poovfa05

from FASTI - Book I	JANUARY 9
Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso)	trans. A. S. Kline

Quattuor adde dies ductos ex ordine Nonis,
.... Ianus Agonali luce piandus erit.
nominis esse potest succinctus causa minister,
.... hostia caelitibus quo feriente cadit,
qui calido strictos tincturus sanguine cultros
.... semper agatne rogat nec nisi iussus agit.
pars, quia non veniant pecudes, sed agantur, ab actu
.... nomen Agonalem credit habere diem.
pars putat hoc festum priscis Agnalia dictum,
.... una sit ut proprio littera dempta loco.
an, quia praevisos in aqua timet hostia cultros,
.... a pecoris lux est ipsa notata metu?
fas etiam fieri solitis aetate priorum
.... nomina de ludis Graeca tulisse diem.
et pecus antiquus dicebat agonia sermo;
.... veraque iudicio est ultima causa meo.
utque ea non certa est, ita rex placare sacrorum
.... numina lanigerae coniuge debet ovis.
victima quae dextra cecidit victrice vocatur;
.... hostibus a domitis hostia nomen habet.
ante, deos homini quod conciliare valeret,
.... far erat et puri lucida mica salis.
nondum pertulerat lacrimatas cortice murras
.... acta per aequoreas hospita navis aquas,
tura nec Euphrates nec miserat India costum,
.... nec fuerant rubri cognita fila croci.
ara dabat fumos herbis contenta Sabinis,
.... et non exiguo laurus adusta sono;
siquis erat factis prati de flore coronis
.... qui posset violas addere, dives erat.
hic, qui nunc aperit percussi viscera tauri,
.... in sacris nullum culter habebat opus.
prima Ceres avidae gavisa est sanguine porcae,
.... ulta suas merita caede nocentis opes:
nam sata vere novo teneris lactentia sucis
.... eruta saetigerae comperit ore suis.
sus dederat poenas: exemplo territus huius
.... palmite debueras abstinuisse, caper.
quem spectans aliquis dentes in vite prementem,
.... talia non tacito dicta dolore dedit:
'rode, caper, vitem: tamen hinc, cum stabis ad aram,
.... in tua quod spargi cornua possit erit.'
verba fides sequitur: noxae tibi deditus hostis
.... spargitur adfuso cornua, Bacche, mero.
culpa sui nocuit, nocuit quoque culpa capellae:
.... quid bos, quid placidae commeruistis oves?
flebat Aristaeus, quod apes cum stirpe necatas
.... viderat inceptos destituisse favos;
caerula quem genetrix aegre solata dolentem
.... addidit haec dictis ultima verba suis:
'siste, puer, lacrimas: Proteus tua damna levabit
.... quoque modo repares quae periere dabit.
decipiat ne te versis tamen ille figuris,
.... impediant geminas vincula firma manus.'
pervenit ad vatem iuvenis, resolutaque somno
.... alligat aequorei bracchia capta senis.
ille sua faciem transformis adulterat arte;
.... mox domitus vinclis in sua membra redit,
oraque caerulea tollens rorantia barba
.... 'qua' dixit 'repares arte requiris apes?
obrue mactati corpus tellure iuvenci:
.... quod petis a nobis, obrutus ille dabit.'
iussa facit pastor; fervent examina putri
.... de bove: mille animas una necata dedit.
poscit ovem fatum: verbenas improba carpsit,
.... quas pia dis ruris ferre solebat anus.
quid tuti superest, animam cum ponat in aris
.... lanigerumque pecus ruricolaeque boves?
placat equo Persis radiis Hyperiona cinctum,
