A Brief Look at Epic Proems in Greek and Latin Literature

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The Iliad

(410k wave)

menin aeide, thea, Peleiadeo Achileos
oulomenen, he muri' Achaiois alge' etheke,
pollas d' iphthimous psuchas Aidi proiapsen
heroon, autous de heloria teuche kunessin
oionoisi te pasi, Dios d' eteleieto boule,
ex hou de ta prota diastetev erisante
Atreides te anax andron kai dios Achilleus.

The wrath, goddess, sing, the wrath of Achilles son of Peleus,
horrible, that inflicted much suffering upon the Achaeans,
and cast many bold souls down to Hades,
the souls of heroes, and left them as carrion for dogs
and birds. But the plan of Zeus was enacted,
by which the two stood apart in strife, quarreling,
Agamemnon, son of Atreus, lord of men, and god-like Achilles

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The Odyssey

(600k wave)

andra moi ennepe, mousa, polutropon hos mala polla
planchthe, epei Troies hieron ptoliethron eperse;
pollwn d' anthropon iden astea kai noon egno,
possa d' ho g' en ponto pathen algea hon kata thumon,
arnumenos hen te psuchen kai noston hetairon.
all oud hos hetarous errusato, hiemenos per;
auton gar spheteresin atasthaliesin olonto,
nepioi, hoi kata bous Huperionos Eelioio
esthion; autar ho toisin apheileto nostimon hmar.
ton hamothen ge, thea, thugater Dios, eipe kai hemin.

of the man, Muse, sing to me, the clever man who suffered
much, after he plundered the stronghold of Troy;
He saw the towns and learned the minds of many distant men,
and weathered many bitter nights and days in his deep heart at sea,
while he fought only to save his life, to bring his shipmates home.
But not by will nor valor could he save them, for their own recklessness destroyed them all --
fools, they killed and feasted on the cattle of Lord Helios, the Sun,
and he who moves all day through heaven took from their eyes the dawn of their return.

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The Argonautica

(250k wave)

archomenos seo, Phoibe, palaigeneon klea photon
mnesomai. hoi Pontoio kata stoma kai dia petras
Kuaneas basileos ephemosune Peliao
chruseion meta koas euzdugon elasan Argo.

Starting with you, Phoebus Apollo, the famous deeds of men long ere born
I will recall, who through the mouth of Pontus and between the Cyanean
rocks, at the request of King Pelias,
after the golden fleece drove their well-built ship, the Argo.

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De Rerum Natura

(1 mg wave)

Aeneadum genetrix, hominum divumque voluptas,
alma Venus, caeli subter labentia signa
quae mare navigerum, quae terras frugiferentis
concelebras, per te quoniam genus omne animantum
concipitur visitque exortum lumina solis:
te, dea, te fugiunt venti, te nubila caeli
adventumque tuum, tibi suavis daedala tellus
summittit flores, tibi rident aequora ponti
placatumque nitet diffuso lumine caelum.
nam simul ac species patefactast verna diei
et reserata viget genitabilis aura favoni,
aeriae primum volucres te, diva, tuumque
significant initum perculsae corda tua vi.
inde ferae pecudes persultant pabula laeta
et rapidos tranant amnis: ita capta lepore
te sequitur cupide quo quamque inducere pergis.
denique per maria ac montis fluviosque rapaces
frondiferasque domos avium camposque virentis
omnibus incutiens blandum per pectora amorem
efficit ut cupide generatim saecla propagent.

Mother of Romans, joy of gods and men,
Venus, life-giver, who under planet and star
visits the ship-clad sea, the grain-clothed land
always, for through you all that's born and breathes
is gotten, created brought forth to see the sun,
Lady, the storms and clouds of heaven shun you,
You and your advent; Earth, sweet magic-maker,
sends up her flowers for you, broad Ocean smiles,
and peace glows in the light that fills the sky.
For soon as the year has bared her springtime face,
and bars are down for the breeze of growth and birth,
in heaven the birds first mark your passage, Lady,
and you; your power pulses in their hearts.
Then wild beasts, too, leap over rich, lush lands
and swim swift streams; so prisoned by your charms
they follow lustily where you lead them on.
Last, over sea and hill and greedy river,
through leaf-clad homes of birds, through fresh green fields,
in every creature you sink love's tingling dart,
luring them lustily to create their kind.

