One more immortal name thy death bequeathed,Nurse of Aeneas, to Italian shores,Caieta; there thy honor hath a home;Thy bones a name: and on Hesperia's breastTheir proper glory.
Tu quoque litoribus nostris, Aeneia nutrix,aeternam moriens famam, Caieta, dedisti;et nunc servat honos sedem tuus ossaque nomenHesperia in magna, siqua est ea gloria, signat.
When Aeneas nowThe tribute of sepulchral vows had paidBeside the funeral mound, and o'er the seasStillness had fallen, he flung forth his sails,And leaving port pursued his destined way.Freshly the night-winds breathe; the cloudless moonOutpours upon his path unstinted beam,And with far-trembling glory smites the sea.Close to the lands of Circe soon they fare,Where the Sun's golden daughter in far grovesSounds forth her ceaseless song; her lofty hallIs fragrant every night with flaring brandsOf cedar, giving light the while she weavesWith shrill-voiced shuttle at her linens fine.From hence are heard the loud lament and wrathOf lions, rebels to their linked chainsAnd roaring all night long; great bristly boarsAnd herded bears, in pinfold closely kept,Rage horribly, and monster-wolves make moan;Whom the dread goddess with foul juices strongFrom forms of men drove forth, and bade to wearthe mouths and maws of beasts in Circe's thrall.But lest the sacred Trojans should enduresuch prodigy of doom, or anchor thereon that destroying shore, kind Neptune filledtheir sails with winds of power, and sped them onin safety past the perils of that sea.
At pius exsequiis Aeneas rite solutis,aggere composito tumuli, postquam alta quieruntaequora, tendit iter velis portumque relinquit.Adspirant aurae in noctem nec candida cursusLuna negat, splendet tremulo sub lumine pontus.Proxima Circaeae raduntur litora terrae,dives inaccessos ubi Solis filia lucosadsiduo resonat cantu tectisque superbisurit odoratam nocturna in lumina cedrum,arguto tenuis percurrens pectine telas.Hinc exaudiri gemitus iraeque leonumvincla recusantum et sera sub nocte rudentum,saetigerique sues atque in praesaepibus ursisaevire ac formae magnorum ululare luporum,quos hominum ex facie dea saeva potentibus herbisinduerat Circe in voltus ac terga ferarum.Quae ne monstra pii paterentur talia Troesdelati in portus neu litora dira subirent,Neptunus ventis implevit vela secundisatque fugam dedit et praeter vada fervida vexit.
Now morning flushed the wave, and saffron-garbedAurora from her rose-red chariot beamedin highest heaven; the sea-winds ceased to stir;a sudden calm possessed the air, and tidesof marble smoothness met the laboring oar.Then, gazing from the deep, Aeneas sawa stretch of groves, whence Tiber's smiling stream,its tumbling current rich with yellow sands,burst seaward forth: around it and aboveshore-haunting birds of varied voice and plumeflattered the sky with song, and, circling faro'er river-bed and grove, took joyful wing.Thither to landward now his ships he steered,and sailed, high-hearted, up the shadowy stream.
Iamque rubescebat radiis mare et aethere ab altoAurora in roseis fulgebat lutea bigis:cum venti posuere omnisque repente reseditflatus et in lento luctantur marmore tonsae.Atque hic Aeneas ingentem ex aequore lucumprospicit. Hunc inter fluvio Tiberinus amoenoverticibus rapidis et multa flavus arenain mare prorumpit. Variae circumque supraqueadsuetae ripis volucres et fluminis alveoaethera mulcebant cantu lucoque volabant.flectere iter sociis terraeque advertere prorasimperat et laetus fluvio succedit opaco.
Hail, Erato! while olden kings and thronesand all their sequent story I unfold!How Latium's honor stood, when alien shipsbrought war to Italy, and from what causethe primal conflict sprang, O goddess, breatheupon thy bard in song. Dread wars I tell,array of battle, and high-hearted kingsthrust forth to perish, when Etruria's hostand all Hesperia gathered to the fray.Events of grander march impel my song,and loftier task I try. Latinus, thenan aged king, held long-accepted swayo'er tranquil vales and towns. He was the sonof Faunus, so the legend tells, who wedthe nymph Marica of Laurentian stem.Picus was Faunus' father, whence the lineto Saturn's Ioins ascends. O heavenly sire,from thee the stem began! But Fate had givento King Latinus' body no heirs male:for taken in the dawning of his dayhis only son had been; and now his homeand spacious palace one sole daughter kept,who was grown ripe to wed and of full ageto take a husband. Many suitors triedfrom all Ausonia and Latium's bounds;but comeliest in all their princely throngcame Turnus, of a line of mighty sires.Him the queen mother chiefly loved, and yearnedto call him soon her son. But omens direand menaces from Heaven withstood her will.A laurel-tree grew in the royal close,of sacred leaf and venerated age,which, when he builded there his wall and tower,Father Latinus found, and hallowed itto Phoebus' grace and power, wherefrom the nameLaurentian, which his realm and people bear.Unto this tree-top, wonderful to tell,came hosts of bees, with audible acclaimvoyaging the stream of air, and seized a placeon the proud, pointing crest, where the swift swarm,with interlacement of close-clinging feet,swung from the leafy bough. “Behold, there comes,”the prophet cried, “a husband from afar!To the same region by the self-same pathbehold an arm'd host taking lordly swayupon our city's crown!” Soon after this,when, coming to the shrine with torches pure,Lavinia kindled at her father's sidethe sacrifice, swift seemed the flame to burnalong her flowing hair—O sight of woe!Over her broidered snood it sparkling flew,lighting her queenly tresses and her crownof jewels rare: then, wrapt in flaming cloud,from hall to hall the fire-god's gift she flung.This omen dread and wonder terriblewas rumored far: for prophet-voices toldbright honors on the virgin's head to fallby Fate's decree, but on her people, war.
