Aeneid 6.302–336

Aen. 6.302Ipse ratem contō subigit, vēlīsque ministrat,
et ferrūgineā subvectat corpora cymbā,
iam senior, sed crūda deō viridisque senectūs.

He himself pushes the boat along with a pole, tends the sails, and ferries the bodies in his rust-dark skiff, old now, but a god's old age is fresh and green.

Note. Ipse is Charon, the ferryman of the dead, described in the lines just before. contō: ablative of means, 'with a pole'. subigit: 'pushes along' a punt. vēlīs ministrat: 'tends the sails', with vēlīs dative. ferrūgineā … cymbā: 'rust-coloured', the dark reddish-grey of iron rust. senior: 'rather old', the comparative used without a comparison. crūda deō viridisque senectūs: supply est; deō is a dative of possession, 'the god has a fresh and green old age'. Charon is old but cannot decay, because he is a god.

Aen. 6.305Hūc omnis turba ad rīpās effūsa ruēbat,
mātrēs atque virī, dēfūnctaque corpora vītā
magnanimum hērōum, puerī innūptaeque puellae,
impositīque rogīs iuvenēs ante ōra parentum:
quam multa in silvīs autumnī frīgore prīmō
310lāpsa cadunt folia, aut ad terram gurgite ab altō
quam multae glomerantur avēs, ubi frīgidus annus
trāns pontum fugat, et terrīs immittit aprīcīs.

Here the whole crowd was pouring and rushing to the banks: mothers and men, and the bodies of great-hearted heroes done with life, boys and unwed girls, and young men laid on the pyre before their parents' eyes, as many as the leaves that slip and fall in the woods at the first frost of autumn, or as many as the birds that flock to land from the deep sea, when the cold season drives them across the water and sends them to sunny lands.

Note. ruēbat: the imperfect of a scene going on. dēfūncta … corpora vītā: dēfungor takes the ablative, 'done with life'. magnanimum = magnanimōrum. The lines from mātrēs to parentum repeat Georgics 4.475–477, where Orpheus goes down to the dead. Two famous similes follow, each introduced by quam multa / quam multae, 'as many as'. The comparison of the dead to falling leaves goes back to Homer (Iliad 6.146) and was taken up by Dante and Milton. lapsa cadunt folia: the spondees slow the fall. Birds migrating to sunny lands (terrīs … aprīcīs, dative) suggest souls longing to cross to a better shore.

Aen. 6.313Stābant ōrantēs prīmī trānsmittere cursum,
tendēbantque manūs rīpae ulteriōris amōre.

They stood there begging to be the first to make the crossing, and stretched out their hands in longing for the farther shore.

Note. ōrantēs … trānsmittere: ōrō with an infinitive is poetic, 'begging to cross'. prīmī: 'first', i.e. each to be first. ulteriōris: 'farther'. rīpae … amōre: objective genitive, 'from love of the farther bank'. This line is one of the most quoted in Vergil: the outstretched hands sum up the longing of the unburied.

Aen. 6.315Nāvita sed trīstis nunc hōs nunc accipit illōs,
ast aliōs longē submōtōs arcet harēnā.

But the grim boatman takes now these, now those, while others he drives back and keeps far from the sand.

Note. Nāvita: the old poetic form of nauta. nunc hōs nunc: 'now these, now those'. ast: an archaic form of at. submōtōs: 'pushed back'. harēnā: ablative of separation with arcet, 'keeps them from the sand'.

Aen. 6.317Aenēās, mīrātus enim mōtusque tumultū,
Dīc ait Ō virgō, quid volt concursus ad amnem?

Aeneas, amazed and moved by the commotion, says: 'Tell me, maiden, what does this gathering at the river mean?

Note. enim here strengthens the sentence: 'indeed, amazed'. Mīrātus is a deponent participle, 'having wondered', used with present meaning. Dīc: one of the short imperatives (dīc, dūc, fac, fer). volt: old form of vult. quid volt: 'what does it mean?', the use of volō for 'mean' or 'intend'.

Aen. 6.319Quidve petunt animae, vel quō discrīmine rīpās
320hae linquunt, illae rēmīs vada līvida verrunt?

Or what do the souls want, or by what distinction do these leave the banks while those sweep the livid waters with oars?'

Note. Quidve: -ve, 'or'. quō discrīmine: 'by what distinction'. hae … illae: 'these … those', the rejected and the accepted. vada līvida: 'livid waters', the bruised dark blue-grey colour of the underworld river. verrunt: 'sweep', as oars sweep the water.