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The Aeneid

(600k wave)

Arma virumque cano, Troiae qui primus ab oris
Italiam fato profugus Laviniaque venit
litora, multum ille et terris iactatus et alto
vi superum, saevae memorem Iunonis ob iram,
multa quoque et bello passus, dum conderet urbem
inferretque deos Latio; genus unde Latinum
Albanique patres atque altae moenia Romae.
Musa, mihi causas memora, quo numine laeso
quidve dolens regina deum tot volvere casus
insignem pietate virum, tot adire labores
impulerit. tantaene animis caelestibus irae?

I tell about war and the hero who first from Troy's frontier,
displaced by destiny, came to the Lavinian shores,
to Italy--a man much travailed on sea and land
by the powers above, because of the brooding anger of Juno,
suffering much in war until he could found a city
and march his gods into Latium, whence rose the Latin race,
the royal line of Alba and the high walls of Rome.
Where lay the cause of it all? How was her godhead injured?
What grievance made the queen of heaven so harry a man
renowned for piety, through such toils, such a cycle of calamity?
Can a divine being be so persevering in anger?

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The Metamorphoses

(215k wave)

In nova fert animus mutatas dicere formas
corpora: di, coeptis (nam vos mutastis et illas)
adspirate meis primaque ab orignine mundi
ad mea perpetuum deducite tempora carmen.

My intention is to tell of bodies changed
to different forms; you gods, who made the changes,
inspire my beginnings, and spin out a poem that goes
continuously from the world's beginning to our own days.

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The Astronomica

(500k wave)

Carmine divinas artes et conscia fati
sidera diversos hominum variantia casus,
caelestis rationis opus, deducere mundo
aggredior primusque novis Helicona movere
cantibus et viridi nutantis vertice silvas
hospita sacra ferens nulli memorata priorum,
hunc mihi tu, Caesar, patriae princepsque paterque,
qui regis augustis parentem legibus orbem
concessum que patri mundum deus ipse mereris,
das animum viresque facis ad tanta canenda.

By the magic of song to draw down from heaven god-given skills and fate's confidants, the stars, which by the operation of divine reason diversify the chequered fortunes of mankind; and to be the first to stir with these new strains the nodding leaf-capped woods of Helicon, as I bring strange lore untold by any before me: this is my aim. You, Caesar, First Citizen and Father of your Country, who rule a world obedient to your august laws and merit the heaven granted to your sire, yourself a god, are the one who inspires my design and gives me strength for such lofty themes.

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The Pharsalia

(375k wave)

Bella per Emathios plus quam civilia campos,
iusque datum sceleri canimus, populumque potentem
in sua victrici conversum viscera dextra,
cognatasque acies, et rupto foedere regni
certatum totis concussi viribus orbis
in commune nefas, infestisque obvia signis
signa, pares aquilas et pila minantia pilis.

Of war I sing, war worse than civil, waged over the plains of Emathia, and of legality conferred on crime; I tell how an imperial people turned their victorious right hands against their own vitals; how kindred fought against kindred; how, when the compact of tyranny was shattered, all the forces of the shaken world contended to make mankind guilty; how standards confronted hostile standards, eagles were matched against each other, and pilum threatened pilum.

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Psychomachia

(315k wave)

Christe, graves hominum semper miserate labores,
qui patria virtute cluis propriaque, sed una,
(unum namque Deum colimus de nomine utroque,
non tamen et solum, quia tu Deus ex Patre, Christe,)
dissere, rex noster, quo milite pellere culpas
mens armata queat nostri de pectoris antro,
exoritur quotiens turbatis sensibus intus
seditio atque animam morborum rixa fatigat,
quod tunc praesidium pro libertate tuenda
quaeve acies furiis inter praecordia mixtis
obsistat meliore manu.

Christ, who have always had compassion on the heavy distresses of humanity, who are glorious in renown for your Father's power and your own -- but one power, for it is one God that we worship under the two names; yet not merely one, since You, O Christ, are God born of the Father -- say, our King with what fighting force the soul is furnished and enabled to expel the sins from within our breast; when there is disorder among our thoughts and rebellion arises within us, when the strife of our evil passions vexes the spirit, say what help there is then to guard her liberty, what array with superior force withstands the fiendish raging in our heart.

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