out the direction or the influence of the gods, we are come to the ashes and bones of my own dear father, and are wafted to the friendly port which we are now entering. Come then, and let us all celebrate the joyous rites. Let us pray to him for prosperous winds, and that, when our city is built, he will permit me to offer to him these rites annually in temples consecrated to his honour. Acestes, a son of Troy, gives you two oxen for each ship: invite to the feast your household and country gods, and those whom our host Acestes worships. Further, if the ninth morning shall bring forth the day fair and serene to mortals, and brighten up the world with its beams, I will propose to the Trojans the first trial of skill to be with the swiftest of their ships. And whoever excels in running, in strength who boldly dares, or is superior in darting the javelin, and shooting the nimble arrow, or who has courage to encounter with the bloody gauntlet; let all such be ready at hand, and expect prizes of victory suitable to their merit. Join your auspicious voices all, and encircle your temples with boughs. This said, he crowns his temples with his mother's myrtle. The same does Elymus; the same Acestes ripened in years; the same boy Ascanius, whose exámple the other youths follow. He went from the assembly to the tomb with many thousands, in the centre of a numerous retinue attending. Here in due form, by way of libation, he pours on the ground to Bacchus two bowls of wine, two of new milk, two of sacred blood; then scatters purple flowers, and thus speaks: Hail, holy sire! once more hail, ye ashes revisited in vain! ye ghosts and shades of my father, hail! Heaven would not allow us to go together in quest of Italy, and of the lands allotted to me by fate, or the Ausonian Tyber, whatever river that is. He said; when from the bottom of the shrine a slippery snake emerging, his huge bulk collected in seven circling spires, trailed along his sevenfold volumes, gently twining round the tomb, and gliding over the altars; whose back azure streaks, and whose scales drops of burnished gold brightened up; as the Mille trahit varios adverso sole colores. Quatuor, ex omni delectæ classe, carinæ.. Ingentemque Gyas ingenti mole Chimæram, Sergestusque, domus tenet à quo Sergia nomen, 90 95 100 105 110 115 120 110. Tripodes. Three-footed stools or tables, on which were placed vessels for the libations. We learn from Homer, that the Greeks made presents of tripods to their heroes and great men; of which Horace takes notice, Carm. Lib. iv. Ode viii. 3. 119. Triplici versu. i.e. A galley consisting of three series of rowers. 120. Terno ordine. This is a triremis, or galley that had three banks of qars, raised slopingly one above another. bow in the clouds draws a thousand various colours from the opposite sun. Æneas stood amazed at the sight. At length the reptile, shooting forward with a long train of moving folds between the bowls and smooth-polished goblets, gently tasted the banquet, re-entered into the bottom of the tomb, and left the altars on which he had fed. Æneas with the more zeal pursues the sacrifice begun in honour of his father, in doubt whether to think it the genius of the place, or the attendant of his parent. He sacrifices five ewes, two years old, according to custom; as many sows, and as many bullocks with sable backs: the wine he poured from the goblets, and invoked the soul of great Anchises, and his ghost from Acheron released. In like manner his mates offer gifts with joy, each according to his ability; they load the altars, and sacrifice bullocks. Others place the brazen caldrons in due order, and, stretched along the grass, apply burning coals under the spits, and roast the joints. Now the wished-for day approached, and the steeds of the sun ushered in the ninth morning bright and serene; fame, and the renown of illustrious Acestes, had drawn together the neighbourhood. They filled the shores with jovial crowds, some to see the Trojans, some too prepared to try their skill. The prizes first are set before their eyes in the midst of the circus; namely, sacred tripods, green garlands, and palms, the reward of the conquerors; arms and vestments of purple dye, talents of gold and silver: and now the trumpet from the midst of the rising ground gives the signal that the games are begun. Four ships, selected from all the fleet, equally matched with ponderous oars, first enter the lists. Mnestheus manages the swift-sailing Pristis with stout rowers, destined soon to be the Italian Mnestheus, from which name the family of Memmius is derived; and Gyas commands the huge Chimera of stupendous bulk, a work like a city, which with a triple tier the Trojan youth impel ; the oars rise together in a triple row. Sergestus, from whom the Sergian family has its name, rides in the bulky Centauro invehitur magnâ; Scyllaque Cloanthus Concussere jugis, pronique in verbera pendent. Consonat omne nemus, vocemque inclusa volutant Litora; pulsati colles clamore resultant. Effugit ante alios, primisque elabitur undis, thus 125 130 135 140 145 150 Turbam inter fremitumque, Gyas; quem deinde Cloan Consequitur, melior remis; sed pondere pinus Centaurusque locum tendunt superare priorem. 155 143. Rostrisque tridentibus. On some ancient medals may be seen a rostrum, or beak of a ship, with three teeth to it. 147. Jugis. The yokes pat for the horses yoked in the chariot. Centaur; and Cloanthus in the sea-green Scylla, from whom, Cluentius, illustrious Roman, is thy descent. Far in the sea there lies a rock opposite to the foaming shore, which sometimes overwhelmed is buffeted by the swelling surges, when the wintry north-west winds overcloud the stars in a calm sea it lies hushed, and rises above the still wave as a plain, and affords a delightful station for the cormorants basking in the sun. Here father Æneas erected a verdant goal of branching oak for a signal to the mariners; whence they might know to turn back, and whence to wind about the long circuits. Then they choose their places by lot; and on the lofty decks the leaders, adorned with gold and purple, shine from afar with distinguished lustre. The rest of the youth are crowned with poplar wreaths, and glitter, having their naked shoulders besmeared with oil. They take their seats on the benches, and stretch their arms to the oars : with eager attention they wait the signal, and their throbbing hearts beat high with the impulse of fear, and the generous thirst of praise. Then, as soon as the loud trumpet gave the signal, in a trice all started from their barrier: the seamen's clamour strikes the skies; and the seas upturned by the force of their in-bent arms, foam. At once they plough the watery wave; and the whole deep seems to open, convulsed with oars and trident beaks. Not with such violent speed the coursers in the two-yoked chariot-race spring to the field, and start with full career from the goal; nor with such ardour do the charioteers shake the waving reins over the flying steeds, and, bending forward, hang to give the lash. Then, with the applause and uproar of the seamen, and the eager acclamations of the favouring crowd, every neighbouring grove resounds: the bounded shores roll the floating voices; the lashed hills re-echo the sound. Amidst the bustle and uproar, Gyas flies out before the rest, and scuds away the foremost on the waves; whom next Cloanthus follows, a more skilful rower, but the vessel, encumbered by its bulk, retards him. After these, at equal distance, the Pristis and Centaur strive |