If of the beardless train I raise 80
The hymn that sings Melesias' praise,
Let not the tongue of Envy rail,
Nor with sharp stone my fame assail.
His valiant deeds in Nemea's plain
Alike inspire the poet's strain— 85
And next the great pancratium's meed,
Which to the strife of heroes is decreed. 77
His triumph is our surest guide,
Whose feet the arduous paths have tried;
But light their mind and counsel vain 90
Whose skill could ne'er the palm obtain.
Who tells his own victorious deeds
To others points the path of fame,
And shows what glorious lot succeeds
His conquest in each sacred game. 95
So thine the thirtieth garland won
Adds to thy teacher's fame, Alcimedon. 87
With fortune and his manly arm to aid,
He sent four vanquish'd striplings back in shame,
Darken'd their homeward path with sorrow's shade,
And gave to slandering infamy their name. [1] 101
'Twas this his grandsire's age inspired
With vigorous youth's returning breath;
For by the victor's glory fired
His mind forgot the hour of death. 96 105
Be mine the task, Blepsiadæ, to raise
A record worthy of your deathless praise.
- ↑ Statius appears to have had this highly poetical passage in his mind when, speaking of the return of the worsted and dejected Pelasgi from the field, he says—(Theb. xi. 759:) —
"Eunt taciti passim, et pro funere pulchro
Dedecorem amplexi vitam reditusque pudendos.
Nox favet, et grata profugos amplectitur umbra."
