{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_6003/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_6003","id":"gutenberg_6003","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/6003","summary":null,"tags":["Aeneas (Legendary character)","Category: Historical Novels","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Virgil. Aeneis"],"text":"Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Charles Franks\nand the Online Distributed Proofreading Team.\n\n\n\n\nSTORY OF AENEAS\n\nBY\n\nM. CLARKE\nAuthor of \"Story Of Troy,\" \"Story Of Caesar\"\n\n\n\n1898\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS.\n\n         INTRODUCTION\n\n   I.    VERGIL, THE PRINCE OP POETS\n\n  II.    THE GODS AND GODDESSES\n\n   I.    THE WOODEN HORSE\n\n  II.    AENEAS LEAVES TROY--THE HARPIES--PROPHESY OF HELENUS-THE\n         GIANT POLYPHEMUS\n\n III.    A GREAT STORM--ARRIVAL IN CARTHAGE\n\n  IV.    DIDO'S LOVE--THE FUNERAL GAMES--SHIPS BURNED BY THE WOMEN\n\n   V.    THE SIBYL OF CUMAE--THE GOLDEN BOUGH--IN THE REGIONS OF THE\n         DEAD\n\n  VI.    AENEAS ARRIVES IN LATIUM--WELCOMED BY KING LATINUS\n\n VII.    ALLIANCE WITH EVANDER--VULCAN MAKES ARMS FOR AENEAS--THE\n         FAMOUS SHIELD\n\nVIII.    TURNUS ATTACKS THE TROJAN CAMP--NISUS AND EURYALUS\n\n  IX.    THE COUNCIL OF THE GODS--RETURN OF AENEAS--BATTLE ON THE\n         SHORE--DEATH OF PALLAS\n\n   X.    FUNERAL OF PALLAS--AENEAS AND TURNUS FIGHT--TURNUS IS SLAIN\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: Map, captioned: \"MAP SHOWING THE WANDERINGS OF AENEAS\",\nextending from 10 degrees to 30 degrees east longitude, and centered\non 40 degrees north latitude.]\n\n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION.\n\nI. VERGIL, THE PRINCE OF LATIN POETS.\n\nThe story of AE-ne'as, as related by the Roman poet Ver'gil in his\ncelebrated poem called the AE-ne'id, which we are to tell about in\nthis book, is one of the most interesting of the myths or legends that\nhave come down to us from ancient authors.\n\nVergil lived in the time of the Roman Emperor Au-gus'tus (63 B. C.--14\nA. D.), grand-nephew and successor of Ju'li-us Cae'sar. Augustus and\nhis chief counsellor or minister Mae-ce'nas, gave great encouragement\nto learning and learned men, and under their liberal patronage arose a\nnumber of eminent writers to whose works has been given the name of\nclassics, as being of the highest rank or _class_. The period is known\nas the Augustan Age, a phrase also used in reference to periods in the\nhistory of other countries, in which literature reached its highest\nperfection. Thus the reign of Queen Anne (1702-1714) is called the\nAugustan age of English literature, because of the number of literary\nmen who flourished in England in that period, and the excellence of\ntheir works.\n\nVergil was the greatest of the poets of ancient Rome, and with the\nexception of Ho'mer, the greatest of the poets of antiquity. From a\nvery early period, almost from the age in which he lived, he was\ncalled the Prince of Latin Poets. His full name was Pub'li-us\nVer-gil'i-us Ma'ro. He was born about seventy years before Christ,\nin the village of An'des (now Pi-e'to-le), near the town of Man'tu-a\nin the north of Italy. His father was the owner of a small estate,\nwhich he farmed himself. Though of moderate means, he gave his son a\ngood education. Young Vergil spent his boyhood at school at Cre-mo'na\nand Milan. He completed his studies at Naples, where he read the Greek\nand Latin authors, and acquired a knowledge of mathematics, natural\nphilosophy, and medical science. He afterwards returned to Mantua, and\nresided there for a few years, enjoying the quiet of country life at\nthe family homestead.\n\nAbout this time the Emperor Augustus was engaged in a war against a\npowerful party of his own countrymen, led by a famous Roman named\nBru'tus. In the year 42 B.C. he defeated Brutus in a great battle,\nwhich put an end to the war. He afterwards rewarded many of his troops\nby dividing among them lands in the neighborhood of Mantua, and in\nother parts of Italy, dispossessing the owners for having sided with\nhis enemies. Though Vergil had taken no part in the struggle, his farm\nwas allotted to one of the imperial soldiers. But this was the\nbeginning of his greatness. Through the friendship of the governor of\nMantua, he was introduced to Maecenas, and afterwards to Augustus, who\ngave orders that his property should be restored to him.\n\nThus Vergil became known to the first men of Rome. He expressed his\ngratitude to the emperor in one of a series of poems called Pastorals\nor Bu-col'ics, words which mean shepherds' songs, or songs descriptive\nof life in the country. These poems, though among Vergil's earliest\nproductions, were highly applauded in Rome. They were so much esteemed\nthat portions of them were recited in the theatre in the author's\npresence, and the audience were so delighted that they all rose to\ntheir feet, an honor which it was customary to pay only to Augustus\nhimself. Vergil also wrote a poem called the Geor'gics, the subject of\nwhich is agriculture, the breeding of cattle, and the culture of bees.\nThis is said to be the most perfect in finish of all Latin\ncompositions. The AEneid is, however, regarded as the greatest of\nVergil's works. The writing of it occupied the last eleven years of\nthe poet's life.\n\nVergil died at Brun-di'si-um, in south Italy, in the fifty-first year\nof his age. He was buried near Naples, by the side of the public road,\na few miles outside that city, where what is said to be his tomb is\nstill to be seen. Of his character as a man we are enabled to form an\nagreeable idea from all that is known about him. He was modest, gentle\nand of a remarkable sweetness of disposition. Although living in the\nhighest society while in Rome, he never forgot his old friends. He was\na dutiful and affectionate son, and liberally shared his good fortune\nwith his aged parents.\n\nAs a poet, Vergil was not only the greatest that Rome produced, but\nthe most popular. His poems, particularly the AEneid, were the\nfavorite reading of his countrymen. They became a text-book in the\nRoman schools. The \"little Romans,\" we are told, studied the AEneid\nfrom their master's dictation, and wrote compositions upon its heroes.\nAnd not alone in Italy but throughout the world wherever learning\nextended, the AEneid became popular, and has retained its popularity\ndown to our own time, being still a text-book in every school where\nLatin is taught.\n\nThere are many excellent translations of the AEneid into English. In\nthis book we make numerous quotations from the translation by the\nEnglish poet Dryden, and from the later work by the eminent Latin\nscholar Conington.\n\n\n\nSPELLING OF THE POET'S NAME.\n\nThe spelling of the poet's name adopted in this book is now believed\nto be preferable to the form V_i_rgil which has for a long time been\nin common use. Many of the best Latin scholars are of opinion that the\nproper spelling is V_e_rgil from the Latin V_e_rgilius, as the poet\nhimself wrote it. \"As to the fact,\" says Professor Frieze, \"that the\npoet called himself Vergilius, scholars are now universally agreed. It\nis the form found in all the earliest manuscripts and inscriptions. In\nEngland and America the corrected Latin form is used by all the best\nauthorities.\"\n\n\nII.  THE GODS AND GODDESSES.\n\nIt is said that Vergil wrote the AEneid at the request of the Emperor\nAugustus, whose family--the Ju'li-i--claimed the honor of being\ndescended from AEneas, through his son I-u'lus or Ju'lus. All the\nRomans, indeed, were fond of claiming descent from the heroes whom\ntradition told of as having landed in Italy with AEneas after escaping\nfrom the ruins of Troy. The city of Troy, or Il'i-um, so celebrated in\nancient song and story, was situated on the coast of Asia Minor, not\nfar from the entrance to what is now the Sea of Mar'mo-ra. It was\nbesieged for ten years by a vast army of the Greeks (natives of Greece\nor Hel'las) under one of their kings called Ag-a-mem'non. Homer, the\ngreatest of the ancient poets, tells about this siege in his famous\npoem, the Il'i-ad. We shall see later on how the siege was brought to\nan end by the capture and destruction of the city, as well as how\nAEneas escaped, and what afterwards happened to him and his\ncompanions.\n\nMeanwhile we must learn something about the gods and goddesses who\nplay so important a part in the story. At almost every stage of the\nadventures of AEneas, as of the adventures of all ancient heroes, we\nfind a god or a goddess controlling or directing affairs, or in some\nway mixed up with the course of events.\n\nAccording to the religion of the ancient Greeks and Romans there were\na great many gods. They believed that all parts of the universe--the\nheavens and the earth, the sun and the moon, the seas and rivers, and\nstorms--were ruled by different gods. Those beings it was supposed,\nwere in some respects like men and women. They needed food and drink\nand sleep; they married and had children; and like poor mortals they\noften had quarrels among themselves. Their food was am-bro'si-a, which\ngave them immortality and perpetual youth, and their drink was a\ndelicious wine called nectar.\n\nThe gods often visited men and even accepted their hospitality.\nSometimes they married human beings, and the sons of such marriages\nwere the demigods or heroes of antiquity. AEneas was one of those\nheroes, his mother being the goddess Ve'nus, of whom we shall hear\nmuch in the course of our Story.\n\nThough the gods never died, being immortal, they might be wounded and\nsuffer bodily pain like men. They often took part in the quarrels and\nwars of people on earth, and they had weapons and armor, after the\nmanner of earthly warriors. But they were vastly superior to men in\nstrength and power. They could travel through the skies, or upon land\nor ocean, with the speed of lightning, and they could change\nthemselves into any form, or make themselves visible or invisible at\npleasure.\n\nThe usual residence of the principal gods was on the top of Mount\nO-lym'pus, in Greece. Here they had golden palaces and a chamber where\nthey held grand banquets at which celestial music was rendered by\nA-pol'lo, the god of minstrelsy, and the Muses, who were the\ndivinities of poetry and song.\n\nSplendid temples were erected to the gods in all the chief cities,\nwhere they were worshiped with many ceremonies. Valuable gifts in gold\nand silver were presented at their shrines, and at their altars\nanimals were killed and portions of the flesh burned as sacrifices.\nSuch offerings were thought to be very pleasing to the gods.\n\nThe head or king of the gods was Ju'pi-ter, also called Jove or Zeus.\nHe was the great Thunderer, at whose word the heavens trembled.\n\n     He, whose all conscious eyes the world behold,\n     The eternal Thunderer sat enthroned in gold.\n     High heaven the footstool of his feet he makes,\n     And wide beneath him all Olympus shakes.\n                           HOMER, _Iliad_, BOOK VIII.\n\nThe wife of Jupiter, and the queen of heaven, was Ju'no, who, as we\nshall see, persecuted the hero AEneas with \"unrelenting hate.\"\nNep'tune, represented as bearing in his hand a trident, or three-\npronged fork, was the god of the sea.\n\n     Neptune, the mighty marine god,\n     Earth's mover, and the fruitless ocean's king.\n                             HOMER\n\nMars was the god of war, and Plu'to, often called Dis or Ha'des, was\nthe god of the lower or \"infernal\" regions, and hence also the god of\nthe dead. One of the most glorious and beautiful of the gods was\nApollo, god of the sun, of medicine, music, poetry, and all fine arts.\n\n     Bright-hair'd Apollo!--thou who ever art\n     A blessing to the world--whose mighty heart\n     Forever pours out love, and light, and life;\n     Thou, at whose glance, all things of earth are rife\n     With happiness.\n                                      PIKE.\n\n[Illustration: A ROMAN AUGUR.]\n\nAnother of the famous divinities of the ancients was Venus, the\ngoddess of beauty and love. According to some of the myths she was the\ndaughter of Jupiter. Others say that she sprang from the foam of the\nsea.\n\nThese and countless other imaginary beings were believed in as deities\nunder the religious system of the ancient Greeks and Romans, and every\nunusual or striking event was thought to be caused by some god or\ngoddess.\n\nThe will of the gods, it was supposed, was made known to men in\ndifferent ways--by dreams, by the flight of birds, or by a direct\nmessage from Olympus. Very often it was learned by consulting seers,\naugurs or soothsayers. These were persons believed to have the power\nof prophecy. There was a famous temple of Apollo at Delphi, in Greece,\nwhere a priestess called Pyth'i-a gave answers, or oracles, to those\nwho came to consult her. The name oracle was also applied to the place\nwhere such answers were received. There were a great many oracles in\nancient times, but that at Delphi was the most celebrated.\n\n\n\n\nSTORY OF AENEAS.\n\n\n\n\nI. THE WOODEN HORSE,\n\n\nThe gods, of course, had much to do with the siege and fall of Troy,\nas well as with the sufferings of Aeneas, which Vergil describes in\nthe AEneid. There were gods and goddesses on both sides in the great\nconflict. Some were for the Tro'jans, others for the Greeks, and some\nhad their favorites among the heroes and warriors who fought on one\nside or the other. Two very powerful goddesses, Juno and Mi-ner'va\n(the goddess of wisdom, also called Pallas), hated the Trojans because\nof the famous \"judgment of Pa'ris,\" which came about in this way--.\n\nA king of Athens named Pe'leus married a beautiful sea-nymph named\nThe'tis. All the gods and goddesses were present at the wedding feast\nexcept E'ris, the goddess of discord. She was not invited, and being\nangry on that account, she resolved to cause dissension among the\nguests. With this object she threw into the midst of the assembly a\ngolden apple bearing the inscription, \"For the most beautiful.\"\nImmediately a dispute arose as to which of the goddesses was entitled\nto the prize, but at last all gave up their claim except Juno, Venus,\nand Minerva, and they agreed to leave the settlement of the question\nto Paris, son of Pri'am, King of Troy, a young prince who was noted\nfor the wisdom of his judgments upon several occasions.\n\nThe three goddesses soon afterwards appeared before Paris, and each\nendeavored by the offer of tempting bribes, to induce him to decide in\nher favor. Juno promised him great power and wealth.\n\n                  She to Paris made\n   Proffer of royal power, ample rule\n   Unquestion'd.\n                                     TENNYSON.\n\nMinerva offered military glory, and Venus promised that she would give\nhim the most beautiful woman in the world for his wife. After hearing\ntheir claims and promises, Paris gave the apple to Venus. This award\nor judgment brought upon him and his family, and all the Trojans, the\nhatred of the two other goddesses, particularly of Juno, who, being\nthe queen of heaven, had expected that the preference, as a matter of\ncourse would be given to her.\n\nBut besides the judgment of Paris, there was another cause of Juno's\nanger against Troy. She had heard of a decree of the Fates that a race\ndescended from the Trojans was one day to destroy Carthage, a city in\nwhich she was worshipped with much honor, and which she regarded with\ngreat affection. She therefore hated Aeneas, through whom, as the\nancestor of the founders of Rome, the destruction of her beloved city\nwas to be brought about.\n\nOn account of this hatred of the Trojans, Juno persuaded her royal\nhusband, Jupiter, to consent to the downfall of Troy, and so the valor\nof all its heroic defenders, of whom Aeneas was one, could not save it\nfrom its fate, decreed by the king of the gods. Many famous warriors\nfell during the long siege. Hec'tor, son of Priam, the greatest of the\nTrojan champions, was slain by A-chil'les, the most valiant of the\nGreeks, and Achilles was himself slain by Paris. After losing their\nbravest leader the Greeks despaired of being able to take the city by\nforce, and so they resorted to stratagem. By the advice of Minerva\nthey erected a huge horse of wood on the plain in front of the walls,\nand within its body they placed a chosen band of their boldest\nwarriors. Then pretending that they had given up the struggle, they\nwithdrew to their ships, and set sail, as if with the purpose of\nreturning to Greece. But they went no further than Ten'e-dos, an\nisland opposite Troy, a few miles from the coast.\n\n   \"There was their fleet concealed.  We thought for Greece\n    Their sails were hoisted, and our fears release.\n    The Trojans, cooped within their walls so long,\n    Unbar their gates and issue in a throng\n    Like swarming bees, and with delight survey\n    The camp deserted, where the Grecians lay:\n    The quarters of the several chiefs they showed:\n    Here Phoe'nix, here Achilles, made abode;\n    Here joined the battles; there the navy rode.\n    Part on the pile their wandering eyes employ--\n    The pile by Pallas raised to ruin Troy.\"\n            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK II.\n\nThe Trojans when they saw the big horse, could not think what it\nmeant, or what should be done with it. Various opinions were given.\nSome thought it was a peace offering, and one chief proposed that it\nshould be dragged within the walls and placed in the citadel. Others\nadvised that it should be cast into the sea, or set on fire, or at\nleast that they ought to burst it open to find whether anything were\nconcealed within. While they were thus discussing the matter, some\nurging one course, some another, the priest La-oc'o-on rushed out from\nthe city followed by a great crowd and he exclaimed in a loud voice:\n\"Unhappy fellow-countrymen, what madness is this? Are you so foolish\nas to suppose that the enemy are gone, or that any offering of theirs\ncan be free from deception? Either Greeks are hidden in this horse, or\nit is an engine designed for some evil to our city. Put no faith in\nit, Trojans. Whatever it is, I fear the Greeks even when they tender\ngifts.\" Thus speaking, Laocoon hurled his spear into the horse's side.\n\n    His mighty spear he cast:\n    Quivering it stood: the sharp rebound\n    Shook the huge monster: and a sound\n    Through all its caverns passed.\n         CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK II.\n\nBut at this point the attention of the multitude was attracted by the\nappearance of a group of Trojan shepherds dragging along a prisoner\nwith his hands bound behind his back, who, they said, had delivered\nhimself up to them of his own accord. Being taken before King Priam,\nand questioned as to who he was and whence he came, the stranger told\nan artful story. He was a Greek, he said, and his name was Si'non. His\ncountrymen had long been weary of the war, and had often resolved to\nreturn home, but were hindered by storms from making the attempt. And\nwhen the wooden horse was built, the tempests raged and the thunder\nrolled more than ever.\n\n    \"Chiefly when completed stood\n    This horse, compact of maple wood,\n    Fierce thunders, pealing in our ears,\n    Proclaimed the turmoil of the spheres.\"\n            CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK II.\n\nThen the Greeks sent a messenger to the shrine of Apollo to inquire\nhow they might obtain a safe passage to their country. The answer was\nthat the life of a Greek must be sacrificed on the altar of the god.\nAll were horror-stricken by this announcement, for each feared that\nthe doom might fall upon himself.\n\n    \"Through every heart a shudder ran,\n    'Apollo's victim--who the man?'\"\n                 CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK II.\n\nThe selection of the person to be the victim was left to Cal'chas, the\nsoothsayer, who fixed upon Sinon, and preparations were accordingly\nmade to sacrifice him on the altar of Apollo, but he contrived to\nescape and conceal himself until the Grecian fleet had sailed.\n\n    \"I fled, I own it, from the knife,\n     I broke my bands and ran for life,\n     And in a marsh lay that night\n     While they should sail, if sail they might.\"\n                   CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK II.\n\nThis was Sinon's story. The Trojans believed it and King Priam ordered\nthe prisoner to be released, and promised to give him protection in\nTroy. \"But tell me,\" said the king, \"why did they make this horse? Was\nit for a religious purpose or as an engine of war?\" The treacherous\nSinon answered that the horse was intended as a peace offering to the\ngods; that it had been built on the advice of Calchas, who had\ndirected that it should be made of immense size so that the Trojans\nshould not be able to drag it within their walls, \"for,\" said he, \"if\nthe men of Troy do any injury to the gift, evil will come upon the\nkingdom of Priam, but if they bring it into their city, all Asia will\nmake war against Greece, arid on our children will come the\ndestruction which we would have brought upon Troy.\"\n\nThe Trojans believed this story also, and their belief was\nstrengthened by the terrible fate which just then befell Laocoon, who\na little before had pierced the side of the horse with his spear.\nWhile the priest and his two sons were offering a sacrifice to Neptune\non the shore, two enormous serpents suddenly issued from the sea and\nseized and crushed them to death in sight of the people. The Trojans\nwere filled with fear and astonishment at this spectacle, and they\nregarded the event as a punishment from the gods upon Laocoon.\n\n    Who dared to harm with impious steel\n    Those planks of consecrated deal.\n                 CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK II.\n\nThen a cry arose that the \"peace offering\" should be conveyed into the\ncity, and accordingly a great breach was made in the walls that for\nten years had resisted all the assaults of the Greeks, and by means of\nrollers attached to its feet, and ropes tied around its limbs, the\nhorse was dragged into the citadel, the young men and maidens singing\nsongs of triumph. But in the midst of the rejoicing there were\nportents of the approaching evil. Four times the huge figure halted on\nthe threshold of the gate, and four times it gave forth a sound from\nwithin, as if of the clash of arms.\n\n    \"Four times 'twas on the threshold stayed:\n     Four times the armor clashed and brayed.\n     Yet on we press with passion blind,\n     All forethought blotted from our mind,\n     Till the dread monster we install\n     Within the temple's tower-built wall.\"\n                     CONINGTON. _AEneid_, BOOK II.\n\nThe prophetess Cas-san'dra, too, the daughter of King Priam, had\nwarned her countrymen of the doom that was certain to fall upon the\ncity if the horse were admitted. Her warning was, however,\ndisregarded. The fateful gift of the Greeks was placed in the citadel,\nand the Trojans, thinking that their troubles were now over, and that\nthe enemy had departed to return no more, spent the rest of the day in\nfeasting and rejoicing.\n\nBut in the dead of the night, when they were all sunk in sleep, the\nGreek fleet sailed back from Tenedos, and on King Agamemnon's ship a\nbright light was shown, which was the signal to the false Sinon to\ncomplete his work of treachery. Quickly he \"unlocked the horse\" and\nforth from their hiding place came the armed Greek warriors. Among\nthem were the famous U-lys'ses, and Ne-op-tol'e-mus, son of the brave\nAchilles, and Men-e-la'us, husband of the celebrated Hel'en whom\nParis, son of Priam, had carried off from Greece, which was the cause\nof the war. Ulysses and his companions then rushed to the walls, and\nafter slaying the sentinels, threw open the gates of the city to the\nmain body of the Greeks who had by this time landed from their ships.\nThus Troy was taken.\n\n    And the long baffled legions, bursting in\n    Through gate and bastion, blunted sword and spear\n    With unresisted slaughter.\n                            LEWIS MORRIS.\n\nMeanwhile AEneas, sleeping in the house of his father, An-chi'ses, had\na dream in which the ghost of Hector appeared to him, shedding\nabundant tears, and disfigured with wounds as when he had been dragged\naround the walls of Troy behind the chariot of the victorious\nAchilles. In a mournful voice, AEneas, seeming to forget that Hector\nwas dead, inquired why he had been so long absent from the defense of\nhis native city, and from what distant shores he had now returned. But\nthe spirit answered only by a solemn warning to AEneas, the \"goddess-\nborn\" (being the son of Venus) to save himself by immediate flight.\n\n    \"O goddess-born! escape by timely flight,\n     The flames and horrors of this fatal night.\n     The foes already have possessed the wall;\n     Troy nods from high, and totters to her fall.\n     Enough is paid to Priam's royal name,\n     More than enough to duty and to fame.\n     If by a mortal hand my father's throne\n     Could be defended, 'twas by mine alone.\n     Now Troy to thee commends her future state,\n     And gives her gods companions of thy fate;\n     From their assistance, happier walls expect,\n     Which, wand'ring long, at last thou shalt erect.\"\n                           DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK I.\n\nAwaking from his sleep, AEneas was startled by the clash of arms and\nby cries of battle, which he now heard on all sides. Rushing to the\nroof of the house and gazing around, he saw the palaces of many of the\nTrojan princes in flames, and he heard the shouts of the victorious\nGreeks, and the blaring of their trumpets. Notwithstanding the warning\nof Hector, he ran for his weapons.\n\n    Resolved on death, resolved to die in arms,\n    But first to gather friends, with them to oppose\n    (If fortune favored) and repel the foes.\n                         DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK II.\n\nAt the door, as he was going forth to join the combat, he met the\nTrojan Pan'thus, a priest of Apollo, who had just escaped by flight\nfrom the swords of the Greeks. In reply to the questions of AEneas,\nthe priest told him, in words of grief and despair, that Troy's last\nday had come.\n\n    \"'Tis come, our fated day of death.\n     We have been Trojans;  Troy has been;\n     She sat, but sits no more, a queen;\n     Stern Jove an Argive rule proclaims;\n     Greece holds a city wrapt in flames.\n     There in the bosom of the town\n     The tall horse rains invasion down,\n     And Sinon, with a conqueror's pride,\n     Deals fiery havoc far and wide.\n     Some keep the gates, as vast a host\n     As ever left Myce'nae's coast;\n     Some block the narrows of the street,\n     With weapons threatening all they meet;\n     The stark sword stretches o'er the way,\n     Quick-glancing, ready drawn to slay,\n     While scarce our sentinels resist,\n     And battle in the flickering mist.\"\n                    CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK II.\n\nAs Panthus ceased speaking, several Trojan chiefs came up, and eagerly\njoined AEneas in resolving to make a last desperate attempt to save\ntheir native city. Together they rushed into the thick of the fight.\nSome were slain, and some with Aeneas succeeded in forcing their way\nto the palace of King Priam, where a fierce struggle was then raging.\nEntering by a secret door, AEneas climbed to the roof, from which he\nand the other brave defenders of the palace hurled stones and beams of\nwood upon the enemy below. But all their heroic efforts were in vain.\nIn front of the principal gate, battering upon it with his huge\nbattle-axe, stood Neoptolemus (also called Pyr'rhus) the son of\nAchilles. Soon its posts, though plated with bronze, gave way before\nhis mighty strokes, and a great breach was made, through which the\nGreeks poured into the stately halls of the Trojan king. Then there\nwas a scene of wild confusion and terror.\n\n    The house is filled with loud laments and cries\n    And shrieks of women rend the vaulted skies.\n                   DRYDEN, _AEneid_ BOOK II.\n\nThe aged king when he saw that the enemy was beneath his roof, put on\nhis armor \"long disused,\" and was about to rush forth to meet the foe,\nbut Hec'u-ba, his queen, persuaded him to take refuge with her in a\ncourt of the palace in which were placed the altars of their gods.\nHere he was shortly afterwards cruelly slain by Pyrrhus.\n\n    Thus Priam fell, and shared one common fate\n    With Troy in ashes, and his ruined state;\n    He, who the scepter of all Asia swayed,\n    Whom monarchs like domestic slaves obeyed.\n                      DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK II.\n\nThere being now no hope to save the city, the thoughts of AEneas\nturned to his own home where he had left his father Anchises, his wife\nCre-u'sa (daughter of King Priam) and his son Iulus (also named\nAs-ca'ni-us). Making his way thither with the purpose of providing for\ntheir safety, he espied Helen, the \"common scourge of Greece and\nTroy,\" sitting in the porch of the temple of the goddess Ves'ta.\nEnraged at the sight of the woman who had been the cause of so many\nwoes to his country, AEneas was about to slay her on the spot, but at\nthat moment his mother Venus appeared to him in the midst of a bright\nlight.\n\n    Great in her charms, as when on gods above\n    She looks, and breathes herself into their love.\n                     DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK II.