Epistles |
Translator: J. Nunn, R. Priestly, R. Lea, J. Rodwell
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Phaedra Hippolyto Quam nisi tu dederis , caritura est ipsa , salutem Mittit Amazonio Cressa puella viro . Perlege , quodcumque est — quid epistula lecta nocebit ? Te quoque in hac aliquid quod iuvet esse potest ; His arcana notis terra pelagoque feruntur . Inspicit acceptas hostis ab hoste notas . Ter tecum conata loqui ter inutilis haesit Lingua , ter in primo restitit ore sonus . Qua licet et sequitur , pudor est miscendus amori ; Dicere quae puduit , scribere iussit amor . Quidquid Amor iussit , non est contemnere tutum ; Regnat et in dominos ius habet ille deos . Ille mihi primo dubitanti scribere dixit : ' Scribe ! dabit victas ferreus ille manus .' Adsit et , ut nostras avido fovet igne medullas , Figat sic animos in mea vota tuos ! Non ego nequitia socialia foedera rumpam ; Fama — velim quaeras — crimine nostra vacat . Venit amor gravius , quo serius — urimur intus ; Urimur , et caecum pectora vulnus habent . Scilicet ut teneros laedunt iuga prima iuvencos , Frenaque vix patitur de grege captus equus , Sic male vixque subit primos rude pectus amores , Sarcinaque haec animo non sedet apta meo . Ars fit , ubi a teneris crimen condiscitur annis ; Cui venit exacto tempore , peius amat . Tu nova servatae capies libamina famae , Et pariter nostrum fiet uterque nocens . Est aliquid , plenis pomaria carpere ramis , Et tenui primam delegere ungue rosam . Si tamen ille prior , quo me sine crimine gessi , Candor ab insolita labe notandus erat , At bene successit , digno quod adurimur igni ; Peius adulterio turpis adulter obest . Si mihi concedat Iuno fratremque virumque , Hippolytum videor praepositura Iovi ! Iam quoque — vix credes — ignotas mittor in artes ; Est mihi per saevas impetus ire feras . Iam mihi prima dea est arcu praesignis adunco Delia ; iudicium subsequor ipsa tuum . In nemus ire libet pressisque in retia cervis Hortari celeris per iuga summa canes , Aut tremulum excusso iaculum vibrare lacerto , Aut in graminea ponere corpus humo . Saepe iuvat versare leves in pulvere currus Torquentem frenis ora fugacis equi ; Nunc feror , ut Bacchi furiis Eleleides actae , Quaeque sub Idaeo tympana colle movent , Aut quas semideae Dryades Faunique bicornes Numine contactas attonuere suo . Namque mihi referunt , cum se furor ille remisit , Omnia ; me tacitam conscius urit amor . Forsitan hunc generis fato reddamus amorem , Et Venus ex tota gente tributa petat . Iuppiter Europen — prima est ea gentis origo — Dilexit , tauro dissimulante deum . Pasiphae mater , decepto subdita tauro , Enixa est utero crimen onusque suo . Perfidus Aegides , ducentia fila secutus , Curva meae fugit tecta sororis ope . En , ego nunc , ne forte parum Minoia credar , In socias leges ultima gentis eo ! Hoc quoque fatale est : placuit domus una duabus ; Me tua forma capit , capta parente soror . Thesides Theseusque duas rapuere sorores — Ponite de nostra bina tropaea domo ! Tempore quo nobis inita est Cerealis Eleusin , Gnosia me vellem detinuisset humus ! Tunc mihi praecipue (nec non tamen ante placebas ) Acer in extremis ossibus haesit amor . Candida vestis erat , praecincti flore capilli , Flava verecundus tinxerat ora rubor , Quemque vocant aliae vultum rigidumque trucemque , Pro rigido Phaedra iudice fortis erat . Sint procul a nobis iuvenes ut femina compti ! — Fine coli modico forma virilis amat . Te tuus iste rigor positique sine arte capilli Et levis egregio pulvis in ore decet . Sive ferocis equi luctantia colla recurvas , Exiguo flexos miror in orbe pedes ; Seu lentum valido torques hastile lacerto , Ora ferox in se versa lacertus habet , Sive tenes lato venabula cornea ferro . Denique nostra iuvat lumina , quidquid agis . Tu modo duritiam silvis depone iugosis ; Non sum militia digna perire tua . Quid iuvat incinctae studia exercere Dianae , Et Veneri numeros eripuisse suos ? Quod caret alterna requie , durabile non est ; Haec reparat vires fessaque membra novat . Arcus — et arma tuae tibi sunt imitanda Dianae — Si numquam cesses tendere , mollis erit . Clarus erat silvis Cephalus , multaeque per herbas Conciderant illo percutiente ferae ; Nec tamen Aurorae male se praebebat amandum . Ibat ad hunc sapiens a sene diva viro . Saepe sub ilicibus Venerem Cinyraque creatum Sustinuit positos quaelibet herba duos . Arsit et Oenides in Maenalia Atalanta ; Illa ferae spolium pignus amoris habet . Nos quoque quam primum turba numeremur in ista ! Si Venerem tollas , rustica silva tua est . Ipsa comes veniam , nec me latebrosa movebunt Saxa neque obliquo dente timendus aper . Aequora bina suis obpugnant fluctibus isthmon , Et tenuis tellus audit utrumque mare . Hic tecum Troezena colam , Pittheia regna ; Iam nunc est patria carior illa mea . Tempore abest aberitque diu Neptunius heros ; Illum Pirithoi detinet ora sui . Praeposuit Theseus — nisi si manifesta negamus — Pirithoum Phaedrae Pirithoumque tibi . Sola nec haec ad nos iniuria venit ab illo ; In magnis laesi rebus uterque sumus . Ossa mei fratris clava perfracta trinodi Sparsit humi ; soror est praeda relicta feris . Prima securigeras inter virtute puellas Te peperit , nati digna vigore parens ; Si quaeras , ubi sit — Theseus latus ense peregit , Nec tanto mater pignore tuta fuit . At ne nupta quidem taedaque accepta iugali — Cur , nisi ne caperes regna paterna nothus ? Addidit et fratres ex me tibi , quos tamen omnis Non ego tollendi causa , sed ille fuit . O utinam nocitura tibi , pulcherrime rerum , In medio nisu viscera rupta forent ! I nunc , sic meriti lectum reverere parentis — Quem fugit et factis abdicat ipse suis ! Nec , quia privigno videar coitura noverca , Terruerint animos nomina vana tuos . Ista vetus pietas , aevo moritura futuro , Rustica Saturno regna tenente fuit . Iuppiter esse pium statuit , quodcumque iuvaret , Et fas omne facit fratre marita soror . Illa coit firma generis iunctura catena , Inposuit nodos cui Venus ipsa suos . Nec labor est celare , licet peccemus , amorem . Cognato poterit nomine culpa tegi . Viderit amplexos aliquis , laudabimur ambo ; Dicar privigno fida noverca meo . Non tibi per tenebras duri reseranda mariti Ianua , non custos decipiendus erit ; Ut tenuit domus una duos , domus una tenebit ; Oscula aperta dabas , oscula aperta dabis ; Tutus eris mecum laudemque merebere culpa , Tu licet in lecto conspiciare meo . Tolle moras tantum properataque foedera iunge — Qui mihi nunc saevit , sic tibi parcat Amor ! Non ego dedignor supplex humilisque precari . Heu ! ubi nunc fastus altaque verba iacent ? Et pugnare diu nec me submittere culpae Certa fui — certi siquid haberet amor ; Victa precor genibusque tuis regalia tendo Bracchia ! quid deceat , non videt ullus amans . Depudui , profugusque pudor sua signa reliquit . Da veniam fasse duraque corda doma ! Quod mihi sit genitor , qui possidet aequora , Minos , Quod veniant proavi fulmina torta manu , Quod sit avus radiis frontem vallatus acutis , Purpureo tepidum qui movet axe diem — Nobilitas sub amore iacet ! miserere priorum Et , mihi si non vis parcere , parce meis ! Est mihi dotalis tellus Iovis insula , Crete — Serviat Hippolyto regia tota meo ! Flecte , ferox , animos ! potuit corrumpere taurum Mater ; eris tauro saevior ipse truci ? Per Venerem , parcas , oro , quae plurima mecum est ! Sic numquam , quae te spernere possit , ames ; Sic tibi secretis agilis dea saltibus adsit , Silvaque perdendas praebeat alta feras ; Sic faveant Satyri montanaque numina Panes , Et cadat adversa cuspide fossus aper ; Sic tibi dent Nymphae , quamvis odisse puellas Diceris , arentem quae levet unda sitim ! Addimus his precibus lacrimas quoque ; verba precantis Qui legis , et lacrimas finge videre meas !
