Aeneid 1:113-123 Course Notes

Latin IV:  Vergil, Aeneid

Instructor:  James Ransom

June 10, 2014

Unam, quae Lycios fidumque vehebat Oronten,
ipsius ante oculos ingens a vertice pontus
in puppim ferit: excutitur pronusque magister               115
volvitur in caput; ast illam ter fluctus ibidem
torquet agens circum, et rapidus vorat aequore vertex.
Adparent rari nantes in gurgite vasto,
arma virum, tabulaeque, et Troia gaza per undas.
Iam validam Ilionei navem, iam fortis Achatae,               120
et qua vectus Abas, et qua grandaevus Aletes,
vicit hiems; laxis laterum compagibus omnes
accipiunt inimicum imbrem, rimisque fatiscunt.

Unam, quae Lycios fidumque vehebat Oronten,
ipsius ante oculos ingens a vertice pontus
in puppim ferit:

“Unam” (with “navem” understood) is accusative singular feminine of unus, una, unum.  “quae” is nominative singular feminine of the relative pronoun quis, quae, quod..  The adjective [here used substantively] “Lycios” is accusative masculine plural of Lycius, Lycia, Lycium, “of or relating to Lycia.”  Lycia was a land in Asia Minor which allied with Troy during the war.  The adjective “fidum,” modifying “Orontem,” is accusative singular masculine of fidus, fida, fidum, “faithful, devoted.”  “-que” joins “Lycios” and “Oronten.” “vehebat” is third person singular imperfect indicative active of veho, vehere, vexi, vectum (3^rd), “to carry.” “Oronten” is accusative singular of Orontes, Orontis, m., “chief of the Lycians.” 

The intensive pronoun “ipsius” is genitive singular masculine of ipse, ipsa, ipsum,  “himself, herself, itself.”  “ante”: preposition +accusative, here “oculos.”  “oculos” is accusative plural of oculus, oculi, m. (2^nd), “eye.”  The adjective “ingens,” qualifying “pontus,” is nominative singular masculine of ingens, ingentis (3^rd), “huge.”  “a”: preposition + ablative, here “vertice.”  “vertice” is ablative singular of vertex, verticis, m. (3^rd), “whirlpool.”

“in”: preposition +accusative, here “puppim.”  “puppim” is accusative singular of puppis, puppis, m. (3^rd), “stern,” i.e., the rear of a ship. “ferit” is third person singular present indicative active of ferio, ferire (4^th), “to strike.”

excutitur pronusque magister               115
volvitur in caput; ast illam ter fluctus ibidem
torquet agens circum, et rapidus vorat aequore vertex.

“excutitur” is third person singular present indicative active of excutio, excutere, excussi, excussum, (3^rd), “to shake out, shake off.”  The adjective “pronus” is nominative singular masculine of pronus, prona, pronum, “sloping, precipitious, flying headlong.” “magister” is nominative singular of magister, magistri, m. (2^nd), “master, chief, ruler,” here, “helmsman” or “pilot” of the ship. 

“volvitur” is third person singular present indicative active of volvo, volvere, volvi, volutum (3^rd), “to whirl around,” ; subject is “magister” in the previous line.  The preposition “in”+accusative,  here “caput.”  “caput” is accusative singular of caput, capitis, n. (3^rd), “the head.”  “volvitur in caput”=is thrown headlong, headfirst.” “ast”=archaic “at”=”but, yet; moreover, meanwhile.”  The demonstrative pronoun “illam” [i.e.,  “navem,” the ship] is accusative singular feminine of ille, illa, illud.   The numerary adverb “ter”=3; qualifies “torquet” in the following line.  “fluctus,” the subject of “torquet” in the following line,” is nominative singular of fluctus, fluctus, m. (4^th), “billow, surge.” The adverb “ibidem”=”in the same place.”   

“torquet” is third person singular present indicative active of torquero, torquere, torsi, tortum, “to wind, twist, turn round.”  “agens” is present active participle of ago, agere, egi, actum (3^rd), “to drive, lead, conduct.”  The adverb “circum”=”around.” “et” links “fluctus,” in the previous line, with “vortex.”  The adjective “rapidus,” qualifying “vertex,” is nominative singular masculine of rapidus, rapida, rapidum, “snatching, seizing, carrying off.”  “vorat” is third person singular present indicative active of voro, vorare, voravi, voratum, “to swallow up, devour.”  “aequore” is ablative singular of aequor, aequoris n. (3^rd), “the sea.”  Instrumental ablative.  “vertex” is nominative singular of  vertex, verticis, m. (3^rd), “whirlpool, vortex.”

Adparent rari nantes in gurgite vasto,
arma virum, tabulaeque, et Troia gaza per undas.

“adparent” is third person plural present indicative active of appareo, apparere, apparui, appritum (2^nd), “to appear, to become visible.”  The adjective “rari” is nominative plural masculine of rarus, rara, rarum, “scattered, strewn widely.”  Construe with “viri” understood.”  “nantes” is present participle of no, nare, navi, “to swim.” The preposition “in”+ablative, here “gurgite.”  “gurgite” is ablative singular of gurges, gurgitis, m. (3^rd), “whirlpool.”  The adjective “vasto,” qualifying “gurgite,” is ablative singular masculine of vastus, vasta, vastum, “huge, enormous, vast.” 

“arma” is nominative plural of arma, armorum, n., “arms.”  “virum” is the contracted form of “virorum,” the genitive plural of vir, viri, m. (2^nd), “man.”  “tabula” is nominative plural of tabula, tabulae, f. (1^st), “board, plank.”  “-que” links “arma” and “tabulae.”  “et” connects “gaza” to “tabulae.” The adjective “Troia” is nominative singula feminine of Troius, Troia, Troium, “Trojan.”  “gaza” is nominative singular of gaza, gazae, f. (1^st), “treasure.” The preposition “per”+accusative, here “undas.”  “undas” is accusative plural of unda, undae, f. (1^st), “wave.” 

 Iam validam Ilionei navem, iam fortis Achatae               120
et qua vectus Abas, et qua grandaevus Aletes,
vicit hiems;…

The temporal adverb “iam”=”now, already.”  The adjective “validam” is accusative singular feminine of  validus, valida, validum, “strong.” “Ilionei” is genitive singular of Ilioneus, Ilionei, m., “Ilioneus,” literally “man from Ilium,” a follower of Aeneas. The possessive genitive limits “navem.”  “navem” is accusative singular of navis, navis, f. (3^rd), “ship.”  “iam”:  repetition=anaphora; lack of conjunction=asyndeton. The adjective, “fortis,” modifying “Achatae,” is genitive singular masculine of fortis, forte, m. (3^rd), “strong, brave.”  “Achatae” is genitive singular of Achates, Achatae, m. (3^rd), “Achates,” loyal companion of Aeneas. 

“et qua…et qua” joins the “navem” (understood) of Abas and Aletes with those of Iliones and Achates in the previous line.  Note anaphora. The relative pronoun “qua,” relating to and agreeing with the understood antecedent “navem,”  is ablative singular feminine of quis, quae, quod.  “vectus” is perfect passive participle of veho, vehere, vexi, vectum (3^rd), “to carry.”  The adjective “grandaevus,” modifying “Aletes,” is nominative singular masculine of grandaevus, grandaeva, grandaevum, “old, of great age.”  “Aletes” is nominative singular of Aletes, Aletis, m. (3^rd), “Aletes,” an old and wise counselor of Aeneas. 

“vicit” is third person singular perfect indicative active of vinco, vincere, vici, victum (3^rd), “to conquer, defeat.”  “hiems” is nominative singular of hiems, hiemis, f. (3^rd), “winter, a winter storm.”  Subject of “vicit.”

                            …laxis laterum compagibus omnes
accipiunt inimicum imbrem, rimisque fatiscunt.

The adjective “laxis,” modifying “compagibus,” is ablative plural feminine of laxus, laxa, laxum, “slack, loose.” “laterum” is genitive plural of latus, lateris, m. (3^rd), “side.”

“compagibus” is ablative plural of compages, compagis, f. (3^rd), “a joining or fastening; a joint.” 

“accipiunt” is third person plural present indicative active of accipio, accipere, accepi, acceptum (3^rd),  “to receive, to allow in.”  The adjective “inimicum,” qualifying “imbrem,” is accusative singular masculine of inimicus, inimica, inimicum, “hurtful, injurious; hostile, unfriendly.” “imbrem” is accusative singular of imber, imbris, m. (3^rd), rainstorm; here, “stormwaters.” “rimis” is ablative plural of rima, rimae, f. (1^st), “crack.”  “fatiscunt” is third person plural present indicative active of fatisco, fatiscere (3^rd), “ to split, crack, give way.”