Works of Nonnus
Page 284
σείων φαιδρὰ λέπαδνα καὶ ἀγκύλα κύκλα χαλινῶν.
οὐδὲ πεσὼν ἀμέλησε πέλωρ πρόμος, ἀλλὰ Λυαίῳ
320 μάρνατο μορφωθέντι καὶ οὔτασε πόρδαλιν αἰχμῇ.
ἀλλὰ πάλιν μετάμειψε θεὸς δέμας: ὑψιφανὴς γάρ,
ἠέρα θερμαίνων, ἐλελίζετο πυρσὸς ἀλήτης,
αἰθύσσων ἀνέμοις φλογόεν βέλος, ἀμφὶ δὲ μαζοὺς
στήθεα λαχνήεντα διέτρεχε Δηριαδῆος
325 κυκλόθεν: ὑψιπόρου δὲ δεδεγμένος ἅλματα καπνοῦ
ἀργενναῖς λαγόνεσσιν Ἄραψ ἐμελαίνετο θώρηξ,
βαλλόμενος σπινθῆρι: πυριβλήτου δὲ φορῆος
ἡμιδαὴς ζείοντι λόφῳ θερμαίνετο πήληξ ...
ἐκ βλοσυροῦ δὲ λέοντος ἐφαίνετο κάπρος ἀλήτης,
330 εὐρύνων μέγα χάσμα δασύτριχος ἀνθερεῶνος,
καὶ λοφιὴν πελάσας ἐπὶ γαστέρι Δηριαδῆος
ὀρθὸς ὀπισθιδίοιο ποδὸς στηρίζετο παλμῷ,
θηγαλέοις ὀνύχεσσι μέσον κενεῶνα χαράσσων.
[291] Father Cronion tilted the balance of battle. Now Dionysos attacked mighty Deriades, matching spear with thyrsus. As the chieftain stabbed and thrust, the god changed his shape, and put on all sorts of varied forms. Sometimes he confronted him as a wild storm of fire, shooting tongues of crooked flame through dancing smoke. Sometimes he was running water, rolling delusive waves and sprinkling watery shots. Or taking on the exact image of a lion’s face, he lifted high his chin straight up and let out a harsh roar through the hairy throat, with a noise like his loud crashing father’s rattling thunder. Next like something with an overshadowing mass of variegated fruitage he changed into another shape, and like a sapling of the earth he ran up selfmade, bursting into the sky untouched, a perfect pine, or a plane; for his head changed and his hair became what seemed the counterfeit foliage of a tree, his belly lengthened into the trunk, he made his arms the boughs and his dress the bark and rooted his feet, and knocking up with his long branches he whispered into the face of the fighting king. Then he wove a dappled pattern over his limbs, and like a panther he was up in the air with flying leaps, and dropping with gentle steps upon the neck of some lofty elephant; the elephant lunging sideways smashed the car and shot the impious driver to the ground, shaking off yokepads and bit and bridle. Even though fallen the gigantic warrior would not leave him alone, but fought with Lyaios transformed and wounded the panther with his spear. But again the god changed his shape: a moving firebrand he rose high, heating the air and shooting a fiery bolt through the wind, running all over the breast and shaggy chest of Deriades. His Arabian mailcoat was blackened as the gusts of smoke struck on his white flanks from above and the sparks fell on him; his crest burnt up and the helmet grew hot, half-scorched upon the firestruck wearer. [Then he took a lion’s shape, and.. ] From a grim lion he changed to a wild boar, opening the wide gape of his hairy throat, and bringing his bristles close to the belly of Deriades he stood up straight rearing on his hind legs, and tore through his flank with sharp hooves.
Δηριάδης δ᾽ ὑπέροπλος ἐμάρνατο φάσματι κωφῷ,
335 ἐλπίδι μαψιδίῃ πεφορημένος: ἤθελε δ᾽ αἰεὶ
ἀψαύστοις ἀκίχητον ἑλεῖν εἴδωλον ἀγοστοῖς:
ἀντιτύπου δὲ λέοντος ἑὸν δόρυ πῆξε μετώπῳ,
μῦθον ἀπειλητῆρα χέων πολυειδέι Βάκχῳ:
[334] Proud Deriades went on fighting against these unsubstantial phantoms, driven by vain hopes, ever seeking to grasp the intangible image with hands that could not touch. At last he thrust his lance in the face of the lion before him, and cried threatenings against Bacchos of many shapes:
‘Τί πτώσσεις, Διόνυσε; τί σοι δόλος ἀντὶ κυδοιμοῦ;
340 Δηριάδην τρομέων πολυδαίδαλον εἶδος ἀμείβεις;
πόρδαλις οὐ κλονέει με φυγοπτολέμου Διονύσου,
ἄρκτον ὀιστεύω, καὶ δένδρεον ἄορι τέμνω:
ψευδομένου δὲ λέοντος ἐγὼ κενεῶνα χαράξω.
