ni teneant cursus; certum est dare lintea retro. 686 ecce autem Boreas angusta ab sede Pelori missus adest; vivo praetervehor ostia saxo Pantagiae Megarosque sinus Thapsumque iacentem. talia monstrabat relegens errata retrorsus litora Achaemenides, comes infelicis Ulixi. MPR MPRV "Sicanio praetenta sinu iacet insula contra Plemyrium undosum; nomen dixere priores Ortygiam. Alpheum fama est huc Elidis amnem occultas egisse vias subter mare, qui nune ore, Arethusa, tuo Siculis confunditur undis. iussi numina magna loci veneramur et inde exsupero praepingue solum stagnantis Helori. hinc altas cautes proiectaque saxa Pachyni radimus, et fatis numquam concessa moveri apparet Camerina procul campique Geloi immanisque Gela fluvii cognomine dicta. arduus inde Acragas ostentat maxima longe 695 700 705 moenia, magnanimum quondam generator equorum; teque datis linquo ventis, palmosa Selinus, et vada dura lego saxis Lilybeia caecis. hine Drepani me portus et inlaetabilis ora accipit. hic pelagi tot tempestatibus actus heu! genitorem, omnis curae casusque levamen, amitto Anchisen; hic me, pater optime, fessum 710 deseris, heu! tantis nequiquam erepte periclis ! nec vates Helenus, cum multa horrenda moneret, hos mihi praedixit luctus, non dira Celaeno. hic labor extremus, longarum haec meta viarum ; hinc me digressum vestris deus appulit oris." Sic pater Aeneas intentis omnibus unus fata renarrabat divum cursusque docebat. conticuit tandem factoque hic fine quievit. 715 MPR when, lo! from the narrow fastness of Pelorus the north wind reaches us. Past the mouth of the Pantagias with its living rock I voyage-past the Megarian bay and low-lying Thapsus. Such were the coasts Achaemenides, comrade of the luckless Ulysses, pointed out, as he retraced his former wanderings. 692 "Stretched in front of a Sicanian bay lies an island, over against wave-beaten Plemyrium; men of old called it Ortygia. Hither, so runs the tale, Alpheus, river of Elis, forced a secret course beneath the sea, and now at thy fountain, Arethusa, mingles with the Sicilian waves. As bidden, we worship the great gods of the land, and thence I passed the wondrous rich soil of marshy Helorus. Next we skirt the high reefs and jutting rocks of Pachynus; and afar off Camerina-Fate forbade that she ever be disturbed -is seen with the Geloan plains, and Gela, named after its impetuous river. Then steep Acragas, once the breeder of noble steeds, shows in the distance her mighty walls; and, with the winds vouchsafed, I leave thee behind, palm-girt Selinus, and skirt the shoals of Lilybaeum, perilous with blind rocks. Next the harbour of Drepanum and its joyless shore receive me. Here I, who have been driven by so many ocean-storms, lose, alas! my father Anchises, solace of every care and chance; here, best of fathers, thou leavest me in my weariness, snatched, alas ! from such mighty perils all for naught. Nor did the seer Helenus, though he warned me of many horrors, nor grim Celaeno foretell me this grief. This was my last trial, this the goal of my long voyaging; departing thence, the god drove me to your shores.' 716 Thus father Aeneas, before an eager throng, alone recounted the dooms ordained of heaven, and taught the story of his wanderings. At last he ceased, and here, making an end, was still. LIBER IV Ar regina gravi iamdudum saucia cura volnus alit venis et caeco carpitur ígni. FGMPR 10 multa viri virtus animo multusque recursat gentis honos; haerent infixi pectore vòltus verbaque, nec placidam membris dat cura quietem. 5 postera Phoebea lustrabat lampade terras umentemque Aurora polo dimoverat umbram, cum sic unânimam adloquitur male sana sororem : "Anna soror, quae me suspensam insomnia terrent ! quis novus hic nostris successit sedibus hospes, quem sese ore ferens, quam forti pectore et armis ! credo equidem, nec vana fides, genus esse deorum. degeneres animos timor arguit. heu! quibus ille iactatus fatis! quae bella exhausta canebat ! si mihi non animo fixum immotumque sederet, ne cui me vinclo vellem sociare iugali, postquam primus amor deceptam morte fefellit; si non pertaesum thalami taedaeque fuisset, huic uni forsan potui succumbere culpae. Anna, fatebor enim, miseri post fata Sychaei coniugis et sparsos fraterna caede Penatis solus hic inflexit sensus animumque labantem suspensa M1. terret known to Servius. 11 quam] quem F1. 9 18 fuissent F2MP1. 15 20 BOOK IV BUT the queen, long since smitten with a grievous love-pang, feeds the wound with her life-blood, and is wasted with fire unseen. Oft to her heart rushes back the chief's valour, oft his glorious stock; his looks and words cling fast within her bosom, and the pang withholds calm rest from her limbs. 6 The morrow's dawn was lighting the earth with the lamp of Phoebus, and had scattered from the sky the dewy shades, when, much distraught, she thus speaks to her sister, sharer of her heart: “Anna, my sister, what dreams thrill me with fears? Who is this stranger guest that hath entered our home? How noble his mien! how brave in heart and feats of arms! I believe it well-nor is assurance vain—that he is sprung from gods. 'Tis fear that proves souls base-born. Alas! by what fates is he vexed! What wars, long endured, did he recount! Were the purpose not planted in my mind, fixed and immovable, to ally myself with none in bond of wedlock, since my first love, turning traitor, cheated me by death; were I not utterly weary of the bridal bed and torch, to this one weakness, perchance, I might have yielded! Anna-for I will own it-since the death of my hapless lord Sychaeus, and the shattering of our home by a brother's murder,1 he alone has swayed my will and overthrown my tottering soul. I recognize the 1 cf. Aen. I, 348 ff. impulit. adgnosco veteris vestigia flammae. sed mihi vel tellus optem prius ima dehiscat vel pater omnipotens adigat me fulmine ad umbras, 25 pallentis umbras Erebi noctemque profundam, ante, Pudor, quam te violo aut tua iura resolvo. ille meos, primus qui me sibi iunxit, amores abstulit; ille habeat secum servetque sepulchro." sic effata sinum lacrimis implevit obortis. Anna refert: "O luce magis dilecta sorori, solane perpetua maerens carpere iuventa, nec dulcis natos Veneris nec praemia noris ? id cinerem aut Manis credis curare sepultos? esto; aegram nulli quondam flexere mariti, non Libyae, non ante Tyro; despectus Iarbas ductoresque alii, quos Africa terra triumphis dives alit; placitone etiam pugnabis amori? nec venit in mentem, quorum consederis arvis ? hinc Gaetulae urbes, genus insuperabile bello, et Numidae infreni cingunt et inhospita Syrtis; hinc deserta siti regio lateque furentes Barcaei. quid bella Tyro surgentia dicam germanique minas ? dis equidem auspicibus reor et Iunone secunda hunc cursum Iliacas vento tenuisse carinas. 30 35 FMPR 40 45 quam tu urbem, soror, hanc cernes, quae surgere regna coniugio tali! Teucrum comitantibus armis, Punica se quantis attollet gloria rebus! tu modo posce deos veniam, sacrisque litatis 26 Erebo FGP1, preferred by Servius: Eribo R. 51 hospitio et causas F: -que omitted F. 50 |