\n\nTaking the hero by the hand as he was in the act of raising his sword\nto strike Helen, the goddess thus rebuked him: \"What is it that\nexcites your anger now, my son? Where is your regard for me? Have you\nforgotten your father Anchises and your wife and little son? They\nwould have been killed by the Greeks if I had not cared for them and\nsaved them. It is not Helen or Paris that has laid low this great city\nof Troy, but the wrath of the gods. See now, for I will take away the\nmist that covers your mortal eyes; see how Neptune with his trident is\noverthrowing the walls and rooting up the city from its foundations;\nand how Juno stands with spear and shield in the Scae'an Gate, and\ncalls fresh hosts from the ships; and how Pallas sits on the height\nwith the storm-cloud about her; and how Father Jupiter himself stirs\nup the enemy against Troy. Fly, therefore, my son. I myself will guard\nyou till you stand before your father's door.\"\n\nThe goddess then disappeared and AEneas quickly proceeded to obey her\ncommand. Hastening home he resolved to take his aged father to a place\nof safety in the hills beyond the city, but the old man refused to go.\n\"You, who are young and strong,\" said he, \"may go, but I shall remain\nhere, for if it had been the will of the gods that I should live, they\nwould have preserved my home.\"\n\n  \"Now leave me: be your farewell said\n   To this my corpse, and count me dead.\"\n                 CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK II\n\nNor could all the entreaties of his son and wife move him from his\nresolution. Then AEneas, in grief and despair, was about to rush back\nto the battle, which still raged in the city, preferring to die rather\nthan to go and leave his father behind. But at this moment a bright\nflame as if of fire was seen to play around the head of the boy Iulus,\nand send forth beams of light. Alarmed as well as surprised at the\nspectacle, AEneas was about to extinguish the flames by water, when\nAnchises cried out that it was a sign from heaven that he should\naccompany his family in their flight from the city.\n\nThis pretty story, it is said, was meant by Vergil as a compliment to\nAugustus, the idea intended to be conveyed being that the seal of\nsovereign power was thus early set upon the founder of the great house\nof Julius.\n\n[Illustration: AEneas carrying his father out of Troy. (Drawn by\nVarian.)]\n\nThe gods seeming thus to ordain the immediate departure of the hero\nand his family, they all speedily set forth, AEneas carrying his\nfather on his shoulders, while Iulus walked by his side, and Creusa\nfollowed at some distance. They had arranged to meet at a ruined\ntemple outside the city, where they were to be joined by their\nservants, but when they reached the place, it was discovered that\nCreusa had disappeared. Great was the grief of Aeneas. In agony he\nhastened back to the city in search of his wife. Coming to his\nfather's palace, he found it already in flames. Then he hurried on\nthrough the streets, in his distress calling aloud the name of Creusa.\nSuddenly her figure started up before him, larger than when in life,\nfor it was her spirit he saw. Appalled at the sight, Aeneas stood in\nsilence gazing at the apparition while it thus spoke:\n\n\"Beloved husband, why do you give way to grief? What has happened is\nby the decree of heaven. It was not the will of the gods that I should\naccompany you. You have a long journey to make, and a wide extent of\nsea to cross, before you reach the shores of Hes-pe'ri-a, where the\nTi'ber flows in gentle course through the rich fields of a warlike\nrace. There prosperity awaits you, and you shall take to yourself a\nwife of a royal line. Weep not for me. The mother of the gods keeps me\nin this land to serve her. And now farewell, and fail not to love and\nwatch over our son.\"\n\nThen the form of Creusa melted into air, and the sorrowing husband\nreturned to the place where his father and son awaited him. There he\nfound a number of his fellow-citizens prepared to follow him into\nexile. They first took refuge in the forests of Mount I'da, not far\nfrom the ruined city. In this place they spent the winter, and they\nbuilt a fleet of ships at An-tan'dros, a coast town at the foot of the\nmountain.\n\n   \"Near old Antandros, and at Ida's foot,\n    The timber of the sacred groves we cut,\n    And build our fleet-uncertain yet to find\n    What place the gods for our repose assigned.\"\n                  DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK III.\n\nIt is remarkable that Vergil does not tell how Creusa came by her\ndeath. Apparently we are left to infer that she was killed by the\nGreeks.\n\n\n\nII. AENEAS LEAVES TROY--THE HARPIES--PROPHECY OF HELENUS-THE GIANT\nPOLYPHEMUS.\n\nIn the early days of summer--the fleet being ready and all\npreparations complete--Anchises gave the order for departure, and so\nthey set sail, piously carrying with them the images of their\nhousehold gods and of the \"great gods\" of their nation. The first land\nthey touched was the coast of Thrace, not far from Troy. AEneas\nthought he would build a city and make a settlement here, as the\ncountry had been, from early times, connected by ties of friendship\nwith his own. To obtain the blessing of heaven on an undertaking of\nsuch importance, he set about performing religious services in honor\nof his mother Venus and the other gods, sacrificing a snow-white bull\nas an offering to Jupiter. Close by the place there happened to be a\nlittle hill, on the top of which was a grove of myrtle, bristling with\nthick-clustering, spear-like shoots. Wishing to have some of those\nplants to decorate his altars, AEneas pulled one up from the ground,\nwhereupon he beheld drops of blood oozing from the torn roots. Though\nhorrified at the sight he plucked another bough, and again blood oozed\nout as before. Then praying to the gods to save himself and his people\nfrom whatever evil there might be in the omen, he proceeded to tear up\na third shoot, when from out the earth at his feet a voice uttered\nthese words:\n\n\"O, AEneas! why do you tear an unhappy wretch? Spare me, now that I am\nin my grave; forbear to pollute your pious hands. It is from no tree-\ntrunk that the blood comes. Quit this barbarous land with all speed.\nKnow that I am Pol-y-do'rus. Here I was slain by many arrows, which\nhave taken root and grown into a tree.\"\n\nDeep was the horror of AEneas while he listened to this dreadful\nstory, for he knew that Polydorus was one of the younger sons of\nPriam. Early in the war, his father, fearing that the Trojans might be\ndefeated, had sent him for protection to the court of the king of\nThrace. At the same time he sent the greater part of his treasures,\nincluding a large sum of money, to be taken care of by the king till\nthe war should be over. But as soon as the Thracian monarch heard of\nthe fall of Troy he treacherously slew the young prince and seized all\nhis father's treasure.\n\n    False to divine and human laws,\n    The traitor joins the conqueror's cause,\n    Lays impious hands on Polydore,\n    And grasps by force the golden store.\n    Fell lust of gold! abhorred, accurst!\n    What will not men to slake such thirst?\n            CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK III.\n\nWhen AEneas related this story to his father and the other Trojan\nchiefs, they all agreed to depart forthwith from a land polluted by so\nblack a crime. But first they performed funeral rites on the grave of\nPolydorus, erecting two altars which they decked with cypress wreaths,\nthe emblem of mourning, and offering sacrifices to the gods.\n\nSoon afterwards, the winds being favorable, they set sail, and in a\nfew days reached De'los, one of the isles of Greece, where there was a\nfamous temple of Apollo. A'ni-us, the king of the island, and a priest\nof Apollo, gave them a hospitable reception. In the great temple they\nmade suitable offerings, and AEneas prayed to the god to tell them in\nwhat country they might find a resting place and a home. Scarcely had\nthe prayer been finished when the temple and the earth itself seemed\nto quake, whereupon the Trojans prostrated themselves in lowly\nreverence upon the ground, and presently they heard a voice saying:\n\"Brave sons of Dar'da-nus, the land which gave birth to your ancestors\nshall again receive your race in its fertile bosom. Seek out your\nancient mother. There the house of AEneas shall rule over every coast,\nand his children's children and their descendants.\"\n\nThe answers or oracles of the gods were often given in mysterious\nwords, as in the present case. AEneas and his companions did not know\nwhat land was meant by the \"ancient mother,\" but Anchises, \"revolving\nin his mind the legends of the men of old,\" remembered having heard\nthat one of his ancestors, Teu'cer, (the father-in-law of Dardanus),\nhad come from the island of Crete. Believing, therefore, that that was\nthe land referred to in the words of the oracle, they set sail, having\nfirst sacrificed to Apollo, to Neptune, god of the ocean, and to the\ngod of storms, that their voyage might be favorable.\n\n    A bull to Neptune, an oblation due,\n    Another bull to bright Apollo slew;\n    A milk-white ewe, the western winds to please\n    And one coal-black, to calm the stormy seas.\n            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK III.\n\nThey arrived safely at Crete (now known as Can'di-a) where they\nremained a considerable time and built a city which AEneas called\nPer'ga-mus, the name of the famous citadel or fort of Troy. But here a\nnew misfortune came upon the exiles in the shape of a plague, which\nthreatened destruction to man and beast and the fruits of the field.\n\n    Sudden on man's feeble frame\n    From tainted skies a sickness came,\n    On trees and crops a poisonous breath,\n    A year of pestilence and death.\n            CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK III.\n\nAnchises now proposed that they should return to Delos, and again seek\nthe counsel and aid of Apollo, but that night AEneas had a dream in\nwhich the household gods whose images he had carried with him from\nTroy, appeared to him, and told him that Crete was not the land\ndestined by the gods for him and his people. They also told him where\nthat Hesperia was, of which he had heard from the shade of Creusa.\n\n   \"A land there is, Hesperia called of old,\n    (The soil is fruitful, and the natives bold--\n    The OE-no'tri-ans held it once,) by later fame\n    Now called I-ta'li-a, from the leader's name.\n    I-a'si-us there, and Dardanus, were born:\n    From thence we came, and thither must return.\n    Rise, and thy sire with these glad tidings greet:\n    Search Italy: for Jove denies thee Crete.\"\n            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK III.\n\nAEneas made haste to tell this dream to his father, whereupon the old\nman advised that they should at once depart. So they quickly got their\nships in order and set sail for Hesperia--the Land of the West. But\nscarcely had they lost sight of the shore when a terrible storm arose\nwhich drove them out of their course, and for three days and nights\nthe light of heaven was shut from their view. Even the great\nPal-i-nu'rus, the pilot of the ship of AEneas, \"could not distinguish\nnight from day, or remember his true course in the midst of the wave.\"\n\nOn the fourth day, however, the storm ceased and soon the Trojans\nsighted land in the distance. It was one of the islands of the Ionian\nsea, called the Stroph'a-des. Here dwelt the Har'pies, monsters having\nfaces like women, and bodies, wings, and claws like vultures. When the\nTrojans landed they saw herds of oxen and flocks of goats grazing in\nthe fields. They killed some of them and prepared a feast upon the\nshore, and having first, in accordance with their invariable custom,\nmade offerings to the gods, they proceeded \"to banquet on the rich\nviands.\" But they had hardly begun their meal when the Harpies, with\nnoisy flapping of wings and fearful cries, swooped down upon them,\nsnatched off a great portion of the meat, and so spoiled the rest\nwith their unclean touch that it was unfit to eat.\n\n    From the mountain-tops with hideous cry,\n    And clattering wings, the hungry Harpies fly:\n    And snatch the meat, defiling all they find,\n    And parting, leave a loathsome stench behind.\n            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK III.\n\nThe Trojans got ready another meal and again sat down to eat, but the\nHarpies again came down upon them as before, and did in like manner.\nAEneas and his companions then resolved to fight, so they took their\nswords and drove the foul monsters off, though they could not kill any\nof them, for their skins were proof against wounds. One of them,\nhowever, remained behind, and perching on a rock, cried out in words\nof anger against the intruders. \"Do you dare, base Trojans,\" said she,\n\"to make war upon us after killing our oxen? Do you dare to drive the\nHarpies from the place which is their own? Listen then to what I have\nto tell you, which the father of the gods revealed to Phoe'bus Apollo,\nand Apollo revealed to me. Italy is the land you seek, and Italy you\nshall reach; but you shall not build the walls of your city until dire\nfamine, visiting you because you have injured us, shall compel you to\ndevour even your tables.\"\n\nThis Harpy was named Ce-lae'no. When the Trojans heard her awful words\nthey prayed to the gods for protection, and then hastening to their\nships, they put to sea. They soon came near Ith'a-ca, the island\nkingdom of Ulysses, the most skilful in stratagem of all the Greek\nchiefs at the Trojan war. Cursing the land which gave birth to that\ncruel enemy of their country, AEneas and his companions sailed past,\nand they continued their voyage until they reached the rocky island of\nLeu-ca'di-a on the coast of E-pi'rus, where there was another temple\nof Apollo. Here they landed, rejoicing that they had steered safely by\nso many cities of their enemies, for since leaving Crete their route\nhad been mostly along the Grecian coast. They spent the winter in\nLeucadia, passing their leisure in games of wrestling and other\nathletic exercises, which were the sports of warriors in those ancient\ntimes. AEneas fastened to the door of the temple a shield of bronze--a\ntrophy he had carried away from Troy--and upon it he put the\ninscription:\n\nTHIS ARMOR AENEAS WON FROM THE CONQUERING GREEKS.\n\nIn spring the wanderers again took to their ships, and sailing\nnorthwards, close to the coast, they came to Bu-thro'tum in Epirus,\nwhere they were surprised to learn that Hel'e-nus, son of Priam, was\nking of the country and that his wife was Androm'-a-che, who had\nformerly been wife of the famous Hector. AEneas having heard this upon\nlanding, proceeded without delay towards the city, impatient to greet\nhis kindred and to know how they had come to be there. It happened\nthat just then Andromache was offering sacrifice on a tomb which she\nhad erected outside the walls to the memory of Hector. Seeing AEneas\napproach she at once recognized him, but she was so overcome with\nsurprise that for some time she was unable to utter a word. As soon as\nshe recovered strength to speak she told AEneas that she had been\ncarried off from Troy by Pyrrhus, and that Pyrrhus had given her to\nHelenus, after he himself had married Her-mi'o-ne, the daughter of the\nfamous Helen. She also told that on the death of Pyrrhus who had been\nslain by O-res'tes, son of Agamemnon, part of his kingdom was given to\nHelenus.\n\nMeanwhile king Helenus having heard of the arrival of the Trojans came\nout from the city to meet them, accompanied by a numerous train of\nattendants. He affectionately greeted AEneas and his companions, and\ninvited them to his palace, where he hospitably entertained them during\ntheir stay. Helenus, besides being a king and the son of a\nking, was a famous soothsayer, so AEneas begged him to exercise his\npowers of prophecy on behalf of himself and his people. Helenus\nreadily complied with the request. After offering the usual sacrifices\nto the gods, he told the Trojan chief that he had yet a long voyage to\nmake before reaching his destination, that the place in which he\nshould found his new kingdom was on the banks of a river, and that he\nwould know it by finding there a white sow, with a litter of thirty\nyoung ones.\n\n       \"In the shady shelter of a wood,\n    And near the margin of a gentle flood,\n    Thou shalt behold a sow upon the ground,\n    With thirty sucking young encompassed round\n    (The dam and offspring white as falling snow);\n    These on thy city shall their name bestow;\n    And there shall end thy labors and thy woe.\"\n            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK III.\n\nAs to the Harpy's dreadful prophecy that the Trojans would have to eat\ntheir tables, Helenus bade AEneas not to be troubled about it, for\n\"the fates would find a way,\" and Apollo would be present to aid. Then\nthe soothsayer warned his countrymen to shun the strait between Italy\nand Sicily, where on one side was the frightful monster Scyl'la, with\nthe face of a woman and the tail of a dolphin, and on the other was\nthe dangerous whirlpool Cha-ryb'dis. But more important than all other\nthings, they must offer sacrifices and prayers to Juno, that her anger\nmight be turned away from them, for she it was who had hitherto\nopposed all their efforts to reach their promised land.\n\nHelenus also told them that on arriving in Italy they must seek out\nand consult the famous Sib'yl of Cu'mas. This was a prophetess who\nusually wrote her prophecies on leaves of trees, which she placed at\nthe entrance to her cave. These leaves had to be taken up very\ncarefully and quickly, for if they were scattered about by the wind,\nit would be impossible to put them in order again, so as to read them\nor understand their meaning. Helenus, therefore, directed AEneas to\nrequest the Sibyl to give her answers by word of mouth. She would do\nso, he said, and tell him all that was to happen to him and his people\nin Italy--the wars they would have to encounter, the dangers they were\nto meet, and how to avoid them.\n\nThus Helenus prophesied and gave counsel to his kinsmen. Then he made\npresents to AEneas and Anchises of valuable things in gold and silver,\nand he sent pilots to the ships, and horses and arms for the men. And\nAndromache gave embroidered robes to Ascanius and a cloak wrought in\ngold.\n\nSoon afterwards the wanderers bade farewell to their friends, and set\nsail. Next day they came in sight of Italy, which they hailed with\nloud shouts of rejoicing. It was the south-eastern point of the\npeninsula, and as the Trojans approached it, they saw a harbor into\nwhich they ran their ships. Here they went ashore and offered\nsacrifices to Minerva, and also to Juno, remembering the advice of\nHelenus. But that part of the country being inhabited by Greeks, they\nmade haste to depart, and taking their course southward, they passed\nby the Bay of Ta-ren'tum and down the coast until they came to the\nentrance of the strait now called Messina. This was a point of danger,\nfor the loud roaring of the sea warned them that they were not far\nfrom the terrible Charybdis. Quickly Palinurus turned his ship to the\nleft, and, all the others following, made straight for the Sicilian\nshore. Here they landed almost at the foot of AEtna, famous then as in\nour own times as a volcano or burning mountain. Under this mountain,\naccording to an old legend, Jupiter imprisoned En-cel'a-dus, one of\nthe giants who had dared to make war against heaven, and as often as\nthe giant turned his weary sides, all Sicily trembled and the mountain\nsent forth flames of fire and streams of molten lava.\n\n    Enceladus, they say, transfixed by Jove,\n    With blasted limbs came tumbling from above;\n    And when he fell, the avenging father drew\n    This flaming hill, and on his body threw.\n    As often as he turns his weary sides,\n    He shakes the solid isle, and smoke, the heavens hides.\n            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK III.\n\nBut beside the horrors of the \"flaming hill\" there was another danger\nto which the Trojans were now exposed. Sicily was the land of the\nterrible Cy'clops. These were fierce giants of immense size, with one\neye, huge and round, in the middle of their foreheads. The morning\nafter their arrival, the Trojans were surprised to see a stranger\nrunning forth from the woods, and with arms outstretched imploring\ntheir protection. Being asked who he was, he said he was a Greek, and\nthat his name was Ach-e-men'ides. He had been at Troy with Ulysses,\nand was one of the companions of that famous warrior in his adventures\nafter the siege. In their wanderings they had come to Sicily and had\nbeen in the very cave of Pol-y-phe'-mus, the largest and fiercest of\nthe Cyclops, who had killed several of the unfortunate Greeks.\n\n\"I myself,\" said Achemenides, \"saw him seize two of our number and\nbreak their bodies against a rock. I saw their limbs quivering between\nhis teeth. But Ulysses did not suffer such things to go unpunished,\nfor when the giant lay asleep, gorged with food, and made drunk with\nwine, (which Ulysses had given him) we, having prayed to the gods, and\narranged by lot what part each should perform, crowded around him and\nwith a sharp weapon bored out his eye, which was as large as the orb\nof the sun, and so we avenged the death of our comrades.\"\n\nBut in their flight from the cave, after punishing Polyphemus, the\nGreeks left Achemenides behind, and for three months he lived on\nberries in the woods. He now warned the Trojans to depart from the\nisland with all speed, for, he said, a hundred other Cyclops, huge\nand savage, dwelt on those shores, tending their flocks among the\nhills.\n\n   \"Such, and so vast as Polypheme appears,\n    A hundred more this hated island bears;\n    Like him, in caves they shut their wooly sheep;\n    Like him their herds on tops of mountains keep;\n    Like him, with mighty strides they stalk from steep to steep.\"\n            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK III\n\nScarcely had Achemenides finished his story when Polyphemus himself\nappeared coming down from the mountain in the midst of his flocks. A\nhorrid monster he was, \"huge, awful, hideous, ghastly, blind.\" In his\nhand he carried the trunk of a pine tree to guide his steps, and\nstriding to the water's edge, he waded far into the sea, yet the waves\ndid not touch his sides.\n\nThe Trojans now quickly got to their vessels, taking Achemenides with\nthem, and they plied their oars with the utmost speed. Hearing the\nvoices of the rowers and the sweep of their oars, the blind giant\nstretched out his hands in the direction of the sound, seeking to\nseize his enemies, as he took them to be. But the Trojans had got\nbeyond his reach. Then in his rage and disappointment the monster\nraised a mighty shout which echoed from the mountain sides and brought\nforth his brethren from their woods and caves.\n\n   \"To heaven he lifts a monstrous roar,\n      Which sends a shudder through the waves,\n    Shakes to its base the Italian shore,\n      And echoing runs through AEtna's caves.\n    From rocks and woods the Cyclop host\n    Rush startled forth, and crowd the coast.\n    There glaring fierce we see them stand\n    In idle rage, a hideous band,\n    The sons of AEtna, carrying high\n    Their towering summits to the sky.\"\n            CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK III.\n\nAfter thus escaping from the terrible Polyphemus, the Trojan wanderers\nsailed along the coasts of Sicily, and coming to the north-west\nextremity of the island, they put ashore at Drep'a-num. Here AEneas\nmet with a misfortune which none of the prophets had predicted. This\nwas the death of his venerable father Anchises.\n\n   \"After endless labors (often tossed\n    By raging storms and driven on every coast),\n    My dear, dear father, spent with age, I lost--\n    Ease of my cares, and solace of my pain,\n    Saved through a thousand toils, but saved in vain!\n    The prophet, who my future woes revealed,\n    Yet this, the greatest and the worst, concealed,\n    And dire Celaeno, whose foreboding skill\n    Denounced all else, was silent of this ill.\"\n            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK III.\n\n\n\nIII.    A GREAT STORM--ARRIVAL IN CARTHAGE.\n\nThus far you have read the story of the Trojan exiles as it was told\nby AEneas himself to Di'do, queen of Carthage, at whose court we shall\nsoon find him, after a dreadful storm which scattered his ships,\nsinking one, and driving the rest upon the coast of Africa. The\nnarrative occupies the second and third books of the AEneid. In the\nfirst book the poet begins by telling of Juno's unrelenting hate,\nwhich was the chief cause of all the evils that befell the Trojans.\n\n    Arms and the man I sing, who, forced by fate,\n    And haughty Juno's unrelenting hate,\n    Expelled and exiled, left the Trojan shore.\n    Long labors, both by sea and land he bore.\n            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK I.\n\nIt was at Juno's request that AE'o-lus, god of the winds, raised the\ngreat storm, just at the time when the wanderers, after leaving\nDrepanum, were about to direct their course towards the destined\nHesperian land. For though AEneas and his companions, following the\nadvice of Helenus, had offered prayers and sacrifices to the haughty\ngoddess, still her anger was not appeased. She could not forget the\njudgment of Paris, or the prophecy that through the Trojan race was to\ncome destruction on the city she loved. And so when she saw the ships\nof AEneas sailing towards the Italian coast, she gave vent to her\nanger in bitter words. \"Must I then,\" said she, \"desist from my\npurpose? Am I, the queen of heaven, not able to prevent the\nTrojans from establishing their kingdom in Italy? Who then will\nhereafter worship Juno or offer sacrifices on her altars?\" With such\nthoughts inflaming her breast, the goddess hastened to AE-o'lia, the\nhome of storms where dwelt AEolus, king of the winds. AEolia was one\nof the ancient names of the islands between Italy and Sicily, now\nknown as the Lipari Islands. In a vast cave, in one of those islands\nking AEolus held the winds imprisoned and controlled their fury lest\nthey should destroy the world--\n\n        In a spacious cave of living stone,\n    The tyrant AEolus, from his airy throne,\n    With power imperial curbs the struggling winds,\n    And sounding tempests in dark prisons binds:\n    High in his hall the undaunted monarch stands,\n    And shakes his sceptre, and their rage commands:\n    Which did he not, their unresisted sway\n    Would sweep the world before them in their way;\n    Earth, air, and seas, through empty space would roll,\n    And heaven would fly before the driving soul.\n    In fear of this, the father of the gods\n    Confined their fury to those dark abodes,\n    And locked them safe within, oppressed with mountain loads;\n    Imposed a king with arbitrary sway,\n    To loose their fetters, or their force allay.\n            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK I.\n\nTo this great king Juno appealed, begging him to send forth his storms\nagainst the ships of AEneas, and she promised to reward him by giving\nhim in marriage the fair De-i-o-pe'a, most beautiful of all the nymphs\nor maids in her heavenly train of attendants. AEolus promptly replied\nsaying that he was ready to obey the queen of heaven. \"'Tis for you,\nO queen, to command and for me to execute your will.\"\n\nThen AEolus struck the side of the cavern with his mighty scepter,\nwhereupon the rock flew open and the winds rushed furiously forth. In\nan instant a terrific hurricane swept over land and sea. The lightning\nflashed, the thunder pealed, and the waves rolled mountain high around\nthe Trojan fleet.\n\n    All in a moment sun and skies\n    Are blotted from the Trojans' eyes;\n    Black night is brooding o'er the deep,\n    Sharp thunder peals, live lightnings leap;\n    The stoutest warrior holds his breath,\n    And looks as on the face of death.\n            CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK I.\n\nFilled with terror, AEneas bewailed his unhappy fate, and lamented\nthat it had not been his lot to fall with those\n\n    Who died at Troy like valiant men\n      E'en in their parents' view.\n\nBut the storm increased in fury. Three of his ships were dashed\nagainst hidden rocks, while before his eyes one went down with all its\ncrew.\n\n    And here and there above the waves were seen\n    Arms, pictures, precious goods and floating men.\n            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK I.\n\nMeantime the roaring of wind and waves had reached the ears of\nNeptune, in his coral palace beneath the sea. Neptune was one of the\ngods who were friendly to AEneas, and so when he raised his head above\nthe waters, and beheld the ships scattered about and the hero himself\nin deep distress, the ocean king was very angry. Instantly he summoned\nthe winds before him, and sternly rebuked them for daring to cause\nsuch disturbance in his dominions without his authority. Then he\nordered them to depart forthwith to their caverns, and tell their\nmaster that not to him belonged the kingdom of the sea.\n\n   \"Back to your master instant flee,\n    And tell him, not to him but me\n    The imperial trident of the sea\n        Fell by the lot's award.