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    The Aeneid of Virgil
    The Aeneid of Virgil
    The Aeneid of Virgil
    Ebook458 pages6 hours

    The Aeneid of Virgil

    By Virgil

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    According to Wikipedia: "The Aeneid is a Latin epic poem, written by Virgil between 29 and 19 BC, that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Trojan who travelled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Romans. It is composed of roughly 10,000 lines in dactylic hexameter. The first six of the poem's twelve books tell the story of Aeneas's wanderings from Troy to Italy, and the poem's second half tells of the Trojans' ultimately victorious war upon the Latins, under whose name Aeneas and his Trojan followers are destined to be subsumed."

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSeltzer Books
    Release dateMar 1, 2018
    ISBN9781455334674
    The Aeneid of Virgil
    Author

    Virgil

    Publius Vergilius Maro – or Virgil – was born near Mantua in 70 BC and was brought up there, although he attended schools in Cremona and Rome. Virgil’s rural upbringing and his affinity with the countryside are evident in his earliest work, the Eclogues, a collection of ten pastoral poems. As an adult Virgil lived mostly in Naples, although he spent time in Rome and belonged to the circle of influential poets that included Horace. He also had connections to leading men within the senatorial class and to the Emperor Augustus himself. Following the Eclogues, Virgil wrote the Georgics, a didactic poem, and thereafter began his longest and most ambitious work, the Aeneid. He died in Brindisi in 19 BC.

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    • 4/5
      The Aeneid, translated by Robert FaglesAfter reading Black Ships by Jo Graham (which was based on The Aeneid), I was inspired to find a copy and read it myself. Robert Fagles is an award-winning translator and is especially recognized for his work on Homer's The Illiad and The Oddessy. He more recently turned his attention to The Aeneid by Virgil. While I've never read The Aeneid before, and can't compare Fagles translation to others, I did find it to be very approachable, enjoyable, and immensley readable. In fact, he won the Harold Morton Landon Translation Award from The Academy of American Poets because of it.Also included in this edition is a wonderful introduction by Bernard Knox explaining the background, history, and context of The Aeneid. Additional useful elements include a genealogy, notes on the translation, and a fairly comprehensive pronunciation glossary. Apparently, Virgil died before he could finish the epic poem and requested that it be destroyed. Fortunately, for us anyway, his wish was not fulfilled.The Aeneid consists of twelve books following Aeneas, a Trojan commander, and what remains of the free people of Troy after it's final destruction. Destined by the gods to settle in Italy and become the ancestors of the Romans, their path is not an easy one. (The establishment of this ancestry was one of the primary reasons Virgil set about writing this work.) The Trojans must face storms, wars, monsters, and even the gods themselves in their struggle to survive and to found a new homeland. Even unfinished, the poem is quite an achievement. It is filled with fantastic imagery and is packed with action while addressing the humanity of the people involved.While in high school, I was intensely interested in classical studies. Reading this terrific translation of The Aeneid was a wonderful way to revisit that one-time obsession. Though it did end rather suddenly, right at one of the climaxes actually, it was very much worth reading and I very much enjoyed it.Experiments in Reading
    • 2/5
      Propaganda literature, written with political and moral aims, in imitation of Greek models, and so is inferior art.
    • 4/5
      Love this translation, especially the beginning.
    • 3/5
      The Trojan Odyssey. Interesting for how it has carried down even until today.
    • 4/5
      Having read Broch's The Death of Virgil earlier this year, I felt I should read The Aeneid, especially as I never studied Latin III, where we would have read it in the original. I'm glad I read it now for the first time, as I don't think I would have appreciated its richness, creativity, and psychological insight years ago. The story is quickly told: Aeneas flees Troy after the Trojan War and he and his companions seek a new land to settle, in Italy. Juno opposes them, so they are forced on a long voyage until reaching their destination. They must fight to gain the land where they will found their new city. Yes, you could call it a propaganda piece; but oh, how marvellous! In Book VI, Aeneas journeys to the Elysian Fields where his dead father's shade tells him of the glories of the Rome to come. The translation was very readable and evocative of the time and place. I liked the use of the present tense to describe the action [the 'historical present']; to me, it gave it immediacy. I appreciated the lengthy introduction by Bernard Knox and the Postscript by the translator, Robert Fagles. More than just the text, I highly recommend all supplementary material. My favorite parts were Book VI and Book X [the main battle against Latium]. I could almost call Aeneas the distant ancestor of one of the Roman soldier-heroes in today's Roman military novels. Certainly, the fighting was as bloody. The Aeneid is a must-read!
    • 4/5
      Aeneas is the son of a goddess. His wife is dead. His home is destroyed because someone decided to run away with the wife of a Greek King named Helena. A prophecy is guiding him to Latium, an area of Italy where his descendants will become the greatest empire of mankind. But first, there is an epic that has to happen.The story is not entirely unlike The Odyssey. There are some parallels, and there are some things that are put in to place to basically say, "This is happening at the same time" because it is.Suicidal queens, vengeful royalty, and large sea voyages are abound in this epic tale.
    • 3/5
      I found this easier to get through than [book: The Iliad], I think because at least for the first half there was stuff going on besides warfare. But I think I'm kind of epiced out after those two and [book: Paradise Lost] all this semester.
    • 4/5
      I liked The Aeneid. It wasn’t exactly a pleasure read, but I liked it in the way you like arduous things (and by arduous I mean reading all 300+ pages of epic prose in 3 days) once they’re over. If you’ve ever read Grapes of Wrath maybe you know what I’m talking about. There were a lot of slow parts, many of which involved an excess of names, but there were also plenty of gripping parts that had me actually forgetting to watch the page numbers tick by as slowly as the minutes. For example, the last four books are almost entirely devoted to one long, drawn out, dramatic, and incredibly visceral battle scene. I may have cringed at least once a page, but I certainly wasn’t bored! Two Sentence Summary: After the sack of Troy, Aeneas escapes with a group of Trojan warriors and sets out for the shores of Italy, where he will found New Troy (aka Rome). He must first overcome the obstacles of a vindictive meddling goddess, and then conquer the land destined to become a great empire.I’m guessing most of you have heard of The Aeneid. And maybe you’ve heard whisperings of comparisons to The Odyssey. Maybe some have you have even read it. If you a) haven’t and b) have read The Odyssey and didn’t loathe it, I recommend The Aeneid as a good companion read. It’s an excellent microcosmic example that for all the energy the Romans put into dissing the Greeks, they put at least as much or more into imitating (and in their minds, improving on) them. Naturally it’s chock full of meaty themes as well, like the conflict between duty and desire, the martyrdom of present happiness for future greatness, learning what to let go of and when, the ephemerality of human life and connection, the entanglement of place and identity... the list goes on. And Virgil wasn’t kidding around. He knew his way around a vivid description (see: incredibly visceral battle scene). I’ve never read such inventive – and numerous – descriptions of dawn. They put Homer’s lovely, if repetitive, “rosy-fingered dawn” to shame. And that’s pretty much Virgil’s goal in a nutshell: outdo Homer. Whether he succeeds or not is up to you.
    • 3/5
      Although it is a classic and beautiful epic poem, I think the translation takes a lot away from what the original could be. After awhile hearing the repetitive use of words such as train, main, fate, state, began to get old. Also, knowing that it is pretty much a rip off of the Iliad and Odyssey with just a swap of Greeks for Trojans in what is just an attempt to say "Hey, those Trojans weren't so bad after all" made it almost unbearable. The swap also made it hard to follow since all the gods were identified with Roman names instead of Greek which was confusing at times.It is a good classic to read but I think I'll stick to the Greeks.
    • 3/5
      I so disliked this translation that I stopped reading it at Line 620 of Book II and finished it in another. I think I reacted so strongly against it because I had just read The Iliad in Richmond Latimore's magnificent version. While that style was ringing in my head and heart, I just could not buy into this so different version.
    • 4/5
      While I've read both the Iliad and the Odyssey several times each, I've never gotten around to the Aeneid by Virgil, until now. The Aeneid is a sequel to the Iliad from a Trojan's point of view, specifically, Aeneus' wanderings after escaping the sacking of Troy. He is promised, by the gods, that he will found a new Troy in Latium (the future Rome), thus this epic, written during the time of Augustus Caesar, is a foundation story for the Roman Empire. It copies the structure and devices of its predecessors with the gods constantly interfering with Aeneas' mission because of their own petty quarrels, as well as wanderings from place to place, tragic loves, bloody battles between heroic men and even a trip to the underworld. In this book you'll find the description of Troy's destruction, the details about the Greek's devious ruse with the Wooden Horse, as well as the story of Dido the queen of Carthage who falls, to her own demise, in love with Aeneas. If the Aeneid is inferior to both the Iliad and the Odyssey, it is, nevertheless, enjoyable reading. I especially liked the depiction of Camilla, a female warrior that would give the Amazons a run for their money.
    • 3/5
      Another classic! Interesting to hear the Trojan side of this and also the slightly different Roman Gods. Aeneas is a great hero and the story suitably epic!
    • 3/5
      I listened to the audiobook read by Simon Callow. He was an excellent narrator. The story itself is a classic, and one that is somewhat familiar to people: the Trojan Horse, the betrayal of Dido, the journey to the Underworld, the voyage to found Rome. It’s part of our Western folklore. Hearing poetry aloud makes a big difference in understanding. The Fagles translation, while somewhat stilted, is understandable when written, but even better aloud. Like Homer, Virgil’s poetry definitely benefits from being read in audiobook form (at least if you have a good narrator).
    • 5/5
      This is a classic of course. This translation in particular is quite well done. It has excellent notes and references. I love this work particularly because of the context in which it was written which gives depth to many of the events and/or the way in which they are portrayed.
    • 3/5
      The Aeneid is one of those staples of an education in Latin with which I was acquainted during my high school and college years, but only from a translation standpoint. In other words, I would be assigned to translate passages from The Aeneid as homework, but never really read the epic in its entirety until now.I love poetry, but epic poetry is something I've never quite been able to wrap my head around. I think it's because, with epic poetry, it's so much about the story and so little (In many cases) about the symbolism that I run into trouble. The conventions of the poetic form make it difficult to follow what would be, in prose, a normal sentence over several lines. By the time I get to the end of a "sentence" in an epic, I've lost the entire meaning of the thought because of the twists and turns of the poetic dialogue.So, basically, this was a bit of a slog for me.Keeping in mind that, in both Greek and Roman mythology, the gods and goddesses are petty and vengeful and really, really like to indulge their whims, I really thought Juno was spot-on. She was upset that Paris chose Venus as the best goddess (That's such a reductive way to state this, but there you have it), so she decided to take it out on Aeneas. However, she didn't really take into account that Aeneas would be protected by some other gods and goddesses, so she just ended up killing a bunch of people close to Aeneas without ever really being able to touch him. I guess that's the "Hurting those closest to your target hurts more than actually hurting your target" theory of vengeance.Aeneas is one of those characters that ran kind of hot and cold with me. At times, he seemed to be the heroic, noble founder of Rome from legends. At other times, he was kind of boring. For being the title character of this epic, I found him pretty blah.I did find myself, during battle scenes, grimacing quite often whenever someone was slashed/impaled/beheaded/what-have-you, as Vergil was quite fond of the term "gore" and all that went with it ("Thick gore," "thick black gore," "clotted gore" -- You get the idea). Much more effective than a lengthy description of blood spurting several feet from a decapitated trunk, if you ask me.Overall, I liked The Aeneid well enough to see why it's a classic in higher education. However, for those of you squeamish of epic poetry, I'd suggest finding either a prose version (I'm sure they exist somewhere) or a version that offers summaries of each of the books.My rating: 7/10
    • 3/5
      Read this rather hurriedly and when lots of other things were going on in my life.
    • 5/5
      In what you'll recognize as a classic "reading group review" (if you've been paying attention . . . and why would you be?), some thoughts from The Aeneid Week 1:-I haven't been this excited about a reread in a long time.-Indeed, what is fate here? That which must be? The desultorily enforced whim of Zeus? Its own proof, because if you just did something awesome, some god or other must have been on your side?-I read that Virgil studied under Sino the Epicurean. I'd always thought of V. as more of a Stoic. Will read with that in mind.-What is all this about them braving Scylla and the cyclops? Like, Aeneas did everything Odysseus did, only offscreen? Burn!
    • 5/5
      Boy, I really liked this.
    • 5/5
      A lot of comparisons are being made between the Aeneid and Homer's Odyssey, but I personally find the Aeneid to surpass the former. Aeneas is portrayed with more compassion, I think, than Odysseus and a comparison isn't really very useful as Aeneas is a Trojan sailing with nowhere to go and Odysseus is a Greek victor who is just cursed to take ten years to get to his homeland.As far as the Aeneid on its own is concerned, you really get a feel for all of the characters involved (except, oddly enough, Zeus/Jove), and all of their points of view are justifiable, more or less. The personal drama and the battles are gripping, and you really sympathize with all of the characters.This translation in particular is a very easy one to read and I think true to the simplicity of the Latin original; Latin isn't a stuffy language and this is not a stuffy translation.
    • 3/5
      I do think it is a commendable effort by Fagles to translate another lengthy epic but I do think my on-going ennui while reading through this epic poetry even with the help of Simon Callow's narration was the result of Virgil's prose and storytelling itself. The Aeneid is a continuation after the fall of Troy and it set around the adventures of Aeneas and his role in the founding of Rome. However, this doesn't mean Virgil is ripping off Homer although obviously he did base his work around Iliad but Mediterranean culture often derive from the same geographical source, much like how there's some similarity between food cultures around South East Asia.

      Unlike Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, Virgil's Aeneid is highly political and almost devoid of storytelling until usual good parts. Most of the time the poems constantly surrounded itself with 'prophetic' grandeur of the future Roman empire and its people and there's a lot of brown nosing in this book that it became unbearable. That made more sense why Virgil wanted his manuscript destroyed. Its not just a story of Aeneus, its also a 19 BC product placement story about how the then-Roman families and rulers being placed inside the mythology with stories of their grandeur.

      The role of various women in Aeneid is by far the most troublesome element I had with this book. I could blame it on my modern bias but there are prevalent amount of misogyny in this book that made the process of reading as discomforting. This whole story seem to assert itself that a woman couldn't hold a position of power and always in danger of irrationality and on the verge of hysteria and suicidal at the whims of men. First we see them with Juno and Venus then Dido and Queen Amata. I do admire Dido at first but due to a deus ex machina, her characterization was tarnished and she became an even more caricatured version of Homer's Penelope and Calypso.

      There are some good parts with war and fight scenes and occasional description of gore but overall the narrative seem to jump around characters. But unlike Greek's thematic Xenia where hospitality is one of the most important values, Aeneid focus more on Pietas which was piety toward the gods, the prophecy and responsibility which was prevalent throughout the book. It show Aeneus in varied position where he was pushed to his destiny and held back from his goal by people or divine stalker entity. It is laughably distracting that in a way it is a classic way to teach its listener about being pious but all I want was some coherent storytelling instead of a propaganda and a story within a story. Aeneid have its historical significance but it certainly doesn't give me much entertainment without being distracted by all the allegories.
    • 4/5
      The Aeneid is a true adventure - a look towards the future and the promises made. History in the making for the Roman Empire. There are twelve books in the epic, much-loved poem. In a nutshell, the first six cover Aeneas and his wanderings after surviving the Trojan war. The second half of the poem are the details of the Trojan War. Much like how Gregory Maguire chose to tell the story of the wicked witch of the west, Virgil tells the other side of the Trojan War story. Instead of following Odysseus, we focus on Aeneas, the defeated Trojan.On a personal level, an observation: Aeneas reminded me of Dorothy Dunnett's character, Francis, from the Lymond series. He is that deeply flawed hero that everyone roots for.
    • 5/5
      Even though "pious" Aeneas isn't as clever or as entertaining as wiley Odysseus, he's still pretty cool.
    • 3/5
      Borders edition to the Iliad and the Odyssey's counter, the Aeneid. Tehe Trojans wonder looking for a home after Troy's defeat moving on until they reach Italy. And battle after battle leads to a final victory with heroes and gods in tow. This was definitely a bathroom read, one page at a time. So 2500 years ago the hero was the center of attention. You can see how this story line is still wih us today. Glad I took the tike to read it.
    • 3/5
      A bit slow, but it certainly follows the whole "odyssey" thing.
    • 4/5
      While I loved all the supplementary information, Fagles translation wasn't as good as I had hoped based upon my experience with his Odyssey. My old paperback edition, translated by Allan Mandelbaum, was better but my friend's copy of Fitzgerald's was best of all.
    • 3/5
      Several reviews characterize The Aeneid as a slog and I agree. Compared to The Iliad and Odyssey it definitely is a more difficult story to get through. Partly for its self-aggrandizement of the Roman people and foundation, partly for its huge chunks of backstory and wild justification, but mostly for the insufferable gods and goddesses. Oh my head that was painful. Everyone it seems has a stake in Aeneas’s fate, but of course they are almost all at odds with each other and none seem to know what the others were doing. Every once in a while Zeus/Jove/Jupiter gets involved and lackadaisically makes a decision, but for the most part Venus and Juno get to butt heads and see who can mess with the participants the most in order to fulfill her ends.To some degree it’s a foregone conclusion since Vergil is writing this epic to give validation and divine permission to Augustus (his patron) and the Claudian and Julian families for crushing the life out of the Roman Republic. That means that Aeneas has to be perfect. Noble. Brave. Clear-sighted. Righteous. Determined. Bor-ring! There wasn’t enough humanity about Aeneas for me to connect with him. He was the correct embodiment of all that Roman Patrician families strive for in their men and he came off robot-like and stilted. Give me the much-maligned Odysseus any day.
    • 5/5
      In my opinion, the greatest of the Classical epics. The Aeneid does not merely praise the glory of Rome and Augustus by exhalting Aeneas; it conveys a melancholy for everything that Aeneas, the Trojans, and even their enemies underwent in order to bring about fate. Rome's enemy Carthage, and even Hannibal who lead the invading army, is here depicted as the eventual avengers of a woman abandoned by her lover not for any fault of her own, but merely because the gods required him to be elsewhere. The Italians are shown as glorious warriors, whose necessary deaths in battle may not be worth it. Finally there is the end, not with the joy of triumph, but with the death moan of the Italian leader. The translation by David West perfectly captures the tone of the original.
    • 3/5
      The fact that this is unfinished makes me want to gnaw on my own liver - because it ends right when things start (finally) getting interesting. Still an interesting read, however, if only to get glimpses into the way the ancient Greeks thought.
    • 2/5
      I prefer Homer.
    • 3/5
      Unlike Homer, to whome I can lose long nights bound by his captivating cadence, Virgil's Aeneid took me a full season--nearly six months--to finish. The tricks of the trade that were novel when I saw them in Homer lost some of their luster in Virgil's derived forms, though there were some passages and stories here that provide almost universal archetypes to the lineage of western literature.The first remarkable thing is how little has changed in Mediterranean cultures' sense of heroicism in the many hundreds of years that elapsed between the Homeric epics and Virgil's lifetime in the first century CE. Without an academic familiarity with Imperial Roman culture, it's hard to determine how much of the poem's epic content is supposed to reflect ideals that are still relevant to its contemporary audience versus how much--and knowing Romans' captivation with the-good-old-days-had-real-heroes, we-are-only-sad-imitations, I sense that this might be closer to the mark--the glories of the past and the founding of Rome are a legacy of god-like men and endeavors that cannot or even should not be emulated. If one were to prune out the portions of the poem that are weak echoes of Homer's mastery, those pieces that are hackneyed homages to Caesar Augustus, and perhaps pare down some of the martial descriptiveness, one would have something very close to perfect. When Virgil allows himself to be narrative--maybe at slight expense to the propagandistic tack--wonderful things happen. Pious, predictable Aeneas is no crafty Odysseus, and besides performing the prescribed role of establishing Roman history, seems to be less dimensional than some of the epic's other notable characters. Where Homer's women are mostly reduced to submissive pale sketches unless deities (Athena, for example, is always inspirational no matter who writes about her), Virgil gives us a couple of plausible inspirations. Dido pulls of tragic without simpering, and even in the underworld refuses to be a doormat. Camilla is nothing short of fantastic.But in the end, there is a lot of poring over gory and repetitive battle scenes. Important to the epic genre and the symbolic completeness of the story? Likey. But to the modern reader or at least one disinterested in military history, not terrifically impactful. A required read in the Western Canon. But a touch too much work to be enjoyable.

    Book preview

    The Aeneid of Virgil - Virgil

    THE AENEID OF VIRGIL TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH VERSE BY WILLIAM MORRIS

    published by Samizdat Express, Orange, CT, USA

    established in 1974, offering over 14,000 books

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    Homer's Iliad in prose translated by Andrew Lang

    Homer's Iliad in verse translated by Alexander Pope

    Homer's Odyssey in prose translated by Samuel Butler

    Homer's Odyssey in verse translated by Alexander Pope

    Aristotle's Poetic, Ethics, Politics, and Categories

    The Best of the World's Classics: Greece

    The Best of the World's Classics: Rome

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    This edition first published:

    THIRD IMPRESSION

    LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.

    39 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON

    NEW YORK AND BOMBAY

    1900

    BOOK I. AENEAS AND HIS TROJANS BEING  DRIVEN TO LIBYA BY A TEMPEST, HAVE GOOD WELCOME OF DIDO, QUEEN OF CARTHAGE.

    BOOK II.  AENEAS TELLETH TO DIDO AND THE TYRIANS THE STORY OF TROY'S OVERTHROW.

    BOOK III.   AENEAS TELLS OF HIS WANDERINGS AND MISHAPS BY LAND AND BY SEA.

    BOOK IV.   HEREIN IS TOLD OF THE GREAT LOVE OF DIDO, QUEEN OF CARTHAGE, AND THE WOEFUL ENDING OF HER.

    BOOK V.  AENEAS MAKING FOR ITALY IS STAYED BY CONTRARY WINDS, WHEREFORE HE SAILETH TO SICILY, AND, COMING TO THE TOMB OF HIS FATHER ANCHISES, HOLDETH SOLEMN GAMES THEREAT, AND IN THE END GOETH HIS WAY TO ITALY AGAIN.

    BOOK VI.  AENEAS COMETH TO THE SIBYL OF CUMAE, AND BY HER IS LED INTO THE UNDER-WORLD, AND THERE BEHOLDETH MANY STRANGE THINGS, AND IN THE END MEETETH HIS FATHER, ANCHISES, WHO TELLETH HIM OF THE DAYS TO COME.

    BOOK VII.  AENEAS AND HIS TROJANS TAKE LAND BY THE TIBER-MOUTH, AND KING LATINUS PLIGHTETH PEACE WITH THEM; WHICH PEACE IS BROKEN BY THE WILL OF JUNO, AND ALL MEN MAKE THEM READY FOR WAR.

    BOOK VIII.  ARGUMENT.  THE LATINS SEEK HELP OF DIOMEDE, AND AENEAS OF EVANDER, TO WHOM HE GOETH  AS A GUEST. VENUS CAUSETH VULCAN TO FORGE ARMOUR AND WEAPONS FOR HER SON AENEAS.

    BOOK IX.  IN THE MEANTIME THAT AENEAS IS AWAY, TURNUS AND THE LATINS BESET THE TROJAN ENCAMPMENT, AND MISS BUT A LITTLE OF BRINGING ALL THINGS TO RUIN.

    BOOK X.  THE GODS TAKE COUNSEL: AENEAS COMETH TO HIS FOLK AGAIN, AND DOETH MANY GREAT DEEDS IN BATTLE.

    BOOK XI.  TRUCE IS MADE FOR THE BURYING OF THE DEAD: THE LATINS TAKE COUNSEL OF PEACE OR WAR. CAMILLA'S DEEDS AND DEATH.

    BOOK XII.  HEREIN ARE AENEAS AND TURNUS PLEDGED TO FIGHT THE MATTER OUT IN SINGLE COMBAT; BUT THE LATINS BREAK THE PEACE AND AENEAS IS WOUNDED: IN THE END AENEAS MEETETH TURNUS INDEED, AND SLAYETH HIM.

    BOOK I. ARGUMENT. AENEAS AND HIS TROJANS BEING DRIVEN TO LIBYA BY A TEMPEST, HAVE GOOD WELCOME OF DIDO, QUEEN OF CARTHAGE.

    Lo I am he who led the song through slender reed to cry,

    And then, come forth from out the woods, the fields that are thereby

    In woven verse I bade obey the hungry tillers' need:

    Now I, who sang their merry toil, sing Mars and dreadful deed.

    I sing of arms, I sing of him, who from the Trojan land

    Thrust forth by Fate, to Italy and that Lavinian strand

    First came: all tost about was he on earth and on the deep

    By heavenly might for Juno's wrath, that had no mind to sleep:

    And plenteous war he underwent ere he his town might frame

    And set his Gods in Latian earth, whence is the Latin name,

    And father-folk of Alba-town, and walls of mighty Rome.

    Say, Muse, what wound of godhead was whereby all this must come,

    How grieving, she, the Queen of Gods, a man so pious drave

    To win such toil, to welter on through such a troublous wave:         10

    --Can anger in immortal minds abide so fierce and fell?

    There was a city of old time where Tyrian folk did dwell,

    Called Carthage, facing far away the shores of Italy

    And Tiber-mouth; fulfilled of wealth and fierce in arms was she,

    And men say Juno loved her well o'er every other land,

    Yea e'en o'er Samos: there were stored the weapons of her hand,

    And there her chariot: even then she cherished the intent

    To make her Lady of all Lands, if Fate might so be bent;

    Yet had she heard how such a stem from Trojan blood should grow,

    As, blooming fair, the Tyrian towers should one day overthrow,        20

    That thence a folk, kings far and wide, most noble lords of fight,

    Should come for bane of Libyan land: such web the Parcae dight.

    The Seed of Saturn, fearing this, and mindful how she erst

    For her beloved Argive walls by Troy the battle nursed--

    --Nay neither had the cause of wrath nor all those hurts of old

    Failed from her mind: her inmost heart still sorely did enfold

    That grief of body set at nought in Paris' doomful deed,

    The hated race, and honour shed on heaven-rapt Ganymede--

    So set on fire, that Trojan band o'er all the ocean tossed,

    Those gleanings from Achilles' rage, those few the Greeks had lost,   30

    She drave far off the Latin Land: for many a year they stray

    Such wise as Fate would drive them on by every watery way.

    --Lo, what there was to heave aloft in fashioning of Rome!

    Now out of sight of Sicily the Trojans scarce were come

    And merry spread their sails abroad and clave the sea with brass,

    When Juno's heart, who nursed the wound that never thence would pass,

    Spake out:

               "And must I, vanquished, leave the deed I have begun,

    Nor save the Italian realm a king who comes of Teucer's son?

    The Fates forbid it me forsooth? And Pallas, might not she

    Burn up the Argive fleet and sink the Argives in the sea              40

    For Oileus' only fault and fury that he wrought?

    She hurled the eager fire of Jove from cloudy dwelling caught,

    And rent the ships and with the wind the heaped-up waters drew,

    And him a-dying, and all his breast by wildfire smitten through,

    The whirl of waters swept away on spiky crag to bide.

    While I, who go forth Queen of Gods, the very Highest's bride

    And sister, must I wage a war for all these many years

    With one lone race? What! is there left a soul that Juno fears

    Henceforth? or will one suppliant hand gifts on mine altar lay?"

    So brooding in her fiery heart the Goddess went her way               50

    Unto the fatherland of storm, full fruitful of the gale,

    AEolia hight, where AEolus is king of all avail,

    And far adown a cavern vast the bickering of the winds

    And roaring tempests of the world with bolt and fetter binds:

    They set the mountains murmuring much, a-growling angrily

    About their bars, while AEolus sits in his burg on high,

    And, sceptre-holding, softeneth them, and strait their wrath doth keep:

    Yea but for that the earth and sea, and vault of heaven the deep,

    They eager-swift would roll away and sweep adown of space:

    For fear whereof the Father high in dark and hollow place             60

    Hath hidden them, and high above a world of mountains thrown

    And given them therewithal a king, who, taught by law well known,

    Now draweth, and now casteth loose the reins that hold them in:

    To whom did suppliant Juno now in e'en such words begin:

    "The Father of the Gods and men hath given thee might enow,

    O AEolus, to smooth the sea, and make the storm-wind blow.

    Hearken! a folk, my very foes, saileth the Tyrrhene main

    Bearing their Troy to Italy, and Gods that were but vain:

    Set on thy winds, and overwhelm their sunken ships at sea,

    Or prithee scattered cast them forth, things drowned diversedly.      70

    Twice seven nymphs are in my house of body passing fair:

    Of whom indeed Deiopea is fairest fashioned there.

    I give her thee in wedlock sure, and call her all thine own

    To wear away the years with thee, for thy deserving shown

    To me this day; of offspring fair she too shall make thee sire."

    To whom spake AEolus: "O Queen, to search out thy desire

    Is all thou needest toil herein; from me the deed should wend.

    Thou mak'st my realm; the sway of all, and Jove thou mak'st my friend,

    Thou givest me to lie with Gods when heavenly feast is dight,

    And o'er the tempest and the cloud thou makest me of might."          80

    Therewith against the hollow hill he turned him spear in hand

    And hurled it on the flank thereof, and as an ordered band

    By whatso door the winds rush out o'er earth in whirling blast,

    And driving down upon the sea its lowest deeps upcast.

    The East, the West together there, the Afric, that doth hold

    A heart fulfilled of stormy rain, huge billows shoreward rolled.

    Therewith came clamour of the men and whistling through the shrouds

    And heaven and day all suddenly were swallowed by the clouds

    Away from eyes of Teucrian men; night on the ocean lies,

    Pole thunders unto pole, and still with wildfire glare the skies,     90

    And all things hold the face of death before the seamen's eyes.

    Now therewithal AEneas' limbs grew weak with chilly dread,

    He groaned, and lifting both his palms aloft to heaven, he said:

    "O thrice and four times happy ye, that had the fate to fall

    Before your fathers' faces there by Troy's beloved wall!

    Tydides, thou of Danaan folk the mightiest under shield,

    Why might I never lay me down upon the Ilian field,

    Why was my soul forbid release at thy most mighty hand,

    Where eager Hector stooped and lay before Achilles' wand,

    Where huge Sarpedon fell asleep, where Simois rolls along            100

    The shields of men, and helms of men, and bodies of the strong?"

    Thus as he cried the whistling North fell on with sudden gale

    And drave the seas up toward the stars, and smote aback the sail;

    Then break the oars, the bows fall off, and beam on in the trough

    She lieth, and the sea comes on a mountain huge and rough.

    These hang upon the topmost wave, and those may well discern

    The sea's ground mid the gaping whirl: with sand the surges churn.

    Three keels the South wind cast away on hidden reefs that lie

    Midmost the sea, the Altars called by men of Italy,

    A huge back thrusting through the tide: three others from the deep   110

    The East toward straits, and swallowing sands did miserably sweep,

    And dashed them on the shoals, and heaped the sand around in ring:

    And one, a keel the Lycians manned, with him, the trusty King

    Orontes, in AEneas' sight a toppling wave o'erhung,

    And smote the poop, and headlong rolled, adown the helmsman flung;

    Then thrice about the driving flood hath hurled her as she lay,

    The hurrying eddy swept above and swallowed her from day:

    And lo! things swimming here and there, scant in the unmeasured seas,

    The arms of men, and painted boards, and Trojan treasuries.

    And now Ilioneus' stout ship, her that Achates leal                  120

    And Abas ferried o'er the main, and old Aletes' keel

    The storm hath overcome; and all must drink the baneful stream

    Through opening leaky sides of them that gape at every seam.

    But meanwhile Neptune, sorely moved, hath felt the storm let go,

    And all the turmoil of the main with murmur great enow;

    The deep upheaved from all abodes the lowest that there be:

    So forth he put his placid face o'er topmost of the sea,

    And there he saw AEneas' ships o'er all the main besprent,

    The Trojans beaten by the flood and ruin from heaven sent.

    But Juno's guile and wrathful heart her brother knew full well:      130

    So East and West he called to him, and spake such words to tell:

    "What mighty pride of race of yours hath hold upon your minds,

    That earth and sea ye turmoil so without my will, O winds;

    That such upheaval and so great ye dare without my will?

    Whom I--But first it comes to hand the troubled flood to still:

    For such-like fault henceforward though with nought so light ye pay.

    Go get you gone, and look to it this to your king to say:

    That ocean's realm and three-tined spear of dread are given by Fate

    Not unto him but unto me? he holds the cliffs o'ergreat,

    Thine houses, Eurus; in that hall I bid him then be bold,            140

    Thine AEolus, and lord it o'er his winds in barred hold."

    So saying and swifter than his word he layed the troubled main,

    And put to flight the gathered clouds, and brought the sun again;

    And with him Triton fell to work, and fair Cymothoe,

    And thrust the ships from spiky rocks; with triple spear wrought he

    To lift, and opened swallowing sands, and laid the waves alow.

    Then on light wheels o'er ocean's face soft gliding did he go.

    And, like as mid a people great full often will arise

    Huge riot, and all the low-born herd to utter anger flies,

    And sticks and stones are in the air, and fury arms doth find:       150

    Then, setting eyes perchance on one of weight for noble mind,

    And noble deeds, they hush them then and stand with pricked-up ears,

    And he with words becomes their lord, and smooth their anger wears;

    --In such wise fell all clash of sea when that sea-father rose,

    And looked abroad: who turned his steeds, and giving rein to those,

    Flew forth in happy-gliding car through heaven's all-open way.

    AEneas' sore forewearied host the shores that nearest lay

    Stretch out for o'er the sea, and turn to Libyan land this while.

    There goes a long firth of the sea, made haven by an isle,           159

    Against whose sides thrust out abroad each wave the main doth send

    Is broken, and must cleave itself through hollow bights to wend:

    Huge rocks on this hand and on that, twin horns of cliff, cast dread

    On very heaven; and far and wide beneath each mighty head

    Hushed are the harmless waters; lo, the flickering wood above

    And wavering shadow cast adown by darksome hanging grove:

    In face hereof a cave there is of rocks o'erhung, made meet

    With benches of the living stone and springs of water sweet,

    The house of Nymphs: a-riding there may way-worn ships be bold

    To lie without the hawser's strain or anchor's hooked hold.

    That bight with seven of all his tale of ships AEneas gained,         170

    And there, by mighty love of land the Trojans sore constrained,

    Leap off-board straight, and gain the gift of that so longed-for sand,

    And lay their limbs with salt sea fouled adown upon the strand:

    And first Achates smote alive the spark from out the flint,

    And caught the fire in tinder-leaves, and never gift did stint

    Of feeding dry; and flame enow in kindled stuff he woke;

    Then Ceres' body spoilt with sea, and Ceres' arms they took,

    And sped the matter spent with toil, and fruit of furrows found

    They set about to parch with fire and 'twixt of stones to pound.

    Meanwhile AEneas scaled the cliff and far and wide he swept           180

    The main, if anywhere perchance the sea his Antheus kept,

    Tossed by the wind, if he might see the twi-banked Phrygians row;

    If Capys, or Caicus' arms on lofty deck might show.

    Nor any ship there was in sight, but on the strand he saw

    Three stags a-wandering at their will, and after them they draw

    The whole herd following down the dales long strung out as they feed:

    So still he stood, and caught in hand his bow and shafts of speed,

    The weapons that Achates staunch was bearing then and oft;

    And first the very lords of those, that bore their heads aloft

    With branching horns, he felled, and then the common sort, and so    190

    Their army drave he with his darts through leafy woods to go:

    Nor held his hand till on the earth were seven great bodies strown,

    And each of all his ships might have one head of deer her own.

    Thence to the haven gat he gone with all his folk to share,

    And that good wine which erst the casks Acestes made to bear,

    And gave them as they went away on that Trinacrian beach,

    He shared about; then fell to soothe their grieving hearts with speech:

    "O fellows, we are used ere now by evil ways to wend;

    O ye who erst bore heavier loads, this too the Gods shall end.

    Ye, ye have drawn nigh Scylla's rage and rocks that inly roar,       200

    And run the risk of storm of stones upon the Cyclops' shore:

    Come, call aback your ancient hearts and put your fears away!

    This too shall be for joy to you remembered on a day.

    Through diverse haps, through many risks wherewith our way is strown,

    We get us on to Latium, the land the Fates have shown

    To be for peaceful seats for us: there may we raise up Troy.

    Abide, endure, and keep yourselves for coming days of joy."

    So spake his voice: but his sick heart did mighty trouble rack,

    As, glad of countenance, he thrust the heavy anguish back.

    But they fall to upon the prey, and feast that was to dight,         210

    And flay the hide from off the ribs, and bare the flesh to sight.

    Some cut it quivering into steaks which on the spits they run,

    Some feed the fire upon the shore, and set the brass thereon.

    And so meat bringeth might again, and on the grass thereby,

    Fulfilled with fat of forest deer and ancient wine, they lie.

    But when all hunger was appeased and tables set aside,

    Of missing fellows how they fared the talk did long abide;

    Whom, weighing hope and weighing fear, either alive they trow,

    Or that the last and worst has come, that called they hear not now.

    And chief of all the pious King AEneas moaned the pass                220

    Of brisk Orontes, Amycus, and cruel fate that was

    Of Lycus, and of Bias strong, and strong Cloanthus gone.

    But now an end of all there was, when Jove a-looking down

    From highest lift on sail-skimmed sea, and lands that round it lie,

    And shores and many folk about, in topmost burg of sky

    Stood still, and fixed the eyes of God on Libya's realm at last:

    To whom, as through his breast and mind such cares of godhead passed,

    Spake Venus, sadder than her due with bright eyes gathering tears:

    "O thou, who rulest with a realm that hath no days nor years,

    Both Gods and men, and mak'st them fear thy thunder lest it fall,    230

    What then hath mine AEneas done so great a crime to call?

    What might have Trojan men to sin? So many deaths they bore

    'Gainst whom because of Italy is shut the wide world's door.

    Was it not surely promised me that as the years rolled round

    The blood of Teucer come again should spring from out the ground,

    The Roman folk, such very lords, that all the earth and sea

    Their sway should compass? Father, doth the counsel shift in thee?

    This thing indeed atoned to me for Troy in ashes laid,

    And all the miserable end, as fate 'gainst fate I weighed:

    But now the self-same fortune dogs men by such troubles driven       240

    So oft and oft. What end of toil then giv'st thou, King of heaven?

    Antenor was of might enow to 'scape the Achaean host,

    And safe to reach the Illyrian gulf and pierce Liburnia's coast,

    And through the inmost realms thereof to pass Timavus' head,

    Whence through nine mouths midst mountain roar is that wild water shed,

    To cast itself on fields below with all its sounding sea:

    And there he made Patavium's town and Teucrian seats to be,

    And gave the folk their very name and Trojan arms did raise:

    Now settled in all peace and rest he passeth quiet days.

    But we, thy children, unto whom thou giv'st with bowing head         250

    The heights of heaven, our ships are lost, and we, O shame! betrayed,

    Are driven away from Italy for anger but of one.

    Is this the good man's guerdon then? is this the promised throne?"

    The Sower of the Gods and men a little smiled on her

    With such a countenance as calms the storms and upper air;

    He kissed his daughter on the lips, and spake such words to tell:

    "O Cytherean, spare thy dread! unmoved the Fates shall dwell

    Of thee and thine, and thou shalt see the promised city yet,

    E'en that Lavinium's walls, and high amidst the stars shalt set

    Great-souled AEneas: nor in me doth aught of counsel shift            260

    But since care gnaws upon thine heart, the hidden things I lift

    Of Fate, and roll on time for thee, and tell of latter days.

    Great war he wars in Italy, and folk full wild of ways

    He weareth down, and lays on men both laws and walled steads,

    Till the third summer seeth him King o'er the Latin heads,

    And the third winter's wearing brings the fierce Rutulians low.

    Thereon the lad Ascanius, Iulus by-named now,

    (And Ilus was he once of old, when Ilium's city was,)

    Fulfilleth thirty orbs of rule with rolling months that pass,

    And from the town Lavinium shifts the dwelling of his race,          270

    And maketh Alba-town the Long a mighty fenced place.

    Here when for thrice an hundred years untouched the land hath been

    Beneath the rule of Hector's folk, lo Ilia, priestess-queen,

    Goes heavy with the love of Mars, and bringeth twins to birth.

    'Neath yellow hide of foster-wolf thence, mighty in his mirth,

    Comes Romulus to bear the folk, and Mavors' walls to frame,

    And by the word himself was called the Roman folk to name.

    On them I lay no bonds of time, no bonds of earthly part;

    I give them empire without end: yea, Juno, hard of heart,

    Who wearieth now with fear of her the heavens and earth and sea,     280

    Shall gather better counsel yet, and cherish them with me;

    The Roman folk, the togaed men, lords of all worldly ways.

    Such is the doom. As weareth time there come those other days,

    Wherein Assaracus shall bind Mycenae of renown,

    And Phthia, and shall lord it o'er the Argives beaten down.

    Then shall a Trojan Caesar come from out a lovely name,

    The ocean-stream shall bound his rule, the stars of heaven his fame,

    Julius his name from him of old, the great Iulus sent:

    Him too in house of heaven one day 'neath spoils of Eastlands bent

    Thou, happy, shalt receive; he too shall have the prayers of men.    290

    The wars of old all laid aside, the hard world bettereth then,

    And Vesta and the hoary Faith, Quirinus and his twin

    Now judge the world; the dreadful doors of War now shut within

    Their iron bolts and strait embrace the godless Rage of folk,

    Who, pitiless, on weapons set, and bound in brazen yoke

    Of hundred knots aback of him foams fell from bloody mouth."

    Such words he spake, and from aloft he sent down Maia's youth

    To cause the lands and Carthage towers new-built to open gate

    And welcome in the Teucrian men; lest Dido, fooled of fate,          299

    Should drive them from her country-side. The unmeasured air he beat

    With flap of wings, and speedily in Libya set his feet:

    And straightway there his bidding wrought, and from the Tyrians fall,

    God willing it, their hearts of war; and Dido first of all

    Took peace for Teucrians to her soul, and quiet heart and kind.

    Now good AEneas through the night had many things in mind,

    And set himself to fare abroad at first of holy day

    To search the new land what it was, and on what shore he lay

    Driven by the wind; if manfolk there abode, or nought but deer,

    (For waste it seemed), and tidings true back to his folk to bear.

    So in that hollow bight of groves beneath the cavern cleft,          310

    All hidden by the leafy trees and quavering shades, he left

    His ships: and he himself afoot went with Achates lone,

    Shaking in hand two slender spears with broad-beat iron done.

    But as he reached the thicket's midst his mother stood before,

    Who virgin face, and virgin arms, and virgin habit bore,

    A Spartan maid; or like to her who tames the Thracian horse,

    Harpalyce, and flies before the hurrying Hebrus' course.

    For huntress-wise on shoulder she had hung the handy bow,

    And given all her hair abroad for any wind to blow,

    And, naked-kneed, her kirtle long had gathered in a lap:             320

    She spake the first:

                         Ho youths, she said, "tell me by any hap

    If of my sisters any one ye saw a wandering wide

    With quiver girt, and done about with lynx's spotted hide,

    Or following of the foaming boar with shouts and eager feet?"

    So Venus; and so Venus' son began her words to meet:

    "I have not seen, nor have I heard thy sisters nigh this place,

    O maid:--and how to call thee then? for neither is thy face

    Of mortals, nor thy voice of men: O very Goddess thou!

    What! Phoebus' sister? or of nymphs whom shall I call thee now?

    But whosoe'er thou be, be kind and lighten us our toil,              330

    And teach us where beneath the heavens, which spot of earthly soil

    We are cast forth; unlearned of men, unlearned of land we stray,

    By might of wind and billows huge here driven from out our way.

    Our right hands by thine altar-horns shall fell full many a host."

    Spake Venus: "Nowise am I worth so much of honour's cost:

    The Tyrian maids are wont to bear the quiver even as I,

    And even so far upon the leg the purple shoe-thong tie.

    The Punic realm thou seest here, Agenor's town and folk,

    But set amidst of Libyan men unused to bear the yoke.

    Dido is Lady of the Land, who fled from Tyre the old,                340

    And from her brother: weary long were all the ill deed told,

    And long its winding ways, but I light-foot will overpass.

    Her husband was Sychaeus hight, of land most rich he was

    Of all Phoenicians: she, poor wretch! loved him with mighty love,

    Whose father gave her, maid, to him, and first the rites did move

    Of wedlock: but as King of Tyre her brother did abide,

    Pygmalion, more swollen up in sin than any man beside:

    Mad hatred yoked the twain of them, he blind with golden lust,

    Godless with stroke of iron laid Sychaeus in the dust

    Unwares before the altar-horns; nor of the love did reck             350

    His sister had, but with vain hope played on the lover sick,

    And made a host of feignings false, and hid the matter long.

    Till in her sleep the image came of that unburied wrong,

    Her husband dead; in wondrous wise his face was waxen pale:

    His breast with iron smitten through, the altar of his bale,

    The hooded sin of evil house, to her he open laid,

    And speedily to flee away from fatherland he bade;

    And for the help of travel showed earth's hidden wealth of old,

    A mighty mass that none might tell of silver and of gold.

    Sore moved hereby did Dido straight her flight and friends prepare:  360

    They meet together, such as are or driven by biting fear,

    Or bitter hatred of the wretch: such ships as hap had dight

    They fall upon and lade with gold; forth fare the treasures bright

    Of wretch Pygmalion o'er the sea, a woman first therein.

    And so they come unto the place where ye may see begin

    The towers of Carthage, and the walls new built that mighty grow,

    And bought the Byrsa-field good cheap, as still the name shall show,

    So much of land as one bull's hide might scantly go about

    --But ye forsooth, what men are ye, from what land fare ye out,

    And whither go ye on your ways?"                                     370

                                     Her questioning in speech

    He answered, and a heavy sigh from inmost heart did reach:

    "O Goddess, might I tread again first footsteps of our way,

    And if the annals of our toil thine hearkening ears might stay,

    Yet Vesper first on daylight dead should shut Olympus' door.

    From Troy the old, if yet perchance your ears have felt before

    That name go by, do we come forth, and, many a water past,

    A chance-come storm hath drifted us on Libyan shores at last.

    I am AEneas, God-lover; I snatched forth from the foe

    My Gods to bear aboard with me, a fame for heaven to know.

    I seek the Italian fatherland, and Jove-descended line;              380

    Twice ten the ships were that I manned upon the Phrygian brine,

    My Goddess-mother led the way, we followed fate god-given;

    And now scarce seven are left to me by wave and east-wind riven;

    And I through Libyan deserts stray, a man unknown and poor,

    From Asia cast, from Europe cast,"

                                       She might abide no more

    To hear his moan: she thrusts a word amidst his grief and saith:

    "Nay thou art not God's castaway, who drawest mortal breath,

    And fairest to the Tyrian town, if aught thereof I know.

    Set on to Dido's threshold then e'en as the way doth show.

    For take the tidings of thy ships and folk brought back again        390

    By shifting of the northern wind all safe from off the main:

    Unless my parents learned me erst of soothsaying to wot

    But idly. Lo there twice seven swans disporting in a knot,

    Whom falling from the plain of air drave down the bird of Jove

    From open heaven: strung out at length they hang the earth above,

    And now seem choosing where to pitch, now on their choice to gaze,

    As wheeling round with whistling wings they sport in diverse ways

    And with their band ring round the pole and cast abroad their song.

    Nought otherwise the ships and youth that unto thee belong

    Hold haven now, or else full sail to harbour-mouth are come.         400

    Set forth, set forth and tread the way e'en as it leadeth home."

    She spake, she turned, from rosy neck the light of heaven she cast,

    And from her hair ambrosial the scent of Gods went past

    Upon the wind, and o'er her feet her skirts fell shimmering down,

    And very God she went her ways. Therewith his mother known,

    With such a word he followed up a-fleeing from his eyes:

    "Ah cruel as a God! and why with images and lies

    Dost thou beguile me? wherefore then is hand to hand not given

    And we to give and take in words that come from earth and heaven?"

    Such wise he chided her, and then his footsteps townward bent:       410

    But Venus with a dusky air did hedge them as they went,

    And widespread cloak of cloudy stuff the Goddess round them wrapped,

    Lest any man had seen them there, or bodily had happed

    Across their road their steps to stay, and ask their dealings there.

    But she to Paphos and her home went glad amidst the air:

    There is her temple, there they stand, an hundred altars meet,

    Warm with Sabaean incense-smoke, with new-pulled blossoms sweet.

    But therewithal they speed their way as led the road along;

    And now they scale a spreading hill that o'er the town is hung,

    And looking downward thereupon hath all the burg in face.            420

    AEneas marvels how that world was once a peasants' place,

    He marvels at the gates, the roar and rattle of the ways.

    Hot-heart the Tyrians speed the work, and some the ramparts raise,

    Some pile the burg high, some with hand roll stones up o'er the ground;

    Some choose a place for dwelling-house and draw a trench around;

    Some choose the laws, and lords of doom, the holy senate choose.

    These thereaway the havens dig, and deep adown sink those

    The founding of the theatre walls, or cleave the living stone

    In pillars huge, one day

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