Nunc age, qui reges, Erato, quae tempora rerum,quis Latio antiquo fuerit status, advena classemcum primum Ausoniis exercitus appulit oris,expediam et primae revocabo exordia pugnae.tu vatem, tu, diva, mone. Dicam horrida bella,dicam acies actosque animis in funera regesTyrrhenamque manum totamque sub arma coactamHesperiam. Maior rerum mihi nascitur ordo,maius opus moveo.Rex arva Latinus et urbesiam senior longa placidas in pace regebat.Hunc Fauno et nympha genitum Laurente Maricaaccipimus, Fauno Picus pater isque parentemte, Saturne, refert, tu sanguinis ultimus auctor.filius huic fato divom prolesque virilisnulla fuit primaque oriens erepta iuventa est.Sola domum et tantas servabat filia sedes,iam matura viro, iam plenis nubilis annis.Multi illam magno e Latio totaque petebantAusonia. Petit ante alios pulcherrimus omnisTurnus, avis atavisque potens, quem regia coniunxadiungi generum miro properabat amore;sed variis portenta deum terroribus obstant.Laurus erat tecti medio in penetralibus altis,sacra comam multosque metu servata per annos,quam pater inventam, primas cum conderet arces,ipse ferebatur Phoebo sacrasse LatinusLaurentisque ab ea nomen posuisse colonis.Huius apes summum densae (mirabile dictu),stridore ingenti liquidum trans aethera vectae,obsedere apicem, ex pedibus per mutua nexisexamen subitum ramo frondente pependit.Continuo vates: “Externum cernimus,” inquit,“adventare virum et partis petere agmen easdem”“partibus ex isdem et summa dominarier arce.”Praeterea, castis adolet dum altaria taediset iuxta genitorem adstat Lavinia virgo,visa (nefas) longis comprendere crinibus ignem,[atque omnem ornatum flamma crepitante cremari]regalisque accensa comas, accensa coronaminsignem gemmis, tum fumida lumine fulvoinvolvi ac totis Volcanum spargere tectis.Id vero horrendum ac visu mirabile ferri:namque fore inlustrem fama fatisque canebantipsam, sed populo magnum portendere bellum.
The King, sore troubled by these portents, soughtoracular wisdom of his sacred sire,Faunus, the fate-revealer, where the grovesstretch under high Albunea, and her streamroars from its haunted well, exhaling throughvast, gloomful woods its pestilential air.Here all Oenotria's tribes ask oraclesin dark and doubtful days: here, when the priesthas brought his gifts, and in the night so still,couched on spread fleeces of the offered flock,awaiting slumber lies, then wondrouslya host of flitting shapes he sees, and hearsvoices that come and go: with gods he holdshigh converse, or in deep Avernian gloomparleys with Acheron. Thither drew nearFather Latinus, seeking truth divine.Obedient to the olden rite, he slewa hundred fleecy sheep, and pillowed layupon their outstretched skins. Straightway a voiceout of the lofty forest met his prayer.“Seek not in wedlock with a Latin lordto join thy daughter, O my son and seed!Beware this purposed marriage! There shall comesons from afar, whose blood shall bear our namestarward; the children of their mighty loins,as far as eve and morn enfold the seas,shall see a subject world beneath their feetsubmissive lie.” This admonition givenLatinus hid not. But on restless wingrumor had spread it, when the men of Troyalong the river-bank of mounded greentheir fleet made fast.
At rex sollicitus monstris oracula Fauni,fatidici genitoris, adit lucosque sub altaconsulit Albunea, nemorum quae maxima sacrofonte sonat saevamque exhalat opaca mephitim.Hinc Italae gentes omnisque Oenotria tellusin dubiis responsa petunt; huc dona sacerdoscum tulit et caesarum ovium sub nocte silentipellibus incubuit stratis somnosque petivit,multa modis simulacra videt volitantia miriset varias audit voces fruiturque deorumconloquio atque imis Acheronta adfatur Avernis.Hic et tum pater ipse petens responsa Latinuscentum lanigeras mactabat rite bidentisatque harum effultus tergo stratisque iacebatvelleribus: subita ex alto vox reddita luco est:“Ne pete conubiis natam sociare Latinis,”“O mea progenies, thalamis neu crede paratis:”“externi venient generi, qui sanguine nostrum”“nomen in astra ferant quorumque a stirpe nepotes”“omnia sub pedibus, qua Sol utrumque recurrens”“aspicit Oceanum, vertique regique videbunt.”Haec responsa patris Fauni monitusque silentinocte datos non ipse suo premit ore Latinus,sed circum late volitans iam Fama per urbesAusonias tulerat, cum Laomedontia pubesgramineo ripae religavit ab aggere classem.
Aeneas and his chiefs,with fair Iulus, under spreading boughsof one great tree made resting-place, and setthe banquet on. Thin loaves of altar-breadalong the sward to bear their meats were laid(such was the will of Jove), and wilding fruitsrose heaping high, with Ceres' gift below.Soon, all things else devoured, their hunger turnedto taste the scanty bread, which they attackedwith tooth and nail audacious, and consumedboth round and square of that predestined leaven.“Look, how we eat our tables even!” criedIulus, in a jest. Such was the wordwhich bade their burdens fall. From his boy's lipthe father caught this utterance of Fate,silent with wonder at the ways of Heaven;then swift he spoke: “Hail! O my destined shore,protecting deities of Ilium, hail!Here is our home, our country here! This dayI publish the mysterious prophecyby Sire Anchises given: ‘My son,’ said he,‘When hunger in strange lands shall bid devourthe tables of thy banquet gone, then hopefor home, though weary, and take thought to builda dwelling and a battlement.’ Behold!This was our fated hunger! This last proofwill end our evil days. Up, then! For nowby morning's joyful beam we will explorewhat men, what cities, in this region be,and, leaving ship, our several errands ply.Your gift to Jove outpour! Make thankful prayerunto Anchises' shade! To this our feastbring back the flowing wine!”