\"\n            CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK I.\n\nIt was by lot that the empire of the universe had been divided among\nthe three brothers Jupiter, Neptune and Pluto, the kingdom of the\nocean falling to Neptune, the heavens to Jupiter and the \"lower\nregions\" or regions of the dead to Pluto. Neptune, therefore, had full\npower within his own dominion, and so the winds had to retire at his\ncommand. Then immediately the sea became calm and still, and AEneas\nwith seven ships--all that he could find of his fleet--sailed for the\nAfrican coast, which was the nearest land, the storm having driven\nthem far out of their course. Soon discovering a suitable harbor, deep\nin a bay, with high rocks on each side at the entrance, the tempest-\ntossed Trojans gladly put ashore, and lighting a fire on the beach,\nthey prepared a meal of parched corn, which they ground with stones.\n\nMeanwhile AEneas climbed a rock and looked out over the sea hoping to\ncatch sight of some of the lost vessels. He was accompanied by his\narmor-bearer A-cha'tes, who was so devoted to his chief that the name\nis often used to signify a very faithful friend. But they could see\nnone of the missing ships and so they returned to their companions.\nThen AEneas delivered an address to his people, bidding them be of\ngood cheer, and reminding them of the decree of heaven that they\nshould have a peaceful settlement in La'ti-um--that fair Italian land,\nto which the gods would surely guide them in due time.\n\n   \"Comrades and friends! for ours is strength\n        Has brooked the test of woes;\n    O worse-scarred hearts! these wounds at length\n        The gods will heal, like those.\n    You that have seen grim Scylla rave,\n        And heard her monsters yell,\n    You that have looked upon the cave\n        Where savage Cyclops dwell,\n    Come, cheer your souls, your fears forget;\n    This suffering will yield us yet\n        A pleasant tale to tell.\n    Through chance, through peril lies our way\n    To Latium, where the fates display\n    A mansion of abiding stay;\n    There Troy her fallen realm shall raise;\n    Bear up and live for happier days.\"\n            CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK I.\n\nIt is not to be supposed that all this time the goddess Venus was\nforgetful of the sufferings of her son. Even while AEneas was thus\nspeaking to his fellow wanderers she was pleading his cause before\nthe throne of Jupiter himself on the top of Mount Olympus. \"What\noffence, O king of heaven,\" said she, \"has my AEneas committed? How\nhave the Trojans offended? What is to be the end of their sufferings?\nAre they to be forever persecuted on account of the anger of one\ngoddess?\"\n\nTo this appeal the king of the gods answered assuring Venus that the\npromises made to the Trojan exiles should all be fulfilled. AEneas, he\nsaid, should make war against fierce tribes in Italy, and conquer\nthem, and rule in La-vin'i-um. After him his son Iulus should reign\nfor thirty years, and build a city to be called Alba Longa, where his\ndescendants would hold sovereign power for three hundred years. Then\nfrom the same race should come Rom'u-lus, who would found the city\nRome, which would in time conquer Greece and rule the world.\n\n   \"The people Romans call, the city Rome\n    To them no bounds of empire I assign,\n    Nor term of years to their immortal line,\n    E'en haughty Juno, who, with endless broils,\n    Earth, seas, and heaven, and Jove himself turmoils,\n    At length atoned, her friendly power shall join,\n    To cherish and advance the Trojan line.\n    An age is ripening in revolving fate,\n    When Troy shall overturn the Grecian state,\n    And sweet revenge her conquering sons shall call\n    To crush the people that conspired her fall,\n    Then Caesar from the Julian stock shall rise,\n    Whose empire ocean, and whose fame the skies\n    Alone shall bound.\"\n            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK I.\n\nThus did the king of heaven prophesy the future greatness and power of\nthe Julian line. Then he sent Mercury, the messenger of the gods, down\nto earth to bid the queen of Carthage and her people give a hospitable\nreception to the Trojans, for it was near that city, on the Li'by-an\nshore, that they had landed after the storm. Venus herself, too, came\ndown from Olympus, and, in the garb of a huntress, appeared to her son\nand the faithful Achates, as they were exploring the coast to find out\nwhat land it was, and by what people possessed. She did not make\nherself known to them, but inquired if they had seen one of her\nsisters who had strayed away from her. AEneas answered: \"None of your\nsisters have we seen, O virgin, or shall we call you goddess, for such\nyou seem to be? Whoever you are, graciously relieve our anxiety by\ninforming us what country this is into which unkind fortune has driven\nus.\n\n   \"Instruct us 'neath what sky at last,\n    Upon what shore our lot is cast;\n    We wander here by tempest blown,\n    The people and the place unknown.\"\n            CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK I.\n\nTo these inquiries Venus, still maintaining her disguise, replied by\ntelling the Trojan heroes the story of Carthage and Queen Dido. This\nfamous woman was the daughter of Be'lus, king of Tyre, a city of\nPhoe-nic'i-a, in Asia Minor. She married a wealthy Tyrian lord named\nSi-chae'us. On her father's death, her brother Pyg-ma'li-on became\nking of Tyre. He was a cruel and avaricious tyrant, and in order to\nget possession of his brother-in-law's riches, he had him put to death,\nconcealing the crime from his sister by many false tales. But in a\ndream the ghost of Sichaeus appeared to Dido and told her of the\nwicked deed of Pygmalion. He at the same time advised her to fly from\nthe country with all speed, and he informed her of the place where he\nhad hidden his treasures--a large sum in gold and silver, which he\nbade her take to help her in her flight.\n\nDido therefore got together a number of ships, and put to sea\naccompanied by a number of her countrymen who hated the cruel tyrant.\nThey sailed to the coast of Africa and landed in Libya, where they\npurchased from the inhabitants as much ground as could be encompassed\nby a bull's hide cut into thongs. Then they commenced to build a city\nwhich they called Carthage, and even now they were engaged in raising\nits walls.\n\nSuch was the story of Dido which Venus related to AEneas and Achates.\nHaving concluded, she inquired in her turn who they were, from what\ncountry they had come, and whither they were going. In reply AEneas\ngave a brief account of his wanderings since the fall of Troy. Then\nthe goddess directed him to go into the city and present himself\nbefore the queen, and she pointed to an augury in the sky--twelve\nswans flying above their heads--which, she said, was a sign that the\nships they had supposed to be lost were at that moment sailing into\nthe harbor.\n\nSo saying Venus turned to leave them, when suddenly a marvelous change\ntook place in her dress and appearance, so that AEneas knew she was\nhis mother, and he cried to her to permit him to touch her hand and\nspeak with her as her son. The goddess, however, made no answer, but\nshe cast over Aeneas and his companion a thick veil of cloud so that\nno one might see or molest them on their way. Thus rendered invisible,\nthey went towards the city. When they reached it they found a great\nmany men at work, some finishing the walls, others erecting great\nbuildings of various kinds. In the center of the town was a\nmagnificent temple of Juno.\n\n    Enriched with gifts, and with a golden shrine;\n    But more the goddess made the place divine.\n    On brazen steps the marble threshold rose,\n    And brazen plates the cedar beams enclose;\n    The rafters are with brazen coverings crowned;\n    The lofty doors on brazen hinges sound.\n            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK I.\n\nEntering this temple, AEneas was astonished to find the walls covered\nwith paintings representing scenes of the Trojan war.\n\n    He saw, in order painted on the wall,\n    Whatever did unhappy Troy befall;\n    The wars that fame around the world had blown,\n    All to the life, and every leader known.\n    He stopped, and weeping said: \"O friend! e'en here!\n    The monuments of Trojan woes appear!\"\n            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK I.\n\nAmongst the pictures, AEneas recognized one of himself performing\ndeeds of valor in the thick of the fight. While he and his companion,\nboth still invisible, were gazing with admiration upon those scenes\nQueen Dido came into the temple, attended by a numerous train of\nwarriors, and took her seat upon a high-raised throne. Presently there\nappeared a number of Trojans advancing towards the queen, and AEneas\nrejoiced to see that they were some of his own people belonging to the\nships that had been separated from him during the storm. They had been\ncast ashore on a different part of the coast, and not hearing of the\nsafe arrival of AEneas, they were now come to beg the help and\nprotection of Dido. Having heard their story, which Il-i'o-neus, one\nof their number, briefly related, the queen bade them dismiss their\nfears, promising that she would give them whatever assistance they\nneeded, and send out messengers to search the Libyan coasts for their\nleader AEneas. But at this point the mist that encompassed AEneas and\nhis companion suddenly vanished and the hero stood forth, beheld by\nall, his face resembling that of a god.\n\n    The Trojan chief appeared in open sight\n    August in visage, and serenely bright.\n    His mother-goddess, with her hands divine,\n    Had formed his curling locks, and made his temples shine,\n    And given his rolling eyes a sparkling grace,\n    And breathed a youthful vigor on his face.\n            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK I.\n\nAEneas now made himself known to the queen and thanked her for her\nkindness to his people. Dido was astonished at the sudden appearance\nof the hero, of whom she had already heard much. Her father, Belus,\nshe said, had told her of the fall of Troy and of the name of AEneas,\nand having herself suffered many misfortunes, she had learned to\nhave pity for the distressed.\n\n   \"For I myself, like you, have been distressed;\n    Till heaven afforded me this place of rest;\n    Like you, an alien in a land unknown,\n    I learn to pity woes so like my own.\"\n            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK I.\n\nThen she invited the hero into the royal apartments where a grand\nbanquet was prepared in his honor. She also caused a supply of\nprovisions to be taken to his people on the shore--twenty oxen, a\nhundred swine, and a hundred fat lambs. Meanwhile AEneas sent Achates\nto bring his son Ascanius to the city, bidding him at the same time to\ntake with him presents for the queen, costly and beautiful things that\nhad been saved from the ruins of Troy--a mantle embroidered with gold,\na scepter which had belonged to I-li'o-ne, King Priam's daughter, and\na necklace strung with pearls.\n\nAt the banquet Queen Dido sat on a golden couch, surrounded by the\nTrojan chiefs and her Tyrian lords. By her side was seated the\nhandsome youth whom Achates had brought from the ships as the son of\nAEneas. Dido admired the beautiful boy and fondled him in her arms\nlittle thinking that it was Cupid, the god of love, whom Venus had\nsent to the banquet under the appearance of Iulus.\n\n    Unhappy Dido little thought what guest,\n    How dire a god she drew so near her breast.\n            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK I.\n\nThe real Ascanius meantime lay in peaceful slumber in a sacred grove\nin the island of Cyprus, to which Venus had borne him away.\n\n    Lulled in her lap, amidst a train of Loves,\n    She gently bears him to her blissful groves;\n    Then with a wreath of myrtle crowns his head,\n    And softly lays him on a flowery bed.\n                           DRYDEN, AEneid BOOK 1.\n\nAnd so Queen Dido entertained the chiefs of Troy and of Carthage, with\nthe god of love seated beside her on her golden couch. A hundred maids\nand as many pages attended upon the guests. After the viands were\nremoved, I-o'pas, the Tyrian minstrel and poet, played upon his gilded\nlyre, and sang about the wondrous things in the heavens and on earth.\n\n    The various labors of the wandering moon,\n    And whence proceed the eclipses of the sun;\n    The original of men and beasts; and whence\n    The rains arise, and fires their warmth dispense;\n    What shakes the solid earth; what cause delays\n    The summer nights, and shortens winter days.\n                             DRYDEN, AEneid. BOOK I.\n\nThe song of Iopas was applauded by the entire assemblage. Then Queen\nDido after asking Aeneas many questions about Priam and Hector, and\nAchilles, and Memnon, and Diomede and other heroes of the Trojan war,\nbegged him to tell the whole story from the beginning. \"Come, my\nguest,\" said she, \"relate to us from the very first the stratagems of\nthe Greeks, the adventures of your friends, and your own wanderings.\"\n\nIt was in compliance with this request that Aeneas, as has been said,\nrecounted the history (already given) of the ruin of Troy, and of his\nown misfortunes, commencing with the artifice of the wooden horse, and\nending with the storm which drove his ships upon the Carthaginian\ncoast. The events of the story extended over a period of seven years,\nfor it was now that length of time since the fatal \"peace offering\"\nbrought destruction on the city of Priam.\n\n\n\nIV. DIDO'S LOVE--THE FUNERAL GAMES--SHIPS BURNED BY THE WOMEN.\n\nQueen Dido was much interested in the story told by Aeneas, but more\nso in the hero himself. His many virtues, the honors and glories of\nhis race, made a strong impression on her mind; his looks and words\nwere imprinted on her heart. In short, the Carthaginian queen was in\nlove with the Trojan prince. She confided her secret to her sister\nAnna, and she said that if she had not vowed, on the death of her dear\nhusband Sichaeus, never again to unite with any one in the bond of\nmarriage, she might think of giving her hand to her noble guest.\n\nSister Anna knew that such a marriage would be a great advantage to\nCarthage, which might need brave defenders like the Trojans, since\nthere were many warlike princes in that part of Africa, who might some\ntime attack the new city. And if the Trojan arms were joined to those\nof Carthage, both would be strong enough to resist the most powerful\nenemy, and the new kingdom would become great and flourishing. \"Let us\ntherefore,\" said she, \"pray to the gods for help and at the same time\nendeavor by all means to detain our Trojan guests as long as possible\nupon our shore.\"\n\nThe queen listened to her sister's advice with pleasure, more\nespecially as it was in accord with her own feelings. Her scruples\nabout a second marriage soon vanished, and so she continued to\nentertain the Trojans and their chief with princely hospitality.\n\n     And now she leads the Trojan chief along\n     The lofty walls, amidst the busy throng;\n     Displays her Tyrian wealth, and rising town,\n     Which love, without his labor makes his own.\n     This pomp she shows, to tempt her wandering guest:\n     Her faltering tongue forbids to speak the rest.\n     When day declines and feasts renew the night,\n     Still on his face she feeds her famished sight;\n     She longs again to hear the prince relate\n     His own adventures, and the Trojan fate.\n     He tells it o'er and o'er; but still in vain;\n     For still she begs to hear it once again.\n                        DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK IV\n\nMeanwhile the goddess Juno, watching the course of events, also saw\nthe advantage, to her favorite city, of a union with the Trojan chief.\nIf he and his people, she thought, could be persuaded to settle in\nCarthage, that city and not the long talked of Rome, would come to be\nthe center of power and the ruler of the world. She therefore proposed\nto Venus a treaty of \"eternal peace\" on the condition of a marriage\nbetween Aeneas and Dido.\n\n     \"Your Trojan with my Tyrian let us join;\n     So Dido shall be yours, AEneas mine--\n     One common kingdom, one united line.\"\n                            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK IV.\n\nVenus was not at all deceived by this plausible speech. She well\nunderstood the motive and purpose of Juno to secure future power and\nglory for Carthage and divert from Rome the empire of the world,\nnevertheless she answered in mild words saying, \"Who could be so\nfoolish as to reject such an alliance, and prefer to be at war with\nthe queen of heaven? Yet there is a difficulty. I do not know whether\nit is the pleasure of Jupiter that the Tyrians and Trojans should\ndwell together in one city. Will he approve the union of the two\nnations? Perhaps, however, you, who are his wife, may be able to\ninduce him to do so. It is for you, then, to lead the way, and where\nyou lead I shall follow.\"\n\nBut another obstacle stood in the way of Juno's proposed alliance.\nThere was at that time a certain African king named I-ar'bas, a very\nimportant personage, for he was a son of Jupiter. It was from him that\nDido when she first came to Libya had bought the ground to build her\ncity. Now Iarbas wished to have Dido for his wife, and he had asked\nher to marry him, but she had refused. Great was his anger, therefore,\nwhen he heard that the Trojan chief had been received and honored\nin Carthage and that a marriage between him and the queen was talked\nof as a certain thing. So he went to the temple of his father Jupiter,\nand complained bitterly of the conduct of Dido in rejecting himself\nand taking a foreign prince into her kingdom to be its ruler. The king\nof heaven, naturally enough sympathising with his son, gave ear to his\ncomplaint and he forthwith dispatched Mercury with a message to\nAEneas, bidding him to depart instantly from Carthage. This command\nthe swift-winged god, having sped down from Olympus, and sought out\nthe Trojan hero, delivered in impressive words.\n\n        \"All powerful Jove\n    Who sways the world below and heaven above,\n    Has sent me down with this severe command:\n    What means thy lingering in the Libyan land?\n    If glory cannot move a mind so mean,\n    Nor future praise from flitting pleasure wean,\n    Regard the fortunes of thy rising heir:\n    The promised crown let young Ascanius wear,\n    To whom the Ausonian sceptre, and the state\n    Of Rome's imperial name, is owed by fate.\"\n                     DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK IV.\n\nThe command filled AEneas with astonishment and fear. He knew that he\nmust obey, but how could he break the intelligence to Dido, or what\nexcuse could he offer for so sudden a departure?\n\n    What should he say, or how should he begin?\n    What course alas! remains, to steer between\n    The offended lover and the powerful queen.\n            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK IV.\n\nThere being, however, no middle course, Aeneas directed his chiefs to\nget ready the ships, call together the crews, and prepare their arms,\nand to do all as quietly and secretly as possible. Meanwhile he\nhimself would watch for a favorable opportunity of obtaining the\nqueen's consent to their departure.\n\n    Himself, meantime, the softest hours would choose,\n    Before the love-sick lady heard the news,\n    And move her tender mind, by slow degrees\n    To suffer what the sovereign power decrees.\n            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK IV.\n\nBut Dido soon discovered what the Trojans were about, and she sent for\nAEneas and reproached him in angry words for his deception and\ningratitude. Then her anger gave way to grief and tears, and she\nimplored him to alter his resolution, declaring that if he would thus\nsuddenly leave her she must surely die. AEneas was in deep distress at\nthe spectacle of the sorrowing queen, yet he dared not yield to her\nentreaties, since it was the decree of the fates and the command of\nJupiter that he should remain no longer in Carthage.\n\nThe Trojans therefore hastened their preparations and were soon ready\nto set sail; but there came another warning conveyed to them by the\ngod Mercury, who, while AEneas was asleep in his ship, appeared to\nhim in a dream, bidding him to speed away that very night, for if he\nwaited until morning he would find the harbor filled with queen Dido's\nfleet to prevent his departure. Starting from his couch AEneas quickly\nroused his companions and gave the order for instantly putting to sea.\n\n   \"Haste to your oars! your crooked anchors weigh,\n    And speed your flying sails, and stand to sea!\n    A god commands! he stood before my sight,\n    And urged me once again to speedy flight.\"\n            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK IV.\n\nPromptly the order of the chief was obeyed, and soon the Trojan\nvessels were sailing away from the city of Dido. And at dawn of\nmorning the unhappy queen, looking forth from her watch tower, beheld\nthem far out at sea. Then she prayed that there might be eternal\nenmity between the descendants of AEneas and the people of Carthage,\nand that a man would come of her nation who would persecute the Trojan\nrace with fire and sword.\n\n    \"These are my prayers, and this my dying will;\n    And you, my Tyrians, every curse fulfill:\n    Perpetual hate and mortal wars proclaim\n    Against the prince, the people, and the name.\n    These grateful offerings on my grave bestow;\n    Nor league, nor love, the hostile nations know!\n    Now and from hence in every future age,\n    When rage excites your arms, and strength supplies the rage,\n    Rise some avenger of our Libyan blood;\n    With fire and sword pursue the perjured brood:\n    Our arms, our seas, our shores, opposed to theirs;\n    And the same hate descend on all our heirs!\"\n            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK IV.\n\nVergil thus makes Dido prophesy the long conflict between Rome and\nCarthage, (known as the Punic wars) and the achievements of the famous\nCarthaginian general, Han'ni-bal, who carried the war into the heart\nof Italy (218 B. C.) and defeated the Romans in several great battles.\n\nIn her grief at the departure of AEneas, the unhappy queen resolved to\nput an end to her life. She bade her servants erect in the inner court\nyard of her palace a lofty pile of wood, called a funeral pyre, and\nupon it to place an image of AEneas as well as the arms he had left\nbehind him. Then mounting the pyre, to which flaming torches had been\napplied, she stabbed herself with her false lover's sword, and so\ndied.\n\nThe Trojans from their ships, saw the smoke and flame ascending from\nthe palace of Dido. They knew not the cause, yet AEneas, suspecting\nwhat had happened, deeply lamented the fate of the unhappy queen.\n\n    The cause unknown; yet his presaging mind\n    The fate of Dido from the fire divined.\n    Dire auguries from hence the Trojans draw;\n    Till neither fires nor shining shores they saw.\n                    DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK IV.\n\nThe fleet was no sooner out of sight of the Libyan coast than the\npilot Palinurus observed signs of a storm. He proposed, therefore,\nthat they should make for the Sicilian shore, which was not far\ndistant. AEneas gladly consented, for he wished to stand again upon\nthe spot where his father's bones were laid. Moreover the good king\nA-ces'tes, who ruled in that part of the island, was a Trojan by\ndescent, and he had hospitably received the wanderers on their former\nvisit. They, therefore, turned the prows of their galleys towards\nSicily, and soon reached Drepanum, where they were met and welcomed by\nAcestes, who from a hill top had seen their vessels approaching the\nshore.\n\nNext day AEneas, accompanied by king Acestes, and a great multitude of\npeople, proceeded to the grave of Anchises where they erected altars,\nand according to the custom of the times, poured wine and milk on the\nground, as an offering to the gods. Fresh flowers were then scattered\non the tomb. While these ceremonies were being performed all present\nwere startled by the appearance of a huge serpent with scales of\ngolden hue, which suddenly glided from beneath the tomb, trailed among\nthe bowls or goblets containing the wine and milk, tasted slightly of\nthe contents, and then returned into the vault.\n\n    Betwixt the rising altars, and around,\n    The sacred monster shot along the ground;\n    With harmless play amidst the bowls he passed,\n    And with his lolling tongue assayed the taste:\n    Thus fed with holy food, the wondrous guest\n    Within the hollow tomb retired to rest.\n            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK V.\n\nAEneas believed that this serpent was an attendant on the shade of\nAnchises. He supposed, therefore, that his father was now elevated to\nthe dignity of a god, for most of the gods had inferior deities\nassigned to them as ministers or messengers.\n\nBesides the sacrifices and other ceremonies at the tomb, there were\ngames and athletic exercises in honor of Anchises, this also being one\nof the customs of the ancients in paying tribute to the memory of\ntheir dead heroes. The principal event in the games was a ship race in\nwhich the most skilful of the Trojan mariners took part. In this\ncontest Mnes'theus with a ship named _Pristis_, and Clo-an'-thus\ncommanding the _Scylla_ performed wonderful feats of seamanship. So\nequally were they matched and so well did they manage their vessels\nthat both would probably have reached the goal or winning post\ntogether, had it not been for the interference of the gods. The goal\nwas a branch of an oak tree fixed to a small rock in the bay facing\nthe beach on which the spectators were assembled. As the _Scylla_ was\napproaching the rock on the home run, the _Pristis_, which had been\npressing close behind, shot alongside, and was almost beak to beak\nwith its competitor. Then Cloanthus stretching forth his arms to\nheaven, prayed the gods of the sea to help him at that critical\nmoment, promising that he would offer sacrifices of thanksgiving on\ntheir altars, if he should win the race. His prayer was quickly heard.\nFrom their palaces in the deep, the Ne-re'ids, Neptune's band of\nattendants and assistants, rushed to his aid, and with his mighty\nhand Por-tu'nus, the god of harbors, coming behind the _Scylla_,\npushed the vessel along, speeding her forward more swiftly than the\nwind.\n\n    And old Portunus with his breadth of hand,\n    Pushed on and sped the galley to the land,\n    Swift as a shaft, or winged wind, she flies,\n    And darting to the port, obtains the prize.\n            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK V.\n\nCloanthus was declared victor and received the first prize--a rich\nmantle embroidered in gold. The second prize was given to Mnestheus,\nand suitable rewards were also bestowed on the crews. After the ship\nrace AEneas and the vast multitude of Trojans and Sicilians proceeded\nto a grassy plain not far from the shore where the other games were\nheld. The first was a foot race in which a large number took part.\nAmong them were Eu-ry'a-lus and Ni'sus, Trojan youths famed for their\nmutual friendship, and Di-o'res, a young prince of Priam's royal line.\nAmong the Sicilian competitors were Sa'li-us and Pa'tron, and two\nyoung men, El'y-mus and Pan'o-pes, companions of King Acestes.\n\n[Illustration with caption: THE FOOT RACE. (Drawn by Birch)]\n\nThe signal having been given, the racers darted off like lightning.\nNisus quickly took the lead springing far away ahead of the rest.\nNext, but at a long distance came Salius, and after him Euryalus,\nfollowed by Elymus, with Diores close by his side. Nisus would have\nreached the goal first, but just as he was approaching it, he lost his\nfoothold at a slippery spot on the course, and fell headlong upon the\nground. Seeing then that it was not possible for him to win, he\nthought of his friend Euryalus, and rising from the ground he set\nhimself right in the way of Salius who was rushing forward.\n\n    E'en then affection claims its part;\n    Euryalus is in his heart;\n    Uprising from the sodden clay,\n    He casts himself in Salius' way,\n    And Salius tripped and sprawling lay.\n            CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK V.\n\nThis gave the victory to Euryalus, but Salius protested against the\nfoul play by which he had been defeated, and claimed that he was\nentitled to the first prize. AEneas, however, decided that the prize\nshould go to him who had actually reached the goal first.\nNevertheless, he gave Salius a lion's hide, heavy with shaggy fur and\ngilt claws. Nisus, too, claimed a reward, and AEneas sympathising\nwith his misfortune, presented to him a shield of beautiful\nworkmanship, which had been taken from the pillars of Neptune's temple\nin the city of Troy.\n\nGames of boxing and archery--shooting with bows and arrows--came next.\nIn the latter contest, king Acestes and Mnestheus took part. The\nother competitors were Eu-ry'ti-on and Hip-poc'o-on. For a mark to\nshoot at, they tied a pigeon to the top of a tall mast set firmly in\nthe ground. Hippocoon won the first chance in the drawing of lots. His\narrow struck the mast with such force that it fixed itself in the\nwood. The arrow of Mnestheus broke the cord by which the pigeon was\nattached to the mast, and as she flew off, Eurytion discharged his\nshaft with so true an aim that it killed the bird. Acestes, who had\ndrawn the last lot, now fired, though there was nothing to shoot at,\nbut his arrow as it winged its way high into the air, presented to the\nspectators a marvelous sight.\n\n    E'en in the mid expanse of skies\n    The arrow kindles as it flies,\n    Behind it draws a fiery glare,\n    Then wasting, vanishes in air.\n            CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK V.\n\nAEneas interpreted this wonderful event as a sign of the will of the\ngods that Acestes should receive the honors of victory, and so he\npresented to him a goblet embossed in gold, which bad belonged to his\nfather Anchises. But prizes were given to Eurytion also and to the\nother archers. Then followed the last of the games of the day, a grand\nexhibition of horsemanship, in which a number of the Trojan youth,--\nchief amongst them the boy Iulus,--took the leading part.\n\nThus did AEneas pay honor to his father's memory. Meantime the\nunrelenting Juno was devising schemes to prevent the hero and his\ncompanions from reaching their promised land. With this object she\nsent her messenger I'ris down to the Trojan women, who sat together on\nthe shore while the men were assembled at their games, for at these\nexercises females were not allowed to be spectators. As the women sat\non the beach, looking out upon the sea, they thought and talked of the\nhardships they had endured during their long wanderings, and lamented\ntheir wretched lot in having still so much to suffer before they could\nfind permanent homes to settle in.\n\n   \"Alas! (said one) what oceans yet remain\n    For us to sail! what labors to sustain!\"\n    All take the word, and, with a general groan\n    Implore the gods for peace, and places of their own.\n            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK V.\n\nIris joined in these complaints, and they thought she was one of\nthemselves, for she had assumed the appearance and dress of a Trojan,\nand pretended to be Ber'o-e, a Trojan woman who was just then on a\nsick bed in her own chamber. \"Unhappy are we,\" cried the false Beroe;\n\"far better for us would it have been if we had died by the hands of\nthe Greeks before the walls of our native city! What miserable doom\ndoes fortune reserve for us? The seventh year since the destruction of\nTroy has already passed, and yet, after having wandered over so many\nlands and seas, we still pursue an ever-fleeing Italy; and we are\ntossed on the waves. Why should we not settle here in Sicily? Come\nthen and let us burn those cursed ships. For in my sleep the\nprophetess Cassandra seemed to present me with flaming brands and to\nsay, 'Seek here for a new Troy, here is your home.' Therefore let\nthere be no further delay. Now is the time for action.\"\n\nWith these words she seized a brand from a fire on an altar close by,\nand hurled it towards the ships. But at this point one of the women,\nPyr'go by name, who had just then joined the party, discovered that it\nwas not Beroe who had been speaking, for she recognized in the eyes\nand voice and gait, the resemblance of a goddess.\n\n   \"No Beroe, matrons, have you here,\n    See, breathing in her face appear\n        Signs of celestial life;\n    Observe her eyes, how bright they shine;\n    Mien, accent, walk are all divine.\n    Beroe herself I left but now\n    Sick and outworn, with clouded brow,\n    That she alone should fail to pay\n    Due reverence to Anchises' day.\"\n            CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK V\n\nAs Pyrgo ceased speaking, Iris, assuming her own form, mounted into\nthe sky. Then the Trojan women, astonished at what they had seen, and\nexcited almost to madness, cried out with a loud voice, and, seizing\nbrands from the altars, they rushed to the ships.\n\n    They shriek aloud; they snatch with impious hands\n    The food of altars; firs and flaming brands,\n    Green boughs and saplings, mingled in their haste,\n    And smoking torches, on the ships they cast.\n            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK V.\n\nThe ships were now on fire and the alarm quickly reaching the men,\nthey rushed to the shore and endeavored to subdue the flames, while\nthe women already regretting their folly, fled in terror from the\nscene. But in spite of the efforts of the men the fire rapidly spread,\nand it seemed as if the entire Trojan fleet was doomed to destruction.\nThen the pious AEneas, with upraised hands, prayed to Jupiter for\nhelp, and immediately there came a great rain-storm, and the water\ndescended in torrents, until every spark was extinguished. Four of the\nships, however, were destroyed.\n\nAEneas was much distressed by this misfortune, and he began to think\nthat it might be better, even in disregard of the fates, and the\nprophecies, to remain in Sicily, than to make any further attempt to\nreach the promised Italian land. But one of his people, an old and a\nvery wise man, named Nau'tes, strongly urged that the will of the gods\nought to be obeyed. As to those who were weary of the enterprise--the\naged, the feeble, and such of the women as were not willing to undergo\nfurther fatigues at sea-he advised that they should be left under the\nprotection of Acestes, who, being himself of Trojan blood, would\ndoubtless grant them a settlement in his kingdom.\n\n   \"Your friend Acestes is of Trojan kind;\n    To him disclose the secrets of your mind;\n    Here you may build a common town for all,\n    And, from Acestes' name, Acesta call.\"\n            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK V.\n\nWhile AEneas was still in doubt what course to pursue, his father\nappeared to him in a dream and bade him do as Nautes had advised.\nAcestes willingly consented, and so a Trojan colony was formed in\nSicily, and AEneas marked out with a plow the boundaries of the new\ncity, which he called after the king's name. Soon afterwards\npreparations for departure were made, and AEneas set sail, accompanied\nby all of his people who were still willing to follow his fortunes,\nand strong enough to endure further toils and hardships.\n\nThey had a safe voyage to Italy, for Venus had entreated Neptune to\nprotect her son and his fleet.\n\nThe god of the ocean was favorable, and he promised to take care that\nthe Trojans should reach their destination in safety. But there was to\nbe one exception. \"One life,\" he said, \"shall be given for many.\" The\nvictim was the famous pilot Palinurus, and the poet tells us that his\nfate was brought about by the action of Som'nus, the god of sleep.\n\nThis god taking upon himself the likeness of Phor'bas, one of the sons\nof Priam, who was killed during the Trojan war, appeared to Palinurus\nduring one of the watches of the night, and tried to persuade him to\nlie down and sleep, while he himself would stand at the helm and steer\nthe ship. But Palinurus refused to quit his post. Then the treacherous\ngod waved before his eyes a branch that had been dipped in the Stygian\nLe'the, the fabled river of forgetfulness, and soon the pilot dropped\noff into a deep slumber, during which Somnus leaning heavily upon him,\nplunged him headlong into the waves.\n\nAEneas was deeply grieved at the loss of his faithful pilot. He\nhimself took charge of the ship, and the whole fleet, secure under the\nprotection of Neptune, reached the Italian coast without further\nmishap.\n\n\n\nV. THE SIBYL OF CUMAE--THE GOLDEN BOUGH--IN THE REGIONS OF THE DEAD.\n\nAEneas was now in Italy, but not in the part of it where the destined\ncity was to be founded. The prophet, Helenus, as we have seen, had\ndirected him that when he reached the Hesperian land he should visit\nthe Cu-mae'an Sibyl, and learn from her what difficulties he was yet\nto encounter, and how to overcome them. Cumae, where the Sibyl dwelt,\nwas on the coast of Cam-pa'ni-a, and to this place, therefore, AEneas\ndirected his course after leaving Sicily. Having safely landed, the\nhero lost no time in making his way to the temple of Apollo, for in a\ncave adjoining this temple and communicating with it by a hundred\ndoors and as many avenues or corridors, the Sibyl gave her answers.\n\nThere were many sibyls in ancient times. The most celebrated was the\nSibyl of Cumae. She had several names, but the one adopted by Vergil\nis De-iph'o-be. Apollo once fell in love with this Sibyl and he\npromised to give her whatever she should ask if she would marry him.\nDeiphobe asked to live as many years as she had grains of sand in her\nhand at the time. She forgot, however, to ask for the continuance of\nhealth and youth, of which she was then in possession. Apollo granted\nher request but she refused to perform her part of the bargain, and\nsoon afterwards she became aged and feeble. She had already lived\nseven hundred years when AEneas came into Italy, and she had three\ncenturies more to live before her years would be as numerous as the\ngrains of sand which she had held in her hand.\n\nAs AEneas with several of his companions approached the cave, they\nwere met at the outer entrance by the Sibyl herself. Then the Trojan\nhero, after a prayer to Apollo, begged the good will of the prophetess\nthat her answers might be favorable to him and his people.\n\n   \"And thou, O sacred maid, inspired to see\n    The event of things in dark futurity!\n    Give me, what heaven has promised to my fate,\n    To conquer and command the Latian state;\n    To fix my wandering gods, and find a place\n    For the long exiles of the Trojan race.\"\n            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK VI.\n\nNor did AEneas forget to beg the Sibyl, as Helenus had directed him,\nto give her revelations by word of mouth, and not on leaves of trees,\nas was her custom.\n\n   \"But, oh! commit not thy prophetic mind\n    To flitting leaves, the sport of every wind,\n    Lest they disperse in air our empty fate;\n    Write not, but, what the powers ordain, relate.\"\n            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK VI.\n\nThe Sibyl graciously consented, and then the spirit of prophecy having\nmoved her, she told AEneas of the dangers that yet lay before him,\ndangers far more formidable than any he had hitherto encountered.\n\n   \"Escaped the dangers of the watery reign,\n    Yet more and greater ills by land remain.\n    The coast so long desired (nor doubt the event),\n    Thy troops shall reach, but, having reached, repent.\n    Wars! horrid wars, I view!--a field of blood,\n    And Tiber rolling with a purple flood.\"\n             DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK VI.\n\nBut AEneas was not discouraged by this terrible prophecy. He was\nready, he said, to meet the worst that could come, and now he was\nabout to undertake an enterprise more arduous than any the soothsayers\nhad told him of. This was a descent into the regions of Pluto--the\nland of the dead--to visit the shade of his father, who in a dream had\nrequested him to do so, telling him that the Cumaean Sibyl would be\nhis guide, for the entrance to the Lower World was near Lake\nA-ver'nus, not far from the cave of the prophetess.\n\nAEneas, therefore, entreated the Sibyl to consent to be his conductor\nthat so he might comply with his father's wish. In reply to this\nrequest the prophetess warned the Trojan chief that the undertaking\nwas one of great danger. The descent into the kingdom of Pluto,\nshe said, was easy, but, to return to the upper world--that was a task\ndifficult for mortals to accomplish. Few there were who had entered\nthe gloomy realms of Dis, to whom it had been permitted ever to\nretrace their steps.\n\n   \"The journey down to the abyss\n      Is prosperous and light;\n    The palace-gates of gloomy Dis\n      Stand open day and night;\n    But upward to retrace the way\n    And pass into the light of day,\n    There comes the stress of labor; this\n      May task a hero's might.\"\n            CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK VI.\n\nNevertheless if AEneas were still determined on this perilous journey\nshe was willing to aid him and be his guide. But one thing, she said,\nmust first be done. In the woods around the cave was a tree on which\ngrew a bough with leaves and twigs of gold.\n\nNo mortal could enter Hades without this bough to present to\nPro-ser'pi-na, the queen of Pluto. When the bough was torn off, a\nsecond, also of gold, immediately sprung up. It had to be sought\nfor diligently, and when discovered it had to be grasped firmly with\nthe hand. If the fates should be favorable to the enterprise, the\nbough could be plucked easily; otherwise, the strength of man could\nnot tear it from the tree, nor could it be lopped off even with the\nsharpest sword.\n\nHere was a formidable difficulty. How was AEneas to find out the\nwonderful tree? The Sibyl told him only that it was in the woods, and\nthe searching might be long and fruitless. But again his never-failing\nfriend came to his aid. While he was searching the wood with some of\nhis companions, two doves suddenly appeared, and alighted on the\nground before them. AEneas knew that they had come from his goddess-\nmother, the dove being the favorite bird of Venus.\n\n    He knew his mother's birds; and thus he prayed:\n    \"Be you my guides, with your auspicious aid,\n    And lead my footsteps, till the branch be found,\n    Whose glittering shadow gilds the sacred ground.\"\n            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK VI.\n\nThe branch was soon found, for the doves, fluttering away, yet keeping\nwithin view of AEneas, presently perched upon a tree, and from out the\nfoliage of this tree, as the Trojan chief approached it, there flashed\nupon his eyes the gleam of the golden bough. Eagerly he plucked off\nthe branch, and gladly bore it to the cave of the Sibyl.\n\nThey now set out on their perilous journey. At the mouth of the gloomy\ncavern by the side of Lake Avernus, which was the opening to the road\nthat led to Hades--the kingdom of the dead--they offered sacrifices to\nthe gods. Then they plunged into the cave, the Sibyl going first, and\nAEneas following with sword drawn, as his guide had directed. Many\nstrange and terrible sights they saw on the way.\n\n        Full in the midst an aged elm\n    Broods darkly o'er the shadowy realm;\n    There dream-land phantoms rest the wing,\n    Men say, and 'neath its foliage cling,\n    And many monstrous shapes beside.\n    There Centaurs, Scyllas, fish and maid,\n    There Briareus' hundred-handed shade.\n          CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK VI.\n\nAEneas was about to rush on these monsters with his sword, when the\nSibyl informed him that they were no real beings but merely phantoms.\nThen they came to the Styx--the river of Hades, over which the\nferryman Cha'ron, grim and long-bearded, conveyed the departed\nspirits, in his iron-colored boat, using a pole to steer with.\n\n    The watery passage Charon keeps\n    Sole warden of these murky deeps.\n            CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK VI.\n\nNo living being was permitted to enter Charon's boat, or to cross the\nStygian river without the passport of the golden bough. This could be\nobtained only by special favor of some powerful god, and few had been\nso favored. Even the dead, if their bodies had not received burial\nrites, were refused admission to the boat, until they had wandered on\nthe shore for a hundred years. So the Sibyl told AEneas when he\ninquired why some were ferried over, while others were driven back,\nlamenting that they were not allowed to pass to their destined abode.\n\n   \"The ghosts rejected are the unhappy crew\n    Deprived of sepulchres and funeral due;\n    The boatman, Charon; those, the buried host,\n    He ferries over to the further coast;\n    Nor dares his transport vessel cross the waves\n    With such whose bones are not composed in graves.\n    A hundred years they wander on the shore;\n    At length, their penance done, are wafted o'er.\"\n            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK VI.\n\nOne of these unhappy spirits AEneas recognised as that of his pilot\nPalinurus, who told the hero that he had not been drowned, or plunged\ninto the sea by a god, for he did not know of the treachery of Somnus.\nHe had fallen overboard, he said, and kept afloat for three days,\nclinging to the helm, which he had dragged away with him. On the\nfourth day he had swam ashore on the Italian coast, and would have\nbeen out of danger, had not the cruel natives there fallen upon him\nwith their swords. His body he said was now tossing about in the\nwaters of the harbor of Ve'li-a, and he begged AEneas to seek it out\nand give it burial, or, if this was impossible, to devise some means\nof helping him across the Stygian river. This latter proposal the\nSibyl forbade as impious, saying that the decrees of the gods could\nnot be thus altered. But she consoled Palinurus by predicting that the\npeople of Velia should be punished by plagues from heaven until they\nerected a tomb to his memory, and that the place should forever bear\nhis name. The modern name of the place is _Capo di Palinuro_--Cape of\nPalinurus.\n\n[Illustration with caption: AENEAS CROSSING THE STYX. (Drawn by\nVarian.)]\n\nAEneas and his guide now approached the river. Charon at once seeing\nthat they were mortal beings, roughly ordered them to advance no\nfurther.\n\n   \"Mortal, whate'er, who this forbidden path\n    In arms presum'st to tread! I charge thee, stand,\n    And tell thy name, and business in the land!\n    Know, this the realm of night--the Stygian shore;\n    My boat conveys no living bodies o'er.\"\n            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK VI.\n\nThe Sibyl answered that her companion was the Trojan AEneas,\nillustrious for piety and valor, who desired to go down to the shades\nto see and converse with his father Anchises. Then from underneath\nher robe she produced the golden bough.\n\n    No more was needful; for the gloomy god\n    Stood mute with awe, to see the golden rod;\n    Admired the destined offering to his queen--\n    A venerable gift, so rarely seen.\n            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK VI.\n\nThe two mortals were now received into the boat and soon ferried\nsafely to the other side. There they saw the three-headed watchdog\nCer'be-rus, who made the dreary region resound with his frightful\nbarking. The Sibyl flung him a cake composed of honey and drugged\ngrain, which he greedily swallowed. Then the monster fell into a deep\nsleep. The passage being thus free, they proceeded on their way. Soon\nthey came to the place where the judge Mi'nos sat, examining into the\nlives and crimes of departed mortals.\n\n    Minos, the strict inquisitor, appears;\n    And lives and crimes, with his assessors, hears.\n    Round, in his urn, the blended balls he rolls,\n    Absolves the just, and dooms the guilty souls.\n            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK VI.\n\nIn one of the outer regions of the shadowy world he had now entered, a\nregion which the poet calls the \"Mourning Fields,\" AEneas beheld the\nshade of the unhappy Carthaginian queen.\n\n    Whom when the Trojan hero hardly knew,\n    Obscure in shades, and with a doubtful view,\n    With tears he first approached the sullen shade;\n    And as his love inspired him, thus he said:\n    \"Unhappy queen! then is the common breath\n    Of rumor true, in your reported death,\n    And I, alas! the cause?--By Heaven, I vow,\n    And all the powers that rule the realms below,\n    Unwilling I forsook your friendly state,\n    Commanded by the gods, and forced by Fate.\"\n            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK VI.\n\nBut the mournful shade made no answer to the Trojan hero's vows and\nregrets.\n\n    Disdainfully she looked; then turning round,\n    She fixed her eyes unmoved upon the ground;\n    And, what he says and swears, regards no more\n    Than the deaf rocks, when the loud billows roar:\n    But whirled away, to shun his hateful sight,\n    Hid in the forest, and the shades of night:\n    Then sought Sichaeus through the shady grove,\n    Who answered all her cares, and equalled all her love.\n            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK VI.\n\nThey next came to the Field of Heroes, where AEneas saw the shades of\nmany of his brave comrades of the Trojan war. The ghosts crowded round\nhim, standing on the right hand and on the left. Nor were they\nsatisfied with seeing him once. They wished to detain him a long time,\nto talk with him and learn the cause of his strange visit. But the\nSibyl warned him that they must hasten forward, and presently they\ncame to a place where the path divided itself into two. The right led\nby the walls of Pluto's palace to the happy Field of E-lys'ium, the\nland of the blessed. The left path led to Tar'ta-rus, the abode of the\nwicked. At this place AEneas saw a vast prison, inclosed by a triple\nwall, around which flowed the Phleg'e-thon, a river of fire. In front\nof it was a huge gate of solid adamant.\n\n    There rolls swift Plegethon, with thund'ring sound,\n    His broken rocks, and whirls his surges round.\n    On mighty columns rais'd sublime are hung\n    The massy gates impenetrably strong.\n    In vain would men, in vain would gods essay,\n    To hew the beams of adamant away.\n           PITT, _AEneid_, BOOK VI.\n\nDeep groans and the grating of iron and the clanking of chains were\nheard from out these walls. None except the lost souls the Sibyl said,\nwere allowed to pass the threshold of Tartarus, and the punishments\nthere, and the crimes for which the wicked suffered, were such that\nshe could not tell them though she had a hundred tongues.\n\n   \"Had I a hundred mouths, a hundred tongues,\n    And throats of brass, inspired with iron lungs,\n    I could not half those horrid crimes repeat,\n    Nor half the punishment those crimes have met.\"\n            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK VI.\n\nSome were punished by being tied to perpetually revolving wheels of\nfire. This was the fate of a king named Ix-i'on. Others, like the\nrobber Sis'y-phus, were condemned to roll huge stones up a hill, and\njust on reaching the summit, the stones would slip from their grasp\nand roll to the foot of the hill, and the unhappy beings had to roll\nthem up again, and so on forever. Others were tortured like\nPi-rith'o-us, who stood under a great hanging rock, which threatened\nevery moment to tumble down upon him, keeping him in constant terror.\n\nThe Sibyl told AEneas of these and many other punishments appointed by\nthe gods for bad men. Then they hastened to Pluto's palace, and the\nhero fixed the golden bough on the door, after which, proceeding on\ntheir way, they soon came to the Elysian Fields--the abode of those\nwho while on earth had led good and useful lives. Here were delightful\ngreen fields and shady groves; the sky was bright, the air pure and\nbalmy. The happy spirits were engaged in sports, such as had been\ntheir pleasure when in the world above. Some were wrestling on the\ngrassy plain, others exercising with spear and bow, others singing and\ndancing.\n\n    Their airy limbs in sports they exercise,\n    And, on the green, contend the wrestler's prize.\n    Some, in heroic verse, divinely sing;\n    Others in artful measures lead the ring.\n            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK VI.\n\nOn the bank of a beautiful river--the E-rid'a-nus--flowing over sands\nof gold, was a band of spirits whose heads were crowned with white\ngarlands. These were the spirits of patriots who had fought for\ntheir country, poets who had sung the praises of the gods, and men who\nhad improved life by the invention of useful arts. In this band was\nMu-sae'us, the most ancient of poets. Approaching him the Sibyl\ninquired where Anchises might be found. \"None of us here,\" answered\nMusaeus, \"has a fixed abode. We dwell in shady groves, or lie on the\nbanks of crystal streams. But come over this eminence and I will\ndirect you to him you seek.\"\n\nMusaeus then led them to a spot from which they could view the bright\nElysian fields around, and pointed to a green dale where at last they\nbeheld Anchises. The hero hastened to approach his father, eager to\nembrace him, and thrice did he attempt to throw his arms about his\nneck, but thrice did the form escape his hold, for it was nothing but\nthin air.\n\n    Thrice, around his neck, his arms he threw\n    And thrice the flitting shadow slipped away,\n    Like winds, or empty dreams, that fly the day.\n            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK VI.\n\nAnchises told his son much about the dwellers in Elysium. On the banks\nof the river Lethe--the river of forgetfulness--was a countless\nmultitude of spirits which, he said, were yet to live in earthly\nbodies. They were the souls of unborn generations of men. Amongst\nthem, he pointed out to AEneas, the spirits of many of those who were\nto be his own descendants in the kingdom he was to establish in Italy.\n\n            The father-spirit leads\n    The priestess and his son through swarms of shades,\n    And takes a rising ground, from thence to see\n    The long procession of his progeny.\n            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK VI.\n\nFrom this rising ground AEneas saw the shadowy forms of future heroes\nof Rome--of Rom'u-lus, who was to found the city--of Brutus, Ca-mil'lus,\nFa'bi-us, and of the mighty Caesars.\n\n   \"Lo! Caesar there and all his seed,\n    Iulus' progeny decreed\n        To pass 'neath heaven's high dome.\n    This, this is he, so oft the theme\n    Of your prophetic fancy's dream,\n        Augustus Caesar, Jove's own strain.\"\n            CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK VI.\n\nAnchises next told AEneas of the wars he should have to wage, and\ninstructed him how to avoid or overcome every difficulty. Then he\nconducted his visitors to the gates of Sleep, through which the gods\nof Hades sent dreams to the upper world--true dreams through the gate\nof horn, and false dreams through the gate of ivory. Here Anchises\nleft them. Then departing by the ivory gate from the kingdom of the\ndead, they returned to the Cumaean cave, and AEneas forthwith\nproceeded to his ships.\n\n    Sleep gives his name to portals twain;\n       One all of horn, they say,\n    Through which authentic spectres gain\n        Quick exit into day,\n    And one which bright with ivory gleams,\n    Whence Pluto sends delusive dreams.\n    Conversing still, the sire attends\n        The travellers on their road,\n    And through the ivory portal sends\n        From forth the unseen abode.\n    The chief betakes him to the fleet,\n    Well pleased again his crew to meet.\n            CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK VI.\n\n\n\nVI. AENEAS ARRIVES IN LATIUM--WELCOMED BY KING LATINUS.\n\nThe object of his visit to the Sibyl being accomplished, the Trojan\nchief set sail and steered along the coast in the direction of the\npromised land. But soon again he had occasion to put ashore. His\nnurse, Ca-i-e'ta, having died shortly after the departure of the fleet\nfrom Cumae, he desired to give funeral honors to her remains. This\nduty performed, he named the place (modern Gaeta) in memory of his\nfaithful and attached old servant.\n\n    And thou, O matron of immortal fame!\n    Here dying, to the shore hast left thy name;\n    Gaieta still the place is called from thee,\n    The nurse of great AEneas' infancy.\n    Here rest thy bones in rich Hesperia's plains;\n    Thy name ('tis all a ghost can have) remains.\n            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK VII.\n\nAgain resuming their voyage they came near an island where dwelt the\nsorceress, Cir'ce, who by her enchantments changed men into beasts. As\nthey passed the island the Trojans heard with horror the roaring of\nlions and the howling of wolves, once human beings, but transformed by\nthe cruel goddess into the shape of those savage animals. Aided,\nhowever, by favorable winds sent by the friendly Neptune, they sped\naway from this dangerous spot, and soon they were near the end of\ntheir wanderings. At the dawn of next morning they beheld a spacious\ngrove, through which a pleasant river, tinted with the hue of the\nyellow sand, burst forth into the sea. This was the Tiber on whose\nbanks in the distant future was to be founded the city in which the\ndescendants of the Trojan prince should hold imperial sway. AEneas,\nthough not aware that he was so close to the destined spot, commanded\nhis pilots to turn the ships towards the land, and joyfully they\nentered the river. All around, the Trojan chief, as he gazed upon\nthe scene, could hear the sweet music of the groves.\n\n    Embowered amid the silvan scene\n    Old Tiber winds his banks between,\n    Around, gay birds of diverse wing,\n    Accustomed there to fly or sing,\n    Were fluttering on from spray to spray\n    And soothing ether with their lay.\n            CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK VII.\n\nThe country in which the Trojans had now landed was called Latium, and\nLa-ti'nus was its king. Like most great kings of ancient times, he was\ndescended from a god. His father, Faunus, was the grandson of Saturn,\nthe predecessor and father of Jupiter.