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Virgil · Aeneid §10.1-10.77

Council of the Gods: Venus and Juno's Debate

Passage 92 of 127 · Latin

Summary

A council of the gods is convened on Olympus, where Jupiter commands the cessation of warfare. In response, Venus laments the Trojans' plight and begs for Ascanius's safety, while Juno furiously counters by defending the Latins and blaming the Trojans.

§10.1Panditur interea domus omnipotentis Olympi, §10.2conciliumque vocat divom pater atque hominum rex §10.3sideream in sedem, terras unde arduus omnis §10.4castraque Dardanidum adspectat populosque Latinos.
Meanwhile the palace of all-powerful Olympus is opened, and the father of gods and king of men calls a council into his starry seat, whence, high aloft, he beholds all lands, the camp of the Dardanids and the Latin peoples.
§10.5Considunt tectis bipatentibus, incipit ipse: §10.6Caelicolae magni, quianam sententia vobis §10.7versa retro tantumque animis certatis iniquis?
They take their seats in the double-gated halls; he himself begins: "Great heaven-dwellers, why is your decision turned back, and why do you strive so much with hostile minds?
§10.8Abnueram bello Italiam concurrere Teucris.
I had forbidden Italy to clash in war with the Trojans.
§10.9Quae contra vetitum discordia? Quis metus aut hos
What discord is this against my prohibition?
§10.10aut hos arma sequi ferrumque lacessere suasit?
What fear persuaded either these or those to take up arms and provoke the sword?
§10.11Adveniet iustum pugnae, ne arcessite, tempus, §10.12cum fera Karthago Romanis arcibus olim §10.13exitium magnum atque Alpes immittet apertas: §10.14tum certare odiis, tum res rapuisse licebit.
The proper time for battle will arrive—do not hasten it— when fierce Carthage shall one day launch upon the Roman citadels great destruction, and the Alps opened; then it will be lawful to strive with hatred, then to plunder.
§10.15Nunc sinite et placitum laeti componite foedus. §10.16Iuppiter haec paucis; at non Venus aurea contra §10.17pauca refert: §10.18O pater, O hominum rerumque aeterna potestas!
Now let it be, and gladly establish the pleasing treaty." Jupiter spoke these in few words; but golden Venus in reply returns not few: "O father, O eternal power of men and things!
§10.19Namque aliud quid sit, quod iam implorare queamus?
For what else is there that we can now implore?
§10.20Cernis ut insultent Rutulli Turnusque §10.21secundo
Do you see how the Rutulians exult and Turnus, with favorable warfare, rushes on?
§10.22Marte ruat? Non clausa tegunt iam moenia Teucros: §10.23quin intra portas atque ipsis proelia miscent §10.24aggeribus moerorum et inundant sanguine fossas.
No longer do closed walls protect the Trojans: nay, within the gates and on the very ramparts of the walls they join battle, and flood the trenches with blood.
§10.25Aeneas ignarus abest.
Aeneas, ignorant, is away.
Numquamne levari §10.26obsidione sines? Muris iterum imminet hostis
Will you never allow them to be relieved from siege?
§10.27nascentis Troiae §10.28atque iterum in Teucros Aetolis surgit ab Arpis §10.29Tydides.
Again the enemy threatens the walls of rising Troy, and again from Aetolian Arpi, Tydides rises against the Trojans.
Equidem credo, mea volnera restant §10.30et tua progenies mortalia demoror arma.
Indeed, I believe, my wounds remain, and I, your offspring, delay mortal weapons.
§10.31Si sine pace tua atque invito numine Troes §10.32Italiam petiere, luant peccata neque illos §10.33iuveris auxilio; sin tot responsa secuti, §10.34quae superi manesque dabant: cur nunc tua quisquam §10.35vertere iussa potest aut cur nova condere fata?
If without your peace and against your divine will the Trojans sought Italy, let them pay for their sins, and do not help them with aid; but if, following so many responses which the gods above and shades below gave: why now can anyone overturn your commands or build new fates?
§10.36Quid repetem exustas Erycino in litore classes, §10.37quid tempestatum regem ventosque furentis §10.38Aeolia excitos aut actam nubibus Irim?
Why should I recall the fleets burned on the Erycinian shore, why the king of tempests and his raging winds aroused from Aeolia, or Iris driven from the clouds?
§10.39Nunc etiam manis, haec intemptata manebat §10.40sors rerum, movet et superis immissa repente §10.41Allecto, medias Italum bacchata per urbes.
Now she even stirs up the shades—this portion of affairs remained untried— and Allecto, suddenly let loose upon the upper world, has raved through the midst of Italian cities.
§10.42Nil super imperio moveor: speravimus ista, §10.43dum fortuna fuit; vincant quos vincere mavis.
I am moved not at all for empire; that we hoped for while fortune was; let those conquer whom you prefer to conquer.
§10.44Si nulla est regio, Teucris quam det tua coniunx §10.45dura, per eversae, genitor, fumantia Troiae §10.46exscidia obtestor, liceat dimittere ab armis §10.47incolumem Ascanium, liceat superesse nepotem.
If there is no region which your harsh wife will give to the Trojans, I implore you, father, by the smoking ruins of destroyed Troy, let me dismiss Ascanius unharmed from arms, let my grandson survive.
§10.48Aeneas sane ignotis iactetur in undis §10.49et, quamcumque viam dederit Fortuna, sequatur: §10.50hunc tegere et dirae valeam subducere pugnae.
Let Aeneas indeed be tossed on unknown waves and follow whatever path Fortune has given: let me be able to protect this one and withdraw him from the dreadful fight.
§10.51Est Amathus, est celsa mihi Paphus atque Cythera §10.52Idaliaeque domus: positis inglorius armis §10.53exigat hic aevum.
I have Amathus, high Paphos, and Cythera, and the homes of Idalia: let him, laying aside his arms, inglorious pass his life here.
Magna dicione iubeto §10.54Karthago premat Ausoniam: nihil urbibus inde §10.55obstabit Tyriis.
Bid Carthage oppress Ausonia with great power: nothing from there will oppose the Tyrian cities.
Quid pestem evadere belli §10.56iuvit et Argolicos medium fugisse per ignes §10.57totque maris vastaeque exhausta pericula terrae, §10.58dum Latium Teucri recidivaque Pergama quaerunt?
What did it help to escape the plague of war and to have fled through the midst of Argive fires, and to have exhausted so many dangers of the vast sea and land, while the Trojans seek Latium and a rebuilt Pergamum?
§10.59Non satius cineres patriae insedisse supremos §10.60atque solum, quo Troia fuit? Xanthum et Simoenta
Would it not have been better to settle on the final ashes of their fatherland, and on the soil where Troy was?
§10.61redde, oro, miseris iterumque revolvere casus §10.62da, pater, Iliacos Teucris. §10.62bTum regia Iuno §10.63acta furore gravi: Quid me alta silentia cogis §10.64rumpere et obductum verbis volgare dolorem?
Restore Xanthus and Simois, I pray, to the wretched ones, and grant, father, to the Trojans to retrace the fortunes of Ilium." Then the royal Juno, driven by grave fury, spoke: "Why do you force me to break deep silence and to publish my hidden grief with words?
§10.65Aenean hominum quisquam divomque subegit §10.66bella sequi aut hostem regi se inferre Latino?
Did any of men or gods compel Aeneas to pursue war or to bring himself as an enemy against King Latinus?
§10.67Italiam petiit fatis auctoribus, esto, §10.68Cassandrae inpulsus furiis: num linquere castra §10.69hortati sumus aut vitam committere ventis?
He sought Italy with the fates as his guides—granted— impelled by the furies of Cassandra: did we urge him to leave his camp or to commit his life to the winds?
§10.70Num puero summam belli, num credere muros §10.71Tyrrhenamque fidem, aut gentis agitare quietas?
Did we urge him to trust the sum of the war, the walls to a boy, or Etruscan loyalty, or to agitate peaceful peoples?
§10.72Quis deus in fraudem, quae dura potentia nostra
What god, what harsh power of ours drove him into harm?
§10.73egit? Ubi hic Iuno demissave nubibus Iris?
Where is Juno here, or Iris sent down from the clouds?
§10.74Indignum est Italos Troiam circumdare flammis §10.75nascentem et patria Turnum consistere terra, §10.76cui Pilumnus avus, cui diva Venilia mater:
Is it unworthy that the Italians should surround rising Troy with flames and that Turnus should stand on his native land, whose grandfather is Pilumnus, whose mother is the divine Venilia?
§10.77quid face Troianos atra vim ferre Latinis,
What of the Trojans bringing violence with dark torches to the Latins,

Notes

  1. 10.10arma sequi — `arma sequi` (to follow arms) is an idiomatic expression for 'to take up arms' or 'to resort to war.' It forms an accusative with infinitive construction (`hos aut hos ... sequi ...`) dependent on the verb `suasit`.
  2. 10.30mea volnera restant — Regarding 'my wounds remain,' it refers physically to the wound Venus once received from Diomedes during the Trojan War, while metaphorically representing the ongoing sufferings of the Trojans as her own.
  3. 10.33sin tot responsa secuti — In the conditional clause introduced by `sin`, the verb `sunt` is omitted. Furthermore, the corresponding main clause (apodosis) is not explicitly stated, resulting in an anacoluthon that connects directly to the following direct question `cur nunc...`.
  4. 10.40superis — `superis` is the dative or ablative of the noun `superi` (those above). While it is most naturally interpreted as a dative of direction ('against/into the upper world') after `inmissa`, taking it as an ablative of agent ('by the gods above') is also grammatically possible.

Cite this passage

Virgil, Aeneid §10.1-10.77. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0690.phi003.humanitext-lat2:10.1-10.77

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