Quattuor adde dies ductos ex ordine Nonis,
Ianus Agonali luce piandus erit.
nominis esse potest succinctus causa minister,
hostia caelitibus quo feriente cadit, 320
qui calido strictos tincturus sanguine cultros
semper agatne rogat nec nisi iussus agit.
pars, quia non veniant pecudes, sed agantur, ab actu
nomen Agonalem credit habere diem.
pars putat hoc festum priscis Agnalia dictum, 325
una sit ut proprio littera dempta loco.
an, quia praevisos in aqua timet hostia cultros,
a pecoris lux est ipsa notata metu?
fas etiam fieri solitis aetate priorum
nomina de ludis Graeca tulisse diem. 330
et pecus antiquus dicebat agonia sermo;
veraque iudicio est ultima causa meo.
utque ea non certa est, ita rex placare sacrorum
numina lanigerae coniuge debet ovis.
victima quae dextra cecidit victrice vocatur; 335
hostibus a domitis hostia nomen habet.
ante, deos homini quod conciliare valeret,
far erat et puri lucida mica salis.
nondum pertulerat lacrimatas cortice murras
acta per aequoreas hospita navis aquas, 340
tura nec Euphrates nec miserat India costum,
nec fuerant rubri cognita fila croci.
ara dabat fumos herbis contenta Sabinis,
et non exiguo laurus adusta sono;
siquis erat factis prati de flore coronis 345
qui posset violas addere, dives erat.
hic, qui nunc aperit percussi viscera tauri,
in sacris nullum culter habebat opus.
prima Ceres avidae gavisa est sanguine porcae,
ulta suas merita caede nocentis opes: 350
nam sata vere novo teneris lactentia sucis
eruta saetigerae comperit ore suis.
sus dederat poenas: exemplo territus huius
palmite debueras abstinuisse, caper.
quem spectans aliquis dentes in vite prementem, 355
talia non tacito dicta dolore dedit:
‘rode, caper, vitem: tamen hinc, cum stabis ad aram,
in tua quod spargi cornua possit erit.’
verba fides sequitur: noxae tibi deditus hostis
spargitur adfuso cornua, Bacche, mero. 360
culpa sui nocuit, nocuit quoque culpa capellae:
quid bos, quid placidae commeruistis oves?
flebat Aristaeus, quod apes cum stirpe necatas
viderat inceptos destituisse favos;
caerula quem genetrix aegre solata dolentem 365
addidit haec dictis ultima verba suis:
‘siste, puer, lacrimas: Proteus tua damna levabit
quoque modo repares quae periere dabit.
decipiat ne te versis tamen ille figuris,
impediant geminas vincula firma manus. 370
pervenit ad vatem iuvenis, resolutaque somno
alligat aequorei bracchia capta senis.
ille sua faciem transformis adulterat arte;
mox domitus vinclis in sua membra redit,
oraque caerulea tollens rorantia barba 375
qua’ dixit ‘repares arte requiris apes?
obrue mactati corpus tellure iuvenci:
quod petis a nobis, obrutus ille dabit.’
iussa facit pastor; fervent examina putri
de bove: mille animas una necata dedit. 380
poscit ovem fatum: verbenas improba carpsit,
quas pia dis ruris ferre solebat anus.
quid tuti superest, animam cum ponat in aris
lanigerumque pecus ruricolaeque boves?
placat equo Persis radiis Hyperiona cinctum, 385
ne detur celeri victima tarda deo.
quod semel est geminae pro virgine caesa Dianae,
nunc quoque pro nulla virgine cerva cadit.
exta canum vidi Triviae libare Sapaeos
et quicumque tuas accolit, Haeme, nives. 390
caeditur et rigido custodi ruris asellus;
causa pudenda quidem, sed tamen apta deo.
festa corymbiferi celebrabas, Graecia, Bacchi,
tertia quae solito tempore bruma refert.
di quoque cultores in idem venere Lyaei 395
et quicumque iocis non alienus erat,
Panes et in Venerem Satyrorum prona iuventus
quaeque colunt amnes solaque rura deae.
venerat et senior pando Silenus asello,
quique ruber pavidas inguine terret aves. 400
dulcia qui dignum nemus in convivia nacti
gramine vestitis accubuere toris:
vina dabat Liber, tulerat sibi quisque coronam,
miscendas parce rivus agebat aquas.
