Met. 6.587Tempus erat, quō sacra solent trietērica Bacchī
Sithoniae celebrāre nurūs: nox cōnscia sacrīs.It was the time when the Sithonian women are wont to celebrate the triennial rites of Bacchus: night is privy to the rites. Met. 6.589Nocte sonat Rhodopē tinnītibus aeris acūtī,
590nocte suā est ēgressa domō rēgīna deīque
rītibus īnstruitur furiāliaque accipit arma.By night Rhodope rings with the clashing of shrill bronze, by night the queen went out of her house and is equipped for the god's rites and takes up the arms of frenzy. Met. 6.592Vīte caput tegitur, laterī cervīna sinistrō
vellera dēpendent, umerō levis incubat hasta.Her head is covered with vine, deerskins hang from her left side, a light spear rests on her shoulder. Met. 6.594Concita per silvās turbā comitante suārum
595terribilis Procnē furiīsque agitāta dolōris,
Bacche, tuās simulat.Rushing through the woods with a crowd of her women attending her, terrifying Procne, driven by the frenzies of grief, feigns yours, Bacchus. Met. 6.596Venit ad stabula āvia tandem
exululatque euhoeque sonat portāsque refringit
germānamque rapit;She comes at last to the pathless steading and howls and cries 'euhoe' and breaks down the doors and seizes her sister; Met. 6.598raptaeque īnsignia Bacchī
induit et vultūs hederārum frondibus abdit
600attonitamque trahēns intrā sua moenia dūcit.and she dresses the seized girl in the trappings of Bacchus and hides her face with ivy leaves and, dragging her, dazed, leads her within her own walls.
Met. 6.601Ut sēnsit tetigisse domum Philomēla nefandam,
horruit īnfēlīx tōtōque expalluit ōre.When Philomela realised she had reached that unspeakable house, the unhappy girl shuddered and turned pale over her whole face. Met. 6.603Nacta locum Procnē sacrōrum pignera dēmit
ōraque dēvēlat miserae pudibunda sorōris
605amplexumque petit.Procne, finding a place, removes the tokens of the rites and unveils the shamefaced features of her wretched sister, and seeks to embrace her. Met. 6.605Sed nōn attollere contrā
sustinet haec oculōs, paelex sibi vīsa sorōris,
dēiectōque in humum vultū iūrāre volentī
testārīque deōs, per vim sibi dēdecus illud
illātum, prō vōce manus fuit.But she cannot bear to raise her eyes to face her, seeming to herself her sister's rival, and with her face cast down to the ground, wishing to swear and call the gods to witness that the disgrace was brought on her by force, she had her hand in place of a voice. Met. 6.609Ārdet et īram
610nōn capit ipsa suam Procnē;Procne burns and cannot contain her own anger; Met. 6.610flētumque sorōris
corripiēns "nōn est lacrimīs hoc" inquit "agendum,
sed ferrō, sed sī quid habēs, quod vincere ferrum
possit.and checking her sister's weeping, 'This is not a matter for tears,' she says, 'but for the sword, or for something, if you have it, that can outdo the sword.
Met. 6.613In omne nefās ego mē, germāna, parāvī.I have readied myself, sister, for every crime. Met. 6.614Aut ego, cum facibus rēgālia tēcta cremābō,
615artificem mediīs inmittam Tērea flammīs,
aut linguam, aut oculōs et quae tibi membra pudōrem
abstulērunt, ferrō rapiam, aut per vulnera mīlle
sontem animam expellam.Either I shall burn the royal palace with torches and hurl Tereus, the author of it all, into the midst of the flames, or with the sword I shall tear out his tongue, or his eyes, and the parts that robbed you of your honour, or through a thousand wounds drive out his guilty soul. Met. 6.618Magnum quodcumque parāvī:
quid sit, adhūc dubitō."I have prepared something great: what it is, I am still in doubt.' Met. 6.619Peragit dum tālia Procnē,
620ad mātrem veniēbat Itys.While Procne is going through such things, Itys came to his mother. Met. 6.620Quid possit, ab illō
admonita est: oculīsque tuēns inmītibus "ā quam
es similis patrī" dīxit.She was taught by him what she could do: and gazing at him with pitiless eyes, 'Ah, how like your father you are!' she said.
Met. 6.622Nec plūra locūta
trīste parat facinus tacitāque exaestuat īrā.And saying no more she prepares a grim crime and seethes with silent anger. Met. 6.624Ut tamen accessit nātus mātrīque salūtem
625attulit et parvīs addūxit colla lacertīs
mīxtaque blanditiīs puerīlibus ōscula iūnxit,
mōta quidem est genetrīx īnfrāctāque cōnstitit īrā
invītīque oculī lacrimīs maduēre coāctīs:
sed simul ex nimiā mentem pietāte labāre
630sēnsit, ab hōc iterum est ad vultūs versa sorōris
inque vicem spectāns ambōs "cūr admovet" inquit
"alter blanditiās, raptā silet altera linguā?Yet when her son came up and greeted his mother and drew her neck down with his little arms, and joined kisses mingled with boyish coaxing, the mother was indeed moved, and her anger broken she stood still, and her unwilling eyes grew wet with forced tears: but as soon as she felt her mind wavering from too much love, she turned from him again to her sister's face, and looking at both in turn, 'Why does one,' she says, 'offer endearments, while the other is silent, her tongue torn out? Met. 6.633Quam vocat hic mātrem, cūr nōn vocat illa sorōrem?Why, when he calls me mother, does she not call me sister?
Met. 6.634Cui sīs nūpta, vidē, Pandione nāta, marītō.Consider to what husband you are married, daughter of Pandion. Met. 6.635Dēgenerās: scelus est pietās in coniuge Tēreō."You are falling short of your blood: with a husband like Tereus, devotion is a crime.' Met. 6.636Nec mora, trāxit Ityn, velutī Gangētica cervae
lactentem fētum per silvās tigris opācās.Without delay she dragged Itys off, as a Gangetic tigress drags a doe's suckling fawn through the dark woods. Met. 6.638Utque domus altae partem tenuēre remōtam,
tendentemque manūs et iam sua fāta videntem
640et "māter, māter" clāmantem et colla petentem
ēnse ferit Procnē, laterī quā pectus adhaeret,
nec vultum vertit.And when they had reached a remote part of the lofty house, as he stretched out his hands and already saw his fate and cried 'Mother, mother!' and sought her neck, Procne strikes him with a sword, where the breast joins the side, and does not turn her face away. Met. 6.642Satis illī ad fāta vel ūnum
vulnus erat: iugulum ferrō Philomēla resolvit.Even one wound was enough for his death: Philomela cut open his throat with the sword.
Met. 6.644Vīvaque adhūc animaeque aliquid retinentia membra
645dīlaniant.The limbs, still living and retaining something of life, they tear apart. Met. 6.645Pars inde cavīs exsultat aēnīs,
pars veribus strīdunt: mānant penetrālia tābō.Part then bubbles in hollow cauldrons, part hisses on spits: the inner rooms run with gore. Met. 6.647Hīs adhibet coniūnx ignārum Tērea mēnsīs
et patriī mōris sacrum mentīta, quod ūnī
fās sit adīre virō, comitēs famulōsque remōvit.To this feast the wife brings Tereus, unknowing, and, pretending a sacred rite of her native custom, which only a husband may attend, she removed the companions and servants. Met. 6.650Ipse sedēns soliō Tēreus sublīmis avītō
vēscitur inque suam sua viscera congerit alvum.Tereus himself, sitting on high on his ancestral throne, feasts and heaps his own flesh into his belly. Met. 6.652Tantaque nox animī est, "Ityn hūc accersīte" dīxit.And so great is the night of his mind that he said, 'Fetch Itys here.' Met. 6.653Dissimulāre nequit crūdēlia gaudia Procnē,
iamque suae cupiēns exsistere nūntia clādis,
655"intus habēs, quem poscis" ait.Procne cannot hide her cruel joy, and now eager to be the messenger of her own disaster, 'You have inside the one you ask for,' she says.
Met. 6.655Circumspicit ille
atque ubi sit quaerit.He looks around and asks where he is. Met. 6.656Quaerentī iterumque vocantī,
sīcut erat sparsīs furiālī caede capillīs,
prōsiluit Ityosque caput Philomēla cruentum
mīsit in ōra patris: nec tempore māluit ūllō
660posse loquī et mentis testārī gaudia dictīs.As he asks and calls again, just as she was, her hair spattered with the frenzied slaughter, Philomela sprang forward and threw the bloody head of Itys into his father's face: nor at any time did she more wish to be able to speak and bear witness to her joy with words. Met. 6.661Thrācius ingentī mēnsās clamōre repellit
vīpereāsque ciet Stygiā dē valle sorōrēs;The Thracian thrusts back the table with a huge shout and summons the snaky sisters from the Stygian valley; Met. 6.663et modo, sī posset reserātō pectore dīrās
ēgerere inde dapēs inmersaque viscera gestit,
665flet modo sēque vocat bustum miserābile nātī,
nunc sequitur nūdō genitās Pandione ferrō.and now he longs, if he could, to open his breast and bring out the dreadful feast and the flesh sunk within, now he weeps and calls himself his son's wretched tomb, now he pursues Pandion's daughters with naked sword.
Met. 6.667Corpora Cecropidum pennīs pendēre putārēs:
pendēbant pennīs.You would think the bodies of the Cecropian women hung on wings: they hung on wings. Met. 6.668Quārum petit altera silvās,
altera tēcta subit;One of them makes for the woods, the other goes under the roof; Met. 6.669neque adhūc dē pectore caedis
670excessēre notae, signātaque sanguine plūma est.nor even yet have the marks of the slaughter left her breast, and her plumage is stamped with blood. Met. 6.671Ille dolōre suō poenaeque cupīdine vēlōx
vertitur in volucrem, cui stant in vertice cristae;He, swift through his grief and his desire for vengeance, is turned into a bird with a crest standing on its head; Met. 6.673prōminet inmodicum prō longā cuspide rōstrum:
nōmen epops volucrī, faciēs armāta vidētur.an immoderate beak juts out in place of a long spear-point: the bird's name is hoopoe, its face looks armed.