Reflection on lines 295-332

In these lines, we are in the Underworld. Aeneas sees the River Styx and Charon, the being who takes the souls across the river. the oracle tells Aeneas the function of the river, but also, the reason so many souls remain on the wrong side.
Vocab:
- caeno
- squalore
- umeris
- iuvenis
- gurgite
- invicti
- solio
- erebi
- iniquam
Grammar:
- caeno - abl. of specification
- vastaque voragine - abl. of specification or description
- terribili squalore - abl. of specification or description
- cui - dative of referece
- mento - abl. of place where
-nodo - abl. of means or manner
- 309-312 - a double simile
- cursum - acc. with transition
- 315- anaphora and asyndeton
329 - anastrophe

Reflection on lines 675-705

In these lines, Anna is saying her last words to her dying sister. She's completely heartbroken that her sister has abandoned her and the city. Juno pities Dido and her horrific death, and sends Iris down to cut Dido lose from her mortal body to send her to the underworld.
Vocab:
- araeque
- comitemne
- struxi
- siccabat
- halitus
- obitus
- vertice
- damnaverat
- isto
Grammar:
- vocavisses, tulisset - optative subjunctives
- te posita - abl. abs.
- ut abluam - purpose clause
- cubito - abl. of means
- reperta luce - abl. abs.- illi - dat. of reference
- adverso sole - abl. abs

Reflection on lines 345-361 and 659-674

In the first part of these lines, Aeneas is finishing the last part of his speech to Dido. Although he is trying to defend himself, his words are hurtful and unreassuring to Dido. He makes it clear that he is leaving and does not show any sign of distress or anger at the situation, except towards her complaining.

In the second part of these lines, Dido makes her last speech before she kills herself. Rumour makes her way through the city, telling the broken-hearted citizens of the tragedy. Then, Anna runs through the city, trying to get to her dying sister.

Vocab:
-  capessere
- arces
- detinet
- quaerere
- iniuria
- cari
- sparsasque
- moriamur
- conlapsam
Grammar:
-patris Anchisae - genitive with imago
- pitis cari - objective genitive
- regno, arvis - abl. of separation
- Hauriat, ferat - jessive or volitive sub.
- ferro - abl. or means or place where
- femineo ulutatu - hiatus

Precis for "Virgils, from Dante to Milton"

          Colin Burrow, in his article "Virgils, from Dante to Milton" states that Virgil's ideas and words are embedded in some of the greatest literary works of all time. He says that over time, many of Virgil's ideas have been read the same way and used for it as well. Burrow explicitly states Dante and Milton as two authors who really took Virgil's work and expanded it to make it their own. He looks to target mainly an audience who has read either Virgil's works (specifically the Aeneid), Dante's works, or Milton's works (specifically Paradise Lost), because this is the group of people that would get the most out of this article.
          I thought this article, although interesting, was very dense. I had a really hard time getting through it and understanding it to the fullest. It makes me want to read both Dante and Milton's writing, because I feel like I could get so much more out of them after reading both the Aeneid and Burrow's article. This was a rough article to end my Virgil précis assignment with, especially because it did not really pertain to what I'm researching in the epic; however, it did open up new doors and introduce me to new texts that I might like after enjoying the Aeneid.

Reflection on lines 315-344

In these lines, Dido is finishing her desperate speech to Aeneas about him leaving. Her speech causes Aeneas pain, but he holds onto his warning from Jupiter, and tells her he must go. His speech is much shorter, and seemingly less heartfelt than hers, but it is his final word, and makes the reader see that he is not turning back.
Vocab:
- aliud
- reliqui
- labentis
- sidera
- referret
 - viderer
- fando
Grammar:
- 320 - anastrophe
- qua - abl. of means
- destruat, ducat - anticipatory subjunctives
- 327-330 - mixed ctf
- paravulus - diminutive adj. (only one in Aeneid)
- monitus - abl. of cause
- ne finge - poetic negative imperat

Reflection on lines 287-314

In these lines, Aeneas is trying to think of how to break the news to Dido, but she finds out on her own.  She knew, seemingly right away, that something was wrong, and she went to Aeneas in a mad rage. Dido goes crazy at the thought of him leaving her, and expresses it in the speech she makes to Aeneas during this passage.
Vocab:
-litora
- rebus
- sacris
- furenti
- quondam
- undosum
- data
Grammar:
- 289-291 - indirect command and question
- 291-293 - implied indirect statement
- nesciat - subjunctive
- 293-294 - indirect question
- animi - gen. with adj.
- 309 - metonymy

