Aenied 2; Line 416-465

adversi rupto ceu quondam turbine venti                     

confligunt, Zephyrusque Notusque et laetus Eois      

Eurus equis; stridunt silvae, saevitque tridenti              

spumeus atque imo Nereus ciet aequora fundo. 

adversi rupto ceu quondam turbine venti                     

confligunt, Zephyrusque Notusque et laetus Eois      

Eurus equis; stridunt silvae, saevitque tridenti              

spumeus atque imo Nereus ciet aequora fundo. 

Just as sometimes with a hurricane burst forth diverse winds clash, West and South and happy East wind with his horses; the forest groaned and foaming Nereus rages with his trident and stirs the seas from their lowest depth.

‘stridunt silvae’ - Sibilance - sinister tone
Nereus is an old sea god.

illi etiam, si quos obscura nocte per umbram 

fudimus insidiis totaque agitavimus urbe,

apparent; primi clipeos mentitaque tela

adgnoscunt, atque ora sono discordia signant.

Those also, whom in the dark night we routed through the shade with a trick and hunted throughout the city, appear; they first recognise our shield and our deceiving weapons, and they mark our speech as different in sound.

The Trojans can now see and distinguish the Greeks who are in disguise.

ilicet obruimur numero; primusque Coroebus               

Penelei dextra divae armipotentis ad aram                   

procumbit; cadit et Rhipeus, iustissimus unus           

qui fuit in Teucris et servantissimus aequi

Immediately we are overpowered in number, and first Coroebus falls by the right hand of Peneleus by the altar of the warrior godess; Rhipeus falls too, he is the most just one who were among the Trojans and most protecting of justice

Names - Creates more of a connection to the dead; creating more sympathy
‘servantissimus’ 'iustissimus’ - Superlative - Chaos will ensue as the most just one is gone

(dis aliter visum); pereunt Hypanisque Dymasque

confixi a sociis; nec te tua plurima, Panthu,

labentem pietas nec Apollinis infula texit.

(it semmed otherwise to the gods); Hypanis and Dymas perish pierced by allies; nor did your very great dutifulness, Panthus, nor the wool-band of Apollo protect you falling.

Apostrophe to Panthus - strengthens the emotional effect

Iliaci cineres et flamma extrema meorum,

testor, in occasu vestro nec tela nec ullas

vitavisse vices Danaum, et, si fata fuissent 

ut caderem, meruisse manu.

The Trojan and the final flame of my people, I call you to witness, that in you ruin I avoided neither weapons nor any hazards, and at the hands of the Greeks, if the fates had been minded that I should fall that I had earned it.

‘flamma extrema‘ - metaphor - the burning town became the funeral pyre
‘meruisse’ - implies Aeneas has earned a hero’s death

divellimur inde,

Iphitus et Pelias mecum (quorum Iphitus aevo

iam gravior, Pelias et volnere tardus Ulixi);

protinus ad sedes Priami clamore vocati.

We are torn form there, Iphitus and Pelias with me (of whom Iphitus was now rather heavy with age, and Pelias slowed by a wound of Ulysses); straight away called by the the clamour to the houseof Priam.

‘divellimur’ - emphasises the violence of the fray
Iphitus’ age hints at Troy’s desperation for fighters.

hic vero ingentem pugnam, ceu cetera nusquam

bella forent, nulli tota morerentur in urbe.

sic Martem indomitum, Danaosque ad tecta ruentis 

cernimus, obsessumque acta testudine limen.

Here indeed we see a huge battle, as if there were other wars nowhere, none were dying in the city. Thus we see Mars untamed and the Greeks rushing to the roof, and the threshold besieged by the tortoise formation brought up against it.

The Trojans are being besieged from 2 groups of Greeks; one trying to burst open the gates, the other trying to scale the walls.

haerent parietibus scalae, postisque sub ipsos 

nituntur gradibus, clipeosque ad tela sinistris 

protecti obiciunt, prensant fastigia dextris. 

Ladders cling to the walls, and under the door-post themselves they climb up the steps, and protected by their left hands they hold up their shields towards the weapons, they clutch the gable with their right hands.

‘postis sub ipsos’ - emphasises the boldness of the assault as they attack the strongest part of the defence.

Dardanidae contra turris ac tota domorum 

culmina convellunt; his se, quando ultima cernunt,

extrema iam in morte parant defendere telis; 

The Trojans in turn tear down the towers and all the roofs of the house; with these weapons, when they perceive the end, now at the point of death they prepare to defend themselves;

Change is perspective - Virgil now focuses on the Trojans reaction to the attack

auratasque trabes, veterum decora alta parentum,

devolvunt; alii strictis mucronibus imas 

obsedere fores; has servant agmine denso.

and rolled down the glided beams, the stately splendours of their ancient ancestors; others with drawn swords have blockaded the doors below; these they guard in a close-packed line.

instaurati animi, regis succurrere tectis, 

auxilioque levare viros, vimque addere victis.

Our spirits were renewed to aid the king’s dwelling to relieve our men with our help and to add vigour to the defeated.

limen erat caecaeque fores et pervius usus

tectorum inter se Priami, postesque relicti

a tergo, infelix qua se, dum regna manebant,

There was a threshold and hidden doors and a traversable access of the dwelling of Priam, among itself and back door-posts left behind, by which unlucky Andromache, while the kingdom remained,

‘pervius usus‘ - A passage that conects Priam’s and Hector’s palace

saepius Andromache ferre incomitata solebat

ad soceros, et avo puerum Astyanacta trahebat.

evado ad summi fastigia culminis, unde

tela manu miseri iactabant inrita Teucri.

rather often was accustomed to take herself unaccompanied to her parents-in-law and used to lead the boy Astyanax to his grandfather. I climb up to the utmost top of the roof, from where the wretched Teucrians were hurling with their hands useless missiles.

‘trahebat’ - Flashback - innocent image of a young boy who can barely keep up with his mother.

turrim in praecipiti stantem summisque sub astra

eductam tectis, unde omnis Troia videri

et Danaum solitae naves et Achaia castra,

The tower standing on a sheer edge and raised from the top of the palace under the stars, from where all Troy and the Greek ships and the Achaean camp were accustomed to be seen,

adgressi ferro circum, qua summa labantis

iuncturas tabulata dabant, convellimus altis

sedibus, impulimusque;

having attacked with iron all around, where the highest storeys were offering yielding joining, we wrenched it from its highest position and drove it forward;

‘ferro circum’ - means around the turret
‘labantis iuncturas‘ - means they were loosely ocnnected