ARGUMENT.

AFTER stating the subject of the poem generally (1-7), addressing the Muse (8-11), and accounting for the resentment of Juno to the Trojan race (12-33), the poet introduces his hero, Aeneas, the son of Anchises and Venus, in the seventh year of his wanderings after the destruction of Troy, when he had just started from Sicily, and was making for the Italian mainland: a tempest is sent forth against him by Aeolus, at the instigation of Juno, which sinks one of the ships and drives the rest in a shattered condition on the coast of Africa (34-123). Neptune interferes to calm the storm (124-156). Aeneas lands with seven out of twenty ships, slays seven stags of immense size, gives one carcass to each of the ships, and exhorts his companions to patience and hope (157 - 207). The banquet of the ships' crews is described (208 - 222). Venus pleads the cause of her son Aeneas and of the Trojans before Jupiter, and lays all the blame of their misfortunes on Juno (223-253). The king of the gods, moved by the appeal, discloses the decrees of the Fates, and consoles his daughter by the 'assurance of future prosperity and unbounded empire to the Trojans in their descendants, the Roman people (254 -296). Mercury is sent down to render Dido, queen of Carthage. friendly to Aeneas (297-304). Satisfied with the declaration of Jupiter, Venus descends to earth, and in the guise of a huntress presents herself to Aeneas, and announces that the ships which he had supposed lost were safe in port (305-409.) Aeneas proceeds to Carthage, accompanied by Achates, both rendered invisible by the care of Venus (410-420). Carthage is described in progress of building (421-436). Aeneas visits the temple of Juno, and sees depicted there the Trojan wars (437-493). Dido visits the temple (494-508). A deputation from the twelve missing ships of the Trojans waits on Dido to complain of the outrages of her people and bewail the loss of Aeneas (509-560). Dido consoles them, and offers them a settlement (561-578). Aeneas, freed from the cloud, appears, and addresses Dido, who replies kindly, and prepares to entertain him and his followers (579-642). Aeneas sends for Ascanius (643-656). Venus substitutes Cupid for Ascanius (657-698). The banquet is given in Dido's palace (699-747). Dido asks Aeneas to narrate the downfall of Troy and his own wanderings (748 – 756).

1. This line is preceded in some MSS. by the following verses : Ille ego, qui quondam gracili modulatus avena

Carmen et egressus silvis vicina coegi

Ut quamvis avido parerent arva colono,

Gratum opus agricolis; at nunc horrentia Martis.

The genuineness of these verses is doubtful. By Burmann, Peerlkamp, Heyne, and many other commentators they are condemned as unworthy of the genius of Virgil, and inconsistent with the dignity of epic poetry, and are assigned to some unknown grammarian; but Wr., Forb., Henry, and others, regard them as genuine, and by no means devoid of terseness and elegance. Wr. does not, however, suppose them to have formed originally the beginning of the Aeneid, but to have been prefixed, as an inscription, to a few copies of the first book, which the poet circulated among private friends, as a sample of the whole. They appear to have existed in the time of Servius and Donatus, who say that Nisus the grammarian had heard a story of their having been expunged by Tucca and Varius, to whom, after Virgil's death, the revision of the Aeneid, preparatory to publication, was intrusted. See Life.

They may be translated thus: I (am) that (poet), who formerly tuned a lay on a slender reed-pipe (E. I. 2), and, having gone forth from the woods (i. e. having abandoned pastoral poetry), taught (i. e. in the Georgics) the neighboring fields to obey the husbandman, however eager (for harvests), — a work acceptable to cultivators of the soil; but now (I sing) the horrid (arms) of Mars. Horrentia; sc. arma and cano from the first line of the poem.

Arma = arms, war. The words arma virumque are not a hendiadys, as some have taught, but give first the character of the subject and then the subject itself. Trojae; the chief city of Troas, a district in the northwest corner of Mysia, in Asia Minor. It was called Troja, from Tros, one of its early kings; also Ilium, Ilios, or Ilion, from Ilus, the son of Tros; Dardania, from Dardanus, the grandfather of Tros; and Teucria, from Teucer, its first king; whence also the Trojans are often called Teucri. It was situated on a rising ground, above the plain of the rivers Scamander and Simoïs. On a hill to the east of it rose its acropolis, called Pergamum or Pergama. The city was protected by strong and lofty walls, said to have been built by Apollo and Poseidon. Primus. The earlier commentators have found a difficulty in reconciling primus with Antenor's previous migration (below, vv. 242 foll.), and suggest that Aeneas had first reached Italy proper, though Antenor had previously reached Venetia. On the other hand, Heyne and Wr. make primus equivalent to olim, thus weakening a word which from its position and its occurrence in the first line of the poem must be emphatic. The more obvious sense is that Aeneas is so called without reference to Antenor, as the founder of the great Trojan empire in Italy. - 2. Italiam. Gr. 379. 4. A. & S. 237, R. 5 (c). Fato is a mixture of modal and instrumental abl., as in IV. 696; VI. 449, 466, etc.; and belongs no less to venit than to profugus, the two words forming one idea, that

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of coming as a fugitive. Profugus. Gr. 363. A. & S. 204. Lavina = Lavinia, which is the reading of many editions; an adj. from Lavinium, a town about three miles from the sea, on the Via Appia, said to have been founded by Aeneas, and named in honor of his wife Lavinia, the daughter of Latinus. Que = even. The phrase Lavinaque litora is epexegetical (i. e. explanatory and restrictive) of Italiam. Cf. Saturniaque arva, v. 569. — 3. Ille is virtually pleonastic. Cf. v. 457, VI. 593. Grammatically it is in apposition with qui; rhetorically it appears to be here: quidem. Jactatus is naturally transferred from wanderings by sea to wanderings by land. In such passages as vv. 332, 668, we see the point of transition. 4. Vi superum expresses the general agency, like fato profugus, though Juno was his only personal enemy. Superum. Gr. 45. 5. 4). A. & S. 53. Memorem ever-mindful, relentless. Ob iram. Cf. unius ob iram, v. 251. — 5. Quoque and et are pleonastic, though the former is to be joined with multa, and the latter with bello. Et etiam. Passus; constructed as a participle, like jactatus. Dum conderet while he was endeavoring to found, in the struggle to found. Gr. 522. II. A. & S. 263. 4 (1). The clause belongs to multa bello passus, rather than to jactatus. Urbem; i. e. Lavinium. -6. Deos = Penates, household gods. Latio. Gr. 379. 5. A. & S. 225. IV. R. 2. Unde may be taken either as qua ex re, or as a quo (sc. Aenea), as in V. 568; VI. 766. The latter seems more probable, the passage multum - Latio being only subsidiary or parenthetic. Genus Latinum, Albani patres, altae moenia Romae, denote the three ascending stages of the empire which sprang from Aeneas: Lavinium, Alba, and Rome. - 7. Albani patres; not our Alban ancestors, but the senate, or rather the noble houses of Alba, of which the Julii were one. Altae. Comp. G. I. 485. 8-11. Why was it, Muse, that Juno so persecuted so pious a hero?-8. Memora. See on E. VII. 19. Quo numine laeso: quomodo laeso ejus numine, how in consequence of an offence against her majesty? For this use of the pronoun quo, see on E. I. 54. Numine. Gr. 414 and 2. A. & S. 247 and 1. Laeso. Gr. 580. A. & S. 274, R. 5 (a). The whole passage quo- impulerit is epexegetical of caussas. In vv. 19-28 Juno's resentment is referred to two causes: the destined triumph of Rome over Carthage, and the insults to which she had been exposed from the Trojan race. We may conceive, therefore, that quo numine laeso points to the former of these, and quid dolens to the latter. — 9. Quid. Gr. 371. 3. A. & S. 232 (2). Deum. See on superum, v. 4. Volvere. See on volvens, G. II. 295. The misfortunes are regarded as a destined circle which Aeneas goes through. The infin. with im pello is poetical for ut with subj. Cf. II. 55, 520. pietate. Cf. VI. 403. Gr. 414 and 2. A. & S. 247 and 1.

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10. Insignem

Pieta

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includes the performance of all duties to gods, parents, kinsmen, friends, and country. —11. Animis. Gr. 387. A. & S. 226. Irae; poetic plural for the singular, often used to give variety or vivacity to the expression, or because the singular does not suit the measure. -12. Antiqua; with reference to Virgil's own age. Fuit. Gr. 471. I. A. & S. 259 (2) (a). Cf. II. 325. Tyrii.... coloni settlers from Tyre. For the parenthetical construction, comp. v. 530. Quam may be supplied. -13. Contra = over against, opposite. Gr. 602. II. A. & S. 279. 10 (a) and (ƒ). Longe may be connected with contra; i. e. far opposite, or made an adverbial adjunct of ostia longe distantia, far away. The latter is a Grecism, but may perhaps be supported by the use of super, III. 489. — 14. Opum includes all sources of power. Cf. II. 22. Gr. 89. 4; 399. A. & S. 83. II. 3, Ex. ; 213. Studiis-belli and very eager in the pursuits of war, much given to the stern pursuits of war. Gr. 429. A. & S. 250. 1.-15. Terris. Gr. 417. A. & S. 256. 2. Magis... unam = far more; lit. alone more; i. e. alone in respect to the degree in which Juno cherished it. Unus is often used to strengthen the superl., as justissimus unus, II. 426, but seldom as here the compar. — 16. Coluisse; i. e, as dweller in the temple. Cf. v. 447. The gods were supposed to dwell particularly in those places which they took under their especial protection: hence coluisse to have cherished. Samo; an island in the Aegaean sea, separated from the coast of Ionia by a narrow strait, scarcely a mile in width, where Juno had a temple of great beauty. Observe the non-elision of the ō. Gr. 669. I. and 2. A. & S. 305. I and (2). Arma. Cf. II. 614.-17. Hoc. Gr. 445. 4 A. & S. 206 (8). Regnum... gentibus the capital of the nations; i. e. instead of Rome. Gentibus. Gr. 390 and 2. A. & S. 227 and R. 4. 18. Qua (sc. ratione) = in any way. Cf. VI. 882. Fata sinant. Cf. IV. 651; XI. 701. Jam tum; i. e. in that early age, long before it became the actual rival of Rome. See on G. II. 405. Tenditque fovetque = both strives and fondly cherishes the purpose. Tendit determines the construction, the infin. being the object of both verbs. Tendo is often followed by an infin., the subject being the same as the nominative to the verb, as in II. 220 and Hor. E. I. 10. 20. Foveo, on the other hand, takes an accusative. These two constructions are here united, the sentence hoc — esse standing in the relation of an ordinary infin. to tendit, and of an accusative to fovet.-19. Sed enim - however, nevertheless. This expression, like the Greek λλà yáp, is elliptical, something like the following, to which the enim refers, being necessary to complete the sense; sed (timebat, ut hoc efficere posset,) audierat enim. Cf. II. 164; V. 395; VI. 28. Duci. The pres. infin. denotes the event as existing in the designs of fate. Gr. 541 and 1. A. & S. 268. 2 and R. 1 (a). — 20.

Tyrias.

verteret

arces; i. e. Carthaginem a Tyriis conditam.

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to overturn. Gr. 500. A. & S. 264. 5.-21. Hinc; i. e. ex hoc Trojano sanguine. Late. Gr. 583 and 1; 704. III. and I. A. & S. 277, R. 1; 323. 3 and (1). Bello. Gr. 414 and 2. A. & S. 247 and 1. Superbum = praestantem. · 22. Exscidio Libyae. Gr. 390. A. & S. 227. Libyae; i. e. Carthagini: the whole for a part, as Asiae for Trojae, III. 1. Volvere. The Parcae (see on E. IV. 47) are here said volvere, i. e. volvere vices: to make events roll on, or after each other, in the same manner as Jupiter is said to do, III. 376. — 23. Veteris and prima are applied to the Trojan war, as contrasted with this new antipathy of Juno to the Trojans, caused by her anxiety for Carthage, as the former had been caused by her love for Argos. Saturnia; Juno as the daughter of Saturnus. 24. Prima; adverbially. See on G. I. 12. Some make it = prius, olim; others, foremost, chief. Argis; the capital of Argolis, in the eastern part of the Peloponnesus, where Juno was worshipped with special honor. - 25. The words from necdum to honores are parenthetical. These caussae irarum are distinguished from the vetus bellum, in other words from the irae themselves, the bitterness displayed in or produced by the war. Virgil had already, v. 24, suggested one cause in her love for Argos; but though this supplies a parallel to her present feeling, it scarcely accounts for its existence; so he goes back to show that her old quarrel with Troy had other grounds. Etiam; with necdum. Dolores is the pang, put for the affront. It is only in the sense of the affront that it can properly be joined with exciderant animo (= had been forgotten). — 26. Alta mente = alte in mente. Repostum. Gr. 703. 2. A. & S. 322. 4. - 27. Judicium Paridis; which awarded the palm of beauty to Venus, in opposition to Juno and Minerva. Spretae formae the wrong which consisted in despising her beauty; i. e. the unjust depreciation of her beauty. The phrase is explanatory of judicium, like Lavinaque litora, v. 2.-28. Genus invisum the hated stock; referring to the birth of Dardanus, who was the son of Jupiter by Electra. Ganymedis; a son of Laomedon, or of Tros, according to some, who, on account of his youthful beauty, was forcibly carried off (rapti) by Jupiter's eagle from Mount Ida to heaven, and there made Jupiter's cup-bearer in place of Hebe, the daughter of Juno. Cf. V. 253 foll. and Hor. C. IV. 4. 4.-29. The construction is resumed after the parenthesis with some variation, his accensa super referring to the subject-matter of the parenthesis. Super insuper. Cf. II. 71.

Jactatos... arcebat = jactabat et arcebat, or jactando arcebat. — 30. Troas. Gr. 98. A. & S. 85, Ex. 2. Reliquias Danaum = who had been left by the Greeks. The Greeks are called Danai from Danaus, one of their mythical ancestors. Achilli. Gr. 69, Ex. 5.