1. Hesiod, Works And Days, 101-121, 123-202, 208-209, 248-259, 26, 260-262, 276-280, 42-100 (8th cent. BCE - 7th cent. BCE)
| 100. Which brought the Death-Gods. Now in misery |
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2. Hesiod, Theogony, 122-126, 197-198, 313-325, 498-500, 783-804, 95-100 (8th cent. BCE - 7th cent. BCE)
| 100. Employing gentle words persuasively |
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3. Homer, Iliad, 1.222, 3.278-3.279, 17.90-17.95, 18.117-18.119, 19.259-19.260, 24.614-24.617 (8th cent. BCE - 7th cent. BCE)
| 1.222. /the word of Athene. She returned to Olympus to the palace of aegis-bearing Zeus, to join the company of the other gods.But the son of Peleus again addressed with violent words the son of Atreus, and in no way ceased from his wrath:Heavy with wine, with the face of a dog but the heart of a deer 3.278. /Then in their midst Agamemnon lifted up his hands and prayed aloud:Father Zeus, that rulest from Ida, most glorious, most great, and thou Sun, that beholdest all things and hearest all things, and ye rivers and thou earth, and ye that in the world below take vengeance on men that are done with life, whosoever hath sworn a false oath; 3.279. /Then in their midst Agamemnon lifted up his hands and prayed aloud:Father Zeus, that rulest from Ida, most glorious, most great, and thou Sun, that beholdest all things and hearest all things, and ye rivers and thou earth, and ye that in the world below take vengeance on men that are done with life, whosoever hath sworn a false oath; 17.90. /but sore troubled he spake to his own great-hearted spirit:Ah, woe is me! If I leave behind the goodly arms, and Patroclus, that here lieth low for that he would get me recompense, I fear lest many a Danaan wax wroth against me, whosoever beholdeth it. But if for very shame I, that am alone, do battle with Hector and the Trojans 17.91. /but sore troubled he spake to his own great-hearted spirit:Ah, woe is me! If I leave behind the goodly arms, and Patroclus, that here lieth low for that he would get me recompense, I fear lest many a Danaan wax wroth against me, whosoever beholdeth it. But if for very shame I, that am alone, do battle with Hector and the Trojans 17.92. /but sore troubled he spake to his own great-hearted spirit:Ah, woe is me! If I leave behind the goodly arms, and Patroclus, that here lieth low for that he would get me recompense, I fear lest many a Danaan wax wroth against me, whosoever beholdeth it. But if for very shame I, that am alone, do battle with Hector and the Trojans 17.93. /but sore troubled he spake to his own great-hearted spirit:Ah, woe is me! If I leave behind the goodly arms, and Patroclus, that here lieth low for that he would get me recompense, I fear lest many a Danaan wax wroth against me, whosoever beholdeth it. But if for very shame I, that am alone, do battle with Hector and the Trojans 17.94. /but sore troubled he spake to his own great-hearted spirit:Ah, woe is me! If I leave behind the goodly arms, and Patroclus, that here lieth low for that he would get me recompense, I fear lest many a Danaan wax wroth against me, whosoever beholdeth it. But if for very shame I, that am alone, do battle with Hector and the Trojans 17.95. /I fear lest haply they beset me round about, many against one; for all the Trojans is Hector of the flashing helm leading hitherward. But why doth my heart thus hold converse with me? Whenso a warrior is minded against the will of heaven to fight with another whom a god honoureth, forthwith then upon him rolleth mighty woe. 18.117. /even on Hector; for my fate, I will accept it whenso Zeus willeth to bring it to pass, and the other immortal gods. For not even the mighty Heracles escaped death, albeit he was most dear to Zeus, son of Cronos, the king, but fate overcame him, and the dread wrath of Hera. 18.118. /even on Hector; for my fate, I will accept it whenso Zeus willeth to bring it to pass, and the other immortal gods. For not even the mighty Heracles escaped death, albeit he was most dear to Zeus, son of Cronos, the king, but fate overcame him, and the dread wrath of Hera. 18.119. /even on Hector; for my fate, I will accept it whenso Zeus willeth to bring it to pass, and the other immortal gods. For not even the mighty Heracles escaped death, albeit he was most dear to Zeus, son of Cronos, the king, but fate overcame him, and the dread wrath of Hera. 19.259. /made prayer to Zeus; and all the Argives sat thereby in silence, hearkening as was meet unto the king. And he spake in prayer, with a look up to the wide heaven:Be Zeus my witness first, highest and best of gods, and Earth and Sun, and the Erinyes, that under earth 19.260. /take vengeance on men, whosoever hath sworn a false oath, that never laid I hand upon the girl Briseis either by way of a lover's embrace or anywise else, but she ever abode untouched in my huts. And if aught of this oath be false, may the gods give me woes 24.614. /For nine days' space they lay in their blood, nor was there any to bury them, for the son of Cronos turned the folk to stones; howbeit on the tenth day the gods of heaven buried them; and Niobe bethought her of meat, for she was wearied with the shedding of tears. And now somewhere amid the rocks, on the lonely mountains 24.615. /on Sipylus, where, men say, are the couching-places of goddesses, even of the nymphs that range swiftly in the dance about Achelous, there, albeit a stone, she broodeth over her woes sent by the gods. But come, let us twain likewise, noble old sire, bethink us of meat; and thereafter shalt thou make lament over thy dear son 24.616. /on Sipylus, where, men say, are the couching-places of goddesses, even of the nymphs that range swiftly in the dance about Achelous, there, albeit a stone, she broodeth over her woes sent by the gods. But come, let us twain likewise, noble old sire, bethink us of meat; and thereafter shalt thou make lament over thy dear son 24.617. /on Sipylus, where, men say, are the couching-places of goddesses, even of the nymphs that range swiftly in the dance about Achelous, there, albeit a stone, she broodeth over her woes sent by the gods. But come, let us twain likewise, noble old sire, bethink us of meat; and thereafter shalt thou make lament over thy dear son |
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4. Homer, Odyssey, 4.563-4.569, 11.368, 11.565-11.627 (8th cent. BCE - 7th cent. BCE)
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5. Aeschylus, Eumenides, 150, 230, 312, 490, 500, 512, 516-531, 538-548, 564-565, 72, 115 (6th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
| 115. ψυχῆς, φρονήσατʼ, ὦ κατὰ χθονὸς θεαί. | 115. awake to consciousness, goddesses of the underworld! For in a dream I, Clytaemestra, now invoke you. Chorus |
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6. Aeschylus, Persians, 608-699, 607 (6th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
| 607. τοιγὰρ κέλευθον τήνδʼ ἄνευ τʼ ὀχημάτων | |
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7. Aeschylus, Seven Against Thebes, 70 (6th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
| 70. Ἀρά τʼ Ἐρινὺς πατρὸς ἡ μεγασθενής | 70. and Curse, note anchored= |
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8. Heraclitus of Ephesus, Fragments, None (6th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
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9. Parmenides, Fragments, None (6th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
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10. Pindar, Olympian Odes, 9.42-9.53 (6th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
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11. Empedocles, Fragments, 115.9-115.11 (5th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
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12. Euripides, Electra, 1272 (5th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
| 1272. σεμνὸν βροτοῖσιν εὐσεβὲς χρηστήριον: | |
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13. Euripides, Medea, 1390-1391, 1389 (5th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
| 1389. The curse of our sons’ avenging spirit and of Justice |
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14. Euripides, Orestes, 265, 264 (5th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
| 264. Let me go! you are one of my Furies |
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15. Herodotus, Histories, 2.44.5, 4.149 (5th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
| 2.44.5. Therefore, what I have discovered by inquiry plainly shows that Heracles is an ancient god. And furthermore, those Greeks, I think, are most in the right, who have established and practise two worships of Heracles, sacrificing to one Heracles as to an immortal, and calling him the Olympian, but to the other bringing offerings as to a dead hero. 4.149. But as Theras' son would not sail with him, his father said that he would leave him behind as a sheep among wolves; after which saying the boy got the nickname of Oeolycus, and it so happened that this became his customary name. He had a son, Aegeus, from whom the Aegidae, a great Spartan clan, take their name. ,The men of this clan, finding that none of their children lived, set up a temple of the avenging spirits of Laïus and Oedipus, by the instruction of an oracle, after which their children lived. It fared thus, too, with the children of the Aegidae at Thera. |
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16. Plato, Apology of Socrates, None (5th cent. BCE - 4th cent. BCE)
| 27d. gods or children of gods? Yes, or no? Certainly. Then if I believe in spirits, as you say, if spirits are a kind of gods, that would be the puzzle and joke which I say you are uttering in saying that I, while I do not believe in gods, do believe In gods again, since I believe in spirits; but if, on the other hand, spirits are a kind of bastard children of gods, by nymphs or by any others, whoever their mothers are said to be, what man would believe that there are children of gods, but no gods? It would be just as absurd |
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17. Plato, Cratylus, None (5th cent. BCE - 4th cent. BCE)
| 397c. Hermogenes. I think you are right, Socrates. Socrates. Then is it not proper to begin with the gods and see how the gods are rightly called by that name? Hermogenes. That is reasonable. Socrates. Something of this sort, then, is what I suspect: I think the earliest men in Greece believed only in those gods in whom many foreigners believe today— |
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18. Plato, Laws, None (5th cent. BCE - 4th cent. BCE)
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19. Plato, Phaedo, None (5th cent. BCE - 4th cent. BCE)
| 107d. from evil or be saved in any other way than by becoming as good and wise as possible. For the soul takes with it to the other world nothing but its education and nurture, and these are said to benefit or injure the departed greatly from the very beginning of his journey thither. And so it is said that after death, the tutelary genius of each person, to whom he had been allotted in life, leads him to a place where the dead are gathered together; then they are judged and depart to the other world |
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20. Plato, Phaedrus, None (5th cent. BCE - 4th cent. BCE)
| 246e. it partakes of the nature of the divine. But the divine is beauty, wisdom, goodness, and all such qualities; by these then the wings of the soul are nourished and grow, but by the opposite qualities, such as vileness and evil, they are wasted away and destroyed. Socrates. Now the great leader in heaven, Zeus, driving a winged chariot, goes first, arranging all things and caring for all things. |
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21. Plato, Republic, None (5th cent. BCE - 4th cent. BCE)
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22. Plato, Symposium, None (5th cent. BCE - 4th cent. BCE)
| 202e. Through it are conveyed all divination and priestcraft concerning sacrifice and ritual |
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23. Plato, Timaeus, None (5th cent. BCE - 4th cent. BCE)
| 90a. wherefore care must be taken that they have their motions relatively to one another in due proportion. And as regards the most lordly kind of our soul, we must conceive of it in this wise: we declare that God has given to each of us, as his daemon, that kind of soul which is housed in the top of our body and which raises us—seeing that we are not an earthly but a heavenly plant up from earth towards our kindred in the heaven. And herein we speak most truly; for it is by suspending our head and root from that region whence the substance of our soul first came that the Divine Power |
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24. Sophocles, Oedipus At Colonus, 1299, 1434, 466, 1298 (5th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
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25. Xenophon, Apology, 11, 13, 10 (5th cent. BCE - 4th cent. BCE)
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26. Anon., Testament of Judah, 23.1 (2nd cent. BCE - 2nd cent. CE)
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27. Hebrew Bible, Daniel, 2 (2nd cent. BCE - 2nd cent. BCE)
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28. Ovid, Metamorphoses, 1.89-1.112, 1.144-1.148, 1.185-1.205, 1.237, 15.870-15.879 (1st cent. BCE - missingth cent. CE)
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29. New Testament, 1 Corinthians, 8-10 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
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30. Plutarch, On The Obsolescence of Oracles, None (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
| 431e. For if the souls which have been severed from a body, or have had no part with one at all, are demigods according to you and the divine Hesiod, Holy dwellers on earth and the guardian spirits of mortals, why deprive souls in bodies of that power by virtue of which the demigods possess the natural faculty of knowing and revealing future events before they happen? For it is not likely that any power or portion accrues to souls when they have left the body, if they did not possess them before; but the souls always possess them; only they possess them to a slight degree while conjoined with the body, some of them being completely imperceptible and hidden, others weak and dim, and about as ineffectual and slow in operation as person |
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31. Plutarch, On Isis And Osiris, None (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
| 361b. Xenocrates also is of the opinion that such days as are days of ill omen, and such festivals as have associated with them either beatings or lamentations or fastings or scurrilous language or ribald jests have no relation to the honours paid to the gods or to worthy demigods, but he believes that there exist in the space about us certain great and powerful natures, obdurate, however, and morose, which take pleasure in such things as these, and, if they succeed in obtaining them, resort to nothing worse. Then again, Hesiod calls the worthy and good demigods "holy deities" and "guardians of mortals" and Givers of wealth, and having therein a reward that is kingly. |
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32. Pausanias, Description of Greece, 1.32.3-1.32.4 (2nd cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
| 1.32.3. Before turning to a description of the islands, I must again proceed with my account of the parishes. There is a parish called Marathon, equally distant from Athens and Carystus in Euboea . It was at this point in Attica that the foreigners landed, were defeated in battle, and lost some of their vessels as they were putting off from the land. 490 B.C. On the plain is the grave of the Athenians, and upon it are slabs giving the names of the killed according to their tribes; and there is another grave for the Boeotian Plataeans and for the slaves, for slaves fought then for the first time by the side of their masters. 1.32.4. here is also a separate monument to one man, Miltiades, the son of Cimon, although his end came later, after he had failed to take Paros and for this reason had been brought to trial by the Athenians. At Marathon every night you can hear horses neighing and men fighting. No one who has expressly set himself to behold this vision has ever got any good from it, but the spirits are not wroth with such as in ignorance chance to be spectators. The Marathonians worship both those who died in the fighting, calling them heroes, and secondly Marathon, from whom the parish derives its name, and then Heracles, saying that they were the first among the Greeks to acknowledge him as a god. |
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33. Papyri, Papyri Graecae Magicae, 13.288-13.295 (3rd cent. CE - 4th cent. CE)
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34. Anon., 4 Ezra, 12, 11
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35. Papyri, Derveni Papyrus, 6.4-6.5
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36. Vergil, Aeneis, 1.262-1.296, 1.302-1.304, 6.8, 6.76-6.79, 6.81-6.89, 6.752-6.759, 6.761-6.769, 6.771-6.779, 6.781-6.789, 6.791-6.799, 6.801-6.809, 6.811-6.819, 6.821-6.829, 6.831-6.839, 6.841-6.849, 6.851-6.859, 6.861-6.869, 6.871-6.879, 6.881-6.889, 6.891-6.892, 8.7, 8.63-8.69, 8.324-8.325, 8.625-8.629, 8.631-8.639, 8.641-8.649, 8.651-8.659, 8.661-8.669, 8.671-8.679, 8.681-8.689, 8.691-8.699, 8.701-8.728
| 1.262. which good Acestes while in Sicily 1.263. had stored in jars, and prince-like sent away 1.264. with his Ioved guest;—this too Aeneas gave; 1.266. “Companions mine, we have not failed to feel 1.267. calamity till now. O, ye have borne 1.268. far heavier sorrow: Jove will make an end 1.269. also of this. Ye sailed a course hard by 1.270. infuriate Scylla's howling cliffs and caves. 1.271. Ye knew the Cyclops' crags. Lift up your hearts! 1.272. No more complaint and fear! It well may be 1.273. ome happier hour will find this memory fair. 1.274. Through chance and change and hazard without end 1.275. our goal is Latium ; where our destinies 1.276. beckon to blest abodes, and have ordained 1.277. that Troy shall rise new-born! Have patience all! 1.279. Such was his word, but vexed with grief and care 1.280. feigned hopes upon his forehead firm he wore 1.281. and locked within his heart a hero's pain. 1.282. Now round the welcome trophies of his chase 1.283. they gather for a feast. Some flay the ribs 1.284. and bare the flesh below; some slice with knives 1.285. and on keen prongs the quivering strips impale 1.286. place cauldrons on the shore, and fan the fires. 1.287. Then, stretched at ease on couch of simple green 1.288. they rally their lost powers, and feast them well 1.289. on seasoned wine and succulent haunch of game. 1.290. But hunger banished and the banquet done 1.291. in long discourse of their lost mates they tell 1.292. 'twixt hopes and fears divided; for who knows 1.293. whether the lost ones live, or strive with death 1.294. or heed no more whatever voice may call? 1.295. Chiefly Aeneas now bewails his friends 1.296. Orontes brave and fallen Amycus 1.302. and nations populous from shore to shore 1.303. paused on the peak of heaven, and fixed his gaze 1.304. on Libya . But while he anxious mused 6.8. Upon Hesperian soil. One strikes the flint 6.76. To Paris when his Dardan shaft he hurled 6.77. On great Achilles! Thou hast guided me 6.78. Through many an unknown water, where the seas 6.79. Break upon kingdoms vast, and to the tribes 6.81. To Syrtes spreads. But now; because at last 6.82. I touch Hesperia's ever-fleeting bound 6.83. May Troy 's ill fate forsake me from this day! 6.84. 0 gods and goddesses, beneath whose wrath 6.85. Dardania's glory and great Ilium stood 6.86. Spare, for ye may, the remt of my race! 6.87. And thou, most holy prophetess, whose soul 6.88. Foreknows events to come, grant to my prayer 6.89. (Which asks no kingdom save what Fate decrees) 6.752. Came on my view; their hands made stroke at Heaven 6.753. And strove to thrust Jove from his seat on high. 6.754. I saw Salmoneus his dread stripes endure 6.755. Who dared to counterfeit Olympian thunder 6.756. And Jove's own fire. In chariot of four steeds 6.757. Brandishing torches, he triumphant rode 6.758. Through throngs of Greeks, o'er Elis ' sacred way 6.759. Demanding worship as a god. 0 fool! 6.761. With crash of hoofs and roll of brazen wheel! 6.762. But mightiest Jove from rampart of thick cloud 6.763. Hurled his own shaft, no flickering, mortal flame 6.764. And in vast whirl of tempest laid him low. 6.765. Next unto these, on Tityos I looked 6.766. Child of old Earth, whose womb all creatures bears: 6.767. Stretched o'er nine roods he lies; a vulture huge 6.768. Tears with hooked beak at his immortal side 6.769. Or deep in entrails ever rife with pain 6.771. In the great Titan bosom; nor will give 6.772. To ever new-born flesh surcease of woe. 6.773. Why name Ixion and Pirithous 6.774. The Lapithae, above whose impious brows 6.775. A crag of flint hangs quaking to its fall 6.776. As if just toppling down, while couches proud 6.777. Propped upon golden pillars, bid them feast 6.778. In royal glory: but beside them lies 6.779. The eldest of the Furies, whose dread hands 6.781. A flashing firebrand, with shrieks of woe. 6.782. Here in a prison-house awaiting doom 6.783. Are men who hated, long as life endured 6.784. Their brothers, or maltreated their gray sires 6.785. Or tricked a humble friend; the men who grasped 6.786. At hoarded riches, with their kith and kin 6.787. Not sharing ever—an unnumbered throng; 6.788. Here slain adulterers be; and men who dared 6.789. To fight in unjust cause, and break all faith 6.791. What forms of woe they feel, what fateful shape 6.792. of retribution hath o'erwhelmed them there. 6.793. Some roll huge boulders up; some hang on wheels 6.794. Lashed to the whirling spokes; in his sad seat 6.795. Theseus is sitting, nevermore to rise; 6.796. Unhappy Phlegyas uplifts his voice 6.797. In warning through the darkness, calling loud 6.798. ‘0, ere too late, learn justice and fear God!’ 6.799. Yon traitor sold his country, and for gold 6.801. In laws, for bribes enacted or made void; 6.802. Another did incestuously take 6.803. His daughter for a wife in lawless bonds. 6.804. All ventured some unclean, prodigious crime; 6.805. And what they dared, achieved. I could not tell 6.806. Not with a hundred mouths, a hundred tongues 6.807. Or iron voice, their divers shapes of sin 6.809. So spake Apollo's aged prophetess. 6.811. We must make speed. Behold yon arching doors 6.812. Yon walls in furnace of the Cyclops forged! 6.813. 'T is there we are commanded to lay down 6.814. Th' appointed offering.” So, side by side 6.815. Swift through the intervening dark they strode 6.816. And, drawing near the portal-arch, made pause. 6.817. Aeneas, taking station at the door 6.818. Pure, lustral waters o'er his body threw 6.821. Paid to the sovereign power of Proserpine 6.822. At last within a land delectable 6.823. Their journey lay, through pleasurable bowers 6.824. of groves where all is joy,—a blest abode! 6.825. An ampler sky its roseate light bestows 6.826. On that bright land, which sees the cloudless beam 6.827. of suns and planets to our earth unknown. 6.828. On smooth green lawns, contending limb with limb 6.829. Immortal athletes play, and wrestle long 6.831. With sounding footsteps and ecstatic song 6.832. Some thread the dance divine: among them moves 6.833. The bard of Thrace, in flowing vesture clad 6.834. Discoursing seven-noted melody 6.835. Who sweeps the numbered strings with changeful hand 6.836. Or smites with ivory point his golden lyre. 6.837. Here Trojans be of eldest, noblest race 6.838. Great-hearted heroes, born in happier times 6.839. Ilus, Assaracus, and Dardanus 6.841. Their arms and shadowy chariots he views 6.842. And lances fixed in earth, while through the fields 6.843. Their steeds without a bridle graze at will. 6.844. For if in life their darling passion ran 6.845. To chariots, arms, or glossy-coated steeds 6.846. The self-same joy, though in their graves, they feel. 6.847. Lo! on the left and right at feast reclined 6.848. Are other blessed souls, whose chorus sings 6.849. Victorious paeans on the fragrant air 6.851. Eridanus, through forests rolling free. 6.852. Here dwell the brave who for their native land 6.853. Fell wounded on the field; here holy priests 6.854. Who kept them undefiled their mortal day; 6.855. And poets, of whom the true-inspired song 6.856. Deserved Apollo's name; and all who found 6.857. New arts, to make man's life more blest or fair; 6.858. Yea! here dwell all those dead whose deeds bequeath 6.859. Deserved and grateful memory to their kind. 6.861. Unto this host the Sibyl turned, and hailed 6.862. Musaeus, midmost of a numerous throng 6.863. Who towered o'er his peers a shoulder higher: 6.864. “0 spirits blest! 0 venerable bard! 6.865. Declare what dwelling or what region holds 6.866. Anchises, for whose sake we twain essayed 6.867. Yon passage over the wide streams of hell.” 6.868. And briefly thus the hero made reply: 6.869. “No fixed abode is ours. In shadowy groves 6.871. With streams whose flowery banks our couches be. 6.872. But you, if thitherward your wishes turn 6.873. Climb yonder hill, where I your path may show.” 6.874. So saying, he strode forth and led them on 6.875. Till from that vantage they had prospect fair 6.876. of a wide, shining land; thence wending down 6.877. They left the height they trod; for far below 6.878. Father Anchises in a pleasant vale 6.879. Stood pondering, while his eyes and thought surveyed 6.881. Awaiting entrance to terrestrial air. 6.882. And musing he reviewed the legions bright 6.883. of his own progeny and offspring proud— 6.884. Their fates and fortunes, virtues and great deeds. 6.885. Soon he discerned Aeneas drawing nigh 6.886. o'er the green slope, and, lifting both his hands 6.887. In eager welcome, spread them swiftly forth. 6.888. Tears from his eyelids rained, and thus he spoke: 6.889. “Art here at last? Hath thy well-proven love 6.891. Will Heaven, beloved son, once more allow 6.892. That eye to eye we look? and shall I hear 8.7. enkindled youth's hot blood. The chieftains proud 8.63. hall find untroubled rest. After the lapse 8.64. of thrice ten rolling years, Ascanius 8.65. hall found a city there of noble name 8.66. White-City, Alba; 't is no dream I sing! 8.67. But I instruct thee now by what wise way 8.68. th' impending wars may bring thee victory: 8.69. receive the counsel, though the words be few: 8.324. tood open, deeply yawning, just as if 8.325. the riven earth should crack, and open wide 8.625. “Great leader of the Teucrians, while thy life 8.626. in safety stands, I call not Trojan power 8.627. vanquished or fallen. But to help thy war 8.628. my small means match not thy redoubled name. 8.629. Yon Tuscan river is my bound. That way 8.631. with loud, besieging arms. But I propose 8.632. to league with thee a numerous array 8.633. of kings and mighty tribes, which fortune strange 8.634. now brings to thy defence. Thou comest here 8.635. because the Fates intend. Not far from ours 8.636. a city on an ancient rock is seen 8.637. Agylla, which a warlike Lydian clan 8.638. built on the Tuscan hills. It prospered well 8.639. for many a year, then under the proud yoke 8.641. his cruel sway. Why tell the loathsome deeds 8.642. and crimes unspeakable the despot wrought? 8.643. May Heaven requite them on his impious head 8.644. and on his children! For he used to chain 8.645. dead men to living, hand on hand was laid 8.646. and face on face,—torment incredible! 8.647. Till, locked in blood-stained, horrible embrace 8.648. a lingering death they found. But at the last 8.649. his people rose in furious despair 8.651. his life and throne, cut down his guards 8.652. and fired his regal dwellings; he, the while 8.653. escaped immediate death and fied away 8.654. to the Rutulian land, to find defence 8.655. in Turnus hospitality. To-day 8.656. Etruria, to righteous anger stirred 8.657. demands with urgent arms her guilty King. 8.658. To their large host, Aeneas, I will give 8.659. an added strength, thyself. For yonder shores 8.661. of ships in close array; their eager lords 8.662. are clamoring for battle. But the song 8.663. of the gray omen-giver thus declares 8.664. their destiny: ‘O goodly princes born 8.665. of old Maeonian lineage! Ye that are 8.666. the bloom and glory of an ancient race 8.667. whom just occasions now and noble rage 8.668. enflame against Mezentius your foe 8.669. it is decreed that yonder nation proud 8.671. Seek ye a king from far!’ So in the field 8.672. inert and fearful lies Etruria's force 8.673. disarmed by oracles. Their Tarchon sent 8.674. envoys who bore a sceptre and a crown 8.675. even to me, and prayed I should assume 8.676. the sacred emblems of Etruria's king 8.677. and lead their host to war. But unto me 8.678. cold, sluggish age, now barren and outworn 8.679. denies new kingdoms, and my slow-paced powers 8.681. my son, who by his Sabine mother's line 8.682. is half Italian-born. Thyself art he 8.683. whose birth illustrious and manly prime 8.684. fate favors and celestial powers approve. 8.685. Therefore go forth, O bravest chief and King 8.686. of Troy and Italy ! To thee I give 8.687. the hope and consolation of our throne 8.688. pallas, my son, and bid him find in thee 8.689. a master and example, while he learns 8.691. let him familiar grow, and reverence thee 8.692. with youthful love and honor. In his train 8.693. two hundred horsemen of Arcadia 8.694. our choicest men-at-arms, shall ride; and he 8.695. in his own name an equal band shall bring 8.696. to follow only thee.” Such the discourse. 8.697. With meditative brows and downcast eyes 8.698. Aeneas and Achates, sad at heart 8.699. mused on unnumbered perils yet to come. 8.701. gave sudden signal: from th' ethereal dome 8.702. a thunder-peal and flash of quivering fire 8.703. tumultuous broke, as if the world would fall 8.704. and bellowing Tuscan trumpets shook the air. 8.705. All eyes look up. Again and yet again 8.706. crashed the terrible din, and where the sky 8.707. looked clearest hung a visionary cloud 8.708. whence through the brightness blazed resounding arms. 8.709. All hearts stood still. But Troy 's heroic son 8.710. knew that his mother in the skies redeemed 8.711. her pledge in sound of thunder: so he cried 8.712. “Seek not, my friend, seek not thyself to read 8.713. the meaning of the omen. 'T is to me 8.714. Olympus calls. My goddess-mother gave 8.715. long since her promise of a heavenly sign 8.716. if war should burst; and that her power would bring 8.717. a panoply from Vulcan through the air 8.718. to help us at our need. Alas, what deaths 8.719. over Laurentum's ill-starred host impend! 8.720. O Turnus, what a reckoning thou shalt pay 8.721. to me in arms! O Tiber, in thy wave 8.722. what helms and shields and mighty soldiers slain 8.723. hall in confusion roll! Yea, let them lead 8.725. He said: and from the lofty throne uprose. 8.726. Straightway he roused anew the slumbering fire 8.727. acred to Hercules, and glad at heart 8.728. adored, as yesterday, the household gods |
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37. Vergil, Eclogues, 4.4-4.10
| 4.4. woods worthy of a Consul let them be. 4.5. Now the last age by Cumae's Sibyl sung 4.6. has come and gone, and the majestic roll 4.7. of circling centuries begins anew: 4.8. justice returns, returns old Saturn's reign 4.9. with a new breed of men sent down from heaven. 4.10. Only do thou, at the boy's birth in whom |
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38. Vergil, Georgics, 1.121-1.128
| 1.121. And heaved its furrowy ridges, turns once more 1.122. Cross-wise his shattering share, with stroke on stroke 1.123. The earth assails, and makes the field his thrall. 1.124. Pray for wet summers and for winters fine 1.125. Ye husbandmen; in winter's dust the crop 1.126. Exceedingly rejoice, the field hath joy; 1.127. No tilth makes placeName key= 1.128. Nor Gargarus his own harvests so admire. |
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