section 1a (proem)

(book 1, lines 1 to 11)

1 to 7

Arma uirumque cano, Troiae qui primus ab oris
Italiam fato profugus Lauiniaque uenit
litora, multum ille et terris iactatus et alto
ui superum, saeuae memorem Iunonis ob iram,
multa quoque et bello passus, dum conderet urbem
inferretque deos Latio; genus unde Latinum
Albanique patres atque altae moenia Romae.

I sing cano of arms arma, referring more generally to war and the man virumque in the first line, Vergil, links to Illiad's opening word with arma and the odyssey's opening word with virum, as well as introduces what he is going to talk about, war and Aeneas, imitating homer, he qui first primus, used as an adverb..? from the shores oris, F abl. PL of Troy, exiled profugus, dsc/qui by fate fato, abl.means, came venit, perfect by scansion (long e) to Italy and Lavinian Lavinia, plural accusative dsc/litora shores, he ille, disturbed iactatus much on sea alto and land by the strength vi, abl.means of the gods superum, abbrevated form of superorum, on account of ob, takes acc cruel Juno's unrelenting hate, and suffering in much multa, dsc/bello war also, until dum he might build conderet, imperfect subjunctive a city and bring inferret(que), imperfect subjunctive gods this isn't metaphorical god or religion, but they actually had small household statues of gods that the characters in the story would be bringing to the new land to Latio; from where [came] the Latin race and the Albanian fathers albanique patres and the high altae, dsc/Romae in grammar but dsc/moenia in meaning, transferred epithet walls moenia of Rome Romae, genitive.

this is all one sentence!! ( > w < )

8 to 11

Musa, mihi causas memora, quo numine laeso
quidue dolens regina deum tot uoluere casus
insignem pietate uirum, tot adire labores
impulerit. tantaene animis caelestibus irae?

Muse, tell memora, imperative, indicative, this is a question word that introduces the indirect question "quo...quidve...voluere...adire...impulerit" me mihi the causes causas, because of what quo, app/numine majesty numine, abl.cause, it's referring to Juno's majesty having been offended laeso, PPP, dsc/numine, or grieving dolens, dsc/regina, ao/quid at what quid, interrogative pronoun, acc, did the queen regina of the gods deum, syncopated form of deorum forced impulerit, ao/virum a man virum, acc., heyyy virum from the opening line is back famous insignem, dsc/virum for piety pietate, abl.respect to set in motion voluere such mishaps casus, to undergo adire such labours labores.

Are there (tantae)ne such tanta(ne) angers irae in celestial minds animis caelestibus?

structrual comments:

"memora": a question verb, introduces an indirect statement

 L_ question words of the indirect statement are "quo" and "quidve".
     L_ quo numine laeso, regina impulerit virum
     L_ quid dolens, regina impulerit virum

 L_ the subjunctive verb of the ind.stat. is "impulerit"
     L_ impulerit has two infinitives hanging off from it
         L_ voluere
         L_ adire

indirect questions and statements

indirect question
a sentence (w its verb in the subjunctive) (introduced by a question word) that acts as a noun in another sentence whose verb is an indicative "question" verb

indirect statement
a sentence (with its verb in the subjunctive) (its subject in the accusative) that acts as a noun in a sentence whose verb is a "verb of relaying"

section 2a (Laocoon thinks the horse is sus)

(book 2, 40 to 56)

40 to 44

Primus ibi ante omnis magna comitante caterua
Laocoon ardens summa decurrit ab arce,
et procul 'o miseri, quae tanta insania, ciues?
creditis auectos hostis? aut ulla putatis
dona carere dolis Danaum? sic notus Vlixes?

First primus there ibi, meaning lit. on the scene before ante, takes acc everyone omnis, acc w/ ante, a large crowd accompanying, fiery Laocoon runs down from the highest citadel, and at a distance, "O miserable citizens, what is such madness? Do you believe creditis, 2nd person PL. after a verb of believing (creditis), an inderict statement is expected. the indirect statement is "avectos [esse] hostis", which avectos [esse] as a(n infinitive) verb rather than a participle that the enemies have left avectos [esse], lit. the enemies have been carried away? Or do you believe also introducing an ind.stat.: "putatis dona carere dolis Danaum" subj: dona, verb: carere that any gift of the Greeks is free from tricks? Isn't Odysseus famous notus, supply est, not for participle reasons, just A is B, because otherwise the sentence is missing a verb as such?

Odysseus mentioned 🫀🫀🫀

45 to 49

aut hoc inclusi ligno occultantur Achiui,
aut haec in nostros fabricata est machina muros,
inspectura domos uenturaque desuper urbi,
aut aliquis latet error; equo ne credite, Teucri.
quidquid id est, timeo Danaos et dona ferentis.'

Either enclosed greeks are hidden in this wood, or this machine, which will look inspectura, future active participle dsc/machina into our homes from above the city, was constructed against in can also mean against our walls, or another trick lies hidden; don't trust this horse, Trojans. I fear the Greeks Danaos, accusative and the gifts dona they bring ferentis PL acc., ao/dona dsc/Danaos.

deus ex machina

in greek? roman? plays, they often ended abruptly with the appearance of a god

50 to 53

sic fatus ualidis ingentem uiribus hastam
in latus inque feri curuam compagibus aluum
contorsit. stetit illa tremens, uteroque recusso
insonuere cauae gemitumque dedere cauernae.

He said as such supply est for fatus, it's active because for fari fatus sum is deponent; [then] he |threw with a twist| contorsit a large spear ingentem hastam with great force viribus, abl.means/manner. viribus is from vis (power) and not vir(man). abl pl of vir would be viris into the side latus and in the horse's belly curved with joints inque feri curuam compagibus aluum: statement of variation. the spear illa stood trembling, and with the belly vibrating, the hollow cavern resounded insonuere, syncopated form of insonuerunt and gave a groan dedere, syncopated form of dederunt "insonuere cavae gemitumque dedere cavernae" can have cavae, cavernae both as nouns, so insonuere ao/cavae and dedere ao/cavernae. but it's better as cavae dsc/cavernae, and (insonuere|dedere) ao/cavernae.

dedere is from {do, dare, dedi, datum}, NOT {dedo, dedere, dedidi, deditum} although they have pretty similiar meanings.

• do,dare
  • give; dedicate; sell; pay; grant/bestow/impart/offer/lend; devote; allow; make; surrender/give over; send to die; ascribe/attribute; give birth/produce; utter;
• dedo, dedere
  • give up/in, surrender; abandon/consign/devote (to); yield, hand/deliver over

statement of variation

by putting a bunch of things between the preposition and the noun, it makes them a whole unit. then you can expect the words between the prep and the noun to describe the noun.

sīc fātus, ualidīs ingentem uīribus hastam
in latus inque ferī curuam compāgibus aluum
contorsit. ...

syncopated forms vs historical infinitive

historical infinitive
used to express brevity of an action, translated as imperf

insonuere isn't a historical infinitive bc the inf. would be insonare

dedere is an infinitive form but then it would be imperf and variatio yes but you can't just change a tense in an "X and Y" construction surely trust

54 to 56

et, si fata deum, si mens non laeua fuisset,
impulerat ferro Argolicas foedare latebras,
Troiaque nunc staret, Priamique arx alta maneres.

and, if the gods' deum is deorum wills fata, if the minds were not unfavourable zeugma, with non laeva fuisset going with both si fata deum and si mens, he would have drove impulerat, should be subjunctive but is indicative, showing how close he was to saving Troy to disgrace the Greek hiding place with spear ferro, lit. iron, metonomy, and Troy would now stand, and you Aeneas has slipped into the past and is addressing the citadel; example of apostrophe. we can tell because maneres is second person., the tall citadel of Priam, would now endure.

this whole thing (from si..si to staret...maneres) is a conditional construction

conditional construction

made of:

1. if part
   • also called
     • condition
     • protosis
     • the if part is a conditional clause, or just conditional
   • has an if word (like si)
2. then part
   • called:
     • fufillment
     • apodosis
   • NOT called a conditional clause: if you have to state what clause it is, say "direct statement" or "subjunctive (not indirect!) statement"

if there ase subjunctives in either the protosis or the apodosis, then it means it didn't come true. e.g. staret, maneret.

apostrophe

different to '

an address to someone who isn't present, e.g. Priamque arx alta maneres

section 2b (Laocoon is snaked)

(book 2, 199 to 227)

199 to 211 (sacrifice scene + snakes dramatic entrance)

199 to 202

hic aliud maius miseris multoque tremendum
obicitur magis atque improvida pectora turbat.

here hic another larger maius, adj dsc/illud thing aliud, to be feared tremendum, gerundive dsc/illud much more multo, adv, dsc/magis to a greater extent magis, dsc/tremendum by the miserable ones miseris, dat.agent w/ gerundives AND dat.w/obicitur, was laid in front obicitur [of the miserable ones] obicitur takes a dative, which is miseris—zeugma and atque disturbed turbat, ao/pectora unwary improvida, dsc/pectora chests pectora, NT PL.

multo (adv) → magis → tremendum

verbs with ob, ad, prae, and compound verbs with esse, all take the dative

Laocoon, ductus Neptuno sorte sacerdos,
sollemnis taurum ingentem mactabat ad aras.

Laocoon, a priest sacerdos, app/Laocoon for Neptune Neptuno, dat drawn ductus, dsc/(Laocoon|sacerdos) by chance sorte, abl.(manner|means), was sacrificing mactabat, imperfect a huge ingentem, dsc/taurum bull taurum, acc. at ad, takes acc. the solemn sollemnis, acc. because 3rd declension adjs are weird, dsc/aras altars aras, PL.

gerundives

gerundives take a dative as the agent instead of an ablative.

tremendum is a gerundive but it doesn't have a dat.agent, you could argue that "miseris" is it's dative of agent though, just zeugma'ed between it and obicitur
in line 222 there is also horrendos which also doesn't have dat.agent

heavily spondaic/dactylic

 -  -   -   -       -  -   -      -   - v  v    - -
sollem|nis tau|r(um)ingen|tem // mac|tabat ad | aras.                202

"sollemnis taurum ingentem mactabat ad aras" a line of spondees (aka heavily spondaic) represents solemnity/slowness of the action, sets up contrast with the serpents eating Laocoon.

metre - can comment on it but only when it's really obvious, aka lines of four spondees or four dactyls.

noun at end + its adj at start

t's a really common pattern in hexameter to place a noun at the end of a line and put the adjective as the first word.

you can use this to help you with translation

sollemnis taurum ingentum mactabat ad aras
→ taurum has an adj, so aras, the other noun in the line, probs has an adj too

some scanned lines

- v v  -      v v    -      -    - v v    -  v v    -  x
obici|tur // magis | atqu(e)im|provida | pectora | turbat.           200

Lāŏcŏ|ōn, dūc|tūs Nēp|tūnō | sōrtĕ să|cērdos,

 -  -   -   -       -  -   -      -   - v  v    - -
sollem|nis tau|r(um)ingen|tem // mac|tabat ad | aras.                202

203 to 208

ecce autem gemini a Tenedo tranquilla per alta
(horresco referens) immensis orbibus angues
incumbunt pelago pariterque ad litora tendunt;

look however, twin gemini snakes angues, takes 2 lines to get there to build suspense, this is called hyperbaton, which is any unusual word order with huge coils, from Tenedo, through the tranquil deep tranquilla per alta, preposition sandwich (I, telling this, shudder) leans incumbunt, present tense to make the scene more vivid. you can tell it's not imperfect because those end -bant. incumbebant on the sea and stretches tendunt, present tense to make the scene more vivid, towards the shore side by side;

-     -   -      v v     -  v v  -   -   -   v  v    -  x
ecc(e)au|tem // gemi|n(i)a Tene|do tran|quilla per | alta          203

  -  -   -  v v  -       -   -  -    -  v v    -  x
(horres|co refe|rens) // im|mensis | orbibus | angues              204

īncūm|būnt pĕlă|gō // părĭ|tērqu(e)ād | lītŏră | tēndunt;          205

pectora quorum inter fluctus arrecta iubaeque
sanguineae superant undas, pars cetera pontum
pone legit sinuatque immensa volumine terga.

their quorum, gen.posession ao/ pectora|iubae, connecting relative refering back to the angues (snakes), latin likes to use qui, quae, quod for he, she, without the relative flavour. so quorum is translated as their instead of whose. Also relative pronouns match gender and number but not case, so that's why quorum can be gen. but angues is nom. upright arrecta, ppp chests pectora, PL NT 3dc pectus, pectoris and (iubae)que bloody sanguineae crests iubae(que), between waves, rise above superant, ao/ pectora, iubae the water, the other cetera part pars FM, placed behind pone, skim legit, since when you read you go across the lines, legit has a transferred sense of skimming the surface of something the sea pontum and writhe sinuat (que) with the immeasurable immensa, dsc/terga rear terga in folds volumine, abl.manner immensa volumine terga, ablative absolute.

209 to 211

fit sonitus, spumante salo, iamque arua tenebant
ardentisque oculos suffecti sanguine et igni
sibila lambebant, linguis vibrantibus, ora.

the subject throughout this entire passage is still angues

there is fit sound sonitus, with the waves salo foaming spumante, spumante salo, ablative absolute, and now iamque they were holding tenebant the lands arva, acc of motion towards, NT PL and they are imbued suffecti with blood sanguine, abl.instrument and et fire igni, abl.instrument with respect to the burning ardentis, acc, dsc/oculos eyes oculos, acc.respect - acc.respect normally doesn't exist in Latin, but does exist in Greek, they were licking lambebant their hissing sibila mouths ora with vibrating tongues linguis vibrantibus, abl.absolute or abl.manner.

note that sibila ora, although it can be nominative, can't be the subject. aka "the hissing mouths were licking with vibrating tongues" isn't possible—lambebant is transitive in latin.

212 to 227 (the snakes arrive and kill him)

212 to 219

diffugimus uisu exsangues. illi agmine certo
Laocoonta petunt; et primum parua duorum
corpora natorum serpens amplexus uterque
implicat et miseros morsu depascitur artus;

bloodless exangues, agreeing with the invisible subject of diffugimus, we disperse diffugimus, present by scansion at the sight visu, abl.means or abl.cause with exangues (bloodless because of the sight), or abl.separation with diffugimus.

They illi, nom. referring to the snakes seek petunt, pres, perf is petiverunt. Laocoon Laocoonta, accusative singular, greek accusative in a straight line agmine certo, abl.manner, and first primum, adverb, each uterque, NOT uter + que, this explains why serpens is singular serpent serpens having wrapped amplexus, deponent around the small parva, dsc/corpora bodies corpora of the two sons duorum natorum, wraps around implicat and feeds depascitur, deponent, although it apparently has normal forms as well on their wretched limbs with a bite morsu, abl. manner;

• depascitur normal forms
• also note that depascor is different to depaciscor

post ipsum auxilio subeuntem ac tela ferentem
corripiunt spirisque ligant ingentibus; et iam
bis medium amplexi, bis collo squamea circum
terga dati superant capite et ceruicibus altis.

next post, they seize Laocoon himself ipsum, (who is coming to help auxilio, predicative dative???? and bringing weapons subeuntem ac tela ferentem) and (spiris)que bind ligant, PL him with huge coils spiris(que) ingentibus;

and now et iam, they, who wrapped around amplexi, ppp but amplector is deponent his torso medium twice bis, adv, who placed circum...dati ~> circumdati, ao/terga tmesis to imitate Homer, active because poetry and because the gender doesn't fit if it's going with terga the scaly squamea, dsc/terga skins terga, acc.dir-obj of circumdati around his neck twice, overwhelm superant him with their heads capite, SG for poetry and long necks cervicibus altis, abl.instrument.

I guess amplexi...dati...superant is a bit of anaphora

tmesis

tmesis [sic] (from greek 'to cut' is where a verb is separated and written as two words.

4dc nouns & supine

a lot of fourth declension nouns come from the supine stem
e.g. video videre, vidi, visum → visus, visus = sight
exerceo → exercitus, exercitus

differentiating perfect and present

all perfect and present endings are different anyways except for 3ps SG in the active voice. so literally don't worry unless it ends -it. then worry.

wait what about -mus (facepalm)

perf 3ps PL (indicative active) has that distinctive "erunt" instead of just "unt"
and ofc passives have the form of sum attached

220 to 224

ille simul manibus tendit diuellere nodos
perfusus sanie uittas atroque ueneno,
clamores simul horrendos ad sidera tollit:

At the same time, Laocoon ille, signalling a change of subject from serpens in the previous lines strained to prise apart the knots with his hands, drenched with respect to his ceremonial garments vitas, another acc.respect. vitae are strips of fabric worn by priests when they conduct a sacrifice. they are also used to decorate sacrificial animals. with gore sanie, abl.instrument any sort of bodily fluid or something gooey and black atero(que), dsc/veneno poison veneno, abl.instrument, and at the same time raised terrifying shouts clamores, acc at ad the skys sidera, acc.w/ad, PL:

qualis mugitus, fugit cum saucius aram
taurus et incertam excussit ceruice securim.

like qualis, dsc/clamores, meaning "in the way described" the bellowing mugitus, can mean a bellow or in general bellowing when cum, this introduces the temporal clause fugit cum...taurus...securim a wounded bull that fled fugit, perfect by scansion: [quālīs | mūgī|tūs, fū|gīt cūm | sāucĭŭs | āram], ao/aram the altar aram, acc and shook excussit, ao/securim the off-target incertam axe securim from its neck cervice.

interesting that perfusus...veneno and qualis...securim are basically each their own standalone, ablative-absolute-like "unit", and can be removed from the poem without affecting the meter nor grammar.

ring composition

in epic poetry, a really common structure is ring composition, where a scene starts off at topic a, then it goes off to something else, e.g. B, then C, then it goes backwards, back to B. e.g. in the illiad, everyone puts on armour in a set pattern, and then when they take off their armour, it's in the reverse order

how it starts off with a sacrifice, then comes back to a simile of a sacrifice.

simile table

simile	actual
taurus	laocoon
mugitus	shouting
fugit	trying to flee
excussit securim	snakes have hurt him but not killed him; he's in pain

he uses the analogy to show a lot of things about Laocoon (this is lowkey what all similes do tho)

225 to 227

at gemini lapsu delubra ad summa dracones
effugiunt saeuaeque petunt Tritonidis arcem,
sub pedibusque deae clipeique sub orbe teguntur.

But the twin snakes flee effugiunt, pres, perf would be effugerunt with gliding lapsu, from labor, to fall towards the great summa temple delubra, PL in grammar but singular in meaning delubra ad summa is a preposition sandwich and seek petunt the citadel arcem of savage/fierce/quick-to-anger saevae, gen dsc/Tritonidis Minerva Tritonidis, gen, they shelter teguntur, passive, pres (perf would be texus sunt) near her feet and below the circle of her shield clipei, genitive sub pedibusque...clipeique sub: chiasmus

preposition sandwich

if you have a noun and an adjective with a preposition on the noun, the preposition goes between the two
quite common in poetry
e.g. paucis in rebus

structures

arx

arx - a high point in the city
important temples had arces
a citadel is NOT a tall tower (well it could be but it's just a high point)

image source
people will retreat there where the city is under attack

temples and altars

sacrifices tend to be done outdoors (on the altar)
indoors is where the gods live
the altar is outside

image source

Commentary on 212 to 227

2. How does Virgil make this scene vivid/dramatic?
   • Vergil uses the historical present tense (petunt...implicat...depascitur...) to immerse readers in the moment and make it seem more real.
   • a simile compares Laocoon's pained cries to that of a sacrificial bull (qualis... fugit...aram taurus); it adds visual/auditory imagery using a scene more familiar to the reader
   • Description of the blood and gore soaking Laocoon's clothing (sanie...artro veneno) - visual imagery.
   • simul...simul shows the chaos of the scene as many things are happening at the same time
3. How does Virgil imbue this scene with pathos? (sympathy, sad emotions)
   • Vergil describes Laocoon's two sons as having miserable limbs (miseros...artus) and small bodies (parva...corpora), suggesting their helplessness and thus evoking sympathy.
   • Describes his children with word choice - mesiros artus, parva corpora - weak, innocent, helpless, pitible
   • Vergil compares Laocoon's pained cries to that of a sacrificial bull (qualis... fugit...aram taurus) to emphasis his pain and evoke sympathy
   • Subeuntem...ferentum - Laocoon's desperation to help his son - he is snatched as he is trying to save his sons (emphasised by assonance of m/n)
     • assonance a side dish
   • reveal of Minerva's role at the end - Laocoon's death was unpreventable he could have done nothing to stop it and save his sons
   • Irony - Laocoon goes from sacrificer to sacrificed
     • he was sacrificing a bull to neptune
     • be becomes a sacrifice to Minerva
4. The serpents hide underneath a statue of Minerva - what does this suggest about the source and meaning of the punishment?
   • Minerva god of wisdom - maybe Laocoon misused his wisdom?
   • Minerva is on Odysseus' side - punishment from the greeks