Pharsalia: I.673-695
What madness is this, O Phoebus, teach me why Roman battle lines are mixing javelins and hands and why is there war without an enemy.
I’m working on a translation of Lucan’s Pharsalia! If you enjoy this sort of thing, please consider sponsoring my work by becoming a paid subscriber. If you enjoy this sort of epic poetry, you might check out this version of John Brown’s Body, an epic poem about the American Civil War, which I edited and released some time ago. You might also check out my translations of Seneca’s tragedies: Thyestes, the Madness of Hercules, and the Medea. If the rigor of the Latin is a bit too much, you might check out the this set of Latin readers for the Aeneid which I’ve published. This is the last section from Book I, so I’ll be taking a brief break before I resume Book II. You’ll find something new next week, and the Book II of the Pharsalia will resume later this year.
I.673-680
terruerant satis haec pauidam praesagia plebem,
sed maiora premunt. nam, qualis uertice Pindi
Edonis Ogygio decurrit plena Lyaeo, 675
talis et attonitam rapitur matrona per urbem
uocibus his prodens urguentem pectora Phoebum:
'quo feror, o Paean? qua me super aethera raptam
constituis terra? uideo Pangaea niuosis
cana iugis latosque Haemi sub rupe Philippos. 680
Vocabulary
Aethēr, aetheris, m. : upper air, sky, ether
Attonitus, a, um — thunderstruck, dazed, ecstatic
Cānus, a, um — white, hoary, gray
Cōnstituō, ere, cōnstituī, cōnstitūtus : to set up, place, establish.
Dēcurrō, ere, dēcucurrī, dēcursum : to run down, hasten down.
Edōnis, Edōnidis, f. : Edonian woman (a Bacchante).
Ferō, ferre, tulī, lātus — to carry, bear; (feror = pres. pass.).
Haemus, ī, m. — Haemus (a mountain range in Thrace)
Iugum, ī, n. — yoke, mountain ridge
Lātus, a, um — wide, broad
Lyaeus, ī, m. — Lyaeus (a title for Bacchus/Dionysus)
Māgnus, a, um — great; (maiōra = neut. pl. comp. “greater things”).
Mātrōna, ae, f. — matron, married woman
Nam (conj.) — for
Nivōsus, a, um — snowy, full of snow
Ogygius, a, um — Ogygian (Theban/Bacchic)
Paeān, Paeānis, m. : Paean (a title for Apollo).
Pangaea, ōrum, n. pl. — Pangaea (mountains in Thrace)
Pavidus, a, um — trembling, fearful, terrified
Pectus, pectoris, n. : breast, heart.
Per (prep. + acc.) — through
Philippī, ōrum, m. pl. — Philippi (a city in Macedonia)
Phoebus, ī, m. — Phoebus (Apollo)
Pindus, ī, m. — Pindus (a mountain range in Greece)
Plēbs, plēbis, f. : common people, plebeians.
Plēnus, a, um — full (+ abl. or gen.)
Praesāgium, iī, n. — omen, foreboding, presage
Premō, ere, pressī, pressus : to press, overwhelm.
Prōdō, ere, prōdidī, prōditus : to bring forth, reveal, betray.
Quā (adv.) — where, by which way
Quālis, e — of what sort; (correlative with tālis)
Quō (adv.) — whither, to what place
Rapiō, ere, rapuī, raptus : to seize, snatch, carry away.
Rūpēs, rūpis, f. : cliff, rock.
Satis (adv.) — enough, sufficiently
Sub (prep. + abl./acc.) — under
Super (prep. + acc./abl.) — above, over
Tālis, e — such, of such a sort
Terra, ae, f. — earth, land
Terreō, ēre, uī, itus — to terrify, frighten
Urbs, urbis, f. : city.
Urgeō, ēre, ursī — to press, urge, drive
Vertex, verticis, m. : summit, peak, whirlpool.
Videō, ēre, vīdī, vīsus — to see
Vōx, vōcis, f. : voice, word.
Translation
These presages had terrified the frightened people, but greater things pursued them. For just as a Bacchante, filled with Bacchus, rushes down Bacchic peak of the Pindus, so also a matron is carried away through the city while with these words she reveals Phoebus who presses upon her breast: ‘O Paean, where is this madness leading? In what land do you place me carried away above heaven? I see white Pangaea with its snowy peaks and wide Philippi beneath the cliff of Haemus.
