HOMER: ODYSSEY: BOOK VIII: THE PHAEACIAN GAMES

Introduction:

Sabidius translated two extracts from Homer's "Odyssey", Book V, and published these on this blog (sabidius.blogspot.com) on 17th September 2010. In 2011 he published translations of three books: Book VI (24th June); Book VII (9th July); and Book IX (18 August), which feature Odysseus' meeting with the Princess Nausicaa, his visit to the palace of King Alcinous, and his encounter with the Cyclops Polyphemus respectively. These are available to the reader, together with their introductions, both on this blog and also on sabidius.com. After many years he has returned to the "Odyssey" once more with a translation of Book VIII, which fills, as it does, the gap between his earlier translations of Books VI-VII and Book IX. 

While the details of the competitors and the contests of the Phaeacian games do not perhaps make for quite such compelling reading as the content of the other books that Sabidius has translated earlier, Homer's verse in Book VIII remains of a very high order, and the ballad of Ares and Aphrodite, which Demodocus sings to the athletes in the royal palace, is a most entertaining interlocution (see ll. 266-366). Strict moralists, both in classical times and in more modern times, have criticised this extract because of the open adultery between the two gods that it portrays, and the flippant attitude towards this shown by some of the other gods, but the outcome is surely satisfactory enough, as both the offending gods are made to look ridiculous and are punished. At the same time, the touches of humour which are reflected in the passage help to ensure that it is a welcome interlude in what is otherwise a rather detailed account of the contests that took place and of Odysseus' somewhat touchy relations with his competitors. Another significant passage towards the end of the Book is when Demodocus tells of the exploits of Odysseus in relation to the Wooden Horse (see ll. 492-520), without apparently realising that the man himself was listening to him. It is worth remembering that there is no reference to the Wooden Horse in the "Iliad", since that book finishes before the fall of Troy, and, although there is an earlier reference to the Wooden Horse in Book IV of the "Odyssey," this is the most detailed account of it in Homer's works.

The text for this translation comes from "Homer: Iliad I-XII", edited by M.M. Willcock, Bristol Classical Press (1978). 

Ll. 1-61.  The Phaeacians prepare a ship.

As soon as rosy-fingered Dawn, the child of the morning, appeared, the hallowed and mighty Alcinous arose from his bed, and up (too) rose high-born Odysseus, destroyer of cities, and the hallowed and mighty Alcinous took the two of them to the Phaeacians' place of assembly, which had been set out for them beside the ships. And, when they arrived, they sat down on the polished stones close by (one another). Then, Pallas Athene went through the city, appearing (to be) the herald of wise Alcinous, deliberating on the return to his home of the great-hearted Odysseus, and she stood beside each man and spoke these words: "Come now, (you) leaders and counsellors of the Phaeacians, (and) go to the place of assembly, so that you may learn of the stranger, who has just arrived at the palace of the wise Alcinous, and who has been driven into wandering over the seas, and (who is) just like the immortals in his appearance."

So saying, she aroused the spirit and courage of each (man). And both the place of assembly and its seats were quickly filled with the people gathering (there). And many (there were who) gazed (in admiration) at the sight of Laertes' quick-witted son; then, Athene shed a divine grace upon his head and shoulders, and made him look taller and broader, so that he might be welcome to all the Phaeacians and (be an object of) fear and awe (to them also), and (that) he might achieve success in the many contests to which the Phaeacians might subject Odysseus. Then, when they had gathered and were (all) assembled together, Alcinous met with them and addressed (them thus): "Listen, (O you) leaders and counsellors of the Phaeacians, while I speak as the spirit in my breast prompts (me). This stranger - I do not know who he (is), nor whether (he is) from men of the east or west - has come to my palace in his wanderings. He is asking for an escort home, and begs (for this) to be assured. So, let us further his journey home as (we have with others) in the past. For no one who has come to my home has ever complained of having to wait here for too long, for want of an escort. But come, let us draw a black ship into the shining sea for its maiden voyage, and let them choose fifty-two youths from among the people, those who (have) previously (proved that) they are the best. And, when they all lashed their oars to the benches, they may disembark; then, when they have come to my (house), let them prepare a hasty meal; and I shall make ample provision for everyone. These (are) the orders which I give to the lads (in the crew). As for the rest, may you (who are) sceptred princes come to my fine palace so that we can entertain the stranger in the halls, and let no one decline. And summon hither our divine bard, Demodocus (i.e. esteemed by the populace); for a god had given him special (powers) of song, to give delight in whatever form his spirit prompted (him) to sing." 

When he had finished speaking, he led the way, and the sceptred (princes) accompanied him; and a herald went in quest of the divine bard. Then, fifty-two young men were chosen, and they went, as he had ordered, to the shore of the barren sea. Then, when they had gone down to the ship and the sea, they drew the black ship into the deep water, and they put up the mast and the sail in the black ship, and fixed their oars in their leather thongs, all in the proper manner, and unfurled the white sail. And they moored her right out in the deep water; then they went their way to the great palace of the wise Alcinous. And its porticoes, and courts and apartments were filled with the men who had gathered (there). And many there were, (both) young and old. For them Alcinous sacrificed a dozen sheep, and eight white-tusked boars, and two oxen with a shambling gait; these they flayed and dressed, and (so) they prepared a lovely feast. 

Ll. 62-103.  The bard Demodocus sings of Troy. 

The herald returned from nearby, leading the trusty bard, whom the Muse loved above (all other men), though she gave (him) both good and evil: on the one hand, she deprived (him) of his sight, but on the other she granted (him the gift of) sweet song. For him Pontonous (i.e. the herald) placed, a silver-studded chair in the midst of the guests, leaning (it) against a tall pillar; and the herald hung up a tuneful lyre from a peg at a spot (just) above his head, and showed (him how) to grasp it with his hands (i.e. he needed this help because of his blindness). And beside (him) he placed a wicker basket and a fine table, and also a cup of wine, to drink from whenever his spirit moved (him). And they put forth their hands to the prepared victuals set before (them). Then, when they had satisfied their desire for food and drink, the Muse had aroused her bard to sing of the famous (deeds) of heroes, (including) that tale, the fame of which had by then reached the broad heavens, (namely) the quarrel between Odysseus and Peleus' son, Achilles, (and) how once they had clashed with furious words at a rich feast of the gods, though Agamemnon, king of men, was secretly pleased that the best of the Achaeans were quarrelling. For Phoebus Apollo had so spoken to him in prophecy at sacred Pytho (i.e. what was later to be called Delphi), where he had crossed the stone threshold to consult the oracle; for, at that time, the beginning of disaster was rolling (down) upon both the Trojans and the Danaans through the will of mighty Zeus. 

This (was the song) the famous minstrel sang; but Odysseus grasped his great purple cloak in his sturdy hands, and dragged (it) over his head and hid his handsome face; for he was ashamed that the Phaeacians (might see him) shedding tears from his eyes. And indeed, whenever the divine bard stopped singing, he wiped away his tears and took the cloak from his head, and, taking up his two-handled cup, he poured a libation to the gods; but, whenever he started up again, and the Phaeacian lords encouraged (him) to sing, as they enjoyed his tales, Odysseus covered his head once more, and sobbed. Now, he managed to conceal the tears he was shedding from everyone else, but Alcinous alone noted (it) and was aware of (it), since, as he was sitting near to him, he heard (him) groaning deeply. And, all of a sudden, he addressed the sea-loving Phaeacians (as follows): "Hear (me), (O) leaders and counsellors of the Phaeacians, already our hearts have had their fill of food and likewise of the lyre, which is linked to plentiful feasting; but now, let us go forth and try our skills at all kinds of sporting contests, so that, when your guest has returned home, he can tell his friends how much we excel others with the fist (i.e. at boxing), and in wrestling, and jumping and running."

Ll. 104-151. The Sporting Contest.

When he had spoken, he led the way, and the (others) followed. And the herald hung up the tuneful lyre from the peg, and took Demodocus by the hand and led (him) from the hall; and he continued to lead the way for him (along) the very same path that the others, the Phaeacian nobles, (had followed) in order to behold the athletic contests. They went their way to the place of assembly, and a vast throng, countless (in number), accompanied (them); many fine young men stood up (to compete). Up jumped Acroneos, and Ocyalus, Elatreus, Nanteus and Prymneus, and Anchialus and Eretmeus, Ponteus and Proreus, Thoon, Anabesineos and Amphialus, son of Polyneus and grandson of Tecton; and (there was) also Naubolus' son, Euryalus, the equal of man-killing Ares, who was the best in looks and stature of all the Phaeacians after the flawless Laodamas. And the three sons of the noble Alcinous stood up (to compete), Laodamas, and Halius and the godlike Clytoneus. And, in truth, they were the first to try their strength in the foot-race.

A course was laid out for them from the starting line; and they all sped swiftly along, raising the dust of the plain; by far the best of them at running was the noble Clytoneus; as far as is the range of two mules on fallow ground (i.e. the extent of the distance by which a team of two mules would exceed the performance of oxen in ploughing furrows in a piece of ground in a given time), by so much did he outstrip (the other runners) and reach the host (of spectators), and the rest were left behind. Then, they competed with one another in painful (bouts of) wrestling; and in this Euryalus vanquished all the best (of them). And in jumping Amphialus was the champion of (them) all; and, again, at (throwing) the discus Elatreus was by far the best of all (of them), and at boxing (it was) Laodamas, the good son of Alcinous. Then, when the hearts of all had been gladdened by the contests, Laodamas, the son of Alcinous, addressed them (thus): "(Come) hither, friends, let us ask our guest whether he knows about, or is an expert in, any (particular) sporting contest. In stature, surely, he is no mean (man), and in his thighs and in his calves, and, above (them), in both his arms, and in his stout neck, (there is) great strength, nor does he, in any way, lack (the strength of) youth, but he has been worn down by many hardships; for, I tell (you,) there is nothing worse than the sea to sap a man's strength, however tough he may be."   

Then, Euryalus answered him and said: "Those words you have spoken are very true. Now go and challenge (him) yourself, and make your words known!"

Now, when Alcinous' good son heard this, he came and stood in their midst and addressed Odysseus (thus): "Come, (O) respected visitor, (and) take part in our contests, if perhaps you may have some skill; for it seems likely that you are good at some sports; for there is no greater glory for a man, so long as he lives, than that which he may accomplish with his feet and throw with his hands. But come, put yourself to the test, and cast aside the cares of your heart! For your homeward journey will not be delayed any longer, and indeed your ship is already launched and its crew are ready."

Ll. 152-198.  Odysseus enters the Games.

Then, Odysseus, (the man) of many wiles, addressed him in reply: "Why do you provoke me, with these taunts, Laodamas? I have troubles on my mind, rather than such games, and in the past I have suffered very many (things) and I have toiled much, and now I am sitting in your place of assembly, yearning to return home, beseeching your king and the whole of your people (for help)." 

Then, Euryalus replied, and openly mocked him: "No, indeed, (O) stranger, I should not have made you seem like a man well-versed in such sporting contests as those which abound among men, but one, who, (while) frequenting his well-benched ship, (is) the captain of sailors who are workers, and (one) who is mindful of his cargo and is the guardian of his merchandise and of his greedy profits; indeed you are not like an athlete."

Then, with a dark look, Odysseus, (the man) of many wiles, answered him (thus): "My friend, you did not speak well; you seem like a presumptuous man. Thus the gods do not grant their gracious (gifts) to all men (alike), not physique, nor intelligence, nor eloquence. For one man may be quite insignificant in his appearance, but a god envelops his words with charm, and people look at him with delight; and he speaks unfalteringly with a gentle modesty, and he stands out in the crowd as he goes through the city, and they gaze on him like (he is) a god. Then another (man), in his turn, (is) just like the immortals in his appearance, but no charm is set around his words like a garland; so your looks are very splendid, nor could a god bring about anything better, but your mind is empty. You have stirred the spirit in my breast (by your) speaking in such an inappropriate manner. I (am) no novice in your sporting contests, as you are saying, but I consider that I was among the foremost, when I could rely upon the strength of youth in my hands. But now I am held back by suffering and pains: for I have endured much, (while) cleaving my way through the wars of men and the grievous waves. But even so, though I have suffered many misfortunes, I will (still) compete in your contests; for your words have pierced me to the heart, and you have provoked me by your speech."

At this, he sprang up, still (wrapped) in his cloak, and seized a discus (i.e. a quoit of stone), bigger (than the rest) and massive, heavier by far than the one which the Phaeacians were accustomed to throw (when competing) with one another. Whirling around, he hurled it from his sturdy hand, and the stone made a humming noise (as it flew); the long-oared Phaeacians, men renowned for their ships, crouched down on the ground beneath the cast stone; and, speeding lightly from his hand, it flew over the marks of all (the others). Then, Athene, resembling the shape of a man, marked the distance (i.e. by placing a wooden peg in the ground where his discus had landed), and addressed these words (to him) as she called him by name: "Stranger, even a blind (man) could distinguish this mark by feeling all around for (it), since it is in no way mixed up with the cluster (of pegs), but (is) the first by far. Be you of good cheer, at least with regard to this contest! None of the Phaeacians will reach this (mark) or surpass (it)."

Ll. 199-255.  Odysseus proclaims his many skills.

So she spoke, and the noble, much-enduring Odysseus was glad, rejoicing that he could see a true friend in the assembled gathering. And then, with a lighter (heart) he addressed the Phaeacians (thus): "Now beat that, (you) youngsters. But soon I expect I shall send another (one) after (it), just as far or even further. As for all the rest of (you) Phaeacians, (if) his heart or spirit bids any (man), let him come and put himself to the test, since you have angered me deeply, whether in boxing, or in wrestling, or even in running - I care not at all (who it is) - except for Laodamas himself. For he is my host, and who would strive against (the man) who shows (him) hospitality? Foolish and worthless is that man, who would challenge to a sporting contest the man who has welcomed him among foreign people; he would be spiting himself in every (way). But among the rest (of you), I shall not ever spurn or belittle any (man), but I shall want to know (him) and match myself against (him) face to face. For in every kind of sporting contest such as (there are) between men, I am no lightweight; I know how to handle a polished bow with skill; and I would (always) be the first to shoot at and hit a man in the ranks of the enemy warriors, even if very many comrades (of mine) were standing nearby (me) and shooting at the men. When we Achaeans were shooting (arrows) in the land of the Trojans. Philoctetes alone excelled me with the bow. But, of (all) the other mortals who are alive upon the earth eating their bread, I consider myself to be by far the best. Yet, of the men of former days, I should not wish to vie with Heracles or Eurytus of Oechalia (i.e. a Thessalian town on the River Peneius), who even vied with the immortals with their bows. For that (reason), the great Eurytus soon died, and never reached old age in his halls; for Apollo killed (him) in his anger because he had challenged him to an archery contest. But, with a spear I can throw as far as anyone else (can shoot) with an arrow. Only in running do I fear that one of (you) Phaeacians might surpass me; for I have been most shamefully subdued amid the many the waves, since there was no sufficient means of taking exercise in my boat; therefore my limbs have been weakened."

So he spoke, and they all became hushed in silence, Then, Alcinous alone said to him in reply: "Stranger, since you do not say these (things) ungraciously in our midst, but you do wish to demonstrate the prowess which you possess, (and you are) angry because this man came up to you in our assembly and taunted you (in a manner) such as no man, who knew in his heart how to speak rightly, would have sought to belittle your prowess; but come now, hearken to my words, so that, when you feast in your hall beside your wife and your children, you may remember our skills and recount to some other hero those deeds which Zeus bestows upon us even now right down from our fathers' (time). For we may not be excellent boxers or wrestlers (n.b. here Alcinous contradicts his boast in ll. 102-103), but we run swiftly on our feet and are the best in ships, and ever dear to us (are) the banquet, and the lyre, and dancing, and changes of raiment, and hot baths and our beds.

"But come, (all you) who (are) the finest dancers among the Phaeacians, (and) perform, so that the stranger can tell his friends, when he has returned home, how much we surpass (all) others in seamanship, and in running, and in the dance, and in song. And let someone go quickly and bring Demodocus his ringing lyre, which is lying somewhere in my palace."

Ll. 256-366.  Demodocus sings of Ares and Aphrodite.  

Thus spoke the godlike Alcinous, and the herald arose in order to fetch the hollow lyre from the king's palace. Then all nine elected stewards stood up, public officials, who organised the games on each (occasion), and they levelled out a dance (floor) and made a fine broad ring (of spectators). Then the herald came near, bearing the clear-toned lyre for Demodocus; then he (i.e. Demodocus) went into their midst; and boys in the first flush of their youth stood around (him), well skilled in dancing, and they beat the dance (floor) with their feet. Then, Odysseus gazed at the flashing of their feet, and marvelled in spirit.

Then, the bard began to song a fine song about the love of Ares for Aphrodite of the lovely diadem, how they first made love secretly in Hephaestus' palace, and (how) he gave her many (gifts) and disgraced the marriage-bed of lord Hephaestus. But Helios (i.e. the Sun), who espied them making love, came to inform him at once. And so, when Hephaestus heard this grievous story, he went his way to his smithy, contemplating evil (things) in his heart, and he set up a huge anvil on its block, and forged (a net of) chains, unbreakable and indissoluble, in order that they might remain bound there. And when, in his fury against Ares, he had made this snare, he made his way to the chamber where his own bed lay, and he spread the bonds everywhere round about the bed-posts; and many too were hung from above, from the roof-beam like the fine web of a spider, so that no one, no, not even (one) of the blessed gods, could see (them), for he had fashioned (them) with exceptional cunning. Then, when he had spread his net over the bed completely, he pretended to go to Lemnos (i.e. an island in the northern Aegean), his well-built citadel, which is to him by far the dearest of all his lands. Nor did Ares of the golden reins keep a blind man's watch (i.e. fail to notice), when he saw the famous craftsman Hephaestus going away, but he went his way to the house of the renowned Hephaestus, eager for the love of Cytherea (i.e. Aphrodite) of the lovely diadem. She had just sat down, having come from the presence of her father, the most mighty son of Cronos (i.e. Zeus); then, he entered the house, and took her hand in his, and spoke to her and addressed her in the (following) words): "Come, my dear (one), let us go to bed and take our delight (in love-making); for Hephaestus is no longer among (us), but has doubtless already gone to Lemnos, (to be) with the barbarous-speaking Sintians."  

So he spoke, and it seemed to her a pleasant (thing) to go to bed (with him). So they went to bed and fell asleep; clever Hephaestus cunningly wrought net fell (all) around (them), and they could not move their limbs at all, nor lift (them) up. Then they realised that there was no longer any (chance of) escape. Then the famous (god), lame in both feet, came near to them, having turned around again before reaching the land of Lemnos; for Helios had kept watch for him and had given (him) the word. He made his way to his home, sorrowing in his heart, and he stood in the door-way, and a fierce anger seized hold of him; and he cried out terribly, and shouted (thus) to all the gods: "Father Zeus and (all you) other blessed (and) immortal gods, (come) hither, in order to see some laughable yet cruel deeds, how Zeus' daughter, Aphrodite, always scorns me for being lame, and makes love to that butcher Ares, because he is both handsome and fleet of foot, whereas I was born maimed. But I have absolutely no one else to blame (for that) but my parents (i.e. Zeus and Hera), and, for that reason, I wish I had never been born. But look, how these two have gone to my bed and are sleeping in each other's loving (arms), and I grieve to see (it). But I do not think that they will lie like this for even one moment longer, however loving they are; before long they will not wish to sleep; but then my snare and its bonds will hold them tight, until our father gives me back every one of those bridal gifts, which I gave him for the sake of that bitch of a girl; wherefore (is) his daughter fair, but unable to control her passions."

Thus he spoke, and the gods came thronging to the house with the brazen floor; there came the earth-moving Poseidon, there came Hermes the helper, and there came lord Apollo, the far-shooter. The female divinities stayed (away) through modesty, each in her own home. But the gods, those givers of blessings, stood in the door-way; and then unquenchable laughter was aroused among the blessed gods, when they saw Hephaestus' cunning skill. Then one, with a glance at another (who was) his neighbour, would say, "Evil deeds do not prosper; the slow catch the swift, as Hephaestus, slow as he is, has now caught Ares, although he is indeed the swiftest of the gods who hold (Mount) Olympus, by his craft, (though) he is lame; wherefore he must pay the fine imposed on one taken in adultery."

Thus they spoke such (words) as these to one another: But lord Apollo, son of Zeus, said to Hermes: "Hermes, son of Zeus, guide and giver of blessings, would you not like to lie in bed beside golden Aphrodite, even if you were held down in stout chains?"

Then, the guide (and) slayer of Argus answered him (thus): "Lord Apollo, (you) archer (god), would that this might happen; (would that) three times as many boundless chains might be fixed around (me) and (that) you and all the gods and goddesses might be looking on, if only I might sleep beside the golden Aphrodite."

So he spoke, and laughter arose among the immortal gods. But laughter did not take hold of Poseidon, but he kept on begging the famous craftsman Hephaestus to set Ares free. And when speaking to him, he addressed (him) with these winged words: "Let (him) go, and I promise you that he himself will pay all that is due, just as you require, in the presence of the immortal gods."

Then the illustrious (god, who is) lame in both legs, answered him (thus): "Do not require this of me, (O) earth-moving Poseidon; it is worthless for you to hold the pledges of worthless (people). How could I keep you bound among the immortal gods, if Ares were to go off, avoiding the debt and his bonds?"

Then, Poseidon the earth-shaker answered him once more: "Hephaestus, if Ares forsakes the debt  and goes off in flight, I shall pay it to you myself."

Then, the renowned (god, who is) lame in both his legs answered him (thus): "It is neither possible nor right to deny your request."

Speaking thus, the mighty Hephaestus let loose the bonds. And the two (of them), when they were freed from their bonds, as strong as they were, sprang up at once, and he (i.e. Ares) headed for Thrace, while the laughter-loving Aphrodite went to Paphos in Cyprus; and there (was) her sanctuary and altar, fragrant with incense. And there the Graces bathed her and anointed (her) with heavenly oil, such as that which is shed over (the skin of) the gods who live forever, and they clad (her) in lovely raiment, wondrous to behold.

Ll. 367-415.  Dancing and gifts.

This, then, (was the song that) the famous bard (i.e. Demodocus) sang. Now, Odysseus was glad at heart as he listened, and (so) too were the others (in the audience), the long-oared Phaeacians, men famed for their ships.

Then, Alcinous bade Halius and Laodamas dance by themselves, since no one (else) could compete with them. And so, when they had taken into their hands the beautiful purple ball, which clever Polybus had made for them, one would bend back and throw it towards the shady clouds, and the other would jump up from the ground, and readily catch (it) before his feet touched the ground again. Now, when they had tried their skill at (throwing) the ball straight upwards, then they danced on the bounteous earth, (throwing the ball) frequently from one to the other; and the other youths stood in the ring and beat time (with their feet), and gradually a loud noise arose.

Then, the noble Odysseus addressed Alcinous (thus): "Lord Alcinous, most renowned of all your people, you claimed that your dancers were the best, and see, your words have been fulfilled! Amazement takes hold of me as I look at (them)."

So he spoke, and the hallowed (and) mighty Alcinous rejoiced, and, at once, he spoke to the oar-loving Phaeacians: "Listen (to me, you) leaders and counsellors of the Phaeacians. The stranger certainly seems to me to be (a man) of discernment. But come, let us give him a parting gift, as is fitting. For twelve most distinguished kings hold sway over this land as its rulers, and I, myself, (am) the thirteenth; may (each one) of us bring him a fresh cloak and tunic, and a talent of precious gold. And let us, at once, bring all our gifts together, so that, when he has (them) in his hands, the stranger may go to dinner glad at heart. And let Euryalus make amends to him in person with words (of apology) and with a gift, since the words he spoke (were) in no way fitting." 

So he spoke, and they all applauded and endorsed (his words), and they each sent a squire to fetch their gifts. Furthermore, Euryalus made answer, and addressed him (thus): "Lord Alcinous, most renowned of all our people, I shall indeed make amends to the stranger, just as you require. I shall give him this sword, all of bronze, on which (there is) a hilt of silver, and a scabbard of freshly-cut ivory is fitted all around (it); it shall be to him (a thing) of great worth."

Thus speaking, he put the silver-studded sword into his hands, and spoke to him and addressed (him) with these winged words: "Hail O revered stranger; and if any harsh word has been spoken, may the storm-winds catch (it) and bear it away. And for yourself, may the gods grant that you see your wife (n.b. it is unclear when the Phaeacians discovered that Odysseus was married, since in Book VII. l.312, Alcinous had expressed the desire for him to marry Nausicaa) and that you reach your native-land, since you have been suffering troubles for a long time (far) from your friends."

Then, Odysseus, (the man) of many wiles, answered him and said: "All hail to you too, my friend, and may the gods grant you happiness! And may a longing for this sword, which you have given me to make amends for your words, never befall you hereafter."

Ll. 416-468.  Nausicaa's good wishes.

So he spoke, and then he slung the silver-studded sword around his shoulders. And the sun set, and all his glorious gifts were at his side. The noble squires bore these to (the palace) of Alcinous; then the sons of the peerless Alcinous received these most beautiful gifts and placed (them) beside their esteemed mother. And the hallowed and mighty Alcinous led the (others) (i.e. Odysseus and the Phaeacian chieftains) in, and they came in and sat down on the raised chairs. Then, the mighty Alcinous addressed Arete (as follows): "Bring hither, wife, a goodly chest, the best one (that we have); and place in (it) yourself a fresh cloak and tunic. And may you heat a cauldron over the fire for him, and warm the water, so that, when he has bathed, and he has seen all the gifts which the noble Phaeacians have brought here (so) well packed, he can take pleasure in the feast and in listening to the strains of the song. And I will give him this fine silver goblet of mine, so that he may remember me all his days as he pours libations in his halls to Zeus and the other gods."

So he spoke, and Arete bade her handmaids set a large three-footed cauldron over the fire with all speed. Then they set the cauldron on the blazing fire with a view to filling the bath. and they poured water into (it), and they took up firewood and kindled it underneath. Now the fire encompassed the belly of the cauldron and heated the water; meanwhile, Arete brought out a fine chest from her storeroom for the stranger, and placed in (it) the beautiful gifts, the raiment and the gold, which the Phaeacians had given (him), and she herself placed a cloak and a lovely tunic in (it), and then she spoke to him and addressed (him) with these winged words: "Now see to the lid yourself, and tie a cord over (it), lest lest someone despoil you on your journey, when you are lying in sweet sleep (while) travelling in your black ship."

Now, when the noble much-enduring Odysseus heard this, he straightway fitted a lid, and quickly tied a knot over (it), an intricate (one), which queenly Circe had once had once taught (him) (i.e. during the year which he spent with her on the island of Aegaea). Then, the housekeeper bade him go at once to the bath-tub to be washed; (when) he saw the hot bath, (he was) glad at heart, as he was not used to receiving any (such) attention (as this), since he had left the home of the lovely-haired Calypso (i.e. on the island of Ogygia, where he had spent seven years). But all that time he had received constant attention, just like a god.

So, when the handmaids had washed him and anointed (him) with oil, and had cast a lovely cloak and a tunic round about him, he came out of the bath-tub and went to join the men as they drank their wine. Then, Nausicaa, possessing her beauty from the gods, stood beside a pillar of the well-built roof, and she marvelled as she beheld Odysseus in her eyes, and she spoke and addressed him with these winged words: "May it be well with you, stranger, so that, even when you are in your native land, you may remember me, in that (it is) chiefly to me (that) you owe the price of your life."

Then, Odysseus, (the man) of many wiles, spoke to her (thus) in answer: "(O) Nausicaa, daughter of great-hearted Alcinous, so now may Zeus, the loud-thundering husband of Hera, grant that I may reach my home and that I may see the day of my return; in that case, I will pray to you, even there, as a god all the rest of my days; for you, maiden, gave me back my life."

Ll. 469-520.  Demodocus sings of the fall of Troy.

He spoke, and sat down on a chair beside king Alcinous; and already they were serving portions (of food) and mixing the wine. Then, the herald came near, leading the trusty bard, Demodocus, esteemed by the people; and he seated him in the midst of the diners, (with his back) resting against a tall pillar. Then, Odysseus, (the man) of many wiles, addressed the herald (thus), as he was cutting off a slice from the chine (i.e. the back) of a white-tusked boar, although a larger (piece) was left on (it), and there was rich fat on either side (of it): "Here, herald, (take) this portion of meat and give (it) to Demodocus, that he may eat; and I shall welcome him, despite my feelings of sadness; for bards are endued with honour and respect among all men on earth, because the Muse has taught them the ways of song, and she loves the tribe of bards."

So he spoke, and the herald took (the meat) and put (it) in the hands of noble Demodocus; and he accepted (it) and was glad at heart. Then, they put forth their hands to the good (things) lying close before (them). And, when they had satisfied their desire for food and drink, then the resourceful Odysseus addressed Demodocus (as follows): "Demodocus, I praise you far above all mortal (men). Either Zeus' child, the Muse, taught you, or Apollo did; for so well and so truly do you sing of the fate of the Achaeans, of all that they did and suffered, and of all the troubles that the Achaeans endured, that perhaps you were there yourself, or heard (it) from someone (who was). But come now, change the theme, and sing of the making of the Wooden Horse that Epeius constructed with (the help of) Athene, that cunning device which the noble Odysseus once led to the citadel, filled with the men who sacked Ilium. If you can tell me this (story) aright, I shall at once declare to all mankind that the god has readily bestowed upon you the gift of divine song."

So he spoke, and the (bard), inspired by the god, began singing his song, having taken up (his tale) from the point (which tells) how some of the Argives, after casting fire on their huts, had embarked in their well-benched ships and were sailing away, while those others in the company of glorious Odysseus were already sitting in the Trojans' place of assembly, hidden in the horse; for the Trojans themselves had dragged it into the citadel. So (there) it stood, while those sitting around it expressed many different (opinions); three views found favour among them: either to cut through the hollow timber with pitiless bronze, or to drag it to the highest point (of the citadel) and cast (it) down on to the rocks, or to let it stand (as) a great gift to please the gods, and (this) then (was) the very way in which (things) were destined to happen in the end. For it was their fate to perish when their city gave shelter to the great Wooden Horse, wherein were sitting all the best of the Argives, bringing death and destruction upon the Trojans. And he sang about how the sons of the Achaeans, leaving their hollow (place of) ambush, poured out of the horse. And he sang of (how) in this way and that they ravaged the lofty city, but of Odysseus, (how) he went like Ares to the palace of Deiphobus with godlike Menelaus, and there indeed (the bard) said he dared to fight his grimmest battle, and then how he did conquer after all with the help of the great-souled Athene.

Ll. 521-585.  Alcinous questions Odysseus. 

This (song) the famous minstrel sang; yet, Odysseus' (heart) melted and tears wet his cheeks beneath his eyelids. And, as a woman laments and throws herself around her dear husband, who has fallen in front of his city and his people, (while) seeking to ward off the evil day from his city and his children, and, as she watches him gasping for breath as he dies, she clings to him and shrieks aloud, and the (enemy) behind (her) beat the broad of her back and her shoulders too with their spears and lead (her) off into slavery and a life of toil and hardship, while her cheeks are wasted with the most pitiful grief, so did Odysseus let pitiable tears fall from beneath his eyebrows. His falling tears escaped the notice of all the others, but Alcinous alone observed and noticed him, because he was sitting close to him and heard (him) groaning deeply. And straightway he addressed the oar-loving Phaeacians (thus):

"Hear (me), (you) leaders and counsellors of the Phaeacians, and let Demodocus hush his ringing lyre; for in no way does he give pleasure to all (when) he sings. Ever since we began to sup and the divine bard was moved (to sing), from that time the stranger has not ceased his woeful weeping at all: (for) great pain must surely be encompassing his heart. But come, let the bard refrain, so that we can all still enjoy ourselves, hosts and guest (alike), since (it is) much better thus: for, for the sake of our honoured guest, these (things) have been made ready, his escort home and these gifts of friendship, which we give (him) with our love. To a man who can go even a little (way) with his wits, a stranger and a suppliant is to be as good as a brother. Therefore, (sir), do you no longer conceal the things that I may ask you by clever subterfuges; it is better that you speak (out plainly)."

HOMERIC HYMNS: 3) TO APOLLO

Introduction:


The Hymn to Apollo is the third in a collection of thirty-three anonymous ancient Greek hymns celebrating individual gods, mostly dating to the seventh century B.C., shortly after the works of Homer and Hesiod had first been written down, and they are therefore among the oldest monuments of Ancient Greek literature. In antiquity, they were uncritically attributed to Homer, the earliest reference to them coming from Thucydides (see Bk III. l.104). Although it is now clear that they were not written by Homer, they were composed in the old epic style, i.e. in dactylic hexameters, and in a dialect closely resembling that of Homer. Most of them are very short, if not fragmentary, but four of them, i.e. hymns 2-5, are more lengthy: (2) to Demeter, 495 lines; (3) to Apollo, 546 lines; (4) to Hermes, 580 lines; and (5) to Aphrodite, 293 lines.

Each of these four longer narratives shows the universe in the process of being ordered, and in which the rule of Zeus is still relatively new and not yet firmly established. While all the four gods, who are the subjects of the long hymns, are subordinate to Zeus, they remain potentially threatening, and their power provides us with a more complete and complex picture of the Greek world view. Both Apollo and Hermes could have challenged their father's authority, but they never do. Apollo, in particular could have been a threat to Zeus: the other gods fear him before his birth, because they say, "Apollo will be a very presumptuous sort of person, and he will lord it over immortals and mortal men (all) over the fruitful earth" (ll. 67-68). However, the hymn stresses that Apollo works for his father and in his interests: "I shall proclaim to men the infallible counsel of Zeus" (l.132). The two longer hymns celebrating male gods tell of Apollo's and Hermes' births, and how they won their powers and their places in the pantheon.

Each of the four longer narratives tells a revealing story about a critical event in the life of the deity that led to a change in his or her power. In the case of Apollo, this is the establishment of an oracle, where he will develop his prophetic powers. The first part of the Hymn, the 'Delian' section (ll. 1-178), deals with the birth of Apollo and the establishment of his shrine on the island of Delos; the second, and longer, part, the 'Pythian' section (ll. 179-546), highlights the establishment of his temple and oracle at Delphi, or Pytho, as it is called in the hymn. The exact relationship between these two parts has long been a subject of controversy. Some authorities have considered that these are two separate poems, and certainly there is a very abrupt transition between lines 178 and 179, and the fact that there is no further mention of Delos after l.181 suggests such a separation. There is also a view that the second, or Pythian, part is inferior poetically to the first part, and that in the second part there are notable sins, both of omission and commission. Among the former are the almost total lack of any content characteristic of the Pythian oracle, viz. the chasm, the tripod, the omphalos, the Pythian priestess herself. Among the latter is the suggestion that Apollo's recruits to Delphi should have been settlers from Crete: indeed there is no corroborative evidence for this. Such emigration as occurred was Ionians settling in Crete, not the other way around. It has also been suggested that the name Pytho, coming as it is does from the Greek verb "πυθώ" - to rot, was deliberately disparaging. Another enigma relating to the second part is the intercalated myth (ll. 305-355) about the birth of Typhaon due to Hera's anger, the content of which appears unrelated to the rest of the hymn. 

Nevertheless, despite these apparent weaknesses of substance and structure, the "Hymn to Apollo" is entertaining to read, and one can imagine that it would have been widely performed in classical times, and in particular in competitions at Delphi and at the festival of Apollo at Delos, which is mentioned in the Hymn itself (ll. 149-164). Of all the deities of Mount Olympus, Apollo, or Phoebus as he is so often called, was perhaps a particularly favourite of the Greeks. Even by the standards of the ancient world, the range of Apollo's duties and functions was vast. Apart from his status in relation to oracles and prophecy, which is the particular focus of the Hymn, or at least the second part of it, Apollo was the god of archery, as evidenced particularly throughout the Hymn by the constant references to him as "ἑκηβόλος" or "ἑκάεργος", the far-shooter,  the god of music and dance, the Sun and light, healing and diseases - his son Asclepius was the god of medicine - , herds and herdsmen, and the protection of the young, and much more. 

The text for this translation is taken from "Homeric Hymns", edited by Hugh G. Evelyn-White, Harvard University Press, published by William Heinemann, London (1914), and is available on the 'Perseus' website, sponsored by the Classics Department of Tufts University. 

A.  TO DELIAN APOLLO (Ll. 1-178).

Ll. 1-46. Zeus, accompanied by Leto, welcomes their son Apollo to his side. We learn of the numerous places visited by Leto in her search for an abode for her son. 

I shall always be mindful of, nor shall I (ever) forget, Apollo the far-shooter, before whom gods tremble as he goes through the palace of Zeus; and, as he draws near, they all spring up from their seats when he bends his shining bow. 

But Leto alone stays by the side of Zeus who delights in thunder, and then she unstrings his bow and closes his quiver, and she takes his bow with her hands from his mighty shoulders, and hangs (it) from a golden peg on a column in his father's (house); then, she leads him to a seat and sits (him) down (on it). And then his father (i.e. Zeus) welcomes his dear son and gives him nectar in a golden cup, and then the other gods make (him) sit there; and queenly Leto rejoices, because she has given birth to a mighty bow-bearing son. Rejoice, O blessed Leto, for you have borne glorious children, both lord Apollo and arrow-shooting Artemis, her in Ortygia (i.e. Quail Island, the ancient name for Delos) and him in rocky Delos, as you lay on a lofty ridge of the Cynthian mountain, next to a palm-tree by the streams of Inopus. 

How then shall I sing of you, (you) who are in all ways worthy to be celebrated in song? For to you, Phoebus, the practice of singing has fallen in every way, both on the cattle-breeding mainland and on the islands; now all mountain-peaks and high headlands of lofty mountains are a delight, as are rivers flowing out to the sea, and beaches sloping down to the sea, and harbours of the deep.  

Shall I say how Leto first bore you (to be) the joy of mortals, as she lay on Mount Cynthus in that rocky island in sea-girt Delos? And on each side a dark wave rolled forward on to dry land (driven) by shrill winds, as a result of which you rule over all mortal (men).   

Among those whom Crete holds fast, and the people of Athens, and the island of Aegina, and Euboea, renowned for its fleet of ships, Aegae and Peiresiae, and Peparethus near the sea, and Thracian Athos, and the towering crests of Pelion, and Thracian Samos, and the shadowy mountains of Ida, Scyros and Phocaea, and the steep hill of Autocane, and well-built Imbros, and inhospitable Lemnos, and hallowed Lesbos, the abode of Macar, son of Aeolus, and Chios, the brightest of (all) the islands (that) lie in the sea, and rugged Mimas, and the steep crests of Corycus, and gleaming Claros, and the high hill of Aesagea, and watery Samos, and the lofty crests of Mycale, and Miletus, and Cos, a city of Meropian men, and steep Cnidos, and windy Carpathos, and Naxos and Paros, and rocky Rhenaea, so far did Leto roam while she was in travail with the Far-Shooter, (to see) if any land would be willing to make a dwelling for her son.

Ll. 47-88.  At Leto's request, Delos agrees to be the abode of Apollo, when he is born, on the understanding that he will always grant prior status to his sanctuary there. Leto swears an oath to that effect. 

But they trembled and were sore afraid, and none, not even the richest (of them), dared receive Phoebus, until queenly Leto set foot on Delos, and, by way of enquiry, addressed her (i.e. Delos) with these winged words: "Delos, if you are willing to be the abode of my son Phoebus Apollo, and build (him) a rich temple - , for no other (god) will ever touch you, and this will not escape your notice; and I do not think that you will (ever) be rich in cattle or in sheep, nor will you bear corn or grow abundant plants - , but, if you were to possess the temple of far-shooting Apollo, all men will gather here and bring you hecatombs, and the indescribable odour of fat will rise (to the skies), and you shall feed (those) who own you through the hands of strangers, since you (have) no richness beneath the surface of the soil." 

So she spoke, and Delos rejoiced, and addressed (her) in reply: "Leto, most glorious daughter of mighty Coeus, gladly would I receive your child, the far-shooting lord; for (it is) all too true that I am ill-spoken of among men; and by this means I should become much-honoured. But at this word I tremble, Leto, nor shall I hide (it) from you; for they say that Apollo will be a very presumptuous sort of person, and that he will lord it over immortals and mortal men (all) over the fruitful earth. Therefore, I greatly fear in my heart and in my soul lest, when he first sees the light of the sun, he should scorn this island, since I am truly (made) of stony soil, and overturn (me) with his feet and thrust me into the open sea. Then the great swell of the sea will forever wash over my head in its abundance; and he will go to another land, which shall please him, and make ready a temple and wooded groves; then in me will many-footed (creatures) make their lairs and black seals their abodes undisturbed, as I shall lack people. But if you, goddess, should undertake to swear a great oath to me that he will first build a beautiful temple here, to be an oracle for men, then let him construct temples and wooded groves among all men, for he will be greatly renowned."   

So she (i.e. Delos) spoke; then, Leto swore the great oath of the gods: "Now, bear witness to this, Earth and wide Heaven above, and the dripping water of the Styx, which is the greatest and the most fearful oath among the blessed gods: yea verily, here (i.e. in Delos) there shall always be the fragrant altar and precinct of Phoebus, and he shall honour you far above all."

Ll. 89-132. With the help of Eilithyia, whom Iris has summoned, Leto gives birth successfully to Apollo, much to the delight of the other goddesses, and the precocious child soon throws off the trappings of infancy. 

Now, when she had sworn her oath and ratified (it), Delos was very glad at the birth of the far-shooting lord; but Leto was wracked with desperate birth-pangs for nine days and nine nights. All the goddesses were there with her, the chiefest of which were Dione and Rheia, and Ichnaean Themis and loud-wailing Amphitrite, and (all) the other immortal goddesses, apart from white-armed Hera; for she sat in the halls of cloud-gathering Zeus; only Eilithyia, (the goddess) of heavy labour, had not learned (of it), for she was sitting on the crest of Olympus beneath the golden clouds, by the contrivance of white-armed Hera, who had restrained her due to envy, because Leto of the lovely tresses was just about to give birth to a son (who was) noble and strong. 

But the (goddesses) sent for Iris from her well-formed isle to fetch Eilithyia, promising (her) a great necklace, strung with golden threads, nine cubits in length. And they bade (her) call (her) away from white-armed Hera, lest she might even then turn her aside from her coming. But, when Iris, as swift-footed as the wind, heard this, she proceeded to run, and she quickly completed the whole (distance) in between. But, when she came to steep Olympus, the abode of the gods, she immediately called Eilithyia from the hall to the door, and spoke winged words, (telling her) absolutely everything that (those) who have their dwellings on Olympus had bidden (her). And so by this means she prevailed upon the heart in her breast, and forth they went, like timid wood-pigeons in their goings. As soon as Eilithyia set foot in Delos, then labour took hold of her, and she longed to give birth. Then she flung her arms around a palm-tree and pressed her knees on the soft meadow, and the earth smiled beneath; then he sprung forth into the light of day; and all the goddesses cried aloud.

Then, great Phoebus, the goddesses washed you pure and spotless in clean water, and wrapped (you) in a white garment of fine texture (and) newly woven; and they fastened a golden band around (you). Nor did his mother suckle Apollo of the golden sword, but Themis brought (him) nectar and sweet ambrosia with her immortal hands; and Leto rejoiced because she had borne her strong bow-bearing son.

But, as soon as you ate that heavenly food, Phoebus, then those golden cords could not hold you, as you struggled, nor could your bonds restrain (you) any longer, but all their ends were loosened. Then, straightway, did Phoebus Apollo speak among the immortals: "The dear lyre and the bent bow will be mine, and I shall proclaim to men the infallible counsel of Zeus."

Ll. 133-178.  Just as Delos is beloved by Apollo, so the people of the island love and honour Apollo in return, and the maidens of Delos are as ready to praise and honour the poet Homer as he is to praise and honour their divine inhabitant. 

So spoke the unshorn Phoebus the far-shooter, as he walked on the earth's broad thoroughfares; and all the goddesses were amazed (at him). Then all of Delos was laden with gold, as it beheld the offspring of Zeus and Leto with joy, because the god had chosen to make her his dwelling rather than the (other) islands and the mainland, and he loved her with all his heart; (and) it blossomed, as when the top of a mountain (is laden) with woodland flowers.

(O god) of the silver bow, far-shooting lord Apollo, at one moment you, yourself, walked on rugged Cynthus, and, at another, you wandered among the islands and their people. Many (are) your temples and your wooded groves; and all the peaks of lofty mountains (are) dear (to you), as are the tips of headlands and rivers flowing to the sea; but you, Phoebus, are most delighted in your heart by Delos, (for) there the long-robed Ionians gather together in your (honour) with their children and their respectful wives. And, mindful of you, they delight in boxing, and dancing, and song, whenever they arrange their meetings. (He) who should encounter (them) there, when the Ionians were in a crowd, would say that they are forever immortal and ageless; for he would see the grace of (them) all, and he would be glad at heart, as he looked upon the men and the well-girdled women, and their swift ships and their numerous possessions. And (there is) this great wonder besides - and its renown shall never perish - , the girls of Delos, the handmaidens of the Far-Shooter; and, when they have first sung of Apollo, and then again of Leto and Artemis the Archer, they sing hymns in memory of men and women of old times, and they enchant the tribes of men. And they know (how) to imitate the voices and the babbling of all men ; and each (one) would say that he himself was singing; so harmonious (is) their sweet singing.

But come (now), be gracious, Apollo and Artemis, and farewell, all you (maidens); and remember me too in after times, when some earthly man, a stranger who has suffered much, should come here and ask (you): "O maidens, who (is) the man (that) comes here (whose) singing (is) most pleasant to you, and in whom are you most delighted?" Then, do you all give your answer very clearly with one voice: "(He is) a blind man, and he dwells in rocky Chios, (and) henceforth his songs will be the best, as soon as he has composed them." As for me, I shall carry your renown as far as I roam over the earth to the well-inhabited cities of men; and they will be persuaded, since indeed it is true. And I shall never cease singing of far-shooting Apollo, (the lord) of the silver bow, whom fair-haired Leto bore. 

B.  TO PYTHIAN APOLLO (Ll. 179-546).

Ll. 179-224. Apollo joins his parents on Olympus and encourages the other gods to sing and dance to the music of his lyre. He then goes back to earth and begins his mission to find a suitable site for an oracle.  

O lord, you hold Lycia, and lovely Maeonia and Miletus, that charming city on the sea, and you yourself are also the great master of Delos, washed all around by the sea.

Leto's glorious son goes to rocky Pytho (i.e. the part of Phocis at the foot of Mount Parnassus), playing upon his hollow lyre (and) wearing divinely perfumed garments; and his lyre, (struck) by his golden plectrum, keeps making wonderful sounds. Then he goes, as (swift) as thought, from earth to Olympus to the house of Zeus to join the assembly of the other gods. And straightway the playing of the lyre and singing become important to the gods; then all the Muses reply together in a sweet voice, and sing of the divine gifts of the gods, and the sufferings of men, which they endure at the hands of the immortal gods, living senseless and helpless (lives), nor can they find a remedy for death and a defence against old age; but the fair-haired Graces and the merry Hours dance with Harmonia, and Hebe, and Aphrodite, the daughter of Zeus, holding one another's hands by the wrist. And among them there sings (one who is) neither mean nor puny, but very tall to look upon and wondrous in form, (namely) Artemis, delighting in arrows (and) brought up with Apollo. And among them too sport Ares and the keen-eyed Slayer of Argus (i.e. Hermes); yet Phoebus Apollo plays his lyre in the midst of them, stepping high and in good time (with his music), and brightness shines around him from the gleaming of his feet and his well-spun tunic. And they, both golden-haired Leto and Zeus the counsellor, rejoice greatly in their hearts as they look upon their beloved son playing among the immortal gods.

