Turnus's Madness and the Slaying of the Sacred Stag — Virgil, Aeneid Book 7 (lines 407–486), Latin & English

407

consiliumque omnemque domum vertisse¹ Latini,

and had overturned the plan and the entire house of Latinus,

protinus hinc fuscis tristis dea tollitur alis

immediately from here the sad goddess is borne on dark wings

audacis Rutuli ad muros, quam dicitur urbem²

to the walls of the bold Rutulian, which city they say

410

Acrisioneis Danae fundasse colonis,

Danae founded for her Acrisian colonists,

praecipiti delata noto. Locus Ardea quondam

carried down by the headlong South Wind. The place was once

dictus avis, et nunc magnum manet Ardea nomen,

called Ardea by our ancestors, and now Ardea remains a great name,

sed fortuna fuit; tectis hic Turnus in altis

but its fortune has departed; here, in his lofty palace, Turnus

iam mediam nigra carpebat nocte quietem.

was already taking his mid-sleep in the black night.

415

Allecto torvam faciem et furialia membra

Allecto puts off her grim face and fury-like limbs,

exuit, in vultus sese transformat anilis;

and transforms herself into an old woman’s features;

et frontem obscenam rugis arat, induit albos

she furrows her loathsome brow with wrinkles, puts on white hair

cum vitta crinis, tum ramum innectit olivae;

with a fillet, and then entwines a branch of olive;

fit Calybe Iunonis anus templique sacerdos

she becomes Calybe, the old priestess of Juno’s temple,

420

et iuveni ante oculos his se cum vocibus offert:

and presents herself before the young man’s eyes with these words:

Turne, tot incassum fusos patiere³ labores

’Turnus, will you suffer so many labors to have been poured out in vain,

et tua Dardaniis transcribi sceptra colonis?

and your sceptre to be transferred to Dardanian colonists?

Rex tibi coniugium et quaesitas sanguine dotes

The king denies you the marriage and the dowry sought with your blood,

abnegat, externusque in regnum quaeritur heres.

and a foreign heir is sought for the kingdom.

425

I nunc, ingratis offer te, inrise, periclis;

Go now, mocked one, offer yourself to thankless dangers;

Tyrrhenas, i, sterne acies; tege pace Latinos.

go, lay low the Tyrrhenian ranks; protect the Latins with peace.

Haec adeo tibi me, placida cum nocte iaceres,

Indeed, the almighty daughter of Saturn herself ordered me to speak

ipsa palam fari omnipotens Saturnia iussit.

these things openly to you when you were lying in the quiet night.

Quare age et armari pubem portisque moveri

Therefore arise, and joyfully prepare the youth to be armed

430

laetus in arma para, et Phrygios qui flumine pulchro

and to march out from the gates into battle, and burn the Phrygian

consedere duces pictasque exure carinas.

leaders who have settled by the beautiful river, and their painted ships.

Caelestum vis magna iubet. Rex ipse Latinus,

The great power of the gods commands. Let king Latinus himself,

ni dare coniugium et dicto parere fatetur,

unless he consents to grant the marriage and obey your word,

sentiat et tandem Turnum experiatur in armis.

feel it, and at last experience Turnus in arms.’

435

Hic iuvenis vatem inridens sic orsa vicissim

Here the youth, mocking the prophetess, in turn answers

ore refert: Classis⁴ invectas Thybridis undam

with these words:

non, ut rere, meas effugit nuntius auris.

’The news that the fleet has been carried into the waters of the Tiber

Ne tantos mihi finge metus; nec regia Iuno

has not, as you think, escaped my ears. Do not fashion such great fears

inmemor est nostri.

for me; nor is royal Juno unmindful of us.

440

Sed te victa situ verique effeta senectus,

But old age, conquered by decay and barren of truth,

o mater, curis nequiquam exercet et arma

O mother, vexes you with vain cares, and mocks a prophetess

regum inter falsa vatem formidine ludit.

with false fear amid the wars of kings.

Cura tibi divom effigies et templa tueri:

Your care is to guard the statues and temples of the gods;

bella viri pacemque gerent, quis bella gerenda.

men will wage war and peace, by whom wars must be waged.’

445

Talibus Allecto dictis exarsit in iras,

At such words Allecto blazed into wrath,

at iuveni oranti subitus tremor occupat artus,

but as the youth was speaking, a sudden trembling seized his limbs,

deriguere oculi: tot Erinys sibilat hydris

his eyes grew stiff: so many are the hydras with which the Fury hisses,

tantaque se facies aperit; tum flammea torquens

and so great a shape reveals itself; then, rolling her flaming

lumina cunctantem et quaerentem dicere plura

eyes, she repulsed him as he hesitated and sought to say more,

450

reppulit et geminos erexit crinibus anguis

and she raised two snakes from her hair,

verberaque insonuit rabidoque haec addidit ore:

and cracked her whips, and added these words from her rabid mouth:

En ego victa situ, quam veri effeta senectus

’Look at me, conquered by decay, whom old age, barren of truth,

arma inter regum falsa formidine ludit.

mocks with false fear amid the wars of kings!

Respice ad haec: adsum dirarum ab sede sororum,

Look upon these things: I am here from the home of the dread sisters,

455

bella manu letumque gero.

I bear war and death in my hand.’

Sic effata facem iuveni coniecit et atro

Thus having spoken, she cast a torch at the youth and

lumine fumantis fixit sub pectore taedas.

fixed the smoking brand with black light deep in his breast.

Olli somnum ingens rumpit pavor, ossaque et artus

A mighty dread shatters his sleep, and sweat,

perfundit toto proruptus corpore sudor;

bursting forth from his whole body, bathes his bones and limbs;

460

arma amens fremit, arma toro tectisque requirit;

madly he cries out for arms, he seeks arms in his bed and in his house;

saevit amor ferri et scelerata insania belli,

the love of the sword rages, and the wicked madness of war,

ira super: magno veluti cum flamma sonore

and anger above all: just as when with a great roar

virgea suggeritur costis undantis aëni

a fire of twigs is heaped beneath the ribs of a bubbling cauldron,

exsultantque aestu latices, furit intus aquaï

and the waters leap with the heat, the smoky flood of water

465

fumidus atque alte spumis exuberat amnis,

rages within and overflows high with foam,

nec iam se capit unda, volat vapor ater ad auras.

and now the wave cannot contain itself, and the black steam flies into the air.

Ergo iter ad regem polluta pace Latinum

Therefore, having defiled the peace, he orders a march to king

indicit primis iuvenum et iubet arma parari,

Latinus to the chief of his young men, and commands arms to be prepared,

tutari Italiam, detrudere finibus hostem:

to protect Italy, and to drive the enemy from their borders:

470

se satis ambobus Teucrisque venire⁵ Latinisque.

declaring that he alone is coming, a match for both Trojans and Latins.

Haec ubi dicta dedit divosque in vota vocavit,

When he had given these words and called the gods to witness his vows,

certatim sese Rutuli exhortantur in arma:

the Rutulians eagerly exhort one another to arms:

hunc decus egregium formae movet atque iuventae,

this one the outstanding beauty of his form and youth moves,

hunc atavi reges, hunc claris dextera factis.

that one his royal ancestors, another his right hand famous for deeds.

475

Dum Turnus Rutulos animis audacibus implet,

While Turnus fills the Rutulians with bold spirits,

Allecto in Teucros Stygiis se concitat alis,

Allecto rouses herself on Stygian wings towards the Trojans,

arte nova speculata locum, quo litore pulcher

having with new art spied out the place on the shore where

insidiis cursuque feras agitabat Iulus.

beautiful Iulus was hunting wild beasts with traps and on the chase.

Hic subitam canibus rabiem Cocytia virgo

Here the Cocytian virgin casts a sudden madness upon the dogs

480

obicit et noto naris contingit odore,

and touches their nostrils with the well-known scent,

ut cervum ardentes agerent; quae prima laborum

so that they might eagerly pursue a stag; which was the first cause

causa fuit belloque animos accendit agrestis.

of the troubles and inflamed the rustic minds for war.

Cervus erat forma praestanti et cornibus ingens,

There was a stag of outstanding beauty and huge with horns,

Tyrrhidae pueri quem matris ab ubere raptum

which the boys of Tyrrhus, snatched from its mother’s udder,

485

nutribant Tyrrhusque pater, cui regia parent

were nurturing, along with their father Tyrrhus, whom the royal

armenta et late custodia credita campi.

herds obey and to whom the custody of the plain is widely entrusted.

Syntax notes5 items

7.407vertisse
An infinitive dependent on Postquam visa [est] (after she seemed) from the previous line, standing in parallel with acuisse. The subject is Allecto, and vertisse acts transitively with consilium omnemque domum as its direct objects.
7.409quam ... urbem
A construction of relative attraction/incorporation where the noun urbem is placed inside the relative clause modified by quam. The antecedent is understood from muros (the walls of Ardea) in the preceding clause, functioning as 'to the walls of Ardea, which city...'.
7.421patiere
The second-person singular future indicative of the deponent verb patior (to suffer, allow), using the poetic/archaic ending -ere instead of -eris. It governs the accusative and infinitive constructions labores fusos [esse] and sceptra transcribi.
7.436Classis
An archaic spelling of the accusative plural classes (with -is for -es), modified by the feminine accusative plural participle invectas. It governs Thybridis undam (accusative of direction) and acts as the subject of the accusative and infinitive clause.
7.470se satis ... venire
An accusative and infinitive clause in indirect speech, with the verb of saying (such as dicit or fremit) omitted. se refers to the subject (Turnus), and satis functions predicatively to mean 'sufficient (as an opponent)'.

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-22)urn:cts:latinLit:phi0690.phi003.humanitext-lat2:7.407-7.486