Lower Sixth Exam Latin Aeneid

translation and analysis 1-9

At regna gravi iamdudum sauce cura vulnus alit venis et caeco carpitur Igni

But the queen, wounded by intense torment, for a long time, nourishes the wound from her veins, and seized by hidden fire.

multa viri virtus animo multusque recursat gentis honos

The great courage of the man and the high nobility of his family comes back to her mind.

haerent Infixi pectore vultus verbaque nec placidam membris dat cura quietem

His face and words cling, fixed in her heart, and torment grants no peaceful rest to her limbs.

cum sic unanimam adloquitur male sana sororem

Thus when she spoke, not of sound mind, to her like-minded sister:

'Anna soror. quae me suspensam insomnia terrent!

'Sister Anna, what dreams terrify me, hung up!'

quis novus hic nostris successit sedibus hospes, quem sese ore ferens, quam forti pectore et armis!

What new guest has entered our abode, what a face he bears, how strong are his chest and arms!

credo equidem, nec vana fides, genus esse deorum

I truly believe, nor is the belief unfounded, that he is of the family of the gods.

degeneres animos timor arguit, heu, quibus ille iactatus fatis!

Fear reveals unworthy minds. Alas, with which fates has he been tossed!

quae bella exhausta canebat!

Of which wars he sang, that he endured!

si mihi non animo fixum immotumque sederet ne cui me vinclo vellem sociare iugali

If my mind was not set and immovably fixed that I do not want anyone to join me in the bonds of marriage,

postquam primus amor deceptam morte fefe'it

after my first love betrayed me, cheated by death;

si non pertaesum thalami taedaeque fuisset

if I were not exhausted by marriage and the marriage-torches,

hulC uni forsan potui succumbere culpae

perhaps I might have yielded to this one temptation.

Anna (fatebor enim) miseri post nta Sychaei coniugis et sparsos fraterna caede penatis

Anna, for I confess, after the death of my poor husband Sychaeus, and after the household gods were scattered by fraternal slaughter,

solus hic inflexit sensus animumque labantem impulit agnosco veteris vestigia flammae

this man alone has stirred my feelings and has pushed my unstable mind. I know the traces of this old flame.

sed mihi vel tellus optem prius ima dehiscat pater ad umbras

But may the depth of the earth gape open for me, or the omnipotent father drive me away with a lightning bolt to the shades,

pallentis umbras Erebo noctemque profundam, ante, pudor, quam te violo aut tua iura resotvo

to the pale shadows of Erebus and the deep night, before, honour, I violate you or break your laws.

ille meos, primus qui me sibi iunxit amores abstulit: ille habeat secum servetque sepulcro

That man, who first joined himself to me, has stolen my love. Let him have it and keep it with him in his tomb.

sic effata sinum lacrimis Implevit obortis

Thus, having spoken, she filled her bosom with streaming tears.

Anna refert: 'o luce magis dilecta sorori

Anna replied: 'O you, who is more beloved than light to your sister,

solane perpetua maerens carpere iuventa nec dulcis natos Venems nec praemia noris?'

will you, alone, waste your ongoing youth in mourning, and nor will you know sweet children or the rewards of love?

id anerem aut manis credis curare sepultos?

Do you believe that ashes or buried spirits care about this?

esto: aegram nulli quondam flexere mariti

Let it be: no suitors ever swayed you while you were sick with grief;

non Libyae, non ante Tyro: despectus larbas ductoresque alii

not in Libya, not before from Tyre; Iarbas was scorned, and other leaders,

quos Africa terra triumph's dives alit placitone etiam pugnabis amore

whom the African terrain, rich in triumphs, nurtures: will you fight against a pleasing love?

nec venit in mentem quorum consederis at-vis?

And will it not come into your mind in whose fields you settled?

hinc Gaetulae urbes, genus insuperabile bello

Here the Gaetulian cities, a tribe unconquerable in war,

et Numidae infreni cingunt et inhospita Syrtis

and the unbridled Numidians surround you, as well as cruel Syrtis;

hinc deserta siti regio lateque furentes Barcaei

here a region, deserted by drought and the Barcali raging far and wide.

quid bella Tyro surgentn dicam germanique minas?

What shall I say about the wars rising in Tyre, and our brother's threats?

dis equidem auspicibus reor et lunone seconda hunc cursum IIiacas Vento tenuisse carinas.

Personally, I think that, with favourable gods and with Juno's favour, the Trojan ships have held this course by the wind.

• conversational tone → sorority between Dido and Anna

• tautology → shows the influence and importance of approval of the gods

• epic language and synecdoche → reminder of the Trojans influence and power

• enclosing word order → shows power of the gods in manipulating Aeneas and his ships

quam tu urbem, soror, hanc cernes, quae surgere regna coniugio tali!

What a city, sister, you will see, what kingdoms will arise from such a marriage!

• anaphora/polyptoton tricolon of exclamations → extent of benefits for Dido and Anna’s excitement in getting her to agree

Teucrum comitantibus armis Punica se quantis attollet gloria rebus!

With Trojan arms accompanying, to what great heights shall Punic glory raise itself!

• ablative absolute → influence and impacts of a partnership with the trojans

• emphatic placement (enjambement) of ‘Punica’ → contrast with the Trojans to show impact of marriage on Carthage

tu modo posce deos veniam

All you need to do is demand pardon from the gods,

• conversational → Anna simplifies the task ahead of Dido to convince her to carry it through

sacrisque litatis indulge hospitio causasque innecte morandi

when the rites are duly performed, give free rein to your guest and contrive reasons for delay,

• tricolon → highlighting importance of obedience to the gods, Xenia and trickery

dum pelago desaevit hiems et aquosus Orion

while winter and rainy Orion rage on the sea,

• emphatic placement of Orion (constellation associated with bad weather) → show how nature is on their side

quassataeque rates, dum non tractabile caelum

and the ships are battered, while the sky is not manageable.

• polysyndetic tetracolon → nature as a powerful force extent of support for Aeneas staying

• harsh plosive alliteration

his dictis impenso animum flammavit amore spemque dedit dubiae menti solvitque pudorem

With these words she enflamed her mind with excessive love and gave hope to her wavering mind and loosened her inhibition.

• fire imagery → reminder of destructive nature of love

• enclosing word order → Dido overwhelmed by love

• intensifier ‘excessive’ → overwhelming force of love

• polysyndetic tricolon of perfect tense verbs → Anna’s success in changing Dido’s mind and highlighting the three key aspects of Dido’s life (mental state, love, inhibition)

principio delubra adeunt pacemque per aras

At first they approach the shrines and seek peace through the altars;

• plural ‘shrines’ → the magnitude of the sacrifice

• present tense verbs → vivid and emphasises urgency of their offering

exquirunt: mactant lectas de more bidentis

they slaughter two-year-old sheep chosen according to custom

• enjambement → extent of ongoing steps in the offering - difficulty and importance to Dido (methodical)

• ‘lectas de’ → Dido’s care in performing all the rituals to perfection and importance of success

legiferae Cereri Phoeboque patrique Lyaeo.

to law-bringing Ceres and to Phoebus and to father Bacchus,

• tetracolon of gods → extent of Dido’s offering to all important Gods (meticulous)

• law bringing Ceres (epithet) → Demeter (justice)

• Phoebus → apollo (ratio)

• Bacchus → Dionysus (party/frenzy)

lunoni ante omni cui vincla iugalia curae

to Juno above all, to whom marriage bonds are of care.

• emphatic placement → Dido’s connection with Juno and importance of her support

• lexis → restrictive nature of marriage

ipsa tenens dextra pateram pulcherrima Dido

Most beautiful Dido herself, holding the libation bowl in her right hand,

• hyperbaton, superlative (and named Dido) → Dido’s control and authority in the offering

• ‘dextra’ → left hand seen as auspicious, Dido being meticulous about every detail

candentis vaccae media inter cornua tindit.

pours the offering between the horns of a brilliantly white cow,

• pleonastic phrase → Dido is taking care seriously

• emphatic placement → purity of the cow - Dido is using the very best offering

aut ante ora deum pinguis spatiatur ad Iras.

or she walks before the faces of the gods to the fat-laden altars,

• present tense verb → vivid suggesting slow and purposeful paces - Dido’s ensuring every step is correct

Instauratque diem donis, pecudumque reclusis pectoribus inhians spirantia consult exta

renewing the day with offerings, and, gaping over the chests of beasts having been opened, she consults the heaving entrails.

• emphatic placement → Dido’s active involvement in the offering

• present participles → vivid examination and recency of the slaughter

heu, vaut ignarae mentes! quid vota furentem, quid delubra iuvant?

Alas the ignorant minds of prophets! what prayers what shrines help a wavering mind?

• sententia → interjection from Virgil emphasises dramatic irony that Dido is unaware of her fate

• rhetorical question (anaphora)→ forces audience to question the power of the fates and powerlessness of humans

est mollis flamma medullas

Interea et tacitum vivit sub pectore vulnus.

Meanwhile a flame eats away at her soft marrow, and a silent would lives beneath her heart.

• promoted verb → destructive damaging love

• flame imagery → foreshadowing death on the pyre

• enclosing word order → overwhelming nature of love (as a wound)

• lexis → ironic as wounds are silent but highlights how Dido is suppressing the dangerous aspect of her love and unaware to it

uritur infelix Dido totaque vagatur urbe furens, qualis coniecta cava sagitta

Unlucky Dido burns, and wanders, frenzied, through the whole city, like a doe with a hurled arrow,

• fire imagery → destructive nature of her love

• epithet → Dido is doomed

quad procul incautam femora inter Cresia fixit

pastor agens telis quitque volatile ferrum

nescius:

which a shepherd, hunting so far off among Cretan woods, has pierced, unwary, with weapons, and in which, unknowing, he left his flying arrow:

illa fuga silvas saltusque peragrat

she runs through the Dictaean woods and forests in flight,

haeret lateri letalis harundo.

the lethal arrow stuck fast to her side.

• plosive alliteration →

nunc media Aenean secum per moenia ducit

Now she leads Aeneas with her through the middle of the walls,

• enclosing word order →

Sidoniasque ostentat opes urbemque paratam.

and she shows him Sidonian wealth and the ready city,

• polysyndeton →

Incipit effari mediaque In voce resistit

and she begins to speak and stops mid-speech;

• juxtaposing verbs framing the line

nunc eadem labente die convivia quaerit

now, as the day slips away, she seeks the same company,

• ablative absolute

Iliacosque iterum demens audire labores exposcit

and again, out of sound mind, she demands to hear the Trojan exploits

• repeated lexis ‘demens’ →

• emphatically placed ‘Illiacos’ →

pendetque iterum narrantis ab ore.

and she hangs, again, from his mouth as he tells the story.

• promoted present tense verb →

• metaphorical language →

post ubi digressi, lumenque obscura vicissim luna premit suadentque cadentia sidera somnos.

Later, when they parted, and the darkening moon dims the light in due turn, and the fading stars urge sleep,

• homeric style → epic

sola domo maeret vacua stratisque relictis

Incubat

alone, in her empty home she mopes, and lay down on the abandoned couch.

• tautology →

illum absens absentem auditque videtque

She, absent, hears and sees him when he is away,

• polyptoton →

• polysyndeton →

• promoted verb →

aut gremio Ascamum genitoris imagine capta

or captured by the image of his father, she holds Ascanius in her lap,

• enclosing word order →

detinet Innndum si fallere possit amorem.

to see if she could deceive her unspeakable love.

• worrying behaviour →

• hyperbaton →

non coeptae adsurgunt turres, non arma iuventus

exercet portusve aut propugnacula bello

tuta parant:

The towers started no longer rise, nor do the youths use their armour,

neither do they prepare the harbours or the battlements to be safe in war:

• anaphoric polysyndetic tetracolon →

pendent opera interrupta minaeque murorum Ingentes aequataque machina caelo.

the works hang interrupted, as well as the huge threats of the walls and the contraption as high as the sky.

quam simul ac tali persensit peste teneri

as soon as the dear wife of Jupiter realised that Dido was held by such great sickness,

cara lovis comunx nec famam obstare furori.

and reputation could not stand in the way of madness,

talibus adgreditur Venerem Saturnia dictis:

the daughter of Saturn attacked Venus with such words:

'egregiam vero laudem et spolia ampla refertis

'Truly you, and that son of yours, bring back remarkable praise and ample spoils;

tuque puerque tuus (magnum et memorabile numen).

great and memorable is your celestial power;

una dolo divum si femina victa duorum est.

if one woman is conquered by the trickery of two gods.

nec me adeo fallit veritam te moenia nostra

Nor yet does it deceive me that you, having feared our walls,

suspectas habuisse domos Karthaginis altae

had held in mind suspiciously the homes of high Carthage,

sed quis erit modus, aut quo nunc certamine

but what will be the limit, or to where now will it be with such fighting?

quin potius pacem aeternam pactosque hymenaeos

Why don’t we rather work out external peace and marriage contracts?

exercemus? habes tota quod mente petisti:

You have the thing which you sought in your whole mind:

ardet amans Dido traxitque per ossa furorem.

Dido burns as she loves and she drags madness through her bones.

communem hunc ergo populum paribusque regamus

Let us therefore rule these people together and with equal authority.

auspiciis: liceat Phrygio servire marito

Let her be subject to her Phrygian husband,

dotalisque tuae Tyrios permittere dextrae.

and for your right hand to allow the Trojans as a dowry.”

Olli (sensit enim simulata mente locutam,

But Venus, for she felt that Juno had spoken with a fake argument,

quo regnum Italiae Libycas averteret oras)

so that she might turn him to the Libyan shores, away from the kingdom of Italy,

sic contra est ingressa Venus: 'quis talia demens

thus went against her: ‘Who, out of their mind, would refuse such things

abnuat aut tecum malit contendere bello?

or would prefer to compete with you in war?

si modo quod memoras factum fortuna sequatur.

If only fortune would follow the deed of which you speak.

sed fatis incerta feror.

But I, uncertain, am conflicted by the Fates,

si luppiter unam esse velit Tyriis urbem Troiaque profectis.

as to whether Jupiter would want there to be one city for the Tyrians and those who set out from Troy,

miscerive probet populos aut foedera iungi.

or approves peoples to be mixed or treaties joined.

tu coniunx, tibi fas animum tempore precando

You are his wife, by praying, it is lawful for you to try his mind.

perge. sequar.'

Go ahead, I will follow.”

tum sic except rega luno:

Then regal Juno replied thus:

confieri possit.

That task will be mine.

paucis (adverte) docebo.

Now, by what means can the pressing task be done – pay attention! I shall teach in a few words.

venatum Aeneas unaque miserrima Dido

Aeneas, together with most wretched Dido are preparing to go on a hunt in the woods,

extulerit Titan radiisque retexerit orbem

when tomorrow’s sun, having risen, will bring forth first light, and uncovers the world with its sunbeams.

dum trepidant alae saltusque ülgaglne angunt desuper infundam

upon them I will pour down from above a blackened cloud mixed with hail,

et tonitru caelum omne ciebo

while I will stir up the whole sky with thunder.

dffugient comites et nocte tegentur opaca:

the companions will scatter and they will be covered by shadows as if nightfall:

speluncam Dido dux et Troianus eandem devenient

Dido and the Trojan leader will come to the same cave.

adero et tua si mihi certa voluntas

And I will be present, if your will is certain to me,