Aeneid Flashcards
urbs antiqua fuit, Tyrii tenuere coloni, Karthago, Italiam contra Tiberinaque longe ostia, dives opum studiisque asperrima belli;
There was an ancient city (Tyrian colonists possessed it), Carthage, facing Italy and the mouth of the Tiber far away, rich in resources and very fierce in the persuits of war;
‘antiqua’ connotes old and honourable
‘Karthago, Italiam’ - proximity in text causes a juxtaposition to illustrate later entity
‘divus opum’ pleonasm
‘divus opum studiisque asperrima’ - chiasmum + superlative emphasises how good they are
quam Iuno fertur terris magis omnibus unam posthabita coluisse Samo
which alone Juno is said to have cherished more than all lands, since she regarded Samos as inferior
‘omnibus unam’ - antonyms emphasise how much she favoured it
‘posthabita coluisse Samo’ - ablative absolute
hic illus arma, hic currus fuit; hoc regnum dea gentibus esse, si qua fata sinant, iam tum tenditque fovetque.
here was her armour, here was her chariot; even then the goddess promoted and cherished the aim that this should be the kingdom for the nations, if the fates should in any way allow it.
‘hic … hic …. hoc’ - anaphora shows Juno’s concern for Carthage
‘tenditque fovetque’ - polysyndeton + historic present suggests a deep unconditional love for Carthage.
progenium sed enim Troiano a sanguine duci audierat, Tyrias olim quae verteret arces
but in fact she had heard that offspring were being produced from a Trojan blood to one day overthrow the Tyrian citadels
‘sed enim’ - Juno’s hopes are immediately crushed
hinc populam late regem belloque superbum venturum excidio Libyae: sic volvere Parcas.
from this would come a race ruling far and wide and arrogant in war, for the destruction of Libya: that the Fates were unrolling in this way.
‘superbum’ - ending the line on an adjective places emphasis upon it
‘volvere’ - vivid metaphor shows power of fates
id metuens, veterisque memor Saturnia belli, prima quod ad Troiam pro caris gesserat -
Fearing this and mindful of the old war, which she had previously waged at Troy on behalf of her beloved Argos, the daughter of Saturn -
‘Argis’ - synecdoche
necdum etiam causae irarum saevique dolores exiderant animo:
- the causes of her angers and savage pains had still not yet fallen from her mind:
‘irarum’ poetic plural
the caesura interrupts the flow and represents her wrath
manet alta mente repostum iudicium Paradis spretaeque iniuria formae, et genus invisum, et rapti Ganymedis honores.
the judgement of Paris and her beauty scorned, and the hated race and the honours given to the snatched Ganymede, remained stored up deep in her mind
‘manet’ historic present emphasising her anger
‘repostum’ - emphatic placement at end of the line highlights the long lasting nature of her anger
Long, disrupted sentence expresses Juno’s extreme emotions
his accensa super, iactatos aequore toto Troas, reliquias Danaum atque immitis Achilli arcebat longe Latio
inflamed by these injustices as well, she kept the Trojans far away from Latium, tossed over the whole sea, the remnants of the Greeks and cruel Achilles
‘accensa’ fire imagery reflects her anger
‘iactatos aequore toto Troas’ chiasmus emphasises Trojans struggles
mutlosque per annos errabant, acti fatis, maria omnia circum.
and they wandered for many years driven by the Fates around all the seas.
‘errabant’ imperfect means a continued action which foreshadows the continued struggles of Aeneas
‘multosque per annos’ - promotion of multosque emphasises how long the Trojans have spent travelling
‘errabant, acti fatis, maria omnia circum’ jagged rythm of line represents Trojans battling sea.
‘maria omnia circum’ - anastrophe - inversion of word order - emphasises difficulty
tantae molis erat Romanam condere gentem!
It was such a great labour to found the Roman race!
Line is heavily spondaic - long drawn out struggles.
‘tantae’ is emphatic
‘molis’ emphasises the vastness of the difficulty.
vix e conspectu Siculae telluris in altum vela dabant laeti, et spumas salis aere ruebant
Scarcely out of sight of the lands of Sicily, they were spreading their sails happilt into the deep, and were churning the foam of the sea with their bronze prows
‘in medias res’ start
‘altum’ and ‘salis’ - metonymy
‘vela dabant laeti’ - fast dactylic rythm conveys sense of speed
‘spumas salis’ - sibilance
cum Iuno, aeternum servans sub pectore vulnus, haec secum
when Juno, nursing an eternal wound deep withing her breast said this to herself
‘aeternum servans sub pectore vulnus’ hyperbaton + metaphor emphasises how the wounds eternal. Spondaic line makes wound seem long and drawn out.
mene incepto desistere victam, nec posse Italia Teucrorum avertere regem?
Am I, defeated, to cease from what I have begun, and not be able to turn the king of the Trojans away from Italy?
Rhetorical question shows how shock and indignation
‘mene’ - first words are both a shocked exclamation and a question
‘Italia Teucrorum’ juxtaposition highlights what she doesn’t want to happen
‘regem’ sarcastic, mocking, insulting
quippe vetpor fatis.
Of course, I am forbidden by the fates.
‘quippe’ has a sarcastic undertone.
Pallasne exurere classem Agrivum atque ipsos potuit submergere ponto, unius ob noxam et furias Aiacis Oilei?
Was Pallas able to burn up the Argive fleet and drown the men themselves in the sea, because of the frenzied crime of a single man, Oilean Ajax?
‘Pallasne .. potuit … ponto’ plosive sounds represents her anger
Rherotical queestion highlights her anger
‘exurere’ prefix conveys idea of complete destruction
‘unius’ emphatic promotion to the beginning of the line
‘noxam et furias’ hendiadys + ‘furias’ is a poetic plural
ipsa, Iovis rapidum iaculata e nubibus ignem, disiecitque rates evertitque aequora ventis
She herself hurled the consuming fire of Jupiter from the clouds, and both scattered the boats and overturned the seas with the winds
‘ipsa’ emphasises how Athena was allowed to do it, but Juno isn’t
‘rapidum iaculata e nubibus ignem’ - hyperbaton + dactylic to convey speed
‘disiecitque rates evertitquer aequora’ - promotion of verbs shows emphatic action
illum expirantem transfixo pectore flammas turbine corripuit scopuloque infixit acuto.
and snatched him up in a whirlwind as he breathed out flames from his pierced breast, and fixed him on a sharp rock.
‘disiecitque … evertitque .. scopuloque” polysyndetic list shows how many ways she punished him
ast ego, quae divum incedo regina, Iovisque, et soror et coniunx, una cum gente tot annos bella gero!
But I, who proceed as queen of the gods and both sister and wife of Jupiter, have been waging war with one race for so many years!
‘Iovisque et soror et coniunx’ polysyndeton + part of the tricolon draws attention to her own importance and roles
Exclamation emphasises Juno’s indignation
et quisquam numen Iunonis adore praeterea, aut supplex aris imponet honorem?
And will anyone woship the power of Juno any more, or will anyone place a sacrifice on her altars as a suppliant?
Rhetorical question highlights Juno’s indignation
talia flammato secum dea corde volutans nimborum in patriam, loca feta furentibus austris, Aeoliam venit.
The goddess, turning over such things to herself in her inflamed heart, came to the land of the clouds, Aeolia, a place full of raging south winds.
‘flammato’ - fire metaphor
‘flammato secum dea corde’ - enclosing word order emphasises how the indignation and anger is deep within her
‘nimborum in patriam’ - dactylic line mirrors the winds
‘feta furentibus austris’ alliteration + personification + mentioning the south wind in particular makes it more vivid and emphasises their violence.
hic vasto rex Aeolus antro luctantes ventos tempestatesque sonoras imperio premit ac vinclis et carcere frenat.
Here by means of his power King Aeolus controls the struggling winds and the roaring storms in a huge cave, and reins them in with imprisoning chains.
‘vasto rex Aeolus antro’ enclosing word order
‘luctantes ventos tempestatesque sonoras’ chiasmus + sibilance + spondaic
‘vinclis et carcaere’ hendiadys
‘frenat’ metaphor of horses
illi indignantes magno cum murmure montis circum claustra fremunt
They angrily roar around the bolts with the great rumble of the mountain
‘indignantes’ personification
‘magno cum murmure montis’ sound effect + personification + spondaic line
‘circum claustra’ alliteration immitates the rattling of the winds trying to escape.
‘fremunt’ personification
celsa sedet Aeolus arce sceptra tenens. mollitque animos et temperat iras.
Aeolus sits in the loft citadel, holding a sceptre, and soothes their spirits and directs their angers.
‘celsa sedet Aeolus arce’ enclosng word order
‘mollitque animos et temperat iras’ promotes verbs to emphasises his power and control.
ni faciat, maria ac terras caelumque profundum quippe ferant rapidi secum verrantque per auras.
If he did not do this they would surely rapidly carry seas and lands and the deep sky with them and sweep them along through the breezes.
‘ni faciat, maria ac terras caelumque profundum’ ascending tricolon + polysyndeton
Dactylic start
sed pater omnipotens speluncis abdidit atris, hoc metens, regemque dedit, qui foedere certo et premere et laxas sciret dare iussus habenans.
But the all powerful father hid them in black caves, fearing this, and placed high and massive mountains above, and gave them a king who would know, under a fixed contract, how to both tighten and loosen the reins when ordered.
‘speluncis abdidit atris’ enclosing word order emphasises the darkness
‘molemque et montes’ hendiadys + alitteration of ‘m’ emphasises the size of mountains.
‘et premere et luxas’ polysyndeton
‘laxas sciret dare iussus habenans’ word order + metaphor of horses
ad quem tum Iuno supple his vocibus usa est:
To him then Juno spoke these words as a suppliant:
‘his vocibus usa est’ metaphor for speaking
‘Aeole, namque tibi divum pater atque hominimum rex et mulcere dedit fluctus et tollere vento, gens inimica mihi Tyrrhenum navigat aequor, Ilium in Italiam portans victosque Penates:
Aeolus, for to you, the father of the gods and king of men has given the power to soothe the waves and raise them with the wind, a race hostile to me is sailing the Tyrrhenian Sea, carrying Troy and the conquered household gods into Italy
‘divum pater atque hominum rex’ grand title
‘mulcere … fluctus’ metaphor
‘Tyrrhenum navigat aequor’ enclosing word order
‘Illum in Italiam’ metaphor + promotion of Illum shows how Trojans are the foremost things in her mind.
incute vim ventis submersasque obrue puppes, aut age diversos et disiice corpora ponto
Strike strength into the winds and sink and overwhelm the ships or drive them in different directions and scatter the bodies on the sea.
‘vim ventis’ alliteration + sound effect conveys their force
‘obrue … age … disciice’ imperatives show Juno’s orders
