proelia moturus superis, quod solus egeret conubiis sterilesque diu consumeret annos impatiens nescire torum nullasque mariti 35 inlecebras nec dulce patris cognoscere nomen. iam quaecumque latent ferali monstra barathro in turmas aciemque ruunt contraque Tonantem coniurant Furiae, crinitaque sontibus hydris Tesiphone quatiens infausto lumine pinum 40 armatos ad castra vocat pallentia Manes, paene reluctatis iterum pugnantia rebus rupissent elementa fidem penitusque revulso carcere laxatis pubes Titania vinclis vidisset caeleste iubar rursusque cruentus 45 Aegaeon positis aucto de corpore nodis obvia centeno vexasset fulmina motu. Sed Parcae vetuere minas orbique timentes ante pedes soliumque ducis fudere severam canitiem genibusque suas cum supplice fletu 50 admovere manus, quarum sub iure tenentur omnia, quae seriem fatorum pollice ducunt longaque ferratis evolvunt saecula fusis. prima fero Lachesis clamabat talia regi incultas dispersa comas: “O maxime noctis 55 arbiter umbrarumque potens, cui nostra laborant stamina, qui finem cunctis et semina praebes nascendique vices alterna morte rependis, qui vitam letumque regis (nam quidquid ubique gignit materies, hoc te donante creatur 60 debeturque tibi certisque ambagibus aevi * * * * * Page 297 in swelling anger, threatening war upon the gods, because he alone was unwed and had long wasted the years in childless state, brooking no longer to lack the joys of wedlock and a husband’s happiness nor ever to know the dear name of father. Now all the monsters that lurk in Hell’s abyss rush together in warlike bands, and the Furies bind themselves with an oath against the Thunderer. Tisiphone, the bloody snakes clustering on her head, shakes the lurid pine-torch and summons to the ghostly camp the armèd shades. Almost had the elements, once more at war with reluctant nature, broken their bond; the Titan brood, their deep prison-house thrown open and their fetters cast off, had again seen heaven’s light; and once more bloody Aegaeon, bursting the knotted ropes that bound his huge form, had warred against the thunderbolts of Jove with hundred-handed blows.