1
Virgil : The Aeneid 2
Translated by A. S. Kline 2002 All Rights Reserved3
This work MAY be FREELY reproduced, stored and transmitted, electronically or otherwise, for any NON-COMMERCIAL purpose.4
This and other texts available at www.tonykline.co.uk5
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Contents7
BkI:1-11 Invocation to the Muse 98
BkI:12-49 The Anger of Juno 99
BkI:50-80 Juno Asks Aeolus for Help 1010
BkI:81-123 Aeolus Raises the Storm 1111
BkI:124-156 Neptune Intervenes 1212
BkI:157-222 Shelter on the Libyan Coast 1313
BkI:223-256 Venus Intercedes with Jupiter 1514
BkI:257-296 Jupiter’s Prophecy 1615
BkI:297-371 Venus Speaks to Aeneas 1716
BkI:372-417 She Directs Him to Dido’s Palace 1917
BkI:418-463 The Temple of Juno 2118
BkI:464-493 The Frieze 2219
BkI:494-519 The Arrival of Queen Dido 2320
BkI:520-560 Ilioneus Asks Her Assistance 2421
BkI:561-585 Dido Welcomes the Trojans 2522
BkI:586-612 Aeneas Makes Himself Known 2623
BkI:613-656 Dido Receives Aeneas 2624
BkI:657-694 Cupid Impersonates Ascanius 2825
BkI:695-722 Cupid Deceives Dido 2926
BkI:723-756 Dido Asks for Aeneas’s Story 3027
BkII:1-56 The Trojan Horse: Laocoön’s Warning 3228
BkII:57-144 Sinon’s Tale 3329
BkII:145-194 Sinon Deludes the Trojans 3630
BkII:195-227 Laocoön and the Serpents 3731
BkII:228-253 The Horse Enters Troy 3832
BkII:254-297 The Greeks Take the City 3933
BkII:298-354 Aeneas Gathers his Comrades 4034
BkII:355-401 Aeneas and his Friends Resist 4235
BkII:402-437 Cassandra is Taken 4336
BkII:438-485 The Battle for the Palace 4437
BkII:486-558 Priam’s Fate 4538
BkII:559-587 Aeneas Sees Helen 4739
BkII:588-623 Aeneas is Visited by his Mother Venus 4840
BkII:624-670 Aeneas Finds his Family 4941
BkII:671-704 The Omen 5142
BkII:705-729 Aeneas and his Family Leave Troy 5243
BkII:730-795 The Loss of Creusa 5344
BkII:796-804 Aeneas Leaves Troy 5445
BkIII:1-18 Aeneas Sails to Thrace 5646
BkIII:19-68 The Grave of Polydorus 5647
BkIII:69-120 The Trojans Reach Delos 5848
BkIII:121-171 The Plague and a Vision 5949
BkIII:172-208 The Trojans Leave Crete for Italy 6150
BkIII:209-277 The Harpies 6251
BkIII:278-293 The Games at Actium 6452
BkIII:294-355 Andromache in Chaonia 6453
BkIII:356-462 The Prophecy of Helenus 6654
BkIII:463-505 The Departure from Chaonia 6955
BkIII:506-547 In Sight of Italy 7056
BkIII:548-587 The Approach to Sicily 7157
BkIII:588-654 Achaemenides 7258
BkIII:655-691 Polyphemus 7459
BkIII:692-718 The Death of Anchises 7560
BkIV:1-53 Dido and Anna Discuss Aeneas 7761
BkIV:54-89 Dido in Love 7862
BkIV:90-128 Juno and Venus 7963
BkIV:129-172 The Hunt and the Cave 8064
BkIV:173-197 Rumour Reaches Iarbas 8265
BkIV:198-218 Iarbas Prays to Jupiter 8266
BkIV:219-278 Jupiter Sends Mercury to Aeneas 8367
BkIV:279-330 Dido Accuses Aeneas 8568
BkIV:331-361 Aeneas Justifies Himself 8669
BkIV:362-392 Dido’s Reply 8770
BkIV:393-449 Aeneas Departs 8871
BkIV:450-503 Dido Resolves to Die 9072
BkIV:504-553 Dido Laments 9173
BkIV:554-583 Mercury Visits Aeneas Again 9374
BkIV:584-629 Dido’s Curse 9375
BkIV:630-705 The Death of Dido 9576
BkV:1-41 Aeneas Returns to Sicily 9877
BkV:42-103 Aeneas Declares the Games 9978
BkV:104-150 The Start of the Games 10179
BkV:151-243 The Boat Race 10280
BkV:244-285 The Prize-Giving for the Boat Race 10581
BkV:286-361 The Foot Race 10682
BkV:362-484 The Boxing Contest 10883
BkV:485-544 The Archery Contest 11184
BkV:545-603 The Exhibition of Horsemanship 11385
BkV:604-663 Juno sends Iris to Fire the Trojan Ships 11586
BkV:664-699 The Fleet is Saved 11687
BkV:700-745 Nautes’ Advice and Anchises’ Ghost 11788
BkV:746-778 Departure from Sicily 11989
BkV:779-834 Venus Seeks Neptune’s Help 12090
BkV:835-871 The Loss of Palinurus 12191
BkVI:1-55 The Temple at Cumae 12392
BkVI:56-97 The Sibyl’s Prophecy 12493
BkVI:98-155 Aeneas Asks Entry to Hades 12594
BkVI:156-182 The Finding of Misenus’s Body 12795
BkVI:183-235 The Funeral Pyre 12896
BkVI:236-263 The Sacrifice to Hecate 12997
BkVI:264-294 The Entrance to Hades 13098
BkVI:295-336 The Shores of Acheron 13199
BkVI:337-383 The Shade of Palinurus 132100
BkVI:384-416 Charon the Ferryman 134101
BkVI:417-439 Beyond the Acheron 135102
BkVI:440-476 The Shade of Dido 135103
BkVI:477-534 The Shade of Deiphobus 136104
BkVI:535-627 The Sibyl Describes Tartarus 138105
BkVI:628-678 The Fields of Elysium 141106
BkVI:679-702 The Meeting with Anchises 142107
BkVI:703-723 The Souls Due for Re-birth 143108
BkVI:724-751 The Transmigration of Souls 143109
BkVI:752-776 The Future Race – The Alban Kings 144110
BkVI:777-807 The Future Race – Romulus and the Caesars 145111
BkVI:808-853 The Future Race – Republic and Beyond 146112
BkVI:854-885 The Future Race – Marcellus 147113
BkVI:886-901 The Gates of Sleep 148114
BkVII:1-36 The Trojans Reach the Tiber 150115
BkVII:37-106 King Latinus and the Oracle 151116
BkVII:107-147 Fulfilment of A Prophecy 153117
BkVII:148-191 The Palace of Latinus 154118
BkVII:192-248 The Trojans Seek Alliance With Latinus 155119
BkVII:249-285 Latinus Offers Peace 157120
BkVII:286-341 Juno Summons Allecto 158121
BkVII:341-405 Allecto Maddens Queen Amata 159122
BkVII:406-474 Allecto Rouses Turnus 161123
BkVII:475-539 Allecto Among the Trojans 163124
BkVII:540-571 Allecto Returns to Hades 165125
BkVII:572-600 Latinus Abdicates 166126
BkVII:601-640 Latium Prepares for War 167127
BkVII:641-782 The Battle-List 168128
BkVII:783-817 Turnus and Camilla Complete the Array 172129
BkVIII:1-25 The Situation in Latium 174130
BkVIII:26-65 Aeneas’s Dream of Tiberinus 174131
BkVIII:66-101 Aeneas Sails to Pallanteum 177132
BkVIII:102-151 Aeneas Meets Evander 178133
BkVIII:152-183 Evander Offers Alliance 180134
BkVIII:184-305 The Tale of Hercules and Cacus 181135
BkVIII:306-369 Pallanteum – the Site of Rome 185136
BkVIII:370-406 Venus Seeks Weapons from Vulcan 187137
BkVIII:407-453 Vulcan’s Smithy 189138
BkVIII:454-519 Evander Proposes Assistance 190139
BkVIII:520-584 The Preliminary Alarms 193140
BkVIII:585-625 Venus’s Gift of Armour 195141
BkVIII:626-670 Vulcan’s Shield: Scenes of Early Rome 196142
BkVIII:671-713 Vulcan’s Shield: The Battle of Actium 198143
BkVIII:714-731 Vulcan’s Shield: Augustus’s Triple Triumph 199144
BkIX:1-24 Iris Urges Turnus to War 201145
BkIX:25-76 Turnus Attacks the Trojan Fleet 201146
BkIX:77-106 Cybele Makes a Plea to Jove 203147
BkIX:107-122 Cybele Transforms the Ships 204148
BkIX:123-167 Turnus Lays Siege to the Camp 205149
BkIX:168-223 Nisus and Euryalus: A Mission Proposed 206150
BkIX:224-313 Nisus and Euryalus: Aletes Consents 208151
BkIX:314-366 Nisus and Euryalus: The Raid 211152
BkIX:367-459 The Death of Euryalus and Nisus 213153
BkIX:460-524 Euryalus’s Mother Laments 216154
BkIX:525-589 Turnus in Battle 218155
BkIX:590-637 Ascanius (Iulus) in Battle 220156
BkIX:638-671 Apollo Speaks to Iulus 222157
BkIX:672-716 Turnus at the Trojan Gates 223158
BkIX:717-755 The Death of Pandarus 225159
BkIX:756-787 Turnus Slaughters the Trojans 226160
BkIX:788-818 Turnus Is Driven Off 227161
BkX:1-95 The Council of the Gods 229162
BkX:96-117 Jupiter Leaves the Outcome to Fate 231163
BkX:118-162 Aeneas Returns From Pallantium 232164
BkX:163-214 The Leaders of the Tuscan Fleet 233165
BkX:215-259 The Nymphs of Cybele 235166
BkX:260-307 Aeneas Reaches Land 236167
BkX:308-425 The Pitched Battle 237168
BkX:426-509 The Death of Pallas 240169
BkX:510-605 Aeneas Rages In Battle 243170
BkX:606-688 Juno Withdraws Turnus from the Fight 245171
BkX:689-754 Mezentius Rages in Battle 248172
BkX:755-832 The Death of Mezentius’s Son, Lausus 250173
BkX:833-908 The Death of Mezentius 252174
BkXI:1-99 Aeneas Mourns Pallas 255175
BkXI:100-138 Aeneas Offers Peace 257176
BkXI:139-181 Evander Mourns Pallas 258177
BkXI:182-224 The Funeral Pyres 260178
BkXI:225-295 An Answer From Arpi 261179
BkXI:296-335 Latinus’s Proposal 263180
BkXI:336-375 Drances Attacks Turnus Verbally 264181
BkXI:376-444 Turnus Replies 265182
BkXI:445-531 The Trojans Attack 267183
BkXI:532-596 Diana’s Concern For Camilla 269184
BkXI:597-647 The Armies Engage 271185
BkXI:648-724 Camilla In Action 273186
BkXI:725-767 Arruns Follows Her 275187
BkXI:768-835 The Death of Camilla 276188
BkXI:836-915 Opis Takes Revenge 278189
BkXII:1-53 Turnus Demands Marriage 281190
BkXII:54-80 He Proposes Single Combat 282191
BkXII:81-112 He Prepares For Battle 283192
BkXII:113-160 Juno Speaks to Juturna 284193
BkXII:161-215 Aeneas and Latinus Sacrifice 285194
BkXII:216-265 The Rutulians Break The Treaty 287195
BkXII:266-310 Renewed Fighting 288196
BkXII:311-382 Aeneas Wounded: Turnus Rampant 289197
BkXII:383-467 Venus Heals Aeneas 292198
BkXII:468-499 Juturna Foils Aeneas 294199
BkXII:500-553 Aeneas And Turnus Amongst The Slaughter 295200
BkXII:554-592 Aeneas Attacks The City 296201
BkXII:593-613 Queen Amata’s Suicide 298202
BkXII:614-696 Turnus Hears Of Amata’s Death 298203
BkXII:697-765 The Final Duel Begins 300204
BkXII:766-790 The Goddesses Intervene 302205
BkXII:791-842 Jupiter And Juno Decide The Future 303206
BkXII:843-886 Jupiter Sends Juturna A Sign 305207
BkXII:887-952 The Death Of Turnus 306208
BkI:1-11 Invocation to the Muse209
I sing of arms and the man, he who, exiled by fate,210
first came from the coast of Troy to Italy, and to211
Lavinian shores – hurled about endlessly by land and sea,212
by the will of the gods, by cruel Juno’s remorseless anger,213
long suffering also in war, until he founded a city214
and brought his gods to Latium: from that the Latin people215
came, the lords of Alba Longa, the walls of noble Rome.216
Muse, tell me the cause: how was she offended in her divinity,217
how was she grieved, the Queen of Heaven, to drive a man,218
noted for virtue, to endure such dangers, to face so many219
trials? Can there be such anger in the minds of the gods?220
BkI:12-49 The Anger of Juno221
There was an ancient city, Carthage (held by colonists from Tyre),222
opposite Italy, and the far-off mouths of the Tiber,223
rich in wealth, and very savage in pursuit of war.224
They say Juno loved this one land above all others,225
even neglecting Samos: here were her weapons226
and her chariot, even then the goddess worked at,227
and cherished, the idea that it should have supremacy228
over the nations, if only the fates allowed.229
Yet she’d heard of offspring, derived from Trojan blood,230
that would one day overthrow the Tyrian stronghold:231
that from them a people would come, wide-ruling, 232
and proud in war, to Libya’s ruin: so the Fates ordained.233
Fearing this, and remembering the ancient war234
she had fought before, at Troy, for her dear Argos,235
(and the cause of her anger and bitter sorrows236
had not yet passed from her mind: the distant judgement237
of Paris stayed deep in her heart, the injury to her scorned beauty,238
her hatred of the race, and abducted Ganymede’s honours)239
the daughter of Saturn, incited further by this,240
hurled the Trojans, the Greeks and pitiless Achilles had left, 241
round the whole ocean, keeping them far from Latium:242
they wandered for many years, driven by fate over all the seas.243
Such an effort it was to found the Roman people.244
They were hardly out of sight of Sicily’s isle, in deeper water,245
joyfully spreading sail, bronze keel ploughing the brine, 246
when Juno, nursing the eternal wound in her breast,247
spoke to herself: ‘Am I to abandon my purpose, conquered,248
unable to turn the Teucrian king away from Italy!249
Why, the fates forbid it. Wasn’t Pallas able to burn250
the Argive fleet, to sink it in the sea, because of the guilt251
and madness of one single man, Ajax, son of Oileus? 252
She herself hurled Jupiter’s swift fire from the clouds,253
scattered the ships, and made the sea boil with storms:254
She caught him up in a water-spout, as he breathed flame255
from his pierced chest, and pinned him to a sharp rock:256
yet I, who walk about as queen of the gods, wife257
and sister of Jove, wage war on a whole race, for so many years.258
Indeed, will anyone worship Juno’s power from now on,259
or place offerings, humbly, on her altars?’260
BkI:50-80 Juno Asks Aeolus for Help261
So debating with herself, her heart inflamed, the goddess262
came to Aeolia, to the country of storms, the place263
of wild gales. Here in his vast cave, King Aeolus,264
keeps the writhing winds, and the roaring tempests,265
under control, curbs them with chains and imprisonment.266
They moan angrily at the doors, with a mountain’s vast murmurs:267
Aeolus sits, holding his sceptre, in his high stronghold,268
softening their passions, tempering their rage: if not,269
they’d surely carry off seas and lands and the highest heavens, 270
with them, in rapid flight, and sweep them through the air.271
But the all-powerful Father, fearing this, hid them272
in dark caves, and piled a high mountain mass over them273
and gave them a king, who by fixed agreement, would know274
how to give the order to tighten or slacken the reins. 275
Juno now offered these words to him, humbly:276
‘Aeolus, since the Father of gods, and king of men,277
gave you the power to quell, and raise, the waves with the winds,278
there is a people I hate sailing the Tyrrhenian Sea,279
bringing Troy’s conquered gods to Italy:280
Add power to the winds, and sink their wrecked boats,281
or drive them apart, and scatter their bodies over the sea.282
I have fourteen Nymphs of outstanding beauty:283
of whom I’ll name Deiopea, the loveliest in looks,284
joined in eternal marriage, and yours for ever, so that, 285
for such service to me as yours, she’ll spend all her years286
with you, and make you the father of lovely children.’287
Aeolus replied: ‘Your task, O queen, is to decide288
what you wish: my duty is to fulfil your orders. 289
You brought about all this kingdom of mine, the sceptre,290
Jove’s favour, you gave me a seat at the feasts of the gods,291
and you made me lord of the storms and the tempests.’292
BkI:81-123 Aeolus Raises the Storm293
When he had spoken, he reversed his trident and struck294
the hollow mountain on the side: and the winds, formed ranks,295
rushed out by the door he’d made, and whirled across the earth.296
They settle on the sea, East and West wind, 297
and the wind from Africa, together, thick with storms, 298
stir it all from its furthest deeps, and roll vast waves to shore:299
follows a cry of men and a creaking of cables.300
Suddenly clouds take sky and day away301
from the Trojan’s eyes: dark night rests on the sea.302
It thunders from the pole, and the aether flashes thick fire,303
and all things threaten immediate death to men.304
Instantly Aeneas groans, his limbs slack with cold:305
stretching his two hands towards the heavens,306
he cries out in this voice: ‘Oh, three, four times fortunate307
were those who chanced to die in front of their father’s eyes308
under Troy’s high walls! O Diomede, son of Tydeus309
bravest of Greeks! Why could I not have fallen, at your hand, 310
in the fields of Ilium, and poured out my spirit, 311
where fierce Hector lies, beneath Achilles’s spear,312
and mighty Sarpedon: where Simois rolls, and sweeps away313
so many shields, helmets, brave bodies, of men, in its waves!’314
Hurling these words out, a howling blast from the north,315
strikes square on the sail, and lifts the seas to heaven:316
the oars break: then the prow swings round and offers317
the beam to the waves: a steep mountain of water follows in a mass.318
Some ships hang on the breaker’s crest: to others the yawning deep319
shows land between the waves: the surge rages with sand.320
The south wind catches three, and whirls them onto hidden rocks321
(rocks the Italians call the Altars, in mid-ocean,322
a vast reef on the surface of the sea) three the east wind drives323
from the deep, to the shallows and quick-sands (a pitiful sight),324
dashes them against the bottom, covers them with a gravel mound.325
A huge wave, toppling, strikes one astern, in front of his very eyes,326
one carrying faithful Orontes and the Lycians. 327
The steersman’s thrown out and hurled headlong, face down:328
but the sea turns the ship three times, driving her round,329
in place, and the swift vortex swallows her in the deep.330
Swimmers appear here and there in the vast waste,331
men’s weapons, planking, Trojan treasure in the waves.332
Now the storm conquers Iloneus’s tough ship, now Achates,333
now that in which Abas sailed, and old Aletes’s:334
their timbers sprung in their sides, all the ships335
let in the hostile tide, and split open at the seams.336
BkI:124-156 Neptune Intervenes337
Neptune, meanwhile, greatly troubled, saw that the sea338
was churned with vast murmur, and the storm was loose339
and the still waters welled from their deepest levels:340
he raised his calm face from the waves, gazing over the deep.341
He sees Aeneas’s fleet scattered all over the ocean,342
the Trojans crushed by the breakers, and the plummeting sky.343
And Juno’s anger, and her stratagems, do not escape her brother.344
He calls the East and West winds to him, and then says:345
‘Does confidence in your birth fill you so? Winds, do you dare,346
without my intent, to mix earth with sky, and cause such trouble,347
now? You whom I – ! But it’s better to calm the running waves:348
you’ll answer to me later for this misfortune, with a different punishment. Hurry, fly now, and say this to your king:349
control of the ocean, and the fierce trident, were given to me,350
by lot, and not to him. He owns the wild rocks, home to you,351
and yours, East Wind: let Aeolus officiate in his palace,352
and be king in the closed prison of the winds.’353
So he speaks, and swifter than his speech, he calms the swollen sea,354
scatters the gathered cloud, and brings back the sun.355
Cymothoë and Triton, working together, thrust the ships356
from the sharp reef: Neptune himself raises them with his trident,357
parts the vast quicksand, tempers the flood,358
and glides on weightless wheels, over the tops of the waves.359
As often, when rebellion breaks out in a great nation,360
and the common rabble rage with passion, and soon stones361
and fiery torches fly (frenzy supplying weapons),362
if they then see a man of great virtue, and weighty service,363
they are silent, and stand there listening attentively:364
he sways their passions with his words and soothes their hearts:365
so all the uproar of the ocean died, as soon as their father,366
gazing over the water, carried through the clear sky, wheeled367
his horses, and gave them their head, flying behind in his chariot.368
BkI:157-222 Shelter on the Libyan Coast369
The weary followers of Aeneas made efforts to set a course370
for the nearest land, and tacked towards the Libyan coast.371
There is a place there in a deep inlet: an island forms a harbour372
with the barrier of its bulk, on which every wave from the deep373
breaks, and divides into diminishing ripples.374
On this side and that, vast cliffs and twin crags loom in the sky,375
under whose summits the whole sea is calm, far and wide:376
then, above that, is a scene of glittering woods, 377
and a dark grove overhangs the water, with leafy shade:378
under the headland opposite is a cave, curtained with rock,379
inside it, fresh water, and seats of natural stone,380
the home of Nymphs. No hawsers moor the weary ships381
here, no anchor, with its hooked flukes, fastens them.382
Aeneas takes shelter here with seven ships gathered383
from the fleet, and the Trojans, with a passion for dry land,384
disembarking, take possession of the sands they longed for, 385
and stretch their brine-caked bodies on the shore.386
At once Achates strikes a spark from his flint,387
catches the fire in the leaves, places dry fuel round it,388
and quickly has flames among the kindling.389
Then, wearied by events, they take out wheat, damaged390
by the sea, and implements of Ceres, and prepare to parch391
the grain over the flames, and grind it on stone.392
Aeneas climbs a crag meanwhile, and searches the whole prospect393
far and wide over the sea, looking if he can see anything394
of Antheus and his storm-tossed Phrygian galleys,395
or Capys, or Caicus’s arms blazoned on a high stern. 396
There’s no ship in sight: he sees three stags wandering397
on the shore: whole herds of deer follow at their back,398
and graze in long lines along the valley.399
He halts at this, and grasps in his hand his bow 400
and swift arrows, shafts that loyal Achates carries,401
and first he shoots the leaders themselves, their heads,402
with branching antlers, held high, then the mass, with his shafts,403
and drives the whole crowd in confusion among the leaves:404
The conqueror does not stop until he’s scattered seven huge405
carcasses on the ground, equal in number to his ships.406
Then he seeks the harbour, and divides them among all his friends.407
Next he shares out the wine that the good Acestes had stowed408
in jars, on the Trinacrian coast, and that hero had given them409
on leaving: and speaking to them, calmed their sad hearts:410
‘O friends (well, we were not unknown to trouble before)411
O you who’ve endured worse, the god will grant an end to this too.412
You’ve faced rabid Scylla, and her deep-sounding cliffs:413
and you’ve experienced the Cyclopes’s rocks:414
remember your courage and chase away gloomy fears:415
perhaps one day you’ll even delight in remembering this.416
Through all these misfortunes, these dangerous times,417
we head for Latium, where the fates hold peaceful lives418
for us: there Troy’s kingdom can rise again. Endure,419
and preserve yourselves for happier days.’420
So his voice utters, and sick with the weight of care, he pretends421
hope, in his look, and stifles the pain deep in his heart.422
They make ready the game, and the future feast:423
they flay the hides from the ribs and lay the flesh bare:424
some cut it in pieces, quivering, and fix it on spits,425
others place cauldrons on the beach, and feed them with flames.426
Then they revive their strength with food, stretched on the grass,427
and fill themselves with rich venison and old wine.428
When hunger is quenched by the feast, and the remnants cleared,429
deep in conversation, they discuss their missing friends, 430
and, between hope and fear, question whether they live,431
or whether they’ve suffered death and no longer hear their name.432
Aeneas, the virtuous, above all mourns the lot of fierce Orontes,433
then that of Amycus, together with Lycus’s cruel fate, 434
and those of brave Gyus, and brave Cloanthus.435
BkI:223-256 Venus Intercedes with Jupiter436
Now, all was complete, when Jupiter, from the heights of the air,437
looked down on the sea with its flying sails, and the broad lands,438
and the coasts, and the people far and wide, and paused, 439
at the summit of heaven, and fixed his eyes on the Libyan kingdom.440
And as he weighed such cares as he had in his heart, Venus spoke441
to him, sadder still, her bright eyes brimming with tears:442
‘Oh you who rule things human, and divine, with eternal law,443
and who terrify them all with your lightning-bolt,444
what can my Aeneas have done to you that’s so serious,445
what have the Trojans done, who’ve suffered so much destruction,446
to whom the whole world’s closed, because of the Italian lands?447
Surely you promised that at some point, as the years rolled by,448
the Romans would rise from them, leaders would rise,449
restored from Teucer’s blood, who would hold power450
over the sea, and all the lands. Father, what thought has changed451
your mind? It consoled me for the fall of Troy, and its sad ruin,452
weighing one destiny, indeed, against opposing destinies:453
now the same misfortune follows these men driven on by such454
disasters. Great king, what end to their efforts will you give?455
Antenor could escape through the thick of the Greek army,456
and safely enter the Illyrian gulfs, and deep into the realms457
of the Liburnians, and pass the founts of Timavus,458
from which the river bursts, with a huge mountainous roar,459
through nine mouths, and buries the fields under its noisy flood.460
Here, nonetheless, he sited the city of Padua, and homes461
for Teucrians, and gave the people a name, and hung up462
the arms of Troy: now he’s calmly settled, in tranquil peace.463
But we, your race, to whom you permit the heights of heaven,464
lose our ships (shameful!), betrayed, because of one person’s anger,465
and kept far away from the shores of Italy.466
Is this the prize for virtue? Is this how you restore our rule?467
The father of men and gods, smiled at her with that look468
with which he clears the sky of storms,469
kissed his daughter’s lips, and then said this:470
BkI:257-296 Jupiter’s Prophecy471
‘Don’t be afraid, Cytherea, your child’s fate remains unaltered:472
You’ll see the city of Lavinium, and the walls I promised,473
and you’ll raise great-hearted Aeneas high, to the starry sky:474
No thought has changed my mind. This son of yours475
(since this trouble gnaws at my heart, I’ll speak,476
and unroll the secret scroll of destiny)477
will wage a mighty war in Italy, destroy proud peoples,478
and establish laws, and city walls, for his warriors,479
until a third summer sees his reign in Latium, and 480
three winter camps pass since the Rutulians were beaten.481
But the boy Ascanius, surnamed Iulus now (He was Ilus482
while the Ilian kingdom was a reality) will imperially483
complete thirty great circles of the turning months,484
and transfer his throne from its site at Lavinium,485
and mighty in power, will build the walls of Alba Longa.486
Here kings of Hector’s race will reign now 487
for three hundred years complete, until a royal priestess,488
Ilia, heavy with child, shall bear Mars twins.489
Then Romulus will further the race, proud in his nurse490
the she-wolf’s tawny pelt, and found the walls of Mars,491
and call the people Romans, from his own name.492
I’ve fixed no limits or duration to their possessions:493
I’ve given them empire without end. Why, harsh Juno494
who now torments land, and sea and sky with fear,495
will respond to better judgement, and favour the Romans,496
masters of the world, and people of the toga, with me.497
So it is decreed. A time will come, as the years glide by,498
when the Trojan house of Assaracus will force Phthia499
into slavery, and be lords of beaten Argos. 500
From this glorious source a Trojan Caesar will be born,501
who will bound the empire with Ocean, his fame with the stars,502
Augustus, a Julius, his name descended from the great Iulus.503
You, no longer anxious, will receive him one day in heaven,504
burdened with Eastern spoils: he’ll be called to in prayer.505
Then with wars abandoned, the harsh ages will grow mild:506
White haired Trust, and Vesta, Quirinus with his brother Remus507
will make the laws: the gates of War, grim with iron, 508
and narrowed by bars, will be closed: inside impious Rage will roar509
frighteningly from blood-stained mouth, seated on savage weapons,510
hands tied behind his back, with a hundred knots of bronze.’511
BkI:297-371 Venus Speaks to Aeneas512
Saying this, he sends Mercury, Maia’s son, down from heaven,513
so that the country and strongholds of this new Carthage 514
would open to the Trojans, as guests, and Dido, unaware of fate, 515
would not keep them from her territory. He flies through the air516
with a beating of mighty wings and quickly lands on Libyan shore.517
And soon does as commanded, and the Phoenicians set aside518
their savage instincts, by the god’s will: the queen above all 519
adopts calm feelings, and kind thoughts, towards the Trojans.520
But Aeneas, the virtuous, turning things over all night,521
decides, as soon as kindly dawn appears, to go out522
and explore the place, to find what shores he has reached,523
on the wind, who owns them (since he sees desert) 524
man or beast, and bring back the details to his friends. 525
He conceals the boats in over-hanging woods526
under an arching cliff, enclosed by trees527
and leafy shadows: accompanied only by Achetes,528
he goes, swinging two broad-bladed spears in his hand.529
His mother met him herself, among the trees, with the face530
and appearance of a virgin, and a virgin’s weapons,531
a Spartan girl, or such as Harpalyce of Thrace, 532
who wearies horses, and outdoes winged Hebrus in flight.533
For she’d slung her bow from her shoulders, at the ready,534
like a huntress, and loosed her hair for the wind to scatter,535
her knees bare, and her flowing tunic gathered up in a knot.536
And she cried first: ‘Hello, you young men, tell me, 537
if you’ve seen my sister wandering here by any chance,538
wearing a quiver, and the hide of a dappled lynx,539
or shouting, hot on the track of a slavering boar?’540
So Venus: and so Venus’s son began in answer:541
‘I’ve not seen or heard any of your sisters, O Virgin –542
or how should I name you? Since your looks are not mortal543
and your voice is more than human: oh, a goddess for certain!544
Or Phoebus’s sister? Or one of the race of Nymphs?545
Be kind, whoever you may be, and lighten our labour,546
and tell us only what sky we’re under, and what shores547
we’ve landed on: we’re adrift here, driven by wind and vast seas,548
knowing nothing of the people or the country:549
many a sacrifice to you will fall at the altars, under our hand.’550
Then Venus said: ‘I don’t think myself worthy of such honours:551
it’s the custom of Tyrian girls to carry a quiver, 552
and lace our calves high up, over red hunting boots. 553
You see the kingdom of Carthage, Tyrians, Agenor’s city:554
but bordered by Libyans, a people formidable in war.555
Dido rules this empire, having set out from Tyre,556
fleeing her brother. It’s a long tale of wrong, with many557
windings: but I’ll trace the main chapters of the story.558
Sychaeus was her husband, wealthiest, in land, of Phoenicians559
and loved with a great love by the wretched girl, 560
whose father gave her as a virgin to him, and wed them561
with great solemnity. But her brother Pygmalion, savage562
in wickedness beyond all others, held the kingdom of Tyre. 563
Madness came between them. The king, blinded by greed for gold,564
killed the unwary Sychaeus, secretly, with a knife, impiously,565
in front of the altars, indifferent to his sister’s affections. 566
He concealed his actions for a while, deceived the lovesick girl,567
with empty hopes, and many evil pretences.568
But the ghost of her unburied husband came to her in dream:569
lifting his pale head in a strange manner, he laid bare the cruelty570
at the altars, and his heart pierced by the knife,571
and unveiled all the secret wickedness of that house.572
Then he urged her to leave quickly and abandon her country,573
and, to help her journey, revealed an ancient treasure574
under the earth, an unknown weight of gold and silver.575
Shaken by all this, Dido prepared her flight and her friends.576
Those who had fierce hatred of the tyrant or bitter fear,577
gathered together: they seized some ships that by chance578
were ready, and loaded the gold: greedy Pygmalion’s riches579
are carried overseas: a woman leads the enterprise.580
The came to this place, and bought land, where you now see581
the vast walls, and resurgent stronghold, of new Carthage,582
as much as they could enclose with the strips of hide583
from a single bull, and from that they called it Byrsa.584
But who then are you? What shores do you come from?585
What course do you take?’ He sighed as she questioned him,586
and drawing the words from deep in his heart he replied:587
BkI:372-417 She Directs Him to Dido’s Palace588
‘O goddess, if I were to start my tale at the very beginning, 589
and you had time to hear the story of our misfortunes,590
Vesper would have shut day away in the closed heavens.591
A storm drove us at whim to Libya’s shores, 592
sailing the many seas from ancient Troy, 593
if by chance the name of Troy has come to your hearing.594
I am that Aeneas, the virtuous, who carries my household gods595
in my ship with me, having snatched them from the enemy, 596
my name is known beyond the sky.597
I seek my country Italy, and a people born of Jupiter on high.598
I embarked on the Phrygian sea with twenty ships,599
following my given fate, my mother, a goddess, showing the way:600
barely seven are left, wrenched from the wind and waves.601
I myself wander, destitute and unknown, in the Libyan desert,602
driven from Europe and Asia.’ Venus did not wait603
for further complaint but broke in on his lament like this:604
‘Whoever you are I don’t think you draw the breath of life605
while hated by the gods, you who’ve reached a city of Tyre.606
Only go on from here, and take yourself to the queen’s threshold,607
since I bring you news that your friends are restored,608
and your ships recalled, driven to safety by the shifting winds,609
unless my parents taught me false prophecies, in vain.610
See, those twelve swans in exultant line, that an eagle,611
Jupiter’s bird, swooping from the heavens,612
was troubling in the clear sky: now, in a long file, they seem613
to have settled, or be gazing down now at those who already have.614
As, returning, their wings beat in play, and they circle the zenith615
in a crowd, and give their cry, so your ships and your people616
are in harbour, or near its entrance under full sail.617
Only go on, turn your steps where the path takes you.’618
She spoke, and turning away she reflected the light 619
from her rose-tinted neck, and breathed a divine perfume620
from her ambrosial hair: her robes trailed down to her feet,621
and, in her step, showed her a true goddess. He recognised622
his mother, and as she vanished followed her with his voice:623
‘You too are cruel, why do you taunt your son with false624
phantoms? Why am I not allowed to join hand625
with hand, and speak and hear true words?’626
So he accuses her, and turns his steps towards the city.627
But Venus veiled them with a dark mist as they walked,628
and, as a goddess, spread a thick covering of cloud around them,629
so that no one could see them, or touch them,630
or cause them delay, or ask them where they were going.631
She herself soars high in the air, to Paphos, and returns to her home632
with delight, where her temple and its hundred altars 633
steam with Sabean incense, fragrant with fresh garlands.634
BkI:418-463 The Temple of Juno635
Meanwhile they’ve tackled the route the path revealed.636
And soon they climbed the hill that looms high over the city,637
and looks down from above on the towers that face it.638
Aeneas marvels at the mass of buildings, once huts,639
marvels at the gates, the noise, the paved roads.640
The eager Tyrians are busy, some building walls,641
and raising the citadel, rolling up stones by hand,642
some choosing the site for a house, and marking a furrow:643
they make magistrates and laws, and a sacred senate:644
here some are digging a harbour: others lay down 645
the deep foundations of a theatre, and carve huge columns646
from the cliff, tall adornments for the future stage.647
Just as bees in early summer carry out their tasks 648
among the flowery fields, in the sun, when they lead out649
the adolescent young of their race, or cram the cells650
with liquid honey, and swell them with sweet nectar,651
or receive the incoming burdens, or forming lines652
drive the lazy herd of drones from their hives:653
the work glows, and the fragrant honey’s sweet with thyme.654
‘O fortunate those whose walls already rise!’655
Aeneas cries, and admires the summits of the city.656
He enters among them, veiled in mist (marvellous to tell)657
and mingles with the people seen by no one.658
There was a grove in the centre of the city, delightful659
with shade, where the wave and storm-tossed Phoenicians660
first uncovered the head of a fierce horse, that regal Juno661
showed them: so the race would be noted in war, 662
and rich in substance throughout the ages.663
Here Sidonian Dido was establishing a great temple664
to Juno, rich with gifts and divine presence,665
with bronze entrances rising from stairways, and beams666
jointed with bronze, and hinges creaking on bronze doors.667
Here in the grove something new appeared that calmed his fears668
for the first time, here for the first time Aeneas dared to hope669
for safety, and to put greater trust in his afflicted fortunes.670
While, waiting for the queen, in the vast temple, he looks671
at each thing: while he marvels at the city’s wealth,672
the skill of their artistry, and the products of their labours,673
he sees the battles at Troy in their correct order,674
the War, known through its fame to the whole world,675
the sons of Atreus, of Priam, and Achilles angered with both.676
He halted, and said, with tears: ‘What place is there,677
Achates, what region of earth not full of our hardships?678
See, Priam! Here too virtue has its rewards, here too679
there are tears for events, and mortal things touch the heart.680
Lose your fears: this fame will bring you benefit.’681
BkI:464-493 The Frieze682
So he speaks, and feeds his spirit with the insubstantial frieze,683
sighing often, and his face wet with the streaming tears.684
For he saw how, here, the Greeks fled, as they fought round Troy,685
chased by the Trojan youth, and, there, the Trojans fled,686
with plumed Achilles pressing them close in his chariot.687
Not far away, through his tears, he recognises Rhesus’s688
white-canvassed tents, that blood-stained Diomede, Tydeus’s son,689
laid waste with great slaughter, betrayed in their first sleep,690
diverting the fiery horses to his camp, before they could eat691
Trojan fodder, or drink from the river Xanthus.692
Elsewhere Troilus, his weapons discarded in flight,693
unhappy boy, unequally matched in his battle with Achilles,694
is dragged by his horses, clinging face-up to the empty chariot,695
still clutching the reins: his neck and hair trailing696
on the ground, and his spear reversed furrowing the dust.697
Meanwhile the Trojan women with loose hair, walked698
to unjust Pallas’s temple carrying the sacred robe,699
mourning humbly, and beating their breasts with their hands.700
The goddess was turned away, her eyes fixed on the ground.701
Three times had Achilles dragged Hector round the walls of Troy,702
and now was selling the lifeless corpse for gold.703
Then Aeneas truly heaves a deep sigh, from the depths of his heart,704
as he views the spoils, the chariot, the very body of his friend,705
and Priam stretching out his unwarlike hands.706
He recognised himself as well, fighting the Greek princes,707
and the Ethiopian ranks and black Memnon’s armour.708
Raging Penthesilea leads the file of Amazons, 709
with crescent shields, and shines out among her thousands, 710
her golden girdle fastened beneath her exposed breasts,711
a virgin warrior daring to fight with men. 712
BkI:494-519 The Arrival of Queen Dido713
While these wonderful sights are viewed by Trojan Aeneas,714
while amazed he hangs there, rapt, with fixed gaze,715
Queen Dido, of loveliest form, reached the temple,716
with a great crowd of youths accompanying her.717
Just as Diana leads her dancing throng on Eurotas’s banks,718
or along the ridges of Cynthus, and, following her,719
a thousand mountain-nymphs gather on either side:720
and she carries a quiver on her shoulder, and overtops721
all the other goddesses as she walks: and delight722
seizes her mother Latona’s silent heart:723
such was Dido, so she carried herself, joyfully,724
amongst them, furthering the work, and her rising kingdom.725
Then, fenced with weapons, and resting on a high throne,726
she took her seat, at the goddess’s doorway, under the central vault.727
She was giving out laws and statutes to the people, and sharing728
the workers labour out in fair proportions, or assigning it by lot:729
when Aeneas suddenly saw Antheus, and Sergestus, 730
and brave Cloanthus, approaching, among a large crowd,731
with others of the Trojans whom the black storm-clouds732
had scattered over the sea and carried far off to other shores. 733
He was stunned, and Achates was stunned as well734
with joy and fear: they burned with eagerness to clasp hands,735
but the unexpected event confused their minds.736
They stay concealed and, veiled in the deep mist, they watch737
to see what happens to their friends, what shore they have left 738
the fleet on, and why they are here: the elect of every ship came739
begging favour, and made for the temple among the shouting. 740
BkI:520-560 Ilioneus Asks Her Assistance741
When they’d entered, and freedom to speak in person742
had been granted, Ilioneus, the eldest, began calmly:743
‘O queen, whom Jupiter grants the right to found744
a new city, and curb proud tribes with your justice, 745
we unlucky Trojans, driven by the winds over every sea,746
pray to you: keep the terror of fire away from our ships,747
spare a virtuous race and look more kindly on our fate.748
We have not come to despoil Libyan homes with the sword,749
or to carry off stolen plunder to the shore: that violence750
is not in our minds, the conquered have not such pride.751
There’s a place called Hesperia by the Greeks,752
an ancient land, strong in men, with a rich soil:753
There the Oenotrians lived: now rumour has it 754
that a later people has called it Italy, after their leader.755
We had set our course there when stormy Orion,756
rising with the tide, carried us onto hidden shoals,757
and fierce winds scattered us far, with the overwhelming surge,758
over the waves among uninhabitable rocks:759
we few have drifted here to your shores.760
What race of men is this? What land is so barbaric as to allow761
this custom, that we’re denied the hospitality of the sands?762
They stir up war, and prevent us setting foot on dry land.763
If you despise the human race and mortal weapons,764
still trust that the gods remember right and wrong.765
Aeneas was our king, no one more just than him766
in his duty, or greater in war and weaponry.767
If fate still protects the man, if he still enjoys the ethereal air,768
if he doesn’t yet rest among the cruel shades, there’s nothing769
to fear, and you’d not repent of vying with him first in kindness.770
Then there are cities and fields too in the region of Sicily, 771
and famous Acestes, of Trojan blood. Allow us772
to beach our fleet, damaged by the storms,773
and cut planks from trees, and shape oars,774
so if our king’s restored and our friends are found775
we can head for Italy, gladly seek Italy and Latium:776
and if our saviour’s lost, and the Libyan seas hold you,777
Troy’s most virtuous father, if no hope now remains from Iulus,778
let us seek the Sicilian straits, from which we were driven,779
and the home prepared for us, and a king, Acestes.’780
So Ilioneus spoke: and the Trojans all shouted with one voice. 781
BkI:561-585 Dido Welcomes the Trojans782
Then, Dido, spoke briefly, with lowered eyes:783
‘Trojans, free your hearts of fear: dispel your cares.784
Harsh events and the newness of the kingdom force me to effect785
such things, and protect my borders with guards on all sides.786
Who doesn’t know of Aeneas’s race, and the city of Troy,787
the bravery, the men, or so great a blaze of warfare,788
indeed, we Phoenicians don’t possess unfeeling hearts,789
the sun doesn’t harness his horses that far from this Tyrian city.790
Whether you opt for mighty Hesperia, and Saturn’s fields,791
or the summit of Eryx, and Acestes for king,792
I’ll see you safely escorted, and help you with my wealth.793
Or do you wish to settle here with me, as equals in my kingdom?794
The city I build is yours: beach your ships:795
Trojans and Tyrians will be treated by me without distinction.796
I wish your king Aeneas himself were here, driven797
by that same storm! Indeed, I’ll send reliable men798
along the coast, and order them to travel the length of Libya,799
in case he’s driven aground, and wandering the woods and towns.’800
Brave Achetes, and our forefather Aeneas, their spirits raised801
by these words, had been burning to break free of the mist.802
Achates was first to speak, saying to Aeneas: ‘Son of the goddess,803
what intention springs to your mind? You see all’s safe,804
the fleet and our friends have been restored to us.805
Only one is missing, whom we saw plunged in the waves:806
all else is in accord with your mother’s words.’807
BkI:586-612 Aeneas Makes Himself Known808
He’d scarcely spoken when the mist surrounding them809
suddenly parted, and vanished in the clear air.810
Aeneas stood there, shining in the bright daylight,811
like a god in shoulders and face: since his mother812
had herself imparted to her son beauty to his hair,813
a glow of youth, and a joyful charm to his eyes:814
like the glory art can give to ivory, or as when silver,815
or Parian marble, is surrounded by gold.816
Then he addressed the queen, suddenly, surprising them all,817
saying: ‘I am here in person, Aeneas the Trojan,818
him whom you seek, saved from the Libyan waves. 819
O Dido, it is not in our power, nor those of our Trojan race,820
wherever they may be, scattered through the wide world,821
to pay you sufficient thanks, you who alone have pitied822
Troy’s unspeakable miseries, and share your city and home823
with us, the remnant left by the Greeks, wearied824
by every mischance, on land and sea, and lacking everything.825
May the gods, and the mind itself conscious of right,826
bring you a just reward, if the gods respect the virtuous,827
if there is justice anywhere. What happy age gave birth828
to you? What parents produced such a child?829
Your honour, name and praise will endure forever,830
whatever lands may summon me, while rivers run831
to the sea, while shadows cross mountain slopes, 832
while the sky nourishes the stars.’ So saying he grasps833
his friend Iloneus by the right hand, Serestus with the left,834
then others, brave Gyus and brave Cloanthus.835
BkI:613-656 Dido Receives Aeneas836
Sidonian Dido was first amazed at the hero’s looks837
then at his great misfortunes, and she spoke, saying:838
‘Son of a goddess, what fate pursues you through all839
these dangers? What force drives you to these barbarous shores?840
Are you truly that Aeneas whom kindly Venus bore841
to Trojan Anchises, by the waters of Phrygian Simois?842
Indeed, I myself remember Teucer coming to Sidon,843
exiled from his country’s borders, seeking a new kingdom844
with Belus’s help: Belus, my father, was laying waste845
rich Cyprus, and, as victor, held it by his authority.846
Since then the fall of the Trojan city is known to me,847
and your name, and those of the Greek kings.848
Even their enemy granted the Teucrians high praise,849
maintaining they were born of the ancient Teucrian stock.850
So come, young lords, and enter our palace.851
Fortune, pursuing me too, through many similar troubles,852
willed that I would find peace at last in this land.853
Not being unknown to evil, I’ve learned to aid the unhappy.’854
So she speaks, and leads Aeneas into the royal house,855
and proclaims, as well, offerings at the god’s temples.856
She sends no less than twenty bulls to his friends857
on the shore, and a hundred of her largest pigs with 858
bristling backs, a hundred fat lambs with the ewes,859
and joyful gifts of wine, but the interior of the palace860
is laid out with royal luxury, and they prepare861
a feast in the centre of the palace: covers worked862
skilfully in princely purple, massive silverware863
on the tables, and her forefathers’ heroic deeds864
engraved in gold, a long series of exploits traced865
through many heroes, since the ancient origins of her people. 866
Aeneas quickly sends Achates to the ships867
to carry the news to Ascanius (since a father’s love868
won’t let his mind rest) and bring him to the city:869
on Ascanius all the care of a fond parent is fixed.870
He commands him to bring gifts too, snatched871
from the ruins of Troy, a figured robe stiff with gold,872
and a cloak fringed with yellow acanthus,873
worn by Helen of Argos, brought from Mycenae874
when she sailed to Troy and her unlawful marriage,875
a wonderful gift from her mother Leda:876
and the sceptre that Ilione, Priam’s eldest daughter,877
once carried, and a necklace of pearls, and a double-coronet878
of jewels and gold. Achates, hastening to fulfil879
these commands, took his way towards the ships.880
BkI:657-694 Cupid Impersonates Ascanius881
But Venus was planning new wiles and stratagems882
in her heart: how Cupid, altered in looks, might arrive883
in place of sweet Ascanius, and arouse the passionate queen884
by his gifts, and entwine the fire in her bones: truly she fears885
the unreliability of this house, and the duplicitous Tyrians:886
unyielding Juno angers her, and her worries increase with nightfall.887
So she speaks these words to winged Cupid:888
‘My son, you who alone are my great strength, my power, 889
a son who scorns mighty Jupiter’s Typhoean thunderbolts,890
I ask your help, and humbly call on your divine will.891
It’s known to you how Aeneas, your brother, is driven892
over the sea, round all the shores, by bitter Juno’s hatred,893
and you have often grieved with my grief.894
Phoenician Dido holds him there, delaying him with flattery, 895
and I fear what may come of Juno’s hospitality: 896
at such a critical turn of events she’ll not be idle.897
So I intend to deceive the queen with guile, and encircle898
her with passion, so that no divine will can rescue her,899
but she’ll be seized, with me, by deep love for Aeneas.900
Now listen to my thoughts on how you can achieve this.901
Summoned by his dear father, the royal child, 902
my greatest concern, prepares to go to the Sidonian city,903
carrying gifts that survived the sea, and the flames of Troy.904
I’ll lull him to sleep and hide him in my sacred shrine905
on the heights of Cythera or Idalium, so he can know906
nothing of my deceptions, or interrupt them mid-way.907
For no more than a single night imitate his looks by art,908
and, a boy yourself, take on the known face of a boy,909
so that when Dido takes you to her breast, joyfully,910
amongst the royal feast, and the flowing wine,911
when she embraces you, and plants sweet kisses on you,912
you’ll breathe hidden fire into her, deceive her with your poison.’913
Cupid obeys his dear mother’s words, sets aside his wings,914
and laughingly trips along with Iulus’s step.915
But Venus pours gentle sleep over Ascanius’s limbs,916
and warming him in her breast, carries him, with divine power,917
to Idalia’s high groves, where soft marjoram smothers him918
in flowers, and the breath of its sweet shade.919
BkI:695-722 Cupid Deceives Dido920
Now, obedient to her orders, delighting in Achetes as guide,921
Cupid goes off carrying royal gifts for the Tyrians.922
When he arrives the queen has already settled herself923
in the centre, on her golden couch under royal canopies.924
Now our forefather Aeneas and the youth of Troy925
gather there, and recline on cloths of purple.926
Servants pour water over their hands: serve bread 927
from baskets: and bring napkins of smooth cloth.928
Inside there are fifty female servants, in a long line,929
whose task it is to prepare the meal, and tend the hearth fires:930
a hundred more, and as many pages of like age,931
to load the tables with food, and fill the cups.932
And the Tyrians too are gathered in crowds through the festive933
halls, summoned to recline on the embroidered couches.934
They marvel at Aeneas’s gifts, marvel at Iulus,935
the god’s brilliant appearance, and deceptive words,936
at the robe, and the cloak embroidered with yellow acanthus.937
The unfortunate Phoenician above all, doomed to future ruin,938
cannot pacify her feelings, and catches fire with gazing,939
stirred equally by the child and by the gifts.940
He, having hung in an embrace round Aeneas’s neck,941
and sated the deceived father’s great love,942
seeks out the queen. Dido, clings to him with her eyes943
and with her heart, taking him now and then on her lap, 944
unaware how great a god is entering her, to her sorrow.945
But he, remembering his Cyprian mother’s wishes,946
begins gradually to erase all thought of Sychaeus, 947
and works at seducing her mind, so long unstirred,948
and her heart unused to love, with living passion.949
BkI:723-756 Dido Asks for Aeneas’s Story950
At the first lull in the feasting, the tables were cleared,951
and they set out vast bowls, and wreathed the wine with garlands.952
Noise filled the palace, and voices rolled out across the wide halls:953
bright lamps hung from the golden ceilings,954
and blazing candles dispelled the night.955
Then the queen asked for a drinking-cup, heavy956
with gold and jewels, that Belus and all Belus’s line957
were accustomed to use, and filled it958
with wine. Then the halls were silent. She spoke:959
‘Jupiter, since they say you’re the one who creates960
the laws of hospitality, let this be a happy day961
for the Tyrians and those from Troy,962
and let it be remembered by our children.963
Let Bacchus, the joy-bringer, and kind Juno be present,964
and you, O Phoenicians, make this gathering festive.’965
She spoke and poured an offering of wine onto the table,966
and after the libation was the first to touch the bowl to her lips,967
then she gave it to Bitias, challenging him: he briskly drained968
the brimming cup, drenching himself in its golden fullness, 969
then other princes drank. Iolas, the long-haired, made 970
his golden lyre resound, he whom great Atlas taught.971
He sang of the wandering moon and the sun’s labours,972
where men and beasts came from, and rain and fire,973
of Arcturus, the rainy Hyades, the two Bears:974
why the winter suns rush to dip themselves in the sea,975
and what delay makes the slow nights linger.976
The Tyrians redoubled their applause, the Trojans too.977
And unfortunate Dido, she too spent the night978
in conversation, and drank deep of her passion,979
asking endlessly about Priam and Hector:980
now about the armour that Memnon, son of the Dawn,981
came with to Troy, what kind were Diomed’s horses,982
how great was Achilles. ‘But come, my guest, tell us983
from the start all the Greek trickery, your men’s mishaps,984
and your wanderings: since it’s the seventh summer now985
that brings you here, in your journey, over every land and sea.’986
BkII:1-56 The Trojan Horse: Laocoön’s Warning987
They were all silent, and turned their faces towards him intently.988
Then from his high couch our forefather Aeneas began:989
‘O queen, you command me to renew unspeakable grief,990
how the Greeks destroyed the riches of Troy, 991
and the sorrowful kingdom, miseries I saw myself,992
and in which I played a great part. What Myrmidon,993
or Dolopian, or warrior of fierce Ulysses, could keep994
from tears in telling such a story? Now the dew-filled night995
is dropping from the sky, and the setting stars urge sleep.996
But if you have such desire to learn of our misfortunes,997
and briefly hear of Troy’s last agonies, though my mind998
shudders at the memory, and recoils in sorrow, I’ll begin.999
‘After many years have slipped by, the leaders of the Greeks,1000
opposed by the Fates, and damaged by the war, 1001
build a horse of mountainous size, through Pallas’s divine art,1002
and weave planks of fir over its ribs:1003
they pretend it’s a votive offering: this rumour spreads.1004
They secretly hide a picked body of men, chosen by lot,1005
there, in the dark body, filling the belly and the huge1006
cavernous insides with armed warriors. 1007
Tenedos is within sight, an island known to fame,1008
rich in wealth when Priam’s kingdom remained,1009
now just a bay and an unsafe anchorage for boats:1010
they sail there, and hide themselves, on the lonely shore.1011
We thought they had gone, and were seeking Mycenae1012
with the wind. So all the Trojan land was free of its long sorrow.1013
The gates were opened: it was a joy to go and see the Greek camp,1014
the deserted site and the abandoned shore.1015
Here the Dolopians stayed, here cruel Achilles,1016
here lay the fleet, here they used to meet us in battle.1017
Some were amazed at virgin Minerva’s fatal gift,1018
and marvel at the horse’s size: and at first Thymoetes, 1019
whether through treachery, or because Troy’s fate was certain,1020
urged that it be dragged inside the walls and placed on the citadel.1021
But Capys, and those of wiser judgement, commanded us1022
to either hurl this deceit of the Greeks, this suspect gift,1023
into the sea, or set fire to it from beneath,1024
or pierce its hollow belly, and probe for hiding places.1025
The crowd, uncertain, was split by opposing opinions.1026
Then Laocoön rushes down eagerly from the heights1027
of the citadel, to confront them all, a large crowd with him,1028
and shouts from far off: ‘O unhappy citizens, what madness?1029
Do you think the enemy’s sailed away? Or do you think1030
any Greek gift’s free of treachery? Is that Ulysses’s reputation?1031
Either there are Greeks in hiding, concealed by the wood,1032
or it’s been built as a machine to use against our walls,1033
or spy on our homes, or fall on the city from above,1034
or it hides some other trick: Trojans, don’t trust this horse.1035
Whatever it is, I’m afraid of Greeks even those bearing gifts.’1036
So saying he hurled his great spear, with extreme force,1037
at the creature’s side, and into the frame of the curved belly.1038
The spear stuck quivering, and at the womb’s reverberation1039
the cavity rang hollow and gave out a groan.1040
And if the gods’ fate, if our minds, had not been ill-omened,1041
he’d have incited us to mar the Greeks hiding-place with steel: 1042
Troy would still stand: and you, high tower of Priam would remain.1043
BkII:57-144 Sinon’s Tale1044
See, meanwhile, some Trojan shepherds, shouting loudly, 1045
dragging a youth, his hands tied behind his back, to the king. 1046
In order to contrive this, and lay Troy open to the Greeks,1047
he had placed himself in their path, calm in mind, and ready1048
for either course: to engage in deception, or find certain death. 1049
The Trojan youth run, crowding round, from all sides,1050
to see him, and compete in mocking the captive.1051
Listen now to Greek treachery, and learn of all their crimes1052
from just this one. Since, as he stood, looking troubled, 1053
unarmed, amongst the gazing crowd, 1054
and cast his eyes around the Phrygian ranks,1055
he said: ‘Ah! What land, what seas would accept me now?1056
What’s left for me at the last in my misery, I who have1057
no place among the Greeks, when the hostile Trojans,1058
themselves, demand my punishment and my blood?1059
At this the mood changed and all violence was checked.1060
We urged him to say what blood he was sprung from,1061
and why he suffered: and tell us what trust could be placed1062
in him as a captive. Setting fear aside at last he speaks:1063
“O king, I’ll tell you the whole truth, whatever happens,1064
and indeed I’ll not deny that I’m of Argive birth:1065
this first of all: if Fortune has made me wretched,1066
she’ll not also wrongly make me false and a liar.1067
If by any chance some mention of Palamedes’s name1068
has reached your ears, son of Belus, and talk1069
of his glorious fame, he whom the Pelasgians,1070
on false charges of treason, by atrocious perjury,1071
because he opposed the war, sent innocent to his death,1072
and who they mourn, now he’s taken from the light:1073
well my father, being poor, sent me here to the war1074
when I was young, as his friend, as we were blood relatives.1075
While Palamades was safe in power, and prospered1076
in the kings’ council, I also had some name and respect.1077
But when he passed from this world above, through1078
the jealousy of plausible Ulysses (the tale’s not unknown)1079
I was ruined, and spent my life in obscurity and grief,1080
inwardly angry at the fate of my innocent friend.1081
Maddened I could not be silent, and I promised, if chance allowed,1082
and if I ever returned as a victor to my native Argos, 1083
to avenge him, and with my words stirred bitter hatred.1084
The first hint of trouble came to me from this, because of it1085
Ulysses was always frightening me with new accusations,1086
spreading veiled rumours among the people, and guiltily1087
seeking to defend himself. He would not rest till, with Calchas1088
as his instrument – but why I do unfold this unwelcome story?1089
Why hinder you? If you consider all Greeks the same,1090
and that’s sufficient, take your vengeance now: that’s what1091
the Ithacan wants, and the sons of Atreus would pay dearly for.”1092
Then indeed we were on fire to ask, and seek the cause,1093
ignorant of such wickedness and Pelasgian trickery.1094
Trembling with fictitious feelings he continued, saying:1095
“The Greeks, weary with the long war, often longed1096
to leave Troy and execute a retreat: if only they had! 1097
Often a fierce storm from the sea land-locked them,1098
and the gale terrified them from leaving:1099
once that horse, made of maple-beams, stood there,1100
especially then, storm-clouds thundered in the sky. 1101
Anxious, we send Eurypylus to consult Phoebus’s oracle,1102
and he brings back these dark words from the sanctuary:1103
‘With blood, and a virgin sacrifice, you calmed the winds,1104
O Greeks, when you first came to these Trojan shores, seek your1105
return in blood, and the well-omened sacrifice of an Argive life.’1106
When this reached the ears of the crowd, their minds were stunned,1107
and an icy shudder ran to their deepest marrow:1108
who readies this fate, whom does Apollo choose? 1109
At this the Ithacan thrust the seer, Calchas, into their midst,1110
demanding to know what the god’s will might be,1111
among the uproar. Many were already cruelly prophesying 1112
that ingenious man’s wickedness towards me, and silently saw1113
what was coming. For ten days the seer kept silence, refusing1114
to reveal the secret by his words, or condemn anyone to death.1115
But at last, urged on by Ulysses’s loud clamour, he broke1116
into speech as agreed, and doomed me to the altar.1117
All acclaimed it, and what each feared himself, they endured1118
when directed, alas, towards one man’s destruction.1119
Now the terrible day arrived, the rites were being prepared1120
for me, the salted grain, and the headbands for my forehead.1121
I confess I saved myself from death, burst my bonds,1122
and all that night hid by a muddy lake among the reeds,1123
till they set sail, if as it happened they did.1124
And now I’ve no hope of seeing my old country again,1125
or my sweet children or the father I long for:1126
perhaps they’ll seek to punish them for my flight,1127
and avenge my crime through the death of these unfortunates.1128
But I beg you, by the gods, by divine power that knows the truth,1129
by whatever honour anywhere remains pure among men, have pity1130
on such troubles, pity the soul that endures undeserved suffering.” 1131
BkII:145-194 Sinon Deludes the Trojans1132
With these tears we grant him his life, and also pity him.1133
Priam himself is the first to order his manacles and tight bonds1134
removed, and speaks these words of kindness to him:1135
“From now on, whoever you are, forget the Greeks, lost to you:1136
you’ll be one of us. And explain to me truly what I ask: 1137
Why have they built this huge hulk of a horse? Who created it?1138
What do they aim at? What religious object or war machine is it?”1139
He spoke: the other, schooled in Pelasgian art and trickery,1140
raised his unbound palms towards the stars, saying:1141
“You, eternal fires, in your invulnerable power, be witness, 1142
you altars and impious swords I escaped,1143
you sacrificial ribbons of the gods that I wore as victim:1144
with right I break the Greek’s solemn oaths,1145
with right I hate them, and if things are hidden1146
bring them to light: I’m bound by no laws of their country.1147
Only, Troy, maintain your assurances, if I speak truth, if I repay1148
you handsomely: kept intact yourself, keep your promises intact.1149
All the hopes of the Greeks and their confidence to begin the war1150
always depended on Pallas’s aid. But from that moment1151
when the impious son of Tydeus, Diomede, and Ulysses1152
inventor of wickedness, approached the fateful Palladium to snatch1153
it from its sacred temple, killing the guards on the citadel’s heights,1154
and dared to seize the holy statue, and touch the sacred ribbons1155
of the goddess with blood-soaked hands: from that moment1156
the hopes of the Greeks receded, and slipping backwards ebbed:1157
their power fragmented, and the mind of the goddess opposed them.1158
Pallas gave sign of this, and not with dubious portents,1159
for scarcely was the statue set up in camp, when glittering flames1160
shone from the upturned eyes, a salt sweat ran over its limbs, 1161
and (wonderful to tell) she herself darted from the ground1162
with shield on her arm, and spear quivering. 1163
Calchas immediately proclaimed that the flight by sea must be1164
attempted, and that Troy cannot be uprooted by Argive weapons,1165
unless they renew the omens at Argos, and take the goddess home,1166
whom they have indeed taken by sea in their curved ships.1167
And now they are heading for their native Mycenae with the wind,1168
obtaining weapons and the friendship of the gods, re-crossing 1169
the sea to arrive unexpectedly, So Calchas reads the omens. 1170
Warned by him, they’ve set up this statue of a horse1171
for the wounded goddess, instead of the Palladium,1172
to atone severely for their sin. And Calchas ordered them1173
to raise the huge mass of woven timbers, raised to the sky,1174
so the gates would not take it, nor could it be dragged1175
inside the walls, or watch over the people in their ancient rites.1176
Since if your hands violated Minerva’s gift,1177
then utter ruin (may the gods first turn that prediction1178
on themselves!) would come to Priam and the Trojans:1179
yet if it ascended into your citadel, dragged by your hands,1180
Asia would come to the very walls of Pelops, in mighty war,1181
and a like fate would await our children.”1182
BkII:195-227 Laocoön and the Serpents1183
Through these tricks and the skill of perjured Sinon, the thing was1184
credited, and we were trapped, by his wiliness, and false tears,1185
we, who were not conquered by Diomede, or Larissan Achilles,1186
nor by the ten years of war, nor those thousand ships.1187
Then something greater and more terrible befalls1188
us wretches, and stirs our unsuspecting souls.1189
Laocoön, chosen by lot as priest of Neptune,1190
was sacrificing a huge bull at the customary altar.1191
See, a pair of serpents with huge coils, snaking over the sea1192
from Tenedos through the tranquil deep (I shudder to tell it),1193
and heading for the shore side by side: their fronts lift high1194
over the tide, and their blood-red crests top the waves,1195
the rest of their body slides through the ocean behind, 1196
and their huge backs arch in voluminous folds.1197
There’s a roar from the foaming sea: now they reach the shore,1198
and with burning eyes suffused with blood and fire,1199
lick at their hissing jaws with flickering tongues.1200
Blanching at the sight we scatter. They move1201
on a set course towards Laocoön: and first each serpent 1202
entwines the slender bodies of his two sons,1203
and biting at them, devours their wretched limbs:1204
then as he comes to their aid, weapons in hand, they seize him too,1205
and wreathe him in massive coils: now encircling his waist twice,1206
twice winding their scaly folds around his throat, 1207
their high necks and heads tower above him.1208
He strains to burst the knots with his hands,1209
his sacred headband drenched in blood and dark venom,1210
while he sends terrible shouts up to the heavens,1211
like the bellowing of a bull that has fled wounded,1212
from the altar, shaking the useless axe from its neck.1213
But the serpent pair escape, slithering away to the high temple,1214
and seek the stronghold of fierce Pallas, to hide there1215
under the goddess’s feet, and the circle of her shield.1216
BkII:228-253 The Horse Enters Troy1217
Then in truth a strange terror steals through each shuddering heart,1218
and they say that Laocoön has justly suffered for his crime1219
in wounding the sacred oak-tree with his spear,1220
by hurling its wicked shaft into the trunk.1221
“Pull the statue to her house”, they shout,1222
“and offer prayers to the goddess’s divinity.”1223
We breached the wall, and opened up the defences of the city.1224
All prepare themselves for the work and they set up wheels1225
allowing movement under its feet, and stretch hemp ropes1226
round its neck. That engine of fate mounts our walls1227
pregnant with armed men. Around it boys, and virgin girls,1228
sing sacred songs, and delight in touching their hands to the ropes:1229
Up it glides and rolls threateningly into the midst of the city.1230
O my country, O Ilium house of the gods, and you,1231
Trojan walls famous in war! Four times it sticks at the threshold1232
of the gates, and four times the weapons clash in its belly:1233
yet we press on regardless, blind with frenzy,1234
and site the accursed creature on top of our sacred citadel.1235
Even then Cassandra, who, by the god’s decree, is never 1236
to be believed by Trojans, reveals our future fate with her lips.1237
We unfortunate ones, for whom that day is our last, 1238
clothe the gods’ temples, throughout the city, with festive branches.1239
Meanwhile the heavens turn, and night rushes from the Ocean,1240
wrapping the earth, and sky, and the Myrmidons’ tricks, 1241
in its vast shadow: through the city the Trojans1242
fall silent: sleep enfolds their weary limbs.1243
BkII:254-297 The Greeks Take the City1244
And now the Greek phalanx of battle-ready ships sailed1245
from Tenedos, in the benign stillness of the silent moon,1246
seeking the known shore, when the royal galley raised1247
a torch, and Sinon, protected by the gods’ unjust doom,1248
sets free the Greeks imprisoned by planks of pine,1249
in the horses’ belly. Opened, it releases them to the air,1250
and sliding down a lowered rope, Thessandrus, and Sthenelus,1251
the leaders, and fatal Ulysses, emerge joyfully1252
from their wooden cave, with Acamas, Thoas, 1253
Peleus’s son Neoptolemus, the noble Machaon,1254
Menelaus, and Epeus who himself devised this trick.1255
They invade the city that’s drowned in sleep and wine,1256
kill the watchmen, welcome their comrades1257
at the open gates, and link their clandestine ranks.1258
It was the hour when first sleep begins for weary mortals,1259
and steals over them as the sweetest gift of the gods.1260
See, in dream, before my eyes, Hector seemed to stand there,1261
saddest of all and pouring out great tears,1262
torn by the chariot, as once he was, black with bloody dust,1263
and his swollen feet pierced by the thongs. 1264
Ah, how he looked! How changed he was 1265
from that Hector who returned wearing Achilles’s armour,1266
or who set Trojan flames to the Greek ships! His beard was ragged,1267
his hair matted with blood, bearing those many wounds he received1268
dragged around the walls of his city.1269
And I seemed to weep myself, calling out to him,1270
and speaking to him in words of sorrow:1271
“Oh light of the Troad, surest hope of the Trojans,1272
what has so delayed you? What shore do you come from1273
Hector, the long-awaited? Weary from the many troubles1274
of our people and our city I see you, oh, after the death1275
of so many of your kin! What shameful events have marred1276
that clear face? And why do I see these wounds?’1277
He does not reply, nor does he wait on my idle questions,1278
but dragging heavy sighs from the depths of his heart, he says:1279
“Ah! Son of the goddess, fly, tear yourself from the flames.1280
The enemy has taken the walls: Troy falls from her high place.1281
Enough has been given to Priam and your country: if Pergama1282
could be saved by any hand, it would have been saved by this.1283
Troy entrusts her sacred relics and household gods to you:1284
take them as friends of your fate, seek mighty walls for them,1285
those you will found at last when you have wandered the seas.”1286
So he speaks, and brings the sacred headbands in his hands1287
from the innermost shrine, potent Vesta, and the undying flame.1288
BkII:298-354 Aeneas Gathers his Comrades1289
Meanwhile the city is confused with grief, on every side,1290
and though my father Anchises’s house is remote, secluded1291
and hidden by trees, the sounds grow clearer and clearer,1292
and the terror of war sweeps upon it.1293
I shake off sleep, and climb to the highest roof-top,1294
and stand there with ears strained:1295
as when fire attacks a wheat-field when the south-wind rages,1296
or the rushing torrent from a mountain stream covers the fields,1297
drowns the ripe crops, the labour of oxen, 1298
and brings down the trees headlong, and the dazed shepherd,1299
unaware, hears the echo from a high rocky peak.1300
Now the truth is obvious, and the Greek plot revealed.1301
Now the vast hall of Deiphobus is given to ruin1302
the fire over it: now Ucalegon’s nearby blazes:1303
the wide Sigean straits throw back the glare.1304
Then the clamour of men and the blare of trumpets rises.1305
Frantically I seize weapons: not because there is much use1306
for weapons, but my spirit burns to gather men for battle1307
and race to the citadel with my friends: madness and anger1308
hurl my mind headlong, and I think it beautiful to die fighting.1309
Now, see, Panthus escaping the Greek spears,1310
Panthus, son of Othrys, Apollo’s priest on the citadel,1311
dragging along with his own hands the sacred relics,1312
the conquered gods, his little grandchild, running frantically1313
to my door: “Where’s the best advantage, Panthus, what position1314
should we take?” I’d barely spoken, when he answered1315
with a groan: “The last day comes, Troy’s inescapable hour.1316
Troy is past, Ilium is past, and the great glory of the Trojans:1317
Jupiter carries all to Argos: the Greeks are lords of the burning city. 1318
The horse, standing high on the ramparts, pours out warriors,1319
and Sinon the conqueror exultantly stirs the flames.1320
Others are at the wide-open gates, as many thousands1321
as ever came from great Mycenae: more have blocked1322
the narrow streets with hostile weapons:1323
a line of standing steel with naked flickering blades1324
is ready for the slaughter: barely the first few guards1325
at the gates attempt to fight, and they resist in blind conflict.”1326
By these words from Othrys’ son, and divine will, I’m thrust1327
amongst the weapons and the flames, where the dismal Fury1328
sounds, and the roar, and the clamour rising to the sky.1329
Friends joined me, visible in the moonlight, Ripheus,1330
and Epytus, mighty in battle, Hypanis and Dymas, 1331
gathered to my side, and young Coroebus, Mygdon’s son:1332
by chance he’d arrived in Troy at that time,1333
burning with mad love for Cassandra, and brought help,1334
as a potential son-in-law, to Priam, and the Trojans,1335
unlucky man, who didn’t listen to the prophecy1336
of his frenzied bride! When I saw them crowded there1337
eager for battle, I began as follows: “Warriors, bravest1338
of frustrated spirits, if your ardent desire is fixed1339
on following me to the end, you can see our cause’s fate.1340
All the gods by whom this empire was supported1341
have departed, leaving behind their temples and their altars:1342
you aid a burning city: let us die and rush into battle.1343
The beaten have one refuge, to have no hope of refuge.”1344
BkII:355-401 Aeneas and his Friends Resist1345
So their young spirits were roused to fury. Then, like ravaging1346
wolves in a dark mist, driven blindly by the cruel rage 1347
of their bellies, leaving their young waiting with thirsty jaws, 1348
we pass through our enemies, to certain death, and make our way1349
to the heart of the city: dark night envelops us in deep shadow.1350
Who could tell of that destruction in words, or equal our pain1351
with tears? The ancient city falls, she who ruled for so many years:1352
crowds of dead bodies lie here and there in the streets,1353
among the houses, and on the sacred thresholds of the gods.1354
Nor is it Trojans alone who pay the penalty with their blood:1355
courage returns at times to the hearts of the defeated1356
and the Greek conquerors die. Cruel mourning is everywhere,1357
everywhere there is panic, and many a form of death. 1358
First, Androgeos, meets us, with a great crowd of Greeks1359
around him, unknowingly thinking us allied troops,1360
and calls to us in friendly speech as well:1361
“Hurry, men! What sluggishness makes you delay so?1362
The others are raping and plundering burning Troy:1363
are you only now arriving from the tall ships?”1364
He spoke, and straight away (since no reply given was1365
credible enough) he knew he’d fallen into the enemy fold.1366
He was stunned, drew back, and stifled his voice.1367
Like a man who unexpectedly treads on a snake in rough briars, 1368
as he strides over the ground, and shrinks back in sudden fear1369
as it rears in anger and swells its dark-green neck,1370
so Androgeos, shuddering at the sight of us, drew back.1371
We charge forward and surround them closely with weapons,1372
and ignorant of the place, seized by terror, as they are, we slaughter1373
them wholesale. Fortune favours our first efforts.1374
And at this Coroebus, exultant with courage and success, cries:1375
“Oh my friends, where fortune first points out the path to safety,1376
and shows herself a friend, let us follow. Let’s change our shields1377
adopt Greek emblems. Courage or deceit: who’ll question it in war?1378
They’ll arm us themselves.” With these words, he takes up Androgeos’s plumed helmet, his shield with its noble markings,1379
and straps the Greek’s sword to his side. Ripheus does likewise,1380
Dymas too, and all the warriors delight in it. Each man1381
arms himself with the fresh spoils. We pass on1382
mingling with the Greeks, with gods that are not our known,1383
and clash, in many an armed encounter, in the blind night,1384
and we send many a Greek down to Orcus.1385
Some scatter to the ships, and run for safer shores,1386
some, in humiliated terror, climb the vast horse again1387
and hide in the womb they know. 1388
BkII:402-437 Cassandra is Taken1389
“Ah, put no faith in anything the will of the gods opposes!1390
See, Priam’s virgin daughter dragged, with streaming hair,1391
from the sanctuary and temple of Minerva,1392
lifting her burning eyes to heaven in vain:1393
her eyes, since cords restrained her gentle hands.1394
Coroebus could not stand the sight, maddened in mind,1395
and hurled himself among the ranks, seeking death.1396
We follow him, and, weapons locked, charge together.1397
Here, at first, we were overwhelmed by Trojan spears,1398
hurled from the high summit of the temple,1399
and wretched slaughter was caused by the look of our armour,1400
and the confusion arising from our Greek crests.1401
Then the Danaans, gathering from all sides, groaning with anger1402
at the girl being pulled away from them, rush us, 1403
Ajax the fiercest, the two Atrides, all the Greek host:1404
just as, at the onset of a tempest, conflicting winds clash, the west,1405
the south, and the east that joys in the horses of dawn:1406
the forest roars, brine-wet Nereus rages with his trident,1407
and stirs the waters from their lowest depths.1408
Even those we have scattered by a ruse, in the dark of night,1409
and driven right through the city, re-appear: for the first time1410
they recognise our shields and deceitful weapons,1411
and realise our speech differs in sound to theirs.1412
In a moment we’re overwhelmed by weight of numbers:1413
first Coroebus falls, by the armed goddess’s altar, at the hands1414
of Peneleus: and Ripheus, who was the most just of all the Trojans,1415
and keenest for what was right (the gods’ vision was otherwise):1416
Hypanis and Dymas die at the hands of allies:1417
and your great piety, Panthus, and Apollo’s sacred headband1418
can not defend you in your downfall.1419
Ashes of Ilium, death flames of my people, be witness1420
that, at your ruin, I did not evade the Danaan weapons,1421
nor the risks, and, if it had been my fate to die,1422
I earned it with my sword. Then we are separated,1423
Iphitus and Pelias with me, Iphitus weighed down by the years,1424
and Pelias, slow-footed, wounded by Ulysses:1425
immediately we’re summoned to Priam’s palace by the clamour.1426
BkII:438-485 The Battle for the Palace1427
Here’s a great battle indeed, as if the rest of the war were nothing,1428
as if others were not dying throughout the whole city,1429
so we see wild War and the Greeks rushing to the palace,1430
and the entrance filled with a press of shields.1431
Ladders cling to the walls: men climb the stairs under the very1432
doorposts, with their left hands holding defensive shields1433
against the spears, grasping the sloping stone with their right.1434
In turn, the Trojans pull down the turrets and roof-tiles1435
of the halls, prepared to defend themselves even in death,1436
seeing the end near them, with these as weapons:1437
and send the gilded roof-beams down, the glory1438
of their ancient fathers. Others with naked swords block1439
the inner doors: these they defend in massed ranks.1440
Our spirits were reinspired, to bring help to the king’s palace,1441
to relieve our warriors with our aid, and add power to the beaten.1442
There was an entrance with hidden doors, and a passage in use1443
between Priam’s halls, and a secluded gateway beyond,1444
which the unfortunate Andromache, while the kingdom stood,1445
often used to traverse, going, unattended, to her husband’s parents,1446
taking the little Astyanax to his grandfather.1447
I reached the topmost heights of the pediment from which1448
the wretched Trojans were hurling their missiles in vain.1449
A turret standing on the sloping edge, and rising from the roof1450
to the sky, was one from which all Troy could be seen,1451
the Danaan ships, and the Greek camp: and attacking its edges1452
with our swords, where the upper levels offered weaker mortar,1453
we wrenched it from its high place, and sent it flying:1454
falling suddenly it dragged all to ruin with a roar,1455
and shattered far and wide over the Greek ranks.1456
But more arrived, and meanwhile neither the stones1457
nor any of the various missiles ceased to fly. 1458
In front of the courtyard itself, in the very doorway of the palace,1459
Pyrrhus exults, glittering with the sheen of bronze:1460
like a snake, fed on poisonous herbs, in the light, 1461
that cold winter has held, swollen, under the ground,1462
and now, gleaming with youth, its skin sloughed,1463
ripples its slimy back, lifts its front high towards the sun,1464
and darts its triple-forked tongue from its jaws. 1465
Huge Periphas, and Automedon the armour-bearer,1466
driver of Achilles’s team, and all the Scyrian youths,1467
advance on the palace together and hurl firebrands onto the roof.1468
Pyrrhus himself among the front ranks, clutching a double-axe,1469
breaks through the stubborn gate, and pulls the bronze doors1470
from their hinges: and now, hewing out the timber, he breaches1471
the solid oak and opens a huge window with a gaping mouth.1472
The palace within appears, and the long halls are revealed:1473
the inner sanctums of Priam, and the ancient kings, appear,1474
and armed men are seen standing on the very threshold.1475
BkII:486-558 Priam’s Fate1476
But, inside the palace, groans mingle with sad confusion,1477
and, deep within, the hollow halls howl1478
with women’s cries: the clamour strikes the golden stars.1479
Trembling mothers wander the vast building, clasping 1480
the doorposts, and placing kisses on them. Pyrrhus drives forward,1481
with his father Achilles’s strength, no barricades nor the guards1482
themselves can stop him: the door collapses under the ram’s blows,1483
and the posts collapse, wrenched from their sockets.1484
