Aeneas's Departure and Dido's Final Curse — Virgil, Aeneid Book 4 (lines 551–627), Latin & English

551

degere,¹ more ferae, tales nec tangere curas!

To lead a life, in the manner of a wild beast, and not to touch such cares!

Non servata fides cineri promissa Sychaeo!

The faith promised to the ashes of Sychaeus was not kept!

Tantos illa suo rumpebat pectore questus.

Such great laments she was bursting forth from her breast.

Aeneas celsa in puppi, iam certus eundi,

Aeneas, on his lofty stern, already resolved on going,

555

carpebat somnos, rebus iam rite paratis.

was enjoying sleep, with everything now properly prepared.

Huic se forma dei voltu redeuntis eodem

To him, the shape of the god returning with the same countenance

obtulit in somnis, rursusque ita visa monere est—

presented itself in his sleep, and seemed again to warn him thus—

omnia² Mercurio similis, vocemque coloremque

in all things like Mercury, both in voice and color,

et crinis flavos et membra decora iuventa:

and in golden hair and limbs beautiful with youth:

560

Nate dea, potes hoc sub casu ducere somnos,

”Son of a goddess, can you prolong your sleep under this danger,

nec, quae te circum stent deinde pericula, cernis,

nor do you perceive what dangers then stand around you,

demens, nec Zephyros audis spirare secundos?

madman, nor do you hear the favorable Zephyrs blowing?

Illa dolos dirumque nefas in pectore versat,

She revolves treachery and dreadful wickedness in her breast,

certa mori, varioque irarum fluctuat aestu.

resolved to die, and fluctuates with a shifting tide of wrath.

565

Non fugis hinc praeceps, dum praecipitare potestas?

Do you not flee hence headlong, while there is power to hasten away?

Iam mare turbari trabibus, saevasque videbis

Soon you will see the sea disturbed with ships, and fierce

conlucere faces, iam fervere litora flammis,

torches blaze, and soon the shores glow with flames,

si te his attigerit terris Aurora morantem.

if Aurora shall find you lingering in these lands.

Heia age, rumpe moras. Varium et mutabile semper

Come, action! break off delays. A fickle and changeable thing always

570

femina. Sic fatus, nocti se immiscuit atrae.

is woman.” Thus having spoken, he mixed himself with the black night.

Tum vero Aeneas, subitis exterritus umbris,

Then indeed Aeneas, terrified by the sudden shadows,

corripit e somno corpus, sociosque fatigat:

snatches his body from sleep, and rouses his companions:

Praecipites vigilate, viri, et considite transtris;

”Awake headlong, men, and take your seats on the benches;

solvite vela citi. Deus aethere missus ab alto

loosen the sails quickly. A god sent from high heaven,

575

festinare fugam tortosque incidere funes

to hasten our flight and cut the twisted ropes,

ecce iterum stimulat. Sequimur te, sancte deorum,

lo, again incites us. We follow you, holy one of the gods,

quisquis es, imperioque iterum paremus ovantes.

whoever you are, and again joyfully obey your command.

Adsis o placidusque iuves, et sidera caelo

May you be present and propitiously help, and bring favorable

dextra feras. Dixit, vaginaque eripit ensem

stars in the heaven.” He spoke, and snatches from its scabbard his sword

580

fulmineum, strictoque ferit retinacula ferro.

flashing like lightning, and strikes the cables with the drawn steel.

Idem omnes simul ardor habet, rapiuntque ruuntque;

The same ardor possesses all at once; they snatch and rush;

litora deseruere; latet sub classibus aequor;

they have deserted the shores; the sea lies hidden under the fleets;

adnixi torquent spumas et caerula verrunt.

straining, they churn the foam and sweep the azure waters.

Et iam prima novo spargebat lumine terras

And now the early Aurora was sprinkling the lands with new light,

585

Tithoni croceum linquens Aurora cubile.

leaving the saffron bed of Tithonus.

Regina e speculis ut primum albescere lucem

The queen, as soon as she saw from her watchtower the light grow white,

vidit, et aequatis classem procedere velis,

and the fleet proceed with even sails,

litoraque et vacuos sensit sine remige portus,

and perceived the shores and harbors vacant without oarsmen,

terque quaterque manu pectus percussa decorum,

and her beautiful breast struck three and four times with her hand,

590

flaventesque abscissa³ comas, Pro Iuppiter, ibit

and having torn her golden hair, cried: “Pro Jupiter! Shall this man go,

hic ait et nostris inluserit advena regnis?

and shall this stranger have mocked our realms?

Non arma expedient, totaque ex urbe sequentur,

Will they not bring forth arms, and pursue from the whole city,

deripientque rates alii navalibus? Ite,

and others tear down the vessels from the docks? Go,

ferte citi flammas, date vela, impellite remos!—

bring flames quickly, give sails, impel the oars!—

595

Quid loquor, aut ubi sum? Quae mentem insania mutat?

What am I saying, or where am I? What madness changes my mind?

Infelix Dido, nunc te facta impia tangunt.

Unhappy Dido, now do your impious deeds touch you?

Tum decuit, cum sceptra dabas.—En dextra fidesque,

Then it was fitting, when you were giving him your sceptre.—Lo, the right hand and faith of him,

quem secum patrios aiunt portare Penates,

whom they say carries his ancestral Penates with him,

quem subiisse umeris confectum aetate parentem!

who they say bore on his shoulders his parent worn out with age!

600

Non potui abreptum divellere corpus, et undis

Could I not have torn his seized body apart, and scattered it

spargere? Non socios, non ipsum absumere ferro

on the waves? Could I not have destroyed his companions, and Ascanius himself

Ascanium, patriisque epulandum ponere mensis?—

with the sword, and serve him to be feasted upon at his father’s tables?—

Verum anceps pugnae fuerat⁴ fortuna:—fuisset.

But the fortune of battle would have been doubtful:—let it have been so.

Quem metui moritura? Faces in castra tulissem,

Whom did I, about to die, fear? I should have carried torches into his camp,

605

implessemque foros flammis, natumque patremque

and filled the decks with flames, and extinguished both son and father

cum genere extinxem, memet super ipsa dedissem.

with their whole race, and then thrown myself on top of them.

Sol, qui terrarum flammis opera omnia lustras,

O Sun, who with your flames traverse all the works of the earth,

tuque harum interpres curarum et conscia Iuno,

and you, Juno, the mediator and witness of these cares,

nocturnisque Hecate triviis ululata per urbes,

and Hecate, wailed at night-time crossroads throughout the cities,

610

et Dirae ultrices, et di morientis Elissae,

and avenging Furies, and gods of dying Elissa,

accipite haec, meritumque malis advertite numen,

receive these words, and turn your deserved power against the wicked,

et nostras audite preces. Si tangere portus

and hear our prayers. If it is necessary for that unspeakable head

infandum caput ac terris adnare necesse est,

to touch harbors and float to land,

et sic fata Iovis poscunt, hic terminus haeret:

and so the fates of Jupiter require, and this boundary remains fixed:

615

at bello audacis populi vexatus et armis,

yet, harassed in war and by the arms of a bold people,

finibus extorris, complexu avulsus Iuli,

exiled from his borders, torn from the embrace of Iulus,

auxilium imploret, videatque indigna suorum

let him implore help, and see the shameful deaths of his people;

funera; nec, cum se sub leges pacis iniquae

nor, when he has submitted himself under the laws of an unjust peace,

tradiderit, regno aut optata luce fruatur,

may he enjoy his kingdom or the desired light,

620

sed cadat ante diem, mediaque inhumatus harena.

but let him fall before his day, and lie unburied in the midst of the sand.

Haec precor, hanc vocem extremam cum sanguine fundo.

These things I pray, this last voice I pour out with my blood.

Tum vos, o Tyrii, stirpem et genus omne futurum

Then you, O Tyrians, pursue his stock and all future race

exercete odiis, cinerique haec mittite nostro

with hatreds, and send these offerings to our ashes.

munera. Nullus amor populis, nec foedera sunto.

Let there be no love between the peoples, nor any treaties.

625

Exoriare⁵ aliquis nostris ex ossibus ultor,

May some avenger arise from our bones,

qui face Dardanios ferroque sequare colonos,

who may pursue the Dardanian colonists with torch and sword,

nunc, olim, quocumque dabunt se tempore vires.

now, hereafter, at whatever time strength shall present itself.”

Syntax notes5 items

4.551degere
Used as an 'exclamatory infinitive' (infinitivus exclamativus) with an omitted subject accusative (first-person 'me'), expressing strong regret or an unfulfilled wish regarding a past or present state ('To think that I could have led...!').
4.558omnia
An accusative of specification (or 'Greek accusative') modifying the adjective similis, meaning 'in all respects (similar to Mercury)'.
4.590abscissa
The participle abscissa operates in a Greek middle-voice sense, taking the accusative comas directly as its object ('having torn her hair for herself'), or it can be analyzed as a passive participle with an accusative of specification ('torn with respect to her hair').
4.603fuerat
fuerat is an indicative pluperfect used to express a past counterfactual condition ('the fortune of battle would have been doubtful'). In contrast, fuisset is a jussive or concessive subjunctive in the pluperfect, meaning 'let it have been so' or 'even if it had been so'.
4.625Exoriare
The verb Exoriare is a second-person singular present subjunctive (with the ending -re instead of -ris, acting as a prayer or command for the future), yet it is coupled with the third-person singular indefinite pronoun aliquis ('someone') as its subject, creating a powerful apostrophe that directly addresses the unknown future avenger.

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-22)urn:cts:latinLit:phi0690.phi003.humanitext-lat2:4.551-4.627