'Ō sociī (neque enim ignārī sumus ante malōrum),

ō passī graviōra, dabit deus hīs quoque fīnem.

Vōs et Scyllaeam rabiem penitusque sonantēs200

accestis scopulōs, vōs et Cyclōpia saxa

expertī: revocāte animōs maestumque timōrem

mittite; forsan et haec ōlim meminisse iuvābit.

Per variōs cāsūs, per tot discrīmina rērum

tendimus in Latium, sēdēs ubi Fāta quiētās205

ostendunt; illīc fās rēgna resurgere Trōiae.

Dūrāte, et vōsmet rēbus servāte secundīs.'

Manuscripts: M 198-204, 205-207 | R 198, 199-207 | F 198-205, 206-207

Returning to his companions, Aeneas addresses them with consoling words (Wetherell). 

198: neque enim: almost = non, but strictly “for not before this either” (F-B). Gives the ground of some proposition understood, as nil desperandum (Frieze). sumus ante: an adverb of time with a present tense (to be translated by a perfect) is a common idiom in most languages, though not in English (F-B) (AG 466). ante malorum: the adverb here has the force of an adjective (Bennett). ante: = praeteritorum, limiting malorum…or with ignari sumus, “we are not inexperienced before now in ills” (Walpole).

199: o passi graviora: “O (you) having suffered heavier (woes)” (Walpole). A line famous for its depth of expression. Note the alliteration (dabit deus) (F-B). graviora: supply mala (Robertson). his: supply malis (Robertson).

200: vos et: repeated in the next line, a high rhetorical anaphora. Vergil uses a technique familiar in the historians, where a speech before battle stresses previous victories over the same, or a similar, enemy (Austin). Scyllaeam rabiem: “the fury of Scylla.” She was a monster who was said to dwell in the Straits of Messina (F-B) (Smith’s Dictionary s.v. Scylla). Adjectives derived from proper names are often substituted for the genitive case (Frieze). penitus sonantes: “deep echoing,” i.e., the barking of Scylla’s dogs echoes through the caverns (F-B).

201: accestis: shortened by syncope for accessistis (F-B). Cyclopia saxa: the rocks amid which the Cyclopes (plural) dwelt (F-B).

202: experti: sc. estis (F-B).

203: mittite: = omittite, as often (F-B). forsan: the use of this particle with the Indic. is poetical, in imitation of the construction fortasse (Conway). et: = etiam (Walpole). haec: acc. after meminisse (Robertson). olim: = aliquando in prose (Walpole). meminisse: subject infinitive with iuvabit (Carter). iuvabit: “it will be pleasant,” used impersonally with a clause as subject (Robertson).

204: discrimina rerum: “perils of fortune” (Frieze).

205: tendimus: sc. iter, “we are pursuing our way” (F-B). in Latium: Aeneas is not supposed to known anything at this point about Latium. (F-B).

206: ostendunt: sc. nobis (Knapp). fas: sc. est (Carter).

207: vosmet: strong form of vos (Knapp). rebus...secundis: dative (Carter).

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Suggested Citation

Christopher Francese and Meghan Reedy, Vergil: Aeneid Selections. Carlisle, Pennsylvania: Dickinson College Commentaries, 2016. ISBN: 978-1-947822-08-5. https://dcc.dickinson.edu/sv/vergil-aeneid/vergil-aeneid-i-198-207