7. Historical Infinitive - VU-DARE Home

7. Historical Infinitive
Base Time of narration Reference time
Report Transposed Report
Registering Directing
Discourse
Mode
Narrative Transposed Narrative
Description Transposed Description
Now that I have discussed the use of the finite
tenses in the Aeneid by means of the framework
of discourse modes, I will use this framework to
explain the different interpretations of the socalled
historical (or narrative) infinitive, as they
have been observed in earlier studies. 205 The
infinitive occurs in the narrative, the directing and transposed description mode. 206
First, however, I will present my view on the semantic value of the historical
infinitive. An infinitive merely indicates the existence of a state of affairs. This semantic
value is in line with the fact that the historical infinitive is characterized by a lack of
morphological elements defining tense, mode and person. Therefore, the infinitive is a helpful
verb form when types of states of affairs need to be described that the other tenses of a
particular discourse mode cannot describe, due to their semantic value (see §7.2 and §7.4).
The semantic value of the infinitive can be related to the more literary observations on
the use of the infinitive in contexts of “direct, impetuous, unpremeditated action flowing from
a strong impulse, feeling or disposition.” (Schlicher 1914a:287).
7.1 Semantic Value of the Historical Infinitive
The historical infinitive indicates the existence of a state of affairs. Due to its lack of
morphological elements it does not provide information about who performs the state of
affairs or about when it takes place. Such information needs to be derived from the context.
According to Sznajder (1996:308), the lack of morphological elements makes the historical
infinitive suitable for contexts in which a temporal marker would be felt as redundant. I would
like to turn this argument around and argue that the context of every historical infinitive
provides an indication of the time in which the state of affairs is valid. This may be illustrated
by contrasting example (1) with (2), which both contain the verb consurgere. The present
tense form consurgunt in (1) defines its own time frame, which lasts as long as it takes for the
sailors to stand up. This verb form denotes an event.
Example (1), 5.207 – 209
consurgunt nautae et magno clamore morantur
ferratasque trudes et acuta cuspide contos
expediunt fractosque legunt in gurgite remos.
Up spring the sailors and, clamouring loudly at the
delay, get out iron-shod pikes and sharppointed poles,
or rescued from the flood their broken oars.
The present tense form consurgunt is interpreted as reaching its end point in reference time,
after which we are to picture the sailors as cheering (magno clamore) in a standing position.
This interpretation is not evoked in example (2), in which the historical infinitives consurgere
and inferre denote the state of affairs of the sailors rowing to the Latin coast. The states of
affairs expressed by the infinitives consurgere and inferre apparently give no information
about the end point of the state of affairs as they need the donec-clause to do it for them.
205 E.g. in Schlicher (1914a, 1914b, 1915), Viljamaa (1983), Pinkster (1990), Rosén (1995), Sznajder (1996). I
use the term historical infinitive because narrative infinitive might, in this study, suggest a relation with the
narrative mode, whereas the infinitive also occurs in the directing mode and the transposed description mode.
206 For lists of the historical infinitives in Vergil’s Aeneid, see note 207, table 3 in this chapter and note 218.
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Example (2), 10.299 – 302
quae talia postquam
effatus Tarchon, socii consurgere tonsis
spumantisque rates aruis inferre Latinis,
donec rostra tenent siccum et sedere carinae
omnes innocuae.
When Tarchon has thus spoken, his comrades rise to
their oars, and drive their foaming ships upon the Latin
fields, till the beaks gain the dry land and every hull
comes to rest unscathered.
The historical infinitives indicate the existence of consurgere and inferre during the time
between postquam effatus and donec tenent. During this time the states of affairs do not end;
they are ongoing actions. This means that the infinitive inferre represents an unfinished state
of affairs: in the time between the speech of Tarchon and the gaining of dry land the men are,
indeed, in the process of driving the ships upon the Latin fields. The combination of inferre
and a dative is telic, but durative (see §2.3.1) and one occurrence can fill the time frame
provided in example (2).
This is different in the case of consurgere. The combination consurgere tonsis refers
to, as Harrison (1991) puts it, “the upward movement of body and oar in the pull”, and it
seems very illogical to assume that the sailors moved upward so slowly that this upward
movement took as long as the time in between the speech of Tarchon and the gaining of dry
land. A more natural interpretation seems to be an iterative interpretation: consurgere
represents the iterative movement of the socii pulling their oars up again and again as they
row towards the Latin coast.
In short, the infinitive indicates the existence of a state of affairs, and the meaning of
the verb and its arguments do the rest.
7.1.1 The Use of the Historical Infinitive in the Aeneid
Because a historical infinitive merely indicates the existence of a state of affairs, it needs a
context to provide a time in which this state of affairs exists. This time may be explicitly
demarcated by means of elements indicating the beginning and end, the boundaries of the
state of affairs (see example (2)). Every instance of the historical infinitive in the Aeneid is
provided by the context with a reference time with which the state of affairs is
contemporaneous. If both beginning and end are indicated, the clause as a whole represents a
bounded state of affairs (i.e. an event). The boundaries of the state of affairs are often not
made explicit, however, as the overview below makes clear. In the latter cases, the infinitive
is an unbounded state of affairs, i.e. a situation. Infinitives that have an indication of their
start, but none of the end are starting situations.
