The Thebaid
Page 37
behind which faithful Pallas hid her fears:
she left to sway great Jupiter with tears.
Just then an ashen spear cut through the winds,
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driven by fortune and enormous anger.
At first nobody knew who hurled that shaft;
he did not show himself but tried to hide,
yet celebrating troops discovered him.
It was Astacus’ son, named Melanippus,
who shook in fear as Tydeus doubled over,
released his oval shield, and gripped his side.
Aonian cheers mixed with Pelasgian groans.
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Bands circled to protect the spiteful hero.
He hated Melanippus, whom he glimpsed
far o√, beyond his enemies, and gathered
all his remaining strength to throw a spear
that nearby Hopleus o√ered. The attempt
made his blood spurt, and his unhappy men
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carried away the one who was so keen
to fight that he denied that he was dying.
He asked for a fresh spear, but he was taken
beside the field and propped against two shields
by weeping soldiers who said he would soon
be back in battle, for the war continued.
But he could sense the heavens dim; extreme
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coldness came over him; his great strength waned.
≤≥≠ STATIUS, THE THEBAID
He leaned along the ground and cried, ‘‘Do what
I ask, Inachidae. Don’t take my bones
to Argos or Aetolia. I don’t care
for final rites. I hate these useless limbs,
this fragile body that deserts my soul!
‘‘Would there were someone to retrieve your head—
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your head, o Melannipus! I am certain
you lie dead in the field and that my final
action succeeded. Go, Hippomedon,
if you have any blood of Atreus!
And Parthenopaeus, go—already
famous in your first war! And Capaneus,
now greatest warrior among the Argives!’’
Each hurried. Capaneus, first in motion,
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first to find Melanippus, bent and lifted
him breathing from the dust and carried him
on his left shoulder as his open wound
poured streams of blood and gore along his back—
like Hercules, when from Arcadia’s cave
he brought the captive boar to clamoring Argos.
Tydeus sat up and turned his gaze and, mad
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with joy and anger, saw his gasping face
and glancing eyeballs—and he saw himself.
He had the head cut o√ and set before him.
His left hand gripped the gruesome, hated object,
and he enjoyed its warmth, while its wild eyes
flickered with wonder. When would they be closed?
Tydeus was happy, but unfortunate.
Vengeful Tisiphone demanded more.
–?–?–?–
• By now Tritonian Pallas had assuaged
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her pliant father and was carrying
immortal fame to Tydeus, when she saw
that blood and broken brains perfused his jaws,
that slime and filthy stains befouled his face.
His comrades could not stop him. The fierce Gorgon
BOOK ∫ ≤≥∞
stood there with outstretched hair, and her horned serpents
sti√ened and cast their shadows on Athena.
The goddess turned her face away and fled,
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nor did she enter heaven till her eyes
had undergone purgation—mystic fires,
ablutions in the guiltless stream Ilissos.
–?–?–?–
BOOK 9 Tide and Time
Disgust with Tydeus. Reactions of Eteocles and Polynices. Hippomedon protects the body of Tydeus until Tisiphone interferes. Hypseus, the Theban champion. The death of Crenaeus, son of the river nymph, infuriates Ismenos, who floods and drowns Hippomedon. Capaneus kills Hypseus. Atalanta’s nightmares portend the death of her son. Dryas kills Parthenopaeus. Final message to his mother.
What Tydeus did disgusted every Tyrian
who heard about his angry, bloody deed.
Even Inachians lamented little
that he had fallen. They themselves complained
that he transgressed divine restraints on hate.
Gradivus, most implacable of gods,
4
you too would not approach him. People say
your mad mind is intent on taking life,
but his brutality was so o√ensive
you turned your frightened horses from the sight.
The desecrated corpse of Melanippus
8
su≈ced to stir young Thebans to revenge,
as much as if their fathers’ urns were mauled
by monsters and their buried bones disturbed.
The king himself, Eteocles, provoked them:
12
‘‘Who shows Pelasgians mercy anymore?
Tydeus makes curved fangs instruments of rage;
he gnaws our limbs! Did we not slake his sword?
Does he believe he’s some Hyrcanian tiger
or savage Libyan lion who attacks us?
He lies in death’s sweet solace, yet his jaws
still grip the severed head of his opponent;
he revels in impiety and gore!
We battle Greeks with torches, hardened blades,
BOOK Ω ≤≥≥
and open hate; our anger uses weapons!
Let them enjoy the fame their madness brings,
that you may witness it, great Jupiter.
They wonder why earth opened, why the field
of war retreated. Would their land support
such troops like these?’’ He spoke, and urged his men.
They charged and shouted loudly; each of them
was mad to gain the corpse and spoils of Tydeus.
Just so do flocks of birds obscure the sky
when lured from far away by evil breezes,
foul air blown from the dead who lie unburied.
Their voices ravenlike, they rush on wings
that beat the winds, and lesser birds give way.
Across Aonia’s plain the murmuring
32
of rapid Rumor flew among the soldiers—
bad news moves fast—until that mournful sound
had reached the trembling ears of Polynices.
Slow to believe, he sti√ened, held his tears.
He was persuaded, and dissuaded, by
the strength of Tydeus, that he might have died.
A trusted messenger confirmed his death,
and then night overwhelmed his mind and eyes,
his blood chilled, limbs grew slack, his weapons dropped,
he wept inside his helmet, and his shield
fell and rebounded o√ the warrior’s greaves.
