Does anyone know how to do Latin scansion... if so, please help me. My latin teacher didn't explain it very well, so please if anyone can help me ANSWER THIS QUESTION!!!!!!
What is the scansion for the second line in Vergil's Aeneid?
Italiam fato profugus Laviniaque venit.
2006-09-11 10:22:07 · 4 answers · asked by vballchic3101 2 in Education & Reference ➔ Words & Wordplay
It has been YEARS since I have had to do any, but here is an attempt (no guarantees!!):
It ali - ^ ^ ...............first dactyl
am fato - ^ ^ ..........second dactyl
profugus - ^ ^ .........third dactyl
Lavin - - ................fourth dactyl (spondee)
iaque - ^ ^ .............fifth dactyl
venit - - .................sixth dactyl (spondee)
Vowels with macrons are long by nature, but I do not know which ones they are so I had to guess at it.
I see that zlevad29 came through for you - I knew the one below me wasn't correct, because he miscounted the vowels. It is not possible to have two spondees and a trochee in this line; you will have an extra vowel left over. The last one is always a spondee or a trochee (only two vowels), and the penultimate is always dactyl (three vowels), so that left three dactyls and only one spondee to complete the scansion. My mistake is in where I put the one spondee, which threw the whole line off.
2006-09-12 00:23:55 · answer #1 · answered by Jeannie 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
ĪtÄlÄ ] Äm fÄ ] tÅ prÅfÅ ] gÅ«s LÄvÄ ] nÄ«ÄquÄ ] vÄnÄt
Many of the short and long vowels will be as you expect from hearing them or seeing them marked in vocabulary.
An example of a common exception to this can be seen at "Italiam fato" where the final A of Italiam counts as long because it is followed by two consonants, m, f.
Similarly the final U of profugus is long due to the following s,L.
qu counts as a consonant so the u is not marked in the example.
You will also find in the Aeneid that the end of each line finishes generally with Ë Ë Ë ] Ë Ë ] or Ë Ë Ë ] Ë Ë ] so that takes care of 2 out of the 6 feet straightaway. The other 4 feet will either be Ë Ë Ë or Ë Ë .
2006-09-13 13:00:47 · answer #2 · answered by zlevad29 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
To do scansion, mark the verse according to syllables, paying attention to elision, echthlipsis and hiatus. You may know that the Aeneid is written in dactylic hexameter, which means you have 6 syllables total, the first 4 of which may be your choice of dactyl (long short short) or spondee (long long) followed by a dactyl and ending with a spondee or trochee.
Peronally I think the second line goes DSDSDT but I could be wrong, too.
2006-09-12 22:15:22 · answer #3 · answered by Nerdly Stud 5 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Would you be meaning ""Virgil""?
2006-09-11 21:40:43 · answer #4 · answered by rjr 6 · 0⤊ 3⤋