Table 1: Boundaries of Historical Infinitives in the Aeneid
Indication of start Indication of end Type
Ablative (temporal) (see example (4)) None Starting situation 5
Adverb Conjunction (e.g. donec) Event 3
Adverb None Starting situation 6
Adverb End direct speech (verb of saying) Event 9
Previous clause (incompatible) Conjunction Event 2
Previous clause (incompatible) None Starting situation 1
None, takes reference time of previous
state of affairs
Conjunction Situation 2
None, takes reference time of previous Next clause (incompatible) Situation 2
state of affairs
None, takes reference time of previous
state of affairs
134
None Situation 38
68

HISTORICAL INFINTIVE
It becomes clear from the table that most infinitives in the Aeneid are situations (42
instances). In the rest of this chapter, I discuss the occurrence of the historical infinitive in the
discourse modes. In this respect, the indication of the start of the historical infinitive is of
importance: in the narrative mode, the start of the state of affairs is always indicated, whereas
this is hardly ever the case in the directing mode and even never occurs in (transposed)
description, as is shown in table 2.
Table 2: Indications of the start of the state of affairs vs. discourse mode
Indication of start Narrative mode Directing mode Description mode
Explicit 21 5 0
None 0 21 20
Total 21 26 20
The next sections aim to explain these correlations by showing that the infinitive is used to
fulfill functions that the other tenses in the particular discourse mode cannot fulfill.
7.2 Narrative Mode 207
Base Time of narration Reference time
Report Transposed Report
Registering Directing
Discourse
Mode
Narrative Transposed Narrative
Description Transposed Description
The narrative mode consists of states of affairs
that take place on the time line of the story and
may be characterized by a progression along this
time line: reference time advances in the
narrative mode (Smith 2003). Regular tenses in
the narrative mode are the perfect and imperfect
tense. This section aims to explain why the historical infinitive is in some cases used instead
of the perfect or imperfect tense.
Table (2) shows that the infinitive in the narrative mode always occurs with an explicit
indication of the start of the state of affairs, as may be illustrated by example (3). Creusa
seems to appear to Aeneas and then starts speaking, as the adverb tum indicates.
Example (3), 2.771 - 775
quaerenti et tectis urbis sine fine ruenti
infelix simulacrum atque ipsius umbra Creusae
uisa mihi ante oculos et nota maior imago.
obstipui, steteruntque comae et uox faucibus haesit.
tum sic adfari et curas his demere dictis:
As I rushed in my quest madly and endlessly among
the buildings of the city, there rose before my eyes
the sad phantom and ghost of Creusa herself, a form
larger than her wont. I was appalled, my hair stood
up, and the voice choked in my throat. Then thus
she spoke to me and with these words dispelled my
cares: …
The historical infinitives adfari and demere indicate the existence of the states of affairs in the
reference time starting with tum. This is a description of what the historical infinitive does,
but not an explanation why it is preferred to the imperfect or perfect tense in this example, for
both the imperfect and perfect tense denote states of affairs taking place in reference time in
the narrative mode, as also the infinitive may do. 208 Pinkster (1990:90) observes that the
historical infinitive is comparable to the imperfect in the capacity of representing durative
states of affairs, and to the perfect in its capacity to combine with words such as tum uero and
hinc. In addition to this, I would like to suggest that the infinitive is used in a function which
lies in between the function of the perfect and that of the imperfect, but which neither may
fulfil (Viljamaa 1983:98): the infinitive is used for starting situations in the narrative mode.
We could say that the narrator adapts the time frame of the historical infinitive according to
207
The infinitives in the narrative mode are found at: 2.98; 2.132; 2.169; 2.775; 2.98; 3.141; 3.153; 6.557; 7.77;
8.35; 8.215.
208
For the difference between the imperfect and the perfect tense, see §3.3.1 and §4.10.1.
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his needs: since none of the other tenses in the narrative mode may be used to denote the start
of a state of affairs, the narrator uses a construction with the historical infinitive to do this in
the narrative mode. 209
The perfect tense and the historical infinitive differ with respect to the boundedness of
the states of affairs they represent, since a perfect tense form presents a state of affairs as
bounded and an infinitive may, depending on the time frame given, also denote an unbounded
state of affairs. In the narrative mode, the infinitive represents states of affairs that start in
reference time and continue, as may be observed in the example below. In contrast to the
perfect tense forms reddidit and mugiit which represent bounded states of affairs on the time
line of the story, the infinitives mugire, impleri and relinqui denote state of affairs that
continue after the starting point which is indicated by means of the ablative discessu.
Example (4), 8.213 – 218
interea, cum iam stabulis saturata moueret
Amphitryoniades armenta abitumque pararet,
discessu mugire boues atque omne querelis
impleri nemus et colles clamore relinqui.
reddidit una boum uocem uastoque sub antro
mugiit et Caci spem custodita fefellit.
Meanwhile, when Amphitryon’s son was now moving
the well-fed herds from their stalls and making ready
to set out, the cattle lowed as they went; all the grove
they fill with their plaint, and with clamour quit the
hills. One heifer returned the cry, lowed from the high
cave’s depths, and from her prison baffled the hopes of
Cacus.