How, then, shall I sing of you, as you are (already) thoroughly celebrated in many hymns? Shall I sing of you in love and among suitors, how you went wooing the maiden daughter of Azan (i.e. Coronis) together with godlike Ischys, son of Elation, famous for his horses? Or with Phorbas, son of Triops, or with Ereutheus? Or with Leucippus or the wife of Leucippus ... (you) on foot, and he in his chariot; yet, he fell not short of Triops. Or (shall I sing of) how from the first you went around the earth seeking the seat of an oracle for men, (O) far-shooting Apollo?

From Olympus you went down first to Pieria; and you went past sandy Lectus and Enienae, and through (the land of) the Perrhaebi; soon you came to Iolcus, and you set foot in Cenaeum in Euboea, famed for its ships. You stood on the Lelantine plain; but it did not please your heart to establish a temple and wooded groves (there). From there you crossed the Euripus (i.e. the strait separating Euboea from Boeotia), far-shooting Apollo, and you went up the sacred green mountain (i.e. the Messapius); and from there you soon reached Mycalessus, and arrived at grassy Teumessus.

Ll. 225-276. Apollo travels across mainland Greece, until he comes to Telphusa, to which he is attracted as a possible site for his oracle, but the resident goddess persuades him to move on.

Then, you came to the wooden-clad abode of Thebe; for as yet no mortal lived in holy Thebes, nor at that time were there yet any paths or tracks on the wheat-bearing plain of Thebes, but it (only) had woodlands. And from there you went (still) further, far-shooting Apollo, and you came to Onchestus, Poseidon's bright grove; there the newly broken-in colt, vexed at having to draw the trim chariot, gains new life; and the driver springs to the ground from his chariot and goes on his way. But for a while the (horses), having lost their master, rattle the car. And, if they should break the chariot in the wooded grove, (men) take care of the horses, but tilt the chariot and leave (it there); for such is the (practice) from of old; and they pray to the lord (of the shrine) (i.e. to Poseidon, in order to assuage his wrath), but the lot of the god then secures the chariot.

But from there you went (still) further, far-shooting Apollo; and you reached next the sweet-flowing Cephissus, which pours forth its beautifully flowing water from Lilaea. After crossing it, (O) Far-Shooter, you came to many-towered Ocalea, and then to grassy Haliartus. Then, you went to Telphusa; this was pleasing to you (as) a suitable place to establish a temple and wooded groves. Then, you stood very close to her (i.e. Telphusa) and spoke these words to her: "Telphusa, now I am minded to build a glorious temple here (as) an oracle for men, and here they will bring me perfect hecatombs, both (those) who dwell on the rich island of Pelops (i.e. the Peloponnesus), and (those) who (dwell in mainland) Europe (i.e. northern and central Greece) and on the sea-girt isles, who are coming to consult my oracle; and, speaking in my rich temple, I shall give infallible counsel to them all."

So spoke Phoebus Apollo, and he planned continuous foundations, wide and very long; but, when Telphusa saw this, she was angered in her heart and spoke these words (to him): "(O) Phoebus, Far-Shooting Lord, I will put this word in your mind, since you are intending to build a glorious temple here to be an oracle for men, who will always bring you perfect hecatombs here; but I will tell you (this), and do you keep (it) in your mind: the clatter of swift horses and mules being watered at my sacred springs will always irk you; here men will prefer to gaze at well-made chariots and at the stamp of swift-footed horses rather than at your great temple and the many treasures that are within (it). But, if you will now be persuaded somehow (by me) - and you, lord, are stronger and greater than I, and your strength is very great (indeed), you should build your temple at Crisa beneath the clefts of Parnassus. There no fine chariot will rattle, nor will there be any clatter of swift-footed horses around your altar, but the glorious tribes of men will bring gifts to you as the Joyous Healer; and, as you rejoice thoroughly in your heart, you shall receive fine sacrifices from those people who live round about." As she spoke, she persuaded the Far-Shooter in his heart, that renown in that particular land should belong to Telphusa herself alone, and not to the Far-Shooter.

Ll. 277-305. Apollo arrives at Crisa, beneath Mount Parnassus, where he arranges for the building of his temple. 

But from there you went (still) further, far-shooting Apollo; then, you came to the city of the overbearing people of Phlegyae, who, disregarding Zeus, dwell on this earth in a lovely glade near the Cephisian lake (i.e. Lake Copais). From there you went, speeding swiftly, to the mountain ridge and came to Crisa (i.e. a city in Phocis) beneath snowy Parnassus, to a slope turned towards the west; but a cliff hangs over (it) from above and a hollow rocky glade runs along the bottom (of it). There the lord Phoebus Apollo resolved to build his lovely temple, and spoke these words: "Here now I am minded to build a glorious temple, to be an oracle for men, and here they will always bring me perfect hecatombs, both (those) who dwell in the rich Peloponnesus, and (those) who dwell on (the mainland of) Europe and on the sea-girt isles, who are coming to consult my oracle, and, speaking in my rich temple, I shall give infallible counsel to them all."

So spoke Phoebus Apollo, and he laid out continuous foundations, wide and very long; and upon these Telephonius and Agamedes, the sons of Erginus (i.e. the 'Workman' or 'Builder'), dear to the immortal gods, laid down a threshold (i.e. the sanctuary) of stone, and the wonderful tribes of men built the temple with hewn stone all around, to be sung of forever.

But (there was) a sweet-flowing spring nearby, (and) there the lord, the son of Zeus (i.e. Apollo), killed a bloated great dragoness with his strong bow, a fierce monster who was used to doing many terrible (things) to men on this earth, both to (the men) themselves and to their long-shanked sheep, for she was a bloody plague.

Ll. 305-355. The episode of Typhaon (a supposed interpolation).

[And (this dragoness it was who) once received from golden-throned Hera, and reared, the dreaded and cruel Typhaon, that bane among mortals; Hera once bore him out of anger with father Zeus, at the time when the son of Cronos had begat glorious Athene in his head; then, straightway, was queenly Hera enraged, and so she spoke among the immortals when they had assembled: "Hear from me, all (you) gods and all (you) goddesses, how cloud-gathering Zeus begins to dishonour me, (as he should not do), since he has made me his trustworthy wife; and now he has given birth without my (involvement) to bright-eyed Athene, who stands out among all the blessed immortals; but (the one) among all the gods who was feeble, (was) my son Hephaestus, shrivelled of foot, whom I bore myself; (he was) a shame and a disgrace to me in heaven, and I myself let him drop from my hands, and I took (him) up and cast (him) into the wide sea; but silver-footed Thetis, the daughter of Nereus (i.e. the Old Man of the Sea) welcomed him and took care of (him) with her sisters (i.e. the Nereids or sea-nymphs). If only she had done another service to the blessed gods! (O you) cruel (one, you) cunning (one), what else will you (i.e. Zeus) now contrive? How did you dare to give birth by yourself to bright-eyed Athene? Could I not have borne (her)? I was called your (wife), at least among the immortals who hold wide heaven. Take care now, lest I devise something bad for you in the future. Yes, now I shall indeed contrive that a son of mine should be born who shall stand out among the immortal gods, nor will he disfigure your sacred bed or mine. And I shall not frequent your bed, but I shall mingle with the immortal gods far away from you."

So she spoke, and went away from the gods, angry at heart. Then, forthwith, ox-eyed queenly Hera prayed, and she struck the ground with the flat of her hand, and spoke these words: "Now listen to me, Gaia (i.e. Earth), and wide Uranus (i.e. Heaven) above, and (you) Titan gods, who dwell beneath the earth around great Tartarus, (you) from whom (spring) gods and men; now hearken unto me, all of you, and grant (me) a son separately from Zeus, (yet) lacking nothing of his strength; but let him be stronger (than him), as much as far-seeing Zeus (is mightier) than Cronos. So she cried, and smote the earth with her stout hand; then the life-giving Earth (i.e. Gaia) was moved; and, when she (i.e. Hera) saw this, she was glad at heart; for she foresaw that her prayer would be fulfilled. So then, from that (time), she never came to the bed of wise Zeus for a whole year, nor once did she sit on her highly wrought chair, in order to give him (the benefit of) her shrewd advice, as she had indeed done before; but ox-eyed queenly Hera remained in her temple, where many prayers are offered, and delighted in her sacred offerings. But, when the months and days were accomplished, and the seasons came around again as the year revolved, then she bore (one) who resembled neither gods nor mortals, (namely) the dreaded and cruel Typhaon, the bane of mortals. Straightway, ox-eyed queenly Hera took him, and then, bringing (someone) evil to (something) evil, she gave (him to the dragoness). And he worked great mischief among the famous tribes of men.]

Ll. 356-439. Having slain the dragoness, and having occupied Telphusa, Apollo, in his quest to discover men to serve him in his temple, climbs aboard a Cretan ship disguised as a monstrous dolphin, and steers the ship around the Peloponnesus and lands it near Crisa.

Whoever met the (dragoness), the day of doom would carry him off, until the far-shooting lord Apollo shot a strong arrow at her; then, rent with bitter pangs, she lay (on the ground), letting out great gasps of breath and rolling all over the place. The awful noise (of the dragoness) was unspeakable; and she writhed continually this way and that amid the wood, and, spitting blood, she gave up the ghost; then Phoebus Apollo exulted over (her), (saying), "Now may you rot on the man-feeding earth; you shall live no longer and be a dreadful bane to the men who eat the fruit of the bountiful earth and bring hither perfect hecatombs. Against cruel death neither Typhoeus nor the hateful Chimaera (i.e. the monstrous daughter of Typhoeus and Echidna, with whom the dragoness can perhaps now be identified) shall help you in any way, but here the black Earth and the beaming Hyperion (i.e. the Sun) will make you rot."

So he spoke, exulting over (her); and darkness covered her eyes. And there the sacred strength of Helios (i.e. the Sun) made her rot, and for this (reason) it is now called Pytho (i.e. the place of corrosion); and they call the lord (Apollo) by the name Pythian, because there, on that very spot, the power of piercing Helios made that monster rot.

Then, was Phoebus Apollo aware in his heart that the sweet-flowing spring (i.e. Telphusa) had thoroughly deceived him, and in his anger he went to Telphusa, and soon he arrived (there); and he stood very close to her, and spoke these words to her: "Telphusa, you were not destined to retain this lovely place, and to keep pouring forth your sweet-flowing water. Here also shall my renown dwell, and not yours alone." So spoke the far-shooting lord Apollo, and he pushed over a crag (on to her) amid a shower of stones, and he kept her streams hidden, and made himself an altar in a wooded grove very near to her beautifully flowing fountain; in that place all (men) pray to the lord (Apollo) under the name of the Telphusian, because he had tarnished the streams of the sacred Telphusa.

Then, Phoebus Apollo pondered in his heart what men he should bring (as) priests who would serve him in rocky Pytho; then, while he was considering this, he noticed a swift ship on the wine-dark sea; and in (it) there were many good men, Cretans from Cnossos, (the city) of Minos, (those) who perform sacrifices for their king and announce his decrees, whatever oracle of Phoebus Apollo of the golden sword may be declared from his laurel-tree beneath the vales of Parnassus. For trade and profit they were sailing in their black ship to Pylos and the men of Pylos; but Phoebus Apollo met them; and in the open sea he sprang upon their swift ship like a dolphin in shape, and lay (there) (as) a great and terrible monster; and none of them sought in their hearts to understand (i.e. that the dolphin was Apollo), but they wanted to cast the dolphin overboard; but he kept shaking the black ship in all directions  and making the ship's timbers quiver. And, in their fear, they sat silent in their ship; and they did not loosen the sheets in their hollow black ship, nor did they lower the sail of their dark-prowed vessel, but they fixed it, as (they had set it) at first, with ox-hide ropes, (and) so on they sailed; now a rushing south wind propelled their swift ship from behind; first they passed by Malea (i.e. the promontory on the southern tip of the Peloponnesus), and then along the Laconian coast they came to Taenarus, the sea-girt town and country of Helios which gladdens the heart of man, and there the thick-fleeced sheep of lord Helios feed continually and occupy a delightful countryside. There they wanted to bring in their ship, and land and contemplate the great marvel and see with their eyes whether the monster would remain upon the deck of the hollow ship or spring back into the swell of the fish-abounding sea. But the well-built ship would not obey the rudder, but went its way, holding (its course) beyond rich Peloponnesus; and the far-shooting lord Apollo easily steered (it) by means of the wind; so she pursued her course and came to Arena and lovely Aryphea, and Thryon, the ford over the (River) Alpheus, and well-built Aepy, and sandy Pylos and the men of Pylos. And she went past Cruni, and Chalcis, and past Dymi, and trusty Elis, where the Epeians hold sway. At the time when she was heading for Pherae, delighting in the wind sent by Zeus, there appeared to them below the clouds the steep mountain of Ithaca (i.e. Mount Neriton), and Dulichium, and Same, and wooded Zacynthus. But then, when she had gone past all of the Peloponnesus, and (she was heading) towards Crisa, that boundless gulf (i.e. the Corinthian Gulf) began to appear which shuts off the rich island of Pelops.  There came, by the ordinance of Zeus, a clear strong west wind, and it blew furiously (upon them) from the sky, so that the ship might very quickly complete its journey over the briny water. So then they went back and sailed towards the dawn and the sun; and lord Apollo, son of Zeus, led (them); and they came to vine-clad Crisa, which can be seen from afar, (and) into its harbour (i.e. Cirrha) (they went); and the sea-faring ship came near to the beach.

Ll. 440-501. Apollo alarms the Crisaeans by his radiance, and then, in the form of a man, converses with the Cretan crewmen, whom he enlists as the attendants of his temple. 

Then, the far-shooting lord Apollo sprang from the ship like a star at mid-day; then many sparks flew from him, and their flame reached up to heaven; and he went down into his shrine between precious tripods. And there he kindled a flame and revealed his shafts (of light); and their radiance filled all of Crisa; then, the wives and the well-girdled daughters of the Crisaeans let out a wail at the force of Phoebus; for he cast great fear upon each one (of them).

Then he sprang forth again, (as swift) as a thought, to fly to his ship in the form of a man, vigorous and sturdy, and in the prime of youth, and covering his shoulders with long flowing hair; and, in speaking to them, he uttered these winged words: "O strangers, who are you? From where do you sail these watery paths? (Are you) on some kind of business (trip), or do you rove recklessly over the sea as pirates, who put their lives at hazard as they roam, (and) bring mischief to people of other lands? Why do you sit (there) so sorrowfully, and not go ashore, nor put in store the gear of your black ship? For that is the custom of industrious men, whenever they come from the deep to land in their black ship, exhausted by their toil, and at once a yearning for delicious food takes hold of their hearts."

So he spoke, and put courage in their breasts. And the captain of the Cretans addressed him in answer face to face: "Stranger, since (you are) nothing like mortal men, neither in form nor in stature, but (are like) the immortal gods - then hail and good health, and may the gods give you rich gifts! Now, tell me the truth, so that I may know (it) well. What country (is this)? And what land? (And) what men were born (here)? For, with other (things) in mind, we were sailing over the great deep sea to Pylos from Crete, (for) from there we declare we are sprung; but now we have come here with our ship, not at all willingly, longing to return home, (by) another way, (and) other paths; but one of the immortals has led (us) here against our will."

