- Source
- Vergil. The Bucolics, Aeneid, and Georgics Of Virgil. Greenough, J.B., editor. Boston: Ginn and Company, 1881.
- Translation
- AI-generated (gemini-3.5-flash) — machine translation; may contain errors
- Languages
- 日本語 · English · 简体中文 · 한국어
- CTS URN
- urn:cts:latinLit:phi0690.phi003.humanitext-lat2:10.836-10.908
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-30
Deeply grieving upon learning of his son Lausus's death, Mezentius returns to the battlefield on his horse Rhaebus to challenge Aeneas. Aeneas defeats Mezentius's horse, pinning him down, and Mezentius accepts his death, requesting only to be buried alongside his son.
dependet galea et prato gravia arma quiescunt.
His helmet hangs from the branches, and his heavy arms rest on the meadow.
Stant lecti circum iuvenes: ipse aeger anhelans
Chosen youths stand around; he himself, sick and panting,
colla fovet, fusus propexam in pectore barbam;1
eases his neck, having his combed beard spread upon his chest;
multa super Lauso rogitat multumque remittit
he asks many things about Lausus, and sends many back,
qui revocent maestique ferant mandata parentis.
to recall him and carry the commands of the sorrowing father.
At Lausum socii exanimem super arma ferebant
But weeping, his comrades were carrying the lifeless Lausus on his shield,
flentes, ingentem atque ingenti volnere victum.
a great hero, and conquered by a great wound.
Agnovit longe gemitum praesaga mali mens:
His mind, prescient of ill, recognized the groan from afar:
canitiem multo deformat pulvere et ambas
he defiles his white hair with much dust and stretches
ad caelum tendit palmas et corpore inhaeret.
both palms to heaven, and clings to the body.
Tantane me tenuit vivendi, nate, voluptas,
”My son, did so great a desire for life hold me,
ut pro me hostili paterer succedere dextrae,
that I should allow you, whom I begot, to take my place under the enemy’s right hand?
quem genui? Tuane haec genitor per volnera servor,
Am I, your father, saved by these wounds of yours,
morte tua vivens? Heu, nunc misero mihi demum
living by your death? Alas, now at last is death bitter to wretched me,
exitium infelix, nunc alte volnus adactum!
now the wound is driven deep!
Idem ego, nate, tuum maculavi crimine nomen,
I, the same man, my son, stained your name with crime,
pulsus ob invidiam solio sceptrisque paternis.
driven through hatred from my throne and fatherly sceptre.
Debueram patriae poenas odiisque meorum:
I had owed punishment to my country and the hatred of my people:
omnis per mortis animam sontem ipse dedissem!2
I myself should have given up my guilty soul through any death!
Nunc vivo neque adhuc homines lucemque relinquo.
Now I live, and do not yet leave mankind and the light.
Sed linquam. Simul hoc dicens attollit in aegrum
But leave them I will.” Speaking thus, he raises himself on his injured
se femur et, quamvis dolor alto volnere tardet,
thigh, and although the pain of his deep wound slows him down,
haud deiectus equum duci iubet. Hoc decus illi,
yet undaunted, he orders his horse to be led out. This was his pride,
hoc solamen erat; bellis hoc victor abibat
this was his solace; on this he went away victor from all
omnibus. Adloquitur maerentem et talibus infit:
his battles. He addresses the grieving beast and begins thus:
Rhaebe, diu, res siqua diu mortalibus ulla est,
”Rhaebus, we have lived long, if anything is long-lasting for mortals.
viximus. Aut hodie victor spolia illa cruenti
Today either as victor you shall bring back those bloody spoils
et caput Aeneae referes Lausique dolorum
and the head of Aeneas, and be with me the avenger of Lausus’s pains,
ultor eris mecum aut, aperit si nulla viam vis,
or, if no power opens a way,
occumbes pariter; neque enim, fortissime, credo,
you shall fall together with me; for I do not think, bravest beast,
iussa aliena pati et dominos dignabere Teucros.
you will deign to suffer another’s orders and Trojan masters.”
Dixit et exceptus tergo consueta locavit
He spoke, and being received on its back, settled his accustomed
membra manusque ambas iaculis oneravit acutis,
limbs, and loaded both hands with sharp javelins,
aere caput fulgens cristaque hirsutus equina.
his head gleaming with bronze and bristling with horsehair crest.
Sic cursum in medios rapidus dedit: aestuat ingens
Thus he swiftly directed his course into the midst; there seethes a huge
uno in corde pudor mixtoque insania luctu,
shame in his single heart, and madness mixed with grief,
Atque hic Aenean magna ter voce vocavit.
and here he called Aeneas three times with a loud voice.
