Unit 5: Vergil’s Aeneid, Excerpts from Books 4, 6, 7, 11

tragic introspection

A tone shift from heroic narrative focusing on emotional turmoil and loss of reason.

love as a divinely sent illness

A theme in Vergil's work indicating love's consuming and destructive nature.

saucia

A Latin term meaning 'wounded,' implying both physical and emotional injury.

cura

A Latin term meaning 'care' or 'concern,' used as a euphemism for passionate obsession.

vulnus alit venis et caeco carpitur igni

Latin phrase meaning 'wound nourished in her veins consumed by unseen fire,' indicating how love acts as a fever.

agency

The capacity of the character Dido to act independently, which she loses as she becomes consumed by love.

multus

A Latin word meaning 'many,' reflecting Dido's obsessive thought cycle.

virtus

A Latin term for 'bravery' or 'virtue,' representing qualities Dido admires in Aeneas.

honos

A Latin term meaning 'nobility' or 'honor,' which signifies Dido's initial respect turning into desire.

Haerent infixi pectore vultus verbaque

Latin for 'faces and words stuck in her heart,' embodying psychological fixation.

cura quietem

Latin phrase meaning 'care gives no rest to her limbs,' suggesting Dido's inner torment reflects in her sleeplessness.

male sana

Latin term meaning 'not sane,' indicating Dido's descent into irrational madness.

novus hospes

Latin for 'new guest,' suggesting attraction mixed with danger in Dido's view of Aeneas.

degeneres animos timor arguit

Latin expression meaning 'fear reveals degenerate spirits,' indicating Dido's attempt to rationalize her feelings.

legatus

From Aeneas's Stoic defense, indicating the duty over personal feelings and the surrender to fate.

Per conubia nostra, per inceptos hymenaeos

Latin phrase meaning 'by our marriage, by our begun wedding rites,' invoking formal marriage and abandonment.

fuga

Latin for 'flight,' representing Aeneas's departure and Dido's ensuing despair.

Exoriāre aliquis nostrīs ex ossibus ultor

A curse from Dido predicting revenge, foreshadowing future conflicts between Carthage and Rome.

Pietas vs Furor

Contrast between Aeneas's duty and Dido's destructive passion, highlighting central conflicts.

regina

Latin for 'queen,' a title that underscores Dido's lost authority in her emotional turmoil.

innocentia

A Latin term meaning 'innocence,' referring to the pre-war purity of Italy before conflict breaks out.

agrestes

Latin for 'rustic farmers,' portraying the peaceful nature of the Italians before war.

furor belli

Latin phrase meaning 'war madness,' indicating the irrational violence that overtakes the Italians.

Camilla

A warrior maiden in the Aeneid, representing themes of gender, dedication, and tragic heroism.

sacrabo, voveo

Latin terms indicating ritual dedication and promise made by Metabus for Camilla's safety.

purpurea

Latin for 'purple,' symbolizing royalty and the divine nature of Camilla's birth.

hasta

Latin for 'spear,' representing Camilla's intertwined identity with warfare from infancy.

Marcus Aurelius

A Roman Emperor who embodies Stoic principles, relevant to Aeneas's acceptance of fate.

diligandus

Latin for 'must be loved,' expressing the internal struggle between love and duty in Aeneas's character.

veneror

To worship or revere, often reflecting Vergil’s themes of divine will and fate.

sacrificium

Latin for 'sacrifice,' illustrating the human cost involved in divine vows.

carmen

Latin for 'song,' embodying the narrative and poetic structure of the Aeneid.

absentia

The concept of absence relating to power; Dido's emotional power conveyed through her silence.