• About

Mundus Patet

~ The Earth is Open – An Exploration of Ancient, Antique, and Modern Culture, Art, and History

Mundus Patet

Category Archives: Virgil

Kingdom of the Dead (Excerpt from Virgil)

17 Wednesday Mar 2010

Posted by artaud23 in Virgil

≈ Leave a comment

Excerpts from the Aeneid of Virgil
translated by Robert Fagles


Virgil

Now carved out of the rocky flanks of Cumae
lies an enormous cavern pierced by a hundred tunnels,
a hundred mouths with as many voices rushing out,
the Sibyl’s rapt replies. They had just gained
the sacred sill when the virgin cries aloud:
“Now is the the time to ask your fate to speak!
The god, look, the god!”
               So she cries before
the enterance – suddenly all her features, all
her color changes, her braided hair flies loose
and her breast heaves, her heart bursts with frenzy,
she seems to rise in height, the ring of her voice no longer
human – the breath, the power of god comes closer, closer.
“Why so slow, Trojan Aeneas?” she shouts, “so slow
to pray, to swear your vows? Not until you do
will the great jaws of our spellbound house gape wide.”
And with that command the prophetess fell silent….

               “….But grant one prayer.
Since here, they say, are the gates of Death’s king
and the dark marsh where the Acheron comes flooding up,
please, allow me to go and see my beloved father,
meet him face-to-face.
Teach me the way, throw wide the sacred doors!….”

The Sybil of Cumae

              ..So he prayed,
grasping the alter while the Sibyl gave her answer:
“Born of the blood of gods, Anchises’ son,
man of Troy, the descent to the Underworld is easy.
Night and day the gates of shadowy Death stand open wide,
but to retrace your steps, to climb back to the upper air-
there the struggle, there the labor lies. Only a few,
loved by impartial Jove or born aloft to the sky
by their own fiery virtue – some sons of the gods
have made their way. The entire heartland here
is thick with woods, Cocytus glides around it,
coiling dense and dark.
But if such a wild desire seizes on you – twice
to sail the Stygian marsh, to see black Tartarus twice –
if you’re so eager to give yourself to this, this mad ordeal,
then hear what you must accomplish first.
              Hidden
deep in a shady tree there grows a golden bough,
its leaves and its hardy, sinewy stem all gold,
held sacred to Juno of the Dead, Porserpina.
The whole grove covers it over, dusky valleys
enfold it too, closing around it. No one
may pass below the secret places of the earth before
he plucks the fruit, the golden foliage of that tree.
As her beauty’s due, Proserpina decreed this bough
shall be offered up to her as her own hallowed gift.
When the first spray’s torn away, another takes its place,
gold too, the metal breaks into leaf again, all gold.
Lift up your eyes and search, and once you find it,
duly pluck it off with your hand. Freely, easily,
all by itself it comes away, if Fate calls you on.
If not, no strenght within you can overpower it,
no iron blade, however hard, can tear it off….”

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

Share this:

  • Print
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Email
  • Pinterest
  • Reddit
  • Pocket
  • Tumblr

Like this:

Like Loading...

Archives

  • March 2021
  • July 2020
  • September 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • July 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • October 2013
  • July 2013
  • May 2013
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • May 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010

Blogs I Follow

  • The SuperHero Satellite
  • lightofluxor.wordpress.com/
  • Wyoming State Library
  • Indiana Memory DPLA Hub
  • Harshit's reviews
  • jasonbeampoetry
  • THE AMAZING KORNYFONE LABEL
  • The House of Vines
  • Logomancy
  • The Glorious Train Wreck Mom
  • Anita's Perspectives on Life.
  • The Homeless Guy
  • Thalia Ainsley
  • Jakebreh Beats
  • malleable art
  • Wordgrove Post & Review
  • The Truth Ache
  • What's That Mark's Reading!?
  • MoronicArts
  • Greek Myth Comix

Category Cloud

Alchemy Ancient Greece Ancient Rome Archaeology Architecture Arts Bibliographies Books Caesar Features Germania Greek Greek Classics History Language Latin Latin Classics Literature Long Reads Military History Myth Nota Bene Philosophy Political Science Religion and Spirituality Roman Britain Secondary Literature Tacitus Uncategorized Virgil

Blog at WordPress.com.

The SuperHero Satellite

Commentary on Comics, , TV and The World of ProWrestling

lightofluxor.wordpress.com/

Wyoming State Library

A Division of A&I

Indiana Memory DPLA Hub

Collaborative, informational site of the Indiana Memory DPLA Service Hub

Harshit's reviews

Anime, manga and manhwa.

jasonbeampoetry

never knows best

THE AMAZING KORNYFONE LABEL

Cover Art Appreciation & the Stories Behind the Recordings on Classic Vinyl Bootlegs

The House of Vines

where words grow like leaves

Logomancy

A journey into language, books, and print.

The Glorious Train Wreck Mom

Welcome Aboard, Train Wreck

Anita's Perspectives on Life.

Sharing is Learning

The Homeless Guy

homeless

Thalia Ainsley

Journey to Healing and Recovery

Jakebreh Beats

Original Beats By JakeBreh

malleable art

MAL-ART is about hitting that sweet, sweet spot as well as a sour nerve or two--- POPPED BUBBLEGUM, HARDCORE JAWBREAKERS & WORDS FROM ME TO YOU

Wordgrove Post & Review

Newsletter for Wordgrove's Forest Library in There.com

The Truth Ache

The Life of A Mentally Ill Writer

What's That Mark's Reading!?

Just a place to put my thoughts on arranged words into words.

MoronicArts

Home of the Moroniverse

Greek Myth Comix

  • Follow Following
    • Mundus Patet
    • Join 42 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Mundus Patet
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
%d bloggers like this: