UC-NRLF $B 2TD lEl P A 3943 A12 1898 MAIN BACCHYLIDES Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2007 with funding from IVIicrosoft Corporation http://www.archive.org/details/bacchylidesproseOObaccrich BACCHTLIDES BACCHTLIBES A TT^gSE TKJNSLJTION BY E. POSTE, M.A. FELLOW OF ORIEL COLLEGE, OXFORD Eonlion MACMILLAN AND CO., Limited NEW YORK: THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 18^8 All rights reserved HORACE HART, PRINTER TO THE UNIVERSITY PREFACE SOME lovers of poetry, not readers of Greek, may glance with in- tereft at a profe tranflation of the odes of Bacchylides which have been recently recovered from Egyptian papyri. They will hardly need to be warned that all, or nearly all, the poetry is inevitably waflied out. of a profe tranflation : even if — a large afTumption — it retain the fubftantial tiflue of the poet's thought. All brilliancy of diction and harmony of rhythm of courfe difappear j indeed, even in verle^ only a tranflation into Italian or Spanilli could reproduce, or make any approach towards repro- ducing, the many-fyllabled epithets and fonorous cadences of the Greek. Some fragments, too imperfed: to intereft the general reader, have been omitted. Bacchylides,who flour iflied between foo and 4^0 B.C., was a native of Ceos, the modern Zea, as alfb was his maternal uncle Simonides. Both were rivals of Pindar, and were placed by ancient critics on a lifl: of the nine greateft mailers of lyric poetry. VI CONTENTS PAGE 1. HERCULES AND MELEAGER . . . . i 2. THE DAUGHTERS OF PROTEUS ... 8 3. THESEUS AND MINOS 13 4. YOUTHFUL THESEUS . . . . .19 5. NEMEA 22 6. AJAX, OR THE TROJANS .... 26 7. 10 29 8. CROESUS 31 9. MENELAUS 35 10. DEIANIRA 37 11. PEACE 39 I The folloiuing ode celebrates a viBory in the horfe races at Olympia ivon by Hiero^ tyrant of Syracufe^ at fome period between 500 and ^^^o B.C. The fame viBory is the fubjeB of one of Tindar^s extant odes. What Hiero had to do ivith Hercules or Meleager is a quefion "which mujl be left to the conjeBure of the reader^ as to "which the tranjlator can ojfer little or no ajjifiance. There "were doubt lefs tragic incidents in the career of Hiero ^ and Bacchylides^ after remarking that no human profperity is unalloyed^ proceeds to relate that even the invincible fon of Zeus had certain adventures far from joyous. HIGH-DESTINED lord of car-borne Syra- cufans, thou canft rightly judge, if any living mortal can, the violet-crowned Mufes'' dulcet ftrains : and now, refting awhile from cares of ftate, turn hither thy attention, and I B pronounce whether the low-cindured Graces helped to weave his lay the gueft who comes to your famed city from Zeal's facred ifle. A votary of golden-filleted Urania he fein with his own voice would fing the praifes of Hiero. High aloft cleaving the deeps of ether with fleet tawny wings, the eagle, meflenger of Zeus, wide- ruling thunderer, boldly travels, confident in matchlefs might, where leffer warblers fear to venture. Neither peaks of the vaflry earth nor dangerous billows of the ever-refblefs main flay him, but onward through the abyfs of heaven with fine-fpun plumage he fweeps, his fole companion Zephyr, con- fpicuous to mortal gaze. I too have myriad paths, by the grace of dark-haired Victory and of brazen-mailed Ares, to celebrate your praifes. Oh illuflrious fons of Dinomenesj on whom may heaven never ceafe to fmile. Cheftnut-hued Pherenicus, florm-footed fleed, was witnefled victorious by golden-fingered dawn both by the fair flream of Alpheus and on the haunted meads of Pytho : and by holy Earth I fwear, never duft from rival hoof has foiled him when he neared the goal. Fleet as the north wind's blaft, and docile to the rein^ along fhouting nations he fpeeds win- ning vidory for hofpitable Hiero. Call a mortal happy to whom heaven metes a fhare of triumph, an envied ftation, and a life of pomp : abfolutely bleffed there is none of earth's children. Even he who levelled many a hoftile tower, the unconquerable fon of Zeus who hurls the flaming thunderbolt, defcended, they fay, to the infernal halls of fair Perfephone, to drag from Hades to the light of day the iron-jawed monfter, whelp of deadly-fanged Echidna. There he faw the fouls of haplefs mortals by the waters of Cocytus, like leaves that the north-weft wind drives up and down the flieep- browzed fpurs of Ida. Among them gleamed conspicuous, wielding a fpear, the lifelike form of a dauntlefs warrior, grandchild of Porthaon. 