The Aeneid for Boys and Girls (Yesterday's Classics) by Church Alfred J

Author:Church, Alfred J. [Church, Alfred J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 9781599150604
Publisher: Yesterday's Classics
Published: 2010-11-08T16:05:33.289000+00:00

CHAPTER XII

The Plots of Juno

WHEN Juno saw that the Trojans were come to the land of Italy, and that they were building houses in which to dwell, and that King Latinus was showing them no little kindness, she said to herself: "So this wicked race has vanquished me. The flames of the burning city of Troy did not destroy them, nor did the sea swallow them up. And lo! they have come unharmed to the river Tiber, to the very place which they desired. Yes: it is but too true; I, who am the sister and the wife of Jupiter, have been overcome by this Æneas. Nevertheless there is still something which I can do. The gods in heaven will not help me; therefore I will go to the powers of hell. I cannot keep this fellow from the kingdom of Latium, and it is the pleasure of the gods that he should have Lavinia for his wife. But I will see to it that he shall buy this kingdom of his at a great price, and that your dowry, O daughter of Latinus, shall be the blood of Italy and of Troy. Then Juno went down into the lower parts of the earth, and called to her Alecto, who was one of the Furies, who loved anger and war and treachery, and all evil and hateful things. Even her own sisters, the Furies, could not bear to look on her, so dreadful was she to behold. Juno said to her: "Daughter of Night, I have suffered a great wrong and disgrace, and I want you to help me. A man whom I hate, Æneas by name, desires to have a kingdom in Italy: keep him from it. He wishes to have Lavinia, the daughter of King Latinus, to wife: see that he does not. You can set brother against brother; you can bring strife into kingdoms and into homes. Break this peace that the Latins and the Trojans are making. Bring about some occasion of war."

Alecto first went to the palace of Latinus. There she found the queen, Amata by name, in great anger and trouble. She was much displeased by the doings of the king, her husband. She did not wish to have Æneas for her son-in-law, and she loved the prince Turnus with all her heart. Then the Fury thought to herself: "The queen hates Æneas already; I will turn her hatred into madness." So she took a snake out of her hair and thrust it into the bosom of the queen. The evil beast crept about her so that the poison got into her heart; then it changed itself into a collar, as of twisted gold, round her neck, and poisoned her very breath.

At the first, before the evil altogether overpowered her, she spoke gently to her husband, weeping as a mother might weep when she is afraid that she may lose her daughter. She said: "Are you not afraid, my husband, to give Lavinia to

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