(Pease).ġ69-70: ille diēs prīmus lētī prīmusque malōrum causa fuit: “that day in the beginning was the cause of death, that day in the beginning was the cause of sorrow.” Prīmus is adverbial, repeated for special emphasis Vergil makes it plain that all the succeeding misery of both Dido and Aeneas stems from the way in which both regarded the events of this critical day: neither understood the mind of the other (Austin). Most of these cases suggest either the sad or the uncanny. Vergil also uses ululare for the howling of dogs (6.257) and wolves (7.18), of feminine wailing (2.487–488), and of ritual cries in the cult of Hecate (4.609). The shriek of the Nymphs is the bridal hymn ( hymenaeus) (Page). Conubiīs is dative with the adjective conscius (Frieze).ġ68: ululārunt Nymphae: perfect indicative, syncopated form of ululā(vē)runt. fulsēre ignēs: the lightning flashes take the place of the usual “nuptial torches” with which the bride was conducted home (Page).ġ67–68: conscius aethēr conubiīs: “witness to the nuptials” referring both to the lightning and the air. It should be added that according to Varro prōnuba was one of the titles of Juno (Frieze).ġ67: dant signum: as if for the bridal procession (Austin). The prōnuba was a matron who had only been married to one husband, and her function was to conduct the bride to the lectus geniālis (“marriage bed”). Tellus and Juno both foster marriage rites (Frieze). Others translate as “ancient, earliest.” What the signal ( signum) is, the poet does not say. Earth as the primal mother and Heaven ( Aethēr) as the universal father descending into her lap in fertilizing showers (Page). The sky is a “witness” ( conscius) of the wedlock (G-K).ġ66: prīma Tellūs: “primal Earth” so called, as the oldest of the gods (F-B). To the names of these two deities are added the ceremonies belonging to each-the flashes in the air, and the effects of the storm on the earth ( ululārunt, etc.), in chiastic order. In this capacity Tellus and Juno dant signum, i.e., for the marriage to proceed. These were persons whose duty it was, originally, to take the auspices at a wedding, but who, in historical times, had merely a ceremonial function, repeating, doubtless, some set form of words, though no omens were actually taken. Tellus and Juno, deities of earth and sky, attended, apparently, as aspicēs nuptiārum. The flashes of lightning ( ignēs) were the marriage-torches the howling ( ululārunt) of the nymphs in the tree-tops ( summō vertice), the roaring of the wind stood for the festal cries and the hymeneal song, while the word chosen suggests an evil omen. The hint of this passage is doubtless taken from Apollonius Rhodius 4.1130 ff., where the union of Jason and Medea is made to take place in a cave but there is nothing in the description of the elder poet to remind us of Vergil, except the mention of Juno and of the Nymphs (Conington).ġ66 ff: The ceremonies of a Roman marriage are, as it were, imitated by the powers of nature. Note the contrast of Aeneas gallantly remaining with the queen when even her own attendants had scattered and left her (Pease). What looks like a simple accident is thus strongly marked as the result of divine will, and the words acquire a certain ominous character which accords with what follows (Page). The fulfilment of Juno’s plan is related in the same words in which it is announced. The dry river-beds are flooded in a moment (Austin).ġ65: spēluncam…: Repeated from 124. amnēs: “torrents” instantly formed by the rain in hilly regions (Frieze). Perfect tense, syncopated form of petī(v)ērunt (F-B). īnsequitur commixtā grandine nimbus: Note the echo of 120 ( nigrantem commixtā grandine nimbum) (Austin).ġ63: Dardanius nepōs Veneris: = Ascanius.ġ63–4: dīversa tēcta: “shelter here and there” (F-B).ġ64: petiēre: “eagerly seek” (Page). The sky is all a mass of noise (Austin).ġ61: incipit, insequitur: asyndeton and syllabic anaphora (F-B). miscērī: a favorite word of Vergil’s to suggest confused irregular disorderly movement physical or mental (Stephenson). A fine onomatopoeic line Vergil makes an abrupt transition from the brilliant light of the previous passage to black darkness and impending misery (Austin). magnō miscērī murmure: “to be troubled with mighty murmurings” (Page). Manuscripts: M | P 162-172 | R 160-162, 163-172ġ60–72: A storm descends Aeneas and Dido take refuge in a cave and, amid thunder and lightning, their fatal union is accomplished and Dido thenceforth openly proclaims Aeneas her lover (Page).ġ60: intereā: the word often introduces a peripeteia (Pease).
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