Thus weeping, he speaks and gives reign to the fleet. And at length glides to the Euboean shores of Cumae. They turn their prows to the seas; then the anchor with biting tooth moored the ships, and the curved boats line the beach. Eagerly the band of warriors leaps out upon the Hesperian strand. Some seek the seeds of flame lurking in the veins of flint; some scour the woods, the thick layers of wild beasts and point out the discovered stream. But the good Aeneas seeks the heights on which high Apollo watches over, and a vast cavern — the retreat of the dread Sibyl — on whom the Delian prophet breathes his great mind and spirit, and reveals to her the future. And now they draw near to the groves of Trivia and the golden abode.

Daedalus, as the story goes, when flying from the kingdom of Minos, dared to entrust himself on rapid wings to the skies. And floated along his unwanted path to the icy North, and at length lightly settled on the Chalcidian hill. First restored to this Earth, he consecrated to you, Phoebus, the oarage of his wings and built a mighty temple. On the doors is the death of Androgeos; then the children of Cecrops, ordered — alas! — to pay yearly the tribute of seven sons; there stands the urn, lots already drawn. Opposite, the Gnosian land: here the cruel love of the bull, Pasiphae mated by stealth, the Minotaur — record of wicked passion. Here, that house of toil, a maze inextricable. But Daedalus, pitying the great love of the princess, himself unwound the deceptive tangle of the palace, guiding blind feet by a thread. You too, O Icarus, would have a large share in this great work, if grief permitted it. Twice had he tried to depict your fall in gold, twice fell the father's hands. Deiphobe, daughter of Glaucus, addresses king Aeneas: "Not sights like these does the time demand! Now it would be better to sacrifice seven bullocks from the unbroken herd, and as many sheep duly chosen."

The huge side of the Euboean rock is hewn into a cavern, to where lead a hundred wide mouths, a hundred gateways. From where rush as many voices, the answers of the Sibyl. They had come to the threshold, when the maiden cries, "It is time to ask the oracles; the god, behold! The god!" As thus she spoke, suddenly neither her expression nor her colour was the same, nor did her tresses remain braided; but her bosom heaves, her wild heart swells with frenzy, and she appears taller to view; her voice has no mortal ring to it, since she has been inspired by the nearer presence of the god. "Are you hesitant to vow and pray? Are you slow, Trojan Aeneas? For till then the mighty mouths of the awestruck house will not gape open." So she spoke and was mute. A chill shudder ran through Trojans' sturdy frames. And the king pours forth prayers from the depths of his heart: "O Phoebus, who hast ever pitied the heavy woes of Troy, thou who didst guide the Dardan shaft and the hand of Paris against the body of Aeacides. Under thy guidance did I enter upon many seas surrounding mighty lands, the far remote Massylian tribes and the fields that fringe the Syrtes: Now at last we grasp the shores of Italy which elude us. Grant that the Trojans may rest in Latium, and the wandering gods of Troy. Then to Phoebus and to Trivia will I set up a temple of solid marble, and the festal days in the name of Phoebus. Only trust not your verses to leaves lest they fly in disorder, the sport of rushing winds; chant them yourself, I pray."

But the prophetess, not yet enduring the sway of Phoebus, storms wildly in the cavern, if perchance she may shake the mighty god from off her breast: so much the more he tires her raving mouth, taming her wild heart, and moulds her by restraint. And now the hundred mighty mouths of the house have opened of their own accord, and bring through the air a reply of the prophetess. "O you that at last has fulfilled the mighty perils of the sea — but on land more grievous woes await you — into the kingdom of Lavinium the sons of Dardanus shall come — banish this care from your heart — but they shall also wish they had not come. Wars, grim wars I see, and Tiber foaming with streams of blood. A Simois you shall not lack, nor a Xanthus, nor a Doric camp. Even now another Achilles is provided in Latium, he too goddess-born; nor shall Juno anywhere fail to harass the Trojans, when you are begging in your day of need — what peoples, what cities of Italy shall you not implore! The cause of all this woe to the Trojans is again an alien bride, again a foreign marriage. But do not give in to any evils, but go forth to meet them more boldly than your fortune shall allow you. Your path of safety shall first, little as you would think it, be opened from a Greek city."