Story of Aeneas
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Michael Clarke >> Story of Aeneas
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10 Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Charles Franks
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STORY OF AENEAS
BY
M. CLARKE
Author of "Story Of Troy," "Story Of Caesar"
1898
CONTENTS.
INTRODUCTION
I. VERGIL, THE PRINCE OP POETS
II. THE GODS AND GODDESSES
I. THE WOODEN HORSE
II. AENEAS LEAVES TROY--THE HARPIES--PROPHESY OF HELENUS-THE
GIANT POLYPHEMUS
III. A GREAT STORM--ARRIVAL IN CARTHAGE
IV. DIDO'S LOVE--THE FUNERAL GAMES--SHIPS BURNED BY THE WOMEN
V. THE SIBYL OF CUMAE--THE GOLDEN BOUGH--IN THE REGIONS OF THE
DEAD
VI. AENEAS ARRIVES IN LATIUM--WELCOMED BY KING LATINUS
VII. ALLIANCE WITH EVANDER--VULCAN MAKES ARMS FOR AENEAS--THE
FAMOUS SHIELD
VIII. TURNUS ATTACKS THE TROJAN CAMP--NISUS AND EURYALUS
IX. THE COUNCIL OF THE GODS--RETURN OF AENEAS--BATTLE ON THE
SHORE--DEATH OF PALLAS
X. FUNERAL OF PALLAS--AENEAS AND TURNUS FIGHT--TURNUS IS SLAIN
[Illustration: Map, captioned: "MAP SHOWING THE WANDERINGS OF AENEAS",
extending from 10 degrees to 30 degrees east longitude, and centered
on 40 degrees north latitude.]
INTRODUCTION.
I. VERGIL, THE PRINCE OF LATIN POETS.
The story of AE-ne'as, as related by the Roman poet Ver'gil in his
celebrated poem called the AE-ne'id, which we are to tell about in
this book, is one of the most interesting of the myths or legends that
have come down to us from ancient authors.
Vergil lived in the time of the Roman Emperor Au-gus'tus (63 B. C.--14
A. D.), grand-nephew and successor of Ju'li-us Cae'sar. Augustus and
his chief counsellor or minister Mae-ce'nas, gave great encouragement
to learning and learned men, and under their liberal patronage arose a
number of eminent writers to whose works has been given the name of
classics, as being of the highest rank or _class_. The period is known
as the Augustan Age, a phrase also used in reference to periods in the
history of other countries, in which literature reached its highest
perfection. Thus the reign of Queen Anne (1702-1714) is called the
Augustan age of English literature, because of the number of literary
men who flourished in England in that period, and the excellence of
their works.
Vergil was the greatest of the poets of ancient Rome, and with the
exception of Ho'mer, the greatest of the poets of antiquity. From a
very early period, almost from the age in which he lived, he was
called the Prince of Latin Poets. His full name was Pub'li-us
Ver-gil'i-us Ma'ro. He was born about seventy years before Christ,
in the village of An'des (now Pi-e'to-le), near the town of Man'tu-a
in the north of Italy. His father was the owner of a small estate,
which he farmed himself. Though of moderate means, he gave his son a
good education. Young Vergil spent his boyhood at school at Cre-mo'na
and Milan. He completed his studies at Naples, where he read the Greek
and Latin authors, and acquired a knowledge of mathematics, natural
philosophy, and medical science. He afterwards returned to Mantua, and
resided there for a few years, enjoying the quiet of country life at
the family homestead.
About this time the Emperor Augustus was engaged in a war against a
powerful party of his own countrymen, led by a famous Roman named
Bru'tus. In the year 42 B.C. he defeated Brutus in a great battle,
which put an end to the war. He afterwards rewarded many of his troops
by dividing among them lands in the neighborhood of Mantua, and in
other parts of Italy, dispossessing the owners for having sided with
his enemies. Though Vergil had taken no part in the struggle, his farm
was allotted to one of the imperial soldiers. But this was the
beginning of his greatness. Through the friendship of the governor of
Mantua, he was introduced to Maecenas, and afterwards to Augustus, who
gave orders that his property should be restored to him.
Thus Vergil became known to the first men of Rome. He expressed his
gratitude to the emperor in one of a series of poems called Pastorals
or Bu-col'ics, words which mean shepherds' songs, or songs descriptive
of life in the country. These poems, though among Vergil's earliest
productions, were highly applauded in Rome. They were so much esteemed
that portions of them were recited in the theatre in the author's
presence, and the audience were so delighted that they all rose to
their feet, an honor which it was customary to pay only to Augustus
himself. Vergil also wrote a poem called the Geor'gics, the subject of
which is agriculture, the breeding of cattle, and the culture of bees.
This is said to be the most perfect in finish of all Latin
compositions. The AEneid is, however, regarded as the greatest of
Vergil's works. The writing of it occupied the last eleven years of
the poet's life.
Vergil died at Brun-di'si-um, in south Italy, in the fifty-first year
of his age. He was buried near Naples, by the side of the public road,
a few miles outside that city, where what is said to be his tomb is
still to be seen. Of his character as a man we are enabled to form an
agreeable idea from all that is known about him. He was modest, gentle
and of a remarkable sweetness of disposition. Although living in the
highest society while in Rome, he never forgot his old friends. He was
a dutiful and affectionate son, and liberally shared his good fortune
with his aged parents.
As a poet, Vergil was not only the greatest that Rome produced, but
the most popular. His poems, particularly the AEneid, were the
favorite reading of his countrymen. They became a text-book in the
Roman schools. The "little Romans," we are told, studied the AEneid
from their master's dictation, and wrote compositions upon its heroes.
And not alone in Italy but throughout the world wherever learning
extended, the AEneid became popular, and has retained its popularity
down to our own time, being still a text-book in every school where
Latin is taught.
There are many excellent translations of the AEneid into English. In
this book we make numerous quotations from the translation by the
English poet Dryden, and from the later work by the eminent Latin
scholar Conington.
SPELLING OF THE POET'S NAME.
The spelling of the poet's name adopted in this book is now believed
to be preferable to the form V_i_rgil which has for a long time been
in common use. Many of the best Latin scholars are of opinion that the
proper spelling is V_e_rgil from the Latin V_e_rgilius, as the poet
himself wrote it. "As to the fact," says Professor Frieze, "that the
poet called himself Vergilius, scholars are now universally agreed. It
is the form found in all the earliest manuscripts and inscriptions. In
England and America the corrected Latin form is used by all the best
authorities."
II. THE GODS AND GODDESSES.
It is said that Vergil wrote the AEneid at the request of the Emperor
Augustus, whose family--the Ju'li-i--claimed the honor of being
descended from AEneas, through his son I-u'lus or Ju'lus. All the
Romans, indeed, were fond of claiming descent from the heroes whom
tradition told of as having landed in Italy with AEneas after escaping
from the ruins of Troy. The city of Troy, or Il'i-um, so celebrated in
ancient song and story, was situated on the coast of Asia Minor, not
far from the entrance to what is now the Sea of Mar'mo-ra. It was
besieged for ten years by a vast army of the Greeks (natives of Greece
or Hel'las) under one of their kings called Ag-a-mem'non. Homer, the
greatest of the ancient poets, tells about this siege in his famous
poem, the Il'i-ad. We shall see later on how the siege was brought to
an end by the capture and destruction of the city, as well as how
AEneas escaped, and what afterwards happened to him and his
companions.
Meanwhile we must learn something about the gods and goddesses who
play so important a part in the story. At almost every stage of the
adventures of AEneas, as of the adventures of all ancient heroes, we
find a god or a goddess controlling or directing affairs, or in some
way mixed up with the course of events.
According to the religion of the ancient Greeks and Romans there were
a great many gods. They believed that all parts of the universe--the
heavens and the earth, the sun and the moon, the seas and rivers, and
storms--were ruled by different gods. Those beings it was supposed,
were in some respects like men and women. They needed food and drink
and sleep; they married and had children; and like poor mortals they
often had quarrels among themselves. Their food was am-bro'si-a, which
gave them immortality and perpetual youth, and their drink was a
delicious wine called nectar.
The gods often visited men and even accepted their hospitality.
Sometimes they married human beings, and the sons of such marriages
were the demigods or heroes of antiquity. AEneas was one of those
heroes, his mother being the goddess Ve'nus, of whom we shall hear
much in the course of our Story.
Though the gods never died, being immortal, they might be wounded and
suffer bodily pain like men. They often took part in the quarrels and
wars of people on earth, and they had weapons and armor, after the
manner of earthly warriors. But they were vastly superior to men in
strength and power. They could travel through the skies, or upon land
or ocean, with the speed of lightning, and they could change
themselves into any form, or make themselves visible or invisible at
pleasure.
