Lines 315-332 Flashcards
Quis deus hanc, Musae, quis nobis extudit artem?
What deity is this, muses, who fashioned for us this craft?
Sudden elevation in the language- Homeric tone.
Peneia Tempe
Tempe was a famous valley in Northern Greece and the river Peneus flowed through it.
The river-God was Aristaeus’s Grandfather.
tristis ad extremi sacrum caput adstitit amnis
stood sadly at the river’s head
Actions like an elegist lover- reflected in Orpheus’s character later on.
‘Mater, Cyrene mater, quae gurgitis huius ima tenes’
Mother, Cyrene my mother, you who live here deep down in this pool
Highly emphatic line.
Spondaic (long syllables), with a long caesura. Messes up the anaphora.
Creates a mannered effect.
Plea is based on Achilles plea to his mother Thetis, also a sea-nymph
invisum fatis genuisti? aut quo tibi nostri pulsus amor? quid me caelum sperare iubebas?
(…my father is indeed Appollo? Or to where has your love for me been banished? Why did you order me to hope of the heavens?
Despairing questions filled with emotion.
One of the features in a lament in epyllion.
Thymbraeus Apollo
Apollo Lord of Thymbra
A town in north west Turkey where Apollo had a famous temple.
Quid me caelum sperare iubebas?
Why did you order me to hope of the heavens?
As the son of two Gods Aristaeus should technically be immortal, but as it is he cannot even bear to live the lifespan of a human.
ipsa manu
yourself with your own hands
Emphasise the sarcasm of the passage
inimicum ignem
hostile fire
The omissions of certain sounds and syllables help to convey his indignation.
interficere messis (murder my crops)
Personification helps to emphasise his indignation.
tanta meae si te ceperunt taedia laudis
If so much weariness for my honour has seized you
Almost a golden line- Common way for Virgil to finish a section.