\n\nLatinus was advanced in years, and he had no male heir, but he had an\nonly daughter, young and beautiful, whose name was La-vin'i-a. Many of\nthe princes of the neighboring states eagerly sought Lavinia's hand in\nmarriage. Chief amongst them was Turnus, king of the Ru'tu-li, a brave\nand handsome youth. Lavinia's mother, Queen A-ma'ta, favored the suit\nof Turnus, and desired to have him as her son-in-law.\n\nBut the gods had not willed it so, and they sent signs from heaven--\nsigns of their disapproval of the proposed union. In the inner court\nof the palace of Latinus stood a laurel tree which had been preserved\nfor many years with great reverence. From this tree, it was said,\nLatinus had given the name Lau-ren'tines to the inhabitants of the\ncountry. Just about the time the Trojan fleet was entering the Tiber\nan immense number of bees were seen to cluster on the top of the\nlaurel tree, and soon linking together, feet to feet, they swung in a\nstrange manner from one of the boughs. The king's soothsayer explained\nthis to mean that a foreign hero was then coming into the country, and\nthat he would one day be its ruler.\n\nAbout the same time, while the princess Lavinia was bringing fire to\nan altar where her father stood preparing to offer sacrifice, the\nflame seemed to catch her flowing hair, and to envelop her whole body\nin its glowing light, without, however, inflicting the slightest\ninjury. The soothsayer declared that this was a sign that Lavinia\nwould be great and famous, but that through her war should come on the\npeople.\n\n   \"The nymph who scatters flaming fires around,\n    Shall shine with honor, shall herself be crowned;\n    But, caused by her irrevocable fate,\n    War shall the country waste, and change the state.\"\n            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK VII.\n\nThe king was much troubled by these events and so he went into the\nwood, to the tomb of his father, Faunus, by whom answers were given in\ndreams to those who, having offered sacrifices, lay down and slept\nunder the trees. Latinus, after performing the necessary ceremonies,\nsoon heard the voice of his father warning him not to give his\ndaughter in marriage to any prince of his own country. \"A foreigner,\"\nsaid he, \"is coming who shall be your son-in-law, and his descendants\nshall exalt our name to the stars. From his race, united with ours,\nshall spring mighty men, who shall conquer and rule the world to its\nfarthest limits.\"\n\nKing Latinus did not conceal his dream. On the contrary he proclaimed\nit aloud to his people. And so the news of the arrival of the\nstrangers with their ships came not as a surprise to the inhabitants\nof Latium.\n\nMeanwhile the Trojans having landed upon the Latian coast, Aeneas and\nseveral of his chiefs, accompanied by his son Iulus, sat down under a\ntall tree to refresh themselves with food and drink. They had cakes of\nwheat, the last of their store, spread upon the grass, and upon these\ncakes they placed wild fruits which they had gathered in the woods.\nWhen they had eaten the fruit, they proceeded to eat the cakes, upon\nwhich Iulus exclaimed, \"What, are we eating our tables too?\" The boy\nhad no thought of the meaning of what they had been doing. But Aeneas\njoyfully recognized it as the fulfillment of the threatening prophecy\nof the Harpy Celaena. The cakes were the tables, and the Trojans had\nnow eaten them without harm.\n\nThen Aeneas spoke encouraging words to his companions. \"Hail, O land,\ndestined to us by the Fates! This is our home; this is our country.\nFor my father too (as I now remember), told me in Elysium these same\nsecrets, saying: 'When hunger shall compel you, my son, wafted to an\nunknown shore, to eat up your tables, your provisions having failed,\nthen you may hope for a settlement after your toils, and in that place\nyou may found your first city.' Here was that famine of which he\nspoke. Our calamities are now at an end. Let us, then, with the first\nlight of to-morrow's sun, explore this country, ascertain who are its\ninhabitants, and where their cities are.\"\n\nNext day, when Aeneas learned what country he was in, and the name of\nits king, he sent ambassadors--a hundred of his chiefs--to wait on\nLatinus and beg his friendship and assistance, furnishing them with\ncostly gifts for the king. The chiefs hastened on their mission to\nLatinus, and Aeneas meanwhile began to mark out the boundaries of a\nnew city.\n\nWhen the Trojan ambassadors reached Lau-ren-tum, the capital of\nLatium, they were admitted to the royal palace and brought into the\npresence of the king, who was seated on his throne--a magnificent\nstructure raised aloft on a hundred columns, around which were\nnumerous statues of the king's ancestors, carved in cedar wood.\nLatinus, after civilly greeting the strangers, bade them say for\nwhat purpose they had come to Italy; whether they had landed in his\ncountry because of having missed their course at sea, or through\nstress of weather. He added that whatever was the object of their\ncoming, they should receive kind treatment from him and his people.\n\nTo these friendly words Ilioneus, speaking for the Trojans, replied\nthat it was no storm that sent them to Italy. \"Willingly and with\ndesign,\" said he, \"have we come to your shores, O king, after having\nbeen expelled from a kingdom once the most powerful under the sun. Our\nrace is derived from Jupiter himself, and our chief, Aeneas, descended\nfrom the gods, has sent us to your court. All the world has heard of\nthe destruction of our city, Troy. Driven by misfortunes over many\nseas, we beg for a settlement in your country. Dardanus, our ancestor,\nwas born in this land, and now his descendants, directed by the gods,\ncome to the home of their father.\" They then presented to the king the\ncostly gifts which Aeneas had sent.\n\n        \"Our prince presents with his request,\n    Some small remains of what his sire possessed;\n    This golden charger, snatched from burning Troy,\n    Anchises did in sacrifice employ;\n    This royal robe and this tiara wore\n    Old Priam, and this golden sceptre bore\n    In full assemblies, and in solemn games;\n    These purple vests were weaved by Dardan dames.\"\n            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK VII.\n\nAfter Ilioneus had ceased speaking, the king was silent for some time,\npondering on the words of his father which he had heard in the dream.\nAeneas, he thought, must be the foreigner, destined to be his son-in-\nlaw, whose descendants should rule the world. Then he addressed the\nTrojans, saying that what they asked should gladly be given, and\nrequesting them to tell their chief, Aeneas, to visit him. \"Bear this\nmessage too,\" said he, \"from me to your king. I have a daughter whom\nthe gods do not permit me to give in marriage to any of our own\nnation. There is a prediction that my son-in-law shall be a stranger,\nand that his race shall exalt our name to the stars. I judge that your\nchief is the man thus destined by the fates, and this too is my own\nwish.\"\n\nThen Latinus gave valuable presents to the Trojans--to each a steed\nfrom the royal stables, with rich purple trappings. To Aeneas himself\nhe sent a chariot and a pair of horses of the breed which the\nsorceress, Circe, had obtained from the sun-god, her father. With\nthese presents, the Trojan ambassadors, mounted on their splendid\nsteeds, returned to their chief, and joyfully informed him of the\nking's message and invitation.\n\nBut this friendship shown to the Trojans by King Latinus was not at\nall agreeable to Juno. On the contrary that unforgiving goddess was\nfilled with grief and anger when she saw Aeneas and his people\nengaged in building their city and settling themselves in their new\nhome, and so she resolved to stir up strife between the Trojans and\nLatinus. With this object she called to her aid A-lec'to, one of the\nthree terrible sisters called Furies. These were evil deities whose\nusual occupation was to scourge and torment condemned souls in the\nkingdom of Pluto, and drive them to the gates of Tartarus. They\nsometimes also caused trouble in the upper world, by exciting\ndissensions and bringing about wars. This was the service which\nJuno now required, and so, addressing Alecto she requested her to stir\nup discord between the people of Latium and the followers of Aeneas.\n\n   \"'Tis thine to ruin realms, o'erturn a state,\n    Betwixt the dearest friends to raise debate,\n    And kindle kindred blood to mutual hate.\n    Thy hand o'er towns the funeral torch displays,\n    And forms a thousand ills ten thousand ways.\n    Now, shake from out thy frightful breast, the seeds\n    Of envy, discord, and of cruel deeds;\n    Confound the peace established, and prepare\n    Their souls to hatred, and their hands to war.\"\n            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK VII.\n\nAlecto, glad to be thus employed, hastened to the palace of Latinus,\nand sought out Queen Amata, who, as has already been said, desired to\nhave Turnus for her son-in-law. The Furies were hideous beings in\nappearance, for instead of hair they had serpents coiled around their\nheads. Alecto unseen by Amata, shook her terrible locks, upon which\none of the reptiles darted into the dress of the queen; and, gliding\nunfelt around her body, infused into her heart a violent hatred of the\nTrojans.\n\n    Unseen, unfelt, the fiery serpent skims,\n    His baneful breath inspiring as he glides;\n    Now like a chain around her neck he rides;\n    Now like a fillet to her head repairs,\n    And with his circling volumes folds her hairs.\n    At first the silent venom slid with ease,\n    And seized her cooler senses by degrees.\n            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK VII.\n\nAmata now endeavored to turn the mind of Latinus against the proposed\nmarriage, but he was not to be moved from his purpose of forming an\nalliance with the Trojans. Then the queen filled with anger rushed out\nof the palace, as if in a frenzy, and hastening through the city\ncalled upon the women of Latium to espouse her cause and the cause of\ntheir country. She also carried off her daughter, and concealed her in\nthe mountains, to prevent her marriage with the hated Trojan.\n\nHaving thus kindled discord in the family of Latinus, Alecto next\nproceeded to Ar'de-a the Rutulian capital. Here she assumed the form\nof Cal'y-be, an aged priestess of Juno's temple, and appearing to King\nTurnus in a dream as he lay asleep in his palace, urged him to take up\narms against Latinus and the strangers. Turnus was not yet disposed to\ntake this course, and so he replied to the seeming priestess, that her\nduty was to guard the statues and temples of the gods, and he advised\nher to leave to men the management of affairs of peace and war.\nEnraged by the words of Turnus Alecto now resumed her Fury's form.\n\n    Her eyes grow stiffened, and with sulphur burn;\n    Her hideous looks, and hellish form return;\n    Her curling snakes with hissings fill the place,\n    And open all the furies of her face;\n    Then, darting fire from her malignant eyes,\n    She cast him backward as he strove to rise.\n            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK VII.\n\nThen crying out that she came from the abode of the dire sisters, and\nthat wars and death were in her hands, she flung a fire-brand at the\nking, and disappeared. Turnus started from his sleep, in terror, and\nnow his breast was filled with eager desire for war. Immediately he\nsent orders amongst his chiefs to prepare to defend Italy and expel\nthe foreigners, declaring that he and his people were a match for\nTrojans and Latins combined.\n\nMeanwhile Alecto, her mission of discord not yet completed, appeared\namong a band of Trojan youths who with Iulus at their head were\namusing themselves by hunting in the forest. The Fury hurled a fire-\nbrand at the hounds, and suddenly, as if seized with madness, they\nrushed in pursuit of a beautiful young stag which was sporting among\nthe trees. This stag was a pet of Syl'vi-a, the daughter of Tyr'rheus,\none of the herdsmen of King Latinus. Iulus seeing the hounds in\npursuit, followed them, and shot at and wounded the stag. The animal\nfled to the house of Tyrrheus, where Sylvia, seeing her pet covered\nwith blood, broke out into loud lamentations. Her father in a fit of\nanger seized a weapon, and joined by some of his friends rushed upon\nIulus and his companions. The alarm quickly reaching the camp of the\nTrojans several of them hastened to assist their countrymen, and a\nfierce battle ensued, in which many of the Latians or Latins were\nkilled. Thus the evil project of Juno was accomplished.\n\n    Then Juno thus: \"The grateful work is done,\n    The seeds of discord sowed, the war begun;\n    Frauds, fears and fury, have possessed the state,\n    And fixed the causes of a lasting hate.\"\n            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK VII.\n\nAnd now the Latian youth, chiefly shepherds, who had taken part with\nTyrrheus, rushed from the field of battle into the city, carrying with\nthem the bodies of their friends who had been slain, and crying to the\ngods and to King Latinus for vengeance upon the Trojans. Just then\nKing Turnus appeared with a force of his Rutulians, and addressed the\npeople in words which excited them to the highest pitch of fury. He\ntold them that foreigners had been invited to rule in their country,\nand that the chief of the intruders was to have the princess who had\nbeen promised to him to be his wife.\n\nThen a great multitude of Latians and Rutulians hastened to the palace\nof King Latinus, and demanded that he should at once declare war\nagainst the Trojans. Latinus refused to do what he knew was against\nthe decrees of the gods, and he warned the people that evil would come\nupon them if they persevered in their mad opposition to the will of\nheaven. He also warned Turnus that he would be punished for inciting\nsuch a war, and that he should one day seek the aid of the gods, and\nseek it in vain. As for himself, he said, he was an old man. Their\nfolly could deprive him only of a happy ending of a life which could\nnot be much further prolonged. He then retired to his palace, and gave\nup the reins of government, leaving the people to pursue their own\ncourse.\n\n    He said no more, but, in his walls confined,\n    Shut out the woes which he too well divined;\n    Nor with the rising storm would vainly strive,\n    But left the helm, and let the vessel drive.\n            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK VII.\n\nIn spite of the warning of their king, the Latians now resolved upon\nwar against the Trojans and they demanded that the gates of the temple\nof Janus should be thrown open. Janus was the most ancient king who\nreigned in Italy. When he died he was worshipped as a god, and a\nmagnificent temple was erected in his honor. The gates of this temple\nwere always open in times of war and shut in times of peace. They were\nopened by the king, and in later ages, when Rome was a republic, the\npresident or consul performed the ceremony dressed in robes of purple\nand attended by multitudes of citizens and soldiers, with the blaring\nof trumpets.\n\n    Two gates of steel (the name of Mars they bear,\n    And still are worshipped with religious fear)\n    Before his temple stand; the dire abode,\n    And the feared issues of the furious god,\n    Then, when the sacred senate votes the wars,\n    The Roman consul their decree declares,\n    And in his robes the sounding gates unbars.\n    The youth in military shouts arise,\n    And the loud trumpets break the yielding skies.\n            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK Vii.\n\nThe Latians now requested their king to unlock the gates of the temple\nof Janus in accordance with the ancient custom. Latinus refused saying\nthat to do so would be a defiance of the gods. But the goddess Juno,\nresolved that there should be no peace, descended from the skies, and\nwith her own hands pushed back the bolts of brass, and flung wide open\nthe gates. Then the cry of war went forth throughout the land and\neverywhere men began to prepare for the conflict, giving up their work\nin the fields to get ready their spears and shields and battle-axes.\nSoon a vast number of warriors was marshalled under King Turnus to\ndrive the Trojans out of Italy. Vergil gives a long list of the famous\nchiefs who assembled on this occasion.\n\nFirst came Me-zen'ti-us, an Etrurian king, fierce in war, but\na despiser of the gods. His own people had expelled him from their\ncountry, for his cruelty, and he had taken refuge with King Turnus.\nHis son Lausus also came to the war with a thousand men from the\nEtrurian city of A-gyl'la. Next came the brave Av-en-ti'nus, son of\nthe renowned hero, Her'cu-les, who performed those marvelous feats, of\nwhich we read with wonder in the ancient legends. Aventinus was a\nwarrior of terrible appearance, his body covered with the shaggy hide\nof an enormous lion, the white tusks displayed above his head.\n\nKing Caec'u-lus, son of the god Vulcan, came from the city of\nPrae-nes'te with an army who fought with slings, wore helmets\nof wolf-skins, and marched with one foot naked.\n\n    Nor arms they wear, nor swords and bucklers wield,\n    Nor drive the chariot through the dusty field;\n    But whirl from leathern slings huge balls of lead;\n    And spoils of yellow wolves adorn their head;\n    The left foot naked, when they march to fight;\n    But in a bull's raw hide they sheath the right.\n            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK VII.\n\nFrom the mountains of Etruria came the gallant horseman, Mes-sa'pus,\nNeptune's son, \"whom none had power to prostrate by fire or steel.\"\nThe mighty King Clausus led to the field a great host from the country\nof the Sabines, and an army of the Qui-ri'tes from the town of Cu'res.\nThis name, Quirites was in later ages one of the names by which the\ncitizens of Rome were called. Another of the warriors was Umbro, chief\nof the Maru'vi-i, who could charm serpents and heal wounds inflicted\nby their bites.\n\n[Illustration with caption: CAMILLA. (Drawn by Varian.)]\n\nAll these and many more of the princes of Italy, assembled with their\narmies at the call of Turnus. Greatest amongst them was Turnus\nhimself, tallest by a head, and clad in armor brilliant with\nembroidered gold. There was one female warrior amongst his allies.\nThis was Ca-mil'la, the queen of the Volscians. She was the daughter\nof King Met'a-bus, who, like Mezentius, had been driven from his\nkingdom by his own people, because he was a cruel tyrant. In his\nflight, for the enraged people pursued him to take his life, he\ncarried with him his infant daughter Camilla. Coming to the bank of a\nriver and still pursued by his enemies, he bound the child fast to his\njavelin, and holding the weapon in his hands, he prayed to Di-a'na,\ngoddess of hunters and hunting, and dedicated his daughter to her\nsaying, \"To thee, goddess of the woods, I devote this child to be thy\nhandmaid, and committing her to the wind, I implore thee to receive\nher as thine own.\" Then he hurled the spear across the river, and\nplunging into the water swam to the other side, where he found the\njavelin fixed in the bank, and the infant uninjured.\n\nAfter this achievement Metabus retired to the mountains, where he led\nthe life of a shepherd. As soon as the child was able to hold a weapon\nin her hand, he trained her to the use of javelins and arrows and she\ngrew up to be a brave and skillful warrior. In course of time she\nreturned to the kingdom from which her father had been expelled, and\nbecame celebrated as a runner of wondrous speed.\n\n\n\n\nVII. ALLIANCE WITH EVANDER--VULCAN MAKES ARMS FOR AENEAS--THE FAMOUS\nSHIELD.\n\n\nMeanwhile AEneas was considering how to defend himself and his people\nagainst the enemy who was thus marshalling such mighty forces against\nhim. He thought of many plans without being able to decide upon any.\n\n    This way, and that, he turns his anxious mind;\n    Thinks, and rejects the counsels he designed;\n    Explores himself in vain in every part,\n    And gives no rest to his distracted heart\n            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK VIII.\n\nBut fortune again favored the pious chief. In a dream the river god,\nTib-e-ri'nus, arrayed in garb of green, with a crown of reeds upon his\nhead (old Father Tiber himself, the guardian genius of Rome in later\nages) appeared to him, and told him where to seek help. He repeated\nthe prophecy of Helenus, about the sow with her litter of thirty\nyoung, and he directed AEneas to repair to Pal-lan-te'um, a city\nfurther up the river, whose king, E-van'der, being frequently at war\nwith the Latians, would gladly join the Trojans. The good father\npromised that he himself would conduct the Trojans along his banks,\nand bear them safely on his waters until they reached the Kingdom of\nEvander.\n\n    \"To thy free passage I submit my streams.\n    Wake, son of Venus, from thy pleasing dreams!\n    And when the setting stars are lost in day,\n    To Juno's power thy just devotion pay;\n    With sacrifice the wrathful queen appease;\n    Her pride at length shall fall, her fury cease.\n    When thou return'st victorious from the war,\n    Perform thy vows to me with grateful care.\n    The god am I, whose yellow water flows\n    Around these fields, and fattens as it goes;\n    Tiber my name--among the rolling floods\n    Renowned on earth, esteemed among the gods.\"\n            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK VIII.\n\nOld Father Tiber then plunged into the middle of the river, and\ndisappeared from the hero's view. When AEneas awoke he immediately\nprepared for his journey, selecting two ships from his fleet and\nfurnishing them with men and arms. As he was about to depart, the\nprophecy only just repeated by the river god was fulfilled before his\neyes; for on the bank where he stood, a white sow suddenly appeared\nwith a litter of thirty young ones.\n\n    When lo! a sudden prodigy;\n      A milk-white sow is seen\n    Stretched with her young ones, white as she,\n      Along the margent green.\n    AEneas takes them, dam and brood,\n    And o'er the altars pours their blood,\n    To thee, great Juno, e'en to thee,\n      High heaven's majestic queen.\n            CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK VIII.\n\nAEneas then started on his voyage, Father Tiber making the passage\neasy by calming his turbid river so that its surface was as smooth as\na peaceful lake. At noon next day the Trojans came in sight of\nPallanteum, and soon afterwards they turned their ships toward the\nland, and approached the city. Just then King Evander, accompanied by\nhis son Pallas and many of his chiefs, was offering a sacrifice to\nHercules in a grove outside the city walls. Alarmed at the sudden\nappearance of the vessels, they made a movement as if to depart in\nhaste from their altars. But Pallas forbade them to interrupt the\nsacred rites, and advancing to meet the strangers, he addressed\nthem from a rising ground, asking who they were, and for what purpose\nthey had come. AEneas, speaking from the deck of one of his ships, and\nholding in his hand an olive branch, the emblem of peace, replied,\nsaying, \"You see before you sons of Troy, and enemies of the Latians,\nwho have declared war against us. We seek King Evander. Bear him\nthese tidings, and say to him that we have come asking for his\nalliance in arms.\"\n\nAstonished at hearing that the visitors were the illustrious Trojans\nwhose fame had already spread throughout the world, Pallas invited\nthem to land and come as guests to his father's house. AEneas gladly\naccepted the invitation, and the young prince conducted them to the\ngrove, and introduced them to King Evander. This Evander was by birth\na Greek. He had come from the Grecian province of Ar-ca'di-a, and the\ncity he founded in Italy he called after the name of his native\nArcadian city of Pallanteum. AEneas, however, had no fear that\nEvander, though a Greek, would be an enemy of his, for they were both\nof the same blood, being both descended from Atlas, the mighty hero\nwho of old supported the heavens on his shoulders. Mercury, the father\nof Evander, was the son of Ma'i-a, a daughter of Atlas; and Dardanus,\nthe founder of Troy, and ancestor of its kings, was son of E-lec'tra,\nanother daughter of Atlas. AEneas reminded Evander of this\nrelationship and reminded him also that the Rutulians and Latians were\nenemies of Evander and his people, as well as of the Trojans.\n\n\"They are the nation,\" said he, \"which pursue you with cruel war, and\nthey think that if they expel us from the country, nothing can hinder\nthem from reducing all Italy under their yoke. Let us therefore form\nan alliance against this common foe. We Trojans have amongst us men\nstout of heart in battle and experienced in war.\"\n\nWhile the hero was speaking, the king kept his eyes intently fixed\nupon him, for in his face and figure he saw the resemblance of the\ngreat Anchises, whom he had known in past years. Then replying\nto AEneas, he said, \"Great chief of the Trojan race, I gladly receive\nand recognize you. I well recollect the words, the voice, and the\nfeatures of your father, Anchises. For I remember that Priam on his\nway to visit his sister Hesione in Greece, also visited my country,\nArcadia. Many of the Trojan princes accompanied him; but the most\nmajestic of them all was Anchises. Much did I admire him, and I took\nhim with me to our Arcadian city Phe'neus. At his departure he gave me\ncostly presents, a quiver filled with Lycian arrows, a mantle\ninterwoven with gold and two golden bridles.\" Evander concluded by\nconsenting to the proposal of AEneas for an alliance against the\nLatians--\n\n   \"The league you ask, I offer as your right;\n    And when to-morrow's sun reveals the light,\n    With swift supplies you shall be sent away.\"\n            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK VIII.\n\nThe Trojans were now hospitably entertained by King Evander. Seated on\nthe greensward, they partook of a plenteous repast, and when the\nbanquet was over, the king explained to AEneas and his companions the\nmeaning of the religious festivities in which they had been engaged.\nIt was through no vain superstition, he said, that they performed\nthese solemn rites, but to commemorate their deliverance from a\nterrible scourge, and to give honor to their deliverer.\n\nThen Evander related the story of the monster Ca'cus, who in former\ntimes, dwelt in a cave underneath the hill on which Pallanteum was now\nbuilt. He was a giant, of enormous size and hideous to behold, for\nfrom his father Vulcan, the god of fire, he had got the power of\nbreathing smoke and flame through his mouth and nostrils. He was a\nscourge and a terror to the country round, as besides being a robber,\nhe killed and devoured men. But by good fortune the hero Hercules\nhappened to pass that way, driving before him a herd of cattle which\nhe had taken from another cruel monster--the three-bodied giant\nGe'ry-on, whom he had destroyed. As these cattle were grazing by the\nriver, Hercules having lain down on the bank to rest, Cacus stole four\nbulls and four heifers, the finest of the herd. To conceal the theft he\ndragged the animals backwards by the tails into his den, so that their\nfootprints seemed to show that they had gone from the cave instead of\ninto it. This trick had almost succeeded, for Hercules, after\nsearching in vain for the missing animals, was about to resume his\njourney, when a lowing from within the cave reached his ears.\n\n    The oxen at departing fill\n    With noisy utterance grove and hill,\n        And breathe a farewell low;\n    When hark! a heifer from the den\n    Makes answer to the sound again\n       And mocks her wily foe.\n            CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK VIII.\n\nHercules now knowing what had become of his cattle rushed to the top\nof the mount where he had seen the giant, but Cacus fled into his\ncave, and instantly let drop the huge stone which he kept suspended by\niron chains over the entrance. This stone even the mighty Hercules\ncould not move from its place, for it was held fast by great bolts on\nthe inside. But searching around the mount for another entrance, he\nsaw a rock overhanging the river, which formed a back for the cavern.\nExerting his full strength, the hero wrenched this rock from its\nfastenings, and hurled it into the water. In the interior of the den,\nthus laid open, Hercules soon caught sight of the robber, and\ncommenced to assail him with arrows and stones. Then the monster\nbelched forth volumes of smoke and flame, concealing himself in a\ncloud of pitchy vapor. But Hercules now thoroughly enraged, rushed\nfuriously into the den, and seizing Cacus by the throat, choked him to\ndeath. Great was the joy of the people when they heard of the\ndestruction of the monster, and anniversary festivals had been held\nthere ever since in honor of the deliverer.\n\nAfter King Evander had told this story, choirs of young and old men,\nthe priests called Sa'li-i, sang songs about the great deeds of\nHercules; how when a child in his cradle he had strangled the two\nserpents sent by Juno to destroy him, how he had slain the furious\nlion of Nemea, dragged from Pluto's realms the three-headed dog\nCerberus, and performed numerous other difficult and dangerous feats.\n\nEvander and his people now returned to the city, accompanied by their\nTrojan guests. The king walked by the side of AEneas, and told him\nmany things about the traditions of the place, and its early history.