Strength makes a road: the Greeks, pour through, force a passage,1485
slaughter the front ranks, and fill the wide space with their men.1486
A foaming river is not so furious, when it floods, 1487
bursting its banks, overwhelms the barriers against it,1488
and rages in a mass through the fields, sweeping cattle and stables1489
across the whole plain. I saw Pyrrhus myself, on the threshold,1490
mad with slaughter, and the two sons of Atreus:1491
I saw Hecuba, her hundred women, and Priam at the altars,1492
polluting with blood the flames that he himself had sanctified.1493
Those fifty chambers, the promise of so many offspring,1494
the doorposts, rich with spoils of barbarian gold,1495
crash down: the Greeks possess what the fire spares. 1496
And maybe you ask, what was Priam’s fate.1497
When he saw the end of the captive city, the palace doors1498
wrenched away, and the enemy among the inner rooms,1499
the aged man clasped his long-neglected armour1500
on his old, trembling shoulders, and fastened on his useless sword, 1501
and hurried into the thick of the enemy seeking death.1502
In the centre of the halls, and under the sky’s naked arch,1503
was a large altar, with an ancient laurel nearby, that leant1504
on the altar, and clothed the household gods with shade.1505
Here Hecuba, and her daughters, like doves driven1506
by a dark storm, crouched uselessly by the shrines,1507
huddled together, clutching at the statues of the gods.1508
And when she saw Priam himself dressed in youthful armour1509
she cried: “What mad thought, poor husband, urges you1510
to fasten on these weapons? Where do you run? 1511
The hour demands no such help, nor defences such as these,1512
not if my own Hector were here himself. Here, I beg you,1513
this altar will protect us all or we’ll die together.” 1514
So she spoke and drew the old man towards her,1515
and set him down on the sacred steps.1516
See, Polites, one of Priam’s sons, escaping Pyrrhus’s slaughter,1517
runs down the long hallways, through enemies and spears,1518
and, wounded, crosses the empty courts.1519
Pyrrhus chases after him, eager to strike him,1520
and grasps at him now, and now, with his hand, at spear-point.1521
When finally he reached the eyes and gaze of his parents,1522
he fell, and poured out his life in a river of blood.1523
Priam, though even now in death’s clutches,1524
did not spare his voice at this, or hold back his anger:1525
“If there is any justice in heaven, that cares about such things,1526
may the gods repay you with fit thanks, and due reward1527
for your wickedness, for such acts, you who have1528
made me see my own son’s death in front of my face, 1529
and defiled a father’s sight with murder. 1530
Yet Achilles, whose son you falsely claim to be, was no1531
such enemy to Priam: he respected the suppliant’s rights, 1532
and honour, and returned Hector’s bloodless corpse 1533
to its sepulchre, and sent me home to my kingdom.”1534
So the old man spoke, and threw his ineffectual spear1535
without strength, which immediately spun from the clanging bronze1536
and hung uselessly from the centre of the shield’s boss. 1537
Pyrrhus spoke to him: “Then you can be messenger, carry1538
the news to my father, to Peleus’s son: remember to tell him1539
of degenerate Pyrrhus, and of my sad actions:1540
now die.” Saying this he dragged him, trembling, 1541
and slithering in the pool of his son’s blood, to the very altar,1542
and twined his left hand in his hair, raised the glittering sword1543
in his right, and buried it to the hilt in his side.1544
This was the end of Priam’s life: this was the death that fell to him1545
by lot, seeing Troy ablaze and its citadel toppled, he who was1546
once the magnificent ruler of so many Asian lands and peoples.1547
A once mighty body lies on the shore, the head1548
shorn from its shoulders, a corpse without a name.1549
BkII:559-587 Aeneas Sees Helen1550
Then for the first time a wild terror gripped me. 1551
I stood amazed: my dear father’s image rose before me1552
as I saw a king, of like age, with a cruel wound,1553
breathing his life away: and my Creusa, forlorn, 1554
and the ransacked house, and the fate of little Iulus.1555
I looked back, and considered the troops that were round me.1556
They had all left me, wearied, and hurled their bodies to earth,1557
or sick with misery dropped into the flames.1558
So I was alone now, when I saw the daughter of Tyndareus,1559
Helen, close to Vesta’s portal, hiding silently1560
in the secret shrine: the bright flames gave me light,1561
as I wandered, gazing everywhere, randomly.1562
Afraid of Trojans angered at the fall of Troy, 1563
Greek vengeance, and the fury of a husband she deserted,1564
she, the mutual curse of Troy and her own country,1565
had concealed herself and crouched, a hated thing, by the altars.1566
Fire blazed in my spirit: anger rose to avenge my fallen land,1567
and to exact the punishment for her wickedness.1568
“Shall she, unharmed, see Sparta again and her native Mycenae,1569
and see her house and husband, parents and children,1570
and go in the triumphant role of a queen,1571
attended by a crowd of Trojan women and Phrygian servants?1572
When Priam has been put to the sword? Troy consumed with fire?1573
The Dardanian shore soaked again and again with blood?1574
No. Though there’s no great glory in a woman’s punishment,1575
and such a conquest wins no praise, still I will be praised1576
for extinguishing wickedness and exacting well-earned1577
punishment, and I’ll delight in having filled my soul1578
with the flame of revenge, and appeased my people’s ashes.”1579
BkII:588-623 Aeneas is Visited by his Mother Venus1580
I blurted out these words, and was rushing on with raging mind,1581
when my dear mother came to my vision, never before so bright1582
to my eyes, shining with pure light in the night,1583
goddess for sure, such as she may be seen by the gods,1584
and taking me by the right hand, stopped me, and, then,1585
imparted these words to me from her rose-tinted lips:1586
“My son, what pain stirs such uncontrollable anger?1587
Why this rage? Where has your care for what is ours vanished?1588
First will you not see whether Creusa, your wife, and your child1589
Ascanius still live, and where you have left your father Anchises1590
worn-out with age? The Greek ranks surround them on all sides,1591
and if my love did not protect them, the flames would have caught1592
them before now, and the enemy swords drunk of their blood.1593
You do not hate the face of the Spartan daughter of Tyndareus,1594
nor is Paris to blame: the ruthlessness of the gods, of the gods,1595
brought down this power, and toppled Troy from its heights.1596
See (for I’ll tear away all the mist that now, shrouding your sight,1597
dims your mortal vision, and darkens everything with moisture:1598
don’t be afraid of what your mother commands, or refuse to obey1599
her wisdom): here, where you see shattered heaps of stone1600
torn from stone, and smoke billowing mixed with dust,1601
Neptune is shaking the walls, and the foundations, stirred1602
by his mighty trident, and tearing the whole city up by it roots.1603
There, Juno, the fiercest, is first to take the Scaean Gate, and,1604
sword at her side, calls on her troops from the ships, in rage.1605
Now, see, Tritonian Pallas, standing on the highest towers,1606
sending lightning from the storm-cloud, and her grim Gorgon1607
breastplate. Father Jupiter himself supplies the Greeks with1608
courage, and fortunate strength, himself excites the gods against1609
the Trojan army. Hurry your departure, son, and put an end 1610
to your efforts. I will not leave you, and I will place you1611
safe at your father’s door.” She spoke, and hid herself1612
in the dense shadows of night. Dreadful shapes appeared,1613
and the vast powers of gods opposed to Troy.1614
BkII:624-670 Aeneas Finds his Family1615
Then in truth all Ilium seemed to me to sink in flames,1616
and Neptune’s Troy was toppled from her base:1617
just as when foresters on the mountain heights1618
compete to uproot an ancient ash tree, struck1619
time and again by axe and blade, it threatens continually1620
to fall, with trembling foliage and shivering crown,1621
till gradually vanquished by the blows it groans at last,1622
and torn from the ridge, crashes down in ruin.1623
I descend, and, led by a goddess, am freed from flames1624
and enemies: the spears give way, and the flames recede.1625
And now, when I reached the threshold of my father’s house,1626
and my former home, my father, whom it was my first desire 1627
to carry into the high mountains, and whom I first sought out,1628
refused to extend his life or endure exile, since Troy had fallen.1629
“Oh, you,” he cried, “whose blood has the vigour of youth,1630
and whose power is unimpaired in its force, it’s for you1631
to take flight. As for me, if the gods had wished to lengthen1632
the thread of my life, they’d have spared my house. It is1633
more than enough that I saw one destruction, and survived1634
one taking of the city. Depart, saying farewell to my body1635
lying here so, yes so. I shall find death with my own hand:1636
the enemy will pity me, and look for plunder. The loss1637
of my burial is nothing. Clinging to old age for so long,1638
I am useless, and hated by the gods, ever since1639
the father of the gods and ruler of men breathed the winds 1640
of his lightning-bolt onto me, and touched me with fire.”1641
So he persisted in saying, and remained adamant.1642
We, on our side, Creusa, my wife, and Ascanius, all our household,1643
weeping bitterly, determined that he should not destroy everything1644
along with himself, and crush us by urging our doom.1645
He refused and clung to his place and his purpose.1646
I hurried to my weapons again, and, miserably, longed for death,1647
since what tactic or opportunity was open to us now?1648
“ Did you think I could leave you, father, and depart?1649
Did such sinful words fall from your lips?1650
If it pleases the gods to leave nothing of our great city standing,1651
if this is set in your mind, if it delights you to add yourself1652
and all that’s yours to the ruins of Troy, the door is open1653
to that death: soon Pyrrhus comes, drenched in Priam’s blood,1654
he who butchers the son in front of the father, the father at the altar. 1655
Kind mother, did you rescue me from fire and sword1656
for this, to see the enemy in the depths of my house, 1657
and Ascanius, and my father, and Creusa, slaughtered, 1658
thrown together in a heap, in one another’s blood?1659
Weapons men, bring weapons: the last day calls to the defeated.1660
Lead me to the Greeks again: let me revisit the battle anew.1661
This day we shall not all perish unavenged.”1662
BkII:671-704 The Omen1663
So, again, I fasten on my sword, slip my left arm1664
into the shield’s strap, adjust it, and rush from the house.1665
But see, my wife clings to the threshold, clasps my foot,1666
and holds little Iulus up towards his father:1667
“If you go to die, take us with you too, at all costs: but if1668
as you’ve proved you trust in the weapons you wear,1669
defend this house first. To whom do you abandon little Iulus,1670
and your father, and me, I who was once spoken of as your wife?”1671
Crying out like this she filled the whole house with her groans,1672
when suddenly a wonder, marvellous to speak of, occurred.1673
See, between the hands and faces of his grieving parents,1674
a gentle light seemed to shine from the crown1675
of Iulus’s head, and a soft flame, harmless in its touch, 1676
licked at his hair, and grazed his forehead. 1677
Trembling with fear, we hurry to flick away the blazing strands,1678
and extinguish the sacred fires with water.1679
But Anchises, my father, lifts his eyes to the heavens, in delight,1680
and raises his hands and voice to the sky:1681
“All-powerful Jupiter, if you’re moved by any prayers,1682
see us, and, grant but this: if we are worthy through our virtue,1683
show us a sign of it, Father, and confirm your omen.”1684
The old man had barely spoken when, with a sudden crash, 1685
it thundered on the left, and a star, through the darkness, 1686
slid from the sky, and flew, trailing fire, in a burst of light.1687
We watched it glide over the highest rooftops,1688
and bury its brightness, and the sign of its passage,1689
in the forests of Mount Ida: then the furrow of its long track1690
gave out a glow, and, all around, the place smoked with sulphur.1691
At this my father, truly overcome, raised himself towards the sky,1692
and spoke to the gods, and proclaimed the sacred star.1693
“Now no delay: I follow, and where you lead, there am I.1694
Gods of my fathers, save my line, save my grandson.1695
This omen is yours, and Troy is in your divine power.1696
I accept, my son, and I will not refuse to go with you.”1697
BkII:705-729 Aeneas and his Family Leave Troy1698
He speaks, and now the fire is more audible,1699
through the city, and the blaze rolls its tide nearer.1700
“Come then, dear father, clasp my neck: I will1701
carry you on my shoulders: that task won’t weigh on me.1702
Whatever may happen, it will be for us both, the same shared risk,1703
and the same salvation. Let little Iulus come with me,1704
and let my wife follow our footsteps at a distance.1705
You servants, give your attention to what I’m saying.1706
At the entrance to the city there’s a mound, an ancient temple1707
of forsaken Ceres, and a venerable cypress nearby,1708
protected through the years by the reverence of our fathers:1709
let’s head to that one place by diverse paths.1710
You, father, take the sacred objects, and our country’s gods,1711
in your hands: until I’ve washed in running water,1712
it would be a sin for me, coming from such fighting 1713
and recent slaughter, to touch them.” So saying, bowing my neck,1714
I spread a cloak made of a tawny lion’s hide over my broad shoulders, and bend to the task: little Iulus clasps his hand1715
in mine, and follows his father’s longer strides. 1716
My wife walks behind. We walk on through the shadows1717
of places, and I whom till then no shower of spears, 1718
nor crowd of Greeks in hostile array, could move, 1719
now I’m terrified by every breeze, and startled by every noise,1720
anxious, and fearful equally for my companion and my burden.1721
BkII:730-795 The Loss of Creusa1722
And now I was near the gates, and thought I had completed 1723
my journey, when suddenly the sound of approaching feet1724
filled my hearing, and, peering through the darkness,1725
my father cried: “My son, run my son, they are near us:1726
I see their glittering shields and gleaming bronze.”1727
Some hostile power, at this, scattered my muddled wits.1728
for while I was following alleyways, and straying 1729
from the region of streets we knew, did my wife Creusa halt,1730
snatched away from me by wretched fate?1731
Or did she wander from the path or collapse with weariness?1732
Who knows? She was never restored to our sight,1733
nor did I look back for my lost one, or cast a thought behind me,1734
until we came to the mound, and ancient Ceres’s sacred place.1735
Here when all were gathered together at last, one was missing,1736
and had escaped the notice of friends, child and husband.1737
What man or god did I not accuse in my madness:1738
what did I know of in the city’s fall crueller than this?1739
I place Ascanius, and my father Anchises, and the gods of Troy,1740
in my companions’ care, and conceal them in a winding valley:1741
I myself seek the city once more, and take up my shining armour.1742
I’m determined to incur every risk again, and retrace1743
all Troy, and once more expose my life to danger.1744
First I look for the wall, and the dark threshold of the gate1745
from which my path led, and I retrace the landmarks1746
of my course in the night, scanning them with my eye. 1747
Everywhere the terror in my heart, and the silence itself, 1748
dismay me. Then I take myself homewards, in case 1749
by chance, by some chance, she has made her way there. 1750
The Greeks have invaded, and occupied, the whole house.1751
Suddenly eager fire, rolls over the rooftop, in the wind:1752
the flames take hold, the blaze rages to the heavens.1753
I pass by and see again Priam’s palace and the citadel.1754
Now Phoenix, and fatal Ulysses, the chosen guards, watch over1755
the spoils, in the empty courts of Juno’s sanctuary.1756
Here the Trojan treasures are gathered from every part,1757
ripped from the blazing shrines, tables of the gods,1758
solid gold bowls, and plundered robes. 1759
Mothers and trembling sons stand round in long ranks.1760
I even dared to hurl my shouts through the shadows,1761
filling the streets with my clamour, and in my misery, 1762
redoubling my useless cries, again and again.1763
Searching, and raging endlessly among the city roofs,1764
the unhappy ghost and true shadow of Creusa1765
appeared before my eyes, in a form greater than I’d known.1766
I was dumbfounded, my hair stood on end, and my voice1767
stuck in my throat. Then she spoke and with these words1768
mitigated my distress: “Oh sweet husband, what use is it 1769
to indulge in such mad grief? This has not happened1770
without the divine will: neither its laws nor the ruler1771
of great Olympus let you take Creusa with you,1772
away from here. Yours is long exile, you must plough1773
a vast reach of sea: and you will come to Hesperia’s land,1774
where Lydian Tiber flows in gentle course among the farmers’ 1775
rich fields. There, happiness, kingship and a royal wife 1776
will be yours. Banish these tears for your beloved Creusa.1777
I, a Trojan woman, and daughter-in-law to divine Venus,1778
shall never see the noble halls of the Dolopians,1779
or Myrmidons, or go as slave to some Greek wife:1780
instead the great mother of the gods keeps me on this shore.1781
Now farewell, and preserve your love for the son we share.”1782
When she had spoken these words, leaving me weeping1783
and wanting to say so many things, she faded into thin air.1784
Three times I tried to throw my arms about her neck:1785
three times her form fled my hands, clasped in vain,1786
like the light breeze, most of all like a winged dream.1787
So at last when night was done, I returned to my friends.1788
BkII:796-804 Aeneas Leaves Troy1789
And here, amazed, I found that a great number of new1790
companions had streamed in, women and men, 1791
a crowd gathering for exile, a wretched throng.1792
They had come from all sides, ready, with courage and wealth,1793
for whatever land I wished to lead them to, across the seas.1794
And now Lucifer was rising above the heights of Ida,1795
bringing the dawn, and the Greeks held the barricaded1796
entrances to the gates, nor was there any hope of rescue.1797
I desisted, and, carrying my father, took to the hills.1798
BkIII:1-18 Aeneas Sails to Thrace1799
After the gods had seen fit to destroy Asia’s power1800
and Priam’s innocent people, and proud Ilium had fallen,1801
and all of Neptune’s Troy breathed smoke from the soil,1802
we were driven by the gods’ prophecies to search out1803
distant exile, and deserted lands, and we built a fleet1804
below Antandros and the peaks of Phrygian Ida, unsure 1805
where fate would carry us, or where we’d be allowed to settle, 1806
and we gathered our forces together. Summer had barely begun, 1807
when Anchises, my father, ordered us to set sail with destiny:1808
I left my native shore with tears, the harbour and the fields1809
where Troy once stood. I travelled the deep, an exile,1810
with my friends and my son, and the great gods of our house.1811
Far off is a land of vast plains where Mars is worshipped1812
(worked by the Thracians) once ruled by fierce Lycurgus,1813
a friend of Troy in the past, and with gods who were allies,1814
while fortune lasted. I went there, and founded my first city1815
named Aeneadae from my name, on the shore1816
in the curving bay, beginning it despite fate’s adversity.1817
BkIII:19-68 The Grave of Polydorus1818
I was making a sacrifice to the gods, and my mother Venus, 1819
Dione’s daughter, with auspices for the work begun, and had killed1820
a fine bull on the shore, for the supreme king of the sky-lords.1821
By chance, there was a mound nearby, crowned with cornel1822
bushes, and bristling with dense spikes of myrtle.1823
I went near, and trying to tear up green wood from the soil1824
to decorate the altar with leafy branches, I saw1825
a wonder, dreadful and marvellous to tell of.1826
From the first bush, its broken roots torn from the ground,1827
drops of dark blood dripped, and stained the earth with fluid.1828
An icy shiver gripped my limbs, and my blood chilled with terror.1829
Again I went on to pluck a stubborn shoot from another,1830
probing the hidden cause within: and dark blood1831
flowed from the bark of the second. Troubled greatly1832
in spirit, I prayed to the Nymphs of the wild,1833
and father Gradivus, who rules the Thracian fields,1834
to look with due kindness on this vision, and lessen1835
its significance. But when I attacked the third1836
with greater effort, straining with my knees against the sand1837
(to speak or be silent?), a mournful groan was audible1838
from deep in the mound, and a voice came to my ears: 1839
“Why do you wound a poor wretch, Aeneas? Spare me now1840
in my tomb, don’t stain your virtuous hands, Troy bore me,1841
who am no stranger to you, nor does this blood flow from 1842
some dull block. Oh, leave this cruel land: leave this shore1843
of greed. For I am Polydorus. Here a crop of iron spears1844
carpeted my transfixed corpse, and has ripened into sharp spines.”1845
Then truly I was stunned, my mind crushed by anxious dread,1846
my hair stood up on end, and my voice stuck in my throat. 1847
Priam, the unfortunate, seeing the city encircled by the siege, 1848
and despairing of Trojan arms, once sent this Polydorus, secretly, 1849
with a great weight of gold, to be raised, by the Thracian king.1850
When the power of Troy was broken, and her fortunes ebbed,1851
the Thracian broke every divine law, to follow Agamemnon’s1852
cause, and his victorious army, murders Polydorus, and takes1853
the gold by force. Accursed hunger for gold, to what do you 1854
not drive human hearts! When terror had left my bones1855
I referred this divine vision to the people’s appointed leaders,1856
my father above all, and asked them what they thought.1857
All were of one mind, to leave this wicked land, and depart1858
a place of hospitality defiled, and sail our fleet before the wind.1859
So we renewed the funeral rites for Polydorus, and piled1860
the earth high on his barrow: sad altars were raised1861
to the Shades, with dark sacred ribbons and black cypress, 1862
the Trojan women around, hair streaming, 1863
as is the custom: we offered foaming bowls of warm milk,1864
and dishes of sacrificial blood, and bound the spirit1865
to its tomb, and raised a loud shout of farewell. 1866
BkIII:69-120 The Trojans Reach Delos1867
Then as soon as we’ve confidence in the waves, and the winds1868
grant us calm seas, and the soft whispering breeze calls to the deep,1869
my companions float the ships and crowd to the shore.1870
We set out from harbour, and lands and cities recede.1871
In the depths of the sea lies a sacred island, dearest of all1872
to the mother of the Nereids, and Aegean Neptune,1873
that wandered by coasts and shores, until Apollo,1874
affectionately, tied it to high Myconos, and Gyaros,1875
making it fixed and inhabitable, scorning the storms.1876
I sail there: it welcomes us peacefully, weary as we are,1877
to its safe harbour. Landing, we do homage to Apollo’s city.1878
King Anius, both king of the people and high-priest of Apollo,1879
his forehead crowned with the sacred headband and holy laurel,1880
meets us, and recognises an old friend in Anchises:1881
we clasp hands in greeting and enter his house.1882
I paid homage to the god’s temple of ancient stone:1883
“Grant us a true home, Apollo, grant a weary people walls, 1884
and a race, and a city that will endure: protect this second1885
citadel of Troy, that survives the Greeks and pitiless Achilles.1886
Whom should we follow? Where do you command us to go? 1887
Where should we settle? Grant us an omen, father, to stir our hearts.1888
I had scarcely spoken: suddenly everything seemed to tremble,1889
the god’s thresholds and his laurel crowns, and the whole hill1890
round us moved, and the tripod groaned as the shrine split open.1891
Humbly we seek the earth, and a voice comes to our ears:1892
“Enduring Trojans, the land which first bore you from its1893
parent stock, that same shall welcome you, restored, to its1894
fertile breast. Search out your ancient mother.1895
There the house of Aeneas shall rule all shores,1896
his children’s children, and those that are born to them.”1897
So Phoebus spoke: and there was a great shout of joy mixed1898
with confusion, and all asked what walls those were, and where1899
it is Phoebus calls the wanderers to, commanding them to return.1900
Then my father, thinking of the records of the ancients, said:1901
“Listen, O princes, and learn what you may hope for.1902
Crete lies in the midst of the sea, the island of mighty Jove,1903
where Mount Ida is, the cradle of our race.1904
They inhabit a hundred great cities, in the richest of kingdoms,1905
from which our earliest ancestor, Teucer, if I remember the tale1906
rightly, first sailed to Trojan shores, and chose a site1907
for his royal capital. Until then Ilium and the towers of the citadel1908
did not stand there: men lived in the depths of the valleys.1909
The Mother who inhabits Cybele is Cretan, and the cymbals1910
of the Corybantes, and the grove of Ida: from Crete came1911
the faithful silence of her rites, and the yoked lions1912
drawing the lady’s chariot. So come, and let us follow1913
where the god’s command may lead, let us placate1914
the winds, and seek out the Cretan kingdom. 1915
It is no long journey away: if only Jupiter is with us,1916
the third dawn will find our fleet on the Cretan shores.”1917
So saying, he sacrificed the due offerings at the altars,1918
a bull to Neptune, a bull to you, glorious Apollo, a black sheep1919
to the Storm god, a white to the auspicious Westerlies.1920
BkIII:121-171 The Plague and a Vision1921
A rumour spread that Prince Idomeneus had been driven1922
from his father’s kingdom, and the Cretan shores were deserted,1923
her houses emptied of enemies, and the abandoned homes1924
waiting for us. We left Ortygia’s harbour, and sped over the sea,1925
threading the foaming straits thick with islands, Naxos1926
with its Bacchic worship in the hills, green Donysa, Olearos,1927
snow-white Paros, and the Cyclades, scattered over the waters.1928
The sailors’ cries rose, as they competed in their various tasks:1929
the crew shouted: “We’re headed for Crete, and our ancestors.”1930
A wind rising astern sent us on our way, and at last 1931
we glided by the ancient shores of the Curetes.1932
Then I worked eagerly on the walls of our chosen city, and called1933
it Pergamum, and exhorted my people, delighting in the name, 1934
to show love for their homes, and build a covered fortress.1935
Now the ships were usually beached on the dry sand:1936
the young men were busy with weddings and their fresh fields:1937
I was deciding on laws and homesteads: suddenly, 1938
from some infected region of the sky, came a wretched plague,1939
corrupting bodies, trees, and crops, and a season of death.1940
They relinquished sweet life, or dragged their sick limbs1941
around: then Sirius blazed over barren fields:1942
the grass withered, and the sickly harvest denied its fruits.1943
My father urged us to retrace the waves, and revisit1944
the oracle of Apollo at Delos, and beg for protection,1945
ask where the end might be to our weary fate, where he commands1946
that we seek help for our trouble, where to set our course.1947
It was night, and sleep had charge of earth’s creatures:1948
The sacred statues of the gods, the Phrygian Penates,1949
that I had carried with me from Troy, out of the burning city,1950
seemed to stand there before my eyes, as I lay in sleep,1951
perfectly clear in the light, where the full moon1952
streamed through the window casements: then they spoke1953
to me and with their words dispelled my cares:1954
“Apollo speaks here what he would say to you, on reaching Delos,1955
and sends us besides, as you see, to your threshold.1956
When Try burned we followed you and your weapons,1957
we crossed the swelling seas with you on your ships,1958
we too shall raise your descendants yet to be, to the stars,1959
and grant empire to your city. Build great walls for the great,1960
and do not shrink from the long labour of exile.1961
Change your country. These are not the shores that Delian1962
Apollo urged on you, he did not order you to settle in Crete.1963
There is a place the Greeks call Hesperia by name,1964
an ancient land powerful in arms and in richness of the soil:1965
There the Oenotrians lived: now the rumour is that1966
a younger race has named it Italy after their leader.1967
That is our true home, Dardanus and father Iasius, 1968
from whom our race first came, sprang from there.1969
Come, bear these words of truth joyfully to your old father,1970
that he might seek Corythus and Ausonia’s lands:1971
Jupiter denies the fields of Dicte to you.”1972
BkIII:172-208 The Trojans Leave Crete for Italy1973
Amazed by such a vision, and the voices of the gods,1974
(it was not a dream, but I seemed to recognise their expression,1975
before me, their wreathed hair, their living faces:1976
then a cold sweat bathed all my limbs)1977
my body leapt from the bed, and I lifted my voice1978
and upturned palms to heaven, and offered pure 1979
gifts on the hearth-fire. The rite completed, with joy1980
I told Anchises of this revelation, revealing it all in order.1981
He understood about the ambiguity in our origins, and the dual1982
descent, and that he had been deceived by a fresh error, 1983
about our ancient country. Then he spoke: “My son, troubled 1984
by Troy’s fate, Only Cassandra prophesied such an outcome.1985
Now I remember her foretelling that this was destined for our race,1986
and often spoke of Hesperia, and the Italian kingdom.1987
Who’d believe that Trojans would travel to Hesperia’s shores?1988
Who’d have been moved by Cassandra, the prophetess, then? 1989
Let’s trust to Apollo, and, warned by him, take the better course.”1990
So he spoke, and we were delighted to obey his every word.1991
We departed this home as well, and, leaving some people behind,1992
set sail, and ran through the vast ocean in our hollow ships.1993
When the fleet had reached the high seas and the land1994
was no longer seen, sky and ocean on all sides, then 1995
a dark-blue rain cloud settled overhead, bringing1996
night and storm, and the waves bristled with shadows.1997
Immediately the winds rolled over the water and great seas rose:1998
we were scattered here and there in the vast abyss.1999
Storm-clouds shrouded the day, and the night mists2000
hid the sky: lightning flashed again from the torn clouds.2001
We were thrown off course, and wandered the blind waves.2002
Palinurus himself was unable to tell night from day in the sky,2003
and could not determine his path among the waves.2004
So for three days, and as many starless nights, 2005
we wandered uncertainly, in a dark fog, over the sea.2006
At last, on the fourth day, land was first seen to rise,2007
revealing far off mountains and rolling smoke.2008
The sails fell, we stood to the oars: without pause, the sailors, 2009
at full stretch, churned the foam, and swept the blue sea.2010
BkIII:209-277 The Harpies2011
Free of the waves I’m welcomed first by the shores2012
of the Strophades, the Clashing Islands. The Strophades2013
are fixed now in the great Ionian Sea, but are called2014
by the Greek name. There dread Celaeno and the rest2015
of the Harpies live, since Phineus’s house was denied them,2016
and they left his tables where they fed, in fear.2017
No worse monsters than these, no crueller plague,2018
ever rose from the waters of Styx, at the gods’ anger.2019
These birds have the faces of virgin girls,2020
foulest excrement flowing from their bellies, 2021
clawed hands, and faces always thin with hunger.2022
Now when, arriving here, we enter port,2023
we see fat herds of cattle scattered over the plains,2024
and flocks of goats, unguarded, in the meadows.2025
We rush at them with our swords, calling on Jove himself2026
and the gods to join us in our plunder: then we build2027
seats on the curving beach, and feast on the rich meats.2028
But suddenly the Harpies arrive, in a fearsome swoop2029
from the hills, flapping their wings with a huge noise,2030
snatching at the food, and fouling everything with their2031
filthy touch: then there’s a deadly shriek amongst the foul stench.2032
We set out the tables again, and relight the altar fires,2033
in a deep recess under an overhanging rock,2034
closed off by trees and trembling shadows:2035
again from another part of the sky, some hidden lair,2036
the noisy crowd hovers, with taloned feet around their prey,2037
polluting the food with their mouths. Then I order my friends2038
to take up their weapons and make war on that dreadful race.2039
They do exactly that, obeying orders, placing hidden swords2040
in the grass, and burying their shields out of sight.2041
Then when the birds swoop, screaming, along the curved beach,2042
Misenus, from his high lookout, gives the signal on hollow bronze.2043
My friends charge, and, in a new kind of battle, attempt2044
to wound these foul ocean birds with their swords.2045
But they don’t register the blows to their plumage, or the wounds2046
to their backs, they flee quickly, soaring beneath the heavens, 2047
leaving behind half-eaten food, and the traces of their filth.2048
Only Celaeno, ominous prophetess, settles on a high cliff, 2049
and bursts out with this sound from her breast:2050
“Are you ready to bring war to us, sons of Laomedon, is it war, 2051
for the cows you killed, the bullocks you slaughtered,2052
driving the innocent Harpies from their father’s country?2053
Take these words of mine to your hearts then, and set them there.2054
I, the eldest of the Furies, reveal to you what the all-powerful2055
Father prophesied to Apollo, and Phoebus Apollo to me.2056
Italy is the path you take, and, invoking the winds,2057
you shall go to Italy, and enter her harbours freely:2058
but you will not surround the city granted you with walls2059
until dire hunger, and the sin of striking at us, force you2060
to consume your very tables with devouring jaws.”2061
She spoke, and fled back to the forest borne by her wings.2062
But my companions’ chill blood froze with sudden fear:2063
their courage dropped, and they told me to beg for peace,2064
with vows and prayers, forgoing weapons,2065
no matter if these were goddesses or fatal, vile birds.2066
And my father Anchises, with outstretched hands, on the shore,2067
called to the great gods and declared the due sacrifice:2068
“Gods, avert these threats, gods, prevent these acts,2069
and, in peace, protect the virtuous!” Then he ordered us2070
to haul in the cables from the shore, unfurl and spread the sails.2071
South winds stretched the canvas: we coursed over foaming seas,2072
wherever the winds and the helmsman dictated our course.2073
Now wooded Zacynthus appeared amongst the waves,2074
Dulichium, Same and Neritos’s steep cliffs.2075
We ran past Laertes’s kingdom, Ithacas’s reefs,2076
and cursed the land that reared cruel Ulysses.2077
Soon the cloudy heights of Mount Leucata were revealed,2078
as well, and Apollo’s headland, feared by sailors.2079
We headed wearily for it, and approached the little town:2080
the anchor was thrown from the prow, the stern rested on the beach.2081
BkIII:278-293 The Games at Actium2082
So, beyond hope, achieving land at last, we purify2083
ourselves for Jove, and light offerings on the altars, 2084
and celebrate Trojan games on the shore of Actium.2085
My naked companions, slippery with oil,2086
indulge in the wrestling-bouts of their homeland:2087
it’s good to have slipped past so many Greek cities2088
and held our course in flight through the midst of the enemy.2089
Meanwhile the sun rolls through the long year2090
and icy winter stirs the waves with northerly gales:2091
I fix a shield of hollow bronze, once carried by mighty Abas,2092
on the entrance pillars, and mark the event with a verse:2093
AENEAS OFFERS THIS ARMOUR FROM CONQUERING GREEKS2094
then I order them to man the benches and leave harbour:2095
in rivalry, my friends strike the sea and sweep the waves.2096
We soon leave behind the windblown heights of Phaeacia,2097
pass the shores of Epirus, enter Chaonia’s harbour2098
and approach the lofty city of Buthrotum. 2099
BkIII:294-355 Andromache in Chaonia2100
Here a rumour of something unbelievable greeted our ears:2101
Priam’s son, Helenus, reigning over Greek cities,2102
having won the wife and kingdom of Pyrrhus, Aeacus’s scion, 2103
Andromache being given again to a husband of her race.2104
I was astounded, and my heart burned with an amazing passion2105
to speak to the man, and learn of such events.2106
I walked from the harbour, leaving the fleet and the shore,2107
when, by chance, in a sacred grove near the city, by a false Simois,2108
Andromache was making an annual offering, sad gifts,2109
to Hector’s ashes, and calling his spirit to the tomb,2110
an empty mound of green turf, and twin altars, she had sanctified,2111
a place for tears. When she saw me approaching and recognised,2112
with amazement, Trojan weapons round her, she froze as she gazed,2113
terrified by these great wonders, and the heat left her limbs.2114
She half-fell and after a long while, scarcely able to, said:2115
“Are you a real person, a real messenger come here to me,2116
son of the goddess? Are you alive? Or if the kindly light has faded,2117
where then is Hector?” She spoke, and poured out her tears,2118
and filled the whole place with her weeping. Given her frenzy,2119
I barely replied with a few words, and, moved, I spoke disjointedly:2120
“Surely, I live, and lead a life full of extremes: don’t be unsure,2121
for you see truly. Ah! What fate has overtaken you, fallen2122
from so great a husband? Or has good fortune worthy enough2123
for Hector’s Andromache, visited you again? Are you still2124
Pyrrhus’s wife?” She lowered her eyes and spoke quietly:2125
“O happy beyond all others was that virgin daughter2126
of Priam, commanded to die beside an enemy tomb, 2127
under Troy’s high walls, who never suffered fate’s lottery, 2128
or, as a prisoner, reached her victorious master’s bed!2129
Carried over distant seas, my country set afire, I endured2130
the scorn of Achilles’s son, and his youthful arrogance,2131
giving birth as a slave: he, who then, pursuing Hermione,2132
Helen’s daughter, and a Spartan marriage, transferred me2133
to Helenus’s keeping, a servant to a servant. 2134
But Orestes, inflamed by great love for his stolen bride, 2135
and driven by the Furies for his crime, caught him,2136
unawares, and killed him by his father’s altar.2137
At Pyrrhus’s death a part of the kingdom passed, by right2138
to Helenus, who named the Chaonian fields, and all2139
Chaonia, after Chaon of Troy, and built a Pergamus,2140
and this fortress of Ilium, on the mountain ridge. 2141
But what winds, what fates, set your course for you?2142
Or what god drives you, unknowingly, to our shores?2143
What of the child, Ascanius? Does he live, and graze on air,2144
he whom Creusa bore to you in vanished Troy?2145
Has he any love still for his lost mother? 2146
Have his father Aeneas and his uncle Hector roused2147
in him any of their ancient courage or virile spirit?”2148
Weeping, she poured out these words, and was starting2149
a long vain lament, when heroic Helenus, Priam’s son,2150
approached from the city, with a large retinue,2151
and recognised us as his own, and lead us, joyfully,2152
to the gates, and poured out tears freely at every word.2153
I walked on, and saw a little Troy, and a copy of the great2154
citadel, and a dry stream, named after the Xanthus,2155
and embraced the doorposts of a Scaean Gate.2156
My Trojans enjoyed the friendly city with me no less.2157
The king received them in a broad colonnade:2158
they poured out cups of wine in the centre of a courtyard,2159
and held out their dishes while food was served on gold.2160
BkIII:356-462 The Prophecy of Helenus2161
Now day after day has gone by, and the breezes call2162
to the sails, and the canvas swells with a rising Southerly:2163
I go to Helenus, the seer, with these words and ask:2164
“Trojan-born, agent of the gods, you who know Apollo’s will,2165
the tripods, the laurels at Claros, the stars, the language2166
of birds, and the omens of their wings in flight,2167
come, speak (since a favourable oracle told me 2168
all my route, and all the gods in their divinity urged me2169
to seek Italy, and explore the furthest lands:2170
only the Harpy, Celaeno, predicts fresh portents, 2171
evil to tell of, and threatens bitter anger2172
and vile famine) first, what dangers shall I avoid?2173
Following what course can I overcome such troubles?”2174
Helenus, first sacrificing bullocks according to the ritual,2175
obtained the gods’ grace, then loosened the headband2176
from his holy brow, and led me, anxious at so much2177
divine power, with his own hand, to your threshold Apollo,2178
and then the priest prophesied this, from the divine mouth:2179
“Son of the goddess, since the truth is clear, that you sail2180
the deep blessed by the higher powers (so the king of the gods2181
allots our fates, and rolls the changes, so the order alters),2182
I’ll explain a few things of many, in my words to you,2183
so you may travel foreign seas more safely, and can find2184