The infinitives represent iterative states of affairs the end of which is left implicit. The
semelfactive mugire evokes this iterative interpretation by its semantic value, whereas this
interpretation is evoked in the case of impleri because of the subject omne nemus and the
plural querelis, and in case of relinqui because the implied agens is a herd of cows. One
person (or cow) leaves a certain place in one instance, but in the case of a herd of cows
leaving takes some time. In short, the infinitives do not indicate the endpoint of these states of
affairs, whereas perfect tense forms would have presented them as reaching an endpoint.
The difference between the imperfect and the historical infinitive may not be clear at
first sight, since both are used for situations taking place in reference time. The difference
becomes more clear if we phrase the value of the imperfect tense more precisely: the state of
affairs is contemporaneous with reference time, meaning that during reference time the state
of affairs is ‘in full course’, and, as a result, must have started shortly before reference time.
The historical infinitive in the narrative mode always occurs together with an explicit
indication of the start of the state of affairs and, thus, starts in reference time. In contrast to
this, the imperfect tense cannot be used to describe the start of a durative situation. 210 An
adverb such as tum, for instance, does not describe the starting point of the state of affairs
when it is used in combination with an imperfect tense form. Instead, it specifies the reference
time, as it does in (5). The first lines of this example give a more general description of Fama,
whereas tum indicates the return to the time of Dido’s and Aeneas’ adventure in the cave.
Example (5), 4.184 – 190
nocte uolat caeli medio terraeque per umbram
stridens, nec dulci declinat lumina somno;
luce sedet custos aut summi culmine tecti
turribus aut altis, et magnas territat urbes,
tam ficti prauique tenax quam nuntia ueri.
haec tum multiplici populos sermone replebat
gaudens, et pariter facta atque infecta canebat:
By night, midway between heaven and earth, she flies
through the gloom, screeching, and drops not her eyes
in sweet sleep; by day she sits on guard on high
rooftop or lofty turrets, and affrights great cities,
clinging to the false and wrong, yet heralding truth.
Now exulting in manifold gossip, she filled the nations
and sang alike of fact and falsehood, …
209
The alternative construction of the verb coepere, incipere or ordiri with an infinitive occurs only eight times
in the Aeneid.
210
Some commentaries on the Aeneid seem to distinguish an ingressive use of the imperfect tense, see §4.7n165
an n166.
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HISTORICAL INFINTIVE
The start of replere and canere is not indicated; instead, we enter the story world when
Fama’s actions are already going on. Rather than providing an indication of the start of the
state of affairs, tum marks the return to the actual story, thus indicating the time with which
the states of affairs in the imperfect tense are contemporaneous.
The use of the historical infinitive in the narrative mode seems to be the use from
which some scholars have concluded that an ellips of coepi should be assumed whenever a
historical infinitive occurs. 211 It is not the infinitive itself, however, that evokes an inchoative
interpretation: it is the combination of an adverb or adverbial clause with the infinitive. In the
narrative mode, the infinitive indicates the existence of the state of affairs, and the context
indicates its starting point.
The end of an infinitive in the narrative mode usually remains implicit, but it may be
given, as is illustrated by example (6). Sinon tells that he promised to avenge the death of
Palamedes, and that from that moment (hinc) Ulysses started to bother him in all kinds of
ways (terrere, spargere, quaerere). The end point is here made explicit by means of the
conjunctive donec (the state of affairs governed by donec is not expressed, for Sinon
interrupts his story).
Example (6), 2.94 – 102
nec tacui demens et me, fors si qua tulisset,
si patrios umquam remeassem uictor ad Argos,
promisi ultorem et uerbis odia aspera moui.
hinc mihi prima mali labes, hinc semper Vlixes
criminibus terrere nouis, hinc spargere uoces
in uulgum ambiguas et quaerere conscius arma.
nec requieuit enim, donec Calchante ministro –
sed quid ego haec autem nequiquam ingrata reuoluo,
quidue moror?
Nor in my madness was I silent, but, if any chance
should offer, if I ever returned in triumph to my native
Argos, I vowed myself his avenger and with my words
awoke fierce hate. Hence for me the first taint of ill;
hence would Ulysses ever terrify me with new
charges; hence would he sow dark rumors in the crowd
and with guilty fear seek weapons. Nor indeed did he
rest until with Calchas as his tool – but why do I vainly
unroll this unwelcome tale?
The time frame given in example (6) by means of hinc and donec is, in case of the Aeneid,
unusually long: it lasts at least a couple of days, if not weeks or months. We should not
assume that Odysseus in this period never stopped terrifying, gossiping and picking fights and
that the states of affairs were going on in one continuous flow. Instead, they describe how, in
a rather large span of story time, Odysseus on and off frightened Sinon, gave him a bad name
and tried to pick fights. This frightening, for instance, is an iterative state of affairs, but,
moreover, it is an ‘interrupted’ state of affairs, since the individual events of frightening may
be assumed to be separated in time.
This technique of using the historical infinitive to describe regularly recurring events
in a larger span of story time is not found often in the Aeneid, but is used, for instance, by
Livy, and especially by Sallust, as Mark Woertman shows in his bachelor thesis (VU
University Amsterdam 2005). 212 He calls this technique, in Dutch, the discontinue infinitivus,
211 Viljamaa (1983:93) also seems to hint at an inchoative interpretation of the infinitive.
212 There is one example of the historical infinitive which seems to be transposed report, and this example may
be explained from the ‘interrupted’ connotation it seems to have. When Camilla has been lethally wounded in
book 11 (820-822), she speaks to her close friend Acca. The narrator provides us with the information that Acca
was the sole sharer of her cares, and does so by means of the infinitive partiri: tum sic exspirans Accam ex
aequalibus unam/ adloquitur, fida ante alias quae sola Camillae /quicum partiri curas, atque haec ita fatur…
(transl.: Then, as her breath fails, she thus accosts Acca, one of her age-mates, true to Camilla beyond all the
others, sole sharer of her cares, and thus she speaks:). In my opinion we should interpret this infinitive in an
iterative way: every time Camilla had a problem, Acca stood by her side. This is also how I would interpret the
only two instances of the ‘historical’ infinitive in direct speech: 4.420-423: miserae hoc tamen unum /exsequere,
Anna, mihi; solam nam perfidus ille/ te colere, arcanos etiam tibi credere sensus;/sola uiri mollis aditus et
tempora noras (transl.: Yet this one service, Anna, do for me – for you alone that traitor made his friend, to you
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which would translate as the interrupted infinitive, indicating that a state of affairs occurs
every once in a while, during a given time span. Using a set of infinitives, the narrator may
describe a time span, in which several actions took place, without giving too much detail
about the chronological order or the specific amount of times these actions took place. It is a
pretty sketchy and imprecise way of narrating. Sinon is especially fond of the historical
infinitive, if we compare him to other narrators in the Aeneid, and this has to do with the
impreciseness of the device: by keeping his story a bit vague the lies remain hidden. 213
In the narrative mode, 21 infinitives occur and these starting situations all advance
reference time. The total number of historical infinitives in the Aeneid is 68, and in the next
section I will discuss the more frequent use of the historical infinitive in the directing mode.
7.3 Directing Mode 214
Base Time of narration Reference time
Report Transposed Report
Registering Directing
Discourse
Mode
Narrative Transposed Narrative
Description Transposed Description
The directing mode is characterized by a
simultaneous advancement of reference time,
base and narrator. The states of affairs are
presented as if they take place on a stage: the
narrator is the director of the story. The
interpretation of the historical infinitive in the
directing mode is the same as in the narrative mode: it denotes the existence of a state of
affairs taking place in a given reference time.
An important difference with the infinitive in the narrative mode is found in the tense
forms with which the infinitive ‘competes’. In the narrative mode, the perfect denotes events,
the imperfect situations and the infinitive denotes what the other two tenses cannot describe:
starting situations. In the directing mode, events, situations and starting situations are
described by means of present tense forms (see chapter 2). In the directing mode, the
motivation for the use of the infinitive is, therefore, not that the present tense cannot indicate a
specific type of state affairs. 215 The infinitive is used in these cases for other reasons, as may
be illustrated by example (7), in which the infinitives indicate starting situations. The ships of
the Trojans are burning, and Aeneas prays to Jupiter to send rain to stop the fire. The temporal
adverb tum indicates a shift in reference time and at the same time marks the starting point of
the states of affairs in the historical infinitives abscindere, uocare and tendere.
Example (7), 5.680 – 686
Sed non idcirco flamma atque incendia uiris
indomitas posuere; udo sub robore uiuit
stuppa uomens tardum fumum, lentusque carinas
est uapor et toto descendit corpore pestis,
nec uires heroum infusaque flumina prosunt.
tum pius Aeneas umeris abscindere uestem
auxilioque uocare deos et tendere palmas:
But not for that did the burning flames lay aside their
unquelled fury; under the wet oak the tow is alive,
slowly belching smoke; the smouldering heat devours
the keels, a plague sinking through the whole frame,
nor can the herous’ strength, nor the floods they pour
avail. Then loyal Aeneas rent the garment from his
shoulders, and called the gods to his aid, lifting up his
hands: …
he confided even his secret thoughts, you alone will know the hour for easy access to him – go, sister, and
humbly address our haughty foe.)
213
Total number of tense forms
(+infinitive) in narrative mode
Historical infinitive
Main narrator 299 7
Aeneas 71 5
Sinon 27 6
Other 83 3
214 The infinitives in the directing mode are given in table 3.
215 These are the infinitives in 10.299ff and in 5.685ff.
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HISTORICAL INFINTIVE
In this particular environment, present tense forms (abscindit uestem, uocat deos and tendit
palmas) would have been a clear-cut chronological representation of three following events,
whereas these historical infinitives present Aeneas’ activities as situations that continue
during his speech and that take place more or less simultaneously. Aeneas is ripping his
clothes, calling to the gods and stretching his palms several times, and in an unspecified order.
This example shows that the infinitive may be used in the directing mode to avoid the idea
progression of reference time.
