Complete Works of Catullus

by Catullus

  simul ite, Dindymenae dominae vaga pecora,

  aliena quae petentes velut exules loca

  sectam meam exsecutae duce me mihi comites

  rapidum salum tulistis truculentaque pelagi

  et corpus evirastis Veneris nimio odio;

  hilarate erae citatis erroribus animum.

  LXIII

  BORNE in his swift bark over deep seas, Attis, when eagerly with speedy foot he reached the Phrygian woodland, and entered the goddess’s abodes, shadowy, forest-crowned; there, goaded by raging madness, bewildered in mind, he cast down from him with sharp flint-stone the burden of his members. So when she felt her limbs to have lost their manhood, still with fresh blood dabbling the face of the ground, swiftly with snowy hands she seized the light timbrel, timbrel, trumpet of Cybele, thy mysteries, Mother, and shaking with soft fingers the hollow oxhide thus began she to sing to her companions tremulously: “Come away, ye Gallae, go to the mountain forests of Cybele together, together go, wandering herd of the lady of Dindymus, who swiftly seeking alien homes as exiles, followed my rule as I led you in my train, endured the fast-flowing brine and the savage seas, and unmanned your bodies from utter abhorrence of love, cheer ye your Lady’s heart with swift wanderings.

  mora tarda mente cedat: simul ite, sequimini

  Phrygiam ad domum Cybebes, Phrygia ad nemora deae,

  ubi cymbalum sonat vox, ubi tympana reboant,

  tibicen ubi canit Phryx curvo grave calamo,

  ubi capita Maenades ui iaciunt hederigerae,

  ubi sacra sancta acutis ululatibus agitant,

  ubi suevit illa divae volitare vaga cohors,

  quo nos decet citatis celerare tripudiis.’

  Let dull delay depart from your mind; go together, follow to the Phrygian house of Cybele, to the Phrygian forests of the goddess, where the noise of cymbals sounds, where timbrels re-echo, where the Phrygian flute-player blows a deep note on his curved reed, where the Maenads ivy-crowned toss their heads violently, where with shrill yells they shake the holy emblems, where that wandering company of the goddess is wont to rove, whither for us ’tis meet to hasten with rapid dances.”

  simul haec comitibus Attis cecinit notha mulier,

  thiasus repente linguis trepidantibus ululat,

  leve tympanum remugit, cava cymbala recrepant.

  viridem citus adit Idam properante pede chorus.

  furibunda simul anhelans vaga vadit animam agens

  comitata tympano Attis per opaca nemora dux,

  veluti iuvenca vitans onus indomita iugi;

  rapidae ducem sequuntur Gallae properipedem.

  itaque, ut domum Cybebes tetigere lassulae,

  nimio e labore somnum capiunt sine Cerere.

  piger his labante languore oculos sopor operit;

  abit in quiete molli rabidus furor animi.

  sed ubi oris aurei Sol radiantibus oculis

  lustravit aethera album, sola dura, mare ferum,

  pepulitque noctis umbras vegetis sonipedibus,

  ibi Somnus excitam Attin fugiens citus abiit;

  trepidante eum recepit dea Pasithea sinu.

  ita de quiete molli rapida sine rabie

  simul ipsa pectore Attis sua facta recoluit,

  liquidaque mente vidit sine quis ubique foret,

  animo aestuante rusum reditum ad vada tetulit.

  ibi maria vasta visens lacrimantibus oculis,

  patriam allocuta maestast ita voce miseriter.

  So soon as Attis, woman yet no true one, chanted thus to her companions, the revellers suddenly with quivering tongues yell aloud, the light timbrel rings again, clash again the hollow cymbals, swiftly to green Ida goes the rout with hurrying foot. Then too frenzied, panting, uncertain, wanders, gasping for breath, attended by the timbrel, Attis, through the dark forests their leader, as a heifer unbroken starting aside from the burden of the yoke. Fast follow the Gallae their swift-footed leader. So when they gained the house of Cybele, faint and weary, after much toil they take their rest without bread; heavy sleep covers their eyes with drooping weariness, the delirious madness of their mind departs in soft slumber. But when the sun with the flashing eyes of his golden face lightened the clear heaven, the firm lands, the wild sea, and chased away the shades of night with eager tramping steeds refreshed, then Sleep fled from wakened Attis and quickly was gone; him the goddess Pasithea received in her fluttering bosom. So after soft slumber, freed from violent madness, as soon as Attis himself in his heart reviewed his own deed, and saw with clear mind what he had lost and where he was, with surging mind again he sped back to the waves. There, looking out upon the waste seas with streaming eyes, thus did she piteously address her country with tearful voice:

  ‘patria o mei creatrix, patria o mea genetrix,

  ego quam miser relinquens, dominos ut erifugae

  famuli solent, ad Idae tetuli nemora pedem,

  ut apud nivem et ferarum gelida stabula forem,

  et earum omnia adirem furibunda latibula,

  ubinam aut quibus locis te positam, patria, reor?

  cupit ipsa pupula ad te sibi derigere aciem,

  rabie fera carens dum breve tempus animus est.

  egone a mea remota haec ferar in nemora domo?

  patria, bonis, amicis, genitoribus abero?

  abero foro, palaestra, stadio et gyminasiis?

  miser a miser, querendum est etiam atque etiam, anime.

  quod enim genus figurast, ego non quod obierim?

  ego mulier, ego adulescens, ego ephebus, ego puer,

  ego gymnasi fui flos, ego eram decus olei:

  mihi ianuae frequentes, mihi limina tepida,

  mihi floridis corollis redimita domus erat,

  linquendum ubi esset orto mihi Sole cubiculum.

  ego nunc deum ministra et Cybeles famula ferar?

  ego Maenas, ego mei pars, ego vir sterilis ero?

  ego viridis algida Idae nive amicta loca colam?

  ego vitam agam sub altis Phrygiae columinibus,

  ubi cerva silvicultrix, ubi aper nemorivagus?

  iam iam dolet quod egi, iam iamque paenitet.’

  “O my country that gavest me life! O my country that barest me! leaving whom, ah wretch! as runaway servants leave their masters, I have borne my foot to the forests of Ida, to live among snows and frozen lairs of wild beasts, and visit in my frenzy all their lurking-dens, — where then or in what region do I think thy place to be, O my country? Mine eyeballs unbidden long to turn their gaze to thee, while for a short space my mind is free from wild frenzy. I, shall I from my own home be borne far away into these forests? from my country, my possessions, my friends, my parents, shall I be absent? absent from the market, the wrestling-place, the racecourse, the playground? unhappy, ah unhappy heart, again, again must thou complain. For what form of human figure is there which I had not? I, to be a woman — I who was a stripling, I a youth, I a boy, I was the flower of the playground, I was once the glory of the palaestra: mine were the crowded doorways, mine the warm thresholds, mine the flowery garlands to deck my house when I was to leave my chamber at sunrise. I, shall I now be called — what? a handmaid of the gods, a ministress of Cybele? I a Maenad, I part of myself a barren man shall I be? I, shall I dwell in icy snow-clad regions of verdant Ida, I pass my life under the high summits of Phrygia, with the hind that haunts the woodland, with the boar that ranges the forest? now, now I rue my deed, now, now I would it were undone.”

  roseis ut huic labellis sonitus citus abiit

  geminas deorum ad aures nova nuntia referens,

  ibi iuncta iuga resolvens Cybele leonibus

  laevumque pecoris hostem stimulans ita loquitur.

  ‘agedum,’ inquit ‘age ferox i, fac ut hunc furor

  fac uti furoris ictu reditum in nemora ferat,

  mea libere nimis qui fugere imperia cupit.

  age caede terga cauda, tua verbera patere,

  fac cuncta mugienti fremitu loca retonent,

  rutilam ferox torosa cervice quate iubam.
’

  ait haec minax Cybebe religatque iuga manu.

  ferus ipse sese adhortans rapidum incitat animo,

  vadit, fremit, refringit virgulta pede vago.

  at ubi umida albicantis loca litoris adiit,

  teneramque vidit Attin prope marmora pelagi,

  facit impetum. illa demens fugit in nemora fera;

  ibi semper omne vitae spatium famula fuit.

  From his rosy lips as these words issued forth, bringing a new message to both ears of the gods, then Cybele, loosening the fastened yoke from her lions, and goading that foe of the herd who drew on the left, thus speaks: “Come now,” she says, “come, go fiercely let madness hunt him hence, bid him hence by stroke of madness hie him to the forests again, him who would be too free, and run away from my sovereignty. Come, lash back with tail, endure thy own scourging, make all around resound with bellowing roar, shake fiercely on brawny neck thy ruddy mane.” Thus says wrathful Cybele, and with her hand unbinds the yoke. The monster stirs his courage and rouses him to fury of heart; he speeds away, he roars, with ranging foot he breaks the brushwood. But when he came to the watery stretches of the white-gleaming shore, and saw tender Attis by the smooth spaces of the sea, he rushes at him — madly flies Attis to the wild woodland. There always for all his lifetime was he a handmaid.

  dea, magna dea, Cybebe, dea domina Dindymi,

  procul a mea tuos sit furor omnis, era, domo:

  alios age incitatos, alios age rabidos.

