63 Colloquial and Li.. - Ganino.com

274 stephen j. harrison
of the hexameter. On the other hand, the excited questions of lines 9–10
have colloquial elements: hos . . . hos is a vivid and colloquial version of
hos . . . illos (see Hofmann–Ricottilli 340), and the unusual and colourful
phrases arma sequi and ferrum lacessere reflect the speaker’s lively feelings.
Venus’ passionate reply urging Aeneas’ case (18–62) is the longest of the
scene’s speeches. Lines 25–30 show its mixed style:
Aeneas ignarus abest. numquamne levari 25
obsidione sines? muris iterum imminet hostis
nascentis Troiae nec non exercitus alter,
atque iterum in Teucros Aetolis surgit ab Arpis
Tydides. equidem credo, mea vulnera restant
et tua progenies mortalia demoror arma. 30
Aeneas is away and unaware. Will you never allow them to be relieved from siege?
Once more an enemy with another army threatens the walls of growing Troy, and
once more there rises against the Trojans the man from Aetolian Arpi, Diomedes.
Yes, I am sure of it, a wounding for me lies ahead, and I, your offspring, am a mere
delay to mortal arms.
The compressed and terse Aeneas ignarus abest (Chahoud 3) is succeeded by
the indignant rhetorical question and exaggeration (Chahoud 1 and 4) of
numquamne...sines; on the other hand, nascentis seems to be poetic simplex
pro composito for renascentis, a poetic feature, 12 while the artful collocation
of Teucros Aetolis, juxtaposing the traditional hostile pair of Trojans and
Greeks, 13 and the learned epithet Aetolis for Arpis (pointing to the Greek
foundation of the Italian city) are both further poetic devices. Likewise, in
the last two lines we find balancing lexical features: the colloquial equidem
credo (three times in Plautus) is matched by the poetic and archaic progenies
(see Harrison 1991: 66).
Juno’s speech also shows high indignation, especially in its dramatic
opening:
quid me alta silentia cogis
rumpere et obductum verbis vulgare dolorem?
Aenean hominum quisquam divumque subegit 65
bella sequi aut hostem regi se inferre Latino?
Italiam petiit fatis auctoribus (esto)
Cassandrae impulsus furiis: num linquere castra
hortati sumus aut vitam committere ventis?
(10.63–9)
12 I missed this feature here at Harrison 1991: 65; forpoeticsimplex pro composito in general see the
references collected at Harrison 1991: 68.
13 See n. 10 above.