Aeneas primique duces et pulcher Iuluscorpora sub ramis deponunt arboris altaeinstituuntque dapes et adorea liba per herbamsubiciunt epulis (sic Iuppiter ipse monebat)et Cereale solum pomis agrestibus augent.Consumptis hic forte aliis ut vertere morsusexiguam in Cererem penuria adegit edendiet violare manu malisque audacibus orbemfatalis crusti patulis nec parcere quadris:“Heus! etiam mensas consumimus,” inquit Iulus,nec plura adludens. Ea vox audita laborumprima tulit finem, primamque loquentis ab oreeripuit pater ac stupefactus numine pressit.Continuo: “Salve fatis mihi debita tellus”“vosque,” ait, “O fidi Troiae salvete penates:”“hic domus, haec patria est. Genitor mihi talia namque”“(nunc repeto) Anchises fatorum arcana reliquit:”“cum te, nate, fames ignota ad litora vectum”“accisis coget dapibus consumere mensas,”“tum sperare domos defessus ibique memento”“prima locare manu molirique aggere tecta.”“Haec erat illa fames; haec nos suprema manebat,”“exiliis positura modum.”“Quare agite et primo laeti cum lumine solis”“quae loca, quive habeant homines, ubi moenia gentis,”“vestigemus et a portu diversa petamus.”“Nunc pateras libate Iovi precibusque vocate”“Anchisen genitorem, et vina reponite mensis.”
Thereat he boundhis forehead with green garland, calling loudupon the Genius of that place, and Earth,eldest of names divine; the Nymphs he called,and river-gods unknown; his voice invokedthe night, the omen-stars through night that roll.Jove, Ida's child, and Phrygia's fertile Queen:he called his mother from Olympian skies,and sire from Erebus. Lo, o'er his headthree times unclouded Jove omnipotentin thunder spoke, and, with effulgent rayfrom his ethereal tract outreaching far,shook visibly the golden-gleaming air.Swift, through the concourse of the Trojans, spreadnews of the day at hand when they should buildtheir destined walls. So, with rejoicing heartat such vast omen, they set forth a feastwith zealous emulation, ranging wellthe wine-cups fair with many a garland crowned.
Sic deinde effatus frondenti tempora ramoimplicat et geniumque loci primamque deorumTellurem nymphasque et adhuc ignota precaturflumina, tum Noctem Noctisque orientia signaIdaeumque Iovem Phrygiamque ex ordine matreminvocat et duplicis caeloque ereboque parentis.Hic pater omnipotens ter caelo clarus ab altointonuit radiisque ardentem lucis et auroipse manu quatiens ostendit ab aethere nubem.Diditur hic subito Troiana per agmina rumoradvenisse diem, quo debita moenia condant.Certatim instaurant epulas atque omine magnocrateras laeti statuunt et vina coronant.
Soon as the morrow with the lamp of dawnlooked o'er the world, they took their separate ways,exploring shore and towns; here spread the poolsand fountain of Numicius; here they seethe river Tiber, where bold Latins dwell.Anchises' son chose out from his brave banda hundred envoys, bidding them departto the King's sacred city, each enwreathedwith Pallas' silver leaf; and gifts they bearto plead for peace and friendship at his throne.While on this errand their swift steps are sped,Aeneas, by a shallow moat and small,his future city shows, breaks ground, and girdswith mound and breastwork like a camp of warthe Trojans' first abode. Soon, making wayto where the Latin citadel uprose,the envoys scanned the battlements, and pausedbeneath its wall. Outside the city gatesfair youths and striplings in life's early bloomcourse with swift steeds, or steer through dusty cloudthe whirling chariot, or stretch stout bows,or hurl the seasoned javelin, or strivein boxing-bout and foot-race: one of thesemade haste on horseback to the aged King,with tidings of a stranger companyin foreign garb approaching. The good Kingbade call them to his house, and took his seatin mid-court on his high, ancestral throne.
Postera cum prima lustrabat lampade terrasorta dies, urbem et finis et litora gentisdiversi explorant: haec fontis stagna Numici,hunc Thybrim fluvium, hic fortis habitare Latinos.Tum satus Anchisa delectos ordine ab omnicentum oratores augusta ad moenia regisire iubet, ramis velatos Palladis omnis,donaque ferre viro pacemque exposcere Teucris.Haud mora, festinant iussi rapidisque ferunturpassibus. Ipse humili designat moenia fossamoliturque locum primasque in litore sedescastrorum in morem pinnis atque aggere cingit.Iamque iter emensi turris ac tecta Latinorumardua cernebant iuvenes muroque subibant.Ante urbem pueri et primaevo flore iuventusexercentur equis domitantque in pulvere currusaut acris tendunt arcus aut lenta lacertisspicula contorquent cursuque ictuque lacessunt:cum praevectus equo longaevi regis ad aurisnuntius ingentis ignota in veste reportatadvenisse viros. Ille intra tecta vocariimperat et solio medius consedit avito.
