Virgil, Aeneid V.815
Melphi speaks
unum pro multis dabitur caput.
The priest translates
«One life shall be given for many.»
And interprets
This line sounds harsh, but it brings you a truth you already know: every important crossing asks you to leave something behind. It need not mean a person; it can be a habit, a beloved project, an idea of yourself you no longer need. If you feel that something must give way so that your family, your team or your relationship can move on, you are neither cruel nor wrong. Be careful, though, not to sacrifice the same part of yourself every time, the part that gives itself up without a sound. Choose clearly what to let go, honor it, and do not turn the loss into guilt. The journey of the many goes on partly thanks to what you laid down.
The historical translations
Annibal Caro (1581)
Gli mancherà. Sol un convien che pèra
Per condur gli altri suoi lieti e sicuri.
Gli mancherà. Sol un convien che pèra
Per condur gli altri suoi lieti e sicuri.
Theodore C. Williams (1910)
One only sinks beneath th' engulfing seas, —
one life in lieu of many.” Having soothed
One only sinks beneath th' engulfing seas, —
one life in lieu of many.” Having soothed
Source
Publius Vergilius Maro, Aeneis, ed. J. B. Greenough (1900)
Virgil, Aeneid V.815