SCENE 5

In the now deserted palace near the shrine of Vesta. Helen is lurking for protection within the shrine.

_Æneas_, passing by and seeing Helen (577-587):

Shall this, the common scourge of friend and foe, Unscathed, behold her native land again? Her husband, home, her sire and children see? Shall she as conquering queen go proudly back, Attended by a throng of Trojan slaves? Shall Troy have burned for this, old Priam die, And all the Trojan plain have reeked with blood? It shall not be. No fame, I know, is earned By woman’s punishment; such victory Has little praise; but yet I shall be praised For having utterly destroyed this wretch, And on her head inflicted vengeance dire. It will be sweet to feed my passion’s flame, And satisfy the ashes of my friends.

He is rushing into the shrine with drawn sword when suddenly Venus appears before him.

_Venus_ (594-620):

What grief inflames thee to this boundless wrath? What madness this, my son? And whither, pray, Has fled thy care for us? Bethink thee, first, Where thou hast left thy father, spent with age; Whether thy wife, Creüsa, still survives; Bethink thee of Ascanius thy son. For they are hemmed about on every side By hostile Greeks; but for my shielding care, Already would the flames have swept them off, And swords of enemies have drunk their blood. ‘Tis not the beauty of the Spartan queen That should arouse thy hate, nor shouldst thou blame Thy kinsman, Paris; for the cruel gods, The gods, I say, have laid thy city low, And overthrown the lofty walls of Troy. Behold—for I will straight remove the mist Which, dense and clinging, clouds thy mortal sight; Do thou but be obedient to my words;— Here, where thou seest huge masses overthrown, Rocks torn from rocks, commingled smoke and dust, Great Neptune with his trident’s fearful stroke Causes the walls to rock upon their base. Here Juno, first of all, with savage mien, Besets the Scæan gates, and, girt with steel, In fury calls her allies from the ships. Now turn thine eyes unto the citadel, And there behold Tritonian Pallas stand, All blazing with the war-cloud’s lurid glare, And that fell Gorgon’s head. Nay Jove himself Inspires the Greeks with courage, gives them strength, And whets the gods against the Trojans’ arms. Betake thee then to flight and end thy toils. For I will never leave thee, till at last I bring thee safely to thy father’s house.

Æneas, overcome by these revelations, and resigned to fate, retires.