However, such a clear contrast between the present tense and infinitives is not found
in all cases of the infinitive in the directing mode. In several cases, the infinitive as an
alternative for a present tense form seems to yield only a slightly different shade of meaning. I
propose that the infinitive is preferred to the present tense in environments in which a
relatively large degree of ‘dynamism’, ‘vigor’ or ‘vividness’ seems appropriate. This is, of
course, an observation found more often (eg. Schlicher 1914a:287). However, I will provide
some linguistic support. This support is based on the following observations:
- the infinitive often denotes an iterative or distributive state of affairs
- it may represent accomplishment predicate frames as unsuccessful states of
affairs
- it often denotes a state of affairs that is simultaneous to the previous state of
affairs (usually a present tense form)
- all infinitives in the directing mode take place in another part of the stage than
the previous state of affairs
The following examples will show how the semantic value of the infinitive (viz. to indicate
the existence of a state of affairs in a given reference time) makes a certain scene more
vigorous. 216
An iterative interpretation of an infinitive, of course, makes a scene more vigorous in
that it represents a repetitive action, as is the case in example (8), in which the Trojans are
defending their camp against Italian soldiers by throwing all kinds of weapons at them (omne
genus telorum effundere). More and more missiles are falling down and, as is expressed by
means of detrudere, the Trojans are thrusting down enemies who keep climbing up again and
again.
Example (8), 9. 507 – 511
quaerunt pars aditum et scalis ascendere muros,
qua rara est acies interlucetque corona
non tam spissa uiris. telorum effundere contra
omne genus Teucri ac duris detrudere contis,
adsueti longo muros defendere bello.
Some seek an entrance, and try to scale the walls
with ladders, where the line is thin and light gleams
through a less dense ring of men. In return, the
Teucrians are hurling missiles of every sort, and are
thrusting the foe down with strong poles, trained by
long warfare to defend their walls.
These infinitives denote the existence of effundere and detrudere in the reference time of
quaerunt and, since throwing weapons once usually takes only a short period of time and the
endpoint of effundere is not explicitly indicated, we assume a repetition of effundere and
detrudere. This iterative interpretation is also evoked because of the object omne genus, of
course. The infinitives make this passage more vigorous because they suggest that the
216 Present tense forms may , of course, also represent iterative states of affairs (e.g. frangitur in 1.161), present
an accomplishment as a state of affairs which is unfinished (e.g. implentur in 5.697) or describe situations that
take place in another part of the stage (e.g. locant in 1.213).
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narrator’s eye is suddenly caught by something that also takes place in this reference time, as
he switches from one location of the stage (the walls) to another (the top of the walls).
Another example in which both an iterative interpretation of the infinitives and a
switch between parts of the mental stage contribute to the vigor of the scene is also found in
book 9, when Turnus is locked inside the Trojan camp and tries to escape. The infinitives
excedere, petere, incumbere and glomerare convey iterative events: Turnus takes one step and
the Trojans follow him, and then Turnus takes another step and the Trojans follow again.
Example (9), Aeneid 9.788 – 798
talibus accensi firmantur et agmine denso
consistunt. Turnus paulatim excedere pugna
et fluuium petere ac partem quae cingitur unda.
acrius hoc Teucri clamore incumbere magno
et glomerare manum.
Kindled by such words, they take heart and halt in
dense array. Step by step Turnus is withdrawing from
the fight, making for the river and the place encircled
by the stream. All the more fearlessly the Teucrians are
pressing on him with loud shouts and massing their
ranks.
Moreover, the infinitives excedere pugna and fluuium petere represent unbounded states of
affairs and do not reach their endpoint in reference time (cf.Viljamaa 1983:34). This would
not have been the interpretation of present tense forms: present tense forms would have
implied that Turnus indeed reached the river. That is, present tense forms would have evoked
an interpretation of success, as is the case in (10), in which Aeneas narrates how he and some
of his fellow Trojans pretended to be Greeks during the sack of Troy. 217
Example (10), Aeneid, 2.396 – 401
uadimus immixti Danais haud numine nostro
multaque per caecam congressi proelia noctem
conserimus, multos Danaum demittimus Orco.
diffugiunt alii ad nauis et litora cursu
fida petunt; pars ingentem formidine turpi
scandunt rursus equum et nota conduntur in aluo.
We move on, mingling with the Greeks, under gods
not our own, and in the blind night we clash in many
a close fight, and many a Greek send down to Orcus.
Some scatter to the ships and make with speed for
safe shores; some in base terror again climb the huge
horse and hide in the familiar womb.
In contrast to fluuium petere in the previous example, diffugiunt alii and litora petunt are
successful actions: we may assume that the Greeks indeed reach their ships. The contrast
between example (9) and (10) shows that the infinitive enhances the vigor of a scene more
than a present tense form would have done, since it evokes an unfinished and iterative effect
and may be used to switch from one side of the ‘stage’ (Turnus) to another (Trojans).
The infinitive denotes that the state of affairs exists in reference time and, in case of
accomplishment and achievement verbs, states nothing about the success or end of the state of
affairs. Therefore, the infinitive may be used also to postpone the interpretation that a state of
affairs is successful. I think this is how we should interpret the infinitives in example (11).
