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Quote of the day: Urgulania's influence, however, was so f
Notes
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The Aeneid by Virgil
translated by Theodore C. Williams
Book XII Chapter 24: Discourse of Turnus and Juturna
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Meanwhile the warrior Turnus far afield
pursued a scattered few; but less his speed,
for less and less his worn steeds worked his will;
and now wind-wafted to his straining ear
a nameless horror came, a dull, wild roar,
the city's tumult and distressful cry.
Alack, he cried, what stirs in yonder walls
such anguish? Or why rings from side to side
such wailing through the city? Asking so,
he tightened frantic grasp upon the rein.
To him his sister, [Note 1] counterfeiting still
the charioteer Metiscus, while she swayed
rein, steeds, and chariot, this answer made:
Hither, my Turnus, let our arms pursue
the sons of Troy. Here lies the nearest way
to speedy triumph. There be other swords
to keep yon city safe. Aeneas now
storms against Italy in active war;
we also on this Trojan host may hurl
grim havoc. Nor shalt thou the strife give o'er
in glory second, nor in tale of slain.
Turnus replied, O sister, long ago
I knew thee what thou wert, when guilefully
thou didst confound their treaty, and enlist
thy whole heart in this war. No longer now
thy craft divine deceives me. But what god
compelled thee, from Olympus fallen so far,
to bear these cruel burdens? Wouldst thou see
thy wretched brother slaughtered? For what else
is in my power? What flattering hazard still
holds forth deliverance? My own eyes have seen
Murranus (more than any now on earth
my chosen friend) who, calling on my name,
died like a hero by a hero's sword.
Ill-fated Ufens fell, enduring not
to look upon my shame; the Teucrians
divide his arms for spoil and keep his bones.
Shall I stand tamely, till my hearth and home
are levelled with the ground? For this would be
the only blow not fallen. Shall my sword
not give the lie to Drances' insolence?
Shall I take flight and let my country see
her Turnus renegade? Is death a thing
so much to weep for? O propitious dead,
O spirits of the dark, receive and bless
me whom yon gods of light have cast away!
Sacred and guiltless shall my soul descend
to join your company; I have not been
unworthy offspring of my kingly sires.

Note 1: sister = Juturna

Event: Renewal of the war.

614-649
Interea extremo bellator in aequore Turnus
palantis sequitur paucos iam segnior atque
iam minus atque minus successu laetus equorum.
attulit hunc illi caecis terroribus aura
commixtum clamorem, arrectasque impulit auris
confusae sonus urbis et inlaetabile murmur.
'ei mihi! quid tanto turbantur moenia luctu?
quisue ruit tantus diuersa clamor ab urbe?'
sic ait, adductisque amens subsistit habenis.
atque huic, in faciem soror ut conuersa Metisci
aurigae currumque et equos et lora regebat,
talibus occurrit dictis: 'hac, Turne, sequamur
Troiugenas, qua prima uiam uictoria pandit;
sunt alii qui tecta manu defendere possint.
ingruit Aeneas Italis et proelia miscet,
et nos saeua manu mittamus funera Teucris.
nec numero inferior pugnae neque honore recedes.'
Turnus ad haec:
'o soror, et dudum agnoui, cum prima per artem
foedera turbasti teque haec in bella dedisti,
et nunc nequiquam fallis dea. sed quis Olympo
demissam tantos uoluit te ferre labores?
an fratris miseri letum ut crudele uideres?
nam quid ago? aut quae iam spondet Fortuna salutem?
uidi oculos ante ipse meos me uoce uocantem
Murranum, quo non superat mihi carior alter,
oppetere ingentem atque ingenti uulnere uictum.
occidit infelix ne nostrum dedecus Vfens
aspiceret; Teucri potiuntur corpore et armis.
exscindine domos (id rebus defuit unum)
perpetiar, dextra nec Drancis dicta refellam?
terga dabo et Turnum fugientem haec terra uidebit?
usque adeone mori miserum est? uos o mihi, Manes,
este boni, quoniam superis auersa uoluntas.
sancta ad uos anima atque istius inscia culpae
descendam magnorum haud umquam indignus auorum.'