Lines 223-253 Flashcards
(223) Et iam finis erat, cum Iuppiter aethere summon
And now it was complete, when Jupiter, from the heights of the air,
(224) despiciens mare velivolum terrasque iacentis
looking down on the sea with its flying sails and the lands
(225) litoraque et latos populous, sic vertice caeli
and the coasts and the people far and wide, paused in this way
(226) constitit, et Libyae defixit lumina regnis.
at the summit of heaven, and fixed his eyes on the Libyan kingdom.
(227) Atque illum talis iactantem pectore curas
And considering such cares in his heart, Venus spoke
(228) tristior et lacrimis oculos suffusa nitentis
to him, rather saddened and her bright eyes brimming with tears:
(229) adloquitur Venus: ‘O qui res hominumque deumque
‘Oh you who govern things human and divine, with eternal rule,
(230) aeternis regis imperiis, et fulmine terres,
and who terrifies with your lightening-bolt,
(231) quid meus Aeneas in te committere tantum,
what so great thing can my Aeneas have done to you,
(232) quid Troes potuere, quibus, tot funera passis,
what could the Trojans have done, who have suffered so much destruction,
(233) cunctus ob Italiam terrarium clauditur orbis?
from whom the whole world is closed off, for the sake of the Italian lands?
(234) Certe hinc Romanos olim, volventibus annis,
Surely it was promised some time ago that from here, as the years are rolling by,
(235) hinc fore ductores, revocato a sanguine Teucri,
the Romans would rise from them as leaders, restored form Teucer’s blood,
(236) qui mare, qui terras omni dicione tenerent,
who would hold power over the sea, and all the lands.
(237) pollicitus, quae te, genitor, sententia vertit?
Father, what thought has changed your mind?
(238) Hoc equidem occasum Troiae tristisque ruinas
With this (promise) indeed I consoled myself for the fall of Troy, and its sad ruin,
(239) solabar, fatis contraria fata rependens;
weighing one destiny, against opposing destinies:
(240) nunc eadem fortuna viros tot casibus actos
now the same (mis)fortune follows these men driven on by so many
(241) insequitur. Quen das finem, rex magne, laborum?
disasters. Great king, what end to their efforts will you give?
(242) Antenor potuit, mediis elapsus Achivis,
Antenor, safe, having escaped through the middle of the Greeks,
(243) Illyricos penetrare sinus, atque intima tutus
was able to enter the Illyrian gulfs, and deep into the realms
(244) regna Liburnorum, et fontem superare Timavi,
of the Liburnians, and overcome the founts of TImavus
(245) unde per ora novem vasto cum murmure montis
from where the river emerges in a burst, with a huge mountainous roar,
(246) it mare proruptum et pelago permit arva sonanti.
through nine mouths, and buries the fields under its noisy flood.
(247) Hic tamen ille urbem Patavi sedesque locavit
Here, nonetheless, he located the city of Padua and homes
(248) Teucrorum, et genti nomen dedit, armaque fixit
for Teucrians, and gave the people a name, and hung up
(249) Troia; nun placida compostus pace quiescit;
the arms of Troy: now settled, he lives quietly in tranquil peace.
(250) nos, tua progenies, caeli quibus adnuis arcem,
(But) we, your race, to whom you grant the heights of heaven,
(251) navibus (infandum!) amissis, unius ob iram
lost our ships (shameful!), we are betrayed because of one person’s anger,
(252) prodimur atque Italis longe disiungimur oris.
and kept far away from the shores of Italy.
(253) Hic peitatis honos? Sic nos in sceptra reponis?”
Is this the prize for virtue? Is this how you restore our rule?”
