Page:Statius (Mozley 1928) v1.djvu/97

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SILVAE, I. iv. 130—v. 19

that sufficient. Yet amid such offerings a simple turf, some meal and a humble salt-cellar have ofttimes pleased the gods.[1]

V. THE BATHS OF CLAUDIUS ETRUSCUS


The Baths of Claudius Etruscus were possibly on the Quirinal; they are mentioned by Martial (vi. 42). For their owner see note to Silv. iii. 3.


Not at Helicon’s gates doth my harp resound in fierce, ecstatic melody, nor call I on the heavenly Muses, so often wearied by my prayer; thou Phoebus, and thou, Euhan, art released from my choral song, and do thou, swift Tegean, keep in mute silence thy tuneful tortoise-shell[2]: other choirs doth my song demand. ’Tis enough to lure the Naiads hither, queens of the wave, and the lord of the flashing fire, weary still and glowing with the Sicilian anvil’s heat.[3] Thebes, lay down thy sinful arms awhile[4]: I would fain make revel for a friend I love. Cup after cup, lad!—nay, trouble not to count them! Tune the tardy lyre! Toil and Care, avaunt! while I sing of the baths that sparkle with bright marbles, and while my Clio, wantoning in ivy chaplets and free from the sober laurel, makes sport for Etruscus. Come then, ye Nymphs of the waters, turn hither your clear countenances and bind up your glass-green tresses with tender vine-shoots, your bodies all unclothed as when ye emerge from the deep springs and torture your Satyr-lovers with the sight. You, who with guilt have defamed the

  1. ↑ Salt and roasted meal was the simplest form of sacrifice, cf. Hor. C. iii. 23. 20. The turf formed the altar.
  2. ↑ Mercury invented the lyre from the shell of a tortoise.
  3. ↑ i.e., Vulcan.
  4. ↑ He refers to his Thebaid, which recounted the impious strife of the brethren, Eteocles and Polynices.

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