Page:Statius (Mozley 1928) v1.djvu/221

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.

SILVAE, III. iii. 182–208

face, he cries to the warm ashes: “Why, truest of fathers, dost thou leave us, when Fortune smiles once more? Only of late did we assuage the godhead of our mighty prince and the brief anger of the gods, but thou, naught profiting, dost lose the enjoyment of a boon so great, and fleest, ungrateful, to the shades. And is it not granted to move the Fates, or appease the ruthless deities of deadly Lethe? Happy he, before whom as he carried his father on stalwart shoulders the Grecian flames gave way in reverent awe[1]! and Scipio too, who while yet a lad rescued his sire from the cruel Carthaginians[2]; happy also the daring devotion of Lydian Lausus[3]! Is it so, then, that the Thessalian consort could give her life to save her lord? that the suppliant Thracian could defeat remorseless Styx?[4] surely a father’s life hath a juster claim! Yet shalt thou not be wholly taken, nor will I send thy ashes far: here, here within the house will I keep thy shade. Thou art the guardian and master of the hearth, all that is thine shall obey thee; I will ever, as is right, be second, and hold a lesser place, and to thy sacred shade bring constant offering of meat and drink, and worship thy image; shining marble and the cunning lines of wax shall repeat thy likeness to me; now ivory, now tawny gold shall imitate thy features. There in thy long life’s story will I seek a guide for conduct, and loving converse and dreams that bring good counsel.”

So he spoke, and his father heard him with joy and gladness, and went down slowly to the pitiless shades, bearing the message to tell to his beloved Etrusca.

Hail for the last time, aged sire, gentlest of fathers,

  1. ↑ Aeneas who carried his father out of burning Troy: Mycenean = kindled by Greeks.
  2. ↑ At the battle of Ticinus, 218 B.C.
  3. ↑ Son of Mezentius = Virg. Aen. x. 786 sqq.
  4. ↑ Alcestis, wife of Admetus, and Orpheus, husband of Eurydice.

183

This article is issued from Wikisource. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.