Aeneid 2.469–505

Aen. 2.469Vestibulum ante ipsum prīmōque in līmine Pyrrhus
470exsultat, tēlīs et lūce coruscus aënā;

Before the very forecourt, at the edge of the threshold, Pyrrhus exults, flashing with weapons and the gleam of bronze;

Note. Vestibulum ante ipsum: the preposition after its noun (anastrophe). Pyrrhus: Achilles' son, also called Neoptolemus ('new warrior'). lūce … aēnā: 'with the gleam of bronze'; aēnus scans as three syllables, a-ē-nus.

Aen. 2.471quālis ubi in lūcem coluber mala grāmina pāstus
frīgida sub terrā tumidum quem brūma tegēbat,
nunc, positīs novus exuviīs nitidusque iuventā,
lūbrica convolvit sublātō pectore terga
475arduus ad sōlem, et linguīs micat ōre trisulcīs.

as when a snake comes into the light, fed on poisonous plants, which cold winter was keeping swollen beneath the earth, now, its old skin cast off, new and shining with youth, it rolls its slippery back, breast lifted high, rearing towards the sun, and flickers with three-forked tongue from its mouth.

Note. quālis ubi …: 'just as when …'. The construction is broken: the snake is described in a relative clause (quem bruma tegēbat), then nunc … convolvit carries on as if it were a main clause. mala grāmina pāstus: deponent participle with object, 'having fed on poisonous plants'. positīs exuviīs: ablative absolute, 'having cast its skin'. Background: Pyrrhus' name means 'flame-coloured', and the shining snake reborn in spring fits the young fighter taking his father's place. The simile echoes Iliad 22, where Hector waits for Achilles like a snake at its hole.

Aen. 2.476Ūnā ingēns Periphās et equōrum agitātor Achillis,
armiger Automedōn, ūnā omnis Scȳria pūbēs
succēdunt tēctō, et flammās ad culmina iactant.

With him huge Periphas, and Automedon, the driver of Achilles' horses and his armour-bearer, with him all the young men of Scyros come up to the building and hurl fire onto the roof.

Note. ūnā: adverb, 'together'. agitātor … armiger: Automedon was charioteer and squire to Achilles. Scȳria pūbēs: Pyrrhus grew up on Scyros, where Achilles had been hidden among girls before the war.

Aen. 2.479Ipse inter prīmōs correptā dūra bipennī
480līmina perrumpit, postīsque ā cardine vellit
aerātōs;

He himself among the foremost seizes a two-edged axe, breaks through the hard doors, and wrenches the bronze-plated doorposts from their hinge;

Note. corrēptā … bipennī: ablative absolute, 'seizing a double axe'. postīs: acc. pl. in -īs, here the door-leaves with their pivots. cardine: the pivot-hinge on which the doors turned.

Aen. 2.481iamque excīsā trabe firmā cavāvit
rōbora, et ingentem lātō dedit ōre fenestram.

and now, cutting out a panel, he has hollowed through the solid oak, and made a huge window with a wide mouth.

Note. excīsā trabe: ablative absolute. cavāvit … dedit: perfects of completed action. fenestram: here an opening hacked in the door.

Aen. 2.483Adpāret domus intus, et ātria longa patēscunt;

The house within is revealed, and the long halls lie open;

Note. Note the gradual reveal: domus intus, ātria longa, then (next line) the penetrālia of the kings.

Aen. 2.484adpārent Priamī et veterum penetrālia rēgum,
485armātōsque vident stantīs in līmine prīmō.

the inner rooms of Priam and the kings of old are revealed, and they see armed men standing at the edge of the threshold.

Note. penetrālia: the innermost rooms. vident: the subject changes to the Trojans inside, who see armed men.

Aen. 2.486At domus interior gemitū miserōque tumultū
miscētur, penitusque cavae plangōribus aedēs
fēmineīs ululant;

But the inner house is filled with groaning and pitiful confusion, and deep within, the hollow halls howl with the wailing of women;

Note. domus interior: the inner part of the house. cavae aedēs ululant: the hollow halls 'howl' with women's cries, personification. plangōribus fēmineīs: ablative of cause.

Aen. 2.488ferit aurea sīdera clāmor.

the clamour strikes the golden stars.

Note. aurea sīdera: hyperbole: the noise reaches the stars.

Aen. 2.489Tum pavidae tēctīs mātrēs ingentibus errant;

Then the frightened mothers wander through the huge building;

Aen. 2.490amplexaeque tenent postīs atque ōscula fīgunt.

they cling to the doorposts in embrace and press kisses on them.

Note. amplexae: deponent participle, 'embracing'. oscula fīgunt: 'press kisses', saying farewell to the house.

Aen. 2.491Īnstat vī patriā Pyrrhus;

Pyrrhus presses on with his father's violence;

Note. vī patriā: 'with his father's violence', i.e. like Achilles.

Aen. 2.491nec claustra, neque ipsī
custōdēs sufferre valent;

neither bars nor the guards themselves can hold him back;

Note. sufferre: 'withstand', with Pyrrhus or his attack understood.

Aen. 2.492labat ariete crēbrō
iānua, et ēmōtī prōcumbunt cardine postēs.

the door totters under the repeated ram, and the doorposts, forced from their hinge, fall flat.

Note. labat: short a, from labō, 'totter'. ariete: in verse scanned with consonantal i, ar-yete, as with parietibus earlier. ēmōtī … cardine postēs: the door-posts torn from their pivot.

Aen. 2.494Fit via vī;

A way is made by force;

Note. Fit via vī: three short, blunt words, hammering like the ram.

Aen. 2.494rumpunt aditūs, prīmōsque trucīdant
495immissī Danaī, et lātē loca mīlite complent.

the Greeks burst the entrance, pour in and slaughter the first men they meet, and fill the place far and wide with soldiers.

Note. immissī: 'let in'. mīlite: collective singular, 'with soldiers'.

Aen. 2.496Nōn sīc, aggeribus ruptīs cum spūmeus amnis
exiit, oppositāsque ēvīcit gurgite mōlēs,
fertur in arva furēns cumulō, campōsque per omnīs
cum stabulīs armenta trahit.

Not so furiously, when a foaming river has broken its banks and burst out, and overcome with its flood the dykes set against it, is it carried raging in a mass over the fields, and drags herds with their stalls across all the plains.

Note. nōn sīc: 'not so (furiously)': the flooding river is less violent than the Greeks. cum … exiit … ēvīcit: perfects in a general temporal clause. cumulō: 'in a heap, a mass'.

Aen. 2.499Vīdī ipse furentem
500caede Neoptolemum geminōsque in līmine Atrīdās;

I myself saw Neoptolemus mad with slaughter, and the two sons of Atreus on the threshold;

Note. Vīdī ipse: Aeneas stresses that he was an eyewitness. Neoptolemum: Pyrrhus again. geminōs Atrīdās: Agamemnon and Menelaus.

Aen. 2.501vīdī Hecubam centumque nurūs, Priamumque per ārās
sanguine foedantem, quōs ipse sacrāverat, ignīs.

I saw Hecuba and her hundred daughters-in-law, and Priam among the altars, defiling with his blood the fires which he himself had consecrated.

Note. centum nurūs: 'a hundred daughters-in-law', a round number. foedantem … ignīs: Priam defiles with his own blood the altar-fires that he himself had consecrated. Background: Priam had fifty sons and fifty daughters, according to tradition.

Aen. 2.503Quīnquāgintā illī thalamī, spēs tanta nepōtum,
barbaricō postēs aurō spoliīsque superbī,
505prōcubuēre;

Those fifty bedchambers, so great a hope of grandchildren, the doorposts proud with barbaric gold and spoils, came crashing down;

Note. Quīnquāgintā … thalamī: the fifty marriage-chambers of Priam's sons. spēs tanta nepōtum: in apposition, 'so great a hope of grandchildren'. barbaricō … aurō: 'Eastern gold'. prōcubuēre: -ēre perfect.

Aen. 2.505tenent Danaī, quā dēficit ignis.

the Greeks hold all that the fire does not reach.

Note. quā dēficit ignis: 'where the fire gives out', i.e. the Greeks hold whatever the fire has not taken.