Aeneid 4.331–361

Aen. 4.331Dīxerat.

She had spoken.

Note. Dīxerat: the formula again. The next sentence shows Aeneas' response before he speaks.

Aen. 4.331Ille Iovis monitīs immōta tenēbat
lūmina, et obnīxus cūram sub corde premēbat.

He, because of Jupiter's warnings, kept his eyes unmoved and struggled to press down the pain in his heart.

Note. Iovis monitīs: ablative of cause, 'because of Jupiter's warnings'. immōta … lūmina: 'his eyes unmoved'. obnīxus: 'struggling', a perfect participle of the deponent obnītor with present meaning. sub corde premēbat: 'he kept it pressed down in his heart'.

Aen. 4.333Tandem pauca refert: Ego tē, quae plūrima fandō
ēnumerāre valēs, numquam, rēgīna, negābō
335prōmeritam;

At last he says a few words: 'I will never deny, queen, that you have deserved of me all the many things you can list in speech;

Note. Aeneas' reply (333–361) is formal and controlled, like a speech in a law court. Ego tē … numquam … negābō prōmeritam: 'I will never deny that you have deserved'; esse is understood with prōmeritam. quae plūrima: 'very many things which'. fandō: ablative of the gerund of for, 'by speaking'.

Aen. 4.335nec mē meminisse pigēbit Elissae,
dum memor ipse meī, dum spīritus hōs regit artūs.

nor will I be sorry to remember Elissa, as long as I remember myself, as long as breath rules these limbs.

Note. nec mē … pigēbit: impersonal piget with accusative of the person, 'nor will I regret'. meminisse Elissae: meminī takes the genitive. Elissa is Dido's Phoenician name. dum memor ipse meī: 'as long as I remember myself'. hōs … artūs: 'these limbs'.

Aen. 4.337Prō rē pauca loquar.

I will say a few things about the matter.

Note. Prō rē pauca loquar: 'I will say a few things about the matter', a lawyer's phrase. loquar may be future indicative or subjunctive.

Aen. 4.337Neque ego hanc abscondere fūrtō
spērāvī— nē finge— fugam, nec coniugis umquam
praetendī taedās, aut haec in foedera vēnī.

I did not hope to hide this flight by stealth—do not imagine it—nor did I ever hold out the torches of a husband, or come into such a pact.

Note. abscondere furtō … fugam: 'to hide my flight by stealth'. nē finge: 'don't imagine it', an old-style prohibition (nē + imperative). praetendī taedās: 'I held out the wedding torches', i.e. I never claimed to be married. in foedera vēnī: 'entered into a marriage contract'. Aeneas' legal argument is technically right and emotionally wrong.

Aen. 4.340Mē sī fāta meīs paterentur dūcere vītam
auspiciīs et sponte meā compōnere cūrās,
urbem Trōiānam prīmum dulcīsque meōrum
reliquiās colerem, Priamī tēcta alta manērent,
et recidīva manū posuissem Pergama victīs.

If the fates allowed me to lead my life by my own wishes and to settle my cares as I chose, I would be caring first for the city of Troy and the sweet remains of my own people; Priam's high halls would still stand, and with my own hand I would have set up a Pergamum restored for the conquered.

Note. A contrary-to-fact condition: sī … paterentur … colerem … manērent … posuissem. meīs … auspiciīs: 'under my own auspices', i.e. by my own choice. sponte meā: 'of my own will'. Priamī tēcta alta: 'the high palace of Priam'. recidīva … Pergama: 'a revived Troy'; Pergama is the citadel. victīs: dative, 'for the defeated'. Aeneas' first wish is not Dido, but Troy.

Aen. 4.345Sed nunc Ītaliam magnam Grȳnēus Apollo,
Ītaliam Lyciae iussēre capessere sortēs:
hic amor, haec patria est.

But now Grynean Apollo, now the Lycian oracles have ordered me to take hold of great Italy: this is my love, this my country.

Note. Italiam … Italiam: emphatic repetition (anaphora). Grȳnēus Apollō: Apollo of Grynium; Lyciae sortēs: the oracles of Lycia. iussēre: = iussērunt. hic amor, haec patria est: 'this is my love, this my country'; Aeneas answers Dido's word amor with Italy.

Aen. 4.347Sī tē Karthāginis arcēs,
Phoenissam, Libycaeque aspectus dētinet urbis,
quae tandem, Ausoniā Teucrōs cōnsīdere terrā,
350invidia est?

If the citadel of Carthage and the sight of a Libyan city hold you, a Phoenician, what grudge is it, then, that the Trojans settle in the Ausonian land?

Note. Phoenissam: 'a Phoenician woman'. aspectus: subject of dētinet. quae tandem … invidia est?: 'what objection is there?' (literally, 'what grudge'). Teucrōs cōnsīdere: infinitive phrase as the subject, 'for the Trojans to settle'.

Aen. 4.350Et nōs fās extera quaerere regna.

We too have the right to seek foreign kingdoms.

Note. Et nōs: 'we too'. fās: supply est. extera … regna: 'foreign kingdoms'. Aeneas sets Dido's own history of exile beside his.

Aen. 4.351Mē patris Anchīsae, quotiēns ūmentibus umbrīs
nox operit terrās, quotiēns astra ignea surgunt,
admonet in somnīs et turbida terret imāgō;

As often as night covers the earth with dewy shadows, as often as the fiery stars rise, the troubled image of my father Anchises warns me in my dreams and frightens me;

Note. Mē … admonet … et … terret: Aeneas' guilt. quotiēns … quotiēns: anaphora. ūmentibus umbrīs: 'with dewy shadows'. ignea: 'fiery', the stars. turbida … imāgō: 'his troubled ghost'.

Aen. 4.354mē puer Ascanius capitisque iniūria cārī,
355quem regnō Hesperiae fraudō et fātālibus arvīs.

so does my son Ascanius, and the wrong done to so dear a head, whom I am cheating of a kingdom in Hesperia and of the fields fated for him.

Note. mē: supply admonet. capitisque iniūria cārī: 'and the wrong done to a dear head', i.e. to Ascanius. quem … fraudō: fraudō takes the accusative of the person and the ablative of what is taken away (regnō, arvīs). fātālibus: 'destined'.

Aen. 4.356Nunc etiam interpres dīvom, Iove missus ab ipsō—
testor utrumque caput— celerīs mandāta per aurās
dētulit;

Now too the messenger of the gods, sent by Jupiter himself—I swear by both our heads—has brought his orders through the swift air;

Note. interpres dīvum: Mercury, 'the messenger of the gods'; dīvum = dīvōrum. Iove missus ab ipsō: 'sent by Jove himself'. testor utrumque caput: a parenthetic oath, 'I swear by both our heads'. celerīs … aurās: accusative plural in -īs. dētulit: 'brought down'.

Aen. 4.358ipse deum manifestō in lūmine vīdī
intrantem mūrōs, vōcemque hīs auribus hausī.

I myself saw the god in clear light entering the walls, and took in his voice with these ears.

Note. ipse: 'I myself'. deum: here accusative singular, 'the god'. manifestō in lūmine: 'in clear daylight'. intrantem: present participle, 'entering'. vōcemque hīs auribus hausī: 'drank in his voice with these ears'.

Aen. 4.360Dēsine mēque tuīs incendere tēque querēlīs:
Ītaliam nōn sponte sequor.

Stop setting both you and me on fire with your complaints: it is not by my own will that I follow Italy.'

Note. Dēsine: imperative, followed by the infinitive incendere. mēque … tēque: 'both me and you'. Italiam nōn sponte sequor: 'I do not seek Italy of my own will'. The speech ends on a half-line, one of the Aeneid's unfinished verses, and the abruptness suits the moment. sponte: ablative of the noun spōns.