Page images
PDF
EPUB

referring to the several ships' companies.- -71. Bis septem; a favorite mode of expressing numbers in poetry. See Gr. § 118, 5, (b).—Corpore; a limiting ablative of description. Gr. § 211, R. 6; Z. § 471. The ablative of quality or description is more frequent than the genitive.—72. Quarum quae etc.; and Deïopea, who (is) the fairest of these in form, I will unite to you in lasting wedlock, and pronounce your own. The nominative, Deïopea (which is better authenticated here than Deïopeam, given in some editions), is put by attraction in the case of the relative quae, instead of the accusative, which would have been the regular construction. See Gr. § 206, (6), (b). Quarum is translated here as earumque; the relative is a closer and neater connective than and with a demonstrative or personal pronoun, which, however, the English idiom often requires instead of the Latin relative. See Arnold's Lat. Prose Comp., § 67, 536; Gr. § 206, (17). This preference for the relative in Latin often gives rise to the construction, which we have here, of two relatives or interrogatives in the same sentence; as, Cic. Brut. 74, 258: cujus penes quos laus adhuc fuit. So also the frequently recurring quae quum ita sint. The genitive is not governed by Deïopeam understood, but by the superlative, pulcherrima, as a partitive; Gr. § 212, R. 2. The form" quae (est) pulcherrima" is only a poetic substitute for pulcherrimam : the most beautiful of whom (namely), Deiopea, I will join, &c. Comp. x. 225. De-i-o-pe-a forms the last two feet of the verse.- 73. Connubio is scanned here as a trisyllable, connubyo, Gr. § 306; Z. § 11. Proprius is a strong word, denoting sure and perpetual possession. Hor. Sat. 2, 6, 5; propria haec mihi munera faxis.- -75. Pulchra prole; explained by Thiel as an ablative absolute; but it seems to modify faciat in the same way as if he had said enixa pulchram prolem; that she may make thee a parent, having borne to thee (by bearing to thee) a fair offspring. Thus it is an ablative of means. 76. Haec. Supply ait or dicit, see Gr. § 209, R. 4; Z. § 772. Respondeo and dico are not unfrequently omitted.- -Taus-labor; it is thy task to weigh what thou desirest; that is, I have not the responsibility of deciding whether that be right or wrong which you wish.- -77. Explorare; to weigh; to look into the nature of a thing; referring here to its moral quality. Aeolus will excuse himself when called to account for trespassing on the dominion of Neptune, by pleading the command of Juno, and his duty to her.- -Mihi etc.; it is incumbent on me to execute your orders. -Capessere; to lay hold of with energy, to execute; see Gr. § 187, 5.Fas; what is imposed by divine decrees; here a sacred duty.- -78. Ta mihi. In ascribing to Juno's intercession with Jupiter the power and dignity conferred upon Aeolus, Virgil has probably followed some ancient myth, in which Juno, as the impersonation of the air, was represented as exercising some influence over the winds and in the creation of a king under whose control they were placed.—Quodcumque etc.; you secure to me whatsoever of dominion this (is), you secure to me my sceptre and Jove (i. e. by the favor of Jove), you grant me to recline at the feasts of the gods. Sceptra, as

above, 57, and below, 253, et al., indicates the kingly power with somewhat more fulness than the singular number. The form of the sceptre may be seen in the woodcut, p. 314. For the case of epulis, see Gr. § 224. The term for table or feast is in the dative after accumbere; that on which one reclines is in the ablative, as, in lecto. The present indicative here, concilias, das, facis, denotes what has been, and still is being done by Juno for Aeolus; see Gr. § 145, 2. The infinitive after dare, as in 66.- 79. Epulis accumbere. As Aeolus was not one of the Olympian gods, this was the highest honor that could be bestowed upon him.-80. Nimborum; lord of storms; Gr. § 213, R. 1, (3); Z. § 438.

81-123. The storm; the despair of Aeneas, the loss of one ship and extreme peril of his whole fleet.

