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.

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). 

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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/tr/vergil-aeneid/vergil-aeneid-i-208-222