.... ne detur celeri victima tarda deo.
quod semel est geminae pro virgine caesa Dianae,
.... nunc quoque pro nulla virgine cerva cadit.
exta canum vidi Triviae libare Sapaeos
.... et quicumque tuas accolit, Haeme, nives.
caeditur et rigido custodi ruris asellus;
.... causa pudenda quidem, sed tamen apta deo.
festa corymbiferi celebrabas, Graecia, Bacchi,
.... tertia quae solito tempore bruma refert.
di quoque cultores in idem venere Lyaei
.... et quicumque iocis non alienus erat,
Panes et in Venerem Satyrorum prona iuventus
.... quaeque colunt amnes solaque rura deae.
venerat et senior pando Silenus asello,
.... quique ruber pavidas inguine terret aves.
dulcia qui dignum nemus in convivia nacti
.... gramine vestitis accubuere toris:
vina dabat Liber, tulerat sibi quisque coronam,
.... miscendas parce rivus agebat aquas.
Naides effusis aliae sine pectinis usu,
.... pars aderant positis arte manuque comis;
illa super suras tunicam collecta ministrat,
.... altera dissuto pectus aperta sinu;
exserit haec umerum, vestes trahit illa per herbas,
.... impediunt teneros vincula nulla pedes.
hinc aliae Satyris incendia mitia praebent,
.... pars tibi, qui pinu tempora nexa geris:
te quoque, inexstinctae Silene libidinis, urunt:
.... nequitia est quae te non sinit esse senem.
at ruber, hortorum decus et tutela, Priapus
.... omnibus ex illis Lotide captus erat:
hanc cupit, hanc optat, sola suspirat in illa,
.... signaque dat nutu sollicitatque notis.
fastus inest pulchris sequiturque superbia formam:
.... inrisum voltu despicit illa suo.
nox erat, et vino somnum faciente iacebant
.... corpora diversis victa sopore locis;
Lotis in herbosa sub acernis ultima ramis,
.... sicut erat lusu fessa, quievit humo.
surgit amans animamque tenens vestigia furtim
.... suspenso digitis fert taciturna gradu.
ut tetigit niveae secreta cubilia nymphae,
.... ipsa sui flatus ne sonet aura cavet;
et iam finitima corpus librabat in herba:
.... illa tamen multi plena soporis erat.
gaudet et a pedibus tracto velamine vota
.... ad sua felici coeperat ire via.
ecce rudens rauco Sileni vector asellus
.... intempestivos edidit ore sonos.
territa consurgit nymphe, manibusque Priapum
.... reicit, et fugiens concitat omne nemus.
at deus, obscena nimium quoque parte paratus,
.... omnibus ad lunae lumina risus erat.
morte dedit poenas auctor clamoris; et haec est
.... Hellespontiaco victima grata deo.
intactae fueratis aves, solacia ruris,
.... adsuetum silvis innocuumque genus,
quae facitis nidos et plumis ova fovetis,
.... et facili dulces editis ore modos;
sed nihil ista iuvant, quia linguae crimen habetis,
.... dique putant mentes vos aperire suas.
(nec tamen hoc falsum: nam, dis ut proxima quaeque,
.... nunc pinna veras, nunc datis ore notas.)
tuta diu volucrum proles tum denique caesa est,
.... iuveruntque deos indicis exta sui.
ergo saepe suo coniunx abducta marito
.... uritur Idaliis alba columba focis.
nec defensa iuvant Capitolia, quo minus anser
.... det iecur in lances, Inachioti, tuas.
nocte deae Nocti cristatus caeditur ales,
.... quod tepidum vigili provocet ore diem.
Interea Delphin clarum super aequora sidus
.... tollitur et patriis exserit ora vadis.

