{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/wikisource_The_Age_of_Fable_Chapter_XXXI/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/wikisource_The_Age_of_Fable_Chapter_XXXI","id":"wikisource_The_Age_of_Fable_Chapter_XXXI","license":"Public Domain / CC-BY-SA (see source)","rights_basis":"wikisource_site_inclusion_policy","source":"wikisource","source_url":"https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Age_of_Fable/Chapter_XXXI","summary":null,"tags":["Headers_applying_DefaultSort_key","Subpages"],"text":"XXXI. ADVENTURES OF \u00c6NEAS, THE HARPIES; DIDO; PALINURUS\n\nADVENTURES OF \u00c6NEAS\n\nWe have followed one of the Grecian heroes, Ulysses, in his\nwanderings on his return home from Troy, and now we propose to\nshare the fortunes of the remnant of the conquered people, under\ntheir chief \u00c6neas, in their search for a new home, after the ruin\nof their native city. On that fatal night when the wooden horse\ndisgorged its contents of armed men, and the capture and\nconflagration of the city were the result, \u00c6neas made his escape\nfrom the scene of destruction, with his father, and his wife, and\nyoung son. The father, Anchises, was too old to walk with the\nspeed required, and \u00c6neas took him upon his shoulders. Thus\nburdened, leading his son and followed by his wife, he made the\nbest of his way out of the burning city; but, in the confusion,\nhis wife was swept away and lost.\n\nOn arriving at the place of rendezvous, numerous fugitives, of\nboth sexes, were found, who put themselves under the guidance of\n\u00c6neas. Some months were spent in preparation, and at length they\nembarked. They first landed on the neighboring shores of Thrace,\nand were preparing to build a city, but \u00c6neas was deterred by a\nprodigy. Preparing to offer sacrifice, he tore some twigs from one\nof the bushes. To his dismay the wounded part dropped blood. When\nhe repeated the act a voice from the ground cried out to him,\n\"Spare me, \u00c6neas; I am your kinsman, Polydore, here murdered with\nmany arrows, from which a bush has grown, nourished with my\nblood.\" These words recalled to the recollection of \u00c6neas that\nPolydore was a young prince of Troy, whom his father had sent with\nample treasures to the neighboring land of Thrace, to be there\nbrought up, at a distance from the horrors of war. The king to\nwhom he was sent had murdered him and seized his treasures. \u00c6neas\nand his companions, considering the land accursed by the stain of\nsuch a crime, hastened away.\n\nThey next landed on the island of Delos, which was once a floating\nisland, till Jupiter fastened it by adamantine chains to the\nbottom of the sea. Apollo and Diana were born there, and the\nisland was sacred to Apollo. Here \u00c6neas consulted the oracle of\nApollo, and received an answer, ambiguous as usual,\u2014\"Seek your\nancient mother; there the race of \u00c6neas shall dwell, and reduce\nall other nations to their sway.\" The Trojans heard with joy and\nimmediately began to ask one another, \"Where is the spot intended\nby the oracle?\" Anchises remembered that there was a tradition\nthat their forefathers came from Crete and thither they resolved\nto steer. They arrived at Crete and began to build their city, but\nsickness broke out among them, and the fields that they had\nplanted failed to yield a crop. In this gloomy aspect of affairs\n\u00c6neas was warned in a dream to leave the country and seek a\nwestern land, called Hesperia, whence Dardanus, the true founder\nof the Trojan race, had originally migrated. To Hesperia, now\ncalled Italy, therefore, they directed their future course, and\nnot till after many adventures and the lapse of time sufficient to\ncarry a modern navigator several times round the world, did they\narrive there.\n\nTheir first landing was at the island of the Harpies. These were\ndisgusting birds with the heads of maidens, with long claws and\nfaces pale with hunger. They were sent by the gods to torment a\ncertain Phineus, whom Jupiter had deprived of his sight, in\npunishment of his cruelty; and whenever a meal was placed before\nhim the Harpies darted down from the air and carried it off. They\nwere driven away from Phineus by the heroes of the Argonautic\nexpedition, and took refuge in the island where \u00c6neas now found them.