Met., Book 14 (Acmon)

Ovid's Metamorphoses, Book 14

2022 McCarter, 522--531, p.421

"What's left, men, that our mettle now refuses? / What more can Venus do, if she desires? /

As long as there is worse to fear, prayer has / a place. But when the worst is done, fear must / be trampled. All is safe when woes have peaked. /

Though she should hear and hate all Domedes' / men, as she does, still we would scorn her haterd, / even if her great power costs us greatly!"

Pieuronian Acmon goads the wrathful Venus / with talk like this. His goads revive her wrath.

1986 Melville, p.340a

"What's left, you men, / That your endurance will refuse to bear? / What else, what more can Venus do --- suppose / She means to?

While we fear things worse, there's room / For wounds, but when the worst has happened, fear / Is underfoot: the sum of suffering / Finds us serene.

Though she herself should hear / And hate (as she does hate) all those who serve / With Diomede, yet all of us despise / Her hate: her mighty power means naught to us."

So Acmon taunted Venus, goading her, / And rousing up afresh her former rage.

1993 Mandelbaum, p.474b (Everyman)

"But is there anything at all / that you, my friends, cannot withstand! If Venus / should seek to heap still greater woes on us, / can she outdo what she's already done? /

As long as one fears even greater hurt / is yet to come, he’s vulnerable --- but / when fate already has unleashed the worst, / then dread can be dismissed: when our ill luck / is at its height, despair can be packed off. /

Though Venus hear my words and show her hate / for all of Diomedes' men --- no matter: / to scorn her hate is our best shield against her."

The bitter words of Acmon only serve to anger Venus, / to revive her hurt.

1916 Miller (Loeb), p.345

"What is there left, men, for your long-suffering to refuse to bear? What is there left for Venus to do further, supposing she wishes it?

For, so long as we fear worse fortunes, we lie open to wounds; but when the worst possible lot has fallen, then is fear beneath our feet and the utmost misfortune can bring us no further care.

Though she herself should hear and, as indeed she does, should hate all the followers of Diomede, still do we all scorn her hatred; and much we reck of her mighty power!"

With such insulting words did Pleuronian Acmon rouse Venus and revive her former anger.

2004 Martin, 686--708, p.501

"Is there still something you have not endured," / he asked, "some grief you might decline to bear? / What is there that is left for her to do, / if she should wish to do more than she has? /

As long as we fear something worse may come, / prayer has its place --- but when the short straw's drawn, / we put our fears behind us and below, / and hopelessness releases us from care. /

So let her hear me saying this --- so what? / So what if she despises, as she does, / all of the men who serve with Diomedes, / since all of us despise her attitude: / her high-and-mightiness seems scarcely high, / as far as we're concerned!"

Provocative, / those words of Acmon, and they angered Venus, / and brought her old anger back to life again.