Ovid, Heroides 7.121-138

bella tument; bellīs peregrīna et fēmina temptor,

vixque rudīs portās urbis et arma parō.

mīlle procīs placuī, quī mē coiēre querentēs

nescio quem thalamīs praeposuisse suīs.

quid dubitās vīnctam Gaetūlō trādere Iarbae? 125

praebuerim scelerī bracchia nostra tuō.

est etiam frāter, cūius manus inpia poscit

respergī nostrō, sparsa cruōre virī. 

pōne deōs et quae tangendō sacra profānās!

nōn bene caelestīs inpia dextra colit. 130

sī tū cultor erās ēlāpsīs igne futūrus,

paenitet ēlāpsōs ignibus esse deōs.

Forsitan et gravidam Dīdō, scelerāte, relinquās,

parsque tuī lateat corpore clausa meō.

accēdet fātīs mātris miserābilis īnfāns, 135

et nōndum nātō fūneris auctor eris,

cumque parente suā frāter moriētur Iūlī,

poenaque cōnexōs auferet ūna duōs.

 

121 peregrīna et fēmina: both describe the first-person subject of the clause.

122 rudīs: the length of the ending reveals that the adjective agrees with portās.

123-24 Dido incurred the animosity of the local aristocracy when she wed Aeneas after previously claiming that she planned to remain a widow.

coiēre querentēs: querentēs agrees with the subject of the syncopated perfect, coiēre, and introduces an indirect statement, mē… nescio quem thalamīs praeposuisse suīs praeposuisse. 

nescio quem: “some unknown guy”.

thalamīs…suīs: datives complete the sense of praeposuisse, “place X before Y”.

125 dubitās: not “doubt” but “hesitate”.

vīnctam: (mē).

126 bracchia nostra: i.e., Dido should offer her hands to be bound so that Aeneas can hand her over to her enemy.

128 respergī: the passive infinitive, complementary with poscit.

nostrō: (cruōre).

129 profānās: the verb, in the sense of “desecrate”, as is clear when we recognize that the antecedent of the relative clause (sacra) has been coopted back into the clause; sacra quae tangendō profānās.

131 ēlāpsīs (dīs): dative of possession, “if you were to be the worshipper for the gods snatched from the fire”, i.e., “if the gods…were to have you as their worshipper.

132 paenitet: impersonal, “the gods regret that….”

133-34 In Aeneid 4.327-30, Dido wished she were pregnant when Aeneas left; her she leaves the possibility open to discredit Aeneas further (scelerāte).

gravidam Dīdō: since the subject of relinquās is “you” (Aeneas), Dīdō must be accusative.

135 accēdet: “will be added to” + dative; 

miserābilis: the ambiguity of the form (is the adjective nominative or genitive?) allows the adjective to characterize both Dido and her (imagined) child.

136 nōndum nātō: i.e., still in the womb; nātō fūneris: a powerful juxtaposition of nouns marking the beginning and end of life.

138 Ovid draws attention to the line through its elegant patterning and juxtposition: noun-a noun-b verb adjective-a adjective-b.

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