Virgil!
This is my translation of Virgil's speech of the Sibyl to Aeneas in the Aeneid known as "The Descent into the Underworld."
![A 3rd-century Roman mosaic of Virgil seated between Clio and Melpomene (from Hadrumetum [Sousse], Tunisia)](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!UBbc!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe9658c6e-3227-4259-b102-4ddeec460c99_1024x1043.jpeg "A 3rd-century Roman mosaic of Virgil seated between Clio and Melpomene (from Hadrumetum [Sousse], Tunisia)")
Publius Vergilius Maro, usually called simply Virgil or Vergil, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He composed three of the most famous Latin poems: the Eclogues, the Georgics and the Aeneid.
The following translation is the speech of the Sibyl to Aeneas, after he has implored her to help him find his beloved father in the Afterlife, found in the sixth book of the Aeneid. The underworld was called Orcus by the Romans and Hades by the Greeks. It bears noting that Hades was not “hell” as mistranslated in the King James Bible, because Hades had heavenly regions like the Elysian Fields and Blessed Isles. The Roman Orcus had Elysian Fields (also called Elysium) and Fields of Asphodel.
"The Descent into the Underworld"
by Virgil
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
for Martin Mc Carthy
The Sibyl began to speak:
“God-blooded Trojan, son of Anchises,
descending into the Underworld’s easy
since Death’s dark door stands eternally unbarred.
But to retrace one’s steps and return to the surface:
that’s the conundrum, that’s the catch!
Godsons have done it, the chosen few
whom welcoming Jupiter favored
and whose virtue merited heaven.
However, even the Blessed find headway’s hard:
immense woods barricade boggy bottomland
where the Cocytus glides with its dark coils.
But if you insist on ferrying the Styx twice
and twice traversing Tartarus,
if Love demands you indulge in such madness,
listen closely to how you must proceed...”
sate sanguine divum,
Tros Anchisiade, facilis descensus Averno:
noctes atque dies patet atri janua Ditis;
sed revocare gradum superasque evadere ad auras,
hoc opus, hic labor est. pauci, quos aequus amavit
Juppiter aut ardens evexit ad aethera virtus,
dis geniti potuere. tenent media omnia silvae,
Cocytusque sinu labens circumvenit atro.
quod si tantus amor menti, si tanta cupido est
bis Stygios innare lacus, bis nigra videre
Tartara, et insano juvat indulgere labori,
accipe quae peragenda prius.
Translation Pages by Language:
English Translations of Roman, Latin and Italian Poets by Michael R. Burch
English Translations of Anglo-Saxon Poems by Michael R. Burch
English Translations of Chinese Poets by Michael R. Burch
English Translations of Female Chinese Poets by Michael R. Burch
English Translations of French Poets by Michael R. Burch
Germane Germans: English Translations by Michael R. Burch
English Translations of German Poets by Michael R. Burch
English Translations of Japanese Poets by Michael R. Burch
English Translations of Japanese Zen Death Poems
English Translations of Ancient Mayan Love Poems
English Translations of Native American Poems, Proverbs and Blessings
English Translations of Urdu Poets by Michael R. Burch
English Translations of Uyghur Poets by Michael R. Burch
The HyperTexts
This is a sublimely well-crafted fragment of Virgil's Aeneas, Book VI, in which the Sibyl is advising Aeneas not of the perils of entering the underworld, but of the perils of endeavouring to return from it, and what he must do to avoid them. The language and the tone of this piece are totally captivating.
This is yet another one of my absolute favorite translations! The well-crafted language and resonance of this poem is truly sublime. The fact that it is dedicated to Martin Mc Carthy makes me love it all the more! Thank you, Mike, for translating such a profound segment of Virgil’s Aeneid!