rest in an Italian haven: for the Fates forbid Helenus2185
to know further, and Saturnian Juno denies him speech.2186
Firstly, a long pathless path, by long coastlines, separates2187
you from that far-off Italy, whose neighbouring port 2188
you intend to enter, unknowingly thinking it nearby. 2189
Before you can build your city in a safe land,2190
you must bend the oar in Sicilian waters,2191
and pass the levels of the Italian seas, in your ships,2192
the infernal lakes, and Aeaean Circe’s island.2193
I’ll tell you of signs: keep them stored in your memory.2194
When, in your distress, you find a huge sow lying on the shore,2195
by the waters of a remote river, under the oak trees,2196
that has farrowed a litter of thirty young, a white sow,2197
lying on the ground, with white piglets round her teats,2198
that place shall be your city, there’s true rest from your labours.2199
And do not dread that gnawing of tables, in your future:2200
the fates will find a way, Apollo will be there at your call.2201
But avoid these lands, and this nearer coastline2202
of the Italian shore, washed by our own2203
ocean tide: hostile Greeks inhabit every town.2204
The Narycian Locri have built a city here,2205
and Lyctian Idomeneus has filled the plain 2206
with soldiers: here is that little Petelia, of Philoctetes, 2207
leader of the Meliboeans, relying on its walls.2208
Then when your fleet has crossed the sea, and anchored2209
and the altars are raised for your offerings on the shore,2210
veil your hair, clothed in your purple robes, so that2211
in worshipping the gods no hostile face may intrude2212
among the sacred flames, and disturb the omens.2213
Let your friends adopt this mode of sacrifice, and yourself:2214
and let your descendants remain pure in this religion.2215
But when the wind carries you, on leaving, to the Sicilian shore,2216
and the barriers of narrow Pelorus open ahead, 2217
make for the seas and land to port, in a long circuit: 2218
avoid the shore and waters on the starboard side.2219
They say, when the two were one continuous stretch of land,2220
they one day broke apart, torn by the force of a vast upheaval2221
(time’s remote antiquity enables such great changes).2222
The sea flowed between them with force, and severed2223
the Italian from the Sicilian coast, and a narrow tideway2224
washes the cities and fields on separate shores.2225
Scylla holds the right side, implacable Charybdis the left,2226
who, in the depths of the abyss, swallows the vast flood2227
three times into the downward gulf and alternately lifts2228
it to the air, and lashes the heavens with her waves.2229
But a cave surrounds Scylla with dark hiding-places,2230
and she thrusts her mouths out, and drags ships onto the rocks.2231
Above she has human shape, and is a girl, with lovely breasts,2232
a girl, down to her sex, below it she is a sea-monster of huge size,2233
with dolphins’ tails joined to a belly formed of wolves. 2234
It is better to round the point of Pachynus,2235
lingering, and circling Sicily on a long course,2236
than to once catch sight of hideous Scylla in her vast cave2237
and the rocks that echo to her sea-dark hounds.2238
Beyond this, if Helenus has any knowledge, if the seer2239
can be believed, if Apollo fills his spirit with truth,2240
son of the goddess, I will say this one thing, this one thing2241
that is worth all, and I’ll repeat the warning again and again,2242
honour great Juno’s divinity above all, with prayer, and recite 2243
your vows to Juno freely, and win over that powerful lady2244
with humble gifts: so at last you’ll leave Sicily behind2245
and reach the coast of Italy, victorious. 2246
Once brought there, approach the city of Cumae,2247
the ghostly lakes, and Avernus, with its whispering groves,2248
gaze on the raving prophetess, who sings the fates2249
deep in the rock, and commits names and signs to leaves.2250
Whatever verses the virgin writes on the leaves,2251
she arranges in order, and stores them high up in her cave.2252
They stay in place, motionless, and keep in rank:2253
but once a light breeze ruffles them, at the turn of a hinge,2254
and the opening door disturbs the delicate leaves, she never 2255
thinks to retrieve them, as they flutter through the rocky cave, 2256
or to return them to their places, or reconstitute the prophecies:2257
men go away unanswered, and detest the Sibyl’s lair.2258
Though your friends complain, and though your course2259
calls your sails urgently to the deep, and a following wind2260
might fill the canvas, don’t overvalue the loss in any delay,2261
but visit the prophetess, and beg her with prayers to speak2262
the oracle herself, and loose her voice through willing lips.2263
She will rehearse the peoples of Italy, the wars to come,2264
and how you might evade or endure each trial,2265
and, shown respect, she’ll grant you a favourable journey.2266
These are the things you can be warned of by my voice.2267
Go now, and by your actions raise great Troy to the stars.”2268
BkIII:463-505 The Departure from Chaonia2269
After the seer had spoken these words with benign lips,2270
he ordered heavy gifts of gold and carved ivory2271
to be carried to our ships, and stored massive silverware2272
in the holds, cauldrons from Dodona, a hooked breastplate2273
woven with triple-linked gold, and a fine conical helmet2274
with a crest of horse-hair, Pyrrhus’s armour. 2275
There were gifts of his own for my father too.2276
Helenus added horses and sea-pilots: he manned2277
our oars: he also equipped my friends with weapons.2278
Meanwhile Anchises ordered us to rig sails on the ships,2279
so the rushing wind would not be lost, by our delay.2280
Apollo’s agent spoke to him with great respect:2281
“Anchises, worthy of proud marriage with Venus,2282
cared for by the gods, twice saved from the ruins of Troy,2283
behold your land of Italy: sail and take it.2284
But still you must slide past it on the seas:2285
the part of Italy that Apollo named is far away.2286
Go onward, happy in your son’s love. Why should I say more,2287
and delay your catching the rising wind?”2288
Andromache also, grieved at this final parting, brought robes2289
embroidered with gold weave, and a Phrygian cloak2290
for Ascanius, nor did she fail to honour him, 2291
and loaded him down with gifts of cloth, and said:2292
“Take these as well, my child, remembrances for you2293
from my hand, and witness of the lasting love of Andromache,2294
Hector’s wife. Take these last gifts from your kin,2295
O you, the sole image left to me of my Astyanax.2296
He had the same eyes, the same hands, the same lips:2297
and now he would be growing up like you, equal in age.”2298
My tears welled as I spoke these parting words:2299
“Live happily, you whose fortunes are already determined:2300
we are summoned onwards from destiny to destiny.2301
For you, peace is achieved: you’ve no need to plough the levels2302
of the sea, you’ve no need to seek Italy’s ever-receding fields.2303
I wish that you might gaze at your likeness of Xanthus,2304
and a Troy built by your own hands, under happier auspices,2305
one which might be less exposed to the Greeks.2306
If I ever reach the Tiber, and the Tiber’s neighbouring fields,2307
and gaze on city walls granted to my people, we’ll one day2308
make one Troy, in spirit, from each of our kindred cities2309
and allied peoples, in Epirus, in Italy, who have the same Dardanus2310
for ancestor, the same history: let it be left to our descendants care.”2311
BkIII:506-547 In Sight of Italy2312
We sail on over the sea, close to the Ceraunian cliffs nearby,2313
on course for Italy, and the shortest path over the waves.2314
Meanwhile the sun is setting and the darkened hills are in shadow.2315
Having shared oars, we stretch out, near the waves, on the surface2316
of the long-desired land, and, scattered across the dry beach,2317
we rest our bodies: sleep refreshes our weary limbs.2318
Night, lead by the Hours, is not yet in mid-course:2319
Palinurus rises alertly from his couch, tests all 2320
the winds, and listens to the breeze: he notes2321
all the stars gliding through the silent sky,2322
Arcturus, the rainy Pleiades, both the Bears,2323
and surveys Orion, armed with gold. When he sees 2324
that all tallies, and the sky is calm, he sounds2325
a loud call from the ship’s stern: we break camp, 2326
attempt our route, and spread the winged sails.2327
And now Dawn blushes as she puts the stars to flight,2328
when we see, far off, dark hills and low-lying Italy.2329
First Achates proclaims Italy, then my companions2330
hail Italy with a joyful shout. Then my father Anchises2331
took up a large bowl, filled it with wine,2332
and standing in the high stern, called to the heavens:2333
“You gods, lords of the sea and earth and storms, carry us 2334
onward on a gentle breeze, and breathe on us with kindness!”2335
The wind we longed-for rises, now as we near, a harbour opens,2336
and a temple is visible on Minerva’s Height.2337
My companions furl the sails and turn the prows to shore.2338
The harbour is carved in an arc by the eastern tides:2339
its jutting rocks boil with salt spray, so that it itself is hidden:2340
towering cliffs extend their arms in a twin wall,2341
and the temple lies back from the shore.2342
Here I see four horses in the long grass, white as snow, 2343
grazing widely over the plain, our first omen.2344
And my father Anchises cries: “O foreign land, you bring us war:2345
horses are armed for war, war is what this herd threatens.2346
Yet those same creatures one day can be yoked to a chariot,2347
and once yoked will suffer the bridle in harmony:2348
there’s also hope of peace.” Then we pray to the sacred power2349
of Pallas, of the clashing weapons, first to receive our cheers,2350
and clothed in Phrygian robes we veiled our heads before the altar,2351
and following the urgent command Helenus had given,2352
we duly made burnt offerings to Argive Juno as ordered. 2353
BkIII:548-587 The Approach to Sicily2354
Without delay, as soon as our vows are fully paid,2355
we haul on the ends of our canvas-shrouded yard-arms,2356
and leave the home of the Greek race, and the fields we mistrust.2357
Then Tarentum’s bay is seen, Hercules’s city if the tale is true:2358
Lacinian Juno’s temple rises against it, Caulon’s fortress,2359
and Scylaceum’s shore of shipwreck.2360
Then far off Sicilian Etna appears from the waves,2361
and we hear the loud roar of the sea, and the distant2362
tremor of the rocks, and the broken murmurs of the shore,2363
the shallows boil, and sand mixes with the flood.2364
Then my father, Anchises, said: “This must be Charybdis:2365
these are the cliffs, these are the horrendous rocks Helenus foretold.2366
Pull away, O comrades, and stand to the oars together.”2367
They do no less than they’re asked, and Palinurus is the first2368
to heave his groaning ship into the portside waves:2369
all our company seek port with oars and sail.2370
We climb to heaven on the curving flood, and again2371
sink down with the withdrawing waves to the depths of Hades.2372
The cliffs boom three times in their rocky caves,2373
three times we see the spray burst, and the dripping stars.2374
Then the wind and sunlight desert weary men,2375
and not knowing the way we drift to the Cyclopes’s shore.2376
There’s a harbour, itself large and untroubled by the passing winds,2377
but Etna rumbles nearby with fearsome avalanches,2378
now it spews black clouds into the sky, smoking,2379
with pitch-black turbulence, and glowing ashes,2380
and throws up balls of flame, licking the stars:2381
now it hurls high the rocks it vomits, and the mountain’s 2382
torn entrails, and gathers molten lava together in the air2383
with a roar, boiling from its lowest depths.2384
The tale is that Enceladus’s body, scorched by the lightning-bolt,2385
is buried by that mass, and piled above him, mighty Etna2386
breathes flames from its riven furnaces,2387
and as often as he turns his weary flank, all Sicily2388
quakes and rumbles, and clouds the sky with smoke.2389
That night we hide in the woods, enduring the dreadful shocks,2390
unable to see what the cause of the sound is,2391
since there are no heavenly fires, no bright pole2392
in the starry firmament, but clouds in a darkened sky,2393
and the dead of night holds the moon in shroud.2394
BkIII:588-654 Achaemenides2395
Now the next day was breaking with the first light of dawn,2396
and Aurora had dispersed the moist shadows from the sky,2397
when suddenly the strange form of an unknown man came out2398
of the woods, exhausted by the last pangs of hunger, 2399
pitifully dressed, and stretched his hands in supplication 2400
towards the shore. We looked back. Vile with filth, his beard uncut,2401
his clothing fastened together with thorns: but otherwise a Greek,2402
once sent to Troy in his country’s armour.2403
When he saw the Dardan clothes and Trojan weapons, far off,2404
he hesitated a moment, frightened at the sight, 2405
and checked his steps: then ran headlong to the beach, 2406
with tears and prayers: “The stars be my witness,2407
the gods, the light in the life-giving sky, Trojans, 2408
take me with you: carry me to any country whatsoever,2409
that will be fine by me. I know I’m from one of the Greek ships,2410
and I confess that I made war against Trojan gods,2411
if my crime is so great an injury to you, scatter me2412
over the waves for it, or drown me in the vast ocean:2413
if I die I’ll delight in dying at the hands of men.”2414
He spoke and clung to my knees, embracing them 2415
and grovelling there. We urged him to say who he was,2416
born of what blood, then to say what fate pursued him.2417
Without much delay, my father Anchises himself gave2418
the young man his hand, lifting his spirits by this ready trust.2419
At last he set his fears aside and told us:2420
“I’m from the land of Ithaca, a companion of unlucky Ulysses,2421
Achaemenides by name, and, my father Adamastus being poor,2422
(I wish fate had kept me so!) I set out for Troy.2423
My comrades left me here in the Cyclops’ vast cave,2424
forgetting me, as they hurriedly left that grim2425
threshold. It’s a house of blood and gory feasts,2426
vast and dark inside. He himself is gigantic, striking against2427
the high stars – gods, remove plagues like that from the earth! –2428
not pleasant to look at, affable to no one.2429
He eats the dark blood and flesh of wretched men.2430
I saw myself how he seized two of our number in his huge hands,2431
and reclining in the centre of the cave, broke them2432
on the rock, so the threshold, drenched, swam with blood:2433
I saw how he gnawed their limbs, dripping with dark clots2434
of gore, and the still-warm bodies quivered in his jaws.2435
Yet he did not go unpunished: Ulysses didn’t suffer it,2436
nor did the Ithacan forget himself in a crisis. 2437
As soon as the Cyclops, full of flesh and sated with wine,2438
relaxed his neck, and lay, huge in size, across the cave,2439
drooling gore and blood and wine-drenched fragments 2440
in his sleep, we prayed to the great gods, and our roles fixed,2441
surrounded him on all sides, and stabbed his one huge eye,2442
solitary, and half-hidden under his savage brow,2443
like a round Greek shield, or the sun-disc of Phoebus,2444
with a sharpened stake: and so we joyfully avenged2445
the spirits of our friends. But fly from here, wretched men,2446
and cut your mooring ropes. Since, like Polyphemus, who pens2447
woolly flocks in the rocky cave, and milks their udders, there are2448
a hundred other appalling Cyclopes, the same in shape and size,2449
everywhere inhabiting the curved bay, and wandering the hills.2450
The moon’s horns have filled with light three times now, while I2451
have been dragging my life out in the woods, among the lairs 2452
and secret haunts of wild creatures, watching the huge Cyclopes2453
from the cliffs, trembling at their voices and the sound of their feet. 2454
The branches yield a miserable supply of fruits and stony cornelian2455
cherries, and the grasses, torn up by their roots, feed me.2456
Watching for everything, I saw, for the first time, this fleet 2457
approaching shore. Whatever might happen, I surrendered myself2458
to you: it’s enough for me to have escaped that wicked people.2459
I’d rather you took this life of mine by any death whatsoever.”2460
BkIII:655-691 Polyphemus2461
He’d barely spoken, when we saw the shepherd Polyphemus2462
himself, moving his mountainous bulk on the hillside2463
among the flocks, and heading for the familiar shore,2464
a fearful monster, vast and shapeless, robbed of the light.2465
A lopped pine-trunk in his hand steadied and guided2466
his steps: his fleecy sheep accompanied him: 2467
his sole delight and the solace for his evils. 2468
As soon as he came to the sea and reached the deep water,2469
he washed away the blood oozing from the gouged eye-socket,2470
groaning and gnashing his teeth. Then he walked through2471
the depths of the waves, without the tide wetting his vast thighs.2472
Anxiously we hurried our departure from there, accepting 2473
the worthy suppliant on board, and cutting the cable in silence:2474
then leaning into our oars, we vied in sweeping the sea.2475
He heard, and bent his course towards the sound of splashing.2476
But when he was denied the power to set hands on us,2477
and unable to counter the force of the Ionian waves, in pursuit,2478
he raised a mighty shout, at which the sea and all the waves2479
shook, and the land of Italy was frightened far inland,2480
and Etna bellowed from its winding caverns, but the tribe2481
of Cyclopes, roused from their woods and high mountains, 2482
rushed to the harbour, and crowded the shore.2483
We saw them standing there, impotently, wild-eyed,2484
the Aetnean brotherhood, heads towering into the sky,2485
a fearsome gathering: like tall oaks rooted on a summit,2486
or cone-bearing cypresses, in Jove’s high wood or Diana’s grove.2487
Acute fear drove us on to pay out the ropes on whatever tack2488
and spread our sails to any favourable wind. 2489
Helenus’s orders warned against taking a course between2490
Scylla and Charybdis, a hair’s breadth from death2491
on either side: we decided to beat back again.2492
When, behold, a northerly arrived from the narrow2493
headland of Pelorus: I sailed past the natural rock mouth2494
of the Pantagias, Megara’s bay, and low-lying Thapsus.2495
Such were the shores Achaemenides, the friend of unlucky Ulysses,2496
showed me, sailing his wandering journey again, in reverse.2497
BkIII:692-718 The Death of Anchises2498
An island lies over against wave-washed Plemyrium,2499
stretched across a Sicilian bay: named Ortygia by men of old.2500
The story goes that Alpheus, a river of Elis, forced2501
a hidden path here under the sea, and merges 2502
with the Sicilian waters of your fountain Arethusa.2503
As commanded we worshipped the great gods of this land,2504
and from there I passed marshy Helorus’s marvellously rich soil.2505
Next we passed the tall reefs and jutting rocks of Pachynus,2506
and Camerina appeared in the distance, granted2507
immoveable, by prophecy, and the Geloan plains, 2508
and Gela named after its savage river.2509
Then steep Acragas, once the breeder of brave horses,2510
showed its mighty ramparts in the distance:2511
and granted the wind, I left palmy Selinus, and passed2512
the tricky shallows of Lilybaeum with their blind reefs.2513
Next the harbour of Drepanum, and its joyless shore,2514
received me. Here, alas, I lost my father, Anchises, 2515
my comfort in every trouble and misfortune, I, who’d2516
been driven by so many ocean storms: here you left me, 2517
weary, best of fathers, saved from so many dangers in vain!2518
Helenus, the seer, did not prophesy this grief of mine,2519
when he warned me of many horrors, nor did grim Celaeno.2520
This was my last trouble, this the end of my long journey:2521
leaving there, the god drove me to your shores.’2522
So our ancestor Aeneas, as all listened to one man,2523
recounted divine fate, and described his journey.2524
At last he stopped, and making an end here, rested.2525
BkIV:1-53 Dido and Anna Discuss Aeneas2526
But the queen, wounded long since by intense love, 2527
feeds the hurt with her life-blood, weakened by hidden fire.2528
The hero’s courage often returns to mind, and the nobility2529
of his race: his features and his words cling fixedly to her heart,2530
and love will not grant restful calm to her body.2531
The new day’s Dawn was lighting the earth with Phoebus’s2532
brightness, and dispelling the dew-wet shadows from the sky,2533
when she spoke ecstatically to her sister, her kindred spirit:2534
“Anna, sister, how my dreams terrify me with anxieties!2535
Who is this strange guest who has entered our house,2536
with what boldness he speaks, how resolute in mind and warfare!2537
Truly I think – and it’s no idle saying – that he’s born of a goddess.2538
Fear reveals the ignoble spirit. Alas! What misfortunes test him!2539
What battles he spoke of, that he has undergone!2540
If my mind was not set, fixedly and immovably,2541
never to join myself with any man in the bonds of marriage,2542
because first-love betrayed me, cheated me through dying:2543
if I were not wearied by marriage and bridal-beds,2544
perhaps I might succumb to this one temptation.2545
Anna, yes I confess, since my poor husband Sychaeus’s death 2546
when the altars were blood-stained by my murderous brother,2547
he’s the only man who’s stirred my senses, troubled my2548
wavering mind. I know the traces of the ancient flame.2549
But I pray rather that earth might gape wide for me, to its depths,2550
or the all-powerful father hurl me with his lightning-bolt2551
down to the shadows, to the pale ghosts, and deepest night2552
of Erebus, before I violate you, Honour, or break your laws.2553
He who first took me to himself has stolen my love:2554
let him keep it with him, and guard it in his grave.”2555
So saying her breast swelled with her rising tears.2556
Anna replied: “O you, who are more beloved to your sister2557
than the light, will you wear your whole youth away 2558
in loneliness and grief, and not know Venus’s sweet gifts2559
or her children? Do you think that ashes or sepulchral spirits care?2560
Granted that in Libya or Tyre before it, no suitor ever2561
dissuaded you from sorrowing: and Iarbas and the other lords 2562
whom the African soil, rich in fame, bears, were scorned:2563
will you still struggle against a love that pleases?2564
Do you not recall to mind in whose fields you settled?2565
Here Gaetulian cities, a people unsurpassed in battle,2566
unbridled Numidians, and inhospitable Syrtis, surround you:2567
there, a region of dry desert, with Barcaeans raging around.2568
And what of your brother’s threats, and war with Tyre imminent?2569
The Trojan ships made their way here with the wind,2570
with gods indeed helping them I think, and with Juno’s favour.2571
What a city you’ll see here, sister, what a kingdom rise,2572
with such a husband! With a Trojan army marching with us,2573
with what great actions Punic glory will soar!2574
Only ask the gods for their help, and, propitiating them2575
with sacrifice, indulge your guest, spin reasons for delay,2576
while winter, and stormy Orion, rage at sea, 2577
while the ships are damaged, and the skies are hostile.”2578
BkIV:54-89 Dido in Love2579
By saying this she inflames the queen’s burning heart with love2580
and raises hopes in her anxious mind, and weakens her sense2581
of shame. First they visit the shrines and ask for grace at the altars:2582
they sacrifice chosen animals according to the rites,2583
to Ceres, the law-maker, and Phoebus, and father Lycaeus,2584
and to Juno above all, in whose care are the marriage ties:2585
Dido herself, supremely lovely, holding the cup in her hand,2586
pours the libation between the horns of a white heifer2587
or walks to the rich altars, before the face of the gods,2588
celebrates the day with gifts, and gazes into the opened2589
chests of victims, and reads the living entrails.2590
Ah, the unknowing minds of seers! What use are prayers2591
or shrines to the impassioned? Meanwhile her tender marrow 2592
is aflame, and a silent wound is alive in her breast.2593
Wretched Dido burns, and wanders frenzied through the city,2594
like an unwary deer struck by an arrow, that a shepherd hunting2595
with his bow has fired at from a distance, in the Cretan woods,2596
leaving the winged steel in her, without knowing.2597
She runs through the woods and glades of Dicte:2598
the lethal shaft hangs in her side.2599
Now she leads Aeneas with her round the walls2600
showing her Sidonian wealth and the city she’s built:2601
she begins to speak, and stops in mid-flow:2602
now she longs for the banquet again as day wanes,2603
yearning madly to hear about the Trojan adventures once more2604
and hangs once more on the speaker’s lips.2605
Then when they have departed, and the moon in turn2606
has quenched her light and the setting constellations urge sleep,2607
she grieves, alone in the empty hall, and lies on the couch2608
he left. Absent she hears him absent, sees him,2609
or hugs Ascanius on her lap, taken with this image2610
of his father, so as to deceive her silent passion.2611
The towers she started no longer rise, the young men no longer2612
carry out their drill, or work on the harbour and the battlements2613
for defence in war: the interrupted work is left hanging,2614
the huge threatening walls, the sky-reaching cranes.2615
BkIV:90-128 Juno and Venus2616
As soon as Juno, Jupiter’s beloved wife, saw clearly that Dido2617
was gripped by such heart-sickness, and her reputation2618
no obstacle to love, she spoke to Venus in these words:2619
“You and that son of yours, certainly take the prize, and plenty2620
of spoils: a great and memorable show of divine power,2621
whereby one woman’s trapped by the tricks of two gods.2622
But the truth’s not escaped me, you’ve always held the halls2623
of high Carthage under suspicion, afraid of my city’s defences.2624
But where can that end? Why such rivalry, now?2625
Why don’t we work on eternal peace instead, and a wedding pact?2626
You’ve achieved all that your mind was set on:2627
Dido’s burning with passion, and she’s drawn the madness2628
into her very bones. Let’s rule these people together 2629
with equal sway: let her be slave to a Trojan husband,2630
and entrust her Tyrians to your hand, as the dowry.”2631
Venus began the reply to her like this (since she knew2632
she’d spoken with deceit in her mind to divert the empire2633
from Italy’s shores to Libya’s): “Who’d be mad enough2634
to refuse such an offer or choose to make war on you,2635
so long as fate follows up what you say with action?2636
But fortune makes me uncertain, as to whether Jupiter wants2637
a single city for Tyrians and Trojan exiles, and approves2638
the mixing of races and their joining in league together.2639
You’re his wife: you can test his intent by asking.2640
Do it: I’ll follow.” Then royal Juno replied like this:2641
“That task’s mine. Now listen and I’ll tell you briefly2642
how the purpose at hand can be achieved. 2643
Aeneas and poor Dido plan to go hunting together 2644
in the woods, when the sun first shows tomorrow’s2645
dawn, and reveals the world in his rays.2646
While the lines are beating, and closing the thickets with nets,2647
I’ll pour down dark rain mixed with hail from the sky,2648
and rouse the whole heavens with my thunder.2649
They’ll scatter, and be lost in the dark of night:2650
Dido and the Trojan leader will reach the same cave.2651
I’ll be there, and if I’m assured of your good will,2652
I’ll join them firmly in marriage, and speak for her as his own:2653
this will be their wedding-night.” Not opposed to what she wanted,2654
Venus agreed, and smiled to herself at the deceit she’d found.2655
BkIV:129-172 The Hunt and the Cave2656
Meanwhile Dawn surges up and leaves the ocean.2657
Once she has risen, the chosen men pour from the gates:2658
Massylian horsemen ride out, with wide-meshed nets, 2659
snares, broad-headed hunting spears, and a pack 2660
of keen-scented hounds. The queen lingers in her rooms,2661
while Punic princes wait at the threshold: her horse stands there,2662
bright in purple and gold, and champs fiercely at the foaming bit.2663
At last she appears, with a great crowd around her,2664
dressed in a Sidonian robe with an embroidered hem.2665
Her quiver’s of gold, her hair knotted with gold,2666
a golden brooch fastens her purple tunic.2667
Her Trojan friends and joyful Iulus are with her:2668
Aeneas himself, the most handsome of them all, 2669
moves forward and joins his friendly troop with hers.2670
Like Apollo, leaving behind the Lycian winter, 2671
and the streams of Xanthus, and visiting his mother’s Delos,2672
to renew the dancing, Cretans and Dryopes and painted2673
Agathyrsians, mingling around his altars, shouting:2674
he himself striding over the ridges of Cynthus,2675
his hair dressed with tender leaves, and clasped with gold,2676
the weapons rattling on his shoulder: so Aeneas walks,2677
as lightly, beauty like the god’s shining from his noble face.2678
When they reach the mountain heights and pathless haunts,2679
see the wild goats, disturbed on their stony summits,2680
course down the slopes: in another place deer speed 2681
over the open field, massing together in a fleeing herd 2682
among clouds of dust, leaving the hillsides behind.2683
But the young Ascanius among the valleys, delights2684
in his fiery horse, passing this rider and that at a gallop, hoping2685
that amongst these harmless creatures a boar, with foaming mouth,2686
might answer his prayers, or a tawny lion, down from the mountain.2687
Meanwhile the sky becomes filled with a great rumbling:2688
rain mixed with hail follows, and the Tyrian company2689
and the Trojan men, with Venus’s Dardan grandson, 2690
scatter here and there through the fields, in their fear, 2691
seeking shelter: torrents stream down from the hills.2692
Dido and the Trojan leader reach the very same cave.2693
Primeval Earth and Juno of the Nuptials give their signal:2694
lightning flashes, the heavens are party to their union,2695
and the Nymphs howl on the mountain heights.2696
That first day is the source of misfortune and death.2697
Dido’s no longer troubled by appearances or reputation,2698
she no longer thinks of a secret affair: she calls it marriage:2699
and with that name disguises her sin.2700
BkIV:173-197 Rumour Reaches Iarbas2701
Rumour raced at once through Libya’s great cities,2702
Rumour, compared with whom no other is as swift.2703
She flourishes by speed, and gains strength as she goes:2704
first limited by fear, she soon reaches into the sky,2705
walks on the ground, and hides her head in the clouds.2706
Earth, incited to anger against the gods, so they say,2707
bore her last, a monster, vast and terrible, fleet-winged2708
and swift-footed, sister to Coeus and Enceladus,2709
who for every feather on her body has as many2710
watchful eyes below (marvellous to tell), as many2711
tongues speaking, as many listening ears. 2712
She flies, screeching, by night through the shadows2713
between earth and sky, never closing her eyelids2714
in sweet sleep: by day she sits on guard on tall roof-tops2715
or high towers, and scares great cities, as tenacious2716
of lies and evil, as she is messenger of truth.2717
Now in delight she filled the ears of the nations2718
with endless gossip, singing fact and fiction alike:2719
Aeneas has come, born of Trojan blood, a man whom2720
lovely Dido deigns to unite with: now they’re spending2721
the whole winter together in indulgence, forgetting2722
their royalty, trapped by shameless passion.2723
The vile goddess spread this here and there on men’s lips.2724
Immediately she slanted her course towards King Iarbas2725
and inflamed his mind with words and fuelled his anger.2726
BkIV:198-218 Iarbas Prays to Jupiter2727
He, a son of Jupiter Ammon, by a raped Garamantian Nymph,2728
had set up a hundred great temples, a hundred altars, to the god,2729
in his broad kingdom, and sanctified ever-living fires, the gods’2730
eternal guardians: the floors were soaked with sacrificial blood,2731
and the thresholds flowery with mingled garlands.2732
They say he often begged Jove humbly with upraised hands,2733
in front of the altars, among the divine powers,2734
maddened in spirit and set on fire by bitter rumour:2735
“All-powerful Jupiter, to whom the Moors, on their embroidered2736
divans, banqueting, now pour a Bacchic offering,2737
do you see this? Do we shudder in vain when you hurl 2738
your lightning bolts, father, and are those idle fires in the clouds2739
that terrify our minds, and flash among the empty rumblings?2740
A woman, wandering within my borders, who paid to found 2741
a little town, and to whom we granted coastal lands 2742
to plough, to hold in tenure, scorns marriage with me,2743
and takes Aeneas into her country as its lord. 2744
And now like some Paris, with his pack of eunuchs,2745
a Phrygian cap, tied under his chin, on his greasy hair,2746
he’s master of what he’s snatched: while I bring gifts indeed 2747
to temples, said to be yours, and cherish your empty reputation.2748
BkIV:219-278 Jupiter Sends Mercury to Aeneas2749
As he gripped the altar, and prayed in this way, 2750
the All-powerful one listened, and turned his gaze towards2751
the royal city, and the lovers forgetful of their true reputation.2752
Then he spoke to Mercury and commanded him so:2753
“Off you go, my son, call the winds and glide on your wings,2754
and talk to the Trojan leader who malingers in Tyrian Carthage2755
now, and gives no thought to the cities the fates will grant him,2756
and carry my words there on the quick breeze.2757
This is not what his loveliest of mothers suggested to me, 2758
nor why she rescued him twice from Greek armies:2759
he was to be one who’d rule Italy, pregnant with empire,2760
and crying out for war, he’d produce a people of Teucer’s 2761
high blood, and bring the whole world under the rule of law.2762
If the glory of such things doesn’t inflame him,2763
and he doesn’t exert himself for his own honour,2764
does he begrudge the citadels of Rome to Ascanius?2765
What does he plan? With what hopes does he stay2766
among alien people, forgetting Ausonia and the Lavinian fields?2767
Let him sail: that’s it in total, let that be my message.”2768
He finished speaking. The god prepared to obey his great 2769
father’s order, and first fastened the golden sandals to his feet2770
that carry him high on the wing over land and sea, like the storm.2771
Then he took up his wand: he calls pale ghosts from Orcus2772
with it, sending others down to grim Tartarus,2773
gives and takes away sleep, and opens the eyes of the dead.2774
Relying on it, he drove the winds, and flew through2775
the stormy clouds. Now in his flight he saw the steep flanks2776
and the summit of strong Atlas, who holds the heavens2777
on his head, Atlas, whose pine-covered crown is always wreathed2778
in dark clouds and lashed by the wind and rain:2779
fallen snow clothes his shoulders: while rivers fall2780
from his ancient chin, and his rough beard bristles with ice.2781
There Cyllenian Mercury first halted, balanced on level wings:2782
from there, he threw his whole body headlong 2783
towards the waves, like a bird that flies low close 2784
to the sea, round the coasts and the rocks rich in fish.2785
So the Cyllenian-born flew between heaven and earth2786
to Libya’s sandy shore, cutting the winds, coming2787
from Atlas, his mother Maia’s father.2788
As soon as he reached the builders’ huts, on his winged feet,2789
he saw Aeneas establishing towers and altering roofs.2790
His sword was starred with tawny jasper, 2791
and the cloak that hung from his shoulder blazed2792
with Tyrian purple, a gift that rich Dido had made,2793
weaving the cloth with golden thread.2794
Mercury challenged him at once: “For love of a wife 2795
are you now building the foundations of high Carthage2796
and a pleasing city? Alas, forgetful of your kingdom and fate!2797
The king of the gods himself, who bends heaven and earth2798
to his will, has sent me down to you from bright Olympus:2799
he commanded me himself to carry these words through2800
the swift breezes. What do you plan? With what hopes2801
do you waste idle hours in Libya’s lands? If you’re not stirred2802
by the glory of destiny, and won’t exert yourself for your own2803
fame, think of your growing Ascanius, and the expectations2804
of him, as Iulus your heir, to whom will be owed the kingdom 2805
of Italy, and the Roman lands.” So Mercury spoke,2806
and, while speaking, vanished from mortal eyes,2807
and melted into thin air far from their sight.2808
BkIV:279-330 Dido Accuses Aeneas2809
Aeneas, stupefied at the vision, was struck dumb,2810
and his hair rose in terror, and his voice stuck in his throat.2811
He was eager to be gone, in flight, and leave that sweet land,2812
shocked by the warning and the divine command.2813
Alas! What to do? With what speech dare he tackle 2814
the love-sick queen? What opening words should he choose?2815
And he cast his mind back and forth swiftly, 2816
considered the issue from every aspect, and turned it every way.2817
This seemed the best decision, given the alternatives:2818
he called Mnestheus, Sergestus and brave Serestus,2819
telling them to fit out the fleet in silence, gather the men2820
on the shore, ready the ships’ tackle, and hide the reason2821
for these changes of plan. He in the meantime, since 2822
the excellent Dido knew nothing, and would not expect2823
the breaking off of such a love, would seek an approach,2824
the tenderest moment to speak, and a favourable means.2825
They all gladly obeyed his command at once, and did his bidding.2826
But the queen sensed his tricks (who can deceive a lover?)2827
and was first to anticipate future events, fearful even of safety.2828
That same impious Rumour brought her madness:2829
they are fitting out the fleet, and planning a journey.2830
Her mind weakened, she raves, and, on fire, runs wild2831
through the city: like a Maenad, thrilled by the shaken emblems2832
of the god, when the biennial festival rouses her, and, hearing the Bacchic cry, Mount Cithaeron summons her by night with its noise.2833
Of her own accord she finally reproaches Aeneas in these words:2834
“Faithless one, did you really think you could hide2835
such wickedness, and vanish from my land in silence?2836
Will my love not hold you, nor the pledge I once gave you,2837
nor the promise that Dido will die a cruel death? 2838
Even in winter do you labour over your ships, cruel one,2839
so as to sail the high seas at the height of the northern gales?2840
Why? If you were not seeking foreign lands and unknown2841
settlements, but ancient Troy still stood, would Troy2842
be sought out by your ships in wave-torn seas? 2843
Is it me you run from? I beg you, by these tears, by your own2844
right hand (since I’ve left myself no other recourse in my misery),2845
by our union, by the marriage we have begun,2846
if ever I deserved well of you, or anything of me 2847
was sweet to you, pity this ruined house, and if 2848
there is any room left for prayer, change your mind. 2849
The Libyan peoples and Numidian rulers hate me because of you:2850
my Tyrians are hostile: because of you all shame too is lost,2851
the reputation I had, by which alone I might reach the stars.2852
My guest, since that’s all that is left me from the name of husband,2853
to whom do you relinquish me, a dying woman?2854
Why do I stay? Until Pygmalion, my brother, destroys2855
the city, or Iarbas the Gaetulian takes me captive?2856
If I’d at least conceived a child of yours2857
before you fled, if a little Aeneas were playing 2858
about my halls, whose face might still recall yours, 2859
I’d not feel myself so utterly deceived and forsaken.”2860
BkIV:331-361 Aeneas Justifies Himself2861
She had spoken. He set his gaze firmly on Jupiter’s2862
warnings, and hid his pain steadfastly in his heart.2863
He replied briefly at last: “O queen, I will never deny2864
that you deserve the most that can be spelt out in speech,2865
nor will I regret my thoughts of you, Elissa,2866
while memory itself is mine, and breath controls these limbs.2867
I’ll speak about the reality a little. I did not expect to conceal2868
my departure by stealth (don’t think that), nor have I ever2869
held the marriage torch, or entered into that pact. 2870
If the fates had allowed me to live my life under my own2871
auspices, and attend to my own concerns as I wished,2872
I should first have cared for the city of Troy and the sweet relics2873
of my family, Priam’s high roofs would remain, and I’d have 2874
recreated Pergama, with my own hands, for the defeated. 2875
But now it is Italy that Apollo of Grynium, 2876
Italy, that the Lycian oracles, order me to take:2877
that is my desire, that is my country. If the turrets of Carthage2878
and the sight of your Libyan city occupy you, a Phoenician,2879
why then begrudge the Trojans their settling of Ausonia’s lands?2880
It is right for us too to search out a foreign kingdom.2881
As often as night cloaks the earth with dew-wet shadows,2882
as often as the burning constellations rise, the troubled image2883
of my father Anchises warns and terrifies me in dream:2884
about my son Ascanius and the wrong to so dear a person,2885
whom I cheat of a Hesperian kingdom, and pre-destined fields.2886
Now even the messenger of the gods, sent by Jupiter himself,2887
(I swear it on both our heads), has brought the command2888
on the swift breeze: I saw the god himself in broad daylight2889
enter the city and these very ears drank of his words.2890
Stop rousing yourself and me with your complaints.2891
I do not take course for Italy of my own free will.”2892
BkIV:362-392 Dido’s Reply2893
As he was speaking she gazed at him with hostility,2894
casting her eyes here and there, considering the whole man2895
with a silent stare, and then, incensed, she spoke:2896
“Deceiver, your mother was no goddess, nor was Dardanus2897
the father of your race: harsh Caucasus engendered you2898
on the rough crags, and Hyrcanian tigers nursed you.2899
Why pretend now, or restrain myself waiting for something worse?2900
Did he groan at my weeping? Did he look at me?2901
Did he shed tears in defeat, or pity his lover?2902
What is there to say after this? Now neither greatest Juno, indeed,2903
nor Jupiter, son of Saturn, are gazing at this with friendly eyes.2904
Nowhere is truth safe. I welcomed him as a castaway on the shore,2905
a beggar, and foolishly gave away a part of my kingdom:2906
I saved his lost fleet, and his friends from death.2907
Ah! Driven by the Furies, I burn: now prophetic Apollo,2908
now the Lycian oracles, now even a divine messenger sent2909
by Jove himself carries his orders through the air.2910
This is the work of the gods indeed, this is a concern to trouble2911
their calm. I do not hold you back, or refute your words:2912
go, seek Italy on the winds, find your kingdom over the waves.2913
Yet if the virtuous gods have power, I hope that you2914
will drain the cup of suffering among the reefs, and call out Dido’s2915
name again and again. Absent, I’ll follow you with dark fires, 2916
and when icy death has divided my soul and body, my ghost2917
will be present everywhere. Cruel one, you’ll be punished.2918
I’ll hear of it: that news will reach me in the depths of Hades.”2919
Saying this, she broke off her speech mid-flight, and fled2920
the light in pain, turning from his eyes, and going,2921
leaving him fearful and hesitant, ready to say more.2922
Her servants received her and carried her failing body 2923
to her marble chamber, and laid her on her bed.2924
BkIV:393-449 Aeneas Departs2925
But dutiful Aeneas, though he desired to ease her sadness2926
by comforting her and to turn aside pain with words, still, 2927
with much sighing, and a heart shaken by the strength of her love,2928
followed the divine command, and returned to the fleet.2929
Then the Trojans truly set to work and launched the tall ships2930
all along the shore. They floated the resinous keels,2931
and ready for flight, they brought leafy branches2932
and untrimmed trunks, from the woods, as oars.2933
You could see them hurrying and moving from every part2934
of the city. Like ants that plunder a vast heap of grain,2935
and store it in their nest, mindful of winter: a dark column2936
goes through the fields, and they carry their spoils2937
along a narrow track through the grass: some heave2938
with their shoulders against a large seed, and push, others tighten2939
the ranks and punish delay, the whole path’s alive with work.2940
What were your feelings Dido at such sights, what sighs2941
did you give, watching the shore from the heights 2942
of the citadel, everywhere alive, and seeing the whole 2943
sea, before your eyes, confused with such cries!2944
Cruel Love, to what do you not drive the human heart:2945
to burst into tears once more, to see once more if he can2946
be compelled by prayers, to humbly submit to love,2947
lest she leave anything untried, dying in vain.2948
“Anna, you see them scurrying all round the shore:2949
they’ve come from everywhere: the canvas already invites2950
the breeze, and the sailors, delighted, have set garlands2951
on the sterns. If I was able to foresee this great grief,2952
sister, then I’ll be able to endure it too. Yet still do one thing2953
for me in my misery, Anna: since the deceiver cultivated2954
only you, even trusting you with his private thoughts:2955
and only you know the time to approach the man easily.2956
Go, sister, and speak humbly to my proud enemy.2957
I never took the oath, with the Greeks at Aulis,2958
to destroy the Trojan race, or sent a fleet to Pergama,2959
or disturbed the ashes and ghost of his father Anchises:2960
why does he pitilessly deny my words access to his hearing?2961
Where does he run to? Let him give his poor lover this last gift:2962
let him wait for an easy voyage and favourable winds.2963
I don’t beg now for our former tie, that he has betrayed,2964
nor that he give up his beautiful Latium, and abandon2965
his kingdom: I ask for insubstantial time: peace and space2966
for my passion, while fate teaches my beaten spirit to grieve.2967
I beg for this last favour (pity your sister):2968
when he has granted it me, I’ll repay all by dying.”2969
Such are the prayers she made, and such are those2970
her unhappy sister carried and re-carried. But he was not2971
moved by tears, and listened to no words receptively:2972
Fate barred the way, and a god sealed the hero’s gentle hearing.2973
As when northerly blasts from the Alps blowing here and there2974
vie together to uproot an oak tree, tough with the strength of years:2975
there’s a creak, and the trunk quivers and the topmost leaves2976
strew the ground: but it clings to the rocks, and its roots2977
stretch as far down to Tartarus as its crown does towards2978
the heavens: so the hero was buffeted by endless pleas 2979
from this side and that, and felt the pain in his noble heart. 2980
His purpose remained fixed: tears fell uselessly.2981
BkIV:450-503 Dido Resolves to Die2982
Then the unhappy Dido, truly appalled by her fate, 2983
prayed for death: she was weary of gazing at the vault of heaven.2984
And that she might complete her purpose, and relinquish the light2985
more readily, when she placed her offerings on the altar alight2986
with incense, she saw (terrible to speak of!) the holy water blacken,2987
and the wine she had poured change to vile blood.2988
She spoke of this vision to no one, not even her sister.2989
There was a marble shrine to her former husband in the palace,2990
that she’d decked out, also, with marvellous beauty,2991
with snow-white fleeces, and festive greenery:2992
from it she seemed to hear voices and her husband’s words2993
calling her, when dark night gripped the earth:2994
and the lonely owl on the roofs often grieved2995
with ill-omened cries, drawing out its long call in a lament:2996
and many a prophecy of the ancient seers terrified her2997
with its dreadful warning. Harsh Aeneas himself persecuted2998
her, in her crazed sleep: always she was forsaken, alone with2999
herself, always she seemed to be travelling companionless on some3000
long journey, seeking her Tyrian people in a deserted landscape:3001
like Pentheus, deranged, seeing the Furies file past,3002
and twin suns and a twin Thebes revealed to view,3003
or like Agamemnon’s son Orestes driven across the stage when he3004
flees his mother’s ghost armed with firebrands and black snakes,3005
while the avenging Furies crouch on the threshold.3006
So that when, overcome by anguish, she harboured the madness,3007
and determined on death, she debated with herself over the time3008
and the method, and going to her sorrowful sister with a face 3009
that concealed her intent, calm, with hope on her brow, said:3010
“Sister, I’ve found a way (rejoice with your sister)3011
that will return him to me, or free me from loving him.3012
Near the ends of the Ocean and where the sun sets3013
Ethiopia lies, the furthest of lands, where Atlas, 3014
mightiest of all, turns the sky set with shining stars:3015
I’ve been told of a priestess, of Massylian race, there, 3016
a keeper of the temple of the Hesperides, who gave3017
the dragon its food, and guarded the holy branches of the tree,3018
scattering the honeydew and sleep-inducing poppies.3019
With her incantations she promises to set free 3020
what hearts she wishes, but bring cruel pain to others:3021
to stop the rivers flowing, and turn back the stars:3022
she wakes nocturnal Spirits: you’ll see earth yawn3023
under your feet, and the ash trees march from the hills.3024
You, and the gods, and your sweet life, are witness,3025
dear sister, that I arm myself with magic arts unwillingly.3026
Build a pyre, secretly, in an inner courtyard, open to the sky, 3027
and place the weapons on it which that impious man left 3028
hanging in my room, and the clothes, and the bridal bed 3029
that undid me: I want to destroy all memories3030
of that wicked man, and the priestess commends it.”3031
Saying this she fell silent: at the same time a pallor spread3032
over her face. Anna did not yet realise that her sister 3033
was disguising her own funeral with these strange rites,3034
her mind could not conceive of such intensity, 3035
and she feared nothing more serious than when 3036
Sychaeus died. So she prepared what was demanded.3037
BkIV:504-553 Dido Laments3038
But when the pyre of cut pine and oak was raised high, 3039
in an innermost court open to the sky, the queen3040
hung the place with garlands, and wreathed it 3041
with funereal foliage: she laid his sword and clothes3042
and picture on the bed, not unmindful of the ending.3043
Altars stand round about, and the priestess, with loosened hair,3044
intoned the names of three hundred gods, of Erebus, Chaos,3045
and the triple Hecate, the three faces of virgin Diana.3046
And she sprinkled water signifying the founts of Avernus:3047
there were herbs too acquired by moonlight, cut3048
with a bronze sickle, moist with the milk of dark venom:3049
and a caul acquired by tearing it from a newborn colt’s brow,3050
forestalling the mother’s love. She herself, near the altars,3051
with sacred grain in purified hands, one foot free of constraint,3052
her clothing loosened, called on the gods to witness3053
her coming death, and on the stars conscious of fate: 3054
then she prayed to whatever just and attentive power 3055
there might be, that cares for unrequited lovers.3056
It was night, and everywhere weary creatures were enjoying3057
peaceful sleep, the woods and the savage waves were resting, 3058
while stars wheeled midway in their gliding orbit,3059
while all the fields were still, and beasts and colourful birds,3060
those that live on wide scattered lakes, and those that live3061
in rough country among the thorn-bushes, were sunk in sleep3062
in the silent night. But not the Phoenician, unhappy in spirit, 3063
she did not relax in sleep, or receive the darkness into her eyes3064
and breast: her cares redoubled, and passion, alive once more, 3065
raged, and she swelled with a great tide of anger.3066
So she began in this way turning it over alone in her heart:3067
“See, what can I do? Be mocked trying my former suitors,3068
seeking marriage humbly with Numidians whom I 3069
have already disdained so many times as husbands?3070
Shall I follow the Trojan fleet then and that Teucrian’s3071
every whim? Because they might delight in having been3072
helped by my previous aid, or because gratitude 3073
for past deeds might remain truly fixed in their memories?3074
Indeed who, given I wanted to, would let me, or would take3075
one they hate on board their proud ships? Ah, lost girl,3076
do you not know or feel yet the treachery of Laomedon’s race?3077
What then? Shall I go alone, accompanying triumphant sailors?3078
Or with all my band of Tyrians clustered round me?3079
Shall I again drive my men to sea in pursuit, those3080
whom I could barely tear away from their Sidonian city,3081
and order them to spread their sails to the wind? 3082
Rather die, as you deserve, and turn away sorrow with steel.3083
You, my sister, conquered by my tears, in my madness, you 3084
first burdened me with these ills, and exposed me to my enemy.3085
I was not allowed to pass my life without blame, free of marriage, 3086
in the manner of some wild creature, never knowing such pain:3087
I have not kept the vow I made to Sychaeus’s ashes.”3088
Such was the lament that burst from her heart.3089
BkIV:554-583 Mercury Visits Aeneas Again3090
Now that everything was ready, and he was resolved on going,3091
Aeneas was snatching some sleep, on the ship’s high stern.3092
That vision appeared again in dream admonishing him,3093
similar to Mercury in every way, voice and colouring,3094
golden hair, and youth’s graceful limbs:3095
“Son of the Goddess, can you consider sleep in this disaster,3096
can’t you see the danger of it that surrounds you, madman3097
or hear the favourable west winds blowing?3098
Determined to die, she broods on mortal deceit and sin,3099
and is tossed about on anger’s volatile flood.3100
Won’t you flee from here, in haste, while you can hasten?3101
Soon you’ll see the water crowded with ships, 3102
cruel firebrands burning, soon the shore will rage with flame,3103
if the Dawn finds you lingering in these lands. Come, now,3104
end your delay! Woman is ever fickle and changeable.” 3105
So he spoke, and blended with night’s darkness. 3106
Then Aeneas, terrified indeed by the sudden apparition,3107
roused his body from sleep, and called to his friends:3108
“ Quick, men, awake, and man the rowing-benches: run 3109
and loosen the sails. Know that a god, sent from the heavens,3110
urges us again to speed our flight, and cut the twisted hawsers. 3111
We follow you, whoever you may be, sacred among the gods,3112
and gladly obey your commands once more. Oh, be with us, 3113
calm one, help us, and show stars favourable to us in the sky.” 3114
He spoke, and snatched his shining sword from its sheath,3115
and struck the cable with the naked blade. All were possessed3116
at once with the same ardour: They snatched up their goods,3117
and ran: abandoning the shore: the water was clothed with ships:3118
setting to, they churned the foam and swept the blue waves.3119
BkIV:584-629 Dido’s Curse3120
And now, at dawn, Aurora, leaving Tithonus’s saffron bed,3121
was scattering fresh daylight over the earth.3122
As soon as the queen saw the day whiten, from her tower, 3123
and the fleet sailing off under full canvas, and realised 3124
the shore and harbour were empty of oarsmen, she3125
struck her lovely breast three or four times with her hand,3126
and tearing at her golden hair, said: “Ah, Jupiter, is he to leave,3127
is a foreigner to pour scorn on our kingdom? Shall my Tyrians3128
ready their armour, and follow them out of the city, and others drag3129
our ships from their docks? Go, bring fire quickly, hand out the3130
weapons, drive the oars! What am I saying? Where am I?3131
What madness twists my thoughts? Wretched Dido, is it now3132
that your impious actions hurt you? The right time was then, 3133
when you gave him the crown. So this is the word and loyalty3134
of the man whom they say bears his father’s gods around,3135
of the man who carried his age-worn father on his shoulders? 3136
Couldn’t I have seized hold of him, torn his body apart,3137
and scattered him on the waves? And put his friends to the sword,3138
and Ascanius even, to feast on, as a course at his father’s table?3139
True the fortunes of war are uncertain. Let them be so:3140
as one about to die, whom had I to fear? I should have set fire3141
to his camp, filled the decks with flames, and extinguishing3142
father and son, and their whole race, given up my own life as well.3143
O Sun, you who illuminate all the works of this world,3144
and you Juno, interpreter and knower of all my pain,3145
and Hecate howled to, in cities, at midnight crossroads,3146
you, avenging Furies, and you, gods of dying Elissa,3147
acknowledge this, direct your righteous will to my troubles,3148
and hear my prayer. If it must be that the accursed one3149
should reach the harbour, and sail to the shore: 3150
if Jove’s destiny for him requires it, there his goal:3151
still, troubled in war by the armies of a proud race, 3152
exiled from his territories, torn from Iulus’s embrace,3153
let him beg help, and watch the shameful death of his people: 3154
then, when he has surrendered, to a peace without justice, 3155
may he not enjoy his kingdom or the days he longed for,3156
but let him die before his time, and lie unburied on the sand.3157
This I pray, these last words I pour out with my blood.3158
Then, O Tyrians, pursue my hatred against his whole line3159
and the race to come, and offer it as a tribute to my ashes. 3160
Let there be no love or treaties between our peoples.3161
Rise, some unknown avenger, from my dust, who will pursue3162
the Trojan colonists with fire and sword, now, or in time3163
to come, whenever the strength is granted him.3164
I pray that shore be opposed to shore, water to wave,3165
weapon to weapon: let them fight, them and their descendants.”3166
BkIV:630-705 The Death of Dido3167
She spoke, and turned her thoughts this way and that,3168
considering how to destroy her hateful life.3169
Then she spoke briefly to Barce, Sychaeus’s nurse,3170
since dark ashes concealed her own, in her former country:3171
“Dear nurse, bring my sister Anna here: tell her3172
to hurry, and sprinkle herself with water from the river,3173
and bring the sacrificial victims and noble offerings.3174
Let her come, and you yourself veil your brow with sacred ribbons.3175
My purpose is to complete the rites of Stygian Jupiter,3176
that I commanded, and have duly begun, and put an end3177
to sorrow, and entrust the pyre of that Trojan leader to the flames.”3178
So she said. The old woman zealously hastened her steps.3179
But Dido restless, wild with desperate purpose,3180
rolling her bloodshot eyes, her trembling cheeks3181
stained with red flushes, yet pallid at approaching death,3182
rushed into the house through its inner threshold, furiously 3183
climbed the tall funeral pyre, and unsheathed 3184
a Trojan sword, a gift that was never acquired to this end.3185
Then as she saw the Ilian clothing and the familiar couch,3186
she lingered a while, in tears and thought, then 3187
cast herself on the bed, and spoke her last words:3188
“Reminders, sweet while fate and the god allowed it,3189
accept this soul, and loose me from my sorrows.3190
I have lived, and I have completed the course that Fortune granted,3191
and now my noble spirit will pass beneath the earth.3192
I have built a bright city: I have seen its battlements,3193
avenging a husband I have exacted punishment3194
on a hostile brother, happy, ah, happy indeed 3195
if Trojan keels had never touched my shores!”3196
She spoke, and buried her face in the couch. 3197
“I shall die un-avenged, but let me die,” she cried.3198
“So, so I joy in travelling into the shadows.3199
Let the cruel Trojan’s eyes drink in this fire, on the deep,3200
and bear with him the evil omen of my death.”3201
She had spoken, and in the midst of these words, 3202
her servants saw she had fallen on the blade, 3203
the sword frothed with blood, and her hands were stained.3204
A cry rose to the high ceiling: Rumour, run riot, struck the city.3205
The houses sounded with weeping and sighs and women’s cries,3206
the sky echoed with a mighty lamentation,3207
as if all Carthage or ancient Tyre were falling 3208
to the invading enemy, and raging flames were rolling3209
over the roofs of men and gods.3210
Her sister, terrified, heard it, and rushed through the crowd,3211
tearing her cheeks with her nails, and beating her breast,3212
and called out to the dying woman in accusation:3213
“So this was the meaning of it, sister? Did you aim to cheat me?3214
This pyre of yours, this fire and altar were prepared for my sake?3215
What shall I grieve for first in my abandonment? Did you scorn3216
your sister’s company in dying? You should have summoned me3217
to the same fate: the same hour the same sword’s hurt should have3218
taken us both. I even built your pyre with these hands, 3219
and was I calling aloud on our father’s gods, 3220
so that I would be absent, cruel one, as you lay here?3221
You have extinguished yourself and me, sister: your people,3222
your Sidonian ancestors, and your city. I should bathe3223
your wounds with water and catch with my lips 3224
whatever dying breath still hovers.” So saying she climbed3225
the high levels, and clasped her dying sister to her breast,3226
sighing, and stemming the dark blood with her dress.3227
Dido tried to lift her heavy eyelids again, but failed:3228
and the deep wound hissed in her breast.3229
Lifting herself three times, she struggled to rise on her elbow: 3230
three times she fell back onto the bed, searching for light in 3231
the depths of heaven, with wandering eyes, and, finding it, sighed.3232
Then all-powerful Juno, pitying the long suffering 3233
of her difficult death, sent Iris from Olympus, to release 3234
the struggling spirit, and captive body. For since3235
she had not died through fate, or by a well-earned death, 3236
but wretchedly, before her time, inflamed with sudden madness, 3237
Proserpine had not yet taken a lock of golden hair 3238
from her head, or condemned her soul to Stygian Orcus. 3239
So dew-wet Iris flew down through the sky, on saffron wings,3240
trailing a thousand shifting colours across the sun,3241
and hovered over her head. “ I take this offering, sacred to Dis,3242
as commanded, and release you from the body that was yours.”3243
So she spoke, and cut the lock of hair with her right hand.3244
All the warmth ebbed at once, and life vanished on the breeze.3245
BkV:1-41 Aeneas Returns to Sicily3246
Meanwhile Aeneas with the fleet was holding a fixed course3247
now in the midst of the sea, cutting the waves, dark in a northerly3248
wind, looking back at the city walls that were glowing now with3249
unhappy Dido’s funeral flames. The reason that such a fire had3250
been lit was unknown: but the cruel pain when a great love is3251
profaned, and the knowledge of what a frenzied woman might do,3252
drove the minds of the Trojans to sombre forebodings.3253
When the ships reached deep water and land was no longer3254
in sight, but everywhere was sea, and sky was everywhere,3255
then a dark-blue rain cloud hung overhead, bringing3256
night and storm, and the waves bristled with shadows.3257
Palinurus the helmsman himself from the high stern cried:3258
‘Ah! Why have such storm clouds shrouded the sky?3259
What do you intend, father Neptune?’ So saying, next3260
he ordered them to shorten sail, and bend to the heavy oars,3261
then tacked against the wind, and spoke as follows:3262
‘Brave Aeneas, I would not expect to make Italy3263
with this sky, though guardian Jupiter promised it.3264
The winds, rising from the darkened west, have shifted 3265
and roar across our path, and the air thickens for a storm.3266
We cannot stand against it, or labour enough to weather it.3267
Since Fortune overcomes us, let’s go with her, 3268
and set our course wherever she calls. I think your brother Eryx’s3269
friendly shores are not far off, and the harbours of Sicily,3270
if I only remember the stars I observed rightly.’3271
Then virtuous Aeneas replied: ‘For my part I’ve seen for some time3272
that the winds required it, and you’re steering into them in vain.3273
Alter the course we sail. Is any land more welcome to me,3274
any to which I’d prefer to steer my weary fleet,3275
than that which protects my Trojan friend Acestes,3276
and holds the bones of my father Anchises to its breast?”3277
Having said this they searched out the port, and following winds3278
filled their sails: the ships sailed swiftly on the flood,3279
and they turned at last in delight towards known shores.3280
But Alcestes, on a high hill in the distance, wondered at the arrival3281
of friendly vessels, and met them, armed with javelins,3282
in his Libyan she-bear’s pelt: he whom a Trojan3283
mother bore, conceived of the river-god Crinisius. 3284
Not neglectful of his ancient lineage he rejoiced3285
at their return, entertained them gladly with his rural riches,3286
and comforted the weary with the assistance of a friend.3287
BkV:42-103 Aeneas Declares the Games3288
When, in the following Dawn, bright day had put the stars3289
to flight, Aeneas called his companions together, 3290
from the whole shore, and spoke from a high mound:3291
“Noble Trojans, people of the high lineage of the gods,3292
the year’s cycle is complete to the very month 3293
when we laid the bones, all that was left of my divine father, 3294
in the earth, and dedicated the sad altars. And now3295
the day is here (that the gods willed) if I am not wrong, 3296
which I will always hold as bitter, always honoured.3297
If I were keeping it, exiled in Gaetulian Syrtes,3298
or caught on the Argive seas, or in Mycenae’s city,3299
I’d still conduct the yearly rite, and line of solemn3300
procession, and heap up the due offerings on the altar.3301
Now we even stand by the ashes and bones of my father3302
(not for my part I think without the will and power of the gods)3303
and carried to this place we have entered a friendly harbour.3304
So come and let us all celebrate the sacrifice with joy:3305
let us pray for a wind, and may he will me to offer these rites 3306
each year when my city is founded, in temples that are his.3307
Acestes, a Trojan born, gives you two head of oxen 3308
for every ship: Invite the household gods to our feast, 3309
our own and those whom Acestes our host worships.3310
Also, when the ninth Dawn raises high the kindly light3311
for mortal men, and reveals the world in her rays,3312
I will declare a Trojan Games: first a race between the swift ships:3313
then those with ability in running, and those, daring in strength,3314
who step forward, who are superior with javelin and slight arrows,3315
or trust themselves to fight with rawhide gloves:3316
let everyone be there and hope for the prize of a well-deserved3317
palm branch. All be silent now, and wreathe your brows.”3318
So saying he veiled his forehead with his mother’s myrtle.3319
Helymus did likewise, Acestes of mature years, the boy3320
Ascanius, and the rest of the people followed.3321
Then he went with many thousands, from the gathering3322
to the grave-mound, in the midst of the vast accompanying throng.3323
Here with due offering he poured two bowls of pure wine3324
onto the ground, two of fresh milk, two of sacrificial blood,3325
and, scattering bright petals, he spoke as follows:3326
“Once more, hail, my sacred father: hail, spirit,3327
ghost, ashes of my father, whom I rescued in vain.3328
I was not allowed to search, with you, for Italy’s borders,3329
our destined fields, or Ausonia’s Tiber, wherever it might be.”3330
He had just finished speaking when a shining snake unwound 3331
each of its seven coils from the base of the shrine,3332
in seven large loops, placidly encircling the mound, and gliding3333
among the altars, its back mottled with blue-green markings,3334
and its scales burning with a golden sheen, as a rainbow forms3335
a thousand varied colours in clouds opposite the sun.3336
Aeneas was stunned by the sight. Finally, with a long glide3337
among the bowls and polished drinking cups, the serpent 3338
tasted the food, and, having fed, departed the altar, 3339
retreating harmlessly again into the depths of the tomb. 3340
Aeneas returned more eagerly to the tribute to his father, 3341
uncertain whether to treat the snake as the guardian of the place, 3342
or as his father’s attendant spirit: he killed two sheep as customary,3343
two pigs, and as many black-backed heifers:3344
and poured wine from the bowls, and called on the spirit3345
and shadow of great Anchises, released from Acheron.3346
And his companions as well, brought gifts gladly, of which3347
each had a store, piling high the altars, sacrificing bullocks:3348
others set out rows of cauldrons, and scattered among the grass,3349
placed live coals under the spits, and roasted the meat. 3350
BkV:104-150 The Start of the Games3351
The eagerly-awaited day had arrived, and now 3352
Phaethon’s horses brought a ninth dawn of cloudless light,3353
and Acestes’s name and reputation had roused the countryside:3354
they thronged the shore, a joyous crowd,3355
some to see Aeneas and his men, others to compete.3356
First the prizes were set out for them to see in the centre3357
of the circuit, sacred tripods, green crowns and palms,3358
rewards for the winners, armour, and clothes dyed with purple, 3359
and talents of silver and gold: and a trumpet sang out, 3360
from a central mound, that the games had begun. 3361
Four well-matched ships with heavy oars 3362
were chosen from the fleet for the first event.3363
Mnesthus, soon to be Mnesthus of Italy from whom 3364
the Memmian people are named, captains the Sea-Serpent, 3365
with its eager crew: Gyas, the vast Chimaera of huge bulk,3366
a floating city, rowed by the Trojan men 3367
on three decks, with the oars raised in triple rows:3368
Sergestus, from whom the house of Sergia gets its name,3369
sails in the great Centaur, and Cloanthus from whom 3370
your family derives, Cluentius of Rome, in the sea-green Scylla.3371
There’s a rock far out at sea opposite the foaming shore,3372
which, lashed by the swollen waves, is sometimes drowned,3373
when wintry north-westerlies hide the stars: 3374
it is quiet in calm weather and flat ground is raised above3375
the motionless water, a welcome haunt for sun-loving sea-birds.3376
Here our ancestor Aeneas set up a leafy oak-trunk3377
as a mark, as a sign for the sailors to know where 3378
to turn back, and circle round the long course. 3379
Then they chose places by lot, and the captains themselves, on 3380
the sterns, gleamed from a distance, resplendent in purple and gold:3381
the rest of the men were crowned with poplar leaves,3382
and their naked shoulders glistened, shining with oil.3383
They manned the benches, arms ready at the oars:3384
readied for action they waited for the signal, and pounding fear,3385
and the desire aroused for glory, devoured their leaping hearts.3386
Then when the clear trumpet gave the signal, all immediately3387
shot forward from the starting line, the sailor’s shouts3388
struck the heavens, as arms were plied the waters turned to foam.3389
they cut the furrows together, and the whole surface 3390
gaped wide, ploughed by the oars and the three-pronged beaks.3391
The speed is not as great when the two horse chariots 3392
hit the field in their race, shooting from their stalls:3393
and the charioteers shake the rippling reins over their3394
galloping team, straining forward to the lash.3395
So the whole woodland echoes with applause, the shouts3396
of men, and the partisanship of their supporters,3397
the sheltered beach concentrates the sound 3398
and the hills, reverberating, return the clamour.3399
BkV:151-243 The Boat Race3400
Gyas runs before the pack, and glides forward on the waves,3401
amongst the noise and confusion: Cloanthus follows next,3402
his ship better manned, but held back by its weight.3403
After them separated equally the Sea-Serpent 3404
and the Centaur strain to win a lead:3405
now the Sea-Serpent has it, now the huge Centaur wins in front,3406
now both sweep on together their bows level,3407
their long keels ploughing the salt sea.3408
Now they near the rock and are close to the marker,3409
when Gyas, the leader, winning at the half-way point,3410
calls out loudly to his pilot Menoetes:3411
“Why so far adrift to starboard? Steer her course this way:3412
hug the shore and graze the crags to port, oars raised:3413
let others keep to deep water.” He spoke, but Menoetes3414
fearing unseen reefs wrenched the prow towards the open sea.3415
“Why so far adrift?” again, “Head for the rocks, Menoetes!”3416
he shouts to him forcefully, and behold, he sees Cloanthus3417
right at his back and taking the riskier course.3418
He squeezed a path between Gyas’s ship and the booming rocks3419
inside to starboard, suddenly passing the leader,3420
and, leaving the marker behind, reached safe water.3421
Then indeed great indignation burned in the young man’s marrow,3422
and there were tears on his cheeks, and forgetting his own pride3423
and his crew’s safety he heaved the timid Menoetes3424
headlong into the sea from the high stern:3425
he stood to the helm, himself captain and steersman,3426
urged on his men, and turned for the shore.3427
But when Menoetes old as he was, clawed his way back heavily3428
and with difficulty at last from the sea floor, he climbed to the top3429
of the crag and sat down on the dry rock dripping, in his wet3430
clothing. The Trojans laughed as he fell, and swam3431
and laughed as he vomited the seawater from his chest.3432
At this a joyful hope of passing Gyas, as he stalled,3433
is aroused in Sergestus and Mnestheus, the two behind,3434
Sergestus takes the leading place and nears the rock,3435
still he’s not a full ship’s length in front, only part:3436
the rival Sea-Serpent closes on him with her prow.3437
Then, Mnesthus walking among his crew amidships3438
exhorted them: “Now, now rise to the oars, comrades3439
of Hector, you whom I chose as companions at Troy’s3440
last fatal hour: now, exert all that strength, 3441
that spirit you showed in the Gaetulian shoals, 3442
the Ionian Sea, and Cape Malea’s pursuing waves.3443
Now I, Mnesthus, do not seek to be first or try to win –3444
let those conquer whom you have granted to do so, Neptune –3445
but oh, it would be shameful to return last: achieve this for us,3446
countrymen, and prevent our disgrace.” They bend to it 3447
with fierce rivalry: the bronze stern shudders at their powerful3448
strokes: and the sea-floor drops away beneath them: 3449
then shallow breathing makes limbs and parched lips quiver.3450
and their sweat runs down in streams. 3451
Chance brings the men the glory that they long for.3452
When Segestus, his spirit raging, forces his bows, 3453
on the inside, towards the rocks, and enters3454
dangerous water, unhappily he strikes the jutting reef.3455
The cliff shakes, the oars jam against them, and snap3456
on the sharp edges of stone, and the prow hangs there, snagged.3457
The sailors leap up, and, shouting aloud at the delay,3458
gather iron-tipped poles and sharply-pointed boathooks,3459
and rescue their smashed oars from the water.3460
But Mnesthus, delighted, and made eager by his success,3461
with a swift play of oars, and a prayer to the winds.3462
heads for home waters and courses the open sea,3463
as a dove, whose nest and sweet chicks are hidden 3464
among the rocks, suddenly startled from some hollow,3465
takes flight for the fields, frightened from her cover,3466
and beats her wings loudly, but soon gliding in still air3467
skims her clear path, barely moving her swift pinions:3468
in this way Mnestheus and the Sea-Dragon herself furrow 3469
the final stretch of water in flight, and her impetus3470
alone, carries her on her winged path. Firstly3471
he leaves Segestus behind struggling on the raised rock3472
then in shoal water, calling vainly for help,3473
and learning how to race with shattered oars.3474
Then he overhauls Gyas and the Chimaera’s huge bulk:3475
which, deprived of her helmsman now, gives way.3476
Now Cloanthus alone is left ahead, near to the finish,3477
Mnestheus heads for him and chases closely3478
exerting all his powers. Then indeed the shouts redouble,3479
and together all enthusiastically urge on the pursuer.3480
The former crew are unhappy lest they fail to keep3481
the honour that is theirs and the glory already 3482
in their possession, and would sell their lives for fame.3483
the latter feed on success: they can because they think they can.3484
And with their prow alongside they might have snatched the prize,3485
if Cleanthus had not stretched out his hands over the sea3486
and poured out his prayers, and called to the gods in longing.3487
“Gods, whose empire is the ocean, whose waters I course,3488
On shore, I will gladly set a snow-white bull 3489
before your altars, in payment of my vows, 3490
throw the entrailsinto the saltwater, and pour out pure wine.” 3491
He spoke, and all the Nereids, Phorcus’s choir, and virgin Panopea,3492
heard him in the wave’s depths, and father Portunus drove him3493
on his track, with his great hand: the ship ran to shore, swifter3494
than south wind or flying arrow, and plunged into the deep harbour.3495
BkV:244-285 The Prize-Giving for the Boat Race3496
Then Anchises’s son, calling them all together as is fitting,3497
by the herald’s loud cry declares Cloanthus the winner,3498
and wreathes his forehead with green laurel, and tells him3499
to choose three bullocks, and wine, and a large talent of silver3500
as gifts for the ships. He adds special honours for the captains:3501
a cloak worked in gold for the victor, edged 3502
with Meliboean deep purple in a double meandering line,3503
Ganymede the boy-prince woven on it, as if breathless 3504
with eagerness, running with his javelin, chasing the swift stags3505
on leafy Ida: whom Jupiter’s eagle, carrier of the lightning-bolt,3506
has now snatched up into the air, from Ida, with taloned feet:3507
his aged guards stretch their hands to the sky in vain,3508
and the barking dogs snap at the air. He gives to the warrior, 3509
who took second place by his prowess, a coat of mail for his own,3510
with polished hooks, in triple woven gold, a beautiful thing3511
and a defence in battle, that he himself as victor had taken3512
from Demoleos, by the swift Simois, below the heights of Ilium.3513
Phegeus and Sagaris, his servants, can barely carry its folds,3514
on straining shoulders: though, wearing it, Demoleus 3515
used to drive the scattered Trojans at a run. 3516
He grants the third prize of a pair of bronze cauldrons3517
and bowls made of silver with designs in bold relief.3518
Now they have all received their gifts and are walking off,3519
foreheads tied with scarlet ribbons, proud of their new wealth,3520
when Segestus, who showing much skill has with difficulty3521
got clear of the cruel rock, oars missing and one tier useless,3522
brings in his boat, to mockery and no glory. 3523
As a snake, that a bronze-rimmed wheel has crossed obliquely,3524
is often caught on the curb of a road, or like one that a passer-by3525
has crushed with a heavy blow from a stone and left half-dead, 3526
writhes its long coils, trying in vain to escape, part aggressive, 3527
with blazing eyes, and hissing, its neck raised high in the air,3528
part held back by the constraint of its wounds, struggling3529
to follow with its coils, and twining back on its own length:3530
so the ship moves slowly on with wrecked oars:3531
nevertheless she makes sail, and under full sail reaches harbour.3532
Aeneas presents Sergestus with the reward he promised,3533
happy that the ship is saved, and the crew rescued.3534
He is granted a Cretan born slave-girl, Pholoe, not unskilled3535
in the arts of Minerva, nursing twin boys at her breast.3536
BkV:286-361 The Foot Race3537
Once this race was done Aeneas headed for a grassy space,3538
circled round about by curving wooded hillsides,3539
forming an amphitheatre at the valley’s centre: 3540
the hero took himself there in the midst of the throng 3541
many thousands strong, and occupied a raised throne. 3542
Here if any by chance wanted to compete in the footrace3543
he tempted their minds with the reward, and set the prizes.3544
Trojans and Sicilians gathered together from all sides,3545
Nisus and Euryalus the foremost among them,3546
Euryalus famed for his beauty, and in the flower of youth,3547
Nisus famed for his devoted affection for the lad: next3548
came princely Diores, of Priam’s royal blood,3549
then Salius and Patron together, one an Arcanian,3550
the other of Arcadian blood and Tegean race:3551
then two young Sicilians, Helymus and Panopes,3552
used to the forests, companions of old Acestes:3553
and many others too, whose fame is lost in obscurity.3554
Then Aeneas amongst them spoke as follows:3555
“Take these words to heart, and give pleasurable attention.3556
None of your number will go away without a reward from me.3557
I’ll give two Cretan arrows, shining with polished steel, 3558
for each man, to take away, and a double-headed axe chased 3559
with silver: all who are present will receive the same honour. 3560
The first three will share prizes, and their heads will be crowned3561
with pale-green olive: let the first as winner take a horse3562
decorated with trappings: the second an Amazonian quiver,3563
filled with Thracian arrows, looped with a broad belt of gold3564
and fastened by a clasp with a polished gem:3565
let the third leave content with this Argive helmet.”3566
When he had finished they took their places and, suddenly,3567
on hearing the signal, they left the barrier and shot onto the course,3568
streaming out like a storm cloud, gaze fixed on the goal.3569
Nisus was off first, and darted away, ahead of all the others,3570
faster than the wind or the winged lightning-bolt:3571
Salius followed behind him, but a long way behind:3572
then after a space Euryalus was third: Helymus 3573
pursued Euryalus, and there was Diores speeding near him,3574
now touching foot to foot, leaning at his shoulder: 3575
if the course had been longer he’d have 3576
slipped past him, and left the outcome in doubt.3577
Now, wearied, almost at the end of the track, 3578
they neared the winning post itself, when the unlucky Nisus3579
fell in some slippery blood, which when the bullocks were killed3580
had chanced to drench the ground and the green grass. 3581
Here the youth, already rejoicing at winning, failed to keep3582
his sliding feet on the ground, but fell flat, 3583
straight in the slimy dirt and sacred blood. 3584
But he didn’t forget Euryalus even then, nor his love:3585
but, picking himself up out of the wet, obstructed Salius,3586
who fell head over heels onto the thick sand.3587
Euryalus sped by and, darting onwards to applause and the shouts3588
of his supporters, took first place, winning with his friend’s help.3589
Helymus came in behind him, then Diores, now in third place.3590
At this Salius filled the whole vast amphitheatre, and the faces3591
of the foremost elders, with his loud clamour,3592
demanding to be given the prize stolen from him by a trick.3593
His popularity protects Euryalus, and fitting tears,3594
and ability is more pleasing in a beautiful body.3595
Diores encourages him, and protests in a loud voice,3596
having reached the palm, but claiming the last prize in vain,3597
if the highest honour goes to Salius.3598
Then Aeneas the leader said, “Your prizes are still yours,3599
lads, and no one is altering the order of attainment:3600
but allow me to take pity on an unfortunate friend’s fate.”3601
So saying he gives Salius the huge pelt of a Gaetulian lion,3602
heavy with shaggy fur, its claws gilded.3603
At this Nisus comments: “If these are the prizes for losing,3604
and you pity the fallen, what fitting gift will you grant to Nisus,3605
who would have earned first place through merit3606
if ill luck had not dogged me, as it did Salius?”3607
And with that he shows his face and limbs drenched3608
with foul mud. The best of leaders smiles at him,3609
and orders a shield to be brought, the work of Didymaon,3610
once unpinned by the Greeks from Neptune’s sacred threshold:3611
this outstanding prize he gives to the noble youth.3612
BkV:362-484 The Boxing Contest3613
When the races were done and the gifts allotted,3614
Aeneas cried: “Now, he who has skill and courage in his heart,3615
let him stand here and raise his arms, his fists bound in hide.”3616
So saying he set out the double prize for the boxing,3617
a bullock for the winner, dressed with gold and sacred ribbons,3618
and a sword and a noble helmet to console the defeated.3619
Without delay Dares, hugely strong, raised his face3620
and rose, to a great murmur from the crowd,3621
he who alone used to compete with Paris,3622
and by that same mound where mighty Hector lies3623
he struck the victorious Butes, borne of the Bebrycian3624
race of Amycus, as he came forward, vast in bulk,3625
and stretched him dying on the yellow sand. 3626
Such was Dares who lifted his head up for the bout at once,3627
showed his broad shoulders, stretched his arms out, sparring3628
to right and left, and threw punches at the air.3629
A contestant was sought for him, but no one from all that crowd3630
dared face the man, or pull the gloves on his hands.3631
So, cheerfully thinking they had all conceded the prize, he stands3632
before Aeneas, and without more delay holds the bullock’s horn 3633
in his left hand and says: “Son of the goddess, if no one dare3634
commit himself to fight, when will my standing here end? 3635
How long is it right for me to be kept waiting? Order me to lead3636
your gift away.” All the Trojans together shout their approval, 3637
and demand that what was promised be granted him.3638
At this Entellus upbraids Acestes, sitting next to him 3639
on a stretch of green grass, with grave words:3640
“Entellus, once the bravest of heroes, was it all in vain,3641
will you let so great a prize be carried off without a struggle,3642
and so tamely? Where’s our divine master, Eryx, now,3643
famous to no purpose? Where’s your name throughout Sicily,3644
and why are those spoils of battle hanging in your house?”3645
To this Entellus replies: “It’s not that quelled by fear, pride or love3646
of fame has died: but my chill blood is dull with age’s sluggishness,3647
and the vigour in my body is lifeless and exhausted.3648
If I had what I once had, which that boaster enjoys 3649
and relies on, if that youthfulness were mine now, 3650
then I’d certainly have stepped forward, but not seduced3651
by prizes or handsome bullocks: I don’t care about gifts.”3652
Having spoken he throws a pair of gloves of immense weight3653
which fierce Eryx, binding the tough hide onto his hands, 3654
used to fight in, into the middle of the ring. Their minds 3655
are stunned: huge pieces of hide from seven massive oxen 3656
are stiff with the iron and lead sewn into them. Above all 3657
Dares himself is astonished, and declines the bout from a distance,3658
and Anchises’s noble son turns the huge volume 3659
and weight of the gloves backwards and forwards.3660
Then the older man speaks like this, from his heart:3661
“What if you’d seen the arms and gloves of Hercules 3662
himself, and the fierce fight on this very shore?3663
Your brother Eryx once wore these (you see that3664
they’re still stained with blood and brain matter)3665
He faced great Hercules in them: I used to fight in them3666
when more vigorous blood granted me strength,3667
and envious age had not yet sprinkled my brow with snow.3668
But if a Trojan, Dares, shrinks from these gloves of ours,3669
and good Aeneas accepts it, and Acestes my sponsor agrees,3670
let’s level the odds. I’ll forgo the gloves of Eryx 3671
(banish your fears): you, throw off your Trojan ones.”3672
So speaking he flings his double-sided cloak from his shoulders,3673
baring the massive muscles of his limbs, his thighs3674
with their huge bones, and stands, a giant, in the centre of the arena.3675
Then our ancestor, Anchises’s son, lifts up a like pair of gloves,3676
and protects the hands of both contestants equally.3677
Immediately each takes up his stance, poised on his toes,3678
and fearlessly raises his arms high in front of him.3679
Keeping their heads up and well away from the blows3680
they begin to spar, fist to fist, and provoke a battle,3681
the one better at moving his feet, relying on his youth,3682
the other powerful in limbs and bulk: but his slower legs quiver,3683
his knees are unsteady, and painful gasps shake his huge body. 3684
They throw many hard punches at each other but in vain,3685
they land many on their curved flanks, or their chests 3686
are thumped loudly, gloves often stray to ears3687
and brows, and jaws rattle under the harsh blows.3688
Entellus stands solidly, not moving, in the same stance,3689
avoiding the blows with his watchful eyes and body alone.3690
Dares, like someone who lays siege to a towering city,3691
or surrounds a mountain fortress with weapons,3692
tries this opening and that, seeking everywhere, with his art, 3693
and presses hard with varied but useless assaults.3694
Then Entellus standing up to him, extends his raised right:3695
the other, foreseeing the downward angle of the imminent blow,3696
slides his nimble body aside, and retreats:3697
Entellus wastes his effort on the air and the heavy man3698
falls to the ground heavily, with his whole weight,3699
as a hollow pine-tree, torn up by its roots, sometimes falls3700
on Mount Erymanthus or mighty Mount Ida.3701
The Trojans and the Sicilan youths leap up eagerly:3702
a shout lifts to the sky, and Acestes is the first to run forward3703
and with sympathy raises his old friend from the ground.3704
But that hero, not slowed or deterred by his fall,3705
returns more eagerly to the fight, and generates power from anger.3706
Then shame and knowledge of his own ability revive his strength,3707
and he drives Dares in fury headlong across the whole arena,3708
doubling his punches now, to right and left. No pause, or rest:3709
like the storm clouds rattling their dense hailstones on the roof,3710
as heavy are the blows from either hand, as the hero3711
continually batters at Dares and destroys him.3712
Then Aeneas, their leader, would not allow the wrath to continue3713
longer, nor Entellus to rage with such bitterness of spirit,3714
but put an end to the contest, and rescued the weary Dares,3715
speaking gently to him with these words:3716
“Unlucky man, why let such savagery depress your spirits?3717
Don’t you see another has the power: the gods have changed sides?3718
Yield to the gods.” He spoke and, speaking, broke up the fight.3719
But Dare’s loyal friends led him away to the ships, 3720
his weakened knees collapsing, his head swaying from side to side,3721
spitting out clots of blood from his mouth, teeth amongst them.3722
Called back they accept the helmet and sword, 3723
leaving the winner’s palm and the bullock for Entellus.3724
At this the victor exultant in spirit and glorying in the bullock,3725
said: “Son of the Goddess, and all you Trojans, 3726
know now what physical strength I had in my youth, 3727
and from what fate you’ve recalled and rescued Dares.” 3728
He spoke and planted himself opposite the bullock,3729
still standing there as prize for the bout, then, drawing back 3730
his right fist, aimed the hard glove between the horns3731
and broke its skull scattering the brains: the ox3732
fell quivering to the ground, stretched out lifeless.3733
Standing over it he poured these words from his chest:3734
“Eryx, I offer you this, the better animal, for Dares’s life:3735
the winner here, I relinquish the gloves and my art.”3736
BkV:485-544 The Archery Contest3737
Immediately Aeneas invites together all who might wish 3738
to compete with their swift arrows, and sets out the prizes.3739
With a large company he raises a mast from Serestus’s ship,3740
and ties a fluttering dove, at which they can aim3741
their shafts, to a cord piercing the high mast. 3742
The men gather and a bronze helmet receives the lots3743
tossed into it: the first of them all to be drawn,3744
to cheers of support, is Hippocoon son of Hyrtaces,3745
followed by Mnestheus, the winner of the boat race 3746
a while ago: Mnestheus crowned with green olive.3747
Eurytion’s the third, your brother, O famous Pandorus,3748
who, ordered to wreck the treaty, in the past,3749
was the first to hurl his spear amongst the Greeks.3750
Acestes is the last name out from the depths of the helmet,3751
daring to try his own hand at the youthful contest.3752
Then they take arrows from their quivers, and, each man3753
for himself, with vigorous strength, bends the bow into an arc,3754
and first through the air from the twanging string3755
the son of Hyrcanus’s shaft, cutting the swift breeze,3756
reaches the mark, and strikes deep into the mast.3757
The mast quivered, the bird fluttered its wings in fear,3758
and there was loud applause from all sides.3759
Then Mnestheus eagerly took his stand with bent bow,3760
aiming high, his arrow notched level with his eyes.3761
But to his dismay he was not able to hit the bird 3762
herself with the shaft, but broke the knots of hemp cord3763
that tied her foot as it hung from the mast:3764
she fled to the north wind and the dark clouds, in flight.3765
Then Eurytion who had been holding his bow ready, with drawn3766
arrow for some time, called on his brother to note his vow,3767
quickly eyed the dove, enjoying the freedom of the skies, 3768
and transfixed her, as she beat her wings beneath a dark cloud. 3769
She dropped lifeless, leaving her spirit with the starry heavens,3770
and, falling, brought back to earth the shaft that pierced her.3771
Acestes alone remained: the prize was lost:3772
yet he still shot his arrow high into the air,3773
showing an older man’s skill, the bow twanging. Then 3774
a sudden wonder appeared before their eyes, destined to be3775
of great meaning: the time to come unveiled its crucial outcome,3776
and great seers of the future celebrated it as an omen.3777
The arrow, flying through the passing clouds, caught fire3778
marked out its path with flames, then vanished into thin air,3779
as shooting stars, loosed from heaven often transit3780
the sky, drawing their tresses after them. Astonished,3781
the Trinacrians and Trojans stood rooted to the spot, 3782
praying to the gods: nor did their great leader Aeneas3783
reject the sign, but embracing the joyful Acestes,3784
loaded him with handsome gifts and spoke as follows:3785
“Take these, old man: since the high king of Olympus shows,3786
by these omens, that he wishes you to take extraordinary honours.3787
You shall have this gift, owned by aged Anchises himself, 3788
a bowl engraved with figures, that Cisseus of Thrace3789
once long ago gave Anchises my father as a memento3790
of himself, and as a pledge of his friendship.”3791
So saying he wreathed his brow with green laurel3792
and proclaimed Acestes the highest victor among them all.3793
Nor did good Eurytion begrudge the special prize,3794
though he alone brought the bird down from the sky.3795
Next he who cut the cord stepped forward for his reward,3796
and lastly he who’s swift shaft had transfixed the mast.3797
BkV:545-603 The Exhibition of Horsemanship 3798
But before the match is complete Aeneas the leader3799
calls Epytides to him, companion and guardian 3800
of young Iulus, and speaks into his loyal ear:3801
“Off! Go! Tell Ascanius, if he has his troop of boys3802
ready with him, and is prepared for the horse-riding3803
to show himself with his weapons, and lead them out3804
in honour of his grandfather.” He himself orders the whole 3805
crowd of people to leave the lengthy circuit, emptying the field. 3806
The boys arrive, and glitter together on their bridled horses3807
under their fathers’ gaze, and the men of Troy 3808
and Sicily murmur in admiration as they go by.3809
They all have their hair properly circled by a cut garland:3810
they each carry two cornel-wood spears tipped with steel,3811
some have shining quivers on their shoulders: a flexible3812
torque of twisted gold sits high on their chests around the neck.3813
The troops of horse are three in number, and three leaders3814
ride ahead: two groups of six boys follow each,3815
commanded alike and set out in gleaming ranks.3816
One line of youths is led joyfully by little Priam,3817
recalling his grandfather’s name, your noble child,3818
Polites, seed of the Italians: whom a piebald 3819
Thracian horse carries, showing white pasterns3820
as it steps, and a high white forehead. 3821
Next is Atys, from whom the Latin Atii trace their line,3822
little Atys, a boy loved by the boy Iulus.3823
Last, and most handsome of all in appearance,3824
Iulus himself rides a Sidonian horse, that radiant Dido3825
had given him as a remembrance of herself, 3826
and a token of her love. The rest of the youths3827
ride the Sicilian horses of old Acestes.3828
The Trojans greet the shy lads with applause, and delight3829
in gazing at them, seeing their ancient families in their faces.3830
When they have ridden happily round the whole assembly 3831
under the eyes of their kin, Epytides with a prolonged cry3832
gives the agreed signal and cracks his whip.3833
They gallop apart in two equal detachments, the three3834
groups parting company, and dissolving their columns,3835
then, recalled, they wheel round, and charge with level lances.3836
Then they perform other figures and counter-figures3837
in opposing ranks, and weave in circles inside counter-circles,3838
and perform a simulated battle with weapons.3839
Now their backs are exposed in flight, now they turn3840
their spears to charge, now ride side by side in peace.3841
Like the Labyrinth in mountainous Crete, they say, 3842
that contained a path winding between blind walls,3843
wandering with guile through a thousand turnings,3844
so that undetected and irretraceable errors 3845
might foil any guidelines that might be followed:3846
so the Trojan children twine their steps in just such a pattern,3847
weaving battle and flight, in their display, like dolphins3848
swimming through the ocean streams, cutting the Carpathian3849
and Lybian waters, and playing among the waves.3850
Ascanius first revived this kind of riding, and this contest,3851
when he encircled Alba Longa with walls, and taught the Early3852
Latins to celebrate it in the way he and the Trojan youth 3853
had done together: the Albans taught their children: mighty Rome3854
received it from them in turn, and preserved the ancestral rite:3855
and today the boys are called ‘Troy’ and their procession ‘Trojan’.3856
So the games are completed celebrating Aeneas’s sacred father.3857
BkV:604-663 Juno sends Iris to Fire the Trojan Ships3858
Here Fortune first alters, switching loyalties. While they, 3859
with their various games, are paying due honours to the tomb,3860
Saturnian Juno sends Iris down from the sky to the Trojan fleet,3861
breathing out a breeze for her passage, thinking deeply3862
about her ancient grievance which is yet unsatisfied.3863
Iris, hurrying on her way along a rainbow’s thousand colours3864
speeds swiftly down her track, a girl unseen.3865
She views the great crowd, and scans the shore,3866
sees the harbour deserted, and the ships abandoned.3867
But far away on the lonely sands the Trojan women3868
are weeping Anchises’s loss, and all, weeping, gaze3869
at the deep ocean. “Ah, what waves and seas are still left3870
for weary folk!” They are all of one voice. They pray for 3871
a city: they tire of enduring suffering on the waves.3872
So Iris, not ignorant of mischief, darts among them,3873
setting aside the appearance and robes of a goddess:3874
becoming Beroe, the old wife of Tmarian Doryclus,3875
who had once had family, sons, and a famous name. 3876
and as such moves among the Trojan mothers, saying:3877
“O wretched ones, whom Greek hands failed to drag3878
to death in the war beneath our native walls! 3879
O unhappy people what fate does Fortune reserve for you?3880
The seventh summer is on the turn since Troy’s destruction,3881
and we endure the crossing of every sea and shore, so many inhospitable stones and stars, while we chase over the vast sea 3882
after an Italy that flees from us, tossing upon the waves.3883
Here are the borders of our brother Eryx and our host Acestes:3884
what stops us building walls and granting our citizens a city?3885
O fatherland, O gods of our houses, rescued from the enemy 3886
in vain, will no city now be called Troy? Shall I see3887
nowhere a Xanthus or a Simois, Hector’s rivers?3888
Come now, and burn these accursed ships with me.3889
For the ghost of Cassandra, the prophetess, seemed to hand me3890
burning torches in dream: ‘Seek Troy here: here is 3891
your home’ she said. Now is the time for deeds, 3892
not delay, given such portents. See, four altars to Neptune:3893
the god himself lends us fire and the courage.”3894
So saying she first of all firmly seizes the dangerous flame3895
and, straining to lift it high, brandishes it, and hurls it.3896
The minds of the Trojan women are startled, and their wits3897
stunned. Here, one of the crowd, Pyrgo, the eldest,3898
the royal nurse of so many of Priam’s sons, says:3899
“This is not Beroe, you women, this is no wife3900
of Rhoetitian Doryclus: look at the signs of divine beauty3901
and the burning eyes, the spirit she possesses,3902
her form, the sound of her voice, her footsteps as she moves.3903
Just now I myself left Beroe, sick and unhappy, that she alone3904
was missing so important a rite and could not pay Anchises 3905
the offerings due to him.” So she speaks. At first the women3906
gaze in uncertainty at the ships, with angry glances, 3907
torn between a wretched yearning for the land 3908
they have reached, and the kingdom fate calls them to,3909
when the goddess, climbs the sky on soaring wings,3910
cutting a giant rainbow in her flight through the clouds.3911
Then truly amazed at the wonder, and driven by madness,3912
they cry out and some snatch fire from the innermost hearths,3913
others strip the altars, and throw on leaves and twigs 3914
and burning brands. Fire rages unchecked among 3915
the benches, and oars, and the hulls of painted pine.3916
BkV:664-699 The Fleet is Saved3917
Eumelus carries the news of the burning ships to Anchises’s tomb3918
and the ranks of the ampitheatre, and looking behind them3919
they themselves see dark ash floating upwards in a cloud.3920
Ascanius is first to turn his horse eagerly towards the troubled3921
encampment, as joyfully as he led his galloping troop,3922
and his breathless guardians cannot reign him back.3923
“What new madness is this? He cries. “What now, what do you 3924
aim at, wretched women? You’re burning your own hopes3925
not the enemy, nor a hostile Greek camp. See I am3926
your Ascanius!” And he flung his empty helmet in front of his feet,3927
that he’d worn as he’d inspired his pretence of battle in play.3928
Aeneas hurries there too, and the Trojan companies.3929
But the women scatter in fear here and there along the shore,3930
and stealthily head for the woods and any cavernous rocks:3931
they hate what they’ve done and the light, with sober minds3932
they recognise their kin, and Juno is driven from their hearts.3933
But the roaring flames don’t lose their indomitable fury3934
just for that: the pitch is alight under the wet timbers,3935
slowly belching smoke, the keel is gradually burned,3936
and the pestilence sinks through a whole hull,3937
nor are heroic strength or floods of water any use.3938
Then virtuous Aeneas tears the clothes from his chest,3939
and calls on the gods for help, lifting his hands:3940
“All-powerful Jupiter, if you don’t hate the Trojans3941
to a man, if your former affection has regard 3942
for human suffering, let the fleet escape the flames now,3943
Father, and save our slender Trojan hopes from ruin:3944
or if I deserve this, send what is left of us to death with your3945
angry lightning-bolt, and overwhelm us with your hand.”3946
He had barely spoken, when a dark storm with pouring rain3947
rages without check and the high hills and plains 3948
quake with thunder: a murky downpour falls 3949
from the whole sky, the blackest of heavy southerlies,3950
and the ships are brimming, the half-burnt timbers soaked,3951
until all the heat is quenched, and all the hulls3952
except four, are saved from the pestilence.3953
BkV:700-745 Nautes’ Advice and Anchises’ Ghost 3954
But Aeneas, the leader, stunned by the bitter blow,3955
pondered his great worries, turning them this way3956
and that in his mind. Should he settle in Sicily’s fields,3957
forgetting his destiny, or strike out for Italian shores?3958
Then old Nautes, whom alone Tritonian Pallas had taught,3959
and rendered famous for his great skill (she gave him 3960
answers, telling what the great gods’ anger portended, 3961
or what the course of destiny demanded),3962
began to solace Aeneas with these words:3963
“Son of the Goddess, let us follow wherever fate ebbs or flows,3964
whatever comes, every fortune may be conquered by endurance.3965
You have Trojan Acestes of the line of the gods:3966
let him share your decisions and be a willing partner,3967
entrust to him those who remain from the lost ships, 3968
and those tired of your great venture and your affairs:3969
Select also aged men and women exhausted by the sea,3970
and anyone with you who is frail, or afraid of danger,3971
and let the weary have their city in this land:3972
and if agreed they will call it by Acestes’s name.”3973
Then roused by such words from an aged friend,3974
Aeneas’s heart was truly torn between so many cares. 3975
And now black Night in her chariot, borne upwards,3976
occupied the heavens: and the likeness of his father Anchises3977
seemed to glide down from the sky, and speak so:3978
“Son, dearer to me than life, when life remained, 3979
my son, troubled by Troy’s fate, I come here 3980
at Jove’s command, he who drove the fire from the ships, 3981
and at last takes pity on you from high heaven.3982
Follow the handsome advice that old Nautus gives:3983
take chosen youth, and the bravest hearts, to Italy.3984
In Latium you must subdue a tough race, harshly trained. 3985
Yet, first, go to the infernal halls of Dis, and in deep 3986
Avernus seek a meeting with me, my son. For impious3987
Tartarus, with its sad shades, does not hold me, 3988
I live in Elysium, and the lovely gatherings of the blessed.3989
Here the chaste Sibyl will bring you, with much blood of3990
black sheep. Then you’ll learn all about your race, 3991
and the city granted you. Now: farewell. Dew-wet Night3992
turns mid-course, and cruel Morning, with panting steeds,3993
breathes on me.” He spoke and fled like smoke into thin air.3994
“Where are you rushing to? Aeneas cried, “Where are you3995
hurrying? Who do you flee? Who bars you from my embrace?”3996
So saying he revived the embers of the slumbering fires, and 3997
paid reverence, humbly, with sacred grain and a full censer, 3998
to the Trojan Lar, and the inner shrine of white-haired Vesta.3999
BkV:746-778 Departure from Sicily4000
Immediately he summoned his companions, Acestes first of all,4001
and told them of Jove’s command, and his dear father’s counsel,4002
and the decision he had reached in his mind. There was little delay4003
in their discussions, and Acestes did not refuse to accept his orders.4004
They transferred the women to the new city’s roll, and settled4005
there those who wished, spirits with no desire for great glory.4006
They themselves, thinned in their numbers, but with manhood4007
fully alive to war, renewed the rowing benches, and replaced4008
the timbers of the ships burnt by fire, and fitted oars and rigging.4009
Meanwhile Aeneas marked out the city limits with a plough4010
and allocated houses: he declared that this was Ilium 4011
and this place Troy. Acestes the Trojan revelled in his kingdom,4012
appointed a court, and gave out laws to the assembled senate.4013
Then a shrine of Venus of Idalia was dedicated,4014
close to the stars, on the tip of Eryx, and they added4015
a stretch of sacred grove, and a priest, to Anchises’s tomb.4016
When all the people had feasted for nine days, and offerings4017
had been made at the altars, gentle winds calmed the waves4018
and a strong Southerly called them again to sea.4019
A great weeping rose along the curving shore:4020
a day and a night they clung together in delay.4021
Now the women themselves, to whom the face of the ocean4022
had once seemed cruel, and its name intolerable,4023
wish to go and suffer all the toils of exile.4024
Good Aeneas comforts them with kind words4025
and commends them to his kinsman Acestes with tears.4026
Then he orders three calves to be sacrificed to Eryx,4027
a lamb to the Storm-gods, and for the hawsers to be duly freed.4028
He himself, standing some way off on the prow, his brow4029
wreathed with leaves of cut olive, holds a cup, throws the entrails4030
into the salt waves, and pours out the clear wine.4031
A wind, rising astern, follows their departure: his friends4032
in rivalry, strike the waves, and sweep the waters.4033
BkV:779-834 Venus Seeks Neptune’s Help4034
But meanwhile Venus, tormented by anxiety speaks4035
to Neptune, and pours out her complaints in this manner:4036
“O Neptune, Juno’s heavy anger, and her implacable4037
heart, force me to descend to every kind of prayer,4038
she whom no length of time nor any piety can move,4039
nor does she rest, unwearied by fate or Jove’s commands.4040
It’s not enough that in her wicked hatred she’s consumed a city, 4041
at the heart of Phrygia, and dragged the survivors of Troy 4042
through extremes of punishment: she pursues the bones and ashes4043
of the slaughtered. She alone knows the reason for such fury.4044
You yourself are witness to the trouble she stirred lately4045
in Libyan waters: she confused the whole sea4046
with the sky, daring to do this within your realm,4047
relying vainly on Aeolus’s violent storm-winds.4048
See, how, rousing the Trojan women, in her wickedness,4049
and disgracefully, she has burnt their fleet, and, with ships lost,4050
to leave their friends behind on an unknown shore.4051
I beg you to let the rest sail safely through your seas, 4052
let them reach Laurentine Tiber, if I ask4053
what is allowed, if the Fates grant them their city.”4054
Then the son of Saturn, the master of the deep oceans,4055
said this: “You’ve every right to trust in my realms, Cytherea, 4056
from which you draw your own origin. Also I’ve earned it:4057
I’ve often controlled the rage and fury of sea and sky.4058
Nor has my concern been less for your Aeneas on land4059
(I call Xanthus and Simois as witnesses). When Achilles4060
chased the Trojan ranks, in their panic, forcing them to the wall,4061
and sent many thousands to death, and the rivers choked and4062
groaned, and Xanthus could not find his course 4063
or roll down to the sea, then it was I who caught up Aeneas4064
in a thick mist, as he met that brave son of Peleus,4065
when neither the gods nor his own strength favoured him,4066
though I longed to destroy the walls of lying Troy,4067
that my hands had built, from the ground up.4068
Now also my mind remains the same: dispel your fears.4069
He will reach the harbours of Avernus, safely, as you ask.4070
There will only be one, lost in the waves, whom you 4071
will look for: one life that will be given for the many.”4072
When he had soothed the goddess’s heart, she joying at his words,4073
Father Neptune yoked his wild horses with gold, set the bits4074
in their foaming mouths, and, with both hands, gave them free rein.4075
He sped lightly over the ocean in his sea-green chariot,4076
the waves subsided and the expanse of swollen waters4077
grew calm under the thunderous axle:4078
the storm-clouds vanished from the open sky. 4079
Then came his multi-formed followers, great whales,4080
Glaucus’s aged band, Palaemon Ino’s son,4081
the swift Tritons, and all of Phorcus’s host:4082
the left hand taken by Thetis, Melite and virgin Panopea,4083
Nesaea, and Spio, Thalia, and Cymodoce.4084
At this, soothing joy in turn pervaded father Aeneas’s 4085
anxious mind: he ordered all to raise their masts4086
quickly, and the sails to be unfurled from the yard-arms.4087
Together they hauled on the ropes and let out the canvas as one,4088
now to port and now to starboard: together they swung 4089
the high yards about: benign winds drove the fleet along.4090
Palinurus, first of them all, led the close convoy:4091
the rest were ordered to set their course by his.4092
BkV:835-871 The Loss of Palinurus4093
And now dew-wet Night had just reached her zenith4094
in the sky: the sailors relaxed their limbs in quiet rest4095
stretched out on the hard benches beneath the oars:4096
when Sleep, gliding lightly down from the heavenly stars,4097
parted the gloomy air, and scattered the shadows, 4098
seeking you, bringing you dark dreams, Palinurus, 4099
though you were innocent: the god settled on the high stern,4100
appearing as Phorbas, and poured these words from his mouth:4101
“Palinurus, son of Iasus, the seas themselves steer the fleet,4102
the breezes blow steadily, this hour is granted for rest.4103
Lay down your head and rob your weary eyes of labour.4104
For a little while, I myself will take on your duty for you.”4105
Palinurus, barely lifting his gaze, spoke to him:4106
“Do you tell me to trust the sea’s placid face, 4107
the calm waves? Shall I set my faith on this monster?4108
Why should I entrust Aeneas to the deceptive breeze,4109
I whom a clear sky has deceived so often?”4110
So he spoke and clinging hard to the tiller4111
never relaxed his hold, and held his sight on the stars.4112
Behold, despite his caution, the god shook a branch, 4113
wet with Lethe’s dew, soporific with Styx’s power, 4114
over his brow, and set free his swimming eyes.4115
The first sudden drowse had barely relaxed his limbs,4116
when Sleep leant above him and threw him headlong4117
into the clear waters, tearing away the tiller 4118
and part of the stern, he calling to his friends often, in vain:4119
while the god raised his wings in flight into the empty air.4120
The fleet sailed on its way over the sea, as safely as before,4121
gliding on, unaware, as father Neptune had promised.4122
And now drawn onwards it was close to the Sirens’s cliffs, tricky4123
of old, and white with the bones of many men, (now the rocks, 4124
far off, boomed loud with the unending breakers) when the leader4125
realised his ship was wallowing adrift, her helmsman lost, 4126
and he himself steered her through the midnight waters, 4127
sighing deeply, and shocked at heart by his friend’s fate:4128
“Oh, far too trustful of the calm sea, and the sky,4129
you’ll lie naked, Palinurus, on an unknown shore.”4130
BkVI:1-55 The Temple at Cumae4131
So Aeneas spoke, weeping, gave his fleet full rein, and glided4132
at last to the shores of Euboean Cumae. They turned4133
their prows to the sea, secured the ships’ anchors,4134
by the grip of their flukes, and the curved boats 4135
lined the beach. The youthful band leapt eagerly4136
to the Hesperian shore: some sought the means of fire4137
contained in veins of flint, some raided the woods4138
the dense coverts of game, pointing out streams they found.4139
But pious Aeneas sought the summits, where Apollo 4140
rules on high, and the vast cavern nearby, the secret place 4141
of the terrifying Sibyl, in whom the Delian prophet 4142
inspires greatness of mind and spirit, and reveals the future.4143
Soon they entered the grove of Diana, and the golden house.4144
Daedalus, so the story goes, fleeing from Minos’s kingdom,4145
dared to trust himself to the air on swift wings,4146
and, gliding on unknown paths to the frozen North,4147
hovered lightly at last above the Chalcidian hill.4148
First returning to earth here, he dedicated his oar-like wings4149
to you Phoebus, and built a gigantic temple.4150
On the doors the Death of Androgeos: then the Athenians,4151
Crecrops’s descendants, commanded, sadly, to pay annual tribute4152
of seven of their sons: there the urn stands with the lots drawn.4153
Facing it, rising from the sea, the Cretan land is depicted:4154
and here the bull’s savage passion, Pasiphae’s 4155
secret union, and the Minotaur, hybrid offspring,4156
that mixture of species, proof of unnatural relations:4157
the artwork here is that palace, and its inextricable maze:4158
and yet Daedalus himself, pitying the noble princess4159
Ariadne’s love, unravelled the deceptive tangle of corridors,4160
guiding Theseus’s blind footsteps with the clue of thread.4161
You’d have shared largely in such a work, Icarus, if grief 4162
had allowed, he’d twice attempted to fashion your fate4163
in gold, twice your father’s hands fell. Eyes would have read4164
the whole continuously, if Achetes had not arrived 4165
from his errand, with Deiophobe, Glaucus’s daughter,4166
the priestess of Phoebus and Diana, who spoke to the leader:4167
‘This moment doesn’t require your sightseeing: it would4168
be better to sacrifice seven bullocks from a virgin herd, 4169
and as many carefully chosen two-year old sheep.’4170
Having spoken to Aeneas in this way (without delay they sacrificed4171
as ordered) the priestess called the Trojans to her high shrine.4172
The vast flank of the Euboean cliff is pitted with caves,4173
from which a hundred wide tunnels, a hundred mouths lead,4174
from which as many voices rush: the Sibyl’s replies.4175
They had come to the threshold, when the virgin cried out:4176
‘It is time to question the Oracle, behold, the god, the god!’4177
As she so spoke in front of the doors, suddenly neither her face4178
nor colour were the same, nor did her hair remain bound, 4179
but her chest heaved, her heart swelled with wild frenzy,4180
she seemed taller, and sounded not-human, for now4181
the power of the god is closer. ‘Are you slow with your4182
vows and prayers, Aeneas of Troy, are you slow?’ 4183
she cried. ‘The great lips of the House of Inspiration 4184
will not open without.’ And so saying she fell silent. 4185
An icy shudder ran to the Trojans’ very spines,4186
and their leader poured out heartfelt prayers:4187
BkVI:56-97 The Sibyl’s Prophecy4188
‘Phoebus, you who always pitied Troy’s intense suffering,4189
who guided the hand of Paris, and the Dardan arrow,4190
against Achilles’s body, with you as leader I entered4191
all those seas, encircling vast lands, and penetrated 4192
the remote Massilian tribes and the fields edged by Syrtes:4193
now at last we have the coast of elusive Italy in our grasp:4194
Troy’s ill fortune only followed us as far as here.4195
You too with justice can spare the Trojan race, and all you gods4196
and goddesses to whom the great glory of Ilium and Dardania 4197
was an offence. O most sacred of prophetesses, 4198
you who see the future, (I ask for no lands not owed me4199
by my destiny) grant that we Trojans may settle Latium,4200
with the exiled gods and storm-tossed powers of Troy.4201
Then I’ll dedicate a temple of solid marble to Phoebus4202
and Diana Trivia, and sacred days in Phoebus’s name.4203
A noble inner shrine waits for you too in our kingdom.4204
There, gracious one, I will place your oracles, and mystic4205
utterances spoken to my people, and consecrate picked men.4206
Only do not write your verses on the leaves, lest they fly,4207
disordered playthings of the rushing winds: chant them 4208
from your own mouth.’ He put an end to his mouth’s speaking.4209
But the wild prophetess raged in her cavern, not yet4210
submitting to Phoebus, as if she might shake the great god 4211
from her spirit: yet he exhausted her raving mouth 4212
all the more, taming her wild heart, shaping her by constraint.4213
And now the shrine’s hundred mighty lips have opened4214
of themselves, and carry the seer’s answer through the air:4215
‘Oh, you who are done with all the perils of the sea,4216
(yet greater await you on land) the Trojans will come4217
to the realm of Lavinium (put that care from your heart):4218
but will not enjoy their coming. War, fierce war,4219
I see: and the Tiber foaming with much blood.4220
You will not lack a Simois, a Xanthus, a Greek camp:4221
even now another Achilles is born in Latium,4222
he too the son of a goddess: nor will Juno, the Trojans’ bane,4223
be ever far away, while you, humbled and destitute,4224
what races and cities of Italy will you not beg in!4225
Once again a foreign bride is the cause of all 4226
these Trojan ills, once more an alien marriage.4227
Do not give way to misfortunes, meet them more bravely,4228
as your destiny allows. The path of safety will open up4229
for you from where you least imagine it, a Greek city.’4230
BkVI:98-155 Aeneas Asks Entry to Hades4231
With such words, the Sibyl of Cumae chants fearful enigmas, 4232
from her shrine, echoing from the cave,4233
tangling truths and mysteries: as she raves, Apollo4234
thrashes the reins, and twists the spur under her breast.4235
When the frenzy quietens, and the mad mouth hushes,4236
Aeneas, the Hero, begins: ‘O Virgin, no new, unexpected4237
kind of suffering appears: I’ve foreseen them all4238
and travelled them before, in my own spirit.4239
One thing I ask: for they say the gate of the King of Darkness4240
is here, and the shadowy marsh, Acheron’s overflow:4241
let me have sight of my dear father, his face: show me the way, 4242
open wide the sacred doors. I saved him, brought him4243
out from the thick of the enemy, through the flames, 4244
on these shoulders, with a thousand spears behind me:4245
companion on my journey, he endured with me4246
all the seas, all the threats of sky and ocean, weak, 4247
beyond his power, and his allotted span of old age.4248
He ordered me, with prayers, to seek you out, humbly, 4249
and approach your threshold: I ask you, kindly one,4250
pity both father and son: since you are all power, not for4251
nothing has Hecate set you to rule the groves of Avernus.4252
If Orpheus could summon the shade of his wife,4253
relying on his Thracian lyre, its melodious strings:4254
if Pollux, crossing that way, and returning, so often, 4255
could redeem his brother by dying in turn – and great Theseus,4256
what of him, or Hercules? – well, my race too is Jupiter’s on high.’4257
With these words he prayed, and grasped the altar,4258
as the priestess began to speak: ‘Trojan son of Anchises,4259
sprung from the blood of the gods, the path to hell is easy:4260
black Dis’s door is open night and day:4261
but to retrace your steps, and go out to the air above,4262
that is work, that is the task. Some sons of the gods have done it,4263
whom favouring Jupiter loved, or whom burning virtue4264
lifted to heaven. Woods cover all the middle part,4265
and Cocytus is round it, sliding in dark coils.4266
But if such desire is in your mind, such a longing4267
to sail the Stygian lake twice, and twice see Tartarus,4268
and if it delights you to indulge in insane effort,4269
listen to what you must first undertake. Hidden in a dark tree4270
is a golden bough, golden in leaves and pliant stem,4271
sacred to Persephone, the underworld’s Juno, all the groves4272
shroud it, and shadows enclose the secret valleys.4273
But only one who’s taken a gold-leaved fruit from the tree4274
is allowed to enter earth’s hidden places.4275
This lovely Proserpine has commanded to be brought to her4276
as a gift: a second fruit of gold never fails to appear 4277
when the first one’s picked, the twig’s leafed with the same metal.4278
So look for it up high, and when you’ve found it with your eyes,4279
take it, of right, in your hand: since, if the Fates have chosen you,4280
it will come away easily, freely of itself: otherwise you 4281
won’t conquer it by any force, or cut it with the sharpest steel.4282
And the inanimate body of your friend lies there4283
(Ah! You do not know) and taints your whole fleet with death,4284
while you seek advice and hang about our threshold.4285
Carry him first to his place and bury him in the tomb.4286
Lead black cattle there: let those be your first offerings of atonement.4287
Only then can you look on the Stygian groves, and the realms 4288
forbidden to the living.’ She spoke and with closed lips fell silent.4289
BkVI:156-182 The Finding of Misenus’s Body4290
Leaving the cave, Aeneas walked away, 4291
with sad face and downcast eyes, turning their dark fate4292
over in his mind. Loyal Achates walked at his side 4293
and fashioned his steps with similar concern. 4294
They engaged in intricate discussion between them,4295
as to who the dead friend, the body to be interred, was,4296
whom the priestess spoke of. And as they passed along4297
they saw Misenus, ruined by shameful death, on the dry sand,4298
Misenus, son of Aeolus, than whom none was more outstanding4299
in rousing men with the war-trumpet, kindling conflict with music.4300
He was great Hector’s friend: with Hector 4301
he went to battle, distinguished by his spear and trumpet.4302
When victorious Achilles despoiled Hector of life,4303
this most courageous hero joined the company4304
of Trojan Aeneas, serving no lesser a man. But when, 4305
