Aeneid 2.268–297

Aen. 2.268Tempus erat, quō prīma quiēs mortālibus aegrīs
incipit, et dōnō dīvom grātissima serpit.

It was the hour when first rest begins for weary mortals, and by the gift of the gods creeps over them, most welcome.

Note. quō: relative adverb-ablative of time, 'at which'. dōnō dīvom: dīvom = dīvōrum, the old genitive plural in -om (-um) that Vergil keeps for gods and peoples. grātissima agrees with quiēs, the subject of both incipit and serpit. Background: the book's second half opens at the moment of first deep sleep, the hour the Greeks chose; Aeneas' story now turns from the horse to the sack itself.

Aen. 2.270In somnīs, ecce, ante oculōs maestissimus Hector
vīsus adesse mihi, largōsque effundere flētūs,
raptātus bīgīs, ut quondam, āterque cruentō
pulvere, perque pedēs trāiectus lōra tumentīs.

In my sleep, look, before my eyes most sorrowful Hector seemed to stand by me and to pour out floods of tears, dragged by the two-horse chariot as once he was, and black with bloody dust, and pierced through his swollen feet with thongs.

Note. The main verb is vīsus (est), 'seemed', with two infinitives, adesse and effundere. raptātus, āter and trāiectus all describe Hector as he looked when Achilles dragged his body behind the chariot (bīgīs, abl. of means). pedēs … lōra tumentīs: trāiectus takes a Greek-style accusative of the part, 'pierced as to his feet', and lōra is a retained accusative, 'pierced with thongs'; tumentīs is acc. pl. in -īs with pedēs. Background: in Iliad 22 Achilles pierced Hector's ankles, tied thongs through them and dragged him round Troy; the ghost appears still bearing those wounds.

Aen. 2.274Ei mihi, quālis erat, quantum mūtātus ab illō
275Hectore, quī redit exuviās indūtus Achillī,
vel Danaum Phrygiōs iaculātus puppibus ignīs,
squālentem barbam et concrētōs sanguine crīnīs
volneraque illa gerēns, quae circum plūrima mūrōs
accēpit patriōs.

Ah me, what a sight he was, how changed from that Hector who returns clad in the spoils of Achilles, or who hurled Phrygian fire onto the ships of the Greeks, wearing a filthy beard and hair matted with blood, and those many wounds which he received around his native walls.

Note. Ei mihi: exclamation with dative, 'ah me'. quālis erat: indirect-question force in an exclamation. redit is a vivid present for a past event: 'that Hector who comes back' (in memory, wearing the armour of Achilles that he had stripped from Patroclus). Achillī: genitive of Achillēs in -ī, a Greek-name form. Danaum = Danaōrum. iaculātus: deponent, 'having hurled'; puppibus is dative, 'onto the ships'. gerēns governs barbam, crīnīs and volnera. Note volnus, the older spelling of vulnus.

Aen. 2.279Ultrō flēns ipse vidēbar
280Compellāre virum et maestās exprōmere vōcēs:
Ō lūx Dardaniae, spēs Ō fīdissima Teucrum,
quae tantae tenuēre morae?

Weeping myself, I seemed to speak first to the man and to bring out mournful words: 'O light of Dardania, O surest hope of the Teucrians, what long delay has held you?

Note. videbar with two infinitives, compellāre (from compellō, -āre, 'address', not compellō, -ere, 'drive') and exprōmere. ultrō: 'unprompted', i.e. Aeneas speaks first. Teucrum = Teucrōrum. tenuēre = tenuērunt, the poetic -ēre perfect. Aeneas in the dream does not know Hector is dead: he greets him as if he had been away.

Aen. 2.282Quibus Hector ab ōrīs
exspectāte venīs?

From what shores, Hector, long awaited, do you come?

Note. exspectāte is vocative of the participle, agreeing with Hector (also vocative): 'long-awaited Hector, from what shores do you come?'

Aen. 2.283Ut tē post multa tuōrum
fūnera, post variōs hominumque urbisque labōrēs
285dēfessī aspicimus!

How we look on you, worn out, after the many deaths of your people, after the varied sufferings of men and city!

Note. Ut … aspicimus: ut in an exclamation, 'how!' dēfessī agrees with the subject 'we'. The double -que in hominumque urbisque is an epic flourish, 'both of men and of city'.

Aen. 2.285Quae causa indigna serēnōs
foedāvit voltūs?

What shameful cause has disfigured your calm face?

Note. Quae causa indigna: interrogative adjective with a noun. voltūs is accusative plural used for a single face, common in verse.

Aen. 2.286Aut cūr haec volnera cernō?

Or why do I see these wounds?'

Aen. 2.287Ille nihil, nec mē quaerentem vāna morātur,
sed graviter gemitūs īmō dē pectore dūcēns,
Heu fuge, nāte dea, tēque hīs, ait, ēripe flammīs.

He says nothing, and does not linger over my idle questions, but drawing heavy groans from the depths of his breast, 'Ah, flee, goddess-born,' he says, 'and snatch yourself from these flames.

Note. Ille nihil (respondet): the verb is left out. nec … morātur: 'does not linger over', with mē quaerentem vāna as object, 'me asking empty questions'. nāte deā: vocative and ablative of origin, 'born of a goddess' (Venus). ēripe tē: reflexive, 'snatch yourself away'. Heu fuge is the hinge of the whole book: Aeneas is told to leave, and spends the next three hundred lines doing the opposite.

Aen. 2.290Hostis habet mūrōs;

The enemy holds the walls;

Aen. 2.290ruit altō ā culmine Troia.

Troy is falling from her lofty height.

Note. ruit: 'falls in ruin'. altō ā culmine: the image is of a building toppling from its roof-ridge, which the following scenes make literal.

Aen. 2.291Sat patriae Priamōque datum: sī Pergama dextrā
dēfendī possent, etiam hāc dēfēnsa fuissent.

Enough has been given to country and to Priam: if Pergamum could be defended by a right hand, it would have been defended by this one too.

Note. Sat … datum (est): impersonal passive, 'enough has been given'. A past contrary-to-fact condition with subjunctives: sī … dēfendī possent, … dēfēnsa fuissent. hāc (dextrā): Hector means his own right hand. Pergama is neuter plural, the citadel of Troy.

Aen. 2.293Sacra suōsque tibi commendat Troia penātīs:
hōs cape fātōrum comitēs, hīs moenia quaere
295magna, pererrātō statuēs quae dēnique pontō.

Troy entrusts to you her holy things and her household gods: take them as companions of your fate, seek for them the great walls which you will at last establish when you have wandered over the sea.'

Note. Troia is the subject: the city itself hands over its gods. penātīs: acc. pl. in -īs. hīs (dative) … quaere: 'seek for them'. Hyperbaton: moenia … magna, split by the line-end, with quae … statuēs a relative clause; pererrātō … pontō is ablative absolute, 'when the sea has been wandered over'. Background: this is the first statement in the poem of Aeneas' mission to carry Troy's gods to a new city.

Aen. 2.296Sīc ait, et manibus vittās Vestamque potentem
aeternumque adytīs effert penetrālibus ignem.

So he speaks, and with his hands brings out from the inmost shrine the fillets, mighty Vesta, and the undying fire.

Note. Vestam: Vesta stands for her image, and aeternum ignem for the hearth-fire of Troy, which Rome later kept burning in the temple of Vesta. adytīs … penetrālibus: ablative of place from which, 'from the inmost shrine'. In the dream Hector hands over the sacra; in waking life (sentence 24) Panthus brings them.