Gaius Julius Hyginus [Hyginus]
64 BC-17 AD
Trans RMBullard
Latin (Republic Era/Imperial Era)
GAIUS JULIUS HYGINUS
FABVLAE
PANDORA
Prometheus Iapeti filius primus homines ex luto finxit.
[Prometheus, the son of Iapetus, was the first to fashion men, out of clay.]
Postea Vulcanus Iovis iussu ex luto mulieris effigiem fecit,
[Afterward, Vulcan, by Jove's order, formed the image of a woman out of clay,]
cui Minerva animam dedit,
[to which Minerva gave a mind,]
ceterique dii alius aliud donum dederunt;
[and the other gifts gave one gift or another;]
ob id Pandoram nominarunt.
[by this account, they named her All-Gifts , or Pandora.]
Ea data in coniugium Epimetheo fratri;
[She was given in marriage to his brother, Epimetheus;]
inde nata est Pyrrha,
[after that, Pyrrha was born,]
quae mortalis dicitur prima esse creata.
[who is said to be the very first mortal being to be born.]
PROMETHEUS
Homines antea ab immortalibus ignem petebant
[In the time, people used to seek fire from the immortal gods,]
neque in perpetuum servare sciebant;
[nor did they know how to keep it going;]
quod postea Prometheus in ferula detulit in terras,
[but after that, Prometheus brought it down to earth, on a torch,]
hominibusque monstravit quomodo cinere obrutum servarent.
[and he taught people how to keep it burning in its cinders.]
Ob hanc rem Mercurius Iovis iussu deligavit eum in monte Caucaso ad saxum clavis ferreis
[By this account, Mercury, by Jove's command, had him tied down to a crag on the Caucasus mountain, using iron chains,]
et aquilam apposuit,
[and set an eagle upon him,]
quae cor eius exesset;
[which could gobble his heart out;]
quantum die ederat,
[every time it eat it out,]
tantum nocte crescebat.
[his heart would grow back during the night.]
Hanc aquilam post xxx annos Hercules interfecit
[After 300 years, Hercules killed this eagle]
eumque liberavit.
[and freed him.]
PHAETHON
Phaethon Solis et Clymenes filius cum clam patris currum conscendisset
[Phaethon, the son of the Sun and Clymenes, when he had secretly mounted his father's chariot]
et altius a terra esset elatus,
[and was carried too far away from the earth,]
prae timore decidit in flumen Eridanum.
[he crashed down in the Eridanus River in a panic.]
Hunc Iuppiter cum fulmine percussisset,
[Jupiter smashed this fellow to bits with a lightning bolt,]
omnia ardere coeperunt.
[since he was beginning to burn everything up.]
Iovis ut omne genus mortalium cum causa interficeret,
[so the result was that the entire race of mankind died because of Jove,]
simulavit se velle extinguere;
[but he pretended that he was simply wishing to put the disaster out;]
amnes undique irrigavit
[he had the waters flood every corner of the world,]
omneque genus mortalium interiit praeter Pyrrham et Deucalionem.
[and he killed the entire race of men, except for Pyrrha and Deucalion.]
At sorores Phaethontis, quod equos iniussu patris iunxerant, in arbores populos commutatae sunt.
[But Phaethon's sisters, since they had yoked the horses without their father's permission, were transformed into poplar trees.]
