Hercules Oetaeus Lines 1-103

Aidan Badhwar /
  • Created on 2024-10-01 17:17:01
  • Modified on 2024-10-06 01:06:54
  • Aligned by Aidan Badhwar
Poor translation of Hercules Oetaeus 1-103. I will revise and submit a more accurate version once this is aligned.
Latin
English
Sator deorum , cuius excussum manu
utraeque Phoebi sentiunt fulmen domus ,
secure regna— protuli pacem tibi ,
quacumque Nereus porrigi terras vetat ,
non est tonandum : perfidi reges iacent ,
saevi tyranni , fregimus quicquid fuit
tibi fulminandum . sed mihi caelum , parens ,
adhuc negatur ? parui certe Iove
ubique dignus teque testata est meum
patrem noverca , quid tamen nectis moras ?
numquid timemur ? numquid impositum sibi
non poterit Atlas ferre cum caelo Herculem ?
quid astra , genitor , quid negas ? mors me tibi
certe remisit , omne concessit malum
quod terra genuit , pontus aer inferi :
nullus per urbes errat Arcadias leo ,
Stymphalis icta est , Maenali nulla est fera ;
sparsit peremptus aureum serpens nemus
et hydra vires posuit et notos Hebro
cruore pingues hospitum fregi greges
hostisque traxi spolia Thermodontiae .
vidi silentum fata nec tantum redi ,
sed trepidus atrum Cerberum vidit dies
et ille solem , nullus Antaeus Libys
animam resumit , cecidit ante aras suas
Busiris , una est Geryon sparsus manu
taurusque populis horridus centum pavor .
quodcumque tellus genuit infesta occidit
meaque fusum est dextera : iratis deis
non licuit esse . si negat mundus feras ,
animum noverca , redde nunc nato patrem ,
vel astra forti , nec peto ut monstres iter ;
permitte tantum , genitor : inveniam viam .
vel si times ne terra concipiat feras ,
properet malum quodcumque , dum terra Herculem
habet videtque : nam quis invadet mala
aut quis per urbes rursus Argolicas erit
Iunonis odio dignus ? in tutum meas
laudes redegi , nulla me tellus silet :
me sensit ursae frigidum Scythicae genus
Indusque Phoebo subditus , cancro Libys ;
te , clare Titan , testor : occurri tibi
quacumque fulges , nec meos lux prosequi
potuit -triumphos , solis excessi vices
intraque nostras substitit metas dies .
natura cessit , terra defecit gradum :
lassata prior est . nox et extremum chaos
in me incucurrit : inde ad hunc orbem redi ,
nemo unde retro est . tulimus Oceani minas ,
nec ulla valuit quatere tempestas ratem
quamcumque pressi— pars quota est Perseus mei ?
iam vacuus aether non potest odio tuae
sufficere nuptae quasque devincam feras
tellus timet concipere nec monstra invenit .
ferae negantur : Hercules monstri loco
iam coepit esse ; quanta enim fregi mala .
quot scelera nudus ! quicquid immane obstitit ,
solae manus stravere ; nec iuvenis feras
timui nec infans , quicquid est iussum , leve est ,
nec ulla nobis segnis illuxit dies .
o quanta rudi monstra quae nullus mihi
rex imperavit ! institit virtus mihi
Iunone peior , sed quid inpavidum genus
fecisse prodest ? non habent pacem dei :
purgata tellus omnis in caelo videt
quodcumque timuit : transtulit Iuno feras .
ambit peremptus cancer ardentem plagam
Libyaeque sidus fertur et messes alit ;
annum fugacem tradit Astraeae leo ,
at ille , iactans fervidam collo iubam ,
austrum madentem siccat et nimbos rapit .
invasit omnis ecce iam caelum fera
meque antecessit : victor e terris meos
specto labores , astra portentis prius
ferisque Iuno tribuit , ut caelum mihi
faceret timendum , sparserit mundum licet
caelumque terris peius ac peius Styge
irata faciat , dabitur Alcidae locus .
si post feras , post bella , post Stygium canem
haud dum astra merui , Siculus Hesperium latus
tangat Pelorus , una iam tellus erit ;
illinc fugabo maria : si iungi iubes ,
committat undas Isthmos , et iuncto salo
nova ferantur Atticae puppes via .
mutetur orbis , vallibus currat novis
Hister novasque Tanais accipiat vias .
da , da tuendos , Iuppiter , saltem deos :
illa licebit fulmen a parte auferas ,
ego quam tuebor , sive glacialem polum ,
seu me tueri fervidam partem iubes ,
hac esse superos parte securos puta .
Cirrhaea Paean templa et aetheriam domum
serpente caeso meruit : o quotiens iacet
Python in hydra ! Bacchus et Perseus deis
iam se intulere : sed quota est mundi plaga
oriens subactus aut quota est Gorgon fera ?
quis astra natus laudibus meruit suis
ex te et noverca ? quem tuli mundum peto .