by chance, he foolishly made the ocean sound4306
to a hollow conch-shell, and called gods to compete4307
in playing, if the tale can be believed, Triton overheard him4308
and drowned him in the foaming waves among the rocks.4309
So, with pious Aeneas to the fore, they all mourned 4310
round the body with loud clamour. Then, without delay, weeping,4311
they hurried to carry out the Sibyl’s orders, and laboured to pile4312
tree-trunks as a funeral pyre, raising it to the heavens.4313
They enter the ancient wood, the deep coverts of wild creatures: 4314
the pine-trees fell, the oaks rang to the blows of the axe,4315
ash trunks and fissile oak were split with wedges, 4316
and they rolled large rowan trees down from the hills.4317
BkVI:183-235 The Funeral Pyre4318
Aeneas was no less active in such efforts, encouraging4319
his companions, and employing similar tools.4320
And he turned things over in his own saddened mind,4321
gazing at the immense forest, and by chance prayed so:4322
‘If only that golden bough would show itself to us4323
now, on some such tree, among the woods! For the prophetess4324
spoke truly of you Misenus, alas, only too truly.’4325
He had barely spoken when by chance a pair of doves 4326
came flying down from the sky, beneath his very eyes,4327
and settled on the green grass. Then the great hero knew 4328
they were his mother’s birds, and prayed in his joy:4329
‘O be my guides, if there is some way, and steer a course4330
through the air, to that grove where the rich branch4331
casts its shadow on fertile soil. And you mother, O goddess,4332
don’t fail me in time of doubt.’ So saying he halted his footsteps,4333
observing what signs the doves might give, and which direction4334
they might take. As they fed they went forward in flight4335
just as far as, following, his eyes could keep them in sight.4336
Then, when they reached the foul jaws of stinking Avernus,4337
they quickly rose and, gliding through the clear air,4338
perched on the longed-for dual-natured tree, from which4339
the alien gleam of gold shone out, among the branches.4340
Just as mistletoe, that does not form a tree of its own,4341
grows in the woods in the cold of winter, with a foreign leaf, 4342
and surrounds a smooth trunk with yellow berries:4343
such was the vision of this leafy gold in the dark4344
oak-tree, so the foil tinkled in the light breeze.4345
Aeneas immediately plucked it, eagerly breaking the tough4346
bough, and carried it to the cave of the Sibylline prophetess.4347
Meanwhile, on the shore, the Trojans were weeping bitterly 4348
for Misenus and paying their last respects to his senseless ashes.4349
First they raised a huge pyre, heavy with cut oak and pine,4350
weaving the sides with dark foliage, set funereal cypress in front,4351
and decorated it above with shining weapons.4352
Some heated water, making the cauldrons boil on the flames,4353
and washed and anointed the chill corpse. They made lament.4354
Then, having wept, they placed his limbs on the couch,4355
and threw purple robes over them, his usual dress.4356
Some raised the great bier, a sad duty,4357
and, with averted faces, set a torch below, 4358
in ancestral fashion. Gifts were heaped on the flames,4359
of incense, foodstuffs, bowls brimming with olive-oil.4360
When the ashes collapsed, and the blaze died, they washed4361
the remains of the parched bones in wine, and Corynaeus,4362
collecting the fragments, closed them in a bronze urn.4363
Also he circled his comrades three times with pure water4364
to purify them, sprinkling fine dew from a full olive branch,4365
and spoke the words of parting. And virtuous Aeneas4366
heaped up a great mound for his tomb, with the hero’s4367
own weapons, his trumpet and oar, beneath a high mountain4368
which is called Misenus now after him, and preserves4369
his ever-living name throughout the ages.4370
BkVI:236-263 The Sacrifice to Hecate4371
This done, he quickly carried out the Sibyl’s orders.4372
There was a deep stony cave, huge and gaping wide,4373
sheltered by a dark lake and shadowy woods,4374
over which nothing could extend its wings in safe flight,4375
since such a breath flowed from those black jaws, 4376
and was carried to the over-arching sky, that the Greeks 4377
called it by the name Aornos, that is Avernus, or the Bird-less.4378
Here the priestess first of all tethered four black heifers,4379
poured wine over their foreheads, and placed 4380
the topmost bristles that she plucked, growing4381
between their horns, in the sacred fire, as a first offering,4382
calling aloud to Hecate, powerful in Heaven and Hell.4383
Others slit the victim’s throats and caught the warm blood4384
in bowls. Aeneas himself sacrificed a black-fleeced lamb4385
to Night, mother of the Furies, and Earth, her mighty sister,4386
and a barren heifer to you, Persephone.4387
Then he kindled the midnight altars for the Stygian King,4388
and placed whole carcasses of bulls on the flames,4389
pouring rich oil over the blazing entrails.4390
See now, at the dawn light of the rising sun,4391
the ground bellowed under their feet, the wooded hills began4392
to move, and, at the coming of the Goddess, dogs seemed to howl4393
in the shadows. ‘Away, stand far away, O you profane ones,’4394
the priestess cried, ‘absent yourselves from all this grove:4395
and you now, Aeneas, be on your way, and tear your sword4396
from the sheathe: you need courage, and a firm mind, now.’4397
So saying, she plunged wildly into the open cave:4398
he, fearlessly, kept pace with his vanishing guide.4399
BkVI:264-294 The Entrance to Hades4400
You gods, whose is the realm of spirits, and you, dumb shadows,4401
and Chaos, Phlegethon, wide silent places of the night, 4402
let me tell what I have heard: by your power, let me 4403
reveal things buried in the deep earth, and the darkness.4404
On they went, hidden in solitary night, through gloom,4405
through Dis’s empty halls, and insubstantial kingdom,4406
like a path through a wood, in the faint light 4407
under a wavering moon, when Jupiter has buried the sky4408
in shadow, and black night has stolen the colour from things.4409
Right before the entrance, in the very jaws of Orcus,4410
Grief and vengeful Care have made their beds,4411
and pallid Sickness lives there, and sad Old Age,4412
and Fear, and persuasive Hunger, and vile Need,4413
forms terrible to look on, and Death and Pain:4414
then Death’s brother Sleep, and Evil Pleasure of the mind,4415
and, on the threshold opposite, death-dealing War,4416
and the steel chambers of the Furies, and mad Discord,4417
her snaky hair entwined with blood-wet ribbons.4418
In the centre a vast shadowy elm spreads its aged trunks4419
and branches: the seat, they say, that false Dreams hold,4420
thronging, clinging beneath every leaf.4421
And many other monstrous shapes of varied creatures,4422
are stabled by the doors, Centaurs and bi-formed Scylla,4423
and hundred-armed Briareus, and the Lernean Hydra,4424
hissing fiercely, and the Chimaera armed with flame,4425
Gorgons, and Harpies, and the triple bodied shade, Geryon.4426
At this, trembling suddenly with terror, Aeneas grasped 4427
his sword, and set the naked blade against their approach:4428
and, if his knowing companion had not warned him4429
that these were tenuous bodiless lives flitting about4430
with a hollow semblance of form, he would have rushed at them,4431
and hacked at the shadows uselessly with his sword.4432
BkVI:295-336 The Shores of Acheron4433
From here there is a road that leads to the waters 4434
of Tartarean Acheron. Here thick with mud a whirlpool seethes 4435
in the vast depths, and spews all its sands into Cocytus.4436
A grim ferryman watches over the rivers and streams,4437
Charon, dreadful in his squalor, with a mass of unkempt4438
white hair straggling from his chin: flames glow in his eyes,4439
a dirty garment hangs, knotted from his shoulders.4440
He poles the boat and trims the sails himself,4441
and ferries the dead in his dark skiff,4442
old now, but a god’s old age is fresh and green.4443
Here all the crowd streams, hurrying to the shores,4444
women and men, the lifeless bodies of noble heroes,4445
boys and unmarried girls, sons laid on the pyre4446
in front of their father’s eyes: as many as the leaves that fall4447
in the woods at the first frost of autumn, as many as the birds4448
that flock to land from ocean deeps, when the cold of the year4449
drives them abroad and despatches them to sunnier countries.4450
They stood there, pleading to be first to make the crossing,4451
stretching out their hands in longing for the far shore.4452
But the dismal boatman accepts now these, now those,4453
but driving others away, keeps them far from the sand.4454
Then Aeneas, stirred and astonished at the tumult, said: 4455
‘O virgin, tell me, what does this crowding to the river mean?4456
What do the souls want? And by what criterion do these leave4457
the bank, and those sweep off with the oars on the leaden stream?4458
The ancient priestess spoke briefly to him, so:4459
‘Son of Anchises, true child of the gods, you see 4460
the deep pools of Cocytus, and the Marsh of Styx,4461
by whose name the gods fear to swear falsely.4462
All this crowd, you see, were destitute and unburied:4463
that ferryman is Charon: those the waves carry were buried:4464
he may not carry them from the fearful shore on the harsh waters4465
before their bones are at rest in the earth. They roam4466
for a hundred years and flit around these shores: only then4467
are they admitted, and revisit the pools they long for.’4468
The son of Anchises halted, and checked his footsteps,4469
thinking deeply, and pitying their sad fate in his heart.4470
He saw Leucaspis and Orontes, captain of the Lycian fleet,4471
there, grieving and lacking honour in death, whom a Southerly4472
overwhelmed, as they sailed together from Troy on the windswept 4473
waters, engulfing both the ship and crew in the waves.4474
BkVI:337-383 The Shade of Palinurus4475
Behold, there came the helmsman, Palinurus, 4476
who fell from the stern on the Libyan passage,4477
flung into the midst of the waves, as he watched the stars.4478
When Aeneas had recognised him with difficulty4479
sorrowing among the deep shadows, he spoke first, saying:4480
‘What god tore you from us, Palinurus, and drowned you 4481
mid-ocean? For in this one prophecy Apollo has misled me,4482
he whom I never found false before, he said that you would be safe4483
at sea and reach Ausonia’s shores. Is this the truth of his promise?’ 4484
But he replied: ‘Phoebus’s tripod did not fail you, Anchises,4485
my captain, nor did a god drown me in the deep.4486
By chance the helm was torn from me with violence,4487
as I clung there, on duty as ordered, steering our course,4488
and I dragged it headlong with me. I swear by the cruel sea4489
that I feared less for myself than for your ship,4490
lest robbed of its gear, and cleared of its helmsman,4491
it might founder among such surging waves.4492
The Southerly drove me violently through the vast seas4493
for three stormy nights: high on the crest of a wave,4494
in the fourth dawn, I could just make out Italy.4495
Gradually I swam to shore: grasped now at safety,4496
but as I caught at the sharp tips of the rocks, weighed down4497
by my water-soaked clothes, the savage people4498
attacked me with knives, ignorantly thinking me a prize.4499
Now the waves have me, and the winds roll me along the shore.4500
Unconquered one, I beg you, by the sweet light and air of heaven,4501
by your father, and your hopes in Iulus to come,4502
save me from this evil: either find Velia’s harbour again4503
(for you can) and sprinkle earth on me, or if there is some way,4504
if your divine mother shows you one (since you’d not attempt to sail4505
such waters, and the Stygian marsh, without a god’s will, I think)4506
then give this wretch your hand and take me with you through the waves4507
that at least I might rest in some quiet place in death.’4508
So he spoke, and the priestess began to reply like this:4509
‘Where does this dire longing of yours come from, O Palinurus?4510
Can you see the Stygian waters, unburied, or the grim 4511
river of the Furies, Cocytus, or come unasked to the shore?4512
Cease to hope that divine fate can be tempered by prayer.4513
But hold my words in your memory, as a comfort in your hardship: 4514
the nearby peoples, from cities far and wide, will be moved 4515
by divine omens to worship your bones, and build a tomb, 4516
and send offerings to the tomb, and the place will have4517
Palinurus as its everlasting name.’ His anxiety was quelled 4518
by her words, and, for a little while, grief was banished 4519
from his sad heart: he delighted in the land being so named.4520
BkVI:384-416 Charon the Ferryman4521
So they pursued their former journey, and drew near the river.4522
Now when the Boatman saw them from the Stygian wave4523
walking through the silent wood, and directing their footsteps4524
towards its bank, he attacked them verbally, first, and unprompted,4525
rebuking them: ‘Whoever you are, who come armed to my river,4526
tell me, from over there, why you’re here, and halt your steps.4527
This is a place of shadows, of Sleep and drowsy Night:4528
I’m not allowed to carry living bodies in the Stygian boat.4529
Truly it was no pleasure for me to take Hercules on his journey4530
over the lake, nor Theseus and Pirithous, though they may4531
have been children of gods, unrivalled in strength.4532
The first came for Cerberus the watchdog of Tartarus,4533
and dragged him away quivering from under the king’s throne:4534
the others were after snatching our Queen from Dis’s chamber.’4535
To this the prophetess of Amphrysian Apollo briefly answered:4536
‘There’s no such trickery here (don’t be disturbed),4537
our weapons offer no affront: your huge guard-dog 4538
can terrify the bloodless shades with his eternal howling:4539
chaste Proserpine can keep to her uncle’s threshold.4540
Aeneas the Trojan, renowned in piety and warfare,4541
goes down to the deepest shadows of Erebus, to his father.4542
If the idea of such affection does not move you, still you 4543
must recognise this bough.’ (She showed the branch, hidden 4544
in her robes.) Then the anger in his swollen breast subsided. 4545
No more was said. Marvelling at the revered offering,4546
of fateful twigs, seen again after so long, he turned the stern4547
of the dark skiff towards them and neared the bank. 4548
Then he turned off the other souls who sat on the long benches,4549
cleared the gangways: and received mighty Aeneas 4550
on board. The seamed skiff groaned with the weight4551
and let in quantities of marsh-water through the chinks.4552
At last, the river crossed, he landed the prophetess and the hero4553
safe, on the unstable mud, among the blue-grey sedge.4554
BkVI:417-439 Beyond the Acheron4555
Huge Cerberus sets these regions echoing with his triple-throated 4556
howling, crouching monstrously in a cave opposite.4557
Seeing the snakes rearing round his neck, the prophetess4558
threw him a pellet, a soporific of honey and drugged wheat.4559
Opening his three throats, in rabid hunger, he seized 4560
what she threw and, flexing his massive spine, sank to earth 4561
spreading his giant bulk over the whole cave-floor.4562
With the guard unconscious Aeneas won to the entrance,4563
and quickly escaped the bank of the river of no return.4564
Immediately a loud crying of voices was heard, the spirits4565
of weeping infants, whom a dark day stole at the first4566
threshold of this sweet life, those chosen to be torn 4567
from the breast, and drowned in bitter death.4568
Nearby are those condemned to die on false charges.4569
Yet their place is not ordained without the allotted jury:4570
Minos, the judge, shakes the urn: he convenes the voiceless court,4571
and hears their lives and sins. Then the next place 4572
is held by those gloomy spirits who, innocent of crime, 4573
died by their own hand, and, hating the light, threw away4574
their lives. How willingly now they’d endure4575
poverty and harsh suffering, in the air above!4576
Divine Law prevents it, and the sad marsh and its hateful4577
waters binds them, and nine-fold Styx confines them.4578
BkVI:440-476 The Shade of Dido4579
Not far from there the Fields of Mourning are revealed,4580
spread out on all sides: so they name them.4581
There, those whom harsh love devours with cruel pining4582
are concealed in secret walkways, encircled by a myrtle grove:4583
even in death their troubles do not leave them.4584
Here Aeneas saw Phaedra, and Procris, and sad Eriphyle,4585
displaying the wounds made by her cruel son,4586
Evadne, and Pasiphae: with them walked Laodamia,4587
and Caeneus, now a woman, once a young man,4588
returned by her fate to her own form again.4589
Among them Phoenician Dido wandered, in the great wood,4590
her wound still fresh. As soon as the Trojan hero stood near her4591
and knew her, shadowy among the shadows, like a man who sees,4592
or thinks he sees, the new moon rising through a cloud, as its month 4593
begins, he wept tears and spoke to her with tender affection:4594
‘Dido, unhappy spirit, was the news, that came to me 4595
of your death, true then, taking your life with a blade? 4596
Alas, was I the cause of your dying? I swear by the stars, 4597
by the gods above, by whatever truth may be in the depths4598
of the earth, I left your shores unwillingly, my queen.4599
I was commanded by gods, who drove me by their decrees,4600
that now force me to go among the shades, through places4601
thorny with neglect, and deepest night: nor did I think 4602
my leaving there would ever bring such grief to you.4603
Halt your footsteps and do not take yourself from my sight. 4604
What do you flee? This is the last speech with you that fate allows.’4605
With such words Aeneas would have calmed4606
her fiery spirit and wild looks, and provoked her tears.4607
She turned away, her eyes fixed on the ground,4608
no more altered in expression by the speech he had begun4609
than if hard flint stood there, or a cliff of Parian marble.4610
At the last she tore herself away, and, hostile to him,4611
fled to the shadowy grove where Sychaeus, her husband4612
in former times, responded to her suffering, and gave her4613
love for love. Aeneas, no less shaken by the injustice of fate,4614
followed her, far off, with his tears, and pitied her as she went.4615
BkVI:477-534 The Shade of Deiphobus4616
From there he laboured on the way that was granted them. 4617
And soon they reached the most distant fields,4618
the remote places where those famous in war4619
crowd together. Here Tydeus met him, Parthenopaeus4620
glorious in arms, and the pale form of Adrastus:4621
here were the Trojans, wept for deeply above, fallen in war,4622
whom, seeing them all in their long ranks, he groaned at,4623
Glaucus, Medon and Thersilochus, the three sons of Antenor,4624
Polyboetes, the priest of Ceres, and Idaeus4625
still with his chariot, and his weapons. 4626
The spirits stand there in crowds to left and right.4627
They are not satisfied with seeing him only once:4628
they delight in lingering on, walking beside him,4629
and learning the reason for his coming.4630
But the Greek princes and Agamemnon’s phalanxes,4631
trembled with great fear, when they saw the hero,4632
and his gleaming weapons, among the shades:4633
some turned to run, as they once sought their ships: some raised4634
a faint cry, the noise they made belying their gaping mouths.4635
And he saw Deiphobus there, Priam’s son, his whole body4636
mutilated, his face brutally torn, his face and hands both, the ears4637
ripped from his ruined head, his nostrils sheared by an ugly wound.4638
Indeed Aeneas barely recognised the quivering form, hiding its dire4639
punishment, even as he called to him, unprompted, in familiar tones: 4640
‘Deiphobus, powerful in war, born of Teucer’s noble blood,4641
who chose to work such brutal punishment on you?4642
Who was allowed to treat you so? Rumour has it 4643
that on that final night, wearied by endless killing of Greeks,4644
you sank down on a pile of the slaughtered.4645
Then I set up an empty tomb on the Rhoetean shore,4646
and called on your spirit three times in a loud voice.4647
Your name and weapons watch over the site: I could not 4648
see you, friend, to set you, as I left, in your native soil.’4649
To this Priam’s son replied: ‘O my friend, you’ve neglected4650
nothing: you’ve paid all that’s due to Deiophobus4651
and a dead man’s spirit. My own destiny, 4652
and that Spartan woman’s deadly crime, drowned me4653
in these sorrows: she left me these memorials.4654
You know how we passed that last night in illusory joy:4655
and you must remember it only too well.4656
When the fateful Horse came leaping the walls of Troy,4657
pregnant with the armed warriors it carried in its womb,4658
she led the Trojan women about, wailing in dance,4659
aping the Bacchic rites: she held a huge torch in their midst,4660
signalling to the Greeks from the heights of the citadel.4661
I was then in our unlucky marriage-chamber, worn out with care,4662
and heavy with sleep, a sweet deep slumber weighing on me4663
as I lay there, the very semblance of peaceful death.4664
Meanwhile that illustrious wife of mine removed every weapon4665
from the house, even stealing my faithful sword from under my head:4666
she calls Menelaus into the house and throws open the doors,4667
hoping I suppose it would prove a great gift for her lover,4668
and in that way the infamy of her past sins might be erased.4669
Why drag out the tale? They burst into the room, and with them4670
Ulysses the Aeolid, their co-inciter to wickedness. Gods, so repay4671
the Greeks, if these lips I pray for vengeance with are virtuous. 4672
But you, in turn, tell what fate has brought you here, living.4673
Do you come here, driven by your wandering on the sea,4674
or exhorted by the gods? If not, what misfortune torments you,4675
that you enter these sad sunless houses, this troubled place?’4676
BkVI:535-627 The Sibyl Describes Tartarus4677
While they spoke Aurora and her rosy chariot had passed 4678
the zenith of her ethereal path, and they might perhaps4679
have spent all the time allowed in such talk, but the Sibyl,4680
his companion, warned him briefly saying: 4681
‘Night approaches, Aeneas: we waste the hours with weeping.4682
This is the place where the path splits itself in two:4683
there on the right is our road to Elysium, that runs beneath4684
the walls of mighty Dis: but the left works punishment4685
on the wicked, and sends them on to godless Tartarus.’4686
Deiophobus replied: ‘Do not be angry, great priestess:4687
I will leave: I will make up the numbers, and return to the darkness.4688
Go now glory of our race: enjoy a better fate.’4689
So he spoke, and in speaking turned away.4690
Aeneas suddenly looked back, and, below the left hand cliff,4691
he saw wide battlements, surrounded by a triple wall,4692
and encircled by a swift river of red-hot flames,4693
the Tartarean Phlegethon, churning with echoing rocks.4694
A gate fronts it, vast, with pillars of solid steel,4695
that no human force, not the heavenly gods themselves,4696
can overturn by war: an iron tower rises into the air,4697
and seated before it, Tisiphone, clothed in a blood-wet dress,4698
keeps guard of the doorway, sleeplessly, night and day.4699
Groans came from there, and the cruel sound of the lash,4700
then the clank of iron, and dragging chains.4701
Aeneas halted, and stood rooted, terrified by the noise.4702
‘What evil is practised here? O Virgin, tell me: by what torments4703
are they oppressed? Why are there such sounds in the air?’4704
Then the prophetess began to speak as follows: ‘Famous leader4705
of the Trojans, it is forbidden for the pure to cross the evil threshold:4706
but when Hecate appointed me to the wood of Avernus,4707
she taught me the divine torments, and guided me through them all.4708
Cretan Rhadamanthus rules this harshest of kingdoms,4709
and hears their guilt, extracts confessions, and punishes 4710
whoever has deferred atonement for their sins too long4711
till death, delighting in useless concealment, in the world above.4712
Tisiphone the avenger, armed with her whip, leaps on the guilty immediately, lashes them, and threatening them with the fierce4713
snakes in her left hand, calls to her savage troop of sisters.4714
Then at last the accursed doors open, screeching on jarring hinges. 4715
You comprehend what guardian sits at the door, what shape watches 4716
the threshold? Well still fiercer is the monstrous Hydra inside, 4717
with her fifty black gaping jaws. There Tartarus itself 4718
falls sheer, and stretches down into the darkness:4719
twice as far as we gaze upwards to heavenly Olympus.4720
Here the Titanic race, the ancient sons of Earth,4721
hurled down by the lightning-bolt, writhe in the depths.4722
And here I saw the two sons of Aloeus, giant forms,4723
who tried to tear down the heavens with their hands,4724
and topple Jupiter from his high kingdom.4725
And I saw Salmoneus paying a savage penalty4726
for imitating Jove’s lightning, and the Olympian thunder.4727
Brandishing a torch, and drawn by four horses4728
he rode in triumph among the Greeks, through Elis’s city,4729
claiming the gods’ honours as his own, a fool,4730
who mimicked the storm-clouds and the inimitable thunderbolt4731
with bronze cymbals and the sound of horses’ hoof-beats.4732
But the all-powerful father hurled his lighting from dense cloud,4733
not for him fiery torches, or pine-branches’ smoky light4734
and drove him headlong with the mighty whirlwind.4735
And Tityus was to be seen as well, the foster-child4736
of Earth, our universal mother, whose body stretches4737
over nine acres, and a great vulture with hooked beak4738
feeds on his indestructible liver, and his entrails ripe4739
for punishment, lodged deep inside the chest, groping 4740
for his feast, no respite given to the ever-renewing tissue.4741
Shall I speak of the Lapiths, Ixion, Pirithous,4742
over whom hangs a dark crag that seems to slip and fall?4743
High couches for their feast gleam with golden frames,4744
and a banquet of royal luxury is spread before their eyes: 4745
nearby the eldest Fury, crouching, prevents their fingers touching4746
the table: rising up, and brandishing her torch, with a voice of thunder.4747
Here are those who hated their brothers, in life, 4748
or struck a parent, or contrived to defraud a client, 4749
or who crouched alone over the riches they’d made,4750
without setting any aside for their kin (their crowd is largest),4751
those who were killed for adultery, or pursued civil war,4752
not fearing to break their pledges to their masters:4753
shut in they see their punishment. Don’t ask to know4754
that punishment, or what kind of suffering drowns them.4755
Some roll huge stones, or hang spread-eagled 4756
on wheel-spokes: wretched Theseus sits still, and will sit4757
for eternity: Phlegyas, the most unfortunate, warns them all4758
and bears witness in a loud voice among the shades:4759
“Learn justice: be warned, and don’t despise the gods.”4760
Here’s one who sold his country for gold, and set up4761
a despotic lord: this one made law and remade it for a price:4762
he entered his daughter’s bed and a forbidden marriage:4763
all of them dared monstrous sin, and did what they dared.4764
Not if I had a hundred tongues, a hundred mouths,4765
a voice of iron, could I tell all the forms of wickedness4766
or spell out the names of every torment.’4767
BkVI:628-678 The Fields of Elysium4768
When she had spoken of this, the aged priestess of Apollo said:4769
‘But come now, travel the road, and complete the task set for you:4770
let us hurry, I see the battlements that were forged 4771
in the Cyclopean fires, and the gates in the arch opposite us4772
where we are told to set down the gifts as ordered.’4773
She spoke and keeping step they hastened along the dark path4774
crossing the space between and arriving near the doors.4775
Aeneas gained the entrance, sprinkled fresh water4776
over his body, and set up the branch on the threshold before him.4777
Having at last achieved this, the goddess’s task fulfilled,4778
they came to the pleasant places, the delightful grassy turf4779
of the Fortunate Groves, and the homes of the blessed.4780
Here freer air and radiant light clothe the plain,4781
and these have their own sun, and their own stars.4782
Some exercise their bodies in a grassy gymnasium,4783
compete in sports and wrestle on the yellow sand:4784
others tread out the steps of a dance, and sing songs.4785
There Orpheus too, the long-robed priest of Thrace,4786
accompanies their voices with the seven-note scale,4787
playing now with fingers, now with the ivory quill.4788
Here are Teucer’s ancient people, loveliest of children,4789
great-hearted heroes, born in happier years,4790
Ilus, Assaracus, and Dardanus founder of Troy.4791
Aeneas marvels from a distance at their idle chariots4792
and their weapons: their spears fixed in the ground,4793
and their horses scattered freely browsing over the plain:4794
the pleasure they took in chariots and armour while alive,4795
the care in tending shining horses, follows them below the earth.4796
Look, he sees others on the grass to right and left, feasting, 4797
and singing a joyful paean in chorus, among the fragrant 4798
groves of laurel, out of which the Eridanus’s broad river 4799
flows through the woodlands to the world above.4800
Here is the company of those who suffered wounds fighting4801
for their country: and those who were pure priests, while they lived, 4802
and those who were faithful poets, singers worthy of Apollo, 4803
and those who improved life, with discoveries in Art or Science,4804
and those who by merit caused others to remember them:4805
the brows of all these were bound with white headbands.4806
As they crowded round, the Sibyl addressed them,4807
Musaeus above all: since he holds the centre of the vast crowd, 4808
all looking up to him, his tall shoulders towering above:4809
‘Blessed spirits, and you, greatest of Poets, 4810
say what region or place contains Anchises. We have 4811
come here, crossing the great rivers of Erebus, for him.’4812
And the hero replied to her briefly in these words:4813
‘None of us have a fixed abode: we live in the shadowy woods,4814
and make couches of river-banks, and inhabit fresh-water meadows.4815
But climb this ridge, if your hearts-wish so inclines,4816
and I will soon set you on an easy path.’4817
He spoke and went on before them, and showed them4818
the bright plains below: then they left the mountain heights.4819
BkVI:679-702 The Meeting with Anchises4820
But deep in a green valley his father Anchises 4821
was surveying the spirits enclosed there, destined4822
for the light above, thinking carefully, and was reviewing4823
as it chanced the numbers of his own folk, his dear grandsons,4824
and their fate and fortunes as men, and their ways and works.4825
And when he saw Aeneas heading towards him over the grass4826
he stretched out both his hands eagerly, his face4827
streaming with tears, and a cry issued from his lips:4828
‘Have you come at last, and has the loyalty your father expected4829
conquered the harsh road? Is it granted me to see your face, 4830
my son, and hear and speak in familiar tones?4831
I calculated it in my mind, and thought it would be so,4832
counting off the hours, nor has my trouble failed me.4833
From travel over what lands and seas, do I receive you!4834
What dangers have hurled you about, my son!4835
How I feared the realms of Libya might harm you!’4836
He answered: ‘Father, your image, yours, appearing to me4837
so often, drove me to reach this threshold:4838
My ships ride the Etruscan waves. Father, let me clasp4839
your hand, let me, and do not draw away from my embrace.’4840
So speaking, his face was also drowned in a flood of tears.4841
Three times he tries to throw his arms round his father’s neck,4842
three times, clasped in vain, that semblance slips though his hands,4843
like the light breeze, most of all like a winged dream.4844
BkVI:703-723 The Souls Due for Re-birth4845
And now Aeneas saw a secluded grove 4846
in a receding valley, with rustling woodland thickets,4847
and the river of Lethe gliding past those peaceful places.4848
Innumerable tribes and peoples hovered round it:4849
just as, in the meadows, on a cloudless summer’s day, 4850
the bees settle on the multifarious flowers, and stream4851
round the bright lilies, and all the fields hum with their buzzing.4852
Aeneas was thrilled by the sudden sight, and, in ignorance,4853
asked the cause: what the river is in the distance,4854
who the men are crowding the banks in such numbers.4855
Then his father Anchises answered: ‘They are spirits, 4856
owed a second body by destiny, and they drink4857
the happy waters, and a last forgetting, at Lethe’s stream.4858
Indeed, for a long time I’ve wished to tell you of them,4859
and show you them face to face, to enumerate my children’s4860
descendants, so you might joy with me more at finding Italy.’4861
‘O father, is it to be thought that any spirits go from here4862
to the sky above, returning again to dull matter?’4863
‘Indeed I’ll tell you, son, not keep you in doubt,’4864
Anchises answered, and revealed each thing in order.4865
BkVI:724-751 The Transmigration of Souls4866
‘Firstly, a spirit within them nourishes the sky and earth,4867
the watery plains, the shining orb of the moon, 4868
and Titan’s star, and Mind, flowing through matter,4869
vivifies the whole mass, and mingles with its vast frame.4870
From it come the species of man and beast, and winged lives,4871
and the monsters the sea contains beneath its marbled waves.4872
The power of those seeds is fiery, and their origin divine,4873
so long as harmful matter doesn’t impede them4874
and terrestrial bodies and mortal limbs don’t dull them.4875
Through those they fear and desire, and grieve and joy,4876
and enclosed in night and a dark dungeon, can’t see the light.4877
Why, when life leaves them at the final hour,4878
still all of the evil, all the plagues of the flesh, alas,4879
have not completely vanished, and many things, long hardened4880
deep within, must of necessity be ingrained, in strange ways.4881
So they are scourged by torments, and pay the price 4882
for former sins: some are hung, stretched out, 4883
to the hollow winds, the taint of wickedness is cleansed4884
for others in vast gulfs, or burned away with fire:4885
each spirit suffers its own: then we are sent4886
through wide Elysium, and we few stay in the joyous fields,4887
for a length of days, till the cycle of time, 4888
complete, removes the hardened stain, and leaves 4889
pure ethereal thought, and the brightness of natural air.4890
All these others the god calls in a great crowd to the river Lethe,4891
after they have turned the wheel for a thousand years, 4892
so that, truly forgetting, they can revisit the vault above,4893
and begin with a desire to return to the flesh.’4894
BkVI:752-776 The Future Race – The Alban Kings4895
Anchises had spoken, and he drew the Sibyl and his son, both4896
together, into the middle of the gathering and the murmuring crowd,4897
and chose a hill from which he could see all the long ranks 4898
opposite, and watch their faces as they came by him.4899
‘Come, I will now explain what glory will pursue the children4900
of Dardanus, what descendants await you of the Italian race,4901
illustrious spirits to march onwards in our name, and I will teach4902
you your destiny. See that boy, who leans on a headless spear,4903
he is fated to hold a place nearest the light, first to rise 4904
to the upper air, sharing Italian blood, Silvius, of Alban name,4905
your last-born son, who your wife Lavinia, late in your old age,4906
will give birth to in the wood, a king and the father of kings,4907
through whom our race will rule in Alba Longa.4908
Next to him is Procas, glory of the Trojan people,4909
and Capys and Numitor, and he who’ll revive your name,4910
Silvius Aeneas, outstanding like you in virtue and arms,4911
if he might at last achieve the Alban throne. 4912
What men! See what authority they display, 4913
their foreheads shaded by the civic oak-leaf crown!4914
They will build Nomentum, Gabii, and Fidenae’s city:4915
Collatia’s fortress in the hills, Pometii 4916
and the Fort of Inus, and Bola, and Cora.4917
Those will be names that are now nameless land.4918
BkVI:777-807 The Future Race – Romulus and the Caesars4919
Yes, and a child of Mars will join his grandfather to accompany him,4920
Romulus, whom his mother Ilia will bear, of Assaracus’s line. 4921
See how Mars’s twin plumes stand on his crest, and his father 4922
marks him out for the world above with his own emblems?4923
Behold, my son, under his command glorious Rome 4924
will match earth’s power and heaven’s will, and encircle 4925
seven hills with a single wall, happy in her race of men: 4926
as Cybele, the Berecynthian ‘Great Mother’, crowned 4927
with turrets, rides through the Phrygian cities, delighting4928
in her divine children, clasping a hundred descendants, 4929
all gods, all dwelling in the heights above.4930
Now direct your eyes here, gaze at this people,4931
your own Romans. Here is Caesar, and all the offspring4932
of Iulus destined to live under the pole of heaven.4933
This is the man, this is him, whom you so often hear4934
promised you, Augustus Caesar, son of the Deified, 4935
who will make a Golden Age again in the fields4936
where Saturn once reigned, and extend the empire beyond4937
the Libyans and the Indians (to a land that lies outside the zodiac’s belt,4938
beyond the sun’s ecliptic and the year’s, where sky-carrying Atlas4939
turns the sphere, inset with gleaming stars, on his shoulders):4940
Even now the Caspian realms, and Maeotian earth, 4941
tremble at divine prophecies of his coming, and 4942
the restless mouths of the seven-branched Nile are troubled.4943
Truly, Hercules never crossed so much of the earth,4944
though he shot the bronze-footed Arcadian deer, brought peace4945
to the woods of Erymanthus, made Lerna tremble at his bow:4946
nor did Bacchus, who steers his chariot, in triumph, with reins 4947
made of vines, guiding his tigers down from Nysa’s high peak.4948
Do we really hesitate still to extend our power by our actions,4949
and does fear prevent us settling the Italian lands? 4950
BkVI:808-853 The Future Race – Republic and Beyond4951
Who is he, though, over there, distinguished by his olive branches,4952
carrying offerings? I know the hair and the white-bearded chin4953
of a king of Rome, Numa, called to supreme authority 4954
from little Cures’s poverty-stricken earth, who will secure4955
our first city under the rule of law. Then Tullus 4956
will succeed him who will shatter the country’s peace, 4957
and call to arms sedentary men, ranks now unused to triumphs.4958
The over-boastful Ancus follows him closely, 4959
delighting too much even now in the people’s opinion.4960
Will you look too at Tarquin’s dynasty, and the proud spirit4961
of Brutus the avenger, the rods of office reclaimed?4962
He’ll be the first to win a consul’s powers and the savage axes,4963
and when the sons foment a new civil war, the father4964
will call them to account, for lovely freedom’s sake:4965
ah, to be pitied, whatever posterity says of his actions:4966
his love of country will prevail, and great appetite for glory. 4967
Ah, see over there, the Decii and Drusi, and Torquatus4968
brutal with the axe, and Camillus rescuing the standards.4969
But those others, you can discern, shining in matching armour,4970
souls in harmony now, while they are cloaked in darkness,4971
ah, if they reach the light of the living, what civil war4972
what battle and slaughter, they’ll cause, Julius Caesar,4973
the father-in-law, down from the Alpine ramparts, from the fortress4974
of Monoecus: Pompey, the son-in-law, opposing with Eastern forces.4975
My sons, don’t inure your spirits to such wars,4976
never turn the powerful forces of your country on itself:4977
You be the first to halt, you, who derive your race from heaven:4978
hurl the sword from your hand, who are of my blood!4979
There’s Mummius: triumphing over Corinth, he’ll drive his chariot,4980
victorious, to the high Capitol, famed for the Greeks he’s killed:4981
and Aemilius Paulus, who, avenging his Trojan ancestors, and Minerva’s4982
desecrated shrine, will destroy Agamemnon’s Mycenae, and Argos, 4983
and Perseus the Aeacid himself, descendant of war-mighty Achilles.4984
Who would pass over you in silence, great Cato, or you Cossus,4985
or the Gracchus’s race, or the two Scipios, war’s lightning bolts,4986
the scourges of Libya, or you Fabricius, powerful in poverty,4987
or you, Regulus Serranus, sowing your furrow with seed?4988
Fabii, where do you hurry my weary steps? You, Fabius 4989
Maximus, the Delayer, are he who alone renew our State.4990
Others (I can well believe) will hammer out bronze that breathes4991
with more delicacy than us, draw out living features 4992
from the marble: plead their causes better, trace with instruments4993
the movement of the skies, and tell the rising of the constellations:4994
remember, Roman, it is for you to rule the nations with your power,4995
(that will be your skill) to crown peace with law,4996
to spare the conquered, and subdue the proud.’4997
BkVI:854-885 The Future Race – Marcellus4998
So father Anchises spoke, and while they marvelled, added:4999
‘See, how Claudius Marcellus, distinguished by the Supreme Prize,5000
comes forward, and towers, victorious, over other men.5001
As a knight, he’ll support the Roman State, turbulent5002
with fierce confusion, strike the Cathaginians and rebellious Gauls,5003
and dedicate captured weapons, a third time, to father Quirinus.’5004
And, at this, Aeneas said (since he saw a youth of outstanding5005
