As Iole told this amazing story,
Alcmena (she herself was weeping) dried
the tears of the young girl. But soon lament
was banished by a singular event.
For Iolaus had appeared upon
the high threshold; but now he seemed so young—
the down upon his cheeks was faint indeed—
one almost could have said he was a boy;
his face had been restored to what it was
long years ago. For Juno’s daughter, Hebe,
became the wife of Hercules when he
was taken to the sky as deity;
and Hercules had asked of her this gift
for his dear nephew. Hebe granted it;
but when she tried to swear that, after this,
she would bestow such gifts on no one else,
Themis the prophetess checked Hebe’s vow:
Latin [381–403]
she spoke of things to come, and she foresaw
that change of age would also be bestowed
upon the children of Callirohe:
“O Hebe, do not vow in vain. At Thebes
a civil war is raging: Capanaeus
shall only be defeated by the force
of Jove himself—a lightning bolt; the pair
of dueling brothers, Polynices and
Eteocles, each at the other’s hand,
shall die; the prophet shall be swallowed by
the earth alive; within the world below,
he’ll see the spirits he had once controlled;
and to avenge his death, his son, Alcmaeon,
shall be at once both just and criminal—
and kill his mother. Stunned by what he’s done,
exiled from both his reason and his home,
he shall be hounded by his mother’s ghost
and by the Furies. King Phegeius
shall offer refuge to the fugitive,
who then shall wed the daughter of the king
and give to her the necklace that had bribed
his mother. But gone mad again, he’ll wander
away and take as second wife the daughter
of Achelous. She, Callirohe,
shall ask him for the necklace. When he seeks
to take it back from his first wife, he’ll meet
death at Phegeius’ hands. Callirohe
shall then implore great Jove to grant at once
adulthood to her sons—they are still young—
so that the death of the avenger not
go unavenged too long. Moved by her plea,
Jove shall himself apply the powers of Hebe
(who is both his stepdaughter and his daughter-
in-law): Callirohe’s young boys shall be
made men before they have reached puberty.”
When Themis—she who knew what was to come
had finished prophesying, many gods
Latin [403–19]
began to murmur and to agitate,
to ask why others could not benefit
from that same gift—the change of age. Aurora
complains about her husband’s age; mild Ceres,
about Iasion’s white hairs; and Vulcan
seeks the rejuvenation of his son,
his Erichthonius; and Venus, too,
wants her Anchises’ life to be renewed—
the future worries her. There’s not one god
who does not plead for some dear favorite’s cause.
The tumult grows—a loud, seditious surge—
until Jove opens up his lips to urge:
“Come now, show some respect! Have you gone mad?
Does any one of you believe that he
can undo destiny? The will of Fate
permitted Iolaus to regain
the youth he had lived through—to change his age.
And it is Fate—and not ambition or
their warlike skills—that will allow the sons
Callirohe has borne to leap at once
out of their infancy—to turn adult.
You, too, depend on Fate; and (if that helps
to reconcile you) so do I myself.
Consider my own sons: if I could change
his age, dear Aeacus would not be bent
beneath the bitter burden of his years;
and Rhadamanthus, too, would now appear
as an eternal youth; as Minos would—
his many years weigh hard upon him, too:
he cannot govern as he used to do,
and he’s disprized, defied.” The words of Jove
persuaded them: no god could now complain;
for the exhaustion of old age was plain
in Rhadamanthus, Aeacus, and Minos.
Latin [419–41]