Naides effusis aliae sine pectinis usu, 405
pars aderant positis arte manuque comis;
illa super suras tunicam collecta ministrat,
altera dissuto pectus aperta sinu;
exserit haec umerum, vestes trahit illa per herbas,
impediunt teneros vincula nulla pedes. 410
hinc aliae Satyris incendia mitia praebent,
pars tibi, qui pinu tempora nexa geris:
te quoque, inexstinctae Silene libidinis, urunt:
nequitia est quae te non sinit esse senem.
at ruber, hortorum decus et tutela, Priapus 415
omnibus ex illis Lotide captus erat:
hanc cupit, hanc optat, sola suspirat in illa,
signaque dat nutu sollicitatque notis.
fastus inest pulchris sequiturque superbia formam:
inrisum voltu despicit illa suo. 420
nox erat, et vino somnum faciente iacebant
corpora diversis victa sopore locis;
Lotis in herbosa sub acernis ultima ramis,
sicut erat lusu fessa, quievit humo.
surgit amans animamque tenens vestigia furtim 425
suspenso digitis fert taciturna gradu.
ut tetigit niveae secreta cubilia nymphae,
ipsa sui flatus ne sonet aura cavet;
et iam finitima corpus librabat in herba:
illa tamen multi plena soporis erat. 430
gaudet et a pedibus tracto velamine vota
ad sua felici coeperat ire via.
ecce rudens rauco Sileni vector asellus
intempestivos edidit ore sonos.
territa consurgit nymphe, manibusque Priapum 435
reicit, et fugiens concitat omne nemus.
at deus, obscena nimium quoque parte paratus,
omnibus ad lunae lumina risus erat.
morte dedit poenas auctor clamoris; et haec est
Hellespontiaco victima grata deo. 440
intactae fueratis aves, solacia ruris,
adsuetum silvis innocuumque genus,
quae facitis nidos et plumis ova fovetis,
et facili dulces editis ore modos;
sed nihil ista iuvant, quia linguae crimen habetis, 445
dique putant mentes vos aperire suas.
(nec tamen hoc falsum: nam, dis ut proxima quaeque,
nunc pinna veras, nunc datis ore notas.)
tuta diu volucrum proles tum denique caesa est,
iuveruntque deos indicis exta sui. 450
ergo saepe suo coniunx abducta marito
uritur Idaliis alba columba focis.
nec defensa iuvant Capitolia, quo minus anser
det iecur in lances, Inachioti, tuas.
nocte deae Nocti cristatus caeditur ales, 455
quod tepidum vigili provocet ore diem.
Interea Delphin clarum super aequora sidus
tollitur et patriis exserit ora vadis.
317 Add four successive days to the Nones, and on the Agonal morn Janus must be appeased.1 The day may take its name from the attendant who, in garb succinct, fells at a blow the victim of the gods; for just before he dyes the brandished knife in the warm blood, he always asks “Agone?” (“Shall I proceed?”), and not until he is bidden does he proceed. Some believe that the day is named Agonal from the driving of the victims, because the sheep do not come but are driven (agantur) to the altar. Others think the ancients called this festival Agnalia (“festival of lambs”), dropping a single letter from its proper place. Or perhaps, because the victim fears the knives mirrored in the water before they strike, the day may have been so styled from the brute’s agony. It may be also that the day took a Greek name from the games (agones) which were wont to be held in the olden time. In the ancient tongue, too, agonia meant a sheep, and that last, in my judgement, is the true reason of the name. And though that is not certain, still the King of the Sacred Rites is bound to placate the divinities by sacrificing the mate of a woolly ewe. The victim is so called because it is felled by a victorious right hand; the hostia (sacrificial victim) takes its name from conquered hostes (foes).
337 Of old the means to win the good will of gods for man were spelt and the sparkling grains of pure salt. As yet no foreign ship had brought across the ocean waves the bark-distilled myrrh; the Euphrates had sent no incense, India no balm, and the red saffron’s filaments were still unknown. The altar was content to smoke with savine, and the laurel burned with crackling loud. To garlands woven of meadow flowers he who could violets add was rich indeed. The knife that now lays bare the bowels of the slaughtered bull had in the sacred rites no work to do. The first to joy in blood of greedy sow was Ceres, who avenged her crops by the just slaughter of the guilty beast; for she learned that the milky grain in early spring had been routed up in the loose furrows by the snout of bristly swine. The swine was punished: terrified by her example, billy-goat, you should have spared the vine-shoot. Watching a he-goat nibbling at a vine somebody vented his ill-humour in these words: “Pray gnaw the vine, thou he-goat; yet when thou standest at the altar, the vine will yield something that can be sprinkled on thy horns.” The words came true. Thy foe, Bacchus, is given up to thee for punishment, and wine out-poured is sprinkled on his horns. The sow suffered for her crime, and the she-goat suffered, too, for hers. But the ox and you, ye peaceful sheep, what was your sin? Aristaeus wept because he saw his bees killed, root and branch, and the unfinished hives abandoned. Scarce could his azure mother2 soothe his grief, when to her speech she these last words subjoined. “Stay, boy, thy tears! Thy losses Proteus will retrieve and will show thee how to make good all that is gone. But lest he elude thee by shifting his shape, see that strong bonds dc shackle both his hands.” The stripling made his way to the seer, and