Who raise thy temples where the chariot stood Of fierce Oenomaus, defiled with blood:[71]
Where once his steeds their savage banquet found, 390 And human bones yet whiten all the ground.
Say, can those honours please; and canst thou love Presumptuous Crete that boasts the tomb of Jove?[72]
And shall not Tantalus"s kingdoms share Thy wife and sister"s tutelary care? 395 Reverse, O Jove, thy too severe decree, Nor doom to war a race derived from, thee;[73]
On impious realms and barb"rous kings impose Thy plagues, and curse "em with such sons[74] as those."
Thus, in reproach and pray"r, the queen expressed 400 The rage and grief contending in her breast; Unmoved remained the ruler of the sky, And from his throne returned this stern reply: ""Twas thus I deemed thy haughty soul would bear } The dire, though just, revenge which I prepare } 405 Against a nation thy peculiar care: } No less Dione might for Thebes contend, Nor Bacchus less his native town defend; Yet these in silence see the fates fulfil Their work, and rev"rence our superior will. 410 For by the black infernal Styx I swear, (That dreadful oath which binds the thunderer) "Tis fixed; th" irrevocable doom of Jove; No force can bend me, no persuasion move.
Haste then, Cyllenius,[75] through the liquid air; 415 Go, mount the winds, and to the shades repair; Bid h.e.l.l"s black monarch my commands obey, And give up Laius to the realms of day, Whose ghost yet shiv"ring on Cocytus" sand, Expects its pa.s.sage to the further strand: 420 Let the pale sire revisit Thebes, and bear These pleasing orders to the tyrant"s ear;[76]
That from his exiled brother, swelled with pride Of foreign forces, and his Argive bride, Almighty Jove commands him to detain 425 The promised empire, and alternate reign: Be this the cause of more than mortal hate: The rest, succeeding times shall ripen into fate."
The G.o.d obeys, and to his feet applies Those golden wings that cut the yielding skies. 430 His ample hat his beamy locks o"erspread, And veiled the starry glories of his head.
He seized the wand that causes sleep to fly, Or in soft slumbers seals the wakeful eye; That drives the dead to dark Tartarean coasts, 435 Or back to life compels the wand"ring ghosts.
Thus, through the parting clouds, the son of May Wings on the whistling winds his rapid way; Now smoothly steers through air his equal flight, Now springs aloft, and tow"rs th" ethereal height; 440 Then wheeling down the steep of heav"n he flies, And draws a radiant circle o"er the skies.
Meantime the banished Polynices roves (His Thebes abandoned) through th" Aonian groves, While future realms his wand"ring thoughts delight, 445 His daily vision and his dream by night; Forbidden Thebes appears before his eye, From whence he sees his absent brother fly, With transport views the airy rule his own, And swells on an imaginary throne. 450 Fain would he cast a tedious age away, And live out all in one triumphant day.[77]
He chides the lazy progress of the sun, And bids the year with swifter motion run.
With anxious hopes his craving mind is tost, 455 And all his joys in length of wishes lost.
The hero then resolves his course to bend } Where ancient Danaus" fruitful fields extend,[78] } And famed Mycene"s lofty towers ascend, } (Where late the sun did Atreus" crimes detest, 460 And disappeared in horror of the feast.)[79]
And now by chance, by fate, or furies led, From Bacchus" consecrated caves he fled, Where the shrill cries of frantic matrons sound, And Pentheus" blood enriched the rising ground.[80] 465 Then sees Cithaeron tow"ring o"er the plain, And thence declining gently to the main.
Next to the bounds of Nisus" realm repairs, Where treach"rous Scylla cut the purple hairs:[81]
The hanging cliffs of Sciron"s rock explores, 470 And hears the murmurs of the diff"rent sh.o.r.es:[82]
Pa.s.ses the strait that parts the foaming seas, And stately Corinth"s pleasing site surveys.
"Twas now the time when Phoebus yields to night,[83]
And rising Cynthia sheds her silver light, 475 Wide o"er the world in solemn pomp she drew Her airy chariot hung with pearly dew;[84]
All birds and beasts lie hushed; sleep steals away The wild desires of men, and toils of day, And brings, descending through the silent air, 480 A sweet forgetfulness of human care.[85]
Yet no red clouds, with golden borders gay, Promise the skies the bright return of day; No faint reflections of the distant light Streak with long gleams the scatt"ring shades of night: 485 From the damp earth impervious vapours rise, Encrease the darkness, and involve the skies.
At once the rushing winds with roaring sound Burst from th" aeolian caves, and rend the ground, With equal rage their airy quarrel[86] try, 490 And win by turns the kingdom of the sky: But with a thicker night black Auster shrouds The heav"ns, and drives on heaps the rolling clouds, From whose dark womb a rattling tempest pours, Which the cold north congeals to haily show"rs. 495 From pole to pole the thunder roars aloud, And broken lightnings flash from ev"ry cloud.
Now smoaks with show"rs[87] the misty mountain-ground, And floated fields lie undistinguished round.
Th" Inachian streams with headlong fury run, 500 And Erasinus[88] rolls a deluge on: The foaming Lerna swells above its bounds, And spreads its ancient poisons[89] o"er the grounds: Where late was dust, now rapid torrents play, Rush through the mounds, and bear the dams away: 505 Old limbs of trees from crackling forests torn, Are whirled in air, and on the winds are borne: The storm the dark Lycaean groves displayed, And first to light exposed the sacred shade.[90]
Th" intrepid Theban hears the bursting sky, 510 Sees yawning rocks in ma.s.sy fragments fly,[91]
And views astonished, from the hills afar, The floods descending, and the wat"ry war,[92]
That, driv"n by storms, and pouring o"er the plain, Swept herds, and hinds, and houses to the main.[93] 515 Through the brown horrors of the night he fled, Nor knows, amazed, what doubtful path to tread; His brother"s image to his mind appears, Inflames his heart with rage, and wings his feet with fears.[94]
So fares a sailor on the stormy main, 520 When clouds conceal Bootes" golden wain, When not a star its friendly l.u.s.tre keeps, Nor trembling Cynthia glimmers on the deeps; He dreads the rocks, and shoals, and seas, and skies, While thunder roars, and lightning round him flies. 525 Thus strove the chief, on every side distressed, Thus still his courage, with his toils increased; With his broad shield opposed, he forced his way Through thickest woods, and roused the beasts of prey, Till he beheld, where from Larissa"s[95] height 530 The shelving walls reflect a glancing light: Thither with haste the Theban hero flies; } On this side Lerna"s pois"nous water lies, } On that Prosymna"s grove and temple rise:[96] } He pa.s.sed the gates, which then unguarded lay, 535 And to the regal palace bent his way; On the cold marble, spent with toil, he lies, And waits till pleasing slumbers seal his eyes.
Adrastus here his happy people sways, Blest with calm peace in his declining days; 540 By both his parents of descent divine, Great Jove and Phoebus graced his n.o.ble line: Heaven had not crowned his wishes with a son, But two fair daughters heired[97] his state and throne.
To him Apollo (wondrous to relate! 545 But who can pierce into the depths of fate?) Had sung--"Expect thy sons[98] on Argos" sh.o.r.e, A yellow lion and a bristly boar."
This long revolved in his paternal breast, Sate heavy on his heart, and broke his rest; 550 This, great Amphiaraus, lay hid from thee, Though skilled in fate, and dark futurity.
The father"s care and prophet"s art were vain, For thus did the predicting G.o.d ordain.[99]
Lo hapless Tydeus, whose ill-fated hand 555 Had slain his brother, leaves his native land,[100]
And seized with horror in the shades of night, Through the thick deserts headlong urged his flight: Now by the fury of the tempest driv"n, He seeks a shelter from th" inclement heav"n, 560 Till, led by fate, the Theban"s steps he treads, And to fair Argos" open court succeeds.[101]
When thus the chiefs from diff"rent lands resort T" Adrastus" realms, and hospitable court; The king surveys his guests with curious eyes, 565 And views their arms and habit with surprise.
A lion"s yellow skin the Theban wears, Horrid his mane, and rough with curling hairs; Such once employed Alcides" youthful toils, Ere yet adorned with Nemea"s dreadful spoils.[102] 570 A boar"s stiff hide, of Calydonian breed, Oenides" manly shoulders overspread.
Oblique his tusks, erect his bristles stood, Alive, the pride and terror of the wood.
Struck with the sight, and fixed in deep amaze, 575 The King th" accomplished oracle surveys, Reveres Apollo"s vocal caves, and owns The guiding G.o.dhead, and his future sons O"er all his bosom secret transports reign, And a glad horror[103] shoots through ev"ry vein. 580 To heav"n he lifts his hands, erects his sight, And thus invokes the silent queen of night.
