What were the prodigies that effected that change? To what place did he retire? How did he convey his father? How his son Ascanius? What direction did he give his wife Creüsa? Did he arrive in safety to the place appointed? What became of his wife? What did he do in consequence of her loss? What effect had her loss upon him at the first? How was his mind quieted? What directions did her apparition give him? After his return to the place of rendezvous, did he find great numbers there collected? Did they consider him their leader and king? Were they prepared and willing to undertake any enterprise, he might think proper? LIBER TERTIUS. ENEAS, having finished the sack of Troy, proceeds to relate to Dido the particulars of his voyage. Having built a fleet of twenty ships near Antandros, he set sail in the spring, probably, of the year following the capture of Troy. He landed on the shores of Thrace, and there commenced the building of a city, which he called, after his own name, Enos, and the inhabitants, Eneada. He was, however, soon interrupted in the prosecution of his work, by the shade of Polydorus, the son of Priam. He had been barbarously put to death by Polymnestor, king of Thrace, his brother-in-law, and buried in this place. It directed him to leave the polluted land, and to seek another clime for his intended city. Having performed the funeral rites to Polydorus, he set sail, directing his course to the south; and soon arrived on the coast of Delos, one of the Cyclades. Here he was hospitably received by Anius, king of the island, and priest of Apollo. He was directed by the oracle to seek the land of his ancestors; there he should found a city, which should bear rule over all nations. This information was joyfully received. Whereupon, they concluded that Crete, the birth-place of Teucer, was the land to which the oracle directed them. Leaving Delos, in a short time they arrive on the shores of Crete. They hail it with joy as the termination of their wanderings. Here Æneas lays the foundation of a city which he called Pergama, and was preparing to enter upon the business of agriculture, when a sudden plague arose, which put an end to his prospects, and carried off many of his companions. In this juncture, it was agreed that he should go back to Delos, to obtain further instructions. In the mean time, in a vision, he was informed that Crete was not the land destined to him, and that the oracle of Apollo intended he should seek Italy, the land of Dardanus. This quieted his mind; and Anchises acknowledged that both Teucer and Dardanus were the founders of their race, and that he had been mistaken in reckoning their descent in the line of Teucer. Eneas, without delay, leaves Crete; and in a few days arrived on the coast of the Strophades, in the Ionian sea, on the west of the Peloponnesus. Here he landed with his flect, and found these islands in the possession of the Harpies. Celano, one of them. informed him, that, before he should found a city, they should be reduced to the necessity of consuming their tables. This was the first intimation which he had received of want and suffering, in the land destined to him. It sunk deep into his mind. Leaving these islands, he directed his course westward, and soon arrived on the coast of Epirus. He landed at Actium, ana celebrated the Trojan games. From Actium, he proceeded to that part of Epirus called Chaonia. On his entering the harbor, he heard that Helenus, the son of Priam, sat upon the throne of Pyrrhus, and that Andromache had become his wife. Desirous of hearing the truth of this report, he proceeds direct to Buthrotus, the seat of government. Here, to his great joy, he finds his friends, and remained with them for some time. Helenus, at their departure, loads them with presents. Andromache gives to Ascanius alone, who was the exact picture of her son Astyanax. From Epirus, Eneas passes over the Ionian sea, and arrives at the promontory Iäpygium. Thence he sails down the coast of Magna Græcia, and the eastern shore of Sicily, to the promontory Pachynum; thence along the southern shore to the port of Drepanum, where he lost his father Anchises; which concludes the book. This book contains the annals of seven years, and is replete with geographical and his. POSTQUAM res Asia Priamique evertere gentem NOTES. 1. Res Asia: the power of Asia. 2. Immeritam: undeserving such a calamity. The ruin of their country was owing to the crimes of Paris and Laomedon. See Geor. i. 502, and Æn. i. Visum Superis: it pleased, or seemed good to the gods. This was a common mode of expression, when events were not prosperous. The verb est is to be supplied with visum. 