Virgil: AENEID

Postquam res Asiae Priamique evertere gentem
immeritam visum superis, ceciditque superbum
Ilium et omnis humo fumat Neptunia Troia,
diversa exsilia et desertas quaerere terras
auguriis agimur divum, classemque sub ipsa 5
Antandro 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 relinquo 10
et campos ubi Troia fuit. feror exsul in altum
cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis.

After it seemed to the gods above a sight fit to overturn the commonwealth of Asia and the undeserving race of Priam,
and proud Ilium fell and all Neptunian Troy smokes from the ground,
by the auguries of the gods we are driven to seek diverse exiles and deserted lands,
and right beneath Antandros and the Phrygian mountains of Ida we set in motion a fleet, 5
uncertain where the fates bear us, where it is granted to take our stand,
and we muster men. Hardly had the first summer begun,
and father Anchises was bidding to give sails to the fates,
when, weeping, I leave the shores and harbors of my homeland 10
and the plains where Troy was. I am borne, an exile, into the deep
with my companions, my son, the Penates, and the great gods.

Terra procul vastis colitur Mauortia campis
(Thraces arant) acri quondam regnata Lycurgo,
hospitium antiquum Troiae sociique penates 15
dum fortuna fuit. feror huc et litore curvo
moenia prima loco fatis ingressus iniquis
Aeneadasque meo nomen de nomine fingo.
sacra Dionaeae matri divisque ferebam
auspicibus coeptorum operum, superoque nitentem 20
caelicolum regi mactabam in litore taurum.

Far off a Mavortian land is tilled on vast plains
(the Thracians plow), once ruled by fierce Lycurgus,
an ancient guest-friendship of Troy and allied Penates 15
while fortune remained. I am borne hither, and on the curved shore
entering the place under adverse fates, I set the first walls,
and I fashion the name Aeneadae from my own name.
I was bearing rites to the Dionean mother and to the gods,
as auspices of the works begun, and on the shore I was sacrificing a gleaming 20
bull to the king of the heaven-dwellers above.

forte fuit iuxta tumulus, quo cornea summo
virgulta et densis hastilibus horrida myrtus.
accessi viridemque ab humo convellere silvam
conatus, ramis tegerem ut frondentibus aras, 25

by chance there was nearby a mound, on whose summit
cornel thickets and myrtle, bristling with dense spear-shafts, grew.
I approached and, attempting to tear up the green wood from the soil,
so that with leafy branches I might cover the altars, 25

horrendum et dictu video mirabile monstrum.
nam quae prima solo ruptis radicibus arbos
vellitur, huic atro liquuntur sanguine guttae
et terram tabo maculant. mihi frigidus horror
membra quatit gelidusque coit formidine sanguis. 30
rursus et alterius lentum convellere vimen
insequor et causas penitus temptare latentis;
ater et alterius sequitur de cortice sanguis.

I see a horrendous and, to say, marvelous monster.
for the tree which first is plucked from the soil, its roots broken,
from it black drops of blood are distilled and stain the earth with gore.
a frigid horror shakes my limbs and my blood congeals, icy with dread. 30
again I pursue to tear away the tough withe of another
and to attempt to probe the latent causes deep within;
and black blood too follows from the bark of the other.

multa movens animo Nymphas venerabar agrestis
Gradivumque patrem, Geticis qui praesidet arvis, 35
rite secundarent visus omenque levarent.
tertia sed postquam maiore hastilia nisu
adgredior genibusque adversae obluctor harenae,
(eloquar an sileam?) gemitus lacrimabilis imo
auditur tumulo et vox reddita fertur ad auris: 40

turning many things in mind I was venerating the rustic Nymphs
and Father Gradivus, who presides over the Getic fields, 35
that they might duly favor the visions and lighten the omen.
but after, for the third time, I approach the spear-shafts with greater effort
and with my knees I wrestle against the opposing sand,
(shall I speak or be silent?) a tearful groan from the depths
is heard in the mound, and a voice given back is borne to my ears: 40

'quid miserum, Aenea, laceras? iam parce sepulto,
parce pias scelerare manus. non me tibi Troia
externum tulit aut cruor hic de stipite manat.

'why do you lacerate a wretch, Aeneas? now spare the buried,
spare from defiling your pious hands. Troy did not bear me to you as an outsider,
and this gore here wells from the stock.

heu fuge crudelis terras, fuge litus auarum:
nam Polydorus ego. hic confixum ferrea texit 45
telorum seges et iaculis increvit acutis.'
tum vero ancipiti mentem formidine pressus
obstipui steteruntque comae et vox faucibus haesit.

alas, flee the cruel lands, flee the avaricious shore:
for I am Polydorus. Here an iron harvest of missiles covered me, transfixed, 45
and it has grown with sharp javelins.'
then indeed, pressed in mind by a twofold dread,
I was astonished; my hair stood on end and my voice stuck in my throat.

Hunc Polydorum auri quondam cum pondere magno
infelix Priamus furtim mandarat alendum 50
Threicio regi, cum iam diffideret armis
Dardaniae cingique urbem obsidione videret.
ille, ut opes fractae Teucrum et Fortuna recessit,
res Agamemnonias victriciaque arma secutus
fas omne abrumpit: Polydorum obtruncat, et auro 55
ui potitur. quid non mortalia pectora cogis,
auri sacra fames!

This Polydorus, with a great weight of gold once, unhappy Priam had secretly entrusted to be reared to the Thracian king, 50
when he already distrusted the arms of Dardania and saw the city being girded by siege.
He, when the resources of the Teucrians were broken and Fortune withdrew,
following the Agamemnonian cause and the victorious arms,
breaks every right: he cuts down Polydorus, and by force gets possession of the gold. 55
To what do you not drive mortal breasts,
accursed hunger for gold!

postquam pavor ossa reliquit,
delectos populi ad proceres primumque parentem
monstra deum refero, et quae sit sententia posco.
omnibus idem animus, scelerata excedere terra, 60

after fear left my bones,
I report the portents of the gods to the chosen leaders of the people and my foremost parent,
and I ask what the sentiment is.
all have the same mind, to depart from the accursed land, 60

linqui pollutum hospitium et dare classibus Austros.
ergo instauramus Polydoro funus, et ingens
aggeritur tumulo tellus; stant Manibus arae
caeruleis maestae vittis atraque cupresso,
et circum Iliades crinem de more solutae; 65
inferimus tepido spumantia cymbia lacte
sanguinis et sacri pateras, animamque sepulcro
condimus et magna supremum voce ciemus.

to leave the polluted hospitality and to give to the fleets the South Winds.
therefore we renew the funeral for Polydorus, and a huge
mass of earth is heaped upon the tumulus; altars to the Manes stand,
mournful with cerulean fillets and black cypress,
and around, the women of Ilium with hair loosened according to custom; 65
we bring in little bowls foaming with tepid milk,
and paterae of blood and of sacrificial offering, and the soul
we lay in the sepulcher and with a great voice we summon the final rite.

Inde ubi prima fides pelago, placataque venti
dant maria et lenis crepitans vocat Auster in altum,               70
deducunt socii navis et litora complent;
provehimur portu terraeque urbesque recedunt.
sacra mari colitur medio gratissima tellus
Nereidum matri et Neptuno Aegaeo,
quam pius Arquitenens oras et litora circum               75
errantem Mycono e celsa Gyaroque revinxit,
immotamque coli dedit et contemnere ventos.
huc feror, haec fessos tuto placidissima portu
accipit; egressi veneramur Apollinis urbem.
rex Anius, rex idem hominum Phoebique sacerdos,               80

Then, when there is first trust in the sea, and the winds appeased
grant the waters, and the gentle, rustling South Wind calls into the deep,               70
the comrades launch the ships and fill the shores;
we are borne forth from the harbor, and lands and cities recede.
A sacred land in the middle of the sea is venerated, most pleasing
to the mother of the Nereids and to Aegean Neptune,
which the pious Bow-bearer, wandering around coasts and shores,               75
bound from Myconos and from lofty Gyaros,
and granted to be dwelt in unmoving and to scorn the winds.
Hither I am borne; this most placid land receives the weary with a safe harbor;
having disembarked we venerate the city of Apollo.
King Anius, king likewise of men and priest of Phoebus,               80

vittis et sacra redimitus tempora lauro
occurrit; veterem Anchisen agnovit amicum.
iungimus hospitio dextras et tecta subimus.

with fillets and his temples wreathed with sacred laurel
he meets us; he recognized Anchises, an old friend.
we join right hands in hospitality and go beneath the roofs.

Templa dei saxo venerabar structa vetusto:
'da propriam, Thymbraee, domum; da moenia fessis 85
et genus et mansuram urbem; serva altera Troiae
Pergama, reliquias Danaum atque immitis Achilli.
quem sequimur? quoue ire iubes?

