Vergil, Aeneid II 145-194

Manuscripts: M 145-147, 148-176, 177-194 | P 145-162, 163-185, 186-194

We pity him, and Priam orders his chains to be removed and questions him about the horse. He protests that he may reveal the secret without being a traitor, seeing that the Greeks had sought his life. He then explains that the wrath of Pallas had been aroused by the crime of Diomede and Ulysses in carrying off the Palladium, and that the horse was intended as an offering to the goddess in its stead, but that it had been made of such great size that the Trojans might not be able to bring it into the city, for that if they brought it uninjured to the temple of the goddess then the victory of Troy over Greece was assured. We believe him, to our ruin (Page).

145: hīs lacrimīs: “[in answer] to this tearful appeal” (Comstock); dative case (Chase). miserēscimus: supply Sinōnem (Pharr). ultrō: this word, which is connected with ultra, is used of acts which are purely voluntary, which go “beyond” what might be expected. Here they not only “grant him his life” (Comstock) but go farther and actively show “pity” for him (Page). “Into the bargain”; granting him his life was a matter of simple justice; pity was not necessary (Austin).

146: ipse: = rex Priamus (Comstock). virō: dative of reference / advantage (AG 376) (Pharr); some take it as an ablative of separation (AG 381) (H-H). This dative of vir really supplies the place of a pronominal adjective of the third person—“bids his handcuffs be removed” (Page). prīmus: “foremost” (C-R). arta: “fitted” (Howson). manicās: the cords fastened on by the shepherds (Howson), referred to in line 57 (C-R). Elaborated in arta vincla (with atque appending the explanation) (Austin).

147: amīcīs: Priam’s simple kindness is stressed (Austin).

148: āmissōs: the important word—“you have lost the Greeks: forget them” (Austin) hinc iam: “henceforth” (G-K). oblivīscere: imperative singular of deponent verb (AG 190); usually takes a genitive object (AG 350), but here the accusative (Graiōs) strengthens its meaning (Chase).

148–149: quisquis es: i.e., “even though you are an enemy”; these are the words a general speaks when he is taking in a deserter: quiquis es noster eris (Servius). quisquis es…noster eris: said to be the technical formula used by a Roman general when receiving a deserter from the enemy (Pharr). Noster, “one of us,” as opposed to aliēnus, a foreigner (H-H).

149: mihi…rogantī: “explain this truthfully that I ask” (C-R); “tell me truly this that I ask you”; take vēra as an adverb (Comstock); “unfold the truth to my question” (H-H).

150: quō: “for / with what purpose? (Pharr). “To what end have they built this huge and monstrous horse?” (Page). quis auctor?: “Who suggested it?” (Comstock); “On whose advice?” (C-R); “Who prompted it?” Auctor is the “backer” or “supporter” of an action rather than the author: though sometimes the two things are the same (Sidgwick).

151: quidve petunt?: “Or what is their object?” (Comstock). quae religiō? aut quae machina bellī?: supply est for both; religiō = vōtum (17), “vow,” “propitiation” (C-R): “What religious offering [is it] or what [kind of] engine of war [is it]?” Sinon had, of course, been waiting for just such questions (Pharr). He doubts between two possible explanations. Religiō properly “obligation” is used of anything that you are “bound” (ligō) by the gods to do or avoid (Sidgwick). The repeated questions in various forms show the old man’s eager curiosity as well as his doubt (G-K).

152: dīxerat: “he finished speaking” (Comstock). ille: = Sinōn (Pharr). dolīs instructus et arte Pelasgā: dolīs, arte are ablative of means (AG 409); note the hendiadys (AG 640) (H-H).  

153: exūtās vinclīs: vinclīs = vinc[u]līs; ablative of separation (AG 401) with exūtās (Pharr). Observe the skill of this touch; Sinon with blackest treachery lifts his “unbound” hands to heaven in order to deceive the very man who had “unbound” them (Page).

