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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/6003.txt b/6003.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3b5f87a --- /dev/null +++ b/6003.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4841 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Story of Aeneas, by Michael Clarke + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: Story of Aeneas + +Author: Michael Clarke + +Release Date: July, 2004 [EBook #6003] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on October 14, 2002] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STORY OF AENEAS *** + + + + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Charles Franks +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + +STORY OF AENEAS + +BY + +M. CLARKE +Author of "Story Of Troy," "Story Of Caesar" + + + +1898 + + + + +CONTENTS. + + INTRODUCTION + + I. VERGIL, THE PRINCE OP POETS + + II. THE GODS AND GODDESSES + + I. THE WOODEN HORSE + + II. AENEAS LEAVES TROY--THE HARPIES--PROPHESY OF HELENUS-THE + GIANT POLYPHEMUS + + III. A GREAT STORM--ARRIVAL IN CARTHAGE + + IV. DIDO'S LOVE--THE FUNERAL GAMES--SHIPS BURNED BY THE WOMEN + + V. THE SIBYL OF CUMAE--THE GOLDEN BOUGH--IN THE REGIONS OF THE + DEAD + + VI. AENEAS ARRIVES IN LATIUM--WELCOMED BY KING LATINUS + + VII. ALLIANCE WITH EVANDER--VULCAN MAKES ARMS FOR AENEAS--THE + FAMOUS SHIELD + +VIII. TURNUS ATTACKS THE TROJAN CAMP--NISUS AND EURYALUS + + IX. THE COUNCIL OF THE GODS--RETURN OF AENEAS--BATTLE ON THE + SHORE--DEATH OF PALLAS + + X. FUNERAL OF PALLAS--AENEAS AND TURNUS FIGHT--TURNUS IS SLAIN + + + + +[Illustration: Map, captioned: "MAP SHOWING THE WANDERINGS OF AENEAS", +extending from 10 degrees to 30 degrees east longitude, and centered +on 40 degrees north latitude.] + + + + +INTRODUCTION. + +I. VERGIL, THE PRINCE OF LATIN POETS. + +The story of AE-ne'as, as related by the Roman poet Ver'gil in his +celebrated poem called the AE-ne'id, which we are to tell about in +this book, is one of the most interesting of the myths or legends that +have come down to us from ancient authors. + +Vergil lived in the time of the Roman Emperor Au-gus'tus (63 B. C.--14 +A. D.), grand-nephew and successor of Ju'li-us Cae'sar. Augustus and +his chief counsellor or minister Mae-ce'nas, gave great encouragement +to learning and learned men, and under their liberal patronage arose a +number of eminent writers to whose works has been given the name of +classics, as being of the highest rank or _class_. The period is known +as the Augustan Age, a phrase also used in reference to periods in the +history of other countries, in which literature reached its highest +perfection. Thus the reign of Queen Anne (1702-1714) is called the +Augustan age of English literature, because of the number of literary +men who flourished in England in that period, and the excellence of +their works. + +Vergil was the greatest of the poets of ancient Rome, and with the +exception of Ho'mer, the greatest of the poets of antiquity. From a +very early period, almost from the age in which he lived, he was +called the Prince of Latin Poets. His full name was Pub'li-us +Ver-gil'i-us Ma'ro. He was born about seventy years before Christ, +in the village of An'des (now Pi-e'to-le), near the town of Man'tu-a +in the north of Italy. His father was the owner of a small estate, +which he farmed himself. Though of moderate means, he gave his son a +good education. Young Vergil spent his boyhood at school at Cre-mo'na +and Milan. He completed his studies at Naples, where he read the Greek +and Latin authors, and acquired a knowledge of mathematics, natural +philosophy, and medical science. He afterwards returned to Mantua, and +resided there for a few years, enjoying the quiet of country life at +the family homestead. + +About this time the Emperor Augustus was engaged in a war against a +powerful party of his own countrymen, led by a famous Roman named +Bru'tus. In the year 42 B.C. he defeated Brutus in a great battle, +which put an end to the war. He afterwards rewarded many of his troops +by dividing among them lands in the neighborhood of Mantua, and in +other parts of Italy, dispossessing the owners for having sided with +his enemies. Though Vergil had taken no part in the struggle, his farm +was allotted to one of the imperial soldiers. But this was the +beginning of his greatness. Through the friendship of the governor of +Mantua, he was introduced to Maecenas, and afterwards to Augustus, who +gave orders that his property should be restored to him. + +Thus Vergil became known to the first men of Rome. He expressed his +gratitude to the emperor in one of a series of poems called Pastorals +or Bu-col'ics, words which mean shepherds' songs, or songs descriptive +of life in the country. These poems, though among Vergil's earliest +productions, were highly applauded in Rome. They were so much esteemed +that portions of them were recited in the theatre in the author's +presence, and the audience were so delighted that they all rose to +their feet, an honor which it was customary to pay only to Augustus +himself. Vergil also wrote a poem called the Geor'gics, the subject of +which is agriculture, the breeding of cattle, and the culture of bees. +This is said to be the most perfect in finish of all Latin +compositions. The AEneid is, however, regarded as the greatest of +Vergil's works. The writing of it occupied the last eleven years of +the poet's life. + +Vergil died at Brun-di'si-um, in south Italy, in the fifty-first year +of his age. He was buried near Naples, by the side of the public road, +a few miles outside that city, where what is said to be his tomb is +still to be seen. Of his character as a man we are enabled to form an +agreeable idea from all that is known about him. He was modest, gentle +and of a remarkable sweetness of disposition. Although living in the +highest society while in Rome, he never forgot his old friends. He was +a dutiful and affectionate son, and liberally shared his good fortune +with his aged parents. + +As a poet, Vergil was not only the greatest that Rome produced, but +the most popular. His poems, particularly the AEneid, were the +favorite reading of his countrymen. They became a text-book in the +Roman schools. The "little Romans," we are told, studied the AEneid +from their master's dictation, and wrote compositions upon its heroes. +And not alone in Italy but throughout the world wherever learning +extended, the AEneid became popular, and has retained its popularity +down to our own time, being still a text-book in every school where +Latin is taught. + +There are many excellent translations of the AEneid into English. In +this book we make numerous quotations from the translation by the +English poet Dryden, and from the later work by the eminent Latin +scholar Conington. + + + +SPELLING OF THE POET'S NAME. + +The spelling of the poet's name adopted in this book is now believed +to be preferable to the form V_i_rgil which has for a long time been +in common use. Many of the best Latin scholars are of opinion that the +proper spelling is V_e_rgil from the Latin V_e_rgilius, as the poet +himself wrote it. "As to the fact," says Professor Frieze, "that the +poet called himself Vergilius, scholars are now universally agreed. It +is the form found in all the earliest manuscripts and inscriptions. In +England and America the corrected Latin form is used by all the best +authorities." + + +II. THE GODS AND GODDESSES. + +It is said that Vergil wrote the AEneid at the request of the Emperor +Augustus, whose family--the Ju'li-i--claimed the honor of being +descended from AEneas, through his son I-u'lus or Ju'lus. All the +Romans, indeed, were fond of claiming descent from the heroes whom +tradition told of as having landed in Italy with AEneas after escaping +from the ruins of Troy. The city of Troy, or Il'i-um, so celebrated in +ancient song and story, was situated on the coast of Asia Minor, not +far from the entrance to what is now the Sea of Mar'mo-ra. It was +besieged for ten years by a vast army of the Greeks (natives of Greece +or Hel'las) under one of their kings called Ag-a-mem'non. Homer, the +greatest of the ancient poets, tells about this siege in his famous +poem, the Il'i-ad. We shall see later on how the siege was brought to +an end by the capture and destruction of the city, as well as how +AEneas escaped, and what afterwards happened to him and his +companions. + +Meanwhile we must learn something about the gods and goddesses who +play so important a part in the story. At almost every stage of the +adventures of AEneas, as of the adventures of all ancient heroes, we +find a god or a goddess controlling or directing affairs, or in some +way mixed up with the course of events. + +According to the religion of the ancient Greeks and Romans there were +a great many gods. They believed that all parts of the universe--the +heavens and the earth, the sun and the moon, the seas and rivers, and +storms--were ruled by different gods. Those beings it was supposed, +were in some respects like men and women. They needed food and drink +and sleep; they married and had children; and like poor mortals they +often had quarrels among themselves. Their food was am-bro'si-a, which +gave them immortality and perpetual youth, and their drink was a +delicious wine called nectar. + +The gods often visited men and even accepted their hospitality. +Sometimes they married human beings, and the sons of such marriages +were the demigods or heroes of antiquity. AEneas was one of those +heroes, his mother being the goddess Ve'nus, of whom we shall hear +much in the course of our Story. + +Though the gods never died, being immortal, they might be wounded and +suffer bodily pain like men. They often took part in the quarrels and +wars of people on earth, and they had weapons and armor, after the +manner of earthly warriors. But they were vastly superior to men in +strength and power. They could travel through the skies, or upon land +or ocean, with the speed of lightning, and they could change +themselves into any form, or make themselves visible or invisible at +pleasure. + +The usual residence of the principal gods was on the top of Mount +O-lym'pus, in Greece. Here they had golden palaces and a chamber where +they held grand banquets at which celestial music was rendered by +A-pol'lo, the god of minstrelsy, and the Muses, who were the +divinities of poetry and song. + +Splendid temples were erected to the gods in all the chief cities, +where they were worshiped with many ceremonies. Valuable gifts in gold +and silver were presented at their shrines, and at their altars +animals were killed and portions of the flesh burned as sacrifices. +Such offerings were thought to be very pleasing to the gods. + +The head or king of the gods was Ju'pi-ter, also called Jove or Zeus. +He was the great Thunderer, at whose word the heavens trembled. + + He, whose all conscious eyes the world behold, + The eternal Thunderer sat enthroned in gold. + High heaven the footstool of his feet he makes, + And wide beneath him all Olympus shakes. + HOMER, _Iliad_, BOOK VIII. + +The wife of Jupiter, and the queen of heaven, was Ju'no, who, as we +shall see, persecuted the hero AEneas with "unrelenting hate." +Nep'tune, represented as bearing in his hand a trident, or three- +pronged fork, was the god of the sea. + + Neptune, the mighty marine god, + Earth's mover, and the fruitless ocean's king. + HOMER + +Mars was the god of war, and Plu'to, often called Dis or Ha'des, was +the god of the lower or "infernal" regions, and hence also the god of +the dead. One of the most glorious and beautiful of the gods was +Apollo, god of the sun, of medicine, music, poetry, and all fine arts. + + Bright-hair'd Apollo!--thou who ever art + A blessing to the world--whose mighty heart + Forever pours out love, and light, and life; + Thou, at whose glance, all things of earth are rife + With happiness. + PIKE. + +[Illustration: A ROMAN AUGUR.] + +Another of the famous divinities of the ancients was Venus, the +goddess of beauty and love. According to some of the myths she was the +daughter of Jupiter. Others say that she sprang from the foam of the +sea. + +These and countless other imaginary beings were believed in as deities +under the religious system of the ancient Greeks and Romans, and every +unusual or striking event was thought to be caused by some god or +goddess. + +The will of the gods, it was supposed, was made known to men in +different ways--by dreams, by the flight of birds, or by a direct +message from Olympus. Very often it was learned by consulting seers, +augurs or soothsayers. These were persons believed to have the power +of prophecy. There was a famous temple of Apollo at Delphi, in Greece, +where a priestess called Pyth'i-a gave answers, or oracles, to those +who came to consult her. The name oracle was also applied to the place +where such answers were received. There were a great many oracles in +ancient times, but that at Delphi was the most celebrated. + + + + +STORY OF AENEAS. + + + + +I. THE WOODEN HORSE, + + +The gods, of course, had much to do with the siege and fall of Troy, +as well as with the sufferings of Aeneas, which Vergil describes in +the AEneid. There were gods and goddesses on both sides in the great +conflict. Some were for the Tro'jans, others for the Greeks, and some +had their favorites among the heroes and warriors who fought on one +side or the other. Two very powerful goddesses, Juno and Mi-ner'va +(the goddess of wisdom, also called Pallas), hated the Trojans because +of the famous "judgment of Pa'ris," which came about in this way--. + +A king of Athens named Pe'leus married a beautiful sea-nymph named +The'tis. All the gods and goddesses were present at the wedding feast +except E'ris, the goddess of discord. She was not invited, and being +angry on that account, she resolved to cause dissension among the +guests. With this object she threw into the midst of the assembly a +golden apple bearing the inscription, "For the most beautiful." +Immediately a dispute arose as to which of the goddesses was entitled +to the prize, but at last all gave up their claim except Juno, Venus, +and Minerva, and they agreed to leave the settlement of the question +to Paris, son of Pri'am, King of Troy, a young prince who was noted +for the wisdom of his judgments upon several occasions. + +The three goddesses soon afterwards appeared before Paris, and each +endeavored by the offer of tempting bribes, to induce him to decide in +her favor. Juno promised him great power and wealth. + + She to Paris made + Proffer of royal power, ample rule + Unquestion'd. + TENNYSON. + +Minerva offered military glory, and Venus promised that she would give +him the most beautiful woman in the world for his wife. After hearing +their claims and promises, Paris gave the apple to Venus. This award +or judgment brought upon him and his family, and all the Trojans, the +hatred of the two other goddesses, particularly of Juno, who, being +the queen of heaven, had expected that the preference, as a matter of +course would be given to her. + +But besides the judgment of Paris, there was another cause of Juno's +anger against Troy. She had heard of a decree of the Fates that a race +descended from the Trojans was one day to destroy Carthage, a city in +which she was worshipped with much honor, and which she regarded with +great affection. She therefore hated Aeneas, through whom, as the +ancestor of the founders of Rome, the destruction of her beloved city +was to be brought about. + +On account of this hatred of the Trojans, Juno persuaded her royal +husband, Jupiter, to consent to the downfall of Troy, and so the valor +of all its heroic defenders, of whom Aeneas was one, could not save it +from its fate, decreed by the king of the gods. Many famous warriors +fell during the long siege. Hec'tor, son of Priam, the greatest of the +Trojan champions, was slain by A-chil'les, the most valiant of the +Greeks, and Achilles was himself slain by Paris. After losing their +bravest leader the Greeks despaired of being able to take the city by +force, and so they resorted to stratagem. By the advice of Minerva +they erected a huge horse of wood on the plain in front of the walls, +and within its body they placed a chosen band of their boldest +warriors. Then pretending that they had given up the struggle, they +withdrew to their ships, and set sail, as if with the purpose of +returning to Greece. But they went no further than Ten'e-dos, an +island opposite Troy, a few miles from the coast. + + "There was their fleet concealed. We thought for Greece + Their sails were hoisted, and our fears release. + The Trojans, cooped within their walls so long, + Unbar their gates and issue in a throng + Like swarming bees, and with delight survey + The camp deserted, where the Grecians lay: + The quarters of the several chiefs they showed: + Here Phoe'nix, here Achilles, made abode; + Here joined the battles; there the navy rode. + Part on the pile their wandering eyes employ-- + The pile by Pallas raised to ruin Troy." + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK II. + +The Trojans when they saw the big horse, could not think what it +meant, or what should be done with it. Various opinions were given. +Some thought it was a peace offering, and one chief proposed that it +should be dragged within the walls and placed in the citadel. Others +advised that it should be cast into the sea, or set on fire, or at +least that they ought to burst it open to find whether anything were +concealed within. While they were thus discussing the matter, some +urging one course, some another, the priest La-oc'o-on rushed out from +the city followed by a great crowd and he exclaimed in a loud voice: +"Unhappy fellow-countrymen, what madness is this? Are you so foolish +as to suppose that the enemy are gone, or that any offering of theirs +can be free from deception? Either Greeks are hidden in this horse, or +it is an engine designed for some evil to our city. Put no faith in +it, Trojans. Whatever it is, I fear the Greeks even when they tender +gifts." Thus speaking, Laocoon hurled his spear into the horse's side. + + His mighty spear he cast: + Quivering it stood: the sharp rebound + Shook the huge monster: and a sound + Through all its caverns passed. + CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK II. + +But at this point the attention of the multitude was attracted by the +appearance of a group of Trojan shepherds dragging along a prisoner +with his hands bound behind his back, who, they said, had delivered +himself up to them of his own accord. Being taken before King Priam, +and questioned as to who he was and whence he came, the stranger told +an artful story. He was a Greek, he said, and his name was Si'non. His +countrymen had long been weary of the war, and had often resolved to +return home, but were hindered by storms from making the attempt. And +when the wooden horse was built, the tempests raged and the thunder +rolled more than ever. + + "Chiefly when completed stood + This horse, compact of maple wood, + Fierce thunders, pealing in our ears, + Proclaimed the turmoil of the spheres." + CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK II. + +Then the Greeks sent a messenger to the shrine of Apollo to inquire +how they might obtain a safe passage to their country. The answer was +that the life of a Greek must be sacrificed on the altar of the god. +All were horror-stricken by this announcement, for each feared that +the doom might fall upon himself. + + "Through every heart a shudder ran, + 'Apollo's victim--who the man?'" + CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK II. + +The selection of the person to be the victim was left to Cal'chas, the +soothsayer, who fixed upon Sinon, and preparations were accordingly +made to sacrifice him on the altar of Apollo, but he contrived to +escape and conceal himself until the Grecian fleet had sailed. + + "I fled, I own it, from the knife, + I broke my bands and ran for life, + And in a marsh lay that night + While they should sail, if sail they might." + CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK II. + +This was Sinon's story. The Trojans believed it and King Priam ordered +the prisoner to be released, and promised to give him protection in +Troy. "But tell me," said the king, "why did they make this horse? Was +it for a religious purpose or as an engine of war?" The treacherous +Sinon answered that the horse was intended as a peace offering to the +gods; that it had been built on the advice of Calchas, who had +directed that it should be made of immense size so that the Trojans +should not be able to drag it within their walls, "for," said he, "if +the men of Troy do any injury to the gift, evil will come upon the +kingdom of Priam, but if they bring it into their city, all Asia will +make war against Greece, arid on our children will come the +destruction which we would have brought upon Troy." + +The Trojans believed this story also, and their belief was +strengthened by the terrible fate which just then befell Laocoon, who +a little before had pierced the side of the horse with his spear. +While the priest and his two sons were offering a sacrifice to Neptune +on the shore, two enormous serpents suddenly issued from the sea and +seized and crushed them to death in sight of the people. The Trojans +were filled with fear and astonishment at this spectacle, and they +regarded the event as a punishment from the gods upon Laocoon. + + Who dared to harm with impious steel + Those planks of consecrated deal. + CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK II. + +Then a cry arose that the "peace offering" should be conveyed into the +city, and accordingly a great breach was made in the walls that for +ten years had resisted all the assaults of the Greeks, and by means of +rollers attached to its feet, and ropes tied around its limbs, the +horse was dragged into the citadel, the young men and maidens singing +songs of triumph. But in the midst of the rejoicing there were +portents of the approaching evil. Four times the huge figure halted on +the threshold of the gate, and four times it gave forth a sound from +within, as if of the clash of arms. + + "Four times 'twas on the threshold stayed: + Four times the armor clashed and brayed. + Yet on we press with passion blind, + All forethought blotted from our mind, + Till the dread monster we install + Within the temple's tower-built wall." + CONINGTON. _AEneid_, BOOK II. + +The prophetess Cas-san'dra, too, the daughter of King Priam, had +warned her countrymen of the doom that was certain to fall upon the +city if the horse were admitted. Her warning was, however, +disregarded. The fateful gift of the Greeks was placed in the citadel, +and the Trojans, thinking that their troubles were now over, and that +the enemy had departed to return no more, spent the rest of the day in +feasting and rejoicing. + +But in the dead of the night, when they were all sunk in sleep, the +Greek fleet sailed back from Tenedos, and on King Agamemnon's ship a +bright light was shown, which was the signal to the false Sinon to +complete his work of treachery. Quickly he "unlocked the horse" and +forth from their hiding place came the armed Greek warriors. Among +them were the famous U-lys'ses, and Ne-op-tol'e-mus, son of the brave +Achilles, and Men-e-la'us, husband of the celebrated Hel'en whom +Paris, son of Priam, had carried off from Greece, which was the cause +of the war. Ulysses and his companions then rushed to the walls, and +after slaying the sentinels, threw open the gates of the city to the +main body of the Greeks who had by this time landed from their ships. +Thus Troy was taken. + + And the long baffled legions, bursting in + Through gate and bastion, blunted sword and spear + With unresisted slaughter. + LEWIS MORRIS. + +Meanwhile AEneas, sleeping in the house of his father, An-chi'ses, had +a dream in which the ghost of Hector appeared to him, shedding +abundant tears, and disfigured with wounds as when he had been dragged +around the walls of Troy behind the chariot of the victorious +Achilles. In a mournful voice, AEneas, seeming to forget that Hector +was dead, inquired why he had been so long absent from the defense of +his native city, and from what distant shores he had now returned. But +the spirit answered only by a solemn warning to AEneas, the "goddess- +born" (being the son of Venus) to save himself by immediate flight. + + "O goddess-born! escape by timely flight, + The flames and horrors of this fatal night. + The foes already have possessed the wall; + Troy nods from high, and totters to her fall. + Enough is paid to Priam's royal name, + More than enough to duty and to fame. + If by a mortal hand my father's throne + Could be defended, 'twas by mine alone. + Now Troy to thee commends her future state, + And gives her gods companions of thy fate; + From their assistance, happier walls expect, + Which, wand'ring long, at last thou shalt erect." + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK I. + +Awaking from his sleep, AEneas was startled by the clash of arms and +by cries of battle, which he now heard on all sides. Rushing to the +roof of the house and gazing around, he saw the palaces of many of the +Trojan princes in flames, and he heard the shouts of the victorious +Greeks, and the blaring of their trumpets. Notwithstanding the warning +of Hector, he ran for his weapons. + + Resolved on death, resolved to die in arms, + But first to gather friends, with them to oppose + (If fortune favored) and repel the foes. + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK II. + +At the door, as he was going forth to join the combat, he met the +Trojan Pan'thus, a priest of Apollo, who had just escaped by flight +from the swords of the Greeks. In reply to the questions of AEneas, +the priest told him, in words of grief and despair, that Troy's last +day had come. + + "'Tis come, our fated day of death. + We have been Trojans; Troy has been; + She sat, but sits no more, a queen; + Stern Jove an Argive rule proclaims; + Greece holds a city wrapt in flames. + There in the bosom of the town + The tall horse rains invasion down, + And Sinon, with a conqueror's pride, + Deals fiery havoc far and wide. + Some keep the gates, as vast a host + As ever left Myce'nae's coast; + Some block the narrows of the street, + With weapons threatening all they meet; + The stark sword stretches o'er the way, + Quick-glancing, ready drawn to slay, + While scarce our sentinels resist, + And battle in the flickering mist." + CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK II. + +As Panthus ceased speaking, several Trojan chiefs came up, and eagerly +joined AEneas in resolving to make a last desperate attempt to save +their native city. Together they rushed into the thick of the fight. +Some were slain, and some with Aeneas succeeded in forcing their way +to the palace of King Priam, where a fierce struggle was then raging. +Entering by a secret door, AEneas climbed to the roof, from which he +and the other brave defenders of the palace hurled stones and beams of +wood upon the enemy below. But all their heroic efforts were in vain. +In front of the principal gate, battering upon it with his huge +battle-axe, stood Neoptolemus (also called Pyr'rhus) the son of +Achilles. Soon its posts, though plated with bronze, gave way before +his mighty strokes, and a great breach was made, through which the +Greeks poured into the stately halls of the Trojan king. Then there +was a scene of wild confusion and terror. + + The house is filled with loud laments and cries + And shrieks of women rend the vaulted skies. + DRYDEN, _AEneid_ BOOK II. + +The aged king when he saw that the enemy was beneath his roof, put on +his armor "long disused," and was about to rush forth to meet the foe, +but Hec'u-ba, his queen, persuaded him to take refuge with her in a +court of the palace in which were placed the altars of their gods. +Here he was shortly afterwards cruelly slain by Pyrrhus. + + Thus Priam fell, and shared one common fate + With Troy in ashes, and his ruined state; + He, who the scepter of all Asia swayed, + Whom monarchs like domestic slaves obeyed. + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK II. + +There being now no hope to save the city, the thoughts of AEneas +turned to his own home where he had left his father Anchises, his wife +Cre-u'sa (daughter of King Priam) and his son Iulus (also named +As-ca'ni-us). Making his way thither with the purpose of providing for +their safety, he espied Helen, the "common scourge of Greece and +Troy," sitting in the porch of the temple of the goddess Ves'ta. +Enraged at the sight of the woman who had been the cause of so many +woes to his country, AEneas was about to slay her on the spot, but at +that moment his mother Venus appeared to him in the midst of a bright +light. + + Great in her charms, as when on gods above + She looks, and breathes herself into their love. + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK II. + +Taking the hero by the hand as he was in the act of raising his sword +to strike Helen, the goddess thus rebuked him: "What is it that +excites your anger now, my son? Where is your regard for me? Have you +forgotten your father Anchises and your wife and little son? They +would have been killed by the Greeks if I had not cared for them and +saved them. It is not Helen or Paris that has laid low this great city +of Troy, but the wrath of the gods. See now, for I will take away the +mist that covers your mortal eyes; see how Neptune with his trident is +overthrowing the walls and rooting up the city from its foundations; +and how Juno stands with spear and shield in the Scae'an Gate, and +calls fresh hosts from the ships; and how Pallas sits on the height +with the storm-cloud about her; and how Father Jupiter himself stirs +up the enemy against Troy. Fly, therefore, my son. I myself will guard +you till you stand before your father's door." + +The goddess then disappeared and AEneas quickly proceeded to obey her +command. Hastening home he resolved to take his aged father to a place +of safety in the hills beyond the city, but the old man refused to go. +"You, who are young and strong," said he, "may go, but I shall remain +here, for if it had been the will of the gods that I should live, they +would have preserved my home." + + "Now leave me: be your farewell said + To this my corpse, and count me dead." + CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK II + +Nor could all the entreaties of his son and wife move him from his +resolution. Then AEneas, in grief and despair, was about to rush back +to the battle, which still raged in the city, preferring to die rather +than to go and leave his father behind. But at this moment a bright +flame as if of fire was seen to play around the head of the boy Iulus, +and send forth beams of light. Alarmed as well as surprised at the +spectacle, AEneas was about to extinguish the flames by water, when +Anchises cried out that it was a sign from heaven that he should +accompany his family in their flight from the city. + +This pretty story, it is said, was meant by Vergil as a compliment to +Augustus, the idea intended to be conveyed being that the seal of +sovereign power was thus early set upon the founder of the great house +of Julius. + +[Illustration: AEneas carrying his father out of Troy. (Drawn by +Varian.)] + +The gods seeming thus to ordain the immediate departure of the hero +and his family, they all speedily set forth, AEneas carrying his +father on his shoulders, while Iulus walked by his side, and Creusa +followed at some distance. They had arranged to meet at a ruined +temple outside the city, where they were to be joined by their +servants, but when they reached the place, it was discovered that +Creusa had disappeared. Great was the grief of Aeneas. In agony he +hastened back to the city in search of his wife. Coming to his +father's palace, he found it already in flames. Then he hurried on +through the streets, in his distress calling aloud the name of Creusa. +Suddenly her figure started up before him, larger than when in life, +for it was her spirit he saw. Appalled at the sight, Aeneas stood in +silence gazing at the apparition while it thus spoke: + +"Beloved husband, why do you give way to grief? What has happened is +by the decree of heaven. It was not the will of the gods that I should +accompany you. You have a long journey to make, and a wide extent of +sea to cross, before you reach the shores of Hes-pe'ri-a, where the +Ti'ber flows in gentle course through the rich fields of a warlike +race. There prosperity awaits you, and you shall take to yourself a +wife of a royal line. Weep not for me. The mother of the gods keeps me +in this land to serve her. And now farewell, and fail not to love and +watch over our son." + +Then the form of Creusa melted into air, and the sorrowing husband +returned to the place where his father and son awaited him. There he +found a number of his fellow-citizens prepared to follow him into +exile. They first took refuge in the forests of Mount I'da, not far +from the ruined city. In this place they spent the winter, and they +built a fleet of ships at An-tan'dros, a coast town at the foot of the +mountain. + + "Near old Antandros, and at Ida's foot, + The timber of the sacred groves we cut, + And build our fleet-uncertain yet to find + What place the gods for our repose assigned." + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK III. + +It is remarkable that Vergil does not tell how Creusa came by her +death. Apparently we are left to infer that she was killed by the +Greeks. + + + +II. AENEAS LEAVES TROY--THE HARPIES--PROPHECY OF HELENUS-THE GIANT +POLYPHEMUS. + +In the early days of summer--the fleet being ready and all +preparations complete--Anchises gave the order for departure, and so +they set sail, piously carrying with them the images of their +household gods and of the "great gods" of their nation. The first land +they touched was the coast of Thrace, not far from Troy. AEneas +thought he would build a city and make a settlement here, as the +country had been, from early times, connected by ties of friendship +with his own. To obtain the blessing of heaven on an undertaking of +such importance, he set about performing religious services in honor +of his mother Venus and the other gods, sacrificing a snow-white bull +as an offering to Jupiter. Close by the place there happened to be a +little hill, on the top of which was a grove of myrtle, bristling with +thick-clustering, spear-like shoots. Wishing to have some of those +plants to decorate his altars, AEneas pulled one up from the ground, +whereupon he beheld drops of blood oozing from the torn roots. Though +horrified at the sight he plucked another bough, and again blood oozed +out as before. Then praying to the gods to save himself and his people +from whatever evil there might be in the omen, he proceeded to tear up +a third shoot, when from out the earth at his feet a voice uttered +these words: + +"O, AEneas! why do you tear an unhappy wretch? Spare me, now that I am +in my grave; forbear to pollute your pious hands. It is from no tree- +trunk that the blood comes. Quit this barbarous land with all speed. +Know that I am Pol-y-do'rus. Here I was slain by many arrows, which +have taken root and grown into a tree." + +Deep was the horror of AEneas while he listened to this dreadful +story, for he knew that Polydorus was one of the younger sons of +Priam. Early in the war, his father, fearing that the Trojans might be +defeated, had sent him for protection to the court of the king of +Thrace. At the same time he sent the greater part of his treasures, +including a large sum of money, to be taken care of by the king till +the war should be over. But as soon as the Thracian monarch heard of +the fall of Troy he treacherously slew the young prince and seized all +his father's treasure. + + False to divine and human laws, + The traitor joins the conqueror's cause, + Lays impious hands on Polydore, + And grasps by force the golden store. + Fell lust of gold! abhorred, accurst! + What will not men to slake such thirst? + CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK III. + +When AEneas related this story to his father and the other Trojan +chiefs, they all agreed to depart forthwith from a land polluted by so +black a crime. But first they performed funeral rites on the grave of +Polydorus, erecting two altars which they decked with cypress wreaths, +the emblem of mourning, and offering sacrifices to the gods. + +Soon afterwards, the winds being favorable, they set sail, and in a +few days reached De'los, one of the isles of Greece, where there was a +famous temple of Apollo. A'ni-us, the king of the island, and a priest +of Apollo, gave them a hospitable reception. In the great temple they +made suitable offerings, and AEneas prayed to the god to tell them in +what country they might find a resting place and a home. Scarcely had +the prayer been finished when the temple and the earth itself seemed +to quake, whereupon the Trojans prostrated themselves in lowly +reverence upon the ground, and presently they heard a voice saying: +"Brave sons of Dar'da-nus, the land which gave birth to your ancestors +shall again receive your race in its fertile bosom. Seek out your +ancient mother. There the house of AEneas shall rule over every coast, +and his children's children and their descendants." + +The answers or oracles of the gods were often given in mysterious +words, as in the present case. AEneas and his companions did not know +what land was meant by the "ancient mother," but Anchises, "revolving +in his mind the legends of the men of old," remembered having heard +that one of his ancestors, Teu'cer, (the father-in-law of Dardanus), +had come from the island of Crete. Believing, therefore, that that was +the land referred to in the words of the oracle, they set sail, having +first sacrificed to Apollo, to Neptune, god of the ocean, and to the +god of storms, that their voyage might be favorable. + + A bull to Neptune, an oblation due, + Another bull to bright Apollo slew; + A milk-white ewe, the western winds to please + And one coal-black, to calm the stormy seas. + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK III. + +They arrived safely at Crete (now known as Can'di-a) where they +remained a considerable time and built a city which AEneas called +Per'ga-mus, the name of the famous citadel or fort of Troy. But here a +new misfortune came upon the exiles in the shape of a plague, which +threatened destruction to man and beast and the fruits of the field. + + Sudden on man's feeble frame + From tainted skies a sickness came, + On trees and crops a poisonous breath, + A year of pestilence and death. + CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK III. + +Anchises now proposed that they should return to Delos, and again seek +the counsel and aid of Apollo, but that night AEneas had a dream in +which the household gods whose images he had carried with him from +Troy, appeared to him, and told him that Crete was not the land +destined by the gods for him and his people. They also told him where +that Hesperia was, of which he had heard from the shade of Creusa. + + "A land there is, Hesperia called of old, + (The soil is fruitful, and the natives bold-- + The OE-no'tri-ans held it once,) by later fame + Now called I-ta'li-a, from the leader's name. + I-a'si-us there, and Dardanus, were born: + From thence we came, and thither must return. + Rise, and thy sire with these glad tidings greet: + Search Italy: for Jove denies thee Crete." + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK III. + +AEneas made haste to tell this dream to his father, whereupon the old +man advised that they should at once depart. So they quickly got their +ships in order and set sail for Hesperia--the Land of the West. But +scarcely had they lost sight of the shore when a terrible storm arose +which drove them out of their course, and for three days and nights +the light of heaven was shut from their view. Even the great +Pal-i-nu'rus, the pilot of the ship of AEneas, "could not distinguish +night from day, or remember his true course in the midst of the wave." + +On the fourth day, however, the storm ceased and soon the Trojans +sighted land in the distance. It was one of the islands of the Ionian +sea, called the Stroph'a-des. Here dwelt the Har'pies, monsters having +faces like women, and bodies, wings, and claws like vultures. When the +Trojans landed they saw herds of oxen and flocks of goats grazing in +the fields. They killed some of them and prepared a feast upon the +shore, and having first, in accordance with their invariable custom, +made offerings to the gods, they proceeded "to banquet on the rich +viands." But they had hardly begun their meal when the Harpies, with +noisy flapping of wings and fearful cries, swooped down upon them, +snatched off a great portion of the meat, and so spoiled the rest +with their unclean touch that it was unfit to eat. + + From the mountain-tops with hideous cry, + And clattering wings, the hungry Harpies fly: + And snatch the meat, defiling all they find, + And parting, leave a loathsome stench behind. + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK III. + +The Trojans got ready another meal and again sat down to eat, but the +Harpies again came down upon them as before, and did in like manner. +AEneas and his companions then resolved to fight, so they took their +swords and drove the foul monsters off, though they could not kill any +of them, for their skins were proof against wounds. One of them, +however, remained behind, and perching on a rock, cried out in words +of anger against the intruders. "Do you dare, base Trojans," said she, +"to make war upon us after killing our oxen? Do you dare to drive the +Harpies from the place which is their own? Listen then to what I have +to tell you, which the father of the gods revealed to Phoe'bus Apollo, +and Apollo revealed to me. Italy is the land you seek, and Italy you +shall reach; but you shall not build the walls of your city until dire +famine, visiting you because you have injured us, shall compel you to +devour even your tables." + +This Harpy was named Ce-lae'no. When the Trojans heard her awful words +they prayed to the gods for protection, and then hastening to their +ships, they put to sea. They soon came near Ith'a-ca, the island +kingdom of Ulysses, the most skilful in stratagem of all the Greek +chiefs at the Trojan war. Cursing the land which gave birth to that +cruel enemy of their country, AEneas and his companions sailed past, +and they continued their voyage until they reached the rocky island of +Leu-ca'di-a on the coast of E-pi'rus, where there was another temple +of Apollo. Here they landed, rejoicing that they had steered safely by +so many cities of their enemies, for since leaving Crete their route +had been mostly along the Grecian coast. They spent the winter in +Leucadia, passing their leisure in games of wrestling and other +athletic exercises, which were the sports of warriors in those ancient +times. AEneas fastened to the door of the temple a shield of bronze--a +trophy he had carried away from Troy--and upon it he put the +inscription: + +THIS ARMOR AENEAS WON FROM THE CONQUERING GREEKS. + +In spring the wanderers again took to their ships, and sailing +northwards, close to the coast, they came to Bu-thro'tum in Epirus, +where they were surprised to learn that Hel'e-nus, son of Priam, was +king of the country and that his wife was Androm'-a-che, who had +formerly been wife of the famous Hector. AEneas having heard this upon +landing, proceeded without delay towards the city, impatient to greet +his kindred and to know how they had come to be there. It happened +that just then Andromache was offering sacrifice on a tomb which she +had erected outside the walls to the memory of Hector. Seeing AEneas +approach she at once recognized him, but she was so overcome with +surprise that for some time she was unable to utter a word. As soon as +she recovered strength to speak she told AEneas that she had been +carried off from Troy by Pyrrhus, and that Pyrrhus had given her to +Helenus, after he himself had married Her-mi'o-ne, the daughter of the +famous Helen. She also told that on the death of Pyrrhus who had been +slain by O-res'tes, son of Agamemnon, part of his kingdom was given to +Helenus. + +Meanwhile king Helenus having heard of the arrival of the Trojans came +out from the city to meet them, accompanied by a numerous train of +attendants. He affectionately greeted AEneas and his companions, and +invited them to his palace, where he hospitably entertained them during +their stay. Helenus, besides being a king and the son of a +king, was a famous soothsayer, so AEneas begged him to exercise his +powers of prophecy on behalf of himself and his people. Helenus +readily complied with the request. After offering the usual sacrifices +to the gods, he told the Trojan chief that he had yet a long voyage to +make before reaching his destination, that the place in which he +should found his new kingdom was on the banks of a river, and that he +would know it by finding there a white sow, with a litter of thirty +young ones. + + "In the shady shelter of a wood, + And near the margin of a gentle flood, + Thou shalt behold a sow upon the ground, + With thirty sucking young encompassed round + (The dam and offspring white as falling snow); + These on thy city shall their name bestow; + And there shall end thy labors and thy woe." + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK III. + +As to the Harpy's dreadful prophecy that the Trojans would have to eat +their tables, Helenus bade AEneas not to be troubled about it, for +"the fates would find a way," and Apollo would be present to aid. Then +the soothsayer warned his countrymen to shun the strait between Italy +and Sicily, where on one side was the frightful monster Scyl'la, with +the face of a woman and the tail of a dolphin, and on the other was +the dangerous whirlpool Cha-ryb'dis. But more important than all other +things, they must offer sacrifices and prayers to Juno, that her anger +might be turned away from them, for she it was who had hitherto +opposed all their efforts to reach their promised land. + +Helenus also told them that on arriving in Italy they must seek out +and consult the famous Sib'yl of Cu'mas. This was a prophetess who +usually wrote her prophecies on leaves of trees, which she placed at +the entrance to her cave. These leaves had to be taken up very +carefully and quickly, for if they were scattered about by the wind, +it would be impossible to put them in order again, so as to read them +or understand their meaning. Helenus, therefore, directed AEneas to +request the Sibyl to give her answers by word of mouth. She would do +so, he said, and tell him all that was to happen to him and his people +in Italy--the wars they would have to encounter, the dangers they were +to meet, and how to avoid them. + +Thus Helenus prophesied and gave counsel to his kinsmen. Then he made +presents to AEneas and Anchises of valuable things in gold and silver, +and he sent pilots to the ships, and horses and arms for the men. And +Andromache gave embroidered robes to Ascanius and a cloak wrought in +gold. + +Soon afterwards the wanderers bade farewell to their friends, and set +sail. Next day they came in sight of Italy, which they hailed with +loud shouts of rejoicing. It was the south-eastern point of the +peninsula, and as the Trojans approached it, they saw a harbor into +which they ran their ships. Here they went ashore and offered +sacrifices to Minerva, and also to Juno, remembering the advice of +Helenus. But that part of the country being inhabited by Greeks, they +made haste to depart, and taking their course southward, they passed +by the Bay of Ta-ren'tum and down the coast until they came to the +entrance of the strait now called Messina. This was a point of danger, +for the loud roaring of the sea warned them that they were not far +from the terrible Charybdis. Quickly Palinurus turned his ship to the +left, and, all the others following, made straight for the Sicilian +shore. Here they landed almost at the foot of AEtna, famous then as in +our own times as a volcano or burning mountain. Under this mountain, +according to an old legend, Jupiter imprisoned En-cel'a-dus, one of +the giants who had dared to make war against heaven, and as often as +the giant turned his weary sides, all Sicily trembled and the mountain +sent forth flames of fire and streams of molten lava. + + Enceladus, they say, transfixed by Jove, + With blasted limbs came tumbling from above; + And when he fell, the avenging father drew + This flaming hill, and on his body threw. + As often as he turns his weary sides, + He shakes the solid isle, and smoke, the heavens hides. + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK III. + +But beside the horrors of the "flaming hill" there was another danger +to which the Trojans were now exposed. Sicily was the land of the +terrible Cy'clops. These were fierce giants of immense size, with one +eye, huge and round, in the middle of their foreheads. The morning +after their arrival, the Trojans were surprised to see a stranger +running forth from the woods, and with arms outstretched imploring +their protection. Being asked who he was, he said he was a Greek, and +that his name was Ach-e-men'ides. He had been at Troy with Ulysses, +and was one of the companions of that famous warrior in his adventures +after the siege. In their wanderings they had come to Sicily and had +been in the very cave of Pol-y-phe'-mus, the largest and fiercest of +the Cyclops, who had killed several of the unfortunate Greeks. + +"I myself," said Achemenides, "saw him seize two of our number and +break their bodies against a rock. I saw their limbs quivering between +his teeth. But Ulysses did not suffer such things to go unpunished, +for when the giant lay asleep, gorged with food, and made drunk with +wine, (which Ulysses had given him) we, having prayed to the gods, and +arranged by lot what part each should perform, crowded around him and +with a sharp weapon bored out his eye, which was as large as the orb +of the sun, and so we avenged the death of our comrades." + +But in their flight from the cave, after punishing Polyphemus, the +Greeks left Achemenides behind, and for three months he lived on +berries in the woods. He now warned the Trojans to depart from the +island with all speed, for, he said, a hundred other Cyclops, huge +and savage, dwelt on those shores, tending their flocks among the +hills. + + "Such, and so vast as Polypheme appears, + A hundred more this hated island bears; + Like him, in caves they shut their wooly sheep; + Like him their herds on tops of mountains keep; + Like him, with mighty strides they stalk from steep to steep." + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK III + +Scarcely had Achemenides finished his story when Polyphemus himself +appeared coming down from the mountain in the midst of his flocks. A +horrid monster he was, "huge, awful, hideous, ghastly, blind." In his +hand he carried the trunk of a pine tree to guide his steps, and +striding to the water's edge, he waded far into the sea, yet the waves +did not touch his sides. + +The Trojans now quickly got to their vessels, taking Achemenides with +them, and they plied their oars with the utmost speed. Hearing the +voices of the rowers and the sweep of their oars, the blind giant +stretched out his hands in the direction of the sound, seeking to +seize his enemies, as he took them to be. But the Trojans had got +beyond his reach. Then in his rage and disappointment the monster +raised a mighty shout which echoed from the mountain sides and brought +forth his brethren from their woods and caves. + + "To heaven he lifts a monstrous roar, + Which sends a shudder through the waves, + Shakes to its base the Italian shore, + And echoing runs through AEtna's caves. + From rocks and woods the Cyclop host + Rush startled forth, and crowd the coast. + There glaring fierce we see them stand + In idle rage, a hideous band, + The sons of AEtna, carrying high + Their towering summits to the sky." + CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK III. + +After thus escaping from the terrible Polyphemus, the Trojan wanderers +sailed along the coasts of Sicily, and coming to the north-west +extremity of the island, they put ashore at Drep'a-num. Here AEneas +met with a misfortune which none of the prophets had predicted. This +was the death of his venerable father Anchises. + + "After endless labors (often tossed + By raging storms and driven on every coast), + My dear, dear father, spent with age, I lost-- + Ease of my cares, and solace of my pain, + Saved through a thousand toils, but saved in vain! + The prophet, who my future woes revealed, + Yet this, the greatest and the worst, concealed, + And dire Celaeno, whose foreboding skill + Denounced all else, was silent of this ill." + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK III. + + + +III. A GREAT STORM--ARRIVAL IN CARTHAGE. + +Thus far you have read the story of the Trojan exiles as it was told +by AEneas himself to Di'do, queen of Carthage, at whose court we shall +soon find him, after a dreadful storm which scattered his ships, +sinking one, and driving the rest upon the coast of Africa. The +narrative occupies the second and third books of the AEneid. In the +first book the poet begins by telling of Juno's unrelenting hate, +which was the chief cause of all the evils that befell the Trojans. + + Arms and the man I sing, who, forced by fate, + And haughty Juno's unrelenting hate, + Expelled and exiled, left the Trojan shore. + Long labors, both by sea and land he bore. + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK I. + +It was at Juno's request that AE'o-lus, god of the winds, raised the +great storm, just at the time when the wanderers, after leaving +Drepanum, were about to direct their course towards the destined +Hesperian land. For though AEneas and his companions, following the +advice of Helenus, had offered prayers and sacrifices to the haughty +goddess, still her anger was not appeased. She could not forget the +judgment of Paris, or the prophecy that through the Trojan race was to +come destruction on the city she loved. And so when she saw the ships +of AEneas sailing towards the Italian coast, she gave vent to her +anger in bitter words. "Must I then," said she, "desist from my +purpose? Am I, the queen of heaven, not able to prevent the +Trojans from establishing their kingdom in Italy? Who then will +hereafter worship Juno or offer sacrifices on her altars?" With such +thoughts inflaming her breast, the goddess hastened to AE-o'lia, the +home of storms where dwelt AEolus, king of the winds. AEolia was one +of the ancient names of the islands between Italy and Sicily, now +known as the Lipari Islands. In a vast cave, in one of those islands +king AEolus held the winds imprisoned and controlled their fury lest +they should destroy the world-- + + In a spacious cave of living stone, + The tyrant AEolus, from his airy throne, + With power imperial curbs the struggling winds, + And sounding tempests in dark prisons binds: + High in his hall the undaunted monarch stands, + And shakes his sceptre, and their rage commands: + Which did he not, their unresisted sway + Would sweep the world before them in their way; + Earth, air, and seas, through empty space would roll, + And heaven would fly before the driving soul. + In fear of this, the father of the gods + Confined their fury to those dark abodes, + And locked them safe within, oppressed with mountain loads; + Imposed a king with arbitrary sway, + To loose their fetters, or their force allay. + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK I. + +To this great king Juno appealed, begging him to send forth his storms +against the ships of AEneas, and she promised to reward him by giving +him in marriage the fair De-i-o-pe'a, most beautiful of all the nymphs +or maids in her heavenly train of attendants. AEolus promptly replied +saying that he was ready to obey the queen of heaven. "'Tis for you, +O queen, to command and for me to execute your will." + +Then AEolus struck the side of the cavern with his mighty scepter, +whereupon the rock flew open and the winds rushed furiously forth. In +an instant a terrific hurricane swept over land and sea. The lightning +flashed, the thunder pealed, and the waves rolled mountain high around +the Trojan fleet. + + All in a moment sun and skies + Are blotted from the Trojans' eyes; + Black night is brooding o'er the deep, + Sharp thunder peals, live lightnings leap; + The stoutest warrior holds his breath, + And looks as on the face of death. + CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK I. + +Filled with terror, AEneas bewailed his unhappy fate, and lamented +that it had not been his lot to fall with those + + Who died at Troy like valiant men + E'en in their parents' view. + +But the storm increased in fury. Three of his ships were dashed +against hidden rocks, while before his eyes one went down with all its +crew. + + And here and there above the waves were seen + Arms, pictures, precious goods and floating men. + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK I. + +Meantime the roaring of wind and waves had reached the ears of +Neptune, in his coral palace beneath the sea. Neptune was one of the +gods who were friendly to AEneas, and so when he raised his head above +the waters, and beheld the ships scattered about and the hero himself +in deep distress, the ocean king was very angry. Instantly he summoned +the winds before him, and sternly rebuked them for daring to cause +such disturbance in his dominions without his authority. Then he +ordered them to depart forthwith to their caverns, and tell their +master that not to him belonged the kingdom of the sea. + + "Back to your master instant flee, + And tell him, not to him but me + The