Then, Apollo, the far-shooter, addressed him in reply: "(You) strangers, who once dwelt around wooded Cnossos, but (who) will now no longer be returning again, each to his pleasant city and his fine house and to his own dear wife; yet here you will keep my own rich temple that is honoured by many men. I am the son of Zeus, and I profess to be Apollo; but you I brought here over the wide gulf of the sea, not meaning (you) any harm, but here you will keep my rich temple (to be) greatly esteemed among all men, and you shall know the plans of the immortals, by whose will you shall ever be honoured continually every day. But come (now), (and) quickly do as I say; first let down the sheets and lower the mast, and then draw the swift ship up on to the land, and take your possessions and the tackle of your well-balanced ship, and make an altar on the edge of the sea-shore; then light a fire and make a sacrificial offering of white barley-meal, and then stand beside one another around the altar and pray. Then, just as I, first of all in the misty sea, sprang upon the swift ship in the form of a dolphin, (so) pray to me as the Delphian; and the altar itself shall ever (be known as) the Delphian and the overlooking. So then sup beside your swift black ship, and pour a drink-offering to the blessed gods who dwell on Olympus. Then, when you have satisfied your craving for delicious food, come with me and sing "Hail Healer", (until) you come to the place where you shall keep my rich temple."

Ll. 502-546. Apollo leads his Cretan recruits to the site of the oracle at Pytho, and tells them what he expects of them.

So he said, and they readily hearkened unto him and obeyed. Firstly, they lowered the sails, and took down the mast, and lowering the mast by the forestays (i.e. the ropes from the mast-head to the bow), they laid (it) on the mast-holder; then they dragged up the swift ship from the sea to the mainland, high up on to the sand of the shore, and they laid long stays underneath (it). Also they made an altar on the beach of the sea; and, when they had lit a fire and made offerings of white barley-meal, they prayed, standing beside one another beside the altar, as he had ordered. Then, they took their meal beside their swift black ship, and poured a drink-offering to the blessed gods who dwell on Olympus. Then, when they had satisfied their craving for drink and food, they went their way. And the lord Apollo, son of Zeus led them, holding a lyre in his hands, playing sweetly, and stepping high and in good time (to his music). And so, as they danced, the Cretans followed (him) to Pytho, and chanted Hail Healer, like the paean-singers of Crete, and like those, in whose breasts the heavenly Muse has placed honey-voiced song. And, tirelessly, they went on their feet to the crest of the hill, and at once they reached Parnassus and the lovely country where they were destined to dwell, honoured by (so) many men. And, when he had guided (them there), he showed (them) his holy sanctuary and his rich temple. And the spirit was stirred in their breasts; and the captain of the Cretans addressed (him) face to face, and asked him (this): "O lord, since you have led (us so) far away from our dear (ones) and our father-land - (and) so it seemed pleasing to your heart - now how are we to live? We enjoin you to tell (us) that. This (land is) good neither for wine-growing nor for pasturage, from which we might live well and serve men."

Then, Apollo, son of Zeus, addressed them with a smile: "(You) foolish men, wretched (as you are), who wish for sorrows, and grievous toils, and distress in your heart, I will give you a simple message, and put (it) in your heart. Though each (one of you), with a knife in your right hand, should continually slaughter sheep, yet all bounteous things will (always) be present, such (things) as the glorious tribes of men shall bring to me; but you must guard my temple and receive the tribes of men that gather here, and especially show mortal men my will; and do you keep my laws in your heart. But, if anyone (of you) shall not obey (me) through his foolishness, or shall pay no regard (to my warning), or (if) there shall be any idle talk or deed, or any wanton violence, as is the custom among mortal men, then other men will become your leaders (i.e. the leaders of the Amphictyonic League), (and) you will be subjected to their force forever. I have told you everything; do you keep (it) in your heart."

So fare ye well, son of Zeus and Leto; but I will remember your song, and another (one) also (i.e. the Hymn to Hermes).

OVID: FASTI: BOOK VI: JUNE

Introduction:

For an introduction to the work of the "Fasti" as a whole, the reader is referred to Sabidius' translation of Book I (concerning January), which was published on this blog on 26th January 2020. 

In Book VI, Ovid continues his investigations into the religious ceremonies and festivals which marked the Roman calendar, and uses these explanations as an opportunity to recount a number of interesting and entertaining stories. The Book begins with an argument between the two goddesses, Juno and Juventas (Hebe) over which goddess the month of June is named after (ll. 1-100). Ovid then proceeds to tell the story of Carna, the goddess of hinges, who, as the nymph Cranaë, had had an affair with Janus, who had rewarded her with divine powers, powers which she used to protect the baby Proca from murderous screech-owls (ll. 101-182). The next long narrative section relates to the iconography and aetiology of the Vestalia, the festival of the goddess Vesta (ll. 249-468); in this section the cosmic identification of Vesta with the Earth, the story of Priapus' attempted rape of Vesta, the origin of the altar of Jupiter the Baker in the Gallic invasion of Rome in 390 B.C., and the rescue of the Palladium by Metellus in a fire at the goddess' temple, are all recounted. Then, there is a lengthy discussion of the significance of the Matralia, the festival of Motherhood, in which Ovid explains the origin of the cult of Mother Matuta, who, as Ino, journeyed to Italy where she was made a goddess (ll. 473-568). This is followed by the story of the murder of King Servius Tullius by his daughter and her husband, Tarquin (ll. 569-636) and, in relation to the festival of the Lesser Quinquatria, the tale of the expulsion from Rome of the flute-players and their return (ll. 651-710). The final significant episode tells of how Aesculapius brings Hippolytus back to life, and how Jupiter forgives him for his cheating the fates by so doing (ll. 733-62). The Book ends with the Muse Clio's extravagant praise of the beauty of Marcia, the wife of  Ovid's patron, Paullus Fabius Maximus (ll. 801-812).  

The Latin text for this translation has been taken from "Ovid's Fasti", edited by Sir James George Frazer, Harvard University Press, published by William Heinemann, London (1933), which is available on the Perseus website, sponsored by the Classical Department of Tufts University. Sabidius has also made use of the translation and accompanying notes of "Ovid: Fasti", edited by A.J. Boyle and R.D. Woodward, Penguin Books (2000), and of the translation of the "Fasti" provided by A.S. Kline on his "Poetry in Translation" website. 

Proem (vv.1-100).

(a) Address to the reader (vv.1-8).

This month, too, has doubtful causes for its name: from all (those) that are listed, you, yourself, may pick (the one) that pleases (you). I will sing of (things) that happened; but there will be (some) who shall say that I have invented (them), and (who) think that no gods appear to mortal (men). There is a god within us; when he stirs, we glow: that impulse sows the seeds of sacred song (i.e. 'furor poeticus', poetic inspiration). I (have) a special right to see the faces of the gods, either because I am a bard, or because I sing of sacred (themes).  

(b) The dissension of goddesses (vv. 9-100). 

There is a grove, thick with trees, a place (that would be) set apart from every sound, if it were not for (the noise of) water: here I was considering what was the origin of the month (that had just) begun, and I was paying close attention to its name. Behold, I saw goddesses, (but) not (those) that the professor of farming (i.e. Hesiod, author of 'Works and Days') had seen, when he was following the flocks of Ascra (i.e. Hesiod's home village at the foot of Mount Helicon in Boeotia), nor (those) that the son of Priam had compared in the watery valleys of Ida (i.e. during the 'Judgment of Paris'): but yet, there was one of them, there was one of them, the sister of her own husband (i.e. Juno); she it was - I recognised (her) - who has a place on Jupiter's hill (i.e. the Capitoline Hill in Rome, where she had a shrine in the temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus, and also a temple of her own in the name of Juno Moneta). I shuddered and my thoughts were betrayed by my speechless pallor; then the goddess dispelled the fear that she herself had caused. 

For she says, "O bard, (you) builder of the Roman year, bold teller of great (things) in little measures (i.e. his elegiac couplets), you won the right to see a celestial power, when you chose to establish their festivals in your verses: but lest you are unaware (of it) or you are led astray by a common error, June gets its name from my name. It is (quite) something to have married Jupiter, (and) to be Jupiter's sister: I'm not sure (if) I am prouder of my brother or my husband. If my lineage is considered, I (was the) first (to) make Saturn a father; I was the first (child) fate (granted) to Saturn. Rome was once called Saturnia after my father: for him this land was the closest to heaven. If my marriage-bed is of any significance, I am called the wife of the Thunderer, and my shrine is joined to (that) of Tarpeian (i.e. Capitoline) Jupiter. (If ) a concubine could give her name to the month of May, will this honour be begrudged to me? So, why am I called queen and chief of the goddesses, and (why) did they put that golden sceptre in my hand? Shall days (i.e. 'luces') make up the month, and from them I be called Lucina, and I shall draw my name from no month? Then I might repent of having loyally set aside my anger towards the race of Electra and the house of Dardanus (i.e. the Romans, who were descendants of the Trojans). (There was) a dual cause for my anger: I grieved at the rape of Ganymede (i.e. the handsome son of the Trojan king Laomedon, abducted by Jupiter to serve as his cup-bearer in Olympus), and my beauty was refuted by that judge on (Mount) Ida (i.e. Paris). I might regret that I did not favour the battlements of Carthage, since my chariot and armour are in that place: I might regret that I have subjected Sparta and Argos to Latium, and my Mycenae and ancient Samos: add old Tatius (i.e. the king of the Sabines) and the Juno-worshipping Falisci, whom I required to submit to the Romans. But let there be no regrets; no race is dearer to me: here I am worshipped, here I have a place in that temple with my Jupiter. Mavors, himself, said to me, 'I entrust these walls to you: you will be powerful in your grandson's city.' Fulfilment follows his words: I am worshipped at a hundred altars, nor is the honour of my month less than any (other honour). Yet Rome (is) not alone in bestowing this honour upon me: her neighbours accord me the same respect. Examine the calendar which wooded Aricia possesses, and (that of) the Laurentine people and my own Lanuvium. Look at Tibur and at the sacred walls of the goddess of Praeneste (i.e. the temple of Fortuna), (and) you will read of the time of Juno: nor did Romulus found those (cities), but Rome was my grandson's (city)."   

Juno had finished; we looked back: Hercules' wife (i.e. Hebe, known as Juventas to the Romans) was standing (there), and there were signs of energy in her expression. She says, "If my mother told me to leave heaven, I would not remain (there) against my mother's will. I will not fight (her) now concerning this month's name; (but) I shall coax and almost play the part of a petitioner. I should prefer to maintain the justice of my case by pleading: and you, yourself, may perhaps favour my cause. My mother (i.e. Juno) has occupied the golden Capitol in her shared shrine, and holds the summit with Jupiter, as she should; but all my honour is concerned with the origin of the month. This honour, about which I am teased, is a unique (one). What harm (has been done), (O) Roman, if you have given the title of the month to Hercules' wife, and posterity (is) mindful (of it)? This land owes me something too, on account of my great husband: hither he drove the captured oxen (i.e. the cattle of Geryon, the killing of whom and the recapture of whose cattle was the object of the tenth of his Twelve Labours), (and) here Cacus, poorly protected by his father's gift of fire, stained the earth of the Aventine with his blood. I am called to more recent (events): Romulus arranged the people by age, and divided (them) into two groups: one is readier to give advice, and the other to fight; one age (group) urges war, and the other wages (it). So he decreed, and he distinguished the months by the same token: June is for young men (i.e. 'iuvenes'); (the month) which preceded (it is) for elders.

(So) he spoke; and in the heat of dispute they (i.e. Juno and Juventas) might have got into a quarrel and their family affection might have been concealed by their anger: (but) Concordia arrrived, the goddess and care of our peaceable leader (i.e. Tiberius rebuilt the Temple of Concordia in the Roman Forum and re-dedicated it in 10 A.D.), with her long hair entwined with Apollo's laurel (n.b. Apollo was the patron deity of Augustus). When she had told (them) of Tatius and brave Quirinus (i.e. Romulus), and (how) their two kingdoms and peoples had come together, and (how) sons-in-law and fathers-in-law (had been) accepted by a shared household-god, she says, "June gets its name from this union (i.e. 'iunctus')." 

This issue should not be settled by my verdict. Depart from me (as) equals. Pergama (i.e. Troy) perished through the judge of beauty: two (goddesses) can harm more than one can assist.

June 1: Kalends: Nefastus (vv. 101-196).

(June 1st was sacred to Juno Moneta [Juno the Warner], the aspect of Juno who warns of impending disasters and harmful events. It was her sacred geese who warned the Romans of the impending attack by the Gauls in 390 B.C. This day was also sacred to Mars, and it was the anniversary of the dedication of the Temple of Mars near the Capena gate. June 1st was sacred to the Tempestates, Goddesses of weather and storms in particular. Finally, June 1st was sacred to Carna, Goddess of door hinges as well as bodily health. She had the power to ward off 'stirges' [vampires], from babies who were left in their cribs unattended. On this day prayers were offered to her for the health of the liver, heart, and other internal organs, and she received offerings of bean-meal and bacon fat, which were thought to promote bodily health and robustness.)

The first day (of the month) is granted to you, Carna. She is the goddess of the hinge: the story of how she has acquired the powers (she has been) given (is made) more obscure by time; but you will become clear (about it) from my verse. The ancient grove of Alernus lies near to the Tiber: now the priests still take sacrificial offerings there. A nymph was born there - the ancients called her Cranaë; she (was) often being sought by many lovers. She used to scour the fields and chase wild beasts with spears, and spread her knotty nets in the hollow valley; she had no quiver, yet they thought she was Phoebus' sister (i.e. Diana), nor would you, Phoebus, have been ashamed (of her). (If) some young man had spoken words of love to her, she would immediately reply in these tones: "This place has too much light, and with this light (it is a place) of shame: if you lead (me) into a darker cave, I'll follow." While he, credulously, went ahead, she stops when she reaches the bushes, and hides, and there was no way she could be found. (But) Janus had seen her, and, overcome by desire at the sight (of her), he used soft words to the hard(-hearted nymph). The nymph tells (him) that a more remote cave should be sought in accordance with custom, and she follows (him) as his companion, and (then) deserts her leader. (You) foolish (girl)! Janus can see what is happening behind his back: you achieve nothing, and he looks back at your hiding place. You gain nothing, you see, (just as) I said: for, as you are hiding beneath a rock, he seizes (you) in his arms, and, having had his way (with you), he says, "For lying with me, may the authority of the hinge be yours: have this (as) a reward for the loss of your virginity." So saying, he gave (her) a thorn, by which she could drive dreadful harm (away) from thresholds - it was white(-thorn).

There are some greedy birds, not (those) that cheated Phineus' throat of its food (i.e. Harpies), but they do derive their origin from them: they have huge heads, eyes that stand out, beaks fit for plunder, grey (steaks) in their feathers, (and) hooked claws; they fly at night and hunt children in need of wet-nurses, and they snatch their bodies from their cradles and defile (them).; they are said to tear at their milky flesh with their beaks, and they have throats (that are) full of the blood (they have) drunk. They have the name of screech-owls; but the reason for this name (is) because they are accustomed to shriek horribly at night. So, whether they are born birds, or they become birds through magical spells, and Marsian incantations transform old crones into birds, they (still) entered Proca's bed-chamber: Proca (i.e. the king of Alba Longa immediately before Romulus' grandfather Numitor) had been born in it five days (earlier), and they suck the infant's breast with their greedy tongues - fresh prey for the birds; and the poor boy screams and begs for help. The nurse rushes in, frightened by her foster-child's cry, and finds his cheeks (have been) slashed by hard claws. What should she do? The colour of his face was (like that) which is sometimes wont to belong to late leaves, which an early winter has damaged. She goes to Cranaë, and explains the situation. "Set aside your tears:" she said, "your ward will be safe." She approached the cradle; his mother and father wept: "Stop your tears," she says. "I, myself, will heal (him)." Straightway, she dabs the door-posts three times with arbutus leaves one after the other, (and) three times she marks the thresholds with arbutus leaves. (Then,) she sprinkles the entrances with water -  and this water had a drug (in it) - and holds the raw entrails of a two-month old sow - , and so she says, "Birds of the night, spare the boy's innards: a tiny victim is offered for a tiny (child). Take a heart for a heart, I pray, take entrails for entrails: we give you this life in return for a better (one)." So, when she has made her offering, she places the severed (flesh) in the open air, and she forbids (all those) who are there to look at the sacrifice: and the sprig of white-thorn, (given to her) by Janus, is put (at the spot) where a tiny window sheds light into the bedroom. After that, they say that no birds violated the cradle, and the colour which he had before returned to the boy.

