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.