Virgil: AENEID

Interea medium Aeneas iam classe tenebat
certus iter fluctusque atros Aquilone secabat
moenia respiciens, quae iam infelicis Elissae
conlucent flammis. quae tantum accenderit ignem
causa latet; duri magno sed amore dolores 5
polluto, notumque furens quid femina possit,
triste per augurium Teucrorum pectora ducunt.
ut pelagus tenuere rates nec iam amplius ulla
occurrit tellus, maria undique et undique caelum,
olli caeruleus supra caput astitit imber 10
noctem hiememque ferens et inhorruit unda tenebris.

Meanwhile Aeneas now was holding mid-sea with his fleet,
sure of his course and he was cleaving the black billows with the North Wind,
looking back at the walls, which now of unlucky Elissa
glow with flames. The cause which had kindled so great a fire
lies hidden; but hard pains from great love, her honor defiled, 5
and the knowledge of what a frenzied woman can do,
lead the hearts of the Teucrians through a grim augury.
When the ships held the sea and now no longer did any
land meet them—seas on every side, and on every side the sky—
to them a cerulean downpour stood above their heads, 10
bringing night and storm, and the wave bristled with darkness.

ipse gubernator puppi Palinurus ab alta:
'heu quianam tanti cinxerunt aethera nimbi?
quidve, pater Neptune, paras?' sic deinde locutus
colligere arma iubet validisque incumbere remis, 15

the helmsman himself, Palinurus, from the high stern:
"alas, why indeed have clouds so great girdled the ether?
or what, father Neptune, do you prepare?" thus then having spoken
he bids them gather the arms/gear and to lean upon the sturdy oars, 15

obliquatque sinus in ventum ac talia fatur:
'magnanime Aenea, non, si mihi Iuppiter auctor
spondeat, hoc sperem Italiam contingere caelo.
mutati transversa fremunt et vespere ab atro
consurgunt venti, atque in nubem cogitur aer. 20
nec nos obniti contra nec tendere tantum
sufficimus. superat quoniam Fortuna, sequamur,
quoque vocat vertamus iter.

and he slants the canvas into the wind and speaks such words:
'magnanimous Aeneas, not—even if Jupiter as guarantor should pledge it to me—would I hope to touch Italy under this sky.
the shifted winds roar athwart and from a black evening they rise, and the air is packed into cloud. 20
nor are we sufficient to strive against it nor to stretch the sails so far.
since Fortune prevails, let us follow, and whither she calls let us turn our course.

nec litora longe
fida reor fraterna Erycis portusque Sicanos,
si modo rite memor servata remetior astra.' 25
tum pius Aeneas: 'equidem sic poscere ventos
iamdudum et frustra cerno te tendere contra.
flecte viam velis. an sit mihi gratior ulla,
quove magis fessas optem dimittere navis,
quam quae Dardanium tellus mihi servat Acesten 30

nor do I reckon the brotherly shores of Eryx and the Sicanian harbors far away,
if only, rightly remembering, I re-measure the observed stars.' 25
then pious Aeneas: 'indeed I perceive you long since thus to be calling upon the winds
and in vain to be striving against them. Bend the way with the sails. Or is there any more welcome to me,
or whither I would more wish to dismiss the weary ships,
than that land which keeps for me Dardanian Acestes 30

et patris Anchisae gremio complectitur ossa?'
haec ubi dicta, petunt portus et vela secundi
intendunt Zephyri; fertur cita gurgite classis,
et tandem laeti notae advertuntur harenae.

and does he embrace the bones of father Anchises in his bosom?'
When these things were said, they seek the harbors and the favorable Zephyrs stretch the sails;
the fleet is borne swiftly on the surge, and at last, joyful, the familiar sands are approached.

At procul ex celso miratus vertice montis 35
adventum sociasque rates occurrit Acestes,
horridus in iaculis et pelle Libystidis ursae,
Troia Criniso conceptum flumine mater
quem genuit. veterum non immemor ille parentum
gratatur reduces et gaza laetus agresti 40
excipit, ac fessos opibus solatur amicis.

But far off, from the lofty summit of a mountain, marveling, 35
Acestes runs to meet the advent and the allied ships,
rough with javelins and in the pelt of a Libyan she-bear,
whom his Trojan mother, having conceived by the river Crinisus,
bore. He, not unmindful of his ancestors of old,
congratulates the returned and, glad with rustic treasure, 40
receives them, and with friendly resources comforts the weary.

Postera cum primo stellas Oriente fugarat
clara dies, socios in coetum litore ab omni
advocat Aeneas tumulique ex aggere fatur:
'Dardanidae magni, genus alto a sanguine divum,               45
annuus exactis completur mensibus orbis,
ex quo reliquias divinique ossa parentis
condidimus terra maestasque sacravimus aras;
iamque dies, nisi fallor, adest, quem semper acerbum,
semper honoratum (sic di voluistis) habebo.               50
hunc ego Gaetulis agerem si Syrtibus exsul,
Argolicove mari deprensus et urbe Mycenae,
annua vota tamen sollemnisque ordine pompas
exsequerer strueremque suis altaria donis.
nunc ultro ad cineres ipsius et ossa parentis               55

The next day, when at first light the bright day had put the stars to flight from the East,
Aeneas calls his comrades into an assembly from every shore and from the mound’s embankment speaks:
'Great Dardanians, a race from the high blood of the gods,               45
the annual cycle is completed with the months run out,
since we laid in the earth the relics and the bones of my divine parent
and consecrated the mournful altars; and now the day, unless I am mistaken, is here,
which I will always hold bitter, always honored (thus you gods have willed).               50
this day I would observe even if, an exile, I were on the Gaetulian Syrtes,
or caught on the Argolic sea and in the city of Mycenae,
nonetheless I would perform the annual vows and the solemn processions in due order,
and would build up altars with their proper gifts.
now moreover to the ashes and the bones of my parent himself               55

haud equidem sine mente, reor, sine numine divum
adsumus et portus delati intramus amicos.
ergo agite et laetum cuncti celebremus honorem:
poscamus ventos, atque haec me sacra quotannis
urbe velit posita templis sibi ferre dicatis.               60
bina boum vobis Troia generatus Acestes
dat numero capita in navis; adhibete penatis
et patrios epulis et quos colit hospes Acestes.
praeterea, si nona diem mortalibus almum
Aurora extulerit radiisque retexerit orbem,               65
prima citae Teucris ponam certamina classis;
quique pedum cursu valet, et qui viribus audax
aut iaculo incedit melior levibusque sagittis,
seu crudo fidit pugnam committere caestu,
cuncti adsint meritaeque exspectent praemia palmae.               70

not indeed without intent, I reckon, nor without the numen of the gods,
we are here and, borne in, we enter friendly harbors.
therefore come, and let us all celebrate the glad honor:
let us ask for winds, and may he wish me, with the city set, each year
to carry these sacred rites to temples dedicated to himself.               60
Acestes, begotten at Troy, gives you by number two head of cattle
to each ship; invite the Penates
and the ancestral gods to the feasts, and those whom the host Acestes worships.
furthermore, if Aurora shall raise the kindly day for mortals on the ninth
and with her rays unveil the orb,               65
I will set the first contests for the swift Teucrian fleet;
and whoever is strong in the running of feet, and he who, bold in strengths,
goes better with the javelin and with light arrows,
or trusts to join battle with the raw‑hide cestus,
let all be present and await the prizes of the deserved palm.               70

ore favete omnes et cingite tempora ramis.'

favor with your mouths, all, and wreathe your temples with branches.

Sic fatus velat materna tempora myrto.
hoc Helymus facit, hoc aevi maturus Acestes,
hoc puer Ascanius, sequitur quos cetera pubes.
ille e concilio multis cum milibus ibat 75
ad tumulum magna medius comitante caterva.

Thus having spoken, he veils his temples with maternal myrtle.
this Helymus does, this Acestes mature in age does,
this the boy Ascanius; whom the rest of the youth follow.
he was going from the council with many thousands 75
to the tumulus, in the middle, with a great throng accompanying.

hic duo rite mero libans carchesia Baccho
fundit humi, duo lacte novo, duo sanguine sacro,
purpureosque iacit flores ac talia fatur:
'salve, sancte parens, iterum; salvete, recepti 80
nequiquam cineres animaeque umbraeque paternae.
non licuit finis Italos fataliaque arva
nec tecum Ausonium, quicumque est, quaerere Thybrim.'
dixerat haec, adytis cum lubricus anguis ab imis
septem ingens gyros, septena volumina traxit 85

Here, duly libating to Bacchus with pure wine, two carchesia,
he pours on the ground, two with new milk, two with sacred blood,
and he casts purple flowers and speaks such words:
'hail, holy father, again; hail, recovered 80
in vain ashes and the soul and shades of my father. It was not permitted to seek the Italian confines and the fated fields
nor with you to seek the Ausonian Tiber, whatever it is.'
He had said these things, when from the inmost adyta a slippery serpent
drew seven huge gyres, seven coils 85

amplexus placide tumulum lapsusque per aras,
caeruleae cui terga notae maculosus et auro
squamam incendebat fulgor, ceu nubibus arcus
mille iacit varios adverso sole colores.
obstipuit visu Aeneas. ille agmine longo 90
tandem inter pateras et levia pocula serpens
libavitque dapes rursusque innoxius imo
successit tumulo et depasta altaria liquit.

having gently embraced the mound and glided across the altars,
whose back, dappled with cerulean markings and with gold,
a gleam was kindling the scale, as a rainbow in the clouds
casts a thousand various colors with the sun opposite.
Aeneas stood astonished at the sight. He, in a long train, 90
at length, slithering among the libation‑bowls and the smooth cups,
both tasted the feast, and again, innoxious, down below
went back to the mound and left the altars, having fed.

hoc magis inceptos genitori instaurat honores,
incertus geniumne loci famulumne parentis 95
esse putet; caedit binas de more bidentis
totque sues, totidem nigrantis terga iuvencos,
vinaque fundebat pateris animamque vocabat
Anchisae magni manisque Acheronte remissos.
nec non et socii, quae cuique est copia, laeti 100

all the more he renews the begun honors for his father,
uncertain whether he should think it the genius of the place or the attendant of his parent 95
to be; he slaughters two bident sheep according to custom
and as many swine, just so many black-backed young bulls,
and he was pouring wines in paterae and was calling upon the spirit
of great Anchises and the shades released from Acheron.
and the comrades too, happy, each with whatever provision each has, 100

dona ferunt, onerant aras mactantque iuvencos;
ordine aena locant alii fusique per herbam
subiciunt veribus prunas et viscera torrent.

they bring gifts, they load the altars and immolate young bullocks;
others set in order bronze cauldrons, and, spread over the grass,
they place coals beneath the spits and roast the entrails.

Exspectata dies aderat nonamque serena
Auroram Phaethontis equi iam luce vehebant, 105
famaque finitimos et clari nomen Acestae
excierat; laeto complerant litora coetu
visuri Aeneadas, pars et certare parati.
munera principio ante oculos circoque locantur
in medio, sacri tripodes viridesque coronae 110
et palmae pretium victoribus, armaque et ostro
perfusae vestes, argenti aurique talenta;
et tuba commissos medio canit aggere ludos.

The awaited day was present, and Phaethon’s horses were already bearing the serene ninth Aurora to light, 105
and rumor and the name of renowned Acestes had roused the neighbors; they had filled the shores with a joyful gathering
to see the Aeneads, and part prepared to contend as well.
At the outset the prizes are placed before their eyes and in the middle of the circus—
sacred tripods and green garlands, and palms the prize for victors, 110
and arms and garments drenched with purple, talents of silver and of gold;
and the trumpet on the central embankment proclaims the games commenced.

Prima pares ineunt gravibus certamina remis
quattuor ex omni delectae classe carinae. 115
velocem Mnestheus agit acri remige Pristim,
mox Italus Mnestheus, genus a quo nomine Memmi,
ingentemque Gyas ingenti mole Chimaeram,
urbis opus, triplici pubes quam Dardana versu
impellunt, terno consurgunt ordine remi; 120
Sergestusque, domus tenet a quo Sergia nomen,
Centauro invehitur magna, Scyllaque Cloanthus
caerulea, genus unde tibi, Romane Cluenti.

First, matched, they enter contests with heavy oars—four keels chosen from the whole fleet. 115
Mnestheus drives the swift Pristis with keen oarsmen,
soon the Italian Mnestheus, from whose name the Memmian race;
and Gyas the huge Chimaera, of huge mass,
a work fit for a city, which the Dardan youth propel in triple tier—
in triple order the oars rise; 120
and Sergestus, from whom the house Sergia holds its name,
is borne in the great Centaur, and Cloanthus in the sea-blue Scylla—
whence your lineage, Roman Cluentius.

Est procul in pelago saxum spumantia contra
litora, quod tumidis summersum tunditur olim               125
fluctibus, hiberni condunt ubi sidera Cauri;
tranquillo silet immotaque attollitur unda
campus et apricis statio gratissima mergis.
hic viridem Aeneas frondenti ex ilice metam
constituit signum nautis pater, unde reverti               130
scirent et longos ubi circumflectere cursus.
tum loca sorte legunt ipsique in puppibus auro
ductores longe effulgent ostroque decori;
cetera populea velatur fronde iuventus
nudatosque umeros oleo perfusa nitescit.               135

There is far out in the sea a rock opposite the foaming shores, which, submerged, is at times battered by swelling waves, where the wintry Cauri bury the constellations;               125
in calm it is silent, and a plain of motionless wave is lifted, and it is a most pleasing station for sun-basking divers.
Here Aeneas the father sets up a green turning-post from a leafy holm-oak as a sign for the sailors, whence they might know to return and where to bend their long courses around.               130
Then they choose their places by lot, and the leaders themselves on the sterns gleam far with gold and, adorned with purple;
the rest of the youth is veiled with poplar foliage, and their bared shoulders, drenched with oil, shine.               135

considunt transtris, intentaque bracchia remis;
intenti exspectant signum, exsultantiaque haurit
corda pavor pulsans laudumque arrecta cupido.
inde ubi clara dedit sonitum tuba, finibus omnes,
haud mora, prosiluere suis; ferit aethera clamor 140
nauticus, adductis spumant freta versa lacertis.
infindunt pariter sulcos, totumque dehiscit
convulsum remis rostrisque tridentibus aequor.

they settle on the thwarts, and their arms are stretched to the oars;
intent they await the signal, and a pulsing panic drinks their exultant
hearts, and a desire of praises raised up. Then, when the clear trumpet gave
a sound, without delay, all leapt forth from their own limits; the nautical cry strikes the upper air, 140
the seas, upturned, foam with muscles drawn tight. They cut alike their furrows, and the whole
level sea gapes, convulsed by oars and triple-toothed beaks.

non tam praecipites biiugo certamine campum
corripuere ruuntque effusi carcere currus, 145
nec sic immissis aurigae undantia lora
concussere iugis pronique in verbera pendent.
tum plausu fremituque virum studiisque faventum
consonat omne nemus, vocemque inclusa volutant
litora, pulsati colles clamore resultant. 150

not so headlong in a two-yoked contest have the chariots seized the field and, poured out from the starting-gate, rush, 145
nor thus have charioteers with loosened reins shaken their billowing teams and, leaning forward, hang toward the lashes.
then with applause and the roar of men and the zeal of those favoring, the whole grove resounds, and the enclosed shores roll the voice, the smitten hills echo back with the clamor. 150

Effugit ante alios primisque elabitur undis
turbam inter fremitumque Gyas; quem deinde Cloanthus
consequitur, melior remis, sed pondere pinus
tarda tenet. post hos aequo discrimine Pristis
Centaurusque locum tendunt superare priorem; 155
et nunc Pristis habet, nunc victam praeterit ingens
Centaurus, nunc una ambae iunctisque feruntur
frontibus et longa sulcant vada salsa carina.
iamque propinquabant scopulo metamque tenebant,
cum princeps medioque Gyas in gurgite victor 160
rectorem navis compellat voce Menoeten:
'quo tantum mihi dexter abis?

Gyas flees before the others and slips out into the first waves,
amid the throng and the roar; whom then Cloanthus
follows, better with oars, but his pine-ship, slow with weight,
holds him back. After these, with equal separation, the Pristis
and the Centaur strive to surpass the foremost place; 155
and now the Pristis has it, now the huge Centaur passes the vanquished one,
now both together are borne with prows joined,
and with the long keel they furrow the salty shallows.
And now they were drawing near to the rock and were holding the turning-post,
when Gyas, foremost and victor in the middle of the whirlpool, 160
addresses Menoetes, the helmsman of the ship, with his voice:
'why are you going so far to the right from me?

huc derige cursum;
litus ama et laeva stringat sine palmula cautes;
altum alii teneant.' dixit; sed caeca Menoetes
saxa timens proram pelagi detorquet ad undas. 165

direct the course hither;
love the shore, and let the left-hand side skim the rocks without the blade;
'let others hold the deep.' he said; but blind Menoetes,
fearing the rocks, twists the prow toward the waves of the sea. 165

'quo diversus abis?' iterum 'pete saxa, Menoete!'
cum clamore Gyas revocabat, et ecce Cloanthum
respicit instantem tergo et propiora tenentem.
ille inter navemque Gyae scopulosque sonantis
radit iter laevum interior subitoque priorem 170
praeterit et metis tenet aequora tuta relictis.
tum vero exarsit iuveni dolor ossibus ingens
nec lacrimis caruere genae, segnemque Menoeten
oblitus decorisque sui sociumque salutis
in mare praecipitem puppi deturbat ab alta; 175
ipse gubernaclo rector subit, ipse magister
hortaturque viros clavumque ad litora torquet.

'whither, turned aside, do you go?' again, 'seek the rocks, Menoetes!'
Gyas with a shout was calling him back, and behold he looks back at Cloanthus
pressing on his stern and holding a nearer position.
He, between Gyas’s ship and the resounding rocks,
skims a left-hand course on the inner side and suddenly passes ahead, 170
and, the turning-posts left behind, holds to safe waters.
Then indeed a vast pain blazed in the young man’s bones,
nor did his cheeks lack tears, and Menoetes, sluggish—forgetful
both of his own decorum and of his comrade in safety—
he pitches headlong into the sea from the high stern; 175
he himself as helmsman takes the rudder, he himself as master
encourages the men and turns the tiller toward the shores.

at gravis ut fundo vix tandem redditus imo est
iam senior madidaque fluens in veste Menoetes
summa petit scopuli siccaque in rupe resedit. 180

but when, heavy, he is at last scarcely returned from the lowest deep
now older, and Menoetes, streaming in a sodden garment,
he seeks the summit of the crag and sits down on a dry rock. 180

illum et labentem Teucri et risere natantem
et salsos rident revomentem pectore fluctus.

him both slipping and swimming the Teucrians laughed at,
and they laugh as he vomits back from his breast the salty waves.

Hic laeta extremis spes est accensa duobus,
Sergesto Mnestheique, Gyan superare morantem.
Sergestus capit ante locum scopuloque propinquat, 185
nec tota tamen ille prior praeeunte carina;
parte prior, partim rostro premit aemula Pristis.
at media socios incedens nave per ipsos
hortatur Mnestheus: 'nunc, nunc insurgite remis,
Hectorei socii, Troiae quos sorte suprema 190
delegi comites; nunc illas promite viris,
nunc animos, quibus in Gaetulis Syrtibus usi
Ionioque mari Maleaeque sequacibus undis.

Here a happy hope is kindled for the two at the end,
for Sergestus and Mnestheus, to surpass Gyas, who lingers.
Sergestus seizes the place in front and draws near to the rock, 185
yet not with the whole ship is he first as it goes before;
in part ahead, in part the rival Pristis presses with her beak.
but Mnestheus, advancing among his comrades in the middle
urges them: 'now, now rise with the oars,
Hectorean comrades, whom at Troy’s ultimate lot 190
I chose as companions; now bring forth those manly strengths,
now the spirits, which you used on the Gaetulian Syrtes
and on the Ionian sea and the pursuing waves of Malea.

non iam prima peto Mnestheus neque vincere certo
(quamquam o!—sed superent quibus hoc, Neptune, dedisti); 195

I no longer seek the first prize, Mnestheus, nor do I contend to conquer (although, oh!—but let those prevail, to whom you have granted this, Neptune); 195

extremos pudeat rediisse: hoc vincite, cives,
et prohibete nefas.' olli certamine summo
procumbunt: vastis tremit ictibus aerea puppis
subtrahiturque solum, tum creber anhelitus artus
aridaque ora quatit, sudor fluit undique rivis. 200
attulit ipse viris optatum casus honorem:
namque furens animi dum proram ad saxa suburget
interior spatioque subit Sergestus iniquo,
infelix saxis in procurrentibus haesit.
concussae cautes et acuto in murice remi 205
obnixi crepuere inlisaque prora pependit.
consurgunt nautae et magno clamore morantur
ferratasque trudes et acuta cuspide contos
expediunt fractosque legunt in gurgite remos.

let it shame [you] to have fallen back to the last: conquer this, citizens,
and prohibit the outrage.' Those men, in the utmost contest,
bend forward: with vast strokes the brazen stern trembles,
and the ground is drawn away beneath; then frequent panting shakes their limbs
and their dry mouths, sweat flows everywhere in streams. 200
chance itself brought to the men the longed-for honor:
for while, raging in spirit, Sergestus drives the prow toward the rocks
on the inside and comes into an unequal space,
ill-fated, he stuck fast on the projecting rocks.
the reefs were shaken and the oars, braced on the sharp crag,creaked, and the battered prow hung there. 205
the sailors rise up and, with great clamor, are delayed,
and they bring out iron-shod levers and poles with a sharp point,
and they gather the broken oars in the surge.

at laetus Mnestheus successuque acrior ipso 210

but glad Mnestheus, and keener by the success itself 210

agmine remorum celeri ventisque vocatis
prona petit maria et pelago decurrit aperto.
qualis spelunca subito commota columba,
cui domus et dulces latebroso in pumice nidi,
fertur in arva volans plausumque exterrita pennis 215
dat tecto ingentem, mox aere lapsa quieto
radit iter liquidum celeris neque commovet alas:
sic Mnestheus, sic ipsa fuga secat ultima Pristis
aequora, sic illam fert impetus ipse volantem.
et primum in scopulo luctantem deserit alto 220
Sergestum brevibusque vadis frustraque vocantem
auxilia et fractis discentem currere remis.

with a column of oars swift and with the winds invoked
he seeks the sloping seas and runs down the open deep.
as a dove suddenly startled from a cavern,
to whom home and sweet nests are in the hiding-place-rich pumice,
is borne into the fields flying and, terrified, with her wings gives a mighty clapping to the roof, 215
soon, gliding through the quiet air,
she skims her liquid path swift and does not move her wings:
so Mnestheus, so the Pristis itself in flight cuts the farthest
waters, so does the very impetus bear her flying.
and first he leaves behind on a high rock struggling 220
Sergestus, and in the shallow shoals calling for help in vain
and learning to run with broken oars.

inde Gyan ipsamque ingenti mole Chimaeram
consequitur; cedit, quoniam spoliata magistro est.
solus iamque ipso superest in fine Cloanthus, 225

then he overtakes Gyas and the Chimaera herself with her enormous mass
she yields, since she has been despoiled of her master.
and now Cloanthus alone remains at the very finish itself, 225

quem petit et summis adnixus viribus urget.

whom he makes for and, straining with utmost forces, presses hard.

Tum vero ingeminat clamor cunctique sequentem
instigant studiis, resonatque fragoribus aether.
hi proprium decus et partum indignantur honorem
ni teneant, vitamque volunt pro laude pacisci;               230
hos successus alit: possunt, quia posse videntur.
et fors aequatis cepissent praemia rostris,
ni palmas ponto tendens utrasque Cloanthus
fudissetque preces divosque in vota vocasset:
'di, quibus imperium est pelagi, quorum aequora curro,               235
vobis laetus ego hoc candentem in litore taurum
constituam ante aras voti reus, extaque salsos
proiciam in fluctus et vina liquentia fundam.'
dixit, eumque imis sub fluctibus audiit omnis
Nereidum Phorcique chorus Panopeaque virgo,               240

Then indeed the clamor redoubles, and all with zeal urge on the pursuer,
and the upper air resounds with crashes.
these are indignant unless they hold their own glory and the honor won,
and they are willing to bargain life for praise;               230
those men success nourishes: they can, because they seem able.
and perhaps they would have seized the prizes with prows equal,
if Cloanthus, stretching both palms to the sea,
had not poured out prayers and called the gods into his vows:
'gods, to whom is the imperium of the sea, whose waters I course,               235
to you gladly I will set upon this shining shore a gleaming bull
before the altars, debtor of my vow, and I will cast the entrails into the salty
waves and pour out liquid wines.'
He spoke, and beneath the deepest waves the whole chorus
of the Nereids and of Phorcus heard him, and the maiden Panopea,               240

et pater ipse manu magna Portunus euntem
impulit: illa Noto citius volucrique sagitta
ad terram fugit et portu se condidit alto.
tum satus Anchisa cunctis ex more vocatis
victorem magna praeconis voce Cloanthum               245
declarat viridique advelat tempora lauro,
muneraque in navis ternos optare iuvencos
vinaque et argenti magnum dat ferre talentum.
ipsis praecipuos ductoribus addit honores:
victori chlamydem auratam, quam plurima circum                250
purpura maeandro duplici Meliboea cucurrit,
intextusque puer frondosa regius Ida
velocis iaculo cervos cursuque fatigat
acer, anhelanti similis, quem praepes ab Ida
sublimem pedibus rapuit Iovis armiger uncis;               255

and Father Portunus himself with mighty hand impelled him as he went:
that one fled to land faster than Notus and a winged arrow
and hid itself in the deep harbor.
then the son of Anchises, with all called together according to custom,
declares Cloanthus victor by the loud voice of the herald and veils his temples with green laurel,               245
and he gives leave to choose for the ships gifts of three young bullocks apiece,
and grants to carry wines and a great talent of silver.
To the leaders themselves he adds special honors:
for the victor a gilded cloak, around which very much
Meliboean purple has run in a double meander, and woven-in a boy,               250
royal, on leafy Ida, keen, tires swift deer with javelin and with running,
like one panting, whom the fleet bird from Ida,
the armor-bearer of Jove, snatched up on high with hooked feet;               255

longaevi palmas nequiquam ad sidera tendunt
custodes, saevitque canum latratus in auras.
at qui deinde locum tenuit virtute secundum,
levibus huic hamis consertam auroque trilicem
loricam, quam Demoleo detraxerat ipse 260
victor apud rapidum Simoenta sub Ilio alto,
donat habere, viro decus et tutamen in armis.
vix illam famuli Phegeus Sagarisque ferebant
multiplicem conixi umeris; indutus at olim
Demoleos cursu palantis Troas agebat. 265
tertia dona facit geminos ex aere lebetas
cymbiaque argento perfecta atque aspera signis.

the aged guardians stretch their palms to the stars in vain,
and the barking of the dogs rages into the airs.
but he who then held the second place in prowess,
to this man a corselet, woven with light hooks and triple-threaded with gold,
which he himself as victor had stripped from Demoleos 260
by the swift Simois beneath lofty Ilium,
he grants to have, an adornment and a safeguard for a man in arms.
scarcely did the servants Phegeus and Sagaris bear it,
manifold, straining with their shoulders; but once, when clad in it,
Demoleos drove the straggling Trojans at a run. 265
the third gifts he fashions: twin cauldrons of bronze,
and little bowls perfected in silver and rough with figures.

iamque adeo donati omnes opibusque superbi
puniceis ibant evincti tempora taenis,
cum saevo e scopulo multa vix arte revulsus 270

and now indeed all, rewarded and proud with opulence,
were going with their temples bound with punic‑purple bands,
when, torn from the cruel crag with much scarcely‑sufficient skill 270

amissis remis atque ordine debilis uno
inrisam sine honore ratem Sergestus agebat.
qualis saepe viae deprensus in aggere serpens,
aerea quem obliquum rota transiit aut gravis ictu
seminecem liquit saxo lacerumque viator; 275
nequiquam longos fugiens dat corpore tortus
parte ferox ardensque oculis et sibila colla
arduus attollens; pars vulnere clauda retentat
nexantem nodis seque in sua membra plicantem:
tali remigio navis se tarda movebat; 280
vela facit tamen et velis subit ostia plenis.
Sergestum Aeneas promisso munere donat
servatam ob navem laetus sociosque reductos.

with the oars lost and crippled in one bank,
Sergestus was driving a raft mocked and without honor.
just as often a serpent, caught on the roadway’s embankment,
whom a brazen wheel has passed over askew, or a heavy wayfarer’s blow
has left half-dead and lacerated by a rock; 275
in vain, fleeing, it gives long writhings with its body,
in part fierce and burning in its eyes, and raising on high its hissing neck;
in part, lame from the wound, it hampers itself,
knotting in coils and folding itself into its own limbs:
with such a rowing the ship was moving itself slowly; 280
yet he makes sail and under full sails enters the mouths.
Aeneas grants Sergestus the promised gift,
glad for the ship saved and the comrades brought back.

olli serva datur operum haud ignara Minervae,
Cressa genus, Pholoe, geminique sub ubere nati. 285

To him a handmaid is given, not ignorant of Minerva’s works,
Cretan by race, Pholoe, and twins born beneath her breast. 285

Hoc pius Aeneas misso certamine tendit
gramineum in campum, quem collibus undique curvis
cingebant silvae, mediaque in valle theatri
circus erat; quo se multis cum milibus heros
consessu medium tulit exstructoque resedit.               290
hic, qui forte velint rapido contendere cursu,
invitat pretiis animos, et praemia ponit.
undique conveniunt Teucri mixtique Sicani,
Nisus et Euryalus primi,
Euryalus forma insignis viridique iuventa,               295
Nisus amore pio pueri; quos deinde secutus
regius egregia Priami de stirpe Diores;
hunc Salius simul et Patron, quorum alter Acarnan,
alter ab Arcadio Tegeaeae sanguine gentis;
tum duo Trinacrii iuvenes, Helymus Panopesque               300

At this the pious Aeneas, the contest dismissed, makes for the grassy field, which woods were encircling on all sides with curving hills, and in the middle of the valley there was the circus of a theater; to which the hero, with many thousands, bore himself into the midst of the assembly and sat upon the constructed platform.               290
here he invites those who by chance may wish to contend in a swift course, and he stirs spirits with rewards and sets out the prizes.
from every side the Teucrians gather and the Sicanians mingled with them, Nisus and Euryalus first,
Euryalus distinguished by form and by green youth,               295
Nisus in pious love for the boy; then following them came royal Diores from the illustrious stock of Priam; with him Salius as well and Patron, of whom the one an Acarnanian, the other from Arcadian blood of the Tegean race; then two Trinacrian youths, Helymus and Panopes               300

adsueti silvis, comites senioris Acestae;
multi praeterea, quos fama obscura recondit.
Aeneas quibus in mediis sic deinde locutus:
'accipite haec animis laetasque advertite mentes.
nemo ex hoc numero mihi non donatus abibit. 305
Cnosia bina dabo leuato lucida ferro
spicula caelatamque argento ferre bipennem;
omnibus hic erit unus honos.

Accustomed to the forests, companions of elder Acestes;
many besides, whom obscure fame conceals.
Aeneas to them in the midst thus then spoke:
'receive these things in your spirits and turn your minds to gladness.
no one from this number will depart from me un-gifted. 305
I will give two Cnossian javelins with polished, gleaming iron,
and a double axe of iron chased with silver;
for all here there will be one honor.

tres praemia primi
accipient flavaque caput nectentur oliva.
primus equum phaleris insignem victor habeto; 310
alter Amazoniam pharetram plenamque sagittis
Threiciis, lato quam circum amplectitur auro
balteus et tereti subnectit fibula gemma;
tertius Argolica hac galea contentus abito.'

the first three will receive prizes, and their head will be wreathed with golden olive.
let the first victor have a horse distinguished with trappings; 310
the second an Amazonian quiver, full of Thracian arrows, which a baldric embraces around with broad gold and a clasp fastens with a rounded gem;
let the third depart content with this Argolic helmet.'