(But) why, you ask, is bacon fat consumed on the Kalends, and (why) are beans mixed with hot spelt? She (i.e. Carna) is an ancient goddess, and is nourished by food to which she was previously accustomed, and she is not seeking any feasts extravagantly acquired from alien sources. Fish still swam then without any harm from people, and oysters were safe in their shells; Latium was unaware of the bird which supplies rich Ionia (i.e. the attagen, a rich partridge) or (the one) which rejoices in Pygmy blood (i.e. the crane), and nothing in the peacock was pleasing except its feathers, and the (peoples of the) earth sent (us) no beasts captured by their skill. The earth supplied only beans and hard spelt. Whoever should eat these two mixed together, they say that his bowels can come to no harm.

They also say that the temple of Juno Moneta (i.e. who warns) (was) built high on the citadel in accordance with your vow, Camillus (i.e. it was vowed by Lucius Furius Camillus in 345 B.C. during a battle with the Aurunci). Before (that), it had been the (site of the) house of Manlius (i.e. Marcus Manlius Capitolinus), who once repelled Gallic arms from Jupiter's (temple) on the Capitoline Hill (i.e. in 390 B.C.). Great gods, how much better (it would have been if) he had died in that great fight in defence of your throne, high Jupiter! He lived to die, condemned on a charge of (seeking) the kingship (i.e. executed on a charge of treason in 386 B.C.): that was the fame his longevity granted him.

The same day is the festival of Mars, of whose (temple), placed outside the Covered Way, the Capene Gate commands a view (i.e. the temple of Mars, was located on the Appian Way, two miles from the City, having been vowed by the Duumvir Titus Quinctius early in the Fourth Century at the time of the Gallic invasion). We acknowledge that you, too, Tempestas, earned a shrine, when our fleet was almost sunk in Corsican waters (i.e. the temple of the Tempests was built in 258 B.C. by Lucius Cornelius Scipio, the conqueror of Corsica, in thanksgiving for the delivery of his fleet from a storm). These human monuments are obvious: if you look for stars, great Jupiter's clawed bird (i.e. the constellation Aquila) now rises.

June 2: Fastus (vv. 197-198).

The next day summons the Hyades, the horns on the brow of Taurus (i.e. this means the morning rising of the star-group Hyades on the face of the constellation Taurus), and the earth is drenched with heavy rain.

June 3: Comitialis (vv. 199-208).

(This day is sacred to Bellona, Goddess of war.)

When two mornings have passed and Phoebus (i.e. the sun) has arisen twice, and the corn has been twice made damp by the falling dew, on this day it is said that (the temple of) Bellona (was) consecrated during the Etruscan war (i.e. it had been vowed by Claudius Caecus during the battle of Sentinum in 295 B.C, when the Romans defeated a combined force of Gauls, Etruscans and Samnites), and she always brought Latium success. Appius (i.e. Appius Claudius Caecus, 'the Blind') was the founder, (he) who, when he denied Pyrrhus a peace (treaty) saw much with his mind, (though he had been) deprived of his sight (i.e. in 280 B.C. after the Romans had been defeated at the battle of Heraclea, Claudius Caecus persuaded the senate not to agree to make peace with Pyrrhus). From this temple (i.e. the temple of Bellona was situated on the Campus Martius near the Circus Flaminius, a race track built by Gaius Flaminius in 220 B.C.), a small space commands a view of the upper part of the Circus: there there is a small pillar of no small significance; from there it is customary for a spear to be hurled by hand as a declaration of war, when it is decided that arms should be taken up against a king and his nation.

June 4: Comitialis (vv. 209-212).

(This day is sacred to Hercules Magno Custodi, Hercules the Great Custodian.)

The other side of the Circus (i.e. the western side) is protected by Hercules the Custodian, because the god holds this office due to the Euboean song (i.e. the oracle of the Sibylline Books); the date which belongs to this office is the day before the Nones; if you ask about the plaque, Sulla approved the work.

June 5: Nones: Nefastus (vv. 213-218).

(June 5th is sacred to Dius Fidius, "Divine Faith", associated with Semo Sancus. He is associated with the taking of oaths and the making of treaties, and a common oath formula is "medius fidius" or "me dius fidius". Such oaths had to be made outdoors, in the view of the sky.)

I asked (if) I should assign the Nones to Sancus, or to Fidius, or to you, father Semo; then Sancus says to me: "To whichever of them you assign (it), I shall have the honour: I bear (all) three names: so Cures (i.e. the Sabine capital and the home of Numa Pompilius, the second king of Rome) willed (it)." So the ancient Sabines granted him a shrine, and built it on the Quirinal Hill.

June 6: Nefastus (vv. 219-234).

I have a daughter, and may she, I pray, be of a longer duration than me, (and) I shall always be happy while she (is) safe. When I wished to offer her to a son-in-law, I sought times (that were) suitable for weddings and (times) which should be avoided. Then it was pointed out to me that June after the sacred Ides is beneficial both to brides and to husbands; but the first part of this (month) has been found (to be) unsuitable for marriage. For so the sacred wife of Jupiter's priest (i.e. the Flaminica Dialis) informs me: "Till the peaceful Tiber carries the sweepings from the temple of Ilian Vesta (i.e. she is called 'Ilian' because her temple contained the Penates and the sacred flame which Aeneas had brought from Troy) down to the sea, I am not permitted to comb my hair with sheared boxwood nor to cut my nails with metal, nor to touch my husband, although he is Jupiter's priest and has been given to me by law for life (i.e. it was unlawful for the Flamen Dialis to divorce his wife). You too, don't be in a rush: your daughter will be better wed when fiery Vesta's floor has been cleansed (i.e. Vesta is called 'fiery' because her temple contained Troy's sacred flame)." 

June 7: Ludi Piscatorii: Nefastus (vv. 235-240).

(June 7th-15th: these days were connected to the preparations for the Vestalia. On the 7th, the inner sanctum, known as the 'penus', of the temple of Vesta was opened up; it was closed again on the 15th. On the 15th, the dirt was swept from her temple  and taken to the Tiber. June 7th was also sacred to Tiberinus, God of the river Tiber [often called Father Tiber]. On this day fishermen celebrated games, officiated by the Praetor Urbanus.) 

The third Phoebe (i.e. moon) after the Nones removes Lycaon's grandson (i.e. Arcas, in reference to the morning setting of the constellation Arctophylax, the Bear-Keeper, sometimes called Bootes, the Ox-Herder), it is said, and behind (him) Ursa (i.e. the constellation Ursa Major, the Great Bear) has no fear. Then I remember that I viewed the games on the turf of the Campus (Martius) and that they were named (as) yours, (O) smooth-flowing Tiber. (It is) the feast-day of those who handle dripping lines, and who cover their bronze hooks with morsels of food.

June 8: Nefastus (vv. 241-248).

(This day is sacred to Mens, Goddess of right thinking and the mind. She is sometimes known as Mens Bona.) 

Mind has a divine power too: we see Mind's sanctuary vowed during the panic caused by your war, O perfidious Phoenician (i.e. Hannibal). You had renewed the war, Phoenician, and all were shocked by the consul's death (i.e. that of Gaius Flaminius at the battle of Lake Trasimene in 217 B.C.), and were in fear of the Moorish bands. Fear had banished hope, when the senate delivers its vows to Mind, and at once she responds more favourably. The day, on which these vows were made to the goddess, sees the approaching Ides six day away (i.e. after the disaster at Lake Trasimene the senate consulted the Sibylline Books, and as a result temples to both Mind and Venus Erycina were dedicated on the Capitoline Hill in 215 B.C.). 

June 9: Vestalia: Nefastus (vv. 249-468).

(June 9th was the holiday of Vesta, Goddess of the hearth. The Vestal Virgins employed the 'mola salsa', the holy cake, in the celebrations of the day. First, water was drawn by the Virgins from a sacred spring by the Porta Capena; the water could not be set down on the ground, since contact with the earth would have destroyed its sacred nature, and was carried in narrow-bottomed vessels to prevent this. The salt used in the cakes was specially made from brine brought in a salt pan and then ground in a mortar and baked in a jar. The salt thus produced was cut with an iron saw. This salt was used on the grain or flour, using the ears of grain gathered on the 7th, 9th, and 11th of May, and then turned into flour. Women who wished to make offerings to Vesta in her temple during the Vestalia usually offered sacrifices of simple food, borne on a platter. When doing so, women went barefoot. Only women, and the Pontifex Maximus, were allowed in the temple of Vesta. Bakers and millers also honored this day, and the various tools of their trade - millstones and the beasts of burden used to turn them - were garlanded with violets and small loaves.) 

Favour (me), Vesta! I open my lips now in your service, if I am permitted to attend your scared rites. I was totally (absorbed) in prayer: I felt a heavenly presence, and the joyful earth glowed with a radiant light. I, indeed, did not see you, goddess  - away with the fictions of poets! - , nor could you be gazed upon by any man (i.e. Vesta, being the principle of fire, has no visible anthropomorphic form like the other deities); but what I had been unaware of and I had acquired in error, became known to me without instruction. They say that Rome had held the Parilia forty times, when the flame's guardian goddess (i.e. Vesta) was received in her shrine (i.e. since the Parilia of 21st April was identified as the date of Romulus' foundation of Rome in 753 B.C., this must therefore have occurred in 713 B.C.). (This was) the work of that peace-loving king (i.e. Numa Pompilius, Romulus' successor) - the Sabine land has never brought forth any more god-fearing character then him. The roofs of bronze, which you now see, you would then have seen made of straw, and the walls were woven from pliant wicker. This meagre place, which contains the hall of Vesta, was then the mighty palace of the bearded Numa; but the shape of the temple which now remains is said to be as it was before (i.e. it was round), and a sound reason underlies its shape. Vesta and the earth are the same: a sleepless fire underlies (them) both: the earth and the hearth symbolise their own abode. The earth (is) like a ball, resting on no support, so great a weight hangs in the air around (it): its very rotation keeps the globe balanced, and any angle which might press on any of the parts (external to it) (i.e. the air) is absent; and, since it has been placed in the central region of the heavens, so that it more or less touches no side (of anything), if it were not convex, it would be nearer somewhere, and the universe would not have the earth's weight (at) its centre. Through Syracusan art, a globe stands suspended in the enclosed air, a tiny replica of the vast heavens, and the earth is as far distant from the top as (it is) from the bottom; its round shape causes it (to be) as it is. The appearance of the temple (is) similar; no angle projects from it, (and) its dome protects (it) from rain showers.

You ask why the goddess (i.e. Vesta) is served by virgin attendants? I shall find her reasons for this situation too. They say that Juno and Ceres were born from Ops (i.e. the goddess of plenty) by Saturn's seed; the third was Vesta. The (first) two were married, (and) they both bore children, it is said; one of the three remained unable to endure men (i.e. unmarried). What a surprise (is it), if a virgin likes virgin attendants, and admits (only) chaste hands at her rites? You must understand that Vesta (is) nothing other than a living flame; and you see that no bodies (are) born from flame. So she is rightly a virgin, who neither produces nor takes any seed, and she loves companions of her virginity. 

For a long time, I foolishly thought that Vesta had statues; (but) I soon learned that there were none beneath her curved rotunda. An unextinguishable fire is concealed within her shrine: neither Vesta nor fire has any image. Earth stands by it own force: Vesta is called from 'vi stando' (i.e. 'depending on force'); and the reason for her Greek name (i.e. Hestia) could be a similar (one). The hearth (i.e. 'focus') is named from flames, and because it heartens (i.e. 'fovet') everything; but it was formerly at the front of the house. From this too I think our 'vestibule' is named; then we preface our prayers with (the name of) Vesta, who holds the first place.

It was once the custom to sit on long benches before the hearth, and to think that the gods were present at your table; Even now, when they are making sacrifices to ancient Vacuna (i.e. the Sabine goddess of victory), (men) stand and sit in front of Vacuna's hearths. Something of an ancient custom has come down to our time: a clean dish bears food offered to Vesta. Look, loaves of bread hang from garlanded asses, and wreaths of flowers veil rough millstones. Farmers formerly roasted only spelt in ovens (i.e. in Rome at the beginning of the second century B.C., ovens were only used to bake bread), - and the Oven goddess (i.e. Fornax) has her own rites. The hearth, itself, baked the bread, placed beneath the ashes: a broken tile had been laid on the warm floor. So the baker honours the hearth and the mistress of hearths (i.e. Vesta), and (so does) the ass which turns the pumice millstones.

Shall I pass by or recount your shame, (O) red-faced Priapus? It is a brief tale, involving much mirth. Coroneted Cybele, with a turreted crown on her head, calls the eternal gods to her feast; she invites the satyrs too, and those rural spirits, the nymphs; Silenus is present, although no one had asked (him). It is not permitted, and it would take (too) long, to tell of the gods' banquet: they keep awake (all) night amid much wine. Some wander casually among the dells of shadowy Ida, some lie down, and stretch their limbs on the soft grass; some play, sleep takes hold of others; some link arms (in the dance) and beat the green earth in a triple quick step. Vesta lies untroubled, and takes a peaceful nap, just as she was, with her head propped up in its place on the turf. But the red-faced custodian of the garden (i.e. Priapus) chases the nymphs and the goddesses, and goes backwards and forwards as he wanders; he catches sight of Vesta too: (it is) uncertain if he thought (she was) a nymph, or knew (she was) Vesta, but he himself denies that he knew. He has indecent hopes, and tries to approach (her) by stealth, and walks on tiptoe with his heart pounding. By chance, old Silenus had left the ass, on which he had been carried, by the banks of a gently bubbling stream; the god of the lengthy Hellespont (i.e. Priapus) was going to make a start, when it brays with an untimely sound. Scared by its raucous voice, the goddess jumps up; the whole group flocks together, but he flees through their hostile hands. Lampsacus (i.e. the port city on the Asian side of the Hellespont that was the centre of the worship of Priapus) is accustomed to sacrifice this animal to Priapus, chanting, "We rightly give the informer's guts to the flames." Goddess (i.e. Vesta), in remembrance you adorn this (creature) with necklaces of bread; the work stops, and the empty mills have fallen silent.

I shall explain what the altar of Jupiter the Baker on the Thunderer's citadel means, (as it is) more renowned for its name than its cost. The Capitol was surrounded and hard pressed by the fierce Gauls (i.e. in 390 B.C., after the battle of the Allia): the long siege had already cause a famine. Having summoned the gods to his royal throne, Jupiter says to Mars, "Begin." At once, he replies: "Surely what my people's misfortune should be is unknown, and that heart-ache of mine needs a voice of complaint. But, if you require that I should briefly tell a tale of sadness linked to shame, Rome lies beneath (the feet of) its Alpine foe. Jupiter, is this (the city) to whom world dominion had been promised? Were you (really) about to impose this (city) on the earth? And she had already battered her neighbours and Etruscan arms: hope was in the ascendant: (but) now she is driven from her home. We have seen our triumphant elders, decked in embroidered robes, slain in their bronze-clad halls; we have seen the tokens of Ilian Vesta removed from their setting: they surely think some gods exist. But, if they should look back at the hill which you inhabit (i.e. the Capitol, home of Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva) and so many of your homes hard-pressed by the siege, they will know that no help will come from paying attention to the gods, and that the incense given by an anxious hand should be set aside. Yet, if only there was an open field of battle; let them take up arms, and, if they do not gain the upper hand, let them tumble. Now, in need of food and fearing a coward's death, (they are) shut on their hill and hard pressed by a barbarous mob. Then, Venus, and fair Quirinus with his crook (i.e. the curved staff of an augur) and his purple robe, and Vesta, pleaded on behalf of their Latium. Jupiter replied: "There is a universal concern for those walls, and Gaul (will be) defeated and receive its punishment. Now you, Vesta, make the corn, which is lacking, appear plentiful, and do not desert your abode. Let the hollow mill grind whatever uncrushed grain is (left), and, (after it has been) kneaded by hand, let the hearth bake (it) in the fire." (So) he commanded, and the Saturnian virgin (i.e. Vesta) nodded at her brother's orders, and it was the midnight hour. Now toil had given sleep to their leaders. Jupiter scolds them and tells (them) what he wants through his sacred lips: "Arise, and from the heights of the citadel hurl into the midst of the foe the resource which you least wish to throw." Sleep leaves (them); and, provoked by this strange riddle, they ask what resource would they not wish to deliver, and (yet) they were now being asked (to do so). It seemed to be bread; they throw down the gifts of Ceres: having been thrown, they clatter on their helmets and long shields. The hope that they could be defeated by famine dies: the foe having been repelled, a white altar is erected to Jupiter the Baker. 

