Virgil: AENEID

Sic fatur lacrimans, classique immittit habenas
et tandem Euboicis Cumarum adlabitur oris.
obvertunt pelago proras; tum dente tenaci
ancora fundabat navis et litora curvae
praetexunt puppes. iuvenum manus emicat ardens 5
litus in Hesperium; quaerit pars semina flammae
abstrusa in venis silicis, pars densa ferarum
tecta rapit silvas inventaque flumina monstrat.

Thus he speaks weeping, and he lets loose the reins to the fleet,
and at last he glides to the Euboean shores of Cumae.
they turn their prows toward the sea; then with its tenacious tooth
the anchor was mooring the ships, and the curved sterns fringe
the shores. A band of youths darts ardent onto the Hesperian strand; 5
part seeks the seeds of flame hidden in the veins of flint,
part snatches the dense coverts of wild-beasts, the woods, and points out
the streams they have found.

at pius Aeneas arces quibus altus Apollo
praesidet horrendaeque procul secreta Sibyllae, 10
antrum immane, petit, magnam cui mentem animumque
Delius inspirat vates aperitque futura.
iam subeunt Triviae lucos atque aurea tecta.

But pious Aeneas seeks the citadels over which lofty Apollo presides and, far away, the secrets of the dread Sibyl, 10
the immense cavern, to whom the Delian prophet inspires a great mind and spirit and opens the things to come.
Now they approach the groves of Trivia and the golden roofs.

Daedalus, ut fama est, fugiens Minoia regna
praepetibus pennis ausus se credere caelo 15
insuetum per iter gelidas enavit ad Arctos,
Chalcidicaque levis tandem super astitit arce.
redditus his primum terris tibi, Phoebe, sacravit
remigium alarum posuitque immania templa.
in foribus letum Androgeo; tum pendere poenas 20
Cecropidae iussi (miserum!) septena quotannis
corpora natorum; stat ductis sortibus urna.

Daedalus, as the report is, fleeing the Minoan realms,
with swift wings dared to entrust himself to the sky, 15
by an unaccustomed path he swam out to the icy Bears,
and at last, light, he alighted upon the Chalcidian citadel.
returned to these lands first, to you, Phoebus, he consecrated
the rowing-gear of his wings and set up enormous temples.
on the doors the death of Androgeos; then the Cecropidae ordered 20
to pay penalties (alas!), seven bodies of their sons each year;
the urn stands, the lots having been drawn.

contra elata mari respondet Cnosia tellus:
hic crudelis amor tauri suppostaque furto
Pasiphae mixtumque genus prolesque biformis 25

opposite, the Cnosian land, lifted from the sea, answers:
here the cruel love of the bull, and Pasiphaë set beneath by stealth,
and the mixed breed, and the two-formed offspring 25

Minotaurus inest, Veneris monimenta nefandae,
hic labor ille domus et inextricabilis error;
magnum reginae sed enim miseratus amorem
Daedalus ipse dolos tecti ambagesque resolvit,
caeca regens filo vestigia. tu quoque magnam 30
partem opere in tanto, sineret dolor, Icare, haberes.
bis conatus erat casus effingere in auro,
bis patriae cecidere manus.

The Minotaur is within, monuments of nefarious Venus,
here that labor of the house and the inextricable maze;
but indeed, pitying the queen’s great love,
Daedalus himself resolved the wiles of the building and its windings,
guiding blind footsteps with a thread. You too would have a great 30
part in so great a work, if grief allowed it, Icarus, you would have.
twice he had tried to fashion your fall in gold,
twice the father’s hands fell.

quin protinus omnia
perlegerent oculis, ni iam praemissus Achates
adforet atque una Phoebi Triviaeque sacerdos, 35
Deiphobe Glauci, fatur quae talia regi:
'non hoc ista sibi tempus spectacula poscit;
nunc grege de intacto septem mactare iuvencos
praestiterit, totidem lectas ex more bidentis.'
talibus adfata Aenean (nec sacra morantur 40

nay rather, they would straightway have read through everything with their eyes, had not Achates, already sent ahead, been present, and together the priestess of Phoebus and Trivia, Deiphobe, daughter of Glaucus, who speaks such things to the king: 'this time does not demand such spectacles for itself; now it would be better to sacrifice seven bullocks from an untouched herd, and just as many chosen two‑toothed ewes according to custom.' having thus addressed Aeneas (nor do the sacred rites delay 35

iussa viri) Teucros vocat alta in templa sacerdos.

the man's commands) the priestess calls the Teucrians into the high temples.

Excisum Euboicae latus ingens rupis in antrum,
quo lati ducunt aditus centum, ostia centum,
unde ruunt totidem voces, responsa Sibyllae.
ventum erat ad limen, cum virgo 'poscere fata 45
tempus' ait; 'deus ecce deus!' cui talia fanti
ante fores subito non vultus, non color unus,
non comptae mansere comae; sed pectus anhelum,
et rabie fera corda tument, maiorque videri
nec mortale sonans, adflata est numine quando 50
iam propiore dei. 'cessas in vota precesque,
Tros' ait 'Aenea?

A huge side of the Euboean cliff cut out into a cavern,
where wide a hundred approaches lead, a hundred doors,
whence rush just as many voices, the responses of the Sibyl.
they had come to the threshold, when the maiden says, 'it is time 45
to demand the fates; behold—a god, a god!' As she was saying such things
before the doors, suddenly neither her face nor her color remained the same,
nor did her arranged tresses stay; but her breast was panting,
and her heart swelled with fierce raving, and she seemed greater
and sounded not mortal, since she was breathed upon by the divinity, now 50
nearer of the god. 'Do you delay in vows and prayers,
Trojan Aeneas?' she says.

cessas? neque enim ante dehiscent
attonitae magna ora domus.' et talia fata
conticuit. gelidus Teucris per dura cucurrit
ossa tremor, funditque preces rex pectore ab imo: 55

Do you delay? For not before will the great mouths of the awestruck house gape open.' And having spoken such things she fell silent. A gelid tremor ran through the hard bones of the Teucrians, and the king pours forth prayers from his inmost breast: 55

'Phoebe, gravis Troiae semper miserate labores,
Dardana qui Paridis derexti tela manusque
corpus in Aeacidae, magnas obeuntia terras
tot maria intravi duce te penitusque repostas
Massylum gentis praetentaque Syrtibus arva: 60
iam tandem Italiae fugientis prendimus oras.
hac Troiana tenus fuerit fortuna secuta;
vos quoque Pergameae iam fas est parcere genti,
dique deaeque omnes, quibus obstitit Ilium et ingens
gloria Dardaniae. tuque, o sanctissima vates, 65
praescia venturi, da (non indebita posco
regna meis fatis) Latio considere Teucros
errantisque deos agitataque numina Troiae.

'Phoebus, ever pitying the grievous labors of Troy,
you who directed the Dardanian Paris’s shafts and hand
against the body of the Aeacid, so many seas encircling
great lands I have entered with you as leader, and the deeply remote
lands of the Massylian nation and the fields outstretched before the Syrtes: 60
now at last we grasp the shores of receding Italy.
so far let Trojan fortune have followed;
you also, it is now divinely right to spare the Pergamean nation,
both gods and goddesses all, whom Ilium and the mighty
glory of Dardania have hindered. And you too, O most holy prophetess, 65
foreknowing what is to come, grant (I ask no kingdoms not owed
to my fates) that the Teucrians may settle in Latium,
and the wandering gods and the shaken numina of Troy.

tum Phoebo et Triviae solido de marmore templum
instituam festosque dies de nomine Phoebi. 70

then to Phoebus and to Trivia a temple of solid marble
I will institute, and festal days in the name of Phoebus. 70

te quoque magna manent regnis penetralia nostris:
hic ego namque tuas sortis arcanaque fata
dicta meae genti ponam, lectosque sacrabo,
alma, viros. foliis tantum ne carmina manda,
ne turbata volent rapidis ludibria ventis; 75
ipsa canas oro.' finem dedit ore loquendi.

you too great inner sancta await in our realms:
here indeed I will set down your lots and arcane fates, sayings for my people, and I will consecrate, nurturing one, chosen men. only do not entrust the songs to leaves,
lest, thrown into confusion, they fly as playthings of the rapid winds; 75
‘do you yourself sing, I pray.’ He gave an end to speaking with his mouth.

At Phoebi nondum patiens immanis in antro
bacchatur vates, magnum si pectore possit
excussisse deum; tanto magis ille fatigat
os rabidum, fera corda domans, fingitque premendo.               80
ostia iamque domus patuere ingentia centum
sponte sua vatisque ferunt responsa per auras:
'o tandem magnis pelagi defuncte periclis
(sed terrae graviora manent), in regna Lavini
Dardanidae venient (mitte hanc de pectore curam),               85
sed non et venisse volent. bella, horrida bella,
et Thybrim multo spumantem sanguine cerno.
non Simois tibi nec Xanthus nec Dorica castra
defuerint; alius Latio iam partus Achilles,
natus et ipse dea; nec Teucris addita Iuno                90

But not yet patient of Phoebus, in the monstrous cavern
the vates bacchates, if she might be able to shake out from her breast the great god; so much the more he wearies
the rabid mouth, taming the wild heart, and by pressing he fashions it.               80
and now the hundred huge doors of the house flew open of their own accord
and carry the vates’s responses through the air: 'O you at last finished with the great perils of the sea
(but heavier of the land remain), into the realms of Lavinium
the Dardanians will come (send away this care from your breast),               85
but they will not also wish to have come. wars, horrid wars,
and I discern the Tiber foaming with much blood.
neither Simois nor Xanthus nor the Dorian camps
will have been lacking to you; another Achilles is already born for Latium,
himself born of a goddess; nor will Juno be added to the Teucrians               90

usquam aberit, cum tu supplex in rebus egenis
quas gentis Italum aut quas non oraveris urbes!
causa mali tanti coniunx iterum hospita Teucris
externique iterum thalami.
tu ne cede malis, sed contra audentior ito, 95
qua tua te Fortuna sinet.

she will be nowhere absent, when you as a suppliant in needy circumstances—
what peoples of the Italians or what cities will you not have entreated!
the cause of so great an ill will be a bride, again a foreigner to the Teucrians,
and again foreign bridal-chambers.
do not yield to evils, but go on more daringly to confront them, 95
as far as your Fortune will allow you.

via prima salutis
(quod minime reris) Graia pandetur ab urbe.'

the first way of salvation
(which you would least suppose) will be opened from a Graian city.'

Talibus ex adyto dictis Cumaea Sibylla
horrendas canit ambages antroque remugit,
obscuris vera involvens: ea frena furenti               100
concutit et stimulos sub pectore vertit Apollo.
ut primum cessit furor et rabida ora quierunt,
incipit Aeneas heros: 'non ulla laborum,
o virgo, nova mi facies inopinave surgit;
omnia praecepi atque animo mecum ante peregi.               105
unum oro: quando hic inferni ianua regis
dicitur et tenebrosa palus Acheronte refuso,
ire ad conspectum cari genitoris et ora
contingat; doceas iter et sacra ostia pandas.
illum ego per flammas et mille sequentia tela               110

With such words spoken from the adyton the Cumaean Sibyl
sings horrendous circumlocutions and echoes back from the cavern,
enwrapping truths in obscurities: he, Apollo, shakes the reins for the frenzied one               100
and turns the goads beneath her breast.
As soon as the fury subsided and the rabid lips grew quiet,
the hero Aeneas begins: ‘No aspect of labors,
O virgin, rises for me new or unexpected;
I have anticipated all and with my mind have gone through them beforehand with myself.               105
One thing I beg: since here the doorway of the king of the infernal world
is said to be, and the tenebrous marsh with Acheron poured back,
to go to the sight and face of my dear father
may be granted; that you teach the way and open the sacred portals.
Him, through flames and a thousand following missiles, I               110

eripui his umeris medioque ex hoste recepi;
ille meum comitatus iter maria omnia mecum
atque omnis pelagique minas caelique ferebat,
inualidus, viris ultra sortemque senectae.
quin, ut te supplex peterem et tua limina adirem, 115
idem orans mandata dabat. gnatique patrisque,
alma, precor, miserere (potes namque omnia, nec te
nequiquam lucis Hecate praefecit Avernis),
si potuit manis accersere coniugis Orpheus
Threicia fretus cithara fidibusque canoris, 120
si fratrem Pollux alterna morte redemit
itque reditque viam totiens.

I snatched him onto these shoulders and recovered him out of the midst of the foe;
he, accompanying my journey, was bearing with me all the seas
and all the threats both of the pelagic and of the sky,
invalid, beyond the powers and the portion of senectude.
nay more, even that I should seek you as a suppliant and approach your thresholds, 115
he, praying, was giving the same instructions. of both son and father,
gracious one, I beg, have pity (for you can do all things, nor did Hecate
appoint you as prefect over the Avernian groves in vain),
if Orpheus could summon the shades of his consort,
relying on his Thracian cithara and melodious fidēs, 120
if Pollux redeemed his brother by alternate death
and goes and returns the road so many times.

quid Thesea, magnum
quid memorem Alciden? et mi genus ab Iove summo.'

what of Theseus, the great,
why should I recall Alcides? and I too have lineage from highest Jove.'

Talibus orabat dictis arasque tenebat,
cum sic orsa loqui vates: 'sate sanguine divum,               125
Tros Anchisiade, facilis descensus Averno:
noctes atque dies patet atri ianua Ditis;
sed revocare gradum superasque evadere ad auras,
hoc opus, hic labor est. pauci, quos aequus amavit
Iuppiter aut ardens evexit ad aethera virtus,               130
dis geniti potuere. tenent media omnia silvae,
Cocytusque sinu labens circumvenit atro.
quod si tantus amor menti, si tanta cupido est
bis Stygios innare lacus, bis nigra videre
Tartara, et insano iuvat indulgere labori,               135

With such words he was praying and was holding the altars,
when thus the seer began to speak: 'born of the blood of the gods,               125
Trojan, son of Anchises, easy is the descent to Avernus:
nights and days the gate of gloomy Dis lies open;
but to recall the step and to escape to the upper airs—
this is the work, this the labor. Few, whom impartial
Jupiter has loved, or burning virtue has lifted to the ether,               130
gods-begotten, have been able. Woods hold all the middle regions,
and Cocytus, gliding with a black fold, encircles them.
But if so great a love is in your mind, if so great a desire it is
twice to swim the Stygian lakes, twice to behold the black
Tartarus, and it pleases you to indulge in insane labor,               135

accipe quae peragenda prius. latet arbore opaca
aureus et foliis et lento vimine ramus,
Iunoni infernae dictus sacer; hunc tegit omnis
lucus et obscuris claudunt convallibus umbrae.
sed non ante datur telluris operta subire 140
auricomos quam quis decerpserit arbore fetus.

Receive what must be accomplished first. Hidden in a shady tree is a golden bough, golden both in its leaves and in its pliant withe, said to be sacred to the infernal Juno; the whole grove covers it, and shadows in dark dells enclose it.
but it is not granted to go beneath the covert things of earth 140
before someone has plucked from the tree the gold-haired fruit.

hoc sibi pulchra suum ferri Proserpina munus
instituit. primo avulso non deficit alter
aureus, et simili frondescit virga metallo.
ergo alte vestiga oculis et rite repertum 145
carpe manu; namque ipse volens facilisque sequetur,
si te fata vocant; aliter non viribus ullis
vincere nec duro poteris convellere ferro.

This the fair Proserpina has ordained to be borne to herself as her own gift.
Once the first is torn away, another fails not, golden too, and a twig leafs with similar metal.
Therefore search it out deeply with your eyes, and, duly found, 145
pluck it with your hand; for indeed of itself, willing and facile, it will follow, if the fates call you; otherwise by no forces
will you be able to conquer it nor tear it away with hard iron.

praeterea iacet exanimum tibi corpus amici
(heu nescis) totamque incestat funere classem, 150

besides, there lies for you the exanimate body of your friend
(alas, you do not know), and he defiles the whole fleet with the funeral, 150

dum consulta petis nostroque in limine pendes.
sedibus hunc refer ante suis et conde sepulcro.
duc nigras pecudes; ea prima piacula sunto.

while you seek counsels and hang on our threshold.
first carry him back to his own seats and hide in a sepulcher.
lead black sheep; let these be the first expiations.

sic demum lucos Stygis et regna invia vivis
aspicies.' dixit, pressoque obmutuit ore. 155

thus at last you shall behold the groves of Styx and the realms pathless to the living.' she said, and with compressed mouth fell mute. 155

Aeneas maesto defixus lumina vultu
ingreditur linquens antrum, caecosque volutat
eventus animo secum. cui fidus Achates
it comes et paribus curis vestigia figit.
multa inter sese vario sermone serebant, 160
quem socium exanimum vates, quod corpus humandum
diceret.

Aeneas, with his eyes fixed in a sad countenance,
enters, leaving the cave, and he revolves the blind outcomes
in his mind with himself. To him faithful Achates
goes as companion and with equal cares plants his footsteps.
many things between themselves they were weaving in varied discourse, 160
whom as a lifeless comrade the seer, what body to be buried,
had said.

atque illi Misenum in litore sicco,
ut venere, vident indigna morte peremptum,
Misenum Aeoliden, quo non praestantior alter
aere ciere viros Martemque accendere cantu. 165
Hectoris hic magni fuerat comes, Hectora circum
et lituo pugnas insignis obibat et hasta.
postquam illum vita victor spoliavit Achilles,
Dardanio Aeneae sese fortissimus heros
addiderat socium, non inferiora secutus. 170

and there Misenus on the dry shore,
as they came, they see struck down by an unworthy death,
Misenus the Aeolid, than whom no other was more preeminent
to rouse men with bronze and to kindle Mars with song. 165
Here he had been the companion of great Hector, around Hector
and, distinguished, he went about the battles with the lituus and with the spear.
after victorious Achilles stripped him of life,
the bravest hero had joined himself as ally to Dardanian Aeneas,
pursuing no inferior exploits. 170

sed tum, forte cava dum personat aequora concha,
demens, et cantu vocat in certamina divos,
aemulus exceptum Triton, si credere dignum est,
inter saxa virum spumosa immerserat unda.
ergo omnes magno circum clamore fremebant, 175
praecipue pius Aeneas. tum iussa Sibyllae,
haud mora, festinant flentes aramque sepulcri
congerere arboribus caeloque educere certant.

but then, by chance, while with a hollow conch he makes the waters resound,
out of his wits, and by his song he calls the divinities into contests,
rival Triton, having caught him, if it is worthy to believe,
had plunged the man amid the rocks with a foaming wave.
therefore all were roaring around with a great clamor, 175
especially pious Aeneas. Then the commands of the Sibyl,
without delay, they hasten weeping, and they vie to heap up the altar of the tomb
with trees and to raise it to the sky.

itur in antiquam silvam, stabula alta ferarum;
procumbunt piceae, sonat icta securibus ilex 180
fraxineaeque trabes cuneis et fissile robur
scinditur, advolvunt ingentis montibus ornos.

they go into an ancient forest, the high stalls, the lairs of wild beasts;
pitch-pines topple, the ilex resounds, smitten by axes 180
and ash beams and fissile oak are split by wedges, they roll huge mountain-ashes down from the mountains.

Nec non Aeneas opera inter talia primus
hortatur socios paribusque accingitur armis.
atque haec ipse suo tristi cum corde volutat 185
aspectans silvam immensam, et sic forte precatur:
'si nunc se nobis ille aureus arbore ramus
ostendat nemore in tanto! quando omnia vere
heu nimium de te vates, Misene, locuta est.'
vix ea fatus erat, geminae cum forte columbae 190
ipsa sub ora viri caelo venere volantes,
et viridi sedere solo.

Nor indeed Aeneas, amid such labors, as first
encourages his comrades and girds himself with equal arms.
and he himself with his own sad heart revolves these things, gazing upon the immense forest, and thus by chance he prays: 185
'if now that golden bough from the tree would show itself to us in so great a grove! since truly all things, alas too much, about you, Misenus, the prophetess has spoken.'
scarcely had he said these things, when by chance twin doves
themselves came flying from the sky beneath the man’s very face,and sat on the green ground.

tum maximus heros
maternas agnovit avis laetusque precatur:
'este duces, o, si qua via est, cursumque per auras
derigite in lucos ubi pinguem dives opacat 195

then the greatest hero
recognized the maternal birds and, glad, he prays:
'be guides, O, if there is any way, and direct the course through the airs
into the groves where rich shade overshadows 195

ramus humum. tuque, o, dubiis ne defice rebus,
diva parens.' sic effatus vestigia pressit
observans quae signa ferant, quo tendere pergant.
pascentes illae tantum prodire volando
quantum acie possent oculi servare sequentum. 200
inde ubi venere ad fauces grave olentis Averni,
tollunt se celeres liquidumque per aera lapsae
sedibus optatis geminae super arbore sidunt,
discolor unde auri per ramos aura refulsit.

the bough shades the ground. and you, O, do not fail in dubious affairs,
goddess mother.' thus having spoken he pressed on his footsteps,
observing what signs they bear, whither they proceed to tend. feeding, they advanced only so far by flying
as the eyes of the followers could keep them in sight. 200
then when they came to the jaws of heavily reeking Avernus,
they lift themselves swiftly, and, gliding through the liquid air,
the twin birds settle upon a tree at the longed-for seats,
whence a variegated gleam of gold flashed through the branches.

quale solet silvis brumali frigore viscum 205
fronde virere nova, quod non sua seminat arbos,
et croceo fetu teretis circumdare truncos,
talis erat species auri frondentis opaca
ilice, sic leni crepitabat brattea vento.
corripit Aeneas extemplo avidusque refringit 210

such as the mistletoe is wont in the woods, in brumal frigidity, 205
to be green with new frond, which the tree does not sow as its own,
and with saffron fruit to encircle the rounded trunks,
such was the aspect of gold fronding on the dim
holm-oak; so the foil rustled in the gentle wind.
Aeneas seizes it at once and, eager, breaks it off 210

cunctantem, et vatis portat sub tecta Sibyllae.

hesitating, and he carries it beneath the roofs of the Sibyl the prophetess.

Nec minus interea Misenum in litore Teucri
flebant et cineri ingrato suprema ferebant.
principio pinguem taedis et robore secto
ingentem struxere pyram, cui frondibus atris 215
intexunt latera et feralis ante cupressos
constituunt, decorantque super fulgentibus armis.
pars calidos latices et aena undantia flammis
expediunt, corpusque lavant frigentis et unguunt.

Nor less meanwhile the Teucrians on the shore were weeping for Misenus
and were bearing the last rites to the thankless ash.
to begin with they built a rich pyre with pine-torches and hewn oak
a huge pyre, they piled up; whose sides with dark leaves 215
they weave, and they set before it funereal cypresses,
and they adorn it above with shining arms.
part prepare hot waters and bronze cauldrons billowing with flames,
and they wash the body of the one growing cold and anoint it.

fit gemitus. tum membra toro defleta reponunt 220
purpureasque super vestis, velamina nota,
coniciunt. pars ingenti subiere feretro,
triste ministerium, et subiectam more parentum
aversi tenuere facem.

A groan arises. Then they lay the wept-over limbs back upon the couch, 220
and they cast above purple garments, the well-known coverings,
they throw on. Some went beneath the huge bier,
a sad ministration, and, turned away, held the torch applied beneath
in the custom of the forefathers.

congesta cremantur
turea dona, dapes, fuso crateres olivo. 225

Heaped-up offerings are burned;
incense-gifts, feast-offerings, craters with oil poured out. 225

postquam conlapsi cineres et flamma quievit,
reliquias vino et bibulam lavere favillam,
ossaque lecta cado texit Corynaeus aeno.
idem ter socios pura circumtulit unda
spargens rore levi et ramo felicis olivae, 230
lustravitque viros dixitque novissima verba.
at pius Aeneas ingenti mole sepulcrum
imponit suaque arma viro remumque tubamque
monte sub aerio, qui nunc Misenus ab illo
dicitur aeternumque tenet per saecula nomen. 235

after the ashes collapsed and the flame grew quiet,
they washed the remains and the thirsty ash with wine,
and, the bones gathered, Corynaeus covered them in a bronze urn.
the same man three times carried around his comrades with pure water,
sprinkling with light dew and a branch of the fortunate olive, 230
and he lustrated the men and spoke the final words.
but dutiful Aeneas sets upon a tomb of huge mass
his own arms for the man, and an oar and a trumpet,
beneath the airy mountain, which now from him is called Misenus
and holds an eternal name through the ages. 235

His actis propere exsequitur praecepta Sibyllae.
spelunca alta fuit vastoque immanis hiatu,
scrupea, tuta lacu nigro nemorumque tenebris,
quam super haud ullae poterant impune volantes
tendere iter pennis: talis sese halitus atris 240
faucibus effundens supera ad convexa ferebat.
[unde locum Grai dixerunt nomine Aornum.]
quattuor hic primum nigrantis terga iuvencos
constituit frontique invergit vina sacerdos,
et summas carpens media inter cornua saetas 245
ignibus imponit sacris, libamina prima,
voce vocans Hecaten caeloque Ereboque potentem.

With these things done he promptly carries out the precepts of the Sibyl.
there was a deep cave, monstrous with a vast yawning maw,
rocky, protected by a black lake and by the shadows of the groves,
above which no flying creatures could with impunity stretch a course on their wings:
such an exhalation, pouring itself from the black jaws, bore itself to the upper vaults; 240
[whence the Greeks called the place by the name Aornus.]
here first the priest sets in place four young bulls with black backs
and pours wine upon the forehead, and plucking the topmost hairs between the middle of the horns 245
he puts them on the sacred fires, the first offerings,
calling with his voice Hecate, potent in sky and in Erebus.

supponunt alii cultros tepidumque cruorem
succipiunt pateris. ipse atri velleris agnam
Aeneas matri Eumenidum magnaeque sorori 250

Others set the knives beneath, and the tepid blood
they catch in paterae. Aeneas himself a ewe of black fleece
offers to the mother of the Eumenides and to the great sister 250

ense ferit, sterilemque tibi, Proserpina, vaccam;
tum Stygio regi nocturnas incohat aras
et solida imponit taurorum viscera flammis,
pingue super oleum fundens ardentibus extis.
ecce autem primi sub limina solis et ortus 255
sub pedibus mugire solum et iuga coepta moveri
silvarum, visaeque canes ululare per umbram
adventante dea. 'procul, o procul este, profani,'
conclamat vates, 'totoque absistite luco;
tuque invade viam vaginaque eripe ferrum: 260
nunc animis opus, Aenea, nunc pectore firmo.'
tantum effata furens antro se immisit aperto;
ille ducem haud timidis vadentem passibus aequat.

he strikes with the sword, and for you, Proserpina, a barren cow;
then for the Stygian king he initiates nocturnal altars
and places the solid viscera of bulls upon the flames,
pouring rich oil over the ardent entrails.
but behold, beneath the thresholds of the first light of the sun and its rising 255
the ground begins to bellow underfoot and the ridges of the forests to be moved,
and dogs were seen to howl through the shadow as the goddess approaches.
'far, O far off be, you profane,' cries the vates, 'and withdraw from the whole grove;
and you, enter upon the way and tear forth the iron from the sheath: 260
now there is need of spirit, Aeneas, now of a firm breast.'
thus having spoken, frenzied, she plunged herself into the opened cavern;
he matches his guide, advancing with steps not timid.

Di, quibus imperium est animarum, umbraeque silentes
et Chaos et Phlegethon, loca nocte tacentia late, 265
sit mihi fas audita loqui, sit numine vestro
pandere res alta terra et caligine mersas.

Gods, to whom is the dominion of souls, and you silent shades
and Chaos and Phlegethon, places silent with night far and wide, 265
let it be permitted me to speak things heard, let it be by your divine numen
to lay open matters submerged in the deep earth and in gloom.

Ibant obscuri sola sub nocte per umbram
perque domos Ditis vacuas et inania regna:
quale per incertam lunam sub luce maligna               270
est iter in silvis, ubi caelum condidit umbra
Iuppiter, et rebus nox abstulit atra colorem.
vestibulum ante ipsum primisque in faucibus Orci
Luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia Curae,
pallentesque habitant Morbi tristisque Senectus,               275
et Metus et malesuada Fames ac turpis Egestas,
terribiles visu formae, Letumque Labosque;
tum consanguineus Leti Sopor et mala mentis
Gaudia, mortiferumque adverso in limine Bellum,
ferreique Eumenidum thalami et Discordia demens               280

They were going obscurely beneath the lonely night through the shadow,
and through the empty houses of Dis and his void realms:
such as under an uncertain moon, in malign light,               270
is the path in the forests, where Jupiter has hidden the sky with shade,
and black Night has taken color from things.
Right before the very threshold and in the first jaws of Orcus
Grief and the avenging Cares have set their couches,
and pallid Diseases dwell, and gloomy Old Age,               275
and Fear, and ill-counseling Hunger, and foul Want,
forms terrible to the sight, and Death and Toil;
then Sleep, kinsman of Death, and the evil Joys
of the mind, and death-bringing War on the facing threshold,
and the iron bedchambers of the Eumenides, and mad Discord,               280

vipereum crinem vittis innexa cruentis.
in medio ramos annosaque bracchia pandit
ulmus opaca, ingens, quam sedem Somnia vulgo
vana tenere ferunt, foliisque sub omnibus haerent.
multaque praeterea variarum monstra ferarum, 285
Centauri in foribus stabulant Scyllaeque biformes
et centumgeminus Briareus ac belua Lernae
horrendum stridens, flammisque armata Chimaera,
Gorgones Harpyiaeque et forma tricorporis umbrae.

viperous hair entwined with blood-stained fillets.
in the midst a shady elm, immense, spreads its boughs and age-old arms;
an elm which, as a seat, Dreams, vain by common report,
are said to hold, and beneath every leaf they cling.
and many monsters besides of various beasts, 285
Centaurs are stabled in the doorways, and two-formed Scyllae,
and hundredfold Briareus, and the beast of Lerna
hissing terribly, and the Chimaera armed with flames,
the Gorgons and the Harpies, and the form of the three-bodied shade.

corripit hic subita trepidus formidine ferrum 290
Aeneas strictamque aciem venientibus offert,
et ni docta comes tenuis sine corpore vitas
admoneat volitare cava sub imagine formae,
inruat et frustra ferro diverberet umbras.

Here, trembling with sudden dread, he snatches up the iron 290
Aeneas, and offers the drawn edge to those coming,
and, unless his learned companion should admonish that the thin lives
without body flit beneath the hollow image of form,
he would rush in and would in vain with iron cleave asunder the shades.

Hinc via Tartarei quae fert Acherontis ad undas. 295
turbidus hic caeno vastaque voragine gurges
aestuat atque omnem Cocyto eructat harenam.
portitor has horrendus aquas et flumina servat
terribili squalore Charon, cui plurima mento
canities inculta iacet, stant lumina flamma, 300
sordidus ex umeris nodo dependet amictus.
ipse ratem conto subigit velisque ministrat
et ferruginea subvectat corpora cumba,
iam senior, sed cruda deo viridisque senectus.

From here the Tartarean way which leads to the waves of Acheron. 295
here a whirlpool, turbid with mud and with a vast maw, seethes
and belches all its sand into Cocytus. The horrendous ferryman keeps these waters and streams,
Charon, in terrible squalor, on whose chin very abundant, unkempt hoariness lies;
his eyes stand with flame, 300
a filthy cloak hangs from his shoulders in a knot.
he himself drives the raft with a pole and attends to the sails
and in a ferruginous skiff conveys the bodies,
now older, yet his old age, for a god, is raw and green.

huc omnis turba ad ripas effusa ruebat, 305

hither the whole crowd, poured out, was rushing to the banks, 305

matres atque viri defunctaque corpora vita
magnanimum heroum, pueri innuptaeque puellae,
impositique rogis iuvenes ante ora parentum:
quam multa in silvis autumni frigore primo
lapsa cadunt folia, aut ad terram gurgite ab alto 310
quam multae glomerantur aves, ubi frigidus annus
trans pontum fugat et terris immittit apricis.
stabant orantes primi transmittere cursum
tendebantque manus ripae ulterioris amore.
navita sed tristis nunc hos nunc accipit illos, 315
ast alios longe summotos arcet harena.

mothers and men and bodies defunct of life,
of magnanimous heroes, boys and unwed girls,
and youths placed upon pyres before their parents’ faces:
as many as the leaves that, slipped, fall in the woods at autumn’s first chill,
or to the earth from a deep whirlpool, as many as the birds are massed 310
when the cold year drives them across the sea and sends them into apricous lands.
they stood, praying, the first to send across their course,
and were stretching their hands in love for the farther bank.
but the sad boatman now receives these, now those, 315
but keeps others far off, removed from the shore.

Aeneas miratus enim motusque tumultu
'dic,' ait, 'o virgo, quid vult concursus ad amnem?
quidve petunt animae? vel quo discrimine ripas
hae linquunt, illae remis vada livida verrunt?' 320

Aeneas, amazed indeed and moved by the tumult,
"Speak," he says, "O maiden, what does the concourse to the river intend?
or what do the souls seek? or by what discrimination do these
leave the banks, those with oars sweep the livid shallows?" 320

olli sic breviter fata est longaeva sacerdos:
'Anchisa generate, deum certissima proles,
Cocyti stagna alta vides Stygiamque paludem,
di cuius iurare timent et fallere numen.
haec omnis, quam cernis, inops inhumataque turba est; 325
portitor ille Charon; hi, quos vehit unda, sepulti.
nec ripas datur horrendas et rauca fluenta
transportare prius quam sedibus ossa quierunt.

to him thus briefly spoke the long-lived priestess:
'offspring of Anchises, most certain progeny of the gods,
you see the deep pools of Cocytus and the Stygian marsh,
whose numen the gods fear to swear by and to deceive.
this whole crowd, which you behold, is needy and unburied; 325
that ferryman is Charon; those whom the wave conveys are buried.
nor is it granted to transport across the horrendous banks and raucous streams
before their bones have come to rest in their abodes.

centum errant annos volitantque haec litora circum;
tum demum admissi stagna exoptata revisunt.' 330
constitit Anchisa satus et vestigia pressit
multa putans sortemque animo miseratus iniquam.
cernit ibi maestos et mortis honore carentis
Leucaspim et Lyciae ductorem classis Oronten,
quos simul a Troia ventosa per aequora vectos 335

'for one hundred years they wander and flit around these shores; then at last, admitted, they revisit the longed-for pools.' 330
the one begotten of Anchises halted and checked his steps,
thinking many things and in his spirit pitying the unequal lot.
he discerns there Leucaspis and Orontes, the leader of the Lycian fleet,
sorrowful and lacking the honor of death,
whom, carried together from Troy over the windy waters, 335

obruit Auster, aqua involvens navemque virosque.

the South Wind overwhelmed, enveloping the ship and the men in water.

Ecce gubernator sese Palinurus agebat,
qui Libyco nuper cursu, dum sidera servat,
exciderat puppi mediis effusus in undis.
hunc ubi vix multa maestum cognovit in umbra, 340
sic prior adloquitur: 'quis te, Palinure, deorum
eripuit nobis medioque sub aequore mersit?
dic age.

Behold, the helmsman Palinurus was making his way,
who recently on the Libyan course, while he keeps the stars,
had fallen from the stern, poured out into the midst of the waves.
when he scarcely recognized him, sad, in the thick shadow, 340
thus he first addresses him: 'Which of the gods, Palinurus,
has snatched you from us and sunk you beneath the mid-sea?
say, come.

namque mihi, fallax haud ante repertus,
hoc uno responso animum delusit Apollo,
qui fore te ponto incolumem finisque canebat 345
venturum Ausonios. en haec promissa fides est?'
ille autem: 'neque te Phoebi cortina fefellit,
dux Anchisiade, nec me deus aequore mersit.
namque gubernaclum multa vi forte revulsum,
cui datus haerebam custos cursusque regebam, 350

for indeed to me, not previously found deceitful, Apollo with this one response deluded my mind, who was singing that you would be unharmed on the sea and would come to the Ausonian borders; 345
is this the pledged faith?'
but he: 'neither did Phoebus’s cortina deceive you, Anchisiad leader, nor did a god drown me in the sea.
for the rudder, by much force by chance torn away,
to which I, appointed as guardian, was clinging and was steering the course, 350

praecipitans traxi mecum. maria aspera iuro
non ullum pro me tantum cepisse timorem,
quam tua ne spoliata armis, excussa magistro,
deficeret tantis navis surgentibus undis.
tris Notus hibernas immensa per aequora noctes 355
vexit me violentus aqua; vix lumine quarto
prospexi Italiam summa sublimis ab unda.

headlong I dragged it with me. I swear by the rough seas
that no fear so great seized me for myself, as that your ship, stripped of arms, deprived of her master,
would fail amid such great waves rising. For three wintry nights the South Wind
bore me across the immense expanses of the sea, violent with water; 355
scarcely at the fourth light did I descry Italy,
uplifted from the crest of the highest wave.

paulatim adnabam terrae; iam tuta tenebam,
ni gens crudelis madida cum veste gravatum
prensantemque uncis manibus capita aspera montis 360
ferro invasisset praedamque ignara putasset.
nunc me fluctus habet versantque in litore venti.
quod te per caeli iucundum lumen et auras,
per genitorem oro, per spes surgentis Iuli,
eripe me his, invicte, malis: aut tu mihi terram 365

gradually I was swimming toward the land; already I was holding to safety,
if a cruel tribe had not, with drenched clothing weighing me down,
and as I grasped with hooked hands the rough heads of the mountain, 360
assailed me with steel and, in ignorance, supposed me prey.
now the billow holds me and the winds turn me on the shore.
wherefore by the pleasant light of heaven and the airs, I beg you,
by your begetter, by the hopes of rising Iulus,
snatch me from these evils, unconquered one: or do you for me the land 365

inice, namque potes, portusque require Velinos;
aut tu, si qua via est, si quam tibi diva creatrix
ostendit (neque enim, credo, sine numine divum
flumina tanta paras Stygiamque innare paludem),
da dextram misero et tecum me tolle per undas,               370
sedibus ut saltem placidis in morte quiescam.'
talia fatus erat coepit cum talia vates:
'unde haec, o Palinure, tibi tam dira cupido?
tu Stygias inhumatus aquas amnemque severum
Eumenidum aspicies, ripamve iniussus adibis?               375
desine fata deum flecti sperare precando,
sed cape dicta memor, duri solacia casus.
nam tua finitimi, longe lateque per urbes
prodigiis acti caelestibus, ossa piabunt
et statuent tumulum et tumulo sollemnia mittent,               380

hoist me in, for you can, and seek out the Velian harbors;
or you, if there is any way, if the divine creatress has shown you any
(for you do not, I believe, without the divine will of the gods
prepare to swim such rivers and the Stygian marsh),
give your right hand to the wretch and lift me with you through the waves,               370
that at least in death I may rest in peaceful seats.'
He had spoken such things when the prophetess began such words:
'Whence is this so dire desire to you, O Palinurus?
Will you, unburied, behold the Stygian waters and the severe river
of the Eumenides, or will you approach the bank unbidden?               375
cease to hope that the fates of the gods can be bent by praying,
but take these words to memory, solaces of a hard mishap.
For your neighbors, far and wide through the cities,
driven by celestial prodigies, will expiate your bones
and will set up a tomb and will send solemnities to the tomb,               380

aeternumque locus Palinuri nomen habebit.'
his dictis curae emotae pulsusque parumper
corde dolor tristi; gaudet cognomine terra.

and the place will hold the name of Palinurus forever.
At these words, his cares were removed and, for a little while, grief was driven from his sad heart;
the land rejoices in the cognomen.

Ergo iter inceptum peragunt fluvioque propinquant.
navita quos iam inde ut Stygia prospexit ab unda 385
per tacitum nemus ire pedemque advertere ripae,
sic prior adgreditur dictis atque increpat ultro:
'quisquis es, armatus qui nostra ad flumina tendis,
fare age, quid venias, iam istinc et comprime gressum.
umbrarum hic locus est, somni noctisque soporae: 390
corpora viva nefas Stygia vectare carina.

Therefore they carry through the journey begun and draw near to the river.
and the boatman, as soon as he from the Stygian wave espied them 385
going through the silent grove and turning their step toward the bank,
thus he first addresses them with words and rebukes them of his own accord:
'whoever you are, you who, armed, are aiming for our rivers,
come, speak—say why you come—right there, and check your step.
this is the place of shades, of sleep and of drowsy night: 390
it is forbidden to ferry living bodies in the Stygian keel.

nec vero Alciden me sum laetatus euntem
accepisse lacu, nec Thesea Pirithoumque,
dis quamquam geniti atque invicti viribus essent.
Tartareum ille manu custodem in vincla petivit 395

nor indeed did i rejoice that i had received Alcides as he went
to the lake, nor Theseus and Pirithous,
though born from gods and invincible in strength.
that one with his hand sought to put the tartarean custodian in chains 395

ipsius a solio regis traxitque trementem;
hi dominam Ditis thalamo deducere adorti.'
quae contra breviter fata est Amphrysia vates:
'nullae hic insidiae tales (absiste moveri),
nec vim tela ferunt; licet ingens ianitor antro 400
aeternum latrans exsanguis terreat umbras,
casta licet patrui servet Proserpina limen.
Troius Aeneas, pietate insignis et armis,
ad genitorem imas Erebi descendit ad umbras.
si te nulla movet tantae pietatis imago, 405
at ramum hunc' (aperit ramum qui veste latebat)
'agnoscas.' tumida ex ira tum corda residunt;
nec plura his.

and he dragged him, trembling, from the very throne of the king;
these attempted to lead the Lady of Dis from the bedchamber.'
to which in reply the Amphrysian prophetess briefly spoke:
'no such ambushes are here (cease to be moved),
nor do our weapons bring force; although the huge janitor in his cave 400
forever barking, bloodless, may terrify the shades,
although chaste Proserpina keeps her uncle’s threshold.
The Trojan Aeneas, distinguished by piety and by arms,
descends to his father, to the deepest shades of Erebus.
if no image of such great piety moves you, 405
yet this bough' (she reveals the bough which was hiding in her garment) 'recognize.'
then his heart, swollen with anger, subsides;
no more to them.

ille admirans venerabile donum
fatalis virgae longo post tempore visum
caeruleam advertit puppim ripaeque propinquat. 410

he, marveling at the venerable gift
of the fateful bough, seen after a long time,
turns the cerulean stern and draws near to the bank. 410

inde alias animas, quae per iuga longa sedebant,
deturbat laxatque foros; simul accipit alveo
ingentem Aenean. gemuit sub pondere cumba
sutilis et multam accepit rimosa paludem.
tandem trans fluvium incolumis vatemque virumque 415
informi limo glaucaque exponit in ulua.

thence he drives off the other souls, who were sitting along the long thwarts,
and clears the gangways; at the same time he receives into the hull
mighty Aeneas. The stitched skiff groaned under the weight
and, rifted, took in much marsh-water.
at last, across the river, unharmed, he sets ashore both the prophetess and the man 415
in shapeless slime and in gray-green sedge.

Cerberus haec ingens latratu regna trifauci
personat adverso recubans immanis in antro.
cui vates horrere videns iam colla colubris
melle soporatam et medicatis frugibus offam 420
obicit. ille fame rabida tria guttura pandens
corripit obiectam, atque immania terga resolvit
fusus humi totoque ingens extenditur antro.

Cerberus, huge, with three‑throated barking, makes these realms resound,
reclining, monstrous, in the facing cave.
to whom the seer, seeing the necks already bristling with serpents,
throws a soporific morsel with honey and medicated grains 420
he offers it. He, opening his three throats with rabid hunger,
snatches the thing thrown, and relaxes his immense backs,
sprawled on the ground and, huge, is stretched out through the whole cave.

occupat Aeneas aditum custode sepulto
evaditque celer ripam inremeabilis undae. 425

Aeneas seizes the approach, with the guardian buried,
and swift he escapes to the bank of the irremeable wave. 425

Continuo auditae voces vagitus et ingens
infantumque animae flentes, in limine primo
quos dulcis vitae exsortis et ab ubere raptos
abstulit atra dies et funere mersit acerbo;
hos iuxta falso damnati crimine mortis. 430
nec vero hae sine sorte datae, sine iudice, sedes:
quaesitor Minos urnam movet; ille silentum
consiliumque vocat vitasque et crimina discit.
proxima deinde tenent maesti loca, qui sibi letum
insontes peperere manu lucemque perosi 435
proiecere animas. quam vellent aethere in alto
nunc et pauperiem et duros perferre labores!

Immediately were heard voices, wailing and immense, and the infant souls weeping, on the very first threshold—those whom, bereft of sweet life and snatched from the breast, the black day bore off and plunged in a bitter funeral; next to these, those condemned to death by a false charge. 430
nor indeed are these seats given without lot, without a judge: the inquisitor Minos moves the urn; he summons the council of the silent and learns their lives and charges. Next then the sad places are held by those who guiltless procured death for themselves by their own hand, and, hating the light, cast away their souls. 435
how they would wish now, in the high aether, to endure even poverty and hard labors!

fas obstat, tristisque palus inamabilis undae
alligat et novies Styx interfusa coercet.
nec procul hinc partem fusi monstrantur in omnem 440

divine law stands opposed, and the gloomy marsh unlovely of the water
binds, and the Styx, interfused nine times, coerces.
nor far from here are shown, spread out in every direction, a portion 440

Lugentes campi; sic illos nomine dicunt.
hic quos durus amor crudeli tabe peredit
secreti celant calles et myrtea circum
silva tegit; curae non ipsa in morte relinquunt.
his Phaedram Procrinque locis maestamque Eriphylen               445
crudelis nati monstrantem vulnera cernit,
Evadnenque et Pasiphaen; his Laodamia
it comes et iuvenis quondam, nunc femina, Caeneus
rursus et in veterem fato revoluta figuram.
inter quas Phoenissa recens a vulnere Dido               450
errabat silva in magna; quam Troius heros
ut primum iuxta stetit agnovitque per umbras
obscuram, qualem primo qui surgere mense
aut videt aut vidisse putat per nubila lunam,
demisit lacrimas dulcique adfatus amore est:               455

The Mourning Fields; thus by name they call them.
here those whom harsh Love consumes with cruel wasting
secret paths conceal, and a myrtle-wood around
a wood covers; their cares do not leave them even in death itself.
in these places he sees Phaedra and Procris, and gloomy Eriphyle               445
showing the wounds of her cruel son,
and Evadne and Pasiphaë; with these Laodamia
goes as companion, and Caeneus, once a youth, now a woman,
again and rolled back by fate into the old figure.
among whom Phoenician Dido, fresh from her wound,               450
was wandering in a great wood; whom the Trojan hero
as soon as he stood near and recognized through the shades
dim, such as one either sees or thinks he has seen
the moon rising at the month’s beginning through the clouds,
he let fall tears and addressed her with sweet love:               455

'infelix Dido, verus mihi nuntius ergo
venerat exstinctam ferroque extrema secutam?
funeris heu tibi causa fui? per sidera iuro,
per superos et si qua fides tellure sub ima est,
inuitus, regina, tuo de litore cessi. 460
sed me iussa deum, quae nunc has ire per umbras,
per loca senta situ cogunt noctemque profundam,
imperiis egere suis; nec credere quivi
hunc tantum tibi me discessu ferre dolorem.

'unhappy Dido, had a true messenger then
come to me that you were extinguished and with the sword had pursued your final things?
alas, was I the cause of your funeral? I swear by the stars,
by the gods above, and if any good faith is beneath the deepest earth,
unwilling, queen, I departed from your shore. 460
but the commands of the gods—which now compel me to go through these shades,
through places rough with decay, and through profound night—
drove me by their imperia; nor was I able to believe
that by my departure I would bring to you so great a grief.

siste gradum teque aspectu ne subtrahe nostro. 465
quem fugis? extremum fato quod te adloquor hoc est.'
talibus Aeneas ardentem et torva tuentem
lenibat dictis animum lacrimasque ciebat.
illa solo fixos oculos aversa tenebat
nec magis incepto vultum sermone movetur 470

Stop your step and do not withdraw yourself from our sight. 465
whom do you flee? This is, by fate, the last time that I address you.'
With such words Aeneas was soothing the spirit, burning and looking grimly,
and was stirring tears. She, turned away, held her eyes fixed on the ground,
nor is her countenance moved more by the speech begun 470

quam si dura silex aut stet Marpesia cautes.
tandem corripuit sese atque inimica refugit
in nemus umbriferum, coniunx ubi pristinus illi
respondet curis aequatque Sychaeus amorem.
nec minus Aeneas casu percussus iniquo 475
prosequitur lacrimis longe et miseratur euntem.

no more than if hard flint or a Marpesian crag stood.
at last she snatched herself away and, hostile, fled back
into the shade-bearing grove, where her former husband
Sychaeus answers to her cares and matches her love.
no less Aeneas, struck by the unjust mischance, 475
follows with tears from afar and pities her as she goes.

Inde datum molitur iter. iamque arva tenebant
ultima, quae bello clari secreta frequentant.
hic illi occurrit Tydeus, hic inclutus armis
Parthenopaeus et Adrasti pallentis imago, 480
hic multum fleti ad superos belloque caduci
Dardanidae, quos ille omnis longo ordine cernens
ingemuit, Glaucumque Medontaque Thersilochumque,
tris Antenoridas Cererique sacrum Polyboeten,
Idaeumque etiam currus, etiam arma tenentem. 485
circumstant animae dextra laevaque frequentes,
nec vidisse semel satis est; iuvat usque morari
et conferre gradum et veniendi discere causas.

Thence he works at the allotted journey. And now they were holding the furthest fields, which the illustrious in war frequent, set-apart. Here to him meets Tydeus, here renowned-in-arms Parthenopaeus and the image of pale Adrastus, 480
here the Dardanids, much wept-for by those above and fallen in war, whom he, seeing all in a long order, groaned over, both Glaucus and Medon and Thersilochus, the three sons of Antenor and Polyboetes sacred to Ceres, and Idaeus too holding even the chariots, even the arms. 485
on the right and left the souls stand around in throngs, nor is it enough to have seen once; it pleases to linger continually and to match step and to learn the causes of their coming.

at Danaum proceres Agamemnoniaeque phalanges
ut videre virum fulgentiaque arma per umbras, 490

but the princes of the Danaans and the Agamemnonian phalanxes,
when they saw the man and his gleaming arms through the shades, 490

ingenti trepidare metu; pars vertere terga,
ceu quondam petiere rates, pars tollere vocem
exiguam: inceptus clamor frustratur hiantis.

to tremble with enormous fear; part turn their backs,
as once they made for the ships, part raise an exiguous voice:
the begun clamor frustrates their gaping mouths.

Atque hic Priamiden laniatum corpore toto
Deiphobum videt et lacerum crudeliter ora, 495
ora manusque ambas, populataque tempora raptis
auribus et truncas inhonesto vulnere naris.
vix adeo agnovit pavitantem ac dira tegentem
supplicia, et notis compellat vocibus ultro:
'Deiphobe armipotens, genus alto a sanguine Teucri, 500
quis tam crudelis optavit sumere poenas?
cui tantum de te licuit?

And here he sees Deiphobus, the Priamid, mangled in his whole body
and his face cruelly torn, his face and both hands, 495
his temples ravaged with his ears snatched away,
and his nostrils maimed by a dishonorable wound.
scarce indeed did he recognize him, quivering and veiling his dire
punishments, and unbidden he addresses him with familiar words:
'Deiphobus, armipotent, descendant of the Teucrians from lofty blood, 500
who so cruel desired to exact penalties?
to whom was so much concerning you permitted?

mihi fama suprema
nocte tulit fessum vasta te caede Pelasgum
procubuisse super confusae stragis acervum.
tunc egomet tumulum Rhoeteo in litore inanem 505

to me rumor on the final night brought that, wearied by vast slaughter, you had fallen prone, a Pelasgian, upon a heap of mingled carnage.
then I myself raised an empty tomb on the Rhoetean shore 505

constitui et magna manis ter voce vocavi.
nomen et arma locum servant; te, amice, nequivi
conspicere et patria decedens ponere terra.'
ad quae Priamides: 'nihil o tibi, amice, relictum;
omnia Deiphobo solvisti et funeris umbris. 510
sed me fata mea et scelus exitiale Lacaenae
his mersere malis; illa haec monimenta reliquit.
namque ut supremam falsa inter gaudia noctem
egerimus, nosti: et nimium meminisse necesse est.

I set up (a mound) and with a great voice I called the Manes three times.
the name and the arms keep the place; you, friend, I could not
behold nor, departing from the fatherland, lay in the native earth.'
to which the son of Priam: 'nothing, O friend, has been left undone by you;
you have paid all to Deiphobus and to the shades of the funeral. 510
but me my fates and the deadly crime of the Laconian
plunged into these evils; she left these tokens.
for how we passed that last night amid false joys,
you know: and it is only too necessary to remember.

cum fatalis equus saltu super ardua venit 515
Pergama et armatum peditem gravis attulit aluo,
illa chorum simulans euhantis orgia circum
ducebat Phrygias; flammam media ipsa tenebat
ingentem et summa Danaos ex arce vocabat.
tum me confectum curis somnoque gravatum 520

when the fateful horse by a leap came over the steep Pergama, 515
and, heavy in its belly, brought armed footmen,
she, simulating a chorus, the orgies of the euhoe-crying,
was leading the Phrygian women around; she herself in the midst was holding
a huge flame and from the topmost citadel was calling the Danaans.
then me, worn out by cares and weighed down with sleep 520

infelix habuit thalamus, pressitque iacentem
dulcis et alta quies placidaeque simillima morti.
egregia interea coniunx arma omnia tectis
emovet, et fidum capiti subduxerat ensem:
intra tecta vocat Menelaum et limina pandit, 525
scilicet id magnum sperans fore munus amanti,
et famam exstingui veterum sic posse malorum.
quid moror?

the unlucky bedchamber held me, and sweet and deep quiet pressed me as I lay, very similar to placid death.
meanwhile my illustrious consort removes all the arms from the house, and had withdrawn the sword faithful to my head:
within the house she calls Menelaus and opens the thresholds, 525
of course hoping that this would be a great gift to her lover,
and that the repute of former evils could thus be extinguished.
why do I linger?

inrumpunt thalamo, comes additus una
hortator scelerum Aeolides. di, talia Grais
instaurate, pio si poenas ore reposco. 530
sed te qui vivum casus, age fare vicissim,
attulerint. pelagine venis erroribus actus
an monitu divum?

they burst into the bedchamber, together with him a companion added,
the Aeolid, an inciter of crimes. gods, restore such things upon the Greeks,
if with a pious mouth I demand penalties. 530
but you—what chances have brought you alive, come, speak in turn,
have borne you. do you come driven by sea-wanderings
or by the monition of the gods?

an quae te fortuna fatigat,
ut tristis sine sole domos, loca turbida, adires?'

or what fortune wearies you,
that you would go to the sad sunless homes, the turbid places?'

Hac vice sermonum roseis Aurora quadrigis               535
iam medium aetherio cursu traiecerat axem;
et fors omne datum traherent per talia tempus,
sed comes admonuit breviterque adfata Sibylla est:
'nox ruit, Aenea; nos flendo ducimus horas.
hic locus est, partis ubi se via findit in ambas:               540
dextera quae Ditis magni sub moenia tendit,
hac iter Elysium nobis; at laeva malorum
exercet poenas et ad impia Tartara mittit.'
Deiphobus contra: 'ne saevi, magna sacerdos;
discedam, explebo numerum reddarque tenebris.               545

At this turn of speeches Aurora with rosy chariots               535
had already traversed the mid axis in her aetherial course;
and perhaps they would have dragged out all the allotted time through such talk,
but the companion warned, and the Sibyl briefly addressed him:
'night rushes down, Aeneas; we are drawing out the hours with weeping.
here is the place where the road splits itself into both parts:               540
the right-hand path, which stretches beneath the walls of great Dis—
by this way is our journey to Elysium; but the left exacts
the punishments of the wicked and sends them to impious Tartarus.'
Deiphobus in reply: 'do not be savage, great priestess;
I will depart, I will fill up the number and be rendered back to the darkness.'               545

i decus, i, nostrum; melioribus utere fatis.'
tantum effatus, et in verbo vestigia torsit.

Go, glory, go, our glory; make use of better fates.'
Having only spoken so much, and on the word he turned his footsteps.

Respicit Aeneas subito et sub rupe sinistra
moenia lata videt triplici circumdata muro,
quae rapidus flammis ambit torrentibus amnis, 550
Tartareus Phlegethon, torquetque sonantia saxa.
porta adversa ingens solidoque adamante columnae,
vis ut nulla virum, non ipsi exscindere bello
caelicolae valeant; stat ferrea turris ad auras,
Tisiphoneque sedens palla succincta cruenta 555
vestibulum exsomnis servat noctesque diesque.
hinc exaudiri gemitus et saeva sonare
verbera, tum stridor ferri tractaeque catenae.

Aeneas looks back suddenly and beneath the left-hand crag
he sees broad ramparts surrounded by a triple wall,
which the swift river with streaming flames encircles, 550
the Tartarean Phlegethon, and it whirls resounding rocks.
a huge gate stands opposite, and columns of solid adamant,
such that no force of men, not even the heaven-dwellers themselves,
might be able to demolish in war; an iron tower stands aloft,
and Tisiphone sitting, girt with a blood-stained mantle, 555
sleepless, keeps the vestibule both by night and by day.
from here groans are heard and cruel blows resound,
then the grating of iron and chains dragged along.

constitit Aeneas strepitumque exterritus hausit.
'quae scelerum facies? o virgo, effare; quibusue 560

Aeneas halted and, terrified, drank in the clamor.
'What form of crimes? O maiden, declare; or by what 560

urgentur poenis? quis tantus plangor ad auras?'
tum vates sic orsa loqui: 'dux inclute Teucrum,
nulli fas casto sceleratum insistere limen;
sed me cum lucis Hecate praefecit Avernis,
ipsa deum poenas docuit perque omnia duxit. 565
Cnosius haec Rhadamanthus habet durissima regna
castigatque auditque dolos subigitque fateri
quae quis apud superos furto laetatus inani
distulit in seram commissa piacula mortem.

are they pressed by punishments? what so great a wailing to the upper airs?'
then the prophetess thus began to speak: 'illustrious leader of the Teucrians,
for no chaste one is it right to step upon the criminal threshold;
but when Hecate set me over the Avernian groves,
she herself taught me the penalties of the gods and led me through all. 565
Cnossian Rhadamanthus holds these most harsh kingdoms
and he chastises and hears deceits and compels men to confess
the expiations for crimes committed which anyone, rejoicing among the upper gods in empty stealth,
deferred to belated death.

continuo sontis ultrix accincta flagello 570
Tisiphone quatit insultans, torvosque sinistra
intentans anguis vocat agmina saeva sororum.
tum demum horrisono stridentes cardine sacrae
panduntur portae. cernis custodia qualis
vestibulo sedeat, facies quae limina servet? 575

immediately Tisiphone, the avenger, girt with a scourge, lashes the guilty, exulting, 570
and, brandishing grim serpents with her left hand, she calls the savage battalions of her sisters.
then at last the sacred gates are flung open, strident on a dread-sounding hinge.
do you see what kind of guard sits in the vestibule, what visage keeps the thresholds? 575

quinquaginta atris immanis hiatibus Hydra
saevior intus habet sedem. tum Tartarus ipse
bis patet in praeceps tantum tenditque sub umbras
quantus ad aetherium caeli suspectus Olympum.
hic genus antiquum Terrae, Titania pubes, 580
fulmine deiecti fundo volvuntur in imo.

the Hydra, more savage, with fifty monstrous black gaping jaws,
has its seat within. Then Tartarus itself lies open sheer twice as far
downward and stretches beneath the shades as far as the upward gaze
to the aetherial Olympus of heaven. Here the ancient race of Earth, the Titan brood, 580
hurled down by the thunderbolt, are rolled in the lowest depth.

hic et Aloidas geminos immania vidi
corpora, qui manibus magnum rescindere caelum
adgressi superisque Iovem detrudere regnis.
vidi et crudelis dantem Salmonea poenas, 585
dum flammas Iovis et sonitus imitatur Olympi.
quattuor hic invectus equis et lampada quassans
per Graium populos mediaeque per Elidis urbem
ibat ovans, divumque sibi poscebat honorem,
demens, qui nimbos et non imitabile fulmen 590

here too I saw the twin Aloids, enormous bodies,
who with their hands attempted to rend the great heaven
and to thrust Jove from the realms above.
I also saw Salmoneus paying cruel penalties, 585
while he imitates the flames of Jove and the sounds of Olympus.
here, carried in by four horses and brandishing a torch,
through the Graian peoples and through the city in the midst of Elis
he went exultant, and was demanding for himself the honor of the gods,
madman, who the clouds and the inimitable thunderbolt 590

aere et cornipedum pulsu simularet equorum.
at pater omnipotens densa inter nubila telum
contorsit, non ille faces nec fumea taedis
lumina, praecipitemque immani turbine adegit.
nec non et Tityon, Terrae omniparentis alumnum, 595
cernere erat, per tota novem cui iugera corpus
porrigitur, rostroque immanis vultur obunco
immortale iecur tondens fecundaque poenis
viscera rimaturque epulis habitatque sub alto
pectore, nec fibris requies datur ulla renatis. 600
quid memorem Lapithas, Ixiona Pirithoumque?

with bronze and with the pounding of hoofed horses he would simulate.
but the all-powerful Father amid thick clouds a missile
he hurled—no firebrands nor smoky lights from pine-torches—
and drove him headlong with a monstrous whirlwind.
and likewise Tityos, the nursling of Earth the all-parent, 595
could be seen, whose body is stretched over a full nine acres,
and an enormous vulture with a hooked beak,
cropping his immortal liver and, fruitful for punishments,
rips up his entrails for feasts and lodges beneath the high
breast, nor is any rest granted to the reborn fibers. 600
why should I recall the Lapiths, Ixion and Pirithous?

quos super atra silex iam iam lapsura cadentique
imminet adsimilis; lucent genialibus altis
aurea fulcra toris, epulaeque ante ora paratae
regifico luxu; Furiarum maxima iuxta 605

over whom a dark flint, even now about to slip, overhangs, like to one falling;
golden supports gleam for the lofty marriage-couches, and banquets prepared before their faces
with regal luxury; the greatest of the Furies close by 605

accubat et manibus prohibet contingere mensas,
exsurgitque facem attollens atque intonat ore.
hic, quibus invisi fratres, dum vita manebat,
pulsatusve parens et fraus innexa clienti,
aut qui divitiis soli incubuere repertis               610
nec partem posuere suis (quae maxima turba est),
quique ob adulterium caesi, quique arma secuti
impia nec veriti dominorum fallere dextras,
inclusi poenam exspectant. ne quaere doceri
quam poenam, aut quae forma viros fortunave mersit.               615
saxum ingens volvunt alii, radiisque rotarum
districti pendent; sedet aeternumque sedebit
infelix Theseus, Phlegyasque miserrimus omnis
admonet et magna testatur voce per umbras:
"discite iustitiam moniti et non temnere divos."               620

she reclines and with her hands forbids them to touch the tables,
and rises, lifting a torch, and thunders with her mouth.
here, those for whom their brothers were hateful, while life remained,
or a parent beaten, and fraud woven against a client,
or who brooded alone over riches discovered and set no share aside for their own (which is the greatest crowd),               610
and those slain on account of adultery, and those who, having followed impious arms,
did not fear to deceive the right hands of their masters,
shut in, await their penalty. do not seek to be taught
what penalty, or what form or fortune submerged the men.
some roll a huge rock, and hang stretched on the spokes of wheels;               615
unhappy Theseus sits and will sit forever,
and most wretched Phlegyas warns all and attests with a great voice through the shades:
"learn justice, being admonished, and do not scorn the gods."               620

vendidit hic auro patriam dominumque potentem
imposuit; fixit leges pretio atque refixit;
hic thalamum invasit natae vetitosque hymenaeos:
ausi omnes immane nefas ausoque potiti.
non, mihi si linguae centum sint oraque centum, 625
ferrea vox, omnis scelerum comprendere formas,
omnia poenarum percurrere nomina possim.'

‘Here one sold his fatherland for gold and set a powerful lord over it; he fixed laws for a price and un-fixed them;
here one invaded his daughter’s bridal chamber and her forbidden nuptials:
all who dared immense impiety and accomplished what they dared.
Not—if I had a hundred tongues and a hundred mouths, 625
an iron voice—could I comprehend all the forms of crimes,
run through all the names of punishments.’

Haec ubi dicta dedit Phoebi longaeva sacerdos,
'sed iam age, carpe viam et susceptum perfice munus;
acceleremus' ait; 'Cyclopum educta caminis 630
moenia conspicio atque adverso fornice portas,
haec ubi nos praecepta iubent deponere dona.'
dixerat et pariter gressi per opaca viarum
corripiunt spatium medium foribusque propinquant.
occupat Aeneas aditum corpusque recenti 635
spargit aqua ramumque adverso in limine figit.

When the aged priestess of Phoebus had given these words,
'but now come, seize the way and perfect the undertaken office;
"let us hasten," she says; "I behold the walls drawn forth from the furnaces of the Cyclopes 630
and the gates with a facing arch, this is where the precepts bid us to deposit the gifts."'
She had spoken, and setting out together through the shaded places of the ways
they swiftly traverse the intervening space and approach the doors.
Aeneas seizes the approach and with fresh water sprinkles his body 635
and fixes the bough upon the facing threshold.

His demum exactis, perfecto munere divae,
devenere locos laetos et amoena virecta
fortunatorum nemorum sedesque beatas.
largior hic campos aether et lumine vestit 640
purpureo, solemque suum, sua sidera norunt.
pars in gramineis exercent membra palaestris,
contendunt ludo et fulva luctantur harena;
pars pedibus plaudunt choreas et carmina dicunt.

With these at last accomplished, the offering to the goddess completed,
they came down to the cheerful places and the pleasant green-places
of the fortunate groves and the blessed seats.
here the aether is more ample over the fields and clothes them 640
with purple light, and they know their own sun, their own stars.
some in grassy palaestrae exercise their limbs,
they contend in sport and wrestle in the tawny sand;
others beat out dances with their feet and chant songs.

nec non Threicius longa cum veste sacerdos 645
obloquitur numeris septem discrimina vocum,
iamque eadem digitis, iam pectine pulsat eburno.
hic genus antiquum Teucri, pulcherrima proles,
magnanimi heroes nati melioribus annis,
Ilusque Assaracusque et Troiae Dardanus auctor. 650

nor indeed the Thracian priest with long robe is lacking, 645
he chimes in with measures to the seven distinctions of notes,
and now with his fingers, now he strikes the same with an ivory plectrum.
here the ancient race of Teucer, the fairest progeny,
magnanimous heroes born in better ages,
and Ilus and Assaracus, and Dardanus, founder of Troy. 650

arma procul currusque virum miratur inanis;
stant terra defixae hastae passimque soluti
per campum pascuntur equi. quae gratia currum
armorumque fuit vivis, quae cura nitentis
pascere equos, eadem sequitur tellure repostos.               655
conspicit, ecce, alios dextra laevaque per herbam
vescentis laetumque choro paeana canentis
inter odoratum lauris nemus, unde superne
plurimus Eridani per silvam voluitur amnis.
hic manus ob patriam pugnando vulnera passi,               660
quique sacerdotes casti, dum vita manebat,
quique pii vates et Phoebo digna locuti,
inventas aut qui vitam excoluere per artis
quique sui memores aliquos fecere merendo:
omnibus his nivea cinguntur tempora vitta.               665

from afar he marvels at the arms and the men’s chariots, empty;
spears stand fixed in the earth, and everywhere unyoked
across the field the horses graze. the favor which chariots
and arms had for the living, the care to pasture shining
horses—that same follows those laid away in the earth.               655
he beholds—look!—others on the right and on the left through the grass
feeding and singing with a chorus a joyful paean
amid a laurel-fragrant grove, whence from above
the very full river of Eridanus rolls through the woodland. here bands who, for their fatherland, by fighting suffered wounds,               660
and those who were chaste priests while life remained,
and those pious seers and who spoke things worthy of Phoebus,
or who through discovered arts ennobled life,
and who, mindful of themselves, made some so by deserving:
for all these their temples are encircled with a snowy fillet.               665

quos circumfusos sic est adfata Sibylla,
Musaeum ante omnis (medium nam plurima turba
hunc habet atque umeris exstantem suspicit altis):
'dicite, felices animae tuque optime vates,
quae regio Anchisen, quis habet locus? illius ergo 670
venimus et magnos Erebi tranavimus amnis.'
atque huic responsum paucis ita reddidit heros:
'nulli certa domus; lucis habitamus opacis,
riparumque toros et prata recentia rivis
incolimus. sed vos, si fert ita corde voluntas, 675
hoc superate iugum, et facili iam tramite sistam.'
dixit, et ante tulit gressum camposque nitentis
desuper ostentat; dehinc summa cacumina linquunt.

whom, gathered around, the Sibyl thus addressed,
Musaeus before all (for the very numerous crowd
has him in their midst and looks up to him standing out with lofty shoulders):
'Say, happy souls, and you, most excellent vates,
what region holds Anchises, what place? For him therefore 670
we have come and have swum across the great rivers of Erebus.'
And to her the hero returned an answer in a few words thus:
'To none is there a fixed home; we inhabit shadowy groves,
and we dwell the couches of the riverbanks and meadows fresh with streams.
But you, if your heart so wills, 675
surmount this ridge, and I will now set you on an easy path.'
He spoke, and went on ahead and from above displays the shining fields;
then they leave the highest summits.

At pater Anchises penitus convalle virenti
inclusas animas superumque ad lumen ituras               680
lustrabat studio recolens, omnemque suorum
forte recensebat numerum, carosque nepotes
fataque fortunasque virum moresque manusque.
isque ubi tendentem adversum per gramina vidit
Aenean, alacris palmas utrasque tetendit,               685
effusaeque genis lacrimae et vox excidit ore:
'venisti tandem, tuaque exspectata parenti
vicit iter durum pietas? datur ora tueri,
nate, tua et notas audire et reddere voces?
sic equidem ducebam animo rebarque futurum                690

But father Anchises deep within a green valley
was surveying the souls enclosed and destined to go to the light of the upper world,               680
reviewing with zeal, and by chance was recensing the whole number of his own,
and the dear grandsons, and the fates and fortunes of men, their characters and their hands.
And when he saw Aeneas stretching toward him across the grasses
he eagerly stretched out both palms, and tears overflowed his cheeks and a voice fell from his mouth:               685
“You have come at last, and has your piety, long expected by your parent,
conquered the hard road? Is it granted to gaze upon your face,
son, and to hear and to return familiar voices?
Thus indeed I was shaping it in my mind and thought it would be so.”                690

tempora dinumerans, nec me mea cura fefellit.
quas ego te terras et quanta per aequora vectum
accipio! quantis iactatum, nate, periclis!

enumerating the times, nor has my care deceived me.
through what lands and how great seas you have been borne
I receive you! tossed by how many perils, son!

quam metui ne quid Libyae tibi regna nocerent!'
ille autem: 'tua me, genitor, tua tristis imago 695
saepius occurrens haec limina tendere adegit;
stant sale Tyrrheno classes. da iungere dextram,
da, genitor, teque amplexu ne subtrahe nostro.'
sic memorans largo fletu simul ora rigabat.
ter conatus ibi collo dare bracchia circum; 700
ter frustra comprensa manus effugit imago,
par levibus ventis volucrique simillima somno.

'how I feared lest the realms of Libya might harm you!'
but he, however: 'yourself, father, your sad image 695
coming upon me more and more often has driven me to stretch toward these thresholds;
the fleets stand on the Tyrrhenian brine. grant that I join the right hand,
grant it, father, and do not withdraw yourself from our embrace.'
thus speaking, at the same time he was wetting his face with copious weeping.
thrice he tried there to give his arms around his neck; 700
thrice the image, grasped in vain, escaped his hands,
equal to light winds and most similar to winged sleep.

Interea videt Aeneas in valle reducta
seclusum nemus et virgulta sonantia silvae,
Lethaeumque domos placidas qui praenatat amnem.               705
hunc circum innumerae gentes populique volabant:
ac veluti in pratis ubi apes aestate serena
floribus insidunt variis et candida circum
lilia funduntur, strepit omnis murmure campus.
horrescit visu subito causasque requirit               710
inscius Aeneas, quae sint ea flumina porro,
quive viri tanto complerint agmine ripas.
tum pater Anchises: 'animae, quibus altera fato
corpora debentur, Lethaei ad fluminis undam
securos latices et longa oblivia potant.               715

Meanwhile Aeneas sees, in a withdrawn valley,
a secluded grove and the rustling brushwood of a forest,
and the Lethean stream which glides before the peaceful homes.               705
around this innumerable nations and peoples were flitting:
and just as in meadows, when bees in serene summer
settle on various flowers and are poured out around white
lilies, the whole plain resounds with a murmur.
he shudders at the sudden sight and, ignorant, inquires the causes,               710
what these rivers are, further on,
and what men have filled the banks with so great a throng.
then father Anchises: 'souls, to whom other bodies
are owed by fate, at the wave of the Lethean river
drink the carefree waters and long oblivions.'               715

has equidem memorare tibi atque ostendere coram
iampridem, hanc prolem cupio enumerare meorum,
quo magis Italia mecum laetere reperta.'
'o pater, anne aliquas ad caelum hinc ire putandum est
sublimis animas iterumque ad tarda reverti 720
corpora? quae lucis miseris tam dira cupido?'
'dicam equidem nec te suspensum, nate, tenebo'
suscipit Anchises atque ordine singula pandit.

these indeed to recount to you and to show before you in person
long since I desire, this progeny of my own to enumerate,
so that the more you may rejoice with me that Italy has been found.'
'o father, are we to think that some souls from here go on high to heaven
sublime, and again return to tardy bodies, 720
what so dire a craving for the light is upon the wretched?'
'I will indeed tell, nor will I keep you in suspense, son,'
Anchises takes up and unfolds each thing in order.

'Principio caelum ac terras camposque liquentis
lucentemque globum lunae Titaniaque astra 725
spiritus intus alit, totamque infusa per artus
mens agitat molem et magno se corpore miscet.
inde hominum pecudumque genus vitaeque volantum
et quae marmoreo fert monstra sub aequore pontus.
igneus est ollis vigor et caelestis origo 730
seminibus, quantum non noxia corpora tardant
terrenique hebetant artus moribundaque membra.

'At the beginning, heaven and earth and the liquid fields,
and the lucent globe of the Moon and the Titanian stars 725
a spirit within sustains, and a mind, infused through all the limbs,
agitates the whole mass and mingles itself with the great body.
Thence the race of men and of herds and the life of the winged ones,
and the monsters which the sea bears beneath the marble level.
Igneous is the vigor in them and celestial the origin in their seeds, 730
inasmuch as noxious bodies do not retard, and terrene limbs
and moribund members do not dull.

hinc metuunt cupiuntque, dolent gaudentque, neque auras
dispiciunt clausae tenebris et carcere caeco.
quin et supremo cum lumine vita reliquit, 735

hence they fear and they desire, they grieve and they rejoice, nor do they discern the breezes,
shut in by darkness and a blind prison. indeed even when life has left with the last light, 735

non tamen omne malum miseris nec funditus omnes
corporeae excedunt pestes, penitusque necesse est
multa diu concreta modis inolescere miris.
ergo exercentur poenis veterumque malorum
supplicia expendunt: aliae panduntur inanes               740
suspensae ad ventos, aliis sub gurgite vasto
infectum eluitur scelus aut exuritur igni:
quisque suos patimur manis. exinde per amplum
mittimur Elysium et pauci laeta arva tenemus,
donec longa dies perfecto temporis orbe               745
concretam exemit labem, purumque relinquit
aetherium sensum atque aurai simplicis ignem.
has omnis, ubi mille rotam volvere per annos,
Lethaeum ad fluvium deus evocat agmine magno,
scilicet immemores supera ut convexa revisant               750

not, however, does every evil for the wretched, nor utterly do all bodily plagues, depart, and deep within it is necessary that many things long concreted grow in by wondrous modes.
therefore they are exercised by punishments and expend the penalties of former evils: some are spread out empty, suspended to the winds,               740
for others beneath the vast gulf their tainted crime is washed away, or is burned out by fire:
each of us suffers his own Manes. thereafter through the ample
we are sent to Elysium and we few hold the joyful fields,
until a long day, the circle of time completed,               745
has removed the concreted stain, and leaves pure
the aetherial perception and the fire of the simple air.
all these, when they have rolled the wheel through a thousand years,
to the Lethean river the god summons in a great column,
surely that, unremembering, they may revisit the upper vaults.               750

rursus, et incipiant in corpora velle reverti.'

again, and that they may begin to wish to return into bodies.'

Dixerat Anchises natumque unaque Sibyllam
conventus trahit in medios turbamque sonantem,
et tumulum capit unde omnis longo ordine posset
adversos legere et venientum discere vultus. 755

Anchises had spoken, and he draws his son and the Sibyl together into the midst of the assembly and the sounding crowd, and he takes a mound whence he could read them all in long order as they faced him, and learn the faces of those coming. 755

'Nunc age, Dardaniam prolem quae deinde sequatur
gloria, qui maneant Itala de gente nepotes,
inlustris animas nostrumque in nomen ituras,
expediam dictis, et te tua fata docebo.
ille, vides, pura iuvenis qui nititur hasta,               760
proxima sorte tenet lucis loca, primus ad auras
aetherias Italo commixtus sanguine surget,
Silvius, Albanum nomen, tua postuma proles,
quem tibi longaevo serum Lavinia coniunx
educet silvis regem regumque parentem,               765
unde genus Longa nostrum dominabitur Alba.
proximus ille Procas, Troianae gloria gentis,
et Capys et Numitor et qui te nomine reddet
Silvius Aeneas, pariter pietate vel armis
egregius, si umquam regnandam acceperit Albam.               770

'Now come, what glory shall then follow the Dardanian progeny,
what descendants from the Italian gens await,
illustrious spirits, destined to pass into our name,
I will unfold in words, and I will teach you your fates.
That one there, you see, the youth who leans upon a pure spear,               760
holds by nearest lot the places of light; first to the ethereal breezes
he shall arise, commixed with Italian blood,
Silvius, an Alban name, your posthumous progeny,
whom to you your long-lived spouse Lavinia, late, will bring forth
from the woods, a king and father of kings,               765
whence our stock will dominate Alba Longa.
Next is that Procas, the glory of the Trojan gens,
and Capys and Numitor and he who will restore you in name,
Silvius Aeneas, equally distinguished in piety or in arms,
if ever he shall receive Alba to be ruled.'               770

qui iuvenes! quantas ostentant, aspice, viris
atque umbrata gerunt civili tempora quercu!
hi tibi Nomentum et Gabios urbemque Fidenam,
hi Collatinas imponent montibus arces,
Pometios Castrumque Inui Bolamque Coramque; 775
haec tum nomina erunt, nunc sunt sine nomine terrae.

what youths! look, what great might in men they display,
and they wear their brows shaded with the civic oak!
these will for you Nomentum and Gabii and the city Fidenae,
these will set the Collatine citadels upon the hills,
Pometia and the Fort of Inuus and Bola and Cora; 775
these then will be names; now they are lands without a name.

quin et avo comitem sese Mauvortius addet
Romulus, Assaraci quem sanguinis Ilia mater
educet. viden, ut geminae stant vertice cristae
et pater ipse suo superum iam signat honore? 780
en huius, nate, auspiciis illa incluta Roma
imperium terris, animos aequabit Olympo,
septemque una sibi muro circumdabit arces,
felix prole virum: qualis Berecyntia mater
invehitur curru Phrygias turrita per urbes 785

nay, and to his grandfather as a companion the Mavortian Romulus will add himself,
whom his mother Ilia, of Assaracian blood, will rear. Do you see how twin crests stand upon his crown,
and the father himself already marks him with his own honor among the gods? 780
lo, under this one’s auspices, son, that illustrious Rome
will make her dominion equal to the lands, her spirit to Olympus,
and with one wall she will gird about herself seven citadels,
happy in a progeny of men: such as the Berecyntian Mother,
turreted, is borne in her chariot through Phrygian cities 785

laeta deum partu, centum complexa nepotes,
omnis caelicolas, omnis supera alta tenentis.
huc geminas nunc flecte acies, hanc aspice gentem
Romanosque tuos. hic Caesar et omnis Iuli
progenies magnum caeli ventura sub axem. 790
hic vir, hic est, tibi quem promitti saepius audis,
Augustus Caesar, divi genus, aurea condet
saecula qui rursus Latio regnata per arva
Saturno quondam, super et Garamantas et Indos
proferet imperium; iacet extra sidera tellus, 795
extra anni solisque vias, ubi caelifer Atlas
axem umero torquet stellis ardentibus aptum.

happy in the birth of gods, embracing a hundred grandsons,
all the heaven-dwellers, all who hold the lofty heights above.
now bend your twin glances hither, look upon this nation
and your Romans. here is Caesar and all the offspring of Iulus
destined to come beneath the great axis of heaven. 790
this man, this is he, whom you hear so often promised to you,
Augustus Caesar, of divine stock, who will found the golden
ages again in Latium over the fields once ruled by Saturn,
and will extend his imperium beyond the Garamantes and the Indians;
there lies a land beyond the stars, beyond the paths of the year and of the sun, 795
where sky-bearing Atlas on his shoulder turns the axis
fitted with burning stars.

huius in adventum iam nunc et Caspia regna
responsis horrent divum et Maeotia tellus,
et septemgemini turbant trepida ostia Nili. 800

for his arrival even now both the Caspian realms
shudder at the responses of the gods and the Maeotian land,
and the trembling mouths of the sevenfold Nile are thrown into turmoil. 800

nec vero Alcides tantum telluris obivit,
fixerit aeripedem cervam licet, aut Erymanthi
pacarit nemora et Lernam tremefecerit arcu;
nec qui pampineis victor iuga flectit habenis
Liber, agens celso Nysae de vertice tigris. 805
et dubitamus adhuc virtutem extendere factis,
aut metus Ausonia prohibet consistere terra?
quis procul ille autem ramis insignis olivae
sacra ferens? nosco crinis incanaque menta
regis Romani primam qui legibus urbem 810
fundabit, Curibus parvis et paupere terra
missus in imperium magnum.

nor indeed did Alcides traverse so much of the earth,
though he may have pinned the brazen-footed hind, or pacified
the groves of Erymanthus and made Lerna tremble with his bow;
nor Liber, who as victor bends the yokes with vine-clad reins,
driving tigers from the lofty summit of Nysa. 805
and do we still hesitate to extend our virtue by deeds,
or does fear forbid us to stand fast on Ausonian land?
but who is that afar, distinguished by branches of olive,
bearing the sacred rites? I recognize the locks and the hoary chins
who, as Roman king, will found the first city with laws, 810
sent from little Cures and a poverty-stricken land
into great empire.

cui deinde subibit
otia qui rumpet patriae residesque movebit
Tullus in arma viros et iam desueta triumphis
agmina. quem iuxta sequitur iactantior Ancus 815

to whom then there will succeed
he who will break the leisure of the fatherland and will move
Tullus men into arms and the ranks now unaccustomed to triumphs.
Next to him there follows the more vaunting Ancus 815

nunc quoque iam nimium gaudens popularibus auris.
vis et Tarquinios reges animamque superbam
ultoris Bruti, fascisque videre receptos?
consulis imperium hic primus saevasque securis
accipiet, natosque pater nova bella moventis 820
ad poenam pulchra pro libertate vocabit,
infelix, utcumque ferent ea facta minores:
vincet amor patriae laudumque immensa cupido.

now also even now rejoicing too much in popular breezes.
do you wish also to see the Tarquin kings and the proud spirit of avenging Brutus, and the fasces received back?
he here will first receive the imperium of the consul and the savage axes,
and, a father, he will call to punishment his sons setting new wars in motion 820
for fair liberty, unhappy, however posterity may bear those deeds:
love of fatherland and an immense desire for praise will conquer.

quin Decios Drusosque procul saevumque securi
aspice Torquatum et referentem signa Camillum. 825
illae autem paribus quas fulgere cernis in armis,
concordes animae nunc et dum nocte prementur,
heu quantum inter se bellum, si lumina vitae
attigerint, quantas acies stragemque ciebunt,
aggeribus socer Alpinis atque arce Monoeci 830

nay, look at the Decii and the Drusi far off, and the fierce Torquatus with the axe,
and Camillus bringing back the standards. 825
but those whom you see gleaming in equal arms,
now harmonious souls and while they are pressed by night—
alas, how great a war between themselves, if they should touch the lights of life,
what battle-lines and slaughter they will stir up—
the father-in-law from the Alpine ramparts and the citadel of Monoecus! 830

descendens, gener adversis instructus Eois!
ne, pueri, ne tanta animis adsuescite bella
neu patriae validas in viscera vertite viris;
tuque prior, tu parce, genus qui ducis Olympo,
proice tela manu, sanguis meus!— 835
ille triumphata Capitolia ad alta Corintho
victor aget currum caesis insignis Achivis.
eruet ille Argos Agamemnoniasque Mycenas
ipsumque Aeaciden, genus armipotentis Achilli,
ultus avos Troiae templa et temerata Minervae. 840
quis te, magne Cato, tacitum aut te, Cosse, relinquat?

descending, the son-in-law arrayed against Eastern adversaries!
do not, boys, do not accustom your spirits to such great wars,
nor turn your strength into the very viscera of the fatherland;
and you first, you, spare, you who draw your lineage from Olympus,
cast down the weapons from your hand, my blood!— 835
he as victor will drive his chariot to the high Capitol with Corinth triumphed,
distinguished by slain Achaeans.
he will tear up Argos and Agamemnonian Mycenae,
and the Aeacid himself, the stock of war-potent Achilles,
avenging his forefathers, the temples of Troy and profaned Minerva. 840
who would leave you, great Cato, or you, Cossus, unmentioned?

quis Gracchi genus aut geminos, duo fulmina belli,
Scipiadas, cladem Libyae, parvoque potentem
Fabricium vel te sulco, Serrane, serentem?
quo fessum rapitis, Fabii? tu Maximus ille es, 845

who the stock of the Gracchi or the twins, the two thunderbolts of war,
the Scipiads, the ruin of Libya, and Fabricius powerful in scant means,
or you, Serranus, sowing in the furrow?
whither do you snatch me, weary, Fabii? you are that Maximus, 845

unus qui nobis cunctando restituis rem.
excudent alii spirantia mollius aera
(credo equidem), vivos ducent de marmore vultus,
orabunt causas melius, caelique meatus
describent radio et surgentia sidera dicent: 850
tu regere imperio populos, Romane, memento
(hae tibi erunt artes), pacique imponere morem,
parcere subiectis et debellare superbos.'

one man who by delaying restored the state to us.
others will hammer out breathing bronzes more softly
(I for my part believe it), will draw forth living faces from marble,
they will plead causes better, and the courses of the sky
they will describe with the rod and will speak the rising stars: 850
you, Roman, remember to rule peoples by your imperium
(these will be your arts), to impose a pattern upon peace,
to spare the subjected and to crush the proud.'

Sic pater Anchises, atque haec mirantibus addit:
'aspice, ut insignis spoliis Marcellus opimis 855
ingreditur victorque viros supereminet omnis.
hic rem Romanam magno turbante tumultu
sistet eques, sternet Poenos Gallumque rebellem,
tertiaque arma patri suspendet capta Quirino.'
atque hic Aeneas (una namque ire videbat 860
egregium forma iuvenem et fulgentibus armis,
sed frons laeta parum et deiecto lumina vultu)
'quis, pater, ille, virum qui sic comitatur euntem?
filius, anne aliquis magna de stirpe nepotum?

Thus father Anchises, and to those marveling he adds these things:
'look, how Marcellus, distinguished with the opima spoils, 855
advances, and as victor he overtops all men.
this man, a horseman, will steady the Roman state, as a great tumult throws it into disorder;
he will strew the Punics and the rebellious Gaul,
and will hang the third arms, captured, to father Quirinus.'
and here Aeneas (for together with him he saw going 860
a youth outstanding in form and with gleaming arms,
but a brow too little glad and eyes with a downcast countenance)
'who, father, is that, who thus accompanies the man as he goes?
a son, or someone from the great stock of his descendants?

qui strepitus circa comitum! quantum instar in ipso! 865

what a clamor around his companions! how great a presence in himself! 865

sed nox atra caput tristi circumvolat umbra.'
tum pater Anchises lacrimis ingressus obortis:
'o gnate, ingentem luctum ne quaere tuorum;
ostendent terris hunc tantum fata nec ultra
esse sinent. nimium vobis Romana propago 870
visa potens, superi, propria haec si dona fuissent.
quantos ille virum magnam Mauortis ad urbem
campus aget gemitus!

but black night flies around his head with a gloomy shadow.'
then father Anchises began, tears welling up:
'O son, do not seek the vast grief of your kin;
the Fates will show this man to the lands only thus far, and not further
will they allow him to be. Too mighty to you the Roman progeny 870
would have seemed, gods above, if these gifts had been their own.
What groans of men will that field send to the great city of Mars
the campus will drive forth!'

vel quae, Tiberine, videbis
funera, cum tumulum praeterlabere recentem!
nec puer Iliaca quisquam de gente Latinos 875
in tantum spe tollet avos, nec Romula quondam
ullo se tantum tellus iactabit alumno.
heu pietas, heu prisca fides invictaque bello
dextera!

or what funerals, Tiberine, you will see
when you glide past the fresh tomb!
nor will any boy from the Iliac race uplift his Latin forefathers so much in hope, nor will the Romulean 875
land ever vaunt itself so greatly in any nursling.
alas for piety, alas for ancient faith and a right hand
unconquered in war!

non illi se quisquam impune tulisset
obvius armato, seu cum pedes iret in hostem 880

no one would have met him armed with impunity,
either when, as a foot-soldier, he went against the enemy 880

seu spumantis equi foderet calcaribus armos.
heu, miserande puer, si qua fata aspera rumpas,
tu Marcellus eris. manibus date lilia plenis
purpureos spargam flores animamque nepotis
his saltem accumulem donis, et fungar inani 885
munere.' sic tota passim regione vagantur
aeris in campis latis atque omnia lustrant.

whether he should dig the flanks of a foaming horse with his spurs.
ah, boy to be pitied, if in any way you should break rough fates,
you will be Marcellus. with full hands give lilies,
that I may strew purple flowers and the spirit of my descendant,
with these gifts at least let me accumulate, and fulfill a vain 885
office.' thus they wander everywhere through the whole region
in the wide fields of air and survey all things.

quae postquam Anchises natum per singula duxit
incenditque animum famae venientis amore,
exim bella viro memorat quae deinde gerenda, 890
Laurentisque docet populos urbemque Latini,
et quo quemque modo fugiatque feratque laborem.

which, after Anchises led his son through each particular
and kindled his mind with love of the coming fame,
then he recounts to the man the wars that thereafter must be waged, 890
and instructs him about the Laurentian peoples and the city of Latinus,
and by what method he should both flee and bear each labor.

Sunt geminae Somni portae, quarum altera fertur
cornea, qua veris facilis datur exitus umbris,
altera candenti perfecta nitens elephanto, 895
sed falsa ad caelum mittunt insomnia Manes.
his ibi tum natum Anchises unaque Sibyllam
prosequitur dictis portaque emittit eburna,
ille viam secat ad navis sociosque revisit.

There are twin gates of Sleep, of which one is said
to be of horn, through which an easy exit is given to true shades,
the other, completed, gleaming with shining white ivory, 895
but the Manes send false dreams to the sky.
With these words thereupon Anchises escorts his son and the Sibyl together
and sends them out by the ivory gate,
he cuts a way to the ships and revisits his comrades.

Tum se ad Caietae recto fert limite portum. 900
ancora de prora iacitur; stant litore puppes.

Then he makes for the harbor of Caieta by a straight course. 900
The anchor is cast from the prow; the ships stand on the shore.