imperial trident of the sea + Fell by the lot's award." + CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK I. + +It was by lot that the empire of the universe had been divided among +the three brothers Jupiter, Neptune and Pluto, the kingdom of the +ocean falling to Neptune, the heavens to Jupiter and the "lower +regions" or regions of the dead to Pluto. Neptune, therefore, had full +power within his own dominion, and so the winds had to retire at his +command. Then immediately the sea became calm and still, and AEneas +with seven ships--all that he could find of his fleet--sailed for the +African coast, which was the nearest land, the storm having driven +them far out of their course. Soon discovering a suitable harbor, deep +in a bay, with high rocks on each side at the entrance, the tempest- +tossed Trojans gladly put ashore, and lighting a fire on the beach, +they prepared a meal of parched corn, which they ground with stones. + +Meanwhile AEneas climbed a rock and looked out over the sea hoping to +catch sight of some of the lost vessels. He was accompanied by his +armor-bearer A-cha'tes, who was so devoted to his chief that the name +is often used to signify a very faithful friend. But they could see +none of the missing ships and so they returned to their companions. +Then AEneas delivered an address to his people, bidding them be of +good cheer, and reminding them of the decree of heaven that they +should have a peaceful settlement in La'ti-um--that fair Italian land, +to which the gods would surely guide them in due time. + + "Comrades and friends! for ours is strength + Has brooked the test of woes; + O worse-scarred hearts! these wounds at length + The gods will heal, like those. + You that have seen grim Scylla rave, + And heard her monsters yell, + You that have looked upon the cave + Where savage Cyclops dwell, + Come, cheer your souls, your fears forget; + This suffering will yield us yet + A pleasant tale to tell. + Through chance, through peril lies our way + To Latium, where the fates display + A mansion of abiding stay; + There Troy her fallen realm shall raise; + Bear up and live for happier days." + CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK I. + +It is not to be supposed that all this time the goddess Venus was +forgetful of the sufferings of her son. Even while AEneas was thus +speaking to his fellow wanderers she was pleading his cause before +the throne of Jupiter himself on the top of Mount Olympus. "What +offence, O king of heaven," said she, "has my AEneas committed? How +have the Trojans offended? What is to be the end of their sufferings? +Are they to be forever persecuted on account of the anger of one +goddess?" + +To this appeal the king of the gods answered assuring Venus that the +promises made to the Trojan exiles should all be fulfilled. AEneas, he +said, should make war against fierce tribes in Italy, and conquer +them, and rule in La-vin'i-um. After him his son Iulus should reign +for thirty years, and build a city to be called Alba Longa, where his +descendants would hold sovereign power for three hundred years. Then +from the same race should come Rom'u-lus, who would found the city +Rome, which would in time conquer Greece and rule the world. + + "The people Romans call, the city Rome + To them no bounds of empire I assign, + Nor term of years to their immortal line, + E'en haughty Juno, who, with endless broils, + Earth, seas, and heaven, and Jove himself turmoils, + At length atoned, her friendly power shall join, + To cherish and advance the Trojan line. + An age is ripening in revolving fate, + When Troy shall overturn the Grecian state, + And sweet revenge her conquering sons shall call + To crush the people that conspired her fall, + Then Caesar from the Julian stock shall rise, + Whose empire ocean, and whose fame the skies + Alone shall bound." + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK I. + +Thus did the king of heaven prophesy the future greatness and power of +the Julian line. Then he sent Mercury, the messenger of the gods, down +to earth to bid the queen of Carthage and her people give a hospitable +reception to the Trojans, for it was near that city, on the Li'by-an +shore, that they had landed after the storm. Venus herself, too, came +down from Olympus, and, in the garb of a huntress, appeared to her son +and the faithful Achates, as they were exploring the coast to find out +what land it was, and by what people possessed. She did not make +herself known to them, but inquired if they had seen one of her +sisters who had strayed away from her. AEneas answered: "None of your +sisters have we seen, O virgin, or shall we call you goddess, for such +you seem to be? Whoever you are, graciously relieve our anxiety by +informing us what country this is into which unkind fortune has driven +us. + + "Instruct us 'neath what sky at last, + Upon what shore our lot is cast; + We wander here by tempest blown, + The people and the place unknown." + CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK I. + +To these inquiries Venus, still maintaining her disguise, replied by +telling the Trojan heroes the story of Carthage and Queen Dido. This +famous woman was the daughter of Be'lus, king of Tyre, a city of +Phoe-nic'i-a, in Asia Minor. She married a wealthy Tyrian lord named +Si-chae'us. On her father's death, her brother Pyg-ma'li-on became +king of Tyre. He was a cruel and avaricious tyrant, and in order to +get possession of his brother-in-law's riches, he had him put to death, +concealing the crime from his sister by many false tales. But in a +dream the ghost of Sichaeus appeared to Dido and told her of the +wicked deed of Pygmalion. He at the same time advised her to fly from +the country with all speed, and he informed her of the place where he +had hidden his treasures--a large sum in gold and silver, which he +bade her take to help her in her flight. + +Dido therefore got together a number of ships, and put to sea +accompanied by a number of her countrymen who hated the cruel tyrant. +They sailed to the coast of Africa and landed in Libya, where they +purchased from the inhabitants as much ground as could be encompassed +by a bull's hide cut into thongs. Then they commenced to build a city +which they called Carthage, and even now they were engaged in raising +its walls. + +Such was the story of Dido which Venus related to AEneas and Achates. +Having concluded, she inquired in her turn who they were, from what +country they had come, and whither they were going. In reply AEneas +gave a brief account of his wanderings since the fall of Troy. Then +the goddess directed him to go into the city and present himself +before the queen, and she pointed to an augury in the sky--twelve +swans flying above their heads--which, she said, was a sign that the +ships they had supposed to be lost were at that moment sailing into +the harbor. + +So saying Venus turned to leave them, when suddenly a marvelous change +took place in her dress and appearance, so that AEneas knew she was +his mother, and he cried to her to permit him to touch her hand and +speak with her as her son. The goddess, however, made no answer, but +she cast over Aeneas and his companion a thick veil of cloud so that +no one might see or molest them on their way. Thus rendered invisible, +they went towards the city. When they reached it they found a great +many men at work, some finishing the walls, others erecting great +buildings of various kinds. In the center of the town was a +magnificent temple of Juno. + + Enriched with gifts, and with a golden shrine; + But more the goddess made the place divine. + On brazen steps the marble threshold rose, + And brazen plates the cedar beams enclose; + The rafters are with brazen coverings crowned; + The lofty doors on brazen hinges sound. + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK I. + +Entering this temple, AEneas was astonished to find the walls covered +with paintings representing scenes of the Trojan war. + + He saw, in order painted on the wall, + Whatever did unhappy Troy befall; + The wars that fame around the world had blown, + All to the life, and every leader known. + He stopped, and weeping said: "O friend! e'en here! + The monuments of Trojan woes appear!" + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK I. + +Amongst the pictures, AEneas recognized one of himself performing +deeds of valor in the thick of the fight. While he and his companion, +both still invisible, were gazing with admiration upon those scenes +Queen Dido came into the temple, attended by a numerous train of +warriors, and took her seat upon a high-raised throne. Presently there +appeared a number of Trojans advancing towards the queen, and AEneas +rejoiced to see that they were some of his own people belonging to the +ships that had been separated from him during the storm. They had been +cast ashore on a different part of the coast, and not hearing of the +safe arrival of AEneas, they were now come to beg the help and +protection of Dido. Having heard their story, which Il-i'o-neus, one +of their number, briefly related, the queen bade them dismiss their +fears, promising that she would give them whatever assistance they +needed, and send out messengers to search the Libyan coasts for their +leader AEneas. But at this point the mist that encompassed AEneas and +his companion suddenly vanished and the hero stood forth, beheld by +all, his face resembling that of a god. + + The Trojan chief appeared in open sight + August in visage, and serenely bright. + His mother-goddess, with her hands divine, + Had formed his curling locks, and made his temples shine, + And given his rolling eyes a sparkling grace, + And breathed a youthful vigor on his face. + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK I. + +AEneas now made himself known to the queen and thanked her for her +kindness to his people. Dido was astonished at the sudden appearance +of the hero, of whom she had already heard much. Her father, Belus, +she said, had told her of the fall of Troy and of the name of AEneas, +and having herself suffered many misfortunes, she had learned to +have pity for the distressed. + + "For I myself, like you, have been distressed; + Till heaven afforded me this place of rest; + Like you, an alien in a land unknown, + I learn to pity woes so like my own." + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK I. + +Then she invited the hero into the royal apartments where a grand +banquet was prepared in his honor. She also caused a supply of +provisions to be taken to his people on the shore--twenty oxen, a +hundred swine, and a hundred fat lambs. Meanwhile AEneas sent Achates +to bring his son Ascanius to the city, bidding him at the same time to +take with him presents for the queen, costly and beautiful things that +had been saved from the ruins of Troy--a mantle embroidered with gold, +a scepter which had belonged to I-li'o-ne, King Priam's daughter, and +a necklace strung with pearls. + +At the banquet Queen Dido sat on a golden couch, surrounded by the +Trojan chiefs and her Tyrian lords. By her side was seated the +handsome youth whom Achates had brought from the ships as the son of +AEneas. Dido admired the beautiful boy and fondled him in her arms +little thinking that it was Cupid, the god of love, whom Venus had +sent to the banquet under the appearance of Iulus. + + Unhappy Dido little thought what guest, + How dire a god she drew so near her breast. + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK I. + +The real Ascanius meantime lay in peaceful slumber in a sacred grove +in the island of Cyprus, to which Venus had borne him away. + + Lulled in her lap, amidst a train of Loves, + She gently bears him to her blissful groves; + Then with a wreath of myrtle crowns his head, + And softly lays him on a flowery bed. + DRYDEN, AEneid BOOK 1. + +And so Queen Dido entertained the chiefs of Troy and of Carthage, with +the god of love seated beside her on her golden couch. A hundred maids +and as many pages attended upon the guests. After the viands were +removed, I-o'pas, the Tyrian minstrel and poet, played upon his gilded +lyre, and sang about the wondrous things in the heavens and on earth. + + The various labors of the wandering moon, + And whence proceed the eclipses of the sun; + The original of men and beasts; and whence + The rains arise, and fires their warmth dispense; + What shakes the solid earth; what cause delays + The summer nights, and shortens winter days. + DRYDEN, AEneid. BOOK I. + +The song of Iopas was applauded by the entire assemblage. Then Queen +Dido after asking Aeneas many questions about Priam and Hector, and +Achilles, and Memnon, and Diomede and other heroes of the Trojan war, +begged him to tell the whole story from the beginning. "Come, my +guest," said she, "relate to us from the very first the stratagems of +the Greeks, the adventures of your friends, and your own wanderings." + +It was in compliance with this request that Aeneas, as has been said, +recounted the history (already given) of the ruin of Troy, and of his +own misfortunes, commencing with the artifice of the wooden horse, and +ending with the storm which drove his ships upon the Carthaginian +coast. The events of the story extended over a period of seven years, +for it was now that length of time since the fatal "peace offering" +brought destruction on the city of Priam. + + + +IV. DIDO'S LOVE--THE FUNERAL GAMES--SHIPS BURNED BY THE WOMEN. + +Queen Dido was much interested in the story told by Aeneas, but more +so in the hero himself. His many virtues, the honors and glories of +his race, made a strong impression on her mind; his looks and words +were imprinted on her heart. In short, the Carthaginian queen was in +love with the Trojan prince. She confided her secret to her sister +Anna, and she said that if she had not vowed, on the death of her dear +husband Sichaeus, never again to unite with any one in the bond of +marriage, she might think of giving her hand to her noble guest. + +Sister Anna knew that such a marriage would be a great advantage to +Carthage, which might need brave defenders like the Trojans, since +there were many warlike princes in that part of Africa, who might some +time attack the new city. And if the Trojan arms were joined to those +of Carthage, both would be strong enough to resist the most powerful +enemy, and the new kingdom would become great and flourishing. "Let us +therefore," said she, "pray to the gods for help and at the same time +endeavor by all means to detain our Trojan guests as long as possible +upon our shore." + +The queen listened to her sister's advice with pleasure, more +especially as it was in accord with her own feelings. Her scruples +about a second marriage soon vanished, and so she continued to +entertain the Trojans and their chief with princely hospitality. + + And now she leads the Trojan chief along + The lofty walls, amidst the busy throng; + Displays her Tyrian wealth, and rising town, + Which love, without his labor makes his own. + This pomp she shows, to tempt her wandering guest: + Her faltering tongue forbids to speak the rest. + When day declines and feasts renew the night, + Still on his face she feeds her famished sight; + She longs again to hear the prince relate + His own adventures, and the Trojan fate. + He tells it o'er and o'er; but still in vain; + For still she begs to hear it once again. + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK IV + +Meanwhile the goddess Juno, watching the course of events, also saw +the advantage, to her favorite city, of a union with the Trojan chief. +If he and his people, she thought, could be persuaded to settle in +Carthage, that city and not the long talked of Rome, would come to be +the center of power and the ruler of the world. She therefore proposed +to Venus a treaty of "eternal peace" on the condition of a marriage +between Aeneas and Dido. + + "Your Trojan with my Tyrian let us join; + So Dido shall be yours, AEneas mine-- + One common kingdom, one united line." + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK IV. + +Venus was not at all deceived by this plausible speech. She well +understood the motive and purpose of Juno to secure future power and +glory for Carthage and divert from Rome the empire of the world, +nevertheless she answered in mild words saying, "Who could be so +foolish as to reject such an alliance, and prefer to be at war with +the queen of heaven? Yet there is a difficulty. I do not know whether +it is the pleasure of Jupiter that the Tyrians and Trojans should +dwell together in one city. Will he approve the union of the two +nations? Perhaps, however, you, who are his wife, may be able to +induce him to do so. It is for you, then, to lead the way, and where +you lead I shall follow." + +But another obstacle stood in the way of Juno's proposed alliance. +There was at that time a certain African king named I-ar'bas, a very +important personage, for he was a son of Jupiter. It was from him that +Dido when she first came to Libya had bought the ground to build her +city. Now Iarbas wished to have Dido for his wife, and he had asked +her to marry him, but she had refused. Great was his anger, therefore, +when he heard that the Trojan chief had been received and honored +in Carthage and that a marriage between him and the queen was talked +of as a certain thing. So he went to the temple of his father Jupiter, +and complained bitterly of the conduct of Dido in rejecting himself +and taking a foreign prince into her kingdom to be its ruler. The king +of heaven, naturally enough sympathising with his son, gave ear to his +complaint and he forthwith dispatched Mercury with a message to +AEneas, bidding him to depart instantly from Carthage. This command +the swift-winged god, having sped down from Olympus, and sought out +the Trojan hero, delivered in impressive words. + + "All powerful Jove + Who sways the world below and heaven above, + Has sent me down with this severe command: + What means thy lingering in the Libyan land? + If glory cannot move a mind so mean, + Nor future praise from flitting pleasure wean, + Regard the fortunes of thy rising heir: + The promised crown let young Ascanius wear, + To whom the Ausonian sceptre, and the state + Of Rome's imperial name, is owed by fate." + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK IV. + +The command filled AEneas with astonishment and fear. He knew that he +must obey, but how could he break the intelligence to Dido, or what +excuse could he offer for so sudden a departure? + + What should he say, or how should he begin? + What course alas! remains, to steer between + The offended lover and the powerful queen. + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK IV. + +There being, however, no middle course, Aeneas directed his chiefs to +get ready the ships, call together the crews, and prepare their arms, +and to do all as quietly and secretly as possible. Meanwhile he +himself would watch for a favorable opportunity of obtaining the +queen's consent to their departure. + + Himself, meantime, the softest hours would choose, + Before the love-sick lady heard the news, + And move her tender mind, by slow degrees + To suffer what the sovereign power decrees. + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK IV. + +But Dido soon discovered what the Trojans were about, and she sent for +AEneas and reproached him in angry words for his deception and +ingratitude. Then her anger gave way to grief and tears, and she +implored him to alter his resolution, declaring that if he would thus +suddenly leave her she must surely die. AEneas was in deep distress at +the spectacle of the sorrowing queen, yet he dared not yield to her +entreaties, since it was the decree of the fates and the command of +Jupiter that he should remain no longer in Carthage. + +The Trojans therefore hastened their preparations and were soon ready +to set sail; but there came another warning conveyed to them by the +god Mercury, who, while AEneas was asleep in his ship, appeared to +him in a dream, bidding him to speed away that very night, for if he +waited until morning he would find the harbor filled with queen Dido's +fleet to prevent his departure. Starting from his couch AEneas quickly +roused his companions and gave the order for instantly putting to sea. + + "Haste to your oars! your crooked anchors weigh, + And speed your flying sails, and stand to sea! + A god commands! he stood before my sight, + And urged me once again to speedy flight." + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK IV. + +Promptly the order of the chief was obeyed, and soon the Trojan +vessels were sailing away from the city of Dido. And at dawn of +morning the unhappy queen, looking forth from her watch tower, beheld +them far out at sea. Then she prayed that there might be eternal +enmity between the descendants of AEneas and the people of Carthage, +and that a man would come of her nation who would persecute the Trojan +race with fire and sword. + + "These are my prayers, and this my dying will; + And you, my Tyrians, every curse fulfill: + Perpetual hate and mortal wars proclaim + Against the prince, the people, and the name. + These grateful offerings on my grave bestow; + Nor league, nor love, the hostile nations know! + Now and from hence in every future age, + When rage excites your arms, and strength supplies the rage, + Rise some avenger of our Libyan blood; + With fire and sword pursue the perjured brood: + Our arms, our seas, our shores, opposed to theirs; + And the same hate descend on all our heirs!" + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK IV. + +Vergil thus makes Dido prophesy the long conflict between Rome and +Carthage, (known as the Punic wars) and the achievements of the famous +Carthaginian general, Han'ni-bal, who carried the war into the heart +of Italy (218 B. C.) and defeated the Romans in several great battles. + +In her grief at the departure of AEneas, the unhappy queen resolved to +put an end to her life. She bade her servants erect in the inner court +yard of her palace a lofty pile of wood, called a funeral pyre, and +upon it to place an image of AEneas as well as the arms he had left +behind him. Then mounting the pyre, to which flaming torches had been +applied, she stabbed herself with her false lover's sword, and so +died. + +The Trojans from their ships, saw the smoke and flame ascending from +the palace of Dido. They knew not the cause, yet AEneas, suspecting +what had happened, deeply lamented the fate of the unhappy queen. + + The cause unknown; yet his presaging mind + The fate of Dido from the fire divined. + Dire auguries from hence the Trojans draw; + Till neither fires nor shining shores they saw. + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK IV. + +The fleet was no sooner out of sight of the Libyan coast than the +pilot Palinurus observed signs of a storm. He proposed, therefore, +that they should make for the Sicilian shore, which was not far +distant. AEneas gladly consented, for he wished to stand again upon +the spot where his father's bones were laid. Moreover the good king +A-ces'tes, who ruled in that part of the island, was a Trojan by +descent, and he had hospitably received the wanderers on their former +visit. They, therefore, turned the prows of their galleys towards +Sicily, and soon reached Drepanum, where they were met and welcomed by +Acestes, who from a hill top had seen their vessels approaching the +shore. + +Next day AEneas, accompanied by king Acestes, and a great multitude of +people, proceeded to the grave of Anchises where they erected altars, +and according to the custom of the times, poured wine and milk on the +ground, as an offering to the gods. Fresh flowers were then scattered +on the tomb. While these ceremonies were being performed all present +were startled by the appearance of a huge serpent with scales of +golden hue, which suddenly glided from beneath the tomb, trailed among +the bowls or goblets containing the wine and milk, tasted slightly of +the contents, and then returned into the vault. + + Betwixt the rising altars, and around, + The sacred monster shot along the ground; + With harmless play amidst the bowls he passed, + And with his lolling tongue assayed the taste: + Thus fed with holy food, the wondrous guest + Within the hollow tomb retired to rest. + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK V. + +AEneas believed that this serpent was an attendant on the shade of +Anchises. He supposed, therefore, that his father was now elevated to +the dignity of a god, for most of the gods had inferior deities +assigned to them as ministers or messengers. + +Besides the sacrifices and other ceremonies at the tomb, there were +games and athletic exercises in honor of Anchises, this also being one +of the customs of the ancients in paying tribute to the memory of +their dead heroes. The principal event in the games was a ship race in +which the most skilful of the Trojan mariners took part. In this +contest Mnes'theus with a ship named _Pristis_, and Clo-an'-thus +commanding the _Scylla_ performed wonderful feats of seamanship. So +equally were they matched and so well did they manage their vessels +that both would probably have reached the goal or winning post +together, had it not been for the interference of the gods. The goal +was a branch of an oak tree fixed to a small rock in the bay facing +the beach on which the spectators were assembled. As the _Scylla_ was +approaching the rock on the home run, the _Pristis_, which had been +pressing close behind, shot alongside, and was almost beak to beak +with its competitor. Then Cloanthus stretching forth his arms to +heaven, prayed the gods of the sea to help him at that critical +moment, promising that he would offer sacrifices of thanksgiving on +their altars, if he should win the race. His prayer was quickly heard. +From their palaces in the deep, the Ne-re'ids, Neptune's band of +attendants and assistants, rushed to his aid, and with his mighty +hand Por-tu'nus, the god of harbors, coming behind the _Scylla_, +pushed the vessel along, speeding her forward more swiftly than the +wind. + + And old Portunus with his breadth of hand, + Pushed on and sped the galley to the land, + Swift as a shaft, or winged wind, she flies, + And darting to the port, obtains the prize. + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK V. + +Cloanthus was declared victor and received the first prize--a rich +mantle embroidered in gold. The second prize was given to Mnestheus, +and suitable rewards were also bestowed on the crews. After the ship +race AEneas and the vast multitude of Trojans and Sicilians proceeded +to a grassy plain not far from the shore where the other games were +held. The first was a foot race in which a large number took part. +Among them were Eu-ry'a-lus and Ni'sus, Trojan youths famed for their +mutual friendship, and Di-o'res, a young prince of Priam's royal line. +Among the Sicilian competitors were Sa'li-us and Pa'tron, and two +young men, El'y-mus and Pan'o-pes, companions of King Acestes. + +[Illustration with caption: THE FOOT RACE. (Drawn by Birch)] + +The signal having been given, the racers darted off like lightning. +Nisus quickly took the lead springing far away ahead of the rest. +Next, but at a long distance came Salius, and after him Euryalus, +followed by Elymus, with Diores close by his side. Nisus would have +reached the goal first, but just as he was approaching it, he lost his +foothold at a slippery spot on the course, and fell headlong upon the +ground. Seeing then that it was not possible for him to win, he +thought of his friend Euryalus, and rising from the ground he set +himself right in the way of Salius who was rushing forward. + + E'en then affection claims its part; + Euryalus is in his heart; + Uprising from the sodden clay, + He casts himself in Salius' way, + And Salius tripped and sprawling lay. + CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK V. + +This gave the victory to Euryalus, but Salius protested against the +foul play by which he had been defeated, and claimed that he was +entitled to the first prize. AEneas, however, decided that the prize +should go to him who had actually reached the goal first. +Nevertheless, he gave Salius a lion's hide, heavy with shaggy fur and +gilt claws. Nisus, too, claimed a reward, and AEneas sympathising +with his misfortune, presented to him a shield of beautiful +workmanship, which had been taken from the pillars of Neptune's temple +in the city of Troy. + +Games of boxing and archery--shooting with bows and arrows--came next. +In the latter contest, king Acestes and Mnestheus took part. The +other competitors were Eu-ry'ti-on and Hip-poc'o-on. For a mark to +shoot at, they tied a pigeon to the top of a tall mast set firmly in +the ground. Hippocoon won the first chance in the drawing of lots. His +arrow struck the mast with such force that it fixed itself in the +wood. The arrow of Mnestheus broke the cord by which the pigeon was +attached to the mast, and as she flew off, Eurytion discharged