This passage is found in book 3, where Aeneas tells how the Trojans sail past the island of the
Cyclopes and pick up the Greek Achaemenides. The narrator (Aeneas) first describes how
Polyphemus enters the sea and approaches Aeneas’ ship; then, the narrator switches to what
the Trojans are doing at the same moment (nos procul inde): we catch the Trojans as they are
‘speeding their flight’ or, more specifically, at the exact moment of cutting the rope.
Example (11), 3. 662 – 668
postquam altos tetigit fluctus et ad aequora uenit,
luminis effossi fluidum lauit inde cruorem
dentibus infrendens gemitu, graditurque per aequor
As soon as he touched the deep waves and reached
the sea, he washed therein the oozing blood from his
eye’s socket, gnashing his teeth and groaning, then
217 Of course, present tense forms of accomplishment verbs may get an unbounded reading as well, as I showed
in §2.3.1, but in the particular case of example (9) and several other instances of the infinitive a present tense
form would not have evoked such an unbounded reading.
140

iam medium, necdum fluctus latera ardua tinxit.
nos procul inde fugam trepidi celerare recepto
supplice sic merito tacitique incidere funem,
uertimus et proni certantibus aequora remis.
HISTORICAL INFINTIVE
strides through the open sea; nor has the wave yet
wetted his towering sides. Desperately we are
speeding our flight far from there, taking on board a
suppliant so deserving, and silently we are cutting
the cable; then, bending forward, sweep the seas with
eager oars.
Although incidere funem, cutting a rope, would – in real life – be a near momentaneous event,
I think that the infinitive is used to present it as it is going on in reference time, simultaneous
to Polyphemus approaching the ship. The reader only knows at uertimus that the incidere
must have been successful, whereas a present tense form would have given this information
immediately. In this way, the infinitives contribute to the suspense of this passage, which is
also evoked, of course, by the semantic content of the words trepidi and celerare.
The above examples have shown that the infinitive usually increases the vigor of a
scene in more than one way. As I said above, all infinitives in the directing mode suggest that
the narrator changes his perspective and tells what is going on in another part of the stage.
The state of affairs may be iterative, simultaneous to the previous state of affairs, unsuccessful
or a combination of these things. Table 3 provides an overview of the infinitives in the
directing mode and the ways in which they make a certain scene more vigorous.
Table 3: Infinitives in the directing mode
Start of cluster Infinitive Iterative Unsuccessful in
reference time
Simultaneous
3.666 celerare X
incidere X X
5.655 spectare X
5.685 abscindere X
vocare X
tendere X
6.199 prodire X X
6.256 mugire X X
8.493
9.377
9.509
confugere X X
defendier X X
tendere X X
celerare X
fidere X X
effundere X X
detrudere X X
9.789 excedere X X
petere X X
incumbere X
glomerare X X
10.267 videri X
10.288 servare X X
credere X X
10.299 consurgere X X X
inferre X X X
12.216 videri X
misceri X X
As I said above, all infinitives in the directing mode suggest that the narrator changes his
viewpoint and tells what is going on in another part of the mental stage.
Above, the infinitive was constrasted with the present tense. I conclude this section by
contrasting the infinitive with the imperfect in the directing mode. Both tenses are used in this
mode to indicate what was/is happening in another part of the stage as the narrator was telling
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something else. In case of the infinitive, the narrator focuses on what is happening in
reference time, not caring about what was happening before this reference time, whereas he,
in case of the imperfect, focuses on what was happening before reference time, as flebant and
aspectabant in example (12) illustrate. Iris (illa), sent to earth by Juno, is looking for a
possibility to delay Aeneas’ departure to the Italian mainland, when her eye catches the
Trojan women crying. The imperfect tense forms flebant and aspectabant focus on this past
of story now: the narrator provides us with the information that the women were crying
already before this reference time (see §4.6.1).
Example (12), 5.609- 617
illa uiam celerans per mille coloribus arcum
nulli uisa cito decurrit tramite uirgo.
conspicit ingentem concursum et litora lustrat
desertosque uidet portus classemque relictam.
at procul in sola secretae Troades acta
amissum Anchisen flebant, cunctaeque profundum
pontum aspectabant flentes. heu tot uada fessis
et tantum superesse maris, uox omnibus una;
urbem orant, taedet pelagi perferre laborem.
Iris, speeding her way along her thousand-hued
rainbow, runs swiftly down her path, a maiden seen
of none. She views the vast throng, scans the shore,
and sees the harbour forsaken and the fleet
abandoned. But far apart on the lonely shore the
Trojan women wept for Anchises’ loss, and all, as
they wept, gazed on the fathomless flood. “Ah, for
weary folk what waves remain, what wastes of sea!”
Such is the one cry of all. It is a city they crave; of
the sea’s hardships they have had enough.
Historical infinitives, by contrast, would have meant here that the crying of the women filled
the time frame of Iris watching them, whereas they had been crying long before that (cf.
5.655).
There is one instance of the infinitive in the directing mode which seems
interchangeable with an imperfect tense form. This is in Aeneid 12.216, where the historical
infinitive uideri co-occurs with the adverb iamdudum indicating that the Rutulians considered
the fight between Aeneas and Turnus unfair long before reference time.