I was venerating the temples of the god, constructed of age-old stone:
'grant a home of our own, Thymbraean; grant walls to the weary 85
and a lineage and a city that will abide; preserve for Troy a second Pergama, the remnants from the Danaans and pitiless Achilles.
whom do we follow? and whither do you bid us to go?

ubi ponere sedes?
da, pater, augurium atque animis inlabere nostris.'
vix ea fatus eram: tremere omnia visa repente, 90
liminaque laurusque dei, totusque moveri
mons circum et mugire adytis cortina reclusis.
summissi petimus terram et vox fertur ad auris:
'Dardanidae duri, quae vos a stirpe parentum
prima tulit tellus, eadem vos ubere laeto 95

'where are we to set our settlements?
grant, father, an augury and glide into our spirits.'
scarcely had I spoken these things: suddenly everything seemed to tremble, 90
both the thresholds and the laurels of the god, and the whole mountain around to be set in motion,
and the tripod bellowed from the adyta, flung open.
bowed low we touch the earth, and a voice is borne to our ears:
'stout Dardanians, the land which first bore you from the stock of your parents,
the same will receive you with a glad, fertile bosom 95

accipiet reduces. antiquam exquirite matrem.
hic domus Aeneae cunctis dominabitur oris
et nati natorum et qui nascentur ab illis.'
haec Phoebus; mixtoque ingens exorta tumultu
laetitia, et cuncti quae sint ea moenia quaerunt, 100
quo Phoebus vocet errantis iubeatque reverti.

will receive you, returned. seek out your ancient mother.
here the house of Aeneas will dominate all shores
and the sons of your sons, and those who will be born from them.'
thus Phoebus; and, with tumult mingled, a vast joy arose,
and all ask what those walls may be, 100
whither Phoebus summons the wanderers and bids them return.

tum genitor veterum volvens monimenta virorum
'audite, o proceres,' ait 'et spes discite vestras.
Creta Iovis magni medio iacet insula ponto,
mons Idaeus ubi et gentis cunabula nostrae. 105
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. 110

then the father, turning over the memorials of men of old,
"hear, O nobles," he says, "and learn your hopes.
Crete, the island of great Jove, lies in the middle of the sea,
where the Idaean mountain is and the cradles of our race. 105
a hundred great cities people it, realms most fertile,
whence our greatest father, if I rightly recall the things heard,
Teucer was first borne to the Rhoetean shores,
and chose a place for a kingdom. Not yet had Ilium and the Pergamean citadels
stood; they were dwelling in the low valleys. 110

hinc mater cultrix Cybeli Corybantiaque aera
Idaeumque nemus, hinc fida silentia sacris,
et iuncti currum dominae subiere leones.
ergo agite et divum ducunt qua iussa sequamur:
placemus ventos et Cnosia regna petamus. 115
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 Apollo,
nigram Hiemi pecudem, Zephyris felicibus albam. 120

From here the Mother, worshiped as Cybele, the Corybantian bronzes, and the Idaean grove; from here the faithful silences for the rites, and the yoked lions went to draw the mistress’s chariot.
‘Therefore come, and let us follow where the commands of the gods lead:
let us placate the winds and seek the Cnosian realms. 115
nor do they lie at a long run: provided only that Jupiter be present,
the third light will set the fleet on Cretan shores.’
Thus having spoken he sacrificed the merited honors at the altars,
a bull to Neptune, a bull to you, fair Apollo,
a black victim to Winter, a white to the favorable Zephyrs. 120

Fama volat pulsum regnis cessisse paternis
Idomenea ducem, desertaque litora Cretae,
hoste vacare domum sedesque astare relictas.
linquimus Ortygiae portus pelagoque volamus
bacchatamque iugis Naxon viridemque Donusam, 125
Olearon niveamque Paron sparsasque per aequor
Cycladas, et crebris legimus freta concita terris.
nauticus exoritur vario certamine clamor:
hortantur socii Cretam proavosque petamus.

Rumor flies that Idomeneus the leader, driven from his paternal realms, has withdrawn,
and that the shores of Crete are deserted, that the home is void of foe and the seats stand left behind.
we leave the harbors of Ortygia and we fly over the sea,
and Bacchic Naxos on its ridges and green Donusa, 125
Olearos and snowy Paros and the Cyclades scattered across the level,
and we skim the straits stirred by the frequent lands.
a nautical clamor arises with varied rivalry:
the comrades exhort that we seek Crete and our forefathers.

prosequitur surgens a puppi ventus euntis, 130
et tandem antiquis Curetum adlabimur oris.
ergo avidus muros optatae molior urbis
Pergameamque voco, et laetam cognomine gentem
hortor amare focos arcemque attollere tectis.

a wind, rising from the stern, escorts us as we go, 130
and at last we glide to the ancient shores of the Curetes.
therefore, eager, I set about the walls of the longed-for city
and call it Pergamean, and the people, glad at the cognomen,
I urge to love the hearths and to raise a citadel with roofs.

Iamque fere sicco subductae litore puppes,               135
conubiis arvisque novis operata iuventus,
iura domosque dabam, subito cum tabida membris
corrupto caeli tractu miserandaque venit
arboribusque satisque lues et letifer annus.
linquebant dulcis animas aut aegra trahebant               140
corpora; tum sterilis exurere Sirius agros,
arebant herbae et victum seges aegra negabat.
rursus ad oraclum Ortygiae Phoebumque remenso
hortatur pater ire mari veniamque precari,
quam fessis finem rebus ferat, unde laborum               145

And now the sterns, hauled up on an almost dry shore,               135
the youth occupied with new connubial bonds and new fields,
I was giving laws and homes, when suddenly, from a corrupted tract of the sky,
there came a pest wasting in the limbs, a pitiable plague
upon trees and crops, and a death-bearing year.
Men were leaving their dear lives or dragging their sick               140
bodies; then Sirius began to burn the fields to sterility,
the grasses were parching and the ailing grain denied sustenance.
Again my father urges to go to the oracle of Ortygia and to Phoebus,
the sea having been crossed anew, and to pray for pardon,
what end he would bring to our weary affairs, whence for our labors               145

temptare auxilium iubeat, quo vertere cursus.

he may bid us to attempt aid, where to turn our course.

Nox erat et terris animalia somnus habebat:
effigies sacrae divum Phrygiique penates,
quos mecum a Troia mediisque ex ignibus urbis
extuleram, visi ante oculos astare iacentis               150
in somnis multo manifesti lumine, qua se
plena 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.               155
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.               160

It was night, and sleep held the creatures on the lands:
the sacred effigies of the gods and the Phrygian Penates,
whom I had borne out with me from Troy and from the very midst of the fires of the city,
seemed to stand before the eyes of me lying there in sleep, plainly revealed in much light, where the full moon was pouring itself through the set-in windows;               150
then thus to address me and to take away my cares with these words:
“what Apollo, when you are borne to Ortygia, is going to tell you,
here he sings, and lo, sends us unbidden to your thresholds.
we, having followed you when Dardania was aflame and your arms,
we, having measured the swelling sea beneath your command with fleets,               155
the same will raise your descendants to come to the stars
and will give empire to the city. You prepare great walls for the great,
and do not leave behind the long labor of flight.”               160

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 165
Italiam dixisse ducis de nomine gentem.

the seats must be changed. not these shores did the Delian or Apollo of Crete bid you settle.
there is a place, which the Grai call by the cognomen Hesperia,
an ancient land, potent in arms and in the richness of the glebe;
Oenotrian men have tilled it; now report has it that the younger generations 165
have called the nation Italy from the name of a leader.

hae nobis propriae sedes, hinc Dardanus ortus
Iasiusque pater, genus a quo principe nostrum.
surge age et haec laetus longaeuo dicta parenti
haud dubitanda refer: Corythum terrasque requirat 170
Ausonias; Dictaea negat tibi Iuppiter arva.'
talibus attonitus visis et voce deorum
(nec sopor illud erat, sed coram agnoscere vultus
velatasque comas praesentiaque ora videbar;
tum gelidus toto manabat corpore sudor) 175

these are for us our proper seats; from here Dardanus arose
and father Iasius, from whom as prince our race springs.
up then, come, and joyfully carry back these words, not to be doubted, to your long-lived parent:
let him seek Corythus and the Ausonian lands; 170
Jupiter denies to you the Dictean fields.'
thunderstruck by such visions and by the voice of the gods
(nor was that slumber, but I seemed face-to-face to recognize the faces
and the veiled tresses and the present visages;
then icy sweat was streaming over my whole body) 175

corripio e stratis corpus tendoque supinas
ad caelum cum voce manus et munera libo
intemerata focis. perfecto laetus honore
Anchisen facio certum remque ordine pando.
agnovit prolem ambiguam geminosque parentis, 180
seque novo veterum deceptum errore locorum.

I snatch my body from the bedclothes and stretch upturned
hands to heaven with my voice, and I libate gifts, undefiled, upon the hearths.
With the honor perfected, glad, I make Anchises certain and unfold the matter in order.
He recognized the ambiguous progeny and the twin parents, 180
and that he himself was deceived by a new error of ancient places.

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. 185
sed quis ad Hesperiae venturos litora Teucros
crederet? aut quem tum vates Cassandra moveret?

then he recounts: 'son, harried by Iliac fates,
Cassandra alone sang to me of such disasters.
now I recall that she portended these things, due to our race,
and often called it Hesperia, often the Italic realms. 185
but who would have believed the Teucrians would come to the shores of Hesperia,
or whom then would the prophetess Cassandra have moved?

cedamus Phoebo et moniti meliora sequamur.'
sic ait, et cuncti dicto paremus ovantes.
hanc quoque deserimus sedem paucisque relictis 190

'Let us yield to Phoebus and, admonished, follow better things.'
Thus he speaks, and we all obey the word, rejoicing.
we desert this seat as well, with a few left behind 190

vela damus vastumque cava trabe currimus aequor.

we set sail and in a hollow ship we run the vast sea.

Postquam altum tenuere rates nec iam amplius ullae
apparent terrae, caelum undique et undique pontus,
tum mihi caeruleus supra caput astitit imber
noctem hiememque ferens, et inhorruit unda tenebris.               195
continuo venti volvunt mare magnaque surgunt
aequora, dispersi iactamur gurgite vasto;
involvere diem nimbi et nox umida caelum
abstulit, ingeminant abruptis nubibus ignes,
excutimur cursu et caecis erramus in undis.               200
ipse diem noctemque negat discernere caelo
nec meminisse viae media Palinurus in unda.
tris adeo incertos caeca caligine soles
erramus pelago, totidem sine sidere noctes.
quarto terra die primum se attollere tandem               205

After the ships held the deep and no longer any lands
appear, sky on every side and on every side the sea,
then above my head a dark-blue rainstorm stood,
bringing night and winter, and the wave shuddered with darkness.               195
straightway the winds roll the sea and great waters rise;
scattered, we are tossed in the vast whirlpool;
the clouds enwrap the day, and dewy night has stolen the sky;
fires redouble from rent clouds;
we are shaken from our course and we wander on blind waves.               200
Palinurus himself, in mid-wave, says he cannot discern
day and night in the sky nor remember the way.
for three suns, so uncertain, in blind gloom we wander
on the sea, and just so many nights without a star.
on the fourth day at last land first begins to lift itself.               205

visa, aperire procul montis ac volvere fumum.
vela cadunt, remis insurgimus; haud mora, nautae
adnixi torquent spumas et caerula verrunt.
servatum ex undis Strophadum me litora primum
excipiunt.

seen, to open afar the mountains and to roll smoke.
the sails fall, we rise upon the oars; no delay, the sailors
straining, turn the foam and sweep the cerulean waters.
saved from the waves, the shores of the Strophades first
receive me.

Strophades Graio stant nomine dictae               210
insulae Ionio in magno, quas dira Celaeno
Harpyiaeque colunt aliae, Phineia postquam
clausa domus mensasque metu liquere priores.
tristius haud illis monstrum, nec saevior ulla
pestis et ira deum Stygiis sese extulit undis.               215
virginei volucrum vultus, foedissima ventris
proluvies uncaeque manus et pallida semper
ora fame.
huc ubi delati portus intravimus, ecce
laeta boum passim campis armenta videmus               220

The Strophades stand, called by a Greek name,               210
islands in the great Ionian, which dread Celaeno
and the other Harpies inhabit, after the Phineian
house was shut and they left their former tables in fear.
No monster sadder than they, nor any pest more savage,
and wrath of the gods, has lifted itself from Stygian waves.               215
maidenly faces of birds, the most foul outflow of the belly,
hooked hands, and faces ever pale
with hunger.
Hither, when borne down we entered the harbor—behold—
we see gladsome herds of oxen everywhere over the fields.               220

caprigenumque pecus nullo custode per herbas.
inruimus ferro et divos ipsumque vocamus
in partem praedamque Iovem; tum litore curvo
exstruimusque toros dapibusque epulamur opimis.
at subitae horrifico lapsu de montibus adsunt 225
Harpyiae et magnis quatiunt clangoribus alas,
diripiuntque dapes contactuque omnia foedant
immundo; tum vox taetrum dira inter odorem.

and a goat-kind herd with no keeper through the grasses.
we rush in with iron and call upon the gods and Jove himself
to a share of the prey; then on the curving shore
we pile up couches and banquet on rich viands.
but suddenly, with a horrific swoop, from the mountains there come 225
the Harpies, and with great clangors they shake their wings,
and they despoil the feasts and defile everything by their unclean
contact; then a dire voice amid the foul stench.

rursum in secessu longo sub rupe cavata
[arboribus clausam circum atque horrentibus umbris] 230
instruimus mensas arisque reponimus ignem;
rursum ex diverso caeli caecisque latebris
turba sonans praedam pedibus circumvolat uncis,
polluit ore dapes. sociis tunc arma capessant
edico, et dira bellum cum gente gerendum. 235

again in a long recess beneath a hollowed rock
[enclosed around by trees and by bristling shades] 230
we set up the tables and upon the altars we replace the fire;
again from the opposite quarter of the sky and from blind hiding-places
a sounding throng flies around the prey with hooked feet,
befouls the feast with its mouth. Then I order the comrades to take up arms,
and that war must be waged with the dire race. 235

haud secus ac iussi faciunt tectosque per herbam
disponunt ensis et scuta latentia condunt.
ergo ubi delapsae sonitum per curva dedere
litora, dat signum specula Misenus ab alta
aere cavo. invadunt socii et nova proelia temptant, 240
obscenas pelagi ferro foedare volucris.

not otherwise than as ordered they do, and, covered by the grass,
they dispose the swords and conceal the latent shields.
therefore when, having slipped down, they gave a sound along the curving
shores, Misenus from the high watch gives the signal with hollow bronze.
the comrades invade and attempt new battles, 240
to befoul with iron the obscene birds of the sea.

sed neque vim plumis ullam nec vulnera tergo
accipiunt, celerique fuga sub sidera lapsae
semesam praedam et vestigia foeda relinquunt.
una in praecelsa consedit rupe Celaeno, 245
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, 250

but they receive neither any force upon their feathers nor wounds on their back,
and, having slipped by swift flight beneath the stars,
they leave the half-eaten prey and foul footprints behind.
one, on a very high crag, Celaeno sat down, 245
an ill-fated prophetess, and bursts from her breast this voice:
'battle even in return for the slaughter of oxen and the strewn young bulls,
Laomedontiads, are you preparing to wage war,
and to drive the innocent Harpies from their ancestral realm?
receive then with your minds and fix these my words, 250

quae Phoebo pater omnipotens, mihi Phoebus Apollo
praedixit, vobis Furiarum ego maxima pando.
Italiam cursu petitis ventisque vocatis:
ibitis Italiam portusque intrare licebit.
sed non ante datam cingetis moenibus urbem 255
quam vos dira fames nostraeque iniuria caedis
ambesas subigat malis absumere mensas.'
dixit, et in silvam pennis ablata refugit.

what things the omnipotent Father to Phoebus, and Phoebus Apollo to me,
foretold, I, greatest of the Furies, disclose to you.
you seek Italy in your course and with the winds invoked:
you shall go to Italy, and it will be permitted to enter the harbors.
but not before will you gird the granted city with walls 255
than when dire famine and the injury of our slaughter
shall compel you to consume your tables, gnawed by jaws.'
she spoke, and borne off on her wings she fled back into the forest.

at sociis subita gelidus formidine sanguis
deriguit: cecidere animi, nec iam amplius armis, 260
sed votis precibusque iubent exposcere pacem,
sive deae seu sint dirae obscenaeque volucres.
et pater Anchises passis de litore palmis
numina magna vocat meritosque indicit honores:
'di, prohibete minas; di, talem avertite casum 265

but in the comrades their gelid blood stiffened with sudden fear:
their spirits fell, and now no longer with arms, 260
but with vows and prayers they bid that peace be sought,
whether they be goddesses or dire and ill‑omened birds.
and father Anchises, with palms outspread from the shore,
calls upon the great numina and proclaims the merited honors:
'gods, forbid the threats; gods, avert such a mishap 265

et placidi servate pios.' tum litore funem
deripere excussosque iubet laxare rudentis.
tendunt vela Noti: fugimus spumantibus undis
qua cursum ventusque gubernatorque vocabat.
iam medio apparet fluctu nemorosa Zacynthos 270
Dulichiumque Sameque et Neritos ardua saxis.

‘and, being placid, preserve the pious.’ Then from the shore he orders the cable to be torn away and the shaken ropes to be loosened.
The South Winds (Noti) stretch the sails: we flee on foaming waves where both the wind and the helmsman called the course.
Now in mid-swell wooded Zacynthos appears 270
and Dulichium and Same and Neritos, arduous with rocks.

effugimus scopulos Ithacae, Laertia regna,
et terram altricem saevi exsecramur Ulixi.
mox et Leucatae nimbosa cacumina montis
et formidatus nautis aperitur Apollo. 275
hunc petimus fessi et parvae succedimus urbi;
ancora de prora iacitur, stant litore puppes.

we flee the crags of Ithaca, the Laertian realms,
and we execrate the nurturing land of savage Ulysses.
soon too the cloud-laden summits of Mount Leucata
and Apollo dreaded by sailors comes into view. 275
we, weary, seek this place and enter the small city;
the anchor is cast from the prow, the ships stand on the shore.

Ergo insperata tandem tellure potiti
lustramurque Iovi votisque incendimus aras,
Actiaque Iliacis celebramus litora ludis.               280
exercent patrias oleo labente palaestras
nudati socii: iuvat evasisse tot urbes
Argolicas mediosque fugam tenuisse per hostis.
interea magnum sol circumvolvitur annum
et glacialis hiems Aquilonibus asperat undas.               285
aere cavo clipeum, magni gestamen Abantis,
postibus adversis figo et rem carmine signo:
Aeneas haec de Danais victoribus arma;
linquere tum portus iubeo et considere transtris.
certatim socii feriunt mare et aequora verrunt:               290

Therefore, having at last gained an unhoped-for land,
we are purified for Jove and with vows we kindle the altars,
and we celebrate the Actian shores with Iliac games.               280
the comrades, stripped, exercise the ancestral palestras with oil slipping,
it delights to have escaped so many Argolic cities
and to have maintained flight through the midst of enemies.
meanwhile the sun revolves the great year
and icy winter roughens the waves with the North Winds.               285
I fasten on the opposing doorposts the shield of hollow bronze, the gear of mighty Abas,
and I mark the matter by a verse:
Aeneas—these arms from the victorious Danaans;
then I order the harbors to be left and to sit at the thwarts.
vying eagerly the comrades strike the sea and sweep the waters:               290

protinus aerias Phaeacum abscondimus arces
litoraque Epiri legimus portuque subimus
Chaonio et celsam Buthroti accedimus urbem.

forthwith we hide from sight the airy citadels of the Phaeacians,
and we skirt the shores of Epirus and put in to the Chaonian harbor,
and we approach the lofty city of Buthrotum.

Hic incredibilis rerum fama occupat auris,
Priamiden Helenum Graias regnare per urbis               295
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,               300
sollemnis cum forte dapes et tristia dona
ante urbem in luco falsi Simoentis ad undam
libabat cineri Andromache manisque vocabat
Hectoreum ad tumulum, viridi quem caespite inanem
et geminas, causam lacrimis, sacraverat aras.               305

Here an unbelievable report of events occupies the ears,
that the Priamid, Helenus, is ruling through Greek cities,               295
that he has attained the marriage-bed of Aeacid Pyrrhus and the scepters,
and that Andromache has yielded again to a husband of her fatherland.
I was astounded, and my breast, inflamed with wondrous desire,
to address the man and to learn of such great fortunes.
I go forward, leaving the harbor and the shores,               300
when by chance Andromache was offering solemn feasts and sad gifts
before the city, in a grove, by the wave of the false Simois,
pouring a libation to the ash and calling the shades
at Hector’s tomb, empty, which with green turf
and twin altars—cause for tears—she had consecrated.               305

ut me conspexit venientem et Troia circum
arma amens vidit, magnis exterrita monstris
deriguit visu in medio, calor ossa reliquit,
labitur, et longo vix tandem tempore fatur:
'verane te facies, verus mihi nuntius adfers, 310
nate dea? vivisne? aut, si lux alma recessit,
Hector ubi est?' dixit, lacrimasque effudit et omnem
implevit clamore locum.

as she caught sight of me coming and, out of her mind, saw the arms of Troy all around,
terrified by great portents,
she grew rigid in mid-sight, the heat left her bones,
she totters, and only after a long time at last she speaks:
'Is your face true, do you bring me a true message, 310
son of a goddess? Do you live? Or, if the kindly light has withdrawn,
where is Hector?' she said, and she poured out tears and filled the whole place with clamor.

vix pauca furenti
subicio et raris turbatus vocibus hisco:
'vivo equidem vitamque extrema per omnia duco; 315
ne dubita, nam vera vides.
heu! quis te casus deiectam coniuge tanto
excipit, aut quae digna satis fortuna revisit,
Hectoris Andromache?

scarcely do I subjoin a few to the frenzied one,
and, troubled, I open my mouth with sparse words:
'I live indeed, and I carry my life through all extremities; 315
do not doubt, for you behold true things.
alas! what fate receives you, cast down from so great a consort,
or what fortune worthy enough revisits you,
Andromache of Hector?'

Pyrrhin conubia servas?'
deiecit vultum et demissa voce locuta est: 320

'Do you keep the connubial bonds for Pyrrhus?'
she cast down her countenance and spoke in a lowered voice: 320

'o felix una ante alias Priameia virgo,
hostilem ad tumulum Troiae sub moenibus altis
iussa mori, quae sortitus non pertulit ullos
nec victoris heri tetigit captiva cubile!
nos patria incensa diversa per aequora vectae               325
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 flammatus amore               330
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,               335

'O happy, alone before others, Priameian maiden,
ordered to die at the hostile tomb beneath Troy’s lofty walls,
who did not endure any casting of lots,
nor, a captive, touch the bed of a conquering master!
we, with our fatherland burned, carried over diverse seas,               325
having borne in servitude, endured the haughtiness of the Achillean stock and the overproud youth;
who then, pursuing Ledaean Hermione and Lacedaemonian hymenaeals,
sent me to the servitor Helenus, to be held as a handmaid.
But him, inflamed with great love for the snatched-away spouse and agitated by the Furies of his crimes, Orestes               330
catches unawares and cuts him down at his fathers’ altars.
With the death of Neoptolemus, a portion of the realms, restored, fell
to Helenus, who by cognomen named the Chaonian fields
and all Chaonia from the Trojan Chaon.               335

Pergamaque Iliacamque iugis hanc addidit arcem.
sed tibi qui cursum venti, quae fata dedere?
aut quisnam ignarum nostris deus appulit oris?

and he added Pergama and this Iliac citadel upon the ridges.
but for you, what winds set your course, what fates have granted it?
or what god drove you, unknowing, to our shores?

quid puer Ascanius? superatne et vescitur aura?
quem tibi iam Troia— 340
ecqua tamen puero est amissae cura parentis?

What of the boy Ascanius? Does he survive and feed on the air?
whom now to you has Troy— 340
yet has the boy any care for his lost parent?

ecquid in antiquam virtutem animosque virilis
et pater Aeneas et avunculus excitat Hector?'
talia fundebat lacrimans longosque ciebat
incassum fletus, cum sese a moenibus heros 345
Priamides multis Helenus comitantibus adfert,
agnoscitque suos laetusque ad limina ducit,
et multum lacrimas verba inter singula fundit.
procedo et parvam Troiam simulataque magnis
Pergama et arentem Xanthi cognomine rivum 350

“does at all into ancient valor and virile spirits
both father Aeneas and his uncle Hector arouse him?”
Weeping she was pouring forth such words and was stirring
long tears in vain, when from the walls the hero, 345
the Priamid, Helenus, with many accompanying, presents himself;
and he recognizes his own and gladly leads [us] to the thresholds,
and between each several word he pours out many tears.
I proceed and [see] a little Troy and a Pergama simulated after the great,
and a parched stream by the by-name of Xanthus. 350

agnosco, Scaeaeque amplector limina portae;
nec non et Teucri socia simul urbe fruuntur.
illos porticibus rex accipiebat in amplis:
aulai medio libabant pocula Bacchi
impositis auro dapibus, paterasque tenebant. 355

I recognize, and I embrace the thresholds of the Scaean gate;
and indeed the Teucrians likewise together enjoy the allied city.
the king was receiving them in spacious porticoes:
in the middle of the hall they were libating cups of Bacchus,
with banquets set upon gold, and they were holding paterae. 355

Iamque dies alterque dies processit, et aurae
vela vocant tumidoque inflatur carbasus Austro:
his vatem adgredior dictis ac talia quaeso:
'Troiugena, interpres divum, qui numina Phoebi,
qui tripodas Clarii et laurus, qui sidera sentis               360
et volucrum linguas et praepetis omina pennae,
fare age (namque omnis cursum mihi prospera dixit
religio, et cuncti suaserunt numine divi
Italiam petere et terras temptare repostas;
sola novum dictuque nefas Harpyia Celaeno               365
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 divum vittasque resolvit               370

And now a day and another day has advanced, and the breezes
call the sails, and the canvas is swelled by the swollen South Wind:
to him, the seer, I approach with these words and ask such things:
‘Trojan-born, interpreter of the gods, you who sense the numina of Phoebus,
who the Clarian tripods and laurels, who the stars you perceive               360
and the tongues of birds and the omens of the auspicious wing,
speak, come now (for every religious observance has declared a favorable
course for me, and all the gods by their numen have urged
to seek Italy and to attempt the lands lying remote;
only the Harpy Celaeno sings a portent new and abominable to tell               365
and announces gloomy wraths and obscene hunger), what first dangers do I avoid?
or, following, by what means might I be able to overcome such great labors?’
Here Helenus, with young bulls slain according to custom,
first entreats the peace of the gods and loosens the fillets.               370

sacrati capitis, meque ad tua limina, Phoebe,
ipse manu multo suspensum numine ducit,
atque haec deinde canit divino ex ore sacerdos:

of the consecrated head, and me to your thresholds, Phoebus,
he himself leads by the hand, held in suspense by much numen,
and then the priest sings these things from a divine mouth:

'Nate dea (nam te maioribus ire per altum
auspiciis manifesta fides; sic fata deum rex               375
sortitur voluitque vices, is vertitur ordo),
pauca tibi e multis, quo tutior hospita lustres
aequora et Ausonio possis considere portu,
expediam dictis; prohibent nam cetera Parcae
scire Helenum farique vetat Saturnia Iuno.                380
principio Italiam, quam tu iam rere propinquam
vicinosque, ignare, paras invadere portus,
longa procul longis via dividit invia terris.
ante et Trinacria lentandus remus in unda
et salis Ausonii lustrandum navibus aequor               385

'Son of the goddess (for clear assurance is that you go over the deep under greater auspices; thus the king of the gods allots the fates and has willed the vicissitudes—so the order is turned),
a few things for you out of many, that as a guest you may scan the waters more safely and may be able to settle in an Ausonian port,
I will unfold in words; for the Parcae forbid the rest to be known by Helenus, and Saturnian Juno forbids him to speak. 380
first, Italy, which you already suppose near and, unknowing, you prepare to invade the neighboring harbors,
a long, pathless way across long stretches of land separates far off.
and first the oar must be bent on the Trinacrian wave,
and the plain of Ausonian brine must be traversed by ships 385

infernique lacus Aeaeaeque insula Circae,
quam tuta possis urbem componere terra.
signa tibi dicam, tu condita mente teneto:
cum tibi sollicito secreti ad fluminis undam
litoreis ingens inventa sub ilicibus sus 390
triginta capitum fetus enixa iacebit,
alba solo recubans, albi circum ubera nati,
is locus urbis erit, requies ea certa laborum.
nec tu mensarum morsus horresce futuros:
fata viam invenient aderitque vocatus Apollo. 395
has autem terras Italique hanc litoris oram,
proxima quae nostri perfunditur aequoris aestu,
effuge; cuncta malis habitantur moenia Grais.

and the lakes of the underworld and the Aeaean island of Circe,
before you can establish a city on safe land.
I will tell you the signs; keep them laid away in your mind:
when, in your anxiety, by the water of a secluded river
beneath the shore-side holm-oaks a huge sow, found, 390
having farrowed a brood of thirty heads, will lie,
white, reclining on the ground, her white young around her teats,
that place will be the site of a city; that will be the sure rest of your labors.
nor dread the future bites of tables:
the Fates will find a way, and Apollo will be present when invoked. 395
but these lands and this edge of the Italian shore,
which, nearest, is bathed by the surge of our sea,
flee; all the walls are inhabited by hostile Greeks.

hic et Narycii posuerunt moenia Locri,
et Sallentinos obsedit milite campos 400

here too the Narycian Locri set up walls,
and the Salentine fields he besieged with soldiery 400

Lyctius Idomeneus; hic illa ducis Meliboei
parva Philoctetae subnixa Petelia muro.
quin ubi transmissae steterint trans aequora classes
et positis aris iam vota in litore solves,
purpureo velare comas adopertus amictu, 405
ne qua inter sanctos ignis in honore deorum
hostilis facies occurrat et omina turbet.
hunc socii morem sacrorum, hunc ipse teneto;
hac casti maneant in religione nepotes.

Lyctian Idomeneus; here little Petelia, propped upon the wall of Philoctetes, the Meliboean leader.
and when the fleets, carried across the seas, shall have come to a halt, and, the altars set up, you will now discharge your vows on the shore,
with a purple mantle drawn over you, veil your hair, 405
lest any hostile visage meet you among the holy fires in honor of the gods and disturb the omens.
let your comrades keep this custom of sacred rites, you yourself hold to it;
in this religion let your chaste descendants remain.

ast ubi digressum Siculae te admoverit orae 410
ventus, et angusti rarescent claustra Pelori,
laeva tibi tellus et longo laeva petantur
aequora circuitu; dextrum fuge litus et undas.
haec loca vi quondam et vasta convulsa ruina
(tantum aevi longinqua valet mutare vetustas) 415

but when a wind has brought you, having departed, to the Sicilian shore 410
and the barriers of narrow Pelorus begin to thin,
let the land on the left and the leftward seas be sought
by a long circuit; flee the right-hand shore and the waves.
these places once were torn asunder by force and by a vast ruin
(so much can long-distant antiquity avail to change) 415

dissiluisse ferunt, cum protinus utraque tellus
una foret: venit medio vi pontus et undis
Hesperium Siculo latus abscidit, arvaque et urbes
litore diductas angusto interluit aestu.
dextrum Scylla latus, laevum implacata Charybdis 420
obsidet, atque imo barathri ter gurgite vastos
sorbet in abruptum fluctus rursusque sub auras
erigit alternos, et sidera verberat unda.
at Scyllam caecis cohibet spelunca latebris
ora exsertantem et navis in saxa trahentem. 425
prima hominis facies et pulchro pectore virgo
pube tenus, postrema immani corpore pistrix
delphinum caudas utero commissa luporum.

they say it burst asunder, when before each land was one: the sea came with force into the middle and with its waves abscinded the Hesperian side from the Sicilian, and laves between fields and cities drawn apart by a narrow shore-tide.
on the right Scylla besieges the side, on the left implacable Charybdis 420
and with the triple whirl of the abyss she swallows huge waves down into the precipice and again lifts them back up beneath the airs in alternation, and the wave lashes the stars.
but a cave in blind lairs restrains Scylla, thrusting out her mouths and dragging ships onto the rocks. 425
the first part has a human visage and, with a fair breast, is a maiden as far as the pubes; the last a sea-monster with an immense body, the tails of dolphins joined to the bellies of wolves.

praestat Trinacrii metas lustrare Pachyni
cessantem, longos et circumflectere cursus, 430

It is better, lingering, to survey the metes of Trinacrian Pachynus,
and to bend long courses around, 430

quam semel informem vasto vidisse sub antro
Scyllam et caeruleis canibus resonantia saxa.
praeterea, si qua est Heleno prudentia vati,
si qua fides, animum si veris implet Apollo,
unum illud tibi, nate dea, proque omnibus unum               435
praedicam et repetens iterumque iterumque monebo,
Iunonis magnae primum prece numen adora,
Iunoni cane vota libens dominamque potentem
supplicibus supera donis: sic denique victor
Trinacria finis Italos mittere relicta.               440
huc ubi delatus Cumaeam accesseris urbem
divinosque lacus et Averna sonantia silvis,
insanam vatem aspicies, quae rupe sub ima
fata canit foliisque notas et nomina mandat.
quaecumque in foliis descripsit carmina virgo               445

than once to have seen formless Scylla beneath her vast cave
and the rocks resounding with cerulean hounds.
furthermore, if there is any prudence to Helenus the vates,
if any faith, if Apollo fills the mind with truths,
this one thing for you, son of the goddess—and in place of all, one thing—               435
I will proclaim, and repeating I will warn again and again:
by prayer first adore the numen of great Juno,
gladly chant vows to Juno and with suppliant gifts overcome
the powerful mistress: thus at last, as victor,
with Trinacria left behind, to make for the Italian borders.               440
here, when borne thither you shall have approached the Cumaean city
and the divine lakes and the Avernian places resounding with forests,
you will behold the frenzied vates, who beneath the lowest rock
sings the fates and entrusts marks and names to leaves.
whatever songs the maiden has inscribed upon the leaves               445

digerit in numerum atque antro seclusa relinquit:
illa manent immota locis neque ab ordine cedunt.
verum eadem, verso tenuis cum cardine ventus
impulit et teneras turbavit ianua frondes,
numquam deinde cavo volitantia prendere saxo 450
nec revocare situs aut iungere carmina curat:
inconsulti abeunt sedemque odere Sibyllae.
hic tibi ne qua morae fuerint dispendia tanti,
quamvis increpitent socii et vi cursus in altum
vela vocet, possisque sinus implere secundos, 455
quin adeas vatem precibusque oracula poscas
ipsa canat vocemque volens atque ora resolvat.

she arranges them into number and, secluded in her cavern, leaves them:
those remain unmoved in their places nor do they depart from their order.
but the same, when a slight wind with the hinge turned
has driven, and the door has disturbed the tender fronds,
never thereafter does she care to catch them, flying in the hollow rock, 450
nor to recall their placements or to yoke the verses together:
they go away unadvised and hate the seat of the Sibyl.
here, lest any delays be losses of so great a matter for you,
although comrades chide and the force of the course into the deep
calls the sails, and you can fill the favoring folds, 455
nevertheless approach the prophetess and with prayers ask for oracles,
that she herself may sing and, willing, unloose her voice and lips.

illa tibi Italiae populos venturaque bella
et quo quemque modo fugiasque ferasque laborem
expediet, cursusque dabit venerata secundos. 460

she will unfold for you the peoples of Italy and the wars to come
and by what manner you should both flee and bear each labor,
and, once venerated, will give favorable courses. 460

haec sunt quae nostra liceat te voce moneri.
vade age et ingentem factis fer ad aethera Troiam.'

these are the things which it is permitted that you be advised by our voice.
go on now, and by your deeds bear mighty Troy to the aether.'

Quae postquam vates sic ore effatus amico est,
dona dehinc auro gravia ac secto elephanto
imperat ad navis ferri, stipatque carinis 465
ingens argentum Dodonaeosque lebetas,
loricam consertam hamis auroque trilicem,
et conum insignis galeae cristasque comantis,
arma Neoptolemi. sunt et sua dona parenti.
addit equos, additque duces, 470
remigium supplet, socios simul instruit armis.

After the vates had thus with friendly voice spoken,
then he orders gifts, heavy with gold and carved ivory,
to be borne to the ships, and he packs in the hulls 465
huge silver and Dodonaean cauldrons,
a corselet interlinked with hooks and triple-woven with gold,
and the cone of a distinguished helmet and its flowing crests,
the arms of Neoptolemus. There are also his own gifts for the father.
He adds horses, and he adds captains, 470
he supplies the oar-crew, and at the same time equips the comrades with arms.

Interea classem velis aptare iubebat
Anchises, fieret vento mora ne qua ferenti.
quem Phoebi interpres multo compellat honore:
'coniugio, Anchisa, Veneris dignate superbo, 475
cura deum, bis Pergameis erepte ruinis,
ecce tibi Ausoniae tellus: hanc arripe velis.
et tamen hanc pelago praeterlabare necesse est:
Ausoniae pars illa procul quam pandit Apollo.

Meanwhile Anchises was bidding the fleet be fitted with sails,
lest there be any delay to the bearing wind. whom the interpreter of Phoebus addresses with much honor:
'By the proud marriage of Venus, Anchises, deemed worthy, 475
care of the gods, twice snatched from the Pergamean ruins,
behold for you the land of Ausonia: seize this with your sails.
And yet it is necessary that you glide past this on the sea:
that is a far part of Ausonia which Apollo unfolds.

vade,' ait 'o felix nati pietate. quid ultra 480
provehor et fando surgentis demoror Austros?'
nec minus Andromache digressu maesta supremo
fert picturatas auri subtemine vestis
et Phrygiam Ascanio chlamydem (nec cedit honore)
textilibusque onerat donis, ac talia fatur: 485

go,' he says 'O happy in a son's piety. Why do I proceed further and by speaking delay the rising South Winds?' 480
no less does Andromache, sorrowful at the final parting,
bring garments figured with a gold weft,
and a Phrygian chlamys for Ascanius (nor does it yield in honor),
and she loads him with woven gifts, and speaks such words: 485

'accipe et haec, manuum tibi quae monimenta mearum
sint, puer, et longum Andromachae testentur amorem,
coniugis Hectoreae. cape dona extrema tuorum,
o mihi sola mei super Astyanactis imago.
sic oculos, sic ille manus, sic ora ferebat; 490
et nunc aequali tecum pubesceret aevo.'
hos ego digrediens lacrimis adfabar obortis:
'vivite felices, quibus est fortuna peracta
iam sua: nos alia ex aliis in fata vocamur.

'receive also these, which may be the monuments of my hands to you,
boy, and let them bear witness to the long love of Andromache,
the spouse of Hector. take the last gifts of your own people,
O you, to me the sole image remaining of my Astyanax.
thus the eyes, thus those hands, thus he bore his visage; 490
and now he would be growing to manhood with you in equal age.'
these I, departing, addressed with tears welling up:
'live happy, you for whom your own fortune is now completed;
we are called from one fate to another.

vobis parta quies: nullum maris aequor arandum, 495
arva neque Ausoniae semper cedentia retro
quaerenda. effigiem Xanthi Troiamque videtis
quam vestrae fecere manus, melioribus, opto,
auspiciis, et quae fuerit minus obvia Grais.
si quando Thybrim vicinaque Thybridis arva 500

for you rest has been obtained: no expanse of sea to be ploughed, 495
nor the fields of Ausonia ever receding backward
to be sought. you behold an effigy of Xanthus and a Troy
which your hands have made, under better, I hope, auspices,
and one that may have been less in the way of the Greeks.
if ever the Tiber and the fields neighboring the Tiber 500

intraro gentique meae data moenia cernam,
cognatas urbes olim populosque propinquos,
Epiro Hesperiam (quibus idem Dardanus auctor
atque idem casus), unam faciemus utramque
Troiam animis: maneat nostros ea cura nepotes.' 505

I shall enter and behold the walls granted to my race,
kindred cities once and peoples neighboring,
Epirus and Hesperia (for whom the same Dardanus is founder
and the same fate), we will make both into one
Troy in our minds: let that care abide for our descendants.' 505

Prouehimur pelago vicina Ceraunia iuxta,
unde iter Italiam cursusque brevissimus undis.
sol ruit interea et montes umbrantur opaci;
sternimur optatae gremio telluris ad undam
sortiti remos passimque in litore sicco 510
corpora curamus, fessos sopor inrigat artus.
necdum orbem medium Nox Horis acta subibat:
haud segnis strato surgit Palinurus et omnis
explorat ventos atque auribus aera captat;
sidera cuncta notat tacito labentia caelo, 515
Arcturum pluviasque Hyadas geminosque Triones,
armatumque auro circumspicit Oriona.

We are borne forward on the sea hard by the Ceraunian heights,
whence the journey to Italy and the shortest course upon the waves.
meanwhile the sun rushes down and the dark mountains are shadowed;
we lie down in the bosom of the longed-for earth beside the wave,
having allotted the oars, and everywhere on the dry shore 510
we tend our bodies; sleep inrigates our weary limbs.
nor yet had Night, driven by the Hours, reached the middle of her orb:
not slothful, from his couch Palinurus rises and explores
all the winds and with his ears catches the air;
he notes all the stars gliding in the silent sky, 515
Arcturus and the rainy Hyades and the twin Bears,
and he looks around at Orion armed with gold.

postquam cuncta videt caelo constare sereno,
dat clarum e puppi signum; nos castra movemus
temptamusque viam et velorum pandimus alas. 520

After he sees that all things stand fast with the sky serene,
he gives a clear signal from the stern; we move the camp
and attempt the way and spread the wings of the sails. 520

Iamque rubescebat stellis Aurora fugatis
cum procul obscuros collis humilemque videmus
Italiam. Italiam primus conclamat Achates,
Italiam laeto socii clamore salutant.
tum pater Anchises magnum cratera corona 525
induit implevitque mero, divosque vocavit
stans celsa in puppi:
'di maris et terrae tempestatumque potentes,
ferte viam vento facilem et spirate secundi.'
crebrescunt optatae aurae portusque patescit 530
iam propior, templumque apparet in arce Minervae;
vela legunt socii et proras ad litora torquent.

And now Dawn was reddening, the stars put to flight,
when from afar we see shadowy hills and low-lying
Italy. “Italy!” Achates is first to cry out;
“Italy!” the comrades salute with joyful clamor.
then father Anchises decked the great krater with a garland 525
and filled it with unmixed wine, and he called upon the divinities,
standing on the lofty stern:
“gods of sea and land and you powers of storms,
make the way easy with wind and breathe favorable breezes.”
the longed-for airs grow frequent, and a harbor lies open 530
now nearer, and a temple appears on Minerva’s citadel;
the comrades gather in the sails and turn the prows to the shores.

portus ab Euroo fluctu curvatus in arcum,
obiectae salsa spumant aspergine cautes,
ipse latet: gemino demittunt bracchia muro 535

a harbor, curved into an arc by the Euroean billow,
the out-thrust rocks foam with briny spray,
the harbor itself lies hidden: with a twin wall its arms are let down 535

turriti scopuli refugitque ab litore templum.
quattuor hic, primum omen, equos in gramine vidi
tondentis campum late, candore nivali.
et pater Anchises 'bellum, o terra hospita, portas:
bello armantur equi, bellum haec armenta minantur.

turreted crags, and the temple recedes from the shore.
Here, the first omen, I saw four horses on the grass
grazing the plain far and wide, with snowy whiteness.
and father Anchises: 'war, O hospitable land, you bear:
for war the horses are armed, war these herds threaten.

540
sed tamen idem olim curru succedere sueti
quadripedes et frena iugo concordia ferre:
spes et pacis' ait. tum numina sancta precamur
Palladis armisonae, quae prima accepit ovantis,
et capita ante aras Phrygio velamur amictu, 545
praeceptisque Heleni, dederat quae maxima, rite
Iunoni Argiuae iussos adolemus honores.

540
but yet these same four‑footed ones, once upon a time, were accustomed to come beneath the chariot
and to bear the bits in concord with the yoke: “hope even of peace,” he says.
then we pray to the holy numina of Pallas, arms‑sounding, who first received us exultant,
and we veil our heads before the altars with a Phrygian mantle, 545
and, by the precepts of Helenus, which he had given as greatest, we duly
burn the commanded honors to Argive Juno.

Haud mora, continuo perfectis ordine votis
cornua velatarum obuertimus antemnarum,
Graiugenumque domos suspectaque linquimus arva. 550
hinc sinus Herculei (si vera est fama) Tarenti
cernitur, attollit se diva Lacinia contra,
Caulonisque arces et navifragum Scylaceum.
tum procul e fluctu Trinacria cernitur Aetna,
et gemitum ingentem pelagi pulsataque saxa 555
audimus longe fractasque ad litora voces,
exsultantque vada atque aestu miscentur harenae.
et pater Anchises 'nimirum hic illa Charybdis:
hos Helenus scopulos, haec saxa horrenda canebat.

No delay: straightway, with our vows completed in due order,
we turn the horns of the veiled yards,
and we leave the homes of the Greek‑born and the suspect fields. 550
from here the bay of Herculean Tarentum (if the report is true)
is discerned; the divine Lacinian lifts herself opposite,
and the citadels of Caulon and ship‑wrecking Scylaceum.
then far off from the swell Trinacrian Aetna is seen,
and we hear from afar the vast groan of the sea and the rocks smitten, 555
and voices broken on the shores,
and the shallows leap and the sands are mingled by the surge.
and father Anchises: 'Surely this is that Charybdis:
these rocks, these dreadful stones, was Helenus singing of.'

eripite, o socii, pariterque insurgite remis.' 560

snatch us away, O comrades, and together rise up with the oars.' 560

haud minus ac iussi faciunt, primusque rudentem
contorsit laevas proram Palinurus ad undas;
laevam cuncta cohors remis ventisque petivit.
tollimur in caelum curvato gurgite, et idem
subducta ad Manis imos desedimus unda. 565
ter scopuli clamorem inter cava saxa dedere,
ter spumam elisam et rorantia vidimus astra.
interea fessos ventus cum sole reliquit,
ignarique viae Cyclopum adlabimur oris.

no less than as ordered they do, and Palinurus first twisted the groaning
prow to the left-hand waves; the whole cohort sought the left with oars and winds.
we are lifted to the sky on a curved surge, and likewise
with the wave drawn down we settle down to the lowest Manes. 565
thrice the crags gave a shout amid the hollow rocks,
thrice we saw the foam hurled out and the stars dripping.
meanwhile the wind with the sun abandoned the weary,
and, ignorant of the way, we glide to the shores of the Cyclopes.

Portus ab accessu ventorum immotus et ingens               570
ipse: sed horrificis iuxta tonat Aetna ruinis,
interdumque atram prorumpit ad aethera nubem
turbine fumantem piceo et candente favilla,
attollitque globos flammarum et sidera lambit;
interdum scopulos avulsaque viscera montis               575
erigit eructans, liquefactaque saxa sub auras
cum gemitu glomerat fundoque exaestuat imo.
fama est Enceladi semustum fulmine corpus
urgeri mole hac, ingentemque insuper Aetnam
impositam ruptis flammam exspirare caminis,               580

The harbor itself is immobile from the access of winds and immense;               570
but nearby Aetna thunders with horrific ruins,
and sometimes bursts forth a black cloud to the aether,
smoking with a pitchy whirlwind and glowing cinder,
and it lifts globes of flames and licks the stars;
at times, belching, it heaves up crags and the torn-out entrails of the mountain,               575
and it rolls together liquefied rocks up into the breezes with a groan,
and boils over from the lowest depth. The report is that the half-burnt body of Enceladus,
by a thunderbolt, is pressed by this mass, and that huge Aetna above,
set upon him, breathes out flame from broken furnaces,               580

et fessum quotiens mutet latus, intremere omnem
murmure Trinacriam et caelum subtexere fumo.
noctem illam tecti silvis immania monstra
perferimus, nec quae sonitum det causa videmus.
nam neque erant astrorum ignes nec lucidus aethra 585
siderea polus, obscuro sed nubila caelo,
et lunam in nimbo nox intempesta tenebat.

and as often as the weary one shifts his side, all Trinacria trembles
with a rumble, and the sky is veiled with smoke.
that night, sheltered in the woods, we endure enormous monsters,
and we do not see what cause gives the sound.
for neither were there the fires of the stars nor was the sidereal pole bright in the aether 585
but the sky was dark with clouds,
and untimely night held the moon in a storm-cloud.

Postera iamque dies primo surgebat Eoo
umentemque Aurora polo dimoverat umbram,
cum subito e silvis macie confecta suprema               590
ignoti nova forma viri miserandaque cultu
procedit supplexque manus ad litora tendit.
respicimus. dira inluvies immissaque barba,
consertum tegimen spinis: at cetera Graius,
et quondam patriis ad Troiam missus in armis.               595
isque ubi Dardanios habitus et Troia vidit
arma procul, paulum aspectu conterritus haesit
continuitque gradum; mox sese ad litora praeceps
cum fletu precibusque tulit: 'per sidera testor,
per superos atque hoc caeli spirabile lumen,               600

And now the next day was rising with the first Dawn,
and Aurora had removed the dripping shadow from the pole,
when suddenly from the woods, wasted by utmost leanness,               590
a new form of an unknown man, pitiable in attire,
comes forth and as a suppliant stretches his hands to the shores.
We look back. Dreadful filthiness and a beard let down,
a covering woven together with thorns: but in other respects a Greek,
and once sent to Troy in his country’s arms.               595
And when he saw from afar Dardanian garb and Trojan arms
he, somewhat terrified at the sight, halted and checked his step;
soon headlong he bore himself to the shores with weeping and prayers:
‘I call to witness by the stars,
by the gods above and this breathable light of heaven,               600

tollite me, Teucri. quascumque abducite terras:
hoc sat erit. scio me Danais e classibus unum
et bello Iliacos fateor petiisse penatis.

take me up, Teucrians. carry me off to whatever lands:
this will suffice. I know that I am one from the fleets of the Danaans,
and I confess that in war I sought the Iliac Penates.

pro quo, si sceleris tanta est iniuria nostri,
spargite me in fluctus vastoque immergite ponto; 605
si pereo, hominum manibus periisse iuvabit.'
dixerat et genua amplexus genibusque volutans
haerebat. qui sit fari, quo sanguine cretus,
hortamur, quae deinde agitet fortuna fateri.
ipse pater dextram Anchises haud multa moratus 610
dat iuveni atque animum praesenti pignore firmat.

in return for which, if the outrage of our crime is so great,
scatter me into the billows and immerse me in the vast deep; 605
if I perish, it will gladden me to have perished by the hands of men.'
He had spoken, and, embracing the knees and rolling at the knees,
he clung fast. We urge him to say who he is, of what blood begotten,
to confess what fortune next drives him. Father Anchises himself, not delaying with many words, 610
gives his right hand to the youth and strengthens his spirit with the present pledge.

ille haec deposita tandem formidine fatur:
'sum patria ex Ithaca, comes infelicis Ulixi,
nomine Achaemenides, Troiam genitore Adamasto
paupere (mansissetque utinam fortuna!) profectus. 615

he, with fear at last laid aside, speaks these things:
'I am from Ithaca, my fatherland, a companion of ill-fated Ulysses,
by name Achaemenides, having set out for Troy with my father Adamastus,
a poor man (and would that fortune had remained so!).' 615

hic me, dum trepidi crudelia limina linquunt,
immemores socii vasto Cyclopis in antro
deseruere. domus sanie dapibusque cruentis,
intus opaca, ingens. ipse arduus, altaque pulsat
sidera (di talem terris avertite pestem!) 620
nec visu facilis nec dictu adfabilis ulli;
visceribus miserorum et sanguine vescitur atro.

here, while my panic-stricken comrades leave the cruel thresholds, forgetful, they deserted me in the vast cave of the Cyclops. the house, foul with gore and bloody banquets, dark within, enormous. he himself towering, and he strikes the lofty stars (gods, avert such a pest from the lands!) 620
neither easy to behold nor affable in speech to anyone; he feeds on the viscera of the wretched and on black blood.

vidi egomet duo de numero cum corpora nostro
prensa manu magna medio resupinus in antro
frangeret ad saxum, sanieque aspersa natarent 625
limina; vidi atro cum membra fluentia tabo
manderet et tepidi tremerent sub dentibus artus—
haud impune quidem, nec talia passus Ulixes
oblitusue sui est Ithacus discrimine tanto.
nam simul expletus dapibus vinoque sepultus 630

I myself saw when he took two bodies from our number
grasped in his great hand, he, lying back, in the middle of the cave,
and was shattering them against the rock, and, spattered with gore, there swam 625
the thresholds; I saw when he would chew the limbs streaming with black gore,
and warm joints trembled beneath his teeth—
not unpunished, indeed, nor did Ulysses suffer such things,
the Ithacan, nor forget himself in so great a crisis.
for as soon as, filled with the feasts and buried in wine, 630

cervicem inflexam posuit, iacuitque per antrum
immensus saniem eructans et frusta cruento
per somnum commixta mero, nos magna precati
numina sortitique vices una undique circum
fundimur, et telo lumen terebramus acuto               635
ingens quod torva solum sub fronte latebat,
Argolici clipei aut Phoebeae lampadis instar,
et tandem laeti sociorum ulciscimur umbras.
sed fugite, o miseri, fugite atque ab litore funem
rumpite.                                                            640
nam qualis quantusque cavo Polyphemus in antro
lanigeras claudit pecudes atque ubera pressat,
centum alii curva haec habitant ad litora vulgo
infandi Cyclopes et altis montibus errant.
tertia iam lunae se cornua lumine complent               645

he laid his bent neck down, and immense he lay through the cave,
belching gore and chunks through sleep, mingled with bloody
wine; we, having prayed to the great numina and having drawn lots
for our turns, all at once from every side spread around him,
and with a sharp weapon we bore through the light               635
huge, which alone beneath his grim brow lay hidden,
like an Argolic shield or a Phoebean lamp; and at last, rejoicing,
we avenge the shades of our comrades. But flee, O wretches, flee, and from
the shore snap the rope.                                                            640
for such in kind and so great in size as Polyphemus in the hollow cave
pens his wool-bearing flocks and presses the udders,
a hundred other unspeakable Cyclopes commonly inhabit
these curving shores and wander on the lofty mountains.
already the third horns of the moon are filling themselves with light.               645

cum vitam in silvis inter deserta ferarum
lustra domosque traho vastosque ab rupe Cyclopas
prospicio sonitumque pedum vocemque tremesco.
victum infelicem, bacas lapidosaque corna,
dant rami, et vulsis pascunt radicibus herbae. 650
omnia conlustrans hanc primum ad litora classem
conspexi venientem. huic me, quaecumque fuisset,
addixi: satis est gentem effugisse nefandam.

since I drag my life in the forests among the deserted lairs and homes of the beasts,
and from the crag I look out upon the vast Cyclopes and I tremble at the sound of their feet and their voice.
the branches give wretched victuals, berries and stony cornels,
and the herbs feed me with roots torn up. 650
scanning all things I first caught sight of this fleet coming to the shores.
to this, whatever it might have been, I bound myself: it is enough to have escaped the nefarious race.

vos animam hanc potius quocumque absumite leto.'

you rather consume this soul by whatever lethal doom.'

Vix ea fatus erat summo cum monte videmus               655
ipsum inter pecudes vasta se mole moventem
pastorem Polyphemum et litora nota petentem,
monstrum horrendum, informe, ingens, cui lumen ademptum.
trunca manum pinus regit et vestigia firmat;
lanigerae comitantur oves; ea sola voluptas               660
solamenque mali.
postquam altos tetigit fluctus et ad aequora venit,
luminis effossi fluidum lavit inde cruorem
dentibus infrendens gemitu, graditurque per aequor
iam medium, necdum fluctus latera ardua tinxit.                665

Hardly had he spoken these things when from the top of the mountain we see               655
himself, amid the herds, moving his vast mass—
the shepherd Polyphemus—making for the familiar shores,
a monster horrendous, formless, huge, from whom the light had been taken.
A lopped pine guides his hand and steadies his footsteps;
wool-bearing sheep accompany him; that alone is a delight               660
and a solace of his ill.
After he touched the high waves and came to the open waters,
he washed there the flowing gore of his gouged-out light,
gnashing with his teeth with a groan, and he strides through the sea
now at the middle, and not yet have the waves wetted his towering flanks.               665

nos procul inde fugam trepidi celerare recepto
supplice sic merito tacitique incidere funem,
vertimus et proni certantibus aequora remis.
sensit, et ad sonitum vocis vestigia torsit.
verum ubi nulla datur dextra adfectare potestas 670
nec potis Ionios fluctus aequare sequendo,
clamorem immensum tollit, quo pontus et omnes
contremuere undae, penitusque exterrita tellus
Italiae curvisque immugiit Aetna cavernis.

we, far from there, trembling, hastened our flight with the suppliant received thus deservedly, and silently cut the rope,
we turned and, leaning forward, with straining oars contended with the waters.
he sensed it, and at the sound of the voice turned his steps.
but when no power is given to attempt to reach with his right hand 670
nor is he able to equal the Ionian waves by pursuing,
he raises an immense clamor, at which the sea and all
the waves trembled, and deep within the land of Italy was terrified
and Aetna bellowed in her curved caverns.

at genus e silvis Cyclopum et montibus altis 675
excitum ruit ad portus et litora complent.
cernimus astantis nequiquam lumine torvo
Aetnaeos fratres caelo capita alta ferentis,
concilium horrendum: quales cum vertice celso
aeriae quercus aut coniferae cyparissi 680

but the race of Cyclopes, roused from the forests and the high mountains, 675
rushes to the harbors and fills the shores.
we behold standing, in vain, with a grim glare,
the Aetnaean brothers bearing their high heads to the sky,
a horrendous council: such as, with lofty crest,
aerial oaks or cone-bearing cypresses 680

constiterunt, silva alta Iovis lucusve Dianae.
praecipitis metus acer agit quocumque rudentis
excutere et ventis intendere vela secundis.
contra iussa monent Heleni, Scyllamque Charybdinque
inter, utrimque viam leti discrimine parvo, 685
ni teneam cursus: certum est dare lintea retro.

they stood, a lofty forest of Jove or a grove of Diana.
keen fear of headlong ruin drives us wherever to shake out the ropes
and to stretch the sails to favoring winds. On the contrary the injunctions of Helenus admonish
that between Scylla and Charybdis,
on both sides a way of death with slight distinction, 685
that I should not hold my course: it is fixed to give the canvas back.

ecce autem Boreas angusta ab sede Pelori
missus adest: vivo praetervehor ostia saxo
Pantagiae Megarosque sinus Thapsumque iacentem.
talia monstrabat relegens errata retrorsus 690
litora Achaemenides, comes infelicis Ulixi.

behold however Boreas, sent from the narrow seat of Pelorus, is at hand: by the living rock I pass by the mouths of the Pantagias and the Megarian bays and Thapsus lying low.
such shores he was pointing out, re-reading the errors backward 690
the coasts, Achaemenides, companion of ill-fated Ulysses.

Sicanio praetenta sinu iacet insula contra
Plemyrium undosum; nomen dixere priores
Ortygiam. Alpheum fama est huc Elidis amnem
occultas egisse vias subter mare, qui nunc 695
ore, Arethusa, tuo Siculis confunditur undis.
iussi numina magna loci veneramur, et inde
exsupero praepingue solum stagnantis Helori.

An island lies stretched before the Sicanian bay, opposite wave-washed Plemyrium; the ancients called it Ortygia. The report is that Alpheus, the river of Elis, drove his hidden ways hither beneath the sea, which now 695
by your mouth, Arethusa, is mingled with the Sicilian waves. Ordered, we venerate the great divinities of the place, and from there
I pass beyond the very rich soil of stagnant Helorus.

hinc altas cautes proiectaque saxa Pachyni
radimus, et fatis numquam concessa moveri 700
apparet Camerina procul campique Geloi,
immanisque Gela fluvii cognomine dicta.
arduus inde Acragas ostentat maxima longe
moenia, magnanimum quondam generator equorum;
teque datis linquo ventis, palmosa Selinus, 705

from here we graze the high crags and the projected rocks of Pachynus,
and Camerina, never by the fates permitted to be moved, appears afar, 700
and the fields of the Geloans,
and immense Gela, named by the river’s cognomen.
thence steep Acragas displays from far its very great walls,
once the begetter of great‑souled horses;
and you I leave, with the winds granted, palm‑rich Selinus, 705

et vada dura lego saxis Lilybeia caecis.
hinc Drepani me portus et inlaetabilis ora
accipit. hic pelagi tot tempestatibus actus
heu, genitorem, omnis curae casusque levamen,
amitto Anchisen.

and I skirt the hard shallows by the blind rocks of Lilybaeum.
from here the port of Drepanum and its joyless shore receives me.
here, driven by so many storms of the sea,
alas, my father, the solace of every care and mischance,
I lose Anchises.

hic me, pater optime, fessum 710
deseris, heu, tantis nequiquam erepte periclis!
nec vates Helenus, cum multa horrenda moneret,
hos mihi praedixit luctus, non dira Celaeno.
hic labor extremus, longarum haec meta viarum,
hinc me digressum vestris deus appulit oris. 715

here, best father, you leave me, weary 710
alas, you, rescued in vain from so many perils!
not even the vates Helenus, when he was warning many horrendous things,
foretold these griefs to me, nor did dire Celaeno.
here is the final labor, this the goal-mark of long journeys,
from here, after I had departed, a god has driven me to your shores. 715

Sic pater Aeneas intentis omnibus unus
fata renarrabat divum cursusque docebat.
conticuit tandem factoque hic fine quievit.

Thus father Aeneas, while all were intent, alone was re-narrating the fates of the gods and teaching the courses.
At last he fell silent and, the end having been made here, he rested.