his +shaft with so true an aim that it killed the bird. Acestes, who had +drawn the last lot, now fired, though there was nothing to shoot at, +but his arrow as it winged its way high into the air, presented to the +spectators a marvelous sight. + + E'en in the mid expanse of skies + The arrow kindles as it flies, + Behind it draws a fiery glare, + Then wasting, vanishes in air. + CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK V. + +AEneas interpreted this wonderful event as a sign of the will of the +gods that Acestes should receive the honors of victory, and so he +presented to him a goblet embossed in gold, which bad belonged to his +father Anchises. But prizes were given to Eurytion also and to the +other archers. Then followed the last of the games of the day, a grand +exhibition of horsemanship, in which a number of the Trojan youth,-- +chief amongst them the boy Iulus,--took the leading part. + +Thus did AEneas pay honor to his father's memory. Meantime the +unrelenting Juno was devising schemes to prevent the hero and his +companions from reaching their promised land. With this object she +sent her messenger I'ris down to the Trojan women, who sat together on +the shore while the men were assembled at their games, for at these +exercises females were not allowed to be spectators. As the women sat +on the beach, looking out upon the sea, they thought and talked of the +hardships they had endured during their long wanderings, and lamented +their wretched lot in having still so much to suffer before they could +find permanent homes to settle in. + + "Alas! (said one) what oceans yet remain + For us to sail! what labors to sustain!" + All take the word, and, with a general groan + Implore the gods for peace, and places of their own. + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK V. + +Iris joined in these complaints, and they thought she was one of +themselves, for she had assumed the appearance and dress of a Trojan, +and pretended to be Ber'o-e, a Trojan woman who was just then on a +sick bed in her own chamber. "Unhappy are we," cried the false Beroe; +"far better for us would it have been if we had died by the hands of +the Greeks before the walls of our native city! What miserable doom +does fortune reserve for us? The seventh year since the destruction of +Troy has already passed, and yet, after having wandered over so many +lands and seas, we still pursue an ever-fleeing Italy; and we are +tossed on the waves. Why should we not settle here in Sicily? Come +then and let us burn those cursed ships. For in my sleep the +prophetess Cassandra seemed to present me with flaming brands and to +say, 'Seek here for a new Troy, here is your home.' Therefore let +there be no further delay. Now is the time for action." + +With these words she seized a brand from a fire on an altar close by, +and hurled it towards the ships. But at this point one of the women, +Pyr'go by name, who had just then joined the party, discovered that it +was not Beroe who had been speaking, for she recognized in the eyes +and voice and gait, the resemblance of a goddess. + + "No Beroe, matrons, have you here, + See, breathing in her face appear + Signs of celestial life; + Observe her eyes, how bright they shine; + Mien, accent, walk are all divine. + Beroe herself I left but now + Sick and outworn, with clouded brow, + That she alone should fail to pay + Due reverence to Anchises' day." + CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK V + +As Pyrgo ceased speaking, Iris, assuming her own form, mounted into +the sky. Then the Trojan women, astonished at what they had seen, and +excited almost to madness, cried out with a loud voice, and, seizing +brands from the altars, they rushed to the ships. + + They shriek aloud; they snatch with impious hands + The food of altars; firs and flaming brands, + Green boughs and saplings, mingled in their haste, + And smoking torches, on the ships they cast. + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK V. + +The ships were now on fire and the alarm quickly reaching the men, +they rushed to the shore and endeavored to subdue the flames, while +the women already regretting their folly, fled in terror from the +scene. But in spite of the efforts of the men the fire rapidly spread, +and it seemed as if the entire Trojan fleet was doomed to destruction. +Then the pious AEneas, with upraised hands, prayed to Jupiter for +help, and immediately there came a great rain-storm, and the water +descended in torrents, until every spark was extinguished. Four of the +ships, however, were destroyed. + +AEneas was much distressed by this misfortune, and he began to think +that it might be better, even in disregard of the fates, and the +prophecies, to remain in Sicily, than to make any further attempt to +reach the promised Italian land. But one of his people, an old and a +very wise man, named Nau'tes, strongly urged that the will of the gods +ought to be obeyed. As to those who were weary of the enterprise--the +aged, the feeble, and such of the women as were not willing to undergo +further fatigues at sea-he advised that they should be left under the +protection of Acestes, who, being himself of Trojan blood, would +doubtless grant them a settlement in his kingdom. + + "Your friend Acestes is of Trojan kind; + To him disclose the secrets of your mind; + Here you may build a common town for all, + And, from Acestes' name, Acesta call." + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK V. + +While AEneas was still in doubt what course to pursue, his father +appeared to him in a dream and bade him do as Nautes had advised. +Acestes willingly consented, and so a Trojan colony was formed in +Sicily, and AEneas marked out with a plow the boundaries of the new +city, which he called after the king's name. Soon afterwards +preparations for departure were made, and AEneas set sail, accompanied +by all of his people who were still willing to follow his fortunes, +and strong enough to endure further toils and hardships. + +They had a safe voyage to Italy, for Venus had entreated Neptune to +protect her son and his fleet. + +The god of the ocean was favorable, and he promised to take care that +the Trojans should reach their destination in safety. But there was to +be one exception. "One life," he said, "shall be given for many." The +victim was the famous pilot Palinurus, and the poet tells us that his +fate was brought about by the action of Som'nus, the god of sleep. + +This god taking upon himself the likeness of Phor'bas, one of the sons +of Priam, who was killed during the Trojan war, appeared to Palinurus +during one of the watches of the night, and tried to persuade him to +lie down and sleep, while he himself would stand at the helm and steer +the ship. But Palinurus refused to quit his post. Then the treacherous +god waved before his eyes a branch that had been dipped in the Stygian +Le'the, the fabled river of forgetfulness, and soon the pilot dropped +off into a deep slumber, during which Somnus leaning heavily upon him, +plunged him headlong into the waves. + +AEneas was deeply grieved at the loss of his faithful pilot. He +himself took charge of the ship, and the whole fleet, secure under the +protection of Neptune, reached the Italian coast without further +mishap. + + + +V. THE SIBYL OF CUMAE--THE GOLDEN BOUGH--IN THE REGIONS OF THE DEAD. + +AEneas was now in Italy, but not in the part of it where the destined +city was to be founded. The prophet, Helenus, as we have seen, had +directed him that when he reached the Hesperian land he should visit +the Cu-mae'an Sibyl, and learn from her what difficulties he was yet +to encounter, and how to overcome them. Cumae, where the Sibyl dwelt, +was on the coast of Cam-pa'ni-a, and to this place, therefore, AEneas +directed his course after leaving Sicily. Having safely landed, the +hero lost no time in making his way to the temple of Apollo, for in a +cave adjoining this temple and communicating with it by a hundred +doors and as many avenues or corridors, the Sibyl gave her answers. + +There were many sibyls in ancient times. The most celebrated was the +Sibyl of Cumae. She had several names, but the one adopted by Vergil +is De-iph'o-be. Apollo once fell in love with this Sibyl and he +promised to give her whatever she should ask if she would marry him. +Deiphobe asked to live as many years as she had grains of sand in her +hand at the time. She forgot, however, to ask for the continuance of +health and youth, of which she was then in possession. Apollo granted +her request but she refused to perform her part of the bargain, and +soon afterwards she became aged and feeble. She had already lived +seven hundred years when AEneas came into Italy, and she had three +centuries more to live before her years would be as numerous as the +grains of sand which she had held in her hand. + +As AEneas with several of his companions approached the cave, they +were met at the outer entrance by the Sibyl herself. Then the Trojan +hero, after a prayer to Apollo, begged the good will of the prophetess +that her answers might be favorable to him and his people. + + "And thou, O sacred maid, inspired to see + The event of things in dark futurity! + Give me, what heaven has promised to my fate, + To conquer and command the Latian state; + To fix my wandering gods, and find a place + For the long exiles of the Trojan race." + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK VI. + +Nor did AEneas forget to beg the Sibyl, as Helenus had directed him, +to give her revelations by word of mouth, and not on leaves of trees, +as was her custom. + + "But, oh! commit not thy prophetic mind + To flitting leaves, the sport of every wind, + Lest they disperse in air our empty fate; + Write not, but, what the powers ordain, relate." + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK VI. + +The Sibyl graciously consented, and then the spirit of prophecy having +moved her, she told AEneas of the dangers that yet lay before him, +dangers far more formidable than any he had hitherto encountered. + + "Escaped the dangers of the watery reign, + Yet more and greater ills by land remain. + The coast so long desired (nor doubt the event), + Thy troops shall reach, but, having reached, repent. + Wars! horrid wars, I view!--a field of blood, + And Tiber rolling with a purple flood." + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK VI. + +But AEneas was not discouraged by this terrible prophecy. He was +ready, he said, to meet the worst that could come, and now he was +about to undertake an enterprise more arduous than any the soothsayers +had told him of. This was a descent into the regions of Pluto--the +land of the dead--to visit the shade of his father, who in a dream had +requested him to do so, telling him that the Cumaean Sibyl would be +his guide, for the entrance to the Lower World was near Lake +A-ver'nus, not far from the cave of the prophetess. + +AEneas, therefore, entreated the Sibyl to consent to be his conductor +that so he might comply with his father's wish. In reply to this +request the prophetess warned the Trojan chief that the undertaking +was one of great danger. The descent into the kingdom of Pluto, +she said, was easy, but, to return to the upper world--that was a task +difficult for mortals to accomplish. Few there were who had entered +the gloomy realms of Dis, to whom it had been permitted ever to +retrace their steps. + + "The journey down to the abyss + Is prosperous and light; + The palace-gates of gloomy Dis + Stand open day and night; + But upward to retrace the way + And pass into the light of day, + There comes the stress of labor; this + May task a hero's might." + CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK VI. + +Nevertheless if AEneas were still determined on this perilous journey +she was willing to aid him and be his guide. But one thing, she said, +must first be done. In the woods around the cave was a tree on which +grew a bough with leaves and twigs of gold. + +No mortal could enter Hades without this bough to present to +Pro-ser'pi-na, the queen of Pluto. When the bough was torn off, a +second, also of gold, immediately sprung up. It had to be sought +for diligently, and when discovered it had to be grasped firmly with +the hand. If the fates should be favorable to the enterprise, the +bough could be plucked easily; otherwise, the strength of man could +not tear it from the tree, nor could it be lopped off even with the +sharpest sword. + +Here was a formidable difficulty. How was AEneas to find out the +wonderful tree? The Sibyl told him only that it was in the woods, and +the searching might be long and fruitless. But again his never-failing +friend came to his aid. While he was searching the wood with some of +his companions, two doves suddenly appeared, and alighted on the +ground before them. AEneas knew that they had come from his goddess- +mother, the dove being the favorite bird of Venus. + + He knew his mother's birds; and thus he prayed: + "Be you my guides, with your auspicious aid, + And lead my footsteps, till the branch be found, + Whose glittering shadow gilds the sacred ground." + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK VI. + +The branch was soon found, for the doves, fluttering away, yet keeping +within view of AEneas, presently perched upon a tree, and from out the +foliage of this tree, as the Trojan chief approached it, there flashed +upon his eyes the gleam of the golden bough. Eagerly he plucked off +the branch, and gladly bore it to the cave of the Sibyl. + +They now set out on their perilous journey. At the mouth of the gloomy +cavern by the side of Lake Avernus, which was the opening to the road +that led to Hades--the kingdom of the dead--they offered sacrifices to +the gods. Then they plunged into the cave, the Sibyl going first, and +AEneas following with sword drawn, as his guide had directed. Many +strange and terrible sights they saw on the way. + + Full in the midst an aged elm + Broods darkly o'er the shadowy realm; + There dream-land phantoms rest the wing, + Men say, and 'neath its foliage cling, + And many monstrous shapes beside. + There Centaurs, Scyllas, fish and maid, + There Briareus' hundred-handed shade. + CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK VI. + +AEneas was about to rush on these monsters with his sword, when the +Sibyl informed him that they were no real beings but merely phantoms. +Then they came to the Styx--the river of Hades, over which the +ferryman Cha'ron, grim and long-bearded, conveyed the departed +spirits, in his iron-colored boat, using a pole to steer with. + + The watery passage Charon keeps + Sole warden of these murky deeps. + CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK VI. + +No living being was permitted to enter Charon's boat, or to cross the +Stygian river without the passport of the golden bough. This could be +obtained only by special favor of some powerful god, and few had been +so favored. Even the dead, if their bodies had not received burial +rites, were refused admission to the boat, until they had wandered on +the shore for a hundred years. So the Sibyl told AEneas when he +inquired why some were ferried over, while others were driven back, +lamenting that they were not allowed to pass to their destined abode. + + "The ghosts rejected are the unhappy crew + Deprived of sepulchres and funeral due; + The boatman, Charon; those, the buried host, + He ferries over to the further coast; + Nor dares his transport vessel cross the waves + With such whose bones are not composed in graves. + A hundred years they wander on the shore; + At length, their penance done, are wafted o'er." + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK VI. + +One of these unhappy spirits AEneas recognised as that of his pilot +Palinurus, who told the hero that he had not been drowned, or plunged +into the sea by a god, for he did not know of the treachery of Somnus. +He had fallen overboard, he said, and kept afloat for three days, +clinging to the helm, which he had dragged away with him. On the +fourth day he had swam ashore on the Italian coast, and would have +been out of danger, had not the cruel natives there fallen upon him +with their swords. His body he said was now tossing about in the +waters of the harbor of Ve'li-a, and he begged AEneas to seek it out +and give it burial, or, if this was impossible, to devise some means +of helping him across the Stygian river. This latter proposal the +Sibyl forbade as impious, saying that the decrees of the gods could +not be thus altered. But she consoled Palinurus by predicting that the +people of Velia should be punished by plagues from heaven until they +erected a tomb to his memory, and that the place should forever bear +his name. The modern name of the place is _Capo di Palinuro_--Cape of +Palinurus. + +[Illustration with caption: AENEAS CROSSING THE STYX. (Drawn by +Varian.)] + +AEneas and his guide now approached the river. Charon at once seeing +that they were mortal beings, roughly ordered them to advance no +further. + + "Mortal, whate'er, who this forbidden path + In arms presum'st to tread! I charge thee, stand, + And tell thy name, and business in the land! + Know, this the realm of night--the Stygian shore; + My boat conveys no living bodies o'er." + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK VI. + +The Sibyl answered that her companion was the Trojan AEneas, +illustrious for piety and valor, who desired to go down to the shades +to see and converse with his father Anchises. Then from underneath +her robe she produced the golden bough. + + No more was needful; for the gloomy god + Stood mute with awe, to see the golden rod; + Admired the destined offering to his queen-- + A venerable gift, so rarely seen. + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK VI. + +The two mortals were now received into the boat and soon ferried +safely to the other side. There they saw the three-headed watchdog +Cer'be-rus, who made the dreary region resound with his frightful +barking. The Sibyl flung him a cake composed of honey and drugged +grain, which he greedily swallowed. Then the monster fell into a deep +sleep. The passage being thus free, they proceeded on their way. Soon +they came to the place where the judge Mi'nos sat, examining into the +lives and crimes of departed mortals. + + Minos, the strict inquisitor, appears; + And lives and crimes, with his assessors, hears. + Round, in his urn, the blended balls he rolls, + Absolves the just, and dooms the guilty souls. + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK VI. + +In one of the outer regions of the shadowy world he had now entered, a +region which the poet calls the "Mourning Fields," AEneas beheld the +shade of the unhappy Carthaginian queen. + + Whom when the Trojan hero hardly knew, + Obscure in shades, and with a doubtful view, + With tears he first approached the sullen shade; + And as his love inspired him, thus he said: + "Unhappy queen! then is the common breath + Of rumor true, in your reported death, + And I, alas! the cause?--By Heaven, I vow, + And all the powers that rule the realms below, + Unwilling I forsook your friendly state, + Commanded by the gods, and forced by Fate." + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK VI. + +But the mournful shade made no answer to the Trojan hero's vows and +regrets. + + Disdainfully she looked; then turning round, + She fixed her eyes unmoved upon the ground; + And, what he says and swears, regards no more + Than the deaf rocks, when the loud billows roar: + But whirled away, to shun his hateful sight, + Hid in the forest, and the shades of night: + Then sought Sichaeus through the shady grove, + Who answered all her cares, and equalled all her love. + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK VI. + +They next came to the Field of Heroes, where AEneas saw the shades of +many of his brave comrades of the Trojan war. The ghosts crowded round +him, standing on the right hand and on the left. Nor were they +satisfied with seeing him once. They wished to detain him a long time, +to talk with him and learn the cause of his strange visit. But the +Sibyl warned him that they must hasten forward, and presently they +came to a place where the path divided itself into two. The right led +by the walls of Pluto's palace to the happy Field of E-lys'ium, the +land of the blessed. The left path led to Tar'ta-rus, the abode of the +wicked. At this place AEneas saw a vast prison, inclosed by a triple +wall, around which flowed the Phleg'e-thon, a river of fire. In front +of it was a huge gate of solid adamant. + + There rolls swift Plegethon, with thund'ring sound, + His broken rocks, and whirls his surges round. + On mighty columns rais'd sublime are hung + The massy gates impenetrably strong. + In vain would men, in vain would gods essay, + To hew the beams of adamant away. + PITT, _AEneid_, BOOK VI. + +Deep groans and the grating of iron and the clanking of chains were +heard from out these walls. None except the lost souls the Sibyl said, +were allowed to pass the threshold of Tartarus, and the punishments +there, and the crimes for which the wicked suffered, were such that +she could not tell them though she had a hundred tongues. + + "Had I a hundred mouths, a hundred tongues, + And throats of brass, inspired with iron lungs, + I could not half those horrid crimes repeat, + Nor half the punishment those crimes have met." + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK VI. + +Some were punished by being tied to perpetually revolving wheels of +fire. This was the fate of a king named Ix-i'on. Others, like the +robber Sis'y-phus, were condemned to roll huge stones up a hill, and +just on reaching the summit, the stones would slip from their grasp +and roll to the foot of the hill, and the unhappy beings had to roll +them up again, and so on forever. Others were tortured like +Pi-rith'o-us, who stood under a great hanging rock, which threatened +every moment to tumble down upon him, keeping him in constant terror. + +The Sibyl told AEneas of these and many other punishments appointed by +the gods for bad men. Then they hastened to Pluto's palace, and the +hero fixed the golden bough on the door, after which, proceeding on +their way, they soon came to the Elysian Fields--the abode of those +who while on earth had led good and useful lives. Here were delightful +green fields and shady groves; the sky was bright, the air pure and +balmy. The happy spirits were engaged in sports, such as had been +their pleasure when in the world above. Some were wrestling on the +grassy plain, others exercising with spear and bow, others singing and +dancing. + + Their airy limbs in sports they exercise, + And, on the green, contend the wrestler's prize. + Some, in heroic verse, divinely sing; + Others in artful measures lead the ring. + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK VI. + +On the bank of a beautiful river--the E-rid'a-nus--flowing over sands +of gold, was a band of spirits whose heads were crowned with white +garlands. These were the spirits of patriots who had fought for +their country, poets who had sung the praises of the gods, and men who +had improved life by the invention of useful arts. In this band was +Mu-sae'us, the most ancient of poets. Approaching him the Sibyl +inquired where Anchises might be found. "None of us here," answered +Musaeus, "has a fixed abode. We dwell in shady groves, or lie on the +banks of crystal streams. But come over this eminence and I will +direct you to him you seek." + +Musaeus then led them to a spot from which they could view the bright +Elysian fields around, and pointed to a green dale where at last they +beheld Anchises. The hero hastened to approach his father, eager to +embrace him, and thrice did he attempt to throw his arms about his +neck, but thrice did the form escape his hold, for it was nothing but +thin air. + + Thrice, around his neck, his arms he threw + And thrice the flitting shadow slipped away, + Like winds, or empty dreams, that fly the day. + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK VI. + +Anchises told his son much about the dwellers in Elysium. On the banks +of the river Lethe--the river of forgetfulness--was a countless +multitude of spirits which, he said, were yet to live in earthly +bodies. They were the souls of unborn generations of men. Amongst +them, he pointed out to AEneas, the spirits of many of those who were +to be his own descendants in the kingdom he was to establish in Italy. + + The father-spirit leads + The priestess and his son through swarms of shades, + And takes a rising ground, from thence to see + The long procession of his progeny. + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK VI. + +From this rising ground AEneas saw the shadowy forms of future heroes +of Rome--of Rom'u-lus, who was to found the city--of Brutus, Ca-mil'lus, +Fa'bi-us, and of the mighty Caesars. + + "Lo! Caesar there and all his seed, + Iulus' progeny decreed + To pass 'neath heaven's high dome. + This, this is he, so oft the theme + Of your prophetic fancy's dream, + Augustus Caesar, Jove's own strain." + CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK VI. + +Anchises next told AEneas of the wars he should have to wage, and +instructed him how to avoid or overcome every difficulty. Then he +conducted his visitors to the gates of Sleep, through which the gods +of Hades sent dreams to the upper world--true dreams through the gate +of horn, and false dreams through the gate of ivory. Here Anchises +left them. Then departing by the ivory gate from the kingdom of the +dead, they returned to the Cumaean cave, and AEneas forthwith +proceeded to his ships. + + Sleep gives his name to portals twain; + One all of horn, they say, + Through which authentic spectres gain + Quick exit into day, + And one which bright with ivory gleams, + Whence Pluto sends delusive dreams. + Conversing still, the sire attends + The travellers on their road, + And through the ivory portal sends + From forth the unseen abode. + The chief betakes him to the fleet, + Well pleased again his crew to meet. + CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK VI. + + + +VI. AENEAS ARRIVES IN LATIUM--WELCOMED BY KING LATINUS. + +The object of his visit to the Sibyl being accomplished, the Trojan +chief set sail and steered along the coast in the direction of the +promised land. But soon again he had occasion to put ashore. His +nurse, Ca-i-e'ta, having died shortly after the departure of the fleet +from Cumae, he desired to give funeral honors to her remains. This +duty performed, he named the place (modern Gaeta) in memory of his +faithful and attached old servant. + + And thou, O matron of immortal fame! + Here dying, to the shore hast left thy name; + Gaieta still the place is called from thee, + The nurse of great AEneas' infancy. + Here rest thy bones in rich Hesperia's plains; + Thy name ('tis all a ghost can have) remains. + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK VII. + +Again resuming their voyage they came near an island where dwelt the +sorceress, Cir'ce, who by her enchantments changed men into beasts. As +they passed the island the Trojans heard with horror the roaring of +lions and the howling of wolves, once human beings, but transformed by +the cruel goddess into the shape of those savage animals. Aided, +however, by favorable winds sent by the friendly Neptune, they sped +away from this dangerous spot, and soon they were near the end of +their wanderings. At the dawn of next morning they beheld a spacious +grove, through which a pleasant river, tinted with the hue of the +yellow sand, burst forth into the sea. This was the Tiber on whose +banks in the distant future was to be founded the city in which the +descendants of the Trojan prince should hold imperial sway. AEneas, +though not aware that he was so close to the destined spot, commanded +his pilots to turn the ships towards the land, and joyfully they +entered the river. All around, the Trojan chief, as he gazed upon +the scene, could hear the sweet music of the groves. + + Embowered amid the silvan scene + Old Tiber winds his banks between, + Around, gay birds of diverse wing, + Accustomed there to fly or sing, + Were fluttering on from spray to spray + And soothing ether with their lay. + CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK VII. + +The country in which the Trojans had now landed was called Latium, and +La-ti'nus was its king. Like most great kings of ancient times, he was +descended from a god. His father, Faunus, was the grandson of Saturn, +the predecessor and father of Jupiter. + +Latinus was advanced in years, and he had no male heir, but he had an +only daughter, young and beautiful, whose name was La-vin'i-a. Many of +the princes of the neighboring states eagerly sought Lavinia's hand in +marriage. Chief amongst them was Turnus, king of the Ru'tu-li, a brave +and handsome youth. Lavinia's mother, Queen A-ma'ta, favored the suit +of Turnus, and desired to have him as her son-in-law. + +But the gods had not willed it so, and they sent signs from heaven-- +signs of their disapproval of the proposed union. In the inner court +of the palace of Latinus stood a laurel tree which had been preserved +for many years with great reverence. From this tree, it was said, +Latinus had given the name Lau-ren'tines to the inhabitants of the +country. Just about the time the Trojan fleet was entering the Tiber +an immense number of bees were seen to cluster on the top of the +laurel tree, and soon linking together, feet to feet, they swung in a +strange manner from one of the boughs. The king's soothsayer explained +this to mean that a foreign hero was then coming into the country, and +that he would one day be its ruler. + +About the same time, while the princess Lavinia was bringing fire to +an altar where her father stood preparing to offer sacrifice, the +flame seemed to catch her flowing hair, and to envelop her whole body +in its glowing light, without, however, inflicting the slightest +injury. The soothsayer declared that this was a sign that Lavinia +would be great and famous, but that through her war should come on the +people. + + "The nymph who scatters flaming fires around, + Shall shine with honor, shall herself be crowned; + But, caused by her irrevocable fate, + War shall the country waste, and change the state." + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK VII. + +The king was much troubled by these events and so he went into the +wood, to the tomb of his father, Faunus, by whom answers were given in +dreams to those who, having offered sacrifices, lay down and slept +under the trees. Latinus, after performing the necessary ceremonies, +soon heard the voice of his father warning him not to give his +daughter in marriage to any prince of his own country. "A foreigner," +said he, "is coming who shall be your son-in-law, and his descendants +shall exalt our name to the stars. From his race, united with ours, +shall spring mighty men, who shall conquer and rule the world to its +farthest limits." + +King Latinus did not conceal his dream. On the contrary he proclaimed +it aloud to his people. And so the news of the arrival of the +strangers with their ships came not as a surprise to the inhabitants +of Latium. + +Meanwhile the Trojans having landed upon the Latian coast, Aeneas and +several of his chiefs, accompanied by his son Iulus, sat down under a +tall tree to refresh themselves with food and drink. They had cakes of +wheat, the last of their store, spread upon the grass, and upon these +cakes they placed wild fruits which they had gathered in the woods. +When they had eaten the fruit, they proceeded to eat the cakes, upon +which Iulus exclaimed, "What, are we eating our tables too?" The boy +had no thought of the meaning of what they had been doing. But Aeneas +joyfully recognized it as the fulfillment of the threatening prophecy +of the Harpy Celaena. The cakes were the tables, and the Trojans had +now eaten them without harm. + +Then Aeneas spoke encouraging words to his companions. "Hail, O land, +destined to us by the Fates! This is our home; this is our country. +For my father too (as I now remember), told me in Elysium these same +secrets, saying: 'When hunger shall compel you, my son, wafted to an +unknown shore, to eat up your tables, your provisions having failed, +then you may hope for a settlement after your toils, and in that place +you may found your first city.' Here was that famine of which he +spoke. Our calamities are now at an end. Let us, then, with the first +light of to-morrow's sun, explore this country, ascertain who are its +inhabitants, and where their cities are." + +Next day, when Aeneas learned what country he was in, and the name of +its king, he sent ambassadors--a hundred of his chiefs--to wait on +Latinus and beg his friendship and assistance, furnishing them with +costly gifts for the king. The chiefs hastened on their mission to +Latinus, and Aeneas meanwhile began to mark out the boundaries of a +new city. + +When the Trojan ambassadors reached Lau-ren-tum, the capital of +Latium, they were admitted to the royal palace and brought into the +presence of the king, who was seated on his throne--a magnificent +structure raised aloft on a hundred columns, around which were +numerous statues of the king's ancestors, carved in cedar wood. +Latinus, after civilly greeting the strangers, bade them say for +what purpose they had come to Italy; whether they had landed in his +country because of having missed their course at sea, or through +stress of weather. He added that whatever was the object of their +coming, they should receive kind treatment from him and his people. + +To these friendly words Ilioneus, speaking for the Trojans, replied +that it was no storm that sent them to Italy. "Willingly and with +design," said he, "have we come to your shores, O king, after having +been expelled from a kingdom once the most powerful under the sun. Our +race is derived from Jupiter himself, and our chief, Aeneas, descended +from the gods, has sent us to your court. All the world has heard of +the destruction of our city, Troy. Driven by misfortunes over many +seas, we beg for a settlement in your country. Dardanus, our ancestor, +was born in this land, and now his descendants, directed by the gods, +come to the home of their father." They then presented to the king the +costly gifts which Aeneas had sent. + + "Our prince presents with his request, + Some small remains of what his sire possessed; + This golden charger, snatched from burning Troy, + Anchises did in sacrifice employ; + This royal robe and this tiara wore + Old Priam, and this golden sceptre bore + In full assemblies, and in solemn games; + These purple vests were weaved by Dardan dames." + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK VII. + +After Ilioneus had ceased speaking, the king was silent for some time, +pondering on the words of his father which he had heard in the dream. +Aeneas, he thought, must be the foreigner, destined to be his son-in- +law, whose descendants should rule the world. Then he addressed the +Trojans, saying that what they asked should gladly be given, and +requesting them to tell their chief, Aeneas, to visit him. "Bear this +message too," said he, "from me to your king. I have a daughter whom +the gods do not permit me to give in marriage to any of our own +nation. There is a prediction that my son-in-law shall be a stranger, +and that his race shall exalt our name to the stars. I judge that your +chief is the man thus destined by the fates, and this too is my own +wish." + +Then Latinus gave valuable presents to the Trojans--to each a steed +from the royal stables, with rich purple trappings. To Aeneas himself +he sent a chariot and a pair of horses of the breed which the +sorceress, Circe, had obtained from the sun-god, her father. With +these presents, the Trojan ambassadors, mounted on their splendid +steeds, returned to their chief, and joyfully informed him of the +king's message and invitation. + +But this friendship shown to the Trojans by King Latinus was not at +all agreeable to Juno. On the contrary that unforgiving goddess was +filled with grief and anger when she saw Aeneas and his people +engaged in building their city and settling themselves in their new +home, and so she resolved to stir up strife between the Trojans and +Latinus. With this object she called to her aid A-lec'to, one of the +three terrible sisters called Furies. These were evil deities whose +usual occupation was to scourge and torment condemned souls in the +kingdom of Pluto, and drive them to the gates of Tartarus. They +sometimes also caused trouble in the upper world, by exciting +dissensions and bringing about wars. This was the service which +Juno now required, and so, addressing Alecto she requested her to stir +up discord between the people of Latium and the followers of Aeneas. + + "'Tis thine to ruin realms, o'erturn a state, + Betwixt the dearest friends to raise debate, + And kindle kindred blood to mutual hate. + Thy hand o'er towns the funeral torch displays, + And forms a thousand ills ten thousand ways. + Now, shake from out thy frightful breast, the seeds + Of envy, discord, and of cruel deeds; + Confound the peace established, and prepare + Their souls to hatred, and their hands to war." + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK VII. + +Alecto, glad to be thus employed, hastened to the palace of Latinus, +and sought out Queen Amata, who, as has already been said, desired to +have Turnus for her son-in-law. The Furies were hideous beings in +appearance, for instead of hair they had serpents coiled around their +heads. Alecto unseen by Amata, shook her terrible locks, upon which +one of the reptiles darted into the dress of the queen; and, gliding +unfelt around her body, infused into her heart a violent hatred of the +Trojans. + + Unseen, unfelt, the fiery serpent skims, + His baneful breath inspiring as he glides; + Now like a chain around her neck he rides; + Now like a fillet to her head repairs, + And with his circling volumes folds her hairs. + At first the silent venom slid with ease, + And seized her cooler senses by degrees. + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK VII. + +Amata now endeavored to turn the mind of Latinus against the proposed +marriage, but he was not to be moved from his purpose of forming an +alliance with the Trojans. Then the queen filled with anger rushed out +of the palace, as if in a frenzy, and hastening through the city +called upon the women of Latium to espouse her cause and the cause of +their country. She also carried off her daughter, and concealed her in +the mountains, to prevent her marriage with the hated Trojan. + +Having thus kindled discord in the family of Latinus, Alecto next +proceeded to Ar'de-a the Rutulian capital. Here she assumed the form +of Cal'y-be, an aged priestess of Juno's temple, and appearing to King +Turnus in a dream as he lay asleep in his palace, urged him to take up +arms against Latinus and the strangers. Turnus was not yet disposed to +take this course, and so he replied to the seeming priestess, that her +duty was to guard the statues and temples of the gods, and he advised +her to leave to men the management of affairs of peace and war. +Enraged by the words of Turnus Alecto now resumed her Fury's form. + + Her eyes grow stiffened, and with sulphur burn; + Her hideous looks, and hellish form return; + Her curling snakes with hissings fill the place, + And open all the furies of her face; + Then, darting fire from her malignant eyes, + She cast him backward as he strove to rise. + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK VII. + +Then crying out that she came from the abode of the dire sisters, and +that wars and death were in her hands, she flung a fire-brand at the +king, and disappeared. Turnus started from his sleep, in terror, and +now his breast was filled with eager desire for war. Immediately he +sent orders amongst his chiefs to prepare to defend Italy and expel +the foreigners, declaring that he and his people were a match for +Trojans and Latins combined. + +Meanwhile Alecto, her mission of discord not yet completed, appeared +among a band of Trojan youths who with Iulus at their head were +amusing themselves by hunting in the forest. The Fury hurled a fire- +brand at the hounds, and suddenly, as if seized with madness, they +rushed in pursuit of a beautiful young stag which was sporting among +the trees. This stag was a pet of Syl'vi-a, the daughter of Tyr'rheus, +one of the herdsmen of King Latinus. Iulus seeing the hounds in +pursuit, followed them, and shot at and wounded the stag. The animal +fled to the house of Tyrrheus, where Sylvia, seeing her pet covered +with blood, broke out into loud lamentations. Her father in a fit of +anger seized a weapon, and joined by some of his friends rushed upon +Iulus and his companions. The alarm quickly reaching the camp of the +Trojans several of them hastened to assist their countrymen, and a +fierce battle ensued, in which many of the Latians or Latins were +killed. Thus the evil project of Juno was accomplished. + + Then Juno thus: "The grateful work is done, + The seeds of discord sowed, the war begun; + Frauds, fears and fury, have possessed the state, + And fixed the causes of a lasting hate." + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK VII. + +And now the Latian youth, chiefly shepherds, who had taken part with +Tyrrheus, rushed from the field of battle into the city, carrying with +them the bodies of their friends who had been slain, and crying to the +gods and to King Latinus for vengeance upon the Trojans. Just then +King Turnus appeared with a force of his Rutulians, and addressed the +people in words which excited them to the highest pitch of fury. He +told them that foreigners had been invited to rule in their country, +and that the chief of the intruders was to have the princess who had +been promised to him to be his wife. + +Then a great multitude of Latians and Rutulians hastened to the palace +of King Latinus, and demanded that he should at once declare war +against the Trojans. Latinus refused to do what he knew was against +the decrees of the gods, and he warned the people that evil would come +upon them if they persevered in their mad opposition to the will of +heaven. He also warned Turnus that he would be punished for inciting +such a war, and that he should one day seek the aid of the gods, and +seek it in vain. As for himself, he said, he was an old man. Their +folly could deprive him only of a happy ending of a life which could +not be much further prolonged. He then retired to his palace, and gave +up the reins of government, leaving the people to pursue their own +course. + + He said no more, but, in his walls confined, + Shut out the woes which he too well divined; + Nor with the rising storm would vainly strive, + But left the helm, and let the vessel drive. + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK VII. + +In spite of the warning of their king, the Latians now resolved upon +war against the Trojans and they demanded that the gates of the temple +of Janus should be thrown open. Janus was the most ancient king who +reigned in Italy. When he died he was worshipped as a god, and a +magnificent temple was erected in his honor. The gates of this temple +were always open in times of war and shut in times of peace. They were +opened by the king, and in later ages, when Rome was a republic, the +president or consul performed the ceremony dressed in robes of purple +and attended by multitudes of citizens and soldiers, with the blaring +of trumpets. + + Two gates of steel (the name of Mars they bear, + And still are worshipped with religious fear) + Before his temple stand; the dire abode, + And the feared issues of the furious god, + Then, when the sacred senate votes the wars, + The Roman consul their decree declares, + And in his robes the sounding gates unbars. + The youth in military shouts arise, + And the loud trumpets break the yielding skies. + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK Vii. + +The Latians now requested their king to unlock the gates of the temple +of Janus in accordance with the ancient custom. Latinus refused saying +that to do so would be a defiance of the gods. But the goddess Juno, +resolved that there should be no peace, descended from the skies, and +with her own hands pushed back the bolts of brass, and flung wide open +the gates. Then the cry of war went forth throughout the land and +everywhere men began to prepare for the conflict, giving up their work +in the fields to get ready their spears and shields and battle-axes. +Soon a vast number of warriors was marshalled under King Turnus to +drive the Trojans out of Italy. Vergil gives a long list of the famous +chiefs who assembled on this occasion. + +First came Me-zen'ti-us, an Etrurian king, fierce in war, but +a despiser of the gods. His own people had expelled him from their +country, for his cruelty, and he had taken refuge with King Turnus. +His son Lausus also came to the war with a thousand men from the +Etrurian city of A-gyl'la. Next came the brave Av-en-ti'nus, son of +the renowned hero, Her'cu-les, who performed those marvelous feats, of +which we read with wonder in the ancient legends. Aventinus was a +warrior of terrible appearance, his body covered with the shaggy hide +of an enormous lion, the white tusks displayed above his head. + +King Caec'u-lus, son of the god Vulcan, came from the city of +Prae-nes'te with an army who fought with slings, wore helmets +of wolf-skins, and marched with one foot naked. + + Nor arms they wear, nor swords and bucklers wield, + Nor drive the chariot through the dusty field; + But whirl from leathern slings huge balls of lead; + And spoils of yellow wolves adorn their head; + The left foot naked, when they march to fight; + But in a bull's raw hide they sheath the right. + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK VII. + +From the mountains of Etruria came the gallant horseman, Mes-sa'pus, +Neptune's son, "whom none had power to prostrate by fire or steel." +The mighty King Clausus led to the field a great host from the country +of the Sabines, and an army of the Qui-ri'tes from the town of Cu'res. +This name, Quirites was in later ages one of the names by which the +citizens of Rome were called. Another of the warriors was Umbro, chief +of the Maru'vi-i, who could charm serpents and heal wounds inflicted +by their bites. + +[Illustration with caption: CAMILLA. (Drawn by Varian.)] + +All these and many more of the princes of Italy, assembled with their +armies at the call of Turnus. Greatest amongst them was Turnus +himself, tallest by a head, and clad in armor brilliant with +embroidered gold. There was one female warrior amongst his allies. +This was Ca-mil'la, the queen of the Volscians. She was the daughter +of King Met'a-bus, who, like Mezentius, had been driven from his +kingdom by his own people, because he was a cruel tyrant. In his +flight, for the enraged people pursued him to take his life, he +carried with him his infant daughter Camilla. Coming to the bank of a +river and still pursued by his enemies, he bound the child fast to his +javelin, and holding the weapon in his hands, he prayed to Di-a'na, +goddess of hunters and hunting, and dedicated his daughter to her +saying, "To thee, goddess of the woods, I devote this child to be thy +handmaid, and committing her to the wind, I implore thee to receive +her as thine own." Then he hurled the spear across the river, and +plunging into the water swam to the other side, where he found the +javelin fixed in the bank, and the infant uninjured. + +After this achievement Metabus retired to the mountains, where he led +the life of a shepherd. As soon as the child was able to hold a weapon +in her hand, he trained her to the use of javelins and arrows and she +grew up to be a brave and skillful warrior. In course of time she +returned to the kingdom from which her father had been expelled, and +became celebrated as a runner of wondrous speed. + + + + +VII. ALLIANCE WITH EVANDER--VULCAN MAKES ARMS FOR AENEAS--THE FAMOUS +SHIELD. + + +Meanwhile AEneas was considering how to defend himself and his people +against the enemy who was thus marshalling such mighty forces against +him. He thought of many plans without being able to decide upon any. + + This way, and that, he turns his anxious mind; + Thinks, and rejects the counsels he designed; + Explores himself in vain in every part, + And gives no rest to his distracted heart + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK VIII. + +But fortune again favored the pious chief. In a dream the river god, +Tib-e-ri'nus, arrayed in garb of green, with a crown of reeds upon his +head (old Father Tiber himself, the guardian genius of Rome in later +ages) appeared to him, and told him where to seek help. He repeated +the prophecy of Helenus, about the sow with her litter of thirty +young, and he directed AEneas to repair to Pal-lan-te'um, a city +further up the river, whose king, E-van'der, being frequently at war +with the Latians, would gladly join the Trojans. The good father +promised that he himself would conduct the Trojans along his banks, +and bear them safely on his waters until they reached the Kingdom of +Evander. + + "To thy free passage I submit my streams. + Wake, son of Venus, from thy pleasing dreams! + And when the setting stars are lost in day, + To Juno's power thy just devotion pay; + With sacrifice the wrathful queen appease; + Her pride at length shall fall, her fury cease. + When thou return'st victorious from the war, + Perform thy vows to me with grateful care. + The god am I, whose yellow water flows + Around these fields, and fattens as it goes; + Tiber my name--among the rolling floods + Renowned on earth, esteemed among the gods." + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK VIII. + +Old Father Tiber then plunged into the middle of the river, and +disappeared from the hero's view. When AEneas awoke he immediately +prepared for his journey, selecting two ships from his fleet and +furnishing them with men and arms. As he was about to depart, the +prophecy only just repeated by the river god was fulfilled before his +eyes; for on the bank where he stood, a white sow suddenly appeared +with a litter of thirty young ones. + + When lo! a sudden prodigy; + A milk-white sow is seen + Stretched with her young ones, white as she, + Along the margent green. + AEneas takes them, dam and brood, + And o'er the altars pours their blood, + To thee, great Juno, e'en to thee, + High heaven's majestic queen. + CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK VIII. + +AEneas then started on his voyage, Father Tiber making the passage +easy by calming his turbid river so that its surface was as smooth as +a peaceful lake. At noon next day the Trojans came in sight of +Pallanteum, and soon afterwards they turned their ships toward the +land, and approached the city. Just then King Evander, accompanied by +his son Pallas and many of his chiefs, was offering a sacrifice to +Hercules in a grove outside the city walls. Alarmed at the sudden +appearance of the vessels, they made a movement as if to depart in +haste from their altars. But Pallas forbade them to interrupt the +sacred rites, and advancing to meet the strangers, he addressed +them from a rising ground, asking who they were, and for what purpose +they had come. AEneas, speaking from the deck of one of his ships, and +holding in his hand an olive branch, the emblem of peace, replied, +saying, "You see before you sons of Troy, and enemies of the Latians, +who have declared war against us. We seek King Evander. Bear him +these tidings, and say to him that we have come asking for his +alliance in arms." + +Astonished at hearing that the visitors were the illustrious Trojans +whose fame had already spread throughout the world, Pallas invited +them to land and come as guests to his father's house. AEneas gladly +accepted the invitation, and the young prince conducted them to the +grove, and introduced them to King Evander. This Evander was by birth +a Greek. He had come from the Grecian province of Ar-ca'di-a, and the +city he founded in Italy he called after the name of his native +Arcadian city of Pallanteum. AEneas, however, had no fear that +Evander, though a Greek, would be an enemy of his, for they were both +of the same blood, being both descended from Atlas, the mighty hero +who of old supported the heavens on his shoulders. Mercury, the father +of Evander, was the son of Ma'i-a, a daughter of Atlas; and Dardanus, +the founder of Troy, and ancestor of its kings, was son of E-lec'tra, +another daughter of Atlas. AEneas reminded Evander of this +relationship and reminded him also that the Rutulians and Latians were +enemies of Evander and his people, as well as of the Trojans. + +"They are the nation," said he, "which pursue you with cruel war, and +they think that if they expel us from the country, nothing can hinder +them from reducing all Italy under their yoke. Let us therefore form +an alliance against this common foe. We Trojans have amongst us men +stout of heart in battle and experienced in war." + +While the hero was speaking, the king kept his eyes intently fixed +upon him, for in his face and figure he saw the resemblance of the +great Anchises, whom he had known in past years. Then replying +to AEneas, he said, "Great chief of the Trojan race, I gladly receive +and recognize you. I well recollect the words, the voice, and the +features of your father, Anchises. For I remember that Priam on his +way to visit his sister Hesione in Greece, also visited my country, +Arcadia. Many of the Trojan princes accompanied him; but the most +majestic of them all was Anchises. Much did I admire him, and I took +him with me to our Arcadian city Phe'neus. At his departure he gave me +costly presents, a quiver filled with Lycian arrows, a mantle +interwoven with gold and two golden bridles." Evander concluded by +consenting to the proposal of AEneas for an alliance against the +Latians-- + + "The league you ask, I offer as your right; + And when to-morrow's sun reveals the light, + With swift supplies you shall be sent away." + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK VIII. + +The Trojans were now hospitably entertained by King Evander. Seated on +the greensward, they partook of a plenteous repast, and when the +banquet was over, the king explained to AEneas and his companions the +meaning of the religious festivities in which they had been engaged. +It was through no vain superstition, he said, that they performed +these solemn rites, but to commemorate their deliverance from a +terrible scourge, and to give honor to their deliverer. + +Then Evander related the story of the monster Ca'cus, who in former +times, dwelt in a cave underneath the hill on which Pallanteum was now +built. He was a giant, of enormous size and hideous to behold, for +from his father Vulcan, the god of fire, he had got the power of +breathing smoke and flame through his mouth and nostrils. He was a +scourge and a terror to the country round, as besides being a robber, +he killed and devoured men. But by good fortune the hero Hercules +happened to pass that way, driving before him a herd of cattle which +he had taken from another cruel monster--the three-bodied giant +Ge'ry-on, whom he had destroyed. As these cattle were grazing by the +river, Hercules having lain down on the bank to rest, Cacus stole four +bulls and four heifers, the finest of the herd. To conceal the theft he +dragged the animals backwards by the tails into his den, so that their +footprints seemed to show that they had gone from the cave instead of +into it. This trick had almost succeeded, for Hercules, after +searching in vain for the missing animals, was about to resume his +journey, when a lowing from within the cave reached his ears. + + The oxen at departing fill + With noisy utterance grove and hill, + And breathe a farewell low; + When hark! a heifer from the den + Makes answer to the sound again + And mocks her wily foe. + CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK VIII. + +Hercules now knowing what had become of his cattle rushed to the top +of the mount where he had seen the giant, but Cacus fled into his +cave, and instantly let drop the huge stone which he kept suspended by +iron chains over the entrance. This stone even the mighty Hercules +could not move from its place, for it was held fast by great bolts on +the inside. But searching around the mount for another entrance, he +saw a rock overhanging the river, which formed a back for the cavern. +Exerting his full strength, the hero wrenched this rock from its +fastenings, and hurled it into the water. In the interior of the den, +thus laid open, Hercules soon caught sight of the robber, and +commenced to assail him with arrows and stones. Then the monster +belched forth volumes of smoke and flame, concealing himself in a +cloud of pitchy vapor. But Hercules now thoroughly enraged, rushed +furiously into the den, and seizing Cacus by the throat, choked him to +death. Great was the joy of the people when they heard of the +destruction of the monster, and anniversary festivals had been held +there ever since in honor of the deliverer. + +After King Evander had told this story, choirs of young and old men, +the priests called Sa'li-i, sang songs about the great deeds of +Hercules; how when a child in his cradle he had strangled the two +serpents sent by Juno to destroy him, how he had slain the furious +lion of Nemea, dragged from Pluto's realms the three-headed dog +Cerberus, and performed numerous other difficult and dangerous feats. + +Evander and his people now returned to the city, accompanied by their +Trojan guests. The king walked by the side of AEneas, and told him +many things about the traditions of the place, and its early history. +At one time, he said, the country had been ruled by Saturn, who, +driven from the throne of the heavens by his son Jupiter, had come to +Italy, and finding on the banks