First four lines of the Aeneid?

[Mofmog]

Arma virumque cano Troiae qui primus ab oris
Italiam fato profugus Lavinaque venit
litora multum ille et terris iactatus et alto
vi superorum saevae memorem Iunonis ob iram

I sing of arms and a man, a fugitive by fate, who first came from the trojan shore to the Italian and Lavinian shores, that man who was both scattered on the lands and in the deep many times by the power of the gods, (and who was) mindful of the Iuno’s cruelty on acount of her anger (/because of her angry torwards him?)

I’m guessing, “memorem” refers to the virum in the first line.

General questions:
-What is the deep? By looking at translations, it seems to be the sea?
-In one translation, (which was supposed to be literal), Iuno’s anger is everlasting?

[Episcopus]

alto is the deep (sea) yes.

memorem goes with iram, it means unforgetting, and as ‘immemor’ (forgetful of) takes the genitive, as with other verbs of remembering, forgetting, reminding e.g. reminisci, oblivisci and admoneo.

memorem Iunonis ob iram - by the unforgetting anger of Juno. If an anger is unforgetting then it will last forever.



~E

[benissimus]

@Mofmog

Arma virumque cano Troiae qui primus ab oris
Italiam fato profugus Lavinaque venit
litora multum ille et terris iactatus et alto
vi superorum saevae memorem Iunonis ob iram

I sing of arms and a man, a fugitive by fate, who first came from the trojan shore to the Italian and Lavinian shores, that man who was both scattered on the lands and in the deep many times by the power of the gods, (and who was) mindful of the Iuno’s cruelty on acount of her anger (/because of her angry torwards him?)

oris is plural

Troiae = “of Troy” (noun, not adjective)

Italiam … Lauinaque litora = Italy (noun, not adjective) and the Lavinian shores

after “Lavinian shores”, there is a considerable sense break which you should probably mark with a dash or semicolon. this explains why there is no “who” in the following part.

multum = “much”

superorum should be superum, not that it affects the translation.

saeuae agrees with Iunonis, memorem with iram: “on account of cruel Juno’s remembering (unforgetting) anger”

I’m guessing, “memorem” refers to the virum in the first line.

there is an accusative much closer in the form of iram.

General questions:
-What is the deep?
By looking at translations, it seems to be the sea?

like “the watery deep”, i.e. the sea

-In one translation, (which was supposed to be literal), Iuno’s anger is everlasting?

memorem “unforgetting” could be rendered slightly freely as “everlasting”

[vir_litterarum]

memorem is a transferred epithet modifying Juno; hence, “the anger of fierce and remembering Juno” Juno still remembers the judgment of Paris.

[benissimus]

@vir litterarum

memorem is a transferred epithet modifying Juno; hence, “the anger of fierce and remembering Juno” Juno still remembers the judgment of Paris.

certainly there is that notion, but are you suggesting that memorem is modifying Iunonis?

[Mofmog]

M&F is one hell of a book without help. Thanks!

[medicatura]

I recommend that you acquire a copy of Pharr’s Vergil’s Aeneid, and utilise that to help with your translations. It’s one of the two books that I’m currently using in AP Latin: Vergil, and it’s been a really big help, thus far.

There’s so much material in just those first few lines of the Aeneid as Vergil sets up his exposition for the rest of the epic … and that makes it exceedingly fascinating (in my opinion, at least).