3. Neptunia. Troy is here called Neptunean, because Neptune, with Apollo, it is said, built its walls in the reign of Laomedon. Homer and Virgil ascribe the building of the walls to Neptune alone. Ruæus takes Ilium to mean the citadel of Troy, and distinguishes it from the whole town, which is here expressed by, omnis Troja. Homer uses Ilios, and Ovid, Ilion. Fumat. The present here is much more expressive than the past tense would have been: smokes to the ground. 4. Diversa: in the sense of remota, or longinqua. Although the Trojans, under different leaders, as Æneas, Helenus, and Antenor, settled in different regions, yet diversa exilia plainly refers to Æneas and his followers only, who were all appointed to go in quest of the same settlement. Desertas terras: unoccupied-uncultivated lands; where they might settle in peace. Or, we may suppose Eneas to speak the language of his heart at that time. Having the dismal idea of the destruction of his country fresh in his mind, and the uncertain prospect of a settlement in some unknown land, (incerti quò fata ferant, ubi sistere detur,) it was natural for him to have uncomfortable apprehensions of the country to which he was going; to call it an exile, or place of banishment, a land of solitude and desertion. Some read diversas, for desertas. 5. Auguriis Divûm: by the intimations, or prodigies of the gods. This refers to the several prophetic intimations given to him of his future fate by the ghost of Hec 5 1. Postquam visum est Superis evertere res Asie 7. Ferari nos, ubi detur nobis sistere pedem tor-by the lambent flame on the head of Ascanius-and by the interview which he had with the ghost of Creüsa. Ominibus Deorum, says Ruæus. 6. Antandro. Antandros was a city of the lesser Phrygia, at the foot of mount Ida, and a convenient place to build and equip a fleet. Molimur: in the sense of fabricamus. 7. Incerti quò. We may be somewhat surprised to hear Eneas express any doubt He had been distinctly informed by the as to his course and intended settlement. ghost of his wife, that Italy was the place destined for him in the counsels of the gods: he could not therefore have given full credence to the account; or the dangers and difficulties of the undertaking might have filled his mind with anxious and distrustful apprehensions: or perhaps it is a passage, which the author would have corrected, if he had lived to revise his work. 8. Prima æstas. Scaliger thinks that Troy was taken about the full moon, and near the end of spring, and that Æneas set out the beginning of summer. But it is evident that it would require a greater length of time to build a fleet, and make other preparations for his long voyage. If he be correct in the time of the capture of Troy, the prima estas, with more propriety, will mean the beginning of the summer of the following year. This better agrees with forms us that he collected an army and forhistory. Dionysius of Halicarnassus, intified himself on mount Ida; but not thinking it prudent to engage the enemy, he capitulated on honorable terms; one of which was, that he should be allowed to depar from Troas with his followers without mo lestation, after a certain time, which he employed in building and equipping a fleet. 9. Fatis: quò fata vellent, says Ruæus. Propter jussa et monita Deorum, says Heyne, Some copies have ventis. arant 10 15 Litora tum patriæ lachrymans, portusque relinquo, Et campos, ubi Troja fuit: feror exul in altum, Cum sociis, natoque, Penatibus, et magnis Dis. Terra procul vastis colitur Mavortia campis, 14. Quam Thraces Thraces arant, acri quondam regnata Lycurgo: Hospitium antiquum Troja, sociique Penates, 15. Fuit antiquum Dum fortuna fuit. Feror huc, et litore curvo hospitium Troja, cujus Moenia prima loco, fatis ingressus iniquis : neadasque meo nomen de nomine fingo. Sacra Dionææ matri, Divisque ferebam Auspicibus cœptorum operum: superoque nitentem 20 Calicolum regi mactabam in litore taurum. Fortè fuit juxta tumulus, quo cornea sunmo que Penates erant socii nostris, dum fortuna fuit nobis 22. Quo summo erant cornea virgulta, et myrtus horrida densis NOTES. 10. Lachrymans. The shedding of tears is an indication of compassion and humanity. It is not inconsistent with true fortitude and greatness of mind, and no way unbecoining a hero. But there is no necessity of understanding it here, and in various other passages where it occurs, as if Æneas actually shed tears. Ruæus takes it in the sense of lugens, grieving at the idea of leaving his native country, and at the prospect of the dangers which were before him. 12. Magnis Dis. The great gods were Jupiter, Juno, Mars, Pallas, Mercury, and Apollo; sometimes called the Dii majorum gentium. The Penates were domestic gods, without any particular name. The images of all these gods Eneas took with him into Italy, and introduced their worship, as we are told, into Latium, after he was settled in that kingdom. Some take the Magnis Dis to be the same with the Penatibus. Sec Geor. ii. 505. and Æn. ii. 717. 