In a tremendous tour-de-force, Virgil describes an incredibly powerful storm at sea as Aeneas and his men fight for survival.
Hear Virgil’s powerful Latin recited and follow in a new English translation here.
Photograph of Roman Mosaic in the Musée de Sousse by Habib M’Henni.
Today’s poem is traditionally ascribed to Virgil: it is plenty good enough, though not his usual style. If it does not make you want to spend a hot afternoon relaxing in the shade, see a doctor. The illustration of a Syrian dancer is by Waterhouse.
Hear the Latin and follow in English here.
As war with Turnus and the Italians looms for Aeneas and his Trojans, Father Tiber offers helpful advice. Hear the Latin from Book 8 of the Aeneid and follow in English here.
In today’s extract, Aeneas learns in his journey to the underworld of Marcellus, the Emperor Augustus’s nephew. Augustus adopted him as his son and prospective successor and heir in 25 BCE, when he was still only a teenager. It was not to be: Marcellus would die only two years later with his potential unfulfilled. The illustration shows what might have been: the general making a triumphant entry to Rome may be the Marcellus with whose shade Aeneas sees the young man walking, an illustrious war leader of the third century BCE.
Hear the extract in Latin and follow in English here.
As Aeneas tells Dido of the fall of Troy, there could not be a sadder contrast between the joyful celebration that Aeneas describes and the dark events that are to come. Follow the extract in English and hear it in Latin here.
Dido, bereft, watches in despair as Aeneas and the Trojans ready their ships to sail away and leave her. Hear the poetry here.