Book 1: 10 marker
The east wind and the south and the south-west with squall upon squall fell upon
the sea at once, whipping it up from its bottom-most depths and rolling huge waves
towards its shores. Men shouted, ropes screamed, clouds suddenly blotted out the
light of the sky from the eyes of the Trojans and black night brooded over the sea as
the heavens thundered and lightning flashed again and again across the sky.
Wherever the Trojans looked, death stared them in the face. A sudden chill went
through Aeneas and his limbs grew weak. Groaning, he lifted his hands palms
upward to the stars and cried: ‘Those whose fate it was to die beneath the high
walls of Troy with their fathers looking down on them were many, many times
more fortunate than I. O Diomede, bravest of the Greeks, why could I not have
fallen to your right hand and breathed out my life on the plains of Troy, where
fierce Hector fell by the sword of Achilles, where great Sarpedon lies and where the
river Simois caught up so many shields and helmets and bodies of brave men and
rolled them down its current?’
Even as he threw out these words, a squall came howling from the north, catching
his sail full on and raising the waves to the stars. The oars broke, the prow was
wrenched round, and as they lay beam on to the seas, there came towering over
them a sheer mountain of water.
Aeneid 1.84-105
In this passage how effectively does Virgil portray the storm and its effect on the Trojans? [10] [A15]
Immediately, Virgil opens the passage with a strong sense of momentum as he illustrates the force
and velocity of storm as it forcefully drives its way across the sea. He demonstrates its intensity as he
lists the “east wind and the south and the south-west” that combine violently “whipping” the sea
“up from its most bottom depths,”. Here, very effectively, Virgil conveys the sheer impact and
ferocity of the storm using verbs of action such as ‘whipping’, in hand with the phrase “bottom
depths,”, to portray the scale and violence of the storm as its strength reaches the deepest depths of
the ocean. Virgil further builds on this dynamic atmosphere of motion and vehemence as he follows
up with the triplet “Men shouted, ropes screamed, clouds suddenly blotted out the light,”. Not only
does this incredibly emotive triplet emphasise the intensity of the storm, but it also effectively
conveys the loudness of the scene through Virgil’s use of sensory detail, as demonstrated in the
verbs ‘shouted’ and ‘screamed’. Moreover, in this instance we see Virgil effectively use
personification as he writes the “ropes screamed,”, again creating a vivid image of the chaos of
scene and the harsh sounds the storm creates, while building on this intense atmosphere of peril.
Furthermore, in the passage Virgil effectively creates a semantic field relating to light and darkness;
with the “black night” brooding over the sea, suddenly followed by striking images of ‘thunder and
lightning’. This light imagery and example of pathetic fallacy, with the whole episode being a storm
itself, builds a sense of foreboding, signifying the severity of the storm and the extreme danger that
encompasses the Trojans. At this point in the passage we see Virgil utilise sensory detail; conjuring
up vivid visual images of the lightening as well as effectively describing the sounds of thunder and
despairing screams of the desperate Trojans. Furthermore, Virgil consistently uses violent language,
The east wind and the south and the south-west with squall upon squall fell upon
the sea at once, whipping it up from its bottom-most depths and rolling huge waves
towards its shores. Men shouted, ropes screamed, clouds suddenly blotted out the
light of the sky from the eyes of the Trojans and black night brooded over the sea as
the heavens thundered and lightning flashed again and again across the sky.
Wherever the Trojans looked, death stared them in the face. A sudden chill went
through Aeneas and his limbs grew weak. Groaning, he lifted his hands palms
upward to the stars and cried: ‘Those whose fate it was to die beneath the high
walls of Troy with their fathers looking down on them were many, many times
more fortunate than I. O Diomede, bravest of the Greeks, why could I not have
fallen to your right hand and breathed out my life on the plains of Troy, where
fierce Hector fell by the sword of Achilles, where great Sarpedon lies and where the
river Simois caught up so many shields and helmets and bodies of brave men and
rolled them down its current?’
Even as he threw out these words, a squall came howling from the north, catching
his sail full on and raising the waves to the stars. The oars broke, the prow was
wrenched round, and as they lay beam on to the seas, there came towering over
them a sheer mountain of water.
Aeneid 1.84-105
In this passage how effectively does Virgil portray the storm and its effect on the Trojans? [10] [A15]
Immediately, Virgil opens the passage with a strong sense of momentum as he illustrates the force
and velocity of storm as it forcefully drives its way across the sea. He demonstrates its intensity as he
lists the “east wind and the south and the south-west” that combine violently “whipping” the sea
“up from its most bottom depths,”. Here, very effectively, Virgil conveys the sheer impact and
ferocity of the storm using verbs of action such as ‘whipping’, in hand with the phrase “bottom
depths,”, to portray the scale and violence of the storm as its strength reaches the deepest depths of
the ocean. Virgil further builds on this dynamic atmosphere of motion and vehemence as he follows
up with the triplet “Men shouted, ropes screamed, clouds suddenly blotted out the light,”. Not only
does this incredibly emotive triplet emphasise the intensity of the storm, but it also effectively
conveys the loudness of the scene through Virgil’s use of sensory detail, as demonstrated in the
verbs ‘shouted’ and ‘screamed’. Moreover, in this instance we see Virgil effectively use
personification as he writes the “ropes screamed,”, again creating a vivid image of the chaos of
scene and the harsh sounds the storm creates, while building on this intense atmosphere of peril.
Furthermore, in the passage Virgil effectively creates a semantic field relating to light and darkness;
with the “black night” brooding over the sea, suddenly followed by striking images of ‘thunder and
lightning’. This light imagery and example of pathetic fallacy, with the whole episode being a storm
itself, builds a sense of foreboding, signifying the severity of the storm and the extreme danger that
encompasses the Trojans. At this point in the passage we see Virgil utilise sensory detail; conjuring
up vivid visual images of the lightening as well as effectively describing the sounds of thunder and
despairing screams of the desperate Trojans. Furthermore, Virgil consistently uses violent language,
