Fabula 19. Phineus — “Phineus”: the blind prophet, the Harpies, and the dove test at the Symplegades. Latin from the standard text, with a new English translation below each paragraph. View:
1
Phineus Agenoris filius Thrax ex Cleopatra habuit filios duos. hi a patre nouercae crimine excaecati sunt.
Phineus, son of Agenor, a Thracian, had two sons by Cleopatra. They were blinded by their father on their stepmother’s accusation.
2
huic etiam Phineo Apollo augurium dicitur dedisse; hic deorum consilia cum enuntiaret, ab Ioue est excaecatus, et apposuit ei Harpyias, qui Iouis canes esse dicuntur, quae escam ab ore eius auferrent.
To this Phineus, Apollo is also said to have given the gift of prophecy; when he revealed the counsels of the gods, he was blinded by Jupiter, who set upon him the Harpies — who are said to be the hounds of Jupiter — to snatch food from his mouth.
3
huc cum Argonautae deuenissent et eum iter ut demonstraret rogarent, dixit se demonstraturum si eum poena liberarent. tunc Zetes et Calais, Aquilonis uenti et Orithyiae filii, qui pennas in capite et in pedibus habuisse dicuntur, Harpyias fugauerunt in insulas Strophadas et Phineum poena liberarunt.
When the Argonauts arrived here and asked him to show them the way, he said he would do so if they would free him from his punishment. Then Zetes and Calais, sons of the North Wind Aquilo and Orithyia — who are said to have had wings on their heads and feet — drove the Harpies away to the Strophades islands and freed Phineus from his punishment.
4
quibus monstrauit quomodo Symplegadas transirent, ut columbam mitterent; quae petrae cum concurrissent, in recessu earum . . . . . . . . . illi retro refugerent. Argonautae beneficio Phinei Symplegadas transierunt.
He showed them how to pass through the Symplegades: they were to send a dove ahead; when the rocks clashed together, in their recoil . . . they should row back. By Phineus’s help, the Argonauts passed the Symplegades.
Notes
- Para 2: qui (masculine) refers to canes (hounds); quae (feminine) refers back to Harpyias.
- Para 4: there is a lacuna after in recessu earum (dots as supplied, kept here by Konstantin's ruling); the sentence is incomplete in the Latin, and the English does not fill it. The dove test is the one Phineus is known for: the dove is sent first, and the ship passes in the moment of recoil, as the clashing rocks pull back apart.
- Para 1: the translation says “on their stepmother’s accusation” only — nouercae crimine does not say the accusation was false, so “false” is not added to the text, though the story elsewhere treats it as false.
Next fabula: Stymphalides (Fabula 20). Corrections are welcome via the contact form; please say which paragraph you mean.