Three ships the south wind catches and hurls on hidden rocks,
rocks amid the waves which Italians call the Altars, a vast reef banking
the sea.
rocks amid the waves which Italians call the Altars, a vast reef banking
the sea.
Virgil - Aeneid
Rouse thy winds to fury, and overwhelm their sinking vessels, or
drive them asunder and strew ocean with their bodies. Mine are twice
seven nymphs of passing loveliness; her who of them all is most
excellent in beauty, Deiopea, I will unite to thee in wedlock to be
thine for ever; that for this thy service she may fulfil all her years
at thy side, and make thee father of a beautiful race. '
Aeolus thus returned: 'Thine, O queen, the task to search whereto thou
hast desire; for me it is right to do thy bidding. From thee have I this
poor kingdom, from thee my sceptre and Jove's grace; thou dost grant me
to take my seat at the feasts of the gods, and makest me sovereign over
clouds and storms. '
Even with these words, turning his spear, he struck the side of the
hollow hill, and the winds, as in banded array, pour where passage is
given them, and cover earth with eddying blasts. East wind and west wind
together, and the gusty south-wester, falling prone on the sea, stir it
up [86-120]from its lowest chambers, and roll vast billows to the
shore. Behind rises shouting of men and whistling of cordage. In a
moment clouds blot sky and daylight from the Teucrians' eyes; black
night broods over the deep. Pole thunders to pole, and the air quivers
with incessant flashes; all menaces them with instant death. Straightway
Aeneas' frame grows unnerved and chill, and stretching either hand to
heaven, he cries thus aloud: 'Ah, thrice and four times happy they who
found their doom under high Troy town before their fathers' faces! Ah,
son of Tydeus, bravest of the Grecian race, that I could not have fallen
on the Ilian plains, and gasped out this my life beneath thine hand!
where under the spear of Aeacides lies fierce Hector, lies mighty
Sarpedon; where Simois so often bore beneath his whirling wave shields
and helmets and brave bodies of men. '
As the cry leaves his lips, a gust of the shrill north strikes full on
the sail and raises the waves up to heaven. The oars are snapped; the
prow swings away and gives her side to the waves; down in a heap comes a
broken mountain of water. These hang on the wave's ridge; to these the
yawning billow shows ground amid the surge, where the sea churns with
sand.
Three ships the south wind catches and hurls on hidden rocks,
rocks amid the waves which Italians call the Altars, a vast reef banking
the sea. Three the east forces from the deep into shallows and
quicksands, piteous to see, dashes on shoals and girdles with a
sandbank. One, wherein loyal Orontes and his Lycians rode, before their
lord's eyes a vast sea descending strikes astern. The helmsman is dashed
away and rolled forward headlong; her as she lies the billow sends
spinning thrice round with it, and engulfs in the swift whirl. Scattered
swimmers appear in the vast eddy, armour of men, timbers and Trojan
treasure amid the water. Ere now the stout ship of Ilioneus, ere now of
brave Achates, and she wherein [121-152]Abas rode, and she wherein aged
Aletes, have yielded to the storm; through the shaken fastenings of
their sides they all draw in the deadly water, and their opening seams
give way.
Meanwhile Neptune discerned with astonishment the loud roaring of the
vexed sea, the tempest let loose from prison, and the still water
boiling up from its depths, and lifting his head calm above the waves,
looked forth across the deep. He sees all ocean strewn with Aeneas'
fleet, the Trojans overwhelmed by the waves and the ruining heaven.
Juno's guile and wrath lay clear to her brother's eye; east wind and
west he calls before him, and thereon speaks thus:
'Stand you then so sure in your confidence of birth? Careless, O winds,
of my deity, dare you confound sky and earth, and raise so huge a coil?
you whom I--But better to still the aroused waves; for a second sin you
shall pay me another penalty. Speed your flight, and say this to your
king: not to him but to me was allotted the stern trident of ocean
empire. His fastness is on the monstrous rocks where thou and thine,
east wind, dwell: there let Aeolus glory in his palace and reign over
the barred prison of his winds. '
Thus he speaks, and ere the words are done he soothes the swollen seas,
chases away the gathered clouds, and restores the sunlight. Cymothoe and
Triton together push the ships strongly off the sharp reef; himself he
eases them with his trident, channels the vast quicksands, and assuages
the sea, gliding on light wheels along the water. Even as when oft in a
throng of people strife hath risen, and the base multitude rage in their
minds, and now brands and stones are flying; madness lends arms; then if
perchance they catch sight of one reverend for goodness and service,
they are silent and stand by with attentive ear; he with
[153-190]speech sways their temper and soothes their breasts; even so
hath fallen all the thunder of ocean, when riding forward beneath a
cloudless sky the lord of the sea wheels his coursers and lets his
gliding chariot fly with loosened rein.