of the river a race of uncivilized +men, had formed them into a settled society. He taught them how to +till the ground, and introduced laws amongst them, and so peaceful and +happy were they under his reign, that it was called the Golden Age. +One of the kings long after Saturn's reign was Tiberinus, whose name +was given to the river, and who became its guardian god. + +The king then escorted AEneas through the town, pointing out to him +many places, destined to be famous in later history, for on that very +ground Romulus built his city, and Pallanteum became the celebrated +Palatine Mount, one of the seven hills of Rome. When they reached the +royal palace, which was not as large or magnificent as palaces often +are, the king took pride in mentioning that the great Hercules, +honored in life, and after death worshipped as a god, had not +disdained to accept hospitality under its roof. + + He spoke, and through the narrow door + The great AEneas led, + And heaped a couch upon the floor + With leaves and bear-skin spread. + CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK VIII. + +While the Trojan chief was being entertained by King Evander, his +mother Venus was much troubled in mind thinking of the danger which +threatened her son in his new settlement. She resolved that he should +have all the aid in her power to supply, and so she requested Vulcan +to make him a suit of armor. Vulcan was the god of smiths as well as +of fire, and Venus thus appealed to him in behalf of her son. + +"While the Greeks were laboring to bring destruction on Troy," said +she to the fire god, who was also the god of smiths, "I did not ask +your help, knowing that the ruin of the city had been decreed by the +gods. But now AEneas has settled in Italy by Jupiter's command; +therefore, I beg your assistance. What I wish is that you should make +arms and armor for my son. Many nations have combined against him, and +are sharpening their swords for the destruction of himself and his +people." + +Vulcan readily agreed to comply with the request of Venus. Being a god +he could make arms and armor against which the power of mortal men +would be of no avail. His forges, and furnaces, and anvils were in +vast caves under one of the Lip'a-re isles and under Mount AEtna, and +the giant Cyclops were his workmen. + + Sacred to Vulcan's name, an isle there lay, + Betwixt Sicilia's coasts and Lipare, + Raised high on smoking rocks; and, deep below, + In hollow caves the fires of AEtna glow. + The Cyclops here their heavy hammers deal; + Loud strokes, and hissing of tormented steel, + Are heard around; the boiling waters roar; + And smoky flames through fuming tunnels soar. + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK VIII. + +To these workshops Vulcan forthwith repaired to give orders for the +arms which Venus requested for her son. He found his men industriously +at work making wonderful things for the gods. Some were forging a +thunderbolt for Jupiter, the rays or shafts of which were of hail and +watery cloud, and glaring fire and the winged wind. Others were making +a war chariot for Mars, and others a shield for Minerva, ornamented +with serpent's scales of gold. When Vulcan entered, he bade them lay +aside all those tasks. + + "My sons! (said Vulcan), set your tasks aside; + Your strength and master skill must now be tried. + Arms for a hero forge--arms that require + Your force, your speed, and all your forming fire." + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK VIII. + +Instantly the Cyclops set to work on their new task, and very soon +rivulets of molten gold and copper and iron were flowing in flaming +furnaces. A splendid shield was made, which was a sufficient defense +in itself against all the weapons of King Turnus. Other things +necessary for war were also put in shape, and so the work of forging +arms for the Trojan hero was vigorously prosecuted. + +Meantime AEneas himself, after his night's repose in the palace of +Evander, was talking with the king and his son on the business which +had brought him to Pallanteum. The good will of Evander was greater +than his means, for his country was small, and on one side of it was +the territory of his enemies, the Rutulians. He was not able, +therefore, to do much for AEneas, but he knew where ample aid could be +obtained. "In the neighboring state of Etruria, and not far from this +spot," said he, "stands the ancient city of Agylla, founded by a +nation illustrious in war--Mezentius was recently its king, a cruel +and wicked man. The people, indignant at his crimes, took up arms +against him and set fire to his palace. He himself fled for protection +to King Turnus, with whom he now is. The Etrurians therefore have +resolved to make war upon Turnus, and their ships and men are already +assembled. You, AEneas, must be the leader of these people, for +a soothsayer has told them that no native of Italy is destined to +subdue the Rutulians, and that they must choose a foreigner to be +their commander in the war. They have invited me to lead them, but I +am too old to undertake such a task. I would have sent them my son, +but being born of an Italian mother, he is of the people of this land. +You, however, gallant leader of the Trojans, being in the prime of +life, and of foreign race, are destined by the gods for this work. My +son Pallas too shall take part in the expedition, and I will give him +two hundred horsemen, and as many more he shall add in his own name." + +Evander had scarcely ceased speaking when lightning flashed through +the heavens and peals of thunder were heard and sounds as of trumpets +blaring, and then across the sky were seen arms blazing brilliantly as +the sun--arms such as heroes bore in battle, and they clashed with a +loud resounding noise. + + Gazing up, repeated peals they hear; + And, in a heaven serene, refulgent arms appear + Reddening the skies, and glittering all around, + The tempered metals clash, and yield a silver sound. + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK VIII. + +AEneas understood this marvelous apparition, and he explained it to +his astonished companions as a call to him from heaven. His divine +mother, he said, had told him that she would send that sign, and that +she would bring him arms made by Vulcan. Then he offered the usual +sacrifices to the gods, after which he went to his ships, and chose +from his followers some to accompany him to Agylla, directing the +others to return to the camp at Laurentum, and inform Iulus of the +progress of their affairs at Pallanteum. Preparations for departure +were now made. Evander gave AEneas horses for himself and his +companions, and when all was ready, the king affectionately embraced +his son, and bade him a tender farewell, praying to the gods that +he might live to see him come back in safety. + +The Trojan chief and his warriors, among whom were the faithful +Achates and Pallas at the head of his four hundred horsemen, then set +forth from the city, amid the acclamations of the people. They soon +came within sight of the camp of the Etrurians, who, under the command +of one of their chiefs named Tarchon, had pitched their tents on a +wide plain not many miles from Pallanteum. + +But before joining his new allies, AEneas had a meeting with his +goddess mother. Down from the clouds she came, beautiful as the sun, +bearing with her the arms that Vulcan had made, and seeing her son +alone on the bank of a small stream, in a secluded vale, to which he +had retired for a brief rest, she presented herself before him. At his +feet she placed the gifts she had promised, telling him that now he +might not fear to meet his foes in battle. + + "Behold! (she said) performed in every part, + My promise made, and Vulcan's labored art. + Now seek, secure, the Latian enemy. + And haughty Turnus to the field defy." + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK VIII. + +Beautiful arms and armor they were, such as could be designed and +fashioned only by a god--a sword and a spear, and a helmet with a +blazing crest, and a breastplate of flaming bronze, and greaves of +gold and electrum. But most wonderful of all was the shield, upon +which were depicted the glories and triumphs in later ages of the +mighty men of Rome, the descendants of Iulus, for Vulcan, being a god, +had the gift of seeing into futurity. + + There, embossed, the heavenly smith had wrought + (Not in the rolls of future fate untaught) + The wars in order; and the race divine + Of warriors issuing from the Julian line. + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK VIII. + +[Illustration: AENEAS WITH HIS WONDERFUL ARMOR. (Drawn by Varian.)] + +Vergil's description of this prophetic shield occupies the concluding +portion of the eighth book of the AEneid. It is a summary of notable +events in the history of Rome from the time of Romulus, who founded +the city, to the time of the Emperor Augustus. The achievements of +Augustus are particularly dwelt on, for he was the friend and patron +of the poet, and Vergil, therefore, gave special prominence to the +part taken by him in the extension of the great empire. At the famous +sea-battle of Ac'ti-um (B.C. 31) near the promontory of Leu-ca'te +in Greece, Augustus, aided by A-grip'pa, defeated the forces of Antony +and the celebrated Egyptian Queen Cle-o-pa'tra, and this victory made +him master of the Roman world. On the shield of AEneas the fight at +Actium was shown on a sea of molten gold, in the midst of which were +represented the fleets of ships with their brazen prows. + + Betwixt the quarters, flows a golden sea; + But foaming surges there in silver play. + The dancing dolphins with their tails divide + The glittering waves, and cut the precious tide. + Amid the main, two mighty fleets engage; + Their brazen beaks opposed with equal rage, + Actium surveys the well-disputed prize; + Leucate's watery plain with foamy billows fries. + Young Caesar, on the stern in armor bright, + Here leads the Romans and their gods to fight; + Agrippa seconds him, with prosperous gales, + And, with propitious gods, his foes assails. + A naval crown, that binds his manly brows, + The happy fortune of the fight foreshows. + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK VIII. + +On another part of the shield were shown scenes of the Emperor's three +days' Triumph in Rome after his great conquest--the procession of +vanquished nations, the games and the sacrifices to the gods, and +Augustus himself seated on a throne in front of the temple of Apollo. + + The victor to the gods his thanks expressed; + And Rome triumphant with his presence blessed. + Three hundred temples in the town he placed; + With spoils and altars every temple graced. + Three shining nights and three succeeding days, + The fields resound with shouts, the streets with praise. + Great Caesar sits sublime upon his throne, + Before Apollo's porch of Parian stone; + Accepts the presents vowed for victory; + And hangs the monumental crowns on high. + Vast crowds of vanquished nations march along, + Various in arms, in habit, and in tongue. + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK VIII. + +AEneas viewed these scenes with wonder and delight, though ignorant of +what they meant, and putting on the beautiful armor, he bore upon his +shoulder the fortunes of his descendants. + + These figures, on the shield divinely wrought, + By Vulcan labored, and by Venus brought, + With joy and wonder fill the hero's thought. + Unknown the names, he yet admires the grace; + And bears aloft the fame and fortune of his race. + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK VIII. + +Vergil's description of the shield of AEneas is in imitation of +Homer's beautiful description in the Iliad of the shield of Achilles, +also made by Vulcan. + + + + +VIII. TURNUS ATTACKS THE TROJAN CAMP--NISUS AND EURYALUS. + + +Arrayed in his new and splendid armor, the Trojan chief rejoined his +companions, and then proceeded to the Etrurian camp, where he formed +a league with Tarchon. Meanwhile his enemies were not inactive, for +Juno sent Iris down from heaven to the Rutulian king to urge him to +bestir himself against the Trojans. "Time has brought about in your +favor, O Turnus," said the messenger of Juno, "what even the gods did +not dare to promise. AEneas, having left his friends and his fleet has +gone to gather forces against you in the city of Evander and in +Etruria. Now is your opportunity. Why do you hesitate to take +advantage of it? Delay no longer, but seize the camp of the Trojans, +while their leader is absent." Turnus recognized Iris, yet he knew not +by whom she had been sent. But he replied that he would quickly obey, +whoever it was that thus called him to arms, and as he spoke, the +goddess vanished into the heavens, forming in her ascent the beautiful +rainbow, which was the sign of Juno's messenger. + + On equal wings she poised her weight, + And formed a radiant rainbow in her flight. + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK IX. + +Then the warriors were called to action, and soon the whole army +marched out into the open plain, Messapus, the Etrurian, commanding +the front lines, the sons of Tyrrhus in the rear, and in the center +Turnus himself. The Trojans within their camp, seeing the great cloud +of dust which the tread of the hosts of the Latians raised on the +plain, knew what it meant. Speedily they shut up their gates and set +guards upon the walls, for AEneas at his departure had ordered them +that in case of attack in his absence, they should not attempt a fight +in the open field, but defend themselves within their ramparts. Turnus +now tried to set fire to the Trojan fleet, which lay in the river +close at hand, but the ships of AEneas could not be destroyed for they +were made of wood cut from the forest of Cyb'e-le, the mother of the +gods. When the hero was building them at the foot of Mount Ida, Cybele +begged her son Jupiter, to grant that the vessels, being constructed +of pine trees sacred to her, might be forever safe from destruction. + + "Grant me (she said) the sole request I bring, + Since conquered heaven has owned you for its king. + On Ida's brows, for ages past there stood, + With firs and maples filled, a shady wood; + And on the summit rose a sacred grove, + Where I was worshipped with religious love. + These woods, that holy grove, my long delight, + I gave the Trojan prince, to speed his flight. + Now filled with fear, on their behalf I come; + Let neither winds o'erset, nor waves entomb, + The floating forests of the sacred pine; + But let it be their safety to be mine." + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK XI. + +This request, though coming from his mother, Jupiter was obliged to +refuse, for it could not be, he said, that vessels built by mortal +hands should be rendered immortal. He promised, however, that those of +the Trojan ships which safely reached their destination in Italy +should be transformed into goddesses or nymphs of the ocean. +Therefore, when Turnus and his men rushed to the river with flaming +torches, the time had come for the promise of the king of heaven to be +fulfilled. As they were about to cast their firebrands upon the +galleys a strange light flashed on the eyes of the Trojans, then a +bright cloud shot across the sky, and from out of it these words +uttered in a loud voice, were heard by the Trojans and Rutulians. "Men +of Troy, you have no need to defend the ships. Sooner shall Turnus +burn up the seas than those sacred pines. Glide on at your liberty, +you nymphs of the main. It is the parent of the gods who commands +you." No sooner were the words spoken than the ships all broke away +from their fastenings, plunged out of sight into the depths of the +river, and reappeared in a moment as beautiful maidens, moving +gracefully along on the surface of the water. + + No sooner had the goddess ceased to speak, + When, lo! the obedient ships their halsers break; + And strange to tell, like dolphins in the main + They plunge their prows, and dive and spring again; + As many beauteous maids the billows sweep, + As rode before tall vessels on the deep. + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK IX. + +The Rutulians were astonished at this spectacle, but Turnus was still +undismayed, and speaking to his people he declared that what they had +just seen was bad for the Trojans themselves, for that now they had no +longer means of escape, their ships having disappeared. "As for their +much talked of destiny," said he, "it has been fulfilled, since they +have reached the land of Italy. But I also have my destiny, and it is +to destroy the accursed race. They depend a great deal on their walls, +yet they have seen the walls of Troy go down in flames, though they +were built by the hands of Neptune. I do not need arms made by Vulcan, +nor shall we hide ourselves in a wooden horse. We shall fight the +Trojans openly, and we shall teach them that they have not now to do +with men like the Greeks, whom Hector baffled for ten years." + +Turnus then laid siege to the Trojan camp. He placed sentinels outside +the gates, and had watch-fires kindled at different points around the +walls, after which his men lay down on the field to rest. But during +the night the guards fell asleep, for they were fatigued after the +labors of the day, and so the whole besieging army was now sunk in +deep repose. The Trojans on the other hand kept strict watch within +their camp, and adopted all necessary measures of defense. + + All things needful for defence abound; + Mnestheus and brave Serestus walk the round, + Commissioned by their absent prince to share + The common danger, and divide the care. + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK IX. + +The Trojan sentinels at one of the gates were Nisus and Euryalus-- +already mentioned as having taken part in the foot race at the funeral +games. + + Love made them one in every thought; + In battle side by side they fought; + And now in duty at the gate + The twain in common station wait. + CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK IX. + +Now Nisus had conceived the idea of making his way through the +Rutulian lines and conveying to AEneas at Pallanteum news of the +dangerous situation of his people in the besieged camp, and he thought +he would carry out his project while the enemy were all asleep outside +the walls. Euryalus approved of the enterprise, and he begged that he +himself might be permitted to take part in it. To this Nisus objected, +for he did not wish that his dear young friend should be exposed to +the danger of the undertaking. The mother of Euryalus had accompanied +him all the way from Troy, and so great was her love for him that she +refused to part from him even to share the good fortune of the other +Trojan women who had settled in Sicily. Nisus was very unwilling to be +the cause of grief to so devoted a mother, by permitting her son to +join in an expedition in which he might lose his life. + + "Nor let me cause so dire a smart + To that devoted mother's heart, + Who, sole of all the matron train, + Attends her darling o'er the main, + Nor cares like others to sit down + An inmate of Acestes' town." + CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK IX. + +But Euryalus insisted on accompanying his friend, and so after +obtaining the consent of the chiefs in command, who highly praised +their courage and promised to reward them, they made ready to set +forth. Euryalus begged that they would comfort and assist his mother +if any evil should happen to him. To this request Iulus answered that +she should be to him as if she were his own mother. "Gratitude is due +to her," said he, "for having given birth to such a son. The reward I +promise to give to you, if you return in safety, I shall give to your +mother should ill fortune attend you." + +Euryalus and Nisus now set out upon their mission. Passing through the +camp of the sleeping Rutulians, they soon reached the outside of the +enemy's lines. It happened that a body of Latian horsemen was just +then passing that way on the route from Laurentum to join the army of +Turnus. Catching sight of the two strangers, Volcens, the leader of +the troop, cried out to them to "stand," and demanded to know who they +were, and whither they were bound. The Trojans, making no answer, fled +into a wood close by. Then Volcens placed guards on the passes and at +the outlets of the wood to prevent the escape of the fugitives. +Meanwhile Euryalus, getting separated from his companion, and losing +his way in the thick shades of the forest, fell into the enemy's +hands. + +Nisus might have escaped, and had in fact got out of the wood, but +finding that his friend had disappeared, he returned to search for +him. Presently he heard the tramp of the horses, and looking forth +from a thicket in which he had concealed himself, he saw Euryalus in +the midst of the Latians, who were dragging him violently along. +Deeply grieved at the sight, and resolving to rescue his comrade, or +die in the attempt, Nisus, after praying to Diana, the goddess of the +woods, to guide his weapon in its course, hurled a javelin at the +enemy. It pierced the body of one of the Latians named Sulmo, who fell +dead. His companions gazed around in amazement, not knowing whence the +attack had come. Nisus then cast another javelin, and again one of the +Latians fell to the ground. Enraged at seeing his men thus slain +before his eyes by an unseen assailant, Volcens, with sword in hand, +rushed upon Euryalus, crying out that his life should pay the penalty +for both. Great was the agony of Nisus at seeing his friend about to +be put to death, and starting from his concealment, he exclaimed +aloud, "I am he who did the deed. Turn your arms therefore on me." + + "Me! me! (he cried) turn all your swords alone + On me--the fact confessed, the fault my own. + His only crime (if friendship can offend) + Is too much love to his unhappy friend." + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK IX. + +But vain was the effort of Nisus to save his friend, for scarce had +his last word been spoken when Euryalus fell lifeless to the earth, +pierced by the weapon of Volcens. Filled with grief and rage, and +eager to avenge the death of his companion, Nisus rushed into the +midst of the foe, seeking only Volcens, and though blows showered upon +him from all sides, he pressed on until coming up to the Latian chief, +he slew him with a single thrust of his sword. Then covered with +wounds, the brave Trojan dropped dead, falling upon the body of the +friend he had so loved. Thus these two sons of Troy, companions in +life, were companions also in death. Their friendship, immortalized by +the Roman poet, became proverbial. + + O happy friends! for, if my verse can give + Immortal life, your fame shall ever live, + Fixed as the Capitol's foundation lies, + And spread, where'er the Roman eagle flies! + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK IX. + +Early in the morning Turnus called his men to arms, and with loud +shouts all rushed forward to the Trojan ramparts. Then a fierce +conflict took place during which many heroes fell on both sides, after +performing wonderful feats of valor. There was a wooden tower of great +height and strength which stood outside the wall, and was connected +with it by bridges. The Rutulians made great efforts to break down +this tower, while the Trojans defended it by hurling stones upon the +enemy, and casting darts at them through loopholes. So the struggle +continued until Turnus with a flaming torch set the building on fire. + + Fierce Turnus first a firebrand flings; + It strikes the sides, takes hold, and clings; + The freshening breezes spread the blaze, + And soon on plank and beam it preys. + The inmates flutter in dismay + And vainly wish to fly; + There as they huddle and retire + Back to the part which 'scapes the fire, + Sudden the o'erweighted mass gives way, + And falling, shakes the sky. + CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK IX. + +Only two of the occupants of the tower--Hel'e-nor and Lycus--escaped +destruction in its fall, but on emerging from the ruins they found +themselves in the midst of the Rutulians. Helenor seeing no chance of +saving his life, faced his foes like a lion and died in the thick of +the fight. Lycus, who was a swift runner, fled towards the walls, +dashing through the lines of the enemy. He had almost grasped the +summit of the rampart and reached the outstretched hands of his +friends when Turnus, who had darted in pursuit, dragged him to the +ground, and slew him, while he taunted him, saying, "Fool, didst thou +hope to be able to escape our hands?" + +The battle now became more furious. From every quarter were heard +shouts of fighting men and clashing of arms. Amongst the heroes of the +day was young Iulus, hitherto accustomed to use his weapons only in +the chase. His first arrow in war was now aimed against the brother- +in-law of Turnus, a chief named Nu-ma'nus, who fought not only with +sword but with his tongue, mocking at the Trojans in a loud voice, in +front of the Latian lines. "Are you not ashamed, Trojans," cried he, +"to be a second time shut up behind walls? What madness has brought +you to Italy? Know that it is not Grecians, nor the crafty Ulysses, +you have now to deal with. We are a hardy race. We dip our infants in +the rivers to inure them to cold. Our boys are trained to hunt in the +woods. Our whole life is spent in arms. Age does not impair our +courage or vigor. As for you, your very dress is embroidered with +yellow and purple; indolence is your delight; you love to indulge in +dancing and such frivolous pleasures. Women you are, and not men. +Leave fighting to warriors and handle not the sword." + + "Leave men, like us, in arms to deal + Nor bruise your lily hands with steel." + CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK IX. + +The spirited young Trojan prince could not patiently endure these +insults, and so drawing his bow-string and praying to Father Jupiter, +he sent forth his steel-tipped arrow. Whizzing through the air the +weapon pierced the head of Numanus, and at the same moment Iulus +exclaimed, "Vain boaster, this is our answer to your insults." With +shouts of joy the Trojans applauded the deed, and loud were their +praises of the valor of their young chief. Even from on high came +approving words, for just then the fair-haired Apollo, seated on a +cloud, was watching the conflict. And thus spoke the god in a loud +voice, "Go on and increase in valor, O youth. Such is the path-way to +immortality, thou art the descendant of gods, and from whom gods are +to descend." + +[Illustration with caption: APOLLO VANISHING AFTER CAUTIONING IULUS. +(Drawn by Trautschold)] + +Uttering these words Apollo came down from the sky, and taking the +appearance of Bu'tes, formerly the armor-bearer of Anchises, but now +the guardian of Iulus, walked by the young prince's side and addressed +him, saying, "Son of AEneas, let it be enough for thee that by thine +arrow Numanus has fallen. Apollo has granted to thee this glory; but +take no further part in the conflict." Then the god, throwing off his +disguise, ascended to the heavens. The Trojan chiefs recognized him as +he departed, and thus knowing that it was the divine will, they caused +Iulus to retire, while they themselves again rushed forward to the +battle-- + + They bend their bows; they whirl their slings around; + Heaps of spent arrows fall, and strew the ground; + And helms, and shields, and rattling arms, resound. + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK IX. + +At this point two brothers, Pan'da-rus and Bit'i-as, sons of the +Trojan Al-ca'non, of Mount Ida, tall and powerful youths, threw open +the gate at which they were posted as sentinels, and standing within, +one on each side, they challenged the foe to enter. The Rutulians +rushed forward as soon as they saw the passage open. Several of them +were slain at the threshold by the valiant brothers. Then some of the +Trojans sallied out beyond the rampart, and a fierce fight took place. +King Turnus, hearing of these events, hurried to the gate, and joining +in the battle, slew many of the Trojan warriors. He hurled a dart at +Bitias, and so great was the force of the blow that not even the huge +sentinel's shield, formed of two bull's hides, nor his breastplates +with double scales of gold, could resist it. + + Not two bull-hides the impetuous force withhold, + Nor coat of double mail, with scales of gold. + Down sunk the monster-bulk, and pressed the ground, + His arms and clattering shield on the vast body sound + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK IX. + +When Pandarus beheld his brother stretched dead on the ground, and saw +that the battle was going against the Trojans, he closed the gate, +moving it upon its hinges and fastening it in its place with the +strength of his broad shoulders. Some of his own people were thus shut +out and left in the midst of the enemy, but in his hurry Pandarus did +not notice that amongst those