3 B 2 Him in refulgent armour noting, Alcmena's heroic fon brought the fhrill-twanging cord to his bow^s curved tip, oped his quiver and took thereout a brazen-headed fhaft ; when forward ftepped the fhade of Meleager, and thus addrefTed him, knowing whom he faw : ^ Son of mighty Zeus, ftay where thou art, and with ferener mind forbear to vainly launch a hoftile bolt at fouls of the dead. No foe confronts thee.' So fpake he. Aftonifhed flood Amphi- tryo's princely fon, and cried : ^ What mortal or immortal fire — what region — reared fuch a fcion? and what hand flew him? Perad- venture fair-cindured Hera will fend the fame adverfary againfl my life. But that is a con- cern for Pallas of the yellow hair.' Him answered Meleager, his cheek bedewed with tears : ' Hard it is for mortals to bend the refolution of the gods. Elfe had car-borne Oeneus allayed the ire of high, flower- crowned, white-armed Artemis, fupplicating, fond fire, with facrifices of many goats and many tawny- 4 hided oxen. But unappeafable was the wrath of the goddefs. She fent, huntrefs maiden, a monfter boar of undaunted fiercenefs into the lovely dales of Calydon ^ where, refiftlefs in its might, it felled orchards with its tufks, flaughtered fleecy flocks, and every mortal it encountered. With it we, picked band of Hellas, waged defperate battle for fix days without ftayj and when high heaven gave Aetolia victory, we fet ourfelves to bury thofe whom the tuflced monfter had flain in furious onfet, Ancaeus and Agelaus, beft of my dear brothers born of Althaea in the far-famed halls of Oeneus. But ftill more warriors were doomed to fall, for the offended huntrefs daugh- ter of Latona had not yet ceafed her wrath, and we joined fierce battle with the valiant Curetes for the boards tawny hide. There among many others I flew Iphiclus and good Aphareus my mother's gallant brethren. For fierce Ares makes no diftindion of friend or foe, but fliafts fly blindly at oppofing ranks, carrying death wher- S ever fortune wills. The sore-ftricken daughter of Theftius remembered not this, and — ah haplefs mother — refolved my death — ah paffion- governed woman. She dragged from rich- carved cafket and Idndled the quickly burning brand that at my birth fate doomed to be coeval with my days. At the moment I was ftripping of his arms Clymenus, valiant fon of Deipylus, a youth of noble build, whom I had overtaken outfide the walls, when the Curetes fled to the goodly towers of ancient Pleuron. A fudden faintnefs feized my foul ; I felt my {Irength decline, alas; and with lateft breath wept to feel life's youthful fplendour flitting.' Men fay the eye o^ Amphitryo's fearlefs fon then and never elfe was moiflened by pity for the ill-ftarred hero, as thus he anfwered : ^ Mortals' beft fate is never to be born nor ever to behold the fun's bright rays. But nought avails repining : fo let my tongue frame words to mould the future. Remains there in the palace of Oeneus, dear to Ares, any virgin 6 daughter of features like to thine ? Her would I gladly make my honoured bride/ Him anfwered dauntlefs Meleager'^s fprite : ^ In her father^s houfe I left the fweet-voiced Deianira, unacquainted yet with mortal-charming^ golden Aphrodite.' White-armed Calliope, ftay here thy fhapely car. Be now thy theme Zeus, lord of Olym- pus, ruler of gods ; the ever-rufhing flood of Alpheus ; royal Pelops ^ and Pifa, whence far- famed Pherenicus returned victor in the race to Syracufa^'s towers, bringing to Hiero a fure token- of hea vena's favour. Truth requires us to pufh envy from our bofom with both hands, and praife the mortal who fucceeds. A Boeo- tian of old days, Hefiod, fervant of the Mufes, faid : ^ The man whom the immortals honour fhould be honoured by all mortals."