Aeneid 4.219–236

Jupiter sends Mercury

In brief. Hearing the prayer, Jupiter sends Mercury to Aeneas. Aeneas, he says, was meant to rule Italy and found a race that would bring the world under its laws; if he will not work for his own fame, he should not deny Ascanius Rome.

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Aen. 4.219Tālibus ōrantem dictīs ārāsque tenentem
220audiit omnipotēns, oculōsque ad moenia torsit
rēgia et oblītōs fāmae meliōris amantēs.As he prayed with such words and held the altars, the Almighty heard him, and turned his eyes to the royal city and to the lovers who had forgotten their better name.Note. ārās … tenentem: suppliants held the altar. omnipotēns: Jupiter. Aen. 4.222Tum sīc Mercurium adloquitur ac tālia mandat:
Vāde age, nāte, vocā Zephyrōs et lābere pennīs,
Dardaniumque ducem, Tyriā Karthāgine quī nunc
225exspectat, fātīsque datās nōn respicit urbēs,
adloquere, et celerīs dēfer mea dicta per aurās.Then he speaks to Mercury and gives him these orders: 'Go, come, my son, call the West Winds and glide on your wings, and speak to the Dardan leader who now lingers in Tyrian Carthage and does not look to the cities granted him by fate, and take my words down through the swift air.Note. Vāde age: 'go, come on'. Zephyrōs: the West Winds. lābere: present imperative of the deponent lābor, 'glide'. adloquere: imperative of the deponent alloquor. celerīs: accusative plural with aurās. Aen. 4.227Nōn illum nōbīs genetrīx pulcherrima tālem
prōmīsit, Grāiumque ideō bis vindicat armīs;It was not such a man his most beautiful mother promised us, and not for this does she twice rescue him from the arms of the Greeks;Note. genetrīx pulcherrima: Venus. Grāium (= Grāiōrum) … armīs: from the weapons of the Greeks; Venus saved him from Diomedes in the Iliad and from the burning of Troy in Book 2. Aen. 4.229sed fore, quī gravidam imperiīs bellōque frementem
230Ītaliam regeret, genus altō ā sanguine Teucrī
prōderet, ac tōtum sub lēgēs mitteret orbem.but he was to be the one who would rule Italy, pregnant with empire and roaring with war, hand down a race from the high blood of Teucer, and bring the whole world under its laws.Note. fore quī … regeret: 'but (she promised) that he would be the one who would rule'. gravidam imperiīs: 'pregnant with empires'. Teucrī: Teucer, ancestor of the Trojans.

Aen. 4.232Sī nūlla accendit tantārum glōria rērum,
nec super ipse suā mōlītur laude labōrem,
Ascaniōne pater Rōmānās invidet arcēs?If no glory of such great deeds fires him, and he does not take up the labour for his own fame, does the father begrudge Ascanius the citadels of Rome?Note. super … suā … laude: 'for his own glory'. Ascaniōne: Ascaniō + -ne; invideō takes the dative of the person, 'does he grudge Ascanius the citadels of Rome?' Aen. 4.235Quid struit, aut quā spē inimīcā in gente morātur,
nec prōlem Ausoniam et Lāvīnia respicit arva?What is he building, or with what hope does he linger among a hostile people, and not look to his Ausonian descendants and the fields of Lavinium?Note. Quid struit: 'what is he planning?' Ausoniam: Ausonia is a poetic name for Italy. Lāvīnia arva: the fields of Lavinium, where Aeneas is destined to found his city.

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Latin vocabulary for this passage (102 words)

tālis, -e	such
ōrō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus	speak; beg, pray
dictum, -ī n.	word, order (dictō audiēns: obedient)
āra, -ae, f.	altar
que, enclitic conj.	and
teneō, -ēre, -uī, -tus	hold, keep; hold back, restrain, stop
audiō, -īre, -īvī, -ītus	hear; listen or attend to
omnipotēns, -entis	all-powerful
oculus, -ī, m.	eye
ad, prep. with acc.	to, toward; at, near; for
moenia, -ium, n. plur.	walls
torqueō, torquēre, torsī, tortus	turn
rēgius, -a, -um	royal, kingly
et, conj.	and; et ... et, both ... and
oblīvīscor, -līvīscī, -lītus	forget
fāma, -ae, f.	report, rumor
bonus, -a, -um	good
amō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus	love
tum, adv.	then, at that time
sīc, adv.	so, thus
alloquor (adloquor), -loquī, -locūtus sum	speak to, address
atque, ac (conj.)	and; after comparisons: as, than (ac only before consonants)
mandō, -dāre, -dāvī, -dātus	put in hand, intrust, commit; charge, command
vādō, -ere	go
agō, agere, ēgī, āctus	drive; do; pass, lead; grātiās agere, see grātia
nātus, -ī m.	son; (pl.) children
vocō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus	call, summon
lābor, lābī, lapsus	slip, glide, fall
penna, -ae f.	feather; (pl.) wings
Dardanius, -a, -um	Dardanian, of Dardanus; Trojan
dux, ducis, m. and f.	leader, commander
Tyrius, -a, -um	of Tyre, Tyrian; (of Carthage, a Tyrian colony) Carthaginian
quī, quae, quod, rel. pron.	who, which
nunc, adv.	now
exspectō, -spectāre, -spectāvī, -spectātus	look out for, wait for, await, expect; wait
fātum, -ī, n.	destiny, fate
dō, dare, dedī, datus	give
nōn, adv.	not
respiciō, -ere, -spexī, -spectum	look back
urbs, urbis, f.	city
celer, celeris, celere	swift, quick
dēferō, -ferre, -tulī, -lātus	bear or carry away or off
meus, -a, -um	my, mine
per, prep, with ace.	through, by means of
aura, -ae, f.	air, breeze
ille, illa, illud, dem. pron.	that; he, she, it, they; ille ... hīc, see hīc
nōs	plur. of ego
genetrīx, -īcis f.	mother
pulcher, pulchra, pulchrum	beautiful
prōmittō, -mittere, -mīsī, -missus	send or put forth, promise
Grāius, -a, -um	Greek; saltus Graius: the Graian (Little St Bernard) pass in the Alps
ideō (adv.)	for that reason, therefore
bis (adv.)	twice
vindicō, -āre, -āvī, -ātum	punish; claim
arma, -ōrum, n. plur.	arms, weapons
sed, conj.	but
sum, esse, fuī, futūrus	be
gravidus, -a, -um	pregnant
imperium, -ī, n.	command; sway, rule
bellum, -ī, n.	war
fremō, -ere, -uī, -itum	roar, growl; grumble (in + acc.: at)
regō, -ere, rēxī, rēctum	guide, steer, rule
genus, generis, n.	kind, nature
altus, -a, -um	high, deep; altum, -ī, n., the deep
ā, ab (prep. + abl.)	away from, from; by (ā only before consonants)
sanguis, sanguinis, m.	blood
prōdō, -ere, -didī, -ditum	hand down; betray
tōtus, -a, -um	all the, the whole or entire
sub, prep. with acc. and abl.	under; sub vesperum, towards evening
lēx, lēgis f.	law
mittō, mittere, mīsī, missus	send
orbis, -is, m.	circle; orbis terrae or terrārum, circle of the earth or lands, earth, world
sī, conj.	if
nūllus, -a, -um	not any, none, no
accendō, -cendere, -cendī, -cēnsus	kindle, light
tantus, -a, -um	so great or much
glōria, -ae, f.	glory
rēs, reī, f.	thing, matter, affair, circumstance, situation; rē vērā, in truth, in fact, really
neque or nec, conj.	and not, nor; neque ... neque, neither ... nor; neque enim, for ... not
super (prep. + acc. or abl.; also adv.)	over, above, on top of; upon; about, concerning
ipse, ipsa, ipsum, intensive pron.	self, himself, herself, itself, themselves; often to be rendered by very
suus, -a, -um	his, her, its, or their own; his, her, its, their
mōlior, -īrī, -ītus sum	work at, contrive, plot
laus, laudis f.	praise, glory
labor, -ōris, m.	labor, toil
pater, patris, m.	father
Rōmānus, -a, -um	Roman
invideō, -ēre, invīdī, invīsum (+ dat.)	envy, be jealous of
arx, arcis f.	citadel, stronghold
quis, quid, interrog. pron.	who? which? what?
struō, -ere, strūxī, strūctus	build, construct; arrange
aut, conj.	or; aut ... aut, either ... or
quī, quae, quod, interrog. pron. adj.	what?
spēs, speī, f.	hope
inimīcus, -a, -um	unfriendly, hostile
in, prep. with acc. and abl.	with acc.: into, onto, against; with abl.: in, on
gēns, gentis, f.	race, nation
moror, -ārī, -ātus	delay, linger, stay
prōlēs, -is f.	offspring, children
Ausonius, -a, -um	Ausonian, Italian (Ausonia: a poetic name for Italy)
Lāvīnius, -a, -um	of Lavinium, Lavinian
arvum, -ī n.	ploughed field, field

Vergil, Aeneid IV. 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.