Aeneid 1.387–401

The omen of the swans

In brief. Venus interrupts him and tells him to go on to the queen's palace. Pointing to twelve swans regathering after an eagle scattered them, she declares that his missing ships and men have likewise reached safety.

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Aen. 1.387Quisquis es, haud, crēdō, invīsus caelestibus aurās
vītālīs carpis, Tyriam quī advēnerīs urbem.'Whoever you are, you are not, I think, hated by the gods as you breathe the air of life, since you have reached the Tyrian city.Note. Quisquis es: 'whoever you are' (Venus keeps up the pretence). quī advēnerīs: causal relative clause with the subjunctive, 'since you have come'. aurās vītālīs carpis: 'you breathe the air of life'. Aen. 1.389Perge modo, atque hinc tē rēgīnae ad līmina perfer,
390Namque tibi reducēs sociōs classemque relātam
nūntiō, et in tūtum versīs aquilōnibus āctam,
nī frūstrā augurium vānī docuēre parentēs.Just go on, and take yourself from here to the queen's door. For I tell you that your comrades are returned and your fleet brought back, driven to safety by a shift of the north winds, unless my parents taught me augury in vain.Note. reducēs sociōs … classemque relātam: accusatives with nūntiō in indirect statement, esse understood. versīs aquilōnibus: ablative absolute. nī … docuēre: 'unless my parents taught me augury in vain'. Aen. 1.393Aspice bis sēnōs laetantīs agmine cycnōs,
aetheriā quōs lāpsa plagā Iovis āles apertō
395turbābat caelō;Look at the twelve swans rejoicing in a column, whom the bird of Jupiter, swooping from the region of the upper air, was scattering through the open sky;Note. bis sēnōs … cycnōs: 'twelve swans', matching Aeneas' twelve missing ships. Swans are sacred to Venus; the eagle (Iovis āles) is Jupiter's bird. laetantīs: -īs accusative plural. Aen. 1.395nunc terrās ōrdine longō
aut capere, aut captās iam dēspectāre videntur:
ut reducēs illī lūdunt strīdentibus ālīs,
et coetū cinxēre polum, cantūsque dedēre,
haud aliter puppēsque tuae pūbēsque tuōrum
400aut portum tenet aut plēnō subit ōstia vēlō.now in a long line they seem either to be settling on the ground or already looking down on the ground they have chosen: as they, come back, play with whirring wings, and have circled the sky in a flock and given their songs, just so your ships and your young men are either holding the harbour or entering its mouth under full sail.Note. ut … haud aliter: a correlative comparison, 'as … just so'. cinxēre … dedēre = cinxērunt, dedērunt. pūbēs tuōrum: 'the youth of your people'. The verb tenet / subit is singular with two subjects, agreeing with the nearer.

Aen. 1.401Perge modo, et, quā tē dūcit via, dīrige gressum.Just go on, and direct your steps where the road leads you.'Note. quā: 'where', relative adverb.

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Grammar in this passage: indirect statement ×1, ablative absolute ×2

Latin vocabulary for this passage (88 words)

quisquis, quidquid (quicquid)	whoever, whatever
sum, esse, fuī, futūrus	be
haud, adv.	not at all, by no means, not
crēdō, -dere, -didī, -ditus	believe
invīsus, -a, -um	hated, hateful (to: dat.)
caelestis, -e	heavenly; pl. as noun: the gods
aura, -ae, f.	air, breeze
vītālis, -e	of life, life-giving
carpō, -ere, -sī, -tus	pluck
Tyrius, -a, -um	of Tyre, Tyrian; (of Carthage, a Tyrian colony) Carthaginian
quī, quae, quod, rel. pron.	who, which
adveniō, -venīre, -vēnī, -ventus	come to or toward, approach, arrive
urbs, urbis, f.	city
pergō, -ere, perrēxī, perrēctum	go on, press on
modo, adv.	only
atque, ac (conj.)	and; after comparisons: as, than (ac only before consonants)
hinc, adv.	from this place, hence
tū, tuī, pers. pron.	thou, you
rēgīna, -ae, f.	queen
ad, prep. with acc.	to, toward; at, near; for
līmen, -minis, n.	threshold; door
perferō, -ferre, -tulī, -lātus	bear through, bear, endure; weather
namque, conj.	for
redux, -ucis	returning, brought back
socius, -ī, m.	companion, comrade, ally
classis, -is f.	fleet
que, enclitic conj.	and
referō, referre, rettulī, relātus	bring or carry back, return; pedem referre, to draw back, retire, retreat; grātiam referre, see grātia
nūntiō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus	report, announce
et, conj.	and; et ... et, both ... and
in, prep. with acc. and abl.	with acc.: into, onto, against; with abl.: in, on
tūtus, -a, -um	safe
vertō, vertere, vertī, versus	turn
aquilō, -ōnis m.	the north wind; the north-east wind
agō, agere, ēgī, āctus	drive; do; pass, lead; grātiās agere, see grātia
nī (conj.)	if not, unless (= nisi)
frūstrā, adv.	in vain
augurium, -ī n.	augury, the reading of signs from birds; omen
vānus, -a, -um	empty, idle, vain; in vanum: in vain
doceo, -ēre, -uī, -tus	teach, explain
parēns, -entis m./f.	parent
aspiciō, -spicere, -spēxī, -spectus	look at or on, behold
bis (adv.)	twice
sēnī, -ae, -a	six each, six at a time
laetor, -ārī, -ātus sum	rejoice, be glad
agmen, -minis, n.	band, column
cycnus, -ī m.	swan
aetherius, -a, -um	of the upper air, heavenly
lābor, lābī, lapsus	slip, glide, fall
plāga, -ae f.	blow, wound; affliction, illness
āles, ālitis m./f.	bird (especially a bird of omen)
apertus, -a, -um	open
turbō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus	confuse, throw into disorder, disturb, trouble
caelum, -ī, n.	heaven, sky
nunc, adv.	now
terra, -ae, f.	land, earth
ōrdō, ōrdinis, m.	arrangement, order, rank; ex ōrdine, in order
longus, -a, -um	long; tedious
aut, conj.	or; aut ... aut, either ... or
capiō, capere, cēpī, captus	take, catch, seize; receive, suffer; adopt
iam, adv.	now, already
dēspectō, -āre	look down on
videō, vidēre, vīdī, vīsus	see; pass., seem
ut, conj.	as; when; that; ita ut, as
ille, illa, illud, dem. pron.	that; he, she, it, they; ille ... hīc, see hīc
lūdō, -ere, lūsī, lūsum	play; mock, deceive
strīdeō, -ēre, strīdī	grate, gnash; strīdēre dentibus: grind the teeth
ala, -ae, f.	wing
coetus, -ūs m.	meeting, gathering, assembly
cingō, cingere, cinxī, cinctus	surround, gird
polus, -ī m.	pole; the sky, the heavens
cantus, -ūs, m.	singing, song
dō, dare, dedī, datus	give
aliter, adv.	in another way, otherwise, differently
puppis, -is f.	stern of a ship
tuus, -a, -um	thy, thine, your
pūbēs, -eris	adult, grown-up (of men of military age)
portus, -ūs, m.	harbor, haven, port
teneō, -ēre, -uī, -tus	hold, keep; hold back, restrain, stop
plēnus, -a, -um	full
subeō, -īre, -iī, -itus	go under; undergo, submit to, sustain, bear, endure
ōstium, -ī, n.	mouth, doorway, door
vēlum, -ī n.	sail
quā, adv.	in which place, where
dūcō, dūcere, dūxī, ductus	lead; make, dig; with or without in mātrimōnium, marry
via, -ae, f.	road, way
dīrigō (dērigō), -ere, -rēxī, -rēctus	set straight, arrange in line; dērēctus: straight
gressus, -ūs m.	step, pace; course

Vergil, Aeneid I. Latin text: J. B. Greenough (Boston, 1881), public domain; digital text from the Perseus Digital Library, CC BY-SA. Word analysis: LatinCy, then every word checked and corrected by hand. Vocabulary: F. Ritchie (1903, public domain) and entries written for this app. English translation, notes and grammar hints: written for this app.