Ovid, Heroides 7.15-32
ut terram inveniās, quis eam tibi trādet habendam? 15
quis sua nōn nōtīs arva tenenda dabit?
scīlicet alter amor tibi restat et altera Dīdō;
quamque iterum fallās altera danda fidēs.
quandō erit, ut condās īnstar Carthāginis urbem
et videās populōs altus ab arce tuōs? 20
omnia ut ēveniant, nec tē tua vōta morentur,
unde tibī, quae tē sīc amet, uxor erit?
Ūror, ut inductō cērātae sulpure taedae,
ut pia fūmōsīs addita tūra focīs.
Aenēās oculīs semper vigilantis inhaeret; 25
Aenēān animō noxque quiēsque refert.
ille quidem male grātus et ad mea mūnera surdus,
et quō, sī nōn sim stulta, carēre velim;
nōn tamen Aenēān, quamvīs male cōgitat, ōdī,
sed queror īnfīdum questaque pēius amō. 30
parce, Venus, nuruī, dūrumque amplectere frātrem,
frāter Amor, castrīs mīlitet ille tuīs!
15 ut…inveniās: concessive (AG 527f), “suppose that you…”
eam (terram): a rare appearance of is, ea, id in Latin poetry.
16 nōn nōtīs (hominibus): i.e., the newly arrived Trojans.
17 scīlicet: the passage drips with sarcasm, as Dido imagines what the future holds for Aeneas in Italy; the present tenses contribute to the vividness of the description.
18 quamque: as in line 10, the relative + que.
19 quandō erit: impersonal, “when will it be (likely) that”, introducing the substantive noun clause, ut…condās… et videās.
īnstar: an indeclinable noun in apposition with urbem, “a city grand as….”
20 populōs: why plural? poetry often slides between singulars and plurals for metrical convenience but could this form contain hints of Rome’s future?
21 ut (omnia) ēveniant (et nōn)… morentur: as in line 10, a concessive clause; note that morentur is subjunctive and not a form of morior.
tua vōta: above Dido spoke of Aeneas’s promises (of marriage) as faithful honesty (fidem, 8) and a sacred pact (cum foedere, 9); here she recalls his sacred pledges (vōta) that would have sealed the pact.
22 quae tē sīc amet: quae introduces a relative clause of characteristic, “where will you find a wife of the kind who….”
23 ut: the absence of a subjunctive and the vivid images of the torch and burning incense (line 24) reveal this ut and the next introduce similes
taedae: pine torches used in weddings but wax (cērātae) candles were carried at funerals—the ambiguity is intentional
inductō…sulpure: an ablative absolute, torches coated with sulphur and lime (calcium oxide) would rekindle even after being immersed in water. Both similes are nicely patterned with alternating adjectives and nouns (ab…AB).
25 vigilantis (meī): limiting oculīs; meī from ego, not meus.
Does semper modify the participle or the verb—or both?
27 quidem: if you cannot remember the logical connection indicated by this word, review “The Logic of Latin”
surdus (est): “deaf” in the sense of “indifferent”.
28 quō: as in 22, quō introduces a relative clause of characteristic; which verb requires the ablative?
sī nōn sim stulta: the future less vivid (i.e., counterfactual) conditional is especially poignant.
29 In the Aeneid, Dido pledges undying hostility against Aeneas and his people (4.607-29), echoing the oath of enmity that Hannibal swore against Rome as a child; why do you think Ovid softens Dido’s rage?
30 īnfīdum (Aenēān): see above, line 8; pēius: the neuter comparative, used adverbially.
31 nuruī: dative with parce; Dido claims the status of Venus’ lawful daughter-in-law.
amplectere: the quantity of the ending (-ere; not -ēre) reveals that this is the imperative (not the future) of the deponent.
32 Amor: was adversō in line 4; now Dido attempts to win him over to her cause.
castrīs mīlitet: the metaphor of the lover as a soldier of love is common in Ovid; cf. militat omnis amans et habet sua castra Cupido (Am. 1.9.1, “every lover is a soldier and Cupid holds his camp”).
