Aeneid 1:58-64 Course Notes

Latin IV:  Vergil, Aeneid

Instructor:  James Ransom

June 4, 2014

Aeneid 1:58-64

Course Notes
© 2014 James Ransom, M.A., J.D.

Ni faciat, maria ac terras caelumque profundum
quippe ferant rapidi secum verrantque per auras.
Sed pater omnipotens speluncis abdidit atris,               60
hoc metuens, molemque et montis insuper altos
imposuit, regemque dedit, qui foedere certo
et premere et laxas sciret dare iussus habenas.
Ad quem tum Iuno supplex his vocibus usa est:

Ni faciat, maria ac terras caelumque profundum
quippe ferant rapidi secum verrantque per auras.

“Ni”=archaic form of “si non,” governing “faciat.”  “faciat” is third person singular present subjunctive active of facio, facere, feci, factum.  “Ni faciat”=”if he did not,” i.e., if Aeolus did not control the winds.  “maria” is accusative plural of mare, maris, n. (3^rd), “the sea.”  The conjunction “ac”=”and.”  “terras” is accusative plural of terra, terrae, f. (1^st), “land.”  “caelum” is accusative singular of caelum, caeli, n. (2^nd), “heaven.”  The adjective “profundum” is accusative singular neuter of profundus, profunda, profundum, “deep, high.” 

“quippe”=”indeed, for surely.” On its positioning remote from “ni faciat,” see Ganiban note 59.  “ferant” is third person plural present subjunctive active of fero, ferre, tuli, latum.  The adjective “rapidi” is masculine nominative plural of rapidus, rapida, rapidum, “hurrying, rapid.” “secum”=the ablative reflexive pronoun “se” + “cum”=with; the ungoverned winds would “with themselves, by themselves” wreak havoc.  “verrant” is third person plural present subjunctive active of verro, verrere, verri, versum (3^rd), “sweep, sweep away.”  The preposition “per” takes the accusative and governs “auras.”  “auras” is  accusative plural of aura, aurae, f. (1^st), “air, breeze, breath.” 

Sed pater omnipotens speluncis abdidit atris,               60
hoc metuens, molemque et montis insuper altos
imposuit,…

The conjunction “Sed”=”But…”  “pater” is nominative singular of pater, patris, m. (3^rd). Adjective “omnipotens,” agreeing with “pater,”=”almighty.”  “speluncis” is ablative plural of spelunca, speluncae, f. (1^st), “cavern.”  “abdidit” is third person singular perfect indicative active of abdo, abdere, abdidi, abditum (3^rd), “to put away; to hide.”  The adjective “atris,” qualifying “speluncis,” is ablative plural of ater, atra, atrum, “black, gloomy.”

“hoc” is accusative singular neuter of the demonstrative pronoun hic, haec, hoc.  “metuens” is present participle of metuo, metuere, metui, metutum, “to fear.”  “molem” is accusative singular of moles, molis, f. (3^rd), “mass; difficulty.” “-que” lin,ks “molem” and “montis.” “montis” (some editions read “montes,” the alternate form) is accusative plural of mons, montis, m. (3^rd), “mountain.”  The adverb “insuper”=”on the top; on top of” and modifies “imposuit.”  The adjective “altos” is accusative plural masculine of altus, alta, altum, “high,”; modifies “montis.”  

“imposuit” is third person singular perfect indicative active of impono, imponere, imposui, impositum (3^rd), “to place on, place over.” 

regemque dedit, qui foedere certo
et premere et laxas sciret dare iussus habenas.

“regem” is accusative singular of rex, regis, m. (3^rd).  “dedit” is third person singular perfect indicative active of do, dare, dedi, datum (1^st).  “qui” is nominative singular masculine of the relative pronoun qui, quae, quod. “foedere” is ablative singular or foedis, foederis, n. (3^rd), “bond of faith, treaty.” The adjective “certo” is ablative singular neuter of certus, certa, certum, “certain, fixed, sure.”  Modifies “foedere.” 

“et…et”=”both…and.”  “premere” is present infinitive active of premo, premere, pressi, pressum (3^rd), “press down, overwhelm.”  The adjective “laxas” is accusative plural feminine of laxus, laxa, laxum, “loose, relaxed.”  “sciret” is third person singular imperfect subjunctive active of scio, scire, scivi, scitum, “to know.”  “dare” is present infinitive of do, dare, dedi, datum.  “iussus” is perfect passive participle of iubeo, iubere, iussi, iussum, “to command.”  “habenas” is accusative plural of habena, habenae, f. (1^st), “the rein.”  

Ad quem tum Iuno supplex his vocibus usa est:

“Ad quem”=”To whom”[i.e., Juno addresses her following speech to Aeolus]; “Ad”:  preposition + accusative.  “quem”: accusative singular masculine of the relative pronoun qui, quae, quod.  The temporal adverb “tum”= “then, at that time.”  “Iuno”:  nominative subject of “usa est.”  “usa est” is third perfect singular perfect indicative of the deponent utor, usi, usus sum, “use.” “utor” governs the ablative, here “vocibus.” “vocibus” is ablative plural of vox, vocis, f. (3^rd), “voice, tone of voice, word.”  “supplex”is nominative singular feminine of the adjective supplex, supplicis, f. (3^rd), “bending the knee, suppliant.”  “his” is ablative plural feminine of the demonstrative adjective hic, haec, hoc.