The Aeneid

conticuere omnes intentique ora tenebant;

inde toro pater Aeneas sic orsus ab alto:

They all fell silent, holding their faces, attentive;

Then father Aeneas spoke thus from the lofty couch:

 

‘infandum, regina, iubes renovare dolorem

Troianas ut opes et lamentabile regnum

eruerint Danai, quaeque ipse miserrima vidi,         5

et quorum pars magna fui.

"Queen, you order (me) to renew an unspeakable grief,

how the Greeks overthrew Trojan power and the

lamentable kingdom, very sad things which I myself saw,

and of which I was a great part.

 quis talia fando

Myrmidonum Dolopumve aut duri miles Ulixi

temperet a lacrimis?

In speaking such things,

which of the Myrmidons, or Dolopes, or which harsh soldier of Ulysses

could not refrain from tears?

et iam nox umida caelo

praecipitat, suadentque cadentia sidera somnos.

 Yet already night falls from the

damp sky, and the falling stars urge sleep. 

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 so great a desire to discover our misfortune,

and to hear, briefly, the final labour of Troy,

although my soul shudders to remember, and recoils in grief,

I will begin.

‘(incipiam). fracti bello fatisque repulsi

ductores Danaum tot iam labentibus annis

(I will begin). The Greek leaders, having been broken by war

and driven back by fate, so many years slipping by,

instar montis equum divina Palladis arte             15

aedificant, sectaque intexunt abiete costas;

votum pro reditu simulant; ea fama vagatur.

build a horse the size of a mountain with the divine help of Pallas,

and weave its ribs with a cut fir tree;

they pretend it's an offering for safe return; this report spreads.

huc delecta virum sortiti corpora furtim

includunt caeco lateri penitusque cavernas

ingentes uterumque armato milite complent.   

[Into this] they secretly enclose a chosen body of selected men,

hidden inside,

filling the huge cavity and womb, deeply, with armed men.

est in conspectu Tenedos, notissima fama

insula, dives opum, Priami dum regna manebant,

nunc tantum sinus et statio male fida carinis:

Tenedos is in sight, an island greatly renowned in fame,

rich in resources, while Priam's kingdom remained,

now only a bay and treacherous anchorage for ships:

huc se provecti deserto in litore condunt;

nos abiisse rati et vento petiisse Mycenas.’

here they hide, having sailed, on the deserted shore;

 we thought they had gone, and sought Mycenae with the wind.

 

‘ergo omnis longo solvit se Teucria luctu;

panduntur portae, iuvat ire et Dorica castra

desertosque videre locos litusque relictum:

‘Therefore all the Trojan land freed itself from long grief;

the gates are thrown open, it is joyous to go and see the Dorian camp

(and) the deserted site and abandoned shore:

 

hic Dolopum manus, hic saevus tendebat Achilles;

classibus hic locus; hic acie certare solebant. 

Here the band of Dolopians, here cruel Achilles made camp,

Here was the place for their fleet, here they used to fight in the battle line.

pars stupet innuptae donum exitiale Minervae

et molem mirantur equi; primusque Thymoetes

duci intra muros hortatur et arce locari,

Some are amazed at virginal Minerva's fatal gift,

and wonder at the huge size of the horse; and at first Thymoetes

urges that it be led within the walls and placed in the citadel,

sive dolo seu iam Troiae sic fata ferebant.

Whether by trickery, or because the fate(s) of Troy were already heading thus.

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.

But Capys, and those whose minds held wiser opinions,

Command that either we hurl this Danan treachery, this suspect gift,

into the sea, or burn it with flames from beneath,

or bore a hole through its hollow belly and test its hiding places.

scinditur incertum studia in contraria vulgus.’

The people, uncertain, were split into opposite factions.’

‘primus ibi ante omnis, magna comitante caterva    

Laocoön ardens summa decurrit ab arce,

et procul:

There, at first before all, accompanied by a great crowd,

Laocoon, burning, ran down from the top of the citadel,

and from a distance [shouts]:

 “o miseri, quae tanta insania, cives?

 creditis avectos hostis? aut ulla putatis

 dona carere dolis Danaum? sic notus Ulixes?

"O wretched citizens, what great madness [is this]?

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

 gifts of the Greeks are without trickery? Thus is Ulisses' fame?

aut hoc inclusi ligno occultantur Achivi,             45

 aut haec in nostros fabricata est machina muros,

 inspectura domos venturaque desuper urbi,

 aut aliquis latet error;

Either the Achaeans have been hidden, having been enclosed in this wood,

 or this has been made as a siege machine against our walls,

 to spy on our homes and fall on our city from above

or hides another trick;

 equo ne credite, Teucri.

quidquid id est, timeo Danaos et dona ferentes.”

don't trust the horse, Trojans.

Whatever it is, I fear the Greeks and the gifts they bring. 

‘sic fatus validis ingentem viribus hastam         50

in latus inque feri curvam compagibus alvum

contorsit.

Thus he spoke, and with great force hurled a huge spear

into the side of the beast and into the belly curved with fastenings.

stetit illa tremens, uteroque recusso

insonuere cavae gemitumque dedere cavernae.

It stood, trembling and with the womb shaking,

the hollows resounded and the cavities gave a groan .

et, si fata deum, si mens non laeva fuisset,

impulerat ferro Argolicas foedare latebras,        

Troiaque, nunc staret, Priamique arx alta maneres.’

And if the fate of the gods, if intention had not been unfavourable,

he might have driven us to defile the Greek hiding places with iron

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