Andromache's Fate and Helenus's Prophecy — Virgil, Aeneid Book 3 (lines 319–398), Latin & English

319

Hectoris¹ Andromachen? Pyrrhin’ conubia servas?

Hector’s Andromache? Do you preserve your marriage with Pyrrhus?”

320

Deiecit vultum et demissa voce locuta est:

She cast down her look and spoke with a low voice:

O felix una ante alias Priameïa virgo,

”O happy alone before others, daughter of Priam,

hostilem ad tumulum Troiae sub moenibus altis

ordered to die at the enemy’s tomb under the high walls of Troy,

iussa mori, quae sortitus non pertulit ullos,

who did not endure any lot,

nec victoris eri tetigit captiva cubile!

nor as a captive touched the bed of a victorious master!

325

nos, patria incensa, diversa per aequora vectae,

We, our homeland burnt, carried across diverse seas,

stirpis Achilleae fastus iuvenemque superbum,

endured the arrogance of Achilles’ offspring and the proud youth,

servitio enixae,² tulimus: qui deinde, secutus

bearing children in slavery; who then, pursuing

Ledaeam Hermionen Lacedaemoniosque hymenaeos,

Leda’s Hermione and Lacedaemonian marriage,

me famulo famulamque Heleno transmisit habendam.

handed me over, a slave to a slave, to be held by Helenus.

330

Ast illum, ereptae magno inflammatus amore

But Orestes, inflamed by a great love for his snatched wife

coniugis et scelerum Furiis agitatus, Orestes

and driven by the Furies of his crimes, catches him

excipit incautum patriasque obtruncat ad aras.

off guard and slays him at his ancestral altars.

Morte Neoptolemi regnorum reddita cessit

At the death of Neoptolemus a part of the kingdoms yielded,

pars Heleno, qui Chaonios cognomine campos

restored to Helenus, who called the plains Chaonian by name

335

Chaoniamque omnem Troiano a Chaone dixit,

and the whole of Chaonia from Trojan Chaon,

Pergamaque Iliacamque iugis hanc addidit arcem.

and added Pergama and this Trojan citadel to the ridges.

Sed tibi qui cursum venti, quae fata dedere?

But what winds, what fates gave you your course?

Aut quisnam ignarum nostris deus adpulit oris?

Or what god drove you, unknowing, to our shores?

Quid puer Ascanius? superatne et vescitur aura,

What of the boy Ascanius? Does he survive and feed on air,

340

quem tibi iam Troia³—

whom to you now Troy—

Ecqua tamen puero est amissae cura parentis?

Yet does the boy have any care for his lost parent?

Ecquid in antiquam virtutem animosque virilis

Does both his father Aeneas and his uncle Hector excite him

et pater Aeneas et avunculus excitat Hector?

into ancient virtue and manly spirits?”

Talia fundebat lacrimans longosque ciebat

She was pouring forth such words weeping, and was raising long

345

incassum fletus, cum sese a moenibus heros

weeping in vain, when from the walls the hero

Priamides multis Helenus comitantibus adfert,

Helenus, son of Priam, brings himself with many accompanying,

adgnoscitque suos, laetusque ad limina ducit,

and recognizes his own, and joyfully leads them to the thresholds,

et multum lacrimas verba inter singula fundit.

and pours forth many tears between single words.

Procedo, et parvam Troiam simulataque magnis

I advance, and recognize a small Troy, and Pergama

350

Pergama, et arentem Xanthi cognomine rivum

simulated to the great, and a dry stream named after Xanthus,

adgnosco, Scaeaeque amplector limina portae.

and embrace the thresholds of the Scaean gate.

Nec non et Teucri socia simul urbe fruuntur:

And no less the Trojans enjoy the allied city together:

illos porticibus rex accipiebat in amplis;

the king received them in his ample porticoes;

aulaï medio libabant pocula Bacchi,

in the middle of the hall they libated cups of Bacchus,

355

impositis auro dapibus, paterasque tenebant.

the feasts being served on gold, and they held the bowls.

Iamque dies alterque dies processit, et aurae

And now day after day has passed, and the breezes

vela vocant tumidoque inflatur carbasus austro.

call the sails and the canvas is inflated by the swelling south wind.

