Penelope To Ulysses

Question 1

1-2
haec tua Penelope lento tibi mittit, Ulixe;
nil mihi rescribas attinet: ipse veni!

Answer 1

Your Penelope sends this letter to you, who is long delayed, Ulysses;
It is of no concern to me should you write back: come yourself!

Question 2

3-4
Troia iacet certe, Danais invisa puellis;
vix Priamus tanti totaque Troia fuit.

Answer 2

Troy surely lies in ruins, hated by Greek girls;
Priam and the whole of Troy were scarcely of such value.

Question 3

5-6
o utinam tum, cum Lacedaemona classe petebat,
obrutus insanis esset adulter aquis!

Answer 3

Oh would that then, when he was making for Sparta with his fleet,
The adulterer had been buried by the frenzied sea!

Question 4

7-8
non ego deserto iacuissem frigida lecto,
nec quererer tardos ire relicta dies;

Answer 4

I wouldn’t have lain cold in a deserted bed,
Nor, abandoned, would I have complained that the days passed this slowly,

Question 5

9-10
nec mihi quaerenti spatiosam fallere noctem
lassaret viduas pendula tela manus.

Answer 5

Nor for me, seeking to deceive the endless night,
Would the hanging web weary my widowed hands.

Question 6

11-12
quando ego non timui graviora pericula veris?
res est solliciti plena timoris amor.

Answer 6

When did I not fear dangers which were more serious than real ones?
Love is a thing full of uneasy fear.

Question 7

13-14
in te fingebam violentos Troas ituros;
nomine in Hectoreo pallida semper eram.

Answer 7

I was imagining the violent trojans were about to attack you;
I was always pale in the name of Hector.

Question 8

15-16
sive quis Antilochum narrabat ab hoste revictum,
Antilochus nostri causa timoris erat;

Answer 8

Whether anyone was telling of Antilochus, conquered by the enemy,
Antilochus was the cause of our fear;

Question 9

17-18
sive Menoetiaden falsis cecidisse sub armis,
flebam successu posse carere dolos.

Answer 9

Or if the son of Menoetiades had called below false arms,
I wept that tricks could be without success.

Question 10

19-20
sanguine Tlepolemus Lyciam tepefecerat hastam;
Tlepolemi leto cura novata mea est.

Answer 10

Tlepolemus had made a Lycian spear warm with blood;
My anxiety was renewed by the death of Tlepolemus.

Question 11

21-22
denique, quisquis erat castris iugulatus Achivis,
frigidius glacie pectus amantis erat.

Answer 11

In short, whoever’s throat had been cut in the Greek camp,
The breast of a lover was colder with ice.

Question 12

23-24
sed bene consuluit casto deus aequus amori.
versa est in cineres sospite Troia viro.

Answer 12

But a fair god has well looked after the interests of a pure love.
With my husband surviving, Troy has been turned into ashes.

Question 13

25-26
Argolici rediere duces, altaria fumant;
ponitur ad patrios barbara praeda deos.

Answer 13

The Greek leaders returned, the altars are smoking;
Barbarian spoils are set forth for our ancestral gods.

Question 14

27-28
grata ferunt nymphae pro salvis dona maritis;
illi victa suis Troica fata canunt.

Answer 14

Brides bring grateful gifts for the safe return of their husbands;
Those husbands sing to their families the fates of the conquered Trojans.

Question 15

29-30
mirantur iustique senes trepidaeque puellae;
narrantis coniunx pendet ab ore viri.

Answer 15

Both impartial old men and nervous girls wonder;
The wife hangs on the lips of her husband, recounting the tale.

Question 16

31-32
atque aliquis posita monstrat fera proelia mensa,
pingit et exiguo Pergama tota mero:

Answer 16

And now, with the table set, someone shows the brutal battles,
And with a little neat wine, paints the whole citadel of Troy:

Question 17

33-34
“hac ibat Simois; haec est Sigeia tellus;
hic steterat Priami regia celsa senis.

Answer 17

“The Simois flowed by this route; this is the land of Sigeum;
Here the lofty palace of old Priam once stood.

Question 18

35-36
illic Aeacides, illic tendebat Ulixes;
hic lacer admissos terruit Hector equos.”

Answer 18

There was Achilles, there Ulysses made camp;
Here mangled Hector terrified the horses let loose.”

Question 19

37-38
omnia namque tuo senior te quaerere misso
rettulerat nato Nestor, at ille mihi.

Answer 19

For old Nestor reported all of this back to your son,
Who was sent to seek you, then he told this to me.

Question 20

39-40
rettulit et ferro Rhesumque Dolonaque caesos,
utque sit hic somno proditus, ille dolo.

Answer 20

He also told of how Rhesus and Dolon were cut down by a sword,
And how this man was betrayed by sleep, and that man by deception.

Question 21

41-42
ausus es, o nimium nimiumque oblite tuorum,
Thracia nocturno tangere castra dolo

Answer 21

You dared, o far too forgetful of your family,
To strike the Thracian camp by night with a trick

Question 22

43-44
totque simul mactare viros, adiutus ab uno!
at bene cautus eras et memor ante mei.

Answer 22

And to slay so many men together, aided by just one!
But you previously used to be rightly cautious and mindful of me.

Question 23

45-46
usque metu micuere sinus, dum victor amicum
dictus es Ismariis isse per agmen equis.

Answer 23

My breasts continuously trembled with fear, until
You were said to have gone as a victor through allied ranks on Ismarian horses.

Question 24

47-48
sed mihi quid prodest vestris disiecta lacertis
Ilios et, murus quod fuit, esse solum,

Answer 24

But what of it benefits me: Troy torn apart
By your arms, and what was once walls, is now level ground,

Question 25

49-50
si maneo, qualis Troia durante manebam,
virque mihi dempto fine carendus abest?

Answer 25

If I remain how I was remaining while Troy continued,
And my husband, whom I lack, is away endlessly?

Question 26

51-52
diruta sunt aliis, uni mihi Pergama restant,
incola captivo quae bove victor arat.

Answer 26

To others it is destroyed, but for me alone Pergamum remains,
Which the victorious settler ploughs with a captive ox.

Question 27

53-54
iam seges est, ubi Troia fuit, resecandaque falce
luxuriat Phrygio sanguine pinguis humus.

Answer 27

Now there is a cornfield where Troy was, to be cut short with a sickle,
And the Earth swells, rich with Trojan blood.

Question 28

55-56
semisepulta virum curvis feriuntur aratris
ossa, ruinosas occulit herba domos.

Answer 28

Half-buried bones of men are struck by curved ploughs,
Plants hide derelict houses.

Question 29

57-58
victor abes, nec scire mihi, quae causa morandi,
aut in quo lateas ferreus orbe, licet.

Answer 29

You absent victor, it is not allowed for me to know what the cause of your delay is,
Or in what circle of the world you lie hidden, O you who is made of iron.

Question 30

59-60
quisquis ad haec vertit peregrinam litora puppim,
ille mihi de te multa rogatus abit,

Answer 30

Whoever turns a foreign ship to these shores,
He goes away, having been asked many questions by me about you,

Question 31

61-62
quamque tibi reddat, si te modo viderit usquam,
traditur huic digitis charta notata meis.

Answer 31

And that which he should render to you, if he should see you anywhere,
The message is handed over to him, written by my own hands.

Question 32

63-64
nos Pylon, antiqui Neleia Nestoris arva,
misimus; incerta est fama remissa Pylo.

Answer 32

We sent a message to Pylos, to the fields of old Nestor, son of Neleus,
And from Pylos a doubtful report was sent back.

Question 33

65-66
misimus et Sparten; Sparte quoque nescia veri.
quas habitas terras, aut ubi lentus abes?

Answer 33

And we sent a message to Sparta; Sparta too was unsure of the truth.
In which lands do you dwell, or where are you absent, you slow man?

Question 34

67-68
utilius starent etiamnunc moenia Phoebi.
irascor votis, heu, levis ipsa meis!

Answer 34

It would be better if the walls of Apollo were standing even now.
Ah! i myself am so fickle, I grow angry with my own prayers!