\n\nWhen they entered the port the Trojans saw herds of cattle roaming\nover the plain. They slew as many as they wished and prepared for\na feast. But no sooner had they seated themselves at the table\nthan a horrible clamor was heard in the air, and a flock of these\nodious harpies came rushing down upon them, seizing in their\ntalons the meat from the dishes and flying away with it. \u00c6neas\nand his companions drew their swords and dealt vigorous blows\namong the monsters, but to no purpose, for they were so nimble it\nwas almost impossible to hit them, and their feathers were like\narmor impenetrable to steel. One of them, perched on a neighboring\ncliff, screamed out, \"Is it thus, Trojans, you treat us innocent\nbirds, first slaughter our cattle and then make war on ourselves?\"\nShe then predicted dire sufferings to them in their future course,\nand having vented her wrath flew away. The Trojans made haste to\nleave the country, and next found themselves coasting along the\nshore of Epirus. Here they landed, and to their astonishment\nlearned that certain Trojan exiles, who had been carried there as\nprisoners, had become rulers of the country. Andromache, the widow\nof Hector, became the wife of one of the victorious Grecian\nchiefs, to whom she bore a son. Her husband dying, she was left\nregent of the country, as guardian of her son, and had married a\nfellow-captive, Helenus, of the royal race of Troy. Helenus and\nAndromache treated the exiles with the utmost hospitality, and\ndismissed them loaded with gifts.\n\nFrom hence \u00c6neas coasted along the shore of Sicily and passed the\ncountry of the Cyclopes. Here they were hailed from the shore by a\nmiserable object, whom by his garments, tattered as they were,\nthey perceived to be a Greek. He told them he was one of Ulysses's\ncompanions, left behind by that chief in his hurried departure. He\nrelated the story of Ulysses's adventure with Polyphemus, and\nbesought them to take him off with them as he had no means of\nsustaining his existence where he was but wild berries and roots,\nand lived in constant fear of the Cyclopes. While he spoke\nPolyphemus made his appearance; a terrible monster, shapeless,\nvast, whose only eye had been put out. He walked with cautious steps, feeling his way with\na staff, down to the sea-side, to wash his eye-socket in the\nwaves. When he reached the water, he waded out towards them, and\nhis immense height enabled him to advance far into the sea, so\nthat the Trojans, in terror, took to their oars to get out of his\nway. Hearing the oars, Polyphemus shouted after them, so that the\nshores resounded, and at the noise the other Cyclopes came forth\nfrom their caves and woods and lined the shore, like a row of\nlofty pine trees. The Trojans plied their oars and soon left them\nout of sight.\n\n\u00c6neas had been cautioned by Helenus to avoid the strait guarded\nby the monsters Scylla and Charybdis. There Ulysses, the reader\nwill remember, had lost six of his men, seized by Scylla while the\nnavigators were wholly intent upon avoiding Charybdis. \u00c6neas,\nfollowing the advice of Helenus, shunned the dangerous pass and\ncoasted along the island of Sicily.\n\nJuno, seeing the Trojans speeding their way prosperously towards\ntheir destined shore, felt her old grudge against them revive, for\nshe could not forget the slight that Paris had put upon her, in\nawarding the prize of beauty to another. In heavenly minds can\nsuch resentments dwell.\nAccordingly she hastened to \u00c6olus, the ruler of the winds,\u2014the\nsame who supplied Ulysses with favoring gales, giving him the\ncontrary ones tied up in a bag. \u00c6olus obeyed the goddess and sent\nforth his sons, Boreas, Typhon, and the other winds, to toss the\nocean. A terrible storm ensued and the Trojan ships were driven\nout of their course towards the coast of Africa. They were in\nimminent danger of being wrecked, and were separated, so that\n\u00c6neas thought that all were lost except his own.\n\nAt this crisis, Neptune, hearing the storm raging, and knowing\nthat he had given no orders for one, raised his head above the\nwaves, and saw the fleet of \u00c6neas driving before the gale.\nKnowing the hostility of Juno, he was at no loss to account for\nit, but his anger was not the less at this interference in his\nprovince. He called the winds and dismissed them with a severe\nreprimand. He then soothed the waves, and brushed away the clouds\nfrom before the face of the sun. Some of the ships which had got\non the rocks he pried off with his own trident, while Triton and a\nsea-nymph, putting their shoulders under others, set them afloat\nagain. The Trojans, when the sea became calm, sought the nearest\nshore, which was the coast of Carthage, where \u00c6neas was so happy\nas to find that one by one the ships all arrived safe, though\nbadly shaken.\n\n\u00a0\n\nWaller, in his \"Panegyric to the Lord Protector\" (Cromwell),\nalludes to this stilling of the storm by Neptune:\n\n\"Above the waves, as Neptune showed his face,\n\nTo chide the winds and save the Trojan race,\n\nSo has your Highness, raised above the rest,\n\nStorms of ambition tossing us repressed.\"\n\nDIDO\n\nCarthage, where the exiles had now arrived, was a spot on the\ncoast of Africa opposite Sicily, where at that time a Tyrian\ncolony under Dido, their queen, were laying the foundations of a\nstate destined in later ages to be the rival of Rome itself. Dido\nwas the daughter of Belus, king of Tyre, and sister of Pygmalion,\nwho succeeded his father on the throne. Her husband was Sich\u00e6us,\na man of immense wealth, but Pygmalion, who coveted his treasures,\ncaused him to be put to death. Dido, with a numerous body of\nfriends and followers, both men and women, succeeded in effecting\ntheir escape from Tyre, in several vessels, carrying with them the\ntreasures of Sich\u00e6us. On arriving at the spot which they selected\nas the seat of their future home, they asked of the natives only\nso much land as they could enclose with a bull's hide. When this\nwas readily granted, she caused the hide to be cut into strips,\nand with them enclosed a spot on which she built a citadel, and\ncalled it Byrsa (a hide). Around this fort the city of Carthage\nrose, and soon became a powerful and flourishing place.\n\nSuch was the state of affairs when \u00c6neas with his Trojans arrived\nthere. Dido received the illustrious exiles with friendliness and\nhospitality. \"Not unacquainted with distress,\" she said, \"I have\nlearned to succor the unfortunate.\" The queen's hospitality displayed itself in\nfestivities at which games of strength and skill were exhibited.\nThe strangers contended for the palm with her own subjects, on\nequal terms, the queen declaring that whether the victor were\n\"Trojan or Tyrian should make no difference to her.\" At the feast which followed the\ngames, \u00c6neas gave at her request a recital of the closing events\nof the Trojan history and his own adventures after the fall of the\ncity. Dido was charmed with his discourse and filled with\nadmiration of his exploits. She conceived an ardent passion for\nhim, and he for his part seemed well content to accept the\nfortunate chance which appeared to offer him at once a happy\ntermination of his wanderings, a home, a kingdom, and a bride.\nMonths rolled away in the enjoyment of pleasant intercourse, and\nit seemed as if Italy and the empire destined to be founded on its\nshores were alike forgotten. Seeing which, Jupiter despatched\nMercury with a message to \u00c6neas recalling him to a sense of his\nhigh destiny, and commanding him to resume his voyage.\n\n\u00c6neas parted from Dido, though she tried every allurement and\npersuasion to detain him. The blow to her affection and her pride\nwas too much for her to endure, and when she found that he was\ngone, she mounted a funeral pile which she had caused to be\nerected, and having stabbed herself was consumed with the pile.\nThe flames rising over the city were seen by the departing\nTrojans, and, though the cause was unknown, gave to \u00c6neas some\nintimation of the fatal event.