154: vōs: object of testor (C-R). Sinon’s oath is a very peculiar one. He swears that as true as is all that which he has told of his sufferings, etc. (which was a lie), so true is all which he now has to tell (which is also a lie) (Carter). aeternī ignēs: = sīdera, the heavenly bodies (Page), sun, moon, and stars (Storr). Compare the oath of Achaemenides, 3.599: per sīdera testor / per superōs atque hoc caelī spīrābile lūmen…, “I bear witness by the stars, by the gods above, and [by] this vital light of heaven…” (Carter). nōn violābile: “inviolable,” “not to be desecrated [by perjury]” (Pharr); i.e., an oath by these divine powers must not be broken (G-K), by which one may not swear falsely with impunity (C-R).

155: nūmen: “power,” “majesty” (Page). ēnsēs: “and you accursed knives” (H-H), i.e., sacrificial knives (Comstock). nēfandī: because the death he had escaped was brought about by “wickedness” (according to his lying tale) (Sidgwick). The ēnsēs of his would-be murderers seem odd among the holy things of this context; possibly arae ēnsēsque is a kind of hendiadys for “sacrificial altar,” but nefandī is still difficult (? “the altar at which I was to be foully put to the sword”) (Austin).

156: vittae deum: deum = de[ōr]um by syncope (Pharr): “fillets (vittae) consecrated to the gods” (Carter), i.e., fillets worn in honor of the gods (G-K). hostia: “[as] a sacrificial victim.”

157–158: fās mihi…fās…: supply est for both (Pharr). fās…iūra: Usually fās is “divine law,” while iūs is “human law”; so here Sinon asserts that a higher and divine law empowers him to “break the solemn oath of the Greeks,” i.e., which he had sworn to the Greeks. sacrāta resolvere iūra: “to break my sworn bond,” i.e., his oaths of fealty as a soldier (Sidgwick). In using the phrase sacrāta iūra Vergil is clearly thinking of sacrāmentum, “the military oath”: iūra are the rights or claims which an oath (iūs iūrandum) imposes. (Page).

158: odisse: a defective verb (AG 205), used only in the perfect system but with the meaning of the present system (C-R). virōs: “them,” emphatic; the “men” themselves are contrasted with their “plans” (C-R). ferre sub aurās: “divulge,” “openly proclaim” (Page); “bring [out] to light” (Comstock), literally “to air” from the hidingplace (G-K).

159: sī qua tegunt: qua = quae (neuter plural accusative of quis (C-R)), after sī (H-H); = quaecumque: “whatsoever things” (Carter). Supply Danaī as the subject. The use of the indicative would imply that there are secrets to disclose (Pharr): “whate’er their secret purpose” (Page); “whatever they keep secret” (H-H). teneor…ūllīs: nec teneor patriae lēgibus ūllīs (Pharr). Sinon accepts the offer (line 149) “noster eris,” and proclaims himself a naturalized Trojan (Storr). nec: possibly = nē quidem, as frequently in the silver age: “not even the ties of fatherland bind me” (Storr).

160: tū: = Troia (C-R). prōmissīs maneās: “abide by your promise” (Page); prōmissīs is ablative of place where (AG 421), as appears from the fact that in- is generally prefixed (Chase). servāta servēs: “preserve faith with your preserver” (Conington): “keep your word as you have been kept,” i.e., preserved by me (Comstock). maneās, servēs: jussive subjunctives (AG 439) (Pharr); translate by the imperative (C-R).

161: Troia: an appeal to the holy city itself, more impressive than one to the king alone (G-K). feram: “I shall bear / speak”; future tense (Storr). vēra: “true tidings” (Comstock). sī magna rependam: supply praemia (Pharr): “if I shall greatly repay” (G-K); “if I shall make a large return” (for life granted and protection assured) (Conington). Notice the force of the prefix re- “as in duty bound” (Carter).

162: coeptī fidūcia bellī: = fidūcia quā bellum incēpērunt (Chase): “confidence in beginning the war” (Page); “confidence in undertaking the war” (Comstock); “their confidence in which the war began” (C-R). Bellī is objective genitive (AG 348) with fidūcia (Comstock).

163: Palladis…stetit: Palladis = Minervae; “by Pallas’ aid ever stood [firm]” (Page); “ever rested on the help of Pallas” (Sidgwick). Note that Palladis (subjective genitive (AG 348) with auxiliīs) is emphatic, and in position exactly parallel to Palladium in line 166. Stō is a very strong word in Latin: “stand secure,” “remain firm” (H-H), “stand fixed and immovable.” It is here also emphatic by position (Page). auxiliīs: ablative of means (AG 409) (Pharr): “by / with the aid,” plural because afforded on many occasions (Comstock). An idiomatic construction with stō (G-K). impius: “profane” (Howson), because he had wounded Venus and Mars (Comstock). A constant epithet, but used with special reference to this act of sacrilege, so scelerum inventor (C-R). ex quō: supply tempore, correlative with ex illō (tempore) in 169 (Pharr). Note the very clear definition of time, “from the day when…from that very day” (Page).

164: Tydidēs: = Diomēdēs, son of Tydeus (a patronymic, AG 244). The story of the Palladium or image of Pallas is apparently a late tale, and variously told. Here it is simply that these two Greeks scaled the citadel and stole the image. The reason (which he omits or presupposes) was that the citadel was not to be taken as long as the Palladium was there (Sidgwick). sed enim: “but indeed,” unusually late in the sentence; sed implies that this hope had come to an end; enim gives the reason why (C-R). Enim implies an ellipsis (Chase): fully expressed the thought here would be “it ever stood, but [there came a change] for…” (Page); “yet [even that failed them] for…” (Storr). scelerum inventor: like artificis scelus (125), of Ulysses as a designer, as hortātor scelerum (6.529) of his powers of persuasion (Conington).

165: adgressī āvellere: “entered to tear away” (Sidgwick). templō: ablative of separation (AG 401) with āvellere (Pharr).

166: Palladium: the Palladium, or “small Pallas,” standing and armed. The goddess was widely revered as “protectress of the city” (πολιοῦχος) and this protective character passed to her talismanic image: possession of the Trojan Palladion, without which Helenus predicted the city could not be taken (Servius on 2.166), was widely claimed, and the detail of (1) its departure from Troy and (2) its passage to (e.g.) Rome was vigorously and variously asserted in post-Homeric texts (Horsfall). Ovid (Tristia 1.3.29) places it in the temple of Vesta at Rome (Storr). The figure did not represent the goddess as she is usually represented, armed with helmet and spear and shield, but wearing “maiden fillets” (168) as a sign of her perpetual virginity (Page). Its supposed possession by the Romans was accounted for in different ways, some saying that Diomedes restored it to Aeneas in Italy, others that it was never taken by the Greeks, but hidden by the Trojans, and discovered by the Romans during the Mithridatic War. But it forms no part of Vergil’s story, being merely alluded to again at 11.151 (Conington). caesīs custōdibus: ablative absolute (AG 419) (Pharr). Summae arcis is the “acropolis,” on which was the temple (Comstock); summae increases our appreciation of their daring (C-R). Note the interlocked word order (synchysis) of caesīs summae custōdibus arcis.

167: corripuēre: = corripuērunt (Pharr); of quick, eager action (Austin). cruentīs: still red with the blood of the guards who had been slain (Carter).

168: ausī: supply sunt (Pharr). virgineās vittās: “the fillets of the maiden goddess” (G-K), i.e., belonging to Minerva, the virgin-goddess. The vittae worn by maidens differed from that of matrons. The adjective also suggests “purity” and so a contrast with the pollution of the “blood-stained hands” (Page). contingere: “touch,” “handle,” with the implied sense of “defile,” compare our word “contagion” (Page).

169: fluere, referrī: = fluxit et relāta est, historical infinitives (AG 463) (Pharr); translate with indicative. The metaphor in fluere is from the ebbing of the tide. Notice how language and rhythm describe the slow, silent, imperceptible character of the process, and then contrast the harsh abruptness of fractae vīrēs, āversa deae mēns: the tide of fortune ebbs slowly and unperceived and then comes the sudden shock of surprise (Page). The general notion is that of flowing away, as opposed to permanence, stetit (163) (Conington).

170: āversa deae mēns: “the goddess’ favor was turned away” (Comstock). There are twenty-six monosyllabic line endings in Vergil (not counting repetitions or cases where another monosyllable precedes) (Storr). Its effect is very marked, for it leaves the line with only one coincidence of ictus and accent (avérsa), and the rhythm struggles from start to finish (Austin).

171: nec dubiīs: “unmistakable” (litotes, AG 641). ea signa: perhaps here for eius reī signa (i.e., āversae mentis (Storr)), a common usage, “signs of this” i.e., her anger (Pharr); “proof of this” (Comstock). Tritonia: = Minerva, said to be derived from Triton, a lake in Africa, near which Minerva was born (Comstock), or the Boeotian river Triton (Carter). monstrīs: in its original sense of “signs,” “indications” (Howson); “portents” (Chase). It is related to moneō, hence “a warning” (H-H).

172: vix positum…simulācrum: = vix simulācrum [in] castrīs [Danaōrum] positum [erat] (Pharr): “scarcely had the image been placed… (Comstock).  castrīs: poetical ablative of place where (AG 421) (Chase). arsēre: = arsērunt (Pharr): “there flashed forth.” The rapidity of the thought permits the omission of the conjunctive particle (e.g. cum) with arsēre (Carter).

173: lūminibus arrēctīs: lūminibus = oculīs, as often; ablative of separation (AG 402). Supply īrā (Pharr): “from her eyes upraised” in anger and horror (Comstock); “from her wide-open eyes” (Chase); “from her staring eyes” (G-K). A strange and vivid phrase (Sidgwick), seemingly expressive of quicker motion than ērigere (Conington). Raised eyes were significant of fury, just as downcast eyes were a sign of sullen anger (H-H) or indignation (C-R).

173–174: salsus per artūs sūdor iit: Sweat is naturally salty; the epithet is added here to give a sense of reality. The sweating of images was a frequent prodigy, always looked upon as portentious (H-H). It appears in Georgics 1.480, being among the portents at Caesar’s death (Carter). We have at the present day a relic of a similar superstition in the annual liquefaction of St. Januarius’ blood (Storr).

174: solō: supply ā; ablative of separation (AG 402) (Pharr). mīrābile dictū: mīrābile, an appositive adjective (acc.) modifying the sentence; dictū, the ablative supine (AG 510) is used chiefly with adjectives to indicate respect: “wonderful to relate” [i.e., in respect to relating] (Pharr).

175: ēmicuit: “started,” i.e., “like a flash” (Comstock); “moved” (Carter); “flashed forth,” the apparition suddenly appearing like lightning and then disappearing (Page); leaping forward to threaten her foes (Horsfall). trementem: “quivering” (Page), i.e., in her wrath (C-R), the result of the action suggested in ēmicuit (Howson). The clashing of the arms is probably intended as well as their motion (Conington).

176–177: temptanda aequora: “prophesies that the sea must be hazarded in flight.” Temptanda [esse] alludes to the dangers of the deep (H-H). “Declares that they must retreat across the sea” (Comstock); canit: “proclaims” (Page).

177: nec posse…Pergama: “and that Pergamon cannot…”; continuation of indirect discourse (AG 577) (Page). Pergama is the citadel of Troy (Sidgwick): compare πύργος, “tower,” “fortress” (H-H).

178: ōmina nī repetant: “unless they should take omens afresh in Greece” (Chase). Vergil has in mind a Roman custom. For if they had gone out and fought a battle unsuccessfully they used to return (to Rome) to take the auguries again (Servius). See Livy 8.30.2: cum ad auspicium repetendum Rōmam proficiscerētur, “when he set out for Rome to seek new auspices” (Howson). It is a constant aim of Vergil to give dignity to Roman life by putting back customs into the heroic times (Sidgwick). The Romans undertook no expedition without the direction of the gods, who were supposed to dwell in the city, and were consulted by auspicēs before setting out. If the event was unsuccessful, the auspicēs had to be taken again in the city, and the whole enterprise be begun anew. The term for this was repetere auspicia, of which repetere ōmina is a variation (G-K). According to the most natural meaning, the Greeks must have sent or taken the Palladium from Troy to Greece, and now find that they cannot take Troy without it. It is true that this is nowhere directly said, and has to be inferred: but Vergil’s narratives are often told incidentally (Sidgwick). repetant, redūcant: subjunctives, future protases in indirect discourse (AG 589) (G-K). Argīs: supply ex (Pharr) or in. nūmen redūcant: Vergil has used numen in a way that deus is sometimes used, of a statue in which the god dwells (Austin). See 4.204 ante arās media inter nūmina dīvum and 6.68 errantēsque deōs agitātaque nūmina Trōiae (Horsfall).

179: pelagō: “by sea” (Pharr); “over the sea”; ablative of way or route by which a motion proceeds (AG 429) (Chase). curvīs carīnīs: “in the crooked ships”; ablative of means (AG 409) (G-K). āvēxēre: = āvēxērunt (Pharr); from Greece to Troy, at the commencement of the expedition (Chase). Not subjunctive because the words are an explanatory remark of Sinon’s. So too we have Sinon’s words in 180–188, but 189–194 the words of Calchas in indirect discourse (Page).

180: quod: normally explained as “as to the fact that,” a common use in narrative. But if the repetition of quod in different senses in successive verses be thought awkward, one might wonder whether Vergil actually wrote qui here: just those sailors who “went back to Greece” are now “returning to the Troad” (Horsfall). petīēre: = petīvērunt (Pharr).

181: arma…comitēs: understand nova with arma (Pharr): “they are in search of” or “they are enlisting” (Howson) “[fresh] forces and the alliance of the gods” (Comstock); “they are procuring [fresh] forces and gods to accompany them.” The gods are supposed to have deserted them and they must therefore return home and induce them again to join the expedition (Page). Deōs comitēs is explained by nūmen redūcant above (Storr). “They are furnishing themselves with fresh forces and fresh auspices”: they are either in Greece doing so at this moment, or on a voyage of which that is the object (Conington).

182: imprōvīsī aderunt: The Greeks are indeed on the point of returning; a terrible irony present in Sinon’s words (Horsfall). He is not lying, and yet he decives them (Servius). ita: refers to lines 176–179, the following sentence being thrown in parenthetically by Sinon as representing his own view (Pharr). dīgerit ōmina: Vergilian and unusual for “interprets the omens” (Sidgwick).

183: hanc effigiem: i.e., the wooden horse (Carter). Hanc is deictic and emphatic (Page). prō: with a double meaning— (1) “in exchange for,” “instead of” (Storr), “in lieu of” (G-K), and (2) “to atone for” (Comstock), “on behalf of” (Storr), “in propitiation of” (G-K), “to make amends for [the offence to the divinity] (Conington). monitī: supply ab eō (Comstock), understand Danaī; by the prodigies and their interpretation by Calchas, lines 172–179 (Pharr). nūmine laesō: “the offended divinity” (G-K); “insult to the deity” (see 1.7, where it describes Juno) (Comstock); i.e., to make amends for the offence to the deity (Chase).

184: nefās: the theft of the Palladium by Ulysses and Diomedes, lines 164–168 (Pharr). quae piāret: = ut ea piāret (Chase); subjunctive in a relative clause of purpose (AG 531) (Pharr); i.e., “[hoping] that it might atone for” (Comstock). triste: “gloomy” (in its effect) (G-K).

185: tamen: i.e., though it was in lieu of the Palladium, yet it was to be of no service to the Trojans (G-K). attollere immēnsam: “to raise to so vast a height” (Comstock); “to rear in vast bulk” (Conington). Predicate accusative (AG 393) (Pharr). The gist of the idea is in immēnsam mōlem. They were to make it huge so as to keep it outside, where it would protect them and not the enemy (G-K).

186: rōboribus textīs: “with oaken framework” (Comstock). Ablative of material (AG 403). See the note on acernīs (line 112) (Pharr). caelō ēdūcere: “to raise to heaven” (Sidewick); caelō = ad caelum (Sidgwick), dative of direction: in poetry the place to which, or limit of motion, is often expressed by the dative, as it clāmor caelō, “a shout goes [up] to heaven,” multōs dēmittimus Orcō, “we send many to Hades” (Pharr).

187–188: nē…neu: correspond, while aut serves merely to distinguish the two halves of the first nē clause (Carter).

187: posset: subjunctive in a negative purpose clause (AG 533) (Pharr). recipī, dūcī: both verbs are branches of the same general idea; neu (line 188) introduces a different one. Sinon accounts for the size of the horse, and at the same time suggests that disposal of it which he desires (G-K). portīs: ablative of way or route by which a motion proceeds (AG 429) (Chase). in moenia: “within the city” (Comstock).

188: neu populum…tuērī: neu [haec effigiēs posset] tuērī populum [Troiae] (Pharr): “nor would it be able to protect the people.” The horse was sent prō Palladiō and if duly welcomed and worshipped would afford the same protection as the Palladium (Page). The whole passage illustrates the strong local element in the Roman religion. Each spot had its tutelary god, and where the statue was, there the god was supposed to reside. “Our country,” says Petronius, “is so full of deities that it’s easier to meet a god than a man” (Satyrica 17). Hence too the ēvocātiō or appeal to the gods of a besieged city to transfer themselves to Rome (Storr). antīquā sub religiōne: pronounce religiōne as relligiōne, making the first syllable long by position: “under shelter of their ancient faith,” i.e., lest it might render the city impregnable just as the Palladium had done (Carter). Religiō implies “piety” (religious veneration), the “sanctity” which calls it forth, and the “object” which possesses that sanctity. Here it seems to be used with a confused notion of all, chiefly the last (G-K). The shelter of the worship of Pallas, as securing protection to the worshippers. So when the city is to be taken, the gods depart (Conington).

189: nam: “for” [said Calchas] (Comstock). sī violāsset: = violā[vi]sset by syncope; “if…should harm” (Sidgwick). Subjunctive (as also ascendisset (192)) in a subordinate clause in indirect discourse (AG 589) (Pharr). In direct discourse violāsset would be violāverit (future perfect indicative) (Comstock). Reported speech as giving the thoughts of Calchas (Storr). Minervae: objective genitive (AG 347) (Pharr): “gift to Minerva” (H-H); “offered to Minerva” (Carter).

190–191: Supply after nam (189) some such verb as praedīxit (implied in iussit) to govern the accusative and infinitive exitium futūrum [esse], which is the principal clause in the indirect statement (AG 589) (Chase). quod…convertant: “and may heaven rather direct that [evil] augury” (Page); “may the gods turn the omen against him [himself, i.e., Calchas].” The anger of the gods had to be satisfied, but might by prayers be diverted from its original object to another person (G-K). Convertant is optative subjunctive (AG 441), expressing a wish (Pharr).

190: prius: i.e., before it reaches you (H-H).

191: Phrygibus: common name for the Trojans (Comstock).

192: sīn ascendisset: supply ille equus; subjunctive in a subordinate clause in indirect discourse (AG 583). Cf. violāsset (189) (Pharr): “If on the other hand it should make its way [up]” (H-H). Ascendisset may refer both to surmounting the walls, and to entering the city and being lodged in the arx (Conington). vestrīs vestram: repetition to emphasize the necessity of their doing it themselves (Page).

193: ultrō: commonly of something “further” than you expect, than the occasion warrants, etc. (Sidgwick). Asia would not be content with defending itself against the Greeks, but would go “further” and actually carry an offensive war into Greece (Page). Asiam: a large imaginative word for Troy (Sidgwick). Pelopēa ad moenia: “to Pelops’ [very] walls,” i.e., “to the Argive cities” (Sidgwick) of Argos and Mycenae, in the Peloponnesus (Chase). The Greek leaders, Agamemnon and Menelaus, were descendants of Pelops (Pharr), ancestor of the royal race of Mycenae, who gave his name to the Peloponnesus (Comstock).

194: ventūram: “would invade” (Storr). ea fāta: “such a doom,” referring back to magnum exitium (190) (Comstock), i.e., the fate of being attacked by the Trojans (Page). nostrōs nepōtēs: i.e., the descedants of us Greeks. manēre: here with a transitive meaning (Chase), “would await,” literally “awaited” (Comstock). The sense here is that Troy was to invade Greece in the next generation, as the Epigoni invaded Thebes where their fathers had fallen (Conington).