Tuesday, April 7, 2015

Aeneid 2:13-25 Course Notes: The Greeks plot to seize Troy through the strategem of the Trojan Horse

Aeneid 2:13-25
Course Notes
© James Ransom 2015

The cunning Greeks plan a daring deception to bring about the Fall of Troy after ten years of siege warfare

Frācti bellō fātīsque repulsī
duct
ōrēs Danaum tot iam lābentibus annīs
īnstar montis equum dīvīnā Palladis arte               15
aedificant, sect
āque intexunt abiete costās;
v
ōtum prō reditū simulant; ea fāma vagātur.
h
ūc delēcta virum sortītī corpora furtim
incl
ūdunt caecō laterī penitusque cavernās
ingent
ēs uterumque armātō milite complent.               20
est in c
ōnspectū Tenedos, nōtissima fāmā
īnsula, dīves opum Priamī dum rēgna manēbant,
nunc tantum sinus et stati
ō male fīda carīnīs:
h
ūc se prōvectī dēsertō in lītore condunt;
n
ōs abiisse ratī et ventō petiisse Mycenās.               
25


Frācti bellō fātīsque repulsī
duct
ōrēs Danaum tot iam lābentibus annīs
īnstar montis equum dīvīnā Palladis arte               15
aedificant, sect
āque intexunt abiete costās;

13        “Fracti” is perfect passive participle of frango, frangere, fregi, fractum, “to break, to shatter.”  “bello” is ablative singular of bellum, belli, n. (2nd), “war.”  Instrumental ablative.  “fatis” is ablative plural of fatus, fata, fatum (1/2), “foretold, foreordained”; here, “the Fates.”  “repulsi” is perfect passive participle of repello, repellere, reppuli, repulsum, “to push back, reject, repulse, repel.” 

14        “ductores” is nominative plural of ductor, ductores, m. (3rd), “leaders, generals.”  “Danaum” is the contracted form of the genitive plural of Danai, Danaiorum or Danaum, “the Greeks.” The indeclinable “tot”= “so many.”  The adverb “iam” = “now, by now, already.” “labentibus,” in an ablative absolute construction, is ablative plural of the present participle of the intransitive deponent labor, labori, lapsus sum, “gliding or flowing past”; “tot iam labentibus annis” =  lit. “so many years having already flowed past.”  “annis” is ablative plural of annus, anni, m. (2), “year.” 

īnstar montis equum dīvīnā Palladis arte               15
aedificant, sect
āque intexunt abiete costās;

15        The indeclinable noun “instar” = “image, likeness.  “montis” is genitive singular of mons, montis, m. (3rd), “mountain”; thus “instar montis,” referring to “equum,”= “like [as large as] a mountain.”  “equum,” direct object of “aedificant” in the following line,  is accusative singular of equus, equi, m. (2nd), “horse.” The adjective “divina,”agreeing with “arte,” is ablative feminine singular of divinus, divina, divinum (1st/2nd), “divine, of a deity.”  “arte” is ablative singular of ars, artis, f. (3rd), “art, skill craft”; instrumental ablative.

16        “aedificant” is third person plural present indicative active of aedifico, aedificare, aedificavi, aedivicatum, “to build, establish, erect.”  “secta,” construed with “abiete,” is ablative feminine singular of the perfect passive participle of seco, secare, secui, sectum, “to cut, cut off.” “abiete” is ablative singular of abies, abietis, f. (3rd), “fir (wood).”  Ablative of means: “out of beams of fir” [Lombardo tr.]   “intexunt” is third person plural present indicative active of intexo, intexere, intexui, intextum, “to interweave, plait.”  “costas” is accusative plural of costa, costae, f. (1st), “side; rib.” 
  
vōtum prō reditū simulant; ea fāma vagātur.
h
ūc delēcta virum sortītī corpora furtim
incl
ūdunt caecō laterī penitusque cavernās
ingent
ēs uterumque armātō milite complent.               20

17        “votum”  is accusative singular of votum, voti, n. (2nd), “dedication, prayer. “pro reditu”= “for a [safe] return [home.]”  The preposition “pro” takes the ablative. “reditu” is ablative singular of reditus, reditus, m. (4th), “returning, turning back.” “simulant” is third person plural present indicative active of simulo, simulare, simulavi, simulatum, “to feign, pretend.”  The demonstrative adjective “ea,” agreeing with “fama,” is nominative feminine singular of is, ea, id, “it; this, that.”  “fama” is nominative singular of fama, famae, f. (1st).  “vagatur” is third person singular present indicative active of the deponent vagor, vagari, vagatus sum, “to wander,” of a story or rumor, “to be spread around, bruited abroad.” 

18        The indeclinable adverb “huc,” referring to “within the horse,” = “here, hither.”  “delecta,” modifying “corpora,” is accusative neuter plural of the perfect passive participle of deligo, deligere, delegi, delectum, “to choose, select (the best); to hand-pick, enroll.”  “virum” is the contracted genitive plural form of vir, viri, m. (2nd), “man.”  “sortiti” is the perfect form of the deponent sortior, sortiri, sortitus sum, “to choose by lot; to select.”  “corpora” is accusative neuter plural of corpus, corporis, n. (3rd), “body.” The indeclinable adverb “furtim”= “secretly, stealthily”; cf. English “furtively.” 

19        “includunt” is third person plural present indicative active of includo, includere, inclusi, inclusum, “to confine, enclose, imprison”; the subject is “ductores Danaum” in line 14. The adjective caeco is dative singular masculine of caecus, caeca, caecum (1st/2nd), “blind, dark, invisible, hidden.” “lateri” is dative singular of latus, lateris, n. (3rd), “side, flank”; governed by “includunt.”  Williams:  “The dative of motion towards is common in Virgil, especially with compound verbs.” The adverb “penitus” = “inwardly, utterly.”  “cavernas” is accusative plural of caverna, cavernae, f. (1st), “cave, vault.” 

20        The adjective “ingentes” is genitive of ingens, ingentis, m.f.n. (3rd), “huge, vast.”  “uterum” is accusative singular of uterum, uteri, n. (2nd), “womb, belly.” Postpositive “-que” links “uterum” with “cavernas” in the previous line;  a form of hendiadys:  using two words to express a single idea. The adjective “armato,” modifying the collective noun “milite,” is ablative singular of armatus, armata, armatum (1st/2nd), “armed, armored.” “milite”is ablative singular [with plural signification as a collective noun] of miles, militis, m. (3rd), “soldier.”  “complent” is third person plural present indicative active of compleo, complere, complevi, completum, “to fill up, fill out, complete”; the subject is “ductores Danaum” in line 14.   

est in cōnspectū Tenedos, nōtissima fāmā
īnsula, dīves opum Priamī dum rēgna manēbant,
nunc tantum sinus et stati
ō male fīda carīnīs:
h
ūc se prōvectī dēsertō in lītore condunt;
n
ōs abiisse ratī et ventō petiisse Mycenās.               25

21        “est” is third person singular present indicative active of sum, esse, fui, futurus, “to be.”  The preposition “in” governs the ablative “conspectu,” ablative singular of conspectus, conspectus, m. (4th), “within sight, within close proximity.”  The island Tenedos is “within sight,” i.e. about 4 miles offshore, from the vantage point of Troy.  “Tenedos” is nominative of Tenedos, Tenedi, f.  The superlative adjective “notissima,” modifying “insula” in the following line,” is nominative singular feminine of notissimus, notissima, notissimum (1st/2nd), “widely known, well-recognized.”  “notissima insula” is nominative in apposition to “Tenedos.”  “fama” is ablative singular of fama, famae, f. (1st),  “fame, rumor.”  Ablative of respect.

22        “insula” is nominative singular of insula, insulae, f. (1st), “island.” The adjective “dives,” modifying “Tenedos,” is nominative singular of dives, divitis, (3rd), “rich, wealthy.”  “opum” is genitive plural of ops, opis, f. (3rd), “resources, power.”  Genitive of contents after “dives.”  Cf. 1.14 (“dives opum” applied to Carthage).  “Priami” is genitive singular of Priamus, Priami, m., Priam, king of Troy.  Genitive of possession.  The temporal conjunction “dum” = “while, as long as.” “regna” is nominative plural of regnum, regni, n. (2nd), “kingdom, realm, reign.”  Plural form with singular force.  “manebant” is third person plural imperfect indicative active of maneo, manere, mansi, mansum, “remain, endure.” 

23        The temporal adverb “nunc” = “now.”  The adverb “tantum” = “only, merely.”  “sinus”is nominative singular of sinus, sinus, m. (4th), “gulf, bay.”  The conjunction “et” = “and.”  “statio” is nominative singular of statio, stationis, f. (3rd), “anchorage.”  The adverb “male” here negates “fida.”  The adjective “fida,” modifying “statio,” is nominative singular feminine of fidus, fida, fidum (1st/2nd), “trusty, certain, safe.”  “carinis” is ablative plural of carina, carinae, f. (1st), “keel”; [by synedoche]:  “ship.”  Ablative of specification.

24        The indeclinable adverb “huc” = “here, hither.”  Reiteration of “huc” at line 18.   Reflexive “se” refers to the Greeks.  “provecti”is genitive masculine singular of the perfect passive participle of proveho, provehere, provexi, provectum, “to advance, carry forward, sail to [a place.] “deserto,” agreeing with ”litore,” is ablative  is ablative neuter singular of desertus, deserta, desertum, “abandoned, desolate.” “litore” is ablative singular of litus, litoris, n. (3rd), “shore.” “condunt” is third person plural present indicative active of condo, condere, condidi, conditum, “to put away; conceal, hide.” 

25        The personal pronoun “nos” is first person nominative plural of ego; = “we.”  “abiise,” with “eos [‘they,’ i.e. ‘the Greeks,’]” understood.  “abiisse” is perfect infinitive active of abeo, abire, abivi or abii, abitum, “to go away, depart.”  “rati” = “rati sumus”; perfect infinitive of the deponent reor, reri, ratus sum, “to believe, suppose.”  The conjunction “et” = “and.”  “vento”:  ablative signular of ventus, venti, n. (2nd), “wind.”  Ablative of means.  “petiisse” is perfect infinitive active of peto, petere, petivi, petitum, “to seek, aim at, make towards.”  “Mycenas” is accusative of Mycenae, Mycenarum, f., the seat of Agamemnon’s reign. 


Thursday, April 2, 2015

Aeneid 2:1-12 Course Notes: Aeneas complies with Dido's request and commences the story of Troy's downfall

Aeneid 2:1-12
Course Notes
© James Ransom 2015


Mastering his reluctance to recall to mind the disastrous fall of Troy,  Aeneas complies with Dido's request and prepares his listeners for the horrific narrative. 
Conticuēre omnēs intentīque ōra tenēbant
inde tor
ō pater Aenēās sīc ōrsus ab altō:
īnfandum, rēgīna, iubēs renovāre dolōrem,
Tr
ōiānās ut opēs et lāmentābile rēgnum
ēruerint Danaī, quaeque ipse miserrima vīdī          5
et qu
ōrum pars magna fuī. quis tālia fandō
Myrmidonum Dolopumve aut d
ūrī mīles Ulixī
temperet
ā lacrimīs? et iam nox ūmida caelō
praecipitat su
ādentque cadentia sīdera somnōs.
sed s
ī tantus amor cāsus cognōscere nostrōs           10
et breviter Tr
ōiae suprēmum audīre labōrem,
quamquam animus meminisse horret lūctūque refūgit,
incipiam.
Conticuere omnes intentique ora tenebant
inde toro pater Aeneas sic orsus ab alto:
“conticuere” is third person plural perfect indicative active (poetic) of conticesco, conticescere, conticui (no passive), “to fall silent.”  The plural pronoun “omnes”= “they all,” “everyone.”  The adjective “intenti,” agreeing with “omnes,” is nominative masculine plural of intentus, intenta, intentum (1/2), “eager, intent, attentive.”  “ora” is nominative plural of os, oris, n., “mouth or [as here] face, gaze.”  “tenebant” is third person plural imperfect indicative active of teneo, tenere, tenui, tentum (2), “to hold, to watch.”
The indeclinable adverb “inde”= “thence, from there.”  “toro,” modified by “alto,” is ablative singular of torus, tori, m. (2), “bed, couch.”  “pater,” agreeing with “Aeneas,” is nominative singular of pater, patris, m. (3), “father.”   The indeclinable adverb “sic”= “thus, so.”  “orsus,” with “est” understood, is nominative singular masculine of the perfect passive participle of the deponent ordior, ordiri, orsus sum (4), “to begin, begin to weave.”

Infandum, regina, iubes renovare dolorem,
Troianas ut opes et lamentabile regnum
eruerint Danai
The adjective “infandum,” modifying “dolorem,” is accusative singular of infandus, infanda, infandum, “unspeakable, abominable.”  “iubes” is second person singular present indicative active of iubeo, iubere, iussi, iussum (2), “to command, to order.”  “renovare” is present infinitive active of renovo, renovare, renovavi, renovatum (1), “to renew, revive, relive.”  “dolorem” is accusative singular of dolor, doloris, m. (3), “pain, sorrow, grief.”
The adjective “Troianas”= “Trojan. “opes” is accusative plural of ops, opis, f. (3), “resources, wealth.” “ut” in this context = “how.” LaFleur/McKay: “ut…eruint...[=] IND. QUEST. dependent on renovare…” The adjective “lamentabile,” modifying “regnum,” is singular neuter accusative of lamentabilis, lamentabile, “to be lamented.” “regnum” is accusative singular of regnum, regni, n. (2), “kingdom.” 
“eruerint,” subjunctive as expressing prior time in the sequence of tenses in indirect question (see Ganiban 17 n. 4, citing AG 482-5) is third person plural perfect subjunctive active of eruo, eruere, erui, erutum (3), “tear out, uproot, overthrow.”  “Danai”= “the Greeks.” 
…quaeque ipse miserrima vidi          5
et quorum pars magna fui
.
The relative pronoun “quae” refers to the substantive “miserrima.”  que…et is archaic for et…et.  The pronoun “ipse” is here used reflexively.   The superlative adjective “miserrima,” here construed substantively, is neuter accusative plural of misserimus, misserima, misserimum (1/2), “most miserable.”  “vidi” is first person singular perfect indicative active of video, videre, vidi, visum (2) “to see.”
The relative pronoun “quorum” referes to “miserrima” in the previous line.  “pars” is nominative singular of pars, partis f. (3), “part.”  The adjective magna, agreeing with “pars,” is feminine nominative singular of magnus, magna, magnum, “great, large, mighty.”  “fui” is first person singular perfect indicative active of sum, esse, fui, futurus. 
   
…quis talia fando
Myrmidonum Dolopumve aut duri miles Ulixi
temperet a lacrimis?...
quis:  interrogative pronoun.  The adjective “talia” is nominative neuter plural of talis (3), “such, so great.”  “fando” is ablative gerund of the deponent for, fari, fatus sum (1), “to speak, talk, say.” 
“Myrmidonum Dolupumve”= “Myrmidons and Dolopians.”; partitive genitives controlled by the interrogative pronoun “quis” in the previous line.  The conjunction “aut”= “or.” The adjective “duri,” qualifying “miles,” is genitive masculine singular of durus, dura, durum (1/2), “harsh, rough, severe.”  “miles” is genitive singular of miles, militis, m. (3), “soldier.”  “Ulixi” is genitive of Ulixes, Ulixis, m., “Ulysses.” 
The potential subjunctive “temperet” is third person singular present subjunctive active of tempero, temperare, temperavi, temperatum (1), “to refrain or abstain from; forbear.”  The preposition “a,” controlling “lacrimis” in the ablative, = “from.” “lacrimis” is ablative plural of lacrima, lacrima, f. (1), “a tear [from crying].”
                            …et iam nox umida caelo
praecipitat suadentque cadentia sidera somnos.
The adverb “iam” = “even now, already.”  “nox” is nominative singular of nox, noctis, f. (3), “night.” The adjective “umida,” modifying “nox,”  is nominative feminine singular of umidus, umida, umida (1/2), “moist, damp; humid.”  “caelo,” with the preposition “de,” = “down from,” understood,  is ablative singular of caelum, caeli, n. (2), “heaven.” 
“praecipitat” is third person singular present indicative active of the intransitive praecipio, praecipitare, praecipitavi, praecipitatum (1), “to cast down, to throw headlong”; here used intransitively of the subject “nox umida” (cf. “the dewy night is rushing from the sky”--Lombardo).  “suadent” is third person plural present indicative active of suadeo, suadere, suasi, suasum (2), “to urge, persuade.”  “-que” links “suadent…somnos” to the previous clause.  “cadentia” is nominative neuter plural of “cadens,” the present active participle of cado, cadere, cecidi, casum (3), “to fall.”  “sidera” is nominative plural of sidus, sideris, n. (3), “star.” “somnos” is accusative plural of somnus, somni, m. (2), “sleep.” 
sed si tantus amor casus cognoscere nostros            10
et breviter Troiae supremum audire laborem,
quamquam animus meminisse horret luctuque refugit,
incipiam.

The conjunction “sed” = “but.”   The conjunction “si”= “if, supposing that.”  The adjective “tantus,” agreeing with “amor,” is nominative singular masculine of tantus, tanta, tantum (1st/2nd), “of such size, so great.”  The noun “amor” is nominative singular of amor, amoris, m. (3), “love, desire”; “tibi est” is understood.  The participle “casus” is nominative singular masculine of the perfect passive participle of “caso,” “to fall.” “cognoscere” is the present infinitive of cognosco, cognoscere, cognovi, cognitum, “to learn, to become acquainted with.” 

The conjunction “et” = “and.”  The adverb “breviter” = “shortly, briefly.” “Troiae” is the genitive of Troia, Troiae, f., “Troy.”  The superlative adjective “supremum,” modifying “laborem,” is accusative neuter singular of supremus, suprema, supremum (1st/2nd), “highest, greatest, final.”  “audire” is present infinitive active of audio, audire, audivi, auditum, “to hear.”  “laborem” is accusative singular of labor, laboris (3rd), “labor, struggle.” 

The conjunction “quamquam” = “though, although.”  “animus” is nominative singular of animus, animi, m. (2nd), “mind, soul.”  “meminisse” is perfect (in form, but present in meaning) infinitive active of the defective verb memini, meminisse, “to remember, to be mindful of.”  “horret” is third person singular present indicative active of the intransitive  horreo, horrere, horui, horruitum, “[of hair] to stand on end; to tremble, shiver [with fear or dread].  “luctu” is ablative singular of luctus, luctus, m. (4th), “grief, sorrow.”  Ablative of cause.  “-que”:  “and”, linking “luctu” and “horret.”  “refugit” is third person singular present indicative active of refugio, refugere, refugi (3), “to flee, to escape.” 


“incipiam” is first person singular future indicative active of incipio, incipere, incepi, inceptum, “to begin.”