He walked on wobbling knees and dragged his spear
in mourning, as if bearing many wounds,
deep ones, on every limb. His friends drew back
and looked at him with sorrow, even as
he shed the armor he could hardly carry
and tumbled prostrate on the lifeless body
of his great friend. He mingled words with tears:
‘‘Is this the thanks I o√er you, o son
49
of Oeneus, for your meritorious service
that left you dead in Cadmus’s hated fields
while I was safe? Now I will always be
≤≥∂ STATIUS, THE THEBAID
a miserable exile and a fugitive.
My other, better brother has been taken!
&nb
sp; I will no longer seek my former fortune,
the perjured diadem of that foul kingdom.
My happiness has cost too much. What can
a scepter you have not presented mean?
‘‘Depart, men! Let me face my wicked brother!
57
Why risk another war where soldiers perish?
I pray you, go! What more is there to o√er?
I wasted Tydeus! How can I atone,
even by dying? O Adrastus! Argos!
Our lucky altercation that first night,
the blows exchanged, the long love that we won
from such short anger. O great Tydeus! Why?
You should have killed me on the royal threshold.
You even went to Thebes for me and knew
my brother’s household, his impieties.
No other could have come back, yet you went
as if your crown and honors were at stake.
Fame has already ceased to speak of Theseus
and pious Telamon, for you matched these.
Now you lie dead! Which wound should I search first?
Which blood is yours? Which is your enemies’?
What battle line, what countless company—
if I am not mistaken—laid you low?
The father of the gods himself felt envy,
and Mars unleashed his spear with all his strength.’’
And so he spoke and mourned and cleaned the man’s
73
face with his tears and wiped him with his hand.
‘‘Did you so hate my enemies? Do I
survive?’’ and then, deranged, he drew his sword
out of its sheathe, and he prepared to die.
His comrades stopped him, and his father-in-law
checked him, then calmed him. He reminded him
of fate and the uncertainties of war,
then slowly drew him from his friend’s dead body,
the source of his laments and helplessness,
and, unobserved while speaking, sheathed his sword.
BOOK Ω ≤≥Σ
They led him o√ the way they lead a bull
who loses his yoke fellow in midfurrow;
his harness falls lopsided o√ his neck;
the weeping plowman lifts part, part the ox.
–?–?–?–
Even as this occurred, Eteocles
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was urging forward his best infantry,
young men whom Pallas would not scorn to face
in war, or Mars contend with spear to spear.
Against them tall Hippomedon held fast
89
behind his shield, his spear extended forward,
just as a rock opposes waves, afraid
of nothing in the heavens and unmoved,
despite the breaking waters, while at sea
sad sailors recognize a prodigy.
Then spoke Aonian Eteocles,
95
even as he selected his best spear:
‘‘Have you no sense of shame, that you should guard,
while all the gods and heavens watch, this ghost,
this corpse that brings our warfare ill-repute?
No doubt the burial of such a beast
makes worthwhile this enormous task,
this unforgettable display of strength,
lest he should go to Argos to be mourned
and drip corrupted blood from his soft bier!
But do not worry; he will not be eaten
by godless monsters, birds, or pious flames—
should we allow him flames.’’
No more was said.
His weapon drove two layers through the bronze
shield that was wielded by Hippomedon.
Pheres and Lycus followed: Pheres’ shaft
bounded, while subtle Lycus cut in half
his waving crest, the terror on his casque.
≤≥Π STATIUS, THE THEBAID
But they could not displace Hippomedon
110
nor did he move to meet opposing arms.
He stood against them all and fought, but his
sole purpose was to guard the corpse he loved,
just as a jealous cow protects her calf—
her fragile firstborn—from a hostile wolf,
anticipating him with circling horns,
fearful of nothing. She forgets her sex
lacks strength; she foams and imitates strong bulls.
At last the cloud of flying missiles thinned,
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and he could hurl their weapons back again.
Then Alcon came with help from Sicyon
and nimble Idas’s Pisan troops filled in.
Hippomedon was pleased by this and flung
a Lernaean spear against his enemies
that quickly thrust Polites through the waist
and then the shield of Mopsus, his close friend.
• He pierced the Phocian Cydon and Tanagraean
127
Phalanthus, also Eryx, who was turning,
searching for weapons, not expecting death
to enter through his long hair, while Phalanthus
spit teeth the spear dislodged and wondered why
his face but not his hollow throat felt safe:
he moaned and coughed up blood as he was dying.
Leonteus was attempting to extend
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his right arm through the bands of fighting men
who hid him as he seized dead Tydeus’s hair,
but he was spotted by Hippomedon
despite the crush of danger on all sides.
His savage sword cut through that outstretched hand,
as he yelled loudly, ‘‘Tydeus did it—Tydeus!
After this, show respect for warriors,
even when dead, and be afraid to seek
the ghosts of great ones, you who are so weak!’’
Three times the Cadmean phalanx tried to take
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the frightful corpse; three times Danaans
retrieved it, moving like an anxious ship
in mutinous Sicilian seas, which wanders,
BOOK Ω ≤≥π
despite the skipper’s e√orts, back and forth,
retracing, sails reversed, her former course.
Hippomedon would not be driven back
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from his position by Sidonian forces.
He could withstand the force of catapults:
their weapons, which might frighten lofty towers,
uselessly struck his shield and he repelled them.
Irreverent Tisiphone, however,
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remembering Elysium’s king, the crimes
Tydeus committed in the recent past,
moved with dexterity around the field.
She hid her whip and sacrilegious torch
and made the serpents in her hair lie silent.
The armies felt her presence though she took
the shape of Halys, an Inachian;