beauty with shining armour, walking with Marcellus,5006
but his face lacking in joy, and his eyes downcast):5007
‘Father, who is this who accompanies him on his way?5008
His son: or another of his long line of descendants?5009
What murmuring round them! What presence he has!5010
But dark night, with its sad shadows, hovers round his head.’5011
Then his father Aeneas, with welling tears, replied:5012
‘O, do not ask about your people’s great sorrow, my son.5013
The Fates will only show him to the world, not allow him5014
to stay longer. The Roman people would seem5015
too powerful to you gods, if this gift were lasting.5016
What mourning from mankind that Field of Mars will 5017
deliver to the mighty city! And what funeral processions5018
you, Tiber, will see, as you glide past his new-made tomb!5019
No boy of the line of Ilius shall so exalt his Latin 5020
ancestors by his show of promise, nor will Romulus’s5021
land ever take more pride in one of its sons.5022
Alas for virtue, alas for the honour of ancient times, 5023
and a hand invincible in war! No one might have attacked him5024
safely when armed, whether he met the enemy on foot,5025
or dug his spurs into the flank of his foaming charger.5026
Ah, boy to be pitied, if only you may shatter harsh fate,5027
you’ll be a Marcellus! Give me handfuls of white lilies,5028
let me scatter radiant flowers, let me load my scion’s spirit5029
with those gifts at least, in discharging that poor duty.’5030
BkVI:886-901 The Gates of Sleep5031
So they wander here and there through the whole region,5032
over the wide airy plain, and gaze at everything.5033
And when Anchises has led his son through each place,5034
and inflamed his spirit with love of the glory that is to come,5035
he tells him then of the wars he must soon fight,5036
and teaches him about the Laurentine peoples,5037
and the city of Latinus, and how to avoid or face each trial.5038
There are two gates of Sleep: one of which is said to be of horn,5039
through which an easy passage is given to true shades, the other5040
gleams with the whiteness of polished ivory, but through it5041
the Gods of the Dead send false dreams to the world above.5042
After his words, Anchises accompanies his son there, and,5043
frees him, together with the Sibyl, through the ivory gate.5044
Aeneas makes his way to the ships and rejoins his friends:5045
then coasts straight to Caieta’s harbour along the shore.5046
The anchors are thrown from the prows: on the shore the sterns rest. 5047
BkVII:1-36 The Trojans Reach the Tiber5048
Caieta, Aeneas’s nurse, you too have granted 5049
eternal fame to our shores in dying: 5050
tributes still protect your grave, and your name5051
marks your bones in great Hesperia, if that is glory.5052
Now, as soon as the open sea was calm, having paid 5053
the last rites due to custom, and raised a funeral mound,5054
Aeneas the good left the harbour and sailed on his way.5055
The breezes blew through the night, and a radiant moon was no5056
inhibitor to their voyage, the sea gleaming in the tremulous light.5057
The next shores they touched were Circe’s lands,5058
where that rich daughter of the sun makes the hidden groves5059
echo with continual chanting, and burns fragrant cedar5060
for nocturnal light in her proud palace, as she sets5061
her melodious shuttle running through the fine warp.5062
From there the angry roar of lions could be heard,5063
chafing at their ropes, and sounding late into the night,5064
and the rage of bristling wild-boars, and caged bears,5065
and the howling shapes of huge wolves,5066
whom Circe, cruel goddess, had altered from human appearance 5067
to the features and forms of creatures, using powerful herbs.5068
But Neptune filled their sails with following winds, so that5069
Troy’s virtuous race should not suffer so monstrous a fate5070
entering the harbour, and disembarking on that fatal shore,5071
and carried them past the boiling shallows, granting them escape.5072
Now the sea was reddening with the sun’s rays, and saffron Aurora5073
in her rose-coloured chariot, shone from the heights of heaven,5074
when the winds dropped and every breeze suddenly fell away,5075
and the oars laboured slowly in the water. At this moment,5076
gazing from the sea, Aeneas saw a vast forest. Through it 5077
the Tiber’s lovely river, with swirling eddies full of golden sand,5078
bursts to the ocean. Countless birds, around and above,5079
that haunt the banks and streams, were delighting 5080
the heavens with their song and flying through the groves.5081
He ordered his friends to change course and turn their prows5082
towards land, and joyfully entered the shaded river.5083
BkVII:37-106 King Latinus and the Oracle5084
Come now, Erato, and I’ll tell of the kings, the times, 5085
the state of ancient Latium, when that foreign5086
troop first landed on Ausonia’s shores, and I’ll recall5087
the first fighting from its very beginning. You goddess, 5088
you must prompt your poet. I’ll tell of brutal war,5089
I’ll tell of battle action, and princes driven to death 5090
by their courage, of Trojan armies, and all of Hesperia5091
forced to take up arms. A greater order of things5092
is being born, greater is the work that I attempt.5093
King Latinus, now old in years, ruled fields5094
and towns, in the tranquillity of lasting peace.5095
We hear he was the child of Faunus and the Laurentine5096
nymph, Marica. Faunus’s father was Pictus, and he boasts5097
you, Saturn, as his, you the first founder of the line.5098
By divine decree, Latinus had no male heir, his son 5099
having been snatched from him in the dawn of first youth.5100
There was only a daughter to keep house in so noble a palace,5101
now ready for a husband, now old enough to be a bride.5102
Many sought her hand, from wide Latium and all Ausonia,5103
Turnus above all, the most handsome, of powerful ancestry,5104
whom the queen hastened to link to her as her son-in-law5105
with wonderful affection. But divine omens, with their many5106
terrors, prevented it. There was a laurel, with sacred leaves, 5107
in the high inner court in the middle of the palace, 5108
that had been guarded with reverence for many years.5109
It was said that Lord Latinus himself had discovered it,5110
when he first built his fortress, and dedicated it to Apollo,5111
and from it had named the settlers Laurentines.5112
A dense cloud of bees (marvellous to tell) borne5113
through the clear air, with a mighty humming,5114
settled in the very top of the tree, and hung there,5115
their feet all tangled together, in a sudden swarm.5116
Immediately the prophet cried: ‘I see a foreign hero,5117
approaching, and, from a like direction, an army5118
seeks this same place, to rule from the high citadel.’5119
Then as he lit the altars with fresh pine torches,5120
as virgin Lavinia stood there next to her father5121
she seemed (horror!) to catch the fire in her long tresses,5122
and all her finery to burn in crackling flame, her royally5123
dressed tresses set alight, her crown alight, remarkable5124
for its jewels: then wreathed in smoke and yellow light,5125
she seemed to scatter sparks through all the palace.5126
Truly it was talked of as a shocking and miraculous sight:5127
for they foretold she would be bright with fame and fortune,5128
but it signified a great war for her people.5129
Then the king, troubled by the wonder, visited the oracle5130
of Faunus, his far-speaking father, and consulted the groves5131
below high Albunea, mightiest of forests, that echoed5132
with the sacred fountain, and breathed a deadly vapour from the dark.5133
The people of Italy, and all the Oenotrian lands, sought answers5134
to their doubts, from that place: when the priest brought5135
offerings there, and, found sleep, in the silent night, lying5136
on spread fleeces of sacrificed sheep, he saw there many ghosts5137
flitting in marvellous forms, and heard various voices, had speech5138
with the gods, and talked with Acheron, in the depths of Avernus.5139
And here the king, Latinus, himself seeking an answer,5140
slaughtered a hundred woolly sheep according to the rite,5141
and lay there supported by their skins and woolly fleeces:5142
Suddenly a voice emerged from the deep wood:5143
‘O my son, don’t try to ally your daughter in a Latin marriage,5144
don’t place your faith in the intended wedding:5145
strangers will come to be your kin, who’ll lift our name5146
to the stars by their blood, and the children 5147
of whose race shall see all, where the circling sun5148
views both oceans, turning obediently beneath their feet.’5149
Latinus failed to keep this reply of his Father’s quiet,5150
this warning given in the silent night, and already5151
Rumour flying far and wide had carried it through5152
the Ausonian cities, when the children of Laomedon 5153
came to moor their ships by the river’s grassy banks.5154
BkVII:107-147 Fulfilment of A Prophecy5155
Aeneas, handsome Iulus, and the foremost leaders,5156
settled their limbs under the branches of a tall tree,5157
and spread a meal: they set wheat cakes for a base5158
under the food (as Jupiter himself inspired them) 5159
and added wild fruits to these tables of Ceres.5160
When the poor fare drove them to set their teeth5161
into the thin discs, the rest being eaten, and to break 5162
the fateful circles of bread boldly with hands and jaws,5163
not sparing the quartered cakes, Iulus, jokingly,5164
said no more than: ‘Ha! Are we eating the tables too?’5165
That voice on first being heard brought them to the end5166
of their labours, and his father, as the words fell 5167
from the speaker’s lips, caught them up 5168
and stopped him, awestruck at the divine will. 5169
Immediately he said: ‘Hail, land destined to me5170
by fate, and hail to you, O faithful gods of Troy:5171
here is our home, here is our country. For my father5172
Anchises (now I remember) left this secret of fate with me:5173
‘Son, when you’re carried to an unknown shore, food is lacking, 5174
and you’re forced to eat the tables, then look for a home5175
in your weariness: and remember first thing to set your hand5176
on a site there, and build your houses behind a rampart.’ 5177
This was the hunger he prophesied, the last thing remaining,5178
to set a limit to our ruin…come then,5179
and with the sun’s dawn light let’s cheerfully discover5180
what place this is, what men live here, where this people’s city is,5181
and let’s explore from the harbour in all directions.5182
Now pour libations to Jove and call, with prayer, 5183
on my father Anchises, then set out the wine once more.5184
So saying he wreathed his forehead with a leafy spray,5185
and prayed to the spirit of the place, and to Earth the oldest5186
of goddesses, and to the Nymphs, and the yet unknown rivers:5187
then he invoked Night and Night’s rising constellations,5188
and Idaean Jove, and the Phrygian Mother, in order,5189
and his two parents, one in heaven, one in Erebus.5190
At this the all-powerful Father thundered three times5191
from the clear sky, and revealed a cloud in the ether,5192
bright with rays of golden light, shaking it with his own hand.5193
Then the word ran suddenly through the Trojan lines5194
that the day had come to found their destined city.5195
They rivalled each other in celebration of the feast, and delighted5196
by the fine omen, set out the bowls and crowned the wine-cups.5197
BkVII:148-191 The Palace of Latinus5198
Next day when sunrise lit the earth with her first flames,5199
they variously discovered the city, shores and limits 5200
of this nation: here was the pool of Numicius’s fountain,5201
this was the River Tiber, here the brave Latins lived.5202
Then Anchises’s son ordered a hundred envoys, chosen5203
from every rank, all veiled in Pallas’s olive leaves5204
to go to the king’s noble fortress, carrying gifts 5205
for a hero, and requesting peace towards the Trojans. 5206
Without delay, they hastened as ordered, travelling 5207
at a swift pace. He himself marked out walls with a shallow ditch,5208
toiled at the site, and surrounded the first settlement on those shores5209
with a rampart and battlement, in the style of a fortified camp.5210
And now his men had pursued their journey and they saw5211
Latinus’s turrets and high roofs, and arrived beneath the walls.5212
Boys, and men in the flower of youth, were practising5213
horsemanship outside the city, breaking in their mounts 5214
in clouds of dust, or bending taut bows, or hurling firm spears 5215
with their arms, challenging each other to race or box:5216
when a messenger, racing ahead on his horse, reported5217
to the ears of the aged king that powerful warriors in unknown5218
dress had arrived. The king ordered them to be summoned5219
to the palace, and took his seat, in the centre, on his ancestral throne.5220
Huge and magnificent, raised on a hundred columns, 5221
his roof was the city’s summit, the palace of Laurentian Picus,5222
sanctified by its grove and the worship of generations.5223
It was auspicious for a king to receive the sceptre here and first lift5224
the fasces, the rods of office: this shrine was their curia,5225
their senate house, the place of their sacred feasts, here the elders,5226
after lambs were sacrificed, sat down at an endless line of tables.5227
There standing in ranks at the entrance were the statues of ancestors 5228
of old, in ancient cedar-wood, Italus, and father Sabinus, the vine-grower,5229
depicted guarding a curved pruning-hook, and aged Saturn, 5230
and the image of Janus bi-face, and other kings from the beginning, 5231
and heroes wounded in battle, fighting for their country.5232
Many weapons too hung on the sacred doorposts,5233
captive chariots, curved axes, helmet crests, the massive bars5234
of city gates, spears, shields and the ends of prows torn from ships.5235
There Picus, the Horse-Tamer, sat, holding the lituus, the augur’s5236
Quirinal staff, and clothed in the trabea, the purple-striped toga,5237
and carrying the ancile, the sacred shield, in his left hand,5238
he, whom his lover, Circe, captivated by desire, struck 5239
with her golden rod: changed him with magic drugs5240
to a woodpecker, and speckled his wings with colour.5241
BkVII:192-248 The Trojans Seek Alliance With Latinus 5242
Such was the temple of the gods in which Latinus, seated5243
on the ancestral throne, called the Trojans to him in the palace,5244
and as they entered spoke first, with a calm expression:5245
‘Sons of Dardanus (for your city and people are not unknown5246
to us, and we heard of your journey towards us on the seas),5247
what do you wish? What reason, what need has brought 5248
your ships to Ausonian shores, over so many azure waves?5249
Whether you have entered the river mouth, and lie in harbour,5250
after straying from your course, or driven here by storms,5251
such things as sailors endure on the deep ocean,5252
don’t shun our hospitality, and don’t neglect the fact5253
that the Latins are Saturn’s people, just, not through constraint or law,5254
but of our own free will, holding to the ways of the ancient god.5255
And I remember in truth (though the tale is obscured by time)5256
that the Auruncan elders told how Dardanus, sprung 5257
from these shores, penetrated the cities of Phrygian Ida,5258
and Thracian Samos, that is now called Samothrace.5259
Setting out from here, from his Etruscan home, Corythus,5260
now the golden palace of the starlit sky grants him a throne,5261
and he increases the number of divine altars.’5262
He finished speaking, and Ilioneus, following, answered so:5263
‘King, illustrious son of Faunus, no dark tempest, driving5264
us though the waves, forced us onto your shores,5265
no star or coastline deceived us in our course:5266
we travelled to this city by design, and with willing hearts,5267
exiled from our kingdom, that was once the greatest5268
that the sun gazed on, as he travelled from the edge of heaven.5269
The founder of our race is Jove, the sons of Dardanus enjoy5270
Jove as their ancestor, our king himself is of Jove’s high race:5271
Trojan, Aeneas, sends us to your threshold.5272
The fury of the storm that poured from fierce Mycenae,5273
and crossed the plains of Ida, and how the two worlds of Europe5274
and Asia clashed, driven by fate, has been heard by those whom5275
the most distant lands banish to where Ocean circles back,5276
and those whom the zone of excessive heat, stretched 5277
between the other four, separates from us. 5278
Sailing out of that deluge, over many wastes of sea,5279
we ask a humble home for our country’s gods, and a harmless5280
stretch of shore, and air and water accessible to all.5281
We’ll be no disgrace to the kingdom, nor will your reputation5282
be spoken of lightly, nor gratitude for such an action fade,5283
nor Ausonia regret taking Troy to her breast.5284
I swear by the destiny of Aeneas, and the power of his right hand,5285
whether proven by any man in loyalty, or war and weapons,5286
many are the peoples, many are the nations (do not scorn us5287
because we offer peace-ribbons, and words of prayer, unasked)5288
who themselves sought us and wished to join with us:5289
but through divine destiny we sought out your shores5290
to carry out its commands. Dardanus sprang from here,5291
Apollo recalls us to this place, and, with weighty orders, drives us5292
to Tuscan Tiber, and the sacred waters of the Numician fount. 5293
Moreover our king offers you these small tokens of his5294
former fortune, relics snatched from burning Troy.5295
His father Anchises poured libations at the altar from this gold,5296
this was Priam’s burden when by custom he made laws5297
for the assembled people, the sceptre, and sacred turban,5298
and the clothes, laboured on by the daughters of Ilium.’5299
BkVII:249-285 Latinus Offers Peace5300
At Ilioneus’s words Latinus kept his face set firmly5301
downward, fixed motionless towards the ground, moving his eyes5302
alone intently. It is not the embroidered purple that moves5303
the king nor Priam’s sceptre, so much as his dwelling5304
on his daughter’s marriage and her bridal-bed,5305
and he turns over in his mind old Faunus’s oracle:5306
this must be the man, from a foreign house, prophesied5307
by the fates as my son-in-law, and summoned to reign5308
with equal powers, whose descendants will be illustrious5309
in virtue, and whose might will take possession of all the world.5310
At last he spoke, joyfully: ‘May the gods favour this beginning,5311
and their prophecy. Trojan, what you wish shall be granted.5312
I do not reject your gifts: you will not lack the wealth5313
of fertile fields, or Troy’s wealth, while Latinus is king.5314
Only, if Aeneas has such longing for us, if he is eager5315
to join us in friendship and be called our ally, let him come5316
himself and not be afraid of a friendly face: it will be5317
part of the pact, to me, to have touched your leader’s hand.5318
Now you in turn take my reply to the king:5319
I have a daughter whom the oracles from my father’s shrine,5320
and many omens from heaven, will not allow to unite5321
with a husband of our race: sons will come from foreign shores,5322
whose blood will raise our name to the stars: this they prophesy5323
is in store for Latium,. I both think and, if my mind foresees 5324
the truth, I hope that this is the man destiny demands.’5325
So saying the king selected stallions from his whole stable5326
(three hundred stood there sleekly in their high stalls):5327
immediately he ordered one to be led to each Trojan by rank,5328
caparisoned in purple, swift-footed, with embroidered housings5329
(gold collars hung low over their chests, covered in gold,5330
they even champed bits of yellow gold between their teeth),5331
and for the absent Aeneas there was a chariot, with twin horses,5332
of heaven’s line, blowing fire from their nostrils,5333
bastards of that breed of her father’s, the Sun, that cunning5334
Circe had produced, by mating them with a mortal mare.5335
The sons of Aeneas, mounting the horses, rode back5336
with these words and gifts of Latinus, bearing peace.5337
BkVII:286-341 Juno Summons Allecto5338
But behold, the ferocious wife of Jove returning 5339
from Inachus’s Argos, winging her airy way,5340
saw the delighted Aeneas and his Trojan fleet,5341
from the distant sky, beyond Sicilian Pachynus.5342
She gazed at them, already building houses, already confident5343
in their land, the ships deserted: she halted pierced by a bitter pang.5344
Then shaking her head, she poured these words from her breast:5345
‘Ah loathsome tribe, and Trojan destiny, opposed to my5346
own destiny! Could they not have fallen on the Sigean plains,5347
could they not have been held as captives? Could burning Troy5348
not have consumed these men? They find a way through 5349
the heart of armies and flames. And I think my powers must5350
be exhausted at last, or I have come to rest, my anger sated.5351
Why, when they were thrown out of their country I ventured5352
to follow hotly through the waves, and challenge them on every ocean.5353
The forces of sea and sky have been wasted on these Trojans.5354
What use have the Syrtes been to me, or Scylla, or gaping5355
Charybdis? They take refuge in their longed-for Tiber’s channel,5356
indifferent to the sea and to me. Mars had the power 5357
to destroy the Lapiths’ vast race, the father of the gods himself5358
conceded ancient Calydon, given Diana’s anger, 5359
and for what sin did the Lapiths or Calydon, deserve all that?5360
But I, Jove’s great Queen, who in my wretchedness had the power5361
to leave nothing untried, who have turned myself to every means,5362
am conquered by Aeneas. But if my divine strength is not 5363
enough, I won’t hesitate to seek help wherever it might be:5364
if I cannot sway the gods, I’ll stir the Acheron.5365
I accept it’s not granted to me to withhold the Latin kingdom,5366
and by destiny Lavinia will still, unalterably, be his bride:5367
but I can draw such things out and add delays,5368
and I can destroy the people of these two kings.5369
Let father and son-in-law unite at the cost of their nations’ lives:5370
virgin, your dowry will be Rutulian and Trojan blood,5371
and Bellona, the goddess of war, waits to attend your marriage.5372
Nor was it Hecuba, Cisseus’s daughter, alone who was pregnant5373
with a fire-brand, or gave birth to nuptial flames.5374
Why, Venus is alike in her child, another Paris,5375
another funeral torch for a resurrected Troy.’5376
When she had spoken these words, fearsome, she sought the earth:5377
and summoned Allecto, the grief-bringer, from the house 5378
of the Fatal Furies, from the infernal shadows: in whose5379
mind are sad wars, angers and deceits, and guilty crimes.5380
A monster, hated by her own father Pluto, hateful 5381
to her Tartarean sisters: she assumes so many forms,5382
her features are so savage, she sports so many black vipers.5383
Juno roused her with these words, saying:5384
‘Grant me a favour of my own, virgin daughter of Night,5385
this service, so that my honour and glory are not weakened,5386
and give way, and the people of Aeneas cannot woo5387
Latinus with intermarriage, or fill the bounds of Italy.5388
You’ve the power to rouse brothers, who are one, to conflict, 5389
and overturn homes with hatred: you bring the scourge5390
and the funeral torch into the house: you’ve a thousand names,5391
and a thousand noxious arts. Search your fertile breast,5392
shatter the peace accord, sow accusations of war:5393
let men in a moment need, demand and seize their weapons.’5394
BkVII:341-405 Allecto Maddens Queen Amata5395
So Allecto, steeped in the Gorgon’s poison, first searches out5396
Latium and the high halls of the Laurentine king,5397
and sits at the silent threshold of Queen Amata, whom5398
concerns and angers have troubled, with a woman’s passion,5399
concerning the Trojan’s arrival, and Turnus’s marriage. 5400
The goddess flings a snake at her from her dark locks,5401
and plunges it into the breast, to her innermost heart, so that5402
maddened by the creature, she might trouble the whole palace.5403
Sliding between her clothing, and her polished breast,5404
it winds itself unfelt and unknown to the frenzied woman,5405
breathing its viperous breath: the powerful snake becomes her5406
twisted necklace of gold, becomes the loop of her long ribbon,5407
knots itself in her hair, and roves slithering down her limbs.5408
And while at first the sickness, sinking within as liquid venom,5409
pervades her senses, and clasps her bones with fire,5410
and before her mind has felt the flame through all its thoughts,5411
she speaks, softly, and in a mother’s usual manner, 5412
weeping greatly over the marriage of her daughter to the Trojan:5413
‘O, have you her father no pity for your daughter or yourself?5414
Have you no pity for her mother, when the faithless seducer5415
will leave with the first north-wind, seeking the deep, with the girl5416
as prize? Wasn’t it so when Paris, that Phrygian shepherd,5417
entered Sparta, and snatched Leda’s Helen off to the Trojan cities?5418
What of your sacred pledge? What of your former care for your own5419
people, and your right hand given so often to your kinsman Turnus?5420
If a son-in-law from a foreign tribe is sought for the Latins,5421
and it’s settled, and your father Faunus’s command weighs on you,5422
then I myself think that every land free of our rule 5423
that is distant, is foreign: and so the gods declare. 5424
And if the first origins of his house are traced, Inachus 5425
and Acrisius are ancestors of Turnus, and Mycenae his heartland.’5426
When, though trying in vain with words, she sees Latinus5427
stand firm against her, and when the snake’s maddening venom5428
has seeped deep into her flesh, and permeated throughout,5429
then, truly, the unhappy queen, goaded by monstrous horrors,5430
rages madly unrestrainedly through the vast city.5431
As a spinning-top, sometimes, that boys intent on play thrash 5432
in a circle round an empty courtyard, turns under the whirling lash,5433
- driven with the whip it moves in curving tracks: and the childish crowd5434
marvel over it in innocence, gazing at the twirling boxwood:5435
and the blows grant it life: so she is driven through the heart5436
of cities and proud peoples, on a course that is no less swift.5437
Moreover, she runs to the woods, pretending Bacchic possession,5438
setting out on a greater sin, and creating a wider frenzy,5439
and hides her daughter among the leafy mountains,5440
to rob the Trojans of their wedding and delay the nuptials,5441
shrieking ‘Euhoe’ to Bacchus, crying ‘You alone are worthy5442
of this virgin: it’s for you in truth she lifts the soft thyrsus,5443
you she circles in the dance, for you she grows her sacred hair.’5444
Rumour travels: and the same frenzy drives all the women, 5445
inflamed, with madness in their hearts, to seek strange shelter.5446
They leave their homes, and bare their head and neck to the winds:5447
while others are already filling the air with vibrant howling5448
carrying vine-wrapped spears, and clothed in fawn-skins.5449
The wild Queen herself brandishes a blazing pine-branch 5450
in their midst, turning her bloodshot gaze on them, and sings5451
the wedding-song for Turnus and her daughter, and, suddenly5452
fierce, cries out: ‘O, women of Latium, wherever you are, hear me: 5453
if you still have regard for unhappy Amata in your pious hearts, 5454
if you’re stung with concern for a mother’s rights,5455
loose the ties from your hair, join the rites with me.’5456
So Allecto drives the Queen with Bacchic goad, far and wide,5457
through the woods, among the wild creatures’ lairs.5458
BkVII:406-474 Allecto Rouses Turnus5459
When she saw she had stirred these first frenzies enough,5460
and had disturbed Latinus’s plans, and his whole household,5461
the grim goddess was carried from there, at once, on dark wings,5462
to the walls of Turnus, the brave Rutulian, the city they say5463
that Danae, blown there by a violent southerly, built5464
with her Acrisian colonists. The place was once called Ardea5465
by our ancestors, and Ardea still remains as a great name,5466
its good-fortune past. Here, in the dark of night, 5467
Turnus was now in a deep sleep, in his high palace.5468
Allecto changed her fierce appearance and fearful shape,5469
transformed her looks into those of an old woman,5470
furrowed her ominous brow with wrinkles, assumed5471
white hair and sacred ribbon, then twined an olive spray there:5472
she became Calybe, Juno’s old servant, and priestess of her temple,5473
and offered herself to the young man’s eyes with these words:5474
‘Turnus, will you see all your efforts wasted in vain,5475
and your sceptre handed over to Trojan settlers?5476
The king denies you your bride and the dowry looked for5477
by your race, and a stranger is sought as heir to the throne.5478
Go then, be despised, offer yourself, un-thanked, to danger:5479
go, cut down the Tuscan ranks, protect the Latins with peace!5480
This that I now say to you, as you lie there in the calm of night,5481
Saturn’s all-powerful daughter herself ordered me to speak openly.5482
So rise, and ready your men, gladly, to arm and march 5483
from the gates to the fields, and set fire to the painted ships5484
anchored in our noble river, and the Trojan leaders with them.5485
The vast power of the gods demands it. Let King Latinus 5486
himself feel it, unless he agrees to keep his word and give you5487
your bride, and let him at last experience Turnus armed.’5488
At this the warrior, mocking the priestess, opened his mouth in turn:5489
‘The news that a fleet has entered Tiber’s waters 5490
has not escaped my notice, as you think: 5491
don’t imagine it’s so great a fear to me. 5492
Nor is Queen Juno unmindful of me.5493
But you, O mother, old age, conquered by weakness5494
and devoid of truth, troubles with idle cares, and mocks5495
a prophetess, amidst the wars of kings, with imaginary terrors.5496
Your duty’s to guard the gods’ statues and their temples:5497
men will make war and peace, by whom war’s to be made.’ 5498
Allecto blazed with anger at these words.5499
And, as the young man spoke, a sudden tremor seized his body,5500
and his eyes became fixed, the Fury hissed with so many snakes,5501
such a form revealed itself: then turning her fiery gaze on him,5502
she pushed him away as he hesitated, trying to say more,5503
and raised up a pair of serpents amidst her hair,5504
and cracked her whip, and added this through rabid lips:5505
‘See me, conquered by weakness, whom old age, devoid of truth,5506
mocks with imaginary terrors amongst the wars of kings.5507
Look on this: I am here from the house of the Fatal Sisters,5508
and I bring war and death in my hand.’5509
So saying, she flung a burning branch at the youth,5510
and planted the brand, smoking with murky light, in his chest.5511
An immense terror shattered his sleep, and sweat, pouring 5512
from his whole body drenched flesh and bone.5513
Frantic, he shouted for weapons, looked for weapons by the bedside,5514
and through the palace: desire for the sword raged in him, 5515
and the accursed madness of war, anger above all: 5516
as when burning sticks are heaped, with a fierce crackling,5517
under the belly of a raging cauldron, and the depths5518
dance with the heat, the smoking mixture seethes inside,5519
the water bubbles high with foam, the liquid can no longer5520
contain itself, and dark vapour rises into the air.5521
So, violating the peace, he commanded his young leaders5522
to march against King Latinus, and ordered the troops to be readied,5523
to defend Italy, to drive the enemy from her borders:5524
his approach itself would be enough for both Trojans and Latins.5525
When he gave the word, and called the gods to witness his vows,5526
the Rutuli vied in urging each other to arm. 5527
This man is moved by Turnus’s youth and outstanding nobility5528
of form, that by his royal line, this one again by his glorious deeds.5529
BkVII:475-539 Allecto Among the Trojans5530
While Turnus was rousing the Rutulians with fiery courage,5531
Allecto hurled herself towards the Trojans, on Stygian wings,5532
spying out, with fresh cunning, the place on the shore5533
where handsome Iulus was hunting wild beasts on foot with nets.5534
Hades’s Virgin drove his hounds to sudden frenzy,5535
touching their muzzles with a familiar scent, 5536
so that they eagerly chased down a stag: this was a prime5537
cause of trouble, rousing the spirits of the countrymen to war.5538
There was a stag of outstanding beauty, with huge antlers,5539
that, torn from its mother’s teats, Tyrrhus and his sons had raised, 5540
the father being the man to whom the king’s herds submitted,5541
and who was trusted with managing his lands far and wide.5542
Silvia, their sister, training it to her commands with great care,5543
adorned its antlers, twining them with soft garlands, grooming 5544
the wild creature, and bathing it in a clear spring. Tame to the hand, 5545
and used to food from the master’s table, it wandered the woods, 5546
and returned to the familiar threshold, by itself, however late at night.5547
Now while it strayed far a-field, Iulus the huntsman’s5548
frenzied hounds started it, by chance, as it moved 5549
downstream, escaping the heat by the grassy banks. 5550
Iulus himself inflamed also with desire for high5551
honours, aimed an arrow from his curved bow,5552
the goddess unfailingly guiding his errant hand, 5553
and the shaft, flying with a loud hiss, pierced flank and belly.5554
But the wounded creature fleeing to its familiar home, 5555
dragged itself groaning to its stall, and, bleeding, filled5556
the house with its cries, like a person begging for help.5557
Silvia, the sister, beating her arms with her hands in distress, was5558
the first to call for help, summoning the tough countrymen.5559
They arrived quickly (since a savage beast haunted the silent woods)5560
one with a fire-hardened stake, one with a heavy knotted staff:5561
anger made a weapon of whatever each man found 5562
as he searched around. Tyrrhus called out his men:5563
since by chance he was quartering an oak by driving5564
wedges, he seized his axe, breathing savagely.5565
Then the cruel goddess, seeing the moment to do harm,5566
found the stable’s steep roof, and sounded the herdsmen’s5567
call, sending a voice from Tartarus through the twisted horn,5568
so that each grove shivered, and the deep woods echoed:5569
Diana’s distant lake at Nemi heard it: white Nar’s river, 5570
with its sulphurous waters, heard: and the fountains of Velinus:5571
while anxious mothers clasped their children to their breasts.5572
Then the rough countrymen snatching up their weapons, gathered 5573
more quickly, and from every side, to the noise with which5574
that dread trumpet sounded the call, nor were the Trojan5575
youth slow to open their camp, and send out help to Ascanius.5576
The lines were deployed. They no longer competed5577
with solid staffs, and fire-hardened stakes, in a rustic quarrel,5578
but fought it out with double-edged blades, and a dark crop5579
of naked swords bristled far and wide: bronze shone 5580
struck by the sun, and hurled its light up to the clouds:5581
as when a wave begins to whiten at the wind’s first breath,5582
and the sea swells little by little, and raises higher waves,5583
then surges to heaven out of its profoundest depths.5584
Here young Almo, in the front ranks, the eldest 5585
of Tyrrhus’s sons, was downed by a hissing arrow:5586
the wound opened beneath his throat, choking the passage5587
of liquid speech, and failing breath, with blood.5588
The bodies of many men were round him, old Galaesus5589
among them, killed in the midst of offering peace, who was5590
one of the most just of men, and the wealthiest in Ausonian land:5591
five flocks bleated for him, five herds returned 5592
from his fields, and a hundred ploughs furrowed the soil.5593
BkVII:540-571 Allecto Returns to Hades5594
While they fought over the plain, in an equally-matched contest,5595
the goddess, having, by her actions, succeeded in what she’d promised,5596
having steeped the battle in blood, and brought death in the first skirmish,5597
left Hesperia, and wheeling through the air of heaven5598
spoke to Juno, in victory, in a proud voice:5599
‘Behold, for you, discord is completed with sad war:5600
tell them now to unite as friends, or join in alliance.5601
Since I’ve sprinkled the Trojans with Ausonian blood,5602
I’ll even add this to it, if I’m assured that it’s your wish 5603
I’ll bring neighbouring cities into the war, with rumour,5604
inflaming their minds with love of war’s madness, so that they come5605
with aid from every side: I’ll sow the fields with weapons.’5606
Then Juno answered: ‘That’s more than enough terror and treachery:5607
the reasons for war are there: armed, they fight hand to hand,5608
and the weapons that chance first offered are stained with fresh blood.5609
Such be the marriage, such be the wedding-rites that this 5610
illustrious son of Venus, and King Latinus himself, celebrate.5611
The Father, the ruler of high Olympus, does not wish you5612
to wander too freely in the ethereal heavens.5613
Leave this place. Whatever chance for trouble remains5614
I will handle.’ So spoke Saturn’s daughter:5615
Now, the Fury raised her wings, hissing with serpents,5616
and sought her home in Cocytus, leaving the heights above.5617
There’s a place in Italy, at the foot of high mountains,5618
famous, and mentioned by tradition, in many lands,5619
the valley of Amsanctus: woods thick with leaves hem it in,5620
darkly, on both sides, and in the centre a roaring torrent5621
makes the rocks echo, and coils in whirlpools.5622
There a fearful cavern, a breathing-hole for cruel Dis,5623
is shown, and a vast abyss, out of which Acheron bursts,5624
holds open its baleful jaws, into which the Fury, 5625
that hated goddess, plunged, freeing earth and sky.5626
BkVII:572-600 Latinus Abdicates5627
Meanwhile Saturn’s royal daughter was no less active, 5628
setting a final touch to the war. The whole band of herdsmen5629
rushed into the city from the battle, bringing back the dead,5630
the boy Almo, and Galaesus, with a mangled face,5631
and invoking the gods, and entreating Latinus.5632
Turnus was there, and ,at the heart of the outcry,5633
he redoubled their terror of fire and slaughter:5634
‘Trojans are called upon to reign: Phrygian stock5635
mixes with ours: I am thrust from the door.’5636
Then those whose women, inspired by Bacchus, pranced about5637
in the pathless woods, in the god’s dance (for Amata’s name is not trivial),5638
drawing together from every side, gathered to make their appeal to Mars.5639
Immediately, with perverse wills, all clamoured for war’s 5640
atrocities, despite the omens, despite the god’s decrees,.5641
They vied together in surrounding King Latinus’s palace:5642
like an immoveable rock in the ocean, he stood firm,5643
like a rock in the ocean, when a huge breaker falls, 5644
holding solid amongst a multitude of howling waves,5645
while round about the cliffs and foaming reefs roar, in vain,5646
and seaweed, hurled against its sides, is washed back again.5647
As no power was really granted him to conquer5648
their blind will, and events moved to cruel Juno’s orders, 5649
with many appeals to the gods and the helpless winds,5650
the old man cried: ‘Alas, we are broken by fate, and swept away5651
by the storm! Oh, wretched people, you’ll pay the price yourselves5652
for this, with sacrilegious blood. You, Turnus, your crime and its punishment await you, and too late you’ll entreat the gods with prayers.5653
My share is rest, yet at the entrance to the harbour5654
I’m robbed of all contentment in dying.’ Speaking no more5655
he shut himself in the palace, and let fall the reins of power.5656
BkVII:601-640 Latium Prepares for War5657
There was a custom in Hesperian Latium, which 5658
the Alban cities always held sacred, as great Rome 5659
does now, when they first rouse Mars to battle, 5660
whether they prepare to take sad war in their hands 5661
to the Getae, the Hyrcanians, or the Arabs, or to head East5662
pursuing the Dawn, to reclaim their standards from Parthia:5663
there are twin gates of War (so they are named),5664
sanctified by religion, and by dread of fierce Mars:5665
a hundred bars of bronze, and iron’s eternal strength,5666
lock them, and Janus the guardian never leaves the threshold.5667
When the final decision of the city fathers is for battle, 5668
the Consul himself, dressed in the Quirine toga, folded5669
in the Gabine manner, unbars these groaning doors, himself,5670
and himself invokes the battle: then the rest of the men 5671
do so too, and bronze horns breathe their hoarse assent.5672
Latinus was also commanded to declare war in this way 5673
on Aeneas’s people, and unbolt the sad gates, 5674
but the old man held back his hand, and shrank 5675
from the vile duty, hiding himself in dark shadows. 5676
Then the Queen of the gods, gliding from the sky,5677
set the reluctant doors in motion, with her own hand:5678
Saturn’s daughter forced open the iron gates of War5679
on their hinges. Italy, once peaceful and immoveable, was alight.5680
Some prepared to cross the plains on foot, others stirred 5681
the deep dust on noble horses: all demanded weapons.5682
Others polished smooth shields, and bright javelins,5683
with thick grease, and sharpened axes on grindstones:5684
they delighted in carrying standards and hearing the trumpet call.5685
So five great cities set up anvils and forged 5686
new weapons: powerful Atina, proud Tibur, 5687
Ardea, Crustumeri, and towered Antemnae.5688
They beat out helmets to protect their heads, and wove5689
wickerwork frames for shields: others hammered5690
breastplates of bronze, and shiny greaves of malleable silver:5691
to this they yielded pride in the share’s blade and the sickle, all their 5692
passion for the plough: they recast their