Aeneid 4.129-183 Oceanum interea surgens Aurora reliquit.

Meanwhile Dawn surges up and leaves the ocean.

it portis iubare exorto delecta iuuentus, 130

Once she has risen, the chosen men pour from the gates:
retia rara, plagae, lato uenabula ferro,

Massylian horsemen ride out, with wide-meshed nets,

Massylique ruunt equites et odora canum uis.

snares, broad-headed hunting spears, and a pack

reginam thalamo cunctantem ad limina primi

of keen-scented hounds. The queen lingers in her rooms,

Poenorum exspectant, ostroque insignis et auro

while Punic princes wait at the threshold: her horse stands there,
stat sonipes ac frena ferox spumantia mandit. 135

bright in purple and gold, and champs fiercely at the foaming bit.
tandem progreditur magna stipante caterua

At last she appears, with a great crowd around her,

Sidoniam picto chlamydem circumdata limbo;

dressed in a Sidonian robe with an embroidered hem.

cui pharetra ex auro, crines nodantur in aurum,

Her quivers of gold, her hair knotted with gold,

aurea purpuream subnectit fibula uestem.

a golden brooch fastens her purple tunic.

nec non et Phrygii comites et laetus Iulus 140

Her Trojan friends and joyful Iulus are with her:

Aeneid 4.129-183 incedunt. ipse ante alios pulcherrimus omnis

Aeneas himself, the most handsome of them all,

infert se socium Aeneas atque agmina iungit.

moves forward and joins his friendly troop with hers.

qualis ubi hibernam Lyciam Xanthique fluenta

Like Apollo, leaving behind the Lycian winter,

deserit ac Delum maternam inuisit Apollo

and the streams of Xanthus, and visiting his mothers Delos,

instauratque choros, mixtique altaria circum 145

to renew the dancing, Cretans and Dryopes and painted

Cretesque Dryopesque fremunt pictique Agathyrsi;

Agathyrsians, mingling around his altars, shouting:

ipse iugis Cynthi graditur mollique fluentem

he himself striding over the ridges of Cynthus,

fronde premit crinem fingens atque implicat auro,

his hair dressed with tender leaves, and clasped with gold,
tela sonant umeris: haud illo segnior ibat

the weapons rattling on his shoulder: so Aeneas walks,

Aeneas, tantum egregio decus enitet ore. 150

as lightly, beauty like the gods shining from his noble face.
postquam altos uentum in montis atque inuia lustra,

When they reach the mountain heights and pathless haunts,

ecce ferae saxi deiectae uertice caprae

Aeneid 4.129-183

see the wild goats, disturbed on their stony summits,

decurrere iugis; alia de parte patentis

course down the slopes: in another place deer speed

transmittunt cursu campos atque agmina cerui

over the open field, massing together in a fleeing herd

puluerulenta fuga glomerant montisque relinquunt. 155

among clouds of dust, leaving the hillsides behind.

at puer Ascanius mediis in uallibus acri

But the young Ascanius among the valleys, delights

gaudet equo iamque hos cursu, iam praeterit illos,

in his fiery horse, passing this rider and that at a gallop, hoping
spumantemque dari pecora inter inertia uotis

that amongst these harmless creatures a boar, with foaming mouth,

optat aprum, aut fuluum descendere monte leonem.

might answer his prayers, or a tawny lion, down from the mountain.
Interea magno misceri murmure caelum 160

Meanwhile the sky becomes filled with a great rumbling:

incipit, insequitur commixta grandine nimbus,

rain mixed with hail follows, and the Tyrian company

et Tyrii comites passim et Troiana iuuentus

and the Trojan men, with Venuss Dardan grandson,

Dardaniusque nepos Veneris diuersa per agros

scatter here and there through the fields, in their fear,

Aeneid 4.129-183 tecta metu petiere; ruunt de montibus amnes.

seeking shelter: torrents stream down from the hills.

speluncam Dido dux et Troianus eandem 165

Dido and the Trojan leader reach the very same cave.
deueniunt. prima et Tellus et pronuba Iuno

Primeval Earth and Juno of the Nuptials give their signal:

dant signum; fulsere ignes et conscius aether

lightning flashes, the heavens are party to their union,

conubiis summoque ulularunt uertice Nymphae.

and the Nymphs howl on the mountain heights.

ille dies primus leti primusque malorum

That first day is the source of misfortune and death.

causa fuit; neque enim specie famaue mouetur 170

Didos no longer troubled by appearances or reputation,

nec iam furtiuum Dido meditatur amorem:

she no longer thinks of a secret affair: she calls it marriage:

coniugium uocat, hoc praetexit nomine culpam.

and with that name disguises her sin.

Extemplo Libyae magnas it Fama per urbes,

Rumour raced at once through Libyas great cities,

Fama, malum qua non aliud uelocius ullum:

Rumour, compared with whom no other is as swift.

mobilitate uiget uirisque adquirit eundo, 175

Aeneid 4.129-183

She flourishes by speed, and gains strength as she goes:

parua metu primo, mox sese attollit in auras

first limited by fear, she soon reaches into the sky,

ingrediturque solo et caput inter nubila condit.

walks on the ground, and hides her head in the clouds.

illam Terra parens ira inritata deorum

Earth, incited to anger against the gods, so they say,

extremam, ut perhibent, Coeo Enceladoque sororem

bore her last, a monster, vast and terrible, fleet-winged

progenuit pedibus celerem et pernicibus alis, 180

and swift-footed, sister to Coeus and Enceladus,

monstrum horrendum, ingens, cui quot sunt corpore plumae,

who for every feather on her body has as many

tot uigiles oculi subter (mirabile dictu),

watchful eyes below (marvellous to tell), as many

tot linguae, totidem ora sonant, tot subrigit auris.

tongues speaking, as many listening ears.