I.681-695
quis furor hic, o Phoebe, doce, quo tela manusque
Romanae miscent acies bellumque sine hoste est.
quo diuersa feror? primos me ducis in ortus,
qua mare Lagei mutatur gurgite Nili:
hunc ego, fluminea deformis truncus harena 685
qui iacet, agnosco. dubiam super aequora Syrtim
arentemque feror Libyen, quo tristis Enyo
transtulit Emathias acies. nunc desuper Alpis
nubiferae colles atque aeriam Pyrenen
abripimur. patriae sedes remeamus in urbis, 690
inpiaque in medio peraguntur bella senatu.
consurgunt partes iterum, totumque per orbem
rursus eo. noua da mihi cernere litora ponti
telluremque nouam: uidi iam, Phoebe, Philippos.'
haec ait, et lasso iacuit deserta furore.
Vocabulary
Abripiō, ere, abripuī, abreptus : to snatch away, carry off.
Aciēs, aciēī, f. — battle line, sharp edge
Aequor, aequoris, n. : sea, level surface, plain.
Āerius, a, um — airy, high, towering
Āgnōscō, ere, āgnōvī, āgnitus : to recognize, acknowledge.
Ait (defective) — he/she says/said
Alpēs, Alpium, f. pl. : The Alps.
Ārēns, ārentis — parched, dry, withered
Bellum, ī, n. — war
Cernō, ere, crēvī, crētus : to discern, see, distinguish.
Collis, collis, m. : hill.
Cōnsurgō, ere, cōnsurrēxī, cōnsurrēctum : to rise up, stand up together.
Dēfōrmis, e — misshapen, disfigured
Dēsertus, a, um — deserted, abandoned
Desuper+acc. — over, above
Dīversus, a, um — different, opposite, separate
Dō, dare, dedī, datus — to give, grant
Doceō, ēre, uī, tus — to teach, explain
Dubius, a, um — doubtful, uncertain, dangerous
Dūcō, ere, dūxī, ductus : to lead, guide.
Enȳō (Greek) — Enyo (goddess of war)
Eō, īre, iī/īvī, itum — to go
Ferō, ferre, tulī, lātus — to carry, bear; (feror = pres. pass.).
Flūmineus, a, um — of a river
Furor, furōris, m. : madness, rage, prophetic frenzy.
Gurges, gurgitis, m. : whirlpool, flood, abyss.
Harēna, ae, f. — sand, shore
Hostis, hostis, m./f. : enemy.
Iaceō, ēre, uī — to lie (dead), lie down
Inpius, a, um — impious, wicked, unfilial
Iterum (adv.) — again, a second time
Lassus, a, um — weary, tired, exhausted
Lītus, lītoris, n. : shore, beach.
Manus, ūs, f. — hand, band (of men)
Mare, maris, n. : sea.
Misceō, ēre, uī, mixtus — to mix, mingle
Mūtō, āre, āvī, ātus — to change
Nūbifer, nūbifera, nūbiferum — cloud-bearing
Nunc (adv.) — now
Orbis, orbis, m. : circle, world.
Ortus, ūs, m. — rising, the East
Pars, partis, f. : part, side, faction.
Patrius, a, um — of a father, ancestral, native
Peragō, ere, perēgī, perāctus : to complete, finish, carry out.
Pontus, ī, m. — sea
Prīmus, a, um — first
Quā (adv.) — where, by which way
Quis (interrog. pron.) — who, what
Remeō, āre, āvī, ātus — to return, go back
Rūrsus (adv.) — again, backward
Sēdēs, sēdis, f. : seat, abode, home.
Senātus, ūs, m. — senate
Sine (prep. + abl.) — without
Super (prep. + acc./abl.) — above, over
Syrtis, is, f. : Syrtis (sandbanks off Libya).
Tellūs, tellūris, f. : the earth.
Tēlum, ī, n. — weapon, spear
Trānsferō, ferre, tulī, lātus — to carry across, transfer.
Trīstis, e — sad, grim, mournful
Truncus, ī, m. — trunk, headless body
Urbs, urbis, f. : city.
Videō, ēre, vīdī, vīsus — to see
Translation
What madness is this, O Phoebus, teach me why Roman battle lines are mixing javelins and hands and why is there war without an enemy. To where am I being carried opposite? You are leading me into the first places of the rising sun where the sea is changed into a whirlpool of the Egyptian Nile: I recognize this man, who, a disfigured trunkless body, lies in the sands of the river. I am carried to dangerous Syrtis above the sea and parched Libya where sad Enyo has carried Macedonian battle lines. Now I am snatched away above the cloud-bearing Alpine hills and the towering Pyrenees. Let us return to the paternal seats of our city, and the impious wars be completed in the midst of the senate. Again the parties are rising up, and again I go through the whole world. Grant me to recognize new shores of the sea and a new land: look now, Phoebus, at Philippi.’ She said these things, and lay down abandoned by the weary madness.