4.467–493

Proteus continues the tale of Orpheus and Eurydice. 

Orpheus descends into the Underworld and approaches the terrifying and implacable rulers of that realm. His song moves the spirits from their seats, who rush toward him: women and men, heroes, boys and girls, and youths who are hemmed in by rivers of the Underworld. All are transfixed by his music, including the Furies, Cerberus, and Ixion’s wheel. Eurydice is returned to Orpheus and they begin their ascent. Although Proserpina has mandated that Orpheus not look back at Eurydice, he is caught by a sudden madness and turns. Orpheus’s agreement with the gods of the Underworld has been broken.

467  Taenariās etiam faucēs: the accusatives Taenariās faucēs, alta ōstia, and lūcum cālīgantem are all direct objects of the perfect deponent participle ingressus (in line 469), which modifies an assumed ille (Orpheus). Orpheus is making a journey to the Underworld to try to retrieve Eurydice. 

467  Taenariās:Taenarum is a spot on the middle peninsula of the Peloponnese where there was a purported entrance to the Underworld. 

467  Dītis:Dis is the Roman god of the Underworld. 

468  nigrā formīdine: either an ablative of quality with lūcum or (rather metaphorically) an ablative of means with cālīgantem (AG 415, 409). 

469  Mānēs: The Manes were divinities of the Underworld, who sometimes represented the spirits of the dead. Like Lares and Penates, they were part of domestic cult, and families made offerings to them during the Parentalia and Feralia, festivals in honor of the dead held in February.  

469  rēgem tremendum: Dis (see line 467).

470  nesciaque hūmānīs precibus mansuēscere corda: “hearts that don’t know how to soften when begged by humans.” hūmānīs precibus is an ablative of means (AG 409).

471  cantū commōtae: cantū is an ablative of means with commōtae (AG 409). commōtae modifies tenuēs umbrae (the subject of ībant) in line 472. Though it is not specified, the shades must be moving toward Orpheus. 

471  Erebī:Erebus is another name for the Underworld.

472: simulācraque lūce carentum: carentum is a genitive plural of the present active participle > careō, carēre, caruī, which takes an ablative of separation (lūce) (AG 401). The –um ending in the genitive plural of present active participles is rare. Note that the dead bees at line 255 are also described as lūce carentum.

473  quam multa…mīlia: “just as the many thousands.” This is the beginning of a simile (to line 474). The souls of the departed cluster together like birds that hide themselves among leaves, when stirred by the coming of evening or a storm. avium: partitive genitive with milia (AG 346).

473  sē…condunt: “conceal themselves.”

474  Vesper: the evening star; in actuality, the planet Venus in the evening. See line 434. 

474  agit: supply avēs.

475  dēfunctaque corpora vītā: dēfuncta is nominative, modifying corpora. dēfungor takes an ablative, here vītā (AG 410). Here Vergil names the sorts of umbrae (line 472).

476  magnanimum hērōum: genitive plural masculine, specifying whose corpora. The genitive plural –um ending in the second declension is used occasionally by Vergil for nouns (e.g. deum), but it is very rare with adjectives (AG 49d). All of these individuals—shadows and simulacra, mothers, men, bodies of heroes, etc.—approach Orpheus, entranced by his music.

477  impositīque rogīs: rogīs is a dative with impositī. These are young men who have died before their parents.

478  quōs circum: quōs is the direct object of alligat and coercet (line 480); circum is an adverb, “all around.”

479  Cōcȳtī: Cocytus is one of the rivers of the Underworld, the river of lament, and in Vergil a tributary of the Acheron.

479  tardā…undā: ablative of quality with palūs (AG 415).

479  noviēs Styx interfūsa: “the Styx flowing around them nine times.” The Styx is perhaps the most famous of the rivers of the Underworld. 

481  quīn: “in fact,” “even,” LS quin II.C.1. 

481  ipsae: agrees with domus, which has both 2nd and 4th declension forms (AG 93). The subjects—domūs, Tartara and Eumenidēs—grow ever more specific, leading us into the center of the Underworld. 

481  stupuēre: 3rd person plural perfect active indicative (AG 163a).

481  domūs atque intima Lētī Tartara: Leti can be taken both with domus and intima Tartara: “the home and innermost Tartarus of Death” (Wilkins). Tartarus is often associated (as it is here) with that part of the Underworld where individuals who have committed crimes against the gods are punished.

482–483  caeruleōsque implexaecrīnibus anguēs Eumenidēs: “and the Furies having braided dark blue snakes into their own hair.” 

483  Eumenidēs: the Furies, who punish serious criminals. 

483  inhiāns: more properly this should be in the accusative, modifying ōra. The dog holds his mouths still (tenuit), as they gape open, while Orpheus’ music brings the Underworld to a stop. 

483  Cerberus: the three-headed guard dog of the Underworld, who keeps souls from escaping. 

484  Ixīoniī ventō rota cōnstitit orbis: rota is nominative, and orbis is a genitive of quality (“a circle of a wheel”), though the construction is unusual. Commentators read ventō variously, as an ablative of means, cause, or place where (AG 409, 404, 429.3 & 4). Ixion was one of those punished for eternity in the Underworld; he was strapped to a fiery wheel that constantly spun, until it stood still (cōnstitit) in response to Orpheus’s song.

485  pedem: direct object of referens. 

485  cāsūs…omnēs: accusative plural masculine, direct object of ēvāserat, “[Orpheus] had escaped.” 

486  reddita: this modifies Eurydicē, and is the only indication that the gods of the Underworld have granted Orpheus’s request for his wife’s return. 

487  pōne: “behind, at the back,” an adverb, with sequēns. 

487  Prōserpina: the Greek Persephone, wife of Dis, and queen of the Underworld. 

487  lēgem: the condition that Eurydice must follow her husband, and Orpheus must not look back at Eurydice until they have reached the upper world.

488  cum…cēpit: temporal cum clause (AG 545).

488  amantem = Orpheus.

489  ignoscenda: gerundive, modifying dēmentia in the previous line. 

489  scīrent:sciō can mean “to know how” when followed by an infinitive. 

489  Mānēs: here the Manes are not the spirits of the dead, but the rulers of the Underworld.

490-491  Eurydicēnque…respexit = heu! iam sub ipsā lūce immemor victusque animī respexit suam Eurydicēn. heu is always an expression of distress. lūce sub ipsā shows they are nearly in the daylight. victus animī means “overcome with emotion.” Compare non compos mentis, “not sound of mind.” Many commentators liken this to a genitive of specification, but animī is commonly a locative (AG 358). Eurydicēn is a Greek accusative singular (AG 82).

492  effūsus: supply est. 

492  immītis: genitive singular masculine, modifying tyrannī; that is, Dis.

492  rupta: supply sunt.

493  foedera: the agreement that Orpheus would not look back. 

493  fragor: many have tried to explain the meaning of the crash. It certainly seems that ancient peoples regarded subterranean “thunder” as terrifying, foretelling evil. Does the noise indicate a call to Eurydice to return? the gods’ displeasure? a signal that the fates of Orpheus and Eurydice are sealed? or (somewhat surprisingly by Servius) the joy of the shades that Eurydice is returning to them? 

493  stāgnīs…Avernīs: ablative of place where or from which without a preposition, as is common in poetry (AG 429.4). Avernus is a lake near Cumae, which the Romans believed to harbor an entrance to the Underworld, and so here metonymy for the Underworld itself. 

493  audītus: supply est.