Works of Nonnus

by Nonnus

  ‘Σκέλμις, ἐνικήθης: σέο φέρτερός ἐστιν Ἐρεχθεύς,

  335 ὅττι τεὸν Βαλίον, Ζεφυρηίδος αἷμα γενέθλης,

  ἄρσενα καὶ νέον ἵππον ὁδοιπόρον ἄβροχον ἅλμης

  γηραλέη νίκησεν ἐμὴ θήλεια Ποδάρκη.

  εἰ μὲν ἀγηνορέεις Πελοπηίδος εἵνεκα τέχνης

  ὑμετέρου γενετῆρος ἁλίδρομον ἅρμα γεραίρων,

  340 Μυρτίλος αἰολόμητις ἐπίκλοπον ἤνυσε νίκην,

  μιμηλῷ τελέσας ἀπατήλιον ἄξονα κηρῷ:

  εἰ δὲ μέγα φρονέεις γενεῆς χάριν ἐννοσιγαίου,

  ἵππιον ὃν καλέεις, βυθίων ἐπιβήτορα δίφρων,

  πόντιον αὐτὸν ἄνακτα, κυβερνητῆρα τριαίνης,

  345 ἄρσενα σὸν νίκησεν ἀρηγόνα θῆλυς Ἀθήνη.’

  [334] “Scelmis, you’re beaten! Erechtheus is a better man than you, for my old ambling mare Swift-foot has beaten your Piebald, with Zephyros for sire, a horse too, and a young one, and one that can run on the sea without getting wet! If you are so proud of the skill of Pelops and praise the seacoursing car of your father, it was Myrtilos who contrived that cheating victory, with his clever invention, when he made a wax model of an axle to deceive his master. If you are haughty because of your father Earth-shaker, the Horse God as you call him, who rides in the chariot of the deep, himself lord of the sea and master of the trident, Athena, a female, has beaten your backer, the male!”

  ὣς φάμενος Τελχῖνα παρέδραμεν ἀστὸς Ἀθήνης.

  τῷ δ᾽ ἐπὶ Φαῦνος ἔλαυνεν ὄχου τέθριππον ἱμάσσων:

  Ἀκταίων δὲ τέταρτος ἐπίκλοπος ἕσπετο Φαύνῳ,

  πατρὸς Ἀρισταίου μεμνημένος εἰσέτι μύθων

  350 κερδαλέων: καὶ λοῖσθος ἔην Τυρσηνὸς Ἀχάτης.

  [346] As he said this, the man of Athena’s town ran past the Telchis. Next after him came Phaunos flogging his fourhorse team. Fourth was Actaion the cunning and artful, who had not forgotten his father’s good advice; and the last was Tyrsenian Achates.

  καὶ θρασὺς Ἀκταίων δολίην ἐφράσσατο βουλήν:

  Φαῦνον ἑοῖς ὀχέεσσιν ἔτι προθέοντα κιχήσας

  ὀξυτέρῃ μάστιγι μεταστρέψας δρόμον ἵππων

  σύνδρομος ἡνιόχευε, παρακλέπτων ἐλατῆρα,

  355 βαιὸν ὑποφθάμενος: καὶ ἐπ᾽ ἄντυγι γούνατα πήξας

  δίφρον ἁμιλλητῆρα κατέγραφεν ἅρματι λοξῷ,

  ἱππείους τροχόεντι διαξύων πόδας ὁλκῷ.

  καὶ δαπέδῳ πέσεν ἅρμα: τινασσομένοιο δὲ δίφρου

  τρεῖς μὲν ὑπὲρ δαπέδοιο πέλον πεπτηότες ἵπποι,

  360 ὃς μὲν ὑπὲρ λαγόνων, ὁ δὲ γαστέρος, ὃς δ᾽ ἐπἰ δειρήν,

  εἷς δέ τις ὀρθὸς ἔμιμνε παρακλιδόν, ἀμφὶ δὲ γαίῃ

  ἄκρα ποδῶν ῥίζωσε, καὶ ἄστατον αὐχένα σείων

  σύζυγος ἐστήριξεν ὅλον πόδα γείτονος ἵππου,

  κουφίζων ζυγόδεσμα, καὶ ὑψόσε δίφρον ἀνέλκων.

