When Asia's power and Priam's race and throne,though guiltless, were cast down by Heaven's decree,when Ilium proud had fallen, and Neptune's Troyin smouldering ash lay level with the ground,to wandering exile then and regions wildthe gods by many an augury and signcompelled us forth. We fashioned us a fleetwithin Antander's haven, in the shadeof Phrygian Ida's peak (though knowing notwhither our fate would drive, or where afforda resting-place at last), and my small bandof warriors I arrayed. As soon as smiledthe light of summer's prime, my reverend sireAnchises bade us on the winds of Fateto spread all sail. Through tears I saw recedemy native shore, the haven and the plainswhere once was Troy. An exile on the seas,with son and followers and household shrines,and Troy's great guardian-gods, I took my way.
Postquam res Asiae Priamique evertere gentemimmeritam visum Superis, ceciditque superbumIlium, et omnis humo fumat Neptunia Troia,diversa exsilia et desertas quaerere terrasauguriis agimur divom, classemque sub ipsaAntandro et Phrygiae molimur montibus Idae,incerti, quo fata ferant, ubi sistere detur,contrahimusque viros. Vix prima inceperat aestas,et pater Anchises dare fatis vela iubebat;litora cum patriae lacrimans portusque relinquoet campos, ubi Troia fuit: feror exsul in altumcum sociis natoque Penatibus et magnis dis.
There is a far-off land where warriors breed,where Thracians till the boundless plains, and wherethe cruel-eyed Lycurgus once was king.Troy's old ally it was, its deitieshad brotherhood with ours before our fall.Thither I fared, and on its winding shoresset my first walls, though partial Fate opposedour entrance there. In memory of my nameI called its people the Aeneadae.
Terra procul vastis colitur Mavortia campis,Thraces arant, acri quondam regnata Lycurgo,hospitium antiquum Troiae sociique Penates,dum Fortuna fuit. Feror huc, et litore curvomoenia prima loco, fatis ingressus iniquis,Aeneadasque meo nomen de nomine fingo.
Unto Dione's daughter, and all godswho blessed our young emprise, due gifts were paid;and unto the supreme celestial KingI slew a fair white bull beside the sea.But haply near my place of sacrificea mound was seen, and on the summit grewa copse of corner and a myrtle tree,with spear-like limbs outbranched on every side.This I approached, and tried to rend awayfrom its deep roots that grove of gloomy green,and dress my altars in its leafy boughs.But, horrible to tell, a prodigysmote my astonished eyes: for the first tree,which from the earth with broken roots I drew,dripped black with bloody drops, and gave the grounddark stains of gore. Cold horror shook my frame,and every vein within me froze for fear.Once more I tried from yet another stockthe pliant stem to tear, and to explorethe mystery within,—but yet againthe foul bark oozed with clots of blackest gore!From my deep-shaken soul I made a prayerto all the woodland nymphs and to divineGradivus, patron of the Thracian plain,to bless this sight, to lift its curse away.But when at a third sheaf of myrtle spearsI fell upon my knees, and tugged amainagainst the adverse ground (I dread to tell!),a moaning and a wail from that deep graveburst forth and murmured in my listening ear:“Why wound me, great Aeneas, in my woe?O, spare the dead, nor let thy holy handsdo sacrilege and sin! I, Trojan-born,was kin of thine. This blood is not of trees.Haste from this murderous shore, this land of greed.O, I am Polydorus! Haste away!Here was I pierced; a crop of iron spearshas grown up o'er my breast, and multipliedto all these deadly javelins, keen and strong.”Then stood I, burdened with dark doubt and fearI quailed, my hair rose and my utterance choked.
Sacra Dionaeae matri divisque ferebamauspicibus coeptorum operum, superoque nitentemcaelicolum regi mactabam in litore taurum.Forte fuit iuxta tumulus, quo cornea summovirgulta et densis hastilibus horrida myrtus.Accessi, viridemque ab humo convellere silvamconatus, ramis tegerem ut frondentibus aras,horrendum et dictu video mirabile monstrum.Nam, quae prima solo ruptis radicibus arbosvellitur, huic atro liquuntur sanguine guttae,et terram tabo maculant. Mihi frigidus horrormembra quatit, gelidusque coit formidine sanguis.Rursus et alterius lentum convellere vimeninsequor, et causas penitus temptare latentis:ater et alterius sequitur de cortice sanguis.Multa movens animo nymphas venerabar agrestisGradivumque patrem, Geticis qui praesidet arvis,rite secundarent visus omenque levarent.Tertia sed postquam maiore hastilia nisuadgredior, genibusque adversae obluctor harenae—eloquar, an sileam?—gemitus lacrimabilis imoauditur tumulo, et vox reddita fertur ad auris:“Quid miserum, Aenea, laceras? Iam parce sepulto;”“parce pias scelerare manus. Non me tibi Troia”“externum tulit, aut cruor hic de stipite manat.”“Heu, fuge crudelis terras, fuge litus avarum:”“nam Polydorus ego; hic confixum ferrea texit”“telorum seges et iaculis increvit acutis.”Tum vero ancipiti mentem formidine pressusobstipui, steteruntque comae et vox faucibus haesit.