13. Mavortia terra: a martial land. Thrace is so called, because said to be the birthplace of Mars. This was a very extensive country, bounded on the east by the Euxine sea, south by the Propontis, Hellespont, and Egean sea, and on the West by Macedonia. Colitur: in the sense of habitatur. Procul. This word sometimes signifies near, in view, as if pro oculis, as in Ecl. vi. 16. In this sense it may be taken here; for Thrace was only a short distance from the port where Eneas set sail. But it may have reference to Carthage, the place where he then was; and then it may be taken in its usual acceptation. 14. Acri Lycurgo: warlike Lycurgus. He was the son of Dryas. Being offended at Bacchus, it is said, he banished him and his votaries from his kingdom; and ordered all the vines to be destroyed in his dominions. For which impiety the god deprived him of his sight. Regnata, refers to leria: governed, or ruled. 15. Hospilium: an ancient retreat of Troy, and its gods were our friends, while fortune was with us. There had been a long and friendly alliance between the two countries, by virtue of which the Thracians gave a hospitable reception to all strangers from Troy; and the Trojans, in turn, repaid the kindness by civilities to the Thracians. This hospitality was sometimes between whole nations, between one city and another, and sometimes between particular families. Polymnestor, king of Thrace, married Ilione, the daughter of Priam. By these means the two nations became related in their respective heads: and their gods might be said to be allied, confederate, and friends, in consequence of it. 17. Prima mania: I place my first walls. The city which Æneas first founded, we are told, he called Anos. It was not far from the mouth of the Hebrus, on the shore of the Egean sea. The tomb of Polydorus was near this place. Ingressus having entered upon the business with fates unkind against the will and purposes of the gods, who directed him to the land of Dardanus. 18. Fingo Eneadas: I call the inhabitants Æneada, a name derived from my name. Fingo: in the sense of voco. 19. Dionae: an adj. from Dione, the mother of Venus. Matri: to his mother, Venus. Sacra: in the sense of sacrificia. And ferebam: in the sense of offerebam. 20. Auspicibus: the favorers or patrons of our work begun. It is put in apposition with Divis. 21. Mactabam: I was sacrificing a shining bull to the high king of the gods. Servius tells us that a bull was one of those animals forbidden to be offered in sacrifice to Jove; and thinks Virgil, designedly, makes Eneas offer here an unlawful sacrifice, in order to introduce the inauspicious omen that followed. But La Cerda assures us, upon the best authority, that it was usual to sacrifice bulls to Jupiter, as well as to the other gods. Nitentem. Ruæus says, pinguem: and Heyne, candidum. 22. Tumulus: a rising ground, or hillock. Quo summo: on whose top. Cornea: an Virgulta, et densis hastilibus horrida myrtus. NOTES. adj. of the corneil tree. Densis hastilibus. The long and tapering branches of a tree may not improperly be called hastilia, spears. There is a peculiar propriety in the use of the word here, as being the spears with which the body of Polydorus had been transfixed; and had sprung up into a thick body of trees or shrubs. Horrida: awful. Ruæus says, aspera. 24. Sylvam in the sense, here, of ramos vel ramum. 26. Monstrum: in the sense of prodigium. 27. Arbos: a shrub, bush, or small tree. Solo: from the earth. 28. Huic in the sense of ex hâc. Liquuntur: in the sense of defluunt. Atro sanguine: in the sense of atri sanguinis. The prep. e or ex is understood. 29. Hor: in the sense of tremor. Mihi: in the sense of mea. 30. Sanguis gelidus: my blood, chilled through fear, collects together-ceases to flow in its regular course. 32. Insequor: I proceed to tear up. Vimen lentum: a limber, or pliant shoot or shrub. 34. Venerabar Nymphas. These rustic nymphs, to whom neas here prays, were probably the Hamadryades, whose destiny was connected with that of some particular trees, with which they lived and died. Eneas might consider this horrid omen, as an indication of their displeasure, for his offering to violate those pledges of their existence. Movens: in the sense of volvens. 35. Gradivum patrem: Mars. We are told that Gradivus was an epithet, or name, of Mars in time of war, as Quirinus was in time of peace. Its derivation is uncertain. Geticis: an adj. from Geta, a people bordering upon the Ister, or Danube; here put for Thracian, on account of the vicinity of the two countries: or, because Thrace was thought to extend, indefinitely, to the North. 36. Secundarent. Two omens were required for confirmation: if the first happened to be unlucky, and the second prosperous, the latter destroyed the former, and was termed omen secundum; and hence secundo, to prosper. Eneas, therefore, wished to have the omen repeated, that the bad or untaken away. lucky import of it might be removed, or Visus: vision, acc. plu. varent: in the sense of averterent. 37. Tertia hastilia: a third shrub or tree. Nixu: in the sense of vi. Le 38. Aggredior: I attempt, or try to pull up, &c. He exerted himself to eradicate it, with his knees upon the ground, that he might have the greater purchase, or power. Adversa: opposite, right against his knees. 40. Reddita: in the sense of emissa ex eo. 42. Parce scelerare: forbear to pollute your pious hands. It was the law of the Twelve Tables, and, indeed, it is the voice of humanity, that no injury be done to the dead: defuncti injuria ne afficiantur. The ghost of Polydorus, therefore, calls out to Eneas: parce jam sepullo: let me alone: leave me, at least, to my rest in the grave. 43. Externum non. Polydorus was the son of Priam, and the brother of Creüsa, the wife of Eneas. He was therefore not a stranger or foreigner, in the truest sense of the word, to Æneas. Cicero makes him the hìc 47. Pressus quoad mentem ancipiti rat 45 50 Heu! fuge crudeles terras, fuge litus avarum, 45. Ferrea seges te- Nam Polydorus ego: hic confixum ferrça texit lorum texit me confixum Telorum seges, et jaculis increvit acutis. Tum verò ancipiti mentem formidine pressus Obstupui, steteruntque comæ, et vox faucibus hæsit. 49. Quondam infelix Hunc Polydorum auri quondam cum pondere magno Priamus furtim mandâ- Infelix Priamus furtim mandârat alendum hunc Polydorum Threïcio regi; cùm jam diffideret armis Threïcio regi alendum, Dardaniæ, cingique urbem obsidione videret Ille, ut opes fractæ Teucrum, et fortuna recessit, 53. Ille, nempe Polym- Res Agamemnonias victriciaque arma secutus, nestor, ut opes Teucrúm Fas omne abrumpit, Polydorum obtruncat, et auro fractæ sunt Vi potitur. Quid non mortalia pectora cogis, Auri sacra fames! Postquam pavor ossa reliquit, Delectos populi ad proceres, primùmque parentem, cum magno pondere auri sententia de iis. 60. Est idem animus omnibus excedere 55 60 59. Que sit eorum Monstra Deùm refero; et, quæ sit sententia, posco. NOTES. son of Ilione, the daughter of Priam, and wife of Polymnestor, king of Thrace. Tulit: produced, or bore. Stipite: the body, or trunk. 45. Ferrea seges. To understand this passage, we may suppose that these darts were thrown in upon the body of Polydorus as he lay in the grave; which they pierced: and, taking root in that place, sprang up, and grew in the form of sharp pointed javelins, forming a shade over the tomb. Heyne says: excreverunt in arbores unde jacula pe tuntur. 46. Increvit acutis: grow up into sharp javelins into trees like sharp javelins. 47. Pressus: in the sense of percussus. Ancipiti: dubia, says Ruæus. 50. Mandârat: in the sense of miserat. 51. Diffideret: in the sense of desperaret. Dardania: in the sense of Troja. See En. i. 1. 53. Opes Teucrûm: the power of the Trojans was broken. Ut: in the sense of quando. 54. Res Agamemnonias: embracing (secutus) the Grecian cause, and their victorious arms, he breaks every sacred obligation. Agamemnon was captain general of the Grecian forces in the expedition against Troy. His interest, therefore, is the general interest of the Greeks. Fas: properly a divine, or sacred law. By the murder of Polydorus, he broke through the ties of consanguinity, hospitality, and friendship; which are considered of a sacred nature. 57. Sacra fames auri: O cursed desire of gold, what dost thou not force the hearts of men to perpetrate! The word sacer signifies, usually, sacred, holy: here, accursed, execrable. The word facere or perpetrare, is to be supplied. Heyne says, ad quid: to what, &c. 59. Monstra Deûm: the prodigies of the gods. Primum: in the sense of præcipuè. Heyne says, primo loco 61. Hospitium: in the sense of locum Dare austros class bus: to give the winds to the fleet. In the sense of dare vela ventis. Auster, is here taken for the wind in general: the species for the genus. The south wind would have been against him, going from Thrace to Delos. 62. Instauramus funus: we perform the funeral rites to Polydorus. He had not been buried with the usual solemnities, a matter which the ancients considered of great moment. These rites were called justa. Without them, they thought the soul wandered 100 years without any rest. Virgil here gives a full account of the funeral rites performed by the Romans, at the interment of the dead. 63. Ingens tellus: a huge pile of earth is thrown up for the tomb. Ara stant manibus. It appears that two altars were consecrated to the Manes. See 305, infra; also, Ecl. v. 66. By manibus here, we are to understand the soul or spirit of Polydorus. 64. Mæstæ: mournful-dressed in mourning. These fillets were of a deep purple or violet color-a color between blue and black. Rumus says, tristes. |