190 Pomaque ab insomni concustodita dracone? Visaque deieci, dominumque ipsosque peremi? Hac caelum cervice tuli. Defessa iubendo est [Hercules, in his madness, hurls Lychas, the bearer of the fatal tunic, into the sea; the youth is changed into a rock (211-229). The apotheosis of Hercules. The hero builds a mighty pyre on Mount Oete, and, after consigning his bow and arrows to his friend Philoctetes, mounts the pyre and bids his friend apply the torch. Meanwhile, in a council of the gods, it is decided that the long-suffering hero shall be enrolled among their number and have a place in heaven. It is elsewhere related that Deïanira hanged herself through remorse.] At tu, Iovis inclita proles, 230 Arboribus caesis, quas ardua gesserat Oete, Inque pyram structis arcum pharetramque capacem Ferre iubes Poeante satum, quo flamma ministro 235 Congeriem silvae Nemeaeo vellere summam Dicta tulisse Iovis, seque indoluisse notatam. Interea quodcumque fuit populabile flammae, Mulciber abstulerat : nec cognoscenda remansit Herculis effigies, nec quicquam ab imagine ductum 265 Matris habet, tantumque Iovis vestigia servat. Utque novus serpens posita cum pelle senecta [Iole, by Hercules' command, had been espoused to Hyllus, the hero's eldest son. After the death of Hercules, his mother Alcmena relates to Iole the story of the birth of her great son, and of the hostility of Juno, who changed her servant maid Galanthis, because of her fidelity to her mistress, into a weasel (273-323). Iole then relates how the nymph Dryope was changed into a tree by the angry deities of the woods because she picked a twig from the sacred lotus tree (324-393). While they are lamenting these sad chances, Iolaus suddenly appears among them in renewed youth, which Hebe, the goddess of eternal youth, had bestowed upon him at the request of Hercules (394-417). Over this event a great clamor arises among the gods for a like favor for those mortals whom they love. But Jove forbids the gift of immortality to be given to any but those to whom the fates have decreed it. He cites Aeacus, Rhadamanthus, and Minos (418-438) as mortals whom he would if he could restore to youth. Now Minos, in the prime of his power, had driven Miletus forth from Crete, who fled to Asia and there founded the town that bears his name. Here Miletus had a son and a daughter, Caunus and Byblis. The latter, filled with an unnatural love for Caunus is, in her despair, converted by the nymphs into a fountain (439-665). This story suggests the wonder of Crete, the metamorphosis of the maiden Iphis into a youth, whose union with Ianthe was honored by the presence of Venus, Juno, and Hymen, the god of marriage (666–797).] BOOK X [Hymen proceeds from Crete to Thrace to solemnize the nuptials of Orpheus and Eurydice. But the unfortunate bride is stung by a serpent and dies. Orpheus seeks her in the land of shades with the help of his lyre alone. By his sweet strains he wins the sympathy of all the spirit world, and even of the king and queen of Hades, who grant him his request that his wife return to earth with him, upon the one condition that he does not look back until he has regained the earth. This condition he fails to fulfill, and again Eurydice is lost to him.] Inde per immensum croceo velatus amictu Aethera digreditur, Ciconumque Hymenaeus ad oras Tendit, et Orphea nequiquam voce vocatur. Adfuit ille quidem, sed nec sollemnia verba 5 Nec laetos vultus nec felix attulit omen. Fax quoque, quam tenuit, lacrimoso stridula fumo Usque fuit, nullosque invenit motibus ignes. Exitus auspicio gravior. Nam nupta per herbas Dum nova naiadum turba comitata vagatur, 10 Occidit in talum serpentis dente recepto. ΙΟ Quam satis ad superas postquam Rhodopeïus auras 20 Vera loqui sinitis, non huc, ut opaca viderem Vos quoque iunxit amor. Per ego haec loca plena timoris, 30 Per Chaos hoc ingens vastique silentia regni, 35 Humani generis longissima regna tenetis. Haec quoque, cum iustos matura peregerit annos, 40 Talia dicentem nervosque ad verba moventem Nec carpsere iecur volucres, urnisque vacarunt 45 Tunc primum lacrimis victarum carmine fama est Sustinet oranti, nec qui regit ima, negare: Eurydicenque vocant. Umbras erat illa recentes 50 Hanc simul et legem Rhodopeïus accipit Orpheus, Exierit valles; aut inrita dona futura. 55 Nec procul afuerunt telluris margine summae : 60 Iamque iterum moriens non est de coniuge quicquam |