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Dionysius of Halicarnassus · Roman Antiquities §1.43.1-1.43.2

Heracles' Sons in Italy and the Succession of Aeneas

Passage 43 of 962 · Greek

Summary

This section details the parentage of Heracles' two sons born in Italy, Pallas and Latinus, and explains how the sovereignty of the Aborigines eventually passed to Aeneas after Latinus' childless death.

§1.43.1λέγουσι δέ τινες αὐτὸν καὶ παῖδας ἐν τοῖς χωρίοις τούτοις, ἃ νῦν Ῥωμαῖοι κατοικοῦσιν, ἐκ δύο γυναικῶν γενομένους καταλιπεῖν· Πάλλαντα μὲν ἐκ τῆς Εὐάνδρου θυγατρός, ᾗ Λαῦναν ὄνομά φασιν εἶναι, Λατῖνον δὲ ἔκ τινος ὑπερβορίδος κόρης, ἣν πατρὸς εἰς ὁμηρείαν δόντος ἐπήγετο καὶ αὐτὴν μέχρι μέν τινος ἁγνὴν γάμων ἐφύλαττεν, ἐπεὶ δὲ εἰς Ἰταλίαν ἔπλει ἐρασθεὶς ἐγκύμονα ποιεῖ, καὶ ὅτε δὴ ἀπαίρειν εἰς Ἄργος ἔμελλε τῷ βασιλεῖ τῶν Ἀβοριγίνων Φαύνῳ γυναῖκα ποιήσασθαι δίδωσι· διʼ ἣν αἰτίαν τοὺς πολλοὺς τὸν Λατῖνον τούτου υἱὸν νομίζειν, οὐχ Ἡρακλέους.
And some say that he also left children behind in these places, which the Romans now inhabit, born of two women: Pallas, on the one hand, by the daughter of Evander, whose name they say was Launa, and Latinus, on the other hand, by a certain Hyperborean girl. This girl, her father having given her as a hostage, he was carrying along with him, and for a time he kept her chaste from marriage; but when he was sailing to Italy, having fallen in love, he made her pregnant, and when he was about to set sail for Argos, he gave her to Faunus, the king of the Aborigines, to make her his wife; for which reason the majority believe Latinus to be the son of the latter, and not of Heracles.
§1.43.2Πάλλαντα μὲν οὖν πρὶν ἡβῆσαι λέγουσιν ἀποθανεῖν, Λατῖνον δὲ ἀνδρωθέντα τὴν Ἀβοριγίνων ἀρχὴν παραλαβεῖν.
Now Pallas, they say, died before reaching manhood, but Latinus, when grown to manhood, received the rule of the Aborigines.
τούτου δὲ ἄπαιδος ἀρρένων παίδων τελευτήσαντος ἐν τῇ πρὸς τοὺς ὁμόρους Ῥοτόλους μάχῃ περιστῆναι τὴν ἀρχὴν εἰς Αἰνείαν τὸν Ἀγχίσου κηδεστὴν αὐτοῦ γενόμενον.
And when he died without male children in the battle against the neighboring Rutulians, the sovereignty devolved upon Aeneas, the son of Anchises, who had become his son-in-law.
ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν ἐν ἑτέροις χρόνοις ἐγένετο.
But these things happened at other times.

Notes

  1. 110γυναῖκα ποιήσασθαι — The middle infinitive ποιήσασθαι ('to make for oneself') expresses the purpose of the verb δίδωσι ('gives'). The phrase means 'he gives her [to Faunus] to make her his wife.'
  2. 110νομίζειν — The accusative and infinitive construction (indirect discourse) introduced by λέγουσι ('they say') at the beginning of 1.43.1 continues into this relative clause (διʼ ἣν αἰτίαν...). The subject of the infinitive is the accusative τοὺς πολλούς ('the majority').
  3. 1.43.2κηδεστὴν αὐτοῦ γενόμενον — The noun κηδεστής generally refers to a relative by marriage and can mean either 'father-in-law' or 'son-in-law' depending on the context. Here, since Aeneas married Latinus' daughter Lavinia, it means '[Aeneas] who had become his son-in-law.'

Cite this passage

Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities §1.43.1-1.43.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0081.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:1.43.1-1.43.2

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