\nAt one time, he said, the country had been ruled by Saturn, who,\ndriven from the throne of the heavens by his son Jupiter, had come to\nItaly, and finding on the banks of the river a race of uncivilized\nmen, had formed them into a settled society. He taught them how to\ntill the ground, and introduced laws amongst them, and so peaceful and\nhappy were they under his reign, that it was called the Golden Age.\nOne of the kings long after Saturn's reign was Tiberinus, whose name\nwas given to the river, and who became its guardian god.\n\nThe king then escorted AEneas through the town, pointing out to him\nmany places, destined to be famous in later history, for on that very\nground Romulus built his city, and Pallanteum became the celebrated\nPalatine Mount, one of the seven hills of Rome. When they reached the\nroyal palace, which was not as large or magnificent as palaces often\nare, the king took pride in mentioning that the great Hercules,\nhonored in life, and after death worshipped as a god, had not\ndisdained to accept hospitality under its roof.\n\n    He spoke, and through the narrow door\n      The great AEneas led,\n    And heaped a couch upon the floor\n      With leaves and bear-skin spread.\n                CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK VIII.\n\nWhile the Trojan chief was being entertained by King Evander, his\nmother Venus was much troubled in mind thinking of the danger which\nthreatened her son in his new settlement. She resolved that he should\nhave all the aid in her power to supply, and so she requested Vulcan\nto make him a suit of armor. Vulcan was the god of smiths as well as\nof fire, and Venus thus appealed to him in behalf of her son.\n\n\"While the Greeks were laboring to bring destruction on Troy,\" said\nshe to the fire god, who was also the god of smiths, \"I did not ask\nyour help, knowing that the ruin of the city had been decreed by the\ngods. But now AEneas has settled in Italy by Jupiter's command;\ntherefore, I beg your assistance. What I wish is that you should make\narms and armor for my son. Many nations have combined against him, and\nare sharpening their swords for the destruction of himself and his\npeople.\"\n\nVulcan readily agreed to comply with the request of Venus. Being a god\nhe could make arms and armor against which the power of mortal men\nwould be of no avail. His forges, and furnaces, and anvils were in\nvast caves under one of the Lip'a-re isles and under Mount AEtna, and\nthe giant Cyclops were his workmen.\n\n    Sacred to Vulcan's name, an isle there lay,\n    Betwixt Sicilia's coasts and Lipare,\n    Raised high on smoking rocks; and, deep below,\n    In hollow caves the fires of AEtna glow.\n    The Cyclops here their heavy hammers deal;\n    Loud strokes, and hissing of tormented steel,\n    Are heard around; the boiling waters roar;\n    And smoky flames through fuming tunnels soar.\n                   DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK VIII.\n\nTo these workshops Vulcan forthwith repaired to give orders for the\narms which Venus requested for her son. He found his men industriously\nat work making wonderful things for the gods. Some were forging a\nthunderbolt for Jupiter, the rays or shafts of which were of hail and\nwatery cloud, and glaring fire and the winged wind. Others were making\na war chariot for Mars, and others a shield for Minerva, ornamented\nwith serpent's scales of gold. When Vulcan entered, he bade them lay\naside all those tasks.\n\n      \"My sons! (said Vulcan), set your tasks aside;\n    Your strength and master skill must now be tried.\n    Arms for a hero forge--arms that require\n    Your force, your speed, and all your forming fire.\"\n                    DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK VIII.\n\nInstantly the Cyclops set to work on their new task, and very soon\nrivulets of molten gold and copper and iron were flowing in flaming\nfurnaces. A splendid shield was made, which was a sufficient defense\nin itself against all the weapons of King Turnus. Other things\nnecessary for war were also put in shape, and so the work of forging\narms for the Trojan hero was vigorously prosecuted.\n\nMeantime AEneas himself, after his night's repose in the palace of\nEvander, was talking with the king and his son on the business which\nhad brought him to Pallanteum. The good will of Evander was greater\nthan his means, for his country was small, and on one side of it was\nthe territory of his enemies, the Rutulians. He was not able,\ntherefore, to do much for AEneas, but he knew where ample aid could be\nobtained. \"In the neighboring state of Etruria, and not far from this\nspot,\" said he, \"stands the ancient city of Agylla, founded by a\nnation illustrious in war--Mezentius was recently its king, a cruel\nand wicked man. The people, indignant at his crimes, took up arms\nagainst him and set fire to his palace. He himself fled for protection\nto King Turnus, with whom he now is. The Etrurians therefore have\nresolved to make war upon Turnus, and their ships and men are already\nassembled. You, AEneas, must be the leader of these people, for\na soothsayer has told them that no native of Italy is destined to\nsubdue the Rutulians, and that they must choose a foreigner to be\ntheir commander in the war. They have invited me to lead them, but I\nam too old to undertake such a task. I would have sent them my son,\nbut being born of an Italian mother, he is of the people of this land.\nYou, however, gallant leader of the Trojans, being in the prime of\nlife, and of foreign race, are destined by the gods for this work. My\nson Pallas too shall take part in the expedition, and I will give him\ntwo hundred horsemen, and as many more he shall add in his own name.\"\n\nEvander had scarcely ceased speaking when lightning flashed through\nthe heavens and peals of thunder were heard and sounds as of trumpets\nblaring, and then across the sky were seen arms blazing brilliantly as\nthe sun--arms such as heroes bore in battle, and they clashed with a\nloud resounding noise.\n\n        Gazing up, repeated peals they hear;\n    And, in a heaven serene, refulgent arms appear\n    Reddening the skies, and glittering all around,\n    The tempered metals clash, and yield a silver sound.\n            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK VIII.\n\nAEneas understood this marvelous apparition, and he explained it to\nhis astonished companions as a call to him from heaven. His divine\nmother, he said, had told him that she would send that sign, and that\nshe would bring him arms made by Vulcan. Then he offered the usual\nsacrifices to the gods, after which he went to his ships, and chose\nfrom his followers some to accompany him to Agylla, directing the\nothers to return to the camp at Laurentum, and inform Iulus of the\nprogress of their affairs at Pallanteum. Preparations for departure\nwere now made. Evander gave AEneas horses for himself and his\ncompanions, and when all was ready, the king affectionately embraced\nhis son, and bade him a tender farewell, praying to the gods that\nhe might live to see him come back in safety.\n\nThe Trojan chief and his warriors, among whom were the faithful\nAchates and Pallas at the head of his four hundred horsemen, then set\nforth from the city, amid the acclamations of the people. They soon\ncame within sight of the camp of the Etrurians, who, under the command\nof one of their chiefs named Tarchon, had pitched their tents on a\nwide plain not many miles from Pallanteum.\n\nBut before joining his new allies, AEneas had a meeting with his\ngoddess mother. Down from the clouds she came, beautiful as the sun,\nbearing with her the arms that Vulcan had made, and seeing her son\nalone on the bank of a small stream, in a secluded vale, to which he\nhad retired for a brief rest, she presented herself before him. At his\nfeet she placed the gifts she had promised, telling him that now he\nmight not fear to meet his foes in battle.\n\n       \"Behold! (she said) performed in every part,\n    My promise made, and Vulcan's labored art.\n    Now seek, secure, the Latian enemy.\n    And haughty Turnus to the field defy.\"\n            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK VIII.\n\nBeautiful arms and armor they were, such as could be designed and\nfashioned only by a god--a sword and a spear, and a helmet with a\nblazing crest, and a breastplate of flaming bronze, and greaves of\ngold and electrum. But most wonderful of all was the shield, upon\nwhich were depicted the glories and triumphs in later ages of the\nmighty men of Rome, the descendants of Iulus, for Vulcan, being a god,\nhad the gift of seeing into futurity.\n\n    There, embossed, the heavenly smith had wrought\n    (Not in the rolls of future fate untaught)\n    The wars in order; and the race divine\n    Of warriors issuing from the Julian line.\n            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK VIII.\n\n[Illustration: AENEAS WITH HIS WONDERFUL ARMOR. (Drawn by Varian.)]\n\nVergil's description of this prophetic shield occupies the concluding\nportion of the eighth book of the AEneid. It is a summary of notable\nevents in the history of Rome from the time of Romulus, who founded\nthe city, to the time of the Emperor Augustus. The achievements of\nAugustus are particularly dwelt on, for he was the friend and patron\nof the poet, and Vergil, therefore, gave special prominence to the\npart taken by him in the extension of the great empire. At the famous\nsea-battle of Ac'ti-um (B.C. 31) near the promontory of Leu-ca'te\nin Greece, Augustus, aided by A-grip'pa, defeated the forces of Antony\nand the celebrated Egyptian Queen Cle-o-pa'tra, and this victory made\nhim master of the Roman world. On the shield of AEneas the fight at\nActium was shown on a sea of molten gold, in the midst of which were\nrepresented the fleets of ships with their brazen prows.\n\n    Betwixt the quarters, flows a golden sea;\n    But foaming surges there in silver play.\n    The dancing dolphins with their tails divide\n    The glittering waves, and cut the precious tide.\n    Amid the main, two mighty fleets engage;\n    Their brazen beaks opposed with equal rage,\n    Actium surveys the well-disputed prize;\n    Leucate's watery plain with foamy billows fries.\n    Young Caesar, on the stern in armor bright,\n    Here leads the Romans and their gods to fight;\n    Agrippa seconds him, with prosperous gales,\n    And, with propitious gods, his foes assails.\n    A naval crown, that binds his manly brows,\n    The happy fortune of the fight foreshows.\n            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK VIII.\n\nOn another part of the shield were shown scenes of the Emperor's three\ndays' Triumph in Rome after his great conquest--the procession of\nvanquished nations, the games and the sacrifices to the gods, and\nAugustus himself seated on a throne in front of the temple of Apollo.\n\n    The victor to the gods his thanks expressed;\n    And Rome triumphant with his presence blessed.\n    Three hundred temples in the town he placed;\n    With spoils and altars every temple graced.\n    Three shining nights and three succeeding days,\n    The fields resound with shouts, the streets with praise.\n    Great Caesar sits sublime upon his throne,\n    Before Apollo's porch of Parian stone;\n    Accepts the presents vowed for victory;\n    And hangs the monumental crowns on high.\n    Vast crowds of vanquished nations march along,\n    Various in arms, in habit, and in tongue.\n            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK VIII.\n\nAEneas viewed these scenes with wonder and delight, though ignorant of\nwhat they meant, and putting on the beautiful armor, he bore upon his\nshoulder the fortunes of his descendants.\n\n    These figures, on the shield divinely wrought,\n    By Vulcan labored, and by Venus brought,\n    With joy and wonder fill the hero's thought.\n    Unknown the names, he yet admires the grace;\n    And bears aloft the fame and fortune of his race.\n            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK VIII.\n\nVergil's description of the shield of AEneas is in imitation of\nHomer's beautiful description in the Iliad of the shield of Achilles,\nalso made by Vulcan.\n\n\n\n\nVIII. TURNUS ATTACKS THE TROJAN CAMP--NISUS AND EURYALUS.\n\n\nArrayed in his new and splendid armor, the Trojan chief rejoined his\ncompanions, and then proceeded to the Etrurian camp, where he formed\na league with Tarchon. Meanwhile his enemies were not inactive, for\nJuno sent Iris down from heaven to the Rutulian king to urge him to\nbestir himself against the Trojans. \"Time has brought about in your\nfavor, O Turnus,\" said the messenger of Juno, \"what even the gods did\nnot dare to promise. AEneas, having left his friends and his fleet has\ngone to gather forces against you in the city of Evander and in\nEtruria. Now is your opportunity. Why do you hesitate to take\nadvantage of it? Delay no longer, but seize the camp of the Trojans,\nwhile their leader is absent.\" Turnus recognized Iris, yet he knew not\nby whom she had been sent. But he replied that he would quickly obey,\nwhoever it was that thus called him to arms, and as he spoke, the\ngoddess vanished into the heavens, forming in her ascent the beautiful\nrainbow, which was the sign of Juno's messenger.\n\n      On equal wings she poised her weight,\n    And formed a radiant rainbow in her flight.\n            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK IX.\n\nThen the warriors were called to action, and soon the whole army\nmarched out into the open plain, Messapus, the Etrurian, commanding\nthe front lines, the sons of Tyrrhus in the rear, and in the center\nTurnus himself. The Trojans within their camp, seeing the great cloud\nof dust which the tread of the hosts of the Latians raised on the\nplain, knew what it meant. Speedily they shut up their gates and set\nguards upon the walls, for AEneas at his departure had ordered them\nthat in case of attack in his absence, they should not attempt a fight\nin the open field, but defend themselves within their ramparts. Turnus\nnow tried to set fire to the Trojan fleet, which lay in the river\nclose at hand, but the ships of AEneas could not be destroyed for they\nwere made of wood cut from the forest of Cyb'e-le, the mother of the\ngods. When the hero was building them at the foot of Mount Ida, Cybele\nbegged her son Jupiter, to grant that the vessels, being constructed\nof pine trees sacred to her, might be forever safe from destruction.\n\n    \"Grant me (she said) the sole request I bring,\n     Since conquered heaven has owned you for its king.\n     On Ida's brows, for ages past there stood,\n     With firs and maples filled, a shady wood;\n     And on the summit rose a sacred grove,\n     Where I was worshipped with religious love.\n     These woods, that holy grove, my long delight,\n     I gave the Trojan prince, to speed his flight.\n     Now filled with fear, on their behalf I come;\n     Let neither winds o'erset, nor waves entomb,\n     The floating forests of the sacred pine;\n     But let it be their safety to be mine.\"\n            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK XI.\n\nThis request, though coming from his mother, Jupiter was obliged to\nrefuse, for it could not be, he said, that vessels built by mortal\nhands should be rendered immortal. He promised, however, that those of\nthe Trojan ships which safely reached their destination in Italy\nshould be transformed into goddesses or nymphs of the ocean.\nTherefore, when Turnus and his men rushed to the river with flaming\ntorches, the time had come for the promise of the king of heaven to be\nfulfilled. As they were about to cast their firebrands upon the\ngalleys a strange light flashed on the eyes of the Trojans, then a\nbright cloud shot across the sky, and from out of it these words\nuttered in a loud voice, were heard by the Trojans and Rutulians. \"Men\nof Troy, you have no need to defend the ships. Sooner shall Turnus\nburn up the seas than those sacred pines. Glide on at your liberty,\nyou nymphs of the main. It is the parent of the gods who commands\nyou.\" No sooner were the words spoken than the ships all broke away\nfrom their fastenings, plunged out of sight into the depths of the\nriver, and reappeared in a moment as beautiful maidens, moving\ngracefully along on the surface of the water.\n\n    No sooner had the goddess ceased to speak,\n    When, lo! the obedient ships their halsers break;\n    And strange to tell, like dolphins in the main\n    They plunge their prows, and dive and spring again;\n    As many beauteous maids the billows sweep,\n    As rode before tall vessels on the deep.\n            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK IX.\n\nThe Rutulians were astonished at this spectacle, but Turnus was still\nundismayed, and speaking to his people he declared that what they had\njust seen was bad for the Trojans themselves, for that now they had no\nlonger means of escape, their ships having disappeared. \"As for their\nmuch talked of destiny,\" said he, \"it has been fulfilled, since they\nhave reached the land of Italy. But I also have my destiny, and it is\nto destroy the accursed race. They depend a great deal on their walls,\nyet they have seen the walls of Troy go down in flames, though they\nwere built by the hands of Neptune. I do not need arms made by Vulcan,\nnor shall we hide ourselves in a wooden horse. We shall fight the\nTrojans openly, and we shall teach them that they have not now to do\nwith men like the Greeks, whom Hector baffled for ten years.\"\n\nTurnus then laid siege to the Trojan camp. He placed sentinels outside\nthe gates, and had watch-fires kindled at different points around the\nwalls, after which his men lay down on the field to rest. But during\nthe night the guards fell asleep, for they were fatigued after the\nlabors of the day, and so the whole besieging army was now sunk in\ndeep repose. The Trojans on the other hand kept strict watch within\ntheir camp, and adopted all necessary measures of defense.\n\n    All things needful for defence abound;\n    Mnestheus and brave Serestus walk the round,\n    Commissioned by their absent prince to share\n    The common danger, and divide the care.\n            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK IX.\n\nThe Trojan sentinels at one of the gates were Nisus and Euryalus--\nalready mentioned as having taken part in the foot race at the funeral\ngames.\n\n    Love made them one in every thought;\n    In battle side by side they fought;\n    And now in duty at the gate\n    The twain in common station wait.\n            CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK IX.\n\nNow Nisus had conceived the idea of making his way through the\nRutulian lines and conveying to AEneas at Pallanteum news of the\ndangerous situation of his people in the besieged camp, and he thought\nhe would carry out his project while the enemy were all asleep outside\nthe walls. Euryalus approved of the enterprise, and he begged that he\nhimself might be permitted to take part in it. To this Nisus objected,\nfor he did not wish that his dear young friend should be exposed to\nthe danger of the undertaking. The mother of Euryalus had accompanied\nhim all the way from Troy, and so great was her love for him that she\nrefused to part from him even to share the good fortune of the other\nTrojan women who had settled in Sicily. Nisus was very unwilling to be\nthe cause of grief to so devoted a mother, by permitting her son to\njoin in an expedition in which he might lose his life.\n\n    \"Nor let me cause so dire a smart\n     To that devoted mother's heart,\n     Who, sole of all the matron train,\n     Attends her darling o'er the main,\n     Nor cares like others to sit down\n     An inmate of Acestes' town.\"\n            CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK IX.\n\nBut Euryalus insisted on accompanying his friend, and so after\nobtaining the consent of the chiefs in command, who highly praised\ntheir courage and promised to reward them, they made ready to set\nforth. Euryalus begged that they would comfort and assist his mother\nif any evil should happen to him. To this request Iulus answered that\nshe should be to him as if she were his own mother. \"Gratitude is due\nto her,\" said he, \"for having given birth to such a son. The reward I\npromise to give to you, if you return in safety, I shall give to your\nmother should ill fortune attend you.\"\n\nEuryalus and Nisus now set out upon their mission. Passing through the\ncamp of the sleeping Rutulians, they soon reached the outside of the\nenemy's lines. It happened that a body of Latian horsemen was just\nthen passing that way on the route from Laurentum to join the army of\nTurnus. Catching sight of the two strangers, Volcens, the leader of\nthe troop, cried out to them to \"stand,\" and demanded to know who they\nwere, and whither they were bound. The Trojans, making no answer, fled\ninto a wood close by. Then Volcens placed guards on the passes and at\nthe outlets of the wood to prevent the escape of the fugitives.\nMeanwhile Euryalus, getting separated from his companion, and losing\nhis way in the thick shades of the forest, fell into the enemy's\nhands.\n\nNisus might have escaped, and had in fact got out of the wood, but\nfinding that his friend had disappeared, he returned to search for\nhim. Presently he heard the tramp of the horses, and looking forth\nfrom a thicket in which he had concealed himself, he saw Euryalus in\nthe midst of the Latians, who were dragging him violently along.\nDeeply grieved at the sight, and resolving to rescue his comrade, or\ndie in the attempt, Nisus, after praying to Diana, the goddess of the\nwoods, to guide his weapon in its course, hurled a javelin at the\nenemy. It pierced the body of one of the Latians named Sulmo, who fell\ndead. His companions gazed around in amazement, not knowing whence the\nattack had come. Nisus then cast another javelin, and again one of the\nLatians fell to the ground. Enraged at seeing his men thus slain\nbefore his eyes by an unseen assailant, Volcens, with sword in hand,\nrushed upon Euryalus, crying out that his life should pay the penalty\nfor both. Great was the agony of Nisus at seeing his friend about to\nbe put to death, and starting from his concealment, he exclaimed\naloud, \"I am he who did the deed. Turn your arms therefore on me.\"\n\n    \"Me! me! (he cried) turn all your swords alone\n     On me--the fact confessed, the fault my own.\n     His only crime (if friendship can offend)\n     Is too much love to his unhappy friend.\"\n            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK IX.\n\nBut vain was the effort of Nisus to save his friend, for scarce had\nhis last word been spoken when Euryalus fell lifeless to the earth,\npierced by the weapon of Volcens. Filled with grief and rage, and\neager to avenge the death of his companion, Nisus rushed into the\nmidst of the foe, seeking only Volcens, and though blows showered upon\nhim from all sides, he pressed on until coming up to the Latian chief,\nhe slew him with a single thrust of his sword. Then covered with\nwounds, the brave Trojan dropped dead, falling upon the body of the\nfriend he had so loved. Thus these two sons of Troy, companions in\nlife, were companions also in death. Their friendship, immortalized by\nthe Roman poet, became proverbial.\n\n    O happy friends! for, if my verse can give\n    Immortal life, your fame shall ever live,\n    Fixed as the Capitol's foundation lies,\n    And spread, where'er the Roman eagle flies!\n            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK IX.\n\nEarly in the morning Turnus called his men to arms, and with loud\nshouts all rushed forward to the Trojan ramparts. Then a fierce\nconflict took place during which many heroes fell on both sides, after\nperforming wonderful feats of valor. There was a wooden tower of great\nheight and strength which stood outside the wall, and was connected\nwith it by bridges. The Rutulians made great efforts to break down\nthis tower, while the Trojans defended it by hurling stones upon the\nenemy, and casting darts at them through loopholes. So the struggle\ncontinued until Turnus with a flaming torch set the building on fire.\n\n    Fierce Turnus first a firebrand flings;\n    It strikes the sides, takes hold, and clings;\n    The freshening breezes spread the blaze,\n    And soon on plank and beam it preys.\n    The inmates flutter in dismay\n        And vainly wish to fly;\n    There as they huddle and retire\n    Back to the part which 'scapes the fire,\n    Sudden the o'erweighted mass gives way,\n        And falling, shakes the sky.\n            CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK IX.\n\nOnly two of the occupants of the tower--Hel'e-nor and Lycus--escaped\ndestruction in its fall, but on emerging from the ruins they found\nthemselves in the midst of the Rutulians. Helenor seeing no chance of\nsaving his life, faced his foes like a lion and died in the thick of\nthe fight. Lycus, who was a swift runner, fled towards the walls,\ndashing through the lines of the enemy. He had almost grasped the\nsummit of the rampart and reached the outstretched hands of his\nfriends when Turnus, who had darted in pursuit, dragged him to the\nground, and slew him, while he taunted him, saying, \"Fool, didst thou\nhope to be able to escape our hands?\"\n\nThe battle now became more furious. From every quarter were heard\nshouts of fighting men and clashing of arms. Amongst the heroes of the\nday was young Iulus, hitherto accustomed to use his weapons only in\nthe chase. His first arrow in war was now aimed against the brother-\nin-law of Turnus, a chief named Nu-ma'nus, who fought not only with\nsword but with his tongue, mocking at the Trojans in a loud voice, in\nfront of the Latian lines. \"Are you not ashamed, Trojans,\" cried he,\n\"to be a second time shut up behind walls? What madness has brought\nyou to Italy? Know that it is not Grecians, nor the crafty Ulysses,\nyou have now to deal with. We are a hardy race. We dip our infants in\nthe rivers to inure them to cold. Our boys are trained to hunt in the\nwoods. Our whole life is spent in arms. Age does not impair our\ncourage or vigor. As for you, your very dress is embroidered with\nyellow and purple; indolence is your delight; you love to indulge in\ndancing and such frivolous pleasures. Women you are, and not men.\nLeave fighting to warriors and handle not the sword.\"\n\n   \"Leave men, like us, in arms to deal\n    Nor bruise your lily hands with steel.\"\n            CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK IX.\n\nThe spirited young Trojan prince could not patiently endure these\ninsults, and so drawing his bow-string and praying to Father Jupiter,\nhe sent forth his steel-tipped arrow. Whizzing through the air the\nweapon pierced the head of Numanus, and at the same moment Iulus\nexclaimed, \"Vain boaster, this is our answer to your insults.\" With\nshouts of joy the Trojans applauded the deed, and loud were their\npraises of the valor of their young chief. Even from on high came\napproving words, for just then the fair-haired Apollo, seated on a\ncloud, was watching the conflict. And thus spoke the god in a loud\nvoice, \"Go on and increase in valor, O youth. Such is the path-way to\nimmortality, thou art the descendant of gods, and from whom gods are\nto descend.\"\n\n[Illustration with caption: APOLLO VANISHING AFTER CAUTIONING IULUS.\n(Drawn by Trautschold)]\n\nUttering these words Apollo came down from the sky, and taking the\nappearance of Bu'tes, formerly the armor-bearer of Anchises, but now\nthe guardian of Iulus, walked by the young prince's side and addressed\nhim, saying, \"Son of AEneas, let it be enough for thee that by thine\narrow Numanus has fallen. Apollo has granted to thee this glory; but\ntake no further part in the conflict.\" Then the god, throwing off his\ndisguise, ascended to the heavens. The Trojan chiefs recognized him as\nhe departed, and thus knowing that it was the divine will, they caused\nIulus to retire, while they themselves again rushed forward to the\nbattle--\n\n    They bend their bows; they whirl their slings around;\n    Heaps of spent arrows fall, and strew the ground;\n    And helms, and shields, and rattling arms, resound.\n            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK IX.\n\nAt this point two brothers, Pan'da-rus and Bit'i-as, sons of the\nTrojan Al-ca'non, of Mount Ida, tall and powerful youths, threw open\nthe gate at which they were posted as sentinels, and standing within,\none on each side, they challenged the foe to enter. The Rutulians\nrushed forward as soon as they saw the passage open. Several of them\nwere slain at the threshold by the valiant brothers. Then some of the\nTrojans sallied out beyond the rampart, and a fierce fight took place.\nKing Turnus, hearing of these events, hurried to the gate, and joining\nin the battle, slew many of the Trojan warriors. He hurled a dart at\nBitias, and so great was the force of the blow that not even the huge\nsentinel's shield, formed of two bull's hides, nor his breastplates\nwith double scales of gold, could resist it.\n\n    Not two bull-hides the impetuous force withhold,\n    Nor coat of double mail, with scales of gold.\n    Down sunk the monster-bulk, and pressed the ground,\n    His arms and clattering shield on the vast body sound\n            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK IX.\n\nWhen Pandarus beheld his brother stretched dead on the ground, and saw\nthat the battle was going against the Trojans, he closed the gate,\nmoving it upon its hinges and fastening it in its place with the\nstrength of his broad shoulders. Some of his own people were thus shut\nout and left in the midst of the enemy, but in his hurry Pandarus did\nnot notice that amongst those who were shut in was the fierce King\nTurnus.