from the Aeneid by Virgil, Book I, lines 441-493

from the Aeneid by Virgil, Book I, lines 441-493:

Original Latin text:

         Lucus in urbe fuit media, laetissimus umbrae,

quo primum iactati undis et turbine Poeni

effodere loco signum, quod regia Iuno

monstrarat, caput acris equi; sic nam fore bello

egregiam et facilem victu per saecula gentem.               445

hic templum Iunoni ingens Sidonia Dido

condebat, donis opulentum et numine divae,

aerea cui gradibus surgebant limina nexaeque

aere trabes, foribus cardo stridebat aënis.

hoc primum in luco nova res oblata timorem                450

leniit, hic primum Aeneas sperare salutem

ausus et adflictis melius confidere rebus.

namque sub ingenti lustrat dum singula templo,

reginam opperiens, dum, quae fortuna sit urbi,

artificumque manus inter se operumque laborem                455

miratur, videt Iliacas ex ordine pugnas

bellaque iam fama totum volgata per orbem,

Atridas Priamumque et saevum ambobus Achillem.

constitit et lacrimans, “quis iam locus,” inquit, “Achate,

quae regio in terris nostri non plena laboris?               460

en Priamus! sunt hic etiam sua praemia laudi,

sunt lacrimae rerum et mentem mortalia tangunt.

solve metus; feret haec aliquam tibi fama salutem.”

sic ait, atque animum pictura pascit inani,

multa gemens, largoque umectat flumine voltum.               465

namque videbat, uti bellantes Pergama circum

hac fugerent Grai, premeret Troiana iuventus,

hac Phryges, instaret curru cristatus Achilles.

nec procul hinc Rhesi niveis tentoria velis

adgnoscit lacrimans, primo quae prodita somno                470

Tydides multa vastabat caede cruentus,

ardentisque avertit equos in castra, prius quam

pabula gustassent Troiae Xanthumque bibissent.

parte alia fugiens amissis Troilus armis,

infelix puer atque impar congressus Achilli,               475

fertor equis curruque haeret resupinus inani,

loratenenstamen; huic cervixque comaequetrahuntur

per terram et versa pulvis inscribitur hasta.

interea ad templum non aequae Palladis ibant

crinibus Iliades passis peplumque ferebant,               480

suppliciter tristes et tunsae pectora palmis;

diva solo fixos oculos aversa tenebat.

ter circum Iliacos raptaverat Hectora muros

exanimumque auro corpus vendebat Achilles.

tum vero ingentem gemitum dat pectore ab imo,               485

ut spolia, ut currus, utque ipsum corpus amici

tendentemque manus Priamum conspexit inermis.

se quoque principibus permixtum adgnovit Achivis,

Eoasque acies et nigri Memnonis arma.

ducit Amazonidum lunatis agmina peltis                490

Penthesilea furens mediisque in milibus ardet,

aurea subnectens exsertae cingula mammae,

bellatrix, audetque viris concurrere virgo.

Source of the text in Latin – Virgil, vol. I, with an English translation by H. Rushton Fairclough.  London: William Heinemann, 1916, p. 270-274.

English translation by Robert Fitzgerald:

He looked up at the roofs, for he had entered,
Swathed in cloud—strange to relate—among them,
Mingling with men, yet visible to none.
In mid-town stood a grove that cast sweet shade
Where the Phoenicians, shaken by wind and sea,
Had first dug up that symbol Juno showed them,
A proud warhorse's head: this meant for Carthage
Prowess in war and ease of life through ages.
Here being built by the Sidonian queen
Was a great temple planned in Juno's honor,
Rich in offerings and the godhead there.
Steps led up to a sill of bronze, with brazen
Lintel, and bronze doors on groaning pins.
Here in this grove new things that met his eyes
Calmed Aeneas' fear for the first time.
Here for the first time he took heart to hope
For safety, and to trust his destiny more
Even in affliction. It was while he walked
From one to another wall of the great temple
And waited for the queen, staring amazed
At Carthaginian promise, at the handiwork
Of artificers and the toil they spent upon it:
He found before his eyes the Trojan battles
In the old war, now known throughout the world—
The great Atridae, Priam, and Achilles,
Fierce in his rage at both sides. Here Aeneas
Halted, and tears came.
                                      “What spot on earth,”
He said, “what region of the earth, Achatës,
Is not full of the story of our sorrow?
Look, here is Priam. Even so far away
Great valor has due honor; they weep here
For how the world goes, and our life that passes
Touches their hearts. Throw off your fear. This fame
Insures some kind of refuge.”
                                                He broke off
To feast his eyes and mind on a mere image,
Sighing often, cheeks grown wet with tears,
To see again how, fighting around Troy,
The Greeks broke here, and ran before the Trojans,
And there the Phrygians ran, as plumed Achilles
Harried them in his warcar. Nearby, then,
He recognized the snowy canvas tents
Of Rhesus, and more tears came: these, betrayed
In first sleep, Diomedes devastated,
Swording many, till he reeked with blood,
Then turned the mettlesome horses toward the beachhead
Before they tasted Trojan grass or drank
At Xanthus ford.
                                    And on another panel
Troilus, without his armor, luckless boy,
No match for his antagonist, Achilles,
Appeared pulled onward by his team: he clung
To his warcar, though fallen backward, hanging
On to the reins still, head dragged on the ground,
His javelin scribbling S’s in the dust.
Meanwhile to hostile Pallas’ shrine
The Trojan women walked with hair unbound,
Bearing the robe of offering, in sorrow,
Entreating her, beating their breasts. But she,
Her face averted, would not raise her eyes.
And there was Hector, dragged around Troy walls
Three times, and there for gold Achilles sold him,
Bloodless and lifeless. Now indeed Aeneas
Heaved a mighty sigh from deep within him,
Seeing the spoils, the chariot, and the corpse
Of his great friend, and Priam, all unarmed,
Stretching his hands out.
                                        He himself he saw
In combat with the first of the Achaeans,
And saw the ranks of Dawn, black Memnon’s arms;
Then, leading the battalion of Amazons
With half-moon shields, he saw Penthesilëa
Fiery amid her host, buckling a golden
Girdle beneath her bare and arrogant breast,
A girl who dared fight men, a warrior queen.


Source of the English translation: Virgil, The Aeneid, translated by Robert Fitzgerald. New York: Vintage Books, 1983, p. 19-21.

TJB: Visuality Virgilianae. Invisible, Aeneas views wall-art & sees his story & the story of Troy, with focus on the Trojan emotions, not actions.