, and that you, her uncle and her betrothed, brought no help: are you to grieve besides that she was saved by anyone, and snatch away his reward?
Met. 5.25Quae sī tibi magna videntur,
ex illīs scopulīs, ubi erant adfīxa, petīssēs.If these rewards seem great to you, you should have sought them on those crags where they were fastened. Met. 5.27Nunc sine, quī petiit, per quem haec nōn orba senectūs,
ferre quod et meritīs et vōce est pactus, eumque
nōn tibi, sed certae praelātum intellege mortī!"Now let the one who sought her, through whom this old age of mine is not childless, take what he bargained for both by his deeds and by his word, and understand that he was preferred not to you, but to certain death!' Met. 5.30Ille nihil contrā: sed et hunc et Persea vultū
alternō spectāns petat hunc ignōrat, an illum,
cūnctātusque brevī contortam vīribus hastam,
quantās īra dabat, nēquīquam in Persea mīsit.He makes no reply: but looking now at him, now at Perseus, he does not know whether to aim at this one or that, and after a brief hesitation he hurled his spear, whirled with all the strength his anger gave, at Perseus, in vain. Met. 5.34Ut stetit illa torō, strātīs tunc dēnique Perseus
35exsiluit;When it stuck fast in the couch, then at last Perseus leapt up from the cushions; Met. 5.35tēlōque ferōx inimīca remissō
pectora rūpisset, nisi post altāria Phīneus
īsset: et (indignum!) scelerātō prōfuit āra.and, fiercely sending the weapon back, he would have burst open the hostile breast, had not Phineus gone behind the altar: and (shameful!) the altar served the criminal.
Met. 5.38Fronte tamen Rhoetī nōn inrita cuspis adhaesit.Yet the point stuck, not without effect, in the forehead of Rhoetus. Met. 5.39Quī postquam cecidit ferrumque ex osse revulsum est,
40calcitrat et positās adspergit sanguine mēnsās.When he had fallen and the iron was wrenched out of the bone, he kicks and spatters the laid tables with blood. Met. 5.41Tum vērō indomitās ārdēscit vulgus in īrās,
tēlaque coniciunt, et sunt, quī Cēphea dīcunt
cum generō dēbēre morī.Then indeed the mob blazes up into ungovernable rage, and they hurl weapons, and there are those who say that Cepheus ought to die with his son-in-law. Met. 5.43Sed līmine tēctī
exierat Cēpheus, testātus iūsque fidemque
45hospitiīque deōs, ea sē prohibente movērī.But Cepheus had gone out over the threshold of the house, calling to witness justice and good faith and the gods of hospitality that these things were set in motion against his will. Met. 5.46Bellica Pallas adest et prōtegit aegide frātrem
datque animōs.Warlike Pallas is at hand, and shields her brother with the aegis, and gives him courage.
Met. 5.47Erat Indus Athis, quem flūmine Gange
ēdita Limnaeē vitreīs peperisse sub undīs
crēditur, ēgregius fōrmā, quam dīvite cultū
50augēbat, bis adhūc octōnīs integer annīs,
indūtus chlamydem Tyriam, quam limbus obībat
aureus;There was an Indian, Athis, whom Limnaee, daughter of the river Ganges, is believed to have borne beneath its glassy waters, outstanding in beauty, which he enhanced with rich dress, still in the bloom of twice eight years, wearing a Tyrian cloak which a golden border ran round; Met. 5.52ōrnābant aurāta monīlia collum
et madidōs murrā curvum crīnāle capillōs.golden necklaces adorned his neck, and a curved comb his hair, wet with myrrh. Met. 5.54Ille quidem iaculō quamvīs distantia missō
55fīgere doctus erat, sed tendere doctior arcūs.He had been taught to hit things, however distant, with a thrown javelin, but was more skilled at drawing the bow. Met. 5.56Tunc quoque lentā manū flectentem cornua Perseus
stīpite, quī mediā positus fūmābat in ārā,
perculit et frāctīs cōnfūdit in ossibus ōra.Then too, as he was bending the pliant horns with his hand, Perseus struck him with a log that lay smoking in the middle of the altar, and smashed his face into the broken bones.
Met. 5.59Hunc ubi laudātōs iactantem in sanguine vultūs
60Assyrius vīdit Lycabās, iūnctissimus illī
et comes et vērī nōn dissimulātor amōris,
postquam exhālantem sub acerbō vulnere vītam
dēplōrāvit Athin, quōs ille tetenderat arcūs
arripit et "mēcum tibi sint certāmina" dīxit:
65"nec longum puerī fātō laetābere, quō plūs
invidiae, quam laudis habēs."When Assyrian Lycabas saw him tossing in his blood that much-praised face, Lycabas his closest friend and comrade, who did not hide his true love, after he had lamented Athis breathing out his life beneath the bitter wound, he snatches up the bow that Athis had strung and said, 'Let your contest be with me: nor will you long rejoice in the boy's death, which brings you more hatred than praise.' Met. 5.66Haec omnia nōndum
dīxerat, ēmicuit nervō penetrābile tēlum
vītātumque tamen sinuōsa veste pependit.He had not yet said all this when the piercing shaft flashed from the string, yet, dodged, it hung in the folds of a robe. Met. 5.69Vertit in hunc harpēn spectātam caede Medūsae
70Acrisioniadēs adigitque in pectus: at ille
iam moriēns, oculīs sub nocte natantibus ātrā
circumspexit Athin sēque acclīnāvit ad illum
et tulit ad mānēs iūnctae sōlācia mortis.The grandson of Acrisius turns on him the curved sword proved in the slaughter of Medusa and drives it into his breast: but he, already dying, his eyes swimming under black night, looked round for Athis and leaned himself against him, and took to the shades the comfort of a shared death.