  Goddess, great goddess, Cybele, goddess, lady of Dindymus, far from my house be all thy fury, O my queen; others drive thou in frenzy, others drive thou to madness.

  LXIV. Argonautia et epythalamium Thetidis et Pelei

  Peliaco quondam prognatae vertice pinus

  dicuntur liquidas Neptuni nasse per undas

  Phasidos ad fluctus et fines Aeetaeos,

  cum lecti iuvenes, Argiuae robora pubis,

  auratam optantes Colchis avertere pellem

  ausi sunt vada salsa cita decurrere puppi,

  caerula verrentes abiegnis aequora palmis.

  diva quibus retinens in summis urbibus arces

  ipsa levi fecit volitantem flamine currum,

  pinea coniungens inflexae texta carinae.

  illa rudem cursu prima imbuit Amphitriten;

  LXIV

  PINE-TREES of old, born on the top of Pelion, are said to have swum through the clear waters of Neptune to the waves of Phasis and the realms of Aeetes, when the chosen youths, the flower of Argive strength, desiring to bear away from the Colchians the golden fleece, dared to course over the salt seas with swift ship, sweeping the blue expanse with fir-wood blades, for whom the goddess who holds the fortresses of city-tops made with her own hands the car flitting with light breeze, and bound the piny structure of the bowed, keel. That ship first hanselled with, voyage Amphitrite untried before.

  quae simul ac rostro ventosum proscidit aequor

  tortaque remigio spumis incanuit unda,

  emersere freti candenti e gurgite vultus

  aequoreae monstrum Nereides admirantes.

  illa, atque alia, viderunt luce marinas

  mortales oculis nudato corpore Nymphas

  nutricum tenus exstantes e gurgite cano.

  So when she ploughed with her beak the windy expanse, and the wave churned by the oars grew white with foam-flakes, forth looked from the foaming surge of the sea the Nereids of the deep wondering at the strange thing. On that day, if on any other, mortals saw with their eyes the sea-Nymphs standing forth from the hoary tide, with bodies naked as far as the paps.

  tum Thetidis Peleus incensus fertur amore,

  tum Thetis humanos non despexit hymenaeos,

  tum Thetidi pater ipse iugandum Pelea sensit.

  o nimis optato saeclorum tempore nati

  heroes, salvete, deum genus! o bona matrum

  progenies, salvete iter...

  vos ego saepe, meo vos carmine compellabo.

  teque adeo eximie taedis felicibus aucte,

  Thessaliae columen Peleu, cui Iuppiter ipse,

  ipse suos divum genitor concessit amores;

  tene Thetis tenuit pulcerrima Nereine?

  tene suam Tethys concessit ducere neptem,

  Oceanusque, mari totum qui amplectitur orbem?

  Then is Peleus, said to have caught fire with love of Thetis, then did Thetis not disdain mortal espousals, then did the Father himself know in his heart that Peleus must be joined to Thetis. O ye, in happiest time of ages born, hail, heroes, sprang from gods! hail, kindly offspring of good mothers, hail again! you often in my song, you will I address. And specially thee, greatly blessed by fortunate marriage torches, mainstay of Thessaly, Peleus, to whom Jupiter himself, the king of the gods himself granted his own Love.Thee did fairest Thetis clasp, daughter of Nereus? to thee did Tethys grant to wed her granddaughter, and Oceanus, who circles all the world with sea?

  quae simul optatae finito tempore luces

  advenere, domum conventu tota frequentat

  Thessalia, oppletur laetanti regia coetu:

  dona ferunt prae se, declarant gaudia vultu.

  deseritur Cieros, linquunt Pthiotica Tempe

  Crannonisque domos ac moenia Larisaea,

  Pharsalum coeunt, Pharsalia tecta frequentant.

  rura colit nemo, mollescunt colla iuvencis,

  non humilis curvis purgatur vinea rastris,

  non glebam prono convellit vomere taurus,

  non falx attenuat frondatorum arboris umbram,

  squalida desertis rubigo infertur aratris.

