The Fields of Mourning
ln.440
nec procul hinc partem fusi monstrantur in omnem
- nic procul hinc is a phrase that shows we are transitioning to a different place
Lugentes campi; sic illos nomine dicunt.
- illos = Lugentes campi
hic quos durus amor crudeli tabe peredit
- hic is long, since the first syllab of every line is long
secreti celant calles et myrtea circum
silva tegit; curae non ipsa in morte relinquunt
- the object of celant and tegit is quos, with an abbreviated illos
- celant calles et silva tegit [illos] quos amor peredit
- ipsa is emphasis for morte.
- ofc u can take it as some FM/NT thing, but Occam's razor
- Occam's razor is useful for translation in general
- ofc u can take it as some FM/NT thing, but Occam's razor
ln.445
his Phaedram Procrinque locis maestamque Eriphylen
- hic is long, since the first syllab of every line is long
- Evadnen, Pasiphaen, Eriphylen
crudelis nati monstrantem vulnera cernit
- cernit [Eriphylen monstratem [vulnera crudelis nati]]
- nati: subjective genitive!!
Evadnenque et Pasiphaen; his Laodamia
- his: long i (dative) = for them (Laodamia walks as a friend)
it comes et iuvenis quondam, nunc femina, Caeneus
rursus et in veterem fato revoluta figuram.
Not far from here, the Fields of Mourning (like this they call them by name) are revealed, having been spread out in every direction. Here unyielding love, with a cruel wasting, eats at them continuously; remote passageways hide them and the myrtle-forest covers around them; the troubles did not leave [them] even in death.
In this place, he (Aeneas) sees Phaedram and Procrim and sad Eriphylen, showing the wounds from her cruel son, and Evadnen and Pasiphaen; with them Laodamia walks as a companion, and Caeneus, once a young man, now a woman, and again returned by fate to her former nature.
notes
unseen translation: don't switch active and passive around unnecessarily
read book 4
you don't want to be in a situation where you're relying on the marker's subjective judgement. e.g. saying "subjective genitive" may or may not get you the mark but it depends on the discussion
commentary
Vergil uses words showing suffering: "durus ... crudeli ... peredit" to describe "amor" to introduce that the Fields contain people who have died because of love.
"tabe ... non relinquunt" shows that the people are still suffering and grieving
cares are haunting them
"amor...peredit" "curae non...relinquunt", amor and curae are the active subjects
e.g. book 4, where Dido is described as the passive recipient of cruel actions done to her
creates an atmosphere of emotion
Queen Dido
ln.450
inter quas Phoenissa recens a vulnere Dido
errabat silva in magna; quam Troius heros
ut primum iuxta stetit agnovitque per umbras
obscuram, qualem primo qui surgere mense
- obscuram doesn't go with umbras bc obscuram is SG
aut videt aut vidisse putat per nubila lunam,
ln.455
demisit lacrimas dulcique adfatus amore est:
Between the women, Phonecian Dido, fresh from a wound,
wandered in the great forest; the Trojan hero
stood beside her, as if for the first time, and recognised her, indistinct, through
the shadows, she is like the moon which the guy who rose at the beginning of the month
either saw or believes (himself) to have seen through the clouds,
(Aeneas) let tears fall and said to her with sweet love:
ln.456
'infelix Dido, verus mihi nuntius ergo
venerat exstinctam ferroque extrema secutam?
- exstinctam secutam euphenism for suicide
funeris heu tibi causa fui? per sidera iuro,
per superos et si qua fides tellure sub ima est,
- tellure sub ima preposition sandwich
invitus, regina, tuo de litore cessi.
- tuo de litore preposition sandwich
ln.461
sed me iussa deum, quae nunc has ire per umbras,
- deum = deorum
- has ... per umbras preposition sandwich
per loca senta situ cogunt noctemque profundam,
- situ abl.respect/cause/means
imperiis egere suis; nec credere quivi
- imperiis...suis abl.cause/means
- dat.advantage - not really because you do stuff with a command, not for a command
- quivi - from queo
hunc tantum tibi me discessu ferre dolorem.
- indirect statement
- isn't it cool that the indirect statement is on its own line?
- subject: me
- verb: ferre
- object: hunc tantum delorem
- tibi indirect object
- discessu abl.means/cause
siste gradum teque aspectu ne subtrahe nostro.
quem fugis? extremum fato quod te adloquor hoc est.'
- fato, hoc est extremum, quod te adloquor
- te: not tibi because of the ad in adloquor; sometimes the prefix in verbs dictate what cases it take.
- fato abl.cause
"unlucky Dido, so is the news that had come to me true that your life was extinguished and that you had sought your end with a sword?
Alas, was I the cause of your death? I swear by the stars, by the gods above and if there is any faith beneath the depths of the earth, I departed from your shore unwillingly, my queen.
But the gods' orders, which now compel me to go through these shadows, through the place rough with neglect and the vast night, drove me with their command; I was not able to believe that I caused such sorrow to you with my departure. Stop your step and don't withdraw yourself from our sight. Why do you flee? I say this to you for the last time."
Aeneas was trying to calm her soul, which was burning and casting fierce glances, and he was beginning to cry.
dative of reference
advantage = bringing something to someone, even if it's a bad thing, it will still be typically considered advantage
disadvantage
interpretations of the imperfect
bleh I already know this
Dido Rejects Aeneas
talibus Aeneas ardentem et torva tuentem
- ardentem, tuentem → animum
- torva acc PL NT
- tuentem has an internal accusative (which torva describes
lenibat dictis animum lacrimasque ciebat.
- lacrimasQUE separates: ...animas // lacrimasque...
- here aeneas is crying (not Dido)
- this is a reference to earlier in the text, when Dido's sister Anna is crying and begging Aeneas to stay, but Aeneas isn't moved at all. here, Aeneas is crying and begging dido, but dido isn't listening.
illa solo fixos oculos aversa tenebat
- solus, sola, solum - lonely, alone VS solum, soli NT ground
- aversa - PPP, Dido hasn't looked at Aeneas at all during this time
nec magis incepto vultum sermone movetur
- vultum acc.respect
quam si dura silex aut stet Marpesia cautes.
- Marpesia referring to [originating from Paros]
- quam...cautes - stet is very close in sense to est so it's saying [no more than if Dido was made of flint/rock]
- simile: this would've been very relatable to Vergil's audience, they would know exactly what Paros marble statues look like
tandem corripuit sese atque inimica refugit
- inimica can take it as an adverb "she fled with hostility"
in nemus umbriferum, coniunx ubi pristinus illi
- nemus nemoris NT - wood, forest
respondet curis aequatque Sychaeus amorem.
- cura is the theme of book 4 (dido's obsessive love), so using this word here may be referring back to that
nec minus Aeneas casu percussus iniquo
- iniquo - literally "unequal" but here it's saying that Aeneas' misfortune is also unfair
- casu iniquo could be Aeneas' misfortunes, or Dido's misfortunes: "no less shaken by Dido's unfair misfortune" / "no less shaken by the unfairness of her misfortune"
prosequitur lacrimis longe et miseratur euntem.
- prosequitur - here
Turning away, she held her fixed eyes on the ground and was not more moved in expression by the speech, which Aeneas had begun, than if hard flint or Marpesian rock stood [there].
At last she tore herself away and, hostile, fled into the shadowy wood, where her former husband Sychaeus responds to her with concern and reciprocates her love.
Aeneas, not less shaken by unfair misfortune, follows far off with tears and pities [the] leaving [Dido].
notes
Dido doesn't have a regular genitive??? and that's why Vergil avoided using her name in every case except the nominative and vocative???
commentary
Why
- conclusion to the first half of the Aeneid, so A. can move forward into the future
- concludes the Dido/Aeneas arc
- dialogue reveals regrets in his past, hero who has been forced, not self-made
How does this speech convey Aeneas' emotions?
- Series of questions "versus...fui" expressing his grasping for other possibilities than the harsh truth
- questions can but not always express mental instabilities (Aeneas has holes