bound fast the arms, relaxed in slumber, of the Old Man of the Sea. By his art the wizard changed his real figure for a semblance false but soon, by the cords mastered, to his true form returned. Then lifting up his dripping face and azure beard, “Dost ask,” said he, “in what way thou mayest repair the loss of thy bees? Kill a heifer and bury its carcase in the earth. The buried heifer will give the thing thou seekest of me.” The shepherd did his bidding: swarms of bees hive out of the putrid beeve: one life snuffed out brought to the birth a thousand. Death claims the sheep: shameless it cropped the holy herbs which a pious beldame used to offer to the rural gods. What creature is safe, when even the wool-bearing sheep and ploughing oxen lay down their lives upon the altars? Persia propitiates the ray-crowned Hyperion3 with a horse, for no sluggard victim may be offered to the swift god. Because a hind was once sacrificed to the triple Diana in room of a maiden,4 a hind is even now felled for her, though not in a maiden’s stead. I have seen the entrails of a dog offered to the Goddess of the Triple Roads (Trivia) by the Sapaeans and those whose homes border on thy snows. Mount Haemus. A young ass, too, is slain in honour of the stiff guardian of the country-side: the cause is shameful, but beseems the god. A feast of ivy-berried Bacchus, thou wast wont to hold, O Greece, a feast which the third winter brought about at the appointed time.5 Thither came, too, the gods who wait upon Lyaeus and all the jocund crew, Pans and young amorous Satyrs, and goddesses that haunt rivers and lonely wilds. Thither, too, came old Silenus on an ass with hollow back, and the Crimson One6 who by his lewd image scares the timid birds. They lit upon a dingle meet for joyous wassails, and there they laid them down on grassy beds. Liber bestowed the wine: each had brought his garland: a stream supplied water in plenty to dilute the wine. Naiads were there, some with flowing locks uncombed, others with tresses neatly bound. One waits upon the revellers with tunic tucked above the knee; another through her ripped robe reveals her breast; another bares her shoulder; one trails her skirt along the grass; no shoes cumber their dainty feet. So some in Satyrs kindle amorous fires, and some in thee, whose brows are wreathed with pine.7 Thou too, Silenus, burnest for the nymphs, insatiate lecher! ‘Tis wantonness alone forbids thee to grow old. But crimson Priapus, glory and guard of gardens, lost his heart to Lotis, singled out of the whole bevy. For her he longs, for her he prays, for her alone he sighs; he gives her signs by nodding and woos by making marks. But the lovely are disdainful, and pride on beauty waits: she flouted him and cast at him a scornful look. ‘Twas night, and wine makes drowsy, so here and there they lay overcome with sleep. Weary with frolic, Lotis, the farthest of them all, sank to her rest on the grassy ground under the maple boughs. Up rose her lover, and holding his breath stole secretly and silently on tiptoe to the fair. When he reached the lonely pallet of the snow-white nymph, he drew his breath so warily that not a sound escaped. And now upon the sward fast by he balanced on his toes, but still the nymph slept sound. He joyed, and drawing from off her feet the quilt, he set him, happy lover! to snatch the wished-for hour. But lo, Silenus’ saddle-ass, with raucous weasand braying, gave out an ill-timed roar! The nymph in terror started up, pushed off Priapus, and flying gave the alarm to the whole grove; but, ready to enter the lists of love, the god in the moonlight was laughed at by all. The author of the hubbub paid for it with his life, and he is now the victim dear to the Hellespontine god.
441 Ye birds, the solace of the countryside, ye haunters of the woods, ye harmless race, that build your nests and warm your eggs under your plumes, and with glib voices utter descant sweet, ye were inviolate once; but all that avails not, because ye are accused of chattering,8 and the gods opine that ye reveal their thoughts. Nor is the charge untrue; for the nearer ye are to the gods, the truer are the signs ye give, whether by wing or voice. Long time immune, the brood of birds was slaughtered then at last, and the gods gloated on the guts of the talebearing fowls. That is why the white dove, torn from her mate, is often burned upon Idalian hearths; nor did his saving of the Capitol protect the goose from yielding up his liver on a charger to thee, daughter of Inachus,9 goddess demure; by night to Goddess Night the crested fowl is slain, because with wakeful notes he summons up the warm day.
457 Meantime the bright constellation of the Dolphin rises above the sea, and from his native waters puts forth his face.10
The real meaning of Agon in the calendar is not known, but it may be for agonium, a general word for sacrifice.
Cyrene, a water-nymph.
Properly an epithet of the sun, “going above.”
Iphigeneia, at Aulis, according to one version of the tale.
That is, a biennial festival, called by the ancient inclusive mode, triennial (τριετηρίς). See on i. 54, above.
Priapus: so ii. 415, 440.
Pan.
i.e., of revealing their secrets to the augur and the auspex, words which are connected with avis.
The Egyptian Isis, as identified with Argive lo.
The rising was really on December 31, in Ovid's time.