Virgil Aeneid II translation

Memorise

 

conticuere omnes intentique ora tenebant;

inde toro pater Aeneas sic orsus ab alto:

‘infandum, regina, iubes renovare dolorem, 

Troianas ut opes et lamentabile regnum

eruerint Danai, quaeque ipse miserrima vidi                5

et quorum pars magna fui. quis talia fando

Myrmidonum Dolopumve aut duri miles Ulixi

temperet a lacrimis? et iam nox umida caelo

praecipitat suadentque cadentia sidera somnos.

They all fell silent and turned their faces attentively

 

Then father Aeneas began to speak as follows from his high couch:

 

"You are ordering me, o Queen, to renew unspeakable suffering,

how the Greeks overthrew the power of Troy and the kingdom which-will-be-forever-mourned,

and the most pitiable things which I myself saw

and of which I was a great part. Which of the Myrmidons or the Dolopes,

when telling such things, or which soldier of harsh Ulysses

could refrain from tears? And now damp night rushes

from the sky, and the setting stars encourage sleep[s].

sed si tantus amor casus cognoscere nostros               10
et breviter Troiae supremum audire laborem,
quamquam animus meminisse horret luctuque refugit,
incipiam.

But if (you have) such a great desire to learn of our misfortunes,

and to hear briefly the last struggle of Troy,

although my mind shudders to remember and it shrank back in grief,

I shall begin."

 

fracti bello fatisque repulsi
ductores Danaum tot iam labentibus annis
instar montis equum divina Palladis arte               15
aedificant, sectaque intexunt abiete costas;
votum pro reditu simulant; ea fama vagatur.
huc delecta virum sortiti corpora furtim
includunt caeco lateri penitusque cavernas
ingentis uterumque armato milite complent.               20
est in conspectu Tenedos, notissima fama
insula, dives opum Priami dum regna manebant,
nunc tantum sinus et statio male fida carinis:
huc se provecti deserto in litore condunt;
nos abiisse rati et vento petiisse Mycenas.     

  "Broken by war and driven back by the fates,

the leaders of the Greeks, now as so many years slipped by,

built a horse the size of  a mountain by the divine skill of Pallas [= Minerva]

and interwove its ribs with planks of fir [lit: cut fir];  

they pretended (it was) an offering for their return; that was the rumour going around,

Into this, having drawn lots, they secretly enclosed the bodies of chosen men

in its dark side, and deep-inside they filled its huge

caverns and belly with armed soldiers.

There is within sight (of Troy) Tenedos, an island most famous in storytelling,

rich in wealth while the kingdom of Priam endured,

now only a bay and a treacherous mooring-place for ships:

having sailed to here they hid [themselves] on the deserted shore;

we thought that they had gone away and made for Mycenae with a (favourable) win

ergo omnis longo soluit se Teucria luctu;
panduntur portae, iuvat ire et Dorica castra
desertosque videre locos litusque relictum:
hic Dolopum manus, hic saevus tendebat Achilles;
classibus hic locus, hic acie certare solebant.               30
pars stupet innuptae donum exitiale Minervae
et molem mirantur equi; primusque Thymoetes
duci intra muros hortatur et arce locari,
sive dolo seu iam Troiae sic fata ferebant.

Therefore the whole land-of-Troy freed itself from its longstanding grief;                         2

the gates were thrown-open, it-gave-us-pleasure to go and see the Greek camp

and the deserted places and the abandoned shore:

here (was) the band of the Dolopians, here savage Achilles made his camp;

here (was) the place for the fleet, here they were accustomed to fight in battle.

Some (of us/them) were stunned by the deathly gift to unmarried Minerva,

and they were amazed at the huge-mass of the horse; and Thymoetes (was the) first (to)

urge that it be drawn within the walls and placed on the citadel,

whether through deceit or (because) the fates of Troy were already heading that way.

at Capys, et quorum melior sententia menti,               35
aut pelago Danaum insidias suspectaque dona
praecipitare iubent subiectisque urere flammis,
aut terebrare cavas uteri et temptare latebras.
scinditur incertum studia in contraria vulgus.

But Capys, and those whose mind had better judgement,

ordered (us) to hurl the trap and the suspect gift of the Greeks into the sea,

or to put flames beneath it and burn it,

or to pierce and test the hollow hiding-places of its belly.

The uncertain crowd was split into opposing groups.

Primus ibi ante omnis magna comitante caterva               40
Laocoon ardens summa decurrit ab arce,
et procul 'o miseri, quae tanta insania, cives?
creditis avectos hostis? aut ulla putatis
dona carere dolis Danaum? sic notus Ulixes?
aut hoc inclusi ligno occultantur Achivi,               45
aut haec in nostros fabricata est machina muros,
inspectura domos venturaque desuper urbi,
aut aliquis latet error; equo ne credite, Teucri.
quidquid id est, timeo Danaos et dona ferentis.'

There first, in front of everyone, with a great crowd accompanying him,

Laocoon, blazing (with emotion) ran down from the top of the citadel,

and from afar (he cried/shouted): "O wretched citizens, what is this great madness?

Do you believe that the enemy have sailed away? Or do you think that any

gifts from the Greeks are without trickery? Is this what Ulysses was known for?

