Obrázky na stránke
PDF
ePub

750. Stat: sc. mihi sententia; 'I determine.' Cf. sedet, 1. 660.

751. caput: for vitam.

753. Qua: see note on I, 83.

754. Observata sequor per noctem: 'I trace and follow my footsteps back in the darkness'; join retro with sequor. lumine lustro: 'scan with my eyes.' Cf. VIII, 153.

755. Horror: put for the objects which occasion horror.

756. si forte, si forte: 'if by chance, if (but) by chance.' The repetition denotes the mingled feelings of hope and fear. H. 649, 3; LM. 812; A. 334, f; B. 300, 3; G. 460, 1, (b); (H. 529, II, I, N. 1).

759. aestus: as in l. 706.

The temple of

761. porticibus, asylo: both ablative of place where. Juno was a place of refuge and safety, especially on the present occasion, because that goddess was reverenced more than any other by the Argives. 764. mensae: perhaps small tables and tripods of bronze, or of gold and silver.

765. auro solidi: 'of solid gold'; for ex auro solido. Cf. I, 655. 771. sine fine: 'incessantly.'

773. maior: the ghost of the dead was supposed to be larger than the living person.

774. steterunt: has the penultimate syllable shortened by systole. H. 733, 6; LM. 1115; A. 351, a, N.; B. 367, 3; G. 722; (H. 608, VI). This was the original quantity.

775. adfari, demere: see note on 1. 99. The line is repeated in III, 153. 779. Fas: may be rendered 'fate.' aut: instead of nec. See note on 1. 602. 780. Longa - exsilia: 'distant wanderings'; far from your native land. Sc. sunt obeunda.

781. Lydius: the Tiber was often called Etruscan, or Tuscan, because it rises in Etruria; and Lydius is here used by Virgil as synonymous with Etruscus, because, according to tradition, the Etruscans were from Lydia, in Asia Minor.

782. virum: as in I, 264, for hominum; join with arva.

783. res laetae: auspicious fortunes.' regia coniunx: Lavinia, the daughter of King Latinus, was destined to be the wife of Aeneas.

784. Parta: 'destined for thee.' The participle must also be supplied

with res and regnum. See note on I, 553. Creusae: objective genitive;

'tears for Creüsa.' See note on lacrimae rerum, I, 462.

785. Cf. 1. 7. Creüsa rejoices that her fate will not be like that of Andromache, and other Trojan princesses, who are about to be carried away as slaves. See III, 325-327.

786. servitum: H. 633, 2; LM. 1005; A. 302, R.; B. 340; G. 435; (H. 546, 2 and 4).

788. Genetrix: Cybele.

792. collo: is the dative with circumdare, which is separated by tmesis. The lines occur again in VI, 700 sqq.

794. somno: for somnio, 'a dream.' Cf. a similar thought in Wordsworth, Laodamia:

'Forth sprang the impassioned queen her lord to clasp;

Again that consummation she essayed,
But unsubstantial form eludes her grasp

As often as the eager grasp was made.'

797. matresque virosque: 'both matrons and men'; in apposition with

numerum.

798. pubem: 'a band'; in apposition with the foregoing accusatives, and denoting, as in VII, 219, the whole body of the followers of Aeneas.

799. animis: 'in spirit.' Their resolution is fixed. Cf. XII, 788. opibus: 'in fortune.' They have gathered money, provisions, and the remnants of their movable property.

800. velim: H. 644, 1; LM. 805; A. 287, a; B. 268, 7, a; G. 628; (H. 525, I). General relatives regularly take the indicative in direct discourse. deducere: the proper expression to denote the planting of a colony. 801. Lucifer: a name applied to the planet Venus as morning star; which, as the evening star, is Hesperus, or Vesper. Cf. I, 374.

803. portarum: all the gates were now guarded by the Greeks. opis: 'of (giving) aid'; of delivering my country.

804. Cessi: 'I yielded to fate.' montes petivi: cf. 1. 636.

[graphic]

Fig. 23. Present View of the Height upon which Troy was built [Taken from Schuchardt, Schliemann's Excavations. By permission of the publishers.}

NOTE. The investigations of Dr. Schliemann, followed by those of Dr. Dörpfeld and others in 1893-94, have made it evident beyond any reasonable doubt that the site of ancient Troy was on the hill now called Hissarlik, situated about three miles and a half from the northwestern shore of the Troad, and between the Scamander and the Simois, which came together a short distance northwest of the hill. The excavations made under the eye of these experts have brought to light nine successive strata, the remains of nine settlements that have occupied this site. Of

these, the lowest five strata are prehistoric, the second stratum dating, it is esti mated, from about 3000 B.C. The sixth stratum is the most important and the most interesting, since this is the one that actually represents the Pergamos of Homer and the ancient Troia of Virgil. Remains of seven large buildings were discovered, of a construction that resembles that of the ancient sites of Tiryns and of Mycenae, the home of Agamemnon. Upon the acropolis were found remains of an ancient temple, surrounded by a wall of fortification, having a strong tower at the northeast angle. Traces of fire were also discovered.

BOOK III

The voyages and settlements of Aeneas before his arrival at Carthage.

THE time embraced in the narrative of this book is nearly seven years. It begins with the events immediately succeeding the fall of Troy, which occurred traditionally in 1184 B.C. The Trojan fugitives, under the command of Aeneas, spent the remainder of the summer, and the following winter, in building ships in the harbor of Antandros (sub Antandro), a city on the southern side of Mount Ida. This was the first year, i.e. the first summer and winter, after the fall of Troy. The second year begins with the departure of the exiles (early in the summer) for Thrace, and is spent in the attempt to establish a colony there (ll. 13-69). In the third year the new colony, called Aenos, or, as some think, Aenea, is abandoned, and the wanderers, stopping at Delos to consult the oracle (1. 73), proceed to Crete (1. 131), and commence the colony of Pergameum (l. 132-134). Having passed the fourth year and part of the fifth in Crete, they are compelled by a pestilence to give up this settlement also (1. 190), and sail to Actium in Acarnania, where they remain during the fifth winter (1. 284). They resume their voyage in the beginning of the sixth summer, and first landing near Buthrotum, and meeting with Helenus and Andromache (11. 294-505), they cross the Adriatic to Portus Veneris, in Apulia (1. 523), and from thence continue their voyage along the coasts of Italy and Sicily to Drepanum (1. 707), which they reach at the close of the sixth summer, and where soon afterwards Anchises dies (1. 710). In the beginning of the following, or seventh summer (see I, 34 sqq.), they start for Italy, but are immediately driven by a storm to the coast of Africa.

1-68. Aeneas, with twenty ships, built in Antandros, passes over to Thrace and attempts his first settlement of Aenea, or Aenos. After commencing his colony, he is warned by the shade of the murdered Polydorus to flee from Thrace, and again sets sail with his followers,

1. res Asiae: 'the fortunes of Asia.' Troy was the chief city of Asia Minor, and the head of an extensive league. Cf. res Agamemnonias, l. 54, for the power of Greece.

2. Immeritam: 'not having deserved (such a fate).' Laomedon and Paris were the guilty ones, not the Trojans in general.

3. humo: i.e. from its foundations. fumat: the present indicates that the ruins of Troy are still smoldering. Neptunia: see note on II, 625.

4. Diversa: 'remote.' desertas: 'solitary,' 'desolate.'

5. Auguriis: 'omens,' 'warnings.' ipsa: virtually emphasizes sub; 'close under.' sub Antandro: Antandros lay on high ground above its harbor. 7. ubi sistere de

[graphic]

tur : 'where it is granted us to settle.' For the infinitive, see note on I, 66.

8. prima aestas: 'earliest summer.' See note on I, 541.

9. Et: cf. II, 692 and note. fatis: dative.

10. cum may be rendered 'and then.'

Fig. 24.-Ancient Vessel under Sail and Oars (1.9)

12. magnis dis: see note on II, 297. For the spondaic verse, see H. 735 3; LM. 1131; A. 362, a; B. 368, 2; G. 784; (H. 610, 3).

13. Terra Mavortia: 'a land of Mars,' the tutelary god of the warlike Thracians.

14. regnata: 'ruled over.' Lycurgus was an early king of Thrace, who had fiercely opposed the rites of Bacchus. The present king, Polymnestor, had married Ilione, the daughter of Priam.

15. Hospitium: 'hospitable resort'; in apposition with terra. sociique Penates: sc. erant.

16. Fortuna: i.e. the prosperity of Troy.

17. ingressus: sc. terram. fatis iniquis: ablative of manner; 'under inauspicious fates.' They were not known, however, to be hostile from any previous indication, but from what turned out after the landing was made.

18. Aeneadas: there was a city, Aenos, at the mouth of the Hebrus, and another, Aenea in Chalcidice, both of which were by tradition founded by Aeneas. The name, Aeneadas, by which Aeneas calls his followers, implies that Virgil was in doubt which town to regard as the one founded by the hero,

20. Auspicibus, etc.: 'patrons of,' or 'favorable to the work commenced.' 22. tumulus: 'a mound.' Polydorus had been left unburied on the shore, and the sand had covered his body. quo summo: 'on the top of which.' 23. hastilibus: 'spear-shafts.' Both myrtle and cornel were used in making spear-shafts. Join the ablative with horrida.

25. Conatus: a participle. tegerem: according to the custom (cf. II, 248) of adorning altars and sacred places with boughs and wreaths. The myrtle was sacred to Venus.

26. Observe the liveliness of the historical present video. It is joined by -que (in viridemque) to accessi.

28. huic: H. 428, 2; LM. 539; A. 229; B. 188, 2, d; G. 347, 5; (H. 385, 4, 2)). 'Drops of dark blood ooze from that shoot which is first torn up.' sanguine: descriptive ablative.

29. Mihi Membra quatit: cf. I, 92.

30. gelidus: an instance of prolepsis. The effect of fear is assumed instead of being predicated.

31. alterius: 'of a second.'

32. penitus tentare: 'to explore thoroughly.'

34, 35. Aeneas supposes that the preternatural appearance may have been produced by the Nymphs who preside over the spot, or by Mars (Gradivus), who is the guardian of Thrace; and he now implores them to give the signs (visus) a favorable issue, and to mitigate the omen; i.e. to send another token by which he may know that the gods are not displeased with him. 36. secundarent: 'make favorable.' For the omission of ut, see note on II, 75.

39. Eloquar: for the subjunctive, see note on I, 565.

41. laceras: every cornel or myrtie shoot is connected with the body of Polydorus. iam: now at least'; after having repeated the torture. sepulto: he is covered by the sand.

42. Parce: with infinitive expresses a prohibition; a poetical variation of noli scelerare.

Cf. II, 779. 'Troy pro

43. aut continues the force of the negative. duced me no stranger to you, nor does this blood flow from the stock'; but from my lacerated body. Forbear, then, for you are doing violence to a human body, and even to a friend and fellow-countryman.

45, 46. ferrea: because of the iron points,' or spear-heads. iaculis increvit acutis: 'has grown up in sharp javelins.' The spears, left in the body of Polydorus, have miraculously put forth roots in the accumulated sand, and sent up new shoots, straight and tapering; fitted, indeed, for javelins. Iaculis is the ablative of manner.

47. ancipiti: 'twofold'; occasioned both by the blood, and by the voice of the shade. mentem: 'in mind.' See note on I, 228.

« PredošláPokračovať »