Met. 8.451Stīpes erat, quem, cum partūs ēnīxa iacēret
Thestias, in flammam triplicēs posuēre sorōrēs;There was a log which the three sisters placed in the flames when the daughter of Thestius lay there after giving birth; Met. 8.453stāminaque impressō fātālia pollice nentēs
"tempora" dīxērunt "eadem lignōque tibique,
455ō modo nāte, damus."and spinning the threads of fate with pressing thumb, they said: 'We give the same span of life to the wood and to you, O newborn child.' Met. 8.455Quō postquam carmine dictō
excessēre deae, flagrantem māter ab igne
ēripuit rāmum sparsitque liquentibus undīs.After the goddesses had spoken this spell and departed, the mother snatched the burning branch from the fire and sprinkled it with running water. Met. 8.458Ille diū fuerat penetrālibus abditus īmīs
servātusque tuōs, iuvenis, servāverat annōs.It had long been hidden in the innermost part of the house, and, being preserved, it had preserved your years, young man. Met. 8.460Prōtulit hunc genetrīx taedāsque et fragmina pōnī
imperat et positīs inimīcōs admovet ignēs.His mother brought it out and orders pine torches and kindling to be laid, and when they are laid she sets hostile fires to them.
Met. 8.462Tum cōnāta quater flammīs impōnere rāmum,
coepta quater tenuit.Then four times she tried to put the branch on the flames, four times she held back from what she had begun. Met. 8.463Pugnant māterque sororque,
et dīversa trahunt ūnum duo nōmina pectus.Mother and sister fight within her, and the two names pull one heart in different directions. Met. 8.465Saepe metū sceleris pallēbant ōra futūrī,
saepe suum fervēns oculīs dabat īra rubōrem.Often her face grew pale with fear of the coming crime, often burning anger gave its own red to her eyes. Met. 8.467Et modo nesciō quid similis crūdēle minantī
vultus erat, modo quem miserērī crēdere possēs.And now her expression was like that of someone threatening some cruelty or other, now such that you could believe she pitied. Met. 8.469Cumque ferus lacrimās animī siccāverat ardor,
470inveniēbantur lacrimae tamen.And when the fierce heat of her spirit had dried her tears, tears were still found. Met. 8.470Utque carīna,
quam ventus ventōque rapit contrārius aestus,
vim geminam sentit pāretque incerta duōbus:
Thestias haud aliter dubiīs adfectibus errat
inque vices pōnit positamque resuscitat īram.And as a ship which the wind drives, and a tide running against the wind, feels the double force and obeys both, uncertain: no differently the daughter of Thestius wavers between doubtful feelings, and by turns lays aside her anger and revives it once laid aside.
Met. 8.475Incipit esse tamen melior germāna parente,
et cōnsanguineās ut sanguine lēniat umbrās,
impietāte pia est.Yet the sister begins to be stronger than the parent, and to appease the shades of her kin with blood, she is dutiful through an undutiful act. Met. 8.477Nam postquam pestifer ignis
convaluit, "rogus iste cremet mea viscera" dīxit.For when the deadly fire had gathered strength, she said: 'Let this pyre burn my own flesh.' Met. 8.479Utque manū dīrā lignum fātāle tenēbat,
480ante sepulcrālēs īnfēlīx adstitit ārās "poenārum" que "deae triplicēs, furiālibus," inquit,
"Eumenidēs, sacrīs vultūs advertite vestrōs.And as she held the fatal wood in her dread hand, the unhappy woman stood before the funeral altars and said: 'Goddesses of punishment, threefold Eumenides, turn your faces towards these frenzied rites. Met. 8.483Ulcīscor faciōque nefās: mors morte pianda est,
in scelus addendum scelus est, in fūnera fūnus.I avenge and I commit a wrong: death must be atoned for with death, crime must be added to crime, funeral to funeral. Met. 8.485Per coacervātōs pereat domus impia lūctūs.Let this impious house perish through heaped-up griefs. Met. 8.486An fēlīx Oeneus nātō victōre fruētur,
Thestius orbus erit?Shall happy Oeneus enjoy his victorious son, while Thestius is childless?
Met. 8.487Melius lūgēbitis ambō.Better that you both should mourn. Met. 8.488Vōs modo, frāternī mānēs animaeque recentēs,
officium sentīte meum magnōque parātās
490accipite īnferiās, uterī mala pignera nostrī!Only you, my brothers' ghosts, newly departed souls, feel my service and accept the offering prepared at great cost, the evil pledge of my womb! Met. 8.490—Ei mihi!Ah me! Met. 8.491quō rapior?where am I swept away? Met. 8.491Frātrēs, ignōscite mātrī.Brothers, forgive a mother. Met. 8.492Dēficiunt ad coepta manūs.My hands fail at what I have begun. Met. 8.492Meruisse fatēmur
illum, cūr pereat: mortis mihi displicet auctor.I confess that he has deserved to die: it is the author of his death that displeases me. Met. 8.493—Ergō impūne feret, vīvusque et victor et ipsō
495successū tumidus regnum Calydōnis habēbit:
vōs cinis exiguus gelidaeque iacēbitis umbrae?Shall he then go unpunished, and, alive and victorious and swollen with his very success, hold the kingdom of Calydon, while you lie, a little ash and chill shades? Met. 8.497Haud equidem patiar.I certainly shall not allow it. Met. 8.497Pereat scelerātus et ille
spemque patris regnumque trahat patriaeque ruīnam.Let the wicked one perish too, and drag down with him his father's hope and his kingdom and the ruin of his country.