Either the Greeks are concealed, enclosed within this wooden structure,

or this engine of war  has been devised against our walls,

to spy upon (our) homes and to come down from above upon our city,

or some (other) deception lurks; do not trust the horse, Trojans.

Whatever it is, I fear the Greeks, even when they bear gifts."

sic fatus ualidis ingentem viribus hastam               50
in latus inque feri curvam compagibus alvum
contorsit. stetit illa tremens, uteroque recusso
insonuere cavae gemitumque dedere cavernae.
et, si fata deum, si mens non laeva fuisset,
impulerat ferro Argolicas foedare latebras,               55
Troiaque nunc staret, Priamique arx alta maneres.

Having spoken thus, with strong force he hurled a huge spear

into the side of the beast and into its belly curved with joints.

It stuck there reverberating, and when the womb was struck

the hollow cavities resounded and let out/gave out a groan.

And, if the fates of the gods, if their intention, had not been unfavourable,

he would have driven us to defile/break into the Greek hiding-places with our swords,

and Troy would now stand, and, lofty citadel of Priam, you would remain.

Talibus insidiis periurique arte Sinonis               195
credita res, captique dolis lacrimisque coactis
quos neque Tydides nec Larisaeus Achilles,
non anni domuere decem, non mille carinae.

Hic aliud maius miseris multoque tremendum
obicitur magis atque improvida pectora turbat.               200
Laocoon, ductus Neptuno sorte sacerdos,
sollemnis taurum ingentem mactabat ad aras

through such tricks and the skill of the lying Sinon

His tale was believed, and we were taken in by deceit[s] and false tears,

(we) whom neither Diomedes nor Larissean Achilles,

nor ten years, nor one thousand ships (had) subdued

At this point something greater and much more terrible presented itself to-us-in-our-misery

And shook our unforeseeing hearts.

Laocoon, chosen by lot as priest to Neptune,

Was beginning to sacrifice a huge bull at the customary altar[s].

ecce autem gemini a Tenedo tranquilla per alta
(horresco referens) immensis orbibus angues
incumbunt pelago pariterque ad litora tendunt;               205
pectora quorum inter fluctus arrecta iubaeque
sanguineae superant undas, pars cetera pontum
pone legit sinuatque immensa volumine terga.
fit sonitus spumante salo; iamque arva tenebant
ardentisque oculos suffecti sanguine et igni               210
sibila lambebant linguis vibrantibus ora.

But see, across the calm depths from Tenedos twin

snakes (I shudder to recall) in huge loops

made-their-way-through the sea and side-by-side made for the shores;

Their chests/undersides (were) raised among the waves and their blood-red

crests rose above the waves, (and) the rest of them skimmed through

the sea behind and they curved their huge backs in coil(s).

There came a sound as the sea-salt foamed; and already they (had) reached dry-land [lit: fields]

and with their blazing eyes tinged with blood and fire

they were licking their hissing mouths with flickering tongues.

diffugimus visu exsangues. illi agmine certo
Laocoonta petunt; et primum parva duorum
corpora natorum serpens amplexus uterque
implicat et miseros morsu depascitur artus;               215
post ipsum auxilio subeuntem ac tela ferentem
corripiunt spirisque ligant ingentibus; et iam
bis medium amplexi, bis collo squamea circum
terga dati superant capite et cervicibus altis.

We scattered, pale at the sight. They, in a fixed formation,                                                                             74

headed for Laocoon; and first encircling

The small bodies of his two sons, each snake

entwined itself around (them) and devoured the wretched limbs;

[lit: 'fed on…by biting' - maybe "consumed the wretched limbs in a bite"?]

afterwards they seized (Laocoon) himself, who was coming to help and carrying

weapons, and they bound him in huge coils; and already

Twice encircling his midriff, twice having-flung their scaly backs around his neck

they rose/towered above (him) with their heads and tall necks

lle simul manibus tendit divellere nodos               220
perfusus sanie vittas atroque veneno,
clamores simul horrendos ad sidera tollit:
qualis mugitus, fugit cum saucius aram
taurus et incertam excussit cervice securim.
at gemini lapsu delubra ad summa dracones               225
effugiunt saevaeque petunt Tritonidis arcem,
sub pedibusque deae clipeique sub orbe teguntur.

He, at the same time, tried to tear apart the knots with his hands,                                             82

with his headbands soaked in gore and dark poison, [lit: soaked with-respect-to <conveyed by the acc> his headbands]

(and) at the same time he raised terrible cries to the stars:

(it was) like the bellowing, when a wounded bull has fled the altar

and has shaken off the badly-aimed axe from its neck.

But the twin snakes slithered away [lit: escaped with a slipping] to the highest temples

and made for the citadel of savage Minerva,

And beneath the feet of the goddess and beneath the circle of her shield they hid (themselves). 

tum vero tremefacta novus per pectora cunctis
insinuat pavor, et scelus expendisse merentem
Laocoonta ferunt, sacrum qui cuspide robur               230
laeserit et tergo sceleratam intorserit hastam.
ducendum ad sedes simulacrum orandaque divae
numina conclamant.

Then indeed, into the terrified hearts of everyone, a new fear                                                                      90

Wormed its way, and they said that Laocoon had deservedly

paid for his crime, because he had harmed the sacred oak with his (spear) point,

and had hurled a wicked spear at its back.

They shouted-out-together that the image should be taken to the temple, and the goddess's

Favour will prayed for.