For once this Polydorus, with much gold,ill-fated Priam sent by stealth awayfor nurture with the Thracian king, what timeDardania's war Iooked hopeless, and her towerswere ringed about by unrelenting siege.That king, when Ilium's cause was ebbing low,and fortune frowned, gave o'er his plighted faithto Agamemnon's might and victory;he scorned all honor and did murder foulon Polydorus, seizing lawlesslyon all the gold. O, whither at thy will,curst greed of gold, may mortal hearts be driven?Soon as my shuddering ceased, I told this taleof prodigies before the people's chiefs,who sat in conclave with my kingly sire,and bade them speak their reverend counsel forth.All found one voice; to leave that land of sin,where foul abomination had profaneda stranger's right; and once more to resignour fleet unto the tempest and the wave.But fit and solemn funeral rites were paidto Polydorus. A high mound we rearedof heaped-up earth, and to his honored shadebuilt a perpetual altar, sadly dressedin cypress dark and purple pall of woe.Our Ilian women wailed with loosened hair;new milk was sprinkled from a foaming cup,and from the shallow bowl fresh blood out-pouredupon the sacred ground. So in its tombwe laid his ghost to rest, and loudly sang,with prayer for peace, the long, the last farewell.
Hunc Polydorum auri quondam cum pondere magnoinfelix Priamus furtim mandarat alendumThreicio regi, cum iam diffideret armisDardaniae, cingique urbem obsidione videret.Ille, ut opes fractae Teucrum, et Fortuna recessit,res Agamemnonias victriciaque arma secutus,fas omne abrumpit; Polydorum obtruncat, et aurovi potitur. Quid non mortalia pectora cogis,auri sacra fames? Postquam pavor ossa reliquit,delectos populi ad proceres primumque parentemmonstra deum refero, et quae sit sententia posco.Omnibus idem animus, scelerata excedere terra,linqui pollutum hospitium, et dare classibus austros.Ergo instauramus Polydoro funus, et ingensaggeritur tumulo tellus; stant Manibus arae,caeruleis maestae vittis atraque cupresso,et circum Iliades crinem de more solutae;inferimus tepido spumantia cymbia lactesanguinis et sacri pateras, animamque sepulchrocondimus, et magna supremum voce ciemus.
After these things, when first the friendly sealooked safe and fair, and o'er its tranquil plainlight-whispering breezes bade us launch away,my men drew down our galleys to the brine,thronging the shore. Soon out of port we ran,and watched the hills and cities fading far.There is a sacred island in mid-seas,to fruitful Doris and to Neptune dear,which grateful Phoebus, wielder of the bow,the while it drifted loose from land to land,chained firmly where the crags of Gyarosand Myconos uptower, and bade it restimmovable, in scorn of wind and wave.Thither I sped; by this my weary shipsfound undisturbed retreat and haven fair.To land we came and saw with reverent eyesApollo's citadel. King Anius,his people's king, and priest at Phoebus' fane,came forth to meet us, wearing on his browthe fillets and a holy laurel crown.Unto Anchises he gave greeting kind,claimed old acquaintance, grasped us by the hand,and bade us both his roof and welcome share.
Inde, ubi prima fides pelago, placataque ventidant maria et lenis crepitans vocat Auster in altum,deducunt socii navis et litora complent:provehimur portu, terraeque urbesque recedunt.Sacra mari colitur medio gratissima tellusNereidum matri et Neptuno Aegaeo,quam pius arquitenens oras et litora circumerrantem Mycono e celsa Gyaroque revinxit,immotamque coli dedit et contemnere ventos.Huc feror; haec fessos tuto placidissima portuaccipit: egressi veneramur Apollinis urbem.Rex Anius, rex idem hominum Phoebique sacerdosvittis et sacra redimitus tempora lauro,occurrit; veterem Anchisen adgnovit amicum.Iungimus hospitio dextras, et tecta subimus.
Then, kneeling at the shrine of time-worn stone:“Thou who at Thymbra on the Trojan shorehast often blessed my prayer, O, give to mea hearth and home, and to this war-worn banddefensive towers and offspring multipliedin an abiding city; give to Troya second citadel, that shall surviveAchilles' wrath and all our Argive foe.Whom shall we follow? Whither lies our way?Where wilt thou grant us an abiding-place?Send forth, O King, thy voice oracular,and on our spirits move.”
Templa dei saxo venerabar structa vetusto:“Da propriam, Thymbraee, domum; da moenia fessis”“et genus et mansuram urbem; serva altera Troiae”“Pergama, reliquias Danaum atque immitis Achilli.”“Quem sequimur? Quove ire iubes? Ubi ponere sedes?”“Da, pater, augurium, atque animis inlabere nostris.”
Scarce had I spokewhen sudden trembling through the laurels ranand smote the holy portals; far and widethe mighty ridges of the mountain shook,and from the opening shrine the tripod moaned.Prostrate to earth we fall, as on our earsthis utterance breaks: “O breed of iron men,ye sons of Dardanus! the self-same landwhere bloomed at first your far-descended stemshall to its bounteous bosom draw ye home.Seek out your ancient Mother! There at lastAeneas' race shall reign on every shore,and his sons' sons, and all their house to be.”So Phoebus spoke; and mighty joy uprosefrom all my thronging people, who would knowwhere Phoebus' city lay, and whitherwardthe god ordained the wandering tribe's return.Then spake my father, pondering olden daysand sacred memories of heroes gone:“Hear, chiefs and princes, what your hopes shall be!The Isle of Crete, abode of lofty Jove,rests in the middle sea. Thence Ida soars;there is the cradle of our race. It boastsa hundred cities, seats of fruitful power.Thence our chief sire, if duly I recallthe olden tale, King Teucer sprung, who firsttouched on the Trojan shore, and chose his seatof kingly power. There was no Ilium thennor towered Pergama; in lowly valestheir dwelling; hence the ancient worship givento the Protectress of Mount Cybele,mother of Gods, what time in Ida's grovethe brazen Corybantic cymbals clang,or sacred silence guards her mystery,and lions yoked her royal chariot draw.Up, then, and follow the behests divine!Pour offering to the winds, and point your keelsunto that realm of Minos. It is near.if Jove but bless, the third day's dawn should seeour ships at Cretan land.” So, having said,he slew the victims for each altar's praise.A bull to Neptune, and a bull to thee,o beauteous Apollo! A black lambunto the clouds and storms; but fleece of snowto the mild zephyrs was our offering.
Vix ea fatus eram: tremere omnia visa repente,liminaque laurusque dei, totusque moverimons circum, et mugire adytis cortina reclusis.Submissi petimus terram, et vox fertur ad auris:“Dardanidae duri, quae vos a stirpe parentum”“prima tulit tellus, eadem vos ubere laeto”“accipiet reduces. Antiquam exquirite matrem:”“hic domus Aeneae cunctis dominabitur oris,”“et nati natorum, et qui nascentur ab illis.”Haec Phoebus; mixtoque ingens exorta tumultulaetitia, et cuncti quae sint ea moenia quaerunt,quo Phoebus vocet errantis iubeatque reverti?Tum genitor, veterum volvens monumenta virorum,“Audite, O proceres” ait “et spes discite vestras:”“Creta Iovis magni medio iacet insula ponto;”“mons Idaeus ubi, et gentis cunabula nostrae.”“Centum urbes habitant magnas, uberrima regna;”“maximus unde pater, si rite audita recordor,”“Teucrus Rhoeteas primum est advectus in oras,”“optavitque locum regno. Nondum Ilium et arces”“Pergameae steterant; habitabant vallibus imis.”“hinc mater cultrix Cybeli Corybantiaque aera”“Idaeumque nemus; hinc fida silentia sacris,”“et iuncti currum dominae subiere leones.”“Ergo agite, et, divom ducunt qua iussa, sequamur;”“placemus ventos et Gnosia regna petamus.”“Nec longo distant cursu; modo Iuppiter adsit,”“tertia lux classem Cretaeis sistet in oris.”Sic fatus, meritos aris mactavit honores,taurum Neptuno, taurum tibi, pulcher Apollonigram Hiemi pecudem, Zephyris felicibus albam.
The tale was told us that Idomeneus,from his hereditary kindgom driven,had left his Crete abandoned, that no foenow harbored there, but all its dwellings layuntenanted of man. So forth we sailedout of the port of Delos, and sped faralong the main. The maenad-haunted hillsof Naxos came in view; the ridges greenof fair Donysa, with Olearos,and Paros, gleaming white, and Cycladesscattered among the waves, as close we ranwhere thick-strewn islands vex the channelled seaswith rival shout the sailors cheerly called:“On, comrades! On, to Crete and to our sires!”Freely behind us blew the friendly winds,and gave smooth passage to that fabled shore,the land of the Curetes, friends of Jove.There eagerly I labored at the wallsof our long-prayed-for city; and its namewas Pergamea; to my Trojan band,pleased with such name, I gave command to buildaltar and hearth, and raise the lofty tower.
Fama volat pulsum regnis cessisse paternisIdomenea ducem, desertaque litora Cretaehoste vacare domos, sedesque adstare relictas.Linquimus Ortygiae portus, pelagoque volamus,bacchatamque iugis Naxon viridemque Donysam,Olearon, niveamque Paron, sparsasque per aequorCycladas, et crebris legimus freta consita terris.Nauticus exoritur vario certamine clamor;hortantur socii: “Cretam proavosque petamus!”Prosequitur surgens a puppi ventus euntiset tandem antiquis Curetum adlabimur oris.Ergo avidus muros optatae molior urbis,Pergameamque voco, et laetam cognomine gentemhortor amare focos arcemque attollere tectis.
But scarce the ships were beached along the strand(While o'er the isle my busy marinersploughed in new fields and took them wives once more, —I giving homes and laws) when suddenlya pestilence from some infectious skyseized on man's flesh, and horribly exhaledo'er trees and crops a fatal year of plague.Some breathed their last, while others weak and wornlived on; the dog-star parched the barren fields;grass withered, and the sickly, mouldering cornrefused us life. My aged father thenbade us re-cross the waves and re-imploreApollo's mercy at his island shrine;if haply of our weariness and woehe might vouchsafe the end, or bid us findhelp for our task, or guidance o'er the sea.
Iamque fere sicco subductae litore puppes;conubiis arvisque novis operata iuventus;iura domosque dabam: subito cum tabida membris,corrupto caeli tractu, miserandaque venitarboribusque satisque lues et letifer annus.Linquebant dulcis animas, aut aegra trahebantcorpora; tum sterilis exurere Sirius agros;arebant herbae, et victum seges aegra negabat.Rursus ad oraclum Ortygiae Phoebumque remensohortatur pater ire mari, veniamque precari:quam fessis finem rebus ferat; unde laborumtemptare auxilium iubeat; quo vertere cursus.
'T was night, and sleep possessed all breathing things;when, lo! the sacred effigies divine,the Phrygian gods which through the flames I borefrom fallen Troy, seemed in a vision clearto stand before me where I slumbering lay,bathed in bright beams which from the moon at fullstreamed through the latticed wall: and thus they spoketo soothe my care away. “Apollo's word,which in far Delos the god meant for thee,is uttered here. Behold, he sends ourselvesto this thy house, before thy prayer is made.We from Troy's ashes have companioned theein every fight; and we the swollen seas,guided by thee, in thine own ships have crossed;our power divine shall set among the starsthy seed to be, and to thy city givedominion evermore. For mighty mengo build its mighty walls! Seek not to shunthe hard, long labors of an exile's way.Change this abode! Not thine this Cretan shore,nor here would Delian Phoebus have thee bide.There is a land the roving Greeks have namedHesperia. It is a storied realmmade mighty by great wars and fruitful land.Oenotrians had it, and their sons, 't is said,have called it Italy, a chieftain's nameto a whole region given. That land aloneour true abode can be; for Dardanuswas cradled there, and old Iasius,their blood the oldest of our ancient line.Arise! go forth and cheer thy father graywith the glad tidings! Bid him doubt no more!Ausonia seek and Corythus; for Jovedenies this Cretan realm to thine and thee.”I marvelled at the heavenly presencesso vocal and so bright, for 't was not sleep;but face to face I deemed I could discerneach countenance august and holy brow,each mantled head; and from my body rancold sweat of awe. From my low couch I sprang,lifting to heaven my suppliant hands and prayer,and o'er my hearth poured forth libations free.After th' auspicious offering, I toldAnchises the whole tale in order due.He owned our stock two-branched, of our great siresthe twofold line, and that his thought had strayed,in new confusion mingling ancient names;then spoke: “O son, in Ilium's doom severeafflicted ever! To my ears alonethis dark vicissitude Cassandra sang.I mind me now that her wild tongue foretoldsuch destiny. For oft she called aloud‘Hesperia!’ oft ‘Italia's kingdom!’ called.But who had faith that Teucer's sons should cometo far Hesperia? What mortal eargave heed to sad Cassandra's voice divine?Now Phoebus speaks. Obedient let us be,and, warned by him, our happier Iot pursue!”He spoke: with heart of hope we all obeyed;again we changed abode; and, leaving therea feeble few, again with spreading sailswe coursed in hollow ship the spacious sea.
Nox erat, et terris animalia somnus habebat:effigies sacrae divom Phrygiique Penates,quos mecum a Troia mediisque ex ignibus urbisextuleram, visi ante oculos adstare iacentisin somnis, multo manifesti lumine, qua seplena per insertas fundebat luna fenestras;tum sic adfari et curas his demere dictis:“Quod tibi delato Ortygiam dicturus Apollo est,”“hic canit, et tua nos en ultro ad limina mittit.”“Nos te, Dardania incensa, tuaque arma secuti,”“nos tumidum sub te permensi classibus aequor,”“idem venturos tollemus in astra nepotes,”“imperiumque urbi dabimus: tu moenia magnis”“magna para, longumque fugae ne linque laborem.”“Mutandae sedes: non haec tibi litora suasit”“Delius, aut Cretae iussit considere Apollo.”“Est locus, Hesperiam Grai cognomine dicunt,”“terra antiqua, potens armis atque ubere glaebae;”“Oenotri coluere viri; nunc fama minores”“Italiam dixisse ducis de nomine gentem:”“hae nobis propriae sedes; hinc Dardanus ortus,”“Iasiusque pater, genus a quo principe nostrum.”“Surge age, et haec laetus longaevo dicta parenti”“haud dubitanda refer: Corythum terrasque requirat”“Ausonias; Dictaea negat tibi Iuppiter arva.”Talibus attonitus visis et voce deorum—nec sopor illud erat, sed coram adgnoscere voltusvelatasque comas praesentiaque ora videbar;tum gelidus toto manabat corpore sudorcorripio e stratis corpus, tendoque supinasad caelum cum voce manus, et munera libointemerata focis. Perfecto laetus honoreAnchisen facio certum, remque ordine pando.Adgnovit prolem ambiguam geminosque parentes,seque novo veterum deceptum errore locorum.Tum memorat: “Nate, Iliacis exercite fatis,”“sola mihi talis casus Cassandra canebat.”“Nunc repeto haec generi portendere debita nostro,”“et saepe Hesperiam, saepe Itala regna vocare.”“Sed quis ad Hesperiae venturos litora Teucros”“crederet, aut quem tum vates Cassandra moveret?”“Cedamus Phoebo, et moniti meliora sequamur.”Sic ait, et cuncti dicto paremus ovantes.Hanc quoque deserimus sedem, paucisque relictisvela damus, vastumque cava trabe currimus aequor.
When from the deep the shores had faded far,and only sky and sea were round our way,full in the zenith hung a purple cloud,storm-laden, dark as night, and every wavegrew black and angry, while perpetual galescame rolling o'er the main, and mountain-highthe wreckful surges rose; our ships were hurledwide o'er the whirling waters; thunder-cloudsand misty murk of night made end of allthe light of heaven, save where the rifted stormflashed with the oft-reiterate shaft of Jove.Then went we drifting, beaten from our course,upon a trackless sea. Not even the eyesof Palinurus could tell night from noonor ken our way. Three days of blinding dark,three nights without a star, we roved the seas;The fourth, land seemed to rise. Far distant hillsand rolling smoke we saw. Down came our sails,out flew the oars, and with prompt stroke the crewsswept the dark waves and tossed the crested foam.From such sea-peril safe, I made the shoresof Strophades,—a name the Grecians gaveto islands in the broad Ionic main, —the Strophades, where dread Celaeno bides,with other Harpies, who had quit the hallsof stricken Phineus, and for very fearfled from the routed feast; no prodigymore vile than these, nor plague more pitilessere rose by wrath divine from Stygian wave;birds seem they, but with face like woman-kind;foul-flowing bellies, hands with crooked claws,and ghastly lips they have, with hunger pale.Scarce had we made the haven, when, behold!Fair herds of cattle roaming a wide plain,and horned goats, untended, feeding freein pastures green, surprised our happy eyes.with eager blades we ran to take and slay,asking of every god, and chicfly Jove,to share the welcome prize: we ranged a feast,with turf-built couches and a banquet-boardalong the curving strand. But in a trice,down from the high hills swooping horribly,the Harpies loudly shrieking, flapped their wings,snatched at our meats, and with infectious touchpolluted all; infernal was their cry,the stench most vile. Once more in covert farbeneath a caverned rock, and close concealedwith trees and branching shade, we raised aloftour tables, altars, and rekindled fires.Once more from haunts unknown the clamorous flockfrom every quarter flew, and seized its preywith taloned feet and carrion lip most foul.I called my mates to arms and opened waron that accursed brood. My band obeyed;and, hiding in deep grass their swords and shields,in ambush lay. But presently the foeswept o'er the winding shore with loud alarm:then from a sentry-crag, Misenus blewa signal on his hollow horn. My menflew to the combat strange, and fain would woundwith martial steel those foul birds of the sea;but on their sides no wounding blade could fall,nor any plume be marred. In swiftest flightto starry skies they soared, and left on earththeir half-gnawed, stolen feast, and footprints foul.Celaeno only on a beetling cragtook lofty perch, and, prophetess of ill,shrieked malediction from her vulture breast:“Because of slaughtered kine and ravished herd,sons of Laomedon, have ye made war?And will ye from their rightful kingdom drivethe guiltless Harpies? Hear, O, hear my word(Long in your bosoms may it rankle sore!)which Jove omnipotent to Phoebus gave,Phoebus to me: a word of doom, which I,the Furies' elder sister, here unfold:‘To Italy ye fare. The willing windsyour call have heard; and ye shall have your prayerin some Italian haven safely moored.But never shall ye rear the circling wallsof your own city, till for this our bloodby you unjustly spilt, your famished jawsbite at your tables, aye,—and half devour.’”
Postquam altum tenuere rates, nec iam amplius ullaeadparent terrae, caelum undique et undique pontus,tum mihi caeruleus supra caput adstitit imber,noctem hiememque ferens, et inhorruit unda tenebris.Continuo venti volvunt mare, magnaque surguntaequora; dispersi iactamur gurgite vasto;involvere diem nimbi, et nox umida caelumabstulit; ingeminant abruptis nubibus ignes.Excutimur cursu, et caecis erramus in undis.Ipse diem noctemque negat discernere caelo,nec meminisse viae media Palinurus in unda.Tris adeo incertos caeca caligine soleserramus pelago, totidem sine sidere noctes.Quarto terra die primum se attollere tandemvisa, aperire procul montis, ac volvere fumum.Vela cadunt, remis insurgimus; haud mora nautaeadnixi torquent spumas et caerula verrunt.Servatum ex undis Strophadum me litora primumaccipiunt; Strophades Graio stant nomine dictae,insulae Ionio in magno, quas dira CelaenoHarpyiaeque colunt aliae, Phineia postquamclausa domus, mensasque metu liquere priores.Tristius haud illis monstrum, nec saevior ullapestis et ira deum Stygiis sese extulit undis.Virginei volucrum voltus, foedissima ventrisproluvies, uncaeque manus, et pallida semperora fame.Huc ubi delati portus intravimus, eccelaeta boum passim campis armenta videmus,caprigenumque pecus nullo custode per herbas.Inruimus ferro, et divos ipsumque vocamusin partem praedamque Iovem; tum litore curvoexstruimusque toros, dapibusque epulamur opimis.At subitae horrifico lapsu de montibus adsuntHarpyiae, et magnis quatiunt clangoribus alas,diripiuntque dapes, contactuque omnia foedantimmundo; tum vox taetrum dira inter odorem.Rursum in secessu longo sub rupe cavata,arboribus clausi circum atque horrentibus umbris,instruimus mensas arisque reponimus ignem:rursum ex diverso caeli caecisque latebristurba sonans praedam pedibus circumvolat uncis,polluit ore dapes. Sociis tunc, arma capessant,edico, et dira bellum cum gente gerendum.Haud secus ac iussi faciunt, tectosque per herbamdisponunt enses et scuta latentia condunt.Ergo ubi delapsae sonitum per curva dederelitora, dat signum specula Misenus ab altaaere cavo. Invadunt socii, et nova proelia temptant,obscenas pelagi ferro foedare volucres:sed neque vim plumis ullam nec volnera tergoaccipiunt, celerique fuga sub sidera lapsaesemesam praedam et vestigia foeda relinquunt.Una in praecelsa consedit rupe Celaeno,infelix vates, rumpitque hanc pectore vocem:“Bellum etiam pro caede boum stratisque iuvencis,”“Laomedontiadae, bellumne inferre paratis,”“et patrio Harpyias insontis pellere regno?”“Accipite ergo animis atque haec mea figite dicta,”“quae Phoebo pater omnipotens, mihi Phoebus Apollo”“praedixit, vobis Furiarum ego maxuma pando.”“Italiam cursu petitis, ventisque vocatis”“ibitis Italiam, portusque intrare licebit;”“sed non ante datam cingetis moenibus urbem,”“quam vos dira fames nostraeque iniuria caedis”“ambesas subigat malis absumere mensas.”
She spoke: her pinions bore her to the grove,and she was seen no more. But all my bandshuddered with shock of fear in each cold vein;their drooping spirits trusted swords no more,but turned to prayers and offerings, asking grace,scarce knowing if those creatures were divine,or but vast birds, ill-omened and unclean.Father Anchises to the gods in heavenuplifted suppliant hands, and on that shoredue ritual made, crying aloud; “Ye godsavert this curse, this evil turn away!Smile, Heaven, upon your faithful votaries.”Then bade he launch away, the chain undo,set every cable free and spread all sail.O'er the white waves we flew, and took our waywhere'er the helmsman or the winds could guide.Now forest-clad Zacynthus met our gaze,engirdled by the waves; Dulichium,same, and Neritos, a rocky steep,uprose. We passed the cliffs of Ithacathat called Laertes king, and flung our curseon fierce Ulysses' hearth and native land.nigh hoar Leucate's clouded crest we drew,where Phoebus' temple, feared by mariners,loomed o'er us; thitherward we steered and reachedthe little port and town. Our weary fleetdropped anchor, and lay beached along the strand.
Dixit, et in silvam pennis ablata refugit.At sociis subita gelidus formidine sanguisderiguit; cecidere animi, nec iam amplius armis,sed votis precibusque iubent exposcere pacem,sive deae, seu sint dirae obscenaeque volucres.Et pater Anchises passis de litore palmisnumina magna vocat, meritosque indicit honores:“Di, prohibete minas; di, talem avertite casum,”“et placidi servate pios!” Tum litore funemderipere, excussosque iubet laxare rudentes.Tendunt vela Noti; fugimus spumantibus undis,qua cursum ventusque gubernatorque vocabat.Iam medio adparet fluctu nemorosa ZacynthosDulichiumque Sameque et Neritos ardua saxis.Effugimus scopulos Ithacae, Laertia regna,et terram altricem saevi exsecramur Ulixi.Mox et Leucatae nimbosa cacumina montiset formidatus nautis aperitur Apollo.Hunc petimus fessi et parvae succedimus urbi;ancora de prora iacitur, stant litore puppes.
So, safe at land, our hopeless peril past,we offered thanks to Jove, and kindled highhis altars with our feast and sacrifice;then, gathering on Actium's holy shore,made fair solemnities of pomp and game.My youth, anointing their smooth, naked limbs,wrestled our wonted way. For glad were we,who past so many isles of Greece had spedand 'scaped our circling foes. Now had the sunrolled through the year's full circle, and the waveswere rough with icy winter's northern gales.I hung for trophy on that temple doora swelling shield of brass (which once was wornby mighty Abas) graven with this line:SPOIL OF AENEAS FROM TRIUMPHANT FOES.Then from that haven I command them forth;my good crews take the thwarts, smiting the seawith rival strokes, and skim the level main.Soon sank Phaeacia's wind-swept citadelsout of our view; we skirted the bold shoresof proud Epirus, in Chaonian land,and made Buthrotum's port and towering town.
Ergo insperata tandem tellure potiti,lustramurque Iovi votisque incendimus aras,Actiaque Iliacis celebramus litora ludis.Exercent patrias oleo labente palaestrasnudati socii; iuvat evasisse tot urbesArgolicas, mediosque fugam tenuisse per hostis.Interea magnum sol circumvolvitur annum,et glacialis hiemps aquilonibus asperat undas.Aere cavo clipeum. magni gestamen Abantis,postibus adversis figo, et rem carmine signo:AENEAS HAEC DE DANAIS VICTORIBVS ARMA.Linquere tum portus iubeo et considere transtris:certatim socii feriunt mare et aequora verrunt.Protinus aërias Phaeacum abscondimus arces,litoraque Epiri legimus portuque subimusChaonio, et celsam Buthroti accedimus urbem.
Here wondrous tidings met us, that the sonof Priam, Helenus, held kingly swayo'er many Argive cities, having wedthe Queen of Pyrrhus, great Achilles' son,and gained his throne; and that Andromacheonce more was wife unto a kindred lord.Amazement held me; all my bosom burnedto see the hero's face and hear this taleof strange vicissitude. So up I climbed,leaving the haven, fleet, and friendly shore.That self-same hour outside the city walls,within a grove where flowed the mimic streamof a new Simois, Andromache,with offerings to the dead, and gifts of woe,poured forth libation, and invoked the shadeof Hector, at a tomb which her fond griefhad consecrated to perpetual tears,though void; a mound of fair green turf it stood,and near it rose twin altars to his name.She saw me drawing near; our Trojan helmsmet her bewildered eyes, and, terror-struckat the portentous sight, she swooning felland lay cold, rigid, lifeless, till at last,scarce finding voice, her lips addressed me thus:“Have I true vision? Bringest thou the wordOf truth, O goddess-born? Art still in flesh?Or if sweet light be fled, my Hector, where?”With flood of tears she spoke, and all the grovereechoed to her cry. Scarce could I framebrief answer to her passion, but repliedwith broken voice and accents faltering:“I live, 't is true. I lengthen out my daysthrough many a desperate strait. But O, believethat what thine eyes behold is vision true.Alas! what lot is thine, that wert unthronedfrom such a husband's side? What after-fatecould give thee honor due? Andromache,once Hector's wife, is Pyrrhus still thy lord?”
Hic incredibilis rerum fama occupat auris,Priamiden Helenum Graias regnare per urbes,coniugio Aeacidae Pyrrhi sceptrisque potitum,et patrio Andromachen iterum cessisse marito.Obstipui, miroque incensum pectus amore,compellare virum et casus cognoscere tantos.Progredior portu, classis et litora linquens,sollemnis cum forte dapes et tristia donaante urbem in luco falsi Simoentis ad undamlibabat cineri Andromache, Manisque vocabatHectoreum ad tumulum, viridi quem caespite inanemet geminas, causam lacrimis, sacraverat aras.Ut me conspexit venientem et Troïa circumarma amens vidit, magnis exterrita monstrisderiguit visu in medio, calor ossa reliquit;labitur, et longo vix tandem tempore fatur:“Verane te facies, verus mihi nuntius adfers,”“nate dea? Vivisne, aut, si lux alma recessit,”“Hector ubi est?” Dixit, lacrimasque effudit et omnemimplevit clamore locum. Vix pauca furentisubicio, et raris turbatus vocibus hisco:“Vivo equidem, vitamque extrema per omnia duco;”“ne dubita, nam vera vides.”“Heu, quis te casus deiectam coniuge tanto”“excipit, aut quae digna satis fortuna revisit”“Hectoris Andromachen? Pyrrhin’ conubia servas?”
With drooping brows and lowly voice she cried:“O, happy only was that virgin blest,daughter of Priam, summoned forth to diein sight of Ilium, on a foeman's tomb!No casting of the lot her doom decreed,nor came she to her conqueror's couch a slave.Myself from burning Ilium carried faro'er seas and seas, endured the swollen prideof that young scion of Achilles' race,and bore him as his slave a son. When hesued for Hermione, of Leda's line,and nuptial-bond with Lacedaemon's Iords,I, the slave-wife, to Helenus was given,and slave was wed with slave. But afterwardOrestes, crazed by loss of her he loved,and ever fury-driven from crime to crime,crept upon Pyrrhus in a careless hourand murdered him upon his own hearth-stone.Part of the realm of Neoptolemusfell thus to Helenus, who called his landsChaonian, and in Trojan Chaon's namehis kingdom is Chaonia. Yonder heightis Pergamus, our Ilian citadel.What power divine did waft thee to our shore,not knowing whither? Tell me of the boyAscanius! Still breathes he earthly air?In Troy she bore him—is he mourning stillthat mother ravished from his childhood's eyes?what ancient valor stirs the manly soulof thine own son, of Hector's sister's child?”Thus poured she forth full many a doleful wordwith unavailing tears. But as she ceased,out of the city gates appeared the sonof Priam, Helenus, with princely train.He welcomed us as kin, and glad at heartgave guidance to his house, though oft his wordsfell faltering and few, with many a tear.Soon to a humbler Troy I lift my eyes,and of a mightier Pergamus discernthe towering semblance; there a scanty streamruns on in Xanthus' name, and my glad armsthe pillars of a Scaean gate embrace.My Teucrian mariners with welcome freeenjoyed the friendly town; his ample hallsour royal host threw wide; full wine-cups flowedwithin the palace; golden feast was spread,and many a goblet quaffed.
Deiecit vultum et demissa voce locuta est:“O felix una ante alias Priameïa virgo,”“hostilem ad tumulum Troiae sub moenibus altis”“iussa mori, quae sortitus non pertulit ullos,”“nec victoris eri tetigit captiva cubile!”“nos, patria incensa, diversa per aequora vectae,”“stirpis Achilleae fastus iuvenemque superbum,”“servitio enixae, tulimus: qui deinde, secutus”“Ledaeam Hermionen Lacedaemoniosque hymenaeos,”“me famulo famulamque Heleno transmisit habendam.”“Ast illum, ereptae magno inflammatus amore”“coniugis et scelerum Furiis agitatus, Orestes”“excipit incautum patriasque obtruncat ad aras.”“Morte Neoptolemi regnorum reddita cessit”“pars Heleno, qui Chaonios cognomine campos”“Chaoniamque omnem Troiano a Chaone dixit,”“Pergamaque Iliacamque iugis hanc addidit arcem.”“Sed tibi qui cursum venti, quae fata dedere?”“Aut quisnam ignarum nostris deus adpulit oris?”“Quid puer Ascanius? superatne et vescitur aura,”“quem tibi iam Troia—”“Ecqua tamen puero est amissae cura parentis?”“Ecquid in antiquam virtutem animosque virilis”“et pater Aeneas et avunculus excitat Hector?”Talia fundebat lacrimans longosque ciebatincassum fletus, cum sese a moenibus herosPriamides multis Helenus comitantibus adfert,adgnoscitque suos, laetusque ad limina ducit,et multum lacrimas verba inter singula fundit.Procedo, et parvam Troiam simulataque magnisPergama, et arentem Xanthi cognomine rivumadgnosco, Scaeaeque amplector limina portae.Nec non et Teucri socia simul urbe fruuntur:illos porticibus rex accipiebat in amplis;aulaï medio libabant pocula Bacchi,impositis auro dapibus, paterasque tenebant.
Day followed day,while favoring breezes beckoned us to sea,and swelled the waiting canvas as they blew.Then to the prophet-priest I made this prayer:“Offspring of Troy, interpreter of Heaven!Who knowest Phoebus' power, and readest wellthe tripod, stars, and vocal laurel leavesto Phoebus dear, who know'st of every birdthe ominous swift wing or boding song,o, speak! For all my course good omens showed,and every god admonished me to sailin quest of Italy's far-distant shores;but lone Celaeno, heralding strange woe,foretold prodigious horror, vengeance dark,and vile, unnatural hunger. How eludesuch perils? Or by what hard duty donemay such huge host of evils vanquished be?”Then Helenus, with sacrifice of kinein order due, implored the grace of Heaven,unloosed the fillets from his sacred brow,and led me, Phoebus, to thy temple's door,awed by th' o'er-brooding godhead, whose true priest,with lips inspired, made this prophetic song:
Iamque dies alterque dies processit, et auraevela vocant tumidoque inflatur carbasus austro.His vatem adgredior dictis ac talia quaeso:“Troiugena, interpres divom, qui numina Phoebi,”“qui tripodas, Clarii laurus, qui sidera sentis,”“et volucrum linguas et praepetis omina pennae,”“fare age—namque omnem cursum mihi prospera dixit”“religio, et cuncti suaserunt numine divi”“Italiam petere et terras temptare repostas:”“sola novum dictuque nefas Harpyia Celaeno”“prodigium canit, et tristis denuntiat iras,”“obscenamque famem—quae prima pericula vito?”“Quidve sequens tantos possim superare labores?”Hic Helenus, caesis primum de more iuvencis,exorat pacem divom, vittasque resolvitsacrati capitis, meque ad tua limina, Phoebe,ipse manu multo suspensum numine ducit,atque haec deinde canit divino ex ore sacerdos: