Instituit. Primo avolso non deficit alter
Aureus, et simili frondescit virga metallo.

Ergo alte vestiga oculis, et rite repertum

Carpe manu; namque ipse volens facilisque sequetur,
Si te fata vocant; aliter non viribus ullis
Vincere, nec duro poteris convellere ferro.
Praeterea jacet exanimum tibi corpus amici—
Heu nescis-totamque incestat funere classem,
Dum consulta petis nostroque in limine pendes.
Sedibus hunc refer ante suis et conde sepulchro.
Duc nigras pecudes; ea prima piacula sunto.
Sic demum lucos Stygis et regna invia vivis
Aspicies.' Dixit, pressoque obmutuit ore.

Aeneas moesto defixus lumina vultu

145

150

155

Ut venere, vident indigna morte peremptum,
Misenum Aeoliden, quo non praestantior alter
Aere ciere viros, Martemque accendere cantu.
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.

165

170

Sed tum, forte cava dum personat aequora concha,
Demens et cantu vocat in certamina divos,

146. Manu. No violence was to be used.-149. Tibi, the dativus incommodi.-152. By burying him, enable him to reach the proper home of the dead. That both notions are involved in sedibus suis, see 328, 371.-153. Verifying the words of Anchises, v. 736. See also at v. 97. -156. Defixus lumina. The accusative of limitation. See at iv. 558. -159. Figere vestigia seems to be nearly synonymous with premere vestigia, 197, 331, and to indicate the slow, heavy walk of anxiety or watchfulness.-164. A Trojan of the name of Aeolus is mentioned, xii. 542.-165. Aere, aerea tuba. Martem. See at ii. 311.-170. Inferiora, referring to Aeneas as not inferior to Hector. See xi. 289.-171. As the contest was with Triton (see at i. 144), Virgil appropriately equips Misenus with Triton's own instrument the concha, for a description of which, see Ovid, Met. i. 333, &c.

Aemulus exceptum Triton, si credere dignum est,
Inter saxa virum spumosa immerserat unda.
Ergo omnes magno circum clamore fremebant,
Praecipue pius Aeneas. Tum jussa Sibyllae,
Haud mora, festinant flentes, aramque sepulchri
Congerere arboribus coeloque educere certant.
Itur in antiquam silvam, stabula alta ferarum ;
Procumbunt piceae, sonat icta securibus ilex,
Fraxineaeque trabes cuneïs et fissile robur
Scinditur; advolvunt ingentis montibus ornos.
Nec non Aeneas opera inter talia primus
Hortatur socios, paribusque accingitur armis.
Atque haec ipse suo tristi cum corde volutat,
Adspectans 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
Ipsa sub ora viri coelo venere volantes,
Et viridi sedere solo. Tum maximus heros
Maternas agnoscit aves, laetusque precatur:

175

180

185

190

'Este duces, o, si qua via est, cursumque per auras
Dirigite in lucos, ubi pinguem dives opacat

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.
Inde ubi venere ad fauces graveolentis Averni,

200

174. Immerserat, a change of tense, from the poet's mind shifting the point of time. This is not uncommon. See 339, 524; and another instance, Ecl. vii. 6.-175. Fremebant (compared with vident, 163) seems to lead us to the conclusion that Aeneas found them mourning. If so, fremuit is necessary as the verb to Aeneas.-177. Haud mora est. Aram sepulchri, alluding to the altar-like shape of the funeral pile.-184. Accingitur. See at i. 210. Besides, it has here the force of the Greek middle voice.-186. Forte. Others read voce.-187. Si ostendat. A prayer. See viii. 560.-188. Quando, &c. From the Sibyl's truth in one particular, Aeneas infers her truth in the other.-193. Maternas aves. The dove was sacred to his mother Venus.-197. Pressit. See at 159.-199. Prodire. The historical infinitive. See Zumpt, § 599. The doves alternately flew and fed, so that Aeneas could follow their movements.-200. Possent. The subjunctive marks the intention of the doves.-201. Graveolentis, first e elided. See at 237.

Tollunt se celeres, liquidumque per aëra lapsae
Sedibus optatis gemina super arbore sidunt,
Discolor unde auri per ramos aura refulsit.
Quale solet silvis brumali frigore viscum
Fronde virere nova, quod non sua seminat arbos,
Et croceo fetu teretis circumdare truncos:
Talis erat species auri frondentis opaca
Ilice, sic leni crepitabat bractea vento.
Corripit Aeneas extemplo, avidusque refringit
Cunctantem, et vatis portat sub tecta Sibyllae.

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
Intexunt latera, et feralis ante cupressos
Constituunt, decorantque super fulgentibus armis.
Pars calidos latices et aëna undantia flammis
Expediunt, corpusque lavant frigentis et unguunt.
Fit gemitus. Tum membra toro defleta reponunt,
Purpureasque super vestes, velamina nota,
Conjiciunt. Pars ingenti subiere feretro,
Triste ministerium, et subjectam more parentum
Aversi tenuere facem. Congesta cremantur
Turea dona, dapes, fuso crateres olivo.

Postquam collapsi cineres et flamma quievit,
Reliquias vino et bibulam lavere favillam,
Ossaque lecta cado texit Corynaeus aëno.
Idem ter socios pura circumtulit unda,
Spargens rore levi et ramo felicis olivae,

205

210

215

220

225

230

203. Gemina, as presenting the natural tree and the golden branch. Others read geminae.-205. Virgil compares the gleam of the gold on the green tree to the appearance of the mistletoe, a parasitical plant which flowers in winter.-211. Looking at 146, we must understand cunctantem to mean, that to the eagerness of Aeneas (avidus) it seemed to hesitate.-212. Here Virgil describes Roman funeral rites. See at i. 73.-214. Construe pinguem with taedis, and ingentem (indicating the rank of the deceased) with robore secto, as in iv. 505. The body of the pile was composed of fagots; the sides were interwoven with black-leaved branches. In front of the pile, cypress trunks were placed, bearing the arms of the dead hero.-223. Those who applied the torch, to indicate reluctance, turned away their heads (more parentum), either as near relations do,' or 'following the usage of their ancestors.-228. Corynaeus is mentioned ix. 571.-229. Socios circumtulit unda, the same as undam circum socios tulit.-230. Rore. See at

6

Lustravitque viros, dixitque novissima verba.
At pius Aeneas ingenti mole sepulchrum
Imponit, suaque arma viro remumque tubamque,
Monte sub aërio, qui nunc Misenus ab illo
Dicitur, aeternumque tenet per saecula nomen.
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
Faucibus effundens supera ad convexa ferebat:
Unde locum Graii dixerunt nomine Aornon.
Quatuor hic primum nigrantis terga juvencos
Constituit, frontique invergit vina sacerdos,
Et summas carpens media inter cornua setas
Ignibus imponit sacris, libamina prima,

235

240

245

Voce vocans Hecaten, Coeloque Ereboque potentem.

Supponunt alii cultros, tepidumque cruorem
Suscipiunt pateris. Ipse atri velleris agnam
Aeneas matri Eumenidum magnaeque sorori
Ense ferit, sterilemque tibi, Proserpina, vaccam.
Tum Stygio regi nocturnas inchoat aras,
Et solida imponit taurorum viscera flammis,
Pingue super oleum infundens ardentibus extis.
Ecce autem, primi sub lumina solis et ortus
Sub pedibus mugire solum, et juga coepta moveri
Silvarum, visaeque canes ululare per umbram,

250

255

Georg. iv. 431. Felicis. See at Ecl. v. 36, for the opposite, infelix, which is also applied, Georg. ii. 314, to the barren wild olive.231. Novissima verba. See at iv. 650.-235. Aeternumque. The promontory Misenum, in Campania, still bears the name Miseno.-236. Praecepta. See 153.-237. Virgil now shifts the scene northwards to a cavern on the steep banks of Lake Avernus (tuta lacu). This lake was said to have derived its name from the noisome vapours (graveolentis, 201) that arose from it, destroying any birds that chanced to fly over it. It is now pure and wholesome. See at Georg. ii. 161.-242. This line is universally and justly regarded as spurious.-247. Hecaten, &c. See at iv. 510. 248. Supponunt. Victims offered to the infernal gods were slain by having their throats cut from below, the head hanging down.-250. The mother of the Eumenides (see at iv. 469) was Nox, whose sister was Terra.-252. Stygio regi. See at iv. 638.-253. Solida viscera, a holocaust. For viscera, see at Georg. iv. 555.-256. When the passive voice follows coepi, it, too, is generally used in the passive, as coepta moveri.-257. Visae ululare, a strange collocation. See at iv.

Adventante dea. Procul o, procul este, profani,’
Conclamat vates, 'totoque absistite luco.

Tuque invade viam, vaginaque eripe ferrum ;
Nunc animis opus, Aenea, nunc pectore firmo.'
Tantum effata, furens antro se immisit aperto;

260

Ille ducem haud timidis vadentem passibus aequat.

Di, quibus imperium est animarum, Umbraeque silentes,

265

Et Chaos, et Phlegethon, loca nocte tacentia late,
Sit mihi fas audita loqui; sit numine vestro
Pandere res alta terra et caligine mersas.

270

Ibant obscuri sola sub nocte per umbram,
Perque domos Ditis vacuas et inania regna :
Quale per incertam Lunam sub luce maligna
Est iter in silvis, ubi coelum condidit umbra
Jupiter, et rebus nox abstulit atra colorem.
Vestibulum ante ipsum primisque in faucibus Orci
Luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia Curae;
Pallentesque habitant Morbi, tristisque Senectus,
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
Vipereum crinem vittis innexa cruentis.

In medio ramos annosaque brachia pandit
Ulmus opaca, ingens, quam sedem Somnia vulgo
Vana tenere ferunt, foliisque sub omnibus haerent.
Multaque praeterea variarum monstra ferarum,

275

285

258. Dea, Hecate. Procul, &c. The usual formula (ixàs, ixàs, ioTe λ) used in the sacred mysteries, to warn off the uninitiated, who had no title to be present (profani, pro, fanum).—265. Chaos. See at iv. 510. Phlegethon. See at 295.-266. Fas. See at ii. 157. Sit fas; or sit, liceat. See at Georg. iv. 446.-268. They have left Avernus, and are journeying through the cave to the nether world.-273. Virgil represents the porch of Orcus (ii. 398, iv. 702) occupied by phantoms, fit guards of the realms of Death.-274. Ultrices Curae. The pangs of conscience that punish crime.-279. Beyond the vestibulum, and in the threshold right opposite, were War and its accompaniments. Here the slaves that acted as porters had in the Roman houses their sleeping apartments (thalami).-280. Ferrei, as two syllables. We have the Eumenides again, 555, &c.; and at Jove's threshold, xii. 849.-281. Crinem innexa. See at v. 511.-282. Midway between the porch and the threshold grew an elm, the haunt of idle dreams. See at 894.-283. Vulgo (passim) tenere seems better than vulgo ferunt.