Works of Nonnus
Page 242
χάλκεα ταρβαλέων ἀπεσείσατο τεύχεα χειρῶν,
70 δένδρεα παπταίνων δεδονημένα θυιάδι ῥιπῇ.
[55] One there was watching the strange miracles of Bacchos, as he peered out through the top of a thick cluster. He made a round spyhole through the leaves; he let himself see just so much as a man sees when he looks out of the eyeholes made in his helmet; or when a man trained in the tragic chorus utters a terrific roar from his far-resounding throat, and strains his eyesight within through the eyepiece made in the mask which he carries as a deceitful likeness of a man’s face. So this man hiding under the dark bushes watched all the miracles unseen with furtive gaze. He told all to the enemy. Thureus shook with fear, and blamed Morrheus and Deriades for their thoughtlessness: the Indian host trembled, and thinking no more of combat, threw the bronze weapons from frightened hands when they saw the trees moving under the maddening influence.
καί νύ κεν Ἰνδὸς ὅμιλος ἑλὼν ἀπὸ γείτονος ὄχθης
μάρτυρον ἱκεσίης γλαυκόχροα θαλλὸν ἐλαίης
αὐχένα δοῦλον ἔκαμψεν ἀδηρίτῳ Διονύσῳ:
ἀλλὰ μεταλλάξασα δέμας πολυμήχανος Ἥρη
75 δυσμενέας θάρσυνε καὶ ἤπαφεν ὄρχαμον Ἰνδῶν,
Θεσσαλίδων μάγον ὕμνον ἐφαψαμένη Διονύσῳ,
καὶ Κίρκης κυκεῶνα θεοκλήτοις ἐπαοιδαῖς,
οἷά τε φαρμακτῆρος ἀφαρμάκτου ποταμοῖο.
καὶ πίθεν ἀντιβίους ταχυπειθέας: εἶπε δ᾽ ἑκάστῳ,
80 μή ποτέ τις σφάλλοιτο κατάσχετος αἴθοπι δίψῃ
κλεψινόου ποταμοῖο πιὼν δεδολωμένον ὕδωρ.
[71] And now the Indian host would have plucked from the neighbouring banks green shoots of olive in token of supplication, and bent a servile neck before Dionysos unconquerable. But Hera ever ready took another shape, and gave courage to the enemy. She deceived the Indian leader; she fastened on Dionysos a song of magical Thessalian spells, and Circe’s posset with invocations of the gods, as if he had poisoned that unpoisoned river. She convinced the enemy, quite ready to be convinced, and told each one not to let himself be driven by fiery thirst to drink of the adulterated water of the mind-stealing river, and so come to grief.
καί νύ κεν ἀφράστοιο διαθρῴσκοντες ἐναύλου
δαινυμέναις στρατιῇσιν ἐπέχραον αἴθοπες Ἰνδοί:
ἀλλά τις ἠνεμόεντος ὑπερκύψασα κορύμβου
85 ἐκ λασίου κενεῶνος Ἁμαδρυὰς ἄνθορε Νύμφη:
χειρὶ δὲ θύρσον ἔχουσα φυὴν ἰνδάλλετο Βάκχῃ,
μιμηλὴν δρυόεντι πυκαζομένη τρίχα κισσῷ:
δυσμενέων δ᾽ ἐνέπουσα δόλου σημάντορι σιγῇ
οὔασι βοτρυόεντος ἐπεψιθύριζε Λυαίου:
[82] And now the swarthy Indians would have leapt from their hidden ambush and attacked the army of Bacchos at their meal; but a Hamadryad Nymph peering over a high branch sprang up, leafy to the hips. Holding thyrsus in hand, she looked like a Bacchant, with bushy ivy thick in her hair like one of them; first she indicated the enemies’ plot by eloquent signs, then whispered in the ear of Lyaios of the grapes:
90 ‘ἀμπελόεις Διόνυσε, φυτηκόμε κοίρανε καρπῶν,
σὸν φυτὸν Ἁδρυάδεσσι χάριν καὶ κάλλος ὀπάσσει:
Βασσαρὶς οὐ γενόμην, οὐ σύνδρομός εἰμι Λυαίου,
μοῦνον ἐμῇ παλάμῃ ψευδήμονα θύρσον ἀείρω:
οὐ πέλον ἐκ Φρυγίης, σέο πατρίδος, οὐ χθόνα Λυδῶν
95 ναιετάω παρὰ χεῦμα ῥυηφενέος ποταμοῖο:
εἰμὶ δέ καλλιπέτηλος Ἁμαδρυάς, ἧχι μαχηταὶ
δυσμενέες, λοχόωσιν, ἀφειδήσασα δὲ πάτρης
ῥύσομαι ἐκ θανάτοιο τεὸν στρατόν: ὑμετέροις γὰρ
πιστὰ φέρω Σατύροισι, καὶ Ἰνδῴη περ ἐοῦσα,
100 ἀντὶ δὲ Δηριαδῆος ὁμοφρονέω Διονύσῳ:
σοὶ γὰρ ὀφειλομένην ὀπάσω χάριν, ὅττι ῥεέθρων
ὑγροτόκους ὠδῖνας, ὅτι δρύας αἰὲν ἀέξει
ὀμβρηρῇ ῥαθάμιγγι πατὴρ μέγας ὑέτιος Ζεύς.
δός μοι σεῖο πέτηλα, καὶ ἐνθάδε ταῦτα φυτεύσω,
105 δός μοι σεῖο κόρυμβα, τά περ λύουσι μερίμνας.
[90] “Vinegod Dionysos, lord gardener of the fruits! Your plant gives grace and beauty to the Hadryads! I am no Bassarid, I am no comrade of Lyaios, I carry only a false thyrsus in my hand. I am not from Phrygia, your country, I do not dwell in the Lydian land by that river rolling in riches. I am a Hamadryad of the beautiful leaves, in the place where the enemy warriors lie in ambush. I will forget my country and save your host from death: for I offer loyal faith to your Satyrs, Indian though I am. I take sides with Dionysos instead of Deriades; I owe my gratitude to you, and I will pay it, because your Father, mighty Zeus of the raincloud, always brings the watery travail of the rivers, always feeds the trees with his showers of rain. Give me your leaves, and here I will plant them; give me your clusters of grapes which drive our cares away!
ἀλλά, φίλος, μὴ σπεῦδε ῥόον ποταμοῖο περῆσαι,
μή σοι ἐπιβρίσωσιν ἐν ὕδασι γείτονες Ἰνδοί:
εἰς δρύας ὄμμα τίταινε καὶ εὐπετάλῳ παρὰ λόχμῃ
ἀπροϊδῆ σκοπίαζε καλυπτομένων λόχον ἀνδρῶν.
110 ἀλλὰ τί σοι ῥέξουσιν ἀνάλκιδες ἔνδοθι λόχμης;
δυσμενέες ζώουσιν, ἕως ἔτι θύρσον ἐρύκεις.
σιγῇ ἐφ᾽ ἡμείων, μὴ δήιος ἐγγὺς ἀκούσῃ,
μὴ κρυφίοις Ἰνδοῖσιν ἐπαγγείλειεν Ὑδάσπης.’
[106] “But my friend, do not hasten to cross the river, or the Indians, who are near, may overwhelm you in the water. Direct your eye to the forest, and see in the leafy thickets a secret ambuscade of men unseen hidden there. But what will those weaklings in their thickets do to you? Your enemies live so long as you still hold back your thyrsus. Silence between us now, that the enemy near may not hear, that Hydaspes may not tell it to the hidden Indians.”
