Aeneid 1:148-156 Course Notes

Latin IV:  Vergil, Aeneid

Instructor:  James Ransom

June 16, 2014

Aeneid 1:148-156

Course Notes

Ac veluti magno in populo cum saepe coorta est
seditio, saevitque animis ignobile volgus,
iamque faces et saxa volant—furor arma ministrat;                    150
tum, pietate gravem ac meritis si forte virum quem
conspexere, silent, arrectisque auribus adstant;
ille regit dictis animos, et pectora mulcet,—
sic cunctus pelagi cecidit fragor, aequora postquam
prospiciens genitor caeloque invectus aperto                      155
flectit equos, curruque volans dat lora secundo.

Ac veluti magno in populo cum saepe coorta est
seditio, saevitque animis ignobile vulgus,
iamque faces et saxa volant—…

The conjunction “ac”=  “atque.”  The comparative adverb “veluti,” archaic form of “velut”= “just as.”  Introduces the epic simile.  The adjective “magno,” agreeing with “populo,” is ablative singular masculine of magnus, magna, magnum.  The preposition “in” + ablative, here “populo.”  “populo” is ablative singular of populus, populi, m. (2^nd), “people, populace.”  The temporal conjunction “cum”= “when.”  The temporal adverb “saepe” = “frequently, often.”  “coorta est” is third person singular perfect indicative of the deponent coorior, cooriri, coortus sum (3^rd), “rise up, arise.” 

“seditio,” the subject of “coorta est” in the previous line, is nominative singular of seditio, seditionis, f. (3^rd), “dissension, rebellion, sedition.”  “saevit,” agreeing with “vulgus,”  is third person singular present indicative active of saevio, saevire, saevii, saevitum (4^th), “to rage, be furious.”  “animis” is ablative plural of animus, animi, m. (2^nd).  The adjective “ignobile,” modifying “vulgus,” is nominative singular neuter of ignobilis, ignobile (3^rd), “base, ignoble.”  The collective noun “vulgus,” subject of “saevit,” is nominative singular of vulgus, vulgi, n. (2^nd), “the mass, the mob.” 

The temporal adverb “iam” = already. “-que” links this clause to the previous.  “faces” is nominative plural of fax, facis, f. (3^rd), “torch.” The conjunction “et” links “faces” to “saxa.” “volant” is third person plural present indicative active of the intransitive volo, volare, volavi, volatum (1^st), “to fly.” 

                                                  …—furor arma ministrat;               150
tum, pietate gravem ac meritis si forte virum quem
conspexere, silent, arrectisque auribus adstant;

“furor,” subject of “ministrat,” is nominative singular masculine of furor, furoris, m. (3^rd), “rage, madness, fury.”  “arma,” direct object of “ministrat,” is accusative plural of arma, armorum, n. (2^nd), “arms, weapons.” 

The temporal adverb “tum” here = “then, next.”  “pietate” is ablative singular of pietas, pietatis, f. (3^rd), “dutifulness, piety, justice.”   The adjective “gravem,” qualifying “virum,” is accusative singular masculine of gravis, grave (3^rd), “grave, weighty, venerable.”  “ac” = copulative conjunction linking “pietate” and “meritis.”  “meritis” is ablative singular of meritum, merite, n. (2^nd), “merit, desert.” The conditional conjunction  “si” =”if.”  “forte,” “by chance,”  is the ablative of fors, f., which has only the nominative and ablative cases.  “virum,” the direct object of “conspexere” in the following line, is accusative singular of vir, viri, m. (2^nd).  The indefinite pronoun “quem,” qualifying “virum,” is accusative singular masculine of quis, quid. 

“conspexere” is third person plural perfect indicative active of conspicio, conspicere, conspexi, conspectum (3^rd), “to behold, to view.”  The subject of “conspexere” is “vulgus,” the direct object is “virum.”  “silent” is third person plural present indicative active of sileo, silere, silui, “to be still, silent; to cease all noise.”  “arrectis” is ablative  of the perfect passive participle of arrigo, arrigere, arrexi, arrectum, “to lift up; to excite, animate.”  “-que” links “silent” to “adstant.”  “auribus” is ablative plural of auris, auris, f. (3^rd), “ear.”  “adstant” is third person plural present indicative active of adsto, adstare, adstiti, adstitum, “to stand still; to stand alert.” 

ille regit dictis animos, et pectora mulcet,—

The demonstrative pronoun “ille,”referring to “virum,” is nominative singular masculine of ille, illa, illud.  “Ille” is subject of “regit.”  “regit” is third person singular present indicative active of rego, regere, rexi, rectum, “to rule.”  “dictis” is ablative plural of dictum, dicti, n. (2^nd), “word.”  “animos,” the direct object of “regit,” is accusative plural of animus, animi, m. (2^nd).  The conjunction “et” links “regit” to “mulcet.”  “pectora,” the direct object of “mulcet,” is accusative plural of pectus, pectoris, n. (3^rd), “breast.”  “mulcet” is third person singular present indicative active of mulceo, mulcere, mulsi, mulsum, “to soothe.” 

sic cunctus pelagi cecidit fragor, aequora postquam
prospiciens genitor caeloque invectus aperto               155
flectit equos, curruque volans dat lora secundo.

The adverb of manner “sic” = “thus, in this way, so.”  The adjective “cunctus,” modifying “fragor,” is nominative singular masculine of cunctus, cuncta, cunctum, “all.”  “pelagi” is genitive singular of pelagus, pelagi, n. (2^nd), “the sea.”  “cecidit” is third person singular perfect indicative active of the intransitive cado, cadere, cecidi, casum (3^rd), “to fall.”  “frago” is nominative singular of frago, fragoris, m. (3^rd), “to break, to crash.” “aequora” is accusative plural of aequor, aequoris, n. (3^rd), “the sea.”  The temporal conjunction “postquam” = “after that.” 

“prospiciens” is present active participle of prospicio, proscipere, prospexi, prospectum (3^rd), “to look forward, look out, command a view of.”  “genitor,”  subject of “flectit” in the following line,” is nominative singular of genitor, genitoris, m. (3^rd), “begetter, father.”  “caelo” is ablative singular of caelum, caeli, n. (2^nd), “heaven.”  “-que” joins “prospiciens” to “invectus.”  “invectus” is perfect passive participle of inveho, invehere, invexi, invectum (3^rd), “to bear in or on; [passive] to ride.”  “aperto,” here construed adjectivally with “caelo” (i.e., “a clear sky; a cloudless sky), is ablative perfect passive participle of aperio, aperire, aperui, apertum (4^th), “to open.” 

“flectit,” the subject of which is “genitor” in the previous line, is third person singular present indicative active of flecto, flectere, flexi, flexum (3^rd), “to bend, to turn.”  “equos,” direct object of “flectit,” is accusative plural of equus, equi, m. (2^nd), “horse.”  “curru,” archaic form of “currui,” is dative of currus, currus, m. (4^th), “chariot.” “-que” joins “flectit” to “dat.” “volans” is present active participle of volo, volare, volare, volavi, volatum, “to fly.” “dat” is third person singular present indicative active of do, dare, dedi, datum (1^st). 

  “lora,” direct object of “dat,” is accusative plural of lorum, lori, m. (2^nd), “thong, rein.”  The adjective “secundo,” modifying “curru,” is dative singular masculine of secundus, secunda, secundum, “following; favorable, fortunate.”