2018 ICA Latin 4 Virgil Aeneid 1.124-131 Course Notes

Aeneid 1:124-131

Course Notes

Interea magno misceri murmure pontum,
emissamque hiemem sensit Neptunus, et imis                  125
stagna refusa vadis, graviter commotus; et alto
prospiciens, summa placidum caput extulit unda.
Disiectam Aeneae, toto videt aequore classem,
fluctibus oppressos Troas caelique ruina,
nec latuere doli fratrem Iunonis et irae.                            130
Eurum ad se Zephyrumque vocat, dehinc talia fatur:

SUGGESTED WORD ORDER

(A) Interea Naptunus sensit pontum misceri magno murmure [et] hiemem emissam [esse] et stagna refusa [esse] [ex] imis vadis; (B) et graviter commotus, prospiciens alto extulit placidum caput [e] summa unda.  (C) Videt classem Aeneae disiectam [in] toto aequore [et] Troas oppressos fluctibus [et] ruina caeli.  (D) Nec doli et irae Iunonis latuere [i.e. , latuerunt] fratrem.  Vocat Eurum [et] Zephyrum ad se [et] dehinc fatur talia:

CALDWELL

(A) Meanwhile Neptume sensed the noisy roiling of the sea and the storm and commotion, even in the calm depths; (B) deeply disturbed, he raised his serene head from the top of a wave and looked over the sea.  (C) He saw the fleet of Aeneas scattered over the water, the Trojans beaten by the waves and ruinous wind, (D) and he recognized the tricks and anger of his sister Juno.  He called the East and West Winds, and spoke: 

Interea magno misceri murmure pontum,
emissamque hiemem sensit Neptunus…

The temporal adverb “interea”= “meanwhile.”  The adjective “magno,” modifying “murmure,” is ablative singular neuter of magnus, magna, magnum.  “misceri” is present infinitive passive ofmisceo, miscere, miscui, mixtum, “to mingle, to mix.”  “murmure” is ablative singular of murmur, murmuris, n. (3^rd), “murmur.”  “pontum” is accusative singular of pontus, ponti, m. (2^nd), “sea.” 

“emissam” is perfect passive participle of emitto, emittere, emisi, emissum, “to send out.”  “hiemem” is accusative singular of hiems, hiemis, f. (3^rd), “winter; storm.”  “sensit” is third person singular perfect indicative active of sentio, sentire, sensi, sensum (4^th), “to sense, to perceive.” “Neptunus” is nominative of Neptunus, Neptunis, m. (2^nd), in the Roman pantheon, the equivalent to the Greek’s god Poseidon; “god of the sea.”

                                                       …et imis               125
stagna refusa vadis, graviter commotus;…

The conjunction “et” connects “hiemem” with “stagna” in the following line.  The adjective “imis,” modifying “vadis” in the following line, is ablative plural of imus, ima, imum, “lowest.” 

“stagna” is accusative plural of stagnum, stagni, n. (2^nd), stagnant water, a stagnant pool.  “refusa” is perfect passive participle of refundo, refundere, refudi, refusum (3^rd), “to pour back.”  “vadis” is ablative plural of vadum, vadi, n. (2^nd), “shallow, shoal.”  The adverb “graviter”=”heavily.” “commotus” is perfect passive participle of commoveo, commovere, commovi, commotum, “to stir up, create commotion.”   

                                                         …et alto
prospiciens, summa placidum caput extulit unda.

The conjunction “et” joins “sensit” with “extulit” in the following line.  “alto” is ablative singular of altum, alti, n. (2^nd), “the deep; on high.” 

“prospiciens” is present participle of prospicio, prospicere, prospexi, prospectum (3^rd), “to view, to have a frontal view.”   The superlative adjective “summa,” modifying “unda,”  is ablative singular feminine of summus, summa, summum, “the highest.”  The adjective “placidum,” qualifying “caput,” is accusative singular neuter of placidus, placida, placidum.  “caput,” the direct object of “extulit,” is accusative singular neuter of caput, capitis, n. (3^rd).  “extulit” is third person singular perfect indicative active of effero, effere, extuli, elatum. “unda” is ablative singular ofunda, undae, f. (1^st), “wave.” 

Disiectam Aeneae, toto videt aequore classem,
fluctibus oppressos Troas caelique ruina,
nec latuere doli fratrem Iunonis et irae.               130

“Disiectam,” agreeing with “classem,” is perfect passive participle of disicio, disicere, disieci, disiectum (3), “to fling apart, scatter.”  “Aeneae” is genitive singular of Aeneas, Aeneae, m.;possessive genitive modifying “classem.”  The adjective “toto,” modifying “aequore,” is ablative singular neuter of totus, tota, totum, “whole.”  “videt” is third person singular present indicative active of video, videre, visi, visum. “aequore” is ablative singular of aequor, aequoris, n. (3^rd), “the sea.”  “classem” is accusative singular of classis, classis, f. (3^rd), “fleet.” 

“fluctibus” is a ablative plural of fluctus, fluctus, m. (4^th), “wave.” “oppressos,” agreeing with “Troas,” is perfect passive participle of opprimo, opprimere, oppressi, oppressum (3^rd) “to crush, to overwhelm.”  “Troas” is accusative plural of Troes, Troum, m., “Trojans.”  “caeli” is genitive singular of caelum, caeli, n. (2^nd), “heaven.”  “ruina” is ablative singular of ruina, ruinae, f. (1^st), “downfall, ruin”; instrumental ablative. 

“nec”=”neque.”  “latuere” is third person plural perfect indicative active of lateo, latere, latui(2^nd), “to lie concealed; to remain unknown.”  “doli” is nominative plural of dolus, doli, m. (2^nd), “fraud, treachery, deceit.” “fratrem” is accusative singular of frater, fratris, m. (3^rd), “Iunonis” is genitive singular of Iuno, Iuonis f. (3^rd).  “et” joins “doli” and “irae.” 

Eurum ad se Zephyrumque vocat, dehinc talia fatur:

“Eurum,” direct object of “vocat,” is accusative singular of Eurus, Euri, m. (2^nd), “the East Wind.”  The preposition “ad”+accusative, here “se.”  “se” is accusative singular of the reflexive pronoun, here referring to “Neptunus.”  “Zephyrum” is accusative singular of Zephyrum, Zephyri, m. (2^nd), “the West Wind.” “vocat” is third person singular present indicative active of voco, vocare, vocavi, vocatum (1^st); “Neptunus” is the subject.  The adverb “dehinc”=”thereupon, next.”  The adjective “talia,” qualifying “fatur” is accusative plural neuter of talis, tale, n., “of such kind.”  “fatur” is third person singular present indicative of the deponent for, fari, fatus sum, “to say, foretell.” 

DICKINSON COMMENTARY VIRGIL AENEID 1.124-131

Neptune notices that an unauthorized storm has arisen (Austin). 

124–126: the order is: —Interea Neptunus, graviter commotus, sensit pontum misceri magno murmure, hiememque emissam (esse), et stagna refusa (esse) imis vadis (Robertson).
124: magno misceri murmure: “is in the turmoil of a loud uproar”; murmure is abl. of manner (Wetherell) (AG 412). misceri: “to be agitated” (Frieze).
125: emissam: sc. esse (F-B).
126: stagna: the waters near the bottom of the sea are supposed not to be disturbed by ordinary winds; hence, they are called here “standing” or “still waters” (Frieze). refusa: sc. esse, “upheaved” (F-B). vadis: ablative of separation (F-B) (AG 401). graviter commotus: “deeply indignant” or “with deep displeasure,” not vehementer concitatus, “violently agitated,” or “roused to fury”; it is the stern displeasure of a god, conscious of his supreme power, and calmly exercising his authority to restrain or punish without any external excitement. Hence placidum caput, in the next verse, is not inconsistent (Frieze). 126–127: alto prospiciens: “gazing out over the deep.” alto is most naturally taken as ablative of the place where. prospiciens is not a verb of motion, and the dative would mean, “caring for the deep” (F-B). Locative abl. or possible abl. of separation (G-K). Dat. = in altum “over the sea” (Page).
127: placidum caput: however angry, the god is outwardly serene (F-B). In contrast with the angry storm and also to express his dignity...and dignified self-control in spite of his anger (Page). unda: abl. of separation (Wetherell).
129: caelique ruina: “by the destructive force of the air”; literally, “by the rushing down of the sky”; referring to the furious descent of the winds (Frieze). The phrase is here opposed to fluctibus: the sea and sky conspire to destroy the Trojans (Page). “The wreck of heaven,” a fine poetic audacity for “the storm” (Sidgwick).
130: latuere… fratrem: the verb is transitive (“be unknown to, escape the notice of”), and hence takes the accusative, fratrem (Bennett). Neptune was a son of Saturn, and therefore brother of Juno (Frieze). irae: “passions,” plural with reference to their repeated display (Walpole).
131: Eurum, Zephyrumque: all the winds are implied, though only two are mentioned (Frieze). dehinc: one syllable, by synizesis (F-B) (AG 603 note).

Virgil Aeneid 1.124-131 Scansion*

Īntĕrĕ|ā māg|nō || mīs|cērī| mūrmŭrĕ| pōntŭm

ēmīs|sāmque hĭĕm|ēm || sēn|sīt Nēp|tūnŭs ĕt| īmīs            125

stāgnă rĕf|ūsă văd|īs, || grăvĭt|ēr cōm|mōtŭs, ĕt| āltō

prōspĭcĭ|ēns sūm|mā || plăcĭd|ūm căpŭt| ēxtŭlĭt| ūndā.

dīsiēc|tam Aēnē|aē || tōt|ō vĭdĕt| aēquŏrĕ| clāssĕm,

flūctĭbŭs| ōpprēs|sōs || Trō|ās caēl|īquĕ rŭ|īnā;

nēc lătŭ|ērĕ dŏl|ī || frāt|rēm Iūn|ōnĭs ĕt| īraē.                   130

Eūrum ād| sē Zĕphŷr|ūmquĕ || vŏc|āt, deīn|c tālĭă| fātŭr:

*

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