Vergil, Aeneid I 208-222

Tālia vōce refert cūrīsque ingentibus aeger

spem vultū simulat, premit altum corde dolōrem.

Illī sē praedae accingunt dapibusque futūrīs:210

tergora dīripiunt costīs et vīscera nūdant;

pars in frūsta secant veribusque trementia fīgunt,

lītore aēna locant aliī flammāsque ministrant.

Tum vīctū revocant vīrēs, fūsīque per herbam

implentur veteris Bacchī pinguisque ferīnae.215

Postquam exēmpta famēs epulīs mēnsaeque remōtae,

āmissōs longō sociōs sermōne requīrunt,

spemque metumque inter dubiī, seu vīvere crēdant

sīve extrēma patī nec iam exaudīre vocātōs.

Praecipuē pius Aenēās nunc ācris Orontī,220

nunc Amycī cāsum gemit et crūdēlia sēcum

fāta Lycī fortemque Gyān fortemque Cloanthum.

notes

Manuscripts: M | R 208-216, 217-222 | F

After feasting they lament for their lost comrades (Jerram).

209: spem simulat, premit dolorem: note the effective asyndeton, and chiasmus (F-B). vultu: abl. of means (Chase).

210: illi: i.e., the followers of Aeneas (F-B). Emphatic in contrast with Aeneas (Walpole). se...accingunt: literally, “they gird themselves.” The poet speaks here according to the customs of his own countrymen. When the Romans wished to engage in any active work, they girded the toga more closely around them, and by this means drew it up more, so as to prevent its interfering with the feet (Anthon). praedae dapibusque: dative of purpose (F-B) (AG 382).

211: tergora: “hides” (F-B). costis: denotes the carcasses (Frieze). Dat. after deripiunt (Chase). viscera: “flesh” (F-B). Anything beneath the skin (Walpole).

212: pars...secant: the subject is collective, and equivalent to alii (as in 213). It may therefore take a plural verb (F-B). veribus: ablative of means (Carter). trementia: “quivering,” indicating their haste (F-B).

213: aëna: sc. vasa, “bronze kettles,” for boiling some of the meat (F-B).

214: vires: from vis (F-B). fusi: “stretched out” (F-B).

215: implentur: “take their fill.” The voice is really middle or reflexive ( = fill themselves), not passive (F-B). Bacchi: metonymy for “wine” (F-B). Genitive with a verb of plenty (AG 356).

216: exempta: sc. est (Walpole). mensae remotae: sc. sunt, “when the meal was over.” mensae is used by metonymy for the food itself (F-B).

217: requirunt: “they sorrow for,” properly “miss,” “feel the want of.” (F-B).

218–219: seu...sive: in prose, utrum or -ne...an (F-B).

218: inter: governs spem and metum (Chase). Placed by anastrophe after the nouns it governs (F-B). vivere: sc. illos. (Carter). credant: delib. subj. “whether to think” (P-H) (AG 444).

219: extrema pati: “suffer the last (doom),” a euphemism for death (F-B). nec iam: “and no longer” (F-B). vocatos: “when called.” The conclamatio, or three-fold call upon the dead, was a solemn feature of Roman funeral rites (F-B).

220: praecipue: “above all,” modifying gemit, not pius (F-B).

221: secum: literally, “with himself,” hence “silently.” The grief of Aeneas is unexpressed. We are to recognize it as even more sincere than that of the rest (F-B).

222: fortem Gyan fortem Cloanthum: Gyas was one of the Trojan companions of Aeneas, who distinguished himself at the games after the death of Anchises in Sicily, and obtained the third prize. Cloanthus was one of the Trojan followers of Aeneas (Robertson). The repetition has a pathetic effect. Both were brave men, and both are gone (F-B).

vocabulary

CORE VOCABULARY

simulō, āvī, ātus, 1, a.: to make similar; imitate, 6.591; pretend, 2.17; to make a false show of, feign, 1.209; p., simulātus, a, um, made to imitate, counterfeiting, 4.512; dissembling, 4.105; imitating, resembling, 3.349. (similis)

accingō, cīnxī, cīnctus (pass. inf., accingier, 4.493), 3, a.: to gird on; gird, 2.614; arm, equip, 6.184; make one’s self ready; prepare, 1.210; resort to, 4.493. (ad and cingō)

daps, dapis, f.: a feast, banquet, 1.210; food, viands, 1.706; flesh of sacrificial victims, 6.225; usually found in the pl., but the gen. pl. is not used.

futūrus, a, um: about to be; future, 4.622. (sum)

tergum, ī, and tergus, oris (1.211; 9.764), n.: the back of men or animals, 1.296, et al.; the stern of a ship, 5.168; skin, hide, 1.211; gauntlet, hide, 5.403; form, frame, body, 2.231; carcass, body, 1.635; length, long body, 2.208; a layer, plate, 10.482; pl., terga, ōrum, members, frame, 6.422; gauntlets, 5.419; ā tergō, behind, 1.186; in tergum, to the rear, 11.653; vertere or dare terga, to run away, retreat, 6.491; 9.794.

dīripiō, ripuī, reptus, 3, a.: to tear apart or off; snatch, tear away, 3.227; plunder, pillage, sack, 2.563. See also dēripiō. (dis- and rapiō)

costa, ae, f.: a rib, 1.211; side.

vīscus, eris, n.: an inner part of the body; pl., vīscera, um, the entrails, vitals, 6.599; the flesh, 1.211; heart, bosom, 6.833.

nūdō, āvī, ātus, 1. a.: to make bare, naked; lay open, bare, 1.211; (fig.), expose, 5.586; lay open, disclose, 1.356. (nūdus)

frūstum, ī, n.: a piece, 1.212.

secō, secuī, sectus, 1, a.: to cut, freq.; cut off, 4.704; engrave, carve, 3.464; cut through, cleave, 5.218, et al.; of the channel of a river, 8.63; sail through, pass, 8.96; speed, 6.899; shape out mentally, form, 10.107.

verū, ūs, n.: a spit, 1.212; a slender, tapering lance; spit-dart, 7.665.

tremō, uī, 3, n. and a.: to tremble, quake, shake, quiver, 5.198; tremble at, fear, dread, 8.296.

fīgō, fīxī, fīxus, 3, a.: to fix or fasten; freq., the object in or on which, in the abl., 1.212; abl. w. prep., 6.636; acc. w. prep., 9.408; fasten up, suspend from, 3.287; hang up, 1.248; set up, establish, make, 6.622; transfix, pierce, 5.516; hurl (fix by hurling), 10.883; wound, 10.343; inscribe, 11.84.

aēnus, a, um: adj. (aes), of bronze; brazen, 2.470; subst., aēnum, ī, n., a bronze or brazen vessel; caldron, 1.213, et al.

locō, āvī, ātus, 1, a.: to place, put, 1.213, et al.; lay, 1.428; found, 1.247. (locus)

ministrō, āvī, ātus, 1, a.: to serve, attend to, manage, 6.302; to minister, give, furnish, supply, 1.150. (minister)

vīctus, ūs, m.: a living; nourishment, sustenance, food, 1.214. (vīvō)

herba, ae, f.: any grassy or herbaceous growth; grass, turf, 1.214, et al; fodder; herb, plant, 3.650; grassy land, pasture, meadow, 3.221; a plant.

Bacchus, ī, m.: Bacchus, the son of Jupiter and Semele, and god of wine, 1.734; wine, 1.215.

pinguis, e: (adj.), fat, 1.215; well-fed, 1.635; fertile; reeking, 4.62; fat or rich with victims, 9.585.

ferīnus, a, um: adj. (ferus), of wild beasts; of game; of animals, 11.571; subst., ferīna (sc. carō, flesh), ae, f., flesh, game, venison, 1.215.

eximō, ēmī, ēmptus, 3, a.: to take out; remove, 6.746; take away, remove, 1.216. (ex and emō)

epulae, ārum, f.: a banquet, feast, 1.79; food, 1.216. (sing. epulum)

removeō, mōvī, mōtus, 2, a.: to move away; remove, take away, 1.723.

requīrō, quīsīvī or quīsiī, quīsītus, 3, a.: to seek much or earnestly; seek out, search for, 3.170; demand; ask, question, 2.390; inquire, 2.506; speak with regret of, mourn, 1.217. (re- and quaerō)

sīve or seu: (conj.), or if, freq.; or, 5.69; elliptical, 11.327; sīve (seu) — sīve (seu), whether — or, 1.569, 570; either — or, 4.240, 241.

exterreō, uī, itus, 2, a.: to frighten; alarm, startle, terrify, 3.307; flutter in terror, 5.505; p., exterritus, a, um, startled; roused, 4.571.

nec or neque: (adv. and conj.), and not; neither, nor, 1.643, et al.; in prohibition, 3.394, et al.; neque (nec) — neque (nec), neither — nor, 5.21, et al.; nec — et, or -que, may be rendered neither — nor, 12.801; 2.534; nec nōn, and also, nor less, 6.183; nec nōn et, and also, 1.707.

exaudiō, īvī, or iī, ītus, 4, a.: to hear distinctly; hear, 1.219; catch the sound, hear from afar, 7.15; listen to, heed, 11.157.

praecipuē: (adv.), chiefly, especially, particularly, most of all, 1.220. (praecipuus)

Aenēās, ae, m.: 1. A Trojan chief, son of Venus and Anchises, and hero of the Aeneid, 1.92. 2. Aenēās Silvius, one of the Alban kings, 6.769.

Orontēs, is, ī, or ae: a leader of the Lycians and companion of Aeneas, 6.334.

Amycus, ī, m.: 1. Amycus, a son of Neptune, king of the Bebrycians, famous for his prowess in boxing, 5.373. 2. A companion of Aeneas, 1.221. 3. Another Trojan of the same name, 9.772.

gemō, uī, itus, 3, n. and a.: to groan, 7.501; sigh, 1.465; bemoan, bewail, lament, 1.221; of inanimate things, creak, 6.413.

crūdēlis, e: adj. (crūdus), unfeeling, ruthless, cruel, inhuman, 2.124; relentless, 1.547; unnatural, 6.24; mortal, deadly, 2.561; bloody, 1.355; bitter, 1.361.

Lycus, ī, m.: a companion of Aeneas, 1.222.

Gyās, ae, m.: 1. Gyas, commander of one of the ships of Aeneas, 1.222. 2. A Latin slain by Aeneas, 10.318.

Cloanthus, ī, m.: commander of one of the ships of Aeneas, 1.222.

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