“Aeolus, truly the father of the gods and king of man
has granted to you to soothe the waves and to raise (them) with wind,
a race hateful to me sails the Tyrrian Sea,
carrying Troy and the conquered Penantes [house-hold gods] into Italy
and strike force with winds and overwhelm the sunken ships,
or drive the scattered (Trojans) and scatter their corpses in the sea.
There are for me fourteen nymphs of surpassing body,
Deiopea, which of whom the most beautiful in form,
I will join in stable marriage, and I will proclaim her your own
so that, for such favors, she might pass all the years with you
and make you a parent with beautiful offspring.”
Venus addressed him: “O [you] who rule the affairs both of men and of the gods
With eternal command, and you terrify with lightning,
What so great [offense] was my Aeneas able to commit against you,
What were the Trojans able to [commit], to whom, having suffered so many disasters,
The whole globe of lands is closed off on account of Italy?
Surely you promised that from here the Romans, with the years rolling,
Will be leaders, recalled from the blood of Teucris,
Who hold the sea, who hold all the lands by power,
What opinion turns you forefather?
Indeed I was being consoled (by myself) with this for balancing the opposite fates,
The fall of Troy and the sad ruins with the facts;
Now the same fate follows the men driven by so many sufferings…
We, your offspring, to whom you promised the palace of heaven,
With ships having been lost on account of the anger of one (unspeakable!)
We are betrayed and we are being separated far from the shores of Italy.
Is this the reward of piety? Thus you in power reward us?”
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