Lygdamus 3.3

Question 1

quid prodest

Answer 1

anaphora

shows scepticism and impotence

Question 2

quid prodest caelumvotis implesse, Naeara,

What help Naeara to have glutted the heavens with vows

Answer 2

contraction (implevisse). The line is all spondaic, so it has been contracted to be mournful.

Question 3

blandaque… tura

winning incense

Answer 3

incense that is persuasive to the Gods.

Question 4

tecti

dwelling

Answer 4

synechdoche- actually means roof tiles

Question 5

insignis clara

illustrious and famed

Answer 5

pleonasm- both mean the same thing

Question 6

conspicuusque domo

my resplendant house

Answer 6

perhaps referring to his famous lineage, not his literaly house.
i.e. the House of Asarracus

Question 7

aut ut multa mei renovarent iugera tauri

or that bulls of mine plow anew many an acre

Answer 7

multa mei renovarent iugera tauri has the same structure as a golden line- ABVAB (chiasmus)

Question 8

Iugera

(many an) acre

Answer 8

the iugerum is an agrarian measure of about 1/4 of a hectare.

Question 9

sed tecum

but with you

Answer 9

shifts focus of the poem onto Naeara

Question 10

sociarem gaudia

share the joys

Answer 10

euphamism for sex

Question 11

inque tuo caderet nostra senecta sinu

and in your lap my old age fall to end

Answer 11

caderet- usually implies a military death, which was considered a noble death. Instead he is rejecting this in favour of the simple life, but still enforcing the noble connotations.
also hyperbaton- tuo and sinu are seperated and nostra is in between. Putting him in her lap

Question 12

permenso defunctus tempore lucis

with the completion of my light’s full time

Answer 12

pleonasm- emphasises the finality of death.

Question 13

nudus

naked

Answer 13

adds pathos- hes even stripped of his clothes

Question 14

Lethaea

Answer 14

Lethe’s boat is that of Charon the ferryman of the underworld who transports dead shades across the River Acheron of the underworld.
Letheaus used poetically refers to waters and rivers of the underworld. Not a particular reference to the river Lether, which is associated with forgetting your life on earth.

Question 15

cogerer ire rate

I’d have to travel on (Lethe’s) boat

Answer 15

repetition of r creates a growling sound possibly suggesting the spirits are angry at their fate. The dead are forced on their journey.

Question 16

what do lines 11-24 do?

Answer 16

Catalogue the poet’s disdain for wealth.

Question 17

Phrygiis…Taenare…Caryste

Answer 17

all regions famous for their marble

Question 18

Phrygian

Answer 18

= Trojan. Region of central/western Asia Minor.

marble is white w. reddish veins. Highly prized.

Question 19

Taenarus

Answer 19

Cape at the extreme southwest of the Peloponnese. Famous for its temple to Poseidon. Marble is red coloured ‘rosso antico’

Question 20

Carystus

Answer 20

A town on the southern coast of the Aegean island of Euboea. Famed as the source of ‘cipollino’ marble. parallel white and green lines like an onion.

Question 21

Taenare sive tuis, sive Caryste tuis

Or, Taenarus, yours, or yours, Carystus, too

Answer 21

polysyndeton of ‘sive’ emphasises listing.

Question 22

et nemora in domibus sacros imitantia lucos

and within my dwelling woods that resemble sacred groves

Answer 22

sign of wealth to have a garden inside your house.

Question 23

aurataeque trabes
and gilded beams
(coffered ceilings)

Answer 23

great symbol of luxury. Frequently lined w. gold cloth and inlaid with ivory.

Question 24

aurataeque trabes marmoreumque solum

and gilded beams and a pavement made of marble

Answer 24

polysyndeton

Question 25

quidve in Erythraeo legitur quae litore concha tinctaque Sidonio murice lana iuvat What help the pearl shell gathered on Erythrea's shore. or wool soaked in Sidon's purple dye

Answer 25

mentioning exotic products from the east is a well known poetic device to allude to riches.

Question 26

Erythraea

Answer 26

Modern day Arabian Sea

Question 27

litore

Answer 27

the part of the sea that borders the land, rather than the part of the land that borders the sea

Question 28

concha | pearl

Answer 28

concha = shell= pearl. | Latin for pearl is actually margarita, so hard to fit into metre

Question 29

Sidonio

Answer 29

Tyre, Modern Day lebanon

Question 30

levantur | made lighter

Answer 30

example of zeugma (when one word applies to two phrases). The mens worries were (not) relieved and their minds are (not) freed.

Question 31

Fortuna

Answer 31

personified

Question 32

sit mihi paipertas tecum iucunda, Naeara:

Answer 32

focus turns from the mob to him and his gal, so starts using lots of personal pronouns from here on out.

Question 33

paupertas | poverty

Answer 33

actually means lack of wealth rather than genuine poverty

Question 34

regum munera | the opulence of kings

Answer 34

poss. referring to the Palace of Alcinous described in the Odyssey, famous for its luxury gifts thatAlcinous bestowed on Odysseus upon his departure.

Question 35

o mihi ...

Answer 35

starts off a series of accusatives of interjection reinforced by 'o' to express strong emotion.

Question 36

terque quaterque | threefold, fourfold

Answer 36

polysyndeton

Question 37

At si, pro dulci

Answer 37

Hiatus after first foot. unusual.

Question 38

audia aversa non meus aure deus | a hostile god should fail to hear, ear ill disposed...

Answer 38

alliterative a: pleasant sound because it is describing a happy thing- her return. internal rhyme of meus deus. Link between him and gods.

Question 39

nec me regna iuvant nec Lydius aurifer amnis nec quas terrarum sustinet orbis opes Neither kingdoms please me, nor Lydia's gold filled stream, nor the wealth which the circle of the world supports

Answer 39

use of negative listing, highlighting how everything makes him unhappy except for her. Lydia's stream- river near the Aegean coast of Turkey. The river rises from Mount Tmolus, flows through the ruins of the ancient city of Sardis, and empties into the Gediz River, the ancient Hermus. The Pactolus once contained electrum (alloy of gold and silver) that was the basis of the economy of the ancient state of Lydia. According to legend, King Midas divested himself of the golden touch by washing himself in the river. The historian Herodotus claimed that the gold contained in the sediments carried by the river was the source of the wealth of King Croesus.

Question 40

liceat mihi paupere cultu securo cara coniuge posse frui let me but live in poor man's style to enjoy without worry the dearness of my wife.

Answer 40

emphatic word placement. liceat mihi (let me) and posse frui (to be able to) frame the things he wants the most. securo cara coniuge- alliteration of 'c', shows his determination to get what he wants

Question 41

Adsis et timidis faueas, Saturnia, uotis, et faueas concha, Cypria, uecta tua. Stay near, Juno, kindly to my fearful prayers, and kindly, too, Venus, travelling on your shell

Answer 41

Appeals to Juno first, THEN Venus. Interested in longlasting love over desire. Hyperbaton- the goddesses names mess up the word order. Shows their importance that they disrupt the structure.

Question 42

tristeque sorores | and the sad sisters

Answer 42

describing the fates. | sad is an epithet for them.

Question 43

stamina quae ducunt quaeque futura neunt | who draw out our threads and spin our destiny

Answer 43

repetition of 'quae' to show their importance

Question 44

in vastos amnes nigra-... | vast black streams

Answer 44

bit describing the marshes is spondaic

Question 45

dives | riches

Answer 45

last line starts with riches. Coincidence? I think not