Met. 8.499Mēns ubi māterna est?Where is a mother's mind? Met. 8.499Ubi sunt pia iūra parentum
500et quōs sustinuī bis mēnsum quīnque labōrēs?Where are the dutiful bonds of parents, and the labours I endured for twice five months? Met. 8.501Ō utinam prīmīs ārsissēs ignibus īnfāns,
idque ego passa forem!O, would that you had burned as a baby in those first fires, and that I had allowed it! Met. 8.502Vīxistī mūnere nostrō:
nunc meritō moriēre tuō.You have lived by my gift: now you will die by your own desert. Met. 8.503Cape praemia factī
bisque datam, prīmum partū, mox stīpite raptō,
505redde animam — vel mē frāternīs adde sepulcrīs!Take the reward of your deed, and give back the life given twice, first at your birth, then when the log was snatched — or add me to my brothers' tombs! Met. 8.506Et cupiō et nequeō.I both long to and cannot. Met. 8.506Quid agam?What shall I do? Met. 8.506modo vulnera frātrum
ante oculōs mihi sunt et tantae caedis imāgō,
nunc animum pietās māternaque nōmina frangunt.now my brothers' wounds are before my eyes and the image of so great a slaughter, now duty and the name of mother break my spirit.
Met. 8.508—Mē miseram!Wretched me! Met. 8.509male vincētis, sed vincite, frātrēs:
510dummodo quae dederō vōbīs sōlācia vōsque
ipsa sequar."you will win, but wrongly; yet win, brothers: provided that I myself follow the consolation I shall give you, and follow you.' Met. 8.511Dīxit, dextrāque āversa trementī
fūnereum torrem mediōs coniēcit in ignēs.She spoke, and with trembling hand, her face turned away, threw the funeral brand into the midst of the fire. Met. 8.513Aut dedit aut vīsus gemitūs est ipse dedisse
stīpes, ut invītīs correptus ab ignibus ārsit.The log itself either gave a groan or seemed to have given one, as, seized by the unwilling fires, it burned. Met. 8.515Īnscius atque absēns flammā Meleagros ab illā
ūritur et caecīs torrērī viscera sentit
ignibus ac magnōs superat virtūte dolōrēs.Unknowing and far away, Meleager is burned by that flame and feels his vitals scorched by unseen fires, and overcomes his great pains with courage. Met. 8.518Quod tamen ignāvō cadat et sine sanguine lētō,
maeret et Ancaeī fēlīcia vulnera dīcit
520grandaevumque patrem frātrēsque piāsque sorōrēs
cum gemitū sociamque torī vocat ōre suprēmō,
forsitan et mātrem.Yet that he should fall by a cowardly and bloodless death he grieves, and calls Ancaeus' wounds fortunate, and with a groan calls on his aged father and his brothers and his loving sisters and the partner of his bed with his last breath, and perhaps his mother too.
Met. 8.522Crēscunt ignisque dolorque
languēscuntque iterum: simul est exstīnctus uterque,
inque levēs abiit paulātim spīritus aurās
525paulātim cānā prūnam vēlante favillā.The fire and the pain grow, and die down again: both are put out together, and little by little his spirit passed into the light air, as little by little white ash veiled the embers. Met. 8.526Alta iacet Calydōn: lūgent iuvenēsque senēsque,
vulgusque procerēsque gemunt, scissaeque capillōs
planguntur mātrēs Calydōnidēs Euēnīnae.Lofty Calydon lies low: young and old mourn, common people and nobles groan, and the Calydonian mothers by the Evenus tear their hair and beat their breasts. Met. 8.529Pulvere cānitiem genitor vultūsque senīlēs
530foedat humī fūsus spatiōsumque increpat aevum.His father, lying stretched on the ground, befouls his white hair and aged face with dust and reproaches his long life. Met. 8.531Nam dē mātre manus dīrī sibi cōnscia factī
exēgit poenās āctō per viscera ferrō.For the mother's own hand, conscious of the dreadful deed, exacted punishment from herself, driving a sword through her vitals. Met. 8.533Nōn mihi sī centum deus ōra sonantia linguīs
ingeniumque capāx tōtumque Helicōna dedisset,
535trīstia persequerer miserārum dicta sorōrum.Not if a god had given me a hundred mouths sounding with tongues, and a capacious genius, and all Helicon, could I go through the sad words of his wretched sisters.
Met. 8.536Inmemorēs decoris līventia pectora tundunt,
dumque manet corpus, corpus refoventque foventque,
ōscula dant ipsī, positō dant ōscula lectō.Forgetful of decorum they beat their bruised breasts, and while the body remains, they warm the body again and again, they give kisses to the man himself, give kisses to the bier on which he is laid. Met. 8.539Post cinerem cinerēs haustōs ad pectora pressant,
540adfūsaeque iacent tumulō signātaque saxō
nōmina complexae lacrimās in nōmina fundunt.After he is ashes, they press the gathered ashes to their breasts, and lie flung on the tomb, and embracing his name carved on the stone, pour tears upon the name. Met. 8.542Quās Parthaoniae tandem Lātōnia clāde
exsatiāta domus praeter Gorgēnque nurumque
nōbilis Alcmēnae nātīs in corpore pennīs
545adlevat et longās per bracchia porrigit alās
corneaque ōra facit versāsque per āera mittit.At last Latona's daughter, sated with the ruin of the house of Parthaon, raises them, except Gorge and the daughter-in-law of noble Alcmena, with feathers springing up on their bodies, and stretches long wings along their arms, and makes their mouths horny, and sends them, transformed, through the air.