aeneid vi

    Cards (43)

    • hinc via, Tartarei quae fert Acherontis ad undas.
      From here a path leads to the waters of Tartarean Acheron.
    • turbidus hic caeno vastaque voragine gurges
      aestuat, atque omnem Cocyto eructat harenam.
      Here, thick with filth and of vast depth, a whirlpool seethes and belches into Cocytus all its sand.
    • portitor has horrendus aquas et flumina servat
      terribili squalore Charon, cui plurima mento
      canities inculta iacet;
      A grim ferryman guards these waters and rivers, terrible in his squalor – Charon, on whose chin lies a mass of unkempt grey hair;
    • stant lumina flamma, 
      sordidus ex umeris nodo dependet amictus.
      his fiery eyes stare; his dirty cloak hangs by a knot from his shoulders.
    • ipse ratem conto subigit, velisque ministrat,
      et ferruginea subvectat corpora cumba,
      iam senior, sed cruda deo viridisque senectus.
      Unaided, he poles the boat, tends the sails, and in (his) dark vessel transports the deadnow aged, but for a god old age is fresh and green.
    • huc omnis turba ad ripas effusa ruebat,
      Hither rushed all the crowd, streaming to the banks;
    • matres atque viri, defunctaque corpora vita
      magnanimum heroum, pueri innuptaeque puellae,
      impositique rogis iuvenes ante ora parentum:
      mothers and men and the lifeless bodies of great-souled heroes, boys and unwedded girls, and young men placed on the pyre before the faces of their parents;
    • quam multa in silvis autumni frigore primo
      lapsa cadunt folia, 
      as many as the leaves in the forests that at autumn’s first frost drop and fall,
    • aut ad terram gurgite ab alto
      quam multae glomerantur aves, ubi frigidus annus
      trans pontum fugat, et terris immittit apricis.
      or as many as the birds that flock shoreward from the seething deep, when the chill of the year drives them overseas and sends them into sunny lands.
    • stabant orantes primi transmittere cursum,
      tendebantque manus ripae ulterioris amore.
      They stood, pleading to be the first ferried across, and stretched out hands in yearning for the farther shore.
    • navita sed tristis nunc hos nunc accipit illos, 
      ast alios longe submotos arcet harena.
      But the sombre boatman takes now thesenow those, while others he thrusts away, far back from the bank.
    • ergo iter inceptum peragunt fluvioque propinquant.
      So they complete the journey which they had begun, and draw near to the river.
    • navita quos iam inde ut Stygia prospexit ab unda
      per tacitum nemus ire pedemque advertere ripae,
      sic prior adgreditur dictis, atque increpat ultro:
      But when, even from the Stygian wave, the boatman saw them passing through the silent wood and turning their feet towards the bank, he first, spontaneously, accosts and rebukes them:
    • "quisquis es, armatus qui nostra ad flumina tendis,
      fare age, quid venias, iam istinc, et comprime gressum."
      "Whoever you are who come armed to our river, come, tell me, right now, from that spot, why you come, and check your step."
    • "umbrarum hic locus est, somni noctisque soporae; 
      corpora viva nefas Stygia vectare carina."
      "This is the land of Shadows, of Sleep and drowsy Night; it is wrong to carry living bodies in the Stygian boat."
    • "nec vero Alciden me sum laetatus euntem
      accepisse lacu, nec Thesea Pirithoumque,
      dis quamquam geniti atque invicti viribus essent."
      "And in truth it brought me no joy that I took Heracles on his journey over the lake, or Theseus and Pirithoüs, though sons of gods and invincible in valour."
    • "Tartareum ille manu custodem in vincla petivit, 
      ipsius a solio regis, traxitque trementem;
      hi dominam Ditis thalamo deducere adorti.”
      "The one by force sought to drag the guardian of Tartarus into chains from the throne of the king himself, and hauled him off trembling; these attempted to carry off our queen from the chamber of Dis."
    • quae contra breviter fata est Amphrysia vates:
      In answer the Amphrysian soothsayer spoke briefly:
    • "nullae hic insidiae tales; absiste moveri;
      nec vim tela ferunt; licet ingens ianitor antro 
      aeternum latrans exsanguis terreat umbras,
      casta licet patrui servet Proserpina limen."
      "No such trickery is here; be not troubled; our weapons offer no force; the huge doorkeeper may from his cave with endless howl terrify the bloodless shades; chaste Proserpine may keep within her uncle’s threshold."
    • "Troius Aeneas, pietate insignis et armis,
      ad genitorem imas Erebi descendit ad umbras."
      "Trojan Aeneas, famous for piety and arms, descends to his father, to the lowest shades of Erebus."
    • "si te nulla movet tantae pietatis imago, 
      at ramum hunc" (aperit ramum, qui veste latebat)
      "agnoscas." tumida ex ira tum corda residunt.
      "If the picture of such piety in no way moves youyet know this bough" – and she shows the bough, hidden in her robe. At this his swelling breast subsides from its anger.
    • nec plura his. ille admirans venerabile donum
      fatalis virgae, longo post tempore visum,
      caeruleam advertit puppim, ripaeque propinquat.
      No more is said; but he, marvelling at the revered gift, the fateful wand so long unseen, turns his blue barge and nears the shore.