Example (13), 12.216 - 218
At uero Rutulis impar ea pugna uideri
iamdudum et uario misceri pectora motu,
tum magis ut propius cernunt non uiribus aequos.
But to the Rutulians the battle had long seemed
unequal, and their hearts, swayed to and from, had
long been in turmoil; all the more now when they
beheld the combatants at closer view not matched in
strenghth. (in ill-matched strength)
However, imperfect tense forms would not yield exactly the same effect. Imperfect tense
forms would have focused on the fact that the Rutulians had been dissatisfied for a long time
now. The infinitive in combination with iamdudum does, of course, give this information, but
it focuses on the fact that they are at this time (tum … ut propius cernunt non uiribus aequos)
even more dissatisfied.
In summary, an infinitive in the directing mode suggests that the narrator’s eye is
suddenly caught by some state of affairs taking place elsewhere in the scene at the already
given moment (cf. Rosén 1995:560; cf. also Eden on 8.493). If reference time is, so to speak,
too long for one occurrence of the state of affairs, the infinitive suggests a repetition.
Therefore, the historical infinitive is an appropriate verb form in contexts which intuitively
seem rather ‘busy’ or ‘chaotic’ because many things happen simultaneously (Schlicher
1914a:287). The infinitives may be used in battle scenes especially to suggest a very high
density of events and situations. Many things happen in the story world at once and the
narrator tells them as they ‘catch his eye’ and leaves it to his readers to picture all the events
as happening simultaneously. The narrator, as it were, pretends not to have the time, or the
overview, to give a detailed chronological order.
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7.4 Transposed Description Mode
Base Time of narration Reference time
Report Transposed Report
Registering Directing
Discourse
Mode
Narrative Transposed Narrative
Description Transposed Description
HISTORICAL INFINTIVE
The transposed description mode is characterized
by sequences of states of affairs that do not
advance reference time, but, instead, evoke the
idea of spatial progression over the surface of an
object or through the scenery. In the transposed
description mode, the base is positioned in
reference time. It is characterized by unbounded states of affairs expressed by present tense
forms. The use of the infinitive in transposed description is quite similar to that in the
directing mode: the infinitive indicates a state of affairs that is contemporaneous with a given
reference time and that is more vigorous in comparison to the present tense. It is, therefore,
not surprising that the infinitives all occur in transposed dynamic descriptions (§2.7).
Infinitives in the description mode indicate a switch from one part of the stage to another.
This may be illustrated by means of an example taken from book 6 in which the narrator
changes his view from the Trojans who are happy to welcome Aeneas to the Greeks who fear
him. The change of view is marked by means of at (see (13) above).
Example (14), 6.486 – 493
circumstant animae dextra laeuaque frequentes,
nec uidisse semel satis est; iuuat usque morari
et conferre gradum et ueniendi discere causas.
at Danaum proceres Agamemnoniaeque phalanges
ut uidere uirum fulgentiaque arma per umbras,
ingenti trepidare metu; pars uertere terga,
ceu quondam petiere rates, pars tollere uocem
exiguam: inceptus clamor frustratur hiantis.
Round about, on right and left, stand the souls in
throngs. To have seen him once is not enough; they
delight to linger, to pace beside him, and to learn the
causes of his coming. But the Danaan princes and
Agamemnon’s battalions, soon as they saw the man
and his arms flashing amid the gloom, trembled with
mighty fear; some turn to flee, as of old they sought
the ships; some raise a shout – faintly; the cry essayed
mocks their gaping mouths.
The semantic content of the verb trepidare here contributes to the vigor of this description, as
well as the repetition of pars. Despite the excitement and movement of the Greeks, reference
time does not advance in these lines and we should, therefore, analyze this excerpt as
description. Present tense forms would probably evoke a similar interpretation in this passage
(cf. 6.642), which leads me to conclude that the infinitives are used merely for presentational
reasons: they make this description more vigorous. The historical infinitive always does this
in the description mode. 218
The same explanation should be given to the two infinitives occurring in ekphrasis.
The verbs ruere and spumare may indeed occur in the present tense (e.g. 12.526 and 3.534),
but the infinitives of these verbs in my opinion create the very vivid effect that the waves
seem to spatter from the shields.
Example (15), 8.685 – 690
hinc ope barbarica uariisque Antonius armis,
uictor ab Aurorae populis et litore rubro,
Aegyptum uirisque Orientis et ultima secum
Bactra uehit, sequiturque (nefas) Aegyptia coniunx.
una omnes ruere ac totum spumare reductis
conuulsum remis rostrisque tridentibus aequor.
Alta petunt. …
On the other side comes Antony with barbaric might
and motley arms, victorious over the nations of the
dawn and the ruddy sea, bringing in his train Egypt
and the strength of the East and farthest Bactra; and
there follows him (oh the shame of it!) his Egyptian
wife. All rush on at once, and the whole sea foams,
torn up by the sweeping oars and triple-pointed beakts.
To the deep they race …
218 The infinitive is found in the transposed description mode at 1.423; 2.685; 6.491; 7.015; 9.538; 11.142 and
11.883. The infinitive trepidare occurs in three descriptions (2.685; 6.491; 9.538), whereas there are only 8
instances of this verb in the Aeneid (in narrator text).
