Metamorphoses (Kline) 3, the Ovid Collection, Univ. of Virginia E-Text
Metamorphoses Book III ('s Version)
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Cadmus searches
for his sister Europa
&&&&And now the god, dispensing with the deceptive image of the
bull, confessed who he was, and made for the fields of . Meanwhile ?s father, in ignorance of this, orders
to search for the stolen
girl, and adds that exile is his punishment if he fails to find her, showing
himself, by the same action, both pious and impious. Roaming the world (for
who can discover whatever
has taken?) ?s son, the fugitive,
shuns his native land and his parent?s anger and as a suppliant consults ?s oracle and asks in what land he might
replies ?A heifer will
find you in the fields, that has never submitted to the yoke and is unaccustomed
to the curved plough. Go where she leads, and where she finds rest on the
grass build the walls of ,
your city, and call the land .?
&&&&Cadmus had scarcely left the
cave when he saw an unguarded heifer,
moving slowly, and showing no mark of the yoke on her neck. He follows close
behind and chooses his steps by the traces of her course, and silently thanks
Phoebus, his guide to the way. Now he had passed the fords of
and the fields of : the heifer stopped, and lifting her beautiful
head with its noble horns to the sky stirred the air with her lowings. Then
looking back, to see her companion following, she sank her hindquarters on
the ground and lowered her body onto the tender grass. Cadmus gave thanks,
pressing his lips to the foreign soil and welcoming the unknown hills and
&&&&Intending to offer a sacrifice to Jupiter, he ordered his attendants
to go in search of water from a running stream for a libation. There was an
ancient wood there, free from desecration, and, in the centre of it, a chasm
thick with bushes and willow branches, framed in effect by stones making a
low arch, and rich with copious springs. There was a snake sacred to
concealed in this cave, with a prominent golden crest. Fire flickered in its
eyes, its whole body was swollen with venom, its three-forked tongue flickered,
and its teeth were set in a triple row.
&&&&After the people of , setting out, a fatal step, reached
the grove, and let their pitchers down into the water, it gave out a reverberation.
The dark green snake thrust his head out of the deep cavern, hissing awesomely.
The pitchers fell from their hands, the blood left their bodies, and, terrified,
a sudden tremor took possession of their limbs. The snake winds his scaly
coils in restless writhings, and, shooting upwards, curves into a huge arc.
With half its length raised into thin air, it peers down over the whole wood,
its body as great, seen in its entirety, as that
that separates the twin constellations
of the . Without pause he
takes the Phoenicians, whether they prepare to fight, run, or are held by
fear itself. Some he
slays with his bite, some he kills in his deep embraces, others with the corrupting
putrefaction of his venomous breath.
Cadmus kills
the Dragon
&&&&The sun had reached the heights of the sky, and driven away
the shadows. And now the son of ,
wondering what has delayed his friends, searches for the men. He is covered
with the pelt stripped from a lion. His sword is tipped with glittering iron.
He has a spear, and better still a spirit superior to all. When he enters
the wood and sees the dead bodies, and over them the victorious enemy, with
its vast body, licking at their sad wounds with a bloody tongue, he cries
out ?Faithful hearts, I shall either be the avenger of your deaths, or become
your companion?.
&&&&So saying he lifted a massive rock with his right hand and with great effort
hurled the huge weight. Steep walls with their high turrets, would have been
shattered by the force of the blow, but the snake remained unwounded, protected
by its scales like a breastplate, and its dark, hard skin repelled the powerful
&&&&But that same hardness cannot keep out the spear that defeats
it, that is fixed in a curve of its pliant back, and sinks its whole iron
blade into its entrails. The creature maddened with pain twists its head over
its back, sees the wound, and bites at the shaft lodged there. Even when the
snake had loosened its hold all round by its powerful efforts, it could scarcely
rip it from its flesh and the iron stayed fixed in its spine. Then indeed
new purpose was added to its usual wrath: its throat swells, the veins fill,
and white spume flecks its baleful jaws. The earth resounds to its scaly scraping
and a black breath like that from the mouth of the
fouls the corrupted air. At one instant
it coils in vast spiraling circles, at another rears up straighter than a
high tree. Again it rushes on like a rain-filled river and knocks down all
the trees obstructing it in front. The son of
gives way a little withstanding its attacks by means of the lion?s skin and
keeps back the ravening jaws by thrusting forward the point of his sword.
The snake is maddened and bites uselessly at the hard iron and only drives
the sharp point between its teeth.
&&&&Now the blood begins to drip from its venomous throat and soak
the green grass with its spattering. But the wound is slight, because the
serpent draws back from the thrust, pulling its wounded neck away, and, conceding
its wound, keeps back the sword, and does not let it sink deeper. But the
following it all the time
presses the embedded iron into its throat, until an oak-tree blocks its backward
course and neck and tree are pinned together. The tree bends under the serpent?s
weight and the trunk of the oak groans with the lashing of its tail.
sows the Dragon?s teeth
&&&&While the conqueror stares at the vast bulk of his conquered
enemy, suddenly a voice is heard. It is not easy to imagine where it comes
from, but it is heard. ?Why gaze, son of ,
at the serpent you have killed? You too shall be a serpent to be gazed on.?
For a long time he stands there quaking, and at the same time loses colour
in his face, and his hair stands on end in cold terror. Then, behold, , the hero?s guardian approaches, sinking
down through the upper air, and orders him to turn the earth and sow the dragon?s
teeth, destined to generate a people. He obeys, and opening the furrows with
a slice of his plough, sows the teeth in the ground, as human seed. Then,
almost beyond belief, the cultivated earth begins to move, and first spear
points appear among the furrows, next helmets nodding their painted crests,
then chests and shoulders spring up, and arms weighed down with spears, and
the field is thick with the round shields of warriors. Just as at festivals
in the theatre, when the curtain is lifted at the end, designs rise in the
air, first revealing faces and then gradually the rest, until, raised gently
and steadily, they are seen whole, and at last their feet rest on the lower
founds Thebes
&&&&Alarmed by this new enemy
was about to take up his weapons: ?Keep
away? one of the army, that the earth had produced, cried at him ?and take
no part in our internal wars!? So saying he raised his sharp sword against
one of his earth-born brothers nearby, then, himself, fell to a spear thrown
from far off. But the one who killed him lived no longer than he did and breathed
out the air he had just breathed in. This example stirred them all equally,
as if at a storm-wind, and, in their warring, these brothers of a moment were
felled by mutual wounds. And now these youths, who were allowed such brief
lives, were drumming on their mother?s breast hot with their blood. Five were
still standing, one of whom was .
He, at a warning from , threw his
weapons on the ground and sought assurances of peace from his brothers, and
gave them in return. The
wanderer had these men as companions in his task when he founded the city
commanded by ?s oracle.
and now you might be seen as happy, in your exile, Cadmus. You have
as your ?s parents, and added
to this the children of so noble a wife, so many sons and daughters, and dearly
loved descendants, your grandchildren, who now are young men. But in truth
we should always wait for a man?s last day, for that time when he has paid
his last debt, and we should call no man?s life happy until he is dead.
returns from the hunt
&&&&, one of your grandsons, was your
first reason for grief, in all your happiness, . Strange horns appeared on his forehead,
and his hunting dogs sated themselves on the blood of their master. But if
you look carefully, you will find that it was the fault of chance and not
wickedness: what wickedness is there in error? It happened on a mountain,
stained with the blood of many creatures, and midday had contracted every
shadow and the sun was equidistant from either end of his journey. Then Actaeon,
the young , with a quiet
expression, spoke to his companions in the hunt as they wandered through the
solitary wilds ?Friends, our spears and nets are drenched with the blood of
our victims, and the day has been fortunate enough. When
in her golden chariot brings another day
we will resume our purpose. Now
is also between the limits of his task, and is splitting open the earth with
his heat. Finish your present task and carry home the netted meshes? The men
obeyed his order and left off their labour.
&&&&There was a valley there called , dense with pine trees and sharp
cypresses, sacred to
of the high-girded
tunic, where, in the depths, there is a wooded cave, not fashioned by art.
But ingenious nature had imitated art. She had made a natural arch out of
native pumice and porous tufa. On the right, a spring of bright clear water
murmured into a widening pool, enclosed by grassy banks. Here the woodland
goddess, weary from the chase, would bathe her virgin limbs in the crystal
sees Diana naked and is turned into a stag.
&&&&Having reached the place, she gives her spear, quiver and unstrung
bow to one of the nymphs, her weapon-bearer. Another takes her robe over her
arm, while two unfasten the sandals on her feet. Then, more skilful than the
gathers the hair strewn around her
neck into a knot, while her own is still loose. Nephele, Hyale, Rhanis, Psecas
and Phiale draw water, and pour it over their mistress out of the deep jars.
bathing there, in her accustomed place, ?s
grandson, free of his share of the labour, strays with aimless steps through
the strange wood, and enters the sacred grove. So the fates would have it.
As soon as he reaches the cave mouth dampened by the fountain, the naked nymphs,
seeing a man?s face, beat at their breasts and filling the whole wood with
their sudden outcry, crowd round Diana to hide her with their bodies. But
the goddess stood head and shoulders above all the others. ?s face, seen there, while she herself was
naked, was the colour of clouds stained by the opposing shafts of sun, or
?s brightness.
&&&&However, though her band of nymphs gathered in confusion around
her, she stood turning to one side, and looking back, and wishing she had
her arrows to hand. She caught up a handful of the water that she did have,
and threw it in the man?s face. And as she sprinkled his hair with the vengeful
drops she added these words, harbingers of his coming ruin, ?Now you may tell,
if you can tell that is, of having seen me naked!? Without more threats, she
gave the horns of a mature stag to the head she had sprinkled, lengthening
his neck, making his ear-tips pointed, changing feet for hands, long legs
for arms, and covering his body with a dappled hide. And then she added fear.
?s brave son flies off, marvelling
at such swift speed, within himself. But when he sees his head and horns reflected
for certain in the water, he tries to say ?Oh, look at me! but no voice follows.
He groans: that is his voice, and tears run down his altered face. Only his
mind remains unchanged. What can he do? Shall he return to his home and the
royal palace, or lie hidden in the woods? Shame prevents the one, and fear
the other.
is pursued by his hounds
&&&&While he hesitates his dogs catch sight of him. First ?Black-foot?,
Melampus, and keen-scented Ichnobates, ?Tracker?, signal him with baying,
Ichnobates out of , Melampus, . Then others rush at him swift as
the wind, ?Greedy?, Pamphagus, Dorceus, ?Gazelle?, Oribasos,
?Mountaineer?, all out of :
powerful ?Deerslayer?, Nebrophonos, savage Theron, ?Whirlwind?,
and Laelape, ?Hunter?.
&&&&Then swift-footed Pterelas, ?Wings?, and trail-scenting
Agre, ?Chaser?, fierce Hylaeus, ?Woody?, lately gored by a boar,
the wolf-born Nape, ?Valley?, Poemenis, the trusty ?Shepherd?,
and Harpyia, ?Snatcher?, with her two pups. There is thin-flanked Sicyonian
Ladon, ?Catcher?, Dromas, ?Runner?, ?Grinder?, Canache,
Sticte ?Spot?, Tigris ?Tigress?, Alce, ?Strong?, and
white-haired Leucon, ?Whitey?, and black-haired Asbolus, ?Soot?.
&&&&Lacon, ?Spartan?, follows them, a dog well known for
his strength, and strong-running A?llo, ?Storm?. Then Thoos, ?Swift?,
and speedy Lycisce, ?Wolf?, with her brother Cyprius ?Cyprian?.
Next ?Grasper?, Harpalos, with a distinguishing mark of white, in the
centre of his black forehead, ?Black?, Melaneus, and Lachne, ?Shaggy?,
with hairy pelt, Labros, ?Fury?, and Argiodus, ?White-tooth?,
born of a Cretan sire and Spartan dam, keen-voiced Hylactor, ?Barker?,
and others there is no need to name. The pack of them, greedy for the prey
follow over cliffs and crags, and inaccessible rocks, where the way is hard
or there is no way at all. He runs, over the places where he has often chased,
flying, alas, from his own hounds. He longs to shout ?I am Actaeon! Know your
own master!? but words fail him, the air echoes to the baying.
is killed by the dogs
&&&&First ?Black-hair?, Melanchaetes, wounds his back, then ?Killer?,
Theridamas, and Oresitrophos, the ?Climber?, clings to his shoulder.
They had set out late but outflanked the route by a shortcut over the mountains.
While they hold their master the whole pack gathers and they sink their teeth
in his body till there is no place left to wound him. He groans and makes
a noise, not human, but still not one a deer could make, and fills familiar
heights with mournful cries. And on his knees, like a suppliant begging, he
turns his wordless head from side to side, as if he were stretching arms out
towards them.
&&&&Now his friends, unknowingly, urge the ravening crowd of dogs
on with their usual cries, looking out for Actaeon, and shouting, in emulation,
for absent Actaeon (he turning his head at the sound of his name) complaining
he is not there, and through his slowness is missing the spectacle offered
by their prey. He might wish to be absent it?s true, but he is here: he might
wish to see and not feel the fierce doings of his own hounds. They surround
him on every side, sinking their jaws into his flesh, tearing their master
to pieces in the deceptive shape of the deer. They say
the Quiver-bearer?s anger was not appeased,
until his life had ended in innumerable wounds.
out to punish Semele
&&&&The debate is undecided: to some the punishment is more violent
than just, merely for seeing the face of a goddess, others approve it and
call it fitting because of her strict vow of virginity, and both can make
a case. Only Jupiter?s
was saying
nothing, neither of praise or blame. She was glad of the disaster that had
come down on the house of , and had
transferred her hatred from ,
to those who were allied to the
girl by birth. Then there was a fresh wrong added to the first. She was grieved
by the fact that
was pregnant,
with the seed of mighty . Swallowing
words of reproach, she said ?What, in truth, have I gained from frequent reproaches?
I must attack her. If I am rightly to be called most powerful Juno, if it
is right for me to hold the jewelled sceptre in my hand, if I am queen, and
sister and wife of Jove, sister at least, then it is her I must destroy. Yet
I think she is content with her secret, and the injury to my marriage will
be brief. But she has conceived ? and that damages me ? and makes her crime
visible in her swollen belly, and wants, what I have barely achieved, to be
confirmed as the mother of Jupiter?s child, so great is her faith in her beauty.
I will render that faith hollow. I am not
if she does not plunge into
waters, overwhelmed by
Jove himself.?
is consumed by Jupiter?s fire.
&&&&At this she rose from her seat and cloaked in a dark cloud she
came to ?s threshold. But
before she removed the cloud she disguised herself as an old woman, ageing
her hair, ploughing her skin with wrinkles, and walking with bowed legs and
tottering steps. She made her voice sound old and was herself , Semele?s
nurse. So, when they came to
in the midst of their lengthy
gossiping, she sighed, and said ?I hope, for your sake, that it really is
Jupiter, ?but I am suspicious of all that sort of thing. Many men have entered
the bedrooms of chaste women in the name of the gods. It?s not good enough
for him merely to be Jove: he must give a proof of his love if it truly is
him. Beg him to assume all his powers before he embraces you, and be just
as glorious as when Juno welcomes him on high.
&&&&With such words
the unsuspecting daughter of .
Semele asked Jupiter for an unspecified gift. ?Choose!? said the god, ?Nothing
will be refused, and, so that you may believe it more firmly, I swear it by
the Stygian torrent, that is the divine conscience, the fear, and god, of
all the gods.? Pleased by her misfortune, too successful, and doomed to be
undone by her lover?s indulgence, Semele said ?As
is used to your embrace, when you enter into the pact of , give yourself to me!? The god would
have stopped her lips as she spoke: but her voice had already rushed into
&&&&He groans, since she cannot un-wish it or he un-swear it. So,
most sorrowfully, he climbs the heights of heaven, and, with a look, gathered
the trailing clouds, then added their vapours to lightning mixed with storm-winds,
and thunder and fateful lightning bolts. Still, he tries to reduce his power
in whatever way he can, and does not arm himself with that lightning with
which he deposed hundred-handed : it is too savage in his grasp.
There is a lighter dart to which the ?s
hands gave a less violent fire, a lesser anger. The gods call these his secondary
weapons. Taking these he enters ?s
house. But still Semele?s mortal body could not endure the storm, and she
was consumed, by the fire of her nuptial gift.
&&&&The infant , still
unfinished, is torn from the mother?s womb, and (if it can be believed) is
sewn into his father?s thigh to complete his full term. , his mother?s sister reared him secretly,
in infancy, and then he was given to the nymphs of Mount
who hid him in their cave and fed him on
The judgement
of Tiresias
&&&&While these things were brought about on earth because of that
fatal oath, and while twice-born ?s cradle remained safe, they say that
, expansive with wine, set
aside his onerous duties, and relaxing, exchanging pleasantries, with , said ? You gain more than we do from the
pleasures of love.? She denied it. They agreed to ask learned
for his opinion. He had known
in both ways.
&&&&Once, with a blow of his stick, he had disturbed two large snakes
mating in the green forest, and, marvellous to tell, he was changed from a
man to a woman, and lived as such for seven years. In the eighth year he saw
the same snakes again and said ?Since there is such power in plaguing you
that it changes the giver of a blow to the opposite sex, I will strike you
again, now.? He struck the snakes and regained his former shape, and returned
to the sex he was born with.
&&&&As the arbiter of the light-hearted dispute he confirmed Jupiter?s words.
, it is said, was more
deeply upset than was justified and than the dispute warranted, and damned
the one who had made the judgement to eternal night. But, since no god has
the right to void what another god has done, the all-powerful father of the
gods gave Tiresias knowledge of the future, in exchange for his lost sight,
and lightened the punishment with honour.
&&&&Famous throughout all the
gave faultless answers to people
who consulted him. Dusky , the
, was the first to test the truth
and the accuracy of his words, whom once the river-god
clasped in his winding streams, and
took by force under the waves. This loveliest of nymphs gave birth at full
term to a child whom, even then, one could fall in love with, called . Being consulted as to whether
the child would live a long life, to a ripe old age, the seer with prophetic
vision replied ?If he does not discover himself?.
&&&&For a long time the augur?s pronouncement appeared empty words. But in the
end it proved true: the outcome, and the cause of his death, and the strangeness
of his passion. One year the son of Cephisus had reached sixteen and might
seem both boy and youth. Many youths, and many young girls desired him. But
there was such intense pride in that delicate form that none of the youths
or young girls affected him. One day the nymph
saw him, driving frightened deer into his nets, she of the echoing voice,
who cannot be silent when others have spoken, nor learn how to speak first
altered Echo?s speech
&&&& still had a body then and was
not merely a voice. But though she was garrulous, she had no other trick of
speech than she has now: she can repeat the last words out of many.
made her like that, because often when she might have caught the nymphs lying
beneath her , on the mountain slopes, Echo knowingly
held her in long conversations, while the nymphs fled. When
realised this she said ?I shall
give you less power over that tongue by which I have been deluded, and the
briefest ability to speak? and what she threatened she did. Echo only repeats
the last of what is spoken and returns the words she hears.
&&&&Now when she saw
wandering through the remote fields,
she was inflamed, following him secretly, and the more she followed the closer
she burned with fire, no differently than inflammable sulphur, pasted round
the tops of torches, catches fire, when a flame is brought near it. O how
often she wants to get close to him with seductive words, and call him with
soft entreaties! Her nature denies it, and will not let her begin, but she
is ready for what it will allow her to do, to wait for sounds, to which she
can return words.
&&&&By chance, the boy, separated from his faithful band of followers, had called
out ?Is anyone here?? and ?Here? Echo replied. He is astonished, and
glances everywhere, and shouts in a loud voice ?Come to me!? She calls as
he calls. He looks back, and no one appearing behind, asks ?Why do you run
from me?? and receives the same words as he speaks. He stands still, and deceived
by the likeness to an answering voice, says ?Here, let us meet together?.
And, never answering to another sound more gladly, Echo replies ?Together?,
and to assist her words comes out of the woods to put her arms around his
neck, in longing. He runs from her, and running cries ?Away with these encircling
hands! May I die before what?s mine is yours. She answers, only ?What?s
mine is yours!?
&&&&Scorned, she wanders in the woods and hides her face in shame among the leaves,
and from that time on lives in lonely caves. But still her love endures, increased
by the sadness of rejection. Her sleepless thoughts waste her sad form, and
her body?s strength vanishes into the air. Only her bones and the sound of
her voice are left. Her voice remains, her bones, they say, were changed to
shapes of stone. She hides in the woods, no longer to be seen on the hills,
but to be heard by everyone. It is sound that lives in her.
sees himself and falls in love
had scorned
her, so he had scorned the other nymphs of the rivers and mountains, so he
had scorned the companies of young men. Then one of those who had been mocked,
lifting hands to the skies, said ?So may he himself love, and so may he fail
to command what he loves!? , who is the goddess , heard this just request.
&&&&There was an unclouded fountain, with silver-bright water, which
neither shepherds nor goats grazing the hills, nor other flocks, touched,
that no animal or bird disturbed not even a branch falling from a tree. Grass
was around it, fed by the moisture nearby, and a grove of trees that prevented
the sun from warming the place. Here, the boy, tired by the heat and his enthusiasm
for the chase, lies down, drawn to it by its look and by the fountain. While
he desires to quench his thirst, a different thirst is created. While he drinks
he is seized by the vision of his reflected form. He loves a bodiless dream.
He thinks that a body, that is only a shadow. He is astonished by himself,
and hangs there motionless, with a fixed expression, like a statue carved
&&&&Flat on the ground, he contemplates two stars, his eyes, and
his hair, fit for , fit for ,
his youthful cheeks and ivory neck, the beauty of his face, the rose-flush
mingled in the whiteness of snow, admiring everything for which he is himself
admired. Unknowingly he desires himself, and the one who praises is himself
praised, and, while he courts, is courted, so that, equally, he inflames and
burns. How often he gave his lips in vain to the deceptive pool, how often,
trying to embrace the neck he could see, he plunged his arms into the water,
but could not catch himself within them! What he has seen he does not understand,
but what he sees he is on fire for, and the same error both seduces and deceives
&&&&Fool, why try to catch a fleeting image, in vain? What you search
for is nowhere: turning away, what you love is lost! What you perceive is
the shadow of reflected form: nothing of you is in it. It comes and stays
with you, and leaves with you, if you can leave!
laments the pain of unrequited love
&&&&No care for
gift of bread, or for rest, can draw
him away. Stretched on the shadowed grass he gazes at that false image with
unsated eyes, and loses himself in his own vision. Raising himself a little
way and holding his arms out to the woods, he asks, ?Has anyone ever loved
more cruelly than I? You must know, since you have been a chance hiding place
for many people. Do you remember in your life that lasts so many centuries,
in all the long ages past, anyone who pined away like this? I am enchanted
and I see, but I cannot reach what I see and what enchants me? ? so deep in
error is this lover ? ?and it increases my pain the more, that no wide sea
separates us, no road, no mountains, no walls with locked doors.
&&&&?We are only kept apart by a little water! Whenever I extend my lips to the
clear liquid, he tries to raise his lips to me. He desires to be held. You
would think he could be touched: it is such a small thing that prevents our
love. Whoever you are come out to me! Why do you disappoint me, you extraordinary
boy? Where do you vanish when I reach for you? Surely my form and years are
not what you flee from, and I am one that the nymphs have loved! You offer
me some unknown hope with your friendly look, and when I stretch my arms out
to you, you stretch out yours. When I smile, you smile back. And I have often
seen your tears when I weep tears. You return the gesture of my head with
a nod, and, from the movements of your lovely mouth, I guess that you reply
with words that do not reach my ears!
&&&&?I am he. I sense it and I am not deceived by my own image. I am burning with
love for myself. I move and bear the flames. What shall I do? Surely not court
and be courted? Why court then? What I want I have. My riches make me poor.
O I wish I could leave my own body! Strange prayer for a lover, I desire what
I love to be distant from me. Now sadness takes away my strength, not much
time is left for me to live, and I am cut off in the prime of youth. Nor is
dying painful to me, laying down my sadness in death. I wish that him I love
might live on, but now we shall die united, two in one spirit.?
is changed into a flower
&&&&He spoke, and returned madly to the same reflection, and his
tears stirred the water, and the image became obscured in the rippling pool.
As he saw it vanishing, he cried out ? Where do you fly to?
Stay, cruel one,
do not abandon one who loves you! I am allowed to gaze at what I cannot touch,
and so provide food for my miserable passion!? While he weeps, he tears at
the top of his clothes: then strikes his naked chest with hands of marble.
His chest flushes red when they strike it, as apples are often pale in part,
part red, or as grapes in their different bunches are stained with purple
when they are not yet ripe.
&&&&As he sees all this reflected in the dissolving waves, he can
bear it no longer, but as yellow wax melts in a light flame, as morning frost
thaws in the sun, so he is weakened and melted by love, and worn away little
by little by the hidden fire. He no longer retains his colour, the white mingled
with red, no longer has life and strength, and that form so pleasing to look
at, nor has he that body which
Still, when she saw this, though angered and remembering, she pitied him,
and as often as the poor boy said ?Alas!? she repeated with her echoing voice
?Alas!? and when his hands strike at his shoulders, she returns the
same sounds of pain. His last words as he looked into the familiar pool were
?Alas, in vain, beloved boy!? and the place echoed every word, and when he
said ?Goodbye!? Echo also said ?Goodbye!?
&&&&He laid down his weary head in the green grass, death closing
those eyes that had marvelled at their lord?s beauty.
&&&&And even when he had been received into the house of shadows, he gazed into
waters. His sisters the
lamented, and let down their
hair for their brother, and the
lamented. Echo returned their laments.
And now they were preparing the funeral pyre, the quivering torches and the
bier, but there was no body. They came upon a flower, instead of his body,
with white petals surrounding a yellow heart.
prophesies Pentheus?s fate
&&&&When all this became known it spread the ?s fame throughout the cities
of , and his reputation was high.
Still, , the son of , in scorn of the gods, alone amongst
all of them, rejected the seer, laughed at the old man?s words of augury,
and taunted him with the darkness, and the ruin of his lost sight. He, shaking
his white head in warning, said ?How happy you would be if these dispossessed
orbs were yours, so as not to see the sacred rites of ! Now the day approaches, and I see
it is not far off, when the new god, ,
will come, and unless
you think him worthy to be done honour in your sanctuaries, you will be scattered,
torn, in a thousand pieces, and stain your mother, and her sisters and the
woods themselves with your blood. It will be! You will not think the god worthy
of being honoured, and you will lament of me, that in my darkness I have seen
too far.? Even as he speaks, Echion?s son thrusts him away. The truth of his
words followed, the oracles of the prophet were performed.
rejects the worship of Bacchus
&&&& has come, and the
festive fields echo with cries. The crowd all run, fathers, mothers, young
girls, princes and people, mixed together, swept towards the unknown rites.
shouts ?What madness has stupefied
your minds, children of the serpent, people of ? Can the clash of brazen cymbals, pipes
of curved horn, and magical tricks be so powerful that men, who were not terrified
by drawn swords or blaring trumpets or ranks of sharp spears, are overcome
by the shrieks of women, men mad with wine, crowds of obscenities, and empty
drumming? Should I admire you, elders, who, sailing the deep seas, sited your
here, your exiled , and now let them be taken without a
fight? Or you younger men, of fresher age, nearer my own, for whom it was
fitting to carry weapons and not the ,
your heads covered with helmets not crowns of leaves? Remember, I beg you,
from what roots you were created, and show the spirit of the serpent, who,
though one alone, killed many. He died for his spring and pool, but you should
conquer for your own glory! He put brave men to death, but you should make
craven men run, and maintain the honour of your country! If it is ?s fate to stand for only a short
time, I wish her walls might be destroyed by men and siege engines, that fire
and iron might sound against her! Then we would be miserable but not sinful,
we would lament our fate not try to hide it, our tears would be free from
shame. But now Thebes will be taken by an unarmed boy, who takes no pleasure
in fighting, or weapons, or the use of horses, but in myrrh-drenched hair,
soft wreathes of leaves, and embroidered robes woven with gold. But, if you
stand aside, I will quickly force him to confess that his pretended parentage
and religion are inventions. Should Pentheus and the rest of Thebes be terrified
of his arrival, when
had courage
enough to defy a false god, and shut the gates of
at his coming? ?Go quickly?, he ordered his attendants ?bind him and drag
him here, this conqueror! Don?t be slow in carrying out your orders!?
&&&&His grandfather, , his uncle, , and the rest of his advisors reprove
his words, and try in vain to restrain him. He is only made more eager by
their warning, and his rage is maddened and grows with restraint, and he is
provoked by their objections. So I have seen a river, where nothing obstructs
its passage, flow calmly and with little noise, but rage and foam wherever
trees and obstacles of stone held it back, fiercer for the obstruction.
is captured and interrogated
&&&&See now, they return, stained with blood, and when their lord
queries where
is, they deny
having seen Bacchus, but reply, ?We have captured this companion of his, a
priest of his sacred rites? and they hand over a man of
stock, with his hands bound
behind his back, a follower of the worship of the god.
looks at him, with eyes made terrible
by anger, and although he can scarcely wait for the moment of punishment,
he says ?O you who are about to die, and, by your death, teach the others
a lesson, tell me your name, your parents? name and your country, and why
you follow the customs of this new religion!?
&&&&Without fear, he answers ?My name is , and
is my country, my parents humble ordinary people. My father did not leave
me fields for sturdy oxen to work, no flocks of sheep, nor any cattle. I am
poor as he himself was, and he used to catch fish in the streams with a rod
and line and a hook to snare them. His skill was his wealth, and when he bequeathed
it to me, he said ?Take what I have. Apply yourself to the work as my successor
and heir.? Dying, he left me nothing but water. The only thing I can call
my inheritance.
&&&&Soon, so that I was not stuck for ever to the same rocks, I
learned how to guide boats, steering oar in hand, and to observe
and the rainy stars of the
among the , the , and the , the houses of the winds, and the
havens for ships.
story ? the beautiful boy
&&&&Heading for , and being
driven by chance onto the coast of the island of , making shore by skilful use of the oars,
giving a gentle leap, and landing on the wet sand, there we passed the night.
As soon as the dawn began to redden, I ordered the getting in of fresh water,
and showed the path that lead to a spring. I myself commanded the view from
a high hill to find what wind promised, called my comrades and went back to
the boat. ?See, we are here? said ,
the foremost of my friends, and led a boy, with the beauty of a virgin girl,
along the shore, a prize, or so he thought, that he had found in a deserted
field. The boy seemed to stumble, heavy with wine and sleep, and could scarcely
follow. I examined his clothing, appearance and rank, and I saw nothing that
made me think him mortal. And I felt this and said it to my companions ?I
do not know what god is in that body, but there is a god within! Whoever you
are, O favour and assist our efforts, and forgive these men!? ?Don?t pray
for us? said , who was the quickest
at climbing to the highest yard and sliding down grasping the rigging. So
said , and yellow-haired , the forward look-out, and
agreed, and , who with his voice gave the measure
and the pauses for the oarsmen to urge on their purpose. All the others said
the same, so blind was their greed for gain.
&&&&?I still will not allow this ship to be cursed by a sacred victim
to whom violence has been done? I said. ?Here I have the greatest authority?.
And I prevented them boarding. Then
the most audacious of them all began
to rage at me, he who had been thrown out of , and was suffering the punishment
of exile from his city for a terrible murder. While I held him off, he punched
me in the throat with his strong young fists, and would have thrown me semi-conscious
into the sea, if I had not clung on, almost stunned, held back by the rigging.
The impious crew cheered on the doer of it. Then, at last, Bacchus (for it
was indeed Bacchus) was freed from sleep, as if by the clamour, and the sense
returned to his drunken mind. ?What are you doing? Why this shouting? he said.
?Tell me, you seamen, how I came here? Where do you intend to take me?? ?Have
no fear?, said , ?and, whatever
port you wish to touch at, you will be set down in the country you demand!?
