33. Study questions Copy
- So their young spirits were roused to fury. Then, like ravaging wolves in a dark mist, driven blindly by the cruel rage of their bellies, leaving their young waiting with thirsty jaws, we pass through our enemies, to certain death, and make our way to the heart of the city: dark night envelops us in deep shadow.
This helps to convey the animal instincts and emotions of the Trojans in their desperation.
- Like a man who unexpectedly treads on a snake in rough briars, as he strides over the ground, and shrinks back in sudden fear as it rears in anger and swells its dark-green neck, so Androgeos, shuddering at the sight of us, drew back.
This effectively shows the shock of Androgeos, in a way that would have resonated with a rural audience.
- Then the Danaans, gathering from all sides, groaning with anger at the girl being pulled away from them, rush us, Ajax the fiercest, the two Atrides, all the Greek host: just as, at the onset of a tempest, conflicting winds clash, the west, the south, and the east that joys in the horses of dawn: the forest roars, brine-wet Nereus rages with his trident, and stirs the waters from their lowest depths.
This nature imagery seeks to convey the sheer power and irresistible force of the attacking Greek forces.
- In front of the courtyard itself, in the very doorway of the palace, Pyrrhus exults, glittering with the sheen of bronze: like a snake, fed on poisonous herbs, in the light, that cold winter has held, swollen, under the ground, and now, gleaming with youth, its skin sloughed, ripples its slimy back, lifts its front high towards the sun, and darts its triple-forked tongue from its jaws.
Another image of power and malevolence (and cold-bloodedness), showing the power of the Greek warrior Pyrrhus
Virgil is trying to show many different emotions: fear and panic, despair and tremendous surges of emotion (anger, fury, grief) on both Greek and Trojan sides.
There is a tremendous energy to the narrative here, with epic similes helping to effectively convey this. Both sides fight savagely, and individual warriors are named to make this more than just a clash of anonymous men.
