Aeneid 1:132-141 Course Notes

Latin IV:  Vergil, Aeneid

Instructor: James Ransom

June 14, 2014

Aeneid 1:132-141

Course Notes

'Tantane vos generis tenuit fiducia vestri?
Iam caelum terramque meo sine numine, venti,
miscere, et tantas audetis tollere moles?
Quos ego—sed motos praestat componere fluctus.               135
Post mihi non simili poena commissa luetis.
Maturate fugam, regique haec dicite vestro:
non illi imperium pelagi saevumque tridentem,
sed mihi sorte datum. Tenet ille immania saxa,
vestras, Eure, domos; illa se iactet in aula               140
Aeolus, et clauso ventorum carcere regnet.'

'Tantane vos generis tenuit fiducia vestri?

“tantane”=tanta + ne.  “tanta” is nominative singular feminine of tantus, tanta, tantum, “so great, so much.” Agrees with “fiducia.”  “ne”: negative interrogative particle.  “vos” is accusative plural of the second person pronoun.  “generis” is genitive singular of genus, generis, n. (3^rd), “birth, descent, origin.”  “tenuit” is third person singular perfect indicative active of teneo, tenire, tenui, tentum (2^nd), “to hold.”  “vestri,” agreeing with “generis,”  is genitive singular of the plural possessive pronoun vester, vestra, vestrum.

Iam caelum terramque meo sine numine, venti,
miscere, et tantas audetis tollere moles?

“iam” is adverb of time, “already, now.”  “caelum,” the direct object of “miscere” in the following line, is accusative singular of caelum, caeli, n. (2^nd).  “terram” is accusative singular of terra, terrae, f. (1^st).  “-que” links “caelum” and “terram.”  “meo,” agreeing with “numine,” is ablative singular neuter of meus, mea, meum.  “sine”: ablative.  “numine” is ablative singular of numen, numinis, n. (3^rd), “divine will, divine sanction.”  “venti” is vocative plural of ventus, venti, m. (2^nd): “O winds.”

“miscere” is present infinitive of misceo, miscere, miscui, mixtum (2^nd), “to mingle, to mix.” The conjunction “et” joins the infinitives “miscere” and “tollere.”  “tantas” is accusative plural feminine of tantus, tanta, tantum.  “audetis” is second person plural of the semi-deponent audeo, audire, ausus sum, “to dare.”  “tollere” is present infinitive of tollo, tollere, sustuli, sublatum, “to raise, to lift.”  “moles” is accusative plural of moles, molis, f. (3^rd), “mass [here= large body of water]”.    

Quos ego—sed motos praestat componere fluctus.               135
Post mihi non simili poena commissa luetis.

“quos” is accusative plural masculine of the relative pronoun quis, quae, quod.  “ego” is nominative singular of the first person pronoun.  The dash represents the speaker breaking off, leaving the balance of his threat unexpressed.  The trope of “aposiopesis.”  See Ganiban Appendix B, “Stylistic Terms,” at 113.  “sed”=”but.”  “motos” is perfect passive participle of moveo, movere, movi, motum, “to move.”  “praestat” is third person singular present indicative active of praesto, praestare, praestiti, praestitum, “it is better.”  “componere” is present infinitive of compono, componere, composui, compositum, “to compose, put together.”  “fluctus,” direct object of “componere,” is accusative plural of fluctus, fluctus, m. (4^th), “wave.” 

“post” is adverb of time, “afterwards,” “next time.”  “mihi” is dative singular of the first person pronoun.   The negative adverb “non” modifies” “simili.”  The adjective “simili” is ablative singular of similis, simile (3^rd), “resembling, similar.”  “poena” is ablative singular of poena, poenae, f. (1^st), “penalty, punishment.”  “luetis” is second person plural future indicative active of luo, luere, lui (3^rd), “to expiate, to atone for.”    

Maturate fugam, regique haec dicite vestro:
non illi imperium pelagi saevumque tridentem,
sed mihi sorte datum. …

“maturate” is imperative of maturo, maturare, maturavi, maturatum (1^st), “to hasten, accelerate.”  “fugam” is accusative singular of fuga, fugae, f. (1^st).  “regi,” agreeing with “vestro,” is dative singular of rex, regis, m. (3^rd). “-que” links the imperatives “maturate” and “dicite.” The demonstrative adjective “haec,” direct object of “dicite,” is accusative plural neuter of hic, haec, hoc. “vestro,” agreeing with “regi,” is dative singular masculine of the possessive second person pronoun vester, vestra, vestrum.   

The negative adverb “non” modifies “datum” in the following line.  The demonstrative third person pronoun “illi” is dative singular masculine of ille, illa, illud, referring to “regi” in the previous line.  “imperium” is accusative singular of imperium, imperii, n. (2^nd), “empire, command.”  “pelagi” is genitive singular of pelagus, pelagi, n. (2^nd), “the sea.”  The adjective “saevum,” modifying “tridentem,” accusative singular masculine of saevus, saeva, saevum, “savage.”  “-que” links the accusatives “imperium” and “tridentem.”  “tridentem” is accusative singular of tridens, tridentis, m. (3^rd), “trident.” 

The adversative conjunction “sed” is construed with “mihi” in the construction “non illi…

sed mihi…datum [esse].”  The personal pronoun “mihi” is dative singular masculine of ego. “sorte” is ablative singular of sors, sortis, f. (3^rd), “fate, destiny, chance.”  “datum” is perfect passive participle of do, dare, dedi, datum (1^st).

Tenet ille immania saxa,
vestras, Eure, domos; illa se iactet in aula               140
Aeolus, et clauso ventorum carcere regnet.'

“Tenet” is third person singular present indicative active of teneo, tenere, tenui, tentum, “to hold.” The demonstrative personal pronoun “ille,” subject of “tenet,” is nominative singular masculine of ille, illa, illum.  The adjective “immania,” modifying “saxa,” is accusative plural neuter of immanis, immane (3^rd).  “saxa” is accusative plural of saxum, saxi, n. (2^nd), “rock, stone.” 

“vestras,” agreeing with “domos,” is accusative plural feminine of vester, vestra, vestrum.  “Eure” is  vocative singular of Eurus, Euri, m. (2^nd), “the East Wind.”  “domos” is accusative plural of domus, domus, f. (4^th), “house.” The demonstrative person pronoun “illa,”  agreeing with “aula,” is ablative singular feminine of ille, illa, illud.  “se”:  accusative singular of the reflexive pronoun. The hortatory subjunctive “iactet” is third person singular present subjunctive active of iacto, iactare, iactavi, iactatum, “to throw out, to throw often.”  The preposition “in”+ ablative, here “aula.” “aula” is ablative singular of aula, aulae, f. (1^st), “court, hall.” 

“Aeolus” is nominative singular of Aeolus, Aeoli, m., “king of the winds.” “et” links the subjunctives “iactet” and “regnet.”  “clauso” is perfect passive participle of claudo, claudere, clausi, clausum, “to lock away, shut in.”  “ventorum” is genitive plural of ventus, venti, m. 2^nd.  “carcere” is ablative singular of carcer, carcis, m. (3^rd), “prison.”  “regnet” is third person singular present subjunctive active of regno, regnare, regnavi, regnatum, “to rule.”