\n\n    Fond fool! amidst the noise and din\n    He saw not Turnus rushing in,\n    But closed him in the embattled hold,\n    A tiger in a helpless fold.\n            CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK IX.\n\nAs soon as Pandarus saw what had happened, he hurled a spear with\nmighty force at the Rutulian king, eager to avenge his brother's\ndeath, but Juno turning the weapon aside, it struck into the gate,\nwhere it remained fixed. Then Turnus slew Pandarus with a swift stroke\nof his sword, exclaiming, \"Not so shall you escape.\" The Trojans who\nwitnessed the deed, fled terrified from the spot, and if Turnus at\nthis moment had opened the gate and admitted his Rutulian warriors,\nthat day would have been the last of the war and of the Trojan race.\n\n    The Trojans fly in wild dismay,\n        O, then had Turnus thought\n    To force the fastenings of the gates\n    And call within his valiant mates,\n    The nation and the war that day\n        Alike to end had brought!\n            CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK IX.\n\nBut Turnus thought only of slaying his foes who were at hand and so he\nspeedily put many of them to the sword. The Trojan chiefs Mnestheus\nand Sergestus, as soon as they heard that their people were fleeing\nbefore the Rutulian king, hastened up and reproved them in severe\nwords. \"Whither do you flee?\" cried Mnestheus. \"What other\nfortifications have you but this? Shall one man be permitted to work\nsuch destruction in our camp? Are you not ashamed? Have you no regard\nfor your unhappy country, your ancient gods, or your great leaders?\"\n\nTouched by these words, and inspired with fresh courage, the Trojans\nformed themselves into a solid body. Then turning round they made a\nfirm stand against the Rutulian chief, who now began to retreat\ntowards that part of the camp which was bounded by the river. The\nTrojans advanced upon him with loud shouts, yet the brave king would\nfain have resisted. As when a troop of hunters press upon a fierce\nlion, the savage animal, too courageous to fly, yet dares not face the\nnumbers and weapons of his assailants, so Turnus with reluctant steps\ndrew backwards; yet twice again he attacked the Trojans and twice\ndrove them along the walls. At length gathering from all parts of the\ncamp, the Trojans made a united advance and Turnus, no longer able to\nwithstand the assaults of his foes, fled to the river, and plunging\nin, was soon in the midst of his friends who received him with joyous\nacclamation.\n\n    O'er all his limbs dark sweat-drops break;\n    No time to breathe; thick pantings shake\n        His vast and laboring frame.\n    At length, accoutred as he stood,\n    Headlong he plunged into the flood.\n    The yellow flood the charge received,\n    With buoyant tide his weight upheaved,\n    And cleansing off the encrusted gore,\n    Returned him to his friends once more.\n            CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK IX.\n\n\n\n\nIX. THE COUNCIL OF THE GODS--RETURN OF AENEAS--BATTLE ON THE SHORE--\n    DEATH OF PALLAS.\n\n\nMeanwhile the king of heaven who had been watching the conflict on the\nbanks of the Tiber, called a council of the gods to consider whether\nit would not be well to put an end to the quarrel between Juno and\nVenus over the fortunes of the Trojans. The divinities assembled in\ntheir golden council chamber on Mount Olympus and Jupiter addressed\nthem. \"Ye gods,\" said he, \"why do you seek to alter the decrees of\nheaven? It was my desire that the Italians should not make war upon\nthe men of Troy. Why then have you incited them to arms? The time for\nconflict between the two races favored by Juno and Venus has not yet\ncome. That time will be hereafter when the Carthaginians shall put\nforth their efforts to ruin Rome. Then indeed you shall be free to\ntake either side in the contest. For the present cease your quarrels,\nand let the league agreed upon between AEneas and Latinus be\nratified.\"\n\nThus spoke the king of heaven. Then Venus addressed the gods in behalf\nof her son, whose sufferings, she said, were due to the hatred of\nJuno. She recounted the various attempts of the unforgiving queen to\ndestroy the Trojans--how AEolus at her bidding had sent his storms to\nscatter the fleet of AEneas, how Iris, her messenger, had induced the\nTrojan women to set fire to the ships at Drepanum, and how at her\nrequest the Fury Alecto had incited Queen Amata and King Turnus to war\nagainst the men of Troy.\n\nJuno next addressed the council, and spoke many bitter words against\nAEneas and the Trojans, who, she declared, were themselves to blame\nfor all the evils that had come upon them. The Greek war against Troy\nhad not been caused by her, but by the Trojan Paris, and for his\nconduct in carrying off Helen, Venus was responsible. As to the\ntroubles in Italy, it was true that AEneas had sailed to that country\nby the will of the fates, but why, she asked, did he stir up war among\nItalian nations that had before been at peace.\n\nJuno having finished her speech against the Trojans, and none of the\nother divinities desiring to take part in the controversy, Jupiter\nthen delivered judgment, declaring that as the quarrel between the two\ngoddesses could not be amicably settled, nor peace brought about\nbetween the Trojans and Italians, the fates should take their course.\n\n   \"Since Troy with Latium must contend,\n    And these your wranglings find no end,\n    Let each man use his chance to day\n    And carve his fortune as he may;\n    Each warrior from his own good lance\n    Shall reap the fruit of toil or chance;\n    Jove deals to all an equal lot,\n    And Fate shall loose or cut the knot.\"\n            CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK IX.\n\nThus ended the council of the gods, and so by the decree of the king\nof heaven the quarrel between the Trojans and Italians was left to the\nfortune of war.\n\nMeanwhile the Trojans in the camp on the Tiber were being hard pressed\nby the enemy. As soon as Turnus had rejoined his army, the attack on\nthe ramparts was renewed with increased vigor, and the brave Mnestheus\nand his companions, their forces now much reduced in number, were\nbeginning to lose hope.\n\n    Hopeless of flight, more hopeless of relief,\n    Thin on the towers they stand; and e'en those few,\n    A feeble, fainting, and dejected crew.\n            DRYDEN, AEneid, BOOK X.\n\nBut AEneas was hastening to the rescue. Having formed the league with\nTarchon, he lost no time in preparing to return to his friends. Many\nother chiefs of Etruria joined their forces to the expedition, and all\nplaced themselves under the command of AEneas, in accordance with the\nwill of the gods that only under a foreign leader could they be\nsuccessful in the war against the Rutulians.\n\nWhen everything was ready for departure they embarked on a fleet of\nthirty ships, and sailed down the Tyr-rhe'ni-an Sea, along the\nEtrurian coast, towards the mouth of the Tiber. AEneas led the way in\nhis own galley, and with him was young Pallas, the son of Evander.\nDuring the voyage he learned in a strange manner of the perilous\nsituation of his people in the camp. It was night, and as he was\nseated at the helm, for his anxiety permitted him not to sleep, a\nnumber of sea-nymphs appeared swimming by the side of his ship. One of\nthem, Cym-o-do-ce'a by name, grasped the stern of the vessel with her\nright hand, while with her left she gently rowed her way through the\nwaves. Then she addressed the Trojan chief. \"Son of the gods,\" said\nshe, \"we are the pines of Mount Ida, at one time your fleet, but now\nnymphs of the sea. The Rutulian king would have destroyed us with fire\nhad it not been permitted to us by the mother of the gods to burst our\ncables, and assume our present form. We come to tell you that your son\nAscanius is besieged in the camp, and pressed on all sides by the\nLatian foe. Be ready then at the dawn of morning with your troops, and\nbear with you to the fight the arms and armor which Vulcan has made.\nTo-morrow's sun shall see many of the Rutulian enemy slain.\"\n\n    She ceased, and parting, to the bark\n        A measured impulse gave;\n    Like wind-swift arrow to its mark\n        It darts along the wave.\n    The rest pursue. In wondering awe\n    The chief revolves the things he saw.\n            CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK X.\n\nAt dawn of morning the fleet came within view of the Trojan camp. Then\nAEneas standing on the deck of his own vessel, held aloft his bright\nshield made by Vulcan. His people saw it from the ramparts, and\nshouted loud with joy, and now, their hope being revived, they\nassailed the enemy with fresh courage. The Rutulians and Latians were\namazed at this sudden change, not knowing the cause, but looking back,\nthey too beheld the fleet approaching the shore.\n\nThe brave Turnus however was not dismayed at the sight. On the\ncontrary he resolved to give battle to the new foe without delay, and\nso addressing his men he bade them fight valiantly for their homes and\ncountry, remembering the glorious deeds of their ancestors.\n\n   \"Your sires, your sons, your houses, and your lands,\n    And dearest wives, are all within your hands;\n    Be mindful of the race from whence you came,\n    And emulate in arms your fathers' fame.\"\n            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK X.\n\nThen he hurried to the shore with the main body of his army, and\nAEneas having already landed his companions and allies, a fierce\nbattle began. The Trojan hero performed wonderful feats of valor.\nFirst he attacked the Latian troops, who were in front of the hosts of\nthe enemy, and he slew their leader The'ron, a warrior of giant size.\nThrough his brazen shield and golden coat of mail AEneas smote him\nwith his sword. Next he slew Lycas, and then Cis'seus and Gyas, tall\nmen and powerful, who, with clubs like the club of Hercules, had been\nstriking down the Trojans. Then a band of seven warrior brothers, the\nsons of Phorcus, attacked the Trojan chief, hurling seven darts upon\nhim all together, some of which rebounded from his shield, and some,\nturned aside by Venus, harmlessly grazed his skin. AEneas now called\nto the faithful Achates to bring him darts--those with which on the\nplains of Troy the bodies of Grecian warriors had been pierced--\n\n   \"Those fatal weapons, which, inured to blood,\n    In Grecian bodies under Ilium stood;\n    Not one of those my hand shall toss in vain\n    Against our foes, on this contended plain.\"\n            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK X.\n\nGrasping a mighty spear, as soon as these weapons were brought to him,\nAEneas hurled it at Macon, one of the brothers. It pierced through his\nshield and breastplate, and he fell mortally wounded. At his brother\nAlcanor, who had run to his relief, AEneas cast another dart, which\npenetrated his shoulder, leaving the warrior's arm hanging lifeless by\nhis body. And now Hal-ae'sus with his Auruncian bands, and Messapus,\nthe son of Neptune, conspicuous with his steeds, hastened up to\nencounter AEneas. The fight then became more furious and many were\nslain on both sides.\n\n    Thus Trojan and Italian meet,\n    With face to face, and feet to feet,\n      And hand close pressed to hand.\n            CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK X.\n\nIn another quarter of the field young Pallas, fighting at the head of\nhis Arcadian horsemen, slew many chiefs of the Latians and Rutulians.\nOpposed to him was Lausus, son of the tyrant Mezentius. Lausus being\nhard pressed by the Arcadians, King Turnus was called to his\nassistance, and rushing up he cried to the Rutulians, \"Desist you for\na moment from the battle. I alone will fight Pallas. Would that his\nfather were here to see.\" Hearing these words the brave son of Evander\nadvanced boldly into the open plain between the two hosts. The hearts\nof his Arcadian followers were filled with dread at seeing their young\nchief about to engage in single combat with so great a warrior as the\nRutulian king. Turnus sprang down from his chariot, to meet his foe on\nfoot.\n\n    And, as a lion--when he spies from far\n    A bull that seems to meditate the war,\n    Bending his neck, and spurning back the sand--\n    Runs roaring downward from his hilly stand;\n    Imagine eager Turnus not more slow\n    To rush from high on his unequal foe.\n            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK X.\n\nThen Pallas prayed to Hercules, once his father's guest, to help him.\nHercules in his place in heaven, hearing the prayer, groaned in\ndistress and poured forth tears, for he knew that the fate of the\nbrave youth could not be averted. Noticing the grief of his son,\nalmighty Father Jupiter spoke to him in comforting words. \"To every\none,\" said he, \"his period of life is fixed. Short is the time\nallotted to all, but it is the part of the brave man to lengthen out\nfame by glorious deeds. Many even of the sons of the gods have fallen\nunder the lofty walls of Troy. Turnus too awaits his destiny, and\nalready he has nearly arrived at the limit of existence left to him.\"\nSo saying the king of heaven turned his eyes from the scene of battle.\n\nPallas now hurled his spear with great force. The weapon struck the\narmor of Turnus near his shoulder, and piercing through it, grazed his\nbody. Then Turnus poising his sharp steel-tipped javelin, darted it at\nPallas. Through the centre of his many-plated shield and the folds of\nhis corselet the fatal shaft passed into the breast of the brave\nyouth, inflicting a mortal wound. Down on the earth he fell, and\nTurnus approaching the dead body exclaimed, \"You Arcadians carry these\nmy words to your king. In such plight as he deserved I send his son\nback to him. His league of friendship with AEneas shall cost him\ndear.\"\n\n[Illustration with caption: PALLAS' BODY BORNE FROM THE FIELD. (Drawn\nby Birch.)]\n\nThen Turnus stripped from the body of Pallas a beautiful belt,\nembossed with figures carved in gold, and putting it on his own armor,\ntriumphed in the spoil. It proved to be a fatal possession for\nTurnus.\n\n    O mortals! blind in fate who never know\n    To bear high fortune, or endure the low!\n    The time shall come when Turnus, but in vain,\n    Shall wish untouched the trophies of the slain--\n    Shall wish the fatal belt were far away,\n    And curse the dire remembrance of the day.\n            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK X.\n\nThe body of the brave young prince was laid upon his shield, and borne\naway from the field of battle, accompanied by a numerous retinue of\nhis sorrowing friends.\n\n    O sad, proud thought, that thus a son\n      Should reach a father's door!\n    This day beheld your wars begun;\n      This day beholds them o'er,\n            CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK X.\n\nThe news of the fate of Pallas soon reached AEneas, who was deeply\ndistressed at the thought of the sorrow the youth's death would bring\nupon his aged father Evander. Eager for vengeance, he hastened through\nthe battle field in search of Turnus, slaying many chiefs of the enemy\nwhom he encountered on his way. But he was not yet to meet the\nRutulian king face to face, for Juno, by Jupiter's permission, led\nTurnus off the field, and saved him for a time from the wrath of the\nTrojan hero. Out of a hollow cloud she fashioned a phantom with the\nshape, likeness and voice of AEneas, and caused it to appear before\nTurnus, as if challenging him to combat.\n\n    A phantom in AEneas' mould\n    She fashions, wondrous to behold,\n        Of hollow shadowy cloud,\n    Bids it the Dardan arms assume,\n    The shield, the helmet, and the plume,\n    Gives soulless words of swelling tone,\n    And motions like the hero's own,\n        As stately and as proud.\n            CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK X.\n\nThe Rutulian king bravely advanced to attack the supposed Trojan\nchief, upon which the spectre, wheeling about, hastily retreated\ntowards the river. Turnus followed, loudly upbraiding AEneas as a\ncoward. It happened that at the shore there was a ship, connected with\nthe land by a plank bridge or gangway. Into this ship the phantom\nfled, closely pursued by Turnus; and no sooner had the latter reached\nthe deck of the vessel than Juno, bursting the cables which held it to\nthe bank, sent it floating down the stream. Then the figure of cloud,\nsoaring aloft, vanished into the air, and Turnus knew that he had been\ndeceived.\n\nHe was much distressed at being thus separated from his brave\nfollowers, and mortified at the thought that they might think he had\ndeserted them in the hour of danger. In his grief he attempted to\ndestroy his own life with his sword, but Juno restrained him, and the\nship, wafted along by favoring wind and tide, bore him to Ardea, the\ncapital city of his own country, where his father, King Daunus,\nresided.\n\nMeanwhile, on the battle field, the Etrurian king, Mezentius, who had\ntaken the place of Turnus, attacked the Trojans with great fury. He\nhad slain many valiant warriors when AEneas espying him from a\ndistance, hurried forward to encounter him. Mezentius stood firm, and\nrelying on his strong arm and his weapons, rather than on divine aid\n(being a despiser of the gods) he cast a spear at the Trojan leader.\nThe missile struck the hero's shield, but it was the shield which\nVulcan had made, and could not be pierced by earthly weapon. Then\nAEneas hurled his javelin. Through the triple plates of brass, and the\ntriple bull-hide covering of the Etrurian king's shield it passed,\nand, lodging in his groin, inflicted a severe, though not fatal,\nwound. Instantly the Trojan chief rushed, with sword in hand, upon his\nfoe, as, disabled, he was about to withdraw from the conflict. But at\nthis moment young Lausus, the son of Mezentius, sprang forward and\nreceived on his sword the blow that had been intended for his father.\n\n    The pious youth, resolved on death, below\n    The lifted sword, springs forth to face the foe;\n    Protects his parent, and prevents the blow.\n            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK X.\n\nBut Lausus was no match for the veteran Trojan warrior. Yet AEneas,\nadmiring his courage and filial devotion, would fain have spared the\nbrave youth. \"Why do you attempt,\" said he, \"what you have not\nstrength to accomplish? You do but rush to your own destruction.\"\nRegardless, however, of danger, the gallant Lausus fought till he fell\nlifeless on the earth.  AEneas was touched with pity at the sight, for\nhe thought of his own son, and of how he himself had loved his own\nfather. Then, he tenderly lifted the body from the ground, and\nconsigned it to the care of his friends. They carried it to Mezentius,\nwho was resting on the river bank, after having bathed his wounds in\nthe water. When he beheld the lifeless form, the unhappy man burst\ninto tears, and bitterly lamented his own misdeeds which had brought\nsuch calamities upon him--banishment from his throne and country, and\nnow, worst of all, the loss of his son. \"Why do I live, my son,\" cried\nhe, \"at the cost of thy life? My crimes have been the cause of thy\ndeath.\"\n\n     \"Dear child! I stained your glorious name\n      By my own crimes, driven out to shame\n      From my ancestral reign;\n      My country's vengeance claimed my blood;\n      Ah! had that tainted, guilty flood\n        Been shed from every vein!\n      Now 'mid my kind I linger still\n      And live; but leave the light I will.\"\n                    CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK X.\n\nThen though he was suffering much from the pain of his wound, he\ncalled for his horse, the gallant steed Rhoebus, which had borne him\nvictorious through many a fight. The animal seemed to feel the grief\nof its master, and to understand the words he spoke: \"Long, Rhoebus,\"\nsaid he, \"have we lived, companions in war,--if indeed the life of\nmortals can be said to be long. But to-day we shall either die\ntogether, or bear away the body of AEneas, and so avenge the death of\nLausus.\"\n\nMounting his horse, and filling both hands with javelins Mezentius\nthen rode rapidly to the scene of conflict, calling loudly for AEneas.\nThe Trojan chief knew the voice, and eager for the encounter, he\nquickly advanced. But the brave Etrurian, fearing not to meet his foe,\ncried out, \"Cruel man, you cannot terrify me, now that my son is\nsnatched from me. I am not afraid of death, for I have come to die.\nFirst, however, take these gifts which I bring for you.\" Thus speaking\nhe hurled a dart at the Trojan leader, and then another and another,\nand three times he rode in a circle round the hero, casting javelins\nat him. But the weapons of Mezentius could not pass through the\ncelestial shield of AEneas, though they fixed themselves in it, and\nthere were so many that they resembled a grove of spears.\n\n    Thrice, fiercely hurling spears on spears,\n        From right to left he wheeled;\n    Thrice, facing round as he careers,\n    The steely grove the Trojan bears,\n        Thick planted on his shield.\n\nAt length AEneas hurled a javelin at the warrior's horse, striking it\nbetween the temples. The animal reared, beating the air with its\nhoofs, and rolling over its rider, pinned him to the earth. Then the\nTrojan chief rushed, sword in hand, upon his fallen foe, and the brave\nMezentius died asking only the favor of burial for his body.\n\n   \"For this, this only favor, let me sue;\n    If pity can to conquered foes be due,\n    Refuse it not; but let my body have\n    The last retreat of human-kind, a grave.\n    This refuge for my poor remains provide;\n    And lay my much-loved Lausus by my side.\"\n            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK X.\n\n\n\nX.  FUNERAL OF PALLAS--AENEAS AND TURNUS FIGHT--TURNUS IS SLAIN.\n\nWith the death of Mezentius the battle of the day came to an end.\nEarly next morning AEneas offered sacrifices to the gods in\nthanksgiving for his victory. On a rising ground he caused to be\nerected the trunk of a huge oak, with its boughs lopped off. Upon this\nhe hung as an offering to the war-god Mars, the arms that had been\nborne by the Etrurian king--his crest, and his broken spears, his\nbreastplate, showing the marks of many blows, his shield of brass, and\nhis ivory-hilted sword. Then he spoke words of encouragement to his\nchiefs and companions.\n\n\"Brother warriors, our most important work is done. Henceforth we need\nhave no fear. Having vanquished the tyrant Mezentius, the way lies\nopen for us to the Latian capital. Make ready your arms so that there\nmay be no obstacle to detain us when the proper moment arrives for\nleading forth our valiant youth from the camp. Meanwhile let us commit\nto the earth the bodies of our dead friends. It is the sole honor\nremaining for us to pay to the heroic men who, with their lives, have\nwon for us a country to dwell in. But first, to the mourning city of\nEvander let the body of the noble Pallas be conveyed.\"\n\n   \"Brave Pallas, heir of high renown,\n    Whose hopeful day has set too soon,\n    O'ercast by darkness ere its noon\"\n            CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK X.\n\nThe obsequies of the young prince were carried out on a scale of great\nmagnificence. A thousand men formed the funeral procession. The body\nwas dressed in rich robes, stiff with embroidery of gold and purple,\nwhich Queen Dido with her own hands had wrought for AEneas. Beside the\nbier were borne the dead youth's arms, and the spoils he had won in\nbattle. His war-horse AEthon, too, was led along, big tear drops\nrunning down the animal's cheeks, as if it shared in the general\nsorrow.\n\n    Then AEthon comes, his trappings doffed,\n    The warrior's gallant horse;\n    Big drops of pity oft and oft\n    Adown his visage course.\n            CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK XI.\n\nBehind followed the numerous escort of Trojan, Etrurian and Arcadian\nwarriors, and the long procession passed on with a last sad adieu from\nthe Trojan chief. \"By the same fearful fate of war,\" said he, \"I am\ncalled to other scenes of woe. Farewell, noble Pallas, farewell,\nforever.\" When the sorrowing cortege reached Pallanteum, the whole\ncity was in mourning. To the gates the people hastened in vast numbers\nbearing funeral torches in their hands, according to ancient custom,\nand Trojans and Arcadians joined in loud lamentations.\n\n    Both parties meet; they raise a doleful cry;\n    The matrons from the walls with shrieks reply;\n    And their mixed mourning rends the vaulted sky.\n            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK XI.\n\nKing Evander distracted with grief, prostrated himself upon the bier,\nand clasping in his arms the body of his son, poured out a flood of\ntears, bewailing the unhappy fate which left him childless in his old\nage.\n\nMeantime, AEneas and the Latian chiefs agreed upon a truce of twelve\ndays for the burial of the dead of both armies, which lay scattered\nover the battle field. While this sad duty was being performed, King\nLatinus and his counsellors considered what was best to be done, after\nthe truce--whether to continue the war, or to propose terms of peace.\nThey had sent ambassadors to solicit help from Di-o-me'de, one of the\nGrecian heroes of the Trojan war, who, after the siege, had settled in\nApulia in Italy, and built the city of Ar-gyr'i-pa, where he now\nresided. But Diomede refused to fight against AEneas, and he reminded\nthe Latians that all who had raised the sword against Troy had\nsuffered grievous punishments. \"I myself,\" said he, \"am an exile from\nmy native country, and dire calamities have fallen upon many of my\npeople. Ask me not, therefore, to quarrel with the Trojans. How mighty\ntheir leader is in battle I know by experience, for I have engaged him\nhand to hand. Had Troy produced two other such heroes, it would have\nfared ill with Greece. It was Hector and AEneas who held back the\nvictory of our countrymen for ten years--both distinguished for valor\nand noble feats of arms, but the son of Anchises excelling in\nreverence for the gods. With him, therefore, men of Latium, I advise\nyou to join in a league of friendship, if by any means you can do it.\nBeware, however, of encountering him in war.\"\n\nThe ambassadors delivered this message to King Latinus as he was\nsitting in his council chamber with his chief men around him. The king\nonce more earnestly advised that they should make peace with the\nTrojans, and give them lands to settle on, if they still desired to\ndwell in Latium, or build for them a new fleet if they were willing to\nwithdraw from Italy and seek homes in some other country. He also\nadvised that they should send these proposals to the Trojan camp.\n\n   \"To treat the peace, a hundred senators\n    Shall be commissioned hence with ample powers,\n    With olive crowned; the presents they shall bear,\n    A purple robe, a royal ivory chair,\n    And sums of gold. Among yourselves debate\n    This great affair, and save the sinking state.\"\n            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK XI.\n\nKing Turnus was present at this council, and there was also present a\nLatian named Dran'ces, a very eloquent man, but not a warrior.\n\n        --Bold at the council board,\n    But cautious in the field, he shunned the sword.\n            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK XI.\n\nDrances spoke in support of the advice given by Latinus. He also said\nthat one more gift should be sent to AEneas, namely, the fair Lavinia,\nsince by no other means could peace be more firmly established than by\na marriage between the Latian princess and the Trojan hero. Then\naddressing Turnus, the bold Drances reproached him with having brought\nupon his country all the horrors of war to gratify his ambition for\nthe honor of a royal wife. \"You Turnus,\" said he, \"are the cause of\nthe evils which afflict us. It is through you that so many of our\nchiefs have perished on the battle field, and that our whole city is\nin mourning. Have you no pity for your own people? Lay aside your\nfierceness, and give up this hopeless contest. But if you are still\neager for glory in war, and must have a kingdom with your wife, then\ntake all the risk yourself, and do not ask others to expose themselves\nto danger for you. AEneas has challenged you to single combat. If you\nhave any valor, go and fight with him.\"\n\nEnraged at this speech, Turnus angrily replied--\"Drances, you have\nalways many words when deeds are required. But this is not the time to\nfill the chamber with words, which come in torrents from you so long\nas you are in safety with strong walls between you and the foe. You\ncharge me with cowardice, you, the valiant Drances, whose right hand,\nforsooth, has piled up so many trophies of victory on the field! There\nis an opportunity for you now, however, to put your valor to the\nproof, for we have not far to go in search of the enemy. Why do you\nhesitate to march against them?\"\n\nThen speaking to the king, Turnus earnestly entreated him not to give\nup the fight because of one defeat. \"We have still,\" said he, \"ample\nresources and fresh troops, and many Italian cities and nations are in\nalliance with us. The Trojans as well as ourselves have suffered heavy\nloss. Why then should we permit fear to overcome us almost at the\nbeginning of the struggle? If the Trojans demand that I alone shall\nfight their leader, gladly will I advance against him, even though he\nprove himself as great a warrior as Achilles, and sheath himself in\narmor forged by the hands of Vulcan.