The Suicide of Dido and the Release of Her Soul — Virgil, Aeneid Book 4 (lines 628–705), Latin & English

628

Litora litoribus contraria, fluctibus undas

Shores opposed to shores, waves to waves I invoke as a curse,

imprecor, arma armis; pugnent ipsique nepotesque.

arms to arms; let them fight, both themselves and their descendants.

630

Haec ait, et partis animum versabat in omnis,

These things she said, and was turning her mind in every direction,

invisam quaerens quam primum abrumpere lucem.

seeking to break off the hated light as soon as possible.

Tum breviter Barcen nutricem adfata Sychaei;

Then briefly she addressed Barce, the nurse of Sychaeus;

namque suam patria antiqua cinis ater habebat:

for the black ash was holding her own nurse in her ancient fatherland:

Annam cara mihi nutrix huc siste sororem;

”Dear nurse, bring my sister Anna here to me;

635

dic corpus properet fluviali spargere lympha,

tell her to make haste to sprinkle her body with river water,

et pecudes secum et monstrata piacula ducat:

and bring with her the cattle and the prescribed expiations:

sic veniat; tuque ipsa pia tege tempora vitta.

thus let her come; and you yourself cover your temples with a sacred headband.

Sacra Iovi Stygio, quae rite incepta paravi,

It is my intention to complete the sacrifices to Stygian Jove, which I have duly begun and prepared,

perficere est animus, finemque imponere curis,

and to put an end to my cares,

640

Dardaniique rogum capitis permittere flammae.

and to commit the pyre of the Dardanian chief to the flame.”

Sic ait: illa gradum studio celerabat anili.

Thus she spoke: she (the nurse) hastened her step with old-womanish zeal.

At trepida, et coeptis immanibus effera Dido,

But Dido, trembling and wild with her monstrous undertakings,

sanguineam volvens aciem, maculisque trementis

rolling her bloodshot eyes, her trembling cheeks

interfusa genas,¹ et pallida morte futura,

flecked with spots, and pale with imminent death,

645

interiora domus inrumpit limina, et altos

bursts into the inner thresholds of the house, and climbs the high

conscendit furibunda rogos, ensemque recludit

pyre in a frenzy, and unsheathes the Dardanian

Dardanium, non hos quaesitum munus in usus.

sword, a gift sought for no such purposes.

Hic, postquam Iliacas vestes notumque cubile

Here, after she beheld the Trojan garments and the familiar bed,

conspexit, paulum lacrimis et mente morata,

lingering a little in tears and in thought,

650

incubuitque toro, dixitque novissima verba:

she threw herself onto the couch and spoke her last words:

Dulces exuviae, dum fata deusque sinebant,

”Sweet relics, while the fates and the god permitted,

accipite hanc animam, meque his exsolvite curis.

receive this soul, and release me from these cares.

Vixi, et, quem dederat cursum fortuna, peregi,

I have lived, and I have completed the course which fortune had given,

et nunc magna mei sub terras ibit imago.

and now my great shade will go beneath the earth.

655

Urbem praeclaram statui; mea moenia vidi;

I have established a famous city; I have seen my walls;

ulta virum, poenas inimico a fratre recepi;

having avenged my husband, I have exacted punishment from my hostile brother;

felix, heu nimium felix, si litora tantum

happy, alas, too happy, if only the Dardanian

numquam Dardaniae tetigissent nostra carinae!

keels had never touched our shores!”

Dixit, et, os impressa toro,² Moriemur inultae,

She spoke, and, pressing her face onto the couch: “We shall die unavenged,

660

sed moriamur ait. Sic, sic iuvat ire sub umbras :

but let us die,” she says. “Thus, thus it pleases me to go beneath the shadows:

Hauriat hunc oculis ignem crudelis ab alto

let the cruel Dardanian drink in this fire with his eyes from the deep,

Dardanus, et nostrae secum ferat omina mortis.

and bear with him the omens of our death.”

Dixerat; atque illam media inter talia ferro

She had spoken; and in the midst of such words, her companions behold her fallen

conlapsam aspiciunt comites, ensemque cruore

upon the sword, and the blade foaming with blood,

665

spumantem, sparsasque manus. It clamor ad alta

and her hands bespattered. A cry goes up to the high

atria; concussam bacchatur Fama per urbem.

halls; Rumor runs wild through the shaken city.

Lamentis gemituque et femineo ululatu

With laments and groaning and female wailing

tecta fremunt; resonat magnis plangoribus aether,

the dwellings resound; the upper air rings with loud wailings,

non aliter, quam si immissis ruat hostibus omnis

no otherwise than if all Carthage or ancient Tyre were falling down

670

Karthago aut antiqua Tyros, flammaeque furentes

before rushing enemies, and raging flames

culmina perque hominum volvantur perque deorum.

were rolling through the roofs of men and of gods.

Audiit exanimis, trepidoque exterrita cursu

Her sister heard it, breathless, and terrified in her trembling course,

unguibus ora soror foedans et pectora pugnis

clawing her face with her nails and beating her breast with her fists,

per medios ruit, ac morientem nomine clamat:

she rushes through the midst, and calls her dying sister by name:

675

Hoc illud, germana, fuit? Me fraude petebas?

”Was this that which you were preparing, sister? Were you deceiving me?

Hoc rogus iste mihi, hoc ignes araeque parabant?

Was this what that pyre, this what the fires and altars were preparing for me?

Quid primum deserta querar? Comitemne sororem

Abandoned, what shall I complain of first? Did you despise your sister

sprevisti moriens? Eadem me ad fata vocasses:³

as a companion in dying? You should have called me to the same fate:

idem ambas ferro dolor, atque eadem hora tulisset.

the same pain and the same hour would have taken both of us by the sword.

680

His etiam struxi manibus, patriosque vocavi

Did I even build it with these hands, and call upon our ancestral

voce deos, sic te ut posita crudelis abessem?

gods with my voice, only that I, cruel one, should be absent when you lay thus?

Exstinxti te meque, soror, populumque patresque

You have destroyed yourself and me, sister, and the Sidonian people

Sidonios urbemque tuam. Date volnera lymphis

and elders and your city. Give me water that I may wash her wounds,

abluam,⁴ et, extremus si quis super halitus errat,

and if any last breath still hovers above,

685

ore legam. Sic fata, gradus evaserat altos,

let me catch it with my mouth.” Thus having spoken, she had climbed the high steps,

semianimemque sinu germanam amplexa fovebat

and embracing her half-dead sister in her bosom, she cherished her

cum gemitu, atque atros siccabat veste cruores.

with groaning, and was drying the black blood with her robe.

Illa, graves oculos conata attollere, rursus

She, having tried to lift her heavy eyes, again

deficit; infixum stridit sub pectore vulnus.

fails; the deep-fixed wound gurgles beneath her breast.

690

Ter sese attollens cubitoque adnixa levavit;

Three times raising herself and leaning on her elbow she lifted herself up;

ter revoluta toro est, oculisque errantibus alto

three times she rolled back on the couch, and with wandering eyes

quaesivit caelo lucem, ingemuitque reperta.

sought light in the deep heaven, and groaned when she found it.

Tum Iuno omnipotens, longum miserata dolorem

Then almighty Juno, pitying her long pain

difficilisque obitus, Irim demisit Olympo,

and difficult death, sent Iris down from Olympus,

695

quae luctantem animam nexosque resolveret artus.

to release her struggling soul and bound limbs.

Nam quia nec fato, merita nec morte peribat,

For since she was dying neither by fate nor by a deserved death,

sed misera ante diem, subitoque accensa furore,

but miserably before her day and inflamed by a sudden madness,

nondum illi flavum Proserpina vertice crinem

Proserpina had not yet cut the golden hair from her head

abstulerat, Stygioque caput damnaverat Orco.

nor condemned her soul to Stygian Orcus.

700

Ergo Iris croceis per caelum roscida pennis,

Therefore, dewy Iris on saffron wings flies down through the sky,

mille trahens varios adverso sole colores,

drawing a thousand varied colors in the opposing sun,

devolat, et supra caput adstitit: Hunc ego Diti

and stood above her head: “This I bear,

sacrum iussa fero, teque isto corpore solvo.

commanded, as sacred to Dis, and I release you from that body of yours.”

Sic ait, et dextra crinem secat: omnis et una

Thus she spoke, and cuts the hair with her right hand: and at once all

705

dilapsus calor, atque in ventos vita recessit.

warmth slipped away, and her life receded into the winds.

Syntax notes4 items

4.644interfusa genas
The passive participle interfusa is used here in a Greek middle voice sense, governing genas (cheeks) as an accusative of specification (or respect) / direct object of a middle verb.
4.659os impressa toro
impressa functions as a middle participle (reflexive in sense), governing os (face/mouth) as its direct object, meaning "having pressed her own face onto the couch."
4.678vocasses
A syncopated form of vocavisses. It functions as a hortatory/jussive subjunctive in the past, expressing a past unfulfilled obligation ("you should have called me").
4.683Date volnera lymphis abluam
Either an object like aquam is understood with date (implying "give [water] so that I may wash"), or date is used in a paratactic construction with the subjunctive abluam (without ut), meaning "grant that I may wash the wounds with water."

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-22)urn:cts:latinLit:phi0690.phi003.humanitext-lat2:4.628-4.705