Ovid, Heroides 7.139-156
“Sed iubet īre deus.” vellem, vetuisset adīre,
Pūnica nec Teucrīs pressa fuisset humus! 140
hōc duce nempe deō ventīs agitāris inīquīs
et teris in rabidō tempora longa fretō?
Pergama vix tantō tibi erant repetenda labōre,
Hectore sī vīvō quanta fuēre forent.
nōn patrium Sīmoenta petis, sed Thybridis undās— 145
nempe ut perveniās, quō cupis, hospes eris;
utque latet vītatque tuās abstrūsa carīnās,
vix tibi continget terra petīta senī.
Hōs potius populōs in dōtem, ambāge remissā,
accipe et advectās Pygmaliōnis opēs. 150
Īlion in Tyriam trānsfer fēlīcius urbem
rēsque locō rēgis scēptraque sacra tenē!
sī tibi mēns avida est bellī, sī quaerit Iūlus,
unde suō partus Mārte triumphus eat,
quem superet, nē quid dēsit, praebēbimus hostem; 155
hic pācis lēgēs, hic locus arma capit.
139-80. Dido coolly criticizes the logic of Aeneas departing Carthage, even if it is at the behest of a god.
139-40. vellem, vetuisset…pressa fuisset: an example of parataxis, where the author juxtaposes two short clauses that have the effect of a complex sentence: “I wish. Would that he had forbidden (you) to come. Would that the Punic soil….”; effectively equivalent to, “I wish that he had….”
141 hōc duce…deō: ablative absolute; remember that when the participle would be a (non-existent) form of “to be”, it is omitted.
144 Hectore…vīvō: ablative absolute.
146 ut perveniās: another concessive ut clause.
147 ut-que latet vītat: with the indicative, ut here introduces a qualification of the subsequent thought, “considering that…”; latet puns on the Latin folk etymology of Latium as “the hidden land”.
abstrusa: (terra) in line 148.
149 in dōtem…accipe: a formal legal expression, only here in verse.
ambāge remissā: ablative absolute; expressing the highly colloquial expression, “with circumlocution laid aside”, i.e., “with no more beating about the bush, to speak plainly”.
152 locō rēgis: “in the role / post of king”; i.e., as her full (or even superior) partner.
154 suō…Mārte: idiomatic, “by his own military prowess”, literally “born / generated from his own Mars.”
155 quem: its antecedent is hostem.
156 capit: at its core, capiō, means “to seize hold of” and so by extension, “to contain, be large enough for”; cf. English “capacious”; Dido emphasizes that Carthage is sufficient to fulfill Iulus’ dreams.
