Parting from Andromache and Sighting Italy — Virgil, Aeneid Book 3 (lines 478–558), Latin & English

478

Et tamen hanc pelago praeterlabare¹ necesse est;

And yet it is necessary that you glide past this land on the sea;

Ausoniae pars illa procul, quam pandit Apollo.

That part of Ausonia is far away, which Apollo reveals.

480

Vade ait O felix nati pietate. Quid ultra

”Go,” he says, “O happy in the piety of your son! Why further

provehor, et fando surgentis demoror austros?

do I proceed, and by speaking delay the rising south winds?”

Nec minus Andromache digressu maesta supremo

No less does Andromache, sad at the final departure,

fert picturatas auri subtemine vestes

bring garments figured with thread of gold,

et Phrygiam Ascanio chlamydem (nec cedit honore),²

and a Phrygian cloak for Ascanius (nor does she yield in doing honor),

485

textilibusque onerat donis, ac talia fatur:

and loads him with woven gifts, and speaks such words:

Accipe et haec, manuum tibi quae monumenta mearum

”Receive these also, which may be to you memorials of my hands, my boy, and may bear witness to the

sint, puer, et longum Andromachae testentur amorem,

long-lasting love of Andromache, Hector’s wife.

coniugis Hectoreae. Cape dona extrema tuorum,

Take the last gifts of your kin,

O mihi sola mei super Astyanactis imago:

O you who alone remain to me as the image of my Astyanax!

490

sic oculos, sic ille manus, sic ora ferebat;

Just so did he bear his eyes, so his hands, so his features;

et nunc aequali tecum pubesceret³ aevo.

and now he would be growing into youth with you, of equal age.”

Hos ego digrediens lacrimis adfabar obortis:

Departing, I addressed them with welling tears:

Vivite felices, quibus est fortuna peracta

”Live happy, you whose own fortune is already

iam sua; nos alia ex aliis in fata vocamur.

accomplished; we are called from one fate to another.

495

Vobis parta quies; nullum maris aequor arandum,

For you, rest is won; no expanse of sea must be ploughed,

arva neque Ausoniae semper cedentia retro

nor must the fields of Ausonia, ever receding,

quaerenda. Effigiem Xanthi Troiamque videtis

be sought. You see an image of Xanthus, and a Troy

quam vestrae fecere manus, melioribus, opto,

which your own hands have made, under better, I pray,

auspiciis, et quae fuerit minus obvia Graiis.

auspices, and which may be less exposed to Greeks.

500

Si quando Thybrim vicinaque Thybridis arva

If ever I shall have entered the Tiber and the fields near the Tiber,

intraro, gentique meae data moenia cernam,

and shall see the walls granted to my people,

cognatas urbes olim populosque propinquos,

we shall one day make kindred cities and neighboring peoples,

Epiro, Hesperia, quibus idem Dardanus auctor

in Epirus and in Hesperia, which have the same founder Dardanus

atque idem casus, unam faciemus utramque

and the same fortune, we shall make each of the two

505

Troiam animis; maneat nostros ea cura nepotes.

Troy in spirit; let that care remain for our descendants.

Provehimur pelago vicina Ceraunia iuxta,

We are carried forward on the sea next to the neighboring Ceraunian cliffs,

unde iter Italiam⁴ cursusque brevissimus undis.

whence is the way to Italy and the shortest course across the waves.

Sol ruit interea et montes umbrantur opaci;

Meanwhile the sun hastens down and the dark mountains are shaded;

sternimur optatae gremio telluris ad undam,

we stretch ourselves by the water in the bosom of the longed-for land,

510

sortiti remos, passimque in litore sicco

having distributed the oars by lot, and scattered here and there on the dry shore

corpora curamus; fessos sopor inrigat artus.

we refresh our bodies; sleep bedews our weary limbs.

Necdum orbem medium Nox horis acta subibat:

And not yet was Night, driven by the hours, entering her mid-course,

haud segnis strato surgit Palinurus et omnis

when active Palinurus rises from his couch and explores

explorat ventos, atque auribus aera captat;

all the winds, and catches the air with his ears;

515

sidera cuncta notat tacito labentia caelo,

he marks all the stars sliding in the silent sky,

Arcturum pluviasque Hyadas geminosque Triones,

Arcturus and the rainy Hyades, and the twin Bears,

armatumque auro circumspicit Oriona.

and looks around at Orion armed with gold.

Postquam cuncta videt caelo constare sereno,

When he sees that all is clear in the calm sky,

dat clarum e puppi signum; nos castra movemus,

he gives a clear signal from the stern; we move our camp,

520

temptamusque viam et velorum pandimus alas.

and essay our way, and spread the wings of our sails.

Iamque rubescebat stellis Aurora fugatis,

And now Aurora was reddening, the stars being put to flight,

cum procul obscuros collis humilemque videmus

when far off we see the dim hills and low-lying

Italiam. Italiam primus conclamat Achates,

Italy. “Italy!” Achates shouts first,

Italiam laeto socii clamore salutant.

”Italy!” the comrades greet with joyful shout.

525

Tum pater Anchises magnum cratera corona

Then father Anchises crowned a great bowl with a garland,

induit, implevitque mero, divosque vocavit

and filled it with unmixed wine, and called upon the gods,

stans celsa in puppi:

standing on the lofty stern:

Di maris et terrae tempestatumque potentes,

”O gods, rulers of sea and land and tempests,

ferte viam vento facilem et spirate secundi.

bring an easy path with the wind and blow favorably!”

530

Crebrescunt optatae aurae portusque patescit

The longed-for breezes freshen, and the harbor opens

iam propior, templumque adparet in arce Minervae.

now closer, and a temple of Minerva appears on the height.

Vela legunt socii et proras ad litora torquent.

The comrades furl the sails and turn the prows to the shores.

Portus ab Euroo fluctu curvatus in arcum,

The harbor is curved into a bow by the East wind’s wave,

obiectae salsa spumant aspargine cautes;

the opposing cliffs foam with salty spray;

535

ipse latet; gemino demittunt bracchia muro

the harbor itself is hidden; towered rocks let down their arms in a double wall,

turriti scopuli, refugitque ab litore templum.

and the temple recedes from the shore.

Quattuor hic, primum omen, equos in gramine vidi

Here I saw on the grass, as the first omen, four horses

tondentis campum late, candore nivali.

grazing the plain far and wide, of snowy whiteness.

Et pater Anchises: Bellum, O terra hospita, portas

And father Anchises: “War, O hospitable land, you bring;

540

bello armantur equi, bellum haec armenta minantur.

for war are horses armed, war do these herds threaten.

Sed tamen idem olim curru succedere sueti

But yet, these same beasts have been accustomed in time past to submit to the chariot,

quadrupedes, et frena iugo concordia ferre;

and to bear harmonious reins under the yoke;

spes et pacis⁵ ait. Tum numina sancta precamur

there is hope of peace also,” he says. Then we pray to the holy divinities

Palladis armisonae, quae prima accepit ovantis,

of Pallas, clashing in arms, who first received us in our triumph,

545

et capita ante aras Phrygio velamur amictu;

and we veil our heads before the altars with Phrygian mantles;

praeceptisque Heleni, dederat quae maxima, rite

and according to the precepts of Helenus, which he had given as most important, we duly

Iunoni Argivae iussos adolemus honores.

burn the commanded offerings to Argive Juno.

Haud mora, continuo perfectis ordine votis,

Without delay, immediately, our vows being performed in order,

cornua velatarum obvertimus antemarum,

we turn the horns of our sail-clad yardarms,

550

Graiugenumque domos suspectaque linquimus arva.

and leave the homes of the Greek-born and the suspected fields.

Hinc sinus Herculei (si vera est fama) Tarenti

From here is seen the bay of Tarentum, sacred to Hercules (if rumor is true);

cernitur; attollit se diva Lacinia contra,

opposite rises the Lacinian goddess,

Caulonisque arces et navifragum Scylaceum.

and the heights of Caulon and shipwrecking Scylaceum.

Tum procul e fluctu Trinacria cernitur Aetna,

Then far off from the wave is seen Trinacrian Etna,

555

et gemitum ingentem pelagi pulsataque saxa

and we hear from afar the deep groaning of the sea and the battered rocks,

audimus longe fractasque ad litora voces,

and the broken sounds on the shore;

exsultantque vada, atque aestu miscentur harenae.

and the shallows leap, and the sands are mixed with the tide.

Et pater Anchises: Nimirum haec illa Charybdis:

And father Anchises: “Doubtless this is that Charybdis!”

Syntax notes5 items

3.478praeterlabare
Alternative poetic form of the 2nd person singular present subjunctive deponent praeterlabaris. It is introduced by necesse est (it is necessary), forming a subjunctive clause with ut omitted.
3.484honore
Ablative singular of honor (honor, respect, gift). Used with the verb cedere (to yield, fall short), it functions as an ablative of specification ("in respect of honor"), indicating that Andromache's generosity does not fall short.
3.491pubesceret
Third-person singular imperfect subjunctive of pubescere (to grow into youth). It represents the apodosis of a past/present contrary-to-fact condition (with the protasis "if he were alive" implied), translating to "he would now be growing up."
3.507Italiam
Accusative of the proper noun. While prose typically requires the preposition ad or in to denote direction or destination, in poetic usage the preposition is omitted, and the bare accusative expresses the limit of motion ("to Italy").
3.543pacis
Genitive singular of pax (peace). It functions as an objective genitive modifying the noun spes (hope), forming the meaning "hope for peace."

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-22)urn:cts:latinLit:phi0690.phi003.humanitext-lat2:3.478-3.558