Aeneas agnovit enim laetusque precatur:
Indeed, Aeneas recognized him, and joyfully prays:
Sic pater ille deum faciat, sic altus Apollo,
”May that father of the gods so bring it to pass, so may lofty Apollo,
incipias conferre manum.
that you begin to join hand in hand.”
Tantum effatus et infesta subit obvius hasta.
Having spoken only so much, he goes to meet him with a hostile spear.
Ille autem: Quid me erepto, saevissime, nato
But he: “Why do you terrify me, most savage man, now that my son is snatched away?
terres? Haec via sola fuit, qua perdere posses.
This was the only way by which you could destroy me.
Nec mortem horremus nec divom parcimus ulli.3
We neither shrink from death nor spare any of the gods.
Desine: nam venio moriturus et haec tibi porto
Cease, for I come to die, and first I bring these
dona prius. Dixit telumque intorsit in hostem;
gifts.” He spoke, and hurled a weapon at the enemy;
inde aliud super atque aliud figitque volatque
then another and yet another he plants, and flies
ingenti gyro, sed sustinet aureus umbo.
in a vast circle, but the golden shield-boss sustains them.
Ter circum adstantem laevos equitavit in orbes
Three times he rode in left-hand circles around him as he stood,
tela manu iaciens, ter secum Troïus heros
throwing weapons from his hand; three times the Trojan hero carries with him
immanem aerato circumfert tegmine silvam.
a vast forest on his bronze-clad shield.
Inde ubi tot traxisse moras, tot spicula taedet
Then, when he is weary of drawing out so many delays, of plucking out
vellere et urgetur pugna congressus iniqua,
so many darts, and is hard pressed, fighting in an unequal contest,
multa movens animo iam tandem erumpit et inter
pondering many things in his mind, at last he breaks forth, and between
bellatoris equi cava tempora conicit hastam.
the hollow temples of the warhorse he hurls his spear.
Tollit se arrectum quadrupes et calcibus auras
The beast rears itself upright and beats the air with its hooves,
verberat effusumque equitem super ipse secutus
and following above the thrown rider, itself
implicat eiectoque incumbit cernuus armo.4
entangles him and, falling headlong, lies upon him with dislocated shoulder.
Clamore incendunt caelum Troesque Latinique.
Both Trojans and Latins inflame the sky with their shouts.
Advolat Aeneas vaginaque eripit ensem
Aeneas flies to him and draws his sword from its scabbard,
et super haec: Ubi nunc Mezentius acer et illa
and over him says these things: “Where now is fierce Mezentius and that
effera vis animi? Contra Tyrrhenus, ut auras
wild force of his mind?” In reply the Etruscan, as looking up at the air
suspiciens hausit caelum mentemque recepit:
he drank in the sky and recovered his senses:
Hostis amare, quid increpitas mortemque minaris?
”Bitter enemy, why do you chide me and threaten death?
Nullum in caede nefas, nec sic ad proelia veni,
There is no sin in killing, nor did I come to battle on such terms,
nec tecum meus haec pepigit mihi foedera Lausus.
nor did my Lausus strike such agreements with you for me.
Unum hoc per siqua est victis venia hostibus oro:
This one thing I beg, by whatever grace there is for conquered enemies:
corpus humo patiare tegi. Scio acerba meorum
suffer my body to be covered with earth. I know that the bitter hatred of my people
circumstare odia: hunc, oro, defende furorem
surrounds me: protect me, I pray, from this madness,
et me consortem nati concede sepulchro.
and grant me to be a sharer in my son’s tomb.”
Haec loquitur iuguloque haud inscius accipit ensem
He says these things, and not unwitting receives the sword in his throat,
undantique animam diffundit in arva cruore.
and pours out his life into the fields with welling blood.
- 10.838fusus propexam in pectore barbam
The perfect passive participle fusus is used in a middle (or Greek-like) sense, taking the accusative barbam as a direct object. It describes the state of having his beard spread out over his chest.
- 10.854dedissem
Pluperfect subjunctive. Here it functions as a past jussive or optative subjunctive, expressing an unfulfilled obligation or wish in the past ('I should/ought to have given').
- 10.880nec divom parcimus ulli
divom is an archaic genitive plural for divorum. The verb parco governs the dative case, hence it takes the dative pronoun ulli (dative singular of ullus).
- 10.894implicat eiectoque incumbit cernuus armo
A highly compressed syntactical construction describing the horse's fall. The horse (quadrupes), falling headlong (cernuus), entangles (implicat) the thrown rider (effusum equitem) and presses down upon him (incumbit) with its thrown out or dislocated shoulder (eiecto armo, treated as an ablative of means/manner).
Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-22) · Revision history (1, latest 2026-09-21)
- 2026-09-21 AI review — translation 1