Meeting Venus in Disguise and the Story of Dido — Virgil, Aeneid Book 1 (lines 300–375), Latin & English

300

finibus arceret: volat ille per aera magnum

lest Dido, ignorant of fate, should bar them from her territory: he flies through the vast air

remigio alarum, ac Libyae citus adstitit oris.

with the rowing of his wings, and swiftly stood on the shores of Libya.

Et iam iussa facit, ponuntque ferocia Poeni

And now he does his bidding, and the Carthaginians lay aside their fierce

corda volente deo; in primis regina quietum

hearts at the god’s will; above all, the queen receives a quiet

accipit in Teucros animum mentemque benignam.

mind and a gentle disposition toward the Trojans.

305

At pius Aeneas, per noctem plurima volvens,

But pious Aeneas, pondering many things through the night,

ut primum lux alma data est, exire locosque

as soon as the nurturing light was given, resolved to go out and

explorare novos, quas vento accesserit oras,

explore the new places, to seek what shores he had reached by the wind,

qui teneant, nam inculta videt, hominesne feraene,

who occupied them (for he sees they are untilled), whether men or beasts,

quaerere constituit, sociisque exacta referre

and to report the exact findings to his companions.

310

Classem in convexo nemorum sub rupe cavata

He hides his fleet in a convex part of the groves under a hollow rock,

arboribus clausam circum atque horrentibus umbris

enclosed around by trees and bristling shadows;

occulit; ipse uno graditur comitatus Achate,

himself walks accompanied by Achates alone,

bina manu lato crispans hastilia ferro.

shaking in his hand two spears with broad iron heads.

Cui mater media sese tulit obvia silva,

To whom his mother presented herself in the midst of the forest,

315

virginis os habitumque gerens, et virginis arma

bearing the face and attire of a virgin, and the arms of a Spartan

Spartanae, vel qualis equos Threissa fatigat

virgin, or such as Thracian Harpalyce wearies her horses

Harpalyce, volucremque fuga praevertitur Hebrum.¹

and outstrips the swift Hebrus in her flight.

Namque umeris de more habilem suspenderat arcum

For as a huntress she had hung from her shoulders a handy bow according to custom,

venatrix, dederatque comam diffundere ventis,²

and had given her hair to the winds to scatter,

320

nuda genu, nodoque sinus collecta fluentis.³

bare at the knee, and having gathered her flowing folds in a knot.

Ac prior, Heus inquit iuvenes, monstrate mearum

And first she says: “Ho, young men, show me

vidistis si quam hic errantem forte sororum,

if by chance you have seen any of my sisters wandering here,

succinctam pharetra et maculosae tegmine lyncis,

girt with a quiver and the hide of a spotted lynx,

aut spumantis apri cursum clamore prementem.

or pressing with shouts the course of a foaming boar.”

325

Sic Venus; et Veneris contra sic filius orsus:

Thus Venus; and the son of Venus on his part thus began:

Nulla tuarum audita mihi neque visa sororum—

”None of your sisters has been heard or seen by me—

O quam te memorem, virgo? Namque haud tibi voltus

O, how shall I address you, maiden? For your face is not that of a

mortalis, nec vox hominem sonat:⁴ O, dea certe—

mortal, nor does your voice sound like a human: O, a goddess surely—

an Phoebi soror? an nympharum sanguinis una?—

or the sister of Phoebus? or one of the blood of the nymphs?—

330

sis felix, nostrumque leves, quaecumque, laborem,

may you be gracious, and lighten, whoever you are, our labor,

et, quo sub caelo tandem, quibus orbis in oris

and tell us under what sky at last, on what shores of the world

iactemur, doceas. Ignari hominumque locorumque

we are cast. Ignorant of both men and places,

erramus, vento huc vastis et fluctibus acti:

we wander, driven here by the wind and vast waves:

multa tibi ante aras nostra cadet hostia dextra.

many a victim shall fall for you before your altars by our right hand.”

335

Tum Venus: Haud equidem tali me dignor honore;

Then Venus: “I do not indeed deem myself worthy of such honor;

virginibus Tyriis mos est gestare pharetram,

it is the custom for Tyrian maidens to carry a quiver,

purpureoque alte suras vincire cothurno.

and to bind their calves high with a purple buskin.

Punica regna vides, Tyrios et Agenoris urbem;

You see Punic realms, Tyrians and the city of Agenor;

sed fines Libyci, genus intractabile bello.

but the borders are Libyan, a race untamable in war.

340

Imperium Dido Tyria regit urbe profecta,

Dido rules the empire, having set out from the Tyrian city,

germanum fugiens. Longa est iniuria, longae

fleeing her brother. Long is the story of her injury, long

ambages; sed summa sequar fastigia rerum.

its windings; but I will trace the main outlines of the events.