Add four successive days to the Nones and Janus
Must be propitiated on the Agonal day.
The day may take its name from the girded priest
At whose blow the god's sacrifice is felled:
Always, before he stains the naked blade with hot blood,
He asks if he should (agatne), and won't unless commanded.
Some believe that the day is called Agonal because
The sheep do not come to the altar but are driven (agantur).
Others think the ancients called this festival Agnalia,
'Of the lambs', dropping a letter from its usual place.
Or because the victim fears the knife mirrored in the water,
The day might be so called from the creature's agony?
It may also be that the day has a Greek name
From the games (agones) that were held in former times.
And in ancient speech agonia meant a sheep,
And this last reason in my judgement is the truth.
Though the meaning is uncertain, the king of the rites,
Must appease the gods with the mate of a woolly ewe.
It's called the victim because a victorious hand fells it:
And hostia, sacrifice, from hostile conquered foes.
Cornmeal, and glittering grains of pure salt,
Were once the means for men to placate the gods.
No foreign ship had yet brought liquid myrrh
Extracted from tree's bark, over the ocean waves:
Euphrates had not sent incense, nor India balm,
And the threads of yellow saffron were unknown.
The altar was happy to fume with Sabine juniper,
And the laurel burned with a loud crackling.
He was rich, whoever could add violets
To garlands woven from meadow flowers.
The knife that bares the entrails of the stricken bull,
Had no role to perform in the sacred rites.
Ceres was first to delight in the blood of the greedy sow,
Her crops avenged by the rightful death of the guilty creature,
She learned that in spring the grain, milky with sweet juice,
Had been uprooted by the snouts of bristling pigs.
The swine were punished: terrified by that example,
You should have spared the vine-shoots, he-goat.
Watching a goat nibbling a vine someone once
Vented their indignation in these words:
'Gnaw the vine, goat! But when you stand at the altar
There'll be something from it to sprinkle on your horns.'
Truth followed: Bacchus, your enemy is given you
To punish, and sprinkled wine flows over its horns.
The sow suffered for her crime, and the goat for hers:
But what were you guilty of you sheep and oxen?
Aristaeus wept because he saw his bees destroyed,
And the hives they had begun left abandoned.
His azure mother, Cyrene, could barely calm his grief,
But added these final words to what she said:
'Son, cease your tears! Proteus will allay your loss,
And show you how to recover what has perished.
But lest he still deceives you by changing shape,
Entangle both his hands with strong fastenings.'
The youth approached the seer, who was fast asleep,
And bound the arms of that Old Man of the Sea.
He by his art altered his shape and transformed his face,
But soon reverted to his true form, tamed by the ropes.
Then raising his dripping head, and sea-green beard,
He said: 'Do you ask how to recover your bees?
Kill a heifer and bury its carcase in the earth,
Buried it will produce what you ask of me.'
The shepherd obeyed: the beast's putrid corpse
Swarmed: one life destroyed created thousands.
Death claims the sheep: wickedly, it grazed the vervain
That a pious old woman offered to the rural gods.
What creature's safe if woolly sheep, and oxen
Broken to the plough, lay their lives on the altar?
Persia propitiates Hyperion, crowned with rays,
With horses, no sluggish victims for the swift god.
Because a hind was once sacrificed to Diana the twin,
Instead of Iphigeneia, a hind dies, though not for a virgin now.
I have seen a dog's entrails offered to Trivia by Sapaeans,
Whose homes border on your snows, Mount Haemus.
A young ass too is sacrificed to the erect rural guardian,
Priapus, the reason's shameful, but appropriate to the god.
Greece, you held a festival of ivy-berried Bacchus,
That used to recur at the appointed time, every third winter.
There too came the divinities who worshipped him as Lyaeus,
And whoever else was not averse to jesting,
The Pans and the young Satyrs prone to lust,
And the goddesses of rivers and lonely haunts.
And old Silenus came on a hollow-backed ass,
And crimson Priapus scaring the timid birds with his rod.
Finding a grove suited to sweet entertainment,
They lay down on beds of grass covered with cloths.
Liber offered wine, each had brought a garland,
A stream supplied ample water for the mixing.
There were Naiads too, some with uncombed flowing hair,
Others with their tresses artfully bound.
One attends with tunic tucked high above the knee,
Another shows her breast through her loosened robe:
One bares her shoulder: another trails her hem in the grass,
Their tender feet are not encumbered with shoes.
So some create amorous passion in the Satyrs,
Some in you, Pan, brows wreathed in pine.
You too Silenus, are on fire, insatiable lecher:
Wickedness alone prevents you growing old.
But crimson Priapus, guardian and glory of gardens,
Of them all, was captivated by Lotis:
He desires, and prays, and sighs for her alone,
He signals to her, by nodding, woos her with signs.
But the lovely are disdainful, pride waits on beauty:
She laughed at him, and scorned him with a look.
It was night, and drowsy from the wine,
They lay here and there, overcome by sleep.
Tired from play, Lotis rested on the grassy earth,
Furthest away, under the maple branches.
Her lover stood, and holding his breath, stole
Furtively and silently towards her on tiptoe.
Reaching the snow-white nymph's secluded bed,
He took care lest the sound of his breath escaped.
Now he balanced on his toes on the grass nearby:
But she was still completely full of sleep.
He rejoiced, and drawing the cover from her feet,
He happily began to have his way with her.
Suddenly Silenus' ass braying raucously,
Gave an untimely bellow from its jaws.
Terrified the nymph rose, pushed Priapus away,
And, fleeing, gave the alarm to the whole grove.
But the over-expectant god with his rigid member,
Was laughed at by them all, in the moonlight.
The creator of that ruckus paid with his life,
And he's the sacrifice dear to the Hellespontine god.
You were chaste once, you birds, a rural solace,
You harmless race that haunt the woodlands,
Who build your nests, warm your eggs with your wings,
And utter sweet measures from your ready beaks,
But that is no help to you, because of your guilty tongues,
And the gods' belief that you reveal their thoughts.
Nor is that false: since the closer you are to the gods,
The truer the omens you give by voice and flight.
Though long untouched, birds were killed at last,
And the gods delighted in the informers' entrails.
So the white dove, torn from her mate,
Is often burned in the Idalian flames:
Nor did saving the Capitol benefit the goose,
Who yielded his liver on a dish to you, Inachus' daughter:
The cock is sacrificed at night to the Goddess, Night,
Because he summons the day with his waking cries,
While the bright constellation of the Dolphin rises
Over the sea, and shows his face from his native waters.

next

VCB17 index

Other index