\"\n\nTurnus had scarcely finished speaking, when a messenger rushed into\nthe palace with the alarming intelligence that the Trojan and Etrurian\narmies had quitted their camp on the bank of the Tiber, and were\nmarching toward the city. Instantly all was confusion and dismay in\nthe council.\n\n     A turmoil takes the public mind;\n     Their passions flame, by furious wind\n       To conflagration blown;\n     At once to arms they fain would fly;\n     \"To arms!\" the youth impatient cry;\n       The old men weep and moan.\n                CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK XI.\n\nTurnus was quick to take advantage of this altered state of affairs.\n\"Citizens,\" he exclaimed, \"will you still persist in talking about\npeace even now that the enemy is almost at your doors?\" Then,\nwithdrawing from the council chamber, he hastened to give orders to\nhis Rutulian chiefs to get the troops ready for immediate action--some\nto lead the armed horsemen out upon the plain, others to man the\ntowers, others to follow him where he should command. The Latians,\ntoo, excited to ardor by the approach of the enemy, rushed to arms,\nand soon the whole city was in warlike commotion.\n\n    Some help to sink new trenches; others aid\n    To ram the stones, or raise the palisade.\n    Hoarse trumpets sound the alarm; around the walls\n    Runs a distracted crew, whom their last labor calls.\n            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK XI.\n\nIn the midst of the excitement, Queen Amata and her daughter Lavinia,\nattended by a great number of matrons, repaired in procession to the\ntemple of Minerva, and prayed to the goddess, to break the Trojan\npirate's spear, and lay him prostrate in death under the city's walls.\nMeanwhile, Turnus, armed for battle, went forth from the palace, and\nhastened towards the plain to join his brave Rutulians. At the gate he\nwas met by the Volscian Queen Camilla, at the head of a troop of\nfemale warriors, all on horseback. The brave queen requested that she\nand her companions should have the honor of being the first to\nencounter the Trojan host. \"Noble heroine,\" replied the Rutulian\nchief, \"how can I express my thanks? Since such is your spirit, I am\nwilling that you should share the dangers with us. AEneas has sent his\nhorsemen to scour the plain, while he himself is marching through a\nsecluded valley with his foot soldiers to take the city by surprise.\nThis we learn from our scouts. Now I will beset him on the way with an\narmed band, and to you I assign the task of engaging the Etrurian\nhorsemen. The brave Messapus and the Latian troops will be with you,\nand under your command.\"\n\nCamilla and her troop performed prodigies of valor in the battle which\nnow took place on the plain before the city. Many Trojan and Etrurian\nwarriors fell, stricken down by the darts or pierced by the sword of\nthe brave heroine. On both sides the battle was maintained with the\nutmost bravery. Twice the Trojans and their Tuscan allies drove the\nLatians flying to the walls, and twice the Latians, facing about,\nfuriously drove back the Trojans.\n\n    Twice were the Tuscans masters of the field,\n    Twice by the Latins, in their turn, repelled.\n    Ashamed at length, to the third charge they ran--\n    Both hosts resolved, and mingled man to man.\n    Now dying groans are heard; the fields are strewed,\n    With falling bodies, and are drunk with blood.\n    Arms, horses, men, on heaps together lie;\n    Confused the fight, and more confused the cry.\n            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK XI.\n\nThe battle continued to rage furiously, and it seemed doubtful which\nside would win, until Camilla was slain by the Etruscan Aruns, who had\nbeen watching for an opportunity to cast a spear at the queen.\n\n     This way and that his winding course he bends,\n     And wheresoe'er she turns, her steps attends.\n               DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK XI.\n\nThere was in the Trojan army a warrior, and priest of Cybele, named\nChlo'reus, conspicuous on the field by the rich trappings of his horse\nand his own glittering arms and attire. He wore a purple robe, his\nhelmet and the bow which hung from his shoulders were of gold; his\nsaffron colored scarf was fastened with a gold clasp; and his tunic\nwas embroidered with needle-work. Camilla seeing these beautiful and\ncostly things, became eager to possess them, and so she pursued\nChloreus over the field of battle.\n\n     Him the fierce maid beheld with ardent eyes,\n     Fond and ambitious of so rich a prize,\n     Blind in her haste, she chases him alone,\n     And seeks his life, regardless of her own.\n                      DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK XI.\n\nThus she furnished the opportunity desired by Aruns, who, from a\ncovert in which he lay concealed, hurled a dart at the queen as,\nheedless of danger, she rode in pursuit of Chloreus. The weapon\npierced her body and she sank down lifeless.\n\nThe fortune of the day now turned to the side of the Trojans. Dismayed\nby the loss of their brave leader Camilla, the Volscian troops fled\nfrom the field. The Rutulian captains, also losing courage, sought\nsafety in flight, and soon the whole Italian army was in full retreat\ntowards the city, hotly pursued by the Trojans. At the gates many were\ntrampled to death in the wild rush to get within, while many more were\nslain by the swords of the enemy pressing on behind.\n\n    Then, in a fright, the folding gates they close,\n    But leave their friends excluded with their foes.\n    The vanquished cry; the victors loudly shout;\n    'Tis terror all within, and slaughter all without.\n            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK XI.\n\nWhen Turnus heard that Camilla had fallen, that the Trojans had been\nvictorious in the battle, and that all was confusion and terror within\nthe walls, he immediately quitted the post where he had been lying in\nwait for AEneas, and hurried towards the city. Almost at the same\nmoment the Trojan chief issued forth from the valley. Both armies and\nboth leaders were now in sight of each other and both were eager for\nbattle, but night coming on, they pitched their tents and encamped in\nfront of the town.\n\nBut the Latians were now disheartened, and Turnus saw they were no\nlonger willing to continue a struggle which seemed hopeless. He\nhimself, however, was still determined not to yield, and he resolved\nto encounter AEneas in single combat. \"With my own right hand,\" said\nhe, \"I shall slay the Trojan adventurer, while the Latians sit still\nand look on, and if he vanquish me, let him rule over us, and have\nLavinia for his bride.\" King Latinus endeavored to dissuade him from\nthis dangerous enterprise. \"Turnus,\" said he, \"you are heir to the\nkingdom of your father Daunus. There are other high-born maidens in\nLatium, from whom you may chose a wife. It was decreed by the gods\nthat Lavinia should wed no prince of Italy, yet through affection for\nyou, and yielding to the prayers of my queen, I permitted the Latians\nto make war against him to whom, in accordance with the will of\nheaven, my daughter was promised. You see what calamities have come\nupon us in consequence. In two great battles we have been defeated,\nand now we are scarce able to defend ourselves in our capital city. If\nupon your death I am resolved to make an alliance with the Trojans, is\nit not better to put an end to the war while you are still alive?\"\n\nQueen Amata also entreated Turnus not to risk his life in an\nengagement with the Trojan chief. \"Whatever fortune awaits you,\nTurnus,\" she said, \"awaits me also. I shall not live and see AEneas\nmy son-in-law.\" The fair Lavinia was present during her mother's\npassionate appeal, but she expressed her feeling only by tears and\nmodest blushes.\n\n        --A flood of tears Lavinia shed;\n     A crimson blush her beauteous face o'erspread,\n     Varying her cheeks by turns with white and red.\n     Delightful change! Thus Indian ivory shows,\n     Which with the bordering paint of purple glows;\n     Or lilies damasked by the neighboring rose.\n                   DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK XII.\n\nBut Turnus would not listen to the advice of King Latinus or Queen\nAmata and so he sent his herald Idmon with a challenge to AEneas.\n\"Tell him,\" said he, \"not to lead his men against the Rutulians to-\nmorrow. Let both our armies rest, while by his sword and mine the war\nshall be decided.\" AEneas, who had himself already proposed this\nmethod of settling the quarrel, rejoiced to hear that now at length\nthe war was to be brought to an end on such terms. He therefore gladly\naccepted the challenge, and early next morning preparations were made\nfor the combat.\n\nA space of ground was measured off on the open plain in front of the\ncity walls, and in the center were erected altars of turf. The two\narmies were marshalled on opposite sides of this space, the Trojans\nand Etrurians on one side, the Rutulians and Latians on the other, and\nat a given signal every man fixed his spear in the earth, and laid\ndown his shield. On the towers and house tops the women and old men\ncrowded to witness the fight. King Latinus rode out from the city in a\nchariot drawn by four horses, and wearing on his head a crown with\ntwelve rays of gold. Turnus rode in a chariot drawn by two white\nsteeds, and he bore in each hand a javelin tipped with steel. On the\nother side, AEneas, brilliant in the arms which Vulcan had made,\nadvanced from his camp into the open space, accompanied by the young\nIulus. Then the customary sacrifices and offerings were made at the\naltars, after which the Trojan chief, unsheathing his sword, prayed\naloud to the gods, and pledged his people to the conditions of the\ncombat:--\n\n\"If victory in this fight shall fall to Turnus, the Trojans shall\nretire to Evander's city, and no more make war on the Latians or\nRutulians. But if victory fall to our side, even then I shall not\ncompel the Italians to be subject to the Trojans, for I desire not\nempire for myself. Both nations shall enter into alliance on equal\nterms, and Latinus shall still be king. The Trojans shall build a city\nfor me, and to it Lavinia shall give her name.\"\n\nThen Latinus calling on the gods to hear his words, and laying his\nhand upon the altar, swore for himself and his people that they would\nnever violate the treaty of peace, no matter how the combat of the day\nshould result.\n\n     \"By the same heaven (said he), and earth, and main,\n     And all the powers that all the three contain;\n     Whatever chance befall on either side,\n     No term of time this union shall divide;\n     No force, no fortune, shall my vows unbind,\n     Or shake the steadfast tenor of my mind.\"\n                          DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK XII.\n\nBut while the solemn ceremonies were being carried out at the altars,\nthe Rutulians began to show signs of dissatisfaction. It seemed to\nthem that the youthful Turnus was no equal match in arms for the\nveteran Trojan.\n\n     Already the Rutulians deemed their man\n     O'ermatched in arms, before the fight began.\n     First rising fears are whispered through the crowd;\n     Then, gathering sound, they murmur more aloud.\n     Now, side to side, they measure with their eyes\n     The champions' bulk, their sinews, and their size;\n     The nearer they approach, the more is known\n     The apparent disadvantage of their own.\n                      DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK XII.\n\nThen Ju-tur'na, the sister of Turnus, knowing of the feeling among the\nRutulians, resolved to bring about a violation of the truce which had\nbeen made. The goddess Juno had instigated her to do so, telling her\nthat the combat with AEneas would be fatal to her brother, and urging\nher to prevent it. With this object Juturna, who, being a favorite of\nJupiter, had been by him made a sea-nymph, and immortal, went into the\nmidst of the Rutulians, and assuming the form of Ca'mers, an\nillustrious warrior of their nation, thus addressed them. \"Is it not a\nshame, Rutulians, to permit one man to expose his life to danger for\nyou all? We are greater in number than the enemy and equal in valor.\nIf Turnus die in this fight, he indeed shall be famous forever, but we\nwho sit here inactive, shall, after losing our country, be the slaves\nof haughty masters.\"\n\nThese words incited the Rutulians to a desire for war, but Juturna\nstill further inflamed their minds by a singular omen. She caused to\nappear before them in the sky an eagle pursuing a flock of swans. The\neagle swooped down upon the swans where they had alighted on the water\nof the river, and seizing one in its talons, was carrying it off. But\nsuddenly the flock of swans arose, and darting in a solid body upon\nthe eagle, attacked him with such force that he dropped his prey and\nflew off into the clouds.\n\nThe Rutulians understood the meaning of this spectacle, and with loud\nshouts they began to make preparations for battle. One of their\nnumber, the augur To-lum'ni-us, cried out to them to take up their\nswords and fall upon the Trojan foreigner after the example of the\nbirds who, by united action, had just vanquished their enemy. Then\nrushing forward, Tolumnius cast a spear into the ranks of the Trojans.\nWhizzing through the air it struck an Arcadian youth, one of nine\nbrothers who were standing together in the Etrurian lines, and\npenetrating his side stretched him dead on the field.\n\nThus the truce was broken, and immediately a fierce battle began,\nwarriors on both sides hurling their darts and plying their swords,\nthe very altars being overthrown in the struggle. Latinus in deep\ngrief and disappointment retired from the scene, now that all hope of\npeace was at an end. But the Trojan chief, with his head uncovered,\nstretched forth his unarmed hand, and earnestly appealed to his own\npeople. \"Whither do you rush?\" he cried. \"How has this discord arisen?\nRestrain your rage, for the league is now formed, and all its terms\nsettled.\" While thus endeavoring to restore peace, the pious AEneas\nhimself was severely wounded.\n\n        --While he spoke, unmindful of defence,\n    A winged arrow struck the pious prince.\n    But whether from some human hand it came,\n    Or hostile god, is left unknown by fame;\n    No human hand, or hostile god, was found,\n    To boast the triumph of so base a wound.\n            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK XII.\n\nAEneas was led away to his tent, bleeding from his wound. Then Turnus\ncalled for his war chariot and his arms, and drove furiously over the\nplain into the midst of the Trojans, dealing death around him on every\nside.\n\n    He drives impetuous, and, where'er he goes,\n    He leaves behind a lane of slaughtered foes.\n            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK XII.\n\nOne brave Trojan warrior named Phe'geus made a gallant fight against\nTurnus. Leaping in front of the chariot, and seizing the bridles, he\nstrove with all his might to bring the horses to a stand. While he was\nbeing dragged along, clinging to the pole, a thrust from the lance of\nTurnus pierced his coat of mail and inflicted a slight wound. Still\nthe heroic Phegeus held on, and, turning towards his foe, endeavored\nto reach him with his sword, but just then, coming against the chariot\nwheels, he was hurled to the ground, and in a moment Turnus, with one\nblow, struck off his head.\n\nMeanwhile, AEneas attended by Mnestheus, the faithful Achates, and the\nyoung Iulus, lay bleeding in his camp. The barb of the arrow by which\nhe had been wounded still remained fixed in the flesh, and not even\nthe skillful surgeon I-a'pis, whom Apollo himself had instructed in\nmedicine, could extract it. But the goddess Venus once more came to\nthe relief of her son. While Iapis was fomenting the wound with water,\nthe goddess, unseen, dipped into the vessel a branch of dit'ta-ny, a\nplant famous for its healing qualities. At the same time she injected\ncelestial ambrosia, and juice of the all-curing herb pan-a-ce'a.\n\nInstantly the arrow dropped out, the wound healed up, and the Trojan\nchief recovered his full strength and vigor. Then Iapis exclaimed,\n\"Not by human hand has this cure been effected. Some powerful god,\nAEneas, has saved you for great enterprises.\" Immediately the hero put\non his armor; and before going out into the battle-field, he tenderly\nembraced his son and spoke to him words of counsel and encouragement.\n\n    In his mailed arms his child he pressed,\n    Kissed through his helm, and thus addressed:\n    \"Learn of your father to be great,\n    Of others to be fortunate.\n    This hand awhile shall be your shield\n    And lead you safe from field to field;\n    When grown yourself to manhood's prime,\n    Remember those of former time,\n    Recall each venerable name,\n        And catch heroic fire\n    From Hector's and AEneas' fame,\n        Your uncle and your sire.\"\n            CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK XII.\n\nAEneas now went forth to the fight. The chiefs and their followers,\nencouraged by the appearance of their leader, slew numbers of the\nenemy, including the augur Tolumnius, who had first broken the truce.\nBut the Trojan hero himself sought only for Turnus, and he pursued him\nover the plain. Juturna seeing this, assumed the shape and likeness of\nMe-tis'cus, her brother's charioteer, and taking his place upon the\nchariot, drove rapidly through the field, now here now there, but ever\nkeeping at a distance from the pursuing Trojan chief.\n\n    She steers a various course among the foes;\n    Now here, now there, her conquering brother shows;\n    Now with a straight, now with a wheeling flight,\n    She turns and bends, but shuns the single fight.\n    AEneas, fired with fury, breaks the crowd,\n    And seeks his foe, and calls by name aloud;\n    He runs within a narrower ring, and tries\n    To stop the chariot, but the chariot flies.\n            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK XII.\n\nAt length AEneas resolved to bring the battle and the war to a speedy\nend. While pursuing Turnus, he had noticed that the city was left\nwithout defence, all the Latian and Rutulian troops being engaged in\nthe field. Calling his chiefs quickly together, he told them of his\nplan. \"The city before us,\" said he, \"is the center of the enemy's\nstrength. It is now in our power. This day we may overturn it, and lay\nits smoking towers level with the ground. Am I to wait until it\npleases Turnus to accept my challenge? Quickly bring firebrands, and\nvery soon we shall establish peace.\"\n\nThe Trojan forces were at once marshalled, and led in a solid\nbattalion to the walls, where a vigorous assault forthwith commenced.\nSome rushed to the gates and slew the first they met, others hurled\ndarts into the city, and others, by means of scaling ladders, sought\nto climb over the ramparts. AEneas in a loud voice called the gods to\nwitness that he was now for the second time compelled to fight, and\nthat for a second time a solemn league had been violated by the\nLatians. Within the town dissension broke out among the alarmed\ncitizens, some urging that the gates should be opened to the Trojans,\nothers taking up arms to defend the walls.\n\nTurnus was in a distant part of the field when he heard of the attack\non the city. A messenger rode up to him in haste with the intelligence\nthat AEneas was about to overthrow the stately towers of Latium, and\nthat already flaming torches had been applied to the roofs. Then\nTurnus saw that the moment for action had come, and he cried out to\nhis sister (for notwithstanding her disguise he had known her from the\nfirst): \"Now, now, sister, my destiny prevails. Forbear to further\nstop me. Let me follow whither the gods call. I am resolved to enter\nthe lists with AEneas. No longer shall you see me in disgrace.\nWhatever bitterness there is in death I am ready to endure it.\"\n\nSo saying, Turnus sprang from his chariot, and bounding over the\nplain, rushed into the midst of the combatants at the gates of the\ncity. With outstretched arms he made a sign to his friends, and\ncalled upon them in a loud voice: \"Rutulians and Latians, cease\nfighting. Whatever fortune of the war remains is mine. It is for me\nalone by my sword to put an end to this strife.\"\n\nAEneas, hearing the challenge of Turnus, forsook the lofty walls and\ntowers, and hastened to encounter his foe. The hosts on both sides\nlaid down their arms. A space was cleared on the open plain, and\nimmediately the two heroes rushed to the combat, with hurling of darts\nand clashing of swords and shields.\n\n    They launch their spears; then hand to hand they meet;\n    The trembling soil resounds beneath their feet;\n    Their bucklers clash; thick blows descend from high,\n    And flakes of fire from their hard helmets fly.\n            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK XII.\n\nThe great fight now began. Turnus aimed a mighty blow at AEneas,\nraising himself on tiptoes, and adding to the force of the stroke the\nwhole weight of his body. But the blade snapped in two as it struck\nthe armor of the Trojan hero, thus leaving the Rutulian chief at the\nmercy of his foe. The weapon was one he had hastily snatched up\ninstead of his own when mounting his chariot for the first fight of\nthe day. It had served his purpose so long as he used it only on\nfleeing Trojans, but when it came against the armor made by Vulcan it\nbroke like ice. The unfortunate Rutulian now turned and fled over the\nfield, calling loudly on his friends to bring him his sword. AEneas\nfollowed in pursuit, threatening death to any one who should venture\nto approach, and thus five times round the lists they ran.\n\n     Five times they circle round the place,\n     Five times the winding course retrace;\n     No trivial game is here; the strife\n     Is waged for Turnus' own dear life.\n                 CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK XII.\n\nFinding that he could not overtake the fleeing Turnus, AEneas resolved\nagain to make trial of his celestial spear. At the outset of the\ncombat he had hurled this weapon with such force, that it fixed itself\ndeep in the stump of a wild olive tree that stood in the field. The\ntree had been sacred to the deity Faunus, but the Trojans had cut it\ndown to make a clear ground for their military movements. When AEneas\nattempted to wrench the spear out, Turnus prayed to Faunus to detain\nthe weapon.\n\n   \"O Faunus! pity! and thou, mother Earth,\n    Where I thy foster-son received my birth,\n    Hold fast the steel! If my religious hand\n    Your plant has honored, which your foes profaned,\n    Propitious hear my pious prayer.\"\n            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK XII.\n\nBut now the power of the gods was exercised on behalf of both heroes.\nWhile AEneas struggled in vain to extricate the javelin, Juturna,\nagain taking the form of Metiscus, ran forward to her brother and gave\nhim his own sword. Then Venus came to the aid of her son, and the\nsteel was easily drawn from the tough root. Once more the two chiefs\nstood ready for the combat, the one relying on his trusty sword, the\nother, on the spear which a god had made.\n\nMeanwhile the goddess Juno, sitting in a yellow cloud, was watching\nthe combat, and Jupiter, coming near, advised her to abandon her\nhopeless enmity to the Trojans, and forbade her to further resist the\ndecree of heaven. Juno was now ready to yield, but on one condition--\n\"When by this marriage they establish peace, let the people of Latium\nretain their ancient name and language. Let Latium subsist. Let the\nsons of Rome rise to imperial power by means of Italian valor. Troy\nhas perished. Let the name also perish.\" To this the king of heaven\nreplied: \"I grant what you desire. The Italians shall retain their\nnative language and customs. The Trojans shall settle in Latium and\nmingle with its people and all shall be called Latins and have but one\nspeech.\"\n\n   \"All shall be Latium; Troy without a name;\n    And her lost sons forget from whence they came.\n    From blood so mixed a pious race shall flow,\n    Equal to gods, excelling all below.\n    No nation more respect to you shall pay,\n    Or greater offerings on your altars lay.\"\n    Juno consents, well pleased that her desires\n    Had found success, and from the cloud retires.\n            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK XII.\n\nThen Jupiter sent one of the Furies down to the field of battle, in\nthe form of an owl, and the evil bird flew backwards and forwards in\nthe sight of Turnus, flapping its wings. The chief, knowing that this\nwas an unfavorable omen, hesitated to advance, and AEneas calling to\nhim aloud cried, \"Turnus, why do you further decline to fight? It is\nnot in running that we must now try our skill, but with arms in close\nconflict.\" \"I have no fear of you, insulting foe,\" answered Turnus.\n\"My dread is of the gods, who are against me.\" As he spoke, he saw on\nthe ground before him a huge stone, such as only a man of giant\nstrength could lift. Seizing it and poising it over his head he rushed\nforward, and hurled it against the enemy.\n\n     But wildering fears his mind unman;\n     Running, he knew not that he ran,\n       Nor throwing that he threw;\n     Heavily move his sinking knees;\n     The streams of life wax dull and freeze;\n     The stone, as through the void it passed,\n     Reached not the measure of its cast,\n       Nor held its purpose true.\n                   CONINGTON; _AEneid_, BOOK XII.\n\nAEneas, now taking careful aim, and putting forth the whole strength\nof his body, hurled his fatal spear. Like a whirlwind it flew, and\nwith mighty force breaking through the shield and corselet of the\nRutulian chief, pierced his thigh. Down to the earth he sank on his\nknees, and the Trojan chief rushed forward sword in hand. Then the\nvanquished hero besought the conqueror: \"I have deserved my fate, and\nI do not deprecate it, yet if any regard for an unhappy father can\nmove you, have compassion on the aged Daunus. You too had such a\nfather. You have triumphed. Lavinia is yours. Persist not further in\nhate.\"\n\nAEneas was much affected by this appeal. It almost moved him to spare\nthe life of his foe, but the belt of Pallas which the wounded man wore\nsealed his fate. As soon as it caught the eye of the Trojan he raised\nhis sword and with one blow avenged the death of the brave son of\nEvander.\n\n    Then, roused anew to wrath, he loudly cries\n    (Flames, while he spoke, came flashing from his eyes),\n    \"Traitor! dost thou, dost thou to grace pretend,\n    Clad, as thou art, in trophies of my friend?\n    To his sad soul a grateful offering go!\n    'Tis Pallas, Pallas gives this deadly blow!\"\n    He raised his arm aloft, and at the word,\n    Deep in his bosom drove the shining sword.\n    The streaming blood distained his arms around;\n    And the disdainful soul came rushing through the wound.\n            DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK XII.\n\n\nHere ends the story of AEneas as related by Vergil. There was no more\nto be told, that could properly come within the limits of the subject,\nas set forth in the opening lines of the AEneid:\n\n    Arms and the man I sing, who, forced by Fate,\n    And haughty Juno's unrelenting hate,\n    Expelled and exiled, left the Trojan shore.\n    Long labors, both by sea and land, he bore,\n    And in the doubtful war, before he won\n    The Latian realm, and built the destined town.\n\n\nThe poet undertook to tell about the wanderings of the hero, and his\nlong labors both by sea and land, up to the time he won a settlement\nin Italy. This was accomplished by the death of Turnus, which put an\nend to the war. The brave Rutulian chief made a gallant fight, but the\nfates were against him. He would probably have been the victor had his\nantagonist been any other than the man of destiny, who had the decrees\nof heaven always on his side.\n\nAs to the subsequent history of AEneas, the Roman traditions tell us\nthat he married the princess Lavinia, and built a city which was\ncalled after her name--Lavinium. Upon the death of his father-in-law,\nLatinus, he became king of Latium. But though he was then in\npossession of his long promised settlement, his wars were not entirely\nover, for we are told that he fought a battle with the Rutulians who,\nthough their king was dead, were still unwilling to submit to a\nforeigner. In this battle, which took place on the bank of the river\nNumicus, the Trojan hero mysteriously disappeared and was seen no\nmore. Some say he was drowned in the river, and that the Latins, not\nfinding the body, supposed he had been taken up to heaven, and\ntherefore offered him sacrifices as a god.\n\nOn the death of the hero, his son Iulus succeeded him, and built the\ncity of Alba Longa, which was ruled for many centuries by kings of the\nline of AEneas, whose descendants were the founders of Rome.\n\n     From whence the race of Alban Fathers come,\n     And the long glories of majestic Rome.","title":"Story of Aeneas","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":39781}