A newer hurt is added to the old,
for Semele—so Juno has been told—
Latin [242–60]
is pregnant with the seed of mighty Jove.
And Juno hones her tongue; she means to brawl,
but then she asks: “What have I gained for all
my reprimands to him, my bitter quarrels?
It’s not my Jove but Semele herself
whom I must strike, if I am rightly called
great Juno; if my right hand justly holds
the jeweled scepter, if I am the queen,
the sister, and the wife of Jove (at least
his sister), I shall ruin Semele.
But, then again, if she is quite content
with something furtive—just a passing thing—
the insult to my bed would be quite brief.
But who could swallow that? She has conceived!
And now she runs about—that’s all I need—
with her full womb to show her guilt; she seeks
to be a mother thanks to Jove’s own seed—
a gift that I myself have scarce received.
She trusts her beauty that much! How deceived
she’ll be: I am not Saturn’s daughter if
she does not finish in the waves of Styx—
there Jove himself must let my rival sink!”
Then, rising from her throne, she wraps herself
within a saffron cloud; and to the house
of Semele she goes. Just at the threshold,
she lets the cloud dissolve—but not before
she’s taken on the counterfeited form
of an old woman, whitening the hair
that frames her temples, furrowing her skin
with wrinkles; as she makes her way, her limbs
are huddled, bent; her steps are tottering.
Her voice is also aged: Beroe
from Epidaurus, nurse of Semele—
that is the one whom Juno has become.
And in that guise, the goddess greets the girl;
they chatter, touching many things, until
Jove’s name crops up. And the old woman sighs
Latin [260–80]
and says: “I pray it’s Jupiter himself,
but I’m afraid to take such things on trust.
So many men, pretending to be gods,
through guile and wiles, insinuate themselves
into the beds of chaste and modest girls.
But even if he’s Jove, that’s not enough.
If he is Jove in truth, then have him prove
his love is true. He comes to mighty Juno
in all his force and splendor; even so,
in force and splendor have him visit you.
Yes, ask him to embrace you—and to show
the might and majesty that Juno knows:
let him display his powers when he comes.”
Such were the words of Juno. They persuade
the girl, who did not know what fate awaits
a mortal woman caught in the embrace
of Jove when all his powers are arrayed.
And so, when Jove comes down to her, the girl
asks him to grant one gift to her—although
she does not name that gift. And Jove replied:
“Whatever you may want, I’ll not refuse.
And to assure you that my pledge is true,
I swear it by the sacred Styx, an oath
that calls upon a godhead so supreme
that all the deities must stand in fear
before the flow of that torrential stream.”
She’s glad to get a gift that will bring evil:
in being free to choose at will, the girl
will die because her lover must comply.
She asks: “I want to see you in the guise
you take when you embrace Saturnia.”
Jove, even as she speaks, would curb her words;
but he’s too slow, too late to cut her short;
her hasty words have reached the air. He groans:
she can’t withdraw her wish, nor he his oath.
Latin [280–98]
So Jove, in deepest sadness, now ascends
to heaven’s heights; he gives a sign, and mists
assemble; he adds clouds and lightning mixed
with gusting winds and—last—the thunderbolts
and flames that no one can evade. But Jove
attempts to mute his force as best he can.
He sets aside the bolt of fire that felled
Typhoeus of a hundred hands—a shaft
too fierce; instead he takes a lighter bolt,
in which the Cyclops’ hands had mixed less wrath,
less fury, fire, and menace: “Second Shafts”
is what the gods have called such weaponry.
With these in hand, he visits Semele.
Her mortal body can’t withstand the flash
of force so heavenly; that nuptial gift
consumes her flesh; she is reduced to ash.
The babe, not fully formed as yet, was snatched
(if what is told is true) out of her womb,
then sewed up in the thigh of Jove, his father,
until, his full time come, the boy was born.
The one who cared, in secret, for the infant
was Ino, his maternal aunt; but later
he was entrusted to the Nysan nymphs.