Sed tu , comes laboris Herculei , Licha ,
perfer triumphos , Euryti victos lares
stratumque regnum , vos pecus rapite ocius
qua templa tollens acta Cenaei Iovis
austro timendum spectat Euboicum mare .
Creator of the gods , whose hand has shaken both houses of Phoebus , I have brought forth peace for you— though Nereus forbids the lands to stretch wide , it is not to be thundered : treacherous kings lie prostrate , fierce tyrants , we have shattered all that was to be struck by your thunder . But is the sky , O parent , still denied to me ? I certainly obeyed Jupiter , everywhere worthy of you , and my stepmother has attested to me as her son ; yet why do you weave delays ? Do we perhaps inspire fear ? Can Atlas not bear Hercules with the sky upon him ? What of the stars , father , what do you deny ? Death has certainly sent me back to you , every evil that the earth has borne , the sea , the air , the underworld has yielded to me : no lion wanders through Arcadian cities , Stymphalis is struck , there are no beasts in Maenalus ; the golden serpent has scattered the grove , and the Hydra has laid down its strength , and the well - known Hebrus has soaked the rich herds of hosts with blood . I have crushed the spoils of the enemy of Thermodon . I have seen silent fates , and not just returned , but trembling I saw the dark Cerberus , and he saw the sun ; no Libyan Antaeus revives his spirit , Busiris fell before his own altars , one Geryon is scattered by hand , and the bull is a horror to the people , a hundred fears . Whatever the earth has borne it has perished hostilely and my right hand is poured out : it was not allowed to exist before the angry gods . If the world denies beasts , O stepmother , now give back to your son his father , or the stars boldly , nor do I seek that you display the way ; just permit me , father : I will find the path . Or if you fear the earth might conceive beasts , whatever evil rushes forth , while the earth holds Hercules and sees him : for who will invade evils or who in the cities again will be worthy of Juno’s hatred ? I have brought my praises to safety , no land is silent against me : the cold bears of Scythia have felt me , and the Indus , subject to Phoebus , Libyans under Cancer ; you , bright Titan , I testify : I have met you wherever you shine , nor could light follow my triumphs , I have crossed the sun’s limits and the day has lingered within our borders . Nature has yielded , the earth has failed in step : the prior one has grown weary . Night and the ultimate chaos have rushed into me : hence return to this world , no one comes from where he is . We have borne the threats of the Ocean , nor has any storm been strong enough to shake the vessel , whatever we pressed— what part of Perseus is mine ? Now the empty ether cannot suffice for your hated bride , and the earth fears to conceive beasts and does not find monsters . The beasts are denied : Hercules now has begun to be in place of the monster ; for how many evils have I shattered ? How many crimes bare ! Whatever immense thing has stood against me , my hands alone have laid them low ; nor did I fear the beasts as a youth , nor as an infant : whatever has been commanded is light , nor has any sluggish day shone for us . O how many rudimentary monsters , which no king has commanded me ! Virtue has stood by me , worse than Juno , but what does it profit an undaunted race ? The gods have no peace : the purified earth sees everything in heaven that it feared : Juno has transported the beasts . The slain crab strides forth bearing the blazing wound and the star of Libya is carried and nurtures the harvests ; the lion of Astraea hands over the fleeing year , but he , shaking his fiery mane , dries the dripping south wind and snatches the clouds . Behold , all the wild has already invaded the sky and has gone before me : victorious from the lands I look at my labors , the stars have given their portents before and Juno has granted the wilds , so that heaven might be terrifying to me , though the world may be scattered , and though heaven and earth , worse and worse , may make Styx furious , a place will be given to Alcides . If after beasts , after wars , after the Styx dog , I have not yet deserved the stars , let the Sicilian Pelorus touch the Hesperian side ; one land will now be united ; from there I will drive off the seas : if you command to join , let the Isthmus commit the waves , and with the joined sea let the new ships of Attica be borne along the way . Let the world be changed , let it run through new valleys , let the Ister receive new pathways . Give , give protectors , Jupiter , at least the gods : it will be allowed to take away the lightning from your side , which I will guard , whether you command to protect the icy sky , or whether you command me to guard the fiery part , consider this part to be secure from the gods . Cirrhaean Paean earned the temples and the aetherial home from the serpent killed : O how often Python lies in the Hydra ! Bacchus and Perseus have now gone to the gods : but how much is the region of the world ? How much is the eastern area subdued or how much is the Gorgon beast ? Who among the stars has deserved praises from you and the stepmother ? Whom do I seek in the world ? But you , companion of Hercules ' labor , Lichas , bear the triumphs , the conquered homes of Eurytus and the laid low kingdom , you swiftly seize the flock where the temples of Cenaean Jupiter rise , the fearful Euboicum sea watches .


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