Haec ubi dicta, locum capiunt signoque repente               315
corripiunt spatia audito limenque relinquunt,
effusi nimbo similes. simul ultima signant,
primus abit longeque ante omnia corpora Nisus
emicat et ventis et fulminis ocior alis;
proximus huic, longo sed proximus intervallo,               320
insequitur Salius; spatio post deinde relicto
tertius Euryalus;
Euryalumque Helymus sequitur; quo deinde sub ipso
ecce volat calcemque terit iam calce Diores
incumbens umero, spatia et si plura supersint               325

When these things were said, they take their position and at the signal suddenly               315
seize the course, the signal having been heard, and leave the threshold,
poured out, like a cloudburst. At once they mark the furthest goals;
first departs, and far before all bodies Nisus
flashes forth, swifter than the winds and than the wings of lightning;
next to him—yet next at a long interval—               320
Salius pursues; after space then left behind
third is Euryalus;
and Helimus follows Euryalus; then right beneath him,
behold, Diores flies and already rubs his heel with his heel,
pressing on his shoulder, and if more stretches were to remain               325

transeat elapsus prior ambiguumque relinquat.
iamque fere spatio extremo fessique sub ipsam
finem adventabant, levi cum sanguine Nisus
labitur infelix, caesis ut forte iuvencis
fusus humum viridisque super madefecerat herbas. 330
hic iuvenis iam victor ovans vestigia presso
haud tenuit titubata solo, sed pronus in ipso
concidit immundoque fimo sacroque cruore.
non tamen Euryali, non ille oblitus amorum:
nam sese opposuit Salio per lubrica surgens; 335
ille autem spissa iacuit revolutus harena,
emicat Euryalus et munere victor amici
prima tenet, plausuque volat fremituque secundo.

let the one slipped ahead pass and leave the outcome ambiguous.
and now they were almost at the far end of the course and, weary, were nearing the very
finish, when Nisus, unhappy, slips on slick blood,
as, from slaughtered young bulls by chance, it had been poured upon the ground
and had soaked the green grass. 330
here the youth, already rejoicing as victor, did not keep his footsteps,
stumbling on the packed soil, but pitched headlong on it,
in filthy dung and sacred gore. yet he did not forget Euryalus, he did not forget his loves:
for, rising through the slippery ground, he set himself against Salius’s way; 335
but he, rolled over, lay in the thick sand,
Euryalus darts forth and, by the gift of his friend, as victor
holds first place, and he flies with applause and with a favoring roar.

post Helymus subit et nunc tertia palma Diores.
hic totum caveae consessum ingentis et ora 340

after Helymus comes up and now Diores the third palm attains.
here the whole assembly of the mighty cavea and the faces 340

prima patrum magnis Salius clamoribus implet,
ereptumque dolo reddi sibi poscit honorem.
tutatur favor Euryalum lacrimaeque decorae,
gratior et pulchro veniens in corpore virtus.
adiuvat et magna proclamat voce Diores, 345
qui subiit palmae frustraque ad praemia venit
ultima, si primi Salio reddentur honores.

Salius fills the front ranks of the fathers with great shouts,
and demands that the honor snatched away by trickery be restored to him.
favor protects Euryalus—and becoming tears—,
and virtue coming in a beautiful body is more pleasing.
Diores too helps and proclaims with a great voice, 345
he who came up for the palm and arrived at the prizes
as last, if the honors of first place are returned to Salius.

tum pater Aeneas 'vestra' inquit 'munera vobis
certa manent, pueri et palmam movet ordine nemo;
me liceat casus miserari insontis amici.' 350
sic fatus tergum Gaetuli immane leonis
dat Salio villis onerosum atque unguibus aureis.
hic Nisus 'si tanta' inquit 'sunt praemia victis,
et te lapsorum miseret, quae munera Niso
digna dabis, primam merui qui laude coronam 355

then father Aeneas says, 'your gifts for you
stand sure, boys, and no one moves the palm from its order;
let it be permitted me to pity the mishaps of an innocent friend.' 350
thus having spoken, the immense hide of a Gaetulian lion
he gives to Salius, burdened with bristles and with golden claws.
hereupon Nisus says, 'if such are the prizes for the vanquished,
and you pity those who have slipped, what gifts to Nisus
worthy will you give, I who have earned the first crown by praise?' 355

ni me, quae Salium, fortuna inimica tulisset?'
et simul his dictis faciem ostentabat et udo
turpia membra fimo. risit pater optimus olli
et clipeum efferri iussit, Didymaonis artes,
Neptuni sacro Danais de poste refixum. 360
hoc iuvenem egregium praestanti munere donat.

'if hostile Fortune, which took Salius, had not carried me off?'
and at the same time with these words he was displaying his face and his limbs foul with wet dung.
the best of fathers laughed at him
and ordered a shield to be brought out, the craftsmanship of Didymaon,
unfastened by the Danaans from the post in Neptune’s sanctuary. 360
with this preeminent gift he presents the outstanding youth.

Post, ubi confecti cursus et dona peregit,
'nunc, si cui virtus animusque in pectore praesens,
adsit et evinctis attollat bracchia palmis':
sic ait, et geminum pugnae proponit honorem,               365
victori velatum auro vittisque iuvencum,
ensem atque insignem galeam solacia victo.
nec mora; continuo vastis cum viribus effert
ora Dares magnoque virum se murmure tollit,
solus qui Paridem solitus contendere contra,               370
idemque ad tumulum quo maximus occubat Hector
victorem Buten immani corpore, qui se
Bebrycia veniens Amyci de gente ferebat,
perculit et fulva moribundum extendit harena.
talis prima Dares caput altum in proelia tollit,                375

Afterwards, when the races were finished and he completed the gifts,
'now, if anyone has valor and a spirit present in his breast,
let him be present and raise his arms with bound palms':
so he spoke, and he proposes a double honor of the fight,               365
for the victor a young bull veiled with gold and fillets,
a sword and a distinguished helmet, consolations for the vanquished.
no delay; immediately, with vast strength, he brings forth
his face—Dares—and with a great murmur he lifts himself as a champion,
he alone who was accustomed to contend against Paris,               370
and the same, at the tomb where greatest Hector lies,
struck down the victor Butes, of immense body, who
coming from Bebrycian stock, of the race of Amycus, declared himself,
and stretched him dying on the tawny sand.
so Dares first lifts his high head into the battles,               375

ostenditque umeros latos alternaque iactat
bracchia protendens et verberat ictibus auras.
quaeritur huic alius; nec quisquam ex agmine tanto
audet adire virum manibusque inducere caestus.
ergo alacris cunctosque putans excedere palma 380
Aeneae stetit ante pedes, nec plura moratus
tum laeva taurum cornu tenet atque ita fatur:
'nate dea, si nemo audet se credere pugnae,
quae finis standi?

and he displays broad shoulders and tosses his arms alternately,
stretching them out, and lashes the air with blows.
another is sought for him; nor does anyone from so great a throng
dare to approach the man and to assume the boxing-gauntlets.
therefore, lively and thinking that all yield the palm, 380
he stood before Aeneas’s feet, and, delaying no more,
then with his left he holds the bull by the horn and thus speaks:
‘son of the goddess, if no one dares to entrust himself to the fight,
what end is there to standing?

quo me decet usque teneri?
ducere dona iube.' cuncti simul ore fremebant 385
Dardanidae reddique viro promissa iubebant.

how long is it fitting that I be held thus?
bid that the gifts be led off.' all the Dardanians were murmuring at once with one voice 385
and were bidding that the promises be rendered to the man.

Hic gravis Entellum dictis castigat Acestes,
proximus ut viridante toro consederat herbae:
'Entelle, heroum quondam fortissime frustra,
tantane tam patiens nullo certamine tolli 390
dona sines? ubi nunc nobis deus ille, magister
nequiquam memoratus, Eryx? ubi fama per omnem
Trinacriam et spolia illa tuis pendentia tectis?'
ille sub haec: 'non laudis amor nec gloria cessit
pulsa metu; sed enim gelidus tardante senecta 395
sanguis hebet, frigentque effetae in corpore vires.

Here grave Acestes chastises Entellus with words, as he had taken his seat close by on the green couch of grass:
'Entellus, once bravest of heroes, all in vain, will you, so patient, allow such great gifts to be taken away with no contest? 390
Where now for us is that god, that master Eryx, remembered to no purpose? Where is the fame through all Trinacria and those spoils hanging on your roofs?'
He at this: 'It is not love of praise nor glory that has yielded, driven by fear; but indeed the chilly blood grows dull, old age delaying it, 395
and the spent powers in the body grow cold.

si mihi quae quondam fuerat quaque improbus iste
exsultat fidens, si nunc foret illa iuventas,
haud equidem pretio inductus pulchroque iuvenco
venissem, nec dona moror.' sic deinde locutus 400

if to me the youth which once had been mine, and in which that impudent fellow
exults, confident—if now that were my youth—
I indeed would not have come induced by a price and a fair young bull,
nor do I linger over the gifts.' thus then having spoken 400

in medium geminos immani pondere caestus
proiecit, quibus acer Eryx in proelia suetus
ferre manum duroque intendere bracchia tergo.
obstipuere animi: tantorum ingentia septem
terga boum plumbo insuto ferroque rigebant. 405
ante omnis stupet ipse Dares longeque recusat,
magnanimusque Anchisiades et pondus et ipsa
huc illuc vinclorum immensa volumina versat.
tum senior talis referebat pectore voces:
'quid, si quis caestus ipsius et Herculis arma 410
vidisset tristemque hoc ipso in litore pugnam?

into the middle he threw two twin cestuses of immense weight,
with which keen Eryx was wont to bring his hand into battles
and to strain his arms with a hard hide on the back.
minds were astonished: the huge seven
bull-hides of so great a size were rigid with lead sewn in and with iron. 405
before all others Dares himself is amazed and refuses from afar,
and the magnanimous Anchisiades turns both the weight and the very
immense coils of the bindings this way and that.
then the elder was uttering such words from his breast:
'what, if someone had seen the cestuses of the man himself and the arms of Hercules, 410
and the grim fight on this very shore?'

haec germanus Eryx quondam tuus arma gerebat
(sanguine cernis adhuc sparsoque infecta cerebro),
his magnum Alciden contra stetit, his ego suetus,
dum melior viris sanguis dabat, aemula necdum 415

these arms your own brother Eryx once bore
(you see them still, stained with blood and befouled with spattered brain),
with these the great Alcides stood against him; with these I was accustomed,
while better blood gave me strength, no rival yet 415

temporibus geminis canebat sparsa senectus.
sed si nostra Dares haec Troius arma recusat
idque pio sedet Aeneae, probat auctor Acestes,
aequemus pugnas. Erycis tibi terga remitto
(solve metus), et tu Troianos exue caestus.' 420
haec fatus duplicem ex umeris reiecit amictum
et magnos membrorum artus, magna ossa lacertosque
exuit atque ingens media consistit harena.

his twin temples were whitening with scattered old age.
but if our Trojan Dares refuses these arms of mine,
and if that sits well with pious Aeneas, Acestes as arbiter approves,
let us equalize the fights. I remit to you the hides of Eryx
(set fear aside), and you, doff the Trojan cesti.' 420
having spoken these things, he cast back the double cloak from his shoulders
and stripped, revealing the great joints of his limbs, the great bones and upper arms,
and, huge, he stood in the middle of the sand.

tum satus Anchisa caestus pater extulit aequos
et paribus palmas amborum innexuit armis. 425
constitit in digitos extemplo arrectus uterque
bracchiaque ad superas interritus extulit auras.
abduxere retro longe capita ardua ab ictu
immiscentque manus manibus pugnamque lacessunt,
ille pedum melior motu fretusque iuventa, 430

then the father, born of Anchises, brought out fair cestuses
and interlaced the palms of both with equal arms. 425
at once each stood raised upon his toes
and, undaunted, lifted his arms to the upper airs.
they drew their lofty heads far back from the blow
and mingle hand with hand and challenge the fight,
that one better in the motion of his feet and relying on youth, 430

hic membris et mole valens; sed tarda trementi
genua labant, vastos quatit aeger anhelitus artus.
multa viri nequiquam inter se vulnera iactant,
multa cavo lateri ingeminant et pectore vastos
dant sonitus, erratque auris et tempora circum 435
crebra manus, duro crepitant sub vulnere malae.
stat gravis Entellus nisuque immotus eodem
corpore tela modo atque oculis vigilantibus exit.

this man strong in limbs and in mass; but slow, his trembling
knees give way, a sick panting shakes his vast limbs.
the men in vain hurl many wounds between themselves,
many they redouble on the hollow side, and on the chest vast
sounds they give; and around the ears and temples wanders 435
the frequent hand; under the hard blow the jaws crackle.
weighty Entellus stands, and unmoved in the same strain,
with his body merely he wards off the weapons, and with vigilant eyes he evades.

ille, velut celsam oppugnat qui molibus urbem
aut montana sedet circum castella sub armis, 440
nunc hos, nunc illos aditus, omnemque pererrat
arte locum et variis adsultibus inritus urget.
ostendit dextram insurgens Entellus et alte
extulit, ille ictum venientem a vertice velox
praevidit celerique elapsus corpore cessit; 445

he, just as one who besieges a lofty city with masses (siege-works),
or sits around mountain castles under arms, 440
now these, now those approaches, and he traverses every place
by art and presses it with various assaults, to no effect.
Entellus, rising, displays his right hand and lifts it high;
he, swift, foresaw the stroke coming from the crown
and, slipping away with his rapid body, gave ground. 445

Entellus viris in ventum effudit et ultro
ipse gravis graviterque ad terram pondere vasto
concidit, ut quondam cava concidit aut Erymantho
aut Ida in magna radicibus eruta pinus.
consurgunt studiis Teucri et Trinacria pubes; 450
it clamor caelo primusque accurrit Acestes
aequaevumque ab humo miserans attollit amicum.
at non tardatus casu neque territus heros
acrior ad pugnam redit ac vim suscitat ira;
tum pudor incendit viris et conscia virtus, 455
praecipitemque Daren ardens agit aequore toto
nunc dextra ingeminans ictus, nunc ille sinistra.

Entellus poured his forces into the wind and, of his own accord, heavy and heavily with a vast weight fell to the earth, as once a hollow-trunked pine, torn up by the roots, falls either on Erymanthus or on great Ida.
the Teucrians and the Trinacrian youth rise with zeal; 450
a clamor goes to the sky, and first Acestes runs up and, pitying, lifts from the ground his coeval friend.
but the hero, not delayed by the fall nor terrified, returns keener to the fight and wrath awakens his force;
then shame inflames his powers and his conscious virtue, 455
and, burning, he drives Dares headlong over the whole expanse, now redoubling blows with the right, now with the left.

nec mora nec requies: quam multa grandine nimbi
culminibus crepitant, sic densis ictibus heros
creber utraque manu pulsat versatque Dareta. 460

no delay nor repose: as storm-clouds crepitate with much hail
upon the rooftops, so with dense blows the hero
frequent with each hand batters and wheels Dares. 460

Tum pater Aeneas procedere longius iras
et saevire animis Entellum haud passus acerbis,
sed finem imposuit pugnae fessumque Dareta
eripuit mulcens dictis ac talia fatur:
'infelix, quae tanta animum dementia cepit? 465
non viris alias conversaque numina sentis?
cede deo.' dixitque et proelia voce diremit.
ast illum fidi aequales genua aegra trahentem
iactantemque utroque caput crassumque cruorem
ore eiectantem mixtosque in sanguine dentes 470
ducunt ad navis; galeamque ensemque vocati
accipiunt, palmam Entello taurumque relinquunt.

Then father Aeneas did not allow Entellus to go farther in his wrath and to rage with a bitter spirit,
but he imposed an end to the fight and snatched the weary Dares away, soothing with words, and speaks such things:
'unhappy one, what so great a madness has seized your mind? 465
do you not perceive different strengths and the divinities turned against you?
yield to the god.' And he spoke and by his voice broke off the battles.
But his faithful comrades, as he dragged his aching knees
and was tossing his head to either side and was spewing thick gore
from his mouth and teeth mixed in blood, 470
lead him to the ships; and, when called, they receive the helmet and the sword; they leave the palm to Entellus and the bull.

hic victor superans animis tauroque superbus
'nate dea, vosque haec' inquit 'cognoscite, Teucri,
et mihi quae fuerint iuvenali in corpore vires 475

here, the victor, surpassing in spirits and proud with the bull,
'son of the goddess, and you Teucrians, recognize these things,' he says,
'and what strengths there were for me in a youthful body 475

et qua servetis revocatum a morte Dareta.'
dixit, et adversi contra stetit ora iuvenci
qui donum astabat pugnae, durosque reducta
libravit dextra media inter cornua caestus
arduus, effractoque inlisit in ossa cerebro: 480
sternitur exanimisque tremens procumbit humi bos.
ille super talis effundit pectore voces:
'hanc tibi, Eryx, meliorem animam pro morte Daretis
persolvo; hic victor caestus artemque repono.'

and by which you preserved Dares recalled from death.'
He spoke, and he stood facing the forehead of the opposing young bull
which stood as the gift of the fight; and with his right hand drawn back
he poised the hard caesti right between the horns,
towering, and, the skull shattered, he dashed the brain into the bones: 480
the bull is laid low and, lifeless and trembling, sinks to the ground.
He moreover pours forth such words from his breast:
'This better life to you, Eryx, in payment for the death of Dares
I pay in full; here as victor I lay down the caesti and the art.'

Protinus Aeneas celeri certare sagitta               485
invitat qui forte velint et praemia dicit,
ingentique manu malum de nave Seresti
erigit et volucrem traiecto in fune columbam,
quo tendant ferrum, malo suspendit ab alto.
convenere viri deiectamque aerea sortem               490
accepit galea, et primus clamore secundo
Hyrtacidae ante omnis exit locus Hippocoontis;
quem modo navali Mnestheus certamine victor
consequitur, viridi Mnestheus evinctus oliva.
tertius Eurytion, tuus, o clarissime, frater,               495

Straightway Aeneas invites to contend with the swift arrow               485
whoever by chance would wish, and he declares the prizes;
and with his huge hand he raises a mast from the ship of Serestus
and a winged dove, the cord having been passed through, on the rope,
toward which they might aim the iron, he hangs from the high mast.
The men gathered, and the brazen helmet received the lot cast down;               490
and first, with favoring shout, before all comes out the place
of Hippocoön, son of Hyrtacus; whom just now in the naval
contest the victor Mnestheus follows, Mnestheus wreathed with green olive.
Third Eurytion, thy brother, O most illustrious,               495

Pandare, qui quondam iussus confundere foedus
in medios telum torsisti primus Achiuos.
extremus galeaque ima subsedit Acestes,
ausus et ipse manu iuvenum temptare laborem.
tum validis flexos incurvant viribus arcus 500
pro se quisque viri et depromunt tela pharetris,
primaque per caelum nervo stridente sagitta
Hyrtacidae iuvenis volucris diverberat auras,
et venit adversique infigitur arbore mali.

Pandarus, you who once, ordered to confound the treaty,
first hurled a missile into the midst of the Achaeans.
last, and with the bottom-most lot in the helmet, Acestes took his seat,
he too daring to attempt the labor among the band of youths with his own hand.
then each man for himself bends the already-curved bows with sturdy forces 500
and they draw forth missiles from their quivers,
and the first winged arrow, with the string hissing, cleaves the airs through the sky
of the Hyrtacid youth, and comes and is fixed in the tree of the opposite mast.

intremuit malus micuitque exterrita pennis 505
ales, et ingenti sonuerunt omnia plausu.
post acer Mnestheus adducto constitit arcu
alta petens, pariterque oculos telumque tetendit.
ast ipsam miserandus auem contingere ferro
non valuit; nodos et vincula linea rupit 510

the mast trembled and the bird, terrified, flickered in her wings 505
and all things resounded with huge applause.
afterwards keen Mnestheus stood with the bow drawn tight,
aiming high, and alike he strained both his eyes and his dart.
but he, to be pitied, could not touch the very bird with iron;
he broke the knots and the linen bonds 510

quis innexa pedem malo pendebat ab alto;
illa Notos atque atra volans in nubila fugit.
tum rapidus, iamdudum arcu contenta parato
tela tenens, fratrem Eurytion in vota vocavit,
iam vacuo laetam caelo speculatus et alis 515
plaudentem nigra figit sub nube columbam.
decidit exanimis vitamque reliquit in astris
aetheriis fixamque refert delapsa sagittam.

which, with her foot bound, was hanging from the high mast;
she, flying, fled into the South Winds and into the black clouds.
then swift Eurytion, long since holding his missiles with his bow drawn and ready,
called upon his brother in his vows, and now, having watched her rejoicing in the empty sky and
clapping with her wings, 515
he fixes the dove beneath a black cloud.
she fell lifeless and left her life among the aetherial stars,
and, slipping down, she brings back the arrow that was fixed.

Amissa solus palma superabat Acestes,
qui tamen aerias telum contendit in auras               520
ostentans artemque pater arcumque sonantem.
hic oculis subitum obicitur magnoque futurum
augurio monstrum; docuit post exitus ingens
seraque terrifici cecinerunt omina vates.
namque volans liquidis in nubibus arsit harundo               525
signavitque viam flammis tenuisque recessit
consumpta in ventos, caelo ceu saepe refixa
transcurrunt crinemque volantia sidera ducunt.
attonitis haesere animis superosque precati
Trinacrii Teucrique viri, nec maximus omen               530

With the palm lost, Acestes alone was prevailing,
who nevertheless hurled his missile into the airy auras               520
displaying both his art and, as a father, the resounding bow.
Here a sudden portent is thrown before the eyes, destined to be
a great augury; afterward the vast outcome taught it,
and the seers sang late the omens of the terrific thing.
For the reed-shaft, flying in the limpid clouds, blazed,               525
and marked its path with flames, and, made tenuous, withdrew,
consumed into the winds, just as often, loosened from the sky,
the flying stars run across and draw a train of hair.
Astonished in mind they stood fast and prayed to the gods above—
the Trinacrian and the Teucrian men—and not even the greatest omen               530

abnuit Aeneas, sed laetum amplexus Acesten
muneribus cumulat magnis ac talia fatur:
'sume, pater, nam te voluit rex magnus Olympi
talibus auspiciis exsortem ducere honores.
ipsius Anchisae longaevi hoc munus habebis, 535
cratera impressum signis, quem Thracius olim
Anchisae genitori in magno munere Cisseus
ferre sui dederat monimentum et pignus amoris.'
sic fatus cingit viridanti tempora lauro
et primum ante omnis victorem appellat Acesten. 540
nec bonus Eurytion praelato invidit honori,
quamvis solus auem caelo deiecit ab alto.
proximus ingreditur donis qui vincula rupit,
extremus volucri qui fixit harundine malum.

Aeneas refused, but embracing glad Acestes
he heaps him with great gifts and speaks such words:
'take, father, for the great king of Olympus has wished
by such auspices to lead you, exempt from the lot, to honors.
you shall have this gift of long-lived Anchises himself, 535
a crater impressed with signs, which once the Thracian
Cisseus had given to sire Anchises as a great gift,
to bear as a monument of himself and a pledge of love.'
Thus he spoke and wreathed his temples with green laurel
and first before all he names Acestes the victor. 540
nor did good Eurytion begrudge the preferred honor,
although he alone cast the bird down from the high sky.
next steps up for the gifts he who broke the bonds,
last, he who fixed the mast with the winged reed.

At pater Aeneas nondum certamine misso               545
custodem ad sese comitemque impubis Iuli
Epytiden vocat, et fidam sic fatur ad aurem:
'vade age et Ascanio, si iam puerile paratum
agmen habet secum cursusque instruxit equorum,
ducat auo turmas et sese ostendat in armis               550
dic' ait. ipse omnem longo decedere circo
infusum populum et campos iubet esse patentis.
incedunt pueri pariterque ante ora parentum
frenatis lucent in equis, quos omnis euntis
Trinacriae mirata fremit Troiaeque iuventus.               555

But father Aeneas, with the contest not yet dismissed,               545
calls to himself Epytides, the guardian and companion of beardless Iulus,
and thus speaks to his trusty ear:
“go on, and tell Ascanius—if now he has the boyish column prepared
with him and has arranged the courses of the horses—
let him lead the squadrons for his grandsire and display himself in arms,”               550
he says. He himself bids all the people, poured along the long circus,
to withdraw, and that the fields be open.
The boys advance, and equally before the eyes of their parents
they shine on reined horses; at all of them as they go
Trinacria’s and Troy’s youth, marveling, murmurs in wonder.               555

omnibus in morem tonsa coma pressa corona;
cornea bina ferunt praefixa hastilia ferro,
pars levis umero pharetras; it pectore summo
flexilis obtorti per collum circulus auri.
tres equitum numero turmae ternique vagantur 560
ductores; pueri bis seni quemque secuti
agmine partito fulgent paribusque magistris.
una acies iuvenum, ducit quam parvus ovantem
nomen avi referens Priamus, tua clara, Polite,
progenies, auctura Italos; quem Thracius albis 565
portat equus bicolor maculis, vestigia primi
alba pedis frontemque ostentans arduus albam.

the hair of all shorn according to custom, pressed by a crown;
they bear twin cornel-wood spear-shafts tipped with iron,
some, light-armed, carry quivers on the shoulder; around the top of the breast
goes a flexible circlet of twisted gold about the neck.
three troops of horse in number and three leaders move about 560
twice six boys follow each; they shine in a parted column and with equal masters.
one battle-line of youths, which little Priam leads exultant,
recalling his grandsire’s name—your renowned progeny, Polites—
destined to augment the Italians; whom a Thracian horse, two-colored with white 565
spots, carries, displaying the white traces of the forefoot and, lofty, a white brow.

alter Atys, genus unde Atii duxere Latini,
paruus Atys pueroque puer dilectus Iulo.
extremus formaque ante omnis pulcher Iulus 570

another Atys, whence the Latin Atii drew their lineage,
little Atys, and a boy beloved by the boy Iulus.
last, and in form before all, beautiful Iulus 570

Sidonio est invectus equo, quem candida Dido
esse sui dederat monimentum et pignus amoris.
cetera Trinacriis pubes senioris Acestae
fertur equis.
excipiunt plausu pavidos gaudentque tuentes 575
Dardanidae, veterumque agnoscunt ora parentum.

He was borne upon a Sidonian horse, which fair Dido
had given to be a monument of herself and a pledge of love.
the rest of the youth of aged Acestes are borne
on Sicilian horses.
The Dardanians welcome the timid ones with applause and, rejoicing as they watch, 575
they recognize the faces of their ancient parents.

postquam omnem laeti consessum oculosque suorum
lustravere in equis, signum clamore paratis
Epytides longe dedit insonuitque flagello.
olli discurrere pares atque agmina terni 580
diductis solvere choris, rursusque vocati
convertere vias infestaque tela tulere.
inde alios ineunt cursus aliosque recursus
adversi spatiis, alternosque orbibus orbis
impediunt pugnaeque cient simulacra sub armis; 585

After they, joyful, had surveyed all the assembly and the eyes of their own on horseback,
Epytides from afar gave the signal with a shout to the prepared and made his whip resound.
they, matched equals, ran apart, and in bands of three they loosed the battle-lines, 580
the choruses drawn apart; and called back again
they reversed their paths and bore hostile weapons.
then they enter other courses and other returns,
opposed face to face in the spaces, and with circles alternate circles
they entangle, and under arms they stir up simulacra of battle; 585

et nunc terga fuga nudant, nunc spicula vertunt
infensi, facta pariter nunc pace feruntur.
ut quondam Creta fertur Labyrinthus in alta
parietibus textum caecis iter ancipitemque
mille viis habuisse dolum, qua signa sequendi               590
frangeret indeprensus et inremeabilis error;
haud alio Teucrum nati vestigia cursu
impediunt texuntque fugas et proelia ludo,
delphinum similes qui per maria umida nando
Carpathium Libycumque secant [luduntque per undas].               595
hunc morem cursus atque haec certamina primus
Ascanius, Longam muris cum cingeret Albam,
rettulit et priscos docuit celebrare Latinos,
quo puer ipse modo, secum quo Troia pubes;
Albani docuere suos; hinc maxima porro               600

and now they bare their backs in flight, now, hostile, they turn their darts,
and, peace now equally made, they are borne along.
as once the Labyrinth in lofty Crete is said
to have had a path woven with blind walls and to have held a trick with a thousand ways,
where an untracked and unreturnable wandering would break the signs for following,               590
not otherwise, in their running, do the sons of the Teucrians hamper the tracks
and weave flights and battles in play,
like dolphins who by swimming through the wet seas
cut the Carpathian and the Libyan [and play through the waves].               595
this custom of the course and these contests first
Ascanius, when he was girding Long Alba with walls,
brought back and taught the ancient Latins to celebrate,
in the very way the boy himself did, and in which the Trojan youth with him;
the Albans taught their own; from here thereafter the greatest               600

accepit Roma et patrium servavit honorem;
Troiaque nunc pueri, Troianum dicitur agmen.
hac celebrata tenus sancto certamina patri.

Rome accepted and preserved the paternal honor;
and now the boys are “Troy,” the troop is called “Trojan.”
thus far were the contests celebrated for the sacred father.

Hinc primum Fortuna fidem mutata novavit.
dum variis tumulo referunt sollemnia ludis, 605
Irim de caelo misit Saturnia Iuno
Iliacam ad classem ventosque aspirat eunti,
multa movens necdum antiquum saturata dolorem.
illa viam celerans per mille coloribus arcum
nulli visa cito decurrit tramite virgo. 610
conspicit ingentem concursum et litora lustrat
desertosque videt portus classemque relictam.

From here first Fortune, changed, renewed her faith.
while with various games they render the solemn solemnities at the tomb, 605
the Saturnian Juno sent Iris from heaven
to the Iliac fleet and breathes winds to her as she goes,
stirring many things and not yet sated with ancient grief.
she, hastening her way along the bow with a thousand colors,
the maiden, seen by no one, swiftly runs down the path. 610
she beholds a huge concourse and surveys the shores
and sees deserted harbors and the fleet left behind.

at procul in sola secretae Troades acta
amissum Anchisen flebant, cunctaeque profundum
pontum aspectabant flentes. heu tot vada fessis 615

but far off on the solitary shore the secluded Trojan women
were weeping Anchises lost, and all of them the deep
sea were gazing at, weeping. alas, so many shallows for the weary 615

et tantum superesse maris, vox omnibus una;
urbem orant, taedet pelagi perferre laborem.
ergo inter medias sese haud ignara nocendi
conicit et faciemque deae vestemque reponit;
fit Beroe, Tmarii coniunx longaeva Dorycli, 620
cui genus et quondam nomen natique fuissent,
ac sic Dardanidum mediam se matribus infert.
'o miserae, quas non manus' inquit 'Achaica bello
traxerit ad letum patriae sub moenibus!

and that so much of the sea remains—one voice among all;
they pray for a city, it wearies them to endure the labor of the sea.
therefore into their midst she hurls herself, by no means ignorant for harming,
and lays aside the face and garment of a goddess;
she becomes Beroe, the long-lived spouse of Tmarian Doryclus, 620
to whom lineage and once both a name and sons had belonged,
and thus she bears herself into the midst of the Dardanian mothers.
'O wretched ones, whom has not the Achaean hand in war
dragged to death beneath the walls of your fatherland!

o gens
infelix, cui te exitio Fortuna reservat? 625
septima post Troiae excidium iam vertitur aestas,
cum freta, cum terras omnis, tot inhospita saxa
sideraque emensae ferimur, dum per mare magnum
Italiam sequimur fugientem et volvimur undis.
hic Erycis fines fraterni atque hospes Acestes: 630

o unhappy race, to what destruction does Fortune reserve you? 625
the seventh summer now turns since Troy’s downfall,
though we, having traversed the straits, all the lands, so many inhospitable rocks,
and even the stars, are borne along, while through the great sea
we follow a fleeing Italy and are rolled by the waves. here are the bounds of brother Eryx and the host Acestes: 630

quis prohibet muros iacere et dare civibus urbem?
o patria et rapti nequiquam ex hoste penates,
nullane iam Troiae dicentur moenia? nusquam
Hectoreos amnis, Xanthum et Simoenta, videbo?

who forbids to lay walls and to give a city to the citizens?
o fatherland and Penates snatched in vain from the enemy,
will no walls of Troy now be spoken of? nowhere
shall I see the Hectorean rivers, the Xanthus and the Simois?

quin agite et mecum infaustas exurite puppis. 635
nam mihi Cassandrae per somnum vatis imago
ardentis dare visa faces: "hic quaerite Troiam;
hic domus est" inquit "vobis." iam tempus agi res,
nec tantis mora prodigiis. en quattuor arae
Neptuno; deus ipse faces animumque ministrat.' 640
haec memorans prima infensum vi corripit ignem
sublataque procul dextra conixa coruscat
et iacit. arrectae mentes stupefactaque corda
Iliadum.

Come on then, and burn up with me the ill-omened ships. 635
for to me the image of the prophetess Cassandra in sleep
seemed to give blazing torches: "Here seek Troy;
here is a home for you," she says. "Now it is time to act,
nor is there delay in the face of such prodigies. Behold four altars
for Neptune; the god himself ministers torches and spirit." 640
saying these things, she first seizes hostile fire with force
and, with right hand raised far off, bracing herself, she brandishes
and hurls it. The minds are aroused and the hearts stupefied
of the Trojan women.

hic una e multis, quae maxima natu,
Pyrgo, tot Priami natorum regia nutrix: 645

here one from many, who greatest in age,
Pyrgo, the royal nurse of so many sons of Priam: 645

'non Beroe vobis, non haec Rhoeteia, matres,
est Dorycli coniunx; divini signa decoris
ardentisque notate oculos, qui spiritus illi,
qui vultus vocisque sonus vel gressus eunti.
ipsa egomet dudum Beroen digressa reliqui 650
aegram, indignantem tali quod sola careret
munere nec meritos Anchisae inferret honores.'
haec effata.
at matres primo ancipites oculisque malignis
ambiguae spectare rates miserum inter amorem 655
praesentis terrae fatisque vocantia regna,
cum dea se paribus per caelum sustulit alis
ingentemque fuga secuit sub nubibus arcum.

'not Beroe to you, not this Rhoeteian, mothers,
is the consort of Doryclus; note the signs of divine decorum
and the burning eyes, what spirit she has,
what visage and the sound of her voice, or the step as she goes.
I myself just now, having turned aside, left Beroe behind 650
sick, indignant that she alone was lacking such a gift
and could not bring the deserved honors to Anchises.'
Having said these things.
But the mothers at first, in two minds and with malign eyes,
uncertain, gaze at the ships, between the wretched love 655
of the present land and the realms that by fate call them,
when the goddess on equal wings lifted herself through the sky
and with flight cut a huge arc beneath the clouds.

tum vero attonitae monstris actaeque furore
conclamant, rapiuntque focis penetralibus ignem, 660

Then indeed, thunderstruck by the portents and driven by frenzy
they cry out together, and snatch fire from the inner hearths, 660

pars spoliant aras, frondem ac virgulta facesque
coniciunt. furit immissis Volcanus habenis
transtra per et remos et pictas abiete puppis.

some despoil the altars, they hurl leafage and brushwood and torches;
Vulcan, with the reins let loose, rages
through the thwarts and oars and the fir-painted sterns.

Nuntius Anchisae ad tumulum cuneosque theatri
incensas perfert navis Eumelus, et ipsi 665
respiciunt atram in nimbo volitare favillam.
primus et Ascanius, cursus ut laetus equestris
ducebat, sic acer equo turbata petivit
castra, nec exanimes possunt retinere magistri.
'quis furor iste novus?

A messenger, Eumelus, carries to Anchises’ tomb and the wedge-sections of the theater
the report that the ships are set ablaze, and they themselves 665
look back and see black ash flitting in a cloud.
and first Ascanius, as his joyful equestrian course was leading,
thus, keen on his horse, made for the disturbed camp,
nor can the aghast masters restrain him.
'What new fury is this?

quo nunc, quo tenditis' inquit 670
'heu miserae cives? non hostem inimicaque castra
Argiuum, vestras spes uritis. en, ego vester
Ascanius!'—galeam ante pedes proiecit inanem,
qua ludo indutus belli simulacra ciebat.

where now, where are you heading,' he says 670
'alas, unhappy citizens? not the enemy and the hostile camps
of the Argives—you are burning your own hopes. behold, I am your
Ascanius!'—he threw before his feet an empty helmet,
with which, clad for play, he used to stir up the simulacra of war.

accelerat simul Aeneas, simul agmina Teucrum. 675

Aeneas hastens at the same time, and at the same time the ranks of the Teucrians. 675

ast illae diversa metu per litora passim
diffugiunt, silvasque et sicubi concava furtim
saxa petunt; piget incepti lucisque, suosque
mutatae agnoscunt excussaque pectore Iuno est.

But they, in fear, scatter in different directions along the shores far and wide,
and stealthily seek the woods and, wherever it may be, the hollow rocks;
they regret the inception and the daylight, and, changed, recognize their own,
and Juno has been shaken out from their breast.

Sed non idcirco flamma atque incendia viris               680
indomitas posuere; udo sub robore vivit
stuppa vomens tardum fumum, lentusque carinas
est vapor et toto descendit corpore pestis,
nec vires heroum infusaque flumina prosunt.
tum pius Aeneas umeris abscindere vestem               685
auxilioque vocare deos et tendere palmas:
'Iuppiter omnipotens, si nondum exosus ad unum
Troianos, si quid pietas antiqua labores
respicit humanos, da flammam evadere classi
nunc, pater, et tenuis Teucrum res eripe leto.                690

But not therefore did the flame and the conflagrations, unconquered by the men, cease; 680
under the wet oak the tow lives, spewing sluggish smoke, and a clinging vapor is upon the hulls and a pest descends through the whole body,
nor do the strength of heroes and the poured-in rivers avail.
Then dutiful Aeneas to tear the garment from his shoulders and to call the gods for aid and to stretch out his palms:
'All-powerful Jupiter, if you have not yet hated the Trojans to a man,
if ancient piety has any regard for human labors, grant that the fleet escape the flame
now, father, and snatch the slender estate of the Teucrians from death. 690

vel tu, quod superest, infesto fulmine morti,
si mereor, demitte tuaque hic obrue dextra.'
vix haec ediderat cum effusis imbribus atra
tempestas sine more furit tonitruque tremescunt
ardua terrarum et campi; ruit aethere toto 695
turbidus imber aqua densisque nigerrimus Austris,
implenturque super puppes, semusta madescunt
robora, restinctus donec vapor omnis et omnes
quattuor amissis servatae a peste carinae.

or do you, what remains, with a hostile thunderbolt to death,
if I deserve it, send me down and overwhelm me here by your right hand.'
scarce had he uttered these things when, with outpoured showers, a black
tempest rages without order, and with thunder both the lofty heights
of the lands and the plains tremble; there rushes from the whole aether 695
a turbid downpour with water and with the densest, blackest South Winds,
and the sterns are filled from above, the half-burned oaken timbers grow sodden,
until all vapor is quenched and all
four hulls, losses having been suffered, are saved from the blight.

At pater Aeneas casu concussus acerbo               700
nunc huc ingentis, nunc illuc pectore curas
mutabat versans, Siculisne resideret arvis
oblitus fatorum, Italasne capesseret oras.
tum senior Nautes, unum Tritonia Pallas
quem docuit multaque insignem reddidit arte—               705
haec responsa dabat, vel quae portenderet ira
magna deum vel quae fatorum posceret ordo;
isque his Aenean solatus vocibus infit:
'nate dea, quo fata trahunt retrahuntque sequamur;
quidquid erit, superanda omnis fortuna ferendo est.               710

But father Aeneas, shaken by the bitter mischance               700
now here, now there, kept shifting in his breast his huge cares,
whether he should settle in the Sicilian fields, forgetful of the fates,
or take up the Italian shores. Then the elder Nautes,
whom Tritonian Pallas alone had taught and had made distinguished by much art—               705
would give these responses, either what the great wrath
of the gods portended, or what the order of the fates demanded;
and he begins, having consoled Aeneas with these words:
‘son of the goddess, wherever the fates draw and draw back, let us follow;
whatever will be, every fortune must be overcome by enduring it.’               710

est tibi Dardanius divinae stirpis Acestes:
hunc cape consiliis socium et coniunge volentem,
huic trade amissis superant qui navibus et quos
pertaesum magni incepti rerumque tuarum est.
longaevosque senes ac fessas aequore matres 715
et quidquid tecum invalidum metuensque pericli est
delige, et his habeant terris sine moenia fessi;
urbem appellabunt permisso nomine Acestam.'

you have Dardanian Acestes of divine stock:
take him as a partner in counsels and, willing, join him;
to him hand over those who survive with their ships lost, and those
whom the great undertaking and your affairs have wearied to disgust.
and the long-aged old men and the mothers wearied by the sea 715
and whatever with you is weak and fearing peril,
choose out, and let the weary, wall-less, have in these lands a town;
they will name the city Acesta, with the name permitted.'

Talibus incensus dictis senioris amici
tum vero in curas animo diducitur omnis;               720
et Nox atra polum bigis subvecta tenebat.
visa dehinc caelo facies delapsa parentis
Anchisae subito talis effundere voces:
'nate, mihi vita quondam, dum vita manebat,
care magis, nate Iliacis exercite fatis,               725
imperio Iovis huc venio, qui classibus ignem
depulit, et caelo tandem miseratus ab alto est.
consiliis pare quae nunc pulcherrima Nautes
dat senior; lectos iuvenes, fortissima corda,
defer in Italiam. gens dura atque aspera cultu               730

Inflamed by such words of the elder friend,
then indeed his whole mind is drawn apart into cares;               720
and black Night, borne aloft in her two-horse car, held the sky.
Then a visage of his parent seemed to have glided down from heaven,
of Anchises, suddenly to pour forth such words:
'son, once my life, while life remained,
more dear, son harried by Iliac fates,               725
by the command of Jove I come hither, who has driven the fire from the fleets,
and from high heaven at last has had pity.
Obey the counsels which now most excellent Nautes,
the elder, gives; the elect youths, the bravest hearts,
bear to Italy. A race hard and rough in culture               730

debellanda tibi Latio est. Ditis tamen ante
infernas accede domos et Averna per alta
congressus pete, nate, meos. non me impia namque
Tartara habent, tristes umbrae, sed amoena piorum
concilia Elysiumque colo.

Latium is to be conquered by you. Yet first approach the infernal homes of Dis, and through the deep Avernus seek my meeting, son. For the impious Tartarus, the gloomy shades, do not hold me, but I inhabit the pleasant councils of the pious and Elysium.

huc casta Sibylla 735
nigrarum multo pecudum te sanguine ducet.
tum genus omne tuum et quae dentur moenia disces.
iamque vale; torquet medios Nox umida cursus
et me saevus equis Oriens adflavit anhelis.'
dixerat et tenuis fugit ceu fumus in auras. 740
Aeneas 'quo deinde ruis?

hither the chaste Sibyl 735
will lead you with much blood of black cattle.
then you will learn all your race and what walls are granted.
and now farewell; the dewy Night wheels her courses through the midst,
and the savage Orient has breathed upon me with panting horses.'
he had spoken, and thin he fled like smoke into the breezes. 740
Aeneas 'whither then do you rush?

quo proripis?' inquit,
'quem fugis? aut quis te nostris complexibus arcet?'
haec memorans cinerem et sopitos suscitat ignis,
Pergameumque Larem et canae penetralia Vestae
farre pio et plena supplex veneratur acerra. 745

'Where do you rush?' he says,
'whom do you flee? or who keeps you from our embraces?'
saying these things, he rouses the ash and the slumbering fires,
and as a suppliant he venerates the Pergamene Lar and the penetralia of hoary Vesta
with pious spelt and a censer full. 745

Extemplo socios primumque accersit Acesten
et Iovis imperium et cari praecepta parentis
edocet et quae nunc animo sententia constet.
haud mora consiliis, nec iussa recusat Acestes:
transcribunt urbi matres populumque volentem 750
deponunt, animos nil magnae laudis egentis.
ipsi transtra novant flammisque ambesa reponunt
robora navigiis, aptant remosque rudentisque,
exigui numero, sed bello vivida virtus.

At once he summons his comrades and Acestes first,
and he fully instructs them in Jupiter’s imperium and the precepts of his dear parent,
and what resolve now stands fast in his mind.
No delay in counsels, nor does Acestes refuse the commands:
they transfer to the city the mothers, and they set down the willing people, 750
spirits needing nothing of great praise.
They themselves renew the thwarts and replace for the ships the timbers
consumed by flames, fit oars and ropes,
few in number, but with a valor lively for war.

interea Aeneas urbem designat aratro 755
sortiturque domos; hoc Ilium et haec loca Troiam
esse iubet. gaudet regno Troianus Acestes
indicitque forum et patribus dat iura vocatis.
tum vicina astris Erycino in vertice sedes
fundatur Veneri Idaliae, tumuloque sacerdos 760

meanwhile Aeneas marks out a city with the plow 755
and allots homes; he bids that this be Ilium and that these places be Troy.
Trojan Acestes rejoices in the kingdom
and proclaims a forum and grants laws to the Fathers when summoned.
then on the Erycinian summit, near to the stars, a seat
is founded for Idalian Venus, and on the mound a priest 760

ac lucus late sacer additus Anchiseo.

and a grove, sacred far and wide, was added to Anchises.

Iamque dies epulata novem gens omnis, et aris
factus honos: placidi straverunt aequora venti
creber et aspirans rursus vocat Auster in altum.
exoritur procurva ingens per litora fletus; 765
complexi inter se noctemque diemque morantur.
ipsae iam matres, ipsi, quibus aspera quondam
visa maris facies et non tolerabile numen,
ire volunt omnemque fugae perferre laborem.

Now already for nine days the whole people has feasted, and honor has been rendered to the altars:
the placid winds have smoothed the waters,
and the frequent, blowing Auster calls again to the deep.
there arises, bowed forward along the shores, a vast weeping; 765
embracing one another they linger night and day.
even the mothers themselves now, they themselves to whom once
the face of the sea seemed harsh and the divinity not tolerable,
wish to go and to endure every labor of flight.

quos bonus Aeneas dictis solatur amicis 770
et consanguineo lacrimans commendat Acestae.
tris Eryci vitulos et Tempestatibus agnam
caedere deinde iubet solvique ex ordine funem.
ipse caput tonsae foliis evinctus olivae
stans procul in prora pateram tenet, extaque salsos 775

whom good Aeneas consoles with friendly words, 770
and, weeping, entrusts to his kinsman by blood, Acestes.
then he orders three calves for Eryx and a lamb for the Tempests
to be slaughtered, and the cable to be loosed in due order.
he himself, his head bound with leaves of clipped olive,
standing afar on the prow holds a libation-bowl, and the entrails, salted, 775

proicit in fluctus ac vina liquentia fundit.
certatim socii feriunt mare et aequora verrunt; 778
prosequitur surgens a puppi ventus euntis. 777

he casts into the waves and pours out limpid wines.
eagerly, the comrades strike the sea and sweep the waters; 778
a wind rising from the stern follows those going. 777

At Venus interea Neptunum exercita curis               779
adloquitur talisque effundit pectore questus:
'Iunonis gravis ira neque exsaturabile pectus
cogunt me, Neptune, preces descendere in omnis;
quam nec longa dies pietas nec mitigat ulla,
nec Iovis imperio fatisque infracta quiescit.
non media de gente Phrygum exedisse nefandis               785
urbem odiis satis est nec poenam traxe per omnem
reliquias Troiae: cineres atque ossa peremptae
insequitur. causas tanti sciat illa furoris.
ipse mihi nuper Libycis tu testis in undis
quam molem subito excierit: maria omnia caelo               790

But Venus meanwhile, exercised with cares, addresses Neptune,               779
and from her breast pours forth such complaints:
'Juno’s heavy wrath and her insatiable breast
compel me, Neptune, to descend to every kind of prayers;
which neither long day nor any piety mitigates,
nor, broken by Jupiter’s command and by the Fates, does she find rest.
It is not enough to have eaten away a city from the very midst of the Phrygian people with unspeakable hatreds,               785
nor to have drawn out the penalty through and through upon the remnants of Troy: she pursues
the ashes and the bones of the slain. Let her know the causes of so great a frenzy.
I myself lately—you are witness—in the Libyan waves
what a mass she suddenly aroused: the seas all with the sky               790

miscuit Aeoliis nequiquam freta procellis,
in regnis hoc ausa tuis.
per scelus ecce etiam Troianis matribus actis
exussit foede puppis et classe subegit
amissa socios ignotae linquere terrae. 795
quod superest, oro, liceat dare tuta per undas
vela tibi, liceat Laurentem attingere Thybrim,
si concessa peto, si dant ea moenia Parcae.'
tum Saturnius haec domitor maris edidit alti:
'fas omne est, Cytherea, meis te fidere regnis, 800
unde genus ducis. merui quoque; saepe furores
compressi et rabiem tantam caelique marisque.

she mixed the seas with Aeolian storms to no avail,
daring this in your realms. Behold, even through crime, with the Trojan mothers driven to it,
she foully burned the ships and, the fleet lost, compelled
the comrades to leave an unknown land. 795
as for what remains, I beg, let it be permitted to set safe sails through the waves
for you, let it be permitted to reach the Laurentine Tiber,
if I seek what is conceded, if the Fates grant those walls.'
then the Saturnian, the tamer of the deep sea, uttered these words:
'all is lawful, Cytherean, for you to trust in my realms, 800
whence you draw your race. I too have deserved it; often I have suppressed
the frenzies and such rabidity of both sky and sea.

nec minor in terris, Xanthum Simoentaque testor,
Aeneae mihi cura tui. cum Troia Achilles
exanimata sequens impingeret agmina muris, 805

nor less upon the lands, I call Xanthus and Simois to witness,
is my care for your Aeneas. When Troy, Achilles in pursuit,
was driving the breathless ranks against the walls, 805

milia multa daret leto, gemerentque repleti
amnes nec reperire viam atque euolvere posset
in mare se Xanthus, Pelidae tunc ego forti
congressum Aenean nec dis nec viribus aequis
nube cava rapui, cuperem cum vertere ab imo 810
structa meis manibus periurae moenia Troiae.
nunc quoque mens eadem perstat mihi; pelle timores.
tutus, quos optas, portus accedet Averni.

he would give many thousands to death, and the rivers, filled, would groan, nor could Xanthus find a way and roll itself out into the sea; then I snatched Aeneas, having met with the brave son of Peleus, not with gods nor with forces equal, in a hollow cloud, when I was desiring to overturn from the bottom the walls of perjured Troy, constructed by my hands. 810
now also the same mind persists for me; banish fears.
safe, the harbors of Avernus which you desire will approach.

unus erit tantum amissum quem gurgite quaeres;
unum pro multis dabitur caput.' 815
his ubi laeta deae permulsit pectora dictis,
iungit equos auro genitor, spumantiaque addit
frena feris manibusque omnis effundit habenas.
caeruleo per summa levis volat aequora curru;
subsidunt undae tumidumque sub axe tonanti 820

there will be only one whom you will seek as lost in the gulf;
one head will be given for many.' 815
when with these words he soothed the glad heart of the goddess,
the Father yokes the horses with gold, and adds foaming
bits to the wild ones and with his hands lets loose all the reins.
light, he flies over the surface of the waters in his cerulean chariot;
the waves subside, and beneath the thundering axle the swollen 820

sternitur aequor aquis, fugiunt vasto aethere nimbi.
tum variae comitum facies, immania cete,
et senior Glauci chorus Inousque Palaemon
Tritonesque citi Phorcique exercitus omnis;
laeva tenet Thetis et Melite Panopeaque virgo, 825
Nisaee Spioque Thaliaque Cymodoceque.

the sea-plain is laid flat by the waters, the clouds flee in the vast ether.
then the varied forms of the companions, the immense sea-monsters,
and the elder chorus of Glaucus and Ino’s Palaemon,
and the swift Tritons and all the army of Phorcus;
the left holds Thetis and Melite and the maiden Panopea, 825
Nisaea and Spio and Thalia and Cymodoce.

Hic patris Aeneae suspensam blanda vicissim
gaudia pertemptant mentem; iubet ocius omnis
attolli malos, intendi bracchia velis.
una omnes fecere pedem pariterque sinistros,               830
nunc dextros solvere sinus; una ardua torquent
cornua detorquentque; ferunt sua flamina classem.
princeps ante omnis densum Palinurus agebat
agmen; ad hunc alii cursum contendere iussi.
iamque fere mediam caeli Nox umida metam               835
contigerat, placida laxabant membra quiete
sub remis fusi per dura sedilia nautae,
cum levis aetheriis delapsus Somnus ab astris
aera dimovit tenebrosum et dispulit umbras,
te, Palinure, petens, tibi somnia tristia portans               840

Here the coaxing joys in turn thrill the wavering mind of father Aeneas; he bids quickly that all the masts be raised, that the yards be stretched with sails. together all took the tack and alike the left, now to loosen the right folds;               830
together they twist the lofty horns and untwist them; their breezes bear the fleet. foremost before all Palinurus was driving the dense column; to him the others were bidden to press their course. and now dewy Night had almost touched the middle goal of the sky,               835
they were loosening their limbs with placid repose, the sailors sprawled beneath the oars along the hard benches, when light Sleep, gliding down from the aetherial stars, parted the murky air and drove the shades apart, seeking you, Palinurus, bringing to you sad dreams.               840

insonti; puppique deus consedit in alta
Phorbanti similis funditque has ore loquelas:
'Iaside Palinure, ferunt ipsa aequora classem,
aequatae spirant aurae, datur hora quieti.
pone caput fessosque oculos furare labori. 845
ipse ego paulisper pro te tua munera inibo.'
cui vix attollens Palinurus lumina fatur:
'mene salis placidi vultum fluctusque quietos
ignorare iubes? mene huic confidere monstro?

innocent; and on the high stern the god sat, like Phorbas, and pours from his mouth these utterances:
'Iasid Palinurus, the very waters bear the fleet,
balanced breezes breathe, an hour is given for repose.
lay down your head and steal your weary eyes from toil. 845
I myself for a little while in your stead will enter upon your duties.'
To him, scarcely lifting his eyes, Palinurus speaks:
'Do you bid me not recognize the face of the placid brine and the peaceful waves?
do you bid me trust this monster?

Aenean credam (quid enim?) fallacibus auris 850
et caeli totiens deceptus fraude sereni?'
talia dicta dabat, clavumque adfixus et haerens
nusquam amittebat oculosque sub astra tenebat.
ecce deus ramum Lethaeo rore madentem
vique soporatum Stygia super utraque quassat 855

Shall I entrust Aeneas (what then?) to treacherous breezes 850
and I, so often deceived by the fraud of a serene sky?'
He was uttering such words, and, fastened and clinging to the tiller,
he would nowise let it go and held his eyes under the stars.
ecce the god shakes a branch dripping with Lethean dew
and drugged with Stygian might over both he brandishes it. 855

tempora, cunctantique natantia lumina solvit.
vix primos inopina quies laxaverat artus,
et super incumbens cum puppis parte revulsa
cumque gubernaclo liquidas proiecit in undas
praecipitem ac socios nequiquam saepe vocantem;               860
ipse volans tenuis se sustulit ales ad auras.
currit iter tutum non setius aequore classis
promissisque patris Neptuni interrita fertur.
iamque adeo scopulos Sirenum advecta subibat,
difficilis quondam multorumque ossibus albos               865
(tum rauca adsiduo longe sale saxa sonabant),
cum pater amisso fluitantem errare magistro
sensit, et ipse ratem nocturnis rexit in undis
multa gemens casuque animum concussus amici:
'o nimium caelo et pelago confise sereno,               870

he loosed his temples, and the swimming eyes of the hesitating one.
Scarcely had the unforeseen repose relaxed his limbs at first,
and, leaning over him, with a part of the stern torn away
and with the helm, he flung him headlong into the limpid waves,
often calling his comrades in vain;               860
he himself, flying, as a slender bird, lifted himself to the breezes.
The fleet runs its safe course over the sea none the less
and, undismayed by the promises of father Neptune, is borne along.
And now indeed, borne onward, it was nearing the Sirens’ crags,
once perilous and white with the bones of many               865
(then the rocks were sounding hoarsely far off with continual brine),
when the father, sensing that, with the helmsman lost, it drifted wandering,
himself steered the ship on the nocturnal waves,
groaning much and in spirit shaken by the mischance of his friend:
'O you who trusted too much in a serene sky and sea,               870

nudus in ignota, Palinure, iacebis harena.'

'naked on unknown sand, Palinurus, you will lie.'