them with their swords, for the monsters would fly out of reach, and then dart back again on a sudden, and pounce once more on the food, while Celaeno, chief of the Harpies, perched on a rock and chanted in hoarse tones a prophecy of ill omen.  “You that kill our oxen and seek to drive us from our rightful home, hearken to my words, which Jupiter declared to Apollo, and Apollo told even to me.  You are sailing to Italy, and you shall reach Italy and enter its harbors.  But you are not destined to surround your city with a wall, till cruel hunger and vengeance for the wrong you have done us force you to gnaw your very tables with your teeth.”

When the Trojans heard this terrible prophecy their hearts sank within them, and Anchises, lifting his hands to heaven, besought the gods to avert this grievous doom.  Thus, full of sad forebodings, they returned to their ships.

Their way now lay along the western coast of Greece, and they were glad to slip unnoticed past the rocky island of Ithaca, the home of Ulysses the wily.  For they did not know that he was still held captive by the nymph Calypso, and that many years were to pass before he should be restored to his kingdom.  They next cast anchor off Leucadia, and passed the winter in these regions.  In spring they sailed north again, and landed in Epirus, and here to their surprise they found Helenus, one of the sons of Priam, ruling over a Greek people.  He welcomed his kinsman joyfully and, having the gift of prophecy from Apollo, foretold the course of his wanderings.  “Italy, which you deem so near, is a far-distant land, and many adventures await you before you reach that shore where lies your destined home.  Before you reach it, you will visit Sicily, and the realms of the dead and the island of Circe.  But I will give you a sign whereby you may know the appointed place.  When by the banks of a secluded stream you shall see a huge white sow with her thirty young ones, then shall you have reached the limit of your wanderings.  Be sure to avoid the eastern coast of Italy opposite these shores.  Wicked Greek tribes have their dwelling there, and it is safer to pass at once to the western coast.  On your left, you will hear in the Strait the thundering roar of Charybdis, and on the right grim Scylla sits scowling in her cave ready to spring on the unwary traveler.  Better take a long circuit round Sicily than come even within sight and sound of Scylla.  As soon as you touch the western shores of Italy, go to the city of Cumae and the Sibyl’s cavern.  Try to win her favor, and she will tell you of the nations of Italy and the wars yet to come, and how you may avoid each peril and accomplish every labor.  One warning would I give you and enjoin it with all my power.  If you desire to reach your journey’s end in safety, forget not to do homage to Juno.  Offer up prayers to her divinity, load her altars with gifts.  Then, and then only, may you hope for a happy issue from all your troubles!”