BOOK OF DIVINATIONS
Alas, alas for thee, ill-wedded
bride,
Thy royal power unto the Roman king shalt thou give,
And thou shalt repay all things which thou aforetime didst with masculine hands;
Thou shalt give thy whole land by way of dower,
As far as Libya and the dark-skinned men, to the resistless man.
And thou shalt be no more a widow,
But thou shalt cohabit with a man-eating lion, terrible, a furious warrior.
And then shalt thou be unhappy, and among all men unknown;
For thou shalt leave possessed of shameless soul;
And thee, the stately, shall the encircling tomb
Receive . . . is gone . . . living within.
Thy royal power unto the Roman king shalt thou give,
And thou shalt repay all things which thou aforetime didst with masculine hands;
Thou shalt give thy whole land by way of dower,
As far as Libya and the dark-skinned men, to the resistless man.
And thou shalt be no more a widow,
But thou shalt cohabit with a man-eating lion, terrible, a furious warrior.
And then shalt thou be unhappy, and among all men unknown;
For thou shalt leave possessed of shameless soul;
And thee, the stately, shall the encircling tomb
Receive . . . is gone . . . living within.
—The Sibylline Oracles, circa 30 B.C.E.
Translated from the Greek
Milton S. Terry, 1899
Translated from the Greek
Milton S. Terry, 1899
Translator’s note regarding the last line: “The
text is so mutilated at this point as to leave the exact sentiment
of the writer quite unintelligible.”