\n\nThe following epigram we find in \"Elegant Extracts\":\n\nFrom The Latin\n\n\"Unhappy, Dido, was thy fate\n\nIn first and second married state!\n\nOne husband caused thy flight by dying,\n\nThy death the other caused by flying\"\n\nPALINURUS\n\nAfter touching at the island of Sicily, where Acestes, a prince of\nTrojan lineage, bore sway, who gave them a hospitable reception,\nthe Trojans re-embarked, and held on their course for Italy. Venus\nnow interceded with Neptune to allow her son at last to attain the\nwished-for goal and find an end of his perils on the deep. Neptune\nconsented, stipulating only for one life as a ransom for the rest.\nThe victim was Palinurus, the pilot. As he sat watching the stars,\nwith his hand on the helm, Somnus sent by Neptune approached in\nthe guise of Phorbas and said: \"Palinurus, the breeze is fair, the\nwater smooth, and the ship sails steadily on her course. Lie down\nawhile and take needful rest. I will stand at the helm in your\nplace.\" Palinurus replied, \"Tell me not of smooth seas or favoring\nwinds,\u2014me who have seen so much of their treachery. Shall I\ntrust \u00c6neas to the chances of the weather and the winds?\" And he\ncontinued to grasp the helm and to keep his eyes fixed on the\nstars. But Somnus waved over him a branch moistened with Lethaean\ndew, and his eyes closed in spite of all his efforts. Then Somnus\npushed him overboard and he fell; but keeping his hold upon the\nhelm, it came away with him. Neptune was mindful of his promise\nand kept the ship on her track without helm or pilot, till \u00c6neas\ndiscovered his loss, and, sorrowing deeply for his faithful\nsteersman, took charge of the ship himself.\n\nThere is a beautiful allusion to the story of Palinurus in Scott's\n\"Marmion,\" Introduction to Canto I., where the poet, speaking of\nthe recent death of William Pitt, says:\n\n\"O, think how, to his latest day,\n\nWhen death just hovering claimed his prey,\n\nWith Palinure's unaltered mood,\n\nFirm at his dangerous post he stood;\n\nEach call for needful rest repelled,\n\nWith dying hand the rudder held,\n\nTill in his fall, with fateful sway,\n\nThe steerage of the realm gave way.\"\n\nThe ships at last reached the shores of Italy, and joyfully did\nthe adventurers leap to land. While his people were employed in\nmaking their encampment \u00c6neas sought the abode of the Sibyl. It\nwas a cave connected with a temple and grove, sacred to Apollo and\nDiana. While \u00c6neas contemplated the scene, the Sibyl accosted\nhim. She seemed to know his errand, and under the influence of the\ndeity of the place, burst forth in a prophetic strain, giving dark\nintimations of labors and perils through which he was destined to\nmake his way to final success. She closed with the encouraging\nwords which have become proverbial: \"Yield not to disasters, but\npress onward the more bravely.\" \u00c6neas replied that he had prepared himself for\nwhatever might await him. He had but one request to make. Having\nbeen directed in a dream to seek the abode of the dead in order to\nconfer with his father, Anchises, to receive from him a revelation\nof his future fortunes and those of his race, he asked her\nassistance to enable him to accomplish the task. The Sibyl\nreplied, \"The descent to Avernus is easy: the gate of Pluto stands\nopen night and day; but to retrace one's steps and return to the\nupper air, that is the toil, that the difficulty.\" She instructed him to seek in the forest\na tree on which grew a golden branch. This branch was to be\nplucked off and borne as a gift to Proserpine, and if fate was\npropitious it would yield to the hand and quit its parent trunk,\nbut otherwise no force could rend it away. If torn away, another\nwould succeed.\n\n\u00c6neas followed the directions of the Sibyl. His mother, Venus,\nsent two of her doves to fly before him and show him the way, and\nby their assistance he found the tree, plucked the branch, and\nhastened back with it to the Sibyl.","title":"The Age of Fable/Chapter XXXI","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":2743}