Transcription
A translation, rather stilted because it is following the lines of Latin verse, is provided after each line of transcription. To understand what is going on, you need to know that the Trojans have paused in Sicily to bury Aeneas' father, Anchises. The goddess Juno, desperate to frustrate the Trojans, has disguised herself as the elderly noblewoman Beroe, and incited the women gathered for the funeral to set fire to the Trojan ships. Pyrgo is the only one to see through her disguise.
P Y R G O ˇ T O T P R I A M I N A T O R V M R E G I A C O N V T R I X ˇ |
Pyrgo, royal nurse to so many of the children of Priam, |
N O N B E R O E V O B I S ˇ N O N H A E C R H O E T E I A M A T R E S |
[said] 'This is not Beroe [talking] to you, mothers, this is not |
E S T D O R Y C L I C O N I V N X ˇ D I V I N I S I G N A D E C O R I S ˇ |
the wife of Doryclus of Rhoetia: [look at] the evidences of celestial beauty, |
A R D E N T I S Q V E N O T A T E O C V L O S ˇ Q V I S P I R I T V S I L L I ˇ |
observe the blazing eyes; what an élan she has, |
Q V I S V O L T U S ˇ V O C I S Q V E S O N V S ˇ E T G R E S S V S E V N T I ˇ |
what a face; the sound of her voice, the way she walks. |
I P S A E G O M E T D V D V M ˇ B E R O E N D I G R A E S S A R E L I Q V I |
I have only just come away and left Beroe, |
A E G R A M ˇ I N D I G N A N T E M T A L I Q V O D S O L A C A R E R E T |
sick, and cross because she alone was going to be absent, |
....M V N E R E ˇ N E C M E R I T O S A N C H I S A E I N F E R R E T H O N O R E S ˇ |
and could not offer the much deserved [funeral] tributes to Anchises.' |
H A E C E F F A T A ˇ |
Having spoken these words ... |
Did you notice the mid-line dots?
© MEG TWYCROSS 1998