Sibylline Oracles

Historical printed page 401

ἄν. THE SIBYLLINE BOOKS. Βοοκ V, Lines 189-238 (89) O Thebes, where is thy great strength? a savage man (90) shall utterly destroy thy people. And thou, taking thy sombre garments (91) shalt mourn, poor wretch, alone, and shalt make full amends (92) for all that thou didst before in the shamelessness of thine heart. (93) And they shall make grievous lament because of their lawless deeds. (94) Syene an Ethiopian hero shall destroy. (95) Teuchira the dark-skinned Indians shall forcibly occupy. (96) Pentapolis, thou shalt mourn: fa man of mighty strength shall destroy thee.t (97) O Libya, steeped in tears, who shall tell forth thy dooms? (98) And what mortal, Cyrene, shall weep piteous tears for thee? (99) Thou shalt not cease thy lament to the time of thine hateful destruction. (200) Among the Britains and the Gauls rich in gold (201) the ocean shall roar filled with streams of blood: (202) forasmuch as they too committed wickedness against the children of God (203) twhen the red king brought against the Sidonians (204) a great horde of Gauls out of Syriat. And he shall slay even thee, (205) O Ravenna, and shall rule over thee with bloodshed. (206) Ye Indians, be not overbold, and ye stout-hearted Ethiopians. (207) For when the circle of the arched Axis, Capricorn (208) and Taurus among the Twins revolve round mid heaven, (209) and Virgo is coming forth, and the sun (10) reigns fixing his fire-flashing belt about his brow: (11) then there shall be a great celestial conflagration on the earth, (12) and in the battle of the stars a new creation shall come forth, so that (13) the whole land of the Ethiopians shall perish with fire and moanings. (14) Do thou too, Corinth, bemoan the piteous destruction that is in thee. (15) For when with their weft of twisted thread the three sister-Fates (16) bring back him that fled by guile to the bank of the Isthmus (17) in mid-air that all may see him, (18) who once pierced the rock with ductile brass, (19) then he shall destroy thy land and waste it, as it was determined before. (20) For to him God hath given strength to do (21) such things as none of all the former kings have done. (22) For first of all cutting off with a mighty blow the roots from three heads, (23) he shall give them to his mighty comrades to devour (24) so that they shall eat the flesh of the parents of the unholy king. (25) For for all men blood and horrors are in store (26) because of the great city and the righteous people, (27) brought safe through all, whom Providence exalted. (28) O thou unsettled and of evil counsel, beset with evil fate, (29) source of trouble and its great end unto men (30) when creation is vexed and again saved by the Fates, (31) O violence, fountain- head of evils and great bane unto men, (32) who of mortals hath desired thee, who within him hath not been vexed? (33) By thee a king cast down has lost his august life. (34) Thou hast ordered all amiss and hast brought on all the flood-tide of evil, (35) and through thee the fair plains of the earth have been altered. (36) Throw out these seeds of strife (perhaps they are thy last) for our contention. (37) How and what dost thou speak? I will persuade thee, yea, even if I blame thee I say it. (38) There was once among men the bright sun-ray, when the beam of the 193. make lament (κόψονται), an emendation for ‘see lament’ (ὄψονται). The ending of lines 192, 193 are trans- posed in the MSS. 194. Syene, modern Assouan. There was an Ethiopian invasion of Egypt in 24 B.C. 195. Teuchira, a city in Cyrenaica, afterwards called Arsinoe. 196. Pentapolis, a district on the coast embracing Cyrene. The text is uncertain. 200-5. Woes on Western peoples. 200, Britains. MSS. Βρύτεσσι. Wilam. suggests Βρύγεσσι. 203. Meaning uncertain. βασιλεὺς Φοῖνιξ may refer to Vespasian who brought Gallic troops to the campaign in Palestine. Or there may be an allusion to the phoenix which reappeared at certain intervals, and if so the reference would probably be to Nero. 205. MSS. ‘thee, Ravenna here’ (ce . . . αὕτη ‘PaBévvn). 206-13. A conflagration to occur among the Ethiopians at a certain conjunction of stars. 206. be not overbold, μὴ θαρσεῖτε. MSS. ‘fear not’, μὴ rapBeire. 207. arched, κυρτοῦ, an emendation for τούτους which gives no sense. 210, fire-flashing. The word is uncertain. 214-28. A dirge on Corinth. 216. Reading uncertain. If the restored text as translated is accepted there is apparently a reference again to Nero. In the next line he seems confused with Simon Magus, who, according to tradition, met his death while flying in the air. Line 218 would then return to Nero and his attempt to pierce the Isthmus of Corinth. bank, ὄχθην. py have ὀμφήν, ‘ voice’. 222. Cf. the picture in Dan. vii. 8. The three heads may be the three Flavian Emperors, cutting off (σπασσάμενος), a suggestion for ‘ weighing’ (στησάμενος). 223. his comrades (ἑτάροις), a conjecture for ‘others’ (ἑτέροις). So μεγάλοις for μεγάλως. 224. For parents (γονέων) we should perhaps read ‘race’ (yevéas). The unholy king is Nero. : 228-46. A much disputed passage. Hildebrandt sees in it a direct allusion to the Avesta. Fehr regards it as an address to Rome. It seems more probable that it refers to the Rabbinic conception of the fall of Adam brought about by the envy of the Angels, and of the withdrawal of the Shechinah from earth. But the whole passage is obscure. 230. by the Fates (Μοίραις). MSS. have ‘when destiny is again saved’, cw opens πάλι Moipns. 237. Alex. would read ‘If thou hast aught against me, speak it’, εἰ δέ re μέμφεαι αὔδα. 1108-2 401 Ὁ ἃ