Loxias

 

Virgil's Aeneid

Book 1

Part 6 The Meeting of Dido & Aeneas (561- 656)

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Dido's answer to Ilioneus

Then Dido, leaning towards them, spoke briefly:

"Put fear out of your minds, men of Troy, and cast your worries aside. My beleaguered situation here and my newness as queen force me to act tough in such matters, and to garrison my frontiers securely. Who does not know of Aeneas and his followers, who has not heard of the city of Troy, the bravery of its fighting men, the great war, and the fire? We Phoenicians do not have such blunted sensibilities: the sun god does not entirely ignore the city of the Tyrians on his morning gallop! Whether you decide on great Hesperia, and the Saturnian lands, or the territory of Eryx and king Acestes, I shall see you off in safety, and help you to the best of my power. Or would you prefer to settle here with me in my kingdom, on equal terms? Trojan and Tyrian will be treated by me with no discrimination. If only your king too could be here, driven by that same south wind - Aeneas! I shall certainly send parties along the coast, and order them to comb the furthest reaches of Libya, in case he has been cast ashore and is lost somewhere in the forest or in a town." [577]

Aeneas is revealed

Both father Aeneas and the doughty Achates, who had been desperate to break clear of the cloud for quite a while, were stunned by what they'd heard. Achates said to Aeneas: "Son of the goddess, what do you make of that? You can see that all is safe and sound, the fleet and our friends have been rescued. There's only one person missing, and we saw him ourselves drowned out at sea; the rest fits in with what your mother said." [585]

He had barely stopped speaking, when the cloud which had enveloped them suddenly opened up, and vanished clean away. Aeneas stood there bathed in the bright sunshine - his head and shoulders looking like a god's. His mother had breathed on his hair and transformed it, making it stylishly flamboyant, and suffused him with a rosy aura of youthfulness, and put a joyous sparkle in his eyes. Just as when craftsmanship adds stylish design to a piece of ivory, or when silver or Parian marble is set off with the gleam of gold. Then he addressed the queen, with everyone taken aback at his sudden appearance:

"In front of you! Here I am, the man you are looking for, Aeneas of Troy, rescued from The Libyan sea. You are the only one who has shown sympathy for the suffering of Troy, suffering that is difficult to speak of. You offer partnership in your home, your city to us, leftovers from the Greeks' feast, who, after all the disasters we've lived through on land and at sea, own nothing. We have no means to return this favour, Dido, nor do any of us Trojans who may be left, scattered as we are across the face of the earth. The gods will give you fit reward, if the supernatural powers show honour to the honourable, if justice is a reality, if there exists an intelligence that's on the side of right.

What family delighted in raising you? Who were the parents that produced such a daughter? As longer as rivers flow to the sea, as long as shadows move inexorably across valleys and mountains, as long as the sky gives light to the stars, your honour, your name and your praises shall go on, whichever lands beckon me." So saying he reached out to Ilioneus with his right hand and Serestus with his left, then to others, brave Gyas and brave Cloanthus. [612]

Dido is smitten, and repeats her invitation to stay.

Dido of Sidon was smitten, first by the man's looks, and then by [sympathy for] his ordeal, and she spoke thus:

"What sort of fate is it that dogs the son of a goddess, forcing him into so much danger? What power has driven you to this desolate coast? Are you the Aeneas whom the goddess Venus bore to Dardan Anchises by the waters of Simois? I remember Teucer coming to Sidon, when he'd been exiled from his ancestral home, seeking a new kingdom with Belus' help; Belus was my father - at the time he'd been on a punitive expedition in Cyprus, a wealthy country, and, as conqueror, was in control of it. From that period on, the fate of the city of the Trojans has been familiar to me, along with your name, and the Pelasgian kings. Your enemy himself held the Teucrians in high esteem, and was eager to claim descent from an old Teucrian family. Come on then, my friends, and make yourselves at home. A similar stroke of fate decided I was to settle down at last in this land, after many years without a home. No stranger to pain myself, I have learned to empathise with those who suffer." [630]

Preparations for a feast

Dido and Aeneas

Dido bulding Carthage by Turner

These were her words; at the same time she was taking Aeneas on a tour of the palace, arranging as she went for offerings in the temples of the gods. She also sent twenty bulls to the crew members still on the beach, along with a herd of a hundred huge bristle-backed boars, and a hundred plump lambs with their ewes, to ensure a joyful day of celebration. The interior of the palace was magnificent, with the luxurious decoration appropriate for a queen, as they prepared for the feast in the central building. There were tapestries of exquisite workmanship, woven with royal purple; silverware dominated the tables, on which the mighty deeds of her ancestors could be seen in gold relief, a long, long pageant of achievements stretching back over so many generations to the family's beginnings. [642]

Aeneas' son Ascanius is sent for

Aeneas - a father's love does not allow his mind to relax - sent Achates off to run down to the ships, to fetch Ascanius, and bring the boy to join him in the city. As a devoted parent, his concern was all for Ascanius. He also told him to bring presents, things rescued form the ruins of Ilium, a dress encrusted with designs in gold, and a wrap edged with a saffron-dyed acanthus motif: part of the trousseau of Argive Helen, which she had brought from Mycenae for her unlawful marriage when she came to Pergamum - a marvellous present from her mother Leda. There was also a sceptre which Ilione, Priam's eldest daughter, had once carried, and a jewelled necklace, and a double tiara of gold and gemstones. Focused on these errands, Achates started out on his jouney to the ships. [656]

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