Daedalus & Icarus Translations

Daedalus intereā Crētēn longumque perōsus exilium, tāctusque locī nātālis amōre, clasus erat pelagō.

Daedalus, meanwhile, hating Crete and his long exile, and touched by love for his place of birth, had been cut off from the sea.

"terrās licet" inquit "et undās obstruat, at caelum certē patet; ībimus illāc! omnia possideat, nōn possidet āera Mīnōs."

He said, "Although he may block my way through land and waves, yet at least the sky lies open; we will go that way! He may possess everything else, but Minos does not possess the air."

dīxit et ignōtās animum dīmittit in artēs, nātūramque novat.

He spoke and sent his mind into unknown arts, and gave new form to nature.

nam pōnit in ōrdine pennās, ut clīvō crēvisse putēs; sīc rūstica quondam fistula disparibus paulātim surgit avēnīs.

For he placed the feathers in a row, so that you would think they had grown on a slope; in the same way the pipe of a countryman sometimes is built up little by little with reeds of different lengths.

tum līnō mediās et cērīs adligat īmās, atque ita compositās parvō curvāmine flectit, ut vērās imitētur avēs.

Then he tied the middle with thread and fastened the bottom with wax, and he bent what he had made in a small curve in such a way that it would imitate real birds.

puer īcarus ūnā stābat et, ignārus sua sē tractāre perīcula, ōre renīdentī modo, quās vaga mōverat aura, captābat plūmas, flavam modo pollice cēram mollībat, lūsūque suō mīrābile patris impediēbat opus.

The boy Icarus was standing with him, and unaware that he was handling his own danger, now with a smiling mouth, he was chasing the feathers which the wandering wind had moved, now he was softening the yellow wax with his thumb, and with his playing he was hindering the marvelous work of his father.

postquam manus ultima coeptō imposita est, geminās opifex lībrāvit in ālās ipse suum corpus mōtāque pependit in aurā.

After the finishing touch was placed on his work, the inventor himself balanced into the twin wings and suspended his body in the moving breeze.

īnstruit et nātum, "mediō" que "ut in līmite currās, īcare," ait "moneo, nē, sī dēmissior ībis, unda gravet pennās, sī celsior, ignis adūrat.

and he equipped his son, and he said, "I warn you, Icarus, to fly the middle course, lest, if you go too low, the waves (will) weigh down the feathers, [or lest,] if you go too high, the heat of the sun (will) burn [them].

inter utrumque volā!

Fly between the two!

nec tē spectāre Boōtēn aut Helicēn iubeō strictumque ōrīonis ēnsem: mē duce carpe viam!"

and i order you not to look at Bootes or Helice and the drawn sword of Orion: with me as your leader, seize the way!"

pariter praecepta volandī trādit et ignōtās umerīs accommodat ālās.

At the same time he handed down the instructions for flying and he fastened the unfamiliar wings to his shoulders.

inter opus monitūsque genae maduēre senīlēs, et patriae tremuēre manūs.

during the work and warnings the cheeks of the old man became wet and the father's hands trembled.

dedit ōscula nātō nōn iterum repetenda suō pennīsque levātus ante volat, comitīque timet, velut āles, ab altō quae teneram prōlem prōdūxit in āera nīdō;

He gave his son kisses never to be repeated, and having been raised up on the feathers he flies in front and fears for his companion, like a bird who brought out the tender offspring from the high nest into the air;

hortāturque sequī, damnōsāsque ērudit artēs, et movet ipse suās et nātī respicit ālās.

and he urges him to follow and teaches him the fatal arts, and he himself moves his wings and looks back at his son's wings.

hōs aliquis tremulā dum captat harundine piscēs, aut pāstor baculō stīvāve innīxus arātor vīdit et obstipuit, quique aethera carpere possent crēdidit esse deōs.

Someone, while catching fish with a quivering rod or a shepherd with his staff or a farmer leaning on his plow, saw them and gaped in amazement, and those who were able to fly through the air he believed to be gods.

et iam īunōnia laevā parte samos (fuerat Dēlosque Parosque relictae), dextra Lebinthos erat fēcundaque melle Calumne, cum puer audācī coepit gaudēre volātū dēseruitque ducem, caelīque cupīdine tractus altius ēgit iter.

And now Samos, sacred to Juno was on the left side (both Delos and Paros had been left behind) on the right was Lebinthos and Calymne, rich in honey, when the boy began to be delighted in his bold flight and he deserted his leader, and urged on by a desire for the sky he made his way too high.

rapidī vīcīnia sōlis mollit odōrātās, pennārum vincula, cērās.

The nearness of the blazing sun softens the sweet-smelling wax, the fastenings of the feathers.

tābuerant cērae; nūdōs qustit ille lacertōs, rēmigiōque carēns nōn ūllās percipit aurās.

The wax had melted; he shakes his bare arms and lacking wings he does not take hold of any air.

ōraque caeruleā patrim clāmantia nōmen excipiuntur aquā, quae nōmen trāxit ab illō.

And his mouth, shouting the name of his father, is taken in by the dark blue water, which took its name from him.

at pater īnfēlīx nex iam pater "īcīare" dīxit, "īcare," dixit, "ubi es? quā tē regiōne requīrem? īcare," dīcēbat; pennās aspexit in undīs, dēvōvitque suās artēs corpysque sepulcrō condidit, et tellūs ā nōmine dicta sepultī.

But his unlucky father, no longer a father, said "Icarus," "Icarus" he said, "where are you? In what region should I search for you? Icarus," he kept saying; he saw the feathers in the waves, and he cursed his arts and he buries the body in a tomb, and the island is called by the name of the one buried there.