Aeon

“ Most nearly connected with the supreme God were Aeons,—the channels for the diffusion of light,— innumerable in number and of surpassing greatness. The Aeon-mother of life generated the primitive man to oppose the powers of darkness. Hence man's nature is full of dignity, although he was worsted in the conflict with Evil. But the spirit raises him once more to the kingdom of light, and purifies his soul which sprung from the primitive man. The pure soul is Christ, enthroned in the sun, superior to all contact with matter, and incapable of suffering. ”

“ Then, that the shapelessness of Ectroma might no way be apparent to the perfect Aeons, the Father again projected one Aeon (to wit) the Cross, who having been born great from the great and perfect Father and projected as a guard and palisade to the Aeons, becomes the limit of the Pleroma containing within him all the thirty Aeons together: for they were projected before him. And he is called Horos because he separates from the Pleroma the Void [123] without; and Metocheus [124] because he partakes also in the Hysterema ”

“ Of inborn worth, his lab’ring soul oppress’d,
Roll’d in his eyes, and rag’d within his breast.
Then loud he call’d Aeneas thrice by name:
The loud repeated voice to glad Aeneas came.
“Great Jove,” he said, “and the far-shooting god,
Inspire thy mind to make thy challenge good!”
He spoke no more; but hasten’d, void of fear,
And threaten’d with his long protended spear.
To whom Mezentius thus: “Thy vaunts are vain.
My Lausus lies extended on the plain:
He’s lost! thy conquest is already won;
The wretched sire is murder’d in the son.
Nor fate I fear, but all the gods defy. ”

“ Great in her charms, as when on gods above
She looks, and breathes herself into their love.
DRYDEN, AEneid, BOOK II.
Taking the hero by the hand as he was in the act of raising his sword to strike Helen, the goddess thus rebuked him: "What is it that excites your anger now, my son? Where is your regard for me? Have you forgotten your father Anchises and your wife and little son? They would have been killed by the Greeks if I had not cared for them and saved them. It is not Helen or Paris that has laid low this great city of Troy, but the wrath of the gods. ”

“ And on their left hand they had lofty Caucasus and the Cytaean city of Aea, and on the other side the plain of Ares and the sacred grove of that god, where the serpent was keeping watch and ward over the fleece as it hung on the leafy branches of an oak. And Aeson’s son himself from a golden goblet poured into the river libations of honey and pure wine to Earth and to the gods of the country, and to the souls of dead heroes; and he besought them of their grace to give kindly aid, and to welcome their ship’s hawsers with favourable omen. ”

“ Here the fluttering phantom of flying Aeneas darts and hides itself. Nor is Turnus slack to follow; he overleaps the barriers and springs across the high gangways. Scarcely had he lighted on the prow; the daughter of Saturn snaps the hawser, and the ship, parted from her cable, runs out on the ebbing tide. And him Aeneas seeks for battle and finds not, and sends many a man that meets him to death. Then the light phantom seeks not yet any further hiding-place, but, flitting aloft, melts in a dark cloud; and a blast comes down meanwhile and sweeps Turnus through the seas. ”

“ Thou dost mock us, but our hearts are stirred with calamity. For already on the river Phasis the son of Aeson moors his ship, he and his comrades in quest of the fleece. For all their sakes we fear terribly (for the task is nigh at hand) but most for Aeson's son. Him will I deliver, though he sail even to Hades to free Ixion below from his brazen chains, as far as strength lies in my limbs, so that Pelias may not mock at having escaped an evil doom—Pelias who left me unhonoured with sacrifice. ”

“ Age does not impair our courage or vigor. As for you, your very dress is embroidered with yellow and purple; indolence is your delight; you love to indulge in dancing and such frivolous pleasures. Women you are, and not men. Leave fighting to warriors and handle not the sword."
"Leave men, like us, in arms to deal
Nor bruise your lily hands with steel."
CONINGTON, AEneid, BOOK IX.
The spirited young Trojan prince could not patiently endure these insults, and so drawing his bow-string and praying to Father Jupiter, he sent forth his steel-tipped arrow. ”

