Vergil, Aeneid II 588-623

Manuscripts: M 589-605, 606-623 | P 589-598, 599-621, 622-623

At that moment my mother appeared, calmed my rage, bade me look for my father, wife, and son, showed me that the overthrow of Troy was the work not of man but of Heaven, and revealed to me the bodily presence of Neptune, Juno, Pallas, and Jupiter himself, helping in the work of destruction (Conington).

588: tālia iactābam: supply dicta with tālia (Pharr). The verb expresses the idea of incoherency and excitement (Carter). ferēbar: like English “I was carried away” (Comstock); “I was rushing [to slay her]” (Page). Describes the overpowering effect of his rage, “my passion was strong upon me” (Sidgwick).

589–591: cum…obtulit: = cum [mea] alma parēns nōn ante tam clāra [meīs] oculīs obtulit sē mihi videndam (Pharr). Aeneas had never before seen her so bright, so completely in her true goddess form (Conington). mihi sē videndam obtulit: = mihi sē obtulit ut vidērem (Conington): “she presented herself in visible presence to me” (G-K); “she stood revealed before me.” Pronouns are often thus grouped, for contrast or emphasis (Comstock). mihi is dative of agent (AG 374) with videndam. nōn: = numquam (Constock). ante: = anteā (H-H). We do not know on what occasions Venus had previously appeared to her son. The appearance mentioned in Book 1.314 ff., occurred of course later at Carthage (Carter).

590: pūrā in lūce: Servius explains: in nimbō, quī cum nūminibus semper est (Conington), i.e., not in that cloud or mist which usually shrouds a divinity (G-K). per noctem: needless to say, is not inconsistent with line 569 (dant clāra incendia lūcem…), as the blaze would still leave darkness enough to render Venus’ appearance conspicuous (Conington). refulsit: “shone out” (Page).     

591: confessa deam: not for confessa sē deam esse, but deam is boldly put as the direct accusative after confessa— “acknowledging [i.e., revealing] the goddess” (Page); supply sē esse, “revealing that she was a goddess” (Howson).

591–592: quālisque…quanta solet: supply tālis (G-K): “fair and stately, [such] as the gods behold her,” literally “such in appearance and [great] stature as she is wont…” (Comstock); “fair and majestic, as god and goddess see her” (Howson); “as beauteous and stately [as] she ever appears to the dwellers in heaven”: not merely superior beauty but superior size (quanta) always characterizes the ancient gods and heroes (Page).

592: caelicolīs: dative of agent (AG 374) with vidērī (Pharr). dextrā prehēnsum continuit: supply mē; “grasped me by my right hand and held me back” (Pharr). Venus seizes the hand with which Aeneas was laying hold of his sword. The circumstance may also have some significance as denoting the fullness of the revelation, unlike that in 1.408, where Aeneas complains: cūr dextrae iungere dextram nōn datur, “why is it not granted [us] to join right hand to right hand?” (Conington).

593: roseō ōre: “from her rosy lips” (Conington); compare 1.402, roseā cervice (H-H). haec: supply dicta (Pharr). īnsuper addidit: this and similar expressions are common in Vergil where speech follows action of any kind (Conington).

594: Quis…tantus dolor…? ”what great indignation (or “fury” (Comstock)) is this which…”: a very common Latin form of expression (G-K). Quis is the irregular form of the interrogative adjective quī (AG 148, 149) (Pharr). Dolor, “indignation” felt as a sudden pang or sting (G-K). īrās: supply tuās (Pharr).

595: aut quōnam…recessit: notice the force of -nam; the emphasis on the question gives it the tone of a reproof (G-K): “whither has fled your love for me?” (Storr). Nostrī is objective genitive (AG 348) with cūra. The next sentence immediately makes clear that “care for me” means: if he cares for his mother, Aeneas must show some regard for his father (Page). nostrī cūra: “concern for me [and mine]”; “consideration for me”; Venus thus identifies herself with the family of Aeneas (Pharr). Aeneas, by his despair (line 559), showed that he had lost faith in the power of his mother to help him (Howson). tibi: ethical dative (AG 380) or dative of reference (AG 378) (Pharr) with cūra, i.e., “the love you have” (Comstock).

