Pelias
Previous fabula: Niobidae (Fabula 11). This page is Fabula 12 only. Latin and English are given paragraph by paragraph, so each paragraph can be checked against the other. Further fabulae are added as they are finished; see the Hyginus index.
1
Peliae Crethei et Tyrus filio responsum erat ut Neptuno sacrum faceret, et si quis monocrepis, id est uno pede calciatus superuenisset, tum mortem eius appropinquare.
To Pelias, son of Cretheus and Tyro, an answer had been given that he should sacrifice to Neptune, and that if anyone one-sandalled (monocrepis), that is, shod on one foot, should come upon him, then his death was approaching.
2
is cum annua sacra faceret Neptuno, Iason Aesonis filius, fratris Peliae, cupidus sacra faciendi, dum flumen Euhenum transiret calciamentum reliquit; quod ut celeriter ad sacra ueniret neglexit.
While he was making the annual rites to Neptune, Jason, son of Aeson, who was Pelias's brother, eager to perform the rites, left a sandal behind while crossing the river Euenus; this he disregarded, in order to come quickly to the rites.
3
id Pelias inspiciens, memor sortium praecepti iussit eum pellem arietis quam Phrixus Marti sacrauerat inauratam Colchis ab rege Aeeta hoste petere.
Pelias, noticing this and remembering the oracle's injunction, ordered him to fetch from Colchis, from King Aeetes, an enemy, the gilded skin of the ram which Phrixus had consecrated to Mars.
4
qui conuocatis Graeciae ducibus Colchos est profectus.
He, having called together the leaders of Greece, set out for Colchis.
Notes
- Paragraph 1, responsum: “an answer had been given”; “oracle” would also be fair. Crethei is supplied in Packhum. Hyginus's genealogy here differs from the usual one, in which Pelias is Neptune's son by Tyro (like Neleus); it is kept as supplied, and the oracle telling him to sacrifice to Neptune is part of the same passage.
- Paragraph 1, monocrepis: a Greek loanword, explained in the Latin itself as “shod on one foot”. Calciamentum in paragraph 2 is the same object, so the English uses “sandal” in both paragraphs, or the oracle's link is lost.
- Paragraph 2, fratris: genitive, agreeing with Aesonis: Aeson is Pelias's brother, Jason is Aeson's son, not Pelias's brother. Euhenum is the river Euenus. Quod ... neglexit is purpose, not cause: he disregarded the sandal in order to come quickly to the rites. Annua sacra is plural, “the annual rites”; cupidus sacra faciendi is “eager to perform the rites”, not merely to take part.
- Paragraph 3, inauratam: feminine accusative, agreeing with pellem: the skin is gilded, not the ram and not the act of consecration, so the English reads “the gilded skin of the ram”, as in Fabula 3. Hoste has no article in Latin and does not say whose enemy: “an enemy”, not “the enemy”. Inspiciens and Phrixus are supplied in Packhum.
- Edition check, still open: this Latin text has not yet been checked against a printed critical edition; the points above were checked against the Packhum online text. The Latin here gives the supplied forms in full, with Packhum's supplements listed in these notes.
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