Aeneid 1:157-165 Course Notes

Latin IV:  Vergil, Aeneid

Instructor:  James Ransom

June 17, 2014

Aeneid 1:158-165

Course Notes

Defessi Aeneadae, quae proxima litora, cursu
contendunt petere, et Libyae vertuntur ad oras.
Est in secessu longo locus: insula portum
efficit obiectu laterum, quibus omnis ab alto               160
frangitur inque sinus scindit sese unda reductos.
Hinc atque hinc vastae rupes geminique minantur
in caelum scopuli, quorum sub vertice late
aequora tuta silent; tum silvis scaena coruscis
desuper horrentique atrum nemus imminet umbra.               165

Defessi Aeneadae, quae proxima litora, cursu
contendunt petere, et Libyae vertuntur ad oras.

“defessi,” modifying “Aeneadae,”  is nominative of the perfect passive participle of the intransitive deponent defetiscor, defetisci, defessus sum, ”to become exhausted, to grow weary.”   “Aeneadae,” the subject of “contendunt” in the following line, is nominative plural of Aeneadae, Aeneadarum, m. (1^st), “followers of Aeneas.”  “quae,” agreeing with “litora,” is nominative neuter plural of the relative pronoun qui, quae, quod.  The superlative adjective “proxima,” qualifying “litora,” is nominative neuter plural of proximus, proxima, proximum, “nearest.”  “litora” is nominative plural of litus, litoris, n. (3^rd), “seashore, coast, beach.”  “cursu” is ablative singular of cursus, cursus, m. (4^th), “running, course, direction.”  Ablative of manner, construed with “contendunt petere” in the following line.

“contendunt,” for which “Aeneadae” in the previous line is the subject, is third person plural present indicative active of contendo, contendere, contendi, contentum, “to strive, to stretch, to try to reach.”  “petere” is present infinitive of peto, petere, petivi, petitum, “to seek, to demand, to hasten to.”  “et”: copulative conjunction.  “Libyae” is genitive singular of Libya, Libyae, f. (1^st), “region of North Africa.”  “vertuntur” is third person plural present indicative passive of verto, vertere, verti, versum (3^rd), “to turn, to overturn, to turn up.”  The preposition “ad”+accusative, here governing “oras.”  “oras” is accusative plural of ora, orae, f. (1^st), “shore, coast.”

Est in secessu longo locus: insula portum
efficit obiectu laterum, quibus omnis ab alto               160
frangitur inque sinus scindit sese unda reductos.

“est” is third person singular present indicative active of sum, esse, fui, futurus; subject is “locus.”  The preposition “in”+ablative governs “secessu.”  “secessu” is ablative singular of secessus, secessus, m. (4^th), “retreat, hiding place.” The adjective “longo,” modifying “secessu,” is ablative singular of longus, longa, longum, “long; deep; far-off, remote.”  “locus” is nominative singular of locus, loci, m. (2^nd), “place, position.”  “insula,” the subject of “efficit” in the following line, is nominative singular of insula, insulae, f. (1^st), “island.”  “portum,” the direct object of “efficit” in the following line, is accusative singular of portus, portus,m. (4^th), “harbor, haven, port.” 

“efficit,” the subject of which is “insula” in the previous line, is third person singular present indicative active of efficio, efficere, effeci, effectum (3^rd), “to bring about, to make”; the direct object is “portum” in the previous line.  “obiectu” is ablative singular of obiectus, obiectus, m. (4^th), “lying against or oppositive, thrown or placed across.”  Instrumental ablative.  “laterum” is genitive plural of latus, lateris, n. (3^rd), “side.”  See Ganiban note 160-161.  “quibus,” agreeing with “laterum,”  is ablative neuter plural of the relative pronoun qui, quae, quod.  The adjective “omnis,” qualifying “unda” in the following line, is nominative singular feminine of omnis, omne.  The preposition “ab”+ablative governs “alto.” “alto” is ablative singular of altum, alti, n. (2^nd), “the deep,” i.e. deep waters, the high sea.  Ablative of place from which.

“frangitur” is third person singular present indicative passive of frango, frangere, fregi, fractum (3^rd); “unda” is the subject.  The preposition “in”+accusative governs “sinus.” “-que”=conjunction linking “frangitur” and “scindit.”   “sinus” is accusative singular of sinus, sinus, m. (4^th), “bay”; but see Ganiban note 160-161 (“ ‘sinus’ can be taken either as 1) ‘curves of the shore,’ ‘bays,’ or 2) “ripples” of the water.’ “)  “scindit” is third person singular present indicative active of scindo, scindere, scidi, scissum (3^rd), “to rend, to tear asunder”; “unda” is the subject.  “sese,” accusative of the  reflexive pronoun , is the direct object of “scindit.” “reductus,” agreeing with “sinus,” is accusative of the perfect passive participle of reduco, reducere, reduxi, reductum (3^rd), “to lead back, draw back.”   

Hinc atque hinc vastae rupes geminique minantur
in caelum scopuli, quorum sub vertice late
aequora tuta silent;…

The correlative adverbs of place hinc…hinc = “on this side…on that side.” The conjunction “atque” links “hinc” and “hinc.”  The adjective “vastae,” qualifying “rupes,” is nominative plural feminine of vastus, vasta, vastum, “vast, enormous.”  “rupes” is nominative plural of rupes, rupes, f. (3^rd), “rock, cliff, cavern.”  The adjective “gemini,” agreeing with “scopuli” in the following line, is nominative plural masculine of geminus, gemina, geminum, “twin, double; two.”  “-que”:  conjunction joining “rupes” to “scopuli” in the following line.  “minantur” is third person plural present indicative of the intransitive deponent minor, minari, minatus sum (1^st),  “to project menacingly, obtrude, jut forth.”  The subjects are “rupes” and “scopuli.”

The preposition “in”+accusative governs “caelum.”  “caelum” is accusative singular of caelum, caeli, n. (2^nd).  The relative pronoun “quorum” is genitive plural masculine of qui, quae, quod; the antecedent is “scopuli.” The preposition “sub”+ablative governs “vertice.”  “vertice” is ablative singular of vertex, verticis, m. (3^rd), “summit, height.”  The adverb “late” = “broadly, widely”; construe with “aequora” in the following line.    

“aequora,” the subject of “silent,” is nominative plural of aequor, aequoris, n. (3^rd), “the sea.”  The adjective “tuta,” modifying “aequora,” is nominative plural neuter of tutus, tuta, tutum, “safe, protected, guarded.”  “silent” is third person plural present indicative active of the intransitive sileo, silere, silui,  “to be still, silent.” 

                                          …tum silvis scaena coruscis
desuper horrentique atrum nemus imminet umbra.               165

The adverb “tum” may be translated “while”; its force is weak.  “silvis” is ablative plural of silva, silvae, f. (1^st), “wood, forest.”  “scaena” is nominative singular of scaena, scaenae, f. (1^st), “stage, scene; background; shady spot.”  The adjective “coruscis,” qualifying “silvis,” is ablative plural of coruscus, corusca, coruscum, “waving, vibrating, shimmering.”

The adverb “desuper”= “above, higher.” “horrenti,” qualifying “umbra,” is the ablative of the present participle of the intransitive defective horreo, horrere,   “to stand on end, to bristle (i.e., ones hair stands on end from fear; cf. English “horror”).  The conjunction “-que” links “scaena” in the previous line to “nemus.” The adjective “atrum,” qualifying “nemus,” is nominative singular neuter of ater, atra, atrum, “black, gloomy.” “nemus” is nominative singular of nemus, nemoris, n. (3^rd), “grove, wood.”  “imminet” is third person singular present indicative active of the intransitive defective immineo, imminere,  “to project over, to overhang, to threaten.”  “umbra” is ablative singular of umbra, umbrae, f. (1^st), “shadow, shade.”