"G.o.ddess of shades, beneath whose gloomy reign Yon spangled arch glows with the starry train: You who the cares of heav"n and earth allay, } 585 Till nature quickened by th" inspiring ray } Wakes to new vigour with the rising day: } Oh thou who freest me from my doubtful state, Long lost and wildered in the maze of fate!
Be present still, oh G.o.ddess! in our aid; 590 Proceed, and firm[104] those omens thou hast made.
We to thy name our annual rites will pay, And on thy altars sacrifices lay; The sable flock shall fall beneath the stroke, And fill thy temples with a grateful smoke. 595 Hail, faithful Tripos! hail, ye dark abodes Of awful Phoebus: I confess the G.o.ds!"
Thus, seized with sacred fear, the monarch prayed; Then to his inner court the guests conveyed; Where yet thin fumes from dying sparks arise, } 600 And dust yet white upon each altar lies, } The relics of a former sacrifice. } The king once more the solemn rites requires, And bids renew the feasts, and wake the fires.[105]
His train obey, while all the courts around 605 With noisy care and various tumult sound.
Embroidered purple clothes the golden beds; This slave the floor, and that the table spreads; A third dispels the darkness of the night, And fills depending lamps with beams of light. 610 Here loaves in canisters are piled on high, And there in flames the slaughtered victims fry.[106]
Sublime in regal state Adrastus shone, Stretched on rich carpets on his iv"ry throne; A lofty couch receives each princely guest; 615 Around, at awful distance, wait the rest.
And now the king, his royal feast to grace, Acestis calls, the guardian[107] of his race, Who first their youth in arts of virtue trained, And their ripe years in modest grace maintained; 620 Then softly whispered in her faithful ear, And bade his daughters at the rites appear.
When from the close apartments of the night, The royal nymphs approach divinely bright; Such was Diana"s, such Minerva"s face; 625 Nor shine their beauties with superior grace, But that in these a milder charm endears, And less of terror in their looks appears.
As on the heroes first they cast their eyes, O"er their fair cheeks the glowing blushes rise, 630 Their downcast looks a decent shame confessed, Then on their father"s rev"rend features rest.
The banquet done, the monarch gives the sign To fill the goblet high with sparkling wine, Which Danaus used in sacred rites of old, 635 With sculpture graced, and rough with rising gold.
Here to the clouds victorious Perseus flies, } Medusa seems to move her languid eyes, } And, ev"n in gold, turns paler as she dies.[108] } There from the chace Jove"s tow"ring eagle bears, 640 On golden wings, the Phrygian to the stars:[109]
Still as he rises in th" ethereal height, His native mountains lessen to his sight; While all his sad companions upward gaze, Fixed on the glorious scene in wild amaze; 645 And the swift hounds, affrighted as he flies, Run to the shade, and bark against the skies.
This golden bowl with gen"rous juice was crowned, The first libations sprinkled on the ground, By turns on each celestial pow"r they call; 650 With Phoebus" name resounds the vaulted hall.
The courtly train, the strangers, and the rest, Crowned with chaste laurel, and with garlands dressed, While with rich gums the fuming altars blaze, Salute the G.o.d in num"rous hymns of praise. 655 Then thus the king: "Perhaps, my n.o.ble guests, These honoured altars, and these annual feasts To bright Apollo"s awful name designed, Unknown, with wonder may perplex your mind.
Great was the cause; our old solemnities 660 From no blind zeal, or fond tradition rise; But saved from death, our Argives yearly pay These grateful honours to the G.o.d of day.
"When by a thousand darts the Python slain With orbs unrolled lay cov"ring all the plain,[110] 665 (Transfixed as o"er Castalia"s streams he hung, And sucked new poisons with his triple tongue)[111]
To Argos" realms the victor G.o.d resorts, And enters old Crotopus" humble courts.
This rural prince one only daughter blest, 670 That all the charms of blooming youth possessed; Fair was her face, and spotless was her mind, Where filial love with virgin sweetness joined.
Happy! and happy still she might have proved, Were she less beautiful, or less beloved! 675 But Phoebus loved, and on the flow"ry side Of Nemea"s stream, the yielding fair enjoyed: Now, ere ten moons their orb with light adorn, Th" ill.u.s.trious offspring of the G.o.d was born; The nymph, her father"s anger to evade, 680 Retires from Argos to the sylvan shade; To woods and wilds the pleasing burden bears, And trusts her infant to a shepherd"s cares.
"How mean a fate, unhappy child! is thine?
Ah how unworthy those of race divine? 685 On flow"ry herbs in some green covert laid, His bed the ground, his canopy the shade,[112]
He mixes with the bleating lambs his cries, } While the rude swain his rural music tries } To call soft slumbers on his infant eyes. } 690 Yet ev"n in those obscure abodes to live, Was more, alas! than cruel fate would give, For on the gra.s.sy verdure as he lay, And breathed the freshness of the early day, Devouring dogs the helpless infant tore, 695 Fed on his trembling limbs, and lapped the gore.
Th" astonished mother, when the rumour came, Forgets her father, and neglects her fame; With loud complaints she fills the yielding air, And beats her breast, and rends her flowing hair; 700 Then wild with anguish to her sire she flies: Demands the sentence, and contented dies.
"But touched with sorrow for the dead too late, The raging G.o.d prepares t" avenge her fate.
He sends a monster, horrible and fell,[113] 705 Begot by furies in the depths of h.e.l.l.[114]
The pest a virgin"s face and bosom bears; } High on a crown a rising snake appears, } Guards her black front, and hisses in her hairs: } About the realm she walks her dreadful round, 710 When night with sable wings o"erspreads the ground, Devours young babes before their parents" eyes, And feeds and thrives on public miseries.[115]
"But gen"rous rage the bold Choroebus warms, Choroebus, famed for virtue, as for arms; 715 Some few like him, inspired with martial flame, Thought a short life well lost for endless fame.
These, where two ways in equal parts divide, } The direful monster from afar descried; } Two bleeding babes depending at her side; } 720 Whose panting vitals, warm with life, she draws, And in their hearts embrues her cruel claws.
The youths surround her with extended spears; But brave Choroebus in the front appears, Deep in her breast he plunged his shining sword, 725 And h.e.l.l"s dire monster back to h.e.l.l restored.
Th" Inachians[116] view the slain with vast surprize, Her twisting volumes and her rolling eyes, Her spotted breast, and gaping womb embrued With livid poison, and our children"s blood. 730 The crowd in stupid wonder fixed appear, Pale ev"n in joy, nor yet forget to fear.
Some with vast beams the squalid corpse engage, And weary all the wild efforts of rage.
The birds obscene, that nightly flocked to taste, 735 With hollow screeches fled the dire repast; And rav"nous dogs, allured by scented blood, And starving wolves ran howling to the wood.
"But fired with rage, from cleft Parna.s.sus" brow } Avenging Phoebus bent his deadly bow, } 740 And hissing flew the feathered fates below: } A night of sultry clouds involved around The tow"rs, the fields, and the devoted ground: And now a thousand lives together fled, } Death with his scythe cut off the fatal thread,[117] } 745 And a whole province in his triumph led. } "But Phoebus, asked why noxious fires appear, And raging Sirius blasts the sickly year, Demands their lives by whom his monster fell, And dooms a dreadful sacrifice to h.e.l.l. 750 "Blest be thy dust, and let eternal fame Attend thy manes, and preserve thy name, Undaunted hero![118] who divinely brave, In such a cause disdained thy life to save; But viewed the shrine with a superior look, 755 And its upbraided G.o.dhead thus bespoke: "With piety, the soul"s securest guard, And conscious virtue, still its own reward, Willing I come, unknowing how to fear; Nor shalt thou, Phoebus, find a suppliant here. 760 Thy monster"s death to me was owed alone, And "tis a deed too glorious to disown.
Behold him here, for whom, so many days, Impervious clouds concealed thy sullen rays; For whom, as man no longer claimed thy care, 765 Such numbers fell by pestilential air!
But if th" abandoned race of human kind From G.o.ds above no more compa.s.sion find; If such inclemency in heav"n can dwell, } Yet why must unoffending Argos feel } 770 The vengeance due to this unlucky steel? } On me, on me, let all thy fury fall, Nor err from me, since I deserve it all: Unless our desert cities please thy sight, Or fun"ral flames reflect a grateful light. 775 Discharge thy shafts, this ready bosom rend, And to the shades a ghost triumphant send; But for my country let my fate atone, Be mine the vengeance, as the crime my own.