    • inde alias animas, quae per iuga longa sedebant,
      deturbat, laxatque foros; simul accipit alveo
      ingentem Aenean.
      Then he drives out the other souls that were sitting on the long benches, and clears the gangways; at once he takes aboard giant Aeneas.
    • gemuit sub pondere cumba
      sutilis, et multam accepit rimosa paludem.
      The fastened-together craft groaned under the weight, and through its chinks took in much marsh-water.
    • tandem trans fluvium incolumis vatemque virumque
      informi limo glaucaque exponit in ulva.
      At last, across the streamhe lands both seer and soldier unharmed on the shapeless mud and grey sedge.
    • at pater Anchises penitus convalle virenti
      inclusas animas superumque ad lumen ituras 
      lustrabat studio recolens, omnemque suorum
      forte recensebat numerum carosque nepotes,
      fataque fortunasque virum moresque manusque.
      But deep in a green vale father Anchises was surveying with earnest thought the imprisoned souls that were to pass to the light above and, as it chanced, was counting over the full number of his people and beloved descendants, their fates and fortunes, their works and ways.
    • isque ubi tendentem adversum per gramina videt
      Aenean, alacris palmas utrasque tetendit, 
      effusaeque genis lacrimae, et vox excidit ore:
      And as he saw Aeneas coming towards him over the grass, he stretched forth both eager hands, while tears streamed down his cheeks and a cry fell from his lips:
    • “venisti tandem, tuaque exspectata parenti
      vicit iter durum pietas? datur ora tueri,
      nate, tua, et notas audire et reddere voces?"
      “Have you come at last, and has your dutifulness that your father expected vanquished the toilsome way? Is it given me to see your face, my son, and hear and utter familiar tones?"
    • "sic equidem ducebam animo rebarque futurum, 
      tempora dinumerans nec me mea cura fefellit."
      "Even so I mused and deemed the hour would come, counting the days, nor has my yearning failed me."
    • "quas ego te terras et quanta per aequora vectum
      accipio! quantis iactatum, nate, periclis!
      quam metui, ne quid Libyae tibi regna nocerent!"
      "Over what lands, what wide seas have you journeyed to my welcome! What great dangers have beset you, my son! How I feared that the kingdoms of Libya might work you harm!"
    • ille autem: "tua me, genitor, tua tristis imago, 
      saepius occurrens, haec limina tendere adegit:
      stant sale Tyrrheno classes. da iungere dextram,
      da, genitor, teque amplexu ne subtrahe nostro."
      But he answered: "Your shade, father, your sad shade, meeting me repeatedly, drove me to seek these portals. My ships ride the Tuscan sea. Grant me to clasp your hand, grant it to me, father, and don’t withdraw from my embrace!"
    • sic memorans, largo fletu simul ora rigabat.
      So he spoke, his face wet with flooding tears.
    • ter conatus ibi collo dare brachia circum, 
      ter frustra comprensa manus effugit imago,
      par levibus ventis volucrique simillima somno.
      Thrice there he strove to throw his arms about his neck; thrice the form, vainly clasped, fled from his hands, even as light winds, and most like a winged dream.
    • interea videt Aeneas in valle reducta
      seclusum nemus et virgulta sonantia silvae,
      Lethaeumque domos placidas qui praenatat amnem.
      Meanwhile, in a withdrawn valley, Aeneas sees a secluded grove and rustling forest thickets, and the river Lethe drifting past those peaceful homes.
    • hunc circum innumerae gentes populique volabant;
      ac—velut in pratis ubi apes aestate serena
      floribus insidunt variis, et candida circum
      lilia funduntur—strepit omnis murmure campus.
      About it hovered peoples and tribes unnumbered; even as when, in the meadows, in cloudless summertime, bees light on many-hued blossoms and stream round lustrous lilies and all the fields murmur with the humming.
    • horrescit visu subito, causasque requirit 
      inscius Aeneas, quae sint ea flumina porro,
      quive viri tanto complerint agmine ripas.
      Aeneas is startled by the sudden sight and, knowing not, asks the cause – what is that river in the distance, and who are the men filling the banks in such a host?
    • dixerat Anchises, natumque unaque Sibyllam
      conventus trahit in medios turbamque sonantem,
      et tumulum capit, unde omnes longo ordine possit
      adversos legere, et venientum discere vultus.
      Anchises finished speaking, and drew his son and with him the Sibyl into the heart of the assembly and rustling crowd, then chose a mound from which he could scan face to face the whole of the long procession and learn their faces as they came.
    • "nunc age, Dardaniam prolem quae deinde sequatur
      gloria, qui maneant Itala de gente nepotes,
      inlustris animas nostrumque in nomen ituras,
      expediam dictis, et te tua fata docebo."
      "Now come, I will reveal in speech the glory that will then follow the Trojan race, what children of Italian stock are held in store, and glorious souls waiting to inherit our name, and I will inform you of your own destiny."
    • "huc geminas nunc flecte acies, hanc aspice gentem
      Romanosque tuos."
      “Turn hither now your two-eyed gaze, and behold this nation, the Romans that are yours."
    • "hic Caesar et omnis Iuli
      progenies magnum caeli ventura sub axem."
      "Here is Caesar and all the seed of Iulus destined to pass under the great vault of heaven.
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