Fabula 20. Stymphalides — “the Stymphalian birds”: the Argonauts drive the birds off with shield, spear, and noise. Latin from the standard text, with a new English translation below each paragraph. View:
1
Argonautae cum ad insulam Diam uenissent et aues ex pennis suis eos conficerent pro sagittis, cum multitudini auium resistere non possent, ex Phinei monitu clipeos et hastas sumpserunt, exque more Curetum sonitu eas fugarunt.
When the Argonauts had come to the island of Dia, and the birds were striking them down with their feathers as if with arrows, and they could not resist the vast flock of birds, on Phineus’s advice they took up shields and spears, and drove them away with noise, after the manner of the Curetes.
Notes
- cu<m>, cl<i>peos, and ex<que> are standard supplements in the text (as in Packhum).
- conficerent connotes wearing down or dispatching with lethality.
- Dia is the same island as in Fabula 14, para 28, where Phrixus’s sons joined the Argonauts; the Stymphalian birds use their feathers as arrows (pro sagittis).
Next fabula: Phrixi Filii (Fabula 21). Corrections are welcome via the contact form; please say which paragraph you mean.