ὣς φαμένη παλίνορσος Ἁμαδρυὰς ᾤχετο Νύμφη,
115 ἰσοφυὴς ὄρνιθι διέτρεχε φωλάδος ὕλης,
ἥλικος ἀίσσουσα κατὰ δρυός αὐτὰ ὁ σιγῇ
μίσγετο Βασσαρίδεσσιν, Ἁμαδρυάδος δὲ θεαίνης
εἶπεν ἑοῖς προμάχοισιν ἐς οὔατα ἑκάστου
120 νεύμασι δενδίλλων, νοερῇ δ᾽ ἐκέλευε σιωπῇ
τεύχεσι θωρηχθέντας ἀνὰ δρύας εἰλαπινάζειν,
καὶ κρυφίων ἀγόρευε δολορραφέων δόλον Ἰνδῶν,
μή σφιν ἐπτβρίσωσιν ἀθωρήκτοισι μαχηταί,
εἰσέτι δαινυμένοισιν ἀνὰ στρατόν: οἱ δ
ὲ Λυαίῳ
125 κεκλομένῳ πεῖθοντο, καὶ εἰς μόθον ἦσαν ἑτοῖμοι
σιγαλέον παρὰ δεῖπνον ἀκοντοφόροιο τραπέζης.
[114] When she had said this, the Hamadryad Nymph went away again quick as a wing, quick as a thought; and changing her shape to look like a bird she sped through the secret wood, down upon the oak her yearsmate. But Bacchos silently mingled with the Bassarids, and told the divine Hamadryad’s tale into each captain’s ear with nods and glances. By silent signs he ordered them to take their meal under arms among the trees, and explained the secret plot of the plot-stitching Indians. They must not let the fighting men overwhelm them unarmed and still at meat in their ranks. They did as Lyaios bade them, and sat down to their food in silence ready for battle, with spears on the table.
καὶ ταχινὸν μετὰ δόρπον ἐπέρρεον ἀσπιδιῶται
γείτονος ἐκ ποταμοῖο πιεῖν ἐπιδόρπιον ὕδωρ,
νεύμασι θεσπεσίοισι περισσονόου Διονύσου,
130 μὴ στρατὸν εὐνήσειε μέθη καὶ κῶμα καὶ ὄρφνη.
καὶ στρατὸς ἔνθα καὶ ἔνθα φιλοπτολέμῳ πέσεν εὐνῇ
βαιὸν ἐνυαλίης ὑπὲρ ἀσπίδος ὕπνον ἰαύων.
Ζεὺς δὲ πατὴρ δολόεντα μετατρέψας νόον Ἰνδῶν
ἑσπερίην ἀνέκοψε μάχην μυκήτορι βόμβῳ,
135 ὄμβρου παννυχίοιο χέων ἀπερείσιον ἠχώ.
[127] After a hasty meal they hurried under shields to the river near by, to drink water after the food, by divine command of prudent Dionysos, who did not wish winebibbing and slumber or darkness to put his army to bed. So the army tumbled here or there in the bed of war, to enjoy a short sleep upon the soldier’s shield. And Father Zeus thwarted the tricksy plan of the Indians, and prevented their night-assault, by a loud peal of thunder and torrents of rain which made a great noise all night long.
ἀλλ᾽ ὅτε χιονόπεζα χαραξαμένη ζόφον Ἠὼς
ὄρθρον ἀμεργομένη δροσερῇ πορφύρετο πέτρῃ,
ἄκρον ὑπερκύψαντες ἐγερσιμόθου σκέπας ὕλης
δυσμενέες προύτυψαν ἀολλέες: ἦρχε δὲ Θουρεύς,
140 Ἰνδῴου πολέμοιο πέλωρ πρόμος, εἴκελος ὁρμὴν
ἠλιβάτῳ Τυφῶνι καταΐσσοντι κεραυνοῦ.