Large and majestical the castle rose:a hundred columns lifted it in airupon the city's crown—the royal keepof Picus of Laurentum; round it laydeep, gloomy woods by olden worship blest.Here kings took sceptre and the fasces proudwith omens fair; the selfsame sacred placewas senate-house and temple; here was founda hall for hallowed feasting, where a ramwas offered up, and at long banquet-boardsthe nation's fathers sat in due array.Here ranged ancestral statues roughly hewnof ancient cedar-wood: King Italus;Father Sabinus, planter of the vine,a curving sickle in his sculptured hand;gray-bearded Saturn; and the double browof Janus' head; and other sires and kingswere wardens of the door, with many a chiefwounded in battle for his native land.Trophies of arms in goodly order hungalong the columns: chariots of warfrom foeman taken, axes of round blade,plumed helmets, bolts and barriers of steelfrom city-gates, shields, spears, and beaks of bronzefrom captured galleys by the conqueror torn.Here, wielding his Quirinal augur-staff,girt in scant shift, and bearing on his leftthe sacred oval shield, appeared enthronedPicus, breaker of horses, whom his bride,enamoured Circe, smote with golden wand,and, raining o'er him potent poison-dew,changed to a bird of pied and dappled wings.
Tectum augustum ingens. centum sublime columnis,urbe fuit summa, Laurentis regia Pici,horrendum silvis et religione parentum.Hic sceptra accipere et primos attollere fascesregibus omen erat, hoc illis curia templum,hae sacris sedes epulis, hic ariete caesoperpetuis soliti patres considere mensis.Quin etiam veterum effigies ex ordine avorumantiqua e cedro, Italusque paterque Sabinusvitisator, curvam servans sub imagine falcem,Saturnusque senex Ianique bifrontis imagovestibulo astabant, aliique ab origine regesMartiaque ob patriam pugnando volnera passi.Multaque praeterea sacris in postibus arma,captivi pendent currus curvaeque secureset cristae capitum et portarum ingentia claustraspiculaque clipeique ereptaque rostra carinis.Ipse Quirinali lituo parvaque sedebatsuccinctus trabea laevaque ancile gerebatPicus, equum domitor; quem capta cupidine coniunxaurea percussum virga versumque venenisfecit avem Circe sparsitque coloribus alas.
In such a temple of his gods did SireLatinus, on hereditary throne,welcome the Trojans to his halls, and thuswith brow serene gave greeting as they came:“O sons of Dardanus, think not unknownyour lineage and city! Rumored faryour venturous voyage has been. What seek ye here?What cause, what quest, has brought your barks and youo'er the blue waters to Ausonia's hills?What way uncharted, or wild stress of storm,or what that sailors suffer in mid-sea,unto this river bank and haven bore?Doubt not our welcome! We of Latin landare Saturn's sons, whose equitable minds,not chained by statute or compulsion, keepin freedom what the god's good custom gave.Now I bethink me our Ausonian seershave dark, dim lore that 't was this land gave birthto Dardanus, who after took his waythrough Phrygian Ida's towns and Samothrace.Once out of Tuscan Corythus he fared;but now in golden house among the starshe has a throne, and by his altars blestadds to the number of the gods we praise.”
Tali intus templo divom patriaque Latinussede sedens Teucros ad sese in tecta vocavit,atque haec ingressis placido prior edidit ore:“Dicite, Dardanidae (neque enim nescimus et urbem”“et genus, auditique advertitis aequore cursum),”“quid petitis? Quae causa rates aut cuius egentis”“litus ad Ausonium tot per vada caerula vexit?”“Sive errore viae seu tempestatibus acti,”“qualia multa mari nautae patiuntur in alto,”“fluminis intrastis ripas portuque sedetis,”“ne fugite hospitium neve ignorate Latinos”“Saturni gentem, haud vinclo nec legibus aequam,”“sponte sua veterisque dei se more tenentem.”“Atque equidem memini (fama est obscurior annis)”“Auruncos ita ferre senes, his ortus ut agris”“Dardanus Idaeas Phrygiae penetravit ad urbes”“Threiciamque Samum, quae nunc Samothracia fertur.”“Hinc illum, Corythi Tyrrhena ab sede profectum,”“aurea nunc solio stellantis regia caeli”“accipit et numerum divorum altaribus auget.”
He spoke; Ilioneus this answer made:“O King, great heir of Faunus! No dark stormimpelled us o'er the flood thy realm to find.Nor star deceived, nor strange, bewildering shorethrew out of our true course; but we are comeby our free choice and with deliberate aimto this thy town, though exiled forth of realmsonce mightiest of all the sun-god seeswhen moving from his utmost eastern bound.From Jove our line began; the sons of Troyboast Jove to be their sire, and our true Kingis of Olympian seed. To thine abodeTrojan Aeneas sent us. How there bursto'er Ida's vales from dread Mycenae's kingsa tempest vast, and by what stroke of doomall Asia's world with Europe clashed in war,that lone wight hears whom earth's remotest islehas banished to the Ocean's rim, or hewhose dwelling is the ample zone that burnsbetwixt the changeful sun-god's milder realms,far severed from the world. We are the menfrom war's destroying deluge safely borneover the waters wide. We only asksome low-roofed dwelling for our fathers' gods,some friendly shore, and, what to all is free,water and air. We bring no evil nameupon thy people; thy renown will bebut wider spread; nor of a deed so faircan grateful memory die. Ye ne'er will ruethat to Ausonia's breast ye gathered Troy.I swear thee by the favored destiniesof great Aeneas, by his strength of armin friendship or in war, that many a tribe(O, scorn us not, that, bearing olive green,with suppliant words we come), that many a thronehas sued us to be friends. But Fate's decreeto this thy realm did guide. Here Dardanuswas born; and with reiterate commandthis way Apollo pointed to the streamof Tiber and Numicius' haunted spring.Lo, these poor tributes from his greatness goneAeneas sends, these relics snatched awayfrom Ilium burning: with this golden bowlAnchises poured libation when he prayed;and these were Priam's splendor, when he gavelaws to his gathered states; this sceptre his,this diadem revered, and beauteous pall,handwork of Asia's queens.”
Dixerat, et dicta Ilioneus sic voce secutus:“Rex, genus egregium Fauni, nec fluctibus actos,”“atra subegit hiemps vestris succedere terris”“nec sidus regione viae litusve fefellit:”“consilio hanc omnes animisque volentibus urbem,”“adferimur, pulsi regnis, quae maxima quondam”“extremo veniens Sol aspiciebat Olympo.”“Ab Iove principium generis, Iove Dardana pubes”“gaudet avo, rex ipse Iovis de gente suprema,”“Troius Aeneas, tua nos ad limina misit.”“Quanta per Idaeos saevis effusa Mycenis”“tempestas ierit campos, quibus actus uterque”“Europae atque Asiae fatis concurrerit orbis,”“audiit et siquem tellus extrema refuso”“summovet oceano et siquem extenta plagarum”“quattuor in medio dirimit plaga solis iniqui.”“Diluvio ex illo tot vasta per aequora vecti”“dis sedem exiguam patriis litusque rogamus”“innocuum et cunctis undamque auramque patentem.”“Non erimus regno indecores, nec vestra feretur”“fama levis tantique abolescet gratia facti,”“nec Troiam Ausonios gremio excepisse pigebit.”“Fata per Aeneae iuro dextramque potentem”“sive fide seu quis bello est expertus et armis:”“multi nos populi, multae (ne temne, quod ultro”“praeferimus manibus vittas ac verba precantia)”“et petiere sibi et voluere adiungere gentes;”“sed nos fata deum vestras exquirere terras”“imperiis egere suis. Hinc Dardanus ortus;”“huc repetit iussisque ingentibus urguet Apollo”“Tyrrhenum ad Thybrim et fontis vada sacra Numici.”“Dat tibi praeterea fortunae parva prioris”“munera, reliquias Troia ex ardente receptas.”“Hoc pater Anchises auro libabat ad aras;”“hoc Priami gestamen erat, cum iura vocatis”“more daret populis, sceptrumque sacerque tiaras”“Iliadumque labor vestes.”
So ceased to speakIlioneus. But King Latinus gazedunanswering on the ground, all motionlesssave for his musing eyes. The broidered pallof purple, and the sceptre Priam bore,moved little on his kingly heart, which nowpondered of giving to the bridal bedhis daughter dear. He argues in his mindthe oracle of Faunus:—might this bethat destined bridegroom from an alien land,to share his throne, to get a progenyof glorious valor, which by mighty deedsshould win the world for kingdom? So at lastwith joyful brow he spoke: “Now let the godsour purpose and their own fair promise bless!Thou hast, O Trojan, thy desire. Thy giftsI have not scorned; nor while Latinus reignsshall ye lack riches in my plenteous land,not less than Trojan store. But where is he,Aeneas' self? If he our royal loveso much desire, and have such urgent mindto be our guest and friend, let him draw near,nor turn him from well-wishing looks away!My offering and pledge of peace shall beto clasp your monarch's hand. Bear back, I pray,this answer to your King: my dwelling holdsa daughter, whom with husband of her bloodgreat signs in heaven and from my father's tombforbid to wed. A son from alien shoresthey prophesy for Latium's heir, whose seedshall lift our glory to the stars divine.I am persuaded this is none but he,that man of destiny; and if my heartbe no false prophet, I desire it so.”Thus having said, the sire took chosen steedsfrom his full herd, whereof, well-groomed and fair,three hundred stood within his ample pale.Of these to every Teucrian guest he gavea courser swift and strong, in purple cladand broidered housings gay; on every breasthung chains of gold; in golden robes arrayed,they champed the red gold curb their teeth between.For offering to Aeneas, he bade senda chariot, with chargers twain of seedethereal, their nostrils breathing fire:the famous kind which guileful Circe bred,cheating her sire, and mixed the sun-god's teamwith brood-mares earthly born. The sons of Troy,such gifts and greetings from Latinus bearing,rode back in pomp his words of peace to bring.
Talibus Ilionei dictis defixa Latinusobtutu tenet ora soloque immobilis haeretintentos volvens oculos. Nec purpura regempicta movet nec sceptra movent Priameia tantum,quantum in conubio natae thalamoque moratur,et veteris Fauni voluit sub pectore sortem,hunc illum fatis externa ab sede profectumportendi generum paribusque in regna vocariauspiciis, huic progeniem virtute futuramegregiam et totum quae viribus occupet orbem.tandem laetus ait: “Di nostra incepta secundent”“auguriumque suum; dabitur, Troiane, quod optas,”“munera nec sperno. Non vobis rege Latino”“divitis uber agri Troiaeve opulentia deerit.”“Ipse modo Aeneas, nostri si tanta cupido est,”“si iungi hospitio properat sociusque vocari,”“adveniat voltus neve exhorrescat amicos:”“illi pacis erit dextram tetigisse tyranni.”“vos contra regi mea nunc mandata referte.”“Est mihi nata, viro gentis quam iungere nostrae”“non patrio ex adyto sortes, non plurima caelo”“monstra sinunt: generos externis adfore ab oris,”“hoc Latio restare canunt, qui sanguine nostrum”“nomen in astra ferant. Hunc illum poscere fata”“et reor et, siquid veri mens augurat, opto.”haec effatus equos numero pater eligit omni(stabant ter centum nitidi in praesaepibus altis):omnibus extemplo Teucris iubet ordine duciinstratos ostro alipedes pictisque tapetis;aurea pectoribus demissa monilia pendent,tecti auro fulvum mandunt sub dentibus aurum;absenti Aeneae currum geminosque iugalissemine ab aetherio, spirantis naribus ignem,illorum de gente, patri quos daedala Circesupposita de matre nothos furata creavit.Talibus Aeneadae donis dictisque Latinisublimes in equis redeunt pacemque reportant.
But lo! from Argos on her voyage of airrides the dread spouse of Jove. She, sky-enthronedabove the far Sicilian promontory,pachynus, sees Dardania's rescued fleet,and all Aeneas' joy. The prospect showshouses a-building, lands of safe abode,and the abandoned ships. With bitter griefshe stands at gaze: then with storm-shaken brows,thus from her heart lets loose the wrathful word:“O hated race! O Phrygian destinies —to mine forevermore (unhappy me!)a scandal and offense! Did no one dieon Troy's embattled plain? Could captured slavesnot be enslaved again? Was Ilium's flameno warrior's funeral pyre? Did they walk safethrough serried swords and congregated fires?At last, methought, my godhead might repose,and my full-fed revenge in slumber lie.But nay! Though flung forth from their native land,I o'er the waves, with enmity unstayed,dared give them chase, and on that exiled fewhurled the whole sea. I smote the sons of Troywith ocean's power and heaven's. But what availedSyrtes, or Scylla, or Charybdis' waves?The Trojans are in Tiber; and abidewithin their prayed-for land delectable,safe from the seas and me! Mars once had powerthe monstrous Lapithae to slay; and Joveto Dian's honor and revenge gave o'erthe land of Calydon. What crime so foulwas wrought by Lapithae or Calydon?But I, Jove's wife and Queen, who in my woeshave ventured each bold stroke my power could find,and every shift essayed,—behold me nowoutdone by this Aeneas! If so weakmy own prerogative of godhead be,let me seek strength in war, come whence it will!If Heaven I may not move, on Hell I call.To bar him from his Latin throne exceedsmy fated power. So be it! Fate has givenLavinia for his bride. But long delaysI still can plot, and to the high eventdeferment and obstruction. I can smitethe subjects of both kings. Let sire and sonbuy with their people's blood this marriage-bond!Let Teucrian and Rutulian slaughter bethy virgin dower, and Bellona's blazelight thee the bridal bed! Not only teemedthe womb of Hecuba with burning brand,and brought forth nuptial fires; but Venus, too,such offspring bore, a second Paris, whoto their new Troy shall fatal wedlock bring.”
Ecce autem Inachiis sese referebat ab Argissaeva Iovis coniunx aurasque invecta tenebat,et laetum Aenean classemque ex aethere longeDardaniam Siculo prospexit ab usque Pachyno.moliri iam tecta videt, iam fidere terrae,deseruisse rates: stetit acri fixa dolore.Tum quassans caput haec effundit pectore dicta:“Heu stirpem invisam et fatis contraria nostris”“fata Phrygum! Num Sigeis occumbere campis,”“num capti potuere capi, num incensa cremavit”“Troia viros? Medias acies mediosque per ignis”“invenere viam. At, credo, mea numina tandem”“fessa iacent odiis aut exsaturata quievi.”“Quin etiam patria excussos infesta per undas”“ausa sequi et profugis toto me opponere ponto!”“Absumptae in Teucros vires caelique marisque.”“Quid Syrtes aut Scylla mihi, quid vasta Charybdis”“profuit? Optato conduntur Thybridis alveo,”“securi pelagi atque mei. Mars perdere gentem”“immanem Lapithum valuit, concessit in iras”“ipse deum antiquam genitor Calydona Dianae,”“quod scelus aut Lapithis tantum aut Calydona merentem?”“Ast ego magna Iovis coniunx, nil linquere inausum”“quae potui infelix, quae memet in omnia verti,”“vincor ab Aenea. Quod si mea numina non sunt”“magna satis, dubitem haud equidem implorare quod usquam est:”“flectere si nequeo superos, Acheronta movebo.”“Non dabitur regnis, esto, prohibere Latinis,”“atque immota manet fatis Lavinia coniunx:”“at trahere atque moras tantis licet addere rebus,”“at licet amborum populos exscindere regum.”“Hac gener atque socer coeant mercede suorum:”“sanguine Troiano et Rutulo dotabere, virgo,”“et Bellona manet te pronuba. Nec face tantum”“Cisseis praegnans ignis enixa iugalis”“quin idem Veneri partus suus et Paris alter”“funestaeque iterum recidiva in Pergama taedae.”
So saying, with aspect terrible she spedearthward her way; and called from gloom of hellAlecto, woeful power, from cloudy throneamong the Furies, where her heart is fedwith horrid wars, wrath, vengeance, treason foul,and fatal feuds. Her father Pluto loathesthe creature he engendered, and with hateher hell-born sister-fiends the monster view.A host of shapes she wears, and many a frontof frowning black brows viper-garlanded.Juno to her this goading speech addressed:“O daughter of dark Night, arouse for methy wonted powers and our task begin!Lest now my glory fail, my royal namebe vanquished, while Aeneas and his crewcheat with a wedlock bond the Latin Kingand seize Italia's fields. Thou canst thrust ontwo Ioving brothers to draw sword and slay,and ruin homes with hatred, calling inthe scourge of Furies and avenging fires.A thousand names thou bearest, and thy waysof ruin multiply a thousand-fold.Arouse thy fertile breast! Go, rend in twainthis plighted peace! Breed calumnies and sowcauses of battle, till yon warrior hostscry out for swords and leap to gird them on.”
Haec ubi dicta dedit, terras Horrenda petivit:luctificam Allecto dirarum ab sede dearuminfernisque ciet tenebris, cui tristia bellairaeque insidiaeque et crimina noxia cordi.Odit et ipse pater Pluton, odere sororesTartareae monstrum: tot sese vertit in ora,tam saevae facies, tot pullulat atra colubris.Quam Iuno his acuit verbis ac talia fatur:“Hunc mihi da proprium, virgo sata Nocte, laborem,”“hanc operam, ne noster honos infractave cedat”“fama loco, neu conubiis ambire Latinum”“Aeneadae possint Italosve obsidere finis.”“Tu potes unanimos armare in proelia fratres”“atque odiis versare domos, tu verbera tectis”“funereasque inferre faces, tibi nomina mille,”“mille nocendi artes. Fecundum concute pectus,”“disice compositam pacem, sere crimina belli:”“arma velit poscatque simul rapiatque inventus.”
Straightway Alecto, through whose body flowsthe Gorgon poison, took her viewless wayto Latium and the lofty walls and towersof the Laurentian King. Crouching she satein silence on the threshold of the bowerwhere Queen Amata in her fevered soulpondered, with all a woman's wrath and fear,upon the Trojans and the marriage-suitof Turnus. From her Stygian hair the fienda single serpent flung, which stole its wayto the Queen's very heart, that, frenzy-driven,she might on her whole house confusion pour.Betwixt her smooth breast and her robe it woundunfelt, unseen, and in her wrathful mindinstilled its viper soul. Like golden chainaround her neck it twined, or stretched alongthe fillets on her brow, or with her hairenwrithing coiled; then on from limb to limbslipped tortuous. Yet though the venom strongthrilled with its first infection every vein,and touched her bones with fire, she knew it not,nor yielded all her soul, but made her pleain gentle accents such as mothers use;and many a tear she shed, about her child,her darling, destined for a Phrygian's bride:“O father! can we give Lavinia's handto Trojan fugitives? why wilt thou showno mercy on thy daughter, nor thyself;nor unto me, whom at the first fair windthat wretch will leave deserted, bearing farupon his pirate ship my stolen child?Was it not thus that Phrygian shepherd cameto Lacedaemon, ravishing awayHelen, the child of Leda, whom he boreto those false Trojan lands? Hast thou forgotthy plighted word? Where now thy boasted loveof kith and kin, and many a troth-plight givenunto our kinsman Turnus? If we needan alien son, and Father Faunus' wordsirrevocably o'er thy spirit brood,I tell thee every land not linked with oursunder one sceptre, but distinct and free,is alien; and 't is thus the gods intend.Indeed, if Turnus' ancient race be told,it sprang of Inachus, Acrisius,and out of mid-Mycenae.”
Exin Gorgoneis Allecto infecta venenisprincipio Latium et Laurentis tecta tyrannicelsa petit tacitumque obsedit limen Amatae,quam super adventu Teucrum Turnique hymenaeisfemineae ardentem curaeque iraeque coquebant.Huic dea caeruleis unum de crinibus anguemconicit inque sinum praecordia ad intuma subdit,quo furibunda domum monstro permisceat omnem.Ille inter vestes et levia pectora lapsusvolvitur attactu nullo fallitque furentem,vipeream inspirans animam: fit tortile colloaurum ingens coluber, fit longae taenia vittaeinnectitque comas, et membris lubricus errat.Ac dum prima lues udo sublapsa venenopertemptat sensus atque ossibus implicat ignemnecdum animus toto percepit pectore flammam,mollius et solito matrum de more locuta est,multa super nata lacrimans Phrygiisque hymenaeis:“Exsulibusne datur ducenda Lavinia Teucris,”“O genitor, nec te miseret gnataeque tuique?”“Nec matris miseret, quam primo aquilone relinquet”“perfidus alta petens abducta virgine praedo?”“An non sic Phrygius penetrat Lacedaemona pastor”“Ledaeamque Helenam Troianas vexit ad urbes?”“Quid tua sancta fides, quid cura antiqua tuorum”“et consanguineo totiens data dextera Turno?”“Si gener externa petitur de gente Latinis”“idque sedet Faunique premunt te iussa parentis,”“omnem equidem sceptris terram quae libera nostris”“dissidet, externam reor et sic dicere divos.”“Et Turno, si prima domus repetatur origo,”“Inachus Acrisiusque patres mediaeque Mycenae.”
But she seesher lord Latinus resolute, her wordsan effort vain; and through her body spreadsthe Fury's deeply venomed viper-sting.Then, woe-begone, by dark dreams goaded on,she wanders aimless, fevered and unstrungalong the public ways; as oft one seesbeneath the twisted whips a leaping topsped in long spirals through a palace-closeby lads at play: obedient to the thong,it weaves wide circles in the gaping viewof its small masters, who admiring seethe whirling boxwood made a living thingunder their lash. So fast and far she rovedfrom town to town among the clansmen wild.Then to the wood she ran, feigning to feelthe madness Bacchus loves; for she essaysa fiercer crime, by fiercer frenzy moved.Now in the leafy dark of mountain valesshe hides her daughter, ravished thus awayfrom Trojan bridegroom and the wedding-feast.“Hail, Bacchus! Thou alone,” she shrieked and raved,“art worthy such a maid. For thee she bearsthe thyrsus with soft ivy-clusters crowned,and trips ecstatic in thy beauteous choir.For thee alone my daughter shall unbindthe glory of her virgin hair.” Swift runsthe rumor of her deed; and, frenzy-driven,the wives of Latium to the forests fly,enkindled with one rage. They leave behindtheir desolated hearths, and let rude windso'er neck and tresses blow; their voices fillthe welkin with convulsive shriek and wail;and, with fresh fawn-skins on their bodies bound,they brandish vine-clad spears. The Queen herselflifts high a blazing pine tree, while she singsa wedding-song for Turnus and her child.With bloodshot glance and anger wild, she cries:“Ho! all ye Latin wives, if e'er ye knewkindness for poor Amata, if ye carefor a wronged mother's woes, O, follow me!Cast off the matron fillet from your brows,and revel to our mad, voluptuous song.”Thus, through the woodland haunt of creatures wild,Alecto urges on the raging Queenwith Bacchus' cruel goad.
