§6.523Egregia interea coniunx arma omnia tectis §6.524amovet, et fidum capiti subduxerat ensem; §6.525intra tecta vocat Menelaum, et limina pandit, §6.526scilicet id magnum sperans fore munus amanti, §6.527et famam exstingui veterum sic posse malorum.
Meanwhile, my outstanding wife removes all weapons from the house, and had withdrawn the faithful sword from my head; she calls Menelaus inside the house, and opens the doors, doubtless hoping that this would be a great gift to her lover, and that thus the reputation of her old evils could be wiped out.
Why do I delay? They burst into the bedchamber; there is added as a companion the son of Aeolus, the promoter of crimes.
Di, talia Grais §6.530instaurate, pio si poenas ore reposco!
Gods, to the Greeks such things repay, if with a pious mouth I demand punishment!
But come, speak in turn, what misfortunes have brought you here alive.
Pelagine venis erroribus actus,
Do you come driven by wanderings on the sea, or by the warning of the gods?
§6.533an monitu divom? An quae te Fortuna fatigat, §6.534ut tristes sine sole domos, loca turbida, adires?
Or what Fortune fatigues you, that you should approach sad homes without sun, places of confusion?
§6.535Hac vice sermonum roseïs Aurora quadrigis §6.536iam medium aetherio cursu traiecerat axem; §6.537et fors omne datum traherent per talia tempus; §6.538sed comes admonuit, breviterque adfata Sibylla est: §6.539Nox ruit, Aenea; nos flendo ducimus horas.
In this exchange of talk, Aurora with her rosy chariot had now crossed the middle axis in her ethereal course; and perhaps they would have dragged out all the allotted time in such things; but her companion warned, and briefly the Sibyl spoke: "Night rushes on, Aeneas; we drag out the hours with weeping.
§6.540Hic locus est, partes ubi se via findit in ambas: §6.541dextera quae Ditis magni sub moenia tendit, §6.542hac iter Elysium nobis; at laeva malorum §6.543exercet poenas, et ad impia Tartara mittit. §6.544Deiphobus contra:
Ne saevi, magna sacerdos; §6.545discedam, explebo numerum, reddarque tenebris.
Here is the place where the way splits into both parts: the right, which stretches under the walls of great Dis, by this is our journey to Elysium; but the left executes the punishments of the wicked, and sends them to impious Tartarus." Deiphobus in reply: "Do not be angry, great priestess; I will depart, I will fill up the number, and be restored to the darkness.
§6.546I decus, i, nostrum; melioribus utere fatis! §6.547Tantum effatus, et in verbo vestigia torsit.
Go, our glory, go; enjoy better fates!" Having spoken only this, he turned his steps even on the word.
§6.548Respicit Aeneas subito, et sub rupe sinistra §6.549moenia lata videt, triplici circumdata muro, §6.550quae rapidus flammis ambit torrentibus amnis, §6.551Tartareus Phlegethon, torquetque sonantia saxa.
Aeneas suddenly looks back, and under the cliff on the left sees wide walls, surrounded by a triple wall, which a swift river surrounds with burning torrents, Tartarean Phlegethon, and whirls resounding rocks.
§6.552Porta adversa ingens, solidoque adamante columnae, §6.553vis ut nulla virum, non ipsi exscindere bello §6.554caelicolae valeant; stat ferrea turris ad auras, §6.555Tisiphoneque sedens, palla succincta cruenta, §6.556vestibulum exsomnis servat noctesque diesque.
A huge gate stands opposite, and columns of solid adamant, so that no force of men, not the heaven-dwellers themselves in war are able to destroy it; an iron tower stands into the air, and Tisiphone sitting, girt with a bloody cloak, sleepless guards the vestibule night and day.
Hence groans are heard, and cruel lashes to resound; then the screech of iron, and dragged chains.
§6.559Constitit Aeneas, strepitumque exterritus hausit.
Aeneas stopped, and terrified drank in the din.
§6.560Quae scelerum facies, O virgo, effare; quibusve §6.561urguentur poenis? Quis tantus plangor ad auras?
"What forms of crimes are these, O virgin, speak; or with what punishments are they urged?
§6.562Tum vates sic orsa loqui:
Dux inclute Teucrum, §6.563nulli fas casto sceleratum insistere limen; §6.564sed me cum lucis Hecate praefecit Avernis, §6.565ipsa deum poenas docuit, perque omnia duxit.
What is this great wailing into the air?" Then the prophetess thus began to speak: "Renowned leader of the Teucrians, it is not lawful for any pure person to tread the wicked threshold; but when Hecate put me in charge of the Avernan groves, she herself taught me the punishments of the gods, and led me through everything.
§6.566Gnosius haec Rhadamanthus habet, durissima regna, §6.567castigatque auditque dolos, subigitque fateri, §6.568quae quis apud superos, furto laetatus inani, §6.569distulit in seram commissa piacula mortem.
Gnosian Rhadamanthus holds these most harsh realms, and chastises and hears the deceits, and compels them to confess what crimes committed among the living, anyone, rejoicing in vain concealment, deferred to late death, their atonements.
§6.570Continuo sontes ultrix accincta flagello §6.571Tisiphone quatit insultans, torvosque sinistra §6.572intentans angues vocat agmina saeva sororum.
Straightway the avenger Tisiphone, armed with a whip, leaps upon and scourges the guilty, and in her left hand threatening grim snakes, she calls the cruel bands of her sisters.
Then at last, grating on their dread-sounding hinge, the sacred gates are opened.
Cernis custodia qualis §6.575vestibulo sedeat, facies quae limina servet?
Do you see what kind of guard sits in the vestibule, what form watches the threshold?
A monstrous Hydra, more fierce with fifty black gaping mouths, has her seat within.
Tum Tartarus ipse §6.578bis patet in praeceps tantum tenditque sub umbras, §6.579quantus ad aetherium caeli suspectus Olympum.
Then Tartarus itself opens sheer twice as far, and stretches under the shadows, as is the upward look of heaven to ethereal Olympus.
Here the ancient race of Earth, the Titan youth, cast down by the thunderbolt, roll in the lowest deep.
§6.582Hic et Aloidas geminos immania vidi §6.583corpora, qui manibus magnum rescindere caelum §6.584adgressi, superisque Iovem detrudere regnis.
Here also I saw the twin Aloidae, monstrous bodies, who with their hands attempted to tear open great heaven, and to thrust down Jove from his celestial realms.
I saw also Salmoneus paying cruel punishments, while he mimics the flames of Jove and the sounds of Olympus.
§6.587Quattuor hic invectus equis et lampada quassans §6.588per Graium populos mediaeque per Elidis urbem §6.589ibat ovans, divomque sibi poscebat honorem,— §6.590demens, qui nimbos et non imitabile fulmen §6.591aere et cornipedum pulsu simularet equorum.
Borne here by four horses and brandishing a torch, through the peoples of the Greeks and through the midst of the city of Elis he went exulting, and demanded for himself the honor of the gods— madman, who simulated the storm-clouds and inimitable thunder with bronze and the beat of his horn-footed horses.
§6.592At pater omnipotens densa inter nubila telum §6.593contorsit, non ille faces nec fumea taedis §6.594lumina, praecipitemque immani turbine adegit.
But the almighty father from among the thick clouds twisted his weapon, not he torches indeed nor smoky lights from pines, and drove him headlong with a huge whirlwind.
§6.595Nec non et Tityon, Terrae omniparentis alumnum, §6.596cernere erat, per tota novem cui iugera corpus §6.597porrigitur, rostroque immanis voltur obunco §6.598immortale iecur tondens fecundaque poenis
Moreover, there was to be seen Tityos, the foster-son of all-bearing Earth, whose body is stretched over nine whole acres, and a huge vulture with hooked beak, tearing his immortal liver and his entrails fruitful for punishments,