Aeneid Lit Crit Flashcards
opera omnia rumpit laetitia exsultans horrendumque intonat armis:
laetitia exsultans: these two words of very similar meaning show how Aeneas rejoices in the prospect of finally grappling with Turnus.
horrendum lends force to the phrase intonat armis – we hear his armour clashing.
at pater Aeneas audito nomine Turni deserit et muros et summas deserit arces praecipitatque moras omnes,
pater: Aeneas’s importance as the ancestor of the Romans.
the names of the two main characters appear in this line together – foreshadowing the duel.
deserit: repetition of this word twice in the same line emphasises how Aeneas immediately drops everything else in his haste to encounter Turnus. Note the historic present used to make the action seem more vivid and immediate. Repetition of et … et (polysyndeton) further stresses this and so does omnes (echoed by omnia in the next line).
quantus Athos aut quantus Eryx aut ipse coruscis cum fremit ilicibus quantus gaudetque nivali vertice se attollens pater Appenninus ad auras.
Triple simile, each part signalled by quantus. Aeneas is compared to three different mountains, which may symbolise his journey from Troy to Italy
ipse coruscis: sibilance here suggests the sound of the wind in the leaves of the trees on the mountain (fremit ilicibus). gaudet, applied to the mountain (personification), recalls the description of Aeneas in line 700 as exsultans. nivali vertice is a strong image of a snowcapped peak pushing up to the sky, se attollens … ad auras – personification again, also recalling exsultans in the sense of “leaping up”. pater Appenninus parallels pater Aeneas in line 697.
iam vero et Rutuli certatim et Troes et omnes convertere oculos Itali, quique alta tenebant moenia quique imos pulsabant ariete muros, armaque deposuere umeris.
Repetition of et … et (polysyndeton) shows how many groups turned to watch: the Rutulians, the Trojans and all the Italians. This is also a tricolon (three groups of people listed). This is followed by repetition of quique … quique, listing the activities they stopped in order to watch (alta tenebant moenia … imos pulsabant ariete muros). Note the contrast between alta and imos.
armaque deposuere umeris: because the issue will now be decided by single combat between Aeneas and Turnus. A strong pause in the line after umeris (hence the full stop) indicates a pause in the action before the duel begins.
stupet ipse Latinus ingentes, genitos diversis partibus orbis, inter se coiisse viros et cernere ferro.
ingentis: this word, which expresses the greatness of the two combatants, is heavily emphasised by its position at the beginning of the line and its separation from its noun viros. (hyperbaton).
atque illi, ut vacuo patuerunt aequore campi, 710 procursu rapido coniectis eminus hastis invadunt Martem clipeis atque aere sonoro.
vacuere … campi: the field is cleared in preparation for the duel.
procursu rapido: after this build-up the fight is quickly joined.
Martem: the use of the god’s name to personify the battle makes this a powerful and poetic description; it also reminds us of fate and the ever-presence of the gods. clipeis atque aere sonoro: it’s their shields that are made of clashing bronze, so this description is one thing not two (hendiadys) – Virgil uses it to draw out the image so that you hear the clash of shields for longer.
dat gemitum tellus; tum crebros ensibus ictus congeminant, fors et virtus miscetur in unum.
dat gemitum tellus: the aural imagery continues as we imagine the earth groaning under the feet of the ingentes viros. There is also a suggestion of how important this battle is – they are fighting for the future of Italy and destiny. This is underlined by the strong pause after tellus.
congeminant echoes gemitum in the previous line. fors et virtus … unum the fight is so fierce that the effects of chance and valour cannot be distinguished.
ac velut ingenti Sila summove Taburno 715 cum duo conversis inimica in proelia tauri frontibus incurrunt,
Extended or epic simile: Aeneas and Turnus are compared to two bulls fighting. Virgil uses this kind of elaborate simile to provide variety in his narrative, to make it easier for the reader to visualise the scene by comparing it to something which would be more familiar in daily life, and also in imitation of Homer.
Sila … Taburno: again the location is in Italy (both small mountain ranges in the South) reminding us that it is Aeneas’s destiny to be here. A series of words expressive of hostility are used: conversis, inimica, proelia, incurrunt.
pavidi cessere magistri, stat pecus omne metu mutum, mussantque iuvencae quis nemori imperitet, quem tota armenta sequantur;
By contrast, the cowherds and the remainder of the herd are passive: cessere, stat, mussant – they are like the spectators of the fight mentioned previously. In line 718 there is alliteration: omne metu mutum, mussantque which seems to expresse the lowing of the herd. Question words quis … quem express the doubt in their minds about who is going to win leadership of the herd/the people of Italy.
illi inter sese multa vi vulnera miscent 720 cornuaque obnixi infigunt et sanguine largo colla armosque lavant, gemitu nemus omne remugit:
In line 721 where the bulls lock horns has a series of long syllables (it is spondaic) expressing the pressure of their horns as they try to push each other back, piercing each other till they bleed.
In line 722 there is alliteration again (gemitu nemus omne remugit) showing the reaction of the herd and articulating the lowing suggested in the previous alliteration as well as here.
non aliter Tros Aeneas et Daunius heros concurrunt clipeis, ingens fragor aethera complet.
Tros Aeneas et Daunius heros: the words Tros and heros emphasise the heroic status of both Aeneas and Turnus. Daunius was the name of Turnus’s father.
concurrunt clipeis: alliteration conveys the sound of the clash of their shields, the rest of the line also focusing on the noise they made (ingens fragor aethera complet).
Iuppiter ipse duas aequato examine lances 725 sustinet et fata imponit diversa duorum, quem damnet labor et quo vergat pondere letum.
Jupiter weighs their fate in the balance. The chiasmus duas aequato examine lances perhaps represents the scales. quem … quo: this line parallels line 719 in the simile (quis …. quem) – in each case the question is posed who will win the fight.
This image is very closely based on Homer Iliad, XXII, when shortly before Hector is killed by Achilles, Zeus (= Jupiter) weighed the fates of the two men in his golden scales and that of Hector sank down, spelling his doom. Here the fateful word letum is emphatically and appropriately positioned at the end of the line. Unlike Homer, Virgil does not tell us which scale sank, to create suspense.
emicat hic impune putans et corpore toto alte sublatum consurgit Turnus in ensem et ferit; exclamant Troes trepidique Latini, 730 arrectaeque amborum acies.
emicat hic … Turnus. emicat is a very visual word: his sword flashes as he draws it suddenly. Notice also the delay of Turnus for suspense.
A series of long syllables in line 729 (it is spondaic) convey Turnus’s effort as he raises himself and his sword to strike. This contrasts with the short, fast phrase et ferit at the beginning of the next line as Turnus strikes. There is a pause after ferit, corresponding to the sharp intake of breath before the spectators react.
arrectaeque amborum acies: alliteration suggests their rapt attention. acies is deliberately ambiguous, meaning both the two battle lines and their gaze. The word can mean “battle lines” but can also mean eyes, so both the bodies and minds of the spectators are arrectae – on tiptoe – with excitement.
at perfidus ensis frangitur in medioque ardentem deserit ictu, ni fuga subsidio subeat.
perfidus ensis … deserit. Personification: the sword is described as treacherous and as deserting Turnus because it breaks. frangitur is emphatically positioned.
fugit ocior Euro ut capulum ignotum dextramque aspexit inermem.
Turnus flees when he sees that the sword has broken. ignotum comes as a shock to both him and the reader – it is only now he realises that he has picked up the wrong sword. This is explained in the next three lines.
fama est praecipitem, cum prima in proelia iunctos 735 conscendebat equos, patrio mucrone relicto, dum trepidat, ferrum aurigae rapuisse Metisci;
praecipitem: he was over-hasty. This is typical of Turnus’s impulsive character, in keeping with his haste to strike the first blow in line 728. The words trepidat and rapuisse describe the same characteristic of Turnus (pleonasm).
postquam arma dei ad Volcania ventum est, mortalis mucro glacies ceu futtilis ictu 740 dissiluit, fulva resplendent fragmina harena.
arma dei is contrasted with mortalis mucro. The inferior sword did not have a chance against Aeneas’s weapons, which had been made for him by Vulcan. glacies ceu futtilis: the comparison to the brittleness of ice underlines how fragile the sword was in comparison to Aeneas. dissiluit: note contrast with suffecit (line 738), similarly placed with a pause after it. fulva resplendent fragmina harena: this phrase is spondaic (mostly long syllables) representing the sword lying inactive on the ground.
ergo amens diversa fuga petit aequora Turnus et nunc huc, inde huc incertos implicat orbis;
amens expresses Turnus’s panic, as he runs about not knowing where to go. His uncertainty is expressed by diversa, nunc huc, inde huc and incertos.
undique enim densa Teucri inclusere corona atque hinc vasta palus, hinc ardua moenia cingunt. 745
Turnus is trapped – shut in on three sides by the crowd, the swamp and the city walls.
nec minus Aeneas, quamquam tardata sagitta interdum genua impediunt cursumque recusant, insequitur trepidique pedem pede fervidus urget:
sagitta refers to the arrow-wound which Aeneas suffered in the earlier battle. Venus put some herb-salve on it but it’s clearly still troubling him. impediunt and recusant show its effect on him.
Line 748 is dactylic (lots of short syllables) giving a sense of Aeneas’s haste in pursuing Turnus. Verbs at the beginning and end (insequitur and urget) focus on the action. trepidi (describing Turnus) contrasts with fervidus (describing Aeneas). pedem pede: putting these words together shows how closely Aeneas followed Turnus (“hard upon his heels”).
inclusum veluti si quando flumine nactus cervum aut puniceae saeptum formidine pennae 750 venator cursu canis et latratibus instat;
veluti signals another pic simile. Turnus and Aeneas are compared to a deer being hunted by a dog (again this is in imitation of Homer who uses a similar simile to describe Achilles’s pursuit of Hector).
Note the dramatic word order here. Neither the deer nor the hound are mentioned in the first line, which just tells us that some creature has been trapped (inclusum) and that another has caught it (nactus). The deer is introduced at the start of line 750 but we do not find out the aggressor until the third line of the simile (canis). puniceae saeptum formidine pennae gives another possible method of trapping: hunters place a rope to fence it in, strung with red feathers to scare it – note the colour makes the simile more vivid.
Inclusum … flumine and saeptum recall line 745 where Turnus was trapped between the marsh and the city walls.
latratibus instat we hear the baying of the hound as it pursues the deer.