  365 οἱ μὲν ἔσαν προχυθέντες ἐπὶ χθονός: αὐσταλεος δὲ

  ἡνίοχος κεκύλιστο παρὰ τροχόν, ἅρματι γείτων:

  θρύπτετο δ᾽ ἄκρα μέτωπα, μιαινομένου δὲ γενείου

  ὀξυτενὴς κεκόνιστο πέδῳ κεχαραγμένος ἀγκών.

  ἡνίοχος δ᾽ ἀνέπαλτο θοώτερος: ἐσσυμένως δὲ

  370 εἰς χθόνα πεπτηῶτι παρίστατο γείτονι δίφρῳ,

  αἰδομένῃ παλάμῃ τετανυσμένον ἵππον ἀνέλκων:

  καὶ βαλίῃ μάστιγι κατηφέα πῶλον ἱμάσσων.

  καὶ θρασὺς Ἀκταίων πεπονημένον ἐγγύθι δίφρου

  Φαῦνον ὀπιπεύων φιλοπαίγμονα ῥήξατο φωνήν:

  [351] Now bold Actaion thought of a cunning plan. His car was just behind Phaunos and catching him up, when with a sharper cut of the whip, he turned his horses aside and drove them up level, slipping by the driver and getting a little in front, then pressing his knees against the rail, he scraped the rival car with his own crossing car and scratched the horse’s legs with his running wheel. The car was upset, and over the wreckage three of the horses lay fallen on the ground, one on the flank, one on the belly, one on the neck. But one kept clear by a swerve and remained standing, his feet firmly rooted on the earth, shaking his trembling neck; he supported the whole leg of the horse yoked next to him, and lifting the yokeband pulled the car up again. There they were in a mess on the ground; the driver rolled in the dirt beside his wheel, close to the car, the skin of his forehead barked, his chin soiled, his arm stretched out in the dust and the elbow torn by the ground. The driver leapt up quickly, and in a moment he was standing beside his wrecked car, dragging up the prostrate horse with shamed hand and flogging the discomfited beast with quick lash. Bold Actaion watched Phaunos in difficulties beside his car, and made merry at his plight:

  375 ‘Λῆγε μάτην ἀέκοντας ἐπισπέρχων σέθεν ἵππους,

  λῆγε μάτην: φθάμενος γὰρ ἀπαγγέλλω Διονύσῳ,

  Φαῦνος ὅτι προθέοντας ὅλους, ἐλατῆρας ἐάσας

  νόστιμος ὀψικέλευθος ἐλεύσεται ἅρματα σύρων:

  φείδεο σῆς μάστιγος, ἐπεὶ ταμεσίχροϊ κέντρῳ

  [375] “That will do now! It’s of no use to press your unwilling horses. That will do, it’s all of no use! I shall be there first, and I will inform Dionysos that Phaunos will let all the other drivers pass, and he will come in last dragging his own car. Spare your whip. It really makes me sorry to see your poor horses torn like that with a fleshcutting prick!”

  380 σῶν ὁρόων ᾤκτειρα δέμας κεχαραγμένον ἵππων.’

  ἔννεπεν ἀστήρικτον ὄχον προκέκευθον ἐλαύνων

  ὠκυτέρῃ μάστιγι: καὶ ἄχνυτο Φαῦνος ἀκούων.

  καὶ μόγις ἐν δαπέδῳ λασίης δεδραγμένος οὐρῆς

  κεκλιμένων ὤρθωσε δέμας κεκονιμένον ἵππων,

  385 καί τινα λυομένοιο παραΐξαντα λεπάδνου

  πῶλον ἄγων παλίνορσον ἐπεσφήκωσε χαλινῷ:

  στήσας δ᾽ ἔνθα καὶ ἔνθα παρεσσυμένων πόδας ἵππων

  ἅρματος ὕψι βέβηκε, καὶ ἴχνιον ἅρματι πήξας

  φρικαλέῃ μάστιξε τὸ δεύτερον ἵππον ἱμάσθλῃ:

  390 καὶ πλέον ἤλασε Φαῦνος ἐπισπέρχων δρόμον ἵππων,

  ὠκύτερον δ᾽ ἐδίωκε παροίτερον ἡνιοχῆα:

  καὶ φθαμένους ἐκίχησεν, ἐπεὶ μένος ἔμβαλεν ἵπποις

  ἵππιος ἐννοσίγαιος ἑὸν θρασὺν υἷα γερα�
�ρων:

  στεινωπὴν δέ κέλευθον ἰδὼν παρὰ κοιλάδι πέτρῃ

  395 ἔμφρονα μῆτιν ὕφαινε δολοπλόκον, ὄφρα κιχήσας

  ἅρματι τεχνήεντι παραΐξειεν Ἀχάτην.

  [381] Phaunos was furious to hear these words, as the speaker drove his team quickly on with speeding whip. He pulled at the thick tails of the horses lying on the ground, and with great difficulty made the beasts get up from the dust. One colt which had struggled out of the untied yokestrap he brought back again and fastened into the bridle. He put the feet of the struggling horses into their places on both sides, and mounted the car, taking his stand firmly in it, then once more whipt up the team with his terrible lash. Harder than ever Phaunos drove and urged on his galloping horses, quicker than ever he pursued the driver in front of him — and he caught up the team ahead, for horsegod Earthshaker put spirit into the horses to honour his bold son. Then seeing a narrow pass by a beetling cliff, he wove a tangled web of deceitful artifice, to catch Achates and pass him by skilful driving.

  ῥωγμὸς ἔην βαθύκολπος, ὃν ἐξέρρηξε κελεύθου

  χειμερίῃ μάστιγι Διὸς μετανάστιον ὕδωρ

  ἠερόθεν προχέοντος: ἐεργομένῳ δὲ ῥεέθρῳ

  400 ὄμβρου γειοτόμοιο ῥάχις κοιλαίνετο γαίης,

  ἧχτ μολὼν ἀέκων ἀνεσείρασε δίφρον Ἀχάτης,

  φεύγων ἀγχικέλευθον ἐπηλυσίην ἐλατῆρος:

  καὶ οἱ ἐπεσσυμένῳ τρομερὴν ἀνενείκατο φωνήν:

  [397] There was a deep ravine, which the errant flood of rain pouring from the sky had torn by the side of the course under the wintry scourge of Zeus; the torrent of rain confined there had cut away a strip of earth and hollowed the ground so as to form a narrow ridge. Achates when he got there had unwillingly checked his car, to avoid a collision with the approaching driver; and as Phaunos galloped upon him, he called out in a trembling voice —

  ‘Εἰσέτι, νήπιε Φαῦνε, τεοὶ ῥυπόωσι χιτῶνες,

  405 εἰσέτι σῶν ὀχέων ψαμαθώδεές εἰσι κορῶναι,

  οὔ πω σῶν ἐτίναξας ἀκοσμήτων κόνιν ἵππων:

  λύματα σεῖο κάθαιρε: τί σοι τόσον ἵππον ἐλαύνειν;

  μή σε πάλιν πίπτοντα καὶ ἀσπαίροντα νοήσω.

  τὸν θρασὺν Ἀκταίωνα φυλάσσεο, μή σε κιχήσας

  410 ταυρείῃ σέο νῶτον ὑποστίξειεν ἱμάσθλῃ,

  μή σε πάλιν προκάρηνον ἀκονίζειε κονίῃ.