The usual residence of the principal gods was on the top of Mount
O-lym'pus, in Greece. Here they had golden palaces and a chamber where
they held grand banquets at which celestial music was rendered by
A-pol'lo, the god of minstrelsy, and the Muses, who were the
divinities of poetry and song.
Splendid temples were erected to the gods in all the chief cities,
where they were worshiped with many ceremonies. Valuable gifts in gold
and silver were presented at their shrines, and at their altars
animals were killed and portions of the flesh burned as sacrifices.
Such offerings were thought to be very pleasing to the gods.
The head or king of the gods was Ju'pi-ter, also called Jove or Zeus.
He was the great Thunderer, at whose word the heavens trembled.
He, whose all conscious eyes the world behold,
The eternal Thunderer sat enthroned in gold.
High heaven the footstool of his feet he makes,
And wide beneath him all Olympus shakes.
HOMER, _Iliad_, BOOK VIII.
The wife of Jupiter, and the queen of heaven, was Ju'no, who, as we
shall see, persecuted the hero AEneas with "unrelenting hate."
Nep'tune, represented as bearing in his hand a trident, or three-
pronged fork, was the god of the sea.
Neptune, the mighty marine god,
Earth's mover, and the fruitless ocean's king.
HOMER
Mars was the god of war, and Plu'to, often called Dis or Ha'des, was
the god of the lower or "infernal" regions, and hence also the god of
the dead. One of the most glorious and beautiful of the gods was
Apollo, god of the sun, of medicine, music, poetry, and all fine arts.
Bright-hair'd Apollo!--thou who ever art
A blessing to the world--whose mighty heart
Forever pours out love, and light, and life;
Thou, at whose glance, all things of earth are rife
With happiness.
PIKE.
[Illustration: A ROMAN AUGUR.]
Another of the famous divinities of the ancients was Venus, the
goddess of beauty and love. According to some of the myths she was the
daughter of Jupiter. Others say that she sprang from the foam of the
sea.
These and countless other imaginary beings were believed in as deities
under the religious system of the ancient Greeks and Romans, and every
unusual or striking event was thought to be caused by some god or
goddess.
The will of the gods, it was supposed, was made known to men in
different ways--by dreams, by the flight of birds, or by a direct
message from Olympus. Very often it was learned by consulting seers,
augurs or soothsayers. These were persons believed to have the power
of prophecy. There was a famous temple of Apollo at Delphi, in Greece,
where a priestess called Pyth'i-a gave answers, or oracles, to those
who came to consult her. The name oracle was also applied to the place
where such answers were received. There were a great many oracles in
ancient times, but that at Delphi was the most celebrated.
STORY OF AENEAS.
I. THE WOODEN HORSE,
The gods, of course, had much to do with the siege and fall of Troy,
as well as with the sufferings of Aeneas, which Vergil describes in
the AEneid. There were gods and goddesses on both sides in the great
conflict. Some were for the Tro'jans, others for the Greeks, and some
had their favorites among the heroes and warriors who fought on one
side or the other. Two very powerful goddesses, Juno and Mi-ner'va
(the goddess of wisdom, also called Pallas), hated the Trojans because
of the famous "judgment of Pa'ris," which came about in this way--.
A king of Athens named Pe'leus married a beautiful sea-nymph named
The'tis. All the gods and goddesses were present at the wedding feast
except E'ris, the goddess of discord. She was not invited, and being
angry on that account, she resolved to cause dissension among the
guests. With this object she threw into the midst of the assembly a
golden apple bearing the inscription, "For the most beautiful."
Immediately a dispute arose as to which of the goddesses was entitled
to the prize, but at last all gave up their claim except Juno, Venus,
and Minerva, and they agreed to leave the settlement of the question
to Paris, son of Pri'am, King of Troy, a young prince who was noted
for the wisdom of his judgments upon several occasions.
The three goddesses soon afterwards appeared before Paris, and each
endeavored by the offer of tempting bribes, to induce him to decide in
her favor. Juno promised him great power and wealth.
She to Paris made
Proffer of royal power, ample rule
Unquestion'd.
TENNYSON.
Minerva offered military glory, and Venus promised that she would give
him the most beautiful woman in the world for his wife. After hearing
their claims and promises, Paris gave the apple to Venus. This award
or judgment brought upon him and his family, and all the Trojans, the
hatred of the two other goddesses, particularly of Juno, who, being
the queen of heaven, had expected that the preference, as a matter of
course would be given to her.
But besides the judgment of Paris, there was another cause of Juno's
anger against Troy. She had heard of a decree of the Fates that a race
descended from the Trojans was one day to destroy Carthage, a city in
which she was worshipped with much honor, and which she regarded with
great affection. She therefore hated Aeneas, through whom, as the
ancestor of the founders of Rome, the destruction of her beloved city
was to be brought about.
On account of this hatred of the Trojans, Juno persuaded her royal
husband, Jupiter, to consent to the downfall of Troy, and so the valor
of all its heroic defenders, of whom Aeneas was one, could not save it
from its fate, decreed by the king of the gods. Many famous warriors
fell during the long siege. Hec'tor, son of Priam, the greatest of the
Trojan champions, was slain by A-chil'les, the most valiant of the
Greeks, and Achilles was himself slain by Paris. After losing their
bravest leader the Greeks despaired of being able to take the city by
force, and so they resorted to stratagem. By the advice of Minerva
they erected a huge horse of wood on the plain in front of the walls,
and within its body they placed a chosen band of their boldest
warriors. Then pretending that they had given up the struggle, they
withdrew to their ships, and set sail, as if with the purpose of
returning to Greece. But they went no further than Ten'e-dos, an
island opposite Troy, a few miles from the coast.
"There was their fleet concealed. We thought for Greece
Their sails were hoisted, and our fears release.
The Trojans, cooped within their walls so long,
Unbar their gates and issue in a throng
Like swarming bees, and with delight survey
The camp deserted, where the Grecians lay:
The quarters of the several chiefs they showed:
Here Phoe'nix, here Achilles, made abode;
Here joined the battles; there the navy rode.
Part on the pile their wandering eyes employ--
The pile by Pallas raised to ruin Troy."
DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK II.
The Trojans when they saw the big horse, could not think what it
meant, or what should be done with it. Various opinions were given.
Some thought it was a peace offering, and one chief proposed that it
should be dragged within the walls and placed in the citadel. Others
advised that it should be cast into the sea, or set on fire, or at
least that they ought to burst it open to find whether anything were
concealed within. While they were thus discussing the matter, some
urging one course, some another, the priest La-oc'o-on rushed out from
the city followed by a great crowd and he exclaimed in a loud voice:
"Unhappy fellow-countrymen, what madness is this? Are you so foolish
as to suppose that the enemy are gone, or that any offering of theirs
can be free from deception? Either Greeks are hidden in this horse, or
it is an engine designed for some evil to our city. Put no faith in
it, Trojans. Whatever it is, I fear the Greeks even when they tender
gifts." Thus speaking, Laocoon hurled his spear into the horse's side.
His mighty spear he cast:
Quivering it stood: the sharp rebound
Shook the huge monster: and a sound
Through all its caverns passed.
CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK II.
But at this point the attention of the multitude was attracted by the
appearance of a group of Trojan shepherds dragging along a prisoner
with his hands bound behind his back, who, they said, had delivered
himself up to them of his own accord. Being taken before King Priam,
and questioned as to who he was and whence he came, the stranger told
an artful story. He was a Greek, he said, and his name was Si'non. His
countrymen had long been weary of the war, and had often resolved to
return home, but were hindered by storms from making the attempt. And
when the wooden horse was built, the tempests raged and the thunder
rolled more than ever.
"Chiefly when completed stood
This horse, compact of maple wood,
Fierce thunders, pealing in our ears,
Proclaimed the turmoil of the spheres."
CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK II.
Then the Greeks sent a messenger to the shrine of Apollo to inquire
how they might obtain a safe passage to their country. The answer was
that the life of a Greek must be sacrificed on the altar of the god.
All were horror-stricken by this announcement, for each feared that
the doom might fall upon himself.
"Through every heart a shudder ran,
'Apollo's victim--who the man?'"
CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK II.
The selection of the person to be the victim was left to Cal'chas, the
soothsayer, who fixed upon Sinon, and preparations were accordingly
made to sacrifice him on the altar of Apollo, but he contrived to
escape and conceal himself until the Grecian fleet had sailed.
"I fled, I own it, from the knife,
I broke my bands and ran for life,
And in a marsh lay that night
While they should sail, if sail they might."
CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK II.