“ The personages of the action are prominent in poetry and legend, or by their ethnical names stir the sentiment of national enthusiasm—Aeneas and Anchises, Dido, Acestes, Evander, Turnus. The spheres of activity in which they are engaged are war and sea adventure. The passion of love is a powerful addition to the older sources of interest. The Aeneid revives, by a conventional compromise between the present and the remote past, some image of the old romance of Greece; it creates the romance of “that Italy for which Camilla the virgin, Euryalus, and Turnus and Nisus died of wounds.” ”

“ They marvel at Aeneas' gifts, marvel at Iülus, at the god's face aflame and forged speech, at the mantle and veil wrought with yellow acanthus-flower. Above all the hapless Phoenician, victim to coming doom, cannot satiate her soul, but, stirred alike by the boy and the gifts, she gazes and takes fire. He, when hanging clasped on Aeneas' neck he had satisfied all the deluded parent's love, makes his way to the queen; the queen clings to him with her eyes and all her soul, and ever and anon fondles him in her lap, ah, poor Dido! witless how mighty a deity sinks into her breast ”

“ And him in reply Aeson's son addressed with helpless words: "Son of Aeacus, where are these steersmen of thine? For those whom we once deemed to be men of skill, they even more than I are bowed with vexation of heart. Wherefore I forebode an evil doom for us even as for the dead, if it shall be our lot neither to reach the city of fell Aeetes, nor ever again to pass beyond the rocks to the land of Hellas, but a wretched fate will enshroud us here ingloriously till we grow old for naught."
Thus he spake, but Ancaeus quickly undertook to guide the swift ship ”

“ Meanwhile Dawn had raised her gracious light on weary men, bringing back task and toil: now lord Aeneas, now Tarchon, have built the pyres on the winding shore. Hither in ancestral fashion hath each borne the bodies of his kin; the dark fire is lit beneath, and the vapour hides high heaven in gloom. Thrice, girt in glittering arms, they have marched about the blazing piles, thrice compassed on horseback the sad fire of death, and uttered their wail. Tears fall fast upon earth and armour; cries of men and blare of trumpets roll skyward. ”

“ DIDO Fate forbids what you pursue. AENEAS Aeneas has no fate but you! Let Dido smile and I'll defy The feeble stroke of Destiny. CHORUS Cupid only throws the dart That's dreadful to a warrior's heart, And she that wounds can only cure the smart. AENEAS If not for mine, for Empire's sake, Some pity on your lover take; Ah! make not, in a hopeless fire A hero fall, and Troy once more expire. BELINDA Pursue thy conquest, Love; her eyes Confess the flame her tongue denies. ”

“ And Aeson's son himself was speaking among them; and they were listening silently in their places sitting row upon row: "My friends, what pleases myself that will I say out; it is for you to bring about its fulfilment. For in common is our task, and common to all alike is the right of speech; and he who in silence withholds his thought and his counsel, let him know that it is he alone that bereaves this band of its home-return. Do ye others rest here in the ship quietly with your arms; but I will go to the palace of Aeetes, taking with me the sons of Phrixus and two comrades as well. ”

“ Dawn was spreading over the earth when they reached the throng of heroes; and the youths marvelled to behold the mighty fleece, which gleamed like the lightning of Zeus. And each one started up eager to touch it and clasp it in his hands. But the son of Aeson restrained them all, and threw over it a mantle newly-woven; and he led the maiden to the stern and seated her there, and spake to them all as follows:
"No longer now, my friends, forbear to return to your fatherland. ”

“ To these friendly words Ilioneus, speaking for the Trojans, replied that it was no storm that sent them to Italy. "Willingly and with design," said he, "have we come to your shores, O king, after having been expelled from a kingdom once the most powerful under the sun. Our race is derived from Jupiter himself, and our chief, Aeneas, descended from the gods, has sent us to your court. All the world has heard of the destruction of our city, Troy. Driven by misfortunes over many seas, we beg for a settlement in your country. ”

“ Meanwhile AEneas, sleeping in the house of his father, An-chi'ses, had a dream in which the ghost of Hector appeared to him, shedding abundant tears, and disfigured with wounds as when he had been dragged around the walls of Troy behind the chariot of the victorious Achilles. ”

“ And he once welcomed noble Phrixus, a fugitive from his stepmother’s wiles and the sacrifice prepared by his father. For all men everywhere, even the most shameless, reverence the ordinance of Zeus, god of strangers, and regard it.”
Thus he spake, and the youths approved the words of Aeson’s son with one accord, nor was there one to counsel otherwise. And then he summoned to go with him the sons of Phrixus, and Telamon and Augeias; and himself took Hermes’ wand; and at once they passed forth from the ship beyond the reeds and the water to dry land, towards the rising ground of the plain. ”

“ Astonished at hearing that the visitors were the illustrious Trojans whose fame had already spread throughout the world, Pallas invited them to land and come as guests to his father's house. AEneas gladly accepted the invitation, and the young prince conducted them to the grove, and introduced them to King Evander. This Evander was by birth a Greek. He had come from the Grecian province of Ar-ca'di-a, and the city he founded in Italy he called after the name of his native Arcadian city of Pallanteum. ”

“ Now stern Aeneas his weighty spear
Against his foe, and thus upbraids his fear:
"What farther subterfuge can Turnus find?
What empty hopes are harbor'd in his mind?
'T is not thy swiftness can secure thy flight;
Not with their feet, but hands, the valiant fight.
Vary thy shape in thousand forms, and dare
What skill and courage can attempt in war;
Wish for the wings of winds, to mount the sky;
Or hid, within the hollow earth to lie!"
The champion shook his head, and made this short reply:
"No threats of thine my manly mind can move;
'T is hostile heav'n I dread, and partial Jove." ”

“ Tho’ much I ow’d to Priam’s house, and more
The dangers of Aeneas did deplore.
But now, by Jove’s command, and fate’s decree,
His race is doom’d to reign in Italy:
With humble suit I beg thy needful art,
O still propitious pow’r, that rules my heart!
A mother kneels a suppliant for her son.
By Thetis and Aurora thou wert won
To forge impenetrable shields, and grace
With fated arms a less illustrious race.
Behold, what haughty nations are combin’d
Against the relics of the Phrygian kind,
With fire and sword my people to destroy,
And conquer Venus twice, in conqu’ring Troy. ”

“ If my presaging soul divines with truth;
Which, O! I wish, might err thro' causeless fears,
And you (for you have pow'r) prolong his years!"
Thus having said, involv'd in clouds, she flies,
And drives a storm before her thro' the skies.
Swift she descends, alighting on the plain,
Where the fierce foes a dubious fight maintain.
Of air condens'd a specter soon she made;
And, what Aeneas was, such seem'd the shade.
Adorn'd with Dardan arms, the phantom bore
His head aloft; a plumy crest he wore;
This hand appear'd a shining sword to wield,.
And that sustain'd an imitated shield. ”

“ Early next morning AEneas offered sacrifices to the gods in thanksgiving for his victory. On a rising ground he caused to be erected the trunk of a huge oak, with its boughs lopped off. Upon this he hung as an offering to the war-god Mars, the arms that had been borne by the Etrurian king—his crest, and his broken spears, his breastplate, showing the marks of many blows, his shield of brass, and his ivory-hilted sword. Then he spoke words of encouragement to his chiefs and companions.
"Brother warriors, our most important work is done. Henceforth we need have no fear. ”

“ The nurse of great Aeneas’ infancy.
Here rest thy bones in rich Hesperia’s plains;
Thy name (’tis all a ghost can have) remains.
Now, when the prince her fun’ral rites had paid,
He plow’d the Tyrrhene seas with sails display’d.
From land a gentle breeze arose by night,
Serenely shone the stars, the moon was bright,
And the sea trembled with her silver light.
Now near the shelves of Circe’s shores they run,
(Circe the rich, the daughter of the Sun,)
A dang’rous coast: the goddess wastes her days
In joyous songs ”

“ Appalled at the sight, Aeneas stood in silence gazing at the apparition while it thus spoke:
"Beloved husband, why do you give way to grief? What has happened is by the decree of heaven. It was not the will of the gods that I should accompany you. You have a long journey to make, and a wide extent of sea to cross, before you reach the shores of Hes-pe'ri-a, where the Ti'ber flows in gentle course through the rich fields of a warlike race. There prosperity awaits you, and you shall take to yourself a wife of a royal line. ”

“ You do but rush to your own destruction." Regardless, however, of danger, the gallant Lausus fought till he fell lifeless on the earth. AEneas was touched with pity at the sight, for he thought of his own son, and of how he himself had loved his own father. Then, he tenderly lifted the body from the ground, and consigned it to the care of his friends. They carried it to Mezentius, who was resting on the river bank, after having bathed his wounds in the water. ”