At this Salius fills
with loud clamour the whole concourse of the vast theatre, and the lords
who looked on in front, demanding restoration of his defrauded prize.
with loud clamour the whole concourse of the vast theatre, and the lords
who looked on in front, demanding restoration of his defrauded prize.
Virgil - Aeneid
To each will I give two glittering
Gnosian spearheads of polished steel, and an axe chased with silver to
bear away; one and all shall be honoured thus. The three foremost shall
receive prizes, and have pale olive bound about their head. The first
shall have a caparisoned horse as conqueror; the second an Amazonian
quiver filled with arrows of Thrace, girt about by a broad belt of gold,
and on the link of the clasp a polished gem; let the third depart with
this Argolic helmet for recompense. ' This said, they take their place,
and the signal once heard, dart over the course and leave the line,
pouring forth like a storm-cloud while they mark the goal. Nisus gets
away first, and shoots out far in front of the throng, fleeter than the
winds or the winged thunderbolt. Next to him, but next by a long gap,
Salius follows; then, left a space behind him, Euryalus third . . . and
Helymus comes after Euryalus; and close behind him, lo! Diores goes
flying, just grazing foot with foot, hard on his shoulder; and if a
longer space were left, he would creep out past him and win the tie. And
now almost in the last space, they began to come up breathless to the
goal, when unfortunate Nisus trips on the slippery blood of the slain
steers, where haply it had spilled over the ground and wetted the green
grass. Here, just in the flush of victory, he lost his feet; they slid
away on the ground they pressed, and he fell forward right among the
ordure and blood of the sacrifice. Yet forgot he not his darling
Euryalus; for rising, he flung himself over the slippery ground in front
of Salius, and he rolled over and lay all along on the hard sand.
Euryalus shoots by, wins and holds the first place his friend gave, and
flies on amid prosperous clapping and cheers. Behind Helymus comes
[339-373]up, and Diores, now third for the palm.
At this Salius fills
with loud clamour the whole concourse of the vast theatre, and the lords
who looked on in front, demanding restoration of his defrauded prize.
Euryalus is strong in favour, and beauty in tears, and the merit that
gains grace from so fair a form. Diores supports him, who succeeded to
the palm, so he loudly cries, and bore off the last prize in vain, if
the highest honours be restored to Salius. Then lord Aeneas speaks: 'For
you, O boys, your rewards remain assured, and none alters the prizes'
order: let me be allowed to pity a friend's innocent mischance. ' So
speaking, he gives to Salius a vast Gaetulian lion-skin, with shaggy
masses of hair and claws of gold. 'If this,' cries Nisus, 'is the reward
of defeat, and thy pity is stirred for the fallen, what fit recompense
wilt thou give to Nisus? to my excellence the first crown was due, had
not I, like Salius, met Fortune's hostility. ' And with the words he
displayed his face and limbs foul with the wet dung. His lord laughed
kindly on him, and bade a shield be brought forth, the workmanship of
Didymaon, torn by him from the hallowed gates of Neptune's Grecian
temple; with this special prize he rewards his excellence.
Thereafter, when the races are finished and the gifts fulfilled: 'Now,'
he cries, 'come, whoso hath in him valour and ready heart, and lift up
his arms with gauntleted hands. ' So speaks he, and sets forth a double
prize of battle; for the conqueror a bullock gilt and garlanded; a sword
and beautiful helmet to console the conquered. Straightway without pause
Dares issues to view in his vast strength, rising amid loud murmurs of
the people; he who alone was wont to meet Paris in combat; he who, at
the mound where princely Hector lies, struck down as he came the vast
bulk upborne by conquering Butes, of Amycus' Bebrycian line, and
stretched him in [374-410]death on the yellow sand. Such was Dares; at
once he raises his head high for battle, displays his broad shoulders,
and stretches and swings his arms right and left, lashing the air with
blows. For him another is required; but none out of all the train durst
approach or put the gloves on his hands. So he takes his stand exultant
before Aeneas' feet, deeming he excelled all in victories; and thereon
without more delay grasps the bull's horn with his left hand, and speaks
thus: 'Goddess-born, if no man dare trust himself to battle, to what
conclusion shall I stand? how long is it seemly to keep me?