His vatem adgredior dictis ac talia quaeso:

With these words I address the prophet and ask such things:

Troiugena, interpres divom, qui numina Phoebi,

”Trojan-born, interpreter of the gods, who perceive the divinities of Phoebus,

360

qui tripodas, Clarii laurus, qui sidera sentis,

the tripods, the laurels of Clarus, the stars,

et volucrum linguas et praepetis omina pennae,

and the tongues of birds and the omens of the swift wing,

fare age—namque omnem cursum mihi prospera dixit

come, speak—for a prosperous sign told me my whole course,

religio, et cuncti suaserunt numine divi

and all the gods by their divinity persuaded me

Italiam petere et terras temptare repostas:

to seek Italy and to try remote lands:

365

sola novum dictuque nefas Harpyia Celaeno

only the Harpy Celaeno sings a strange portent,

prodigium canit, et tristis denuntiat iras,

abominable to speak, and denounces sad wraths

obscenamque famem—quae prima pericula vito?

and filthy hunger—what dangers do I avoid first?

Quidve sequens tantos possim superare labores?

Or following what, could I overcome such great labors?”

Hic Helenus, caesis primum de more iuvencis,

Here Helenus, first having slain bullocks according to custom,

370

exorat pacem divom, vittasque resolvit

entreats the peace of the gods, and unbinds the fillets

sacrati capitis, meque ad tua limina, Phoebe,

of his sacred head, and to your thresholds, Phoebus,

ipse manu multo suspensum numine ducit,

he himself leads me by the hand, suspended by much divinity,

atque haec deinde canit divino ex ore sacerdos:

and then the priest sings these things from his divine mouth:

Nate dea,—nam te maioribus ire⁴ per altum

”O goddess-born,—for that you go through the deep with greater auspices

375

auspiciis manifesta fides: sic fata deum rex

is manifest faith: thus the king of the gods allotts the fates

sortitur, volvitque vices; is vertitur ordo—

and rolls the changes; this order is turned—

pauca tibi e multis, quo tutior hospita lustres

a few things of many, that you may more safely traverse hospitable

aequora et Ausonio possis considere portu,

seas and be able to settle in the Ausonian harbor,

expediam dictis; prohibent nam cetera Parcae

I will unfold in words; for the Parcae forbid Helenus to know

380

scire Helenum farique vetat Saturnia Iuno.

the rest, and Saturnian Juno forbids him to speak.

Principio Italiam, quam tu iam rere propinquam

First, Italy, which you now think is near,

vicinosque, ignare, paras invadere portus,

and whose neighboring harbors you prepare, ignorant one, to invade,

longa procul longis via dividit invia terris.⁵

a long, pathless way separates far off by long lands.

Ante et Trinacria lentandus remus in unda,

First also the oar must be bent in the Trinacrian wave,

385

et salis Ausonii lustrandum navibus aequor,

and the sea of the Ausonian salt must be traversed by your ships,

infernique lacus, Aeaeaeque insula Circae,

and the infernal lakes, and the island of Aeaean Circe,

quam tuta possis urbem componere terra:

before you can establish a city on a safe land:

signa tibi dicam, tu condita mente teneto:

I will tell you the signs, do you keep them stored in your mind:

cum tibi sollicito secreti ad fluminis undam

when by you, anxious, at the wave of a secret river,

390

litoreis ingens inventa sub ilicibus sus

a huge sow, found under the holm-oaks of the shore,

triginta capitum fetus enixa iacebit.

shall lie, having brought forth a litter of thirty heads,

alba, solo recubans, albi circum ubera nati,

white, reclining on the ground, with white young around her teats,

is locus urbis erit, requies ea certa laborum.

that shall be the place of the city, that the certain rest of your labors.

Nec tu mensarum morsus horresce futuros:

Nor do you dread the future bitings of your tables:

395

fata viam invenient, aderitque vocatus Apollo.

the fates will find a way, and Apollo, being invoked, will be present.

Has autem terras, Italique hanc litoris oram,

But these lands, and this shore of the Italian coast,

proxuma quae nostri perfunditur aequoris aestu,

which, nearest, is washed by the tide of our sea,

effuge; cuncta malis habitantur moenia Grais.

avoid; all these walled cities are inhabited by hostile Greeks.”

Syntax notes5 items

3.319Hectoris
Vocative expression addressing Andromache as connected to Hector; Hectoris is a genitive of relation or possession modifying Andromachen.
3.327servitio enixae
enixae is the perfect participle of the deponent verb enitor ('having given birth'), modifying the subject nos in line 325. servitio is an ablative of circumstance ('in slavery').
3.340quem tibi iam Troia—
A famous example of aposiopesis, where Andromache's sentence breaks off abruptly as she mentions Ascanius's mother or birth.
3.374nam te maioribus ire
A parenthetical clause running from line 374 to 376. The accusative and infinitive construction te... ire depends on manifesta fides [est], meaning 'it is a manifest truth that you go...'.
3.383longa procul longis via dividit invia terris
Features hyperbaton and rhetorical wordplay with longa... via... invia and longis... terris, emphasizing the vastness and difficulty of the journey.

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-22)urn:cts:latinLit:phi0690.phi003.humanitext-lat2:3.319-3.398