Part 3 (1/2)
Scarcely had Achemenides finished his story when Polyphemus himself appeared coming down from the mountain in the midst of his flocks. A horrid monster he was, ”huge, awful, hideous, ghastly, blind.” In his hand he carried the trunk of a pine tree to guide his steps, and striding to the water's edge, he waded far into the sea, yet the waves did not touch his sides.
The Trojans now quickly got to their vessels, taking Achemenides with them, and they plied their oars with the utmost speed. Hearing the voices of the rowers and the sweep of their oars, the blind giant stretched out his hands in the direction of the sound, seeking to seize his enemies, as he took them to be. But the Trojans had got beyond his reach. Then in his rage and disappointment the monster raised a mighty shout which echoed from the mountain sides and brought forth his brethren from their woods and caves.
”To heaven he lifts a monstrous roar, Which sends a shudder through the waves, Shakes to its base the Italian sh.o.r.e, And echoing runs through AEtna's caves.
From rocks and woods the Cyclop host Rush startled forth, and crowd the coast.
There glaring fierce we see them stand In idle rage, a hideous band, The sons of AEtna, carrying high Their towering summits to the sky.”
CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK III.
After thus escaping from the terrible Polyphemus, the Trojan wanderers sailed along the coasts of Sicily, and coming to the north-west extremity of the island, they put ash.o.r.e at Drep'a-num. Here AEneas met with a misfortune which none of the prophets had predicted. This was the death of his venerable father Anchises.
”After endless labors (often tossed By raging storms and driven on every coast), My dear, dear father, spent with age, I lost-- Ease of my cares, and solace of my pain, Saved through a thousand toils, but saved in vain!
The prophet, who my future woes revealed, Yet this, the greatest and the worst, concealed, And dire Celaeno, whose foreboding skill Denounced all else, was silent of this ill.”
DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK III.
III. A GREAT STORM--ARRIVAL IN CARTHAGE.
Thus far you have read the story of the Trojan exiles as it was told by AEneas himself to Di'do, queen of Carthage, at whose court we shall soon find him, after a dreadful storm which scattered his s.h.i.+ps, sinking one, and driving the rest upon the coast of Africa. The narrative occupies the second and third books of the AEneid. In the first book the poet begins by telling of Juno's unrelenting hate, which was the chief cause of all the evils that befell the Trojans.
Arms and the man I sing, who, forced by fate, And haughty Juno's unrelenting hate, Expelled and exiled, left the Trojan sh.o.r.e.
Long labors, both by sea and land he bore.
DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK I.
It was at Juno's request that AE'o-lus, G.o.d of the winds, raised the great storm, just at the time when the wanderers, after leaving Drepanum, were about to direct their course towards the destined Hesperian land. For though AEneas and his companions, following the advice of Helenus, had offered prayers and sacrifices to the haughty G.o.ddess, still her anger was not appeased. She could not forget the judgment of Paris, or the prophecy that through the Trojan race was to come destruction on the city she loved. And so when she saw the s.h.i.+ps of AEneas sailing towards the Italian coast, she gave vent to her anger in bitter words. ”Must I then,” said she, ”desist from my purpose? Am I, the queen of heaven, not able to prevent the Trojans from establis.h.i.+ng their kingdom in Italy? Who then will hereafter wors.h.i.+p Juno or offer sacrifices on her altars?” With such thoughts inflaming her breast, the G.o.ddess hastened to AE-o'lia, the home of storms where dwelt AEolus, king of the winds. AEolia was one of the ancient names of the islands between Italy and Sicily, now known as the Lipari Islands. In a vast cave, in one of those islands king AEolus held the winds imprisoned and controlled their fury lest they should destroy the world--
In a s.p.a.cious cave of living stone, The tyrant AEolus, from his airy throne, With power imperial curbs the struggling winds, And sounding tempests in dark prisons binds: High in his hall the undaunted monarch stands, And shakes his sceptre, and their rage commands: Which did he not, their unresisted sway Would sweep the world before them in their way; Earth, air, and seas, through empty s.p.a.ce would roll, And heaven would fly before the driving soul.
In fear of this, the father of the G.o.ds Confined their fury to those dark abodes, And locked them safe within, oppressed with mountain loads; Imposed a king with arbitrary sway, To loose their fetters, or their force allay.
DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK I.
To this great king Juno appealed, begging him to send forth his storms against the s.h.i.+ps of AEneas, and she promised to reward him by giving him in marriage the fair De-i-o-pe'a, most beautiful of all the nymphs or maids in her heavenly train of attendants. AEolus promptly replied saying that he was ready to obey the queen of heaven. ”'Tis for you, O queen, to command and for me to execute your will.”
Then AEolus struck the side of the cavern with his mighty scepter, whereupon the rock flew open and the winds rushed furiously forth. In an instant a terrific hurricane swept over land and sea. The lightning flashed, the thunder pealed, and the waves rolled mountain high around the Trojan fleet.
All in a moment sun and skies Are blotted from the Trojans' eyes; Black night is brooding o'er the deep, Sharp thunder peals, live lightnings leap; The stoutest warrior holds his breath, And looks as on the face of death.
CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK I.
Filled with terror, AEneas bewailed his unhappy fate, and lamented that it had not been his lot to fall with those
Who died at Troy like valiant men E'en in their parents' view.
But the storm increased in fury. Three of his s.h.i.+ps were dashed against hidden rocks, while before his eyes one went down with all its crew.
And here and there above the waves were seen Arms, pictures, precious goods and floating men.
DRYDEN, _AEneid_, BOOK I.
Meantime the roaring of wind and waves had reached the ears of Neptune, in his coral palace beneath the sea. Neptune was one of the G.o.ds who were friendly to AEneas, and so when he raised his head above the waters, and beheld the s.h.i.+ps scattered about and the hero himself in deep distress, the ocean king was very angry. Instantly he summoned the winds before him, and sternly rebuked them for daring to cause such disturbance in his dominions without his authority. Then he ordered them to depart forthwith to their caverns, and tell their master that not to him belonged the kingdom of the sea.
”Back to your master instant flee, And tell him, not to him but me The imperial trident of the sea Fell by the lot's award.”
CONINGTON, _AEneid_, BOOK I.
It was by lot that the empire of the universe had been divided among the three brothers Jupiter, Neptune and Pluto, the kingdom of the ocean falling to Neptune, the heavens to Jupiter and the ”lower regions” or regions of the dead to Pluto. Neptune, therefore, had full power within his own dominion, and so the winds had to retire at his command. Then immediately the sea became calm and still, and AEneas with seven s.h.i.+ps--all that he could find of his fleet--sailed for the African coast, which was the nearest land, the storm having driven them far out of their course. Soon discovering a suitable harbor, deep in a bay, with high rocks on each side at the entrance, the tempest- tossed Trojans gladly put ash.o.r.e, and lighting a fire on the beach, they prepared a meal of parched corn, which they ground with stones.