I happened to be returning from the festival of Vesta along (the path) where New Street is now joined to the Roman Forum: there I saw a lady coming down barefooted; I was silently astonished and checked my step. And old woman from the neighbourhood saw (me) and told me to sit down, and, shaking her head, she says in a trembling voice: "Soaking swamps occupied this (ground) where the Forum now is; this ditch was drenched by the stream with its overflowing waters. Lake Curtius over there (i.e. an area of the Forum), which supports dry altars, is now solid ground, but was once a lake; (the place) where the Velabrum (i.e. an area between the Capitoline and Palatine Hills) usually ushers processions into the Circus, was (then) nothing but willows and hollow reeds: often a guest returning across suburban waters would sing and chuck drunken words at the boatmen. That god who fits different forms (i.e. Vertumnus) had not yet taken his name from diverting the river (i.e. 'averso amne'). Here too, there was a (sacred) grove, thick with rushes and reeds, and a marsh not to be entered with a shod foot. The pools have receded, and the banks confine their waters, and the ground is now dry: but the custom (i.e. of removing one's shoes) remains. She had explained the reason. "Farewell, (you) dear old lady!" I said. "May all that remains of your life be easy."

I learned everything else (about Vesta) in my childhood years, but I should not pass over (it) on that account. Ilus, the descendant of Dardanus, had just built a new city (i.e. Ilium or Troy) - still rich, Ilus possessed the wealth of Asia; it is thought that a heavenly statue of armed Minerva (i.e. the Palladium) had fallen on the hills of the city of Ilium. (I was anxious to see (it): I saw the temple and the site; that is all that is left there: Rome has Pallas (i.e. the Palladium).) Smintheus (i.e. Apollo 'the Mouse'; in his oracular capacity he had a temple at Chryse in the Troad) is consulted, and in the darkness of his shady grove he uttered these words from his truthful lips: "Keep the heavenly goddess (i.e. the Palladium) safe, and you will keep the city safe: she will take with her the power of the place." Ilus preserves (her) and keeps (her) locked up on the heights of the citadel, and her care reverts to his heir Laomedon; under Priam (she was) not safe enough: she, herself, had wished (it) so, after that judgment, in which her beauty was rejected (i.e. the Judgment of Paris). Either the grandson of Adrastus (i.e. Diomedes, whose mother Deipyle was the daughter of Adrastus, king of Argos), or Ulysses, suited to robbery, has taken (her), they say, or it was Aeneas; the agent (is) uncertain, (but) the thing is now Roman: Vesta guards (her), because she sees everything in her unfailing light. Oh, how terrified was the senate, when Vesta's (temple) caught fire (i.e. this conflagration took place in 241 B.C.) and she was almost buried by her own roof! The holy fires were blazing with the fires of sin; profane flame was mingled with pious flame. Her stunned attendants (i.e. the Vestal Virgins) wept, with their hair let down: fear, itself, had robbed (them) of their bodily strength. Metellus (i.e. Lucius Caecilius Metellus, consul in 251 and 247 B.C., and Pontifex Maximus) rushes into their midst, and cries in a loud voice, "Come to the rescue; tears are no help. Take the tokens of fate (i.e. Vesta's sacred flame and the Palladium) in your virginal hands: they need to be rescued not by prayer, but by hand. (Ah,) woe (is) me! Do you hesitate?" he says. He saw (them) hesitating, and they sank down on bended knee in their panic. He draws water, and, lifting up his hands, he said, "Forgive (me), holy (one): (as) a man, I shall enter where no man should go. If this is a crime, let the punishment for the act fall on me: let Rome be saved by the loss of my life." He spoke, and in he burst: the goddess he carried off approved his deed, and was saved by the devotion of her priest. Now, sacred flames, you shine brightly under Caesar's (rule): now there is, and there will (continue) to be fire on Ilian hearths (i.e. the sacred fire in the temple of Vesta); no priestess will be said to have profaned her headbands (i.e. to have disgraced her office by unchaste acts), while he is leader, and none will be buried alive in the earth: so the unchaste perish, because she is buried in the (ground) that she has defiled: the Earth and Vesta are the same deity.  

On this day, Brutus won his surname from his Callaecian foes and dyed the soil of Hispania with their blood (i.e. Decimus Junius Brutus, consul in 138 B.C. won the surname Callaecus after defeating the people of what is now Galicia in Portugal in 138-137). Of course, sadness is sometimes mixed with joy, lest the people's heart should delight in festivals completely. (On this day too), Crassus lost his eagles, his son and his (men) at the Euphrates, and he gave himself to death as its final (prize) (i.e. at the battle of Carrhae in 53 B.C.). "Parthian, why do you gloat?" said the goddess (i.e. Vesta). "You will return the standards, and there will be an avenger who will deliver punishment for the death of Crassus."

June 10: Nefastus (vv. 469-472).

But once the garlands of flowers are stripped from the long-eared asses, and the rough stones grind the fruit of Ceres (i.e. grain), the sailor sitting on the poop-deck says, "We'll see the Dolphin (i.e. the constellation), when the day is expelled and the damp night comes on."

June 11: Matralia: Nefastus (Publicus) (vv. 473-648).

(June 11th was the date of the festival of Mater Matuta, Goddess of growth, childbirth, motherhood, and the raising of children. On that day mothers were honored by their children and husbands, and mothers prayed for their children and the children of their siblings. The statue of Mater Matuta could only be decorated on this day by a 'univira' [the wife of a first marriage]. Female slaves were excluded from the temple, with the exception of one who was ritually beaten, either as a warning to others not to cuckold free-born husbands, or as a fertility rite in and of itself. Testuacia [sacred cakes] were offered to the Goddess, cooked in a 'testu' [an old-fashioned earthenware pot]. June 11th was also sacred to Fortuna, Goddess of fate, chance, luck, and fortune.)

Now, Phrygian Tithonus (i.e. brother of Priam and husband of Aurora, the Dawn), you complain that you have been abandoned by your bride (i.e. she leaves him each morning), and the watchman Lucifer (i.e. the Morning Star) leaves the eastern waters: go, good mothers - the Matralia (i.e. the festival of Motherhood) (is) your festival - and offer the Theban goddess (i.e. Ino, the daughter of Cadmus, king of Thebes, whom the Romans associated with Matuta) your yellow cakes. By the bridges (i.e. the Pons Sulpicius and the Pons Aemilius) and the great Circus is a busy square that takes its name from the (statue of) an ox (that is) placed (there) (i.e. the Forum Boarium). There, on this day, they say that Servius' sceptre-bearing hands (i.e. those of Servius Tullius, Rome's sixth king 575-535 B.C.) gave Mother Matuta a holy temple. Who is this goddess, (and) why does she bar female slaves from the threshold of her temple - for bar (them) she does - and ask for toasted cakes? Bacchus, (you) whose hair is ornamented with clusters of ivy, if this is your house, direct the poet's work!  

Semele (i.e. daughter of Cadmus and sister of Ino) had been incinerated with the compliance of Jupiter (i.e. at the instigation of Juno); Ino takes you, child (i.e. Bacchus, Semele's son by Jupiter) and diligently suckles (you) with the utmost care. Juno swelled (with wrath) that she should raise the son of a concubine: but he was (of) the blood of her sister. So Athamas (i.e. Ino' s husband, driven mad by Juno) is haunted by the furies and false visions, and you, little Learchus, fall by your father's hand: the grief-stricken mother buried Learchus' shade, and performed the rites due to the piteous pyre. When she has torn her hair in sorrow, she too runs amok and seizes you, Melicertes, from your cradle. A single (piece of) land (i.e. the Isthmus of Corinth), confined in a small space, separates two straits, and is pounded by two (stretches of) water: to this place she (i.e. Ino) comes in a state of frenzy, clutching her son in her arms, and she hurls (him) together with herself into the deep from a lofty crag. Panope and her hundred sisters (i.e. the sea-nymphs, the daughters of Nereus) receive (them) unharmed, and bear (them) in a gentle course through their realm. (She has) not yet (become) Leucothea, nor (has) the boy yet (become) Palaemon, (but) they reach the mouth of the Tiber, thick with whirlpools. There was a grove; (it is) uncertain (whether) it is called Semele's or Stimula's; they say the Ausonian Maenads (i.e. the Bacchantes, the female devotees of Bacchus) lived (there): Ino asks them what their race was. She hears they are Arcadians, and that Evander holds the sceptre in this place; disguising her divinity, the daughter of Saturn (i.e. Juno) insidiously incites the Latin Bacchantes into (speaking) deceitful words: "O (you who are) too good-natured, O (you) who lack a full mind, this stranger does not come to our band (as) a friend. She operates by deceit, and intends to learn our sacred rites. (But) she has a child, on whom it is possible to wreak punishment." Well, scarcely had she finished (speaking), (when) the Thyiads (i.e. Bacchantes), with their hair streaming down their necks, fill the breezes with their howling, and they lay their hands on the boy (i.e. Melicertes) and fight to tear (him) away. She (i.e. Ino) invokes the gods, of whom she is still unaware: "Gods and men of this place, give help to a wretched mother." Her cry hit the nearby rocks of the Aventine. The Oetean (hero) (i.e. Hercules, the epithet, here used proleptically, coming from Mount Oeta in Thessaly, where Hercules' pyre was located) had driven his cattle to the riverbank: on Hercules' arrival, (the women) who were just preparing to use force, turned their cowardly backs in feminine flight. "What are you doing here, Bacchus' maternal aunt?" he says. "Or (does) the goddess (i.e. Juno) (that harasses) me, harass you too?" She tells (him) some (of her story), but the presence of her son prevents (her from telling) the rest (of it), and she is ashamed that, through her fury, she fell into sin. Rumour, rapid as it is, flies on beating wings, and your name, Ino, is frequently on (men's) lips. You are said to have entered the faithful household of Carmentis (i.e. the prophetic mother of Evander) (as) a guest, and to have set aside your long refusal to eat. The Tegean (i.e. Arcadian) priestess (i.e. Carmentis) is said to have hurried into offering cakes with her own hands, (which she) baked on a hasty hearth. Now cakes delight her too at the festival of the Matralia. Rustic endeavour was more pleasing to her than skill. "Now," she (i.e. Ino) says, "O prophetess, reveal my future fate, as far as it's allowed: add this, I beg (you) to my welcome." There is a short delay, (then) the prophetess assumes heavenly powers, and her whole breast becomes full with (the presence of) her god. All at once, you would scarcely know her, so much holier and so much taller was she than (she had been) a moment before. "I'll sing joyful (things): rejoice, Ino, now that you have done away with your toils," she said, "and always show favour to this people. You will be a sea-goddess: the sea too will have your son. Take other names in your waters. You will be called Leucothea (i.e. White Goddess) by the Greeks, Matuta by us; your son will have complete authority in the harbours. We will call (him) Portunus, his own tongue (will know him as) Palaemon. Go, and may both of you, I pray, be friendly to our countries." She (i.e. Ino) nodded, and her word was promised; they set aside their toils (and) changed their names; he is a god and she a goddess.

Do you ask why she forbids female attendants access? She hates (them), and I shall sing of the source of that hatred, if she lets (me). One of your maid servants (i.e. Antiphera), daughter of Cadmus (i.e. Ino), often used to enjoy your husband's embraces. Wicked Athamas made love to her in secret; from her he learned that parched seeds were given (by you) to the farmers (i.e. to cause a famine): it's true that you yourself deny that you have done (so), but rumour confirms (it). This is why a slave girl's service is hateful to you. However, no dutiful mother should pray to her on behalf of her child: she herself seemed to have been a not very fortunate parent. You will (do) better (to) entrust her with someone else's child: she was of more use to Bacchus than to her own (children). 

They say that she asked you, Rutilius (i.e. Publius Rutilius Lupus, consul in 90 B.C. fell in battle against the Marsians during the Social War), "Where are you rushing to? On my day, you (as) consul will fall at the hands of our Marsian foe." The outcome agreed with my words, and the river Tolenus (i.e. the present day Turano) flowed purple, as its waters (were) mixed with his blood. The next year came: on the same (day) that Pallantis (i.e. the dawn) rose, the slain Didius (i.e. Titus Didius, consul in 98 B.C. as a 'novus homo', and killed in battle against the Marsians in 89 B.C. according to Ovid) doubled the enemy's strength. The same day (i.e. the same day as the festival of Matuta) is yours, Fortuna (i.e. the goddess of fate or chance), and the founder (i.e. Servius Tullius) and the site (of your temple [i.e. the Forum Boarium] are the same); but who is that lurking under those piled togas? It is Servius, for that is agreed: but the cause of his hiding is disputed, and I too have a doubt in my mind. When the goddess (i.e. Fortuna) shyly confesses her secret love, and is ashamed that, (as) a celestial (being) she has lain with a man - for she burned (with passion), having been seized with desire for the king (i.e. Servius Tullius), and she was not blind in relation to this man alone - she used to enter his house at night through a small window, from which the gate of the Fenestella gets its name. Now she feels shame and hides his beloved features under a cloth, and the king's face is covered by many a toga. Or is it more true that after Tullius' funeral the people had become bewildered by the death of their gentle leader: nor was there any end (to it); (and) their grief grew at (the sight of) his statue, until they covered him under a heap of togas? 

I must sing at greater length about a third cause (i.e. for the statue being covered); however, we shall keep our horses on a tight rein. Tullia (i.e. Servius' daughter), her marriage having been secured as the reward of crime (i.e. both she and her husband had murdered their former spouses), kept goading her husband (i.e. Lucius Tarquinius Superbus) with these words: "What is the use of (us) being equally matched, you by my sister's murder and I by your brother's, if a virtuous life seems good (to us). Both my husband and your wife ought to have lived, if we were not about to venture any greater deed. I offer both my father's life and throne (as) a dowry. If you are a man, go (and) claim the riches of the dowry of which I speak. Crime (is) an attribute of royalty: kill your father-in-law, seize his kingdom, and stain our hands in my father's blood." Incited by such (words), the private (citizen) occupies the high throne; in their astonishment, the people rush to arms: then (comes) blood and slaughter, and infirm old age is conquered: Superbus, the son-in-law, seizes and takes possession of his father-in-law's sceptre. Beneath the Esquiline, where his palace was, he himself falls, butchered, on the hard ground, gushing with blood. His daughter rode, high and haughty, in her carriage through the middle of the streets in order to enter her father's house. When her driver saw the body, he halted with tears streaming (down his face); she reproves him in the following terms: "Go on, will you, or you can expect to pay the bitter price of  piety!" Drive your reluctant wheels, I am telling (you), over his face." (There is) definite evidence of this deed: Evil Street (is) named after her, and this business is marked by eternal infamy.

