The Consolation of Philosophy

He stripped off the father, and sad, the priest had pierced the miserable throat of his daughter.¹⁷ The Ithacan wept for his lost companions, ᵇ whom cruel Polyphemus, reclining in a vast cave, submerged into his immense belly: 10 but nevertheless, furious with his blinded eye, he repaid joy for sad tears. The difficult labors celebrate Hercules: ᶜ He tamed the proud Centaurs,ᵈ

the fatherly state, and he himself having performed the office of priest, sadly slaughtered Iphigenia, his own miserable daughter. Ulysses, King of Ithaca, grieved for his lost companions, whom the cruel Polyphemus, dwelling in a great cavern, sent down into his huge belly: nevertheless, this Polyphemus, furious with his blinded countenance, restored joy in place of sad weeping. The difficult labors commend Hercules; he conquered the arrogant Centaurs,

17 Fœderat Delph. Hack.—18 Mss. lævam.—19 ^e Fronte turbatus. In Mss.

NOTES

scitatum oracula Phœbi Mittimus; isque adytis hæc tristia dicta reportat: Sanguine placastis ventos et virgine cæsa, Cum primum Iliacas Danai venistis ad oras,’ &c.

ᵇ The Ithacan wept for his lost companions] II. The same Philosophy proves by the example of Ulysses that a man is not bathed in joy before he has been affected by sadness. Naturally, Ulysses, King of Ithaca and of the Dulichian islands, of whom we have already spoken in Metre 3 of this book, among his other misfortunes was carried off to Sicily, and entered the cave of a certain Cyclops together with his companions. That Cyclops, called Polyphemus, was said to be the son of Neptune, endowed with a huge body, but with only one eye, which he had in his forehead. He had already devoured some of the companions of Ulysses, and was about to destroy the rest by the same kind of death, when Ulysses, fearing for himself no less than for the surviving companions, made Polyphemus drunk, and overwhelmed by deep sleep, blinded him with a club, or a burnt stake; then he bound himself and his companions under the fleeces of rams,

and finally, all having exited the cave together with the flock, they possessed as much joy as they had conceived sadness from the death of their companions and their own danger.

ᶜ The difficult labors celebrate Hercules] III. Philosophy proves by the example of Hercules that heaven is not obtained except after many labors of the earth have been overcome. For Hercules, son of Jove and Alcmene, was so hated by Juno for that reason, that he was always subjected to new dangers, with the same Juno acting. As by others, so now are the twelve labors of Hercules related by Philosophy, but in another kind and order.

ᵈ He tamed the proud Centaurs, etc.] The first labor of Hercules. The Centaurs, peoples of Thessaly dwelling near Mount Pelion, who, because they were the first to begin to tame horses and fight from them, were thought by other nations to be like monsters, which were partly men and partly horses: whence they were also called 'hippocentaurs,' and for that reason are now called 'proud.' Hercules, however, attacked and killed them for this reason, that