Aen. 6.321Ollī sīc breviter fāta est longaeva sacerdōs:
Anchīsā generāte, deum certissima prōlēs,
Cōcȳtī stagna alta vidēs Stygiamque palūdem,
dī cuius iūrāre timent et fallere nūmen.

The aged priestess answered him briefly: 'Son of Anchises, surest offspring of the gods, you see the deep pools of Cocytus and the Stygian marsh, by whose power the gods fear to swear and break their oath.

Note. Ollī: an archaic form of illī, dative. fāta est: from the deponent for, fārī, 'speak'. Anchīsā generāte: vocative of the perfect participle with the ablative of origin, 'begotten of Anchises'. deum = deōrum. Cōcȳtī: the name means 'river of wailing' in Greek. dī cuius … timent: 'by whose power the gods fear to swear and break the oath'. An oath by the Styx was the most binding oath the gods could take, and a god who broke it was punished. iūrāre … et fallere nūmen: a compressed phrase, 'swear by its power and then cheat it'.

Aen. 6.325Haec omnis, quam cernis, inops inhumātaque turba est;

All this crowd you see is helpless and unburied;

Note. inops inhumātaque: 'helpless and unburied'. The ancient belief, also found in Homer (Iliad 23.71), was that the souls of the unburied could not cross into Hades. This is why burial, even a token scattering of earth, was a sacred duty.

Aen. 6.326portitor ille Charōn;

that ferryman is Charon;

Note. portitor: 'ferryman', from portus. Charōn: Greek, accusative Charōna. Vergil's Charon draws on Greek painting and poetry: a grim old boatman who takes a coin (the obol) for the fare, though Vergil does not mention the coin.

Aen. 6.326hī, quōs vehit unda, sepultī.

these whom the water carries are the buried.

Note. sepultī: supply sunt; 'those whom the wave carries are the buried'. The sentences 7–9 are short and set out the rule plainly, like a legal statement.

Aen. 6.327Nec rīpās datur horrendās et rauca fluenta
trānsportāre prius quam sēdibus ossa quiērunt.

Nor is he allowed to carry them across the dreadful banks and the hoarse-sounding stream before their bones have found rest in a tomb.

Note. Nec … datur: impersonal passive, 'it is not granted' (to Charon). horrendās … rīpās: accusative after trāns- in trānsportāre. rauca fluenta: 'hoarse streams'. prius quam … quiērunt: priusquam with a perfect indicative, a fact. quiērunt = quiēvērunt, a shortened perfect. sēdibus: 'in their resting places', i.e. a tomb.

Aen. 6.329Centum errant annōs volitantque haec lītora circum;

They wander for a hundred years and flit about these shores;

Note. Centum … annōs: accusative of duration of time. A hundred years was a common figure for the wandering of the unburied, perhaps because it is the longest a human life lasts. haec lītora circum: the preposition follows its noun (anastrophe).

Aen. 6.330tum dēmum admissī stagna exoptāta revīsunt.

only then are they admitted, and visit again the pools they longed for.'

Note. dēmum: 'only then'. exoptāta: 'longed for'. revīsunt: 'come back to visit', though they have never crossed; the prefix suggests the long wait.

Aen. 6.331Cōnstitit Anchīsā satus et vestīgia pressit,
multa putāns, sortemque animō miserātus inīquam.

The son of Anchises stopped and stood still, thinking many thoughts and pitying in his heart their unjust lot.

Note. Cōnstitit … et vestīgia pressit: 'stopped and checked his steps'. Anchīsā satus: 'sprung from Anchises', satus from serō. putāns: 'pondering'. animō: locative ablative, 'in his heart'. sortem … inīquam: the 'unfair lot' of those who suffer through no fault of their own.

Aen. 6.333Cernit ibi maestōs et mortis honōre carentēs
Leucaspim et Lyciae ductōrem classis Orontēn,
335quōs, simul ab Trōiā ventōsā per aequora vectōs,
obruit Auster, aquā involvēns nāvemque virōsque.

There he sees, sorrowful and without the honour of death, Leucaspis and Orontes, commander of the Lycian fleet, whom, as they sailed together from Troy over the windy seas, the South Wind overwhelmed, engulfing ship and men in the water.

Note. maestōs … carentēs: the two participles describe the men before they are named. mortis honōre: 'the honour of death', i.e. burial. Leucaspim: Greek accusative in -im. Orontēn: Greek accusative. Orontes' ship was sunk in the storm of Book 1 (1.113–117). quōs … vectōs: 'whom, as they sailed'. Auster: the South Wind, standing for any wind.