* I readily greet Hiero with aufpicious bodings of profper- ous career, for that has put forth vigorous ftems ; which may Zeus, moft mighty lire, ever guard uninjured by the ftorm of war. 7 n This ode celebrates the viBory of a native of Metapontum In a "wrefiling match in the Fythian games at Delphi. The connexion of the victory vjith the fiery of the Froetides confifis in the faEh that the fame Artemis inho healed the daughters of Froetus vjas a deity ivorf hipped at Metapontum and the viBor^s patron goddefs. She derived, according to CallimachuSj her title ^Healer of the mind^ (Hamera) from curing the Froetides of their moon- struck madness. \A fe'w lines, apofrophizing Victory, are wanting,'^ AND on the golden floor of Olympus, ftationed by the throne of Zeus, thou ad- judged: rank of merit to mortals and immortals. Hail fair-haired daughter of juft- judging Zeus ! By thy grace athletic youths with choral dance and revelry already proclaim Metapontum a heaven- favoured cityj hymning the fon of Phai'fcus, mark of all eyes, vi£tor in the Pythian games. Him the god whom flowing-robed Latona bore in Delos received with aufpicious glance j and on the head of Alexidamus fell many a wreath of flowers telling of unchequered victory in the rude wreftling match. On that day the fun never faw him fallen on the lap of earth. No, and I will boaft that in facred Pelops' haunted vale by Alpheus^ flream, had only Juflice not been made to ftray from her true path, a pale olive wreath won in conteft againft the cham- pions of all Hellas had encircled his brows when he returned to the nurfe of famous fleeds, his native land. [No malice] in that facred vale afTailed the youth with tortuous guile, but or fome adverfe god or erring human judgement wreflied the glorious prize from his hands. And now he owes a fplendid triumph to Artemis the golden-fhafted huntrefs, the healer of the mind, the unerring archer; her to whom the fon of Abas and his fair-robed daughters erit built an altar, goal of many worfhippers. 9 Forth from the fplendid halls of Proetus almighty Hera once drove the maidens under the refiftlefs yoke of madnefs. They with ftill childifli fouls entering the fanduary of the purple-zoned goddefs^ fa id that their fire far outfhone in wealth her who fits befide the throne of Zeus, majeftic king. She in dif- pleafure darted into their bofoms abhorred illufions, and they fled into the mountain foreft uttering wild bellowings^, leaving the towers of Tiryns and its god-built ftreets. For 'twas there that, deferting heaven-favoured Argos, dauntlefs brazen-shielded demigods had dwelt full ten years with their all-envied king. For ftrife implacable from flighteft caufe had flaflied into flame between the fons of Abas, the brothers Proetus and Acrifius. Through them the people whom they ruled were afllicted with civil broils, and partifan tribunals, and flaugh- terous flrrife. So they entreated the Abantian brothers to caft lots for the fertile plains, while ^ ' Proetides implerunt falfis mugitibus agros/ — Vergil. lO the younger fhould found the city Tiryns, before irreparable ill enfued. And Zeus, imp of Cronos, in regard for the progeny of Danaus and chivalrous Lynceus, vouchfafed to heal the baleful diforder. Audacious Cyclopian builders coming from afar raifed a wondrous wall for a goodly city, and there the godlike heroes dwelt in high renown, having quitted ftoried Argos, birth-place of fleet fteeds. ^Twas thence the dark-trefTed virgin daughters of Proetus fled. Anguifli feized the father's heart, cruftied by the flirange difaflier • and he thought to cleave his breaft with two-edged fword • but his fpearman band with foothing words and flirong hands hindered him. Full thirteen moons the maidens lurked in darkfome forefls and roved over Arcadian's fheep - browzed glens. But when their fire reached Lufus^ fair ftream, after laving in its waters he in- voked crimfon-fcarfed Latona's ox-eyed child, with hands uplifted to the fwift-charioteering fun, to heal his children of their dire falfe- II weening lunacy — ^and I will offer thee in facrifice twenty tawny-hided oxen never yet subjected to the yoke/ The daughter of an almighty fire, the huntrefs maiden, heard his prayer and, perfuading Hera, healed the flower- crowned virgins of their god-forfaken madnefs. They ftraightway enclofed for her a facred grove and reared her an altar, and ftained it with the blood of victims, and inftituted yearly dances of maiden choirs- "Twas thence that ftarting, oh golden lady of fubject cities, thou wenteft with Achaeans dear to Ares to horfe- pafturing plains of Italy, and, aufpicious for- tune in thy train, dwellefl: in Metapontum ; where