The Aeneid Flashcards
servatum ex undis Strophadum me litora primum excipiunt.
Having been saved from the waves, the shore of the Strophades welcomes me first.
Strophades Graio stant nomine dictae insulae Ionio in magno, quas dira Celaeno Harpyiaeque colunt aliae, Phineia postquam clausa domus mensaque metu liquere priores.
The Strophades islands, called by a Greek name, stand (fixed) in the great Ionion sea, where dreadful Celaeno and the other Harpies live from the time (after), in fear, they left Phineas’s house and the tables where they used to feed.
tristius haud illis monstrum, nec saeviour ulla pestis et ira deum Stygiis sese extulit undis.
No sadder monster than these, nor any more savage plague ever raised itself from the waves of the Styx at a god’s wrath.
virginei volucrum vultus, foedissima ventris proluvies uncaeque manus et pallida semper ora fame.
Note: The alliteration in this line makes the Harpies seem veen more repugnant as the harsh “w” sound produced from the repetitive “v” sound seems as though one is “spitting” out the words - because they are so foul, just like the “foedissima” harpies.
Birds with maiden faces, the foulest overflow from their stomach/womb, clawed hands and faces always pale with hunger.
huc ubi delati portus intravimus, ecce, laeta boum passim campis armenta videmus caprigenumque pecus nullo custode per herbas.
When, having been carried/taken here, we entered the port, behold, we see happy herds of cattle scattered in the plains and flocks of goats, unattended, throughout the grasses (meadows).
inruimus ferro et divos ipsumque vocamus in partem praedamque Iovem; tum litore curvo exstruimusque toros dapibusque epulamur opimis.
Note: “In partem praedamque” is an example of the figure of speech, hendiadys, where one idea is presented by means of connecting two seemingly independent ideas with “que” (and).
We fall (on them) with (our) sword(s) and call on/invite the gods and Jupiter himself to a share in the plunder; then we build up couches on the curved shore and feast on the rich banquet.
What is hendiadys?
A literary device very frequently used in Latin poetry. The expression of an idea by the use of usually two seemingly independent words connected by “and.”
At subitae horrifico lapsu de montibus adsunt Harpyiae et magnis quatiunt clangoribus alas, diripiuntque dapes contactque omnia foedant immundo; tum vox taetrum dira inter odorem.
Note: In Vergil’s text: Harpyiae will have to be carried back from line 2 to line 1 of this sentence to make sense, thus enjambment is used… the effect here could be supsense! We do not know what fell down horribly from the mountain until the next line.
Note: The deliberately muddled word order here is called “synchysis.” It is rhetorical technique wherein words are intentionally scattered to create a sense of bewilderment, confusion or chaos, making the writing more vivid.
But suddenly, with a horrible descent from the mountains, the Harpies arrive and flap their wings with great noise and lay waste (to) the feast, and foul everything with their touch; then (there is) a horrible voice amongst the foul smell.
rursum in secessu longo sub rupe cavata (arboribus clausam circum atque horrentibus umbris) instruimus mensas arisque reponimus ignem; rursum ex diverso caeli caecisque latebris turba sonans praedam pedibus circumvolat uncis, polluit ore dapes.
Again, in deep retirement under a hollowed out rock closer around with tress and trembling shadows, we arrange the tables and restore the altar fire; again, from a different part of the sky and an unseen lair the noisy crowd flies around the plunder with taloned feet, polluting the feast with their mouths.
Note: shadows (umbris) here could allude to trembling leaves which are casting a shadow. Imagery.
Note: repetition of “rursum” meaning (again - so literally repetitive meaning too), as well as frequent “r” sounds really emphasise the repetitive actions of the harpies - perhaps attempted to build up suspense of the upcoming break of this repeated cycle (which will be the Trojans retaliation).
sociis tunc arma capessant edico, et dira bellum cum gente gerendum.
Then I order my companions to take up/seize their weapons, and wage war on (with) the terrible race.
haud secus ac iussi faciunt tectosque per herbam disponunt ensis et scuta latentia condunt.
They do none differently than ordered, and arrange their hidden swords through the grass and hide their shields out of sight.
*Very tricky direct translation
ergo ubi delapsae sonitum per curva dedere litora, dat signum specula Misenus ab alta aere cavo.
And so, when they descended screaming along the curved shore, Misenus gave the signal from high up with his (the) trumpet (hollow bronze).
invadunt socii et nova proelia temptant, obscenas pelagi ferro foedare volucris.
The companions charge and attempt, by a new kind of battle, to mutilate the obscene sea birds.
sed neque vim plumis ullam nec vulnera tergo accipiunt, celerique fuga sub sidera lapsae semesam praedam et vestigia foeda relinquunt.
But they neither receive/accept any blows to their feathers, nor any wound on their backs and they quickly flee, gliding under the night sky, leaving the half-eaten plunder and their filthy residue (vestiges).
Note: there is subtle zeugma here. The verb relinquunt applies to both the half-easten food and their vestiges BUT the food was “left” there, as in, it was abandones, but the vestiges were “left” there, asin, they were deposited.
una in praecelsa consedit rupe Celaeno, infelix vates, rumpitque hanc pectore vocem; “bellum etiam pro caede boum stratisque iuvencis, Laomedontiadae, bellumne inferre paratis et patrio Harpyias insontis pellere regno?”
One alone, Celaeno, settles on a high rock and, the misfortunate prophetess, bursts out with this speech: Sons of Laomedon, are you preparing to bring war, war even for killed bullocks and slaughtered cows, and to banish the innocent Harpies from their father’s kingdom?
Note: this is chiasmus - a rhetorical device in which words, grammatical constructions or concepts are repeated in reverse order to create an arching structure. It has been used here to emphasise Celaeno’s presence, as well as her status/importance - consedit emphasises the height at which she settled to deliver her prophecy.
E.g.,
consedit
in praecelsa rupes
una Celaeno
What is zeugma?
A figure of speech in which a word applies to two others in different senses.
accipte ergo animis atque haec mea figite dicta, quae Phoebo pater omnipotens, mihi Phoebus Apollo praedixit, vobis Furiarum ego maxima pando.
Therefore accept and take to heart these my words, which the Almighty father predicted to Apollo, and which Phoebus Apollo predicted to me and which I, the greatest of the Furies, reveal to you.
Italiam cursu petitis ventisque vocatis: “ibitis Italiam portusque intrare licebit.”
You seek passage to Italy and call on the winds: You will go to Italy and you will be allowed to enter the port.
“Sed non ante datam cingetis moenibus urbem quam vos dira fames nostraeque iniuria caedis ambesas subigat malis absumere mensas.”
But you will not surround the destined city with fortifications before your dire hunger and the injustice of violence against us forces you to gnaw with your jaws and devour (even) your (very) tables.
dixit, et in silvam pennis ablata refugit.
Having said that, she fled to the forest, carried away on her wings.
at sociis subita gelidus formidine sanguis deriguit: cecidere animi, nec iam amplius armis, sed votis precibusque iubent exposcere pacem, sive deae seu sint dirae obscenaeque volucres.
But suddenly the chill blood of my companions froze over with dread: their spirits fell, they ordered me to sue for peace, not any more with weapons but with prayers and vows, whether they (the Harpies) were goddesses or obscene birds.
Note: Zeugma - exposcere pacem (seek peace) with weapons has the sense of wanting relief from annoyance, seek peace with prayers has the sense of pleasing and begging.
et pater Anchises passis de litore palmis numina magna vocat meritosque indicit honores: “di, prohibite minas; di, talem avertite casum et placidi servate pios.”
And from the shore, with outstretched hands, father Anchises invokes the mighty gods and proclaims the proper rites: “O gods, prevent these threats, O gods, avert such misfortune, O peaceful ones, save the virtuous.”
Display of piety.
tum litore funem deripere excussosque iubet laxare rudentis.
Then he ordered (them) to cast off the ropes from the shore and uncoil and loosen the sheets.
tendant vela Noti: fugimus spumantibus undis qua cursum ventusque gubernatorque vocabat.
The south wind fills the sails, we flee on the foaming waves on whatever course both the winds and helmsman call.