καὶ στρατιαὶ πινυτοῖο δολόφρονι νεύματι Βάκχου
ψευδαλέον φόβον εἶχον ἀταρβέες, ἐκ δὲ κυδοιμοῦ
αὐτόματοι χάζοντο θελήμονες, εἰσόκεν Ἰνδοὶ
145 εἰς πεδίον προχέοντο λελοιπότες ἔνδια λόχμης.
[136] But when Dawn rent the darkness with feet of snow, and plucking the morning grew purple upon the streaming rocks, the enemy darting all together beyond the sheltering borders of the forest, burst out to waken the battle. Their leader was Thureus, that prodigious chieftain of India’s war, with a rush like towering Typhon when he attacked the thunderbolt. The army of Bacchos, by the astute orders of their skilful leader, feigned flight though unafraid, and retreated from the battlefield of their own will, until the Indians had left their hidingplace and poured over the plain.
τεύχεσι δ᾽ ἀφνειοῖσι κορύσσετο Λύδιος ἀνήρ,
χρυσοφαῆ Λυκίοιο τύπον Γλαύκοιο κομίζων,
κηρύσσων ἑὸν οὖδας, ὅπῃ Πακτωλίδος ὄχθης
φαιδρὸς ἐρευθομένης ἀμαρύσσεται ὄλβος ἐέρσης,
150 καὶ ῥοδέαις ἤστραψε βολαῖς ἀντώπιον Ἠοῦς,
σείων ξανθὰ μέτωπα ῥυηφενέος τρυφαλείης
Λυδὸς ἀνὴρ ἀρίδηλος, ἀπὸ στέρνων δὲ φορῆος
μαρμαρυγὴ σελάγιζεν ἐρευθομένοιο χιτῶνος:
καὶ κυνέην στίλβουσαν ἐπὶ κροτάφοιο τινάσσων
155 ἐξ Ἀλύβης πρόμος ἄλλος ἀριστεύων Διονύσῳ
πάτριον ὄλβον ἔφαινεν, ἀπ᾽ εὐφαέος δὲ καρήνου
ἀργυρέης πήληκος ἐλάμπετο μάρμαρος αἴγλη
χιονέῃ σέλας ἶσον ἀκοντίζουσα Σελήνῃ.
[146] The Lydian warrior was armed in rich harness, like Lycian Glaucos shining in gold, sounding the fame of his country, where wealth sparkles bright and red through the water that flows between Pactolos’s banks; he flashed with rosy gleams in the face of day, shaking the yellow front of his precious helmet, that Lydian warrior conspicuous, and from his breast the corselet he wore flashed gleams of ruddy light. Another chieftain from Alybe, a valiant champion for Dionysos, showed forth his country’s wealth, as he poised the shining helmet upon his temples, and the shimmering sheen of a silver morion was reflected from his head for all to see, shooting a lustre like the snow-white moon.
καὶ θεὸς ἀστήρικτος ὅλους ἐφόβησε μαχητὰς
160 δυσμενέων, οὐ γυμνὸν ἔχων ξίφος, οὐ δόρυ πάλλων,
ἀλλὰ μέσος προμάχων πεφορημένος εἴκελος αὔραις
δεξιὸν ἐκ λαιοῖο κέρας κυκλώσατο χάρμης,
θύρσον ἀκοντίζων δολιχόσκιον, ἄνθεϊ γαίης,
ἔγχεϊ κισσήεντι διασχίζων νέφος Ἰνδῶν.
165 οὐδέ μιν ὑψικάρηνος ὁ τηλίκος ἤλασε Θουρεύς,
οὐ στρατός, οὐ πρόμος ἄλλος: ἐπ᾽ ἀλλήλοις δὲ χυθέντες
εἴκαθον ἔνθα καὶ ἔνθα διεσσυμένῳ Διονύσῳ.
[159] The restless god himself scattered all the enemy troops, holding no naked sword, poising no spear, but passing like the wind through the front ranks, circling from left wing to right in the fray, striking with his thyrsus instead of a long lance, cleaving the cloud of Indians with flowers of the field, with ivy-rod for spear. Highheaded Thureus, great as he was, could not drive him back, nor another champion, nor the army; but sprawling over each other they gave way in every part before the rush of Dionysos.
