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5.3.2.18: 3.687–95

  • Page ID
    88632
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    de modo viginti (tot enim ratis illa ferebat)
    restabam solus: pavidum gelidoque trementem
    corpore vixque meo firmat deus “excute” dicens
    “corde metum Dianque tene!” delatus in illam                                 690
    accessi sacris Baccheaque sacra frequento’.
    ‘Praebuimus longis’ Pentheus ‘ambagibus aures’,
    inquit ‘ut ira mora vires absumere posset.
    praecipitem, famuli, rapite hunc cruciataque diris
    corpora tormentis Stygiae demittite nocti!’                                      695

    Study Questions

    • What is the accusative object of ferebat (687)?
    • What kind of ablative is corde (690)?
    • What words does the -que after Diam link?
    • Parse tene (690).
    • Scan line 691. Why does the -e- in Bacchea scan long?
    • Scan line 693. What case is ira, what case mora?
    • What case is famuli (694)?
    • What does the -que after cruciata link?

    Stylistic Appreciation

    How does Ovid bring out Pentheus’ pent-up anger?

    Discussion Points

    Does Pentheus have a point when he calls Acoetes’ story ‘a long-winded runaround’ (cf. longis … ambagibus)?

    viginti (numeral adjective, indeclinable) twenty
    modo (adverb) only, merely;
    of time just passed: a moment ago
    ratis, -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, riddle
    auris, -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

    5.3.2.18: 3.687–95 is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.

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