Gnosian spearheads of polished steel, and an axe chased with silver to
bear away; one and all shall be honoured thus. The three foremost shall
receive prizes, and have pale olive bound about their head. The first
shall have a caparisoned horse as conqueror; the second an Amazonian
quiver filled with arrows of Thrace, girt about by a broad belt of gold,
and on the link of the clasp a polished gem; let the third depart with
this Argolic helmet for recompense. ' This said, they take their place,
and the signal once heard, dart over the course and leave the line,
pouring forth like a storm-cloud while they mark the goal. Nisus gets
away first, and shoots out far in front of the throng, fleeter than the
winds or the winged thunderbolt. Next to him, but next by a long gap,
Salius follows; then, left a space behind him, Euryalus third . . . and
Helymus comes after Euryalus; and close behind him, lo! Diores goes
flying, just grazing foot with foot, hard on his shoulder; and if a
longer space were left, he would creep out past him and win the tie. And
now almost in the last space, they began to come up breathless to the
goal, when unfortunate Nisus trips on the slippery blood of the slain
steers, where haply it had spilled over the ground and wetted the green
grass. Here, just in the flush of victory, he lost his feet; they slid
away on the ground they pressed, and he fell forward right among the
ordure and blood of the sacrifice. Yet forgot he not his darling
Euryalus; for rising, he flung himself over the slippery ground in front
of Salius, and he rolled over and lay all along on the hard sand.
Euryalus shoots by, wins and holds the first place his friend gave, and
flies on amid prosperous clapping and cheers. Behind Helymus comes
[339-373]up, and Diores, now third for the palm.
At this Salius fills
with loud clamour the whole concourse of the vast theatre, and the lords
who looked on in front, demanding restoration of his defrauded prize.
Euryalus is strong in favour, and beauty in tears, and the merit that
gains grace from so fair a form. Diores supports him, who succeeded to
the palm, so he loudly cries, and bore off the last prize in vain, if
the highest honours be restored to Salius. Then lord Aeneas speaks: 'For
you, O boys, your rewards remain assured, and none alters the prizes'
order: let me be allowed to pity a friend's innocent mischance. ' So
speaking, he gives to Salius a vast Gaetulian lion-skin, with shaggy
masses of hair and claws of gold. 'If this,' cries Nisus, 'is the reward
of defeat, and thy pity is stirred for the fallen, what fit recompense
wilt thou give to Nisus? to my excellence the first crown was due, had
not I, like Salius, met Fortune's hostility. ' And with the words he
displayed his face and limbs foul with the wet dung. His lord laughed
kindly on him, and bade a shield be brought forth, the workmanship of
Didymaon, torn by him from the hallowed gates of Neptune's Grecian
temple; with this special prize he rewards his excellence.
Thereafter, when the races are finished and the gifts fulfilled: 'Now,'
he cries, 'come, whoso hath in him valour and ready heart, and lift up
his arms with gauntleted hands. ' So speaks he, and sets forth a double
prize of battle; for the conqueror a bullock gilt and garlanded; a sword
and beautiful helmet to console the conquered. Straightway without pause
Dares issues to view in his vast strength, rising amid loud murmurs of
the people; he who alone was wont to meet Paris in combat; he who, at
the mound where princely Hector lies, struck down as he came the vast
bulk upborne by conquering Butes, of Amycus' Bebrycian line, and
stretched him in [374-410]death on the yellow sand. Such was Dares; at
once he raises his head high for battle, displays his broad shoulders,
and stretches and swings his arms right and left, lashing the air with
blows. For him another is required; but none out of all the train durst
approach or put the gloves on his hands. So he takes his stand exultant
before Aeneas' feet, deeming he excelled all in victories; and thereon
without more delay grasps the bull's horn with his left hand, and speaks
thus: 'Goddess-born, if no man dare trust himself to battle, to what
conclusion shall I stand? how long is it seemly to keep me?
