Met. 6.412Fīnitimī procerēs coeunt, urbēsque propinquae
ōrāvēre suōs īre ad sōlācia rēgēs,
Argosque et Spartē Pelopēiadēsque Mycēnae
415et nōndum torvae Calydōn invīsa Diānae
Orchomenosque ferāx et nōbilis aere Corinthus
Messēnēque ferōx Patraeque humilēsque Cleōnae
et Nēlea Pylos, neque adhūc Pitthēia Troezēn,
quaeque urbēs aliae bimarī clauduntur ab Isthmō
420exteriusque sitae bimarī spectantur ab Isthmō.The neighbouring nobles gather, and nearby cities begged their kings to go and offer comfort: Argos and Sparta and Pelopian Mycenae, and Calydon, not yet hated by grim Diana, and fertile Orchomenus and Corinth famed for bronze, and fierce Messene and Patrae and lowly Cleonae, and Nelean Pylos, and Troezen, not yet the realm of Pittheus, and the other cities that are shut in by the Isthmus between two seas, and those that, lying outside, look out on the Isthmus between two seas. Met. 6.421Crēdere quis posset?Who could believe it? Met. 6.421sōlae cessāstis Athēnae.you alone held back, Athens. Met. 6.422Obstitit officiō bellum, subvectaque pontō
barbara Mopsopiōs terrēbant agmina mūrōs.War prevented that duty, and barbarian hosts carried over the sea were terrifying the Mopsopian walls. Met. 6.424Thrēicius Tēreus haec auxiliāribus armīs
425fūderat et clārum vincendō nōmen habēbat.Thracian Tereus had routed them with his auxiliary forces, and by his victory had a famous name.
Met. 6.426Quem sibi Pandiōn opibusque virīsque potentem
et genus ā magnō dūcentem forte Grādīvō
cōnūbiō Procnēs iūnxit.Pandion joined him to himself by marriage with Procne, powerful as he was in wealth and men, and tracing his descent, as it happened, from mighty Gradivus. Met. 6.428Nōn prōnuba Iūnō,
nōn Hymenaeus adest, nōn illī Grātia lectō.Juno, patron of brides, is not present, nor Hymenaeus, nor any Grace at that bed. Met. 6.430Eumenidēs tenuēre facēs dē fūnere raptās,
Eumenidēs strāvēre torum, tēctōque profānus
incubuit būbō thalamīque in culmine sēdit.The Furies held torches snatched from a funeral, the Furies spread the couch, and an unholy owl brooded over the house and sat on the roof of the bridal chamber. Met. 6.433Hāc ave coniūnctī Procnē Tēreusque, parentēs
hāc ave sunt factī.Under this omen Procne and Tereus were joined, under this omen they became parents. Met. 6.434Grātāta est scīlicet illīs
435Thrācia, dīsque ipsī grātēs ēgēre diemque,
quāque data est clārō Pandione nāta tyrannō,
quāque erat ortus Itys, fēstum iussēre vocārī.Thrace, of course, congratulated them, and they themselves gave thanks to the gods, and ordered the day on which Pandion's daughter was given to the famous king, and the day on which Itys was born, to be called a festival.
Met. 6.438Ūsque adeō latet ūtilitās.So deeply hidden is what is good for us. Met. 6.438Iam tempora Tītān
quīnque per autumnōs repetītī dūxerat annī,
440cum blandīta virō Procnē "sī grātia" dīxit
"ūlla mea est, vel mē vīsendam mitte sorōrī,
vel soror hūc veniat!Now the Titan had led the seasons of the returning year through five autumns, when Procne, coaxing her husband, said, 'If I have any favour with you, either send me to visit my sister, or let my sister come here! Met. 6.442reditūram tempore parvō
prōmittēs socerō: magnī mihi mūneris īnstar
germānam vīdisse dabis."you will promise your father-in-law that she will return in a short time: you will give me, as a great gift, the sight of my sister.' Met. 6.444Iubet ille carīnās
445in freta dēdūcī vēlōque et rēmige portūs
Cecropiōs intrat Pīraeaque lītora tangit.He orders the ships to be launched into the sea, and with sail and oar enters the Cecropian harbour and touches the shores of Piraeus. Met. 6.447Ut prīmum socerī data cōpia, dextera dextrae
iungitur, et faustō committitur ōmine sermō.As soon as he is granted access to his father-in-law, right hand is joined to right, and talk is begun with good omen.
Met. 6.449Coeperat adventūs causam, mandāta referre
450coniugis et celerēs missae spondēre recursūs:
ecce venit magnō dīves Philomēla parātū,
dīvitior fōrmā: quālēs audīre solēmus
nāidas et dryadas mediīs incēdere silvīs,
sī modo dēs illīs cultūs similēsque parātūs.He had begun to tell the reason for his coming, his wife's request, and to promise a swift return if she were sent: look, Philomela comes, rich in great finery, richer in beauty, such as we are used to hearing of Naiads and Dryads walking in the depths of the woods, if only you gave them like dress and finery. Met. 6.455Nōn secus exārsit cōnspectā virgine Tēreus,
quam sīquis cānīs ignem suppōnat aristīs,
aut frondem positāsque cremet faenīlibus herbās.No differently was Tereus inflamed at the sight of the maiden than if someone should set fire beneath grey ears of corn, or burn leaves and hay stored in lofts. Met. 6.458Digna quidem faciēs: sed et hunc innāta libīdō
exstimulat, prōnumque genus regiōnibus illīs
460in venerem est: flagrat vitiō gentisque suōque.Her beauty indeed deserved it: but in his case an inborn lust also goads him, and the race in those regions is prone to love: he burns with his people's vice and his own.
Met. 6.461Impetus est illī comitum corrumpere cūram
nūtrīcisque fidem, nec nōn ingentibus ipsam
sollicitāre datīs tōtumque impendere regnum,
aut rapere et saevō raptam dēfendere bellō—,
465et nihil est quod nōn effrēnō captus amōre
ausit nec capiunt inclūsās pectora flammās.His impulse is to corrupt the care of her attendants and the loyalty of her nurse, and also to tempt the girl herself with huge gifts and spend his whole kingdom, or to seize her and defend his prize in savage war; and there is nothing that, gripped by unbridled love, he would not dare, nor can his breast contain the flames shut within it. Met. 6.467Iamque morās male fert cupīdōque revertitur ōre
ad mandāta Procnēs, et agit sua vōta sub illā.And now he can hardly bear delay, and returns with eager lips to Procne's request, and pursues his own desires under cover of it. Met. 6.469Fācundum faciēbat amor: quotiēnsque rogābat
470ulterius iūstō Procnēn ita velle ferēbat.Love made him eloquent: and as often as he asked more than was right, he would say that Procne wished it so.
Met. 6.471Addidit et lacrimās, tamquam mandāsset et illās.He added tears as well, as if she had ordered those too. Met. 6.472Prō superī, quantum mortālia pectora caecae
noctis habent!Gods above, how much blind night mortal hearts hold! Met. 6.473ipsō sceleris mōlīmine Tēreus
crēditur esse pius laudemque ā crīmine sūmit.through the very effort of his crime Tereus is thought dutiful, and wins praise from his wickedness. Met. 6.475Quid quod īdem Philomēla cupit patriōsque lacertīs
blanda tenēns umerōs, ut eat vīsūra sorōrem,
perque suam contrāque suam petit ipsa salūtem.What of the fact that Philomela wants the same, and, coaxingly holding her father's shoulders in her arms, herself begs that she may go to see her sister, by her own welfare and against her own welfare? Met. 6.478Spectat eam Tēreus praecontrectatque videndō
ōsculaque et collō circumdata bracchia cernēns
480omnia prō stimulīs facibusque cibōque furōris
accipit;Tereus gazes at her and in looking handles her in advance, and seeing her kisses and her arms thrown round her father's neck, takes everything as goads and torches and fuel for his frenzy; Met. 6.481et quotiēns amplectitur illa parentem,
esse parēns vellet: neque enim minus impius esset.and whenever she embraces her father, he would wish to be her father: nor indeed would he be any less impious.
Met. 6.483Vincitur ambārum genitor prece.Their father is won over by the prayers of both. Met. 6.483Gaudet agitque
illa patrī grātēs et successisse duābus
485id putat īnfēlīx, quod erit lūgubre duābus.She rejoices and thanks her father, and, unhappy girl, thinks a success for both what will be grievous to both. Met. 6.486Iam labor exiguus Phoebō restābat, equīque
pulsābant pedibus spatium dēclīvis Olympī:
rēgālēs epulae mēnsīs et Bacchus in aurō
pōnitur;Now little labour remained for Phoebus, and his horses were beating with their hooves the course of the downward sky: a royal feast is set on the tables, and wine in gold; Met. 6.489hinc placidō dantur sua corpora somnō.after this they give their bodies to peaceful sleep. Met. 6.490At rēx Odrysius, quamvīs sēcessit, in illā
aestuat, et, repetēns faciem mōtūsque manūsque,
quālia vult fingit quae nōndum vīdit, et ignēs
ipse suōs nūtrit, cūrā removente sopōrem.But the Odrysian king, though he has withdrawn, burns for her, and, recalling her face, her movements and her hands, imagines as he wishes what he has not yet seen, and feeds his own fires, desire driving sleep away.
Met. 6.494Lūx erat, et generī dextram complexus euntis
495Pandiōn comitem lacrimīs commendat obortīs:
"Hanc ego, cāre gener, quoniam pia causa coēgit
et voluēre ambae, voluistī tū quoque, Tēreu,
dō tibi, perque fidem cognātaque pectora supplex,
per superōs ōrō, patriō ut tueāris amōre
500et mihi sollicitae lēnīmen dulce senectae
quam prīmum (omnis erit nōbīs mora longa) remittās.It was daylight, and Pandion, clasping the right hand of his departing son-in-law, entrusts her to him as his companion, with tears welling up: 'Dear son-in-law, since a dutiful cause has compelled me, and both have wished it, and you too, Tereus, have wished it, I give her to you, and by your faith and our kindred hearts, by the gods above, I beg you as a suppliant to protect her with a father's love and to send back to me as soon as possible (all delay will be long to me) this sweet solace of my anxious old age. Met. 6.502Tū quoque quam prīmum (satis est procul esse sorōrem)
sī pietās ūlla est, ad mē, Philomēla, reditō."You too, Philomela, as soon as possible (it is enough that your sister is far away), if you have any devotion, return to me.'