Ovid, Heroides 7.69-86

coniugis ante oculōs dēceptae stābit imāgō

trīstis et effūsīs sanguinolenta comīs. 70 

quid tantī est ut tum “meruī! concēdite!” dīcās,

quaeque cadent, in tē fulmina missa putēs?

Dā breve saevitiae spatium pelagīque tuaeque;

grande morae pretium tūta futūra via est.

haec minus ut cūrēs, puerō parcātur Iūlō! 75

tē satis est titulum mortis habēre meae.

quid puer Ascanius, quid dī meruēre Penātēs?

ignibus ēreptōs obruet unda deōs?

sed neque fers tēcum, nec, quae mihi, perfide, iactās,

pressērunt umerōs sacra paterque tuōs. 80

omnia mentīris, neque enim tua fallere lingua

incipit ā nōbīs, prīmaque plector ego.

sī quaerās, ubi sit fōrmōsī māter Iūlī—

occidit ā dūrō sōla relicta virō!

haec mihi nārrārās—sat mē monuēre! merentem 85

ūre; minor culpā poena futūra meā est.

69 oculōs (tuōs); coniugis… dēceptae: limits imāgō.

70 effūsīs…comīs: ablative absolute.

71 tantī: remember this usage (described in line 46).

72 quae-que: the –que continues the result clause; the antecedent of quae is fulmina, which follows the relative clause, as often.

in tē: since the prepositional phrase modifies missa, tē is certainly an accusative.

73 pelagīque tuaeque: both genitives modify saevitiae, although note that pelagī is a noun and tuae is apossessive adjective; the syllepsis plays with the two senses of saevitiae.

75 ut cūrēs: concessive, as above; parcātur: impersonal (subjunctive) use of an intransitive verb.

77 meruēre: syncopated perfect.

Penātēs: Aeneas also saved the sacred images of Troy when he carried Anchises out of the burning city (Aeneid 2.717).

79 neque… nec: Dido denies Aeneas possession of the Penates and his father (who died before the Trojans arrived at Carthage) and links this to her charge that he fabricated (perfide) exploits in fleeing the city.

iactās: Dido claims Aeneas boasted of his exploits; in the Aeneid, she begged to her Aeneas’ tales again and again (4.77-9).

82 ā nōbīs: “from me” (i.e., when Aeneas met Dido); but the analogous English idiom would be “with me.”

prīma-que: the -que extends the assertive phrase introduced by enim, “and indeed not… nor”.

83-84 Dido rejects Aeneas’ account of his desperate search for his wife Creusa—and his exoneration of any guilt by her ghost (Aeneid 2.747-70).

83 ubi sit: an indirect question introduced by quaerās.

84 This line is a prime example of how a Latin poet can add depth and texture to an utterance through allusion. Propertius had used a similar line to describe the injustice done to Medea who saved Jason only to be abandoned by him (iam tibi Iasonia nota est Medea carina / et modo seruato sola relicta uiro, Elegies 2.24.45-6). What additional connotations does Dido invoking a description of a wronged Medea provide?

85 nārrā(ve)rās…monuēre: syncopated pluperfect and perfect, respectively.

86 ūre: remember deponents retain the active form for the singular imperative; “burn” in the sense of torment, but the verb also looks ahead to Dido’s funeral pyre.

culpā…meā: ablative of comparison with minor.