His ubi nequiquam dictis experta Latinumcontra stare videt penitusque in viscera lapsumserpentis furiale malum totamque pererrat,tum vero infelix, ingentibus excita monstris,immensam sine more furit lymphata per urbem.Ceu quondam torto volitans sub verbere turbo,quem pueri magno in gyro vacua atria circumintenti ludo exercent; ille actus habenacurvatis fertur spatiis; stupet inscia suprainpubesque manus, mirata volubile buxum;dant animos plagae: non cursu segnior illoper medias urbes agitur populosque feroces.Quin etiam in silvas, simulato numine Bacchi,maius adorta nefas maioremque orsa furoremevolat et natam frondosis montibus abdit,quo thalamum eripiat Teucris taedasque moretur,Euhoe Bacche, fremens, solum te virgine dignumvociferans, etenim mollis tibi sumere thyrsos,te lustrare choro, sacrum tibi pascere crinem.Fama volat, furiisque accensas pectore matresidem omnis simul ardor agit nova quaerere tecta:deseruere domos, ventis dant colla comasque,ast aliae tremulis ululatibus aethera complent,pampineasque gerunt incinctae pellibus hastas;ipsa inter medias flagrantem fervida pinumsustinet ac natae Turnique canit hymenaeos,sanguineam torquens aciem, torvumque repenteclamat: “Io matres, audite, ubi quaeque, Latinae:”“Siqua piis animis manet infelicis Amatae”“gratia, si iuris materni cura remordet,”“solvite crinalis vittas, capite orgia mecum.”Talem inter silvas, inter deserta ferarum,reginam Allecto stimulis agit undique Bacchi.
But when she deemedthe edge of wrath well whetted, and the houseof wise Latinus of all reason reft,then soared the black-winged goddess to the wallsof the bold Rutule, to the city built(So runs the tale) by beauteous Danaeand her Acrisian people, shipwrecked thereby south wind strong. Its name was Ardeain language of our sires, and that proud nameof Ardea still it wears, though proud no more.Here Turnus in the gloom of midnight layhalf-sleeping in his regal hall. For himAlecto her grim fury-guise put by,and wore an old crone's face, her baleful browdelved deep with wrinkled age, her hoary hairin sacred fillet bound, and garlandedwith leaf of olive: Calybe she seemed,an aged servitress ot Juno's shrine,and in this seeming thus the prince addressed:—“O Turnus, wilt thou tamely see thy toillavished in vain? and thy true throne consignedto Trojan wanderers? The King repelsthy noble wooing and thy war-won dower.He summons him a son of alien stemto take his kingdom. Rouse thee now, and front,scorned and without reward, these perilous days.Tread down that Tuscan host! Protect the peaceof Latium from its foe! Such is the wordwhich, while in night and slumber thou wert laid,Saturnia's godhead, visibly revealed,bade me declare. Up, therefore, and arraythy warriors in arms! Swift sallying forthfrom thy strong city-gates, on to the frayexultant go! Assail the Phrygian chiefswho tent them by thy beauteous river's marge,and burn their painted galleys! 't is the willof gods above that speaks. Yea, even the KingLatinus, if he will not heed thy plea,or hear thy wooing, shall be taught too latewhat Turnus is in panoply of war.”
Postquam visa satis primos acuisse furoresconsiliumque omnemque domum vertisse Latini,protinus hinc fuscis tristis dea tollitur alisaudacis Rutuli ad muros, quam dicitur urbemAcrisioneis Danae fundasse colonis,praecipiti delata noto. Locus Ardea quondamdictus avis, et nunc magnum manet Ardea nomen,sed fortuna fuit; tectis hic Turnus in altisiam mediam nigra carpebat nocte quietem.Allecto torvam faciem et furialia membraexuit, in vultus sese transformat anilis;et frontem obscenam rugis arat, induit alboscum vitta crinis, tum ramum innectit olivae;fit Calybe Iunonis anus templique sacerdoset iuveni ante oculos his se cum vocibus offert:“Turne, tot incassum fusos patiere labores”“et tua Dardaniis transcribi sceptra colonis?”“Rex tibi coniugium et quaesitas sanguine dotes”“abnegat, externusque in regnum quaeritur heres.”“I nunc, ingratis offer te, inrise, periclis;”“Tyrrhenas, i, sterne acies; tege pace Latinos.”“Haec adeo tibi me, placida cum nocte iaceres,”“ipsa palam fari omnipotens Saturnia iussit.”“Quare age et armari pubem portisque moveri”“laetus in arma para, et Phrygios qui flumine pulchro”“consedere duces pictasque exure carinas.”“Caelestum vis magna iubet. Rex ipse Latinus,”“ni dare coniugium et dicto parere fatetur,”“sentiat et tandem Turnum experiatur in armis.”