Opera P. Vergilii Maronis
This is a fairly difficult piece of literature to read, so I will add notes and some of my own amateur translation. Words that may prose problems to readers will be in bold. Words surrounded by () are not actually in the text, and have been insterted by me to assist in easier reading of the Latin. Here I have provided the first thirty three lines of the Aeneid. This portion of the much longer epic outlines the major plot and includes the Invocation of the Muse. Enjoy!
line numbers
Arma virumque cano, Trojae qui primus ab oris
(ad) Italiam fato profugus Lavinaque venit
(ad) litora - multum ille et (in) terris iactatus (est) et (in) alto
vi superum, saevae memorem Iunonis ob iram,
multa quoque et (in) bello passus (est), dum conderet urbem
inferretque deos Latio - genus unde Latinum
Albanique patres atqua altae moenia Romae.
Musa, mihi causas memora, quo numine laeso
quidve dolens regina deum tot volvere casus
insignem pietate virum, tot adire labores
impulerit. Tantaene animis caelestibus irae (sunt)?
Urbs antique fuit [Tyrii tenuere coloni]
Carthago, Italiam contra Tiberinaque longe
ostia, dives opum studiisque asperrima belli;
quam Iuno fertur terris magis omnibus unam
posthabita coluisse Samo; hic illius arma,
hic currus fuit; hoc regnum dea gentibus esse,
si qua fata sinant, iam tum tenditque fovetque
progeniem sed enim Troiano a sanguine duci
Audierat Tyrias olim quae verteret arces;
hinc populum late regem belloque superbum
Venturum (esse) excidio Libyae; sic volvere Parcas.
Id metuens veterisque memor Saturnia belli,
prima quod ad Troiam pro caris gesserat Argis
[necdum etiam causae irarum saevique dolores
exciderant animo; manet (in) alta mente repostum
iudicium Paridis spretaeque iniuria formae
et genus invisum et rapti Ganymedis honores] -
his accensa super iactatos (in) aequore toto
Troas, relliquias Danaum atque immitis Achilli,
arcebat longe Latio, multosque per annos
errabant acti fatis maria omnia circum.
Tantae molis erat Romanam condere gentem.
Back to text
LINE 1: a) 'Troiae.......oris' go together.
LINE 2: a) 'fato' is ablative of means or abl. of cause, and tells why Aeneas (virum) is 'profugus.'
b) 'Lavina' modifies 'litora.' Note the stylish use of the adjective and noun surrounding the preposition.
LINE 3: a) 'multum' is used adverbially. This is called the adverbial accusative, and is closely related to the accusative of respect (which is sometimes called the Greek Accusative, because it is actually borrowed from Greek). Remember that in Latin, the ablative of respect is more commonly found.
b) 'alto' is used substantively to mean "the deep."
LINE 4: a) 'vi' is ablative of means.
b) 'superum' is a shortened version of 'superorum.'
c) 'saevae memorem Iunonis ob iram.' Note the poetic interlocking of adjective-noun pairs.
LINE 5: a) 'dum conderet urbem' - one may translate 'dum' here as "until." The fact that 'conderet' is subjunctive implies purpose or anticipation.
LINE 6: a) 'inferret' is subjunctive for the same reason that 'conderet' is.
b) 'Latio' is dative of direction.
c) 'unde' refers to 'Latio.' Translate as "from where," or "from which place..."
LINES 8-11 (The Invocation of the Muse): a) 'memora'........'impulerit' is an INDIRECT QUESTION. Thus:
b) 'quo' is the interrogative adjective.
c) 'quid' is the interrogative pronoun, and the object of 'dolens'.
d) 'deum' is short for "deorum".
e) 'volvere' and 'adire' are complementary infinitives with 'impulerit'.
f) 'pietate' is ablative of respect.
g) 'tantae'.....'irae' - Poetic plural. English would use the singular here.
LINE 12:
a) 'tenuere' is a shortened version of 'tenuerunt'. This shortened form of the third person plural perfect active indicative is sometimes seen in high prose and poetry.
LINE 13:
a) 'Carthago' is in apposition to 'Urbs'.
a) 'Italiam' and 'Tiberina'.....'ostia' are governed by 'contra'.
LINE 15:
a) 'quam' is the relative pronoun, and the object of 'coluisse'.
b) 'terris'.....'omnibus' is ablative of comparison.
LINE 16:
a) 'posthabita'.....'Samo' is ablative absolute.
b) 'illius' stands for Juno.
LINE 17:
a) 'gentibus' is dative of reference, and can be translated as if it were genitive.
LINE 18:
a) 'qua' is ablative (of manner) sing. fem. of the indefinite adjective "qui, qua, quod". "via" is implied.
LINE 20:
a) 'audierat' is a shortened form of "audiverat".
b) 'quae verteret arces' - this is a relative clause of purpose.
LINE 21:
a) 'regem' is used here as though it were the participle "regentem".
b) 'bello' is ablative of respect.
LINE 22:
a) 'excidio Libyae'. This is called the double dative construction. It is composed of a dative of purpose and a dative of reference. Thus, the unpleasantly literal translation would be "for the (purpose of) destruction with respect to Libya." A smoother translation is "for Libya's destruction."
b) 'sic volvere Parcas' is also part of the indirect statement that started with 'audierat'.
LINE 23:
a) 'Saturnia' is Saturn's daughter, who is, of course, Juno. Vergil often uses several names interchangeably for people and places.
LINE 24:
a) 'quod' here means "because."
LINE 25:
a) 'irarum' is the poetic plural again.
LINE 26:
a) 'animo' is the ablative of separation.
LINE 29:
a) 'his' - ablative plural of "hic, haec, hoc'. It is ablative of means or cause and refers to the reasons for Juno's hatred given around lines 26-28.
LINE 30:
a) 'Danaum' is an alternate form of "Danaorum' and refers to the Greeks.
LINE 31:
a) 'Latio' is ablative of separation.
LINE 32:
a) 'maria omnia circum' = "circum maria omnia".
LINE 33:
a) 'tantae molis' is the predicate genitive, expressing the quality of the subject 'condere'.
This is my translation, and I have done it very literally in most places so that a student will be able to refer between the English and Latin. Text inside () does not fit with the literal translation, but makes the english smoother. Text in [] is actually in the Latin.
Back to text
Of arms I sing, and a man, who first from Troy's shores
came, a fugitive by fate, to Italy
and to the Lavinian shores - he was tossed about much both on lands and in the deep
by the force of the gods above, on account of the unforgetting anger of cruel Juno,
and he endured many things also in war, until he might found a city
and bring the gods to Latium - whence (originate) the Latin race
and the fathers of Alba Longa, and the battlements of lofty Rome.
Muse, recall to me the reasons, by what offended divine will,
or vexed at what, did the queen of the gods force (that) man,
distinguished for his loyalty and devotion,
to undergo so many misfortunes,
to encounter so many harships.
Does such great wrath dwell in heavenly breasts?
Carthage was an ancient city [Tyrian settlers held it],
far off opposite Italy and the mouth of the Tiber,
rich in resources and most fierce in its pursuits of war;
(it is the city) which Juno is said to have cultivated alone
more than all (other) lands,
with even Samos placed after it: here were her relics,
here was her chariot, and the goddess was already then
tending and cherishing this (land) to be,
if in any way the fates would permit,
the ruling power over all races.
But indeed she had heard that the Roman race was being led by a Trojan descendant,
to one day overturn the Tyrian citadels (Carthage),
and that hence the [Roman] people, ruling far and wide and proud in war,
would come for Libya's destruction: and thus the fates to be unrolling.
Fearing this and remembering an old war,
Saturn's Daugher (Juno),
because she had first waged (war) against Troy on behalf of dear Argos
[nor yet had the reasons for her anger and the fierce passions
fallen from her mind; the judgment of Paris remained stored deep in her mind
as did the insult to her slighted beauty
and the (memory of) the hated race and the plundered rewards of Ganymedes] -
enraged by these things she also restrained afar from Latium
the Trojans, buffeted on every wave, the leavings of the Greeks
and the cruel Achilles,
and through many years they wandered driven by the fates
around all the seas.
Of so great effort it was to found the Roman race.