  εἰσέτι σῆς μεθέπεις κεχαραγμένα κύκλα παρειῆς:

  Φαῦνε, τί μαργαίνεις, ξυνήονα μῶμον ἀνάπτων

  πατρὶ Ποσειδάωνι καὶ Ἠελίῳ σέο πάππῳ;

  415 ἅζεό μοι Σατύρων φιλοκέρτομον ἀνθερεῶνα.

  Σειληνοὺς πεφύλαξο καὶ ἀμφιπόλους Διονύσου,

  μή σοι ἐπεγγελάσωσι καὶ αὐσταλέῳ σέο δίφρῳ.

  πῇ θρόνα; πῇ βοτάναι; πῇ φάρμακα ποικίλα Κίρκης;

  πάντά σε, πάντα λέλοιπεν, ὅτ᾽ εἰς δρόμον ἦλθες ἀγῶνος.

  420 τίς κεν ἀπαγγείλειεν ἀγήνορι σεῖο τεκούσῃ

  καὶ σέο κύμβαχον ἅρμα καὶ αὐχμώουσαν ἱμάσθλην;’

  [404] “Your dress is dirty still, foolish Phaunos! the tips of your harness are still covered with sand! You have not yet dusted your untidy horses! Clean off your dirt! What’s the good of all that driving? I fear I may see you tumbling and struggling again! Take care of that bold Actaion, or he may catch you and flick your back with his leather thong and shoot you headlong into the dust again. You still show scratches on your round cheeks. Why do you still rage, Phaunos, bringing disgrace alike on Poseidon your father and Helios your gaffer? Pray have respect for the mocking throat of the Satyrs — beware of the Seilenoi and the attendants of Dionysos, or they may laugh at your dirty car! Where are your herbs and your plants, where all the drugs of Circe? All have left you, all, as soon as you began this race. Who will tell your proud mother the tale of a tumbling chariot and a filthy whip?”

  τοῖον ἀπερροίβδησεν ἀγήνορα μῦθον Ἀχάτης,

  κερτομέων: νέμεσις δὲ τόσην ἐγράψατο φωνήν.

  καὶ σχεδὸν ἤλυθε Φαῦνος ὁμήλυδα δίφρον ἐλαύνων:

  425 ἅρματι δ᾽ ἅρμα πέλασσε, καὶ ἄξονι γόμφον ἀράσσων

  μεσσοπαγῆ συνέαξε βαλὼν τροχοειδέι κύκλῳ:

  καὶ τροχὸς αὐτοκύλιστος ἕλιξ ἐπεκέκλιτο γαίῃ,

  ἅρμασιν Οἰνομάοιο πανείκελος, ὁππότε κηροῦ

  θαλπομένου Φαέθοντι λυθεὶς ἀπατήλιος ἄξων

  430 ἱπποσύνην ἀνέκοπτε μεμηνότος ἡνιοχῆος.

  στεινωπὴν δὲ κέλευθον ἔχων ἀνέμιμνεν Ἀχάτης,

  εἰσόκε τετραπόρων ὑπὲρ ἄντυγος ἥμενος ἵππων

  ὠκυτέρῃ μάστιγι παρήλυθε Φαῦνος Ἀχάτην,

  οἷά περ οὐκ ἀίων: καὶ ἐκούφισε μᾶλλον ἱμάσθλην,

  435 μαστίζων ἀκίχητος ἐπειγομένων λόφον ἵππων:

  καὶ πέλεν Ἀκταίωνος ὀπίστερος, ὅσσα θορόντος

  δίσκου πεμπομένοιο πέλει δολιχόσκιος ὁρμή,

  ὃν βριαρῇ παλάμῃ δονέων αἰζηὸς ἰάλλει.

