Aeneas's Tale: The Origin of the Trojan Horse — Virgil, Aeneid Book 2 (lines 1–79), Latin & English

Conticuere omnes, intentique ora tenebant.

All became silent, and attentive, held their faces toward him.

Inde toro pater Aeneas sic orsus ab alto:

Then from his high couch father Aeneas thus began:

Infandum, regina, iubes renovare dolorem,

”Unspeakable, O queen, is the grief you bid me renew,

Troianas ut opes et lamentabile regnum

how the Greeks overturned the Trojan wealth and lamentable

eruerint¹ Danai; quaeque ipse miserrima vidi,

kingdom, and those most pitiable things which I myself saw,

et quorum pars magna fui. Quis talia fando

and of which I was a great part. Who of the

Myrmidonum Dolopumve aut duri miles Ulixi

Myrmidons or Dolopes, or what soldier of harsh Ulysses,

temperet² a lacrimis? Et iam nox umida caelo

could refrain from tears in speaking such things? And now dewy night

praecipitat, suadentque cadentia sidera somnos.

hastens down from the sky, and the setting stars urge sleep.

Sed si tantus amor casus cognoscere nostros

But if there is such a great desire to learn our misfortunes

et breviter Troiae supremum audire laborem,

and to hear briefly the last agony of Troy,

quamquam animus meminisse horret, luctuque refugit,

although my mind shudders to remember and has shrunk back from the grief,

incipiam.Fracti bello fatisque repulsi

I will begin. Broken by war and repulsed by the fates,

ductores Danaum, tot iam labentibus annis,

the leaders of the Greeks, with so many years now gliding away,

instar montis equum divina Palladis arte

a horse of mountain size by the divine art of Pallas

aedificant, sectaque intexunt abiete costas:

build, and interweave its ribs with cut fir:

votum pro reditu simulant; ea fama vagatur.

they pretend it is an offering for their return; that rumor spreads.

Huc delecta virum sortiti corpora furtim

Hither, having chosen by lot, they secretly shut selected bodies of men

includunt caeco lateri, penitusque cavernas

within its dark side, and fill the deep, vast caverns

ingentis uterumque armato milite complent.

of its belly with armed soldiers.

Est in conspectu Tenedos, notissima fama

There is in sight Tenedos, an island most well-known by fame,

insula, dives opum, Priami dum regna manebant,

rich in resources while Priam’s kingdoms remained,

nunc tantum sinus et statio male fida carinis:

now only a bay and an anchorage unsafe for ships:

huc se provecti deserto in litore condunt.

hither sailing, they hide themselves on the deserted shore.

Nos abiisse rati et vento petiisse Mycenas:

We thought they had gone and sought Mycenae with the wind:

ergo omnis longo solvit se Teucria luctu;

therefore all Teucria releases itself from its long grief;

panduntur portae; iuvat ire et Dorica castra

the gates are opened; it is a joy to go and see the Doric camp

desertosque videre locos litusque relictum.

and the deserted places and the abandoned shore.

Hic Dolopum manus, hic saevus tendebat Achilles;

Here the band of the Dolopes pitched their tents, here fierce Achilles;

classibus hic locus; hic acie certare solebant.

here was the place for the fleets; here they were accustomed to fight in battle array.

Pars stupet innuptae donum exitiale Minervae,

A part gapes at the destructive gift of unwed Minerva,

et molem mirantur equi; primusque Thymoetes

and they marvel at the horse’s bulk; and Thymoetes first

duci intra muros hortatur et arce locari,

urges that it be drawn inside the walls and placed in the citadel,

sive dolo, seu iam Troiae sic fata ferebant.

whether by deceit, or whether the fates of Troy were already so tending.

At Capys, et quorum melior sententia menti,

But Capys, and those whose minds held a better opinion,

aut pelago Danaum insidias suspectaque dona

bid them either hurl the Greek snares and suspected gifts into the sea,

praecipitare iubent, subiectisque urere flammis,

or burn them with flames placed underneath,

aut terebrare cavas uteri et temptare latebras.

or pierce and explore the hollow hiding-places of the belly.

Scinditur incertum studia in contraria volgus.

The uncertain crowd is split into opposing factions.

Primus ibi ante omnis, magna comitante caterva,

Then first before all, with a great crowd accompanying,

Laocoön ardens summa decurrit ab arce,

Laocoön, burning, runs down from the top of the citadel,

et procul: O miseri, quae tanta insania, cives?

and from afar: ‘O wretched citizens, what so great madness is this?

Creditis avectos hostis? Aut ulla putatis

Do you believe the enemy has sailed away? Or do you think any

dona carere dolis Danaum? Sic notus Ulixes?

gifts of the Greeks are free from deceits? Is Ulysses thus known to you?

aut hoc inclusi ligno occultantur Achivi,

Either enclosed in this wood are Achaians hidden,

aut haec in nostros fabricata est machina muros

or this engine was built against our walls,

inspectura domos venturaque desuper urbi,

to look into our homes and come upon the city from above,

aut aliquis latet error; equo ne credite, Teucri.

or some other trick lies hidden; trust not the horse, Teucrians.

Quicquid id est, timeo Danaos et dona ferentis.

Whatever it is, I fear the Greeks, even bearing gifts.’

Sic fatus, validis ingentem viribus hastam

Having thus spoken, with mighty strength he hurled a huge spear

in latus inque feri curvam compagibus alvum

into the side and into the curved belly of the beast with its jointed frame:

contorsit: stetit illa tremens, uteroque recusso

it stood quivering, and when the womb was struck,

insonuere cavae gemitumque dedere cavernae.

the hollow caverns resounded and gave a groan.

Et, si fata deum, si mens non laeva fuisset,

And, if the fates of the gods, if our mind had not been ill-directed,

impulerat³ ferro Argolicas foedare latebras,

he would have impelled us to defile the Argive hiding-places with the sword,

Troiaque, nunc stares, Priamique arx alta, maneres.

and you, O Troy, would now be standing, and you, high citadel of Priam, would remain.

Ecce, manus iuvenem interea post terga revinctum⁴

Behold, meanwhile, Dardanian shepherds with great clamor

pastores magno ad regem clamore trahebant

were dragging to the king a youth with his hands bound behind his back,

Dardanidae, qui se ignotum venientibus ultro,

who had offered himself, a stranger, voluntarily to them as they approached,

hoc ipsum ut strueret Troiamque aperiret Achivis,

in order to construct this very thing and open Troy to the Achaians;

obtulerat, fidens animi⁵ atque in utrumque paratus,

confident in mind and prepared for either alternative,

seu versare dolos, seu certae occumbere morti.

whether to spin his deceits or to succumb to certain death.

Undique visendi studio Troiana iuventus

From all sides, in their eagerness to see him, the Trojan youth

circumfusa ruit, certantque inludere capto.

rush, pouring around, and they vie to mock the captive.

Accipe nunc Danaum insidias, et crimine ab uno

Receive now the treachery of the Greeks, and from one crime

disce omnes.

learn them all.

Namque ut conspectu in medio turbatus, inermis

For as he stood in the midst of their gaze, dismayed, unarmed,

constitit atque oculis Phrygia agmina circumspexit:

and looked around at the Phrygian ranks with his eyes:

Heu, quae nunc tellus inquit quae me aequora possunt

’Alas, what land now,’ he said, ‘what seas can receive me?

accipere? Aut quid iam misero mihi denique restat,

Or what now remains at last for miserable me,

cui neque apud Danaos usquam locus, et super ipsi

who have no place anywhere among the Greeks, and moreover the

Dardanidae infensi poenas cum sanguine poscunt?

Dardanians themselves, hostile, demand blood-for-blood punishment?’

Quo gemitu conversi animi, compressus et omnis

At this groan our minds were changed, and all violent

impetus. Hortamur fari; quo sanguine cretus,

impulse was checked. We encourage him to speak; let him tell from what blood he is sprung,

quidve ferat, memoret, quae sit fiducia capto.

or what he brings, what hope there is for a captive.

Cuncta equidem tibi, Rex, fuerit quodcumque,⁶ fatebor

’Surely indeed, O King, I will confess to you all things truly, whatever shall have been,’

vera, inquit; neque me Argolica de gente negabo:

he said; ‘nor will I deny that I am of the Argive nation:

hoc primum; nec, si miserum Fortuna Sinonem

this is first; nor, if Fortune has made Sinon miserable...’

Syntax notes6 items

2.4ut ... eruerint
The clause ut eruerint introduces an indirect question ('how the Greeks overturned...'), functioning as an object or appositive clarification to dolorem (or direct object of renovare), and is positioned in parallel with the subsequent relative clauses quaeque and quorum.
2.8temperet
The present subjunctive used in a rhetorical question ('who could refrain...?') to express potentiality or natural obligation.
2.55impulerat
In the apodosis of a contrary-to-fact conditional sentence (with the protasis si fuisset in §2.54), the pluperfect indicative is used instead of the expected subjunctive (impulisset). This stylistic choice vividly conveys how close the action came to actual realization.
2.57manus ... revinctum
The perfect passive participle revinctum modifies iuvenem (the object of the main verb), while manus is an accusative of specification (or Greek accusative), specifying the part of the body affected ('having his hands bound behind his back').
2.61fidens animi
The form animi is a genitive of specification (or locative in origin) depending on the adjective fidens, meaning 'confident in mind' or 'resolute of soul'.
2.77fuerit quodcumque
An independent clause featuring a future perfect subjunctive (or concessive subjunctive), acting as a parenthetical phrase meaning 'whatever shall have happened' or 'no matter what the outcome may be'.

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-22)urn:cts:latinLit:phi0690.phi003.humanitext-lat2:2.1-2.79