drive them asunder and strew ocean with their bodies. Mine are twice
seven nymphs of passing loveliness; her who of them all is most
excellent in beauty, Deiopea, I will unite to thee in wedlock to be
thine for ever; that for this thy service she may fulfil all her years
at thy side, and make thee father of a beautiful race. '
Aeolus thus returned: 'Thine, O queen, the task to search whereto thou
hast desire; for me it is right to do thy bidding. From thee have I this
poor kingdom, from thee my sceptre and Jove's grace; thou dost grant me
to take my seat at the feasts of the gods, and makest me sovereign over
clouds and storms. '
Even with these words, turning his spear, he struck the side of the
hollow hill, and the winds, as in banded array, pour where passage is
given them, and cover earth with eddying blasts. East wind and west wind
together, and the gusty south-wester, falling prone on the sea, stir it
up [86-120]from its lowest chambers, and roll vast billows to the
shore. Behind rises shouting of men and whistling of cordage. In a
moment clouds blot sky and daylight from the Teucrians' eyes; black
night broods over the deep. Pole thunders to pole, and the air quivers
with incessant flashes; all menaces them with instant death. Straightway
Aeneas' frame grows unnerved and chill, and stretching either hand to
heaven, he cries thus aloud: 'Ah, thrice and four times happy they who
found their doom under high Troy town before their fathers' faces! Ah,
son of Tydeus, bravest of the Grecian race, that I could not have fallen
on the Ilian plains, and gasped out this my life beneath thine hand!
where under the spear of Aeacides lies fierce Hector, lies mighty
Sarpedon; where Simois so often bore beneath his whirling wave shields
and helmets and brave bodies of men. '
As the cry leaves his lips, a gust of the shrill north strikes full on
the sail and raises the waves up to heaven. The oars are snapped; the
prow swings away and gives her side to the waves; down in a heap comes a
broken mountain of water. These hang on the wave's ridge; to these the
yawning billow shows ground amid the surge, where the sea churns with
sand.
Three ships the south wind catches and hurls on hidden rocks,
rocks amid the waves which Italians call the Altars, a vast reef banking
the sea. Three the east forces from the deep into shallows and
quicksands, piteous to see, dashes on shoals and girdles with a
sandbank. One, wherein loyal Orontes and his Lycians rode, before their
lord's eyes a vast sea descending strikes astern. The helmsman is dashed
away and rolled forward headlong; her as she lies the billow sends
spinning thrice round with it, and engulfs in the swift whirl. Scattered
swimmers appear in the vast eddy, armour of men, timbers and Trojan
treasure amid the water. Ere now the stout ship of Ilioneus, ere now of
brave Achates, and she wherein [121-152]Abas rode, and she wherein aged
Aletes, have yielded to the storm; through the shaken fastenings of
their sides they all draw in the deadly water, and their opening seams
give way.
Meanwhile Neptune discerned with astonishment the loud roaring of the
vexed sea, the tempest let loose from prison, and the still water
boiling up from its depths, and lifting his head calm above the waves,
looked forth across the deep. He sees all ocean strewn with Aeneas'
fleet, the Trojans overwhelmed by the waves and the ruining heaven.
Juno's guile and wrath lay clear to her brother's eye; east wind and
west he calls before him, and thereon speaks thus:
'Stand you then so sure in your confidence of birth? Careless, O winds,
of my deity, dare you confound sky and earth, and raise so huge a coil?
you whom I--But better to still the aroused waves; for a second sin you
shall pay me another penalty. Speed your flight, and say this to your
king: not to him but to me was allotted the stern trident of ocean
empire. His fastness is on the monstrous rocks where thou and thine,
east wind, dwell: there let Aeolus glory in his palace and reign over
the barred prison of his winds. '
Thus he speaks, and ere the words are done he soothes the swollen seas,
chases away the gathered clouds, and restores the sunlight. Cymothoe and
Triton together push the ships strongly off the sharp reef; himself he
eases them with his trident, channels the vast quicksands, and assuages
the sea, gliding on light wheels along the water. Even as when oft in a
throng of people strife hath risen, and the base multitude rage in their
minds, and now brands and stones are flying; madness lends arms; then if
perchance they catch sight of one reverend for goodness and service,
they are silent and stand by with attentive ear; he with
[153-190]speech sways their temper and soothes their breasts; even so
hath fallen all the thunder of ocean, when riding forward beneath a
cloudless sky the lord of the sea wheels his coursers and lets his
gliding chariot fly with loosened rein.