  [422] Such were the proud words that Achates shouted in mockery: but Nemesis recorded that big speech. Now Phaunos came close and drove alongside. Chariot struck chariot, and hitting the middle bolt with his axle he broke it with his rolling wheel — the other wheel rolled off by itself and fell twisting on the ground, as with the chariot of Oinomaos, when the wax of the false axle melted in Phaethon’s heat and ended the horsemanship of that furious driver. Achates remained in the narrow’ way, while Phaunos in his car, leaning over the rail of his four-in-hand, passed him -with speeding whip as if he did not hear; he lifted his lash more than ever, flogging the necks of the galloping horses beyond pursuit. Now he was next behind Actaion, as far as the long throw of a hurtling quoit when some stout lad casts it with strong hand.

  λαοῖς δ᾽ ἔμεσε λύσσα: καὶ ἤρισαν ἄλλος ἐπ᾽ ἄλλῳ,

  440 συνθεσίας τεύχοντες ἀτεκμάρτου περὶ νίκης

  ἐσσομένης: τὰ δὲ δῶρα θυελλοπόδων χάριν ἵππων

  ἢ τρίπος ἠὲ λέβης ἢ φάσγανον ἠὲ βοείη:

  καὶ ναέτης ναετῆρι, φίλος δ᾽ ἐρίδαινεν ἑταίρῳ,

  γηραλέος δὲ γέροντι, νέῳ νέος, ἀνέρι δ᾽ ἀνήρ.

  445 ἦν δ᾽ ἔρις ἀμφοτέρων ἑτερόθροος, ὃς μὲν Ἀχάτην

  κυδαίνων, ἕτερος δὲ χερείονα Φαῦνον ἐλέγχων

  ἐν χθονὶ πεπτηῶτα κυλινδομένων ἀπὸ δίφρων,

  ἄλλος ἐριδμαίνων, ὅτι δεύτερος ἦεν Ἐρεχθεὺς

  εἰναλίου Τελχῖνος �
��πίστερος ἡνιοχῆος:

  450 ἄλλῳ δ᾽ ἄλλος ἔριζον, ὅτι φθαμένων δρόμον ἵππων

  ἀγχιφανὴς νίκησε πολύροπος ἀστὸς Ἀθήνης,

  Σκέλμιν ἔτι προθέοντα παραΐξας ἐλατῆρα.

  [439] The spectators were mad with excitement, all quarrelling and betting upon the uncertain victory that was not yet. They lay their wagers on the storm-foot horses — tripod or cauldron or sword or shield; native quarrelled with native, friend with comrade, old with old and young with young, man with man. All took sides shouting in confusion, one praised up Achates, a second would prove Phaunos the worse, for falling to the ground from his upset car; another maintained that Erechtheus was second behind Telchis the driver from the sea; another would have it that the resourceful man of Athens was visible close by, that his team was in front and he had won after passing Scelmis the leading driver.

  οὔ πω νεῖκος ἔληγε, καὶ ἔφθασεν ἐγγὺς Ἐρεχθεύς,

  ἵπποθς ἔνθα καὶ ἔνθα κατωμαδὸν αἰὲν ἱμάσσων:

  455 καὶ πολὺς ἱππείοιο δι᾽ αὐχένος ἔρρεεν ἱδρὼς

  καὶ λασίου στέρνοιο, καθ᾽ ἡνιόχοιο δὲ πυκναὶ

  αὐχμηραὶ ῥαθάμιγγες ἐπερρώοντο κονίης:

  ἅρματα δ᾽ ἀγχιπόροισιν ἐπέτρεχεν ἴχνεσιν ἵππων

  ἁλλομένῃ στροφάλιγγι: καὶ οὐ τροχόεντι σιδήρῳ

  460 λεπταλέης ἀτίνακτα τινάσσετο νῶτα κονίης.

  αὐτὰρ ὁ πωτήεντα μετὰ δρόμον ὑψόθι δίφρου

  εἰς μέσον ἦλθεν ἀγῶνος: ἑῷ δ᾽ ἔσμηξε χιτῶνι

  μυδαλέων ἱδρῶτα διαστάζοντα μετώπων: