Insequitur Cyclops, partemque e monte revulsam Mittit, et extremus quamvis pervenit ad illum, Angulus is molis totum tamen obruit Acin. 885 At nos, quod solum fieri per fata licebat, Fecimus, ut vires adsumeret Acis avitas. Puniceus de mole cruor manabat, et intra Temporis exiguum rubor evanescere coepit, Fitque color primo turbati fluminis imbre, 890 Purgaturque mora. Tum moles taetra dehiscit, Vivaque per rimas proceraque surgit harundo, Osque cavum saxi sonat exsultantibus undis: Miraque res, subito media tenus exstitit alvo Incinctus iuvenis flexis nova cornua cannis, 895 Qui, nisi quod maior, quod toto caerulus ore, Acis erat. Sed sic quoque erat tamen Acis, in amnem Versus; et antiquum tenuerunt flumina nomen.' [Thus ends the tale of Galatea. While sporting on the shore, the nymph Scylla was seen and loved by Glaucus, a sea-god, who but now had been a mortal fisherman. He relates to Scylla his wonderful metamorphosis through the eating of certain magic herbs (898-968).] BOOK XIV [Spurned by the nymph, Glaucus seeks out Circe and begs her aid. But Circe herself is enamored of Glaucus, and, confessing her love, is rejected by him. In revenge she, by her magic art, changes Scylla into a hideous monster, fixed upon the coast of Sicily (1-74). This dangerous spot, which had proved disastrous to the ships of Ulysses, the fleet of Aeneas escapes, who, continuing on his way, comes to Carthage, where he is hospitably received by Queen Dido. From Carthage he again proceeds to Sicily and thence to the island of Pithecusa, whose inhabitants had been changed into apes (75-100). Crossing to Cumae, Aeneas, under the guidance of the Sibyl, visits the shade of his father in Hades. On their return the Sibyl relates how Apollo, for love of her, had promised to grant her wish, which was years of life in number equal to the grains in a heap of sand. This she had gained, but without continued youth (101-153). Aeneas next arrives at Caieta, where he meets Achemenides, the lost companion of Ulysses, who, at the request of Aeneas, tells of his adventures among the savage Cyclops before he was rescued (154-222). Macareus, another former companion of Ulysses, relates how he and his companions were changed into swine through the magic of Circe, but were restored to human shape at the request of Ulysses (223–319). Macareus tells another tale that he had heard in Circe's Isle, how Picus, king of Latium, had loved and wedded the beautiful Canens, the daughter of Janus; how Picus, rejecting the advances of Circe, had been transformed by her into a woodpecker, and how Canens, in despair, had wasted away to a mere breath or voice (320-434). Passing on from Caieta, Aeneas at last enters the Tiber, and Latinus, the king of Latium, bestows upon him the hand of his daughter Lavinia. This causes a struggle for supremacy between the Rutulians and Latinus, headed by Turnus, and the Trojans, headed by Aeneas. The latter appeals to Evander for aid, and the former to Diomede, who had settled in Italy and become the son-in-law of Daunus. Diomede recounts to the Rutulian ambassadors his adventures since the fall of Troy (435-526). Turnus sets fire to the fleet of Aeneas, but the burning ships are transformed into nymphs at the command of Cybele. Turnus is finally slain, and Aeneas is triumphant through the aid of Venus (527-580). The wrath of Juno against Aeneas is now at length appeased, and Jove, in a council of the gods, decrees an apotheosis to Aeneas. He is accordingly removed from earth and ranked among the gods (581-608). Ascanius succeeds his father on the throne, and then follows a long line of Alban kings. In those days there dwelt in Italy a beautiful wood-nymph, Pomona, who, devoted entirely to her fruits and flowers, rejected all advances of those who sought her love; until at last Vertumnus, the native god of seasons, wooed and won her. As a warning against the neglect of honest love, he tells to her the story of the maiden Anaxarete, who, for her contempt of Venus in the cruel rejection of her lover, Iphis, was changed to stone (609-771). Numitor finally succeeds to the Alban throne, is dispossessed by his brother Amulius, but restored by Romulus, who founds Rome, schemes for its settlement, establishes it in power among the surrounding nations, and is finally translated to the skies by Mars, where he is enrolled among the gods under the name of Quirinus, while his wife Hersilia is also deified under the name of Hora (772-851).] BOOK XV [After the removal of Romulus from earth, Numa Pompilius was chosen king in his stead. The mind of this prince was turned toward the peaceful arts and the acquisition of knowledge. In pursuit of this he came to Crotona, on the coast of Bruttium. Here he eagerly imbibed the doctrines of the sage Pythagoras, who had removed from his native Samos and settled in Crotona (1-59). The first endeavor of this philosopher was to persuade men to renounce the use of flesh as food. In the golden age men ate only the fruits of the earth, and all animal life was sacred except that which was harmful to human interests. Gradually the greed of man invented causes of offense, until even the most inoffensive and helpful animals were slain for food under cover of sacrifice to the gods (60-142). The philosopher longs to free his fellow-mortals from the fear of death. Death is not the fearful thing that popular belief would make it, but merely a transition from one life to another. All things change, but nothing dies. The soul is still the same, though housed in many changing forms of man and beast. And what is true of souls is true of all nature all is in a state of ceaseless change.] ‘Et quoniam deus ora movet, sequar ora moventem Rite deum, Delphosque meos ipsumque recludam 145 Aethera et augustae reserabo oracula mentis. Magna, nec ingeniis evestigata priorum, Nube vehi, validique umeris insistere Atlantis, O genus attonitum gelidae formidine mortis ! Quid Styga, quid tenebras et nomina vana timetis, 170 Nec manet ut fuerat, nec formas servat easdem, Ergo nec pietas sit victa cupidine ventris - 175 Exturbare animas; nec sanguine sanguis alatur. 180 Non secus ac flumen. Neque enim consistere flumen Nec levis hora potest: sed ut unda impellitur unda, Urgueturque eadem veniens urguetque priorem; Tempora sic fugiunt pariter, pariterque sequuntur, Et nova sunt semper. Nam quod fuit ante relictum est, 185 Fitque quod haud fuerat, momentaque cuncta novantur. Cernis et emensas in lucem tendere noctes, Cuncta iacent media, cumque albo Lucifer exit Mane rubet, terraque, rubet, cum conditur ima; Candidus in summo est, melior natura quod illic 195 Aetheris est, terraeque procul contagia fugit. Nec par aut eadem nocturnae forma Dianae Esse potest umquam. Semperque hodierna sequente, Si crescit, minor est; maior, si contrahit orbem. Quid? non in species succedere quattuor annum 200 Aspicis, aetatis peragentem imitamina nostrae ? Nam tener et lactens puerique simillimus aevo Vere novo est: tunc herba recens et roboris expers Turget, et insolida est, et spe delectat agrestes. Omnia tunc florent, florumque coloribus almus 205 Ludit ager, neque adhuc virtus in frondibus ulla est. Transit in aestatem post ver robustior annus, Fitque valens iuvenis: neque enim robustior aetas Ulla, nec uberior, nec quae magis ardeat, ulla est. Excipit autumnus, posito fervore iuventae 210 Maturus mitisque, inter iuvenemque senemque Temperie medius; sparsus quoque tempora canis. Inde senilis hiems tremulo venit horrida passu, Aut spoliata suos, aut, quos habet, alba capillos. Nostra quoque ipsorum semper requieque sine ulla 215 Corpora vertuntur; nec quod fuimusve sumusve, Cras erimus. Fuit illa dies, qua semina tantum Spesque hominum primae matris cubitavimus alvo. 221 Editus in lucem iacuit sine viribus infans; |