"Merit distressed, impartial heav"n relieves: 780 Unwelcome life relenting Phoebus gives; For not the vengeful pow"r, that glowed with rage, With such amazing virtue durst engage.
The clouds dispersed, Apollo"s wrath expired, And from the wond"ring G.o.d th" unwilling[119] youth retired. 785 Thence we these altars in his temple raise, And offer annual honours, feasts, and praise; These solemn feasts propitious Phoebus please; These honours, still renewed, his ancient wrath appease."
"But say, ill.u.s.trious guest," adjoined the king, 790 "What name you bear, from what high race you spring?
The n.o.ble Tydeus stands confessed, and known Our neighbour prince, and heir of Calydon.
Relate your fortunes, while the friendly night And silent hours to various talk invite." 795 The Theban bends on earth his gloomy eyes, Confused, and sadly thus at length replies: "Before these altars how shall I proclaim, O gen"rous prince! my nation, or my name, Or through what ancient veins our blood has rolled? 800 Let the sad tale for ever rest untold!
Yet if propitious to a wretch unknown, You seek to share in sorrows not your own; Know, then, from Cadmus I derive my race, Jocasta"s son, and Thebes my native place." 805 To whom the king (who felt his gen"rous breast Touched with concern for his unhappy guest) Replies: "Ah! why forbears the son to name His wretched father, known too well by fame?
Fame, that delights around the world to stray, 810 Scorns not to take our Argos in her way.
Ev"n those who dwell where suns at distance roll, In northern wilds, and freeze beneath the pole; And those who tread the burning Lybian lands, The faithless Syrtes and the moving sands; 815 Who view the western sea"s extremest bounds, Or drink of Ganges in their eastern grounds; All these the woes of Oedipus have known, Your fates, your furies, and your haunted town.
If on the sons the parents" crimes descend, 820 What prince from those his lineage can defend?
Be this thy comfort, that "tis thine t" efface, } With virtuous acts, thy ancestor"s disgrace, } And be thyself the honour of thy race. } But see! the stars begin to steal away, 825 And shine more faintly at approaching day; Now pour the wine; and in your tuneful lays Once more resound the great Apollo"s praise."
"O father Phoebus![120] whether Lycia"s coast[121]
And snowy mountain, thy bright presence boast; 830 Whether to sweet Castalia[122] thou repair, And bathe in silver dews thy yellow hair; Or pleased to find fair Delos float no more, Delight in Cynthus,[123] and the shady sh.o.r.e; Or choose thy seat in Ilion"s proud abodes, 835 The shining structures raised by lab"ring G.o.ds;[124]
By thee the bow and mortal shafts are borne; Eternal charms thy blooming youth adorn: Skilled in the laws of secret fate above, And the dark counsels of almighty Jove, 840 "Tis thine the seeds of future war to know,[125]
The change of sceptres, and impending woe, When direful meteors spread, through glowing air, Long trails of light, and shake their blazing hair.
Thy rage the Phrygian felt, who durst aspire 845 T" excel the music of thy heav"nly lyre;[126]
Thy shafts avenged lewd t.i.tyus" guilty flame, Th" immortal victim of thy mother"s fame;[127]
Thy hand slew Python, and the dame who lost Her num"rous offspring for a fatal boast.[128] 850 In Phlegyas" doom thy just revenge appears, Condemned to furies and eternal fears; He views his food, but dreads, with lifted eye, The mould"ring rock that trembles from on high.[129]
"Propitious hear our prayer, O pow"r divine! 855 And on thy hospitable Argos shine; Whether the style of t.i.tan[130] please thee more, Whose purple rays th" Achaemenes adore; Or great Osiris,[131] who first taught the swain In Pharian fields to sow the golden grain; 860 Or Mitra, to whose beams the Persian bows, And pays, in hollow rocks, his awful vows; Mitra, whose head the blaze of light adorns, Who grasps the struggling heifer"s lunar horns."[132]
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 1: "Dire," in the Latin sense of ill-omened.]
[Footnote 2: When Jupiter had carried off Europa, her father, Agenor, sent her brother Cadmus to seek her, and commanded him not to return without his sister. Unable to find her he settled at Thebes, and built the city. He slew the dragon, which guarded a neighbouring well, and a portion of the armed men, who sprung up from its teeth, were reputed to be the ancestors of the Thebans.]