?? said , ?set your course for there! That is my
home: it will be a friendly land to you!
ship and crew are transformed
&&&&The treacherous men swore, by the sea and all the gods, it would
be so, and told me to get the painted vessel under sail.
was to starboard, but as I trimmed the
sails on a starboard tack, they, each one, asked me ?What are you doing, O
madman? , what craziness has got
into you? Take the port tack!? most of them letting me know what they intended
with a nod of the head, the others in a whisper. I was horrified. ?Someone
else can steer? I said, and distanced myself from the wickedness and deception.
There were cries against me from all sides, the whole crew murmured against
me. And one of them, , cried
?You seem to think that all our lives depend on you alone! Then he took my
place himself, discharged my office, and abandoning Naxos took the opposite
&&&&Then the god, playfully, as though he had just realised their
deceit, looked at the sea over the curve of the stern, and as though he were
weeping said ?Sailors, these are not the shores you promised me, and this
is not the land I chose for myself? What have I done to merit punishment?
Where?s the glory in men cheating a boy, or many cheating just one?? I was
already weeping, but the impious crew laughed at my tears, and drove the ship
quickly through the water.
&&&&Now I swear by the god himself (since there is no god more certainly
present than he is) that what I say to you is the truth, though that truth
beggars belief. The ship stands still in the waves, just as if it were held
in dry dock. Amazed, the crew keep flogging away at the oars, and unfurling
the sails, try to run on with double power. But ivy impedes the oars, creeping
upwards, with binding tendrils, and drapes the sails with heavy clusters.
The god himself waves a rod twined with vine leaves, his forehead wreathed
with bunches of grapes. Around him lie insubstantial phantom lynxes, tigers,
and the savage bodies of spotted panthers. The men leap overboard, driven
to it either by madness or by fear. And
is the first to darken all over his body, and his spine to be bent into an
arched curve.
&&&& cries out to
him ?What monster are you turning into?? And in speaking his jaws widen, his
nose becomes hooked, and his skin becomes hard and scaly. But
hampered when he wishes to turn the oars
sees his hands shrink suddenly in size, and now they are not hands, but can
only be called fins. Another, eager to grasp at the tangled ropes, no longer
has arms, and goes arching backwards limbless into the sea. His newest feature
is a scythe-shaped tail, like the curved horns of a fragmentary moon. The
dolphins leap everywhere drenched with spray. They emerge once more, only
to return again to the depths, playing together as if they were in a troupe,
throwing their bodies around wantonly, and blowing out the seawater drawn
in through their broad nostrils.
&&&&Of a group of twenty (that was how many the ship carried) I
alone was left. The god roused me with difficulty, my body shaking with cold
and terror, and barely myself, saying ?Free your heart from fear, and hold
off for ! And consigned to that island,
I have adopted its religion, and celebrate the
is killed by the Maenads
&&&&?We have only listened to this winding tale?, said ,
?so that our anger might spend its strength in delay. ?You, attendants, remove
this man, quickly, and let his body be tortured in greatest anguish, and send
him down to
night!? , the , was dragged out, straightaway,
and shut in a deep dungeon. But while the instruments of cruelty, the irons
and the fire, were being prepared to kill him as had been ordered, the doors
flew open by themselves, the chains loosening without any effort, so tradition
&&&&The son of
in his purpose, not ordering others to go, but now going himself, to where
Mount , chosen for performing
the rites, was sounding with the chants and shrill cries of the . As a brave horse snorts and shows
his love for the fight, when the trumpeter?s brass gives the signal for attack,
so the heavens pulsating from the long drawn-out cries stirred Pentheus, and,
hearing the clamour, his anger flared again.
&&&&Near the middle of the mountainside, was a clearing surrounded
with remote woods, free of trees, and visible from all sides. Here as he watched
the mysteries, with profane eyes, his mother was the first to see Pentheus,
the first roused to run at him madly, the first to wound him, hurling her
. She shouted ?O you two, sisters,
come! That huge boar, who is straying in our fields, that boar is my sacrifice.?
They all rush on him in one maddened crowd: they converge together pursuing
the frightened man, frightened now, speaking words free of violence now, cursing
himself now, realising his own offence. Stricken, he still shouts ?Help me,
aunt ! Let ?s
shade move your spirit!
&&&&She, not remembering Actaeon, tears away the suppliant?s right
arm. , in frenzy, rips off the other.
Now the unhappy man has no limbs to hold out to his mother, but, showing his
wounded trunk shorn of its members, he cries ?Mother, see!?.
howls, and twists her neck about, and thrashes
her hair in the air, and tearing off his head, holding it in her bloody hands,
shouts ?Behold, sisters, this act marks our victory!?
&&&&The wind does not strip the leaves clinging there, from the
high tree touched by an autumn frost, more quickly than this man?s limbs are
torn by those terrible hands. Warned by such an example, the
women throng to the new religion,
burn incense, and worship at the sacred altars.
On to Book IV}