LOOKING TO THE FUTURE:DREAMS AND PORTENTS

Aeneas escapes from Troy

Chapter 1 Hector As the Greek soldiers pour out of the Horse and begin the destruction of Troy, Aeneas lies asleep, unaware of the fate which awaits them. In a dream the dead hero Hector, on whom all the hopes of Troy had rested, appears to him, telling him to escape at once with Troy’s gods.

tempus erat quo prima quies mortalibus aegris

incipit et dono divum gratissima serpit

in somnis, ecce, ante oculos maestissimus Hector 270

uisus adesse mihi largosque effundere fletus,

raptatus bigis ut quondam, aterque cruento

puluere perque pedes traiectus lora tumentis.

ei mihi, qualis erat, quantum mutatus ab illo

Hectore qui redit exuuias indutus Achilli 275

uel Danaum Phrygios iaculatus puppibus ignis!

squalentem barbam et concretos sanguine crinis

uulneraque illa gerens, quae circum plurima muros

accepit patrios.

aeger – ill sick divus – god donum - gift

maestus – sad largus – copious fletus - tear

Which words in Latin make this sound peaceful and why is that ironic?

Find the adjective describing Hector. What is he doing when he appears?

What is shocking about his condition?

raptatus – dragged bigae – chariot ater – black cruentus – blood pulvis – dust traiectus – piercedlora – thong tumentes - swollen

How does the world usually think of or remember Hector?

ei mihi = eheu quantum – how greatly indutus – wearing exuviae – spoils iaculatus – having hurled puppis - ship

What does he look like now? (NB Hector was, apparently, famous for his hair!)

What effect do you think this would have on Aeneas?

squalens – unkempt concretus – matted crines - hair

Hector tells Aeneas to go.

'heu fuge, nate dea, teque his' ait 'eripe flammis.

hostis habet muros; ruit alto a culmine Troia. 290

sat patriae Priamoque datum: si Pergama dextra

defendi possent, etiam hac defensa fuissent.

sacra suosque tibi commendat Troia penatis;

hos cape fatorum comites, his moenia quaere

magna pererrato statues quae denique ponto.' 295

Thus it is affirmed – just after a description of the terrible slaughter taking place in Troy – that Aeneas’ heroic duty is of a different kind. At first he cannot take in this message and joins in the fighting like a traditional hero, full of battle fury.

natus –son eripe – snatch ruit – rush culmen – summit/height sat = satis dextra – right hand

Why does Hector call Aeneas ‘nate dea’?What does he tell Aeneas about Troy?If he were still alive what would Hector have done?

penates – household gods commendo – to entrust comes – companion moenia – city wallspererrare – to wander pontus - sea

What does Troy entrust to Aeneas?What must he build?What is implied about the journey?

Chapter 2 The slaughter of Priam, butchered at the altar of his palace by Pyrrhus, the son of Achilles.

In front of the courtyard itself, in the very doorway of the palace,

Pyrrhus exults, glittering with the sheen of bronze:

like a snake, fed on poisonous herbs, in the light,

that cold winter has held, swollen, under the ground,

and now, gleaming with youth, its skin sloughed,

ripples its slimy back, lifts its front high towards the sun,

and darts its triple-forked tongue from its jaws.

Pyrrhus himself among the front ranks, clutching a double-axe,

breaks through the stubborn gate, and pulls the bronze doors

from their hinges: and now, hewing out the timber, he breaches

the solid oak and opens a huge window with a gaping mouth.

The palace within appears, and the long halls are revealed:

the inner sanctums of Priam, and the ancient kings, appear,

and armed men are seen standing on the very threshold.

But, inside the palace, groans mingle with sad confusion,

and, deep within, the hollow halls howl with women’s cries.

Pyrrhus drives forward, with his father Achilles’s strength, no

barricades nor the guards themselves can stop him: the door

collapses under the ram’s blows,

And maybe you ask, what was Priam’s fate.

When he saw the end of the captive city, the palace doors

wrenched away, and the enemy among the inner rooms,

the aged man clasped his long-neglected armour

on his old, trembling shoulders, and fastened on his useless sword,

and hurried into the thick of the enemy seeking death.

In the centre of the halls, and under the sky’s naked arch,

was a large altar, with an ancient laurel nearby, that leant

on the altar, and clothed the household gods with shade.

Here Hecuba, and her daughters, like doves driven

by a dark storm, crouched uselessly by the shrines,

huddled together, clutching at the statues of the gods……

She drew the old man towards her, and set him down on the sacred steps…..

the old man spoke, and threw his ineffectual spear

without strength, which immediately spun from the clanging bronze

and hung uselessly from the centre of the shield’s boss.

Pyrrhus …..dragged him, trembling,

and slithering in the pool of his son’s blood, to the very altar,

and twined his left hand in his hair, raised the glittering sword

in his right, and buried it to the hilt in his side.

This was the end of Priam’s life: this was the death that fell to him

by lot, seeing Troy ablaze and its citadel toppled, he who was

once the magnificent ruler of so many Asian lands and peoples.

A once mighty body lies on the shore, the head

shorn from its shoulders, a corpse without a name.

This enflames Aeneas all the more but Venus appears to him, once more telling him to rescue his family and leave.

CHAPTER 3

The Rescue of Aeneas’ Family

Aeneas returns to the house of his father, Anchises, and tries to persuade him to leave.

abnegat excisa vitam producere Troia

exsiliumque pati. ‘vos o, quibus integer aevi

sanguis,’ ait ‘ solidaeque suo stant robore vires,

vos agitate fugam: 640

ipse manu mortem inveniam; miserebitur hostis 645

exuviasque petet; facilis iactura sepulcri.

iam pridem invisus divis et inutilis annos/demoror

Aeneas tries again to persuade his father to flee but the stubborn old man continues to refuse.

At this moment a miracle occurs!!!!!!

ecce levis summa de vertice visus Iuli

fundere lumen apex, tactuque innoxia molles

lambere flamma comas, et circum tempera pasci.

nos pavidi trepidare metu, crinemque flagrante

excutere, et sanctos restinguere fontibus ignes.

Why might he slow them down?Is his argument reasonable? What does he urge Aeneas to do?

abnego – refuse excise Troia – with Troy destroyed exsilium- exile integer aevi – untouched by age robur – strength vires – power/strength

What is he threatening to do?What will the enemy do?Remember that without burial a soul could not cross to the Underworld – yet what is he willing to give up?How does he describe his life?

invenio – find exuvias – spoils iactura – loss invisus – hated demoror - waste

The light cap worn by the little boy caught fire, and a bright flame, harmless to the touch, licked his soft hair, and played about his forehead.

Not surprisingly, how do the parents react?!

pavidus – frightened trepidare – tremble metus – fear excutere – shakecrines – hair restingere – put out fons – fountain /water

at pater Anchises oculos ad sidera laetus

extulit, et caelo palmas cum voce tetendit:

Anchises asks the gods for another omen, one from Jupitter himself. Read below to see what omen is granted.

vix ea fatus erat senior, subitoque fragore 692

intonuit laevum, et de caelo lapsa per umbras

stella facem ducens multa cum luce cucurrit.

Aeneas displays, in one of the most famous moments of the whole Aeneid, that pietas for which he is famous:

‘Well then, dear Father’ I said, ‘Come now, you must let them lift you onto my back. I will hold my shoulders ready for you; this labour of love will be no weight to me. Whatever chances may await us, one common peril and one salvation shall be ours.’

Which sentence translates these Latin words – nec me iste labor gravabit ?

dextrae se parvus Iulus

implicuit sequiturque patrem non passibus aequis; 725

pone subit coniunx:

But Anchises’ reaction is different – how?

sidus – star extulit – raised caelum – heaven palma - hand

vix – scarcely fatus erat – had spoken fragor – crash intonare – to thunder laevum – on the left fax = torch

In what order do they travel?

passibus aequis – why does Iulus travel with ‘unequal steps’?

CHAPTER 4 CREUSA

Unfortunately Aeneas’s wife, Creusa, is lost in the escape. Aeneas dashes back into the fighting in an attempt to rescue her, calling her name again and again. But to no purpose.

quaerenti et tectis urbis sine fine furenti

infelix simulacrum atque ipsius umbra Creüsae

visa mihi ante oculos et nota maior imago.

obstipui, steteruntque comae et vox faucibus haesit.775

tum sic adfari et curas his demere dictis: 775

Then she seemed to speak thus and allay my fears with these words.

“quid tantum insano iuvat indulgere dolori, “What is the use of indulging so deeply in insane grief,

O dulcis coniunx? non haec sine numine divum

O dearest husband? It is not without the agreement of the gods.

eveniunt; nec te hinc comitem asportare Creüsam

that these things have happened. It is ordained that you are not to take Creusa as your companion away from here;

fas, aut ille sinit superi regnator Olympi.

And the great ruler of high Olympus does not permit it.

longa tibi exsilia, et vastum maris aequor arandum, 780

A long exile (awaits) you, and the vast expanse of the sea must be ploughed through,

et terram Hesperiam venies, ubi Lydius arva 781

and you will come to the land of the evening star where the Lydian water

inter opima virum leni fluit agmine Thybris: 782

of the Tiber flows in its gentle course among the fertile fields of men.

What is Aeneas doing (743) when Cruesa appears to him?

In what form does she appear and how is she different from real life?

How does the sight of her affect him?

simulacrum, imago, umbra – all words for shade, shadow, ghost maior – greaternota – previously known

illic res laetae regnumque et regia coniunx 783

There happy times and a kingdom and a royal wife

parta tibi. lacrimas dilectae pelle Creüsae. 784

await you. Dismiss tears for your darling Creusa!

non ego Myrmidonum sedes Dolopumve superbas 785

I shall not gaze upon the proud dwellings of the enemy Myrmidons or the Dolopes,

aspiciam, aut Graiis servitum matribus ibo,

nor shall I go as a slave to Greek women,

Dardanis, et divae Veneris nurus.

I, a Trojan woman, and the daughter-in-law of divine Venus.

sed me magna deum genetrix his detinet oris:

But the great mother of the gods is keeping me at these shores;

iamque vale, et nati serva communis amorem.”

and now, farewell! And cherish the love for our son whom we share!”

haec ubi dicta dedit, lacrimantem et multa volentem790

When she had said these words she left me weeping and wishing

dicere deseruit, tenuisque recessit in auras.

to say many things, and faded into the thin breezes.

Three times he tries to embrace her but each time her shadowy form slips away. Grieving but with firm resolution, Aeneas returns to his companions and under the light of a new dawn, they leave Troy behind and set off for Italy.