who were shut in was the fierce King +Turnus. + + Fond fool! amidst the noise and din + He saw not Turnus rushing in, + But closed him in the embattled hold, + A tiger in a helpless fold. + CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK IX. + +As soon as Pandarus saw what had happened, he hurled a spear with +mighty force at the Rutulian king, eager to avenge his brother's +death, but Juno turning the weapon aside, it struck into the gate, +where it remained fixed. Then Turnus slew Pandarus with a swift stroke +of his sword, exclaiming, "Not so shall you escape." The Trojans who +witnessed the deed, fled terrified from the spot, and if Turnus at +this moment had opened the gate and admitted his Rutulian warriors, +that day would have been the last of the war and of the Trojan race. + + The Trojans fly in wild dismay, + O, then had Turnus thought + To force the fastenings of the gates + And call within his valiant mates, + The nation and the war that day + Alike to end had brought! + CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK IX. + +But Turnus thought only of slaying his foes who were at hand and so he +speedily put many of them to the sword. The Trojan chiefs Mnestheus +and Sergestus, as soon as they heard that their people were fleeing +before the Rutulian king, hastened up and reproved them in severe +words. "Whither do you flee?" cried Mnestheus. "What other +fortifications have you but this? Shall one man be permitted to work +such destruction in our camp? Are you not ashamed? Have you no regard +for your unhappy country, your ancient gods, or your great leaders?" + +Touched by these words, and inspired with fresh courage, the Trojans +formed themselves into a solid body. Then turning round they made a +firm stand against the Rutulian chief, who now began to retreat +towards that part of the camp which was bounded by the river. The +Trojans advanced upon him with loud shouts, yet the brave king would +fain have resisted. As when a troop of hunters press upon a fierce +lion, the savage animal, too courageous to fly, yet dares not face the +numbers and weapons of his assailants, so Turnus with reluctant steps +drew backwards; yet twice again he attacked the Trojans and twice +drove them along the walls. At length gathering from all parts of the +camp, the Trojans made a united advance and Turnus, no longer able to +withstand the assaults of his foes, fled to the river, and plunging +in, was soon in the midst of his friends who received him with joyous +acclamation. + + O'er all his limbs dark sweat-drops break; + No time to breathe; thick pantings shake + His vast and laboring frame. + At length, accoutred as he stood, + Headlong he plunged into the flood. + The yellow flood the charge received, + With buoyant tide his weight upheaved, + And cleansing off the encrusted gore, + Returned him to his friends once more. + CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK IX. + + + + +IX. THE COUNCIL OF THE GODS--RETURN OF AENEAS--BATTLE ON THE SHORE-- + DEATH OF PALLAS. + + +Meanwhile the king of heaven who had been watching the conflict on the +banks of the Tiber, called a council of the gods to consider whether +it would not be well to put an end to the quarrel between Juno and +Venus over the fortunes of the Trojans. The divinities assembled in +their golden council chamber on Mount Olympus and Jupiter addressed +them. "Ye gods," said he, "why do you seek to alter the decrees of +heaven? It was my desire that the Italians should not make war upon +the men of Troy. Why then have you incited them to arms? The time for +conflict between the two races favored by Juno and Venus has not yet +come. That time will be hereafter when the Carthaginians shall put +forth their efforts to ruin Rome. Then indeed you shall be free to +take either side in the contest. For the present cease your quarrels, +and let the league agreed upon between AEneas and Latinus be +ratified." + +Thus spoke the king of heaven. Then Venus addressed the gods in behalf +of her son, whose sufferings, she said, were due to the hatred of +Juno. She recounted the various attempts of the unforgiving queen to +destroy the Trojans--how AEolus at her bidding had sent his storms to +scatter the fleet of AEneas, how Iris, her messenger, had induced the +Trojan women to set fire to the ships at Drepanum, and how at her +request the Fury Alecto had incited Queen Amata and King Turnus to war +against the men of Troy. + +Juno next addressed the council, and spoke many bitter words against +AEneas and the Trojans, who, she declared, were themselves to blame +for all the evils that had come upon them. The Greek war against Troy +had not been caused by her, but by the Trojan Paris, and for his +conduct in carrying off Helen, Venus was responsible. As to the +troubles in Italy, it was true that AEneas had sailed to that country +by the will of the fates, but why, she asked, did he stir up war among +Italian nations that had before been at peace. + +Juno having finished her speech against the Trojans, and none of the +other divinities desiring to take part in the controversy, Jupiter +then delivered judgment, declaring that as the quarrel between the two +goddesses could not be amicably settled, nor peace brought about +between the Trojans and Italians, the fates should take their course. + + "Since Troy with Latium must contend, + And these your wranglings find no end, + Let each man use his chance to day + And carve his fortune as he may; + Each warrior from his own good lance + Shall reap the fruit of toil or chance; + Jove deals to all an equal lot, + And Fate shall loose or cut the knot." + CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK IX. + +Thus ended the council of the gods, and so by the decree of the king +of heaven the quarrel between the Trojans and Italians was left to the +fortune of war. + +Meanwhile the Trojans in the camp on the Tiber were being hard pressed +by the enemy. As soon as Turnus had rejoined his army, the attack on +the ramparts was renewed with increased vigor, and the brave Mnestheus +and his companions, their forces now much reduced in number, were +beginning to lose hope. + + Hopeless of flight, more hopeless of relief, + Thin on the towers they stand; and e'en those few, + A feeble, fainting, and dejected crew. + DRYDEN, AEneid, BOOK X. + +But AEneas was hastening to the rescue. Having formed the league with +Tarchon, he lost no time in preparing to return to his friends. Many +other chiefs of Etruria joined their forces to the expedition, and all +placed themselves under the command of AEneas, in accordance with the +will of the gods that only under a foreign leader could they be +successful in the war against the Rutulians. + +When everything was ready for departure they embarked on a fleet of +thirty ships, and sailed down the Tyr-rhe'ni-an Sea, along the +Etrurian coast, towards the mouth of the Tiber. AEneas led the way in +his own galley, and with him was young Pallas, the son of Evander. +During the voyage he learned in a strange manner of the perilous +situation of his people in the camp. It was night, and as he was +seated at the helm, for his anxiety permitted him not to sleep, a +number of sea-nymphs appeared swimming by the side of his ship. One of +them, Cym-o-do-ce'a by name, grasped the stern of the vessel with her +right hand, while with her left she gently rowed her way through the +waves. Then she addressed the Trojan chief. "Son of the gods," said +she, "we are the pines of Mount Ida, at one time your fleet, but now +nymphs of the sea. The Rutulian king would have destroyed us with fire +had it not been permitted to us by the mother of the gods to burst our +cables, and assume our present form. We come to tell you that your son +Ascanius is besieged in the camp, and pressed on all sides by the +Latian foe. Be ready then at the dawn of morning with your troops, and +bear with you to the fight the arms and armor which Vulcan has made. +To-morrow's sun shall see many of the Rutulian enemy slain." + + She ceased, and parting, to the bark + A measured impulse gave; + Like wind-swift arrow to its mark + It darts along the wave. + The rest pursue. In wondering awe + The chief revolves the things he saw. + CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK X. + +At dawn of morning the fleet came within view of the Trojan camp. Then +AEneas standing on the deck of his own vessel, held aloft his bright +shield made by Vulcan. His people saw it from the ramparts, and +shouted loud with joy, and now, their hope being revived, they +assailed the enemy with fresh courage. The Rutulians and Latians were +amazed at this sudden change, not knowing the cause, but looking back, +they too beheld the fleet approaching the shore. + +The brave Turnus however was not dismayed at the sight. On the +contrary he resolved to give battle to the new foe without delay, and +so addressing his men he bade them fight valiantly for their homes and +country, remembering the glorious deeds of their ancestors. + + "Your sires, your sons, your houses, and your lands, + And dearest wives, are all within your hands; + Be mindful of the race from whence you came, + And emulate in arms your fathers' fame." + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK X. + +Then he hurried to the shore with the main body of his army, and +AEneas having already landed his companions and allies, a fierce +battle began. The Trojan hero performed wonderful feats of valor. +First he attacked the Latian troops, who were in front of the hosts of +the enemy, and he slew their leader The'ron, a warrior of giant size. +Through his brazen shield and golden coat of mail AEneas smote him +with his sword. Next he slew Lycas, and then Cis'seus and Gyas, tall +men and powerful, who, with clubs like the club of Hercules, had been +striking down the Trojans. Then a band of seven warrior brothers, the +sons of Phorcus, attacked the Trojan chief, hurling seven darts upon +him all together, some of which rebounded from his shield, and some, +turned aside by Venus, harmlessly grazed his skin. AEneas now called +to the faithful Achates to bring him darts--those with which on the +plains of Troy the bodies of Grecian warriors had been pierced-- + + "Those fatal weapons, which, inured to blood, + In Grecian bodies under Ilium stood; + Not one of those my hand shall toss in vain + Against our foes, on this contended plain." + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK X. + +Grasping a mighty spear, as soon as these weapons were brought to him, +AEneas hurled it at Macon, one of the brothers. It pierced through his +shield and breastplate, and he fell mortally wounded. At his brother +Alcanor, who had run to his relief, AEneas cast another dart, which +penetrated his shoulder, leaving the warrior's arm hanging lifeless by +his body. And now Hal-ae'sus with his Auruncian bands, and Messapus, +the son of Neptune, conspicuous with his steeds, hastened up to +encounter AEneas. The fight then became more furious and many were +slain on both sides. + + Thus Trojan and Italian meet, + With face to face, and feet to feet, + And hand close pressed to hand. + CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK X. + +In another quarter of the field young Pallas, fighting at the head of +his Arcadian horsemen, slew many chiefs of the Latians and Rutulians. +Opposed to him was Lausus, son of the tyrant Mezentius. Lausus being +hard pressed by the Arcadians, King Turnus was called to his +assistance, and rushing up he cried to the Rutulians, "Desist you for +a moment from the battle. I alone will fight Pallas. Would that his +father were here to see." Hearing these words the brave son of Evander +advanced boldly into the open plain between the two hosts. The hearts +of his Arcadian followers were filled with dread at seeing their young +chief about to engage in single combat with so great a warrior as the +Rutulian king. Turnus sprang down from his chariot, to meet his foe on +foot. + + And, as a lion--when he spies from far + A bull that seems to meditate the war, + Bending his neck, and spurning back the sand-- + Runs roaring downward from his hilly stand; + Imagine eager Turnus not more slow + To rush from high on his unequal foe. + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK X. + +Then Pallas prayed to Hercules, once his father's guest, to help him. +Hercules in his place in heaven, hearing the prayer, groaned in +distress and poured forth tears, for he knew that the fate of the +brave youth could not be averted. Noticing the grief of his son, +almighty Father Jupiter spoke to him in comforting words. "To every +one," said he, "his period of life is fixed. Short is the time +allotted to all, but it is the part of the brave man to lengthen out +fame by glorious deeds. Many even of the sons of the gods have fallen +under the lofty walls of Troy. Turnus too awaits his destiny, and +already he has nearly arrived at the limit of existence left to him." +So saying the king of heaven turned his eyes from the scene of battle. + +Pallas now hurled his spear with great force. The weapon struck the +armor of Turnus near his shoulder, and piercing through it, grazed his +body. Then Turnus poising his sharp steel-tipped javelin, darted it at +Pallas. Through the centre of his many-plated shield and the folds of +his corselet the fatal shaft passed into the breast of the brave +youth, inflicting a mortal wound. Down on the earth he fell, and +Turnus approaching the dead body exclaimed, "You Arcadians carry these +my words to your king. In such plight as he deserved I send his son +back to him. His league of friendship with AEneas shall cost him +dear." + +[Illustration with caption: PALLAS' BODY BORNE FROM THE FIELD. (Drawn +by Birch.)] + +Then Turnus stripped from the body of Pallas a beautiful belt, +embossed with figures carved in gold, and putting it on his own armor, +triumphed in the spoil. It proved to be a fatal possession for +Turnus. + + O mortals! blind in fate who never know + To bear high fortune, or endure the low! + The time shall come when Turnus, but in vain, + Shall wish untouched the trophies of the slain-- + Shall wish the fatal belt were far away, + And curse the dire remembrance of the day. + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK X. + +The body of the brave young prince was laid upon his shield, and borne +away from the field of battle, accompanied by a numerous retinue of +his sorrowing friends. + + O sad, proud thought, that thus a son + Should reach a father's door! + This day beheld your wars begun; + This day beholds them o'er, + CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK X. + +The news of the fate of Pallas soon reached AEneas, who was deeply +distressed at the thought of the sorrow the youth's death would bring +upon his aged father Evander. Eager for vengeance, he hastened through +the battle field in search of Turnus, slaying many chiefs of the enemy +whom he encountered on his way. But he was not yet to meet the +Rutulian king face to face, for Juno, by Jupiter's permission, led +Turnus off the field, and saved him for a time from the wrath of the +Trojan hero. Out of a hollow cloud she fashioned a phantom with the +shape, likeness and voice of AEneas, and caused it to appear before +Turnus, as if challenging him to combat. + + A phantom in AEneas' mould + She fashions, wondrous to behold, + Of hollow shadowy cloud, + Bids it the Dardan arms assume, + The shield, the helmet, and the plume, + Gives soulless words of swelling tone, + And motions like the hero's own, + As stately and as proud. + CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK X. + +The Rutulian king bravely advanced to attack the supposed Trojan +chief, upon which the spectre, wheeling about, hastily retreated +towards the river. Turnus followed, loudly upbraiding AEneas as a +coward. It happened that at the shore there was a ship, connected with +the land by a plank bridge or gangway. Into this ship the phantom +fled, closely pursued by Turnus; and no sooner had the latter reached +the deck of the vessel than Juno, bursting the cables which held it to +the bank, sent it floating down the stream. Then the figure of cloud, +soaring aloft, vanished into the air, and Turnus knew that he had been +deceived. + +He was much distressed at being thus separated from his brave +followers, and mortified at the thought that they might think he had +deserted them in the hour of danger. In his grief he attempted to +destroy his own life with his sword, but Juno restrained him, and the +ship, wafted along by favoring wind and tide, bore him to Ardea, the +capital city of his own country, where his father, King Daunus, +resided. + +Meanwhile, on the battle field, the Etrurian king, Mezentius, who had +taken the place of Turnus, attacked the Trojans with great fury. He +had slain many valiant warriors when AEneas espying him from a +distance, hurried forward to encounter him. Mezentius stood firm, and +relying on his strong arm and his weapons, rather than on divine aid +(being a despiser of the gods) he cast a spear at the Trojan leader. +The missile struck the hero's shield, but it was the shield which +Vulcan had made, and could not be pierced by earthly weapon. Then +AEneas hurled his javelin. Through the triple plates of brass, and the +triple bull-hide covering of the Etrurian king's shield it passed, +and, lodging in his groin, inflicted a severe, though not fatal, +wound. Instantly the Trojan chief rushed, with sword in hand, upon his +foe, as, disabled, he was about to withdraw from the conflict. But at +this moment young Lausus, the son of Mezentius, sprang forward and +received on his sword the blow that had been intended for his father. + + The pious youth, resolved on death, below + The lifted sword, springs forth to face the foe; + Protects his parent, and prevents the blow. + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK X. + +But Lausus was no match for the veteran Trojan warrior. Yet AEneas, +admiring his courage and filial devotion, would fain have spared the +brave youth. "Why do you attempt," said he, "what you have not +strength to accomplish? You do but rush to your own destruction." +Regardless, however, of danger, the gallant Lausus fought till he fell +lifeless on the earth. AEneas was touched with pity at the sight, for +he thought of his own son, and of how he himself had loved his own +father. Then, he tenderly lifted the body from the ground, and +consigned it to the care of his friends. They carried it to Mezentius, +who was resting on the river bank, after having bathed his wounds in +the water. When he beheld the lifeless form, the unhappy man burst +into tears, and bitterly lamented his own misdeeds which had brought +such calamities upon him--banishment from his throne and country, and +now, worst of all, the loss of his son. "Why do I live, my son," cried +he, "at the cost of thy life? My crimes have been the cause of thy +death." + + "Dear child! I stained your glorious name + By my own crimes, driven out to shame + From my ancestral reign; + My country's vengeance claimed my blood; + Ah! had that tainted, guilty flood + Been shed from every vein! + Now 'mid my kind I linger still + And live; but leave the light I will." + CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK X. + +Then though he was suffering much from the pain of his wound, he +called for his horse, the gallant steed Rhoebus, which had borne him +victorious through many a fight. The animal seemed to feel the grief +of its master, and to understand the words he spoke: "Long, Rhoebus," +said he, "have we lived, companions in war,--if indeed the life of +mortals can be said to be long. But to-day we shall either die +together, or bear away the body of AEneas, and so avenge the death of +Lausus." + +Mounting his horse, and filling both hands with javelins Mezentius +then rode rapidly to the scene of conflict, calling loudly for AEneas. +The Trojan chief knew the voice, and eager for the encounter, he +quickly advanced. But the brave Etrurian, fearing not to meet his foe, +cried out, "Cruel man, you cannot terrify me, now that my son is +snatched from me. I am not afraid of death, for I have come to die. +First, however, take these gifts which I bring for you." Thus speaking +he hurled a dart at the Trojan leader, and then another and another, +and three times he rode in a circle round the hero, casting javelins +at him. But the weapons of Mezentius could not pass through the +celestial shield of AEneas, though they fixed themselves in it, and +there were so many that they resembled a grove of spears. + + Thrice, fiercely hurling spears on spears, + From right to left he wheeled; + Thrice, facing round as he careers, + The steely grove the Trojan bears, + Thick planted on his shield. + +At length AEneas hurled a javelin at the warrior's horse, striking it +between the temples. The animal reared, beating the air with its +hoofs, and rolling over its rider, pinned him to the earth. Then the +Trojan chief rushed, sword in hand, upon his fallen foe, and the brave +Mezentius died asking only the favor of burial for his body. + + "For this, this only favor, let me sue; + If pity can to conquered foes be due, + Refuse it not; but let my body have + The last retreat of human-kind, a grave. + This refuge for my poor remains provide; + And lay my much-loved Lausus by my side." + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK X. + + + +X. FUNERAL OF PALLAS--AENEAS AND TURNUS FIGHT--TURNUS IS SLAIN. + +With the death of Mezentius the battle of the day came to an end. +Early next morning AEneas offered sacrifices to the gods in +thanksgiving for his victory. On a rising ground he caused to be +erected the trunk of a huge oak, with its boughs lopped off. Upon this +he hung as an offering to the war-god Mars, the arms that had been +borne by the Etrurian king--his crest, and his broken spears, his +breastplate, showing the marks of many blows, his shield of brass, and +his ivory-hilted sword. Then he spoke words of encouragement to his +chiefs and companions. + +"Brother warriors, our most important work is done. Henceforth we need +have no fear. Having vanquished the tyrant Mezentius, the way lies +open for us to the Latian capital. Make ready your arms so that there +may be no obstacle to detain us when the proper moment arrives for +leading forth our valiant youth from the camp. Meanwhile let us commit +to the earth the bodies of our dead friends. It is the sole honor +remaining for us to pay to the heroic men who, with their lives, have +won for us a country to dwell in. But first, to the mourning city of +Evander let the body of the noble Pallas be conveyed." + + "Brave Pallas, heir of high renown, + Whose hopeful day has set too soon, + O'ercast by darkness ere its noon" + CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK X. + +The obsequies of the young prince were carried out on a scale of great +magnificence. A thousand men formed the funeral procession. The body +was dressed in rich robes, stiff with embroidery of gold and purple, +which Queen Dido with her own hands had wrought for AEneas. Beside the +bier were borne the dead youth's arms, and the spoils he had won in +battle. His war-horse AEthon, too, was led along, big tear drops +running down the animal's cheeks, as if it shared in the general +sorrow. + + Then AEthon comes, his trappings doffed, + The warrior's gallant horse; + Big drops of pity oft and oft + Adown his visage course. + CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK XI. + +Behind followed the numerous escort of Trojan, Etrurian and Arcadian +warriors, and the long procession passed on with a last sad adieu from +the Trojan chief. "By the same fearful fate of war," said he, "I am +called to other scenes of woe. Farewell, noble Pallas, farewell, +forever." When the sorrowing cortege reached Pallanteum, the whole +city was in mourning. To the gates the people hastened in vast numbers +bearing funeral torches in their hands, according to ancient custom, +and Trojans and Arcadians joined in loud lamentations. + + Both parties meet; they raise a doleful cry; + The matrons from the walls with shrieks reply; + And their mixed mourning rends the vaulted sky. + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK XI. + +King Evander distracted with grief, prostrated himself upon the bier, +and clasping in his arms the body of his son, poured out a flood of +tears, bewailing the unhappy fate which left him childless in his old +age. + +Meantime, AEneas and the Latian chiefs agreed upon a truce of twelve +days for the burial of the dead of both armies, which lay scattered +over the battle field. While this sad duty was being performed, King +Latinus and his counsellors considered what was best to be done, after +the truce--whether to continue the war, or to propose terms of peace. +They had sent ambassadors to solicit help from Di-o-me'de, one of the +Grecian heroes of the Trojan war, who, after the siege, had settled in +Apulia in Italy, and built the city of Ar-gyr'i-pa, where he now +resided. But Diomede refused to fight against AEneas, and he reminded +the Latians that all who had raised the sword against Troy had +suffered grievous punishments. "I myself," said he, "am an exile from +my native country, and dire calamities have fallen upon many of my +people. Ask me not, therefore, to quarrel with the Trojans. How mighty +their leader is in battle I know by experience, for I have engaged him +hand to hand. Had Troy produced two other such heroes, it would have +fared ill with Greece. It was Hector and AEneas who held back the +victory of our countrymen for ten years--both distinguished for valor +and noble feats of arms, but the son of Anchises excelling in +reverence for the gods. With him, therefore, men of Latium, I advise +you to join in a league of friendship, if by any means you can do it. +Beware, however, of encountering him in war." + +The ambassadors delivered this message to King Latinus as he was +sitting in his council chamber with his chief men around him. The king +once more earnestly advised that they should make peace with the +Trojans, and give them lands to settle on, if they still desired to +dwell in Latium, or build for them a new fleet if they were willing to +withdraw from Italy and seek homes in some other country. He also +advised that they should send these proposals to the Trojan camp. + + "To treat the peace, a hundred senators + Shall be commissioned hence with ample powers, + With olive crowned; the presents they shall bear, + A purple robe, a royal ivory chair, + And sums of gold. Among yourselves debate + This great affair, and save the sinking state." + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK XI. + +King Turnus was present at this council, and there was also present a +Latian named Dran'ces, a very eloquent man, but not a warrior. + + --Bold at the council board, + But cautious in the field, he shunned the sword. + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK XI. + +Drances spoke in support of the advice given by Latinus. He also said +that one more gift should be sent to AEneas, namely, the fair Lavinia, +since by no other means could peace be more firmly established than by +a marriage between the Latian princess and the Trojan hero. Then +addressing Turnus, the bold Drances reproached him with having brought +upon his country all the horrors of war to gratify his ambition for +the honor of a royal wife. "You Turnus," said he, "are the cause of +the evils which afflict us. It is through you that so many of our +chiefs have perished on the battle field, and that our whole city is +in mourning. Have you no pity for your own people? Lay aside your +fierceness, and give up this hopeless contest. But if you are still +eager for glory in war, and must have a kingdom with your wife, then +take all the risk yourself, and do not ask others to expose themselves +to danger for you. AEneas has challenged you to single combat. If you +have any valor, go and fight with him." + +Enraged at this speech, Turnus angrily replied--"Drances, you have +always many words when deeds are required. But this is not the time to +fill the chamber with words, which come in torrents from you so long +as you are in safety with strong walls between you and the foe. You +charge me with cowardice, you, the valiant Drances, whose right hand, +forsooth, has piled up so many trophies of victory on the field! There +is an opportunity for you now, however, to put your valor to the +proof, for we have not far to go in search of the enemy. Why do you +hesitate to march against them?" + +Then speaking to the king, Turnus earnestly entreated him not to give +up the fight because of one defeat. "We have still," said he, "ample +resources and fresh troops, and many Italian cities and nations are in +alliance with us. The Trojans as well as ourselves have suffered heavy +loss. Why then should we permit fear to overcome us almost at the +beginning of the struggle? If the Trojans demand that I alone shall +fight their leader, gladly will I advance against him, even