The Boxing Match Between Entellus and Dares — Virgil, Aeneid Book 5 (lines 398–474), Latin & English

398

exsultat fidens, si nunc foret illa iuventas,¹

exults, trusting in it. If now that youth of mine were here,

haud equidem pretio inductus pulchroque iuvenco

indeed, not induced by the prize and the beautiful bullock

400

venissem, nec dona moror. Sic deinde locutus

would I have come, nor do I care for gifts.” Thus having spoken next,

in medium geminos immani pondere caestus

in the midst two boxing gauntlets of immense weight,

proiecit, quibus acer Eryx in proelia suetus²

he threw, with which fierce Eryx was accustomed in battle

ferre manum, duroque intendere brachia tergo.

to engage, and to bind his arms with the tough hide.

Obstipuere animi: tantorum ingentia septem

Their minds were amazed: seven huge hides of such great

405

terga boum plumbo insuto ferroque rigebant.

oxen were stiff with sewn-in lead and iron.

Ante omnes stupet ipse Dares, longeque recusat;

Before all, Dares himself is stunned, and stands far back, refusing them;

magnanimusque Anchisiades et pondus et ipsa

and the magnanimous son of Anchises turns this way and that both the weight

huc illuc vinclorum immensa volumina versat.

and the immense folds themselves of the thongs.

Tum senior talis referebat pectore voces:

Then the older man uttered such words from his breast:

410

Quid, si quis³ caestus ipsius et Herculis arma

”What if anyone had seen the gauntlets of Eryx himself and the weapons of Hercules,

vidisset, tristemque hoc ipso in litore pugnam?

and the sorrowful fight on this very shore?

Haec germanus Eryx quondam tuus arma gerebat;—

These weapons your brother Eryx once used to wear;—

sanguine cernis adhuc sparsoque infecta cerebro;—

you see them still stained with blood and scattered brains;—

his magnum Alciden contra stetit; his ego suetus,

with these he stood against the great Alcides; with these I was accustomed,

415

dum melior vires sanguis dabat, aemula necdum

while better blood gave me strength, nor yet had envious

temporibus geminis canebat sparsa senectus.⁴

old age, sprinkled on my twin temples, grown white.

Sed si nostra Dares haec Troius arma recusat,

But if Trojan Dares refuses these weapons of ours,

idque pio sedet Aeneae, probat auctor Acestes,

and if it is resolved by pious Aeneas and approved by my sponsor Acestes,

aequemus pugnas. Erycis tibi terga remitto;

let us make the fight equal. I waive the hides of Eryx for you;

420

solve metus; et tu Troianos exue caestus.

dismiss your fears; and do you strip off your Trojan gauntlets.”

Haec fatus, duplicem ex umeris reiecit amictum

Having spoken thus, he threw back his double cloak from his shoulders

et magnos membrorum artus, magna ossa lacertosque

and stripped the great joints of his limbs, his great bones and arms,

exuit, atque ingens media consistit harena.

and stood, a giant, in the midst of the sand.

Tum satus Anchisa caestus pater extulit aequos,

Then the father, sprung from Anchises, brought out equal gauntlets,

425

et paribus palmas amborum innexuit armis.

and bound the hands of both with equal weapons.

Constitit in digitos extemplo arrectus uterque,

Immediately each stood upright, rising on his toes,

brachiaque ad superas interritus extulit auras.

and undaunted raised his arms to the air above.

Abduxere retro longe capita ardua ab ictu,

They drew their high heads far back from the blow,

immiscentque manus manibus, pugnamque lacessunt.

and intermingle hands with hands, and provoke the fight.

430

Ille pedum melior motu, fretusque iuventa;

The one is better in the movement of his feet, and trusting in his youth;

hic membris et mole valens, sed tarda trementi

the other is powerful in limbs and mass, but his slow, trembling

genua labant, vastos quatit aeger anhelitus artus.

knees totter, and a painful panting shakes his vast limbs.

Multa viri nequiquam inter se volnera iactant,

The men throw many wounds in vain at one another,

multa cavo lateri ingeminant, et pectore vastos

many they redouble on their hollow sides, and from their breasts

435

dant sonitus, erratque auris et tempora circum

they give forth vast sounds, and around their ears and temples

crebra manus, duro crepitant sub volnere malae.

the frequent hand wanders, and under the hard blow their jaws rattle.

Stat gravis Entellus nisuque immotus eodem,

Heavy Entellus stands unmoved in the same posture,

corpore tela modo atque oculis vigilantibus exit.⁵

and avoids the weapons only with his body and watchful eyes.

Ille, velut celsam oppugnat qui molibus urbem,

The other, like one who attacks a high city with siege works,

440

aut montana sedet circum castella sub armis,

or sits under arms around mountain fortresses,

nunc hos, nunc illos aditus, omnemque pererrat

now these, now those approaches, and wanders through the whole

arte locum, et variis adsultibus inritus urguet.

place with art, and presses in vain with various assaults.

Ostendit dextram insurgens Entellus, et alte

Rising, Entellus showed his right hand, and raised it

extulit: ille ictum venientem a vertice velox

high: the other quickly foresaw the blow coming from above,

445

praevidit, celerique elapsus corpore cessit.

and slipping away with his swift body, withdrew.

Entellus vires in ventum effudit, et ultro

Entellus poured out his strength into the wind, and moreover,

ipse gravis graviterque ad terram pondere vasto

heavy himself, fell heavily to the ground with vast weight,

concidit, ut quondam cava concidit aut Erymantho,

as sometimes a hollow pine falls, torn up by the roots,

aut Ida in magna, radicibus eruta pinus.

either on Erymanthus, or on great Ida.

450

Consurgunt studiis Teucri et Trinacria pubes;

The Trojans and the Sicilian youth rise together with zeal;

it clamor caelo, primusque accurrit Acestes,

a shout goes to heaven, and Acestes runs up first,

aequaevumque ab humo miserans attollit amicum.

and pitying, raises his same-aged friend from the ground.

At non tardatus casu neque territus heros

But not slowed down by the fall nor terrified, the hero

acrior ad pugnam redit ac vim suscitat ira.

returns more fierce to the fight, and rouses strength with anger.

455

Tum pudor incendit vires et conscia virtus,

Then shame and conscious valor inflame his strength,

praecipitemque Daren ardens agit aequore toto,

and burning, he drives Dares headlong over the whole plain,

nunc dextra ingeminans ictus, nunc ille sinistra;

now redoubling blows with his right hand, now he with his left;

nec mora, nec requies: quam multa grandine nimbi

nor is there delay, nor rest: as thick as the hail with which clouds

culminibus crepitant, sic densis ictibus heros

rattle on rooftops, so with dense blows the hero,

460

creber utraque manu pulsat versatque Dareta.

frequent with both hands, beats and tosses Dares.

Tum pater Aeneas procedere longius iras

Then father Aeneas did not permit the anger to proceed further

et saevire animis Entellum haud passus acerbis;

nor Entellus to rage with bitter minds;

sed finem imposuit pugnae, fessumque Dareta

but he put an end to the fight, and rescued the weary Dares,

eripuit mulcens dictis, ac talia fatur:

soothing him with words, and speaks thus:

465

Infelix, quae tanta animum dementia cepit?

”Unhappy man, what so great madness has seized your mind?

Non vires alias conversaque numina sentis?

Do you not perceive other strength and the turned divinities?

Cede deo. Dixitque et proelia voce diremit.

Yield to the god.” He spoke, and by his voice broke off the battles.

Ast illum fidi aequales, genua aegra trahentem,

But his faithful companions lead him, dragging his painful knees,

iactantemque utroque caput, crassumque cruorem

and tossing his head to either side, and spitting thick blood

470

ore eiectantem mixtosque in sanguine dentes,

from his mouth, and teeth mixed in the blood,

ducunt ad naves; galeamque ensemque vocati

to the ships; and being called, they receive the helmet and the sword;

accipiunt; palmam Entello taurumque relinquunt.

they leave the palm and the bull to Entellus.

Hic victor, superans animis tauroque superbus:

Here the victor, exulting in spirit and proud of the bull:

Nate dea, vosque haec inquit cognoscite, Teucri,

”Son of a goddess, and you, Trojans,” he says, “know these things,”

Syntax notes5 items

5.398si nunc foret illa iuventas
A conditional clause of a contrary-to-fact condition continuing from the preceding line (§5.397). The imperfect subjunctive foret (= esset) expresses a present contrary-to-fact assumption. The apodosis is venissem (pluperfect subjunctive) in §5.399, expressing a past contrary-to-fact result.
5.402quibus acer Eryx in proelia suetus
quibus is a relative pronoun in the ablative of instrument, referring back to caestus. The imperfect erat is omitted after the participle suetus. It governs the infinitives ferre and intendere, meaning "was accustomed to...".
5.410Quid, si quis
An idiomatic introduction to a contrary-to-fact condition, with a verb like esset or diceret omitted after Quid ("What if..."). The si clause uses the pluperfect subjunctive vidisset to express a past contrary-to-fact hypothesis.
5.415aemula necdum temporibus geminis canebat sparsa senectus
aemula senectus (envious/rivaling old age) is the subject, and canebat (was growing white) is the verb. temporibus geminis (twin temples) is either an ablative of place or a dative of reference. sparsa agrees with senectus, meaning "scattered" or "sprinkled" (with grey hair).
5.438corpore tela modo atque oculis vigilantibus exit
Although exit is intransitive ("goes out"), here it is used transitively in a technical boxing sense ("avoids", "evades"), taking the accusative tela (weapons/blows) as its direct object. corpore ... modo (only with the body) and oculis vigilantibus (with watchful eyes) are ablatives of means.

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-22)urn:cts:latinLit:phi0690.phi003.humanitext-lat2:5.398-5.474