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Phaedra to Hippolytus Phædra of Crete wishes to Hippolytus, born of an Amazon, that health. which, if he will not give it, she herself must want. Read this at least; how can the reading of a letter hurt you? Perhaps, too, you may meet with some things in it that will be agreeable. In this manner secrets are conveyed over land and sea. Even enemies look at the letters sent from each other. Thrice I essayed to speak with you; thrice my tongue failed; thrice the words forsook me at my tongue's end. Modesty is to be joined with love, as far as is possible and convenient. Love commands me to write what I was ashamed to speak. It is not safe to slight the commands of Love; he reigns uncontrolled, and has power even over the sovereign gods. He first commanded me, when full of doubts and fears, to write; Write, said he; though hard as steel, he will yield his captive hands. Be present, Love; and, as you nourish in my bones a wasting fire, fix also in his breast a dart that may soften it towards me. Yet will I not by any crime stain my connubial vows. My fame (search into it) you will find fair and spotless. Love, the later it seizes us, rages the more. I burn inwardly; I burn, and my breast feels the hidden wound. As the tender bull is at first impatient of the yoke, and the young courser is with difficulty rendered obedient to the rein: so my unconquered heart resists the first attacks of love, and this unusual burthen sits heavy on my unpractised mind. When love is habitual from our cradle, we may learn by art to manage it; but, in our riper years, it assaults us with violence. You will taste the first offerings of my spotless fame, and the guilt will be the same in both. There is a pleasure in plucking the ripe apples from loaded branches, and gathering with an industrious hand the earliest roses. If yet my chastity, hitherto unstained, must be blotted by an unusual crime, it has happily fallen out that I burn with a noble flame. A worthless partner of my crime, something still worse than the crime itself, cannot in my case by objected. If Juno should resign her brother and husband in my favour, even Jupiter would probably be disregarded in competition with Hippolytus. And now (what you will scarcely believe) my inclinations carry me after new and unaccustomed delights. I long to assault with you the savage breed; already the Delian goddess, distinguished by the crooked bow, presides in my thoughts; your judgement in this determines also mine. I am impatient to range the woods, to pursue the stage into the toils, and cheer the nimble hounds along the rocky cliffs; or lance the trembling dart with a vigorous arm, and stretch my wearied limbs on a grassy bank. Oft I am pleased to drive the nimble chariot involved in dust, and guide the panting steeds with steady rein. Now wild, I rave as a Bacchanal when full of the inspiring god, or like those who on the Idean hill urge with redoubled strokes the sounding brass; yea more wild than those whom the Dryads half divine, and horned Satyrs, strike with terror and amazement. For, when this fury abates, I am informed of all; and silent feel that conscious love rages in my breast. Perhaps, I am urged to this love by the fate of my blood, and Venus exacts this tribute of all our race. Jupiter loved Europa (hence the first rise of our family) disguising the god under the form of a bull. Pasiphae my mother, enjoyed by a deluded bull, was in time delivered of her guilty load. Perfidious Theseus, guided by the faithful thread, escaped by my sister's help the deluding labyrinth. Lo, I too, that I might not belie the race of Minos, yield the last to the powerful laws of my blood. Surely it was our destiny; one house gained the inclinations of both. I am charmed with your shape and appearance; my sister yielded to the attractions of your father. Theseus and his son have triumphed over two sister nymphs. Raise trophies of your victory over our race. Oh how I wish that I had been wandering in the fields of Crete, when first I saw you enter Eleusis, the city of Ceres! It was then chiefly (yet even before that time you had charmed me), that the penetrating flame of love raged in my bones. White was your robe; your hair was adorned with a garland; a modest blush had overspread your comely face. That countenance which appears, to others, stern and fierce, was in Phædra's eyes noble and full of manly courage. I hate youths fond of dress and a female nicety: a manly form requires little fashioning. That sternness, those careless locks, and noble face stained with dust, are becoming. Whether you bend in the fiery steed's reluctant neck, I am delighted to see him wheeling in the narrow ring; or if with vigorous arm you dart the heavy spear, still my eyes watch the manly throw. Or do you brandish the hunting-spear of broad-pointed steel? In fine, every thing you do gives me delight. Leave your cruelty to the woods and mountains; nor let me, undeserving of such a fate, perish for your sake. What pleasure can it give to be wholly taken up in the exercises of Diana, and deny Venus the vows and engagements due to her? What admits no interval of rest cannot subsist long. Rest renews our strength, and refreshes our wearied limbs. The bow (and surely the arms of your favorite goddess may furnish an example for your imitation), if always bent, will lose its force. Cephalus was famed in the woods; by his hand were many wild beasts slain; yet he was no enemy to the delights of love. Aurora wisely forsook old age for him. Oft, under a spreading oak, were Venus and Adonis seated on the yielding grass. Meleager too burned for Areadian Atalanta: she, as a pledge of his love, enjoyed the spoils of the Calydonian boar. Let us also be now first joined to this glorious crowd. If you banish love, the forest will be turned into a desert. I will be the partner of your toils: neither the rocks hideous with dens and caves, nor the fierce aspect of the threatening boar, shall terrify me. There is an isthmus seated between two seas; the rising billows beat against either shore. Here will I meet thee at Trœzen, once the kingdom of Pittheus: already it is dearer far than my native country. The hero of Neptune's race is happily absent, and will be so long: he is now in the country of his dear Pirithous. Theseus (unless we dispute what is manifest) prefers Pirithous, both to his Phædra and to thee: nor is this the only injury he has offered us; for we have both been wronged in matters of great importance. The bones of my brother, broken with a knotted club, he scattered on the bloody ground: my sister was left a prey to wild beasts. You boast of a mother worthy of the bravery of her son, of distinguished valor among the Amazonian maids. If you enquire after her, Theseus inhumanly stabbed her; nor could so great a pledge protect the unhappy mother. Nor was she wedded, nor received with the nuptial torch. Why all this, but to exclude you from your father's throne? He has added, moreover, brothers to you by me, who have been bred up by his command rather than mine. I could wish, loveliest of men, that the child who may stand in competition with you, had died in the birth. What reverence, after all this, can be due to your father's bed, which he even shuns himself, and has deserted? Nor let vain fears alarm you, that the commerce, between a son and mother-in-law, is infamous. This old-fashioned piety, which could not subsist long, suited only the rustic age of Saturn. Jupiter has made pleasure the test of piety, and has given us an example in espousing his own sister. That tie of blood is firmest, which is strengthened by the bonds of Venus. It will be an easy matter to conceal it: the name of relative will justify our freedoms. Whoever sees our mutual embraces will praise us; I shall be thought a stepmother, tender of my husband's son. No stubborn gates are to be forced open in the night; no watchful keeper to be deceived. One house served us both; one house will still serve us. You caressed me openly, and my do so still. Here you will be in safety; and our freedoms, far from exposing us to blame, will gain us praise. Only banish delay, and hasten to consummate our mutual loves; so may the tyrant that rages in my breast, prove gentle to you. I condescend to address you by prayers and entreaties; where is now my pride? where are my wonted boasts? I had resolved to hold out long, and not easily yield to a crime, if love were capable of any steady resolution. But, subdued by its power, I turn to prayers, and with my royal hands clasp your knees. Lovers, alas! are seldom awed by a sense of decency: shame and modesty have fled. Think favorably of my fond confession, and pity my sufferings. What though my father holds the empire of the seas, and my great grandsire darts the rapid thunder? What though my grandfather, crowned with pointed rays, guides the resplendent chariot of the day? Nobility gives place to love. Have some regard, however, for my race; and, if you undervalue me, yet shew respect to mine. The famous island of Crete falls by inheritance to me: here shall my Hippolytus reign supreme. Conquer that stubborn soul. My mother could even inspire a bull with love; and will you be more cruel than a fierce bull? Hear, then, for Venus' sake, who is all-powerful with me; so may you never love a scornful fair. So may swift Diana still attend you in the remote forests, and the woods offer you the best game. So may the Satyrs and mountain Gods protect you, and the boar fall, pierced by your quivering spear. So may the kind Nymphs (though you are said to hate the softer sex) allay with grateful streams your burning thirst. Many tears accompany these prayers; think, while you read over the words of your Phædra, that you see also the tears streaming from her eyes. |