they gave thee a lovely grove by the banks of deep Cafuentus in compenfation for thy loft fanduary, after that by doom of the immortals, leagued with brazen-mailed Atridae, they laid in late ruin Priam's lofty towers. Whofo judges with juft mind will find in every age myriad glorious exploits of Achaeans. IX Ill On the "Walls of the temple of The feus at Athens^ according to Faufanias^ "was to be feen a figure refrefent'ing the lafi fcene of the adventure narrated In the follo^wing ode. In prehijioric days, before Athens *was tyrant of the Aegean^ fhe owed to Crete an annual tribute of feven ^rls and feven boys to be facrlficed to Mino- taur, the Cretan monjler. In this ode Bacchylldes ajjumes that Minos ^ the Cretan klng^ has received the tribute -, and The feus, the Athenian hero. In fome unexplained pofitlon. Is on board the vejjel vjhlch bears them to Crete, The mention of Athena In the opening lines Is of good omen for the captives, Erlboea In after days was mother of the Aeglne- tan hero^ Ajax, Minos had wedded Pafphae, daughter of the Sun, as we fhall be reminded In the ode, ABLUE-PROWED fhip, bearing valiant Thefeus and twice feven noble chil- dren of Ionia, was fwiftly cleaving Cretan I? waters. On its far-gleaming fails fell blafts of Boreas by the heft of high, aegis-fwaying Athena. And magic gifts of the charm- cin£tured goddefs Aphiodite ftung the heart of Minos. He no longer checked a rafli hand, and touched the white cheeks of a maiden. But Eriboea fhrieked to the brazen-mailed descendant of Pandion. Thefeus beheld, and beneath frowning brows rolled an indignant eye, heart-ftruck with keen pain. And thus he fpoke : ' Son of mighty Zeus, no longer law- revering wifdom rules thy will. Ufe not, oh hero, tyrannous violence. Whatever heaven^s refiftlefs doom hath decreed and the fcale of juftice hath impofed, the utmoft of our pre- deftined lot, we will fufFer when it comes. But do thou curb oppreflive purpofe. If a high- born maiden. Phoenix' fair child, bride of Zeus beneath the peaks of Ida, made thee by thy birth moft exalted of mortals j me too the daughter of rich Pittheus bore to fea-god Pofeidon, and received as wedding gift a golden veil from violet-garlanded Nereids. Wherefore, king of CnofTus, I bid thee abftain from deep-wounding outrage. For I would never willingly fee again the charming light of immortal dawn after thou fhouldeft offer difhonour to any of the youths. Ere that happens we will fhow what ftrength is in our arms, and the ifliie heaven fhall arbitrate.^ Thus fpoke the hero, armed with juftice. Amazed were the crew to hear his overween- ing raflinefs- and he who wived the daughter of the Sun was ftirred to anger. He formed an inftant plan, and cried aloud, <^Mighty ruler, Zeus my fire, lift to my prayer. If in footh thou beeft my fire by Phoenix"* white- armed daughter, now fend thou down from heaven the fwift, fiery-maned lightning, fignal all may recognize. And if Troezenian Aethra bore thee alfo, Thefeus, to the earth-fhaking god Pofeidon, boldly fling thy fair body into thy father's halls, and bring back the golden ring that now decks my finger from the waves' fait abyfs. Thou fhall fee whether my prayer is I? granted by the imp of Cronos, lord of the light- ning, univerfal king.' Mighty Zeus granted the exorbitant" defire, according Minos tran- fcendent honour, to give a dear child clear atteftation. He hurled the lightning. Minos, valiant hero, when he faw the welcome portent, pointed towards the vault of heaven and faid : ' Thou feeft, Thefeus, the unambiguous refponfe of Zeus, and now do thou leap into the bafs- voiced waters, and thy fire, the imp of Cronos, lord Pofeidon, fhall give thee glory unparalleled on earth^s verdant plains."