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.