596: nōn aspiciēs: nōn = nōnne (Pharr); aspicere used in the sense of paying attention to a thing (Conington). The negative future is often used in exhortations (Carter). prius: “first,” i.e., “before” doing or thinking of anything else (Page). ubi: i.e., “in what position” or “plight” (Page); “in what condition” (Pharr). fessum aetāte: contains the same notion as aevō gravior (line 435) (Conington); aetāte is ablative of respect / specification (AG 418) or cause (AG 404).

596–597: ubi…līqueris Anchīsēn: indirect question (AG 574) dependent on aspiciēs (Pharr); “where you left Anchises”; the real meaning being, “where he, whom you left at home, may be now” (Conington). līqueris is perfect subjunctive of linquō, indicating a prior action in primary sequence (AG 575).

597: superet coniunxne: superet = supersit: “whether your wife survives” (Chase). Indirect question dependent on aspiciēs; the direct question would be superatne coniunx? (Page).

598–599: quōs omnēs…circum: = circum quōs omnēs (Pharr), anastrophe (AG 640). Circum errant denotes that the enemy is constantly passing backwards and forwards, and suggests that they may at last by mere chance light upon their victims (Conington).

599: nī…resistat…tulerint: nī = nisi (Carter); supply eōs (Pharr); “did not my care withstand [them], the flames would have destroyed…” (Page). We have here the present subjunctive in the protasis, and the perfect in the apodosis, where we should have expected the imperfect and the pluperfect subjunctives. Resistat expresses that the danger and consequently the guardianship (mea cūra) are not over. Tulerint and hauserit, for the sake of liveliness, speak of the destruction as already a thing of the past (Conington): “my present resistance alone prevents the present completion of their destruction” (Chase).

600: hauserit: supply eōs (Pharr). We should say “devoured” here, though we talk of a sword “drinking blood” (Page); “drained the blood of” (Storr); “would have drawn their blood” (Carter). Haurīre, of a weapon or other offensive agent, probably as “devouring” flesh or “drinking” blood, a Lucretian expression and not uncommon in Ovid (Conington).

601: nōn Tyndaridis faciēs: understand hās opēs ēvertit. Tyndaris, Tyndaridis, “the daughter of Tyndarus”, i.e Helen (Pharr). tibi: ethical dative (AG 380) or dative of reference (AG 378) depending on ēvertit Troiam and expressing the person affected with emotion (here of grief) by the overthrow (Chase): “it is not, I tell you,…” (Page); “it is not, as you think” (Comstock). It is not Helen that you should hate, or Paris that you should blame. Not that they are guiltless, but their guilt only fulfils the divine decree (G-K). Lacaenae: “the Laconian woman,” i.e., Helen, Sparta being the metropolis of Laconia (Sidgwick).

602: culpātus Paris: supply est (Carter) and ā tē, “Paris, detested [by you]” (Storr); “nor guilty Paris” (Sidgwick); “Paris, whom you and others blame” (Conington).  Helen and Paris are but the instruments of the unseen forces now destroying the city (Storr). dīvum…dīvum: = dīv[ōr]um by syncope. “[but] it is the relentless will of the gods, yea, of the gods, that…” (Comstock). Note the force of the repeated dīvum (anaphora, AG 641): the emphasis placed on this word makes the omission of “but” before it possible (Page).

603: ēvertit, sternit: faciēs (601), Paris (602), and inclementia (602) are the nominative subjects of these verbs (Comstock), singular to agree with their nearest subject inclementia. We must remember that Aeneas had just witnessed the destruction of Priam’s palace (Conington). ā culmine: “from the top to the bottom,” “completely” (H-H). Compare line 290: ruit altō ā culmine Troia (Conington).

604: aspice: is connected with 608 hīc… (Page). In order that he may obey her commands and leave the city, Venus quickens his vision so that he sees that Troy is doomed because the gods are aiding in its destruction, Neptune (610), Juno (612), Minerva (615), and even Jupiter himself (617) (Carter). Aeneas knew that the tutelary gods of Troy had left their temples (line 351); he now learns that there are heavenly powers actually arrayed aganst Troy (Conington).

604–606: namque…ēripiam: = namque ēripiam omnem nūbem, quae nunc obducta hebetat mortalēs vīsūs tibi tuentī, et [ēripiam omnem nūbem quae] ūmida circum [tē], “for all the cloud that now drawn over your sight dulls your mortal vision and with dank darkness surrounds you— behold! I will remove it.” Similarly in Iliad 5.127, Pallas takes the scales from Diomedes’ eyes, though with a different object, that he may distinguish mortals from immortals in the battle (Storr); compare also 2 Kings 6:17: “And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw, and behold the mountain was full of chariots of fire…” (Page). obducta: “overdrawn” like a veil (Comstock); “drawn over,” “shrouding” your gaze: ob- is often in compounds so used, as obeō, occulō, obtegō, obscūrus, etc. (Sidgwick). tuentī: supply tibi: “[drawn] over you as you look” (G-K).

605: tibi: dative of reference (AG 376) with hebetat vīsūs (Pharr).

605–606: ūmida circum cālīgat: = [quae] ūmida circum [tē] cālīgat, “which spreads a dark veil of mist around [you]” (Pharr); “spreads its dark pall around” (Storr); “lies dark and dank around you” (Comstock). The adjective with the words that it belongs to in sense (Sidgwick).

606: tū: emphatic (Pharr); “do you not,” no matter what others do (H-H).

606–607: nē timē, neu recūsā: i.e., do not fear to look at anything I show you, or hesitate to do [by my direction] what is still in your power (G-K). Prohibitions expressed by nē (neu) with the present imperative are chiefly poetical (Bennett). In prose negative imperatives are normally formed with nōlī[te] + infinitive (nōlī timēre, nōlī recūsāre) or with nē + perfect subjunctive (nē timueris, nē recūsāveris) (AG 450). Venus was evidently afraid that Aeneas, terrified by the sudden vision of Neptune, Juno, and Pallas fighting openly against Troy, would abandon himself to despair (Howson).  parentis: i.e., Venus, his mother (Carter).

607: praeceptīs: dative with special verb pārēre (AG 367) (Pharr). mōlēs: “walls” (Comstock).

608–609: āvulsaque saxīs saxa: “and rocks rent from rocks”; saxīs, ablative of separation (AG 381) (H-H).

609: mixtōque pulvere fūmum: a common Vergilian variation for mixtumque pulvere fūmum (Sidgwick): “and the smoke mingled with dust”; the dust is from the falling houses (Page). undantem: “rolling in billows” (H-H); the columns of smoke rolling upward are likened to the waves of the sea (Carter).

610–612: Neptūnus…ēruit: in his role as “the Earth-Shaker” (Page). Neptune and Apollo had built the walls of Troy for Laomedon, father of Priam. When the work was finished, Laomedon not only refused to pay the gods the price agreed upon, but expelled them from his kingdom. Neptune is now getting his revenge by destroying the very walls he had built (Pharr). The picture of Neptune overthrowing the walls with his trident is taken from a curious passage, Iliad 12.27 ff., speaking of the destruction of the unblessed rampart of the Greeks by Poseidon, in connexion with Apollo and Zeus, after the fall of Troy. (Conington).

610: magnō ēmōta tridentī: belongs really to mūrōs as well as to fundamenta, though grammatically only to the latter (Conington). The trident, or course, was Neptune’s natural implement (Carter); ablative of means / instrument (AG 409).

612: Scaeās portās: The “Scaean Gate,” from σκαιός, “left” or “west,” hence the gate looking westward to the sea, for the Greek augur when he divined looked north, and hence “west” or “left” were with him synonymous (H-H). This point, as being nearest to the Greek camp and fleet, would be the centre of the conflict (Howson). saevissima: “fiercest foe” to the Trojans as she always was (Sidgwick).

613: Iūnō prīma: “Juno foremost” or “in front” (Chase); “Juno, leading the onset” or “in the van”: the force of the word is made clear by what follows: she is leading the way while she “summons her confederate host” to follow her. Conington with less force explains “at the entrance of the gate” (Page). socium agmen: supply Danaōrum (Pharr), “her confederate host” (Comstock), i.e., the Greeks who are still pouring from the ships (G-K).

614: vocat: with the idea of encouragement (Carter). Juno calls to her Greek confederates, as in Iliad 20.48 ff. Athena calls to the Greeks and Ares to the Trojans (Conington).

615: iam: “already.” The sense is, it has already gone so far that even Pallas, the former protectress of Troy, sits as an enemy on the pinnacle of the citadel (Chase). summās arcēs: governed by īnsēdit (G-K): “has taken her stand on the citadel” (Comstock). Arcēs were always sacred to Athena (Carter). Like Neptune (line 610), Pallas presides over the destruction of that which she ordinarily protects. In Iliad 5.460 Apollo takes his seat on the height of Pergamos, to defend it (Conington). respice: “look back at.” Aeneas on his way home had already left the citadel and was now below it (Carter).

616: nimbō effulgēns et Gorgone saevā: “lightning from her storm-cloud and with Gorgon grim.” (Comstock). The aegis of Pallas is symbolical of storm. The head of Medusa was set in the center of the aegis or breastplate (Storr). Nimbō is probably referring to the divine effulgence surrounding the gods when they appeared to mortals, which is the origin of the technical nimbus or aureole of later times (G-K); “a halo” (Howson). Effulgēns, “gleaming,” a not uncommon conception of the divinities (G-K). The nimbus naturally goes with the Gorgon, as the aegis is really the whirlwind that drives the storm-cloud. The brightness of the storm-cloud may be accounted for, if not by the lurid glare of the conflagration, at any rate by the lightning which it would naturally emit. So Pallas, who carries the aegis of Zeus, wields also Zeus’ lightning (Conington).

617: ipse pater: = Iuppiter (Pharr). Note the skill with which the poet abstains from any attempt to point out or portray the figure of “the Father himself” (Page). vīrēsque secundās: “victorious might” (Storr); “the strength which brings success” (Carter); “auspicious” (Conington); “favorable,” i.e., “prosperous,” an unusual word such as Vergil delights in (Sidgwick).

618: sufficit: “supplies” (Chase). in: “against” (Pharr).

619: ēripe fugam:  “hasten your flight” (Comstock); “quickly secure flight.” His chance of flight was doubtful unless he quickly “snatched it out” of the hazards which environed him (Page). A stronger expression for cape fugam; hinting also at escape from peril (G-K). fīnemque impōne: “put an end to” (Conington). labōrī: i.e., “your useless struggle” (Comstock) or “resistance” (Carter).

620: nusquam aberō: i.e., “I will be ever at your side” (Comstock). līmine patriō: supply in, ablative of place where (AG 421): “at your father’s threshold,” “on your father’s doorstep” (Pharr); referring to the fact that Aeneas would be safey conducted to Italy, which was the original home of the Trojans (H-H).

621: dīxerat: “she ceased to speak,” literally “she had spoken” (Chase).

622: apparent: “are to my eyes disclosed” (Bennett). faciēs: “forms,” “shapes,” further explained by numina magna; -que is explanatory, not copulative (Bennett). inimīca nūmina: i.e., Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva (Howson). Take inimīca in the predicate, i.e “fighting against Troy” (Comstock).

623: nūmina magna deum: nūmina, as we might say “the powers,” is more emphatic here than dī, as it is the exertion of a superhuman power on which we are meant to dwell. The effect of the hemistich here is very grand, and it is not easy to see how Vergil could have improved the line by completing it. At any rate the effective brevity with which he dismisses in a line and a half what an inferior poet would have taken a paragraph to express is a memorable testimony to his judgment (Conington).