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Latin IV
Vincit Qui Patitur.
Name __________________________
Date ___________________________
Student-Led Discussion: Sample Annotation
At regina dolos (quis fallere possit amantem?)
praesensit, motusque excepit prima futuros
omnia tuta timens. eadem impia Fama furenti
detulit armari classem cursumque parari.
saevit inops animi totamque incensa per urbem
bacchatur, qualis commotis excita sacris
Thyias, ubi audito stimulant trieterica Baccho
orgia nocturnusque vocat clamore Cithaeron.
tandem his Aenean compellat vocibus ultro:
300
Latin IV
Vincit Qui Patitur.
Name __________________________
Date ___________________________
Student-Led Discussion: Sample SWWIMMTTAG
Sound
Word
Order
Word
Choice
Imagery
tuta timens – the alliteration brings to mind Ovid, and the scene with Medea, another
point of comparison between the two
At regina – reminds us of first two words of Book IV. Maybe this is because it’s a
new start to a new story – no longer a love story, but a love lost story
armari classem cursumque parari – chiasmus with infinitives outside of accusative
subjects
Baccho and Cithaeron – last word in the line for emphasis
orgia – V. seems to be most prominent author to use the term (followed by Juvenal)
dolus – used by Sallust and Livy in the context of political trickery; used twice in
Aeneid so far when Aeneas refers to treachery of Greeks
Cithaeron – mountain where Euripides’ Bacchae takes place
saevit, inops, incense – raging, fire
As a reader, I feel grief, worry, and sympathy for Dido.
Mood
Meter
motusque except, eadem impia, totamque incense – elision could show words running
into one another, like we do when we are speaking excitedly or distractedly
two spondaic lines when the simile begins and when she senses Aeneas going away;
V. may want the reader to slow down here?
Theme
dolos, praesensit, motus futuros - Dido’s paranoia (justified)
Fama, furenti, saevit, inops, incense, baccatur – raging, out of control
impia – Aeneas is pius, but now we have Fama who is the opposite
Tone
quis fallere possit amantem – Vergil’s own words, showing sympathy for Dido
Bacchante simile – maybe scornful of those out of control
impia – expressing author’s disapproval?
Allusion
incense – prolepsis, foreshadowing Dido’s death
simile - comparison to Bacchante (drunkenness, sex)
all perfect verbs – could be present perfect
Grammar
Latin IV
Vincit Qui Patitur.
Name __________________________
Date ___________________________
Student-Led Discussion: Sample Translation
But the queen sensed the deceits (who is able to deceive a loving one)?,
And first she received the future movements
Fearing all she sees. The same impious Rumor
Carries down that the fleet is armed and the course is prepared.
Weak of mind she raged and inflamed through the entire city
She runs wild, just as roused by the excited sacral rites
A Thyiad, when the voice of Bacchus is heard triennial
Orgies urge forward and nocturnal Cithaeron calls with its voice.
Finally she accosts Aeneas with these words wantonly:
Latin IV
Vincit Qui Patitur.
Name __________________________
Date ___________________________
Student-Led Discussion: Sample Analysis and
Discussion Preparation
In this passage, Vergil tells us that Dido has learned of Aeneas’ plans to leave, and then
compares her to a raging Bacchante via simile. In the first part of this passage, Dido comes across
as almost paranoid, though her paranoia is justified because Aeneas is leaving. Words like praesensit,
timens, and futuros motus all suggest that Dido anticipates Aeneas’ departure. It is this anticipation and
fear that leads into the simile of Dido as a Bacchante. This simile is important because it transitions
Dido from victim of love to love’s antagonist.
Bacchantes are female worshippers of Bacchus who participate in wild celebrations (orgia)
three times a year (trieterica). In literature, these celebrations often involved drinking, sex, and even
violence. Vergil places the reader on the mountain Cithaeron, the location of these sacred rites, and
makes Dido a participant who is excited by the events. Thus far in the Aeneid, Dido has been
compared to the huntress Diana and the wounded doe. In this third simile, Dido, once a leader,
next a wounded innocent, is now a full participant in her own madness, and is about to turn that
madness upon Aeneas in a speech. It is at this moment in the text that Vergil transitions the reader
from a sympathetic view of Dido to a critical one. Vergil initially writes, quis fallere possit amantem,
sympathizing with Dido as the lover, and as the lover who loves so deeply she cannot be deceived.
Yet in moving almost immediately to portraying her as an eager participant in drunken, sexual
violent religious rites, Vergil illustrates to the reader quite plainly that Dido is completely out of
control. Her love, which was once a wounding arrow, is now violence against herself and others.
Indeed, the verb compellat (translated as “accosts”) shows how Dido has transitioned from victim to
aggressor.
1. Who was Bacchus? What were his religious celebrations like?
2. What is the effect of quis fallere possit amantem?
3. What words does Vergil use that foreshadow Dido’s downfall?
4. Is Dido justified in her reaction to Aeneas? What do you think? What does Vergil think? Support
both answers with the Latin as evidence.
5. Was it Dido’s sexual indiscretion that yielded her fate?
6. Why does Vergil want us to slow down in lines 297 and 301?
7. Why does this start with at regina and how is this section a new beginning of Book IV?