Obrázky na stránke
PDF
ePub

grammatically in apposition with fines, relates in sense to the substantive

Libycorum implied in Libyci. Cf. IV, 40. 340. urbe: see note on Italiam, 1. 2. The sense of the passage 11. 335340 is this: I am no goddess, deserving of worship, but a simple Tyrian huntress; for we whom you will see here are Tyrians, descendants of Agenor, forming a Punic state under Dido, a fugitive from her brother. But though we are Tyrians, the country itself (fines) is the warlike Libya.

[ocr errors]

341. iniuria: the story of her injuries.' fugiens: cf. volvens, 1. 305. 342. summa sequar fastigia: 'I will relate the principal events.'

343. Sychaeus: here has the y long, in l. 348 short. agri: 'in land,' limits ditissimus. See note on l. 14.

344. Phoenicum: also limits ditissimus. H. 442; LM. 560; A. 216, 2; B. 201, 1; G. 372; (H. 397, 3). miserae: for ab ea misera. See note on 1. 326. 345. pater: Dido's father was Belus, mentioned below, 1. 621. primis Ominibus: in the first marriage ceremonies'; i.e. in her first marriage.

:

348. Quos refers to Sychaeus and Pygmalion. inter: the prepositions ante, contra, inter, and propter are sometimes placed after the relative pronoun, and occasionally after the demonstrative hic. See note on 1. 13.

349. Impius: especially because he committed the murder ante aras. Sychaeus was a priest of Hercules.

350, 351. securus amorum Germanae: 'regardless of his sister's love,' i.e. her love for Sychaeus. For the genitive with securus, see note on l. 14. 352. Multa malus simulans: giving false reasons for the disappearance of Sychaeus. spe: i.e. 'with the hope' of seeing him again. amantem: 'the fond wife.'

353. Ipsa sed, etc.: 'but (in spite of Pygmalion's dissimulation) the very ghost,' etc.

354. modis miris: is hardly distinguishable from the singular; 'in a wonderful manner,' 'wonderfully.' It is joined with pallida. Cf. X, 822; VI, 738.

356. Nudavit: the ghost seemed in the dream to conduct her to the altar, to show her the instruments and traces of his murder, and then to lead her to the place where his treasures were concealed. Cf. II, 296.

357. celerare, excedere: the infinitive instead of the regular construction after suadeo, which is ut with the subjunctive. H. 565; A. 331, g; B. 295 and 5, N.; G. 546, R. I; (H. 498, I).

358. Auxilium viae: 'as an aid for the voyage.' Viae is an objective genitive. H. 440, 2; LM. 571; A. 217; B. 200; G. 363, 2; (H. 396, III). recludit: equivalent to effodit; 'digs out' of the earth; i.e. in the dream the ghost seems to do so.

[ocr errors]

362. quae forte paratae: that happened to be ready'; already launched and prepared for different destinations.

363. auro: H. 477, II; LM. 645; A. 248, c; B. 218, 8; G. 405; (H. 421, III, N. 1).

364. Pygmalionis opes: not actually the treasures of Pygmalion, but wealth which he had expected to secure by murdering Sychaeus.

365. locos: see note on 1. 2. cernis is used with the same freedom as vides, above, 1. 338: 'you have before you,' 'can see.'

367. Byrsam: the citadel of Carthage was so called, according to the Greeks whose explanation Virgil follows, from Búpσa, ‘a hide'; because the colonists cut a bull's hide into strips and thus managed to inclose a large tract of land for the Acropolis of their new settlement. The real meaning of byrsa, however, which is a corruption of the Phoenician word bosra, seems to be 'citadel.'

368. possent: H.643; LM. 1026; A. 340; B. 314, 1; G. 628; (H. 524). tergo: for corio, 'hide,' as in V, 405, and elsewhere.

370. Quaerenti: the present participle to express an action which had been going on and was hardly completed, as volvens, 1. 305. talibus: sc. verbis. 371. imo: H. 497, 4; LM. 565; A. 193; B. 241, I; G. 291, R. 2; (H. 440, 2, N. I, 2).

6

372. dea: Aeneas feels that she is something more than a simple huntress, notwithstanding her disavowal. pergam and vacet (were I to go on,' were there leisure'): would regularly be followed by the present subjunctive in the apodosis; but the indicative, componet, is, substituted to express the absolute certainty of the conclusion in the mind of the speaker.

374. Ante: 'before' I should conclude. Vesper: the god of evening. He is represented by the evening star, and his office is to close the portals of the sky, or Olympus, when the sun with his chariot has entered in; and thus, as it were, he puts the day to rest (componere).

376. Troiae: H. 440, 4; LM. 569; A. 214, ƒ; B. 202; G. 361; (H. 396, VI). iit: see note on Vidistis, 1. 322. vectos: as in l. 121.

377. Forte sua: ' of its own will,' as opposed to the idea of any foresight or plan of ours. oris: dative, for the usual prose construction, ad oras. 378, 379. raptos-veho: this is one principal proof of his piety.

380. Italiam patriam: Italy, our fatherland'; because Dardanus our ancestor was born in Italy. et genus ab Iove summo: 'and (land of) our ancestry (which is) from highest Jove.' Genus is accusative. Dardanus was the son of Jupiter.

381. Bis denis: see note on bis septem, 1. 71.

382. data fata: see II, 771-784; III, 94-98, 154-171, and note on 1. 205. secutus for sequens. See note on comitatus, 1. 312.

383. Vix septem: barely seven'; scarcely even this small number survive. Euro: for vento.

385. Europa pulsus: cf. note on 233. querentem = ut quereretur.

387. Quisquis es. H. 525, 3; LM. 833; A. 309, c; B. 312; G. 254, 4; (H. 476, 3). haud caelestibus: not odious to the gods.'

[ocr errors]

388. qui adveneris: H. 592; LM. 839; A. 320, e; B. 283, 3; G. 633; (H. 517).

389. te perfer: 'convey thyself,' 'proceed.' The common form is confer; but per denotes the completion of the walk which he has begun. limina : for domum, the palace of Dido. H. 752, 4; A. 386, synecdoche; G. 695; (H. 637, IV).

390. reduces: 'brought back to land.' classem refers to the twelve missing ships.

391. tutum: safety,' 'a place of safety.' versis aquilonibus: 'the winds having shifted.' Aquilonibus, as quite often, for the general term. ventis. Cf. V, 2.

392. vani: 'false'; pretending to have a knowledge they did not possess, docuere: for the indicative, see note on Vidistis, 1. 322.

393-400. Aspice, etc.: she calls his attention to a flock of twelve swans, corresponding in number to that of the missing ships, which during the conversation have been pursued by an

eagle (Iovis ales), but which are just settling safely on the ground. 'Behold flying joyfully in orderly array twice six swans, which the bird of Jove, swooping from the upper air, was (even now) scattering in the open heaven. Now you see them in a long line either settling on the ground (capere terras), or looking down upon the ground already occupied (by their companions). As rallying (reduces) they sport with flapping wings, after wheeling swiftly through the air (cinxere polum), and uttering notes of joy: not otherwise do your ships and the manly band (pubes) of your countrymen either hold the harbor, or enter its mouth with full sail.' Large birds of this kind often fly in a long line, and those in advance alight first, while the others continue a little while hovering above, and circling swiftly round in the air, before they settle down with their companions. The points of resemblance between the birds and the ships are these: the swans have been scattered by the eagle, the ships by the tempest; both swans and ships have come together (reduces) again; a part of the swans are actually alighting,

[graphic]

Fig. 7.- Venus (Kaufmann) (Profile view of the head facing p. 106.)

while the rest are on the point of alighting: so some of the ships are already furling their sails, or discharging their crews upon the shore, while the rest are coming into the harbor under full sail. Perhaps the poet has in mind

that the swan was one of the birds sacred to Venus.

399. tuorum: not a partitive genitive, but a limiting noun denoting that which goes to make up pubes.

400. portum tenet: 'holds,' 'is in a harbor.' For the singular number,

[merged small][ocr errors][merged small]

404. vestis defluxit: her dress had been girded up like that of a huntress, but now suddenly fell in folds around her person.

405. incessu patuit: 'was evident by her walk.' Cf. Gray's words (Progress of Poesy, 39) : —

'In gliding state she wins her easy way.'

The gliding movement of a god is compared by Homer (Iliad 5, 778) to that of a dove skimming along on motionless wings. Cf. V, 649. In this verse the final vowel of dea is not elided.

407. crudelis tu quoque: as well as Juno and the other unfriendly powers. 408. dextrae: iungere and miscere are followed by the dative, by the ablative with cum, or by the ablative without a preposition. For the government of iungere, see H. 615; LM. 971; A. 270; B. 327; G. 422; (H. 538). 409. datur: for the quantity, see H. 711, 1; LM. 330; A. 351, exc.; B. 127, 1; (H. 586, I). veras: 'sincere,' without disguise. Cf. VI, 689. 410. moenia: the walls of Carthage, of which Venus has just spoken. 411. obscuro saepsit: this fancy is not unfrequent in the ancient epics. 412. A poetic repetition of the idea contained in the foregoing verse. The compound circumfudit is separated by tmesis. LM. 1117; A. 385, tmesis; B. 367, 7; G. 720; (H. 636, V, 3). For the construction of the cases after circumfundo, see H. 426, 6; LM. 535; A. 225, d; B. 187, I, a; G. 348; (H. 384, II, 2).

413. neu: for neve, 'or lest.'

415. Ipsa: contrasted with Aeneas.

416. Laeta: no longer tristis (see 1. 228) since the interview with Jupiter. 417. Ture: no victims were slain at the shrines of Venus; she was worshiped with incense and flowers. sertis: see Fig. 63. The ancients were accustomed to hang festoons of leaves and flowers around the temples from pillar to pillar, and also about the altars. Cf. Milton, Par. Lost, 2, 244:

'His altar breathes

Ambrosial odors and ambrosial flowers.'

418-493. Aeneas soon comes in sight of rising Carthage, and wonders at the energy of the colonists, who are rapidly constructing fortified walls, public and private edifices, streets, arsenals, and docks. He enters the newly erected temple of Juno, and is both surprised and consoled on discovering there, painted on the walls of the temple, the principal incidents of the siege of Troy, including the battles in which he himself had been conspicuous.

418. Corripuere: 'speed on,' lit. 'seized.' Cf. V, 145. qua: cf. l. 401. 419. plurimus: 'very high.' On the position of the adjective, see H. 510, 4; LM. 829; A. 200, d; B. 251, 4, c; G. 616, 3; (H. 453, 5). Cf. II, 278; V, 728.

421. molem: 'the massive structures' or 'mass of buildings.' magalia quondam: 'formerly huts'; i.e. where huts formerly stood. Perhaps the words are thrown in by the poet, and not to be regarded as the thought of Aeneas.

422. strata viarum: for stratas vias, 'the paved streets.' The genitive here is partitive in form, but not in sense.

423. With our punctuation, ducere and the following infinitives depend on instant; a construction which occurs again II, 628, and X, 118. See H. 607; LM. 954; A. 271, N.; B. 328, 1; G. 423, N. 2; (H. 533). The infinitives may, however, be regarded as historic. See H. 610; LM. 708; A. 275; B. 335; G. 647; (H. 536, 1). pars: in apposition with Tyrii. H. 393, 4; A. 184, b; B. 169, 5; G. 323; (H. 364).

425. concludere sulco: sc. eum; 'to inclose (the place chosen) with a furrow'; i.e. a plowed line marking, according to the Roman custom, the limits of the estate. Some, however, understand here a 'trench' for the foundation wall of a building.

426. Iura, etc.: 'Make laws and choose magistrates'; legunt is an example of zeugma. H. 751, 2, N.; A. 385, zeugma; B. 374, 2, a; G. 690; (H. 636, II, 1). It is not necessary to suppose that everything mentioned here is actually seen by Aeneas.

427. alta: 'deep'; repeated below in 1. 429 in a different meaning. 429. Rupibus: 'from the quarries.' The African marbles were celebrated. Theaters did not exist at the period of the foundation of Carthage; but Virgil seems here, as well as in the account of the paintings below (ll. 466–493), and not infrequently elsewhere, to have had his own times in view. scaenis: the dative limits excidunt, the force of which is continued by the appositive decora; or, perhaps, in such instances there may be an ellipsis of a relative with some form of esse; here, quae sint. alta: 'lofty.' This word means 'extending vertically, up or down,' according to the point of view. The rear wall of the stage was usually decorated with columns.

430. Qualis: see note on 1. 316. The antecedent being supplied, the

« PredošláPokračovať »