Read Online The Aeneid by Virgil - Free Book Online Page B

lifted
                his head high above the crests of the waves and looked serenely
                out over the sea at Aeneas’ fleet scattered over the face of the
                waters and the Trojans overwhelmed by the waves and by the
130         rending of the sky. He recognized at once the anger and the
                cunning of his sister Juno and instantly summoned the east wind
                and the west and spoke to them in these words: ‘Is it your noble
                birth that has made you so sure of yourselves? Do you winds
                now dare to move heaven and earth and raise these great masses
                of water without my divine authority? I could take you now and
                …but first I must still the waves you have stirred up. For any
                crimes you commit in the future, you will pay a dearer price.
                Away with you and take this message to your king: “He is not
                the one who has jurisdiction over the sea or holds the trident
                that knows no pity. That is my responsibility, given to me by
140         lot. His domain, O Eurus, wind of the east, is the huge crags
                where you have your home. That is where Aeolus can do his
                swaggering, confining his rule to the closed walls of the prison
                of the winds.” ’
                    These were his words, and before he had finished speaking,
                he was calming the swell, dispersing the banked clouds and
                bringing back the sun. Triton and the sea nymph Cymothoe
                heaved and strained as they pushed the ships off jagged rocks,
                while Neptune himself lifted them out of the sandbanks with
                his trident and opened up the vast Syrtes, restraining the sea as
                he skimmed along with his chariot wheels touching the crests of
                the waves. As when disorder arises among the people of a great
                city and the common mob runs riot, wild passion finds weapons
150         for men’s hands and torches and rocks start flying; at such a
                time if people chance to see a man who has some weight among
                them for his goodness and his services to the state, they fall
                silent, standing and listening with all their attention while his
                words command their passions and soothe their hearts – so did
                all the crashing of the sea fall silent and Father Neptune, looking
                out over the waves, drove the horses of his chariot beneath a
                clear sky and gave them rein to fly before the wind.
                    Aeneas and his men were exhausted, and making what speed
                they could for the nearest land, they set course for the coast of
160         Libya. There is a place where a harbour is formed by an island
                blocking the mouth of a long sound. As the waves come in from
                the open sea and break on the sides of this island, they are divided
                into the deep inlets of the bay. Rock cliffs are everywhere. A
                great pinnacle threatens the sky on either side, and beneath all
                this the broad water lies still and safe. At the end of the