Sunday, January 1, 2012

In Book 4 of The Aeneid, why does Virgil uses the word "furtive" when he does?

The Latin adverb 'furtim', which is presumably what is translated as 'furtively' in this connection, means literally 'in the manner of a thief', coming as it does from the noun 'fur', a thief. It thus came to mean 'stealthily', used in connection with actions that someone is trying to keep hidden, behind the backs of others. I have not been able to check precisely where it occurs in Book 4 of the Aeneid, but it might be worth making the general point that Book 4 contains much more of a sense of intrigue than any other of the 11 books of the poem. The love affair between Dido and Aeneas, while not illicit in an objective sense, has the feel of an illicit liaison on account of the guilt that both partners feel because their greater destiny is the foundation of great cities and the establishment of their people on a secure homeland. Their spontaneous passion for each other, consummated in a chance thunderstorm and before their respective followers have had a chance to anticipate any formal union between them, creates a sense of unease and disquiet from the start and this grows as the story progresses. Messages through the intermediary Anna, the malign influence of rumour and 'fama', Dido's growing anticipation of betrayal...all these help to create an atmosphere in which the word 'furtim' seems entirely at home.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Discuss at least two characteristics of Romanticism in John Keat's poem "Ode toa Nightingale".

The poet in Ode To A Nightingale  is an escapist .He escapes through imagination .On his way the bower of the bliss wher the nightingale is ...