Aeneid Book 6- The Sybil describes Tartarus
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- Created by: Lydia22
- Created on: 02-07-17 20:11
Hac vice sermonum roseis Aurora quadrigis iam medium aetherio cursu traiecerat axem; et fors omne datum traherent per talia tempus, sed comes admonuit breviterque adfata Sibylla est:
While they spoke Aurora and her rosy chariot had passed the zenith of her ethereal path, and they might perhaps have spent all the time allowed in such talk, but the Sibyl, his companion, warned him briefly saying:
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'nox ruit, Aenea; nos flendo ducimus horas. hic locus est, partis ubi se via findit in ambas: dextera quae Ditis magni sub moenia tendit, hac iter Elysium nobis; at laeva malorum exercet poenas et ad impia Tartara mittit.'
‘Night approaches, Aeneas: we waste the hours with weeping. This is the place where the path splits itself in two: there on the right is our road to Elysium, that runs beneath the walls of mighty Dis: but the left works punishment on the wicked, and
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Deiphobus contra: 'ne saevi, magna sacerdos; discedam, explebo numerum reddarque tenebris. i decus, i, nostrum; melioribus utere fatis.' tantum effatus, et in verbo vestigia torsit.
Deiophobus replied: ‘Do not be angry, great priestess: I will leave: I will make up the numbers, and return to the darkness. Go now glory of our race: enjoy a better fate.’ So he spoke, and in speaking turned away.
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Respicit Aeneas subito et sub rupe sinistra moenia lata videt triplici circumdata muro, quae rapidus flammis ambit torrentibus amnis, Tartareus Phlegethon, torquetque sonantia saxa.
Aeneas suddenly looked back, and, below the left hand cliff, he saw wide battlements, surrounded by a triple wall, and encircled by a swift river of red-hot flames, the Tartarean Phlegethon, churning with echoing rocks.
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porta adversa ingens solidoque adamante columnae, vis ut nulla virum, non ipsi exscindere bello caelicolae valeant; stat ferrea turris ad auras, Tisiphoneque sedens palla succincta cruenta vestibulum exsomnis servat noctesque diesque.
A gate fronts it, vast, with pillars of solid steel, that no human force, not the heavenly gods themselves, can overturn by war: an iron tower rises into the air, and seated before it, Tisiphone, clothed in a blood-wet dress, keeps guard of the
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hinc exaudiri gemitus et saeva sonare verbera, tum stridor ferri tractaeque catenae. constitit Aeneas strepitumque exterritus hausit.
Groans came from there, and the cruel sound of the lash, then the clank of iron, and dragging chains. Aeneas halted, and stood rooted, terrified by the noise.
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'quae scelerum facies? o virgo, effare; quibusue urgentur poenis? quis tantus plangor ad auras?'
‘What evil is practised here? O Virgin, tell me: by what torments are they oppressed? Why are there such sounds in the air?’
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tum vates sic orsa loqui: 'dux inclute Teucrum, nulli fas casto sceleratum insistere limen; sed me cum lucis Hecate praefecit Avernis, ipsa deum poenas docuit perque omnia duxit.
Then the prophetess began to speak as follows: ‘Famous leader of the Trojans, it is forbidden for the pure to cross the evil threshold: but when Hecate appointed me to the wood of Avernus, she taught me the divine torments, and guided me through them
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Cnosius haec Rhadamanthus habet durissima regna castigatque auditque dolos subigitque fateri quae quis apud superos furto laetatus inani distulit in seram commissa piacula mortem.
Cretan Rhadamanthus rules this harshest of kingdoms, and hears their guilt, extracts confessions, and punishes whoever has deferred atonement for their sins too long till death, delighting in useless concealment, in the world above.
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continuo sontis ultrix accincta flagella Tisiphone quatit insultans, torvosque sinistra intentans anguis vocat agmina saeva sororum.
Tisiphone the avenger, armed with her whip, leaps on the guilty immediately, lashes them, and threatening them with the fierce snakes in her left hand, calls to her savage troop of sisters.
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tum demum horrisono stridentes cardine sacrae panduntur portae. cernis custodia quails vestibulo sedeat, facies quae limina servet?
Then at last the accursed doors open, screeching on jarring hinges. You comprehend what guardian sits at the door, what shape watches the threshold?
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quinquaginta atris immanis hiatibus Hydra saevior intus habet sedem. tum Tartarus ipse bis patet in praeceps tantum tenditque sub umbras quantus ad aetherium caeli suspectus Olympum.
Well still fiercer is the monstrous Hydra inside, with her fifty black gaping jaws. There Tartarus itself falls sheer, and stretches down into the darkness: twice as far as we gaze upwards to heavenly Olympus.
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hic genus antiquum Terrae, Titania *****, fulmine deiecti fundo volvuntur in imo.
Here the Titanic race, the ancient sons of Earth, hurled down by the lightning-bolt, writhe in the depths.
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Other cards in this set
Card 2
Front
‘Night approaches, Aeneas: we waste the hours with weeping. This is the place where the path splits itself in two: there on the right is our road to Elysium, that runs beneath the walls of mighty Dis: but the left works punishment on the wicked, and
Back
'nox ruit, Aenea; nos flendo ducimus horas. hic locus est, partis ubi se via findit in ambas: dextera quae Ditis magni sub moenia tendit, hac iter Elysium nobis; at laeva malorum exercet poenas et ad impia Tartara mittit.'
Card 3
Front
Deiophobus replied: ‘Do not be angry, great priestess: I will leave: I will make up the numbers, and return to the darkness. Go now glory of our race: enjoy a better fate.’ So he spoke, and in speaking turned away.
Back
Card 4
Front
Aeneas suddenly looked back, and, below the left hand cliff, he saw wide battlements, surrounded by a triple wall, and encircled by a swift river of red-hot flames, the Tartarean Phlegethon, churning with echoing rocks.
Back
Card 5
Front
A gate fronts it, vast, with pillars of solid steel, that no human force, not the heavenly gods themselves, can overturn by war: an iron tower rises into the air, and seated before it, Tisiphone, clothed in a blood-wet dress, keeps guard of the
Back
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