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These infinitives are clearly part of the description mode in that they do not advance reference
time but describe what is to be seen on another part of the shield. Therefore, I do not agree
with Conington (1963) when he says: “in the following passage Virgil seems almost to forget
that he is not telling a story but describing a picture.” (cf. also Fordyce 1977 ad locum). What
is remarkable, however, is the vivid nature of this picture: waves depicted on a shield do not
move or scatter drops of water. If Vergil has “forgotten” anything, it is the fact that he is
describing a static object.
7.5 Conclusion
The narrator of the Aeneid uses the historical infinitive in various ways, all of which have to
do with its basic function: the infinitive denotes the existence of a state of affairs in a given
time. A state of affairs expressed by an infinitive has no beginning and end of itself, but may
be presented as a bounded state of affairs with the context providing a starting or ending
point.
In earlier studies, the historical infinitive is described as a verb form that has features
of both the imperfect and the perfect, or as a verb form for which an ellips of coepi must be
assumed. In my opinion, these suggestions were made on the basis of infinitives in the
narrative mode. It is in this mode that the infinitive, in combination with an adverb, denotes
the start of states of affairs. This is a function that neither the imperfect nor the perfect may
fulfill, which means that, in the narrative mode, the infinitive indeed lies in between the
imperfect and the perfect tense.
In the directing and transposed description mode the state of affairs expressed by
means of the infinitive usually takes the reference time of the previous state of affairs. In these
modes, the infinitive is most often used to denote unsuccessful, and/or iterative states of
affairs, which do not advance narrative time. The narrator uses it in exciting and chaotic
passages to look, as it were, from one part of the stage to another. Therefore, an infinitive
usually adds extra vigor to a scene.
An overview of all interpretations of the infinitive is given below:
Intepretations of the historical infinitive
Base in Time of Narration (TofN) Base in Reference Time (RT)
Interpretation of historical infinitive Interpretation of historical infinitive
Report mode Dynamic situation in RT (explicit)
(§7.2n212)
Registering mode
Contemporaneous with RT (explicit)
– Directing mode
(§7.3)
Narrative mode Start in RT (explicit) (§7.2) 21
Description mode Dynamic situation in RT (explicit)
(§7.4)
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1
26
20

HISTORICAL INFINTIVE
In sum, the discourse modes provide a framework by means of which long recognized uses of
the infinitives may be described in a more systematic way and based on explicit linguistic
argumentation. The infinitive is the last of the verb forms discussed in this study, and the
framework of discourse modes is completed as far as the narrative tenses are concerned. The
interpretation of the tenses within the discourse modes are summarized below.
Tenses in Discourse Modes
BASE IN TIME OF NARRATION (TOFN) BASE IN REFERENCE TIME (RT)
REPORT MODE TRANSPOSED REPORT
Praesens §2.2: Contemporaneous with TofN 490 §2.6: Contemporaneous with RT 40
Perfectum §3.3: Anterior to TofN 266 §3.5: Anterior to RT 32
Imperfectum §4.4: Contemporaneous with 25 §4.5: Contemporaneous with explicit 19
explicit moment in past of TofN moment in past of RT
Plusquam- §5.2: Anterior to explicit moment in 5 §5.4n180: Anterior to explicit
3
perfectum past of TofN
moment in past of RT
Futurum §6.1: Posterior to TofN 16 §6.3: Posterior to RT 1
Futurum
§6.3: Anterior to moment in past of 2
Exactum
RT
Infinitivus §7.2n212: Dynamic situation in RT
(explicit)
1
Pr./Pft. §3.3n95 3
REGISTERING DIRECTING
Praesens §2.2: Contemporaneous with TofN 9 §2.4: Contemporaneous with RT 2673
alone
alone
Perfectum §3.4: (Immediately) anterior to RT 553
Imperfectum §4.6: Contemporaneous with moment
in recent past of RT
179
Plusquam-
§5.5: Anterior to moment in recent 63
perfectum
past of RT
Infinitivus §7.3: Contemporaneous with RT
(explicit)
26
Pr./Pft. §3.4.2n112 85
NARRATIVE (TRANSPOSED NARRATIVE (§1.2.2))
(Praesens) §2.0n33: dum-clauses 13
Perfectum §3.2: Event in RT 462
Imperfectum §4.2: Situation in RT 183
Plusquamperfectum
§5.3: Anterior to RT 104
Infinitivus §7.2: Start in RT (explicit) 21
Ait/inquit §3.2n91 12
DESCRIPTION TRANSPOSED DESCRIPTION
Praesens §2.7: Situation in RT 336
Perfectum §3.6: Anterior to RT, resulting
situation in RT
25
Imperfectum §4.3: Situation in RT 69 §4.7: Contemporaneous with moment
in past of RT (continuing in RT)
52
Plusquam- §5.6: Anterior to RT, resulting 1 §5.6: Anterior to moment before RT, 4
perfectum situation in RT
resulting situation in past of RT
Infinitivus §7.4: Dynamic situation in RT
(explicit)
20
Now that the use of the individual tenses within each discourse mode has been explained, we
can turn to the question how these discourse modes themselves function in the Aeneid as a
whole. This is the subject of the next chapter.
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