* So fpake he. The other's courage recoiled not, and ftepping on to the vefleFs fhapely item he leaped, and the deep received him into its liquid fbreft. Then the child of Zeus relented in his inmoft foul, and bade them ftay the fhapely (hip that haftened down the wind. But fate purpofed another way. Onward rufhed the rapid barque, fped by a gale of Boreas blowing from the ftern. All the band of young Athenians trem- bled when the hero leapt into the waves, and i6 gentle eyes dropped tears from hearts that boded dire difafter. But dolphin denizens of the brine fleetly bore ftrong Thefeus to the palace of his fteed-borne fire. He reached the divine abode, and beheld with awe the floried daughters of blefled Nereus; for their beauteous limbs gleamed with fire-like radiance, and their heads were circled with fillets of woven gold, as with lightly-bending feet they difported in joyous dance. He faw in lovely bower his fire^s dear confort, majeftic, ox-eyed Amphitrite; who flung upon him a purple mantle, and on his crifp locks fet a wondrous diadem, erfl: wedding gift fi-om wily Aphrodite, twined with rofes. Nought willed by heaven is incredible to fober-thinking mortals. He arofe at the fhip's narrow flern before their eyes. Hah ! from what torment- ing thoughts he delivered the Cnoflian king, when, undrenched by the wave, he climbed the fliip^s fide, amazing fpectacle, the divine adorn- ments glittering on his limbs. The radiant 17 c bench of maidens with new-created courage raifed a loud cry of gladnefs, the fea refounded with the peal, and the boys clofing round them fang a paean with fweet voices. God of Delos, mayeft thou, charmed by the Zean chorus, grant it heaven-fent guerdon of applaufe. i8 IV The following fang for t'wo voices ivas probably 'written for the Athenian Ephebi, the youths 'who garrifoned the frontier fortrejfes in their fecond year of military fervice. One of the fpeakers is Aegeus^ king of Athens : the other may be Medea^ 'who fled to Athens after taking 'vengeance on Jafon, Frocoptes is another name for FrocrufieSy and Polypemon may be his father, KING of facred Athens, Lord of lonians who live at eafe, what tidings caufed the brazen-throated trumpet to found a warlike note? Is a hoftile commander crofling the frontier of our land? Or are marauding brigands, defying fliepherds, driving our flocks in lawlefs raid? Or what alarms thy foul? 19 c a Tell me, for, methinks, if any mortal has valiant warriors to defend him, it is thou, oh offfpring of Pandion and Creufa. A herald came by land from the far end of the ifthmus bringing tidings of wondrous deeds of fome man of might. He flew proud Sinis, ftrongeft of mortals, begotten by him of Cronos born, the earth-fliaker god, Lytaeus : killed the homicidal boar of the groves of Crommyon, and the ruthlefs bandit Sciron: clofed Cer- cyon's wreftling fchool: and made Procoptes, overmatched, drop Polypemon^s heavy hammer. What may be his crowning exploit is my fear. Who faid he the man was, and whence, and with what train equipped? Said he that he comes with warlike armament and numerous hofl: ; or unaccompanied, like merchant wan- dering in foreign lands, but with ftrength and prowefs and daring fingly to overcome fuch mighty ones? Or has he heaven's miffion to bring vengeance on the wicked ? Elfe it were not eafy, ever battling, not to meet with a 20 mifhap. In Jong fpace of time every iflue comes to pafs. He faid that only two men follow him : that from his gleaming fhoulders hangs a fword [. . . .], two polifhed javelins are in his hands : a fhapely Spartan helm prefTes his auburn locks : a purple tunic and a woollen mantle of Theflaly enfold his breaft : his eyes flafh red volcanic flame : he is in youth^'s earliefl: prime : his delight is in the games of Ares, war and battlers brazen clangour : and his feet are bound for fplendour-loving Athens. 21 This ode celebrates a viBory at Nemea by a native of Fhlius, The river Afopus on 'which Fhlius flood vjas the mythical father of many daughters v^ho gave their names to various cities andijlandsy e,g, Thebes, Aegina^ Salamis, ^c. After touching on the origin of the Nemean games and the viSiors deeds, Bacchy- lides feems about to launch on fome The ban mythology 'when the fragment ends abruptly. When Adraflus^ king of Argos, and the other ^ Seven againfl Thebes^ vjere at Nemea on their march to afjifl the exiled Tolynices to recover his throne, the death of the child Archemorus 'was recognized by the fon of Oecleus, the prophet Am- phiarauSj one of the Seven, as an omen of difafler, and he vainly urged his companions to abandon the enterprife, Achilles traced his lineage, through Feleus, Aea- cus, and Aegina, to the river-god Afopus, 22 Amazons from the banks of the Thermodon were fald to have fought againfi the Greeks on the fde of the Irojans, GRANT, oh golden-fpindJed Graces, per- fuafive fplendour to the lay which the violet-crowned Mufes' infpired prieft prepares to fing of Phlius and the fertile plain of Neme- aean Zeus: where white-armed Hera reared of old, firft occafion for Heracles of glorious exploit, a flock-flaughterer, deep-voiced lion. There crimfon-fliielded demigods, picked band of Argives, held the firft games over the tomb of young Archemorus, flain as he gathered flowers by felon fnake with yellow-flafhing eyes, an omen of impending overthrow. Oh reJQft- lefs power of fate ! Did not Oecleus'' fon urge them to march back to their warlike homes? Hope often gives ill counfel. She it was who then fent againft Thebes Talai'onid Adraftus, leagued with flieed-borne Polynices, after thofe famed contefts in the fields of Nemea. Illuftrious are the mortals who bind their auburn locks with the triennial wreath. Fortune now hath granted that boon to victorious Auto- medes, pre-eminent among the athletes of the pentathlum as is among the ftars, when the month is halved, the full-orbed moon : fo goodly a form he fhowed to encircling hofts of Hellas when he threw the rounded difcus; or when the dark-leaved afli^s ftem hurled by his hand through the fky called forth applauding fhouts • or when, in the clofmg wreille^s lightning flaflies, with the fame tranfcendent ftrength he flung to earth his flrrong-limbed adverfaries ere he returning fought the dark-whirling waters of Afopus. That river^'s name hath travelled to all regions and as far as the fources of the Nile. Even the dwellers by the fair fir earn of Thermodon, fkilled javelin-hurler daughters of fleet-flreeded Ares, rued, oh famous river, the prowefs of a child of thy flood beneath the lofty towers of Troy. To every region on broad highways travel myriad tales of thy race of H ample-veftured daughters whom the gods with happy deftiny have feated on the thrones of unconquerable nations. Who hath not heard of Thebe of the hyacinthine locks and her well-built towers ? . . . ^y VI The ode, of "which the following pajf age is a frag- ment , celebrated the viBory of Fytheas, an Aegine- tan, in the boys^ pancratium at Nemea, This viBory is also celebrated in an extant ode of Findar. In the beginning of the ode Teirefias has a pro- phetic vtfion of the viBory of Heracles over the Nemean lion, and the infiitution of the Nemean games, HE fliall ftay the tyrant's lofty infolence, and give juftice to the world. How infupportable a hand the child of Perfeus lays upon the neck of the devouring lion with exhauft- lefs refource, when his glittering death-dealing fteel cannot pierce the unyielding hide, and the blade bends backward ! Truly I predict that fpot fliall one day witnefs much-fweated con- teflis of Hellenic champions for the wreaths of the pancratium . . . %6 ^After mentioning the Aeginetan hero^ AjaXj grandfon of AeacuSy the poet then proceeds {\ Who, ftationed on his vefTers ftern, flayed bold Hector of the brazen helm fiercely bent, though he was, on deftroying the fliips with horrid fire; what time the Ton of Peleus, nurfing wrath, left the field and releafed the Dardan hoft from its terrors. Till then, panic-ftricken, they ventured not to leave Ilion^s fair bulwarks, but crouched behind them, dreading the fierce fhock of battle, fo long as Achilles madly raged in the plain, {battering their ranks with brandifhed, hoft- flaughtering fpear. But when the battle faw no more the violet-crowned Nereid's dauntlefs fon : as on the darkling waters Boreas furioufly afTaults with whelming waves feafaring men whom he furprifes refting from their toils by night, but ceafes to ftorm when the light of morning breaks : a calm fmooths the billows : and, the South wind bellying the fails with its breath, the gladdened failors reach the def- ^7 paired of harbour : fo the Trojans, when they heard that the grim Achilles was flaying in his tent becaufe of lovely yellow-haired Brifeis, lifted thankful hands to heaven, feeing war's ftorm-cloud fringed beneath with aufpicious light. Then, leaving with all hafte the walls of Laomedon, they rufhed into the plain, bring- ing vaft array of war, and ftruck terror into the Danai, urged on by javelin-hurler Ares and the lord of Lycia, Loxias Apollo. They reached the fhore and fought by the fhips' fair fterns, and blood of men flain by hands of HecStor reddened the dark foil . . . . . . They weened that they would deftroy the blue-prowed fliips and all their crews, and that on the morrow the found of joy and revelry would fill the god-built ftreets of Ilion. But fate ordained that, ere that hour arrived, the whirling waters of Scamander Ihould be em- purpled with their blood as they died by Aeacid hands, overthrowers of their towers . . . 28 VII This fragment begins luith the flory of lo. THERE are myriad paths of deathlefs fong for whofo has received gifts from the Pierian Mufes, and whofe hymns are clothed with fplendour by the violet-eyed, wreath-dif- penfing Graces. Weave now, oh commended Phantafy of a Cean bard, fome novelty concerning lovely, heaven-favoured Athens. Endowed by Calliope with her choicefl: gifts, it befeems thee of all others to foar a wondrous flight. Once upon a time leaving Argos, land ot fleet fteeds, Inachus"* rofy-fingered child was fleeing far, by the will of mighty Zeus, bleft potentate, tranfformed into a cow with golden horns : and Argus, whofe unwearied eyes looked ^9 every way, was bidden by majeftic, golden- mantled Hera, uncouchingly, unfleepingly, to guard the heifer of the lovely horns. Not even Maia^'s fon could elude his watchful gaze either by the bright-rayed day or the fhades of holy night. But whether fate ordained that the fwift meffenger of Zeus fhould flay the monfter- breeding Earth^'s fell ofHpring, Argus, or his never-reflring watch outwearied him at lafl:, or foothing {trains of the Pierides clofed his eyes in flumber, my fureft way of fliunning error is only to relate the end. After lo, bearing Epaphus in her womb, had reached the flowered banks of Nile, Zeus made her child ruler of linen-fl:oled priefts, lord of peerlefs wealth, and founder of a mighty clan. From Epaphus fprung Agenor^s fcion, Cadmus, fire of Semele in feven-gated Thebes. She gave birth to the inipirer of the frenzied Bacchae, Dionyfus [giver of the vine] and inventor of the wreath- crowned dance ... 30 VIII This ode celebrates a chariot viBory of Hiero at Olymfia, ^6% B,C.^ ^won the year before his death, CHOOSE fertile Sicily's queen, Demeter, and her violet-crowned daughter for the theme of thy fong, melodious Clio, and the fleet Olympic-racer fteeds of Hiero. For with tranfcendent victory and grace they flew along the broadly-whirling Alpheus, winning wreaths for Dinomenes' heaven-favoured fon. And Achaean ranks exclaimed : ^ Thrice happy man who, by Zeus invefled wideft ruler of Hellenes, has the wifdom not to hide his high- piled wealth behind a dark obfcuring fhroud. The temples are aflir with feftive facrifices of oxen, the ftreets with hofpitality; and bright flalh the corufcations from the gold of deep- 31 chafed tripods, fet before the flirine where the holieft grove of Phoebus by Caftalia'^s ftream is miniftered by Delphic priefts/ Heaven^Heaven demands a tribute from every fortune-favoured mortal. For in bygone days horfe-taming Lydia^'s monarch, when by Zeus' fatal ordinance Sardis fell before the Perfian holt, Croefus was protected by the golden- fworded god, Apollo. When the grievous day arrived, the king was not one to await the added woe of a flave's all-tearful doom, but reared a pyre before the brazen walls of his palace-court, and mounted thereon with his confort dear and fair- haired, wildly weeping daughters. And, raifing his hands towards the o'er-canopying heaven, he cried reproachfully : ^ Oh, overmaftering fupernal power, where is the gratitude of all the gods ? Where is Latona's princely fon ? . . . [Lydian blood ftains] the golden-fanded Pactolus. Lydian dames are ignominioufly torn from well-built homes. The hated foe is henceforth to be their dear lord. No ! death is 3^ a fweeter Jot/ So faying he bade kindle the gorgeous-carpeted wooden ftrudture. His daughters flirieked and flung their hands about their mother's neck : for horrid to mortals is the face of imminent death. But when the fierce fire's gleam began to penetrate the pile^ Zeus brought overhead an abyfs of darkfome cloudy and quenched the yellow flame. Incredible is nought that the divine will works. Thereupon the Delian god Apollo bore the old king to the Hyperboreans, and enthroned him in their midfl: with his taper-ankled daughters in requital of his piety, becaufe that of all mortals he had fent the richefl offerings to god-haunted Pytho . . . King Apollo, the herdfman god, once told the fon of Pheres : ' Mortal as thou art thou muft nurfe two expectations : that to-morrow's folar ray is the lafl: which thou fhalt fee ; and that thou fhalt count another fifty years of happy life.' Live righteoufly and joyoufly; this is highefl wifdom. The wife will under- 33 D ftand thefe words : The depths of ether have no ftain ; the water of the fea no corruption ; gold is cheerer of the heart • and to man it is not given to caft off hoary eld and recover youthful days. But virtue's radiance dims not with the mortal frame's decay. It is nurtured by the mufe. Hiero, thou haft fliown the world profperous fortune's faireft flowers. A bright career receives not his due meed from filence ; and one of thofe who aim aright will be he who fliall fing the honeyed ftrains of the Cean nightingale. 3+ IX This fragment relates to the demand addrejfed to the Trojans for the refioration of Helen, The Grecian emhajfy was introduced by Antenor^ of whom we read in Vergil: ^ Antenor potuit mediis elapfus Achivis lllyricos penetrare finus.' His fons were worfhipped as heroes at Cyrene, They give the ode its title ^ Antenoridae, THEIR fire^ prudent hero, bore to royal Priam and his fons all the meflage of the Achaeans. Then heralds fpeeding through the wide-fpread city fummoned the Trojan tribes to the people^s meeting-place. Every- where ran the tidings loudly-voiced, and hands uplifted to the immortal gods prayed that their troubles foon might have an end. Say, Mufe, whofe tongue firft urged the plea of right. Pleifthenid Menelaus uttered winning words counfelled by the fair-robed Graces. 35: Da ^Oh warlike Trojans, it is not high-ruling and all-feeing Zeus that is the caufe to men of their calamities- for all mankind are free to hold fail to ftra^'ght-walking Juftice, companion of chafte Order and wife Law. Happy they whofe children choofe to have this dweller in their ftreets ! But fhe who flourifhes by treach- erous falfehood and bold contempt of equal meafure, nought-reverencing Arrogance, firft lightly gives away another's wealth and havings, and after plunges into deep difafter. She it was that brought annihilation on the overween- ing race of Earth-born giants . . / i^ X The following fragment Jhovjs that the plot of the Trachiniae^ a play luhlch fame attribute to Sophocles, others to lophon^ his lefs-gifted fon^ had been already outlined in the verfes of Bacchylides, SUCH was the ftrain that Delphic choirs fang before thy far-famed fhrine, oh Pythian Apollo. Already Oechalia, faid the lay, had been left a flaming ruin by Amphitryon's dauntlefs fon, when he touched at the Euboean promontory, purpofing to offer from his fpoils nine deep- voiced bulls in facrifice to cloudy- throned Kenaian Zeus, two to the god who lifts the fea and fhakes the earth, and to Athena, flern-eyed virgin, a fingle heifer, unyoked, lofty-horned. Then an overmaftering power infpired Deianira with a plan, that cofl: her many tears, to recover her confort's love, after 37 {he heard the cruel tidings that white-armed lole was on her way^ fent under efcort to his palace as a lovely bride by Zcus^ dreadlefs fon. Ah, haplefs wife ! Ah, evil-ftarred ! How direful was her deed ! Malevolence of a mighty one wrought her ruin, and darknefs fhrouding future days, when on the rufliing waters of Lycormas fhe took into her hancs a fatal gift from NelTus. . . . 3» XI Before the difcovery of the papyri the following^ fra^ent 'was the longeft remnant of the poems of Bacchylides, FOR mortals Peace has blessings in her hands, plenty and poefy's nedrared flowers. And for the immortals thighs of oxen and long-fleeced flieep burn in yellow flames on rich-carved altars. Athletic fports and the flute and feftive dances bufy the young. But in the fliields' iron-bound handles the tawny fpider weaves her webs, and the long- fliafted fpear-heads and double-edged fwords are marred with rufl:. Nor is the brazen clarion heard frightening fweet flumber, foul- carefTer, from the eyelids. But joyous revelry fills the flireets, and notes of love-fongs tremble in the air. ?9 14 DAY USE RETURN TO DESK FROM WHICH BORROWED LOAN DEPT. 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