κυανέην δ᾽ Οἴαγρος ἀνεστυφέλιξεν Ἐνυὼ
ἀμώων ἀκόρητος ἐπασσυτέρων στίχας ἀνδρῶν,
170 ἔγχεϊ Βιστονίῳ κορυθαιόλα λήια τέμνων.
ὡς δ᾽ ὅτε τις προχέων ποταμὸς δυσπέμφελον ἀλκὴν
ἄστατος ἐκ σκοπέλοιο χαραδρήεντι ῥεέθρῳ
ἔρχεται, εἰς πεδίον πεφορημένος, οὐδέ μιν αὐταὶ
ἕρκεσιν ἀρραγέεσσιν ἀναστέλλουσιν ἀλωαὶ
175 λαϊνέης μέσα νῶτα διαξύοντα γεφύρης:
πολλὴ μέν κεκύλιστο πίτυς, πολλὴ δὲ πεσοῦσα
ὑψιφανὴς προθέλυμνος ἐσύρετο χεύματι πεύκη:
ὣς ὅ γε δυσμενέων στρατὸν ἄμφεπεν, ἄλλον ἐπ᾽ ἄλλῳ
πεζὸν ἐπιστροφάδην ὀλέκων Σιθωνίδι λόγχῃ,
180 καί μιν ἐκυκλώσαντο, καὶ ἥν καλέουσι μαχηταὶ
μιμηλὴν σακέεσ
σιν ἐπυργώσαντο χελώνην:
ἴχνεσι μὲν στατὸν ἴχνος ἐρείδετο, κεκλιμένη δὲ
ἀσπὶς ἔην προθέλυμνος ἀμοιβαδὶς ἀσπίδι γείτων
στεινομένῃ, καὶ ἔνευε λόφῳ λόφος, ἀγχιφανὴς δὲ
185 ἀνδρὸς ἀνὴρ ἔψαυεν: ἐγειρομένης δὲ κονίης
ἱππείοις ὀνύχεσσιν ἐλευκαίνοντο μαχηταί.
[168] Oiagros also beat back the swarthy fighting, insatiable, reaping the ranks of men in swathes, as he cut the harvest of flashing helms with Bistonian blade. As a torrent pours its stormy strength unceasing from the mountains in floods through the ravines, and comes rushing over the plain, where not even the enclosures can hold it with their impregnable walls, and it bursts midway through the masses of stone bridges: many a pine goes rolling, many a tall fir falls torn by the roots and hurried down by the flood — so he dealt with the enemy host, killing the footmen one after another in heaps with Sithonian pike. Now they came around him, and built what soldiers call a mimic tortoise with their shields: foot stood firm beside foot shield leant on shield side by side, layer before layer pressing close, plume nodded to plume, man touched man in serried array, the dust rose under the horses’ hooves and the warriors were whitened.
ἔνθα τίνα πρῶτον, τίνα δ᾽ ὕστατον Ἅιδι πέμπων
Βιστονίης Οἴαγρος ἀπέθρισεν ἀστὸς ἀρούρης,
κτείνων ἄλλοθεν ἄλλον, ἑῆς ἀλόχοιο τελέσσας
190 ἔργα φατιζομένης ἐπιδευέα Καλλιοπείης;
τὸν μέν ὑπέρ μαζοῖο θοῷ δορί, τὸν δέ δαΐζων
ἄορι κωπήεντι κατ᾽ αὐχένος, αἰνομανῆ δὲ
δήιον ἄλλον ἔνυξε παρ᾽ ὀμφαλόν, ἐκ φονίης δὲ
ὠτειλῆς ἐὸν ἔγχος ἀνείρυσεν, ἑλκομένῳ δὲ