sending
winds to churn up the level sea. Then, as he breathed out flame
from his breast where the thunderbolt had pierced it, she caught
him up in a whirlwind and impaled him on a jagged rock. But
here am I, the Queen of the Gods, the sister of Jupiter and his
wife, and I have waged war all these years against a whole race
of men! Is there no one left who worships the godhead of Juno?
Will there be no one in the future to pray to me and lay an
offering on my altars?’
50 These are the thoughts the goddess turned over in her burning
heart as she came to Aeolia, the home of the clouds, a place
teeming with the raging winds of the south. Here Aeolus is king
and here in a vast cavern he keeps in subjection the brawling
winds and howling storms, chained and bridled in their prison.
They murmur in loud protest round bolted gates in the mountainside
while Aeolus sits in his high citadel, holding his sceptre,
soothing their spirits and tempering their angry passions. But
for him they would catch up the sea, the earth and the deeps of
the sky and sweep them along through space. In fear of this, the
60 All-powerful Father banished them to these black caverns with
massive mountains heaped over them, and gave them under a
fixed charter a king who knew how to hold them in check or,
when ordered, to let them run with free rein. It was to him that
Juno made supplication in these words: ‘I come to you, Aeolus,
because the Father of the Gods and King of Men has given you
the power to calm the waves of the sea or raise them by your
winds. A race of men hateful to me is sailing the Tyrrhenian sea
carrying Ilium to Italy, along with the Penates, their defeated
gods. Whip up your winds. Overwhelm their ships and sink
70 them. Drive their fleet in all directions and scatter their bodies
over the sea. I have fourteen nymphs of the rarest beauty and
the loveliest of them all is Deiopea. I shall make her yours and
join you in lawful wedlock. If you do me this service, she shall
spend all her years with you and make you the father of beautiful
children.’
To this Aeolus made answer: ‘Your task, O queen, is to decide
your wishes; my duty is to carry out your orders. It is thanks to
you that I rule this little kingdom and enjoy this sceptre and the
blessing of Jupiter. Through you I have a couch to lie on at the
80 feasts of the gods, and my power over cloud and storm comes
from you.’
At these words he struck the side of the hollow mountain
with the butt of his spear and the winds seemed to form a
column and pour out through an open gate to blow a hurricane
over the whole earth. The east wind and the
winds to churn up the level sea. Then, as he breathed out flame
from his breast where the thunderbolt had pierced it, she caught
him up in a whirlwind and impaled him on a jagged rock. But
here am I, the Queen of the Gods, the sister of Jupiter and his
wife, and I have waged war all these years against a whole race
of men! Is there no one left who worships the godhead of Juno?
Will there be no one in the future to pray to me and lay an
offering on my altars?’
50 These are the thoughts the goddess turned over in her burning
heart as she came to Aeolia, the home of the clouds, a place
teeming with the raging winds of the south. Here Aeolus is king
and here in a vast cavern he keeps in subjection the brawling
winds and howling storms, chained and bridled in their prison.
They murmur in loud protest round bolted gates in the mountainside
while Aeolus sits in his high citadel, holding his sceptre,
soothing their spirits and tempering their angry passions. But
for him they would catch up the sea, the earth and the deeps of
the sky and sweep them along through space. In fear of this, the
60 All-powerful Father banished them to these black caverns with
massive mountains heaped over them, and gave them under a
fixed charter a king who knew how to hold them in check or,
when ordered, to let them run with free rein. It was to him that
Juno made supplication in these words: ‘I come to you, Aeolus,
because the Father of the Gods and King of Men has given you
the power to calm the waves of the sea or raise them by your
winds. A race of men hateful to me is sailing the Tyrrhenian sea
carrying Ilium to Italy, along with the Penates, their defeated
gods. Whip up your winds. Overwhelm their ships and sink
70 them. Drive their fleet in all directions and scatter their bodies
over the sea. I have fourteen nymphs of the rarest beauty and
the loveliest of them all is Deiopea. I shall make her yours and
join you in lawful wedlock. If you do me this service, she shall
spend all her years with you and make you the father of beautiful
children.’
To this Aeolus made answer: ‘Your task, O queen, is to decide
your wishes; my duty is to carry out your orders. It is thanks to
you that I rule this little kingdom and enjoy this sceptre and the
blessing of Jupiter. Through you I have a couch to lie on at the
80 feasts of the gods, and my power over cloud and storm comes
from you.’
At these words he struck the side of the hollow mountain
with the butt of his spear and the winds seemed to form a
column and pour out through an open gate to blow a hurricane
over the whole earth. The east wind and the
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