Precis on "Virgilian Epic"

          Duncan F. Kennedy, in his essay, "Virgilian Epic"(10-28-12), argues that Virgil has made steady progression over the course of his poetic career, and that repetition plays a major role in interpreting his final work, the Aeneid. He looks at the Georgics, Eclogues, and Aeneid, Virgil's three major works, but  most critically at the Aeneid. Kennedy talks about "telos" (slippage between 'end' as 'stopping point and as 'goal') and "epos" (connoting 'word' or 'utterance'), as well and their relevance to the epic. Kennedy mainly targets those who have read, or are interested in reading Virgil's poems, to relay to them his views on the structure of, specifically his epic.
          This essay was fairly convincing, although I found the topic of choice to be a little dull and difficult to take sufficient interest in. Kennedy cited a lot of outside authors, including Philip Hardie, whom we have already read. He also talked a lot about the Iliad and the Odyssey to strengthen his arguments about repetition, comparing them often to the Aeneid. I did not particularly take interest in this essay; however, his idea of repetition was something to give good thought to.

Precis for "Virgil and Tragedy"

          Philip Hardie in his essay "Virgil and Tragedy" (10/21/12) claims that "in short, the Aeneid is a problematic text" because it is difficult to describe as a tragedy specifically (313). Hardie examines the Virgilian epic and some of its criticisms specifically to decide whether the Aeneid could be classified as a tragedy, or what tragic aspects it contains. The author looks to give the reader a lot of insight into the poem's tragic qualities, but not necessarily define the Aeneid specifically as a tragedy itself. This information is useful to those who have read the epic, but also to those who are looking at the tragedy genre alone, as it pertains to the complexity of defining a tragedy itself as well as defining the Aeneid as one.
          This essay did not particularly convince me that the Aeneid was, or was not a tragedy, which is what I believe the author intended; however, it did give me a lot of information about what 'tragedy' means, and how it could be defined in terms of the Aeneid. The author looks at tragic heroes in the story, tragic small stories within the text itself, and also the tragedy of personal loss and grief for the characters. In describing these, I felt that the author, at times, tended to go off on tangents about specific details of his points, which made the essay somewhat difficult to read. Overall, not my favorite, but brings up an interesting debate about defining the Aeneid and its significance as an epic.

Reflection on lines 40-56 and 201-215

In lines 40-56, Laocoon gives the Trojans a warning about the horse that they have discovered. He warns them that it is a trick of the Greeks, and it will only work against the Trojans. At the end of his warning, he throws a spear into the horse to try to prove his point; however, it doesn't work, and Aeneas, who is telling this whole story, foreshadows the fall of Troy to come.
In lines 201-215, Laocoon is slaughtering a bull at the altars. Then, the scene shifts to a description of two serpents slithering on the surface of the sea. When they reach land, they head for Laocoon, but first slaughter his two sons. This is a really depressing passage of ecphrasis.
Vocab:
- ardens
- summa
- ferentes
- ulla
- ingentem
- pelago
- aras
- agmine
Grammar:
- comitante caterva - ablative absolute
- 45- metonymy
- viribus - abl. of manner
- 52 - ablative absolute
- 54 - contrary to fact conditional
- 54 - anaphora and asyndeton
- Neptuno - dative of reference
- spumante salo - abl. absolute
- 213-214 - interlocking word order

Reflection on lines 159-178

In these lines, Dido gives a speech to the Trojans in response to the one from Ilioneus. She says that they are welcome in her city and she will help them in any way that is possible. She also offers them a chance to permanently reside there if they so choose. Lastly, Dido wonders where their king is, and promises to send out a search party in hopes of finding him.
Vocab:
-agetur
- adforet
- ore
Grammar:
- 560- half line
- corde - abl. of separation
- custode - abl. of means
- mihi - dative of agent
- 578 - conditional

Reflection on lines 527-558

In these lines, Ilioneus continues and concludes his speech to Dido about the position of the Trojans. He tells Dido that the Trojans are good people, with honorable intentions, and all they would like to do is fix their ships and then depart from Carthage. Ilioneus tells Dido about their leader Aeneas, whom they are not sure is dead or alive, (although the reader knows better) and tries to make the best case he can for the Trojans.
Vocab:
- locus
- cursus
- Quaeve
- tendere
- Quassatam
- remos
Grammar:
- 533 - indirect statement
- 534- half line!
- procacibus Austris - ablative absolute
- 544 - nobis - dative of possession
- vescitur - takes abl.
- 549 - paeniteat - jussive subjunctive
- 554 - Italiam - acc of place towards

Precis on "Sons and lovers: sexuality and gender in Virgil's poetry"

          Ellen Oliensis in her essay "Sons and lovers: sexuality and gender in Virgil's poetry" (10/14/12) implies that Virgil makes consistent ideas of sexuality and gender differences prominent in his writing. The author examines each of Virgil's major works, The Georgics, Eclogues, and Aeneid individually and explains his topic specific to each poem. Oliensis aims to give the reader a good insight as to how and where in his works Virgil depicts sexuality and gender to show he or she certain consistencies and general remarks that can be found within the poems. The author most likely intends to give this knowledge to those who will or have read Virgil's poems so that they can utilize what they have learned. 
          I think this was the most interesting article I've read up until now. It was very persuasive and I did not question the author's arguments much at all. The author supported her points with many examples from each of the works, showing that her interpretations and conclusions were valid. I will keep this article in mind because it is one that I could use for my research project, along with my other sources from JSTOR. 

Reflection on lines 194-226

In these lines, Aeneas and his men are further examining Carthage under the protection of the mist. They see Dido go by, surrounded by a group of young men, similar to the way Diana is surrounded by her dancers. They are nervous about the situation, but they are also eager to be on good terms with the Carthaginians. In the last few lines, Ilioneus starts a speech to Dido introducing the Trojans and showing that they look to be on peaceful terms and that they also need some help.
Vocab:
- ignes
- secutae
- divae
- nam
- pio
Grammar:
-in line 510, why is videt singular? There are two names...
- 498 - simile between Dido and Diana (women in power)
- 517 - indirect questions
- iustitia - ablative of means or manner

Reflection on lines 195-209 and 418-440

In the lines 200-209, Aeneas is trying to rally his troops with a spirit-lifting speech. Although he does not feel hopeful himself, he puts on a happy face for his crew to make them feel better.
In the lines 418-440, Aeneas and his men are marveling at the city they are overlooking from a cliff. The Tyrians are described while working on their individual tasks, and are compared to bees in the summer, working within their hive.
Vocab:
-litore
- socii
- vosmet
- rebus
- medios
Grammar:
- what alii agrees with in 427
- in lines 430 and 431, apes is led to seem like the subject, but it is really labor
- 434- agmine facto- ablative absolute
- miratur- deponent
- durate - imperative (funny how Aeneas is ordering his men to be strong, and not asking them)

Reflection on lines 186-194

In this section, Aeneas is described killing 7 bucks, equal to the number of ships that he has. By killing the herds leaders, he sends the flock into confusion and makes them scatter all over. Once he returns to the crew, he splits up the carcasses to make sure everyone has something to eat.
Vocabulary:
- tela/telis
- ingentia
- fundat
- ferentes
Grammar:
- cornibus arboreis - ablative of quality
- nemora - poetic plural
- Victor=Aeneas - the understood subject

Reflection on lines 156-186

In these lines, the Trojans get to land. They are exhausted, but they fought with all of their strength until they finally made it. Once there, Achates lights a fire, and the group goes to see what food they have so they can prepare a meal. Aeneas wanders off and sights a flock of deer.
Vocabulary:
-petere
- sese
- saxo
- rerum
- agmen
Grammar:
-est...locus - ecphrasis
- silvis coruscis - ablative of quality
- horrenti umbra - ablative of cause or of manner
- unco morsu - ablative of means
- collectis navibus - ablative absolute
- videat - subjunctive
- pelago - dative of direction

Reflection on lines 124-156

In these lines, Neptune senses the storm, and he's super mad, so he scolds the winds that have created it.  He tells them to tell Aeolus to stay off of the part of the world that is his realm (the sea). He then calms the seas around Aeneas to help them out. Then, Virgil's first political metaphor is used, as he compares the calming of the sea by Neptune to the calming of a crowd by an orator.
Vocabulary:
-unda
- tollere
- pelagi
- immania
- cunctus
Grammar:
- line 124 - alliteration
- refusa vadis - ablative of separation or dative of direction
- alto - ablative of place where
- unda- ablative of separation
- 129 - hyperbole
- illi - dative of indirect object
- 142 - ablative with comparative

Reflection on lines 92-123

In these lines, Aeneas is complaining. He's basically saying, "Why couldn't I die back in Troy? Why do I have to lead this awful journey?". During his little spiel, Aeneas's ships are caught up in a storm that tears them apart and makes it impossible to navigate. The helmsman on one of the ships is thrown overboard and is lost to the waves, and the tempest causes the ships to lose all control.
Vocabulary:
- sidera
- telo
- remi
- furit
- visu
- puppim
Grammar:
- viris - Teucris - dative of reference
- campis - ablative of place where
- hanc - meam - ablative of means
- iactanti - dative of reference
- 108-109 - anaphora
- mari summo - ablative of place where

Precis for "Approaching Characterisation in Virgil"

          Andrew Laird in his essay "Approaching Characterisation in Virgil" (10/7/12) asserts that looking at characterization in Virgil's works is important, no matter how "conventional" it may seem. The author splits the chapter into two sections, the first looking at characterization being a relation between the poet and the character he portrays, and the second looking at characterization being a relation between the text and the audience. Laird aims to show that characterization requires the reader to look at characters, which are crucial to almost any work, in order to expand the way they interpret it. The readers that the author most likely intends to read his work are those who will or have read Virgil's works; however, it could be useful to any reader because characterization is important in any piece of literature.
          I think this essay was pretty convincing. It showed me different ways to look at how author's characterize, and how they are significant. This information was certainly helpful to me as I go forward with my research project on the Aeneid, but I could also apply it to almost anything I read outside of class. There are many perspectives on character that were not mentioned in this chapter; however, the ones that the author did bring up, I thought were very interested and I will keep in mind as I continue to examine the Aeneid.