Reflection on lines 259-286

In these lines, Mercury appears before Aeneas and tells him to leave Carthage and get back to his journey. The visit is short and harsh, and it leaves Aeneas speechless; nevertheless, he does follow through with orders and prepare to leave his wife and her city.
Vocab:
- ardebat
- umeris
- munera
- oblite
- tali
- fuga
- tellus
- heu
- ardet
Grammar:
- oblite - vocative of the participle
- regni rerumque - gen. with a verb of forgetting
- Ili - either possessive gen. or objective gen.
fuga - abl. ofmanner
- agat, audeat, sumat - deliberate subjunctives

Reflection on lines 191-218

In these lines, Rumour is still hard at work with spreading the word of Aeneas and Dido, but this time, she is taking the rumor to a kind named Iarbas. Iarbas, who is extremely wealthy, pleads with Jupiter to see these actions and do something about them. He is extremely angered by the marriage, because Dido had rejected his offer, when she accepts this (in his mind outrageous) offer from Aeneas.
Vocab:
-venisse
- sanguine
- satus
- immania
- limina
- divum
- finibus
- ferimus
- munera
Grammar:
- animi - gen. of reference
- divorum - modifies aras or numina
- multa Iovem - double accusative
- pretio - abl. of price
- rapto - abl. with potior

Reflection on lines 160-190

In these lines, the narrator describes the mood and actions of life after Aeneas and Dido's marriage. Rumour is at work as she quickly spreads the word of their marriage throughout the land, and Aeneas and Dido seem happy, enjoying their lives together. Although everything seems relatively fine, there is a negative feeling presented by this passage that seems to foreshadow bad times for the happy couple.
Vocab:
- petiere
- ruunt
- eandem
- fulsere
- famave
- aliud
- dictu
Grammar:
- hoc nomine - abl. of means
- qua - abl. with comparative
- metu - abl. of cause
- cui - dative of possession
- 184 - word order imitates phrase
- luce - abl. of time
- vir = coniungi. iungere - complementary infinitive

Precis for "Aspects of Virgil's reception in antiquity"

           R. J. Tarrant in his essay, "Aspects of Virgil's reception in antiquity", assures that Virgil's works, especially the Aeneid, had an extremely strong impact on other ancient works of and after their time. He says although Virgil takes a second place to the Greek poet, Homer, he was still extremely influential (positively or negatively) and notable. Tarrant discusses how Virgil's works were accepted into ancient culture, and also the reasons why they were. The audience to this essay could be any reader of Virgilian poetry, but also any reader of any ancient poetry that may have derived or may relate to Virgil's own work.
          I thought this article was really interesting. For some reason, I think it's interesting that Virgil's three major poems rank in order of greatness starting with the last and then returning to the first (in the author's opinion). I think it's interesting to look at the reader response to what Virgil presents when it was first written as opposed to what it is now; it changes how I look at the Aeneid as a whole and also Virgil himself. The coolest part, however, in my opinion is that Virgil is still considered one of the greatest poets to ever have lived today, the same way he was then.

Precis for "Modern receptions and their interpretive implications"

          Duncan F. Kennedy, in his article, "Modern receptions and their interpretive implications" focuses on interpreting T.S. Eliot's, "What is a Classic", and "Virgil and the Christian world" to relate to Virgil's epic, the Aeneid. He uses a lot of information from other Virgilian epic critics to demonstrate how Virgil can be interpreted in the modern world, taking great care that he does not repeat something that has been done before. Although he focuses on Virgil according to Eliot's work most of the time, in the end, he makes the point that you cannot define any type of work by its interpretation, because without the known intention of the work, nothing can be fully concluded. With this article, Kennedy intends for the audience to be readers of Virgil's works who are looking to find out how they are interpreted in the modern world; however, it is also relevant to readers of T.S. Eliot's writing as well.
          This article was not particularly convincing. I found this one a little bit of a difficult read to understand, and also just to get through. He used a LOT of citations from other Virgil critics, and I just didn't really see the point in what he was writing, especially because he talked about Eliot's writing the whole time. There was not too much evidence directly from the Aeneid, and I think that and that misleading title bothered me a little bit.