though he +prove himself as great a warrior as Achilles, and sheath himself in +armor forged by the hands of Vulcan." + +Turnus had scarcely finished speaking, when a messenger rushed into +the palace with the alarming intelligence that the Trojan and Etrurian +armies had quitted their camp on the bank of the Tiber, and were +marching toward the city. Instantly all was confusion and dismay in +the council. + + A turmoil takes the public mind; + Their passions flame, by furious wind + To conflagration blown; + At once to arms they fain would fly; + "To arms!" the youth impatient cry; + The old men weep and moan. + CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK XI. + +Turnus was quick to take advantage of this altered state of affairs. +"Citizens," he exclaimed, "will you still persist in talking about +peace even now that the enemy is almost at your doors?" Then, +withdrawing from the council chamber, he hastened to give orders to +his Rutulian chiefs to get the troops ready for immediate action--some +to lead the armed horsemen out upon the plain, others to man the +towers, others to follow him where he should command. The Latians, +too, excited to ardor by the approach of the enemy, rushed to arms, +and soon the whole city was in warlike commotion. + + Some help to sink new trenches; others aid + To ram the stones, or raise the palisade. + Hoarse trumpets sound the alarm; around the walls + Runs a distracted crew, whom their last labor calls. + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK XI. + +In the midst of the excitement, Queen Amata and her daughter Lavinia, +attended by a great number of matrons, repaired in procession to the +temple of Minerva, and prayed to the goddess, to break the Trojan +pirate's spear, and lay him prostrate in death under the city's walls. +Meanwhile, Turnus, armed for battle, went forth from the palace, and +hastened towards the plain to join his brave Rutulians. At the gate he +was met by the Volscian Queen Camilla, at the head of a troop of +female warriors, all on horseback. The brave queen requested that she +and her companions should have the honor of being the first to +encounter the Trojan host. "Noble heroine," replied the Rutulian +chief, "how can I express my thanks? Since such is your spirit, I am +willing that you should share the dangers with us. AEneas has sent his +horsemen to scour the plain, while he himself is marching through a +secluded valley with his foot soldiers to take the city by surprise. +This we learn from our scouts. Now I will beset him on the way with an +armed band, and to you I assign the task of engaging the Etrurian +horsemen. The brave Messapus and the Latian troops will be with you, +and under your command." + +Camilla and her troop performed prodigies of valor in the battle which +now took place on the plain before the city. Many Trojan and Etrurian +warriors fell, stricken down by the darts or pierced by the sword of +the brave heroine. On both sides the battle was maintained with the +utmost bravery. Twice the Trojans and their Tuscan allies drove the +Latians flying to the walls, and twice the Latians, facing about, +furiously drove back the Trojans. + + Twice were the Tuscans masters of the field, + Twice by the Latins, in their turn, repelled. + Ashamed at length, to the third charge they ran-- + Both hosts resolved, and mingled man to man. + Now dying groans are heard; the fields are strewed, + With falling bodies, and are drunk with blood. + Arms, horses, men, on heaps together lie; + Confused the fight, and more confused the cry. + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK XI. + +The battle continued to rage furiously, and it seemed doubtful which +side would win, until Camilla was slain by the Etruscan Aruns, who had +been watching for an opportunity to cast a spear at the queen. + + This way and that his winding course he bends, + And wheresoe'er she turns, her steps attends. + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK XI. + +There was in the Trojan army a warrior, and priest of Cybele, named +Chlo'reus, conspicuous on the field by the rich trappings of his horse +and his own glittering arms and attire. He wore a purple robe, his +helmet and the bow which hung from his shoulders were of gold; his +saffron colored scarf was fastened with a gold clasp; and his tunic +was embroidered with needle-work. Camilla seeing these beautiful and +costly things, became eager to possess them, and so she pursued +Chloreus over the field of battle. + + Him the fierce maid beheld with ardent eyes, + Fond and ambitious of so rich a prize, + Blind in her haste, she chases him alone, + And seeks his life, regardless of her own. + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK XI. + +Thus she furnished the opportunity desired by Aruns, who, from a +covert in which he lay concealed, hurled a dart at the queen as, +heedless of danger, she rode in pursuit of Chloreus. The weapon +pierced her body and she sank down lifeless. + +The fortune of the day now turned to the side of the Trojans. Dismayed +by the loss of their brave leader Camilla, the Volscian troops fled +from the field. The Rutulian captains, also losing courage, sought +safety in flight, and soon the whole Italian army was in full retreat +towards the city, hotly pursued by the Trojans. At the gates many were +trampled to death in the wild rush to get within, while many more were +slain by the swords of the enemy pressing on behind. + + Then, in a fright, the folding gates they close, + But leave their friends excluded with their foes. + The vanquished cry; the victors loudly shout; + 'Tis terror all within, and slaughter all without. + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK XI. + +When Turnus heard that Camilla had fallen, that the Trojans had been +victorious in the battle, and that all was confusion and terror within +the walls, he immediately quitted the post where he had been lying in +wait for AEneas, and hurried towards the city. Almost at the same +moment the Trojan chief issued forth from the valley. Both armies and +both leaders were now in sight of each other and both were eager for +battle, but night coming on, they pitched their tents and encamped in +front of the town. + +But the Latians were now disheartened, and Turnus saw they were no +longer willing to continue a struggle which seemed hopeless. He +himself, however, was still determined not to yield, and he resolved +to encounter AEneas in single combat. "With my own right hand," said +he, "I shall slay the Trojan adventurer, while the Latians sit still +and look on, and if he vanquish me, let him rule over us, and have +Lavinia for his bride." King Latinus endeavored to dissuade him from +this dangerous enterprise. "Turnus," said he, "you are heir to the +kingdom of your father Daunus. There are other high-born maidens in +Latium, from whom you may chose a wife. It was decreed by the gods +that Lavinia should wed no prince of Italy, yet through affection for +you, and yielding to the prayers of my queen, I permitted the Latians +to make war against him to whom, in accordance with the will of +heaven, my daughter was promised. You see what calamities have come +upon us in consequence. In two great battles we have been defeated, +and now we are scarce able to defend ourselves in our capital city. If +upon your death I am resolved to make an alliance with the Trojans, is +it not better to put an end to the war while you are still alive?" + +Queen Amata also entreated Turnus not to risk his life in an +engagement with the Trojan chief. "Whatever fortune awaits you, +Turnus," she said, "awaits me also. I shall not live and see AEneas +my son-in-law." The fair Lavinia was present during her mother's +passionate appeal, but she expressed her feeling only by tears and +modest blushes. + + --A flood of tears Lavinia shed; + A crimson blush her beauteous face o'erspread, + Varying her cheeks by turns with white and red. + Delightful change! Thus Indian ivory shows, + Which with the bordering paint of purple glows; + Or lilies damasked by the neighboring rose. + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK XII. + +But Turnus would not listen to the advice of King Latinus or Queen +Amata and so he sent his herald Idmon with a challenge to AEneas. +"Tell him," said he, "not to lead his men against the Rutulians to- +morrow. Let both our armies rest, while by his sword and mine the war +shall be decided." AEneas, who had himself already proposed this +method of settling the quarrel, rejoiced to hear that now at length +the war was to be brought to an end on such terms. He therefore gladly +accepted the challenge, and early next morning preparations were made +for the combat. + +A space of ground was measured off on the open plain in front of the +city walls, and in the center were erected altars of turf. The two +armies were marshalled on opposite sides of this space, the Trojans +and Etrurians on one side, the Rutulians and Latians on the other, and +at a given signal every man fixed his spear in the earth, and laid +down his shield. On the towers and house tops the women and old men +crowded to witness the fight. King Latinus rode out from the city in a +chariot drawn by four horses, and wearing on his head a crown with +twelve rays of gold. Turnus rode in a chariot drawn by two white +steeds, and he bore in each hand a javelin tipped with steel. On the +other side, AEneas, brilliant in the arms which Vulcan had made, +advanced from his camp into the open space, accompanied by the young +Iulus. Then the customary sacrifices and offerings were made at the +altars, after which the Trojan chief, unsheathing his sword, prayed +aloud to the gods, and pledged his people to the conditions of the +combat:-- + +"If victory in this fight shall fall to Turnus, the Trojans shall +retire to Evander's city, and no more make war on the Latians or +Rutulians. But if victory fall to our side, even then I shall not +compel the Italians to be subject to the Trojans, for I desire not +empire for myself. Both nations shall enter into alliance on equal +terms, and Latinus shall still be king. The Trojans shall build a city +for me, and to it Lavinia shall give her name." + +Then Latinus calling on the gods to hear his words, and laying his +hand upon the altar, swore for himself and his people that they would +never violate the treaty of peace, no matter how the combat of the day +should result. + + "By the same heaven (said he), and earth, and main, + And all the powers that all the three contain; + Whatever chance befall on either side, + No term of time this union shall divide; + No force, no fortune, shall my vows unbind, + Or shake the steadfast tenor of my mind." + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK XII. + +But while the solemn ceremonies were being carried out at the altars, +the Rutulians began to show signs of dissatisfaction. It seemed to +them that the youthful Turnus was no equal match in arms for the +veteran Trojan. + + Already the Rutulians deemed their man + O'ermatched in arms, before the fight began. + First rising fears are whispered through the crowd; + Then, gathering sound, they murmur more aloud. + Now, side to side, they measure with their eyes + The champions' bulk, their sinews, and their size; + The nearer they approach, the more is known + The apparent disadvantage of their own. + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK XII. + +Then Ju-tur'na, the sister of Turnus, knowing of the feeling among the +Rutulians, resolved to bring about a violation of the truce which had +been made. The goddess Juno had instigated her to do so, telling her +that the combat with AEneas would be fatal to her brother, and urging +her to prevent it. With this object Juturna, who, being a favorite of +Jupiter, had been by him made a sea-nymph, and immortal, went into the +midst of the Rutulians, and assuming the form of Ca'mers, an +illustrious warrior of their nation, thus addressed them. "Is it not a +shame, Rutulians, to permit one man to expose his life to danger for +you all? We are greater in number than the enemy and equal in valor. +If Turnus die in this fight, he indeed shall be famous forever, but we +who sit here inactive, shall, after losing our country, be the slaves +of haughty masters." + +These words incited the Rutulians to a desire for war, but Juturna +still further inflamed their minds by a singular omen. She caused to +appear before them in the sky an eagle pursuing a flock of swans. The +eagle swooped down upon the swans where they had alighted on the water +of the river, and seizing one in its talons, was carrying it off. But +suddenly the flock of swans arose, and darting in a solid body upon +the eagle, attacked him with such force that he dropped his prey and +flew off into the clouds. + +The Rutulians understood the meaning of this spectacle, and with loud +shouts they began to make preparations for battle. One of their +number, the augur To-lum'ni-us, cried out to them to take up their +swords and fall upon the Trojan foreigner after the example of the +birds who, by united action, had just vanquished their enemy. Then +rushing forward, Tolumnius cast a spear into the ranks of the Trojans. +Whizzing through the air it struck an Arcadian youth, one of nine +brothers who were standing together in the Etrurian lines, and +penetrating his side stretched him dead on the field. + +Thus the truce was broken, and immediately a fierce battle began, +warriors on both sides hurling their darts and plying their swords, +the very altars being overthrown in the struggle. Latinus in deep +grief and disappointment retired from the scene, now that all hope of +peace was at an end. But the Trojan chief, with his head uncovered, +stretched forth his unarmed hand, and earnestly appealed to his own +people. "Whither do you rush?" he cried. "How has this discord arisen? +Restrain your rage, for the league is now formed, and all its terms +settled." While thus endeavoring to restore peace, the pious AEneas +himself was severely wounded. + + --While he spoke, unmindful of defence, + A winged arrow struck the pious prince. + But whether from some human hand it came, + Or hostile god, is left unknown by fame; + No human hand, or hostile god, was found, + To boast the triumph of so base a wound. + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK XII. + +AEneas was led away to his tent, bleeding from his wound. Then Turnus +called for his war chariot and his arms, and drove furiously over the +plain into the midst of the Trojans, dealing death around him on every +side. + + He drives impetuous, and, where'er he goes, + He leaves behind a lane of slaughtered foes. + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK XII. + +One brave Trojan warrior named Phe'geus made a gallant fight against +Turnus. Leaping in front of the chariot, and seizing the bridles, he +strove with all his might to bring the horses to a stand. While he was +being dragged along, clinging to the pole, a thrust from the lance of +Turnus pierced his coat of mail and inflicted a slight wound. Still +the heroic Phegeus held on, and, turning towards his foe, endeavored +to reach him with his sword, but just then, coming against the chariot +wheels, he was hurled to the ground, and in a moment Turnus, with one +blow, struck off his head. + +Meanwhile, AEneas attended by Mnestheus, the faithful Achates, and the +young Iulus, lay bleeding in his camp. The barb of the arrow by which +he had been wounded still remained fixed in the flesh, and not even +the skillful surgeon I-a'pis, whom Apollo himself had instructed in +medicine, could extract it. But the goddess Venus once more came to +the relief of her son. While Iapis was fomenting the wound with water, +the goddess, unseen, dipped into the vessel a branch of dit'ta-ny, a +plant famous for its healing qualities. At the same time she injected +celestial ambrosia, and juice of the all-curing herb pan-a-ce'a. + +Instantly the arrow dropped out, the wound healed up, and the Trojan +chief recovered his full strength and vigor. Then Iapis exclaimed, +"Not by human hand has this cure been effected. Some powerful god, +AEneas, has saved you for great enterprises." Immediately the hero put +on his armor; and before going out into the battle-field, he tenderly +embraced his son and spoke to him words of counsel and encouragement. + + In his mailed arms his child he pressed, + Kissed through his helm, and thus addressed: + "Learn of your father to be great, + Of others to be fortunate. + This hand awhile shall be your shield + And lead you safe from field to field; + When grown yourself to manhood's prime, + Remember those of former time, + Recall each venerable name, + And catch heroic fire + From Hector's and AEneas' fame, + Your uncle and your sire." + CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK XII. + +AEneas now went forth to the fight. The chiefs and their followers, +encouraged by the appearance of their leader, slew numbers of the +enemy, including the augur Tolumnius, who had first broken the truce. +But the Trojan hero himself sought only for Turnus, and he pursued him +over the plain. Juturna seeing this, assumed the shape and likeness of +Me-tis'cus, her brother's charioteer, and taking his place upon the +chariot, drove rapidly through the field, now here now there, but ever +keeping at a distance from the pursuing Trojan chief. + + She steers a various course among the foes; + Now here, now there, her conquering brother shows; + Now with a straight, now with a wheeling flight, + She turns and bends, but shuns the single fight. + AEneas, fired with fury, breaks the crowd, + And seeks his foe, and calls by name aloud; + He runs within a narrower ring, and tries + To stop the chariot, but the chariot flies. + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK XII. + +At length AEneas resolved to bring the battle and the war to a speedy +end. While pursuing Turnus, he had noticed that the city was left +without defence, all the Latian and Rutulian troops being engaged in +the field. Calling his chiefs quickly together, he told them of his +plan. "The city before us," said he, "is the center of the enemy's +strength. It is now in our power. This day we may overturn it, and lay +its smoking towers level with the ground. Am I to wait until it +pleases Turnus to accept my challenge? Quickly bring firebrands, and +very soon we shall establish peace." + +The Trojan forces were at once marshalled, and led in a solid +battalion to the walls, where a vigorous assault forthwith commenced. +Some rushed to the gates and slew the first they met, others hurled +darts into the city, and others, by means of scaling ladders, sought +to climb over the ramparts. AEneas in a loud voice called the gods to +witness that he was now for the second time compelled to fight, and +that for a second time a solemn league had been violated by the +Latians. Within the town dissension broke out among the alarmed +citizens, some urging that the gates should be opened to the Trojans, +others taking up arms to defend the walls. + +Turnus was in a distant part of the field when he heard of the attack +on the city. A messenger rode up to him in haste with the intelligence +that AEneas was about to overthrow the stately towers of Latium, and +that already flaming torches had been applied to the roofs. Then +Turnus saw that the moment for action had come, and he cried out to +his sister (for notwithstanding her disguise he had known her from the +first): "Now, now, sister, my destiny prevails. Forbear to further +stop me. Let me follow whither the gods call. I am resolved to enter +the lists with AEneas. No longer shall you see me in disgrace. +Whatever bitterness there is in death I am ready to endure it." + +So saying, Turnus sprang from his chariot, and bounding over the +plain, rushed into the midst of the combatants at the gates of the +city. With outstretched arms he made a sign to his friends, and +called upon them in a loud voice: "Rutulians and Latians, cease +fighting. Whatever fortune of the war remains is mine. It is for me +alone by my sword to put an end to this strife." + +AEneas, hearing the challenge of Turnus, forsook the lofty walls and +towers, and hastened to encounter his foe. The hosts on both sides +laid down their arms. A space was cleared on the open plain, and +immediately the two heroes rushed to the combat, with hurling of darts +and clashing of swords and shields. + + They launch their spears; then hand to hand they meet; + The trembling soil resounds beneath their feet; + Their bucklers clash; thick blows descend from high, + And flakes of fire from their hard helmets fly. + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK XII. + +The great fight now began. Turnus aimed a mighty blow at AEneas, +raising himself on tiptoes, and adding to the force of the stroke the +whole weight of his body. But the blade snapped in two as it struck +the armor of the Trojan hero, thus leaving the Rutulian chief at the +mercy of his foe. The weapon was one he had hastily snatched up +instead of his own when mounting his chariot for the first fight of +the day. It had served his purpose so long as he used it only on +fleeing Trojans, but when it came against the armor made by Vulcan it +broke like ice. The unfortunate Rutulian now turned and fled over the +field, calling loudly on his friends to bring him his sword. AEneas +followed in pursuit, threatening death to any one who should venture +to approach, and thus five times round the lists they ran. + + Five times they circle round the place, + Five times the winding course retrace; + No trivial game is here; the strife + Is waged for Turnus' own dear life. + CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK XII. + +Finding that he could not overtake the fleeing Turnus, AEneas resolved +again to make trial of his celestial spear. At the outset of the +combat he had hurled this weapon with such force, that it fixed itself +deep in the stump of a wild olive tree that stood in the field. The +tree had been sacred to the deity Faunus, but the Trojans had cut it +down to make a clear ground for their military movements. When AEneas +attempted to wrench the spear out, Turnus prayed to Faunus to detain +the weapon. + + "O Faunus! pity! and thou, mother Earth, + Where I thy foster-son received my birth, + Hold fast the steel! If my religious hand + Your plant has honored, which your foes profaned, + Propitious hear my pious prayer." + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK XII. + +But now the power of the gods was exercised on behalf of both heroes. +While AEneas struggled in vain to extricate the javelin, Juturna, +again taking the form of Metiscus, ran forward to her brother and gave +him his own sword. Then Venus came to the aid of her son, and the +steel was easily drawn from the tough root. Once more the two chiefs +stood ready for the combat, the one relying on his trusty sword, the +other, on the spear which a god had made. + +Meanwhile the goddess Juno, sitting in a yellow cloud, was watching +the combat, and Jupiter, coming near, advised her to abandon her +hopeless enmity to the Trojans, and forbade her to further resist the +decree of heaven. Juno was now ready to yield, but on one condition-- +"When by this marriage they establish peace, let the people of Latium +retain their ancient name and language. Let Latium subsist. Let the +sons of Rome rise to imperial power by means of Italian valor. Troy +has perished. Let the name also perish." To this the king of heaven +replied: "I grant what you desire. The Italians shall retain their +native language and customs. The Trojans shall settle in Latium and +mingle with its people and all shall be called Latins and have but one +speech." + + "All shall be Latium; Troy without a name; + And her lost sons forget from whence they came. + From blood so mixed a pious race shall flow, + Equal to gods, excelling all below. + No nation more respect to you shall pay, + Or greater offerings on your altars lay." + Juno consents, well pleased that her desires + Had found success, and from the cloud retires. + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK XII. + +Then Jupiter sent one of the Furies down to the field of battle, in +the form of an owl, and the evil bird flew backwards and forwards in +the sight of Turnus, flapping its wings. The chief, knowing that this +was an unfavorable omen, hesitated to advance, and AEneas calling to +him aloud cried, "Turnus, why do you further decline to fight? It is +not in running that we must now try our skill, but with arms in close +conflict." "I have no fear of you, insulting foe," answered Turnus. +"My dread is of the gods, who are against me." As he spoke, he saw on +the ground before him a huge stone, such as only a man of giant +strength could lift. Seizing it and poising it over his head he rushed +forward, and hurled it against the enemy. + + But wildering fears his mind unman; + Running, he knew not that he ran, + Nor throwing that he threw; + Heavily move his sinking knees; + The streams of life wax dull and freeze; + The stone, as through the void it passed, + Reached not the measure of its cast, + Nor held its purpose true. + CONINGTON; _AEneid_, BOOK XII. + +AEneas, now taking careful aim, and putting forth the whole strength +of his body, hurled his fatal spear. Like a whirlwind it flew, and +with mighty force breaking through the shield and corselet of the +Rutulian chief, pierced his thigh. Down to the earth he sank on his +knees, and the Trojan chief rushed forward sword in hand. Then the +vanquished hero besought the conqueror: "I have deserved my fate, and +I do not deprecate it, yet if any regard for an unhappy father can +move you, have compassion on the aged Daunus. You too had such a +father. You have triumphed. Lavinia is yours. Persist not further in +hate." + +AEneas was much affected by this appeal. It almost moved him to spare +the life of his foe, but the belt of Pallas which the wounded man wore +sealed his fate. As soon as it caught the eye of the Trojan he raised +his sword and with one blow avenged the death of the brave son of +Evander. + + Then, roused anew to wrath, he loudly cries + (Flames, while he spoke, came flashing from his eyes), + "Traitor! dost thou, dost thou to grace pretend, + Clad, as thou art, in trophies of my friend? + To his sad soul a grateful offering go! + 'Tis Pallas, Pallas gives this deadly blow!" + He raised his arm aloft, and at the word, + Deep in his bosom drove the shining sword. + The streaming blood distained his arms around; + And the disdainful soul came rushing through the wound. + DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK XII. + + +Here ends the story of AEneas as related by Vergil. There was no more +to be told, that could properly come within the limits of the subject, +as set forth in the opening lines of the AEneid: + + Arms and the man I sing, who, forced by Fate, + And haughty Juno's unrelenting hate, + Expelled and exiled, left the Trojan shore. + Long labors, both by sea and land, he bore, + And in the doubtful war, before he won + The Latian realm, and built the destined town. + + +The poet undertook to tell about the wanderings of the hero, and his +long labors both by sea and land, up to the time he won a settlement +in Italy. This was accomplished by the death of Turnus, which put an +end to the war. The brave Rutulian chief made a gallant fight, but the +fates were against him. He would probably have been the victor had his +antagonist been any other than the man of destiny, who had the decrees +of heaven always on his side. + +As to the subsequent history of AEneas, the Roman traditions tell us +that he married the princess Lavinia, and built a city which was +called after her name--Lavinium. Upon the death of his father-in-law, +Latinus, he became king of Latium. But though he was then in +possession of his long promised settlement, his wars were not entirely +over, for we are told that he fought a battle with the Rutulians who, +though their king was dead, were still unwilling to submit to a +foreigner. In this battle, which took place on the bank of the river +Numicus, the Trojan hero mysteriously disappeared and was seen no +more. Some say he was drowned in the river, and that the Latins, not +finding the body, supposed he had been taken up to heaven, and +therefore offered him sacrifices as a god. + +On the death of the hero, his son Iulus succeeded him, and built the +city of Alba Longa, which was ruled for many centuries by kings of the +line of AEneas, whose descendants were the founders of Rome. + + From whence the race of Alban Fathers come, + And the long glories of majestic Rome. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Story of Aeneas, by Michael Clarke + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STORY OF AENEAS *** + +This file should be named 6003.txt or 6003.zip + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Charles Franks +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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