This was Sinon's story. The Trojans believed it and King Priam ordered
the prisoner to be released, and promised to give him protection in
Troy. "But tell me," said the king, "why did they make this horse? Was
it for a religious purpose or as an engine of war?" The treacherous
Sinon answered that the horse was intended as a peace offering to the
gods; that it had been built on the advice of Calchas, who had
directed that it should be made of immense size so that the Trojans
should not be able to drag it within their walls, "for," said he, "if
the men of Troy do any injury to the gift, evil will come upon the
kingdom of Priam, but if they bring it into their city, all Asia will
make war against Greece, arid on our children will come the
destruction which we would have brought upon Troy."
The Trojans believed this story also, and their belief was
strengthened by the terrible fate which just then befell Laocoon, who
a little before had pierced the side of the horse with his spear.
While the priest and his two sons were offering a sacrifice to Neptune
on the shore, two enormous serpents suddenly issued from the sea and
seized and crushed them to death in sight of the people. The Trojans
were filled with fear and astonishment at this spectacle, and they
regarded the event as a punishment from the gods upon Laocoon.
Who dared to harm with impious steel
Those planks of consecrated deal.
CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK II.
Then a cry arose that the "peace offering" should be conveyed into the
city, and accordingly a great breach was made in the walls that for
ten years had resisted all the assaults of the Greeks, and by means of
rollers attached to its feet, and ropes tied around its limbs, the
horse was dragged into the citadel, the young men and maidens singing
songs of triumph. But in the midst of the rejoicing there were
portents of the approaching evil. Four times the huge figure halted on
the threshold of the gate, and four times it gave forth a sound from
within, as if of the clash of arms.
"Four times 'twas on the threshold stayed:
Four times the armor clashed and brayed.
Yet on we press with passion blind,
All forethought blotted from our mind,
Till the dread monster we install
Within the temple's tower-built wall."
CONINGTON. _AEneid_, BOOK II.
The prophetess Cas-san'dra, too, the daughter of King Priam, had
warned her countrymen of the doom that was certain to fall upon the
city if the horse were admitted. Her warning was, however,
disregarded. The fateful gift of the Greeks was placed in the citadel,
and the Trojans, thinking that their troubles were now over, and that
the enemy had departed to return no more, spent the rest of the day in
feasting and rejoicing.
But in the dead of the night, when they were all sunk in sleep, the
Greek fleet sailed back from Tenedos, and on King Agamemnon's ship a
bright light was shown, which was the signal to the false Sinon to
complete his work of treachery. Quickly he "unlocked the horse" and
forth from their hiding place came the armed Greek warriors. Among
them were the famous U-lys'ses, and Ne-op-tol'e-mus, son of the brave
Achilles, and Men-e-la'us, husband of the celebrated Hel'en whom
Paris, son of Priam, had carried off from Greece, which was the cause
of the war. Ulysses and his companions then rushed to the walls, and
after slaying the sentinels, threw open the gates of the city to the
main body of the Greeks who had by this time landed from their ships.
Thus Troy was taken.
And the long baffled legions, bursting in
Through gate and bastion, blunted sword and spear
With unresisted slaughter.
LEWIS MORRIS.
Meanwhile AEneas, sleeping in the house of his father, An-chi'ses, had
a dream in which the ghost of Hector appeared to him, shedding
abundant tears, and disfigured with wounds as when he had been dragged
around the walls of Troy behind the chariot of the victorious
Achilles. In a mournful voice, AEneas, seeming to forget that Hector
was dead, inquired why he had been so long absent from the defense of
his native city, and from what distant shores he had now returned. But
the spirit answered only by a solemn warning to AEneas, the "goddess-
born" (being the son of Venus) to save himself by immediate flight.
"O goddess-born! escape by timely flight,
The flames and horrors of this fatal night.
The foes already have possessed the wall;
Troy nods from high, and totters to her fall.
Enough is paid to Priam's royal name,
More than enough to duty and to fame.
If by a mortal hand my father's throne
Could be defended, 'twas by mine alone.
Now Troy to thee commends her future state,
And gives her gods companions of thy fate;
From their assistance, happier walls expect,
Which, wand'ring long, at last thou shalt erect."
DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK I.
Awaking from his sleep, AEneas was startled by the clash of arms and
by cries of battle, which he now heard on all sides. Rushing to the
roof of the house and gazing around, he saw the palaces of many of the
Trojan princes in flames, and he heard the shouts of the victorious
Greeks, and the blaring of their trumpets. Notwithstanding the warning
of Hector, he ran for his weapons.
Resolved on death, resolved to die in arms,
But first to gather friends, with them to oppose
(If fortune favored) and repel the foes.
DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK II.
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