Yet (even) after this, she (still) dared to visit the temple (which was) her father's monument: (what) I say (is) strange indeed, but yet it occurred. There was a statue (there) which represented Tullius seated on a throne; it is said that it placed a hand over its eyes, and a voice was heard: "Conceal my countenance, lest it should see the unspeakable face of my daughter." It is covered by a robe (that is) supplied; Fortuna forbids that is should be removed, and thus she herself spoke from her temple: "The day on which Servius is first revealed, after his face has been uncovered, that will be the first (day on which) modesty is set aside." Refrain, ladies, from touching the forbidden robes - it is enough to utter your prayer in a solemn voice - and let the head (of one) who was the seventh king in our city (n.b. Servius Tullius  is usually considered to be Rome's sixth king, but Ovid has included Titus Tatius, Romulus' Sabine co-regent, in the count) always be covered by a Roman garment. This temple was burned down (i.e. both the temple of Fortuna and that of Mater Matuta in the Forum Boarium were consumed by fire in 213 B.C. and their rebuilding started in the following year): but that fire spared the statue; Mulciber (i.e. Vulcan; the epithet 'Mulciber', meaning 'Melter', refers to Vulcan in his capacity as a blacksmith) himself brought help to his son. For Vulcan was Tullius' father, and the outstandingly beautiful Ocresia of Corniculum (was) his mother. Tanaquil (i.e. the prophetic wife of Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, Rome's fifth king, and the mistress of Ocresia) ordered her, when she was performing the sacred rites with her in accordance with custom to pour wine on to the hearth (that was being) embellished: there among the ashes there was, or there seemed (to be), the shape of a man's sexual organ, but (it is) more (than likely that that was what) it was. The slave (girl) (i.e. Ocresia) sat on the hearth (as she had been) ordered: Servius is conceived by her, (but) he has the seed of a divine family. His father (i.e. Vulcan) gave the sign (of paternity) at the moment when he touched his head with tremulous fire, and a crown of flames glowed on his hair.

Livia endows you, too, Concordia with a magnificent shrine, which she herself dedicated to her dear husband (i.e. Livia dedicated the Porticus Liviae to Augustus in 7 B.C. but the altar to Concordia within it was probably dedicated at a later date). Learn (this), (you) age to come: (the site) where Livia's Colonnade now stands was once occupied by a massive house (i.e. the house of Publius Vedius Pollio, a rich freedman, on the Esquiline, left by him to Augustus in his will in 15 B.C.); that one house was the work of a city, and many towns occupy a smaller space than it occupied within its walls. It was levelled to the ground, not through any charge of kingship, but because it seemed to be harmful due to its extravagance. (As) its heir, Caesar readily bore the demolition of so great a mass of buildings, and the destruction of so much of his wealth: so is criticism delivered, and so are examples set, when a judge does himself what he advises others (to do). 


June 13: Ides: The lesser Quinquatrus: Nefastus Publicus (vv. 649-710).

(June 13th-15th: also known as the "lesser Quinquatria" - the Greater Quinquatria being held on 19-23rd March. It was a festival of the 'tibicines' [flute-players who played at religious occasions to drown out any ill-omened noises]. For three days they wandered the city in masks and festive clothing, making music and livening up everyday business. The festival was also sacred to Minerva, who was the patron Goddess of the 'tibicines'. In ancient times they would have met at Her temple and then gone to the temple of Jupiter for a feast.) 

On the next day (i.e. June 12th) there is no feature which you can speak about; on the Ides a temple was dedicated to Jupiter the Unconquered. And now I am obliged to tell of the lesser Quinquatrus (i.e. the greater Quinquatria occurred on the 19th-23rd March). Now, be present O yellow(-haired) Minerva as I begin (my task). Why does a wandering flautist walk all through the City? What is the meaning of his mask and his long robe?" Thus I (asked). (And) thus Tritonia (i.e. Minerva), laying down her spear, replied - if only I could recount the goddess's (exact) words! - : "In the days of your ancient forebears, great use was (made) of flautists, and they were always (held) in great honour: the flute was played in shrines and at the games, and the flute was played at tearful funerals; the work was sweetened by its rewards. Then a time followed which suddenly shattered the practice of this graceful art. Add (to this) that an aedile had instructed that that the performers who went in a funeral procession should be (restricted) to only ten (i.e. this is referring to Appius Claudius Caecus, who was censor in 312 B.C. This requirement was almost certainly enacted in the Twelve Tables of 451-450 B.C, but Appius probably enforced it more strictly, and he also forbade flautists from eating within the Temple of Jupiter.) In exile they exchange their city and withdraw to Tibur (i.e. this happened in 311 B.C.): at one time (going) to Tiber meant exile. The hollow flute is missed on the stage (and) it is missed at the altars; no dirge accompanies the final bier. There was a certain freedman, worthy of a rank as great as you like, but who had been freed at Tibur a long time ago. He prepares his own feast at his country(-house), and invites the tuneful throng (i.e. the guild of flautists): they arrive at the festive banquet. It was night, and their vision and their minds were awash with strong wine, when a messenger arrives with a concocted story, and spoke thus: "Why are you (so) slow to break up the party? For look, the instigator of your manumission is coming." Without delay, the guests stir their limbs, (although they are) tottering from the strong wine; and they slip and slide on their uncertain feet. But the master cries, "Away with you!" and he lifts up the dawdlers on to a cart; on the cart a wickerwork frame was constructed. The hour, and the motion, and the wine brought on sleep, and the drunken crowd think they are returning to Tibur. But they had already entered the city of Rome by the Esquiline, and at dawn the cart was (standing) in the middle of the Forum. In order that he could deceive the senate as to their rank and number, Plautius (i.e. Gaius Plautius Venox, censor in 312 B.C. together with Appius Claudius) tells (them) that their faces should be covered by masks; and he adds others to (them), and, so that he might swell the group of flautists, he tells (them) to wear long gowns. Thus, they could effectively veil the returning men, so they should not be censured for their coming back contrary to his colleague's edicts. The plan succeeded, and they were allowed to employ strange dress on the Ides, and to sing playful words to old tunes. 

When she had instructed me, I said, "It (still) remains for me to learn why this day should be called Quinquatrus." "March," she says, "celebrates my festival of that name," and that guild is also one of my creations. I first enabled the long flute to produce notes. The sound was pleasing: (but) when my face was reflected in the clear waters, I saw that my virginal cheeks were (all) puffed up. 'This art is not important to me; away with you, my flute!' I said: the bank receives my cast-off on its turf. A satyr (i.e. Marsyas) finds it, and at first he marvels (at it) and does not understand its use, but he learns that blowing into (it) produces sound; and now he works (it) with his fingers, and now he gives (it) breaths, and already he was boastful of his skill among the nymphs: he also challenges Phoebus. Overcome by Phoebus, he is hanged; his flayed limbs are separated from their skin. Yet, I am the inventor and author of this (type of) song : this is why that art observes my feast day." 

June 15: Fastus (vv. 711-714).

The third night will come, when you will see Dodonid Thyone (i.e. one of the Hyades, nymphs who came originally from Dodona in north-west Greece; here Thyone represents the Hyades star-group as a whole) standing on the brow of Agenor's bull (i.e. Zeus, who, disguised as a bull, abducted Agenor's daughter Europa; here he represents the constellation 'Taurus'). This is the day, Tiber, on which you send the sweepings of Vesta's (temple) down through Etruscan waters to the sea.  


June 16: Comitialis (vv. 715-716).

But, when the father of the Heliades (i.e. the daughters of the Sun) had dipped his rays in the waves, and the quiet stars encircle the twin poles, (then) Hyrieus' son (i.e. Orion) will lift his strong arms from the earth; on the next night 'Delphin' (i.e. the Dolphin constellation) will be visible. To be sure, it (i.e. the Dolphin) once saw the Volsci and the Aequi fleeing over your plains, land of Algidus; then, Postumius Tubertus, you famously rode in triumph on your snow-white horses, victorious over your neighbours (i.e. the dictator Aulus Postumius Tubertus won a battle over these two Italian tribes at the Pass of Algidus, near Tusculum on the edge of the Alban Hills in 431 B.C.).


June 19: Comitialis (vv. 725-728).   

(Sacred to Minerva, Goddess of crafts and trade guilds, associated with the Greek Athena.) 


Now six days and as many again (i.e. twelve days) remain from (the end of) the month, but you must add one day to this number. The sun departs from the 'Gemini' (i.e. the constellation of the Twins), and the star-signs of 'Cancer' (i.e. the constellation of the Crab) blush: Pallas begins to be worshipped on the Aventine Hill (i.e. a temple on the Aventine was dedicated to Minerva on this day).

June 20: Comitialis (vv. 729-732).

(Sacred to Summanus, an aspect of Jupiter that was responsible for the casting of lightning bolts at night. Two black wethers [castrated male sheep] are offered to Him, and cakes in the shape of wheels are also sacrificed.) 

Now Laomedon, your daughter-in-law (i.e. Aurora, the dawn, wife of Laomedon's son Tithonus) rises, and, as she rises, she drives away the hoar-frost from the meadows: they say a shrine (was) dedicated (i.e. possibly in 278 B.C.) to Summanus (i.e. Jupiter in his capacity as god of the night and its storms), whoever he is, at the time when you, Pyrrhus, (i.e. the King of Epirus 318-272 B.C.) were being such a terror to the Romans. 


June 21: Comitialis (vv. 733-762).


When Galatea (a Nereid or sea-nymph) has greeted this day too with her father's (i.e. Nereus') waves, and the earth will be full of carefree peacefulness, the young man (i.e. Ophiucus, the Snake-Holder, associated by the Romans with Aesculapius, the god of healing and medicine), blasted by his grandfather's bolts (i.e. Zeus' thunderbolts), rises from the ground and stretches out his hands, joined together (as they are) by twin snakes. Phaedra's love (is) notorious, Theseus' wrong is notorious: that credulous man has cursed his son (i.e. Hippolytus). The fatally pious youth was heading for Troezen: the bull divides the waters in its path with its chest. The shocked horses are terrified, and, checked in vain, they drag their master over crags and hard rocks. Hippolytus fell from his chariot, and, with the reins hampering his limbs, he was carried along with his lacerated body, and he gave up his spirit, to Diana's great indignation. "(There is) no cause for grief," says the son of Coronis (i.e. Aesculapius), "for I shall restore the pious youth to life free of wounds, and the dismal fates will yield to my art." Immediately he takes some herbs from an ivory casket: they had formerly been of assistance to the shade of Glaucus (i.e. the son of Minos), at the moment when an augur (i.e. Polyidus) had stooped to (pick) herbs, (when he had) observed a snake make use of the help provided by (another) snake. Three times he (i.e. Aesculapius) touched his chest, three times he spoke words of healing: the (youth) (i.e. Hippolytus) raised his drooping head from the ground. The sacred grove and Dictynna (i.e. Diana) in the recesses of her wood conceal him: he (becomes) Virbius of Aricia's lake (i.e. Aricia was a ancient town of Latium near Alba Longa, and its lake was the most sacred of Diana's sanctuaries). But Clymenus (i.e. Pluto) and Clotho (i.e. one of the three Fates) grieve, she that the threads (of life) have been respun, he that the rights of his kingdom have been diminished. Phoebus, you complained: (but) he is a god; be reconciled to your father: he does for you what he forbids to be done (by anyone else) (i.e. to raise the dead: in this case Jupiter restores to life Phoebus' son, Aesculapius, whom he has killed with his thunderbolt).

June 22: Comitialis (vv. 763-770). 

Although you rush to conquer, Caesar, I do not wish you to move your standards, if the auspices forbid (it). Let Flaminius and the shores of (Lake) Trasimene (i.e. where the army of the consul Gaius Flaminius was defeated by Hannibal in 217 B.C.) be your witnesses that the just gods warn (us) of many (things) through birds. If you (should) ask what was the reckless occasion of that ancient loss, it (was) ten days from the end of the month.


June 23: Comitialis (vv. 769-770).


The next day (is) better: Masinissa (King of Numidia and the ally of Scipio in the war against Carthage) defeats Syphax (in 203 B.C.), and Hasdrubal (i.e. Hannibal's younger brother), himself, fell by his own sword (i.e. when defeated by Gaius Claudius Nero at the River Metaurus in 207 B.C.). 


June 24: Comitialis (vv. 771-784).


(Sacred to Fors Fortuna, Goddess of good fortune. Her festival was a spirited affair, with both people on foot and some on flower-bedecked boats attending. Gardeners brought their vegetables and flowers to market, and then sang solemn prayers to Fors Fortuna. The festival was especially marked by florists and other tradespeople, but was widely celebrated by the common folk.)

Time slips away and we grow old in the silent years, and the days fly by with no bridle restraining (them). How quickly have the honours of Fors Fortuna come (round)! June will be over in seven days time. Go, Quirites (i.e. citizens), and joyfully celebrate the goddess Fors. On the bank of the Tiber she has her gift from the king (i.e. a temple). Rush on down, some (of you) on foot, (and) others in a speedy skiff, and don't be ashamed to return home from there drunk. Garlanded barges, carry your parties of young people and let them drink plenty of wine in midstream. The people worship her because (the man) who founded (her temple) (i.e. King Servius Tullius) was plebeian, it is said, and had come to power from a low estate. She suits slaves too, since Tullius, born from a slave-girl (i.e. Ocresia of Corniculum), built the nearby shrines to the fickle goddess. 

June 25: Comitialis and 26: Comitialis (Nefastus Publicus) vv. 785-790.

(Ludi Taurei Quinquennales: these games are held in honor of the deities of the underworld and to appease them against causing plague; they include horse racing and the sacrifice of bulls. The games are held every five years.)

Look, a man returns, in no way sober, from the shrine near the city (i.e. the temple of Fors Fortuna), and slings these words to the stars: "Your belt lies hidden today, and will perhaps be hidden tomorrow: after that, Orion, it will be visible to me." But, if he had not been drunk, he would have declared that the date of the solstice would fall on the same day.

June 27-28: Comitiales (vv. 791-794).

(June 27th was Sacred to Jupiter Stator ("Jupiter the Stayer"), who aided warriors in staying their ground in the face of adversity. Twenty-seven maidens sang a hymn to Juno as they processed through the city.)

When Lucifer (i.e. the Morning Star) steals in, the Lares (i.e. the household gods focussed on the hearth) gained a shrine, in the place where many wreaths are woven by skilled hands. The same day belongs to the temple of (Jupiter) Stator (i.e. 'The Stayer'), which Romulus once founded on the face of the Palatine's ridge.

June 29: Fastus (vv. 795-796).

(This day was sacred to Hercules Musarum, "Hercules of the Muses". On this day men of letters offered their respects to the more peaceful aspects of Hercules, as well as the nine Muses who governed the arts.) 

When there are as many days of the month left as there are names to the Fates (i.e. three), a temple was dedicated to you, (O) Quirinus of the purple robe (i.e. a temple to Quirinus on the Quirinal Hill was dedicated in 293 B.C. by Lucius Papirius Cursor). 

June 30: Comitialis (vv. 797-812).

Tomorrow marks the birth of the day of July's Kalends: Pierides (i.e. Muses), add the final (pieces) to my work. Tell (me), Pierides, who attached you to that (man) (i.e. Hercules), to whom a defeated step-mother (i.e. Juno) reluctantly gave her hands? (n.b. in 179 B.C. Marcus Fulvius Nobilior constructed a temple in the Flaminian Circus in which he placed the statues of the Muses which he had brought from Ambracia in north-western Greece). So (I spoke). So Clio (i.e. the Muse of History) (replied): "You are gazing at the monument of the renowned Philippus (i.e. Augustus' step-bother, Lucius Marcius Philippus, suffect consul in 38 B.C., who restored the temple of Hercules and the Muses in 29 B.C.) from whom the chaste Marcia traces her descent, that Marcia, (whose) name is derived from priestly Ancus (i.e. Ancus Marcius, the fourth king of Rome, 642-617 B.C.), and in her, beauty is equal to her nobility (n.b. Marcia, who was a cousin of Augustus, was married to Paullus Fabius Maximus, one of Augustus' closest confidants and Ovid's principal patron).  Her beauty also corresponds exactly with her mind: in her, breeding, appearance and intellect (all come) together. Nor should you think (it) disgraceful that I should praise her beauty: in this way, too, I praise great goddesses. Caesar's maternal aunt (i.e. Atia the Younger) was once married to that (man) (i.e. Philippus): O glory, O woman worthy of that sacred house!" So sang Clio, (and) her learned sisters applauded; the grandson of Alceus (i.e. Hercules) twanged his lyre.