  Now when that longed-for day in time fulfilled had come for them, all Thessaly in full assembly crowds the house, the palace is thronged with a joyful company. They bring gifts in their hands, they display joy in their looks. Cieros is deserted; they leave Phthiotic Tempe and the houses of Crannon and the walls of Larissa; at Pharsalus they meet, and flock to the houses of Pharsalus. None now tills the lands; the necks of the steers grow soft; no more is the ground of the vineyard cleared with curved rakes; no more does the primers’ hook thin the shade of the tree; no more does the ox tear up the soil with downward share; rough rust creeps over the deserted ploughs.

  ipsius at sedes, quacumque opulenta recessit

  regia, fulgenti splendent auro atque argento.

  candet ebur soliis, collucent pocula mensae,

  tota domus gaudet regali splendida gaza.

  pulvinar vero divae geniale locatur

  sedibus in mediis, Indo quod dente politum

  tincta tegit roseo conchyli purpura fuco.

  haec vestis priscis hominum variata figuris

  heroum mira virtutes indicat arte.

  But Peleus’ own abodes, so far as inward stretched the wealthy palace, with glittering gold and silver shine. White gleams the ivory of the thrones, bright are the cups on the table; the whole house is gay and gorgeous with royal treasure. But see, the royal marriage bed is being set for the goddess in the midst of the palace, smoothly fashioned of Indian tusk, covered with purple tinged with the rosy stain of the shell.

  namque fluentisono prospectans litore Diae,

  Thesea cedentem celeri cum classe tuetur

  indomitos in corde gerens Ariadna furores,

  necdum etiam sese quae visit visere credit,

  utpote fallaci quae tum primum excita somno

  desertam in sola miseram se cernat harena.

  immemor at iuvenis fugiens pellit vada remis,

  irrita ventosae linquens promissa procellae.

  quem procul ex alga maestis Minois ocellis,

  saxea ut effigies bacchantis, prospicit, eheu,

  prospicit et magnis curarum fluctuat undis,

  non flavo retinens subtilem vertice mitram,

  non contecta levi velatum pectus amictu,

  non tereti strophio lactentis vincta papillas,

  omnia quae toto delapsa e corpore passim

  ipsius ante pedes fluctus salis alludebant.

  sed neque tum mitrae
neque tum fluitantis amictus

  illa vicem curans toto ex te pectore, Theseu,

  toto animo, tota pendebat perdita mente.

  misera, assiduis quam luctibus externavit

  spinosas Erycina serens in pectore curas,

  illa tempestate, ferox quo ex tempore Theseus

  egressus curvis e litoribus Piraei

  attigit iniusti regis Gortynia templa.

  This coverlet, broidered with shapes of ancient men, with wondrous art sets forth the worthy deeds of heroes. For there, looking forth from the wave-sounding shore of Dia, Ariadna sees Theseus, as he sails away with swift fleet, Ariadna bearing wild madness in her heart. Not yet can she believe she beholds what yet she does behold; since now, now first wakened from treacherous sleep she sees herself, poor wretch, deserted on the lonely sand. Meanwhile the youth flies and strikes the waters with his oars, leaving unfulfilled his empty pledges to the gusty storm; at whom afar from the weedy beach with streaming eyes the daughter of Minos, like a marble figure of a bacchanal, looks forth, alas! looks forth tempest-tost with great tides of passion. Nor does she still keep the delicate headband on her golden head, nor has her breast veiled by the covering of her light raiment, nor her milk-white bosom bound with the smooth girdle; all these, as they slipt off around her whole body, before her very feet the salt waves lapped. She for her headgear then, she for her floating raiment then, cared not, but on thee, Theseus, with all her thoughts, with all her soul, with all her mind (lost, ah lost!) was hanging, unhappy maid! whom with unceasing floods of grief Erycina maddened, sowing thorny cares in her breast, even from that hour, what time bold Theseus setting forth from the winding shores of Piraeus reached the Gortynian palace of the lawless king.

  nam perhibent olim crudeli peste coactam

  Androgeoneae poenas exsolvere caedis

  electos iuvenes simul et decus innuptarum

  Cecropiam solitam esse dapem dare Minotauro.

  quis angusta malis cum moenia vexarentur,

  ipse suum Theseus pro caris corpus Athenis

  proicere optavit potius quam talia Cretam

  funera Cecropiae nec funera portarentur.

  atque ita nave levi nitens ac lenibus auris

  magnanimum ad Minoa venit sedesque superbas.

  hunc simul ac cupido conspexit lumine virgo

  regia, quam suavis exspirans castus odores