39: Untitled Page 26
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viginti (numeral adjective, indeclinable)
twenty
modo (adverb)
only, merely;
of time just passed: a moment agoratis, -is, f.
a wooden vessel, raft, boat
tremo, -ere, -ui
to shake, quake, quiver, tremble
firmo, -are, -avi, -atum
to strengthen, fortify, support, encourage
excutio, -ere, -cussi, -cussum
to shake out or off; remove, banish
cor, cordis, n.
heart
Dia, -ae, f.
an old name for the island of Naxos
defero, -ferre, -tuli, -latum
to bear, carry, bring; transfer, deliver
accedo, -ere, -essi, -cessum
to go/ come near, approach; enter upon
Baccheus, -a, -um
of Bacchus, Bacchic
praebeo, -ere, -ui, -itum
to hold forth, reach out; give, furnish
ambages, -is, f.
a going around, roundabout way
circumlocution, evasion, riddleauris, -is, f.
ear [not to be confused with
aura, -ae, f. = breeze]absumo, -ere, -psi, -ptum
to use up, consume, exhaust
praeceps, -ipitis
headlong, impetuous
crucio, -are, -avi, -atum
to put to the rack, torture, torment
dirus, -a, -um
fearful, awful; ill-omened, ominous
Stygius, -a, -um
Stygian, hellish, infernal
demitto, -ittere, -isi, -issum
to let fall, make descend, send down
3.696–707
protinus abstractus solidis Tyrrhenus Acoetes
clauditur in tectis; et dum crudelia iussae
instrumenta necis ferrumque ignesque parantur,
sponte sua patuisse fores lapsasque lacertis
sponte sua fama est nullo solvente catenas. 700
perstat Echionides, nec iam iubet ire, sed ipse
vadit ubi electus facienda ad sacra Cithaeron
cantibus et clara bacchantum voce sonabat.
ut fremit acer equus, cum bellicus aere canoro
signa dedit tubicen pugnaeque adsumit amorem, 705
Penthea sic ictus longis ululatibus aether
movit, et audito clamore recanduit ira.
Study Questions
- What noun does the attribute solidis (696) modify? How does the word order enact meaning?
- Parse iussae (697). What noun does it agree with?
- What type of ablative is lacertis (699)?
- What does the -que after lapsas (699) link?
- Identify the two subject accusatives and the two infinitives of the indirect statement introduced by fama est (700).
- What construction is nullo solvente (700)?
- Parse bacchantum (703).
- What noun does the attribute bellicus (704) modify?
- What kind of genitive is pugnae (705)?
- Parse ictus (706). What noun does it agree with?
- What type of ablative is longis ululatibus (706)?
- What kind of construction is audito clamore (707)?
Stylistic Appreciation
- How does Ovid generate a sense of marvel at the liberation of Acoetes?
- Discuss the illustrative value of the simile in lines 704–05.
Discussion Points
Profile Pentheus’ state of mind. Why does he remain unimpressed by the miraculous liberation of Acoetes? What makes him rush to his doom on Mount Cithaeron?
protinus
right on, straightaway, immediately
abstraho, -here, -xi, -ctum
to drag away, remove forcibly
sponte sua
of itself, spontaneously
foris, -is, mainly in plural: fores, -um, f.
door, gate
labor, -bi, -psus
to move, glide; to slip, fall
lacertus, -i, m.
upper arm (from shoulder to elbow)
catena, -ae, f.
fetter, shackle, chain
persto, -are, -stiti
to stand firmly, remain steadfast, persist
vado, -ere
to go, walk, rush
Cithairon/ Cithaeron, -onis, m.
Cithaeron (mountain in Boeotia)
eligo, -igere, -egi, -ectum
to select, choose, pick out
bacchor, -ari, -atus
to celebrate the rites of Bacchus,
to act like a Bacchante, rave, ragefremo, -ere, -ui, -itum
to roar, resound, growl, grumble
canorus, -a, -um
melodious, euphonious
tubicen, -cinis, m.
a trumpeter
icio, -ere, -i, -tum
to strike, smite
recandesco, -ere, -dui
to grow white/ hot (again), glow
3.708–18
monte fere medio est, cingentibus ultima silvis,
purus ab arboribus, spectabilis undique, campus:
hic oculis illum cernentem sacra profanis 710
prima videt, prima est insano concita cursu,
prima suum misso violavit Penthea thyrso
mater et ‘o geminae’ clamavit ‘adeste sorores!
ille aper, in nostris errat qui maximus agris,
ille mihi feriendus aper’. ruit omnis in unum 715
turba furens; cunctae coeunt trepidumque sequuntur,
iam trepidum, iam verba minus violenta loquentem,
iam se damnantem, iam se peccasse fatentem.
Study Questions
- What is the subject of the sentence starting monte fere medio est... (708–09)?
- What kind of construction is cingentibus ultima silvis (708)? How does ultima fit in?
- What is the subject of the sentence starting hic oculis... (710–13)?
- What kind of construction does videt (711) govern?
- What kind of construction is misso … thyrso (712)?
- What type of dative is mihi (715)?
- What construction does fatentem introduce (718)?
Stylistic Appreciation
How does Ovid rhetorically embellish the final show down between Pentheus and his mother (as well as the rest of the Maenads)?
Discussion Points
Discuss the drama of sight that plays itself out in these lines: who sees whom seeing what from where? Should the transformative visions induced by madness and hallucination count as types of metamorphosis?