Vergil, Aeneid, Book 6, Lines navita quos iam inde ut Stygia prospexit ab unda 385

Transcription

1 Week 32: Translation Vergil, Aeneid, Book 6, Lines Book Ergo iter inceptum peragunt fluvioque propinquant. They therefore continue the course undertaken and approach the river. navita quos iam inde ut Stygia prospexit ab unda 385 As he looked at them [literally, whom ] from the Stygian wave per tacitum nemus ire pedemque advertere ripae, were going through the silent grove and turning their foot[steps] to the bank, sic prior adgreditur dictis atque increpat ultro: the ferryman first addresses them thus with words and further reproves them: 'quisquis es, armatus qui nostra ad flumina tendis, Whoever you are, who head toward our rivers armed, fare age, quid venias, iam istinc et comprime gressum. come now, say why you come, and hold your step now from there. umbrarum hic locus est, somni noctisque soporae: 390 This is the place of shades, of sleep, of night made drowsy: corpora viva nefas Stygia vectare carina. it is not permitted to carry living bodies in the Stygian boat.

2 nec vero Alciden me sum laetatus euntem Nor indeed did I rejoice that I had received the descendant of Alceus [i.e., Hercules], as he was going, accepisse lacu, nec Thesea Pirithoumque, on the lake, nor [did I rejoice that I received] Theseus and Pirithoüs, dis quamquam geniti atque invicti viribus essent. although they were born from the gods and undefeated in strength. Tartareum ille manu custodem in vincla petivit 395 That one [Hercules] sought to put the Tartarean guard [Cerberus] in chains ipsius a solio regis traxitque trementem; and dragged [Cerberus], trembling, from the throne of the king himself; hi dominam Ditis thalamo deducere adorti. These men [Theseus and Pirithoüs] attempted to abduct the queen of Dis [Persephone/Proserpina] from the bedchamber. quae contra breviter fata est Amphrysia vates: The Amphrysian prophet said these things briefly in return: 'nullae hic insidiae tales (absiste moveri), No such plots [are] here (stop being moved), nec vim tela ferunt; licet ingens ianitor antro 400 nor do the weapons bring violence; it is permitted that the huge doorkeeper

3 aeternum latrans exsanguis terreat umbras, barking eternally in his cave, terrify the bloodless shades, casta licet patrui servet Proserpina limen. it is permitted that chaste Proserpina protect her paternal uncle s threshold. Troius Aeneas, pietate insignis et armis, Trojan Aeneas, outstanding because of his piety and weapons, ad genitorem imas Erebi descendit ad umbras. descends to the deep shades of Erebus to his father. si te nulla movet tantae pietatis imago, 405 if no image of such great devotion moves you, at ramum hunc' (aperit ramum qui veste latebat) nevertheless you should recognize this bough (she reveals the bough which lay hidden in her robe) 'agnoscas.' tumida ex ira tum corda residunt; Then his heart[s], swollen from anger, settle down; nec plura his. ille admirans venerabile donum nor [do they say] more things than these. That one marveling at the awe-inspiring gift fatalis virgae longo post tempore visum of the fateful twig seen after a long time, caeruleam advertit puppim ripaeque propinquat. 410 turns his dark ship and approaches the shore.

4 inde alias animas, quae per iuga longa sedebant, From there he dislodges the other souls, which were sitting along the long ridges [i.e., boat s benches], deturbat laxatque foros; simul accipit alveo and releases the gangways; immediately he receives huge Aeneas in the hull ingentem Aenean. gemuit sub pondere cumba s The sewn-together skiff groaned beneath the weight utilis et multam accepit rimosa paludem. and full of leaks took on much swamp [water]. tandem trans fluvium incolumis vatemque virumque 415 Finally, across the river, he disembarks both the prophetess and the hero, unharmed, informi limo glaucaque exponit in ulua. in the shapeless mire and gray-green marsh grass. Cerberus haec ingens latratu regna trifauci Huge Cerberus lying, massive, in the facing cave, makes these realms personat adverso recubans immanis in antro. resound with three-throated barking. cui vates horrere videns iam colla colubris The prophetess, seeing that his necks now bristle with snakes melle soporatam et medicatis frugibus offam 420 presents to him [lit., to whom] a cake made drowsy with honey and drugged fruits.

5 obicit. ille fame rabida tria guttura pandens That one, laying open his three gullets because of ravenous hunger, corripit obiectam, atque immania terga resolvit snatches the offered [cake], and, he relaxes his vast backs fusus humi totoque ingens extenditur antro. poured out on the ground, and is spread out, huge, in the entire cave. occupat Aeneas aditum custode sepulto With its guardian buried, Aeneas takes possession of the entrance evaditque celer ripam inremeabilis undae. 425 and swift[ly] escapes the banks of the irretraceable wave.