Huic coniunx Sychaeus erat, ditissimus agri

Her husband was Sychaeus, the wealthiest in land of the

Phoenicum, et magno miserae dilectus amore,

Phoenicians, and loved with great affection by the unhappy woman,

345

cui pater intactam dederat, primisque iugarat

to whom her father had given her as a virgin, and had joined her in her first

ominibus. Sed regna Tyri germanus habebat

omens. But her brother Pygmalion held the kingdom of Tyre,

Pygmalion, scelere ante alios immanior omnes.

more monstrous in crime than all others.

Quos inter medius venit furor. Ille Sychaeum

Between them a madness intervened. He, impious,

impius ante aras, atque auri caecus amore,

before the altars, and blind with the love of gold,

350

clam ferro incautum superat, securus amorum

secretly slays the unsuspecting Sychaeus with steel, regardless of the love

germanae;⁵ factumque diu celavit, et aegram,

of his sister; and long he concealed the deed, and, evilly

multa malus simulans, vana spe lusit amantem.

pretending many things, mocked the sick lover with vain hope.

Ipsa sed in somnis inhumati venit imago

But the ghost of her unburied husband came to her in her sleep,

coniugis, ora modis attollens pallida miris,

raising his pale face in a wonderful manner;

355

crudeles aras traiectaque pectora ferro

he laid bare the cruel altars and his breast pierced with steel,

nudavit, caecumque domus scelus omne retexit.

and uncovered all the hidden crime of the house.

Tum celerare fugam patriaque excedere suadet,

Then he urges her to hasten her flight and leave her fatherland,

auxiliumque viae veteres tellure recludit

and as an aid for her journey reveals old treasures from the earth,

thesauros, ignotum argenti pondus et auri.

an unknown weight of silver and gold.

360

His commota fugam Dido sociosque parabat:

Moved by these things, Dido prepared her flight and companions:

conveniunt, quibus aut odium crudele tyranni

they assemble, in whom there was either a cruel hatred of the tyrant

aut metus acer erat; navis, quae forte paratae,

or a sharp fear; ships, which by chance were ready,

corripiunt, onerantque auro: portantur avari

they seize and load with gold; the wealth of greedy

Pygmalionis opes pelago; dux femina facti.

Pygmalion is carried over the sea; a woman was leader of the deed.

365

Devenere locos, ubi nunc ingentia cernis

They came to the places where now you see the huge

moenia surgentemque novae Karthaginis arcem,

walls and the rising citadel of new Carthage,

mercatique solum, facti de nomine Byrsam,

and bought ground, called Byrsa from the name of the deed,

taurino quantum possent circumdare tergo.

as much as they could enclose with a bull’s hide.

Sed vos qui tandem, quibus aut venistis ab oris,

But you, who at last are you? Or from what shores have you come?

370

quove tenetis iter? Quaerenti talibus ille

Or whither do you hold your course?” To her questioning, he,

suspirans, imoque trahens a pectore vocem:

sighing and drawing his voice from the bottom of his chest:

O dea, si prima repetens ab origine pergam,

”O goddess, if I, retracing from the first origin, should go on,

et vacet annalis nostrorum audire laborum,

and there were leisure to hear the annals of our labors,

ante diem clauso componat Vesper Olympo.⁶

before the end, Vesper would close Olympus and lay the day to rest.

375

Nos Troia antiqua, si vestras forte per auris

We, from ancient Troy, if by chance through your ears—“

Syntax notes6 items

1.317fuga praevertitur Hebrum
Middle-voice use of the verb. Here praevertitur takes the direct accusative Hebrum (the name of the river), meaning 'outstrips' or 'surpasses.' fuga is an ablative of specification ('in flight').
1.319dederatque comam diffundere ventis
Infinitive of purpose or result. In classical prose, a gerundive such as diffundendam would be expected, but this is a poetic construction mimicking the Greek infinitive of purpose, depending directly on dederat ('had given/consigned her hair to be scattered').
1.320nodoque sinus collecta fluentis
A Greek accusative (accusative of specification/respect), or a direct object of the perfect participle collecta used in a middle/reflective sense. collecta translates to 'having gathered her flowing folds (sinus) [for herself].'
1.328nec vox hominem sonat
Adverbial use of a cognate (inner) accusative. The intransitive verb sonat ('sounds') takes the accusative noun hominem ('a human') to mean 'sounds human' or 'emits a human sound.'
1.350securus amorum germanae
Genitive with an adjective. The adjective securus ('careless of', 'unconcerned with') governs the genitive amorum to indicate the object of concern. germanae is a possessive genitive modifying amorum.
1.374clauso componat Vesper Olympo
Ablative absolute and subjunctive construction. clauso Olympo ('Olympus being closed') is an ablative absolute. componat is a present subjunctive acting as the potential/conditional apodosis to the protasis si... pergam... et vacet.

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-22) · Revision history (1, latest 2026-09-21)

2026-09-21 AI review — note 1

urn:cts:latinLit:phi0690.phi003.humanitext-lat2:1.300-1.375