Aeneid 4.54–89

Aen. 4.54Hīs dictīs incēnsum animum īnflammāvit amōre,
55spemque dedit dubiae mentī, solvitque pudōrem.

With these words she set her already burning heart on fire with love, gave hope to her doubting mind, and loosed the bonds of shame.

Note. His dictīs: ablative of means. incēnsum: proleptic, 'set on fire (so that it burned)'. solvit … pudōrem: the very 'law of Modesty' Dido swore to keep in line 27 (sentence 10).

Aen. 4.56Prīncipiō dēlūbra adeunt, pācemque per ārās
exquīrunt;

First they go to the shrines and seek peace from altar to altar;

Note. Prīncipiō: 'first'. pācem … exquīrunt: they seek the gods' favour (pāx deōrum) at altar after altar.

Aen. 4.57mactant lēctās dē mōre bidentīs
lēgiferae Cererī Phoebōque patrīque Lyaeō,
Iūnōnī ante omnīs, cui vincla iugālia cūrae.

they sacrifice chosen sheep, as custom requires, to law-giving Ceres, to Phoebus, and to father Lyaeus, and above all to Juno, to whom the bonds of marriage are a care.

Note. bidentīs: sheep old enough to have two prominent teeth, the right age for sacrifice. Ceres, Phoebus and Lyaeus (Bacchus) were all linked with the founding of cities and with marriage; Juno, goddess of marriage, comes first (ante omnīs). cui … cūrae: double dative, 'to whom … are a care'.

Aen. 4.60Ipsa, tenēns dextrā pateram, pulcherrima Dīdō
candentis vaccae media inter cornua fundit,
aut ante ōra deum pinguīs spatiātur ad ārās,
īnstauratque diem dōnīs, pecudumque reclūsīs
pectoribus inhiāns spīrantia cōnsulit exta.

Dido herself, most beautiful, holding a bowl in her right hand, pours it between the horns of a gleaming white cow, or walks before the faces of the gods to the rich altars, and renews the day with offerings, and gazing open-mouthed into the opened chests of the beasts she consults the still-quivering entrails.

Note. inter cornua fundit: wine was poured between the victim's horns. ōra deum (= deōrum): the faces of the gods' statues. īnstaurat diem dōnīs: she renews the day with fresh offerings. pecudum … exta: she reads the entrails for omens, as a priest would.

Aen. 4.65Heu vātum ignārae mentēs!

Ah, the ignorant minds of prophets!

Note. Heu vātum ignārae mentēs: the poet's own comment; nominative of exclamation. The prophets are ignorant of Dido's state, or of what the omens mean.

Aen. 4.65quid vōta furentem,
quid dēlūbra iuvant?

What can prayers, what can shrines do for a woman in frenzy?

Note. quid … iuvant: 'how do they help', with furentem, 'a woman raving'. quid is an adverbial accusative.

Aen. 4.66Ēst mollis flamma medullās
intereā, et tacitum vīvit sub pectore volnus.

All the while the flame eats her soft marrow, and the wound lives silent under her breast.

Note. Ēst: from edō, 'eat', not sum; the e is long. The fire eats the soft marrow, an image of love as fever.

Aen. 4.68Ūritur īnfēlīx Dīdō, tōtāque vagātur
urbe furēns, quālis coniectā cerva sagittā,
70quam procul incautam nemora inter Crēsia fīxit
pāstor agēns tēlīs, līquitque volātile ferrum
nescius;

Unhappy Dido burns and wanders raving through the whole city, like a deer hit by an arrow, which a shepherd, hunting with his weapons, has shot from far off among the Cretan woods while she was off her guard, and has left the flying steel in her without knowing it;

Note. The wounded-deer simile. quālis … cerva: 'like a deer'. coniectā … sagittā: ablative absolute. quam … fīxit pāstor: the shepherd has hit her from afar without knowing it (nescius, 34). The image fits Aeneas: he does not yet know the wound he has caused. Crēsia: Cretan, a land famous for archers.

Aen. 4.72illa fugā silvās saltūsque peragrat
Dictaeōs;

she ranges in flight through the forests and glades of Dicte;

Note. fugā: ablative of manner. Dictaeōs: of Mount Dicte in Crete.

Aen. 4.73haeret laterī lētālis arundō.

the deadly shaft clings to her side.

Note. haeret laterī: 'clings to her side'. lētālis arundō: the arrow is deadly; we already know how the book ends.

Aen. 4.74Nunc media Aenēān sēcum per moenia dūcit,
75Sīdōniāsque ostentat opēs urbemque parātam;

Now she leads Aeneas with her through the middle of the city walls, and shows off the wealth of Sidon and the city ready built;

Note. Sīdōniās … opēs: the wealth of Sidon (= Phoenician Carthage). urbem … parātam: she offers Aeneas a city already built, the very thing he must build for himself in Italy.

Aen. 4.76incipit effārī, mediāque in vōce resistit;

she begins to speak, and stops in mid-word;

Note. mediāque in vōce resistit: she stops in mid-sentence. effārī is a deponent infinitive.

Aen. 4.77nunc eadem lābente diē convīvia quaerit,
Īliacōsque iterum dēmēns audīre labōrēs
exposcit, pendetque iterum narrantis ab ōre.

now, as the day slips away, she seeks the same banquets, and once more in her madness asks to hear the labours of Troy, and hangs once more on the lips of the speaker.

Note. lābente diē: ablative absolute, 'as the day slips away'. eadem: Dido 'the same', i.e. again. Īliacōs … labōrēs: the story of Troy in Books 2–3. pendet … ab ōre: 'hangs on his lips'; narrantis is the genitive of the present participle, 'of the one telling'.

Aen. 4.80Post, ubi dīgressī, lūmenque obscūra vicissim
lūna premit suādentque cadentia sīdera somnōs,
sōla domō maeret vacuā, strātīsque relictīs
incubat, illum absēns absentem auditque videtque;

Afterwards, when they have parted, and the dim moon in her turn puts out her light, and the setting stars urge sleep, she grieves alone in the empty house and lies on the couch he has left; absent, she hears and sees him who is absent;

Note. dīgressī: supply sunt. lūna premit: the setting moon 'puts out' its light. strātīs … relictīs: the couch he has left. absēns absentem: the juxtaposition stresses their separation.

Aen. 4.84aut gremiō Ascanium, genitōris imāgine capta,
85dētinet, īnfandum sī fallere possit amōrem.

or, captured by the likeness of his father, she holds Ascanius in her lap, to see if she can cheat a love she may not speak of.

Note. genitōris imāgine capta: Dido, 'captured by the likeness of his father' in Ascanius. sī … possit: 'to see if she can', an indirect question of trying. īnfandum … amōrem: the love she cannot speak of.

Aen. 4.86Nōn coeptae adsurgunt turrēs, nōn arma iuventūs
exercet, portūsve aut prōpugnācula bellō
tūta parant;

The towers that were begun do not rise, the young men do not practise arms or make ready harbours and battlements safe for war;

Note. portūsve: portūs + -ve. The building of Carthage stops: a picture of what love costs a city.

Aen. 4.88pendent opera interrupta, minaeque
mūrōrum ingentēs aequātaque māchina caelō.

the works hang interrupted, the great threatening walls and the crane that rises level with the sky.

Note. minae … mūrōrum ingentēs: the 'threats' of the walls, i.e. their great menacing height. māchina: a crane, here 'levelled with the sky'.