Valerius Flaccus, Gaius, Argonautica

C. Valeri Flacci Argonauticon Liber Primus.

The Argonautica of Gaius Valerius Flaccus, Book One.

Prima deum magnis canimus freta pervia natis

We sing of the straits first crossed by the great sons of the gods,

fatidicamque ratem, Scythici quae Phasidis oras

and of the prophetic ship, which dared to seek

ausa sequi mediosque inter iuga concita cursus

the shores of Scythian Phasis, and between the clashing ridges a course through the midst

iam Rhodopes nemora alta gemunt, talem incita longis

and now the high groves of Rhodope groan: such a Lycurgus his frantic

porticibus coniunxque fugit natique Lycurgum.

wife and his children flee through the long colonnades.

Tartareo tum sacra Iovi Stygiisque ferebat

Then Alcimede was bringing offerings to Tartarean Jove and to the Stygian

manibus Alcimede tanto super auxia nato,

shades, anxious over so great a son,

siquid ab excitis melius praenosceret umbris.

[to see] if she could learn beforehand something better from the ghosts she had roused.

vertitur, hunc solum propter seu vivere gaudens

she turns, glad, for his sake alone, either to live

sive mori, quodcumque velit. maiora precatur

or to die, whichever he may wish. She prays for greater

carmina, maiores Hecaten immittere vires

spells, [prays] that Hecate send greater powers

nunc sibi, nec notis stabat contenta venenis.

into her now, and she did not rest content with familiar poisons.

cingitur inde sinus et, qua sibi fida magis vis

Then her robe is girded up, and the flower, than which no power is more

nulla, Prometheae florem de sanguine fibrae

trusted by her, from the blood of Prometheus' liver,

Cauaseum promit nutritaque gramina poenis,

the Caucasian flower, she brings out, and grasses nourished by his torments,

quae sacer ille nives inter tristesque pruinas

which that sacred gore, among the snows and grim frosts,

durat alitque cruor, cum viscere vultur adeso

hardens and feeds, when the vulture, the flesh devoured,

tollitur e scopulis et rostro inrorat aperto.

rises from the crags and sprinkles [it] from its open beak.

idem nec longi languesct finibus aevi

That same [blood] does not fade at the limits of a long age,

immortale virens, idem stat fulmina contra

green and undying; that same blood stands firm against thunderbolts,

sanguis et in mediiis florescunt ignibus herbae.

and in the midst of fires the herbs blossom.

prima Hecate Stygiis duratam fontibus harpen

Hecate first brought to it a sickle tempered in the springs of Styx

intulit et validas scopulis effodit aristas;

and dug the sturdy ears out of the crags;

mox famulae monstrata seges, quae lampade Phoebes

afterwards the crop was shown to her handmaid, who, by Phoebe's

sub decima iuga feta metit saevitque per omnes

tenth lamp, reaps the teeming ridges and rages through all

relliquias saniemque dei; gemit inritus ille

the remains and gore of the god; he groans, powerless,

Colchidos ora tuens; totos tunc contrahit artus

watching the Colchian's face; then all his limbs are drawn in

†monte† dolor cunctaeque tremunt sub falce catenae.

†on the mountain† by pain, and all the chains tremble beneath the sickle.

Talibus infelix contra sua regna venenis

With such poisons, against her own kingdom, the unhappy girl

induitur noctique tremens infertur opacae.

arms herself, and trembling goes out into the dark night.