“Land dear to
me, to which I have entrusted
A pledge of my great affection, a tremendous deposit
Through fearful stratagem, may you be happy
And may you, I pray, keep silence, just as Crete
Kept silence for Rhea; then long-lasting honor
And eternal temples will gird you round,
Nor will floating Delos outdo you in fame;
You will be sacred both to winds and waters,
And amidst the shallow Cyclades, when storms
Of the Aegean shatter the rocks, you’ll be
A tranquil home for Nereids, an island
For sailors to invoke by name in oaths-
Only do not, I pray, do not admit
The ships of the Danaans! ‘Here you’ll find
Only sacred dances- nothing useful
For works of wars.’ Teach rumor to tell
this tale,
And while Dorian arms are readied, while Mars
Rages between two spheres- I, at least,
Shall not stand in his way – let Achilles be
A maiden of the pious Lycomedes.”
‘Cara mihi tellus, magnae cui pignora
curae
depositumque ingens timido commisimus astu,
sis felix taceasque, precor, quo more tacebat
Creta Rheae; te longus honos aeternaque cingent
templa nec instabili fama superabere Delo,
et ventis et sacra fretis interque vadosas
Cycladas, Aegaeae frangunt ubi saxa procellae,
Nereidum tranquilla domus iurandaque nautis
insula; ne solum Danaas admitte carinas,
ne, precor! “Hic thiasi tantum et nihil
utile bellis:”
hoc famam narrare doce, dumque arma parantur
Dorica et alternum Mavors interfurit orbem,—
cedo equidem—sit virgo pii Lycomedis Achilles.’
Achilles among the Daughters of Lycomedes, Erasmus Quellinus II (1607-1678)