81. Conversa cuspide; with his inverted spear; not with the point turned

downward, but turned from a vertical to a horizontal position. While still seated Aeolus strikes the point of the spear, which he had previously held as a sceptre, resting vertically on the ground, into the side of the hill.-82. In latus; a more vigorous construction for in latere; comp. in puppim below, 115.- -Agmine facto; a military figure; a battalion being formed, or, in battle array.— -83, Qua; where, by whatever way; strictly an ablative of route, though reckoned an adverb. Gr. § 191 1 & 255, 2.84. Incubuere; they descended upon the sea; the expression implies great weight and force. The verb in this sense is followed by the dative. Comp. ii. 514.Totum; supply mare, in the accusative after ruunt, which is transitive here, though intransitive in the foregoing sentence; they plough up the whole sea.- -87.-que-que. See note above on 18.- -Virûm; the Trojans.-89. Nox; the term for night in all languages is often used in poetry, as here, for darkness.-90. Poli; the heavens; polus is frequently so used.- -92. Solvantur frigore; are paralyzed with chilling fear. Cold is analogous to fear in its effect on the blood. Comp. iii. 175, xii. 905.- -93. Duplices; for ambas, both; as in vii. 140, x. 667, et al. Schirach understands folded, clasped hands.94. Terque quaterque; a climax is usually expressed in all languages by thrice; but Latin as well as Greek poets sometimes add "four times," for still greater emphasis.-95. Queis. Gr. § 136, R. 2; Z. § 133, note― Oppetere; supply mortem; to meet death; especially as a warrior. See Ar

[graphic]

Eurus.

nold's Lat. Prose, 249, note.- -Gentis limits fortissime under Gr. § 212, R 2; Z. § 429.- -97. Tydide; Diomedes, son of Tydeus, consp. cuous in the Trojan war. His contest with Aeneas is described in the Iliad, v. 239-318. Aeneas was saved on this occasion by Venus.- -Occumbere; supply morti; to die.-Campis; the ablative of situation. See on Italiam, 2. -98. Mene non potuisse; for the exclamatory infinitive see note on 37. Translate: that I could not have !99. Saevas; valiant; not cruel here.—Aeacidae; Achilles, who was the son of Peleus and the grandson of Aeacus; hence called both Pelides and Aeacides.- -Telo jacet; literally, lies by the spear; i̟ e. lies slain by the spear. Gr. § 248, ii.—100. Sarpedon, a Lycian prince, son of Jupiter, was slain by Patroclus before the walls of Troy. His body, by the command of Jupiter, was conveyed to Lycia. See Iliad, 16, 680-683. But Aeneas here has in mind, both in respect to Sarpedon and Hector, the time when they were still lying slain on the field.- -Ubi tot Simois. The poet has before him the passage in the Twelfth Book of the Iliad, 22-23. The Simois was a river near Troy, which flowed into the Scamander.- -Correpta sub undis ; hurried away beneath its waves.102. Jactanti; to him uttering; or, as he utters. The dative, jactanti, limits the whole proposition, procella adversa ferit, and denotes the object whose interest is affected. See Gr. § 222, 2, (b); Z. § 408. Jactare here indicates violent emotion; comp. ii. 588, ix. 621, x. 95. As he utters such words, a blast, roaring from the north, opposite (to the course of the ship), strikes the sail.- -Aquilone; from the north; see note on Italiam, 2, above. Some with Thiel make Aquilone an ablative of cause; a blast rendered loud and furious by the north wind.—104. Tum proram avertit; Jahn prefers the reading proram to the nominative prora. With the latter sese must be supplied. Gr. § 229, R. 4; the prow turns itself away. With the accusative avertit has for its subject ea, referring to procella; it turns the prow away; that is, because the oars are broken and cease to hold the head of the ship to the wind, it turns aside.—Et undis dat latus; and exposes the side to the waves; the ship falls into the trough of the sea and is immediately struck by the whole weight of a mountainous wave, breaking upon its side.105. Cumulo; in a mass; join with insequitur as an ablative of manner.-Pracruptus; precipitous; not broken. A precipice is called praeruptus, because it is formed by the breaking and falling away of the rock and earth in front. The term is applied here to the towering wave, not as being already broken, but as steep and abrupt, like a precipice.-106. Hi; those in one ship: his; those in another. Not hi-illis, these those, because both parties are conceived to be equally near to the spectator. Comp. below, 162, hinc-hinc.- -Dehiscens; yawning; de is intensive; see Gr. § 197, 7.- -10%. Arenis; the sands, not of the shore, but of the bottom of the sea; the agitation reaches to the lowest depths.- -109. Saxa-aras; Gr. § 230; Z. § 394.Quae-fluctibus. Supply sunt. The rocky islets referred to are the Aegimuri, 30 miles

[ocr errors]

-Mari

north of Carthage.- -110. Dorsum immane; an immense reef.summo; at the surface of the sea; an ablative of situation.- -111. Brevia et syrtes; shoals and quicksands; not the so-called "Syrtes" major and minor on the African coast.- -Miserabile; Gr. § 205, R. 8.-Visu, Gr. § 276, iii.; Z. § 670.-114. Ipsius refers to Aeneas. The in the genitive here is short as in unius, v. 41.—A vertice for desuper; from above; from the point to which the wave has risen so as to stand vertical to the ship, and to descend perpendicularly, or "right down" upon the stern.- -Pontus, equivalent to fluctus; like our nautical usage of the word sea;" as in the expression, "a sea strikes the ship."—115. In puppim; comp. in latus, 82.-Excutitur magister; the helmsman is struck from The helmsman or pilot of Orontes' ship was Leucaspis. See vi. 334.- -116. Illam; it; the ship, in contrast with the persons on board. -118. Rari; here and there; it refers particularly to the voyagers themselves seen struggling in the sea here and there, less numerous than the arms, planks, and valuables floating all about per undas.—121. Qua vectus (est) Abas, (the one) in which Abas sailed. -122. Vicit; has overpowered; either by driving them away at the mercy of winds and waves, or by casting them on rocks and sands. It does not mean destroyed, for all were saved except the ship of Orontes.- -Laxis compagibus; the joints being loosened. Gr. § 257, R. 7; Z. § 645.—Omnes; supply naves.- -123. Imbrem; here for aquam; a poetic usage of the word.--Bimis fatiscunt; start open in cracks.

his seat.

124-156. Neptune hears the storm raging on the surface of the sea, and is indignant that Aeolus has sent the winds to invade his dominion without his authority. He rises in his chariot to the top of the waves, rebukes and disperses the winds, and rescues the Trojan ships.

124. Misceri; to be agitated.- -125. Emissam hiemem; a storm to have been sent forth; namely, from the land, by Aeolus.126. Stagna; the waters near the bottom of the sea are not disturbed by ordinary winds; hence they are called here standing, or still waters. These are now throu up, literally, poured back, from the bottom to the surface, by the violent agitation of the whole mass of waters. Translate thus: In the mean time Neptune perceived with deep displeasure that the sea was agitated with a loud uproar, that a storm had been sent forth, and that the deep waters had been thrown up from the very bottom (imis vadis).-Vadis; the ablative after refusa. Wagner has shown that verbs compounded with re often govern the ablative. Comp. 358, v. 99, ix. 32, x. 330.——Graviter commotus; deeply indignant; not vehementer concitatus, violently agitated, or roused to fury; it is the deep and stern displeasure of a god, conscious of his supreme power, and calmly exercising his authority to restrain or punish, without any external excitement. Hence placidum caput, in the next verse, is not at all inconsistent with graviter commotus. Cicero shows the distinction between commotus and concitatus in Brut. 55, 202: (Cotta) impellebat animos

tractando, ut idem facerent a se commoti, quod a Sulpicio concitati. They were moved by Cotta, roused by Sulpicius.- -Alto prospiciens; looking forth upon the deep; alto is the dative for in altum. Caesar gives us the prose construction, De Bel. Civ. 2, 5: prospicere in urbem. The dative also occurs below, 181, after the verbal prospectum, where we have pelago, for in pelagus. The translation sometimes given, “looking forth from the deep," is, therefore, incorrect; it would be the construction after suspicere rather than prospicere.-129. Coelique ruina; by the destructive force of the air; a forcible expression for the simple term ventis, which would have been the prosaic antithesis to fluctibus. Such departures from common forms of expression are essential to the poetic style in all languages.- -130. Fratrem. Neptune and Juno were both children of Saturn. Nor did the wiles and the anger of Juno lie hid from her brother. That this storm had been brought

Family of Tritons

about by the stratagems of Juno, was at once apparent to Neptune. The accusative after latere is mostly poetic.—131. Earum Zephyramque. All the winds are implied here, though only two are mentioned.Ad se; Gr. § 225, iv. R. 1.—Dehine, is scanned as one syllable, d'hine. Gr. § 306, (2); Z. § 11.- -132. Generis, does not refer to their origin, but to their character and power, as a class of beings. Has such confidence (assurance) in your race possessed you?— -133. Jam; now at length; that is, having been presumptuous in other ways, has it now come to this?- -135. Quos ego—. For the figure of aposiopesis, see Gr. § 324, 33; Z. § 758. "Whom I-." The remainder of the threat, will chastise, is left unexpressed, because it is better (now) to allay the excited waves.- -Praestat; it is better; an imper

« PreviousContinue »