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
ductōrēs Danaum tot iam lābentibus annīs
īnstar montis equum dīvīnā Palladis arte               15
aedificant, sectāque intexunt abiete costās;
vōtum prō reditū simulant; ea fāma vagātur.
hūc delēcta virum sortītī corpora furtim
inclūdunt caecō laterī penitusque cavernās
ingentēs uterumque armātō milite complent.               20
est in cōnspectū Tenedos, nōtissima fāmā
īnsula, dīves opum Priamī dum rēgna manēbant,
nunc tantum sinus et statiō male fīda carīnīs:
hūc se prōvectī dēsertō in lītore condunt;
nōs abiisse ratī et ventō petiisse Mycenās.               25

Frācti bellō fātīsque repulsī
ductōrēs Danaum tot iam lābentibus annīs
īnstar montis equum dīvīnā Palladis arte               15
aedificant, sectāque 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. (2^nd), “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. (3^rd), “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, sectāque intexunt abiete costās;

15        The indeclinable noun “instar” = “image, likeness.  “montis” is genitive singular of mons, montis, m. (3^rd), “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. (2^nd), “horse.” The adjective “divina,”agreeing with “arte,” is ablative feminine singular of divinus, divina, divinum (1^st/2^nd), “divine, of a deity.”  “arte” is ablative singular of ars, artis, f. (3^rd), “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. (3^rd), “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. (1^st), “side; rib.” 

  

vōtum prō reditū simulant; ea fāma vagātur.
hūc delēcta virum sortītī corpora furtim
inclūdunt caecō laterī penitusque cavernās
ingentēs uterumque armātō milite complent.               20

17        “votum”  is accusative singular of votum, voti, n. (2^nd), “dedication, prayer. “pro reditu”= “for a [safe] return [home.]”  The preposition “pro” takes the ablative. “reditu” is ablative singular of reditus, reditus, m. (4^th), “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. (1^st).  “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. (2^nd), “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. (3^rd), “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 (1^st/2^nd), “blind, dark, invisible, hidden.” “lateri” is dative singular of latus, lateris, n. (3^rd), “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. (1^st), “cave, vault.” 

20        The adjective “ingentes” is genitive of ingens, ingentis, m.f.n. (3^rd), “huge, vast.”  “uterum” is accusative singular of uterum, uteri, n. (2^nd), “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 (1^st/2^nd), “armed, armored.” “milite”is ablative singular [with plural signification as a collective noun] of miles, militis, m. (3^rd), “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 statiō male fīda carīnīs:
hūc se prōvectī dēsertō in lītore condunt;
nōs 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. (4^th), “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 (1^st/2^nd), “widely known, well-recognized.”  “notissima insula” is nominative in apposition to “Tenedos.”  “fama” is ablative singular of fama, famae, f. (1^st),  “fame, rumor.”  Ablative of respect.

22        “insula” is nominative singular of insula, insulae, f. (1^st), “island.” The adjective “dives,” modifying “Tenedos,” is nominative singular of dives, divitis, (3^rd), “rich, wealthy.”  “opum” is genitive plural of ops, opis, f. (3^rd), “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. (2^nd), “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. (4^th), “gulf, bay.”  The conjunction “et” = “and.”  “statio” is nominative singular of statio, stationis, f. (3^rd), “anchorage.”  The adverb “male” here negates “fida.”  The adjective “fida,” modifying “statio,” is nominative singular feminine of fidus, fida, fidum (1^st/2^nd), “trusty, certain, safe.”  “carinis” is ablative plural of carina, carinae, f. (1^st), “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. (3^rd), “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. (2^nd), “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.