ἀλλὰ σοφοὺς Βραχμῆνας ἀτευχέας εἰς σὲ κορύσσω:
345 γυμνοὶ γὰρ γεγάασι, θεοκλήτοις δ᾽ ἐπαοιδαῖς
πολλάκις ἠερόφοιτον, ὁμοίιον ἄζυγι ταύρῳ,
οὐρανόθεν κατάγοντες ἐφαρμάξαντο Σελήνην,
πολλάκι δ᾽ ἱππεύοντος ἐπειγομένων ἐπὶ δίφρων
ἀσταθέος Φαέθοντος ἀνεστήσαντο πορείην.’
[339] “Why do you hide yourself, Dionysos? why tricks instead of battle? Do you fear Deriades, that you change into so many strange forms? The panther of runaway Dionysos does not frighten me, his bear I shoot, his tree I cut down with my sword, the pretended lion I will tear in the flank! Well then, I muster against you my wise Brahmans, unarmed.
For they go naked; but their inspired incantations have often enchanted Selene as she passes through the air like an untamed bull, and brought her down from heaven, and often stayed the course of Phaethon swiftly driving his hurrying car.”
350 ἔννεπε παπταίνων ἑτερότροπα φάσματα Βάκχου:
καὶ νόον εἶχεν ἄπιστον: ἀκηλήτῳ δὲ μενοινῇ
τέχνην φαρμακόεσσαν ἐπιρράψας Διονύσῳ
ἔλπετο νικήσειν Διὸς υἱέα μύστιδι τέχνῃ.
[350] He spoke, surveying the varied visions of Bacchos, and his mind was still unbelieving: with implacable will he hoped to contrive some scheme of magic against Dionysos, and to conquer the son of Zeus by mystic arts.
ἔνθα θορὼν ἀκίχητος ἀνέδραμεν ὑψόθι δίφρων:
355 καὶ θεὸς ἀφραίνοντα θεημάχον ἄνδρα δοκεύων
ἄμπελον ἐβλάστησεν ἀρηγόνα δηιοτῆτος.
καί τις ἐυσταφύλοιο θεήλατος οἰνάδος ὄρπηξ
ἑρπύζων κατὰ βαιὸν ἐς ἀργυρόκυκλον ἀπήνην
Δηριάδην ἔσφιγξεν ἀπειλητῆρι κορύμβῳ,
360 ἀμφιπεριπλέγδην πεπεδημένον: ἀρτιθαλῆ δὲ
σύμφυτον αἰθύσσων ἐπὶ βότρυϊ βότρυν ἀλήτην
μαινομένου βασιλῆος ἐπισκιόωντα προσώπῳ
σείετο μιτρώσας ὅλον ἀνέρα: Δηριάδην δὲ
αὐτοφυὴς ἐμέθυσσεν ἕλιξ εὐώδεϊ καρπῷ:
365 γυιοπέδην δ᾽ ἀσίδηρον ἐπέπλεκε δίζυγι ταρσῷ,
καὶ πόδας ἐρρίζωσεν ὁμοζυγέων ἐλεφάντων ...
ἀρραγέος κισσοῖο: καὶ οὐ τόσον ὁλκάδα πόντου
θηκτὰ περιπλεκέων ἐχενηίδος ἄκρα γενείων
δεσμῷ καρχαρόδοντι διεστήριξε θαλάσσῃ:
370 τοῖον ἔην μίμημα. μάτην δ᾽ ἐλέφαντας ἐπείγων
ἡνίοχος βαρύδουπον ἑὴν ἐλέλιζεν ἱμάσθλην,<
br />
κέντροις ὀξυτέροισιν ἀπειθέα νῶτα χαράσσων.
καὶ τόσον Ἰνδὸν ἄνακτα, τὸν οὐ κτάνεν ἄσπετος αἰχμή,
ἀμπελόεις νίκησεν ἕλιξ πρόμος: ἀμφιέπων δὲ
375 ἡμερίδων ὄρπηκι κατάσχετον ἀνθερεῶνα
πνίγετο Δηριάδης σκολιῷ τεθλιμμένος ὁλκῷ.
καὶ μογέων ἀτίνακτος ἐλίσσετο μαινάδι φωνῇ,
λεπτὸν ἔχων ὀλόλυγμα θεουδέος ἀνθερεῶνος,
νεύμασιν ἀφθόγγοις ἱκετήσια δάκρυα λείβων:
380 καὶ παλάμην ὤρεξεν ἀναυδέα, μάρτυρι σιγῇ
μόχθον ὅλον βοόων: τὸ δὲ δάκρυον ἔπλετο φωνή.
[354] Then he leapt unhindered into his car; but the god seeing the impious man still foolish, made a vine grow to help his attack. The godsent plant laden with clusters of winefruit crept quietly upon the cart with its silver wheels, and smothered Deriades in its threatening clusters, and entangled him round about and over all, dangling bunch after bunch new grown upon itself before the mad king, shading his face and enveloping the whole man. And Deriades was intoxicated by the sweetsmelling fruit of the selfgrown vine; it threw fetters not of steel about his two feet, and rooted to the ground the legs of the yoked elephants with trails of unbreakable ivy: not so firmly is the seagoing barge held fast on the main by the toothed bond of a hold the ship, when she fastens her sharp fangs on the timbers. Yes, it was just like that! In vain the driver whipt up his elephants and swung his cracking lash, tearing the obstinate hide with sharper prickles. The great Indian prince, whom countless blades could not kill, was conquered by the tendrils of a champion vine! Deriades struggling with his throat entangled in the vine-twigs was choked and crushed in the winding trails. For all his labour he could not stir; wherefore he adjured in tones of madness and sent out a stifled cry from a throat now pious, and prayed with voiceless movements shedding tears of supplication; held out a dumb hand, with eloquent silence uttered all his trouble; his tears were a voice.
καὶ σκεδάσας Διόνυσος ἑὴν πολύδεσμον ὀπώρην
γυιοπέδην εὔβοτρυν ἀνέσπασε Δηριαδῆος,
καὶ στέφος ἡμερίδων ἑλικώδεα κισσὸν ἐλάσσας
385 δέσμιον αὐχένα λῦσεν ὁμοπλεκέων ἐλεφάντων.
οὐ δὲ φυγὼν δρυόεντα τανυπτόρθοιο κορύμβου
δεσμὸν ἀπειλητῆρα καὶ αὐτοέλικτον ἀνάγκην
Δηριάδης ἀπέειπεν ἐθήμονα κόμπον ἀπειλῆς,
ἀλλὰ πάλιν πρόμος ἔσκε θεημάχος: εἶχε δὲ βουλὴν
390 διχθαδίην, ἢ Βάκχον ἑλεῖν ἢ δμῶα τελέσσαι.
[382] Then Dionysos dispersed his entangling fruit, and broke off the fettering grapes from Deriades; then shedding the twines of ivy, he undid the wreathing garland of garden-vines from the yoked elephants’ necks. Yet Deriades, now free from the woody bonds of the long branching clusters crawling of themselves, and the constraint which threatened him, did not desist from his wonted threats and boasts. Once more he was the chieftain defying the gods; he only hesitated whether to slay Bacchos or to make him a slave.
ἀμφοτέρους δ᾽ ἀνέκοψε μάχης ἀμφίδρομος ὀρφνή.
καὶ μόθος ἦν μετὰ νύκτα, καὶ ὑπναλέων ἀπὸ λέκτρων
ἐγρομένους θώρηξεν ἀμοιβαίη πάλιν Ἠώς.
[391] But darkness surrounded both armies and put a stop to the fight. Night past, the battle began again; when they awoke from sleep and bed, the succeeding dawn armed them once more.
οὐδὲ μόθων τέλος ἦεν ἐπειγομένῳ Διονύσῳ,
395 ἀλλὰ τόσων μετὰ κύκλα κυλινδομένων ἐνιαυτῶν
ῥυθμὸν Ἐνυαλίοιο μάτην ἐπεβόμβεε σάλπιγξ.
ἤδη δ᾽ ἐγρεμόθων ἐτέων πολυκαμπέι νύσσῃ
Βακχιὰς ὀψιτέλεστος ἐμαίνετο μᾶλλον Ἐνυώ.
[394] Not yet was it the end of conflict for impatient Dionysos; yet first there must be many cycles of rolling years while the trumpet blazed the tune of war in vain; but after the varied course of so many battle-stirring years, now the conflict of Bacchos grew more violent for the end.
οὐ μὲν ἀφειδήσαντες Ἀρειμανέος Διονύσου
400 κάλλιπον ἀμνήστοισι μεμηλότα μῦθον ἀήταις
Δικταῖοι Ῥαδαμᾶνες ὁμόφρονες: ἀλλὰ Λυαίῳ
νῆας ἐτεχνήσαντο μαχήμονας: ἀμφὶ δὲ λόχμας
ποίπνυον ἄλλοθεν ἄλλος: ὁ μὲν τορνώσατο γόμφους,
ὃς δὲ μέσην πεπόνητο περὶ τρόπιν, ἴκρια δ᾽ ἄλλος
405 ὀρθὰ περὶ σταμίνεσσιν ἀμοιβαίῃσιν ὑφαίνων
ὁλκάδα τοῖχον ἔτευχεν, ἐπηγκενίδας δὲ συνάπτων
μηκεδανὰς κατέπηξε, βαθυνομένῃ δὲ μεσόδμῃ
μεσσοφανῆ μέσον ἱστὸν Ἄραψ ὠρθώσατο τέκτων
λαίφεϊ πεπταμένῳ πεφυλαγμένον: αὐτὰρ ἐπ᾽ ἄκρῳ
410 δουρατέην ἐπίκυρτον ἐτορνώσαντο κεραίην
ἴδμονες εὐπαλάμοιο καὶ Ἡφαίστου καὶ Ἀθήνης.
[399] Now the Rhadamanes of Dicte did not neglect the command of warmad Dionysos, nor left it for the forgetful winds to care for; but with one accord they built ships of war for Lyaios. Through the woods they were busy, some here, some there. One was turning pegs, one worked at the middle of the keel, one fitted the planks straight over the pairs of ribs, and fastened the long sideplanks fixed to the ribs making the vessel’s wall; an Arabian shipwright raised upright in the middle of the deep mastbox the mast amidships, reserved for the spreading sail; and skilled workmen of deft Hephaistos and Athena rounded the wooden yard for the top.
ὣς οἱ μὲν μογέοντες ἀμιμήτῳ τινὶ τέχνῃ
Βάκχῳ νῆας ἔτευχον. ἐπασχαλόων δὲ κυδοιμῷ
μαντοσύνης Διόνυσος ἑῆς ἐμνήσατο Ῥείης,
415 ὅττι τέλος πολέμοιο φανήσεται, ὁππότε Βάκχοι
εἰναλίην Ἰνδοῖσιν ἀναστήσωσιν Ἐνυώ.
[412] So they wrought ships for Bacchos with really incomparable art. And Dionysos amid the anxieties of war remembered the prophecy of his own Rheia: that the end of the war would be seen, when Bacchants fought by sea against Indians.
καὶ Λύκος ἀκροτάτοιο δι᾽ οἴδματος ἡγεμονεύων,
νεύμασιν ἀτρέπτοισιν ὑποδρήσσων Διονύσου,
ἄβροχον ἡνιόχευεν ὁδοιπόρον ἅρμα θαλάσσης,
420 ἧχι σοφοὶ Ῥαδαμᾶνες, ἁλιπλανέες μετανάσται,
νῆας ἐτεχνήσαντο θαλασσοπόρῳ Διονύσῳ.
καὶ τότε τετραπόροιο χρόνου στροφάλιγγα κυλίνδων,
ἱππεύων ἔτος ἕκτον, ἑλίσσετο καμπύλος Αἰών ...
εἰς ἀγορὴν ἐκάλεσσε μελαρρίνων γένος Ἰνδῶν
425 Δηριάδης σκηπτοῦχος: ἐπειγομένῳ δὲ πεδίλῳ
λαὸν ἀολλίζων ἑτερόθροος ἤιε κῆρυξ.
αὐτίκα δ᾽ ἠγερέθοντο πολυσπερέων στίχες Ἰνδῶν,
ἑζόμενοι στοιχηδὸν ἀμοιβαίων ἐπὶ βάθρων:
λαοῖς δ᾽ ἀγρομένοισιν ἄναξ ἀγορήσατο Μορρεύς:
[417] Lycos appointed by irrevocable command of Dionysos to serve as commander on the surface of the sea, drove his seachariot undrenched travelling upon its way to the place, where the Rhadamanes, those clever voyagers into foreign parts, had built the ships for seafaring Dionysos. And then circling Time, rolling the wheel of the fourseason year, was whirling along for the sixth year. King Deriades summoned to assembly the blackskin nation of Indians; the herald with hurrying steps went gathering the people and cried his call in their different languages. At once the many tribes of Indians assembled, and sat down in companies on rows of benches, and prince Morrheus addressed the assembly:
430 ‘Ἴστε, φίλοι, τάχα πάντες, ἅ περ κάμον ὑψόθι πύργων,
εἰσόκε γαῖα Κίλισσα καὶ Ἀσσυρίων γένος ἀνδρῶν
αὐχένα δοῦλον ἔκαμψεν ὑπὸ ζυγὰ Δηριαδῆος:
ἴστε καί, ὅσσα τέλεσσα καταιχμάζων Διονύσου,
μαρνάμενος Σατύροισι καὶ ἀμητῆρι σιδήρῳ
435 τέμνων ἐχθρὰ κάρηνα βοοκραίροιο γενέθλης,
ὁππότε Βασσαρίδων πεπεδημένον ἑσμὸν ἐρύσσας
ὤπασα Δηριάδῃ, πολέμου γέρας, ὧν ὑπὸ λύθρῳ
ἄστεος εὐλάιγγες ἐφοινίχθησαν ἀγυιαὶ
κτεινομένων: ἕτεραι δὲ μετάρσιον ἀμφὶ χορείην
440 ἀγχονίῳ θλίβοντο περίπλοκον αὐχένα δεσμῷ: